Aiken Standard (Newspaper) - February 4, 1999, Aiken, South Carolina Republicans struggle over trial Page 2A Amen w 1997 A I K E N Baseball Pacers ready for opening of 1999 season Page 8A Vol 133 No 35 Aiken South Carolina Thursday February 41999 Mace prepares for life in prison BY SHARON TAYLOR Travis Mace realizes that he will spend the rest of his adult life in prison but says the sentence is not fair for someone who basically broke a window I really havent hurt anybody except myself said the 27 yearold Aiken man from Allendale tional Facility Wednesday Theyre trying to give me a life sentence on the first degree burglary charge under the third strike law Mace who has been in and out of jail for burglaries since his teens broke out of the Aiken County Deten tion Center last July and eluded law enforcement for a week He stole a car and a gun and rammed patrol cars from Aiken County and Rich mond County during a chase and hid out in a home in Beech Island for three days before being captured I just wanted to see my girlfriend and my family which I didnt get to do he said I wasnt going to hurt anyone with the gun I left it at the first house I was in I was going to sell it I was straight the whole time I was scared and running They law enforcement had what looked like machine guns I watched the whole thing on TV while hiding out in a home in Beech Mace said he is sorry for what he put the people in Beech Island through with the helicopters blood hounds and all of the law enforce ment agencies during the search Mace will be sentenced for his crimes next week in Aiken County and expects to go back to the Allen dale prison In prison Mace is on cleanup duty and lives in a dorm He gets a week for the canteen and is allowed four phone calls a month and four visits a month Mace will undergo treatment for his cocaine drug addiction at the prison then be turned back into the general population there He said this Please see MACE page 5A Mace Wildlife worker injured BY SHARON TAYLOR A wildlife technician was injured by a rocket attached to a turkey capture net at Savannah River Site on Tuesday Marcia Dunn 37 of Aiken was working on the nets with her supervisor Mike Caudill about noon when the accident occurred The camouflage nets are equipped with three rockets that shoot the 4060 foot net about 45 feet over wild turkeys The turkeys are then transferred to a different location tff keep the pop growing A spokesman with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources said hi working with the nets Ms Dunn and Caudill had spliced a wire but had not disconnected the battery One of the rockets discharged at nearly point blank range into Ms Dunn Because it discharged so close to her it didnt have time to build up much momentum said Mike Reel of the Reel did not know what part of Ms Dunns the body was injured but there was a concern about internal injuries Caudill brought Ms Dunn out of the woods to the Jackson gate of SRS where she was transferred to an Aiken County ambulance She was kept at Aiken Regional Medical Center overnight for observation and was released Wednesday Reel said the has been tracking turkeys since the 1950s and has used the nets for years without an incident He said this was the first accident associated with the program Index Dear Deaths Alan Broadwater Clarks Hill Rivana S Davis Norway Beulah Mae Goodwin New York Mary E Nelson Aiken Lurlean J Samuel Columbia Obituary notices on page 2B Ga lottery Wednesdays winning numbers Cub 3 Midday 332 Cub 3 Evening 993 4 4375 S 113142429 Staff photo by Scott Webster Robert Wooley left and Will Spencer with relatives in the audience are part of the American Boychoir which performed Wednesday night at First Baptist Church Choir brings sound to Aiken performance By RON BAXLEY For one evening visitors filled the sanctuary of First Baptist Church of Aiken to experience what cathedral visitors in Europe have been for a sig part of this millennium the flutelike sounds of a boy choir The American Boychoir has the sound of tradi tional boy choirs such as the Vienna Boys Choir and the Kings College Choir with a few tions Craig Denison associate music director and conductor of the American Boychoir said Because were an American choir we do a lot of different styles of music We try to be adaptable to the styles that were singing The program for the evening performance Wednesday ran the gamut from an arrangement by Henry Leek of South African Songs with the boys drumming African drums stomping and making distinctive cultural sounds to the Baroque traditional Zadok the Priest by GF Handel There are those who have heard the touring choir of the American Boychoir which was spon sored by the Aiken Preparatory School day evening before Not only did the choir of ing youths come here two years ago for a concert during a school assembly but a few Aiken Coun see CHOIR page 3A Gambling referendum questioned Associated Press COLUMBIA House