Stories from Friday, January 21, 2011

Law enforcement officers in the county have been busy for the last 18 hours working accidents resulting from the snow and sleet that fell Thursday.

I received several comments regarding my column last week, phone calls ... voice mails ... e-mails. A couple of ladies who read my column mostly to hear stories about my granddaughters chastised me for not writing anything about the little girls last week.

This letter concerns a commentary on "a better Region Eight" on that aired January 13 on KAIT Channel 8 TV. In this commentary, authors introduced an idea, as have others in the news media, that there are those, namely Sarah Palin and others (presumably meaning anyone who speaks out against the status quo), who are "stirring up the people" with their rhetoric concerning the direction the powers that be are taking our nation. ...

Former Blytheville basketball star John Fowler is making a name for himself overseas, in Germany. Fowler is averaging 21.1 points per game, 6.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per game for BC Energie Zwickau.

Friday night's 5A-East matchup between Blytheville and Wynne at Chickasaw Gym has been postponed because of inclimate weather.

That bad SEC road game Arkansas played last week against the LSU Tigers got replayed Thursday night by the Florida Gators at Auburn.

Mr. Joe Paschal, 76, of Montgomery, Texas, passed away Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011, in Montgomery, Texas.

Mr. Patrick Dennis McCarty, 57, of Blytheville, passed away Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011, at St Bernard Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro.

Congressman Rick Crawford has been appointed to three Congressional subcommittees with broad oversight of national transportation and infrastructure issues, and was named vice chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.

Dr. Siamak Shahriari is concerned about the future of our country, he told the Blytheville Rotary Club Thursday. Having grown up in Iran, Shahriari came to the United States many years ago as a scientist.

Attendance at Lights of the Delta in 2010 was bigger and better than ever, according to George Hubbard, executive director.

Randy and Harriett Jumper on Jan. 19 described to members of the Blytheville Kiwanis Club the positive difference experienced daily on their school campuses because of the Positive Behavior Intervention and Support program.

Former Blytheville Kiwanis Club president David Lyttle (right) was honored during the club's Jan. 19 meeting for his work throughout the past year that benefitted both the club and Blytheville community.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has finalized procedures for the upcoming referendum on the continuation of the Sorghum Checkoff Program and is announcing the dates it will conduct the referendum.

For those of you who commented on my column's absence last weekend, thank you. Things are fine. I just had an extremely busy week last week and my awesome editor, Andy, had another column to run, so I took a little break.