Traffic Tickets Are Legal Documents

Talking recently about traffic tickets, Public Safety Director Pete Frommer said a traffic ticket is a legal document that specifies your alleged violation of the law, the date, time and place of your scheduled court appearance, and the amount of the bond you are to pay the court. Aiken citizens should know their rights and responsibilities

Don’t Ignore Traffic Tickets

All tickets must be resolved through a legal process. Ignoring a ticket will not make it go away and in fact, additional penalties may be assessed if you do ignore it.

How to Reschedule a Court Appearance

Traffic Tickets Are Legal Documents

A conflict with your scheduled court appearance may let you change the court date. Call (803) 642-7620 and leave a message asking the officer to contact you about the possibility of rescheduling your appearance.

Rescheduling is solely at the discretion of the officer and you must call at least one week prior to the court date. Certain violations require a mandatory court appearance.

You may qualify for a reduction in the bond, or a reduction of the points associated with the violation if you pay the bond before your court appearance. The prerequisite that would allow this is that you must not have had a moving violation in the city of Aiken during the previous three years.

Purpose of Traffic Tickets

Frommer says Everyone is responsible for traffic safety, and the purpose of traffic tickets is to help keep the City of Aiken safer for us all.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Republican Alan Wilson, the only prosecutor running for Attorney General in South Carolina says he is not afraid of judges or congress and there are two equal number one priorities. One is to protect the citizens of South Carolina and the other is to defend the Constitution.

Alan Wilson in Aiken

This is a recent event from the Founding Father’s Day event in Aiken, SC.

A former prosecutor and Iraq war veteran, Wilson has lead in the courtroom and on the battlefield. Now he is ready to lead law enforcement in South Carolina.

At this event, Alan Wilson’s father Joe Wilson was on hand to introduce him.

Video by liveshotmedia.com

Popularity: 9% [?]

South Carolina lawmakers chose to pay for weight-loss surgery for obese state workers, rather than put teachers in classrooms, according to a state senator.

The bariatric surgeries cost $24,000 each.

What do you think about that?

See the complete story at the Post and Courier

Popularity: 8% [?]

South Carolina Policy Council President, Ashles Landess attended the Aiken City Council Meeting at the and of April. Landess talked about City government taxes and spending, plus solutions for economic growth.

Popularity: 26% [?]

The City of Aiken recently won the South Carolina Municipal Association Municipal Cup, for civic innovation. Aiken won the award for its restoration project in the Crosland Park neighborhood.

Other successful neighborhood projects encouraged the City to coordinate the efforts of other local groups that were working to improve Crosland Park, but were not coordinated. The City’s coordination must have been the missing link, because together, the local faith-based organizations, volunteer groups and the neighborhood association came up with a winning plan.

“Tremendous growth in Aiken had bypassed the city’s north side neighborhoods. One neighborhood in particular, Crosland Park, seemed to lack a social fabric. There were gangs, break-ins and speeding problems. Most of the houses in the neighborhood were rentals with a high turnover rate. Residents were restless and scared.

South Carolina Municipal Association

A task force made recommendations to achieve stability, after studying the neighborhood. The neighborhood association surveyed residents to discover how they wanted their neighborhood to change, noting violations, traffic concerns and dilapidated properties. Town hall meetings gathered input from residents.

Those recommendations were given to the City Council, who worked with several non-profits to raise the money to buy and renovate 150 homes. Grants and other funding came from a Community Development Block Grant, Palmetto Pride and Safe Routes to Schools. Unemployed workers did the physical labor, restoring houses and making properties energy efficient. New streetlights, sidewalks and a walking path to the nearby school were added.

The coalition started life skills classes, a youth leadership program, after school programs, a chess club, street parties, and other activities.

Congratulations to all involved.

See the story and video:

Public Service Award: City of Aiken

Popularity: 69% [?]

By Miv Evans

This film contains a lot of gratuitous violence, depicts a romance between a bi-racial couple, the theme of ‘no mercy’ features strongly and ‘revenge is good’ is the clear message. The original Karate Kid was 16 and on the cusp of manhood, the remake Kid is 12 and still a child and this disparity gives the film an incongruous feel, made worse when the young boy and his girlfriend talk and behave like sensible adults. Equally bizarre is the fact that all the Chinese kids are taller than the American kid, including the girlfriend, and as any self-respecting 12 year old girl will tell you, dating someone shorter than yourself is a total no-no.

Dre (Jaden Smith) and his recently widowed mother (Taraji P. Henson) leave Detroit to move to Beijing where Dre struggles to fit in. He finds a mentor in a local maintenance man (Jackie Chan) and the young American becomes empowered and is finally able to stand up to the bullies who brought torment to his life.

It is, of course, a classic underdog story, and Chan is the ultimate coiled spring, ready to pounce when the moment comes, which it does, but another moment comes soon after which is not quite so welcome. This is in the form of a pretty cheesy scene when Chan opens his heart to his young mentee and has a good old sob. I’m not sure what the Chinese think of the fact that the average American is happy to bare his soul to any passing film crew, but I’m sure it’s not complimentary, and this display by an icon like Chan will probably have the entire Chinese race worried the next time he shows up in a movie it’ll be in a kimono and ankle stockings. And while we’re on the subject of being girly, Dre’s mother is a difficult act to swallow. While assuming the role of a caring mother, she looks and sounds more like a hooker and when her young son is collapsed in the ring, physically broken and in tears, she’s there cheering him to get back up and fight which is the oddest behavior I’ve ever seen in a Mom. I’m sure Jacqui Stallone would be appalled.

