Senate Leader Files Roll Call Bill

Senate leader files roll call bill

By SEANNA ADCOX Associated Press

COLUMBIA -- A continued push to increase the accountability of South Carolina lawmakers and cap government spending were among 180 proposals senators filed Wednesday for the upcoming legislative session.Republicans who control the Senate said the two issues will be a priority next year.

Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler filed a bill calling for more roll call votes in the Senate, mirroring one filed a day earlier in the House. Both chambers are allowing members to introduce bills ahead of the Jan. 13 start of the two-year session. Roll call votes record every lawmaker's decision on a proposal. That's in contrast to voice votes. Peeler says he's lined up 20 Senate co-sponsors and expects to get four more votes needed to get the bill out of the Senate and included in the chamber's rules."Transparency is clearly needed in South Carolina," the Gaffney Republican said.But he faces resistance within his own party.

Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell said he'll fight the bill "with every bit of energy I've got," calling it a waste of time and money. The Charleston Republican, who heads the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, said he will push instead for a change to Senate rules, requiring roll call voting for budgetary and contested measures. The specifics are still being worked out.

The House adopted rules last week that have come under question because they record every lawmaker as voting yes. Those who shout "nay" or those absent at the time must head to the clerk's desk to be properly recorded. Critics say it creates an inaccurate picture of support for legislation. Peeler said the Senate won't adopt anything like that. McConnell said that while Peeler's plan plays well publicly, roll call voting on every bill, including those without disagreement, would create gridlock in the Senate. He also called Peeler's proposal a "lawyer employability act," saying it would lead to lawsuits in which people claim procedure wasn't followed on laws they don't like.

Peeler said it may be time to consider electronic voting. In the Senate, roll call votes are handled by voice, with each of the 46 names called and those present answering. In the House, 124 members push a button and vote electronically."That's the main pushback I've received," Peeler said. "This thing is really going to take up time." But McConnell countered that made no sense."In a recession, with all of state government suffering, is not the time to be buying a voting machine for the Senate," he said.

McConnell refiled a proposed constitutional amendment that would curb state spending in surplus years and sock away extra money for lean times. Under the legislation, state spending could grow by no more than the 10-year average of the growth in population and personal income. Earlier this year, the amendment fell short of the two-thirds majority needed in the Senate by one vote."The beauty of it is in good times, it does not allow you to go on a spending binge," McConnell said. "In down years, the money is flowing back into coffers to pay the bills, rather than us hiring one year and firing the next."Other bills refiled by McConnell include one requiring state and local governments to print documents only in English, a proposal that won approval in the Senate earlier this year but died in the House.Democratic Sens. Darrell Jackson, of Hopkins, and Joel Lourie, of Columbia, proposed separate bills allowing residents to vote early in person, without needing an excuse. Jackson also wants to bar students from dropping out of school before they turn 18, instead of before age 17. But it was Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston, who prefiled the most proposals, with 65 -- accounting for more than one-third of measures filed so far. Those include bills that would bar smoking in bars and restaurants -- an idea that died last session, prohibit restaurants from selling food containing trans fats, allow same-sex couples to enter into civil unions, and make it illegal for people to wear pants that sag more than 3 inches below their hips.

Give the Gift of Life

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM:

Linda Taylor

SC Community Relations Coordinator

353 Fabian Drive (near SteinMart)

Aiken, Sc 29803

ltaylor@shepeardblood,org

803.617.0007 office

706.339.5345 mobile

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                   

Local People Save Lives, Receive Gifts

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Linda Petersen – GA Community Relations, (706) 339-5543, lpetersen@shepeardblood.org

Linda Taylor – SC Community Relations, (803) 643-7996, ltaylor@shepeardblood.org


Augusta, GA – Critically ill patients at our local hospitals may not know your name but they will never forget your gift of life.

