February 2024

Mayor Futrell gives State of the City

During the Feb. 23 Pocahontas City Council meeting, Mayor Keith Futrell delivered his inaugural State of the City address to the council and attendees. Appointed mayor by the council after the passing of Mayor Keith Sutton in Dec., Futrell applauded the city, its employees and residents, while also providing an optimistic outlook for the city’s future.

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Rainer Declerk

William Rainer De-Clerk, 86, of Pocahontas departed this life on February 14, 2024, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro.

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Clint Clark

Clint Clark, 62, of Pocahontas passed away Wednesday, February 21, 2024 at his home. He was born May 27, 1961 in Pocahontas to the late Harvey and Paralee Boomer Clark and raised by Harold and Thelma Clark.

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Russ Tyler

Russ Tyler was born in Pocahontas, Arkansas on February 9, 1960, to parents Kenneth and Mildred (Thompson) Tyler. Russ graduated from Pocahontas High School where he was active in numerous clubs and groups.

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Letter to the editor…

Recently I saw a news segment on AETN News Hour that spoke to the need of lithium-gathering factories to acquire lithium to make batteries. China has the most lithium- gathering factories for recovering it for batteries.

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Blast from the Past…1978

Through choir teacher Martha White’s recognition of Pat Mansker’s talent as a singer, she was invited at the young age of seventeen to be the first African American in Randolph County to have the honor to sing the National Anthem at a Cardinals ballgame at Busch stadium and she did it without musical accompaniment. She says that her love of music and singing is credited to her grandmother Martella Mansker, who loved to hear her sing and play music every day after school.

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Here &There

I recently had dinner with a family friend who grew up here but had lived in central Arkansas for many years since. As we drove around town so he could view sites both familiar and new, we headed down Pyburn Street westerly toward Masonic Cemetery. He remarked how people’s sense of pride here in their property seemed to have declined since his youth spent here.

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From the Humane Society….

I essentially quit tuning in to national TV news some time ago; it’s all horrendous. Most every day, I’ll have a quick look at the internet news to see if the world is still revolving. Every single day, there are multiple reports of acts of animal cruelty from all parts of the U.S. and occasionally the UK and Australia too. I’ll not elaborate on these acts as I don’t want to cause “copycat” behavior. Many of them are horrendous and unconscionable and are beyond how “normal” human beings would act. What possesses anyone to behave this way? Indeed, some of the terrible behavior can only be characterized as “demonic.” Here are some thoughts about causes.

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Just Jana

Mike had a light bulb moment and stated that prostitution is probably the only profession that you DON’T make more money the longer you are in the business. We really gotta start watching something other than Cops...

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Speaking French

A lot has happened since the last column. The Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl, where Reba McEntire belted the national anthem and received critical acclaim across the board, Travis Kelce yelled at his coach and Usher almost fell while roller skating during the halftime show while Taylor helped make the telecast of the game the highest-rated in history.

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