Author: Dick Mangrum

Senator Tim Scott, South Carolina Republican, says the loss of Americans and Afghans to the deadly attacks is the result of “failed leadership at every level of the Biden administration”. Scott wants President Biden to send all military resources to ensure the safety of every American and ally awaiting evacuation from the Taliban-controlled country.  The Associated Press quotes Biden as […]

Records in the Oconee Common Pleas Court indicate a pre-trial settlement has been entered in a two-year old lawsuit that arose from a 2016 accident in which a train hit a tractor-trailer at Seneca’s East Main Street crossing.  Mediator James Jolly conducted an alternative dispute proceeding for the parties.  The plaintiff, Norfolk Southern Railway, motioned for a judgment in its […]

Walhalla resident Amy Welch announces that she’ll run for a council seat in her city’s November 2 election.  Welch teaches at the Hamilton Career and Technology Center.  Her platform includes the following:  “I will work with the community and city leaders to strengthen the utility system, support efforts to make Walhalla safer and cleaner and equip the city with the […]

Today’s South Carolina COVID-19 numbers: 3,259 new cases across the state, 71 in Oconee County. Confirmed:  48 additional South Carolina deaths (two in Oconee) Of 27,573 test results received, positivity:  15.8%

Five Upstate South Carolina hospital systems took part in a news conference today to demonstrate the worsening rate of COVID-19 infection, and the need for the unvaccinated to take advantage of the shots that can protect individuals and all with whom they are in close contact.  The news conference started with remarks by Dr. Surabhi Gaur, chief medical officer of […]

RELEASE DATE: August 26, 2021   Masks Will Be Required on all SDOC Buses Per new requirements by the SC Department of Education The School District of Oconee County received notification earlier today from the SC State Department of Education that re-institutes the requirement of face masks for students and drivers** on buses. The memo states: “Throughout the pandemic, the […]

Within a few minutes, announcement expected from Oconee public schools that the state will now require all aboard South Carolina school buses to be masked–in the face of rising COVID cases.  The latest numbers from Oconee schools are 275 total cases–64 employees and 211 students.  In the last seven days, there were 200 cases alone.

Figures from the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce indicate Oconee County finished the month of July with an unemployment rate of 4.5%, or 1,542 members of the county workforce out of work but actively looking to be re-employed.  At the same time, the county’s labor force for July numbered 34,546.  As is often the case, Oconee’s two South […]

Fire took a toll Tuesday evening in downtown Royston, Georgia to a former theatre building and an adjoining structure.  After surveying the damage yesterday, investigators say the fire that destroyed the former Royston Theatre building and damaged the Old Corner Hardware is undetermined.  Royston Fire Department received help from 17 volunteer departments in five counties, some of it from the […]