Daily Archives: 12/21/2021
New district lines lead to gerrymandering concerns
Ex-House candidates level accusations after Rep. Neal Collins served on committee
By Ron Barnett
Staff Reporter
rbarnett@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — State Rep. Neal Collins of Easley is being accused of gerrymandering, after the redistricting committee he served on redrew House district boundaries that left his two-time opponent Allan Quinn in another district.
Quinn isn’t the only former candidate making such allegations.
Phillip Bowers, who ran in the 2020 Republican primary for an open seat in the Clemson-area district that was won by Jerry Carter, also found his residence assigned to a different district in the process. Carter was not on the redistricting committee.
Quinn and Bowers had pitched themselves as more conservative alternatives to Collins and Carter, and both told the Courier they believe the new district lines were redrawn specifically to eliminate them from contention in the 2022 GOP primaries.
Both lived close to the edge of the district.
“(Collins) did that so that I could not run against him,” Quinn said. “I’m not the only one he did it to.”
Collins said he can’t comment specifically on those allegations because of pending legal action.
But he said the redistricting process was driven by demographic changes and the mathematical domino effect that forces adjustments in adjoining districts to keep the populations among
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County finance head gives budget update
COUNTY — Several months into Pickens County’s fiscal year, “things are better than we anticipated,” finance director Ralph Guarino said.
Guarino gave a mid-year budget update during county council’s Dec. 6 meeting.
“I don’t have any reserve at this point about us being able to make our $48 million budget,” he said.
Taxes make up about 68 percent of the revenues of the general fund. Taxes primarily consist of
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SCHSL unveils new alignment
COLUMBIA — The South Carolina High School League announced its proposed realignment for the 2022-24 seasons on Friday, and some big changes are coming for Pickens County’s high school teams.
The biggest changes will come for Liberty, which will remain in Region I-2A but will face an almost entirely new region of teams. The Red Devils’ new region is made up of Blacksburg, Chesnee, Greenville Tech, Greer Middle College and Landrum. Since Greenville Tech and Greer Middle College don’t have football programs, Abbeville and
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Clemson confirms cases of omicron variant
Officials keep eye on data to decide on return plans
By Riley Morningstar
Courtesy The Journal
rmorningstar@upstatetoday.com
CLEMSON — Although final exams ended more than 10 days ago, a Clemson University lab has confirmed 10 positive cases of the COVID-
19 omicron variant.
School officials announced Monday that the cases were detected at the on-campus lab and further sequenced over the weekend.
“While the samples are de-identified, we can confirm they were obtained through
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County reports 4 more COVID deaths
COLUMBIA — With the threat of the omicron variant coming to Pickens County, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) has reported four COVID-19 deaths in the county over the past week.
According to DHEC, there were three confirmed and one probable deaths in the one-week period from last Tuesday to Monday, when the latest numbers were available.
As it has for much of the pandemic, Pickens County remains the worst out of the state’s 46 counties
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Rec funds paying for work at park, airport
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — Recreation funds are paying for the creation of a new amenity at the Pickens County Airport and further improvements to a park off of S.C. Highway 11.
County administrator Ken Roper discussed those projects during his report to county council at its Dec. 6 meeting.
A handicapped-accessible playground is being installed at the Pickens County Airport, he
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Man charged with drug trafficking
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — A man faces multiple drug charges following a traffic stop earlier this month.
According to a release from the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were patrolling Easley in the
Black Snake Road area during the early-morning hours of Dec. 10 when they saw a driver fail to use a turn signal.
Conducting a traffic stop for the turn signal violation, deputies detected the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle, the release said.
During a vehicle search, deputies discovered large You must be logged in to view this content.
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Christmas waits for no man
Time is like a giant snowball rolling down the hill, and I stand at the bottom, waiting for it to roll over me.
I’ve gone through the recipes and pulled out the ones for fudge, peanut brittle and Christmas cookies. All the ingredients have been bought and are on the pantry shelves or refrigerator.
Contemplating getting it all done and packed in tin boxes is, frankly, daunting.
It will get done. But not today. That about sizes it up in the final days before Christmas.
FedEx and UPS have faithfully delivered box after box to the house. Most of the drivers know
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Come let us adore Him
The holiday season is called the most wonderful time of the year, but between buying gifts, hosting parties, trying not to break your healthy habits (or the bank) and attending family gatherings, it can also be the most stressful time of the year.
Once again, we are trying to figure out what to give people who already have everything they need. Come to think of it, I’m trying to understand how we went from the wise men bringing gifts to Christ as an act of worship to the ritual of giving gifts to each other? I don’t remember
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