Category Archives: Local News
Festival planned at mill Saturday
PICKENS — Hagood Mill Historic Site will host the Mountain Roots Herb Festival and Get Out and Play Day this weekend.
Set for Saturday, the event is a great time to take in all that the mill site has to offer in terms of recreation and nature, according to a news release.
The site will be active all day. Workshops including guided bird walks, nature photography, growing microgreens and fly-fishing demonstrations will be occurring throughout the day. There will also be musical entertainment on the historic stage. Helen Campbell, Big Eyes Parker and Rachel Van Slyke will be providing a musical backdrop for the day.
Other activities at the site will include operation of the water-powered 1845 gristmill, living history
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County may consolidate fire districts
Council considers millage funding for unified district
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — Pickens County Council is considering adding the three millage-funded fire protection districts near the northwestern corner of the county into the 
county’s unified fire district and applying their funding model to the entire district.
“What we’ve got now is one fire district for the entire county, except for the few fire systems that are on millage,
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Effort underway to rename LEC for former sheriff
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — Officials are considering renaming the Pickens County Law Enforcement Center after one of the longest-serving sheriffs in the country.
During their April Committee of the Whole meeting, Pickens County Council members discussed a recommendation to rename the law enforcement center in honor of C. David Stone.
First elected sheriff in 1969, Stone was re-elected 10 times, serving nearly 44 years until his retirement in 2012. At the time of his retirement, he was the second longest-serving sheriff in the United States.
Stone died on Dec. 15, 2020. He was 83.
Council brought the matter out of committee during its May 2 meeting.
County council chairman Chris Bowers had asked county attorney Les Hendricks to
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Gettys teacher earns national honor
Dr. Nicole Yemothy 1 of 15 Einstein Fellows
EASLEY — Gettys Middle School teacher Dr. Nicole Yemothy has been selected as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Teacher Fellow for the 2022-23 school year, the School District of Pickens County announced last week.
Yemothy is one of 15 K-12 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teachers from across the United States to receive the national award distinction. The fellows will spend 11 months serving in a federal agency or U.S. Congressional office in Washington, D.C., engaged in the national STEM education arena.
The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship (AEF) program provides a unique opportunity for
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Clemson mayor asks county to help transportation study
By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal
goliver@upstatetoday.com
PICKENS — Clemson Mayor Robert Halfacre told Pickens County Council last week he is hopeful the county will fund a portion of the $215,000 area-wide transportation study recommended by the Greenville-Pickens Area Transportation Study (GPATS).
Halfacre said the city of Anderson and Anderson County are already participating in the study at a cost of $25,000 each and he is hopeful Pickens County will also contribute that same amount. Halfacre said study participants will “have a steering committee
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Courier Community Calendar 5-11-22
• Veterans invited to American Legion
Veterans in the Liberty area are invited to the next meeting of American Legion Post 67 in Liberty. The Legion meets on the third Monday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Scout Hut, circle off North Palmetto Street. All veterans are invited.
• Cleanup day set for Liberty cemetery
Westview Cemetery in Liberty, located on Old Norris Road, will be having a cleanup day on Saturday, May 14, starting at 9 a.m. The event is in preparation for a Memorial Day ceremony. Please bring your weedeaters and mowers and come join Pickens County Veterans Affairs, Liberty American Legion Post 67 and the
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Organizations recognized for response and recovery efforts
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — Many organizations that responded and assisted during and after a tornado that swept through an area near Pickens in March were recognized last week.
“I appreciate the opportunity to recognize these organizations that assisted with the county, and inside county departments, back on the tornado that happened on March 23,” county administrator Ken Roper said during county council’s May 2 meeting. “These organizations, inside and outside, private, public, charitable or otherwise, came together and without really a lot of drama about whose job responsibilities it is, where the boundaries are, they pulled together
‘Please don’t leave me in the dark’
Pickens fire chief asks for new truck, more openness
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — The Pickens Fire Department responds to calls with aging equipment that is prone to breakdowns and with staffing levels that haven’t changed in 
decades, according to its chief.
Fire Chief Chris Elrod spoke about his department’s needs during a budget presentation at a Pickens City Council meeting on Monday.
Finance director Donna Perry said the fire department has three full-time employees and seven part-time
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Parents sound off on ‘segregated’ lunch at meeting
By Andrea Kelley
Courtesy The Journal
akelley@upstatetoday.com
EASLEY — Several parents spoke out during a Pickens County School Board meeting Thursday in response to a race-related school event held last month.
Pickens Middle School reportedly invited speaker Adrienne Young to come talk to minority students about “how to cope with
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County to crack down on misuse of recycling centers
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — One facet of Pickens County’s new anti litter program aims to target those who are misusing the county’s recycling centers and costing the county and its taxpayers money.
“We estimate $180,000 a year that’s lost by contractors not following the rules,” county administrator Ken Roper
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