PICKENS — A 53-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder in connection with a domestic dispute under investigation by the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office.

Chief deputy Creed Hashe said Johnny Lee Ware is being held at the Pickens County Detention Center. In addition to the attempted murder charge, Ware also faces a charge of possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

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Hashe said the female victim, who was stabbed multiple times in the upper chest area, was transported from the scene to a local hospital and treated. The victim was able to tell deputies that she was stabbed by Ware, who was still at the home upon the first deputy’s arrival.

The chief deputy said Ware was arrested at the scene without incident.

Hashe said the sheriff’s office received a 911 call at approximately 7:15 p.m. Friday reporting that a woman had been stabbed on Secona Road in Pickens. Deputies responded to the scene approximately four minutes later and found a 56-year-old woman with what appeared to be stab wounds to the chest.

Preliminary investigations indicated the altercation stemmed from a previous verbal dispute, according to Hashe, who added that no one else was at the home at the time of the incident.

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By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter

jevans@thepccourier.com

Easley also hosting Southeast regional tourney this weekend

EASLEY — Easley is gearing up to host the Big League Baseball World Series later this month.

The tournament will be held July 26-Aug. 2 at the J.B. “Red” Owens Recreation Complex.

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Tournament director Jon Humphrey spoke about the series during Easley City Council’s July meeting Monday night.

“The championship game Aug. 2 will be televised once again on ESPN,” Humphrey said. “So the whole world will be watching us.”

Eleven teams will be coming in from around the world to play ball, he said.

“(There will be) five international teams and six U.S. teams,” Humphrey said. “We already know that Puerto Rico will be coming. We do know that Curaçao won the Latin America tournament. That’s their first time coming here. That’s an exciting thing for us, to have a newcomer coming here.”

He said Chinese-Taipei just won the Asia Pacific tournament.

“So Chinese-Taipei will be coming back,” Humphrey said. “We also know that we have our local team, South Carolina District 1, skippered by Gregg Powell. He’s got a good team.”

But you don’t have to wait until the end of the month to see tournament action.

Easley is stepping up to the plate to offer Little League International some assistance — by hosting the Southeast regional tournament this weekend.

The tournament had to be moved from Florida, and its original site in Tennessee fell through, city administrator Stephen Steese said. Little League International officials then contacted the city to see if Easley could host the regional.

“I think it’s going to work out just fine. We’ll have teams from six states, including South Carolina, coming in to play,” Steese said. “The winner of that will be the Southeast representative in the Big League World Series.”

“I know that Little League appreciates that the city of Easley stepped up to host that tournament,” Humphrey said.

Games begin in the regional tournament Friday morning at the Alice Mills park.

Humphrey thanked city officials and employees for their support of the tournament over the past 10 years.

“We can’t run this tournament without your support,” he said. “I just wanted to say thank you to all of you.”

Mayor Larry Bagwell asked Humphrey if hosting the regional tournament would take some of the luster off the BLWS.

Humphrey said the extra event will tax some of the volunteer base.

“It does a take a little out of that,” he said. “But we have a very giving community.”

The tournament is a success every year thanks to the efforts of “hundreds of volunteers,” Humphrey said.

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By Jason Evans

Staff Reporter

jevans@thepccourier.com

LIBERTY — A special election will be held in Liberty later this month to fill a vacancy on city council.

According to the county elections office, polls will be open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on July 26.

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The election is to fill the Ward 2 seat formerly held by Lisa Hunter.

Candidate filing closed on May 31.

Misty Medlin was the only person to file for the office. Voters will also have the ability to type in a write-in candidate.

The election will be citywide and open to all registered voters of the city regardless of which ward they live in.

Every person offering to vote in the election must be registered on the county books of registration as an elector and resident of the city of Liberty 30 days prior to the election. The last day to register to vote for the special election was June 25.

The following precincts and polling places will be open on the date of the election:

Rices Creek, located at Liberty First Baptist Church, 403 Edgemont Ave.

West Liberty, located at Calumet Baptist Church, 400 S. Peachtree St.

East Liberty, located at Eastside Baptist Church, 920 Anderson Drive.

North Liberty, located at Liberty United Methodist Church, 310 Mae St.

Absentee voting for the election is now underway. In-person absentee voting is available at the Pickens County Office of Registrations and Elections, located at 222 McDaniel Ave. in Pickens, during normal business hours, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The in-person absentee voting will close at 5 p.m. on July 25.

Absentee voting is also available by mail. Learn more at pickenselections.org or by calling (864) 898-5948. The last day an absentee ballot can be mailed is July 22.

A runoff election, if needed, will be held Aug. 9.

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By Jason Evans

Staff Reporter

jevans@thepccourier.com

EASLEY — When they go to the polls in November, Easley voters will decide whether to allow businesses and nonprofits to sell alcohol on Sunday.

