Stories from Thursday, March 12, 2009

Nina Ward Folbott, 75, of San Benton, Texas died Sunday, Mar. 1, at her residence. Folbott was born December 15, 1933, in Long Beach, Calif. to Joe Ward and Lorraine Portis Ward. In her younger years Folbott modeled for stores in Connecticut and Washington. ...

Stael Wigginton Gordon, 90, of Trumann, formerly of Marked Tree, died Sunday, March 8 at NEA Baptist. Born to James and Ethel Hazel Wigginton on March 2, 1919, she was a retired Marked Tree School district bookkeeper, a WWII veteran, and a Baptist...

Raymond Gort, 64, of Grand Rapids, Mich. died Feb. 13 while visiting his mother, Vivan Gort of Three Rivers Nursing Center in Marked Tree, and his sister and her husband, Rosemary and Quinton Ray Nichols of Marked Tree...

Bryson Gage Sparks, the newborn son of Dewayne Sparks and Mandy Carlisle of Tyronza, was born and died Mar. 4 at the St. Bernard's Regional Medical Center. He is survived by his parents; grandparents, Linda and Ronnie Rinehart of Tyronza, Donnie Carlisle of Dyess and Ronnie and Retha Sparks of Marked Tree; great-grandparents, Christine Gilley of Marked Tree, Jimmy and Marlene Sparks of Georgia; and one sister, Kaitlyn Sparks of Tyronza.. ...

Bobbie Jo Williams, 25, of Marked Tree died Mar. 5, at her home. She was born February 26, 1984 in Jonesboro. She was a homemaker and a member of New Life Fellowship in Jonesboro. She is survived by her parents, Gary and Beth Moore of Marked Tree; grandparents, Sonny Bilderback, Viola Parrish and Lawrence Williams of Marked Tree, Linda Moore of Lepanto and Jimmy Smith of Stuart, Fla.; one sister, Kim Moore of Payneway; and three brothers, Timmy Simpson of Trumann, Travis Simpson and Dustin Moore of Marked Tree.. ...

EPC won the second Poinsett County Tournament Saturday with a 5-4 victory over perennial adversary Marked Tree, but not before the Indians gave the Warriors a scare. Both teams reached the championship game by way of wins Thursday and Friday. EPC defeated Trumann 7-1 Thursday and Marked Tree blanked Harrisburg 4-0 Friday to set up the championship Saturday...

The Marked Tree Lady Indians began their season last Thursday with a 16-4 win over Rector then ended the weekend with an 8-7 victory over Valley View. Unfortunately, they had two losses in between to begin the second week of the season with a 2-2 record...

The expectations that the EPC Lady Warriors (23-12) might return to another state championship final as they had in two of the last three years, fell short of fruition last Tuesday. ...

East Poinsett County head coach Josh Hill feared his young team's inexperience might show up Saturday night at Melbourne against a veteran Conway St. Joseph squad that had reached last year's 3A State semi-finals. His fear became a reality when the Bulldogs stormed to an 18-2 first quarter lead en rout to a convincing 63-36 defeat of the Warriors in this year's Class 2A State Tournament semi-final...

To most of you who read my column often and who know me to be a conservative Christian, the title of this column may have come as a bit of a shock. Allow me to explain. I think it's a good thing that schools across the nation teach evolution in schools. ...

On, Feb. 28, America lost one of the nation's most recognized voice in broadcasting and journalism, Mr. Paul Harvey. He was 90 years old. Former President George W. Bush described his commentary as entertaining, enlightening and informative...

I was listening to Sean Hannity's radio program the other day, under duress I might add, and two things came to mind. The first was that I would rather be strapped to a chair and forced to watch Lawrence Welk reruns for 24 hours than listen to Hannity ever again. The depths of the man's stupidity cannot be measured...

In the regularly scheduled Marked Tree City Council meeting Monday night, there was only one agenda item which was voted on. That vote was to put Councilman Michael Scott into the Mayor Pro-Tempe position for the three months of April, May and June...

At 62 pounds, Tess may not be the biggest officer at the Marked Tree Police Department, but she is certainly their pride and joy. A three year old Belgin Malinois, K-9 officer Tess can chase down criminals and sniff out drugs in airtight containers but still melt the heart of anyone she nuzzles against...

James David Bodry, 48, received five y ears probation and a 10-year suspended sentence Monday, March 9 after he pled guilty to a possession of drug paraphernalia charge. In addition, Bodry was ordered to complete rehabilitation and pay $1,250 in fines and fees...

Marked Tree School Board voted unanimously to hire Annesa Thompson as superintendent for the 2009-10 school year. Thompson, who has served the district for 10 years as high school principal, was appointed interim superintendant last month after former superintendent Gary Masters resigned from the position. Masters is acting as high school principal through the end of the school year and has accepted a job as superintendent for South Mississippi County School District for the 09-10 school year...

The Yellowjackets found themselves down by 24 points, 48-24, with 6:17 remaining in the game. Bay began their comeback when Tristan Shelley came off the bench to hit a three pointer from the top of the key, sparking the Yellowjackets. ...

Rusty defense and opening day jitters cost Trumann its season opener against EPC, but the Wildcat's bats exploded for 14 runs against both Weiner and Harrisburg to take two of three games and third place in the Poinsett County baseball tournament...

On, Feb. 28, America lost one of the nation's most recognized voices in broadcasting and journalism, Mr. Paul Harvey. He was 90 years old. Former President George W. Bush described his commentary as entertaining, enlightening and informative...

To most of you who read my column often and who know me to be a conservative Christian, the title of this column may have come as a bit of a shock. Allow me to explain. I think it's a good thing that schools across the nation teach evolution in schools. ...

Listening to the radio won't be quite as much fun now that Paul Harvey won't be coming into our homes anymore. The radio legend whose news commentary show reached more than 24 million listeners and was heard on 1,200 stations died March 1 at age 90...

The city has collected more than $1,300 for a proposed memorial to honor former police chief Larry Blagg. Mayor Sheila Walters said the amount to date is more than enough to cover the cost of the monument, but they are still hoping to raise another $500 to $700 for lighting and landscaping...

Most college students head for home once exams are over this spring, but for Carolyn Ichter and Savannah Lamb, the learning process will continue into the summer months. The two first year students at Southern College of Optometry (SCO) in Memphis will be part of a team heading to the Dominican Republic to deliver free eye care and glasses to needy people as part of Student Volunteers for Optometric Service to Humanity or SVOSH.. ...

Poinsett County Justices, Monday night, heard positive statements from Poinsett County Assessor Johnny Rye, Jr. about the future of the county's financial condition. Rye, who serves on the Legislative Committee of the Association of Arkansas Counties, told justices that the Arkansas Legislature has already passed a number of bills that will aid Arkansas Counties...

Mayor Sheila Walters will ask the city council for permission this week to borrow $200,000 from the Truman Industrial Development Commission to help the city pay for the rest of the ice storm clean up effort until federal dollars arrive...

A German-based maker of juke boxes and vending machine equipment has announced it is closing its Gurnee, Ill. plant and shifting operations to Trumann, the American home of Baldwin Piano. Wurlitzer, which is owned by Gibson Guitar, said in a letter sent out March 3 that its decision to relocate operations to regional facilities was due to "the compounded strains of global economic conditions."...

They're not exactly the words one would hear taught in a college or high school Spanish class............but to law enforcement, knowing a few basic words in Spanish could mean the difference between life or death on the street. Officers from Trumann Police Department and a handful of other local law enforcement agencies took part in a three day officer survival and communication class at the Trumann Police Department Firearms and Training Complex last week...