Stories from Saturday, February 12, 2022

New Blytheville School District interim superintendent Mike Wallace recently introduced himself to the community and addressed his plans. “As the new interim superintendent of the Blytheville School District, I want to take the opportunity to introduce myself to our parents and community stakeholders that may not know me,” Wallace said. ...

Active covid-19 cases continued to drop in the past week as Blytheville Mayor James Sanders reported 353 on Wednesday. In the previous week, the county was home to 645 cases. Despite the dips in cases, Mississippi County health officer Dr. Valencia Andrews-Pirtle is continuing to vouch for mask-wearing to help completely minimize the virus...

The Gosnell City Council met via Zoom on Tuesday night, agreeing to renew its garbage truck lease. The two-year lease expires in September, and River City Hydraulics will provide a new garbage truck at that time on another two-year lease. Also Tuesday night, the council approved new body cameras for its police officers at a cost of $7,000...

The Blytheville Police Department introduced its new police service technician program Feb. 8 during the police and fire committee meeting. The program is designed to improve the department’s recruiting process and incentivize citizens who choose to participate. Sgt. Robin Haught-Angel and officer John Nelson explained the position as civilian workers who can work and perform certain tasks for the department under the age of 21...

EDP Renewables is planning a $200 million solar project in Blytheville. The company took the next step in the project Tuesday night when getting approval from the Blytheville Planning Commission, which allowed conditional use for power generation on the Riverland Plantation property on East Highway 18 and to rezone the property from Residential-4 to Industrial-1...

Illinois-based Road Ranger Travel Center will be opening a truck stop at the old Scotty’s Truck Stop on South Division. Tuesday night, the Blytheville Planning Commission approved plans for the business, as well as a 95-foot sign. Architect Joe Altenhoff told the board that the new business would be a fueling station, convenience store with a restaurant, and have a shower facility for truck drivers...

United States Steel held a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday inside of the coil warehouse at the neighboring Big River Steel Works for what will be the most technologically advanced mini mill in North America. The $3 billion mill will be located just south of the BRSW campus off of Highway 119...

The Blytheville Chickasaws (23-3, 16-0 4A-3) finished a perfect conference regular season Thursday night with a 52-47 win over Southside (10-12, 4-8 4A-3). Despite marking their 17th straight victory, Blytheville head coach Mckenzie Piece wasn't thrilled with the team’s performance, but believes this game will serve as a lesson for the Chicks moving forward...

A dominant second quarter propelled the visiting Manila Lions to a 63-38 victory over Gosnell on Wednesday night. Ahead just 13-12 after the first, the Lions held the Pirates to just three points in the second while going on to score 21 themselves. Manila contained Gosnell’s offense with their half-court trapping defense which forced the Pirates into several turnovers...