Daily Archives: 10/29/2025
Municipal elections set for Tuesday
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — Election Day is right around the corner, with voters set to return to the 
polls on Tuesday to decide municipal races in the cities of Easley, Liberty and Pickens and the towns of Central, Norris and Six Mile.
In Pickens, three city council seats are up for grabs. Challengers Danny Adams, Jonathan Baker, Jeff Derrick, Youssef Kobach and Jessica Merrill and incumbents John McManus and Cameron River will
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SCDOT closes more bridges in Pickens County
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — The South Carolina Department of Transportation last week closed two more bridges in Pickens County until repairs can be made.
A news release issued Oct. 21 by SCDOT officials said Riggins Bridge Road over Twelve Mile Creek was closed for repairs following a routine inspection.
The bridge will remain closed until repairs can be made, the release said.
A detour has been set up.
“Please note that Riggins Bridge Road will be open to local traffic only, except at the bridge site,” the release said. “SCDOT asks that drivers slow down and pay attention to signs and crews when driving through the area.”
Those traveling eastbound on Riggins Bridge Road will be directed to take Bolding Road south and turn left on Praters Creek Road. They’ll then turn left onto Stewart Gin Road and follow it until they reach Gilstrap Road and turn left, bringing them back to Riggins Bridge Road.
Westbound traffic on Riggins Bridge Road will be directed to take Gilstrap Road south and turn right onto Stewart Gin Road. They’ll follow Stewart Gin Road and turn right onto Praters Creek Road and then take another right onto Bolding Road. This will bring them back to Riggins Bridge Road.
In a separate release issued Friday, SCDOT said the Rice Road bridge over Rices Creek in Pickens was closed that same day and will remain closed until repairs can be made.
Rice Road is open to local traffic only, except at the bridge site, and drivers are again urged to slow down and pay attention to signs and crews in the area.
A detour has been set up.
Drivers traveling northbound on Rice Road are directed to take Gentry Memorial Highway (S.C. Highway 8) west and turn right onto Cedar Rock Church Road, which will bring them back to Rice Road.
Those driving southbound on Rice Road are directed to turn right onto Cedar Rock Church Road, then turn left onto Gentry Memorial Highway, bringing them back to Rice Road.
The public is encouraged to check with SCDOT social media and scdot.org for updates on bridge closures and repairs, both releases said.
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Man charged with posing as police officer
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
OCONEE COUNTY — A Pickens man faces several charges in Oconee County, including impersonating a law enforcement officer.
According to an Oconee County Sheriff’s Office release issued Friday, Jason Dwayne Whitlock, 42, of Edens Road, is charged with impersonating a law enforcement
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County leaders eye CATbus expansion
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — Members of the Pickens United group discussed the possibility of seeing the Clemson Area Transit system, known as CATbus, expand to serve other areas of 
Pickens County.
Pickens United met in Easley on Sept. 29.
After her update to the group about council matters, Pickens County Councilman
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Soapstone Preservation Endowment reaches goal
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — An effort to build a $1 million endowment to protect and promote the legacy of Soapstone Baptist Church is officially a success.
For more than 150 years, the church has been a cornerstone of Pickens’ Liberia community, founded by freed slaves after the Civil War.
For years, the future of the church, the restored slave cemetery on its grounds and the soapstone outcropping that gave it its name were in doubt, as the deadline on the church’s mortgage was soon to come due.
That could have put the church, with its beautiful view of Table Rock, in danger of being purchased, razed and developed.
A fundraising campaign that went global allowed the mortgage to be paid off.
An additional layer of protection was laid over Soapstone with the placing of a
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