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(KAIT) - The newest baby box in Arkansas got a blessing
A blessing and a ribbon cutting were held early Tuesday at Fire Station 2
Joining Mayor Josh Agee and State Representatives Jimmy Gazaway and Jeremy Wooldridge was Ellen Riggs
president of the Junior Auxiliary of Paragould
Arkansas Right to Life Executive Director Rose Mimms was also present and spoke of the importance of the blessing
“It shows the community that we care about our children,” she said
“We care about our new citizens being born into this world
they have an option through the Safe Haven law that has been around for many years in Arkansas.”
Mimms noted said giving mothers an option was vital
“The other option is not a good one,” she said
we have seen infants abandoned at locations that are not safe and sometimes put into a trash bag thrown into a dumpster.”
Mimms said several more baby boxes were in the works in Arkansas
She said the city of Batesville is hoping to get one soon
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Officials in northern Arkansas are assessing damage and continuing recovery efforts after severe storms and tornadoes moved through the region over the weekend
Paragould Mayor Josh Agee announced that the storm destroyed seven of the city's 16 outdoor warning sirens. In a video statement posted to Facebook
Agee said the city had purchased and installed three new sirens last fall and is aware of the current issues
making an inventory of the parts they need," Agee said
"We're going to try our best to get those replaced
Paragould had implemented a curfew following the storm
The National Weather Service has confirmed that an EF-2 tornado damaged Paragould
particularly the Club View Estates and The Enclave communities near Pruitts Chapel Road
Governor Sarah Sanders declared a state of emergency
deploying the Arkansas National Guard and State Police to assist in recovery efforts
some of the biggest things are just clearing the debris
"Those will be the big things—food and resources that we'll be focused on over the course of the next several hours and days."
Sanders added that the state would handle necessary paperwork later but encouraged those affected to document damages
The Governor's office has allocated $250,000 to the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management to assist with cleanup efforts
Cave City officials announced that a community information and resource meeting will be held Tuesday at 4:30 p.m
The Red Cross has set up a relief station at Cave City First Assembly Church on North Main Street
Additional volunteer and community resources are available on the KASU News and Cave City Facebook pages
U-Haul is offering 30 days of free storage for those impacted by the storms
More information is available by calling (501) 569-5010
Little Rock Public Radio contributed to this report
Paragould, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – March 18
2025 – The tornado that hit Paragould early Saturday morning has been given an EF-2 rating.adButlerLazyLoad("1904535707878062672",100,["707873","707873","707873"],"177037");
The survey team from the National Weather Service in Memphis
TN said it found a damage path extending from a wooded area six miles southwest of Paragould near the intersection of Finch Road and Greene CR 736 to two miles east of Paragould
Damage supporting estimated peak wind speeds of 125 mph was found along a path up to 150 yards wide
The path included homes along Pruett’s Chapel Road and inside the Enclave Subdivision
the same area hit by a Memorial Day weekend tornado on May 27
we had about three or four homes that were majorly affected and some other damage in that area
Paragould Mayor Josh Agee said Monday morning
“We really dodged a bullet this time
and there were more affected residents.”adButlerLazyLoad("127771398970583742",100,["707873","707873","707873"],"177037");
Agee said there were only three minor injuries that he was aware of
The mayor shared that last year’s tornado was an unwanted opportunity to prepare
but if you could set something up for a perfect training exercise
we had that last year”adButlerLazyLoad("849730359753813271",100,["707873","707873","707873"],"177037");
Agee said the response immediately following the tornado was swift
“Our first responders quickly cleared about 500 homes,” he said
“We had outreach from Jonesboro and other agencies like the State Police.”adButlerLazyLoad("345479758502471343",100,["707873","707873","707873"],"177037");
the city had already released Jonesboro officers back to Jonesboro
we went back and cleared them again during the daylight to make sure that we didn’t miss something.”
Trumann Mayor Jay Paul Woods reached out to Agee early Saturday morning
“Jay is part of the Arkansas Baptist Disaster Team
By 8 o’clock they were in town helping residents.”adButlerLazyLoad("34628852311361040",100,["707873","707873","707873"],"177037");
Agee said the amount of volunteerism has been incredible
“We’ve got some of the best people in the world
did what it always does.”adButlerLazyLoad("127598433841694984",100,["707873","707873","707873"],"177037");
Sarah Huckabee Sanders visited Paragould with her crisis team late Saturday
Asked what the governor is going to do to help
Agee said the city will need help replacing tornado sirens
“Seven of our 16 sirens were damaged
She’s working on trying to allocate some funds to put those systems back in place.”
Agee passed compliments to the severe weather coverage provided by the Jonesboro Media Group radio stations and KAIT.adButlerLazyLoad("634315208999537769",100,["707873","707873","707873"],"177037");
“The good lord was watching over our community
because of you guys and K8 and the safety systems that we have here in Paragould
those three things contributed to our citizens safety
Thank you so much for being there for our citizens when they needed you guys the most.”
