Richmond County, GA | featured news

A proposal to eliminate Augusta’s personnel board and replace it with a multilevel dispute resolution system to handle most employee complaints is raising questions among Augusta Commission members.
Human Resources consultant and attorney Jonathan Boxer presented the plan to commissioners Wednesday as part of a 24-section rewrite of city personnel policies.
read more

Richmond County officials are investigating a suspicious death this morning.
Coroner Mark Bowen said first responders were called to 2542 C Milledgeville Road for a woman found on the front porch. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:10 a.m. and later identified as April Mims, 37, of that residence.
The death is being handled as suspicious at this time and is being investigated by the sheriff’s and coroner’s offices, Bowen said.
The GBI Crime Lab in Atlanta will do an autopsy on Mims.

Police are investigating an armed robbery and burglary at separate service stations early Tuesday.
Richmond County sheriff’s deputies were called to Chevron, 1501 Gordon Highway, about 4:20 a.m. regarding an armed robbery. A clerk told police that two men dressed in ski masks, gloves and all black clothing entered the store.
read more

Thomson’s early-season dominance has caused writers to take notice and it shows in the latest Georgia Sports Writers Association High School Football Poll released Wednesday.
The Bulldogs moved up two spots to No. 2 in Class AAAA after a 42-20 win at Jefferson in a top-10 showdown this past Friday. Jefferson was ranked third and Thomson was fourth at the time of the matchup.
The win pushed Thomson to 3-0. Its next test comes Friday at Pace Academy, which has emerged as a Class AAA power.

Tiger Woods says he hopes to play next month in the PGA Tour’s Safeway Open in Napa, Calif., his first competitive golf since August 2015.

The winner of 14 major tournaments, Woods has been recovering from back surgery and missed all four majors for the first time in his pro career.

Woods made the announcement on his website. The Safeway Open is Oct. 13-16.
read more

CARROLLTON, Ga. — FAA confirms 2 planes crash after midair collision near small airport in western Georgia; fire official says 3 dead.

ALBANY, Ga. — Authorities in southwest Georgia say a police officer and another person were sent to a hospital after an officer-involved shooting.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman Scott Dutton said Wednesday that preliminary information indicates the Albany officer shot an assailant after being stabbed.
read more

 
Rainfall amounts Friday triggered a major 1.6 million gallon wastewater spill into Augusta’s Butler Creek.
With the area receiving between four and five inches of rain Friday from Tropical Storm Hermine, around 2:30 p.m. wastewater flows exceeded pumping capacity and began flowing from the collection system at the Messerly Wastewater Treatment Plant, according to an Augusta Utilities news release.

A Hephzibah woman’s plans to perform as an exotic dancer for private parties and other places besides Augusta’s three adult entertainment venues were stopped cold Tuesday by an Augusta Commission vote.
Sharon Bush Ellison, representing herself in an appeal of being denied a city “bar card,” cited case law on obscenity and said the city’s requirement that dancers list the club where they will perform is unconstitutional and amounted to indentured servitude.

Less than a week before its accreditation appeals hearing, Augusta and Georgia community leaders came together Tuesday to show support for Paine College. Some are now working on ways to help the college obtain a $1.5 million loan or line of credit that could further bolster its argument that it has reversed its financial woes.
read more