By RICK BUTLER
For The Leader
The Cabot Panthers overcame a slow start here at Panther Stadium on Friday night and overwhelmed the outmanned Little Rock Hall Warriors, 42-6.
The Panthers improved to 3-0 with the victory and will travel to Conway to open 7A-Central conference play next Friday. Hall, a member of the 6A-South, dropped to 1-2 and will host league power West Memphis next week.
A week after a less than stellar performance in a 24-0 victory over Sylvan Hills, the Panthers started slowly again against Hall. Cabot fumbled on its first possession and was in jeopardy of trailing the Warriors as late as the second quarter.
Defensive back Joe Bryant made a big stop on Hall running back Stephon Watson on a 2-point conversion try, though, and the Panthers were never threatened again. Cabot coach Mike Malham used 14 different ballcarriers as the Panthers rolled up 338 yards on the ground in the victory. The Panthers scored three times in the second quarter to put the game out of reach.
“We kind of had our way with them offensively,” Malham said afterward. “The defense looked great last week and the offense really struggled. This week, it was just the opposite. Hall really had us on our heels there when they scored and they had the 2-point conversion that would have put them ahead. You never know what’s going to happen in a football game.”
On paper, it didn’t look like the game should amount to much. By the time the second half began, reality had set in for the Warriors, who ran just 19 plays in the second half, including a punt.
Leading just 7-6 with 9:54 left in the second quarter, the Panthers calmed the angst of the home crowd by driving 66 yards in 12 plays and taking more than five minutes off the clock before senior Chris Bayles burst through the left side for an 18-yard TD run. Joshua Luna added one of his five PAT kicks to make it 14-6.
After forcing a quick Hall punt, Cabot marched 38 yards to add another score. A 12-yard scamper by Bayles and fullback Michael James’ 7-yard run set up quarterback Seth Bloomberg’s 1-yard TD.
The Panthers’ Logan Spry then got the ball back with a pooch kick that was recovered by Justin Wortman at the Warrior 33 with 59 seconds left until the half. James ripped off nine yards on the ground before Bloomberg hit Bayles on an out-and-up for a 24-yard TD. Cabot attempted just two passes on the night, both completions from Bloomberg to Bayles, totaling 31 yards.
Luna’s PAT gave the Panthers a 28-6 lead at the half.
Backup quarterback Nathan Byrnes opened the second half by directing the Panthers on a 63-yard scoring drive, capped by James’ 6-yard run for a 35-6 lead with 8:07 left in the third.
On Hall’s next possession, Warrior quarterback Myron Jackson was sacked by a trio of Panthers on 3rd-and-10 and Cabot took the ensuing punt and started yet another scoring march. Malham used a rotating parade of backs the remainder of the game, with five different backs touching the ball during the Panthers’ final drive. Mitchell Leonard ran two yards with 2:06 left in the third to make it 42-6.
Cabot’s Wesley Sowell started the scoring for the Panthers, capping a 77-yard drive on their second possession of the game with a 39-yard TD run.
Hall matched the touchdown on its next possession when Jackson hit Marland Smith for a 44-yard touchdown.
Each of the Panthers’ starting running backs topped 70 yards in the game. Sowell led the way with 81 yards on 7 carries while Bayles finished with 79 on 11 carries and James carried 13 times for 77 yards. The Panthers used four different quarterbacks in the game.
There’s not much time to celebrate for Cabot, which is ranked second in the state’s largest classification.
“Conway has played better competition so far than we have,” Malham said, “so I don’t think they’re going to be in awe of us or anything. They didn’t play real well the first week (42-3 loss to Bentonville) but they came back and played much better last week (19-7 loss to Fort Smith Southside).
“It’ll be a step up in competition for us, so we’d better be ready to play.”
Saturday, September 20, 2008
SPORTS>>Rabbits rally behind trick play
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Clarence Harris’ only pass attempt and completion of the season so far couldn’t have come at a better time for Lonoke.
The Jackrabbits held on for a 41-38 win over Central Arkansas Christian on Friday at James B. Abraham Stadium. The lead changed hands a total of seven times, with Harris’ 35-yard halfback pass to Michael Howard with 1:20 left to play as the final straw in a furious shootout.
With 1:46 left and facing a 38-34 deficit, the ’Rabbits had little choice but to go to the one who had made most of the big grabs all night, even though he had been taken out of the mix by double-coverage from the CAC secondary for most of the second half.
That move paid off.
Howard pulled down 13-yard and 19-yard receptions from Rollins Elam to quickly get the ball down to the CAC 20, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty moved them back to the 35. That gave Lonoke first and 25, but Elam’s pitch to Harris threw the Mustang defense off, and Howard ran down the right sideline uncovered to pull down the winner.
Jackrabbits coach Jeff Jones was ecstatic after the game, and had plenty of praise for his oddly-named winning play.
“Dr. Pepper — it came through for us, baby,” Jones said. “That’s the name of that play. All night long, we had held them out in the first half, but they just started washing right through us in the second half, and we really didn’t have an answer.
“But a lot of it just frustrated us and we went back to our old selves. We threw the ball away and stuff like that instead of playing like we did in the first half. When they got the lead we realized that we needed to settle down, and we did. This is great. That’s the way championship teams are built right there.
Mustangs first-year coach Tommy Shoemaker didn’t have quite the same enthusiasm.
“They made the play,” Shoemaker said. “It comes down to making plays, and they made one more than we did. Coach Jones did a great job with them and had them ready to play. We had our opportunities and didn’t take advantage of them. You have to do that when you play a good team.”
After struggling through the first half, CAC found momentum to start the second half with a surprise onside kick to get possession at the Lonoke 49-yard line. The Mustangs capitalized seven plays later with a five-yard run by Jaalen Watkins that narrowed Lonoke’s lead to 27-21.
An interception by Cody Reese on the Jackrabbits ensuing drive kept the momentum going for the Mustangs, and Zach Cole cashed in with a 60-yard quarterback scramble that gave CAC a 28-27 lead.
The Mustangs had a shot to go up by two scores on their next drive, but had to settle for a 39-yard field goal by Bryan Ferguson to go up 31-27.
Harris’ big gainer for the night came on the ground with 4:01 left to play. Facing fourth and 2, Harris took the end-around give from Elam, and cut back to the right for a 56-yard touchdown run to give the Jackrabbits a 34-31 lead, its first of the second half.
CAC responded with a 24-yard touchdown scramble by Cole, leaving less than two minutes for the ’Rabbits to respond.
The ’Rabbits owned the first half. Quarterback Rollins Elam threw for 193 yards, and found Howard twice down the left side for long touchdown tosses. Harris had short runs to put the first two scores up for Lonoke, and Elam finished out the half with a 20-yard pass to Howard with 5:27 left in the second quarter, and another moments later from 27-yards out.
Both went down the left side, with the second score set up by an interception by Darius Scott at the Lonoke 26-yard line.
Double coverage by the CAC secondary took Harris out of the mix for the most part in the third and fourth quarters.
Elam finished the game 16 of 39 for 284 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Howard had 12 receptions for 263 yards and three touchdowns. Harris carried 10 times for 141 yards and three touchdowns, with one passing TD for 35 yards.
In all, the Jackrabbits had 547 yards of total offense.
For CAC, Cole ran 15 times for 136 yards and three touchdowns, and completed 18 of 26 pass attempts for 245 yards and a touchdown. The Mustangs had 505 yards of total offense.
The Jackrabbits are now 2-1, while the Mustangs fell to 1-2. Lonoke will begin 2-4A conference play next week at home against Heber Springs, which lost to Greenbrier 22-7. CAC will host Alma, a 46-21 loser to Springdale on Friday.
Leader sportswriter
Clarence Harris’ only pass attempt and completion of the season so far couldn’t have come at a better time for Lonoke.
The Jackrabbits held on for a 41-38 win over Central Arkansas Christian on Friday at James B. Abraham Stadium. The lead changed hands a total of seven times, with Harris’ 35-yard halfback pass to Michael Howard with 1:20 left to play as the final straw in a furious shootout.
With 1:46 left and facing a 38-34 deficit, the ’Rabbits had little choice but to go to the one who had made most of the big grabs all night, even though he had been taken out of the mix by double-coverage from the CAC secondary for most of the second half.
That move paid off.
Howard pulled down 13-yard and 19-yard receptions from Rollins Elam to quickly get the ball down to the CAC 20, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty moved them back to the 35. That gave Lonoke first and 25, but Elam’s pitch to Harris threw the Mustang defense off, and Howard ran down the right sideline uncovered to pull down the winner.
Jackrabbits coach Jeff Jones was ecstatic after the game, and had plenty of praise for his oddly-named winning play.
“Dr. Pepper — it came through for us, baby,” Jones said. “That’s the name of that play. All night long, we had held them out in the first half, but they just started washing right through us in the second half, and we really didn’t have an answer.
“But a lot of it just frustrated us and we went back to our old selves. We threw the ball away and stuff like that instead of playing like we did in the first half. When they got the lead we realized that we needed to settle down, and we did. This is great. That’s the way championship teams are built right there.
Mustangs first-year coach Tommy Shoemaker didn’t have quite the same enthusiasm.
“They made the play,” Shoemaker said. “It comes down to making plays, and they made one more than we did. Coach Jones did a great job with them and had them ready to play. We had our opportunities and didn’t take advantage of them. You have to do that when you play a good team.”
After struggling through the first half, CAC found momentum to start the second half with a surprise onside kick to get possession at the Lonoke 49-yard line. The Mustangs capitalized seven plays later with a five-yard run by Jaalen Watkins that narrowed Lonoke’s lead to 27-21.
An interception by Cody Reese on the Jackrabbits ensuing drive kept the momentum going for the Mustangs, and Zach Cole cashed in with a 60-yard quarterback scramble that gave CAC a 28-27 lead.
The Mustangs had a shot to go up by two scores on their next drive, but had to settle for a 39-yard field goal by Bryan Ferguson to go up 31-27.
Harris’ big gainer for the night came on the ground with 4:01 left to play. Facing fourth and 2, Harris took the end-around give from Elam, and cut back to the right for a 56-yard touchdown run to give the Jackrabbits a 34-31 lead, its first of the second half.
CAC responded with a 24-yard touchdown scramble by Cole, leaving less than two minutes for the ’Rabbits to respond.
The ’Rabbits owned the first half. Quarterback Rollins Elam threw for 193 yards, and found Howard twice down the left side for long touchdown tosses. Harris had short runs to put the first two scores up for Lonoke, and Elam finished out the half with a 20-yard pass to Howard with 5:27 left in the second quarter, and another moments later from 27-yards out.
Both went down the left side, with the second score set up by an interception by Darius Scott at the Lonoke 26-yard line.
Double coverage by the CAC secondary took Harris out of the mix for the most part in the third and fourth quarters.
Elam finished the game 16 of 39 for 284 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Howard had 12 receptions for 263 yards and three touchdowns. Harris carried 10 times for 141 yards and three touchdowns, with one passing TD for 35 yards.
In all, the Jackrabbits had 547 yards of total offense.
For CAC, Cole ran 15 times for 136 yards and three touchdowns, and completed 18 of 26 pass attempts for 245 yards and a touchdown. The Mustangs had 505 yards of total offense.
The Jackrabbits are now 2-1, while the Mustangs fell to 1-2. Lonoke will begin 2-4A conference play next week at home against Heber Springs, which lost to Greenbrier 22-7. CAC will host Alma, a 46-21 loser to Springdale on Friday.
SPORTS>>Fumble dashes Badger hopes
By RAY BENTON
For The Leader
From the outset, it looked like a game in which the first team to flinch loses. That turned out to be Beebe, as the Badgers fell 19-14 at Vilonia Friday night.
Neither team had committed a turnover and Beebe was guilty one 5-yard penalty, it had otherwise been a mistake-free game.
That changed when the Badgers fumbled the ball away with 5:47 left in the game. It proved to be the last play Beebe would run, as Vilonia converted three third downs to retain possession and run out the clock.
“We knew it was going to come down to whoever had the ball last,” Beebe coach John Shannon said. “We felt good about where we were. We were moving the ball well on that drive and just had that one costly fumble.”
The Eagles took the lead with 8:53 left in the game on a 12-play, 62-yard drive capped by a 6-yard sweep to Kory Howard.
Leading by just five, Vilonia attempted a two-point conversion, but was stuffed at the line of scrimmage by the Badger defense.
Beebe started its last drive at its own 28, and went 34 yards on just six plays before and fullback Sammy Williams and quarterback Roger Glaude flubbed the handoff. Eagle linebacker Ross Estes fell on the loose ball to give his team possession.
Beebe took the opening kickoff and marched 75 yards on 13 plays to take a 7-0 lead. The Badgers moved the ball easily on the drive, facing just one third down the entire possession.
Vilonia had just an easy of a time on its first possession until it reached the Beebe 10-yard line. From there, the Badger defense stiffened up and forced a third and goal from the 8-yard line. Vilonia called the first of two pass plays on the night, but Beebe defensive end Ethan Quick got into the backfield and batted Vilonia quarterback Tyler Head’s pass to the ground. The Eagles settled for a 25-yard field-goal Lloyd James.
Beebe failed to get a first down on its second possession. Opting to go for it on fourth and five from the Vilonia 45, the Badgers gained three yards, giving the Eagles good field position. This time Vilonia capitalized when it got close. Howard scored from nine yards out on second and goal to give the Eagles a 10-7 lead with 2:54 left in the half.
Beebe sputtered again, and only took 1:02 off the clock before punting back to Vilonia. The Eagles started at their own 32, but got to the Beebe 26 to set Lloyd up for another attempt. The senior place kicker got it just inside the left goal post from 43 yards out to end the half.
Beebe’s defense forced a three-and-out to start the second half, and the offense capitalized. Starting from their own 14, the Badgers marched 86 yards in 14 plays, this time facing and converting four third-down situations.
Williams got his second touchdown of the game, darting in from three yards out to give Beebe a 14-13 lead with 3:12 left in the third quarter.
Vilonia totaled 291 yards while Beebe gained 232. The Badgers were led by Williams’ 120 yards on 22 carries. Howard led all rushers with 148 yards on 24 totes.
Defensively, the Badgers were led by senior linebacker Matt Dent, who picked up 11 tackles in the game. Junior secondary player Spencer Forte added nine take downs for the Badgers, who fell to 2-1 with the loss.
Beebe begins conference play at home next Friday against more Eagles, this variety from Crossett.
Vilonia, 2-1, also opens league play next week, going on the road to face Harrison.
I though in the second quarter we kind of sputtered around a little bit. We’re up 7-3 and we got the ball, got second a long and tried something different and it didn’t work.
I though we played real well the first quarter, real well the second quarter, but the second and fourth it came back to bite us.
We didn’t get out on the sweep like we should have, like we had been doing the whole second half. They caught us, they just called the right plays at the right time.
For The Leader
From the outset, it looked like a game in which the first team to flinch loses. That turned out to be Beebe, as the Badgers fell 19-14 at Vilonia Friday night.
Neither team had committed a turnover and Beebe was guilty one 5-yard penalty, it had otherwise been a mistake-free game.
That changed when the Badgers fumbled the ball away with 5:47 left in the game. It proved to be the last play Beebe would run, as Vilonia converted three third downs to retain possession and run out the clock.
“We knew it was going to come down to whoever had the ball last,” Beebe coach John Shannon said. “We felt good about where we were. We were moving the ball well on that drive and just had that one costly fumble.”
The Eagles took the lead with 8:53 left in the game on a 12-play, 62-yard drive capped by a 6-yard sweep to Kory Howard.
Leading by just five, Vilonia attempted a two-point conversion, but was stuffed at the line of scrimmage by the Badger defense.
Beebe started its last drive at its own 28, and went 34 yards on just six plays before and fullback Sammy Williams and quarterback Roger Glaude flubbed the handoff. Eagle linebacker Ross Estes fell on the loose ball to give his team possession.
Beebe took the opening kickoff and marched 75 yards on 13 plays to take a 7-0 lead. The Badgers moved the ball easily on the drive, facing just one third down the entire possession.
Vilonia had just an easy of a time on its first possession until it reached the Beebe 10-yard line. From there, the Badger defense stiffened up and forced a third and goal from the 8-yard line. Vilonia called the first of two pass plays on the night, but Beebe defensive end Ethan Quick got into the backfield and batted Vilonia quarterback Tyler Head’s pass to the ground. The Eagles settled for a 25-yard field-goal Lloyd James.
Beebe failed to get a first down on its second possession. Opting to go for it on fourth and five from the Vilonia 45, the Badgers gained three yards, giving the Eagles good field position. This time Vilonia capitalized when it got close. Howard scored from nine yards out on second and goal to give the Eagles a 10-7 lead with 2:54 left in the half.
Beebe sputtered again, and only took 1:02 off the clock before punting back to Vilonia. The Eagles started at their own 32, but got to the Beebe 26 to set Lloyd up for another attempt. The senior place kicker got it just inside the left goal post from 43 yards out to end the half.
Beebe’s defense forced a three-and-out to start the second half, and the offense capitalized. Starting from their own 14, the Badgers marched 86 yards in 14 plays, this time facing and converting four third-down situations.
Williams got his second touchdown of the game, darting in from three yards out to give Beebe a 14-13 lead with 3:12 left in the third quarter.
Vilonia totaled 291 yards while Beebe gained 232. The Badgers were led by Williams’ 120 yards on 22 carries. Howard led all rushers with 148 yards on 24 totes.
Defensively, the Badgers were led by senior linebacker Matt Dent, who picked up 11 tackles in the game. Junior secondary player Spencer Forte added nine take downs for the Badgers, who fell to 2-1 with the loss.
Beebe begins conference play at home next Friday against more Eagles, this variety from Crossett.
Vilonia, 2-1, also opens league play next week, going on the road to face Harrison.
I though in the second quarter we kind of sputtered around a little bit. We’re up 7-3 and we got the ball, got second a long and tried something different and it didn’t work.
I though we played real well the first quarter, real well the second quarter, but the second and fourth it came back to bite us.
We didn’t get out on the sweep like we should have, like we had been doing the whole second half. They caught us, they just called the right plays at the right time.
SPORTS>>Mistake-plagued Devils fall
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
Watching Mills 3-pronged attack in action on Friday night, it was hard to believe they’d scored only six points in their first two games.
But their effective ground game and their big offensive line hardly caught Jacksonville head coach Mark Whatley by surprise.
He’d seen the film, and had watched 230-pound fullback Tim Stigall in action.
Stigall rushed for 102 of the Comets’ 329 yards on the ground on Friday and Mills stunned mistake-plagued Jacksonville 31-19.
“Penalties and mental mistakes,” said Whatley, whose Red Devils were trying to build on last week’s dramatic win at Vilonia but instead dropped to 1-2. “Not taking anything away from (Mills). They got after our rear ends and we didn’t answer the bell.”
The Red Devils turned it over four times and committed 11 penalties. They also let Mills out of a couple of deep holes when they appeared to have them stopped, and struggled all night to get a rhythm offensively.
