Author: Dick Mangrum

High school students with an interest in natural resource conservation and a concern for the environment are eligible to apply for a $2,500 scholarship from “FOLKS” — Friends of Lake Keowee.  Scholarship applicants must live in either Oconee or Pickens, must be full-time students in good academic standing and classified as juniors or seniors during the 2024-25 year.  Further details […]

Oconee and Pickens are among a handful of South Carolina counties whose drought status has been upgraded from incipient to moderate drought.  Before changing a county designation, a statewide committee evaluates impacts on agriculture, water supply, water quality and forest fire conditions.  Many locations have received less than 1.5 inches of rain since August 11.  While the drier conditions helped […]

A home fire last evening in the Holly Springs Community near Westminster.  9-1-1 was alerted just before 5:45 pm to the fire at an address on the Johnny Cox Road.  No injuries reported.  Fire fighters manned the scene until late last night.

Clemson University will celebrate its First Friday Parade — an annual event before the first home football game.  This year’s procession will follow highway 93 from Cherry Road to Centennial Boulevard.  However, there will be a slight route change:  procession begins at the intersection of 93 and Cherry Road and participating walking groups will conclude at the Lower Intramural Fields.  […]

An event this month will bring together the county sheriffs from Oconee, Anderson, and Pickens counties.  The event is a “Call to Action” fundraiser for a boys camp in the Spartanburg area and features event organizers interviewing the county sheriffs about their faiths.  It will take place at 6:30 Thursday night, September 19 at the Earles Grove Baptist Church.  A […]

A newly-elected South Carolina judge will hold the gavel this month at a term of the Oconee County General Sessions Court.  The court will welcome William C. McMaster III of Greenville for a one-week General Sessions term at Walhalla, to start Monday, September 16.  McMaster’s legal career includes time as both a prosecutor and a defense attorney.

The Walhalla Chapter DAR reminds us of the important U-S document that was celebrated, as bells rang, with the signing of the U-S Constitution.  The date was September 17, 1787.  It’s the document that starts with three important words, “We the people….”  September 17 this year is the start of Constitution Week, which runs through September 23.

Going forward with the job.  Oconee County Council last night approved a $253 thousand dollar expenditure to provide engineering services for a bridge replacement project at Salem.  The Crestwood Drive Bridge crossing the North Fork of Little River was built in 1981. There were questions, however, about funding options and whether the bridge conditions require action now.  

An accusation of failure to maintain a highway11 bridge in Oconee County is leveled against the South Carolina DOT.  The county Common Pleas Court lawsuit was filed by a Simpsonville attorney of the plaintiffs Simpsonville resident Patricia Boiter and Columbia resident Marion Bannister.  It alleges Boiter was the restrained driver August 30, 2022 of a mid-sized SUV headed northbound on […]