CLASSIC CITY NEWS

By Joe Johnson Timothy Lamiron Solomon, 21, of Macon, was arrested early in the morning of April 19th after he reportedly pulled a gun during an incident outside of a bar on East Clayton Street. The arrest was made after police saw a large crowd running from the area of Bad Moon Bar, with people yelling about someone pulling a gun, Responding officers saw someone putting a gun back into his pocket and they detained him. Meanwhile other officers arrested Solomon on Jackson Str

By Joe Johnson A worker with a carnival that comes to town every year was recently exposed as an apparent child predator by an Athens area vigilante group. The 40-year-old suspect was working for the Spring Fling Fair carnival at Georgia Square Mall when he engaged in sexually explicit online activity with someone who he thought was a 14-year-old boy. The boy was actually a member of the Street Sweeperz Unit who confronted the suspect and videoed him as he admitted to illegal

By Joe Johnson The missing woman who was the subject of a story published yesterday by Classic City News was found today. Dorothy Gardner had been missing for over a year when CCN reached out to the family and offered assistance by publishing her story. Family members were very concerned because the 65-year-old woman has serious health issues. Her grand-niece informed me of the good news this afternoon. “Dorothy has been located and she’s reconnecting with her family now. Tha

The Clarke County School District has released the following: The Clarke County School District invites the community to its upcoming public surplus sale of district furniture, equipment, and other items. The sale will be open to district employees only from 2-6 p.m. on April 30 and May 1 and will expand to the general public on Saturday, May 2, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at CCSD’s Early Learning Center East location, 280 Gaines School Road in Athens. The event is ideal for local

By Joe Johnson Kimberly Kay Johnson, 27, of Woody Drive, was arrested on April 12th after police say she assaulted a woman who was holding young child. The incident happened when Johnson accompanied her boyfriend to see the mother of his children at her home on Westchester Drive. When an argument broke out she repeatedly punched the victim in the head and ears while she was holding her 4-year-old son, according to police. Johnson left the scene with her boyfriend and was lat

By Joe Johnson Concern for Dorothy Gardner’s welfare has grown as it’s been a year that she’s been seen or heard from by family. The 65-year-old woman has significant health concerns that require her to use mobility aids, according to her great-niece, Hannah Reese. “Her twin brother, David, is having health complications and her other siblings are all worried about her,” Reese said. Gardner became homeless after moving to Athens from Gainesville in 2023. “She last spoke to Da

From the University of Georgia The University of Georgia’s Chapel Bell will be temporarily unavailable this summer as part of a longer-term preservation effort to protect it and ensure the bell-ringing tradition can continue for years to come. The bell will remain available for ringing through Sunday, May 10. It will be removed from the tower on Monday, May 11. Temporary barricades will be in place during removal and will be taken down once the bell has been lowered. During t

By Joe Johnson Jabarris Lamar Brown Jr. has become the first person in Athens to be convicted and sentenced under the new state drive-by shooting law, In addition to convicting him of that crime, a jury found the 19-year-old guilty of five counts of aggravated assault and one count of making terroristic threats, The drive-by shooting law went into effect in July 2025 and the penalty for conviction is a minimum prison sentence of five years and a maximum of 20. Superior Court

By Joe Johnson Kingsley K. Dowman, 43, of Highland Park Drive, was arrested early in the morning of April 17th after his car struck and seriously injured a bicyclist on Oconee Street. The incident happened soon after midnight when the bicycle pulled out of Old Winterville Road and into the path of Dowman’s car on Oconee Street. Upon impact 46-year-old Joshua Clark was thrown from his bicycle into the car’s windshield. Dowman reportedly stopped, then panicked and fled the scen

By Joe Johnson An Athens police officer was searching for a wanted person in a wooded area near Danielsville and Hull roads last Friday when he came across the body of 42-year-old Rodney Ray Alford inside a tent at a homeless camp, “This is currently being investigated as a suspicious death,” said police spokesperson Lt. Katie Jenkins. “The deceased has been taken for autopsy,” she said. “There are no further information at this time.”

By T. W. Burger Mulling over the second mug of coffee this morning, reluctant to begin another day in front of the keyboard, I considered the mass of flowers in the vase at the table's center. It was a typical spring mix, several varieties of daffodil, with a smattering of giant snowdrops. It has often been said that it is a shame that flowers last such a little time before they wither. Wouldn't it be great if they could bloom all the time, some say? Yes. And no. They would n

Issued tonight by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department ACCPD is asking for the public’s assistance in locating 74-year-old Wyukia Coleman, last seen today in the area of Hunt Road and Whitehead Road around 5:00pm. She was last seen wearing a red Georgia Bulldog hat, blue jean or grey jacket, and blue jeans or grey sweats. If you see Ms. Coleman, please call 911.

ACCPD is asking for the public’s assistance in locating 74-year-old Wyukia Coleman, last seen today in the area of Hunt Road and Whitehead Road around 5:00pm. She was last seen wearing a red Georgia Bulldog hat, blue jean or grey jacket, and blue jeans or grey sweats. If you see Ms. Coleman, please call 911.

Issued by ACCPD today at 7:30 pm Missing B/F last seen Hunt Rd/Whitehead 74 yo, 5'2" 170lbs LSW red GA bulldog shirt, glasses, gray or jean jacket, gray pants and shoes.

By Joe Johnson Akasha Niema Brooks, 23, of Whitehead Road, was arrested on the night of April 8th for allegedly shooting at a 27-year-old resident at Rolling Ridge Apartments. The victim said that she and Brooks had an earlier confrontation during a road rage incident. Brooks was charged with aggravated assault. A Magistrate Court judge on April 10th granted Brooks $7,000 bail, barred her from from the victim’s apartment complex, and ordered her to undergo mental health eval

By Joe Johnson Police say they are investigating the death of a University of Georgia student who apparently shot himself this week in his off-campus apartment, The body of the 22-year-old student was found by roommates Wednesday night in the bathtub filled with water.A pistol was in his right hand and he had a bullet wound to the right temple, according to police. “Currently there is no foul play suspected in this ongoing death investigation,” police spokesperson Lt. Katie J

The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office ireports that its non-emergency phone lines and jail lines are currently down due to technical issues. During this outage, all calls, including non-emergencies, should be directed to 911, as the 911 dispatch lines remain fully operational .

By Joe Johnson Timothy Lee Randles, 39, of Almond Drive, has been arrested for possessing child sexual abuse material. The Investigation began in November with a cyber tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Randles had uploaded images of children being sexually abused to the Kik messaging app. The tip had initially been assigned to the FBI and further investigation was conducted by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department’s Special Victims Unit.

Moc Local author and real estate professional Brian Buffington has released his debut fantasy novel, The Rules of Blackstone: The War for Ardenmark , a story that blends political intrigue, moral conflict, and high-stakes magical warfare in a richly imagined world. Set in the capital city of Blackstone—a fortress built upon mysterious energy veins that grant power to a ruling order known as the Mystics—the novel follows a society bound by ancient rules designed to maintain ba

By Joe Johnson Criminal charges have been filed against a prisoner at the county jail for throwing urine on a detention officer. The incident happened in February when 19-year-old Jabbaris Lamar Brown Jr. threw the urine onto the jailer through his cell door flap, according to this week’s court filing by the District Attorney’s Office. The filing further states that on the same day, Brown threatened to kill another detention officer. He is charged in the filing with the urine