It wasn’t just Stigall doing the damage for Mills. Scatback Zae Jones added 67 yards on 12 carries, while fleet quarterback Bentrell Cobbs kept the Devil ‘D’ off balance all night by keeping for 92 yards on just 11 carries. A fourth back, Chris Hampton, added 66 yards on just four carries.
For Jacksonville, Patrick Geans put on a show, but got only 13 carries on the night. He picked up 112 tough yards but the rest of the Devils ground game went for minus-2 as sophomore quarterback Logan Perry was sacked three times for 34 yards in losses.
Geans staked the Red Devils to a 6-0 lead late in the first period with a 1-yard plunge that capped a 7-play, 41-yard drive, but the first of many mistakes on the night came in the form of a bad snap on the extra point.
Mills, which fumbled and punted on its first two possessions, got things going on its third drive when it marched 77 yards on just five plays to take a 7-6 lead less than two minutes after Gean’s touchdown.
Midway through the second period, Mills padded the lead with an 8-play, 49-yard drive to go up 13-6. Fifteen seconds later, that lead was 19-6 when Perry’s dump pass in the right flat was picked off by defensive lineman Patrick Waddy and returned 45 yards for a touchdown that put the Rockets ahead 19-6.
Jacksonville found a rhythm offensively on its next possession but a fumbled snap resulted in an 11-yard loss and a drive that had moved from the Red Devil 5 to near midfield stalled. The Red Devils committed a personal foul and a hold to also help snuff out the promising drive.
In the first half alone, Jacksonville committed eight penalties totalling 70 yards, had two bad snaps, threw two interceptions and ran five plays that totaled minus-29 yards. Their total yards in the first half exceed their penalty yards by only 14.
“When your feet aren’t working and you’re having to reach, you’re going to have that,” Whatley said of the penalties. “It’s all about execution, about going out and doing what you’re supposed to do. Tonight we didn’t click.”
Mills began another drive late in the first half but ran out of time at the Jacksonville 15 when Rhakeem James broke through to sack Cobbs on the final play of the half. But the Rockets were firmly in control at intermission with a 19-6 lead.
The Red Devils came out with purpose in the second half, taking the opening kickoff and marching 80 yards in 10 plays, scoring on Perry’s lofted touchdown pass to Demetrius Harris in the right corner of the end zone with 8:01 left in the third period to cut the lead to 19-13.
But Mills answered right back with a 64-yard drive to push the lead to 25-13 with 3:39 left in the third. Jacksonville was on the move early in the final period after Perry connected with Devin Featherston for 24 yards and Lawrence Tillman ripped off a 21-yard run to the Mills 21. But Perry lofted a pass into the right flat that was picked off by Jones.
Though Mills returned the favor when Jeremy Berry recovered a Rocket fumble in Mills territory three plays later, Jacksonville failed to cash it in when again Jones intercepted a Perry pass with eight minutes left in the contest.
The Rockets put it away on Jones 22-yard scamper with 1:57 left.
Perry hit Harris from 12 yards with 10 seconds left to set the final margin.
“(Stigall) is a load,” Whatley said. “He was rocking and rolling and he was hard to bring down. And their quarterback had outstanding speed. Our first couple of series, we dug ourselves a hole and they did what a good football team will do. They fed off our mistakes.”
Perry was 15 of 21 for 144 yards. He threw two touchdown passes but was intercepted four times. Harris caught six passes for 43 yards. Featherston hauled in five passes for 76 yards.
“We’re going to re-evaluate ourselves,” Whatley said. “It was a non-conference game. The season is a journey. If we have the character I think we do, we’ll come back better.”
Jacksonville opens 6A-East conference play next Friday when it hosts Mountain Home.
Leader sports editor
Watching Mills 3-pronged attack in action on Friday night, it was hard to believe they’d scored only six points in their first two games.
But their effective ground game and their big offensive line hardly caught Jacksonville head coach Mark Whatley by surprise.
He’d seen the film, and had watched 230-pound fullback Tim Stigall in action.
Stigall rushed for 102 of the Comets’ 329 yards on the ground on Friday and Mills stunned mistake-plagued Jacksonville 31-19.
“Penalties and mental mistakes,” said Whatley, whose Red Devils were trying to build on last week’s dramatic win at Vilonia but instead dropped to 1-2. “Not taking anything away from (Mills). They got after our rear ends and we didn’t answer the bell.”
The Red Devils turned it over four times and committed 11 penalties. They also let Mills out of a couple of deep holes when they appeared to have them stopped, and struggled all night to get a rhythm offensively.
It wasn’t just Stigall doing the damage for Mills. Scatback Zae Jones added 67 yards on 12 carries, while fleet quarterback Bentrell Cobbs kept the Devil ‘D’ off balance all night by keeping for 92 yards on just 11 carries. A fourth back, Chris Hampton, added 66 yards on just four carries.
For Jacksonville, Patrick Geans put on a show, but got only 13 carries on the night. He picked up 112 tough yards but the rest of the Devils ground game went for minus-2 as sophomore quarterback Logan Perry was sacked three times for 34 yards in losses.
Geans staked the Red Devils to a 6-0 lead late in the first period with a 1-yard plunge that capped a 7-play, 41-yard drive, but the first of many mistakes on the night came in the form of a bad snap on the extra point.
Mills, which fumbled and punted on its first two possessions, got things going on its third drive when it marched 77 yards on just five plays to take a 7-6 lead less than two minutes after Gean’s touchdown.
Midway through the second period, Mills padded the lead with an 8-play, 49-yard drive to go up 13-6. Fifteen seconds later, that lead was 19-6 when Perry’s dump pass in the right flat was picked off by defensive lineman Patrick Waddy and returned 45 yards for a touchdown that put the Rockets ahead 19-6.
Jacksonville found a rhythm offensively on its next possession but a fumbled snap resulted in an 11-yard loss and a drive that had moved from the Red Devil 5 to near midfield stalled. The Red Devils committed a personal foul and a hold to also help snuff out the promising drive.
In the first half alone, Jacksonville committed eight penalties totalling 70 yards, had two bad snaps, threw two interceptions and ran five plays that totaled minus-29 yards. Their total yards in the first half exceed their penalty yards by only 14.
“When your feet aren’t working and you’re having to reach, you’re going to have that,” Whatley said of the penalties. “It’s all about execution, about going out and doing what you’re supposed to do. Tonight we didn’t click.”
Mills began another drive late in the first half but ran out of time at the Jacksonville 15 when Rhakeem James broke through to sack Cobbs on the final play of the half. But the Rockets were firmly in control at intermission with a 19-6 lead.
The Red Devils came out with purpose in the second half, taking the opening kickoff and marching 80 yards in 10 plays, scoring on Perry’s lofted touchdown pass to Demetrius Harris in the right corner of the end zone with 8:01 left in the third period to cut the lead to 19-13.
But Mills answered right back with a 64-yard drive to push the lead to 25-13 with 3:39 left in the third. Jacksonville was on the move early in the final period after Perry connected with Devin Featherston for 24 yards and Lawrence Tillman ripped off a 21-yard run to the Mills 21. But Perry lofted a pass into the right flat that was picked off by Jones.
Though Mills returned the favor when Jeremy Berry recovered a Rocket fumble in Mills territory three plays later, Jacksonville failed to cash it in when again Jones intercepted a Perry pass with eight minutes left in the contest.
The Rockets put it away on Jones 22-yard scamper with 1:57 left.
Perry hit Harris from 12 yards with 10 seconds left to set the final margin.
“(Stigall) is a load,” Whatley said. “He was rocking and rolling and he was hard to bring down. And their quarterback had outstanding speed. Our first couple of series, we dug ourselves a hole and they did what a good football team will do. They fed off our mistakes.”
Perry was 15 of 21 for 144 yards. He threw two touchdown passes but was intercepted four times. Harris caught six passes for 43 yards. Featherston hauled in five passes for 76 yards.
“We’re going to re-evaluate ourselves,” Whatley said. “It was a non-conference game. The season is a journey. If we have the character I think we do, we’ll come back better.”
Jacksonville opens 6A-East conference play next Friday when it hosts Mountain Home.
SPORTS>>Double jeopardy
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
If you’re one of those people who subscribe to the notion that everything happens for a reason, the story that follows may just challenge that belief.
Two weeks ago Friday, the McGregor family of Cabot was chugging along just fine, father Dale tending to his three Sonic franchises, mother Tina treating massage-therapy clients, and oldest son Les easing in to his first days as a senior at Cabot High.
Later in the evening the family would all head over to Jacksonville to watch Les, a tight end for the Cabot Panthers, in action against the Red Devils.
An uneventful Friday on a brisk early September evening, special only in the fact that it ushered in a brand new football season – the final one for Les McGregor, a promising one for the Cabot Panthers, who were picked to compete for the 7A state title this season.
There was a hint of fall in the air as dusk began to settle over the stadium and the atmosphere became charged as kickoff approached. There was nothing to indicate that in a couple of hours, Dale and Les would be sharing an ambulance ride to
North Metro Hospital, each being pumped with pain medication.
With a roster rich in talent and depth, the Cabot Panthers really have no superstars. Their Dead-T attack is dependent upon three or four running backs to chew up turf and seven down linemen to provide the push.
Les McGregor certainly wasn’t a star. But as a solid blocking tight end who had played many games in his sophomore season and all of his junior year, he was an integral part of Cabot’s ground-churning machine.
Cabot has rarely been this excited about its team and brought most of the town to Jan Crow Stadium in Jacksonville on Sept. 5. And what they saw in the early going confirmed all the preseason hype: This was a very good Cabot team.
On the final play of the half, Cabot did something it rarely does, and in the process set in motion a chain of events that was so bizarre you might be tempted to laugh if you didn’t know of the human pain involved. Cabot decided to throw the ball.
Les McGregor broke open briefly and extended to catch the pass from quarterback Seth Bloomberg, leaving his body fully exposed to a safety he says he still doesn’t remember seeing. He ended up in an unmoving heap on the turf while the crowd went stony silent.
FEARS CONFIRMED
“Earlier in the year, Les had had knee and shoulder surgery,” Dale says. “I knew this being his first game, he would be vulnerable to some hits. But that was the worst hit I’ve seen him take in three-and-a-half years of football. That’s the worst hit I’ve seen anyone in high school take in a long time.
“His body contorted in the air before he came down. It was ugly.”
Dale’s fears were confirmed, he says, when he saw assistant coach Danny Spencer looking for him and saw him mouth his name a few times.
“I didn’t panic, I stayed calm,” Dale says.
Making his way down the stairs in the visitor’s bleachers, Dale noticed that the throngs of students and fans that had massed along the bottom row made normal access to the field nearly impossible. Which is when he decided to jump down onto the track from the front railing of the bleachers, a drop of six or seven feet.
When he hit the ground, he knew immediately he had broken his hip. Despite that, he tried to get back up but collapsed to the ground.
In the meantime, Les was enduring some of the worst pain he says he can ever recall as trainers tried time and again to get his hip joint back in place. He estimates it took them five tries before they succeeded.
“It was probably the most pain I’ve ever been in,” Les admits. “I had to put my mouthpiece in. They were yanking my leg trying to get it back in.”
Les was finally taken off the field, where he was told that his father had hurt himself, too, though Les had no idea the extent of his father’s injuries. He was told he had fallen down the steps but that he would be okay.
After the medics had taken care of Les, they went over to the track in front of the Cabot bleachers, where Dale informed them he’d broken his hip. He thinks they doubted him at first, but once they determined his hip was broken, they strapped him onto a flatboard and loaded him into the ambulance … right beside his injured son.
STRANGE, PAINFUL RIDE
“The first thing Les said to me was, ‘Dad, are you okay?’” Dale says, choking up a little at the memory. “And I said, ‘Yeah, I broke my hip. I was trying to get to you.’ Les was a lot of comfort to me in the ambulance.”
Tina had missed the entire spectacle, having gone across the street to the bathroom. Her 13-year-old son Madison and a group of kids from their church went looking for her and informed her what had happened when she returned to the parking lot.
Both Les and Dale were in a lot of pain on the ride to North Metro, despite the immediate introduction of pain medicine in the ambulance. Dale credits close friend and Cabot Fire Chief Phil Robinson, who rode with them to the hospital, with helping keep them both calm and comforted.
Tina recalls it being a crazy night at the emergency room, which was flooded with patients. The doctors got them back almost immediately, though they put them in separate rooms across the hall from one another.
“They were talking back and forth at each other,” Tina says. “It was tough, not knowing who to be with. And (the hospital staff) was hollering at me for being in the hall. I was thinking, if you didn’t want me in the hall, you should have put them closer together. I’d be with one for a while, then go to the other.”
Despite being heavily sedated at that point, Dale was still in excruciating pain.
“Les would hear me cry out and he would call out from the other room, ‘Dad, I’m in here and it’s going to be okay.’ And I’d say,
‘All right, I’m just glad you’re okay. That makes me feel better.’”
When it was determined that Dale would need surgery, he and Tina decided to have him transferred to Conway Regional, where they had some good orthopedist friends. About 3:30 on Saturday morning, shortly before Dale went into surgery, Tina told Dale that Les, who had been released and was spending the night with close family friends, was resting comfortably and would be okay.
That’s about the same time that Tina allowed herself to breathe.
PAIN NOT JUST PHYSICAL
“It was pretty tough,” she says. “I remember when they got Dale so he could finally sleep and wasn’t in excruciating pain anymore and I thought, ‘Can I cry now?’ At that point, I had just gone and gone and gone.”
Dale had four pins put in his hip and was released the following Tuesday. But both he and Les have continued to endure almost constant pain. Thursday was the first day since he broke his hip 13 days earlier that Dale was able to get out of the house. He is using a walker, but his doctors hope he can start putting weight on his leg around mid-October. He could be walking without a walker or crutches by late October or early November.
Les, too, continues to suffer discomfort, not only from the hip, which bothers him whether lying down or sitting, but from a possible torn meniscus as well. His physical pain, however, may pale to the emotional pain of realizing his football career his over.
It is especially difficult knowing this could be a very special season for Cabot football.
“Last Friday night (against Sylvan Hills), not running through the banner for the first time was tough,” Les says. “I thought about (possibly making it to the championship game) that night, that I wouldn’t get to play in it. I want to win so bad, want to get there so bad. But I wanted to be able to play in it.”
Dale’s father says he’s just thankful that Les got to play so much in his first two seasons, something fairly uncommon at talent-rich Cabot.
“And even though he won’t be able to hit the field his senior year, he’s still a part of the team,” he says. “The players and the coaches have just been wonderful. (Head coach Mike Malham and athletic director) Johnny White have been so gracious, knowing what we’re going through as a family.
“They don’t want to see these kids get hurt. And when they do get hurt, it hurts them.”
HURTING, BUT THANKFUL
Gratitude seems to be the dominant emotion for Dale, who is clearly overcome by the outpouring of support the family has received from the entire community, from their church to the their family – his mother and father drove up from Mississippi early Saturday morning – to the team and the school.
“Thank God for all of them,” he says. “Because I don’t know how we’d have made it. The calls and the prayers, the meals. Cabot’s really a great community. It’s been wonderful.”
He probably saves his highest praise for Tina, who not only had to tend to an injured son and husband but had to continue to manage a household that includes a younger son and daughter.
“It was a whirlwind for us,” Dale says. “Tina is the one that held the family together during the crisis, that’s for sure. She kept all our ducks in a row.”
Probably not enough time has passed for Dale to consider just how bizarre the entire ordeal was, but he’s hardly bitter over the events of Sept. 5.
“I probably could have made that jump off the railing 99 times out of 100 and been fine,” he says with a wry smile. “For whatever reason, I hit wrong.”
Leader sports editor
If you’re one of those people who subscribe to the notion that everything happens for a reason, the story that follows may just challenge that belief.
Two weeks ago Friday, the McGregor family of Cabot was chugging along just fine, father Dale tending to his three Sonic franchises, mother Tina treating massage-therapy clients, and oldest son Les easing in to his first days as a senior at Cabot High.
Later in the evening the family would all head over to Jacksonville to watch Les, a tight end for the Cabot Panthers, in action against the Red Devils.
An uneventful Friday on a brisk early September evening, special only in the fact that it ushered in a brand new football season – the final one for Les McGregor, a promising one for the Cabot Panthers, who were picked to compete for the 7A state title this season.
There was a hint of fall in the air as dusk began to settle over the stadium and the atmosphere became charged as kickoff approached. There was nothing to indicate that in a couple of hours, Dale and Les would be sharing an ambulance ride to
North Metro Hospital, each being pumped with pain medication.
With a roster rich in talent and depth, the Cabot Panthers really have no superstars. Their Dead-T attack is dependent upon three or four running backs to chew up turf and seven down linemen to provide the push.
Les McGregor certainly wasn’t a star. But as a solid blocking tight end who had played many games in his sophomore season and all of his junior year, he was an integral part of Cabot’s ground-churning machine.
Cabot has rarely been this excited about its team and brought most of the town to Jan Crow Stadium in Jacksonville on Sept. 5. And what they saw in the early going confirmed all the preseason hype: This was a very good Cabot team.
On the final play of the half, Cabot did something it rarely does, and in the process set in motion a chain of events that was so bizarre you might be tempted to laugh if you didn’t know of the human pain involved. Cabot decided to throw the ball.
Les McGregor broke open briefly and extended to catch the pass from quarterback Seth Bloomberg, leaving his body fully exposed to a safety he says he still doesn’t remember seeing. He ended up in an unmoving heap on the turf while the crowd went stony silent.
FEARS CONFIRMED
“Earlier in the year, Les had had knee and shoulder surgery,” Dale says. “I knew this being his first game, he would be vulnerable to some hits. But that was the worst hit I’ve seen him take in three-and-a-half years of football. That’s the worst hit I’ve seen anyone in high school take in a long time.
“His body contorted in the air before he came down. It was ugly.”
Dale’s fears were confirmed, he says, when he saw assistant coach Danny Spencer looking for him and saw him mouth his name a few times.
“I didn’t panic, I stayed calm,” Dale says.
Making his way down the stairs in the visitor’s bleachers, Dale noticed that the throngs of students and fans that had massed along the bottom row made normal access to the field nearly impossible. Which is when he decided to jump down onto the track from the front railing of the bleachers, a drop of six or seven feet.
When he hit the ground, he knew immediately he had broken his hip. Despite that, he tried to get back up but collapsed to the ground.
In the meantime, Les was enduring some of the worst pain he says he can ever recall as trainers tried time and again to get his hip joint back in place. He estimates it took them five tries before they succeeded.
“It was probably the most pain I’ve ever been in,” Les admits. “I had to put my mouthpiece in. They were yanking my leg trying to get it back in.”
Les was finally taken off the field, where he was told that his father had hurt himself, too, though Les had no idea the extent of his father’s injuries. He was told he had fallen down the steps but that he would be okay.
After the medics had taken care of Les, they went over to the track in front of the Cabot bleachers, where Dale informed them he’d broken his hip. He thinks they doubted him at first, but once they determined his hip was broken, they strapped him onto a flatboard and loaded him into the ambulance … right beside his injured son.
