Author: Submitted

Wanda Murray, age 62, passed away on Thursday May 24, 2018 at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Jacksonville, FL following a brief illness. Mrs. Murray was born on November 11, 1955 in Coffee County, Georgia the daughter of the late Cleon Whitley and Zora Bell Hursey Whitley. She was a retired para-pro with the Coffee County School System and was a member of Harrell Grove Baptist Church. Survivors include: her husband, Wade Murray of Douglas, GA; daughters: Kendra Canfield and husband Robert of Douglas, GA and Kimberly Murray of Douglas, GA; brothers: Charles Whitley and Kenny Whitley both from Douglas, GA; sister,…

Johnnie Carroll Stevens, age 82, of Douglas, Georgia passed away on Wednesday May 23, 2018 at Coffee Regional Medical Center following an extended illness. Mr. Stevens was born on January 10, 1936 in Douglas, Georgia the son of the late Johnnie Stevens and Vera Brigmond Stevens. Mr. Stevens was retired after 38 years as a technician with Local Telephone Co. and General Telephone and was a member of Rocky Pond Baptist Church. He was preceded in death by: a daughter, Vera Denise Drummond; and brothers: Bobby Gene Stevens, Clydene Stevens and Johnny Junior Stevens. Survivors include: his wife, Lurlyne Cox…

Lillian H. Tanner, age 91, of Nicholls, GA passed away on Wednesday May 23, 2018 at her residence following an extended illness. Mrs. Tanner was born on July 16, 1926 in Coffee County, GA the daughter of the late James Monroe Henderson and Roseann Waldron Henderson. She worked on the family farm, worked at Sunbelt Nursery’s for many years, was a homemaker and attended Forest Grove Baptist Church, Nicholls, GA. Survivors include: daughters: Sandra Vickers and husband Jerry of Nicholls, GA and Sherry Jacobs and husband Danny of Bickley, GA; son, Victor Tanner of Nicholls, GA; grandchildren: Miranda Vickers, Martin Vickers…

Mr. Joel Shafter Duren, age 72, of Douglas passed away Monday afternoon, May 28. 2018, at Coffee Regional Medical Center following an extended illness. He was born March 8, 1946 to the late Shafter Duren and the late Marilzia McClendon Duren. Other than his parents, he was preceded in death by: his wife, Gerrell Faye Law Duren; and a daughter, Sabrina Dawn Duren. Mr. Duren, a native of Douglas and Coffee County, retired after 34 years of Service as Major with the Douglas City Police Department. He served with the U. S. Marines during the Viet Nam Era. Mr. Duren…

Infant Laney Rae Whitley was born and passed away on Wednesday morning, May 23, 2018 at the Irwin County Hospital in Ocilla. She was preceded in death by: paternal grandfather, Mike Whitley; and her paternal step-grandfather, Jimmy Blankenship. Survivors include: father and mother: Michael and Shelley Thurston Whitley of Broxton, GA; brothers: Ashton Whitley and Jeran Whitley both of Broxton, GA; maternal grandparents: Richard and Jan Thurston of Douglas, GA; paternal grandmother, Tracy Blankenship of Douglas, GA. The funeral service and interment were held Friday afternoon, May 25, 2018 at 4 P.M. at Rocky Creek Cemetery where Rev. Jimmy Jordan…

By Kevin Tatum STATE 4-H HORSE SHOW Perry, Georgia, will be buzzing with horse flies (and a lot of people and horses) as the State 4‑H Horse Show will be held there at the Georgia National Fairgrounds starting Monday, June 11, and running through Saturday, June 16. Coffee County will be well represented with 19 4‑H members competing in various competitions throughout the week. 4-H members registered to compete include Elijah Carver, Elizabeth Crews, Cody Davis, Emily Freeman, Cody Hayes, Emma Hayes, Morgan Hodges, Lacey Lewis, Cheyenne Lowe, Maleah Martin, Jadyn Nugent, Madison Payne, Cassie Jo Perkins, Harrison Russ, Erin…

The annual Douglas Kiwanis Club Honors Night was held at the St. Andrews Anglican Church social hall on the May 29,2018, during which several local students were recognized and given awards. Lance Fountain, CCA, and R. J. Ringold, CHS, received Christian Leadership Awards. Not present but also receiving Christian Leadership Awards were Lari Lott, CCA and Emily Rivers, CHS. Laura Ashlyn Pridgen, CCA, received the Carroll A. Burch Key Club Leadership Award for her leadership as President of CCA Key Club this past year. She was also presented a Key Club President’s Gavel as outgoing President of the CCA Key…

Two consecutive weeks of rainfall in Georgia stunted the growth of the state’s peanut crop and created ideal conditions for diseases in vegetable fields, leaving farmers scrambling to decide what to do next. Georgia’s peanut and cotton acreage remains in flux due to the inclement weather. According to the Georgia Crop Progress and Condition Report, issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service, 73 percent of this year’s peanut crop has been planted. Some of the crop will likely need to be replanted because of saturated field conditions. University of Georgia Cooperative Extension peanut agronomist Scott Monfort said the steady rainfall…

As the Mayor of Douglas, I am happy to share how the City of Douglas is striving to continue ensuring the citizens of Douglas is a great environment to live, work, and play. This month, we have a new initiative that is launching for our utility customers, the recreation department is offering summer programs for our youth, and our new Douglas-Coffee County Teen Court begins. Douglas Utilities employees have been working diligently to prepare for improvements that will move Douglas into the 21st century with our services. We began earlier last year with the addition of the SMART grid for…

By Matthew Hathaway, GWCFC journalism Recently, the Journalism class at George Washington Carver Freshman Campus had a showcase night in the media center. The students brought their families and friends to show off what they did during the 2017-2018 school year, which included most of the classes’ genius hour projects, program and computer skills. The showcase lasted an hour and fifteen minutes. The students set up stations and friends and family went through the stations to learn some of the skills the journalism students mastered throughout the year. There were six total stations. These stations included: filming, photography, yearbook, editing,…