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BALTIMORE — A judge acquitted a police van driver of all charges including “depraved-heart” murder Thursday in the death of 25-year-old arrestee Freddie Gray, whose broken neck on the way to the station set off Baltimore’s worst riots in decades.
Six officers were charged in Gray’s death, but only Officer Caesar Goodson was accused of murder. Gray was fatally injured after officers bound his hands and feet and Goodson left him unprotected by a seat belt that prosecutors say would have kept him from slamming into the van’s metal walls.

 
Augusta’s mayor, commissioners and other officials got a first-hand look Wednesday at what several said was the underrealized potential of Riverwalk Augusta.
Mayor Hardie Davis called the visit an “infrastructure tour” with the hope of brainstorming “low-cost initiatives” to quickly enhance other efforts in the area.

Film crews for the TV show Cops are returning to catch more Augusta action, Richmond County sheriff’s officials confirmed Wednesday.
Officials said crews with the show will be in the area filming on and off for a few weeks, but segments will not air for several months.
Cops, which follows police during patrols and other activities, premiered in March 1989 and is one of the longest-running TV shows in history. It has been filmed in 140 U.S. cities and in Hong Kong, London and the former So­viet Union, according to its Web site.

A 20-year-old Augusta man is facing charges after police said he put feces in his disabled mother’s mouth.
Quami Dewayne Kelly was booked into the Richmond County jail today on a charge of exploitation of the elderly or disabled.
According to an incident report, deputies were called to Kelly’s Melrose Drive home about 7 p.m. Tuesday after his mother’s caretaker found feces in her mouth.

Golfer Rory McIlroy became one of the most high-profile sports stars to opt out of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics because of concerns about the Zika virus, saying Wednesday it is “a risk I am unwilling to take.”
“After speaking with those closest to me, I’ve come to realize that my health and my family’s health comes before anything else,” the four-time major winner said in a statement released by his management company.

Augusta’s handling of equal opportunity in employment, business and accessibility took a turn Tuesday with a new hire and the sudden resignation of longtime Disadvantaged Bu­si­­ness Enterprise Coordinator Yvonne Gentry.
Gentry resigned effective immediately and was given a four-month severance package worth $24,518 plus benefits on a motion from Augusta Commission member Ben Hasan.
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The city’s longtime financial adviser lost a bid protest in a Tuesday committee meeting, although the recommendation must go before the full commission for a final vote.
Public Financial Management has advised the city on bond issues and other large transactions since 2005 but wasn’t the city’s top pick in a recent procurement.

A gas main was broken shortly before 5 p.m. today near Fort Gordon’s Building 29721, an Advanced Individual Training barracks, according to the post Facebook page and Twitter account.
The building has been evacuated and the fire department is on the scene, along with the gas company.
Additional information will be released as it becomes available.

A former city employee accused of shooting a fellow worker last year was convicted of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
A Richmond County Superior Court jury convicted Ed Willie Jordan, 49, Tuesday afternoon.
According to initial sheriff reports, Jordan got into an argument with Theron Wilson over religion. The pair were working at the Cedar Grove Cemetery on Watkins Street on May 12, 2015. Wilson struck Jordan, knocking off his glasses and causing Jordan to drop his Bible.

Police are on the scene of an armed robbery at the Deans Bridge Road GameStop.
Deputies were called to the store located in the Wal-Mart shopping center around 2:50 p.m. According to police scanner traffic, a man in a dark hoodie presented a handgun during the robbery.
He was seen leaving the area in a gold-colored SUV. He has been described as a black male who is about 6-foot-1 and 190 lbs.