Stories from Saturday, August 22, 2020

How many times have I asked the question, what would we do without our cell phones? I can’t say what we would do if the towers all went down and we had no service for a long length of time but I can say I lived without mine for the entire work day on Tuesday...

One thing that I have learned in the news business is that very few people know the true meaning of integrity and taking accountability. So many of us spend time polishing our image. When things are going smoothly we love to take the credit. When things blow up, however, it is always the fault of someone or something else, even when we KNOW we were in the position to change that outcome...

During the regular Blytheville City Council meeting on Tuesday via Zoom, the council approved three items, including an ordinance providing for the placement of speed humps. The measure is designed to prevent excessive speeds in neighborhoods and regulates how and where they can be installed. ...

Manila High School Principal LeAnn Helms was honored and presented a plaque at the school board meeting on Thursday evening. Helms successfully completed the assessment process and was designated a Master Principal on July 9 during the Arkansas State Board of Education meeting...

Although ranked as the top online college in Arkansas, ANC is not eligible for ACO’s national college rankings because ANC does not currently offer the minimum 10 online degrees (ANC offers nine) necessary for national ranking eligibility. The primary data points used by ACO to identify the Best Online Colleges include regional accreditation, in-state tuition and fees, percent of full-time undergraduate students receiving institutional financial aid, number of online programs offered, and student-to-teacher ratio. ...

Mississippi County Justice Michael White, Finance Committee chair, presided at the Monday meeting with nine of the 10 Justices present. White reviewed the financials saying the figures aren’t bad but they are slipping a bit. “We are at 58.33 percent of the year,” he said. “It is  not as healthy as it was this time last year,” White said. “I spent four hours yesterday looking through the budget to see where the bleeding is coming from.”...

Blytheville Police are investigating a report of shots fired at a local restaurant Friday night. According to Capt. Jeremy Ward, around 11 p.m., Friday, officers were dispatched to El Puerto on East Main Street in reference to a disturbance where shots were fired outside the restaurant...