Stories from Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Willie Gene McFarland, 75, of Leachville, died Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012, at St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro. Born at Leachville, he was the son of the late Alex and Marie Ferguson McFarland and was raised in Flint, Mich., where he attended Bendle High School. ...

Mr. Jack Poyner, 72, of Bald Knob, died Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012, after a battle with cancer. Mr. Poyner was born Dec. 8, 1939, in Farrenburg, Mo., to the late Willy Ensely and Cornelia Virginia Poyner. Mr. Poyner was of the Baptist faith and served his country in the Army. He was an avid outdoorsman and a mechanical genius...

Carolyn Sue VanRavenswaay, 70, of Newport, widow of Rev. Henry VanRavenswaay, passed from this life Friday, Sept. 21, 2012, at the Flo and Phil Jones Hospice House in Jonesboro. Born at Tupelo, Ark., she was the daughter of the late Gentry and Evelyn David Due and attended Augusta High School. ...

Carl Ray Warren, 56, of Leachville, died Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012, at St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro. Born at Blytheville he was the son of the late J.H. "Jr." and Mary Virginia Rush Warren and had lived most of his life in Leachville. ...

Charlotte Owen Deaton, infant daughter of John and Danna Scott Deaton of Manila, was born July 23, 2012, in Little Rock. She was a living reminder of God's Grace. Charlotte spent 59 days of her 60 day life at the Arkansas Children's Hospital. ...

Buffalo Island Central fired a team score of 176 to finish second in the 2A-3 District Tournament Monday, Sept. 17, at the Turkey Mountain Golf Course in Horseshoe Bend, qualifying the Lady Mustangs for this week's state tournament in Danville...

Senior wide receiver Colbey Williams ran for 150 yards and one touchdown and returned a 75 yard punt for another score to garner Offensive Player of the Week honors in Manila's 20-13 win over Piggott...

Manila Chief of Police Jackie Hill encourages runners to be safe. Chief Hill said there was an accident recently on Wildy Road and he wants to avoid any more if possible. "More and more people are running, jogging or walking. ...

Lake City Mayor Jon Milligan acknowledged Bill Snyder, candidate for Lake City council, at the Sept. 17 council meeting. Bids were opened for the resurfacing of Nash Street. Three bids were received and the council voted unanimously to accept the bid from Atlas Asphalt in the amount of $41,890, for the resurfacing of Nash Street, 20 feet wide, and 2,650 feet long with a two inch overlay...

Manila School Board went into executive session at the Sept. 17 meeting following board member Tommy Wagner's motion to table the financial report until next month. Wagner said he would discuss the motion in executive session because it involved personnel...

Manila's Dunkin-Wall Swimming Pool was the topic of the Monday, Sept. 18, council meeting. The council approved signing the contract with Olympus Construction. Olympus submitted the lowest bid for the project on Aug. ...

The second annual Sorghum festival hosted by Kenny and Barbara Weathers was held at Poor Boys' Garden near Caraway. The old-fashioned sorghum harvest and cooking drew a large crowd. Visitors were from Caraway, Rector, Ravenden, Blytheville, Lake City, Manila, Jonesboro, Lepanto, Black Oak, and from as far away as Sardis, Miss., and Houston, Texas...

The Blytheville Police Department is investigating alleged maltreatment/misconduct involving a Blytheville School District employee and a minor.

Senior Colbey Williams scored two touchdowns, including one on a 75-yard punt return to spark the Lions to a 20-13 victory over Piggott Friday night at Manila. The Lions rolled up a season high 249 yards of total offense in gaining their first victory of the year...

The 3-4A and 3-3A conferences kicked off league play last week, and their four Mississippi County teams all posted wins. 3-4A's Gosnell and 3-3A's Osceola, Rivercrest and Manila hope for similar results Friday night. Here is a brief look at the Week 5 games around the two conferences...

Dan Hodge of Wilson missed just two high school/college football picks over the weekend to win the weekly Blytheville Courier News Pigskin Payoff contest. Hodge and Guy Arands of Gosnell tied, but Hodge came closer on the tiebreaker, predicting 55 points in the Florida-Kentucky game, which produced 38 points. Arands predicted 68 points...

A1 EAGLES 20, FARMERS BANK & TRUST 8 Week 4 of the Missco Jr. Football League was awesome, a lot of great ball games, and a beautiful day. Now let's get down to the actual factuals! The first game of the day placed the 3-0 A1 Eagles against the 1-1 Farmers Bank & Trust Steelers in a pivotal standing situation. ...

Mr. Carl Ray Warren, 56, of Leachville, died Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012, at St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro.

Mrs. Becky Temple, 62, of Blytheville, passed from this life Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012, at her home.

Jamarion Rayshun Perry was stillborn Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012, in Blytheville to Joe Perry Sr. and Kimberly White of Osceola.

Mr. Billy Wayne Eaton, 65, of Steele, died Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012, in Steele.

Charlotte Owen Deaton, infant daughter of John and Danna Scott Deaton, was born July 23, 2012, in Little Rock.

Mrs. Paulee Patterson Broyles, 65, of Osceola, died Monday, Sept. 17, 2012, in Osceola.

Mr. Michael Kenneth Beltz, 31, of Trumann, died Friday, Sept. 21, 2012.

Fall, my favorite time of year, has arrived, and in the past couple of weeks that has become very apparent. The first thing I began to notice was the fact that the smaller trees in the yard were looking a little threadbare.

Methods for promoting recycling on a county-wide level were discussed Monday in a meeting of the county's Solid Waste Management Board.

The Gosnell School District held its public meeting Monday night, and administrators presented to the board updates on the school's progress, both academically and financially, over the 2011-2012 school year, as well as plans for improvements in the ongoing year.

Actor Cedric Liqueur will return to the stage of The Ritz Civic Center in Blytheville at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6.

Around 60 of 3A's top golfers and their families will be making their way to town today (Tuesday).

The Blytheville School District is facing major funding cuts for the 2012-13 yearly budget, largely because of declining enrollment.