Stories from Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Mississippi County voters are heading to the polls today (Tuesday) to decide the fate of a county-wide half-cent sales tax designed to support the Mississippi County Hospital System.

Monday was a very active night in the Armorel school district. The district held its annual public meeting, monthly board meeting and hosted its EAST Night Out.

Justin and Courtney Kelems of Caraway welcomed the arrival of a son, Brantley Michael, born Sept. 15, 2014, at St Bernard's Hospital in Jonesboro. He weighed 7 pounds and 9 ounces. Also welcoming Brantley were sister Lauren, 2, and brother, Jaxon, 1. Grandparents are Michael and Amanda Thomas of Cherokee Village, Felicia and Ben Clowers of Paragould, Glenda and David Wells of Caraway, and the late Troy Kelems of Caraway. Great-grandparents are Shirley and Jerry Roleson of Cherokee Village, Geneva and James Stallings of Jonesboro, Juanita Crafton of Manila and Jerry and Cherry Crafton of Blytheville.

Wesley Henderson and Nikki Barger of Leachville announce the arrival of a daughter, Greenleigh Jo Henderson, born Sept. 23, 2014, at St. Bernard's Hospital in Jonesboro. Grandparents are Brenda Boyles of Leachville, Bobby Barger of Paragould, Francis Lancaster of Leachville and Joe Henderson of Monette...

Reynaldo Cerda Barajas, 70, of Leachville, passed from this life Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014, at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. Born Nov. 30, 1943, in Linares Nuevo Leon, Mexico, he was the son of the late Jose and Maria De Jesus Cerda Barajas and had lived most of his life in Harlingen, Texas. He had been a Leachville resident since 1990 and was a retired cotton ginner for Adams Land Company. He was a member of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Blytheville...

Billy Ray Weeks, 55, of Arkoma, Okla., passed away Friday, Oct. 3, 2014 at his home. Mr. Weeks was born Jan. 11, 1959 in Caraway, Ark., to Willis and Lena Kelems Weeks. Mr. Weeks was of the Baptist faith, an Army veteran, played the guitar and loved to fish...

Osceola scored three first half touchdowns to take a 22-0 lead and coasted to a 34-8 3A-3 conference victory over Manila in senior high football action Friday night at Osceola. The Seminoles got on the board with 3:54 left in the first quarter on a six yard touchdown run by Tevin James, capping off a 10-play, 50-yard scoring drive. James added the point after, giving Osceola a 7-0 lead...

Riverside continued its dominance in 2A tennis, sweeping the District Tournament, winning both the boys and girls team titles as well as both singles and doubles crowns Oct. 6 at Allen Park in Jonesboro...

Town Crier Sports Staff Buffalo Island Central's bid for a second straight Class 2A State Golf Championship fell short when Spring Hill outlasted the Mustangs 244-253 Wednesday afternoon at the Thunder Bayou Golf Club in Blytheville...

Caraway Mayor Barry Riley started the Thursday, Oct. 9, council meeting by reading a letter from former citizen Scott Bell praising Caraway Police Chief Pete Hicks for his professionalism. Mayor Riley then told council members the Caraway Fire Department has received a $2,500 grant for new radios and a siren for the fire truck. ...

David Wallace, LTC, USA, Ret. has been selected as a 2014 Inductee into the Arkansas Military Veterans Hall of Fame (AMVHOF). Wallace will be honored during an induction banquet on Nov. 1 at the Embassy Suites in Little Rock...

Donna Brooks Walls of Manila is known for her smile and positive outlook on life. Even as she battled breast cancer she never lost her love of life. She calls the last 15 years her journey through cancer...

Missi Blankenship Miller of Leachville is sharing her personal story in hopes it might help others who are fighting breast cancer. She wants to encourage women to never put off mammograms. It was during a routine mammogram she discovered she had breast cancer. She was diagnosed with stage 1 Invasive Lobular Carcinoma in January of 2011 at the age of 43...

The early morning storm on Tuesday, Oct. 7, didn't take long to pass through Craighead and Mississippi County but left a path of destruction that has devastated many. Meleisa Finch, manager of Kiech-Shauver-Miller Gin, along with Sam Wilson of Monette Co-Op, said the affects on farmers and agriculture related fields will be far reaching and will not be fully known until the end of the cotton season this year. ...

An apparent murder-suicide late Monday night in the Missouri Bootheel left two people dead and one person critically injured, according to a report from the Caruthersville Police Department.

The defense for Freddie Sharp III, on the first day of Sharp's trial for the alleged rape of 11-year-old Jessica Williams, said medical examiners will verify later in the trial that Williams wasn't raped.

Mississippi County voters passed a half-cent sales tax for the county hospital system Tuesday, with more than 60 percent of voters supporting the measure.