Stories from Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Gracie, a black border collie with a sweet personality, has been welcomed as one of the family by staff and residents at Manila Nursing Center. It is as if Gracie knows her life was spared a second time thanks to the staff at MNC and she wants to be everyone's friend...

Joseph Horace Musick, 69, of Bardstown entered in to rest Saturday, July 18, 2009. Born Tuesday, Aug. 15, 1939, in Memphis, Tenn., to the late Horace E. Musick and Mamie Jean McGonagill Musick, he was an active third generation farmer, retired school administrator after serving 30 years in the Blytheville school system, earned a Bachelor's Degree in Agriculture Engineering at Arkansas State University where he was a founding member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity, earned a Master's Degree in Education at the University of Arkansas. ...

Nora Ann Pasley, 77, of Manila, died Sunday, July 26, 2009, at the Manila Nursing Center in Manila. Born at Jackson, Tenn., she was the daughter of the late Charlie and Mary Thomas Jones and had been a longtime Manila area resident. ...

Anna Mae Wilmoth, 93, of Arbyrd, Mo., died Saturday, July 25, 2009, at St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro. The daughter of the late John Andrew and Ada Belle Gibson Noble, she had been an Arbyrd resident for most of her life. She was the widow of Lee Roy Wilmoth and was a member of the Assembly of God in Arbyrd...

Manila Mayor Clifford Veach introduced the newly hired clerk/treasurer, Rebecca Hartgrave, to members of the City Council at the July meeting on Monday evening, July 20. The council voted to hire Hartgrave during a special called meeting earlier in the month following the resignation of Susan Jackson...

It's that time of year again when the cotton has pink and white blooms, sun-kissed kids are playing in the front yard water sprinklers, and the watermelons are ripe and ready to eat. It all leads to the annual watermelon festival in Leachville...

Manila Public School is the recipient of a $7,500 grant from CenturyTel Clarke M. Williams Charitable Foundation. The grant award will be used to help fund the purchase of eight document cameras. The cameras are used by students and teachers as an advanced visual aid in the classroom...

Trey DePriest, 10, has had another good year of golf and for the fifth consecutive year will be returning to Pinehurst, N.C., for the U.S. Kids World Championships held in August. Trey, son of Thomas and Candie DePriest of Monette, fell in love with the game of golf when he was three years old and said he enjoys it more each year...

Candidates for school boards in the county drew for ballot positions during a meeting Monday of the Mississippi County Election Commission. Starting with Blytheville School District, Zone 1 incumbent Ollie Lofton will be listed first on the ballot. Her challenger, Carlony Lewis of 912 S. Franklin, will be listed second...

Spray paint cans found inside car

Investigators have identified the suspects in four fake 911 calls that sparked an Amber Alert in Dyer County, Tennessee, according to Pemiscot County officials. One of the girls called and turned herself in, according to the Pemiscot County Sheriff's Department. The juveniles are from Missouri. Since they are juveniles, no names are being released. Juvenile authorities are handling the situation...

Members of the Blytheville School Board heard more about the district's use of money from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Suzanne Kenner, the district's curriculum coordinator, told the board that the district's plan for more than $16 million in funding was conditionally approved by the Arkansas Department of Education. The district has already received 5 percent of the requested funding from the Title I Funds and the IDEA funds or special education funds...