Easley City Council members voted 5-1 on second reading Monday to allow the issue to go to a referendum in November.

Councilman Terry Moore cast the dissenting vote, as he did on first reading. Councilman Chris Mann was on vacation.

Councilman Jim Robinson said, in addition to other letters, the city had heard from a national grocery store chain that had a location in Easley. The letter was in support of the referendum,

“In that letter, the manager of the store said that Sunday is the second busiest shopping day of the week,” Robinson said. “Based on this request from Easley businesses, I believe that the matter should be decided by the voters in a referendum.”

Moore said he’s heard from numerous people in the city who oppose Sunday alcohol sales.

“I just don’t feel like it’s right for the city of Easley,” he said.

He scoffed at the economic claims.

“I keep hearing tax dollars, tax dollars, income,” Moore said. “I’m hearing greed, not need.”

“If you want to use alcohol, fine. You’ve got six days to go buy alcohol,” he continued. “Why make it Sunday? Why go in a restaurant when you’ve just left church and watch someone funnel alcohol? Can’t Christians not have one day?”

Mayor Larry Bagwell urged voters to vote their conscience.

“We all realize this is going to be a controversial issue, no doubt about it,” Bagwell said. “Nobody’s trying to twist your arm. All we’re going to do is put it on the ballot. This is an opportunity for you to express yourself in November.”

Surrounding cities of similar size to Easley have all approved Sunday alcohol sales. Bagwell said he worries that the city will lose business, which in turn, would put pressure on council to raise taxes to make up for lost revenue.

“We can’t sit still,” he said. “If we sit still, we’re going to be dying.”

Councilman Kent Dykes said this was a “pivotal time in the city of Easley.”

“We want a lot of input, and it’s there,” he said. “What we’re doing is we’re allowing this to get on the ballot so the citizens of Easley can express their position and vote on this. That’s where it’s going to happen in November. That’s where we all ought to be out campaigning, for or against this.

“I don’t have — we don’t have — the authority to say we’re going to have Sunday liquor sales,” Dykes said. “And we don’t want that authority. It should come from the citizens.”

Before the vote, council heard from those on both sides of the issue.

Cindy Hopkins, executive director of the Greater Easley Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber supported both allowing the voters to decide and the Sunday alcohol sales issue.

“From an economic growth perspective, our organization represents restaurants and retailers who would economically benefit from Sunday alcohol sales,” Hopkins said. “We just really feel like it would be a positive economic impact for the city of Easley as a whole, for a number of factors, that would have a positive effect on our economy here. Therefore, based on that rationale, our chamber does support allowing our citizens to vote in November to determine if we are to support Sunday alcohol sales.”

Council also heard from John DeWorken, representing the South Carolina Retail Association. He said that organization also supports taking the issue to the voters.

“Just want to encourage the council to give voters the opportunity to choose what they want to do in this community,” DeWorken said.

Resident Jeff Cook told council he was “vehemently opposed” to allowing alcohol sales on Sundays.

“There are six other days during the week when a person can consume alcohol,” Cook said. “I remember that it says in the Bible to remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy. I’m asking you to do that.”

Cook said he wanted to publicly thank Moore for his “strong stance” on the issue.

“If you’ve never experienced what alcohol can do, it’s devastating,” Cook said. “It’s the devil in a bottle. The alcoholic started with that first drink, and the recovering alcoholic is one drink away from falling back.”

He asked council to reconsider the vote they were going to take on the ballot issue.

“I hope we can settle this before it ever comes to a referendum,” Cook said.

By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter

jevans@thepccourier.com

LIBERTY — “We have a wonderful high school,” Liberty High School Principal Josh Oxendine said. “We have 700 young people who are doing what they’re supposed to on a day-in and day-out basis.

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“For me, it’s an easy job,” he continued. “I show up and I smile. They go about their day and do what they’re supposed to do.”

Oxendine was one of the speakers at the recent State of Liberty event, sponsored by the new Liberty Area Chamber of Commerce.

Negative news often makes the headlines in today’s world, and Liberty High School has been portrayed negatively in the past, he said.

“If you want to know about Liberty High School, if you want to know the truth, pick up the phone and call me,” Oxendine said. “A lot of times I get a phone call about a situation, and it’s really no situation, it’s just misinformation.”

“Sometimes, there’s a misconception, that budget-wise, we’re in bad shape,” Oxendine said. “Liberty High School is in the black. We have a budget moving forward with the school district that’s one of the best budgets in the district. We finished up in the black finishing up the year and we don’t see that changing.”

The school has the normally high school issues, he said. Like most schools, LHS’ athletics run at a deficit.

“So if you want to support the school, buy a ticket on Friday night,” Oxendine said. “That’s an easy way that you can help.”

There’s much to celebrate about the school, with more successes to come.