In this season of giving, imagine giving the unforgettable gift of good health and winning an unforgettable gift for you! That is what is happening at Shepeard Community Blood Center blood drives and centers this December. One winner each week will choose from the following Unforgettable Gifts:

$1,000 Pre-paid Visa Gift Card

Plasma TV

MacBook Laptop

Our first Unforgettable Gift winner is Tom Paquette. Mr. Paquette is a faithful volunteer platelet donor at Shepeard West, Shepeard’s Platelet and Plasma Center, at 112 Davis Road in Martinez. Tom chose the $1,000 Pre-paid Visa Gift Card for his Unforgettable Gift. What gift will you choose?

Congratulations to the following people who won $500 Visa Gift Cards in our November drawings:

· Tammyria Jennings of Augusta who visited the Richmond County Board of Education Blood Drive

  Stacey Timmerman of North Augusta who visited the blood drive at Savannah River Site, Lower B Area

· Virginia Fox of Martinez who donated at Shepeard’s Center at 460 North Belair Road in Evans

· Russell Carter, Jr. of Warrenton, GA who presented to donate at Kimberly Clark

Platelets are the clotting part of blood. Platelets are used for cancer, transplants, and other critical injuries and illnesses. To learn more about donating platelets like Tom Paquette, our first Unforgettable Gift Winner, contact Vanessa Childs, Special Donations Coordinator: (706) 737-4551 or vchilds@shepeardblood.org

To find a place to donate with Shepeard this holiday season:

http://www.shepeardblood.org/ GA: (706) 737-4551 SC: (803) 643-7996

City Update from Dick Dewar

HOUNDSLAKE GOLF COURSE - While this is my first post in a while, it does not mean that little of importance has been happening in Aiken. Most of you know about the turmoil and stress imposed on the residents of Houndslake North regarding the proposed closure of the Laurel golf course. I spent many hours helping other members of the Steering Committee to communicate options available to residents involved. We concluded with a very successful community meeting held at Odell Weeks.

While residents recently received a confirmation letter regarding the closure on December 31, I have been advised that there is a possibility of a delay in the closure while repairs are being made to the Azalea and Dogwood courses. Please keep in mind that this is a very fluid situation and plans change rapidly.

ZONING ORDINANCE CHANGE – At our last Council Meeting on November 17, we were asked to approve an ordinance dealing with Accessory Buildings in the Horse District. Currently an accessory building cannot be larger than 50% of the heated floor area of the principal building. Some feel that this has caused problems in the horse district since accessory buildings are used for horses, carriages, feed supplies, etc. While the Planning Commission recommended approval, I asked for input from the horse community since it was most affected. Accordingly, this matter has been delayed until we hear from the Equine Committee.

LANDSCAPING BY SCE&G – We received input from residents of Highland Park concerning problems caused by SCE&G tree trimming. While everyone understands that SCE&G must trim trees to prevent power disruptions, there is genuine concern about their process. In the Highland Park area, there was significant damage to the area. While SCE&G v-cuts the trees, they do not share the concern of residents who want minimum visual disruption. The City has made arrangements with SCE&G with regard to South Boundary Road to preserve a treasured city asset. The City will not permit the utility cut trees in this area; instead the City performs that task. The City Manager is working with SCE&G to determine if similar arrangements can be made elsewhere within the City to trim trees at SCE&G cost to eliminate this kind of problem. I will continue to monitor this issue.

B&W SALVAGE YARD – Much of the last Council meeting was consumed by the issue of the junk yard on Highway One. Many residents are dismayed that one of the main entrances to the City passes by this unsightly location. This issue had been long standing and dates to 1985. Nothing so far has been successful in removing this eyesore to one of the main entrances to the City. County Councilman Scott Singer has worked with County Council and South Carolina Department of Transportation with help from Senator Greg Ryberg in an effort to more effectively resolve this issue. Their recommendation is to build a fence to screen the property from public view. If the owner parks vehicles on the highway side of the fence, SCOT will enforce existing law by imposing daily fines until the law is followed. Funding for the fence would be a joint effort by both the County Council and City Council and approximate $50,000 each. While everyone wants this issue resolved, there was little consensus by the Council on action. Concern was raised about the cost of the fence, the ability and willingness of authorities to enforce the law, and public support of our efforts. At Monday’s City Council meeting we will consider a resolution supporting the County’s efforts to deal with this issue.

