All Stories | The Aiken Standard

Aiken police seek man for questioning in reference to ATM fraud

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:36:33 GMT

STAFF REPORTS

Aiken Department of Public Safety investigators are seeking assistance in identifying a man in reference to reported fraudulent ATM transactions that took place in early April.

Anyone with information related to the identity of the subject pictured or his location is asked to contact Crimestoppers at 888-CRIME-SC (888-274-6372). Callers can receive a cash reward between $50-$1000

Miller horses enjoying success

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:32:21 GMT

By BEN BAUGH

Jim and Debbie Miller's Maude S. and Daisy Devine continue to amaze. The latter became a Grade 1 winner when she won the 1 1/16-mile $300,000 Jenny Wiley Stakes on the turf at Keeneland on April 14. However, it's the Miller's other horse that's been making some noise recently. A bay daughter of Jump Start has consecutive allowance victories.

Maude S. is a 4-year-old filly conditioned by Jimmy DiVito, and she's demonstrated her versatility by winning in sprints and around two turns and on dirt and over the Polytrack Elite surface, capturing a 1 1/16-mile race at Hawthorne on April 18 and a 7-furlong contest at Arlington Park on May 23, winning impressively Wednesday by 6-lengths. Maude S. and Daisy Devine were broken and trained in Aiken by Todd Turner at Chime Bell Farm, and were sent to Legacy Stable's Ron Stevens and Brad Stauffer for additional training at the Aiken Training Track.

"I'm kind of surprised," said Jim Miller, in a phone interview Thursday evening. "I thought she might have a chance (in Wednesday's race) after looking at the past performances. Inez Karlsson had been riding her, but Jeffrey Sanchez (Maude S.'s jockey) did a great job. Maude was slow out of the gate and slow to get going, but he put her on the rail and made constant progress until she got the lead."

Maude S. has 2 wins and 2 seconds from 4 starts in 2012, and has 4 wins, 3 seconds and 5 thirds lifetime from 16 starts, for career earnings of $132,323.

Daisy Devine will be getting some time off after her 5th place finish in the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile Stakes May 5th at Churchill Downs. The 4-year-old daughter of Grade 2 winner Kafwain had 4 consecutive stakes wins before her effort in the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile Stakes.

"She's doing well," said Miller. "We're going to give her a breather. She'll take a couple of months off and return in the fall. Andrew McKeever (Daisy Devine's trainer) thought it was time to give her some time off."

Daisy Devine has lifetime earnings of $764,916.

Ben Baugh covers the equestrian beat for the Aiken Standard. Among the awards Baugh has won include the 2003 Raleigh Burroughs Award as the turf writer making the most impact on the Florida Thoroughbred Industry.

Priest apologizes for unholy language on Facebook

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:47:13 GMT

ROBERT BARR

LONDON -- A British priest has apologized for some unholy language on his Facebook page, his bishop says.

Canon Paul Shackerley, Vicar of the Minster Church of St. George in Doncaster in northern England, raised eyebrows by using the f--- word and remarking that "alas, I have religion tomorrow" in some Saturday evening postings.

Peter Burrows, the bishop of Doncaster, met with Shackerley on Friday and later said the priest regretted the inappropriate language and had removed it.

"Whilst meant in a jocular sense, he recognizes that some of the language was unfitting. He has apologized unreservedly," Burrows said in a statement posted on the diocesan website. "I have received Paul's letter of apology and have been assured that this will not happen again."

Stories of priestly waywardness are a favorite subject of British newspapers, and the comments drew attention far and wide. With facial piercings and one piercing in his tongue, Shackerley cuts an unconventional figure.

Church officials were alerted to his Facebook comments by an anonymous letter.

In the first of his Saturday night musings, Shackerley said: "I think I will put my feet up. I've done f--- all today other than jazz lesson and visit a friend. I hear the fizz of tonic in my gin beckoning.

"Alas, I have religion tomorrow. At least I'm not preaching this week."

And oh dear! "Sin is such fun," he said.

It was perhaps less alarming than Shackerley's comment about a photo of himself with a snowman.

"Forgive my sin of frivolity. Sin is such fun! But I haven't been having an inappropriate relationship with Snowy, who can longer be called a 'snowman' in the name of political correctness," Shackerley wrote.

The chatty priest also ruminated last month about the dangers of sites such as Facebook.

"I have known employees (to) receive disciplinary and dismissal notices for inappropriate postings," he wrote.

New Google data show Microsoft's piracy problems

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:47:10 GMT

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google's Internet search engine receives more complaints about websites believed to be infringing on Microsoft's copyrights than it does about material produced by entertainment companies pushing for tougher online piracy laws.

A snapshot of Microsoft's apparently chronic copyright headaches emerged in new data that Google released Thursday to provide a better understanding of the intellectual property abuses on the Internet.

Google has a good vantage point on the issue because it operates the Internet's dominant search engine with the largest index of websites. About 97 percent of the copyright removal requests sent to Google are found to be valid by the company, prompting the offending links to be blocked from its influential search results.

The new report includes a breakdown of all requests Google has received since July 2011 to remove copyright-infringing content from its search index. Google plans to update the information daily at http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright .

Google Inc. has logged more than 2.5 million requests in the past 11 months to remove links believed to be violating Microsoft's copyrights. That ranked well above second-place NBC Universal, the operator of several television networks and a movie studio, whose copyrighted content was cited in nearly 1 million removal requests during the same period.

The data doesn't identify the specifics of the reported infringements, but Microsoft Corp. confirmed virtually all of its complaints are about websites offering bogus versions of its Windows operating system and other software.

"Each month, Microsoft requests the removal of links to web pages that infringe Microsoft's copyrights so that customers are not deceived into purchasing or downloading counterfeit software," company spokesman Lou Gellos wrote in an email.

Copyright-protected content owned by major music labels also spurred a high volume of removal requests.

The Recording Industry Association of America, which has railed against digital piracy since the rise and fall of Napster's music-sharing service more than a decade ago, was identified as the copyright owner in more than 416,000 requests. Other copyright owners on Google's Top 10 list of removal requests include Universal Music and Sony Music and an adult entertainment site, BangBros.com.

Google decided to share its insights on copyright abuse amid a rising outcry for a crackdown against online piracy that media companies have claimed is collectively costing them billions of dollars each year. The backlash inspired a piece of get-tougher legislation dubbed the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, that had the backing of most major music and move studios. The proposal caused dismay among major Internet companies who feared the law would stifle free speech and innovation. The bill was abandoned four months ago after fierce high-tech opposition that included a one-day blackout of popular websites such as Wikipedia and an online petition drive spearheaded by Google.

Microsoft also opposed SOPA, although it wasn't as strident in its criticism as other major technology companies. The Business Software Alliance, a group that includes Microsoft, initially supported SOPA before reversing its position as the backlash to the proposal intensified.

Online infringements in the U.S. are currently covered by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which requires the content owner to police sites for violations and then send requests to take down the material. Websites are required to respond promptly.

Google says it now responds to requests within 11 hours, despite a rising volume of complaints. It sometimes receives more than 250,000 removal requests in a week, exceeding the total number sent to the company during the entire year of 2009. In the past month alone, Google received 1.2 million removal requests on behalf of 1,000 copyright owners who believe their content was being infringed upon at nearly 23,000 different websites, according to a blog post Thursday by Fred von Lohmann, the company's senior copyright lawyer.

In an interview Thursday, von Lohmann attributed the increased number of complaints to more sophisticated tracking technology that has enabled copyright owners to pinpoint violations more quickly than in the past.

