Commercial Roof Repair in Aiken, SC

When the annual Palmetto Bowl battle between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Clemson Tigers kicks off at noon Saturday, the Aiken County state legislative delegation will be divided between the Gamecocks and the Tigers.

S.C. Sen. Tom Young, R-Aiken, S.C. Rep. Bill Clyburn, D-Aiken, S.C. Rep. Bart Blackwell, R-Aiken, and S.C. Rep. Melissa Oremus, R-Graniteville, said they would be rooting for the Gamecocks. S.C. Rep. Bill Hixon, R-North Augusta, said he would be cheering for the Tigers.

Young said he was a lifelong Gamecock.

He is a 1993 (undergraduate) and 1996 (law school) graduate of USC. In school, he served as student body president and founded the Student Gamecock Club.

Clyburn said he liked both teams, but when they play his allegiance goes to the Gamecocks because he, his wife, former Aiken City Councilwoman Beverly Clyburn, and two of his children attended USC. He said he would wake up proud no matter who won.

Blackwell said both of his sons attended South Carolina so he would be rooting for the Gamecocks. He added that his wife and daughter-in-law are Clemson fans which adds a little extra fun to the game.

Oremus said she was Gamecocks all the way. She added she was a 2001 graduate of USC Aiken and her daughter is a 2017 graduate of USC.

Hixon said he did not attend college after graduating from North Augusta High School in 1976 because he wanted to go into the insurance and real estate business his parents founded in 1952.

He said not going to college offered him the opportunity to visit friends at several schools including Clemson, South Carolina, Georgia and Georgia Southern. Hixon said Clemson was the most welcoming and that he had a great time there.

Hixon added he would be attending the game with his wife, a Georgia fan, who will be attending her first game in Death Valley.

S.C. Rep. Bill Taylor said he will also be attending the game Saturday. He said he would be going with his son, Ryan, a diehard Gamecocks fan, and that they expected a spirited game.

Taylor said Ryan is always encouraging him to pick a favorite, but added that he often replies that he was chairman of the House Higher Education Subcommittee so he loves them both.

“Regardless of the final score, that puts me on the side of the winning team,” Taylor said. “I’m proud of the achievements of both schools. Clemson remains a powerhouse and USC continues to build a strong SEC program.”

The game will kick off at noon Saturday. It will be broadcast on ABC.

Clemson is favored by 14.5 points.

WARRENVILLE, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - A report from the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office is shedding new light on a New Year’s mystery at Langley Pond.

A woman appeared to have been assaulted before she was found unconscious next to a vehicle at Langley Pond Park, according to newly released information from deputies.

The victim, a Graniteville woman in her 60s, was found around 8 a.m. Sunday near the Langley Pond boat ramp, according to an incident report released Tuesday by Aiken County deputies.

Deputies arrived as she was being loaded onto an ambulance after being found by a passerby.

Officers were able to see that her face was “badly bruised and swollen.” Her eyes were swollen shut, and there was “bruising across her face consistent with being assaulted,” a deputy wrote in the report.

The deputy tried to speak with the victim, but she was unresponsive.

Captain Eric Abdullah with the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office says there are no new leads in the case, but they are actively investigating how this could have happened.

“She had substantial injuries to her person, and she was transported to an area hospital in critical condition. She is currently critical but stable,” he said.

Abdullah says this is extremely rare for the park that is well-loved by the community.

“This is an isolated incident that we’re investigating. There is no other incident similar to this,” he said.

Things at the park seem back to normal but people at the park are saying they are a little concerned for their safety.

Abdullah says he doesn’t want people to worry.

“If people are concerned. You know, make sure you try to look out for one another when you’re out there. I mean, if you see something, say something as simple as that,” said Abdullah.

We reached out to Aiken County Parks and Recreation to find out if they will be installing cameras here at the park, but we haven’t heard back yet. Abdullah says to reach out to the sheriff’s office if you have any information.

The man who found her, listed as a Warrenville resident, told officers he was driving to the American Legion building and found the victim on the ground.

She was taken to a hospital and remained in critical condition Tuesday morning, according to deputies.

The park only reopened a little less than a year ago after being closed for eight years so the dam could be repaired.

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AIKEN, S.C. – After a national search, the University of South Carolina Aiken is pleased to announce Todd Wilkinson as the Director of Athletics.

Wilkinson will assume his duties on Feb. 1, 2023.

"Todd Wilkinson brings to USC Aiken nearly four decades of highly successful NCAA experience as a player, coach, and administrator," USC Aiken Chancellor Dr. Heimmermann stated. "We are thrilled to welcome Todd and his family to Aiken and look forward to his leadership of Pacer Athletics.

"I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Angie Osbon and the AD Search Committee for their outstanding service and to Cam Reagin, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, for his exceptional leadership of Pacer Athletics during this interim period."

Wilkinson has 37 years of coaching and administrator experience, including 30 years spent at Barton College.

