Stories from Friday, February 8, 2013

Friends and family gathered on Jan. 5, to wish James D. Butler a happy birthday. Mr. Butler was honored with a reception celebrating his 95th birthday. The event was held at the Leachville United Methodist Church and was given to him by his daughter Vivian Shaw, granddaughter Lauryn Qualls, and friend Mari Hayden...

Dorthy Crouch of Manila used her quilt making talents to create a butterfly quilt to be donated to the Butterfly House. The Butterfly House will be a faith-based treatment facility to help women working to overcome addictions. Several fund-raising events, including an auction/dinner, 5k run, and cookbook sales, have been held to benefit the Butterfly House...

Recent reports from the Blytheville Police Department:

Mr. Bobby Ray Scott, 76, of Manila, died Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013, at St. Bernard's Medical Center in Jonesboro.

A Steele woman lost her life in a fire at her home on Wednesday morning.

Blytheville's Delta Gateway Museum will be hosting a new fundraising event on Saturday, March 2.

The Blytheville post office has a new postmaster, Blake Denny, who said working in the Blytheville office has been a dream of his since he was a kid.

Members of the Blytheville City Council are scheduled to meet at 4 p.m. today in the Blytheville District Courtroom to discuss the rules of order and procedure in their meetings.

Walker Park has three pressing needs, according to parks and recreation director Elroy Brown.

I have noticed a lot of people in the county throwing their shoulders out of place patting themselves on the back in anticipation of a third steel mill in the county. I would like to ask them, "WHAT ARE YOU, STOOPID?" In 1986, when Nucor-Yamato was setting up shop, the population of the city was about 25,000, Baptist Hospitals ran the local hospital, the county had about six new car dealerships, and the Air Force base was here in addition to a fairly active industrial park. ...

The recent news about John Correnti and friends' decision to locate the new Big River Steel Mill project just south of Osceola is certainly a strong positive for the south county and by extension, all of Mississippi County and the surrounding counties as well.

The Blytheville Chickasaws hit the road tonight to take on the Wynne Yellowjackets in 5A-East action. Blytheville (4-18, 1-8 5A-East) is coming off another gut-wrenching, 58-47, loss to the Paragould Rams Tuesday night at Chickasaw Gym. While the final score showed a double-digit loss, the Chicks were only down three with the ball with under two minutes to play in the game...

The "interim" tag was removed from Blytheville head football coach Vince McCrosky this week according to Blytheville athletic director, David Hixson. "He's definitely the best fit," said Hixson. "What he did last year, with the limited amount of time he had to put a team together, he just did a great job."...