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City of Aiken
Holiday Shopping in Downtown Aiken
City Council
“Not Subject” to Ethics Laws
Election Night: Teddy Milner is Next Mayor of Aiken, No Party at Democratic Party HQ, and the Future of Aiken Brown Water
The Arboretum, Development Road, Lab Project Meetings, and Project Unicorn.
Citizens Speak: Tom Clements, Vicki Simons, Mary Camlet-Agresta
Waves of Protest
Much More than a Figurehead, Far Less than a King
Aiken City Council Rules of Order
“Order of City Council Agenda”
A Brief Primer on 2023 City of Aiken Elections
The First and Last City Council/AMDC Meeting?
The Local Politics of No-Bid, Pu $ Culture
A Postponement, Repeal, Park Lease, Official Response, and Behind the Closed Door
The Aiken City Attorney: No contract
Aiken City Council Reimplements Citizen Input Rules
The City of Aiken’s Mattie C. Hall Property: Another Curious, Questionable Aiken City Property Deal
The Cleaners: How Aiken City Council Got Taken to the Cleaners by the Wyatt Family
City Parks and Recreation
Fencing After the Fact
Resident Input Requested For Smith-Hazel Park
More Overlooked Absenteeism
Daily Youth Recreation Fees Waived
Aiken’s Disappearing Parks
Aiken City Parks to Remain Open
Divesting of Parks and Privatizing Open Space
“Taking $2 from a child to play a game.”
Elections
The Ins and Outs of Aiken Mayoral Campaign Finances
Right Now, Aiken Needs Teddy Milner
Online Forum for City Council District 1
Cast Your Votes for Aiken Mayor and City Council Seats: What You Need to Know
ELECTION DAY LETTERS OF SUPPORT: TEDDY MILNER FOR MAYOR OF AIKEN
Teddy Milner on the Issues: 12 Questions, 12 Answers
The Campaign Flyer
More Letters of Support: Teddy Milner for Mayor of Aiken
Teddy Milner for Mayor
The People’s Choice: Teddy Milner for Mayor of Aiken
Local Endorsements for Teddy Milner for Mayor of Aiken
What Went Wrong in the Primary (and How to Get it Right in the Runoff Election)
Online Mayoral Forum
Cast Your Vote for Mayor! Here’s What You Need to Know
Letters
Decisions First, Criteria Second?
Miscellaneous
News Release: Aiken Corporation Issued Notice of Violation
Aiken Chronicles Update: August 11, 2023
A Hearing on Business License Taxes
Aiken Corporation Registration Expired
Aiken Chronicles Update: Week of January 23, 2023
Ed Woltz’s Business License Citation
The City of Aiken’s Information Games. Part One.
The City of Aiken’s Labor Day Lawsuit, 2001
Horse Creek Valley
Horse Creek Valley: Aiken County’s Waste Receptacle
Christi Koelker Film: Horse Creek Valley – A Tale Worth the Telling
Labor Day Reflection: 120 Years Ago in Aiken County
Aiken County
Aiken County Government
New Shopping Opportunity and Tiny Lots.
More Than Pennies: The 2024 Confluence of One-Percent Sales Tax Referendums.
Another Verdict of Gross Negligence
Aiken County Council
Obscuring the Present
Rumblestripe
“Gun Violence Survivors Awareness Week”
A Verdict of Gross Negligence
Elections
Cast Your Vote in the County Council District 8 Special Election this October: What You Need to Know
Online Forum: County Council District 8 Candidates
Cast Your Vote for County Council Seat 8! Here’s What You Need to Know
Miscellaneous
The Fireworks Forecast
Parks & Recreation
Introducing Misty Lake State Park
South Carolina
South Carolina Government
Don’t Mess With Carolina Gas, Oil, or Coal
Planning & Development
New Developments
The Realtors Association’s Unreality
Who Determines What Goes in Our Backyard?
Dust Storm in an Incentive Zone
Question: Is Google Coming to Aiken County? Answer: Aiken County Council Can’t Say.
Introducing: Parker’s Kitchen Convenience Store, and “Whiskey Road Apartments.”
Introducing: Powderhouse Crossing and The Parker at Aiken Apartments.
Development Issues
Blight & Neglect
Two Attractive Nuisances, Two Standards
A Shrub Grows In Aiken
The Old Aiken County Hospital: Demolition by Neglect?
