Stories from Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Merry Luetta Baker, 80 years, 7 months and 19 days, left this world for a better place on Saturday, June 21 at her home in Marion. She was born November 2, 1927 to Wheeler and Alma Morris in Savannah, Tenn. On July 9, 1944 she married the love of her life, J. C. Baker who preceded her in death on November 3, 1992...

Doc Dabbs Broughman, 72, of Keiser died Thursday, June 19 at the SMC Regional in Osceola. Born December 13, 1935 in Shannon, Miss., Broughman was a retired farm laborer and of the Baptist faith. Preceding him in death was a son, James Edward Broughman...

Willie Cullen Heath, 84, of Trumann, died Wednesday, June 11, 2008, at his home of natural causes. Born in Greene County, Heath lived in Jonesboro before moving to Trumann in 1973. He was retired from G.E. in Jonesboro and was a U.S. Army veteran of W.W. II. He was a member of Nettleton Baptist Church where he was the teacher of Adult Men #4 Sunday school class...

Morris "Pete" Lansdale, 86, a retired farmer, died Saturday, June 21 at the Mississippi State Veterans Home in Oxford, Miss. Lansdale was a veteran of the United States Army in which he served as an Army Corporal during WWII. A member of First Baptist Church in Marked Tree, he enjoyed the outdoors and especially loved hunting and fishing...

Brandon Lee Mangrum, 35, of Lepanto died Thursday, June 19. He is survived by one daughter, Emili Mangrum of Lepanto; his mother and stepfather, Ivaleen and J.W. McGheee of Lepanto; father, Roland Mangrum and wife Jenny of Alma; grandmother, Cory Mangrum of Jonesboro; one brother, Keith Mangrum of Paragould; two stepbrothers, Eric and Clayton McGhee of Lepanto; half sister, Taylor Mangrum of Alma; special nephews and two special nieces of Paragould.. ...

Andrew Shelton, 67, of Marked Tree died June 13 at St. Bernards Medical Center. Shelton was a Baptist by faith and was preceded in death by his parents and four sisters. Survivors include his sisters, Ruth Simpson of Marked Tree and Erma Hare of Chicago; and brothers, Clifford "C.T." Shelton of Whitehall and Bobby Shelton of Los Angeles...

Willis Virgil "Jake" Hayse died Thursday June 19, 2008 at NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital of Jonesboro. He was born the son of Clyde Homer Hayse and Grace Louise "Adams" Hayse June 15, 1932 in Lepanto. ...

You know the old saying that you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl. Well, I'm living proof. My husband Josh and I recently went to a fundraising dinner. This was a very fancy and expensive event, so from the very beginning I knew I should be on my most sophisticated, best behavior...

Living in the boondocks isn't just for rednecks anymore, but not that it ever was to begin with. No one knows that better than me because I've never lived any other place (and proud of it). Oh, I have thought about it especially when it comes to Friday and Saturday nights (date nights). ...

Before our wedding day, Sam announced to me that she always wanted a tabby cat roaming about the house. So a few weeks into our marriage we drove out to a house in the country and discovered our first family treasure: Samson. I'll have to be honest; this started the whole process commonly referred to as "nesting."...

Commissioner of State Lands Mark Wilcox conducted an auction of Poinsett County tax-delinquent properties recently at the Holiday Inn in Jonesboro. A total of six interested bidders attended the sale which is held annually by the state to dispose of land on which the taxes have been past due for over four years. ...

On July 7 ASU Technical Center in Marked Tree will honor two retiring administrators Keith Steele, Assistant Vice Chancellor, and Laura Walton, Director, during a 3:30 to 5:30 retirement celebration on the Marked Tree campus...

Poinsett County Assessor, Johnny Rye, Jr. announced that additional funding of approximately $62,000 will be coming to the County over the next few months. The funds are coming by way of a Workman's Compensation safety award of $23, 609...

The First United Methodist Church in Marked Tree held their Vacation Bible School recently with some 20 adults and 45 children from over the community attending the event. This year's theme was "Beach Party." The children learned biblical stories through drama, games and songs. Women prepared fun snacks and children played games and enjoyed arts and crafts...

Poinsett County Rotarians from the Marked Tree Rotary Club and the Harrisburg Rotary Club traveled to Little Rock Saturday, June 7 for the first Rotary Foundation Tribute Dinner and Alumni Reception. The fundraiser, which was held at the University of Little Rock, is planned to be an annual event...