Jaden Smith delivers an outstanding performance, as expected, but he is nowhere near powerful enough to carry a film. And is it such a great idea for celebrity parents to encourage their young to take this route? Obviously Jaden’s parents think so and will no doubt lead standing ovations for their talented offspring, clearly ignoring the child-star syndrome, one of whom makes the news every week. Is the desire to prove you have produced something of value really that blinding?

It’s hard to imagine where this film will find an audience. It’s far too juvenile to appeal to adults, teenagers over the age of 16 don’t want to watch a film with a 12 year old kid as the star, and if parents take their young children to see this they are giving their approval to violent revenge and the next time there’s a tragedy in a school playground CNN will know where to point their finger. But of course, this won’t bother Mr. and Mrs. Smith, as they will be far too busy building their dynasty to have time to watch the news. Oil? What oil? And Lindsay who?

Rating: PG (despite violence and use of the s*** word)
Release date: 11th June, 2010

To read more reviews by Miv Evans please visit www.newsblaze.com/writer/mive.html. Contact Miv at www.thetrailerfestival.com

Popularity: 8% [?]

Aiken Fall Youth Sports Registration is now open, until July 29.

Fall soccer is open to children 5 through 18 as of September 1. Registration fee of $45 for city residents and $80 for out-of-city residents. Soccer matches are played at Citizen’s Park complex I. The city now has a new line of Cooltec soccer uniforms, in a variety of bold colors and have a cooler, lightweight feel.

Youth Flag Football is open to children 5 through 12 as of Sept. 1. Registration is $50 for city residents and $85 for non-city residents. Flag football games are played at the Weeks Center.

Girls Volleyball, also at the Weeks Center, is open to girls in grades 5 through 8 as of August. Registration is $40 for city residents, $75 for non-city residents.

Practice sessions usually begin August 1, with games starting after Labor Day and running until mid-October.

Registration can be secured online using a credit card, or at the Citizen’s Park Complex II.

The complex has administrative offices, 5 multi-purpose athletic fields, meeting room, playgound and a concessions area.

Popularity: 8% [?]

A 19-year-old Hanahan woman had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy and gave birth to their baby. She apparently made him withdraw from his friends and she was found with photographs of child pornography, but not photos of the boy.

Jessica L. Bradley was sentenced to four years in prison Friday, on the child pornography charges, after pleading guilty to five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

The Judge sentenced Bradley to 10 years, suspended to four years in prison, plus five years probation, saying he was troubled by her extensive involvement in pornography and apparent lack of remorse. He said she had been sexually abused as a youth.

View full post on www.postandcourier.com stories: Local News

Popularity: 14% [?]

Water usage in Aiken increased by 37 Percent, due to recent heat waves and a lack of rainfall.

The Public Works Department says usage increased by 102 million gallons in May compared to May last year, when it was 273 million gallons. That spike in usage did not exceed the city’s capacity, but if the heat and lack of rain persists, Public Works Director Larry Morris says water usage restrictions will be needed.

Morris says conserving water can prevent the need for restrictions.

Watering the lawn is almost always the largest use of water on a residential property, says Suzanne Holmes, Clemson extension agent for Aiken County. She says over watering happens much too often, which can cause plant problems, and that homes with in-ground irrigation systems use, on average, 43 percent more water than homes where people water by hand.

We do our plants a service when we water when needed, when your lawn and other plants show signs of stress. Too much water on leaves provides a perfect environment for disease spores and bacteria, while over-watering promotes a shallow root system and reduces oxygen to the roots and can encourage some weeds to grow.

Water deeply but infrequently. Lawns typically need 1 to 1_ inches of water once a week, perhaps half that much twice a week for lawns on sandy soils and about a third less in clay soils. Let your lawn tell you when it needs water. When it shows signs of stress such as a bluish gray cast and rolled leaf blades, it is time to water again.

For a few helpful hints from the Public Works Department:

• Use soaker hoses on beds and shrubs
• Install a rain shut off device on your automatic sprinklers.
• Convert some turf area to low-water, native plantings.
• Improve soil quality with proper fertilization, aeration and compost.
• Leave the mower clippings on the lawn.
• Adjust sprinklers that are watering walkways and

Popularity: 74% [?]

With Aiken celebrating it’s 175th birthday, there have been many events in 2010 already. This week is no exception and there are several events are coming up.

The Aiken County Historical Museum Exhibit is open Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Monday

Hopelands Gardens Summer Concert Series 7pm – bring a chair or blanket and picnic dinner

Get Fit at The Willcox – Aqua Aerobics starting at 3pm

Tuesday,

Bike Nite

Tai Chi by the pool at The Willcox starting at 3pm

Thursday,

Yoga by the pool at The Willcox starting at 3pm

Friday

PSJ Celebration Horse Show at the Highfields Event Center

Saturday

PSJ Celebration Horse Show at the Highfields Event Center

Planetarium Show at the Dupont Planetarium, starting at 5pm

Aiken Horsepower Cruise-in at the Home Depot parking lot

Popularity: 55% [?]