Across the area

A Wagener couple was arrested Monday and charged with homicide by child abuse stemming from the death last week of their 2-month-old son.

Ardythe R. Matthews, 28, and Crystal D. Tindal, 22, of the 100 block of J.B. Swartz Road, were arrested at about 3 p.m. and booked into the Aiken County Detention Center, where they remained Monday night, said Lt. Michael Frank, of the sheriff's office.

On Nov. 21, the sheriff's office and emergency personnel went to a home off Buckboard Road, where the infant's body was found. Investigators learned that the boy had been moved there from the couple's home.

An autopsy revealed that the infant had died of a head injury, and the incident remains under investigation.

The first day of advance voting in Richmond County saw 391 ballots cast for the Dec. 5 runoff election, according to Board of Elections assistant director Travis Doss.

Advance voting will continue from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Friday at the Board of Elections office, 530 Greene St., Room 104; Henry Brigham Recreation Center, 2463 Golden Camp Road; and Warren Road Recreation Center, 300 Warren Road.

On the ballot locally are races between A.K. Hasan and Venus Cain for school board Super District 9, and William "Bill" Williams and J. David Roper for Superior Court.

The last two community forums for the public to give input on the choice of Richmond County's next school superintendent will be held tonight.

Only a couple of parents showed up for the other two forums, which were held last week. The Georgia School Board Association is assisting the Richmond County school board in its search for a permanent replacement for Dr. Charles Larke, who retired in October. It is holding the forums to get input from community members on the qualifications they would like the next superintendent to have.

The forums will be at 5 p.m. at Hephzibah Middle School and 7 p.m. at Glenn Hills Middle School.

Augusta Public Transit will hold a public hearing today to discuss several changes to bus routes and fees, according to a news release.

The meeting will be at May Park Community Center, 622 Fourth St., from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Service changes include elimination of one bus on the Augusta Mall, east Augusta and Washington Road routes; eliminating transfer fees and requiring riders to pay $1 each time they board the bus; combining the Turpin Hill and Southgate Plaza routes; and eliminating the downtown shuttle route.

A motorist who drove over a man lying in the middle of the road and then fled pleaded guilty Monday.

Jesse J. Jernigan, 32, will spend the next six years on probation and pay $7,200 into a scholarship fund for two children left fatherless, Judge Duncan D. Wheale ruled in Richmond County Superior Court.

Mr. Jernigan pleaded guilty to felony hit and run.

On June 24, 2005, Mark Beasley, 25, was killed on Georgia Highway 88. According to the defense and prosecuting attorneys, no one is sure whether Mr. Beasley was alive when Mr. Jernigan ran over him at about 4:30 a.m. He was not intoxicated, according to the autopsy report. It's possible Mr. Beasley had already been fatally struck by another car when Mr. Jernigan hit his body, attorneys said.

Officials at Savannah River Site have completed work on an $80 million facility that will help get rid of radioactive waste left over from Cold War weapons production.

The facility, called the Modular Caustic Side-Solvent Extraction Unit, will separate dangerous levels of radioactive cesium from the liquid waste stored in many of the site's 49 tanks, which still contain residual byproducts.

More lethal levels of radiation will be sent to a facility that mixes it with glass and prepares it to be shipped out of state. Lower levels will be buried on the site. The facility will start processing waste in September, officials said.

A 12-year-old Aiken County girl who was riding on the back of a motorcycle driven by her brother was killed when her brother lost control of the vehicle, officials said.

Anna M. Flowers, of Cooper Pond Road in Salley, was taken to Medical College of Georgia Hospital and was pronounced dead at about 2 p.m. Saturday, Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton said in a news release.

She and her 18-year-old brother, Ben, were returning home from the Chitlin' Strut in Salley when the accident occurred, Mr. Carlton said.

The brother tried to pass another vehicle on Cooper Pond Road and veered off a curve, it was reported.

Mr. Flowers also was taken to MCG with nonlife-threatening injuries.

A hospital official said he was listed in good condition Monday morning.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol is investigating, and charges are pending.

The Aiken County Council will hold a public hearing to discuss proposed amendments to the county's new land management ordinance tonight at 7 at the Aiken County Council Building, 736 Richland Ave.

A temporary road closure will occur on a portion of Old Louisville Road in Columbia County from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday as part of a water line installation for a fire station under construction.

Weather permitting, the closing will occur between Young Drive and Greenbriar Drive with a diversion for through traffic, according to a county news release.

Motorists approaching the fire station site on Old Louisville Road should divert onto the nearest driveway for the fire station, travel the length of the parking lot and use the station's other driveway to return to Old Louisville, the release says.

- From staff reports