A propaganda film produced by Chesapeake Energy and shown on all the television channels in Arkansas tells a fetching story about the wealth that the gas exploration in the Fayetteville shale is spreading across the Arkansas countryside. It is the nature of things that the biggest beneficiaries are those who already are amply rewarded, but the film doesn’t tell you that.
The state government, it turns out, is not exempt from the stampede for wealth from mineral leasing and royalties. As luck would have it, the beneficiary of all the lagniappe — nearly $30 million now and tens of millions a year afterward — is also the government agency that already is the fattest and the least needful, the state Game and Fish Commission.
The commission announced that Chesapeake was leasing nearly 12,000 acres of pristine lands in the Ozark foothills that the agency now manages as wildlife habitat. It is getting $29.5 million for signing the leases and will get 20 percent of the royalties as Chesapeake completes scores of wells in the Petit Jean River and Gulf Mountain Wildlife Management areas.
Individual landowners who settled for 12.5 percent of royalties from gas sales may not cheer the agency’s good fortune in securing a payment rate that is higher than theirs by two-thirds.
The people of Arkansas have a couple of interests in this development that may not cause them to share the commission’s euphoria over landing a tank of new money that may last for another quarter-century, until the zone runs dry. The commission acquired these natural areas, with federal help, so that the wilderness might be protected from the ravages of development — a refuge for wildlife propagation and a resource for hunters and fishermen. Neither conservation groups nor state environmental regulators had any consultation in the leasing. Arkansas law assigns the task of negotiating mineral leases on public lands to the state land commissioner, but the Game and Fish Commission claims that it is constitutionally exempt from all such laws.
Chesapeake promises to use the best conservation techniques to restore the land as nearly as possible to its natural state, and it agreed not to drill during hunting seasons. But no one who has been around a horizontal drilling site and pipeline routes can doubt that the wildlife areas will never be the same until long after the gas has been pumped out and the wilderness can encroach again.
Government, like private enterprise, cannot pass up any opportunity to increase revenues no matter the environmental or social consequences. Taxpayers, however, may have a different priority for using the gas windfall than fattening the spending authority of the fish and wildlife agency, which has seen its budget triple in 10 years, owing mainly to a sales tax increase in 1997 that earmarked 45 percent of the proceeds forever to the Game and Fish Commission.
For as long as they have drilled for oil and gas and mined for minerals in Arkansas, the law has required leasing and royalty revenues to go into the general fund to be distributed according to the priority needs of the state. But the commission insists that Amendment 35 to the state Constitution exempts it from all such laws and entitles it to keep any revenues generated on its properties. Gov. Beebe, who now seems a little distressed about the commission hoarding all the leasing and royalty revenues, issued a legal opinion in 2006 while he was still attorney general pretty much affirming the commission’s argument.
But we think he was dead wrong. Amendment 35, which was supposed to insulate the wildlife agency from politics, intended to prevent the legislature from taking the license fees, permits and fines raised by the commission and diverting some of the revenue to other state programs in a crisis. The amendment says any funds arising from “the operation and transaction” of the agency pertaining to wildlife regulation had to stay with the agency.
Piping out oil and gas from 8,000 feet below ground has nothing to do with the commission’s wildlife regulatory work, and any independent court would recognize that simple constitutional principle. The legislature come January ought to distribute those proceeds fairly where the great needs are. Prison construction, school buildings, highways — who cannot think of many that exceed the needs of game and fish?
Friday, August 01, 2008
TOP STORY > >Towns keeping bugs in check
By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
So far this summer, mosquitoes have not been a big problem in Jacksonville, at least. City hall has not been getting phone calls, as in years past, from residents asking for stepped-up efforts to control the pests.
The city’s diligent efforts to spray for mosquitoes and drain areas of standing water, as well as the lack of rain lately, likely have made the difference.
“It hasn’t been bad,” says Jimmy Oakley, director of public works for the city of Jacksonville. “Last year or the year before were the worst, but we are still spraying once a week every street in town.”
Oakley suggests that residents wanting to know the mosquito-spraying schedule for their neighborhood to call his office at 982-0686.
He plans to soon post a map on the city’s Web site at www.cityofjacksonville.net to show the areas sprayed each evening.
Spraying is on Mondays, Tues-days and Wednesdays from 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., unless it rains, in which case there is spraying on Thursdays. Spraying starts in the west part of town and moves to the east over the course of the three days.
The spray used to kill the mosquitoes is quite safe for humans and animals, Oakley said, but individuals with respiratory problems have reported problems if they breathe the spray, so staying indoors for them is advised.
“It is not harmful unless you drink it,” Oakley said. “It is one of the safest insecticides. It is not harmful to pets, bees, or fish.”
City crews have been working on drainage problems in low-lying areas, primarily around Dupree Park as well as a large area east of North First Street toward Holland Bottoms Game and Fish Refuge area.
Oakley encourages residents to also do their part by getting rid of anything on their property that collects water, creating a breeding spot for mosquitoes.
“Anywhere water sits longer than three to seven days can breed mosquitoes,” Oakley said.
Jerrel Maxwell, Cabot’s head of public works, said Cabot’s abatement program is the same this year as last and so far, no one has complained about a problem with mosquitoes.
“We spray every night,” Maxwell said. We put out mosquito donuts to kill the mosquitoes in the larval stage.
“We put (the donuts) in standing water anywhere we find it, in ditches and swimming pools people have gone off and left,” he said.
Leader staff writer Joan Mc-Coy contributed to this article.
Leader staff writer
So far this summer, mosquitoes have not been a big problem in Jacksonville, at least. City hall has not been getting phone calls, as in years past, from residents asking for stepped-up efforts to control the pests.
The city’s diligent efforts to spray for mosquitoes and drain areas of standing water, as well as the lack of rain lately, likely have made the difference.
“It hasn’t been bad,” says Jimmy Oakley, director of public works for the city of Jacksonville. “Last year or the year before were the worst, but we are still spraying once a week every street in town.”
Oakley suggests that residents wanting to know the mosquito-spraying schedule for their neighborhood to call his office at 982-0686.
He plans to soon post a map on the city’s Web site at www.cityofjacksonville.net to show the areas sprayed each evening.
Spraying is on Mondays, Tues-days and Wednesdays from 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., unless it rains, in which case there is spraying on Thursdays. Spraying starts in the west part of town and moves to the east over the course of the three days.
The spray used to kill the mosquitoes is quite safe for humans and animals, Oakley said, but individuals with respiratory problems have reported problems if they breathe the spray, so staying indoors for them is advised.
“It is not harmful unless you drink it,” Oakley said. “It is one of the safest insecticides. It is not harmful to pets, bees, or fish.”
City crews have been working on drainage problems in low-lying areas, primarily around Dupree Park as well as a large area east of North First Street toward Holland Bottoms Game and Fish Refuge area.
Oakley encourages residents to also do their part by getting rid of anything on their property that collects water, creating a breeding spot for mosquitoes.
“Anywhere water sits longer than three to seven days can breed mosquitoes,” Oakley said.
Jerrel Maxwell, Cabot’s head of public works, said Cabot’s abatement program is the same this year as last and so far, no one has complained about a problem with mosquitoes.
“We spray every night,” Maxwell said. We put out mosquito donuts to kill the mosquitoes in the larval stage.
“We put (the donuts) in standing water anywhere we find it, in ditches and swimming pools people have gone off and left,” he said.
Leader staff writer Joan Mc-Coy contributed to this article.
TOP STORY > >Base readies for air show
Little Rock Air Force Base’s open house is set for Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 18 and 19 and is open to the public.
The Navy’s premier aerial-demonstration team, the Blue Angels, will highlight this year’s show, which boasts a “combat airlift” theme.
Also performing at the open house will be the Army’s top parachute team, The Golden Knights. The T-28 Warbird Formation/Acro Team, also known as “Trojan Horseman,” will perform their amazing acrobatics overhead. Another ground act, Shockwave — a jet truck that has a record speed of 376 miles per hour on a mile-long runway — will also be performing.
The base’s open house — more commonly known as “air show” — is the largest single spectator event in the state of Arkansas, attracting people from not only around the state, but from adjoining states as well, and is the largest open house in the mid-South.
The Blue Angels performed at the 2006 open house and more than 250,000 spectators were in attendance.
This year’s show is expected to be even bigger.
The open house gives the base the opportunity to showcase its mission as the world’s largest C-130 training base and dazzle spectators with amazing aerial and ground events from all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces from varying eras.
In what is known as a “combat capabilities” exercise, our own C-130 aircraft will show what they do in combat: paratroopers will jump in an exciting display of military power and they’ll drop heavy equipment and other cargo.
Five hours of flying and military-related entertainment for attendees will be at available at this year’s super-charged two-day air show/open house.
Visitors can see static displays of military aircraft up close and speak with the crews that fly them.
Also available for spectators to participate in will be the Army’s “Virtual Army Experience,” employing teamwork, rules of engagement leadership and high-tech equipment in a virtual Army mission.
Souvenir, food and information booths will also be available. As always, admission and parking are free.
For everyone’s safety, all visitors and their vehicles will be subject to search.
No coolers, pets or backpacks are allowed at the open house. Due to limited parking, RVs will not be allowed on base.
Little Rock Air Force Base is located off Hwy. 67/167 at the Jacksonville exit, Exit 11, marked LRAFB. Gates will open at 8:30 a.m. and close at 4:30 p.m.
The Navy’s premier aerial-demonstration team, the Blue Angels, will highlight this year’s show, which boasts a “combat airlift” theme.
Also performing at the open house will be the Army’s top parachute team, The Golden Knights. The T-28 Warbird Formation/Acro Team, also known as “Trojan Horseman,” will perform their amazing acrobatics overhead. Another ground act, Shockwave — a jet truck that has a record speed of 376 miles per hour on a mile-long runway — will also be performing.
The base’s open house — more commonly known as “air show” — is the largest single spectator event in the state of Arkansas, attracting people from not only around the state, but from adjoining states as well, and is the largest open house in the mid-South.
The Blue Angels performed at the 2006 open house and more than 250,000 spectators were in attendance.
This year’s show is expected to be even bigger.
The open house gives the base the opportunity to showcase its mission as the world’s largest C-130 training base and dazzle spectators with amazing aerial and ground events from all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces from varying eras.
In what is known as a “combat capabilities” exercise, our own C-130 aircraft will show what they do in combat: paratroopers will jump in an exciting display of military power and they’ll drop heavy equipment and other cargo.
Five hours of flying and military-related entertainment for attendees will be at available at this year’s super-charged two-day air show/open house.
Visitors can see static displays of military aircraft up close and speak with the crews that fly them.
Also available for spectators to participate in will be the Army’s “Virtual Army Experience,” employing teamwork, rules of engagement leadership and high-tech equipment in a virtual Army mission.
Souvenir, food and information booths will also be available. As always, admission and parking are free.
For everyone’s safety, all visitors and their vehicles will be subject to search.
No coolers, pets or backpacks are allowed at the open house. Due to limited parking, RVs will not be allowed on base.
Little Rock Air Force Base is located off Hwy. 67/167 at the Jacksonville exit, Exit 11, marked LRAFB. Gates will open at 8:30 a.m. and close at 4:30 p.m.
TOP STORY > >Cabot fire station spurs controversy
By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer
Last Saturday morning’s budget meeting of Cabot city officials where almost all the discussion centered on the accomplishments of the past year and plans for the next turned sour temporarily when council members could not find out where a new fire station might be built.
The four council members who attended the meeting were receptive to the police chief’s request for a sex crime unit and SWAT team. They seemed to like the mayor’s proposal for the city to collect its own garbage, especially if trash hauler IESI plans to increase rates from the current $16.45 a month per resident.
They didn’t disagree with the mayor that the city should be able to use the planned county jail to house misdemeanor prisoners. They asked a few questions about a machine for the street department that shreds asphalt into bits that can be used as a base for roads. And they appeared appreciative of City Clerk Marva Verkler’s plan to streamline the record keeping in her office before she retires at the end of her term.
But when it was time for Fire Chief Phil Robinson to make his presentation, the council members wanted to talk.
Alderman Eddie Cook was the first to speak, asking why the city paid $250,000 for land and a build ing on Hwy. 5 if it was not the intended site of the new station that is needed to keep insurance premiums down for city residents. And if the new station will not be built on Hwy. 5, then where will it be built?
The answer from the fire chief, City Attorney Jim Taylor and Mayor Eddie Joe Williams was that they couldn’t say.
“In your mind, right now, where would you put a station?” Alderman Lisa Brickell asked as Cook’s question went unanswered.
The mayor said there was a perfect location for the station that needs to be centrally located inside a growing part of the city.
But Taylor said anything the group discussed was subject to disclosure under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, and going public with that information would not be in the city’s interest.
Alderman Ed Long, who had said earlier in the meeting that he wasn’t convinced the city needs another station at this time because response times are good, said he feared “secrecy like in past administrations has become a problem.”
“I’ll admit the problem is a delicate one,” the mayor said. But none of those who apparently know where the station could be built shared that information with the others.
The mayor did say, however, that he thinks the building would cost $300,000 to $400,000 if the city acquires it through a 15-year lease purchase agreement.
Cook and Alderman Becky Lemaster said the full council should meet weekly until the matter is resolved.
“We need some facts in front of us,” Lemaster said. “We need to look at where the growth is.”
Leader staff writer
Last Saturday morning’s budget meeting of Cabot city officials where almost all the discussion centered on the accomplishments of the past year and plans for the next turned sour temporarily when council members could not find out where a new fire station might be built.
The four council members who attended the meeting were receptive to the police chief’s request for a sex crime unit and SWAT team. They seemed to like the mayor’s proposal for the city to collect its own garbage, especially if trash hauler IESI plans to increase rates from the current $16.45 a month per resident.
They didn’t disagree with the mayor that the city should be able to use the planned county jail to house misdemeanor prisoners. They asked a few questions about a machine for the street department that shreds asphalt into bits that can be used as a base for roads. And they appeared appreciative of City Clerk Marva Verkler’s plan to streamline the record keeping in her office before she retires at the end of her term.
But when it was time for Fire Chief Phil Robinson to make his presentation, the council members wanted to talk.
Alderman Eddie Cook was the first to speak, asking why the city paid $250,000 for land and a build ing on Hwy. 5 if it was not the intended site of the new station that is needed to keep insurance premiums down for city residents. And if the new station will not be built on Hwy. 5, then where will it be built?
The answer from the fire chief, City Attorney Jim Taylor and Mayor Eddie Joe Williams was that they couldn’t say.
“In your mind, right now, where would you put a station?” Alderman Lisa Brickell asked as Cook’s question went unanswered.
The mayor said there was a perfect location for the station that needs to be centrally located inside a growing part of the city.
But Taylor said anything the group discussed was subject to disclosure under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, and going public with that information would not be in the city’s interest.
Alderman Ed Long, who had said earlier in the meeting that he wasn’t convinced the city needs another station at this time because response times are good, said he feared “secrecy like in past administrations has become a problem.”
“I’ll admit the problem is a delicate one,” the mayor said. But none of those who apparently know where the station could be built shared that information with the others.
The mayor did say, however, that he thinks the building would cost $300,000 to $400,000 if the city acquires it through a 15-year lease purchase agreement.
Cook and Alderman Becky Lemaster said the full council should meet weekly until the matter is resolved.
“We need some facts in front of us,” Lemaster said. “We need to look at where the growth is.”
TOP STORY > >Free bus rides on Thursday
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Central Arkansas Transit Authority is offering free rides on Thursday, part of a promotion to increase ridership and reduce ozone levels.
That’s “Ride the Bus to Work Free Day,” although it’s free to all riders, not just those going to or from work, according to Betty Wineland, director of the Central Arkansas Transit Authority.
The Jacksonville-Sherwood express makes three morning trips to downtown Little Rock and two evening trips back.
Schedule and route information is available online at www.cat.org.
To test how efficient CATA buses are, I took one from downtown Little Rock, where I live, to McCain Mall on Wednesday.
Even before gasoline was $4 a gallon, mass transit was thought of as an important factor in reducing ozone, reducing our “carbon footprint,” reducing our dependence on foreign oil and reducing congestion and overcrowding on streets and highways.
In June, I rode the subway between a Broadway play and my brother’s home in Brooklyn and more recently, a trolley from the French Market to the D-Day World War II museum in New Orleans and found both experiences easy and convenient.
But although I’ve lived in central Arkansas for several years, I don’t recall ever having ridden the bus here.
So after covering a Metroplan board meeting in downtown Little Rock, I headed to the Other Center across McCain Boulevard from the mall to treat myself to lunch, then coffee and a couple of hours of reading at Barnes and Noble.
According to my stopwatch, it took just over 25 minutes, but it seemed only minutes, as I was so engrossed in my latest Daniel Silva espionage novel.
The bus let me off at a stop on McCain Boulevard about 50 yards from Chili’s.
For the ride home, I had a printout of the bus schedule, so I knew what time the bus arrived at an unmarked bus stop in front of Dillard’s or the designated bus stop at the other end of McCain Mall, just shy of Sears.
Both bus drivers seemed friendly and professional, both buses were clean and apparently well maintained.
The buses didn’t start or stop suddenly and both of my trips were relaxing.
My truck gets about 16 miles a gallon, so I don’t know that I saved any money by taking the bus. The fare was $1.25 each way.
But if the trip had been longer I would have saved.
But I did avoid pumping 10 miles worth of environmental pollutants into the air from my inefficient truck.
Officials tell us that the more we use buses—or light rail in the future—the more efficient mass transit will become and more buses, routes and stops can be added. Free bus trips on Thursday are made possible by a partnership between Ozone Action Days and Central Arkansas Transit Authority.
Central Arkansas Ozone Action Days were created in 1997 to increase awareness of ozone air pollution, reduce the health risks associated with exposure to ground-level ozone and help keep the region in compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone.
Although ozone in the upper atmosphere serves a useful purpose by shielding the earth from ultraviolet rays, ground-level ozone can cause heath problems in humans (causing, in effect, a sunburn on the lungs) and damage to vegetation.
When high-pressure weather patterns stagnate over the southeastern United States, ground-level ozone concentrations can build up.
The major contributing pollutants are emitted by cars, trucks, industrial smoke stacks, construction and farm equipment, lawn mowers, all-terrain vehicles, aircraft and motor boats.
Bus riding and carpooling are just two of the many ways central Arkansans can reduce tailpipe emissions that contribute to ozone formation, said Jim McKenzie, Metroplan executive director.
Leader senior staff writer
Central Arkansas Transit Authority is offering free rides on Thursday, part of a promotion to increase ridership and reduce ozone levels.
That’s “Ride the Bus to Work Free Day,” although it’s free to all riders, not just those going to or from work, according to Betty Wineland, director of the Central Arkansas Transit Authority.
The Jacksonville-Sherwood express makes three morning trips to downtown Little Rock and two evening trips back.
Schedule and route information is available online at www.cat.org.
To test how efficient CATA buses are, I took one from downtown Little Rock, where I live, to McCain Mall on Wednesday.
Even before gasoline was $4 a gallon, mass transit was thought of as an important factor in reducing ozone, reducing our “carbon footprint,” reducing our dependence on foreign oil and reducing congestion and overcrowding on streets and highways.
In June, I rode the subway between a Broadway play and my brother’s home in Brooklyn and more recently, a trolley from the French Market to the D-Day World War II museum in New Orleans and found both experiences easy and convenient.
