Stories from Tuesday, July 14, 2009

"Gardening for God" project began as an idea to help others and has been so successful plans are underway to expand. For an idea to become a successful project, it takes planning, work, and workers...

Jimmy Dale Brooks, 70, of Manila died Monday, July 6, 2009, at his home. Born at Manila, he was the son of the late C.J. and Zephyr May Thomas Brooks and had been a lifelong Manila resident. He was a retired production manager for the former Gurdon Industries in Manila and American General Life Insurance Company. ...

Angela Darlene Finley, 38, of Leachville, died Thursday, July 9, 2009, at her home. Born at Memphis, Tenn., she was the daughter of the late Frances Boyd Long and had lived most of her life in Jonesboro...

Douglas Wayne Lasater, 66, of Manila, died Sunday, July 12, 2009, at his home. Born at Manila, he was the son of the late Thomas and Marie Barnhart Lasater and was a lifelong Manila resident. He was a member of First Assembly of God Church and a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War. Mr. Lasater was a retired welder for Southworth Products Corp. of Manila...

The Caraway City Council hired new full time policeman Micheal Yocum and worked out a retirement package for current Police Chief Jerry Vaughn at the Thursday, July 9, meeting. Yocum was recommended for the position by Chief Vaughn...

Manila City Council reviewed several resumes for the position of clerk/treasurer at a special called meeting on Thursday, July 9. Following an executive session, councilmen voted to hire Rebecca Hargraves to fill the position...

Manila School Board members held a special meeting Tuesday evening, filling two positions. Following a short executive meeting, the board voted unanimously to hire Alesha Morgan of Leachville as special education teacher and Brandon Burgess of Jonesboro as high school biology/science teacher...

A two-vehicle accident Monday evening on East Main sent one person to the hospital with serious injuries, according to Blytheville Police. Emergency personnel responded to the "S" curve between Sonic and McDonalds on East Main at 8 p.m. for a report of an accident with injuries, with one of the injured still trapped inside the vehicle...

The Arts Council of Mississippi County, located at The Ritz Civic Center in historic downtown Blytheville, has announced four programs scheduled for the 2009-10 Series. The fun will start with an evening of Big Band Era hits performed by the 18-piece Arkansas Jazz Orchestra at 7 p.m. ...

Funding to pay for improvements to the Port of Osceola, which will bring more than 30 jobs to the port, has been received, Clif Chitwood, the county's director of economic development told a committee of the Mississippi County Quorum Court Friday. The court's planning and development committee agreed to match at grant from the Arkansas Economic Development Corp. ...

ARMOREL -- An Armorel family lost their home to fire late Sunday night according to Chuck Tice of the Armorel-Huffman Volunteer Fire Department. At 10:35 p.m., the department was paged out by the Mississippi County Sheriff's Department for a report of a structure fire on County Road 951, just off of Highway 137 in the Armorel area...

Vehicle assaulted at Wal-Mart By RICK HARRIS Blytheville Courier News Blytheville Police are investigating the report of criminal mischief to a vehicle that was reported Sunday according to reports. At 1:40 p.m., police were called to the Wal-Mart Parking Lot on East State Highway 18, where Kevin Mosely reported that his 2004 White Chevrolet Monte Carlo was vandalized and items taken while the vehicle was left on the parking lot...

The home of Virginia Robins Miller, at 215 Ball Street, was chosen as Monette July Yard of the Month. Yard of Month Committee members Nicole Stewart, Shawn Nance, Raye Finley and Linda Qualls presented Mrs. ...

NEA Storm placed second in the FCA World Series, July 3-9, at Gameday Baseball on First Tennessee Fields in Cordova, Tenn. Players are, front: Dax Hurst, Blake Hall, Gavin Stone, Matthew Fraser, Tyler Swaim. Back - Braden Overman, Larry Tilley, Cannon Smith, Jon Marshall Milligan, Colby Boyd. They are coached by Bruce Smith, Kerry Stone, Jon Milligan and Lynn Doty (not pictured). (photo provided)...

Two local athletes, Leigha Woody from Manila and Karla Marroquin from Monette, were selected to represent 3-2-1A East at the Arkansas High School Fastpitch Association's Junior all-star showcase tournament in Conway. June 5-6...

The Southern Sluggers Girls 10 and under softball team was named first place Crowley's Ridge League Champions for the 2009 season. The Southern Sluggers also won first place in the End of Season Tournament for the Girls 10 and under age division. ...

DENVER - Katey Campbell, recent graduate of Riverside High School, has earned a position on the Arkansas high school rodeo team and will be traveling with fellow teammates to Farmington, N.M., from July 19-25 to compete at the 61st Annual National High School Finals Rodeo (NHSFR) in the barrel racing and pole bending competitions...

Perfection is hard to come by, but the eight and under machine pitch Manila Rattlers did just that as they completed a remarkable season with a perfect 36-0 record. The Rattlers, coached by Darrell Birmingham, dominated their opponents, outscoring them by a whopping 446-57 margin in capturing the overall league championship as well as the Manila Invitational Title...

Reba Smith, PT in the Mississippi County FSA Office in Osceola, and Cheryl Reece, PT from Craighead County in Jonesboro, were recently recognized at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. They received the highest honorary award bestowed upon FSA employees, the 2009 FSA Administrator's Award for Service to Agriculture...