Stories from Thursday, July 21, 2011

TRUMANN - Mr. Dewan L. Morgan, 69, of Trumann, died Wednesday, July 13, 2011, at the family residence. He was born and had lived his lifetime in Trumann. Mr. Morgan was a truck driver, formerly employed by Singer Co. and Roach Manufacturing Corp. and was a member of Eastside Baptist Church in Trumann. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ralph L. and Lucille Tatum Morgan. Survivors include his wife, Jennifer Morgan of the home; one son, Kelly Morgan of Trumann; three daughters, Kim McDaniel and Kay Whitten, both of Trumann, and Karen Nevill of Queen City, Texas; two step-daughters, Michelle Smith and Amanda McDaniel, both of Trumann; one brother, Barry Morgan of Trumann; 12 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, and a host of sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, nieces, nephews and friends. Funeral service was Saturday at 10 a.m. in the chapel of Thompson Funeral Home in Trumann with Rev. Kenny Guy McMahan officiating. Burial followed in Macedonia Cemetery in Jonesboro, Ark. Active pallbearers were grandsons, Ryan McDaniel, Jacob McDaniel, Seth McDaniel, Kain Nevill, Kyle Bryant and Jeff Medcall. Honorary pallbearers were Bob McPherson, Red Lowery, Steve Hendrix, Doug Timbs, Rip Duboise, Gerald Hunt, Bud Stal and Ed Fortson. Visitation will be Friday from 5 until 7 p.m. at Thompson Funeral Home. An online register book can be signed at www.thompsonfuneralhome.net.

Mr. John Acton McSpadden, age 62, of Buford, Ga., passed away Sunday, July 10, 2011, after a courageous 15-year battle with pancreatic cancer. He was preceded in death by his parents, Thomas and Eurline McSpadden, and brother, Doug McSpadden. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Christi McSpadden, Buford, Ga.; daughter and son-in-law, Gretchen and Brad Hayward, Buford, Ga.; son and daughter-in-law, J.T. and Sharon McSpadden, Flowery Branch, Ga.; grandchildren, Skylar Hayward, Nathan Hayward, Alyssa McSpadden and Kayla McSpadden; sisters and brother-in-law, Margaret Garthe, Michigan, and Erma and Bill Evans, Lewisburg, Tenn., and several nieces, nephews and cousins. Mr. McSpadden was born Jan. 30, 1949, in Trumann, Ark. He was a 1967 graduate of Vicksburg High School in Vicksburg, Mich. He was a U.S. Army Veteran of the Vietnam War. He worked for M.G. Industries and also worked for Graber Industries. He was a former owner of Window Wear Direct Co. in Stone Mountain, Ga., founder of McSpadden Custom Framing Co. in Vicksburg, Mich., and was a partner in Just Tubs, LLC, in Flowery Branch, Ga. He was an avid tennis fan. He was of the Baptist faith. He was very involved with his children and grandchildren's sports activities. He will be greatly missed by his family. Family and friends are invited to attend his Celebration of Life service at John's home in Buford, Ga., on Sunday, July 24, 2011, at 2 p.m. For more information contact 679-467-7686. Arrangements by: Junior E. Flanigan of Flanigan Funeral Home and Crematory, Buford, Ga., 770-932-1133, www.flaniganfuneralhome.com.

The Tyronza city council mainly discussed old business at a brief regular meeting. New business included accepting a bid for the Certs trailer. The city will sell the trailer to Christian Construction for $8,001.01. The money will go into the city's general fund. Mayor Marion Bearden also said the city got the new police car, a black Dodge Charger, and that grant money will pay for police decals to be put on. The council also discussed the possibility of erecting a carport to protect the police cars from the weather and storm damage, especially hail. In old business, Mayor Bearden said all five businesses where ordinances will be posted from now on have given their approval of allowing ordinances to be posted there. Because Tyronza does not have a local newspaper, they are allowed to post ordinances in five public places instead of having to publish them in the paper. The five locations will be city hall, the library, the gas station, the cafÈ and the bank. A city official will be assigned the responsibility of posting all ordinances, and they will remain posted for about 15 days. Bearden gave an update on the water audit. She has prepared a letter with items that have been fixed but were not reflected in the audit. The letter also requests exit interviews in the future. Bearden also gave an update on the senior citizen building. She said there were four sets of plans and that USDA would look at them and then bids would go out.

