The Second Annual “A Night at the Opera” will feature professional opera performers and other local artists. Singers include Soprano Indra Thomas, Mezzo Soprano Wendy Fowler, Tenor Logan Webber, and Bass-Baritone Timothy Kelley. The Master of Ceremonies is Paul Hyde. Singers will be accompanied by the CAA String Ensemble, led by Conductor Dr. Howard Kim and Jane Dill, pianist. Tickets available at Cancer Association of Anderson.

A public meeting about Anderson County Council’s proposal to lease a portion of the county’s property on Towers Street to Love Well, a residential treatment center for women seeking recovery from drug and/or alcohol addiction, drifted into an airing of grievances about the issue of homeless people in the city.

The four-month Love Well program will offer residential treatment for woman admitted with referral from Anderson County Drug Court, Public Defender’s Office, Detention Center, and/or the Solicitor’s Office.

“The first thing a potential company used to inquire about was sewer capacity,” said Anderson County Administrator Rusty Burns. “We have the sewer capacity. Now it’s electrical capacity. This is true across the United States.”

Most of the mysterious $1.8 billion discovered on South Carolina’s books last year was never real. The seeming windfall was just more bad accounting, according to a report by outside auditors released Wednesday.

But the state has spent actual taxpayer dollars — at least $7 million so far — on investigative and legal fees in the wake of a series of major accounting blunders that have cast a shadow over the state’s financial agencies for the past two years.

Burkey said the bakery makes everything fresh every day from organic ingredients and that not only is nothing ever frozen, they don’t even have a freezer on site. The bakery also grinds its own flours.

Anderson County Council received information on a potential effort for a sales tax for capital projects, aimed almost exclusively at roads, as part of a five-hour meeting at the Anderson Civic Center Tuesday.

A state road, Bellview was on the South Carolina Department of Transportation list for repaving and their engineers recommended the changes in the road to the City of Anderson. Ultimately, the state has the authority to move ahead with the plan with or without the support of city council.

The goal of repositioning the road is “traffic calming,” which aims for greater safety and the slowing down traffic with the redesign.

Traffic calming is a set of physical changes made to roads to encourage drivers to slow down. These changes are intended to make roads safer for all road users, especially pedestrians and cyclists.

It is a dream which has brewed in the minds of sisters Calle and Kaitlyn Walters for some time. In a few weeks, that dream will be realized with the opening of Cryptid Coffee in Pelzer in a historic structure downtown.

The sisters have spent more than three years restoring the brick three-and-half story, century old building, primarily remembered as Frierson's Drug Store and Soda Shop on Lebby Street, and plan to open the doors for business soon.

Burdette, who retired from the United Way of Anderson of Anderson County after 25 years, officially took on a new role as Interim CEO of the Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce, where she has plans to ask the board to usher in changes and vision.

Burdette has put forth three candidates from Anderson to fill the vacant seats on the board and is recommending four ex-officio seats – Anderson County, City of Anderson University and Tri-County Technical College – be part of the decision-making process moving forward with the Chamber

A quick overview of winter weather precipitation

Senators never took a vote Wednesday during back-to-back meetings on legislation that would eventually qualify the vast majority of South Carolina parents for state aid covering tuition for private K-12 schools. But it’s on track to be the first bill passed in 2025.

The first vote on the proposal authored by Senate Education Chairman Greg Hembree will be on the Senate floor after the legislative session kicks off Tuesday.

Several downtown Anderson business owners, including Kitchen Emporium Owner Gay McLeskey and City Seed at the Station Owner Donna LeBrun, were on hand Tuesday to express concerns over a proposal to lease part of the county’s property on Towers Street to Love Well, a residential treatment center for women seeking recovery from drug and/or alcohol addiction.

The proposal was unanimously approved on first reading, but Chairman Dunn promised meetings between the administrator, council members and concerned business owners and citizens before the third (final) vote on the lease.

In a time of crisis, she has done much more than “keep the lights on.” It has become abundantly clear: if anyone is made to lead her organization into the future, it’s Brandie. When others might be tempted to celebrate themselves, Brandie instead focuses on the job at hand.

The 18th Annual “Mayor Terence Roberts Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast” is scheduled Jan. 17 beginning at 8:30 a.m. (doors open at 8 a.m.) at the Anderson Civic Center.

“Hosting the MLK breakfast is a profound honor and responsibility,” said Anderson Mayor Terence Roberts. “As we gather to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we are reminded of his unwavering belief in the power of education as a tool for social change and empowerment.”

Anderson County Council will swear in a new member as part of the first meeting of 2025 Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Anderson County Civic Center.

Chris Sullivan, who ran unopposed in both the primary and general election, will take the Dist. 1 seat formerly held by John Wright, Jr.

Elite provides outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy to help people live life to the fullest. The partnership does not affect Elite’s remaining 10 offices located in other parts of the state. An additional location at the AnMed Piedmont healthcare campus is set to open in the spring.

Clemson University has broken ground on South Carolina’s first veterinary college with more than $230 million in funding from the state Legislature. But getting the new school started on time in fall 2026 goes beyond the physical buildings.

Anderson welcomed its newest citizen, the first of 2025, just after midnight, with the birth of Adriel Joel Urbina who was born at 12:47 a.m. at the Anmed Maternity Center to Leslie Placencia and Derek Urbina of Iva.

The year ahead will bring some big changes in the classroom, major redevelopment in the county’s towns and cities, including the repaving of Main Street in Downtown Anderson.