Stories from Wednesday, September 17, 2008

The passage of the one cent sales tax usage last week was a relief to Trumann City Council members and Mayor Sheila Walters. With only around 350 voters casting ballots on the issue, there were some worried officials last Tuesday...

By RUTH ANN ESTES, Democrat News Staff A new roof has recently been put on the building and plans are underway to completely renovate the building. Workers will remove one wall inside the building and install 2x10's in the rafters to stabilize the building. New door frames will also be installed...

The Trumann Chamber of Commerce will offer another recycling opportunity for Trumann residents on Saturday, Sept. 20, Anthony Patterson, chairman of the Chamber's Marketing Committee said. Local residents will be able to drop off recyclables at the Trumann Wal-Mart parking lot from 8 a.m. ...

Democrat News Staff Ever since he was a young boy, Jonathan Skaggs wanted to be a police officer in his hometown. For the past 11 years police work has been his life. But when his father suffered a massive heart attack in 2002, which should have claimed his life, Skaggs began feeling like he had a higher calling in life...

Democrat News Staff Katherine Thompson was looking for something different to collect. About eight years ago while shopping at Peterson's Warehouse in Jonesboro, she spied a die cast replica of a John Deere tractor and bought it...

Democrat News Staff There weren't any black Hummers or men in $5,000 suits with $500 sunglasses. But the scene in Trumann last week of police officers dusting for prints and taking pictures of a mock crime scene looked like something out of the TV police drama "CSI."...

The 26th Annual Trumann Wild Duck Festival will be at the Trumann Sports Complex next week. Activities will start at 3 p.m. Friday and end at 10 p.m. on Saturday. First started by the Trumann Jaycees in 1982 to replace the annual Singer Company annual barbecue, the event has grown to include a carnival midway, booths for crafts and food vendors and various competitions and entertainment...

Poinsett County Judge Doyle Hillis has proclaimed Sept. 21-28, 2008 as Vietnam Remembrance Week in Poinsett County in honor of the Moving Wall, the nation's traveling Vietman Veterans Memorial which will be in Marked Tree Sept. 25-28...

CUTLINE: Randy Betts (left) and Bill Teague spent all of last Saturday cooking 80 gallons of barbecue sauce in preparation for the 32nd Annual Lions Club Barbecue which will be held on Nov. 1. The idea for an annual barbecue began in 1976 after Teague waited on a blind girl in his store and asked the local Lions Club to help. (Democrat photo/Ruth Ann Estes)...

It's about time! MSNBC announced this week that they are taking Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews off the air as co-anchors of their election night coverage. Apparently, it finally sunk in at the powers that be at NBC that Olbermann and Matthews are just too biased toward the Democrats in their coverage. ...

It's funny how attached when can get to animals. My husband Josh and I have two cats who are inside pets and two dogs who are outside pets. Our cats are Samson, a 16 pound five year old male cat who is more than a little ornery, and Lydia, our five pound old girl kitty who is very cuddly and precious...

On election day voters in Arkansas will have a chance to pass a constitutional amendment allowing the legislature to create a state lottery. Advocates of the lottery say the game will generate $100 million which will be used to provide scholarships for Arkansans to attend any two or four year college. ...

Democrat Sports Staff Call it the curse of Nettleton, if you will. Last year it was two disputed touchdown plays and a missed field goal that sailed just wide of the goal post with one second remaining on the clock to sink the Cats...

Volleyball round-up: Ladycats finish 2nd in tourney The Lady Wildcats finished second to West Memphis in the first annual Lady Hornets Classic volleyball tournament in Harrisburg on Sept. 13. The Lady Wildcats squad went 7-1 in pool play, knocking off Harrisburg in the semi-finals match before falling to West Memphis...

Edith Annabel Bunting Cluck, 73, of Trumann died September 13 at her residence. Born on Nov. 23, 1934, at Kennett, Mo., Cluck was a homemaker and a member of the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Trumann. She was preceded in death by two brothers, Joe William Bunting and Joe Clifton Bunting; and three great-grandchildren, Dalton Lewis, Hunter Lewis and Jacob Maddox...

Incumbent Jeff Jones received 270 votes in Tuesday's school board election for the Position 1 seat. He received more votes than challengers Gary Holmes, who garnered 179 votes, and Greg DeFord, who won 139 votes. Because no one candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a runoff between Jones and Holmes has been set for Tuesday, Oct. 7...

When I was in college, a popular phrase was "Today is the first day of the rest of your life." I guess Hallmark came up with it. I don't remember. I'm showing my age by telling anyone that I remember the phrase...

In the after game huddle following the Wildkittens 22-0 loss to Nettleton, head coach Nick Richardson didn't do any yelling. He just got straight to the point. "We got whipped," Richardson said. "That's just the way it is. We weren't very tough tonight. We have got to have somebody who wants to play ball. We have got to start delivering blows instead of taking them."...