Stories from Thursday, June 25, 2009

Hobert Dale "Bud" Smith, 68, of Jonesboro died Wednesday, June 17 at the family residence. He was born in Trumann and had lived in Jonesboro for the past 30 years. He was a tool and die machinist, a veteran of the U.S. Army and of the Vietnam War and of the Church of Christ faith...

Esther Pauline Roberts, 81, of Trumann departed this life Saturday, June 20, 2009, at Jonesboro after battling a long illness. She was born Sept. 9, 1927 to John Oliver and Ellen Hammond Jackson in Fisher...

Rev. Billy Ray Moore, 75, of Trumann, died Saturday, June 20, 2009, at St. Bernard's Medical Center in Jonesboro. Born in Trumann, he lived most of his lifetime in the Trumann and Black Oak area. He was a retired minister and a member of the First Assembly of God in Trumann. ...

After 11 years with Trumann Police Department, Gary Henry is no longer an outsider or a darn Yankee. The Jonesboro native was promoted this week to assistant police chief by Chief Tony Rusher. "I'm pleased and very happy," Henry said. ...

I love classic movies. If I could only have one television channel it would be Turner Classic Movies hands down. I could sit and watch TCM all day. Even if I have seen them a dozen times before, I never grow tired of watching the greats like Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Gregory Peck, Paul Newman or John Wayne in action...

You may notice something a little different about next week's newspaper. As of July 1, the Tri-City Tribune and the Trumann Democrat will merge together to form the Poinsett County Democrat Tribune. I've talked to many of you in the community about this upcoming change, and like with most change, the news was met with mixed results. ...

Gary Anderson is probably the most hated man in Trumann. As Code Enforcement officer he's in a "darned if you do, darned if you don't" position --- something the Democrat learned firsthand during a ride-a-long last Thursday...

A Trumann man is facing second degree murder charges in connection with a weekend shooting death in an area along the St. Francis Sunken Lands Wildlife Management Area. Tommy Spray, 65, of 16110 Hinds Lane, appeared before District Court Judge Ron Hunter in Harrisburg Monday for a probable cause hearing for allegedly shooting Seth Tucker, 30, of Nashville, Ark. ...

When Democrat readers pick up their papers next Wednesday they will find their hometown newspaper has a new name. As of July 1, the Trumann Democrat will merge with its sister paper, the Tri-City Tribune, to form a countywide newspaper...

As most of you know if you look at the pages of the Tribune and Democrat, I've never been one to write a column just to hear myself talk. If I didn't have something to say, I just didn't write a column. That's why it's been some time since I've written in this space...

A body found early Tuesday morning behind Ritter Grain on Adamson Road in Marked Tree has been identified as Harold Wood, 39, of Marked Tree. A Ritter Grain employee found the body behind the property's grain bins early this morning. Police arrived at the scene around 6 a.m., and Wood was pronounced dead by the county coroner...