Author: Dick Mangrum

Reported Sunday, March 21, 2021  11:00 a.m. Data as of Friday, March 19, 2021 11:59 p.m. COVID-19 New Total Confirmed Cases 654 (five in Oconee County) 459,417 Probable Cases 405 82,165 Confirmed Deaths 35 7,953 Probable Deaths 8 1,054 Molecular Test Results 20,445 Total Tests 6,524,120 Percent Positive 4.3%

Fire destroyed a garage attached to a home at Keowee Key.  Chief Brandon Shirley says Keowee Fire Department reached the fire scene on Smooth Sailor Court in four and a half minutes and were able to stop the attached garage fire before it could spread to the house.

Beginning today, all nursing homes and assisted living facilities in South Carolina are required to offer outdoor and/or indoor visitation, with few exceptions, based on new guidelines released by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). These newly updated visitation guidelines follow federal guidance released on March 10. “Residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities, as well as their […]

After conducting a welfare check on four children at a Tyre B. Mauldin Street address in Walhalla, the police charged a 23-year old Seneca woman.  The arrest warrant alleges cruelty to children and accuses Arienna Caren Parris of Seneca of leaving the children by themselves on March 11 at the Mauldin Street address.  The children ranged in age seven to […]

New COVID-19 cases in SC:  603, four of them in Oconee.  Statewide 25 new deaths.  Of 22,262 test results, the state positivity:  3.6%.

As the Oconee County fathers work toward a new budget, the stance of no property tax increase in 2021-22 was re-affirmed today by the council chairman, who doubles as the council budget chairman.  John Elliott says he makes the statement based on a talk he had yesterday with Amanda Brock, the county administrator.  A new infusion of money is headed […]

For 90 minutes this morning, Oconee County Council met to try to resolve the mess that has arisen over plans to re-locate the county magistrate at Westminster into quarters more suitable and to avoid what one councilman calls “inexcusable” to the court officers and the public using the magistrate’s office.  A 3 to 2 vote by the county fathers will, […]

The state police announce the arrest of a former Pickens County detention center officer on charges that he stole 90,000 Mexican pesos from the property room in the county jail.  “SLED” identifies the man arrested as Gabriel Lee Ramey, and says the 23-year old is charged with grand larceny, misconduct, and misconduct in office.