Deforestation and Clear-cutting
Four Well Lit Trees
Changes in Urban Forest Conditions at Farmer’s Market
Farmer’s Market-Williamsburg Street Parkway Revitalization Underway
Dust Storm in an Incentive Zone
Demolitions
DEMO 200 Profiteering
Homes Demolished under DEMO 200
City of Aiken Demolition Index
Legal and Money Trails
“The Zoning Has Been In Place Forever”
Who Bought This Property?
Over-development
“Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus“
Stormwater and Flooding
Information Release: The Woodside Plantation “Ravine” on Hollow Creek.
Waves of Protest
Proposed Southside Development Raising Concerns of Flooding
Traffic & Safety
Gas Stations, Vice Stores, and Public Safety
From Fuel Tanker Fires to an Overdue Report
Development First, Public Safety Second?
Water Usage
Shaw Creek: Aiken’s Limited Surface Water Source.
Aiken Takes on Exit 18
Wastewater
Sewage Capacity Makes the News
“This is Wrong for That Property.”
Development First, Public Safety Second?
Aiken Planning Commission Asks Developer for More Pavement,
Self-Stored Regrets
Project Pascalis 2022
Project Pascalis Lawsuit
Read: Full Text of Lawsuit
Read: Answer of Defendant Gary Smith
Moot or Not Moot
Read: Answer of Defendants Osbon, Brohl, Diggs, Girardeau, Gregory, Price & Woltz
Read: Notice of Motion and Motion for Protective Order on Behalf of Defendants Osbon, Brohl, Diggs, Girardeau, Gregory, Price and Woltz
The Alley Series
Project Pascalis Includes the Alley (A Three Part Series): Part One
Project Pascalis Includes The Alley (A Four Part Series): Part Two
Project Pascalis Includes The Alley (A Four-Part Series): Part Three
In the Demolition Zone
Aiken City Council Revises AMDC Membership Ordinance
Aiken City Council Stumbles on AMDC
Pascalis Properties on Aiken City Council’s Closed-Door Agenda?
Acts of Neglect
Demolition by Neglect Back on Agenda
The $9.6 Million AMDC “Land Bank,” One Year Later
“This is the first time I’ve seen it.”
What is the Status on the Pascalis Developers?
Overlooked Opportunities: Looking Back at the May/June 2021 Project Pascalis Request for Proposals
A Tree Disappears in Aiken, and a Work Description Reappears
The Project Pascalis Evictees
The Chairman’s Bias
When No Info is Good Info: A City Not Listening, the Antique Mall, and Newberry Hall
Project Pascalis Demolition Applications Withdrawn (Not Postponed)
Hotel Aiken
The City’s Management of the Hotel Aiken: All “Reasonable Measures” taken to ensure safety, except inspections and alarms.
Barely Insured: The City of Aiken’s Management of the Historic Hotel Aiken
Laws & Rules of Order
The City of Aiken’s Information Games, Part 3
Chamber President Blames State Law for AMDC Failings
AMDC Resignations
The City of Aiken’s Information Games: Part II
State Ethics Law Makes Three Appearances
Cancelled, Stopped, On Hold, Terminated, or Ongoing?
“Portions Rescinded,” But No Cancellation.
The Project Pascalis “RFP”
Demolition is not part of the legally approved downtown redevelopment plan
A Vote Without a Decision: A Transcript
The Aiken City Attorney: No contract
“The AECOM Plan”
The Gary Smith Defense: An Admission, Inconsistencies, and More New Questions Than Answers
The Pascalis Attorneys
The Aiken Planning Commission and Project Pascalis: More Ethical Dilemmas on the Horizon?
No Evidence of Intent: The City of Aiken’s Proposal to Change the Law to Fit the AMDC’s Bylaws.
Project Pascalis Lawsuit Alleges an Abundance of Violations of State and Local Law.
Project Pascalis Transparency Index
Reminder of the Day: The AMDC Cites the Law, Then Sets its Own Rules
Letter from Don Moniak to the City of Aiken Design and Review Board, June 28, 2022
Reminder of the Day: Project Pascals is arguably proceeding in violation of South Carolina municipal redevelopment laws.
Meeting Law Violations
The Project Pascalis “Influencers” Meetings: Yes, the AMDC Violated Open Meeting Laws
Update to: “Did the AMDC Violate Open Meeting Laws?” (1)
Toast of the Town: The January 4th ”Social Business Gathering” at Prime Steakhouse
Citizens Release Project Pascalis Meeting Transcripts
Correspondence To/From the City of Aiken Design and Review Board (DRB)
Did the AMDC Violate Open Meetings Laws?
