Stories from Tuesday, April 8, 2014

The Gosnell Lady Pirates won the First Annual Cotton Patch Classic softball tournament held at Rivercrest in Wilson Saturday.

Monday night concluded one of the most, if not the most, bizarre NCAA tournaments that I can remember. Bizarre as in "Bizzaro World." Everything seemed backwards. Good was bad, bad was good. Up was down and down was up. Top seeds played like low seeds and low seeds played like top seeds. Freshmen played like seniors and seniors played like freshmen. It was madness in every sense of the word...

Wet weather continues to pay havoc with local baseball and softball schedules. Armorel baseball has cancelled Tuesday's 1A-3 East contest against Bay and moved the game to 4 p.m. Wednesday. Blytheville baseball and softball is on scheduled to face Nettleton in a 5A-East doubleheader starting at 4 p.m. at the Blytheville Youth Sportsplex...

Kenneth Earl Holt, Sr., 59, of Manila, passed away Wednesday, April 2, 2014, at the St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro. Born Nov. 20, 1954, in Manila, he was the son of Calvin and Melva Ingram Holt and was a longtime area resident. ...

Manila scored twice in the third inning and held on for a 2-1 victory over rival Rivercrest to complete a two-day sweep of the Colts in 3A-3 conference baseball action Tuesday afternoon at Manila. The Lions rallied Monday afternoon for a come from behind 5-3 win over Rivercrest...

Mr. David Earl Daniel, 56, of Blytheville, formerly of Richmond, Mo., passed away Tuesday, March 25, 2014, at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.

Mr. Earl Troy Catt, 77, of Lepanto, died April 6, 2014, in Jonesboro.

My son is on his way back to Seattle as you are reading this, but we got to spend just over a week with him and it was really nice.

The county's newly acquired e-tablets for polling stations will be in use next month during May's primary election, according to members of the Mississippi County Election Commission.

Madison Greathouse fired a two-hit shutout to lead Buffalo Island Central to an 8-0 whitewash of Riverside in senior girls softball action Tuesday afternoon at Lake City. ...

Each year, Main Street Blytheville strives to bring new levels of fun and entertainment to Mayfest. This year, organizers are excited about the music groups lined up for the celebration, particularly Southern gospel recording artist Jason Crabb.

During a special meeting in the mayor's office Monday morning, the Blytheville City Council agreed to waive bids and allow Thunder Bayou Golf Links to lease $268,029 in equipment from Ladd's of Memphis.

Four area players scored in double digits to help the White squad down the Blue squad in The Sun Senior Classic held this past Sunday in Jonesboro. The White used a big fourth quarter to blow open a close game and win 91-74...

The Blue team made a late charge but the White team stood firm as they escaped with a 93-90 win in The Sun Senior Classic played Sunday in Jonesboro. The Blue team had Byron Scales of EPC, Daniel Rucker of Marked Tree and Reed Weber of Rector and the White squad had Caleb Waugh of Riverside, A.J. ...

Buffalo Island Museum in Monette has many antique farming items used by the early settlers of this area. One of these is an old wooden oxen yoke, donated by John Watson. An oxen yoke is a wooden beam used between a pair of oxen to enable them to pull together. ...

Meg and Gary Holmes of Blytheville proudly announce the birth of their son Rhett Duane Holmes. Rhett was born at 10:52 a.m. on March 6, 2014, at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. He weighed six pounds eleven ounces and measured 20.2 inches...

Addyson Rae Williams, daughter of Preston and Courtnee Williams, was born Jan. 7, 2014, weighing eight pounds and seven ounces. She measured 20-3/4 inches. She was born at NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital in Jonesboro...

Thanks to the generosity of two Manila women, the city's 104-year-old train depot continues to be a vital link in the town's history and growth. The Manila depot was constructed in 1910 by the Jonesboro, Lake City and Eastern (JLC&E) Railroad, after the company extended its tracks to Manila in 1900 to accommodate the growing need for agricultural and timber transport.. ...

Tanner Smith, a 2010 graduate of Manila High School and a digital filmmaking major at the University of Central Arkansas, had a film chosen to be screened at the 2014 Royal Film Festival, held at the Royal Theatre in Benton on March 29...