Resident News Network

Obituary – Linda Mae Fury (1947-2023)

Obituaries

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12:40 am

Linda Mae Fury of Mansfield, Arkansas went to be with her Lord and Savior Friday, February 3, 2023 in Mansfield, Arkansas with loved ones by her side. Linda was born October 19, 1947 to Basil Drewrey and Lottie (Emery) Drewrey of Abbott, Arkansas. She was 75 years old. Linda was a longtime member of Packsaddle Community Church. She was very strong in her faith and was a devoted Christian.

Linda grew up in around Abbott and Mansfield. She was a graduate of Mansfield High School. Linda loved being a CNA and working with those who needed her help. She had received multiple certificates of appreciation for her devotion to helping others. She could be found doing one of a multitude of hobbies including: gardening, crocheting, quilting, working puzzles, fishing, or hunting. In her younger years, she looked forward to picking muscadines with her sons and making jelly. Linda was an all around sweet and kind person with a big warm smile and a welcome hug for everyone.

Linda leaves behind to cherish her memory, one son, Corby Parish of Mansfield, Arkansas, two grandchildren: Christal Walton and husband Dakota of Hot Springs Village, Arkansas, and Paul Morales and wife Amber of Benton, Arkansas as well as two great grandchildren: Jesse and Ryan and one sister of the heart Peggy Gregory.

Linda was preceded in death by her parents, Basil and Lottie Drewrey, one son Aaron Dale Parish, her husband Joel Stephen Parish and three brothers: Donald Drewrey, Ronald Drewrey and Douglas Drewrey.

Linda’s celebration of life will be 1:00 p.m., Monday, February 6, 2023 at Heritage Memorial Funeral Home Chapel in Waldron, Arkansas with Rev. Jeff Wilkinson officiating. Interment will follow in the Freedom Cemetery. Arrangements are being entrusted to the Heritage Memorial Funeral Home in Waldron, Arkansas.

Linda’s pallbearers will be Mike Parish, Paul Morales, Kevin Lackey, Dakota Walton, Richard Gregory and Russell Parish.

Linda’s visitation will be Monday, February 6, 2023 from 11:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. at the Heritage Memorial Funeral Home Chapel.

SR Lady Tigers Reach Sumit In Win Over Mountainburg

Networks

Adam Hecox

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5:06 pm

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SR Lady Tigers Reach Sumit In Win Over Mountainburg

The Mansfield Lady Tigers rarely take a drive down redemption road. With a 7-1 conference record and a 19-3 overall record one would think that they’d be overjoyed with their season up to this point. Most teams would and rightfully so. But the Lady Tigers don’t see it that way at all. They only see their three total losses. Now Mansfield is on a path to prove to themselves and their opponents that they are not defined by those losses. The Lady Tigers put the bus in overdrive and took redemption road to Mountainburg on Friday, February 3rd to take on a dangerous Lady Dragons team.

The best way to start any game is with a big score. In basketball, the biggest score is a three-point shot so Mansfields Kynslee Ward did just that. Now up 3-0, the Lady Tigers jumped into the fast lane. Seven Sanderson took a rebound and powered back up with a board bucket but Mountainburg dropped in two points on the other end of the court too. Unfased, the Lady Tigers came back with Kynslee Ward pulling up on a short jump shot and Kaylee Ward stealing Mountainburgs’s ensuing possession for a score. Kaylee Ward continued her onslaught on the Lady Dragons defense by blocking a Mountainburg shot and then taking the ball down the court for a bucket. Seven Sanderson followed suit by blocking a Mountainburg shot which led to a Natalie Allison three-point shot. When the tires stopped spinning in the opening quarter, Mansfield held a 14-2 lead over Mountainburg.

Although groundhog day was just a day before the game, no one tod Kynslee Ward as she started the second quarter the same way as she opened the game by sinking a three-pointer. Mountainburg struck back with a three-pointer of their own and then added some full-court pressure on defense. The pressure of the Lady Dragons defense seemed to work at first, but Mansfield adjusted well and continued to burn up the scoreboards. Rebounds and put-backs were the keys to the second quarter as Seven Sanderson, Skylynn Harris, and Kaylee Ward picked the ball off the boards with ease over the smaller Lady Dragons. Natalie Allison took a rebound down the full length of the court for a layup and was followed up with a Skylynn Harris three-point shot. To close the quarter, Kynslee Ward drove down for a miraculous mid-air “spinaroonie” layup. The Lady Tigers went into the half with both momentum and a 30-10 lead.