Trey Stafford is the President/General Manager of the Jonesboro Media Group and Publisher of JonesboroRightNow
A routine traffic stop near the intersection of East Nettleton Avenue and Stevens Street led to felony drug charges and a $500,000 bond for a Jonesboro woman already out on bond for a separate drug-related offense
Hope Found of Northeast Arkansas is inviting the community to ride against human trafficking in June with its annual outdoor event
breeds and sizes are available through area animal rescues and shelters
as well as opportunities to help homeless animals through foster programs
and help with fundraisers and other family-friendly activities
The most outstanding graduating students in the College of Liberal Arts and Communication were recognized during Arkansas State University’s Convocation of Scholars
ARDOT will host a public involvement meeting on Thursday
to discuss the proposed widening of Highway 91 west of County Road 132 to West Parker Road in Jonesboro
Be sure you have your GPS enabled and try again
With broken hearts we announce the passing of Maddux Trace Graham
Maddux will be remembered for his adventurous spirit
kind heart and his love for life. He loved school and all his phenomenal teachers he had since he was 3 years old. Maddux always had a bright smile and a laughter for the simple things in life. He will be incredibly missed by his family
Danny and Nicole (Carter) Graham and little brother
Arkansas. He is also survived by his grandmother (Nana)
he’s also survived by his grandfather
Wendy Pickett (Harold) of Virginia; and a host of uncles
Maddux was preceded in death by his grandfather (Papa) Nick Carter and grandma Bobbie Graham
Maddux’s legacy will continue to shine on through the autism community and never be forgotten
A celebration of Maddux’s life will be Saturday
Kim Bridges and Cliff Carter officiating. Burial will be private
and Seth Higginbottom will serve as pallbearers. Cliff Carter
and Gavin Sullivan will serve as honorary pallbearers
please consider making a donation to Ag for Autism to help children like Maddux to grow and thrive. http:www.agforautism.org
The Jonesboro Fire Department (JFD) and Jonesboro Police Department (JPD) assisted Friday night and into Saturday morning
while the Sanitation Department deployed Monday morning
Sanitation superintendent Patrick Courtois said he expected the department to continue assistance through Friday
The Sanitation Department is aiding in the cleanup and transportation of debris
which the department frequently uses in its Neighborhood Cleanups
has a large arm allowing it to grab debris and then place it in its bed
Debris is then transported to the Greene County landfill
“All the debris they that they had over there
this knuckle boom truck is able to get on the street and stretch out and pick up the debris,” Courtois said
“Jonesboro and Paragould have a really good relationship and we try to help each other when we can.”adButlerLazyLoad("816365114925213453",100,["707873","707873","707873"],"177037");
One Sanitation Department worker is running the knuckle boom truck
Courtois said there were currently no plans to send additional vehicles since Paragould’s mayor Josh Agee only requested the truck
Requests for aid from neighboring cities are delivered upon request of that city’s mayor
All three department heads said they only received an aid request from Paragould
we’re always ready and willing to go help
but we don’t automatically deploy out to those areas
We wait until we get a call for help and then we’ll put a team together,” said JFD chief Martin Hamrick.adButlerLazyLoad("993735384150597952",100,["707873","707873","707873"],"177037");
JFD helped with rescue and recovery efforts
me and the assistant chief and several of our other guys went up and we helped search some of the area
give them a little extra manpower and get that job done safely,” Hamrick said
He added that the roughly 10-person crew returned to Jonesboro on Saturday around 4 a.m
Hamrick said workers usually have a good idea of who’s accounted for and who’s not
He said crews work with that information to assess damaged structures or hazardous areas and then work to remove trapped people.adButlerLazyLoad("1741391685818300880",100,["707873","707873","707873"],"177037");
JPD chief Rick Elliott said he sent six on-duty officers to assist with traffic direction shortly after receiving an assistance request from Paragould
“Officers just assisted in blocking some roadways
kind of shutting down some areas so search and rescue can check those stricken areas for injuries and things like that
it’s kind of a limited role in this case,” Elliott said.adButlerLazyLoad("1350162959217316034",100,["707873","707873","707873"],"177037");
Elliott said he sent roughly 25 SWAT officers
He said these are more “seasoned officers” who serve as JPD’s search and rescue function and have a higher level of medical training to help with traumatic injuries
Elliott said police officers assisted until about 4 a.m
after Paragould first responders said they’d searched through affected areas twice over
All three department heads said when Jonesboro was hit by an EF-3 tornado in 2020
agencies from surrounding cities helped the city with relief efforts.adButlerLazyLoad("1675732846926103284",100,["707873","707873","707873"],"177037");
“They did the same thing we when had our tornado
We had officers show up in Jonesboro from other agencies around us,” Elliott said
“We set up command at the mall parking lot and I look out and I see police officers and a lot of other agencies represented and they’re eager to help out.”
Rachel Rudd is the Editor-in-Chief of JonesboroRightNow
The Arkansas State Police is investigating an officer-involved shooting in Greene County Thursday that resulted in the death of a suspect
Daniel McFadin is a general assignment reporter who has been with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette since October 2022
and has also been a writer covering NASCAR for Frontstretch — which is not affiliated with the Democrat-Gazette — since 2014
Daniel also has and continues to be involved in podcasting at the newspaper
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