COUNTY — Pickens County Emergency Management Officials are asking for public input as they prepares to revise the county’s Hazard Mitigation Plan.
Residents of Pickens County are being asked to complete a web-based questionnaire which will allow Emergency Operations officials to determine the awareness level of both man-made and natural disasters. Results of the survey will assist officials in the development of mitigation activities designed to assist citizens in the event of a disaster.

LIBERTY — Hundreds turned out for the kick off of the 2011 Liberty Idol competition Saturday night in downtown Liberty.
More than a dozen performers took the stage hoping to get a chance at the more than $6,000 in cash and prizes that will be awarded in the combination karaoke/reality show contest.
Idol, a family oriented event, is free to attend.

PICKENS — Do you remember the Dick Clark Show or the Ed Sullivan Show?
If so, you probably remember Chubby Checker taking America by storm in 1960. Celebrating 50 years of the Twist, Checker will be on stage at this year’s Blue Ridge Fest on May 13 to lead festival attendees in his famous dance.

EASLEY — Bill G. George was honored for 20 years of service as head of Baptist Easley’s Pastoral Counseling Center during a hospital-wide retirement celebration last Friday.

LIBERTY — An accident on Friday cost a 28-year-old Liberty woman her life, according to Pickens County Coroner Kandy Kelley.
Officals said Bridget Riddle of 124 Freedom Way in Liberty was driving a 1997 Ford Explorer when the vehicle left the road and hit a house near 248 Black Bottom Road in Liberty at approximately 11 a.m. Friday.
Kelley said that Riddle was trapped inside the Explorer following the accident, but was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.
Riddle was transported to Baptist Easley Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Kelley said she died of blunt force trauma to the chest.
The accident is being investigated by the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

COUNTY — President/CEO John Garmon recently announced that local palliative care provider Providence Care is now accepting patients to receive end-of-life services and counseling.

PICKENS — The Pickens County Cultural Commission held the 32nd annual Pickens County Museum of Art & History’s Juried South Carolina Artist’s Exhibition reception and awards ceremony last Saturday.
The exhibition is on view until June 9.

CENTRAL — A Central man is dead following a late-night traffic accident last Friday.
According to Pickens County Coroner Kandy Kelley, Lawrence Lawson, of 307 Bryant St., Apt. 14, was killed in an accident that occurred at 10:38 p.m. on Road 18 in Central.
Authorities believe that Lawson was traveling west when he crashed into a vehicle heading east.
Kelley said that Lawson was pronounced dead at the scene. He was not wearing a seatbelt, she said.
The crash is being investigated by troopers who specialize in major investigations, he said.