The websites most frequently targeted in the copyright complaints sent to Google were filestube.com (nearly 390,000 links requested for removal), torrentz.eu (more than 147,000 links) and 4shared.com (more than 132,000 links).

Google's new report doesn't include copyright removal requests sent to its popular video site, YouTube, or its Blogger service. But Google's search engine receives the most copyright complaints, accounting for about 60 percent of the 5.4 million removal requests the company processed last year, von Lohmann said.

Everest climber skips summit, rescues friend

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:14:04 GMT

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA

ISTANBUL -- An Israeli who rescued a distressed climber on Mount Everest instead of pushing onward to the summit said Friday that the man he helped, an American of Turkish origin, is like a brother to him.

Nadav Ben-Yehuda, who was climbing with a Sherpa guide, came across Aydin Irmak near the summit last weekend. In that chaotic period, four climbers died on their way down from the summit amid a traffic jam of more than 200 people who were rushing to reach the world's highest peak as the weather deteriorated.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Ben-Yehuda, 24, appeared proud that Irmak, 46, had made it to the summit, noting that he is one of a small number of "Turkish" climbers to reach the top. Irmak left Turkey for New York more than two decades ago, but remains proud of his Turkish heritage. The friendship stands in contrast to the political tension between Turkey and Israel, which were once firm allies.

"Aydin, wake up! Wake up!" Ben-Yehuda recalled saying when he found his friend in the darkness. The American, he said, had been returning from the summit but collapsed in the extreme conditions, without an oxygen supply, a flashlight and a rucksack. Ben-Yehuda, who developed a friendship with Irmak before the climb, had delayed his own ascent by a day in hopes of avoiding the bottleneck of climbers heading for the top.

There have been periodic tales of people bypassing stricken climbers as they seek to fulfill a lifelong dream and reach the summit of Everest, but Ben-Yehuda said his decision to abandon his goal of reaching the top and help Irmak was "automatic," even though it took him several minutes to recognize his pale, gaunt friend.

"I just told myself, 'This is crazy.' It just blew my mind," Ben-Yehuda said. "I didn't realize he was up there the whole time. Everybody thought he had already descended."

The Israeli carried Irmak for hours to a camp at lower elevation. Both suffered frostbite and some of their fingers were at risk of amputation. Ben-Yehuda lost 20 kilograms (44 pounds) in his time on the mountain, and Irmak lost 12 kilograms (26 pounds), said Hanan Goder, Israel's ambassador in Nepal. Goder had dinner with the pair after their ordeal.

"They really have to recover mentally and physically," Goder said. "They call each other, 'my brother.' After the event that they had together, their souls are really linked together now."

The ambassador said the rescue was a "humanitarian" tale that highlighted the friendship between Israelis and Turks at a personal level, despite the deteriorating relationship between their governments. One of the key events in that downward, diplomatic spiral was an Israeli raid in 2010 on a Turkish aid ship that was trying to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza, which resulted in the deaths of eight Turkish activists and a Turkish-American.

The Jerusalem Post, which reported that Ben-Yehuda would have been the youngest Israeli to reach Everest's summit, spoke to Irmak by telephone during the dinner that Goder hosted.

"I don't know what the hell is going on between the two countries," the newspaper quoted Irmak as saying. "I don't care about that. I talked to his (Ben-Yehuda's) family today and I told them you have another family in Turkey and America."

Ben-Yehuda, who spoke to the AP just before leaving Nepal for urgent medical treatment in Israel, said he could not say with certainty how he would have reacted if he had come across a stricken climber he did not know. Oxygen is in such short supply and the conditions are so harsh, he said, that people on the mountain develop a kind of tunnel vision.

"You just think about breathing, about walking, about climbing," he said. According to Ben-Yehuda, the fundamental questions going through the mind of a climber heading for the peak are: "Are you going to make it?" and "When is the right time to turn back?"

And once a climber begins the descent, the all-embracing question becomes: "How fast can I go down?"

Ben-Yehuda said his military training in Israel helped shape his reflexive decision to rescue Irmak. "You never leave a friend in the field," he said.

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Climber, 73, finally felt old at summit of Everest

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:11:00 GMT

KATMANDU, Nepal -- The oldest woman to climb Mount Everest said Friday she finally felt she had gotten old when she scaled the world's highest peak last weekend.

Tamae Watanabe, 73, beat her own age record for an Everest climb by a woman set 10 years ago. She also recovered from an accident in 2005 when she broke her back and feared she could never climb again.

"It was much more difficult for me this time. I felt I was weaker and had less power. This time it was certainly different, I felt that I had gotten old," Watanabe told reporters Friday on return to the Nepalese capital Katmandu from the mountain.

She reached the summit from the Tibetan side May 19, at the age of 73 years and 180 days.

That same day, more than 200 climbers set out for the summit on the busier southern route in Nepal. Four died, apparently from altitude sickness and exhaustion, on one of the deadliest days on the mountain.

Watanabe said what surprised her, compared to her earlier climb, was the effects of warmer temperature on the mountain.

"There was a glacial lake formed near the base camp from the melting ice which our cooks could fetch water from," she said adding she is now encouraged to do campaign against global warming.

She now wants to help younger female climbers back in Japan to take up climbing high mountains.

The oldest Everest climber is 76-year-old Min Bahadur Sherchan of Nepal, who ascended in 2008.

Sandusky charity to shut down, transfer programs

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:58:52 GMT

By MATT MOORE and MICHAEL RUBINKAM

PHILADELPHIA -- The charity for troubled youths started by Jerry Sandusky more than three decades ago -- and through which the retired Penn State assistant football coach met the boys he is charged with sexually abusing -- said Friday it is seeking court approval to shut down and transfer its programs to a Texas-based youth ministry that serves abused and neglected children.

The Second Mile said it has been financially crippled by the child-sex abuse scandal involving its founder and onetime public face and concluded after a six-month internal review that it had no other option but to close.

The State College-based charity began the legal process of dissolving itself Friday, submitting a plan to Centre County Court that would transfer its programs and millions of dollars in assets to Arrow Child & Family Ministries Inc., a $36 million charity that operates in Texas, Pennsylvania, Maryland, California and Honduras.

"While we are sad that The Second Mile will not continue running programs, we are heartened that the important work of helping children -- and their families -- reach their full potential will go on," the charity's interim president and chief executive, David Woodle, said in a statement.

The announcement was widely expected after Sandusky's November arrest plunged The Second Mile into crisis. Donations dried up, volunteers fled and organizations that once referred children to The Second Mile said they no longer would.

Prosecutors allege that Sandusky found his victims through the charity he started in 1977 and committed many of his offenses inside Penn State football buildings. He has pleaded innocent to more than 50 counts of sexual abuse involving 10 alleged victims and awaits a June trial.

The Second Mile said in its petition Friday that "it became immediately apparent that the allegation against Sandusky, especially as they focused on child sexual abuse, jeopardized the very existence" of the nonprofit.

The Second Mile considered attempting to restructure itself as a smaller organization -- or discontinuing its programs entirely -- but settled on a third option that Woodle said was the "most attractive in that the programs will be continuing and the kids who need those services" will continue to get them.

One popular program, Summer Challenge Camp, teaches life skills, conflict resolution and goal-setting to 300 to 400 troubled children each year. Arrow plans to maintain the camp, along with mentoring programs, an institute to promote leadership skills and support for foster families.

