Latest news with #Augustans
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Telfair St. construction causes headaches for some Rich. Co. families getting to graduations
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – Graduations are underway for Richmond County high schools this week at the Bell Auditorium. For some high school graduates, it's the only opportunity their parents and families have to see them walk across the stage. But, ongoing construction on Telfair Street is causing problems for parents trying to make it on time. The city has been paving new asphalt and road striping on Telfair between 8th and 13th Streets since March. Some families were able to get around the construction with no issues. 'No, I came right on down Walton Way and parked at the old Civic Center parking lot,' said Kiki Howard. 'Yes, no problem with parking, no problem with the construction,' LaVerne Parker said. But for others coming from out of town, getting to the Bell was a different story. 'We had to take a lot of maneuvers. GPS was having us go from this street to the next street. It was a lot of inconvenience, but we finally got here,' said Hayward Miller. Saniyah Sharieff told NewsChannel 6 that her family had to take 4 turns just to get to the Bell. 'Our mom dropped us off and she's still trying to find a parking spot. Why would they choose this construction for this day? It's a little inconvenient. They have the whole summer to do it, and they chose today,' said Sharieff. The intersection of Telfair and James Brown Boulevard will be closed for at least the next two months. With some not knowing about the construction, it made for a long walk. 'I stopped on the uptown side of the library, and didn't realize the road was closed. So, I just parked up there and walked down here,' said Ethan Andrews. Traffic engineers have said the projects are on schedule—but for now, Augustans will have to keep paying the price for progress. 'That's the truth, because that construction is always going to be a problem. You just have to get used to it, that's all,' another parent said. 'I'd say if they're improving the roads and everything, making things a lot safer—that's a plus in my book,' said Anthony Marrow. With this year's graduations at the Bell, graduates are also limited to just 8 tickets for family members and friends. Families say they're excited for the new Augusta arena project to be finished, as more seats will be available in the future. 'More seats means more families coming to graduations, and the economic boost it'll have for Augusta, Georgia sounds like win-win to me,' Miller said. Detours are available from 10th Street to Greene Street. Parking is available outside of the old James Brown Arena, and spaces along the main roads downtown. 11 high school graduations will be taking place at the Bell Auditorium between Wednesday, May 28th, and Friday, May 30th. Here are the times and dates for remaining graduations: Thursday, May 29th, 2025: Josey High School at 8:00 A.M. Cross Creek High School at 11:00 A.M. Westside High School at 2:30 P.M. Glenn Hills High School at 5:30 P.M. Friday, May 30th, 2025: Richmond County Technical Career Magnet School at 8:00 A.M. Butler High School at 11:00 A.M. Laney High School at 2:30 P.M. For more information on graduations at the Bell, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Potential new name for future Augusta arena not sitting well with some Augustans
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF)- The Augusta Coliseum Authority recently gave the press updates on construction for the new arena downtown—including the possibility of a name change. They're expecting to open the arena in May 2027, but a big conversation between now and then is who's name will be on the side of the building. The Coliseum Authority is currently referring to the new arena as the 'new Augusta Arena'—and not the James Brown Arena—because they're having ongoing discussions about naming rights. Conversations have now started online, including a local musician starting a petition to send a message that the name change is the last thing some Augustans want to see. 'My first thought was shock, disbelief, and a lot of anger,' said Chavonne Campbell. Chavonne Campbell is known for entertaining audiences with her voice—the same way James Brown did for many years. She considers him and the Brown family like her own. 'I consider him my uncle, and I also consider him my hometown hero. He's paved the way not only for many icons that we look up to today in many different genres of music, but he also paved the way for me,' Campbell said. The old arena was known as the Augusta Civic Center for nearly 30 years since it was built in 1980. Then, just 4 months before Brown passed, Augusta leaders held a ceremony renaming the arena in his honor in August 2006. Campbell performed in front of Brown at that ceremony. 'I remember standing on those steps right there performing for him while he sat there in the front,' said Campbell. 'We all gave him his flowers while he was able to see it—so why would you take that away from him when he's not here?' Coliseum Authority Vice-Chair Brad Usry says they are planning to sell naming rights, but part of the discussion is who that will be sold to. 'It's a standard in the industry to sell the naming rights, but we don't know who that is yet,' said Usry. He says they do plan to honor James Brown in the new arena—but there are still questions about what that will look like. 'I have no clue, but we will take care of that. But, that is a top priority of ours to take care of James Brown's name. But the standard in the industry is to sell the naming rights,' Usry said. For Campbell, she says anything less than seeing James Brown's name on the arena wouldn't do the local icon justice. 'We had a whole ceremony naming the entire building the James Brown Arena. We can't just give him a gold medal and then dummy it down to a bronze,' said Campbell. Campbell's petition already has hundreds of signatures from people around Augusta saying they do not support a name change. With naming rights in play, The Coliseum Authority has not decided on a name for the new arena for the moment—but they plan to have one by the time it's expected to open in 2 years. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
One year anniversary of re-opening of Piedmont Augusta's Summerville Campus
