Stories from Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Tony Joe Rodden, 50, of Paragould died Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009, in an accident in Centennial, Colo. He was born March 22, 1958, to the late Hiley and Dorothy Rodden in St. Louis, Mo. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his...

Clay County officials continue to await word from representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) following a survey of the area a week ago. According to Clay County Judge Gary Howell, two FEMA representatives toured much of Clay County Tuesday, Feb. ...

Clay County officials continue to await word from representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) following a survey of the area a week ago. According to Clay County Judge Gary Howell, two FEMA representatives toured much of Clay County Tuesday, Feb. ...

The flow of outside electricity was restored to Piggott Saturday afternoon, marking the end of more than three weeks of depending on the local power plant. Distribution supervisor Bruce Swan threw the switch around 4 p.m. Saturday as Mayor Gerald Morris looked on, and the city was back on the grid...

Piggott High School celebrated a belated basketball homecoming and observed senior night for 2008-09 Friday night as they hosted the Manila Lions in senior boys action. Following the pomp and circumstance, the Tribe ended the night with a win and in the process senior Rob Rice eclipsed the 1,000 point mark for his high school career...

The local shelter at the Piggott Community Center was closed over the past weekend as the area continues to return to normalcy following the recent ice storm. As of Monday the facility was back in the hands of the city, although the center was closed for the Presidents Day holiday...

Delbert McArthur Hughes, 66, of St. Francis died Friday, Feb. 13, 2009, at his home. He was born June 19, 1942, near Rector and was the son of the late Martin and Hettie (Allman) Hughes. He had a Master's Degree in chemistry and taught high school science for 30 years in the Piggott, Clarkton and Twin Rivers school districts. ...

Lessie M. Culver, 76, of Pollard died Friday, Feb. 13, 2009, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. She was born Aug. 23, 1932, in Pollard and was the daughter of the late Roy and Dollie Irene (Matchett) Blackwell...

Ruby Lee Demay, 87, of Piggott died Monday, Feb. 9, 2009, at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston. She was born May 1, 1921, in Griffithville, Ark., and was the daughter of the late Charles Edward Guinn and Molly Mary (Bell) Miller...

Erica Rickman, 19, of Malden died Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at her home. Visitation is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20, at Hoggard and Sons Funeral Home of Piggott. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Piggott High School gym. Hoggard and Sons Funeral Home of Piggott is charged with the arrangements. A complete obituary will appear in next week's newspaper...

Whew! I don't know about you, but I'm tired. I barely knew that Valentine's Day and Presidents Day had arrived. I'm still reeling from the ice storm aftermath. I'm okay, but some of my friends are still in the dark, awaiting power in rural areas northwest of Piggott. After three weeks, they are still coping with the outage...

1969 Mayor Thomas proclaimed Feb. 28 as "Gary Adams and Tommy Dixon Day" in Piggott, as the two former Mohawk stars, and current Arkansas Razorbacks, were to appear at the annual sports banquet that evening. In other news, M.C. Runnells, with the FBI office in Paragould, was the guest speaker at the Lions Club meeting...

Former Piggott High School standout athlete Erica Rickman lost her battle with brain cancer early Tuesday morning. She was 19. Rickman, a 2007 PHS graduate, was a multi-sport star for the Lady Mohawks, excelling in volleyball, basketball and softball...

Piggott Mohawk senior Rob Rice closed out his home basketball career in style Friday night, as he eclipsed the 1,000 mark for his high school career in his final appearance at PHS. Rice, the son of Debbie LaPierre, needed just 18 points to hit the mark going into Friday night's homecoming/senior night game with the Manila Lions and finished with 26...

The Piggott Lady Mohawks closed out the regular season last week, losing a 31-48 decision at Harrisburg on Tuesday, then dropping a 39-77 loss to the Hoxie Lady Mustangs last Thursday night. Monday night the Tribe took on the Hoxie squad again in the first round of the district tournament at Tuckerman, and despite a good showing fell by a final of 59-71...

The Piggott Mohawks closed out their regular season last week, losing a heartbreaker on the road to Harrisburg on Tuesday; winning a decisive victory at Brookland on Thursday and squeaking-out a senior night win over the Manila Lions on Friday. The Tribe was scheduled to take on the Lions again Tuesday evening in the first round of the district tournament at Tuckerman...

Karrin Alyce Henderson is the 20-month-old daughter of Nate and Heidi Henderson of Rector. Beautiful little Karrin was born June 28, 2007, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. She enjoys playing with her older sister, Sarah Robinson, age 8, and brother, Drew Henderson, 3 ½. Karrin loves music and loves to dance. Her favorite food is popcorn...

Workers with Roese Contracting Company, Inc., of Kawkawlin, Mich., work Monday near the East Fourth Street railroad crossing in Rector burying cable for CenturyTel telephone company. Roese, which specializes in underground contracting, originally was scheduled to work for CenturyTel in this area in March, but the recent ice storm brought the team to the area earlier. CenturyTel is burying most of its lines to help prevent future outages. (Democrat photo/Nancy...

While the effects of the late January ice storm that swept the region were felt by nearly all, the debilitating weather system has had a lingering presence with many of the county's rural residents, as many country homes remain without power...

The past three weeks have been a difficult time for the entire region, as many in the area have had to deal with the loss of power. Nearly every home in Clay County was without power for at least some period of time, with many measuring the gap in weeks, not days...

Some of life's big events only happen once in a while. Many are eagerly anticipated -- The Olympics, graduations, birthdays. Others -- dental exams, renewing your driver's license, cleaning out gutters -- not as much. ...

Want to know what's going on at Rector High School? Community members, students and alumni soon will have a new voice to keep them up-to-date with the "goings on" at RHS. Cole Thomas, a 17-year-old Rector junior, will write a weekly blog as part of the Clay County Democrat's online edition. ...

Reginald Dean "Reggie" Holman, 66, of Rector, died Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. He was born Jan. 5, 1943, in St. Francis to the late Oscar Holman and Beulah (Price) Holman Gordon...

Delbert McArthur Hughes, 66, of St. Francis died Friday, Feb. 13, 2009, at his home. He was born June 19, 1942, near Rector and was the son of the late Martin and Hettie (Allman) Hughes. He had a Master's Degree in chemistry and taught high school science for 30 years in the Piggott, Clarkton and Twin Rivers school districts. ...

Whew! I don't know about you, but I'm tired. I barely knew that Valentine's Day and Presidents Day had arrived. I'm still reeling from the ice storm aftermath. I'm okay, but some of my friends are still in the dark, awaiting power in rural areas northwest of Piggott. After three weeks, they are still coping with the outage...

This writer was privileged to serve as medical officer at the U.S. Naval Academy many years ago. Did those creatures ever teach me! They spoke with their own dialect, observed their strict code of truth and honesty, and most of them grew into the fine officer corps that makes our Navy the strongest anywhere...

The Cougars earned a trip to the second round of the 2A-3 District Tournament at Caraway by rolling over Marked Tree 81-56 on Saturday. Rector climbed out to a 23-14 first quarter lead and never looked back, going ahead 41-28 at halftime and 61-37 going into the final period...

The Lady Cougars punched their ticket to the regional tournament with a 66-56 win over Buffalo Island Central Monday night in the 2A-3 District Tournament at Caraway. Though the game was tightly-contested, Rector managed to lead throughout: 18-12; 34-30 and 51-44...