Author: Robert Preston

One individual lost his life as a result of a Thursday night shooting that took place on South Madison Avenue. On November 14, 2024, at approximately 10:13 p.m., while patrolling the area of Pine Street, an officer heard multiple gunshots. Upon arrival at the scene, officers discovered a vehicle stopped in the middle of Madison Avenue. Inside the vehicle they found a male subject who had suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Officers immediately rendered first aid to the victim, who was still alive at the time. However, despite their efforts, the individual was later pronounced deceased. No arrests…

Wednesday afternoon, law enforcement officers and agents searched the wooded area behind Johnson Funeral & Cremation Services as a part of the ongoing investigation into the funeral home’s operations. Last month, owner and operator Chris Johnson was arrested and charged with 17 counts of abusing a dead body after 18 decomposing bodies were found inside the funeral home when the property owner served Johnson with an eviction notice. Authorities stated that searching the woods was something investigators needed to do to make sure they hadn’t missed anything. During the investigation, officers hadn’t uncovered anything pointing them to the wooded area…

Tuesday night’s Douglas city commission meeting featured a rather benign agenda. However, a discussion in the general comments time of the work session added a little tension to the meeting. After commissioners handled the five items of business, Larry NeSmith addressed the commission. He wanted to discuss something that happened on October 30 on North Peterson Avenue. Just before 9 p.m., a Douglas police officer attempted to stop Roshed Carter, 44, who was allegedly driving a stolen Buick Enclave. Carter allegedly fled, traveling north on Peterson Avenue at a high rate of speed, according to the incident report. One officer…

At the November 4 county commission meeting, commissioners approved a contract for Hurricane Helene debris removal with SDR, the company that has been handling all of the debris removal since the storm. The county entered into an emergency contract with SDR in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane. Now, said county administrator Wesley Vickers, it’s time to sign the standard request for proposal (RFP) with a contractor. Five entities submitted proposals. Those five were ranked by Vickers, county EMA director and fire chief Steve Carver, and city manager Charlie Davis. SDR received the highest ranking, said Vickers. “They’ve been doing…

It’s always good to finish the season with a win. The CCA Patriots did that very thing Friday night, beating the Stewart County Knights 21-18 in front of a home crowd in their season finale. The Patriots, who defeated the Knights earlier in the year 20-6 in a torrential downpour, finished their first varsity football season in 18 years with a 4-6 record. It wasn’t a given that CCA would win. They trailed 6-0 early in the first quarter, built a lead by as many as nine on two different occasions, then ultimately won by three. “We fought through a…

Last week, the Appling County Pirates shocked 2A when they defeated the Pierce County Bears 13-6 in Baxley to win the Region 3-2A championship, snap the Bears’ 17-game winning streak (which began after Appling beat them last year on September 29), and dethrone them from the #1 spot – a position they had held all season long. And two former Trojans helped the Pirates do the unthinkable. Appling assistants Tye Bailey and RJ Ringgold both played together and coached together at Coffee High. After a brief respite, they’re together again in Baxley. Bailey graduated from Coffee in 2016 and went…

Republicans carried the day in Coffee County, winning every race on the ballot by a large margin. There were 15,769 voters who cast ballots out of 23,755 registered voters, a turnout of 66.38 percent. The local race that garnered the most attention, of course, was the sheriff’s election. With current sheriff Doyle Wooten retiring, someone new would take the reins of the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office in 2025. Chief Deputy Fred Cole (R) and former deputy Ben Munford (D) emerged from the primary season as their party’s nominees (Munford had no primary opposition while Cole defeated two challengers in the…

The Coffee Trojans fell to the Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets 38-7 Friday night in Thomasville in the final game of the regular season. The loss gives the Trojans an 8-2 overall record and a 3-2 region mark. Coffee has secured the #3 seed in the playoffs and will face Jackson County on November 15 in Hoschton. The game was scoreless until late in the first quarter when the Yellow Jackets got on the board with a double pass from quarterback Jaylen Johnson to Jabari Watkins to Gary Pringle for a 26-yard touchdown. The Yellow Jackets scored again when Johnson…

A funeral service inspection report from the Georgia State Board of Funeral Service gave Johnson Funeral and Cremation Services in Douglas a passing inspection on July 19, 2024, despite the fact that owner Chris Johnson did not hold current funeral director, embalmer, and establishment licenses – all three of which are required for individuals in Georgia to own/operate funeral homes, prepare bodies for burial, and conduct funerals. Sunday afternoon, Johnson was arrested and charged with 18 counts of abusing a dead body after 18 decomposing bodies were found in the funeral home when the landlord served an eviction notice on…

The Coffee Trojans defeated the Veterans Warhawks 41-7 at Jardine Stadium to improve to 8-1 overall and 3-1 in region play. The Trojans have made the playoffs; now it’s just a matter of figuring out which seed they will occupy. And that will be decided next week in Thomasville when Coffee takes on the defending 6-A state champion Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets. The Trojans got touchdowns from KJ Smith (a pick-six), Tre Smith (two TDs; a 54-yard pass and a 28-yard pass, both from Bray Coe), Zean Preston (four-yard pass from Coe), and Kevin Gilliard (three-yard pass from Coe).…