New School Schedule
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- Category: Archives
- Published on Tuesday, 13 December 2022 22:13
- Written by Ralph Shealy
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Saluda County Schools To
Offer Modified Calendar
Saluda County Schools will be modifying the school calendar for the 2023-2024 school year.
This new calendar will provide real-time opportunities for all students to be academically successful throughout the school year. Enrichment days will be strategically placed in the school calendar to assist students in staying on track.
The addition of these enrichment days throughout the year will result in a shorter summer recess. As we move forward, the district will be providing additional information on the new school calendar.
Some families may have pre-planned vacations this first year, which could conflict with this new school calendar. The district will work with families to allow students the opportunity to make up any missed assignments.
Please feel free to reach out to your child’s school with any questions.
Local Suspect Sentenced to
20 Year Prison Sentence
Joel Weston Dowd, age 39 of Gaston entered a guilty plea last week on charges of Accessory to a Burglary and Malicious Injury to Property.
Dowd was sentenced by the Honorable William P. Keesley to serve a twenty (20) year prison sentence in the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
On May 13th, 2022 Dowd assisted other individuals in stealing firearms from a home in the Gaston area of Lexington County.
On July 9th, 2022, Dowd attempted to burglarize a storage unit facility and steal a camper in Saluda County.
A concerned citizen who was mowing grass that day noticed him wearing a facemask and behaving unusually. The concerned citizen attempted to prevent Dowd from leaving the storage facility by blocking him in with his vehicle. Dowd and his accomplice drove through a fence to escape the scene and were later apprehended by law enforcement.
During the plea hearing that was held this morning, Dowd’s victims addressed the court. The prosecution provided his lengthy criminal history to the Court, explaining that Dowd “has spent all of his adult life terrorizing our community.”
Dowd was sentence to an eleven (11) year prison sentence on his Lexington Accessory to a Burglary Charge and a nine (9) year prison sentence on his Saluda Malicious Injury to Property Charge.
Judge Keesley ordered that Dowd shall serve his sentences consecutively (one after another, without interruption). After completing his twenty (20) year prison sentence, Dowd will also be required to complete five (5) years of probation and pay restitution to his victims.
Dowd was investigated and brought to justice through the combined efforts of the Lexington County Sheriff's Office and Saluda County Sheriff's Office. The case was prosecuted by Deputy Solicitor Angela Martin and Assistant Solicitor Doug Fender.
Postal Service Closed Monday, Dec. 26,
and Monday, Jan. 2
SOUTH CAROLINA — This year, Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on Sunday, when Post Office locations nationwide are already closed.
As a result, all Post Offices will be closed for the observation of both federal holidays on Monday, Dec. 26, 2022 and Monday, Jan. 2, 2023. There are no residential or business deliveries on Dec. 26 and Jan. 2 except for Priority Mail Express, which is delivered 365 days a year in select locations for an additional fee.
All Post Office locations will be open for business and regular mail delivery will resume after the holidays on Tuesday, Dec. 27 and Tuesday, Jan. 3. Some Post Offices may have extended hours leading up to the holidays, while others may have limited hours on Christmas Eve, Saturday, Dec. 24. There are currently no plans for limited hours on New Year’s Eve, Saturday, Dec. 31.
Customers are advised to always check with their local Post Office for hours of operation. Blue collection boxes with final collection times before noon will not be affected by an early closing Dec. 24. If a box normally has a final collection time after noon, its mail may be picked up earlier that day.
For mail pickup on Dec. 24, customers are asked to either put their mail into blue collection boxes by noon regardless of the final collection times posted on the box or take their items to one of our more than 34,000 Post Office locations.
Customers who are unable to mail items before the scheduled collection box pickup times on Dec. 24 should visit the online Postal Locator tool at tools.usps. com to find Post Office locations that may be open late. As a reminder, blue collection boxes are not serviced on Sundays or holidays. The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.