Mayor and Commissioners Say a Final Farewell
In a day that began with the announcement of another department head — Gary LeTellier, executive director of Augusta Regional Airport — had resigned from his position effective Feb. 1, it appeared that it would be a difficult final meeting for Mayor Deke Copenhaver and the two lame duck commissioners. But as soon as the […]
Turning infrastructure into art
While most people walk completely past traffic signal boxes along the streets without even noticing them, Augusta has a new proposal that will have folks seeing them in a whole new light. The Greater Augusta Arts Council is teaming up with the city of Augusta to introduce a traffic signal box painting program that will […]
Commissioners support new administrator’s 2015 budget
The vote for the proposed 2015 budget wasn’t unanimous, but Augusta’s new city administrator, Janice Allen Jackson, accomplished a great deal by getting her proposed $786 million budget passed before heading into the Christmas holidays. Even better was the fact that there was no real fuss or arguing over the budget as in previous years. […]
Augusta’s Drug Habit
It’s not a bad habit. It’s not about being morally flawed or lacking the willpower. It’s not about guilt or shame. When it comes to alcoholism or a drug addiction, it’s all about the brain, according to Ken Wilson, executive director of Steppingstones to Recovery in Augusta. “There are still people who are suffering from […]
Popping Pills
Adderall, hydrocodone, methadone, dextromethorphan, clonazepam, alprazolam, Oxycontin and Xanax. While these are names of some prescription drugs that many people in the CSRA can’t even pronounce, there is a growing segment of our community that has become all too familiar with them. “We are definitely seeing an increase in people reporting their prescription medications being […]
Massage operator’s license denied due to wife’s history
It didn’t matter that Jason Voulgaris was a former Richmond County sheriff’s deputy or that he was a disabled combat veteran who insisted that he was simply looking to start a new business in west Augusta. The past actions of his wife, who was charged with prostitution in Texas and arrested here in Augusta on […]
Massage operator’s license gets messy
When former Richmond County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Voulgaris went before the Augusta Commission’s public service committee this week asking for a massage operator’s license, little did commissioners know his request was about to resemble a bad episode of “The Jerry Springer Show.” During a presentation regarding the request for an operator’s license for the business […]
Stolen Club Car golf carts lead to local businessman’s arrest
If something looks too good to be true, it probably is. Kenny Lazar, long-time owner and president of Lazar’s Trailers and Welding Inc. on Flowing Wells Road in Martinez, learned that lesson the hard way last week when he was arrested and charged with theft by receiving stolen property, according to Columbia County sheriff’s Capt. […]
From a ROAR to a whimper
Before a crowd of more than 400 people, many of whom were well into their retirement years, William S. Morris III stood behind a podium flanked by American flags and declared that the United States was a gift from God that was currently under siege. “Thank you for sharing with us a deep-seeded sense of […]
Tensions rise over Augusta’s disparity study
Here we go again. For more than five years, the Augusta Commission has debated the results of a $580,000 study of race and gender disparities that was released back in 2009. This disparity study discovered that, while 35 percent of the Augusta market was made up of women- and minority-owned businesses, these businesses received less than […]