Lowndes Middle coach suffers burns in accident…UPDATE

VALDOSTA — Ed Mitchell, a coach at Lowndes Middle School, suffered second- and third-degree burns in a cooking accident at his house on Saturday.

Mitchell was airlifted to a burn center in Augusta on Saturday night, and had surgery on Sunday morning.

On Saturday, Mitchell was cooking food in his kitchen and left the room briefly. When he came back, he saw smoke coming from a pan on the stove. He took the pan off the stove and tried to move it.

But while he was removing the pan, grease fell on him and burned him.

He wound up with burns on his left hand, left knee and right foot and ankle.

“He had surgery this morning,” said Lowndes Middle athletic director and head football coach Steve Holley on Sunday. “(He) was in pretty good spirits this afternoon about 3 (or) 4 o’clock. … I spoke with him this afternoon at the hospital in Augusta. He seemed to think everything went OK. It’s kind of touch and go with how his toes respond to the surgery, I guess. He said that was going to be the key was how his feet responded to the surgery today.”

“He sounded good, was feeling good and upbeat,” Holley added.

Mitchell is a parapro at Lowndes Middle School. He also coaches three sports. He is the head coach of the seventh grade boys basketball team and the boys track team and the secondary coach for the football team. He is in his fourth season coaching at LMS.

“He does a great job (and) does a great job with the kids. Very good motivator,” Holley said.

Mitchell also coaches at the Valdosta Boys and Girls Club.

“He’s a big asset to our program at Lowndes Middle and a big asset to the community, in regards to his work with the Boys and Girls Club,” Holley said. “If you ask Ed, he’ll say he does it all for the kids. He’s kid-oriented, and all his actions are kid-based. He spends a lot of time with our kids in the offseason, conditioning and working on agility and things of that nature.”

“He’s a special coach — and a good person,” Holley added.

Ga. man sentenced in wreck blamed on medication

BLACKSHEAR, Ga. (AP) – A Georgia man will serve 15 years in prison after being convicted of DUI and homicide by vehicle.

A Pierce County jury on Friday convicted 37-year-old Clinton Deloach Jr. of Patterson of being under the influence of prescription drugs in the wreck that killed 37-year-old Doreen Karen Meyers of Kingsland.

The Florida Times-Union reports (http://bit.ly/JpMUqt) that Meyers was a child abuse investigator with the Golden Isles Child Advocacy Center in Brunswick. Authorities say Meyers was driving to Baxley to teach law enforcement officers techniques for interviewing children.

Authorities say Deloach passed a logging truck in a rainstorm and crashed into the Ford Crown Victoria that Meyers was driving west between Patterson and Bristol.

Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney Rick Currie said Deloach was under the influence of Fentanyl.

Information from: The Florida Times-Union, http://www.jacksonville.com

Brooks drug bust nets four

QUITMAN — Four people were arrested in Brooks County on a number of drug-related charges early Saturday, according to the county sheriff.

A search warrant was served around 2:30 a.m. at the home of William Jack Starling and Barbara Rene Starling on Cedar Hill Drive in Brooks County, Sheriff Mike Dewey said Sunday.

Cedar Hill Drive carries Valdosta addresses but is located in Brooks, he said.

The Starlings are charged with possession of a controlled substance (prescription pills), sale of a controlled substance, manufacturing marijuana, and cultivation and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, Dewey said.

“They had a little home-grown business going there,” with 32 marijuana plants found growing on the property, the sheriff said. Guns, cars, boats and jewelry were seized at the Starlings’ home, he said.

More charges are pending against the couple, Dewey said. William Jack Starling has been arrested before on drug charges, he said.

Two men with Valdosta addresses were also arrested, he said. James Scott Stephenson and James Willard Bonner were both charged with possession of a controlled substance (hydrocodone pills), the sheriff said. All four suspects are in the Brooks County Jail, and more arrests are pending, Dewey said.

The operation was carried out by the Brooks County Sheriff’s Office’s narcotics units and uniformed patrol deputies, he said.

“We put in a lot of man-hours on this,” he said. “We’ve been working this case for a while, and had some tips in the past. The danger risk is always high when you go in on something like this.”

The four suspects make their first appearance in court this morning, Dewey said.

“The Brooks County Sheriff’s Office is carrying through its war against drugs,” he said.

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