Stories from Monday, December 19, 2016

J.B. Rice, 89, of Manila, passed from this life Friday, Dec. 16, 2016, at his home. A lifelong Manila resident, he was the son of the late Ben and Ida Belle Jackson Rice and was retired from the Randall Textron Company in Blytheville...

Hazle Taylor, 85, of Memphis, Tenn., formerly of the Buffalo Island area, passed from this life Friday, Dec. 16, 2016, at UAMS in Little Rock. Born in Calico Rock, she was the daughter of the late William "Bill" and Pearline Mae Haigwood Henderson and was raised in the Monette area. She moved to Maumelle in 2014 and was a member of the Indianhead Lake Baptist Church in Sherwood...

Ruth Faye Williams, 71, of Jonesboro, died Friday, Dec. 16, 2016, at the Flo and Phil Jones Hospice House in Jonesboro. Born near Athens, Ala., she was the daughter of the late Jack and Marjorie Smith Moore and had been a longtime resident of northeast Arkansas. ...

Blytheville police are investigating a shooting that damaged a church pastored by Blytheville City Councilman R.L. Jones. According to the police report, police responded to Bethlehem Temple Church of God in Christ, 1800 West McHaney, on Sunday. Jones told police that he heard several shots while he was inside the church. Police noticed a broken picture frame and a bullet hole in the wall behind it...

Hardy -- Carl Edward Fletcher, 85, formerly of Monette, passed away Thursday, Dec. 15, 2016. He was born Aug. 19, 1931, in Tyronza to the late Ernest and Vivian Fletcher. He married Donna Jean Clark on Oct. 1, 1954, in Detroit, Mich., after honorably serving in the United States Army in Korea. He retired from Budd Automotive Company in Gary, Ind., and returned to Arkansas...

Mrs. Betty Sue Childress, 69, of Dell passed away on December 17, 2016 in Jonesboro. She is survived by her three sons Paul Childress of Manila, Billy Joe Childress of Dyess and Joseph Orr, Jr. of Dell; One daughter Vivian Orr of Luxora; Two brothers Hollis Walls of Jonesboro and William Walls of Dell;...

The man wanted for last week's robbery of a senior citizen is believed to be connected to Monday morning's homicide on Harmon Street.