CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — The North Carolina man charged with vandalizing Howard's Rock at Clemson's football stadium two years ago is set for trial next month.

The attorney for 20-year-old Micah Rogers of Pisgah Forest, North Carolina, said the case would be in heard in Pickens on July 20th. Rogers is charged with grand larceny and malicious injury to property of more than $10,000. He could face up to 20 years in jail.

Police said Rogers broke into Clemson's stadium on June 2,, 2013, and damaged the case surrounding the rock before chipping off a piece of the stone. Two others, including Rogers' father Michael, were charged in the case.

The rock is part of the traditional entrance for the Clemson football team. Coaches and players rub the rock before entering the stadium.

The National Weather Service in Columbia is predicting some stormy weather in the CSRA today.

Thunderstorms are likely to move through the area this afternoon and evening. These storms may include damaging winds, hail and isolated heavy rainfall.

The National Weather Service predicts a 60 percent chance for precipitation that could bring a total of about a half an inch of rain to the area.

Temperatures will reach about 80 degrees today and dip down to the mid-60s tonight.

NEW YORK (AP) -- If you want an income, or you're an employer looking for help, it may be time to scrap the idea of the traditional 9-to-5 arrangement.

For workers, it's become easier and less risky to go solo. Affordable health insurance plans, which kept many workers shackled to traditional jobs, are more accessible because of the Affordable Care Act. And companies are increasingly open to hiring freelancers and independent contractors. Many say independent workers bring fresh ideas without the long-term commitment.

An industry dedicated to serving the companies that offer freelance and contract work and the people who fill those openings is growing. Gigs can be found at a number of websites, such as Upwork.com and Freelancer.com, or through hiring services that connect professional freelancers and companies. And companies that provide shared rented office space, such as WeWork, lets freelancers mingle with fellow contractors.

In 2013, 23 million people were self-employed, according the U.S. Census Bureau. That's up 1.2 percent from the year before and up about 24 percent from 2003. That number doesn't count self-employed people who may also hire employees.

"This isn't going away," says Brooke Borgen, co-owner of Canopy Advisory Group, a hiring company for freelancers in Denver. She started the business five years ago with co-owner Griffen O'Shaughnessy. They observed that companies needed a way to access independent workers while friends and colleagues were telling them they wanted to find ways to balance their work and personal lives. "More and more people want to have ownership over their career," Borgen says.

Henry W. Brown ditched his fledging advertising career 11 years ago, sick of spending 15 hours a day at work and having "no life." Now he works 30 hours a week, juggling about four projects a year and earns a salary in the six figures designing websites and apps. Brown has time for two-hour yoga sessions, midday bike rides around his New York City neighborhood and lunch dates with friends. He also has more time for passion projects: He spent a month at an elephant sanctuary in Thailand this year, and he started a Facebook page called TheDogmatic, posting photos of dogs in shelters to help get them adopted. He never plans to work for just one employer again.

"Everything about an office was such a waste of time to me," he says.

When Brown first went freelance, he emailed companies asking for work. Now, most comes from referrals. Sometimes he checks in with a hiring agency. "I'm not clamoring for work," says Brown. "I can be picky and choosy with what I do."

Depending on the industry, the work can be lucrative. At hiring company Business Talent Group, independent contractors can make between $1,500 and $2,500 a day, says CEO Jody Miller. Most have a master's degree and at least 10 years working experience, she says. They can be hired by companies to help launch new products, research investments or other tasks.

Companies weren't always so thrilled about hiring freelancers, says Allison Hemming, CEO of New York staffing company The Hired Guns. When she started the company 15 years ago, companies would say, "if they were that good they would have a job," says Hemming. That's changed. "The concept of freelancers as slackers is completely over," Hemming says.

Spex, a company that makes software and apps used for home inspections, turned to Canopy Advisory Group to find a part-time publicist. CEO Brett Goldberg says he didn't have to post a job description, sift through resumes or conduct interviews, saving him time and money.

At food company Cargill, Michael Balay hires independent contractors with specialized skills to manage projects, such as combining groups of workers inside the company. Balay, who is a vice president of strategy and business development, has increasingly turned to hiring agencies.

