Stories from Thursday, July 3, 2008

There will be plenty of opportunities for Fourth of July fun this year just beyond the Tri-City area. Here are a few: Third Annual Dyess Days -- Downtown Community Center. The 3rd Annual 2008 Dyess Days begins Friday and Saturday July 4 to July 5. On Friday, July 4, an appreciation dinner for Jimmy Allen will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Dyess Community Center. Then at 7 p.m. Angie Penny will perform with Doc Wooten & Kanyon following at 8:30 p.m...

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. Steele began his career with the former Delta Vocational Technical School in 1971 as a GAE adult education instructor. Over the years, he has held the positions of vocational administrator, director and president before assuming his present position in 1996...

Governor Mike Beebe announced last week that the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, has awarded $2,048,177 in grants for projects in 35 Arkansas counties through its County Courthouse Restoration Subgrant, Historic Preservation Restoration Grant, Certified Local Government Grant and Documentary Media Grant programs...

One of the key points brought up at the Lepanto City Council meeting Tuesday, June 24 was the expansion of Potter Cemetery at the western city limits of the city. Mayor Kevin Wright said he was talking to Tri Watkins who owns the land around the cemetery...

James Leroy Hood, 79, of Payneway died June 27, 2008 at St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro. Born Jan 29, 1929, to Alfred and Selita Hood, he was a retired farmer, a member of the Upper Room Apostolic Church in Tyronza and an Army veteran of the Korean war...

Glenda Sue Miles, 59, of Lake City died Friday, June 27, 2008 at St. Bernards Hospital in Jonesboro. Born Oct. 15, 1948 in Oklahoma, she was a homemaker and of the Baptist Faith. She was preceded in death by her husband, J.D. Miles. Survivors include three daughters: Betty Wright of Jonesboro, Brenda Manning of Grenada, Miss. ...

Sandra Lou Morrisett, 49, passed away at her residence on June 26, 2008. She was a member of the First Assembly of God Church and was active in the farming operation with her husband. She was preceded in death by Wilmer and Ethel Jones Arval and Freda Mason, her grandparents...

For the fifth year in a row the XtraInnings Classic got underway Sunday in Jonesboro, first at Nettleton Stadium, and then at ASU's baseball complex. As always, the best underclass baseball players in the state were in attendance, playing for one of four teams from the four corners of Arkansas...

Medal of Honor recipient to visit MT

I've heard some talk around town lately about the lack of mosquitoes so far this year. There seem to be lots of theories behind this phenomenon ranging the fact we've not had much rain to chemicals being used in the rice field. Someone also suggested that more corn fields vs. rice fields this year may also be a contributing factor...

Well the Fourth of July is just around the corner! Families are planning their dinners and getting ready to shoot some fireworks. To help you celebrate safely this Fourth of July, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the National Council on Fireworks Safety offer the some safety tips...

The Tyronza Farmers Market will have its grand opening from 4 -- 8 p.m. Thursday, July 3 in downtown Lepanto. There will be many locally grown items for sale including squash (crookneck, zucchini and pattypan), cucumbers, eggplant, tomatoes, peaches, plums and onions, baked goods...

Trumann residents should be aware of city ordinances restricting the use of fireworks in the city limits, Mayor Sheila Walters said this week. "Fireworks cannot be used on public property, such as city parks," Walters said. "And fireworks can only be used on July 3, 4, and 5."...

Trumann School Superintendent gives Trumann Partnership for Safe and Healthy Children and Youth advisory members a tour of the new Trumann High School complex. He pointed out work being done on the new THS gym last week. (Democrat photo/Ruth Ann Estes)...

The Trumann Rotary Club will be holding a membership drive during the months of July and August, according to Karleen Sheets, president-elect of the club. "Rotarians are business and professional leaders who take an active role in their communities," Sheets said. "Membership in Rotary also greatly enriches members personal and professional lives. The Rotary Club of Trumann contains a diverse group of professional leaders from the community."...

There will be plenty of opportunities for Fourth of July fun this year around the Trumann area. Here are a few: Third Annual Dyess Days -- Downtown Community Center. The 3rd Annual 2008 Dyess Days begins Friday and Saturday July 4 to July 5. ...

Jimmy C. Turner, 83 of Trumann died Thursday June 26, 2008, at St. Bernard's Medical Center in Jonesboro. Born in and a lifetime resident of Trumann, he was a farmer, and a U.S. Army veteran serving as technical sergeant at the Clark Air Force Base in the Manila, Philippines. He was preceded in death by his parents, James Willis and Jimmie Lee Glasgow Turner, and one brother, Richard A. Turner...

Bob Tucker is a man who's grown wiser through the years. "I told my friends at the reunion how I remembered that we all couldn't wait to leave Trumann when we graduated," he said. "And now, I can't believe that we didn't see what a wonderful place it was to live."...

My husband, James, and I have now had our children for over two weeks. At moments it seems like we have only had them five minutes and at other moments it seems as if they have always been with us. Some of the best and worst times of the past two weeks have been nap and bed time. ...

I've heard some talk around town lately about the lack of mosquitoes so far this year. There seem to be lots of theories behind this phenomenon ranging the fact we've not had much rain to chemicals being used in the rice field. Someone also suggested that more corn fields vs. rice fields this year may also be a contributing factor...

Life is hard. All of us know it. Do we teach our children that life is hard? Or do we try to protect them and remove obstacles from their paths? Do we teach our children about the realities of life? I think most kids today who enter the adult world of reality receive a big shock...

Sometimes I walk around with a sense of anxiety. I often wonder if people really knew, would they still like me. If you only discovered my dark secret would you purposely turn away when you see me coming and whisper shameful things while I passed by?...

Decisions, Decisions How about that Supreme Court! Those justices are such cut-ups. You just never know what they're gonna do. They're more fun than watching George W. take English lessons. Two weeks ago, acting like that old liberal Warren Court, it ruled that all of those people we've put in prison during the war on terror have the right of due process...