Author: Dick Mangrum

The plaintiff continued today calling witnesses in its case in Ratliff v. Oconee County, in the second day of a civil trial whose origins date back to a board of zoning appeals’ decision.  One source has predicted to 101.7/WGOG NEWS that the trial will take three days.  And, just before the lunch break, attorney David Paavola told Judge McIntosh his […]

The results of primary election day voting in Oconee are now certified, by action this morning of the county board of canvassers.  This, after the board added a total of 13 votes to Tuesday’s unofficial count – both failsafe and provisional ballots.  Kristi Burr, county elections director, recommended the 13 additional ballots be considered after an evaluation of the circumstances […]

A lawsuit filed this week in the Anderson Common Pleas Court alleges negligence by the Pioneer Rural Water District of Oconee-Anderson that led to an accident at the scene of a large water break near Townville.  The lawsuit for Matthew Roper, filed by attorney Trevor White, alleges that on the morning of June 12, 2022 Roper was taking his dog […]

Janet Smalley of the Partners for Progress introduced the idea this week of creating an arboretum in Walhalla’s Kaufman Park – the home of the city’s Depot community building.  As for the trees that provide shade in the park, Smalley told a gathering of Walhalla United that some trees need to be replaced with new trees.

An annual report by South Carolina DHEC shows overall improvements in outcomes for infants in the first year of life.  The state’s infant mortality rate in 2022 dropped nearly 7%, compared to the previous year.  In ’22, South Carolina counted 392 infant deaths during the first year of life — nine of those were Oconee infants.  For the year 2022, […]

Should Rep. Sandifer pick up a certain number of votes during an examination of challenged ballots tomorrow, 101.7/WGOG NEWS has been told, it’s possible that a number of added Sandifer votes will kick in a requirement for a mandatory recount of votes cast in his race with Adam Duncan.  The unofficial results last night gave challenger Duncan a 59-vote upset […]

A dispute that has been going for about two years has reached the Oconee County courtroom.  It’s an appeal of a decision that granted an engineering survey company a variance from right of-way to build a public road.  Testimony in Ratliff versus Oconee is being heard in the Common Pleas Court as a non-jury matter, to be decided by the […]

Last night in Westminster, a 4 to 3 vote decided that the mayor and the council may enroll in the state’s health insurance plan for employees – in spite of warnings about the high cost to the city’s budget and a cry that many Westminster senior citizens are struggling just to get by.  A vote cast by Councilwoman Audrey Reese […]

A former restaurant near Seneca is to be converted to an urgent care facility, according to an Oconee County permit.  It’s the former Fatz restaurant on the Sandifer Boulevard.  There’s a deed lease recorded in the Registry of Deeds’ office at Walhalla that details a 10-year lease for the building between Prisma Health Urgent Care and the building owner, Thrift […]