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – It has been one year since Piedmont's Summerville campus reopened after being closed for four years. Piedmont Augusta's Summerville campus reopened last May with the goal of continuing to bring the best care to people in the community. 'This isn't just reopening a hospital,' said Nic Wood, the Executive Director, Piedmont Augusta Summerville and McDuffie. 'We've put a lot of investment into this facility to ensure that patients that come here are getting the same level and standard of care that you would get at our Piedmont Augusta facility.' ALSO ON WJBF: Augustans share frustrations navigating downtown road construction on Telfair Street ahead of summer events Since re-opening a year ago, the hospital has added an in-patient hospice program, moved the substance abuse rehab program to the Summerville campus, and opened and upgraded the MRI unit. 'It's crazy to think that it's already been a year, but it's just been so wonderful to see the community really welcome us to being back open and being able to serve the Augusta community,' said Wood. Piedmont leaders say they continue to look for ways to add to the campus and help meet the community's needs. 'This is a wonderful way to cap off Healthcare week,' said Lily Henson, CEO, Piedmont Augusta Hub. 'Being able to open up this campus and see it thrive is that it fulfils our Piedmont promise of making a positive difference in every life we touch.' They want to focus on growing and improving the emergency and radiology department, in-patient services, and continue their partnership with Augusta Tech. 'One day, we were sitting down looking at our numbers, and it really hit us as we looked across the Augusta Community, all of the ERs were completely full, and there was one day where we saw 69 patients here, and if we weren't open. I pose the question, ' Where would those patients have gone?' said Wood. Going forward, Piedmont hopes to grow the services on this campus and maintain patient-centered care. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Augustans share frustrations navigating downtown road construction on Telfair Street ahead of summer events
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – If you are heading downtown for events at the Bell Auditorium, you may encounter some traffic issues on Telfair Street. Along with comedian Ali Siddiq coming to town, high school graduations for Richmond County Schools will take place there because of construction on a new James Brown Arena. Some Augustans say while they see progress being made, it still makes for a tough commute around the Garden City. Kaleb and Tabatha Tillman were able to get books at the Augusta Library with their young daughter, but they say getting downtown has been quite a hassle. 'Just in general, the last year has been crazy difficult to get around. Crazy difficult to get to work, finding different routes to get around everything,' said Tillman. The city has been paving new asphalt and road striping on Telfair between 8th and 13 Street since March. But recent construction is another reason Tabatha was forced to close her business. 'I was doing in-home therapy, and I had to close my business in December. I lost a lot of money last quarter just because you work with someone for an hour, and you only get paid for how long you work with them. So, having to take her (my daughter) to school and navigate all of this—I was actively losing money because it was adding 30 minutes to my commute and everything,' said Tillman. Traffic engineers have finished work between 10th and 13th, and now the intersection of Telfair and James Brown Boulevard is getting a facelift. They have made the Bell Auditorium aware of the projects, but for now, some Augustans will have to keep paying the price for progress. 'We did warn them this was coming. They knew a while ago that this area was going to be under construction about this time. So, we just need to get through the season. Next year, the construction should be moved on, so it shouldn't be an issue next year and everything should be back to normal,' said Augusta Traffic Engineer, John Ussery. 'There are a lot of people that are impacted by this that a lot of people don't see and know about,' Tillman said. 'We just kind of avoid downtown. I feel really bad for all the business owners being impacted by this, because I think the city just takes on too much at one time.' Traffic engineers say the intersection at Telfair and James Brown will remain closed for at least the next two months. The best way to get around it is taking detours from 10th Street to Greene Street. Parking is available on 7th Street outside of the old James Brown Arena, and spaces along the main roads downtown. For the latest updates on construction progress, you can find more information at the Augusta Traffic Engineering Division's website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Yahoo
61-year-old Edgefield man remains in critical condition after Easter weekend Broad Street shooting
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF)- An Edgefield man remains in critical condition after a shooting in downtown Augusta over the weekend. Deputies charged Da'Mon Cole and Destiny Reeves with that shooting that happened early Saturday morning on Broad Street. Both are now facing aggravated assault and other charges. 61-year-old Tracy Waddell was shot in the head around 2 o'clock in the morning on Saturday after a dispute right outside of The Loft Bar. Now Augustans are weighing in on efforts from the Sheriff's Office to improve safety downtown. 'I absolutely feel that downtown Augusta is a safe place, and I do feel that it's a safe place after dark,' said Shannon McClellan-Dixon. Investigators say Cole and Reeves worked together to lure Tracy Waddell to a nearby car. Moments later, Cole opened fire, shooting the victim in the head. Sheriff Eugene Brantley credits his downtown safety plan with the quick arrests of Cole and Reeves. The plan calls for two deputies on each block of Broad Street on weekend nights. Dixon says it's a critical added police presence with nighttime downtown activities. 'I've noticed that there's a lot more live entertainment, foot traffic. There's more entertainment and activity on the streets than there once was,' said Dixon. Anti-gun activist Rev. Dr. Larry Fryer says in order to limit crime, law enforcement and the community must work together to reach the youth. 'The suspects are adults, and they should be leaders in our communities—but when money is greater than morality, we're going to have those problems. We're going to have to sit down with them, find out some of the things that they're needing, and begin to work,' said Fryer. 'I think that unfortunate occurrence is an opportunity for all of us Augustans just to really have each other's back,' Dixon said. The Sheriff's Office says this remains an active and ongoing investigation. Waddell is still in the hospital in critical condition. His family has set up a GoFundMe account to prepare for the potential heavy medical costs involved. If you'd like to get involved to help the Waddell family, you can find the fundraiser here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
