Daily Archives: 02/19/2019
Top dog
Liberty woman’s pet honored at prestigious New York dog show
Hello again, dear readers.
Last week, my editor here at the Pickens County Courier, Zack Mauldin, asked me what I wanted to call my column, and I couldn’t come up with a name off the top of my head that I thought fit what I had in mind.
I’m still not sure if I’ve quite got it, but for now at least, I’m going with “Mountain Rhythms.” I wanted it to say something about Pickens County’s sense of place, because I want to write about places that make our county special. That’s where the “Mountain” part comes in, although Pickens County
New county sales tax an option for road funding
By Ron Barnett
Staff Reporter
rbarnett@thepccourier.com
LIBERTY — A countywide sales tax has been suggested as a possible way of paying for road maintenance in Pickens County, which has been on hold for nearly two years because of rising asphalt costs and not enough money coming in from the $20 paving fee that vehicle owners pay every year along with their property taxes.
Pickens County has approached each of the seven municipalities within the county with a proposed agreement that would change the way county road maintenance money is managed within the cities. It doesn’t mention changing the method of collecting the money, but is the first step in the process of reforming the system, county administrator Gerald Wilson said.
The idea of a countywide sales tax, he said, came from the town of Central and would require voter approval in a referendum. The proposal would include doing away with the $20 fee now
Saitta speaks to state committee
By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal
goliver@upstatetoday.com
COLUMBIA — Former Pickens County School Board chairman Alex Saitta told legislators last week the ills of public education 
won’t be resolved by the education reform bill proposed in the state legislature.
Saitta spoke against the version of the bill currently in the state House of Representatives at a meeting of the K-12 subcommittee of the House Education and Public Works Committee. The state Senate is also considering an education bill.
“Despite a million new initiatives and spending billions more, there has been little improvement,” Saitta said. “I think it is
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Legislators: SC ed reform a ‘priority’
By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal
goliver@upstatetoday.com
CLEMSON — State Sens. Thomas Alexander and Rex Rice said education reform is a priority this year in the senate.
“It’s a priority for us in the Senate this year to have education reform and the right kind, putting emphasis on our teachers and cutting down on the amount of paperwork, as well as other initiatives that will be helpful to our students to enable them to
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District’s work-study program ‘wildly successful’
Program an example of
career center’s partnerships
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
LIBERTY — The Pickens County Career and Technology Center is working to provide students with work experience that goes 
beyond the average after-school job and is partnering with area industry and local businesses to do so.
The center is working with Alliance Pickens and the district’s middle and high schools to provide “career discovery and also to keep a viable pipeline for an educated workforce,” CTC director Ken
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Easley annexes 55 acres of ECU property
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — The city of Easley will officially grow by more than 50 acres.
During its monthly meeting last week, Easley City Council approved on second reading an ordinance to annex 54.93 acres of property on Rolling Hills Road.
City administrator Stephen Steese said the land is owned by
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More work coming at Mile Creek
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
SIX MILE — A number of improvements are in the works at Mile Creek Park in Six Mile.
County administrator Gerald Wilson talked about the park at county council’s recent planning retreat.
“There’s money out there in our ATAX fund that we could pay to finish some of these projects up,” he said. “It’s something to keep in mind.”
During the retreat, Councilman Wes Hendricks said getting the park “in tip-top shape” is one of his top priorities.
“We have the opportunity to have the best county park in the
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Flame grapplers qualify for state tournament
The Pickens High School wrestling team had a successful run at the individual Upper State wrestling tournament on Feb. 15-16. The event, which was held at Eastside High School, saw four Blue Flame wrestlers place. Jeffrey Hollingsworth came in third place in the 106-pound division, Elijah Holder came in third in the 138-pound division, Garret Kloth came in second in the 145-pound division and Ben Joye came in third place in the 152-pound division. The athletes will now move on to the individual state tournament at the Anderson Civic Center this Friday nad Saturday. Pictured, from left, are Coach Hough, head coach Sean Mansfield, Ben Joye, Elijah Holder, Jeffery Hollingsworth, Garrett Kloth, Coach Breelove and Coach Joye.
New turtle statue installed in Pickens
PICKENS — A new turtle for Pickens Turtles on the Town has been installed.
Hope, a Hawksbill sea turtle, is dedicated specifically to Kileigh Hope, but symbolically to all children who have enjoyed finding bronze turtles around Pickens for the past seven years.
Turtles on the Town was created by Louise Hope and Susan Hilyer in 2012 as a community project with their students. The original 12 bronze turtles were sponsored by local merchants and designed and crafted by Zan Wells. The Turtle Tour begins at Legacy Square and
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Pickens native to conduct All-State Orchestra
PICKENS — Pickens native Amy Mason Sckipp, Ed.D, will 
conduct the Junior All-State Orchestra at the All-State Festival in Lexington this weekend, Feb. 22-24.
A graduate of the University of South Carolina, Sckipp currently lives in Long Island, N.Y.
She earned her doctorate of education in music and music education from Columbia University in New York. She is an active member of the New York State Schools Music Association, Suffolk County Music Educators Association, Long Island String Festival Association and National Association for
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