Category Archives: Local News
Council agrees to fund school board election
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — Pickens County Council approved funding for a special school board election next month, but several members expressed anger and frustration over the situation that led to the election being needed.
Council approved the funding request 5-1, with Councilman Chris Bowers opposing.
On Nov. 19, the Pickens County Board of Voter Registration and Elections nullified the District 7 election after it found that a protest lodged by candidate Alice Hendricks Vander Linden following the Nov. 6 election met the burden of proof.
Vander Linden’s attorney presented evidence that more than 100 voters in the district were given paper failsafe ballots that did not list the school board race. The failsafe ballots were issued after programming issues forced voting
You do not have permission to view this content
Subscribe Today or Login
Landfill may reach capacity next year
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — Pickens County Council will likely need to make a decision on the future of the county’s construction and demolition debris landfill sooner rather than later.
“Our tonnage at the landfill is at all-time high,” county administrator Gerald Wilson told county council members recently. “We’ve seen an increase of 20 to 25 percent over the last year, which means our capacity is shrinking faster than we thought it would originally.”
Wilson discussed the landfill issue during council’s recent planning retreat in
You do not have permission to view this content
Subscribe Today or Login
Easley OKs mobile home park changes
EASLEY — Easley City Council approved an amendment to the portion of its zoning ordinance concerning manufactured home parks on first reading Monday night.
“Requests were brought to council for them to look at manufactured home parks within the city and look at the restrictions that are placed on them,” city administrator Stephen Steese said.
The amendments place stipulations on park owners who remove an existing manufactured home and replace it.
The city’s planning commission worked on the amendment to the zoning ordinance regarding General Residential 1 zoning, “the only place where manufactured homes are allowed,” Steese said.
“The major changes were, it did change the minimum size for a manufactured home park requirements,” he said. “Any new ones, it went from 2 acres to 5 acres.”
The amendment also changes the minimum lot size allowed to 6,000 square feet.
It also requires the tongue, tow structures and the tires be removed from a
You do not have permission to view this content
Subscribe Today or Login
Community service projects Saturday
PICKENS — Rescheduled from last month’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, a variety of community service projects are planned around Pickens from 1:30-3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Organized by Boy Scout Troop 51, the Pickens Lions Club and AFTA, the projects will include litter pick-up along S.C. Highway 8 and the Doodle Trail, in addition to other projects.
Volunteers are invited to meet at Legacy Square at 1 p.m. for coordination of teams and location assignments. Those interested are urged to wear warm clothes and bring work gloves and trash pickers. All other supplies will be provided.
Conservative group set to meet next week
PICKENS — Conservatives of the Upstate’s monthly organizational meeting, led by leadership team Johnnelle Raines, Steve Haynie and Kathy Nix, will be taking place in the meeting room at the rear of Pizza Inn in Pickens at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 19.
The group will continue its discussions about goals going forward to keep Pickens County the most conservative county in South Carolina.
For more information, visit conservativesoftheupstate.com.
Choose wisely when selecting Valentine gifts
As the clock ticks down to Valentine’s Day, the pressure is on to find the ideal gift. While some sweethearts may provided some clues to help with Valentine’s Day shopping, many gift-givers are on their own.
The National Retail Federation predicts that, in 2019, shoppers may match Valentine’s Day spending from a year ago, when lovebirds spent a total $18.2 billion on gifts for their sweethearts. With so much money invested, shoppers no doubt want to find the best gifts possible. When shopping for Valentine’s Day, try to avoid these common mistakes and choose gifts that are creative and heartfelt.
• Skip the gas station flowers, candy or last-minute gifts. Valentine’s Day is a time to show you care. If you’ve left gifting to the last minute, you may make the situation worse by giving something impersonal you picked up on an errand. If you forgot or ran out of time, simply admit you goofed or time got
You do not have permission to view this content
Subscribe Today or Login
University Singers to take part in major National Guard event
CENTRAL — Southern Wesleyan’s University Singers have been invited to perform at the Change of Command Ceremony for the South Carolina 
National Guard Feb. 16 at McEntire Joint National Guard Base, located near Columbia.
The ceremony will honor Maj. Gen. Robert E. Livingston, who will retire following 40 years of service to the South Carolina National Guard. Livingston was first elected to his current office of South Carolina Adjutant General in 2011.
During a visit to Southern Wesleyan University to speak at a 2017 Military Appreciation Luncheon, Livingston heard the University Singers perform
You do not have permission to view this content
Subscribe Today or Login
Former Trans-Siberian Orchestra member to bringing team to LHS
LIBERTY — Former Trans-Siberian Orchestra member Mark Wood will be bringing his team to Liberty High School on Saturday, April 13, to perform alongside hundreds of Pickens County students as part of the Electrify Your Strings music education program.
Liberty High School was chosen as the host site because of its turf football
You do not have permission to view this content
Subscribe Today or Login
Courier Community Calendar 2-13-19
• Next NPS meeting set at Tri-County
The Native Plant Society meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, will feature Melanie Rhulman speaking on “best practices” for both agriculture and the streams and rivers of the Upstate.The event will be held in Anderson Hall at Tri-County Technical College, 7900 Highway 76 in Pendleton. The lecture is free and open to the public. Learn more at scnps.org.
• Pickens Lions Club invites locals to meet
The Pickens Lions Club has been serving the greater Pickens community since 1933. While its membership numbers have flexed over the years, one constant has remained — the club’s desire to help friends and neighbors in need.
The club is beginning a dynamic upswing in membership and is looking for movers and shakers with fresh ideas who want to make a difference in the community. The Pickens Lions meet the first and third Thursdays of each month at 7 p.m. at Pizza Inn in Pickens. Visit the club on Facebook at PickensLions or call Brian at (864) 507-3146 to get more information.
• St. Andrew UMC to host huge yard sale
The 17th annual church-wide yard sale will be held at St. Andrew UMC, 309
You do not have permission to view this content
Subscribe Today or Login
Officials update status of opioid lawsuit
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — Pickens County officials hope a lawsuit against pharmaceutical manufacturers will enable the county to recoup some of the costs it has incurred as a result of the opioid epidemic.
County attorney Ken Roper said the lawsuit that Pickens County has joined is “still in the very early stages.”
At the last update by the Spartanburg-based Harrison White law firm, the firm handling the lawsuit, county officials were told the complaint was being amended to add some additional defendants, he said.
“In the course of defending some of the defendants that they had, they found some other parties that had been involved in marketing or selling the opioids,”
You do not have permission to view this content
Subscribe Today or Login
