Stories from Friday, July 6, 2012

TRUMANN - Mrs. Edna Izella Edwards, 90, of Trumann died Thursday, June 28, 2012, at Trumann Health & Rehab in Trumann. She was born in Garfield, Ark., and had lived in Trumann for the past six years and was formerly of Bella Vista, Ark. She was a housewife. Mrs. Edwards was preceded in death by her husband, Robert S. Edwards, in 2006; one sister, Ruby Maloney; and her parents, Hugh and Jessie Graham Miller...

FLORIDA - Mrs. Nancy Odell Williams Lowery, 68, of Jacksonville, Fla., passed away peacefully Monday, June 25, 2012. She was born March 8, 1944 in Fayetteville, Tenn., to Annie Bell McWhirter and George Pope Williams and was one of 13 children. She retired after 28 years of service in the Beecher School District in Flint, Mich. She enjoyed walking, gardening, shopping, reading and spending time with family...

Last week, attorneys for Jerry Lard, who is accused of shooting and killing Trumann police officer Jonathan Schmidt last year, requested that Circuit Judge Brent Davis remove the death penalty from consideration in Lard's case. Judge Davis rejected the request to throw out the death penalty...

Response to the Poinsett County History Book has been great. The Historical Society would like to thank all those who have responded so promptly to record their family's heritage in this historic book. Many have expressed a need for more time to prepare their family histories, so the sponsor and publisher have agreed to extend the deadline for submissions to Nov. 30...

The city of Trumann recently recieved a grant through East Arkansas Planning and Development District to purchase equipment for the city's recyling program. The $22,900 grant went toward the purchase of a Bobcat with heated and air-conditioned cab, multiple accessories, and a trailer to haul it...

A huge crowd packed the Valley View Fine Arts Center in Jonesboro last Friday for a sendoff ceremony to honor the Arkansas National Guard's 1039th Engineer Company based out of Marked Tree and Harrisburg. The unit departed Saturday for two months of mobilization training at Fort Bliss, Texas, to prepare for their upcoming deployment to Afghanistan. ...

Samantha Evans, Main Street Arkansas assistant director, met with residents of Harrisburg at the Chamber of Commerce last week to talk about the Main Street Arkansas approach to downtown revitalization. Evans visited downtown Harrisburg earlier in the day and was impressed by what she saw. "You have a really good starting base," Evans said. "A lot of downtowns wish they had what you have."...