Author: Dick Mangrum

This is the week seniors can take advantage of free produce coupons, a program from the state.  Handling the distribution in Oconee is the United Way, and the United Way’s LaShauna Harrison gives the following dates, times, and location:  Wednesday and Thursday, June 7 and 8 at Seneca’s Blue Ridge Community Center, the former public school building in Perry Hill […]

Changes are in the offing (starting July 3) in the way South Carolina’s criminal case dockets are developed.  It’s a directive handed down by the state’s highest court, the South Carolina Supreme Court in Columbia.  Lisa Burton, Oconee Clerk of Court, says the state’s clerks of court are to learn more in a meeting this week.  “There will be changes, […]

“I’ll buy dinner for anyone who wants it.”  That’s a comment attributed to the winner Friday of the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American Championship on Lake Hartwell.  Twenty-five-year-old Emil Wagner, bass fishing guide from Marietta, Georgia, sealed the deal with a 3-day total of 55 pounds, 11 ounces.  His margin of victory:  1 pound, 5 ounces.  Wagner earned $122,300,along with […]

Spartanburg resident Caleb Emmanuele Cohen became a drowning victim Saturday in Lake Keowee.  Authorities believe 35-year-old Cohen went into the water near High Falls County Park Saturday afternoon to help a child in distress, but he did not re-emerge.  At 8:45 Cohen’s body was located, and the coroner’s office notified.

An open door during the midnight hour Thursday in a Walhalla neighborhood raised the suspicions of a patrolling police officer.  And when the policeman saw the shadowy figure of a man through a window, the officer acted on his suspicions.  That resulted in the arrest of a 44-year old man, Bryan Ashley Evans, on multiple charges, including burglary second degree.  […]

The preamble to a new South Carolina Supreme Court order reads:  “In an efficient criminal justice system, cases should be disposed of within months instead of years, regardless of whether defendants go to trial, plead guilty, enter into a diversion program, or have their cases dismissed.”  The order, to take effect July 3, will have impact on, among other offices, […]

Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, a hopeful for the next Republication nomination for President, voted against the resolution that raises the debt limit. Without the Senate’s final vote of 63-36, the U-S risked an economically disastrous default days before Monday’s deadline. But, in a statement from Washington, Scott said, “If we don’t want our nation to default, we need […]

High atop Tuesday’s agenda for Oconee County Council is a public hearing on the council’s new spending plan.  Before the council takes a final vote on what now is a $60 million-plus measure, its members will entertain comments on what it’s going to take to fund a new year of county government in 2023-24, starting July 1.  There are varied […]

Dr. Michael Thorsland, Oconee Superintendent of Education, isn’t sure what he thinks should be the next school building project in the county.  But, he predicted, the Oconee trustees will talk about that when they meet on Monday.  Monday is the regular June meeting night for the school board.  Preceding the evening meeting will be a trustees’ tour of the replacement […]