Author: Robert Preston

Obedience. Despite its length at nine letters (the average word in English is five letters), it’s relatively easy to spell and even easier to understand. According to the Oxford Languages Dictionary, its definition is “compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another’s authority.” Even if we couldn’t say it exactly like that, we all know what obedience means. And yet despite its simplicity, being obedient isn’t always easy. It’s even more difficult when displaying obedience becomes a nuisance. More times than not, obedience requires inconvenience and a whole lot more. I would wager that the “submission” aspect…

The Atkinson County Rebels didn’t know what to expect when the 2024 baseball season began. Sure, they had an energetic new coach who knows how to get the most out of his players and a core group of players who wanted to win. At the same time, they had over a decade of lackluster success, no recent playoff appearances, and little experience from which to draw upon. There was, however, a sense of urgency that permeated the program. It wasn’t going to be easy but the Rebels desperately wanted to change their fortunes. Honestly, it couldn’t get much worse. ATCO…

At Monday morning’s regular county commission meeting, Clerk of Court Lisa Gillis announced that London O’Steen, a senior at Citizens Christian Academy, was one of four recipients of the Constitutional Officers Association of Georgia Scholarship. The scholarship is a statewide award presented to four deserving high school seniors throughout the state. “Seniors from all 159 counties vie for this scholarship. It’s not something that we just pick out of a hat. They have to work for it. They have to come interview a constitutional officer and learn about what we do and how the counties are run. They have to…

And just like that, it’s over. The CCA Patriots’ baseball season ended Friday afternoon against the Southwest Georgia Academy Warriors in Damascus. The Patriots lost game one in heartbreaking fashion, giving up four runs in the bottom of the seventh to fall 9-8. Game two wasn’t even close. The Warriors, fueled by two six-run innings (the fifth and the seventh) won easily 12-2. CCA scored a run in the first then plated five in the fourth to take a 6-5 lead. The Patriots scored two more in the sixth to build what appeared to be a comfortable 8-5 lead. The…

The Coffee Trojans saw their season end Monday afternoon in Peachtree City at the hands of the McIntosh High School Chiefs. The Chiefs swept the Trojans, winning game one 3-0 then taking game two 4-1. In game one, the Trojans managed just three hits: one each by Cannon Jones, Payton Bryant, and Carter McMillan. Michael Strickland started for Coffee and had a solid outing. He gave up six hits, three runs (two earned), walked four, and struck out five. Strickland threw 106 pitches. The Chiefs scored two in the first and one in the fifth to keep the Trojans at…

The Coffee County Board of Commissioners has released a statement describing “unusual cyber-activity.” The statement reads as follows: “On April 15, 2024, the United States Department of Homeland Security and the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency contacted Coffee County, GA, to inform the county of the detection of unusual cyber-activity, necessitating a deeper and wider examination of Coffee County’s IT infrastructure/environment. “A cyber incident was declared immediately by Coffee County and Coffee County’s contracted Information Technology Provider (Coffee IT). Coffee IT and DHS/CISA examined artifacts of the unauthorized access in the cyber systems/activity logs, network logs, and monitoring systems. “Upon…

When the Coffee Trojans baseball team played the Greenbrier Wolfpack earlier in the season, they didn’t exactly follow the same example the football set back in the fall. They did, however, keep the winning tradition alive against the Chamblee Bulldogs Tuesday afternoon in Chamblee. The Trojans defeated the Bulldogs in a double header 15-0 (four innings) and 9-2 in the first round of the state playoffs, setting up a second-round series against McIntosh High School next week in Peachtree City. The Trojans scored in each of the four innings of game one: one in the first, four in the second,…

The Coffee Trojans added a little salt to an already open wound and delivered a final, decisive blow to the Jenkins Warriors Thursday afternoon at Charles Wilson Field in Douglas, defeating the Warriors 15-0 in four innings. Tuesday, the Trojans swept a double header at Jenkins 15-1 and 18-2. The win Thursday capped a 10-game winning streak going back to March 29 against Ware. Over these last 10 games, the Trojans have outscored their opponents 144-26. Coffee scored eight runs in the second inning, four in the third, and three in the fourth to complete the season sweep against Jenkins.…

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College’s Annah Williams, an Agribusiness major from Lenox, was chosen as this year’s J.G. Woodroof Scholar, the highest academic honor the college awards each year.Williams was among four students honored during a ceremony at ABAC Thursday afternoon. Williams was also selected as the Student of Distinction for the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources.Also winning Student of Distinction honors in their respective schools were Tucker Parrish, a Business major from Adel, for the Stafford School of Business; Janeth Ovalle, a Nursing major from Douglas, for the School of Nursing and Health Sciences; and Delaney Garcia, a Writing…

The Douglas Police Department has named a suspect in the Wednesday afternoon shooting of Kentre Lorenzo Gibson Jr. of Douglas. Gibson was shot multiple times at 921 West Ward Street in Douglas. He survived his injuries. Thursday afternoon, DPD investigators obtained an arrest warrant for aggravated assault on Antonio Tikaous Jevon Hamilton, 20, of Douglas. Hamilton remains at large. This investigation is still ongoing and other charges may also be pending. Anyone with any information on this incident or knows where Antonio Hamilton may be hiding out is asked to please contact the Douglas Police Department at 912-384-2222 or by…