AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – A few days after the Junenteeth parade, Augusta celebrated the holiday again with a nearly daylong festival Wednesday.

The official holiday is June 19, although the revelry started over the weekend across the CSRA with parades and other gatherings.

The big event in Augusta was Wednesday’s Juneteenth festival in the parking lot of the James Brown Arena.

Hosted by Band of Brothers, it began at 12:30 p.m. and will keep going until 9:00.

Vendors were selling food, clothing and crafts, with a designated kids’ area and lots of music.

“I basically make wreaths and I do other crafts I do cups, T-shirts and different kinds of crafts,” said Loeontyne Jackson with Blessed Creations by Tina.

You can find just about anything at the festival ranging from body care products, clothing, jewelry and fun activities for the kids. But most of all, you’ll find lots and lots of food.

“We have seafood gumbo. We also have oxtail with mac and cheese, cabbage, white rice, green beans. We also have Creole pasta and fried fish,” said Tenisha Weathersby and Angininque Weathersby with Delta Girls Soul Food.

So many options, you’re bound to find something you like such as pasta, meats and even desserts.

“We have a mac and cheese so come out and get some free samples,” said Weathersby.

Other vendors such as Lustful Lemonade, Inc. were also offering a variety of drinks.

“We have different flavored lemonade. You got flirtatious blue, kiss my peach, that’s not my strawberry,” they said.

But it’s also important to remember why everyone is here.

Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, found out they had been freed — after the end of the Civil War, and two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

“Texas always celebrated it. Now the whole world is celebrating and we just brought in the whole emancipation, something for our people to realize America is working towards its greatness,” said Carlton Edwards Wilson III, who attended the festival.

And it’s important to remember where we came from.

“Juneteenth is something very important. It’s very important that you know who you are,” he said.

Since it was designated a federal holiday in 2021, Juneteenth has become more universally recognized beyond Black America. Many people get the day off work or school, and there are a plethora of street festivals, fairs, concerts and other events.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – The consolidation bill is what Augusta government has followed since the 1990s, but the document could be in for an overhaul. 

“People want to see some change in this government and see in this community,” said Commissioner Sean Frantom. “I think this is a great step towards that and it’s going to happen.”

Commissioners giving the go-ahead to bring in experts from UGA to create a charter review commission, to study the charter and decide if it needs updating.  

“The question whether the charter needs to be changed is not a yes or no for me, it’s a let’s look at this charter see what needs to be changed let’s review it properly,” said Commissioner Jordan Johnson.  

“I don’t know how my colleagues feel. I would like to change about everything that can be changed in it,” said Commissioner Catherine Smith McKnight.  

“I think it’s time a document that’s been around for a long time, so we need to look to see what we need to change,” said Commissioner Francine Scott. 

Right now, commissioners have the hiring and firing powers for department directors Frantom would like to change the charter to turn that authority over to a city manager. 

“When you look at how this government has ran in the last 28 years, it’s not been efficient. I think there will be the nay-sayers that we shouldn’t be a city manager form of government that’s the only form of government it should be,” said Frantom.  

The consolidation bill is the form of government Augusta has followed for years, but now city leaders are ready to decide if it should remain that way. 

by: Isaac Streeter/Portland Tribune

Posted: Jun 18, 2024 / 08:14 PM PDT

Updated: Jun 18, 2024 / 08:15 PM PDT

PORTLAND, Ore. (Portland Tribune) — Former Oregon golfer Wyndham Clark was named to the USA golf team roster ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee announced Tuesday.

While Olympians and Oregon have gone hand-in-hand historically, Clark becomes the first in the school’s 151-year history to earn their Olympic rings as a golfer.

Clark, currently ranked the No. 5 men’s golfer in the world, is joined by World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, No. 3 Xander Schauffele, and No. 7 Collin Morikawa. Schauffele and Morikawa both represented the USA in the 2020 Tokyo Games, while Scheffler and Clark will both be making their debuts. 

Clark competed for Oregon in 2016 and 2017 after transferring to the university from Oklahoma State after three years. As a Duck, Clark was named All-Pac-12 First Team, Pac-12 Player of the Year, a 2017 Division I Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year semifinalist and a 2017 Ben Hogan Award Finalist.

Clark finished third on the 2023 PGA Tour, winning the U.S. Open for his first ever major win. Since then, he’s added a win in the 2024 Pebble Beach Pro-Am as well as runner-up finishes in the Players Championship. 

Read more at Portlandtribune.com

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