"It cuts the search and qualification time down," says Balay. "It's way easier now."

Stephen Wunker left a consulting firm in 2009 to spend more time with his kids. Wunker and his partners started New Markets Advisors and are hired by companies to come up with business plans or create a growth strategy. He still works 40 to 80 hours a week, but his schedule is more flexible. He can take days off whenever he wants, and also spends about a month a year working from Ecuador.

"I have a dramatically better lifestyle," he says.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, generally seen as a master congressional deal-maker, walked into a legislative dead end on domestic surveillance that left some of his friends bewildered.

The Kentucky Republican had repeatedly insisted on continuing the government's bulk collection of Americans' phone data. That put him at odds with the Obama administration and the Republican-run House, which overwhelmingly endorsed significant limits.

Senators say McConnell overestimated his ability to force a deadline-driven extension, and seemed to misjudge the bipartisan support for the House-crafted changes.

Most puzzling to some were the veteran lawmaker's actions that allowed a first-term senator -- his GOP colleague from Kentucky, Rand Paul -- to use the Senate's elaborate rules to delay things long enough to cause the entire USA Patriot Act to lapse for a couple of days, starting at midnight Sunday.

As Democrats heaped scorn on McConnell, even some allies said they didn't understand what end game he had in mind.

"I don't know. I just don't," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

"You'll have to ask him," said Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss.

Following the September 2001 terrorist attacks, Congress passed the Patriot Act to improve detection of potential terrorism. Particularly controversial, once it came to light in 2013, was the National Security Agency's massive gathering of phone records. The actual conversations were not captured.

The House voted overwhelmingly this year to end the bulk collection, and to require the government to obtain court orders to pursue specific phone records. The Senate concurred Tuesday, but only after a protracted battle that left McConnell at odds with many Republicans. Obama signed the bill into law Tuesday night.

"I don't know why McConnell got in the way of this. It just doesn't make sense to me," said Rep. Bill Flores, a senior House Republican from Texas.

The issue put a spotlight on the strained relationship between Kentucky's nationally prominent senators. Paul, whose father was a libertarian hero from Texas, vaulted to the Senate in 2010 by defeating McConnell's choice for the seat. But Paul endorsed McConnell's tightly contested 2014 re-election bid, and McConnell returned the favor by endorsing Paul's 2016 presidential campaign.

Tensions between the two men ran high in an unusual Sunday Senate session. McConnell failed to persuade Paul to allow a short-term extension of the Patriot Act or a quick approval of the House bill.

"I forced the expiration of the NSA's illegal spying program," Paul boasted in a campaign fundraising e-mail.

Asked Tuesday if the nation would be safer, or less safe, with Paul as president, McConnell demurred. "You're trying to get me to make a derogatory comment about members of the Senate," he said. "I'm not going to do that. I admire and respect them all."

Senators in both parties said the Patriot Act lapse could have been avoided if McConnell had let the debate play out a few weeks earlier. "Senate Republicans wasted precious time as the clock ran out on key national security authority," said Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.

In a final setback Tuesday, the Senate rejected McConnell's bid to amend the House bill and force fairly minor concessions. Democrats said he was trying to save face.

McConnell gave a defiant speech, just before the final votes, attacking President Barack Obama's handling of foreign policy. "The president's efforts to dismantle our counterterrorism tools have not only been inflexible, they are especially ill-timed," he said.

While some Republicans privately groused that McConnell mishandled the surveillance issue and made it easy for Democrats to deride them, they did not suggest his leadership was damaged. And some openly defended him.

The Patriot Act lapsed "because Rand Paul refused to let the Senate function," said Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C. "I don't think it's in any way, shape or form on Mitch McConnell's shoulders."

McConnell laughed when a reporter asked if the surveillance battle damaged his leadership. "We had a divided conference on this," he said. "We knew that from the beginning, and it won't be the last time."

McConnell's handling of the surveillance issue contrasted with his savvy, behind-the-scenes maneuvering in many other matters over his 31-year Senate career. For instance, McConnell and Vice President Joe Biden negotiated a difficult end to the "fiscal cliff" tax-and-spending crisis in the first hours of 2013.

