Author: Robert Preston

For at least the third day this week, more protests related to the Confederate flag are taking place in front of the Coffee County Courthouse. While a small group waved Confederate flags near the Confederate memorial on the courthouse square, a larger group of citizens stood at the corner of Peterson Avenue and Ashley Street as a statement against the Confederate flag. The group, comprised of individuals from young children to older adults, held signs and waved at passersby. “We’re standing here for what we believe. I lot of people have told us that we shouldn’t be offended by the…

According to Savannah’s WTOC, Montgomery County sheriff Ladson O’Connor, 42, was killed in an auto accident early this morning after two suspects fled during an attempted traffic stop. Toombs County deputies attempted to stop a vehicle around 1 a.m. The vehicle did not stop and a chase ensued. Sheriff O’Connor joined the chase when the suspects headed his way, reported WTOC. The suspects, identified as Jim Edward Lowery, 35, and Dixie Best, 36, allegedly fired shots at the deputies. The accident occurred on Highway 56 between Uvalda and Reidsville in Toombs County. At the moment, it is unclear what exactly…

An auto accident between a minivan and a dump truck sent one Douglas resident to Shands in Jacksonville via helicopter, according to walb.com. The crash occurred on Highway 206 about mid-afternoon on Saturday. According to the walb.com report, the driver of the van, Lois Miller, 64, struck a dump truck as the truck turned left into a private driveway. Gerald Griffin was driving the dump truck, reported walb.com. Miller was airlifted from the scene and taken to Jacksonville.

Coroner Neil Sims postponed a scheduled coroner’s inquest today right at the time it was scheduled to start, leaving family members of the deceased outraged and asking more questions than Sims or deputy coroner Sue Williams could answer. Sims scheduled the inquest at the request of the family of Matthew Roberts, 71, who was found dead in his home on Sept. 26, 2014. Family members discovered Roberts on the floor of his home with a massive head injury. Located near the body was a bolt action rifle, covered by a pair of pants. Officers from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office…

Former Florida State University head football coach and member of the College Football Hall of Fame Bobby Bowden returned to Douglas this weekend for the annual Bowden Reunion at South Georgia State College. Bowden began his head coaching career at then South Georgia College in 1955. He coached at SGC from 1955 to 1958; he left when the college ended its football program. From there Coach Bowden rose through the ranks to become one of the winningest coaches in college football history. He and his wife, Anne, return to Douglas each year during the first weekend of June to reunite…

Dr. Codrina Cozma, an Associate Professor of English at South Georgia State College, is in a life-threatening situation right now. She is in vital need of assistance, and you may have exactly what she needs. Dr. Cozma suffers from muscular dystrophy combined with scoliosis. In order for her to work, drive, and complete many of the other daily tasks that we all take for granted, her condition requires her to sit on a cushion. Having the proper cushion upon which to sit supports her body, enables her to breathe easily, and provides her the mobility she needs to go about…

At Monday morning’s regular county commission meeting, the commission approved several amendments to the SPLOST V paving list. According to county administrator Wesley Vickers, the county is receiving an estimated $800,000 extra for paving projects in the new DOT transportation bill. Because of the extra funds, the county can afford to pave/resurface several more roads than commissioners initially thought. The roads added to the list include Willie Anderson Road, the railroad crossings at Chaney Road and Mitchell Road, Barrington Road, a small portion of Mallard Point Drive that is in disrepair, and John Moore Road. Regarding the railroad crossings, the…

Tuesday, the Albany City Commission chose a new city manager. It was not Douglas city manager Terrell Jacobs. About a month ago, the Albany commission announced five finalists for its vacant city manager job. Jacobs was one of the five. Tuesday, May 26, the commission named Sharon Subadan, former deputy county administrator in Hillsborough County, Florida, as the new Albany city manager. According walb.com, Subadan has a “shaky” past that includes a demotion after an audit revealed problems with a homeless recovery program she oversaw. Walb.com reported that the program spent millions of dollars placing homeless people in what turned…

Chris Adams, who will graduate from Coffee High School on Saturday morning, will spend Sunday, May 24, retracing the journey his great-great-great-great grandfather, Aaron Ricketson, took from Coffee County to Thomasville in order to regain his citizenship following the end of the Civil War. Adams is a living historian with the 12th Georgia Company C out of Irwinville and as such is recognized as a Confederate soldier with the Army of Tennessee. As a member of this group, Adams is one of the last living Confederate soldiers. Aaron Ricketson, who lived in Coffee County when the Civil War broke out,…

Malik Sparkman, the brave young Coffee High student who was diagnosed with kidney cancer in August of last year, has passed away. Malik, a talented football player for the Trojans who was going to play an integral role in the Coffee High defense during the 2014 season, received the devastating news of his diagnosis just prior to week one of football season. Instead of spending the fall playing football, he was in a hospital bed, undergoing treatments for his illness that were at times worse than the disease itself. Malik’s illness touched the entire Coffee County community, and citizens throughout…