Daily Archives: 02/16/2021
Man dies in Clemson police shooting
By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal
goliver@upstatetoday.com
CLEMSON — A 25-year-old Greenville man was shot and killed by Clemson police early Thursday 
morning during an altercation that began when officers confronted him while investigating a stolen moped at the Circle K convenience store on College Avenue.
Pickens County Coroner Kandy Kelley said Gregory Chandler Metz of Seyle Street was pronounced dead at the scene. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) is investigating the case.
Clemson Police Chief Jorge Campos said
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Coroner says man drowned after jump from bridge
CLEMSON — A Dorchester County man’s body was pulled from Lake Hartwell on Saturday after he jumped off a bridge to avoid an oncoming train and
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SC news deserts, weak ethics laws allow corruption to run rampant
By Tony Bartelme, Glenn Smith, Joseph Cranney and Avery Wilks
The Post and Courier
news@thepccourier.com
Editor’s note: The Post and Courier of Charleston, the largest newspaper in the state of South Carolina, has partnered with other daily and weekly newspapers — including the Pickens County Courier — to help report on corruption and wasteful spending in communities around the Palmetto State.
1. LIGHT
Corruption festers when people aren’t looking, when the spotlight doesn’t shine. Without fair scrutiny, public officials with weak ethical backbones bend the rules. They help themselves to public money. They help their cronies instead of people they represent. Like a virus, corruption mushrooms, and so do the costs to you and
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More about South Carolina’s five public natural gas authorities
When they were created in the 1950s, the state’s five natural gas authorities by law were supposed to turn over profits to municipalities they served.
Have they?
Two did. Clinton Newberry distributed $9.4 million over the past 10 years, equally split between the cities of Clinton and Newberry. (The authority’s contribution
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Accountability suffers as newspaper closures grow across state and nation
By Glenn Smith and Tony Bartelme
The Post and Courier
news@thepccourier.com
Corruption is flourishing in the rural corners of South Carolina as newspapers fold or shrink coverage amid a financially crippling pandemic.
Seven of our state’s newspapers closed their doors in the past year, joining more than 60 that shuttered across the nation as the coronavirus strangled an industry already battered by shrinking revenue and draining job cuts. This only exacerbated a trend that has created so-called “news deserts” in hundreds of U.S. communities, depriving them of vital watchdogs of
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Easley could start fining for no mask
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — Easley City Council members made no changes to the city’s mask requirement ordinance 
at a recent meeting, but some are concerned the ordinance isn’t strict enough.
Council members discussed the face covering ordinance issue during their
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17 more COVID deaths reported across county
COLUMBIA — Although the number of new cases reported daily has been dropping relatively steadily since the beginning of the year, Pickens County is still fighting an uphill battle against 
COVID-19, with 17 deaths related to the virus over the past week.
According to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, the county reported 16 confirmed
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More face-to-face learning included in SDPC schedule
By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal
goliver@upstatetoday.com
EASLEY — Students in the School District of Pickens County will attend school in person for 27 of the 29 days of instruction included in the district’s next six-week schedule, covering Feb. 22-April 2.
In a letter sent to parents last week, superintendent Danny Merck said the district will have two asynchronous remote learning days on Feb. 26 and March 19. On those days, students will have videos to watch and assignments to complete, but students in all grades will not be required to log in to classes at specific times on those days.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and positive cases in
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District’s virus numbers drop slightly again
COUNTY — The total number of quarantines and positive COVID-19 cases in the School District of Pickens County dropped slightly again last week, according to the district’s weekly update.
Although the number of staff members quarantined and testing positive for the virus climbed from the previous week, from 33 to 38 and 15 to 17, respectively, the drop in the numbers for students more than made up for that increase.
After 581 students were quarantined and 46 tested positive the previous week, 445 were
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Man faces trafficking and other charges
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — An Easley man faces multiple charges, including trafficking methamphetamine, after being arrested Thursday.
Ryan Christoper Ballard is charged with a third offense of trafficking between 28 and 100 grams of methamphetamine, a first offense of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, two counts of second or subsequent offense possession of controlled substance and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, the release said.
According to a Pickens County Sheriff’s Office news release, deputies with the PCSO Community Action Team responded to 130 Beaver Pond Court in Easley in reference to suspicious
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