Stories from Wednesday, August 5, 2020

The Gosnell School Board approved the district’s 2020-21 Virtual Academy Handbook as well as the district’s reopening plan Monday night. Regarding the Virtual Academy Handbook, curriculum coordinator Anita McKinney said, “This is a living document; it can basically change at any time as we get information from the governor and the Arkansas Department of Health.”...

Area schools are preparing for a new school year under difficult circumstances because of COVID-19. School administrators and teachers are trying to accommodate all students with  in-class and virtual learning options. District leaders are striving to make the in-school environment as safe as possible following the state mandates and guidelines for the health of teachers and students...

Manila Cemetery was the target of vandalism Friday night with 13 headstones pulled out of the ground (some were broken), metal vases knocked off the monuments, and flowers/crosses removed and thrown across the property. Damage was done to the oldest part of the cemetery and at least one of the stones had been there since the early 1900s...

Young singer Bailey Johnson, 11, of Gosnell made the finals in the Jonesboro’s Got Talent preliminary round held early in July. The competition is to benefit The Foundation of Arts in Jonesboro. Bailey is one of seven finalists who will be performing in the 9-14 age category on Thursday night, Aug. 6. Contestants will have the chance to win either a judge's choice or crowd favorite, along with overall...

Wanda Whitney Fincher, 81, of Prescott, passed away Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020, in Prescott. She was born July 24, 1939, to Willie Jo (Billie Billings) and Woodroe Whitney in Blackwater, a farming community south of Manila. Wanda attended school at Blackwater, Bragg City, Deering, Rector and graduated from Manila High School. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) and her master’s degree from Ouachita Baptist University...

Joseph Eugene Jones, 64, of Osceola died July 31, 2020, at St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro. He was a factory worker and of the Baptist faith. He was born April 5, 1956 in Cleveland, Miss., to Rueben Eugene and Evelyn Isom Jones. He was preceded in death by his parents...