The city of Aiken and its engineering firm are currently working to obtain the permits necessary to replace its 1950s-era water treatment plant. Late last year, the process of obtaining permission to construct the $65-70 million new plant began, Marie Corbin, a senior project engineer at Goodwyn Mills Cawood, told the Aiken City Council Monday evening.
The Aiken Standard is switching the distribution method of its print product to mail delivery.
This information has been gathered from public information available at qpublic.schneidercorp.com.
The IRS says more than 140,000 taxpayers filed their taxes through its new direct file pilot program. It says the program’s users claimed more than $90 million in refunds and saved roughly $5.6 million in fees they would have spent with commercial tax preparation companies. But despite what IRS and Treasury Department officials said Friday is a successful rollout, they don’t guarantee the program will be available next year for more taxpayers. They say they need to evaluate the data on whether building out the program is feasible. The government pilot program rolled out this tax season allowed certain taxpayers in 12 states to submit their returns directly to the IRS for free.
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Trump's lawyers grill ex-tabloid publisher in first week of hush money trial
A study currently underway is recommending the widening of a section of the S.C. Highway 118 bypass near USC Aiken from two lanes to four.
The U.S. flu season appears to be over. It was long, but federal health officials and doctors say it was a moderate one. Last week, for the third straight week, medical visits for flu-like illnesses dipped below the threshold for what’s counted as an active flu season. Springtime upticks in flu are possible. But other indicators, like hospitalizations and patient testing, also show low and declining activity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there have been at least 34 million illnesses and 24,000 deaths from flu since the beginning of October.
Four people received an environmental award unique to Aiken Monday evening. Eugene White and Jim Marra, members of the city's energy and environmental committee, presented four green horse awards to members of the Aiken community at the city council meeting. Kandace Cave, Bob Newburn, Richard Johnson and Allen Riddick received the green horses.
A measure of inflation closely tracked by the Federal Reserve remained uncomfortably high in March, likely reinforcing the Fed’s reluctance to cut interest rates anytime soon and underscoring a burden for President Joe Biden’s re-election bid. Prices rose 0.3% from February to March, the same as in the previous month. It was the third straight month that the index has run at a pace faster than is consistent with the Fed’s 2% inflation target. Measured from a year earlier, prices were up 2.7% in March, up from 2.5% in February. After peaking in 2022, the Fed’s favored inflation index cooled for most of 2023. Yet so far this year, the index has remained stuck above the Fed’s target rate.
St. Paul Lutheran Church will continue the celebration of its organ with a spring concert by Kathleen Cartledge, a deacon and director of music at the church.
Keen-eyed observers of Hopelands Gardens may notice some visual refreshment in the Dollhouse area this week, with Aiken Council of Garden Clubs having provided volunteers for an April 23 outing to plant spring annuals, place fresh shrubs and spread mulch.
South Carolina is one step from permitting the hunting of feral hogs by helicopter. The South Carolina Senate voted Thursday to approve third and final reading of S.C. Rep. Bill Hixon's bill allowing the hunting of feral hogs via helicopter on properties larger than 500 acres.
The Aiken Department of Public Safety and several tourism-related events are getting a helping hand from the city of Aiken.
The Aiken City Council voted 6-0 Monday evening to approve a resolution allocating $106,000 from Capital Sales Tax IV proceeds for replacement equipment at the Department of Public Safety.
The city council voted unanimously March 25 to approve a recommended allocation of $484,853.83 of projected accommodations tax proceeds to several tourism-related events.
Seventeen states are challenging new federal rules entitling workers to time off and other accommodations for abortions. Arkansas and Tennessee filed the lawsuit in federal court on Thursday and called the new rules an illegal interpretation of a 2022 federal law. The lawsuit comes after finalized federal regulations were published last week on how to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. The language means that workers can ask for time off to obtain an abortion and recover from the procedure. The lawsuit argues that the rules go beyond the scope of the law.
