Stories from Thursday, May 21, 2009

In a special meeting Wednesday, the Blytheville City Council created a separate department for the city attorney's office and set up a $600 expense account for the new department. The Council also agreed to seek a $200,000 loan from a local bank to purchase new police cars. The loan must be paid in full by Dec. 31, and the city is required to use money generated from the 1/4-cent tax, dedicated to the police and fire departments, to make the payments, according to the resolution...

In about a month, several large trucks will roll into Blytheville hauling airplanes, a helicopter and other aviation-related equipment. It is all destined for the aviation maintenance program at Arkansas Northeastern College. Dr. Jim Shemwell, dean of Technical Programs and Training, said that the college, along with seven other colleges in the state, formed a consortium to provide training for students in aviation maintenance. ...

Billy Joe Stanfield Jr. is the new Steele police chief, after being appointed to the post by Mayor Mike Davis and being approved by a unanimous vote of the Steele City Council. Before the swearing in ceremony and presentation of Stanfield's badge, the mayor noted Stanfield's long history of law enforcement in Pemiscot County and said Stanfield's background in the Bootheel Drug Task Force will be an asset to the community. ...

A Steele man is dead following an accident involving a dune buggy, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. William T. Jones, 41, was driving his dune buggy westbound on County Road 580, just east of County Road 563 in Pemiscot County at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, when he apparently lost control and ran off the right side of the roadway and struck a telephone pole...