Some Republicans on Tuesday seemed eager to put the surveillance debate behind them, and to give McConnell a break. "It was a busy month," said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., pointing to a major trade bill and other legislation the Senate handled. "We just ran out of time."

But GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah was less forgiving. Congress knew for years that the Patriot Act would expire, he said in a speech Tuesday, and the Senate should have resolved the matter "long before now."

------

Associated Press writer David Espo contributed to this report.

Aiken County Dispatch confirmed Wednesday morning that one person has been ejected from their call after a rollover on Mount Calvary Road off of Johnston Highway.

S.C. Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Judd Jones said the driver, Tyrone Dozier, has been transported to an area hospital.

Jones said a 2001 GMC Jimmy was traveling south on SC 191 about 8:30 a.m. when it ran off the road to the left and overturned once. The driver was ejected from the vehicle.

The driver was not wearing a seatbelt, Jones added.

The Aiken Standard will have more as this develops.

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- A 67-year-old man who was convicted of killing four men more than three decades ago has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to keep him from becoming the oldest Texas prisoner put to death in an execution scheduled for Wednesday evening.

Lester Bower Jr. faces lethal injection for the October 1983 fatal shootings at an airplane hangar on a ranch near Sherman, about 60 miles north of Dallas. Prosecutors say he killed the four after stealing an airplane that he had been trying to buy from one of his victims.

"I do have remorse," Bower, who has maintained his innocence, told The Associated Press two weeks ago from death row. "I'm remorseful for putting my family and my wife and my friends through this.

"If this is going to bring some closure to them (the victim's family), then good. But if they think by this they're executing the person that killed their loved one, then that's going to come up a little bit short."

If the execution goes ahead, Bower would be the eighth inmate given a lethal dose of pentobarbital this year in Texas, which carries out capital punishment more than any other state.

His attorneys told the high court that jurors didn't have the opportunity in their punishment deliberations to fully consider that Bower had no previous criminal record. Attorneys also contended that the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals used an incorrect legal standard when it denied an appeal for Bower a decade ago.

"This is not a typical death penalty case," his lead lawyer, Peter Buscemi, told the justices, urging a reprieve so the court "has sufficient time" to evaluate the appeal.

Stephen Hoffman, an assistant Texas attorney general, responded that 30 years of litigation was enough and justice already had been delayed "for the four families of the men that Bower slaughtered in cold blood."

The Supreme Court declined in March to review Bower's case -- although three justices, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, said they would have thrown out his death sentence.

Bower, a chemical salesman from Arlington, was arrested and charged with capital murder after the four men were found Oct. 8, 1983.

Those killed were building contractor and B&B Ranch owner Bob Tate, 51; Grayson County Sheriff's Deputy Philip Good, 29, who sold ultralights and was trying to sell one owned by Tate; Jerry Brown, 52, a Sherman interior designer; and Ronald Mayes, 39, a former Sherman police officer.

All were "best buddies," according to Marlene Bushard, Good's wife, who planned to witness the execution.

"It's very frustrating," she said. "You move on with your life and it hits you again. I'm just looking forward to moving on."

Prosecutors built a circumstantial case that Bower, obsessed with obtaining the aircraft, stole it and shot the men as they showed up that Saturday afternoon at the hangar where Bower was to complete the purchase and where the four victims had planned to watch the Texas-Oklahoma football game on TV. Parts of the plane later were found at Bower's home.

Bower initially lied to his wife, who didn't want him to buy the plane, and to investigators who tracked him down from calls made to Good that were charged to Bower's company-issued telephone credit card. He eventually acknowledged being at the ranch, but said the victims were alive and well when he left with the disassembled plane that he properly bought, but could produce no receipt. His attorneys suggested years later that other men involved in a drug deal gone bad were responsible for the shootings.

Bower is nearly 11/2 years older than William Chappell, who was executed at age 66 in Texas in 2002. Nationally, a 74-year-old prisoner was put to death in Alabama in 2004. Only one other executed prisoner in Texas served more time on death row than Bower, who is 10th in seniority among Texas' 265 condemned inmates.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Gov. Nikki Haley wants a legislative panel to approve borrowing $123 million for promised infrastructure for Volvo, even though legislators want to pay for most of it in cash.