"We got many, many emails that said, 'You've got to keep those programs,"' Woodle told The Associated Press.

From its beginnings as a home for foster children, The Second Mile grew to become one of the largest providers of youth social services in Pennsylvania. The nonprofit thrived because of Sandusky's prominence as a defensive coach at Penn State, its close ties to university donors and leaders, and its use of Penn State's athletic fields for its camps serving at-risk children. The late coach Joe Paterno often served as master of ceremonies at The Second Mile fundraisers.

But its longtime CEO, Jack Raykovitz, came under fire for failing to inform the charity's board about 2001 and 2008 abuse allegations against the retired coach. Infuriated board members told the AP in December that had they been kept in the loop, they could have taken steps to better protect children a decade ago.

With The Second Mile's name irreversibly tarnished by the Sandusky scandal, donors informed the charity that while they still supported the programs, they would no longer contribute money.

"We got very little" donor support, "and it trailed off over time," Woodle told AP. "We're really down to hardly any. Our recommendation now to people is if you want to support these programs, support Arrow."

Arrow, whose national headquarters are in Spring, Texas, a Houston suburb, was founded in 1992 by Mark Tennant, who grew up in Washington, Pa., and was himself severely abused as a child. The charity expanded into Pennsylvania in 2004 and now serves 300 children in seven counties from its base in Altoona. If a judge approves The Second Mile's petition, Arrow plans to open additional offices in State College and in the Harrisburg and Philadelphia areas.

"I grew up not far from Penn State and the hurt created by these shocking circumstances affected me personally," Tennant, who earned a divinity degree from Oral Roberts University, said in a statement Friday. "I felt the need to turn my heart home and be a part of the healing process."

Court approval is expected to take several months. The Second Mile said it would remain a legal entity even after it dissolves and continue to "cooperate fully with any investigations."

Tennant said in an interview Friday that since Arrow is merely taking over some of The Second Mile's programs -- not merging with or acquiring the charity -- his organization has been assured it will be shielded from any potential liability from civil lawsuits brought by Sandusky's accusers.

Asked why he wanted to get involved, Tennant said he viewed it as an opportunity to repay the kindness that his Pennsylvania foster family had shown him many years ago.

"It's about a heart decision for me. Our organization had been operating kind of quietly in Pennsylvania, but we exist in Pennsylvania solely because of the intervention that was brought to my life as a child, a victim of abuse and neglect. It was an opportunity to give back to the community that had given so much to me," he said. "It was an opportunity to run toward the story, not away from it."

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Rubinkam reported from Allentown, Pa.

Sugar Association upset over corn syrup claims

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:55:46 GMT

NEW YORK -- What defines sugar? It's getting to be a stickier question.

The Sugar Association is accusing the makers of high fructose corn syrup of trying to candy-coat their image by calling their product a "sugar." The Corn Refiners Association is firing back by calling the accusations another attempt to censor its efforts to explain to the public that high fructose corn syrup is, well, a form of sugar.

The latest twist in the spat came after a recent medical study prompted headlines such as "Sugar can make you dumb." The Sugar Association issued a release this week noting the substance used in the study was actually fructose, not its sugar. The group blamed a "multimillion-dollar advertising campaign" by the Corn Refiners Association for generating the confusion.

The two sides have been at odds for some time now.

Given the negative image of high fructose corn syrup in recent years, the Corn Refiners Association in 2010 submitted an application to the federal government to have high fructose corn syrup renamed "corn sugar" on nutrition labels. That decision is still pending.

The group has also been running a marketing campaign to explain that its syrup is actually a form of sugar and has the same nutritional value as the white, granular table sugar consumers are familiar with.

That prompted a lawsuit from the Sugar Association last year claiming the campaign was misleading.

Audrae Erickson, president of Corn Refiners Association, says the Sugar Association's press release this week "seems to be an effort to silence the campaign" to educate consumers.

High fructose corn syrup came into the U.S. market in the late 1970s and 1980s. The product is used widely in cereals, sodas and other processed food and drinks because it's cheaper and mixes easily into recipes. Despite the name, it is about half fructose and half glucose.

The American Medical Association has said there's not enough evidence to restrict the use of high fructose corn syrup, although it wants more research. The Center for Science in the Public Interest has said that there was no evidence that the sweetener is any worse for the body than sugar -- and that American eat too much of both of them.

Event marks anniversary of French colony in SC

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:55:42 GMT

PARRIS ISLAND -- A ceremony on Parris Island marks the 450th anniversary of the founding of a French colony on the South Carolina coast.

Charlesfort was established in 1562 on Parris Island, which is now the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. Ceremonies on Friday include officials from both the United States and France.

Charlesfort lasted less than two years and suffered a grisly end.

Jean Ribaut landed with 159 settlers, but within a few months returned to Europe to get more men and supplies.

He was detained in Europe and those left behind thought they had been abandoned. So they built a ship to return home. They made it, but on the way ran out of food and ate one of their own party to survive.

'Fifty Shades' books now have fanfic of their own

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:52:39 GMT

By LEANNE ITALIE

NEW YORK -- Not all that long ago E L James was Snowqueens Icedragon, cranking out her sexed-up "Twilight" fan fiction online.

Well, faster than you can shriek your safe word, her kinky "Fifty Shades of Grey" trilogy has fanfic of its very own in the same place where she first serialized her story under a different title.

"I'm immensely flattered, and it's humbling to know my work is inspiring others to write," James said in a statement less than three months after "Fifty Shades" was published by Vintage Books and climbed to the top of best-seller lists.

The writings range from parody to otherworldy to crossovers into other book worlds like "Harry Potter." Some is barely discernible in style from James's three -- often the point in fanfic -- advancing time or pushing it back with new imaginings of her story and characters.

Fan fiction for "Twilight" remains among the most popular at FanFiction.net, James's former home, with nearly 200,000 contributions there, behind only Potter for books. The number for James's three is growing, but still well under 50.

The irony of all of that hasn't been lost on some of the writers and reviewers on FanFiction.net, the largest gathering place for largely anonymous fanfic writers. Asked one on the site: "How absurd is it to write fanfics OF fanfics?"

No more or less absurd than the concept of fan fiction, which stretches back at least to the early 1900s and the stories of Sherlock Holmes, said Anne Jamison, an English professor at the University of Utah who taught a unit on the "Twilight" fandom.

"There was fan fiction before you called it fan fiction," she said, "and before there was copyright it was called writing."

In more recent years but before the rise of the Internet, the early "Star Trek" series helped boost the popularity of fanfic. It exists today online for numerous TV shows, movies, comic books, plays and games, done in many genres and much of it with big fat disclaimers declaring it's all just for fun.

When James was still back in "Twilight" fandom toiling on her "Master of the Universe," beginning in mid-2009, she received anywhere from nearly 40,000 to nearly 60,000 comments on FanFiction.net. That's an immense number then and now, propelling her stardom.

The London mother and TV producer eventually moved the story to its own website, reworked it with non-"Twilight" names and signed on with a small Australian company known for plucking and publishing fan fiction for e-book and print-on-demand hard copy.

Vintage, a literary imprint of Random House, snatched up the rights after the buzz began building, paying seven figures for the bondage erotica and leading James to a movie deal with Universal Pictures and Focus Features.

Sales for the trilogy are at 10 million and counting across formats, Vintage said Tuesday.

Jamison dived into the "Twilight" fandom with her students in the summer of 2010 at a time of derision for James in the community, largely over her crossing from the "just for fun" part to the cashing in part.

