By THE AIKEN STANDARD     2/10/2012 10:44 AM   

In the United States the government's business is the people's business, and for most matters we have the right to see what the government is doing. If you want to know who the mayor is calling on his city cell phone, you can get that information. ...

By THE AIKEN STANDARD     2/8/2012 5:19 PM   

The last time the Aiken County Council publicly courted a mystery company with enticements of reduced property taxes, we ended up with Bridgestone's $1.2 billion investment. This week the Council approved incentives for another mystery company, thi ...

By JACK DEVINE     2/8/2012 5:19 PM   

Political labels get more attention than they deserve. Liberals once liked being called "liberal" - but that label is a bit frayed, so they now prefer to be called "progressive." That's fine, although I don't think either term accurately characterize ...

By THE AIKEN STANDARD     2/8/2012 11:00 AM   

When this session of the S.C. General Assembly finally ends, there will certainly be plenty of leftover business legislators couldn't manage to finish. Much of that will involve issues vital to the state's future: government restructuring, budgets, e ...

By TIM SIMMONS Chairman, County Commission for Higher Education     2/7/2012 12:05 PM   

The University of South Carolina has been educating the leaders of the Palmetto State for more than two centuries. However, the benefits USC brings to our community can be felt well beyond the classroom. Our eight campuses and 155,000 alumni living i ...

By THE AIKEN STANDARD     2/7/2012 12:05 PM   

We were sadden to learn of another bicyclist death in Aiken County over the weekend. Gerald Hooker was riding a tandem bicycle along Banks Mill Road with his wife. The couple was attempting to make a left turn onto Lone Oak Drive when they were str ...

By THE AIKEN STANDARD     2/5/2012 10:34 PM   

To community support - Thousands of people turned out Wednesday to pay their respects to the family of slain Aiken Public Safety Master Cpl. Sandy Rogers. They filled much of the USCA Convocation Center, lined the streets as the funeral procession pa ...

By THE AIKEN STANDARD     2/5/2012 9:25 PM   

The South Carolina House is considering a bill that would ban text messaging while driving. If approved, violators could be fined and have two violation points placed on their driving record. Now, only eight states have some sort of ban, and we suspe ...

By THE AIKEN STANDARD     2/3/2012 10:56 AM   

In it's heyday, Clearwater Finishing Plant was a bustling textile mill employing more than 1,000 people. Homes and shopping grew up around the mill, as it did around similar mills throughout the South. But when the textile industry moved overseas, ...

By THE AIKEN STANDARD     2/2/2012 11:02 AM   

It may be cliche to say that tragedy brings us together, but it's true. And, it can bring out the best in people - another cliche, but one we are witnessing as we mourn the deaths of two of Aiken's finest Public Safety officers, Scotty Richardson and ...

By THE AIKEN STANDARD     2/1/2012 10:22 AM   

Aiken County is blessed with many fine leaders who understand and value giving back to the community. Each year, the Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce honors a man, woman, large business and small business that has gone above and beyond to contribute ...

By THE AIKEN STANDARD     1/30/2012 5:28 PM   

Today we can't help but wonder what's going on in our quiet community when two law enforcement officers are gunned down in the line of duty just five weeks apart. Our hearts and prayers are with the family of Aiken Public Safety Master Cpl. Sandy R ...

By GARY STOOKSBURY Aiken Electric Cooperataive     1/30/2012 5:28 PM   

For the most part, we take utility poles for granted. We drive by row after row of them, but how often do we think about utility poles? Yet these silent sentinels - often under attack in our community - are critical to Aiken Electric Cooperative's mi ...

By THE AIKEN STANDARD     1/30/2012 11:41 AM   

For two years, the federally appointed commission charged with recommending a plan for dealing with the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle has been meeting and studying and talking. Last week, it released its 180-page report detailing what we already ...

By SEN. SHANE MASSEY     1/30/2012 11:41 AM   

Things sure are quieter now that the presidential candidates and national media left for Florida. Although I'm glad to have had the opportunity to meet several of the candidates and vote in the first in the South primary, I'm also happy for someone e ...

By CINDI ROSS SCOPPE The State     1/29/2012 12:45 AM   

The nation looks to South Carolina every four years to see what we have to say about the presidential race. I look to the presidential race to see what it says about South Carolina, and this year's picture wasn't particularly flattering. Last week' ...

By THE AIKEN STANDARD     1/29/2012 12:44 AM   

To The Willcox inn owners - Geoff and Shannon Ellis could have simply removed a diseased oak tree in front of the inn, but the couple opted for the complicated, and certainly expensive, option of having a large, healthy new oak planted in its place. ...

    1/29/2012 12:21 AM   

South Carolina Superintendent of Education Mick Zais and the State Board of Education got off to a bad start, but now say they are committed to patching things up. That is encouraging because they need each other, and the state's schools need both th ...

By THE AIKEN STANDARD     1/27/2012 10:15 AM   

Saturday's GOP Primary was exciting to the end. Who would have predicted two weeks earlier that Newt Gingrich would trounce Mitt Romney so soundly? It was exciting to have the candidates come to town. If you wanted to meet any of them you had the ...

By THE AIKEN STANDARD     1/27/2012 10:15 AM   

The S.C. School Boards Association has a school funding proposal that is certainly worthy of consideration - but needs a great deal more thought and ideas for how to make it happen. The association wants to equalize the operational tax rate for the ...