Author: Staff Reports

Former Trojan Jackson Banks announced his presence to the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference this weekend when he made his debut for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Bulldogs. Banks, a freshman who graduated in the CHS Class of 2023, continued his football career at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Perkinston, Miss., this fall. He played in his first college game on Saturday, helping the Bulldogs defeat the #3-ranked Northwest Mississippi Community College Rangers 49-14. Banks, a 6’1”, 275-pound defensive lineman, was a part of a very stingy Bulldog defense that never allowed the Rangers to…

Rusty Spell, 56, of Broxton, will serve five years in prison as a part of a 20-year sentence he received last month for allegedly stealing cargo trailers and diesel fuel in separate incidents in Coffee County. He still faces charges in Monroe County for allegedly stealing three Department of Natural Resources Polaris Rangers and trailers from Interceptor Public Safety in Forsyth. In early August, Spell pleaded guilty to the Coffee County charges and received a 20-year sentence, five of which will be served in prison with the remainder to be served on probation. Spell was charged…

By Stanley Dunlap The Georgia Recorder www.georgiarecorder.com Former President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants have entered not guilty pleas ahead of their scheduled arraignments on Wednesday in the 2020 Fulton County election inference case. However, it remains unclear whether some waivers allowing defendants to avoid appearing in court on Wednesday will be granted by the judge. On Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee is set to hold arraignments and conduct a hearing on motions filed for attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell as they seek to have their cases tried separately in the sweeping…

Harbor Freight Tools is set to open a store in Douglas and anyone interested in applying for a position at the new location can do so online. The store will be located at 1271 Bowens Mill Road SE and will open this fall. An official opening date has not been announced. “We’ve been looking to open a location in Douglas for a number of years so that we can provide the tools and equipment at tremendous values to the community,” said Trey Feller, Senior Vice President, Real Estate and Construction for Harbor Freight Tools. “In addition to finding…

It is often said that no good deed goes unpunished. Gregory Fernandez, 43, found that out when he was working on Shamika Fernandez’s car on the evening of August 22. According to an incident report from the Douglas Police Department, Gregory was doing some work on the front end of Shamika’s car when her ex-husband, Jawari Kyree Fernandez, 38, drove his car across the grass in an attempt to hit Gregory. The report states that Gregory noticed a “vehicle coming right for him.” He moved out of the way and, according to the report, Jawari’s vehicle hit…

On Saturday, August 26, a deputy was dispatched to a residence at Green Field Circle after getting a call about a possible Temporary Protection Order violation. According to the report from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office, upon arriving, the deputy spoke with an individual who claimed her ex-boyfriend, 46 year old Gerald Spangler, would not stop texting and calling her even after he had been served with a TPO. Reportedly, she showed the officer several days worth of texts between her and Spangler, with very few responses from herself and some of which asking Spangler to…

Thursday afternoon, a federal judge dismissed City Commissioner Olivia Pearson’s case against former Coffee County Elections Supervisor Misty Hampton and Coffee County that Pearson had filed as a result of an incident that took place at the elections office during the 2020 election. The incident happened on Tuesday, October 27, 2020. According to witnesses who were at the elections office at the time, Commissioner Pearson was in the office assisting a voter. After completing the voting process, Commissioner Pearson allegedly began pushing or attempting to push buttons on a machine. Election officials asked her to stop but, said…

Even though the Trojans won’t be playing tonight, Coffee fans will still have the opportunity to watch a Trojan take the field. At 7:30 p.m., former Trojan Maurice Turner and the Louisville Cardinals will face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on ESPN. Turner, a 2022 graduate of Coffee High, signed with Louisville and saw a fair amount of action last year for the Cardinals as a true freshman. Wearing #4 this year, he begins the season as the #2 running back on the depth chart. Turner finished last year in spectacular fashion. He led the Cardinals…

Hurricane Idalia carved a path of destruction as she moved through Coffee County, leaving roadways blocked, trees down, and tens of thousands of citizens without power. The rain, while significant, did not cause any major problems locally. The low lying areas that tend to flood whenever there is above average rainfall had some trouble but there appears to have been no widespread flooding. The wind — that’s another story. The Coffee County Emergency Management Agency reports sustained winds (defined as wind speeds lasting at least one minute) at 50 mph with gusts higher than…

On Saturday, August 5, officers responded to East Leon Street regarding a call about a possible assault. According to the report by the City of Douglas Police Department, upon arriving, the officers spoke with two individuals after they were finished being treated by EMS. Both individuals claimed that Trent Canady, 33, and Princess Collins, 29, had allegedly assaulted them. As stated by these individuals, they were walking along North Coweta Avenue when Canady and Collins pulled up next to them in their vehicle. Allegedly, Collins got out of the vehicle and said something about one of the individual’s…