AnMed Health has broken ground on a sweeping new medical office complex at the site of the former Windsor Place shopping center (which once was home to Winn Dixie), at 1520 East Greenville Street—marking its latest expansion into prime real estate in Anderson and sparking both anticipation and concern within the community. While hospital officials tout the dramatic overhaul as a boon for local healthcare, some residents have questioned the health system’s rapid acquisition of high-profile properties across the city, wondering what the trend might mean for Anderson’s long-term development.

“This festival, it means a lot to us and brings up together,” said Crystal Boles, one of the organizers of the festival. “We like try to keep things going on in the town of Starr.”

“Oh man, we had an amazing day,” said Angie Stringer, the association’s executive director. “The color run, “Colors Against Cancer,” was amazing. We had people out here, we had warriors out here.” Stringer described the “warrior walk” as the emotional centerpiece of the day, when cancer survivors — or “warriors,” as the organization calls them — carried a banner marked “Cancer Association Warriors” while walking together to the AnMed Cancer Center and back.

Elections across Anderson County will take place Tuesday, with several mayoral races and numerous council seats on the ballot. The referendum on a Capital Sales Tax is also on the ballot countywide.

Polls in all municipalities will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day.

National studies, for those who appreciate data, suggest that the economic benefits of well-maintained roads more than offset the modest cost of vehicle fees, with the average driver potentially saving $591 annually on tires, alignments, and other mechanical woes directly attributable to neglected pavement. Beyond individual savings, robust infrastructure is undeniably crucial for the county's economic vitality—companies, after all, do consider road conditions when scouting potential locations—and, more fundamentally, for the safety and well-being of its residents.

The idea, according to Police Chief Zachary Owen, was as much about reassurance as revelry. “We want to make sure that we put a good image out for the children so they won’t be scared to come to us if they have a problem,” he said.

The familiar sound of ringing bells outside local retailers provides more than Christmas cheer — it’s the organization’s largest source of funding for its emergency shelter operations. This year, residents are encouraged to form Bell Ringing Day teams, pairing up in groups of two for volunteer shifts throughout the Christmas season.

Westside 21, Wren 7 (from Thursday)

T.L. Hanna 27, Greenville 24

Crescent 28, Pendleton 21

Christ Church Episcopal 41, Palmetto 31

Powdersville 48, St. Joseph's Catholic 31

Belton Honea Path 62, Walhalla 7

Most students who applied for South Carolina’s private K-12 tuition aid program this year were either already attending private school or homeschooled, according to data from the Department of Education.

The law signed by Gov. Henry McMaster in May provided $7,500 scholarships to 10,000 students this school year. It’s unknown exactly how many parents received state aid for tuition they previously paid for themselves. It appears the education agency didn’t actually collect that information.

Instead, the Education Scholarship Trust Fund application asked whether students were entering kindergarten, attended a public school last year, or something else — officially, “other.” Parents selected that “other” category on 59% of the 16,127 applications submitted by mid-August, according to agency data provided to the SC Daily Gazette through a public records request.

Wren at Westside

Greenville at T.L. Hanna

Pendleton at Crescent

Christ Church Episcopal at Palmetto

St. Joseph's Catholic at Powdersville

Walhalla at BHP

Applying for SNAP in South Carolina is not for the faint-hearted. The income gates are calibrated with a precision that makes eligibility a feat of arithmetic: a single adult cannot earn more than $1,632 before deductions, and must not bring home more than $1,255 net, while the ceilings stretch methodically for larger families—$2,215/$1,704 for two, $2,798/$2,152 for three, and so on, the numbers climbing by increments of $583 gross and $449 net for each extra mouth at the table. For many, the paperwork, calculations, and required documentation quickly become a maze; every line has consequences.

Local relief agencies, accustomed to steady if manageable demand, anticipate new faces, new pleas for assistance, especially as the cost of milk and bread continues its gentle, relentless ascent. There’s a rising sense that the county, like the nation, is becoming a place where the only thing more certain than higher grocery prices is the growing reliance on food banks—a system of mutual aid now asked to perform miracles.

“This project is rooted in something simple yet powerful: hope,” said Annie Sutton, the library’s director, overseeing the planting with the gracious gravity of someone who knows that libraries, much like groves, cultivate more than just what can be checked out or shelved. “Each fabric tie, handwritten with a wish, a dream, or a prayer, shows the heart and hope of our community.”

The Fall Harvest Festival, with arts and crafts booths, music, food, children’s events, has grown exponentially over the past few years, and is approaching crowds equal to the Pendleton’s Annual Spring Jubilee.

A recent study by Clemson University found that visitors traveled from several states to Pendleton for the event. Based on cell phone locators, the event has attracted people from as far as New York, Virginia, North Carolina. Georgia, even Tennessee.

The Anderson County Museum hosted its annual Monster Mash Saturday, shining light on the institution's offerings and importance to the community, which include a variety of children's programming.

And we've got a great little town. We're making a lot of progress. I think we've got a good town council. We've got a lot of good things that we're doing. So, I want to continue that. Keep that momentum going.

I didn’t set out to run for mayor. I set out to fix what wasn’t working.

“Irma Vep,” in this incarnation, feels both generous and mischievous, a send-up of genre and a love letter to theatrical ingenuity. In a season awash in cobwebs and camp, it’s a reminder that the best Halloween tricks can come from pure performance—the transformation of two actors into an entire haunted world.

T.L. Hanna 31, Easley 14

Westside 41, Laurens 9

Crescent 45, Chesnee 36

St. Joseph’s Catholic High School 42, Palmetto 21

Powdersville 42, Carolina Academy 0

Wren 58, Southside 0

BHP 52, Pendleton 22

The annual Belton Ghost Walk featured a treat bag full of tasty and spooky stories this year about things that go bump in the night in and around Belton.