Across the area

Man with stolen car dies in crash

A 36-year-old North Augusta man was killed Tuesday when the car he was driving crossed into the path of a tractor-trailer and was run over, authorities said.

Michael Baskett was pronounced dead at the scene and died of severe body trauma, Edgefield County Coroner Thurmond Burnett said.

According to the South Carolina Highway Patrol, Mr. Baskett was driving a stolen 1991 Toyota Celica north on U.S. Highway 25 about 14 miles south of Edgefield when he crossed the center line into the path of a 2003 tractor-trailer driven by Roosevelt A. Jones, 38, of North Augusta.

Lance Cpl. Steve Sluder said the tractor-trailer drove over the Celica.

Mr. Jones was slightly injured, he said, and taken to Medical College of Georgia Hospital.

Mr. Baskett, he said, was wanted in Georgia for possession of a firearm by a felon, and the car was reported stolen from North Carolina.

Man pistol-whipped during home invasion

Richmond County sheriff's deputies investigated an armed robbery Monday night in which a victim said he was pistol-whipped, a police report says.

Brandon Jamel Wicker, 24, said that at 10:12 p.m. someone claiming to be a friend knocked on his apartment door at 1424 Sycamore Drive. When Mr. Wicker opened the door, two men forced their way inside at gunpoint, he said.

The men forced him to the rear bedroom and searched him, while another went into the shower, where the victim's girlfriend was, and forced her to exit before searching her purse, according to the report.

Taken were two cell phones, $70 and a gold necklace.

Burglars take beer, candy from station

Richmond County sheriff's deputies are investigating a burglary Tuesday in which someone took property from a gas station.

According to a police report, officers were dispatched at 3:04 a.m. to an Exxon station in the 2700 block of Peach Orchard Road where someone had broken in through the glass door.

Taken were three boxes of candy bars and a case of beer, the report says.

Antebellum mansion gets $40,000 grant

Oakley Park in Edgefield, S.C., has received a $40,000 grant from the South Carolina Budget and Control Board, said state Sen. Tommy Moore, D-Clearwater. The one-time award will be used for repairs and maintenance to the house, which was built in 1835. The home, which is open for tours, is operated as a museum by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Connector choices to be shown to public

The Whiskey-Powderhouse Connector Road Ad Hoc Committee will hold a public meeting from 4 to 8 p.m. today in the conference center of the Aiken Municipal Building, 214 Park Avenue S.W. Maps of the seven alternatives will be available for public view.

Residents can drop in at any time, but presentations are scheduled for 5 and 7 p.m.

Maps of the alternative roads also can be seen online at www.aikencounty.net or at www.aiken.net. For questions or comments, call Stephen Strohminger at the Aiken County Planning Department at (803) 642-1520 or Sandra Korbelik at the City of Aiken Planning Department at (803) 642-7608.

New Ellenton police chief will resign post

New Ellenton police Chief Hugh Ray has announced that he is leaving the department May 5 to take another job.

Chief Ray, the head of the police department for 16 months, will be assistant general manager of Cedar Creek Development Corp., he said.

Chief Ray said he will be working with the New Ellenton Town Council to find his replacement and stressed that his decision to leave had nothing to do with recent turnover on the board from March's elections.

"The benefits were just so much that I just could not pass up the opportunity," he said.

8 children are taken from unsanitary home

Eight children were taken into protective custody Monday after they were found to be living in squalor.

According to an Aiken Department of Public Safety report, an officer responding to a traffic collision on Hampton Avenue was told that a small child had been seen running into the road.

The officer located the 3-year-old child's mother, Twanda Perry, and found the family's home in the 100 block of Abbeville Avenue Northwest full of trash, with spoiled food on the kitchen floor.

The bathroom toilet and tub were inoperable, the officer's report states, and there were only two beds for 10 people.

The eight children were placed with other family members.

Trial opens for man charged with murder

The trial of a Graniteville man accused of beating another man to death with an iron tent stake last year is expected to reconvene today at 9:30 a.m. in Aiken County Court.

William C. Adams, who lived in Kalmia Apartments, is charged with murder in the death of Donald C. Boyd, whose body was found in a shed in May. Mr. Adams was arrested a few days later.

Prosecutors in the 2nd Judicial Circuit presented their case Tuesday, arguing that Mr. Adams killed Mr. Boyd during a drug robbery.

2 area residents are appointed by Perdue

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue announced the executive appointments Tuesday of two Augusta-area residents.

Dental hygienist Pamela S. Bush, 53, of Hephzibah, was appointed a representative on the Georgia Board of Dentistry, and William H. Jones, 65, of Martinez, a supplier of uniforms to police, fire and security organizations, was appointed to the Board of Commissioners of the Georgia Equal Opportunity Commission.

- From staff reports