Two teens charged after incident leads to damage at Easley church
By Jason Evans Staff Reporter jevans@thepccourier.com EASLEY — Two teens face felony charges after an incident in the parking More »
Juvenile rams into Pickens police vehicle
By Jason Evans Staff Reporter jevans@thepccourier.com PICKENS — A juvenile was taken into custody after authorities said he rammed a More »
AnMed limiting vistors amidst flu outbreak
ANDERSON — AnMed is temporarily limiting visitation to the health system’s hospitalized patients to up to two people at a More »
Chased Down
Red Devils survive third quarter scare to drop county foe Daniel By Bru Nimmons Sports Editor bnimmons@thepccourier.com CENTRAL — After More »
McKissick fourth-graders to celebrate Liberty Day at SC Statehouse Jan. 16
COLUMBIA — Fourth-grade students McKissick Academy of Science and Technology in Easley will join peers from across South Carolina at More »
Easley passes first reading of budget
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — If approved, the city of Easley’s proposed $16,063,041 Fiscal Year 2021-22 general fund budget represents about a 5 percent increase from the current year’s budget.
City administrator Stephen Steese discussed the budget before council voted on first reading May 10.
“Last year, we actually reduced the budget in anticipation of impacts from COVID,” he said. “What we have seen as the budget has gone through this year is that those impacts have been negligible, and actually we have some revenue sources that have actually increased over that time period. So this budget captures some of that revenue and growth in the tax base, as well as local sales tax that has taken place.”
The city’s property tax revenues are “staying pretty level between last year and the proposed budget,” Steese said.
“What you see increasing is the sales tax,” he said. “This is what we’ve seen increase during the past year. Apparently
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Upcountry Fiber created as rural broadband service provider
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS – A partnership between two utility cooperatives will create a new internet service provider that will bring high-speed broadband internet to Pickens County, including areas that are challenging to serve and have little internet access.
Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative (BREC) and West Carolina Rural Telephone Cooperative announced on Tuesday the creation of Upcountry Fiber and an investment of more than $150 million.
The partnership will cover more than 1,800 square miles and will be broken into multiple projects rolling out over a forecasted five-year rollout in both
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Central council OKs natural space district
By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal
goliver@upstatetoday.com
CENTRAL — Central Town Council recently approved final reading of a natural space district ordinance that resulted from the Lawton Road controversy in which 100 homes were proposed to be built on 48 acres.
An amendment to the ordinance, made by Councilwoman Paige Bowers, would 
have allowed a variation of standards if the natural zoning area created unusable land, but was defeated by council 4-3. Councilmembers Joe Moss, Ken Dill, Lynne O’Dell Chapman and Harry Holladay were in the majority who were opposed, while Mayor Mac Martin, Bowers and
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Police: Woman injured when hoarded gas explodes in crash
PICKENS — Deputies say a 28-year-old woman was hospitalized after evading a traffic stop when containers of hoarded gasoline in her trunk exploded following a crash.
According to a release from Pickens County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Chad Brooks, a deputy in a marked patrol unit saw a 2007 Pontiac G6 traveling on Jameson Road in Pickens Thursday evening with a South Carolina license plate that
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Dillard honored at Pickens council meeting
Pickens’ own Dr. Mike Dillard was honored by Mayor Fletcher Perry and the Pickens City Council at the monthly council meeting on May 10. Dillard was recently recognized as the Pickens County EMS Medical of the Year for South Carolina. He has served as the Pickens County EMS Control Officer for 25 years and is a well-known face at AnMed Health Cannon Hospital in Pickens. Dillard was presented with a plaque recognizing his service to the community “with great appreciation of your many years of dedication and commitment to serving your community with utmost excellence.” In a news release, the city of Pickens thanked Dillard for his commitment to providing the highest standard of emergency health to those in our community. “We are incredibly appreciative for his expertise and service,” the release said. Pictured, from left, are Mayor Fletcher Perry, Kenna Dillard and Dr. Mike Dillard.
Mill announces theater offerings
PICKENS — Life has brought two men to Hagood Mill, eager to bring live, local theater to the site.
Scott Ewing has an opportunity for adults interested in theater at the mill, and Eric Kerchner brings an opportunity for 
children to perform.
Experienced or not, anyone with an interest in helping to put together live theater at Hagood Mill, either as a performer or to help back stage, is invited to the mill on Saturday to meet Ewing and fill out an interest form. Ewing will review the level
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Fleet Reserve plans Memorial Day services in downtown Six Mile
SIX MILE — Fleet Reserve Branch No. 15 will hold traditional Memorial Day services in downtown Six Mile on Monday, May 31, to honor those who have served their country and to remember those who sacrificed their lives in the line of 
service.
The day’s events will begin outside Six Mile Town Hall/Fire Station by placing the American flag at half-staff at 8 a.m. A traditional service will be held at 11:45 a.m. outside Six Mile
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Pretty lonely on the back porch
About 12 years ago, my wife Kathy started hearing a noise in our basement that sounded like a baby crying.
When I went down there to check, I found a small gray cat with a heart-shaped white spot over her heart who had 
somehow snuck into the basement and gotten trapped. It was the same cat I
had seen a few days earlier running across the driveway as I was pulling in, and I said, “Look out, you smokey little critter!” She was the color of smoke, you see.
So I rescued Smokey from the basement and gave her a bowl of milk, and we became friends.
She was a stray apparently, but she must have had a previous owner, because she was gentle and sweet — not like the feral cats who showed up on the doorstep a few months later.
Since I doubt that you remember the column I wrote about our cats a couple
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Some things you should never do
It was raining. Not the pouring down kind of rain that washes seeds out of the ground, but the soft rain of May.
It was early, and the coffee had just been made.
So I rolled out of my warm, comfortable bed and put on my old bedroom slippers to venture downstairs.
There’s nothing like that first cup of coffee.
Someone else who lives here had already gotten their first cup and was
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It’s the bee’s knees
I was in the garden planting pollinator flowers when a bee kept buzzing around my head. Its tiny body was energetically bustling through the air, searching for nectar from the perfect flower. I kept looking, trying to see if he had any knees.
“The bee’s knees” was a fanciful phrase that originated in the 18th century and referred to something that didn’t exist. I think they were right, because I couldn’t see any knees on that bee.
However, in the 1920s, a lot of silly expressions became popular, and “it’s the bee’s knees” came to mean something extraordinarily wonderful, like
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