FISCAL YEAR 2007-2008 AUDIT OF CITY FINANCES – The firm of ElliottDavis was selected by bid process to perform an audit of city finances for the past fiscal year. We briefly reviewed their report at last Council meeting and will give final approval at Monday night’s meeting. The firm concluded that the City of Aiken is properly managing funds collected and spent. They identified no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies relating to the audit of the financial statement and no instances of noncompliance material to the financial statements. While audit reports can be dry reading, they do reveal significant findings. For example, the City has a 98.07% collection percentage for real and personal property taxes. The City has no outstanding general obligation debt. Our revenue sources are:

Charges for Services 47.74%

Property Taxes 18.08%

Business Taxes 11.61%

Capital Project Sales Taxes 9.87%

Unrestricted Investment Earnings 6.67%

Operating Grants 3.04%

Capital Grants 2.41%

Intergovernmental 1.69%

Accommodations Taxes 1.43%

Miscellaneous 0.46%

Our Government-Wide Expenses include:

Water & Sewer 29.77%

Public Safety 26.12%

General Government 12.00%

Recreation & Parks 10.56%

Public Works 9.16%

Sanitation 7.98%

Economic Development 3.14%

Storm Water 1.09%

Debt Service Interest 0.18%

Most of the City revenue from the previous year is from growth in property taxes from new resident and from business licenses. Major expenditures include over $300,000 in planning and traffic studies and over $5,000,000 in benefits and insurance. Despite a 5% increase in water and sewer rates last year, only one city in South Carolina has lower rates than Aiken. We exceeded expenditures over budget in the Aiken Community Playhouse Fund ($5,099). Community Development Block Grant Fund ($57,008) and Local Accommodations Tax Fund ($59,671). In every other case, our budgeted amounts exceeded what we spent. The Aiken Corporation owes the city $2,670,035 for several loans in past years. Some of this money will be collected when property is sold and the Aiken Corporation has been making satisfactory progress in repaying loans. Overall, the City is handling your money well and in accordance with acceptable accounting standards. The City Manager recognized our current economic climate and will act accordingly in controlling expenses during the year.

CLOSURE OF UNOPENED PORTION OF COKER SPRINGS ROAD – The Hitchcock Woods Foundation in a friendly suit sued the City to close a portion of Coker Springs Road between Newberry Street and Laurens Street. Adjacent property owners have been notified.Since this section of roadway has never been opened in the past as a public roadway the ordinance is expected to pass first reading on Monday.

Posted by Dick Dewar

Aiken Hospital Auxilary Seeks Memorial Gifts, Bequests or Endowments

                                             

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Today  Ed Giobbe and I were trying to remember what word  the Italians use for turkey. Ed speaks fluent Italian and I used to be reasonably competent but neither of us could recall the word. I did know that in Turkey the bird is called a hindi which of course means India.. I "googled" for an answer and found this interesting bit of information. So now we all know.

Happy Thanksgiving from Dick and Donna 

The Story of How the Unofficial Bird of the United States Got Named After a Middle Eastern Country


(by Giancarlo Casale)

How did the turkey get its name? This seemingly harmless question popped into my head one morning as I realized that the holidays were once again upon us. After all, I thought, there's nothing more American than a turkey. Their meat saved the pilgrims from starvation during their first winter in New England. Out of gratitude, if you can call it that, we eat them for Thanksgiving dinner, and again at Christmas, and gobble them up in sandwiches all year long. Every fourth grader can tell you that Benjamin Franklin was particularly fond of the wild turkey, and even campaigned to make it, and not the bald eagle, the national symbol. So how did such a creature end up taking its name from a medium sized country in the Middle East? Was it just a coincidence? I wondered.

The next day I mentioned my musings to my landlord, whose wife is from Brazil. "That's funny," he said, "In Portuguese the word for turkey is 'peru.' Same bird, different country." Hmm.

