Category: News

South Carolina Department of Education has released a report that complies with federal reporting requirements on the state’s dropout rate. Dr. Mike Lucas, Oconee Superintendent of Education, comments this week on the dropout rate which is calculated by the percentage of students who leave a school for any reason, other than death, prior to graduation and without transferring to another […]

Seneca Rotary Club today learns about pediatric orthopedic care. Guest speaker for the Rotary meeting will be Ashley Taylor, public relations specialist at Shriner’s Hospitals for Children in Greenville.

To the question of whether the federal government should bail out Detroit, Michigan, Senator Lindsey Graham says, “No way, No how….” The senior South Carolina U-S senator says the federal government is beyond broke and, “The last thing we need is the broke bailing out the broke,” he said in a statement from Washington. Graham today introduced a budget amendment […]

The re-habilitated Walhalla Swimming Pool is refilling with water—a sign that its opening will take place before the summer season finishes. This afternoon the re-painted pool was filling with the thousands of gallons of water needed and, according to Rudy Still, is a couple of feet short of “full pool.” County Councilman Wayne McCall says he’s hoping to have a […]

When Oconee school trustees settled on a final price to build the new Walhalla High School, they elected to forego student lockers and save a couple of hundred thousands of dollars. Besides saving money, they’ll be saving space that’ll make hallway traffic move smoother. But in winter when students come to school in coats and jackets, what’ll they do with […]

Descendants of some of the “founding families” in Oconee, Pickens and Anderson counties gather this weekend at Clemson University to explore their roots. More than 100 people related to the Calhoun, Clemson, Pickens and Ravenel families are expected for the Friday-thru-Sunday reunion. They’ll tour three historic homes, examine facts, and documents and learn about their genealogy.

The police have arrested and charged a 31-year old woman with telephoning two bomb threats to the Seneca branch of South Carolina Bank and Trust. Melissa Ann Barksdale of the Shiloh Road was arrested yesterday on warrants charging her with telephoning the bank twice the morning of May 28 and claiming a bomb was in the By-Pass 123 bank. According […]

A company will invest $1 million  and create five new jobs in Seneca. The company is called COE Optics, described as a leading provider of optical research and development solutions. The five jobs are to be highly-skilled research intensive positions, according to an announcement by the office of Oconee Economic Development. “We are grateful for the support we have received […]

Walhalla’s St. Luke United Methodist Church filled its part-time position of Youth Director with the hiring of Lydia Dever—a mother of three children, including twin girls. Dever began work July 1, just in time to take part in the Salkahatchie project in Bamberg. Each summer the youth of St. Luke join other youth groups around the state to help rebuild, […]

Oconee libraries are uncomfortable with a new duty that the chairman of the county board of trustees describes as having been suddenly put to them. It’s that role of being a connection point for those applying for state unemployment benefits. The matter came up during this week’s meeting of the library trustees, according to Chairman Danny Day. The problems the […]