Drug Charges Dropped
Statement Regarding The Dismissal
Of Criminal Charges As It Relates
To Shai Werts In Saluda County
Yafari Shairkir (Shai) Werts was arrested on July 31, 2019, in Saluda County for Possession of Cocaine following a traffic stop. The Eleventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office was made aware of the arrest on Friday, August 2, 2019. The Saluda County Sheriff’s Office provided Deputy Solicitor Al Eargle with copies of the incident report, police vehicle dash camera footage, and the body camera footage on Wednesday, August 7, 2019.
Upon a thorough review of the report, the dash camera, and the body camera, Deputy Solicitor Al Eargle and I made the decision that the charge should be appropriately dismissed. The charge lacks prosecutorial merit and the evidence is insufficient for the State to proceed. The charge was officially dismissed Thursday, August 8, 2019.
The decision to dismiss this charge was made prior to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) completing their drug analysis of the substance collected. On August 8, 2019, SLED received the substance and completed the drug analysis. The forensic scientist determined that no controlled substance was detected.
The Solicitor’s Office has begun the expungement process to have this charge removed from the system to ensure that this arrest and charge does not create a criminal history for Werts.
RICK HUBBARD
NOTE: Werts was suspended from the Georgia Southern football team following his arrest, but was reinstated when he passed a drug test. He is expected to state at quarterback when the Eagles open against LSU on Aug. 31.
Pastor Initiates Gun Buy-back
Program In Saluda County
SALUDA – While the nation mourns the victims of the latest mass shootings in Gilroy, El Paso and Dayton – and as suicide rates rise in South Carolina – a United Methodist pastor is launching a gun buy-back program for the Saluda area.
As a teen, the Rev. Hillary Taylor experienced episodic depression and suicidal thoughts. Today, as a pastor, she acts out of compassion for a region with lots of guns and limited access to mental health services.
“I’m a hunter and a gun owner myself,” says Rev. Taylor, pastor of Bethany UMC and Zoar UMC in Saluda. “I support the Second Amendment, but I also know that guns and mental health problems are not a good mix. Self-harm becomes too easy – and too easily fatal.
“Not everyone who has a gun wants one around, or knows how to use one safely. Even guns that no longer work can be dangerous to have around, and a lot of people don’t know there are ways to get rid of them.”
Rev. Taylor, who is coordinating the effort with the support of other local churches, is planning the buy-back event for 1-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7, when gun owners will receive Walmart gift cards worth $50-$150, depending on the model and make of the gun. A location for the event is still to be determined.
In the meantime, anyone who wants to support the effort can donate Walmart gift cards. To do that, please mail checks or Walmart gift cards (in increments of $50) to the following address: Bethany United Methodist Church, 1146 Hickory Grove Road, Saluda, SC 29138. Please make checks out to “Bethany United Methodist Church,” with “Buy-Back” in the memo line.
Following most gun buy-back events, the purchased weapons are destroyed. In this effort, however, Rev. Taylor wants to disable the guns and repurpose them in the Saluda community as gardening tools or artwork – almost literally playing out Isaiah 2:4: “...they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”
Nationwide, approximately 34,000 people complete suicide each year, and nearly half of suicides involve firearms.1 Suicides also make up three out of every five gun-related deaths in the United States (more than homicide, mass shootings, accidents, etc.).2
In South Carolina, more than 90 percent of suicides are gun-related,3 and the state ranks 50th in the nation when it comes to the availability of mental health care.4
1 “Fact Sheets: Suicide,” National Alliance on Mental Illness, accessed August 5, 2019.
2 “America’s Gun Culture in 10 Charts,” BBC News, accessed August 5, 2019. .
3 “Suicide Rate Increases Nationally, Soars in South Carolina,” Greenville News, accessed August 5, 2019.
4 “The State of Mental Health In America 2018,” Mental Health America, accessed August 5, 2019.
Need a GED or a High School Diploma?
Come to Saluda County Adult Education.
