Pickens council races head to runoff
By Bru Nimmons Staff Reporter bnimmons@thepccourier.com COUNTY — Four years after a record-breaking turnout for the 2020 election, Pickens County More »
This week in FOOTBALL FRENZY only in PICKENES COUNTY COURIER
Flame bounce back with shutout win over; Daniel takes region lead; Wave comeback falls short; Liberty earns home playoff game; More »
Flame take down TR in round one
By Bru Nimmons Sports Editor bnimmons@thepccourier.com PICKENS — Winners of five straight matches heading Thursday’s first round matchup with Travelers More »
Organizations team up for ‘Fighting Fentanyl’ event
By Jason Evans Staff Reporter jevans@thepccourier.com EASLEY — Several organizations came together last week to educate the community about the More »
Robinson to serve as president of the National Funeral Directors Association
BROOKFIELD, Wis. — During its 2024 International Convention and Expo, held Oct. 20-23 in New Orleans, Christopher P. Robinson, CFSP, More »
Liberty football coach resigns
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
LIBERTY — After a trying season in 2020, the Liberty High School Red Devils will have to replace 
long-tenured head football coach Kyle Stewart heading into the 2021 season.
Stewart, who is also the school’s athletic director, announced his resignation late last week, according to School District of Pickens County spokesman John Eby.
A 2002 Easley High School graduate, Stewart began his coaching career with a seven-year tenure as an assistant for the Green Wave before leaving for Liberty as an assistant in 2010.
Stewart took over as head coach in 2011 and had a prosperous
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Clemson offering community members limited free testing
By Riley Morningstar
Courtesy The Journal
rmorningstar@upstatetoday.com
CLEMSON — After working all semester to launch an in-house saliva-based COVID-19 testing laboratory, Clemson University is now offering free and limited testing to the public.
Now through Dec. 18, Clemson is offering free COVID-19 saliva testing for a limited number of community members at Memorial Stadium on a first-come, first-serve basis in partnership with testing facilitator Rymedi. Registration for testing is mandatory prior to arrival and can be accessed at tig.rs/community-testing. Parking for testing is available at any orange space in the C-3 lot (Lot 5 for football parking).
Clemson officials credited a $6.9 million grant through Gov. Henry McMaster and the S.C. Legislature’s Joint Bond Review Committee to expand clinical laboratory improvement amendments (CLIA) in late October for the ability to conduct the tests.
“We appreciate the financial commitment from Governor McMaster and the General Assembly to develop our on-campus CLIA lab, which played a critical role in our ability to conduct a successful fall semester,” Clemson president Jim Clements said in a release. “With the majority of our students away from campus now, we are excited to offer this testing opportunity for our community.”
Saliva-based testing is shown to provide faster testing and less-invasive samples rather than those taken from the nasal cavity.
Clemson expects to perform 150 tests per day, initially, with the ability to increase capacity. When the lab becomes fully operational, officials expect to process 5,000 samples daily and return results on the same day.
Since June, Clemson has performed more than 130,000 tests on employees and students. A spokesperson for Clemson told The Journal the school has spent approximately $6.5 million on testing. The official estimated Clemson spends anywhere from $67-$85 per test through an outside vendor. With Clemson’s own testing lab up and running, costs are lower at approximately $20 per test.
Former Six Mile school site topic of public hearing this Thursday
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
SIX MILE — The former site of Six Mile Elementary and later home to Providence Christian Academy could soon be granted new life.
The Six Mile Planning Commission will hold a public hearing at Town Hall at 6 p.m. Thursday to discuss the former school’s future.
“The hearing is to solicit comments on a zoning application for the property located at 526 N. Main
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Coroner says suicide rate appears to be on decline
By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal
goliver@upstatetoday.com
PICKENS — Pickens County Coroner Kandy Kelley said last week it appears there will be a decrease in the county’s suicide rate this year.
“We only have 15, and we usually have 30 to 35,” Kelley told municipal, county and state leaders and school board representatives gathered for a Pickens United meeting at Mile Creek Park.
