Author: Robert Preston

Here are the award presentations for the caterers at the Chamber’s annual event last week. David Rodriguez/DouglasNow.com

At last week’s Chamber of Commerce Annual Event, the Chamber named The Medicine Cabinet its Small Business of the Year. Here is a video of the award presentation. David Rodriguez/DouglasNow.com

At last week’s Chamber of Commerce Annual Event, the Chamber named Brian and Cindy McNeill its Entrepreneur of the Year. Here is a video of the award presentation. David Rodriguez/DouglasNow.com

At last Thursday’s Chamber of Commerce Annual Event, former Douglas resident, longtime journalist, lobbyist, and pundit Joe Sports delivered the keynote address. Dr. Jim Cottingham introduced Sports, who then spent a few minutes entertaining the capacity crowd at the Central Square Complex. Here are Sports’s remarks in their entirety. David Rodriguez/Douglasnow.com

We don’t much about this accident except that it happened at the intersection of Highway 158 West and Perimeter Road. Traffic is often moving pretty quickly through this intersection so any accident that takes place here has the potential to be serious. We hope everyone emerged unscathed. Please be careful out there; driving a car is the most dangerous thing most of us will ever do.

A Douglas police officer was involved in a three-car crash late this afternoon at the intersection of U.S. Highway 441 South and Perimeter Road. The name of the officer has not been released. According to an eyewitness, the police officer approached the intersection with his blue lights on as he was heading to answer a call. The witness reported that the officer stopped at the intersection then proceeded through. Another vehicle turned in front of the officer as he was driving through the intersection. The officer hit the vehicle. A third vehicle was struck in the aftermath of the initial…

Today, Walmart announced its plans to close 269 stores in the United States and abroad. Of those, 154 will be in the U.S., and 102 of the stores will be Walmart Express, the company’s smallest format stores. Seven Walmart Express locations will be closed in Georgia, including two in close proximity to Douglas. The Pearson and Alma Walmart Express locations will close, as will Express stores in Ashburn, Pelham, Donalsonville, Ellaville, and Lakeland. In a press release on the company’s Web site, Walmart stated that about 16,000 associates will be affected, approximately 10,000 of which are in the U.S. The…

Monday night, the Douglas City Commission unanimously voted to reinstate suspended police officer Tameka Williams’s employment with the city. Williams, who has been indicted on felony voter fraud charges, initially resigned from the police department but later filed an appeal to have her resignation rescinded. On Nov. 23, city officials rescinded her resignation and placed her on suspension without pay until her case is decided. After an executive session Monday evening, city commissioners decided to reinstate her employment in a non-law enforcement position. She reported to work earlier this week at the police department. However, city manager Terrell Jacobs has…

Last Thursday, the City of Douglas released a statement regarding the Dec. 5 traffic stop in which city commissioner Olivia Pearson interfered. I have been thinking about that press release since we received it. And the more I think about it, the more puzzled I become. First of all, no elected official, with the exception of the sheriff, should involve himself or herself with any police investigation. That isn’t the job of a city commissioner, county commissioner, school board member, or any other local politician. I have made my thoughts known about this in several different discussions on the DouglasNow…

It was almost as though the Georgia Bulldogs tried to lose the TaxSlayer Bowl Saturday in Jacksonville. After leading 24-7 at the start of the fourth quarter, the ‘Dawgs seemingly took the last 15 minutes off and let the Penn State Nittany Lions get back in the game. In fact, Georgia didn’t seal the victory until a Penn State Hail Mary fell to the EverBank Field turf as time expired. Georgia won the game 24-17 as newly hired head coach Kirby Smart watched from the relative quiet of a friend’s box at the stadium. Sony Michel, Terry Godwin, and Malcolm…