But although I’ve lived in central Arkansas for several years, I don’t recall ever having ridden the bus here.
So after covering a Metroplan board meeting in downtown Little Rock, I headed to the Other Center across McCain Boulevard from the mall to treat myself to lunch, then coffee and a couple of hours of reading at Barnes and Noble.
According to my stopwatch, it took just over 25 minutes, but it seemed only minutes, as I was so engrossed in my latest Daniel Silva espionage novel.
The bus let me off at a stop on McCain Boulevard about 50 yards from Chili’s.
For the ride home, I had a printout of the bus schedule, so I knew what time the bus arrived at an unmarked bus stop in front of Dillard’s or the designated bus stop at the other end of McCain Mall, just shy of Sears.
Both bus drivers seemed friendly and professional, both buses were clean and apparently well maintained.
The buses didn’t start or stop suddenly and both of my trips were relaxing.
My truck gets about 16 miles a gallon, so I don’t know that I saved any money by taking the bus. The fare was $1.25 each way.
But if the trip had been longer I would have saved.
But I did avoid pumping 10 miles worth of environmental pollutants into the air from my inefficient truck.
Officials tell us that the more we use buses—or light rail in the future—the more efficient mass transit will become and more buses, routes and stops can be added. Free bus trips on Thursday are made possible by a partnership between Ozone Action Days and Central Arkansas Transit Authority.
Central Arkansas Ozone Action Days were created in 1997 to increase awareness of ozone air pollution, reduce the health risks associated with exposure to ground-level ozone and help keep the region in compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone.
Although ozone in the upper atmosphere serves a useful purpose by shielding the earth from ultraviolet rays, ground-level ozone can cause heath problems in humans (causing, in effect, a sunburn on the lungs) and damage to vegetation.
When high-pressure weather patterns stagnate over the southeastern United States, ground-level ozone concentrations can build up.
The major contributing pollutants are emitted by cars, trucks, industrial smoke stacks, construction and farm equipment, lawn mowers, all-terrain vehicles, aircraft and motor boats.
Bus riding and carpooling are just two of the many ways central Arkansans can reduce tailpipe emissions that contribute to ozone formation, said Jim McKenzie, Metroplan executive director.
TOP STORY > >Controlling mosquitoes key to prevent illnesses
By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
Two human cases of West Nile virus in Jefferson County have been confirmed by the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH). The ADH has also confirmed one case of St. Louis encephalitis, another disease transmitted by mosquitoes.
State Health Department officials are advising that prevention is the best remedy for this sometimes fatal illness.
“People need to be taking precautions big time,” said Ann Wright, director of communications for the ADE. “Mosquitoes are building back up.”
There is no specific treatment for the West Nile virus, which is spread by mosquitoes to humans, horses, and other animals after biting infected birds, the carriers of the disease.
Because of the relatively mild Arkansas climate, mosquitoes are active year round, so protective measures are always advised.
It is always best to avoid going out doors around dusk and dawn, when mosquitoes are most active.
If exposure is likely, applying a good insect repellant, such as those containing DEET, is recommended.
Two additional insect repellants have been approved by the EPA and are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as effective alternatives to DEET. Both are widely available.
The synthetic compound DEET has been found to have adverse reactions in children, including skin irritation, and in rare cases, severe illness.
One alternative is repellants containing Picaridin, which are popular in Europe, Australia, Asia and Latin America and has won approval of the American Association of Pediatricians.
Studies have shown it to be as effective as DEET, but use on children under age 3 is not advised. The other is oil of lemon eucalyptus.
Both of these products are considered as effective as DEET in warding off mosquitoes but may not be as long lasting.
Whenever using any mosquito repellant, particularly DEET, careful adherence to label instructions is strongly advised, Wright said.
Symptoms of West Nile virus include fever, muscle and joint pain, and extreme lack of energy. In severe cases, headache may be a sign of encephalitis, which is inflammation of the brain.
Most Arkansans at some point have been bitten by a mosquito infected with the virus, but very few become ill, health officials say.
“One percent of folks do develop a very severe illness, and they are very, very ill,” Wright said.
Although only two human cases of the virus have been reported this year, both from the same county, the virus is believed to be active all across the state. In 2007, 20 cases and one death were confirmed in Arkansas.
Of the 14 counties reporting cases, most were in the southern part of the state, but Washington, Logan, Sebastian and Scott counties in the northwest, and Mississippi County in the northeast, were also affected.
The most effective way to reduce risk of transmission of the virus is elimination of places where the mosquitoes can breed.
“You can greatly reduce your risk of contracting the virus by clearing out standing water, because anywhere there is water, they will breed,” Wright said.
“The flight path of the type of mosquito that transmits the virus is roughly a city block so if you and your neighbors get rid of standing water, you can greatly reduce the risk of contracting the disease.”
Mosquitoes can breed in something as small as a bowl or soda can or as large as a pond or marsh, if the water is not moving.
Mosquitoes are controlled by the elimination of anything in which water collects and stands for several days, such as old tires, containers, clogged roof gutters, and landscaping where vegetation restricts movement of water.
Birdbath water should be changed often, swimming pools kept chlorinated, and wading pools, wheelbarrows, and containers turned over when not in use.
Leader staff writer
Two human cases of West Nile virus in Jefferson County have been confirmed by the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH). The ADH has also confirmed one case of St. Louis encephalitis, another disease transmitted by mosquitoes.
State Health Department officials are advising that prevention is the best remedy for this sometimes fatal illness.
“People need to be taking precautions big time,” said Ann Wright, director of communications for the ADE. “Mosquitoes are building back up.”
There is no specific treatment for the West Nile virus, which is spread by mosquitoes to humans, horses, and other animals after biting infected birds, the carriers of the disease.
Because of the relatively mild Arkansas climate, mosquitoes are active year round, so protective measures are always advised.
It is always best to avoid going out doors around dusk and dawn, when mosquitoes are most active.
If exposure is likely, applying a good insect repellant, such as those containing DEET, is recommended.
Two additional insect repellants have been approved by the EPA and are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as effective alternatives to DEET. Both are widely available.
The synthetic compound DEET has been found to have adverse reactions in children, including skin irritation, and in rare cases, severe illness.
One alternative is repellants containing Picaridin, which are popular in Europe, Australia, Asia and Latin America and has won approval of the American Association of Pediatricians.
Studies have shown it to be as effective as DEET, but use on children under age 3 is not advised. The other is oil of lemon eucalyptus.
Both of these products are considered as effective as DEET in warding off mosquitoes but may not be as long lasting.
Whenever using any mosquito repellant, particularly DEET, careful adherence to label instructions is strongly advised, Wright said.
Symptoms of West Nile virus include fever, muscle and joint pain, and extreme lack of energy. In severe cases, headache may be a sign of encephalitis, which is inflammation of the brain.
Most Arkansans at some point have been bitten by a mosquito infected with the virus, but very few become ill, health officials say.
“One percent of folks do develop a very severe illness, and they are very, very ill,” Wright said.
Although only two human cases of the virus have been reported this year, both from the same county, the virus is believed to be active all across the state. In 2007, 20 cases and one death were confirmed in Arkansas.
Of the 14 counties reporting cases, most were in the southern part of the state, but Washington, Logan, Sebastian and Scott counties in the northwest, and Mississippi County in the northeast, were also affected.
The most effective way to reduce risk of transmission of the virus is elimination of places where the mosquitoes can breed.
“You can greatly reduce your risk of contracting the virus by clearing out standing water, because anywhere there is water, they will breed,” Wright said.
“The flight path of the type of mosquito that transmits the virus is roughly a city block so if you and your neighbors get rid of standing water, you can greatly reduce the risk of contracting the disease.”
Mosquitoes can breed in something as small as a bowl or soda can or as large as a pond or marsh, if the water is not moving.
Mosquitoes are controlled by the elimination of anything in which water collects and stands for several days, such as old tires, containers, clogged roof gutters, and landscaping where vegetation restricts movement of water.
Birdbath water should be changed often, swimming pools kept chlorinated, and wading pools, wheelbarrows, and containers turned over when not in use.
TOP STORY > >Freshmen Academy to rein in Dropouts
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Fresh off an encouraging pilot program, the Pulaski County Special School District will implement a freshmen academy this year aimed at reducing the number of dropouts and discipline problems in all its high schools, according to Beverly Ruthven, deputy superintendent.
The pilot program was deemed successful last year at Oak Grove High School, and this year each PCSSD high school, including Jacksonville, North Pulaski and Sylvan Hills will place every incoming freshman in the academy.
“The purpose is to make the transition from eighth grade to high school more successful,” according to Charlotte Case, head counselor at Jacksonville High School.
“We lose a lot of kids behavior-wise and credit-wise,” she said, “because of the kinds of behaviors they get into. There’s no more social promotion.”
She said students at Jacksonville would be broken up in three teams. All on Team A, for instance, would have the same English, math, science and social studies teachers, and those teachers will meet each day for a planning period where they track and discuss students across those disciplines.
At least once a week, the teachers will meet with Pamela Perez, Jacksonville’s freshman academy counselor.
Together, they can plan interventions for students who are having academic or behavioral problems.
“I’m really excited,” said Perez. This will help with test scores and attendance and lower (disciplinary) referrals. “We can get them on track to understand how important their test scores are.
“It’s going to be more like a family-type environment. We hope to catch kids before they fall through the cracks—a more preventative approach.
“We hope the kids can be nurtured more, mentored more and they can give up some of those behaviors,” Case said.
Students who struggled with English last year will have English five days a week, unusual in a system using AB-block scheduling.
If successful, they will receive core curriculum credit for the regular English class plus an elective credit for the other English class.
“When a teacher can give us a heads up—this student is acting out—we can call them in and give them strategies and send them back,” Case said. Then the staff can check back in a few months.
Charles Nelson will serve as principal for the Jacksonville freshman academy.
Perez said principals and counselors have attended training at the central office and will meet August 8 with the teachers and work out the teams and details.
“We saw a decrease in absences, a decrease in those who got earning credits for their classes and a slight reduction in office referrals,” said Jene Elms, who was Oak Grove’s freshman academy counselor last year.
There was a reduction in the number of Fs, she added.
Elms said she will counsel the same students again this year as the program expands into the 10th grade.
Leader senior staff writer
Fresh off an encouraging pilot program, the Pulaski County Special School District will implement a freshmen academy this year aimed at reducing the number of dropouts and discipline problems in all its high schools, according to Beverly Ruthven, deputy superintendent.
The pilot program was deemed successful last year at Oak Grove High School, and this year each PCSSD high school, including Jacksonville, North Pulaski and Sylvan Hills will place every incoming freshman in the academy.
“The purpose is to make the transition from eighth grade to high school more successful,” according to Charlotte Case, head counselor at Jacksonville High School.
“We lose a lot of kids behavior-wise and credit-wise,” she said, “because of the kinds of behaviors they get into. There’s no more social promotion.”
She said students at Jacksonville would be broken up in three teams. All on Team A, for instance, would have the same English, math, science and social studies teachers, and those teachers will meet each day for a planning period where they track and discuss students across those disciplines.
At least once a week, the teachers will meet with Pamela Perez, Jacksonville’s freshman academy counselor.
Together, they can plan interventions for students who are having academic or behavioral problems.
“I’m really excited,” said Perez. This will help with test scores and attendance and lower (disciplinary) referrals. “We can get them on track to understand how important their test scores are.
“It’s going to be more like a family-type environment. We hope to catch kids before they fall through the cracks—a more preventative approach.
“We hope the kids can be nurtured more, mentored more and they can give up some of those behaviors,” Case said.
Students who struggled with English last year will have English five days a week, unusual in a system using AB-block scheduling.
If successful, they will receive core curriculum credit for the regular English class plus an elective credit for the other English class.
“When a teacher can give us a heads up—this student is acting out—we can call them in and give them strategies and send them back,” Case said. Then the staff can check back in a few months.
Charles Nelson will serve as principal for the Jacksonville freshman academy.
Perez said principals and counselors have attended training at the central office and will meet August 8 with the teachers and work out the teams and details.
“We saw a decrease in absences, a decrease in those who got earning credits for their classes and a slight reduction in office referrals,” said Jene Elms, who was Oak Grove’s freshman academy counselor last year.
There was a reduction in the number of Fs, she added.
Elms said she will counsel the same students again this year as the program expands into the 10th grade.
TOP STORY > >Advisers hired for charter schools
By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
Two educational consultants have partnered in an effort to bring a charter school to Jacksonville. Their effort is one of two underway to win approval from the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) to establish an open-enrollment charter school in fall 2009.
Dave Sanders of Maumelle and Buster Lackey of Sherwood have filed a letter of intent with the ADE about their plan to found Jacksonville Charter Academy. The two are experienced charter school teachers and administrators who “saw a need for a school in Jacksonville to give parents and students a choice,” Sanders said.
The other effort is led by a group of Jackson-ville residents who have aligned with Lighthouse Academies, a Massachusetts-based charter school management organization.
A charter school is a state-regulated public school that aims to provide educational alternatives to communities. State law restricts the number of charter schools that may operate in Arkansas. An open-enrollment charter school may accept students that live outside the district in which the school is located.
Therefore, students from outside Jacksonville and the Pulaski County Special School District could attend either proposed charter school.
Sanders and Lackey have hired an architect to study several existing buildings as a possible site for the school. One is the former Wal-Mart building on North First Street and the other is behind Gwatney Chevrolet, Sanders said.
“We want the school to be located in the heart of Jacksonville, with easy access to the air base and to and from the community,” Sanders said. “We want it to be in the center of the community.”
The school would initially serve about 350 students, kindergarten through grade 6, with two grades added each year following.
The curriculum would be rigorous and geared to prepare students for success in college.
“The school theme would be ‘I Can’ – that whatever I put my mind to, I can do, to give children the experience, education, and stability to do whatever in life they want to do,” Sanders said.
The long-range plan for the high school would include affiliation with a university in order that students would have the opportunity to take college courses at no cost and earn up to two years of college credit before high school graduation.
“They would enter college as a junior at no charge whatsoever, with a real college transcript – instantaneously,” Sanders said.
The two men have yet to go public with their plan, although “a couple of business owners are most definitely on board,” Sanders said.
A series of community meetings will commence with one this Sunday with a presentation by Sanders and Lackey during the morning service at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Jacksonville.
Leader staff writer
Two educational consultants have partnered in an effort to bring a charter school to Jacksonville. Their effort is one of two underway to win approval from the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) to establish an open-enrollment charter school in fall 2009.
Dave Sanders of Maumelle and Buster Lackey of Sherwood have filed a letter of intent with the ADE about their plan to found Jacksonville Charter Academy. The two are experienced charter school teachers and administrators who “saw a need for a school in Jacksonville to give parents and students a choice,” Sanders said.
The other effort is led by a group of Jackson-ville residents who have aligned with Lighthouse Academies, a Massachusetts-based charter school management organization.
A charter school is a state-regulated public school that aims to provide educational alternatives to communities. State law restricts the number of charter schools that may operate in Arkansas. An open-enrollment charter school may accept students that live outside the district in which the school is located.
Therefore, students from outside Jacksonville and the Pulaski County Special School District could attend either proposed charter school.
Sanders and Lackey have hired an architect to study several existing buildings as a possible site for the school. One is the former Wal-Mart building on North First Street and the other is behind Gwatney Chevrolet, Sanders said.
“We want the school to be located in the heart of Jacksonville, with easy access to the air base and to and from the community,” Sanders said. “We want it to be in the center of the community.”
The school would initially serve about 350 students, kindergarten through grade 6, with two grades added each year following.
The curriculum would be rigorous and geared to prepare students for success in college.
“The school theme would be ‘I Can’ – that whatever I put my mind to, I can do, to give children the experience, education, and stability to do whatever in life they want to do,” Sanders said.
The long-range plan for the high school would include affiliation with a university in order that students would have the opportunity to take college courses at no cost and earn up to two years of college credit before high school graduation.
“They would enter college as a junior at no charge whatsoever, with a real college transcript – instantaneously,” Sanders said.
The two men have yet to go public with their plan, although “a couple of business owners are most definitely on board,” Sanders said.
A series of community meetings will commence with one this Sunday with a presentation by Sanders and Lackey during the morning service at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Jacksonville.
SPORTS>>Sylvan Hills opens tourney with victory
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
If it was a gamble, it paid off big time.
Reaching fairly far down into his pitching rotation and even beyond it, Sylvan Hills head coach Mike Bromley selected Nathan Eller to start the Bruins’ first-round game in the American Legion Senior State Tournament on Friday afternoon at Burns Park.
And Eller, most often used inrelief, delivered, tossing a 7-hit complete game in the Bruins’ 9-1 cruise past Little Rock Blue. Sylvan Hills will be able to call on both of its aces in D.J. Baxendale and Blain Sims as well as Ross Bogard, Brandon Chastain and Chris Eastham over the final four days of the tournament.
The Bruins will take on Friday’s Jonesboro-Fort Smith winner today at 4:30 in a winner’s bracket contest.
Eller received errorless defensive support, which included a pair of double plays and catcher Cody Cormier’s shootdown of a would-be base stealer, but got little in the way of offensive support until the Bruins erupted for six runs in the ninth inning to pull away.
Bogard, who drove in four runs, belted a leadoff home run in the second to stake the Bruins to a 1-0 lead, and Eller made that hold up until his offense gave him some insurance with single runs in the fifth and sixth.
Baxendale delivered a 2-out RBI single in the fifth, driving in Matt Rugger, and Clint Thornton made it 3-0 in the sixth with a solo shot over the fence in left-center.
Eller got out of a 2-on, 1-out jam in the third and entered the seventh with a 6-hit shutout. That’s when things got a bit dicey. Dustin Ward led off with a home run and Eller issued a walk to Michael Marsh. With one out, Eller ran the count to 3-0 on Brett Golden, who represented the tying run.
But Rugger made the play of the game at second base, racing into shallow right to haul in Golden’s soft liner, then turning it into an inning-ending double play as Sylvan Hills preserved its narrow 3-1 lead.
Eller hit leadoff batter Bradley Silfies to start the eighth and with one out, Tyler Brown hit a high chop that appeared to be heading over Garrett Eller’s head at first. But Eller leaped to stab it and raced to the bag for the out. Eller then got Tyler Brown on a lineout to center to end the threat.
After sweating through a couple of tough situations, Eller was able to breathe easy when Sylvan Hills sent 10 to the plate and scored six in the ninth to extend the 2-run lead to eight. Three errors, a Justin Treece double and a hit batter set up Bogard for a 3-run triple just inside the bag at first.
The Bruins finished with seven hits and benefited from five Little Rock Blue errors. Bogard and Thornton each had two hits.
Eller struck out three, walked one and hit one.
Leader sports editor
If it was a gamble, it paid off big time.
Reaching fairly far down into his pitching rotation and even beyond it, Sylvan Hills head coach Mike Bromley selected Nathan Eller to start the Bruins’ first-round game in the American Legion Senior State Tournament on Friday afternoon at Burns Park.
And Eller, most often used inrelief, delivered, tossing a 7-hit complete game in the Bruins’ 9-1 cruise past Little Rock Blue. Sylvan Hills will be able to call on both of its aces in D.J. Baxendale and Blain Sims as well as Ross Bogard, Brandon Chastain and Chris Eastham over the final four days of the tournament.
