Category Archives: Local News
Old Pickens Middle set for renovations
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — Local residents will soon see some changes going on at the former site of Pickens Middle School.
Pickens County School Board vice chair Karla Kelley gave an update on the district during the Dec. 30 meeting of Pickens United, held at the Easley YMCA.
“We’re taking the former Pickens Middle School and we’re renovating that,” she said. “We’re going to add some new life to the Pickens area, hopefully put in some
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Wall That Heals event in search of volunteers
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — Volunteers are needed for an event this spring honoring those who gave their lives in Vietnam.
Nearly 30 years ago, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) unveiled a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial designed to tour communities throughout the United States.
Since then, the three-quarter-scale replica and its companion mobile education center have been displayed in nearly 700
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Election saw ‘astronomical’ voting turnout
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — Nearly half of the registered voters in Pickens County took part in two weeks of early voting for the November 2024 election, according to the county’s top election official.
Pickens County Department of Voter Registration and Elections director Amy Sams spoke at the Dec. 30 meeting of the Pickens United group, saying that she wanted to “brag on Pickens County really
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Biden commutes Ponzi schemer Wilson’s sentence
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
UPSTATE — Former Anderson County Councilman and Easley business owner Ronnie Gene Wilson was among the hundreds of people who had their prison sentences commuted by President Joe Biden last month.
In 2012, Wilson pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud filed against him in what investigators said was a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme he operated for more than a decade.
Investigators said Wilson bilked his silver investors of about $60 million in fraudulent investments, telling investors he’d
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Child development, senior project in works for Easley YMCA
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — Pickens County YMCA president and CEO Sid Collins recently welcomed elected officials and others to the 
Easley facility and shared some of the organization’s future plans with the group.
The Easley YMCA location hosted a recent meeting of the Pickens United group, which gathers the area’s elected officials to share updates.
The Easley YMCA at the McKissick
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DEW: County unemployment rate falls
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
COLUMBIA — The unemployment rate in Pickens County saw a decrease during in the latest jobs report released in late December.
The S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) reported that unemployment went down from 4.9 percent in October to 4.8 percent in November.
The fall in unemployment comes just one month after Pickens
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Peach State Federal holds annual toy drive
COUNTY — Peach State Federal Credit Union recently held its annual toy drive in support of the Marine Toys for Tots program.
Every year, the credit union sets up donation boxes at branches, which serve as convenient drop-off sites for members and staff to donate new, unwrapped toys.
“The credit union philosophy of ‘people helping people’ extends beyond offering financial products and services,” Peach State chief administrative officer and
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Courier Community Calendar 1-8-25
• Alzheimer’s Assoc. Group meets Jan. 14
The Alzheimer’s Association Easley Caregiver Support Group will be meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 14, in the conference room upstairs at the Captain Kimberly Hampton Memorial Library, located at 304 Biltmore Road in Easley.
The meeting is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. and end at 8 p.m.. All Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers are welcome.
Contact garyandbrenda1979@gmail.com or (864) 414-7448 for more information.
For 24/7 information and help alz.org.
• Public meeting set on legislation
A public meeting sponsored by seven organizations on proposed S.C. legislation impacting public education and libraries is planned this month.
The event’s speaker will be the S.C. ACLU advocacy director, followed by a Community Advocates for Education (CAFÉ)
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Easley woman dies after being struck by car
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — An Easley woman died on Christmas Day after being struck by a motor vehicle.
According to a release from Pickens County Deputy Coroner Tommy Page, Mona Smith and another pedestrian were struck while walking in the roadway on Saco Lowell Road in Easley last Wednesday afternoon.
Smith was pronounced dead at the scene as a result of the incident, the release said.
The incident is still under investigation by the Pickens County Coroner’s Office, the Easley Police Department and the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
SDPC device ban to begin this month
COUNTY — A School District of Pickens County policy that will prohibit students from using their phones during the school day is set to go into effect this week.
The policy was created to conform with the state mandated Budget Proviso 1.103 (SDE: Anti-Bullying School Safety) which states that to receive state funds allocated for State Aid to Classrooms, a school district shall implement a policy adopted by the State Board of Education that prohibits access to
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