"I am grateful to receive the opportunity to be the Director of Athletics at USC Aiken," Wilkinson said. "I want to thank Chancellor Heimmermann, the Chancellor's Cabinet, Search Committee Chair Angie Osbon, the Search Committee, and all the other USCA professionals engaged in the search process for selecting me to lead the Pacer Athletic Department. My wife (Lindsey) and I are overjoyed to be joining the Aiken and University community and becoming fully engaged soon.

"Joining the athletic and university team in place is exciting and I am anxious to begin collaborating with everyone to be the best version of the USC Aiken and Pacer Athletics that we can be. Excellence will be the standard and the exciting results we achieve will be outcomes from all the stakeholders passionate about USCA being aligned as one in serving our students. Pacer Athletics will work to put our product in front of the Aiken community as family friendly entertainment that showcases the best of the Division II student-athlete. We will work to create the excitement that draws the USC Aiken student body to support their school and feel the pride! I cannot wait to get started with Pacer Nation and the Aiken community!"

Wilkinson spent the last eight years as the Director of Athletics with Barton. During his time as the Director of Athletics, he supervised over 50 staff members and oversaw 690 student-athletes while adding several athletic teams, including football, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's swimming and cheer/dance.

Since 2015, Barton captured 17 conference championships, registered 12 runner-up spots, sent eight teams to the NCAA Championships and garnered nine individual All-America accolades. Additionally, the GPA of the student-athletes ranged between 3.1-3.2.

Wilkinson serves as the Conference Carolinas baseball liaison and participates on the Regional Advisory Committee for NCAA Division II baseball. Wilkinson was appointed as the one Division 2 Administrator to the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee in 2020 and will serve as a member of this prestigious group through 2024.

Prior to his role as the Director of Athletics, Wilkinson served three years as Assistant Athletic Director and Compliance Director for three years. His responsibilities included game management, operations management, transportation management and facilities oversight of Wilson Gymnasium and the Outdoor Athletic Complex.

Wilkinson has a solid coaching background as well. He was hired as Barton's baseball coach in 1988 and became the winningest coach in school history, tallying a mark of 496-447-3 over 19 seasons. Wilkinson led his squad to league championships in 1993, 1995, 2002 and 2006 while picking up league or district Coach of the Year honors four times. His hard work and dedication to the Bulldogs was recognized with his induction into the Barton College Hall of Fame on Oct. 18, 2019.

A native of Plattsburgh, N.Y., Wilkinson attended the University of North Carolina where he was a catcher and an outfielder for the Tar Heels for four years. As a senior, he hit three home runs against Wake Forest in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament – a record he still shares – to earn Tournament MVP honors. He was an all-ACC outfielder and All-ACC Academic selection his senior campaign.

Following college, he was drafted by the Montreal Expos and played outfield and first base for Jamestown in the N.Y.-Penn League. He was named Expos Minor League Player of the Month in July of 1984. Wilkinson was invited to the Expos winter instructional league and attended spring training in 1985.

He returned to UNC as an assistant coach in 1985, where he served until he joined the staff at Atlantic Christian (now Barton) College in 1988 at age 26. Wilkinson made an immediate impact on the baseball program, posting an overall record of 217-163-2 and conference mark of 86-56 over the first eight seasons.

Wilkinson left Barton in 1995, serving three seasons as assistant baseball coach at UNC Wilmington and two years as assistant director of the North Carolina Baseball Academy in Greensboro, N.C., before returning to lead the Bulldogs beginning in 2000-01.

In addition to earning his bachelor's degree in education from UNC, Wilkinson received his master's in education from East Carolina University.

Aiken Scholars Academy is one of the top high schools in the state.

The school received an excellent rating and was ranked third out of 252 high schools in the 2021-2022 South Carolina School Report Card. The academy opened in 2018 and accepts 50 students each year through a rigorous application and screening process. For the 2022-23 school year, it has 183 students, according to its website.

Aiken Scholars Principal Martha Messick said its culture and environment help the students learn how to become better people.

“Learning doesn’t take place if you’re not making mistakes or making errors,” Messick said. She explained that it is a focus area that allows teachers to risk using different strategies, but also helps students “feel comfortable taking risks and making those mistakes knowing that ultimately the end result is what they know and are able to do as a result of their time.”

Hailey Evans, class 2022 president, said students faced different challenges because the school was so brand new.

“From day one the faculty and staff expected nothing but greatness out of us,” Evans said. “Not only in academics but in character. The rigorous work that ASA bestowed upon us was not something that we were used to, but the ASA teachers pushed our limits and unleashed our potential as students. They taught us the importance of studying, group work and learning from our mistakes. Even though the work we were given may have seen extremely difficult and fast-paced, it made us better students in the end.”

The state report card showed that 83% of Aiken County public schools achieved a rating of average or higher, said Dr. Amy Edwards, the chief officer of instruction for the school system. Report card rating options were excellent, good, average, below average and unsatisfactory.

