Latest news with #RichmondCounty
Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Yahoo
Augusta curfew will be enforced: 'Nothing good happening for teenagers after 12 midnight'
Richmond County's sheriff doesn't want parents to learn about teenage curfew times by seeing their sons and daughters in the backs of patrol cars at 2 a.m. Instead, Sheriff Eugene Brantley on Friday publicly reminded parents and their children that Augusta's 1993 curfew statute is still very much in effect and will be actively enforced. So, copy and paste: Anyone younger than age 18 cannot be in public without an adult in Richmond County past 11 p.m. weekdays and midnight on weekends. "There's nothing good happening for teenagers after 12 midnight," he said. The idea of the renewed enforcement initiative isn't to pad arrest statistics or entrap potential offenders. Local juvenile justice officials will work with law enforcement to help ensure that curfew cases have swift, fair resolutions and no repeat offenders. Richmond County Juvenile Court Judge Tianna Bias has seen both sides of Augusta's curfew – as an adult jurist and while growing up in Hephzibah. "This is not a new law that's on the books," she said. "This is something that was on the books when I was a teenager, and we realized that there's a lack of information that's been presented to the public." Parental involvement is crucial, Brantley and Bias said. Officers don't want to turn a teen's one-time impulsive curfew infraction into a gateway toward committing more serious crimes, Brantley said. "We had a 17-year-old juvenile who accidentally shot his finger off while trying to hide a firearm during a traffic stop. We've had groups of juveniles out at 2 and 3 in the morning that we've apprehended trying to break into cars to steal firearms," the sheriff said. "These aren't harmless mistakes. These are life-changing decisions, and they're happening when teens are unsupervised and are out past curfew." This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Richmond County's new teen curfew strategy focuses on prevention Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Supreme Court of Georgia overturned four rules from the State Election Board
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – The Supreme Court of Georgia overturned four rules from the State Election Board. Those measures were approved just before the presidential elections last year. So, what does this mean for local voting? When the SEB passed seven new election rules, they faced a legal challenge. The Fulton County Superior Court ruled them unlawful. The Supreme Court has now ruled that four of the seven rules are invalid. 'The State Elections Board had passed some rules. There was a lawsuit. So, they adjoined the rules, and they appealed it, and the Supreme Court upheld that decision,' said Travis Doss, Executive Director for the Richmond County Board of Elections. The rules that are now invalid are the reasonable inquiry rule, the hand count rule, the drop box ID rule, and the examination rule. The only rule that was upheld out of the seven is video surveillance of absentee drop boxes outside of voting hours. The other two rules, regarding poll watchers and daily reporting, have been sent back to the trial court. 'Now, there were two rules that the Supreme Court said were fine. One has to do with video surveillance of droboxes, and another one had to do with posting results to the website. We've been posting results to the website already,' said Doss. Richmond County Board of Elections Director Travis Doss says this will not change anything for voters because the rules were never implemented. 'I'm currently president of the association of voter registration and election officials. And we had kind of fought against these rules. Only because they were too close to the election. So, the court did adjoin them so they couldn't be used,' said Doss. Doss says he is happy to finally have closure. 'The good thing about the decision for the Supreme Court. It kind of gives a definitive answer. We were sort of in limbo after the rules were passed in November after there was the lawsuit,' said Doss. The primary for the Public Service Commission is currently underway in Richmond County, with early voting taking place until this Friday and Election Day on Tuesday, June 17th. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Yahoo
Suspect arrested in connection to May 20 homicide in Waynesboro
CSRA (WJBF) – A man was arrested Tuesday in connection to the death of Bruce Mitchell, according to the Waynesboro Police Department. The United States Marshall's Office and the Richmond County Sheriff's Office Special Operations Division arrested Jayven Ward on June 10 at Salem Arms Apartment Complex in Richmond County. According to the Waynesboro Police Department, a family member of Mitchell reported him missing on May 20. Authorities state that officers went to Mitchell's residence on the 200 block of Lovers lane to conduct a welfare check, where Mitchell was found deceased inside the residence. According to the Waynesboro Police Department, Ward 'has 22 total outstanding felony warrants related to this case and others.' Investigators state a search warrant was served at the apartment where Ward was located and numerous firearms, magazines and bullets were located. Marijuana was also located on the scene, according to the department. Additional charges could be pending. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
ARC E-Sports team national runner-up, taking home $3,000 in scholarship money
AUGUSTA, GA (WJBF)- One sport growing in popularity is E-sports. The Academy of Richmond County Musketeers are taking it to another level, competing in the national PlayVS cup championship against the Science Academy of South Texas. The team called musketeer strike finished runner ups in the cup title. However, they still got 3,000 dollars' worth of scholarship money, and both schools also received a trophy. Advertisement The eastern regional champions for Street Fighter 6 had a season to remember. Earlier this school year, the Musketeer Fleet Rocket League team won Richmond county's first ever GHSAA 3A state championship. Team captain Caleb Walls will take what he learned this year and apply it for next season. 'We had to learn for a little while, since we weren't really into this at first, but it just slowly grew on us, especially me I started taking this a lot more seriously. We were bummed out about the loss, but we're still going to try this out next year,' Walls said. 'It was really nerve-wracking at first, because I was just wondering if we were going to lose or not, or how far we're going to make it? But in the end, it was just a fun experience, and we all learned something new from it, and we had fun so that's all that matters.' Advertisement Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF.
Fast Company
04-06-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
Amazon to invest $10 billion for data center and AI campus in North Carolina
Amazon plans to invest $10 billion toward building a campus in North Carolina to expand its cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure, bringing a massive shot in the arm to a region where many textile and apparel jobs dried up a generation ago. Amazon said Wednesday that its investment in rural Richmond County should create at least 500 jobs and support thousands more through construction and data center supply chain providers, according to statements from the company and Gov. Josh Stein's office. Stein called the investment one of the largest in state history. Data centers are already familiar to North Carolina's landscape, including those operated by Apple. This project could transform Richmond County, which is on the South Carolina border and has a population of about 42,000. The Richmond County site is expected to employ engineers, network and security specialists and other technical roles, the company said. Amazon said it would provide support for universities, community colleges and other workforce training programs to help people enter data center and broadband expansion fields. 'This investment will position North Carolina as a hub for cutting-edge technology, create hundreds of high-skilled jobs, and drive significant economic growth,' Amazon chief global affairs and legal officer David Zapolsky said. 'We look forward to partnering with state and local leaders, local suppliers, and educational institutions to nurture the next generation of talent.' Richmond County commissioners approved an incentives package for Amazon on Tuesday. The company could receive annual cash grants for 20 years equal to portions of the real estate property tax and the property tax for vehicles and equipment at each data center contingent on job creation and monetary investment thresholds, The Richmond Observer reported. 'This project will truly transform our community in ways that we cannot imagine,' Richmond County Manager Bryan Land said at Tuesday's commissioners meeting. 'With the announcement comes large-scale upgrades to our water system, Rockingham's wastewater system and our fiber optic infrastructure throughout our county — all of which will come at a cost to our Richmond County taxpayers of zero.' Stein's office, which called the project an 'innovation campus,' said the data centers will contain servers, storage drives, networking equipment and other technology. 'Artificial intelligence is changing the way we work and innovate, and I am pleased that North Carolina will stay at the forefront of all that's ahead as we continue to attract top technology companies like Amazon,' Stein said. The governor attended a public announcement about the investment on Wednesday at an investment in Hamlet. The company said it has invested $12 billon in North Carolina since 2010 and supports 24,000 full- and part-time jobs.
