Daily Archives: 03/16/2016
Easley teen dies in wreck
POWDERSVILLE — An Easley teen died after a single-vehicle accident Tuesday morning in Anderson County.
Jerry Orr, 15, of Easley, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, Anderson County deputy coroner Josh Shore said.
The accident occurred at 2:45 a.m. Tuesday morning on Three Bridges Road, according to Lance Cpl. David Jones with the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
A 2006 Dodge Durango SUV was traveling west when it went off the side of the road, striking a ditch and several trees before overturning several times, Jones said.
The vehicle was traveling at a very high rate of speed, according to Shore.
The driver of the SUV, Michael Locke, 27, of Easley, and another 15-year-old passenger were transported to Greenville Memorial Hospital, Jones said.
Shore said they sustained minor injuries.
None of the three were wearing seatbelts, according toJones.
Orr was enrolled at the Anderson County Alternative School, Shore said.
The Highway Patrol is still investigating the accident.
Sunset men charged in Clemson robbery
CLEMSON — Clemson University police arrested two Pickens County men and charged them with second-degree burglary and strong-arm robbery last week.
Clayton Scott Allen Vanden Berg, 22, and Jared Michael Burdette, 23, both of Sunset, were arrested last Tuesday. Police said they entered an apartment Saturday afternoon at Lightsey Bridge Apartments on campus and forcibly took a wallet and other items from the occupant.
They were each released on $25,000 personal recognizance bonds.
Mother Nature’s fury
A severe thunderstorm that blew through the area on Monday evening downed trees and damaged buildings throughout the area, including this building that formerly housed Stevens Brothers Plumbing and Ramey’s Garage on Main Street in Pickens.
Easley Pride Day set for next month
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — With spring comes spring cleaning in Easley.
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The City of Easley will sponsor Easley Pride Day next month to encourage residents to pitch in and help beautify their neighborhoods.
Councilman Kent Dykes spoke of the community cleanup effort during Monday night’s Easley City Council meeting.
The cleanup will be held from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, April 16, in all wards of the city “to help our residents properly dispose of large refuse in their area that’s not collected on the curbside,” he said.
Large waste containers will be placed in each ward of the city for Easley Pride Day.
“Go into your neighborhoods, get those large items and bring them to these containers to be disposed of,” Dykes said.
Signage will be posted in the weeks leading up to Easley Pride Day to let residents know where the large waste containers will be.
During the cleanup time, a shredder truck will be parked at City Hall, Dykes said.
“Any businesses that have confidential papers, stuff that you want shredded, you can bring it up there at no cost and it will be taken care of,” he said.
Last year’s community cleanup effort netted more than 14 tons of trash, Dykes said.
“It was a big hit last year,” Mayor Larry Bagwell said.
This year, the city wants to collect “significantly more than that,” Dykes said.
“Spread the word,” Dykes said. “Let’s clean up our city.”
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MOW pancake breakfast is Saturday
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
LIBERTY — Local residents will be able to start Saturday morning off right with a pancake breakfast whose proceeds will help Meals on Wheels continue to help others.
Pickens County Meals on Wheels will host the pancake breakfast from 8-11 a.m. Saturday morning at the McKissick Center for Senior Wellness in Liberty.
Tickets are $5 each and can be ordered in advance or purchased at the door Saturday. The breakfast includes pancakes, sausage, juice and coffee.
The breakfast is part of the March for Meals campaign, PCMOW program coordinator Marsha Robertson said.
“It’s a nationwide, monthlong celebration of Meals on Wheels,” she said.
In addition to filling bellies Saturday, the breakfast is a way to introduce the community to the local Meals on Wheels program and its needs.
“We’re always looking for volunteer drivers to help,” Robertson said. “We depend solely on volunteer drivers to deliver meals to about 200 seniors every day in the community, Monday through Friday. There are about 22 routes that volunteers cover in making those deliveries.”
Volunteer drivers are welcome, no matter what their availability. Some drivers deliver every day. Others give of their time once a month.
“Whatever their schedules allow,” Robertson said. “We’re willing to work with them.”
PCMOW drivers deliver more than meals. For many area seniors, a visit from a Meals on Wheels driver is the only social contact they may have in a day. Visits from drivers help seniors fight isolation.
If you’re not interested in driving, there are other ways you can help.
“We produce all of our meals at our center in Liberty,” Robertson said. “We have needs for volunteers to help prepare our meals for delivery in the mornings. We also need volunteers in the kitchen in the afternoons to do food prep for the next day.”
A third opportunity for volunteers is helping with programs.
“We have a senior activities center,” Robertson said. “There are opportunities for adults to come in and help with some of the activities at the senior center, primarily in the morning.”
To purchase breakfast tickets in advance, email marsha.robertson@pcmow.org or call (864) 712-0289 or (864) 855-3770.
To volunteer, “drop by, give us a call or check out our website,” Robertson said.
Pickens County Meals on Wheels is located at the McKissick Center for Senior Wellness at 349 Edgemont Ave. in Liberty. For more information, call (864) 855-3770 or visit pcmow.org.
