Augusta, GA
Augusta government provides update on HCD audit
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Augusta officials say a preliminary response related to an audit of the Housing and Community Development Department was received Tuesday from Cherry Bekaert.
The audit report is not yet complete, according to the city.
After initial review, the city has requested additional information to “ensure clarity and accuracy before the process moves forward.”
“The Augusta government remains committed to transparency and will provide further updates once the requested information is received and the audit is finalized,” the city said in the news release.
In November, Augusta Commission members held a budget workshop session with much discussion about the Housing and Community Development Department.
That’s the department that left the city on the hook to pay back millions in federal grant money.
The city received more than $6 million in grant money during the COVID-19 pandemic, supposedly to help people who were in danger of eviction.
The city never spent the money for that purpose, so the government demanded it back.
The department didn’t have the money on hand, so the city had to repay it, and then some, from the general fund — $6.3 million of the original grant money and $2.1 million in penalties.
The scandal led to the exit of Housing and Community Director Hawthorne Welcher and sparked an audit of the department.
On Oct. 28, commissioners in closed executive session approved the payment of up to $32,237.32 from contingency funds for rental assistance previously approved by the Housing and Community Development Department.
This means leaders agreed to take the money from their emergency fund and use it to help people with their rent as part of a program the department had already put in place.
Mayor Garnett Johnson said at the time this was an effort to address letters that were sent out, falsely leading people to believe they were getting some emergency funds.
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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Democratic candidate for Georgia governor Olu Brown visited Augusta on Friday evening, stopping near the Sand Hills Community Center as early voting continues.
Brown is one of six candidates in the Democratic primary.
Campaign priorities
Brown said his vision as governor would focus on three main areas.
“One, it’s affordability around health care and making sure we expand Medicaid and expand Peach Care and make sure we continue to make our rural health care systems healthy and vital,” Brown said. “Number two, we’ve got to address education in all of Georgia, making sure every kid in Georgia gets an excellent education, and we’re paying our teachers more. And number 3, we’re protecting the rights of all women. Folks in the Gold Dome shouldn’t be making decisions about their bodies or the choices that they make.”
Brown is running against Amanda Duffy, Derrick Jackson, Geoff Duncan, Jason Esteves, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Mike Thurmond.
Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – An Augusta Prep student was arrested on a charge of terroristic threats over a picture of a LEGO gun he posted on social media.
It happened Wednesday, according to an incident report from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.
Eric Hedinger, the principal of Augusta Preparatory Day School, told deputies a student had uploaded a picture to Snapchat of a “pistol” with the caption “shooting up the school so I don`t have to take the stats exam tomorrow. Don`t come yall!”
The principal said he spoke to the student and his father about the photo.
The principal also provided deputies with the student’s address in Grovetown.
A deputy went there and was told by the student that the “pistol” was a LEGO set that he had built.
He also said the comment he made was supposed to be a joke because he was not looking forward to taking his Advanced Placement statistics test this week.
The student showed the deputy the box that the LEGO set came in, and how the set was already disassembled.
The deputy also looked in the boy’s room to make sure he was not in possession of any weapons.
The mother advised that there was one firearm in the residence but it was locked up.
The deputy contacted Judge Leslie Morgan and she issued a warrant for terroristic threats.
The student, age 18, was taken into custody and transported to the Columbia County Detention Center.
News 12 is not reporting his name or publishing his photo since the LEGO gun could not have actually harmed anyone.
Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
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