Lyddie Hansen, president of the Area Churches Together Serving board of directors, spoke to the Aiken Sertoma Club April 15. Hansen told the group about her experience growing up with deaf parents. Hansen began her talk using sign language to illustrate what it's like to be deaf.
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed this week to its highest level since late November, another setback for home shoppers in what’s traditionally the housing market’s busiest time of the year. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose to 7.17% from 7.1% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.43%. The average rates has now increased four weeks in a row. When mortgage rates rise, they can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford.
A fast-casual restaurant featuring a grilled cheese sandwich concept is scheduled to open this summer in Aiken Towne Park.
Tons of insects that normally go unseen are beginning their grand, noisy appearance in Aiken County this month, in a high-profile representation of Brood XIX — cicadas with a 13-year life cycle.
Volunteers, employees and other well-wishers associated with Area Churches Together Serving shared some stories and a meal April 23, as the interdenominational organization had a gathering to remember the ups and downs of 2023.
New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction
The South Carolina Senate has approved its budget. The final vote came Wednesday after approving items like requiring school children use the bathrooms of their sex assigned at birth and whether universities can spend state money to move to another athletic conference. The Senate's $15.8 billion budget for next fiscal year raises salaries for state employees and teachers, sets aside more money to improve and repair roads and bridges and doubles a planned income tax cut to 0.2%. It also sets up a showdown with the House as the House’s $500 million property tax rebate is not in the Senate plan.
The nation’s economy slowed sharply last quarter to a 1.6% annual pace in the face of high interest rates, but consumers — the main driver of economic growth — kept spending at a solid pace. The gross domestic product — the economy’s total output of goods and services — decelerated from its brisk 3.4% growth rate in the final three months of 2023. A surge in imports, which are subtracted from GDP, reduced first-quarter growth by nearly 1 percentage point. Growth was also held back by businesses reducing their inventories. Both those categories tend to fluctuate sharply from quarter to quarter. By contrast, the core components of the economy still appear sturdy.
The family 30-year-year Jamilla Smith who has been missing since December 2023 speaks after a second person was arrested and charged Friday afternoon.
The Aiken-Augusta Wounded Warrior Charity Golf Classic returns to Woodside Country Club on May 20 for its 15th annual tournament.
The number of U.S. births fell last year. It was the lowest count in more than 40 years. A little under 3.6 million babies were born in the U.S. in 2023, about 76,000 fewer than the year before. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the provisional statistics on Thursday. Birth rates have long been falling for teenagers and younger women, but rising for women in their 30s and 40s. But last year, birth rates fell for all women younger than 40, and were flat for women in their 40s.
Aiken Towne Park reached a milestone Wednesday morning, with the official launch of the first new business there since the redevelopment of the former Aiken Mall site began.
A South Carolina elected official recently paid a visit to the Savannah River National Laboratory. Gov. Henry McMaster visited and toured the national lab April 18 according to his public calendar.
Members of the Aiken Lions Club learned about the service efforts of Lions Clubs across the world Tuesday evening. Past District Gov. and current District Service Chair Louis Drucker spoke to the club at their meeting which was held at St. Johns United Methodist Church. The meeting also feat…
Allergy season is here, but it doesn't have to make you miserable. Experts say people can manage most symptoms by using over-the-counter medicines and knowing pollen levels. But if that doesn’t work, experts suggest seeing a doctor who can determine what specific pollen you’re allergic to. More than 80 million Americans suffer from seasonal allergies and experts say conditions are getting more extreme. Climate change is leading trees and grasses to pollinate longer and more intensely.
A group of Aiken area Republicans got to meet three candidates running to the Republican nominee for Aiken County sheriff Tuesday afternoon. Stuart Prettel, Marty Sawyer and Ed Wilson participated in a candidate forum at the Aiken Republican Club meeting held at Newberry Hall.