Money Trails
Downtown Aiken Half Price Sale
Project Pascalis Has Exposed Aiken City Officials as Lousy Real Estate Investors
The Cleaners: How Aiken City Council Got Taken to the Cleaners by the Wyatt Family
Is TIF Still an Option for Project Pascalis?
How Much Project Pascalis Can Aiken Taxpayers Stand?
Reminder of the Day: Project Pascalis and the Wyatt Factor
Municipal Building
Pascalis Properties on Aiken City Council’s Closed-Door Agenda?
Letter to Aiken City Council: Public Meetings and Misinformation from the AMDC
Why is the City of Aiken Toying with 113 Downtown Jobs?
Parking Garage
“It doesn’t look like Aiken”
“Structured Parking Solution” for The Lab
A Project Pascalis Timeline
Timeline: Feb 2019-June 2022
Timeline Updates: June 2022-August 2022
The Changing Views of Project Pascalis
Letters to/from Local Officials
Questions to the AMDC Regarding WTC Investments, Newberry Street, and the Aiken Chamber of Commerce.
A Citizen’s Statement on Project Pascalis
Plutonium Settlement
FOIA’ed Again: A $65,000 Question
Pu Funds Con Game?
Letter to the Joint Bond Review Committee
“Off-Site Infrastructure”
“There’s a Joke in There Somewhere.”
Project Pascalis and the Plutonium Settlement
Pascalis 2023 – SRNL Lab
City of Aiken to Move Forward on Pascalis Properties.
Information Release: Hotel Aiken Stabilization Study and Other Downtown Pascalis Project Buildings Analytical Documents and Reports now Available.
Gathering on the Rooftop Terrace
Editorial: Project Pascalis 2.0 – The Bomb Plant Lab Reveal …Bombs
Letter to Battelle Regarding the Proposed Downtown Savannah River National Laboratory Office Building
In the Demolition Zone
45,000 Square Feet Without a Tenant?
The Future of Warneke Cleaners
The First and Last City Council/AMDC Meeting?
The Local Politics of No-Bid, Pu $ Culture
“Off-Site Infrastructure”
Competing Headlines, Competing Errors
Laws & Bylaws
Spirit of Anti-Corruption Law “Under Siege”
Keeping Up Appearances: City Attorney Gary Smith’s $9,600,000 Project Pascalis Bond Opinion
In the Courts: Pascalis and the Regional Dump
The Pascalis Attorneys Part 2: The Petition.
Rebranding Project Pascalis
The AMDC’s Most Inane Legal Bill?
Money Trails
Project Pascalis Legal Costs
$148,000 for What? And Other Pascalis Properties Management Cost Findings
Three Missing Pages
The Agenda-Setting Aiken Corporation
Project Labscalis* Annual Operating Costs
Project Pascalis Conference Center Costs
Parking Garage
“It doesn’t look like Aiken”
“Structured Parking Solution” for The Lab
Security Issues
A Question on Security
What is the status of the Savannah River National Lab building downtown?
Aiken Chronicles Update: Week of January 23, 2023
Farmers Market – Williamsburg St. Project
Whose Project is it again? …. Bueller?
June 26, 2023 Citizen Statement to City Council
Plan A and Amended Plan A: Seventy Percent Tree Removal Was the Plan.
The Williamsburg 10
Poised for the Next Phase of the Farmers Market-Williamsburg Street Demolition
Four Well Lit Trees
Farmer’s Market-Williamsburg Street Parkway Revitalization Underway
Aiken Corporation
The Aiken Corporation-City of Aiken Relationship: Partners, Not Cousins.
The Aiken Corporation’s Amentum Model: An Afterword
Aiken’s Cousin Problem – The Aiken Corporation Targets Newberry Street for SRNL Spec Project
The Monkey in the Room
$148,000 for What? And Other Pascalis Properties Management Cost Findings
The Amentum Model: “Loosey Goosey”
The Amentum Model: A Corporate Coup
The Aiken Corporation’s Amentum Model: From Corporate Coup to Loosey Goosey
“The Devil is in the Details” – The Aiken Corporation Study Missed the Most Essential Detail of All
Editorial: Thoughts on the Aiken Corporation
Savannah River Site
Humana or Humana?
No Fear of Plutonium Shavings.
Offsite Insights 2023-4: The DOE-DHEC-EPA Radioactive Waste Public Relations Collaboration
“Plutonium is not for Amateurs.” Part 2:
“Plutonium is Not For Amateurs” Pt 1.
