Stories from Wednesday, January 23, 2008

The life of a soldier is certainly not one of leisure. The sacrifices and responsibilities which go along with defending America and its citizens are among the most vital and respected roles a person can have. Sergeant Major Frank Staples of Piggott knows this all too well, having served in the Arkansas Army National Guard for the last 36 years, the last 29 years serving on active duty...

The 2008 Clay County Relay for Life will officially get underway at 6 p.m. Monday with the annual kickoff dinner at the Piggott Diner. The dinner meeting will mark the start of this year's fundraising campaign, which will culminate April 26 with the Relay for Life at Heritage Park...

1968 Forty years ago this past week Piggott school superintendent J. B. Swift told patrons that classes would dismiss on Sat. May 25. The date was backed-up from May 16 because of cancellations due to snow and ice. Students were to return to school that Saturday morning just to pick up their report cards. Meanwhile, the district is seeking a six-mill increase to fund improvements in the March 12 school election...

Andrew E. "Andy" Niederkorn, a 1976 graduate of Greenway High School, died Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008. He was born May 5, 1958, in Paragould and moved to Jacksonville, Fla., in May 1976. He was the owner of Hard Times of Jax long haul trucking company...

D. M. (Buster) Morris of Paragould died Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008. Morris was born on March 15, 1913, near Rector. He was the son of Melvin and Grace Easton Morris. His father preceded him in death while the family was fairly young and his mother was remarried to W.J. Rogers, a man Morris admired greatly. That marriage joined two families together with a wide age range...

George Michael Richter, 88, of Chicago died Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008, in Crystal Lake, Ill. He was born Jan. 13, 1920, in Junction City, Wis., and was the son of the late Stephen and Anna Skibiki Richter. He was united in marriage to Erma Lee Perry on Sept. 8, 1945, and the couple had three children...

The Piggott Mohawks continued to toil through the second half of this year's basketball season last week, losing at home to the Hoxie Mustangs on Tuesday night and then dropping a five-point loss at Hughes on Friday. Last Tuesday night the Hoxie Mustangs, ranked by many among the top ten 3A programs in the state this year, visited the PHS gym and took home an 84-72 win. ...

The Piggott Lady Mohawks continue to have a rough 2008, as the girls dropped two more conference games in the past week. Last Friday the Tribe made the long trip to Hughes and fell by three points, Monday night Hoxie visited PHS and dealt the girls a 14 point loss...