Author: Dick Mangrum

Oconee fire fighters are telling 101.7/WGOG NEWS two fires between  Long Creek and Mountain Rest areas yesterday had no connection.  One was a 1-thousand acre prescribed burn in the vicinity of Cassidy Bridge Road; the other, a home fire along that road.  According to a report from Walhalla Fire Department, heavy fire damage occurred to the roof and attic.  Three […]

The year 2020, especially for Seneca, is one city government and its inhabitants will likely want to forget.  After all a tornado ravaged parts of the city to the tune of millions of dollars and a mysterious fire nearly wiped out the fleet of garbage trucks.  And then, unless you’ve been on planet Mars, you know all about the world […]

  Customers of the Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative will have a choice this year as to who will occupy the District Two Pickens County seat on their board of directors.  Two men were nominated during a customers’ meeting yesterday at Pickens:  Jason Dennis and the incumbent, Franklin Looper.  Blue Ridge spokesman says Looper received 94 votes; Dennis, 59 votes, which […]

Seneca officials are apologizing to their sanitation customers.  City trucks were far behind on their pickup schedule yesterday, and circumstances are such that it’ll be Friday before they catch up.  Once again, the culprit appears to be a rat that chewed its way through the electrical wiring of one of the garbage trucks, forcing the city to shelve the truck […]

For the latest 24-counting period, 425 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Carolina, eight in Oconee County.  Statewide there were three new deaths.  Of 12,678 test results, South Carolina positivity:  4.7%.

Change may be in store in the city of Clemson where some believe there’s already too much development…and too much large development.  The city council this month will invite public comment on a proposed text amendment which is explained this way:  “The proposed text amendment will ban new mixed-use buildings, multi-family buildings, and townhomes by amending Chapter 19 (Zoning) of […]

The overall winner of this year’s Tornado Safety Poster contest in Oconee County is Bailey Moore, a 2nd grade student at Ravenel Elementary School.  Bailey’s entry really stood out, according to a spokesman for  the county Emergency Preparedness.  Her winning poster, along with the rest of the individual grade winners, will be displayed in the hallways of the county’s Pine […]

The Andrew Pickens Ranger District of the Sumter National Forest resumes its prescribed burn schedule today.  To lower the hazardous fuels that lead to wildfire and improve wildlife habitat, a total of 1,004 acres are to be burned today at Crooked Creek–between the Cassidy Bridge Road and the Chauga River, north and east of the Cassidy Bridge Hunt Camp.  That’s […]

Josh Holliday, the principal at Keowee Elementary School, introduced one of his school’s talented students last night to the county board of trustees.  Tate Caigle led last night’s meeting in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.  Tate is an athlete who also has shown a skill in writing.  Holliday announced Tate is a district essay winner.

An official of Oconee NAACP sought assurance last night that the county schools will carefully and actively consider all applicants for teaching jobs, especially those of color.  The NAACP’s George Anderson said minority members of a teaching force can serve as incentive to students of color to someday want to enter the profession, and Superintendent Thorsland was quick to agree.  […]