While it's not unprecedented for writers to publish fanfic, "There is this whole network predicated on not having any sales," Jamison said. "It was a huge rift in the fandom."

To many fanfic writers, the point is to honor the original work, drawing on the existing characters and stories. It's unclear whether telling the "Fifty Shades" story from the point of view of a tampon, as one fic does, is tribute or a not-so-subtle message for James.

Other "Fifty Shades" undertakings are written by fans who already miss the stories or just wanted to provide a laugh. Lucia Paul, writing as Nancy O'Toole, falls into the latter category with her "Fifty Shades of Flannel."

The freelance writer in Minneapolis, a 49-year-old mom of two, has Anastasia Steele's mother as protagonist in a Lanz nightgown as she galavants with the young, rich and hunky Christian Grey, cutting her sleepwear into sexy outfits for his pleasure.

"This beguiling satyr of a man! He knows the ways of Lanz: the ballooning illusion of comfort that hides a roiling sea of passion. So few understand. So few will ever know."

Paul isn't much of a "Twilight" fan and read only the first of James's books. "Then I saw her on the 'Today' show and I liked her, but I still thought, 'Gosh, I've got to make fun of this.' I love writing humorous pieces."

The "Fifty Shades" books chronicle the hyperactive sex life and love story of the damaged Grey and the innocent Steele from her perspective, soon after they meet when she interviews him for her college newspaper.

"I'm learning how to write naughty. It's not so easy. You have to break down your own shield. You have to open yourself up to write naughty," said 60-something aspiring fiction writer Nancy Hartmann in Gillette, N.J. Her "50 plus 15" story has Grey seducing one of his teen daughter's teachers.

Some of the people reading and creating "Fifty Shades" fanfic haven't read the books, or have barely read the first one but appreciate the stories as an extension of their true love, the four-book "Twilight" series by Stephenie Meyer.

The rapid publication of all three "Fifty Shades" books has other fans in withdrawal and seeking more -- even if it's not the real deal.

Sara Eberhart, a 22-year-old college student in Athens, Ga., considers herself a "Fifty Shades" fan, with qualifications, and is also following a few of the stories on FanFiction.net.

"James's writing style is weak and pedestrian and there can be much improvement and I think that's what all of the fanfic writers are sensing and consequently writing their own version of," said Eberhart, who hopes to be a published author someday.

"But when I do start trying," she added, "it won't be my fanfic that I would be sending out to publishers."

Publicist: Actress Keira Knightley engaged

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:51:32 GMT

LONDON -- The publicist for "Pirates of the Caribbean" star Keira Knightley says the actress is engaged to be married.

Publicist Sara Keene Friday confirmed the engagement. She says she does not have further details about the wedding plans.

The Oscar-nominated 27-year-old actress who first won acclaim for her role in "Bend It Like Beckham" is to marry musician James Righton.

He is a keyboardist with the Klaxons band.

The couple started dating early last year.

Born this way? Lady Gaga meets Thai 'lady boys'

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:51:29 GMT

By JOCELYN GECKER

BANGKOK -- Lady Gaga has met Thailand's premier "lady boys" at a Bangkok drag show featuring busty dancers who were not born that way.

Diving in to the city's nightlife, the pop diva and an entourage from her "Born This Way Ball" took in a show at the well-known Calypso Cabaret, where she cheered on a transvestite review of Broadway show tunes.

"A million people have to pay to see a Gaga concert, but Gaga paid to see our show!" cabaret manager Nipon Boonmasuwan told Friday's Thairath newspaper. When the performance ended, she took the stage to shake hands with the dancers and handed out six tickets to her Friday night show.

Born This Way, the title track of Lady Gaga's latest album, has become a gay anthem. It includes the line, "Don't be a drag, just be a queen." Transvestites and transsexuals are known in Thailand as lady boys.

Promoters confirmed Lady Gaga visited the cabaret Wednesday night, just hours after her arrival in Bangkok.

Lady Gaga's Asian tour has generated publicity and often controversy at nearly every stop.

In Seoul, fans younger than 18 were banned from Lady Gaga's concerts after Christian groups complained that her lyrics and costumes were too sexually provocative.

It remains unclear if her June 3 show in Jakarta will take place after Muslim hard-liners threatened violence. Indonesian police initially denied a permit but later hinted the show could go on if she tones it down.

Not a chance, said her manager Troy Carter, who told the Straits Times in Singapore on Friday that Lady Gaga "plays the show as it is" and has no plan to self-censor.

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Associated Press writers Thanyarat Doksone in Bangkok and Alex Kennedy in Singapore contributed to this report.

New Spoleto season opening in Charleston

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:42:24 GMT

By BRUCE SMITH

CHARLESTON -- Another season of the Spoleto Festival USA is ready to open in Charleston.

Opening ceremonies are scheduled to begin at noon Friday. Festivities for the first day include speeches, ringing church bells, brass fanfare and confetti.

During the 17-day performing arts festival, there will be more than 140 performances on stages throughout Charleston.

This year, the internationally known festival stages the opera "Kepler" by American composer Philip Glass. It's the American premiere of the opera and commemorates both Glass' 75th birthday and his long relationship with Spoleto.

Spoleto was brought to Charleston back in 1977 by the late composer Gian Carlo Menotti. It was established as a companion to his Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy.

Man who takes SC camera caught on camera

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:42:20 GMT

HILTON HEAD ISLAND -- A man who decided to steal a security camera along the South Carolina coast didn't realize he was being recorded by another security camera.

The Island Packet of Hilton Head reported (http://bit.ly/KPdvNps) the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office has released a recording of a man taking a camera from a restroom area at a community park. The man was caught in the act by a second camera.

The recording shows a man removing the camera and leaving in a Chevy Avalanche with what appears to be a Georgia license plate.

Deputies are looking for the suspect.

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Information from: The Island Packet, http://www.islandpacket.com

OTHER VIEWS: Student debt in need of curbing

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:33:16 GMT

NEWSDAY

Newsday on college graduates and the financial burden of student loans.

May 18

It's graduation season, and newly minted college alumni are heading out into a tough economy with an unprecedented burden of debt.

America can't keep graduating students who owe so much. Student indebtedness has reached $1 trillion, and a recent Federal Reserve report found that, excluding borrowers with deferrals, 27 percent had past-due balances. Aside from the danger of mass default, heavy debt makes it harder for students to pursue further education, start a business or buy a house.

The Obama administration has already let 1.6 million borrowers cap their student loan payments at 10 percent of income, with loan forgiveness after 20 years. Millions of additional borrowers will probably need help down the road.

But in this graduation season, it's worth focusing on how to protect future grads from a future blighted by debt. Although there are few quick fixes, the broad outlines of a remedy are clear.

First, colleges have to become more efficient so students needn't borrow so much in the first place. This will mean greater use of technology to reach more students and teach them better at lower cost. Internet-based courses, for instance, can generate tons of data showing whether students are learning and what material is most troublesome.

Students can push colleges to get more efficient by making shrewder choices. Students are also going to have to get smarter about what they choose to study and how much effort they invest. More than anything, our economy needs more graduates in science, technology, engineering and math -- the "STEM" fields. Granted these are hard subjects, and they aren't the best fit for some students. But college graduates often regret borrowing thousands to get a degree that has little marketplace value. Better information on earnings prospects and the monthly cost of student loans might help; if students are going to major in semiotics -- or coast through school taking gut courses -- they should at least do so with their eyes open.

Finally, there's the role of government. Public funding for higher education has plunged all over the country, leading colleges to shift more of the burden onto students, who end up borrowing more.