With my curiosity piqued, I decided to go straight to the source. That very afternoon I found myself a Turk and asked him how to say turkey in Turkish. "Turkey?" he said. "Well, we call turkeys 'hindi,' which means, you know, from India." India? This was getting weird. I spent the next few days finding out the word for turkey in as many languages as I could think of, and the more I found out, the weirder things got. In Arabic, for instance, the word for turkey is "Ethiopian bird," while in Greek it is "gallapoula" or "French girl." The Persians, meanwhile, call them "buchalamun" which means, appropriately enough, "chameleon."

In Italian, on the other hand, the word for turkey is "tacchino" which, my Italian relatives assured me, means nothing but the bird. "But," they added, "it reminds us of something else. In Italy we call corn, which as everybody knows comes from America, 'grano turco,' or 'Turkish grain.'" So here we were back to Turkey again! And as if things weren't already confusing enough, a further consultation with my Turkish informant revealed that the Turks call corn "misir" which is also their word for Egypt!

By this point, things were clearly getting out of hand. But I persevered nonetheless, and just as I was about to give up hope, a pattern finally seemed to emerge from this bewildering labyrinth. In French, it turns out, the word for turkey is "dinde," meaning "from India," just like in Turkish. The words in both German and Russian had similar meanings, so I was clearly on to something. The key, I reasoned, was to find out what turkeys are called in India, so I called up my high school friend's wife, who is from an old Bengali family, and popped her the question.

"Oh," she said, "We don't have turkeys in India. They come from America. Everybody knows that."

"Yes," I insisted, "but what do you call them?"

"Well, we don't have them!" she said. She wasn't being very helpful. Still, I persisted:

"Look, you must have a word for them. Say you were watching an American movie translated from English and the actors were all talking about turkeys. What would they say?" "Well...I suppose in that case they would just say the American word, 'turkey.' Like I said, we don't have them." So there I was, at a dead end. I began to realize only too late that I had unwittingly stumbled upon a problem whose solution lay far beyond the capacity of my own limited resources. Obviously I needed serious professional assistance. So the next morning I scheduled an appointment with Prof. Sinasi Tekin of Harvard University, a world-renowned philologist and expert on Turkic languages. If anyone could help me, I figured it would be Professor Tekin.

As I walked into his office on the following Tuesday, I knew I would not be disappointed. Prof. Tekin had a wizened, grandfatherly face, a white, bushy, knowledgeable beard, and was surrounded by stack upon stack of just the sort of hefty, authoritative books which were sure to contain a solution to my vexing Turkish mystery. I introduced myself, sat down, and eagerly awaited a dose of Prof. Tekin's erudition. "You see," he said, "In the Turkish countryside there is a kind of bird, which is called a chulluk. It looks like a turkey but it is much smaller, and its meat is very delicious. Long before the discovery of America, English merchants had already discovered the delicious chulluk, and began exporting it back to England, where it became very popular, and was known as a 'Turkey bird' or simply a 'turkey.' Then, when the English came to America, they mistook the birds here for chulluks, and so they began calling them 'turkey" also. But other peoples weren't so easily fooled. They knew that these new birds came from America, and so they called them things like 'India birds,' 'Peruvian birds,' or 'Ethiopian birds.' You see, 'India,' 'Peru' and 'Ethiopia' were all common names for the New World in the early centuries, both because people had a hazier understanding of geography, and because it took a while for the name 'America' to catch on.

"Anyway, since that time Americans have begun exporting their birds everywhere, and even in Turkey people have started eating them, and have forgotten all about their delicious chulluk. This is a shame, because chulluk meat is really much, much tastier."

Prof. Tekin seemed genuinely sad as he explained all this to me. I did my best to comfort him, and tried to express my regret at hearing of the unfairly cruel fate of the delicious chulluk. Deep down, however, I was ecstatic. I finally had a solution to this holiday problem, and knew I would be able once again to enjoy the main course of my traditional Thanksgiving dinner without reservation.

Now if I could just figure out why they call those little teeny dogs Chihuahuas....

Free Medical Clinic of Aiken County Opens its New Facility

The Free Medical Clinic of Aiken County has taken one of the biggest steps in the life and work of the clinic. A new facility has been purchased in the City of Aiken from which to operate. This new location will enable the clinic to fully realize its mission. The clinic will be able to expand the hours of operation, and extend the provision of service to both chronic and non emergency needs.

