Author: Dick Mangrum

Oconee’s board of registration and elections started the process this morning to certify Tuesday’s voting results in the county by evaluating challenged ballots.  The board members are meeting in the capacity of canvassers.  At the start there were stacks of votes at the table, and the board accepted failsafe votes from the Friendship precinct near Seneca.  A fail safe or […]

  An Oconee County traffic enforcement officer zeroed-in on a fast-moving Subaru Wednesday morning.  The result was a chase that started on highway 11 in Tamassee and ended near Foxwood Hills. Daniel Loyd Morrison of the Wells Highway, Seneca was charged with failure to stop for a blue light, reckless driving, driving under suspension, and threatening the life of a […]

During a meeting last night of the Walhalla city committees, the recreation director was asked if he will take precautions to help protect those who attend recreation basketball games this winter from catching COVID-19.  John Galbreath replied that he has begun to contemplate separating seating for parents who want to watch their children play.  Unless registration numbers pick up, there […]

A big dig was underway this week at the Walnut Street railroad crossing in Seneca.  Scott Moulder, city administrator, says the dig is part of the project to bury electrical power lines on Walnut Street.

City hall and two water plants were among the Walhalla city operations that lost electric power for parts of last week when tropical storm Zeta blew in.  The police station on Main Street was apparently one of the few services unaffected, and that surprised the police chief.  City utilities director Scott Parris last night said it was very frustrating that […]

On today’s South Carolina DHEC report, 524 cases statewide.  Case count had exceeded one thousand cases five days ago.  Deaths dropped from 16 reported yesterday to seven today.  There were three new Oconee cases, compared to 16 the day before.  Test results received by DHEC yesterday were 2,922 statewide; the positivity jumped to 17.9%.  It had been as low as […]

Anderson Area Crime Stoppers has increased the reward amount from $4,000 to $6,500 for information leading to an arrest in the 2016 drive-by shooting death of Randy Smith.   Randy Smith was on his way home from work on the night of March 30, 2016, when he stopped by a convenience store on East Whitner Street in the City of […]

The office of Oconee Elections released the results today of the write-in ballots to fill seats on watershed and soil and water commissions.  George Steven Smith, with 116 write-in votes, topped the list of six people for the available four-year seat on the Soil and Water District Commission.  Annette Black was second with 85 and Clay Jones third with 61.  […]

South Carolina DHEC is worried that data show COVID numbers continue to increase steadily in the Upstate that they could rise near or beyond previous spikes in the state.  The health agency cites Pickens and Greenville counties and other disease indicators that trend upward and warns that South Carolina could be entering a fall surge.  The uptick is considered not […]