Feds Propose ~27 to 34 More Tons of Plutonium for Processing at Savannah River Site
SRS Watch News Release: October 27, 2022: Delay at SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant
How Safe were “Millions of Safe Hours?”
Offsite Insights 2022-2: SRS CAB Might Quit Snubbing Barnwell and Allendale Counties
Offsite Insights (2022:1)
Equine
Horse Sense: Safety
Performance Equine Delivers an Early Christmas Present by Providing Access to Life Saving Colic Surgery in Aiken
Nature News
The Ways of the Waxwings
Snowbirds
Trick or Treat! It’s the Bradford Pear
The Ants at Our Feet
The Mystery of the Painted Buntings
In Celebration of the Sand Pear
Aiken’s Yellow-Billed Cuckoos
Webs of Life
Last Days of Summer, with Mantis
Yonder in the Pawpaw patch
Blue Jay Ways
Fireflies: Nature’s Own Fireworks
The Cats Among Us
Feral Cats
People Watching
Passionflower: A Summertime Soporific
A Few Butterfly Mysteries Solved
Kudzu: The Gift that Keeps on Giving
Plantain: Good for What Ails You
The Return of the Chimney Swifts
It’s Smilax Season — Grab a Fork!
From Howard’s Pond to Misty Lake
The Year of the Wasps
The Eastern Box Turtle
Pokeweed
The Carolina Wren
The Return of the Hummingbirds: A Rite of Spring
It’s in the Stars
Florida Betony: An Enigma Wrapped in a Weed
Pondering Pollen
One Sweet Tree
Yard Weeds
Love Amongst the Branches
From Mighty Oaks
Midwinter Blues
About Those Joro Spiders
No Fear of Plutonium Shavings.
Editorial & Opinion
Letters to the Editor
ELECTION DAY LETTERS OF SUPPORT: TEDDY MILNER FOR MAYOR OF AIKEN
More Letters of Support: Teddy Milner for Mayor of Aiken
The People’s Choice: Teddy Milner for Mayor of Aiken
Proposed Southside Development Raising Concerns of Flooding
Letter to the Editor: An opportunity to take back our beloved city
Local Residents Speak Out On Parker’s Kitchen
Letter to the Editor: Hoping for Better City Leadership After 2023 Elections
Letter to the Editor: Regarding Parker’s Kitchen and Stratford Drive
Downtown Aiken: What are the Priorities?
Letter to the Editor: A Citizen’s Views on Civility and City Council
“Mr. Mayor: Answer Our Letter”
Pascalis or SRS Downtown: Following a Snake Through Brush
Letter to the Editor: The Aiken Land Conservancy: Profit over Protection
Letter: Silver Bluff Joins Whiskey Road
Editorials
Guest Editorial: West-Side Development Has Created Traffic Hazards and Stormwater Issues
“What is Reasonable?”
Editorial: Thoughts on the Aiken Corporation
Citizens Speak: Tom Clements, Vicki Simons, Mary Camlet-Agresta
Trash Can, Please?
A Clinic in Civility – Aiken’s Mayor, Rick Osbon
Failed Project Pascalis – A Mayor’s Legacy
Uncertainties Plague Downtown Lab
APRIL 10TH CITY COUNCIL MEETING RECAP
The Old Aiken County Hospital: Demolition by Neglect?
Editorial: My Letter to Aiken City Council About Aiken’s Parks and Northside
At What Cost Transparency?
An Argument for Funding Local Newspapers
Aiken City Council Meeting
Historical Perspectives
Ninety-Seven Years Ago Today: The Lowman Lynchings
Editorial: When Citizens Were in the Driver’s Seat
Special Series of Five
The Virginia Acres Question: 1951-1962
Aiken’s Early Parks and Recreation: A Historical Perspective
A Northside Story
Labor Day Reflection: 120 Years Ago in Aiken County
The Rumors of Aiken’s Early Demise are Greatly Exaggerated
Humor
Aiken Memes
Monday News
Pigs of Pascalis Gallery #3
Pigs of Pascalis Gallery #2
Pigs of Pascalis Gallery #1
About that Brick Wall….
The Ballad of Rond Point
BREAKING NEWS! Failed Leadership Snuffs Out Public Opinion in the Commission on Blight and Morality’s Memorial Challenge
Councils Defense Handicap 2022
The Pascalis Cup
Working Overtime
Gull Talk
Plutonium Money
Lessons Learned: #1 in a Series
On Cronyism
Archives
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
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