School board votes to shut down elementary schools
Rocky Nimmons/Courier
Local residents hold signs in support of schools during Monday night’s Pickens County School Board meeting, at which the board voted 4-2 to shut the doors of Holly Springs and A.R. Lewis elementaries.
By Rocky Nimmons
Publisher
rnimmons@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — In the time it took to raise four hands, two Pickens County communities lost their identities Monday night, as the Pickens County
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School Board voted 4-2 to shut the doors of Holly Springs and A.R. Lewis elementaries.
Despite numerous meeting with parents, teachers and residents and even motions to postpone and pleading from two of the board’s own members, trustees Judy Edwards, Phillip Bowers, Brian Swords and Herbert Cooper all voted to close the two “mountain schools” and push their students and teachers into the remaining Pickens-area elementary schools. Dr. Henry Wilson and Alex Saitta voted against the proposal.
In a special called meeting Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m., the district’s facilities committee settled on a recommendation to keep Ambler Elementary open, abandoning an earlier plan to push the school’s students and teachers to Dacusville Elementary. The move, which spared one of the three Pickens elementary schools on the chopping block, did not affect the fates of the other two.
With only 68 people allowed into the board room at the district office by a fire marshal and dozens more waiting outside the building during a heavy thunderstorm, members of the public were denied the chance Monday night to speak one last time to save their schools.
Wilson started the meeting by making a motion to move the proceeding to a larger venue to accommodate all who wanted to attend. That idea was voted down, with only Saitta and Wilson voting in favor of the measure.
Wilson also motioned to allow 90 minutes for those who wanted to speak to have the chance to do so before the vote, and again the motion was voted down 4-2 to the jeers of those allowed in for the proceedings.
Bowers then made a motion to amend the meeting agenda to strike the facilities committee report concerning the possible study of Pickens-area middle schools. Prior to the meeting, a note was made available that was titled “Message to Dacusville Residents.” The note stated that Dacusville schools were not a part of the consolidation proposal that would be before the board Monday night. It stated that no plans for closure of Dacusville schools have been presented to the board.
“Mr. Bowers had a PowerPoint and clearly pointed out that there was a proposal to close Dacusville Middle School and move the 300 students to Pickens Middle School and have the alternative educations program moved to Dacusville,” said Wilson, who represents the Dacusville area. “I respect that we adjourned the meeting on Saturday, but that puts it on the table. I think the majority of people in this room pretty much understands that when you guys put something on the table regardless if you call it a rumor or not, it comes to pass. That is why you see all these Dacusville people here today. Even our county councilman (Tom Ponder) is standing outside in the rain.”
Edwards told Wilson that the closure of Dacusville Middle was not on the table during Monday’s meeting. She said the proposal was just an idea or a study and was not presented as a fact or something that was going to happen.
“So the people should wait until you guys talk about it in a back room where nobody will knows about it and then bring it for a vote and the next week pass it?” Wilson asked.
“If it is discussed and we pursue it, and like we said, it was just an idea that was presented to save money rather than spend money on the old B.J. Skelton building and use Dacusville Middle as an alternative school,” Bowers responded. “That was just a suggestion from a citizen in the community. We didn’t get around to that at the meeting on Saturday.”
Rocky Nimmons/Courier
Dozens of people were left outside during a thunderstorm at Monday night’s Pickens County School Board meeting.
Edwards then read the recommendation from the committee that would close Holly Springs and A.R. Lewis and consolidate them into other Pickens-area schools.
Edwards said the recommendation was based on information concerning Census trends, school enrollment, operational and capital improvements and efficiencies and transportation.
“The reason we are faced with this is that we continually kicked the can down the road,” Swords said. “We did not take the time to create the funding mechanism for our capital improvement plan. We have to let go of the things in the past. The building program is over. We have to quit pulling the scab off this wound and let it heal.
“If we do not change course and act strategically, there will be more closings to come.”
He then made a motion to amend the recommendation to allow the remaining elementary schools in the Pickens area to continue to house grades K4-5. The motion passed.
Bowers followed with a motion that would allow, if passed, the two schools closed to continue to get minimal maintenance for one year to keep the school viable in the event that a charter school wanted to be created. The amendment passed.
Saitta then made a motion to not consider the closures indefinitely so people could take a step back and think about it a little longer and see it from a broader prospective. The amendment was voted down 4-2.
Wilson said that in a poll he had taken across Pickens County, 70 percent of the people said they would not be in favor of closing schools.
“Clearly, if two-thirds of our community does not want us to close schools, obviously that is going to upset people,” he said. “That is what the overwhelmingly majority of our community wants.”
Saitta then questioned if the board had the moral standing to close schools.
“Leaders have to be conscious not only of their legal authority, but whether or not they have the moral authority,” he said. “I don’t have the moral standing, and I have been representing this district for 12 years. My roots are not from here. Frankly, I am from New York City. I have no place messing with a 100-year tradition in rural Pickens County, South Carolina. When I think about people who could make that decision of this magnitude, this (school board) is at the bottom of that list.
“If you close these schools, it will be unforgivable. You are going out of your way to close these renovated schools. Some are the top performers in the county. I am telling you, your names will be mud in this county, because you do not have the moral authority to make this decision in the eyes of these people. Closing these schools is going to be your signature issue.”
