Augusta, GA
Augusta city leaders look to hire full-time EMA director
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The city of Augusta has no full-time EMA director.
Despite this, we’ve experienced several weather events in the last six months, including Hurricane Helene and both winter weather events.
“It’s been an interesting year. We haven’t seen snow in, oh my gosh, it’s been years. I mean, snow on the ground. It’s been several years I can think of,” said Commissioner Catherine Smith-Rice.
Two winter storms in less than two weeks, while many are still recovering from Hurricane Helene.
Mayor Garnett Johnson said: “I certainly have learned a lot from Hurricane Helene and these two more recent snowfalls, snow incidents that we need a full-time EMA director.”
Right now, Augusta Fire Chief Antonio Burden plays dual parts, being the fire chief and EMA director.
Commissioner Jordan Johnson said: “This conversation is not just about a position in my mind. It’s about expanding a department and how much money will we have to amend our budget to meet this expectation.”
Mayor Johnson says the funding is there.
ALSO IN COMMISSION:
- Augusta leaders discussed several topics at Thursday’s commission meeting, including floating homestead exemption, beautification, improvements at 600 Broad and charter review.
“There is a deputy position already. We’re going to use funding to create a director’s position, but the EMA department already has a coordinator, so there’s already a department there. We just got to stand it up with having a full-time director,” said the mayor.
The mayor says Augusta hasn’t had a full-time director for more than 20 years.
“You look at a city of our size. It warrants having a full-time, dedicated EMA director who makes sure that we’re on the cutting edge of technology for preparedness, for disseminating information to all of our community partners and for the hire that we expect to make. I would expect them to have all of those abilities to do that,” said Mayor Johnson.
Of course, moving forward there will be tough conversations.
Commissioner Johnson said: “I know we had a big conversation about not having money in our budget. So, my concern is are we going over budget? Are we getting ready to put ourselves on a budget in a situation that we can’t get ourselves out of?”
Smith-Rice said: “With what we’ve experienced, we need to be cautious, and we need to go ahead and commission needs to get on the ball and start doing our search.”
Because if they’ve learned anything here, preparedness is key.
Johnson says the process to hire a full-time EMA director is getting underway.
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
Augusta, Ga. – In a game that saw 19 lead changes, Georgia College and State prevailed over Augusta 99-91 in overtime Saturday at Christenberry Fieldhouse. The Jaguars fall to 2-2 in Peach Belt Conference play and 6-7 overall. The Bobcats are now 3-0 in conference play and 6-2 overall.
C.J. Jones of GCSU was the star of this one as he poured in 42 points to lead all scorers and also grabbed eight rebounds in the win.
The Jaguars fell behind midway through the second half, but with just one second left in regulation, T.J. Baker hit a three-pointer to send the game into overtime. But in the extra period, GCSU outscored AU 18-10 for the winning margin.
Luis Nonfon, who had another double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, started the scoring in overtime and gave the Jags the 83-81 lead. GCSU then rattled off five straight points to take the lead, one they would not surrender.
The Jaguars had five players in double figures led by Elías Pálsson who tallied 22 points while grabbing eight rebounds. T.J. Baker and Tobias Prall each had 18 points while Charlie McBeath scored 13.
Augusta hit on just 35% of their shots from the field while GCSU hit on 52.5%. The Bobcats outscored Augusta 46-22 in the paint and went 8-18 from three-point range while Augusta finished 10 of 29 from deep. From the foul line, both teams went 29-36.
Other than Nonfon grabbing double figures in rebounds, Pálsson eight rebounds and was a perfect 12-12 from the foul line.
Next up for the Jaguars will be a battle with Reinhardt University on Thursday at 11 a.m., part of Columbia County Education Day.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Richmond County started a search for an armed robbery suspect Saturday evening.
They started the search on the 3700 block of Wheeler Road after an alleged armed robbery at an SRP ATM.
The suspect is described as a 40-year-old black male, wearing all black, a face mask and a camouflage jacket.
The suspect fled the area on foot in an unknown direction.
The sheriff’s office used K9 Units, along with the drone unit, to search.
This investigation is in its early stages, and no further information is available at this time.
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Students at Richmond County Technical Magnet School achieved a milestone by launching their 500th non-kit rocket.
Students launched rockets at Thompson Farm in Augusta. The launch is part of the school’s aerospace program that has been part of their STEM curriculum since 2014.
The Augusta Fire Department collaborated with the group for the launch.
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
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