Over the next several issues, we will publish our annual look back at some of the top stories, newsmakers and images that shaped the year. The following are several of the top stories published in the Bulletin in January.

Bright’s Creek abruptly closes operations

Bright’s Creek Golf Club LLC closed its doors in late December 2017, after no viable bids were made during a recent bankruptcy sale.

Receiver Marc Rudow sent a letter to members, property owners and employees of Bright’s Creek on Dec. 27, saying he had no choice but to close the club. Bright’s Creek was put up for a bankruptcy sale in August 2017.

The 4,600-acre golf and resort community in Mill Spring includes a Tom Fazio designed golf course and clubhouse, a member’s lodge with 11 rentable suites, an 11-stall equestrian center with 30 acres of paddocks, more than 120 finished custom homes, six condominiums and more than 3,000 acres for future real estate development under the approved master plan.

Polk assists in major meth bust out of McDowell County

Polk County played a part in a major methamphetamine bust in McDowell County the last week of December 2017, where 13 people were arrested and 24 pounds of methamphetamine was discovered, along with money and guns.

The joint investigation involved the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office, the Marion Police Department, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the North Carolina Highway Patrol, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the Morganton Department of Public Safety and the Prosecutorial District 29A District Attorney’s Office.

A press release from the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation focused on the distribution of methamphetamine, primarily in McDowell and Rutherford counties, where it was determined during the investigation that the drugs were coming from the Atlanta area into McDowell and Rutherford counties for distribution in those areas.

Tryon Equestrian moves to top taxpayer in Polk for 2017

After being the third and fourth highest taxpayer in the county in 2015 and 2016, Tryon International Equestrian Center became the top taxpayer in Polk County in 2017.

The Polk County Board of Commissioners heard its audit report for fiscal year 2016-2017 and included statistical information, including the top 10 taxpayers for the year compared to the top taxpayers for 2008.

Adult Communities Total Services (Tryon Estates) was the second highest taxpayer in 2017, followed by Alianza Trinity (Bright’s Creek) and Tryon Showgrounds.

TIEC had a total taxable assessed value of $64.99 million in 2017 and was 22.54 percent of Polk’s total taxable assessed value, according to the audit report.

Area blanketed with 3-5 inches of snow 

After being predicted to receive a dusting to an inch of snow early Wednesday, Jan. 17, the area received between 3-5 inches of snow, making travel treacherous on secondary roads for days.

Temperatures remained below freezing Wednesday into Thursday afternoon so the snow that fell did not begin thawing until later Thursday. Schools were closed in Polk County and Landrum, as well as all of Spartanburg County both Wednesday and Thursday.

While vehicle accidents were prevalent in other areas as well as along Interstate 26, accidents in Polk County were few considering the condition of the roads. I-26 was backed up most of the day Wednesday, particularly westbound, and there was at least one tractor-trailer accident.

Three found deceased at Landrum Mill Road address

On Saturday, Jan. 20, at approximately 6 a.m., Spartanburg County Sheriff deputies responded to an address on Landrum Mill Road in Spartanburg County and found three individuals in the home who were deceased.

Investigators as well as the Crime Scene Unit were on scene, and according to Rusty Clevenger, Spartanburg Coroner, the deaths were violent in nature. 

Later in the day Saturday, the Spartanburg County Coroner announced the names of the deceased as 23-year-old Nathan Louis Poffenberger, of Landrum Mill Road in Landrum, 59-year-old Francis Delancey Richards, of 630 Landrum Mill Road in Landrum, and Fred Richards, AKA Bug or Junior, of 630 Landrum Mill Road in Landrum.

In memoriam

Ruth B. Cantrell

Pauline Russell

Terry Ackerman

Teresa Elizabeth Turner Sanders

Jerry Filmore Medanich

Mildred Kate Blanton Hartley

Harold “Hal” Turner

Kenneth Dale Brown

Elbert Morton Carpenter

Carmela Rena Paredes

Jean Mattern Williams

Michael Coy Atkins

Jean Richardson

Annette Claire Koluch

Marilyn Fausett Hawthorne

Tyler T. Hutcherson

Louise B. Tidman

Myrtle Morris Gibson

Carolyn Josie Day

Graham Alexander (Sandy) Elliot

Bernice Tompkins

Janet Perdun Peterson

Charles F. Walker

Johnnie Ravan

Sylvia Jean Backus

Harry Kenneth (Kenny) Padgett

Fred Junior Richards

Ralph O. Nesslinger

Harald Stefan Juenger

Maxie N. Foster

Fred Eaton, Jr.

Nathan Poffenberger

Catherine Walker

Kathy Jewel Jackson Tolliver

Ralph Harley Arledge

Clifford Phillips

Marcus Brown Prince, IV

Steven L. O’Sullivan

Richard D. Robinson

Barbara Simpson

Norbert Loy Collins

Alfred Stott

Beatrice Harpt