The main number in the phrase “third quarter” is three. Coincidently, both teams took that number to heart as the Lady Tigers and Lady Dragons opened up and let the three-point shots fall. Kaylee Ward snatched a rebound and dumped in a putback to kick things off then watched her sister, Kynslee Ward drain a three-pointer. The sister-sister act continued with a Kynslee Ward to Kaylee Ward bounce pass for a layup. Mountainburg slowed down Mansfield’s run with a three-pointer of their own, but the Layd Tigers didn’t swerve off their path and kept the petal to the metal. Seven Sanderson stepped in with a big hook shot then shortly after dished an assist to Kaylee Ward for another smooth layup. As with each quarter up to that point, it was Kynslee Ward who closed things out as she made a breakaway layup on the Lady Dragons and then hit a three-point shot to end the third quarter with Mansfield up 49-19 on Mountainburg.

With the game in hand, Mansfield sent in their defensive specialist group to end the show. Players such as Brooklyn Adams, Raine Hecox, Megan Emery, Kaylie Lowery, and Harlie Fuller stepped in and showed out as they held the Lady Dragons to merely five points in the entire quarter. Harlie Fuller showed more than her defensive skills as she added a three-point shot to the scoreboard sending the Lady Tigers to a 52-24 victory over Mountainburg. The win puts Mansfield with a 20-3 overall record and 8-1 in conference play. But the Lady Tigers aren’t done, not yet. After a week of snow, ice, and postponed games, Mansfield will play their makeup game against the Magazine Lady Rattlers on Saturday, February 4th. Back-to-back games aren’t easy for any program, but if that’s what the road to redemption brings, then that’s what the Lady Tigers will do.

A Silver Lining to Inflation

Business

Tammy Teague

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4:06 pm

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Over the past year, the rising cost of living has certainly been challenging. But for investors, there’s at least one silver lining to inflation — a higher IRA contribution limit.

IRAs have been around for nearly half a century, but they’ve only been pegged to inflation since 2001. Since then, the contribution limit has risen every few years, with the last increase coming in 2019. Now, in 2023, the annual IRA contribution limit has moved to $6,500, up from $6,000 last year. If you’re 50 or older, you can put in up to $7,500 a year, up from $6,500 in 2022.

If you’ve already established an automatic investment plan for your IRA, you could consider bumping up your payments to accommodate the new, higher limits. However, if you can afford it, you may want to fully fund your IRA as soon as possible, so the money can potentially be growing throughout the year. But you can contribute to your 2023 IRA any time from now until April 15, 2024. (And it’s also not too late to contribute to your 2022 IRA — you’ve got until April 18 of this year.)

If you haven’t yet opened an IRA, you might want to do so now to take advantage of the higher contribution limits. Depending on your situation, you could contribute either to a Roth or traditional IRA. Here are the basics for each one:

• Roth IRA – When you invest in a Roth IRA, your earnings and withdrawals are free from federal taxes, provided you’ve had your account at least five years and you don’t start taking money out until you’re 59½ or older. In 2023, you can contribute the full amount to a Roth IRA if you are single and your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is less than $138,000; above that amount, your contributions will be reduced until they are phased out completely at $153,000. If you’re married and file jointly, this “phase-out range” is $218,000 – $228,000.

• Traditional IRA – Generally, you can invest in a traditional IRA regardless of your income level. If you and your spouse don’t have a 401(k) or similar employer-sponsored retirement plan, your contributions are typically tax deductible; if you or your spouse do have such a plan, the tax deductibility will depend on your income level. But regardless of whether your contributions are deductible, your earnings can grow on a tax-deferred basis.

If you have a choice, which IRA should you pick? The decision largely revolves around this question: Would you benefit more from the traditional IRA tax deduction (assuming you qualify for it) or the tax-free withdrawals of a Roth IRA? And the answer mostly depends on whether your tax rate will be higher or lower during your retirement. If you are confident you’ll be in a higher tax bracket when you retire, the Roth IRA, with its tax-free withdrawals, might be the

better choice. But if you think you’ll be in a lower tax bracket, you might benefit by taking the upfront tax breaks of a traditional IRA.

