Author: Dick Mangrum

An estimated 27 thousand power outages are reported in Oconee County.  On E. Main Street, West Union, Upstate Children’s Center has lost power, and the owner is allowing parents to return to pick up their children.  They should do that by avoiding E. Main from the vicinity of Burger King, where an electric power line has fallen across the street.  […]

South Carolina DHEC data show a decrease in the rate of infant mortality.  The infant mortality rate dropped from 7.2 infant deaths for every 1,000 live births in 2018 to 6.9 infant deaths for every 1,000 live births in 2019.  This reflects 26 fewer deaths in 2019 than the previous year. There were eight Oconee County infant deaths in 2019.  […]

As far back as the middle of the 20th century Christmas time in Seneca was synonymous with the window decorations at the anchor location for a popular 5 and 10 variety store.  City officials planning the 2020 Seneca Christmas Show have recovered a nugget from the past to help stir holiday emotions.  The Santa Claus figure that appeared in the […]

A fire late yesterday morning damaged cars and scrap metal at a privately-run recycling business near Seneca.  The fire scene was Hunnicutt Recycling on the Old Clemson-Seneca Highway.  Seneca Fire Department answered the first call and relied on Oconee Emergency Services and the nearby Keowee Fire Department for assistance.  It took the fire fighters about one hour to control the […]

With two to three inches of rain forecast and the risk of flash flooding in the higher elevations,  all developed campgrounds on the Andrew Pickens Ranger District in the Sumter National Forest are closed today.  They will remain closed until after the storm passes and the Forest Service has had time to check for damage.  Our friends with that federal […]

Tri-County Technical College has cancelled all in-person and hybrid instruction between 7 this morning and 12:35 this afternoon.  Those teachings will resume at 12:45.  Virtual classes will take place as scheduled.

The 101.7/WGOG listening area has begun to feel the impact of the advancing tropical storm Zeta.  For the Golden Corner today, tropical storm conditions are possible.  Showers and possibly a thunderstorm, mainly before the 2 o’clock hour this afternoon, followed by 90% chance for showers and thunderstorms for the evening.  Additional rain between three-quarters of an inch and one inch […]

Word is spreading today about the death of football legend Jimmy Orr from Seneca.  A funeral home in Orr’s hometown of Brunswick, Georgia has confirmed the death of Orr, a standout with the Seneca Bobcats in the early 1950s, later at the University of Georgia, and then on to a pro career mostly notably with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the […]

Some four thousand COVID-19 test results reported yesterday to South Carolina DHEC reveal an increasing positivity percentage.  It’s listed as 15.5% for Tuesday’s report–percentages higher than both Sunday and Monday.  Total new cases confirmed were 636. Seven of those new cases are from Oconee County.  There were 32 deaths statewide, including an elderly Oconeean who died October 24.

More than one million South Carolinians have already cast their ballots in the 2020 General Election, doubling the record for absentee voting set in the 2016 General Election.  Based on current trends, 1.3 million voters could vote before election day, which could be approximately half of the total turnout in the election. The highest turnout in a presidential election in […]