David Varnedore is the new owner of the building located at 101 North Peterson Avenue, known locally as the old Douglas Asphalt building. After sitting vacant for many years, the county bought the building in December of 2018 for $225,000. The county planned on renovating the building and using at an annex to the courthouse. However, the final renovation price tag far exceeded the initial estimate. The county eventually decided to sell the building and accepted bids last week. At Monday’s regular county commission meeting, commissioners discussed the bids. Two individuals submitted bids – Tony Robertson ($225,000) and…
Author: Robert Preston, Jr.
Bobby Bowden, 91, one of the winningest college football coaches of all time whose head coaching career began in Douglas at South Georgia College in 1955, has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. According to reports, his son, Terry, head football coach at Louisiana-Monroe, has stated that the Bowden family recognizes that they may have Coach Bowden for just a matter of months. Coach Bowden has successfully battled cancer three times in the past and went through a debilitating bout with COVID-19 in October. Despite age and the challenges he has faced as his health has declined, Bowden and his…
State Sen. Tyler Harper (R-Ocilla), who has served as the 7th District’s senator since 2013, announced on Tuesday that he is running for state agriculture commissioner. Current agriculture commissioner Gary Black, a Republican who has served since 2010, has entered the race for U.S. Senate. He will challenge incumbent Raphael Warnock, a Democrat who won his seat last year. Sen. Harper, a seventh-generation farmer and graduate of both Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and the University of Georgia graduate (agricultural engineering), has pledged to fight for “our farm values” and “keep liberal Washington, D.C., policies out of Georgia” in a…
No charges are expected after a nine-month-old child died at a local daycare center last month, according to authorities. Little Hunter Hersey, aged nine months, died on May 3, 2021 at a Savannah hospital after a pinto bean lodged in his throat while at Akim. Bright from the Start, the state agency that licenses childcare centers in Georgia, shut down the facility pending an investigation. The investigation has been completed and Akim has been closed. The Coffee County Sheriff’s Office also investigated the incident. According to officials, at this time, there will be no criminal charges. A…
A Valdosta man was hospitalized after a he was shot as a result of a suspected road rage incident at Truck Week in Daytona last weekend and a group of Douglas residents were nearly caught in the crossfire. Fox35Orlando covered the shooting and McKenzie Davis of Douglas posted about the shooting on her Facebook page. Davis was one of several Douglas residents riding with Colby Rock, a Valdosta resident who was the victim of the shooting. According to Davis’s Facebook page, they were riding along the Daytona strip (A1A) when a Nissan Altima occupied by two people, a…
Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John F. King announced today that a fire that occurred at the offices of Shann Peanut Company on Bowens Mill Road in Ambrose was intentionally set. The fire occurred around 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 13, and caused heavy damage to the 30-year-old, 4,000- square-foot structure. Crews with the Coffee County Fire Department fought the fire all day, but the double roof on the wood framed structure hindered firefighting efforts. “Investigators with my office examined the scene on Monday and found evidence of an intentionally set fire originating in the attic area,” said…
Friday afternoon, Bobby Worthy and Paul L. Nally turned themselves in to the Coffee County Jail after a Coffee County Grand Jury issued a Special Presentment last week, charging the duo with filing false documents. Both were booked into the jail and posted bond shortly thereafter. If convicted, the charge, a felony, carries a sentence of one to five years in prison. On March 5, 2021, Worthy and Nally filed a petition with the Clerk of Court requesting that they be given an opportunity to present evidence to the Coffee County Grand Jury and requesting that they file a…
Thursday night about 11:30, former state rep. Chuck Sims was arrested and charged with DUI. It was his fourth DUI arrest and his first since 2013. According to a report obtained from the Douglas Police Department, a police officer observed Sims make two improper turns and pulled him over. The officer stated that he noticed the smell of alcohol on Sims’s breath during the stop. Sims admitted to having two drinks, according to the report. Sims then told the officer that had to go because he had a call, which the officer believed to be a death call for…
Thursday night about 11:30, former state rep. Chuck Sims was arrested and charged with DUI. It was his fourth DUI arrest and his first since 2013. According to a report obtained from the Douglas Police Department, a police officer observed Sims make two improper turns and pulled him over. The officer stated that he noticed the smell of alcohol on Sims’s breath during the stop. Sims admitted to having two drinks, according to the report. Sims then told the officer that had to go because he had a call, which the officer believed to be a death call for…
A convicted sex offender who was on probation for child molestation is headed back to prison for admitting to having sex with a pig. Scarber Jonal Smith of Wray pled guilty to child molestation in 2014 for an incident that occurred the previous year. He was sentenced to 20 years, seven of which he would serve in state prison. He would finish the remainder of his sentence on probation. Smith had been released from prison and during a meeting with his probation officer, the officer discovered that he had violated the terms of his probation during a polygraph test. Smith…