Republi cans say they will not play the Democrats game of heads I win tails you lose What I think has occurred is another trick Rep Rick Quinn said Wednesday of the proposal for a gambling referendum next year As the ballot question is word ed a yes vote means the state con would be amended to legalize video gambling A no vote means the constitution which does not include specific language on video poker would not be changed The state Supreme Court has ruled the constitutions tery clause does not apply to video gambling The amendments wording would let voters legalize the industry or leave it as it is now but not ban it complained House Majority Leader Bobby Harrell Protectors of the industry like Governor Hodges have obviously framed a question that makes the industry stronger or leaves it sta tus quo Harrell said The Sen ate on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a that calls for video gambling and lottery referen dums in November 2000 the next general election A lottery What I think has occurred is another trick Rep Rick Quinn requires a constitutional amend ment and must be voted on then Republicans who control the House and have tried to ban video gambling do not want the ques tion on a general election ballot because the industrys clout helped get Demo cratic Gov Jim Hodges elected House Speaker David Wilkins said he would decide today if the ballot question was improperly worded and must be sent back to the Senate for reworking Several Republicans helped fashion the Senate Sen David Thomas of Fountain Inn whose amendment tied the video Please see GAMBLING page 5A Burglar gets life sentence By CARL LANGLEY An Aiken man with a criminal history dating back to 1973 was found guilty of first degree bur glary Wednesday and was sen to life in prison Judge Gary Clary imposed the maximum penalty on David High tower 43 and added a consecutive 10year sentence for grand larce ny Hightower whose defense apparently was doomed by a and stolen jewelry had little to say at the sentencing other than he did not consider himself guilty Deputy Solicitor Lawrence Brown said the state still has a number of first degree burglary cases and grand larceny charges pending Brown who prosecuted the case did not indicate what action annexation opponents meet tonight would be taken with them Hightower was tried for break ing into the home of Colin and Linda Gordy on Sudlow Lake Road on Feb 9 1998 and stealing jewelry several bills and guns Mrs Gordy told the judge she hoped a maximum sentence could be imposed in order to spare oth ers the trauma she had been through Mrs Gordy was at a store shop ping when her home was entered Her husband said his wife was fortunate in that she did not return home to confront the bur glar in the house Brown said a man was seen leaving the Gordy home at the time of the burglary and police were summoned He said that man was Hightower Please sco BURGLAR page 3A By CARL LANGLEY Mayor Hector Rodridguez said Tuesday that town officials have no intention of forcing annexa tion on any property owner Rodridguez was asked to respond to claims being made about annexation procedures in the small Midland Valley town Clearwater businessman Lon nie Reeves said a meeting is being held at 7 pm today at Woodridge Baptist Church to protest annexa tion Reeves and his supporters claim that officials are on an annexation binge and they have hinted that state laws governing municipal expansion are not being followed We dont need said Reeves Monday while pro ducing an annexation protest flier and maps showing how Bur has grown in recent Meeting tonight 7 pm Woodridge Baptist Church years Reeves said annexation means higher fees for power and tele phone service and putting resi dents at the mercy of a govern ment whose charter gives it the right to impose taxes at will does not levy a per sonal property tax but receives revenues from the state and utili ty franchise fees The mayor and four council members do not receive pay Reeves said the Woodridge area has paved streets street lights fire protection and law enforce ment and does not need Burnet town I dont know why they are doing that Rodriguez said about the protest meeting If they want to come into town that is up to them Rodridguez said several resi dents of the Woodridge area peti to join but they let the paperwork lapse The only thing we do is get them the maps said the mayor They have to get up the annexa tion petition We dont go door to door and we dont petition Rodridguez pointed out that any citizen whose property adjoins a corporate limit can peti tion for inclusion but he noted that large scale annexation requires 75 percent of the proper ty owners in an area defined by a properly drawn map The mayor said the towns books and official records are open to the public and anyone with questions about annexation can come to the town hall and check out the situation Thats why I have not respond ed to them Rodridguez said
