Stories from Wednesday, March 14, 2007

The 2006-07 Lady Cougar basketball team will go down in the Rector High School history as one of the most successful ever step on the hardwood. The squad finished the season with a 25-10 record, earning the first-ever trip to the state tournament in girls' basketball at Rector...

Robert Walter "Bud" Johnson, 89, of Paragould died Friday, March 9, 2007, at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. Mr. Johnson was born Sept. 26, 1917, in Ebenezer, Ark., and was a cattle farmer and of the Baptist faith. He was preceded in death by three brothers, Fred, Alfred and Wayne Johnson, and one sister, Evelyn Smith...

Glenn Dewitt Harper, 97, of Sheridan, formerly of Clay County, died Thursday, March 8, 2007, at his home. Born June 16, 1909, in Peach Orchard to the late Thomas P. Harper and Bessie May Brown Harper, he was a bus driver for public schools and of the Baptist faith...

Joseph T. Cheshire, 75, of Rector died Friday, March 9, 2007, at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. He was born July 30, 1931, in Gideon, Mo., to the late Joseph T. Cheshire Sr. and Sarah (Turner) Cheshire and was married Aug. 25, 1950, in Piggott to the former Frankie Pearson. He was a farmer and of the Baptist faith...

Iva Mae Boester, 63, of Rector died Wednesday, March 7, 2007, at her home. Born May 17, 1943, in St. Louis to the late Coy Claude Tracer and Maudie L. (Heath) Tracer, she was a cashier at Mr. T's and a member of the Fifth and Pine Church of Christ...

Loyd Dale Smith, 78, of Rector died Saturday, March 10, 2007, in Okeechobee, Fla. Born Oct. 28, 1928, in Parma, Mo., to the late William and Nancy Smith, he was a veteran of the Navy, a retired farmer and a member of the First United Methodist Church of Rector...

The Lady Cougar softball team was downed in their opening game of the season, falling to Cross County, 6-3. Rector got off to a quick start, taking a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Hillary Calhoun got things started with a single to shallow center. Jordan Cornelison hit a double, putting runners on second and third. Skye Shepard hit a blooper that was mishandled, allowing both runners to score...

The Lady Cougar softball team is gearing up for the long season ahead. This team will differ from those of recent years following the graduation of four-time All-State pitcher Tara Shepard last year. "Obviously, you can't replace someone like Tara," Rector coach Matt Rabjohn said. ...

Democrat Sports Staff The Cougar baseball squad found its way into the win column in impressive fashion Monday, blowing out the visiting Turrell Rockets, 36-0, through three innings in the first half of a doubleheader. Although the Cougars were clearly in control, head coach Nate Henderson doesn't want his team to read too much in the easy win...

Woodrow Wilson Payton, 88, of Blytheville, formerly of Marmaduke, died Friday, March 9, 2007, at Baptist East in Memphis. Born June 21, 1918, in Gravette, Ark., to the late Harvey Leroy Payton and Emma Alice (Vermillion), he worked for Ark-Mo Power. He was a World War II Navy veteran of the Korean conflict and was a member of Trinity Baptist Church...

Iva Reba Smith, 92, of Rector died Friday, March 2, 2007, at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. Mrs. Smith was born April 5, 1914, in Clay County to the late Russell and Louella (Hoil) Williams. She was married to Carl Smith, who preceded her in death May 7, 1996. She also was preceded in death by a daughter, Joyce Maxine Smith; four brothers, Roy, Ben, Granville and Henry Williams, and three sisters, Wilma Shelton, Ruth Stevens and Dora Watson...

Progress continues at the Marmaduke city park, where work has been completed on the exterior of the community center. Construction is underway on the building's interior, which will house city hall once completed. Also, the city council is seeking bids for mowing at the park and other areas in town, including the area surrounding Anchor Packaging and the water tower. The council plans to advertise the bids in the next few weeks, and have them ready for next month's meeting...

The students of Rector High School were honored Monday afternoon, March 12, with an academic rally highlighting the announcement of last year's Benchmark Exam and End of Course scores for the district. "We tested better than the other schools in the county," high school principal Wade Williams said. "We tested better than most, if not all, of the 15 schools in our co-op. This is something our students should be very proud to have achieved. We're certainly proud of them."...

State Sen. Robert Thompson made good on one of his campaign promises recently, co-sponsoring legislation that would set up a statewide drug court program. "I'm a member of the judicial committee, and we've spent a lot of time recently working on legislation to establish a statewide drug court system," the Paragould Democrat noted from his office on Friday...

On Saturday, March 3, the Piggott Pee Wee boys sixth grade team marked the end of another successful campaign as they took home first place honors at the Marmaduke tournament. With the victory, the boys end their season with a record of 14-4. In fact, over the past two years the group has compiled a record of 29-5...

Erica Rickman, a multi-sport star for the Piggott Lady Mohawks, has signed a letter of intent to play softball next year at Williams Baptist College in Walnut Ridge. Rickman, who has served as a pitcher, catcher and infielder for the Lady Mohawks recently signed her letter of intent with the Lady Eagles...

The Piggott Lady Mohawks, defending conference and district-tournament champions, kicked off their regular season Monday afternoon with a 5-4 road loss at Corning. Early season rust was apparently the problem for Coach Nikki Speer and her squad, as the Lady Bobcats scored five unearned runs late in the contest. For Corning it was their sixth game of the year...

The Piggott Mohawks baseball squad played three games in the past week, losing two at home and winning at Maynard. Following last week's home-opener loss to Brookland, the Tribe went on the road for a conference tilt at Corning last Thursday afternoon, but were shut-out 12-0. The following day Coach Brock Swann and the team traveled to Maynard and pounded the Tigers 28-9 for their first win of the year...

