CLASSIC CITY NEWS

By Joe Johnson An attorney who is a former Athens prosecutor recently received threatening mail in the form of a glitter bomb that was accompanied by a famous picture of singer Johnny Cash. The attorney was opening an envelope that came in the mail when glitter exploded from it and was spread all over her vehicle, according to police. In the envelope was a picture of Johnny Cash giving the middle finger to the warden when he performed in San Quentin Prison. There was also a

By Joe Johnson A group of burglars last week broke into Variety Mart on Hawthorne Avenue and stole two safes, a cash register and thousand of dollars worth of merchandise. The commercial burglary happened at around 4:40 a.m. Wednesday when the thieves arrived in a dark-colored Kia Telluride and used a pry bar to open the locked front door. Dressed all jn black and with hoods pulled over their heads, they went to work removing the safes and register to the SUV, along with cart

By Joe Johnson University of Georgia players and coaches alike are mourning the recent death of a beloved worker at their facility. They even dedicated their win on Saturday against Mississippi State to Kimberly Allen, who died in her Athens home on November 5th. “We dedicated this win to Ms. Kim Allen, who’s a co-worker of ours, worked in our facility,” said Coach Kirby Smart. “She was an incredible lady.” Running back Nate Frazier has fond memories of the 45-year-.old UGA

By Joe Johnson Osvaldo Zacaria Torres, 22, of Hull was arrested early in the morning of November 1st after he allegedly raped a 24-year-old woman in the Gatewood neighborhood of northwestern Athens-Clarke County. The person who called police said he was wakened by the victim yelling and responding officers had a difficult time waking up Torres, who was intoxicated, He reportedly told police that he had been with the victim downtown and after taking an Uber to her home she was

By Joe Johnson Deadria Shanta Story, 29, of Towne View Place, was arrested Wednesday night for assaulting her girlfriend during a dispute over rent money. According to police, she hit the 21-year-old victim in the head with a bottle of Patron tequila, placed a power drill against the side of her head and activated it, and pushed her down onto the bed and struck her. Story also used the other woman’s phone to send herself $100 via Cash App without permission and cracked the p

Photo by the Georgia Department of Corrections By Joe Johnson A former police officer with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department has apparently ended his campaign for a seat on the county commission. Only a day after Classic City News published a story about his candidacy the campaign website for 37-year-old Kristin Matthew Ward went dark. The Flagpole has reported that Ward issued a statement confirming that he had dropped out of the race to represent District 5 on th

By Joe Johnson A former Athens police officer is seeking to become a county commissioner while awaiting trial for allegedly molesting a child. Kris Ward was fired from the Athens-Clarke County in 2015 when he came under investigation for allegedly molesting a 13-year-old boy. An Athens jury found him guilty in 2018 and a judge sentenced him to 55 years in prison. Ward successfully appealed on grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel during the trial, and the Georgia Cou

Federal authorities have seized more than 325 pounds of methamphetamine from a Norcross storage facility, the Department of Justice announced, Drug Enforcement Administration agents had Mexican national Marco Cueto-Rosales under surveillance when they saw him go into into the storage unit and move items around in plastic bins and trash bags. A K9 unit from the Gwinnett County Police Department later detected the scent of narcotics, leading to a federal search warrant and the

By T.W. Burger Breakfast this morning reminded me forcefully of what I love about small-town, mom-and-pop diners. You can get an acceptable breakfast in all sorts of places, sometime even those franchise outfits with their written policies and corkboards with pronouncements from the HR office at HQ thumbtacked thereon. But that’s not here. I have never been in the kitchen, so maybe this place actually has a bulletin board, but you catch my drift. This is the kind of place whe

By Joe Johnson Tributes are publicly being made following the death of 22-year-old Antonio Jewell, a 2022 graduate of Clarke Central High School. The young man known as AJ was found deceased Friday night at The View at NODA apartment complex near downtown Athens. His death is under investigation by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department. Addressing the Gladiator Nation, Clarke Central Athletics on its Facebook page said, “AJ was a proud Gladiator who represented Clarke C

