Stories from Friday, April 29, 2011

TRUMANN -- Mrs. Anna Lou Lyon Smith, 96, died Friday, April 22, 2011, at Memorial Hospital in Belleville, Ill. She was born in Houlka, Miss., and had lived most of her lifetime in Trumann, Ark. Mrs. Smith was a homemaker and member of the First Baptist Church in Trumann.

A Wrestling Benefit for Officer Jonathan Schmidt's family will be May 14 at the Trumann Sports Complex. Advance tickets will be sold May 13 between 2-4 at the Trumann Wal-Mart. A complete roster will be published in next week's paper. For ticket information, persons may call 870-275-2871 or 870-316-3531.

Last week, the Democrat Tribune reported that Tyronza police chief Tony Turner was recovering from injuries sustained in a a vehicular accident. Now, the Poinsett County Sheriff's Office has released details on the incident. According to the Sheriff's Office, the wreck occurred on Ditch 56 Road at 3 a.m. Sunday, April 3. According to the report, tire tracks indicate that Chief Turner's Ford F-150 was heading west on Ditch 56 Road when it veered left off the road, hit a culvert and ended up in the ditch. Four people were in the car: Tony Turner and Anthony Thomas of 300 Norcross, Tyronza, Charles Stiles of 125 Thelma, Lepanto, and Caitlin Root of 377 Dogwood Cove, Marion. Root was taken to The Med in Memphis while Thomas was airlifted to The Med. Chief Turner and Stiles were both taken to St. Bernards in Jonesboro. According to the report, when Deputy Eric Moore arrived on the scene at 3:46 a.m., the occupants were in ambulances and there were Bud Light bottles and cans in and around the F-150, along with a box of ammunition in the passenger floorboard. Moore said he was told that Root was driving and that she had not been drinking. Two first responders on the scene told Moore that, when they arrived, Stiles and Root were sitting on the side of the ditch, Thomas was in the front passenger floor and Chief Turner was sitting on the runner of the driver side door with the door open. Moore took samples of hair lodged in the windshield and blood from the airbag to be analyzed.

Harrisburg is introducing an Economic Development Renovation Grant, which is a 50 percent matching grant to assist businesses in the city with costs associated with renovating their commercial property. A total of $10,000 has been set aside in an Economic Development Account to help out local businesses that wish to improve the exterior of their businesses. The Harrisburg Economic Development Commission (HEDC) will match half of a business tenant or a building owners investment with a maximum grant amount from the HEDC of $2,500. All buildings eligible for the grant much by currently occupied by an active business or by an active business within 30 days of the completion of the project. Only exterior renovation projects can qualify for this grant. Projects that qualify include: removal of deterioration; exterior cleaning; re-painting; repair/replacement of exterior doors or windows; installation of canvas awnings; installation of permanent signs; landscaping; sidewalks; paving parking areas; replacing old pavement or concrete with green spaces. Other exterior projects can be approved on a case-by-case basis. No interior renovation costs can be applied toward the applicant's matching expenditures. According to the grant guidelines, all projects must be approved by the HEDC before construction begins based on the most complete information available. Approvals must include all paint and awning colors. Any changes during construction must be approved. The grant cannot go toward in-house labor or already owned materials, but it will cover paid labor, materials and supplies bought or rented equipment specific for the project of exterior renovation. All applicants must provide the HEDC with a detailed description of the work to be done and price estimates for the work, before any work actually begins. Also the grant guidelines state the grant amount will be paid to the applicant only when the work is complete and has been inspected by the HEDC. All projects must be started within three months of the approval of the application or grant funds will be put back into the grant pool. A one-time extension of 30 days can be requested based on unusual circumstances. The grant outlines that applicants can only receive one grant per calendar year and applicants that have not previously received grants will be given preference over applicants that have already received grants. The Economic Development Grant will be awarded in a first come, first serve basis, until all the allocated money for the year has been used. There will be $10,000 available for the 2011 calendar year for the grant and applications for the funds will be accepted beginning May 15.

Seniors of the St. Bernards Senior Center in Trumann traveled Monday, April 18, to Harrisburg for a beanbag baseball competition and a bean and cornbread dinner. Trumann won both games played, 12-10 and 14-12. Harrisburg blamed the loss on being too full of beans. The Trumann Bluebirds beanbag baseball team received a third place trophy for competing in Northeast Arkansas and is scheduled to play a team from Little Rock.

