Category: News

An Easley man entered a guilty plea this week to the theft of government funds.  United States Attorney Bill Nettles announces that 61-year-old Tony Lee Holcombe pled guilty in federal court in Spartanburg on Tuesday afternoon. In July 2010, the Department of Veterans Affairs awarded Holcombe disability pension benefits for a non-service related impairment.  Holcombe was declared permanently and totally […]

South Carolinians participating in the United States Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA’s) eighth National Prescription Drug Take-Back event on April 26, 2014, turned in 5,698 pounds of unwanted or expired medications for safe and proper disposal at sites set up throughout the state. This amount exceeded the previous statewide total collected during the October 26, 2013 Take-Back event which yielded 5,626 […]

Day three of acid clean up on I85 in Anderson County resumes today.  The leak was reported Monday morning just after 8:30am at a weigh station near mile marker 9.  The State Transport Police is investigating the incident. The South Carolina Highway Patrol reports that crews will transfer the acid from the leaking truck to a specialized tanker from Houston, […]

The South Carolina Department of Public Safety announces nine people killed on state roadways over the weekend.  As of May 11, 248 people have died on South Carolina highways, compared to 251 highway deaths during the same time period in 2013. Locally, Oconee County reports five highway deaths in 2014 compared to one in 2013.  Pickens County lists four in […]

The Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame held induction ceremonies on May 7 for 18 South Carolina law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. Three of those officers were killed in 2013 and the others were discovered to be line-of-duty deaths through research in the past year. “This is a special day in the law enforcement community because […]

A former Clemson University star football player is the latest enshrine into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame.  Brian Dawkins was enshrined in ceremonies Monday with seven others for their contributions to state sports.  He played for the Tigers from 1993-95, and then spent 16 years in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos.  He now works […]

This week is known as “National Small Business Week” and the Oconee Economic Alliance salutes the contributions of the small business community in Oconee County. Each year since 1963, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recognizes the contributions of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners throughout the country during the week of May 12-16, 2014.  According to the SBA, small businesses create two […]

The National Federation of Independent Business’ Small Business Optimism Index rose 1.8 points in April to a post-recession high of 95.2. The economy continues to perform modestly and April’s index followed suit as it crossed the 95 marker for the first time since 2007. Seven Index components improved, one was unchanged and two fell. State-specific data is not available, but […]

Glaucoma affects more than 70 million people around the world, making it the leading cause of irreversible blindness.  Primary care physicians can play an important role in detecting glaucoma, which can often go undiagnosed until it becomes severe.  A new review of the medical literature provides an overview of the causes and treatments for the disease. “We recognize that there […]

A new study finds little difference in U.S. students from better-educated families compared to lesser-educated families. The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development reports that U.S. students are slipping in global educational rankings, explains study author, Paul Peterson of Harvard. “Students who come from family backgrounds where one of the parents has a college degree are not doing well when […]