By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
In a press release noteworthy as much for who’s not endorsing his state lottery amendment to the constitution as who is, Lt. Gov. Bill Halter this week claimed widespread support among the state’s mayors and county judges.
Halter announced May 13 that HOPE for Arkansas had gathered the 77,468 signatures of registered voters required to qualify the amendment for the November general election ballot.
The amendment authorizes the Arkansas General Assembly to establish a lottery to fund college scholarships and grants for Arkansans attending certified two-year and four-year colleges and universities in the state.
Locally, only Lonoke Mayor Wayne McGee and Lonoke County Judge Charlie Troutman are on the list endorsing the amendment, intended to raise money for college scholarships.
One county judge said he never agreed to be on the list of supporters.
Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams and Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim both declined a request for their endorsement, they said.
Pulaski County Judge Buddy Villines said he’s undecided.
Also missing from a list that included less than a quarter of the county judges and mayors of 21 cities were Sherwood Mayor Virginia Hillman, Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola and North Little Rock Mayor Patrick Hays, who couldn’t be reached for comment before press time.
“I think if it helps educate our children…that’s what swayed me,” said McGee. “It’s getting harder and harder to send your children to school. I think it would be wonderful. These kids are going to need all the help they can get.”
Troutman’s support is a bit less enthusiastic. “I guess I endorse it. I’m going to vote for it, but I’m not going to get out and campaign for it.” He said this is probably the only lottery proposal he’d vote for. “It goes for education, why not try it?”
“I haven’t made up my mind,” said Villines. “I’ve always voted against previous lottery amendments, particularly those tied to casinos, which are bad for Arkansas. The (previous lottery attempts) all seem self-serving. This one doesn’t appear to be. It’s a straightforward benefit for those young people who want to go to college.”
Villines said he believed a lot of the endorsements came from areas bordering other states, where local governments not only lost potential lottery money to other states, but also tax money from residents buying gas and groceries just over the border where they could purchase lottery tickets.
For instance, Harrison Mayor Pat Moles said: “Cities and towns in north Arkansas lose money whenever residents cross the Missouri line to play the lottery. If you’re going to buy a lottery ticket, you should be able to buy it in Arkansas. We need to keep Arkansas money in Arkansas, supporting higher education in our state.”
Swaim said, “If there is going to be a lottery, spending all the money on college scholarships is not best way to spend it. A significant amount needs to go to kindergarten through 12th grades.”
“I would never bank kids’ education on lottery any more than I’d bank police and fire protection on a lottery,” said Williams. “I have a friend in (oft-cited) Georgia who says the program (there) is an absolute joke.”
“How many more kids are going to go to school and who’s going to give up a seat when they (get there)?” the Cabot mayor asked.
The scholarship lottery has the support of major labor organizations in Arkansas, according to Halter’s press release.
These include the state AFL-CIO and its member unions, representing more than 30,000 Arkansans; the United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 2008, 5,300 members; the Teamsters, Local 878, 3,300 members; the Arkansas Regional Council of Carpenters, 1,500 members; and the Service Employees International Union, Local 100, 500 members.
Louisiana, Missouri, Okla-homa, Tennessee and Texas are among the 42 states that have lotteries. All net proceeds from these border-state lotteries support public education.
Friday, May 30, 2008
TOP STORY > >Austin will hold sales tax vote to aid growth
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Austin residents will vote on Tuesday, June 10 on whether or not to impose a penny sales tax on goods sold in the city and building materials and appliances delivered within the city from other places, according to Mayor Bernie Chamberlain.
Currently, Austin has no city sales tax and subsists on turnback money from the state and its share of the penny countywide tax. Both of those are figured on the basis of the city’s official population of 605, determined at the 2000 census, but the mayor said the city had grown about 300 percent to perhaps 1,800 since then.
“Austin doesn’t have a sales tax and not much for sale,” said Chamberlain, but for her Chamberlain’s Corner Store and a local flooring store. The sales tax initiative is motivated by a new state law that went into effect in January that charges sales taxes on building supplies according to where they are delivered. Austin does not receive any revenue on building supplies coming into the city since it does not have a sales tax.
Chamberlain said the taxes would be about $500 on $50,000 worth of building materials.
“I’m hoping it gets approved,” said Chamberlain. “Everyone I talked to is for it. The builders even think it’s a great idea, helping the city. We have a lot of caring builders.”
On election day, Austin voters can vote at the Austin Station Baptist Church from 7:30 a.m. through 7:30 p.m., according to Larry Clarke, head of the Lonoke County Election Committee.
Lonoke County also has one runoff election besides the special tax election slated for June 10, with early voting for both beginning Tuesday, Clarke said.
Early voting for both will be held 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and the following Monday at the Lonoke County Courthouse.
JP District 10 voters will choose between Ronald L. Evans and Bill Ryker, the two top vote getters in the May 20 primary. Ryker got 244 votes, Evans got 212 votes. The third candidate, Wes Clement, received 125 votes.
The District 10 seat was vacated by Kyle Lackey and is being held in the interim by Virgil Turner, appointed by Gov. Mike Beebe.
On election day, District 10 voters will vote at their regular polling place, either the American Legion, the Lonoke Depot, Caney Creek, St. Matthews Church or the Keo Fire Department, he said.
Evans, 36, manages the explosives and metallics manufacturing at Remington Arms.
He has served as state president of the Arkansas Water Fowl Association, a group that teaches youngsters hunting ethics and conservation, he said.
The funds they raise go back into scouting, 4H and baseball programs as well as kids’ camps and duck hunts for them.
He has been an Awana leader for the Baptist Camp.
“I want to continue with what’s going on,” he said. “The jail needs to be taken care of and also an ambulance service.” He said weather warning sirens need to be put up out in the county, perhaps at rural volunteer fire departments.
Ryker, 65, has long been active in Lonoke civic affairs, taking a leading role in construction of the Lonoke Memorial Flag Plaza and in working toward making the second Lonoke I-40 interchange a reality, but it’s his first run for office.
“Experience counts,” said Ryker.
“I’ve had experience helping on committees,” and with running his business, M and M Floral since 1985, he said.
Before that, he was an insurance agent.
“The county judge appoints committees and I want to bring my business sense to the court,” he said.
Leader senior staff writer
Austin residents will vote on Tuesday, June 10 on whether or not to impose a penny sales tax on goods sold in the city and building materials and appliances delivered within the city from other places, according to Mayor Bernie Chamberlain.
Currently, Austin has no city sales tax and subsists on turnback money from the state and its share of the penny countywide tax. Both of those are figured on the basis of the city’s official population of 605, determined at the 2000 census, but the mayor said the city had grown about 300 percent to perhaps 1,800 since then.
“Austin doesn’t have a sales tax and not much for sale,” said Chamberlain, but for her Chamberlain’s Corner Store and a local flooring store. The sales tax initiative is motivated by a new state law that went into effect in January that charges sales taxes on building supplies according to where they are delivered. Austin does not receive any revenue on building supplies coming into the city since it does not have a sales tax.
Chamberlain said the taxes would be about $500 on $50,000 worth of building materials.
“I’m hoping it gets approved,” said Chamberlain. “Everyone I talked to is for it. The builders even think it’s a great idea, helping the city. We have a lot of caring builders.”
On election day, Austin voters can vote at the Austin Station Baptist Church from 7:30 a.m. through 7:30 p.m., according to Larry Clarke, head of the Lonoke County Election Committee.
Lonoke County also has one runoff election besides the special tax election slated for June 10, with early voting for both beginning Tuesday, Clarke said.
Early voting for both will be held 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and the following Monday at the Lonoke County Courthouse.
JP District 10 voters will choose between Ronald L. Evans and Bill Ryker, the two top vote getters in the May 20 primary. Ryker got 244 votes, Evans got 212 votes. The third candidate, Wes Clement, received 125 votes.
The District 10 seat was vacated by Kyle Lackey and is being held in the interim by Virgil Turner, appointed by Gov. Mike Beebe.
On election day, District 10 voters will vote at their regular polling place, either the American Legion, the Lonoke Depot, Caney Creek, St. Matthews Church or the Keo Fire Department, he said.
Evans, 36, manages the explosives and metallics manufacturing at Remington Arms.
He has served as state president of the Arkansas Water Fowl Association, a group that teaches youngsters hunting ethics and conservation, he said.
The funds they raise go back into scouting, 4H and baseball programs as well as kids’ camps and duck hunts for them.
He has been an Awana leader for the Baptist Camp.
“I want to continue with what’s going on,” he said. “The jail needs to be taken care of and also an ambulance service.” He said weather warning sirens need to be put up out in the county, perhaps at rural volunteer fire departments.
Ryker, 65, has long been active in Lonoke civic affairs, taking a leading role in construction of the Lonoke Memorial Flag Plaza and in working toward making the second Lonoke I-40 interchange a reality, but it’s his first run for office.
“Experience counts,” said Ryker.
“I’ve had experience helping on committees,” and with running his business, M and M Floral since 1985, he said.
Before that, he was an insurance agent.
“The county judge appoints committees and I want to bring my business sense to the court,” he said.
TOP STORY > >Austin will hold sales tax vote to aid growth
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Austin residents will vote on Tuesday, June 10 on whether or not to impose a penny sales tax on goods sold in the city and building materials and appliances delivered within the city from other places, according to Mayor Bernie Chamberlain.
Currently, Austin has no city sales tax and subsists on turnback money from the state and its share of the penny countywide tax. Both of those are figured on the basis of the city’s official population of 605, determined at the 2000 census, but the mayor said the city had grown about 300 percent to perhaps 1,800 since then.
“Austin doesn’t have a sales tax and not much for sale,” said Chamberlain, but for her Chamberlain’s Corner Store and a local flooring store. The sales tax initiative is motivated by a new state law that went into effect in January that charges sales taxes on building supplies according to where they are delivered. Austin does not receive any revenue on building supplies coming into the city since it does not have a sales tax.
Chamberlain said the taxes would be about $500 on $50,000 worth of building materials.
“I’m hoping it gets approved,” said Chamberlain. “Everyone I talked to is for it. The builders even think it’s a great idea, helping the city. We have a lot of caring builders.”
On election day, Austin voters can vote at the Austin Station Baptist Church from 7:30 a.m. through 7:30 p.m., according to Larry Clarke, head of the Lonoke County Election Committee.
Lonoke County also has one runoff election besides the special tax election slated for June 10, with early voting for both beginning Tuesday, Clarke said.
Early voting for both will be held 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and the following Monday at the Lonoke County Courthouse.
JP District 10 voters will choose between Ronald L. Evans and Bill Ryker, the two top vote getters in the May 20 primary. Ryker got 244 votes, Evans got 212 votes. The third candidate, Wes Clement, received 125 votes.
The District 10 seat was vacated by Kyle Lackey and is being held in the interim by Virgil Turner, appointed by Gov. Mike Beebe.
On election day, District 10 voters will vote at their regular polling place, either the American Legion, the Lonoke Depot, Caney Creek, St. Matthews Church or the Keo Fire Department, he said.
Evans, 36, manages the explosives and metallics manufacturing at Remington Arms.
He has served as state president of the Arkansas Water Fowl Association, a group that teaches youngsters hunting ethics and conservation, he said.
The funds they raise go back into scouting, 4H and baseball programs as well as kids’ camps and duck hunts for them.
He has been an Awana leader for the Baptist Camp.
“I want to continue with what’s going on,” he said. “The jail needs to be taken care of and also an ambulance service.” He said weather warning sirens need to be put up out in the county, perhaps at rural volunteer fire departments.
Ryker, 65, has long been active in Lonoke civic affairs, taking a leading role in construction of the Lonoke Memorial Flag Plaza and in working toward making the second Lonoke I-40 interchange a reality, but it’s his first run for office.
“Experience counts,” said Ryker.
“I’ve had experience helping on committees,” and with running his business, M and M Floral since 1985, he said.
Before that, he was an insurance agent.
“The county judge appoints committees and I want to bring my business sense to the court,” he said.
Leader senior staff writer
Austin residents will vote on Tuesday, June 10 on whether or not to impose a penny sales tax on goods sold in the city and building materials and appliances delivered within the city from other places, according to Mayor Bernie Chamberlain.
Currently, Austin has no city sales tax and subsists on turnback money from the state and its share of the penny countywide tax. Both of those are figured on the basis of the city’s official population of 605, determined at the 2000 census, but the mayor said the city had grown about 300 percent to perhaps 1,800 since then.
“Austin doesn’t have a sales tax and not much for sale,” said Chamberlain, but for her Chamberlain’s Corner Store and a local flooring store. The sales tax initiative is motivated by a new state law that went into effect in January that charges sales taxes on building supplies according to where they are delivered. Austin does not receive any revenue on building supplies coming into the city since it does not have a sales tax.
Chamberlain said the taxes would be about $500 on $50,000 worth of building materials.
“I’m hoping it gets approved,” said Chamberlain. “Everyone I talked to is for it. The builders even think it’s a great idea, helping the city. We have a lot of caring builders.”
On election day, Austin voters can vote at the Austin Station Baptist Church from 7:30 a.m. through 7:30 p.m., according to Larry Clarke, head of the Lonoke County Election Committee.
Lonoke County also has one runoff election besides the special tax election slated for June 10, with early voting for both beginning Tuesday, Clarke said.
Early voting for both will be held 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and the following Monday at the Lonoke County Courthouse.
JP District 10 voters will choose between Ronald L. Evans and Bill Ryker, the two top vote getters in the May 20 primary. Ryker got 244 votes, Evans got 212 votes. The third candidate, Wes Clement, received 125 votes.
The District 10 seat was vacated by Kyle Lackey and is being held in the interim by Virgil Turner, appointed by Gov. Mike Beebe.
On election day, District 10 voters will vote at their regular polling place, either the American Legion, the Lonoke Depot, Caney Creek, St. Matthews Church or the Keo Fire Department, he said.
Evans, 36, manages the explosives and metallics manufacturing at Remington Arms.
He has served as state president of the Arkansas Water Fowl Association, a group that teaches youngsters hunting ethics and conservation, he said.
The funds they raise go back into scouting, 4H and baseball programs as well as kids’ camps and duck hunts for them.
He has been an Awana leader for the Baptist Camp.
“I want to continue with what’s going on,” he said. “The jail needs to be taken care of and also an ambulance service.” He said weather warning sirens need to be put up out in the county, perhaps at rural volunteer fire departments.
Ryker, 65, has long been active in Lonoke civic affairs, taking a leading role in construction of the Lonoke Memorial Flag Plaza and in working toward making the second Lonoke I-40 interchange a reality, but it’s his first run for office.
“Experience counts,” said Ryker.
“I’ve had experience helping on committees,” and with running his business, M and M Floral since 1985, he said.
Before that, he was an insurance agent.
“The county judge appoints committees and I want to bring my business sense to the court,” he said.
TOP STORY > >School activists seek new image
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
A recently formed group committed to improving facilities and education for Jacksonville students will hold its first general membership meeting at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 8 in Room C at the Jacksonville Community Center.
That’s according to Daniel Gray, vice president of the Jacksonville World Class Education Organization.
“Last summer, Will (Bond) sent a letter to a bunch of friends who always talked about improving area education, but nothing ever got done,” said Gray. He said the gist of the letter was “let’s do something about it.”