Haley insists that the Joint Bond Review Committee authorize borrowing the full amount. She says Volvo wants the roadwork and site preparation funded that way, though legislators question why Volvo would care. Volvo officials are not commenting.

The committee is considering the request Wednesday. Committee chairman Sen. Hugh Leatherman says he cannot support a financing arrangement that requires paying $87 million in interest to borrow $123 million.

Haley points to letters of support Leatherman and House Speaker Jay Lucas provided in April.

Leatherman says that was before a revenue windfall became available and before he was provided details on the terms.

A $4.1 million appropriation in disaster relief funding recently passed in the S.C. Senate's version of the state budget was rejected last week by the S.C. House, leaving those aide dollars in question for local governments, including Aiken County.

The relief dollars are associated with the ice storm known as Pax that hit Aiken County and other counties in the state in February 2014. Aiken County would be set to gain about $1.6 million, the City of Aiken about $100,000, and North Augusta roughly $38,000 if the Senate's version of the budget is moved forward.

Since the House didn't concur with the Senate's bill last week, the budget is now being considered in conference committee, which involves legislators from both chambers of the General Assembly being tasked with resolving disagreements over the bill. Sen. Tom Young, R-S.C., said he is hoping the conference committee will adopt the Senate's version of the budget to insure those reimbursement dollars are provided to local governments impacted by the storm.

"The non-federal state local match reimbursement from the state to the local governments impacted by the ice storm is very important to not only Aiken County, but several other local governments within Aiken County," Young said. "Our delegation strongly believes and supports the inclusion of those reimbursement monies in the final version of the budget."

The legislative session is set to adjourn Thursday at 5 p.m., creating a clear time frame for legislators to work out the details of the budget.

However, according to S.C. Rep. Bill Taylor, R-Aiken, measures that have moved as far along in the legislative process to be in conference committee are still "alive and well" and can be considered after the session adjourns.

After the February 2014 ice storm that took down trees and cut electricity and power to thousands of homes in the county,

Aiken County officials spent a total of about $33.2 million to pick up more than 1 million cubic yards of debris and enact recovery and emergency services. The City of Aiken spent about $2 million. Aiken County has received federal reimbursement of about $26 million out of the expected $27 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, according to County Administrator Clay Killian. That left the County paying about $6.1 million out of pocket without the state's match.

Michael Ulmer is the opinions page editor for the Aiken Standard. Follow him on Twitter @MikeUlmer.

An Augusta man is facing drug charges after a traffic stop on S.C. 118 early Wednesday morning, according to the Aiken County Sheriff's Office.

Anthony Cantwell, 28, was arrested after a traffic stop at 2:13 a.m. was initiated because Cantwell's vehicle did not have headlights on, according to reports.

Deputies followed the vehicle from American Hearth Inn on U.S. Highway 1 and headed south towards Aiken, police said.

During the stop, deputies ran the information given to them by the driver when he drove off at a high rate of speed, according to reports.

The chase ended at 3845 Richland Ave. where the vehicle struck a fence and went through it.

The vehicle was unoccupied but was still moving and was wedged against the steel framing of an air conditioning unit of the building on the driver's side, according to reports.

Deputies pursued Cantwell to the American Hearth Inn and found him in a room where he was taken into custody, police said.

Deputies found he had outstanding warrants from several agencies, according to reports. A witness told deputies Cantwell had been using methamphetamine in the hotel room and consented a search of the room, according to the report.

A substance was located inside a black eyeglass case that was thought to be methamphetamine, according to police.

Cantwell was placed in the Aiken County detention center where he remained Wednesday morning.

A Warrenville man disturbed Houndslake Drive Inn guests Tuesday morning by burning plants on the property.

The man was placed on trespass notice from the club after Aiken Department of Public Safety officers responded to a disturbance call at 11:29 a.m.

Officers reported they had dealt with the man before and stated that he suffers from mental problems.

Officers met with a man who said the subject had been yelling at the employees and "was making people feel very uncomfortable by ... setting pinecones on fire," according to reports.

