Ben Robinson

All About Ben

By Ben Robinson

I had a bit of a crisis this weekend. Somehow my car keys were not in my jacket pocket.

I ran my route Wednesday, driving all over Pickens County. I was off work Thursday, and quite honestly, glad of it. I did not make my weekly trip over to my friend Tim’s house, choosing to stay home and watch television instead. Friday I got up, showered, and got ready for work. I stumbled out to my car, checked my pockets, but found no keys.

I decided the keys were inside the house, though I had no memory of bringing the keys inside with me. A quick search of my bedroom and the area where I sit to watch television

Former SDPC official gives thoughts

Dear Editor,

I was the building program administrator for the School District of Pickens County from mid-2009 until early 2013.

I was responsible for the construction of seven new schools like Liberty High School and Chastain Road Elementary. We also made additions and renovations to another 20 schools. I worked closely with the architects, engineers, multiple general contractors and local/state governing authorities. I interfaced daily with

Unhappy with board action

Dear Editor,

I am disappointed the Pickens County School Board voted against selling the abandoned Gettys Middle School for $300,000. Legacy Charter School was going to buy the school and renovate it for the students of Easley.

Even trustee Judy Edwards said the school district should keep the school because it may be needed in the future for another school. Legacy would have given Easley that extra school Edwards talked about, at no cost to the taxpayers of Pickens County.

This is what Legacy did in Greenville. Their non-profit organization funded the purchase and renovations to Legacy Parker and Legacy Elementary, and these schools now serve 1,100 low-income students on the west side of Greenville.

Olivia Fowler

On The Way

By Olivia Fowler

We always seem to have a brush pile somewhere on Fowler Farm that needs to be burned. Some years there’s more than one, according to events involving trees and fences, branches and undergrowth. It’s interesting to see how quickly an area can transform from a spread of green grass into a jungle. One day you may have a groomed yard or healthy pasture. With a few weeks of neglect, honeysuckle, blackberry brambles, broom sage and tiny trees will begin their invasion. If too much time passes without some kind of maintenance, the area becomes a jungle.

Briars, brambles and rogue tree limbs can’t be left lying around. They have to be piled up in an uncultivated area, away from buildings and woods, then left to dry out so that later, when the time is right, they can be burned.

Ben Robinson

All About Ben

By Ben Robinson

The news is that it is now a new year, and I’m looking forward to a better year.

The past two years have been rough. I was fired from the job I had held for more than 20 years by folks who had basically only driven by the office.

So I cannot dwell on their problems. I have been lucky to have the opportunity to work with my longtime friends at The Courier. Why worry about how the other guys are doing when I have the opportunity to work and build this newspaper up?

This year should be interesting as I learn more about The Courier.

Just because I’ve known several of the people here many years does not give me the right to do things my way. It is only respectful to learn the ways of the Courier staff

Delegation meeting set for Jan. 2

Dear Editor,

There will be a Pickens County Legislative Delegation meeting on Jan. 2 at 5:30 p.m. at the Dacusville Community Center. This will be a great time for all citizens to look our delegation members — Larry Martin, Phil Owens, B.R. Skelton and Davey Hiott — in the eye and ask tough questions about why South Carolina’s educational system, our ethics laws and our roadways are consistently rated some of the worst in the nation. These guys have been in Columbia for years, and we still see little to no improvement in these core functions of government.

We can also ask why our delegation overwhelmingly voted against Gov. Haley’s common-sense budget reductions. It seems odd that they would vote against

I’m sure many are aware the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing a prayer case, The Town of Greece, N.Y., vs. Galloway.

There, the town council randomly selected clergy to open their meetings with a prayer. Susan Galloway objected to the prayers, which were mostly Christian. She argued by allowing that, the town supported one faith over others and violated the First Amendment. The town lost in the 2nd Federal Circuit Court and sued Galloway in the U.S. Supreme Court.

First, some history. The Establishment Clause is the first of several tenets in the

Ben Robinson

All About Ben

By Ben Robinson

It’s been kind of an uplifting day.

Sometimes I get discouraged by the complications life presents. Then God apparently smacks it into my head, and I am excited again.

Today as I was working on an article, Georgia Chapman called and invited me to Saturday’s McKinney Chapel Christmas Pageant. She said it simply did not seem right doing the pageant without me.

Of course, I realize that my part in the pageant is to cover it for whatever publication I am working for at the time. It goes fine without me because of the wonderful people who present the

Olivia Fowler

On the Way

By Olivia Fowler

My beloved cousin Gwynne in Tennessee has the most loving and generous spirit of anyone I know. She is a sucker for any sob story, is active in animal rescue, volunteers in an organization to help troubled teens and is the first person in town to call if someone needs help.

For many years she taught first grade and kept at it so long she ended up teaching children of former students. She retired last year but is teaching part-time this year, sharing a class with another teacher. They split the week, and she loves it.

She’ll go to bat for a child when necessary

Applauding Sheriff Clark

Dear Editor,

An article regarding the actions of Pickens County Sheriff Rick Clark and published as a letter to the editor appeared in the Dec. 11 issue of your newspaper. Please allow me to comment.

The writer should know that a presidential proclamation does not have the force of law in the United States. To have the force of law it would require an act of the U.S. Congress. The proclamation of President Obama regarding flying the U.S. flag at