Author: Robert Preston

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…

Monday morning, the Coffee County Board of Commissioners heard remarks from Connie Lott of the Senior Citizens Center, who announced that May is Older Americans Month. During her comments, Lott outlined a few activities going on this month at the center, including a raffle for a homemade quilt made by Senior Citizens Center members. The commission also signed a proclamation recognizing May as Older Americans Month in Coffee County. Commissioners heard the first reading of a request from Lynn Shiver to rezone 2.19 acres at 5005 Highway 32 West from R-2 to R-M (residential mix). The Planning Commission has approved…

This weekend, Tyreek Hill joined a very short list of former Coffee High football players. When the Kansas City Chiefs selected Hill in the fifth round (165th overall) of this year’s NFL Draft, he became just the fourth former Trojan to be drafted. The others are Joel Parrish (1977), Willis Crockett (1989), and Garrett Scott (2014). Of those, only Crockett played in a regular season NFL game, though Parrish did play two seasons in the Canadian Football League. Two other Trojans, Adrian Grady (2009, Indianapolis Colts) and Demario Bennett (2014, New York Jets) signed free agent contracts with their respective…

For some time now, I have been trying to find the words to intelligently discuss some of the recent goings-on in our nation and our state. From the transgender bathroom controversy to the religious liberty bill to gay marriage to even the confusion surrounding the Republican presidential primaries, there is no shortage of things to talk about. Yet I find myself almost speechless. The words simply escape me. I think it’s because these issues are so cut and dried that, in my simple mind, they don’t warrant much discussion. But here we are, thrown into a state of confusion because…

There’s not a lot that can be done to relieve the stress of finals week but give it to the Clemson football team – at least they’re trying. The Clemson football program released a video showing several football players, Coffee’s Maverick Morris among them, offering free hugs to students as a way of easing the burden of finals. In the video, players give students hugs and orange lollipops. Their plan seems to work; while some of the students look confused at first, they all leave with a smile on their faces. The 6’5”, 300-pound Morris, who is wearing an orange…