Author: Robert Preston

When I began considering the most significant stories of the year for 2016, a number of criteria bounced through my brain. I know what I think is the biggest story of the year. I have a pretty good idea what the biggest story of the year was in terms of Facebook discussion. There is, however, another way to determine the biggest story of the year. It’s pretty cut and dried with little room for debate. This is the Internet age and, with the click of a button, we can generate all kinds of data regarding our content. The easiest and…

At the 2017 Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2017, Douglas resident Maureen “Moe” Tucker will receive one of the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Awards. Tucker, a drummer with the iconic punk band Velvet Underground, will join her surviving bandmates onstage to accept the award. If you’re not familiar with Velvet Underground, it’s hard to put into words just how influential the band has been. Though the Underground enjoyed limited financial success, the band in general, and Tucker’s drumming in particular, has influenced scores of musicians across every genre since the 1960s. The band’s debut album, The Velvet Underground and…

When Cady Ray was a little girl, she would play dress up with her sister’s Homecoming crown. She would crown her friends as queen and she would put it on herself. Now, in what Cady herself calls a very surreal moment, she has her own crown. On Friday, Dec. 9, Cady was crowned Homecoming queen at Citizens Christian Academy – 20 years to the day that her sister, Mandy Ray, received the same honor. Cady, the daughter of Juran and Suzanne Ray, is a senior at CCA where she is involved in a number of activities. Among them are president…

I’m not sure about this but I’d wager that most of the country doesn’t view people from South Georgia as being very intelligent. While we know that isn’t the case at all, I don’t think this video of a young man attacking an armadillo only to find himself the victim is going to do much to change the general public’s perception of our intellect. At the same time, this footage is golden. Absolutely golden. I have laughed at it a gazillion times. If you haven’t seen it, you will laugh as well. And if you have seen it, you’ll laugh…

The City of Douglas would like to bring Miracle League to town. There is support from City Hall. The city has donated facilities for the league and even has a tentative plan in place for a park renovation. What it doesn’t have is enough money to fully fund the league. Monday, Miracle League’s Stephanie Davis met with city officials and community members at City Hall to discuss the logistics of forming a Miracle League in town. The city has pledged Davis Wade Park to the League and even has come up with a schematic for the park. It would have…

On Friday, Dec. 9, school officials locked down the Coffee High School campus after someone found an unloaded gun at the school. The Coffee County School System issued a brief press release Friday afternoon regarding the incident. The press release, however, gave few details about exactly what happened. The release did state that the student who was involved in the incident was apprehended “and is cooperating with school administrators and local law enforcement.” The statement went on to say that “appropriate action has been taken and charges are pending.” The release did not say what the appropriate action was, what…

The weekend got off to a bang – literally – for two individuals at Roundtree Park on South Gaskin Avenue around 4:30 Friday afternoon. A subject dressed in red and black approached the two people at the park and opened fire on them before running off. The police department issued a short press release and a video on its Facebook page Friday night. The release simply instructed viewers to pay close attention to the video around the 18 second mark. That’s when the shooting takes place. Apparently, neither victim was injured during the confrontation. If you have any information regarding…

“Tyreek Hill’s emergence makes Chiefs a legitimate Super Bowl threat.” That’s the headline of an ESPN story written by Adam Teicher and published after the Chiefs, who apparently didn’t suffer from the dreaded Thursday night hangover after defeating the Atlanta Falcons Sunday afternoon, beat the Oakland Raiders 21-13 on national television. And Tyreek Hill was a big reason why. Hill scored two of the Chiefs’ three touchdowns and set up the third on a long pass from quarterback Alex Smith. Hill’s two touchdowns – on a 36-yard reception where he essentially outran two defensive backs to get open inside the…

Wednesday afternoon, a Coffee County jury acquitted former Douglas police officer Tameka Williams and her husband, Corey Williams, on felony voter fraud charges. The Williamses had been indicted after voting in the 2015 Douglas municipal election even though they did not live in the city of Douglas. The Williamses had moved from Douglas to Atkinson County some time prior to the election. During the one-day trial, the piece of evidence that likely resulted in the Williamses’ acquittal came when jurors learned that a poll worker had told both Corey and Tameka Williams they could vote in the election. Corey and…

I remember the day well, though I must confess I can’t recall the year. It was Christmas Day, somewhere around 1983 or 1984. My sister, Ashley Graves, wanted a Cabbage Patch Kid for Christmas. Cabbage Patch Kids, “born” in Cleveland, Georgia, were the year’s biggest toy for girls. My sister put in for one. It was all she asked for. A Christmas without a Cabbage Patch Kid would have been a disaster. Ashley would have been inconsolable. I don’t know if the events that follow are true. My mother, who recently passed away from Alzheimer’s disease, maintained this is exactly…