Category Archives: Local News
Need for blood donors ‘critical’
Behavioral Health Services to host blood drive Monday
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — In June, officials with The Blood Connection and Upstate hospitals sounded the alarm about a lack of blood donors and said they feared the possibility of a blood shortage.
As summer winds down, the situation hasn’t improved, according to Katie Smithson, press and media coordinator with The Blood
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Duke seeking state approval for rate hikes
By Riley Morningstar
Courtesy The Journal
rmorningstar@upstatetoday.com
COLUMBIA — Duke Energy Carolinas is asking a state agency for its blessing to pass a rate increase that would 
increase the average residential customer’s bill by almost $16, saying fuel prices triggered the request.
The utility made its annual filing on July 29, with the Public
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County receives millions for airport expansion project
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
LIBERTY — The Pickens County Airport will be expanding and is receiving some financial help from the South 
Carolina Aeronautics Commission.
“We’re building a lot of taxiway space, a lot of hangar space,” county administrator Ken Roper said during Pickens
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Man faces series of drug charges
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — A Pickens man faces multiple drug charges after a Pickens County Sheriff’s Office investigation.
According to a sheriff’s office release, members of its Special Operations Unit and Community Action Team initiated a drug investigation on Knollwood Heights Road last month.
Special Operations Unit agents supervised undercover transactions that yielded
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DHEC official gives update on monkeypox in SC
By Andrea Kelley
Courtesy The Journal
akelley@upstatetoday.com
COLUMBIA — More cases of monkeypox have popped up in South Carolina since the disease first hit the state in early July, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported last week.
As of Aug. 3, a total of 23 cases had been diagnosed in the state, with six in the Upstate. DHEC epidemiologist Linda Bell said though anyone can contract monkeypox, the risk for widespread disease is low.
“Monkeypox can be spread through prolonged face-to-face contact, skin-to-
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City of Pickens hosts players, families for dinner
PICKENS — The city of Pickens hosted a dinner at the Doodle Market Pavilion last Wednesday, Aug. 3, for Senior 
League World Series participants, with more than 400 players, coaches and family members in attendance.
Players and families from around the world attended, including teams from the U.S. Central Region (Burbank, Ill.), Southwest Region (Houston, Texas), Southeast Region (Norfolk, Va.), West Region (Maui, Hawaii), Asia Pacific (Guam), Caribbean (Puerto Rico), Europe Africa (Italy) and Latin America (Panama).
Mayor Fletcher Perry kicked off the evening by welcoming everyone to Pickens, then speaker Jan Cubbage — wife of former Major League Baseball player Mike Cubbage — gave an uplifting speech about “staying the course,” adding that “big things are possible.” The players loved getting to hold Mike Cubbage’s championship rings, including two World Series rings.
Entertainment was supplied by the Matt Phillips Band.
The event was planned by the Greater Pickens Chamber of Commerce, and food was provided by SouthCack Taproom, Iron Horse Steamers and 2 Bros Pizza. The Pickens Fire Department helped serve the guests and made sure they were able to safely board their buses after a summer storm moved in.
South Carolina Arts Commission supports many local organizations
PICKENS — The South Carolina Arts Commission is a statewide public agency whose mission is to promote 
equitable access to the arts and support the cultivation of creativity in South Carolina.
The S.C. Arts Commission has been funding a variety of arts projects in the Upcountry for many years. It has been a reliable source of funding for the general operations of Preserving Our Southern Appalachian
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Courier Community Calendar 8-11-22
• Get ready to can safely this season
Did you know your pressure canner gauge needs to be checked annually for accuracy, even if new? Clemson Cooperative Extension can check your pressure canner gauge at the Pickens County Extension Office. Contact Alex Thompson at (864) 365-0628 to schedule a check today.
• CRO starts Dolly’s Imagination Library
Cliffs Residents Outreach, a nonprofit supporting education in Pickens County, recently launched Dolly Parton’s
Not forgotten, three decades later
Retired Central police chief, investigator still hold hope in woman’s 1992 slaying
By Ron Barnett
Staff Reporter
rbarnett@thepccourier.com
CENTRAL — It’s been 30 summers now since the town of Central was terrorized by a murder so brazen yet so 
mysterious that it will never be forgotten by anyone who lived through it — least of all by the lawmen who spent years trying in vain to find the killer.
It still weighs heavily on the minds of two retired members of the Central Police Department who never gave up in their futile attempts to solve the case.
Frank Cantrell, police chief at the time, and Sgt. Bill Stephens, an investigator on the case, still agonize over the crime that shattered the
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