Daily Archives: 06/09/2020
Saitta, Wilson take council seats
Clark holds off Harrison in sheriff race
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
Remember to VOTE April 1
COUNTY — Despite concerns over the lasting effects of the COVID-19 virus on elections, turnout in Pickens County proved to be impressive for Tuesday’s primary election.
Twenty-eight percent of registered voters cast ballots, compared to just 21 percent in 2018 in races to set the ballots for the Nov. 3 general election.
In the race for sheriff, incumbent Rick Clark defeated law enforcement veteran David Harrison by a 1,767-vote margin, with 10,340 votes to Harrison’s 8,573. Clark will face no opposition in
2 of State’s ‘7 wonders’ can be found in Pickens County
State organization plans to showcase destinations in July
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — An upcoming campaign from the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor will spotlight South Carolina’s “seven wonders” — and two of those destinations are in Pickens County.
Acting county administrator Ken Roper discussed the campaign during county council’s June 1 meeting.
The S.C. National Heritage Corridor is “sponsoring an adventure … and that adventure is to visit the seven wonders of South Carolina,” he said.
“Through the month of July, they’re going to have various hikes and visits that start in Oconee County and conclude at the aquarium down in Charleston,” Roper said.
SC Floodwater Commission chair Tom Mullikin will be leading an expedition across the state in July, using the Palmetto Trail as a “guiding pathway,” according to the S.C.
Pandemic tripled county jobless rate
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — Pickens County’s unemployment rate more than tripled in April, although the unemployment rate of other Upstate counties grew even more.
Acting county administrator Ken Roper discussed April unemployment numbers during county council’s June 1 meeting.
“Obviously one of the concerns from COVID-19 has been the way that the response has negatively
Quilters guild sews face masks for local groups
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — A local group has been providing area nonprofits, charities and other organizations with masks to protect against COVID-19.
Linda Cassell is a member of the UpCountry Quilters Guild in Pickens.
“Normally we do things like make blankets and quilts for Manna and places like that,” she said.
Sheriff’s office warns public of gift card scam
COUNTY — Scammers have been impersonating deputies on phone calls aimed at obtaining pre-
paid gift cards from residents, according to the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office issued a release about the scam Thursday morning.
Victims have reported receiving phone calls from (864) 397-7026, with the caller identifying himself as a deputy, the release said.
The caller told victims they had an outstanding warrant for
Rogers golf tourney scheduled June 20
PICKENS — The 16th annual Charles F. Rogers Scholarship Fund Golf Tournament is scheduled for June 20.
The tournament, which annually benefits a male and female senior basketball player from Pickens High School planning to attend a university, college or technical school, is set to kick off with a 2 p.m. shotgun start at Southern Oaks Golf Course.
The tournament will follow a captain’s choice format, and entry costs $75 per person or $300 per four-person team. Hole sponsorships are available for $100, $75 and $50, and prizes will be awarded for first,
Fall volleyball and soccer registration open at Pickens Rec
PICKENS — Fall soccer and volleyball registration are being taken now through July 24 at the Pickens Recreation Center on Sangamo Road in Pickens.
For soccer, the following coed age divisions are offered: 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12 and 13-15.
Volleyball age divisions are 7-9, 10-12, 13-14 and 15-17.
Following registration, a skills/evaluation day will be held for each age division. The registration fee
Easley ends curbside recycling
EASLEY — Effective Monday, the city of Easley will officially suspend curbside recycling services indefinitely.
City officials say the change is due to restrictive requirements set forth by the recycling companies where the collected items are being transferred.
Economic changes have driven companies to become more restrictive as to what they will accept and as to how it is delivered, according to a city news release.
“The city is not receiving any money from the recycling companies to assist in
He should have been in the circus
When my Uncle Jack was a very little boy, he’d get out of bed very early in the morning and toddle barefoot out to the stables, carrying his bottle with him.
Once there, he’d grip the nipple of his bottle between his teeth and crawl up Queen’s foreleg until he could grab her mane and pull himself up onto her back.
He was a wizard with animals and completely fearless.
Queen was Granddaddy’s special pet. She competed on the racetrack in sulky racing. A sulky is a two-wheeled, one-seat lightweight cart, and Queen won a lot of races.
Racehorse though she was, she was amazingly gentle and patient with Uncle Jack. He was a towhead with curls so light they looked white. Although he looked
The way forward
First, I’d like to thank all of you who have been praying for my wife, Kathy, as she has been struggling with the aftermath of a near-fatal bout of sepsis, with other complications. She’s getting 
better but still has a lot to deal with, so if you’re inclined, please continue to pray.
I’m going to be taking some time off from writing a regular weekly column, but I felt compelled to weigh in on the controversy that has stirred protests across the country recently.
I don’t think it’s possible to really know what it feels like to be a black man in a nation dominated by white people — unless you are a black man in such a nation, as America is.
But I’ve come closer, perhaps, than most to getting a taste of what it must be like.
For a time in the late 1970s, I was the only white guy in an
