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…
Author: Robert Preston, Jr.
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.…
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill cleared the NFL’s COVID protocols and played Sunday in the Chiefs’ 36-10 dismantling of the Pittsburgh Steelers the day after Christmas. However, Hill didn’t factor much in the game and ended up dropping a spot to #3 on the NFL’s 2021 leading receivers list. Hill entered the game as the #2 receiver in the league behind the Los Angeles Rams’ Cooper Kupp. Despite playing on Sunday, Hill only caught two passes for 19 yards and no touchdowns. His stats for the 2021 season are 104 receptions for 1,197 yards and nine touchdowns.…
A Douglas man stands accused of killing his one-year-old son and injuring another in a Christmas Eve shooting that occurred in the Oak Park community. According to information obtained by DouglasNow, Rashuad Brockington, 21, and the mother of his one-year-old child were arguing at a residence in Oak Park. The mother and her cousin put the baby into a car and attempted to leave the home. Brockington allegedly started shooting at the vehicle. One bullet struck the cousin just under one eye while another bullet struck the child. Both victims were flown for further treatment. The baby, however,…
Two former Trojans will play for a national championship tonight in McKinney, Texas, when the Valdosta State Blazers face off against the Ferris State Bulldogs. The game is a rematch of the 2018 national championship contest, which VSU won. Javiontae Martin and Jameon Gaskin, who were teammates at Coffee High, are both juniors at VSU and look to win their second national title with the Blazers. Both were freshman on the 2018 national champion team. Martin is a 6’4”, 215-pound defensive lineman who has 42 tackles, 5.5 tackles for a loss, and one sack this season. Gaskin,…