Stories from Thursday, December 4, 2008

Fire damages classrooms at new school By MARK RANDALL Democrat News Staff Police and fire officials are looking for clues into the cause of a weekend fire which damaged two classrooms at the new Trumann High School building...

Trumann Water Works has a new, if a bit familiar, looking boss. Mayor Sheila Walters has appointed Scotty Jones to serve as general manager of Trumann Water Works...

Checkerboard hosts 12th Christmas open house By MARK RANDALL Democrat News Staff The first Christmas trees start going up at the end of October at Checkerboard Fine Gifts, but really the planning for the annual open house event begins almost from the minute the last one ends...

Home health care group looking for gifts for area seniors By MARK RANDALL Democrat News Staff A coffee maker. A pair of pajamas. Food snacks. Lotions. Blankets. It doesn't sound like much of a Christmas list, but for many area seniors who are homebound or in nursing homes, those simple little items are a big help at Christmastime...

World would be a lot worse off without Lions By MARK RANDALL Democrat News Staff Brad Baker doesn't like to think about what the world would be like without the Lions Club. Just this past week he saw bills come across his desk for $37,000 and one for $26,000...

City to start ticketing for trash cans left along roadside By MARK RANDALL Democrat News Staff Residents who leave their garbage containers by the roadside after garbage pick-up day could soon find themselves hit with a fine...

Grover T. Stewart, 89, of Brookland, formerly of Cardwell, Mo., died Thursday, Nov. 27, at St. Bernards Medical Center at Jonesboro. He was born July 14, 1919, in Dunklin County, Mo., the son of B.E. and Thula Farmer Stewart. Grover was a grocery store owner and chief of police in Cardwell, and a member of Cardwell Baptist Church...

There will be two Christmas parades in the Tri-City area Saturday night. Both the Marked Tree and Tyronza Christmas parades are set to begin at 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6. The theme of the Marked Tree parade is "A Rockin' Christmas. ...

With 11 players on the field at any one time, the loss of one player in a football game shouldn't make that much difference. However, the turning point of the EPC 49-26 loss to Bearden in the third round of the 2A playoffs Friday night coincided with the game-ending tackle of Warrior junior running back Dustin Beatty...

Courtesy of the Modern News It was a resounding yes by city and county officials when asked if they were committed to the "Powering Rural Development" program outlined by officials from Arkansas State University Delta Center for Economic Development in a meeting held Monday...

In the Thanksgiving Classic last week at Marmaduke, the EPC Lady Warriors played first Pocahontas then Nettleton losing both, 63-37 and 58-36 respectively. That in itself is unusual considering the Warriors are defending 3A state runner-ups and from the fact that most of the team returns...

Friday, Nov. 21 Tracy Voigt and Holley Bird presented a $1,000 check to Superintendent Mickey Pierce and Principal Gary Williams for the East Poinsett County School. Voigt explained that the money could go towards anything for the children. "You can put it towards new equipment for the children or books, just really whatever the school needs," said Voigt...

For the first time in its history Wal-Mart has had its first AKIA. That stands for Associate Killed In Action, and it happened in a store in New York. Here's the story in case you missed it. It happened Friday morning at one of those 5 a.m. ...

My family & I were shopping in Memphis this weekend, and I noticed a billboard that read "Stow It, Don't Show It" and "Park Smart." This is the Memphis Police campaign urging citizens to take extra precautions when shopping. ...

Songs hail it is "the most wonderful time of the year." Of course, if you've read my column any in the past five years you know how much I love Christmas. This year though, it truly is the most wonderful time of the year and it's shaping up to be the best Christmas ever...

One Lepanto lady has presents on her mind this Christmas, but they are not presents for her. Donna Pilgrim, a teacher at East Poinsett County Junior High School, says she has a special burden this holiday season...

The Wildcats had Gosnell on the ropes most of the night, but turnovers and foul trouble forced the game into overtime where the Pirates rack up six straight points to sink Trumann 90-86 at home Monday...

The Wildkittens delivered a broadside Monday against Gosnell sinking the junior Pirates with a 57-33 pounding to win their conference opener before a home crowd. "That was by far our biggest win in the last two years," coach Marty Vallance said. ...

Songs hail it is "the most wonderful time of the year." Of course, if you've read my column any in the past five years you know how much I love Christmas. This year though, it truly is the most wonderful time of the year and it's shaping up to be the best Christmas ever...

My family & I were shopping in Memphis this weekend, and I noticed a billboard that read "Stow It, Don't Show It" and "Park Smart." This is the Memphis Police campaign urging citizens to take extra precautions when shopping. ...

I'm not a big fan of this latest generation of young people. I know that is an awful thing to say and rather cynical of me. But I'm afraid I have good reason to shake my head at the shortcomings of this generation of school kids...