Gray said the two main goals are to make Jacksonville area schools better now through community involvement and to work toward Jacksonville having its own school district.
“We want to dispel the rumor that we are a bunch of elitists trying to control the Jacksonville school district,” he said. The members of the group, which also includes Mark Wilson, Jody Urqhart and Pat O’Brien, among others, grew up and went to school together and got the ball rolling on the JWCEO. Others have joined recently.
“We’ve worked with (Jacksonville middle schools principals) Mike Nellums and Kim Forrest,” he said. We helped them form a parent teacher organization, he added.
“Mr. Nellums has implemented a mentoring program at the middle school for boys. We worked with the district to get two new (Jacksonville area) schools on the 10 year (facilities) master plan to replace four existing schools,” he said.
“The very future of our great community is at stake here if something is not done about the perception and reality of our schools,” Gray added.
“We just want to make sure that other parents and people…have a chance to be involved,” said Bond, Jacksonville’s state representative. “We want to make sure they are comfortable with the goals and aspirations.”
He said an end of the school year meeting would help maintain and build momentum through the summer for next school year.
“We’ll probably discuss facilities issues we’re facing, take the pulse of the organization and determine what are some of the most important things we can do in the short run,” said Bond. “Some people have more insight than we on individual schools.”
So far the organization has focused on the Jacksonville middle schools, which are generally thought to be the weakest schools in the city.
Now that a new middle school and new elementary school are on the facilities list—but contingent upon approval of a new bond issue—“How can we make sure the schools get built?”
“We’re closer than ever to having our own school district,” Bond said.
Leader senior staff writer
A recently formed group committed to improving facilities and education for Jacksonville students will hold its first general membership meeting at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 8 in Room C at the Jacksonville Community Center.
That’s according to Daniel Gray, vice president of the Jacksonville World Class Education Organization.
“Last summer, Will (Bond) sent a letter to a bunch of friends who always talked about improving area education, but nothing ever got done,” said Gray. He said the gist of the letter was “let’s do something about it.”
Gray said the two main goals are to make Jacksonville area schools better now through community involvement and to work toward Jacksonville having its own school district.
“We want to dispel the rumor that we are a bunch of elitists trying to control the Jacksonville school district,” he said. The members of the group, which also includes Mark Wilson, Jody Urqhart and Pat O’Brien, among others, grew up and went to school together and got the ball rolling on the JWCEO. Others have joined recently.
“We’ve worked with (Jacksonville middle schools principals) Mike Nellums and Kim Forrest,” he said. We helped them form a parent teacher organization, he added.
“Mr. Nellums has implemented a mentoring program at the middle school for boys. We worked with the district to get two new (Jacksonville area) schools on the 10 year (facilities) master plan to replace four existing schools,” he said.
“The very future of our great community is at stake here if something is not done about the perception and reality of our schools,” Gray added.
“We just want to make sure that other parents and people…have a chance to be involved,” said Bond, Jacksonville’s state representative. “We want to make sure they are comfortable with the goals and aspirations.”
He said an end of the school year meeting would help maintain and build momentum through the summer for next school year.
“We’ll probably discuss facilities issues we’re facing, take the pulse of the organization and determine what are some of the most important things we can do in the short run,” said Bond. “Some people have more insight than we on individual schools.”
So far the organization has focused on the Jacksonville middle schools, which are generally thought to be the weakest schools in the city.
Now that a new middle school and new elementary school are on the facilities list—but contingent upon approval of a new bond issue—“How can we make sure the schools get built?”
“We’re closer than ever to having our own school district,” Bond said.
TOP STORY > >Pathfinder set to expand
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
“This is an exciting time for us,” said Joan Zumwalt, chairman of the board for Pathfinder.
The organization, which works with and educates the developmentally disabled, broke ground Thursday for its new 40,000-square-foot preschool daycare center and expansion on skills training center located on its 40-acre campus on West Main and
Redmond Road in Jacksonville. Cost of the two projects total more than $10 million.
Zumwalt said the daycare should be opened in February and the skills center expansion will be completed in October.
“It’s hard to believe that we started 36 years ago with one adult and six kids,” Zumwalt said.
Pathfinder now has 28 locations across the state and is the second largest employer north of the river. “We have 1,000 employees, second only to Little Rock Air Force Base,” Zumwalt said.
She said Pathfinder is the largest provider of services to the disabled in the state. The nonprofit organization provides jobs, training and places to live for people with a range of disabilities that includes cerebral palsy, autism, epilepsy and mental retardation from infancy to old age.
Pathfinder’s goal is to offer parents and individuals an option of remaining at home or in a community rather than being institutionalized.
The last few years, Pathfinders has added a $5 million administrative and treatment center and a $3.5 million skills center to its campus.
Leader staff writer
“This is an exciting time for us,” said Joan Zumwalt, chairman of the board for Pathfinder.
The organization, which works with and educates the developmentally disabled, broke ground Thursday for its new 40,000-square-foot preschool daycare center and expansion on skills training center located on its 40-acre campus on West Main and
Redmond Road in Jacksonville. Cost of the two projects total more than $10 million.
Zumwalt said the daycare should be opened in February and the skills center expansion will be completed in October.
“It’s hard to believe that we started 36 years ago with one adult and six kids,” Zumwalt said.
Pathfinder now has 28 locations across the state and is the second largest employer north of the river. “We have 1,000 employees, second only to Little Rock Air Force Base,” Zumwalt said.
She said Pathfinder is the largest provider of services to the disabled in the state. The nonprofit organization provides jobs, training and places to live for people with a range of disabilities that includes cerebral palsy, autism, epilepsy and mental retardation from infancy to old age.
Pathfinder’s goal is to offer parents and individuals an option of remaining at home or in a community rather than being institutionalized.
The last few years, Pathfinders has added a $5 million administrative and treatment center and a $3.5 million skills center to its campus.
TOP STORY > >Dispatch system seen as critical
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
A group representing several cities and fire departments in Lonoke County that met Thursday evening to discuss the possibility of a county-wide ambulance service concluded after about two hours that what the county needs more is a county-wide dispatch system.
The consensus among most who attended the meeting was that speeding up the dispatching process and sending firefighters as first responders, especially in the more remote areas, would almost eliminate the need for county-wide ambulance service, which they decided would likely be impossible to fund.
Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams, who went to the Lonoke County Quorum Court for its blessing on at least investigating the need and feasibility of a county-wide ambulance service so residents in rural southern areas would have better access to emergency medical care, was asked to talk to the quorum court about consolidating the dispatch offices in the county.
F
ast emergency care is crucial because Lonoke County does not have a hospital.
Greg Balwin, chief of Tri-Community Volunteer Fire Department and chairman of Lonoke County Fire Chiefs Association, was asked to talk to that organization about using firefighters more as first responders to medical emergencies.
With the exception of England, there were no representatives from the areas that were being discussed.
Ward Alderman Charlie Gastineau, who presided over the meeting, said all the cities and volunteer fire departments in the county were notified about the meeting.
Also missing from the discussion were representatives from the county, most notably Jimmy Depriest, head of the Lonoke County Office of Emergency Services.
Gary Meadows, the former Cabot fire chief who now runs Allied Ambulance Service, which covers Ward, Austin and CS and Z Volunteer Fire Department, suggested another alternative to a county-wide ambulance service. He said the cities in the southern part of the county could use volunteers to staff ambulances for basic emergency care and also to deliver patients to ambulances staffed with paramedics that might be in route to the same emergency.
Meadows said Des Arc has an ambulance staffed with EMTs to intercept paramedic-staffed ambulances and that the system works.
“You already have a rescue truck that used to be an ambulance and all you would need is a few supplies and a cot. And I’ll go on record; I’ll give you a cot,” Meadows told England Mayor Danny Maynard.
“It sounds interesting,” Maynard said of Meadows’ suggestion, and then added, “We could probably afford to buy a cot.”
Also discussed at length was the possibility of the five ambulance services in the county working together under mutual aid agreements like the fire departments do. Meadows said the competition for business is strong, but that the ambulance service would be more likely to agree to such a plan if the cities they are under contract to serve ask them to do it.
The group agreed, however, that mutual aid agreements among ambulance services would be pointless without a central dispatch center to keep track of where all the ambulances in the county were located.
“A county dispatch center would have to come before any talk of repositioning ambulances,” said Carl Stracener, chief of CS and Z Volunteer Fire Department.
Leader staff writer
A group representing several cities and fire departments in Lonoke County that met Thursday evening to discuss the possibility of a county-wide ambulance service concluded after about two hours that what the county needs more is a county-wide dispatch system.
The consensus among most who attended the meeting was that speeding up the dispatching process and sending firefighters as first responders, especially in the more remote areas, would almost eliminate the need for county-wide ambulance service, which they decided would likely be impossible to fund.
Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams, who went to the Lonoke County Quorum Court for its blessing on at least investigating the need and feasibility of a county-wide ambulance service so residents in rural southern areas would have better access to emergency medical care, was asked to talk to the quorum court about consolidating the dispatch offices in the county.
F
ast emergency care is crucial because Lonoke County does not have a hospital.
Greg Balwin, chief of Tri-Community Volunteer Fire Department and chairman of Lonoke County Fire Chiefs Association, was asked to talk to that organization about using firefighters more as first responders to medical emergencies.
With the exception of England, there were no representatives from the areas that were being discussed.
Ward Alderman Charlie Gastineau, who presided over the meeting, said all the cities and volunteer fire departments in the county were notified about the meeting.
Also missing from the discussion were representatives from the county, most notably Jimmy Depriest, head of the Lonoke County Office of Emergency Services.
Gary Meadows, the former Cabot fire chief who now runs Allied Ambulance Service, which covers Ward, Austin and CS and Z Volunteer Fire Department, suggested another alternative to a county-wide ambulance service. He said the cities in the southern part of the county could use volunteers to staff ambulances for basic emergency care and also to deliver patients to ambulances staffed with paramedics that might be in route to the same emergency.
Meadows said Des Arc has an ambulance staffed with EMTs to intercept paramedic-staffed ambulances and that the system works.
“You already have a rescue truck that used to be an ambulance and all you would need is a few supplies and a cot. And I’ll go on record; I’ll give you a cot,” Meadows told England Mayor Danny Maynard.
“It sounds interesting,” Maynard said of Meadows’ suggestion, and then added, “We could probably afford to buy a cot.”
Also discussed at length was the possibility of the five ambulance services in the county working together under mutual aid agreements like the fire departments do. Meadows said the competition for business is strong, but that the ambulance service would be more likely to agree to such a plan if the cities they are under contract to serve ask them to do it.
The group agreed, however, that mutual aid agreements among ambulance services would be pointless without a central dispatch center to keep track of where all the ambulances in the county were located.
“A county dispatch center would have to come before any talk of repositioning ambulances,” said Carl Stracener, chief of CS and Z Volunteer Fire Department.
SPORTS>> Searcy sophomore settles for second
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
What is it with Searcy sophomores and the heptathlon?
Two years ago, it was Whitney Jones who burst on the scene by winning the event, when she edged out Russellville senior Emily Miles.
Jones didn’t exactly surprise anyone the following year when she repeated the feat, and would have been going for an unprecedented third heptathlon title this week at Cabot’s Panther Stadium except for a nagging hamstring injury that kept her out of the competition.
But following in her footsteps is another Searcy sophomore star-in-the-making — Kristen Celsor. Though Celsor couldn’t quite reach Jones’ height of glory in 2006, she was pretty happy after finishing second on Thursday to Jasmine Ellis of Nashville.
Cabot’s Emily Carpenter posted the best time in the 800 meters at 2 minutes, 25.51 seconds, and finished 32nd overall, one place behind teammate Marissa De La Paz. De La Paz ran a sixth-best 2:33.86 in the 800.
Celsor entered Day 2 in fifth place and with two of her better events on tap — the high jump, which she won at the Meet of Champs last week — and the 800 meters.
But Searcy track coach Charlie Carroll’s analysis proved all too prescient.
“If Ellis has a good day high jumping — if she goes 5-2 or 5-3 — that may seal the deal for her,” Carroll said shortly before the first event of Day 2 got under way. “If she goes 4-10 and Kristen goes 5-5, like she did at the Meet of Champs, you’ve got a cat race then, brother.”
Unfortunately, for Celsor, very nearly the opposite occurred. Ellis, who finished third last year, wound up going 5-3, while Celsor managed only 5-2 and lost points in an event she needed to gain ground in.
“I don’t know if it would have made any difference, but I would have felt better,” Celsor said of her high jump performance.
“My steps were off in the beginning, and I was more long jumping than high jumping.”
With two events to go, Celsor still had a chance to draw within shouting distance by picking up points in the shot put. But Ellis was up to it once more, beating last year’s toss by nearly two feet with her 30-foot, 6-inch heave. Celsor hit her goal with 28-1, but lost valuable points.
That meant that Celsor had to beat Ellis by a nearly impossible 37 seconds in the 800 meters.
“That’s a lot of time,” Celsor conceded afterwards.
So, while finishing first was her stated goal entering the heptathlon on Wednesday, second place became the focus entering the final event. To do that, she merely had to stay within six seconds of Pine Bluff’s Kanesha Hicks. No problem. Hicks, who was the odds-on favorite to win the heptathlon after Jones scratched, ran a solid 2:34.94 in the 800, but Celsor was right behind her at 2:35.20 to outpoint Hicks by 75.
“I’m really happy with second, though I really wanted to get first,” said Celsor, who Carroll compares to Jones in terms of her demeanor and competitiveness. “But I knew it would really be difficult because they’ve been here before, and they’re just really good athletes.”
Searcy junior Shalisha Anth-ony, the heir-apparent to Jones last year, rallied from a hamstring injury from Day 1 to finish 25th overall. After faltering down the stretch last year, Anthony finished strong in Thursday’s events, going 4-10 in the high jump and posting a 2:46.02 in the 800.
“She had a good second day, and I’m excited about that,” Carroll said. “She kind of let down on Day 2 last year. We talked about that the whole year. I told her I wanted her to compete in every event.
“I give her credit. She was a warrior this year. She’s been under Whitney’s shadow and that’s not easy. But you have to create your own shadow.”
Carroll said Jones was disappointed at being denied a chance at history with a possible third heptathlon title. But he thinks she made the right choice. The Arkansas signee will begin running track for the Lady Razorbacks this fall.
“She knew if she got hurt in the hurdles or the 200 — the only two events here that could hurt her — that’s going to put her back six or seven weeks. That’s almost the fall and she’d be showing up to Fayetteville on an untested leg.”
As for Celsor, Carroll thinks she may be ready to start casting her own shadow.
“Kristen is like Whitney, even though they’re in opposite events,” he said. “Their mannerisms are very similar. They’re to themselves and they’re quiet. They don’t need a pep rally before they go out there.
“She throws some humor at you just to defuse the situation. But she understands the situation.”
Celsor credited Jones’ past feats with inspiring her and Anthony.
“Whitney has been a good role model for Shalisha and I,” she said. “We look up to her, and whenever she sets a goal, we want to try and reach it.”
Celsor said her first heptathlon was hard work, but fulfilling.
“Yeah, it was really fun,” she said, before acknowledging the more grueling aspects of the event. “Props to anyone who does this.”
