The beautiful sounds of Pickens First Baptist Church choir, shown above, resounded around downtown Pickens last Friday night during the city’s weekly Friday Night Live event. The event has been an opportunity for people to gather in Legacy Square on Main Street each Friday night in June. At left, Tammy Batson feels the inspiration of the music. This Friday night La Dance Studio will take the stage at 7:30 p.m.

PICKENS COUNTY — Two major projects in the School District of Pickens County’s scaled down $365.6 million facilities construction program moved forward Monday night as the school board approved a design development package for the new Pickens High School and construction documents for the new stadium at Daniel High School.
Donza H. Mattison of McMillan, Smith & Partners presented the architectural firm’s recommendations which were based on the school board’s recent cost trimming of proposed construction projects to stay within the budget available for the facilities program.
The redesign for the school incorporates the modified four-pipe HVAC system approved by the board at its May meeting.
The redesign eliminates self-contained heat pumps from each classroom, adds a boiler/pump room as well as an outdoor equipment yard for the air-cooled chillers and increases the height of the bulding in the classroom wing and media center to accommodate the additional ductwork and associated HVAC piping.
The new design development floor plans for the school include a total square footage of 253,324 a reduction of 49,326 square feet from the original design plans.
“Upon receipt of the (updated) drawings, Balfour Beatty/Trehel should be able to re-evaluate the estimated cost to determine whether or not the project remains within your targeted budget,” Mattison told the board.
The revised drawings also must be submitted to the Office of School Facilities for their review and comment.
“Once the redesign and revised estimates are approved by the district we can proceed with the construction documents phase of the project. We estimate that process to take approximately two months,” she said.
Mattison also presented completed construction documents for the new Daniel High football stadium to be built on a 23-acre tract across the street from the existing high school.
Plans for the new Daniel High School call for the school to be built on the current site of Singleton Field.
The new stadium will seat approximately 5,300 people. The stands on the home side of the field will be constructed of poured-in-place concrete risers with aluminum bench seats. Access to the stands will be from the top level and they will descend approximately 35 feet down to field level.
Under the base bid, the existing visitor stands, ramps and landings at the old stadium will be dismantled and re-installed at the site of the new stadium. The contractor also will provide an alternate price for the district to consider for purchase and installation of new visitor stands in lieu of reusing the existing ones.
The stadium project includes paved parking for 52 automobiles and five activity buses, with half the parking designated for handicapped. Two large grassy areas will accommodate an additional 150 automobiles.
The home stands will also include a restroom, concession, four rooms in the press box and two team meeting rooms—one for the home team and one for the visiting team.
The new plans now must be presented July 13 to the Pickens County Planning Commission for its approval.
Construction is set to begin and August and will be completed before the 2010 season.

SENECA – An Easley man is in critical, but stable condition following a shooting at a Seneca Pain Management clinic that claimed the life of a pregnant woman Saturday.
Police say they responded to a 911 call at 3 p.m. at the Upstate Pain Management and Surgical Clinic at 457 U.S. 123. Officers responded to a call from the owner of the facility after it was closed.
When police arrived they found 52-year old James Bakersville of Easley in the parking lot of the facility, with a gunshot wound to the head.
Police say they then found the body of 29-year old Karla M. Benson of Newry in a storage room.
Oconee County Coroner Karl Addis reported that Benson, who was 24-weeks pregnant at the time she died, was shot twice, once in the shoulder and once in the head.
According to Seneca Police following the coroner’s report, the case is now being handled as a murder-attempted suicide.
Two handguns were found at the scene.
Bakersville had been employed at the clinic as a janitor on a part-time basis.

