Stories from Thursday, September 10, 2009

First Baptist Church of Marked Tree has always had a special place in Pat Dailey's heart. She was seven years old when she began attending First Baptist Church of Marked Tree...

I was just wondering, has half of the country suffered a nervous breakdown? When I watch video from the different town hall meetings, I can't help but think that a good number of the people who go to them are freakin' nuts. It has gotten so bad that a woman in a wheelchair was booed last week...

Mike Reynoldi comes to MTHS from Bay, where he taught seventh, eighth, and ninth grade science and literacy. At MTHS he will teach seventh and eighth grade integrated science. With his wife, Kay, he owned and operated The Animal House Pet Store in Jonesboro for 17 years. ...

"An engineering and architectural marvel where one river flows under the other, listed on the natural historic registry located six miles North of Lepanto, highway 135" is how the Arkansas Attractions website describes the Rivervale Tunnel, also known as the Rivervale inverted siphons...

August was an action packed month for those of us at the newspaper. We had quite a few special sections, so by the end of the month I was ready for a vacation! My brother, Brandon, moved to Gainsville, Fla. ...

Jacki M. Lyles, 53, of Trumann, died Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009, in Trumann of natural causes. Born in Arkansas, Jacki lived most of her life in the Jonesboro-Trumann area. She worked several years for World Color of Jonesboro. In recent years, Jacki worked as a caregiver...

Van Wesley Parrish, 81, of Marked Tree died Saturday, Sept. 5 at Three Rivers Nursing Home in Marked Tree. Born Oct. 12, 1927, in Florence, Ala., he was a farmer and of the Church of God faith. He was preceded in death by his parents, Sam Parrish and Elizabeth Hunt; his wife, Minne Bell Greenwood Parrish; one daughter, Patsy Jones; one son, Barry Parrish; one sister, Marie Ballard; and two brothers, Elijin Parrish and Charner Parrish.. ...

TRUMANN -- Louis Ivan Hammell III, 57, of Trumann died Aug. 21 at his residence. He was born May 12, 1952, the son of Louis and Mable (Eastres) Hammell. He was a hydraulic mechanic- maintenance worker at Air Tex at Marked Tree. Hammell was a Gulf War Veteran serving 20 years in the U.S. Air Force. He enjoyed watching birds, hunting for arrowheads, hunting and fishing...

Brain Weathers wasn't sure if he should treat the opening day game against Corning as a scrimmage game and focus instead on next week and the big rivalry match up against Marked Tree. A week earlier the team was in jeopardy of calling it a season after dwindling interest in the preseason nearly forced East Poinsett County to cancel the senior high football season...

Revenge was on the mind of the Marked Tree Indians as they hosted the Riverview Raiders last Friday night. The Raiders had made the Indians the mark of their first win ever as they took the field for their initial season last year...

The first notch on Harrisburg's 10 game winning streak last season began with the Thunderbirds of Cross County. Sophomore quarterback Zach Davis entered the game late to save the day and went on to receive accolades reserved for senior veterans...

Considering they won only one game last season, the Harrisburg Junior Hornets went into their game with Riverview last Thursday afternoon at Searcy knowing they had little place to go but up. ...

Hunter Creecy ran for a pair of touchdowns to help the Trumann Wildkittens to a 22-6 opening day win at home against Paragould in junior high football...

The EPC Junior Warriors scored first in their annual game with the Junior Indians at Marked Tree last Thursday night. Following two plays and a fumble by Marked Tree, EPC took the ball at their own 49. But when the first two attempts resulted in penalties, they suddenly found themselves at their own 34...

Something happened to the Trumann Wildcats between their scrimmage against Harding Academy and Friday's 33-7 letdown against Rivercrest. After two good scrimmage games in Heber Springs and some good practice sessions during the week, the Wildcats seemed to lose their heads in the first match up of the season...

Many parents in the Marked Tree School District are concerned following a letter they received from school last week about confirmed cases of "swine flu" within the school district. The letter outlined the symptoms of the H1N1 virus and offered advice for avoiding the illness, including techniques for proper hand washing...

Miles Greeno, a 15-year-old teenager from Weiner, was tragically killed Monday afternoon in what police are calling an "accidental shooting." According to Weiner Police Department chief of police Rolland Geror, Greeno was in a vehicle with two other males and one female when the firearm was discharged...

Marion Berry isn't very happy with his party's leadership right now or the direction the debate over health care reform is going. As part of the Blue Dog Coalition of conservative Democrats, Berry said he is helping the congress to work on providing health care to the nation but is opposed to the current public health option currently on the table because it costs too much...

The 15th Annual Judd Hill Cotton Field Day last Thursday wasn't typical of what it had been in the past. The temperature was anything, but conducive to growing cotton. Normally, temperatures range between 95 and 105 degrees. That day, however, a breezy 80 degrees kept the perspiration to a minimum for all attendees...