Leader sports editor
What is it with Searcy sophomores and the heptathlon?
Two years ago, it was Whitney Jones who burst on the scene by winning the event, when she edged out Russellville senior Emily Miles.
Jones didn’t exactly surprise anyone the following year when she repeated the feat, and would have been going for an unprecedented third heptathlon title this week at Cabot’s Panther Stadium except for a nagging hamstring injury that kept her out of the competition.
But following in her footsteps is another Searcy sophomore star-in-the-making — Kristen Celsor. Though Celsor couldn’t quite reach Jones’ height of glory in 2006, she was pretty happy after finishing second on Thursday to Jasmine Ellis of Nashville.
Cabot’s Emily Carpenter posted the best time in the 800 meters at 2 minutes, 25.51 seconds, and finished 32nd overall, one place behind teammate Marissa De La Paz. De La Paz ran a sixth-best 2:33.86 in the 800.
Celsor entered Day 2 in fifth place and with two of her better events on tap — the high jump, which she won at the Meet of Champs last week — and the 800 meters.
But Searcy track coach Charlie Carroll’s analysis proved all too prescient.
“If Ellis has a good day high jumping — if she goes 5-2 or 5-3 — that may seal the deal for her,” Carroll said shortly before the first event of Day 2 got under way. “If she goes 4-10 and Kristen goes 5-5, like she did at the Meet of Champs, you’ve got a cat race then, brother.”
Unfortunately, for Celsor, very nearly the opposite occurred. Ellis, who finished third last year, wound up going 5-3, while Celsor managed only 5-2 and lost points in an event she needed to gain ground in.
“I don’t know if it would have made any difference, but I would have felt better,” Celsor said of her high jump performance.
“My steps were off in the beginning, and I was more long jumping than high jumping.”
With two events to go, Celsor still had a chance to draw within shouting distance by picking up points in the shot put. But Ellis was up to it once more, beating last year’s toss by nearly two feet with her 30-foot, 6-inch heave. Celsor hit her goal with 28-1, but lost valuable points.
That meant that Celsor had to beat Ellis by a nearly impossible 37 seconds in the 800 meters.
“That’s a lot of time,” Celsor conceded afterwards.
So, while finishing first was her stated goal entering the heptathlon on Wednesday, second place became the focus entering the final event. To do that, she merely had to stay within six seconds of Pine Bluff’s Kanesha Hicks. No problem. Hicks, who was the odds-on favorite to win the heptathlon after Jones scratched, ran a solid 2:34.94 in the 800, but Celsor was right behind her at 2:35.20 to outpoint Hicks by 75.
“I’m really happy with second, though I really wanted to get first,” said Celsor, who Carroll compares to Jones in terms of her demeanor and competitiveness. “But I knew it would really be difficult because they’ve been here before, and they’re just really good athletes.”
Searcy junior Shalisha Anth-ony, the heir-apparent to Jones last year, rallied from a hamstring injury from Day 1 to finish 25th overall. After faltering down the stretch last year, Anthony finished strong in Thursday’s events, going 4-10 in the high jump and posting a 2:46.02 in the 800.
“She had a good second day, and I’m excited about that,” Carroll said. “She kind of let down on Day 2 last year. We talked about that the whole year. I told her I wanted her to compete in every event.
“I give her credit. She was a warrior this year. She’s been under Whitney’s shadow and that’s not easy. But you have to create your own shadow.”
Carroll said Jones was disappointed at being denied a chance at history with a possible third heptathlon title. But he thinks she made the right choice. The Arkansas signee will begin running track for the Lady Razorbacks this fall.
“She knew if she got hurt in the hurdles or the 200 — the only two events here that could hurt her — that’s going to put her back six or seven weeks. That’s almost the fall and she’d be showing up to Fayetteville on an untested leg.”
As for Celsor, Carroll thinks she may be ready to start casting her own shadow.
“Kristen is like Whitney, even though they’re in opposite events,” he said. “Their mannerisms are very similar. They’re to themselves and they’re quiet. They don’t need a pep rally before they go out there.
“She throws some humor at you just to defuse the situation. But she understands the situation.”
Celsor credited Jones’ past feats with inspiring her and Anthony.
“Whitney has been a good role model for Shalisha and I,” she said. “We look up to her, and whenever she sets a goal, we want to try and reach it.”
Celsor said her first heptathlon was hard work, but fulfilling.
“Yeah, it was really fun,” she said, before acknowledging the more grueling aspects of the event. “Props to anyone who does this.”
SPORTS>> Burks trying to chase down dad
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
Dad’s record is safe for one more year.
That’s 37 and counting.
Steve Burks set — and has held on to — the record for most points by a Cabot decathlete back in 1971, when he totaled 8,158 in winning the event.
His son Drew Burks has taken a shot at it the past two years, and no one would have been happier to see Steve’s record eclipsed than Dad himself.
“I told him, ‘Thirty-seven years on the board is just too long. You need to break that,’” Steve told his son before the 48th running of the decathlon on Wednesday at Panther Stadium in Cabot.
Though Burks didn’t break his father’s record — nor win the event — he met most of his goals this week, finishing eighth overall and posting personal bests in four of the 10 competitions.
“We are hoping for a top 10 finish,” said his high school coach, Leon White, as Burks prepared for the day’s final two events on Thursday. “So far, he’s done better in all his events than last year.”
In fact, Burks improved in all 10 events, beating his 2007 long jump by more than a foot, his high jump by six inches, his discus throw by 12 feet, his pole vault by a foot, and shaving five seconds off his 400-meters time.
That’s what had his father Steve most proud.
“Every event, he was better than what he did last year,” he said. “I was pleased with that.”
Teammate Jared Santiago also met his goal of a top 25 finish, White said. Santiago finished in 25th place after a 35th –place finish a year ago.
Burks, whose finished 19th last year, runs the hurdles and competes in the triple jump, discus and high jump during the regular track season. He posted personal bests in the shot, the discus, the pole vault and the high jump.
In posting his school-record total in 1971, Steve Burks said he scored 1,000 points out of the high jump — his specialty — and the triple jump, and nearly reached 1,000 in the quarter mile.
Drew’s first love is baseball, and he missed several track events during the regular season to play for the Cabot Panthers.
“He’s good in everything,” White said. “His dream is to play pro baseball. I think the decathlon is something he got interested in because of his daddy. He’s a good kid and he works at everything.”
Just a junior, Burks plans on taking another shot at Dad’s record again next year.
“It’s always fun,” he said. “It’s not even like competition, really. You just have to race against the clock and do your best. You’re competing against yourself.”
Michael Tibbs of Rogers won the event on Thursday by more than 600 points. But his total of 8,065 would have been good for only second place in 1971.
Leader sports editor
Dad’s record is safe for one more year.
That’s 37 and counting.
Steve Burks set — and has held on to — the record for most points by a Cabot decathlete back in 1971, when he totaled 8,158 in winning the event.
His son Drew Burks has taken a shot at it the past two years, and no one would have been happier to see Steve’s record eclipsed than Dad himself.
“I told him, ‘Thirty-seven years on the board is just too long. You need to break that,’” Steve told his son before the 48th running of the decathlon on Wednesday at Panther Stadium in Cabot.
Though Burks didn’t break his father’s record — nor win the event — he met most of his goals this week, finishing eighth overall and posting personal bests in four of the 10 competitions.
“We are hoping for a top 10 finish,” said his high school coach, Leon White, as Burks prepared for the day’s final two events on Thursday. “So far, he’s done better in all his events than last year.”
In fact, Burks improved in all 10 events, beating his 2007 long jump by more than a foot, his high jump by six inches, his discus throw by 12 feet, his pole vault by a foot, and shaving five seconds off his 400-meters time.
That’s what had his father Steve most proud.
“Every event, he was better than what he did last year,” he said. “I was pleased with that.”
Teammate Jared Santiago also met his goal of a top 25 finish, White said. Santiago finished in 25th place after a 35th –place finish a year ago.
Burks, whose finished 19th last year, runs the hurdles and competes in the triple jump, discus and high jump during the regular track season. He posted personal bests in the shot, the discus, the pole vault and the high jump.
In posting his school-record total in 1971, Steve Burks said he scored 1,000 points out of the high jump — his specialty — and the triple jump, and nearly reached 1,000 in the quarter mile.
Drew’s first love is baseball, and he missed several track events during the regular season to play for the Cabot Panthers.
“He’s good in everything,” White said. “His dream is to play pro baseball. I think the decathlon is something he got interested in because of his daddy. He’s a good kid and he works at everything.”
Just a junior, Burks plans on taking another shot at Dad’s record again next year.
“It’s always fun,” he said. “It’s not even like competition, really. You just have to race against the clock and do your best. You’re competing against yourself.”
Michael Tibbs of Rogers won the event on Thursday by more than 600 points. But his total of 8,065 would have been good for only second place in 1971.
SPORTS>> Gwatney cruises
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
A huge fourth inning propelled the Gwatney Chevrolet Jr. Legion team to a 10-5 win over Sylvan Hills on Thursday night at Burns Park.
Tom Sanders went 3 of 3 and drove in four runs for Gwatney.
The Chevy boys led off with six straight runs in the top of the fourth inning against the bench-depleted Optimist Bruins, and threatened to strike again later in the fifth before a fielder’s choice play at second base by SH shortstop Matt Russell prevented any further runs.
The Bruins made a charge in the final two frames, but made up only three runs of the 10-2 run deficit that resulted from Gwatney’s huge fourth inning.
The fourth started with a strikeout by Bruins starting pitcher Cameron Graves, followed by a walk for GC second baseman Kenny Cummings, who advanced on a follow-up single by Hayden Simpson. Another walk for Matt McAnally loaded the bases for Gwatney before Tommy Sanders drove in two runners with a hard single to right field.
Another walk that sent Jeffery Tillman prompted a SH pitching change, as Graves swapped places with Russell at shortstop.
Russell walked his first batter, which loaded the bases again for Gwatney. That put Orlando Roberts up to bat for the Chevy boys, and he benefited from the third straight walk handed out by the Bruins, scoring the automatic RBI with the force-walk at the plate for Sanders.
That gave Gwatney an 8-2 lead, and Patrick Castleberry’s double down the first base line brought in two more.
The game was closer in the early going. Cummings walked to lead off the game for Gwatney, eventually coming in on a single by cleanup hitter Sanders. Gwatney loaded the bases after that, but a pop-up to center ended its chances of adding to the early 1-0 lead.
The Bruins got their only lead of the game in the bottom of the first inning. Leadoff batters Cain Cormeir and Russell both reached on singles.
Three-hole hitter Cody Cormeir then drove in his brother with a fielder’s-choice play to shortstop, and Russell made it in on a fielding error to put Sylvan Hills up 2-1 after one.
After a routine second inning for both clubs, the Chevy boys took the lead back in the top of the third. Singles by McAnally and Sanders to start off the frame led to runs. Roberts came away with a RBI when his single allowed Roberts to score, making it 3-2 Gwatney. The final run of the turn scored on a sacrifice fly by Castleberry to give the Chevy boys a 4-2 lead.
The Bruins refused to give up after the top of the fourth, scoring two runs in the bottom half. James Pepin led off for Sylvan Hills by reaching on an error, and Zach Rusenberger advanced him with a single to right.
Another error allowed Pepin to score, while Graves drove in Rusenberger on a fielder’s choice. Cody Cormeir scored the final run for the Bruins on a RBI by Pepin in the fifth after he singled to left.
Pepin reached on errors on all three trips to the plate, and had one RBI and one run scored for the Bruins. Cody Cormeir was 1 of 3 with on a single, a RBI and one run scored.
Leader sportswriter
A huge fourth inning propelled the Gwatney Chevrolet Jr. Legion team to a 10-5 win over Sylvan Hills on Thursday night at Burns Park.
Tom Sanders went 3 of 3 and drove in four runs for Gwatney.
The Chevy boys led off with six straight runs in the top of the fourth inning against the bench-depleted Optimist Bruins, and threatened to strike again later in the fifth before a fielder’s choice play at second base by SH shortstop Matt Russell prevented any further runs.
The Bruins made a charge in the final two frames, but made up only three runs of the 10-2 run deficit that resulted from Gwatney’s huge fourth inning.
The fourth started with a strikeout by Bruins starting pitcher Cameron Graves, followed by a walk for GC second baseman Kenny Cummings, who advanced on a follow-up single by Hayden Simpson. Another walk for Matt McAnally loaded the bases for Gwatney before Tommy Sanders drove in two runners with a hard single to right field.
Another walk that sent Jeffery Tillman prompted a SH pitching change, as Graves swapped places with Russell at shortstop.
Russell walked his first batter, which loaded the bases again for Gwatney. That put Orlando Roberts up to bat for the Chevy boys, and he benefited from the third straight walk handed out by the Bruins, scoring the automatic RBI with the force-walk at the plate for Sanders.
That gave Gwatney an 8-2 lead, and Patrick Castleberry’s double down the first base line brought in two more.
The game was closer in the early going. Cummings walked to lead off the game for Gwatney, eventually coming in on a single by cleanup hitter Sanders. Gwatney loaded the bases after that, but a pop-up to center ended its chances of adding to the early 1-0 lead.
The Bruins got their only lead of the game in the bottom of the first inning. Leadoff batters Cain Cormeir and Russell both reached on singles.
Three-hole hitter Cody Cormeir then drove in his brother with a fielder’s-choice play to shortstop, and Russell made it in on a fielding error to put Sylvan Hills up 2-1 after one.
After a routine second inning for both clubs, the Chevy boys took the lead back in the top of the third. Singles by McAnally and Sanders to start off the frame led to runs. Roberts came away with a RBI when his single allowed Roberts to score, making it 3-2 Gwatney. The final run of the turn scored on a sacrifice fly by Castleberry to give the Chevy boys a 4-2 lead.
The Bruins refused to give up after the top of the fourth, scoring two runs in the bottom half. James Pepin led off for Sylvan Hills by reaching on an error, and Zach Rusenberger advanced him with a single to right.
Another error allowed Pepin to score, while Graves drove in Rusenberger on a fielder’s choice. Cody Cormeir scored the final run for the Bruins on a RBI by Pepin in the fifth after he singled to left.
Pepin reached on errors on all three trips to the plate, and had one RBI and one run scored for the Bruins. Cody Cormeir was 1 of 3 with on a single, a RBI and one run scored.
EDITORIAL >>Fight against animal cruelty
If your idea of fun is torturing stray dogs and cats, you live in the right place. Arkansas is one of the few places in the United States where you can do it and the government will smile.
But that, mercifully, may be about to change.
Rep. Sue Madison, D-Fayetteville, and a few other lawmakers have tried for several years to pass an anti-cruelty law to make it a felony to torture pet animals. The Arkansas Farm Bureau, which always gets its way in the legislature, objects because a prosecutor somewhere might go after a farmer for using generally accepted procedures for dealing with farm animals. No assurance or amendment ever changes the bureau’s opposition, so the legislation fails year after year.
Madison unveiled another proposal the other day, and she says she had tried to meet every possible objection. That would not change anything, but she has some powerful new support: Gov. Mike Beebe and Attorney General Dustin McDaniel.
