Daily Archives: 12/04/2018
Sheriff: Homeowner kills escaped inmate
Second escapee recaptured
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — A homeowner shot and killed an inmate who escaped from the Pickens County Prison early Tuesday morning, according to Sheriff Rick Clark.
Pickens County Coroner Kandy Kelley identified the man Tuesday afternoon as 30-year-old Bruce Webb McLaughlin Jr.
McLaughlin and another inmate escaped from the prison around 2:35 a.m. Tuesday morning after assaulting and overtaking two detention officers, Clark said during a news conference Tuesday morning.
The method of their escaping from the facility is still under investigation,
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Children to be re-immunized after ‘error’
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — Two area pediatric offices will offer free re-immunizations to children who may not have received full doses of some vaccinations at earlier well-child visits.
Pediatric Associates-Easley and Pediatric Associates-Powdersville will offer the re-immunizations.
Families with potentially impacted children were sent certified and regular-delivery letters last week, according to a Greenville Health System news release.
Robin LaCroix, medical director of the Children’s Hospital of Greenville Health System, told the Courier an internal audit revealed the issue.
“We feel that most of these children were fully immunized,” she said. “In the absence of being able to prove that, we wanted to take the most
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Santa Claus is comin’ to town
Six Mile kicked off the Christmas parade season in Pickens County with its 48th annual parade on Sunday. Originally set for Saturday morning, the event was instead held Sunday afternoon and drew hundreds to Main Street to get in the holiday spirit. Liberty also postponed its Christmas parade, which was originally scheduled for Saturday night. It will now be held this Friday, Dec. 7, at 6 p.m. Central’s parade will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday, while Dacusville and Easley will host parades at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday, respectively. Pickens will close the parade season with its event at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14. Rocky Nimmons/Courier
Clemson visitors may have been exposed to mumps
CLEMSON — The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control says anyone who visited Clemson University from Nov. 21-29 may have been exposed to mumps.
That timeframe includes the Clemson-South Carolina football game at Memorial Stadium, which drew thousands of people from all corners of the state and beyond.
DHEC officials said in a news release that a case of mumps with connection to the university has been confirmed.
Mumps is a contagious viral infection that is spread by coughing, sneezing, talking, kissing, sharing drinks, cigarettes or eating utensils, or touching
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County gets clean opinion on annual audit report
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — Pickens County’s clean record-keeping could help county officials the next time they seek to issue bonds.
During Monday’s county council meeting, Alan Robinson, a certified public accountant with the firm of Cherry Bekaert, presented the county’s 2018 comprehensive annual financial report
“The audit reflects a clean or an unmodified opinion,” Robinson said. “There are no findings, exceptions or issues in the audit. The audit is concluded and presented as a final document.”
He said a highlight of the audit document is the Government Finance Officers Association’s Certificate of Excellence, awarded to Pickens County.
“This is a national award that’s applied for,” Robinson said.
To earn the award, the county must go through a blind judging process, he
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Time capsule deadline extended
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — Pickens County residents have a little extra time to gather items they’d like to see included in a time capsule that will be buried later this month.
During Wednesday’s State of the County Luncheon in Easley, county council vice chairman Chris Bowers announced that the deadline to submit items for consideration has been extended to this Friday.
The capsule will be buried at the Pickens County Courthouse on Friday, Dec. 14, following the county’s sesquicentennial Christmas parade, which will run through downtown Pickens. The parade starts at 7 p.m.
“I need everybody in this room to have something at the museum so we can
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Realtors want to pay off school lunch accounts
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — An effort is underway to pay off school lunch balances at all the Liberty-area schools.
The office of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices C. Dan Joyner Realtors in Easley wanted to do something to give back to the community, according to broker in charge Jennifer Hicks.
“We as a group got together and said ‘What do we really want to do?’” she said. “We kind of threw a couple of ideas out there of different fundraisers we could do, but who doesn’t love kids?”
Once the idea to pay off lunch accounts was brought up, the office was all in.
“This is our future, these children,” Hicks said. “If we don’t nourish their
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Couple asking for help for emergency housing for needy
PICKENS — A local couple is asking for the public’s help funding emergency housing for people in need this holiday season.
Jimmy and Helen Dodgens have been working hard to help find a home for Cathy and Katie Green, whose home was destroyed by two fallen oak trees during a tornado in June.
The Greens have been living in a small motor home for the past four and a half months, Helen Dodgens said, but they were recently served with an eviction notice, and an appeal in magistrate court on Monday was denied. After the appeal was denied, according to Dodgens, the Greens were given
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Courier Obituaries 12-5-18
Ola Chapman Garrett
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS — Ola Chapman Garrett, 92, passed away Nov. 22, 2018.
She was born July 5, 1926, and was one of six children born to Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Chapman of Liberty, and was the last surviving child. She has been a San Antonio resident since 1963 and was active in Trinity Baptist church for many years.
Mrs. Garrett was a devoted Army wife married to Maj. Cleo Garrett for more than 70 years. Due to her husband’s career military status, they lived in many places over a span of 22 years before military retirement in July 1967. They lived in Germany, Japan, South Carolina, Georgia, Indiana, New Mexico and Missouri before finally settling in San Antonio. She held her family together during three wars while her husband was away.
She is survived by two sons, Clifton H. Garrett of San Antonio and Earl T. (Charleen) Garrett of Abilene, Texas; two grandchildren and eight great-
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Gravely named to North-South team
PICKENS — Blue Ridge Electric recently recognized six football players from Upstate high schools as participants in the 2018 Touchstone Energy Bowl, also known as the North-South game.
These young men were selected from a pool of approximately 450 nominations statewide. Each player received a trophy as recognition for their outstanding athletic ability exhibited on the football field.
Among the players selected to represent the North team was Pickens High School senior lineman Braden Gravely.
Blue Ridge also recognized T.L. Hanna’s Devonte Jones, Wren’s Tyrell
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