Daily Archives: 03/02/2021
School district seeking to raise teacher salaries
By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal
goliver@upstatetoday.com
EASLEY — The Pickens County School Board has made increasing teacher pay one of its top priorities heading into the next budget cycle.
The priorities include raising the salary of first-year teachers to $40,000 and adjusting the teacher pay scale to honor long-term teachers.
But last week, the board took immediate action by unanimously voting to double the bonus for
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County internet partnership gets final council OK
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — A public-private partnership between Pickens County and Blue Ridge Electric 
Cooperative to help improve broadband internet access around the county has received its third and final vote of approval.
County council passed an ordinance that would create a fee-in-lieu-of-tax agreement between Pickens County and the cooperative in order to bring better broadband
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3 arrests in search for wanted man
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — Several people have been charged in connection with the capture of a wanted man last week.
According to a Pickens County Sheriff’s Office news release, deputies went to a home on Jay Drive in an attempt to find Jonathan Dean Moody.
The Greenville address is located withing
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Pickens County Virtual Academy opens applications for 2021-2022
COUNTY — Pickens County Virtual Academy applications are now open for the 2021-2022 school year.
The deadline of March 15 may be extended depending on availability of classes.
“The School District of Pickens County is still planning to offer five-day face-to-face instruction next year, but we have heard from many of our families who want us to continue offering the virtual option,” PCVA director Darian Byrd said. “Some of our families have found that their children thrive academically in the
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Central officials looking into changing zoning requirements
By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal
goliver@upstatetoday.com
CENTRAL — In the wake of concerns shared about the annexation of 48 acres on Lawton Road proposed for a 100-home subdivision, Central officials are looking into zoning changes that would 
allow for more open space in town.
“Zoning districts that have been developed in some of our neighboring towns require smaller lots when the property is developed,” Mayor Mac Martin said. “So to require a smaller lot leaves open space that can be used for recreation, park, walking, preserving trees and wildlife.”
While the mayor said “box” zoning has served the town well over the years, the new type of development taking place largely required by building codes may be more suited to a new zoning district.
“This type of district would require a smaller lot and leave
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School district virus numbers still dropping
COUNTY — COVID-19 cases in the School District of Pickens County have reached their lowest point in months, as the district reported Friday that less than a quarter of a percent of students 
tested positive last week, along with just 11 staff members.
The school district said in its weekly update on Friday that 28 students, or 0.206 percent of those throughout the district, tested positive for the virus last week. That number was down from 33 the previous week. The 11 staff members positive was down from 16 the week before.
In addition to positive cases, quarantines were also down for the week, from 33 staff members and 321 students two weeks
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Scouts pitch in
Members of Boy Scout Troop 161 in Clemson led by Scoutmaster Michael Brown recently volunteered at Soapstone Baptist Church north of Pickens, helping clean up and complete projects around the church grounds.
Easley woman dies in car accident
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — A local woman died last week following a single-vehicle collision.
Pickens County deputy coroner Gary Duncan identified the victim as 63-year-old Diana Tate Burdsal of Shade Tree Circle in Easley.
The collision occurred at 3:33 p.m. Feb. 24 at the intersection of Prince Perry Road and B.J. Drive, according to South Carolina Highway Patrol Cpl. Matt Southern.
Burdsal was driving a 2004 Volvo SUV north on Prince Perry Road when the SUV ran off the right side of the roadway, overcorrected, ran off the left of the roadway, struck a culvert and then overturned, Southern said.
Burdsal was pronounced dead at the scene, Duncan said.
She was wearing a seatbelt, he said.
The Highway Patrol is investigating, Southern said.
Seeing the glass half-full
The older we are, the more we can see how the world has changed. The Bible reveals the human race is born with a corrupt nature and also has a lot to say about an evil spiritual enemy that is trying as 
hard as he can to influence us over to the dark-side.
Whatever your political or theological views, we can agree there is much strife within our nation about what is happening and where we are headed. The interesting aspect within many people’s disagreements is how they base their opinions on what someone else has told them. Since God knows everything, the best answers to
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No chipmunks allowed here
Breaking news! There’s a difference between a chipmunk and a ground squirrel, and I didn’t know it. So when we all thought ground squirrels were the guilty rodents storing acorns and other 
materials in the air conditioning vents in the car, we were very wrong.
We know this now, because the creature or creatures we thought were birds behind the chimney of the house were, in fact, not birds at all.
When we first heard the scrabbling noise, it sounded as though it was coming from the porch roof. I thought it might be a bird making a nest in the gutter. It has
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