2024: Crittenden County News Year in Review

What were the biggest local events this year?

By Ralph Hardin

news@theeveningtimes.com

We’re just a couple of days away from bidding farewell to 2024. And it was quite an eventful year both around the world and nation, as well as right here in Crittenden County. Let’s take a look back at some of those major events and newsworthy items from the past 365 days…

January

The first issue of the Times of 2024 saw a trio of arrests made in a September homicide in West Memphis. Unfortunately, it would not be the only homicide reported in the paper that month.

Some positive news: The West Memphis Fire Department played a big role in rescuing a man trapped in a grain bin in Marked Tree, and a local organization named Called2Grow distributed shoes to local kids in need ahead of their return to school for the spring semester.

Later in the month, Crittenden County was blanketed in wintry precipitation, as ice and snow fell across the Mid-South, causing power outages and highway calamities.

January also saw the first of several shutdowns on I-55 as work on the interchange and roundabout on the Memphis side of the bridge continued.

And as the month conlcuded, yet another shooting death, this one right outside of Weaver Elementary School.

Also, the city of West Memphis broke ground on transforming the former Southland kennel compound into the city’s new animal shelter. Unfortunately, there has been little progress on that project in the 12 months since.

February

February got off to a messy start after pro-Palestinian protesters shut down the I-40 bridge — while the I-55 bridge was already closed for construction, resulting in a major traffic logjam on Feb. 3 for several hours.

The City of West Memphis launched a major revamp of its Parks Department, including relocating its headquarters to the former Public Library Building and announcing a slate of improvement projects. The City of Earle got some good news and a Dollar General Market opened in the city, which had been without a grocery store since the closure of the Mad Butcher years earlier.

In Marion, Det. Paul Turney got an unexpected assist in catching a criminal when his Yorkshire terrier Bee Bee located a shooting suspect under his porch.

On a sadder note, local youngster Antyciti Johnson received a hero’s funeral, when the West Memphis Fire Department honored him with a full honorary firefighter’s salute and memorial. Young

See REVIEW, page A3

Crittenden County transformed into a Winter Wonderland back in January.

Bee Bee the Crime Dog

Antyciti & his Mom salute and memorial. Young Anyciti was just three years old at the time of his passing.

The West Memphis Christian Black Knights had reason to celebrates, as their boys basketball team won the Class AAA State Championship.

February also saw the continuation of a troubling trend as the local schools went on high alert after a series of threats were reported concerning weapons on campus, bomb threats and other sercurity issues. Fortunately, no serious threats were uncovered and no incidents occurred.

February also kicked off what would eventually become a year-long political season that b egan in earnest with the March primaries and judicial elections.

March began with a tragedy, as West Memphis couple George and Becky Turnbo were killed in a house fire.

On a more positive note, the Sultana Disaster Museum project moved forward with the selection of Zellner Construction to handle transforming the historic Marion gymnasium into the new multimillion- dollar home of the museum, which is expected to open in early 2026.

Changes in the local political scene began to come into focus with the March 5 primary and judicial elections, including the election of Tyler Ginn of Marion as the new District Judge for District 22, following the decision of Judge Fred Thorne to step down at the end of the year.

Jessie McGruder and Lincoln Barnett, who would ultimately be elected in November, won their primaries to move forward in their bids to become the county’s new State Representatives after both Rep. Milton Nicks and Rep. Deborah Ferguson declined the opportunity to seek re-election.

The I-55 bridge re-opened (albeit with just one lane in either direction. It would close again in the spring.

A serial sex offender, Sean Wiggins, was back behind bars, this time for the rape of a two-year-old. Wiggins remains in jail awaiting trial.

And Crittenden County closed out March by celebrating Easter. There were a bunch of Easter egg hunts for the kids all across the county, includ-

See REVIEW, page A10

It’s an Easter Egg-Stravaganza!

The local election scene was a busy one.

From page A3

ing a massive one at Worthington Park in West Memphis and a special fundraiser for the Animal Shelter.

April

In April, much like the rest of the country, Crittenden County came down with a case of “Eclipse Fever,” as a rare full solar eclipse made its way across the sky, with Arkansas being right in the sweet spot for viewing. If tou missed it, you’ll have to wait until 2041 to catch it again.

Another shooting in West Memphis. A 27-year-old, Tedarrius Mosley, was arrested for the death of 23year-old Michael Collins Jr.

The West Memphis Summer Youth Jobs Program got a boost with a donation from Southland Casino Hotel.

Southland chipped in more than $20,000 to help fund the initiative.

West Memphis also reeived a windfall from the U.S. Department of Transportation in the form of a $16.2 million grant for floodplain and wetlands preservation.

And in the infamous 1993 “West Memphis Three” child murder case, Damien Echols, one of the three men convicted for the slayings of three West Memphis 8-year-old boys, received a ruling in his favor from the Arkansas Supreme Court to have evidence from the case re-tested using newer DNA testing methods after a lengthy legal battle in an effort to clear his name in the slayings.

May

Even as work continued on the I-55 bridge, TDOT and ARDOT announced plans to build an entirely new bridge to span the Mississippi River.

While the new bridge would not be open for several years, the I-55 project would still continue. On a related note, Earle Mayor Jalen Smith bet with Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

Two people were killed and another injured at another violent incident in West Memphis. The shooting occurred on May 1st at the Riverside Park Apartments.

The Marion Moms, a local group made up of, you guessed it, moms from Marion, picked up from their 2023 endeavors with Spring on the Square, just one of several community events hosted by the Moms in 2024.

Another local organizations, Families in Transition, hosted an anti-domestic violence rally, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, on May 11.

And in perhaps the biggest local news story of the first half of 2024, West Memphis Superintendent Dr. Terrence Brown passed away unexpectedly on May 21, Brown was just on the cusp of completing his first year as head of the West Memphis School District, having restored order to the district after a tumultuous year thanks to a rogue faction of the school board that had fired the previous superintendent without cause sparking a slate of lawsuits. Look for Part 2 of our 2024 Year in Review in tomorrow’s e-edition of the Times.

Dr. Terrence Brown