Author: Robert Preston

At this month’s county commission meeting, commissioners approved a bid from Thrift Brothers for Maplewood Road and Creekside Drive improvements. Thrift Brothers, however, did not submit the low bid for the project. The county received three bids for the project: East Coast Asphalt ($199,819.99), Thrift Brothers ($203,216.88), and Douglas Electric and Plumbing ($260,333.68). Two of the bids, East Coast and Thrift Brothers, were within the engineer’s budget of just over $203,000. The county had discussed these bids in a previous meeting but had tabled the consideration for the bids. According to county attorney Tony Rowell, the county has had issues…

Rico Curtis, 24, a Douglas native, making a name for himself in the boxing world. Curtis is 9-0 with eight knockouts in his three-year career. His most recent win came Saturday, a knockout 10 seconds into the second round. Curtis was born in Douglas and attended the Coffee County School System until he was in the 10th grade. He ultimately graduated from Atkinson County High School. These days, Curtis is pursuing boxing full time and trains out of the Haygood Boxing Center in Columbus. When he isn’t training, he does a little side work at Curtis Heating & Cooling. His…

The CCA Patriots went 2-2 this week, losing 8-7 to Georgia Christian Tuesday and 8-3 to Pinewood Wednesday. They rebounded with a win against CHESS Academy (15-0 in three innings) on Friday and First Preparatory Christian Academy (10-2) on Saturday. The game Saturday was played in Douglas while the other three were on the road. Saturday, the Patriots scored one in the fourth, four in the fifth, two in the sixth, and three in the seventh. First Prep managed one run in the sixth and another in the seventh. Designated hitter Jackson Knight was 3-4 with four RBI and a…

The Coffee Trojans went 3-0 this week in their respite from region competition. The first two wins, 10-4 over Crisp and 13-1 over Perry, didn’t give the Trojans any real cause for concern. The third win, however, was a different story. Friday night, Coffee defeated Perry 12-11 at home in a game that came down to the final inning. Tied 11-11 in the bottom of the seventh, Ben Fussell led off the inning with a double. A wild pitch on ball three with Michael Strickland at the plate moved Fussell to third. Then Strickland hit a fly ball to center…

Thursday, April 11, 2024, the Hope Center Board of Directors unanimously voted to close the Hope Center facility in the Oak Park community effective June 1. Hope Center has been one of Coffee County’s most successful and impactful community outreach programs since it began 26 years ago. Directors Vernon and Angie Talkington came to Oak Park when the area was rife with substandard housing, drug use, violence, and poverty. In the years since its inception, Hope Center has been a driving force behind a transformation of the Oak Park community. The decision to close the facility came as a result…

Coffee County could be getting a new Dollar General. At this month’s county commission meeting, commissioners heard the first reading of a rezoning request from Terramore Development. The request involves 2.52 acres located at 3853 Highway 441 South, which is a small tract of land across the road from Dixie Fence. Currently zoned Agriculture, the request is to change it to Commercial. The Planning Commission has approved the request. Monday, the county will conduct the second reading and a public hearing. If approved, a new Dollar General store is slated for the property. The county approved another rezoning request, this…

President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump were the big winners in Coffee County during Georgia’s Presidential Primary Tuesday night. Only 2,040 voters out of 22,663 turned out to cast their ballots Tuesday — a 6.8 percent turnout. On the Democratic ballot, President Biden received 455 votes. Dean Phillips received 16 votes while Marianne Williamson garnered 13. Former president Trump was overwhelmingly the top candidate on the Republican ticket. Trump received 1,944 votes. While most of the other Republican candidates have dropped out of the race or suspended their campaigns, they were still on the ballot. Nikki Haley earned…

Monday, Coffee County Chief Deputy Fred Cole qualified to run for sheriff. He will not have to resign as chief deputy even though he is running for a county office. Typically, if a county employee runs for a county office, the employee must resign his or her position. However, that is not the case here. OCGA 36-1-21 addresses the civil service system for counties. Employees who fall under the civil service system must resign in cases such as these. Employees who do not fall under the county’s civil service system are not required to resign. As chief deputy, Cole does…

At last Monday night’s city commission meeting, commissioners voted to close an unpaved portion of Dewey Avenue that is, for all practical purposes, a part of Eastside Park. It’s a one-block section between East Franklin Street and East Gordon Street. Officially, Dewey Avenue runs between the ball field and the tennis courts (now a skate park) at Eastside Park. However, that portion of the road has never been paved and is essentially part of the park. But there is no record of the city ever officially closing that section of street. Records indicate that it hasn’t been used as a…

Seven members of the Coffee weightlifting team traveled to Columbus, Ohio, this week to participate in the 35th Annual Arnold Sports Festival weightlifting meet. The meet was but one part of the prestigious Arnold Classic weekend, which is the largest fitness event in the country. The Arnold Classic started in 1989 as strictly a bodybuilding competition. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the greatest bodybuilder of all time and certainly one of the most prolific actors of all time in his post bodybuilding career, helped start the contest back in 1989. In the decades since, the Arnold Classic has grown into the second most…