Stories from Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Mrs. Rita Ann Moore, 77, of Leachville, died Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014, at the Advanced Care Hospital in Searcy.

Mrs. Earline McFall Denton, 73, of Manila, passed from this life Sunday Feb. 16, 2014, at St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro.

The book I am reviewing this month was recommended to me by my friend Jay Ziolko at the Blytheville Public Library. I tend to forget to mention the library in these book reviews, and I shouldn't, because the library is the place many of us learned to love reading.

An email sent to Blytheville Mayor James Sanders, the Blytheville City Council, and Blytheville Police Chief Ross Thompson has asked the city to stop denying the Blytheville School District's requests for another student resource officer.

Felisha S. Bell, former executive assistant to Blytheville Mayor James Sanders, was scheduled to appear before a judge Wednesday, but now isn't expected to be back in court until May at the earliest on charges of theft of property and second-degree forgery.

A Blytheville man was hospitalized after a car accident that occurred early Monday on Highway 150, northeast of Gosnell.

JONESBORO--The Armorel Junior Tigers captured the 1A-3 East district title with a 28-25 win over Bay Saturday night at Ridgefield Christian Academy. The Tigers led 5-1 at the end of the first period, 12-9 at halftime and 20-15 heading into the fourth...

BROOKLAND--The Gosnell Junior Pirates captured the 3-4A district title with a 46-41 win over Cave City Saturday night. Gosnell trailed Cave City, 6-5, at the end of one. Trailing by six in the second period, Gosnell's Rodale Jones buried a three-pointer as time expired in the period to cut the Cavemen lead to 20-17 at the break...

Blytheville and Gosnell return to the court Tuesday night. The Chickasaws (4-20, 4-6 5A-East) look to stay in the 5A state playoff hunt against Nettleton. The Chicks are currently in 6th place in the 5A-East with four games to play. They trail fourth place Beebe (6-4 5A-East) by two games, and the Raiders hold a slight advantage over the Chicks because of their win in January. ...

ARMOREL--The 1A-3 East district tournament got underway Monday night as the host, Armorel Tigers, advanced both their boys and girls teams to the semifinals. The girls kicked off the tournament with a convincing 42-19 win over Ridgefield Christian while the boys finished off the night with a 51-47 overtime thriller over Black Rock...

The proposal to rename Marguerite Street as "Henton Drive" may have hit a roadblock.

Rita Ann Moore, 77, of Leachville, died Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014, at the Advanced Care Hospital in Searcy. Born April 8, 1936, at Cardwell, Mo., she was the daughter of the late Harry and Gay Greer Baker and had been a Leachville resident for the past 60 years. She attended Cardwell High School and was of the Church of Christ faith...

Earline McFall Denton, 73, of Manila, passed from this life Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014, at St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro. Born April 30, 1940, at Frenchmans Bayou, she was the daughter of the late Vernon and Irene Beal McFall, had been a Manila resident for most of her life. She was the widow of Billy Gene Denton...

Marguriet Estell Carter, 87, of Manila entered into rest on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014, in Manila. Born Friday, Jan. 28, 1927, in Dyersburg, Tenn., to the late Arthur and Kitty (Wells) Moore, she was a member of First United Pentecostal Church in Manila and a homemaker...

Buffalo Island Central withstood a determined upset bid from fourth seeded Marked Tree to capture the 2A-3 Junior High District Tournament Championship with a 44-34 victory Saturday night at Marmaduke...

Marmaduke and Buffalo Island Central squared off for the third straight season in the 2A-3 Junior High District Championship game with the Lady Greyhounds once again coming out on top with a 52-37 victory Saturday night at Marmaduke...

Glenda Joyce Johnson Wisham, 59, of Manila passed away Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014, at her home after a brave battle with cancer. Mrs. Wisham was born July 25, 1954, in St. Louis, Mo., to Carl and Louise Johnson. Mrs. Wisham was owner of the Fisherman's Inn for 10 years, cared about people, her grandchildren were everything to her, and she enjoyed going to the casino...

Blake Hall a sophomore at Riverside High School won the 1A-2A-3A East Regional Bowling Individual Gold Medal at Cabot on Wednesday, Feb. 12, during the 1A-2A-3A East Regional Bowling Tournament. He also made the All-Conference team. ...

Manila wrapped up a share of the 3A-3 conference championship with its 70-49 victory over Piggott Tuesday night on the road, before setting their sights on Buffalo Island Central and former Coach Bill Taylor in both teams' regular season finale Friday night in the Lions' Den...

Manila and Rivercrest, two of the top teams in Class 3A, squared off for the third time this season Monday night at the Lions' Den with a share of the conference championship on the line. The Lady Lions dropped the first meeting at Rivercrest before gaining revenge with a win over the Lady Colts in the finals of the Northeast Arkansas Invitational Tournament in December...

MANILA COMPLETES TURNAROUND SEASON WITH 20 WINS Manila battled undefeated Earle in the championship of the 3A-3 Junior High District Tournament Saturday night at Hoxie, but came up short, losing a tough 53-45 decision to the Bullpups...

Certain sporting events hold an air of electricity. Monday night's 3A-3 conference showdown between Manila and Rivercrest proved to be one of those. The Lions and Colts waged battle for a piece of the league title with the crowd so loud at times that coaches, players and officials had trouble communicating. ...

Marked Tree stunned top seeded Riverside 35-24 in the semifinals of the 2A-3 Junior High District Tournament Thursday night at Marmaduke. The Rebels, who had defeated Marked Tree twice during the regular season, fell victim to a horrific shooting night. ...

Larry "Pudge" Williams is announcing his candidacy for Sheriff of Mississippi County. Williams is a lifelong resident of Mississippi County, growing up in Dyess and currently residing in Manila. Williams and his wife Rena have been married 35 years and have one son and one granddaughter. ...

Friends, family, classmates, community members and customers filled the Caraway Senior Center from 6-8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, to honor Lynn and Betty Haag for their years of service to the city...

The Caraway City Council reinstated the city's Industrial Development Team at the regular meeting held Thursday, Feb. 13. Mayor Barry Riley explained that in previous years the city had an Industrial Development Team that was able to bring in factories and small business. ...

In its regular meeting Monday, Feb. 10, the Buffalo Island School Board interviewed four construction groups before choosing one to be construction manager for its proposed K-12 school to be located along Highway 18 near the Mississippi/Craighead county line...

Allen Moore of Twin Rivers, Alaska, formerly of Manila, is pictured with his lead dog Quito at the finish line at Takhini Hot Springs near Whitehorse. (photo courtesy of SP Kennel) Allen Moore and his team coming into Circle City checkpoint during the Yukon Quest. (photo by Jennifer Nelson)...

The Manila FFA Alumni auction and dinner for scholarships was held on Saturday, Feb. 15, at the Manila Airport/Community Center. A fish and chicken dinner, catered by Big Butts of Leachville, was served with approximately 260 attending...

Farmers Bank & Trust in Manila held a grand open house on Monday, Feb. 10. The new bank facility is located at 3644 West Highway 18. Drawings for prizes of a large screen television and two Yeti coolers were held. Thank you gifts and refreshments were available for all of the guests...

Mr. Tommy Lon Johnson, 63, of Senath, Mo., died Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014.