He said the chamber’s mission – economic growth – starts “on the front lines” at the high school.

“We led the district this year in WorkKeys scores,” Oxendine said.

Part of the district’s federal accountability now is a test to determine whether its students are “workforce ready,” he said.

“Our young people led the district, led Pickens County, with their certificates that they received for the WorkKeys test,” Oxendine said. “Ultimately, what that says in layman’s terms is we’re preparing our young people. When I was in high school, I was told the only way I could be successful is if I went to a four-year college or university and I think we all know that’s not true. I had a lot of people that I finished high school with, that grew up in Pickens County, that received a good education in Pickens County. They felt that they only way they could succeed was to go to a college or university. Ultimately they were not successful there.”

The school has some high-achieving students and “we’re providing opportunities for them, to make sure that they continue to achieve,” Oxendine said.

“They will go to our colleges and our universities,” he said. “But we can’t overlook our population that are really going to be the backbone of this community and neighboring communities, that are going into the workforce. Some of them may get a two year degree or a training certificate. But, ultimately, that WorkKeys tests, the results have told us, that our young people are being prepared for reality, for real life, for the workforce and colleges and careers as well.”

This year, Liberty High School hosted a Manufacturing Day.

“We had a lot of our businesses, a lot of our manufacturers, come speak to our young people,” Oxendine said. “We really just did it for our junior class this year, so they could make some decisions going into their senior year about what they wanted to do. We showed them, ‘Here’s what you get with a high school diploma and a WorkKeys certificate. Here’s what you get with a two-year degree or a trades certificate and with a four-year degree or higher, here are the opportunities with the manufacturing corporations here in our community.”

This year, the school targeted a group of its seniors before graduation, helping them with job prep and resume prep, Oxendine said.

“We brought in a lot of employers who knew that they would have vacancies,” he said. “For these young people who knew they were going right in to the workforce, we had a Career Fair just for these people at our school. Some of our seniors knew they were going into the workforce, so we put that employer with those students, and prepared them.”

Oxendine said the school will double the number of Advanced Placement courses it offers its students.

“We’re very excited,” Oxendine said. “When I came in this past year, I said ‘I think our students need more high-learning opportunities.’ We have 10 AP courses that we will be offering our students next year.

Liberty High School has partnered with Tri-County Technical College to offer dual-credit courses. The program is open to all Pickens County students but will be housed at Liberty High School, Oxendine said.

“We have two classrooms that will be full of professors, all day long,” Oxendine said. “A young person in Pickens County can take advantage of this, get high school credit and college credit at the same time. And when the bell rings, they can walk into our cafeteria to get something to eat and at the end, they can get on a bus and go home if they want to.”

“Previously, dual-enrollment courses were for a certain group of society,” Oxendine said. “If your parents had the money to pay for it, if your parents had the money to buy you a car, put gas in that car, and send you to Tri-County or wherever you may go. It was just for a certain section of our community. Now, you can catch a bus, we’ll feed you breakfast, we’ll feed you a hot lunch, you can walk down the hall, and if you qualify, you can take a college-level course and get college credit.

“For a lot of our young people, we have it set up, where in two years, they can get a high school diploma, a WorkKeys certificate and the first year of college taken care of, with very minimal cost,” he continued. “We’re excited about that program.”

He said the school is laying the groundwork for a program that will begin in the 2017-2018 school year,

“We’re partnering with the South Carolina Governor’s School and the Engineering Department at Clemson University,” Oxendine said. “We’ll have an engineering program for young people that qualify housed at Liberty High School moving forward. It’ll be a little different from traditional coursework that students take in high school. Higher-level math and science courses.

“With this opportunity, a young person can leave our high school with a high school diploma, a WorkKeys certificate and also their first year of engineering taken care of when they leave,” he continued. “That’s actually at no cost, for the young people who qualify for. It’s all about preparing our young people.”

Raising the school’s graduation rate is an important goal for Oxendine and his staff.

“Our graduation rate is the lowest in the district,” he said. “We’ve made strides this year in starting addressing some of that.”

Another goal is helping its young people become not just great students, but great citizens. Oxendine said character-building is important.

“I think sometimes we place too much emphasis on test scores and certain types of achievement,” he said. “At the end of the day, the lessons we teach the young people in our building will ultimately continue to make this community great in the future.”

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By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter

jevans@thepccourier.com

LIBERTY — Slow, cautious and calculated growth is best for the city of Liberty, former Liberty mayor Michael Sheriff believes.

“We don’t want to explode and grow like the larger cities near us,” he said. “I think one of the assets of Liberty is its small-town charm. That should be Liberty’s legacy.”

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Sheriff spoke recently as part of the State of Liberty event, sponsored by the new Liberty Area Chamber of Commerce.

Sheriff said effective partnerships are a “key ingredient” in the success of any community, especially communities with limited resources.