U.S. agriculture officials announced new nutrition standards for school meals that will limit added sugars for the first time. The Department of Agriculture issued final rules for the program that serves breakfast to more than 15 million students and lunch to nearly 30 million children every year. Limits on added sugars in foods such as cereal, yogurt and flavored milk will start in 2025. By 2027, added sugars will be limited to no more than 10% of total calories per week in the school meals. The new rule also trims sodium in kids' meals.
Softball took a sabbatical for a few years, but it's a springtime option again for dozens of Wagener-area kids, largely through the volunteer efforts of Halie Starnes, Morgan Foster and Shelby Nisbet.
The Biden administration has finalized a new rule set to make millions of more salaried workers eligible for overtime pay in the U.S. The move marks the largest expansion in federal overtime eligibility in decades. Starting July 1, employers will be required pay overtime to salaried workers who make less than $43,888 a year in certain executive, administrative and professional roles, according to the Labor Department. That cap will then rise to $58,656 by the start of 2025. The current overtime eligibility threshold is $35,568, which was set under the Trump administration in 2019 — just three years after a more generous Obama-era effort was ultimately scuttled in court.
The Beech Island Historical Society will hold its 16th annual Historic Beech Island Tour from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 27,. The tour will feature 13 historic locations, among them will be the Bowers-Galphin home of Dr. Charles G. Larke. Built in 1833 by plantation owner David Bowers…
The South Carolina Department of Mental Health primarily serves people who continue to live in their homes while receiving assistance.
U.S. companies would no longer be able to bar employees from taking jobs with competitors under a rule approved by a federal agency, though the rule is sure to be challenged in court. The Federal Trade Commission voted to ban measures known as noncompete agreements, which bar workers from jumping to or starting competing companies for a prescribed period of time. According to the FTC, 30 million people — roughly one in five workers — are now subject to such restrictions. The Biden administration has taken aim at noncompete measures, which are commonly associated with high-level executives at technology and financial companies but in recent years have also ensnared lower-paid workers, such as security guards and sandwich-shop employees.
Aiken Department of Public Safety officers are looking for a vehicle thought to be connected to a shooting that occurred Tuesday afternoon.
Plywood covered part of the front of the SPCA Thrift Store in Aiken on Monday. There also were orange traffic cones, yellow caution tape and a crumbled wall near the entrance.
LONDON — Four Aboriginal spears that were taken to England by Captain James Cook more than 250 years ago have been returned to Australia's Indigenous community at a ceremony in Cambridge University. The artifacts were all that remain of some 40 spears that Cook and botanist Joseph Banks took in April 1770, at the time of the first contact between Cook’s crew and the Indigenous people of Kamay, or Botany Bay. The spears were presented to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1771. Their return was agreed last year following a campaign and a formal repatriation request. It is hailed as a step toward reconciliation and a greater understanding of Britain and Australia’s shared history.
U.S. officials say the Pentagon is poised to send an initial $1 billion package of military aid to Ukraine as the Senate begins debate on long-awaited legislation to fund the weapons Kyiv needs to stall gains made by Russia. The decision Tuesday comes after months of frustration, as bitterly divided members of Congress deadlocked over the funding. House Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to cobble together a bipartisan coalition to pass the bill. The overall $95 billion foreign aid package is expected to gain Senate approval soon. About $61 billion is for Ukraine. President Joe Biden promised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy the U.S. would send air defense weapons once the Senate approves the bill.
The pOpshelf at 3510 Richland Ave. W. in Aiken is getting a makeover.
Five more people have died in the English Channel, underscoring the risks of crossing one of the world’s busiest sea lanes in overloaded inflatable boats just hours after British lawmakers approved a controversial migrant bill to stop the traffic. The migrants, including a 7-year-old girl, died Tuesday when their boat got stuck on a sandbank off the coast of Pas-de-Calais in northern France. The French navy rescued 49 people, but 58 others refused to disembark and continued on toward Britain. Just hours earlier, the U.K. Parliament approved legislation allowing deportation to Rwanda of those who enter the country illegally.
