The project, financed with a $8.3 million bond, came in at $6.6 million, leaving county officials with $1.9 million in savings they say will go not into another project but toward paying down the bond itself. The road behind the courthouse has reopened, easing traffic and adding parking, while landscaping should be finished in two to three weeks, the last bit of polish on a job that County Administrator Rusty Burns says will “really pop” once the botanicals are in place.

Today 16,504 city residents are registered to vote in the municipal elections. The mayor’s race will top the ballot for all voters, while the only other contested race – City Council Seat 3 – is likely to be the other most-watched competition. The rest of the roster is running unopposed.

It is a campaign that is a steady hallmark of everything merry and bright. The group added another tree, more lights, and, with a certain jolly confidence, the now-familiar “Merry Christmas, y’all” sign along the river.

At the last meeting, council’s debate was notably calmer than the scale of the project might suggest. Members approved the Duke ordinance unanimously after questioning the expected lifespan of the turbines and the amount of infrastructure work Duke is undertaking to reduce water demand, including an air-cooling system that staff said cost about $100 million and cut projected water use substantially.

Marshall Pickens likes to talk about Anderson as a place that is being pulled, almost against its will, toward growth. The city needs better roads, more careful development, a more coordinated response to homelessness, and — farther down the line — a downtown fine-arts destination that could give the city something beyond the usual civic ingredients of meetings, zoning disputes, and forward-looking plans. He is running unopposed for Anderson City Council Seat 2, which gives his campaign the strange calm of a race that is less a contest than an introduction.

At Easter, hope is not a mood but a practice: a way of refusing to surrender to the ugliness of the hour. White’s letter gives that refusal a distinctly American dignity — modest, unsentimental, and stubbornly alive.

The Jubilee is no ordinary art festival, and the event has been refined over nearly 50 years into something “unique and unforgettable year after year.” The award-winning festival is a juried arts and crafts gathering that brings together professional artists and handcrafters from across the Southeast in a family-oriented setting.

Downtown, meanwhile, continues to be Iva’s most visible experiment in place-making. Taylor described the new library branch as an aesthetic and social success, saying it has drawn people to the square, helped animate the area, and made downtown feel more like the town’s front porch. He said the old dime store project and museum renovation are moving forward with an architect, with design work underway and construction possibly beginning this summer.

But the event is no longer just a once-a-year respite. As the organizers kept listening to the people who showed up at those tables, a different kind of worry floated to the surface: what happens to adults with special needs after the school buses stop coming? Over and over, families described the same predicament. Their adult children wanted to work, and often could work, but the jobs that existed—if they existed—were narrow, temporary, or segregated. “Despite their abilities, willingness, and potential, they are often left out of the workforce,” the organizers observed.

Teachers from certain other states could start working in South Carolina classrooms more quickly under a bill a House committee advanced Thursday. The bill, which passed out of the Education and Public Works Committee 14-4, would make South Carolina the 14th state to join a compact agreeing not to make teachers reapply for the certification they need before starting instruction.

For nearly half a century, Pendleton has marked the season with a festival that treats art as one of its defining expressions. This weekend, the 49th Historic Pendleton Spring Jubilee returns Saturday from 10 a.m.- 6 p.m., and Sunday from noon to-5 p.m., with the Village Green and surrounding downtown streets filling up with artisans, food vendors, and the easy bustle of a community that knows how to make an occasion of the weather warming up.

At the end of his fifth term, he likens himself to a latter-day Tom Brady or Peyton Manning—wiser, if not quite as spry, still figuring out “how to win games” for Anderson.

What first drew him to the YMCA, Osborne said, was the “Big C” Christian mission. He described himself as someone who tries to “wear my C on my sleeve,” and said he values both the faith foundation and the Y’s stated openness to everyone. The combination matters to him, as does another, more practical feature: the flexibility. He spoke appreciatively of the odd hours—night events, weekends, 5K races—that come with the job, then added that the schedule has also let him show up for his children’s school events and family obligations.

Election season is officially under way in Anderson County.

City of Anderson elections, which are nonpartisan, are April 7. With filing now closed for the June 9 primaries, races are set for state and local primary elections on June 9.

The income tax law is expected to give almost 43 percent of filers a break on their taxes filed in April 2027, cutting state revenues by nearly $309 million in its first year. The top income tax rate will continue to drop based on the state’s growth, until it eventually reaches zero at some point in the future.

What makes Anderson’s numbers especially interesting is not just the pace but the source. The county recorded a natural population change of minus 334 people, meaning there were more deaths than births, but migration added 2,884 residents. Ninety-five percent of those newcomers came from elsewhere in the United States, which suggests that Anderson’s growth is less about people arriving from far abroad than about people arriving from other parts of the country and deciding to stay.

The City of Anderson elections April 7 will feature two contested positions, mayor and City Council Seat 5. Early voting is already under way and continues through Friday, with 63 votes cast last week.

Today, we feature interviews with the city council candidates, concluding with Tonya Winbush.

The City of Anderson elections April 7 will feature two contested positions, mayor and City Council Seat 5. Early voting is already under way and continues through Friday, with 63 votes cast last week. Today, we feature interviews with the city council candidates, starting (alphabetically) with Darryl Thompson.

The scaffolding on the front of the historic Anderson County Courthouse is scheduled to be removed on Monday. The clearing of the road and parking area behind the courthouse is scheduled to be open by the end of the day April 3, ushering in welcome relief to the detour that has been in place for more than a year.

Rusty Burns’ latest conversation with The Anderson Observer begins, as these things often do, with the advent of jobs. In Anderson County, jobs arrive like weather fronts—unseen until suddenly they’re on top of you, bringing a high-pressure system of press releases, tax incentives, and hiring fairs.