Stories from Wednesday, January 5, 2005

Tribune News Staff In a hearing Tuesday morning, Poinsett County Circuit Court Judge David Laser agreed to a continuance in the trial of former Marked Tree teacher and coach Rob Jennings in Poinsett County Circuit Court. At the hearing, held at the Poinsett County Detention Center in Harrisburg, Judge Laser agreed to a continuance in the case until April 2005, with the condition that Jennings and his attorneys waive any and all objections at the trial, dealing with a deposition of one of the alleged victims in the case. ...

Mon., Dec. 27 NEA A-AA Boys Bay 53, Hillcrest 52 Marmaduke 68, Salem 56 Riverside 63, Delaplaine 38 NEA A-AA Girls BIC 61, Hillcrest 55 EPC 66, Swifton 49 Piggott 68, Delaplaine 60 Riverside 60, Bay 57 Sloan-Hendrix 33, Newark 32 NEA AAA-AAAA-AAAAA Boys...

The following players were recently selected to the 2004 Northeast Arkansas Invitational Basketball Tournament All-Tournament team: AAA-AAAA-AAAAA Boys Bennie Washington, Rivercrest, Justin Bailey, Rivercrest, Stephen Cox, Jonesboro, Mart Garner, Jonesboro, Ryan Williams, Jonesboro, Mike Kish, Highland, Dylan Patterson, Highland, Stu Smart, Highland, John Fowler, Blytheville, Chris Echols, Blytheville, Roosevelt Jackson, Blytheville, Jordan Wise, Manila, Cody Wells, Manila, Chad Wynn, Westside, Clay McClung, Trumann, Julian Woods, Nettleton and Josh King, Valley View.. ...

Tribune Sports Staff The strong run by the East Poinsett County Lady Warriors in the 2004 NEA Tournament ended last Tuesday afternoon, as the BIC Lady Mustangs defeated EPC, 64-63, in the quarterfinals of the Class A-AA senior girls tournament. In the game, held at the ASU Convocation Center in Jonesboro, EPC entered the tournament as an unseeded team, with a first-year coach and several key wins in the early going. ...

Tribune Sports Staff Going into last Thursday night's A-AA NEA senior boys basketball title game between Buffalo Island Central and East Poinsett County, many of the so-called experts expected the game to be one of the best games of the tournament, with two of the best Class AA boys teams in Northeast Arkansas battling for the title...

Ida C. Payne, 97, of Marked Tree died Monday, Dec. 27, at Crittenden Memorial Hospital in West Memphis. She was a member of Broadway Street Church of Christ. Survivors include one son, Junaway Payne of Marked Tree; two sisters, Clay Simmons of Ashdown and Leon Ivy of Portageville, Mo.; four grandchildren, Michael Payne, Melina Gregory, Myra Jordon and Matthew Payne, and two great-grandchildren...

Lizzie Hinton, 88, of Tyronza died Monday at the Three Rivers Nursing Center in Marked Tree. A member of the Church of God, Hinton was preceded in death by her husband, Robert E. Hinton and a grandson, Shane Hinton. Hinton is survived by two sons, Robert E. ...

Thelma Blythe Perry Cookston, 97, of Memphis, formerly of Marked Tree, died Wednesday, Dec. 29, at Baptist Hospital. She was a member of Union Avenue Baptist Church. Survivors include three daughters, Clara Lee Whitmore and Camellia Harrison, both of Memphis, and Elizabeth "Libby" Wren of West Memphis; eight grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren...

The Girl Scouts of Crowley's Ridge Council will prepare its members for the 2005 cookie program at the cookie rally held at the Craighead County Fairgrounds in Jonesboro this Saturday, January 8. The sale of Girl Scout cookies will begin that day and continue through January 23. Rallies will also be held in Greene and Independence Counties...

The Upper Room Apostolic Church in Tyronza has big plans for the new year. The church, which was founded two and a half years ago, has outgrown its storefront building on Main Street. Pastor Lynn Vinson says they are ready to expand their facilities to meet the growing needs of the congregation...

Tribune News Staff (Editor's note: The following article is part two of a series of four articles detailing events in the Tri-City area during 2004. It covers April through June of 2004.) In April, Joan Thompson was named Marked Tree Citizen of the Year at the Marked Tree Chamber of Commerce annual banquet. Leann Helms was named teacher of the year and Cliff Ratton Jr. was named farmer of the year...

(Editor's note: Biographical information in this article was obtained from www.nsba.org) It was a special occasion for teachers, students and board members at Marked Tree Schools this week as George McShan, president of the National School Board Association, paid the district a visit. McShan arrived on the school's campus Monday morning and met with teachers for a special in-service...

After more than three decades, the city of Marked Tree is raising its water rates. The Marked Tree City Council voted unanimously at its regular meeting held on December 13 to increase the rates for both water and mosquito spray. Under the new rate plan, residential customers will pay a minimum of $10.25 per month for the first 1,000 gallons of water and $2.23 for every additional 1,000 gallons...

The Melody Theatre in Leachville presents Mike Smith from Dexter, Mo. Performing Saturday Jan. 8. Smith is an Elvis Presley entertainer; he has been performing for four years. He performs in what he calls four stages of Elvis. He starts the show as "young" Elvis in the 1950's and goes into the 60's songs from the movie, GI Blues and 1968 songs...

The Jonesboro Legal Support Association will present of $700 scholarship to an eligible graduating high school senior or qualifying college student. It is not mandatory that applicants pursue a career in the legal field, special consideration will be given to those applicants. The application of the recipient of the local scholarship will, if applicable, be submitted for consideration of AALS -- the Arkansas Legal Support Professionals' yearly scholarship...

Bay Chief of Police Kenneth Walker reported the following charges were made by the Bay Police Department in December: Dec. 2 -- Melissa R. Sims of Bay was charged with two counts of non payment of fines. Dec. 3 -- Daniel D. Owens of Memphis was charged with failure to appear...

Trumann Police Officer Gary Swift is heading off to the campus of Black River Technical College for attend the 13 week Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy. Ptl. Swift has been employed by the Trumann Police Department for over two years, working as a dispatcher and jailer before being promoted to patrolman...

Poinsett County Circuit Clerk, Claudia Mathews, released the following names drawn as prospective petit jurors for the January 2005 session of Poinsett County Circuit Court Criminal / Civil Division. Judge David Laser of Jonesboro and Judge John Fogelman of Marion will be presiding...

Kelley Webb of Webb Law in Trumann would like to announce the addition of a new attorney to his law office. Leah S. Ball, of Trumann, received her undergraduate degree in English from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. She received her Doctor of Jurisprudence from Mississippi College School of Law...

LITTLE ROCK -- As another new year begins, more and more Arkansans are utilizing online auctions to buy a wide range of consumer goods on the Internet. While these auctions, operated by sites such as Ebay and Yahoo, can be convenient, cost-saving and entertaining, there are ways to help ensure that you get what you pay for. Attorney General Mike Beebe offered these tips to help avoid problems while bidding on online auctions:...