Of course, if you’re still many years away from retirement, it can be difficult to estimate your future tax bracket. Your tax advisor may be able to provide some guidance.

An IRA is one of the most popular retirement savings vehicles around — and for good reason. Consider putting one to work for you in 2023.

This article is provided by Jeffrey O’Neal, Financial Advisor
Edward Jones
20 N Express St, Paris, AR 72855
479-963-1321
jeffrey.o’neal@edwardjones.com
edwardjones.com/jeffrey-o’neal
Edward Jones, Member SIPC

JR Tigers Scorched By Mountainburg

Networks

Adam Hecox

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2:19 pm

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The ultimate upset is the goal of every underdog team that travels to a top teams home court. The Mansfield JR Tigers have been edged out of said upsets on a few occasions this season but have flipped the script a few times too. The Tigers traveled to Mountainburg on Friday, February 3rd to try to clip the wings of the mighty top seeded Dragons.

Mountainburg started off the game with a quick three-point shot but the Tigers answered with a Cooper Edwards bounce pass to Ethan Martin for a board bucket. The Dragons turned around and again dropped another three to force Mansfield to call a time-out with 3:08 left in the opening quarter. Down 9-2 after the timeout, the Tigers defense decided to get more aggressive. Steals by Joseph Carter and Andrew Burton gave the Tigers opportunities to close the scoreboard gap, but poor passing led to turnovers of their own keeping Mansfield from capitalizing. Fortunately, Mounatinburg’s long-range shooters were cooling off which kept the Tigers in the mix. The cool down gave Mansfield just enough momentum to get back in the game as Cooper Edwards iced the nets with a three-point shot off of an inbound. Andrew Burton was able to drop in a short jump shot at the buzzer, but the Tigers were still down 13-7 at the end of the first quarter.

A five-point difference wasn’t a huge lead for Mountainburg going into the second quarter but Mansfield knew they’d have to step it up to keep pace. The first step forward wasn’t a big score or smooth passing. Instead, it was Joseph Carter who jumped in among the bigger beasts at the boards to battle away a hard-fought rebound. Carter wasn’t done yet either as the durable Tiger athlete stood tall and took a charge on the ensuing Mounatinburg possession. Andrew Burton made sure Carter’s sacrifice wasn’t made in vain by swishing a sweet fadeaway jump shot which gave the Tigers their first points of the second half. With all of the effort the Tigers put out though, turnovers and missed opportunities on rebounds remained a thorn in the side of Mansfield. Ethan Martin knocked down a short jump shot to round up the scoring of the second quarter, but a mere four points in the quarter wouldn’t cut it as the Tigers went into halftime down 19-11.

Mansfield wasted little time trying to make up for their poor first-half performance as Andrew Burton took the ball downcourt for an easy uncontested layup. The Tigers defense remained aggressive which kept the Dragons temporarily at bay. Mountainburg finally found a gap in Mansfield’s defense and sank a three-pointer off of the mistake. Traevin Copeland hit an eye for an eye three-pointer of his own to square off the edges of the scoreboard. Ethan “Big E” Martin then came up big for the Tigers by rolling in a board bucket and followed that up by getting fouled on a rebound and draining both free throws. The Tigers kept on trucking with a tik-tack-toe passing attack as Jonah Martin dished the ball to Traevin Copeland at halfcourt who then sent the ball to a wide-open Andrew Burton for a layup. Mansfield’s defense stiffened up again with a Jonah Martin blocked shot which led to a Traevin Copeland three-pointer as the seconds ticked down to the end of the third quarter. Mansfield outscored Mountainburg 14-9 in the quarter but was still down 28-25 to the Dragons.