Farmers can be seen everywhere cutting the winter wheat and burning off the fields, which happen to be a little behind schedule due to all the rain this season. According to the Cooperative Extension Service officials, bumper crops are being recorded and overall state's crops are looking good...

A Trumann man charged with capital murder last month pled not guilty through his attorney Monday in Poinsett County Circuit Court. Bruce Wade Pennington, 61, was present for the hearing at the Poinsett County Detention Center in Harrisburg. His attorney, Paul Ford of Jonesboro, pleaded not guilty on behalf of his client...

Four Lepanto residents were arrested Sunday, June 4 when officers raided a shop building located at 31661 North Road in Marked Tree. Arrested were Gregory Rodgers, 34, of 321 Broad Street; Nicholas McCullar, 22, of an unknown residence; Tiffany Tyler, 19, of 602 Joyce Street; and Annah D. Tucker, 19, of 3411 Ash Street...

You know the old saying that you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl. Well, I'm living proof. My husband Josh and I recently went to a fundraising dinner. This was a very fancy and expensive event, so from the very beginning I knew I should be on my most sophisticated, best behavior...

I have just had the craziest, busiest, most trying week of my life, but it was also the best week. Since bringing our children home - Leah, four, and Campbell, two - we have been going nonstop. We have been to the doctor twice, per child, had a bead removed from an ear, survived numerous bike wrecks, scheduled to have tonsils removed and squeezed in a trip to the lake. ...

I remember summers growing up in Trumann that were filled with fun and activities. Times were different then, because we didn't have near as many activities to fill the hours as kids do today. We didn't stay in the house playing video games. ...

Diane Kain Williams, 54, of Trumann died Monday, June 16, 2008 at St. Bernard's Medical Center in Jonesboro. She was born in Duck Hill, Miss., and had lived most of her lifetime in Trumann. She was of the Pentecostal faith...

Willis Virgil "Jake" Hayse died Thursday June 19, 2008 at NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital of Jonesboro. He was born the son of Clyde Homer Hayse and Grace Louise "Adams" Hayse June 15, 1932 in Lepanto. ...

Ruby Hammons, 91, of Trumann died Tuesday, June 17, 2008 at NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital in Jonesboro. Born in Lunsford, she had lived most of her lifetime in Trumann. She was a housewife and member of the Trumann Revival Center...

Commissioner of State Lands Mark Wilcox conducted an auction of Poinsett County tax-delinquent properties recently at the Holiday Inn in Jonesboro. A total of six interested bidders attended the sale which is held annually by the state to dispose of land on which the taxes have been past due for over four years. The State Land Office reported the sale of eight parcels collecting $12,297.10 in revenue for Poinsett County and state government...

On July 7 ASU Technical Center in Marked Tree will honor two retiring administrators Keith Steele, Assistant Vice Chancellor, and Laura Walton, Director, during a 3:30 to 5:30 retirement celebration on the Marked Tree campus...

Poinsett County Assessor, Johnny Rye, Jr. announced that additional funding of approximately $62,000 will be coming to the County over the next few months. The funds are coming by way of a Workman's Compensation safety award of $23, 609...

Farmers can be seen everywhere cutting the winter wheat and burning off the fields, which happen to be a little behind schedule due to all the rain this season. According to the Cooperative Extension Service officials, bumper crops are being recorded and overall state's crops are looking good...

Bob Tucker will return to Trumann this weekend to attend the Trumann High School Class of 1958 reunion. The class will be celebrating its 50th reunion. Tucker was known for his musical talents when he was a student at THS. But nobody knew how far his music would take him…far from his roots in Trumann and deep into the music industry...

A Trumann man charged with capital murder last month pled not guilty through his attorney Monday in Poinsett County Circuit Court. Bruce Wade Pennington, 61, was present for the hearing at the Poinsett County Detention Center in Harrisburg. His attorney, Paul Ford of Jonesboro, pleaded not guilty on behalf of his client...

The Rector High School Helping Hands Foundation, a federally-recognized non-profit organization dedicated to providing financial assistance to disadvantaged children in the Rector school system, will host an incredible evening of country music and gospel entertainment on Friday, July 25...