Stories from Wednesday, June 23, 2010

A packed house at MacGruder Hall on the campus of Mid-South Community College in West Memphis received a lesson in bureaucracy as Craig Fugate, the director of FEMA, met with Congressman Marion Berry and members of the community regarding the confusing issue of the agency's Floodplain Modernization Plan...

TRUMANN--Gwendolyn Loretta Forrester, 77, of Trumann, died Tuesday, June 15, 2010 at the family residence. Forrester was born in Bay and had lived most of her lifetime in Trumann. She was a retired office manager for Smith's Clinic in Trumann and a member of the Craighead Historical Society. ...

TRUMANN - Tommy Floyd Hendrix, 56, of Trumann, died Wednesday, June 16 at St. Bernards Medical Center. He was born in Jonesboro and had lived most of his lifetime in Trumann. Hendrix was a fork lift operator for Kenny Mfg., and a member of the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church. He was preceded in death by two sons, Tommy Floyd "T.Tom" Hendrix Jr., and Eric Kyle Hendrix and his father R.E. Hendrix...

Harry A. Juergens, 85, a native of Trumann and a resident of Lafayette, LA for the past six years, went to be with the Lord on Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at Cornerstone Village South. The family request friends join us for refreshments and fellowship at the First Baptist Church in Trumann on June 24, from 4 pm until 7 pm to celebrate Harry's life...

Robert Harold (Bob) Hinshaw, Jr., 67, died June 18 at St. Bernard's Regional Medical Center. He held a Bachelor degree in Business and Petroleum Engineering from ASU and was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. He was the owner of the Hearing Aid Specialist in Batesville from 1983-1998. He was also a member of the Arkansas State Licenser Board of Hearing Aid Dispensers for 13 years...

Usually congressional hearings are about as compelling as watching grass grow. The hearing into what caused the explosion on the BP deep sea oil well started out just that way. For some reason they start these things with opening statements from all of the members where they get to express whatever emotion fits the occasion. ...

Preliminary standardized test results from MT Elementary look pretty good. Many scores are up from last year. For MT parents with children in elementary, I am going to give you just a few numbers, reported in the school board meeting of June 21. I am going to be using educational terms of art like proficient and advanced. Just know that these are the good numbers...

So if you haven't already heard of the Fivefingers shoes, then get ready for it! It's becoming the latest craze for Northeast Arkansas. These shoes allow the comfort of feeling barefooted; however work just like regular shoes...

Janie and I took a well deserved rest last week. We didn't make any long treks anywhere, but we did get away for some small day trips. One place we went to in particular was a town I had always wanted to visit.....Piggott...

Shortly after being drafted, Marked Tree's Richie Tate said he was just ready to sign and play ball. Tate has made that happen. According to a family friend, Tate modestly signed with the Atlanta Braves in front of teammates and family a couple of days after he was drafted on June 8. He then headed to Florida to join his new team...

Harrisburg School District agreed to use the services of Scott Smith and Jay Bequett from the Arkansas Public School Resource Center regarding legal action taken by a school board member who feels pushed out. Byron Neal is the school board member who told his fellow board members June 14 that he wasn't willing to go away quietly...

A concerned citizen asked the Marked Tree City Council that there be no more horse play in his neighborhood. John Price is asking that an ordinance be re-worked to not allowing farm animals within the city limits. Price said he wanted to see a change to the animal ordinance to make it where no pasturized animals be allowed within the city limits of Marked Tree...