STRANGE, PAINFUL RIDE
“The first thing Les said to me was, ‘Dad, are you okay?’” Dale says, choking up a little at the memory. “And I said, ‘Yeah, I broke my hip. I was trying to get to you.’ Les was a lot of comfort to me in the ambulance.”
Tina had missed the entire spectacle, having gone across the street to the bathroom. Her 13-year-old son Madison and a group of kids from their church went looking for her and informed her what had happened when she returned to the parking lot.
Both Les and Dale were in a lot of pain on the ride to North Metro, despite the immediate introduction of pain medicine in the ambulance. Dale credits close friend and Cabot Fire Chief Phil Robinson, who rode with them to the hospital, with helping keep them both calm and comforted.
Tina recalls it being a crazy night at the emergency room, which was flooded with patients. The doctors got them back almost immediately, though they put them in separate rooms across the hall from one another.
“They were talking back and forth at each other,” Tina says. “It was tough, not knowing who to be with. And (the hospital staff) was hollering at me for being in the hall. I was thinking, if you didn’t want me in the hall, you should have put them closer together. I’d be with one for a while, then go to the other.”
Despite being heavily sedated at that point, Dale was still in excruciating pain.
“Les would hear me cry out and he would call out from the other room, ‘Dad, I’m in here and it’s going to be okay.’ And I’d say,
‘All right, I’m just glad you’re okay. That makes me feel better.’”
When it was determined that Dale would need surgery, he and Tina decided to have him transferred to Conway Regional, where they had some good orthopedist friends. About 3:30 on Saturday morning, shortly before Dale went into surgery, Tina told Dale that Les, who had been released and was spending the night with close family friends, was resting comfortably and would be okay.
That’s about the same time that Tina allowed herself to breathe.
PAIN NOT JUST PHYSICAL
“It was pretty tough,” she says. “I remember when they got Dale so he could finally sleep and wasn’t in excruciating pain anymore and I thought, ‘Can I cry now?’ At that point, I had just gone and gone and gone.”
Dale had four pins put in his hip and was released the following Tuesday. But both he and Les have continued to endure almost constant pain. Thursday was the first day since he broke his hip 13 days earlier that Dale was able to get out of the house. He is using a walker, but his doctors hope he can start putting weight on his leg around mid-October. He could be walking without a walker or crutches by late October or early November.
Les, too, continues to suffer discomfort, not only from the hip, which bothers him whether lying down or sitting, but from a possible torn meniscus as well. His physical pain, however, may pale to the emotional pain of realizing his football career his over.
It is especially difficult knowing this could be a very special season for Cabot football.
“Last Friday night (against Sylvan Hills), not running through the banner for the first time was tough,” Les says. “I thought about (possibly making it to the championship game) that night, that I wouldn’t get to play in it. I want to win so bad, want to get there so bad. But I wanted to be able to play in it.”
Dale’s father says he’s just thankful that Les got to play so much in his first two seasons, something fairly uncommon at talent-rich Cabot.
“And even though he won’t be able to hit the field his senior year, he’s still a part of the team,” he says. “The players and the coaches have just been wonderful. (Head coach Mike Malham and athletic director) Johnny White have been so gracious, knowing what we’re going through as a family.
“They don’t want to see these kids get hurt. And when they do get hurt, it hurts them.”
HURTING, BUT THANKFUL
Gratitude seems to be the dominant emotion for Dale, who is clearly overcome by the outpouring of support the family has received from the entire community, from their church to the their family – his mother and father drove up from Mississippi early Saturday morning – to the team and the school.
“Thank God for all of them,” he says. “Because I don’t know how we’d have made it. The calls and the prayers, the meals. Cabot’s really a great community. It’s been wonderful.”
He probably saves his highest praise for Tina, who not only had to tend to an injured son and husband but had to continue to manage a household that includes a younger son and daughter.
“It was a whirlwind for us,” Dale says. “Tina is the one that held the family together during the crisis, that’s for sure. She kept all our ducks in a row.”
Probably not enough time has passed for Dale to consider just how bizarre the entire ordeal was, but he’s hardly bitter over the events of Sept. 5.
“I probably could have made that jump off the railing 99 times out of 100 and been fine,” he says with a wry smile. “For whatever reason, I hit wrong.”
Friday, September 19, 2008
EDITORIAL >>The shame of foster care
If you are young and vulnerable, the state can be a welcome nanny, unless you happen to be in Arkansas. Then your trouble may be only beginning.
After a spring and summer of serial revelations of death and abuse of children under the state’s care, Gov. Beebe and the state Human Services Department have begun a “top-to-bottom review” of the foster-care system. It is a tepid response to a sickening scandal, but we are at a loss to know what else ought to be done, although the firing of everyone running the program sounds like a good option. The governor assures us that he has not been heedless of the horrors and is trying to fix the system.
Four children died in the care of state-chosen foster parents in May and June. The State Police opened a criminal investigation of the deaths, and a Eudora woman has been charged with first-degree battery for assaulting the 22-month-old girl who died in the family’s care.
The agency acknowledged that the foster-care system had serious breakdowns after a Bella Vista man was convicted of molesting foster children in his care and producing child pornography. The children would run away, only to be returned by the state agency despite their complaints that they had been abused. The foster father, after all, had told state officials what they wanted to hear, which was that he had got a message from God telling him that he should be a foster parent.
The scandal, sadly, is nothing new. For many years, through one administration after another going back to the time of Gov. Orval E. Faubus, the state’s children’s programs have been a recurring spectacle of abuse and neglect. Some of it may be overwork, a small cadre of caseworkers being stretched beyond their abilities by the load. Each caseworker has twice the number of children than is ideal, said the director of the Division of Children and Family Services. That is always the bureaucratic explanation, but it may be some of the problem. That is something that the governor can fix.
Part of the problem is that precious few people want to be the guardians of neglected and wayward children so the state turns to the same people, who often take children for the cash supplement that the state provides or for even more invidious reasons.
There are always people who want to make the situation even worse. Religious fundamentalists have put an initiated law on the general-election ballot to forever prevent gay and straight unmarried couples from either adopting homeless children or serving as foster parents, no matter their qualifications and earnestness.
Defeating that mean and bigoted initiative is a step that we can all take to help these children.
After a spring and summer of serial revelations of death and abuse of children under the state’s care, Gov. Beebe and the state Human Services Department have begun a “top-to-bottom review” of the foster-care system. It is a tepid response to a sickening scandal, but we are at a loss to know what else ought to be done, although the firing of everyone running the program sounds like a good option. The governor assures us that he has not been heedless of the horrors and is trying to fix the system.
Four children died in the care of state-chosen foster parents in May and June. The State Police opened a criminal investigation of the deaths, and a Eudora woman has been charged with first-degree battery for assaulting the 22-month-old girl who died in the family’s care.
The agency acknowledged that the foster-care system had serious breakdowns after a Bella Vista man was convicted of molesting foster children in his care and producing child pornography. The children would run away, only to be returned by the state agency despite their complaints that they had been abused. The foster father, after all, had told state officials what they wanted to hear, which was that he had got a message from God telling him that he should be a foster parent.
The scandal, sadly, is nothing new. For many years, through one administration after another going back to the time of Gov. Orval E. Faubus, the state’s children’s programs have been a recurring spectacle of abuse and neglect. Some of it may be overwork, a small cadre of caseworkers being stretched beyond their abilities by the load. Each caseworker has twice the number of children than is ideal, said the director of the Division of Children and Family Services. That is always the bureaucratic explanation, but it may be some of the problem. That is something that the governor can fix.
Part of the problem is that precious few people want to be the guardians of neglected and wayward children so the state turns to the same people, who often take children for the cash supplement that the state provides or for even more invidious reasons.
There are always people who want to make the situation even worse. Religious fundamentalists have put an initiated law on the general-election ballot to forever prevent gay and straight unmarried couples from either adopting homeless children or serving as foster parents, no matter their qualifications and earnestness.
Defeating that mean and bigoted initiative is a step that we can all take to help these children.
TOP STORY > >Academies get support from council
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
For the second time in two meetings, the Jacksonville City Council passed a resolution supporting charter schools, and for the second time a number of aldermen questioned whether or not it would impact Jacksonville’s efforts to get its own school district.
The Pulaski County Special School District, in its board meeting earlier this month, voted unanimously to allow Jacksonville to proceed with its efforts to break away from the county district. But that vote was just one of many hurdles the city must clear before it truly has its own district.
At the council meeting Thursday night, the aldermen approved a resolution supporting the efforts of the citizen group wanting to open the Jacksonville Charter Academy in the old Wal-Mart building on North First Street. The state will only approve seven charter schools this year and two of the 11 applicants are trying to open facilities in Jacksonville.
The resolution states that the city “expresses its support for the creation of a charter school in our community by Jacksonville Charter Academy. It is the council’s belief that such an enhanced educational facility will work in conjunction with an independent school districtfor Jacksonville to obtain improved educational facilities and opportunities for our community’s youth.
The school will be for students in kindergarten through sixth grade and will house no more than 700 students.
Alderman Terry Sansing called a charter school in Jacksonville a win-win situation. “Citizens want to see improvements now, and this is a way to do that,” he said.
In other council business
The city engineer issued his monthly report, stating that his department issued 18 building permits and 10 business licenses during August. The department also performed more than 200 inspections , issued 272 warning letters for property having unkempt yards and mowed 31 lawns In August that were in violation of city codes.
Public Works director Jim Oakley, in his monthly animal shelter report, said the shelter received 109 dogs and 62 cats during August. The department returned 18 dogs to their owners, adopted out 42 dogs and 18 cats and euthanized 61 dogs and 44 cats in August.
There were two biting or attack incidents reported. A pit bull mix bit another person. The bite required medical attention and the dog was put to sleep. The other bite was a mixed breed dog biting its owner. That bite also needed medical attention.
In his monthly report to the council, Fire Chief John Vander-hoof told the council that his department had 116 rescue calls,
36 still alarms, 11 general alarms and 197 ambulance runs during August.
The estimated fire los for the month was $25,700, while fire savings, based on the quick response of the department, was estimated at $583,000.
Leader staff writer
For the second time in two meetings, the Jacksonville City Council passed a resolution supporting charter schools, and for the second time a number of aldermen questioned whether or not it would impact Jacksonville’s efforts to get its own school district.
The Pulaski County Special School District, in its board meeting earlier this month, voted unanimously to allow Jacksonville to proceed with its efforts to break away from the county district. But that vote was just one of many hurdles the city must clear before it truly has its own district.
At the council meeting Thursday night, the aldermen approved a resolution supporting the efforts of the citizen group wanting to open the Jacksonville Charter Academy in the old Wal-Mart building on North First Street. The state will only approve seven charter schools this year and two of the 11 applicants are trying to open facilities in Jacksonville.
The resolution states that the city “expresses its support for the creation of a charter school in our community by Jacksonville Charter Academy. It is the council’s belief that such an enhanced educational facility will work in conjunction with an independent school districtfor Jacksonville to obtain improved educational facilities and opportunities for our community’s youth.
The school will be for students in kindergarten through sixth grade and will house no more than 700 students.
Alderman Terry Sansing called a charter school in Jacksonville a win-win situation. “Citizens want to see improvements now, and this is a way to do that,” he said.
In other council business
The city engineer issued his monthly report, stating that his department issued 18 building permits and 10 business licenses during August. The department also performed more than 200 inspections , issued 272 warning letters for property having unkempt yards and mowed 31 lawns In August that were in violation of city codes.
Public Works director Jim Oakley, in his monthly animal shelter report, said the shelter received 109 dogs and 62 cats during August. The department returned 18 dogs to their owners, adopted out 42 dogs and 18 cats and euthanized 61 dogs and 44 cats in August.
There were two biting or attack incidents reported. A pit bull mix bit another person. The bite required medical attention and the dog was put to sleep. The other bite was a mixed breed dog biting its owner. That bite also needed medical attention.
In his monthly report to the council, Fire Chief John Vander-hoof told the council that his department had 116 rescue calls,
36 still alarms, 11 general alarms and 197 ambulance runs during August.
The estimated fire los for the month was $25,700, while fire savings, based on the quick response of the department, was estimated at $583,000.
TOP STORY > >Two-star general: Yes, we can
By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
A personal shopping trip one evening to the post office, store and gas station turned into a personal “epiphany” for Maj. Gen. K.C. McClain that changed how she saw operations at the Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC) at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, which she commands.
McClain was commander of the 314th Support Group at Little Rock Air Force Base from April 1997 to June 1998. She was the keynote speaker at the quarterly meeting of the Little Rock Air Force Base Community Council on Thursday. She shared about her “ah-ha” moment that has changed delivery of services at AFPC since she took command in January.
McClain realized that her purchases had all been completed with self-service technology and a credit card, without any human assistance. And her shopping was done off-hours, at a time convenient for her. It suddenly occurred to her that allowing AFPC personnel greater flexibility in when and where they completed assignments could lead to greater efficiencies at the center.
She saw that technology was the way to make that happen.
“Exploiting Web-based applications” is now letting workers take care of some tasks as it best fits their scheduling, not just 8 to 4, Monday through Friday,” McClain said. “The goal is to let them do the work when they want to and do it faster.”
“Leveraging of technology” is helping the AFPC respond to the demands of new responsibilities. Assignments and deployments were once managed at separate bases, but are now integrated at the AFPC at Randolph AFB. And, where the center once mainly functioned on the policy level, it has also taken on a job once handled by the 94 bases – processing each and every personnel change for 1.25 million Air Force personnel worldwide, including assignments, deployments, promotions, separations and retirements. The AFPC has about 2,200 military, civilian, and contract employees.
“Our job is to make sure that the bases have the right person with the right skills at the right time and right place,” McClain said.
In the 10 years since McClain served at LRAFB, there have been significant changes in personnel, she noted. The 10 percent reduction in active-duty personnel, from 365,000 to 328,000, underscores the importance of working smarter and faster.
“We have fewer resources and increasing demands,” she said.
Computer-based communications and processing of paperwork is proving to be faster and more efficient. But sometimes, talking to a fellow human is needed to resolve a problem. That is still an option.
“We still have a 24/7 contact center with an 800 number – you can still talk to a human,” McClain said.
Brig. Gen. Rowayne Schatz reported to the council that he is “cautiously optimistic that we will have a closed deal by the end of the year” and a new owner-operator for base housing will be ready to get to work.
That comment drew friendly laughter from some in the audience. The difficult process of ridding the base of the former owner-operator that defaulted on its oversight responsibilities and negotiating an agreement with a new firm has dragged on many more months than anticipated.
The performance of the former manager, American Eagle, was so egregious, in fact, that it caused ripples up the military chain of command last year and caught the attention of congressional leaders.
Schatz says that the prospective new owner-operator “has a proven track record” and “are anxious to get in here and get construction going to improve the quality of life for airmen.”
After the terms of agreement are settled with the new company, it must be approved at several levels of the military and federal government.
Another project that’s bogged down in bureaucracy is the base education center, but Schatz said “the right decision makers are involved” to get the plan approved.
His office sent off the necessary paperwork back in April to Randolph AFB; it was shipped to Washington in July.
Sen. Mark Pryor told The Leader on Thursday, “American Eagle has shown our community first-hand the results of poor oversight and decision-making regarding military housing contracts.
Rows of cement floors and unfinished housing stand where there should be top-quality housing for airmen and women and their families.
“Last year, I advanced an investigation into how and why this fiasco could occur, and this year we’re establishing the necessary requirements to prevent similar problems in the future.”
Leader staff writer
A personal shopping trip one evening to the post office, store and gas station turned into a personal “epiphany” for Maj. Gen. K.C. McClain that changed how she saw operations at the Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC) at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, which she commands.
McClain was commander of the 314th Support Group at Little Rock Air Force Base from April 1997 to June 1998. She was the keynote speaker at the quarterly meeting of the Little Rock Air Force Base Community Council on Thursday. She shared about her “ah-ha” moment that has changed delivery of services at AFPC since she took command in January.
McClain realized that her purchases had all been completed with self-service technology and a credit card, without any human assistance. And her shopping was done off-hours, at a time convenient for her. It suddenly occurred to her that allowing AFPC personnel greater flexibility in when and where they completed assignments could lead to greater efficiencies at the center.
She saw that technology was the way to make that happen.
“Exploiting Web-based applications” is now letting workers take care of some tasks as it best fits their scheduling, not just 8 to 4, Monday through Friday,” McClain said. “The goal is to let them do the work when they want to and do it faster.”
“Leveraging of technology” is helping the AFPC respond to the demands of new responsibilities. Assignments and deployments were once managed at separate bases, but are now integrated at the AFPC at Randolph AFB. And, where the center once mainly functioned on the policy level, it has also taken on a job once handled by the 94 bases – processing each and every personnel change for 1.25 million Air Force personnel worldwide, including assignments, deployments, promotions, separations and retirements. The AFPC has about 2,200 military, civilian, and contract employees.
“Our job is to make sure that the bases have the right person with the right skills at the right time and right place,” McClain said.
In the 10 years since McClain served at LRAFB, there have been significant changes in personnel, she noted. The 10 percent reduction in active-duty personnel, from 365,000 to 328,000, underscores the importance of working smarter and faster.
“We have fewer resources and increasing demands,” she said.
Computer-based communications and processing of paperwork is proving to be faster and more efficient. But sometimes, talking to a fellow human is needed to resolve a problem. That is still an option.
“We still have a 24/7 contact center with an 800 number – you can still talk to a human,” McClain said.
Brig. Gen. Rowayne Schatz reported to the council that he is “cautiously optimistic that we will have a closed deal by the end of the year” and a new owner-operator for base housing will be ready to get to work.
That comment drew friendly laughter from some in the audience. The difficult process of ridding the base of the former owner-operator that defaulted on its oversight responsibilities and negotiating an agreement with a new firm has dragged on many more months than anticipated.
The performance of the former manager, American Eagle, was so egregious, in fact, that it caused ripples up the military chain of command last year and caught the attention of congressional leaders.
Schatz says that the prospective new owner-operator “has a proven track record” and “are anxious to get in here and get construction going to improve the quality of life for airmen.”
After the terms of agreement are settled with the new company, it must be approved at several levels of the military and federal government.
Another project that’s bogged down in bureaucracy is the base education center, but Schatz said “the right decision makers are involved” to get the plan approved.
His office sent off the necessary paperwork back in April to Randolph AFB; it was shipped to Washington in July.
Sen. Mark Pryor told The Leader on Thursday, “American Eagle has shown our community first-hand the results of poor oversight and decision-making regarding military housing contracts.
Rows of cement floors and unfinished housing stand where there should be top-quality housing for airmen and women and their families.
“Last year, I advanced an investigation into how and why this fiasco could occur, and this year we’re establishing the necessary requirements to prevent similar problems in the future.”
