Stories from Thursday, March 19, 2009

Limbaugh vies to be head elephant The Republicans are having a sort of family feud, and I couldn't be happier. They're trying to decide who is their leader. The choice is between a calm, reasonable man or the clown prince of mean. The majority seem to favor the clown prince...

Every time I turn on the television there's something new about "octomom," a name given by the media to a woman who gave birth to eight children through in-vitro fertilization. Nadya Suleman gave birth to the octuplets on Jan. ...

Well the tabloids are giving "Brad-Angelina" a break this week by talking about Rihanna and Chris Brown. The couple triggered so much debate these past few weeks that several shows have dedicated segments to dating violence...

The Lepanto Police Department is continuing its fight against drugs. Officers arrested two men on March 9 following a year-long undercover drug investigation. Charles Thomas, 22, and Zebarious Shepard, 27, both of 410 Miles Street in Lepanto, were arrested March 9 during a traffic stop on warrants stemming from the undercover investigation...

President Obama declared Poinsett County as a natural disaster area due to the severe winter storm that occurred on Jan. 26. Farmers and ranchers in the disaster area have until Oct. 13, 2009 to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual loses...

Smith -- Pennington marry in beach ceremony The beautiful Gulf of Mexico was the setting for the unity in marriage of Lori Pennington Smith and Dustin Chase Smith on Saturday, March 14. The ceremony was held on the beach shore at the Dauphin Inn and Beach Club located in Dauphin Island, Ala...

The Tri-City Tribune took home nine awards from the 2009 Arkansas Press Association advertising contest held March 12-13 in Hot Springs. They won third place in the sweepstakes category, meaning the Tribune's work was selected as some of the best in the state in the small weeklies category...

East Poinsett County Elementary has decided to take action in making their schools a better place for children. The school had decided to invest their time into the Watch DOGS (Dads Of Great Students). Program. An initiative of the National Center for Fathering, Watch DOGS involves fathers and father figures to help create a more safe and secure learning environment at the school...

Christi Gail Jennings, 32, of Dyess, died Saturday, March 14, 2009 at her residence. She was a member of Lepanto First Baptist Church. She was preceded in death by brother, James Daniel Jennings; maternal grandmother, Mary Jo Jennings; paternal grandparents, C.M. (Peewee) and Lena Rogers, and step-grandparents, Jim and Florence Bryan...

This is a word of caution to homeowners with significant credit card debt. A defaulted mortgage, as you know, can result in foreclosure. You can lose your house, potentially. A defaulted credit card payment, being behind, only results in those harassing calls to your home three times a day, but it does not but your home in jeopardy of foreclosure...

Over the past few weeks my wife's been infused with Money Makeover madness! When our church offered Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University for free, we immediately signed up. Who doesn't want financial peace, right? Especially in such uncertain times as these...

Coach Brian Haynes had a little talk with the girls after they dropped the first game of a double header to Brookland. He told them the key to winning in softball was to either hit the ball, field the ball or hustle their tails off. "I don't think we did any of the three," Haynes said...

Cat's drop game to Walnut Ridge but sweep Osceola in double header By MARK RANDALL Democrat Sports Staff The Trumann Wildcats were blown out by Walnut Ridge but exploded offensively to sweep both games of a double header against Osceola...

Rev. Vernon L. Barnes, 80, of Trumann died Friday, March 13, 2009 at St. Bernard's Medical Center. Born in McCormick, AR, he had lived in the Trumann area most of his lifetime. He was a veteran of the US Army and a minister of the Pentecostal faith...

Imogene Cravens, 83, of Trumann died Saturday, March 14, 2009 at Trumann Health & Rehab of Trumann. She was born in Lepanto and was the daughter of the late Shelby and Cora Elizabeth Gann Manley and had lived in Trumann the past 45 years having moved here from Tyronza. ...

Barbara Jo Duetschman, 62, of Jonesboro passed away March 13, 2009 as the result of a car accident. Deutschman was born in Pine Hill, KY, the daughter of Robert and Dorothy Smith Payne. She had lived in Jonesboro the past 21 years and was a homemaker. She was preceded in death by her mother...

Dwight F. Neal of Trumann, died Friday, March 13, 2009 at NEA Baptist Center of Jonesboro at the age of 64. He was born in and was a lifetime member of the Trumann area. Neal was a Senior Sales Representative for Elk River Machine Company at Elk River, Minnesota, a staff sergeant in the US Army National Guard and a member of Maple Grove Baptist Church of Trumann. ...

Connie Bradsher was sick last week with a 102 degree fever grading papers from her fourth grade music class when she came across one in particular that caught her attention and really made her sit up in bed. The class had been studying patriotic music during the month of February and the students were asked to write a song using the rhyme pattern from the Star Spangled Banner about what Francis Scott Key might have written if our flag had not been flying when daylight came following the battle of Fort McHenry.. ...

Larry Rich has a very simple goal for the Trumann Wal-Mart: to create zero solid waste, be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy and to sell products that are sustainable to the environment. And they are well on their way to achieving it. This year the store saw its recycling income go from about $1,500 a month to about $4,000 by creating bales of recycled aluminum cans, plastic store hangars and plastic shopping bags...

Tax increases are not too popular right now in the current session of the Arkansas legislature. But a number of bills working their way through the body should bring relief to cash strapped counties without picking the taxpayer's pockets...

Trumann City Council voted to adopt stricter guidelines for youth sports volunteers, but granted an exception for a current member of the parks and recreation committee who has a DUI on his record which would have disqualified him from serving on the board or as a coach or umpire...

Tony Rusher can take the 'acting' out of his job title now. The city council voted unanimously to hire Rusher as the town's new police chief. Mayor Sheila Walters said she didn't know Rusher very well and before she made her choice wanted to hear from fellow employees about what they thought of Rusher first...