Some of you may have already noticed a couple of new additions to the Department of Public Safety's patrol fleet. These would be two Dodge Chargers driven by officers whose sole job is to enforce the traffic laws in the City of Aiken. The officers are also tasked with educating students at our two high schools about safe driving.

Representative Skipper Perry will not be seeking reelection to the State House after nine years in office. Perry has said that he felt it was time to "move on."

Shawna Harding and Come On III posted a score of 72.5% this past Friday in the Intermediate 1 Open at ESP's Wellington Dressage. The Wellington Dressage is the first of three competitions in the CN Winter Equestrian Festival at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center.

This past December the City Council voted to impose a two-hour time limit for parking in certain areas of downtown. This measure was recommended by the Aiken Downtown Development association in an effort to combat the difficulty many of us face when trying to park downtown. As approved by the City Council, the limit will only be in effect from 9AM to 4PM, Monday through Friday. The program is set to begin sometime in early March with Public Safety officers issuing warnings to those parked for more than two hours.

Ramona Sullivan was asked to return to work last week following the Town Council meeting. Instead of returning to work, she resigned.

Steve Carver, who is the Mayor of Wagener, has been caught in the middle of an email scandal involving other people at the Town Hall and resulting in a Town Council meeting this past Tuesday night. The scandal centers around Mayor Carver sending sexually suggestive email messages to Town Clerk Tina Salley, to which he openly admits, and the messages being discovered by Ramona Sullivan. Mayor Carver explains that he sent the messages in order to catch Ms. Sullivan snooping through Ms. Salley's email.

I've also added a link to an NBC Augusta article which contains more details, especially regarding the contents of the emails in question.

As Barbara Morgan vacates the 2nd Judicial Circuit solicitor's seat this fall, Strom Thurmond Jr. has already said he will run for it. The 2nd Judicial Circuit encompasses Aiken, Barnwell and Bamberg counties.

The Reverend Brendolyn Jenkins, President of the Aiken NAACP, made strong remarks in a statement yesterday regarding the owner of Bullseye Big Chicken. Bruce Pierson, the owner of the restaurant, added a welcome message to the sign outside of his restaurant to welcome Bill Clinton and Barack Obama during their visits to Aiken. The welcome message said, "Welcome Bill Clinton and Obama," with "Obama" placed on the next line of the sign next to "2PC MIXED 1.99."

Chris Lydle, who owns Chris' Camera Center on Laurens Street, has been elected President of the Digital Imaging Marketing Association. The election was held during the DIMA 2008 Official Business Session in Las Vegas this week.

A few nights ago a 20 year old woman left her job at the Aiken Brewing Company. She says that as she was leaving, she noticed a white, two-door car following her. When she arrived at her home on Ashwood Drive, she says that she noticed the same car parked in her neighbor's driveway.