What would you build if you were given the challenge to create a car out of mousetraps? Fourth and fifth grade students at Trumann Intermediate were given that very challenge for this year's Odyssey of the Mind and are now taking their contraptions all the way to the World Finals in Maryland this summer. Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem solving team. Trumann schools currently have a group available for fourth and fifth graders, as well as first and second graders. Each year the older group must pick a challenge presented in the guidelines and solve the problem they choose without the help of school officials. Gina Montgomery, advisor for the group, said, "The group is judged on how well they follow the guidelines, but also in different terms like creativity, spontaneity, the ability to think quickly and work as a team." Brent Henderson and Chase Montgomery also helped the kids for the contest. "We didn't help them with the problem solving at all," said Henderson. "But we just made sure the rules were followed, bought the materials for all of the props and made sure they had everything they needed." There are seven students on each team. Their challenge was to build a car propelled by mousetraps alone. Not only did the car have to be self-propelled, but it also had to pass a series of tests and obstacles. Four specific obstacles were presented in the guidelines and the students had to create two extra. This year's mousetrap car could turn, travel through a tunnel, raise a flag and even pop a balloon. The students placed first, both at regional and at state, with their project. They also had to perform a skit for the judges, which had to be written by them and follow a theme. This year, the students had "70's Game Show" as their theme. "Most of the students in this year's team were fourth graders in last year's team," said Gina Montgomery. "They went to World Finals last year, so this is their second year to go." The first and second grade students did not compete, but preformed a problem-solving skit. Their problem was to create a skit where they had to sell an idea to Santa and include some ideas Santa would turn down. Amy Henderson, who coached the younger group, said, "For them, this is more about introducing them to what Odyssey of the Mind is and how to problem solve, so that they can compete when they are a little bit older." The students showed off their project Tuesday, April 25, and performed their skit for both parents and grandparents. The first and second graders also preformed their Christmas inspired play. Desserts were brought by students and parents to help raise money for their trip to Maryland. "It was spectacular," said Denis Penter, grandfather of Jessie Penter, who played Funky Jay in the fourth and fifth grade skit. "Very amazing." Georgia Henderson, grandmother of Reives Henderson, said, "They really outdid themselves. It was so challenging what they had to do. They built all the props themselves and wrote the play. It took so much time and effort. I will be cheering them on in Maryland."

Ben Swadley, the superintendent of Parkin Archeological State Park, demonstrated flint knapping for the Marked Tree Rotary Club last week. Flint knapping is the process of chipping off flakes from flint, chert or other fine-grained minerals to produce stone tools such as spear points and arrowheads. Flint knapping can be done on conchoidal fracturing stones, which means they break in a certain way. A chip in a window is an example of this. Swadley said the oldest method of flint knapping involves hitting the edge of a rock with another rock. This causes pieces to flake off. These flakes are sharp enough to cut a piece of leather. Swadley used an antler hammer -- a worn-down deer antler -- during his demonstration. Modern flint knappers use different materials to make spear points. "Some use glass, TV screens, and johnstone, which is the ceramic from toilets," Swadley said. He even showed off a piece of ceramic tile from a space ship booster module that could be used. "Crowley's Ridge flint is very popular among flint knappers," he said. There are two types of flint knapping, which Swadley demonstrated -- percussion and pressure flaking. In percussion, a piece of sandstone is used to prepare the edge of the rock before striking it with an antler hammer. This is repeated until the rock has been chipped away into the desired shape. Swadley said percussion is all about angle manipulation. "I manipulate the angle and look for a spot in the rock I want to hit. It's all about angle and direction of force." The time it takes to finish a point depends on the type of point one is making. "Some take 10 minutes or a half hour. A four-inch Dalton point takes an hour," Swadley said. "All the cultures shaped their points differently," he said. "You can tell when a point was made by the shape of the point. They were constantly improving the design, and the design depended on what they were hunting." The other type of flint knapping Swadley demonstrated was pressure flaking. Instead of striking a rock to chip of flakes, pressure flaking involves pressing a piece of bone or antler against the rock (modern flint knappers use a piece of copper pipe fitting hammered to a point) until a small piece breaks off. This method breaks off much smaller pieces than percussion and is used for smaller details like the notches in arrow heads. The earliest known spear points in the North America are the Clovis points, which do not have notches and date to the Paleoindian period around 13,500 years ago. Before flint knapping, Swadley heat-treats his rocks by leaving them in a turkey roaster at 500 degrees for a few days. "This makes the rock glassy and smooth and changes its color." He said some Indians heat treated their rocks and some did not. The ones that did heat treat their rocks buried them in the sand and built a fire on top. Swadley also said it is easy to fake a point. "It's hard to tell if a point's authentic. The only real way is to see it pulled from the ground yourself or if it is well documented. A certificate of authenticity is very important. The only real way to tell is if you dig it up or an archaeologist dug it up and documented it."

