Stories from Saturday, January 12, 2002

Cotton Boll Technical Institute will offer an adult 55 Alive driver refresher course on Tuesday, Jan. 22 and Wed., Jan. 23, 2002 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the Burdette campus. This eight hour course, which was developed by AARP, covers the affects of aging and medication on driving, basic driving rules, local driving hazards, adverse road conditions, and accident prevention measures. ...

Bessie Loeda Vaughn, 77 of Bassett, Ark. died January 4, 2002 at Methodist Central Hospital in Memphis. Born April 11, 1924 in Lanston, Ala., she was a Baptist and retired meat processor. She is survived by three daughters, Shirley Taylor of Osceola, Esther Standrod of Augusta, Georgia, and Janice Jacks of Osceola; three sons, Charles Vaughn of Bassett, Herschel Vaughn and Kenneth Vaughn both of Joiner; one brother Ed Harrison of Trenton, Georgia, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.. ...

Joseph Ira McCormick, 86, passed away Tues., Jan. 8, 2002 at St. Vincent's Hospital in Little Rock. Mr. McCormick was born in Calhoun, La., the son of Ernest and Minnie McCormick. McCormick lived in England, Ark. most of his life and had worked as warehouse manager at Federal Compress. ...

Charles L. McCain, Sr., 78, of Forrest City, AR died Mon. Jan. 7 at Methodist Healthcare-Central in Memphis. Mr. McCain, the widower of Myrion McCain, was a member of the First Baptist Church in Forrest City and a longtime member of Neiswander Baptist Church in Marked Tree. He was a retired truck driver for Bray Gas Company and a WWII veteran serving in three campaigns. Services were held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Neiswander Baptist Church, with burial in Tyronza Cemetery...

Tyronza was the place to be Friday night when 'Breakin' New Ground' performed for the Tyronza Fire Department benefit. Sixty to seventy people had a 'knee slapping' time while listening to a mix of 'blue grass country' and gospel music performed by Matt Morgan, 18 on the mandolin from Monroe, Louisiana, Josh Love, 18 on guitar from Clinton, Ark., Aaron Rozeboom, 22 on banjo from St. Joe, Ark. and Tyronza's own Ali Keisler on Bass. Sound specialist was Randy Keisler...

Patrick Johnson, son of Mr. and Mrs. William (Dub) Johnson of Marked Tree, was among the 260 graduating seniors who received diplomas in commencement exercises at Harding University December 15. Majoring in marketing, Johnson received the bachelor of business administration degree...

On Friday, December 21 Mid-South Manufacturing, Inc. held its employee Christmas party. A delicious meal was catered, gifts were given to the employees and service awards were acknowledged. Employees were recognized for various accomplishments during the year. ...

Straight from Sheriff Larry Mills yesterday came the latest news concerning the terminated CID officer reported last week. In a news release yesterday (Wednesday), the Sheriff said, "Former Poinsett County Criminal Investigator John Stewart, 46 years of age was formally charged with Sexual Abuse 3rd Degree, a class "C" felony, today. ...

The word from Mayor Drexel Gill of the City of Tyronza was positive and optimistic. "With the finalization of the city museum plans in conjunction with ASU, and the $300,000 grant available for completion, that project should be off and running in 2002. The museum will be a replica of the 1920's Southern Farmers Tenant Union, started by H. L. Mitchell and should prove to be a major asset to the city in the coming years," Mayor Gill said...

"Considering the economy, we did very well last year. Our budget was on target and money was carried forward. Lepanto has been on a growth track in the last couple of years," said Mayor Dale Dunlap. During 2001 the city annexed the Danette Watkins subdivision, but the 2001 census was up without the annexation. ...

The East Poinsett County High School 'Miss Warrior' pageant will be held on Sunday, January 20, at the Lepanto campus cafetorium. The pageant is slated to begin at 1:30. Girls who attend the EPC schools and 3 & 4-year-old girls who live in the EPC school district are eligible to enter. The entry fee is $20. Practice is Tuesday, January 15 at 3:30 pm at the cafetorium. The deadline for entering is at practice on January 15...

The city of Marked Tree will hold a 'planning and zoning' meeting at the municipal building at 4 p.m. on January 17, 2002. The public is invited to attend.

In two very interesting girls games Monday night, both Harrisburg and EPC won in their respective games with tenacious defense and hard nosed play. In the senior game, Harrisburg controlled the tempo of the game from the first quarter on. After an EPC 2-0 lead with 5:38 left in the first quarter, Harrisburg went on a 19-6 run to take a 19-8 first quarter lead. ...