TOP STORY > >County preparing for fall elections
By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer
With 45 days to go before the election and none of the preparations completed, the Lonoke County clerk and what’s left of the election commission asked the quorum court Thursday night to authorize hiring help to make sure all is ready when voters go to the polls Nov. 4.
The quorum court complied, telling County Clerk Dawn Porterfield that she could hire a deputy clerk until the end of the year and appropriated $5,127.37 to pay the salary and benefits. But the election commission was instructed to use $5,000 of its own money to hire someone to help with the paperwork and programming the computerized voting machines and, if necessary, another person with the strength and endurance required to move the 101 machines to wherever they are needed.
In addition to help, the election commission also needs space to set up the machines and to store them when they are not in use, which is really the crux of he problem. Larry Clarke, the chairman and the Republican member of the Lonoke County Election Commission, resigned last month after County Judge Charlie Troutman took one machine to the two rooms the commission used at the county-owned mini-mall beside city hall in Cabot and gave it to the Arkansas State Police. Now, not only is the commission down one member, leaving only two to do the work, Clarke apparently knew more about getting ready for an election than the other two members and did more than could have reasonably been expected.
“We’ve needed help for a long time,” said Jaunita Horn, who has been chairman since Clarke resigned. “Larry was just an exceptional person and he did it all.”
Whether $5,000 would cover the cost of getting ready for election day was unclear. Horn and Don Johnson, the other commissioner, said it likely would not. Troutman said if it didn’t, the budget could be amended to reflect the actual cost. But the bigger problem of where to set up the equipment was far from resolved when the meeting ended.
Horn said the space the commission is left with is only 200 square feet. By also using the hallway at the mini-mall after the other offices closed, the commission was able to set up 18 voting machines at one time. But the hallway was hot and poorly lit, she said, and the commission simply needs more space to get the machines ready in time for the election.
Porterfield told the quorum court that she will likely hire a deputy clerk with Pulaski County to fill the new position. Although the county clerk is responsible by law for elections, Porterfield said state law also forbids her to work on an election if she has an opponent.
“There is no way morally or ethically that I can work on that election,” she said.
This is the first time the quorum court has had to deal with such a situation, and Alexis Malham, District 6 justice of the peace asked how Prudie Perceful, Porterfield’s predecessor, had handled it.
“What did Prudie do?” Malham asked.
“Prudie didn’t ever have an opponent,” Porterfield said.
In other business, the quorum court passed a resolution sponsored by District 2 JP Jannette Minton to be sent to Alcoholic Beverage Control opposing a private club liquor license for a restaurant in Ward. Since ABC has already approved the license and that decision has been appealed to circuit court in Pulaski County and Lonoke County, Troutman tried to tell the quorum court that a resolution was pointless. “I think it’s out of our hands,” he said. But the quorum court approved it anyway with “no” votes from Sonny Moery, District 8, and Mike Dolan, District 11.
The restaurant is to be located at the intersection of Hwy. 38 and Hwy. 319 on the same property as the well-known Dude’s Place, a combination gas station and restaurant now called 38 Special.
“It’s a horrible location,” Minton said. “They’re going to put a club in a rural neighborhood. It is also a busy intersection. There are no other businesses there but there are two churches and a school nearby.”
Moery responded that the problem is Ward’s not the county’s and he didn’t want to interfere.
“Personally, I don’t drink, but I don’t want to get involved,” Moery said.
Leader staff writer
With 45 days to go before the election and none of the preparations completed, the Lonoke County clerk and what’s left of the election commission asked the quorum court Thursday night to authorize hiring help to make sure all is ready when voters go to the polls Nov. 4.
The quorum court complied, telling County Clerk Dawn Porterfield that she could hire a deputy clerk until the end of the year and appropriated $5,127.37 to pay the salary and benefits. But the election commission was instructed to use $5,000 of its own money to hire someone to help with the paperwork and programming the computerized voting machines and, if necessary, another person with the strength and endurance required to move the 101 machines to wherever they are needed.
In addition to help, the election commission also needs space to set up the machines and to store them when they are not in use, which is really the crux of he problem. Larry Clarke, the chairman and the Republican member of the Lonoke County Election Commission, resigned last month after County Judge Charlie Troutman took one machine to the two rooms the commission used at the county-owned mini-mall beside city hall in Cabot and gave it to the Arkansas State Police. Now, not only is the commission down one member, leaving only two to do the work, Clarke apparently knew more about getting ready for an election than the other two members and did more than could have reasonably been expected.
“We’ve needed help for a long time,” said Jaunita Horn, who has been chairman since Clarke resigned. “Larry was just an exceptional person and he did it all.”
Whether $5,000 would cover the cost of getting ready for election day was unclear. Horn and Don Johnson, the other commissioner, said it likely would not. Troutman said if it didn’t, the budget could be amended to reflect the actual cost. But the bigger problem of where to set up the equipment was far from resolved when the meeting ended.
Horn said the space the commission is left with is only 200 square feet. By also using the hallway at the mini-mall after the other offices closed, the commission was able to set up 18 voting machines at one time. But the hallway was hot and poorly lit, she said, and the commission simply needs more space to get the machines ready in time for the election.
Porterfield told the quorum court that she will likely hire a deputy clerk with Pulaski County to fill the new position. Although the county clerk is responsible by law for elections, Porterfield said state law also forbids her to work on an election if she has an opponent.
“There is no way morally or ethically that I can work on that election,” she said.
This is the first time the quorum court has had to deal with such a situation, and Alexis Malham, District 6 justice of the peace asked how Prudie Perceful, Porterfield’s predecessor, had handled it.
“What did Prudie do?” Malham asked.
“Prudie didn’t ever have an opponent,” Porterfield said.
In other business, the quorum court passed a resolution sponsored by District 2 JP Jannette Minton to be sent to Alcoholic Beverage Control opposing a private club liquor license for a restaurant in Ward. Since ABC has already approved the license and that decision has been appealed to circuit court in Pulaski County and Lonoke County, Troutman tried to tell the quorum court that a resolution was pointless. “I think it’s out of our hands,” he said. But the quorum court approved it anyway with “no” votes from Sonny Moery, District 8, and Mike Dolan, District 11.
The restaurant is to be located at the intersection of Hwy. 38 and Hwy. 319 on the same property as the well-known Dude’s Place, a combination gas station and restaurant now called 38 Special.
“It’s a horrible location,” Minton said. “They’re going to put a club in a rural neighborhood. It is also a busy intersection. There are no other businesses there but there are two churches and a school nearby.”
Moery responded that the problem is Ward’s not the county’s and he didn’t want to interfere.
“Personally, I don’t drink, but I don’t want to get involved,” Moery said.
TOP STORY > >LRAFB will be a part of mobility command
By HEATHER HARTSELL
Leader staff writer
When Little Rock Air Force Base becomes part of Air Mobility Command on Oct. 1, Brig. Gen. Rowayne Schatz will give up command of the 314th Airlift Wing and then take command of the base’s 19th Airlift Wing — an AMC unit that will make the base the most important C-130 component in the U.S., with more deployments, in addition to the training mission already here.
Col. James Johnson will be the new 19th AW vice commander, and Col. Charles Hyde will become the new 314th AW commander. Col. Mark Vlahos will remain the vice commander of the 314th AW.
The 314th Airlift Wing, under Air Education and Training Command (AETC), currently is the host wing at LRAFB and provides support to both AMC’s 463rd Airlift Group and the Arkansas Air National Guard’s 189th Airlift Wing.
“AMC’s 19th AW will continue the tradition of excellence as it assumes base operating support responsibilities — maintenance, mission support and medical — on Oct. 1,” according to a statement from base officials.
Schatz predicts a positive impact from the change in command of day-to-day operations at the base from the 314th Airlift Wing to the 19th Airlift Wing.
“It aligns the leadership more with the preponderance of resources that are with the Air Mobility Command,” he said.
The host-base transfer, part of BaseRealignment and Closure Com-mission (BRAC), led to numerous aircraft and unit realignments at LRAFB, including the transfer of several units to the 463rd Airlift Group and a reduction in the 314th Airlift Wing’s primary authorized aircraft.
According to the base’s official statement, the unit and aircraft realignments created a notable shift in mission focus from student training to mobility employment.
Senior leaders concluded an AMC Airlift Wing at LRAFB was in the best interest of the Air Force following BRAC. The secretary of defense justified the BRAC report, saying the base will grow to become the single major active-duty C-130 unit.
“The AMC unit will be designated the 19th Airlift Wing, and brings a rich lineage dating to 1927. This becomes AMC’s only C-130 Wing for meeting existing and future deployment requirements,” base officials said.
Previously known as the 19th Air Refueling Group, stationed at Robins AFB, Georgia, the group was inactivated in May 2008 as part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC).
The 19th Air Refueling Group provided worldwide in-flight refueling for combat, logistics and combat support aircraft of the United States and its allies as directed by the Department of Defense before being deactived for its move to Little Rock Air Force Base as the 19th Airlift Wing.
Col. Johnson, the new 19th AW vice commander, comes to LRAFB from MacDill AFB, Florida, where he is a liaison for U.S. Transportation Command, the single entity charged with directing and supervising execution of the strategic distribution system for the Department of Defense in peace and war.
A former airlift navigator in the C-141, Johnson is the liaison to Central Command, the U.S. military authority responsible for U.S. security interests in 25 nations stretching from the Horn of Africa through the Arabian Gulf region, into central Asia, overseeing both operations enduring and Iraqi Freedom, with over 190,000 U.S. troops across the region.
He is also the liaison to Special Operations Command, the command of over 45,000 Army, Navy, Marine, and Air Force Special Operations Forces given the mandate to lead, plan, synchronize, and as directed, execute global operations for the DoD against terrorist networks. As a liaison, he facilitates and shapes the timely understanding of worldwide transportation and distribution requirements, capabilities and processes.
Col. Hyde, the new 314th AW commander, comes to Arkansas from Ali Al Salem, Kuwait, where he is the vice commander of the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing. The wing is the primary tactical airlift hub for resupply missions that support coalition operations in Iraq and provides combat service support to land component forces throughout Kuwait and Iraq.
A command pilot with more than 3,700 flight hours, Hyde is familiar with the C-130 world as he has flown both the C-130E and C-130H and also the T-37.
Hyde has commanded the 39th Airlift Squadron and served as 317th Airlift Group deputy commander at Dyess AFB, Texas, and was commander of the 320th Expeditionary Operations Group at Seeb Air Base, Oman, during operations enduring and Iraqi freedom.
Leader staff writer
When Little Rock Air Force Base becomes part of Air Mobility Command on Oct. 1, Brig. Gen. Rowayne Schatz will give up command of the 314th Airlift Wing and then take command of the base’s 19th Airlift Wing — an AMC unit that will make the base the most important C-130 component in the U.S., with more deployments, in addition to the training mission already here.
Col. James Johnson will be the new 19th AW vice commander, and Col. Charles Hyde will become the new 314th AW commander. Col. Mark Vlahos will remain the vice commander of the 314th AW.
The 314th Airlift Wing, under Air Education and Training Command (AETC), currently is the host wing at LRAFB and provides support to both AMC’s 463rd Airlift Group and the Arkansas Air National Guard’s 189th Airlift Wing.
“AMC’s 19th AW will continue the tradition of excellence as it assumes base operating support responsibilities — maintenance, mission support and medical — on Oct. 1,” according to a statement from base officials.
Schatz predicts a positive impact from the change in command of day-to-day operations at the base from the 314th Airlift Wing to the 19th Airlift Wing.
“It aligns the leadership more with the preponderance of resources that are with the Air Mobility Command,” he said.
The host-base transfer, part of BaseRealignment and Closure Com-mission (BRAC), led to numerous aircraft and unit realignments at LRAFB, including the transfer of several units to the 463rd Airlift Group and a reduction in the 314th Airlift Wing’s primary authorized aircraft.
According to the base’s official statement, the unit and aircraft realignments created a notable shift in mission focus from student training to mobility employment.
Senior leaders concluded an AMC Airlift Wing at LRAFB was in the best interest of the Air Force following BRAC. The secretary of defense justified the BRAC report, saying the base will grow to become the single major active-duty C-130 unit.
“The AMC unit will be designated the 19th Airlift Wing, and brings a rich lineage dating to 1927. This becomes AMC’s only C-130 Wing for meeting existing and future deployment requirements,” base officials said.
Previously known as the 19th Air Refueling Group, stationed at Robins AFB, Georgia, the group was inactivated in May 2008 as part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC).
The 19th Air Refueling Group provided worldwide in-flight refueling for combat, logistics and combat support aircraft of the United States and its allies as directed by the Department of Defense before being deactived for its move to Little Rock Air Force Base as the 19th Airlift Wing.
Col. Johnson, the new 19th AW vice commander, comes to LRAFB from MacDill AFB, Florida, where he is a liaison for U.S. Transportation Command, the single entity charged with directing and supervising execution of the strategic distribution system for the Department of Defense in peace and war.
A former airlift navigator in the C-141, Johnson is the liaison to Central Command, the U.S. military authority responsible for U.S. security interests in 25 nations stretching from the Horn of Africa through the Arabian Gulf region, into central Asia, overseeing both operations enduring and Iraqi Freedom, with over 190,000 U.S. troops across the region.
He is also the liaison to Special Operations Command, the command of over 45,000 Army, Navy, Marine, and Air Force Special Operations Forces given the mandate to lead, plan, synchronize, and as directed, execute global operations for the DoD against terrorist networks. As a liaison, he facilitates and shapes the timely understanding of worldwide transportation and distribution requirements, capabilities and processes.
Col. Hyde, the new 314th AW commander, comes to Arkansas from Ali Al Salem, Kuwait, where he is the vice commander of the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing. The wing is the primary tactical airlift hub for resupply missions that support coalition operations in Iraq and provides combat service support to land component forces throughout Kuwait and Iraq.
A command pilot with more than 3,700 flight hours, Hyde is familiar with the C-130 world as he has flown both the C-130E and C-130H and also the T-37.
Hyde has commanded the 39th Airlift Squadron and served as 317th Airlift Group deputy commander at Dyess AFB, Texas, and was commander of the 320th Expeditionary Operations Group at Seeb Air Base, Oman, during operations enduring and Iraqi freedom.
TOP STORY > >Judge upbeat on district despite report
By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
High percentages of black students being suspended from school in the Pulaski County Special School District (PCSSD) earned the district poor marks in a report released this week by the federal Office of Desegregation Monitoring (ODM).
It is uncertain how much the report will affect efforts to establish a stand-alone school district for Jacksonville and north Pulaski County.
The opinion of Judge Andree Roaf, director of ODM, is that the report may not have the negative impact some fear.
“I don’t think it would have any bearing on it,” Roaf told The Leader. “Every-one seems to agree that this case needs to be resolved. It would be good for the district and good for the state.”
The district was found to be in compliance in several areas with its court-ordered desegregation plan, the purpose of which is to assure that black children are receiving a fair and equitable education in the PCSSD.
Generally good marks were given for racial balance in student assignments, facilities planning and maintenance, special education, recruitment of black administrative staff and teachers, and reducing the black-white gap in academic achievement.
Deficiencies were found for racial balance in student assignments to inter-district schools, infusing multi-cultural learning into the curriculum, multi-cultural and diversity training for teachers, and the numbers of black students participating in honors, gifted and talented, and advanced placement programs.
But discipline was the area that most concerned the monitors, who contend that other districts – and some schools within the PCSSD – have demonstrated that the high rate of black students, males especially, being kicked out of the classroom at many PCSSD schools is avoidable, that there are effective ways to maintain order and mete out consequences for bad behavior without denying students instruction.
The report states:
“While the district has devoted time and effort to monitoring discipline in the schools, the district has not developed a comprehensive battle plan for addressing discipline problems. Instead, the PCSSD has initiated several unrelated programs, one of which has already been dismantled, that have yet to abate the growing numbers of black boys who are suspended from school, out on the streets, not learning, and who are bound to fail or never return to the school.”
Over the past three years, the suspension rate for middle and high school black boys in the PCSSD has worsened: 44 percent (2005-06), 46 percent (2006-07), and 48 percent (2007-08). For black girls, the rates have also climbed: 29 percent (2005-06), 35 percent (2006-07), and 33 percent (2007-08).
The percentage of white students suspended has also risen: 26 percent (2005-06), 29 percent (2006-07), and 30 percent (2007-08).
“Some schools (in other districts) have very minimal rates, so somebody is doing something right,” Roaf said. “But (the PCSSD) doesn’t seem to be getting any better.”
Margie Powell, an ODM monitor, formerly was the at-risk youth coordinator for the state Department of Education. Her job was helping school districts statewide develop strategies to deal with discipline problems. She contends there are effective alternatives to suspension.
“They need to look at schools and districts that are working, right here in the state,” Powell said. “In the North Little Rock district – there are so many things in place that keep students in school.”
When asked what is an acceptable rate, Powell said, “It depends. They need to set a goal, say a 5 percent reduction each year, and be specific about what it takes to get there, and say, ‘Let’s see how low we can go.’”
Brenda Bowles, the assistant superintendent for equity and pupil services for PCSSD, defended the district’s desegregation efforts and suspension rates.
“The students break the rules of conduct and there are consequences,” Bowles said. “We don’t make those choices, the students do.”
Bowles said that the district has made efforts to help at-risk students, as with the expanded Pulaski Learning Academy.
Schools now have in-school suspension for students committing less serious offenses. But, at some schools, the capacity is limited to 30 students.
Bowles said that the district is making an effort to look at each school’s discipline problems and help them improve. She said a school-by-school approach is better than imposing the same strategy for the entire district.
“I think with steady effort we are building something,” Bowles said. “We are going to continue, sit down and look at the report, and work on those things.”
The report concluded that the PCSSD had adhered to its plan for maintenance of schools, planning for construction of new facilities, and school closures. The district was faulted, however, for failure to notify the Joshua Intervenors, an advocacy group for black students in local public schools, or the court when portable classrooms were to be installed. The relevance to racial balance is that portables increase school capacity, which can threaten racial balance, more so at some schools than others.
The report concluded that the PCSSD special education programs continue to be in compliance with the district desegregation plan.
The report concluded that the PCSSD was meeting goals for recruitment and retention of black administrative staff in proportion to black certified staff, as well as increasing the number of black teachers. However, the report concluded that the district was not providing incentives for certification of black teachers in areas of need.
The report concluded that the district had not fully complied with the plan’s mandate for multicultural instruction on all levels. Infusion into the curriculum has been more successful on the elementary level. Teachers have not received requested in-service in multicultural instruction and diversity training. The ODM monitors argue that these kinds of training would help with the serious discipline issues in the district.
The report commended the district for its “high quality AP and GT programs” and for “vigorously recruit(ing) black students to these programs.” However, slightly under a third of the schools met the06), 29 percent (2006-07), and 30 percent (2007-08).
“Some schools (in other districts) have very minimal rates, so somebody is doing something right,” Roaf said. “But (the PCSSD) doesn’t seem to be getting any better.”
Margie Powell, an ODM monitor, formerly was the at-risk youth coordinator for the state Department of Education. Her job was helping school districts statewide develop strategies to deal with discipline problems. She contends there are effective alternatives to suspension.