Federal student loans, moreover, are aimed at increasing access to higher education, but they've had the effect of subsidizing soaring college costs -- encouraging yet more borrowing. In January, President Obama offered some useful proposals linking funding to campus cost control, but predictably, they went nowhere in Congress.

Reversing the tide of student borrowing will require colleges, students and lawmakers to change. It's time all parties graduated from the bad habits that got us into this mess.

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http://www.newsday.com

Dutton and Mystery Whisper win Jersey Fresh qualify for Olympics

Fri, 25 May 2012 02:05:14 GMT

By BEN BAUGH

Aiken connections were prominent in Allentown, N.J. as eventer Phillip Dutton and James and Arden Wildasin's Mystery Whisper would place first at the Jersey Fresh CCI*** (the weekend of May 11-13), and have qualified for the 2012 London Summer Olympics. The horse/rider combination will be among the 10 qualifiers heading to the U.K., and for those combinations there will be a mandatory outing at the Barbury Castle CIC*** June 28-July 1, and from those combinations 5 will be selected for the Olympic team.

There are a number of challenges associated with qualifying for the Olympic team, including the short time frame (two years) the riders have to prepare and train their horses for the international competition.

"I had only one event to try to qualify him (Mystery Whisper)," said Dutton, in a phone interview Wednesday morning, who had an agreement with the Wildasins that he would try to get the 12-year-old Warmblood gelding to the Olympics. The Wildasins bought Mystery Whisper for their daughter Arden to ride. "It's a huge weight off my shoulders. The Wildasins are great people for the sport (of eventing), and for the Aiken community. They've invested in land. They have great taste in horses and this is a fantastic horse."

The horse/rider combination have enjoyed a great deal of success in 2012, placing first at the Adequan United States Eventing Association Gold Cup CIC*** at the Red Hills Horse Trials in March and The Fork CIC*** (the combination's 4th event together) April 6-8.

The stadium jumping phase at Jersey Fresh was somewhat of a challenge as none of the horse/rider combinations went double clear with Dutton and Mystery Whisper having an unlucky rail.

"The footing wasn't conducive to good jumping," said Dutton. "The course itself was fair enough."

Mystery Whisper demonstrated that he was a fresh horse at Jersey Fresh based on the way he galloped on the cross country course.

"Fitness isn't an issue," said Dutton. "We're going to take it a week at a time. We have trained and prepared well."

Dutton will be heading to the Volvo Bromont CCI*** in Canada in early June.

The sport of eventing is a galloping sport, it involves speed, and there's an attrition rate, where injuries do occur, said Dutton.

Dutton placed 10th at Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event**** last month while riding Aiken resident Bruce Duchossois' 8-year-old Irish Sporthorse gelding Mighty Nice.

"He's training well," said Dutton. "He's on the younger side, and this was the first time at this level. He's handling himself really well."

Ben Baugh covers the equestrian beat for the Aiken Standard. Among the awards Baugh has won include the 2003 Raleigh Burroughs Award as the turf writer making the most impact on the Florida Thoroughbred Industry.

Haley submits ethics probe packet

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:31:59 GMT

By SEANNA ADCOX

COLUMBIA -- South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley accused House Speaker Bobby Harrell on Thursday of inappropriately inserting himself into a House panel's probe into an ethics complaint against her. Harrell says he's doing no such thing.

Harrell spokesman Greg Foster said the speaker only asked the House Ethics Committee to fully and thoroughly investigate the complaint brought by Republican activist John Rainey.

Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey said any involvement is totally inappropriate.

The back-and-forth reinforces the strained relationship between the governor and House leader - both Republicans. The renewed contention comes as the Ethics Committee considers whether to reopen a complaint alleging Haley violated ethics law by illegally lobbying for a hospital and engineering firm while she was a House member representing Lexington County.

She vehemently denies those allegations. A packet her office provided Thursday to back up her case included affidavits from officials for her previous employers saying she didn't lobby for them.

"Under no reading of the law has Governor Haley done anything improper," Haley's attorney, Butch Bowers wrote in the packet's cover letter.

Meanwhile, Rainey also provided the committee a packet of documents in which he reasserts his allegations.

The committee this month, on a party-line 5-1 vote, dismissed all charges, moments after voting unanimously there was probable cause to investigate. That brought an appeal by Rainey, former chairman of the state Board of Economic Advisors, that the case go to the full House, as well as a resolution from Rep. James Smith, D-Columbia, asking the committee to reconsider its decision.

Last Friday, committee member Rep. Phillip Lowe said the reason the committee voted as it did with the back-to-back votes was to open up the case and let the public know about it. Under a new House rule adopted a day before the dismissal, a probable cause finding makes a complaint public.

The committee took up Smith's resolution last Friday. While it denied assertions the votes made the process appear a sham, it voted unanimously to seek employment documents from Haley and Lexington Medical Center to back up her defense. Members insisted the vote did not reopen the case, but would rather help them decide their next move. They specifically said they were not seeking more information from her other previous employer, Wilbur Smith Associates.

But on Monday, committee staff called Haley's office to request employment documentation from the engineering firm too. Committee members didn't know about it until asked by an Associated Press reporter Wednesday afternoon. Committee Chairman Roland Smith said later a staff attorney decided on his own to make the follow-up request.

Harrell, R-Charleston, agreed with the request, as helping resolve to resolve the issues in the complaint, but did not ask for it, Foster said.

Haley's office was skeptical. Godfrey said no one outside of the six-member panel should "force himself into this process and order the committee to do anything. This is supposed to be a process where law and rules - not politics - determine the outcome."

Foster shot back that Harrell didn't order or direct anything.

"It is disappointing to hear that the governor's office has taken a position that an investigation into whether the governor violated the law should neither be full nor thorough," he said.

When the committee will next meet is unknown. Chairman Roland Smith pledged to give a 24-hour notice.

The packet Haley's office provided included pay stubs and tax information. She contends she worked for the hospital's charitable foundation, not the hospital itself. Hospital officials have always said that while she worked for the foundation, she was paid by the hospital.

Bowers wrote that even if she did work for the hospital, it would have been "impossible as a matter of law" for Haley to lobby for the hospital as it sought permission for an open heart center. In her defense, Haley has said that her work for the heart center was done on behalf of her constituents, not an employer. In the added defense Thursday, Bowers writes state law defines that lobbying state agencies such as the Department of Health and Environmental Control is limited to promulgation of regulations.

"Therefore, it was legally impossible for anyone to have 'lobbied' DHEC with respect to the hospital's" application, he wrote.

While Wilbur Smith had state contracts, Haley's consulting work for the firm was limited to bringing in private-sector and county business. "She was not retained to do state work," wrote Robert Ferrell, a vice-president with CDM Smith, the successor firm to Wilbur Smith.

As for Rainey's appeal, Harrell has asked staff attorneys to look into it. No decision has been made on the unprecedented move.

Haley's attorney contends Rainey lacks standing to appeal, noting the new House rule specifically says only a respondent can appeal a committee ruling, meaning only Haley could do so. The new rule differs from state law, which says any individual can appeal an ethics ruling. House rules generally trump state law.

S.C. Senate OKs $6.6B budget for 2012-2013

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:31:55 GMT

By SEANNA ADCOX

COLUMBIA -- The South Carolina Senate approved a $6.6 billion spending plan Thursday that gives public workers a noticeable pay raise, distributes more money to public schools and hires more than 100 law enforcement officers.

