Officers with the Mansfield Police Department, in cooperation with the Arkansas State Police, captured two fugitives on Thursday, January 2.
Joshua Gaia, 30, and Ashley Goins, 20, were taken into custody Thursday evening at 4:30 p.m., on felony charges of fleeing and burglary out of Russellville.
Mansfield Police Chief Wayne Robb said Gaia and Goins were captured at North Huntington and Cole Street in Mansfield after fleeing in Pope County.
Gaia and Goines were transported to the Sebastian County Detention Center.
Talk about an empowering way to end 2019! The Waldron Lady Bulldogs took to the court in the annual Bill Frye Classic for their last big dance of the year. In a three day cha-cha, the Lady Bulldogs gracefully spun their way around the Hackett Lady Hornets on the first day taking home a win of 40-28. On day two in the semi-finals round, it was a turbulent tango that saw Waldron earn the upper hand and the victory over the Booneville Lady Bearcats 41-32. For the final day, it was off to the championship round where the Lady Bulldogs ferociously do-si-doed with the Vian Lady Wolverines and although Waldron showed great intensity, they took a 55-33 loss. But their heads remained high because they honorably earned Runner-Up in the tournament.
Jessica Ozuna
With a roster barely able to fill both hands, the Waldron Lady Bulldogs Epic Eight are getting things done that teams with tripled roster sizes can’t even dream of doing. With a 6-8 season record and 1-1 in conference play, the Lady Bulldogs getting the job done is lone senior Chelsea Stidman, juniors Kadance Espinoza, Rheagan Sanford, and Jessica Ozuna, and sophomores Molly Richmond, Summer Imperiali, Bianca Hinojosa, and Hailey Stidman.
Summer Imperiali
Assisting in earning Runner-Up greatness was dynamic duo sisters Chelsea and Hailey Stidman who led their team with 11 and 8 points respectively. Bringing in six points apiece was Espinoza and Ozuna who swept the floor with the Lady Wolverines with zero apologies. And throwing in two points with her offensive dominance was Imperiali. Defensively, Richmond was a wrecking ball as she schooled the Lady Wolverines in rebounds with seven.
Hailey Stidman
For their first game of the new year, the Waldron Lady Bulldogs will host the (11-5) Cossatot Lady Eagles in a non-conference game on January 3 with Jr High starting at 4 p.m.
Photos courtesy of Raine Hecox and Kristen Atchley
After a colossal three-day basketball experience, the Waldron Bulldogs ended the annual Bill Frye Classic as tournament Champions. Held every year in Mansfield, the Bulldogs started the competition off by facing and defeating the Hackett Hornets 64-48. Moving on to the semi-finals, Waldron dominated the Booneville Bearcats 70-48 earning them a spot in the championship round. On December 30, the night started off innocently enough as the Waldron Bulldogs were slated to hit the hardwood against the Vian Wolverines to see who would walk away as top shot.
Gada Wagner
The first quarter ended with a mere three-point gap as Waldron held the lead 14-11. It was a quadruple Bulldog senior threat as Mason Ford, Jacob Avila, Payton Brown, and Ruben Valdez were on top of their game slaying each Wolverine that stepped in their path. Brown painted the court orange as he offensively led the team with 32 points with nine of those points coming from hitting three threes. Avila was a netting machine as he added seven points to the board while also smashing a three-point. Ford contributed five points while escaping the heat put on by the Wolverines. And Valdez was calm under pressure delivering two points to the score.
Jacob Avila
At halftime, the Bulldogs held the lead 29-19 and after that, the rest is history with Waldron stealing the win 67-50. Waldron junior trio Gada Wagner, Isaac Villarreal, and Caden Fuller were also bringing the pain by wheelin’ and dealin’ more buckets than Vian could handle. Villarreal was the “real” deal as he played with meticulous detail when handling the ball obtaining 11 points for his team and getting the fans revved up by hitting a three-pointer. Wagner kept a steady pace in the game bringing in six points. And Fuller kept the columns moving by throwing in two points to the game.
Sam Slater
Leaving no stone unturned, junior guard Sam Slater was brought in towards the end of the match to showcase his nonstop zealous energy. Slater got the job done and the crowd going as he logged two points for the books. “Our Bulldogs finish 2019 out with a BANG,” exclaimed Coach Joshua Brown. “I’m very proud of them and the effort they played with during the tournament. Our best defensive effort of the year against an athletic, scrappy Vian team! We absolutely got after it and were LOCKED IN! To the Mansfield Basketball Program and School District, thank you for putting on a first-class tournament and for your hospitality. Congrats to Payton Brown for being named tournament MVP, and to Jacob Avila, Gada Wagner, and Isaac Villarreal for being named to the All-Tournament Team!”
