Monthly Archives: January 2024
Honoring his legacy
Pickens Mayor Isaiah Scipio, pictured right, addresses the audience at the 18th Annual Unity Prayer Breakfast in commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The event was jointly organized by the Griffin Ebenezer Baptist Church, Pickens Presbyterian Church, and various other community congregations. This year marks the 41st Celebration of
Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which celebrates the life and legacy of the acclaimed Civil Rights activist.
King’s legacy as a Civil Rights advocate began in 1955 when he led a boycott of Montgomery’s segregated city bus lines.
In addition to organizing the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957 and the anti-segregation protest he led in Birmingham, Ala., in 1963, King is best known for his August 1963 March on Washington, during which he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
In the same year, King and the SCLC joined the voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. Photo courtesy City of Pickens
SC 183 project gains approval, project manager
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — A couple of key steps toward improving S.C. Highway 183 have been approved or 
announced, according to Pickens County administrator Ken Roper.
In October, the State Transportation Infrastructure Bank approved awarding $44.7 million to Pickens County for safety enhancements on S.C. 183.
To qualify for those funds, Pickens County had to provide a
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Human Trafficking Task Force releases 2023 evaluation
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COLUMBIA — Members of the S.C. Human Trafficking Task Force intend to ask the General 
Assembly this year for funding to open shelters around the state for minors who have been victims of human trafficking, according to S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson.
Officials connected with the task force gathered in Columbia earlier this month to mark the
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Murder charges in fentanyl case an ‘aggressive legal strategy’
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COLUMBIA — Prosecutors are hopeful that those who knowingly sell fentanyl to customers who 
later die from fentanyl poisoning can be successfully tried for murder.
Murder charges were included in recently
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Courier Obituaries 1-17-24
JOE BURGESS
EASLEY — Joseph Lee Burgess, husband of Kathy Brazzell Burgess, passed away after a battle 
with heart and kidney issues on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024,
at his home surrounded by his family. He was affectionately known as Coach, JB, Pa Joe, and Pumpkin. He loved his Lord, his family, and his community. He also loved to make people happy with a good laugh at stories he could tell on himself and others.
He was a 1964 graduate of Pickens High School and played in the first football game in the opening of the original Liberty High School Stadium. After high school, Joe attended The Citadel graduating in 1968.
That same year his coaching career began at Lexington High School as an assistant football coach. He also taught at Pelion High School and served as the athletic director. There, he coached boys
Courier Letters to the Editor 1-17-24
Annexation law changes could help
Dear Editor,
You have read in the Pickens County Courier the county council passed a resolution or request of the municipalities to do the following: cease any and all annexations over the next 180 days, coordinate with the county to better manage growth and explore the idea of a joint
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Loving God is beyond religious knowledge
Our regular readers know this column is about the Christian life, but you certainly do not need to be a Christian or even a religious person to at least consider the content as thought-provoking.
Everyone has their own philosophies and interpretations about spiritual topics, and this is understandable since we all have a choice to believe whatever we want. Only God knows everything and
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Here we go again
I’m not the only one who has opted, once again, to stay home. Both the rec center and the senior 
center are cutting back on classes and hours because of the lack of participation, again, but mostly because of the sudden increase in cases of COVID, again. Of course
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Psychedelics for our military
The $883.7 billion National Defense Authorization Act for 2024 makes for some interesting reading, not only for what it left out, but what it included. What you won’t find is the medical 
cannabis pilot program for veterans promoted by many, but you will find a treatment program using psychedelics
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for veterans and active duty with traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Specifically, it calls for clinical trials with the Department of Defense to create a system wherein they can spend up to $10 million on psychedelics research. It only gives them 180 days to get started. Covered conditions, besides TBI and PTSD, include depression and insomnia.
Some of the drugs to be used are psychedelic drugs psilocybin (magic mushrooms), MDMA (ecstacy) and 5-MeO-DMT (from toad glands).
There are some reported successes from using psychedelics. The Food and Drug Administration said in 2017 that they’d had positive results using LSD and the magic mushrooms. The amounts given are small and are called “microdoses.” A short report with a lengthy list of citations in the Marine Corps Gazette in 2019 describes the use of LSD, mushrooms and more to attempt to gain an edge in efficiency and productivity when it comes to attention to detail, mental processing and reasoning. The report points to the way LSD changes the brain’s method of problem solving. Maybe this explains why it might be useful in helping veterans who suffer from PTSD. By creating new ways to think about things?
Yet another study, documented in the Lancet Psychiatry journal, found that the magic mushrooms reduced PTSD symptoms. The trial combined three doses of the mushrooms with psychotherapy. After Phase 2 of the trial, 56% of participants no longer had PTSD when checked 12 months later, after having suffered for many years.
If you want to learn more, listen to a podcast on the topic that includes a veteran who participated in a psychedelics study nine years ago: news.va.gov/124415/exploring-psychedelics-treatment-of-veterans.
© 2024 King Features Synd., Inc.
