The results are in
After readers cast thousands of ballots and members of the Courier family spent many hours hand-counting and tabulating the results, More »
‘When in doubt, throw it out’
Roper lists ways to help save taxpayer money on county recycling program By Jason Evans Staff Reporter jevans@thepccourier.com COUNTY — More »
COLUMBIA — The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) announced Thursday that 50 percent of eligible residents have More »
Take another look at COVID vaccination
One Saturday morning when I was in the second grade, my mom and dad took me and my brother down More »
Cool off with a simple summer smoothie
. If you’re craving something with a taste of sweet and don’t want to bake, try a smoothie. They are More »
The results are in
After readers cast thousands of ballots and members of the Courier family spent many hours hand-counting and tabulating the results, the time has finally come to officially unveil the businesses who were honored as the best at what they do in Pickens County in the third-annual Readers’ Choice Awards.
Check out this week’s Print edition for a special keepsake section listing the winners and honorable mentions across more than 100 categories. Now on sale at a convenience, drug or grocery store near you. Get you fast before they are all gone!
‘When in doubt, throw it out’
Roper lists ways to help save taxpayer money on county recycling program
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — Pickens County administrator Ken Roper says the public’s assistance is needed with the county’s recycling program.
Roper discussed recycling during a Facebook Live update video posted Friday.
Plastic items not meant for recycling are being placed at the recycling centers, he
said. Currently there’s not a need on the recycling market for much of this plastic.
“We’re trucking plastics from the recycling centers to the center and then, since nobody will come get it, we ultimately have to make the decision ‘OK, we’ve got to treat this like trash,’” Roper said. “We can’t keep it anymore and we have to truck it again to the ultimate
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County must decide road funding source
South Carolina Supreme Court decision casts future of road user fees in doubt
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — Pickens County Council members met Monday night to begin discussing how to pay to maintain roads in the county, now that the South Carolina 
Supreme Court has struck down a similar funding mechanism in Greenville County.
In June, justices invalidated two “user fees,” including a road maintenance fee, ruling that the fees were actually taxes, and as such could only be authorized by the General Assembly.
Although that ruling only applied to Greenville County, Pickens County Council held a special called meeting to consider an ordinance repealing the road use fee ordinances and amending the Fiscal Year
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Filing open for city elections
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — Election filings opened for the 2021 municipal elections last week, and Pickens County has already seen incumbents and newcomers alike file for 
seats across the county.
Liberty has seen the most newcomers filing, with three candidates who are not currently in office vying to join Liberty City Council. Robbie Shoenleben has filed for the vacant Ward 1 seat that was previously held by Brad Dover, Peggy Edwards is running for the Ward 2 seat currently held by
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Administrator says most COVID cases likely delta variant
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — Like many others, Pickens County administrator Ken Roper said he has “COVID fatigue.”
“I’m tired of it,” Roper said in a Facebook Live update video posted Friday. “I know a lot of you are tired of it. I’m tired of the things that we have to do, the worries that we have to have.”
Roper wished to address questions he’s getting from residents — what is the delta variant, and when will it be in Pickens County?
“The news that I would give you is this — the delta variant is probably a lion’s share, the majority of the cases that we’re
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Woman killed in weekend wreck
CENTRAL — A West Union woman died Saturday after a two-vehicle collision in Central.
Pickens County Coroner Kandy Kelley identified the victim as Deborah Williams, 71, of Ebenezer Road.
The collision occurred at 5:55 p.m. Saturday on S.C. Highway 133
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Central Fire Department receives state, federal grants for equipment
By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal
goliver@upstatetoday.com
CENTRAL — The Central Fire Department has been awarded federal and state grants of more than $200,000 to provide protective gear and breathing apparatuses for firefighters.
Elijah Reynolds, lieutenant for the Liberty Fire District and assistant coordinator for Pickens County Haz-Mat, and his brother, Central firefighter Isaiah Reynolds, applied for the grants.
Isaiah applied for a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant headed up by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham for breathing apparatuses. The fire department was awarded $182,000 of a $1.7 million countywide grant that purchased 26 air packs and required a $7,000 match from Central and a $9,000 match from the Pickens County portion of Central Rural Fire. Elijah, with assistance from State Rep. Jerry Carter of Clemson, applied for and received
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South Carolina reaches 50% one-dose COVID vax rate
COLUMBIA — The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) announced Thursday that 50 percent of eligible residents have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
The latest vaccination data showed that 816,007 South Carolinians had received at least one dose of the Moderna vaccine, and 1,189,885 residents had received at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Another 141,039 residents had received the single-dose Janssen, which means they are already fully vaccinated. Overall, 44 percent of South Carolina residents were fully vaccinated as of
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DHEC warns against virus misinformation
COLUMBIA — The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) is backing U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy’s warning about the danger of COVID-19 misinformation.
Murthy said recently that some 67 percent of unvaccinated American adults had heard at least one COVID-19 vaccine myth as of Late May.
“Health misinformation is an urgent threat to public health. It can cause confusion, sow mistrust and undermine public health efforts, including our ongoing work to end the COVID-19 pandemic,” Murthy said in a statement. “As surgeon general, my job is to help people stay safe and healthy, and without limiting the
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Take another look at COVID vaccination
One Saturday morning when I was in the second grade, my mom and dad took me and my brother down to Calhoun-Clemson Elementary School for a medical treatment that seemed almost like magic.
The long tables inside the lunchroom, instead of being laden with Mrs. Galloway’s legendary yeast rolls and the other cafeteria fare we were used to seeing, were lined with rows of little paper cups, each one with a sugar cube that had a drop of pink medicine in it.
Somehow, eating one of those sugar cubes, we were told, would keep us from getting polio, a terrible disease that crippled children.
I think that was the first time I ever heard the word “vaccine.”
This was around the same time that John Glenn climbed into a tiny space capsule named Friendship 7 and circled
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