Criminal Defense Attorney inMarietta, SC

MARIETTA, S.C. —

Sandy Glenn lost her husband, Mark Guion, to a sudden heart attack in December 2018.

He wanted to be buried in a green cemetery, where the land is allowed to stay in its natural state.

So he was buried at Saluda Rest, a natural burial site and ministry in Marietta, South Carolina.

Glenn tells WYFF News 4 she wants to visit his grave, but after a court order served last week she can't.

"His Facebook says that he (Saluda Rest) is still open all the time, which is what we were told originally, but when we got there he had posted notices that it was for family only and that it would be open February 29th...which if you realize that's a leap day. It happens once every four years,” said Glenn.

A report from the Greenville County Sheriff's Office shows that in June, there was a dispute between Glenn and Kenneth Curtis, the owner of Saluda Rest. That report details that Glenn wanted to visit the grave, and that Curtis said she had damaged his property twice when she drove through the site before.

The investigators' report reads that, while there was some displaced gravel, deputies couldn’t prove that this was malicious in any way.

In July, a court awarded $100.00 in damages to Curtis for the muddiness caused when Glenn drove through the non-profit cemetery to visit her husband's grave.

Glenn tells WYFF4 Curtis spread horse manure on the graves, and she says that while families are kept from going to the graves of their loved ones, hunters are welcome at the cemetery.

In court paperwork, Curtis admitted to dumping horse manure on Glenn's husband's grave against her wishes -- the record shows that he agreed to stop.

"We're an all-natural burial facility,” Curtis said, “What miss Glenn calls 'horse manure' is compost, we put compost on all the graves when we finish them so that grass will grow. It's got seed in it, and it grows a beautiful cover crop so the earth doesn't erode."

Curtis took a WYFF News 4 crew to see the grave - there didn't appear to be fertilizer of any kind on it.

Curtis tells WYFF4’s Renée Wunderlich he does allow hunters on the land, and that's one of the reasons he has a gate and requests visiting families to either have him let them in, or gives them an access code to a special lock on the gate.

A court order show that Glenn is entitled to access Saluda Rest to visit Mark's burial site, and that Curtis had to establish and post standard visitation hours.

So he did: February 29th.

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But one the rules he established says that, if any one wishes to be exempt from the policies, they can call him.

"She (Glenn) has access, there's no problem with her having access - there's a problem with the way that she is demanding access. This is private property. This is not a business, this is not public lands, this is private property,” Curtis said.

Curtis told WYFF4's Renée Wunderlich that because Saluda Rest is a church, a non-profit cemetery, a family cemetery and a nature preserve, the natural burial site is exempt from South Carolina Cemetery Board regulations.

Glenn told Wunderlich she's concerned other families may be restricted from paying their respects, and that she just wants to be able to visit her husband's final resting place.

"My goal is peaceful access to the cemetery. To be able to go and visit, and maintain the site without being harassed and know when it's going to be open,” said Glenn.

Curtis told Wunderlich none of the thirty-some families he's served through burials at Saluda Rest since around 2006 have had any issues, and that just wants an apology from Glenn.

GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. —

The Slater-Marietta Fire Department is in the process of an expansion along Highway 11 in the northern part of Greenville County.

Last week, leaders broke ground on the property near Pleasant Ridge County Park. In 9 months, the property will be a station with space for four response vehicles.

Right now, the department operates out of a small building in that area with only one response vehicle.

The idea to build the station was formed more than 10 years ago. But it wasn't possible until the community opted in 2021 for a referendum for a general obligation bond to fund it.

"That station will serve our northernmost part of our district and it will also be an asset to our neighboring departments, River Falls Fire Department, Glassy Mountain Fire Department (and) Tigerville Fire Department," said Slater-Marietta Chief Adam Brown.

Brown said the area is seeing residential growth. He also said that there has been a 200% increase in call volume over the last 10 years.

On top of that, Brown said, most calls in that area are handled by the headquarters location off Geer Highway.

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"It's about five miles from here so that's going to delay your response," he said. "The plan is to eventually be able to staff that station and provide a quicker response to the calls in that area and a better service to the community in the northernmost part of our district."

Greenville County Councilman Joe Dill said it's needed since growth is on the way in that area.

"Those people in that area will have good protection and if they'll man it and keep people there, this'll be great," said Dill.

Brown said the new station wouldn't be possible without the community supporting the referendum.

"Ultimately, they've supported us through this process, and we have a lot of work to do but we're making a lot of progress and we're really happy with progress and we look forward to continuing that," he said.

The referendum will also fund renovations to the headquarters station off Geer Highway.

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The Slater-Marietta Fire Department will no longer provide fire and rescue services to its neighboring River Falls Fire Service Area after Dec. 15, according to a news release from Slater-Marietta Fire Chief Adam Brown.

Brown said the decision stemmed from a disproportionate amount of calls coming from River Calls combined with a lack of tax revenue creating a lack of funding in the area.

"The Slater-Marietta Fire District and its elected Commissioners owe their highest duty to the 10,000 citizens and residents of the Slater-Marietta Fire District," Brown wrote in his statement.

According to the release, a significant portion of funds paid by Slater-Marietta taxpayers were being diverted to calls for service coming from River Falls.

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"We're essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul," Brown told the Greenville News.

Much of the land in the River Falls Fire Service Area is owned by non-taxable entities, according to Brown's release, diminishing revenue for the River Falls Fire Service Area.

Brown said River Falls has its own fire department with two fire stations, but there just is not enough funding for the department to be self-sufficient.

"They're doing the best they can with what they have," Brown said of River Falls firefighters. "The issue is not personnel, it’s a lack of funding."

Bob Mihalic, a spokesperson for Greenville County, said the county is exploring many different options for funding the River Falls Fire Service Area.

- Tim Carlin covers county government, growth and development for The Greenville News. Follow him on Twitter @timcarlin_, and get in touch with him at TCarlin@gannett.com. You can support his work by subscribing to The Greenville News at greenvillenews.com/subscribe.

SLATER-MARIETTA, S.C. —

Two friends have enrolled in an online effort to help give back to the Slater-Marietta community.

Jeremy Reyes created the Marietta Manners Facebook page about a year-and-a-half ago. He said its goal is to help raise awareness to community needs and provide a platform for local businesses.

"This little town, we’re forgotten a lot," said Reyes. "And there wasn’t too many places that you could go to find that. So when we started doing it, it just made sense."

Timothy Sprouse was a member of the group early on. He and Jeremy now work closely together to grow the page.

"I kind of stepped in. I was like, 'hey, you need to do this or you need to do that,'" Sprouse recalled. "And (Reyes) was like, 'well, if you want it so bad, come help me.' So that’s what I did. I kind of helped him gain the page to what it is now."

Now with more than 4,000 members, the two use posts to gauge community needs, often setting up events to help people who could use food.

"This morning there were 10 people on there saying, 'I need this, and I need that,'" said Sprouse. "Not because they asked for it. It’s because we ask, 'If y’all could ever have anything that you need right now, what would it be?' You know?"

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Last year, they decided to give away about 300 meals the weekend before Thanksgiving. Much of the food was donated.

The two are hoping to serve 600 people this year. Already, there have been no shortages of donations.

They said they're happy with how the page helps connect people and that it adds to an existing sense of community.

"That’s what shows on our page," said Sprouse. "People see other people helping and they wanna do it too."

"The biggest reward is just seeing people come out, having a good time and they talk about it for weeks afterwards," said Reyes.

This year's Thanksgiving meal will be held in the parking lot of the Hometown Food Store off Geer Highway in Marietta. It will start at noon.