Author: Dick Mangrum

A 54-year old Oconee man has been ordered to serve a 10-year prison sentence.  This after his plea of guilty yesterday in the county General Sessions Courtroom.  Deputy Solicitor Jason Alderman said James Gus Orr Jr., of Douglas Drive, Seneca pleaded guilty to trafficking in methamphetamine 10-28 grams.

Representatives of the Kent Company, the Texas company that owns the Bountyland Quik Stops, are making application in Oconee County for sign changes, and there’s word this morning that the Bountyland stores are switching from Exxon to Texaco, effective next week.  A Walhalla City Council vote last night approved a monument sign and overlay at the city’s Bountyland location at […]

By the 9 o’clock hour this morning, a median on 123 — the Seneca-Clemson corridor — remained an accident scene investigation.  Westbound traffic appeared to have been backed up a quarter of a mile.  The scene is in front of the turn to J-C Sports.  One car was smoking; an airbag also deployed.

Oconee County Council signed off on the approval of a $100 thousand grant to facilitate the arrival of the Meyn America project at the county Industrial and Technology Park on highway 11.  The South Carolina Coordinating Council for Economic Development awarded the company $100 thousand for building and property site improvements.  County Council is told that the grant is similar […]

Cool, but dry sunny days are hailed by local residents.  But coupled with pleasant fall weather is the concern for a lack of rainfall.  The state committee that monitors conditions has placed 23 counties — including Oconee, Anderson and Pickens — as incipient drought counties.  Much of the northern half of the state is experiencing mild drought conditions.  As designated […]

John Elliott’s daughter in Atlanta tells him that in that major U-S metropolis she can’t see the stars and the moon at night.  What Oconee’s District One councilman tried to convey to last night’s meeting is that the artificial light created by large cities obscures one of nature’s blessings — a dark sky across the universe.  And Elliott wants to […]

A report given last night by Oconee’s economic development recruiter indicates Jamie Gilbert, hot on the trail of employers to create jobs, is mindful of the role agriculture plays, along with consideration that the pursuit of economic development should not conflict farmers’ ability to make a living.  Gilbert expressed to the county council that, as the county works to develop […]

A motorcyclist says, while on his bike, he was attacked by four dogs. Thomas Watford went before the Oconee County Council last night to complain about dogs running wild throughout the county and to appeal for something to be done.  Watford said he learned through Animal Control that, so far, in 2023 there have been 63 cases of dogs biting […]

Lynn Martin believes a school that is maintained as well as Tamassee-Salem Elementary shouldn’t be abandoned.  Another speaker at last night’s school board meeting, Stephen Dow, presented his thoughts to the trustees — three pages long.  Under a paragraph titled, “Responsibility to Maintain”, he writes:  “There is a certain responsibility that comes with building a large structure like a school, […]

A question aired during last night’s Oconee Planning Commission meeting:  Can the skinny, two-lane highway (SC 130) that skirts Lake Keowee handle traffic for a planned Oconee County home development of potentially of a couple of thousand homes and a population that is being said would exceed Walhalla’s population?  Last night was a chance for the advisory planning commission to […]