Author: Robert Preston, Jr.

For many years, horses were a fixture in the annual Festival of Lights Christmas Parade. After a scary incident or two involving the horses a few years ago, city fathers banned the animals from riding in the parade. This year, however, they will be making a return. At Monday night’s regular commission meeting, commissioners voted to allow horses back in the parade – as long as they register with the city just like all other parade entries must do. According to Georgia Henderson, the city’s public information director, her department conducted an online survey in which they asked the community…

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Tameka Johnson, 36, lost her life in the Friday, May 20, auto accident that happened on Bethel Road, according to a report published by WALB. The crash happened around 9 p.m. that night. According to WALB’s report, which cited the Georgia State Patrol as its source, an SUV driven by a 27-year-old male left the road. The driver over-corrected and lost control. The vehicle went into a ditch, became airborne, and came to rest on an embankment. EMTs transported the driver to Coffee Regional Medical Center with serious injuries. Another passenger, also a female, was wearing a seatbelt and was…

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It appears that the roads around the Bethel community have claimed another victim. According to reports published by WALB, one person has died and another person has been seriously injured in an auto accident on Bethel Road. Few details have been released regarding the crash. The identities of the deceased and the injured, the number of vehicles, circumstances surrounding the accident, and other pertinent information have yet to be released. We will release more information as we learn more about the accident.

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Friday the 13th proved lucky for one local suspected drug offender – at least temporarily. According to Jamie Jones, head agent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Southeastern Regional Drug Enforcement Unit, agents were in Coffee County conducting a drug investigation when they encountered a subject suspected of breaking the Georgia Controlled Substances Act. That subject, Drucilla Thomas, was subsequently arrested and placed in handcuffs. As officers attempted to put on gloves to continue searching for evidence, Thomas flipped her cuffs, jumped into a nearby car, and fled the scene. In addition to the drug charges from the initial investigation,…

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