Augusta, GA
‘A sense of community’: Pride is thriving in downtown Augusta
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Augusta Pride Festival is this weekend, and as with any downtown event, safety is top of mind for the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.
The weekend kicks off Friday evening with Beats on Broad at 6 p.m. at the Augusta Common.
Then the Pride Parade will begin at 10 a.m., followed by the Augusta Pride Festival at the Common.
“Fifteen years of Augusta Pride, we’ve been in the city,” said Michael Barnard Jenkins, Augusta Pride president.
He noted it all started with an event expected to draw 100 people, and now attendance is up to more than 15,000.
It’s worth it to see the results after working on putting it together for so long.
“The people – it is always the people. Coming out and seeing it all come together after working 365 days to put it together. Standing back and seeing the smiling faces, the families just come out and being able to be themselves have a good time, being able to find resources they need,” he said.
“I’ve had people come up to me and say, ‘Thank you. You know, I found a sense of belonging. I’ve found a sense of community.’ And I think that is the most important thing for me, is just continuing to do something for the greater good.”
We spoke with deputies about their safety plan for the weekend – and what their officer presence looks like during the day.
The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office has community safety officers stationed all across downtown. They’re in yellow shirts, and either on foot or in golf carts.
Maj. Robbie Silas said with recent security additions, more people are comfortable coming downtown.
“It’s a lot safer environment and folks are able to come down and join themselves,” Silas said.
And that’s good for business.
“Especially right now with all the construction going on on Broad Street, you know, I think our downtown businesses thrive on our local festivals,” Jenkins said. “You know, Augusta Pride has had over $1.2 million worth of economic impact in one year alone for the city of Augusta.”
Festivals like Pride bring an even bigger security presence.
“With these large gatherings, we have increased presence at them. We have the Pride Festival coming this weekend and we’ve added extra security for this one and other events that are coming,” Silas said. “We have some great events coming down here, and we have adequate protection.”
Businesses will like that – especially ones that depend on foot traffic, like Grantski Records.
“We rely on in-person sales for the bulk of our revenue. So it’s tantamount that people are walking around and enjoying the city,” said Bryson Chapman, who works at Grantski. “So it means a lot to us. It’s very important.”
Part of the downtown security comes from getting to know the business owners and being there day in and day out.
That’s comforting to Diane Francis, who works at Cafe on 8th.
“We have one CSO detective, I think he’s here almost every day,” she said, “and so he’s part of what’s going on to make sure everything is OK – people from out there and even in here are safe.”
Jenkins said the festival organizers have a protocol to keep things safe.
“Rest assured we have never had any issues at our festival,” he said. “We work very closely with Richmond County, so just know the organizers work really, really hard, including myself, to put this event on and in a safe manner.”
He invites everyone to enjoy Pride this weekend.
“Come out. You can expect food vendors, craft vendors, resources for the community 365 days of the year, and overall, just a good time,” he said.
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
AUGUSTA, GA (WJBF)- The Augusta men’s basketball team is gearing up to host cross-town rival the USC Aiken Pacers Wednesday night in a Peach Belt Conference matchup.
The Jags held their last full day of practice at Christenberry Fieldhouse before they take the court against the Pacers. Augusta holds a 54-33 lead in the overall series, but the Pacers swept the Jags last season.
Both teams this year off to a slower start in conference play, with just five wins combined between the two programs. So, this matchup will serve as a strong evaluation on where the teams are at now, and what they can improve on moving forward.
“We started the season off a little slow. But each game you can see the progress that we’re making in practice, the progress that we’re making. As a team we’re starting to click and understand what it takes,” said AU point guard Kyndon Wilburg.
“Rebounding the basketball is probably the most important thing, getting back in transition. This would be a huge win for us, coming off a tough loss from lander. I think it would be a great way to kick start what we’re about to do,” Wilburg said.
Tip-off for the men is set for 7:30 p.m. at Christenberry Fieldhouse.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Augusta Museum of History is launching a new America’s 250th exhibit that showcases the area’s Revolutionary War, Civil War and modern-day connections.
“When people think of the Revolutionary War, a lot of times they think of up north, you know, New England and Paul Revere, but there’s just as much history down here,” Krystal Lyons, head of education, said.
The exhibit is a chronological journey through Augusta’s past
The exhibit moves chronologically through Augusta’s history, telling specific stories through objects that have not been displayed before or in a long time.
The display starts with Native Americans and the Stallings Island community, progresses through the Revolutionary period and into the Civil War and antebellum period before arriving at the modern day.
Visitors should plan multiple visits to see all the historical stories the artifacts tell, as the exhibit will change every three months.
“These stories that each of these artifacts has, it has a little story that we can connect to people today, so it might feel like a long time ago, 250 years ago, but there’s a lot of things that we do that are just the same today as they were 250 years ago.”
You can also visit the Augusta Museum of History’s social media pages as they deep dive into one artifact per week throughout the year.
Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Video game retailer GameStop is reportedly closing 16 stores in Georgia, including one Augusta location, as part of its “comprehensive store portfolio optimization.”
The store in Augusta is located in the Southpointe Plaza at 3209 Deans Bridge Road.
The retailer announced in an SEC filing that it plans to close “a significant number of additional stores in fiscal 2025.”
While an official list is not available, emails sent to customers and notices sent to employees indicate 16 stores in Georgia are on the chopping block.
All Georgia locations closing include:
- North Point Mall, 1198 North Point Circle, Alpharetta
- Lenox Square Mall, 3393 Peachtree Rd. NE Suite 2027, Atlanta
- Howell Mill, 1801 Howell Mill Rd. NW, Atlanta
- Southpointe Plaza, 3209 Deans Bridge Rd., Augusta
- Shops @ Main Street, 455 Cherokee Pl., Cartersville
- Chamblee Village, 1841 Chamblee-Tucker Rd., Chamblee
- Peachtree Mall, 3131 Manchester Expwy. #34B, Columbus
- Cumming Marketplace, 1060 Market Place Blvd., Cumming
- Dublin Commons, 2421 Hwy. 80 W, Dublin
- Hartwell Station, 115 Walmart Dr., Hartwell
- 4959 Bill Gardner Pkwy., Locust Grove
- McDonough Square, 1144 Hwy. 20-81, McDonough
- Pharrs Village, 1830 Scenic Hwy. N, Snellville
- Stone Mountain Festival, 1825 Rockbridge Rd., Stone Mountain
- Cofer Crossing, 4363 Lawrenceville Hwy., Tucker
GameStop’s board of directors recently approved $35 billion in performance-based stock options for CEO Ryan Cohen, should the company’s market cap hit $100 billion. The company’s market cap is $9.3 billion.
Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
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