Stories from Monday, May 7, 2012

Resource Scientist Jeff Beringer has a piece of advice for Arkansasoutdoors people and landowners: Be bear aware. Beringer is a bear specialist. When someone sees a bear somewhere in the state, they call him. His phone rings more often each spring, and this year is no exception...

Thanks in part to a 12-2 drilling of the Black Rock Zebras April 24, the Izard County Cougars tied for the 1A-2 East Conference crown with the Hillcrest Screamin' Eagles. Against Black Rock, Preston Harmon tossed a one-hitter, striking out 12 Zebras...

The Mammoth Spring Lady Bears' softball team held tough for three innings before falling to the Viola Lady Longhorns, 15-0, last week. A combination of errors by the home team Lady Bears loaded the bases with Lady Longhorns. Mammoth Spring starter Alex Taylor had good velocity and pretty good ball placement, but Viola opened up the floodgates at the spring with eight runs...

Rachel Harmon, a former Izard County High School golfer who now plays for Henderson State, recently won All-Conference honors. The sophomore was named to the All-Great American Conference second team. Harmon was an All-Gulf South Conference second-team selection last spring. Henderson State and several other Arkansas schools now play in the GAC...

Former Izard County High School golf standout Justin Burns, who now plays at Central Baptist College in Conway, was the medalist at the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament held at the Eagle Bend Golf Course in Lawrence, Kan., on April 23 and 24. Burns posted a 54-hole score of 5-under-par (211). He now advances to the NAIA Men's Golf National Championships at the Creekside Country Club in Salem, Ore., on May 22-25...

Mammoth Spring's softball and baseball teams both advanced out of the semi-finals in the 1A-2 East District Tournament with big wins April 28 at the Cougar Sports Complex in Brockwell. The Lady Bears shut out Sloan-Hendrix 10-0, as Alex Taylor struck out eight Lady Greyhounds in five innings of work...

A boater education class is scheduled for May 19 at Midlake Marine Sales on the four-lane in Highland. Start time is 9 a.m. According to Arkansas Game and Fish Commission guidelines, anyone born after Jan. 1, 1986 is required to take this class. You must be 10 years old or older in order to take the class...

Williams Baptist College has recognized the male and female athletes who best represent Champions of Character throughout the year. The 2011-12 award winners are Karisa Hendrix and Dakota Melton. They were chosen for displaying five core values: Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, Leadership and Sportsmanship...

The small, northcentral Arkansas town of Cotter will be celebrating the title of "Trout Capital, USA" beginning May 4 during the Great Cotter Trout Festival. The two-day festival will give trout fishing enthusiasts a first-hand look at the world-class trout fishing on the White River...

Viola's Michaela Thomspon, Calico Rock's Emily Johnson and Mammoth Spring's Garrett Wooldridge were all named to the East All-Star squad for the the upcoming 57th annual Tyson/Arkansas Army National Guard High School Coaches Association All-Star Basketball Game at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville this June...

Once again, Viola was the dominant force in the 1A-2 West softball and baseball tournaments at Norfork this past week. The Lady Longhorns claimed their fifth straight district championship with a 1-0 shutout of Calico Rock, while the Longhorns earned another trophy for their case with a 10-0 pounding of the host team...

Brittany Trevino and Adam Caldwell announce that they are to be married at 2:00 on Saturday, May 5th, 2012, at "Echoes of the Past" just north of Thayer, Mo., on Highway 63. Brittany is the daughter of Charla and Myron Murphy and Patrick Trevino. Adam is the son of Stanley and Regina Caldwell of Thayer, Mo...

Richard Thomas Brown, 53, of Pineville was arrested on April 28 for disorderly conduct and public intoxication. Brown was charged after a call about an unwelcome guests at a Calico Rock residence. Rodney Paul Medling, 37, of Brockwell was arrested April 16 on the charge of being a felon in possession of a fire arm. Medling remains in the Izard County Detention Facility on a parole/probation hold...

Some people who stop in are new customers checking out a new, colorful business. But to others, driving up to J and J Greenhouse and Florist is like dropping in on an old friend. "A lot of people just say, 'We're glad you're back,' Ashley Lewis said...

Viola Elementary School students spent a recent morning learning about the human body -- by walking through one, instead of reading about it in a textbook. The journey began outside of a strange looking collection of canvas tents. The students entered the Body Walk exhibit by walking on a tongue rug and through a big wide open mouth, instead of a door. Inside the mouth, there were plastic chairs that looked like teeth to sit in...

Hospital finances improving Richard Irby Editor In March, the Fulton County Hospital admitted an encouraging number of patients and emergency room visits showed an increase. But one number really caught the eye of Ozarks Medical Center CEO David Zechman...

Less than two months after a meeting was held to gauge interest, a date has been set for the first day of operation for the Salem Farmer's Market. "We are now taking applications from vendors who want to sell at the market, and we've set Saturday, May 12, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., for the Grand Opening," Mike Yates, the Chairman of the Farmer's Market Committee told The News...

Richard Irby Editor A Morriston area man and woman have been arrested in connection with the Sunday, April 22 robbery of the Glencoe Junction Flash Market. A man who entered the store and demanded money was last seen walking down Highway 289 toward Horseshoe Bend, about 11:30 a.m. on April 22...

Kathy Fore Weaver, 61, of Sidney died at her home on Thursday, April 26, 2012. Arrangements by Qualls Funeral Home of Cave City. Barbara F. (Williams) Nock, 66, of Pittsville, Maryland, formerly of Couch, Mo., died on Tuesday, April 24 in Salisbury, Maryland...

Donald Dean Lester, 77, of Williford, Ark., died April 12, 2012 at Williford. Arrangements by Tri-County Funeral Home of Highland, Ark. Berniece Rogers, 93, of Thayer, Mo., died Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at Shady Oaks Healthcare Center in Thayer. Arrangements by Carter Funeral Home, Inc. of Thayer...

Bro. Ralph Warren Allmon, of Horseshoe Bend, Ark., died Monday, April 9, 2012. Arrangements by Barker Funeral Home of Salem, Ark. Anna J. (Hood) Loftis, 77, of Rogers, Ark., formerly of Mammoth Spring, Ark., died April 8, 2012. Arrangements by Callison-Lough Funeral Home of Bentonville, Ark. Online memorials can be made at www.callisonlough.com...