Augusta, GA
‘This is history’: Augusta veterans join forces for last attempt to fund veterans cemetery
Between Fort Eisenhower, the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, and all the other resources, Augusta is a very military-friendly city. But it’s missing one thing: A veterans cemetery.
About 40 veterans from the area this week jumped on a bus and headed to the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta with the hope of correcting that.
A burial in a veterans cemetery comes with a lot of benefits and a veteran can be buried in any veterans cemetery no matter the location. But currently, the closest ones to Augusta are in Milledgeville and Columbia, South Carolina, both of which are more than 80 miles away.
Bringing this resource closer to the Augusta area’s military families has been a long-time passion project for veterans Don Clark and Bob Young, the former mayor of Augusta.
Q&A: Here’s what you need to know about the proposed veterans cemetery in Augusta
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More than 200 acres of property have been procured around the East Central Regional Hospital’s Gracewood campus. Once completed, Georgia’s Department of Veteran Affairs will be in charge of its management.
The problem is funding the cemetery’s creation. The price is north of $10 million. The initial plan was to finance it with a federal cemetery grant, but it’s too far down on the grant’s list of priorities.
Their last hope is that the state will cover the cost, and there’s a window of opportunity between now and March when the legislative session for this year ends.
What happens if they miss that deadline?
“Don and I are probably going to fold our tent and go home,” Young said. “The only option after going to the state legislature would be, ‘Hey, City of Augusta, you want to pay for a cemetery for the state of Georgia?’ … I don’t think that’s a question the commission is looking forward to answering and I don’t think it’s an appropriate question.”
So the veterans lobbied in Atlanta, and multiple legislators were supportive.
“We are trying to find a way to honor our veterans by allowing them to be interred in their home community,” said state Sen. Max Burns.
Gloria Frazier voiced her support as a military spouse herself and as a state representative for the more than 66,000 military families in the Augusta area.
“I understand how important it is to make sure that we have our husbands and loved ones laid to rest close to us, so that we can actually visit them.” Frazier said. “A lot of the spouses would like to visit their loved ones a lot more.”
Clark said the trip went amazingly and they were proud to have so many veterans coming together to fight for this cause.
“This is history,” he said. “Bob and I have been working this process for four years going on five. … So to be able to introduce our veterans to the legislative process in motion and in action, and for them to receive recognition at the state capitol level, (I’m) very, very proud.”
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.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office is searching for a wanted man.
35-year-old Oniel Gary Cameron is wanted for an incident that occurred on Bridgewater Drive in Augusta Thursday.
Authorities say his charges include:
- Cruelty to children 3rd Degree
- Criminal Damage to Property 1st Degree
- Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon
Cameron reportedly has warrants on file with RCSO and is known to drive a black Toyota Seqoia with a Georgia tag of D-E-E-8-6-7-2.
He is believed to be Armed and Dangerous.
Anyone that comes into contact with Cameron or has any information on his location is urged to call the Richmond County Sheriff’s office at 706-821-1020 or 706-821-1080.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Dr. Lori Myles says Augusta has been running without real accountability, and she wants to change that.
The former educator is one of four candidates running for Augusta-Richmond County mayor. Myles said the city’s most pressing issues are not new — they have just gone unaddressed.
“One of the things that I truly believe that the city of Augusta has gone through is that there was no accountability,” Myles said.
Myles has run for mayor before. She said her first days in office would be spent visiting each commissioner’s district to see what needs attention.
“I wanna go to their best places. I wanna see their dirt. I wanna see those things that need to be fixed in their parts. I wanna see the infrastructure of the city of Augusta, but yet, I wanna see the pride of Augusta in their districts,” Myles said.
Homelessness focus
Myles pointed to homelessness as one of Augusta’s overlooked issues.
“You’re dealing with different entities of homelessness. You’re dealing with them as far as mental health. You’re dealing with them as far as their children, as far as their children going to school. Imagine, and I’m about to quit, darling, but children having to sleep in tents at night behind these trees and then still go to school,” Myles said.
City department management
Myles also takes aim at how the city manages its departments.
“There should be a performance-based structure of leadership, a transformation that has a shared vision, a shared vision for not only the millennials, the, not only the, uh, what is it? Generation Z, but for everyone. It’s not a color, it’s not an option, it is all shall be able to have the best of Augusta in the best of Augusta,” Myles said.
Myles said if elected, she wants to bring Augusta’s city departments under one unified standard of accountability.
Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
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