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Daily Archives: 05/16/2023

Woman still in jail after conviction in grandson’s death overturned

Brewer set to be tried again in case

By Riley Morningstar
Courtesy The Journal
rmorningstar@upstatetoday.com

PICKENS — A Pickens woman found guilty of killing her 13-month-old grandson by giving him oxycodone in a sippy cup is set to have a new trial after her conviction was overturned last fall.

Angela Brewer, formerly of Swiss Entrance, was released from the Camille Graham Correctional Institution in Columbia on Nov. 23 and has been held without bond at the Pickens County Detention Center as a pretrial detainee since then, according to officials.

The South Carolina Supreme Court in October overturned Brewer’s December 2017 conviction of homicide by child abuse, for which she was sentenced to serve 20 years in state prison. Brentley Kolbin Lane Lusk was found dead at Brewer’s home in October 2014.

State Attorney General’s Office spokesman Robert Kittle told The Journal the prosecutors asked

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Proposed new Easley budget has millage hike

By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com

EASLEY — The proposed city of Easley fiscal year 2023-24 budget contains a three-mill increase.

Easley City Council held first reading of the budget during its May 8 meeting.

Interim city administrator Tommy Holcombe presented the proposed $25,739,334 budget.

“Staff started working on this in January and have worked very hard to get to where we’re at,”

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Issaqueena Fest set for Saturday

SIX MILE — Main Street in Six Mile will be abuzz with activity this Saturday, May 20, for the town’s 33rd annual Issaqueena Festival.

The family-oriented event will offer the 11th annual Issaqueena’s Flight for the Fight 5K, plenty of food, a wide variety of craft vendors, games and activities for the kids and live music.

The Flight for the Fight will kick off the day at Ponderosa Park at 8 a.m. There will be three events — a 5K, a virtual 5k and a half-mile fun run. All proceeds benefit Dabo’s All In Team

SDPC officials honored with comm awards

 

COUNTY — School District of Pickens County officials announced this week that four schools/programs within the district, along with the district communications office, were honored with nearly two dozen prestigious awards from the South Carolina chapter of the National School Public Relations Association (SCNSPRA) for their exceptional communication efforts.

SCNSPRA recognized Liberty Primary, McKissick Academy of Science & Technology (MAST), R.C. Edwards Middle and the SDPC Work-Based Learning program at its annual Rewards for Excellence ceremony on

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Lions make history with second straight state title

By Bru Nimmons
Sports Editor
bnimmons@thepccourier.com

COLUMBIA — Coming off a dominant playoff run to its third straight Upper State title, the Daniel High School boys’ soccer team radiated confidence as it hoped to make history in Saturday night’s Class 3A state championship match against Beaufort High School.

The Lions proved reasonable in their self-assurance, taking control of the game within the first 10 minutes of action and never letting up in a 3-0 win to secure their second consecutive state title.

“After that Powdersville game (a 4-0 quarterfinal win for Daniel), we felt like we could beat anybody, anywhere,” Daniel senior captain and Gardner-Webb signee Ethan Marrero said. “We came out and we were confident in our ability to play, and we came home with thechampionship.”

While the win gave the Lions the sixth state championship in the storied history of the school’s soccer program, it was the first time that Daniel had

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Daniel boys set new standard for excellence

I always knew that Daniel’s boys soccer team would be good this year.

It’s a given that the program produces a winner, going back to head coach Andy Demori’s very first teams in the late 1970s. In fact, the Daniel boys’ soccer program has only ever missed the playoffs one time going back to those earliest years. So it came as no surprise whatsoever when the Lions ran through region play and entered the playoffs as a No. 1 seed.

What I didn’t see coming was the ensuing run that cemented the 2023 team as arguably

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Daniel softball eliminated by Chapman

By Bru Nimmons
Sports Editor
bnimmons@thepccourier.com

CENTRAL — With her team’s season on the line, Daniel High School softball coach Cora Downer was sure her team was going to advance against Chapman on Monday night.

Instead, the Lions just seemed a bat short in the wake of senior third baseman Bayleigh Brewer’s injury against Crescent late last week, as they failed to stay with the Panthers in a 3-1 loss that ended their run in the Class 3A Upper State playoffs, and their season as well.

“I didn’t think this was it,” Downer said. “I had full-on intentions of going on back to Crescent and

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Registration open for Pickens Rec summer day camp

PICKENS — Registration is now open for the Pickens Recreation Department’s 2023 summer day camps.

The camps will be held in six one-week sessions during the following dates: June 5-9, 12-16, 19-23 and 26-30, and July 10-14 and 17-21. There will be no day camp from  July 3-7.

The summer day camps are held from 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Pickens Recreation Center at 545 Sangamo Road in Pickens. The camps are for children ages 5-13.

Breakfast and lunch will be furnished through the S.C. Department of Education’s Summer Feeding Program.

The cost of the camp is $100 per child per week, but price adjustments may be made for additional siblings. There is a $50 registration fee that is nonrefundable and is due by May 19, including a camp T-shirt. Late registration fees will be $60.

For more information, contact the Pickens Recreation Department at (864) 878-2296.

And the winners are…

The Greater Pickens Chamber of Commerce held its annual awards banquet Friday night at Smithfields Country Club in Easley. The event brought chamber members together to recognize 2022 award winners. Nearly 100 chamber members were on hand for great food, dancing and fellowship. Above, Hal Singleton accepts the prestigious Duke Energy Citizenship Award from Duke Energy’s Trent Acker on behalf of his father, Billy Singleton, who was unable to attend. Below left, Melisa Sedler, owner of Southern Home Liquidators, is presented the 2022 Chamber Business of the Year Award from chamber director Bryan Owens. Below right, Coyote Coffee Café owner Tunckie LeCroy accepts the chamber’s award for 2022 Best Restoration from Ascend Pickens’ Norman Rentz for her new Main Street Pickens location.

Telling fact from fiction is getting harder

I once made a video in which the Starship Enterprise flew into downtown Greenville, paused for a moment, then swooshed away.

Or so it seemed.

Another time, while waiting for the Greenville County School Board to come out from a marathon “executive session,” I made a video in which it appeared that a gigantic boulder came crashing through the ceiling, smashed the empty podium and left it a smoking ruin.

I was bored.

Both of those, I made with an app on my phone.

They looked pretty realistic, but everyone knew they were faked.

My friends on Facebook got a laugh out of them.

Digital trickery, though, has made a quantum leap since then.

We have entered the era of “deepfakes.”

Have you heard about this? It is now possible — through the magic of artificial intelligence — to

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