Daily Archives: 03/16/2021
Azalea Festival back on
PICKENS — Less than two weeks after Pickens Azalea Festival Committee chairman Russ Gantt told city council the annual spring event would be canceled for the second year in a row amid the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers reversed course last week and said the festival is a 
go for next month.
In a post on the Pickens Azalea Festival Facebook page, organizers said Friday evening they had heard the message loud and clear from those upset about the festival’s cancellation and put the event back on the calendar with a short
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EPD: Man stole car at gunpoint before pursuit
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — A Greenville man faces multiple charges after Easley police say he held a man at gunpoint, stole several vehicles and led officers on a chase into Liberty.
Charges pending against Nathaniel Jawon Norwood, 30, include carjacking and weapons violation, according to a release from the Easley Police Department issued Saturday.
Officers received a call Saturday morning from a victim at the Walmart on Rolling Hills Circle, the release said.
The man told police he had been held at gunpoint and told to surrender his vehicle, a blue Nissan Sentra, the release said.
Shortly afterward, officers spotted a vehicle near the
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Federal program aiming to help address county’s high suicide rate
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — Pickens County will take part in an effort to prevent service members, veterans and their families from dying by suicide by identifying members of those groups who are most at risk.
The South Carolina Department of Mental Health’s Office of Suicide Prevention announced recently that Pickens County has been selected as one of the 10 locations in the United States to participate in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Crisis Intercept Mapping for Service Members, Veterans and their Families (SMVF) for Suicide Prevention.
The SMVF Crisis Intercept Map for Suicide Prevention is a tool that helps community members understand how at-risk service members, veterans and their
families move through the crisis care system, the announcement said.
The tool identifies four key “intercept points” for identifying people who are most at risk and connecting them to the most appropriate and effective suicide prevention and support services, the
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Easley woman pleads guilty to murder charge
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
GREENVILLE — A 23-year-old Easley woman pleaded guilty last week to the 2019 murder of an Easley man and the attempted murder of two other people.
Judge Letitia Verdin sentenced Corina Veronica Castro to 43 years for murder and 30 years each for the attempted murders, 13th Circuit Solicitor Walt Wilkins said in a release.
Assistant solicitor Marcus Smith presented evidence at the March 10 plea hearing establishing
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Pickens, Clemson elections Tuesday
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — After weeks of preparation, Pickens County is on the eve of two special elections to decide council members for the cities of Clemson and Pickens.
In Pickens, the race to succeed Donna Owen, who resigned in January, is down to just three candidates after candidate Jonathan Baker dropped out earlier in the month.
Left on the ballot to fill the unexpired term of Owen are Allen Brewer, Edgar Leese and Robert Nealy.
Brewer is an operations manager for Diamond Hill Plywood in Greenville and a lifelong Pickens
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SDPC virus cases increase slightly
SDPC virus CASES INCREASE SLIGHTLY
COUNTY — The number of positive COVID-19 cases among both staff members and students in the School District of Pickens County increased last week for the first time since the calendar turned to 
2021.
District officials said in their weekly update Friday that 27 students and eight staff members tested positive for the virus last week, up from 20 and three, respectively, the previous week.
Quarantines were also up for students, as 201 were
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County adds fewest confirmed COVID cases since September
COLUMBIA — With just two new confirmed deaths since last week, Pickens County is continuing to see improving numbers in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control reported the confirmed COVID-19 deaths of two elderly Pickens County residents in the seven-day period ending on Monday, when the latest DHEC numbers available at press time had been released.
Pickens County added only 124 confirmed cases of the virus
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Man loses life in motorcycle
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — A 20-year-old Easley man died last week after a two-vehicle collision.
Pickens County Coroner Kandy Kelley identified the victim as Truman Jennings Ackerman, of Poinsett Circle.
The accident occurred at 8:34 p.m. March 10 on Powdersville Road, she said.
Ackerman was driving a motorcycle that struck a vehicle on its passenger side, Kelley said.
Ackerman, who was not wearing a helmet, was pronounced dead at the scene of blunt force trauma, Kelley said.
The Easley Police Department is investigating.
Rec department plans day camps
PICKENS — The Pickens Recreation Department is planning five one-week sessions of summer day camp for children ages 6-12 in June and July.
Cost for the camp, to be held at the Pickens Recreation Center at 545 Sangamo Road, will be $70 per child per week, with a price adjustment for additional siblings. a
Registration is now open. There will be no partial camp fees this year, and there is a non-refundable
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Green Wave top Tigers to win Shock City Invitational
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
IVA — For the first time on the short season, Easley trailed in its Shock City Invitational championship game against Crescent on Thursday night.
The Green Wave responded in the only way they knew how, battering the Tigers to regain the lead and never losing it again in a 9-4 victory.
“We were a little flat,” Easley head coach Gill Payne said. “It might be the flattest I’ve seen this group, because these are high-energy
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