Author: Robert Preston

Baxley native Byron Buxton, centerfielder for the Minnesota Twins, has emerged as Minnesota’s MVP at the halfway point of the 2025 baseball season, according to a report from ESPN. Primarily using AXE as a measure of player performance, an index that gathers major statistical metrics and combines them into one evaluation value (100 is the league average), Buxton is the Twins’ best player. According to the ESPN report, he has an AXE value of 130, the highest for Minnesota and 16th best in the league. This season, Buxton is hitting .272 with 19 home runs and 51 RBI. Most importantly,…

We’ve had some crazy weeks this year. We’ve had more wild headlines thus far in 2025 than we had all of last year, I believe. None, however, have had more weirdness in such a short period of time than the City of Pearson. The first story of the week involved the city cutting off water to select Atkinson County School System properties. The city and the school system have been in a bit of a disagreement regarding the schools’ water bills. This week, the city released a statement saying the school system was supposed to pay $4,500 per month for…

Thursday, June 26, family and friends were shocked to learn of the sudden passing of Shelvy Smith, 23, of Douglas. Shelvy had just finished her first year as an educator, teaching prekindergarten at Satilla Elementary School. In one short year, she had demonstrated the qualities of an excellent teacher – dedication, compassion, attentiveness to her students’ needs, and a genuine concern to see her students grow and learn. “Her passion, drive, and determination to be the best teacher just seemed somewhat effortless, as she truly had a natural gift for teaching. Yet that didn’t deter her from the hard work,…

Citizens opposed to the 60 chicken house poultry operation currently under development on U.S. Highway 441 South in Coffee County near the Satilla River aren’t conceding anything. Monday night, they gathered at Covenant Church to discuss options for possibly stopping the project. Several individuals representing different agencies attended the meeting, including Satilla Riverkeeper Shannon Gregory, State Rep. James Burchett, and Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist James Hunt. Opponents have cited river pollution, groundwater contamination, odors, a reduction in air quality, threats to the endangered eastern indigo snake and gopher tortoise, noise, traffic, and decreased property values as reasons why…

Development of an unpermitted bitcoin mine in eastern Coffee County has been halted while county commissioners consider the best way to proceed with this kind of development in the community. At a special called county commission meeting last week, commissioners met with Eric Su of LN8 Energy. Su and LN Energy are bringing the bitcoin mine to Coffee County. In January, officials were notified of the mine and put a stop to the project. They haven’t done anything since then. Even after last week’s meeting, it remains unclear what action the county plans to do. During the meeting, commissioners established…

Coffee County’s results in Tuesday’s Districts 2 and 3 Public Service Commission election mirrored the statewide results on the Republican ticket. They differed a little, however, on the Democratic side. Locally, incumbent Republican Tim Echols defeated Lee Muns handily 97-44 (69 percent to 31 percent) in the District 2 race. Democrat Alicia M. Johnson had no opposition; she received 124 votes. In the District 3 election, incumbent Fitz Johnson had no opposition and garnered 115 votes. On the Democratic ticket, Robert Jones received 42 votes while Keisha Sean Waites, a former state representative and former member of the Atlanta City…

“I dislike the disdain for the Constitution. I dislike the disdain for the rule of law. You understand how important the law is to making this government work. The interpretation of the law gets finalized, whether I like it or not, by the U.S. Supreme Court. And whatever they say, whether I like it or not, is the law of the land. That has to hold true on both sides of that equation. And I’m not sure it does too adequately in this current version of this administration,” said Rodney Ragsdale, a 20-year veteran of the United States Army and…

After weeks of rumors, rumblings, and speculation, the commercial poultry operation planned for southern Coffee County made its way to the Coffee County commission. At Monday’s regular commission meeting, four individuals spoke to the commission regarding the project.   Here is the background: For the last several years, local businessman David Varnedore has owned a large tract of land on U.S. 441 South near the Coffee/Atkinson county line. The Satilla River borders the property to the south and the tract, which spans 1,000 acres, goes west almost to the Willacoochee Highway. Varnedore has sold the property to an out-of-state entity,…

Friday, the CCA Patriots capped a historic 2024-2025 school/athletic year with an unprecedented third state championship. The Patriots defeated the Vidalia Heritage Academy Eagles 8-0 in Columbus to capture the GIAA Class A state baseball title. The Lady Patriots won a softball state championship – also in Columbus – in the fall. A few weeks ago, sophomore Arabelle Roberts took home a state title in the high jump at the state track meet. And now the baseball team has added a third championship to the CCA trophy case. The baseball championship was, thankfully, free from much drama or doubt. The…

21 outs. That’s all the CCA Patriots need in order to capture the GIAA Class A state baseball championship after Thursday’s win over the Vidalia Heritage Academy Eagles in Columbus. The #1-ranked Patriots defeated the #7-seed (and region foe) Eagles 13-0 in five innings behind a 75-pitch complete-game one-hitter from junior Blake Bryant. The Patriots scored two runs with two outs in the bottom of the first on a single to left by Jonathan Rutland. Thomas Gentry and pinch runner Tyson Crosby scored on the play. It was the next inning, though, where the real damage was done. The Patriots…