MVP Payton Brown and Coach Bill Frye
Waldron moves to 12-3 on the season and undefeated 2-0 in conference play. The Bulldogs will be back at the WAC on Jan. 3, to take on the Cossatot Eagles with Jr High starting this off at 4 p.m.
It was a decade that was forgettable for Razorbacks fans. The opening decade of the new century was not good to the Arkansas football program. In fact, Razorbacks fans have endured a decade of perennial losing seasons with the exceptions of a few years under Bobby Petrino that ultimately ended in disgrace and put the program into a tail spin in which it has yet to recover. Add to all of this the loss of its long time football coach and athletic director, Frank Broyles, it was the worst of times for Arkansas football.
So, at Arkansas, once again, a new head football coach springs eternal optimism for a fan base that is starved for success. Not unlike Spring Training in major league baseball where every team is optimistic about the upcoming year, another change at the helm of the Razorbacks program has given Arkansas fans renewed hope that maybe the program is back on a solid foundation and is headed in the right direction.
Given the lack of success over the past ten years in the Razorbacks football program, and an added background that has seen an athletic director, it’s men’s basketball coach, and it’s most recent football coach (fired after two seasons), all fired in the past few years, a search for a top-level football coach was faced with many obstacles that made it almost impossible to hire a top-five coach on most athletic directors’ short-list of desired candidates.
Given all of this, the Razorbacks have made a great hire in Sam Pittman, a man who has a track record of success in the SEC, and who actually wanted to come to Arkansas. Perhaps his biggest addition to this program will not just be his track record of success in recruiting top athletes, but his reputation as a players coach. In fact, his best recruiting trophy so far may have been his success in convincing senior running back Rakeem Boyd to return to Arkansas for his senior year. Since that time, Pittman has flipped some high profile recruits from other SEC programs and is in the running for several uncommitted, top shelf players that remain unsigned going into the traditional college football signing period.
Coach Pittman appears to be a coach of traditional values and methods. He is not big into slogans and some of the trendy things you hear coming from today’s younger generation of coaches. But, from all appearances, Pittman appears to be loved by his players. And as I stated from my coverage of the WKU game in November that turned out to be Chad Morris’s final game as the Arkansas coach, this will be an important first step in rebuilding the Razorbacks program. By outward appearance, it seemed that Morris had lost the team. My impression of this was forged in the reaction of the Razorback players at mid-field after the loss to WKU. It was one thing to be kind and classy with Ty Storey after the loss, but the laughter and kidding around immediately after the loss seemed to be how you would think a team would have acted following a big win, not an embarrassing loss. I surely can’t tell you that I know this for a fact, but my impression was that the Hogs players didn’t seem to care that they had been dominated at home by a Conference USA team. I surely don’t mean any disrespect to a very good WKU team that won eight games this year, including an impressive bowl win, but, I can’t visualize any other SEC team taking a loss like this as lightly as Arkansas seemingly did. And in the team culture of the Georgia Bulldogs, I surely can’t see them reacting that way following an embarrassing loss. I know Arkansas is not Georgia, but, I do believe in pride in the Razorbacks program that must be reinstated, and I believe Sam Pittman is the man to do the job. In the borrowed words of a dear friend who is very close to this situation, “We have ourselves a ball coach!”
Pittman immediately began to assemble his staff, and the first hire was to target a Razorbacks defense that has been dismal over the past several seasons. Pittman went to his long time friend, Barry Odom, who had just been fired as head coach of the Missouri Tigers. Odom, prior to his ascendance to head coach, had built his reputation as an outstanding defensive coach and recruiter. Now, with just eight days after being hired as the Razorbacks head coach, Sam Pittman had a defensive coordinator on his small staff, yet recruited aggressively and landed some top recruits and “flips” from previously committed programs.
The Arkansas Defense Must Improve in 2020
Next on Pittman’s radar was the selection of an offensive coordinator. Pittman was faced with the challenge of finding a coordinator that would mesh with the talented receivers that had been signed by Chad Morris, as well as someone who would be an effective recruiter nationally of offensive talent. After a fairly lengthy interview process, Pittman selected Kendal Briles, former offensive coordinator at Florida State, and who was available from the dismissal of his head coach, Willie Taggert. You may recognize the name, as Briles is the son of former Baylor coach, Art Briles, who had prolific offenses at Baylor that included former Heisman Trophy winner, Robert Giffin III. Kendall Briles has a reputation of being a very good recruiter and someone who could make a big difference in the development of the Hogs sophomore quarterback, K. J. Jefferson.
