By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
David Knighton, Harding University’s all-time leading passer, has been expelled from school for the fall semester.
Knighton, the 2007 Gulf South Conference Player of the Year and a Harlon Hill Award candidate, was to have capped off his record-setting career at Harding today when the Bisons traveled to Russellville to take on Arkansas Tech.
Knighton was accused of violating the university’s code of conduct policy that forbids a student having a person of the opposite sex in their residence after curfew. Knighton maintains that he was merely helping out a friend who had stayed out too late and was unable to get into her dorm. He said he was awakened in the early morning hours by a phone call from the friend seeking a place to stay for the night.
Knighton said she slept on his couch. The university’s public relation’s department issued the following release regarding the matter:
“David Knighton is no longer enrolled at Harding. Harding has a long-standing policy of not discussing student personnel matters. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulations prohibit us from releasing information from students’ records. Included in that information is any disclosure involving student disciplinary records, academic records or health records. It is not in a student’s best interests for Harding to disclose any portion of a student’s records.”
Knighton said he didn’t feel like the university dean doubted his version of events.
“But they said I should have called the dorm or taken other actions,” Knighton said on Friday afternoon. “I’m just ready to move on. That’s the way I feel about the whole thing.”
Knighton, who was five weeks away from a marketing degree, could re-enroll at Harding next semester, though his scholarship would be exempt and he would have to pay for his courses. He plans on hiring an agent to explore a possible career in the National Football League.
Knighton has Harding career records in pass completions (861), passing yards (9,995), passing touchdowns (80), pass completion percentage (60.0), pass efficiency (130.8) and total offense (10,448), among others.
Knighton is going to remain living in Searcy pending the hiring of an agent.
“I’m going to start training, keep my fingers crossed and pray,” he said.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
SPORTS>>Badgers beat Bears, open playoffs at home
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
In a game that ended with a 16-point margin, a single point wouldn’t seem to make much of a difference. It did on Thursday night.
The Sylvan Hills Bears had just returned a Beebe Badger fumble 40 yards to set up a potential game-tying touchdown minutes into the second half on Thursday night at “Bro” Erwin Field. But after Bear quarterback Jordan Spears snuck in from two yards out to narrow the lead to 14-13, Victor Howell broke through to block the extra point.
The Bears never threatened the lead again and the Badgers (8-2, 6-1) put it away for a 35-19 victory, securing the No. 2 seed from the 5A Southeast and earning their first home playoff game since 2003. They will host Blytheville on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
“The defense has been playing fantastic the last three weeks,” said Badger head coach John Shannon. “That’s how you win championships.”
The Bears (5-5, 4-3), meanwhile, face a monumental first-round challenge with the loss: A trip to either West Helena or Batesville, possibly without one of their top offensive weapons. Running back Juliean Broner, who was turning in a big game, injured his knee which leaves him questionable for the postseason.
Beebe played vintage Shannon football in the second half, holding the ball for 19 of the 24 minutes and running 39 plays to just 19 for the Bears after intermission.
The Badgers took a 14-7 lead into the locker room when Sammy Williams, who rushed 26 times for 129 yards, scored from 16 yards with 32 seconds left in the half.
Beebe then began the second half with a promising drive that ended when Sylvan Hills lineman Nick Brewer leveled Williams with a big hit, jarring the ball loose. Ahmad Scott scooped it up and rumbled 40 yards to 19, setting up Spears’ touchdown and Howell’s heroics.
“You would not believe what a blocked extra point does to you,” Sylvan Hills head coach Jim Withrow said. “But again, that’s part of the maturation process. I look out here and they have 20-some seniors. We have 10. That’s part of the deal. Our guys have to grow up and accept adversity and we didn’t really do that a lot tonight.”
If that weren’t deflating enough for the Bears, Beebe went on an 11-play drive that concluded with Brandon Pursell’s 13-yard touchdown sweep with 3:27 left in the third to make it 21-13. Pursell rushed for 106 yards on 16 carries and Luke Gardner added 64 more as the Badgers torched an exhausted Sylvan Hills defense for 194 second-half rushing yards – 325 overall.
“We’re still young, we’ve still got to grow up,” said Withrow. “You’ve gotta make plays. But I give (Beebe) credit. They stuffed it down our throats and we didn’t have an answer for it.”
The Bears tacked on another score with 10:14 left in the game after a 10-play, 68-yard drive, punctuated by Gardner’s 1-yard run that made it 28-13.
“We knew they were going to stack the box against us and we decided to cut our playbook down this week to four or five plays and run them good,” Shannon said. “The dive was there, big time. When we have the dive, the option and the off-tackle going at the same time, we’re a pretty good football team.”
Sylvan Hills still had hope and Spears’ 19-yard pass to Taylor Clark moved them into Beebe territory. But Scott Gowen picked off Spears’ pass to end the threat and the Badgers put it away five minutes later on Gardner’s second touchdown run of the night – this one from five yards with 3:38 left in the game that made it 35-13.
Spears found Taylor Clark across the middle for a 52-yard touchdown strike to set the final margin.
Sylvan Hills threatened to take the early lead in the game, but wasted an 8-minute, 17-play drive when it came up empty on a fourth and two from the Beebe 5. Matt Dent broke through to stop Lawrence Hodges short.
Beebe’s first touchdown was set up when Broner, back to receive a punt, fell down as he attempted to make the catch and Dent pounced on it at the Sylvan Hills 22. Four plays later, Williams broke a tackle in the backfield and went in from five yards with 6:08 left in the half.
The Bears answered with a 59-yard drive, capped off by a deflected pass at the goal line that popped up in the air and into the arms of Scott with 3:54 left. Beebe scored with 32 seconds left in the half to put the Badgers up 14-7 at the half.
