A soundtrack of screams and mayhem played over the public-address system Wednesday morning at Hickory Tavern School. Chaos was the idea as local law enforcement and first responders conducted a live-shooter drill, roleplaying what might happen if a gunman entered the school. “You get to see that things come from different angles and it all…

UPDATE: An anonymous tip to the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office just after 11 a.m. Wednesday led to the capture of a man who escaped from the Greenwood County Jail a few minutes later. After receiving the tip that escapee Nathaniel Tyler Wideman, 22, was in Gray Court driving a blue Ford Taurus sedan, an LCSO…

UPDATE, AUG. 17 Three teenagers who ran away from the Thornwell Home for Children in Clinton Tuesday night were found safe late Wednesday afternoon. The three were found near Trotter’s Restaurant on Highway 76 in Clinton, about 2.5 miles from Thornwell. Local law enforcement from Clinton Public Safety, the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office and SLED…

The Laurens County Animal Shelter will be participating in Clear the Shelter Day for the first time beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 19. Clear the Shelter Day is a national event held in 20 states in which animal shelters offer adoptions at reduced or no fees. “I’ve been communicating with several other shelters…

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) outlined his healthcare solution and supported President Donald Trump’s reportedly off-the-cuff tough talk concerning North Korea at a meeting Wednesday with local business and government leaders. Graham spoke about an hour and took questions from a group of around 25 people at the Laurens City Hall, reiterating GOP talking points about…

A Sumter woman was killed on I-26 in Laurens County late Tuesday night when the vehicle she was riding in collided with a tractor-trailer. The accident occurred at Exit 61 near Joanna, killing Margaret Brookins, 46, of Sumter. She was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident at 11:53 p.m., said Laurens County Deputy…

Tuesday night’s Laurens County Council meeting devolved into a shouting match between Council Chairman Joe Wood and supporters of a county communications audit who attended the regular meeting. Overshadowed by the late-meeting barbs was the announcement at the opening of the meeting that Councilman Ted Nash had decided not to reconsider his vote, which gave…

  A Piedmont man is in the Johnson Detention Center after leading Laurens County Sheriff’s Office deputies on a chase that ended in Clinton Wednesday afternoon. Antwain Jermaine Abercrombie, 28, faces burglary and a half-dozen related charges. Abercrombie is charged with driving under suspension, failure to stop for a blue light, habitual traffic offender, operating…

These next few days will see volunteers from across the county collecting school supplies, and Laurens County residents are welcome to participate in the back -to-school events. This Friday and Saturday, items donated from the past month and during the weekend will be collected at Walmart where buses from Laurens and Clinton school districts will…

Fisher Barton, a manufacturer located just inside the Laurens County line in Fountain Inn will be closings its doors by mid-September. Laurens County Development Corporation Executive Director Jonathan Coleman said the plant employs about 100 workers who will soon be displaced. “There are several hundred job openings in the vicinity of that plant,” Coleman said.…