Local councils take part in state leadership training
COLUMBIA — City council members from the City of Liberty and the City of Pickens spent last week in Columbia More »
Hot-shooting Hillcrest keeps Easley winless in region play
By Bru Nimmons Sports Editor bnimmons@thepccourier.com EASLEY — Holding a 60-57 lead entering the fourth quarter of their matchup against More »
LWVOP receives empowerment grant to expand local voter education efforts
UPSTATE — The League of Women Voters of Oconee and Pickens Counties (LWVOP) is excited to announce that it has More »
PC Native Plant Jubilee returns on May 2
LIBERTY — The Pickens County Native Plant Jubilee will return for its second year Saturday, May 2, bringing together gardeners, More »
Former state rep remembered for service, dedication
By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal
goliver@upstatetoday.com
CLEMSON — Former State Rep. Claude Marchbanks, who died last week at age 96, was remembered Monday as a dedicated public servant — from his time as a Pickens County councilman to the dozen years he served in the South Carolina House of Representatives starting in the mid-1980s.
State Sen. Thomas Alexander, who represents Oconee and a portion of Pickens County, feels that Marchbanks’ experience in county government prepared him well when he went to Columbia. The senator also said Marchbanks
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Think pink for breast cancer awareness
The Courier is going pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In honor of those whose lives have been affected by this devastating disease, we will accent our front page with pink every week of October.
The pink ribbon has been synonymous with breast cancer for years. Nowadays, people rarely think twice when they see pink ribbons, having grown accustomed to the pink ribbon and what it symbolizes.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month has been celebrated each year since 1985, and many other breast cancer awareness initiatives have been devised since then. While the pink ribbon may seem like it’s been in use for just as long, it was actually established only a little more than 20 years ago.
Although you can see waves of pink every October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, many people don their ribbons year-round. Great strides have been made with respect to breast cancer, but with about 225,000 new cases popping up each year in the United States alone, there is still work to be done.
Building a bridge to the other side
You may or may not have heard about the new school in Easley, but you can bet that people all across the United States have heard of it, and many more will find out about it soon.
It’s called Lakes and Bridges Charter School, and it is one of only five free public schools in the nation for students with dyslexia.
That seems pretty out of whack to me, considering that a whopping one in five people are dyslexic. And that tuition to private schools that specialize in teaching such kids runs $25,000 a year and up.
So it’s no wonder that families have actually moved here from as far away as Massachusetts and North Dakota so their children could attend
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Pickens REC Report by Cheri Anthony
By Cheri Anthony
Pickens Recreation Director
canthony@pickenscity.com
A huge thank you to all the volunteers who made Super Saturday so successful! The weather was perfect, which made the festivities fun for all. Also, thanks to all the parents who were so supportive of the children and to our neighbors from Easley, Pendleton and Seneca who came to play football.
I would like to commend the Spirit Queen participants. The combined efforts of these 20 young ladies raised $3,386.49, which will go toward our scholarship/recreation programs. One in particular is the renovation of Bruce Field. Way to go,
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Devils stay unbeaten
Following another weeks worth of games, the 10u Liberty Lady Devils softball team remains undefeated. The Lady Devils began the week on Sept. 24, against their self named rival, Clemson-Central Orange. After a weeks worth of trash talk, Liberty was expecting a tough battle, and the Lady Devils answered in a big way. Aubrey Moore provided another spectacular performance on the mound and a huge hit from Hayden Mitchell gave Liberty a 3-0 win to move to 6-0 on the season.
Next, the Lady Devils moved on to face Clemson Purple on the road. Liberty breezed to victory in the contest with Payton Watson throwing a nearly perfect game with the help of some strong defense around the diamond. The offense did its part as well, scoring runs at will in a 9-1 win. Now 7-0, Liberty will take a week off due to games being rescheduled.
Basketball signups open at Pickens Rec
PICKENS — Basketball registration will be held from now through Oct. 25 at the Pickens Recreation Center on Sangamo Road in Pickens.
The following age divisions are offered — 5-6 coed instructional; 7-8 boys and girls; 9-10 boys and girls; 11-12 boys and girls; and 13-14 boys and girls (provided enough girls register).
Following registration, a skills/evaluation day will be held for each age division. The registration fee provides a jersey
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Lady Blue Flame defeat region foes BHP, Daniel on the road
PICKENS — The Pickens High School Lady Blue Flame continued Region I-4A play on the road last week, taking 
down Belton-Honea Path and Daniel.
In a match played Sept. 23 in front of a noisy BHP crowd, the Lady Blue Flame defeated the Lady Bears in three sets, winning 25-13, 25-15, 25-19. The Daniel match, played in front of a raucous Daniel High student section, was Sept. 25. The Lady Lions captured the first set 25-20 before the Lady Blue Flame settled down and closed out the match in three straight sets, 25-11, 25-18, 25-22.
“Leadership, mental toughness and teamwork were the main qualities that made us successful for the two big wins on the road against BHP and Daniel,” Blue Flame coach Rikki Owens said. “Having back-to-back road games, another key component was the loyal fans who drove out to BHP and the big Pickens High student section at Daniel that helped us
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On the move
Town and Country Florist is on the move. Ruth Hubbard, owner of the shop, is moving from her current location at 307 E. Main St. in Pickens to a new location at 1361 Old Dacusville Road in Easley. Located in the Dacusville community, the new shop will offer the same arrangements and funeral work. Hubbard says nothing has changed except the location of her shop. She invites everyone to come by and check out the new location. The new shop opened on Sept. 28. Those needing call-in orders can still use the same numbers as before — (864) 878-9912 or (864) 810-3475.
Courier Letters to the Editor 10-2-19
The growing problem of drug abuse
Dear Editor,
In 2016, I wrote about the growing drug problem in this newspaper. The main problem back then was 
methamphetamine. Examining the latest statistics, the rising use of opioids/fentanyl has broadened and increased the problem in our county.
Comprehensive drug misuse and abuse data is hard toacome by. For instance, if Mr. Jones has a knee operation and is given a prescription, his appropriate and legal use of the drug is recorded when the prescription is dispensed. Mr. Jones only takes half his pills and puts them in his medicine cabinet. If months later his wife twists her ankle badly and takes the rest, that misuse is not reported. Worse yet, if his daughter gets her hands on the pills, starts to take them, develops a habit and then buys heroin on the street, that drug abuse is not reported. If she ends up in prison or in a treatment center, or
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The outfitting of a 7th-grade gangster
Back during the Byzantine era, I was in the seventh grade at Pickens Junior High School. One of my classmates 
convinced me that I should enter the race for a seventh-grade class officer. Looking back, I do not remember what kind of grudge he held against me, but obviously in his mind I had wronged him some time in the past and this would be a great way to get even. I know of no other valid reason for getting one of your buddies involved in politics at such an early age.
I was not exactly sure what a class officer was supposed to do, but thought it might be fun as well as place a feather in my cap to enter the
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