Stories from Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Vernon Lee Bills “Tootsie” was born Feb. 28, 1951, in Pine Bluff to the late Henry Bills, Sr. and the late Ola Mae Charles Bills. He was a worker for the city of Blytheville and was of the Baptist faith. Mr. Bills passed away on April 2, 2020, at the age of 69. He was preceded in death by his father, Henry Bills, Sr., his mother, Ola Mae Charles Bills, and one brother, Isaac Webb...

On Monday, Gov. Asa Hutchinson extended the closure of public schools through the remainder of the 2019-20 school year. “Schools will continue to provide alternative methods of instruction (AMI),” Gov. Hutchinson said. “This is necessary for our students to be safe, but let’s keep learning every day.”...

At Monday’s press conference, Mississippi County Judge John Alan Nelson and Blytheville Mayor James Sanders stated that there was only one COVID-19 case in Mississippi County. Tuesday morning, the county judge’s office confirmed that the county now had four cases in Mississippi County. As of Tuesday afternoon, there have been 26 negative tests in the county, according to the Arkansas Department of Health...

Doctors and nurses are on the front lines as the world battles the coronavirus pandemic and their families are right there with them. Manila natives Jared Burks, a UAMS Northeast Resident Physician working at St. Bernards in Jonesboro, and his wife, Alyssa Tate Burks, made the decision to distance themselves to keep their son, 13-month old Zeke, from potentially being exposed to the virus. ...