Will K J Jefferson Start at Quarterback in 2020?
Pittman is continuing the process of filling out his staff and if he completes the process as strongly as he started with the two coordinator hires, Arkansas may have assembled the best coaching staff from top to bottom that it has had in several years. One may have to go back as far as the late 1970s when then Arkansas coach Lou Holtz attracted such assistant coaches as Monte Kiffin, Jesse Branch, Larry Beightol, Don Breaux, Ken Turner, and graduate assistant and now Seattle Seahawks head coach, Pete Carroll.
The next step for the new staff will be recruiting for the national signing day on February 5. Arkansas must find recruits that can address several key areas such as quarterback, offensive and defensive lines, and also not to forget a replacement for kicker Connor Limpert who graduated last season. The Hogs recruiting season is off to a good start given the very short time Pittman has been on campus, but he must continue to press hard to land as good of a recruiting class as possible to go with the young team he inherits and must develop during the spring and summer.
The Hogs Must Replace Kicker Connor Limpert in 2020
Arkansas’s first football schedule of the new decade will include an away game at the University of Notre Dame. The two teams will play for the first time in South Bend, Indiana on September 12. The Razorbacks home schedule will include games at Donald W. Reynolds Razorbacks Stadium against Kent State, Charleston Southern, Alabama, LSU, Tennessee, Ole Miss, and Louisiana-Monroe. The Razorbacks will play road games at Notre Dame, Mississippi State, Auburn, and Missouri. Arkansas will again play a neutral site game against Texas A&M in Dallas.
Arkansas’s 2020 Home Schedule Includes Games Against LSU and Alabama
The schedule is daunting for a first year head coach that takes over a program that has seemingly hit rock bottom over the past two to three years. Arkansas will again be young and will be in a rebuilding mode. A season in which the team becomes bowl eligible would be a tremendous accomplishment for this team. Arkansas must show a desire to play and to play hard as a first step. I believe Sam Pittman will embed a new sense of pride to this program. Arkansas was a bad team last year, but was not as bad as they played. There is too much talent in the program to lay down and quit the way this team seemingly did at the end of last year.
Under Sam Pittman’s leadership, let’s hope that the next decade will be much better for the Razorbacks than the first ten years of this century. It has been a long time since 1964 when Arkansas won its last national championship, and on that day in December in 1969 when Arkansas experienced its most devastating loss in program history, losing a heart breaker to Texas in Fayetteville for the national championship, the program has not achieved long term, consistent success ever since.
It is time to get over the 1969 loss to Texas and move on to a brighter future. I was ten years old when Arkansas lost that fateful game, and for people my age, it is time for another heyday at Arkansas.
Are you going nuts about the New Year? Maybe you have been trying to figure out what your New Year resolution will be? Well, one suggestion is, make sure you make this yummy popcorn mix to ring in the New Year! You won’t regret it!
We are going nuts over a few new recipes that I have been trying out over the Christmas break. Over the next several weeks, we will bring you a recipe each week using pecans. However, if you are allergic to pecans or nuts in general, you can always omit them from the recipe, and it will still taste just as yummy as ever! The pecans are just an added bonus!
If I had to choose a favorite nut to bake with it, it would definitely
be the pecan. Although, it is one of the
most expensive nuts to buy in the store, in my opinion, it has the best
flavor. If you are lucky and have a
pecan tree, then it makes it even better for you because you can have an abundance
of pecans to cook and eat with! This
past summer, we planted pecan trees, so I’m hoping they continue to grow and thrive.
However, I believe it’s about 15 years before you really have good successful
pecans growing and falling. So, the plan
is to have my grandkids pick up pecans for me to have lots to bake and eat when
I get older!
We planted our trees on some family land. The trick to
growing pecan trees it always planting two together. You cannot just plant one. You need two to pollinate together. Pecan trees have both male and female
flowers. They will not blossom at the
same time either. So, you when you go to
purchase the pecan trees, make sure they have two different types of flowers
blooming hence the male and female flowers.
This way, they will pollinate, and your trees will flourish.
But, now on to the yummy recipe! How about a yummy snack to ring in the new
year? This snack is easy, fast, cheap and
great for any party time. I even made
little snack bags of this yummy snack and passed them out at Christmas time to my
coworkers. It’s so delicious!
