Monthly Archives: March 2021
Vaccines now open to all SC adults
Officials make COVID-19 shots available for all state residents ages 16 and older
COLUMBIA — Gov. Henry McMaster and South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) officials announced Friday all state residents 16 and older would be eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine beginning this week.
Appointments for the expanded age group can begin to be made as of Wednesday, according to a news release.
“Our priority with the vaccine has been to save the lives of those at the greatest risk of dying. By staying the course and resisting distractions,
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Virus numbers on the rise again?
COLUMBIA — While virus-related death numbers were down over the past week, Pickens County has a bit of cause for concern as COVID-19 case numbers increased at a faster pace than the previous week.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control reported the confirmed COVID-19 death of one elderly Pickens County resident in the seven-day period ending on Monday, when the latest DHEC numbers
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County plants flowers in honor of residents lost to COVID-19
PICKENS — Flowers that will bloom every spring at the Pickens County administration building are intended as a reminder of the more than 200 Pickens County residents who have died of COVID-19.
County administrator Ken Roper discussed the flowers during a Facebook Live update posted Friday morning.
“COVID is still a thing, folks,” Roper said. “I know that we’re all tired of it.”
Roper had been doing weekly or biweekly Facebook Live updates throughout the pandemic.
“And then I stopped because I ran out of good things to tell you and I felt like we were all doing what we reasonably could here locally,” he said.
March 20 marked the one-year anniversary of the county’s first COVID-19 case, Roper said.
“Things are starting to open back up a little bit,” he said. “Vaccine deployment is growing. Testing capability is out there. People are used to wearing masks when appropriate, but we’ve got to be careful and we’ve got to be smart about the way we reintroduce ourselves and each other to kind of a new regular life. We’re hopeful that the vaccine is going to help us with all that.”
The county’s COVID numbers “have started coming back down,” Roper said.
“Our numbers climbed over the holidays to where we had over 2,500 active cases in Pickens County
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Courthouse bomber gets prison time
PICKENS — The man who damaged the Pickens County Courthouse with an explosive device and left others at Pickens Department of Social Services office was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison on Friday.
Michael Lambert Seabrooke, 37, formerly of Barnwell, pleaded guilty to possession of explosive devices and two counts of malicious damage and attempt to damage by means of explosive materials, acting United States Attorney M. Rhett DeHart said in a release.
United States District Court Judge Timothy M. Cain sentenced Seabrooke to 144 months in
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Nealy, Fulmer win city council races
COUNTY — Voters went to the polls to select a new city councilman in both Pickens and Clemson last week.
In Pickens, Robert Nealy will take over the council seat formerly held by Donna Owen. Nealy received more than 70 percent of the vote in a 
FULMER
NEALY
three-way race, with 158 votes cast in his favor.
Coming in behind Nealy was Ed Leese, who finished with 41 votes (18.6 percent) and Allen Brewer, who finished with 20 votes (9 percent).
In Clemson, meanwhile, John Fulmer will take over the Clemson City Council seat formerly held by Robert Halfacre, who resigned his seat after being elected mayor in November.
Fulmer also won by a resounding margin in a three-man race, taking 80 percent of the total votes, with 780 cast in his favor.
Greg Rice was the next closest competitor in the race, finishing with 128 votes (13.1 percent), and Jim Borick finished in third with 65 votes (6.7 percent).
District names first black principal since desegregation
Anderson-Murray to lead Forest Acres Elementary
EASLEY — The School District of Pickens County has selected Dr. Ashley Anderson-Murray as the new principal of Forest Acres Elementary School.
Anderson-Murray has led the school as interim principal since December, when former principal Darian Byrd became director of Pickens County Virtual Academy.
Anderson-Murray is the first African American to be named a principal in the school
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Navigating Easter celebrations in the era of social distancing
Holidays have been celebrated differently since the outbreak of COVID-19 in late 2019. Easter was among the first major holidays to be 
celebrated differently in 2020, and celebrations likely won’t return to normal in 2021.
Celebrations and social distancing make strange bedfellows. However, it’s possible for people to safely celebrate Easter with their loved ones.
• Watch virtual Mass together. Though it might not be the same as attending
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Superintendent defends prom decision, despite controversy
By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal
goliver@upstatetoday.com
EASLEY — As COVID-19 vaccinations increase, school activities are beginning to open up.
That includes the annual junior-senior prom for high school students in Pickens County.
But that doesn’t mean all students and parents are happy.
Last week, a county student presented the district’s board of trustees with a petition holding 440 signatures asking that students be allowed to bring anyone they want to the prom. Officials are requiring students to bring dates from within their high schools, rather than from an outside school, in a virus mitigation move.
“We just want to have one night to ourselves, to be able to dance, have fun at our own risk,” Easley High School student Brendan Perfater said. “We all already hang out together to begin with. It’s just us — we just want one
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School district announces end-of-year schedule
By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal
goliver@upstatetoday.com
EASLEY — The School District of Pickens County has released its schedule to finish out the school year.
The district announced Thursday that from spring break until the end of the school year, there will be
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COVID-19 cases up slightly in SDPC
COUNTY — Although numbers are still relatively low and fewer people were in quarantine, the School District of Pickens County saw a slight 
increase in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the district last week.
In its weekly update, the district said Friday that 25 students and six staff members tested positive for
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