Author: Dick Mangrum

Five new cases (reported yesterday) have been added to the COVID-19 tracking page of the Oconee School District.  They are one employee at Seneca Middle School; one student at Seneca Middle School; one employee at Keowee Elementary; and two students at West-Oak High School.

In eight months’ time, fewer than 10 incoming prisoners have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Oconee Detention Center in Walhalla.  Sheriff Mike Crenshaw says, “We have been quarantining new inmates coming into the jail for 10 days but have had some to test positive over the last several months.  None required hospitalization.”  Crenshaw says the practice has worked and […]

In the opinion of Oconee’s top educator, students overall learn better in a classroom setting when there’s a teacher present.  That belief is a reason why Oconee’s Dr. Michael Thorsland prefers face-to-face over remote or distance learning.  Some students are benefitting from distance learning.  Others, however, are getting lower grades or not participating at all.  And the latter leads to […]

If after today, South Carolina’s litter-clogged roadsides look cleaner, you can thank the workers of the state DOT.  In support of the lieutenant governor’s “Grab a Bag SC 2020” cleanup, the Department of Transportation today deploys workers across the state to pickup roadside litter.  This cleanup will involve hundreds of workers, from headquarters to the county offices.  Motorists are asked […]

  A 29-year old man wanted in Rabun County, Georgia was arrested last weekend in Oconee County.  After his arrest, Anderson resident Justin Cole Turner was transferred to the custody of the Rabun County Sheriff’s Office.  There, according to the announcement, Turner is accused of unlawfully fleeing Georgia to avoid prosecution on the charge of family battery and battery and […]

An additional 981 cases of COVID-19 are reported by the state health agency in the report issued for Monday.  DHEC also confirmed 27 new deaths, including an elderly Pickens County resident.  Among the 981 new cases, 28 are in Oconee County.  The total test results reported to DHEC statewide Sunday were 6,888–a positivity of 14.7%.

JoAnn Johnson no longer is the executive director of the Oconee Chamber of Commerce.  In a Facebook post, she writes:  “Friends, Just wanting everyone to know that I am no longer employed by the Chamber of Commerce.  Be blessed.”

A man and a woman have been arrested and charged with the burglary of a home near West Union where guns and other items were stolen.  The sheriff’s office announces burglary and other charges against James Harold Ramey, 38, of Chambers Hill Drive, Seneca and Laura Michelle McAlister, 47, of Lusk Road, Walhalla.  Ramey and McAlister were jailed Friday afternoon […]

A 33-year old Seneca man remained jailed over the weekend after his drug arrest early Friday, as the result of a traffic stop by an Oconee sheriff’s deputy.  The sheriff’s office today identified Darren Bernard Gibson as the driver of a Dodge Challenger who was charged with trafficking in cocaine third or subsequent offense.  According to the sheriff’s office, the […]

With more than 12 years’ banking experience, Shirley Merel has joined Blue Ridge Bank as assistant head teller at the bank’s main office in Walhalla.  In her career, Merel has held titles such as customer service specialist, assistant head teller, and branch operation leader.