McDaniel said an animal-cruelty bill will be a part of his package of legislation for the 2009 session and he’s deadly serious about it. His bill, he said, would make cruel treatment of a cat, dog or horse a felony on first offense and cruelty to other animals a felony on the second offense. As he delicately put it: “You should not be able to put a ferret in the microwave, and as soon as you pay your fine go home and put another ferret in the microwave.”
Arkansas is one of only five states that do not make it a crime to torture pets. What has been missing is strong support from governors. There might have been suspicion during the Mike Huckabee era that the cruelty legislation was somehow related to stories of the governor’s son torturing and killing a stray dog at a Scout encampment where he was a counselor. The State Police director said Huckabee fired him for not publicly renouncing an investigation of the incident. But the effort to pass anti-cruelty legislation never had anything to do with that episode.
Gov. Beebe’s advocacy, we imagine, ought to get the job done. He has no record of failing. If he can persuade the big energy companies that they should fork over a hundred million dollars a year to the state in severance taxes on the gas that they harvest from Arkansas shale, he ought to be able to persuade the Farm Bureau that someone should be punished for using cats for archery practice or letting 11 horses starve in abandoned trailers. Those deeds, incidentally, went unpunished last year in Arkansas.
But that, mercifully, may be about to change.
Rep. Sue Madison, D-Fayetteville, and a few other lawmakers have tried for several years to pass an anti-cruelty law to make it a felony to torture pet animals. The Arkansas Farm Bureau, which always gets its way in the legislature, objects because a prosecutor somewhere might go after a farmer for using generally accepted procedures for dealing with farm animals. No assurance or amendment ever changes the bureau’s opposition, so the legislation fails year after year.
Madison unveiled another proposal the other day, and she says she had tried to meet every possible objection. That would not change anything, but she has some powerful new support: Gov. Mike Beebe and Attorney General Dustin McDaniel.
McDaniel said an animal-cruelty bill will be a part of his package of legislation for the 2009 session and he’s deadly serious about it. His bill, he said, would make cruel treatment of a cat, dog or horse a felony on first offense and cruelty to other animals a felony on the second offense. As he delicately put it: “You should not be able to put a ferret in the microwave, and as soon as you pay your fine go home and put another ferret in the microwave.”
Arkansas is one of only five states that do not make it a crime to torture pets. What has been missing is strong support from governors. There might have been suspicion during the Mike Huckabee era that the cruelty legislation was somehow related to stories of the governor’s son torturing and killing a stray dog at a Scout encampment where he was a counselor. The State Police director said Huckabee fired him for not publicly renouncing an investigation of the incident. But the effort to pass anti-cruelty legislation never had anything to do with that episode.
Gov. Beebe’s advocacy, we imagine, ought to get the job done. He has no record of failing. If he can persuade the big energy companies that they should fork over a hundred million dollars a year to the state in severance taxes on the gas that they harvest from Arkansas shale, he ought to be able to persuade the Farm Bureau that someone should be punished for using cats for archery practice or letting 11 horses starve in abandoned trailers. Those deeds, incidentally, went unpunished last year in Arkansas.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
EDITORIAL >>Plan for aliens bad for state
Gov. Beebe is no bleeding heart — he ordered the state universities to crack down on illegal immigrants getting in-state tuition — but he knows and opposes reckless jingoism. Beebe said last week that he opposed a proposed initiative that seeks to make it harder for aliens to get public benefits.
“All of the major provisions it proposes are already covered by federal or state laws, and this ballot title will create bigger government and cost Arkansas money,” he said. That is the Secure Arkansas initiative in a nutshell.
If the proposal gets on the ballot and is ratified by voters in November, every state, county and city agency and school district would have to verify that people applying for most government benefits or services — that is most of us at some point — were living in the United States lawfully. Everyone would have to take a sworn oath that they were legal residents.
It would put every state and local agency in the business of enforcing federal immigration laws, which is the obligation of the national government.
The sponsors have precious little time to get the required signatures. If they do, the mammoth initiative is apt to be stricken from the ballot because it pretty clearly violates initiative precedents of the Arkansas Supreme Court not to mention the equal-protection clause of the U. S. Constitution.
It will save the taxpayers lots of money if it dies on the vine. The governor’s clear stand promotes that result.
“All of the major provisions it proposes are already covered by federal or state laws, and this ballot title will create bigger government and cost Arkansas money,” he said. That is the Secure Arkansas initiative in a nutshell.
If the proposal gets on the ballot and is ratified by voters in November, every state, county and city agency and school district would have to verify that people applying for most government benefits or services — that is most of us at some point — were living in the United States lawfully. Everyone would have to take a sworn oath that they were legal residents.
It would put every state and local agency in the business of enforcing federal immigration laws, which is the obligation of the national government.
The sponsors have precious little time to get the required signatures. If they do, the mammoth initiative is apt to be stricken from the ballot because it pretty clearly violates initiative precedents of the Arkansas Supreme Court not to mention the equal-protection clause of the U. S. Constitution.
It will save the taxpayers lots of money if it dies on the vine. The governor’s clear stand promotes that result.
EDITORIAL >>Huck jokes, Hill stumbles
The collective national gasp over Mike Huckabee’s infantile joke at the National Rifle Association convention about assassinating Barack Obama had barely subsided when Hillary Clinton committed her own faux pas. While justifying her continuing quest for the presidential nomination, she told a newspaper board in South Dakota that other presidential campaigns had run far into June, including the 1968 campaign when Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated the night of his victory in the California primary, on June 6.
The remark, or the furious reaction on political blogs, seemed one more time to deliver a fatal blow to her campaign. She had gathered a little momentum from primary triumphs in Indiana and Kentucky, but it dissipated in the furor about the assassination remark.
Her critics said she was trying subtly to advance the argument that she should get the nomination because Obama provoked such demons among racists that he was at peril of being slain. Reading her remark should convince anyone that it was not her purpose. To voice such an idea, even subtly, would be stupid as well as craven. As Kennedy’s son said, it was clear that she was simply reciting historical instances of prolonged campaigns to answer the din of critics who said she should have quit the race so that the party could be united early.
But the remark was troubling for another reason. It is an insensitive ear that does not detect the reaction to careless allusions to such fragile topics as the attempted assassination of politicians who arouse strong emotions: the Kennedys, George Wallace, Ronald Reagan. Clinton may simply have been unaware of the sub-rosa whispers about assassination, although Huckabee’s crude attempt to get a laugh about an attempted assassination of Obama should have been notice enough.
Bill and Hillary Clinton are supposed to have the most practiced, unerring ear in politics, but their blunders in this campaign, though often only misinterpretations in a supercharged atmosphere, have been seismic. It is not a strong recommendation for her leadership. Wisdom in the small graces of politics is just about as important as grasp of the issues.
The remark, or the furious reaction on political blogs, seemed one more time to deliver a fatal blow to her campaign. She had gathered a little momentum from primary triumphs in Indiana and Kentucky, but it dissipated in the furor about the assassination remark.
Her critics said she was trying subtly to advance the argument that she should get the nomination because Obama provoked such demons among racists that he was at peril of being slain. Reading her remark should convince anyone that it was not her purpose. To voice such an idea, even subtly, would be stupid as well as craven. As Kennedy’s son said, it was clear that she was simply reciting historical instances of prolonged campaigns to answer the din of critics who said she should have quit the race so that the party could be united early.
But the remark was troubling for another reason. It is an insensitive ear that does not detect the reaction to careless allusions to such fragile topics as the attempted assassination of politicians who arouse strong emotions: the Kennedys, George Wallace, Ronald Reagan. Clinton may simply have been unaware of the sub-rosa whispers about assassination, although Huckabee’s crude attempt to get a laugh about an attempted assassination of Obama should have been notice enough.
Bill and Hillary Clinton are supposed to have the most practiced, unerring ear in politics, but their blunders in this campaign, though often only misinterpretations in a supercharged atmosphere, have been seismic. It is not a strong recommendation for her leadership. Wisdom in the small graces of politics is just about as important as grasp of the issues.
TOP STORY > >Cabot given promise of a health unit
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
Although the official announcement isn’t until June, Cabot has the promise from the Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services of $450,000 toward the cost of building a 6,000-square-foot health department which will be five times the size of the 1,200-square-foot facility currently in use.
Mayor Eddie Joe Williams said at an estimated $125 a foot, the building will cost about $300,000 more than the state will pay.
But it might be possible to build the facility in phases, he said. Or it might be that the cost won’t be as high as anticipated.
“I’m hoping that since the economy has slowed down, this will be a good time to build it,” Williams said.
The city has donated the lot beside the old post office where public works was housed for many years to build the health department.
Since the lot is small, architect Bob Schelle has designed the new building to attach to the old one. Plans also call for updating the façade of the old building to make it match the new one.
Cabot applied for a new health department in 2007 and officials were hopeful that it would be approved then. When it wasn’t, they were confident that it would be approved this year.
Local Health Department officials say the facility needs to be larger to expand its services for women and children and to place more emphasis on communicable diseases like tuberculosis which is making a comeback.
The mayor wants the new facility downtown to help ensure the continued stability of that area. He said this week that if the health department is on First Street, more doctors and pharmacies are likely to locate downtown as well. Also, the new facility will be in walking distance of the high school and the homes of many elderly residents who might need the services it would provide.
When Williams took office in January 2007 he listed building a new health department as one of his goals. He also wanted a new post office for the residents on the west side of the city, a new armory and a north interchange to be built in conjunction with the railroad overpass now under construction. To date, the only goal still unfulfilled is the north interchange.
Before Christmas, Marty’s Cards and Gifts on Rockwood Road began contracting with the postal service to provide all the services of a post office except mailboxes.
Last week, Williams announced that the federal government is funding a $10.8 million Guard armory near the new overpass.
Leader staff writer
Although the official announcement isn’t until June, Cabot has the promise from the Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services of $450,000 toward the cost of building a 6,000-square-foot health department which will be five times the size of the 1,200-square-foot facility currently in use.
Mayor Eddie Joe Williams said at an estimated $125 a foot, the building will cost about $300,000 more than the state will pay.
But it might be possible to build the facility in phases, he said. Or it might be that the cost won’t be as high as anticipated.
“I’m hoping that since the economy has slowed down, this will be a good time to build it,” Williams said.
The city has donated the lot beside the old post office where public works was housed for many years to build the health department.
Since the lot is small, architect Bob Schelle has designed the new building to attach to the old one. Plans also call for updating the façade of the old building to make it match the new one.
Cabot applied for a new health department in 2007 and officials were hopeful that it would be approved then. When it wasn’t, they were confident that it would be approved this year.
Local Health Department officials say the facility needs to be larger to expand its services for women and children and to place more emphasis on communicable diseases like tuberculosis which is making a comeback.
The mayor wants the new facility downtown to help ensure the continued stability of that area. He said this week that if the health department is on First Street, more doctors and pharmacies are likely to locate downtown as well. Also, the new facility will be in walking distance of the high school and the homes of many elderly residents who might need the services it would provide.
When Williams took office in January 2007 he listed building a new health department as one of his goals. He also wanted a new post office for the residents on the west side of the city, a new armory and a north interchange to be built in conjunction with the railroad overpass now under construction. To date, the only goal still unfulfilled is the north interchange.
Before Christmas, Marty’s Cards and Gifts on Rockwood Road began contracting with the postal service to provide all the services of a post office except mailboxes.
Last week, Williams announced that the federal government is funding a $10.8 million Guard armory near the new overpass.
TOP STORY > >Cabot given promise of a health unit
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
Although the official announcement isn’t until June, Cabot has the promise from the Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services of $450,000 toward the cost of building a 6,000-square-foot health department which will be five times the size of the 1,200-square-foot facility currently in use.
Mayor Eddie Joe Williams said at an estimated $125 a foot, the building will cost about $300,000 more than the state will pay.
But it might be possible to build the facility in phases, he said. Or it might be that the cost won’t be as high as anticipated.
“I’m hoping that since the economy has slowed down, this will be a good time to build it,” Williams said.
The city has donated the lot beside the old post office where public works was housed for many years to build the health department.
Since the lot is small, architect Bob Schelle has designed the new building to attach to the old one. Plans also call for updating the façade of the old building to make it match the new one.
Cabot applied for a new health department in 2007 and officials were hopeful that it would be approved then. When it wasn’t, they were confident that it would be approved this year.
Local Health Department officials say the facility needs to be larger to expand its services for women and children and to place more emphasis on communicable diseases like tuberculosis which is making a comeback.
The mayor wants the new facility downtown to help ensure the continued stability of that area. He said this week that if the health department is on First Street, more doctors and pharmacies are likely to locate downtown as well. Also, the new facility will be in walking distance of the high school and the homes of many elderly residents who might need the services it would provide.
When Williams took office in January 2007 he listed building a new health department as one of his goals. He also wanted a new post office for the residents on the west side of the city, a new armory and a north interchange to be built in conjunction with the railroad overpass now under construction. To date, the only goal still unfulfilled is the north interchange.
Before Christmas, Marty’s Cards and Gifts on Rockwood Road began contracting with the postal service to provide all the services of a post office except mailboxes.
Last week, Williams announced that the federal government is funding a $10.8 million Guard armory near the new overpass.
Leader staff writer
Although the official announcement isn’t until June, Cabot has the promise from the Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services of $450,000 toward the cost of building a 6,000-square-foot health department which will be five times the size of the 1,200-square-foot facility currently in use.
Mayor Eddie Joe Williams said at an estimated $125 a foot, the building will cost about $300,000 more than the state will pay.
But it might be possible to build the facility in phases, he said. Or it might be that the cost won’t be as high as anticipated.
“I’m hoping that since the economy has slowed down, this will be a good time to build it,” Williams said.
The city has donated the lot beside the old post office where public works was housed for many years to build the health department.
Since the lot is small, architect Bob Schelle has designed the new building to attach to the old one. Plans also call for updating the façade of the old building to make it match the new one.
Cabot applied for a new health department in 2007 and officials were hopeful that it would be approved then. When it wasn’t, they were confident that it would be approved this year.
Local Health Department officials say the facility needs to be larger to expand its services for women and children and to place more emphasis on communicable diseases like tuberculosis which is making a comeback.
The mayor wants the new facility downtown to help ensure the continued stability of that area. He said this week that if the health department is on First Street, more doctors and pharmacies are likely to locate downtown as well. Also, the new facility will be in walking distance of the high school and the homes of many elderly residents who might need the services it would provide.
When Williams took office in January 2007 he listed building a new health department as one of his goals. He also wanted a new post office for the residents on the west side of the city, a new armory and a north interchange to be built in conjunction with the railroad overpass now under construction. To date, the only goal still unfulfilled is the north interchange.
Before Christmas, Marty’s Cards and Gifts on Rockwood Road began contracting with the postal service to provide all the services of a post office except mailboxes.
Last week, Williams announced that the federal government is funding a $10.8 million Guard armory near the new overpass.
TOP STORY > >Guard armory gets funds
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams has announced that a $10.8 million National Guard armory has been approved for federal funding next summer by the U.S. House of Representatives – almost five years earlier than expected.
The appropriation must still be approved by the Senate. The cost of the facility was originally estimated at $8 million.
Williams made the an-nouncement Friday morning during a reception in honor of the men who started working late in 2001 to get an armory for Cabot: Jason Carter, Fred Campbell, Moose Cullins, David Hipp, former Mayor Joe Allman, Don Elliott, Charles George, Bill Devoss and Gary McMillan.
