Local crime, high school sports, county politics, events tonight, and business closings — the daily Upstate report from HEREspartanburg.
Sports
USC Upstate's softball program opens its fifth NCAA Regional appearance Friday afternoon when the Spartans face the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide at Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. Eastern on national television. The Spartans enter the regional at 36-21 overall and 12-6 in Big South play,…
Sports
USC Upstate track and field capped a strong showing at the 2026 Big South Outdoor Championship at High Point University with seven podium finishes and three school records broken across the three-day meet held May 11-13 in High Point, North Carolina. Senior Shriyaan Krishnaraj took home gold in the men's…
Sports
Wofford College baseball heads to Fluor Field in Greenville for the Southern Conference Baseball Championship beginning May 20 after posting a 35-16 record in the 2026 regular season — one of the program's stronger campaigns in recent years and a mark that gives the Terriers genuine conference-title expectations heading into…
Education
Wofford College will hold its 172nd annual Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 17 at 9:30 a.m. on the front lawn of Main Building in Spartanburg, marking the close of a year that saw the college confer four honorary degrees on individuals with deep ties to the institution, while three graduating…
Education
The University of South Carolina Upstate is set to hold its Spring 2026 Undergraduate Commencement ceremony on Thursday, May 7, marking the completion of another graduating class at the Spartanburg campus — a class the university describes as resilient students who found personal and professional growth through mentorship, campus involvement,…
Education
Families in Spartanburg County School District 5 can now begin planning their 2026-27 year with the district's academic calendar officially set. District 5, which serves students across the Duncan and Lyman areas and surrounding communities, has published its calendar for the coming school year with key dates for holidays, breaks,…
Events
The Spartanburg Philharmonic announced on May 13 that it will formally induct bluegrass banjo artist Kristin Scott Benson and internationally recognized violist Miles Hoffman into the Spartanburg Music Trail at a free public ceremony scheduled for Thursday, June 11, from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Barrett Room of the…
Events
The Spartanburg Philharmonic announced on May 13, 2026 that it will formally induct two new honorees into the Spartanburg Music Trail — award-winning bluegrass banjo artist Kristin Scott Benson and the late internationally recognized violist and radio broadcaster Miles Hoffman — at a free public ceremony scheduled for June 11…
Events
The annual Hub City Hog Fest returned to downtown Spartanburg this month, bringing barbecue teams, live music, and thousands of visitors to the heart of the city. The two-day festival, one of Spartanburg's signature spring events, showcases competitive barbecue alongside local vendors, craft beverages, and family-friendly entertainment. Organizers put out a…
Business
AFL, the Spartanburg-based global manufacturer of fiber optic cable and related network infrastructure products, earned Plant Safety Awards from South Carolina Manufacturers and Commerce for all five of its Spartanburg County manufacturing facilities at the organization's 2026 annual recognition ceremony, the company announced May 5. The SCMC Plant Safety Awards recognize…
Business
Airsys, a global provider of mission-critical cooling systems for data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure, officially opened its new global headquarters campus in Woodruff on May 13, capping a multi-year effort to anchor the company's corporate and manufacturing operations in Spartanburg County. The 60-acre campus — located in what regional officials…
Manufacturing
AFL, a Spartanburg-based global manufacturer of fiber optic cable and related infrastructure products, earned five Plant Safety Awards from South Carolina Manufacturers and Commerce at the organization's 2026 annual recognition ceremony — the second consecutive year all five of the company's Spartanburg County manufacturing locations received the distinction. The South Carolina…
Crime
Five people are dead and one is hospitalized after a head-on collision in the early hours of Friday morning, May 15, 2026, on Highway 101 near Bellview Road Extension in Spartanburg County. Troopers with the South Carolina Highway Patrol said the wreck happened at roughly 1:00 a.m. and is among…
Crime
a city police officer, Don "DJ" Keller, a 31-year-old K-9 handler and U.S. Army veteran, was killed Monday evening when a teenage driver fleeing a traffic stop in a blue Jeep crossed into oncoming traffic on East Cambridge Avenue and struck his patrol vehicle head-on, according to the city police…
Crime
A 66-year-old driver was killed Tuesday evening when his SUV crossed multiple lanes on White Horse Road in Berea, overturned several times, and slammed into a pickup truck stopped at a stop sign on Old White Horse Road, according to state troopers and the Greenville County Coroner's Office. Regional outlets covering…
Politics
Spartanburg County Council convened a special Budget Workshop on Thursday, May 14, at 2 p.m. in County Council Chambers at 366 North Church Street — the second in a planned series of pre-budget working sessions as the county moves toward formal adoption of its FY2027 fiscal year spending plan. The session…
Politics
Spartanburg County Council convened a special Budget Workshop meeting on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. in County Council Chambers at 366 North Church Street — a session posted to the county's official agenda center on May 13 and positioned as the second in a series of pre-budget deliberations…
Politics
Spartanburg County Council District 1 representative Monier Abusaft was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday, May 14, for a motion hearing related to a third-degree assault and battery charge filed after his arrest on March 5, 2026, according to court records reviewed by multiple regional news organizations. Abusaft, 36, was…
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