The Tigers were getting red hot as they entered the fourth quarter with every intention of upsetting the top-seeded Dragons. Mountainburg on the other hand had ice running through their veins and wasn’t going to go down easily. The Dragons rattled off a six-point run on Mansfield before Andrew Burton hit a three-point shot to keep Mountainburg at bay. Burton was able to hit another three but the Dragons kept the scoreboard lit to counter every Mansfiled score by two fold. Mansfield was able to put points up with a Jonah Martin put back bucket and Traevin Copeland three-pointer, but the scores didn’t faze Mountainburg as the Dragons went on to defeat Mansfield 45-37. The loss to Mountainburg is a hard pill to swallow for Mansfield, but the Tigers will have to choke it down quickly as the Tigers go out of the fire into the frying pan. The Tigers will host another potent team as they take on the Magazine Rattlers on Saturday, February 4th.

“Just Roll with It” Serving up Recipes and Humor

Featured

Tammy Teague

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2:56 am

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“Just Roll with It” Serving up Recipes and Humor

By Sheri Hopkins
Lifestyle Contributor

Hello everyone! I hope everyone made it through the great ice storm of 2023. My kids have been extremely happy. I binge-watched some shows and ate and ate. It is melting today, and most folks are out and about. I even went to Walmart on my lunch break. I had to replenish the snacks. Those teenagers can eat everything but a table leg.

I love to cook and I especially like to make desserts. I had a few catastrophes in my lifetime while cooking. Now keep in mind, Mrs. Sue Ward taught us a lot in home economics. I loved that class. That’s where I made my first quiche. Fun times for sure. Don’t ask Mrs. Ward if I was a good student. I talked a lot in her class and always got moved. My first attempt at biscuits was a disaster. Elly May Clampett had nothing on me. They were hard as a rock. Second attempt they were the color of mustard, as yellow as could be. I could not make a biscuit, period. Then, one day I was on Facebook and Gwen Miller was on there doing a how-to video on making biscuits, and I, Sheri Hopkins, can now make biscuits. I’m so proud. Everyone made it look so easy, but mine turned out awful until I followed Gwyn’s instructions.

I came in from work one day and was going to cook the kids a frozen pizza, so I put it in the oven and go piddling around doing stuff and came back to smoke coming out of the oven. I ran over there and got it out, and I had left the cardboard on the bottom of it and it was smoking. I have done some crazy stuff.

The first time I tried to make baked beans in an iron skillet, I followed the recipe. The only problem was I kept stirring them and they were nothing but mush. I still remember my poor daddy eating them and telling me how good they were. Bless his heart.

I am telling ya’ll this to tell you that anybody can learn to cook. My little sweet daughter-in-law, Loren, only knew how to cook french fries and dino nuggets when she and Jacob got married. She is now one of the best cooks I know. They had me over for dinner last Friday and it was delicious.

I know I have told ya’ll about Tonya Wagoner and her cooking skills. Maybe everyone can’t learn to cook. Just kidding, Tonya. This is no lie, I was talking to her on the phone and I hear Michael in the background saying, “do I need to turn the beans off?” She is straightening her hair while I’m talking to her. Keep this in mind, and she says, “I’m the only person I know that can burn my hair and dinner at the same time.” There ya have it folks came right out of her mouth. I’m waiting for the phone call where she asks me, “how do you cook pinto beans?” beans and water, Tonya, beans and water. This week’s recipe is chicken spaghetti and even Tonya Wagoner can make it. There are several versions of chicken spaghetti but I’m sharing this one.

CHICKEN SPAGHETTI
2 pounds of chicken (you can use rotisserie, canned, or boil your own –I boil tenderloins and crumble them up)
116 oz. package of spaghetti
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can Rotel tomatoes (I put mine in the chopper)
1 16 oz. package of Velveeta
4 oz. cream cheese, softened (or you can substitute sour cream)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Preheat your over to 350 degrees, and lightly grease a 13×9 baking dish. Shred your chicken. I just crumble mine up. Cook the spaghetti noodles according to directions, drain, and set aside. In a large pot, combine the Rotel with the juice, and add the soups, Velveeta cheese, and cream cheese. Over low heat, stir constantly until the cheeses have melted. Add the garlic powder and onion powder. Then add the shredded chicken and cooked spaghetti. Mix well and pour into your baking dish. Sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until heated through and the cheese on top has melted. Enjoy this easy and quick dinner meal. Have a blessed week, and enjoy the sunshine that’s coming!