By both moonlight and fearless guts, local boy and girl scouts scoured Parker Homestead in search of ghosts. On Friday, April 22, Parker Homestead held a Ghost Roast to support Northeast Arkansas scouts. The night began with roasting hotdogs over a campfire and free exploration of the Parker Homestead land and buildings. Children continued to arrive as dusk settled in and the moon began to creep up the darkening sky. After everyone had eaten, the brave children and parents gathered around the fire, where Maryann Parker, of Parker Homestead, introduced Larry Flaxman and his team of ghosthunters. Flaxman is a highly sought after paranormal investigator. He is a best-selling author, some of which include, "11:11- The Time Prompt Phenomenon: The Meaning Behind Mysterious Signs, Sequences and Synchronicities," "The Resonance Key: Exploring the Links Between Vibration, Consciousness and the Zero Point Grid," "The Déjà vu Enigma: A Journey Through the Anomalies of Mind, Memory and Time" and "The Trinity Secret: The Power of Three and the Code of Creation." He also has written a screenplay and is staff writer for Intrepid Magazine. Flaxman is the founder, president and senior researcher for ARPAST, the Arkansas Paranormal and Anomalous Studies Team, which is one of the nation's largest and most active paranormal research organizations. Flaxman first asked who watched ghost-hunting shows on TV. Several hands raised enthusiastically into the air. "The shows on TV are meant to be entertaining, so watch them with a grain of salt," said Flaxman. "A typical investigation can be boring. It can sometimes be hours before something happens." Flaxman's team brought plenty of cool gadgets along with them for the hunt. The scouts split up into groups and the ghosthunters loaded the church and schoolhouse with an infrared camera, a voice recorder, a thermometer gun, a laser pattern generator and a K2 meter, which measures the electromagnet field of the room. Flaxman even brought in an app, available for either an IPhone or IPad, called Ghost Radar. "The church and the schoolhouse had the most activity when we where here last time," said Flaxman. Once the equipment was set up inside the church and all cell phones were off, Flaxman began asking questions to entice a ghost. Soon the K2 meter was bouncing from green to yellow to red. The IPad app spit out random words, but soon some the words began to sound like answers to questions. "What's your favorite color?" asked a girl scout. "White," said the voice from the IPad. "Do you know anyone here?" asked Flaxman. "April," said the device. All of the scouts screamed out and a young girl hoarsely whispered that her name is April. A great ghost story was suddenly born for the scouts to share with the others attending. According to paraexplorers.com, "Larry is known for his ability to bring highly complex scientific concepts to a mainstream audience and has become one of the most well-respected and seasoned public speakers in the fields of the paranormal, metaphysics and Noetics. His enthusiasm for education and training, and his passion for inspiring the next generation of paranormal researchers to think outside the box, has garnered many requests for special events and seminars." The ghost hunting continued well into the night. The campfire began to fade and, those brave enough, headed to their tents to sleep in the newly found haunted grounds, sharing stories frightening enough to make even the biggest skeptic's spine quiver.

Trumann School District will have a new superintendent in July. Myra Graham, currently superintendent for East End School District, was unanimously approved during a special meeting of the Trumann School Board Thursday night. Graham has been superintendent at East End in Bigelow, Ark., for four years. Before that she worked for the Westside School District in Jonesboro for 23 years. She said she became the middle school principal after the Westside shooting and eventually rose to assistant superintendent. Graham graduated from Arkansas State University with a specialist degree in educational leadership and curriculum. She has a son who is a teacher at Harrisburg Middle School and a daughter who practices optometry in Pocahontas. "Northeast Arkansas is kind of home for me," Graham said. Graham will begin as superintendent on July 1. She said she planned to meet with the staff on Friday to get acquainted and make for a smooth transition. "I look forward to meeting the community," Graham said. "I'm really excited to be in Poinsett County. I'm ready to meet some kids." She also said that she plans to "begin a positive culture that will provide a rich educational experience so that each student can reach their full potential. Right away, I want to develop relationships inside and outside of the school. I'm very excited. I can't wait to get started. I love kids."