Author: Dick Mangrum

New cases of COVID-19 reported today by South Carolina DHEC for the state:  2,202.  (The previous day’s count was 1,599).  For Oconee, the new case number was 67 (it was 47 the previous 24-hour period).  Statewide, 39 new deaths recorded, two of them Oconee County residents.  Of 24,310 test results received, the positivity was 12.4%.  (These new numbers out this […]

An Oconee School District official has confirmed there was a school bus mishap this morning on US 123/the Sandifer Boulevard in the vicinity of the SC 11 interchange.  However, district administrator Steve Hanvey says, no one was hurt when the bus hit a roadside electric power device.    

A fire at mid afternoon yesterday near Salem is believed by fire fighters to have entered a house through the outside power connection and spread to the attic.  No one was hurt, as 101.7/WGOG NEWS learned, the empty  Stamp Creek Road house is in the process of being re-modeled. Fire fighters who answered the call around 3 pm needed 30 […]

A spokesman for the Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office in Georgia, says a Toccoa, Georgia man has been arrested on multiple charges after a cache of drugs and firearms were found at his home on the DeFoor Road.  The spokesman, Trent Hillsman, said the man arrested is 26-year old Shaun Mayfield, who authorities believe is a known member of the […]

The drowning of a 19-month old child last weekend on the Georgia side of Lake Hartwell remains under investigation by authorities in Stephens County.  But the sheriff’s office has announced there was no foul play in the death of Charlotte Elizabeth Scott of Toccoa.

Four years in prison and sex offender registry are in front of a Long Creek woman.  Janice Allen, at the age of 36, was arrested last spring by the Oconee Sheriff’s Office and charged with multiple counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and disseminating harmful material to a minor.  She entered guilty pleas today in front of General […]

A 40-year old woman admitted in court admitted that she helped a co-defendant push a body to the side of the road, but denied she had any part in dumping the body down an embankment.  Samantha Denise Larson pleaded guilty this afternoon in the Oconee General Sessions Court to accessory after the fact of murder.  According to Deputy Solicitor Jason […]

A 36-year old business owner faces 20 years in the state prison system after he entered guilty pleas this afternoon in Oconee County to a series of sex offenses in which the victims were of minor age.  David Scott Thibault will receive credit for 417 days in jail awaiting the resolution of the charges against him.  Thibault placed himself on […]

New cases statewide:  1,599 (47 in Oconee) New confirmed deaths across South Carolina:  69 (including a new Oconee death) Of 17,849 test results received, the positivity:  13.8%. (These numbers reflect the count at the end of the day Monday)

The increased transportation funds thru the passage of South Carolina’s 2017 Roads Bill (Act 40) has allowed the state to move forward on projects to improve safety and accelerate road and bridge repairs, but a national organization says challenges remain to an aging system.  A new report by national transportation research non-profit TRIP states that the challenges to be met […]