Stories from Friday, April 25, 2014

Leonard Eugene "Mr. Gene" Pierce, 87, of Blytheville passed from this life Friday, April 25, 2014, at the Heritage Square Nursing Center in Blytheville.

Here at the Courier News we use roughly one 18-wheeler load of newsprint every month, so we have a standard order in place at two different mills, each one sending us a truck every other month.

Blytheville's annual participation in the Great American Cleanup will take place from 8 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 3, and the Greater Blytheville Area Chamber of Commerce is encouraging citizens to get out and help beautify the city with the slogan, "Our City. Our Responsibility."

The Fine Arts Department at Arkansas Northeastern College will present "The Diary of Adam and Eve," a one-act musical by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick.

Tax revenues for Mississippi County took a dramatic drop in March, according to County Treasurer Peggy Meatte's most recent report.

Blytheville Mayor James Sanders' office has received the state's plans for the future Moultrie Drive overlay, which could begin this summer.

The Blytheville-Gosnell Area Food Pantry is in desperate need of canned good and nonperishable items donations.

A body found in the Mississippi River around noon Friday may belong to one of the victims of the April 8 barge accident at the Kinder Morgan's coil dock near Hickman.

An environmental regulatory panel has issued an air quality permit for a planned $1.2 billion steel mill in northeast Arkansas.

Charles William "Bill" Beach, 68, of Manila, passed from this life, Friday, April 25, 2014, at St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro. Born Aug. 31, 1945, in the family home in the Buckeye community, he was the son of the late Charles "Buck" and Wilma Hill Beach and had lived most of his life in Manila. ...

John Burl Sitz, Jr., 69, of Williford died Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014, at Fulton County Hospital in Salem. He was born Aug. 13, 1944, in Inglewood, Calif., to the late John Burl, Sr. and Helen Watkins Sitz...

Benny Bob's Barbecue, a popular Blytheville restaurant, suffered heavy damage in a fire Friday evening.