Stories from Tuesday, March 10, 2009

What started as an idea, grew into a Riverside Student Council project, and finished with one senior, the high school principal and two high school teachers taking the 2009 Polar Plunge to benefit the Special Olympics...

Iva Mae Arant, 76, of Needville, Texas, formerly of Monette, died Monday, March 2, 2009, at M.D. Anderson Medical Center in Houston. She was born Nov. 5, 1932, in Willow, Okla., to the late Jesse and Carrie Adkins. She was a homemaker and a member of the Church of Christ...

Howard Devane "Mr. B." Baldridge, 82, of Monette died Tuesday, March 3, 2009, at NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital in Jonesboro. He was born Nov. 30, 1926, at Cardwell and was the son of the late Walker and Elsie Grady Baldridge. ...

Jerry Wayne Crigler, 69, died Saturday, March 7, 2009, at St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro. He was born May 18, 1939, in Black Oak to the late Grover and Minnie Crigler. Survivors include two sons, Eddie Crigler of Little Rock and Kenny Crigler of Lake City; two daughters, Tressa Tompkins (Garrett) of Carlisle and Trina Crigler of Jonesboro; three brothers, Leon Crigler of Sledge, Miss., Bobby Crigler of Fayetteville and Noble Crigler of Viola; a sister, Bonnie Craft of Tallalah, La.; and two grandchildren.. ...

Lilly Florence Evans, 82, of Manila, died Monday, March 2, 2009, at her home. Born at Iuka, Miss., she was the daughter of the late Arthur Lee and Anner Lou Carpenter Butler, and lived most of her life in Arkansas and Florida. She was a retired certified nurses aide and had returned to the Manila area in July 2008...

Ina Glidewell, 80, died Friday, March 6, 2009, at Monette Manor. She was born April 19, 1928, in Barned Grange, Ark., to the late James and Zela Voyles. She was a homemaker and a member of the Monette Assembly of God Church...

Ola Mae Higgins, 74, of Dyess, died on Sunday, March 1, 2009, at St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro after an extensive illness. Born Nov. 3, 1934, in Louisiana to the late Joseph Ainsworth and Mattie Stites Ainsworth, she was a resident of the Dyess community, was of the Baptist faith, a retired surgery technician in Arizona, enjoyed crocheting, working crossword puzzles, and traveling...

Sammy Wesley Hutton, 80, of Manila, died Saturday, March 7, 2009, at the University of Arkansas Medical Science Hospital in Little Rock. Born in Detroit, Mich., he was the son of the late Arnold and Helen Hamm Hutton, and had been a Manila area resident most of his life. ...

Pamala Jo (Wilkey) Robinson, 45, of Bradford, died Thursday, March 5, 2009. She was born Dec. 22, 1963 in Manila to Gean Sterling Wilkey and Lois Dean (Sisk) Wilkey. She worked at Choates Machine and Tool and enjoyed knitting, crocheting and plastic canvas...

Buffalo Island Central East Elementary fifth grade basketball team was undefeated in regular season for the 2008-09 year. They finished the year as conference champions and runner-up in the conference tournament. They had an overall 17-2 record. The team is coached by Nathan Sanders and assistant coach Chris Morgan...

In one of the most bizarre games in Class 2A State Tournament history, number one seeded Hackett roared back from an early 17 point deficit to stun Buffalo Island Central 63-52 in first round action Tuesday afternoon at Melbourne...

Riverside's state championship aspirations came to a sudden halt Friday afternoon as the Lady Rebels dropped a heartbreaking 38-35 decision to Conway St. Joseph in quarter-final action of the 2A State Tournament in Melbourne...

The NEA Ball Hogs have competed in three tournaments and have placed first in all three. The Ball Hogs are a sixth grade basketball team made up of area players and coached by Lake City natives Tyler Timms and Michael Dewitt...

Riverside's determination to win a state tournament game finally paid off when the Lady Rebels put together a fourth quarter rally to come from behind and defeat Mount Ida 56-50 in Tuesday afternoon's first round action of the Class 2A State Tournament at Melbourne...

Basler Electric announced Monday, March 2, that a decision has been made to permanently shut down the production lines in Caraway. "Despite the company's best efforts and the hard work of all of the employees, we simply can no longer profitably produce transformers at that facility," company officials said in a news release from the corporate office...

Caraway Mayor Barry Riley and his wife Wendy attended the Washington D.C. Fly-In 2009 from Feb.28 to March 4. The annual trip is sponsored by the Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce with support from local municipalities...