Stories from Friday, March 14, 2014

Marjorie Rinehart, 78, of Steele, Mo., passed from this life Thursday, March 13, 2014, at Flo and Phil Jones Hospice House in Jonesboro.

Mr. Marshall Eugene Lackey, 41, of Osceola, died Wednesday, March 12, 2014, at his home.

I moved here in December of last year. Why is it when I walk around, tell people where I am from, they said, "Why did you move here?" I notice that towns in Tennessee on the other side of the river are smaller and have no industry but have more things for people to do. I went to the movie theater today, just to see the roof was falling in. Yes, the roof is falling in. I asked about this, and the answer is, "This is Blytheville."...

I watched the Memphis-Connecticut game last night out of the corner of my eye as I was finishing up one of John Grisham's books I had overlooked previously, "The Litigators."

After a public hearing, the Blytheville City Council's Finance and Purchasing Committee took no action regarding the mayoral retirement ordinance.

The Blytheville-Gosnell Regional Airport Authority is ready to start bidding its engineering contract this year and the organization's longtime firm, Garver Engineers, could be facing some stiff competition this go around.

The remanufacturing company Nu Steel of Hayti may be making its way to Mississippi County, bringing with it plans to more than double its current workforce as well as a contract with two of the county's largest employers.

The city of Blytheville is a step closer to filling its vacant finance director post.

Following a 50-minute public hearing in a packed Municipal Courtroom, the Blytheville Planning Commission voted 4-1 in favor of a modified version of proposed rules for renaming city streets, Thursday night.

GOSNELL--The Gosnell Lady Pirates defeated the Armorel Lady Tigers, 5-2, Thursday night in a non-conference matchup between the area schools. Ciara Watson went the distance for the Lady Pirates (1-0) allowing two runs on 10 hits while striking out two in seven innings for work...

ARMOREL -- The Armorel Tigers dropped their opening game of the year in a 4-2 contest against rivals from south Mississippi County, Rivercrest Colts. Ethan Brown picked up the win for Rivercrest pitching five innings and allowing just one run on two hits while striking out six. Brown didn't allow a ball out of the infield as the Tigers struggled to manufacture offense...

JONESBORO--The Gosnell Pirates opened the 2014 season in impressive fashion with a 10-2 win over the defending 6A state champions Jonesboro Hurricane Thursday night. "We made some mistakes but we competed hard," said Pirate head coach Bret Jackson. "I thought coach (Bret) Burnside did a good job of getting our infield ready to play and our outfield did a good job as well."...

The Blytheville Chickasaws picked up their first win of the season in a 22-1 five-inning drubbing of West Memphis Christian Knights Thursday night at the Blytheville Youth Sportsplex. "We just jumped on them early and took over from there," said Blytheville head coach Randy Smith...

Surrounded by supporters at his business Friday afternoon, Blytheville City Councilman Tommy Abbott announced his candidacy for mayor of Blytheville.