“They need to look at schools and districts that are working, right here in the state,” Powell said. “In the North Little Rock district there are so many things in place that keep students in school.”
When asked what is an acceptable rate, Powell said, “It depends. They need to set a goal, say a 5 percent reduction each year, and be specific about what it takes to get there, and say, ‘Let’s see how low we can go.’”
Brenda Bowles, the assistant superintendent for equity and pupil services for PCSSD, defended the district’s desegregation efforts and suspension rates.
“The students break the rules of conduct and there are consequences,” Bowles said. “We don’t make those choices, the students do.”
Bowles said that the district has made efforts to help at-risk students, as with the expanded Pulaski Learning Academy.
Schools now have in-school suspension for students committing less serious offenses. But, at some schools, the capacity is limited to 30 students.
Bowles said that the district is making an effort to look at each school’s discipline problems and help them improve. She said a school-by-school approach is better than imposing the same strategy for the entire district.
“I think with steady effort we are building something,” Bowles said. “We are going to continue, sit down and look at the report, and work on those things.”
The report concluded that the PCSSD had adhered to its plan for maintenance of schools, planning for construction of new facilities and school closures. The district was faulted, however, for failure to notify the Joshua Intervenors, an advocacy group for black students in local public schools, or the court when portable classrooms were to be installed. The relevance to racial balance is that portables increase school capacity, which can threaten racial balance, more so at some schools than others.
The report concluded that the PCSSD special education programs continue to be in compliance with the district desegregation plan.
The report concluded that the PCSSD was meeting goals for recruitment and retention of black administrative staff in proportion to black certified staff, as well as increasing the number of black teachers. However, the report concluded that the district was not providing incentives for certification of black teachers in areas of need.
The report concluded that the district had not fully complied with the plan’s mandate for multicultural instruction on all levels. Infusion into the curriculum has been more successful on the elementary level. Teachers have not received requested in-service in multicultural instruction and diversity training. The ODM monitors argue that these kinds of training would help with the serious discipline issues in the district.
The report commended the district for its “high quality AP and GT programs” and for “vigorously recruit(ing) black students to these programs.” However, slightly under a third of the schools met the mandated 5 percent target for black students in gifted programs. Three of seven middle schools and none of the six high schools met the proportional enrollment mandate for blacks in advanced placement classes.
The report concluded that the district fell short on racial composition goal for Chenal Elementary, one of three inter-district schools for which there are race proportion targets. The monitors contend that only 100 seats of 550 were made available to blacks from the Little Rock School District, far short of the 50 percent “ideal” stated in the plan. Bowles contends that the district was acting appropriately because the plan does not mandate a specific number of seats, but only gives an ideal.
“Where does it say how many seats we have to give Little Rock? The plan gives a specific number for Clinton and Crystal Hill, but not Chenal,” Bowles said. “Our lawyer’s opinion was that we delegated the seats appropriately, and the Office of
Desegregation Monitoring thought we had not. It is just an instance of where we agreed to disagree.”
The report concluded that the district had implemented several measures to improve black academic achievement and that the black-white gap in several areas of student testing was narrowing. However, the district has taken “observation measures” at only the 17 schools in most need of improvement, rather than all the schools.
Roaf and Powell were reluctant to speculate on the report’s impact on a court ruling about the unitary status of the district, which would free it from monitoring of its desegregation efforts.
“One could make the argument that they are in compliance with most sections,” Roaf said. “They could still be found unitary.”
“I don’t think any of these problems are anything that is not fixable, that can’t be addressed,” Powell said.
Roaf noted that some efforts by the district have not had time to come to fruition because they were put in place within the last year.
Roaf and her staff at the ODM seem ready for closure on almost 20 years of court-ordered monitoring of desegregation efforts of the county school district as well as the Little Rock and North Little Rock districts. When, in 2007, federal Judge Bill Wilson declared that the Little Rock district no longer was under court-supervision, those at the ODM thought the same would come soon for PCSSD.
“Last summer, after the end of the Little Rock case, we thought it would be done soon,” Margie Powell said. “I didn’t anticipate being here after the end of this year.”
Leader staff writer
High percentages of black students being suspended from school in the Pulaski County Special School District (PCSSD) earned the district poor marks in a report released this week by the federal Office of Desegregation Monitoring (ODM).
It is uncertain how much the report will affect efforts to establish a stand-alone school district for Jacksonville and north Pulaski County.
The opinion of Judge Andree Roaf, director of ODM, is that the report may not have the negative impact some fear.
“I don’t think it would have any bearing on it,” Roaf told The Leader. “Every-one seems to agree that this case needs to be resolved. It would be good for the district and good for the state.”
The district was found to be in compliance in several areas with its court-ordered desegregation plan, the purpose of which is to assure that black children are receiving a fair and equitable education in the PCSSD.
Generally good marks were given for racial balance in student assignments, facilities planning and maintenance, special education, recruitment of black administrative staff and teachers, and reducing the black-white gap in academic achievement.
Deficiencies were found for racial balance in student assignments to inter-district schools, infusing multi-cultural learning into the curriculum, multi-cultural and diversity training for teachers, and the numbers of black students participating in honors, gifted and talented, and advanced placement programs.
But discipline was the area that most concerned the monitors, who contend that other districts – and some schools within the PCSSD – have demonstrated that the high rate of black students, males especially, being kicked out of the classroom at many PCSSD schools is avoidable, that there are effective ways to maintain order and mete out consequences for bad behavior without denying students instruction.
The report states:
“While the district has devoted time and effort to monitoring discipline in the schools, the district has not developed a comprehensive battle plan for addressing discipline problems. Instead, the PCSSD has initiated several unrelated programs, one of which has already been dismantled, that have yet to abate the growing numbers of black boys who are suspended from school, out on the streets, not learning, and who are bound to fail or never return to the school.”
Over the past three years, the suspension rate for middle and high school black boys in the PCSSD has worsened: 44 percent (2005-06), 46 percent (2006-07), and 48 percent (2007-08). For black girls, the rates have also climbed: 29 percent (2005-06), 35 percent (2006-07), and 33 percent (2007-08).
The percentage of white students suspended has also risen: 26 percent (2005-06), 29 percent (2006-07), and 30 percent (2007-08).
“Some schools (in other districts) have very minimal rates, so somebody is doing something right,” Roaf said. “But (the PCSSD) doesn’t seem to be getting any better.”
Margie Powell, an ODM monitor, formerly was the at-risk youth coordinator for the state Department of Education. Her job was helping school districts statewide develop strategies to deal with discipline problems. She contends there are effective alternatives to suspension.
“They need to look at schools and districts that are working, right here in the state,” Powell said. “In the North Little Rock district – there are so many things in place that keep students in school.”
When asked what is an acceptable rate, Powell said, “It depends. They need to set a goal, say a 5 percent reduction each year, and be specific about what it takes to get there, and say, ‘Let’s see how low we can go.’”
Brenda Bowles, the assistant superintendent for equity and pupil services for PCSSD, defended the district’s desegregation efforts and suspension rates.
“The students break the rules of conduct and there are consequences,” Bowles said. “We don’t make those choices, the students do.”
Bowles said that the district has made efforts to help at-risk students, as with the expanded Pulaski Learning Academy.
Schools now have in-school suspension for students committing less serious offenses. But, at some schools, the capacity is limited to 30 students.
Bowles said that the district is making an effort to look at each school’s discipline problems and help them improve. She said a school-by-school approach is better than imposing the same strategy for the entire district.
“I think with steady effort we are building something,” Bowles said. “We are going to continue, sit down and look at the report, and work on those things.”
The report concluded that the PCSSD had adhered to its plan for maintenance of schools, planning for construction of new facilities, and school closures. The district was faulted, however, for failure to notify the Joshua Intervenors, an advocacy group for black students in local public schools, or the court when portable classrooms were to be installed. The relevance to racial balance is that portables increase school capacity, which can threaten racial balance, more so at some schools than others.
The report concluded that the PCSSD special education programs continue to be in compliance with the district desegregation plan.
The report concluded that the PCSSD was meeting goals for recruitment and retention of black administrative staff in proportion to black certified staff, as well as increasing the number of black teachers. However, the report concluded that the district was not providing incentives for certification of black teachers in areas of need.
The report concluded that the district had not fully complied with the plan’s mandate for multicultural instruction on all levels. Infusion into the curriculum has been more successful on the elementary level. Teachers have not received requested in-service in multicultural instruction and diversity training. The ODM monitors argue that these kinds of training would help with the serious discipline issues in the district.
The report commended the district for its “high quality AP and GT programs” and for “vigorously recruit(ing) black students to these programs.” However, slightly under a third of the schools met the06), 29 percent (2006-07), and 30 percent (2007-08).
“Some schools (in other districts) have very minimal rates, so somebody is doing something right,” Roaf said. “But (the PCSSD) doesn’t seem to be getting any better.”
Margie Powell, an ODM monitor, formerly was the at-risk youth coordinator for the state Department of Education. Her job was helping school districts statewide develop strategies to deal with discipline problems. She contends there are effective alternatives to suspension.
“They need to look at schools and districts that are working, right here in the state,” Powell said. “In the North Little Rock district there are so many things in place that keep students in school.”
When asked what is an acceptable rate, Powell said, “It depends. They need to set a goal, say a 5 percent reduction each year, and be specific about what it takes to get there, and say, ‘Let’s see how low we can go.’”
Brenda Bowles, the assistant superintendent for equity and pupil services for PCSSD, defended the district’s desegregation efforts and suspension rates.
“The students break the rules of conduct and there are consequences,” Bowles said. “We don’t make those choices, the students do.”
Bowles said that the district has made efforts to help at-risk students, as with the expanded Pulaski Learning Academy.
Schools now have in-school suspension for students committing less serious offenses. But, at some schools, the capacity is limited to 30 students.
Bowles said that the district is making an effort to look at each school’s discipline problems and help them improve. She said a school-by-school approach is better than imposing the same strategy for the entire district.
“I think with steady effort we are building something,” Bowles said. “We are going to continue, sit down and look at the report, and work on those things.”
The report concluded that the PCSSD had adhered to its plan for maintenance of schools, planning for construction of new facilities and school closures. The district was faulted, however, for failure to notify the Joshua Intervenors, an advocacy group for black students in local public schools, or the court when portable classrooms were to be installed. The relevance to racial balance is that portables increase school capacity, which can threaten racial balance, more so at some schools than others.
The report concluded that the PCSSD special education programs continue to be in compliance with the district desegregation plan.
The report concluded that the PCSSD was meeting goals for recruitment and retention of black administrative staff in proportion to black certified staff, as well as increasing the number of black teachers. However, the report concluded that the district was not providing incentives for certification of black teachers in areas of need.
The report concluded that the district had not fully complied with the plan’s mandate for multicultural instruction on all levels. Infusion into the curriculum has been more successful on the elementary level. Teachers have not received requested in-service in multicultural instruction and diversity training. The ODM monitors argue that these kinds of training would help with the serious discipline issues in the district.
The report commended the district for its “high quality AP and GT programs” and for “vigorously recruit(ing) black students to these programs.” However, slightly under a third of the schools met the mandated 5 percent target for black students in gifted programs. Three of seven middle schools and none of the six high schools met the proportional enrollment mandate for blacks in advanced placement classes.
The report concluded that the district fell short on racial composition goal for Chenal Elementary, one of three inter-district schools for which there are race proportion targets. The monitors contend that only 100 seats of 550 were made available to blacks from the Little Rock School District, far short of the 50 percent “ideal” stated in the plan. Bowles contends that the district was acting appropriately because the plan does not mandate a specific number of seats, but only gives an ideal.
“Where does it say how many seats we have to give Little Rock? The plan gives a specific number for Clinton and Crystal Hill, but not Chenal,” Bowles said. “Our lawyer’s opinion was that we delegated the seats appropriately, and the Office of
Desegregation Monitoring thought we had not. It is just an instance of where we agreed to disagree.”
The report concluded that the district had implemented several measures to improve black academic achievement and that the black-white gap in several areas of student testing was narrowing. However, the district has taken “observation measures” at only the 17 schools in most need of improvement, rather than all the schools.
Roaf and Powell were reluctant to speculate on the report’s impact on a court ruling about the unitary status of the district, which would free it from monitoring of its desegregation efforts.
“One could make the argument that they are in compliance with most sections,” Roaf said. “They could still be found unitary.”
“I don’t think any of these problems are anything that is not fixable, that can’t be addressed,” Powell said.
Roaf noted that some efforts by the district have not had time to come to fruition because they were put in place within the last year.
Roaf and her staff at the ODM seem ready for closure on almost 20 years of court-ordered monitoring of desegregation efforts of the county school district as well as the Little Rock and North Little Rock districts. When, in 2007, federal Judge Bill Wilson declared that the Little Rock district no longer was under court-supervision, those at the ODM thought the same would come soon for PCSSD.
“Last summer, after the end of the Little Rock case, we thought it would be done soon,” Margie Powell said. “I didn’t anticipate being here after the end of this year.”
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
TOP STORY >>School districts choose winners
In the race for the Position 5 seat on the Cabot School Board, Dean Martin, an instructor pilot with the Arkansas Air National Guard, on Tuesday defeated the incumbent, Alan Turnbo, 468 to 354, according to the final, unofficial count, according to the Lonoke County clerk’s office.
In Jacksonville, Zone 7, incumbent Gwen Williams defeated Reedy Ray, 225-51.
Williams, who has been on the board since 1996, when she defeated Ray, a supporter of creating an independent Jacksonville school district.
Both candidates for Lonoke School Board seats ran unopposed. Mike Brown, director of the Lonoke Community Center, won reelection to his seat with 18 votes.
Chris James, accounting manager for Central Arkansas Planning and Development District, based at Lonoke, ran unopposed for the seat Jimmy Threat resigned from a few months ago and Miles Lilly has served in the interim. James received 32 votes.
In Jacksonville, Zone 7, incumbent Gwen Williams defeated Reedy Ray, 225-51.
Williams, who has been on the board since 1996, when she defeated Ray, a supporter of creating an independent Jacksonville school district.
Both candidates for Lonoke School Board seats ran unopposed. Mike Brown, director of the Lonoke Community Center, won reelection to his seat with 18 votes.
Chris James, accounting manager for Central Arkansas Planning and Development District, based at Lonoke, ran unopposed for the seat Jimmy Threat resigned from a few months ago and Miles Lilly has served in the interim. James received 32 votes.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
SPORTS>>Most games seem fairly easy to pick in Week 3
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Our prediction accuracy crept into the low 70s after the round of Week 2 games, but the ones we missed, boy, were we ever off the mark. We tried giving a couple of underdogs the benefit of the doubt, missing them both, which brings us to 9-4 on the young season.
I suppose it would be safer to go with Hooten’s on the closer games, but my confidence was so sky high after Week 1 that I began to believe my own hype.
We’re writing this one again this week before reading their picks, but most of these games seem pretty easy to call. There probably won’t be any big surprises this Friday night. Beebe at Vilonia could be a close one, and the Jackrabbits could give CAC all it wants if they can fix their offensive miscues from last week.
Other than that, the Panthers and Wildcats should have easy wins, and some of our other locals could have a long night ahead of them.
SYLVAN HILLS AT NORTH LITTLE ROCK
The Bears relish these early-season games against the state powerhouses, even though they normally end up as losses. Jim Withrow is a big-picture coach, and this is a big-picture game for his rebuilding team. One thing that probably won’t be big time is the final score.
North Little Rock 16, Sylvan Hills 3
CABOT VS. HALL
We like to try cautious optimism when making picks. But, there is little optimism for Hall’s chances when it comes to this one – only caution. The Panther offense will be ready to make a statement after a rough time last Friday with the small and inexperienced SH Bears defense, and Hall’s offense will get a test that it probably will never want to take again.
Cabot 49, Hall 0
NORTH PULASKI AT LR CHRISTIAN
These two clubs share the dubious honor of being routed by Oak Grove. The Warriors rebounded from their opening-game setback to the Hornets last week with a 300-plus yard performance by running back Michael Dyer in their win over Morrilton.
The Falcons will have to correct their tendency to commit penalties and turnovers at inopportune moments if they want to compete in the 5A Southeast this season.
The Warriors will roll – NP just needs to have a clean game without mental mistakes.
LRCA 42 North Pulaski 6
JACKSONVILLE AT MILLS
Even without a big win over Vilonia last Friday, we would still have picked the Red Devils to easily defeat the Comets. But now that you mention it, we think it will be even easier. The Red Devils, young or not, appear to be for real, and Mills is in the unfortunate position of being the last non-conference opponent for a team that feels like it still has a lot to prove.
Jacksonville 26, Mills 8
BEEBE AT VILONIA
It is possible for Jim Stanley’s Eagles to outscore John Shannon’s Badgers, but it will have to be done on the ground if at all. Beebe has proven itself to be among the craftiest defenses in the state when it comes to guarding against the passing game.
They downed a top-three 4A team last week by controlling the line of scrimmage the entire night, so there’s no reason to believe the defense won’t be stout against the run as well. It came to our attention last week that Shannon used our pick of Lonoke over his Badgers as bulletin board material, which no doubt explained his satisfied grin during his post-game victory interview Friday night. But we can’t extend that same courtesy to his Badgers this week.
Beebe 30, Vilonia 22
LONOKE VS. CAC
If you like seeing the ball up in the air at every opportunity, get down to Abraham Field in Lonoke this Friday and catch Jeff Jones’ Jackrabbits against Tommy Shoemaker’s Mustangs.
The games between these former conference foes have sometimes been routs and sometimes gone down to the wire, but it usually ended up as a win for the boys from Mustang Mountain. Betting against recent trends bit us in the behind last week, so we’ll take the safe bet this time around.
CAC 41, Lonoke 31
HARDING ACADEMY AT ARKANSAS BAPTIST
The Eagles historically seem to have a complex when it comes to facing the Wildcats. Arkansas Baptist has yet to allow a point against them this year, but that will most likely change in a big way this week.
Harding Academy 33, Arkansas Baptist 14
RIVERVIEW AT HARRISBURG
Give the Raiders credit, they haven’t started their program up against any cupcakes. They’ve already experienced the thrill of victory and agony of defeat in two weeks’ time, but we’re afraid the Hornets may deal out more of the latter this week. Last week’s loss to Carlisle was a learning experience for Stuart Hill’s upstart squad, and while this Friday’s game will most likely go as another early blemish on their record, Riverview may roll into 2-3A Conference play next week ready to contend for a playoff spot.
Harrisburg 38, Riverview 26
SEARCY AT FAIR
We have never in four years picked Searcy to win a football game. Fair, which was shut out by McClellan, which was almost shut out by Hall, appears to be the bottom feeders of Class 6A football, although Searcy sits in the 16th spot in the official rankings. Searcy has not won a non-conference game since 2003, but that could very well change on Friday.