The Senate gave the budget final approval on a 27-10 vote, sending its plan back to the House. The Senate then by a 27-9 vote approved a separate measure distributing $105 million from this year's rainy-day fund.

The Senate version provides for 2 percent raises to teachers, 5 percent for state law enforcement, and 3 percent to other state employees, while also fully covering increases in employees' health insurance premiums. State workers haven't gotten a raise in four years.

The proposal would add more than 80 new employees at the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division. It also would add 20 conservation officers at the Department of Natural Resources, 10 for the State Transport Police - the division enforcing trucking laws that's dwindled to less than two per county - nine officers to man security outposts at the Capital complex garage, and four agents to guard the lieutenant governor.

The SLED employees include 45 agents, 23 people to operate the statewide crime center and eight people in its severely backlogged DNA crime lab.

The proposal also gives $10 million to the Commerce Department for a closing fund for economic development deals. The fund is among pots of money Commerce uses to pay infrastructure costs to try to attract companies looking to locate or expand in the state.

The account is down to just $125,000. The state's economic development council has approved roughly $45 million so far this fiscal year for infrastructure grants, said Commerce spokeswoman Amy Love.

Approval of the budget came after senators defeated attempts by some Republicans to remove roughly $4 million for private nonprofits and local public projects. Items included $450,000 for infrastructure in Holly Hill; $300,000 for a North Myrtle Beach museum; $100,000 for a fire station in tiny Andrews: $200,000 to preserve African-American historic sites in Charleston: and $200,000 to buy land for preserving Mitchelville, America's first community of freed slaves on Hilton Head Island.

Democratic senators trumped the amendment by adding dozens of items, including money for public schools and colleges, tax relief for businesses, law enforcement equipment and homeowners' foreclosure assistance. The Senate then killed the whole thing. Senators made a similar move Wednesday, on an amendment removing roughly $2 million worth of items.

Sen. Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, argued senators shouldn't lump together, for example, money for recruiting jobs and a park pavilion.

"There is a big difference between Boeing and a historical museum, between BMW and a community center," he said.

But Senate Finance Chairman Hugh Leatherman said what represents a special project is defined differently depending on the lawmaker.

"The viewpoint is in the eyes of the beholder," said Leatherman, R-Florence, who put items in the budget at senators' requests. "I really view that as an investment in parts of our state."

Amendments approved Thursday included a $2.5 million addition for Aiken Technical College, mostly toward a new job training center, with some money for equipment.

K-12 private school to open in 2013

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:31:51 GMT

By ROB NOVIT

Aiken resident Tracy Brooks has announced a plan to create a K-12 private school that will open in August 2013.

Construction on Compass Academy's 53,000-square-foot facility is expected to begin soon. The name is intended to project the school's plan to help students develop a direction for their academic goals.

"Our vision is to provide a K-12 education opportunity that encompasses both strong college-prep academics and equally as strong leadership and character development," Brooks said. "Instead of teaching students to standardized tests, we'll be able to personalize education to individual students."

An Aiken native, Brooks moved to Dallas after high school. She spent 16 years in business, traveling through the United States helping country clubs and other organizations revive their memberships. She met her husband, Jay Brooks, and they moved to Aiken, where her family members still live. Tracy works in the office of Jay's business, Brooks Financial.

"Aiken has transformed into an amazing place in every aspect, except for education," Tracy said. "As a parent and consumer, I felt that folks in Aiken needed more options when it comes to school choice. I started having conversations with other parents, and almost of all of them felt the same way."

Her husband, Brooks said, encouraged her to do something about it, instead of just talking. Brooks said she has gained a lot of community support; she originally considered a K-8 school, but several investors agreed to providing sufficient funding to add high school facilities.

In addition to traditional college-prep courses, Compass Academy will target students who may not be interested in that model, Brooks said. However, they would be receptive to learn the skills needed to become community leaders - cultivating their ability to get things done and work with others on a team. The school will train those students, as well as others, in critical-thinking and problem-solving skills.

The coursework for those students would place an emphasis in the STEM classes - science, technology, engineering and mathematics, Brooks said.

"We'll work with industry to provide them hands-on training while they are learning," she said. "They'll get exposure to trades and industry needs."

Compass Academy will not be a faith-based or public charter school, Brooks said. She is working with Larry Watt, executive director of the S.C. Independent School Association, to make sure the academy is in alignment with private school accreditation standards in the state.

Brooks will serve as head of administration, as well as in the capacity as the founder. A new head of schools will be hired, but her name was not yet released, as she is still employed as a teacher. That person has more than 30 years experience as a public and private school educator, Brooks said.

The academy will have slots for 416 students - 32 for each grade level - when it opens in 15 months.

Through word of mouth, parents have pre-registered 77 children in the past two weeks. However, those students are not assured approval, Brooks said.

While she will focus more on parents for young children, the admissions process for older candidates will focus on the students themselves.

"We want to make sure these students are quality individuals who want to strive for excellence," said Brooks. "We want them to share a mutual respect for fellow students and faculty and a strong desire to succeed."

Initially, Compass Academy won't be able to serve children with handicaps; however, the school will provide differentiated learning opportunities, Brooks said. She is implementing a volunteer program of retired teachers who will assist and nurture children who are falling behind.

Brooks also plans to introduce full music, art and drama programs, three foreign languages and several sports programs other than football.

As an introductory incentive, Brooks will provide any parent who enrolls one or more children in 2013 with lifetime tuition fees at the 2013 rate - even for younger children not yet in school. The opening-day tuition will range from $4,700 for grades K-2 to $10,900 for high school students.

"The biggest thing separating us from other private schools is that our classes will be filled with teachers who have experience," said Brooks. "Our programs will be focused around the individual child."

For more information, visit compassacademyaiken.com or email tracy@compassacademyaiken.com

Senior writer Rob Novit is the Aiken Standard's education reporter and has been with the newspaper since September 2001. He is a native of Walterboro and majored in journalism at the University of Georgia.

Tigers fall to UVA in tourney

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:31:48 GMT

Clemson Sports Information

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- With two outs, the bases empty and trailing 2-1 in the eighth inning, No. 17 Virginia used a single, two hit-by-pitches, and two walks to score two runs in the frame and defeat Clemson 3-2 in the ACC Tournament in front of 3,331 fans at NewBridge Bank Park on Thursday. The Cavaliers, who moved to 1-0 in the tourney, improved to 37-16-1 on the season. The Tigers, who fell to 0-1 in the event, dropped to 32-25 in 2012.

Jon McGibbon's solo homer in the sixth inning tied the score 1-1, then Clemson took advantage of two Virginia miscues in the top of the eighth inning to score another run. But Virginia put together a two-out rally, as five straight Cavaliers reached base with two outs to allow them to score two runs.

Kyle Crockett (5-2), the second of three Virginia pitchers, earned the win. He allowed one hit, one unearned run and no walks with two strikeouts. Starter Branden Kline tossed seven strong innings, as he surrendered only four hits, one run and five walks with five strikeouts. Tiger reliever Mike Kent (1-2) suffered the loss, as he gave up two runs on one hit in 2âÑ3 innings pitched. Daniel Gossett, like Kline, was effective in a starting role. He yielded just one run 62âÑ3 innings pitched.

The Cavaliers broke through with the game's first run in the third inning. Branden Cogswell was hit-by-pitch with one out. Two batters later with two outs, Derek Fisher walked. Jared King followed with a line-drive single to left field on an 0-2 pitch to score Cogswell.