Officers found the man at the tennis courts where he told officers he wanted a taxi to take him to the DMV office, police said.

A taxi arrived and took the man away. No arrest was made, according to reports.

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- A Georgia woman is accused of locking her 13-year-old son out of the house overnight as punishment for missing his curfew, leaving him to sleep on the concrete patio in the backyard.

Antonia Folsom was arrested May 26 on a charge of deprivation of a minor, according to an incident report from the Richmond County Sheriff's Office.

Folsom didn't immediately return a phone message left Wednesday at the number listed for her in the report.

Folsom's son told a sheriff's deputy that he had returned home after his 9 p.m. curfew the night before and found the doors locked. His mother came to the door and told him she was tired of him coming home late and that he should find somewhere else to go, the teen told the deputy.

The teen's 15-year-old brother gave him a pillow and blanket without their mother's permission. The teen said he continued to knock on the door but got no response and had to sleep on the backyard patio.

Folsom left for work the next morning and told her older son not to let his brother inside, the report says.

The deputy spoke to Folsom that day when she returned home at about 3:15 p.m. She told the deputy that her son didn't return home by curfew and that she didn't know where he was. She said she hadn't spoken to her son but did see him walking around in the yard the night before.

In a written statement, she said she saw her son kick a trash can around 11 p.m. the night before and told him to come inside but that he ignored her and left.

Folsom was arrested and booked into the county jail. She was released at 6:30 a.m. May 28 after posting $1,300 bond.

Folsom's children were turned over to their grandmother.

Little Rosie isn't one of a kind, but there aren't many like her around.

The pretty roan mare is a Marsh Tacky horse. There are only about 300 others of her breed in existence.

A recent arrival to Aiken from the Lowcountry, Little Rosie belongs to Jane Gunnell and is boarded at Freddie Gilligan's Foxchase Stable on Huntsman Drive.

"She's 8 years old, and she's already had two beautiful foals," Gunnell said. "I'll ride her in Hitchcock Woods, and I plan to take her out fox hunting. I also want to breed her, eventually."

Marsh Tackies, which generally are 13.2 to 15 hands tall at the withers, are the descendants of horses brought to this country by Spanish explorers as early as the 1500s. The animals were used as packhorses on Native American trade routes.

During the Revolutionary War, some of the men who served under American officer Francis Marion rode Marsh Tackies, and the horses also served as mounts for Civil War soldiers. Members of beach patrols in World War II rode the sure-footed horses while looking for signs of German boats and enemy troop or spy landings.

"They're strong, gentle and as smart as whips," Gunnell said. "They look at things, but don't shy at them. They're very hardy, and they've pulled plows and wagons. They can get themselves out of any kind of trouble in the marshes that larger horses can't deal with."

The Marsh Tacky used to be the most common horse along the coast of the Palmetto State and Georgia. The animals lived in feral herds, and people rounded them up when they needed horses to ride.

The breed's numbers dwindled, however, as the automobile became more popular as a form of transportation during the 20th century. At one point, Marsh Tackies were thought to be extinct, but a DNA testing effort, spearheaded by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy and the Equus Survival Trust, showed that the horses hadn't died out completely.

The two organizations consider Marsh Tackies to be critically endangered. In 2010, the South Carolina legislature passed a bill that made the Marsh Tacky the State Heritage Horse.

Real estate broker Billy Benton bought Little Rosie for Gunnell in April from Marsh Tacky breeder Ricky Warren, who lives in Ravenel. The mare's registered name is Ms. Dan.

Both Benton and Gunnell, who have been together for more than 20 years, are now lifetime members of the Carolina Marsh Tacky Association.

"I have an affinity for species that are on their way out," Gunnell said. "They are especially interesting to me."

Gunnell and Benton are known for their efforts to breed, preserve and promote Carolina dogs, which also are called Dixie dingoes.

"We have worked so hard to save the dogs, and now maybe we can help out with saving these horses," Gunnell said. "We have a beautiful place, Banbury Cross Farm, where we could breed them. That would be really cool."

Dede Biles is a general assignment reporter for the Aiken Standard and has been with the newspaper since January 2013. A native of Concord, N.C., she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

A water boil advisory that went into effect on June 1 in Warrenville and Gloverville has been lifted.

