Monthly Archives: September 2021
Virus kills 19 more local residents
COVID-19 has claimed 330-plus lives in county
COLUMBIA — After a near record-high 16 COVID-19 deaths last week, Pickens County has once again seen another rise in death numbers this week, with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) reporting 19 COVID-19 deaths over the past 
seven days.
According to DHEC, there were 19 confirmed deaths and no probable deaths in the one-week period from last Tuesday to Monday, when the latest numbers were available.
Pickens County also remains the worst out of the state’s 46 counties in infection rate, with 18,217.4 cases
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County council dismisses mask mandate idea
COUNTY — Pickens County Council members discussed a mask mandate during their September regular session meeting, but took no action.
During the public input session of the meeting, residents spoke out for and against a mandate.
County council chairman Chris Bowers said a member of council had requested the discussion be put on the agenda.
“I’m really not prepared tonight to pitch a mandate of any sort, but I did agree to have
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Pickens’ plan for lake plant moving ahead
PICKENS — Pickens officials received an update this month on an effort that would see the creation of a water plant on Lake Keowee that would supply the city’s water.
“What we’re doing is, the city of Pickens and several other water groups, we’re going together and we’re going to build a plant on Keowee,” Councilman Donnie McKinney said during Pickens City Council’s Sept. 13 meeting. “Once we get up and going, your water will be coming out of Keowee instead of City Lake.”
During the meeting, city administrator Philip Trotter gave an update on recent events concerning the creation of the Pickens Regional Joint Water System.
“The city of Liberty was currently supplied by the Pickens County Water Authority,” he said. “They have petitioned Pickens County Water
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Six Mile mayor Stoddard presented with Quilt of Valor
By Lauren Pierce
Courtesy The Journal
lpierce@upstatetoday.com
SIX MILE — Six Mile Mayor Roy Stoddard was presented with a Quilt of Valor for his service to the United States at the town’s council meeting earlier this month.
Stoddard, a retired U.S. Navy captain, was presented the quilt by Quilts of Valor Foundation
volunteer Ronny Hall and group coordinator Linda Hall.
Stoddard has a “distinguished service record,” serving the country for nearly 32 years, Ronny Hall said.
“He has a master’s degree in
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Nonprofit seeking large-print items for elderly this month
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — A local nonprofit is collecting large-print items for the elderly this month.
Members of Warmth and Comfort for the Elderly Upstate SC use their crochet skills to provide warm items for nursing home patients, hospice groups, home health patients and elderly people who live at home and can’t afford them.
They also hold regular donation drives. The September drive is for large-print items, co-chair Tammy Ferguson said.
“For the month of September Warmth and Comfort will be collecting large-print items such as word searches, books of all kinds but
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Jeep event Saturday
PICKENS — The Pickens area will hear the roar of Jeeps once more this Saturday as the first-ever Pickens Jeep Explosion and Hinkle Memory Ride will take place in Pickens.
The Jeep parade will be led by legendary Jeep dealer Larry Hinkle and feature hundreds of Jeeps.
Lineup is set for 2:30 p.m. at Pickens High School, with Jeeps leaving the school at 3 p.m.
The parade route will turn onto US. .Highway 178 and go to S.C. Highway 11, then turn on Shady Grove Road and travel to Main Street in Pickens.
The event has been approved by the city of Pickens and Pickens Police Department. West Main Street to Catherine Street will be closed at 3 p.m. Jeeps will roll in from 4-
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Expert says discussing suicide a way to save lives
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — Time is an important tool for those trying to help people in their lives who are having suicidal thoughts.
“The most important thing you can put between a suicidal person and their way of ending their life is time,” said Vanessa Riley, associate 
area director for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Riley gave a “Talk Saves Lives” presentation for Pickens County residents last week.
“Suicide can be a very, very sensitive topic, but talking abut suicide is critical to its prevention,” she said.
Knowing the warning signs and risk factors can help prevent people from dying
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Celebrate the small things
On the personal side, there is good news. I finally found a box of Morton’s salt at Publix in Easley.
I don’t know what the difference is between Morton’s salt and Laura Lynn salt, but there is definitely a difference in the spouts. You can 
pour salt from the Morton’s salt box. You have to dump salt out of the Laura Lynn salt box because the spout doesn’t work properly.
It may be very expensive to manufacture a salt box with a working spout. Who knows. I certainly don’t. But it is something to celebrate when even the smallest thing goes your way.
Something else I’m happy about. Everything that isn’t nailed down on Fowler Farm has been
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American freedom?
I’ve been thinking about freedom a lot lately.
No, I’m not thinking about leaving my wife.
What I’m thinking about is good-old, hard-core, patriotic American freedom, its limits and how those boundaries should be defined.
This is, of course, a topic of debate because of the “freedom of choice” being claimed by those who believe the government has no right to require them to take measures to protect, if not themselves, the rest of us from getting sick and possibly dying in this seemingly neverending pandemic.
I hate it that Pickens County is near the bottom in a state with among the lowest vaccination
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Let’s talk about plastics
Pickens County is making significant progress in improving service to the public at our eight recycling centers.
In September 2020, our recycle centers returned to the 7:30 a.m.-7:20 p.m. schedule, Monday through Saturday. As a result, our facilities 
are open 71 hours each week to better serve our county population. Compare these hours with our neighboring counties (60 hours a week in Anderson and Oconee, and 55 hours a week in Greenville).
At the same time, our solid waste staff transitioned from a landfilling approach to the use of a waste transfer station and trucks as our county landfill was near capacity. Concurrently, we are working to limit use of our facilities by out-of-county individuals in order to maximize the services provided to our own
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