Hogs’ Wegner Tabbed as Pre-Season All-America

Resident News Network

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6:59 pm

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Hogs’ Wegner Tabbed as Pre-Season All-America

FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas outfielder Jared Wegner has been named a preseason All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

The NCBWA’s 22nd annual preseason All-America teams were announced Thursday afternoon. The preseason All-America squads are considered the first step toward the eventual selection of the Dick Howser Trophy, which has been voted upon for 23 seasons by members of the NCBWA.

Wegner, who garnered second-team praise as an outfielder, put up eye-popping numbers last season at Creighton. He slashed .343/.459/.635 with a team-leading 11 home runs, 53 RBI and 11 stolen bases for the Bluejays to earn All-Big East first-team honors at the year’s end.

Over his four-year playing career at Creighton, the Kearney, Neb., slashed .303/.408/.483 with 14 home runs, 80 RBI and 21 stolen bases in 114 games. Wegner was a second-team All-Big East selection as a true freshman after slashing .264/.369/.336 with a homer and 20 runs batted in.

Wegner, who transferred to Arkansas following his senior year at Creighton, is the fourth Razorback to collect preseason All-America recognition entering the 2023 campaign. Pitcher Hagen Smith was named a preseason All-American by Perfect Game, infielder Peyton Stovall received preseason All-America praise from Baseball America and pitcher Brady Tygart earned a preseason All-America nod from D1Baseball.

Arkansas opens the season against Texas on Friday, Feb. 17, in the College Baseball Showdown. First pitch from Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, is set for 7 p.m. on Fox Sports.

Note to Our Readers: The following story was sourced directly and in its entirety from the University of Arkansas Office of Communications, Oliver Grigg.

Arkansas’s Barnum Named to National List of Top Ten Power Forwards

Resident News Network

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9:00 pm

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Arkansas’s Barnum Named to National List of Top Ten Power Forwards

SPRINGFIELD, MA– Erynn Barnum of the Arkansas women’s basketball team has been playing the best basketball of her career, which is worthy for national recognition. Barnum has been named to the 2023 Katrina McClain Mid-Season Top 10 List, the award given to the best power forward in the country, as announced by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).

Barnum has started in all 24 games, leading the team in scoring with 16.8 points per game. She also averages 6.8 rebounds per game along with tallying 51 assists, 35 steals and 26 blocks. Her 59.5 field goal percentage has led the SEC for majority of the season, while sitting in the top 16 nationally. She has more than doubled her scoring average and has nearly tripled her assist total from prior seasons, while improving remarkably in nearly every statistical category.

Coming off one of the best performances by any basketball player this season, Barnum went off for a career-high 37 points off 13 field goals, three of which were from beyond the 3-point line to tie a career high. She also added six rebounds, three assists and three steals in that game. Barnum has been averaging 22.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game in the last three outings.

Barnum is the first Razorback to be named to the top 10 list for the Katrina McClain Award. Prior to her senior season, she never scored 20 points in a game, but now Barnum has eight 20+ point games this year. Aside from leading the SEC in field goal percentage, Barnum is also second in free throw attempts (142), seventh in scoring, 11th in rebounding and 14th in blocks in the SEC. Her 403 total points on the season is the 27th most in the country. Barnum has played in 101 career games as a Razorback, earning the start in 34 of those. She is now one of 30 to have pulled down 500+ rebounds in their Arkansas career.

The award is named after two-time All-American and 1987 National Player of the Year Katrina McClain, which recognizes the top power forwards in women’s NCAA Division I basketball. A national committee consisting of top college basketball personnel choose the watch list of 20 candidates.

Fans can vote for their favorite players in the final rounds by taking part in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies. Voting begins on Friday, Feb. 3 on hoophallawards.com. The Fan Vote will count toward one committee vote during the finalist selection process. In March, the five finalists will be presented to McClain and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee.

The winner of the 2023 Katrina McClain Award will be presented with the other four members of the Women’s Starting Five on a later date. The other awards that will be presented include the Nancy Lieberman Award (point guard), Ann Meyers Drysdale Award (shooting guard), Cheryl Miller Award (small forward) and the Lisa Leslie Award (center).

Arkansas women’s basketball is back in action on Sunday, Feb. 5, as the Razorbacks face Auburn at Neville Arena. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. with the game being broadcast on SEC Network.