Ingredients:
5 Bags Of Popped Microwaved Buttered Popcorn
2 cups of Powdered Sugar
¼ cup of Cinnamon
2 Cups of Chopped Pecans
Nonstick Cooking Spray
1-gallon Ziplock bag
Sweet Cinnamon Drizzle Sauce:
½ cup Melted margarine
2 tablespoons of Cinnamon
3 tablespoons of Milk
2 cups of Powdered Sugar
Directions:
Pop the microwave popcorn as directed on the box, and place
in a large bowl. In the Ziplock bag, add
1 cup of powdered sugar and 2, tablespoons of cinnamon. Seal the bag and then give it a shake. Now, scoop out some of the popped popcorn and
put inside the Ziplock bag. Seal and
shake again.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Now, lay the popcorn out evenly on the cookie sheet. Drop 1 cup of the chopped pecans evenly throughout the popcorn.
Popcorn and Pecans ready for the yummy drizzling sauce!
In another bowl, mix the margarine, milk, cinnamon, and
powdered sugar to make the sweet drizzling sauce. Drizzle the sauce over the popcorn and then place
the popcorn mix in the oven. You will
bake this for 15 minutes; however, you will need to stir the popcorn every five
minutes. So, bake for 5 minutes and remove
from the oven. Use a spoon to toss the
popcorn in the sauce and return to popcorn to the oven. Bake for another 5 minutes, and then remove
and toss the popcorn again. Return to
the oven for 5 more minutes. After this
last five minutes of cooking, remove from the oven, sit the popcorn to the side
and let it completely cool before placing into a bowl for your party friends to
enjoy!
Extra yummy add-in: White Chocolate Covered Pretzel Sticks
In one batch of the popcorn, I added white chocolate covered
pretzels to the mix. I made the white
chocolate covered pretzels with white almond bark according to the
directions. Once they had cooled and
harden, I broke the pretzel sticks in half before adding to my popcorn
mix.
Jerry Wayne Teague of Black Oak was born October 10, 1947 in Dyess, AR., to Max and Jewel Teague. On December 29, 2019 in a Memphis hospital, he departed to his heavenly home.
Jerry, a proud serviceman and Vietnam veteran, enjoyed hunting, fishing and going to the drag races. He also enjoyed visiting with his friends and family. He always had a story to tell! He was also a quiet thinker, often times sitting in his recliner rubbing his mustache with his index finger. No doubt, wise advice and a life lesson was sure to follow!
He was a devoted husband and father, providing for his family and knowing the value of hard work. He spent a lifetime working on the farm and enjoyed being outdoors, raising tomatoes, taking care of his yard and picking up pecans. He was charitable, and done good deeds for others quietly and selflessly. Jerry also enjoyed his fur and feather babies, Taz whom he lost recently, Jax and Boo.
Jerry was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers, Gary, Dennis and Rickey, and one sister, Linda.
He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Mildred McKinness-Teague of the home, and son Jason Teague and his wife Tammy of Mansfield, AR. He is also survived by a daughter, Holly Rhinehart and her husband Donald of Tyronza, and grandchildren, Emily, Riley, Nathaniel and Isaac.
Jerry also leaves behind a host of family and friends who will forever cherish his memory.
Visitation will be at 1 p.m. on Thursday, January 2, at Delancey-Murphy Funeral Home in Marked Tree, AR. Funeral services will begin at 2 p.m. Interment will follow at Potter Cemetery in Lepanto, AR. Pallbearers are W.G. Willoughby, Joey McCorkle, Elmo McKinness and Lee Jones. Honorary pallbearers are Sam Wynn and George Willoughby.
To Jerry Wayne, this is not goodbye, but see you again. Until then, keep sharing the laughs and cherish the memories.
Beginning next week anyone with a valid Arkansas driver learner’s permit can begin using an online scheduling tool to arrange the final step toward becoming a motor vehicle licensed driver. The scheduling tool will be accessible beginning Monday, January 6th through the Arkansas State Police Driver Exam web site at ar.gov/aspdrivertest
Online scheduling will make it easier for permit holders and anyone who must accompany the skills test applicant to set a specific date and time for the skills test and avoid waiting in line or possibly being turned-away due unexpected large numbers of applicants at a testing location and impending closing hours.
“This is another step toward modernizing the process of obtaining an Arkansas driver license,” said Colonel Bill Bryant, Director of the Arkansas State Police.