The Valley Public Service Authority released a statement Wednesday afternoon to advise customers that they no longer need to boil their water prior to drinking or cooking. The advisory was in effect because employees were repairing a broken water main in the Pleasant Pointe subdivision area.

"Following an intense flushing of the distribution system, bacteriological samples were collected and analyzed by Breezy Hill Laboratories," the release read. "The results of the sampling indicate that the water is safe to use for drinking and cooking purposes."

Customers can contact Valley Public Service Authority with any questions at 803-593-2053.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The problem of unintended shipments of potentially live anthrax spores over the past decade is worse than first believed, officials said Wednesday.

Officials said it's possible that shipments were sent to more than four dozen laboratories in the U.S. and abroad. That's about twice the estimate of last week.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss specifics by name.

The Pentagon has repeatedly asserted that the mistakes posed no public health hazard.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is leading an investigation of the matter.

Details on the extent of the problem are expected to be presented at a news conference Wednesday by Robert Work, the deputy defense secretary. Last Friday Work ordered a comprehensive review of laboratory procedures associated with killing, or inactivating, live anthrax for shipment to labs for research and other purposes, including for calibrating biological threat sensors such as those used by a number of federal government agencies, including the Pentagon.

The scope of the problem has grown almost daily since the Pentagon first acknowledged it publicly last Wednesday.

The initial focus was on procedures used at an Army laboratory at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, which shipped live anthrax samples that it believed had been killed through the use of radiation. It remains unclear why well-established procedures for killing the spores apparently did not work, at least with some batches of the bacteria.

Among the government labs identified in recent days as having received the suspect anthrax were the Army's Edgewood Chemical Biological Center in Maryland and the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Virginia, as well as a lab on the grounds of the Pentagon.

Officials said that the Edgewood lab sent some of the samples it had received from Dugway to other labs in the U.S.

On Tuesday, in its most recent update, the Pentagon said potentially live anthrax samples had been mistakenly sent to labs in California, Virginia, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Delaware and Washington state. Also receiving suspect samples were labs in Australia, Canada and South Korea.

On Sunday, Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters while traveling in Asia that the mistaken shipments were an "unfortunate incident." He said the Pentagon will make "sure that any public health consequences of this are avoided" and ensure that it never happens again.

The Centers for Disease Control of Prevention said last week that four people at labs in Delaware, Texas and Wisconsin were recommended to get antibiotics as a precaution, although they were not sick. U.S. officials at Osan Air Base in South Korea said 22 people were being treated for possible exposure there after word surfaced that an Osan lab was among the facilities that received suspect anthrax.

According to the Aiken County Sheriff's Office:

A Beech Island woman reported Tuesday a man became irate and broke furniture and threw items at her at her home on Bell Drive.

A Beech Island woman pressed charges against her boyfriend Tuesday after he reportedly punched her in the mouth during a fight on Turner Street.

A Langley woman reported Tuesday her medicine had been stolen from her home on Venable Circle.

An Aiken woman reported her Social Security information had been stolen from her home on Nautilus Street.

A Batesburg woman reported Tuesday an unknown suspect vandalized the power box and stole a water pump assembly on her property on Holder Road.

An Aiken woman reported Tuesday her house on Snipes Pond Road had been broken into and items were missing.

A North Augusta man reported Tuesday his vehicle had been broken into while it was parked on Fox Creek Drive. A gun was reported missing.

A North Augusta woman reported Tuesday someone scratched the bumper on her vehicle at Shannon Drive.

A North Augusta man reported Tuesday an unknown suspect broke into vehicles parked on Thornwood Drive and stole items including a firearm.

According to Aiken Department of Public Safety:

A woman was arrested Tuesday for refusing to leave a bar on Richland Avenue. The woman was already on trespass notice.

On Tuesday, a man reported that his apartment on Silver Bluff Road had been broken into and items were missing.

A man was arrested and charged with criminal domestic violence Monday for getting into a physical fight with family members and his girlfriend on Powderhouse Road.

A woman reported Tuesday her keys were stolen while she was at a store on Whiskey Road.