“You’ve probably heard the expression, ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’” Sheriff said. “Well, the same applies to a community. It takes a partnership to develop a community.

“Citizens need to rally around and support the city and it’d be amazing what we could accomplish,” he continued.

He said much progress has been made in recent years.

“I’ve often had a lot of people tell me that Liberty’s not growing, Liberty’s not doing anything, Liberty’s not moving forward,” Sheriff said. “I would like to tell those people that we need to stop using Clemson and Easley as a yardstick for the success of Liberty. We are different. We have different circumstances, different issues, different problems and different demographics. But we also have different opportunities. We’ve got a unique opportunity to grow slowly and calculatedly.”

Protecting the city’s small-town feel should be at the forefront of everything city leaders do, he believes.

Successes in Liberty over the last decade include the development of a medical center and the Pickens County Commerce Park, which he said “is a great asset to Liberty.”

When the commerce park first began, news media would refer to it as “near Easley” obscuring the fact that the park is located in Liberty, Sheriff recalled.

“They’d always say ‘near Easley’,” he said. “I finally got them to say Liberty. Now most of the time when a new industry is introduced in the commerce park, they say Liberty.”

“We need to take advantage of that commerce park and partner with them,” Sheriff said. “Corporate partners love to participate in city events – they just need to be asked. Corporate partners are very community-minded and welcome the opportunity to participate.”

He said Pancho’s Mexican Restaurant made a “major investment in Liberty” at Highway 178 and Front Street.

“I don’t think (Pancho’s owners) would mind if I told you they had three-quarters of a million dollars invested in the city of Liberty before they served the first taco,” Sheriff said. “That is a tremendous belief in Liberty.”

In 2003, a plan was presented to city council for the development of Freedom Park.

“Freedom Park was dedicated two years later,” Sheriff said. “This was a very successful project and one of the greatest examples of a partnership between the city of Liberty, the Chamber of Commerce at the time, Parks, Recreation and Tourism” and generous donations from private industry and residents alike.

Improving citizens’ quality of life is essential, Sheriff said.

“One of the main things the mayor and city council needs to ask when they have a new project they’re considering, or a new ordinance, they need to ask, ‘How is this going to improve the quality (of life) of the citizens of Liberty?’” he said.

Another advantage Liberty has? The transformation of the former middle school site into a government complex.

“Great asset for the city of Liberty,” Sheriff said. The renovation also includes “a very nice facility for our senior citizens,” he said.

“There’s been incredible growth in the city of Liberty,” Sheriff said. “We’re growing slow and calculated. Quick growth brings on a lot of problems, a lot of issues that a small town like Liberty, with the charm we have, doesn’t need.”

Not too long ago, the city didn’t have a Fred’s, a Family Dollar or a Dollar General.

“Liberty’s not stagnant, as some people believe,” Sheriff said. “It’s moving forward and moving forward at a great pace for Liberty.”

The city’s recreation program has grown tremendously under great leadership. It has experienced tremendous facility growth as well, including a new concession building and press box, Sheriff said.

“But most of all, Liberty has acquired a new football stadium, running track and we have additional basketball facilities,” Sheriff said. “These projects would not be possible without partnerships.”

Projects that need to be addressed in the future include additional development at Freedom Park, such as a Senior Citizen Life Trail, which would provide additional exercise opportunities aside from the walking trail, he said.

“A lot of potential still exists in Freedom Park,” Sheriff said. “The city needs to seek funds for that project. It’s a very doable project.”

Plans for an outdoor learning lab and amphitheater exist, he said.

The work going at Highway 178 and Highway 93 will benefit the city, Sheriff said.

“We’ve got some growing pains,” Sheriff said. “It’s going to get worse before it gets better. I think everybody realizes that. In the end, it’s going to be a great asset for the city of Liberty.”

That project is an example of a fruitful partnership between the city and the Department of Transportation, he said. The project took more than a decade to come together.

“Be persistent,” Sheriff said. “If you want a project you have to work on it.”

The next stage of the Commerce Street project is “probably the most difficult one to achieve,” Sheriff said. Strong partnerships between the city, property owners and business owners are needed to make sure that area continues to develop.

He said the city has taken “a great step in the right direction” in providing facade grants.

Adhering to developmental standards is essential to ensure “a common theme of bringing old charm and architectural character back to Liberty,” Sheriff said.

“We have such a wonderful opportunity,” Sheriff said. “It would be a travesty not to see it through.”

“The old chamber of commerce was very successful in the success of the projects I’ve mentioned,” Sheriff said. “This is so counterproductive in so many ways.

He thanked those involved in bringing a chamber of commerce back to Liberty.

“I’m so excited about the opportunity to be a part of it,” he said. “I applaud everyone for taking on this challenge. To me, it demonstrates their love and passion for Liberty. I share that love and passion and look forward to a successful chamber.”

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