Stories from Wednesday, March 23, 2005

A lengthy discussion about the three-percent raise given to the court clerk and judges by the county was the held by the Piggott City Council during its regular monthly meeting on Monday, March 20. Mayor Gerald Morris to the Council he didn't think the county was going to give a raise to the employees, but it did and proceeded to send the city a bill retroactively asking for payment of the raise from Jan. 1 of this year through the present date...

The Mohawk baseball team faced the Brookland Bearcats on Monday, March 14, at Brookland for non-conference action. The Bearcats defeated the Mohawks with a final score of 15-1. Craig Dollins took the loss in pitching for the Mohawks. John Midkiff was the only multiple hitter for the game, going two for two on the night...

Coach Jeff Priest of the Lady Mohawks was voted 3AA-North Conference Coach of the Year for 2005. The Lady Mohawks finished 11-3 in conference play and were conference runnersup for the season. The Lady Mohawks finished the year with a 22-9 record, which included a stretch of winning 11 games in a row...

The All-Conference players for the 2004-2005 basketball season have been announced and seven of the Mohawks and Lady Mohawks have been given this recognition. All-Conference players are voted on by the conference coaches, who select the players based on their performance in the 14 conference games throughout the season...

Pamela Elaine "Pam" (Burdin) Layton, 51, of Harrisburg, died on Saturday, March 5, 2005, at her home. Mrs. Layton was born Jan. 27, 1954, in Texas, the daughter of David Baggs and Mary Eaton Baggs. She was an L.P.N. and had previously worked st several area nursing homes. She was a graduate of Black River Vo-Tech in Pocahontas and a member of the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church near Harrisburg...

Curtis Bruce Moore, 46, of New Braunfels, Texas, died March 16, 2005, at his home in New Braunfels. He was born January 14, 1959, in Kennett. He graduated from Piggott High School in 1977, and later earned an associate degree in Photography at Southern Arkansas Technical College in Camden, Ark...

Edna Underwood, 93, of Piggott, died Tuesday, March 15, 2005, in the General Baptist Nursing Home in Campbell. She was born on August 10, 1911, in Springerton, Ill., the daughter of the late Edmond and Clara Pifer Johnson. She was united in marriage to Arthur Underwood on Jan. 18, 1928. They had five daughters...

Anna Mae French, 80, of Piggott, died Saturday, March 19, 2005, in St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. She was born November 7, 1924, the daughter of the late George Franklin and Minnie Frances Carlson Fisher. She was united in marriage to James Leroy French on January 26, 1946. They had three children...

Clifton Carl Shride, 90, recently of Piggott, died Monday, March 14, 2005, in Anaheim, Calif. He was born April 8, 1914, in Clay County, the son of the late David Henry and Zulla Belle White Shride. He was a member of the Church of God in St. Louis, Portland, Oreg., Bell Gardens, Calif., Madison, Wisc., and Piggott. ...

The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center (HPMEC) at Piggott is searching for couples who were married at the historic Clay County Courthouse on the square in Piggott. In the years following World War II, thousands of couples ran off to get married. For many of them, the place they ran off to was Piggott...

Piggott will hold its annual city-wide yard sale on Saturday, April 2. The City of Piggott will waive the yard sale permit fee for that day. A list of addresses planning sales is being generated by the Piggott Chamber of Commerce. To add an address to the list, persons may call the Chamber office at 598-3167...

Several security issues were brought to the attention of the Clay County Quorum Court by District Court Judge Rick Rodery during the Court's meeting Monday night at Piggott. Judge Rodery referred to what he called the "Atlanta Incident," in which a judge, court reporter and sheriff's deputy where fatally shot while in an Atlanta courtroom. ...

Katie Smart of Piggott won the title of Arkansas' Junior Miss and cash scholarship awards totaling $2,600 Saturday in the 48th annual Arkansas' Junior Miss scholarship competition. A panel of five judges selected her from a field of 26 high school seniors competing in Searcy...

The Lady Mohawks Softball team hosted the Lady Redskins of Pocahontas on Monday, March 14. Although the Lady Mohawks played hard, they were defeated by the Lady Redskins with a final score of 5-0. Jessica Ingram, starting pitcher for the Lady Mohawks, got the loss, walking only four and striking out two. ...