Stories from Wednesday, May 25, 2005

A Craighead County jury found John Patrick Dickinson, 39, of Marmaduke, guilty of capital murder Friday in the May 12, 2004, shooting death of Jewel Cavaness of Rector. Circuit Judge David Goodman of Paragould sentenced Dickinson to life in prison without parole for the murder and added 20 years for the attempted first degree murder of Brad Hester, also of Rector...

What a dry May it has been. Clay County Extension Agent Andy Vangilder said this is a very unusual situation for this area. "The last May I remember it being this dry was 1988 and it turned out not to be a very good year," Vangilder said. "We certainly hope that is not the case this year."...

First Sgt. Charlie Cagle of the Arkansas National Guard, who recently returned from Iraq, will speak at Rector's annual Memorial Day program set for 2 p.m. Sunday, May 29, near the flagpole at Woodland Heights Cemetery. The event is sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars and Auxiliary of Post 10480 to honor all veterans...

Rector High School's annual Stageworks program for children now enrolled in grades one through six will be held Monday, May 30, through Friday, June 3, at the RHS cafetorium. Registration now is underway at $75 per child and will continue through Friday, May 27. For families who enter two children, a $5 discount will be given for the second child. Registration will include a lesson book, afternoon sno-cone snack and all classes...

Rector Special Olympics athletes brought home lots of medals and made their hometown proud in the State Special Olympics summer games held Thursday through Saturday, May 19-21, on the campus of Harding University at Searcy. Emmy Vangilder won two gold medals, one in the tennis ball throw and another in the 25-meter walk, Ariel Dooley won a gold medal in the 100-meter manual wheelchair race and a silver medal in the tennis ball throw, and Ashley Bour won a gold medal in the tennis ball throw and a sixth place ribbon in the 50-meter dash. ...

It was another successful season for the Lady Cougars softball program, as the team earned a state playoff berth for the second year in a row. The squad stood out among area teams, earning both the regional and district championships. The team finished with an impressive 20-4 record. With the entire roster returning next year, the future remains bright for coach Matt Rabjohn and his squad...

It was an up and down year for the Cougars baseball team. Despite finishing with a 10-13 overall record, the team from Rector peaked at the right time of the year, earning a trip to the regional tournament in Monette, where they advanced to the second round...

There will be a Lady Greyhound Fundamental Camp for girls in grades K-6 held at the Marmaduke gym from May 31 until June 3 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.. The camp will offer a variety of drills intended to instill players with the fundamentals of basketball...

A large number of Greyhound athletes were honored at the rescent Marmaduke Athletic Banquet awards ceremony. In senior high boys basketball, the Chester Barner Senior Award, the top honor in the program, was awarded to John Clark. Clark also won awards for most steals, most rebounds, most assists and the best two-point field goal percentage. ...

Donald Jay Elliott, 69, of Ocean Springs, Miss., died Sunday, April 24, 2005, in Biloxi, Miss. He was born Aug. 19, 1935, in Boydsville, the son of Thelma Wilson Elliott Banks and the late Virgil Elliott and grandson of the late Alva and Rosetta Hall Wilson...

Leborn Estes, 76, of Piggott died Wednesday, May 11, 2005, at his residence. He was born June 15, 1928, in Brilliant, Ala., the son of the late John and Cannie Haney Estes. He was united in marriage to Sarah Mae Bratcher on Sept. 18, 1948. They had four children...

Braxton Alexander Rabah, infant son of Aaron Nasim and Brittany Shree (Glasgow) Rabah of Lafe, was born and died Sunday, May 22, 2005, at UAMS in Little Rock. Other survivors include paternal grandmother, Camela Rabah of Lafe; maternal grandparents, Mark and Leah Glasgow of McDougal; paternal grandfather, Martin Rabah of Blytheville; great-grandparents, Bobby and June Burns of Lafe and Judy and Donald Rice of the Mounds community, and uncles, Adam Rabah of Lafe and Jeremy Glasgow of Mounds...

Savaniah Eastabrook, 75, of Marmaduke, died Thursday, May 19, 2005, at Paragould. Born Feb. 3, 1930, in Clay County, she had retired from a factory in St. Louis and was a non-denominational Pentecost. She was preceded in death by her father, Chester McDonald; her mother, Bessie Tisdal; two sons, David and Steve Eastabrook; two brothers, Charlie Lee McDonald and Johnny Earl Tisdal, and one grandson, Jason McNulty...

James "Briney" Parmenter, 94, of Rector died Wednesday, May 18, 2005, at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. He was born Aug. 29, 1910, in Bloomfield, Mo., to the late James and Rhoda Parmenter. He was a retired cemetery sexton of Woodland Heights Cemetery in Rector and a member of the Fifth and Pine Church of Christ...

The arrest of an Illinois man on May 20 led to arrests in the burglary at Morris Farm Center at Holly Island, which occurred in early May. On May 8, the Clay County Sheriff's Department received a report of a burglary at the center. During the course of the investigation, the department learned that other counties also had burglaries in which the same type of equipment was stolen...

One of the area baseball teams taking part in summer league play is the Rector Babe Ruth team sponsored by B&H Auto Sales. The team is coached by Nathan Henderson and plays teams representing towns from all over the area. Members of the Rector team include Jacob Hester, first base; Dalton Shaw, catcher; Clarence Clark, second base; Tyler Small, shortstop; Daniel Hester, third base; Tony Loveless, left field; Patrick Scott, center field; Alex Roofe, right field; Drew Boyd, outfield; Trent Arnold, outfield; Robert Matthewson, outfield, and Curtis Wolfenbarger, outfield.. ...