Stories from Wednesday, September 4, 2024

By REVIS BLAYLOCK NEA Town Courier County Judge A.A. “Shug” Banks was remembered with a plaque unveiling ceremony at the Mississippi County Courthouse on Thursday afternoon. Family and friends gathered in the courtroom to honor the legacy of Judge Banks who served as county judge for 20 years, Jan. 1, 1961 to Dec. 31, 1980. He is the longest serving county judge in the history of Mississippi County...

By REVIS BLAYLOCK NEA Town Courier Emily Ellis, director of development and communications for KIPP Delta is pleased to offer her appreciation to Donating Simplified for the huge donation of $400,000 in surplus PPE supplies. The five truckloads were delivered to Blytheville and Helena on Friday, She also expressed her appreciation to Hardy Sales and Services for their help in providing a forklift and driver to help unload the trucks...

The Mississippi County Relay for Life will be held this weekend at Walker Park in Blytheville. Who will you Relay for? Every year I Relay in memory of my dad, Hubert Brand; my mom, Dorthy Brand; my sister-in-law, Bonnie Carol Brand; and my good friends, Lacretia Carmichael, Jackie Wells and Jerry Sue LaRue...

By Joseph Fondren NEA Town Courier Contributor OSCEOLA— Tuesday, Aug. 27 more than 60 mayors from Northeast Arkansas, state legislators and congressional officials attended the first ever Rural Pathways to the Global Marketplace Summit at Osceola City Hall. Following the meeting, many attendees got the opportunity to tour Big River Steel...

By REVIS BLAYLOCK NEA Town Courier Matt Henry, manager for Mississippi County Community Adaptation Program (CAP), an extended arm of the American Red Cross, was the guest speaker at Thursday’s Blytheville Rotary Club meeting. Rotarian Tracey Ritchey introduced Henry following the welcome and presentation of Rotary minutes by President Diana Holmes...

By DAVID PIERCE Sports Connection Team BLYTHEVILLE – Freshman quarterback Elijah Moody had a high school football debut to remember as his Mills University Comets routed Blytheville Friday, 46-6. The signal caller accounted for six scores – three rushing and three passing – as the Comets (1-0) scored 40 unanswered points enroute to the win. ...

The 2024 mini cheer clinic will be held Sept.10 and 11 from 4:30 p.m. - 6 p.m. at the Trumann Middle School gym at 221 North Pine Avenue. The Trumann cheerleaders will assist the youngest Wildcats in displaying their Wildcat Pride. Registration forms for students from Pre-K to sixth-grade are obtainable in the main office...

By COSMO COSSEY Sports Connection Team The Marked Tree Indians (0-1) will travel to Manila (0-1) to take on the Lions in non-conference football action at Lions Stadium. The Indians are coming off a 48-30 loss to Newport and Manila is coming off a 28-7 loss at Paragould...

By COSMO COSSEY Sports Connection Team The Trumann Wildcats golf team finished in third place at their golf tournament this past Thursday at Newport Country Club. Brayden McClaughlin shot 52 to lead the Wildcats while Asher Box and Brayden Rolland both shot 53. Keegan Holman finished with a 54. Competing as an individual, Caden Adams of Harrisburg carded a 55...

By COSMO COSSEY Sports Connection Team Harrisburg (0-1) traveled to Cross County (1-0) for their season opener Friday night. The only thing that was tougher than both teams was the weather which caused a halt in play with 6:28 left in the game and the Thunderbirds leading 22-0. The weather did not let up and the game was called final around 9:23 p.m...

By STEVE KNOX Sports Connection Team PARAGOULD - Gosnell raced to a 14-0 lead after one period and went on to post a 26-7 victory over the Greene County Tech Eagles Friday. Senior running back Venterrues Lucas got the Pirates on the scoreboard first on a 4-yard run and sophomore Marcus Anderson busted loose on a 63-yard scoring gallop to make it 14-0 Pirates after one period...

By COSMO COSSEY Sports Connection Team The Harrisburg Junior Hornets (1-0) opened their season with a 34-0 shutout of rival Cross County in junior high football action this past Thursday in Harrisburg. The Junior Hornets came up big on their first possession stopping Cross County on downs to take over at their own 36-yard line with 3:56 left in the first quarter. Harrisburg couldn’t get much going on their first possession and they had to punt...

By STEVE KNOX Sports Connection Team MARKED TREE - The fifth ranked team in Class 3A, the Newport Greyhounds, went on the road Friday to face Class 2A power Marked Tree. The Hounds would explode for 40 first half points enroute to a 48-30 victory over the Indians in the season opener for both teams...

By STEVE KNOX Sports Connection Team LEPANTO - East Poinsett County hosted 3-3A power Walnut Ridge Friday in the season opener for both schools. While the smaller school had success against their Lawrence County visitors the last two seasons, this time the Warriors offense had a tough time sustaining anything against the Bobcats and fell 37-0...

By REVIS BLAYLOCK Sports Connection Contributor MANILA - The Manila Lions volleyball teams swept four matches from Piggott Thursday winning the seventh grade, junior A, senior B and senior high matches. The seventh grade Lions won straight in sets 25-22 and 25-11. The junior A won both their sets 25-23 and 25-22. The senior B won their set and the senior high won in three sets 25-6, 25-25 and 25-23...

By STEVE KNOX Sports Connection Team PARAGOULD - Manila (0-1) went on the road to open the 2024 football season at Paragould and despite a game effort came up short by a 28-7 score to the Class 5A Rams. While the game was not artistically pretty, the Rams had the better of things throughout the game. Manila was hurt by an early turnover, fumbling the ball away on its initial possession and more than 10 false start penalties...

By STEVE KNOX Sports Connection Team Lake City native and Riverside High School Alum Gavin Stone continues to have a solid season with the National League West leading Los Angeles Dodgers. Stone’s team has won 17 of his 25 starts this season, including four in a row capped by L.A.’s 8-6 win Saturday over the Arizona Diamondbacks...

Helen Renalle Suggs, 54, passed away Aug. 30, 2024, in Jonesboro. Born Aug. 26, 1970, in Manila, she was a proud graduate of Manila High School and remained a lifelong resident of the area. Helen was preceded in death by her parents, Nathaniel and Virgie Lee Suggs; her sisters, Johnnie Lee Williams and Shellie Jean Rayford; and her niece, Natalie Nicole Rayford...

Rodney Lelon O’Neal, 70, of Blytheville, passed away Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024 at his home. Rodney was born in Blytheville to Bobby R. O’Neal, Sr. and Mary Katherine Dyer O’Neal. He was a 1971 graduate of Blytheville High School and a graduate of Arkansas State University. He was employed by the Mississippi County Emergency Management where he was a GIS surveyor and part of the signage team. Rodney was a devout Christian and a faithful member of Ridgecrest Baptist Church...

Oscar Lee Redding of Monette passed peacefully from his earthly life, Saturday evening, Aug. 31, 2024, at Arkansas Continued Care Hospital in Jonesboro. He was surrounded by his loving family in his final moments. Oscar was born June 30, 1942, in Arkadelphia to William Cotton Redding and Gladys Elizabeth Coleman Redding. ...