Year in Review: A look back at 2009

January

Jan. 2

* The Trumann Chamber of Commerce unveiled a new marketing campaign and logo in an effort to attract more businesses to the city.

* Newly elected Poinsett County District Judge began hearing his first cases.

* The Marked Tree Rotary Club bought handicapped accessible playground equipment and installed it at the Marked Tree Elementary School.

* Ella Francis Williams Smith of Marked Tree celebrated her 100th birthday.

Jan. 14

* Newly elected Poinsett County Judge Charles Nix sat for his initial Quorum Court meeting. His first meeting went smoothly as his and the court's "honeymoon" period began.

* Whether or not to locate a dog shelter inside city limits was a hot topic of discussion at the regular meeting of the Marked Tree City Council.

* Back for her second game after missing nearly two months with a hand injury, Jordan Madden scored 26 points in just over a half to lead the EPC Lady Warriors to a 68-50 win over Marmaduke.

* State Representative Buddy Lovell presented Doris Pounders, with a GIF Community Enhancement Grant check for $7,000 for use in completion of the Painted House Museum in Lepanto.

Jan. 21

* The resolution of a murder case in Mountain View may help Marked Tree police to uncover what happened to Patsy Baker who has been missing since June 1999.

* Marked Tree was one of 12 cities in the state to be selected as a 2008 Arkansas Volunteer Community of the Year Award.

* The Trumann City Council voted 6-4 to stick with USSSA baseball for the upcoming youth baseball season, endorsing the decision of the Parks and Recreation Committee despite divisions by the advisory board over the choice.

* Two Marked Tree residents, Polly Wooten Norman and Winnie Ruth Johnson, both of Marked Tree, traveled to Washington, D.C. to witness the inauguration and swearing in of President Barak Obama.

Jan. 28

* Freezing rain coated the trees and power lines late in the month causing broken limbs and downed power lines throughout the Democrat Tribune area. Much worse damage was experienced in Jonesboro and northward.

* The city of Trumann is in mourning following Trumann Police Chief Larry Blagg's sudden death. Blagg was helping clear debris from the ice storm when he was struck by a falling limb and killed instantly.

* The Democrat Tribune area mourned the loss of a well-known business owner when Johnny Rye Sr., 84, died at his home in the Black Oak community.

* The Warriors played the Warriors when EPC traveled to Westside. EPC's Ky Madden came out on top of the superstar sophomore match-up with Westside's Hunter Mickelson as did the EPC Warriors, winning 59-55.

February

Feb. 4

* The sound of chainsaws and generators filled the air as county residents began cleaning up from Januarys ice storm. There were some 600,000 customers without power before the storm moved out of the state.

* Hundreds of mourners paid their respects at the First Baptist Church to Trumann's fallen police chief, Larry Blagg.

* Marked Tree High School was among only 36 schools in the state to receive the "Bronze Award" from U.S. News & World Report.

* The Marked Tree School Board accepted the resignation of superintendent Gary Masters effective June 30 after 18 years with the school system.

Feb. 11

* Poinsett County officials estimated it could take about $1 million to clean up county roads after the recent ice storm downed trees and limbs and had left some county residents still without power.

* John Wayne Davis of Trumann said he has great expectations for the community of Lepanto after being named its police chief.

* Trumann let an 11 point advantage at halftime get away as Newport rallied from a 29-18 deficit to slip past the Wildcats 57-54 in senior boy's basketball action.

Feb. 18

* The city is planning to honor its late Chief Larry Blagg with a monument at the Trumann Sports Complex.

* Miraculously no one was critically injured when a tanker truck, fully loaded with gasoline and diesel fuel, collided with a 2005 Ford SUV at an intersection six miles south of Lepanto.

* Lacey Staten hit a basket at the buzzer to lift the Lady Wildcats over Gosnell 56-54 in the first round of the 4A-3 Conference Tournament in Osceola.

* Trumann's fire and police departments raised over $10,000 for the Make-a-Wish foundation.

Feb. 25

* Trumann mayor Sheila Walters met with federal emergency management personnel and state lawmakers in Little Rock about getting a slice of the $25 million in disaster aid funds set aside for counties in Northeast Arkansas hard hit by a January ice storm.

* Tyronza was recently designated as one of the nation's newest Preserve America Communities by former First Lady, Laura Bush, honorary chair of the Preserve America initiative.

* The EPC Warriors and Lady Warriors won their respective 2A-3 conference tournament championships, the Warriors defeating Turrell 63-59 and the Lady Warriors beating Riverside 56-41.

* Poinsett County Tax Assessor, Johnny Rye, Jr. was re-elected secretary/treasurer of the Association of Arkansas Counties.

March

March 4

* The month began with a snow storm which dumped as much as four inches of snow on the Democrat Tribune Area.

* Betty Payne was name Trumann Citizen of the Year at the Trumann Chamber of Commerce Banquet.

* The Marked Tree Delta Area Museum celebrated their 10th anniversary.

* Melbourne showed EPC just why they were ranked as one of the top two teams in the state in the 2A division as they blasted the Warriors 71-50 in the 2A North Regional championship game at Newark.

March 11

* Wurlitzer, a German-based maker of juke boxes and vending machine equipment, announced it was closing its Gurnee, Ill. plant and shifting operations to Trumann, the American home of Baldwin Piano.

* As of early March, Trumann had collected more than $1,300 for a proposed memorial to honor former police chief Larry Blagg, said Mayor Sheila Walters.

* The Marked Tree School Board voted unanimously to hire high school principal Annesa Thompson as superintendent for the 2009-10 school year.

* Tyronza resident James David Bodry, 48, a science teacher at Turrell High School received five years probation and a 10-year suspended sentence after he pled guilty to a possession of drug paraphernalia.

* The EPC Warriors lost 63-36 to St. Johns in the first round of the 2A State Tournament.

* The EPC Lady Warriors lost to #1 Danville in the first round of the 2A State Tournament.

* EPC won the second annual Poinsett County Baseball Tournament with a 5-4 victory over Marked Tree in the championship game. Trumann finished third followed by Harrisburg and Weiner.

March 18

* President Obama declared Poinsett County as a natural disaster area due to the severe winter storm that occurred in January.

* Poinsett County Justices heard positive statements from Assessor Johnny Rye, Jr. about the future of the county's financial position.

* The Tri-City Tribune took home nine awards from the 2009 Arkansas Press Association advertising contest.

* Tony Rusher was named Trumann Police Chief by Mayor Sheila Walters. He succeeds Larry Blagg who was killed when he was struck by a falling tree limb during an ice storm on Jan. 27.

March 25

* Bruce Wade Pennington was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the May 12, 2008 shooting death of Dorman Ray Cooper of Marked Tree.

* Michael Jones and his son, Bradley Jones were arrested in Lepanto when officers discovered the duo were allegedly producing methamphetamine inside their vehicle.

* A stone memorial honoring fallen police chief Larry Blagg was unveiled at the entrance to the Trumann Sports Complex. Over 1,700 residents donated one dollar to help raise funds for the lasting tribute.

* The EPC baseball Warriors beat the Marked Tree Indians 16-9 while the Lady Indians softball team defeated the Trumann Lady Wildcats 5-4.

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