Richmond County

But that surge that you're anticipating being for you, it may not be for you.

Over in Augusta's left-leaning Richmond County, early voting has soared 65% compared with the same point in 2022.

That may bode well for 12th congressional candidate, Seretta Smith.

We talked a little bit yesterday about the possibility of Georgia Democrats picking up a congressional district here or there.

Richmond County surging 65% could be a bellwether for a potential surprise flip in that district, maybe.

I don't know.

Anyway, other important Democratic counties, they write in the AJC, including DeKalb and Fulton counties, are seeing modest gains compared with 2022, but gains nonetheless.

So yeah, real curious to see what the Musketeers are gonna bring to the table tonight.

The Academy of Richmond County, which is a, uh, not a name I'm gonna be saying a whole lot.

But we are happy to be out here at ARC Stadium.

We've made the 77-mile drive out here to Augusta, Georgia.

Coming up on second and five.

The ball now spotted at their 22 yard line.

And of course, uh, Richmond County spreading out now.

Twin right, one left.

The center is expected to open in August of 2027.

Richmond County, Georgia is planning an $81.3 million expansion and renovation of the Charles B. Webster Detention Center to address overcrowding and aging infrastructure.

The project would add two 144-bed housing units, increasing capacity from 1,066 to 1,354 beds.

Additional improvements include expanded kitchen and laundry facilities, new storage space and upgrades to security cameras, door locks and intercom systems.

When I say 120,000, those are the amount of cameras that they have placed around, that they have nationwide, about 10,000 here in the state of Georgia.

This summer, there were audits and GBI investigations that led to discipline or charges for officers in Cherokee County, Georgia, Albany, Richmond County, Savannah, and Habersham County.

And it will probably be more if more municipalities looked into it.

And Atlanta First News is reporting that there are more than a dozen cases of officers abusing the database.

And as usual, we are here to help you get prepared for that.

Today, we have candidates who are running for Richmond County Board of Education District 3.

But before we get to those candidates, I want to fill you in on some very helpful information regarding your status with voting.

First, early voting begins on October 13th, here in the Augusta area, all four early voting locations will be open on the 13th from 8.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Those are the Municipal Building on Telfair Street, the Henry Brigham Community Center on Golden Cap Road, the Robert Howard Community Center at Diamond Lakes Way, and Warren Road Community Center.

At 300 Warren Road.

So if you want to vote early, you can start doing that on October 13th.

And please, I always tell people to check the Richmond County Board of Elections website.

and Facebook page to get information about where to vote.

I think one of the challenges is just working with our neighbors.

I think current leadership of Augusta-Richmond County and Columbia County have done a good job coordinating things, but never want to view these two as competitors as we recruit employers together or bring some major opportunities to boost the entire region.

I just want to make sure that we continue to have open dialogue and work with those partners to boost the whole area.

Yeah, that's a great point.

This is Janice Allen Jackson welcoming you to another episode of the Local Matters podcast of Georgia.

Here in Richmond County, and I'm sure throughout the state of Georgia, November 3rd is a big election day.

There will be numerous statewide races on the ballot, and you'll hear more about those from me later.

But we're also going to have several local school board races on our ballots.

I also want to remind you of the voter registration deadline for the November 3rd election.

That deadline is October 5th.

So if you have any questions about that, please call the Richmond County Board of Elections 706-821-2340 in order to make sure that You get registered on time.

You bring all the documentation that is required and that sort of thing.