Daily Archives: 02/12/2025
Pickens County landfill catches fire
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
LIBERTY — Pickens County Emergency Services director Billy Gibson was hopeful Tuesday morning that the day’s rains would put out a still-smoldering fire at the county landfill.
Gibson told the Courier on Tuesday that a call came in about the fire around 5:50 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6.
“We had units on the scene until about 4:30 Friday morning, fire units,” he said. “Landfill personnel
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Ex-Liberty police chief joins PCSO
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — One of the latest hires at the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office is a familiar face to Liberty 
residents and the area law enforcement community.
On Feb. 4, the sheriff’s office announced on Facebook that former Liberty Police Chief Adam Gilstrap had joined the agency as a deputy.
“Deputy Gilstrap comes to us with 18 years of prior law enforcement
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Former OCSO deputy charged in Pickens County
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
CLEMSON — A former Oconee County Sheriff’s Office deputy faces charges following an investigation 
requested by the Clemson Police Department.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) charged Justin Alan Pelfrey, 36, of Seneca, with misconduct in office and public official misconduct in office on Feb. 7, SLED spokeswoman Renée Wunderlich said in a release.
SLED’s investigation was requested by the Clemson Police Department, she said.
A warrant claims that Pelfrey, while acting in his official capacity as an Oconee County
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Easley Bargain Hunt to close
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — Easley’s Bargain Hunt store is set to close by the end of the month.
The entire Bargain Hunt chain will cease operations, and “going out of business” sales have already begun, according to a news release issued last week by Hilco Consumer — Retail, which is co-managing the sales along with Gordon Brothers
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County Council set to receive funding to tackle opioid issues
By Evan Smoak
Courtesy The Journal
evan@upstatetoday.com
PICKENS — Pickens County will soon see a funding boost for opioid use prevention measures.
Pickens County Council voted unanimously last week to accept money from the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund (SCORF), which will be used to fund salaries of two community paramedics
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Giving back
Members of the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) participated in the statewide packing event for Greg’s Groceries this past Friday in Columbia. Greg’s Groceries was founded in 2017 in honor of fallen officer Greg Alia. The organization provides food boxes to law enforcement, enabling positive interactions with the community when the opportunity arises to meet basic needs. PCSO was able to bring back 50 boxes to provide to our deputies for distribution. To learn more about this organization and what they are doing in our communities, visit serveandconnect.org
DEW: County unemployment rate sees big fall in December
COLUMBIA — The unemployment rate in Pickens County saw a big decrease during in the latest jobs 
report released in late January.
The S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) reported that unemployment went down from 4.8 percent in November to 3.9 percent in December.
The fall in unemployment comes just one month after Pickens County saw its jobless rate fall 0.1 percentage point from 4.9 percent in October.
DEW also reported 2,362 county residents were
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