The Bruins will take on Friday’s Jonesboro-Fort Smith winner today at 4:30 in a winner’s bracket contest.
Eller received errorless defensive support, which included a pair of double plays and catcher Cody Cormier’s shootdown of a would-be base stealer, but got little in the way of offensive support until the Bruins erupted for six runs in the ninth inning to pull away.
Bogard, who drove in four runs, belted a leadoff home run in the second to stake the Bruins to a 1-0 lead, and Eller made that hold up until his offense gave him some insurance with single runs in the fifth and sixth.
Baxendale delivered a 2-out RBI single in the fifth, driving in Matt Rugger, and Clint Thornton made it 3-0 in the sixth with a solo shot over the fence in left-center.
Eller got out of a 2-on, 1-out jam in the third and entered the seventh with a 6-hit shutout. That’s when things got a bit dicey. Dustin Ward led off with a home run and Eller issued a walk to Michael Marsh. With one out, Eller ran the count to 3-0 on Brett Golden, who represented the tying run.
But Rugger made the play of the game at second base, racing into shallow right to haul in Golden’s soft liner, then turning it into an inning-ending double play as Sylvan Hills preserved its narrow 3-1 lead.
Eller hit leadoff batter Bradley Silfies to start the eighth and with one out, Tyler Brown hit a high chop that appeared to be heading over Garrett Eller’s head at first. But Eller leaped to stab it and raced to the bag for the out. Eller then got Tyler Brown on a lineout to center to end the threat.
After sweating through a couple of tough situations, Eller was able to breathe easy when Sylvan Hills sent 10 to the plate and scored six in the ninth to extend the 2-run lead to eight. Three errors, a Justin Treece double and a hit batter set up Bogard for a 3-run triple just inside the bag at first.
The Bruins finished with seven hits and benefited from five Little Rock Blue errors. Bogard and Thornton each had two hits.
Eller struck out three, walked one and hit one.
SPORTS>>Petrino waiting to rule on Mitchell’s fate
FAYETTEVILLE — On the same day he announced two-game suspensions for sophomore linebacker Freddy Burton and sophomore wide receiver Marques Wade, first-year Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino revealed he’ll wait until after his court date to determine any action regarding senior defensive tackle Ernest Mitchell.
Burton last month and Wade earlier this week were both charged with driving while intoxicated.
Petrino said both will be suspended for Arkansas’ first two games of the season, nonconference games Aug. 30 against Western Illinois in Fayetteville and Sept. 6 against Louisiana-Monroe in Little Rock. Both will report with the Razorbacks Sunday and start preseason drills Monday.
On Tuesday, local media learned that on June 30 Mitchell was stopped by Arkansas State Police near Forrest City on grounds that his plate was improperly displayed.
It was then reported by Arkansas State Police that during the traffic stop, a small amount of what was believed to be marijuana and a small-caliber handgun and some drug paraphernalia were found in the vehicle.
Mitchell was cited on misdemeanor charges of improper display of a license tag, possession of a controlled substance and simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms before being released without an arrest.
His court date was scheduled for last Thursday in St. Francis County District Court.
At Tuesday’s annual Razorback football coaches/media golf event at Stonebridge in Fayetteville, Petrino said Mitchell immediately told him about the incident after it happened.
Petrino said through UA director of media relations Kevin Trainor, “At this point, the legal process will take its course and then we will deal with it.”
A senior returning starter from Newnan, Ga., Mitchell missed all of spring drills rehabbing from major knee surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament in January.
He is still rehabbing the injury but was hoping to begin drills when the Razorbacks start preseason practice on Monday.
“I’m not exactly sure how that knee is coming along,” Petrino said. “He’s been doing some running, but he’s also had a couple of times where that knee swelled up on him.”
Senior Cord Gray of Wynne and sophomore Patrick Jones contested for a first-team tackle berth throughout the spring in Mitchell’s absence.
Arkansas junior linebacker Wendel Davis was charged with criminal mischief during the summer but Petrino also said he’s waiting to see how the court system plays out on his cases.
Davis’ matter appears to have extenuating circumstances.
The criminal mischief charge stems from him allegedly pummeling a car driven by Onyebuchi Odunukwe.
However Odunukwe, whose vehicle was alleged to have struck from behind a scooter that Davis was driving, was charged with aggravated assault and terroristic threatening.
“We need to let the judicial system play out,” Petrino said. “This is not the point in time to do anything with Wendel.”
Davis’ early preseason practice availability also is pending his rehab from offseason knee surgery.
A two-year letterman, Davis lastyear mostly backed up graduated middle linebacker Weston Dacus and started one game as an outside linebacker.
Regarding the suspensions of Burton and Wade — suspensions that Petrino says UA policy mandates be for a game — Petrino said he’s hoping it will make players think twice about drinking and driving.
“That’s something we can’t have and certainly something we don’t want to have,” Petrino said Tuesday. “It’s an unfortunate incident for both of them. The athletic policy is one game but I feel the situation we’re in, we’ve got to make sure our players understand we do things right off the field.”
Though a third-year sophomore who never lettered, Wade closed spring drills as a first-team wide receiver.
Burton closed spring drills as a second-team outside linebacker and was first team on special teams.
His 21 tackles on special teams led all special teams tacklers for the 2007 Razorbacks.
Burton had impressed the Petrino regime on special teams during spring drills. And the new coaches definitely need linebackers, with Freddie Fairchild, a starting outside linebacker last year, permanently dismissed from the squad for disciplinary reasons.
“Our linebackers are down (in numbers),” Petrino said Tuesday. “But this affects us even more special-teams wise.”
Though the numbers are thin at linebacker, Chip Gregory, recruited by the Houston Nutt regime as a linebacker, remains at running back, the position Petrino moved him to last spring.
“He’s been working at running back all summer long,” Petrino said. “I don’t anticipate moving him. We need to find out what he can do at running back.”
Burton last month and Wade earlier this week were both charged with driving while intoxicated.
Petrino said both will be suspended for Arkansas’ first two games of the season, nonconference games Aug. 30 against Western Illinois in Fayetteville and Sept. 6 against Louisiana-Monroe in Little Rock. Both will report with the Razorbacks Sunday and start preseason drills Monday.
On Tuesday, local media learned that on June 30 Mitchell was stopped by Arkansas State Police near Forrest City on grounds that his plate was improperly displayed.
It was then reported by Arkansas State Police that during the traffic stop, a small amount of what was believed to be marijuana and a small-caliber handgun and some drug paraphernalia were found in the vehicle.
Mitchell was cited on misdemeanor charges of improper display of a license tag, possession of a controlled substance and simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms before being released without an arrest.
His court date was scheduled for last Thursday in St. Francis County District Court.
At Tuesday’s annual Razorback football coaches/media golf event at Stonebridge in Fayetteville, Petrino said Mitchell immediately told him about the incident after it happened.
Petrino said through UA director of media relations Kevin Trainor, “At this point, the legal process will take its course and then we will deal with it.”
A senior returning starter from Newnan, Ga., Mitchell missed all of spring drills rehabbing from major knee surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament in January.
He is still rehabbing the injury but was hoping to begin drills when the Razorbacks start preseason practice on Monday.
“I’m not exactly sure how that knee is coming along,” Petrino said. “He’s been doing some running, but he’s also had a couple of times where that knee swelled up on him.”
Senior Cord Gray of Wynne and sophomore Patrick Jones contested for a first-team tackle berth throughout the spring in Mitchell’s absence.
Arkansas junior linebacker Wendel Davis was charged with criminal mischief during the summer but Petrino also said he’s waiting to see how the court system plays out on his cases.
Davis’ matter appears to have extenuating circumstances.
The criminal mischief charge stems from him allegedly pummeling a car driven by Onyebuchi Odunukwe.
However Odunukwe, whose vehicle was alleged to have struck from behind a scooter that Davis was driving, was charged with aggravated assault and terroristic threatening.
“We need to let the judicial system play out,” Petrino said. “This is not the point in time to do anything with Wendel.”
Davis’ early preseason practice availability also is pending his rehab from offseason knee surgery.
A two-year letterman, Davis lastyear mostly backed up graduated middle linebacker Weston Dacus and started one game as an outside linebacker.
Regarding the suspensions of Burton and Wade — suspensions that Petrino says UA policy mandates be for a game — Petrino said he’s hoping it will make players think twice about drinking and driving.
“That’s something we can’t have and certainly something we don’t want to have,” Petrino said Tuesday. “It’s an unfortunate incident for both of them. The athletic policy is one game but I feel the situation we’re in, we’ve got to make sure our players understand we do things right off the field.”
Though a third-year sophomore who never lettered, Wade closed spring drills as a first-team wide receiver.
Burton closed spring drills as a second-team outside linebacker and was first team on special teams.
His 21 tackles on special teams led all special teams tacklers for the 2007 Razorbacks.
Burton had impressed the Petrino regime on special teams during spring drills. And the new coaches definitely need linebackers, with Freddie Fairchild, a starting outside linebacker last year, permanently dismissed from the squad for disciplinary reasons.
“Our linebackers are down (in numbers),” Petrino said Tuesday. “But this affects us even more special-teams wise.”
Though the numbers are thin at linebacker, Chip Gregory, recruited by the Houston Nutt regime as a linebacker, remains at running back, the position Petrino moved him to last spring.
“He’s been working at running back all summer long,” Petrino said. “I don’t anticipate moving him. We need to find out what he can do at running back.”
SPORTS>> Bruins poised for run to title
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
As impressive as Sylvan Hills was in running through the competition at the Zone 3 Senior tournament last weekend, things are about to get a whole lot tougher.
Not that Zone 3 isn’t a pretty stout league itself. Nothing drives that home more than the fact that a very solid North Little Rock Colts team qualified for this weekend’s state tournament only by virtue of being its host.
The Bruins began American Legion state tournament play yesterday morning at Burns Park by beating Little Rock Blue 9-1.
Sylvan Hills is trying to follow in the footsteps of its high school counterparts, who won the 6A state title in May.
The Bruins feature as many as six batters in their lineup from that Bears team that rallied from three runs down in the final inning at Baum Stadium to beat Watson Chapel for the championship. Add to that a mix of former players, and you have a team as solid as any other at Burns this weekend.
But there are some formidable foes among the entrants, including defending state and regional champ Bryant, 3-time defending high school champ Fayetteville, and perennial powers Jonesboro, Searcy and Fort Smith. Russellville, Little Rock Blue and North Little Rock round out the bracket.
Sylvan Hills head coach Mike Bromley, though, seemed confident after the Bruins dispatched Russellville with relative ease on Monday evening to win the zone championship and finish off an unbeaten run through the tournament.
“We’ve said all along that if we get everybody here we’d be pretty tough,” Bromley said. “And they’re clicking on all cylinders right now. If we go and play like we’re playing right now, we’ve got a good shot.”
If the Bruins can continue their offensive trend from the zone tournament — and make no mistake that the pitching is about to get a lot better — it’s easy to understand Bromley’s high hopes. Sylvan Hills averaged nearly 12 runs a game over five games and hit .313.
That includes a 5-hit game in the opener against Sylvan Hills 2, a game in which the Bruins received precious few pitches to hit after being plunked six times and walked eight others. Take away that game and the Bruins belted nearly .350 in the tournament.
Six batters in the lineup hit better than .300, while Ross Bogard went 10 of 22 with six RBI and seven runs scored. Matt Rugger batted .400 with four RBI and six runs. Rugger reached base all six times on Monday.
The biggest run producer by far was Mark Turpin who drove in 10 runs and scored nine more while batting .304. Turpin had a home run and four doubles. Leadoff man Justin Treece beltedtwo home runs and drove in five while hitting .368. D.J.
Baxendale rallied from a slow start at the plate to hit .333 and score eight times, and Thornton batted .316 with six RBI.
If there was a disturbing trend last weekend it was Sylvan Hills’ failure to capitalize as much as it might have, stranding 57 runners over five games. But given the sheer number of Bruins on the base paths, that may not be as troubling as it sounds.
Defensively, Sylvan Hills was solid, especially given the exhaustion and fatigue of playing five games over five scorching days.
The Bruins committed only nine miscues and allowed only four unearned runs.
But it is pitching and pitching depth that will prove critical at state. Sylvan Hills has two bonafide aces in Baxendale and Blaine Sims. Baxendale turned in the performance of the tournament last weekend when he thoroughly shut down a North Little Rock lineup that features almost no weaknesses. Baxendale fanned 17 in a 2-hit shutout of the Colts.
Earlier this season, Sims struck out 18 in a game, and followed that performance by striking out 12. Sims fanned eight over six innings in a second-round game against Russellville last Friday.
Bogard shut down a good Cabot Community Bank lineup on Sunday, allowing no earned runs and only four hits in seven innings. Bromley can also call on Brandon Chastain — the opening-round winner in a 9-strikeout performance against Sylvan Hills No. 2 — Chris Eastham, who won the title game against Russellville, as well as Nathan Eller in relief.
The Bruins’ staff allowed only seven earned runs over 39 innings and a .178 batting average.
Fayetteville drew the top seed for the tourney and got a bye into the second round. It and Bryant, which won state last year as well as the regional title, have to be considered among the favorites.
The Blacksox (42-8) have most of last year’s team back, though they lost staff ace Aaron Davidson. Still, they feature a couple of aces in Trent Daniel and Tyler Sawyer and a power hitter in David Guarno. Guarno hit four home runs during the zone tournament last weekend.
Fayetteville is stronger this year by virtue of Springdale’s decision not to field an American Legion team. As a result, the Fayetteville Legion team this season draws from Har-ber High School and also features several current Arkansas-Fort Smith players.
Their best all-around player is Fayetteville High’s Taylor Shaddy, who not only shut out Fort Smith over five innings in the tournament, but belted two home runs and drove in five.
Other key offensive components are Colton West, who leads the team in average, and Christian Allen. Their power comes from Cameron Walker, Garrett Meyer, Aaron Bowen, Andrew Thames and Shaddy.
Jonesboro also brings frightening credentials into the tourney, having outscored its opponents 68-8 in steamrolling through the Zone 2 Tournament last week. Jonesboro (33-9) got a 1-hitter from Cade Lynch (7-0) in the title game against Searcy. The
Ricemen also feature a potent lineup, which includes Jacob Lee, Billy Ninemier, Brant Arender, Dustin Jones and Kevin Burgi, among others.
Leader sports editor
As impressive as Sylvan Hills was in running through the competition at the Zone 3 Senior tournament last weekend, things are about to get a whole lot tougher.
Not that Zone 3 isn’t a pretty stout league itself. Nothing drives that home more than the fact that a very solid North Little Rock Colts team qualified for this weekend’s state tournament only by virtue of being its host.
The Bruins began American Legion state tournament play yesterday morning at Burns Park by beating Little Rock Blue 9-1.
Sylvan Hills is trying to follow in the footsteps of its high school counterparts, who won the 6A state title in May.
The Bruins feature as many as six batters in their lineup from that Bears team that rallied from three runs down in the final inning at Baum Stadium to beat Watson Chapel for the championship. Add to that a mix of former players, and you have a team as solid as any other at Burns this weekend.
But there are some formidable foes among the entrants, including defending state and regional champ Bryant, 3-time defending high school champ Fayetteville, and perennial powers Jonesboro, Searcy and Fort Smith. Russellville, Little Rock Blue and North Little Rock round out the bracket.
Sylvan Hills head coach Mike Bromley, though, seemed confident after the Bruins dispatched Russellville with relative ease on Monday evening to win the zone championship and finish off an unbeaten run through the tournament.
“We’ve said all along that if we get everybody here we’d be pretty tough,” Bromley said. “And they’re clicking on all cylinders right now. If we go and play like we’re playing right now, we’ve got a good shot.”
If the Bruins can continue their offensive trend from the zone tournament — and make no mistake that the pitching is about to get a lot better — it’s easy to understand Bromley’s high hopes. Sylvan Hills averaged nearly 12 runs a game over five games and hit .313.
That includes a 5-hit game in the opener against Sylvan Hills 2, a game in which the Bruins received precious few pitches to hit after being plunked six times and walked eight others. Take away that game and the Bruins belted nearly .350 in the tournament.
Six batters in the lineup hit better than .300, while Ross Bogard went 10 of 22 with six RBI and seven runs scored. Matt Rugger batted .400 with four RBI and six runs. Rugger reached base all six times on Monday.
The biggest run producer by far was Mark Turpin who drove in 10 runs and scored nine more while batting .304. Turpin had a home run and four doubles. Leadoff man Justin Treece beltedtwo home runs and drove in five while hitting .368. D.J.
Baxendale rallied from a slow start at the plate to hit .333 and score eight times, and Thornton batted .316 with six RBI.
If there was a disturbing trend last weekend it was Sylvan Hills’ failure to capitalize as much as it might have, stranding 57 runners over five games. But given the sheer number of Bruins on the base paths, that may not be as troubling as it sounds.
Defensively, Sylvan Hills was solid, especially given the exhaustion and fatigue of playing five games over five scorching days.
The Bruins committed only nine miscues and allowed only four unearned runs.
But it is pitching and pitching depth that will prove critical at state. Sylvan Hills has two bonafide aces in Baxendale and Blaine Sims. Baxendale turned in the performance of the tournament last weekend when he thoroughly shut down a North Little Rock lineup that features almost no weaknesses. Baxendale fanned 17 in a 2-hit shutout of the Colts.
Earlier this season, Sims struck out 18 in a game, and followed that performance by striking out 12. Sims fanned eight over six innings in a second-round game against Russellville last Friday.
Bogard shut down a good Cabot Community Bank lineup on Sunday, allowing no earned runs and only four hits in seven innings. Bromley can also call on Brandon Chastain — the opening-round winner in a 9-strikeout performance against Sylvan Hills No. 2 — Chris Eastham, who won the title game against Russellville, as well as Nathan Eller in relief.
The Bruins’ staff allowed only seven earned runs over 39 innings and a .178 batting average.
Fayetteville drew the top seed for the tourney and got a bye into the second round. It and Bryant, which won state last year as well as the regional title, have to be considered among the favorites.
The Blacksox (42-8) have most of last year’s team back, though they lost staff ace Aaron Davidson. Still, they feature a couple of aces in Trent Daniel and Tyler Sawyer and a power hitter in David Guarno. Guarno hit four home runs during the zone tournament last weekend.
Fayetteville is stronger this year by virtue of Springdale’s decision not to field an American Legion team. As a result, the Fayetteville Legion team this season draws from Har-ber High School and also features several current Arkansas-Fort Smith players.
Their best all-around player is Fayetteville High’s Taylor Shaddy, who not only shut out Fort Smith over five innings in the tournament, but belted two home runs and drove in five.
Other key offensive components are Colton West, who leads the team in average, and Christian Allen. Their power comes from Cameron Walker, Garrett Meyer, Aaron Bowen, Andrew Thames and Shaddy.
Jonesboro also brings frightening credentials into the tourney, having outscored its opponents 68-8 in steamrolling through the Zone 2 Tournament last week. Jonesboro (33-9) got a 1-hitter from Cade Lynch (7-0) in the title game against Searcy. The
Ricemen also feature a potent lineup, which includes Jacob Lee, Billy Ninemier, Brant Arender, Dustin Jones and Kevin Burgi, among others.
SPORTS>> Former Lady Devil returns
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Jacksonville Lady Red Devil volleyball practices are nothing new to Justine Rial.
