Lack of qualified inspectors no easy fix

The plight faced by Oconee’s home builders drew further attention last night as county government tries to solve the problem of delays in completing new home inspections.  There remain three inspector vacancies in the county building and codes department, and the difficulty to fill the jobs is tied, in part, to the failure to offer pay commensurate with the qualifications […]

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Oconee set for taxpayer-backed bond sale

Many questions were posed – some with a sharp edge – yet, in the end last night Oconee’s governing board unanimously set in motion the sale of up to $25 million worth of general obligation bonds.  This sale, it was pointed out, was the largest ever for Oconee County general government purposes.  It was the purposes which received much debate […]

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William “Dean” Manning Sr.

Mountain Rest, SC– William “Dean” Manning, Sr. passed away on September 2, 2023 at age 90 in his home in Mountain Rest, SC.   Dean was born in Big Rapids, MI to William and Vera Manning and was an Air Force Veteran. He had a great love of music and was involved in Barbershop music since high school.   Dean […]

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Petition drive at halfway point

The drive to collect enough signatures of property owners to force a referendum on whether an Oconee volunteer fire station may enact a tax district has reached the halfway point, according to Chief Kevin Christenbury of the Corinth-Shiloh Fire Department.  Today he said, “We are at 50% of the required petitions, we count we need 800 and we are 407 […]

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“Half-dead” puppy abandoned

An arrest warrant alleges that a 32-year old Seneca woman abandoned a half-dead Shepherd mixed puppy; she was later charged with ill treatment and abandonment.  Charvilla Inez McWhorter-Ivy was arrested early Saturday and jailed at Walhalla.  The Oconee Sheriff’s Office provided the following information: “After an Animal Control Deputy observed the condition of the puppy, it was decided to euthanize […]

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State regulator considers utility purchase

Underway in Columbia, a state Public Service Commission hearing to consider the request of one utility to buy another.  The South Carolina Public Service Authority (“Santee Cooper”) seeks to buy the Cherokee County Cogeneration Plant.  It’s a 98 MW natural gas fired combined cycle cogeneration facility in Gaffney.  The parties have agreed on a $17M purchase price.

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Bat found in Mountain Rest had rabies

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) has confirmed two positive rabies cases in animals in two different counties: A bat found near Queens Drive and Rocky Gap Road in Mountain Rest, S.C., has tested positive for rabies. No people are known to have been exposed at this time. Three cats were exposed and will be quarantined […]

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