Author: Staff Reports

Dalton Patterson, formerly of Douglas, won big recently at Go Code Coloardo, a statewide app-building competition. According to gazette.com, the competition “challenges entrepreneurs and software developers to use data from state sources to help businesses and other others make better decisions.” Read more about it here. Douglas Now congratulates Dalton on this great accomplishment.[iframe src=”https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FdpattFUZE%2Fvideos%2F10210015142002241%2F&show_text=0&width=560″ width=”560″ height=”315″ style=”border:none;overflow:hidden” scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ allowTransparency=”true” allowFullScreen=”true” ]

The Coffee County Sheriff’s Office reported Wednesday several arrests made over the last two weeks by the office’s investigations division. Detectives arrested Jason Nathaniel Smith, Age 44 of Pearson, and charged him with two counts of misdemeanor theft by taking for his involvement in a reported burglary on Amber Hills Rd. in Coffee County. Franklin Larry Griffin, Age 40 of Ambrose, was arrested and charged with one count of felony second degree burglary for his involvement of a burglary reported on Cypress St. in Coffee County. Leonard Donald Voorhees, Age 55 of Nicholls, was arrested and charged with one count of…

An aggressive and sophisticated phone scam targeting taxpayers has been making the rounds throughout the country, sheriff’s officials reported Wednesday. Callers claim to be employees of the IRS, but are not. Authorities say the con artists can sound convincing when they call. They use fake names and bogus IRS identification badge numbers. They may know a lot about the individuals they are calling (there is a lot of information that can be obtained by anyone over the internet) , and they usually alter the caller ID to make it look like the IRS is calling. Victims are told they owe…

A 26-year-old Coffee County man was arrested last week on one felony theft charge after authorities recovered a golf cart that had been reported stolen. On May 15, deputies, with the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office located a stolen golf cart at 399 McKinnon Rd. During the investigation, Trevor Maine McKinnon was arrested and charged with theft by receiving stolen property. The golf cart was recovered and returned to the owner.

Douglas police are searching for a vehicle similar to the one pictured above that was involved in a home invasion last Sunday. The incident occurred on N. Chester Ave. on May 22 when the alleged perpetrator held the victim at gunpoint while she unloaded groceries during daylight hours. The subject carried a black semi-automatic pistol and is right handed. The vehicle is described as follows: • Possibly 1990-2000 “light blue” Ford Explorer• Possibly silver on lower door panels• “old”rims described by victim The victim described the offender as a medium-toned black male, between his late teens and mid-20’s, around 5’4″,…

The Georgia State Patrol is investigating a multi-vehicle auto accident that resulted in injuries and halted downtown traffic Monday afternoon. The accident occurred around 2:30 p.m. in the area of Ward St. and N. Madison Ave. The Douglas Police Dept., along the with Georgia State Patrol, Douglas Fire Dept., and EMS responded to the scene. Few details are known at this time regarding the cause of the accident or the extent of those injured.

Editor’s note: The following story appeared Sunday, May 22, on eastmanexaminer.com and has been republished here with permission from the author, Jimmy Joines. “DouglasNow.com” has not verified any statements or facts mentioned within the article, and it has been edited only for grammar and punctuation. The first apparent announcement of an “impending area drug court” first became public knowledge when Chief Superior Court Judge H. Frederick Mullis, Jr. appeared before the Dodge County Board of Commissioners on April 4, 2016. Mullis was there to further explain his request that the Dodge Commissioners effectively turn over control of the county’s Drug…

Video courtesy, ‘Coffee County Ga. Police Scanner’ on Facebook

The Georgia Department of Education recently released its new ratings for local schools, and Coffee County’s Eastside Elementary stands out as a top performer. The ratings, referred to as the College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI), are based on student performance on state standardized tests, but also include some other factors. Eastside earned a rating of 90.7 and was recently featured as part of an article in the Atlanta Journal- Constituion that featured 29 Georgia public schools that are making a difference in low-income areas. The article can be read here.