Columbia digest
Man killed in accident
A Harlem man was killed Tuesday night after he pulled into the path of another vehicle.
Virgil Laverne Reed, 55, of Otis Way in Harlem, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident by Columbia County Deputy Coroner Vernon Collins at 10:38 p.m. Tuesday night.
Columbia County sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris said the accident occurred when Mr. Reed was attempting to turn left onto Lewiston Road from the I-20 entrance but didn't see a car driven by Winsloe Hinton of Martinez.
The impact threw Mr. Reed from his vehicle, Capt. Morris said.
Intersection work coming
Improvements to the intersection of Evans to Locks Road and Columbia Industrial Boulevard are still a few months from starting.
The estimated-$385,000 project is part of the incentive package county leaders used to secure a $35 million expansion at Quebecor World's Columbia County plant.
Project plans call for turn lanes and a traffic signal to be added at the intersection.
County Construction and Maintenance Division Director Kevin Lear said company officials plan to add a second entrance to the plant at the intersection. That entrance would allow better access to the plant for large trucks.
Mr. Lear said county leaders are still meting with company leaders to finalize the plans, but work should begin on the project in three to four months.
Water restrictions continue
Local residents are still under water restrictions.
Columbia County's Water and Sewer Services Director Billy Clayton said residential use has been moderate so far, but he knows the push is coming.
The Augusta area is 5.5 inches behind regular rainfall amounts for the year and 39 inches below normal since May 1998 - when the current drought started, said Pam Knox, Georgia's Assistant State Climatologist.
"That's almost a years worth of precipitation that we are behind," she said.
The local water restrictions are: no watering on Mondays; even addresses only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays; odd addresses only on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.