Author: Dick Mangrum

South Carolina DHEC has confirmed daily COVID-19 cases between 800 and some 900 for each day–Thursday through Saturday of last week.  Oconee County confirmed cases added to those numbers as, on Friday alone, the state health agency counted 42 new county cases for that 24-hour count period. Test positivity was in the category of 6-plus percent.

It’s not too late to buy a used iPad from the Oconee School District.  Josh Shepherd, tech chief for the public schools, says the drive-thru sale finishes at the noon hour, but you will be able  to walk inside the district offices and likely purchase from the number still left by the afternoon hours.

Oconee County government offices will close at the end of the business day on Thursday and remain closed for the Christmas holiday weekend.  They are scheduled to re-open at regular time on Wednesday morning, December 29.  The closings apply to the non-essential services.  Normal and routine law enforcement operations will go on as scheduled.

A doctor who practiced in Hartwell, Georgia and other parts of the region was found guilty this month of sex crimes and is scheduled to be sentenced in January.  Dr. Tommy Beeson, 74 years old, faces a minimum prison term of 25 years, based on a Hart County jury finding him guilty of aggravated sexual battery, child molestation, and sexual […]

A Lake Hartwell access area will be closed shortly after the start of the New Year and remain closed, likely, for most of 2022 to allow for improvements.  Oconee County announces the closing, Tuesday, January 4, of the Seneca Creek Access Area.  Anticipated re-opening will be December 7, 2022.  A Department of the Army permit authorizes a new 3-lane boat […]

State health officials are scheduled this afternoon to release the latest South Carolina COVID-19 numbers, for a three-day period to cover Thursday through Saturday.  On Wednesday last week, the latest day for which DHEC numbers were available, 796 new cases had been confirmed across the state.  There were an additional 15 deaths, including two Pickens County residents.  The latest test […]

Oconee Sheriff’s Office has released the description of the suspect in a burglary Wednesday last week near Seneca’s corporate limit.  The office at Upstate Materials, SC 130/the Rochester Highway, was ransacked and items stolen apparently between 7:30 and 8:30 at night.  Evidence points to a tall, white male, wearing tennis shoes, jeans, a plaid button-up short, and a camouflage hat.  […]

Saturday morning, a week before Christmas, the line of patrons at the counter at the Seneca Post Office stretched from the counter lobby to the main lobby of the building.  The lineup was more than 10-deep, and several of the patrons clutched packages to be mailed for the holidays.

  A new electric vehicle arrived the other week at a home in Walhalla.  Its new owner says he’s looking forward to “cutting the hose” – a reference that this motorist no longer will be subject to the unpredictability of gas pump prices.  101.7/WGOG NEWS learned Friday that the idea of establishing an electric vehicle charge station will be discussed […]