Author: Robert Preston

There are three candidates for the office of chief magistrate: Incumbent Annemarie Fussell, Julie Phillips, and Tamma Mobley. Here are their responses from Thursday night. David Rodriguez/DouglasNow.com

Candidates for probate judge, incumbent Beverly Johns and challenger Melissa Gilliard, addressed the public and answered questions Thursday at the political forum. David Rodriguez/DouglasNow.com

At the political forum Thursday night, the only candidate for tax commissioner who took the podium was Tabitha Paulk, who is challenging incumbent Shanda Henderson for the office. Henderson was at a training seminar in Athens and was not able to attend the forum. Here are Paulk’s statements. David Rodriguez/DouglasNow.com

Thursday night, most — not all — of the candidates seeking public office went before the public at a political forum hosted by Coffee County Farm Bureau and the Douglas-Coffee County Chamber of Commerce. We will be posting the candidates of the five partisan races that have opposition: board of education district 3, clerk of superior court, magistrate judge, probate judge, and sheriff. First up are the BOE candidates, incumbent Judi Worrell and challenger Reagan Miller. David Rodriguez/DouglasNow.com

Monday night, the city announced that it has a tentative plan to provide skaters with a new facility, located on what used to be tennis courts, at Eastside Park. For several years now, skaters have been at odds with downtown businesses and local law enforcement. They want to skate downtown, the business owners don’t want them there. And the law is not on the side of the skaters. The city’s new plan is a step in the right direction but it’s going to leave both parties – the local government and the skaters – dissatisfied. First, let’s take a look…

The biggest news from Monday’s city commission may have come from an item that wasn’t on the agenda and didn’t require any action from the mayor or commission. If the city moves forward with a plan discussed Monday night – and it looks like the city will – at least part of the conflict between local skateboarders and the business community and police departments should come to an end. At the meeting, city manager Terrell Jacobs and recreation director Steve Young unveiled plans to convert two tennis courts at Eastside Park into a small skatepark for local skaters. At one…

Friday morning, Eugene Yu, a Republican candidate for U.S. Representative, made his way through Douglas, shaking hands and talking with people throughout the community. I bumped into Yu at Jerry J’s; he sat down with me and we spoke for about half an hour. Yu ran for the same office two years ago. Rick Allen, our current representative, defeated Yu and three other candidates in the Republican primary. Allen then went on to do something no Republican had been able to do despite the party’s best attempts – defeat then-incumbent John Barrow, a conservative Democrat who had vanquished all his…

“Prayer leads to revival. We all have too much to do to waste our time with something that God isn’t involved in. Without prayer, there is no revival,” said Pastor Willie Williams at the National Day of Prayer ceremony at the Coffee County Courthouse Thursday afternoon. Williams was one of three local clergymen who spoke at the meeting. The other two were John Butler and Sam DeCasper. Citizens filled the jury assembly room downstairs almost to capacity for the ceremony. Following remarks from Butler, DeCasper, and Williams, the Coffee High School show choir sang two songs. Then Dr. Morris Leis,…

Revenue agents were busy in Douglas this week. Before the Secret Service, IRS, and other agencies conducted a raid for fraudulent activity on Wednesday, the Georgia Department of Revenue arrested Tina Graham, who operates Tina’s Tax Service on 110 South Grady Avenue in Douglas, on a variety of charges Tuesday afternoon. Those charges include unlawful assisting, procuring, counseling, or advising the filing of income tax returns; unlawful disregard of rules and regulations of a commissioner in preparing returns; criminal attempt to defraud the state of Georgia; conspiracy to defraud the state or political subdivision; and false swearing and forgery in…

An intersection exists in our society, one where bad policy meets a lack of responsibility – with borderline catastrophic results. That place is the classroom, and teachers are the ones caught in the crossfire. This week is Teacher Appreciation Week, with Tuesday being designated as Teacher Appreciation Day, and the work our teachers do cannot be overstated. Throughout the history of the modern welfare state, which began with President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society speech at the University of Michigan in 1964, government has rewarded bad and irresponsible behavior. Its varied and expanding social programs have all but wiped out personal…