Author: Robert Preston

When the county began making plans for Hurricane Helene debris pickup, officials figured on a final price tag of about $80 million. After last week’s county commission meeting, the total amount of the project is going to be pretty close to that. Thankfully, FEMA is going to reimburse the county 100 percent of the costs associated with the pickup. There were two items on the commission’s agenda related to debris removal: One was a contract amendment between the county and Debris Tech, the company overseeing the debris removal, while the other was a contract amendment with Southern Disaster Recovery, the…

On April 26, 2025, the Keep Douglas Beautiful (KDB) Committee and the City of Douglas joined hands to organize the Greatest American Cleanup event. The community united to make a positive impact by volunteering their time and efforts to clean up various areas of Douglas. “We appreciate all our volunteers,” said Allisa Mills-Jackson, KDB President. “Their hard work and dedication have made the city cleaner and more beautiful. It was truly a remarkable effort by everyone involved.” More than 40 volunteers participated in the event, working tirelessly to collect over 50 bags of trash and several tires. Volunteer groups focused…

It’s always good to finish a season on a winning note. The 2025 campaign hasn’t been an easy one for the South Georgia State College Hawks. Injuries and inconsistent play have plagued the Hawks all season long. Thursday, SGSC avenged at least some of their troubles with an 11-6 win over the Andrew College Tigers at home. Earlier in the week, the Hawks had lost a doubleheader to the Georgia Highlands Chargers in Barnesville. Thursday, SGSC scored all of its runs in two innings – two in the first and nine in the fifth. The Tigers scored two in the…

The CCA Patriots probably shored up home field advantage for the upcoming state playoffs with their 2-1 win over Pinewood on Wednesday. However, they still had one game remaining – a Friday afternoon tilt against the Deerfield-Windsor Knights in Albany. Earlier in the week, the jury was out on exactly what it would take for the Patriots to finish as one of the top two teams. Some didn’t think losses to Pinewood and Deerfield-Windsor would matter. Others thought a split would get CCA to where they needed to be. The Patriots decided to leave nothing to chance and just win…

After defeating a tough Pinewood team yesterday in Douglas in the penultimate regular season game of the 2025 season, the CCA Patriots are sitting at #1 in the state and in good position to hold home field advantage up until the state title game should they advance that far. Pinewood was the #1 team in 3A. The Patriots won the region as well. However, because GIAA uses power rankings instead of a traditional playoff structure, a region title does not necessarily translate into home field. CCA saw that last year when, though they were region champions, had to travel in…

Were my uncle, Montgomery Lane “Buck” Preston, Jr., alive today, he would be 88 years old. Fate, however, had a very different plan. On December 22, 1955, just over 69 years ago, Buck was killed in an auto accident on Highway 221 between Hazlehurst and Uvalda in, ironically enough, Montgomery County. For those familiar with that stretch of road, the accident happened over the hill just north of what is now Buzzy’s Truck Stop. Buck was 18 and had just finished his first semester at Mercer, where he planned to attend law school. It’s a story I’ve told before, most…

The South Georgia State College Hawks posted a 2-1 mark over the weekend, defeating the Gordon State Highlanders in Barnesville 14-6 on Friday then splitting a doubleheader with the East Georgia Bobcats at home. SGSC won game one 6-0 then fell in game two 6-2. Friday, the Hawks jumped out to a 6-0 lead before the Highlanders got on the board. SGSC added four in the seventh and four more in the eighth. Gordon State managed five in the fifth and one in the ninth. Jesse Brown led the way for the Hawks with a 4-5 day. He drove in…

The 2025 season hasn’t been an easy one for the Coffee Trojans. It’s been an up and down year, complete with some of the highest of highs (handing Houston County its only region loss of the season) and lowest of lows (letting close – and important – games against Lee and Houston get away). However, after a sluggish start, the Trojans began picking up steam. They played Lee close, took two out of three against Thomas County Central (and former Coffee head coach Sy Jones), swept Northside-Warner Robins, took one from Houston (and almost swiped a second), then swept Veterans.…

A storm system that rolled through Barrow County Wednesday night gave the Coffee Trojans a little time to regroup after their first-round playoff game against the Winder-Barrow Bulldoggs. After what happened in game one, that’s probably not a bad thing. The two teams were scheduled to play a doubleheader Wednesday then, if necessary, play game three Thursday. The weather, however, had other plans. The Bulldoggs defeated the Trojans 7-6 on a walk-off double after Coffee led most of the game. The Trojans jumped out to an early lead and kept fighting off the ‘Doggs. But they just couldn’t put them…

Blake Bryant homered twice and starter Thomas Gentry went six innings, allowing one earned run on two hits and striking out 12 in the CCA Patriots’ 9-1 region win over the Robert Toombs Christian Academy Crusaders Tuesday afternoon in Douglas. On Monday, the Patriots traveled to Lyons and defeated the Crusaders 12-0. In Tuesday’s game, CCA jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Landon Williams led off with a single to center. Williams stole second during Jonathan Rutland’s at-bat. Rutland bunted to the pitcher but reached first safely. Williams advanced to third on the play.…