Stories from Wednesday, September 26, 2007

This past weekend the men and women of the 875th Engineer Battalion returned from a 12-month deployment to Iraq. The group, which includes over 20 Piggott-area residents, arrived in Wisconsin over the weekend and will be returning to Clay County later this week. Among the officials making the trip to Wisconsin to greet the troops were Piggott mayor Gerald Morris and Jonesboro mayor Doug Forman...

The Piggott Mohawks came out of last week's 44-0 win over Rector "a little dinged-up" according to Coach Dave Hendrix. This past Friday night some of those dings showed-up as the Tribe dropped a 28-35 loss to the resurgent EPC Warriors in their first conference game of the season...

Royce Earl Midkiff, 70, of Greenway, died at the General Baptist Nursing Home in Campbell, Monday, Sept. 24. Visitation will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept, 27 at Rector First General Baptist Church. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 28, at Rector First General Baptist Church with Bro. Marston Carpenter officiating. Burial will be in Harvey's Chapel Cemetery with Irby Funeral Home in charge of arrangements...

Jeff Edwards of Belle Glade, Fla., died from a gunshot wound on April 16 at his job. He was born on February 12, 1967 to Paulene Edwards, and graduated from Piggott High School in 1986, after which he moved to Florida to work. He is survived by his mother, Paulene, three brothers, Gerald Edwards, Darrell Edwards and Farrell Edwards, all of Florida...

Gladys Melba Palmer, 86, of Rector, died Wednesday, Sept. 19 at Evergreen Nursing Home. Born August 25, 1921 in Senath to the late Edgar Nugent and Dora Wilfong, she was a homemaker and of the General Baptist faith. She was married to George Lemuel Palmer Nov. 27, 1940, he preceded her in death in June, 2007...

Michael David Burton, 28, of Rector, died Saturday, Sept. 22 in an automobile accident. Born March 22, 1979 in Paragould, he was an extrusion operator at Anchor packaging in Marmaduke, and a life long member of the community. He was preceded in death by his grandfathers, Ebert Burton in 1998 and James Morgan in 2005...

Nettie "Josie" Todd, 97, of the General Baptist Nursing Home in Campbell and formerly of Clarkton, died Sept. 16 at the Piggott Community Hospital. She was born January 27, 1910 to the late Andrew and Minnie "Waller" Masterson and was preceded in death by her husband, Jim Todd and a granddaughter, Donna Kay Todd...

A special called meeting of the Piggott City Council will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 2 at the Piggott Community Center. The meeting has been called for the purpose of setting the election date for a city-wide measure to approve a half-cent sales tax...

1967 Forty years ago this week the Piggott School Board heard from several mothers of first grade students concerning overcrowding. Due to low pre-registration projections, and the closure of the Southeast School, there are 34 students in each of the two first-grade classes. Solutions are currently being sought. In a related note, Bob Fry was elected to a seat on the school board for the coming year...

The race for a seat on the Piggott School Board will be decided by a run-off Oct. 9, after none of the three candidates in last week's election could garner a majority. The run-off will be between the two top vote-getters Hope Burkman and Tim Boyd...

Last fall, as the local members of the 875th Engineer Battalion prepared to leave for Iraq, there was a huge send-off rally at Piggott High School. Next Thursday afternoon there will be another rally, this time to welcome back the more than two-dozen local Guardsmen upon their return from the war zone...

Royce Earl Midkiff, 70, of Greenway, died at the General Baptist Nursing Home in Campbell, Monday, Sept. 24. Visitation will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept, 27 at Rector First General Baptist Church. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 28, at Rector First General Baptist Church with Bro. Marston Carpenter officiating. Burial will be in Harvey's Chapel Cemetery with Irby Funeral Home in charge of arrangements...

Doyal E. Deniston of Memphis, lost his one year battle with cancer Sept. 19. He was born on Sept. 15, 1928 in Rector to Cordelia and Arthur W. Deniston. He was preceded in death by one sister, two brothers and a twin brother. After serving with the US Army in Korea, he spent his life involved both directly and indirectly in agriculture. ...

James Clifford Prince, 78, of Hornersville, died Sunday, Sept. 23 in Kennett. Born August 18, 1929 in Bald Knob to the late Ennon H. and Gracy Prince, he was an Air Force veteran, a farm laborer and of the Baptist faith. Also preceding him in death was four brothers, J.R. Prince, Gene Prince, Bob Prince and John Prince; and one sister, Betty A. Prince...

Gladys Melba Palmer, 86, of Rector, died Wednesday, Sept. 19 at Evergreen Nursing Home. Born August 25, 1921 in Senath to the late Edgar Nugent and Dora Wilfong, she was a homemaker and of the General Baptist faith. She was married to George Lemuel Palmer Nov. 27, 1940, he preceded her in death in June, 2007...

Michael David Burton, 28, of Rector, died Saturday, Sept. 22 in an automobile accident. Born March 22, 1979 in Paragould, he was an extrusion operator at Anchor packaging in Marmaduke, and a life long member of the community. He was preceded in death by his grandfathers, Ebert Burton in 1998 and James Morgan in 2005...

The Rector School District made an exciting technological leap over the summer, as the high school purchased and installed nine new TEAM Boards in their science, math and business classes. The Team Boards are essentially a computerized version of the classic blackboard. However, instead of using chalk to cover their lesson plans, teachers now have the option interacting directly with the board through its touchpad screen...

A Rector man was killed in a one-vehicle accident around 9 p.m. Saturday night. Investigating officer S\Cpl. Allen Earnhart of the Arkansas State Police said Michael Burton, 28, was traveling southbound on Hwy. 90 about two miles north of Rector when he failed to negotiate a curve. Burton's vehicle apparently ran off the roadway, first striking a driveway embankment and then a tree before coming to a rest upside-down...

The soldiers of the 875th are one step closer to reuniting with their families and loved ones. Planes carrying the area soldiers on their way back from Iraq began touching down in Wisconsin last Friday. It is hoped the soldiers will be returning to their homes this Saturday...

After almost four years of anguish, the Rector Cougars were able to walk off the football field victorious this past Saturday. For the first time since Halloween night of 2003, the boys in blue were able to claim victory, defeating the Manila Lions 14-6 Saturday afternoon in Rector...