Tag: Featured

An early morning house fire in rural Oconee County has displaced two adults and five children, though fortunately, no injuries were reported, according to Walhalla Fire Chief Terry Sanford…

Ed Halbig, former longtime planning director for the city of Seneca, has been appointed as the new planning director for Oconee County. This appointment was confirmed by Matthew Durham, chairman of the Oconee County Council. Halbig will assume the role previously held by James Coley, who is understood to have resigned to accept a position in North Carolina.

David Justin Drago, 27, of Seneca, has been arrested and charged in connection with the May 24th burglary of Deep South Defense, an Oconee County gun store. Drago is being held on a combined $77,205 surety bond, facing charges of Second-Degree Burglary, Grand Larceny, Malicious Injury to Property, and Unlawful Possession of a Machine Gun. The investigation, which included public […]

A Columbia-based personal safety expert, Dr. Chondra Cleveland, returned to Oconee County this week to address morning and afternoon audiences comprising teachers, social workers, and law enforcement personnel. Following her Wednesday afternoon session, Dr. Cleveland spoke with WGOG News’s Dick Mangrum and highlighted the critical danger of parents unintentionally exposing children to sexually explicit content and inadvertently facilitating the grooming […]

The Town of Central will begin utility work on June 9th to replace the waterline on Brock Street and Wood Street, a project expected to last six months. Crews will start on Brock Street, and flagmen will direct traffic during construction; motorists should slow down and drive safely through the work zones. The town hopes to complete the Brock Street […]

Seneca police have announced the arrest of a Belton resident in connection with a reported sexual assault at the Shaver Recreation Center. Curtis David Stone, 25, faces a charge of criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the third degree. The incident is alleged to have occurred on April 23 in a back parking lot of the recreation center. According […]

On Thursday, Governor Henry McMaster formally signed into law House Bill H.3058, the Unauthorized Disclosure of Intimate Images Act, which immediately went into effect on May 12, making South Carolina no longer the only state without such protections. This new legislation creates a felony offense for individuals who share intimate images, including AI-generated deepfakes, with the intent to cause harm, […]

As National Dam Safety Awareness Day on May 31 approaches, the S.C. Department of Environmental Services (SCDES) is highlighting the importance of understanding dam functions and safety, especially for those near dam-created waterways. Dams are crucial infrastructure, with nearly 2,200 regulated structures statewide. SCDES’s Dams and Reservoirs Safety Program ensures owners maintain these vital assets, as evidenced by Oconee and […]

The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office is requesting public assistance in an ongoing investigation into a burglary and larceny that occurred at Deep South Defense, a gun store located on the Highway 123 by-pass, on the evening of Saturday, May 24th. Deputies responded to reports of a break-in where an AR-15 style rifle, engraved with “DSD Seneca SC,” was stolen. Evidence […]

A West Union woman, Megan Nichole Beech, 39, was arrested around 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday and remains in the Oconee County Detention Center on a $375,000 surety bond for multiple drug offenses, including Trafficking in Fentanyl. Deputies conducting a property check at a Westminster business discovered Beech unconscious in a suspicious vehicle. After obtaining consent to search, they seized approximately […]