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 »
Liberty schools to change next year
LIBERTY — The two Liberty-area elementary schools will share a single attendance pattern beginning in the fall of 2020 after a recent vote by the Pickens County School Board.
The board voted June 7 to unite the Liberty attendance area, with Chastain Road Elementary set to serve all Liberty students in Pre-K through second grade, and Liberty Elementary set to serve students in third through fifth grades.
District leaders cited two reasons for making the change — unity and specialization.
“For quite a while, community members have asked me why when Liberty Elementary was split and Chastain Road Elementary was built in 2011, the district didn’t go to a primary-intermediate model, and I never got a good answer,” said school board chairman
You must be logged in to view this content.
Subscribe Today or Login
Merck gets hefty raise, extension
By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal
goliver@upstatetoday.com
EASLEY — School board trustees gave School District of Pickens County superintendent Danny Merck a two-year contract extension 
and a hefty pay raise last week.
The board extended Merck’s contract to 2025 and gave him a more than 11 percent salary increase to $150,000 a year. He will also receive an annuity equal to 10 percent of his base salary and a car allowance of $10,000.
The board extended Merck’s contract to 2022 and raised his salary from $123,600 to $128,544 in January 2018. Board chairman Brian Swords said language was later added to the superintendent’s contract to ensure he receives pay increases equivalent to the average percentage of leadership increase and or cost-of-living allowance annually. As of this year, his base salary was sitting at a
You must be logged in to view this content.
Subscribe Today or Login
Learning all about local lightning bugs
Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention, or maybe it was because it rained every day at the beginning of this month, but I didn’t see the first lightning bug here in Easley until June 11. And even then, there weren’t that many.
I recall that we always used to start seeing them before the end of May, and by this time there were so many of them flashing their little yellow taillights that it was a nonstop light-show every evening at dusk.
Like most kids back in the early 1960s, my brother and I used to take couple of Duke’s mayonnaise jars and punch holes in their lids with a nail and go out in the backyard on summer nights and run around catching the little guys. We imagined that we might be able to get enough of them in there to have a little lantern. We never generated much candlepower, but it wasn’t hard to nab quite a few of them, they were so abundant.
It’s not just my imagination that the population of lightning bugs is diminishing. A
You must be logged in to view this content.
Subscribe Today or Login
Fans meet champ
Hundreds of fans turned out to meet former NASCAR Cup series champion and recent Hall of Fame electee Bobby Labonte during a grand opening event at the Clardy Law Firm in Pickens on Saturday. Pictured here, Clardy watches as Labonte signs a miniature car for a fan.
Rocky Nimmons/Courier
Officials exploring career center options
By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal
goliver@upstatetoday.com
LIBERTY — Pickens County School Board chairman Brian Swords said at a recent meeting that the time has come for the district to consider adding second career and technology center.
While the comment was made in jest, Swords was serious when he said the popularity of the facility has resulted in more students than available space.
“Our career center is at capacity, and there’s more students who need to be served,” he said.
Not only is the career center at capacity with around 1,300 students from all four high schools in the district, Swords said approximately 400 more students are waiting to get in.
“We have several options,” Swords said. “One is to look at our high schools and possibly explore the idea of a comprehensive high
You must be logged in to view this content.
Subscribe Today or Login
Pulpwood, you’re no friend of mine
Pulpwood, mind you, is really not wood. It’s generally roundish concrete cylinders made to look like wood, sort of. It takes a lot of sweat, a lot of muscle and a lot of ambition to cut, load and haul pulpwood. Not to mention the fun parts of pulp wooding, like yellow jackets, snakes, chiggers, chainsaws that don’t cut, briars, rain, sunshine and several more.
I have said and heard it said many times that the hottest place this side of Hades is a pine thicket.
We were a far cry from today’s pulpwooders. With the exception of the power saw, we did it all by hand. Today, they have machines that do it all — the cutting, trimming, loading and hauling. We had our two hands. There was no such thing as a stick of
You must be logged in to view this content.
Subscribe Today or Login
Overcoming the desire to remain the same
I’m sure you will agree that most of us humans have very peculiar and quirky personalities. It’s strange how we are easily influenced 
and persuaded in certain things, and stubborn as a mule about others.
When it comes to admitting we are wrong in our views or that we are heading in the wrong direction, it doesn’t take long for us to reveal our contrary and rebellious attitudes. Most people seldom say it out loud, but are content with the way they believe and hope that everyone will leave them alone and mind their own business. Which by the way, explains why many individuals are not interested in going to church or reading the Bible.
However, when it comes to personal transformation, our spiritual relationship with God is not the only topic on the menu.
I was reminded the other day about my own defiant nature when I was on the phone with my mother the other day and the conversation turned to food. We were talking about how difficult it is to diet and how
You must be logged in to view this content.
Subscribe Today or Login
Courier Letters to the Editor 6-19-19
A winning plan for mill
Dear Editor,
I enjoy reading the articles and letters to the editor concerning the Hagood Mill. As the public becomes more educated on the issue, public participation in the process has grown, and hopefully this time the final decision by the council will have the public’s wishes in mind.
Most above Highway 183 want grassroots tourism supported by local volunteers, with the purpose of protecting our wildlife and natural resources, while putting forth the Appalachian heritage, its community and family traditions.
This has been at the heart of the conflict. For instance, they grind grits at the mill and sell them. The volunteers see the heritage in the 150-year-old grinding process, and their purpose is to preserve that tradition. Chairman Roy Costner, the county administration and much of the council see the dollars, and want to commercialize the mill at the expense of the heritage aspect.
The idea of turning over the operation and strategic planning of the mill to the local volunteers and the Hagood Mill board is a good
You must be logged in to view this content.
Subscribe Today or Login
Courier Obituaries 6-19-19
TONY SHEHAN
PICKENS — Clarence Edward Shehan (Tony Shehan), born June 29, 1954, was called 
home and left this world on Wednesday, May 29, 2019 in Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
He was the son of Dewey B. Shehan Jr. and Hazel Ruth Durham, both deceased, of Pickens.
He leaves behind a former wife, Iva Stratton Shehan, and two step-children, Shelly Wilson and Erica Hyland. He had one sister, Ruth Smith, wife of Terry Smith of Pickens, and their two children, Missy Mauldin (Bear) and Chris Smith; a brother, David Bryan Shehan and wife, Robin, of Pickens; and a brother, Richard Allen Shehan (Al Shehan), deceased, and former wife, Angela Shehan, and their two children, Amanda Vaughn and Robbie Shehan. He also leaves behind several uncles, Ted Shehan, Albert Durham and Carl Durham, and an aunt, Helen (Susie) Bell.
Tony was a graduate of the Class of 1971 at Pickens High School. He loved playing music in a band in high school with his friends.
He was a registered land surveyor in Pickens for 38 years.
He was a former pilot, served on the aeronautics commission, and was a champion
You must be logged in to view this content.
Subscribe Today or Login
