Students from the environmental class taught at Boiling Springs High School by Sandy Phillips-Long began a project on January 29 to clean-up and study the water and surroundings of “The Springs” site.

Before they began the project, students researched water quality factors.

Phillips-Long stated on an  email, “The water will be analyzed using handheld computers which will benefit the students by knowing how to use them already when they go to college.”

Another class will perform the same tests on the stream by the high school and compare them with The Springs water over the next five or six months to provide long-range comparison results.

Students also performed maintenance tasks like removing debris and trash from the water and surrounding area.

The Boiling Springs Business Association had dinner at Grandma’s Kitchen on February 11 prior to their regular monthly meeting.

After the meal,  Association Vice President Eric Hayler gave a presentation on Business Networking which gave tips about how to network to improve business. County Councilman O’Neal Mintz then spoke and said that once again the county was looking at a “tough budget year” and  work on the budget would begin with a workshop on March 4, 2010. Mintz also said that he was working towards improvements for Seay Road and 4th Street in the Boiling Springs area.

For the rest of the story, see this week’s Boiling Springs Sentry.

Four days after 11 Boiling Springs boys basketball players did not attend practice in protest of head coach Glenn Reese, Jr., the Bulldogs finally took the court for the season’s final game against Byrnes.

Five of the 11 who walked out on the team - C.J. Mack, Ryan Petrea, Trey McKinney, Christian Durrah and Alec Tuner - were allowed by Reese to rejoin the team.

Carl Drummond and Jordan Wallace never left. Xavier Page, Joseph Rice, and Gary Jeter joined the squad from the J.V. team.
Somehow, out of the chaos of the last few days, the Bulldogs summoned the will to pull out a 56-54 victory, leading by as many as 15 points in the second half and holding off a late Byrnes charge.

For the rest of the story, see his week’s Boiling Springs Sentry.

Last Wednesday was a banner day for the Boiling Springs Bulldogs.

The football program saw five players sign scholarship offers with Division I schools, including two with SEC programs. In total, the players gathered $875,000 in scholarship money. The five players were the most ever from the Boiling Springs football program to sign scholarships.

“This is a great day for Boiling Springs High School, for these players, and for their families,” said principal Chuck Gordon at the school’s signing ceremony. “It’s wonderful that these guys are going to get a chance to continue their football careers while getting an education.”

Austin Crowe will play at The Citadel, Issac Lowrance signed with Charleston Southern, Ryan Petrea will attend Wofford, Logan Stewart signed with Vanderbilt, and Dylan P. Thompson will play at South Carolina.

For the rest of the story, see this week’s Boiling Springs Sentry.

When Boiling Springs firefighter Kellie Hughes moved from North Carolina to the Cowpens area in 1998,  she was surrounded by family members that were involved in firefighting. It wasn’t long before Hughes wanted to participate as well,  and as she said, “I got tired of watching them ride off on the fire trucks”, so Hughes began volunteering herself.

Hughes became certified in 1998 through the South Carolina Fire Academy and has been a paid firefighter since 2006. Hughes is now a Firefighter II, an EMT basic, certified in swift water I and II rescue, and is a qualified fire vehicle driver. She also added, “Firefighting requires constant training and updating and especially here at our station. The Chief is committed to training and something is always going on.”

Hughes said she likes the firefighting field because, “it is never boring. I had an office job at one time and found out I am just not that type. As a firefighter I have to constantly keep re-evaluating my skills to make sure I am doing the right thing for a patient or a victim of some tragedy.”

For the rest of the story, see this week’s Boiling Springs Sentry.

Boiling Springs Area Council President Cindi Knox convened the council for their annual retreat on January 18  during which they heard updates and information from various speakers of interest.

First to speak was State House Representative Steve Parker. Parker said that in the next legislative session,  to begin on January 19, legislators would be looking carefully at what impact new laws or regulations would have on individuals, families, and the community as a whole.

Representative Parker said the main emphasis would be on job creation, economic development, and education. Parker said another item to be looked at was the Employment Security Commission. He said, “Currently, a person can get fired from a job for just cause and still reap the unemployment benefit with only minimum penalty. We need to fix that.”

Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright (pictured above) announced some programs the department is initiating in the community. The first is the “Alive at 25” seminar which is designed to reduce traffic fatalities among people ages 15 to 25. The second program will be a program to heighten residents’ awareness of crime prevention and a series of public service announcements advertising things citizens can do to protect themselves against crime.

For the rest of the story, see this week’s Boiling Springs Sentry.

Following a musical performance by several members of the Boiling Springs Elementary School honor choir on the evening of January 12, District Two School Board Chairwoman Connie Smith convened the board in regular session with nine trustees and School Superintendent Dr. Scott Mercer in attendance.

Minutes from the November 2009 meeting were submitted and approved. Personnel Director Dr. Kristi Woodall then presented National Board Certifications certificates to 13 newly certified teachers from District Two.

Following that Dr. Woodall administered the oath of office to newly elected school board trustee Craig Sims and presented the outgoing board chairman a plaque in recognition of his service.

For the rest of the story, see this week’s Boiling Springs Sentry.

The quiet of Sunday morning church services was shattered by gunfire in downtown Spartanburg over the weekend as Spartanburg County sheriff’s deputies shot and killed an armed suspect following a robbery and chase shortly after 11 a.m.

According to Spartanburg County Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Ivey, deputies had been summoned to an armed robbery call at the Li’l Cricket at the intersection of Valley Falls Road and Lone Oak Road just before 11 a.m. when responding officers spotted the suspect fleeing up Asheville Hwy toward Hearon Circle.

Shortly thereafter the pursuit ended after one of the pursuing deputies rammed the suspect car causing it to crash against the raised curb on West Henry Street just below the main post office. The suspect then exited the vehicle and pointed a rifle at deputies who then shot and killed him.

Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger identified the suspect as Billy Leonard Gowan, 51, of 122 Bermuda Ln in Inman. Clevenger said Gowan died from blood loss secondary to gunshot wounds.

For the rest of the story, see this week’s Boiling Springs Sentry. For more area news, visit www.BoilingSpringsSentry.com

When Dimitri Kakouras opened the Grapevine Restaurant in Boiling Springs he envisioned it as just not a place to eat, but as a family gathering place and a place of friendship.

To that end, Kakouras participates in many community and charitable projects throughout the year, but Christmas time and the “Season of Giving” are special to him. ‘

For the second year Dimitri Kakouras has sponsored an angel tree in the restaurant where patrons can select a child’s name from the Children’s Shelter of the Upstate and provide that child with gifts for Christmas.

For the rest of the story, see this week’s Boiling Springs Sentry.

With so many folks lined up in the East Blackstock Road Lowe’s parking lot last Wednesday, December 23, it certainly had the look of pre-Christmas shopping specials.

And just like those “door-busting deals” offered throughout the Christmas shopping season,  the folks had been there a long time, some since before dawn, while others had been up the whole night.

They weren’t awaiting the arrival of Zhu Zhu pets or the Nintendo Wii; they were awaiting a far more special gift, the return of their loved ones from National Guard training in Wisconsin.

It made for a very special Christmas and it came as a surprise because the unit wasn’t originally scheduled to be home for the holidays before shipping out to Afghanistan in January.

For the rest of the story, see this week’s Boiling Springs Sentry.