Bakersfield photos by Amy Ingalsbe

Dr. Phillip Howerton

The Heriford Store in Thornfield closed Feb. 5, leaving the community without a grocery / convenience store for the first time in more than 100 years. The store building and a nearby home, owned by Juanita and Kenny Heriford, is for sale. Times photos / Jenny Yarger

Gainesville school superintendent Dr. Jeff Hyatt

Lester White shows the certificate that accompanied his January induction into the American Legion’s Arkansas Baseball Hall of Fame. When Mountain Home, Arkansas, named its baseball field for White in 2013, the declaration noted that “more than 150 young men coached by Lester White have gone on to play college baseball and at least 4 have played professional baseball.”

Firefighters with Tecumseh, Caulfield, Lick Creek, Bakersfield, Dora and Howell Rural VFDs responded to a home fire around 3 a.m. Monday at Dub and Crystal Williams’ home on Highway 160 in Tecumseh. Several departments brought tankers and pumpers to provide water for the firefighting efforts. Firefighters also used a portable pump to pull water from the Williams’ backyard swimming pool and transfer it to the trucks so the equipment could stay at the scene continuously instead of having to shuttle back and forth to get water.

Opal Bearden celebrates her 90th birthday next week.

Bakersfield photos by Amy Ingalsbe