Category: News

A strip of property a little more than one thousand feet long has prompted an electric power wholesaler to file a condemnation notice in Oconee County. Central Electric Power Cooperative of Columbia, which plans a new electric transmission line into southern Oconee County from Anderson, seeks to condemn a 70-foot right-of-way from two Oconee County property owners—-Upstate Forever and Samuel […]

Third District Congressman Jeff Duncan convened a House hearing in Washington this morning by asking why Homeland Security doesn’t better communicate with the American people. Duncan was acting today as the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency. “You can do better. We can do better,” Duncan said in opening remarks. The subcommittee prepared to hear from […]

From the last official population count in 2010, Oconee County has gained 370 new residents—equating to 0.5” population increase in two years. The Census Bureau’s latest Oconee County population count through last year totals 74,627. Other figures gleaned from a “Quick Facts” check with the Census Bureau shows Oconee is a county that remains overwhelmingly white, at 89.8%. The county’s […]

Actor Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, have sent a $25 thousand donation to help restore Camp Toccoa at Currahee. WNEG Radio reports that in an email to Robin Sink McClelland, Currahee Board President, the actor called Camp Toccoa a stop for all history students no matter their age. And he offered the use of his name in any […]

A storm that swept southward from Tennessee into the Carolinas proved to be a heavy rainmaker for Oconee County. At Walhalla, Official Weather Observer Barbara Wilson recorded .44″ at her post at the Hickory Hollow Farm.  Many trees fell countywide. And Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative told Oconee Dispatch that its repair crews were backed up with restoring service across its […]

In a special meeting, a Seneca regulatory board voted to remove one of three trees on the property where the owner will demolish one of the city’s oldest dwellings. The Board of Architectural Review accepted a report of tree specialist Karl Pokorny. After an inspection, Pokorny recommended the removal of a 24’ by 50’ water oak tree at the northwest […]

A kayak capsized today in Lake Jocassee, but the two people on board are OK this afternoon. Scott Krein, county emergency services director, says the noon hour mishap occurred two miles from the park. A strong wind factored into the accident, Krein said.  

An Oconee Common Pleas Court jury awarded plaintiff Sandra Gillett $25 thousand dollars in her damage lawsuit against John P. Chandler. The two Oconeeans were involved in a two-vehicle accident in 2006. The trial started yesterday and finished today with the jury’s verdict.  

The theft Tuesday night of copper materials worth $1,100 inside the gate at Keowee Key is under investigation today by the Oconee Sheriff’s Department. A contractor from Pawleys Island at a work site near the schooner building left 28 sheets of copper on a table covered by a tarp when he quit work around 8:30 p-m. The next morning he […]

Walhalla resident Josh Holliday has yet to officially assume his new duties as principal at Keowee Elementary School. But early into his new assignment he may get a request to change the school’s mascot. 96.3/WGOG NEWS has learned that some school alumni will ask Holliday to drop the Cubs as the school’s mascot and bring back Indians, the school’s original […]