Stories from Saturday, February 29, 2020

JONESBORO — The Blytheville Chickasaws’ last two weeks have been a struggle after losing their regular season finale on the road to Brookland and then falling in the first round of their districts to Brookland last week at Southside Batesville. However, the Chicks had no problems Thursday night in the first round of the regional tournament as they knocked off the Pulaski Academy Bruins 50-46 to advance to the semifinals of the regional tournament and punched their ticket to the state tournament next week in Farmington, Ark.. ...

Manila and Bald Knob battled through two grueling overtime periods before the Bulldogs finally survived, handing the Lions a crushing 57-56 defeat in the first round of the 3A Regional Basketball Tournament Wednesday night at Searcy. The Lions, who entered the tournament as a number one seed and the champions of the 2A-3 conference, saw their hope of a deep post season run end abruptly at the hands of number four seed Bald Knob...

SEARCY — The Gosnell Pirates upset the top-seeded Tuckerman Bulldogs Wednesday night in the 3A-3 Regional Tournament as they punched their ticket for the 3A State Tournament with a 45-31 victory. The Pirates led in all four quarters as they led 11-9 after the first quarter and held a 21-15 lead at the half...

Happy Feb. 29th. We don’t get a Feb. 29 every year, just on a leap year which comes around about every fourth year. February is always a short month even with the extra day but for some reason, it seems it has dragged on forever this year. I hate to complain, but I have found the month of February to be a bit dreary. ...

Today is the last day of Black History Month. The other day, I listened to a song called “Glory” by Common and John Legend. It was the first time that I had heard it in a while yet it touched me the same way it did when it first came out with the movie “Selma” in 2015...

OSCEOLA — The Mississippi County Quorum Court met Tuesday night in the Osceola Courthouse for the February monthly meeting where they passed four ordinances and two resolutions. The four ordinances included doing business with a county employee or family of a county employee, an excavator lease, a compactor lease and an ordinance appropriating $105,000 for the Senior Citizens Center...

Editor’s Note: The NEA Town Courier is featuring African Americans who have made significant impacts on the Blytheville area during Black History Month. Some of the oldest businesses in Blytheville owned by African Americans are Nichols Plumbing and McDonald-Horne Funeral Home...

Leachville council met for a short special called meeting on Thursday to amend the 2019 budget and compare prices for lighting for the fire department’s new rescue truck. Mayor Rodney Robertson called the meeting to order with all council members present...

Kindergarteners learning to read before Christmas break. Teachers taking ownership to support students. Blytheville Primary School has taken full advantage of the Professional Learning Community cohort grant, which is transforming education in the school, according to Blytheville curriculum director Sally Cooke. Blytheville Primary is working with Solution Tree to change the culture and mindsets at the school...

Friday afternoon, Blytheville Superintendent Bobby Ashley confirmed that a faculty member hit a student at the Alternative Learning Environment (ALE) building. "It dealt with personnel and a student and of course at this time we can't talk about personnel and student matters," Ashley told the TC...

Tuesday night, Blytheville School District superintendent Bobby Ashley told the school board that he planned to send Reduction in Force (RIF) letters to employees before spring break. According to financial consultant Norman Hill, the school district must cut a minimum of $1.3 million in payroll its next fiscal year, though he recommended reducing positions by $1.8 million to avoid another potential RIF the following year...