The state has not built an armory since September 2005 when a $4.25 million facility went up in Warren.
The 30,000-square-foot facility (now called a readiness center) planned for Cabot will replace the temporary facility that opened in the industrial park on Hwy. 367 late in 2006.
“It was all because of a group of men who had a vision,” Williams told those who had gathered for the reception, including most of those being honored, State Sen. Bobby Glover, D-Carlisle, Lonoke County Judge Charlie Troutman, Lt. Col. Cary Shillcutt, Joint Force Headquarters for the Arkansas National Guard, and Lt. Col. Steve Redman, rear detachment commander with the 39th Brigade.
Currently, 137 National Guard members are from the Cabot area, though not all are members of Cabot’s Foxtrot Company, which is part of the 39th Support Battalion. But that large number was one of the reasons Cabot was a desirable location for a new armory, Lt. Col. Shillcut said.
“We’re very proud to be located here,” he said. “The Guard is very much about the community.”
Although it started with a vision, it could not have happened without money, and Williams thanked Sen. Glover, Gov. Mike Beebe and Cong. Marion Berry for that.
The mayor learned from Cong. Berry that the House had approved the appropriation as part of the 2009 Defense Authorization Bill.
The state has contributed $400,000 to reimburse the city for the purchase of 15.5 acres in the industrial park beside the railroad overpass that is now under construction where the armory will be built. That land has been turned over to the
National Guard, which will receive the federal money to build the armory.
“A lot of the time we appropriate money and we don’t know what it’s going to be used for,” Glover told the mayor. “But this is a worthy cause.”
Glover complimented the mayor and the group of mostly former military men who worked to bring an armory to Cabot.
“You never gave up,” he said. “You had a mission and you succeeded in it.”
As he has said since he became mayor in January 2007, Williams called building the armory “the single biggest thing for Cabot in recent history” and that it will have an economic impact on the city of $1 million or more a year.
It will be visible from the new railroad overpass now under construction, and since the overpass will be used by school buses, Williams says the location will be good for recruiting.
“Construction of this new facility will enhance the Arkansas National Guard’s ability to meet their mission requirements, maintain readiness, and continue to serve our country with honor,” Berry said. “I would like to thank Congressman Vic Snyder and the House Armed Services Committee for working with the Appropriations Committee to authorize funding for this critically needed readiness center.”
Leader staff writer
Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams has announced that a $10.8 million National Guard armory has been approved for federal funding next summer by the U.S. House of Representatives – almost five years earlier than expected.
The appropriation must still be approved by the Senate. The cost of the facility was originally estimated at $8 million.
Williams made the an-nouncement Friday morning during a reception in honor of the men who started working late in 2001 to get an armory for Cabot: Jason Carter, Fred Campbell, Moose Cullins, David Hipp, former Mayor Joe Allman, Don Elliott, Charles George, Bill Devoss and Gary McMillan.
The state has not built an armory since September 2005 when a $4.25 million facility went up in Warren.
The 30,000-square-foot facility (now called a readiness center) planned for Cabot will replace the temporary facility that opened in the industrial park on Hwy. 367 late in 2006.
“It was all because of a group of men who had a vision,” Williams told those who had gathered for the reception, including most of those being honored, State Sen. Bobby Glover, D-Carlisle, Lonoke County Judge Charlie Troutman, Lt. Col. Cary Shillcutt, Joint Force Headquarters for the Arkansas National Guard, and Lt. Col. Steve Redman, rear detachment commander with the 39th Brigade.
Currently, 137 National Guard members are from the Cabot area, though not all are members of Cabot’s Foxtrot Company, which is part of the 39th Support Battalion. But that large number was one of the reasons Cabot was a desirable location for a new armory, Lt. Col. Shillcut said.
“We’re very proud to be located here,” he said. “The Guard is very much about the community.”
Although it started with a vision, it could not have happened without money, and Williams thanked Sen. Glover, Gov. Mike Beebe and Cong. Marion Berry for that.
The mayor learned from Cong. Berry that the House had approved the appropriation as part of the 2009 Defense Authorization Bill.
The state has contributed $400,000 to reimburse the city for the purchase of 15.5 acres in the industrial park beside the railroad overpass that is now under construction where the armory will be built. That land has been turned over to the
National Guard, which will receive the federal money to build the armory.
“A lot of the time we appropriate money and we don’t know what it’s going to be used for,” Glover told the mayor. “But this is a worthy cause.”
Glover complimented the mayor and the group of mostly former military men who worked to bring an armory to Cabot.
“You never gave up,” he said. “You had a mission and you succeeded in it.”
As he has said since he became mayor in January 2007, Williams called building the armory “the single biggest thing for Cabot in recent history” and that it will have an economic impact on the city of $1 million or more a year.
It will be visible from the new railroad overpass now under construction, and since the overpass will be used by school buses, Williams says the location will be good for recruiting.
“Construction of this new facility will enhance the Arkansas National Guard’s ability to meet their mission requirements, maintain readiness, and continue to serve our country with honor,” Berry said. “I would like to thank Congressman Vic Snyder and the House Armed Services Committee for working with the Appropriations Committee to authorize funding for this critically needed readiness center.”
TOP STORY > >Guard armory gets funds
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams has announced that a $10.8 million National Guard armory has been approved for federal funding next summer by the U.S. House of Representatives – almost five years earlier than expected.
The appropriation must still be approved by the Senate. The cost of the facility was originally estimated at $8 million.
Williams made the an-nouncement Friday morning during a reception in honor of the men who started working late in 2001 to get an armory for Cabot: Jason Carter, Fred Campbell, Moose Cullins, David Hipp, former Mayor Joe Allman, Don Elliott, Charles George, Bill Devoss and Gary McMillan.
The state has not built an armory since September 2005 when a $4.25 million facility went up in Warren.
The 30,000-square-foot facility (now called a readiness center) planned for Cabot will replace the temporary facility that opened in the industrial park on Hwy. 367 late in 2006.
“It was all because of a group of men who had a vision,” Williams told those who had gathered for the reception, including most of those being honored, State Sen. Bobby Glover, D-Carlisle, Lonoke County Judge Charlie Troutman, Lt. Col. Cary Shillcutt, Joint Force Headquarters for the Arkansas National Guard, and Lt. Col. Steve Redman, rear detachment commander with the 39th Brigade.
Currently, 137 National Guard members are from the Cabot area, though not all are members of Cabot’s Foxtrot Company, which is part of the 39th Support Battalion. But that large number was one of the reasons Cabot was a desirable location for a new armory, Lt. Col. Shillcut said.
“We’re very proud to be located here,” he said. “The Guard is very much about the community.”
Although it started with a vision, it could not have happened without money, and Williams thanked Sen. Glover, Gov. Mike Beebe and Cong. Marion Berry for that.
The mayor learned from Cong. Berry that the House had approved the appropriation as part of the 2009 Defense Authorization Bill.
The state has contributed $400,000 to reimburse the city for the purchase of 15.5 acres in the industrial park beside the railroad overpass that is now under construction where the armory will be built. That land has been turned over to the
National Guard, which will receive the federal money to build the armory.
“A lot of the time we appropriate money and we don’t know what it’s going to be used for,” Glover told the mayor. “But this is a worthy cause.”
Glover complimented the mayor and the group of mostly former military men who worked to bring an armory to Cabot.
“You never gave up,” he said. “You had a mission and you succeeded in it.”
As he has said since he became mayor in January 2007, Williams called building the armory “the single biggest thing for Cabot in recent history” and that it will have an economic impact on the city of $1 million or more a year.
It will be visible from the new railroad overpass now under construction, and since the overpass will be used by school buses, Williams says the location will be good for recruiting.
“Construction of this new facility will enhance the Arkansas National Guard’s ability to meet their mission requirements, maintain readiness, and continue to serve our country with honor,” Berry said. “I would like to thank Congressman Vic Snyder and the House Armed Services Committee for working with the Appropriations Committee to authorize funding for this critically needed readiness center.”
Leader staff writer
Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams has announced that a $10.8 million National Guard armory has been approved for federal funding next summer by the U.S. House of Representatives – almost five years earlier than expected.
The appropriation must still be approved by the Senate. The cost of the facility was originally estimated at $8 million.
Williams made the an-nouncement Friday morning during a reception in honor of the men who started working late in 2001 to get an armory for Cabot: Jason Carter, Fred Campbell, Moose Cullins, David Hipp, former Mayor Joe Allman, Don Elliott, Charles George, Bill Devoss and Gary McMillan.
The state has not built an armory since September 2005 when a $4.25 million facility went up in Warren.
The 30,000-square-foot facility (now called a readiness center) planned for Cabot will replace the temporary facility that opened in the industrial park on Hwy. 367 late in 2006.
“It was all because of a group of men who had a vision,” Williams told those who had gathered for the reception, including most of those being honored, State Sen. Bobby Glover, D-Carlisle, Lonoke County Judge Charlie Troutman, Lt. Col. Cary Shillcutt, Joint Force Headquarters for the Arkansas National Guard, and Lt. Col. Steve Redman, rear detachment commander with the 39th Brigade.
Currently, 137 National Guard members are from the Cabot area, though not all are members of Cabot’s Foxtrot Company, which is part of the 39th Support Battalion. But that large number was one of the reasons Cabot was a desirable location for a new armory, Lt. Col. Shillcut said.
“We’re very proud to be located here,” he said. “The Guard is very much about the community.”
Although it started with a vision, it could not have happened without money, and Williams thanked Sen. Glover, Gov. Mike Beebe and Cong. Marion Berry for that.
The mayor learned from Cong. Berry that the House had approved the appropriation as part of the 2009 Defense Authorization Bill.
The state has contributed $400,000 to reimburse the city for the purchase of 15.5 acres in the industrial park beside the railroad overpass that is now under construction where the armory will be built. That land has been turned over to the
National Guard, which will receive the federal money to build the armory.
“A lot of the time we appropriate money and we don’t know what it’s going to be used for,” Glover told the mayor. “But this is a worthy cause.”
Glover complimented the mayor and the group of mostly former military men who worked to bring an armory to Cabot.
“You never gave up,” he said. “You had a mission and you succeeded in it.”
As he has said since he became mayor in January 2007, Williams called building the armory “the single biggest thing for Cabot in recent history” and that it will have an economic impact on the city of $1 million or more a year.
It will be visible from the new railroad overpass now under construction, and since the overpass will be used by school buses, Williams says the location will be good for recruiting.
“Construction of this new facility will enhance the Arkansas National Guard’s ability to meet their mission requirements, maintain readiness, and continue to serve our country with honor,” Berry said. “I would like to thank Congressman Vic Snyder and the House Armed Services Committee for working with the Appropriations Committee to authorize funding for this critically needed readiness center.”
TOP STORY > >Area stops to remember the fallen
By CHRISTY HENDRICKS
Leader staff
Arkansans stopped and remembered the nation’s war dead Monday at commemorations across the state for Memorial Day.
Families brought flags and flowers to lay next to headstones.
Locally, more than 300 people gathered at the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock for a ceremony that included a rifle salute and several attendees throwing floating wreathes into a nearby pond to remember those lost at sea.
Flags lined the road leading down to where Gov. Mike Beebe told those gathered that the hardest thing to do as the state’s top executive is call those who have lost loved ones in war.
“We pay tribute not only to the men and women who have ever worn a uniform, not only the men and women who have given their life to this country, but their families as well,” Beebe said. “We pay tribute not only to those people who lie in the ground as a hero, but we pay tribute to their families who every bit as much sacrificed and served for their country.”
Also attending were Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, Maj. Gen. Bill Wofford of the Arkansas National Guard and Gen. Rowayne Schatz, commander at Little Rock Air Force Base, and the Patriot Guard.
They joined veterans and their families, a handful of Gold Star Wives and military leaders. The event, normally held at the Little Rock National Cemetery, was moved to the Arkansas State Veterans’ Cemetery this year and combined with the Navy Bells ceremony normally held at the Broadway Bridge in Little Rock.
The 106th Army Band performed the National Anthem before Beebe spoke. The governor put a final wreath in place after giving his remarks.
A Navy Bells ceremony was performed and families of those lost at sea placed wreaths in the cemetery’s pond. Students from Sylvan Hills EAST Lab were recognized for their efforts in mapping the cemetery so that graves can be found more easily.
Four Arkansans serving in the armed forces have died in Afghanistan since the start of the war there in 2001. Fifty-eight
Arkansans serving in the military have died since the start of the Iraq war in 2003.
Among the area fallen are 1st Lt. Thomas M. Martin, 27, 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Re-giment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, Ward, died Oct. 14, 2007; Staff Sgt. John T. Self, 29, 314th Security Forces Squadron, 314th Mission Support Group, 314th Airlift Wing Little Rock AFB, Pontotoc, Miss., died May 14, 2007; Spc. Bobby R. West, 23, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 4th In-fantry Division, Beebe, died May 30, 2006; Lance Cpl. Steven A. Valdez, 20, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, McRae, died Sept. 26, 2005; Spc. Phillip N. Sayles, 26, Company B, 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Jacksonville, died May 28, 2005; Spc. Tyler L. Creamean, 21, 73rd Engineer Company, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Jacksonville, died of May 22, 2005, and Sgt. Ronald W. Baker, 34, Company C, 39th Support Battalion, Arkansas Army National Guard, Cabot, died Oct. 13, 2004.
Leader staff
Arkansans stopped and remembered the nation’s war dead Monday at commemorations across the state for Memorial Day.
Families brought flags and flowers to lay next to headstones.
Locally, more than 300 people gathered at the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock for a ceremony that included a rifle salute and several attendees throwing floating wreathes into a nearby pond to remember those lost at sea.
Flags lined the road leading down to where Gov. Mike Beebe told those gathered that the hardest thing to do as the state’s top executive is call those who have lost loved ones in war.
“We pay tribute not only to the men and women who have ever worn a uniform, not only the men and women who have given their life to this country, but their families as well,” Beebe said. “We pay tribute not only to those people who lie in the ground as a hero, but we pay tribute to their families who every bit as much sacrificed and served for their country.”
Also attending were Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, Maj. Gen. Bill Wofford of the Arkansas National Guard and Gen. Rowayne Schatz, commander at Little Rock Air Force Base, and the Patriot Guard.
They joined veterans and their families, a handful of Gold Star Wives and military leaders. The event, normally held at the Little Rock National Cemetery, was moved to the Arkansas State Veterans’ Cemetery this year and combined with the Navy Bells ceremony normally held at the Broadway Bridge in Little Rock.
The 106th Army Band performed the National Anthem before Beebe spoke. The governor put a final wreath in place after giving his remarks.
A Navy Bells ceremony was performed and families of those lost at sea placed wreaths in the cemetery’s pond. Students from Sylvan Hills EAST Lab were recognized for their efforts in mapping the cemetery so that graves can be found more easily.
Four Arkansans serving in the armed forces have died in Afghanistan since the start of the war there in 2001. Fifty-eight
Arkansans serving in the military have died since the start of the Iraq war in 2003.