A man was caught Tuesday shoplifting pants from a store on Whiskey Road.

A man was caught on camera Tuesday stealing several items from a store on Whiskey Road.

A woman reported Tuesday her Social Security card and bank information had been stolen from her home on York Street.

These are the bookings recorded for the Doris C. Gravat Detention Center for June 2, 2015. Some of the people listed may not have actually spent time in jail if they posted bond and were released. Although those listed have been arrested and charged, that does not mean they have been found guilty. All bookings may be viewed online by visiting www.aikenstandard.com and clicking on the "Crime" tab.

Jessica Campbell Blackmon, 37 — malicious injury to real property, disorderly conduct, violation of a restraining order

Adam Shane Ledford, 32 — possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a violent felony, unlawful carrying of a pistol

Robert Edward Raimondi, 24 — breach of trust less than $2,000

Kimani DeShaun Thomas, 40 — hold per National Crime Information Center for Charleston County Sheriff's Office, driving under the influence bench warrant

Larry Edward Callahan Sr., 69 — fraudulent check $500 or less first offense

Antonio Demont Abney, 28 — violation of probation

Terry Franklin Richardson, 51 — violation of probation

Ronnie Gerald Shealy, 26 — driving under the influence bench warrant contempt

Bruce Tillman Mundy Jr., 45 — criminal domestic violence

Kyle Alexander Redd, 24 — driving under suspension commitment

Myron Jaivon Johnson, 17 — possession of stolen goods

Robin Michelle Priester, 22 — malicious injury to animals or property $1,000 or less

Earnest Sherrod Croft, 24 — false information to police bench warrant, driving under the influence bench warrant

Robert Joe Louis Jackson, 64 — driving under the influence bench warrant, unlawfully carrying a pistol bondsman off bond, transportation of open liquor in a vehicle bondsman off bond, driving under suspension bondsman off bond, improper vehicle license bondsman off bond, driving under the influence bondsman off bond, improper vehicle tag bench warrant, driving under suspension bench warrant, Alcohol Beverage Control violation bench warrant

Orlando Lee Hatcher, 33 — possession with intent to distribute cocaine within a half-mile of a school/park, possession with intent to distribute marijuana within a half-mile of a school, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, failure to comply, disorderly conduct, violation of parole, violation of probation, possession with intent to distribute cocaine first offense

Christopher Joseph Griffin, 21 — assault and battery third degree

Lee Anthony Holmes, 35 — discharging a firearm in the City

The North Augusta Chamber of Commerce is set to host Gov. Nikki Haley.

Haley will speak at the Chamber's Business Power Lunch on Tuesday.

Haley "will share her views on state infrastructure and workforce development, as well as how our community can better support the state's priorities," according to a release from the Chamber.

The lunch "provides Chamber members the opportunity to hear views and insights on economic trends, stay informed on issues relevant to the business community, and network with other professionals."

The event will start at 11:30 a.m. at the Palmetto Terrace, top floor of the North Augusta Municipal Building, 100 Georgia Ave., North Augusta.

For Chamber members, the cost is $35 for an individual and $300 for a table of eight. For non-members, it is $50 for an individual and $425 for a table of eight.

Pre-registration is required. To register, email Jessica Hanson at jessica@northaugustachamber.org or call 803-279-2323.

The event is presented by SRP Federal Credit Union, Georgia Regents University, EDTS, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, Southern Bank & Trust, SME CPAs, Savannah River Remediation LLC and the Kenneth Shuler Schools of Cosmetology.

Many young people will find a possible career path while in high school. Dr. Thayer McGahee was 4 years old when she chose nursing.

"I got a little golden book called 'Nurse Nancy,'" said the new School of Nursing dean at USC Aiken. "It stayed with me when I got older. I knew I wanted to work with children in pediatric nursing."

McGahee has been serving as the interim dean for the past two years. She joined the USCA faculty in 2005 after spending 24 years in academic and clinical practice at the Medical College of Georgia.

She arrived at Vanderbilt University after high school, where she was challenged to go into medicine; but she liked the bedside aspect of being with patients.

At MCG, McGahee relished all the aspects of nursing - including teaching the parents of young patients in the areas of treatment, discharge and care at home.

