Stories from Thursday, January 5, 2012

Rev. Morton Harlin Shelton, 84, of Piggott, died Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011, at his residence. He was a retired United Methodist minister and was attending the Wrights Chapel United Methodist Church. Born on a farm in the Strangers Home community, west of Alicia, on Feb. 27, 1927, he attended elementary school at Alicia and later graduated from Swifton High School. He was a farmer for several years before entering the ministry and continued to have a great interest in farming...

Mabel L. Hamilton, 91, of Qulin, Mo., passed away Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, at the Piggott Community Hospital. She was born Oct. 1, 1920, in Carryville, Ark., and was the daughter of the late Clarence and Pearl Washburn Doty. She was united in marriage to Opie Hamilton on Sept. 23, 1939, in Caruthersville, Mo., and to this union four children were born...

Tonya Michelle Terry, 36, of Greenway, Ark., went to be with her Lord on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro, Ark., after a long illness. She was born Jan. 12, 1975, the daughter of Don and Sandra Bynum of Fort Worth, Texas...

Bill Kimbrel, 81, of Piggott, Ark., passed away Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro, Ark. He was born on Dec. 2, 1930, in Kennett, Mo., and was the son of the late Ben and Gladys Pauline Ray Kimbrel. He was united in marriage to Virginia Fithian on Jan. 31, 1953, and to this union three children were born. She preceded him in death on April 25, 2002...

I'm no Martha Stewart. I started out the New Year with a pot of burned red beans. What I should have done is put on a pot of black-eyed peas. But I didn't. I put the dried beans on to cook, then sat down on the couch and started reading Fannie Flagg's novel "Welcome to the World, Baby Girl."...

A Piggott man miraculously avoided serious injury after the semi truck he was driving struck a moving train in the early morning hours of Friday, Dec. 30. According to information provided by the Arkansas State Police Highway Patrol, Robert Brawner, 57, of Piggott was traveling north along Highway 49. ...

For the past 30 years, Carlos Crittenden of Greenway has been working to help Clay County residents travel as an employee of the county road department. Now, Crittenden is looking forward to the next stage of his life, having retired from the department on Dec. 19...

Third grade students at Piggott Elementary are learning about responsibility while setting an example for others to follow. The children, alongside third grade teachers Carol Keys, Kathy Coyle, Tammy Cashion, Marilyn Wellman and Karen Seal, volunteer to handle the school's recycling program...

This is the second part of the Times-Democrat's look back at the events of 2011: April An area family is surprised to find that an escaped mental patient has been living under their house...Rector's downtown gets new life through the efforts of Greg Downs, who moved to the area from Chicago and purchased several properties...The Clay County Sheriff's Department plans the installation of new cameras to keep a watchful eye on prisoners...L and M Racing near Rector hosts an Arkansas Lawnmower Association group for Test 'n Tune Day...Piggott FCCLA members attend a state leadership meeting to compete and to see the sights in Little Rock...The Rick and Sandra Little family of Piggott hosts a family from Denmark for a taste of smalltown life in America...Rector sixth graders celebrate the completion of the DARE program with a special graduation ceremony...Kayley Dare Bell, 17, of Rector is killed when her car is struck by a Union Pacific train just east of town...Several Clay County leaders gather to discuss ongoing preparation efforts in the event of a large earthquake...The Dixie Melody Boys and Gene McDonald appear at the Rector Community Center in a fundraiser to help pay for renovations at the center...The Piggott School Board agrees to keep a watchful eye on school finances due to a slow economy...Piggott, Rector and Marmaduke high schools all hold their annual proms on Friday, April 15...Piggott High School AP studio art classes visit Gulfport, Miss., during their spring break...A Science, Health and Safety Expo is held at the Piggott Elementary School gymnasium...With prices up, farmers are optimistic about the year...A select team from the Rector High School gifted and talented department completes the online Arkansas Personal Finance Challenge competition...Piggott's Emilee Seegraves is one of only 10 young writers who win a copy of the book "Peak," by Roland Smith, in a contest sponsored by Scholastic's Storyworks magazine...CJ's Garden Center opens at 215 East Sixth Street in Rector...Magician Rocky Clements of Jonesboro thrills a large group of all ages in a show at the Piggott Community Center...The Piggott Mohawks baseball team finishes the season unbeaten in conference play...Piggott fourth grader Louis Lin is recognized as one of the brightest students ever at Piggott Elementary...Fred Ort of Piggott discovers two bald eagles in a tree in front of his home on South 16th Avenue...An all-star lineup including Kris Kristofferson, George Jones, Gary Morris, Rosanne Cash, Rodney Crowell and many others is announced for the first Johnny Cash Music Festival in Jonesboro set Aug. ...

The Lady Mohawks had the daunting task of facing a skilled Rivercrest Lady Colt team Monday night at Wilson. The road trip was a tough one for Piggott, who fell on the night, 66-38. Rivercrest, who came within a last second three-pointer of knocking off eventual Division II champion Nettleton last week in the Northeast Arkansas Invitational Tournament, took control early and never looked back. The hosts led throughout: 19-11; 49-21 and 57-28...

The Lady Cougars brought home their second Northeast Arkansas Invitational Tournament championship Friday with a 52-45 victory over the Marked Tree Lady Indians in the finals of the Girls Division I bracket at the Arkansas State University Convocation Center...