Author: Dick Mangrum

Motorists bound for Walhalla on SC 28/the Blue Ridge Boulevard, are encountering a surprise this morning in the vicinity of Parkway Products.  Two steel plates, side by side, cover the inside lane of 28–the apparent result of repairs to a utility line under pavement.  Please proceed slowly and watch for other traffic that may make a sudden lane movement.

Two Fair Play residents living in what authorities say was a van stolen from a restaurant were in jail today in Oconee County, and they face further legal difficulties in two other counties.  James Austin Beam and Jessica Olivia Duffney were arrested after two Oconee officers determined the van found on the Durham Road had been reported stolen in May […]

In today’s report from South Carolina DHEC:  120 new confirmed cases of COVID-19.  Two of them are in Oconee County.  Statewide:  one new death confirmed.  Of 8,759 test results received, the positivity was 2%.  These numbers are data from the 24-hour count at the end of the day on Wednesday.

The Oconee Humane Society has joined PickMe! SC–a statewide adoption effort to find homes for more than 1,600 pets.  The humane organization offers dogs and cats at reduced fees at the OHS Adoption Center.  Dogs are $10 dollars.  Most adult cats are $25, kittens are buy-one-get for $50.  All are spay/neutered, microchipped and up to date on shots. You can […]

A late afternoon accident on the 123 By-Pass clogged traffic headed east.  Casey Bowling, the police chief, said a car and a motorcycle collided.  The result for eastbound traffic was a backup that stretched between N. Walnut Street and the overhead bridge.

The start point for a 30-day outdoor adventure across South Carolina  will be Oconee County, with an emphasis on two of the state’s seven wonders.  On Thursday, July 1 the South Carolina 7 (SC7) Expedition Team will start exploring the state’s mountains to the sea.  They’ll be raising awareness of floodwater prevention and engaging leaders and citizens to protect and […]

A Seneca man was placed into custody early today in the Pickens County town of Central and has since been jailed in Oconee County, in the investigation of a shooting discovered last night on the Mormon Church Road.  On that road, not long before 9 last night, an adult male was discovered wounded in the leg.  Today the Oconee Sheriff’s […]

A 34-year old woman in Pickens was placed under arrest today by agents with the state Department of Revenue.  The DOR announced that Haley Hyman Southerland is accused of failing to file South Carolina individual income tax returns for 2017-2019.  In the arrest warrants, she’s accused of failing to report $691,674 in wages from an Anderson company over three years […]

This afternoon South Carolina DHEC confirmed 94 additional cases of COVID-19 statewide, including one in Oconee County.  The numbers reported today reflect the data available at the end of the 24-hour count on Tuesday night.  Statewide, there were four more deaths from the virus.  Of 5,056 test results received, the state positivity was 2.7% unchanged from the previous day.

An Anderson attorney filed a lawsuit yesterday alleging a pre-trial detainee was savagely beaten by a fellow inmate in a non-violent unit of the Oconee Detention Center on a 2019 day when the jail population exceeded its rated capacity and there was a ratio of one staff member per 25 inmates.  The lawsuit filed by attorney Kyle White, for inmate […]