News

Vivian Lee Asbury Heyl, 74, Brookland, April 18. Heyl was born in Peoria, Illinois and graduated from Mammoth Spring High School. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English at Arkansas State University.

Edward Michael Freeman, 82, Bella Vista, November 13. A lifelong newspaperman, Freeman began his career at the Decatur Daily in Decatur, Alabama before becoming editor of The Montgomery Advertiser and Alabama Journal in Montgomery, Alabama.

Alice Stewart, 58, Alexandria, Virginia., May 18. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Stewart held a degree in broadcast news and political science from the University of Georgia.

The featured cat is a youngster named Enzo. He arrived late last September when he was found dumped near a couple’s home. He is about 7 months old now and is a very sweet black and white tuxedo. He is not too vocal and gets along with the others in the Cattery. We’re not sure how he is with dogs.

Richard Palmer Portis, M.D., 79, Little Rock, March 31. Dr.

The 2024 December count of 153,423 mallards in the Arkansas Delta region was almost double the total from the same time last year but was still well below the 2009-2024 December long-term average in estimates made from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s December Aerial Survey, conducted Dec. 9-13.

Peggy June Barentine, 88, Jacksonville, June 1.The mother of APA Director of Operations Terri Cobb, Barentine married her high school sweetheart, Buford Barentine on May 27, 1955. She retired from Dillard’s Department Store after working many years in mortgage banking and was a former member of the North Little Rock chapter of Beta Sigma Phi.

The December board meeting of the Ozark Mountain School District was held at the Western Grove School where the board reviewed many different issues and proposals. Superintendent Jeff Lewis presented issues of personnel, petition for transfer of students, an AR DOT right-of-way at the Western Grove school location, E-Rate funding, and grants that were issued being the Professional Learning Grant, $18,000, McKinney-Vento Homeless Grant, $15,000, and the High Impact Tutoring Grant, $28,234 with the total grant money of $61,234.