Author: Robert Preston

Byron Buxton, Baxley native and current Minnesota Twins’ outfielder, has 11 home runs for the Twins this season — one behind New York Yankees’ outfielder Aaron Judge, who leads the big leagues with 12. And Buxton has done it even though he’s missed over a third of Minnesota’s games this year due to injury. Buxton is one of the best outfielders in Major League Baseball — when he’s healthy. If there’s been any question mark around Buxton since he arrived in the majors, it’s been his health. Buxton is in his eighth season with the Twins; however, he’s…

Johnson Funeral & Cremation Services announces the funeral service for Dewey Thomas “Butch” McDuffie, age 72, of West Green, who passed away Friday, April 22, 2022. Visitation will be 6-9 PM Sunday, April 24, 2022 at Johnson Funeral & Cremation Services. Services will be held at 11 AM Monday, April 25, 2022 in the Chapel of Johnson Funeral & Cremation Services. Rev. Rob Merritt will officiate with burial in the Chatterton Church Cemetery. Mr. Mc Duffie was born in Ocilla. He was the son of the late John Thomas McDuffie, Jr. & Nancy Marie…

Tuesday night, officers from the Douglas Police Department arrested Michael Clark, 54, after he allegedly entered his ex-wife’s home uninvited and fought with her and her boyfriend. According to a report obtained from the police department, the incident took place about 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. The report contains statements from everyone involved – Qwaima Clark, Garry Brinson, and Michael Clark. Qwaima Clark and Michael Clark are recently divorced. The report states that Michael Clark hasn’t lived in the home since 2017; however, their divorce was not finalized until April 5, 2022. Though not in the…

Georgians can now carry a gun in public without a permit. Earlier this week, Gov. Brian Kemp made good on a promise he first mentioned four years ago – signing a constitutional carry bill into law. Tuesday, he did just that. The law, SB 319, allows “law abiding Georgians,” as Gov. Kemp stated Tuesday, to carry a firearm “without having to have permission from your state government.” Kemp’s critics say he was too slow to move on a constitutional carry law, citing David Perdue’s candidacy for governor as the catalyst behind the law. Kemp, however, states that he…

Brand new Coffee High head coach Mike Coe has assembled his coaching staff for the 2022 season. Among the new faces are a former Coffee Trojan and a coordinator with Division I college experience. Leland Ready is Coffee’s new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Coach Ready most recently served as the offensive analyst and assistant to the head coach at Georgia Southern University. Under then-head coach Chad Lunsford, the Eagles went 7-5 and won the New Orleans Bowl 38-3 over Louisiana Tech. In his career, Coach Ready is 36-10 as a high school offensive coordinator at Jeff Davis…

After 10 seasons as head football coach at Coffee High School, Robby Pruitt is retiring from coaching in Georgia. Friday morning, Coach Pruitt met with players and announced that he would not be returning for an 11th season. The decade Coach Pruitt spent at Coffee High was the most productive period of Trojan football in program history. Pruitt leaves CHS as the winningest head coach in terms of winning percentage. He has also amassed the second-highest win total in program history. Pruitt’s overall record is 83-38, a .690 winning percentage. Jerry Odom, who coached the Trojans from 2005-2007, went 22-12…

Beginning Wednesday around 10 a.m., traffic will shift significantly on Highway 32 West in the construction zone. If you are traveling west from Douglas, near Evans Store, traffic will shift to the right onto the newly paved portion of 32. Motorists will travel on the new pavement for a distance then shift across the old road bed and onto the new road on the south side of 32. Motorists will then travel to the bridge that crosses the railroad tracks before shifting to the original Highway 32. Motorists traveling east on 32 heading into Douglas will cross the bridge as…

The Georgia Department of Corrections and CoreCivic, the private company that owns and operates Coffee Correctional Facility in Nicholls, are investigating four recent inmate deaths. Over the last several weeks, four inmates at Coffee Correctional Facility have passed away. Neither the Department of Corrections nor CoreCivic released any statements regarding the deaths. However, DouglasNow reached out to both agencies seeking comment. Matthew Davio, Public Affairs Manager for CoreCivic, responded with the following statement: “We can confirm there have been four unrelated deaths at Coffee Correctional Facility in the time frame you shared. The staff at Coffee are committed to the…

Thursday night, the Coffee County Board of Education appointed Leola Johnson to fill the seat of the late Tonya Wilkerson, who passed away on Jan. 2, 2022, after a long battle with cancer. Wilkerson represented District 1 on the school board. Johnson is no stranger to the board. She was appointed to the District 1 seat following the death of long-time board member Ronnie Johnson on March 20, 2017. She was sworn in on May 16, 2017 and served until Dec. 31, 2018. Johnson had retired from the Coffee County School System in May of 2005 having served over…

An armed car jacking connected to a fatal shooting in Ocilla took place in Douglas Thursday night. No one in Coffee County was injured although the suspect did escape with the stolen car. He later killed himself near Nicholls with officers in pursuit. According to officers, two people were shot – one fatally – in Ocilla by a male assailant. The alleged shooter fled to Coffee County, where he ditched his car then, at gun point, stole a car from the BP convenience store on Highway 158 West near Baymeadows. The owner of the car was not injured in the carjacking.…