Author: Robert Preston

Douglas city commissioners spent a little more time than usual on the subject of alcohol at Monday’s regular commission meeting. Two items related to alcohol were on the agenda, including one that could likely result in a fair amount of controversy moving forward. City manager Terrell Jacobs asked the commissioners if, at an-as yet undetermined time, offering Sunday alcohol sales could be placed on a local referendum. With little discussion, commissioners approved the request. No one discussed any details of when this measure would go before the people. Commissioners also agreed to waive the $500 per day temporary alcohol license…

Progress. It’s something I’ve been thinking about quite a bit lately. It’s also something that people throughout our community have been thinking about as well. The sad fact is that our community has stagnated in recent years from an economic standpoint. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say that we are in a depression, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find well-paying jobs in Coffee County. At one time, we enjoyed a thriving, robust economy. We were recruiting new businesses and industries, and our existing industries were booming. Then the mobile home industry tanked and took with it…

A combination medical research facility and tourist attraction is coming to Douglas. Southeast Venom Research plans to build a new 150,000 square-foot facility near Douglas on Highway 441 South. The purpose of the facility will be threefold – to study the effects of snake venom on heart disease, cancer, and other medical conditions; create anti-venin for snakebite treatment both domestically and abroad; and give a nod to the sideshow attractions of the past, including snake milking exhibitions, alligator wrestling, and wildlife education shows. The project is nearly a decade in the making and Southeast Venom Research is ready to start…

“It saddens me for a couple of reasons to have to stand before you today to address this tragic incident that occurred in our city on Monday, March 28, 2016, where a 14-year-old female juvenile [allegedly] shot 18-year-old Traveon Marquess Paulk, who died as a result of that shooting,” stated Douglas Mayor Tony Paulk Tuesday evening at a press conference in the lobby of the Douglas Police Department. Mayor Paulk and police chief Gary Casteloes addressed media and citizens at the conference. Chief Casteloes updated attendees on the investigation into the shooting death of Traveon Paulk before the mayor spoke.…

A Douglas juvenile has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after allegedly shooting Traveon Marquess Paulk, 18, Monday night on the 900 block of South Coffee Avenue. According to the Douglas Police Department, officers responded to the scene after receiving a call that an individual had been shot. They found Paulk on the ground with a gunshot wound. Officers administered emergency first aid until EMTs arrived. They transported Paulk to Coffee Regional Medical Center, where he eventually died of his injuries. During the investigation, officers found evidence pointing to a female juvenile being the shooter. She has been charged and transported…

At last Thursday’s regular board of education meeting, the school board voted 3-2 to reduce the 2016-2017 school year by one day to give system employees and students Nov. 11 – Veterans Day – off. The school year will be 179 days instead of 180. As a result, the day off will cost taxpayers an estimated $200,000. After spending several minutes discussing the importance of keeping students in the classroom as many days as possible, board members engaged in a lengthy, and at times tense, discussion regarding Veterans Day. Board members Judi Worrell and Ronnie Johnson asked that the system…

Just before 3 p.m. this afternoon, the north side of Douglas erupted in sirens. Two separate and unrelated incidents had officers from the Douglas Police Department, Coffee County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia State Patrol, and Douglas Fire Department flying in different directions. Earlier in the afternoon, a deputy initiated a traffic stop on a Toyota sedan driven by Timothy Sanchez Blank, 26. According to officers, Blank refused to stop and led units on a chase through Douglas. Blank crashed into a car near the intersection of South Grady and West Ward Street. He continued east on Ward and attempted to turn…

On Friday, March 18, the Coffee High School baseball program honored the late Riccardo Ingram. Here are the remarks stadium announcer Jimmy Roberts read at the ceremony: Ladies and gentlemen, could I direct your attention to home plate? Tonight, we have a special ceremony remembering one of the finest student-athletes to ever pass through the halls of Coffee High School. If there ever was a glory period of Coffee High athletics, it would have to be the first half of the 1980s. We have had hundreds of talented young men and women pass through the athletic program of our school.…

The greatest Trojan. It’s a debate in which Coffee High sports fan have engaged for decades. It’s a fun, if not altogether fair, discussion to have. Over the years, the Trojans have had their fair share of tremendous athletes. Each team, each season, each year, each decade has had candidates worthy of consideration. Usually, however, the debate always focuses on those football and baseball teams of the early 1980s. Never before in Coffee High history has there been a greater collection of raw talent than what those teams enjoyed. Dozens played in college when a college scholarship was indeed a…

At Monday’s city commission meeting, commissioners approved the purchase of two new cruisers for the Douglas Police Department. Chief Gary Casteloes introduced the request – a pair of 2015 Dodge Chargers for a total of $47,000. The commission unanimously approved the measure. Cemetery director Henry Milhollin asked the commission, at the behest of the Cemetery Advisory Committee, to amend the cemetery’s headstone only rule in Section T of the municipal cemetery. The committee wanted to allow ledgers, benches, and above-ground crypts. The request passed 5-1 with Commissioner Kentaiwon Durham casting the dissenting vote. Commissioners also approved the use of two…