Category: News

This is a busy day for those who set the policies for Oconee public schools.  The board of trustees meets twice today–the trustees’ annual retreat-style meeting this afternoon and the regular July meeting tonight.  They are scheduled to vote tonight on goals for the 2019-20 year.  In the view of Chairman Jerry Lee, the number one goal should be to […]

The newly crowned Miss USA, Cheslie Kyrst, makes an Oconee County appearance this month, and the public is invited to see and meet her.  Golden Corner Pageants has announced that Kyrst’s schedule will bring her to the Walhalla Middle School auditorium for a double-pageant event starting at 4 o’clock Sunday afternoon, July 28.  She’ll be there for the crowning of […]

A three-county coalition headed by Seneca native Mike Cannon spread the word Friday for the advantages of hiring those with disabilities.  Cannon helped create the coalition Foothills CAN which invited employers to hear how the disabled can be reliable and effective members of their workforce.  Representatives of Schneider Electric and Walgreen were among those companies represented at a luncheon meeting […]

An arrest is reported in the wounding of a man found last week in woods in the Utica Community near Seneca. According to Sheriff’s Capt. Greg Reed, 26-year old Marshall Lee Rogers of Jasmine Tea Lane has been arrested on charges of attempted murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. In a Hope Avenue […]

A late Saturday night home fire near Walhalla took the lives of an elderly man and his grandson. The fire was reported to 9-1-1 at 11:55 at a home on Hidden Valley Road in the Picket Post Community. Killed were Winfred Lee Dills, 75 years old, and his grandson, 25-year old Daniel Lee Ayers. Both men lived in the home […]

The DNA profile from the state police lab has ruled out the possibility that the human remains found last month in Seneca could be those of one or the other missing women from Oconee County. Coroner Karl Addis says based on the “SLED” lab analysis the remains are not those of Faith Roach or Laura Anders. The Seneca police had […]

A spotlight will shine on Toccoa, Georgia when a promotional tour for a new Ken Burns documentary arrives next weekend. On Saturday, July 20, a special screening of Ken Burns’ new documentary “Country Music” will be paired with a performance by Edgar Loudermilk and his band . Those who show up at the Historic Ritz Theatre will selected footage of […]

The S.C. Drought Response Committee met Friday, July 12, via conference call to update the drought statuses for South Carolina counties. The drought declaration was removed completely for several counties in the Lowcountry, including Georgetown, Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester, Colleton, Beaufort, Jasper and Hampton counties. Over the past 30 days, 6 to 14 inches of rainfall has fallen across much of […]

The hope of the South Carolina DOT is that the closed section of US 123/the Toccoa Highway is that the highway can be reopened Monday evening.  However, resident construction engineer Alan Adams says weather or other factors could push the re-opening back a few days.  The DOT had hoped it would have been able to have lifted the five-month detour […]

A lawsuit filed last month in Newberry has the potential to divide a long time consortium of electric cities that derive their power supply through ownership in part of a nuclear reactor. Westminster is a member city of the Piedmont Municipal Power Agency, but its mayor says his city has no part in the legal squabble and anticipates it will […]