CLASSIC CITY NEWS

By Joe Johnson Preston T. Beam, 59, of Cavalier Court, was arrested on December 22nd after a skirmish with a band’s roadie at the 40 Watt club. The victim was a 52-year-old Athens man who worked for a band that performed at the music venue on West Washington Street on December 19th. According to police, the roadie was loading band equipment into a vehicle when Beam charged and pushed him up against a doorway, then smacked a phone from his hand when he tried to record the inci

By Joe Johnson A 21-year-old Athens man tried to kill himself last month by smoke inhalation with a charcoal grill fire inside his bathroom. Firefighters responded to his home when the smoke set off an alarm, but by then he had already removed the grill from the smoke-filled bathroom, According to police, he “has been dealing with different mental stressors such as his girlfriend being deported…” He was transported to the hospital and a police report indicated that the Behavi

By Joe Johnson Dashaniti Areonna Dalton, 20, of Pepperidge Lane, was arrested early in the morning of December 19th after she stabbed a 27-year old woman in the doorway of the victim’s home on North Bluff Drive. The victim told police that Dalton was a family friend who rarely visited, but on that day she showed up wanting to fight over her having previously informed Dalton about her boyfriend cheating. An officer noted in a report that the victim had blood on her face from t

From Athens-Clarke County Leisure Services Athens Creative Theatre will hold auditions for “One Man, Two Guvnor” by Richard Bean on Thursday, January 15 and Friday, January 16 from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. at Quinn Hall at Memorial Park.  Show dates are March 26 – 28 at Quinn Hall at Memorial Park. “One Man, Two Guvnors” by Richard Bean is a fast-paced, laugh-out-loud farce set in 1960s Brighton, England. This Tony Award–winning comedy follows Francis Henshall, a down-on-his-luck ski

By Joe Johnson On the morning of December 18th, 26-year-old Anargyros “Cole” Mantas was in the parking lot of Redeemer Presbyterian Church on Pulaski Street when something caused him to walk out into the intersection of West Broad Street to speak with occupants of a car that stopped for a red light. The flashes of gunshots from inside the car are seen on surveillance footage followed by the sight of Mantas falling mortally wounded to the ground, He died of multiple gunshot wo

O The following was released by the United States Department of Justice ALBANY, Ga. – Two Georgia inmates involved in a nationwide call scheme exhorting unsuspecting citizens to pay off fines to avoid arrest and prosecution were found guilty of their crimes in federal court tonight. Joey Amour Jackson aka “Apes---,” and Lance Riddle aka “C-Port,” both of Calhoun State Prison, were found guilty of all counts charged by indictment: one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud a

By Joe Johnson On the morning of December 18th, 26-year-old Anargyros “Cole” Mantas, was in the parking lot of Redeemer Presbyterian Church on Pulaski Street when something caused him to walk out into the intersection of West Broad Street to speak with occupants of a car that stopped for a red light. The flashes of gunshots from inside the car are seen on surveillance footage followed by the sight of Mantas falling mortally wounded to the ground, He died of multiple gunshot w

By T. W. Burger   At a campsite on the coast of Nova Scotia: So, today I’m working away at my genuine L.L. Bean roll-up camping table (I’ve used it as a traveling desk for at least 20 years,) while sitting on my genuine L.L. Bean folding “What-A-Chair.” I leaned over to get my briefcase off the rocky ground. Something went SNAP! Suddenly, I was lying on my side, looking out at the sea in the gathering dark. I waited a bit to see if anything would start hurting or even bleedin

The following was released today by the Gwinnett County Police Department (Lawrenceville, Ga., Jan. 9, 2026) – Gwinnett County Police Special Victim Unit detectives arrested a Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Deputy during an investigation involving a minor. On January 5, SVU detectives received a report where a parent had found elicit messages from an adult to her teenage daughter under 16 years of age.  During the investigation, Rylee Willis (21, Stone Mountain) was identified as

By Joe Johnson An   Oconee County teenager was recently arrested after he led police on a chase that began in downtown Athens and ended on the front lawn of a University of Georgia sorority house. The incident began at around 2:30 a.m. on December 13th when a bicycle cop was flagged down about a possible fight in the area of Jackson and South streets. When the officer arrived in the area he saw a car that appeared to be driving straight towards him. “Even as the proximity be

By Joe Johnson Oconee County teenager was recently arrested after he led police on a chase that began in downtown Athens and ended on the front lawn of a University of Georgia sorority house. The incident began at around 2:30 a.m. on December 13th when a police officer was flagged down about a possible fight in the area of Jackson and South streets. When the officer arrived in the area he saw a car that appeared to be driving towards him to intentionally hit the police car.

