Author: Staff Reports

Memorial services for Malik Sparkman, the brave young Coffee High student who was diagnosed with kidney cancer in August of last year, have been scheduled this Saturday and Sunday. The viewing for Malik will be held at Harrell’s Funeral Home, located at 400 East Cherry St., Saturday, May 23 from 12 to 8 p.m. Services will be held Sunday, May 24 at 1 p.m. at Coffee High School. The service will begin at Jardine Stadium, where Coffee High football players will line the field and Malik will take his last pass on Trojan ground. Attendees will then leave the stadium…

The South Georgia State College Hawks went 1-2 at the East Central District Tournament in Morristown, Tennessee, last week. The Hawks, who earned a berth in the tournament after finishing second in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Conference, followed the same path to the tournament that they did four years ago. In 2011, South Georgia won the championship and went to the Junior College World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado. This year, however, the Hawks ran into a pair of buzz saws from Tennessee in eventual tournament champion Walters State Community College and Chattanooga State Community College. The Hawks lost to…

It’s never a good idea to run over a fire hose, and it’s an even worse idea when you’re carrying drugs and have an aversion towards police officers. Douglas police reported Monday they were on the scene of a residential fire last Saturday on Martin Luther King Dr. when an officer observed 24-year-old Martoni Tewanta Landers of Douglas run over a city fire hose. Officers spoke with Landers and detected the smell of marijuana coming from his vehicle. Authorities were able to locate a small amount of suspected marijuana in the suspect’s car, and he allegedly struggled with officers while…

“The Trying,” a locally-produced, Christian-based short film from Creative Corner Productions, will have its public premiere tonight at the Coffee High cafetorium beginning at 7 p.m. The public is invited to walk the red carpet in your movie premiere attire as you attend the first viewing of “The Trying.” Photos will be taken at the event, and everyone is encouraged to take pictures and post them online to help promote the film. “The Trying” is a Christian-based short film about a teenager, Daniel, who seems to have one thing after another pop up in his life. One night while hanging…

The Child Advocacy Center of Coffee County will be hosting its second annual “When Pigs Fly” fundraiser this weekend, beginning tonight with a a “Glow in the Dark” 5K run and dance party afterwards. The race will take place at Jardine Stadium at 8:30 p.m. for both runners and walkers. Walkers will start behind the runners. On Saturday morning, “Hamlet,” the hot air balloon, will be present to kick off the day with a one-hour ride for a lucky winner (these tickets will be sold separately). General festivities will begin at 9 a.m. with free activities like water slides, bouncy…

An accident at the intersection of Bryan St. and Shirley Ave. slowed morning commuters Friday as first responders worked to clear the scene. The crash sent one vehicle careening onto city property, where it stopped just short of the city pool on Shirley Ave. No one was injured in the crash, though a city street sign was destroyed. Traffic flow returned to normal a short time later.

Remember that ‘home invasion’ Wednesday that temporarily put Satilla Elementary School on lockdown status and sent numerous sheriff’s deputies on a hunt for suspects? Turns out it was all a big lie. Sheriff’s officials stated that officers were dispatched to 758 Sidney H. Adams Road Wednesday morning in reference to a robbery in progress. When they arrived, deputies made contact with a female victim, identified as Alina Rodriquez, who stated someone knocked on her door and, when she went to open it, a black male hit her in the face with a closed fist. She stated the black male, along with a Hispanic male, ran into her…

Three people were arrested and jailed Wednesday, following an attempted home invasion that temporarily put Satilla Elementary School on lockdown status. Officers responded to a residence off Alvin Geiger Rd. in the Satilla community around 10:30 this morning in reference to a home invasion. Two suspects, who have not been named at this time, were quickly apprehended. Sheriff’s authorities issued an alert to the public and local meda stating they were searching for a third individual believed to be involved. He was described as a black male, approximately 5’10 and 160 lbs., wearing a blue and white tank-top with shorts.…

Douglas police are seeking assistance from the public in their attempts to identify the person or persons responsible for the Mother’s Day shooting at Roundtree Park. Last Sunday, officers responded to the 800 block of S. Gaskin Ave. in reference to an individual with multiple gunshot wounds. When they arrived, authorities discovered 29-year-old Kentorri Lamar Strozier collapsed in a yard at 806 S. Gaskin Ave. EMS arrived on scene, stabilized, and transported Strozier to Coffee Regional Medical Center, where he remains recovering from his injuries. The initial investigation showed that Strozier had been shot multiple times in the back and…