Searcy 24, Fair 20
Leader sportswriter
Our prediction accuracy crept into the low 70s after the round of Week 2 games, but the ones we missed, boy, were we ever off the mark. We tried giving a couple of underdogs the benefit of the doubt, missing them both, which brings us to 9-4 on the young season.
I suppose it would be safer to go with Hooten’s on the closer games, but my confidence was so sky high after Week 1 that I began to believe my own hype.
We’re writing this one again this week before reading their picks, but most of these games seem pretty easy to call. There probably won’t be any big surprises this Friday night. Beebe at Vilonia could be a close one, and the Jackrabbits could give CAC all it wants if they can fix their offensive miscues from last week.
Other than that, the Panthers and Wildcats should have easy wins, and some of our other locals could have a long night ahead of them.
SYLVAN HILLS AT NORTH LITTLE ROCK
The Bears relish these early-season games against the state powerhouses, even though they normally end up as losses. Jim Withrow is a big-picture coach, and this is a big-picture game for his rebuilding team. One thing that probably won’t be big time is the final score.
North Little Rock 16, Sylvan Hills 3
CABOT VS. HALL
We like to try cautious optimism when making picks. But, there is little optimism for Hall’s chances when it comes to this one – only caution. The Panther offense will be ready to make a statement after a rough time last Friday with the small and inexperienced SH Bears defense, and Hall’s offense will get a test that it probably will never want to take again.
Cabot 49, Hall 0
NORTH PULASKI AT LR CHRISTIAN
These two clubs share the dubious honor of being routed by Oak Grove. The Warriors rebounded from their opening-game setback to the Hornets last week with a 300-plus yard performance by running back Michael Dyer in their win over Morrilton.
The Falcons will have to correct their tendency to commit penalties and turnovers at inopportune moments if they want to compete in the 5A Southeast this season.
The Warriors will roll – NP just needs to have a clean game without mental mistakes.
LRCA 42 North Pulaski 6
JACKSONVILLE AT MILLS
Even without a big win over Vilonia last Friday, we would still have picked the Red Devils to easily defeat the Comets. But now that you mention it, we think it will be even easier. The Red Devils, young or not, appear to be for real, and Mills is in the unfortunate position of being the last non-conference opponent for a team that feels like it still has a lot to prove.
Jacksonville 26, Mills 8
BEEBE AT VILONIA
It is possible for Jim Stanley’s Eagles to outscore John Shannon’s Badgers, but it will have to be done on the ground if at all. Beebe has proven itself to be among the craftiest defenses in the state when it comes to guarding against the passing game.
They downed a top-three 4A team last week by controlling the line of scrimmage the entire night, so there’s no reason to believe the defense won’t be stout against the run as well. It came to our attention last week that Shannon used our pick of Lonoke over his Badgers as bulletin board material, which no doubt explained his satisfied grin during his post-game victory interview Friday night. But we can’t extend that same courtesy to his Badgers this week.
Beebe 30, Vilonia 22
LONOKE VS. CAC
If you like seeing the ball up in the air at every opportunity, get down to Abraham Field in Lonoke this Friday and catch Jeff Jones’ Jackrabbits against Tommy Shoemaker’s Mustangs.
The games between these former conference foes have sometimes been routs and sometimes gone down to the wire, but it usually ended up as a win for the boys from Mustang Mountain. Betting against recent trends bit us in the behind last week, so we’ll take the safe bet this time around.
CAC 41, Lonoke 31
HARDING ACADEMY AT ARKANSAS BAPTIST
The Eagles historically seem to have a complex when it comes to facing the Wildcats. Arkansas Baptist has yet to allow a point against them this year, but that will most likely change in a big way this week.
Harding Academy 33, Arkansas Baptist 14
RIVERVIEW AT HARRISBURG
Give the Raiders credit, they haven’t started their program up against any cupcakes. They’ve already experienced the thrill of victory and agony of defeat in two weeks’ time, but we’re afraid the Hornets may deal out more of the latter this week. Last week’s loss to Carlisle was a learning experience for Stuart Hill’s upstart squad, and while this Friday’s game will most likely go as another early blemish on their record, Riverview may roll into 2-3A Conference play next week ready to contend for a playoff spot.
Harrisburg 38, Riverview 26
SEARCY AT FAIR
We have never in four years picked Searcy to win a football game. Fair, which was shut out by McClellan, which was almost shut out by Hall, appears to be the bottom feeders of Class 6A football, although Searcy sits in the 16th spot in the official rankings. Searcy has not won a non-conference game since 2003, but that could very well change on Friday.
Searcy 24, Fair 20
SPORTS>>Panthers hope to get offense going vs. Hall
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
Cabot is 2-0 and coming off a complete shutdown of a talented Sylvan Hills team, but all is not right in Pantherland.
The much bigger, deeper Cabot offense was able to generate just a little more than 200 yards of offense against the Bears in their 24-0 win. And they punted four times.
“The defense got the goose egg, but offensively, I don’t remember punting that many times in a while,” said Cabot head coach Mike Malham. “The line is not producing like we thought it would.”
Part of the problem is the loss of Jordan Gunn to North Little Rock and the loss of Les McGregor to a broken hip in Week 1.
What began as an experienced line now features three new starters. Malham hopes he canget it shored up in time for the Week 4 conference opener against Conway.
It might be tough to gage the progress of the line no matter how many yards the Panthers put up against Little Rock Hall.
That’s because Hall is a team that has struggled for quite a while now and figures to be no match for Cabot when the two teams tangle this Friday night at Panther Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The Warriors have surrendered only 12 points in two games, though they came against a pair of struggling teams in Little Rock McClellan and Little Rock Mills. Hall followed its season-opening 38-6 win over McClellan with last week’s 6-0 loss to the Comets.
Hall has had some success offensively this season, but killed itself with penalties and turnovers against Mills.
“It was all human error last Friday,” said Hall head coach Travis Mann.
The Warriors have a couple of able backs in Roosevelt Harris and Sherodrick Smith, and some size up front with a pair of 260-pounders. Mann figures the Warrior line will have to play solid fundamentals to hang with Cabot in the trenches.
“We need to stay low and fire off the ball,” he said.
While getting the line up to expectations is a goal against Hall, Malham is hardly looking past the Warriors.
“They’ve got athletes and kids that can run,” he said. “We can’t blow any assignments. They’re going to mix it up but they’re basically an I-formation team that will run power out of it, option out of it and throwout of it.”
But Cabot has something this year it hasn’t always had: defensive speed to go along with its size. That defense limited Sylvan Hills to 54 total yards last Friday, including minus-24 yards on the ground one week after the Bears rumbled for more than 200 yards against Malvern.
Safety Joe Bryant had eight tackles, while Nick McTague and Jared Maxwell spent much of the night harassing Bears quarterback Jordan Spears into a 13 of 30 night.
“We turned McTague and Maxwell loose and they really got after it,” Malham said.
Now the key is to get the offense clicking and to hit the ground running when 7A Central play begins.
“It’s taking a little time to develop the line,” Malham said. “We missed some blocking assignments (against Sylvan Hills) and we’re just not getting after it. James is hard to bring down and he and Bayles are running hard, but they’re finding out it takes good blocking to make them look good. We’ve got a lot of improvement to do before the conference begins.”
Just as Malham is taking nothing for granted against Hall, Mann is conceding nothing to Cabot.
“We’re excited about the opportunity,” he said. “We’ve seen the films of both the Jacksonville and Sylvan Hills games (against Cabot) and we figure we’re not any better or worse than those two teams.
“I’m a big believer in hope, but we’re going to need more than hope on Friday.”
Leader sports editor
Cabot is 2-0 and coming off a complete shutdown of a talented Sylvan Hills team, but all is not right in Pantherland.
The much bigger, deeper Cabot offense was able to generate just a little more than 200 yards of offense against the Bears in their 24-0 win. And they punted four times.
“The defense got the goose egg, but offensively, I don’t remember punting that many times in a while,” said Cabot head coach Mike Malham. “The line is not producing like we thought it would.”
Part of the problem is the loss of Jordan Gunn to North Little Rock and the loss of Les McGregor to a broken hip in Week 1.
What began as an experienced line now features three new starters. Malham hopes he canget it shored up in time for the Week 4 conference opener against Conway.
It might be tough to gage the progress of the line no matter how many yards the Panthers put up against Little Rock Hall.
That’s because Hall is a team that has struggled for quite a while now and figures to be no match for Cabot when the two teams tangle this Friday night at Panther Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The Warriors have surrendered only 12 points in two games, though they came against a pair of struggling teams in Little Rock McClellan and Little Rock Mills. Hall followed its season-opening 38-6 win over McClellan with last week’s 6-0 loss to the Comets.
Hall has had some success offensively this season, but killed itself with penalties and turnovers against Mills.
“It was all human error last Friday,” said Hall head coach Travis Mann.
The Warriors have a couple of able backs in Roosevelt Harris and Sherodrick Smith, and some size up front with a pair of 260-pounders. Mann figures the Warrior line will have to play solid fundamentals to hang with Cabot in the trenches.
“We need to stay low and fire off the ball,” he said.
While getting the line up to expectations is a goal against Hall, Malham is hardly looking past the Warriors.
“They’ve got athletes and kids that can run,” he said. “We can’t blow any assignments. They’re going to mix it up but they’re basically an I-formation team that will run power out of it, option out of it and throwout of it.”
But Cabot has something this year it hasn’t always had: defensive speed to go along with its size. That defense limited Sylvan Hills to 54 total yards last Friday, including minus-24 yards on the ground one week after the Bears rumbled for more than 200 yards against Malvern.
Safety Joe Bryant had eight tackles, while Nick McTague and Jared Maxwell spent much of the night harassing Bears quarterback Jordan Spears into a 13 of 30 night.
“We turned McTague and Maxwell loose and they really got after it,” Malham said.
Now the key is to get the offense clicking and to hit the ground running when 7A Central play begins.
“It’s taking a little time to develop the line,” Malham said. “We missed some blocking assignments (against Sylvan Hills) and we’re just not getting after it. James is hard to bring down and he and Bayles are running hard, but they’re finding out it takes good blocking to make them look good. We’ve got a lot of improvement to do before the conference begins.”
Just as Malham is taking nothing for granted against Hall, Mann is conceding nothing to Cabot.
“We’re excited about the opportunity,” he said. “We’ve seen the films of both the Jacksonville and Sylvan Hills games (against Cabot) and we figure we’re not any better or worse than those two teams.
“I’m a big believer in hope, but we’re going to need more than hope on Friday.”
SPORTS>>Panthers hope to get offense going vs. Hall
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
Cabot is 2-0 and coming off a complete shutdown of a talented Sylvan Hills team, but all is not right in Pantherland.
The much bigger, deeper Cabot offense was able to generate just a little more than 200 yards of offense against the Bears in their 24-0 win. And they punted four times.
“The defense got the goose egg, but offensively, I don’t remember punting that many times in a while,” said Cabot head coach Mike Malham. “The line is not producing like we thought it would.”
Part of the problem is the loss of Jordan Gunn to North Little Rock and the loss of Les McGregor to a broken hip in Week 1.
What began as an experienced line now features three new starters. Malham hopes he canget it shored up in time for the Week 4 conference opener against Conway.
It might be tough to gage the progress of the line no matter how many yards the Panthers put up against Little Rock Hall.
That’s because Hall is a team that has struggled for quite a while now and figures to be no match for Cabot when the two teams tangle this Friday night at Panther Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The Warriors have surrendered only 12 points in two games, though they came against a pair of struggling teams in Little Rock McClellan and Little Rock Mills. Hall followed its season-opening 38-6 win over McClellan with last week’s 6-0 loss to the Comets.
Hall has had some success offensively this season, but killed itself with penalties and turnovers against Mills.
“It was all human error last Friday,” said Hall head coach Travis Mann.
The Warriors have a couple of able backs in Roosevelt Harris and Sherodrick Smith, and some size up front with a pair of 260-pounders. Mann figures the Warrior line will have to play solid fundamentals to hang with Cabot in the trenches.
“We need to stay low and fire off the ball,” he said.
While getting the line up to expectations is a goal against Hall, Malham is hardly looking past the Warriors.
“They’ve got athletes and kids that can run,” he said. “We can’t blow any assignments. They’re going to mix it up but they’re basically an I-formation team that will run power out of it, option out of it and throwout of it.”
But Cabot has something this year it hasn’t always had: defensive speed to go along with its size. That defense limited Sylvan Hills to 54 total yards last Friday, including minus-24 yards on the ground one week after the Bears rumbled for more than 200 yards against Malvern.
Safety Joe Bryant had eight tackles, while Nick McTague and Jared Maxwell spent much of the night harassing Bears quarterback Jordan Spears into a 13 of 30 night.
“We turned McTague and Maxwell loose and they really got after it,” Malham said.
Now the key is to get the offense clicking and to hit the ground running when 7A Central play begins.
“It’s taking a little time to develop the line,” Malham said. “We missed some blocking assignments (against Sylvan Hills) and we’re just not getting after it. James is hard to bring down and he and Bayles are running hard, but they’re finding out it takes good blocking to make them look good. We’ve got a lot of improvement to do before the conference begins.”
Just as Malham is taking nothing for granted against Hall, Mann is conceding nothing to Cabot.
“We’re excited about the opportunity,” he said. “We’ve seen the films of both the Jacksonville and Sylvan Hills games (against Cabot) and we figure we’re not any better or worse than those two teams.
“I’m a big believer in hope, but we’re going to need more than hope on Friday.”
Leader sports editor
Cabot is 2-0 and coming off a complete shutdown of a talented Sylvan Hills team, but all is not right in Pantherland.
The much bigger, deeper Cabot offense was able to generate just a little more than 200 yards of offense against the Bears in their 24-0 win. And they punted four times.
“The defense got the goose egg, but offensively, I don’t remember punting that many times in a while,” said Cabot head coach Mike Malham. “The line is not producing like we thought it would.”
Part of the problem is the loss of Jordan Gunn to North Little Rock and the loss of Les McGregor to a broken hip in Week 1.
What began as an experienced line now features three new starters. Malham hopes he canget it shored up in time for the Week 4 conference opener against Conway.
It might be tough to gage the progress of the line no matter how many yards the Panthers put up against Little Rock Hall.
That’s because Hall is a team that has struggled for quite a while now and figures to be no match for Cabot when the two teams tangle this Friday night at Panther Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The Warriors have surrendered only 12 points in two games, though they came against a pair of struggling teams in Little Rock McClellan and Little Rock Mills. Hall followed its season-opening 38-6 win over McClellan with last week’s 6-0 loss to the Comets.
Hall has had some success offensively this season, but killed itself with penalties and turnovers against Mills.
“It was all human error last Friday,” said Hall head coach Travis Mann.
The Warriors have a couple of able backs in Roosevelt Harris and Sherodrick Smith, and some size up front with a pair of 260-pounders. Mann figures the Warrior line will have to play solid fundamentals to hang with Cabot in the trenches.
“We need to stay low and fire off the ball,” he said.
While getting the line up to expectations is a goal against Hall, Malham is hardly looking past the Warriors.
“They’ve got athletes and kids that can run,” he said. “We can’t blow any assignments. They’re going to mix it up but they’re basically an I-formation team that will run power out of it, option out of it and throwout of it.”
But Cabot has something this year it hasn’t always had: defensive speed to go along with its size. That defense limited Sylvan Hills to 54 total yards last Friday, including minus-24 yards on the ground one week after the Bears rumbled for more than 200 yards against Malvern.
Safety Joe Bryant had eight tackles, while Nick McTague and Jared Maxwell spent much of the night harassing Bears quarterback Jordan Spears into a 13 of 30 night.
“We turned McTague and Maxwell loose and they really got after it,” Malham said.
Now the key is to get the offense clicking and to hit the ground running when 7A Central play begins.
“It’s taking a little time to develop the line,” Malham said. “We missed some blocking assignments (against Sylvan Hills) and we’re just not getting after it. James is hard to bring down and he and Bayles are running hard, but they’re finding out it takes good blocking to make them look good. We’ve got a lot of improvement to do before the conference begins.”
Just as Malham is taking nothing for granted against Hall, Mann is conceding nothing to Cabot.
“We’re excited about the opportunity,” he said. “We’ve seen the films of both the Jacksonville and Sylvan Hills games (against Cabot) and we figure we’re not any better or worse than those two teams.
“I’m a big believer in hope, but we’re going to need more than hope on Friday.”
SPORTS>> Falcons try to reclaim momentum
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
Crunch the numbers any way you like, it’s going to be another tough, tough challenge for North Pulaski this Friday night when the Falcons travel to Little Rock Christian.
They must shake off the disappointment of a mistake-filled 35-0 loss to Pulaski Oak Grove last Friday, one week after starting the season on a high note against Searcy. In addition, the Falcons must try to overcome several critical injuries from last weekend.
But the biggest challenge North Pulaski will face is the one every teamthat battles Little Rock Christian must contend with: stopping bruising fullback Michael Dyer.
So far, few have succeeded. Oak Grove probably did as well as anybody over the past few seasons, limiting the all-state junior to around 100 yards. The 190-pound running machine amassed more than 2,700 yards and 28 touchdowns in 2007.
“We’ll try to slow him down, just like everybody else does,” said North Pulaski head coach Tony Bohannon. “Morrilton didn’t have much success last week.”
Not unless you consider 309 yards rushing a success. It took Dyer 47 carries to reach that mark, but Christian head coach Johnny Watson said Dyer is fit and ready to go again.
“He’s in great shape,” Watson said. “He got the ball down inside the 20 for us enough to score a bunch of points. But we didn’t do a very good job getting it in the end zone.”
Despite those 309 yards from Dyer and nearly 100 more through the air, the Warriors had to settle for a 13-7 win over the Devil Dogs after stumbling out of the gate with a 21-7 loss to Oak Grove in Week 1.
For Bohannon and the Falcons, it will be a matter of regrouping after a very disappointing showing against the Hornets. North Pulaski turned the ball over four times and struggled to contain the stable of quality Hornet running backs.
“A couple of times we had them stopped and we didn’t wrap up,” Bohannon said. “The defense didn’t take care of business but we had a lot of mental errors.”
The Falcons were driving on their opening possession and turned a second-and-short into a second-and-long with a penalty, then had a bad snap on a punt to add to their woes. Bryan Colson led the Falcons with 78 yards, but North Pulaski got little more from anyone else.
To make matters worse, the Falcons lost offensive linemen Dylan Sheffield with broken ribs. He’ll miss an estimated three weeks. Taylor Cross will move over to take his slot and Zach Barnes will have to rotate to a new slot on the line as well. North Pulaski also lost quarterback A.J. Allen near the end of the first half on Friday to a bruised back. His status is questionable for Friday. Sophomore Derrick McClain stepped in for Allen on Friday.
Little Rock Christian is still trying to recover from the devastating loss of quarterback Griffin Kuhn, who went down in a preseason scrimmage with an ankle injury. Watson admitted that the loss of Kuhn, who was being courted by Baylor and Kansas State, has affected his club.
