Stories from Friday, February 12, 2021

On Friday, Blytheville police released the cause of death in the two individuals who perished Thursday, Feb. 4 in a fire in the 700 block of South Lilly. According to BPD Capt. John Frazier, Travis Armstrong, 37, and Sandra Hopkins, 49, died of smoke inhalation...

Kenneth Neal Benham, 58, of Manila, passed from this life Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021, at his home. Born in Conway, he was the son of the late Mackey Joe and Shirley Coyeta Ford Benham and had been a lifelong area resident. Kenneth had worked several years for Paul Fleeman Farms and had been an employee of the City of Manila since 2019. ...

JT Davis, 80, of Villa Rica, Ga., former Osceola area resident, passed from this life Monday, Feb. 8, 2021, at the Tanner Medical Center in Villa Rica. Born and raised in Northeast Arkansas, he was a 1958 graduate of Missco High School near Osceola. He was a veteran of the U.S. ...

Richard Wayne Nokes was born April 27, 1940, in the Promised Land farming community outside of Blytheville and died Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn., surrounded by his family. He was preceded in death by his parents, Paul E. Nokes and Algus Russell Nokes...

In icy conditions, Blytheville firemen battled a vacant house fire at 313 East Kentucky around 7 a.m. Friday. No injuries were reported. "Fire crews arrived on scene to a fully-involved structure fire," Blytheville fire chief Mike Carney said. "The house had been vacant for a number of years. The decision was made to let it burn and protect exposures. The houses on both sides of burning structure did receive some damage."...