CSRA Regional Commission Area Agency on Aging honors efforts
The CSRA Regional Commission Area Agency on Aging recognized the Provider of the Year, Volunteer Group of the Year and Volunteer of the Year at its annual Awards and Recognition Program on Wednesday.
Last year’s winners presented the 2013 awards.
This year’s Provider of the Year was awarded to Rod Barrie, of Comfort Keepers, for the organization’s efforts to provide adequate nutrition for senior citizens through food drives and enlisting the help of other agencies in the collection of food.
Police training exercise to be held at Mossy Creek Elementary
North Augusta police are asking the public not to be alarmed by an increased presence of police vehicles at Mossy Creek Elementary Thursday.
North Augusta Public Safety will be holding an “active shooter” training exercise for surrounding law enforcement agencies through Thursday. Training began Wednesday at the West Five Notch Road substation and moved to the elementary school after the school closed.
Training will continue today at the school from 3 p.m. to midnight.
$10,000 reward offered in Riverwalk Augusta beatings
An anonymous donor on Wednesday offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the two men who used a metal bat or pipe to brutally beat a South Carolina couple last weekend at Riverwalk Augusta.
The reward comes five days after Wesley Spires, 27, of Edgefield, S.C., and Ashley Solesbee, 25, of North Augusta, suffered severe facial fractures and head injuries. Spires remains hospitalized in critical condition, while Solesbee has returned home, according to family.
The conditions of the reward are as follows:
First week of May was fifth-coldest on record
A break from mild spring temperatures won’t last long, as more rain and below-normal temperatures could return to the Augusta area, weather forecasters said.
“Keep your jacket handy. You aren’t going to be 90 degrees and hot yet,” said Bill Murphey, Georgia’s state climatologist.
The first seven days of May were the fifth-coldest on record, Murphey said. The average temperature was 62.2 degrees, or 5.1 degrees below normal.
Downtown Augusta is safe, community leaders say
Augusta leaders and members of the downtown community concluded at a gathering Wednesday that downtown is safe, but admitted that, unfortunately, perception is reality.
Augusta Commission member Corey Johnson said he was “very disturbed” by the events that taken place downtown, but “this is nowhere near as bad as it seems.”
“Let me say this for the record: Downtown is not a dangerous place,” Johnson said. “But these things happen, and it’s unfortunate they happen here.”
Georgia Court of Appeals upholds Scott Dean conviction
The Georgia Court of Appeals rejected former Harlem Mayor Scott Dean’s contention that he was unfairly tried and convicted of child molestation in Columbia County in 2011.
In an order released Tuesday, the appellate court denied Dean’s appeal.
Dean, also a former Columbia County commissioner, was convicted by a Superior Court jury. Judge James G. Blanchard Jr. sentenced him to 20 years in prison, followed by 20 years’ probation.
Dean’s supporters’ contention that the victim has recanted her accusations was not brought up.