“Yeah, to go from a guy who’s a Division I prospect to a guy who’s only played quarterback a few plays over the year is a big adjustment,” Watson said of backup Jesse Stone, who completed 10 of 20 last Friday for 91 yards. “He’s still trying to learn. But he was our quarterback for about 30 to 40 percent of our 7 on 7 season and he’s just going to get better each week.”
Watson said Stone made great strides from the Week 1 to Week 2 and that, despite playing a backup, the Warriors will still try to maintain balance offensively.
“Our receivers are better than last year, but we haven’t been able to get the ball to them,” he said. “And we have three new offensive linemen. But we’re going to run Michael some and try to throw 20-25 times a game.
“We just want to get better, try to hold on and maybe get Griffin back late in the season.”
Leader sports editor
Crunch the numbers any way you like, it’s going to be another tough, tough challenge for North Pulaski this Friday night when the Falcons travel to Little Rock Christian.
They must shake off the disappointment of a mistake-filled 35-0 loss to Pulaski Oak Grove last Friday, one week after starting the season on a high note against Searcy. In addition, the Falcons must try to overcome several critical injuries from last weekend.
But the biggest challenge North Pulaski will face is the one every teamthat battles Little Rock Christian must contend with: stopping bruising fullback Michael Dyer.
So far, few have succeeded. Oak Grove probably did as well as anybody over the past few seasons, limiting the all-state junior to around 100 yards. The 190-pound running machine amassed more than 2,700 yards and 28 touchdowns in 2007.
“We’ll try to slow him down, just like everybody else does,” said North Pulaski head coach Tony Bohannon. “Morrilton didn’t have much success last week.”
Not unless you consider 309 yards rushing a success. It took Dyer 47 carries to reach that mark, but Christian head coach Johnny Watson said Dyer is fit and ready to go again.
“He’s in great shape,” Watson said. “He got the ball down inside the 20 for us enough to score a bunch of points. But we didn’t do a very good job getting it in the end zone.”
Despite those 309 yards from Dyer and nearly 100 more through the air, the Warriors had to settle for a 13-7 win over the Devil Dogs after stumbling out of the gate with a 21-7 loss to Oak Grove in Week 1.
For Bohannon and the Falcons, it will be a matter of regrouping after a very disappointing showing against the Hornets. North Pulaski turned the ball over four times and struggled to contain the stable of quality Hornet running backs.
“A couple of times we had them stopped and we didn’t wrap up,” Bohannon said. “The defense didn’t take care of business but we had a lot of mental errors.”
The Falcons were driving on their opening possession and turned a second-and-short into a second-and-long with a penalty, then had a bad snap on a punt to add to their woes. Bryan Colson led the Falcons with 78 yards, but North Pulaski got little more from anyone else.
To make matters worse, the Falcons lost offensive linemen Dylan Sheffield with broken ribs. He’ll miss an estimated three weeks. Taylor Cross will move over to take his slot and Zach Barnes will have to rotate to a new slot on the line as well. North Pulaski also lost quarterback A.J. Allen near the end of the first half on Friday to a bruised back. His status is questionable for Friday. Sophomore Derrick McClain stepped in for Allen on Friday.
Little Rock Christian is still trying to recover from the devastating loss of quarterback Griffin Kuhn, who went down in a preseason scrimmage with an ankle injury. Watson admitted that the loss of Kuhn, who was being courted by Baylor and Kansas State, has affected his club.
“Yeah, to go from a guy who’s a Division I prospect to a guy who’s only played quarterback a few plays over the year is a big adjustment,” Watson said of backup Jesse Stone, who completed 10 of 20 last Friday for 91 yards. “He’s still trying to learn. But he was our quarterback for about 30 to 40 percent of our 7 on 7 season and he’s just going to get better each week.”
Watson said Stone made great strides from the Week 1 to Week 2 and that, despite playing a backup, the Warriors will still try to maintain balance offensively.
“Our receivers are better than last year, but we haven’t been able to get the ball to them,” he said. “And we have three new offensive linemen. But we’re going to run Michael some and try to throw 20-25 times a game.
“We just want to get better, try to hold on and maybe get Griffin back late in the season.”
SPORTS>> One to build on
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
When going up against proven teams, the best thing a young team can do is stand toe to toe and try to earn some respect and self-confidence.
Jacksonville is one young team that has taken on that challenge, and has come out on the other side with a healthy dose of both.
Now with respect and momentum on their side, the Red Devils will travel to Mills Stadium this Friday to face the 5A-Southeast Comets (1-1), a team that the jury is still out on.
The Red Devils had the challenge of a dominant Cabot team to start the season. And while it went down as a loss, they fought until the end, scoring on a late running play by senior running back Patrick Geans to put three scores up against one of the stingiest defenses in the state. Geans went for 136 yards rushing in the contest.
They built on that performance with an upset over 5A contender Vilonia last Friday. Jacksonville stayed within a score most of the night, capitalizing on a late Eagle turnover with a 63-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Logan Perry to Stanley Appleby in a 27-21 victory.
“Well, you hope that you build on it,” Jacksonville head coach Mark Whatley said. “It took every dadgum thing that we had to pull it out. Our defense kept responding and kept responding. We gave them the short field twice there to start out the game, and we had two great defensive stands.”
Perry built on his varsity debut with a stout effort. The young sophomore’s solid play in the early season continues to impress Whatley.
“He’s doing a good job, without a doubt,” he said. “He had a good night, and Stan Appleby kept pulling the trigger, especially on that long touchdown pass he got to put us up there at the end.
“A lot of it is those senior leaders that he has around him. Those older kids help give him confidence with their leadership, and that goes a long way for a younger player like that.”
While Mills has yet to show much offensive muscle, scoring only six points over two games, Whatley thinks the playmakers are there. And taking on the option-heavy Comets offense could pose a challenge, even to the speedy Red Devil backfield.
“They’re an athletic team,” he said. “They’ve got some speed, and their fullback looks like a load to handle. It looked like they had several kids that could take it the distance. Our last two games were such physical games. It should be a different look this week. I think our secondary will get tested a little more this week.”
Even with the big win over Vilonia, the plan is to improve on weaknesses that were exposed against Vilonia. The illegal-participation penalties that crept up in Week 1 seemed to be taken care of, but another potential problem reared its head.
“We turned the ball over four times, and that’s never a good thing,” Whatley said. “We were lucky to do that and still win the ballgame. We need to do a better job of taking care of the ball, and we need to be a little more physical up front.”
For Mills coach Patrick Russell, one aspect of the Red Devils stands out above the rest.
“They’re a good-looking football team,” he said. “They have a lot of speed.”
The Comets started the season out severely short-handed, which led to a crushing 40-0 shutout at the hands of Parkview.
They rebounded with an outstanding defensive effort last week for a hard-fought 6-0 win over Little Rock Hall.
But the head Comet knows that his team will have to put more points on the scoreboard this Friday if it expects to improve to 2-1.
“Yeah, it’s a big concern,” Russell said. “The first game, we had five starters out, and we looked better this last week. We moved the ball pretty well. We already had a lack of depth, and when you suspend five starters, any team is going to suffer. It was a concern, but there’s nothing you can do. You’ve got to go play.”
Leader sportswriter
When going up against proven teams, the best thing a young team can do is stand toe to toe and try to earn some respect and self-confidence.
Jacksonville is one young team that has taken on that challenge, and has come out on the other side with a healthy dose of both.
Now with respect and momentum on their side, the Red Devils will travel to Mills Stadium this Friday to face the 5A-Southeast Comets (1-1), a team that the jury is still out on.
The Red Devils had the challenge of a dominant Cabot team to start the season. And while it went down as a loss, they fought until the end, scoring on a late running play by senior running back Patrick Geans to put three scores up against one of the stingiest defenses in the state. Geans went for 136 yards rushing in the contest.
They built on that performance with an upset over 5A contender Vilonia last Friday. Jacksonville stayed within a score most of the night, capitalizing on a late Eagle turnover with a 63-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Logan Perry to Stanley Appleby in a 27-21 victory.
“Well, you hope that you build on it,” Jacksonville head coach Mark Whatley said. “It took every dadgum thing that we had to pull it out. Our defense kept responding and kept responding. We gave them the short field twice there to start out the game, and we had two great defensive stands.”
Perry built on his varsity debut with a stout effort. The young sophomore’s solid play in the early season continues to impress Whatley.
“He’s doing a good job, without a doubt,” he said. “He had a good night, and Stan Appleby kept pulling the trigger, especially on that long touchdown pass he got to put us up there at the end.
“A lot of it is those senior leaders that he has around him. Those older kids help give him confidence with their leadership, and that goes a long way for a younger player like that.”
While Mills has yet to show much offensive muscle, scoring only six points over two games, Whatley thinks the playmakers are there. And taking on the option-heavy Comets offense could pose a challenge, even to the speedy Red Devil backfield.
“They’re an athletic team,” he said. “They’ve got some speed, and their fullback looks like a load to handle. It looked like they had several kids that could take it the distance. Our last two games were such physical games. It should be a different look this week. I think our secondary will get tested a little more this week.”
Even with the big win over Vilonia, the plan is to improve on weaknesses that were exposed against Vilonia. The illegal-participation penalties that crept up in Week 1 seemed to be taken care of, but another potential problem reared its head.
“We turned the ball over four times, and that’s never a good thing,” Whatley said. “We were lucky to do that and still win the ballgame. We need to do a better job of taking care of the ball, and we need to be a little more physical up front.”
For Mills coach Patrick Russell, one aspect of the Red Devils stands out above the rest.
“They’re a good-looking football team,” he said. “They have a lot of speed.”
The Comets started the season out severely short-handed, which led to a crushing 40-0 shutout at the hands of Parkview.
They rebounded with an outstanding defensive effort last week for a hard-fought 6-0 win over Little Rock Hall.
But the head Comet knows that his team will have to put more points on the scoreboard this Friday if it expects to improve to 2-1.
“Yeah, it’s a big concern,” Russell said. “The first game, we had five starters out, and we looked better this last week. We moved the ball pretty well. We already had a lack of depth, and when you suspend five starters, any team is going to suffer. It was a concern, but there’s nothing you can do. You’ve got to go play.”
EDITORIAL >>Road bonds will cost more
Arkansas highway officials evinced some mild concern last week about the collapse of the federal highway trust fund, which accounts for a big part of the state’s shrinking highway building and maintenance program. A few other states in Arkansas’ shoes — the federal aid meets much of their annual bonded debt payments — are more panicky. Arizona has mothballed highway projects totaling $158 million and Oklahoma halted $83 million of projects.
The highway trust fund, which is the depository for the federal tax on gasoline and diesel, is drying up because roaring pump prices are forcing people to dramatically alter their motoring habits. Americans drove 50 billion fewer miles from November 2007 through June 2008 than they did the same period the previous year. So tax revenues are cratering while the cost of the highway materials they pay for are skyrocketing.
The same thing is happening to state highway taxes, which are mostly motor fuel imposts. Federal fuel taxes tend to be a little lower than state taxes — 18.4 cents while Arkansas taxes gasoline at 21.5 cents a gallon and diesel at 22.5 cents — but the crisis in the federal trust fund carries a special threat to 21 states, including Arkansas, that use part of their federal allotment to pay off highway bonds. Bonds are an obligation that a state has to meet.
You remember Gov. Mike Huckabee’s big interstate highway program that started in 2000. The state borrowed $575 million for interstate reconstruction and the debt is being repaid at the rate of $74 million a year through 2013 or beyond. The work has long since ended and we are just paying the debt now. The state bond payments come largely from the federal highway trust fund under the GARVEE authority (Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle), which allowed states to pledge their future federal aid to pay off bonds.
Congress is coming to the states’ immediate rescue by appropriating $8 billion from the nation’s general revenues — that is mainly your income taxes — to bail out the highway fund. President Bush first said he would veto it but now says he will sign it. But that is a very short-lived Band-Aid. The future looks bleaker than the present.
So why are Arkansas officials so blasé about it? They’re a little concerned because the state has no highway cushion fund — the Highway Department spends all the money as it gets it each month — but not panicky enough to cancel projects wholesale.
Here is a little secret. They don’t need to panic because they will never have to welsh on a bond payment even if the federal trust fund dries up permanently. In the middle of a long technical paragraph on page 9 of Act 1027 of 1999, the highway bond act approved by the voters that year, is a sneaky little sentence that never got mentioned in the bond-election campaign by Huckabee or others. The $575 million would be retired over a relatively short period — 12 years for each series of bonds — by using the state’s federal payments and the proceeds of a small increase in gasoline and diesel taxes that the legislature enacted simultaneously. Then the critical sentence: If those revenues were ever not available, the state would make the bond payments from state general revenues, which is the money paying for public education, colleges, prisons and health services.
When highway officials were asked about it, they said that little sentence was immaterial because everyone knew that federal aid would always be rising, not shrinking. The pointless general revenue pledge was merely there to satisfy finicky investors.
Now there is a good chance that the schools and colleges will get to help retire the debt for the interstate program.
That reminds us of another old grievance about the bond program. Bonds are useful to pay for huge projects that need to be undertaken immediately. You pay for the project a couple of times over the long haul because of the expense of bond lawyers, brokers and underwriters and interest to investors, but the usefulness of the project is worth it.
The Arkansas interstate program was not worth it. Because of the accelerated payments and the relatively small size of the project, the state could have rebuilt more interstate miles by next year than were built with the $575 million from the bonds.
And we would still be building them at a modest clip for the next five years or so because the federal aid and the state fuel taxes would not be tied up making bond payments. Highway folks and Huckabee pooh-poohed the argument but the record will now prove it.
Fortunately, Arkansas voters in 2005 rejected another bond issue founded on the same premise or else we would be much deeper in hock and the collapse of the trust fund would be a real reason for panic. Mike Huckabee might even acknowledge that now.
Arkansas’ new severance tax on all the natural gas coming out of the Fayetteville shale will lift some of the pressure on the highway fund because nearly all of it is pledged to roads. But natural gas wellhead prices are plummeting because all the shale development around the country makes gas plentiful once again, so the little severance tax passed by the legislature looks like anemic relief now.
Too bad the state did not get the chance to approve Sheffield Nelson’s initiated severance tax of 7 percent this fall. The highway fund next year might be rolling in cash from the big energy companies, like Sarah Palin’s Alaska. Given Palin’s sudden popularity, it might be a chance for Governor Beebe to latch on to the hem of her skirt and do the same for Arkansas.
The highway trust fund, which is the depository for the federal tax on gasoline and diesel, is drying up because roaring pump prices are forcing people to dramatically alter their motoring habits. Americans drove 50 billion fewer miles from November 2007 through June 2008 than they did the same period the previous year. So tax revenues are cratering while the cost of the highway materials they pay for are skyrocketing.
The same thing is happening to state highway taxes, which are mostly motor fuel imposts. Federal fuel taxes tend to be a little lower than state taxes — 18.4 cents while Arkansas taxes gasoline at 21.5 cents a gallon and diesel at 22.5 cents — but the crisis in the federal trust fund carries a special threat to 21 states, including Arkansas, that use part of their federal allotment to pay off highway bonds. Bonds are an obligation that a state has to meet.
You remember Gov. Mike Huckabee’s big interstate highway program that started in 2000. The state borrowed $575 million for interstate reconstruction and the debt is being repaid at the rate of $74 million a year through 2013 or beyond. The work has long since ended and we are just paying the debt now. The state bond payments come largely from the federal highway trust fund under the GARVEE authority (Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle), which allowed states to pledge their future federal aid to pay off bonds.
Congress is coming to the states’ immediate rescue by appropriating $8 billion from the nation’s general revenues — that is mainly your income taxes — to bail out the highway fund. President Bush first said he would veto it but now says he will sign it. But that is a very short-lived Band-Aid. The future looks bleaker than the present.
So why are Arkansas officials so blasé about it? They’re a little concerned because the state has no highway cushion fund — the Highway Department spends all the money as it gets it each month — but not panicky enough to cancel projects wholesale.
Here is a little secret. They don’t need to panic because they will never have to welsh on a bond payment even if the federal trust fund dries up permanently. In the middle of a long technical paragraph on page 9 of Act 1027 of 1999, the highway bond act approved by the voters that year, is a sneaky little sentence that never got mentioned in the bond-election campaign by Huckabee or others. The $575 million would be retired over a relatively short period — 12 years for each series of bonds — by using the state’s federal payments and the proceeds of a small increase in gasoline and diesel taxes that the legislature enacted simultaneously. Then the critical sentence: If those revenues were ever not available, the state would make the bond payments from state general revenues, which is the money paying for public education, colleges, prisons and health services.
When highway officials were asked about it, they said that little sentence was immaterial because everyone knew that federal aid would always be rising, not shrinking. The pointless general revenue pledge was merely there to satisfy finicky investors.
Now there is a good chance that the schools and colleges will get to help retire the debt for the interstate program.
That reminds us of another old grievance about the bond program. Bonds are useful to pay for huge projects that need to be undertaken immediately. You pay for the project a couple of times over the long haul because of the expense of bond lawyers, brokers and underwriters and interest to investors, but the usefulness of the project is worth it.
The Arkansas interstate program was not worth it. Because of the accelerated payments and the relatively small size of the project, the state could have rebuilt more interstate miles by next year than were built with the $575 million from the bonds.
And we would still be building them at a modest clip for the next five years or so because the federal aid and the state fuel taxes would not be tied up making bond payments. Highway folks and Huckabee pooh-poohed the argument but the record will now prove it.
Fortunately, Arkansas voters in 2005 rejected another bond issue founded on the same premise or else we would be much deeper in hock and the collapse of the trust fund would be a real reason for panic. Mike Huckabee might even acknowledge that now.
Arkansas’ new severance tax on all the natural gas coming out of the Fayetteville shale will lift some of the pressure on the highway fund because nearly all of it is pledged to roads. But natural gas wellhead prices are plummeting because all the shale development around the country makes gas plentiful once again, so the little severance tax passed by the legislature looks like anemic relief now.
Too bad the state did not get the chance to approve Sheffield Nelson’s initiated severance tax of 7 percent this fall. The highway fund next year might be rolling in cash from the big energy companies, like Sarah Palin’s Alaska. Given Palin’s sudden popularity, it might be a chance for Governor Beebe to latch on to the hem of her skirt and do the same for Arkansas.
EDITORIAL >>Road bonds will cost more
Arkansas highway officials evinced some mild concern this week about the collapse of the federal highway trust fund, which accounts for a big part of the state’s shrinking highway building and maintenance program. A few other states in Arkansas’ shoes — the federal aid meets much of their annual bonded debt payments — are more panicky. Arizona has mothballed highway projects totaling $158 million and Oklahoma halted $83 million of projects.
The highway trust fund, which is the depository for the federal tax on gasoline and diesel, is drying up because roaring pump prices are forcing people to dramatically alter their motoring habits. Americans drove 50 billion fewer miles from November 2007 through June 2008 than they did the same period the previous year. So tax revenues are cratering while the cost of the highway materials they pay for are skyrocketing.