But when the 2008 Lady Devils take to the court for the first time on Monday, Rial will be on the other side of the whistle.
The Williams Baptist College graduate takes over this fall as the new Lady Red Devil volleyball coach.
Rial was a three-sport star for the Lady Red Devils from 2002-’04. Most of her accolades came from her play as a left fielder for the JHS softball team, but she was also an integral part of the volleyball and basketball teams.
Recent vacancies in the Lady Red Devil coaching staff coincided with Rial’s return to her hometown with a physical-education degree in hand. Rial will also serve as an assistant softball coach.
She says that her new gig is the first real job she’s ever had, and really the only one she ever wants to apply for.
“I want to stay in coaching,” Rial said. “I don’t think I would ever want to get into being an athletic director or anything like that. Just going from student to coach here will be a big transition, but I think growing up here in Jacksonville gives me a big advantage. I’m actually going to be coaching a few kids that I used to go to daycare with.”
Although she will be heavily involved in the Lady Devil varsity sports program, her primary job through the day will be as a physical-education teacher at the elementary school.
“Sports draws me in like nothing else,” Rial said. “There’s nothing else I ever wanted to do. Like when you see a little kid in a fire shirt that wants to be a fireman when he grows up, that was me with athletics.”
Rial’s accomplishments as a player at Jacksonville included All-Conference for softball her sophomore through senior years, with an All-State nod her senior year. That led to a scholarship with the Lady Eagles, where she played volleyball and softball.
Her career as a college volleyball player ended after only one season, but she went on to earn All-American Midwest Conference honors for four years in softball.
She finished up her education with a brief student-teaching stint at Hoxie, and from there, went back to the place she knew she wanted to coach since age eight — Jacksonville.
Rial is a self-proclaimed sports junkie so it’s no surprise that her daily routine might include everything from church-league softball to fishing and hiking, and even ultimate Frisbee. Being in the rural setting of Walnut Ridge also introduced her to the world of deer hunting.
“That’s what happens when you go to a small college for four years,” Rial quipped.
Rial’s return refilled an empty nest for her mother Maria, who recently sent Justine’s brother Addison off to Southwest
Assemblies of God University, more commonly known as SAGU, in Waxahachie, Texas. She plans on living with her mother again until she is able to purchase a house.
She got to meet with her new team last week. She’s anxious to see what’s in store athletically with the group, but is already impressed with their grades and attention to detail.
“They’re young, but they seem to be really aware,” Rial said. “Over half the team is sophomores, but we also have a good group of seniors and juniors. The 10th graders seemed to be a good group as well, and I’m excited about getting those girls out there, and hopefully they will keep getting stronger and stronger as the year goes on.
“The best thing is that most of them have really good GPAs, so we won’t have to worry about who’s eligible, who’s ineligible, and that kind of thing.”
She will have three full weeks to get the team ready before preseason tri-matches begin on Aug. 25.
The Lady Red Devils will take part in a tri-match at Beebe that Monday, and will travel to Hot Springs Lakeside the following day for another tri-match against Lakeside and Mt. Saint Mary. Their first home match will be Aug. 28 against 5A powerhouse Greenbrier, and conference play will start with an away match at Parkview on Sept. 2.
Leader sportswriter
Jacksonville Lady Red Devil volleyball practices are nothing new to Justine Rial.
But when the 2008 Lady Devils take to the court for the first time on Monday, Rial will be on the other side of the whistle.
The Williams Baptist College graduate takes over this fall as the new Lady Red Devil volleyball coach.
Rial was a three-sport star for the Lady Red Devils from 2002-’04. Most of her accolades came from her play as a left fielder for the JHS softball team, but she was also an integral part of the volleyball and basketball teams.
Recent vacancies in the Lady Red Devil coaching staff coincided with Rial’s return to her hometown with a physical-education degree in hand. Rial will also serve as an assistant softball coach.
She says that her new gig is the first real job she’s ever had, and really the only one she ever wants to apply for.
“I want to stay in coaching,” Rial said. “I don’t think I would ever want to get into being an athletic director or anything like that. Just going from student to coach here will be a big transition, but I think growing up here in Jacksonville gives me a big advantage. I’m actually going to be coaching a few kids that I used to go to daycare with.”
Although she will be heavily involved in the Lady Devil varsity sports program, her primary job through the day will be as a physical-education teacher at the elementary school.
“Sports draws me in like nothing else,” Rial said. “There’s nothing else I ever wanted to do. Like when you see a little kid in a fire shirt that wants to be a fireman when he grows up, that was me with athletics.”
Rial’s accomplishments as a player at Jacksonville included All-Conference for softball her sophomore through senior years, with an All-State nod her senior year. That led to a scholarship with the Lady Eagles, where she played volleyball and softball.
Her career as a college volleyball player ended after only one season, but she went on to earn All-American Midwest Conference honors for four years in softball.
She finished up her education with a brief student-teaching stint at Hoxie, and from there, went back to the place she knew she wanted to coach since age eight — Jacksonville.
Rial is a self-proclaimed sports junkie so it’s no surprise that her daily routine might include everything from church-league softball to fishing and hiking, and even ultimate Frisbee. Being in the rural setting of Walnut Ridge also introduced her to the world of deer hunting.
“That’s what happens when you go to a small college for four years,” Rial quipped.
Rial’s return refilled an empty nest for her mother Maria, who recently sent Justine’s brother Addison off to Southwest
Assemblies of God University, more commonly known as SAGU, in Waxahachie, Texas. She plans on living with her mother again until she is able to purchase a house.
She got to meet with her new team last week. She’s anxious to see what’s in store athletically with the group, but is already impressed with their grades and attention to detail.
“They’re young, but they seem to be really aware,” Rial said. “Over half the team is sophomores, but we also have a good group of seniors and juniors. The 10th graders seemed to be a good group as well, and I’m excited about getting those girls out there, and hopefully they will keep getting stronger and stronger as the year goes on.
“The best thing is that most of them have really good GPAs, so we won’t have to worry about who’s eligible, who’s ineligible, and that kind of thing.”
She will have three full weeks to get the team ready before preseason tri-matches begin on Aug. 25.
The Lady Red Devils will take part in a tri-match at Beebe that Monday, and will travel to Hot Springs Lakeside the following day for another tri-match against Lakeside and Mt. Saint Mary. Their first home match will be Aug. 28 against 5A powerhouse Greenbrier, and conference play will start with an away match at Parkview on Sept. 2.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
TOP STORY > >Many check cashers here are still holding on
Although nearly half of the payday lending businesses located in Arkansas have closed under pressure in the last two years, nearly all the lenders based in Jacksonville, Gravel Ridge, Sherwood, Lonoke, Cabot and Searcy remain open, according to a study released on Wednesday by Arkansans Against Abusive Payday Lending.
Attorney General Dustin Mc-Daniel served notice that his office would not tolerate usurious loans many times the state’s 17 percent usury limit, sending cease-and- desist letters to 156 storefront operations March 18.
Since then, 101 lenders have closed their doors.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one lender predicted “all stores will be closed in 12 to 18 months.”
The attorney general’s action followed two Arkansas Supreme Court decisions (one in January 2008 and another in February 2008) indicating that payday lenders charging triple-digit interest rates were violating the Arkansas Constitution’s usury limit for consumer loans; the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act; and the rules and regulations of the Arkansas State Board of Collection Agencies.
Overall, the number of payday lenders in Arkansas has shrunk by 43 percent since McDaniel’s March order—from 237 to 136.
The 136 still in operation include the 55 operating in defiance of Attorney General McDaniel’s order, and 81 that currently operate outside of state regulation.
McDaniel and his staff have said these 81 will face scrutiny and potential action given the Attorney General’s long-term goal that all payday lenders in Arkansas cease operations.
“We certainly commend him for deciding to crack down on these lenders,” said Michael Rowett, a consumer advocate. “Of the 156 (outlets sent letters), 101 have stopped making loans.” I’m disappointed that the industry leaders refuse to recognize the clear, unmistakable signals that it’s no longer business as usual in Arkansas.”
“We’re pretty satisfied,” said Justin Allen, chief deputy attorney general Friday afternoon. “It could be better but it could be a lot worse. The vast majority have at least quit that operation, but there’s still plenty to be done.
“As a general matter, those who surrendered their licenses have quit working,” he said. “Most are out of business.”
Allen said there would be more lawsuits in the next few weeks targeting the lenders who got letters but are trying to skirt the law. Typically, a customer would write a $400 postdated check to a payday lender, then receive $350 cash, with the lender keeping the balance. The $50 interest on a two-week, $350 loan is equivalent to 371 percent annual interest rate.
SHAPESHIFTING LENDERS
“Many of these stores call what they’re doing ‘restructuring’; we call it a masquerade,” Rowett said. “We are confident that like the 101 others targeted by the attorney general, these 55 eventually will be shut down, but unfortunately, more consumers will be victimized in the meantime.”
The 55 defiant payday-lending stores are using four business models in an effort to evade the attorney general’s order.
Forty of them are using the money order scheme, said Rowett. Loans are issued as a corporate check or money order, with borrowers coerced into cashing it at the payday lender’s for a 10 percent fee, which translates into a triple-digit annual interest rate.
Eight more stores pose as credit-services organizations where, in Rowett’s words, “A payday lender, for a large fee, “finds” a loan from another lender to “fund” the loan for the borrower. Usually, the payday lender that “finds” the lender and the lender that “funds” the loans are owned by or affiliated with the same individuals or corporate entities.”
Six stores, owned by Jay Breslau and Kelly Breslau, use a model used by 53 unregulated payday-lending outlets operated by W. Cosby Hodges of Fort Smith and Robert Srygley of Fayetteville.
In this model, Arkansas payday lenders obtain a payday lender license from South Dakota and attempt to export that license into Arkansas to grant payday loans to Arkansas consumers in stores located in Arkansas, Rowett said.
The last of the 55 noncompliant stores, owned by Dan Hughes, takes applications in Hope and then drives to Stateline Road in Texarkana, Texas, to complete the transaction.
Those payday lenders not sent cease-and-desist letters by the attorney general’s office were operating without a license and will be targeted later as McDaniel works to close down all payday lenders in the state, according to Allen.
LOCAL LENDERS
In Sherwood, Partners Check Service, 8000 Hwy. 107, surrendered its license April 2.
Cash Now of Arkansas, 3301 E. Kiehl Ave., is making so-called “credit services organization” loans, while nearby Cash Advance, 3901 E. Kiehl Ave., was sent an order to cease and desist by the attorney general.
In Jacksonville, three of the four payday lenders were not sent letters by the state Attorney General’s Office, and remain open.
They are First American Cash Advance, 2126 North 1st St, American Check Cashers, 912 West Main St., and American Check Cashers, 509 J.P. Loop Road.
Advance America, 2021 1st St., remains open, listed as servicing money-order payday loans. There are two lawsuits pending against it.
The only Gravel Ridge payday lender, Cash Mart, 14208 Hwy. 107 North, surrendered its license April 16.
In Lonoke, Simpson’s Buy and Sell, 405 North Center St., surrendered its license on April 28.
The only Cabot lender, Cash Now of Arkansas, 100 Northport Drive, is operating as a credit-services organization making payday loans.
Of the four payday lenders in White County, all of them in Searcy and all on Race Street, Advance America, 2502 E. Race St., is open, as a money-order payday lender.
Payday Now, at 2137 E. Race street, surrendered its license April 14.
The attorney general’s office didn’t send letters to the other two—First American Cash Ad-vance of 3511 E. Race St. and American Check Cashers, 2714 E. Race St.
Attorney General Dustin Mc-Daniel served notice that his office would not tolerate usurious loans many times the state’s 17 percent usury limit, sending cease-and- desist letters to 156 storefront operations March 18.
Since then, 101 lenders have closed their doors.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one lender predicted “all stores will be closed in 12 to 18 months.”
The attorney general’s action followed two Arkansas Supreme Court decisions (one in January 2008 and another in February 2008) indicating that payday lenders charging triple-digit interest rates were violating the Arkansas Constitution’s usury limit for consumer loans; the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act; and the rules and regulations of the Arkansas State Board of Collection Agencies.
Overall, the number of payday lenders in Arkansas has shrunk by 43 percent since McDaniel’s March order—from 237 to 136.
The 136 still in operation include the 55 operating in defiance of Attorney General McDaniel’s order, and 81 that currently operate outside of state regulation.
McDaniel and his staff have said these 81 will face scrutiny and potential action given the Attorney General’s long-term goal that all payday lenders in Arkansas cease operations.
“We certainly commend him for deciding to crack down on these lenders,” said Michael Rowett, a consumer advocate. “Of the 156 (outlets sent letters), 101 have stopped making loans.” I’m disappointed that the industry leaders refuse to recognize the clear, unmistakable signals that it’s no longer business as usual in Arkansas.”
“We’re pretty satisfied,” said Justin Allen, chief deputy attorney general Friday afternoon. “It could be better but it could be a lot worse. The vast majority have at least quit that operation, but there’s still plenty to be done.
“As a general matter, those who surrendered their licenses have quit working,” he said. “Most are out of business.”
Allen said there would be more lawsuits in the next few weeks targeting the lenders who got letters but are trying to skirt the law. Typically, a customer would write a $400 postdated check to a payday lender, then receive $350 cash, with the lender keeping the balance. The $50 interest on a two-week, $350 loan is equivalent to 371 percent annual interest rate.
SHAPESHIFTING LENDERS
“Many of these stores call what they’re doing ‘restructuring’; we call it a masquerade,” Rowett said. “We are confident that like the 101 others targeted by the attorney general, these 55 eventually will be shut down, but unfortunately, more consumers will be victimized in the meantime.”
The 55 defiant payday-lending stores are using four business models in an effort to evade the attorney general’s order.
Forty of them are using the money order scheme, said Rowett. Loans are issued as a corporate check or money order, with borrowers coerced into cashing it at the payday lender’s for a 10 percent fee, which translates into a triple-digit annual interest rate.
Eight more stores pose as credit-services organizations where, in Rowett’s words, “A payday lender, for a large fee, “finds” a loan from another lender to “fund” the loan for the borrower. Usually, the payday lender that “finds” the lender and the lender that “funds” the loans are owned by or affiliated with the same individuals or corporate entities.”
Six stores, owned by Jay Breslau and Kelly Breslau, use a model used by 53 unregulated payday-lending outlets operated by W. Cosby Hodges of Fort Smith and Robert Srygley of Fayetteville.
In this model, Arkansas payday lenders obtain a payday lender license from South Dakota and attempt to export that license into Arkansas to grant payday loans to Arkansas consumers in stores located in Arkansas, Rowett said.
The last of the 55 noncompliant stores, owned by Dan Hughes, takes applications in Hope and then drives to Stateline Road in Texarkana, Texas, to complete the transaction.
Those payday lenders not sent cease-and-desist letters by the attorney general’s office were operating without a license and will be targeted later as McDaniel works to close down all payday lenders in the state, according to Allen.
LOCAL LENDERS
In Sherwood, Partners Check Service, 8000 Hwy. 107, surrendered its license April 2.
Cash Now of Arkansas, 3301 E. Kiehl Ave., is making so-called “credit services organization” loans, while nearby Cash Advance, 3901 E. Kiehl Ave., was sent an order to cease and desist by the attorney general.
In Jacksonville, three of the four payday lenders were not sent letters by the state Attorney General’s Office, and remain open.
They are First American Cash Advance, 2126 North 1st St, American Check Cashers, 912 West Main St., and American Check Cashers, 509 J.P. Loop Road.
Advance America, 2021 1st St., remains open, listed as servicing money-order payday loans. There are two lawsuits pending against it.
The only Gravel Ridge payday lender, Cash Mart, 14208 Hwy. 107 North, surrendered its license April 16.
In Lonoke, Simpson’s Buy and Sell, 405 North Center St., surrendered its license on April 28.
The only Cabot lender, Cash Now of Arkansas, 100 Northport Drive, is operating as a credit-services organization making payday loans.
Of the four payday lenders in White County, all of them in Searcy and all on Race Street, Advance America, 2502 E. Race St., is open, as a money-order payday lender.
Payday Now, at 2137 E. Race street, surrendered its license April 14.
The attorney general’s office didn’t send letters to the other two—First American Cash Ad-vance of 3511 E. Race St. and American Check Cashers, 2714 E. Race St.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
EDITORIAL >>Slide worsens for Hardin
Lu Hardin fans, and their numbers were legion at least until this summer, must be hoping that the endless unraveling of the bonus scandal at the University of Central Arkansas is finally approaching an end. What else can we possibly learn about the secret gratuities to the president?
Last week’s revelations were enough, worse in fact than the greed and multiple illegalities that came to light a month ago. It turns out that President Hardin faked a memorandum to the college’s board of trustees from his three top administrators that made the case for handing him a $300,000 bonus and putting aside another $150,000 every year as deferred compensation on top of his annual salary, which is $253,000 and rising. The names of the administrators were affixed to the bottom of the memo, but without their actual signatures. Jack Gillean, the vice president for administration and one of the putative authors of the memo, was quoted in it as saying that he had drafted a settlement with the university’s previous president and would do the same for Hardin’s secret stipends.
When one of the trustees released the memo last week, all three were shocked. They said they had nothing to do with it and in fact disagreed with its conclusions. Hardin apologized for writing the memo and for making it appear that the others were the authors.
Oh, the memo also said all the petty deeds, including raiding college cash funds intended to provide student services to pay the stipends, could be accomplished without a recorded vote by the board and without anyone outside the board and the insiders ever finding out about them. The memo said an attorney for the University of Arkansas had advised the group that since the extra cash would be deferred compensation rather than actual salary, it would be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, which requires formal action and disclosure of financial transactions. No one has yet demanded to know the name of the U of A attorney and why he was consulted for legal opinion rather than UCA’s own attorneys. Gillean himself is an attorney and formerly was UCA’s general counsel. Our guess is that no U of A attorney will acknowledge giving such absurd advice and that he, too, is fiction.
Hardin has been effusive in his apologies every time another shoe has dropped, starting with his lies to reporters who had heard rumors of a secret pay raise. He should never have denied it and he was deeply sorry, he said. The trustees have been just as regretful for their roles. Is that enough?
We said the sham memo from administrators was worse than actually granting the lagniappe and the violations of at least three laws (and perhaps the state ethics code as well) in accomplishing it. Here’s why: A university that does not prize academic integrity is lost. Faculty members who counterfeit their credentials or research are ordinarily fired. Students who purloin the work of others or submit bogus research get a zero at best and may be expelled from school. That actually is the practice at Lu Hardin’s school. Can he and the trustees set a lower standard for themselves?
Last week’s revelations were enough, worse in fact than the greed and multiple illegalities that came to light a month ago. It turns out that President Hardin faked a memorandum to the college’s board of trustees from his three top administrators that made the case for handing him a $300,000 bonus and putting aside another $150,000 every year as deferred compensation on top of his annual salary, which is $253,000 and rising. The names of the administrators were affixed to the bottom of the memo, but without their actual signatures. Jack Gillean, the vice president for administration and one of the putative authors of the memo, was quoted in it as saying that he had drafted a settlement with the university’s previous president and would do the same for Hardin’s secret stipends.
When one of the trustees released the memo last week, all three were shocked. They said they had nothing to do with it and in fact disagreed with its conclusions. Hardin apologized for writing the memo and for making it appear that the others were the authors.
