'Chronicle' employee is reported missing
Richmond County investigators are looking into what they are calling the suspicious disappearance of an Augusta woman, sheriff's Lt. Scott Peebles said Monday.
Jessica Lynn Murphy, 30, of Tubman Street, left for work at The Augusta Chronicle on Saturday and has not been seen since, according to a sheriff's report.
Ms. Murphy told her mother she was going by the home she shared with her estranged husband to feed a cat before work, the report said. Ms. Murphy was last seen on Mike Padgett Highway at Brown Road about 1:45 p.m. driving her green 2003 Kia Rio. Lt. Peebles said in an e-mail that investigators believe she may be in danger.
Her husband, Scottie Murphy, 37, is believed to have moved out of the Tubman Street home about two weeks ago, and police were trying to find him.
An Augusta man imprisoned for vehicular homicide has been paroled.
Ruben Murillo Jr., 35, was released Wednesday, according to a notice by the state Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Mr. Murillo was sentenced to three years in prison followed by 10 years' probation in June 2008.
He was driving under the influence on April 21, 2006, when he crashed his vehicle into a tree on Wheeler Road. His friend and passenger, Timothy Krauss, 37, died of injuries. Mr. Murillo spent 11 months in a hospital recovering from injuries, according to Augusta Chronicle reports.
Man who broke into car at Family Y sought
Richmond County sheriff's investigators are searching for a man who broke into a car in the parking lot of the Family Y on Wheeler Road on Saturday.
It was one of several car break-ins at the fitness center in recent months, according to Sheriff's Investigator Shawn Newsome.
A security video shows a silver vehicle leaving the scene. To see stills from the surveillance video, go to augustachronicle.com.
The theft occurred about 9:30 p.m.
Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's office at (706) 821-1080.
Graniteville man faces drug, weapons charges
A Graniteville man has been arrested on drug charges after a two-month investigation.
According to the Aiken County Sheriff's Office, Jeffery Antonio Wright, of the 400 block of Seastrunk Street, was arrested over the weekend on weapons charges and several charges involving distribution of cocaine, marijuana and ecstasy and distribution of those drugs within a half-mile of a school.
Police said Mr. Wright was pulled over in a traffic stop in the Kalmia Apartments area in Clearwater.
Authorities said they found 83 ecstasy pills, cocaine, marijuana, a stolen firearm and an undisclosed amount of cash in the car.
Woman fights intruders at her home with purse
Two men held a Hephzibah woman at gunpoint during a home invasion on Lake Michigan Drive on Monday morning, but left with nothing.
The 57-year-old victim said she heard a knock at her front door, but when she looked through the peephole she didn't see anyone, a Richmond County sheriff's report said. She then cracked the door open, and a man pushed his way inside and put a gun to her head, the report said.
He grabbed her by the throat and demanded money. At that point the men threw her on a couch, and she began hitting them with her pocketbook, the report said. The men then fled the home empty-handed.
2 Coliseum Authority members are sworn in
New Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority members Bonita Jenkins and Joseph Collier were sworn in Monday morning by State Court Judge David Watkins.
Ms. Jenkins, marketing director at Augusta Technical College, and Mr. Collier, a counselor at Murphey Middle School who played trumpet and flugelhorn for James Brown, were the fifth and sixth members of the overhauled seven-member authority to take the oath.
David Hogg, Louis C. "Hap" Harris Jr., Shirley Darby and Chairman Cedric Johnson were sworn in by Superior Court Judge J. Carlisle Overstreet on Thursday. Judge Watkins will swear in Brad Usry on Monday.
The group's first meeting is tentatively scheduled for 9 a.m. June 23.
North Augusta sewer bills to grow in July
Beginning July 1, North Augusta residents will pay about 57 cents more on their monthly sewer bills.
The City Council unanimously voted on final reading Monday to increase sewer rates. The new rate reflects an increase in costs to the city by the Aiken County Public Service Authority.
Aiken County rates increased by 10 cents per 1,000 gallons. The increase cost North Augusta $147,825 extra for sewer usage.
Main break prompts water boiling advisory
The Talatha Rural Community Water District in Aiken County has issued a water-boiling advisory because of a water main break.
The advisory is for residents on Gray Mare Hollow Road from St. Marks Church to Silver Bluff Road, according to a news release. Storm Branch Road residents in the district are included.
Residents in those areas are asked to boil water for cooking and drinking for at least three minutes for the next 72 hours. Ice made from water that hasn't been boiled should not be used.
Customers will be notified when testing is complete. For information, call Paul E. Johns, chairman of the Talatha Rural Community Water District, at (803) 652-1381 or (803) 646-2525.
Public meetings set for SRS stimulus funds
The U.S. Department of Energy will hold two town hall meetings and job fairs involving upcoming stimulus money for Savannah River Site.
The first meeting will take place at noon Wednesday at Barnwell Primary School, 734 Hagood Ave., Barnwell, S.C., according to a DOE release. A job fair will follow from 1 to 3 p.m.
The second meeting will occur at noon June 24 at the University of South Carolina-Salkehatchie West Campus Conference Center, 213 Academy St., Allendale, S.C. A job fair will follow from 1 to 3 p.m.
For information, visit www.srs.gov/recovery.
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