Stories from Tuesday, August 19, 2003

Rick Stanley, step-brother of Rock and Roll legend Elvis Presley, will be the keynote guest speaker for the opening Friday evening Banquet program of the Revival Fires Fall Round-up, set for Oct. 3-5 at the Radisson Hotel in Branson, Mo. Stanley traveled extensively with Elvis and was the last person to talk to him before his death. Stanley's conversion to Christ and call to Christian ministry came one year after Elvis' death...

Funeral services for Jessie Durbin Taylor, 65, formerly of Walters, Oklahoma, were conducted at the Church of the Nazarene in Walters, Wed., May 28, with Rev. Paul Metcalfe officiating. Burial was in the Walters Cemetery under the direction of Hart-Wyatt Funeral Home...

MARY EUNICE BEESON MAURER, a resident of Berryville, Arkansas, was born Dec. 28, 1914, in Chelsea, Okla., a daughter of Frank and Ida (True) Stephenson. She died Monday, Aug. 11, 2003, in Eureka Springs at the age of 88. Mrs. Maurer loved to travel and traveled extensively through the United States mainland and Hawaii. She loved to garden and grew many beautiful flowers and wanted to share them with anyone who visited her...

LLOYD R. GARNER, of Fort Smith, died Aug. 11, 2003, in Fort Smith at the age of 77. He was retired from the armed forces and a member of the Arkansas Retired Military Assn. He is survived by his wife, Florence Garner, of the home; three daughters, Paula Garner Harris of Berryville, Mary White of Fort Smith, and Donna Carter of Van Buren, Ark.; three sons, James L. ...

NEFF CANNAFAX, a resident of Berryville, Arkansas was born Oct. 28, 1916, in Berryville, a son of John Smith and Laura (Snow) Cannafax. He died Sunday, Aug. 10, 2003, in Berryville at the age of 86. Mr. Cannafax was a 1938 graduate of Berryville High School and then taught school at Clearwater School and at New Hope until 1940, when he joined the U.S. ...

This is a book for preachers who have lost their fire. As society has gotten more sophisticated, more and more preachers have gone to a formula of, say, three points and a poem, with strong discussion of others' observations about scripture. Meanwhile, increasingly educated church members have started up Bible studies to get closer to the meaning of scripture, more often than not without the guidance of a pastor...

Family finances will be the focus of a series of six messages at Lone Star Bible Church, 3807 Highway 23 South, Eureka Springs, beginning this Sunday. The series, based on Biblical precepts, will be taught by Ben Carson, recently retired president of the Eureka Springs Chamber of Commerce, who brings to the subject 35-plus years of banking and financial experience and years of scripture study...

Green Forest Lady Tiger head basketball coach Mike Gotcher is gone, off to the greener pastures at Scranton, where the Lady Rockets went 33-7 last year and made it to the quarterfinals of the state tournament. "This came along and doors opened," Coach Gotcher said in a telephone interview on Wednesday from Scranton, near Paris, where he was attending inservice meetings at his new school...

Green Forest principal Rick Waters was contacted Wednesday about Lady Tiger coach Mike Gotcher's resigning to take the girls job in Scranton. Waters said, "Mike is a good guy. He really cares about the kids. He did a good job and I really didn't want to see him go. Scranton will be good for him, but a change will be good for our kids, too...

Dale Allen Meadows, 42, was found guilty Thursday of the fiery murder of Lorraine Pattison in criminal court proceedings in Berryville. He was also found guilty of arson. For capital murder, he was given a mandatory automatic life sentence without parole. He was given 10 years in prison for arson. Consideration of lesser offenses than capital murder was not included in jury instructions...

A Holiday Island woman was arrested Wednesday for alleged possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver after a traffic stop led to a search of her vehicle. Arkansas State Trooper Chad Hipps said he was on patrol eastbound on the Kings River Bridge at about 2 p.m. when he noticed a vehicle traveling westbound at a high rate of speed...

Carroll County's recycling efforts have come a long way in just a few years, but there is a problem that is hampering the Solid Waste Authority ---- resulting in a significant loss of time and money. The problem begins when people abuse the policies at the drop-off centers in Berryville, Green Forest and Holiday Island, which are unmanned...