Oh, the memo also said all the petty deeds, including raiding college cash funds intended to provide student services to pay the stipends, could be accomplished without a recorded vote by the board and without anyone outside the board and the insiders ever finding out about them. The memo said an attorney for the University of Arkansas had advised the group that since the extra cash would be deferred compensation rather than actual salary, it would be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, which requires formal action and disclosure of financial transactions. No one has yet demanded to know the name of the U of A attorney and why he was consulted for legal opinion rather than UCA’s own attorneys. Gillean himself is an attorney and formerly was UCA’s general counsel. Our guess is that no U of A attorney will acknowledge giving such absurd advice and that he, too, is fiction.
Hardin has been effusive in his apologies every time another shoe has dropped, starting with his lies to reporters who had heard rumors of a secret pay raise. He should never have denied it and he was deeply sorry, he said. The trustees have been just as regretful for their roles. Is that enough?
We said the sham memo from administrators was worse than actually granting the lagniappe and the violations of at least three laws (and perhaps the state ethics code as well) in accomplishing it. Here’s why: A university that does not prize academic integrity is lost. Faculty members who counterfeit their credentials or research are ordinarily fired. Students who purloin the work of others or submit bogus research get a zero at best and may be expelled from school. That actually is the practice at Lu Hardin’s school. Can he and the trustees set a lower standard for themselves?
TOP STORY > >Sherwood to stay with NLR electric
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
North Little Rock will continue to provide electricity for most of Sherwood for the next seven years according to an agreement being hammered out by both cities and end a lawsuit that has been five years in the making.
Monday night, the Sherwood City Council told City Attorney Stephen Cobb to continue working on the agreement with North Little Rock’s attorney.
If a settlement is reached, which seems likely, then Sherwood won’t appeal a recent circuit court decision that said that Sherwood can get its electricity from any provider it wishes, but if the city chooses someone other than North Little Rock, then Sherwood would owe North Little Rock $2 million in franchise fees, plus lose the $600,000 in fees that city is holding. The foundation of the lawsuit started in 2003, when Sherwood allowed First Electric, instead of North Little Rock, to provide electricity to the Millers Crossing subdivision. North Little Rock had been the provider of electricity to most of the city and felt Sherwood broke a contract with North Little Rock when it went with another service provider.
Sherwood felt there was no contract and as a city it could pick providers of its choice. Circuit Judge Tim Fox heard the case earlier this year, and in his order stated that Sherwood did break a contract with North Little and even though the city could pick another electric provider, but if it did, then Sherwood would have to refund about $2 million in franchise fees. The judge also stated that if Sherwood went with another provider, then that provider would either have to buy North Little Rock’s electric infrastructure within the Sherwood city limits or remove the infrastructure. Cobb said that problem with the infrastructure was that North Little Rock had use the Sherwood infrastructure as security on bond issues which won’t be paid off until 2015.
Alderman Butch Davis said Monday that he clearly felt First Electric was the better utility, “but $2 million is $2 million.”
Alderman Charlie Harmon’s fear was that if the city appealed the circuit court order, it may lose what it did win at the circuit court level—permission to choose its own electric provider. “We won that part that we really wanted to win, and it’s my fear that we could lose that ability on appeal. Let’s take the agreement for seven years and then pick who we want.”
The proposed deal has Sher-wood staying with North Little Rock until 2015, and then at that time Sherwood could vote to stay with North Little Rock or go with another provider. Cobb explained that the agreement keeps the status quo in that North Little Rock will continue to provide service to the Sherwood homes it already takes care of, First Electric will maintain their customers within the city and those Sherwood homes serviced by Entergy will stay with Entergy.
Cobb said the agreement would set aside Judge Fox’s order, meaning Sherwood would not owe North Little Rock $2 million in collected franchise fees, and North Little Rock would release $600,000 in fees it has been holding immediately after the agreement is signed.
Cobb also said that Sherwood rates would be the same as North Little Rock’s in-town rates.
“They’ll have a hard time raising rates and getting re-elected,” Alderman Becki Vassar commented about the North Little Rock council, which sets rates. “They won’t be able to raise our rates, without raising their own.”
It was promised that the agreement would also contain wording that makes emergency-repair service more equitable.
Aldermen Vassar and Sheila Sulcer were pleased about that.
“I felt we were a stepchild in the last ice storm,” Vassar said.
Alderman Steve Fender, whose chiropractic office is right across from city hall, said his power was out for two weeks and he couldn’t get hold of anyone in the North Little Rock department. Cobb should bring a completed agreement to the council’s next meeting for the aldermen to approve.
In other council business:
The aldermen approved an ordinance approving the public- facilities board’s action to obtain up to $6.1 million in short-term financing to purchase the 106-acre defunct North Hills Country Club for the city. Sherwood would make the monthly payments out of utility franchise fees it collects. Even though the exact amount that the public-facilities board will actually ask for wasn’t decided, it is estimated that monthly payments on the loan will run around $40,000 a month.
The issue of whether to buy the golf course or not was not in question as the council approved the purchase at a specially called meeting July 21.
Leader staff writer
North Little Rock will continue to provide electricity for most of Sherwood for the next seven years according to an agreement being hammered out by both cities and end a lawsuit that has been five years in the making.
Monday night, the Sherwood City Council told City Attorney Stephen Cobb to continue working on the agreement with North Little Rock’s attorney.
If a settlement is reached, which seems likely, then Sherwood won’t appeal a recent circuit court decision that said that Sherwood can get its electricity from any provider it wishes, but if the city chooses someone other than North Little Rock, then Sherwood would owe North Little Rock $2 million in franchise fees, plus lose the $600,000 in fees that city is holding. The foundation of the lawsuit started in 2003, when Sherwood allowed First Electric, instead of North Little Rock, to provide electricity to the Millers Crossing subdivision. North Little Rock had been the provider of electricity to most of the city and felt Sherwood broke a contract with North Little Rock when it went with another service provider.
Sherwood felt there was no contract and as a city it could pick providers of its choice. Circuit Judge Tim Fox heard the case earlier this year, and in his order stated that Sherwood did break a contract with North Little and even though the city could pick another electric provider, but if it did, then Sherwood would have to refund about $2 million in franchise fees. The judge also stated that if Sherwood went with another provider, then that provider would either have to buy North Little Rock’s electric infrastructure within the Sherwood city limits or remove the infrastructure. Cobb said that problem with the infrastructure was that North Little Rock had use the Sherwood infrastructure as security on bond issues which won’t be paid off until 2015.
Alderman Butch Davis said Monday that he clearly felt First Electric was the better utility, “but $2 million is $2 million.”
Alderman Charlie Harmon’s fear was that if the city appealed the circuit court order, it may lose what it did win at the circuit court level—permission to choose its own electric provider. “We won that part that we really wanted to win, and it’s my fear that we could lose that ability on appeal. Let’s take the agreement for seven years and then pick who we want.”
The proposed deal has Sher-wood staying with North Little Rock until 2015, and then at that time Sherwood could vote to stay with North Little Rock or go with another provider. Cobb explained that the agreement keeps the status quo in that North Little Rock will continue to provide service to the Sherwood homes it already takes care of, First Electric will maintain their customers within the city and those Sherwood homes serviced by Entergy will stay with Entergy.
Cobb said the agreement would set aside Judge Fox’s order, meaning Sherwood would not owe North Little Rock $2 million in collected franchise fees, and North Little Rock would release $600,000 in fees it has been holding immediately after the agreement is signed.
Cobb also said that Sherwood rates would be the same as North Little Rock’s in-town rates.
“They’ll have a hard time raising rates and getting re-elected,” Alderman Becki Vassar commented about the North Little Rock council, which sets rates. “They won’t be able to raise our rates, without raising their own.”
It was promised that the agreement would also contain wording that makes emergency-repair service more equitable.
Aldermen Vassar and Sheila Sulcer were pleased about that.
“I felt we were a stepchild in the last ice storm,” Vassar said.
Alderman Steve Fender, whose chiropractic office is right across from city hall, said his power was out for two weeks and he couldn’t get hold of anyone in the North Little Rock department. Cobb should bring a completed agreement to the council’s next meeting for the aldermen to approve.
In other council business:
The aldermen approved an ordinance approving the public- facilities board’s action to obtain up to $6.1 million in short-term financing to purchase the 106-acre defunct North Hills Country Club for the city. Sherwood would make the monthly payments out of utility franchise fees it collects. Even though the exact amount that the public-facilities board will actually ask for wasn’t decided, it is estimated that monthly payments on the loan will run around $40,000 a month.
The issue of whether to buy the golf course or not was not in question as the council approved the purchase at a specially called meeting July 21.
TOP STORY > >Summer heat will get worse
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
The heat wave that has gripped Arkansas for the past week has claimed the life of a 14-month-old Crittenden County girl and will be around for at least another week.
The toddler was found unresponsive and hot to the touch in a mobile home. Deputies are trying to determine if the girl was left in a car or exposed to the heat in some other manner before they arrived at the mobile home.
A chance of rain late Wednesday and Thursday will cause the midweek high to dip to about 94 degrees, but the heat indices will still be in the triple digits. Temperatures are expected to be back at the century mark over the weekend and heat indices around 110 degrees.
So far in July, highs have hit 100 degrees or higher four times and 95-to-99 degrees eight times. This July is averaging about four degrees hotter than last July, according to the National Weather Service.
For most of the week, the state has been or will be orange or red on NWS maps indicating dangerous heat-index values.
Orange means heat indices are in the 100 to 104 degree. Heat cramps and heat exhaustion are possible with prolonged exposure to the heat.
Red indicates dangerous heat indices in the 105 to 114-degree range. Heat cramps and heat exhaustion are likely with prolonged exposure to the heat, with heat stroke possible.
When weather gets this hot, NWS officials say attention should be turned to the elderly, toddlers and animals.
Capt. Dwayne Boswell of the Cabot Fire Department said, “In the past 30 days we have had a significant increase in responses relating to heat-related illnesses and injuries.”
Shirley Renaud, a Cabot Senior Center volunteer, said so far no one has asked for a cooling center.
“But seniors are welcome to come in to sit, relax and watch television. We even serve lunch. If anyone wants to cool off, they can come here,” Renaud said.
Renaud added that if seniors live in Cabot and need a ride to the center, the center would pick them up if they call ahead of time. The number for the senior center is 843-2196.
NWS officials warn that exertion is dangerous during the hottest part of the day from mid-afternoon to early evening.
People who must be in the heat are reminded to stay hydrated, reduce strenuous activity and to be mindful of the symptoms of heat stress, forecasters said.
Monica Brooks, animal-control officer with the Cabot Animal Shelter, said the shelter has received at least two to three calls a week from concerned residents to rescue pets being left in hot vehicles at store parking lots.
“It’s a top priority of the animal shelter to get the animal out of heat,” Brooks said.
“If we get there before the owner comes to their car. We try to notify the store to get the person to come out to their vehicle,” said Brooks.
Sometimes the shelter responds to a call and the pet owner does not come out of the store.
“If the car is locked, we’ll call the police department to open the vehicle. If the vehicle is unlocked we will open the door to remove the dog,” Brooks said. “We bring the animal to the shelter to cool off and to have water.”
The Jacksonville Animal Shelter has also received many complaints concerning dogs left unattended in parked cars, or left outside in extreme heat. As dogs have no sweat glands, even a short time in a hot environment can be life threatening.
Jacksonville has a city ordinance requiring that any animal left outside unattended should have adequate shelter with a roof, bottom, three sides and adequate ventilation, and if temperatures are extremely high, make sure the animal is in a shaded area and has plenty of fresh water.
According to shelter officials, a dog’s normal body temperature is 39 degrees C (102 F). A dog can withstand a body temperature of 41 degrees for only a very short time before suffering irreparable brain damage or even death.
On a hot summer day, the inside of a car heats very quickly. Even on relatively mild days, with the car parked in the shade and the windows slightly open, temperatures inside the car can rapidly reach well over 100 degrees in only 10 minutes.
Dogs and cats dissipate the heat by panting, but in some conditions, that’s not enough to adequately lower their body temperatures. Excessive panting or drooling, vomiting or seizures could mean the animal is suffering from heat exhaustion.
Contact a veterinarian immediately and try to cool the animal down as soon as possible by moving the pet to a shady or air conditioned area, and applying cool (not cold) water or wet towels to the animal to lower its body temperatures, according to officials at the Jacksonville Animal Shelter.
(Jeffrey Smith of the Leader contributed to this article.)
Leader staff writer
The heat wave that has gripped Arkansas for the past week has claimed the life of a 14-month-old Crittenden County girl and will be around for at least another week.
The toddler was found unresponsive and hot to the touch in a mobile home. Deputies are trying to determine if the girl was left in a car or exposed to the heat in some other manner before they arrived at the mobile home.
A chance of rain late Wednesday and Thursday will cause the midweek high to dip to about 94 degrees, but the heat indices will still be in the triple digits. Temperatures are expected to be back at the century mark over the weekend and heat indices around 110 degrees.
So far in July, highs have hit 100 degrees or higher four times and 95-to-99 degrees eight times. This July is averaging about four degrees hotter than last July, according to the National Weather Service.
For most of the week, the state has been or will be orange or red on NWS maps indicating dangerous heat-index values.
Orange means heat indices are in the 100 to 104 degree. Heat cramps and heat exhaustion are possible with prolonged exposure to the heat.
Red indicates dangerous heat indices in the 105 to 114-degree range. Heat cramps and heat exhaustion are likely with prolonged exposure to the heat, with heat stroke possible.
When weather gets this hot, NWS officials say attention should be turned to the elderly, toddlers and animals.
Capt. Dwayne Boswell of the Cabot Fire Department said, “In the past 30 days we have had a significant increase in responses relating to heat-related illnesses and injuries.”
Shirley Renaud, a Cabot Senior Center volunteer, said so far no one has asked for a cooling center.
“But seniors are welcome to come in to sit, relax and watch television. We even serve lunch. If anyone wants to cool off, they can come here,” Renaud said.
Renaud added that if seniors live in Cabot and need a ride to the center, the center would pick them up if they call ahead of time. The number for the senior center is 843-2196.
NWS officials warn that exertion is dangerous during the hottest part of the day from mid-afternoon to early evening.
People who must be in the heat are reminded to stay hydrated, reduce strenuous activity and to be mindful of the symptoms of heat stress, forecasters said.
Monica Brooks, animal-control officer with the Cabot Animal Shelter, said the shelter has received at least two to three calls a week from concerned residents to rescue pets being left in hot vehicles at store parking lots.
“It’s a top priority of the animal shelter to get the animal out of heat,” Brooks said.
“If we get there before the owner comes to their car. We try to notify the store to get the person to come out to their vehicle,” said Brooks.
Sometimes the shelter responds to a call and the pet owner does not come out of the store.
“If the car is locked, we’ll call the police department to open the vehicle. If the vehicle is unlocked we will open the door to remove the dog,” Brooks said. “We bring the animal to the shelter to cool off and to have water.”
The Jacksonville Animal Shelter has also received many complaints concerning dogs left unattended in parked cars, or left outside in extreme heat. As dogs have no sweat glands, even a short time in a hot environment can be life threatening.
Jacksonville has a city ordinance requiring that any animal left outside unattended should have adequate shelter with a roof, bottom, three sides and adequate ventilation, and if temperatures are extremely high, make sure the animal is in a shaded area and has plenty of fresh water.
According to shelter officials, a dog’s normal body temperature is 39 degrees C (102 F). A dog can withstand a body temperature of 41 degrees for only a very short time before suffering irreparable brain damage or even death.
On a hot summer day, the inside of a car heats very quickly. Even on relatively mild days, with the car parked in the shade and the windows slightly open, temperatures inside the car can rapidly reach well over 100 degrees in only 10 minutes.
Dogs and cats dissipate the heat by panting, but in some conditions, that’s not enough to adequately lower their body temperatures. Excessive panting or drooling, vomiting or seizures could mean the animal is suffering from heat exhaustion.
Contact a veterinarian immediately and try to cool the animal down as soon as possible by moving the pet to a shady or air conditioned area, and applying cool (not cold) water or wet towels to the animal to lower its body temperatures, according to officials at the Jacksonville Animal Shelter.
(Jeffrey Smith of the Leader contributed to this article.)
TOP STORY > >Villines: Fund jail expansion
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior writer
Pulaski County Judge Floyd “Buddy” Villines has a new plan to increase capacity at the Pulaski County Detention Center, he told Jacksonville Rotarians last week.
Villines said that the county could put aside its $1.8 million in 2007 carryover funds—enough to pay off existing capital improvement bonds for the prosecutor’s new offices—then commit funds to pay off about $4.5 million over five years for a new 240-bed medium security unit inside the existing jail fence.
Villines said county revenues were sufficient to pay half of the $2.8 million cost of maintenance and operations and that he hoped Little Rock and North Little Rock could match those funds.
Currently the county lockup can hold 880 inmates from Little Rock, North Little Rock, Jacksonville, Sherwood and unincorporated parts of Pulaski County, but Villines and Sheriff Doc Holladay would like to nearly double that number to 1,530.
He said the jail usually has about 50 inmates sleeping on the floor in addition to the 880 for whom there are beds.
Villines, the Democratic incumbent being challenged by Republican Phil Wyrick in the November general election, has hit dead ends in several previous attempts to fund jail rehabilitation and expansion money, including a dedicated quarter-cent dedicated jail tax voted down in 2006.
Former UALR President Charles Hathaway, chairman of the county’s jail task force, has endorsed the sheriff’s four-step plan.
“Jacksonville, Maumelle and Sherwood are more than paying their share,” said Villines.
But Little Rock and North Little Rock, which provide most of the inmates, have been slow to pay their share, but quick to blame the county, Villines said.
“Little Rock’s still paying what it paid 20 years ago,” said Villines. “Little Rock doesn’t want to pay.”
Villines said architects Taggart and Foster had drawn up the new facility, and after the quorum court approves his plan, he’ll seek bids for construction and also bids for an interest rate on the loan.
Villines also complimented Jacksonville Rotarian Pat O’Brien for reorganizing, after years of chaos, the county clerk’s office.
O’Brien is running unopposed for reelection in November.
The four-step plan calls for finishing repair of the old and unused jail, then moving 160 inmates from the work center to the old jail, which is inside the jail fence.
Villines said that could be completed by October then building the 240-bed barracks-style jail, also within the fence, then finding the funds to reopen the work center at its 240-bed capacity.
The final step is construction of another 240-bed unit for dangerous offenders.
Speaking briefly of the ongoing struggle for control of the Lake Maumelle Watershed, Villines said he favored administering the watershed in the county using subdivision regulations, rather than through zoning, a far-more expensive and intrusive operation.
Lake Maumelle is the primary drinking water reservoir in central Arkansas.
“We don’t have the staff or money to take care of 67 square miles of watershed,” he said. “We can better protect the watershed through subdivision regulation.”
Leader senior writer
Pulaski County Judge Floyd “Buddy” Villines has a new plan to increase capacity at the Pulaski County Detention Center, he told Jacksonville Rotarians last week.
Villines said that the county could put aside its $1.8 million in 2007 carryover funds—enough to pay off existing capital improvement bonds for the prosecutor’s new offices—then commit funds to pay off about $4.5 million over five years for a new 240-bed medium security unit inside the existing jail fence.
