Stories from Thursday, March 1, 2007

ABOVE: Courtney Hardin, Peyton Howell and Kimberly Hardin enjoy a turn on the see-saw. (Tribune photos / Samantha Martin)

Tribune Sports Staff Last Tuesday noon, EPC's Cody Brown signed a walk-on letter intent to play football with the University of Arkansas at Monticello beginning next season. "I'm really excited about going there," Brown said during the signing which took place in the EPC library. "I visited there and talked to the coaches and some others and really like the school and the program."...

EPC 54 Bismarck 42 "We got off to a slow start," EPC Lady Warriors coach Bobby Lewallen said by phone from the 3A State Tournament in Harrison yesterday (Tuesday). "They were hitting threes real early and it looked like it was going to be a long afternoon."...

Tribune Sports Staff The girl's bracket at last week's regional basketball tournament at Bergman featured the three top teams in the state according to most pollsters, as Bergman, Marshall and East Poinsett County were all in attendance. At the end of the weekend the Lady Warriors had lost their first two games of the year, falling Friday in overtime in the semi finals and Saturday in the consolation bracket. ...

Ruby Lee Teeple Garey, 78, formerly of Dyess, passed away on Tuesday, February 20 at her home in Caraway. She was a homemaker and was preceded in death by her husband, Billy Garey. She is survived by one son, Danny Garey of West Memphis; three daughters, Elsie Lewellen of Keiser, Myra Hall of Tyronza and Teresa Blagg of Caraway; two granddaughters, LeeAnn Cook of Caraway and Jennifer Hall of Tyronza; two great-grand children, Ashlyn Cook and Ali Towles, both of Caraway...

Thomas R. McClelland, 76, of Dyess died on Saturday, Feb. 24 at Three Rivers Nursing Center in Marked Tree. A longtime resident of Crittenden County and of Dyess, he was a retired truck driver, a veteran of the U.S. army and former police officer. He was a member of Dyess Central Baptist Church...

Jasper "Bud" Bivens, Jr., 82, of Williford died Friday, Feb. 24 at Germantown Methodist Hospital in Memphis. Formerly of Tyronza, he was a farmer and a member of the Church of Christ in Hardy. He was preceded in death by his wife, Evelyn Bivens, and one son, Jasper Bivens...

Tribune News Staff Janice Morgan, a Rivervale resident with Lepanto ties, was appointed as president of the Southwest Area Conference for the Rural Letter Carriers' Association. Morgan's new prestigious title also comes with a lot of responsibility. She will be responsible for leading and organizing the organization's conference next year...

Tribune Editor Marked Tree School board members saw the results of the elementary school's scholastic audit at its regular meeting Monday, Feb. 19. The audit, which was the first of its kind to be performed at Marked Tree Schools, pointed out five areas in which the school needed to improve...

Special to the Tribune Gene Williams came home to Dyess last Thursday to present Mayor Larry Sims with a check for $50,000 needed to purchase the historic Dyess Colony Administration Building on the circle. "Gene's generous donation will enable us to close the deal on the purchase of the Administration building and turn it into a memorial," Sims said. ...

Tribune News Staff Patsy L. Baker has not been seen since July 1999. In fact, there has been no trace of the Marked Tree woman since that time. "She's had no contact with the family since that time," Marked Tree Detective Jeremy Bond said during a news conference Monday afternoon. "Even when her son Anthony Eric Baker died in a car wreck in October 26, 2005, there was no word from her."...

Tribune Sports Staff "Valley Springs is just a very good team," coach Josh Hill said about the Warriors opponent in the opening round of the AAA Regional Tournament in Bergman last Thursday. "They had all five starters back, all seniors, from a state final team and they were 36-4."...