Augusta, GA
Augusta prepares for potential weather as city reviews emergency plans
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The city of Augusta is preparing for a potentially significant ice storm this weekend, with officials holding multiple planning calls and reviewing emergency protocols.
Mayor Garnett Johnson said the city has had multiple calls with the National Weather Service and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, with more planning calls scheduled.
Johnson said it will likely be another 12 to 16 hours before the city lays out a concrete plan or decides whether to activate its Emergency Operations Center, where multiple departments and agencies coordinate response efforts.
Emergency response levels
Augusta’s Emergency Operations Plan, last updated in December 2020, outlines how the county should respond to winter weather. The plan draws on lessons learned from the 2014 ice storm.
The plan establishes three levels of Emergency Operations Center activation. At the lowest level, the city monitors weather and checks in with agencies. The middle level brings more departments in and starts moving crews around. The highest level is an all-hands-on-deck response.
Preparation recommendations
Augusta’s Emergency Management Agency director advised residents to charge their devices and get battery packs. She also recommended closing off any drafts in homes and leaving faucets dripping at night.
Regional preparations
Aiken County will hold a news conference on Thursday at its Emergency Operations Center to discuss its plans. Officials in Burke County, McDuffie County and Columbia County have not yet released their preparation plans.
Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
Augusta, GA
Historic Masters landmark purchased and renovated by local resident
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Augusta, GA
Georgia governor candidate Olu Brown campaigns in Augusta
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
Augusta Prep student arrested over picture of LEGO gun, threat he called a joke
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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