Tag: News

A 42-year-old Westminster man, Lloyd Scott Wensel of West-Oak Highway, remains in jail pending a bond hearing after being arrested during a traffic stop around 11:37 p.m. on Tuesday on charges of trafficking in methamphetamine and driving under suspension, while his passenger, 20-year-old Jeda Marie Ruth Woodard of the same address, was charged with four counts of breach of trust […]

The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office announced on Wednesday an additional arrest in its drug roundup operation that began on October 1, 2025, during which deputies obtained 35 arrest warrants for 23 individuals; as of that day, 20 people had been arrested. The latest arrest involves 43-year-old Joe Navarro III of Westminster, who faces two counts of trafficking in methamphetamine and […]

A 73-year-old Piedmont man, Dwayne Kenneth Stegall, died from injuries sustained in a multi-vehicle crash on Highway 29 in Anderson County on the afternoon of December 30, 2025; according to Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore, Stegall was airlifted to Prisma Health Trauma Center in Greenville after his SUV rear-ended a second vehicle near Cox Road and then collided with an […]

On December 30, 2025, at approximately 6:30 p.m., Pickens County Coroner Andrew P. Wilson and Chief Deputy Coroner Tommy M. Page responded to a fully engulfed house fire on Red Hawk Road in Pickens, South Carolina, where a deceased female was discovered inside the residence during firefighting operations. The victim’s name and details are being withheld pending positive identification and […]

Oconee County Coroner Karl Addis has details about a missing man’s body, identified as 50-year-old Douglas John “DJ” Olin Edmond Jr., that was found in Lake Hartwell on Monday…(SB – KA)

A two-vehicle collision on the 123 By-Pass in Seneca closed the road for about two hours during heavy Christmas traffic on Tuesday, December 23, around 6 p.m. near a landscape supply business. An Acura SUV driven by a Seneca woman veered off the highway through a gap between the guardrail and a utility pole guy wire, plunging partially into Lake Keowee; […]

35-year-old Christopher Matthew Belin was arrested by the Seneca Police Department on Monday, December 29, 2025, and booked into the Oconee County Detention Center on multiple felony drug charges, including trafficking in methamphetamine or cocaine base (10–28 grams, first offense), two counts of trafficking in methamphetamine or cocaine base (10–28 grams, third or subsequent offense), trafficking in crack cocaine (28–100 […]

A 23-year-old Westminster man, Robert Joseph Wilbanks of John Smith Road, remains in the Oconee County Detention Center on a $75,000 surety bond following his arrest on a charge of Trafficking in Fentanyl. Wilbanks was booked into the detention center around 1:08 a.m. on December 25, 2025, after a traffic stop the previous evening on December 24 in Walhalla, where […]

The South Carolina Department of Public Safety is emphasizing safe driving practices amid expected heavy holiday traffic, announcing enhanced enforcement by the Highway Patrol and State Transport Police during the New Year’s travel period from 6 p.m. on December 31, 2025, through midnight on January 4, 2026. Motorists are reminded to designate a sober driver or use rideshares and taxis […]

FOIA emails reveal Clemson University orchestrated a deception campaign with PR firm NP Strategy—previously tied to the Alex Murdaugh case—to control messaging around the Newry housing development, including drafting statements attributed to United Homes Group (UHG) while denying involvement, according to Oconee County Council Chairman Matthew Durham. With UHG board members including Trustee Nikki Haley and President Jim Clements, internal […]