By Joe Johnson Police are investigating the death of a man whose body was found Thursday night in The View at NODA apartment complex near downtown Athens. The body of 22-year-old Antonio Lamar Jewell of Winterville was found at the rear of the new complex that opened in May on the former site of Bethel Midtown Village, Police would not say why the man’s death is being investigated by Criminal Investigations Division detectives. “CID is actively investigating the circumstance

By Joe Johnson Abdullah Thomas, 27, of West Broad Street, was arrested for DUI on the night of October 17th after he was seen dragging kudzu with his car through downtown Athens. Police stopped his car at about 11:15 pm on North Jackson Street, but it was unknown where he had driven off the road and into a kudzu patch and got vegetation caught up on the vehicle. The Hyundai Elantra had also left a trail of fluids as it drove through the downtown area, according to police. Th

Dear Mr President.  I voted for you -twice.  In general I think you and your entire cabinet team are doing a positively fantastic job cleaning up the Biden mess and rooting out the outrageous excesses of the far left.  But assassination of suspected drug traffickers at sea is going too far. Law abiding American Citizens loath drug traffickers too.  But here’s the thing Mr President. If we allow drug traffickers to be summarily executed without a trial then somewhere down the

By Joe Johnson Athens police are investigating a shooting incident last weekend in which two homes in an Eddex Court duplex were struck by gunfire, A 61-year-old man was watching television in his home at about 11:45 pm Saturday when a mirror above where he was sitting was struck by a bullet, and three adults and two children were inside the neighboring home when it was struck by gunfire. Police said they found a mix of handgun and rifle shell casings on the street outside t

By Joe Johnson Joseph Daniel Harper, 42, was arrested on the afternoon of October 20th after he beat his girlfriend and wouldn’t let her leave the apartment. The 50-year-old victim told police that Harper punched her, struck her head with a pipe and threatened to stab her with a knife. Her face was bruised and she had a black eye, but declined medical attention. The incident happened at the Clarke Gardens complex while Harper was in violation of a court protective order from

By Joe Johnson A 14-year-old boy was severely beaten by a group of thugs as he was on his way home from a Halloween event at the East Athens Community Center. According to a police report released Thursday, the incident happened in the evening of October 31st when the victim was walking home to the Nellie B community from the trunk or treat ard was surrounded by a group of youths, one of whom wore a ski mask and brandished a handgun. He tried to run home but fell, police sa

The following was released by the Gwinnett County Police Department Doraville, Ga., Nov. 6, 2025) – Gwinnett County Police Uniform Officers make a significant arrest during stolen trailer investigation. On October 30, 2025, the Gwinnett County Police Department received a report of a stolen trailer out of Norcross. Uniform Officers from the West Precinct utilized Flock license plate readers to determine the trailer, after being stolen, had been attached to a vehicle associate

A Riveting Portrait of “Mr. Civil Rights” Featuring  Michael Anthony Tatmon  as Thurgood Marshall and directed by  Prodan Dimov ,  THURGOOD  offers audiences a stirring and deeply human portrait of one of America’s most transformative leaders. The play captures Marshall’s courageous journey — from his early days as a civil rights lawyer challenging segregation in  Brown v. Board of Education  to his historic appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, where he upheld the principle

The following has been released by the candidate With broad community backing and a record of hands-on service, Mara Zuniga, a passionate advocate fornbipartisan solutions and community-driven leadership, has officially announced her candidacy for Mayor of Athens-Clarke County. Zuniga, who first ran in 2022 as a political newcomer, came within striking distance of victory against three candidates, including a 12-year incumbent. She raised a significant sum of money in just

By Joe Johnson Erin Kathleen Blakock, 55,, was arrested early in the morning of October 25th after she caused extensive damage property damage in her own apartment complex and fled from the scene. According to police, it was about 1:30 a.m, when Blalock drove her Ford Bronco into two vehicles and a pair of air conditioning units at Cambridge Apartments. As she attempted to drive away a witness was able to put the SUV in park and take away the keys, police said, at which time