Area News
Auditor: County taxpayers to benefit from error
Taxpayers in Laurens County will be receiving a corrected tax notice for 2023, county officials said in a media release Tuesday afternoon. According to the release from Laurens County Auditor Jim Coleman and Treasurer Cynthia Burke, a technical error was discovered in the calculation of taxes for 2023. The revised amounts will result in lower…
Read MoreGray Court shooting ruled self-defense by LCSO
The Laurens County Sheriff’s Office said charges will not be filed following the shooting death of a Gray Court man Monday. According to a statement from the LCSO, an investigation determined the shooting was an act of self-defense. The Laurens County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as David Dale Arrington. The LCSO said the victim…
Read MoreShooting incident leads to fugitive arrest
A shooting incident at a Laurens apartment complex led to the arrest of a fugitive wanted by the FBI. According to the Laurens Police Department, officers responded to reports of shots fired around 4 a.m. Friday at Laurens Terrace Apartments. After receiving four 911 calls from residents of the apartment complex, officers were directed to…
Read MoreDriver charged with reckless homicide in traffic death of 3-year-old
A Spartanburg man is behind bars after being charged in the traffic death of a 3-year-old girl that occurred Sunday afternoon on Highway 76 at Chestnut Ridge Road about three miles west of Laurens. Garbriel Arteaga, 25, of Spartanburg has been charged by the South Carolina Highway Patrol with reckless homicide and driving without a…
Read MoreS.C. Attorney General investigation ends with Kennedy arrest
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced Tuesday that local pastor and activist David E. Kennedy has been charged with exploitation of a vulnerable adult. Kennedy, 70, was booked into the Greenville County Detention Center Monday. According to a release from Wilson’s office: An investigation by the attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the…
Read MoreState report cards released for school districts 55 and 56
Both Laurens County school districts showed improvement when the statewide report cards were released this week by the South Carolina Department of Education. District 56 received good or average ratings in all five of its schools. Its three elementary schools – Clinton, Eastside and Joanna-Woodson – received good ratings, which were improvements from the 2021-22…
Read MoreDistrict 55 selected for $13.5 million in educator incentive grant
Laurens, South Carolina – Laurens County School District 55 announced at a recent press conference that it had been selected for a highly competitive, federally funded Teacher and School Leader Incentive Grant totaling $13.5 million over a three year period. To prepare for the application process, the district partnered with the National Institute for Excellence…
Read MoreChild killed in Laurens County two-vehicle wreck
UPDATE: Victim identified as 3-year-old Madison A. Hines of Gray Court A child was killed in a wreck Sunday afternoon on Highway 76 at Chestnut Ridge Road about three miles west of Laurens. The two-car collision occurred at 4:10 p.m. when a 2008 Chevrolet pickup traveling north on Chestnut Ridge Road ran a stop sign…
Read MoreLower Eastern Cherokee Nation honors late neighbor, honorary member
Gray Court, South Carolina – Some of the colorful and traditional dances at the Lower Eastern Cherokee Nation’s Pow-Wow on Saturday honored veterans and tribal members who had passed away over the past year. Those included former members Linda Slark and Aaron Nickelson, as well as Lillian Eller, a former member of the Elders Council.…
Read More‘Perfect festival weather,’ great music, food at this weekend’s Squealin’ on the Square
Laurens, South Carolina – A year ago, Squealin’ on the Square planners were watching Tropical Storm Ian become Hurricane Ian and had to make the tough call to postpone Squealin’ on the Square until the following weekend. This year, it’s a different story. The 2023 Squealin’ on the Square this Friday and Saturday, Oct. 6-7,…
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