Consumer Stories

Civil War: A Satire with Nothing to Say

The readout of the period in which we, Americans, currently coexist among the press and historians is a resounding “turbulent.” As citizens, we’re constantly being fed fear about our friends and neighbors, the political machine, and the future of Democracy. The worst prospect pushed is that of a second civil war. Writer and Director, Alex Garland, apparently recognized this and chose to exploit it in his new movie, aptly titled, Civil War. However, like the insidious deflections and projections by those holding legitimate power in our nation who would rather

Read More »
Consumer Stories

Tiny homes coming to Augusta

A plan to build a tiny home village on Merry Street received the green light from Augusta Commissioners during the April 16 meeting. Commissioners approved two re-zoning requests for just over three acres at 1140 Merry Street. The land had been a city-owned park, but was turned over to the Land Bank three years ago due to lack of use. The plan put forth by the non-profit organization Bridge Builder Community, calls for a total of 25 tiny homes to be built in phases. The first phase would be 10

Read More »
Consumer Stories

A slice of Texas moves to Downtown Augusta

El Paso, with its blend of Tex-Mex and authentic Mexican food, is moving into the original Mellow Mushroom location on Broad Street near 13th. In 2023, Mellow Mushroom moved across the street to 11th and Broad and left an artistic void that El Paso is filling. A painter from the Houston area came in to hand paint the walls as part of a total renovation. The bar will now be “U” shape and face Broad Street. The Chavez family is hoping to open by mid-May, pending their liquor license approval,

Read More »
Consumer Stories

Business donations make a difference

Editor’s note: I was the Development Director for 5 years at a homeless shelter. During that time, we helped hundreds of men and women with food, clothing, and employment opportunities. Not once did anyone prefer to be homeless, they all wanted to become productive members of the community. It’s a dirty subject that some might like swept under a rug, but homelessness is a reality in Augusta and cities on both sides of the river. The face of the homeless population isn’t what you might think. Yes, there are homeless

Read More »
Consumer Stories

CSRA retailer rises from the smoke to a sweet new location

It’s been a wild ride for True Aiken shop owner, Sarah Dodge since the first of the year. That might seem appropriate for a retailer smack in the middle of Aiken’s horse country and whose first sales came from last year’s Steeplechase event in November. Response was great for her line of merchandise, much of which is Aiken-branded. In January, Dodge opened at 311 Hayne Avenue SW. Less than two months later, the office next door caught fire and the smoke damage was too much, resulting in the closing of

Read More »
B2B Stories

Local businesses building beneficial relationships with future employees

Augusta Technical College has launched a program designed to connect students with local businesses in a mutually beneficial partnership. Called “Cougar Community Partners,” it offers a collaboration between students and local businesses everywhere that Augusta Tech has a footprint. “We service five counties, and so, saying that, with the student population that we have, income that we generate as a college, we just see the value of having this partnership to support our local business communities while also asking them to consider hiring our students and providing our students and

Read More »
Awards/Celebrations

New $10,000 scholarship awarded

Dr. Jermaine Whirl, President of Augusta Technical College, and his wife, Mrs. Marqueta Whirl have pledged $10,000 to create a new endowed scholarship fund at Augusta Tech. Called the Dr. Jermaine Whirl Presidential Leadership Scholarship, the annual award will be given to the student who is elected as the College’s Student Government Association President. “My wife and I feel it is important to show our personal support for the students, so we wanted to create a scholarship fund,” Dr. Whirl said. “I think leadership skills are incredibly important to a

Read More »
B2B Stories

After-Hours Email: Do We Really Need a Law?

A few weeks ago, I was watching a Saturday morning news show when a story came on about a proposed California law to give employees the legal right to ignore non-emergency calls and emails once the workday ends. Though this would be the first such law in the United States, similar laws are more prevalent in Europe and Australia. My first thought upon hearing about this proposed legislation was to consider whether such a law was necessary, practical, and/or enforceable. The discussion about the increase of after-hours email has been

Read More »
Darin Myers

Coach Darin: Your employees may be your biggest security risk

Social engineering is a hacking approach in which cybercriminals exploit human nature, psychology, curiosity, and ignorance to manipulate unsuspecting individuals into clicking on something harmful. Once the trap is set and a user opens a document embedded with malicious code or maybe enters login credentials to the company bank account, the damage is almost impossible to stop. A virus spreads through the network. A financial account is emptied. Your entire organization comes to a screeching halt due to ransomware. No matter how the cyberthreat manifests, it is always very-very bad

Read More »
B2B Stories

Popular small business resource fair is back

The Greater Augusta Black Chamber of Commerce (GABCC) is holding a resource fair for small businesses on Sat., April 20, starting at 11:00 a.m. Ronic West, President of GABCC, told ABD a similar event, held last fall, was so well-received that they decided to do it again. “Everybody was like, ‘Oh my God, I hate I missed it.’ We heard that feedback,” she said. “We decided to do it again in the spring. We’ll make sure everybody’s aware of it early on.” She said it will be held at Bec

Read More »