The same thing is happening to state highway taxes, which are mostly motor fuel imposts. Federal fuel taxes tend to be a little lower than state taxes — 18.4 cents while Arkansas taxes gasoline at 21.5 cents a gallon and diesel at 22.5 cents — but the crisis in the federal trust fund carries a special threat to 21 states, including Arkansas, that use part of their federal allotment to pay off highway bonds. Bonds are an obligation that a state has to meet.
You remember Gov. Mike Huckabee’s big interstate highway program that started in 2000. The state borrowed $575 million for interstate reconstruction and the debt is being repaid at the rate of $74 million a year through 2013 or beyond. The work has long since ended and we are just paying the debt now. The state bond payments come largely from the federal highway trust fund under the GARVEE authority (Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle), which allowed states to pledge their future federal aid to pay off bonds.
Congress is coming to the states’ immediate rescue by appropriating $8 billion from the nation’s general revenues — that is mainly your income taxes — to bail out the highway fund. President Bush first said he would veto it but now says he will sign it. But that is a very short-lived Band-Aid. The future looks bleaker than the present.
So why are Arkansas officials so blasé about it? They’re a little concerned because the state has no highway cushion fund — the Highway Department spends all the money as it gets it each month — but not panicky enough to cancel projects wholesale.
Here is a little secret. They don’t need to panic because they will never have to welsh on a bond payment even if the federal trust fund dries up permanently. In the middle of a long technical paragraph on page 9 of Act 1027 of 1999, the highway bond act approved by the voters that year, is a sneaky little sentence that never got mentioned in the bond-election campaign by Huckabee or others. The $575 million would be retired over a relatively short period — 12 years for each series of bonds — by using the state’s federal payments and the proceeds of a small increase in gasoline and diesel taxes that the legislature enacted simultaneously. Then the critical sentence: If those revenues were ever not available, the state would make the bond payments from state general revenues, which is the money paying for public education, colleges, prisons and health services.
When highway officials were asked about it, they said that little sentence was immaterial because everyone knew that federal aid would always be rising, not shrinking. The pointless general revenue pledge was merely there to satisfy finicky investors.
Now there is a good chance that the schools and colleges will get to help retire the debt for the interstate program.
That reminds us of another old grievance about the bond program. Bonds are useful to pay for huge projects that need to be undertaken immediately. You pay for the project a couple of times over the long haul because of the expense of bond lawyers, brokers and underwriters and interest to investors, but the usefulness of the project is worth it.
The Arkansas interstate program was not worth it. Because of the accelerated payments and the relatively small size of the project, the state could have rebuilt more interstate miles by next year than were built with the $575 million from the bonds.
And we would still be building them at a modest clip for the next five years or so because the federal aid and the state fuel taxes would not be tied up making bond payments. Highway folks and Huckabee pooh-poohed the argument but the record will now prove it.
Fortunately, Arkansas voters in 2005 rejected another bond issue founded on the same premise or else we would be much deeper in hock and the collapse of the trust fund would be a real reason for panic. Mike Huckabee might even acknowledge that now.
Arkansas’ new severance tax on all the natural gas coming out of the Fayetteville shale will lift some of the pressure on the highway fund because nearly all of it is pledged to roads. But natural gas wellhead prices are plummeting because all the shale development around the country makes gas plentiful once again, so the little severance tax passed by the legislature looks like anemic relief now.
Too bad the state did not get the chance to approve Sheffield Nelson’s initiated severance tax of 7 percent this fall. The highway fund next year might be rolling in cash from the big energy companies, like Sarah Palin’s Alaska. Given Palin’s sudden popularity, it might be a chance for Governor Beebe to latch on to the hem of her skirt and do the same for Arkansas.
The highway trust fund, which is the depository for the federal tax on gasoline and diesel, is drying up because roaring pump prices are forcing people to dramatically alter their motoring habits. Americans drove 50 billion fewer miles from November 2007 through June 2008 than they did the same period the previous year. So tax revenues are cratering while the cost of the highway materials they pay for are skyrocketing.
The same thing is happening to state highway taxes, which are mostly motor fuel imposts. Federal fuel taxes tend to be a little lower than state taxes — 18.4 cents while Arkansas taxes gasoline at 21.5 cents a gallon and diesel at 22.5 cents — but the crisis in the federal trust fund carries a special threat to 21 states, including Arkansas, that use part of their federal allotment to pay off highway bonds. Bonds are an obligation that a state has to meet.
You remember Gov. Mike Huckabee’s big interstate highway program that started in 2000. The state borrowed $575 million for interstate reconstruction and the debt is being repaid at the rate of $74 million a year through 2013 or beyond. The work has long since ended and we are just paying the debt now. The state bond payments come largely from the federal highway trust fund under the GARVEE authority (Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle), which allowed states to pledge their future federal aid to pay off bonds.
Congress is coming to the states’ immediate rescue by appropriating $8 billion from the nation’s general revenues — that is mainly your income taxes — to bail out the highway fund. President Bush first said he would veto it but now says he will sign it. But that is a very short-lived Band-Aid. The future looks bleaker than the present.
So why are Arkansas officials so blasé about it? They’re a little concerned because the state has no highway cushion fund — the Highway Department spends all the money as it gets it each month — but not panicky enough to cancel projects wholesale.
Here is a little secret. They don’t need to panic because they will never have to welsh on a bond payment even if the federal trust fund dries up permanently. In the middle of a long technical paragraph on page 9 of Act 1027 of 1999, the highway bond act approved by the voters that year, is a sneaky little sentence that never got mentioned in the bond-election campaign by Huckabee or others. The $575 million would be retired over a relatively short period — 12 years for each series of bonds — by using the state’s federal payments and the proceeds of a small increase in gasoline and diesel taxes that the legislature enacted simultaneously. Then the critical sentence: If those revenues were ever not available, the state would make the bond payments from state general revenues, which is the money paying for public education, colleges, prisons and health services.
When highway officials were asked about it, they said that little sentence was immaterial because everyone knew that federal aid would always be rising, not shrinking. The pointless general revenue pledge was merely there to satisfy finicky investors.
Now there is a good chance that the schools and colleges will get to help retire the debt for the interstate program.
That reminds us of another old grievance about the bond program. Bonds are useful to pay for huge projects that need to be undertaken immediately. You pay for the project a couple of times over the long haul because of the expense of bond lawyers, brokers and underwriters and interest to investors, but the usefulness of the project is worth it.
The Arkansas interstate program was not worth it. Because of the accelerated payments and the relatively small size of the project, the state could have rebuilt more interstate miles by next year than were built with the $575 million from the bonds.
And we would still be building them at a modest clip for the next five years or so because the federal aid and the state fuel taxes would not be tied up making bond payments. Highway folks and Huckabee pooh-poohed the argument but the record will now prove it.
Fortunately, Arkansas voters in 2005 rejected another bond issue founded on the same premise or else we would be much deeper in hock and the collapse of the trust fund would be a real reason for panic. Mike Huckabee might even acknowledge that now.
Arkansas’ new severance tax on all the natural gas coming out of the Fayetteville shale will lift some of the pressure on the highway fund because nearly all of it is pledged to roads. But natural gas wellhead prices are plummeting because all the shale development around the country makes gas plentiful once again, so the little severance tax passed by the legislature looks like anemic relief now.
Too bad the state did not get the chance to approve Sheffield Nelson’s initiated severance tax of 7 percent this fall. The highway fund next year might be rolling in cash from the big energy companies, like Sarah Palin’s Alaska. Given Palin’s sudden popularity, it might be a chance for Governor Beebe to latch on to the hem of her skirt and do the same for Arkansas.
TOP STORY > >Most homes have power
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
The remains of Hurricane Ike zipped through most of Arkansas late Saturday and was gone by mid-Sunday, but before leaving, those remains spun off five EF-1 tornadoes, dropped more than an inch of rain in the local area and left more than 250,000 people across the state without electricity.
Locally, a couple hundred people were without power according to Entergy, but Barbara Merrick, a spokesman for the utility company, said all power was restored to Sherwood-Jacksonville-Cabot customers by early Tuesday.
Late Tuesday, there were still more than 12,000 Entergy customers without power across the state. Merrick said the hardest hit area was Hot Springs.
Neal Frizzell, with First Electric Cooperative, said the fast-moving storm caused 2.350 power outages, 1,700 in Saline Grant and southeast Pulaski counties and 660 in Cleburne, White and Independence counties.
The utility had everyone back up by late Monday.
“We had very few problems this time in north Pulaski or Lonoke counties,” Frizzell said.
Of those five EF-1 tornadoes, with wind speeds between 86 and 110 miles per hour, one hit a mini storage and other buildings in Cabot, but luckily caused no local injuries.
Jacksonville and Sherwood may not have felt tornadic winds, but did experience wind gusts greater than 40 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.
The storm dropped 1.39 inches of rain on the area, unlike Gustav earlier in the month, which dropped almost 11 inches of rain on Jacksonville in the three days it covered the area.
Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim said the city had just a few problems with the Ike remnants.
“We had some downed trees that fell across some power lines and a few roads, but very little flooding,” the mayor said.
For September so far, the area has had almost 12.5 inches of rain. That’s on top of the 12 inches that hit during August making that month the wettest August since 1994.
Leader staff writer
The remains of Hurricane Ike zipped through most of Arkansas late Saturday and was gone by mid-Sunday, but before leaving, those remains spun off five EF-1 tornadoes, dropped more than an inch of rain in the local area and left more than 250,000 people across the state without electricity.
Locally, a couple hundred people were without power according to Entergy, but Barbara Merrick, a spokesman for the utility company, said all power was restored to Sherwood-Jacksonville-Cabot customers by early Tuesday.
Late Tuesday, there were still more than 12,000 Entergy customers without power across the state. Merrick said the hardest hit area was Hot Springs.
Neal Frizzell, with First Electric Cooperative, said the fast-moving storm caused 2.350 power outages, 1,700 in Saline Grant and southeast Pulaski counties and 660 in Cleburne, White and Independence counties.
The utility had everyone back up by late Monday.
“We had very few problems this time in north Pulaski or Lonoke counties,” Frizzell said.
Of those five EF-1 tornadoes, with wind speeds between 86 and 110 miles per hour, one hit a mini storage and other buildings in Cabot, but luckily caused no local injuries.
Jacksonville and Sherwood may not have felt tornadic winds, but did experience wind gusts greater than 40 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.
The storm dropped 1.39 inches of rain on the area, unlike Gustav earlier in the month, which dropped almost 11 inches of rain on Jacksonville in the three days it covered the area.
Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim said the city had just a few problems with the Ike remnants.
“We had some downed trees that fell across some power lines and a few roads, but very little flooding,” the mayor said.
For September so far, the area has had almost 12.5 inches of rain. That’s on top of the 12 inches that hit during August making that month the wettest August since 1994.
TOP STORY > >School groups say they share common goals
By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
Leaders of separate efforts to improve Jacksonville schools – one by establishment of a standalone school district, the others seeking to open two charter schools – are moving forward in the wake of two critical decisions by the Pulaski County Special School District Board last week.
Those spearheading the separate initiatives say they are not in competition with one another and in fact anticipate future partnerships between the charter schools and a new Jacksonville/north Pulaski County district.
The school board at its regular meeting last week voted unanimously in favor of a separate district because of study findings that it would financially benefit the Pulaski County district.
The board also voted unanimously against two proposals to open a charter school in Jacksonville. The vote supported the district administration’s recommendation to oppose the schools because of anticipated negative financial impact on the district. The district would lose $5,876 for each student transferring out of the district to attend a charter school.
Mike Wilson, a long-time activist for a separate district and supporter of the Lighthouse Academy charter school initiative, said that the board’s rejection of the charter school proposal was no surprise or cause for alarm. Historically, school boards routinely oppose charter school efforts.
“It is another illustration that the board is more interested in the district bureaucracy and protecting their finances than educating kids,” Wilson said.
The school board’s decision will be considered by the state Board of Education in November, when it reviews all charter school applications and decides which ones get a charter.
Wilson does not see a separate district materializing for quite some time, but when that time comes, he says the new district and charter school could benefit one other.
“The board’s vote was a great initial step forward. There are lots of hurdles to be jumped and it could be several years off,” Wilson said. “In the meantime, kids need to be educated as best they can do it. The charter school can be done right away.
“The charter school and separate district can cooperatively work together, have common services. There is every possibility of an eventual merger of those entities in the future. That has always been our intention.”
Buster Lackey, planner for the proposed Jacksonville Charter Academy, also sees the potential for a comfortable alliance in the future between the school and a separate district.
“We’ve told the mayor, we’re not in competition. We are offering a choice, and down the road we could be partners. It’s not,
‘We’re behind these four walls and you can’t see in,’” Lackey said.
As current principal of a Maumelle charter school, Lackey has helped forge partnerships with local public schools to share space for school athletics and teacher in-service training. He would like to see the same thing happen in Jacksonville.
“We want our building to be open to our community. It is closed summers, nights, and on weekends, and lots of groups would love to have that kind of space for classes and meetings.”
Lackey sees the charter school as a source of inspiration for the community as a new district takes form.
“The charter school could actually help the separate school district by encouraging everyone in the city to have a strong school district.”
State Rep. Will Bond, D-Jacksonville, a leader on the separate district initiative, thinks fall 2010 is a reasonable time to expect a separate district to come together. Before that can happen, all parties to the district’s desegregation plan must “negotiate a global settlement,” which then must be approved by federal Judge Bill Wilson and the Arkansas attorney general. Bond hopes that will happen in the 2009 session, but it is hard to predict how supportive the Legislature will be “until parties come forth with a legislative plan.”
The movement for a separate district will lose its strongest advocate in the legislature when Bond is term limited at the end of 2008. So, he really would like to see everything gel in the next few months. He is optimistic.
“The stars are aligned for things to move forward,” Bond said. “Even John Walker said last week he would like for things to get worked out.”
Little Rock attorney John Walker represents the Joshua Intervenors, an advocacy group for black students affected by the desegregation plan for the three school districts in Pulaski County. A pending appeal filed by the group with the 8th U.S. Court of Appeals challenges a 2007 ruling by Wilson that the Little Rock School District has achieved unitary status, meaning it is no longer under court supervision of its desegregation efforts. The appeal contends that the district’s process for evaluating academic programs is inadequate and does not mean court mandates.
Another critical hurdle in creation of a new district is a ruling by Wilson that the PCSSD has also achieved unitary status. Some observers say that Wilson must wait for the Court of Appeals’ decision before making that ruling. Bond disagrees, saying that Wilson could go ahead and rule without a decision by the higher court.
Margie Powell, spokesperson for the Office of Desegregation Monitoring, says that a ruling by the Court of Appeals is anticipated in the next few months.
“This is taking way longer than expected. The arguments were heard in April and this has bogged down the process,” she said.
School board members Bill Vasquez, Danny Gillilland and Gwen Williams, who represent Jacksonville and north Pulaski County, could not be reached for comment about the board votes last week.
Leader staff writer
Leaders of separate efforts to improve Jacksonville schools – one by establishment of a standalone school district, the others seeking to open two charter schools – are moving forward in the wake of two critical decisions by the Pulaski County Special School District Board last week.
Those spearheading the separate initiatives say they are not in competition with one another and in fact anticipate future partnerships between the charter schools and a new Jacksonville/north Pulaski County district.
The school board at its regular meeting last week voted unanimously in favor of a separate district because of study findings that it would financially benefit the Pulaski County district.
The board also voted unanimously against two proposals to open a charter school in Jacksonville. The vote supported the district administration’s recommendation to oppose the schools because of anticipated negative financial impact on the district. The district would lose $5,876 for each student transferring out of the district to attend a charter school.
Mike Wilson, a long-time activist for a separate district and supporter of the Lighthouse Academy charter school initiative, said that the board’s rejection of the charter school proposal was no surprise or cause for alarm. Historically, school boards routinely oppose charter school efforts.
“It is another illustration that the board is more interested in the district bureaucracy and protecting their finances than educating kids,” Wilson said.
The school board’s decision will be considered by the state Board of Education in November, when it reviews all charter school applications and decides which ones get a charter.
Wilson does not see a separate district materializing for quite some time, but when that time comes, he says the new district and charter school could benefit one other.
“The board’s vote was a great initial step forward. There are lots of hurdles to be jumped and it could be several years off,” Wilson said. “In the meantime, kids need to be educated as best they can do it. The charter school can be done right away.
“The charter school and separate district can cooperatively work together, have common services. There is every possibility of an eventual merger of those entities in the future. That has always been our intention.”
Buster Lackey, planner for the proposed Jacksonville Charter Academy, also sees the potential for a comfortable alliance in the future between the school and a separate district.
“We’ve told the mayor, we’re not in competition. We are offering a choice, and down the road we could be partners. It’s not,
‘We’re behind these four walls and you can’t see in,’” Lackey said.
As current principal of a Maumelle charter school, Lackey has helped forge partnerships with local public schools to share space for school athletics and teacher in-service training. He would like to see the same thing happen in Jacksonville.
“We want our building to be open to our community. It is closed summers, nights, and on weekends, and lots of groups would love to have that kind of space for classes and meetings.”
Lackey sees the charter school as a source of inspiration for the community as a new district takes form.
“The charter school could actually help the separate school district by encouraging everyone in the city to have a strong school district.”
State Rep. Will Bond, D-Jacksonville, a leader on the separate district initiative, thinks fall 2010 is a reasonable time to expect a separate district to come together. Before that can happen, all parties to the district’s desegregation plan must “negotiate a global settlement,” which then must be approved by federal Judge Bill Wilson and the Arkansas attorney general. Bond hopes that will happen in the 2009 session, but it is hard to predict how supportive the Legislature will be “until parties come forth with a legislative plan.”
The movement for a separate district will lose its strongest advocate in the legislature when Bond is term limited at the end of 2008. So, he really would like to see everything gel in the next few months. He is optimistic.
“The stars are aligned for things to move forward,” Bond said. “Even John Walker said last week he would like for things to get worked out.”
Little Rock attorney John Walker represents the Joshua Intervenors, an advocacy group for black students affected by the desegregation plan for the three school districts in Pulaski County. A pending appeal filed by the group with the 8th U.S. Court of Appeals challenges a 2007 ruling by Wilson that the Little Rock School District has achieved unitary status, meaning it is no longer under court supervision of its desegregation efforts. The appeal contends that the district’s process for evaluating academic programs is inadequate and does not mean court mandates.
Another critical hurdle in creation of a new district is a ruling by Wilson that the PCSSD has also achieved unitary status. Some observers say that Wilson must wait for the Court of Appeals’ decision before making that ruling. Bond disagrees, saying that Wilson could go ahead and rule without a decision by the higher court.
Margie Powell, spokesperson for the Office of Desegregation Monitoring, says that a ruling by the Court of Appeals is anticipated in the next few months.
“This is taking way longer than expected. The arguments were heard in April and this has bogged down the process,” she said.
School board members Bill Vasquez, Danny Gillilland and Gwen Williams, who represent Jacksonville and north Pulaski County, could not be reached for comment about the board votes last week.
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