STATE — Two controversial bills passed last Tuesday at the end of the 2009 session of the state legislature.
A bill to study the state tax structure passed as did a bill to create some regulation of payday loans.
The payday loan bill had earlier been vetoed by Governor Mark Sanford who opposed passage because he said the bill interfered in the financial decisions of individuals. The legislature overrode his veto.
The bill authorizing a study of the state’s tax structure was significantly altered before passage, allowing only a limited study of the current tax structure which state economists call fragmented.
Excluded from the study is Act 388, the bill many blame for state budget shortfalls. The 2006 legislation eliminated the school operation part of property taxes for residential homeowners, replacing it with a one percent state wide sales tax increase, a move economists say replaces a stable revenue source with an unstable one.
The payday loan bill authorizes establishing a statewide data base to track the number of payday loans made to an individual. This is to prevent a practice called loan flipping. Loan flipping is when a person takes out a loan in one place, then takes out another somewhere else to make payments on the first loan. Prior to passage of this bill loan flipping could be repeated multiple times with no state controls.
The following questions were asked of Senator Larry Martin, Senator Thomas Alexander, State Representatives Davey Hiott, Phil Owens, B. R. Skelton and Rex Rice. The responses of those who answered are given below.
Question: Would you share your views on the tax restructure study and payday loan bill? Did you support or oppose the bills and why?  
Senator Larry Martin responds:
“The General Assembly adopted the conference report on the Tax Realignment and Study Commission on Tuesday.  Although I am a supporter of a comprehensive review of our state’s tax structure, I was skeptical of the bill that was originally introduced in the Senate.  My primary concern was the unusual grant of authority that was given to the commission to rewrite the tax code with a simple up or down vote by the Legislature.  The final product was much different in that respect, and also includes a legislative review of sales tax exemptions.  My hope is that the commission’s ultimate report back to the General Assembly will provide recommendations that will lead to stronger economic growth, job creation, and more stability in our general fund revenue.”
 “I supported the compromise bill on the payday lending industry.  The bill places some reasonable limitations on this business, such as allowing only one payday loan at a time with a $550 cap.  It also provides a method for tracking the number of outstanding loans while protecting the privacy of consumers.  It was for these reasons that I voted to override the Governor’s veto of the bill.”
House Representative Davey Hiott responds.
View on tax structure study:
“It’s my personal opinion we should study the whole structure, the entire tax system. The property tax swap (Proposition 388) has been taken out of the study. I think it should be a major part of it. If you have a $100 million problem it should be one of the major points of the study.
We’ll have to wait and see. It should be ready sometime in January to go before the full committee.”
Views on Payday loan bill:
“I think it’s a good start. It will be limiting loans to $550 with a 24 hour waiting period between loans. The data base will keep track of people.”
“I don’t think it’s where we need to end it. Pay day loans prey on those most vulnerable. There is a need for it but more guidelines and restrictions are needed so they don’t harm individuals. People can get caught up in that cycle. Once they’re in the cycle they can’t get out. I think what we did was a good start.”
House Representative B.R. Skelton responds:
Views on tax structure study:
“I voted for the bill but preferred a comprehensive study of the tax structure. We should first look at where inequities in the tax structure exist. Changes should address any inequities in the tax structure. We should be sure that we have equitable distribution of the tax burden.”
Views on Payday loan bill:
“I voted to override the governor’s veto of the bill. I would have preferered (a version with) more regulations than the one we passed. We needed some regulation of the industry and the bill gives some regulation we didn’t have before.
Banks no longer give small loan amounts. People still need a source for this.”
House Representative Rex Rice responds:
Views on tax structure study:
“I felt good about both of these bills as ways to protect the citizens and businesses of South Carolina.
The tax restructure study will provide information on the fairness of our current tax system and, potentially, insure that no one group is overburdened. However, this bill is only as good as how the legislature uses the information it gets back. The bill included studying the impact of the Fair Tax approach which is a consumption tax rather than an income tax. I feel that this is the most fair tax system because tax is collected at the point of purchase. This way, taxes cannot be avoided and are proportional.
Views on payday loan bill:
The payday loan bill places restrictions on a system that was limping along. Usury lenders and irresponsible borrowers created a system that benefitted few. The fee and interest limits and a borrower database will prevent abuses on both sides.”

PICKENS – A Pickens man has been arrested and charged with burglary second degree and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Travis Antonio Mansell, 20, of 805 West Lee St, Pickens was arrested Monday in connection with a break in at Foothills Gun and Pawn on Main Street in Pickens last Wednesday.
According to arrest warrant issued by the City of Pickens police believe that two men, one a minor, broke the front window of the Pawn shop and made entry into the business without consent and with the intent to commit a crime.
The report stated that the break-ins occurred during the early morning hours. Police say the incident was caught on video tape by the store’s surveillance cameras.
According to the arrest warrant, police believe the defendant willfully and knowingly allowed the 14-year-old co-defendant, to be present and be involved in the breaking and entering of the pawn shop.
In the incident report, officers say they responded to an alarm. Police say when they got to the location they discovered a man lying on the ground bleeding from his wrist, and another running from Garvin Street behind the building.
The man lying on the ground allegedly said he had been attacked and thrown through the pawn shop window by three other men. Police say the other man confirmed the injured man’s testimony.
After taking the injured man to the hospital police obtained the surveillance camera tapes from the store which did not confirm the defendant’s statement and showed evidence of his part in the break-in.