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Quinn announces bid for SC Senate District 2 seat
Easley — Allan Quinn announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination to be S.C. Senator for District 2 (Pickens County) at the IPRA World Championship Rodeo held at T. Ed Garrison Arena in Clemson recently.
The position is currently held by Sen. Larry Martin, who has represented Pickens County for the last 37 years in Columbia as state represenative and as state senator (24 years).
Quinn
“I have the experience, knowledge and education to represent District 2 as state senator and will have as my first priority Pickens County.,” Quinn said. “The career politicians in Columbia have lost sight of what really matters to the people that elect them to office.
“We live in an area of the country that is seeing tremendous job growth in counties close to us, but nothing ever comes to Pickens County. My first goal will to bring in well paying jobs to the Pickens County Commerce Park that the county spent millions of dollars to develop in 2003, but very few good jobs to show for it. I will do every thing I can to bring in good paying jobs so our children and grandchildren will not have to move away to find work after they finish their education.
“My second goal will be to team with a group of senators in Columbia that want true SCDOT Reform. It has even been called for by the governor, but the good old boy network in the state senate refuses to enact meaningful road reforms that we direly need for the whole state. My idea is no more money until reform is done. That’s the only way it will get done.
“My experience includes being a Pickens County native, graduating from Easley High School in 1968, being drafted in the U.S. Army in 1968 and ending up spending 10 years in the Nuclear Weapons Logistics Division. I saw service in nine countries during my service having to deal with many different governments. I went to work for Duke Energy at Oconee Nuclear Station in management and procedure control, where I retired after 30 years in 2009. I attended night classes at Greenville Tech and graduated in 1988 with a degree in business, with a major in management. I worked with the South Carolina High School Rodeo Association for 17 years as parent, president, executive board member and then as their national director for seven years (1999-2006). I am currently owner/operator of Easy Bend Farm in Easley. We hosted a S.C. high school rodeo at our farm for 13 years in conjunction with the Easley High School Navy JROTC unit as a fundraiser for them.
“My family includes my daughter, Heather, and son, Zach, four grandchildren, Hope, Bryce, Lil Claire and Ashley. My wife, Susan, passed away in 2010.
“We must have reform at the state level with the SCDOT and SCIB to repair our roads. Currently the commissioners and other officials are appointed by state legislatures instead of being voted for. That is why we see no road work going on, because they all owe each other favors and special interest payoffs. We don’t need gas tax money we need to spend what we have in a responsible way. We need to replace as many career politicians this year in Columbia as we can so things will start working for the taxpayers again,” Quinn said.
To find the campaign on Facebook, search “Win with Quinn.”
Martin to seek re-election to State Senate District 2
PICKENS — State Senator Larry A. Martin (R-Pickens) has announced he intends to file for re-election to the S.C. Senate District 2 seat on Friday.
Martin, the first non-attorney to serve as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was first elected to the state Senate in 1992 and previously served in the South Carolina House of Representatives.
Martin
“It has been a great honor to represent the people of Pickens County in the General Assembly. I truly appreciate the confidence that has been placed in me to serve and to hopefully make our county and state a better place. I don’t take for granted the upcoming primary campaign and humbly ask for the continued support of the citizens in Pickens County on June 14, Martin stated. When asked about his accomplishments, Martin stated the recent bill that he and other members of the Pickens Delegation just pushed through the Legislature to stop coal ash from being dumped near Liberty was a good example of his leadership and effectiveness. “Pushing that bill through the Legislature in a very short period of time did not just happen because it was a good idea. I utilized every resource at my disposal to draft a workable bill and prepare it for introduction. Then it became a team effort as each member of the Pickens Delegation did his part in getting it through both houses and to the Governor’s desk,” Martin said.
“Also, I am extremely proud of the domestic violence reform legislation that was enacted last session,” the Pickens Senator commented. “For much too long our state has led the nation in domestic violence deaths, and that important legislation is just the beginning of a much larger effort to reverse that awful statistic.”
Martin also pointed to reform efforts that began with a major state government restructuring bill early in his term as Judiciary Committee chairman. “I used the influence of the Judiciary chairmanship to work closely with Governor Haley and other reform-minded legislators to build on the late Governor Carroll Campbell’s cabinet initiative. We also formalized legislative oversight of state agencies so that the General Assembly has an ongoing responsibility to closely examine every state agency over a seven year cycle.”
The Senator concluded, “The Senate just passed a significant reform of the Department of Transportation that also dedicates $400 million of existing general fund revenues toward repairing our roads without raising taxes. Very soon, I intend to make another run at meaningful ethics reform. The bill would require independent investigations of ethics violations by members of the Legislature and disclose sources of private incomes.”
Martin and his wife, Susan, have three children, one grandchild, and are longtime Pickens residents. The Martins are active members of Pickens First Baptist Church where he serves as a Sunday School teacher and church moderator. Martin has been associated with Alice Manufacturing Company in Easley for almost 35 years.
“I’m proud that all three of our children went through our local public schools, graduated from Clemson University, and are gainfully employed,” Martin chuckled.
