Author: Robert Preston

The Community Foundation of Coffee County is accepting applications from charitable organizations in Coffee County to further the ability of these organizations to meet the needs of local citizens. The application deadline is Sept. 30 of this year. The foundation typically announces recipients within two months of the deadline. To apply for a grant, complete the online application at www.cfcga.org. First, representatives of these organizations must register for a user ID and password at www.cfcga.org/spectrumwebportal; logging in here will allow access to the application. Last year, the foundation awarded a total of $10,000 to four different organizations – the Fellowship…

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has released more information regarding last night’s shooting on Cutter Road in Douglas. According to the GBI, the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office requested assistance from the GBI in connection with the shooting. GBI agents responded to the sheriff’s office’s request just before 8 p.m. on Sunday night. Monday afternoon, the GBI released a verbal statement saying that the agency believes that the shooting involved a child and the child’s mother. The mother is the victim of the shooting. She is hospitalized in critical condition. At the moment, the GBI believes that the shooting was accidental.…

Coffee County deputies and EMS officials responded to a residence off Cutter Rd. around 7:30 p.m. Sunday after receiving a report of a gunshot victim. Details of the shooting have not been released as of Monday morning. However, we do know the female victim was found with a gunshot wound to the head. The victim was transported from the scene to Coffee Regional Medical Center. Douglas Now will continue to update this story as more information is provided by officials.

A deadly crash involving an 18-wheeler hauling gas and a pick-up truck occurred early this morning on the outskirts of Willacoochee on Highway 82. The accident killed the driver of the big truck while the pick-up driver was reportedly unhurt. WALB has reported that the truck driver has been identified as Timothy Teemer, 47, of Albany. The driver of the pick-up was James Gaskins, 73, of Willacoochee. The wreck shut down the eastbound lanes of Highway 82. Department of Transportation crews and law enforcement re-directed eastbound traffic to the westbound side, with one lane of the westbound side of 82…

Clay Pirkle of Turner County defeated former Ocilla mayor Horace Hudgins tonight in the race for the state House of Representatives District 155 seat. The election was held to fill the seat left vacant by former Rep. Jay Roberts, whom Gov. Nathan Deal appointed to as planning director of the Georgia Department of Transportation. Both Pirkle and Hudgins ran on the Republican ticket. Roberts was also a Republican. Only a portion of western Coffee County is located in District 155; the only local voters who could cast ballots were in the Broxton and Ambrose precincts. Pirkle received 102 votes in…

Last night, I stood in a crowd of 1,000 or more people. There was a prayer being said from the podium on the steps of the Coffee County Courthouse. I was supposed to have my eyes closed and my head bowed. Instead, I was looking around in amazement, completely taken aback – in a good way – at what I saw. For the first time I can remember, members of churches throughout Coffee County gathered on the courthouse square for a candlelight prayer vigil. The event, which lasted over 90 minutes, was a cry to God from Christians concerned about…

There is an evil, heartless, gutless, spineless, and soulless individual freely moving about our county. Earlier today, a person or persons shot several horses near Coffee High School with a shotgun. Dr. Jessica Giddens, a local veterinarian, treated the horses after they were shot. Their injuries do not appear life-threatening though their wounds are no doubt very painful. There is no reason at all for someone to do something like this. Anyone who can inflict pain and suffering on captive, domesticated animals like these gentle horses indeed has a black heart. If you have any information about this, please contact…

For the second year in a row, the Douglas Stingrays swim team won the GRPA Class B state championship. The two-day meet took place Friday, July 17 and Saturday, July 18, in Tifton. The Stingrays, which qualified the most swimmers of any team in the meet with 61, finished day one in fifth place. There were 28 teams at the meet. “We’re right where want to be,” said head coach C.M. Jenkins at the conclusion of Friday’s session. “Our younger kids have put us in a great position and we feel good about what our older swimmers can do tomorrow.”…

Saturday night, Faithfully, a Journey tribute band, played a show at the Martin Centre courtesy of the Douglas Kiwanis Club. The Nashville, Tennessee, quintet played a set of about 20 songs, a veritable collection of Journey’s greatest hits (plus Steve Perry’s “Oh Sherrie”), to an audience that filled about 75 percent of the theater. It was a fantastic show, a lot of fun, and the small but enthusiastic crowd responded well during the concert. Plus the proceeds from the show will benefit local youth projects. My family and I went and had a blast. I’d like to see them again.…

Thursday afternoon, Randy Wooten, owner of Delorice’s Florist in Douglas, signed copies of his new book, Jubilation, at Delorice’s Florist. The book, Wooten’s first, came about as a possible solution for a declining sympathy market. Jubilation proposes the thought of sympathy in a whole new light, focusing on the life of the loved one rather than the loss of the person by creating a celebration of life event to honor their passions in life. The book is full of ideas and beautiful photos to capture the reader. Wooten debutedJubilationJuly 1 at the The National Symposium of the American Institute Of Floral…