“This was very impressive to me that 83% of the schools in Aiken County are rating average, good or excellent. That’s impressive and it’s quite impressive across the state,” Edwards said.

According to a news release from the district, the following performance indicators for middle and high schools were academic achievement, preparing for success, student progress/growth, school climate and English learners’ proficiency.

For its 21 elementary schools , Edwards said Millbrook and Mossy Creek received an excellent rating, while one elementary school received an unsatisfactory, five received below average, 12 received an average, and one received a good rating.

According to the SC School Report Card website, Busbee Elementary School in Wagener received the unsatisfactory rating. Belvedere, Greendale, JD Lever, North Aiken and Warrenville elementary schools received a below-average rating.

For the middle schools, New Ellenton STEAM Magnet School received an excellent, while one middle school received a below-average rating, eight received an average and two received a good rating, Edwards said.

The S.C. School Report Card website listed A.L. Corbett as the middle school that received the below-average rating.

For high schools, the performance indicators are academic achievement, preparing for success, school climate, English learners’ progress, graduation rate, and college and career readiness, according to the news release.

Edwards said no high schools received an unsatisfactory or below-average rating. According to the S.C. School Report Card website, three schools received an average rating, four received a good rating and Aiken Scholars received an excellent rating.

Edwards said the ratings provide baseline data for the district to know where improvements are needed. When compared to other districts in South Carolina, Aiken is performing slightly higher than the state in Algebra 1 and English 1, which is an improvement from the 2021 report card, she said.

For academic achievement in grades 3-8, the state was slightly higher in some areas, but Edwards said the district wants to create a plan on how to improve those scores. But, she added, the scores are an improvement from the 2021 report card.

Aiken is slightly behind the state in science for grades 4 and 6, but is exceeding the state in biology by more than 30%, Edwards said.

“That’s again another celebration since we made gains from last year,” Edwards said.

For English learners meeting the language growth goals, Edwards said the district has 20 ESOL teachers serving over 1,400 students, while slightly less than 400 exited the program.

“We’re delighted that we’re able to support the students and we certainly are doing much better than the state of South Carolina in this department, too,” Edwards said. “And it’s because of the wonderful teachers that are out supporting the kids.”

Aiken’s graduation rate was just below 90% , but more than 6% higher than the state score. Aiken schools ranked 13th out of 79 districts, the news release said. For college and career-ready, Edwards said the district is doing well in that category.

“While navigating school closures and shifting instruction from the classroom to the cloud and back, our teachers and staff have worked tirelessly alongside students and their parents to maintain academic rigor and close gaps in learning,” Aiken schools Superintendent King Laurence said in a news release. “This report card is encouraging, reflecting, for the most part, year-over-year progress in some of the toughest years our public education system has ever faced.”

Current eighth-grade students interested in attending Aiken Scholars Academy in the fall of 2023 need to apply and complete English 1H, algebra 1H and geometry H before the 2023-24 school year starts, Messick said. The application process is open through Jan. 31. Applicants will take a timed writing assessment and go through an interview process.

An information session for parents and students will be held Jan. 12. For more information, visit acpsd.net and click on the Future Scholars tab.

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AIKEN, S.C. (WJBF)- Aiken is Thoroughbred Country, but some who live there say their horses it’s important to be mindful when you’re on the road.

Drivers everywhere have to look out for several things on the road.

In Aiken, more than anywhere else in our area, that includes horses, and horse owners are asking you to be extra careful.

Aiken County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating a hit-and-run that reportedly took place Saturday in which a horse and rider were struck by a vehicle on Gyles Storey Road, causing injury to the rider’s right hand and lower right leg.

At the time of the incident, there was no visible injury to the horse.

We reached out to the owner of the horse involved in the accident and are waiting to hear more.

“We all have to be a little bit more courteous with each other on the roads. Obviously, being hit is more than just discourteous it is wrong. If you do have an accident of any type on the roads, you should stop. You shouldn’t run off, and I believe that’s what happened in this case,” Pam Gleason says.

Pam Gleason, editor and publisher of The Aiken Horse says in the state of South Carolina, horses don’t have the right of way when it comes to traffic.

“People think they should ride on the left side of the road so the horse can see the car coming, but that is not correct. You are not allowed to do that. You should be going in the same direction as the traffic.”

But she says it’s still the kind thing to slow down.

“If you come up on a horse, and the rider is having difficulty with it, the courteous thing to do is to slow down and stop and wait for the rider to give you a signal that it’s safe for you to pass.”

Gleason says with Aiken being a melting pot for the horse community, she hopes things like this will happen less.

“We are a major contributor to the economy in this area and it is important to keep Aiken a horse-friendly place and to do that we need some cooperation.”

She says those that are driving should know one thing.

“Sometimes horses are very unpredictable.”

If you see a horse on the road, horse owners ask that you be mindful and slow down.