Author: Dick Mangrum

Veteran members of the board of the Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative have been returned to the policymaking board of the electric power supplier.  By outpolling Heath Haskett, Jimmy Dodgens was declared a winner; as was Frank Looper in defending his seat against challenger Jason Ambrose Dennis.  Both Dodgens and Looper represent Pickens County.  Blue Ridge’s two-day drive-thru annual meeting registered […]

Whether to work, play, or invest, Oconee, known as the Golden Corner of the state, was extolled today as the place to be by a lineup of speakers at the annual State of Oconee luncheon.  The setting was the cafetorium in a new public school building in Seneca, which is scheduled to receive its first students in August.  Nevertheless, for […]

Liberty road paver King Asphalt is in line for a $6.7 million Oconee County road work contract.  A recommendation to award the job of paving  22 miles of county roads as part of a multi-year contract is an agenda item next week for the county council.  Of 13 companies notified of the opportunity to bid for the work, only two […]

To help Oconee school trustees reach a decision, the district authorized an appraisal of the existing Seneca Middle School building and property.  The appraiser, according to associate superintendent Steve Hanvey, pegs the value, as is, at $1.85 million.  Should the building be demolished, the value then would be $1 million.  Look for the county trustees to decide what happens to […]

On March 26 the Oconee Detention Center learned that it has been awarded a grant of nearly $219 thousand dollars for a full body scanner.  The objective to help stop contraband from getting inside the jail.  And, with its capability for thermal scanning, the sophisticated equipment is capable of limiting the transmission of COVID-19 among the jail population.  Yesterday that […]

The men and women who make up Clemson City Council are approaching a final vote on a large residential/commercial project that would bring major change to section  of the city in the vicinity of 123 at Keowee Trail and Wall Street.  The planned development request of CS Acquisition survived the first of two readings April 1 in a 4-3 vote.  […]

Charges of trafficking in methamphetamine and unlawful exposure of a child to meth have been laid against a 45-year-old Oconeean – the result of a Wednesday traffic stop in the Earles Grove Community.  The sheriff’s office identifies the man charged and arrested as Ernest Wayne Hippensteal of Pitts Road.  On routine patrol, a deputy from “PACE” – the Pro-Active Criminal […]

A gold standard for nursing excellence has been achieved at the Prisma Health Oconee Memorial Hospital.  The hospital learned yesterday it has been awarded Magnet status, by having met rigorous standards set by the American Nurses Credentialing Committee.  It’s a sign that Oconee’s nurses take the lead in patient care and are considered drivers for change and innovation.  Connie Spykerman, […]

An attorney for Oconee County asked a judge this afternoon to throw out the last remaining part of a lawsuit that has remained at pre-trial stage for seven years.  If Judge McIntosh grants the county’s motion, the case of a former department head and his allegations against the county and two county council members will end, at least at the […]

Two days of ballot casting by customers in the multi-county Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative service territory have ended.  So, it’s now up to the ballot tabulations to determine the outcome of two contested seats on the board of directors, representing Pickens County.  And the announcement of the seat winners.