2023 Katrina McClain Award Candidates

Esmery Martinez – Arizona

Cate Reese – Arizona

Erynn Barnum – Arkansas

Lauren Gustin – BYU

Aneesah Morrow – DePaul

Angel Reese – LSU

Cameron Brink – Stanford

Aaliyah Edwards – UConn

Alissa Pili – Utah

Maddy Siegrist – Villanova

*Players can play their way onto and off the list at any point throughout the 2022-23 season

Note to Our Readers: The following story was sourced directly and in its entirety from the University of Arkansas Office of Communications, Kylie Magar.

Timepiece: Most Valuable Item in the Mine

Featured

Tammy Teague

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12:14 am

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Timepiece: Most Valuable Item in the Mine

By Dr. Curtis Varnell

Travelling upstream, the keelboat struggled against the current. Moving to the landing on the north bank, a layer of dark black rock caught the eye of explorer Thomas Nuttal who noted it in his journal. The location was Spadra Landing, Johnson County, Arkansas and the year 1819. The black layer of rock was identified as a bituminous coal layer and became one of the most valuable materials mined in the state.

Eventually coal fields were found to exist in a 33- mile-wide, 60-mile-long area running from Russellville in the east to the western border of the state. As pioneers moved into the area, they began to extract small amounts of the coal to be used as heating fuel and for blacksmith shops. Some more enterprising individuals began to extract larger quantities to ship to New Orleans and larger towns, selling the black rock on the open market. Trains, fueled by coal, vastly increased the demand for coal and, by1880, Arkansas coal was fueling the development of the west. Greenwood to Hartford in Sebastian County was the center of the coal trade but huge mines existed in Johnson, Franklin, Pope, and Logan counties as well. In 1907, coal mined in Arkansas reached a peak of 2.6 million tons. Over 106 million tons of coal were produced from 1880 to 2006. Mineral rights to one mine, Greenwood #2 in Sebastian county, sold for over two million dollars while, at Paris, 13,000 railroad cars of coal were shipped out in an eight-month period of time.

Fortunes were made but not by the hard-working coal-miners who extracted the coal. Working for an average of 75 cents an hour, they risked life and limb and they crawled into mines sloping downward from the surface. Using a pick and shovel, they removed the coal from between sandstone rock layers that shifted and settled from the tremendous weight above. As more coal was demanded, the miners crawled on hands and knees into darkness lighted only by carbide lamps, set dynamite into the coal layers, and waited in the darkness as the tremendous charges shook the earth loosening the valuable coal for extraction. Newspapers were filled with stories of the resulting toll on life and limb. Working on my dissertation, I interviewed several older miners. Alan Heard of Greenwood described the worst day of life, “My dad and I were in the Excelsior mine near Hackett. Hearing a loud noise, my dad screamed for us to lay down on the floor. Instantly, blue flame flew up the tunnel, scorching our clothing and burning exposed flesh.” Seven men were killed in the explosion, their bodies carried out by fellow miners who worked hours to remove them from the entrapment. Three of the men killed were brothers. Most mine accidents were smaller in scale, involving the death of only one or two individuals. Falling down a shaft, electrocution, being kicked by a mule, or hit by falling rock were small in scope but contributed to a cumulative large sum of people, all tragedies on a smaller scale. More insidious was the damage done to health as the workers breathed the dust resulting from mining. As they aged, black lung afflicted the respiratory systems, resulting in coughing and black spittle from bleeding in the lungs. Worn our backs and limbs resulted in painful arthritis, robbing years from the miner’s lives. As H.B. Stewart, a one-time miner and long-time Greenwood coach told me, “Miners worked hard, lived hard, and died young.”

A hard life but one that that made a decent living for the family, many of the men told me that they wouldn’t change the life they lived for any other. As one of the miners explained to me, “millions of dollars of coal came out of those mines. The coal fueled the growth of America and, during WWII we would not have won without coal as a fuel source. So much good came out of the rock but, at the end of the day, the most valuable thing to come out of that mine was the miner.”