Villines said county revenues were sufficient to pay half of the $2.8 million cost of maintenance and operations and that he hoped Little Rock and North Little Rock could match those funds.
Currently the county lockup can hold 880 inmates from Little Rock, North Little Rock, Jacksonville, Sherwood and unincorporated parts of Pulaski County, but Villines and Sheriff Doc Holladay would like to nearly double that number to 1,530.
He said the jail usually has about 50 inmates sleeping on the floor in addition to the 880 for whom there are beds.
Villines, the Democratic incumbent being challenged by Republican Phil Wyrick in the November general election, has hit dead ends in several previous attempts to fund jail rehabilitation and expansion money, including a dedicated quarter-cent dedicated jail tax voted down in 2006.
Former UALR President Charles Hathaway, chairman of the county’s jail task force, has endorsed the sheriff’s four-step plan.
“Jacksonville, Maumelle and Sherwood are more than paying their share,” said Villines.
But Little Rock and North Little Rock, which provide most of the inmates, have been slow to pay their share, but quick to blame the county, Villines said.
“Little Rock’s still paying what it paid 20 years ago,” said Villines. “Little Rock doesn’t want to pay.”
Villines said architects Taggart and Foster had drawn up the new facility, and after the quorum court approves his plan, he’ll seek bids for construction and also bids for an interest rate on the loan.
Villines also complimented Jacksonville Rotarian Pat O’Brien for reorganizing, after years of chaos, the county clerk’s office.
O’Brien is running unopposed for reelection in November.
The four-step plan calls for finishing repair of the old and unused jail, then moving 160 inmates from the work center to the old jail, which is inside the jail fence.
Villines said that could be completed by October then building the 240-bed barracks-style jail, also within the fence, then finding the funds to reopen the work center at its 240-bed capacity.
The final step is construction of another 240-bed unit for dangerous offenders.
Speaking briefly of the ongoing struggle for control of the Lake Maumelle Watershed, Villines said he favored administering the watershed in the county using subdivision regulations, rather than through zoning, a far-more expensive and intrusive operation.
Lake Maumelle is the primary drinking water reservoir in central Arkansas.
“We don’t have the staff or money to take care of 67 square miles of watershed,” he said. “We can better protect the watershed through subdivision regulation.”
TOP STORY > >Austin buys more water
By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer
Austin City Council voted Monday to sign a water purchase agreement with North Pulaski Water Users Association at a lower price, but the same type of agreement it must also sign with Cabot is on hold for another month while the city and the commission that runs Cabot WaterWorks discuss the minimum amount of water Austin would have to buy.
Austin Mayor Bernie Cham-berlain says the city must deal with Cabot until upgrades to Austin’s water system enable the city to buy most of its water from North Pulaski, which offers a better rate of $2.70 per thousand gallons. But she has asked Bill Cypert, secretary and spokesman for the Cabot Water and Wastewater Commission, to come back to the table with a lower minimum purchase than the 31,000 gallons a day in the proposed agreement.
At $3.70 per thousand gallons, Austin would be required to pay Cabot WaterWorks $115 a day, $3,500 a month, whether Austin needed that much water or not. An agreement between Austin and Cabot WaterWorks must be signed by Aug. 28 if
Austin is to continue to buy from Cabot.
During the summer, Austin needs almost 100,000 gallons of water a day. Currently, Cabot and North Pulaski each provide about half. Chamberlain said that although the city will need a second source of water as a backup when most is purchased from North Pulaski, she doesn’t want to pay for 31,000 gallons a day that are not needed.
The agreement with North Pulaski contained a space for the minimum purchase, but Austin gets to set the amount.
The $2.70 per thousand gallons that Austin will now pay North Pulaski is down from $4.05 per thousand, and the new price also includes Austin’s purchase of 51 North Pulaski water customers.
Currently, Cabot supplies the customers in the downtown area of Austin and North Pulaski supplies those across the freeway.
Before North Pulaski can supply the entire Austin system, the six-inch water line under the freeway that connects the two parts of the system must be replaced with an eight-inch line.
A new water tank also is needed, and so far the only work toward the upgrades is the clearing of the site for the tank.
The city has borrowed the estimated $750,000 needed to pay for the work.
Cabot has asked Austin to sign a six-month contract that would be renewed automatically, unless Austin wants out. But Cypert told the council Monday that if Austin needs water in an emergency it will be higher than the wholesale rate of $3.70 per thousand.
“If you want on-demand water, the rate will not be a wholesale rate,” Cypert said. “It will be a commercial rate. That (commercial) rate would be negotiated.”
In other business, the council approved paying $6,000 for a fully equipped police car owned by one of the city’s police officers.
Chamberlain said the odometer on the 2003 Crown Victoria owned by Kyle Matthews showed only 41,000 miles.
The council also approved a low bid of $8,500 from Maxwell Electric for wiring the new fire department across the freeway in front of Cross Creek subdivision.
Additionally, the council approved two low bids for remodeling the donated, underground house next to the new fire station for offices for the fire department and water department: $1,819 from Staley Glass for doors and $5,500 from Perry Siding for architectural shingles and vinyl siding.
Leader staff writer
Austin City Council voted Monday to sign a water purchase agreement with North Pulaski Water Users Association at a lower price, but the same type of agreement it must also sign with Cabot is on hold for another month while the city and the commission that runs Cabot WaterWorks discuss the minimum amount of water Austin would have to buy.
Austin Mayor Bernie Cham-berlain says the city must deal with Cabot until upgrades to Austin’s water system enable the city to buy most of its water from North Pulaski, which offers a better rate of $2.70 per thousand gallons. But she has asked Bill Cypert, secretary and spokesman for the Cabot Water and Wastewater Commission, to come back to the table with a lower minimum purchase than the 31,000 gallons a day in the proposed agreement.
At $3.70 per thousand gallons, Austin would be required to pay Cabot WaterWorks $115 a day, $3,500 a month, whether Austin needed that much water or not. An agreement between Austin and Cabot WaterWorks must be signed by Aug. 28 if
Austin is to continue to buy from Cabot.
During the summer, Austin needs almost 100,000 gallons of water a day. Currently, Cabot and North Pulaski each provide about half. Chamberlain said that although the city will need a second source of water as a backup when most is purchased from North Pulaski, she doesn’t want to pay for 31,000 gallons a day that are not needed.
The agreement with North Pulaski contained a space for the minimum purchase, but Austin gets to set the amount.
The $2.70 per thousand gallons that Austin will now pay North Pulaski is down from $4.05 per thousand, and the new price also includes Austin’s purchase of 51 North Pulaski water customers.
Currently, Cabot supplies the customers in the downtown area of Austin and North Pulaski supplies those across the freeway.
Before North Pulaski can supply the entire Austin system, the six-inch water line under the freeway that connects the two parts of the system must be replaced with an eight-inch line.
A new water tank also is needed, and so far the only work toward the upgrades is the clearing of the site for the tank.
The city has borrowed the estimated $750,000 needed to pay for the work.
Cabot has asked Austin to sign a six-month contract that would be renewed automatically, unless Austin wants out. But Cypert told the council Monday that if Austin needs water in an emergency it will be higher than the wholesale rate of $3.70 per thousand.
“If you want on-demand water, the rate will not be a wholesale rate,” Cypert said. “It will be a commercial rate. That (commercial) rate would be negotiated.”
In other business, the council approved paying $6,000 for a fully equipped police car owned by one of the city’s police officers.
Chamberlain said the odometer on the 2003 Crown Victoria owned by Kyle Matthews showed only 41,000 miles.
The council also approved a low bid of $8,500 from Maxwell Electric for wiring the new fire department across the freeway in front of Cross Creek subdivision.
Additionally, the council approved two low bids for remodeling the donated, underground house next to the new fire station for offices for the fire department and water department: $1,819 from Staley Glass for doors and $5,500 from Perry Siding for architectural shingles and vinyl siding.
TOP STORY > >Kiehl shortcut to open
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
The Brookwood Flyover and the Brookwood exit, which will give northbound Hwy. 67/167 traffic easier access to Kiehl Avenue and Brockington Road, will open early Thursday.
The northbound Brookwood exit is just south of the current northbound Kiehl Avenue exit. That Kiehl Avenue exit will be closed from about 6 to about 11 a.m. Thursday for repairs. “It won’t close until we have the Brookwood exit open,” said Randy Ort, spokesman for the state Highway Department.
He added that the new flyover, which brings traffic to Brookwood and allows vehicles to go left and head south on the frontage road or right to Brockington and Kiehl, will relieve a lot of the traffic congestion on the Kiehl overpass.
Frontage roads running parallel to Hwy. 67/167 from the Wildwood Avenue exit to the Kiehl Avenue exit were made into one-way roads back in June, matching the flow of traffic on the frontage roads from Wildwood to McCain, to anticipate the opening of the flyover, which is similar to the one at McCain.
Ort said the one-way conversion has gone well. “It’s taken a little time for drivers to adjust to the new traffic patterns,” he said.
The work is part of the $42.3 million contract awarded to Weaver-Bailey Contractors in September 2005.
The project includes reconstruction and widening of Hwy. 67/167 from four to six lanes from Wildwood to just north of Kiehl and from McCain Boulevard south to I-40.
The contract also includes the Brookwood flyover and a new Kiehl overpass.
Leader staff writer
The Brookwood Flyover and the Brookwood exit, which will give northbound Hwy. 67/167 traffic easier access to Kiehl Avenue and Brockington Road, will open early Thursday.
The northbound Brookwood exit is just south of the current northbound Kiehl Avenue exit. That Kiehl Avenue exit will be closed from about 6 to about 11 a.m. Thursday for repairs. “It won’t close until we have the Brookwood exit open,” said Randy Ort, spokesman for the state Highway Department.
He added that the new flyover, which brings traffic to Brookwood and allows vehicles to go left and head south on the frontage road or right to Brockington and Kiehl, will relieve a lot of the traffic congestion on the Kiehl overpass.
Frontage roads running parallel to Hwy. 67/167 from the Wildwood Avenue exit to the Kiehl Avenue exit were made into one-way roads back in June, matching the flow of traffic on the frontage roads from Wildwood to McCain, to anticipate the opening of the flyover, which is similar to the one at McCain.
Ort said the one-way conversion has gone well. “It’s taken a little time for drivers to adjust to the new traffic patterns,” he said.
The work is part of the $42.3 million contract awarded to Weaver-Bailey Contractors in September 2005.
The project includes reconstruction and widening of Hwy. 67/167 from four to six lanes from Wildwood to just north of Kiehl and from McCain Boulevard south to I-40.
The contract also includes the Brookwood flyover and a new Kiehl overpass.
TOP STORY > >Facilities key for charter school plans
By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
Two independent efforts are underway to open a charter school in Jacksonville in the fall of 2009. Both parties filed letters of intent with the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) in June and hope to complete the application process by the August 31 deadline.
A group of Jacksonville citizens have been working for more than a year towards opening a charter school. Mike Wilson, one of the organizers, told Rotarians on Monday that the biggest challenge in completing the application by the deadline is finding a suitable facility. The group has aligned with Lighthouse Academies, a Massachusetts-based organization that assists communities wishing to launch a charter school.
The other letter of intent was filed by Buster Lackey of Sherwood and Dave Sanders of Maumelle. The two independent educational consultants plan to open a charter school in 2009 that would initially serve kindergarten through grade 6, with expansion of two grades each subsequent year.
The approval process for securing ADE approval for a charter school is competitive because the number of applicants likely will exceed the number of charter schools allowed by state law. The Arkansas Board of Education will make its decision by the end of the year.
According to Wilson, the Lighthouse Academy would initially serve kindergarten through fifth grade and then add a grade each year. Enrollment would top at 250 the first year and would be open to Jacksonville families as well as those from surrounding geographic areas. If the number of applicants exceeds the number of spaces, students would be selected randomly.
The school’s focus would be college preparation, “heavy, heavy, heavy on academics with strong expectations on discipline – what every parent would want,” Wilson said. “Some thought is that our middle schools are the greatest need, but it is hard to work backwards and add grades. It is easier to deal with little kids and get them on the right track,” than try to bring older students into a highly rigorous program.
Rotarians gathered at their monthly luncheon meeting got a quick lesson on charter school basics from Scott Smith, former legal counsel for the ADE and state Board of Education. Smith recently resigned from his state post to become executive director of the newly formed Arkansas Public Schools Resource Center. According to Smith, the organization, an affiliate of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway and the Walton Family Foundation, was founded to help charter-school applicants navigate the legal and financial complexities of the process. A school district, community leaders, a group of parents or teachers, or private entity may apply.
As Smith explained, one of the key things to understand about charter schools is that they are not private, but part of the public school system. They are supported by taxpayer dollars, at the current rate of $5,789 for each student enrolled at the school. But none of that money can be used for a facility or other capital expenses, so it is up to the group spearheading the effort to come up with building funds. Smith said that the purpose of charter schools is not to replace public schools, but to promote innovation and educational options, while challenging other local schools to improve.
Wilson said that the Jacksonville group will apply for foundation funding once a site is chosen. He asked that anyone who knows of a suitable space to let him know.
“There are several possibilities in town that might be useful and some away from town,” Wilson said after the meeting.
Charter schools first started in New England in the 1970s as a way to improve educational opportunities and try innovative approaches. The concept filtered down to Arkansas in the 1990s, with the first four charter schools opening in 2001. State law grants charter schools with greater flexibility in some aspects of program administration, but are expected to be held to a higher academic standard than other public schools, Smith said. The fact that a charter school’s fate is always in the hands of the state board of education is incentive to succeed.
“All academic performance laws apply – the same as all public schools, but with a charter school, its charter is with the state board and it can be removed at any time,” Smith said.
Critics of charter schools have pointed out that they don’t always deliver on promises of academic excellence.
A 2006 report to the ADE by an independent evaluator found wide variability among Arkansas charter schools on performance on standardized-achievement tests.
One undeniable success story is the KIPP Charter School in Helena, which in its first three years moved its overall score on standardized tests from the 18th percentile to the 80th percentile.
Arkansas state law restricts the number of charter schools allowed to 24. Currently, there are seven vacancies. Smith said he knows of 11 entities working on meeting the end-of-August deadline.
One concern raised at the meeting Monday was a charter school’s impact on existing Jacksonville schools, when the $5,789 per student would shift to the new school away from those already struggling with aging facilities and limited resources.
Others argue that a charter school would be a way to draw students currently in private, parochial or home schools back into the public system.
“The real beauty of a community that is successful in making (a charter school) go is that you are the master of your own fate, with your own school board,” Wilson said. “The result is better-educated kids.”
Leader staff writer
Two independent efforts are underway to open a charter school in Jacksonville in the fall of 2009. Both parties filed letters of intent with the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) in June and hope to complete the application process by the August 31 deadline.
A group of Jacksonville citizens have been working for more than a year towards opening a charter school. Mike Wilson, one of the organizers, told Rotarians on Monday that the biggest challenge in completing the application by the deadline is finding a suitable facility. The group has aligned with Lighthouse Academies, a Massachusetts-based organization that assists communities wishing to launch a charter school.
The other letter of intent was filed by Buster Lackey of Sherwood and Dave Sanders of Maumelle. The two independent educational consultants plan to open a charter school in 2009 that would initially serve kindergarten through grade 6, with expansion of two grades each subsequent year.
The approval process for securing ADE approval for a charter school is competitive because the number of applicants likely will exceed the number of charter schools allowed by state law. The Arkansas Board of Education will make its decision by the end of the year.
According to Wilson, the Lighthouse Academy would initially serve kindergarten through fifth grade and then add a grade each year. Enrollment would top at 250 the first year and would be open to Jacksonville families as well as those from surrounding geographic areas. If the number of applicants exceeds the number of spaces, students would be selected randomly.
The school’s focus would be college preparation, “heavy, heavy, heavy on academics with strong expectations on discipline – what every parent would want,” Wilson said. “Some thought is that our middle schools are the greatest need, but it is hard to work backwards and add grades. It is easier to deal with little kids and get them on the right track,” than try to bring older students into a highly rigorous program.
Rotarians gathered at their monthly luncheon meeting got a quick lesson on charter school basics from Scott Smith, former legal counsel for the ADE and state Board of Education. Smith recently resigned from his state post to become executive director of the newly formed Arkansas Public Schools Resource Center. According to Smith, the organization, an affiliate of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway and the Walton Family Foundation, was founded to help charter-school applicants navigate the legal and financial complexities of the process. A school district, community leaders, a group of parents or teachers, or private entity may apply.
As Smith explained, one of the key things to understand about charter schools is that they are not private, but part of the public school system. They are supported by taxpayer dollars, at the current rate of $5,789 for each student enrolled at the school. But none of that money can be used for a facility or other capital expenses, so it is up to the group spearheading the effort to come up with building funds. Smith said that the purpose of charter schools is not to replace public schools, but to promote innovation and educational options, while challenging other local schools to improve.
Wilson said that the Jacksonville group will apply for foundation funding once a site is chosen. He asked that anyone who knows of a suitable space to let him know.
“There are several possibilities in town that might be useful and some away from town,” Wilson said after the meeting.
Charter schools first started in New England in the 1970s as a way to improve educational opportunities and try innovative approaches. The concept filtered down to Arkansas in the 1990s, with the first four charter schools opening in 2001. State law grants charter schools with greater flexibility in some aspects of program administration, but are expected to be held to a higher academic standard than other public schools, Smith said. The fact that a charter school’s fate is always in the hands of the state board of education is incentive to succeed.
“All academic performance laws apply – the same as all public schools, but with a charter school, its charter is with the state board and it can be removed at any time,” Smith said.
Critics of charter schools have pointed out that they don’t always deliver on promises of academic excellence.
A 2006 report to the ADE by an independent evaluator found wide variability among Arkansas charter schools on performance on standardized-achievement tests.
One undeniable success story is the KIPP Charter School in Helena, which in its first three years moved its overall score on standardized tests from the 18th percentile to the 80th percentile.
Arkansas state law restricts the number of charter schools allowed to 24. Currently, there are seven vacancies. Smith said he knows of 11 entities working on meeting the end-of-August deadline.
One concern raised at the meeting Monday was a charter school’s impact on existing Jacksonville schools, when the $5,789 per student would shift to the new school away from those already struggling with aging facilities and limited resources.
Others argue that a charter school would be a way to draw students currently in private, parochial or home schools back into the public system.
“The real beauty of a community that is successful in making (a charter school) go is that you are the master of your own fate, with your own school board,” Wilson said. “The result is better-educated kids.”
TOP STORY > >Cabot set to form SWAT unit
By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer
Cabot is growing in more than population and businesses. This weekend, Police Chief Jackie Davis told a group of council members assembled for the first budget planning meeting of the year that crime is on the rise and with their approval, he will start two special units in the police department, a sex crime and domestic violence unit and a special response team to deal with especially violent, dangerous or hostage situations.
Two new positions would have to be created for the sex-crime and domestic-violence unit, Davis said, and if he can only have one of those positions approved for the 2009 budget, he wants an officer, preferably a female, to investigate sex crimes.
Davis told the group that also included the mayor, city clerk and several city department heads that since the first of the years, reports of child molestation and sexual assault are up 12 percent over 2007. In that same time period, domestic abuse reports are up 10 percent with a 35 percent increase in arrests, he said.
Davis told the group that it takes a minimum of three days to investigate an accusation that a sex crime has been committed. About 75 percent of the time, the investigator determines that the report is false. Such reports are common during marital disputes, he said, but they must be investigated.