Among the area fallen are 1st Lt. Thomas M. Martin, 27, 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Re-giment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, Ward, died Oct. 14, 2007; Staff Sgt. John T. Self, 29, 314th Security Forces Squadron, 314th Mission Support Group, 314th Airlift Wing Little Rock AFB, Pontotoc, Miss., died May 14, 2007; Spc. Bobby R. West, 23, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 4th In-fantry Division, Beebe, died May 30, 2006; Lance Cpl. Steven A. Valdez, 20, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, McRae, died Sept. 26, 2005; Spc. Phillip N. Sayles, 26, Company B, 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Jacksonville, died May 28, 2005; Spc. Tyler L. Creamean, 21, 73rd Engineer Company, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Jacksonville, died of May 22, 2005, and Sgt. Ronald W. Baker, 34, Company C, 39th Support Battalion, Arkansas Army National Guard, Cabot, died Oct. 13, 2004.
TOP STORY > >White County to count votes again Tuesday
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
The White County Election Commission has already counted ballots from last week’s election twice because of problems with the voting equipment and procedural errors, but next Tuesday, they will count them again and this time the count will be by hand.
Since 2006, when the touch-screen voting machines were first used in Arkansas, state law has said that when candidates ask for a recount, that count must be taken from the roll of paper on the left-hand side of the computer screen called the real time audit log (RTAL), which is also called the voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT.)
“It’s the official ballot in the case of a recount,” said Natasha Naragon, spokesman for Secretary of State Charlie Daniel.
The recount will be held in the election commission office on the second floor of the old sheriff’s department in Searcy.
“It’s going to be a long day,” said Tanya Burleson, White County clerk.
Four candidates have asked for recounts: Cathy Foster, who lost her race for the District 1 seat on the quorum court to incumbent Horace Taylor, 146 to 145; Mark Derrick, who lost his race for circuit court judge in White and Prairie counties to Tom Hughes by 528 votes, 4,115 to 3,587; Greg Niblock, who was third of four candidates in his race for Searcy District Court and hopes a recount will put him in position for a runoff; and Larry Fisher, who lost his seat on the quorum court by 14 votes, 81 to 67. The race Fisher was in with Bobby Burns was missing from the electronic ballot, and paper ballots had to be brought in.
The recount should settle the question of who won in three of the four races, but in the case of the district court race, it will only decide who goes into the runoff against Mark Pate during the November general election.
In that race, Pate was ahead in the last count with 2,875 votes, while Phyllis Worley received 1,341.
Niblock was third with 1,297 votes, only 44 fewer than Worley, while Robert Hudgins was fourth with 833 votes.
The first count, which was plagued with a number of problems, was not completed until 1 a.m. last Wednesday.
The machine that scanned the absentee ballots didn’t work and those votes had to be hand counted.
Poll workers had difficultly closing down the voting machines because they weren’t set for daylight-saving time and that delayed the counting.
Plus, the paper ballots for Union Township had to be counted by hand.
Later that day, a candidate noticed a great many voters had not voted in all the races on their ballots and that prompted the election commission to seek the advice of experts in the secretary of state’s office.
The problem, they learned, was with the counting of the early votes.
According to the vendor’s tabulation instructions, early votes are to be counted using the early vote compact memory flash cards rather than the early vote personal electronic ballot (PEB).
The commission took its first early voting tally from the PEB.
Last Wednesday, the voting was counted again, with the count for the early voting taken from the compact memory flash cards.
The commission pointed out that the recount changed the numbers, but it didn’t change the outcome of any race.
By state law, candidates who ask for a recount must pay 25 cents for each vote counted but no more than $2,500.
If the recount changes the result of an election, they are reimbursed.
Leader staff writer
The White County Election Commission has already counted ballots from last week’s election twice because of problems with the voting equipment and procedural errors, but next Tuesday, they will count them again and this time the count will be by hand.
Since 2006, when the touch-screen voting machines were first used in Arkansas, state law has said that when candidates ask for a recount, that count must be taken from the roll of paper on the left-hand side of the computer screen called the real time audit log (RTAL), which is also called the voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT.)
“It’s the official ballot in the case of a recount,” said Natasha Naragon, spokesman for Secretary of State Charlie Daniel.
The recount will be held in the election commission office on the second floor of the old sheriff’s department in Searcy.
“It’s going to be a long day,” said Tanya Burleson, White County clerk.
Four candidates have asked for recounts: Cathy Foster, who lost her race for the District 1 seat on the quorum court to incumbent Horace Taylor, 146 to 145; Mark Derrick, who lost his race for circuit court judge in White and Prairie counties to Tom Hughes by 528 votes, 4,115 to 3,587; Greg Niblock, who was third of four candidates in his race for Searcy District Court and hopes a recount will put him in position for a runoff; and Larry Fisher, who lost his seat on the quorum court by 14 votes, 81 to 67. The race Fisher was in with Bobby Burns was missing from the electronic ballot, and paper ballots had to be brought in.
The recount should settle the question of who won in three of the four races, but in the case of the district court race, it will only decide who goes into the runoff against Mark Pate during the November general election.
In that race, Pate was ahead in the last count with 2,875 votes, while Phyllis Worley received 1,341.
Niblock was third with 1,297 votes, only 44 fewer than Worley, while Robert Hudgins was fourth with 833 votes.
The first count, which was plagued with a number of problems, was not completed until 1 a.m. last Wednesday.
The machine that scanned the absentee ballots didn’t work and those votes had to be hand counted.
Poll workers had difficultly closing down the voting machines because they weren’t set for daylight-saving time and that delayed the counting.
Plus, the paper ballots for Union Township had to be counted by hand.
Later that day, a candidate noticed a great many voters had not voted in all the races on their ballots and that prompted the election commission to seek the advice of experts in the secretary of state’s office.
The problem, they learned, was with the counting of the early votes.
According to the vendor’s tabulation instructions, early votes are to be counted using the early vote compact memory flash cards rather than the early vote personal electronic ballot (PEB).
The commission took its first early voting tally from the PEB.
Last Wednesday, the voting was counted again, with the count for the early voting taken from the compact memory flash cards.
The commission pointed out that the recount changed the numbers, but it didn’t change the outcome of any race.
By state law, candidates who ask for a recount must pay 25 cents for each vote counted but no more than $2,500.
If the recount changes the result of an election, they are reimbursed.
TOP STORY > >Save on gas, catch a bus
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
These are the good old days, in so far as gasoline prices are concerned, according to Robert Hirsch, a senior Bush energy adviser. He says gas over time could rise to $12 to $15 per gallon, even resulting in rationing.
While few have agreed with him publicly, the high and climbing cost of gasoline has people throughout the nation and in central Arkansas changing attitudes and behavior regarding driving and mass transit.
Central Arkansas Transit Authority (CATA) has seen an increase of about 600 riders a day compared to this time last year, according to Betty Wineland, CATA director.
EXPRESS BUS
Jacksonville and Sherwood contract with CATA to run two morning buses and three evening buses between Little Rock and Jacksonville, with stops in Gravel Ridge and Sherwood.
Called the Jacksonville/Sherwood Express, ridership is up to about 32 people a day with people having to stand sometimes, Wineland says.
In the past, it has picked up as few as nine and probably averaged about 15 riders per roundtrip.
Those buses originate in Little Rock with the first arriving at Jacksonville and Marshall at 6:35 a.m. and the second at 7:07 a.m., she said.
CATA has ordered 10 new buses to replace older buses in the fleet, but by the end of the year there could be a third morning bus from Jacksonville into Little Rock, particularly if high gas prices stimulate more ridership.
The Jacksonville-Sherwood Ex-press service is provided by contract with CATA, with Jacksonville, Sherwood, Pulaski County and North Little Rock each chipping in, Wineland said.
Jacksonville’s current share is $27,480 a year, according to Mayor Tommy Swaim. It could cost the city another $3,000 to $4,000 a year to add a third morning bus, he said, an idea he would present to the city council should the need and opportunity exist.
Swaim said a bus also goes from Little Rock Air Force Base to the River Market on Fridays and Saturdays.
“One of the concerns of the base realignment and closure process was lack of public transportation for Little Rock Air Force
Base,” Swaim said. “It always gets asked, ‘Is there public transportation available?’”
BRAC is a tool for Congress and the Defense Department to evaluate military installations around the country in an effort to close some and reassign their missions.
“And for people commuting from the Cabot area to Little Rock in a car or truck getting less than 20 miles per gallon, that’s $8 a day in fuel costs,” the mayor said. That translates to about $160 a month.
Although central Arkansas doesn’t currently have the magical 800,000 population density required to help support mass transit, rising fuel costs encourages use of what mass transit there is.
Metroplan executive director Jim McKenzie says higher fuel costs change development and land-use plans.
The higher the fuel costs, the greater the incentive to live near work and the greater incentive to take a bus or other mass transit if available.
In the Little Rock area, mass transit so far is attracting mostly low to moderate income riders, but in New York and Washington D.C., bankers, doctors, lawyers and architects are among daily commuters on the rail-based transit systems.
EVEN HIGHWAYS SUBSIDIZED
Mass transit won’t completely pay for itself any more than highways pay for themselves, Wineland said. Both have to be subsidized and are ultimately paid for by taxpayers.
In its 2030 long-range transportation plan, Metroplan recommended doubling the size of CATA, but because it depended upon approval of a quarter-cent tax, the federal government would not allow it on the transportation plan.
While there are no current plans for mass transit other than some expansion of CATA and perhaps its River Rail system, Metroplan has been for years looking for the best paths in the high use corridors for future use.
Two of the highest-use corridors are the I-630 corridor between Little Rock and west Little Rock and also the Hwy. 67/167 corridor between Little Rock and Cabot.
Because the state Highway Department is moving toward widening I-630, Metroplan has commissioned a study to establish the best route for a dedicated mass transit system, according to McKenzie. That can be factored into the Highway Department’s widening plan.
With all of the hospitals and medical facilities located along the corridor, the east route, not always sharing a right of way with I-630, is likely to have the first dedicated mass transit in the area, probably light rail or bus rapid transit.
SPECULATORS
McKenzie, a professional planner, has been saying for a long time that world oil production had leveled off and that gas prices were headed to $4 and higher.
“I do see higher prices still yet,” said McKenzie. “Oil was up $30 a barrel in the last month. It’s exactly what I predicted would happen when the markets realized that we were at a production peak with surging demand.”
Speculators are driving prices up, and the dollar is dropping like a stone.
Because the world market in oil is made in dollars, a weak dollar itself boosts the price of oil in dollars.
State-owned oil companies, McKenzie said, produce 70 percent of all oil and they are mercantilistic rather than market-driven.
With worldwide production either flat or declining, they’ll get as much per barrel as they can, but there’s no incentive to pump a lot more oil.
So with production declines in Mexico, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Russia at the same time they have increasing domestic markets, prices will continue to trend up.
Meanwhile, the global population, which was 2.5 billion people in 1950, is now 6.6 billion and estimated to be 8.8 billion by 2040, McKenzie said.
TOO IMPORTANT TO BURN
McKenzie said petroleum is too important to burn.
“Our plastic drink, shampoo and detergent bottles, plastic in our homes, used in cars—it’s from petroleum. A lot of the drugs we take come from petroleum. Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers are made from petroleum.”
Several billion people trapped in poverty will want to move into the middle class. Oil prices will move up and down, but the curve is up, he said.
Rising oil costs increase the demand rapidly for mass transit, according to McKenzie.
“Our entire urban form and economy is based on cheap petroleum in abundance forever. We’re readjusting to new reality.
ROADS OR TRANSIT
“Do we not build roads and shift money to public transit?” asked McKenzie, “Or raise revenues significantly.”
Raising new revenues—taxes—is not popular with public officials or the public.
But mass transit requires lead-time, even after people realize the need.
“Right now you wait 18 months for delivery of new buses,” he said. As more communities realize the increased need, it will take even longer.
“We’ll make assumptions about the price of gas, including doubling and tripling in the future, said McKenzie.
That will cause changes in land-use patterns. It will increase demand for housing that’s closer to the metro area and lessen demand for housing further away from jobs.
Metroplan officials hope they can form a regional mobility authority with taxing authority to begin working toward a mass transit future.
SILVER LINING
In central Arkansas, “We have a tremendous opportunity,” said McKenzie.
“We’re small and compact. We have the opportunity to take the lead and be aggressive in restructuring,” he added.
“National leadership has been terribly wanting. I hope a new administration changes that,” he said.
“T. Boone Pickens has invested billions of dollars in a Texas wind farm,” he continued. “Windmill manufacturers are locating in the Little Rock area.”
“Perhaps the three power companies could take the lead in weatherization and if the government provided incentive for solar cell deployment at the state level, the government could help buy down the premium to hybrid vehicles,” he said.
“We need to get serious about transportation and land-use plans and investment making plans for the future. Those (communities) who do will be economically rewarded, while others overly dependent on the petroleum industries will not,” he said.
Leader senior staff writer
These are the good old days, in so far as gasoline prices are concerned, according to Robert Hirsch, a senior Bush energy adviser. He says gas over time could rise to $12 to $15 per gallon, even resulting in rationing.
While few have agreed with him publicly, the high and climbing cost of gasoline has people throughout the nation and in central Arkansas changing attitudes and behavior regarding driving and mass transit.
Central Arkansas Transit Authority (CATA) has seen an increase of about 600 riders a day compared to this time last year, according to Betty Wineland, CATA director.
EXPRESS BUS
Jacksonville and Sherwood contract with CATA to run two morning buses and three evening buses between Little Rock and Jacksonville, with stops in Gravel Ridge and Sherwood.
Called the Jacksonville/Sherwood Express, ridership is up to about 32 people a day with people having to stand sometimes, Wineland says.
In the past, it has picked up as few as nine and probably averaged about 15 riders per roundtrip.
Those buses originate in Little Rock with the first arriving at Jacksonville and Marshall at 6:35 a.m. and the second at 7:07 a.m., she said.
CATA has ordered 10 new buses to replace older buses in the fleet, but by the end of the year there could be a third morning bus from Jacksonville into Little Rock, particularly if high gas prices stimulate more ridership.
The Jacksonville-Sherwood Ex-press service is provided by contract with CATA, with Jacksonville, Sherwood, Pulaski County and North Little Rock each chipping in, Wineland said.
Jacksonville’s current share is $27,480 a year, according to Mayor Tommy Swaim. It could cost the city another $3,000 to $4,000 a year to add a third morning bus, he said, an idea he would present to the city council should the need and opportunity exist.
Swaim said a bus also goes from Little Rock Air Force Base to the River Market on Fridays and Saturdays.
“One of the concerns of the base realignment and closure process was lack of public transportation for Little Rock Air Force
Base,” Swaim said. “It always gets asked, ‘Is there public transportation available?’”
BRAC is a tool for Congress and the Defense Department to evaluate military installations around the country in an effort to close some and reassign their missions.
“And for people commuting from the Cabot area to Little Rock in a car or truck getting less than 20 miles per gallon, that’s $8 a day in fuel costs,” the mayor said. That translates to about $160 a month.
Although central Arkansas doesn’t currently have the magical 800,000 population density required to help support mass transit, rising fuel costs encourages use of what mass transit there is.
Metroplan executive director Jim McKenzie says higher fuel costs change development and land-use plans.
The higher the fuel costs, the greater the incentive to live near work and the greater incentive to take a bus or other mass transit if available.
