Category: News

By no means was Westminster spared by the extraordinary weather event. The city system encountered a number of outages—including a large outage that affected neighborhoods during the night. The City Hall re-opened for business at 10 this morning. “We’re just glad to have this behind us,” City Administrator David Smith said.  

Oconee public schools are closed again tomorrow. Dr. Mike Lucas, superintendent, says, “Our plans are for schools to re-open on Monday, February 17.” Power suppliers report progress. By 2 o’clock, the number of Duke customers in Oconee awaiting service was 764. It had been in excess of two thousand. Late this morning, Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative crews re-energized two backbone […]

Power troubles are mounting! We’ve just heard that power went off in a home at West Union’s Dutch Fork subdivision. In Seneca, crews have responded to a line across Old Salem Road at the entrance to Lake Keowee Marina.

Reg Dexter is no spring chicken when it comes to raising the roof about the state’s unfunded mandates and how they exacerbate Oconee County’s financial standing. Dexter, chairman of budget and finance committee of county council, has been sounding an alarm for years. He has taken the complaint directly to the county’s state lawmakers, but without success. As the time […]

By 8:15 this morning, Duke Energy reported that of all outages in its Carolinas’ territory, Oconee County is hardest hit. At that time, Duke counted 2,166 of its Oconee customers without their service. That number includes folks in the Playground Road area of Walhalla where, according to one resident, the power went off at 4 this morning. Falling trees and […]

Light snow is falling in some counties in the upstate and rain/freezing rain in the central/lower areas of the state. Most counties, with the exception of coastal areas and the southern part of District Seven, are reporting that roads and bridges are covered with snow and ice. Crews in all Districts except District 6 continue to plow interstates and primary […]

If you are an official weather observer for the federal government, no doubt you have found the times we are experiencing to be interesting. That certainly applies to Barbara Wilson in Walhalla. From her official weather station at the Hickory Hollow Farm, Wilson has been forced to try to decipher the various forms of precipitation that have reached the ground. […]

As of 7:00 am, Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative had 147 outages system-wide. Breakdown by county:   • Oconee – 117   • Pickens – 30   Repair crews are addressing all these remaining outages.   To report an outage: 1-888-BLUERIDGE.  

The owner of a stolen dirt bike has been reunited with his property as part of an Oconee Sheriff’s Office investigation that sent an Anderson man to jail charged with three offenses. The Sheriff’s Office identified Justin Brent Kirby as the operator of a dirt bike spotted shortly before 1:45 Tuesday morning on Louie Lane near the J-P Stevens Road. […]

Oconee Emergency Services is hosting the “Greatest Snowman in the Land” contest. It’s an effort to promote fire safety and to urge Oconeeans to stay at home and off the roads during this weather. According to Charlie King, county fire chief, “We want residents to send us pictures of their family’s snowman.” Submissions will be judged on sheer size and […]