Stories from Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Effects of January ice storm still felt (02/11/09)
"These last two weeks have just been overwhelming," Piggott Mayor Gerald Morris reflected Monday morning. The city of Piggott, like the remainder of Northeast Arkansas and portions of Southeast Missouri, is still recoving from the effects of a devastating ice storm that pounded the region in late January. ...

Howell updates county clean-up progress (02/11/09)
Conditions are progressing in Clay County, following a total effort by officials, employees and volunteers. Though many rural residences remain without power, most in the larger towns of Rector and Piggott, as well as several homes in Corning, have had electricity restored...

School back in session thanks to generators (02/11/09)
After an 11-day ice storm vacation, students of the Piggott school district were scheduled to return to classes today (Wednesday) thanks to generators provided by the Arkansas Air Guard. According to Superintendent Ed Winberry, classes will resume as usual and it will be up to the state how many of the missed days will have to be made up...

Shelter expected to close soon (02/11/09)
The local shelter at the Piggott Community Center is expected to be closed by the coming weekend since power has been restored to most homes in the city. Jamie Cluck, center coordinator, indicated around 25 people slept at the shelter over the weekend and that the center had been feeding nearly 200 people twice a day through Sunday...

OEM seeks documentation (02/11/09)
Over the course of the last two weeks, hundreds of volunteer man-hours have been logged in Clay County, as everyone pulled together to weather the ice storm. Now the Clay County Office of Emergency Management is attempting to document that work for FEMA...

It happened here, years ago (02/11/09)
1969 It was reported 40 years ago this week that Earl James Glover, 62, who served as sexton of the Piggott Cemetery for nearly 18 years, had died on Feb. 6. Also in the news, Norman Morrisett, 48, of Pollard was killed Feb. 11 at Clovis Moore's Service Station in McDougal when an air tank exploded...

Ice storm revisited (02/11/09)
It's Sunday night, February 1. I sit here in the darkness writing this column. A flashlight and a candle light the page. A kerosene lamp glows from the old sideboard in the dining room. A battery operated radio softly plays country music, sometimes interrupted with announcements of school closings. There are many closings in Northeast Arkansas and surrounding Missouri towns...

Twyla Baker (02/11/09)
Twyla Baker, 84, of Piggott died Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009, at Piggott Community Hospital. She was born April 11, 1924, and was the daughter of the late Claude and Vera (Braden) Montgomery. She was married to Joel Taylor Baker July 5, 1946, and the couple had four children...

Robert Earl Neeley (02/11/09)
Robert Earl Neeley, 83, of McDougal died Friday, Jan. 30, 2009, at Murphy Health and Rehabilitation Center in Piggott. He was born June 8, 1925, the son of the late Grover and Lula (Harris) Neeley. He was married to Virginia Ethridge Jan. 6, 1945, and the couple had four children...

Mattie Lela Bare (02/11/09)
Mattie Lela Bare, 96, of Piggott died Friday, Feb. 6, 2009, at Murphy Health and Rehabilitation Center in Piggott. She was born Aug. 31, 1912. in Pollard, and was the daughter of the late Samuel and Mattie (Pollard) Forrest...

Henry Edd Donner (02/11/09)
Henry Edd Donner, 98, of Piggott died Friday, Jan. 30, 2009, at the General Baptist Nursing Home in Campbell, Mo. He was born May 15, 1910, in Valemeyre, Ill., and was the son of the late Albert and Caroline (Burgett) Donner...

Charles Donald Smart (02/11/09)
Charles Donald Smart, 76, of Piggott died Monday, Feb. 2, 2009, at Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center in Kennett, Mo. He was born April 10, 1932, in Clay County and was the son of the late Richard Ezra and Hattie Mae (Rickman) Smart...

Obit Berniece A. Stewart (02/11/09)
Berniece A. Stewart, 87, of Piggott died Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009, at Piggott Community Hospital. She was born Sept. 9, 1921, in Piggott to the late Claude E. and Gladys (Parrish) Wiley. She was married to Paul Seal in July 1942 and the couple had three children. In April 1971 she married Denver Stewart. Both preceded her in death...