In the Little Rock area, mass transit so far is attracting mostly low to moderate income riders, but in New York and Washington D.C., bankers, doctors, lawyers and architects are among daily commuters on the rail-based transit systems.
EVEN HIGHWAYS SUBSIDIZED
Mass transit won’t completely pay for itself any more than highways pay for themselves, Wineland said. Both have to be subsidized and are ultimately paid for by taxpayers.
In its 2030 long-range transportation plan, Metroplan recommended doubling the size of CATA, but because it depended upon approval of a quarter-cent tax, the federal government would not allow it on the transportation plan.
While there are no current plans for mass transit other than some expansion of CATA and perhaps its River Rail system, Metroplan has been for years looking for the best paths in the high use corridors for future use.
Two of the highest-use corridors are the I-630 corridor between Little Rock and west Little Rock and also the Hwy. 67/167 corridor between Little Rock and Cabot.
Because the state Highway Department is moving toward widening I-630, Metroplan has commissioned a study to establish the best route for a dedicated mass transit system, according to McKenzie. That can be factored into the Highway Department’s widening plan.
With all of the hospitals and medical facilities located along the corridor, the east route, not always sharing a right of way with I-630, is likely to have the first dedicated mass transit in the area, probably light rail or bus rapid transit.
SPECULATORS
McKenzie, a professional planner, has been saying for a long time that world oil production had leveled off and that gas prices were headed to $4 and higher.
“I do see higher prices still yet,” said McKenzie. “Oil was up $30 a barrel in the last month. It’s exactly what I predicted would happen when the markets realized that we were at a production peak with surging demand.”
Speculators are driving prices up, and the dollar is dropping like a stone.
Because the world market in oil is made in dollars, a weak dollar itself boosts the price of oil in dollars.
State-owned oil companies, McKenzie said, produce 70 percent of all oil and they are mercantilistic rather than market-driven.
With worldwide production either flat or declining, they’ll get as much per barrel as they can, but there’s no incentive to pump a lot more oil.
So with production declines in Mexico, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Russia at the same time they have increasing domestic markets, prices will continue to trend up.
Meanwhile, the global population, which was 2.5 billion people in 1950, is now 6.6 billion and estimated to be 8.8 billion by 2040, McKenzie said.
TOO IMPORTANT TO BURN
McKenzie said petroleum is too important to burn.
“Our plastic drink, shampoo and detergent bottles, plastic in our homes, used in cars—it’s from petroleum. A lot of the drugs we take come from petroleum. Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers are made from petroleum.”
Several billion people trapped in poverty will want to move into the middle class. Oil prices will move up and down, but the curve is up, he said.
Rising oil costs increase the demand rapidly for mass transit, according to McKenzie.
“Our entire urban form and economy is based on cheap petroleum in abundance forever. We’re readjusting to new reality.
ROADS OR TRANSIT
“Do we not build roads and shift money to public transit?” asked McKenzie, “Or raise revenues significantly.”
Raising new revenues—taxes—is not popular with public officials or the public.
But mass transit requires lead-time, even after people realize the need.
“Right now you wait 18 months for delivery of new buses,” he said. As more communities realize the increased need, it will take even longer.
“We’ll make assumptions about the price of gas, including doubling and tripling in the future, said McKenzie.
That will cause changes in land-use patterns. It will increase demand for housing that’s closer to the metro area and lessen demand for housing further away from jobs.
Metroplan officials hope they can form a regional mobility authority with taxing authority to begin working toward a mass transit future.
SILVER LINING
In central Arkansas, “We have a tremendous opportunity,” said McKenzie.
“We’re small and compact. We have the opportunity to take the lead and be aggressive in restructuring,” he added.
“National leadership has been terribly wanting. I hope a new administration changes that,” he said.
“T. Boone Pickens has invested billions of dollars in a Texas wind farm,” he continued. “Windmill manufacturers are locating in the Little Rock area.”
“Perhaps the three power companies could take the lead in weatherization and if the government provided incentive for solar cell deployment at the state level, the government could help buy down the premium to hybrid vehicles,” he said.
“We need to get serious about transportation and land-use plans and investment making plans for the future. Those (communities) who do will be economically rewarded, while others overly dependent on the petroleum industries will not,” he said.
SPORTS>> Eight area baseball, nine softball players named to All-State
Hunter Miller, Clint Thornton and D.J. Baxendale of the 6A state champion Sylvan Hills Bears were among eight area baseball players named to the All-State team.
Jacksonville’s Jessica Lanier and Taylor Norsworthy were named to the All-State softball team, along with three Beebe Lady Badgers.
Jacksonville’s Cameron Hood, Harding Aca-demy’s Matt Lincoln and J.T. Fisher, Searcy’s Anthony Dillon and Abundant Life’s Austin Crabill were also selected to the All-State team.
The three Lady Badgers selected were Chelsea Sanders, Laura Tucker and Ashley Watkins. Also named to the team were Lonoke’s April Cox and Kristina Lewis, as well as Abundant Life’s Courtney Pack and Searcy’s Auburn Valentine.
Jacksonville’s Jessica Lanier and Taylor Norsworthy were named to the All-State softball team, along with three Beebe Lady Badgers.
Jacksonville’s Cameron Hood, Harding Aca-demy’s Matt Lincoln and J.T. Fisher, Searcy’s Anthony Dillon and Abundant Life’s Austin Crabill were also selected to the All-State team.
The three Lady Badgers selected were Chelsea Sanders, Laura Tucker and Ashley Watkins. Also named to the team were Lonoke’s April Cox and Kristina Lewis, as well as Abundant Life’s Courtney Pack and Searcy’s Auburn Valentine.
SPORTS>> Cabot wins two, ties one in tourney
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
Cabot’s junior Legion team went 2-0-1 in the North Little Rock Memorial Day tournament but missed out in bracket play.
Cabot opened with a win over Sylvan Hills, but after rallying from a 3-run deficit to Texarkana on Saturday to take a 6-5 lead, they allowed a run in the final inning and time expired on a 6-6 tie.
Texarkana jumped on starter Tyler Erickson for five runs over the first two innings, but Cabot hung in with two runs in the second.
Powell Bryant came within inches of cutting into that lead when his leadoff double in the fourth hit off the top of the fence in left-center. Bryant got picked off, but Cabot scored four in the fifth inning to take a 6-5 lead.
Joe Bryant singled with one out and Matt Evans walked. Andrew Reynolds followed with an RBI single and Erickson was safe on an error. Chase Thompson walked before Matthew Turner put Cabot on top with a two-run single to left.
C.J. Jacoby, who pitched four solid innings after coming on in the second, allowed a triple and a single in the sixth inning to tie it. The one hour, 50 minute time limit expired and a tie was declared. Cabot finished pool play with an 8-5 win over Lakeside on Sunday.
SYLVAN HILLS
Sylvan Hills sent 18 men to the plate in the third inning, scoring 13 of them in a 14-2 pasting of Lakeside on Saturday. Sylvan Hills picked up seven hits in the inning and took advantage of six walks and three hit batters.
Corey Arnold had a 2-run double, Greg Nosal had 2-run single, and Justin Cook, Jake Dillon and Mike Maddox each added run-scoring singles.
Austin Spears was hit by pitches in all four of his plate appearances.
Sylvan Hills scored a run in the first inning on two walks, a hit batter and Jordan Spears’ single, but trailed 2-1 after two.
Eric McKinney pitched three solid innings, allowing two hits, striking out two and hitting three. Cameron Graves pitched a 1-2-3 fourth, fanning two, and Arnold pitched a hitless fifth.
Sylvan Hills’ two losses came to Cabot on Friday and to Texarkana on Sunday.
Leader sports editor
Cabot’s junior Legion team went 2-0-1 in the North Little Rock Memorial Day tournament but missed out in bracket play.
Cabot opened with a win over Sylvan Hills, but after rallying from a 3-run deficit to Texarkana on Saturday to take a 6-5 lead, they allowed a run in the final inning and time expired on a 6-6 tie.
Texarkana jumped on starter Tyler Erickson for five runs over the first two innings, but Cabot hung in with two runs in the second.
Powell Bryant came within inches of cutting into that lead when his leadoff double in the fourth hit off the top of the fence in left-center. Bryant got picked off, but Cabot scored four in the fifth inning to take a 6-5 lead.
Joe Bryant singled with one out and Matt Evans walked. Andrew Reynolds followed with an RBI single and Erickson was safe on an error. Chase Thompson walked before Matthew Turner put Cabot on top with a two-run single to left.
C.J. Jacoby, who pitched four solid innings after coming on in the second, allowed a triple and a single in the sixth inning to tie it. The one hour, 50 minute time limit expired and a tie was declared. Cabot finished pool play with an 8-5 win over Lakeside on Sunday.
SYLVAN HILLS
Sylvan Hills sent 18 men to the plate in the third inning, scoring 13 of them in a 14-2 pasting of Lakeside on Saturday. Sylvan Hills picked up seven hits in the inning and took advantage of six walks and three hit batters.
Corey Arnold had a 2-run double, Greg Nosal had 2-run single, and Justin Cook, Jake Dillon and Mike Maddox each added run-scoring singles.
Austin Spears was hit by pitches in all four of his plate appearances.
Sylvan Hills scored a run in the first inning on two walks, a hit batter and Jordan Spears’ single, but trailed 2-1 after two.
Eric McKinney pitched three solid innings, allowing two hits, striking out two and hitting three. Cameron Graves pitched a 1-2-3 fourth, fanning two, and Arnold pitched a hitless fifth.
Sylvan Hills’ two losses came to Cabot on Friday and to Texarkana on Sunday.
SPORTS>> Split Gwatney team reaches semifinals
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
It was not a happy ending to the tournament but it was a pretty good start to the season.
Jacksonville Gwatney’s junior Ameri-can Legion team went 3-0 in pool play over the weekend at the North Little Rock Memorial Day Tournament at Burns Park.
Unfortunately, things went south in the semifinals of bracket play and their tournament run ended with a 16-0 walloping at the hands of Heber Springs.
Gwatney split up to form a Red team and a Gray team for the tourney. Gray went 1-2.
“That really weakened both teams,” said Gwatney coach Bob Hickingbotham. “But we had 23 kids 17 and under and we wanted to let as many play as we could.
“I was pleased with both teams. But we ran out of pitching yesterday.”
Gwatney Red reached bracket play by beating Pine Bluff 6-1 on Sunday in a game pitting two 2-0 teams for the right to advance to the semifinals. Gwatney did almost all off its damage in the first inning against Pine Bluff, taking advantage of four errors to score five runs.
Gwatney collected only two hits in the inning, the big one being Patrick Castleberry’s 2-run single. Castleberry went 2 of 3 with three RBI.
Stephen Swaggerty pitched five strong innings for Gwatney, allowing just two hits and striking out six. That allowed him to overcome eight walks. Daniel Thurman closed it out in the sixth, allowing a hit and striking out one.
While Pine Bluff was kicking the ball all over the infield, Gwatney was mostlysolid defensively. They committed two errors, but made some good plays as well. Castleberry threw out a runner trying to steal third and third baseman Caleb Mitchell made nice catch of a foul pop right up against the dugout in the second inning.
Shortstop Terrell Brown caught a pop up in shallow left in the sixth inning with his back to the infield.
Gwatney picked up five hits. Marshall Shipley had a single and an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
Gwatney Red opened the tourney with a 9-1 cruise past Maumelle on Friday night. Swaggerty also got the win in that one, allowing one hit over three innings, while fanning three. Castleberry belted a home run and a single and drove in two. A.J. Allen had a triple and an RBI. Thurman and Jarod Toney each doubled.
The Red team followed that up with a 6-5 win over North Little Rock on Saturday. Castleberry doubled twice and scored twice while driving in a run. Thurman added a single and an RBI. Toney got the win, surrendering seven hits and striking out four over four innings. Thurman came in to shut down NLR in the sixth, striking out all three batters he faced.
Gwatney missed out on some early chances on Monday against Heber Springs, which piled on with three runs in the second, five in the third and four each in the fifth and sixth in its 16-0 win. Gwatney’s lone hit was A.J. Allen’s double leading off the third.
Gwatney put its first two batters on in both the second and third innings, but couldn’t advance them. They ran into bad luck in the third when Caleb Mitchell’s liner right to the third baseman was turned into a double play.
“Heber Springs had a lot of older kids,” Hickingbotham said. “They had a bunch of 18- and 19-year-olds and they were hitting the ball hard.
“But this is going to be a good group of kids when we get them all together.”
GWATNEY GRAY
The Gray team suffered a dramatic loss but also enjoyed a dramatic win in going 1-2 in the tournament.
Gray opened with a 4-3 loss to Benton when its fifth-inning rally came up short after it scored three in the frame.
Tom Sanders, who pitched three innings of no-hit ball, had a single and an RBI. Alex Tucker, Hayden Simpson and Matt McAnally each singled and scored. Benton scored all its runs in the fourth.
McAnally was the hero in a 10-9 win over Texarkana ‘A’ on Saturday. After Zachary Roman had singled, McAnally delivered a walk-off double.
The Gray team fell to Lake Hamilton, 8-1, on Sunday.
Leader sports editor
It was not a happy ending to the tournament but it was a pretty good start to the season.
Jacksonville Gwatney’s junior Ameri-can Legion team went 3-0 in pool play over the weekend at the North Little Rock Memorial Day Tournament at Burns Park.
Unfortunately, things went south in the semifinals of bracket play and their tournament run ended with a 16-0 walloping at the hands of Heber Springs.
Gwatney split up to form a Red team and a Gray team for the tourney. Gray went 1-2.
“That really weakened both teams,” said Gwatney coach Bob Hickingbotham. “But we had 23 kids 17 and under and we wanted to let as many play as we could.
“I was pleased with both teams. But we ran out of pitching yesterday.”
Gwatney Red reached bracket play by beating Pine Bluff 6-1 on Sunday in a game pitting two 2-0 teams for the right to advance to the semifinals. Gwatney did almost all off its damage in the first inning against Pine Bluff, taking advantage of four errors to score five runs.
Gwatney collected only two hits in the inning, the big one being Patrick Castleberry’s 2-run single. Castleberry went 2 of 3 with three RBI.
Stephen Swaggerty pitched five strong innings for Gwatney, allowing just two hits and striking out six. That allowed him to overcome eight walks. Daniel Thurman closed it out in the sixth, allowing a hit and striking out one.
While Pine Bluff was kicking the ball all over the infield, Gwatney was mostlysolid defensively. They committed two errors, but made some good plays as well. Castleberry threw out a runner trying to steal third and third baseman Caleb Mitchell made nice catch of a foul pop right up against the dugout in the second inning.
Shortstop Terrell Brown caught a pop up in shallow left in the sixth inning with his back to the infield.
Gwatney picked up five hits. Marshall Shipley had a single and an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
Gwatney Red opened the tourney with a 9-1 cruise past Maumelle on Friday night. Swaggerty also got the win in that one, allowing one hit over three innings, while fanning three. Castleberry belted a home run and a single and drove in two. A.J. Allen had a triple and an RBI. Thurman and Jarod Toney each doubled.
The Red team followed that up with a 6-5 win over North Little Rock on Saturday. Castleberry doubled twice and scored twice while driving in a run. Thurman added a single and an RBI. Toney got the win, surrendering seven hits and striking out four over four innings. Thurman came in to shut down NLR in the sixth, striking out all three batters he faced.