2019- 2020 Open Enrollment begins August 19!!
LET US HELP YOU!
*GED preparation
*High School Diploma classes
*WIN preparation and testing
*ESL/ English as a Second Language classes
Call Jimmy Crawford or Andrea Minick at 864-445-3346, or stop by our office at 401 N. Calhoun St. in Saluda
for more information. Office opens at 8:00 a.m.
Quarterback arrested
SHAI WERTS
Georgia Southern Quarterback
Arrested In Saluda County
The starting quarterback on the Georgia Southern University football team was arrested in Saluda County last week on traffic and drug charges.
According to this week’s Detention Center Report, Yafari Shairkir Werts (Shai) of Newberry was arrested July 31 on speeding and possession of cocaine 1st charges.
The incident report stated Werts was clocked doing 80 mph on the Chappells Hwy. heading toward Saluda, and did not immediately stop when the arresting officer turned on his blue lights. Werts called 911 and said it he was not pulling over until he got into the Town of Saluda at a well-lit spot, as a safety precaution.
Saluda police assisted in getting the car to stop in town.
Werts was arrested in the speeding charge, and asked about the white powder looking substance on the Dodge Charger’s hood. Werts said it was “bird poop.”
The substance was field tested with a kit, and the test revealed it was cocaine. More samples were collected and sent to SLED for verification.
Werts bonded out the next day, and returned to the Georgia Southern campus, where he was due to start fall football practice. However, GSU head football coach Chad Lunsford announced that Werts, and another player who had been arrested in Florida were suspended indefinitely.
Werts started at quarterback the last two seasons. In 2018, he was named to the All-Sun Belt Conference second team and was MVP on the Raycom Camilla Bowl. He played 759 of 774 offensive snaps, setting a pair of school records with his passing and was the only FBS starting QB to not throw an interception.
He was a star at Newberry High School, where accumulated more than 6,000 total yards and accounted for 73 touchdowns.
Webb Sings ‘National Anthem’
At L.A. Dodgers Game
Some Saluda County history was made when country music artist Cody Webb of Ridge Spring sang the “National Anthem” before 56,000 fans at Dodger Stadium prior to the Dodgers-San Diego Padres game Sat., Aug. 3.
Saluda BiLo Grocery Store to Donate to Historical Society
Saluda BiLo has selected the Saluda County His-torical Society to be a participant in their Com-munity Bag Program.
This is a program in which BiLo contributes funds to local non-profit organiza-tions by donating one dollar for every reusable grocery bag they sell during a month. In the society’s case, this August is the target month.
Please keep this in mind as you purchase your groceries at the Saluda BiLo during August. Not only will these contributions benefit the Historical Society, but using these grocery bags will also help the environment by reducing the number of plastic bags that wind up in landfills and unfortunatel
2019 Young Farmer Scholarships
Young Farmer Scholarship Recipients
The Saluda Young Farmer Scholarship recipients were recognized Sat.,July 27, before the 41st Annual Truck and Tractor Pull. The recipients are pictured on the front row. Their parents are behind them. Front row, L to R, , Texanna Miller,Makayla Porter, Sarah Shore, Cody Clary, Zac Berry, Kelson Palmer, and Benjamin Buzhardt. Not pictured is Megan Corley. (Photo by Sarah Catherine Berry)
Clothes, computers, and school supplies are among dozens of items that can be purchased free of Sales Tax during South Carolina’s annual Sales Tax Holiday from Friday, August 2, through Sunday, August 4, 2019.
During the Tax Free Weekend, shoppers can purchase a variety of back-to-school essentials without paying the state’s 6% Sales Tax and any applicable local taxes. Tax-free items range from school supplies, computers, and printers to clothing, accessories, and shoes.
Tax-exempt items include school supplies used for school assignments, clothing and clothing accessories, footwear, computers and computer software, printers and printer supplies, certain bed and bath items.
Items not exempt in-clude jewelry, cosmetics, eyewear, wallets, watches, furniture, rental clothing or footwear, items for use in a trade or business.