“If we do a great job on the front end, innocent people aren’t arrested, but guilty are,” Mayor Eddie Joe Williams said.
The cost of adding the two positions would be $118,000, $40,000 each for salaries and benefits, $18,000 for equipment and $20,000 for two used cars, not necessarily equipped with police packages.
Both officers would be cross trained in each unit so there would always be someone available to conduct an investigation.
Davis said six to eight police officers would be needed for a Special Response Team (commonly called SWAT which stands for special weapons and tactics).
Three have already been hand-picked by their supervisors for the special training they will need, he said. Putting the team together will take about two years, he said.
To be eligible, officers cannot be new to the department. They must pass physical-fitness tests and they must perform well on the firing range.
Davis assured the council members that the team would not be used for ordinary drug busts. No one will be breaking down doors unless it is necessary, he said.
“We learned a long time ago, you knock on the door and have better luck,” he said.
“We hope to save lives. We don’t want to utilize it anymore than we have to,” the chief said.
Davis said equipment for the team would be about $30,000.
Leader staff writer
Cabot is growing in more than population and businesses. This weekend, Police Chief Jackie Davis told a group of council members assembled for the first budget planning meeting of the year that crime is on the rise and with their approval, he will start two special units in the police department, a sex crime and domestic violence unit and a special response team to deal with especially violent, dangerous or hostage situations.
Two new positions would have to be created for the sex-crime and domestic-violence unit, Davis said, and if he can only have one of those positions approved for the 2009 budget, he wants an officer, preferably a female, to investigate sex crimes.
Davis told the group that also included the mayor, city clerk and several city department heads that since the first of the years, reports of child molestation and sexual assault are up 12 percent over 2007. In that same time period, domestic abuse reports are up 10 percent with a 35 percent increase in arrests, he said.
Davis told the group that it takes a minimum of three days to investigate an accusation that a sex crime has been committed. About 75 percent of the time, the investigator determines that the report is false. Such reports are common during marital disputes, he said, but they must be investigated.
“If we do a great job on the front end, innocent people aren’t arrested, but guilty are,” Mayor Eddie Joe Williams said.
The cost of adding the two positions would be $118,000, $40,000 each for salaries and benefits, $18,000 for equipment and $20,000 for two used cars, not necessarily equipped with police packages.
Both officers would be cross trained in each unit so there would always be someone available to conduct an investigation.
Davis said six to eight police officers would be needed for a Special Response Team (commonly called SWAT which stands for special weapons and tactics).
Three have already been hand-picked by their supervisors for the special training they will need, he said. Putting the team together will take about two years, he said.
To be eligible, officers cannot be new to the department. They must pass physical-fitness tests and they must perform well on the firing range.
Davis assured the council members that the team would not be used for ordinary drug busts. No one will be breaking down doors unless it is necessary, he said.
“We learned a long time ago, you knock on the door and have better luck,” he said.
“We hope to save lives. We don’t want to utilize it anymore than we have to,” the chief said.
Davis said equipment for the team would be about $30,000.
SPORTS>> Cabot comes up game short
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
After scoring 37 runs and belting 45 hits over the first three games of the American Legion senior Zone 3 Tournament last weekend, Cabot Community Bank’s bats finally fell silent.
Sylvan Hills’ Ross Bogard held Cabot to five hits over seven innings and Community Bank’s season came to an end with an 11-
1 loss on Sunday afternoon at Burns Park.
“Give Bogard a lot of credit,” said Cabot head coach Jay Darr. “He threw a lot of pitches and he battled and pitched very well.”
Cabot opened with a cruise past Maumelle on Thursday, but lost a 14-7 slugfest to North Little Rock on Friday night. They bounced back with a 13-11 win over Gwatney Chevrolet on Saturday, but had little left against the Bruins on Sunday.
Sylvan Hills jumped on Community Bank starter Josh Brown for three runs on four hits in the first inning. Cabot answered with its only run of the contest in the second when Jeremy Wilson beat out a bunt, went to second on a wild throw on the play and scored on Powell Bryant’s looping RBI single into shallow right. Cabot had just five more base runners over the final five innings and two of those were cut down on double plays.
Five errors proved too much for Community Bank to overcome. Only four of Sylvan Hills’ runs were earned. Two errors with two outs in the second, followed by singles by Bogard and Hunter Miller pushed the lead to 5-1.
Reliever Sam Bates pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the third and set down the Bruins in order in the fourth. But he ran into trouble in the sixth when a walk, a hit batsman and an error, along with a Matt Rugger single and a D.J. Baxendale double pushed three more runs across.
Meanwhile, Bogard was cruising. He allowed a walk with one out in the third, but a backwards double play turned by first baseman Baxendale ended the inning. Baxendale fielded Bates’ grounder, stepped on first, then threw to shortstop Justin Treece, who put the tag on Burks to complete the twin killing.
Matt Turner singled with one out in the fourth, but third baseman T.C. Squires turned Ty Steele’s slow grounder into a 5-4-3 double play.
Sylvan Hills made it 10-1 with two more unearned runs in the sixth. Miller reached on an error and Clint Thornton was hit with a pitch. Rugger singled to load the bases. Reliever Matt Evans got Nathan Eller to hit into a run-scoring double play, and a passed ball allowed Thornton to come across.
The Bruins ended it in the seventh on Baxendale’s double, a passed ball and Miller’s sacrifice fly.
“In terms of American Legion play, it’s the third year in a row we’ve improved our record,” said Darr, whose club finished 15-13. “And then if you look at the junior squad, they set a win mark for their program, so we’re heading in the right direction. I think baseball is becoming a priority at a younger age in Cabot and it’s trickling down to the Legion programs.
“As far as high school, I know (Panther head coach Jay Fitch) believes he has a state contender next year. If they play up to their potential, they can be great.”
The senior Community Bank hitters appeared to finally reach their potential at the plate throughout much of the tournament, something Darr said he had been waiting for all season.
“I wasn’t surprised by how well we hit it at the tournament,” he said. “I think I was surprised we weren’t hitting it like that all year. It seemed like about three-fourths of the season we weren’t playing up to our talent level. We showed who we were, hitting-wise, in this tournament. I attribute that to guys saying, ‘Hey, this is it, this is our last chance.’”
On Saturday, Community Bank stayed alive after allowing Gwatney to rally from a 6-run deficit to tie it in the fifth. Burks’ 2-run homer in the bottom of the fifth put Community Bank on top for good and they went on to post a 13-11 victory.
Friday night’s contest against high-powered host North Little Rock began as a slugfest and continued that way – for the Colts, anyway. Three Community Bank home runs and a 4-hit performance by Ben Wainright was not enough against the Colts’ 20-hit outburst.
The Colts got to Cabot ace Colin Fuller for three runs in the first, but a 3-run homer by Powell Bryant and a solo shot by Matt Evans in the second staked Cabot to a 4-3 lead.
Fuller settled down to retire seven in a row, including five in a row by strikeout before a 2-out rally touched by controversy allowed the Colts to tie it in the third.
After Travis Bearden singled and Hunter Benton walked, Kyle Thompson hit a short foul pop a few feet down the first base line.
Thompson appeared to stop running and Wainright ran into him as he attempted to make the catch for what would have been the third out of the inning.
Darr protested that it was interference and, still upset after Thompson singled in the tying run, was ejected.
“I felt like it should have been interference because of the contact,” Darr said. “From my conversation with (zone commissioner Gary Davis), if there’s contact, it’s interference. But one play doesn’t win or lose a ballgame. But I felt bad about not being there for the rest of the game.”
The frustration continued for Community Bank when they placed two runners on in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings and failed to score.
Fuller once again settled down to retire five straight after Thompson’s game-tying single in the third, but North Little Rock erupted for five runs on seven hits in the fifth — four of the runs scoring after two were out. The Colts belted three doubles and a triple in the inning.
Community Bank’s offense reawakened in the seventh with four consecutive hits — including a single by Shayne Burgan, a double by Burks and a towering, opposite-field 3-run home run by Bates to cut the lead to 10-7. Wainright greeted reliever Hunter Benton with his fourth hit of the game, but Benton retired the next two and Cabot managed just two hits over the final two innings.
North Little Rock took the drama out of it with three runs in the eighth and another in the ninth.
Leader sports editor
After scoring 37 runs and belting 45 hits over the first three games of the American Legion senior Zone 3 Tournament last weekend, Cabot Community Bank’s bats finally fell silent.
Sylvan Hills’ Ross Bogard held Cabot to five hits over seven innings and Community Bank’s season came to an end with an 11-
1 loss on Sunday afternoon at Burns Park.
“Give Bogard a lot of credit,” said Cabot head coach Jay Darr. “He threw a lot of pitches and he battled and pitched very well.”
Cabot opened with a cruise past Maumelle on Thursday, but lost a 14-7 slugfest to North Little Rock on Friday night. They bounced back with a 13-11 win over Gwatney Chevrolet on Saturday, but had little left against the Bruins on Sunday.
Sylvan Hills jumped on Community Bank starter Josh Brown for three runs on four hits in the first inning. Cabot answered with its only run of the contest in the second when Jeremy Wilson beat out a bunt, went to second on a wild throw on the play and scored on Powell Bryant’s looping RBI single into shallow right. Cabot had just five more base runners over the final five innings and two of those were cut down on double plays.
Five errors proved too much for Community Bank to overcome. Only four of Sylvan Hills’ runs were earned. Two errors with two outs in the second, followed by singles by Bogard and Hunter Miller pushed the lead to 5-1.
Reliever Sam Bates pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the third and set down the Bruins in order in the fourth. But he ran into trouble in the sixth when a walk, a hit batsman and an error, along with a Matt Rugger single and a D.J. Baxendale double pushed three more runs across.
Meanwhile, Bogard was cruising. He allowed a walk with one out in the third, but a backwards double play turned by first baseman Baxendale ended the inning. Baxendale fielded Bates’ grounder, stepped on first, then threw to shortstop Justin Treece, who put the tag on Burks to complete the twin killing.
Matt Turner singled with one out in the fourth, but third baseman T.C. Squires turned Ty Steele’s slow grounder into a 5-4-3 double play.
Sylvan Hills made it 10-1 with two more unearned runs in the sixth. Miller reached on an error and Clint Thornton was hit with a pitch. Rugger singled to load the bases. Reliever Matt Evans got Nathan Eller to hit into a run-scoring double play, and a passed ball allowed Thornton to come across.
The Bruins ended it in the seventh on Baxendale’s double, a passed ball and Miller’s sacrifice fly.
“In terms of American Legion play, it’s the third year in a row we’ve improved our record,” said Darr, whose club finished 15-13. “And then if you look at the junior squad, they set a win mark for their program, so we’re heading in the right direction. I think baseball is becoming a priority at a younger age in Cabot and it’s trickling down to the Legion programs.
“As far as high school, I know (Panther head coach Jay Fitch) believes he has a state contender next year. If they play up to their potential, they can be great.”
The senior Community Bank hitters appeared to finally reach their potential at the plate throughout much of the tournament, something Darr said he had been waiting for all season.
“I wasn’t surprised by how well we hit it at the tournament,” he said. “I think I was surprised we weren’t hitting it like that all year. It seemed like about three-fourths of the season we weren’t playing up to our talent level. We showed who we were, hitting-wise, in this tournament. I attribute that to guys saying, ‘Hey, this is it, this is our last chance.’”
On Saturday, Community Bank stayed alive after allowing Gwatney to rally from a 6-run deficit to tie it in the fifth. Burks’ 2-run homer in the bottom of the fifth put Community Bank on top for good and they went on to post a 13-11 victory.
Friday night’s contest against high-powered host North Little Rock began as a slugfest and continued that way – for the Colts, anyway. Three Community Bank home runs and a 4-hit performance by Ben Wainright was not enough against the Colts’ 20-hit outburst.
The Colts got to Cabot ace Colin Fuller for three runs in the first, but a 3-run homer by Powell Bryant and a solo shot by Matt Evans in the second staked Cabot to a 4-3 lead.
Fuller settled down to retire seven in a row, including five in a row by strikeout before a 2-out rally touched by controversy allowed the Colts to tie it in the third.
After Travis Bearden singled and Hunter Benton walked, Kyle Thompson hit a short foul pop a few feet down the first base line.
Thompson appeared to stop running and Wainright ran into him as he attempted to make the catch for what would have been the third out of the inning.
Darr protested that it was interference and, still upset after Thompson singled in the tying run, was ejected.
“I felt like it should have been interference because of the contact,” Darr said. “From my conversation with (zone commissioner Gary Davis), if there’s contact, it’s interference. But one play doesn’t win or lose a ballgame. But I felt bad about not being there for the rest of the game.”
The frustration continued for Community Bank when they placed two runners on in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings and failed to score.
Fuller once again settled down to retire five straight after Thompson’s game-tying single in the third, but North Little Rock erupted for five runs on seven hits in the fifth — four of the runs scoring after two were out. The Colts belted three doubles and a triple in the inning.
Community Bank’s offense reawakened in the seventh with four consecutive hits — including a single by Shayne Burgan, a double by Burks and a towering, opposite-field 3-run home run by Bates to cut the lead to 10-7. Wainright greeted reliever Hunter Benton with his fourth hit of the game, but Benton retired the next two and Cabot managed just two hits over the final two innings.
North Little Rock took the drama out of it with three runs in the eighth and another in the ninth.
SPORTS>> Cabot comes up game short
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
After scoring 37 runs and belting 45 hits over the first three games of the American Legion senior Zone 3 Tournament last weekend, Cabot Community Bank’s bats finally fell silent.
Sylvan Hills’ Ross Bogard held Cabot to five hits over seven innings and Community Bank’s season came to an end with an 11-
1 loss on Sunday afternoon at Burns Park.
“Give Bogard a lot of credit,” said Cabot head coach Jay Darr. “He threw a lot of pitches and he battled and pitched very well.”
Cabot opened with a cruise past Maumelle on Thursday, but lost a 14-7 slugfest to North Little Rock on Friday night. They bounced back with a 13-11 win over Gwatney Chevrolet on Saturday, but had little left against the Bruins on Sunday.
Sylvan Hills jumped on Community Bank starter Josh Brown for three runs on four hits in the first inning. Cabot answered with its only run of the contest in the second when Jeremy Wilson beat out a bunt, went to second on a wild throw on the play and scored on Powell Bryant’s looping RBI single into shallow right. Cabot had just five more base runners over the final five innings and two of those were cut down on double plays.
Five errors proved too much for Community Bank to overcome. Only four of Sylvan Hills’ runs were earned. Two errors with two outs in the second, followed by singles by Bogard and Hunter Miller pushed the lead to 5-1.
Reliever Sam Bates pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the third and set down the Bruins in order in the fourth. But he ran into trouble in the sixth when a walk, a hit batsman and an error, along with a Matt Rugger single and a D.J. Baxendale double pushed three more runs across.
Meanwhile, Bogard was cruising. He allowed a walk with one out in the third, but a backwards double play turned by first baseman Baxendale ended the inning. Baxendale fielded Bates’ grounder, stepped on first, then threw to shortstop Justin Treece, who put the tag on Burks to complete the twin killing.
Matt Turner singled with one out in the fourth, but third baseman T.C. Squires turned Ty Steele’s slow grounder into a 5-4-3 double play.
Sylvan Hills made it 10-1 with two more unearned runs in the sixth. Miller reached on an error and Clint Thornton was hit with a pitch. Rugger singled to load the bases. Reliever Matt Evans got Nathan Eller to hit into a run-scoring double play, and a passed ball allowed Thornton to come across.
The Bruins ended it in the seventh on Baxendale’s double, a passed ball and Miller’s sacrifice fly.
“In terms of American Legion play, it’s the third year in a row we’ve improved our record,” said Darr, whose club finished 15-13. “And then if you look at the junior squad, they set a win mark for their program, so we’re heading in the right direction. I think baseball is becoming a priority at a younger age in Cabot and it’s trickling down to the Legion programs.
“As far as high school, I know (Panther head coach Jay Fitch) believes he has a state contender next year. If they play up to their potential, they can be great.”
The senior Community Bank hitters appeared to finally reach their potential at the plate throughout much of the tournament, something Darr said he had been waiting for all season.
“I wasn’t surprised by how well we hit it at the tournament,” he said. “I think I was surprised we weren’t hitting it like that all year. It seemed like about three-fourths of the season we weren’t playing up to our talent level. We showed who we were, hitting-wise, in this tournament. I attribute that to guys saying, ‘Hey, this is it, this is our last chance.’”
On Saturday, Community Bank stayed alive after allowing Gwatney to rally from a 6-run deficit to tie it in the fifth. Burks’ 2-run homer in the bottom of the fifth put Community Bank on top for good and they went on to post a 13-11 victory.
Friday night’s contest against high-powered host North Little Rock began as a slugfest and continued that way – for the Colts, anyway. Three Community Bank home runs and a 4-hit performance by Ben Wainright was not enough against the Colts’ 20-hit outburst.
The Colts got to Cabot ace Colin Fuller for three runs in the first, but a 3-run homer by Powell Bryant and a solo shot by Matt Evans in the second staked Cabot to a 4-3 lead.
Fuller settled down to retire seven in a row, including five in a row by strikeout before a 2-out rally touched by controversy allowed the Colts to tie it in the third.
After Travis Bearden singled and Hunter Benton walked, Kyle Thompson hit a short foul pop a few feet down the first base line.
Thompson appeared to stop running and Wainright ran into him as he attempted to make the catch for what would have been the third out of the inning.
Darr protested that it was interference and, still upset after Thompson singled in the tying run, was ejected.
“I felt like it should have been interference because of the contact,” Darr said. “From my conversation with (zone commissioner Gary Davis), if there’s contact, it’s interference. But one play doesn’t win or lose a ballgame. But I felt bad about not being there for the rest of the game.”
The frustration continued for Community Bank when they placed two runners on in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings and failed to score.
Fuller once again settled down to retire five straight after Thompson’s game-tying single in the third, but North Little Rock erupted for five runs on seven hits in the fifth — four of the runs scoring after two were out. The Colts belted three doubles and a triple in the inning.
Community Bank’s offense reawakened in the seventh with four consecutive hits — including a single by Shayne Burgan, a double by Burks and a towering, opposite-field 3-run home run by Bates to cut the lead to 10-7. Wainright greeted reliever Hunter Benton with his fourth hit of the game, but Benton retired the next two and Cabot managed just two hits over the final two innings.
North Little Rock took the drama out of it with three runs in the eighth and another in the ninth.
Leader sports editor
After scoring 37 runs and belting 45 hits over the first three games of the American Legion senior Zone 3 Tournament last weekend, Cabot Community Bank’s bats finally fell silent.
Sylvan Hills’ Ross Bogard held Cabot to five hits over seven innings and Community Bank’s season came to an end with an 11-
1 loss on Sunday afternoon at Burns Park.
“Give Bogard a lot of credit,” said Cabot head coach Jay Darr. “He threw a lot of pitches and he battled and pitched very well.”
Cabot opened with a cruise past Maumelle on Thursday, but lost a 14-7 slugfest to North Little Rock on Friday night. They bounced back with a 13-11 win over Gwatney Chevrolet on Saturday, but had little left against the Bruins on Sunday.
