Author: Robert Preston

The well-traveled and diminutive Brahminy blind snake has made its way to Coffee County. These tiny burrowing snakes are native to Asia and Africa but have been found all over the world, including the southeastern United States. Sunday afternoon, the first specimen was reported locally. Teri Day, who lives in the Baymeadows subdivision, was working in her garden when she dug up what appeared to be a blue-ish colored worm. Her son, Jones, picked it up and noticed it flicking its tongue like a snake. “She was just turning the soil getting ready to plant something and she noticed a…

In two of the Coffee Trojans’ first three games, the first half was a slow burn. But in neither of those games did the Trojans take as long to get going as they did in game number four. And the opponent in game number four wasn’t one to go to sleep on. Yes, Coffee won 27-14 Friday night over a tough Gadsden County Jaguars team from Havana, Fla. But they navigated a slippery slope over the first two quarters. The Jaguars were big, physical, athletic, and undefeated. They came to Jardine Stadium 3-0 and having beaten McCallie, one of Tennessee’s…

A storm system predicted to move through the area on Friday night led Atkinson County school officials to move the Rebels’ Homecoming game with the Pataula Charter Academy Panthers to Thursday night. The move didn’t seem to affect ATCO one bit; they defeated PCA 27-12 to improve to 3-1 on the season. For the Rebels, the Roberts twins – Darrian and Laderien – did much of the work. Darrien, who has been on a tear this season, rushed for 214 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. Laderien, meanwhile, had 20 carries for 80 yards and one touchdown. Quarterback Zy…

It’s time for local government agencies to set the millage rate for the upcoming year. At last week’s regular Douglas city commission meeting, the commission approved a net millage rate 5.99 mills for the city. The commission held the reading of the millage ordinance and a public hearing during the meeting. The overall millage rate is 13.6499 mills. However, after all adjustments, the net millage to the city is 5.99 mills. No one spoke either for or against the proposed millage rate. Commissioners rolled back the millage rate a bit over last year due to an increase in sales tax.…

Gracie Giddens threw a four-inning, three-hit complete game and shortstop Emma Gourley was 3-4 with four RBI and two runs scored in the CCA Lady Patriots’ 13-1 run-rule shortened win over the Charlton County Maidens Tuesday afternoon on the CCA campus. Until last Thursday’s loss to Trinity Christian, the Lady Patriots had opened the season with a seven-game winning streak. The Crusaders ended that streak with a strong performance on CCA’s home field. How would the Lady Patriots respond? They answered with one of their best games of the season. CCA opened the game with their collective feet on the…

The good news is the Citizens Christian Academy Lady Patriots continued scoring runs in bunches last Thursday, plating nine against the Trinity Christian Crusaders. The bad news is that, for the first time this season, their opponents scored more – 13 to be exact. After opening the season with seven straight wins, the Lady Patriots dropped their first game of the year to the Crusaders in Douglas on Thursday. CCA held the lead a couple of times in the game but Trinity Christian refused to give up. Six errors didn’t help the Lady Patriots’ cause, either. The Lady Patriots jumped…

Friday night was a tale of two halves. The Coffee Trojans held on to a fragile 10-6 lead over the Columbia County (Lake City, Fla.) Tigers at halftime. When the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Trojans came away with a 40-13 win, thanks in large part to two defensive touchdowns and a safety in the fourth quarter. “We have to find the identity of this team. We’ll get Tyrese Hansley back after this open week. That will give us a bruiser right there to help [Tyrese] Woodgett and [KJ] Debruce. I was proud of our second half. I…

The CCA Lady Patriots have outscored their opponents 53-4 over their last three games and are 7-0 on the season. Most recently, CCA defeated the Twiggs Academy Trojans 25-0 in three innings Tuesday afternoon in Douglas. For all practical purposes, the game was over after the first inning. The Lady Patriots scored 16 runs in the first then added nine more in the second. Gracie Giddens was 3-3 with two runs scored and eight RBI. Four of her eight RBI came on an inside-the-park grand slam in the first inning. She drove in two more with a triple in the…

A search warrant served at a residence on the Willacoochee Highway resulted in two arrests – one on-site and the other off-site. The investigation took place on August 13, 2024. According to a report from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office, detectives with the drug unit served a warrant the home of Charles Black, 55, of Douglas. Before the detectives arrived, Black left the residence and was detained at another location. When the officers went inside the home, they found Stephanie Rountree, 44, of Douglas, in a bedroom closet, the report states. There was also suspected methamphetamine in the closet with…

Friday night against the visiting Ware County Gators, the Coffee Trojans ran 57 offensive plays. Thirty-five of those plays went to senior running back Tyrese Woodgett. With fellow senior Tyrese Hansley out for the game with an injury, Woodgett had to handle most of the ball-carrying duties himself. In fact, he wasn’t just a big part of the Coffee offense Friday night – he was nearly all of it all by himself. The Trojans finished with 348 total yards on the night – 60 percent of which were courtesy of Woodgett. Woodgett was Coffee’s workhorse against the Gators, carrying the…