Like many of you, we were shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of West Union Police Chief Charles Sanders Jr. from a heart attack Tuesday evening.

Oconee County’s popularity as a tourist destination is seemingly ever increasing, and it’s also become one of the most desirable areas for retirees to relocate, but sometimes even those who live here can forget about everything this little neck of the woods has to offer.

Today marks exactly a month until a total solar eclipse crosses from the Pacific coast to the Eastern Seaboard, touching only American soil along the way. Don’t miss it — the next one to do the same won’t happen for another 299 years.

Almost three years ago, Oconee economic development director Richard Blackwell said the effect of completing sewer at the Golden Corner Commerce Park would be like “lighting a match” in the southern part of the county.

In Wednesday’s edition of The Journal, we hope you read our editorial about the assistant principal’s reaction to a parent asking about the scheduling issue currently being discussed within the School District of Oconee County.

Clemson officials will hold a second town hall meeting Sunday night at Abel Baptist Church, and considering the first one lasted more than two hours and drew a huge crowd on Father’s Day, we’d expect the turnout for this one to be even bigger.

In the current climate of fake news and alternative facts, it is absolutely essential to continue fighting for government transparency.

As parents, many of us are forced to prioritize many things — finances, professional concerns, family time — and we tell ourselves we do it all for our children.

In the wake of the city of Westminster rejecting the golden parachute offered by Oconee County to take over its fire department, we learned in Thursday’s edition the city now plans to ask the county next year to help with some of the program costs for its recreation department that it was forced to cut in lieu of the offer.

From time to time, we like to use this space to remind readers how valuable they are to the dialogue that takes place every day in this newspaper and how exactly to go about joining the conversation.

On the day before he expected the United States to formally declare its independence, Founding Father John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, that he expected the occasion to be “the most memorable epoch in the history of America.”

There’s more than one way to skin a cat, and there are plenty of ways to balance a budget, too.

Unlike many news outlets these days, we still focus first and foremost on our print product, with online offerings provided as a secondary service and courtesy to our subscribers. Thus, it’s not always readily apparent from online traffic and social media buzz which stories are generating the most public interest.

The decisions made by members of Westminster City Council on Monday night in order to balance their budget left us almost at a loss for words. Almost.