Author: Dick Mangrum

The cross-trained personnel of Walhalla Fire Department got little sleep during an extremely rainy and stormy night in the county seat.  About three and a half inches fell.  The worst incident apparently involved the car of a newspaper carrier.  Around 3 this morning a large tree fell on her car, as she delivered papers to Walhalla’s Laurel Hill Road area.  […]

It’s only the middle of August, but already Oconee’s election office has received 3,500 applications from voters who want to cast their November ballot through the mail.  Perhaps, this is a sign of Oconee voters’ interest this year in electing a president.  Joy Scharich, elections director, recommends that those who can qualify to vote absentee and wish to vote through […]

    A suspect in a late July shooting in Seneca has been moved to the Oconee jail—after having been apprehended in a motel room in Cherokee, North Carolina.  Chief John Covington of the Seneca Police said this about the case his department is pursuing against Kendal Ann Ellis:  “As far as anyone else being charged, that is still under […]

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) today announced 907 new confirmed cases and 27 new probable cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, 35 additional confirmed deaths and 11 new probable deaths. One new Oconee death reported, that of an elderly resident who died August 8.  DHEC is also projecting a “probable” Oconee COVID-19 death, based on […]

Data being analyzed by Clemson University show a significant level of COVID-19 infections in Greenville County residents.  Today’s announcement by the non-profit Renewable Water Resources states the program started in early June to test SARS-CoV-2 levels will continue with tests through the end of the year.  SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19.  Renewable Water Resources collects samples twice a […]

Invitations are going out for a ribbon-cutting ceremony next week for the Oconee School District’s newest education building–the Hamilton Career and Technology Center on highway 11.  The ceremony will be Thursday morning, August 20 at the campus.  The facility is to be ready for the new school year, scheduled to start the following Monday, the 24th.  For those attending the […]

The director of South Carolina Employment and Workforce is hailing a milestone.  First-time claims came in last week under 6,000.  That was a decrease of nearly 3,000 claims from the prior week.  But Dan Ellzey says it’s important to keep in mind that fewer than 6,000 new filers is three times higher than the weekly totals before the pandemic.  Oconee’s […]

  The push is on to ensure that all Americans are counted in this year’s census.  By ignoring your responsibility to be counted, you not only hurt yourself but your community as well—including hospitals, schools, public transportation, and other parts of the fabric of our lives.  An undercount is likely to cost your community a slice of the dollars that […]