Stories from Friday, April 1, 2016

City and county officials gathered in Trumann Monday to meet with officials from the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department to hear about funding and highway projects planned for the next five years. The highway department recently released their Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) report for public review. The document lists a total of 700 projects planned between 2016 and 2020 around the state...

The Trumann Area Fine Arts Council (TAFAC) faced a tough decision recently when they decided it was time for the Maxie Theatre to be put to rest. The council decided unanimously that, due to lack of funding, the building will have to be torn down. "It's a sad day for Trumann," said Ronnie Harrison, TAFAC member, "especially after the effort put into trying to restore it." But Harrison said a lack of funding and the deterioration of the building has made the decision a necessary one...

Trumann native and professional boxer Pete Mead was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame on March 4 at the 58th Annual Induction Ceremony at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. Mead was born in Trumann in 1924 but lived most of his life in the Jonesboro area. ...

Mrs. Frances Merline Benson of Harrisburg died Wednesday, March 23, 2016, at St. Elizabeth Place in Jonesboro at the age of 77. She was born Aug. 24, 1938, in Tuckerman, Ark., and had lived most of her lifetime in Trumann. She was a homemaker and a member of Central Community Church. ...

Mrs. Jewel Dean Cromwell, of Bay died Friday, March 25, 2016 at Phil and Flo Jones Hospice House in Jonesboro, Ark., at the age of 75. She was born Monday, February 10, 1941, in Decatur, Ala., and had lived Trumann and Burt, Mich., before retiring in Bay, Ark. ...

MEMPHIS - Johnnie Ford, 92, passed from this life on Saturday, March 26, 2016 in Memphis, Tenn. She was born in Mountain View, Ark., on Nov. 27, 1923, to the late F.M. and Nancy Pogue. Her devotion to God and her family were what kept her life focused, receiving her greatest joys from being a wife, mother and grandmother...