In addition to her work as a clinical nurse at MCG, McGahee served on the nursing faculty. She earned a master's degree from the University of South Carolina and earned a Ph.D. in nursing. She wrote her dissertation in 1998 on the importance of smoking prevention for children as young as fourth grade.

Ten years ago, McGahee decided she was ready to teach full-time. She found in USCA's School of Nursing a place she would stay until retirement.

McGahee's research focuses on service learning and its cognitive and affective development of nursing students, according to a USCA press release. She currently holds the lone Wells Hanly/Bank of America Endowed Chair for Nursing.

McGahee finds her greatest joy in supporting the students - knowing them personally and mentoring them to become successful.

"It's a really tough program," she said. "There is a lot of emotion in dealing with sick people. The students have to learn how to handle sickness and even death. The courses are science-based with a lot of critical thinking, but you can never lose the heart of nursing. ... You want to treat patients as you would want people you love treated."

USCA's program is outstanding and is poised to grow and improve over the new few years, McGahee said in the press release.

The university is partnering with technical colleges - including Aiken Technical College - to see higher numbers in the transition of registered nurses to those with bachelor's degrees.

"I am committed, along with our faculty, to work efficiently and utilize our resources to continue to make USC Aiken the university of choice," McGahee said in the press release.

Senior writer Rob Novit is the Aiken Standard's education reporter.

NORTH AUGUSTA — Last week's Extreme STEAM Day was months in the making at North Augusta Middle School.

STEAM - an educational focus on science, technology, engineering, arts and math - was on display with companies from around the CSRA showing how they use STEAM principals in daily life.

"It started off with people we knew who had careers related to STEAM," said Principal Phyllis Gamble. "The big change came when we decided that everything is related to STEAM, and we started asking for anyone to come and share with our students."

Responding to the call from North Augusta Middle School were companies that make desserts, create ice sculptures, use 3-D printers, respond to trauma cases and protect our freedom.

"The genetics van from Greenwood was kind of our focal point; we knew we were going to get that today," Gamble said May 28 during the event. "We reached out to Fort Gordon, and they sent a satellite team and fiber optics team out to help us. ... We also have Small Cakes, an ice sculptor, Carpenter's, Butler Automotive - I'm sure I've missed quite a few. We have a lot of different things."

NAMS hosted a sixth-grade STEAM night earlier in the school year, which grew into Extreme STEAM Day, Gamble said.

"I wanted every kid to be able to participate, not just one grade level," Gamble said. "Extreme STEAM Day just took wings from there. The students have to figure out what are the components of STEAM in the different events they went to. They also have activities to show what they learned, like writing a thank-you note or creating a skit about what they learned. We just want them to know that STEAM is in everything - you don't have to go to college to be an engineer; there are many more things involved with engineering and technology."

For more information on North Augusta Middle School, visit www.naugm.acps.schoolfusion.us.

The City of Aiken will honor the past, present and future during its second "Our Aiken" photo contest to benefit the United Way of Aiken County.

Aiken residents can submit their photos now through June 30. Each photo is $5 to enter.

"This year, our theme is Aiken's Past, Present and Future; and, with this theme, we are hoping to get the creative juices going and are excited to see what photos we will get," said Emory Langston, the special projects coordinator with the City of Aiken.

The winning photographs will be announced and auctioned off - similar to last year - on July 30 during the City's Farmers Market in The Alley. All top winners will be highlighted in the City of Aiken's tourism materials.

One difference from last year is that the City will now allow photo submissions that have been digitally manipulated, Langston said.

"We would love to see old photographs, present images made to look old, present images enhanced, and are really excited to see what in the photographer's eye is Aiken's future and how that is represented," Langston said. "We want this to be fun and creative. We have so many talented people here in Aiken, we hope (this event) will give them an opportunity to share their work and support the United Way at the same time."

To enter, visit www.cityofaikensc.gov/photo contest.

For more information, call 803-642-7723.

Maayan Schechter is the local government reporter with Aiken Standard. An Atlanta native, she has a mass communications-journalism degree with the University of North Carolina Asheville. Follow her on Twitter @MaayanSchechter.