Gwatney missed out on some early chances on Monday against Heber Springs, which piled on with three runs in the second, five in the third and four each in the fifth and sixth in its 16-0 win. Gwatney’s lone hit was A.J. Allen’s double leading off the third.
Gwatney put its first two batters on in both the second and third innings, but couldn’t advance them. They ran into bad luck in the third when Caleb Mitchell’s liner right to the third baseman was turned into a double play.
“Heber Springs had a lot of older kids,” Hickingbotham said. “They had a bunch of 18- and 19-year-olds and they were hitting the ball hard.
“But this is going to be a good group of kids when we get them all together.”
GWATNEY GRAY
The Gray team suffered a dramatic loss but also enjoyed a dramatic win in going 1-2 in the tournament.
Gray opened with a 4-3 loss to Benton when its fifth-inning rally came up short after it scored three in the frame.
Tom Sanders, who pitched three innings of no-hit ball, had a single and an RBI. Alex Tucker, Hayden Simpson and Matt McAnally each singled and scored. Benton scored all its runs in the fourth.
McAnally was the hero in a 10-9 win over Texarkana ‘A’ on Saturday. After Zachary Roman had singled, McAnally delivered a walk-off double.
The Gray team fell to Lake Hamilton, 8-1, on Sunday.
SPORTS>> No 3-peat for Jones
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
There will be a new state heptathlon champion this year for the first time since 2006. Two-time defending winner Whitney Jones of Searcy will not compete in the event at Cabot High School today and Thursday due to a leg injury.
Jones was planning on defending her crown as recently as last week, and was still listed on the Arkansas Activities Association’s entry sheet for the event when it was released on Tuesday.
Jones, who sustained a hamstring injury at the Panther meet earlier this spring, was forced to miss the 6A-East Conference meet, the state meet and last week’s Meet of Champs due to her injury.
“It’s a big disappointment; it’s sad, really,” Searcy track coach Charlie Carroll said. “But it happens. It seems like it happens to somebody almost every season, you just hope that it doesn’t happen to any of your kids.”
It has been an amazing run for Jones, since stunning the state during her sophomore season with a runaway win in the heptathlon. She scored 4,969 points on her way to winning that year, and backed it up last year with 4,885 points.
She won the long jump and 200-meter run on her way to her second straight heptathlon win in ’07 after setting the state triple jump record the same year with a 39-0.25 mark.
Entering her senior year of high school track with a scholarship to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville already in hand before the spring, expectations for Jones were understandably high.
After shocking the state with her heptathlon win as a sophomore, and a record-breaking junior year, Jones’ injury-plagued senior season has made for a disappointing ending to one of the most distinguished local high school track and field careers in quite some time.
Jones’ absence puts Pine Bluff senior Kanesha Hicks at the top of the favorites list. Hicks finished a distant second to Jones last year, but has projected herself to break the 5,000 point barrier this year.
The loss of Jones is a big blow to the Lady Lions, but all is not lost with sophomore Kristen Celsor and junior Shalisha Anthony in the show.
Celsor is coming off a big win in the high jump at the Meet of Champs last week. For Anthony, it will be her second trip to the event.
Last year, she finished 30th with 2,655 points, but Carroll looks for her to be higher up the charts on Thursday.
“We look for Kristen to have avery good day Thursday,” Carroll said. “Shalisha was there last year, and we’re hoping that she’s learned to pace herself better this year. We’re hoping for her to approach her events stronger.
“I believe she will do a lot better than last year.”
Other local entries to the heptathlon will be Beebe’s Taylor Brock and Alison Embrey, along with Cabot Lady Panther competitors Emily Carpenter and Marissa De La Paz.
It will be the first heptathlon for all four, as Beebe’s Taylor closes out her career for the Lady Badgers, while Lamar signee Carpenter takes part in her final high-school event for Cabot.
The Panthers have a pair of competitors with decathlon experience on the boys side. Senior Jared Santiago and junior Drew Burks will return to the event this year.
Burks finished mid-pack last year with 5,265 points, good enough for 23rd of the 44 competitors on hand. Santiago finished 35th last year with 4,280 points.
Leader sportswriter
There will be a new state heptathlon champion this year for the first time since 2006. Two-time defending winner Whitney Jones of Searcy will not compete in the event at Cabot High School today and Thursday due to a leg injury.
Jones was planning on defending her crown as recently as last week, and was still listed on the Arkansas Activities Association’s entry sheet for the event when it was released on Tuesday.
Jones, who sustained a hamstring injury at the Panther meet earlier this spring, was forced to miss the 6A-East Conference meet, the state meet and last week’s Meet of Champs due to her injury.
“It’s a big disappointment; it’s sad, really,” Searcy track coach Charlie Carroll said. “But it happens. It seems like it happens to somebody almost every season, you just hope that it doesn’t happen to any of your kids.”
It has been an amazing run for Jones, since stunning the state during her sophomore season with a runaway win in the heptathlon. She scored 4,969 points on her way to winning that year, and backed it up last year with 4,885 points.
She won the long jump and 200-meter run on her way to her second straight heptathlon win in ’07 after setting the state triple jump record the same year with a 39-0.25 mark.
Entering her senior year of high school track with a scholarship to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville already in hand before the spring, expectations for Jones were understandably high.
After shocking the state with her heptathlon win as a sophomore, and a record-breaking junior year, Jones’ injury-plagued senior season has made for a disappointing ending to one of the most distinguished local high school track and field careers in quite some time.
Jones’ absence puts Pine Bluff senior Kanesha Hicks at the top of the favorites list. Hicks finished a distant second to Jones last year, but has projected herself to break the 5,000 point barrier this year.
The loss of Jones is a big blow to the Lady Lions, but all is not lost with sophomore Kristen Celsor and junior Shalisha Anthony in the show.
Celsor is coming off a big win in the high jump at the Meet of Champs last week. For Anthony, it will be her second trip to the event.
Last year, she finished 30th with 2,655 points, but Carroll looks for her to be higher up the charts on Thursday.
“We look for Kristen to have avery good day Thursday,” Carroll said. “Shalisha was there last year, and we’re hoping that she’s learned to pace herself better this year. We’re hoping for her to approach her events stronger.
“I believe she will do a lot better than last year.”
Other local entries to the heptathlon will be Beebe’s Taylor Brock and Alison Embrey, along with Cabot Lady Panther competitors Emily Carpenter and Marissa De La Paz.
It will be the first heptathlon for all four, as Beebe’s Taylor closes out her career for the Lady Badgers, while Lamar signee Carpenter takes part in her final high-school event for Cabot.
The Panthers have a pair of competitors with decathlon experience on the boys side. Senior Jared Santiago and junior Drew Burks will return to the event this year.
Burks finished mid-pack last year with 5,265 points, good enough for 23rd of the 44 competitors on hand. Santiago finished 35th last year with 4,280 points.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
TOP STORY>> White County offices
County Judge
Dennis Gillam..............................2,221
Barth Grayson.............................1,880
Justice of the Peace
Dist. 2 Larry Marvin Fisher................81
Dist. 2 Bobby Burns.........................67
State Legislature
Dist. 49 Kieth Williams...................930
Dist. 49 Johnny Wheetley...............747
Searcy District Judge
Mark Pate ..................................2,875
Phyllis Worley..............................1,341
Greg Niblock...............................1,297
Robert Hudgins..............................833
Circuit Court Judge
Tom Hughes...............................4,115
Mark Derrick ..............................3,587
Dennis Gillam..............................2,221
Barth Grayson.............................1,880
Justice of the Peace
Dist. 2 Larry Marvin Fisher................81
Dist. 2 Bobby Burns.........................67
State Legislature
Dist. 49 Kieth Williams...................930
Dist. 49 Johnny Wheetley...............747
Searcy District Judge
Mark Pate ..................................2,875
Phyllis Worley..............................1,341
Greg Niblock...............................1,297
Robert Hudgins..............................833
Circuit Court Judge
Tom Hughes...............................4,115
Mark Derrick ..............................3,587
TOP STORY>> Khobar Towers: Survivor's Amazing Story
“I never heard an explosion that loud in my life,” recalled MSgt. Bob Oldham, describing his experiences during the Khobar Towers bombing more than a decade ago.
Oldham, a public affairs specialist with the 189th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base, spoke recently at the Jacksonville Museum of Military History as part of its continuing lecture series.
He was two weeks away from coming home on June 25, 1996 when terrorists blew up a fuel truck with an estimated 5,000 pounds of explosives parked alongside concrete barriers protecting Building 131 at the Khobar complex at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The blast ripped the face off the towers. The complex included several buildings that housed U.S. and allied forces. The blast killed 19 airmen and injured 400 at the complex.
Before the blast, Oldham, 28 at the time, was coming back to the towers complex after working a 12-hour shift at King Abdul Aziz Air Base, less than a mile away. There was no housing on the air base, which was adjacent to a commercial runway.
In the evening between 8 and 10, the temperature cooled down, and it was a time for exercise. Oldham was back in his room around 9:50 p.m. and crawled into bed to sleep. Oldham and his roommate were talking and looking forward to getting back stateside. Ten minutes later, there was the loudest explosion he had ever heard.
“I thought a plane went down into the towers. There was a bright flash of light, and the building shook. It felt like it was coming down. The room went pitch black with a dusty concrete haze in the room,” said Oldham.
The dormitory where he was staying was not one of the towers that sustained the direct blast. Even though his building did not face the towers that took a direct hit, the concussion blew the interior doors off the hinges and forced the broken window glass inside the rooms.
“We were on the first floor and our building remained intact. I put my feet on the floor and got glass in them. I grabbed a shirt and my dog tags and went to go get the door, and it wasn’t there,” recalled Oldham.
The building’s residents went to the center of dining facility for a head count. He said he still didn’t know what had happened and saw security forces running with weapons. The airmen didn’t have
weapons, but there was no ground fire.
The area had no trauma center, so the injured were treated in the dormitories and transported to the local hospital. Oldham did not know the airmen who were killed.
The sergeant said he finally went to sleep around 6 a.m. on the floor of the dormitory. Power was on the next day. The broken windows were replaced with Plexiglas and plywood. He was back in his room within two days.
According to Oldham, the explosion occurred when a fuel truck tried to enter the Khobar complex at a single entry-point gate and was turned away. Then the truck drove around and parked on the outside perimeter of the complex’s protective concrete barriers. Men were seen running from the truck and into a car immediately before the blast.
After the blast, the airmen were restricted to the Khobar complex for 48 hours. Then they could leave, swap troops and go to work.
“Talk about post-traumatic stress syndrome — it affected me for about a year. I did not want to go into public places or the mall. I would look for escape routes. When I heard a vehicle backfire, I hit the floor quickly,” Oldham recalled.
He continued, “I could have used some help. The guys over in Iraq, what they are seeing, they need some help.”
Oldham stayed at the Khobar complex for two-and-a-half more weeks and came home June 27.
He said it wasn’t al Qaeda that was responsible for the terrorist attack.
A grand jury indicted 13 members of pro-Iran Saudi Hezbollah and one unidentified member of Lebanese Hezbollah, or the Party of God.
Nine of the 14 people where charged with 46 separate criminal counts, including conspiracy to kill Americans and employees of the U.S.; use of weapons of mass destruction and destroying U.S. property.
He continued, “It was the most deadly since the Beirut bombings in the 1980’s at that time.” According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Oldham said, the terrorists carried out the bombing to try to get Americans out of Saudi Arabia.
“When we would go downtown, you’d get a lot of looks. You can’t blend in in a Muslim country,” said Oldham.
The Air Force abandoned King Abdul Aziz Air Base, and moved operations to Prince Sultan Air Base, in an isolated area of Saudi Arabia, he said.
Oldham, a public affairs specialist with the 189th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base, spoke recently at the Jacksonville Museum of Military History as part of its continuing lecture series.
He was two weeks away from coming home on June 25, 1996 when terrorists blew up a fuel truck with an estimated 5,000 pounds of explosives parked alongside concrete barriers protecting Building 131 at the Khobar complex at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The blast ripped the face off the towers. The complex included several buildings that housed U.S. and allied forces. The blast killed 19 airmen and injured 400 at the complex.
Before the blast, Oldham, 28 at the time, was coming back to the towers complex after working a 12-hour shift at King Abdul Aziz Air Base, less than a mile away. There was no housing on the air base, which was adjacent to a commercial runway.
In the evening between 8 and 10, the temperature cooled down, and it was a time for exercise. Oldham was back in his room around 9:50 p.m. and crawled into bed to sleep. Oldham and his roommate were talking and looking forward to getting back stateside. Ten minutes later, there was the loudest explosion he had ever heard.
“I thought a plane went down into the towers. There was a bright flash of light, and the building shook. It felt like it was coming down. The room went pitch black with a dusty concrete haze in the room,” said Oldham.
The dormitory where he was staying was not one of the towers that sustained the direct blast. Even though his building did not face the towers that took a direct hit, the concussion blew the interior doors off the hinges and forced the broken window glass inside the rooms.
“We were on the first floor and our building remained intact. I put my feet on the floor and got glass in them. I grabbed a shirt and my dog tags and went to go get the door, and it wasn’t there,” recalled Oldham.
The building’s residents went to the center of dining facility for a head count. He said he still didn’t know what had happened and saw security forces running with weapons. The airmen didn’t have
weapons, but there was no ground fire.
The area had no trauma center, so the injured were treated in the dormitories and transported to the local hospital. Oldham did not know the airmen who were killed.
The sergeant said he finally went to sleep around 6 a.m. on the floor of the dormitory. Power was on the next day. The broken windows were replaced with Plexiglas and plywood. He was back in his room within two days.
According to Oldham, the explosion occurred when a fuel truck tried to enter the Khobar complex at a single entry-point gate and was turned away. Then the truck drove around and parked on the outside perimeter of the complex’s protective concrete barriers. Men were seen running from the truck and into a car immediately before the blast.
After the blast, the airmen were restricted to the Khobar complex for 48 hours. Then they could leave, swap troops and go to work.
“Talk about post-traumatic stress syndrome — it affected me for about a year. I did not want to go into public places or the mall. I would look for escape routes. When I heard a vehicle backfire, I hit the floor quickly,” Oldham recalled.
He continued, “I could have used some help. The guys over in Iraq, what they are seeing, they need some help.”
Oldham stayed at the Khobar complex for two-and-a-half more weeks and came home June 27.
He said it wasn’t al Qaeda that was responsible for the terrorist attack.
A grand jury indicted 13 members of pro-Iran Saudi Hezbollah and one unidentified member of Lebanese Hezbollah, or the Party of God.
Nine of the 14 people where charged with 46 separate criminal counts, including conspiracy to kill Americans and employees of the U.S.; use of weapons of mass destruction and destroying U.S. property.
He continued, “It was the most deadly since the Beirut bombings in the 1980’s at that time.” According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Oldham said, the terrorists carried out the bombing to try to get Americans out of Saudi Arabia.
“When we would go downtown, you’d get a lot of looks. You can’t blend in in a Muslim country,” said Oldham.
The Air Force abandoned King Abdul Aziz Air Base, and moved operations to Prince Sultan Air Base, in an isolated area of Saudi Arabia, he said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)