The Marked Tree Board of Education accepted bids for bread and milk and renewed several bids during their regular July meeting. The board decided to continue to work with the companies that have provided them with bread and milk in the past and accepted the Hostess/Wonder bid for bread and the Turner bid for milk. The board also renewed several contracts the district has been engaged with the last couple years. All the contracts are for one year. The renewed contracts include: * Chad Davidson, facilities consultant on the master plan, $3,000 annually. * Arkansas Leadership Academy for year three school support. The district signed up for ALA support two years ago, and this will be the final year, $60,000. * Elbow to Elbow, which worked with the elementary school last year. Renewal of this contract is contingent upon approval of a 1003A Grant, which will pay them. * The Learning Institute, which handles testing and assessments to see which students need intervention, $7,500. * Arkansas Public School Resource Center, which helps with financial planning, $2,500. In other business, the board: * Heard from Dustin Bolton and accepted the legal transfer of Clark Bolton. * Approved the Athletic Emergency Plan. A new act requires schools to have athletic emergency plans which give action plans for handling injuries at games and practices. This is meant to help decrease the number of sports-related deaths. The plan was written by Coach Matt Wright. * Authorized Families, Inc., to use one bus and one bus driver during the summer. Families, Inc., is an on-campus mental health provider. They have a summer program but had no transportation for students last year. They will reimburse the school using the Department of Education rate per mile. * Approved changes to the school handbook. Among the changes are new athletic academic requirements stating athletes must have at least a 2.0 GPA. Students will also be allowed to take one year of ROTC to satisfy the PE requirement. Other changes include eliminating the distinction between excused and unexcused absences and no longer allowing parents who are visiting their children for lunch to bring food for other students. * Approved increasing substitute pay to $7.74 as required by the Arkansas Department of Education. * Approved extending five percent of the food and vegetable grant to the grant writer, Jane Ford. * Denied Deborah Wilson's request to be released from contract. * Approved hiring ranked quarter special education person.

The Harrisburg Economic Development Committee has began reviewing and awarding money to local businesses under the Harrisburg Renovation Grant. The committee prefer to award grant money to businesses that are in the Harrisburg city limits and to buildings that are occupied by an active business. All the money that is granted has to be used to beautify the outside of the business building. So far there have been nine applications submitted, with one later withdrawing. Each application was reviewed and discussed by the committee. Poinsett County Abstract's application, made by Billy Joe Williams, passed through the committee, for up to $1,062.50. This amount will cover the improvement Williams has already made to his building, as well as help pay for some of the work that has not been completed yet. The committee approved Shear Design's application, made by Ron and Shelly Hunter. They will be awarded $2,500 for improvements. Auctions and More's application, made by Dennis Lore, passed through the committee, for the amount of $625. The committee approved of Rice Will's application, made by Jeff Moss, for the amount of $2,287.50. This amount went for work on the doors of the building, but the committee encouraged Moss to also paint the building to improve its appearance. Jim Poole, owner of the building at 400 Market Street, had his application approved by the committee as well. The money will go to replace the windows in the building with energy efficient ones. One business was denied due to it being out of Harrisburg city limits and another denied because the building was to be used for storage only. Another business is waiting on a full estimate on work that has not been completed before the committee will approve it monies from the grant.

The East Poinsett County School District Board of Education got several things done during their July meeting. The board voted to hire Katie Fisher as the choir and vocal music teacher. The board also voted to contract Donna Richmond to complete all due process paperwork. In other business, the board: * Approved the contract for the facilities consultant. * Accepted a bid from American Paper and Twine for custodial supplies. * Accepted school choice for Audrey Cochran and Madiline Glover. * Named Carrie Skipper as 504 coordinator. * Accepted the 2011-2012 salary schedule. * Accepted the resignation of Crystal Richards.