Author: Robert Preston

I was standing on top of a wooden platform four feet off the ground. My right foot was turned perpendicular to my left. Under my right foot was the tail of the skateboard. The rest of the board dangled precariously over the curved transition of the ramp. I stared down the four foot curved section. It seemed like 40 feet. I was contemplating one of the two most basic maneuvers in skateboarding — dropping in a ramp. The other, if you’re keeping score at home, is the ollie, which is the ability to get airborne on flat ground. The foundation of skateboarding is built upon these two tricks. Why, you may, ask…

The Coffee Trojans easily dispatched the Jenkins Warriors in a double-header Tuesday afternoon, winning game one 15-1 and game two 18-2. Both games, which were played in Savannah, lasted five innings. This week’s three-game series against the Warriors brings the regular season to a close. The Trojans have had the three seed locked up for a couple of weeks. The goal now is to finish the season with everyone healthy and the pitching staff rested. Mission accomplished so far. Coffee used two pitchers in each game and the four threw a combined 143 pitches. The offense was equally efficient, tallying…

The biggest issue the Douglas City Commission has faced in 2024 ended up being a non-event after all. Allen Peacock had filed a request to change the zoning of a piece of property on the southern edge of Touchton Woods at the end of Rose Lane to Gateway for the purpose of building an office and a storage unit for construction equipment and materials. The first reading of the request, which took place at the March 25 city commission meeting, drew a crowd of nearly 50 Touchton Woods residents — all of whom opposed the request. With the second reading…

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…