Latest News

Committee tells commissioners they shouldn't do work for city

Susan McCord — Wed, 22 May 2013 00:46:40 +0000

Augusta commissioners won't be allowed to work as contractors for the city under any circumstances, a subcommittee charged with reviewing the issue decided Tuesday.

The subcommittee of four commissioners had the support of three others who sat in, with the exception of Commissioner Grady Smith, who owns a plumbing company with his brother.

"Y'all are smart. You got in another business besides construction," Smith said. "You don't have to lay awake at night thinking about who you may have to lay off."

Columbia County rejects townhomes

Barry L. Paschal — Wed, 22 May 2013 00:31:26 +0000

Columbia County commissioners Tuesday rejected a developer’s request to turn a failed professional park in Evans into townhomes.

With a unanimous vote, commissioners turned down the rezoning of the site on Furys Ferry Road next to Oakbrook subdivision that would have allowed developer Joe Todd to build 26 townhomes.

“It just doesn’t seem compatible” with neighboring homes, said County Commission Chairman Ron Cross.

2 arrested in Beech Island barber shop shooting

Wesley Brown — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:59:22 +0000

Zannie Worrell knew everyone in Beech Island. With each classic cut, the barber served up a laugh, smile and joke before parting ways with his customers.

On Sunday at Worrell’s hair parlor on Sand Bar Ferry Road, there was no joy.

Smiles turned to sadness and laughter turned to tears as more than 300 people said goodbye to Worrell, a 32-year-old soon-to-be father who was shot dead in an armed robbery Saturday afternoon.

Kayaker injured in rapids accident

Scott Rouch — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:02:58 +0000

Three kayakers survived being sucked through the Augusta Canal Headgates on Tuesday afternoon.

Three kayaks – an instructor and a husband and wife – were paddling near Savannah Rapids Pavilion when they were sucked through the gates that channel the Savannah River into the canal. Their names were not released.

Terry Anthony, an Augusta Utilities employee working at the Lock and Dam, said she saw the kayakers and tried to direct them away, but the current carried them through the headgates.

Southern Co. expects to face environmental challenges

Walter C. Jones — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:48:10 +0000

ATLANTA – Members of the environmental group the Sierra Club plan to use Wednesday’s Southern Co. annual shareholder meeting as an opportunity to grill executives about construction overruns and renewable energy.

Annual corporate meetings give shareholders the chance to raise concerns about their investment, but special-interest groups in recent years have used them as a way to publicize issues and needle executives they disagree with.

Women's semi-pro team will play out of Augusta

David Lee — Tue, 21 May 2013 20:41:00 +0000

Along with the two Georgia-Lina Hurricanes semi-professional basketball teams, a third semi-pro team will play out of Augusta this season.

The Atlanta Lady Tarheels will join the Lady Hurricanes in the Women’s Blue Chip Basketball League, the team announced Tuesday. Both teams will use Paine College’s HEAL Complex as their home venue.

The two women’s teams began their seasons May 4. The Lady Hurricanes are 1-1 and the Lady Tarheels are 0-3.

Savannah River Remediation scholarships announced

Staff — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:21:42 +0000

Students from Richmond, Columbia and Aiken counties are among recipients of 2013 Savannah River Remediation Family Scholarships awarded to local high school graduates.

Each student received $3,000 after a selection process based on general ability, leadership, scholastic assessments and achievement. The recipients are children of SRR employees.

Deputy remembered as a mentor, big brother

Bianca Cain Johnson — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:52:24 +0000

David Aycox told the crowd at First Baptist Church that his brother-in-law Deputy Alton Creech was a mentor and a big brother. Everyone else agreed.

“He had a way of reaching out to people,” Dr. Kevin Steele, of National Hills Baptist Church, said at Creech’s funeral service Tuesday.

3 bodies found near south Augusta school

Steve Crawford and Bianca Cain Johnson — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:28:40 +0000

The deaths of three people found in a wooded area of south Augusta are being investigated as a homicide, Richmond County authorities said.

While extinguishing a brush fire behind Deer Chase Elementary School at about noon Tuesday, firefighters discovered the burning remains of two black men and a third person, possibly a black woman, Richmond County sheriff’s Sgt. Monica Belser said. Police said a school janitor spotted the smoke and reported the fire.

Man indicted in dog-shooting case

Staff — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:26:42 +0000

A man accused of shooting a neighbor’s dog and taking a chain saw to the animal was indicted Monday.

Pablo C. Chaves, 35, is charged with aggravated cruelty to animals and discharging a firearm near a road in the Richmond County indictment.

Chaves faces the charges in a Feb. 17 incident involving a neighbor’s rottweiler-pit bull mix on Chester Avenue. According to an earlier Augusta Chronicle report, when a sheriff’s officer responded to a call about shots fired, he found Chaves with a bloody chain saw and a dead dog.

Delaware police arrest Augusta man trying to flush PCP

Staff — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:15:39 +0000

DOVER, Del. — Dover police say an Augusta man tried to flush nearly three kilograms of PCP when he was found at a vacant property.

Police said Tuesday that officers called to a home on Heritage Drive on Sunday found Eljer Ingram, 32, of Augusta and four other people.

Capt. Tim Stump says Ingram tried to flush 2,984 grams of the drug mixture down a toilet, but failed.

Richmond County graduation rate up; Columbia County slips

Tracey McManus — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:05:09 +0000

Richmond County’s high school graduation rate made gains in 2012 while Columbia County slipped a couple percentage points but still surpassed the state average, according to data released by the Georgia Department of Education Tuesday.

Columbia County fell by two points to a 73.84 percent graduation rate in 2012, which is higher than Georgia’s 69.7 percent – a statewide improvement by two points from 2011.

Girlfriend charged in South Carolina shotgun slaying

Staff — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:53:51 +0000

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Spartanburg County’s coroner is planning an autopsy after a man was killed by a shotgun blast to his chest.

Spartanburg police say 20-year-old David Allen Moholland was shot to death on Monday. His girlfriend was charged with murder. She is 21-year-old Erika Michelle Sutelman. Jail officials could not be reached Tuesday to find out whether she had an attorney.

Coroner Rusty Clevenger says an autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday.

No charges in fatal SC amputee dog mauling death

Staff — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:49:34 +0000

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. — Authorities say no charges will be filed in the death of an 80-year-old South Carolina double-amputee mauled to death by dogs earlier this month.

The Dorchester County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement Tuesday that the four dogs that attacked Carlton Freeman on May 8 in Harleyville were feral and did not belong to anybody.

Aiken manhunt ends in man's capture

Wesley Brown — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:15:54 +0000

A three-hour manhunt in Aiken County on Monday night led to the arrest of a South Carolina man in the attempted armed robbery of a Whiskey Road liquor store and a nearby home.

Ray Charles Smalls Jr., 35, was charged with strong-arm robbery and jailed in the Aiken County Detention Center in connection with the holdup of the A+ Package Store and a home on Valley Drive.

Capt. Eric Abdullah, of the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office, said Smalls entered the liquor store about 6:27 p.m. and gave the “impression he had a weapon.”