Stories from Tuesday, January 27, 2004

Arkansas Attorney General Mike Beebe was the guest speaker at the annual Chamber of Commerce Banquet on Thursday, Jan. 22. He told the group that the Arkansas Supreme Court making a ruling on the state's educational reform efforts on the same day it heard arguments is "absolutely the first time in recorded memory that the courts have done this."...

In the latest basketball action, the Trumann senior boys went into the Hornets nest on Jan. 23. The Cats were off to a strong start early in the first, leading the game by two, 9-7. As second quarter play continued they found the two point advantage reversed by the Harrisburg team. The Hornets returned from the...

The Trumann junior high boys also ventured into the Hornets' nest last week. The Wildcats kept fans tense for the entire first half of the game. The two teams were tied 6-6 in the first quarter, and 15-15 at the half. It seemed they were well matched. The Trumann boys returned from the locker room with...

Luella Hunt Mills, 82, of Harrisburg died Saturday, Jan. 24, at St. Bernard's Regional Medical Center. She was a homemaker and a member of First Baptist Church at Harrisburg. Survivors include two sons, Edmond Mills and Larry Mills, both of Harrisburg; seven grandchildren, Venesa Burnett, Lillian Capps and Gerald Farley, all of Harrisburg, Millie Walton of Marked Tree, Eddie Mills of Lepanto, Peggy Neal of Muenster, Texas, and Heather Wooten of Jonesboro; and 16 great-grandchildren...

Bera Veneda Birmingham, 80, of Trumann died Jan. 17 at the family residence in Trumann of natural causes. She was born in Hornersville, Mo., and had lived most of her life in Trumann. She was a housewife and member of the First Assembly of God. She was preceded in death by her husband, Virgil Lee Birmingham; one son, Terry Wayne Birmingham; two grandchildren, Clay Wayne Birmingham and Stacy B. Woodruff, and her parents, Gus and Dona Stevens Shands...

Charles Clifford Holt, 75, died Jan. 25, at Conway Regional Medical Center in Conway of natural causes. Holt was born in Batesville and lived in Trumann most of his life before moving to Greers Ferry 12 years ago. He was retired from the Singer Company in Trumann and a member of the Freer Baptist church...

The Trumann Senior Life Center located at 351 Campbell Street is having a yard sale fund raiser from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Feb. 4, 5 and 6. The center wants everyone to come out and support the senior center.

The Poinsett County Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys and the Poinsett County Hot Check Program are moving. Effective Feb. 1, the new address will be 400 Market Street, Harrisburg, AR 72432. The new phone number will be 870-578-9600 and the new fax will be 870-578-9601...

Court Appointed Special Advocates, CASA, is in need of volunteers. Those who have just a few hours per month to donate to the children who have been placed into the foster care system because of neglect, and want to volunteer with CASA please call 1-870-935-1099 or 1-866-804-2272...

Mrs. Carol Waleszonia's Office Management and Entrepreneurship classes at Trumann High School are training to be certified in Red Cross CPR and standard first aid. This may seem unusual for a business class, but Mrs. Waleszonia said that the classes just finished a chapter on workplace safety and the school just received five new mannequins for this purpose...

Lois May was named 2003 Citizen of the Year at the annual Chamber of Commerce Banquet. She was presented her award by Pam Daniel. May is an asset to Trumann. She is a dedicated volunteer to the city and several local civic groups. She is the secretary of the Viva Drive Church of Christ, where she also serves on the food committee. She works at Thompson's Funeral Home...

Johnny Rye, Jr. knows no stranger. His friends, the people of Poinsett County, are at the heart of all Rye does. Rye, 47, was born in Marked Tree. His father, Johnny Rye, Sr., started Johnny Rye's Superette in the Black Oak Community of Oak Acres in 1957. After graduating high school and taking a few classes at Arkansas State University, Rye, Jr. went to work for his father in 1977...

The Bay Yellowjackets are playing some of their best basketball of the season, thanks largely to the return of 6-4 post player Derek McMasters, who is coming off a shoulder separation suffered earlier in the year that sidelined him for much of the early part of the season. Unfortunately for the Jackets, their opponents were the number two and the number nine ranked teams in the state, Buffalo Island Central and Riverside, which resulted in two heartbreaking losses on their home floor...