Stories from Saturday, October 5, 2013

For many people a pet is not "just a dog" or "just a cat." Pets are beloved members of the family, and when they die, you feel a significant, even traumatic loss.

Friday night's game between Blytheville and Nettleton was a "must-win" for both squads. Coming in with identical 1-3 records and 0-1 in the 5A-East, neither team could afford dropping to 0-2 with a tough remaining schedule ahead if they wanted to have any postseason hopes. Nettleton answered the challenge with an overwhelming 45-9 win over the Chickasaws at Haley Field...

Mrs. Mary Katherine Cardwell, 85, of Blytheville, passed from this life Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013, at Great River Medical Center in Blytheville. Born to Dave and Agnes Ann Taylor in Memphis, she was a resident of this area for most of her life, a homemaker, was of the Baptist faith and loved to do volunteer work for various charities and projects...

Mrs. Janerie "Jan" Lott, 81, of Osceola, died Friday, Oct. 4, 2013, at NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital in Jonesboro. Born in Mountain View to Bill and Clemmie Broyles Pretty, she was a homemaker and a member of Westside Baptist Church in Osceola. Jan was very active in the church until her declining health prevented her from attending...

Mr. Stanley Harrison McDole, 74, of Monette, passed from this life Friday, Oc. 4, 2013, at the Greene Acres Nursing Center in Paragould. Born April 14, 1939, near Senath, Mo., he was the son of the late Jesse and Urea Robbins McDole and had lived most of his life in the Cardwell and Arbyrd, Mo., areas. He was a retired farmer and had been a Monette resident for the past eight years...

Taekwondo and Mixed Martial Arts fighter Anthony Smith is a champion on the mat, and for the last three years he's been bringing that winning attitude to his dojo to reach out to those around him, with hopes of making his community a better place. Smith opened his dojo in 2010 and has been providing taekwondo and MMA training in Blytheville since then, but lower than expected student numbers made it hard for him to reach out and help the community. ...

With the absence of Blytheville head football coach Vince McCrosky the Chickasaw assistant coaches have had to step up in a major way this season. While assistants Ben Fisher, Bret Kirk and Mark Quearry were familiar with Blytheville and the system coach McCrosky was running, there were two assistants who were new to the team: Win Moseley, a Blytheville graduate and former Chickasaw quarterback and Joey Mosley, a native of White Hall and former Arkansas Razorback...

City of Blytheville employees' total earnings were up about $1 million in 2012 compared to what they were in 2010. According to financial records released through an Arkansas Freedom of Information Act request, city employees earned $6,353,509.95 in 2012, while the figure was $5,300,018.22 in 2010...