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By Ishika Sadarangani, Coffee County 4-H Club Member The 4-H Club encourages its members to be contributing members of society through leadership and community service. As a 4-H member I strive to live up to those 4-H goals. My name is Ishika Sadarangani and I am a 7th grade student at Coffee Middle School. I was elected to serve as Vice President of the 4-H Southeast District Junior Board of Directors for the 2017-18 school year and recently started a community service project called Clean Teeth for Life. I chose the dental hygiene project because I want every child to have a…

There were several special recognitions at the Coffee County Board of Education’s March 23rd School Board Meeting. Recognitions included three teams from Coffee High and several schools for their recent achievements. Under the direction of Coffee High School teacher Rodney Ragsdale, two groups have recently advanced to national and world competitions. The VEX robotics team, Team 1253, advanced to the World Championships in Louisville, Kentucky on April 18-22, 2017. This is the second time CHS robots have made it to the World Championships; the last time was 2012. There are 540 robots competing in this year’s tournament, nineteen of which are from Georgia.…

South Georgia State College will hold its annual honors ceremonies on both the Douglas and Waycross Campuses this spring to recognize students for a variety of academic, service, and leadership achievements during the 2016-2017 academic year. The Douglas Campus ceremony will be held on Monday, April 10 at 6:30 p.m. in Engram Hall 220. A light reception will be held following the ceremony for honorees and their guests. The Waycross Campus ceremony will be held on Tuesday, April 11 at 6:30 p.m. in the Auditorium located in the Educational Building. A light reception will be held following the ceremony for honorees…

At Westside Elementary, perfect attendance is highly celebrated! Not only do we reward students with monthly perfect attendance, but we also reward two lucky students who have had perfect attendance each nine weeks. During our Nine Week’s Celebration Assemblies, a name of a student who has had perfect attendance for the nine weeks is drawn in grades K-2 and in 3-5 for a special prize. One lucky student in grades K-2 wins a bicycle donated by local community members. One lucky student in grades 3-5 wins an ipod donated by Wendy’s Restaurant. Our Third Nine Weeks Celebration Assembly was held…

Friday evening, March 24, the Alma Police Department located a runaway juvenile from Nebraska during a vehicle stop at Flash Foods at the intersection of Highway 32 and U.S. 1. The juvenile was traveling with David A. Murcia Gouzalez, 18 of Omaha, Nebraska. Gouzalez was charged with several traffic violations, to include driving with a suspended driver’s license, and possession of methamphetamine. Alma police contacted the Division of Family and Children Services for assistance with returning the juvenile to her parents in Nebraska.

An anonymous tip to the Coffee County Sheriff’s office Friday afternoon led to the arrest of a convicted drug dealer wanted for a probation violation. Kevin Bernard Landers, 31, was convicted in Coffee County in 2007 for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and again in 2010 for sale/distribution of cocaine. He was released from his last prison stint in 2013. Probation officers obtained a warrant for Landers in July 2016 for a probation violation. The Coffee County Sheriff’s Office received an anonymous tip early Friday afternoon providing information that Landers was currently located at a business in the…

The Coffee County Sheriff’s Office and the Georgia State Patrol teamed up Friday morning to give Ambrose students a firsthand glimpse into the operations of the GSP’s Aviation Unit. Sgt. Jeff Rhodes landed at Ambrose Elementary School at 9 a.m., and students were provided with an up-close opportunity to view the helicopter. Rhodes, whose air unit is responsible for covering 75 counties in Georgia, discussed with the children the various dutiees and services of air patrol, including search and rescue and fugitive apprehension.

A man incarcerated for beating his live-in girlfriend during a January 2017 incident is back in jail after violating the terms of his bond by continuing to victimize the same individual. Michael David Vickers, 47, was arrested by Coffee County deputies for aggravated assault on Jan. 22 after determining he had choked and beaten the 29-year-old female. Vickers was released from jail on March 13 after being granted a $5,000 property bond with the condition he have no contact with the victim of the January incident. Shortly after 8 p.m. Thursday, March 23, deputies responded to a residence off Center…

On March 21, 2017, the Alma Police Department’s Crime Suppression Unit arrested Cameron Blake Adams, 28 of Douglas, at a local business in Alma after officers learned Adams was wanted by the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office for a variety of offenses; Adams was turned over to CCSO. On March 22, APD assisted the Georgia Department of Community Supervision on a probation search at 410 W. 5th St. in Alma. Officers arrested David Mason, 60 of Alma, for possession of methamphetamine. On March 23, APD’s Crime Suppression Unit conducted a traffic stop on W. 12th St. for several seat belt violations. …

On Thursday, March 23, 2017, the Douglas-Coffee County Chamber of Commerce held at ribbon cutting for Shealy Appliance located at 1420 W. Baker Hwy. In addition to his commercial sales and service provided at Refrigeration Plus, this business expansion will allow owner/operator, John Shealy, to also provide residential sales and services at Shealy Appliance. For your residential appliance needs, stop by Shealy Appliance or give them a call at 912-383-4563.