Author: Robert Preston

According to Georgia Legal Services (GLS), more than 170,000 Georgians have lost Medicaid this year. But that doesn’t mean that those who have lost Medicaid have to do without health insurance. On Wednesday, November 15, 2023, GLS will host an in-person assistance workshop at Satilla Regional Library to help individuals in Coffee County explore their healthcare insurance options. “Our goal is to reach people who aren’t familiar with the issues surrounding healthcare and who don’t know their options,” says Mitzy Sharp Futro, Director of Communications for GLS. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Georgia issued a “do not…

The Coffee Trojans have been waiting a year to get some revenge on the Ware County Gators. Friday night, they had their opportunity. And they didn’t waste it. The Trojans throttled the Gators 28-5 in Waycross to finish the season undefeated and win the fifth region championship in school history. The 2023 team joins the 1981, 1982, 2002, and 2015 teams as the only ones to win region titles. They are in even more rarified air as they accompany the 1976 and 1982 squads as the only teams to go undefeated in the regular season. …

“When adults compete, kids win. And boy did they win this year,” said Cam Coffee at the ceremony Precious Possessions Learning Center held to present the Child Advocacy Group of Coffee County a large check from the MANnual Cake Auction on Monday night. For the second year in a row, Precious Possessions hosted an online auction featuring cakes made by men who donned baking aprons and took to their kitchens. Last year, the auction (along with the accompanying shrimp and grits fundraiser) raised $37,000. This year, the group of men hit the six-figure mark and raised…

When football schedules came out earlier this year, both Coffee and Ware County fans circled Friday, November 3, 2023. That would The Game of the Year for both teams — the last game of the regular season, most likely with the region championship on the line. Preseason predictions are notoriously unreliable. This time, however, the crystal ball was dead on. And November 3 is almost here. Friday night, at Memorial Stadium in Waycross, the Trojans and the Gators will face each other for the Region 1-5A championship. Coffee, with a 9-0 record, is ranked #1 in…

For the second time in less than two months, the Douglas city commission reversed a decision made by the Historic Preservation Commission and voted to allow a building in the historic district to be demolished. In September, the commission voted to tear down the old Women’s Club building near Emma Ward Park after the HPC denied the request. At last week’s city commission meeting, the commission heard a similar request, this time from First Baptist Church. The church is interested in purchasing the property at 617 East Ward Street from the Coffee County Board of Education, the property’s…

With the Coffee Trojans’ 56-7 win over the Greenbrier Wolfpack and the Ware County Gators’ 50-0 win over the Statesboro Blue Devils on Friday night, the stage is set for the final act of the Region 1-5A regular season. And it’s exactly what people predicted as soon as the 2023 schedule was announced. Next Friday night, the undefeated Trojans (4-0 in region play) will make the short trip to Memorial Stadium in Waycross to face the 7-2 Gators (also 4-0 in region) for the region championship. There was little doubt that this would be the ultimate…

Thursday, Rachel Aldridge, mother of Brooklyn Aldridge, who was killed while in the care of her ex-boyfriend’s girlfriend in 2018, appeared before the U.S. Senate Human Rights Subcommittee in Washington and told the story of her daughter’s death. The subcommittee is chaired by Sen. John Ossoff (D-GA) and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and is conducting a bipartisan probe into the treatment of foster children in the United States. Ossoff and Blackburn opened the subcommittee to investigate the welfare of children in foster care. At the time of Thursday’s hearing, Ossoff said their team has interviewed over 100 witnesses.…

Apparently, there’s something about the intersection of Ashley Street and Madison Avenue that attracts deer. About a year after a deer crashed through the window of Georgia Skin Company at 122 Ashley Street, another deer wreaked havoc in the same area. Thursday afternoon, around 2 p.m., a deer jumped into the side of a pickup at the intersection. The deer survived that crash but was hit by another car nearby. The injured animal then ran south into the Central Square parking lot. He sought refuge in the shrubbery on the side of the gym and laid down. Unfortunately,…

While everyone was keyed on running back Fred Brown’s record-breaking game Friday night — and rightfully so — several other Trojans played very well and turned in some highlight-worthy performances. The story of the night was, of course, Brown breaking Coffee High’s single-season rushing record. He came into the game 160 yards short of toppling Louis Smith’s 1997 total of 1,267 yard record. Brown ended up with 19 carries for 167 yards. He now has 1,294 yards on the season with 14 touchdowns. Brown also caught one pass that he turned into a 69-yard score. Senior…

Things are a lot different today than they were in 1997. Few people had cell phones. Most homes didn’t have Internet access and those who did had the cursed dial-up connection. People still used pay phones, land lines, and typewriters. Music was still bought and sold in record stores, primarily on compact discs but cassette players weren’t entirely obsolete. There was no dual enrollment, online classes, or Zoom meetings. Yes, the world was a very different place 26 years ago. But no matter how much things have changed, one thing has remained the same during that…