Author: Robert Preston

As I sit here at my computer, my mind is racing. I am struggling with the assassination of Charlie Kirk. As my mind spins in so many different directions, it comes back to one thing. Over the course of my nearly 53 years, I have been given a lot of advice, a lot of words and phrases intended to assuage hurt feelings and difficult circumstances. Some have proven to be true and helpful, others not so much. One of the first lessons we learn as children is that people will say mean things about us. When that happens, we are…

Emma Gourley and Mattie Lewis hit back-to-back solo home runs and Gracie Giddens threw a six-inning complete game in the CCA Lady Patriots’ 11-3 win over the Trinity Christian Crusaders Tuesday at Patriot Field in Douglas. Gourley’s was an inside the park homer while Lewis’s, her fifth of the year, cleared the left field wall. CCA jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first and added a run in the third, three in the fourth, and three in the sixth to defeat the Crusaders in six innings. The Lady Patriots were up 5-1 when Arabelle Roberts and Brilynn Waldron…

Former Trojans playing football at the next level continued to make contributions last Saturday afternoon. Four were a part of one of the most lop-sided games you’ll ever see while three more than showed they were ready for the spotlight in spite of their relative youth (one sophomore, two true freshmen). The Georgia Military Bulldogs faced off against the Community Christian College Lions Saturday in Milledgeville. The Bulldogs won 94-0. GMC used its running backs sparingly in the blowout win, with nobody getting more than five carries or 70 yards. Tyrese Woodgett was #2 in terms of productivity out of…

Sam Ables was five of 10 for 111 yards passing with three touchdown passes and a rushing score, and Dalton Rogers rushed for 142 yards on 12 carries and caught a 31-yard touchdown pass in the CCA Patriots’ 34-0 win over the Holy Spirit Prep Cougars (Atlanta) Friday night at Patriot Field in Douglas. The two teams moved the kickoff from 7:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. in order to accommodate the Cougars’ length of travel. The game featured a running clock in the fourth quarter; as a result, the game ended before most in the state were out of the…

Ella Edge homered and Maggie Brown added 12 more strikeouts (giving her 31 for the week in two outings) in the Coffee Lady Trojans 7-2 win over the Pierce County Bears this week. The Lady Trojans are 10-4 on the season and 3-0 for the week in non-region competition. They resume region play next week. Coffee’s offense gave Brown some run support but they waited until the last inning to do so. Pierce took a 1-0 lead in the second. The Lady Trojans responded with two in the third to go up 2-1. Allie Pridgen drove in Coffee’s first run…

Everyone talks about senior leadership. It’s important, no doubt about it. A senior-laden team has the advantage of experience, maturity, and the confidence that only comes from years of battle-tested engagement. But sometimes a team needs that scrappy little underclassman (underclassperson?) who hasn’t yet realized that she’s not supposed to be as good as she is. She hasn’t spent a lot of time in the trenches, slugging out games year after year after year. But inevitably, she finds herself in the middle of the action in clutch moments. And she delivers. Enter CCA freshman right fielder Mattie Lewis. As an…

At a special called meeting of the Pearson City Council Wednesday night, the council voted to turn the operations of its failing water system to Atkinson County. The county will take over the water and sewer work, along with handling expenses, payroll, and income. The county will also receive a $1 million Georgia Environmental Finance Authority grant to begin repairing the water system. The grant is ready to be awarded to the county so the work can start immediately. The county will continue to manage the water system until further notice The City of Pearson has experienced a significant menagerie…

The Coffee Trojans are 2-0 this week after wins over Brantley (7-5) and Telfair (12-0). Maggie Brown struck out 19 on Tuesday against Brantley while Kanlee Douglas needed just 48 pitches and five innings to take care of Telfair County on Wednesday. Both games were played on the road. On Tuesday, both teams waited until relatively late to get on the board. Brantley jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the fourth. The Lady Trojans countered with four in the sixth. Brantley scored one in the bottom of the inning. Coffee answered with three in the seventh on a home…

When law enforcement officers from three different Jeff Davis County agencies attempted to arrest Dalton Sears, 30, of Hazlehurst, at a Hazlehurst Dollar General store on a probation violation on August 7, 2025, Sears allegedly told the officers – a trooper from the Georgia State Patrol, deputies from the Jeff Davis County Sheriff’s Office, and officers from the Hazlehurst Police Department – that he wasn’t going to jail. According to incident reports obtained via open records requests, Sears stated that he was going to commit suicide by cutting his throat or he would die via suicide by cop. Sears was…

The Coffee Trojans are 1-2 on the season after a 20-14 defeat at the hands of the Columbia County (Lake City, Fla.) Tigers Friday night in Lake City. The Tigers jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter after Lake City’s Kameron Millis returned an interception 41 yards for a touchdown (6:51) and Jerome Horne scored on a one-yard run (2:50). Early in the second quarter, Coffee’s KJ Debruce scored on a two-yard run. Chris Hernandez’s point-after cut the Tigers’ lead in half with 10:13 remaining in the second quarter. Neither team scored the remainder of the half…