Sylvan Hills jumped on Community Bank starter Josh Brown for three runs on four hits in the first inning. Cabot answered with its only run of the contest in the second when Jeremy Wilson beat out a bunt, went to second on a wild throw on the play and scored on Powell Bryant’s looping RBI single into shallow right. Cabot had just five more base runners over the final five innings and two of those were cut down on double plays.
Five errors proved too much for Community Bank to overcome. Only four of Sylvan Hills’ runs were earned. Two errors with two outs in the second, followed by singles by Bogard and Hunter Miller pushed the lead to 5-1.
Reliever Sam Bates pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the third and set down the Bruins in order in the fourth. But he ran into trouble in the sixth when a walk, a hit batsman and an error, along with a Matt Rugger single and a D.J. Baxendale double pushed three more runs across.
Meanwhile, Bogard was cruising. He allowed a walk with one out in the third, but a backwards double play turned by first baseman Baxendale ended the inning. Baxendale fielded Bates’ grounder, stepped on first, then threw to shortstop Justin Treece, who put the tag on Burks to complete the twin killing.
Matt Turner singled with one out in the fourth, but third baseman T.C. Squires turned Ty Steele’s slow grounder into a 5-4-3 double play.
Sylvan Hills made it 10-1 with two more unearned runs in the sixth. Miller reached on an error and Clint Thornton was hit with a pitch. Rugger singled to load the bases. Reliever Matt Evans got Nathan Eller to hit into a run-scoring double play, and a passed ball allowed Thornton to come across.
The Bruins ended it in the seventh on Baxendale’s double, a passed ball and Miller’s sacrifice fly.
“In terms of American Legion play, it’s the third year in a row we’ve improved our record,” said Darr, whose club finished 15-13. “And then if you look at the junior squad, they set a win mark for their program, so we’re heading in the right direction. I think baseball is becoming a priority at a younger age in Cabot and it’s trickling down to the Legion programs.
“As far as high school, I know (Panther head coach Jay Fitch) believes he has a state contender next year. If they play up to their potential, they can be great.”
The senior Community Bank hitters appeared to finally reach their potential at the plate throughout much of the tournament, something Darr said he had been waiting for all season.
“I wasn’t surprised by how well we hit it at the tournament,” he said. “I think I was surprised we weren’t hitting it like that all year. It seemed like about three-fourths of the season we weren’t playing up to our talent level. We showed who we were, hitting-wise, in this tournament. I attribute that to guys saying, ‘Hey, this is it, this is our last chance.’”
On Saturday, Community Bank stayed alive after allowing Gwatney to rally from a 6-run deficit to tie it in the fifth. Burks’ 2-run homer in the bottom of the fifth put Community Bank on top for good and they went on to post a 13-11 victory.
Friday night’s contest against high-powered host North Little Rock began as a slugfest and continued that way – for the Colts, anyway. Three Community Bank home runs and a 4-hit performance by Ben Wainright was not enough against the Colts’ 20-hit outburst.
The Colts got to Cabot ace Colin Fuller for three runs in the first, but a 3-run homer by Powell Bryant and a solo shot by Matt Evans in the second staked Cabot to a 4-3 lead.
Fuller settled down to retire seven in a row, including five in a row by strikeout before a 2-out rally touched by controversy allowed the Colts to tie it in the third.
After Travis Bearden singled and Hunter Benton walked, Kyle Thompson hit a short foul pop a few feet down the first base line.
Thompson appeared to stop running and Wainright ran into him as he attempted to make the catch for what would have been the third out of the inning.
Darr protested that it was interference and, still upset after Thompson singled in the tying run, was ejected.
“I felt like it should have been interference because of the contact,” Darr said. “From my conversation with (zone commissioner Gary Davis), if there’s contact, it’s interference. But one play doesn’t win or lose a ballgame. But I felt bad about not being there for the rest of the game.”
The frustration continued for Community Bank when they placed two runners on in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings and failed to score.
Fuller once again settled down to retire five straight after Thompson’s game-tying single in the third, but North Little Rock erupted for five runs on seven hits in the fifth — four of the runs scoring after two were out. The Colts belted three doubles and a triple in the inning.
Community Bank’s offense reawakened in the seventh with four consecutive hits — including a single by Shayne Burgan, a double by Burks and a towering, opposite-field 3-run home run by Bates to cut the lead to 10-7. Wainright greeted reliever Hunter Benton with his fourth hit of the game, but Benton retired the next two and Cabot managed just two hits over the final two innings.
North Little Rock took the drama out of it with three runs in the eighth and another in the ninth.
SPORTS>> Gwatney’s long season comes to close in loss
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
In the end it was defense and pitching that let down the Jacksonville Gwatney Chevrolet senior Chevy Boys.
And a whole lot of exhaustion.
Gwatney’s season came to a close with a 13-11 loss to Cabot Community Bank in an elimination game in the American Legion Senior Zone 3 Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Burns Park.
In three games in the tournament, Gwatney allowed 39 runs and committed 16 errors.
“You go through the whole summer missing a lot of your players either because they’re playing on the junior team or they’re off on vacation or they’re injured,” said Gwatney coach Bob Hickingbotham. “Then what you’re hoping for is to get them back two or three weeks before the (zone tournament) and get the team settled down and ready to go.
“That didn’t happen to us. It was injuries and a whole bunch of things. We had four kids with broken bones, and pitchers with bad shoulders.”
Hickingbotham also had a bunch of exhausted, worn-out players who had played a large slate of games over two months — many for both the junior and senior Legion teams. As a result of the rugged schedule, practice time was cut short, which in part accounted for all the defensive breakdowns, Hickingbotham said.
“We had two stints where we played 15 days out of 20,” Hickingbotham said. “We had one stretch where we played 11 straight days. With a 9-week season, in order to get in that many games, you’ve got to have more depth. We had a lot of young kids, and from the middle to the end of the season, we didn’t have enough players to play.”
Still, Hickingbotham said he was proud of the way his kids continued to fight. Twice over two days, the Chevy Boys rallied from large deficits, coming from way back to beat Sylvan Hills Blue on Friday afternoon and stay alive. Against Cabot on Saturday, they gave up eight first-inning runs to fall behind 8-3, and trailed 9-3 before tying the game with six runs in the fifth, aided by Daniel Henard’s 3-run home run.
Drew Burks deflated all that momentum by belting a 2-run home run in the bottom half. Cabot added single runs in the sixth and seventh to extend the lead to 13-9. But even then, Gwatney had life left as Terrell Brown belted a 2-run homer in the eighth to narrow the gap to 13-11. But that would be the final margin.
“I’m proud of the kids because so many times during the year, they could have turned it off completely and they didn’t do that,” Hickingbotham said. “After playing so bad the day before and then playing so bad against Sylvan Hills, we got quite a few hits late (against the Bruins on Friday) that we needed to come back.”
Gwatney jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first with the help of Michael Harmon’s 2-run double, but four Chevy Boys’ errors in the bottom half, along with Ben Wainright’s 2-run home run, allowed Community Bank to score eight runs on just four hits. Matt
Turner’s RBI double in the second pushed the lead to 9-3.
Wainright finished with three hits, three runs and two RBI, while Burks added two hits and two RBI and Ty Steele and Powell Bryant chipped in with two hits each of Cabot’s total of 14.
Gwatney finished with 11 hits, including a single, a double and two RBI by Matt McAnally, a double and two RBI by Harmon, two hits by Adam Ussery, a 2-run homer by Brown and a 3-run homer by Henard. Gwatney committed five errors in the contest.
Gone from next year’s team will be Ussery, Henard, Ricky Tomboli and pitcher Clayton Fenton.
“But we have a lot of kids coming back and we’re expecting big things next year,” Hickingbotham said.
Leader sports editor
In the end it was defense and pitching that let down the Jacksonville Gwatney Chevrolet senior Chevy Boys.
And a whole lot of exhaustion.
Gwatney’s season came to a close with a 13-11 loss to Cabot Community Bank in an elimination game in the American Legion Senior Zone 3 Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Burns Park.
In three games in the tournament, Gwatney allowed 39 runs and committed 16 errors.
“You go through the whole summer missing a lot of your players either because they’re playing on the junior team or they’re off on vacation or they’re injured,” said Gwatney coach Bob Hickingbotham. “Then what you’re hoping for is to get them back two or three weeks before the (zone tournament) and get the team settled down and ready to go.
“That didn’t happen to us. It was injuries and a whole bunch of things. We had four kids with broken bones, and pitchers with bad shoulders.”
Hickingbotham also had a bunch of exhausted, worn-out players who had played a large slate of games over two months — many for both the junior and senior Legion teams. As a result of the rugged schedule, practice time was cut short, which in part accounted for all the defensive breakdowns, Hickingbotham said.
“We had two stints where we played 15 days out of 20,” Hickingbotham said. “We had one stretch where we played 11 straight days. With a 9-week season, in order to get in that many games, you’ve got to have more depth. We had a lot of young kids, and from the middle to the end of the season, we didn’t have enough players to play.”
Still, Hickingbotham said he was proud of the way his kids continued to fight. Twice over two days, the Chevy Boys rallied from large deficits, coming from way back to beat Sylvan Hills Blue on Friday afternoon and stay alive. Against Cabot on Saturday, they gave up eight first-inning runs to fall behind 8-3, and trailed 9-3 before tying the game with six runs in the fifth, aided by Daniel Henard’s 3-run home run.
Drew Burks deflated all that momentum by belting a 2-run home run in the bottom half. Cabot added single runs in the sixth and seventh to extend the lead to 13-9. But even then, Gwatney had life left as Terrell Brown belted a 2-run homer in the eighth to narrow the gap to 13-11. But that would be the final margin.
“I’m proud of the kids because so many times during the year, they could have turned it off completely and they didn’t do that,” Hickingbotham said. “After playing so bad the day before and then playing so bad against Sylvan Hills, we got quite a few hits late (against the Bruins on Friday) that we needed to come back.”
Gwatney jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first with the help of Michael Harmon’s 2-run double, but four Chevy Boys’ errors in the bottom half, along with Ben Wainright’s 2-run home run, allowed Community Bank to score eight runs on just four hits. Matt
Turner’s RBI double in the second pushed the lead to 9-3.
Wainright finished with three hits, three runs and two RBI, while Burks added two hits and two RBI and Ty Steele and Powell Bryant chipped in with two hits each of Cabot’s total of 14.
Gwatney finished with 11 hits, including a single, a double and two RBI by Matt McAnally, a double and two RBI by Harmon, two hits by Adam Ussery, a 2-run homer by Brown and a 3-run homer by Henard. Gwatney committed five errors in the contest.
Gone from next year’s team will be Ussery, Henard, Ricky Tomboli and pitcher Clayton Fenton.
“But we have a lot of kids coming back and we’re expecting big things next year,” Hickingbotham said.
SPORTS>> Bruins capture zone championship
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
Former Chicago Cub great Ernie Banks once famously said on a sunny afternoon, “Let’s play two!”
No one, not even Russellville, was likely relishing the prospect of two games on a hot Monday evening in the championship of the American Legion Senior Zone 3 Tournament at Burns Park. And Russellville needed two games to have a chance at the title.
Though the Mustangs tried to rally from a 6-run first-inning deficit — once narrowing the gap to two and putting the go-ahead run on base — the Sylvan Hills Bruins played add-on late and ran off with a 15-7 victory to claim the zone championship.
Nathan Eller drove in four runs and Ross Bogard drove in two more with three hits. Matt Rugger reached base all six times with four walks and two singles, scoring three times and driving in two.
Russellville came into the game with an earlier loss to Sylvan Hills, which was unbeaten in the tournament, meaning the Mustangs would have had to have won twice on Monday.
Sylvan Hills will be a No. 1 seed when the state tournament gets underway at Burns Park on Friday.
“We’ve said all along that if we get everybody here, we’d be pretty tough,” said Bruins head coach Mike Bromley shortly after the three-hour-and-three-minute slugfest ended.
The Bruins ran through the competition over five scorching days, going 5-0 and rarely being challenged in the process. Their most impressive win came in Saturday night’s 8-0 shutdown of high-powered host North Little Rock, when ace D.J. Baxendale struck out 17 in a 2-hit complete game.
“He had an outstanding performance,” Bromley said. “He threw hard. He was in command. He was dominant against a good lineup.”
The Bruins began the tourney with a 13-2 win over the Sylvan Hills Blue team, then took care of Russellville, 11-1, on Friday.
After cruising past North Little Rock on Saturday, the Bruins had little trouble in Sunday’s 11-1 win over Cabot behind a 4-hit performance by Ross Bogard.
Russellville, which dealt a second consecutive shutout to North Little Rock on Sunday to advance to the championship, came out flat on Monday and the Bruins took full advantage. Bogard and Clint Thornton delivered RBI singles and Nathan Eller a 2-run double in the first as Sylvan Hills raced to a 6-0 lead. The Bruins had an opportunity to drive in the stake but left the bases loaded, a trend that continued throughout the game as they stranded 16 for the game.
Nathan Cathcart came on in relief for the Mustangs and shut down the Bruins over the next four innings, while Russellville began to peck away, scoring single runs in the first and third innings, and two in the fourth off starter Chris Eastham to make it 6-4.
“Chris wasn’t real sharp tonight, but he moved the ball around and kept us in the game,” Bromley said. “He pitched, he didn’t throw.”
The Mustangs made it real interesting when they loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, but Eastham got a strikeout and a pop out to leave them stranded.
Sylvan Hills then got back in business offensively, batting around in the sixth and scoring five runs. Three straight bases-loaded walks accounted for three of the runs, and Justin Treece added a run-scoring single as the Bruins extended the lead to more comfortable 11-6.
Sylvan Hills added runs in the seventh and eighth, then plated two more in the ninth.
Nathan Eller came on in relief of Eastham in the seventh and allowed no hits and a walk over the final 2 2/3 innings. Eastham got the win, going 6 1/3 and giving up 12 hits and five earned runs. He struck out six and walked one.
Four Bruins had seven plate appearances each in a game in which Sylvan Hills pounded out 14 hits, received 10 walks and had five batters hit.
The 16 stranded runners brought to 57 the total number of Bruins left on base over five games, but Bromley hardly seemed concerned.
“We scored a lot of runs, too,” he said.
It wasn’t offense but Baxen-dale’s remarkable performance on the mound that provided Saturday’s storyline. The Colts, coming off a 14-run outburst against Cabot Community Bank on Friday night, struggled all night against Baxendale, who allowed only two hits and walked three while fanning 17.
Garrett Eller’s sacrifice fly in the first provided all the support Baxendale needed. Treece added an RBI single in the second and the Bruins made it 4-0 with two more in the third.
In the fifth, Cody Cormier delivered a 2-run single. The final runs came on Treece’s solo home run in the eighth and Turpin’s double and a passed ball later in the inning.
Baxendale had three hits, while Treece, Thornton and Cormier added two each.
Bogard struck out three and walked three and allowed no earned runs in Sylvan Hills’ win over Cabot on Sunday. Mark Turpin, Baxendale, Bogard, Hunter Miller and Rugger each had two hits for the Bruins.
Turpin finished the tournament with 10 RBI.
Leader sports editor
Former Chicago Cub great Ernie Banks once famously said on a sunny afternoon, “Let’s play two!”
No one, not even Russellville, was likely relishing the prospect of two games on a hot Monday evening in the championship of the American Legion Senior Zone 3 Tournament at Burns Park. And Russellville needed two games to have a chance at the title.
Though the Mustangs tried to rally from a 6-run first-inning deficit — once narrowing the gap to two and putting the go-ahead run on base — the Sylvan Hills Bruins played add-on late and ran off with a 15-7 victory to claim the zone championship.
Nathan Eller drove in four runs and Ross Bogard drove in two more with three hits. Matt Rugger reached base all six times with four walks and two singles, scoring three times and driving in two.
Russellville came into the game with an earlier loss to Sylvan Hills, which was unbeaten in the tournament, meaning the Mustangs would have had to have won twice on Monday.
Sylvan Hills will be a No. 1 seed when the state tournament gets underway at Burns Park on Friday.
“We’ve said all along that if we get everybody here, we’d be pretty tough,” said Bruins head coach Mike Bromley shortly after the three-hour-and-three-minute slugfest ended.
The Bruins ran through the competition over five scorching days, going 5-0 and rarely being challenged in the process. Their most impressive win came in Saturday night’s 8-0 shutdown of high-powered host North Little Rock, when ace D.J. Baxendale struck out 17 in a 2-hit complete game.
“He had an outstanding performance,” Bromley said. “He threw hard. He was in command. He was dominant against a good lineup.”
The Bruins began the tourney with a 13-2 win over the Sylvan Hills Blue team, then took care of Russellville, 11-1, on Friday.
After cruising past North Little Rock on Saturday, the Bruins had little trouble in Sunday’s 11-1 win over Cabot behind a 4-hit performance by Ross Bogard.
Russellville, which dealt a second consecutive shutout to North Little Rock on Sunday to advance to the championship, came out flat on Monday and the Bruins took full advantage. Bogard and Clint Thornton delivered RBI singles and Nathan Eller a 2-run double in the first as Sylvan Hills raced to a 6-0 lead. The Bruins had an opportunity to drive in the stake but left the bases loaded, a trend that continued throughout the game as they stranded 16 for the game.
Nathan Cathcart came on in relief for the Mustangs and shut down the Bruins over the next four innings, while Russellville began to peck away, scoring single runs in the first and third innings, and two in the fourth off starter Chris Eastham to make it 6-4.
“Chris wasn’t real sharp tonight, but he moved the ball around and kept us in the game,” Bromley said. “He pitched, he didn’t throw.”
The Mustangs made it real interesting when they loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, but Eastham got a strikeout and a pop out to leave them stranded.
Sylvan Hills then got back in business offensively, batting around in the sixth and scoring five runs. Three straight bases-loaded walks accounted for three of the runs, and Justin Treece added a run-scoring single as the Bruins extended the lead to more comfortable 11-6.
Sylvan Hills added runs in the seventh and eighth, then plated two more in the ninth.
Nathan Eller came on in relief of Eastham in the seventh and allowed no hits and a walk over the final 2 2/3 innings. Eastham got the win, going 6 1/3 and giving up 12 hits and five earned runs. He struck out six and walked one.
Four Bruins had seven plate appearances each in a game in which Sylvan Hills pounded out 14 hits, received 10 walks and had five batters hit.
The 16 stranded runners brought to 57 the total number of Bruins left on base over five games, but Bromley hardly seemed concerned.
“We scored a lot of runs, too,” he said.
It wasn’t offense but Baxen-dale’s remarkable performance on the mound that provided Saturday’s storyline. The Colts, coming off a 14-run outburst against Cabot Community Bank on Friday night, struggled all night against Baxendale, who allowed only two hits and walked three while fanning 17.
Garrett Eller’s sacrifice fly in the first provided all the support Baxendale needed. Treece added an RBI single in the second and the Bruins made it 4-0 with two more in the third.
In the fifth, Cody Cormier delivered a 2-run single. The final runs came on Treece’s solo home run in the eighth and Turpin’s double and a passed ball later in the inning.
Baxendale had three hits, while Treece, Thornton and Cormier added two each.
Bogard struck out three and walked three and allowed no earned runs in Sylvan Hills’ win over Cabot on Sunday. Mark Turpin, Baxendale, Bogard, Hunter Miller and Rugger each had two hits for the Bruins.
Turpin finished the tournament with 10 RBI.
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