Stories from Wednesday, April 1, 2009

RHS art students to showcase talents (04/01/09)
Rector High School art students will share their talents with the community in coming weeks in a number of shows and competitions about to take place. "It's a busy time," said RHS art teacher Carolyn Caldwell. "We have a lot of shows coming up that we're preparing for."...

Randleman will speak at ASU honors banquet (04/01/09)
Rector native Mike Randleman of Los Angeles will be the Distinguished Alumni speaker Friday, April 17, for an honor banquet hosted by Arkansas State University's Art, Music and Theatre Departments...

Petty wins state recognition (04/01/09)
It's no secret that RHS junior Abie Petty is a talented student. During her 12 years as a part of the Rector School District's student body, she has consistently been among the brightest and most heralded of her class. When teachers send notes home to her parents, they are always filled with praise...

Piggott native stars in The River Within (04/01/09)
When filmmaker Zac Heath thought about a filming location for his first movie, his native home of Paragould seemed like a perfect fit. From filming at First United Methodist Church in Paragould, which he attended as a child, to a small grocery store in Rector, Heath found inspiration in the natural beauty of Northeast Arkansas and its people...

Cougars keeping busy (04/01/09)
The random spring weather has played havoc with the Cougars' time on the mound, limiting the team to just practice over the past week. "We've had some bad breaks as far as the weather goes," Cougar skipper Nate Henderson said. "We've not been able to play as much recently as we would like, but that's just how it goes sometimes."...

Bathing a blue jay (04/01/09)
A long time ago when I would comment on the accomplishment of someone who had done something noteworthy, my husband would retort, ''Yeah, but I bet he never refueled an airplane in midair." That was my husband's job in the Air Force. He was a boom operator on a Boeing KC-135 Strato-tanker.The plane was equipped with a flying boom to provide fuel transfer to other planes...

Negativity infects our small towns (04/01/09)
We all know the many challenges faced in our smaller communities as economic and social trends work against them in so many ways. Job opportunities abound in larger cities and suburbs and, over time, there has been a migration to those locales. There simply are fewer economic, educational, recreational and cultural opportunities in rural communities when compared to our urban areas...

Fred Baty (04/01/09)
Fredie Leo "Fred" Baty, 66, of Hillsboro, Mo., formerly of St. Charles, Mo., died Wednesday, March 25, 2009, at Hillsboro. He was born May 26, 1942, at Greenway and was the son of the late Leo and Ova (Wilkes) Baty...

Jimmy Charles Webb (04/01/09)
Jimmy Charles Webb, 73, of Kennett, Mo., formerly of Rector, died Sunday, March 29, 2009, at Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center in Kennett. He was born Feb. 25, 1936, in Rector to the late Earl and Erma (Ramage) Webb...

Douglas Parker (04/01/09)
Douglas Parker, 65, of Greenway died Saturday, March 28, 2009, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. He was born Feb. 15, 1944, in Piggott to the late Claude and Lois (Cowgill) Parker...

Jean Bowden (04/01/09)
Jean Bowden, 81, of Rector died Tuesday, March 31, 2009, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. Arrangements are incomplete. A full obituary will appear in next week's edition.