Is it the answer to Augusta’s future budget troubles, a one percent increase in the local sales tax? It’s called a MOST, or Municipal Option Sales Tax, and next week Augusta city leaders will give the idea some serious consideration. WJBF News Channel 6’s George Eskola has the story.

The Aiken County South Carolina coroner has ruled the death of 68-year old John Barrs is suspicious.  Barrs was found in his Warrenville South Carolina home Friday morning.  Coroner Tim Carlton says that Mr. Barrs died from severe head trauma, but could not determine the type of weapon used.  Carlton says Barrs died sometime between 8pm last night and early this morning.

State Representative Hardie Davis (D-Augusta) announced his intentions Friday to resign from the Georgia House of Representatives.

Authorities say a huge generator being hauled across South Carolina to a North Carolina utility plant will be spending the next several days making it through one county.

A missing Grovetown, GA teenager has been located. Teoshma Youmans, 15, had been missing since November 10, 2009. She was last seen at her residence.

Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton tells WJBF News Channel 6 a 68-year-old Warrenville, SC man was pronounced dead Friday morning at his home after being discovered by a caretaker. Circumstances surrounding the scene are being considered suspicious, at this time.

North Augusta Public Safety Officers have found a missing 10-year-old boy on Friday morning who was reported missing Thursday night. Tyson Avery Curry was found at his father’s house.

An Augusta native is playing the lead role in what is being called one of the top ten movies of the year. The Blind Side opens Friday night, starring Glenn Hills graduate, Quinton Aaron, as Michael Oher…a homeless teen adopted by a suburban family who earns a college scholarship and is now a rookie with the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL. Quinton played one year of football at Glenn Hills before graduating in ‘03, but he mostly sang in the choir and now he’s got his first major starring role alongside Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw. And, Quinton is not the only familiar face you will see in the film…Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver plays an assistant coach to former South Carolina coach, Lou Holtz. He spent a day in June filming his big scene…Barclay Bishop talked to him about how and why he went Hollywood.

Familes, friends and other soldiers gathered at Fort Gordon on Thursday to remember Staff Sergeant Justin Decrow.

Students at USC-Aiken were encouraged Thursday to get free HIV testing while representatives from Sean’s Last Wish were there. The tests are completely confidential, and students were counseled about safe sex and sexually transmitted diseases.

It’s History In The Re-Making. Renovations are now underway on the last remaining piece of the old Confederate powderworks, the 150-foot tall chimney located on the Augusta Canal.

Augusta’s Mayor is going to be hitting the big screen Friday. Mayor Deke Copenhaver plays assistant coach to Lou Holtz in the new movie, ‘The Blind Side.‘ the movie’s star, Quinton Aaron, is also a Glenn Hills High School graduate.

She is a mother, on a mission. 28 months ago, Sean Kennedy was killed outside a bar, in Greenville, South Carolina. His mother now travels the country, spreading the message about hate crimes, and Thursday, she stopped in Aiken. WJBF News Channel 6’s Joy Howe has the story.

The tot boards spelled trouble with six flights delayed at Augusta Regional Airport. A computer glitch was clipping wings all over the country, and it had Garden City passengers grounded for a time. WJBF News Channel 6’s George Eskola has the story.

Two Atlanta television reporters are recovering from minor injuries they received when their news truck touched power lines and caused an explosion.

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a missing woman. Jessica Proctor, 20, (aka Misty) was last seen leaving her Martinez, Georgia residence on October 31st in an unknown vehicle with a female known only as Janice.

A local organization aimed at helping children and teens after school got a makeover and a big surprise, Thursday afternoon. Count on WJBF News Channel 6’s Fraendy Clervaud for the details.

Columbia, SC—One day after the South Carolina Ethics Commission announced it’s moving forward with ethics charges against Gov. Mark Sanford, the governor said he wants to amend his ethics disclosure form to report private plane flights he had not reported before.

Ethics Commission executive director Herb Hayden says the governor asked Thursday to report the previously unreported flights.

The commission has not released the details of the allegations it’s pursuing against Sanford, but we know it’s been investigating four areas: the governor’s use of state airplanes and whether he used them for family and personal reasons; his acceptance of private plane flights from friends and donors without reporting them on his ethics disclosure forms; his flying in business class on commercial flights taken on state business, when state law requires the use of the cheapest seats available; and his unexplained reimbursement to himself of more than $1,800 from his campaign account.