Razorbacks Football National Signing Day 2 Summary

Resident News Network

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11:13 pm

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Razorbacks Football National Signing Day 2 Summary

Today is the second date for national signings for college football, and the University of Arkansas has just released a summary of the combined signings for national signing day one and two.

Attached is information, including bios on each of 30 signees over both signing periods.

KEY NOTES

• The Razorbacks’ 2023 signing class consists of 20 high school athletes and 10 college transfers.

• Late signing class features five transfers and one high school signee. Each side of the ball is represented equally with three offensive players (2 WR, 1 TE) and three defenders (2 DB, 1 DL). The early signing class featured 14 defenders (6 DB, 4 DL, 4 LB) and 10 offensive players (4 OL, 2 QB, 2 WR, 1 RB, 1 TE).

•30 signees hailing from 13 different states – Texas (7), Alabama (3), Arkansas (4), Georgia (4), Florida (2), Michigan (2), Oklahoma (2), Illinois (1), Maryland (1), Mississippi (1), North Carolina (1), South Carolina (1) and Tennessee (1).

• Four in-state signees, including transfer quarterback Jacolby Criswell (Morrilton), defensive lineman Quincy Rhodes Jr. (North Little Rock), offensive lineman Joey Su’a (Bentonville) and Shamar Easter (Ashdown).

• 16 of the 23 December signees enrolled early and are already participating in offseason workouts. All five transfers in the late signing period have enrolled and are participating in offseason workouts for a total of 21 new Razorbacks this spring.

• No. 21 class nationally and No. 9 class in the SEC by Rivals. According to Rivals rankings, marks the first time with consecutive Top 25 recruiting classes since 2004-2005.

• No. 22 class nationally and the No. 9 class in the SEC by 247Sports, as of now best ranked overall class by 247Sports since 2015. According to 247Sports recruiting rankings, marks the first time since 2015-16 with consecutive Top 25 classes.

• No. 19 transfer class nationally and No. 6 transfer class in the SEC by 247Sports.

FEBRUARY SIGNING PERIOD

Player Pos. HT WT Hometown High School / Previous School

Tyrone Broden ^ WR 6-7 210 Detroit, Mich. West Bloomfield HS/Bowling Green State

Shamar Easter TE 6-5 230 Ashdown, Ark. Ashdown HS

Trajan Jeffcoat ^ DL 6-4 269 Columbia, S.C. Irmo HS/Missouri

Lorando Johnson ^ DB 6-0 193 Lancaster, Texas Lancaster HS/Baylor

Isaac TeSlaa ^ WR 6-4 215 Hudsonville, Mich. Unity Christian HS/Hillsdale College

