Daily Archives: 03/08/2022
Quinn announces bid for SC House District 5 seat
EASLEY — Allan Quinn of Easley has announced that he will run again this year for the S.C. State House District 5 seat currently held by Rep. Neal Collins.
Quinn made the announcement last weekend at both nights of the 24th annual spring IPRA World Championship Rodeo at T. Ed Garrison Arena in Clemson put on by his company, Easy
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Virtual town hall set to discuss deadly fentanyl
COUNTY — The Prevention Department of Behavioral Health Services of Pickens County will host a virtual town hall meeting on Facebook Live at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 15.
The topic will be the powerful and potentially fatal painkiller fentanyl. Counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl have become a deadly crisis in South Carolina, particularly in the Upstate.
Participants in the town hall will have the opportunity to learn where
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Easley student shares top prize in electric cooperative contest
COLUMBIA — Micah Jordan, a native of Easley and student at Clemson University’s Honors College, is part of a team that claimed the top scholarship prize of $5,000 in the “Pay it Forward” competition sponsored by South Carolina’s electric cooperatives. The competition challenged students to search for solutions to pressing social and 
economic problems in the state’s rural areas.
With the inaugural contest, students at the state’s largest public honors college programs put their educations to work by brainstorming solutions. Honors students at Clemson and S.C. State universities were named as
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Local firefighters among 20 SC Fire Academy graduates
COLUMBIA — The South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation’s South Carolina Fire Academy graduated 20 recruits from its eight-week firefighter candidate school in Columbia on March 4, including two from Pickens County.
The firefighters underwent a 320-hour training program of classroom and hands-on firefighting skills development. The keynote speaker was Deputy Chief William Shiver Jr. of Clemson University Fire and EMS.
“This challenging program requires commitment, passion and dedication,” fire academy superintendent Dennis
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A much broader perspective on history
When you get as old as I am — which is really not extremely old, but fairly well-seasoned — it gives you a much 
broader perspective on the grand sweep of historical time.
For example, when I was in elementary school in the early to mid-1960s, World War II was “20 years ago.” That seemed like an eon ago. Now, 20 years ago was 2002. That may seem like a very long time to you if you’re a Millennial, but not to me.
This idea of collapsing and expanding time comes up in my mind all
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Write to Ron Barnett at rbarnett@thepccourier.com.
God searches for those who drift
No matter where we come from or how we have been taught, we are responsible for what we think, what we say and how we act.
As optimism and pessimism are learned behaviors, we know that our conduct and worldviews can be changed and controlled if this is our desire. Our spiritual understanding about who God is and who we are in Him must become more than a hope or a chance of fate. Having a
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Courier Letters to the Editor 3-9-22
Playing Games?
Dear Editor,
In an article concerning her non re-appointment to the Pickens County elections board, Lillian Boatwright blames Sen. Rice for this action. Let me remind your readers that 979 people signed a petition to have her removed in 2020, when she blatantly proved she could not have self control and gave the public the perception she was clearly biased
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Pension shortfall demands attention from lawmakers
It definitely doesn’t get the attention it deserves, but it’s among the most severe financial problems facing South Carolina today: The state retiree pension plan is underfunded by a whopping $25 billion. That means, as things 
currently stand, the state is obligated to eventually pay out $25 billion more in pension benefits than the plan will have on hand to make those payments.
Twenty-five billion dollars is a whole lot of money — nearly two and a half times the state’s general operating budget — and there are no painless
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Courier Obituaries 3-9-22
AARON WALLACE COUCH
PICKENS — Mr. Aaron Wallace Couch, 85, went to be with his Lord and Savior on March 1, 2022.
Mr. Couch was born in Pickens County and was the son of the late James Crawford Couch and Edna L. Stone Couch 
and husband of Hazel Owen Couch.
Mr. Couch was a member of New Hope Baptist Church and had many friends. He never met a stranger, having volunteered for many years for the Pickens Rescue Squad. Mr. Couch was a dedicated bear hunter and was a lifetime member of the North American Hunting Club. Mr. Couch spent 40-plus years involved in the Pumpkin Festival in Pumpkintown, getting the pumpkins to the festival and as a greeter. He loved his bluegrass music and was well known for his rattlesnakes at Farm Days. His favorite saying was: “The least said is the easiest mended!”
Along with his loving wife of 67 years, survivors include his three sons, James Aaron, Jerry Wallace (Beth) and Jeffery Dean Couch (Sandy), all of Pickens; and eight precious grandchildren, Suzanne Couch
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Red Devils demolish West-Oak in five
LIBERTY — After a rough start to the Foothills Preseason Tournament, the Liberty Red Devil baseball team finished on a high note against West-Oak defeating the Warriors 11-1 as they move into the meat of the regular season.
The Red Devils lost three straight to kick off the tournament, but with Cole Garrick on the mound and a big day from the Red Devil bats, the Red Devils were able to upend the defending 3A state runner-up in five innings.
The game wasn’t always in the Red Devil’s favor, as West-Oak jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning off an RBI single by Braiden Moore. Liberty was unable
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