Richmond County, GA | featured news

Twenty people identified as Irish Travelers living in Murphy Village in Aiken County have been charged in a 45-count indictment under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
Click here to read the indictment

The Georgia Sports Writers Association released its preseason high school football poll Tuesday, featuring a couple of area teams.
Jefferson County is the highest ranked among local programs in its respective classification at No. 6 in Class AA. The Warriors went 11-3 and reached the state semifinals last year, and they expect to have another successful season with a high-flying offense and strong defensive front.
read more

An Augusta man has been charged with operating a chop shop after police found a stolen vehicle in pieces at his Richmond Hill Road home.
Dion Devon Williams, 30, was booked into the Richmond County jail Monday on charges of operating a chop shop and theft by receiving stolen property.
read more

Big changes and big programs of which the public may not be aware are the topic of a series of city of Augusta forums.
The sessions, which begin Wednesday at Gracewood Community Center, will cover changes - effective Jan. 1, 2017 - in Augusta’s animal services ordinance that include a mandatory $10 registration fee for owners who don’t spay or neuter their pets and a ban on unsupervised tethering of animals to fixed objects.

Three people are facing charges in connection to a string of entering automobile incidents over the weekend.
Martez Raheem Williams, 19, of Shamrock Drive; Quentin Lowell Fielding, 23, of Grand Boulevard; and Kitana Monique Long, 18, of Barton Drive, are facing five felony counts of entering an automobile.
read more

ATLANTA — Authorities are investigating after a woman says she was sexually assaulted by an Uber driver after leaving an Atlanta bar.

News outlets report Atlanta police say the victim told officers she was leaving the Park Bench Pub around 2:30 a.m. Saturday when she called an Uber to get a ride home.
read more

ATHENS, Ga. -- The hacker who infiltrated Athens Orthopedic Clinic’s computer system and gained access to more than 200,000 patient records is being identified in published reports as “The Dark Overlord,” who claims to have broken into a number of healthcare databases and obtained millions of personal records.
read more

Despite ongoing issues between the Augusta Commission and the Richmond County Board of Asses­sors, Mayor Pro Tem Grady Smith is pushing to reappoint longtime board Chairman Charles Smith.
Grady Smith said he was contacted by other assessors board members asking him to reappoint Smith, who is no relation to the Super Dis­trict 10 commissioner.
“He’s got the deep respect of the board,” Grady Smith said. “You can’t just put old Tom, Dick and Harry on there.”

A Swainsboro, Ga., teen and Waynesboro man died after a two-vehicle collision in Burke County late Saturday.
read more

A Richmond County sheriff’s deputy and investigator crashed into one another downtown Sunday morning while pursing a man with a knife.
Lt. Allan Rollins said multiple units in the downtown area were responding to a suspect with a knife, but more extensive details on that case are not available yet.
Sgt. Paul Godden and Deputy Charles Norton had their lights and sirens on in the crash, which injured both men. Details on the injuries were not available, but officials said they were not serious.