Richmond County, GA | featured news

Facing a crush of new and sicker patients coming in through its emergency department, University Hospital moved Thursday to add more monitored beds and upgrade its patient monitoring system.
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A verdict is expected today for an Augusta man accused of vehicular homicide in the death of a bicyclist more than three years ago.
Christopher Provost, 39, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide in the 2013 death of 42-year-old Dennis Skillman on Mike Padgett Highway.
Provost waived his right to a jury trial in Richmond County Superior Court, opting instead for a bench trial before Judge J. David Roper.

 
The funeral for Waynesboro Mayor Pauline Jenkins will take place Sept. 3 at Burke County High School.
The service will be at 11 a.m., according to Phinazee & Son Funeral Home.
Jenkins, who was Waynesboro’s first black and female mayor, died Wednesday after an illness. Waynesboro’s vice mayor, Herman Brown, will serve as interim mayor, City Manager Jerry Coalson said.

 
A Gordon Highway Subway employee who fatally shot an alleged robber at the restaurant while defending her 14-year-old son will not face criminal charges.
According to Richmond County Lt. Allan Rollins, Kovedia Williams, 36, was acting in self-defense when she killed Cornelius Harrison, 24, on Sunday afternoon. Another suspect in the attempted robbery, Howard Maurice Harris, 23, was arrested Monday.
“Everything is reviewable by the district attorney’s office but we are not pressing charges,” Rollins said.

Associated Press
DECATUR, Ga. — Authorities say a   Georgia   man has been arrested after he fired at gun at a suburban Atlanta police officer during a traffic stop.
DeKalb County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Cynthia Williams says in a news release that authorities arrested 24-year-old Tamarcus Gresham of Lithonia on an aggravated assault charge in connection with Wednesday's incident.
Officials say an officer saw a car with a loose license plate and initiated the stop. Gresham was a passenger in the vehicle.

COLUMBIA  — The emergency-medicine training program at the University of South   Carolina   School of Medicine violates federal law by using live animals, according to a complaint filed Thursday by a doctors group that seeks alternatives to using animals in medical education and research.

Terry Dickson
Georgia Times-Union

BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- A city police report describes the theft of 70 flags from the graves of Confederate veterans at Oak Grove Cemetery as theft of property.
Two officers of a Sons of Confederate Veterans camp say it was a desecration considering Congress long ago conferred the same status on the Confederate dead as other U.S. veterans.
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Officials are assessing damage caused by someone spinning their tires at Blanchard Woods Park to determine if charges will be filed.
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Not far from the entrance to Oak Hall, two signs were planted on opposite sides of each door. The banners read: Welcome home.
With more than 150 guests in attendance, Oak Hall and Elm Hall were officially unveiled to the public Wednesday afternoon with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Augusta University’s Health Sciences campus. Among those in attendance were school President Brooks Keel and Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis.
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After several delays, a problematic Harrisburg rooming house has again delayed having its day in court.
Chief Magistrate Judge Wil­liam D. Jennings said Wednesday that he agreed to a continuance sought by Freddie Sanders, the attorney for Mercy Ministries, to allow city agencies to look at “repairs and renovations that have been made.”
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