Author: Dick Mangrum

The need to replenish the blood supply remains urgent, and Prisma Health has made plans for a community blood drive Saturday in Easley.  According to the Blood Connection, donors are encouraged to make an appointment before arriving.  Face masks are required.  If you’d like to donate, and possibly save someone’s life, the place to be Saturday is the City of […]

State troopers say a driver near Seneca was sent to the hospital this morning with non-life threatening injuries after she took evasive action to avoid hitting a deer on the Singing Pines Road south of the city.  Initial information provided by the patrol indicates that, shortly before 6 o’clock, the driver swerved her car to miss the deer, but then […]

Oconee School District over the last year took up the recommendation of its outside auditor and implemented a telephone hotline to report cases of fraud.  It takes millions and millions of dollars to run a school district the size of Oconee’s, and there could be opportunity for someone to commit an act of fraud.  The fraud hotline number is 864/718-5798.  […]

A traffic stop begun by the Walhalla police yesterday at an intersection wound up in the parking lot of a nearby school.  It was in the James Brown Elementary School parking lot where the driver eventually stopped.  And there police officers called for a K-9 unit and arrested and charged the driver with drug offenses.  Although the traffic stop took […]

The Oconee County public school days of Monday and Tuesday, December 21 and 22 have been re-scheduled as eLearning days.  The school district this afternoon gave the following explanation:  “Factors leading to this decision included difficulty in finding substitutes to cover both COVID-19 related absences and normal requests for leave on those two days, along with conflicts with some events […]

For the sixth consecutive reporting day, South Carolina DHEC counts in excess of 2,000 COVID-19 cases.  Today’s number:  2,139, along with 26 additional deaths.  Of the new confirmed cases, 48 from Oconee County.  Total test results received:  10,411; the positivity was 20.5%.

From Washington, Senator Graham is announcing money from the FCC in the amount of $121 million is to be spent to expand rural broadband in South Carolina.  The funding is to go toward more than 100 thousand under-served homes and businesses.  Last summer Graham, with South Carolina’s Tim Scott and Virginia’s Mark Warner, offered the “Governors’ Broadband Development Fund” to […]

The Westminster announcement reads:  “Out of an abundance of caution for citizens, the city of Westminster Christmas Parade is cancelled.”  The parade had been scheduled for Friday night.  Instead, the city pledges to work in a collaborative effort with local organizations and businesses to host a parade and festive holiday market next year.  According to the announcement, COVID-19 infection rates, […]

A 35-year career is coming to an end in Oconee County with the retirement of Steve Hunt, a registered engineer and environmental operator at the Joint Regional Sewer Authority.  Since 2016, Hunt served the JRSA as operations director.  He was commended Monday in a resolution passed by the JRSA commissioners.  That resolution expressed appreciation to Hunt for his years of […]

With leaves fallen from trees, the naked eye can gain a greater appreciation of the severe damage wrought by the EF3 tornado in Seneca and surrounding area.  Some of that debris remains eight months later.  Scott Moulder, city administrator, admitted last night the cleanup effort continues, but there are reasons for that.  They include the failure of some equipment.  The […]