Category: News

This week, United States Attorney Bill Nettles’ Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee hosted the annual Strom Thurmond Awards for Excellence in Law Enforcement Luncheon.  More than 130 state, local and federal law enforcement officials attended the awards luncheon. The following South Carolina law enforcement officers received the 2012 awards: City – Chief Randall G.  Scott, Columbia Police Department; County – Major […]

The failure of a new piece of equipment is traced to a sewage leak this week between Seneca and Clemson. According to Bob Winchester, executive director of the Joint Regional Sewer Authority, the failure of an air relief valve at a pump station on Wells Highway behind Blue Ridge Orthopedics caused a sewer spill of an estimated 10,000 gallons. Within […]

An Oconee County civil lawsuit five years in the pre-trial stage got a form of rejuvenation this week when a judge gave all parties 90 days to come to agreement on when the case will reach the courtroom. Circuit Judge Lawton McIntosh will allow a new attorney to become familiar with all that is involved in the case titled McMahan […]

The government says an indictment has been returned against a Pickens County man, accused of mailing a threatening communication to U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham. The announcement of the indictment against 31-year old Simon Peter Long does not detail the alleged threat. It says the maximum penalty in the case should Long be found guilty, is 10 years in prison. The […]

At their monthly meeting last night, the Seneca City Council approved a recommendation to re-designate a newly created job position into a museum job.  After sharing his vision for the city to add a second and, possibly, a third museum, Seneca City Administrator Greg Dietterick received permission to re-designate the position as someone to take charge of creating the Strickland […]

An attorney for Oconee County today alleged the plaintiff in a civil lawsuit over an accident at the county airport failed to follow proper procedures in serving notice of the suit. Attorney Dan Atkinson said the process server for a North Carolina pilot failed to serve notice to the proper county officials within a prescribed time limit. But the attorney […]

Meeting Monday, the Oconee Grand Jury returned six indictments charging a former school teacher and coach with sex crimes involving minors. Some of the indictments charging Richard Onley Gardner III contain multiple counts, alleging offenses involving a child under adult legal age. The indictments returned allow the prosecutor’s office to take the cases to the Oconee General Sessions Court. The […]

Oconee Sheriff-elect Mike Crenshaw recently graduated from the Newly-Elected Sheriffs’ School at the S.C. Sheriffs’ Association. Held in conjunction with the state’s Criminal Justice Academy, the week-long school covered subjects such as budget presentation, ethics compliance, employment law, civil liability and risk management. The school is held after every general election, to comply with state law mandating it. Besides the […]

Three weeks before taking office, Oconee Sheriff-elect Mike Crenshaw has revealed his staff of command officers. Five of them were introduced during a meeting last night in South Union of the Voice of Southern Oconee. Appearing together were Chief Deputy Kevin Davis; Capt. Travis Tilson, 911 and communications director; Capt. Greg Reed, who will continue to head criminal investigations; Capt. […]

Though you seem to hear more and more about home invasions, the victims of such crimes are still considered to have been chosen at random, in the estimation of Mike Crenshaw, the Oconee County Sheriff-elect. After his talk to the Walhalla Rotary Club, Crenshaw fielded a question from an audience member concerned about the violence associated with home invasions. The […]