Daily Archives: 01/08/2019
Tigers leave no doubt to reach mountaintop again
By Eric Sprott
Courtesy The Journal
eric@upstatetoday.com
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It had been a 35-year wait before the Clemson football team was able to repeat the feat of winning its first national championship in 1981.
The wait for the third title was just a touch more bearable.
On Monday night, Clemson once again rode the play of true freshmen Trevor Lawrence and Justyn Ross, while the defense didn’t allow Alabama into the end zone after the first quarter in a resounding 44-16 victory at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., for its second championship in three years.
By winning the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, the No. 2 Tigers (15-0) became the first team in the modern era to finish 15-0, and they knocked off Alabama for the second time in the teams’ fourth
You must be logged in to view this content.
Subscribe Today or Login
Former Pickens officer faces sex charges
McKnight suing city, department
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — A former Pickens Police Department officer faces multiple 
charges in connection with allegations of illicit sexual activities with minors.
Pickens County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Creed Hashe said 28-year-old Akiel Jamar McKnight, 28, is charged with two counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, one count of criminal solicitation of a minor and one count of misconduct in office.
S.C. Law Enforcement Division agents arrested McKnight on Jan. 2, according to a release from special agent Thom Berry.
Online records show McKnight, who had been employed by the Atlantic Beach Police Department in Horry County since last month, was booked at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center in North Myrtle Beach at 7:43 p.m. Jan. 2. He was released a little more than an hour later and transferred to the Pickens County Detention Center, where he was booked at around 1 a.m. and later denied bond on all charges.
Warrants allege McKnight asked a minor to send him sexually explicit photographs and/or videos between Oct. 1, 2017, and Nov. 29, 2018, and
You must be logged in to view this content.
Subscribe Today or Login
Police: Man, 81, dies in murder-suicide attempt
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — Pickens County Sheriff’s Office investigators believe an 81-year-old Pickens man shot and wounded his wife before taking his own life Thursday.
The sheriff’s office received a report of a shooting on McJunkin Road in Pickens at 9:35 p.m. Thursday, according to a release from Chief Deputy Creed Hashe.
Deputies arriving at the scene found a 73-year-old woman with what appeared to be a gunshot wound.
The woman was taken to the hospital and underwent surgery Friday morning “to repair injuries sustained from having been shot one time
You must be logged in to view this content.
Subscribe Today or Login
Residents press legislators to make education changes
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
LIBERTY — Several residents called for the Pickens County Legislative Delegation to do its part toward eliminating the state’s Education Oversight Committee.
Comprised of Sens. Thomas Alexander and Rex Rice and Reps. Davey Hiott, Neal Collins, Gary Clary and West Cox, the delegation held its annual meeting Monday night at the Pickens County Performing Arts Center in Liberty.
Johnelle Raines of Pickens spoke on behalf of United States Parents Involved in Education “to recommend an education governance structure change.”
“It is evident South Carolina public schools are failing after the latest results of the nation’s report card,” she said. “It is a disgrace. Our rankings have gone further downhill. This is not acceptable.”
Legislators must change the leaders who are making decisions about the
You must be logged in to view this content.
Subscribe Today or Login
Foundation impressed by Dream Center’s success
Hipps Foundation recently gave to Opportunity Village
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — Tucker Hipps had a passion for helping the homeless, and the foundation that bears his name wants to help homeless people in his memory.
After Tucker’s death, his mother, Cindy Hipps, said the family was told many stories about people witnessing Tucker helping the homeless.
“He’d take them out to lunch or open his wallet and give them money,” she said.
Cindy Hipps is the president of the Tucker W. Hipps Memorial Foundation, which recently made a $25,000 donation to the Dream Center
You must be logged in to view this content.
Subscribe Today or Login
Long-time Pickens Savings and Loan president and CEO retires
PICKENS — After nearly half a century in the banking industry, Pickens Savings and Loan Association president and CEO Alex Gettys is entering a 
new role in 2019 — retiree.
After joining the bank as CEO in 1993 and later becoming president of the organization in 2009, Gettys recently announced his retirement from the bank effective Dec. 31.
Gettys spent 46 years working for large and midsize banks throughout South Carolina.
“It was a great experience working in banking in different parts of the state, and I made lifelong friends in the process,” he said. “I was mentored by some great bankers in Charleston, Hilton Head, Columbia and
You must be logged in to view this content.
Subscribe Today or Login
Spring sports signups open at Pickens Rec
PICKENS — Registration is open from now through Jan. 25 for both spring volleyball and spring soccer at the Pickens Recreation Center on Sangamo Road in Pickens.
Financial assistance is available for those who qualify and will only be taken through Jan. 18.
For volleyball, the following age divisions are offered: 7-9, 10-12, 13-14 and 15-17.
For soccer, coed age divisions are 5-6, 7-8, 9-10 and 11-12. Depending on
You must be logged in to view this content.
Subscribe Today or Login
Best ever? Clemson certainly has a case
So, raise your hand if you had Clemson winning by 28 points Monday night.
No, nobody? Bueller? Bueller?
That’s OK — I don’t think anybody in their right mind could have foreseen what the Tigers did to Alabama in the 44-16 win that clinched their third national championship, and their second in three years.
Heck, I was telling anyone who asked in the days leading up to the game that I liked Clemson 31-28, and I was getting all kinds of side-eyed looks for that prediction.
Folks, this wasn’t supposed to happen. A Clemson win? Sure. But a complete evisceration of the mighty Crimson Tide? Surely not.
Intercepting the unflappable Tua Tagovailoa twice? The offensive line more than holding its own after being put to shame in the Sugar Bowl by
You must be logged in to view this content.
Subscribe Today or Login
A wonderful time to begin brand new
A brand-new year is here, and I’m excited to see what the Lord has for us!
Keeping Christ at the center of our thoughts takes a great deal of discipline and determination, but so does everything else we really care about. It 
comes down to how serious we are about knowing God and how willing we are to give him total control of our life. Whatever we become involved with, he simply wants us to listen and obey his instructions, which is the reason we are here. If we abide under the shadow of his wings, we will walk in the peace and joy of his spirit, but if we choose to live our own way, we will remain empty and miserable.
Matthew chapter 22 gives us the meaning of life: “Jesus said unto him, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.”
Actually, the Bible contains many passages where God declares how much
You must be logged in to view this content.
Subscribe Today or Login
Let freedom ring from wall to wall
Do you remember when the Berlin Wall came down? It had separated Germany into two regions and was an international symbol of misery. It 
was built by the communist regime in East Germany in 1961 to prevent its citizens from escaping to the west, and freedom.
Many people risked and lost their lives in attempts to get over the wall.
It wasn’t built to keep people from coming into the country. It was built to keep people from leaving. Everyone living inside the wall was unable to express themselves, travel without permission or question authority. They were completely controlled in every aspect of their lives.
Many people were shot by guards when they tried to escape. Families were
You must be logged in to view this content.
Subscribe Today or Login