Butch Bowers, Sanford’s attorney, released a written statement Wednesday night saying, “We feel vindicated that the Ethics Commission’s finding of probable cause is limited to minor, technical matters that do not include any allegations of criminal conduct.“

But media attorney and open government expert Jay Bender says, “I think it’s unlikely that we’re talking about really minor violations. Did you take a plane ride and not report it? Well, the failure to report that is not a minor violation, and if that’s the probable cause, that seems hardly minor to me.“

On Thursday, Bowers issued another written statement on behalf of the governor, saying, “"The Ethics Commission reviewed 772 flights taken by Governor Sanford, and no questions were raised regarding 97% of these flights.  Similarly, the Commission examined 622 of the Governor’s campaign expenditures, and 98% of them were found to be in complete compliance with the law.  We will continue to work with the Commission, and we look forward to the opportunity to finally present our arguments and evidence to the Commission to address the few remaining questions they have.  The results of the Commission’s exhaustive investigation confirm what we have said all along – that Governor Sanford has been a good steward of public resources and has worked hard to ensure his administration adheres to both the letter and the spirit of the law.  In the meantime, in a good faith effort to move forward, Governor Sanford has decided to provide a copy of the Commission’s investigative report to Speaker Harrell next week following the Commission’s release of its notice of hearing.“

But Speaker Harrell criticized the governor Thursday for not releasing the investigative report before next week.

In a written statement, he said, “We are disappointed that Governor Sanford has broken his transparency promise by keeping this court-ordered public document secret.  After claiming to be a leader in the transparency movement and heavily criticizing others on this issue, the Governor’s insistence on secrecy goes against all his past actions on this issue.“

There’s disagreement on when the Ethics Commission’s investigative report can and should be released to the public. The commission gave a copy of the report to the governor’s attorney Wednesday night. Bender says, “If there is a waiver, once the document is released to the governor, it seems to me it has to be released to the public.“ Ethics Commission proceedings are secret unless the subject waives confidentiality, which the state Supreme Court ruled Gov. Sanford did.

The Ethics Commission says it will release details about the allegations against the governor on Monday, when it publishes a notice of hearing in the case. The first hearing will be sometime in January.

During that hearing, three of the commissioners will hear the governor and the Ethics Commission’s lawyer present evidence and call witnesses. If those three commissioners decide Sanford broke the law, he can appeal to the full nine-member commission. It will be up to Sanford to decide whether the hearing will be held in public.

It’s not even Thanksgiving, but they’re gearing up for Christmas at Bel-Ridge Baptist Church in Belvedere, South Carolina. The church is a collection spot for “Operation Christmas Child.“ The project collects shoeboxes packed with gifts for children in more than 100 impoverished countries.

A major speedbump on the information super highway, Thursday morning, delayed flights across the country, including Augusta. At Bush Field, those flying Delta in and out of Atlanta had their travel plans put on hold. The computer problems delayed three inbound and outbound flights.

State Representative Hardie Davis spoke only to WJBF News Channel 6 Thursday morning and confirmed that he will be running for former State Senator Ed Tarver’s seat.

Local schools are celebrating American Education Week, and at Meadowbrook Elementary School, students and teachers dressed up as their favorite characters from a book Wednesday.

The results are in…Martinez native Kathryn McCormick was hoping to advance to the top 12 on the TV show: ‘So You Think You Can Dance.’  America voted…and the results were announced Wednesday night: Kathryn McCormick is now in the top 12…in fact, she may have gotten the second most votes this week. WJBF News Channel 6’s Barclay Bishop watched Wednesday night’s results with Kathryn’s family.

It will soon be weekends only on the Augusta Canal. A popular stretch of the canal path will be shut down, starting next week.

An ethics panel says South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford should face a hearing into potential violations of state law found during a probe into his travel and campaign finances.

Some Aiken residents are fired up about a proposed shooting range that might be headed to their neighborhood. And, the area targeted for the project, is right down the road from an elementary school. WJBF News Channel 6’s Joy Howe has more.

It was a voter approved sales tax project…the expansion at the city jail, on Phinizy Road, but a lot more room will come at a cost at the time the city is looking at balancing the 2010 budget by cutting jail costs. WJBF News Channel 6’s George Eskola has the story.

The South Carolina state Christmas tree is up now in front of the Statehouse, and once again, it appears there are problems with the tree. People walking by the tree on Monday complained that it’s much shorter than previous trees, and it also has big bare spots around the base. But, the volunteers who bought the tree and decorate it say, not to worry. WJBF News Channel 6’s SC Capitol reporter, Robert Kittle tells us what happened…and how it’ll be fixed.

DHEC H1N1 clinics have been scheduled in some Aiken County schools, for November and December. This list does not include all Aiken County schools, as the Aiken County Board of Education has not received available dates from DHEC for January, but all Aiken County schools will be holding H1N1 vaccine clinics.

A passenger train hit a vehicle late Monday night near Hardeeville, South Carolina, killing several people.  Ted Felder, interim city manager for the city of Hardeeville says a vehicle was apparently trying to go around the arms of a crossing gate that was down and did not make it.  He says the vehicle was then dragged around a mile down the track.  At a press conference Hardeeville Fire Chief Dan Morgan confirmed that 4 people were killed in the accident.