Clemson put its first two batters of the fourth inning on base when Jay Baum reached on an error and McGibbon singled. But Spencer Kieboom flied out and Jason Stolz lined into a double play to end the inning.

In the fifth inning, Steve Wilkerson led off with a walk and moved to second two batters later on Richie Shaffer's walk. With one out, both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch, but the next two Tigers were retired. Clemson put nine batters on base in the first five innings, but failed to score.

McGibbon finally put the Tigers on the scoreboard in the sixth inning when he belted a solo homer to right field, his fourth long ball of the season.

In the top of the eighth inning, leadoff batter Brad Felder reached on a passed ball after striking out. Two batters later with one out, Felder stole second. McGibbon followed with a grounder to shortstop Chris Taylor, who booted the ball, allowing Felder to score the go-ahead run.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the first two Cavaliers were retired. However, Brandon Downes lined a two-out single to right field, then Nate Irving was hit-by-pitch. After pinch-hitter Kenny Towns walked on six pitches to load the bases, Taylor was hit-by-pitch to plate pinch-runner Mitchell Shifflett and tie the score. Cogswell then walked on five pitches to score the go-ahead run in Irving.

Shaffer walked for the fourth time in the game with one out in the ninth inning, but Phil Pohl grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.

King went 1-for-2 with an RBI and two walks to lead Virginia, who had only five hits, all singles. However, Virginia batters combined for eight walks and three hit-by-pitches. Stephen Bruno added a single to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. All three RBIs for the Cavaliers came with two outs.

McGibbon had a game-high two hits, including Clemson's only RBI on his solo homer. The Tigers stranded 11 runners on base.

Clemson will take on top-ranked and #1-seeded Florida State on Friday at 3 p.m. in the ACC Tournament. The Tigers' only path to the ACC Tournament Championship game is if Clemson wins its final two games and Virginia loses its final two games in Greensboro.

What is the Spoleto Festival?

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:31:44 GMT

By CHRIS WALSH

Once again, Charleston becomes the nation's premier place to be for performing arts. Beginning this weekend and running for 17 days, the Spoleto Festival USA brings performances by renowned artists, as well as emerging performers in opera, theater, dance and chamber, symphonic, choral and jazz music to the city's historic theaters, churches and outdoor spaces.

The festival was founded in 1977 by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti, Christopher Keene and others, who, according to the festival's website, "sought to create an American counterpart to their annual Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy."

Entering its 36th year running, Spoleto Festival USA has established itself as one of the world's leading festivals, presenting more than 200 world or American premieres. Notable past premieres and commissions include "Monkey: Journey to the West" by Chen Shi-Zheng, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett; "Peter and Wendy" by Lee Breuer; "Creve Coeur" by Tennessee Williams; "The American Clock" by Arthur Miller; "The Mechanical Organ" by the Nikolais Dance Theatre; "Miracolo d'Amore" by Martha Clarke; "Empty Places" by Laurie Anderson; "Hydrogen Jukebox" by Philip Glass and Allen Ginsberg; "Praise House" by Urban Bush Women; "Three Tales" by Steve Reich and Beryl Korot and "Tenebrae" by Osvaldo Golijav.

World-renowned artists who performed early in their careers at Spoleto Festival USA include RenÃ©e Flemming, Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Yo-Yo Ma, the Emerson String Quartet and Jean-Yves Thibaudet.

Among the headliners this year are KD Lang, Jake Shimabukuro, the play "The Animals and Children Took to the Streets" and the opera "Feng Yi Ting."

Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.spoletousa.org.

Chris Walsh is the arts and entertainment reporter for the Aiken Standard. He graduated from Valdosta State University and hails from Atlanta.

Aiken Choral Society to sing at Spoleto

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:31:40 GMT

By CHRIS WALSH

For the first time in nearly a decade, the Aiken Choral Society will be heading to Charleston as a part of Spoleto 2012.

The singers will be taking the stage at the Harbor View Presbyterian Church on James Island on Saturday, June 9, at 3 p.m.

"The group as a whole is so excited," said ACS director Maureen Simpson.

She said she had decided to go through the Spoleto selection process after years of not even trying. The ACS had gone for roughly 17 straight years before the recent dry period.

"I said, 'let's try and go again,' and the selection committee really liked the program we submitted," Simpson said. "I think it also had to do with our long history there. They knew they were getting quality because we've been there before."

Spoleto, in its 36th year, is a 17-day, nationally-recognized festival with performances by renowned artists as well as emerging performers in opera, theater, dance and chamber, symphonic, choral and jazz music.

"We're blown away by it," said ACS tenor Loy Mitcham. "It's definitely an honor."

The ACS will be taking part in the Piccolo Spoleto, which features more local and regional performances. They will be part of a festival of synagogue or churches subsection, where most acts are doing very secular music.

Simpson decided to go in a different direction because "my mother taught me to think outside of the box."

The Aiken Choral Society will be doing a rendition of last year's spring concert, "Music from the Movies." The program will include a slew of familiar film pieces, including two from John Williams that were featured in "Amistad" and "Double Trouble."

They will be performing Mascagni's "Easter Chorus" from the opera "Cavalleria Rusticana," which was featured in "The Godfather III," as well as Carl Orff's "O'Fortuna" and a medley of pieces from "The West Side Story."

"It's music you hear in the background," Simpson joked.

The Saturday afternoon show is free to the public.

Chris Walsh is the arts and entertainment reporter for the Aiken Standard. He graduated from Valdosta State University and hails from Atlanta.

Editor's note: The date of the event was printed as Saturday, June 8. The correct date is Saturday, June 9. The Aiken Standard regrets the error.

U.S. Senate committee cuts Pakistan aid over conviction

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:31:37 GMT

By DONNA CASSATA

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Senate panel expressed its outrage Thursday over Pakistan's conviction of a doctor who helped the United States track down Osama bin Laden, voting to cut aid to Islamabad by $33 million - $1 million for every year of the physician's 33-year sentence for high treason.

The punitive move came on top of deep reductions the Appropriations Committee already had made to President Barack Obama's budget request for Pakistan, a reflection of the growing congressional anger over its cooperation in combating terrorism. The overall foreign aid budget for next year had slashed more than half of the proposed assistance and threatened further reductions if Islamabad failed to open overland supply routes to U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Pushing aside any diplomatic talk, Republicans and Democrats criticized Pakistan a day after the conviction in Pakistan of Shakil Afridi. The doctor ran a vaccination program for the CIA to collect DNA and verify bin Laden's presence at the compound in Abbottabad where U.S. commandos found and killed the al-Qaida leader in May 2011.

"We need Pakistan, Pakistan needs us, but we don't need Pakistan double-dealing and not seeing the justice in bringing Osama bin Laden to an end," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who pushed for the additional cut in aid.

He called Pakistan "a schizophrenic ally," helping the United States at one turn, but then aiding the Haqqani network which has claimed responsibility for several attacks on Americans. The group also has ties to al-Qaida and the Taliban.

"It's Alice in Wonderland at best," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. "If this is cooperation, I'd hate like hell to see opposition."

One of the most forceful statements came from Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who also serves as the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. She pointed out that Pakistan has suffered at the hands of terrorists yet misconstrued what is treason in convicting Afridi. She also insisted that Afridi was not a spy.

"This conviction says to me that al-Qaida is viewed by the court to be Pakistan," said Feinstein, who said it made her rethink U.S. assistance.

The Appropriations Committee approved Graham's amendment to cut the assistance by $33 million on a 30-0 vote. The full Senate will vote on the overall bill, possibly this summer.