Kelley said the normal 30 to 35 suicide cases the county experiences each year puts Pickens County
14U district champs
Due to statewide COVID-19 restrictions, there was no SCAP State Volleyball Tournament this year, but that didn’t stop the Western District SCAP agencies from participating. Adapting to precautionary safety protocols, three departments had teams vie for the 14U volleyball district title. Pickens started off the tournament by defeating Easley in Westminster on Nov. 7. Westminster had received the bye and was resting and waiting to see who it would face in the championship match. After losing several players to prior commitments, the Pickens team was ready and determined to prove its abilities and took the Western District championship. Coach Celia Bridges said she was elated at how well the girls gelled in such a short time. “They played like they had been together all season,” she said. Pictured are the members of the 14U volleyball all-star team. Back row, from left, are coach Celia Bridges, Hannah Hall, Lydia Hancox, Jessie Gillis, Kenslee Butler, Breeanna Adams, Emma Dowdal, Miriam Hudson and Holly Lee. In front are Hannah Kelley and Naomi Bridges.
9U district champs
Due to statewide COVID-19 restrictions, there was no SCAP State Volleyball Tournament this year, but that didn’t stop the Western District SCAP agencies from participating. Adapting to precautionary safety protocols, four departments had teams vie for the 9U volleyball district title. The Pickens all-star team started off the tournament by defeating Liberty on Nov. 14. Earlier in the day, Westminster defeated Clemson-Central. The wins by both teams set up the championship match. Both teams came out strong, but Pickens had a late surge to win the district title. Coach Kelly Perry said Pickens had a very supportive group of parents who traveled to Westminster to cheer on the girls. Pictured standing, from left, are assistant coach Angie Durham, Ellison Tolley, Bailey Perry, Addison Mitchum, Makenna Valdivia, Cadie Westbrook and head coach Kelly Perry. In front are Kolbi Wilson, Caroline Durham and Maycee Seder.
Pickens girls open with wins
PICKENS — The Pickens High School girls’ basketball team beat Landrum at home and downed Liberty on the road in its opening games of the 2020-21 season.
The Lady Blue Flame basketball team won its first game of the season Dec. 1 against the Landrum
Lady Cardinals, 62-30, in a non-region game played in the friendly confines of Coach Peggy Harden Anthony Gymnasium on the Pickens High campus. Pickens followed up that game on Dec. 4 with a 71-32 non-region road victory over Liberty. The Lady Blue Flame now stand at 2-0 on the season.
“This team is extremely young and so exciting to
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Ride like the wind with Smokey Joe
Smokey Joe will be 31 years old in March, if he lives that long. We’ve had him since he was a two year old. He was my horse first.
A gentle gelding with a good disposition, Smokey Joe is black with a white mark on his forehead. He’s a gaited horse, a racker and a smooth ride.
This is the first year of his life he is showing weight loss, something that often happens to older horses.
But although thinner, he can still run across the pasture with mane and tail flying and still enjoys harassing the mares when it’s time to eat. We don’t
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The essence of self-discipline
The attitude of our fallen human nature is not very nice — in fact, the word depraved is commonly used. Christians are required to honor God with self-discipline of their mind and to demonstrate His 
character, but sadly it’s rare to find any difference between God’s people and those who do not know Him at all.
I’m sure you have noticed and are disturbed by the hatred and animosity we are seeing in the realms of politics and religion. The refusal to forgive others and carry resentment is no laughing matter, and our good
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Lions finish perfect season with big win in state title game
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
COLUMBIA — The Daniel Lions hadn’t trailed in the second half all season long, and they seemed poised to 
keep up that dominant streak on South Carolina high school football’s
biggest stage with a 27-14 halftime lead over Camden in Saturday’s Class 3A state championship game at Spring Valley High School.
But the Bulldogs showed why they were the best the Lower State had to offer this season, scoring twice in the first five minutes of the second half to pull ahead 28-27 and put the pressure on Daniel.
The Lions responded to Camden’s blows the same way they had all season long — cool and collected, they swung back hard, outscoring the Bulldogs 25-3 the rest of the way to take a 52-31 win to bring home the program’s sixth state championship — and first since a
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