Author: Dick Mangrum

The trees were once considered a darling spectacle in the Walhalla downtown, but now South Carolina is set to become only the second state in the country to ban the nursery sale of Bradford pear trees.  The ban on sales will begin October 1, 2024, which is the annual nursery licensing renewal date in South Carolina.  Ohio will become the […]

Oconee public schools have a pair of new assistant principals ready to start the new school year in August.  West-Oak High graduate Stanley Antonio Scott is transferring from his fifth grade teaching assignment to join the administrative team at Seneca’s Northside Elementary School.  Dr. David Dennis is moving from his role as testing administrator and career counselor to work as […]

Out of all state senators in South Carolina, Walhalla’s Thomas Alexander now ranks number six in seniority.  And that seniority is conducive when it comes to major roles in how the state’s business is conducted.  Alexander, Republican representing Oconee and parts of Pickens County, announced to the Walhalla Rotary Club yesterday that he’s going to chair a special committee that’s […]

The first-year chairman of Oconee Republicans, David McMahan, was in a good mood last night when he spoke to the county school trustees and commended them for their views opposing efforts to incorporate critical race theory into the district curriculum.  McMahan, like other public comment speakers before him, gave credit to Journal newspaper for its series of articles about a […]

The Oconee coroner says an autopsy verified the death Saturday of a Westminster man was a Lake Hartwell drowning at Fair Play.  The victim was Wayne Michael Reynolds, 47 years old.

The national organization of baby doctors is recommending that, in the upcoming school year, all children wear masks. But that is not the plan next month when Oconee public schools open a new year.  Dr. Michael Thorsland, district superintendent, announced last night that the public schools are expecting a new year to be “like normal”. Which means the children and […]

Two Seneca teenagers, for whom a missing persons’ alert was issued late yesterday, have been located in Westminster.  Both King Supreme Jasiah Jones and his sister, Nevada Jones, are safe, according to an announcement last evening by Master Deputy Jimmy Watt.

The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help today in locating two missing Seneca area teenagers.   14 year old King Supreme Jasiah Jones and his sister, 13 year old Nevada Jones, were reported missing by a family member to the Sheriff’s Office early Sunday evening after a deputy from the Uniform Patrol Division responded to the teen’s […]