Fire shuts part of Bobby Jones

Richmond County fire officials say several small brush fires that closed a portion of Bobby Jones Expressway on Tuesday might have been intentionally set.

Lt. G.B. Hannan called the blazes "suspicious" and said investigators are looking for a vehicle seen in the area just before the fires began.

The eastbound lanes of Bobby Jones were closed between Windsor Spring Road and Deans Bridge Road for about an hour as fire crews poured water on the fire, according to Special Operations Chief Wayne Taylor. No one was injured.

An 50-year-old Augusta man was thrown to the ground and robbed Monday outside Yeong Grocery Store, according to a Richmond County sheriff's report.

The victim said he was walking through the store's parking lot when a man on a bicycle approached him from behind and pushed him down, the report said. The robber took $120 from the victim's pocket and fled.

Police have sent the body of a man found dead in his home to the GBI crime lab in Atlanta, according to Richmond County sheriff's Lt. Jimmy Young.

The son of Willie Kennedy, 83, of the 1600 block of Broad Street, told police he found his father's body on a bedroom floor at about 7 p.m. Monday. County Coroner Grover Tuten said foul play is not suspected.

An Augusta man with a series of domestic violence convictions pleaded guilty Tuesday in yet another case.

Mario J. Richardson, 19, will have to serve three to six months in a state detention center as part of his four-year probation sentence. He must also take a course about family violence and earn his GED, Judge Neal W. Dickert ruled.

Mr. Richardson pleaded guilty in Richmond County Superior Court to terroristic threats and battery. On Feb. 2, police say, he punched Chiquita Buchanan in the face and later cursed a sheriff's officer and told the deputy he would return and kill the victim.

An Aiken County man on vacation drowned in a Myrtle Beach swimming pool Sunday.

The Sun News newspaper reported Tuesday that Curtis Bates, 29, of Jackson, was found at the bottom of pool at the Sea Mist Resort. He was on a weekend vacation with friends and co-workers, authorities said.

Around midnight, a witness saw Mr. Bates swimming laps alone in the pool during a bad storm, according to a police report.

Several thousand people were briefly without power in the Evans/Martinez area as a powerful thunderstorm passed through Columbia County at about 4 p.m., said Pam Tucker, the county's emergency services director.

The storm brought heavy rain and strong winds that knocked down trees in parts of Aiken County but caused no power outages, said the Aiken County Sheriff's Office dispatch.

The North Augusta Habitat for Humanity met Tuesday to discuss closing its affiliation.

Before the meeting, organization officials said they had the option to either fold or join Aiken or Augusta's Habitat organization.

After hearing the different grants and programs they could apply for to rekindle their organization, they decided to delay their decision. President Willie Bido said they will have a final decision in two weeks.

The public can speak today with the commissioners of Georgia's Department of Corrections and Department of Juvenile Justice in Augusta.

The two will be taking part in an education symposium at Augusta State University as part of Gov. Sonny Perdue's Georgia on the Move, an initiative to bring officials to communities around the state.

The event will be held from 2-3:30 p.m. in the Washington Hall Towers. For more information, call (706) 737-1735.

The Board of Human Resources, which oversees and sets policy for the Georgia Department of Human Resources, is seeking public input on its fiscal year 2009 budget.

As part of that process, the board will conduct a public roundtable at Serenity Behavioral Systems, 3421 Mike Padgett Highway, from 4 to 6 p.m. today, according to a news release from the department.

Participants are asked to register by sending an e-mail to proundtableaugusta@dhr.state.ga.us. If the roundtable is filled, recommendations can be sent to the same e-mail address or mailed to Maria Pitts, DHR Office of Planning and Budget Services, Suite 30.270, Two Peachtree Street N.W., Atlanta, GA 30303 by June 20.

Georgia on the Move, a re-entry program for offenders, will be the subject of a town hall forum tonight at the May Park Community Center.

A panel will include state Sen. Ed Tarver, state Rep. Quincy Murphy, Georgia Department of Corrections Commissioner James Donald, Mayor Deke Copenhaver and others. Augusta Administrator Fred Russell will be the host.

The center is at 622 Fourth St. The program starts at 7 p.m.

A job fair recruiting part-time adjunct faculty for Aiken Technical College will be held Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the community room of the Health and Science Building 1200.

Applicants must complete a state job application, which can be downloaded at www.aik.tec.sc.us in the ATC Jobs section. Call (803) 593-9231, ext. 1356, for information.

A group of teenagers were assaulted with a crowbar and a cooking grill outside a home in the 3600 block of Goldfinch Drive early Tuesday.

The victims told police that a group of men approached them and started a fight, according to a Richmond County sheriff's report. Before leaving, the assailants fired two gunshots, grazing the stomach of one of the teens.

- From staff reports