Author: Dick Mangrum

A 9 o’clock hour accident last night near Walhalla injured a car driver, although reports indicate the injuries did not appear to be serious.  The fire department reported the accident on n. highway 11 in the vicinity of the Nason Plant.  It appeared the car left the two-lane highway and hit a guardrail.

August in the Golden Corner was a relatively cool month, according to the official records of Walhalla’s U-S weather observer.  Barbara Wilson says you have to go back to the 1st of August for the month’s high temperature of 94 degrees.  Nearly 12 inches of rain fell in Walhalla during August, and there was measured rain on 18 of the […]

A deal has been struck to remove 9.5 metric tons of weapons grade plutonium from the Savannah River Plant at Aiken, and the district’s congressional representative is making known his approval.  Rep. Jeff Duncan, Laurens Republican, issued a statement on the agreement announced between South Carolina and the Department of Energy.  “I’ve been fighting for solutions to this problem for […]

Each year Walhalla’s large outdoor festival, Oktoberfest, falls on the third weekend of October.  Whether or not there will even be an Oktoberfest at all during the pandemic will be decided during a meeting tomorrow.  Stacy Jackson of the Oktoberfest Committee says he’ll make the announcement as soon as tomorrow evening’s meeting is finished.  Meantime, organizers of the annual Miss […]

Seneca’s state lawmaker looked ahead today to a special September session of the General Assembly and an eventual decision on a state budget delayed by the pandemic.  Rep. Bill Sandifer is aware of projections that, in spite of pandemic costs, there will still be a surplus of money to spend.  Asked where he’d like to see surplus funds spent, the […]

A new study by Clemson University researchers lends further credence to the effectiveness of prescribed fire as a forest management tool that does not adversely impact ecosystem health by increasing sediment or nutrient runoff. With the largest mountain wildfire in South Carolina history still fresh in the memories of many in the Upstate, that distinction is important because a primary […]

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) today announced 651 new confirmed cases and  12 additional confirmed deaths.  New Oconee County cases numbered 12. This brings the total number of South Carolina confirmed cases to 117,333 and confirmed deaths to 2,588. As of yesterday, a total of 1,013,506 tests have been conducted in the state. The total number of […]

Crews from Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative are in rural Louisiana working to restore electric service.  There are a total of 16 Blue Ridge workers who, along with other South Carolina Co-Op crews, have responded to the damage inflicted by Hurricane Laura.  This morning, Blue Ridge’s Terry Ballenger says, it’s an open-ended question as to how low long they will remain.  […]

A spokeswoman for Oconee schools says one of the fatalities in yesterday’s tragic car accident near Clemson was a student at the Seneca High School.  She says the other fatality and the two others injured are former Seneca students.  The following school district twitter message appears:  “Please keep our Seneca High family and community, along with our district family, in […]