Larry Ferman Sutfin, 61, of Brookland, formerly of Piggott, died Thursday, March 8, 2007, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. He was born Feb. 19, 1946, in McDougal, and was the son of the late Eulas and Geraldine Hooper Sutfin. He was united in marriage to Barbara Dees on Nov. 4, 1967, and to this union four children were born...

The third annual Proudest Kid in Piggott Essay contest is over, and Danielle Steagal is the winner. The contest, sponsored by the Piggott Area Chamber of Commerce, was open to all third graders at PES. The students were encouraged to write about local businesses and points of interest in Piggott using local people in the essay. The students were also encouraged to mention an annual event that is special to them or their involvement with local organizations or charities...

This past weekend Jonesboro High School was the site for the Region VIII Concert Band Festival, which featured competition among several regional schools. Saturday afternoon the Piggott High School Concert Band took to the stage of the JHS auditorium for their performance, under the direction of Jon Fulkerson...

Representatives from The American Red Cross spend the better part of Monday afternoon looking for arms to poke and blood to take. Stationed at South Thornton Church of Christ, the Red Cross took blood from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. Representatives, all from the Jonesboro branch of the American Red Cross, said that O Negative is the most needed blood type because anyone can use O Negative...

The 9th Annual Heritage Park SuperCruise and Rod Run is only two months away. This year's event will be held Friday, May 18, through Sunday, May 20. SuperCruise t-shirts will be in honor of the soldiers of the 875th and are due to arrive May 15. Only 350 t-shirts have been ordered, the same number as last year. ...

Well, daylight savings time is already here and spring is right behind it. It's time to oil up the ball gloves, shine the bats and wipe the dirt out of the mouthpiece. It's time for some baseball and softball. Done right, ball can be some of the best memories that can be created for kids--and adults, too. Memories that can last for years and years to come...

1967 This week in 1967 brought news that an open meeting has been scheduled for March 17 on the future of the Greenway School District and use of current facilities. All patrons of the district were encouraged to attend. The Piggott Band Boosters announced that they're holding a musical March 17 at the new high school gym. The Master of Ceremonies will be "Mister" Rudy Pylant of KBOA radio in Kennett...

According to Piggott School Board President Jon Rodery, efforts to find a new superintendent for the district continue. Recently Superintendent Bruce Evans tendered his resignation, effective at the end of the current school year. At that time, the search for his successor began. During the course of the past month, two special board meetings were held to interview prospective candidates for the job, though the efforts did not pan out...

One year ago this week the Piggott School Board gave the go-ahead to begin work on the new gymnasium-classroom project at PHS. At that time, the contractor, GAG Construction, indicated that the building would be available for use by around the first of the year. Today the project remains unfinished, and school officials say it will be late May before the new structure can be occupied...

Iva Mae Boester, 63, of Rector died Wednesday, March 7, 2007, at her home. Born May 17, 1943, in St. Louis to the late Coy Claude Tracer and Maudie L. (Heath) Tracer, she was a cashier at Mr. T's and a member of the Fifth and Pine Church of Christ...

Joseph T. Cheshire, 75, of Rector died Friday, March 9, 2007, at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. He was born July 30, 1931, in Gideon, Mo., to the late Joseph T. Cheshire Sr. and Sarah (Turner) Cheshire and was married Aug. 25, 1950, in Piggott to the former Frankie Pearson. He was a farmer and of the Baptist faith...

Iva Reba Smith, 92, of Rector died Friday, March 2, 2007, at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. Mrs. Smith was born April 5, 1914, in Clay County to the late Russell and Louella (Hoil) Williams. She was married to Carl Smith, who preceded her in death May 7, 1996. She also was preceded in death by a daughter, Joyce Maxine Smith; four brothers, Roy, Ben, Granville and Henry Williams, and three sisters, Wilma Shelton, Ruth Stevens and Dora Watson...

Robert "Scotty J" James, 33, died suddenly March 8, 2007. He was born Sep. 24, 1973 in Hinsdale, Ill. He also lived in Bolingbrook, Ill., Piggott, Hazlehurst, Ga., and Augusta, Ga. He graduated from Hephzibah High School in the Augusta area. He was a hardworking young man, a golfer, softball player, and an avid Razorback fan. He was a wonderful husband, son, brother, and uncle as well as a good friend to all...

Eric D. Janes, 48, of Belleville, Ill., was born April 5, 1958, in Piggot, Ark. He died Sunday, March 4, 2007, at his residence surrounded by his loving family. Janes played bass guitar in numerous bands and worked in many facets of the music industry including B&G and Dale's Music Stores. He was a member of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church...

Willie Jessie Randol, 91, of Piggott, died Thursday, March 8, 2007, in the Piggott Community Hospital. She was born Oct. 10, 1915, in Reyno, Ark., and was the daughter of the late Jimmie James and Delcie Boshyers Johnson. She was united in marriage to Charles Randol in 1938 and to this union four children were born...

Dorman Lloyd Steelman, 81, died March 1, 2007, at the Salem Memorial District Hospital in Salem, Mo. He was born Feb. 17, 1926, in Cedar Grove, Mo. The oldest of ten children of Reamy and Erma Steelman. His first eight years of education were in a one-room schoolhouse on the banks of the Current River and graduated from Eminence High School in 1944...

Following action at Monday night's Piggott School Board meeting, it's uncertain who will be teaching students at Piggott High School this fall. In a rare 2-3 split, the board members declined to offer new contracts to certified staff at the high school campus, in a vote that followed a lengthy executive session...