Alfahiym Walcott ^ DB 6-2 211 Wilmington, N.C. Laney HS/Baylor

DECEMBER SIGNING PERIOD

Player Pos. HT WT Hometown High School / Previous School

Andrew Armstrong ^ WR 6-4 189 Dallas, Texas Bishop Dunne HS / Texas A&M-Commerce

Isaiah Augustave RB 6-2 205 Naples, Fla. Naples HS

Joshua Braun ^ OL 6-6 335 Live Oak, Fla. Suwannee HS / Florida

Jaylon Braxton ^ DB 6-0 180 Frisco, Texas Lone Star HS

Luke Brown ^ OL 6-6 320 Paris, Tenn. Henry County HS

Jacolby Criswell ^ QB 6-1 225 Morrilton, Ark. Morrilton HS / North Carolina

Carson Dean ^ LB 6-4 230 Frisco, Texas Hebron HS

Davion Dozier WR 6-4 195 Moody, Ala. Moody HS

Christian Ford DB 6-0 185 McKinney, Texas McKinney HS

Ian Geffrard DL 6-5 370 Mableton, Ga. Whitefield Academy

Antonio Grier ^ LB 6-1 220 Atlanta, Ga. Mays HS / USF

Dylan Hasz ^ DB 5-11 175 Bixby, Okla. Bixby HS

Luke Hasz ^ TE 6-3 245 Bixby, Okla. Bixby HS

Kaleb James DL 6-4 260 Mansfield, Texas Mansfield HS

RJ Johnson ^ DB 6-2 182 Locust Grove, Ga. Eagles Landing Christian Academy

TJ Metcalf ^ DB 6-1 185 Birmingham, Ala. Pinson Valley HS

John Morgan ^ DL 6-2 265 Upper Marlboro, Md. DeMatha Catholic HS / Pitt

Paris Patterson ^ OL 6-6 340 East St. Louis, Ill. East St. Louis HS

Quincy Rhodes Jr. DL 6-6 250 North Little Rock, Ark. North Little Rock HS

Alex Sanford LB 6-1 230 Oxford, Miss. Oxford HS

Malachi Singleton ^ QB 6-1 220 Kennesaw, Ga. North Cobb HS

Brad Spence ^ LB 6-2 225 Houston, Texas Klein Forest HS

Joey Su’a ^ OL 6-4 331 Bentonville, Ark. Bentonville HS

Dallas Young ^ DB 6-0 185 Gardendale, Ala. Gardendale HS

Note to Our Readers: The following story was sourced directly and in its entirety from the University of Arkansas Office of Communications, Kyle Parkinson.

Cold comfort: Ensuring a newborn calf’s survival during a sleet storm

Outdoors

Tammy Teague

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11:07 pm

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Cold comfort: Ensuring a newborn calf’s survival during a sleet storm

By Mary Hightower
U of A System Division of Agriculture

Making sure cattle have enough food and water during an ice storm is hard enough, but being a midwife too adds a whole new layer of challenge.

That’s just what Dana Stewart wound up doing Tuesday morning, when one of the cows beat her due date. Stewart’s family helps manage the Martin Cattle Company of Judsonia. She’s part of the sixth generation working this White County farm, which raises Gelbveih, Balancer and Hereford cattle.

Two rounds of wintry weather Monday through Wednesday closed school districts and offices across Arkansas.

“When we talk about managing cattle in this kind of weather, the first thing that comes to mind is just knowing your cattle,” she said Wednesday. “This cow wasn’t quite due, but she was definitely on our radar. I had gone to check on her the night before when the sleet was really coming down.”

In the midst of the sleet shower, she found the cow, sheltered with the herd in a thicket of trees. She had given birth to a set of twins, but only one, a heifer, survived.

“The reality of ranching is that despite our best efforts, nature sometimes takes a different course,” Stewart said.

Into recovery mode
At that point, “you jump into recovery mode,” she said. “The calf we brought in — she was chilled, but she had a brightness in her eye.”

After a ride in the back of a side-by-side, they brought her into a shop with a kerosene heater.

“We warmed her up slowly and she perked up,” Stewart said. “We fed her some colostrum with a bottle, and after that, she was ready to go back to the cow.”

Colostrum is the first milk produced by mammals after giving birth. It is of special importance because it is full of antibodies, ready to protect the youngster.

Rescuing calves this way does carry some risk that the cow may not accept a calf from which it has been separated.

“You want to get the calf back to the cow as quick as you can, so the cow is willing to take her back,” Stewart said.

With a third round of icy precipitation expected on Wednesday, the calf was spending one more night inside.

“I hated to turn the calf and cow out of the barn knowing we were going to get another round,” Stewart said. “Another night in the barn and she will go out in the pasture with the rest of the herd.”

Keeping a farm going for as long as Stewart’s has, takes a lot of planning.

“Knowing the cattle and knowing you have a good management plan in place means if there are issues, you know how to react and you’re prepared,” she said.

No snow days
“There are no snow or ice days for livestock producers,” said Brian Haller, White County extension staff chair for the Division of Agriculture.

“When cold temperatures in combination with wet and icy precipitation, it is important to provide the needed energy in the form of feed to livestock,” he said. “A cow’s energy requirement increases 1.5 times when cold and wet and feed consumption increases 1.3 percent for every 5 degrees Fahrenheit decrease in temperature.”

One more round
Icy weather prompted the Cooperative Extension Service to postpone Arkansas Forage and Grassland Council’s Winter Forage Conference scheduled for Thursday. The meeting will be rescheduled, according to John Jennings, professor and extension forage specialist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

The National Weather Service at Little Rock said a third round of icy precipitation was expected to mean ice accumulations of .25 to .5 inches for central and southern Arkansas and an ice storm warning was in effect through noon on Thursday. Temperatures were expected to rise into the 40s on Friday and Saturday.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.

About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.

The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

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