Daily Archives: 10/01/2014
PHS assistant coach resigns after student sex allegations
PICKENS — A Pickens High School assistant football coach has resigned amid allegations of improper conduct, including sex with a student.
The coach’s name has not been released, as the investigation is ongoing.
According to a release from Pickens police chief Rodney Gregory, police received allegations Monday that the coach had sex with a 17-year-old student and was present with other students where alcoholic beverages were being consumed.
Gregory said the coach resigned his position and has been placed on trespass notice from school property.
Pickens officer arrested
Police: Meth found, 2 others charged
PICKENS — A Pickens police officer was fired last Thursday, the same day Greenville County deputies said they found meth in his home and arrested him and two others.
Christopher Aaron Gilbert, 35, of 385 Duncan Road in Travelers Rest, faces three counts of unlawful neglect of a child or helpless person, according to warrants.
Pickens police chief Rodney Gregory announced Gilbert’s termination Friday, saying he was fired the previous day for being “in violation for lack of good judgment pertaining to his personal life which reasonably could create concern and affect
Councilman addresses abandoned mill project
By Rocky Nimmons
Publisher
rnimmons@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — Many questions have been asked recently concerning an amphitheater that was started and then removed from the Hagood Mill historical site in Pickens.
The amphitheater was set to be used for events at the area’s tourist and historical complex, which features regular events each weekend.
Concerns arose when construction began on the project in early 2014 only to be halted soon thereafter, with only the footings for the structure and the support poles being installed and building materials delivered to the site.
In a special interview with The Courier, Pickens County councilman Randy Crenshaw shed light on the project and
Fiddlin’ champ crowned
Robert Burns holds his trophy after being crowned the winner of the 2014 South Carolina State Fiddling Championship at the Hagood Mill Historic Site on Sept. 20. Burns won $400 and the first-place trophy for taking top honors in the senior fiddle competition.
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
Still no answers in Hipps’ death
CLEMSON — More than a week after his death, investigators are still trying to determine how a Clemson University sophomore ended up dead in Lake Hartwell.
Although Oconee County sheriff Mike Crenshaw said his office’s investigation is continuing, the national office of Sigma Phi Epsilon said its probe into the incident determined hazing was not a factor in the death of Tucker Hipps.
Hipps, 19, was last seen on an early-morning run with Sigma Phi Epsilon pledge brothers on Sept. 22. His body was found later that afternoon in Lake Hartwell near the Highway 93 bridge.
Oconee County coroner Karl Addis said Hipps’ body was found in approximately four to five feet of water and
Easley woman dies in one-vehicle wreck
LIBERTY — An Easley woman was killed after her car struck a guard rail on U.S. Highway 123 Sunday morning.
According to Pickens County deputy coroner Gary Duncan, Jessica D. Hinkel, 34, of 408 Park West Circle, was driving north on Highway 123 near Five Forks Road when her vehicle ran off the right side of the road.
Duncan said Hinkel overcorrected and ran off the left side of the road, hitting a guard rail.
Duncan said Hinkel, who was not wearing a seat belt, died at the scene of the crash from blunt force trauma.
The crash is being investigated by the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
Pickens band wins first
The Pickens High School marching band competition season has begun. On Sept. 21, the band competed against 13 other bands at the Pride of Pendleton band competition at Pendleton High and came away with first place in division AAAA, as well as best color guard, best visual, best percussion and best music. On Saturday, Sept. 27, the band competed at The Festival of Bands Competition against 18 other bands at Boiling Springs High School and won first place in division AAAA, best color guard and finished second overall.
Butterfly Ministry to host fashion show on Saturday
By Ben Robinson
Staff Reporter
brobinson@thepccourier.com
UPSTATE — The Butterfly Ministry will present its annual American Girl fashion show Saturday, Oct. 4, at 9 a.m., 1 p.m., and 5 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, at 220 North Main St. in Greenville.
The ministry provides American Girls dolls to young girls in various foster homes across the state. Each little girl is told that they are very special, they are loved, and a lot of people made this donation possible. And then they are
Manufacturers donate 3D printers to area schools
COUNTY — Middle school students in Pickens County will soon have two 3D printers to use in their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) studies.
The 3D printers are a donation from Manufacturers Caring for Pickens County, a non-profit whose goal is to enhance, develop, and enrich socioeconomic values and conditions in Pickens County. The printers have a combined value of about $5,000.
“MCPC is proud to play a role in exposing the future generation of engineers, scholar technicians and designers to