By Joe Johnson Dextrell Tramell Calloway, 55, of Mitchell Bridge Road, has been indicted for allegedly trafficking cocaine that he into crack. He was charged with both drug trafficking and manufacturing in the indictment that was filed on Tuesday in Superior Court. The indictment stems from his arrest last year when search warrants were executed at his home and another location by the Northeast Georgia Regional Drug Task Force, which seized over two pounds of cocaine. Callow

((I By Joe Johnson An Athena man was recently arrested for assaulting his nephew with a machete during an altercation in their home on Spring Valley Road. The incident happened early in the morning of December 12th when 66-year-old Lorenzo Dillard yelled for his nephew to come out of his bedroom and into the living room where he was waiting with a machete, The men reportedly argued over rent money and the nephew was cut on his leg while trying to disarm Dillard. When police

From Athens-Clark County Leisure Services Transport yourself to a time of the past when sitting by a fire and listening to a story was the entertainment when storytellerJackie Elsner shares a couple of tales at Sandy Creek Nature Center. Before the story begins, visit the inside of a 1810 log house and enjoy a fire and a hot beverage. "Tales on the Porch" is set for Saturday, January 17 from 3:00 - 4:30 p.m..  This program is for ages 16 and older.  The fee is $3 per person.

By Joe Johnson A man was seriously injured recently when he fell from a building in College Square across from the University of Georgia, The incident happened early in the morning of December 7th when 24-year-old Brandon Alexander-Raynor of Augusta fell into an alleyway outside the building at the corner of East Broad Street and College Avenue.. A witness told police that when he heard a noise he looked out the window of his apartment and saw Alexander-Raynor climb off a se

By Joe Johnson Local authorities recently found a 17-year-old girl who had been reported missing In Iowa in the bedroom of a 27-year-old Athens man. Police said that a family member had used the Life 360 GPS app to track the teen to a home on Bayberry Court . Officers found the girl there in the bedroom of the man who said that he’d been led to believe that she was 19 years old. He “seemed genuinely surprised and scared regarding finding out (the girl’s) real age,” an officer

By Joe Johnson A 15-year-old student was recently arrested on gang-related charges at Cedar Shoals High School. Police said they went to the school on December 10th to serve warrants on Jamarion Shemeir Gutierrez that charged him aggravated assault, false imprisonment, terroristic threats, and criminal street gang activity. According to the warrants, the charges stem an incident last month in which gang members forced an 18-year-old male victim to strip naked at gunpoint. Tho

By Joe Johnson The motorist who was killed at an eastside intersection Christmas morning when his car crashed and burst into flames has been identified by police as 36-year-old Edwin Webb of Athens. The incident happened shortly before 6 a.m. at the intersection of Barnett Shoals and Gaines School roads. According to police, the car had sped into the intersection and struck a tree in the parking lot of Synovus Bank, where the vehicle became engulfed in flames. Webb’s badly

Why Japanese Jujitsu? Japanese Jujitsu is a self-defense-centered martial art originating in Japan that goes back over 1000 years and predates Judo, Aikido, and Karate. Japanese Jujitsu is not a sport. It is a non-competitive martial art that emphasizes practical self-defense skills and techniques. In addition to learning self-defense, our classes help build discipline, control, self-esteem, confidence, and personal fitness. Our classes are accessible for all ages and ability

By Joe Johnson Eddie Dewaine Curry Jr,, 37, of West Broad Street, was arrested on December 22nd after he crashed a stolen pickup truck into a trailer at Hallmark Estates Mobile Home Park. According to reports, police went to Hallmark when a license plate reading camera located the truck there, and when Curry tried to flee from an attempted traffic stop he bailed from the still-moving vehicle and it crashed into the trailer, damaging its front porch. Officers arrested Curry af