On Friday, November 21, 2008, at 10 am, there was a ceremony to publicly open the new facility. The opening of this facility fulfills a key strategic goal established for the clinic,

During the ceremony the name of the Free Medical Clinic of Aiken County was changed to the Community Medical Clinic of Aiken County. The distinction of the name change is to ensure that  present and future patients recognize the clinic as the Aiken Community's primary medical care provider for those who do not have the means necessary to employ other medical providers. Going forward, the Community Medical Clinic of Aiken County will strive to become part of the medical community in delivering to the needs of Aiken County citizens, and work in coordination with other medical providers.

The new facility is located at 244 Greeneville Street, two blocks behind Aiken Public Safety's facility,The phone number is (803) 226-0631.

Silver Bluff May Get Turn Lanes

In case you missed it the following report appeared in the Aiken Standard today. The wheels of government move slowly!


Silver Bluff may get turn lanes

http://www.aikenstandard.com/Local/1121ARTS

11/21/2008 12:54 AM

By HALEY HUGHES

Staff writer

A representative with the South Carolina Department of Transportation has unveiled plans that call for the addition of several turn lanes at key intersections along Silver Bluff Road in lieu of widening the thoroughfare to five lanes.

The improvements were approved unanimously by the South Carolina subcommittee of the Augusta Regional Transportation Study (ARTS) with a few provisions, laying to rest a prolonged debate which weighed the merits of widening the two-lane road versus adding turn lanes.

The state originally supported the widening - which would have transformed Silver Bluff Road from 0.4 miles west of Richardsons Lake Road to approximately 600 feet east of Indian Creek Trail from two lanes to five - but many in Aiken felt turn lanes were a better, less expensive alternative that would also damage fewer trees.

"This is far superior to the five-lane widening," said Gary Bunker, a member of Aiken County Council who was present at the meeting. "I think it's really good."

On top of approving the turn lanes, the subcommittee asked that SCDOT consider making lanes at least 24 to 39 inches wide with the exception of the turn lanes, not installing a traffic light at the entrance to Woodside Plantation, minimizing the taking of right-of-way, consider installing a left-turn lane at Savannah Drive and use curb and gutter.

"The plans are still conceptual," said Fred Cavanaugh, committee chairman and Aiken mayor. "There is still a lot of design work to do."

The plans will now be forwarded to ARTS for its consideration. Public meetings will also be held in the future to go over the turn lane plans.

BREAKOUT

Proposed turn lanes on Silver Bluff Road

Silver Bluff Road at Richardsons Lake Road (possibility of installing a traffic light at intersection)

Northbound on Silver Bluff: left- and right turn lane

- Southbound on Silver Bluff: dual left-turn lanes and a right turn lane

- On Richardson's Lake Road: left-turn lane

Silver Bluff at Woodside Plantation Drive (possibility of installing a traffic light at intersection)

- Northbound on Silver Bluff: right turn lane

- Southbound on Silver Bluff: left-turn lane

Silver Bluff at Hartwell Drive/Woodside Executive Court

- Northbound on Silver Bluff: left-turn lane

- Southbound on Silver Bluff: left-turn lane

Silver Bluff at Town Creek Road

- Northbound on Silver Bluff: left-turn lane

- Southbound on Silver Bluff: right turn lane

- On Town Creek Road: left-turn lane

Election 2008: S.C. red starts to fade

From The State.com

Posted on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008


Election 2008: S.C. red starts to fade


By WAYNE WASHINGTON

Barack Obama did not carry South Carolina in winning the presidency, but future Democratic nominees could find the Palmetto State to be much more fertile territory.

An analysis of voting patterns over the past eight years shows that Democrats have made big strides in a state that has been reliably Republican since Jimmy Carter last won it for the Democrats in 1976.

Those strides have not yet borne fruit for Democrats. Republicans still occupy the governor’s office and control both houses of the General Assembly. Republican presidential nominee John McCain also beat Obama here by a comfortable 9 percentage points.

Read More..  .