STATE BRIEFS

Former Walhalla

mayor drowns

ANDERSON — Former Walhalla mayor Paul Brown has drowned after using his pickup truck to try to free his sailboat after it ran aground in a shallow cove, authorities say.

Brown, 73, went to the lake Christmas Day to go sailing and his wife filed a missing person report when he didn’t come home that night, authorities said.

Members of the Keowee Sailing Club found Brown’s boat stuck in the cove Monday morning. When they found tire tracks leading into the water, they called authorities, Oconee County Coroner Karl Addis said.

Brown appears to have tried to use his truck to free the boat, but misjudged the distance and path to the boat, Addis said.

The truck was found submerged in 12 to 15 feet of water, Addis said.

The power locks and windows may have shorted, preventing Brown from escaping, the coroner said.

Brown served two terms as mayor of Walhalla and once owned a tire supply store in town.

Fisherman dies

of hypothermia

CAMDEN — A fisherman died of hypothermia Monday after falling into Lake Wateree, the state Department of Natural Resources reported Tuesday.

Larry Smith and Leroy Brunson, both of Sumter, went into the water about 2:30 p.m. while fishing near Clearwater Cove in Kershaw County. DNR officials continue to investigate why.

‘‘It appears, for some reason, the boat took on water,’’ said DNR Lt. Robert McCullough.

Both men were wearing lifejackets. Winds separated the two after they hit the water.

Smith, 50, the boat’s driver, was rescued 30 minutes later and airlifted to Palmetto Health in Columbia, where he remained Tuesday in good condition. He was treated for hypothermia, McCullough said.

Rescuers did not find Brunson, 52, until about 5 p.m.

Brunson died of hypothermia in water temperatures between 40 and 50 degrees, said Kershaw County Coroner Johnny Fellers.

The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory Monday for Lake Wateree, warning of winds of up to 25 mph.

Vandals cause

$10,000 in damage

ANDERSON — Vandals who apparently entered through an unlocked gate have caused more than $10,000 in damage to the Easter Seals Christmas light display.

The suspects struck this weekend, stabbing holes in inflatable displays and destroying control boxes that worked some of the animated displays, authorities said.

The 160 displays and more than a million lights were closed Monday for repairs, but reopened Tuesday without some of the damaged displays, said Cecilia Page, director of Easter Seals AndersonOconee.