In past years, South Carolina shoppers have saved between $2 million and $3 million during the holiday weekend.
Information for Retailers
•Sales of qualified items during the Sales Tax Holiday should be reported and taken as a deduction on a retailer’s August Sales Tax return (ST-3 – see form instructions).
•All retailers who sell eligible items must participate in the Sales Tax Holiday and may not collect Sales Tax from their customers on eligible purchases.
•Retailers can file and pay Sales Tax and manage all of their South Carolina tax accounts online using our free tax portal, MyDOR- WAY.
The South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR) has released an updated list of tax-free items and FAQs in a consolidated guidance document (Revenue Ruling 19-4). The guidance and a variety of other resources, including shopping lists, are available on the SCDOR’s website at dor.sc.gov/TaxFreeWeekend.
Share the savings! Post your Sales Tax Holiday photos on social media using #SCtaxfree. RSVP to the event on Facebook and follow the SCDOR on Facebook and Twitter for Tax Free Weekend updates, resources, and reminders.
Operation Child Find
The Office of Student Support of Saluda County Schools requests your help in the location and identification of all children with disabilities not currently being served.
South Carolina statutes require public schools to provide appropriate educational programs for disabled children between the ages of three and twenty-one years. ‘ Current categories of disabilities are a preschool child with a disability, developmentally delayed, speech/language impairment, orthopedic impairment, visual impairment, other health impairments, deaf-blindness, autism, traumatic brain injury, multiple disabilities, intellectual disability, specific learning disability, deaf and hard of hearing, and emotional disability.
Anyone who is aware of any child suspected of having any of these disabilities may contact Mrs. Elizabeth Schumpert, Director of the Office of Student Support at 864-445-8441 weekdays between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.. The name of the referral person will remain confidential.
Guard Units Deploy
Deployment Ceremony Held
At Saluda High School
The South Carolina National Guard conducted a deployment ceremony for more than 140 Soldiers with the 124th Engineer Company, 122nd Engineer Battalion, 59th Troop Command, July 21, 2019, at Saluda High School, to recognize the unit’s mobilization in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. The soldiers will be deployed to the Middle East for approximately nine months conducting construction operations. (U.S. Army National Guard Photos by Staff Sgt. Erica Jaros, 108th Public Affairs Detachment)
Adjutant General
Speaks at Ceremony
Adjutant General Van McCarty, a Saluda native, was a featured speaker at the South Carolina National Guard deploy-ment ceremony at Saluda High School on Sun., July 21. (Photo by Jamie Shealy)
41st Annual Truck And
Tractor Pull This Weekend
The Saluda Young Farmers 41st Annual Truck and Tractor Pull, “Hottest Pull in the South” will be held July 27th at the Young Farmer Stadium at the County Recreation Complex. The Carolina Truck & Tractor Pullers Southern Pullers Association professional pull will begin at 6pm. Gates open at 4pm. There will be 19 classes featured this year.
Ticket prices are as follows: Adults - $15, Children 6 to 12 - $10, under 5 – Free, and cooler/bulk beverage - $5.00 (no glass containers). Credit and debit card ticket purchases will be available at the gate. Concessions will also be available.
To purchase trackside parking, contact Scott Wertz at 803-924-3124. All trackside parking spots are $50 and go on sale July 8th. Please call after 5pm.
The Saluda Young Farmer Scholarship winners will be recognized as well. The 2019 winners are Megan Corley, Texanna Miller, Sarah Shore, Cody Clary, Makayla Porter, Zac Berry, Kelson Palmer, and Benjamin Buzhardt. Proceeds from the pull go towards the scholarship program.
Bring a chair – stand seating is limited. Also, visit the Young Farmer merchandise table to purchase your official tractor pull shirt.
Come and enjoy a weekend of high-powered action!
Check out www.Saluda YoungFarmer.org or syftp.us for the latest information. Like us on Facebook at Saluda SC Tractor Pull.