Area Breaking News
Museum on Main Street : Stories of voting in America exhibit opens Saturday at Laurens County Museum
Laurens County, S.C. – Voices and Votes: Democracy in America, an interactive exhibit created by The Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street, will open at 1 p.m. on June 4 at the Laurens County Museum and residents will be welcome during regular hours to experience the free exhibit. The Smithsonian Institution’s exhibit will remain on…
Read MoreDistrict 55 plans metal detectors at LDHS
Laurens, S.C. – Starting next fall, Laurens District High students will need to navigate new entrances to the sprawling LDHS building due to the addition of four metal detectors which District 55 administration has ordered for the next school year. The decision to order the metal detectors was announced last Monday during the May 23…
Read MoreDistrict 56 superintendent seeks input on modified 2023/’24 calendar
Clinton, South Carolina – Clinton District 56 may be joining Laurens District 55 in taking on a modified school year calendar for the 2023/24 school year, but it won’t make that final decision until late this month. At last week’s regular District 55 school board meeting on Monday, May 23, the board approved a modified…
Read MoreLast Call: Avery retires after 31 years
Laurens County Emergency Services Director pecks at his iPhone and the words appear on a screen in front of a 9-1-1 operator. “Do you have an emergency?” operator Jodi Shea types. “I’m lost,” Avery responds via text, and he receives a link he can click that should lead responders right to his location. “That’s what…
Read More2 drownings in Ware Shoals at Pitts Memorial Park
Two men drowned in as many days in the swift waters of the Saluda River after entering the water at Irving Pitts Memorial Park in Ware Shoals. The Laurens County Coroner’s Office identified both men Wednesday morning. According to reports, leaders at the Ware Shoals Police Department were conducting a TV interview at the park…
Read MoreFamily: Kalah Gary ‘fell through the cracks’
The family of a woman who was shot and killed by a Laurens County Sheriff’s deputy Saturday night spoke publicly for the first time since her death on Wednesday after apparently getting the access to materials from the LCSO and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) investigation into the incident. After first questioning an LCSO…
Read MoreSanders Middle School student charged after making online threats
An eighth-grader at Sanders Middle School was arrested Wednesday by the Laurens Police Department and now faces charges of “communicating threats,” District 55 said in a release Wednesday night. According to District 55 officials, the LPD received reports of a perceived threat made toward District 55 on a social media chat chain among some Sanders…
Read MoreProtest in wake of LCSO fatal shooting
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) is investigation the shooting of a 26-year-old Laurens woman Saturday night by a Laurens County Sheriff’s deputy. According to the LCSO, deputies responded to a residence on Old Stable Lane in Laurens following a 9-1-1 call around 8 p.m. Minutes after they arrived, Kalah Shannon Gary was shot…
Read MoreDistrict 55 board adopts modified calendar for 23/24 school year
Laurens, South Carolina – Laurens District 55 School Board on Monday night approved a change to a Modified School Year Calendar starting with the 2023/24 school year, meaning children will get eight weeks of summer vacation instead of ten weeks under the traditional schedule. In a presentation by Assistant Supt. for Pupil Services Jody Penland, the…
Read MoreCovid cases force closure of Laurens City Hall until Wednesday morning
Laurens, S.C. – On Monday morning, Laurens City Manager Eric Delgado announced the temporary closure or Laurens City Hall effective immediately after city employees tested positive for Covid. The office will reopen for regular hours on Wednesday morning, May 25. “Essential services will not be affected,” Delgado said. “Payments will still be accepted online, or…
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