Stories from Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Bobby Joe Ramer, 64, of Knob, died Sunday, July 8, 2007, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. Born June 4, 1943, in Knob to the late Morgan and Lena Ramer, he was a mechanic, having retired from John Deere in Corning, and was of the Baptist faith...

Rector Elementary School faculty will welcome two new teachers to their ranks this fall. Amanda Isom and Lynnette Trail will join Rector Elementary School as kindergarten teachers. Current kindergarten teachers Shana Simmons and Heather Frost will move to two upper elementary openings. ...

Ideas about how to come up with funding for a new restroom facility at Rector Memorial Park were tossed around by Rector City Council members in a meeting Monday night at City Hall. "We've talked and talked about it and we need to do something," said Alderman Mac Manchester...

A family of six lost everything Sunday evening as fire consumed the home of Sarah and Danny Sutherland Jr. of Lafe. Although a neighbor saw smoke pouring from the house and immediately called the Northeast Greene County Fire Department, the fire already had a head start by the time the fire department could respond...

Like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator, politicians promised last year they'd return to Clay County and many of them reminded listeners they'd kept that promise by returning this year, an off-year in the sense of electioneering. In a July 4 Piggott Picnic crowd populated heavily by young Democrats brought by the traveling entourage, Piggott mayor Gerald Morris began the round of speeches by reading a list of soldiers. ...

One of the highlights of the annual Piggott Fourth of July picnic, and celebration, is the crowning of Miss Piggott. This year the honor goes to Sarah Fannin, 17, of Rector, daughter of Michelle and James Fannin. She was crowned late Wednesday evening, chosen from over 20 contestants...

W.C. "Bill" O'Connor, 89, of Marmaduke died Friday, July 6, 2007, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. A retired safety engineer with Southern California Edison Company, he was born Aug. 8, 1917, in Oklahoma City, Okla., to the late Frank and Frances (Stripling) O'Connor. He was married Aug. 15, 1945, in Modesto, Calif., to Joy Ruth (Triplett) O'Connor, who survives...

Piggott Schools Band Director Jon Fulkerson has tendered his resignation from the district, which was accepted by the board of education at Monday night's regular meeting. Fulkerson, a native of Paragould, will be taking over the junior high band director position at Pocahontas...

The nomination process for our mythical PHS gym Dream Team is over, and we've got some great choices. Thanks to dozens of responses we've put together an excellent group of nominees, and at last week's Fourth of July picnic we accepted votes for the "fan favorite" starters. Those ballots are currently in my possession, and will be tabulated in the coming days. We've also started accepting votes on our starters from previous nominees and a select panel of experts...

In this case the headline is the good news, the bad news is that a few alumni and oldtimers aren't getting around as good as they were prior to the contest. Over thirty brave souls signed up for this year's Piggott Alumni-Oldtimers baseball game, to benefit the Piggott Little League, and nearly everyone threw-in the extra five bucks to take part in the home run derby. ...

When Brock Swann chose to retire from coaching and the classroom this past spring, it meant the job of Mohawk head baseball coach was open for the first time in a long time. That job was filled at Monday night's Piggott School board meeting as Mohawk assistant coach Shawn Hearn was given the nod...

Like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator, politicians promised last year they'd return to Clay County and many of them reminded listeners they'd kept that promise by returning this year, an off-year in the sense of electioneering. In a July 4 Piggott Picnic crowd populated heavily by young Democrats brought by the traveling entourage, Piggott mayor Gerald Morris began the round of speeches by reading a list of soldiers. ...

Times News Staff A new, much tougher policy, on the use of cell phones by Piggott students was one of several measures approved by members of the board of education at its regular monthly meeting Monday night. The board met, with all members present, in the administration building. ...

The 75th annual Pollard picnic, to benefit the New Hope Cemetery, is set for this weekend with a full slate of activities. The first scheduled event will be Friday evening, as the annual Pollard School reunion is held at the picnic grounds. The reunion will include a pot luck supper, which will get underway at 6 p.m. All former Pollard school students are encouraged to come early, so they can visit with friends and former classmates prior to the meal...

The schedule for the 2007 Piggott Fourth of July Picnic and Celebration included no less than ten pageants, featuring contestants from birth up to 20-years of age. The first two were held on Tuesday evening, July 3, and were sponsored by the Piggott Pee Wee cheerleaders. The "Baby" and "Tiny" Mr. and Miss Piggott Pageants were sponsored by the Pollard Fire Department ladies auxiliary...

You can't grow up in the South without having to do battle with mosquitoes at some point in time. They are just a fact of life. Piggott, however, not only has more than its fair share of the little pests, as far as I can tell, this is the mosquito capital. And mosquito headquarters must be at Independence Park...

1967 Final notes from the recent Fourth of July Picnic in Piggott, forty years ago this week, included a report on the visit by Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller. The governor arrived late in the afternoon, and made a non-political speech around 5 p.m. The Banner also included a feature on this year's color guard, which was made up of members of the local Boy Scout Explorer Post. ...

Times News Staff Members of the Piggott Schools Board of Education approved their proposed budget, and set the levy rate, for the coming school year at their regular meeting on Monday July 9. The documents indicates that $3.9-million has been set aside for salaries, $379,500 for instructional expense, $761,466 for maintenance and operations, $266,900 for pupil transportation and $100,000 for other operating expenses...

Alice Island, 74, died Saturday, May 30, 2007 in St. Louis. She was born Jan. 4, 1933 in Pollard, the daughter of Clara (Vaughn) and John Gettings. She was united in marriage to Emmett Island. She was preceded in death by four sisters: Martha Gettings, Betty Gettings, Kathern Young, and Lorene Raines; Three brothers; Melvin Gettings, Charles Gettings and Lavell Gettings...

One of the highlights of the annual Piggott Fourth of July picnic, and celebration, is the crowning of Miss Piggott. This year the honor goes to Sarah Fannin, 17, of Rector, daughter of Michelle and James Fannin. She was crowned late Wednesday evening, chosen from over 20 contestants...