Category: Featured

An open door during the midnight hour Thursday in a Walhalla neighborhood raised the suspicions of a patrolling police officer.  And when the policeman saw the shadowy figure of a man through a window, the officer acted on his suspicions.  That resulted in the arrest of a 44-year old man, Bryan Ashley Evans, on multiple charges, including burglary second degree.  […]

The preamble to a new South Carolina Supreme Court order reads:  “In an efficient criminal justice system, cases should be disposed of within months instead of years, regardless of whether defendants go to trial, plead guilty, enter into a diversion program, or have their cases dismissed.”  The order, to take effect July 3, will have impact on, among other offices, […]

Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, a hopeful for the next Republication nomination for President, voted against the resolution that raises the debt limit. Without the Senate’s final vote of 63-36, the U-S risked an economically disastrous default days before Monday’s deadline. But, in a statement from Washington, Scott said, “If we don’t want our nation to default, we need […]

High atop Tuesday’s agenda for Oconee County Council is a public hearing on the council’s new spending plan.  Before the council takes a final vote on what now is a $60 million-plus measure, its members will entertain comments on what it’s going to take to fund a new year of county government in 2023-24, starting July 1.  There are varied […]

Dr. Michael Thorsland, Oconee Superintendent of Education, isn’t sure what he thinks should be the next school building project in the county.  But, he predicted, the Oconee trustees will talk about that when they meet on Monday.  Monday is the regular June meeting night for the school board.  Preceding the evening meeting will be a trustees’ tour of the replacement […]

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) confirmed that a skunk found near Fendley and Oakway roads in Westminster, S.C., has tested positive for rabies. No people are known to have been exposed at this time. Two dogs were exposed and will be quarantined as required in the South Carolina Rabies Control Act. The skunk was submitted […]

Oconee Sheriff’s Office is on the receiving end of a Duke Energy grant aimed at promoting resiliency and emergency preparedness as it relates to severe weather.  The sheriff’s office gets $20 thousand for mobile radios programmed with current public safety channels to better communication during emergencies.  In all, Duke is allocating $500 thousand for emergency preparedness to 32 South Carolina […]

A familiar face will return to Seneca city hall for a ceremony Tuesday, June 13.  That’s the evening when Ernest Riley of Cardinal Point takes the oath of office to fill a vacated city council seat.  The public is invited for the ceremony that’ll precede council’s regular June meeting that begins at 6 o’clock.

A former Seneca businessman received a prison sentence of three years for domestic crimes after his guilty plea this afternoon in the Oconee General Sessions Court.  Demetrious Campbell pleaded guilty to domestic violence first degree and pointing and presenting a firearm.  It was an incident in the home following the funeral of a family member in which Campbell’s wife, Crystal […]

For a third time, a Hartwell, Georgia woman has been denied a bond.  And it’s back to the Oconee jail for Lakeisha McLendon, who awaits trial on the charge of murder.  Judge Lawton McIntosh this afternoon said he heard nothing to change his mind, although pleas were made by McLendon’s lawyer and her mother.  The mother, Saundra Thornton, stressed that […]