Category: News

South Carolina DHEC confirmed 378 new cases of COVID-19 in a report issued yesterday.  Nine of those cases were in Oconee County.  Statewide, eight people were added to the virus death toll.  Of 14,965 test results, the positivity was 5.7%.  These numbers are data reflecting the 24-hour count that ended at 11:59 Friday night.  On the state health agency report […]

On today’s report from the state health agency:  451 new cases of COID-19.  Seventeen of those cases are in Oconee.  Statewide, two people have been added to the death toll.  Of 15,661 test results, the new South Carolina positivity is 4%.

The owner of a painting company in Easley, Daniel Mark East, has been arrested and charged with failing to pay over withholding tax.  According to arrest warrants quoted by the state Department of Revenue, 59-year old East, owner of DME Painting, collected nearly $40 thousand in withholding tax from employees, but failed to pay it over to the revenue department […]

Oconee Sheriff’s Office reports a 13-year old girl who lives in the Poplar Springs area has been missing from her home for the last couple of days, and an appeal is made to the public for information about her whereabouts.  Ariel Ray Underwood is 5’2”, 128 pounds, black hair, hazel eyes.  A description of what she was wearing when she […]

A 17-year old from Pendleton remains the subject of a missing person report today, and Anderson County sheriff’s deputies request the public’s help to find here.  Authorities fear Catherine Jayla Eaton is in possible danger.  She is believed to have gone missing from her home on Blueberry Lane between 10:45 at night on Tuesday and the early hours of the […]

Two classes of elementary school children have been sent home by the Oconee School District, following findings of COVID-19.  According to the district, both Ravenel Elementary School near Clemson and Walhalla’s James Brown Elementary yesterday each had one student with the virus.  A first grade class at Brown Elementary and a K-5 class at Ravenel have been sent home and […]

The South Carolina DOT has a game plan for improving traffic safety on a section of highway 24, the West-Oak Highway, not far from the Westminster city limit.  And most of the 20 people who signed-in at this week’s public information meeting at the Westminster Baptist Church indicated they are in favor of improvements that will focus on “run-off-the-road crashes.”  […]

In a reaction to the labor shortage, South Carolina’s governor is calling a halt to the state’s participation in all federal pandemic-related unemployment benefit programs effective the end of next month. Governor McMaster says he has directed the state Department of Employment and Workforce to withdraw by June 30. His announcement states:  “We are currently facing a labor shortage created […]

Two trucks and two cars were involved in an accident late yesterday afternoon in Oconee County on U-S 123 at Millbrook Way, and at least one of the drivers required hospital treatment.  State trooper Brandon Bolt says the patrol issued citations for no seatbelt and too fast for conditions to the driver of a Chevy Colorado pickup truck who, according […]

The arrest yesterday of a Westminster area man is the second in a case that started with a business burglary last winter near Seneca.  Arrest warrants allege that Johnathan Douglas Swanson Sr. broke into the Tree South building and stole tree-cutting equipment worth in excess of $10 thousand.  It’s alleged 46-year old Swanson also took a 2020 Ford F-550 from […]