Richmond County, GA | featured news

Two people are facing charges after taking clothes from the donation area at the Columbia County Goodwill without permission.
This is the second case at the location in less than a month.
On Monday, deputies were called to the store at 4074 Washington Road about 6:30 a.m. after a witness observed a couple taking items from the donation drop off area and putting them into a vehicle. A review of surveillance video confirmed the store.

ATHENS, Ga. -- Carey Williams Jr. drove into Watkinsville Saturday to take a red velvet cake to a friend whose wife had died, but a stroke of good fortune happened on his way home to Greensboro.
Almost out of gasoline, Williams recalled Wednesday that he stopped by the Golden Pantry on Greensboro Highway and purchased $20 worth of gas and $40 worth of lottery tickets for Fantasy Five.
The next morning, Williams, who owns The Herald-Journal newspaper in Greensboro, called a friend.

NEWBERRY, S.C. — Two South Carolina teens have been charged after a school resource officer and a bus driver were attacked during a school bus fight.

Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster said in a statement that two 14-year-old boys started fighting on a bus Wednesday morning. The sheriff said the school resource officer got on the bus and tried to help the bus driver break up the fight.
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Augusta’s first Sales Tax 7 building project is scheduled to open in January, and Kate Mason couldn’t be happier.
“We are walking into paradise here,” said Mason, the Augusta Public Defender. “The clients will be less stressed. … It’s a great use of a wonderful old building.”
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A second meeting is scheduled Thursday on an update being made to Augusta’s master plan for downtown.
At Wednesday’s session on the plan, participants focused on a handful of issues.
The document is an update to the 2013 plan used by the Urban Redevelopment Agency to issue bonds to renovate the Mu­nic­ipal Building but does more, according to Planning and Development Director Melanie Wilson.

Inmates at the Richmond County jail will now have the opportunity to obtain a GED while incarcerated.
According to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, it hopes the program will equip inmates with the competencies necessary to become productive, crime-free members of society upon their release.
Studies show that inmates who participated in high school or GED programs had 30 percent lower rates of becoming a repeat offender than those who had not. Obtaining employment post release is also 13 percent higher, officials said.

A North Augusta man was arrested Tuesday after attempting to steal lingerie and alcohol from Wal-Mart.
About 9 a.m., deputies responded to the Wal-Mart on Wrightsboro Road, where Mitchell Perry Pelham, 50, was seen leaving the garden center without paying for items in his cart. According to an incident report from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, Pelham was caught taking a bra, Fanta soda, Seagram’s wine coolers, Strawbarita beer and Wicked Mango wine coolers.

The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office received reports Wednesday of a man wearing a clown mask dressed as a woman firing a gun in the Laney-Walker Boulevard area.
According to the sheriff’s office, multiple witnesses saw a black man with dreadlocks wearing a clown mask firing two to three shots in the Laney Walker and Twigg Street area about 10 a.m. When deputies arrived, witnesses told them the man had been dressed as a woman, wearing a long, white jacket and carrying a purse. The clown was last seen running toward M and M Scott on Spruce Street.

Police are investigating multiple vehicle break-ins at an Augusta hotel early Wednesday.
Deputies responded to Doubletree Hotel, 2651 Perimeter Parkway, about 6 a.m. after an employee discovered several vehicles with busted windows. According to a Richmond County Sheriff’s Office incident report, at least five vehicles belonging to out-of-towners were broken into overnight.
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Strom Thurmond remains the highest-ranked team among area South Carolina schools in the latest S.C. Prep Writers Poll released Tuesday.
The Rebels held firm at No. 4 in Class AAA after routing Midland Valley 54-7 last week. They moved to 2-1 and have two tough tests coming up in Emerald and North Augusta before starting region play.
North Augusta dropped one spot to a tie for ninth in Class AAAA after falling to Lexington 22-20 on the road this past Friday. It was the Yellow Jackets’ first loss this season.