A real estate firm will soon begin seeking potential buyers for the Hotel Aiken and four other properties downtown. The Aiken City Council voted 6-0 Monday evening to approve an agreement with Colliers International to market the Hotel Aiken, the Holley House/Motor Court, the Taj Aiken building, the C.C. Johnson building and the Warneke Cleaners building to potential buyers.
Many communities across the country have tried to ban or limit leaf blowers because of their noise and environmental impact. But they roar on. There are simple alternatives and steps you can take. First, if you hire a landscaper, express your concerns. If you have the time and inclination, rake. On hard surfaces, use a broom. Those are sustainable alternatives that also provide exercise and some peaceful time alone with your thoughts. Clear the lawn, but consider leaving leaves where they fall in beds and borders. Leaf sweepers, which operate like push mowers, capture and collect leaves and garden debris in an attached bag. If you must use a blower, opt for an electric or cordless rechargeable model as a cleaner, quieter compromise.
Through a partnership with Aiken Barnwell Mental Heath and the Aiken County detention center, mental health needs in the jail have been met with several programs to those detained in the jail with a mental illness.
The creation of a new tool has moved the Savannah River Site's liquid waste contractor a step closer to closing some of the tanks holding nuclear waste. A team led by Construction Superintendent Tony Smith and Discipline Engineer Beau Nichols invented a tool to remove obstructions that could have prevented the installation of a mixing pump used for waste removal and tank closure, Savannah River Mission Completion announced Wednesday afternoon.
A Warrenville man has been arrested and charged with attempted murder. Aiken County Sheriff's deputies arrested Carlton James Shaw, age unknown, Friday.
Animal lovers of Aiken came out Saturday to Woofstock, an event that aims to bring awareness to the Aiken County Animal Shelter. The event is organized by Friends of the Animal Shelter.
The Aiken man accused of shooting and killing Kenneth Jones last Halloween once faced two charges of attempted murder and could have been sentenced to more than 70 years in prison. Jemaurea Johnson, 20, of Aiken, was charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of pointing and presenting a firearm and discharging a firearm within city limits on Jan. 2, 2022.
COLOGNE, Germany — The European Space Agency has added five new members to its astronaut corps. They graduated Monday during a ceremony in Cologne, Germany, after completing a year of training. That brings the space agency’s astronaut roster up to 11. The new astronauts are from France, Belgium, Britain, Switzerland and Spain. An Australian has also joined them as part of an agreement. The newcomers are now eligible for trips to the International Space Station. More than 20,000 people applied for the five slots.
A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. Monday's ceremony in Las Vegas drew U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg along with local and Brightline West company officials. The company plans to have trains running by 2028 from just south of the Las Vegas Strip to a commuter rail hub in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The track will be in the median of Interstate 15, where motorists in traffic jams would see trains whisk past at speeds comparable to Japan's bullet trains. A Brightline sister company already operates a fast train between Miami and Orlando in Florida.
A plan to continue the development of the Clearwater Preserve neighborhood in the Graniteville is moving forward.
A top concern for local election workers throughout the country this year is their own safety. A group formed after the 2020 presidential election is traveling the country helping them prepare for what could lie ahead and making sure they are connected to local law enforcement. The Associated Press was granted rare access to one recent session in northern Michigan. The threats and harassment stem from the false claims made repeatedly by former President Donald Trump since his loss in 2020. He already has been attacking some election officials this year. The drumbeat has contributed to an exodus of local election directors across the country.
Ukrainian and Western leaders have welcomed the passing of a desperately needed aid package for Ukraine by the U.S. House of Representatives. The Kremlin warned the passage of the bill would “further ruin” Ukraine. The House approved $61 billion in aid as Democrats and Republicans banded together after months of hard-right resistance over renewed American support for repelling Russia’s invasion. The Ukrainian president has warned that Ukraine would lose the war without U.S. funding. He praised American lawmakers for their decision. The Kremlin spokesperson called the approval of aid to Ukraine “expected and predictable" and warned it would result in the deaths of more Ukrainians.
