Author: Staff Reports

Douglas is the seventh safest city in Georgia, according to a list published by national crime and safety trends tracker Safewise. McRae-Helena, located in neighboring Telfair County, came in at ninth. According to statistics obtained from the Douglas Police Department, the crime rate in Douglas has dropped 38.41 percent from 2018 to 2022. Here are Safewise’s top 10 safest cities: Holly Springs Kingsland Hampton Johns Creek Barnesville Milton Douglas Tyrone McRae-Helena Palmetto According to Safewise, with a violent crime rate of 3.9 and a property crime rate of 17.5, Georgia’s crime rates aren’t too far…

Officers from the Douglas Police Department and state fire marshal’s office are investigating a fire that took place Tuesday night in Douglas. When firefighters arrived at the scene — a storage building behind a home on Highway 158 East — the building was fully engulfed in flames. While firefighters were working on the fire, a deceased individual was discovered inside the building. The cause of death was a gunshot. Sources tell DouglasNow that investigators believe that the individual set the building on fire then took his own life. Officials from the state fire marshal’s office are…

Officers from the Douglas Police Department and state fire marshal’s office are investigating a fire that took place Tuesday night in Douglas. When firefighters arrived at the scene — a storage building behind a home on Highway 158 East — the building was fully engulfed in flames. While firefighters were working on the fire, a deceased individual was discovered inside the building. The cause of death was a gunshot. Sources tell DouglasNow that investigators believe that the individual set the building on fire then took his own life. Officials from the state fire marshal’s office are…

Detectives from the Valdosta Police Department are investigating a double shooting that took place on the 1100 block of Slater Street at 3:34 a.m. on Friday, March 24, 2023. The VPD has not released the identities of the two deceased young men nor has the department any details of the shooting. However, DouglasNow has confirmed that two individuals were cousins and at least one was from Douglas. Sources tell DouglasNow that the shooting appears to have been accidental. One of the young men accidentally fatally shot the other then shot himself. Both men were 20 years old. …

Detectives from the Valdosta Police Department are investigating a double shooting that took place on the 1100 block of Slater Street at 3:34 a.m. on Friday, March 24, 2023. The VPD has not released the identities of the two deceased young men nor has the department any details of the shooting. However, DouglasNow has confirmed that two individuals were cousins and at least one was from Douglas. Sources tell DouglasNow that the shooting appears to have been accidental. One of the young men accidentally fatally shot the other then shot himself. Both men were 20 years old. …

Six schools are getting new administrators next year. At Thursday night’s regular Coffee County Board of Education meeting, board members approved new administrators at five elementary schools along with Coffee Middle School. Here are the new principals and their schools: Alan Chancey — Indian Creek Elementary Tonya LeSure — Eastside Elementary Amy Vining — West Green Elementary Randy Drew — Ambrose Elementary Garrett Winters — Coffee Middle School Sarah Warren — Coffee Education Academy These administrators will finish the school year at their current schools. The last day of school for students…

Six schools are getting new administrators next year. At Thursday night’s regular Coffee County Board of Education meeting, board members approved new administrators at five elementary schools along with Coffee Middle School. Here are the new principals and their schools: Alan Chancey — Indian Creek Elementary Tonya LeSure — Eastside Elementary Amy Vining — West Green Elementary Randy Drew — Ambrose Elementary Garrett Winters — Coffee Middle School Sarah Warren — Coffee Education Academy These administrators will finish the school year at their current schools. The last day of school for students…

Two South Georgia State College Hawks combined for a no-hitter against the Andrew College Fighting Tigers on Thursday. The Hawks, playing at home, won the game 6-0. Starter Brian Crooms went eight innings, allowing zero hits, zero runs, and four walks. Reliever Shawn Munoz closed things out for SGSC with an inning of hitless work. He struck out one and allowed a walk. The Hawks scored one run in the second on an RBI single by Michael Fitzpatrick. Then they put the game away with five in the eighth. Junior Lonon and Christian Campbell led the…

Two South Georgia State College Hawks combined for a no-hitter against the Andrew College Fighting Tigers on Thursday. The Hawks, playing at home, won the game 6-0. Starter Brian Crooms went eight innings, allowing zero hits, zero runs, and four walks. Reliever Shawn Munoz closed things out for SGSC with an inning of hitless work. He struck out one and allowed a walk. The Hawks scored one run in the second on an RBI single by Michael Fitzpatrick. Then they put the game away with five in the eighth. Junior Lonon and Christian Campbell led the…

A traffic stop for failure to maintain lane ended up leading to trafficking cocaine charges. According to an incident report from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office, officers made the traffic stop near Bethel Grocery on March 16. During the stop, officers found 15 baggies of suspected cocaine along with an amount of suspected marijuana. A passenger in the vehicle, David Angel Ruiz, 39, claimed the drugs, the report states. Drug unit officers then searched Ruiz’s residence along with a secondary location. At Ruiz’s home, officers found more marijuana, digital scales, and a large amount of cash.…