At the State Department, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States believes Afridi should be released.

"His help was instrumental in taking down one of the world's most notorious murderers that was clearly in Pakistan's interest as well as ours and the rest of the world," Clinton told reporters, adding that the United States will continue to press the issue with Islamabad.

In crafting the overall legislation, the committee reduced Obama's request to aid Pakistan by 58 percent as resentment and doubts linger on Capitol Hill a year after bin Laden was killed deep inside Pakistan. Tensions between Washington and Islamabad have increased as Pakistan closed overland supply routes to Afghanistan after a U.S. attack on the Pakistani side of the border killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.

The United States and Pakistan failed to resolve the issue at the recent NATO summit in Chicago.

The congressional anger over the conviction and the supply routes extended to the Senate Armed Services Committee, which completed a $631.4 billion defense budget Thursday. The panel added a provision stipulating that before Pakistan can be reimbursed with coalition funds, the secretary of defense must certify that Pakistan is opening and maintaining the supply routes, is not supporting the Haqqani network, and not detaining or imprisoning Pakistani citizens, according to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

He referred to the conviction as a virtual death sentence.

The fierce congressional response in various committees "shows a common outrage," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., told reporters.

Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee also complained about mafia-style extortion by Pakistan in seeking truck fees in exchange for opening the supply lines. The cost had been $250 per truck before the attack. Pakistan is now demanding $5,000 per truck. The United States has countered at $500.

The bill would provide just under $1 billion in aid to Pakistan, including $184 million for State Department operations and $800 million for foreign assistance. Counterinsurgency money for Pakistan would be limited to $50 million.

The legislation also conditions the counterinsurgency aid on Pakistan reopening the supply routes.

Islamabad won't get any of the funds for counterinsurgency or money in prior legislation unless the secretary of state certifies to the Appropriations committees that "the government of Pakistan has reopened overland cargo routes available to support United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops in Afghanistan, and funds appropriated under this heading can be used efficiently and effectively by the end of the fiscal year," the legislation says

If the secretary can't certify to Congress, the money would be transferred to other accounts.

The overall legislation would fund the State Department, foreign operations and other programs at $52.1 billion, which is $2.6 billion less than what Obama requested for the 2013 fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 and $1.2 billion below current spending.

Wading into the dispute over Palestinian refugees, the panel approved a version of an amendment from Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., that would require the secretary of state to submit a report to Congress on the number of Palestine refugees who were displaced by the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, the number of descendants and who receives assistance from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.

The issue of whether to count refugees and their descendants is a divisive one. Some 5 million Palestine refugees receive assistance from the U.N. agency. A third of registered refugees live in camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

The State Department and Jordan opposed the original Kirk amendment and it was modified by Leahy.

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Associated Press writer Matthew Pennington contributed to this report.

Man tells police he killed missing NYC boy in 1979

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:31:33 GMT

By COLLEEN LONG and TOM HAYS

NEW YORK -- A New Jersey man who confessed to choking a 6-year-old New York City boy to death in 1979 was arrested on a murder charge on Thursday, police said, the first arrest in a case that helped give rise to the nation's missing-children movement.

Pedro Hernandez, 51, of Maple Shade, N.J., was charged with the slaying of Etan Patz, who vanished on his way to school in his lower Manhattan neighborhood, police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

Hernandez, who had worked at a convenience store near Etan's home, confessed after hours of police questioning, Kelly said. Kelly said Hernandez told police he lured the boy to the convenience store with the promise of a soda, then took him into the basement and choked him.

"He was remorseful, and I think the detectives thought that it was a feeling of relief on his part," Kelly said. "We believe that this is the individual responsible for the crime."

Detectives are typically barraged with hoaxes, false leads and possible sightings around the anniversary of Etan's disappearance, which became National Missing Children's Day by presidential proclamation in 1983.

The focus on Hernandez came after other leads arose and stalled, at one point taking investigators as far as Israel tracking reported sightings of the boy.

For most of the past decade, the investigation focused on Jose Ramos, a convicted child molester now in prison in Pennsylvania. He had been dating Etan's baby sitter. In 2000, authorities dug up Ramos' former basement in lower Manhattan, but nothing turned up.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. announced in 2010 that his office was renewing the investigation into the case. A few weeks ago, investigators excavated another basement, down the street from the Patz apartment. The search found no human remains.

Investigators questioned a 75-year-old handyman who had a workspace in the cellar in 1979. But he was not named as a suspect and denied any involvement in the boy's disappearance.

Hernandez, who moved to New Jersey shortly after the boy vanished, was picked up there late Wednesday and was questioned Thursday at the Manhattan district attorney's office.

He had been tied to the case in the past, and investigators recently received a phone call with a new tip, according to the law enforcement official. The official gave no details on the tip.

Neighbors in Maple Shade, N.J., said Hernandez lived with his wife and a daughter who attends college.

Sandy-haired Etan vanished while walking alone to his bus stop for the first time, two blocks from his home in New York's busy SoHo neighborhood, which was a working-class part of the city back then but is now a chic area of boutiques and galleries.

Police conducted an exhaustive search. Thousands of fliers were plastered around the city, buildings canvassed and hundreds of people interviewed about a disappearance that ushered in an era of anxiety about leaving children unsupervised.

Etan's parents, Stan and Julie Patz, were reluctant to move or even change their phone number in case their son tried to reach out. They still live in the same apartment.

They did not return a call for comment Thursday.

Highway Patrol warns drivers to be careful

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:31:27 GMT

By KAREN DAILY

State and local law enforcement officers are kicking off the annual summer traffic enforcement campaign to put the brakes on highway traffic fatalities.

The state's Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic campaign is aimed at combating aggressive and dangerous behaviors.

The 100 Days of Summer HEAT is an estimated 100-day period that begins today and runs through Labor Day.

The number of people killed during the summer campaign has topped 200 in recent years, troopers said.

"Ensuring motorists are buckled up and motorcyclists are abiding by helmet and licensing laws is the primary focus of the campaign because these issues tend to especially be problematic during summer travel," according to the state highway patrol.

Leroy Smith, the state's public safety director, said traffic safety is the department's No. 1 goal all year but said troopers pay special attention to the next 100 days to ensure state residents and visitors remain safe.

State troopers also ask that motorists who see dangerous drivers on the highway notify Highway Patrol by calling *HP - *47 - and give troopers a chance to stop the motorist before aggressive or drunken driving ends in tragedy.

Troopers are enforcing the state's primary seat belt law.

Seat belts are designed to keep the occupant restrained in the vehicle, contact the strongest parts of the body, spread forces over a wide area of the body, help the body to slow down and protect the brain and spinal cord, according to Lance Cpl. Judd Jones with Highway Patrol.

Motorists not wearing a seat belt are seven times more likely to die, troopers said.

Highway Patrol will also be looking to put impaired motorists behind bars as a part of the state's Sober or Slammer campaign.

The troopers are working to curb the high number of motorcycle deaths reported in the state.

Motorcyclists are encouraged to wear proper equipment, have rider education, ride within personal limits and chose the right motorcycle.

Riders must also have proper licensing.

Seventy-four percent of all motorcycle riders killed in crashes are not wearing helmets, troopers said.

Although there is no mandatory helmet law in the state for most motorcycle riders, all riders under 21 must wear a helmet.

Karen Daily, a graduate of USC, has been the crime reporter at the Aiken Standard for seven years. She has reported here since 2001.