Gresham Barret, currently serving as US Representative for the Third Congressional District, has announced that he will run for SC Governor in the 2010 election.

Shane Massey, who was elected to Tommy Moore's vacated State Senate seat, has announced that he'll be running for the Third Congressional District US House seat. This seat is currently occupied by Gresham Barrett.

A new bill going through the State House could remove the requirement for some counties to have administrative areas within a school district. Aiken is one of these counties.

The school board met on March 3rd to discuss what the bill could mean for Aiken.

The Aiken Board of Realtors met last Tuesday with some South Carolina lawmakers to discuss laws they think will be detrimental to home sales and economic recovery.

Paws for Cancer to benefit The American Cancer Society

The 10th Annual Paws for Cancer Walk will be held at the Odell Weeks Recreation Center on Saturday, May 2nd 2009 starting at 10:00 am. This is a 1 mile Dog Walk to pay tribute and promote awareness to those affected by cancer, including pets. All proceeds benefit The American Cancer Society.

As I passed the Burger King on York Street a little while ago, I noticed that there were two fire engines outside of it with fire crews working, numerous Aiken Public Safety squad cars in the parking lot, employees in the parking lot talking on mobile phones, grey smoke occupying the inside of the building and a smoldering odor emanating from the property. As I proceeded down US 1, I noticed several volunteer fire fighter vehicles from the Center Fire Department going to the scene.

Southern Bank Financial Corporation has announced that all common stock shareholders of record as of February 5th, 2009 are eligible to receive a cash dividend of 13 cents per share payable on February 18th, 2009.

This topic doesn't have anything directly to do with Aiken, but it would affect the lives of many of us who do live in Aiken and the surrounding areas. Please take the time to read what I've written below and the full text of the bill linked:

Well, it didn’t take long for the 111th US Congress to get the ball rolling on gun control: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.45:

A great many things happened in Aiken during the past year. When we entered 2008, we were in the height of the Presidential Primaries with constant visits from candidates and their representatives. As we leave 2008, we are in the midst of a vastly changing economy affecting some Aiken businesses. What happened in the 360 days between then and now? I'll highlight some of the notable changes after the break. If you think I've missed something or just want to add to the discussion, leave a comment!

Books-A-Million has opened it's 14th store in South Carolina, a 14,200 sqft. facility at the Aiken Mall.