CLASSIC CITY NEWS

By Joe Johnson Lillie Mae Wade, a 77-year-old resident of West Hancock Avenue, has been missing since Friday evening. The police department is asking for anyone who has seen her to immediately call 911. Police first issued a lookout for her at 9:54 p.m. Saturday. Ms. Wade reportedly has dementia and her last known whereabouts was said to have been at 1055 Barber Street. She is 5’6” with short gray hair, and was last seen wearing dark blue jeans and shortsleeved blue shirt ove

Dear Classic City News Editor:   I am a local social worker and harm reduction advocate in the Athens community, and I am writing in response to the recent article about a fentanyl death in a north Athens encampment. I appreciate your publication reporting on the devastating outcomes of some fentanyl use. However, I think it is critical to acknowledge our lack of harm reduction access in the community when reporting on these overdoses. Most are preventable. Many people think

Released today by Athens-Clarke County: The Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County (ACCGov) invites professional artists to submit qualifications for a large scale, 3D artwork for the Tallassee Road roundabout in Athens, Georgia. The selected artist(s) will work with stakeholders and government staff to create a public artwork that enhances the user experience and complements the selected site.   Application deadline is November 7, 2025 at 5 PM .  Project Overview & Site

By Joe Johnson A man dressed as a Nazi was arrested early Friday for assaulting a woman outside of a bar downtown Athens Kenneth Leland Morgan, 32, of Appleby Drive, was booked into the county jail at 3:56 a.m. on charges of aggravated assault and simple battery. He was dressed as a member of the Gestapo, the Nazi secret police, when he reportedly broke the woman’s nose. Details were unavailable Saturday from the arresting agency, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department. T

Athens police have issued a lookout for 77-year-old Lillie Mae Wade. She is 5’6” with short gray hair, and was last seen wearing dark blue jeans and shortsleeved blue shirt over a longsleeved gray shirt. Call 911 if you see her or know of her whereabouts.

By Joe Johnson A pair of University of Georgia students were victims of an armed robbery on the night of October 4th. According to police, it happened at around 9:30 p.m. several blocks from the UGA campus, just as the students arrived at their friend’s home on South Finley Street. The gunman approached the victims from behind and demanded their wallets, according to police, and when the students complied by tossing their wallets onto the sidewalk the robber told them to go

By Joe Johnson A University of Georgia was recently injured while riding an e-bike on the North Oconee River Greenway. The 22-year-old told police that he was reaching for his hat when he lost control and crashed. He was transported to the hospital for treatment of a broken wrist and road rash across his arms and legs, according to police.

By Joe Johnson A University of Georgia student was recently playing a computer game in his room when a bullet punched a hole in the wall near the door and struck the opposite wall. Even with headphones on he heard a “crack” and after moving around some furniture he found the bullet on top of a dog bed. Police believe that the bullet had been fired at the Athens Gardens apartment complex due to its trajectory and the close proximity of the complex to the student apartments on

By Joe Johnson While Justin Robert Casagranda is set to face double murder charges in a Florida courtroom he was indicted this week by an Athens grand jury for the killing of a dog when he lived here three years ago. According to the sheriff's office in Florida's Charlotte County, Casagranda had been hired by a woman to kill her husband, Mario Schiano, in the city of Punta Gorda. When carrying out the scheme last year he allegedly killed Schiano and the man's friend who happe

By Joe Johnson A 27-year-old Athens woman has been indicted for alleged cruelty to her juvenile daughter during an incident that occurred over three years ago. Schnae Kareese Dye had been arrested in August 2022 but her case wasn’t presented to a grand jury until this week. According to the indictment, Dye committed first-degree child cruelty when she caused her daughter to suffer cruel and excessive physical and mental pain “by biting her arm to the extent that the skin was

Released by the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office Attention all Jedi, Sith, and droids! Join us tomorrow for our 4th Annual Fall Festival. We guarantee you'll have an out-of-this-world experience! Bring the whole family for a night of 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄 food, fun, candy, costumes, community, and connection! And our frightfully entertaining 𝐇𝐀𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄! 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: Friday, October 24th 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞: 5 pm - 9 pm 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 2900 County Farm Rd. PARKING at SOUTHEAST CLARKE PARK

By Joe Johnson Jasmine Alexandria Peters, 29, of Covington, was indicted Tuesday for allegedly trafficking ecstasy. The indictment stems from her arrest in April during a traffic stop for driving a car with a broken taillight on and leading police on a vehicle pursuit during which she tossed a bag of drugs from her car. Peters is charged in the indictment with both trafficking ecstasy and littering. The incident for which Peters was indicted occurred early in the morning of A

Issued today by the commission: The Historic Preservation Commission of Winterville, Georgia roundly condemns the ongoing demolition of the White House’s East Wing that first rose to national attention on October 20, 2025. The building located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is perhaps the most-recognized structure in the United States, if not the world, and the careless destruction of this site over the past 48 hours represents a dark step toward the erasure of the American cul

By Joe Johnson Before it was raided by police last month, Sips Market Deli and Vape on Baxter Street allegedly operated as an illegal casino and smoke shop that sold marijuana under the table. The street gang known as Sex, Money, Murder reportedly held sway over the business that was located across the street from Rocksprings Homes apartments and down the block from the westside police precinct. When it opened last year, the store was hailed by the University of Georgia’s stu

Released today by the candidate’s campaign: Longtime Athens attorney and community leader Edward D. “Ed” Tolley has announced his candidacy for the Athens-Clarke County Commission, District 7, which includes the Timothy Road corridor and Beechwood Hills neighborhoods. A University of Georgia graduate and founding partner of Cook & Tolley, LLP, Tolley has practiced law in Athens for nearly 50 years. He has also previously served as President of the Clarke County Board of Educa

stock image By Joe Johnson When Fausto and Elena Sarmiento returned home from work on September 27th they discovered with horror that a large area of woods behind their house had been cut down. According to police, an estimated thousand-square foot area of woodland on the Hampton Park property had been “completely bush hogged down and cleared out.” The destruction was devastating for the couple. “Fausto stated he had lived at his residence for roughly 30 years and has enjoyed

By Joe Johnson A man and woman from Gwinnett County were recently arrested for fighting in a bar in downtown Athens. The incident happened on the night of September 27th at City Bar on College Avenue. Police said that officers responded on a complaint that 31-year-old Xavier Walker was fighting with staff and trying to get back in after having been kicked out. The officers observed that Walker was highly unruly and intoxicated and they took him into custody. He was resisting

By Joe Johnson A homeless man died from a fentanyl overdose Monday morning in the woods of northern Athens. According to police, it was the second time the 41-year-old man had overdosed within a day. Police said that officers responded shortly after midnight to an encampment off Old Hull Road across from Athens Technical College where CPR on the man was already in progress. They were told by his girlfriend that he had overdosed on fentanyl earlier in the day and that he had o

By Joe Johnson A 59-year-old man was found dead in his home on Bramble Hills Circle the afternoon of September 28th after having gone to bed the night before upset that the University of Georgia football team had lost to the University of Alabama. A roommate and an uncle told police that when they last saw Rufus Faust at 2:30 a.m. he seemed fine and told them that he wanted to have pizza for lunch. “He did not have any medical complaints at the time,” police said, “he was jus

Officer Miranda Duarte surveys the Gameday crowd By Joe Johnson Fellow police officers rushed to an area outside of an East Clayton Street bar to assist Lauren Nalley in her struggle with a large intoxicated man who was eventually subdued and arrested for aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer among other offenses. Around the corner on East Broad Street a drunken student hurled racial insults at Officer Zachery Espinosa who was trying to get him out of the street for