Area News

A supply distribution center for victims of Hurricane Helene has been set up in Clinton at the former Bell Street School. The supplies will be available each day from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. beginning today (Thursday). The former Bell Street School, which is currently the USC Union-Laurens campus, is located at 600 Peachtree Street in Clinton.…

Federal funds will make it to Laurens County through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), but county residents will not receive some of the aid that will be afforded to those of other counties. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster’s office did not include Laurens County for assistance under FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program, which would have…

A map of Laurens County is attached to a long blue trailer that typically houses the Charleston County Unified Mobile Command. That’s in the parking lot outside the county’s Hillcrest office and judicial complex. Inside, conference rooms are bustling with people, while cots have been set up in offices and any unused spaces for employees…

The Laurens County Coroner’s Office has identified three county residents killed this past week as Hurricane Helene roared through the Upstate of South Carolina. In Clinton, two men were killed when a tree fell on the vehicle they were traveling in Thursday night. Chief Deputy Coroner Patti Canupp identified the victims as Richard Dylan Rathbone,…

The Laurens County Council doled out $85,000 in funding for local nonprofit agencies at a called meeting Monday night at the county’s Voter Registration and Veterans Affairs offices. In a separate action, council voted to give $250,000 to the City of Clinton’s Economic Development Corporation to help fund recovery efforts from a fire that swept…

Heavy rains from Helene, which has been upgraded from a Tropical Storm to a Category 3 Hurricane, are expected to impact the Upstate beginning Thursday. A tropical storm watch and flood watch have been issued for the Upstate, including Laurens County. The storm is expected to dump 4-6 inches of rain on Laurens County and…

A Laurens man was killed Tuesday after an accident on a work site in Spartanburg County. Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger identified the victim as Kevin Neil Flynn, 57, of Laurens. According to official reports, Flynn was killed between 8:45 a.m. and 9:37 a.m. while operating an excavator near a retaining wall. The machine fell…

UPDATE: Kamarius Lee Cunningham is in custody, the LCSO said Sunday afternoon. The victim of a fatal shooting in Gray Court was identified Saturday by the Laurens County Coroner’s Office as law enforcement continues to look for the alleged shooter. Laurens County Deputy Coroner Bill Williams identified the victim as Nigel Malik Smith, 23. Smith…

A State Department of Education employee on campus at Laurens District High School for a training session last week has been arrested by the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office due to an incident involving a firearm during a simulation training. Desmond Nathaniel Williams of Hampton, a training coordinator with the Department of Education, was tasked with…