Almost ten years ago the state police began installing computers at the 115 testing sites around Arkansas for driver license applicants to use in taking their knowledge test. Offering online study guides, online practice tests and voice prompted study features have been other modern additions for testing operations.
We’re always listening to the citizens when they voice their concerns about the testing process and I hope the scheduling module will prove to be a huge benefit for skills test applicants, particularly the parents and guardians who accompany their first time drivers to any of the testing sites around the state,” Colonel Bryant commented.
Anyone planning to proceed with the skills test, whether it has been scheduled online or not, is strongly encouraged to review the checklist of items and other information provided at the web site or provided to them when the learner’s permit was issued. The test site locations will continue to offer an open door availability for walk-in knowledge and skills test applicants.
When the scheduling module goes live next week, the online system can only be used to schedule skills tests for Class D licenses (i.e. a license to drive a conventional passenger car or truck). Plans are being considered to expand the scheduling system in the future to include other testing services, such as commercial driver license testing operations and knowledge tests for Class D applicants.
Driver License Testing is administered by the Arkansas State Police Highway Patrol Division which is a part of the Arkansas Department of Public Safety.
Every year, the Bill Frye Classic always hosts super talented and competitive teams. So how does a team put all teams in a loaded tournament on notice? Simple, you break the scoreboard. The Mansfield Lady Tigers did just that in a 73-15 thumping of the Arkoma Mustangs on Friday night.
Makayla Strutton
Mansfield took to the tournament hardwoods with a point to prove. The Lady Tigers have had ups and downs up to their tournament play. But all of that was not on the Lady Tigers’ mind as they faced Arkoma. Mansfield jumped to a quick lead against the Mustangs, putting their offensive petal to the floor, and never looked back.
Sadie Roberts and Chloe Creekmore
Leading the team in points was Makayla Strutton who mopped the court with Arkoma knocking down 25 points in the contest. Basketball is a team sport though and Strutton’s teammates did more than pull their weight. Mikayla Harrison showed the Mustangs that size is not a factor as she struck up the band by hanging up 15 points. Hot on Harrison’s heels in scoring was Danielle Lillie and Kiara Thomas who broke Arkomas ankles with 10 points each. Sadie Roberts lit up seven points while Maia Crespo and Chloe Creekmore combined forces to pair up 3 points each.
Kiara Thomas
As an overall team, the Lady Tigers went to the bank, signed some papers, and took home the title to the backboards as they snatched 23 total rebounds in the game. They have legally acquired ownership of the backboards, but the Lady Tigers had their faces put in Webster’s dictionary under the definition of “steal” as they walked away with 15 in the game. Mansfield will look to repeat their dominance again on Saturday, December 28th as they face off in the semi-finals against the Vian Wolverines at 6:00 pm.
The Waldron Sr Bulldogs set out early in the season to prove a point. Their goal was to strive to win every tournament they stepped into. With one tournament championship already down, the Bill Frye Classic is now in their crosshairs. The first team to stand in their way……the Hackett Hornets.
The Bulldogs knew what had to be done. Execute at every aspect of the game with perfection. Hackett gave the Bulldogs a new look by using speed and precision passing to catch the Bulldogs off guard on multiple occasions. Waldron caught onto the Hornets scheme quickly though and was able to jump between passes to steal the ball to take it down the court for quick points. Ending the first quarter with a score of 20-6, another sure-fire win seemed to be set for Waldron.
As the second quarter started, Waldron found a kink in their own armor. Hackett started using a big man in the paint to frustrate the Bulldogs. This was unexpected, but not something that would shut the high powered Bulldogs down. It was a mere “sting” to the Bulldogs as they went into halftime with a 35-23 lead.
In typical Bulldog fashion, Waldron came out of halftime on fire. Learning from their flaws in the first half, they soon pulled away from the pesky Hornets. If you wanted three-pointers, you got them. Rebounds? How about a team total of 30. Steals? These were Bulldog Bandits who racked up 12. If you can name it, Waldron did it and did it with style. The game ended with the Waldron Sr Bulldogs finishing with a commanding 64-48 victory. Next up, the Bulldogs go toe to toe in the semi-finals with an old foe in the Booneville Bearcats on Saturday, December 28th at 4:30 p.m.
Leading the Bulldogs on the scoreboard was none other than Payton Brown with 33 points. Jacob Avila and Gada Wagner played tag in scoring with Avila coming up with nine points and Wagner knocking down ten. Jaden Hutchens hung five points in the game and Isaac Villarreal took three points. Caden Fuller and Camdon Holcomb tied with two points apiece.
