Author: Dick Mangrum

The numbers of Oconeeans taking advantage of the permission to vote absentee in next month’s primary elections are growing, as concerns remain over the potential for the COVID-19 virus to spread.  Many who make up the senior citizen segment of the county electorate already routinely swell the absentee voting numbers, but many others are opting to avoid the election day […]

Gas prices in the Carolinas are inching higher as most of the region pushes towards re-opening, causing a growing number of people to hit the road. Gasoline demand is now only 30 percent lower than a year ago and even with prices expected to push more expensive this month, motorists will still see some low Memorial Day gas prices. “Gas […]

The drivers in a two-car highway 28 accident near the Oconee Memorial Hospital were sent to the hospital, but their injuries last evening were unknown to the Seneca police. The highway 28 accident at the traffic lights at Memorial Drive occurred during the noon hour yesterday and involved a Honda Pilot and a Toyota Corolla. According to Capt. B-J McClure, […]

In both Columbia and Greenville, a Prisma Health task force has partnered with local entrepreneurs to rapidly develop and manufacture large quantities of protective face shields for Prisma Health’s front-line healthcare workers. Face shields, which are full-face visors worn by workers to help protect their faces from potentially infectious substances, was early-on identified by Prisma Health as a critical-needs manufacturing […]

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control on Monday announced 126 new cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 and 6 additional deaths. This brings the total number of people confirmed to have COVID-19 in South Carolina to 8,942 and those who have died to 391. Four of those deaths occurred in elderly individuals in Charleston (1), Clarendon (1), […]

An Oconee County man was jailed and charged after a Friday night incident near Westminster in which a Chevy Blazer was driven into a pile of debris at a home near Lake Hartwell and set afire. Oconee law enforcement records show Randy Lee Webb, 40 years old, was arrested and charged with two counts of arson third degree. In one […]

Findings by government watchdogs during 2019 at Duke Energy’s Oconee Nuclear Station all were in the “green” category.  The NRC evaluates performance at nuclear plants with a color-coded system that classifies green, white, yellow or red, in an increasing order of safety significance.  Meaning “green” is the least significant.  During the part of an annual report meeting today, the NRC’s […]

The days are numbered for the traffic lights at a downtown Seneca intersection. City Administrator Scott Moulder says a study has been completed and approval given to removing the traffic lights at N. Townville and E. Main streets. The intersection which serves as a gateway to Ramcat Alley is to be converted to a four-way stop intersection. Moulder says, “The […]

The Clemson University Palmetto Poll recently gathered data from South Carolina residents to gauge their concern regarding the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the state and national response to it. Steven V. Miller, an associate professor in Clemson’s political science department who designed the survey, said that in addition to providing a general glimpse into residents’ concerns with the pandemic, the survey revealed major […]

A Walhalla restaurant’s busy drive-thru has only gotten busier during the COVID-19 pandemic. The added business, however, means increased work for the cooks and the order takers at Bantam Chef. But their work has not gone without appreciation. A man and his wife showed their appreciation last week by surprising Bantam Chef owner Tina Chastain with an envelope of money […]