Broner, before he was hurt near the end of the half after taking a lick on a 32-yard pass reception, finished with 43 yards on eight carries and 48 yards receiving on two catches. Hodges added 43 yards, while Spears ran for 37. Spears was 10 of 24 for 177 yards, though he suffered three picks — two by Spencer Forte. Clark led all receivers with 71 yards on two catches, while Scott hauled in three passes for 39 yards.
Beebe racked up 24 first downs and 351 yards. Sylvan Hills totaled 300 yards.
Sylvan Hills, the No. 4 seed, takes on the winner of West Helena and Batesville, played after leader deadlines last night.
“Our kids have always stepped up in big games,” Withrow said. “I’d have felt a whole lot better (about our playoff chances) if we’d won. But you can get off the bus and compete or stay on the bus and go home. I want guys that are going to compete.”
Leader sports editor
In a game that ended with a 16-point margin, a single point wouldn’t seem to make much of a difference. It did on Thursday night.
The Sylvan Hills Bears had just returned a Beebe Badger fumble 40 yards to set up a potential game-tying touchdown minutes into the second half on Thursday night at “Bro” Erwin Field. But after Bear quarterback Jordan Spears snuck in from two yards out to narrow the lead to 14-13, Victor Howell broke through to block the extra point.
The Bears never threatened the lead again and the Badgers (8-2, 6-1) put it away for a 35-19 victory, securing the No. 2 seed from the 5A Southeast and earning their first home playoff game since 2003. They will host Blytheville on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
“The defense has been playing fantastic the last three weeks,” said Badger head coach John Shannon. “That’s how you win championships.”
The Bears (5-5, 4-3), meanwhile, face a monumental first-round challenge with the loss: A trip to either West Helena or Batesville, possibly without one of their top offensive weapons. Running back Juliean Broner, who was turning in a big game, injured his knee which leaves him questionable for the postseason.
Beebe played vintage Shannon football in the second half, holding the ball for 19 of the 24 minutes and running 39 plays to just 19 for the Bears after intermission.
The Badgers took a 14-7 lead into the locker room when Sammy Williams, who rushed 26 times for 129 yards, scored from 16 yards with 32 seconds left in the half.
Beebe then began the second half with a promising drive that ended when Sylvan Hills lineman Nick Brewer leveled Williams with a big hit, jarring the ball loose. Ahmad Scott scooped it up and rumbled 40 yards to 19, setting up Spears’ touchdown and Howell’s heroics.
“You would not believe what a blocked extra point does to you,” Sylvan Hills head coach Jim Withrow said. “But again, that’s part of the maturation process. I look out here and they have 20-some seniors. We have 10. That’s part of the deal. Our guys have to grow up and accept adversity and we didn’t really do that a lot tonight.”
If that weren’t deflating enough for the Bears, Beebe went on an 11-play drive that concluded with Brandon Pursell’s 13-yard touchdown sweep with 3:27 left in the third to make it 21-13. Pursell rushed for 106 yards on 16 carries and Luke Gardner added 64 more as the Badgers torched an exhausted Sylvan Hills defense for 194 second-half rushing yards – 325 overall.
“We’re still young, we’ve still got to grow up,” said Withrow. “You’ve gotta make plays. But I give (Beebe) credit. They stuffed it down our throats and we didn’t have an answer for it.”
The Bears tacked on another score with 10:14 left in the game after a 10-play, 68-yard drive, punctuated by Gardner’s 1-yard run that made it 28-13.
“We knew they were going to stack the box against us and we decided to cut our playbook down this week to four or five plays and run them good,” Shannon said. “The dive was there, big time. When we have the dive, the option and the off-tackle going at the same time, we’re a pretty good football team.”
Sylvan Hills still had hope and Spears’ 19-yard pass to Taylor Clark moved them into Beebe territory. But Scott Gowen picked off Spears’ pass to end the threat and the Badgers put it away five minutes later on Gardner’s second touchdown run of the night – this one from five yards with 3:38 left in the game that made it 35-13.
Spears found Taylor Clark across the middle for a 52-yard touchdown strike to set the final margin.
Sylvan Hills threatened to take the early lead in the game, but wasted an 8-minute, 17-play drive when it came up empty on a fourth and two from the Beebe 5. Matt Dent broke through to stop Lawrence Hodges short.
Beebe’s first touchdown was set up when Broner, back to receive a punt, fell down as he attempted to make the catch and Dent pounced on it at the Sylvan Hills 22. Four plays later, Williams broke a tackle in the backfield and went in from five yards with 6:08 left in the half.
The Bears answered with a 59-yard drive, capped off by a deflected pass at the goal line that popped up in the air and into the arms of Scott with 3:54 left. Beebe scored with 32 seconds left in the half to put the Badgers up 14-7 at the half.
Broner, before he was hurt near the end of the half after taking a lick on a 32-yard pass reception, finished with 43 yards on eight carries and 48 yards receiving on two catches. Hodges added 43 yards, while Spears ran for 37. Spears was 10 of 24 for 177 yards, though he suffered three picks — two by Spencer Forte. Clark led all receivers with 71 yards on two catches, while Scott hauled in three passes for 39 yards.
Beebe racked up 24 first downs and 351 yards. Sylvan Hills totaled 300 yards.
Sylvan Hills, the No. 4 seed, takes on the winner of West Helena and Batesville, played after leader deadlines last night.
“Our kids have always stepped up in big games,” Withrow said. “I’d have felt a whole lot better (about our playoff chances) if we’d won. But you can get off the bus and compete or stay on the bus and go home. I want guys that are going to compete.”
SPORTS>>Lonoke cruise into playoffs with easy win
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
The Lonoke Jackrabbits proved a couple of things on Friday night.
One, it’s less important how long you control the ball than what you do with it when you have it and, two, the Rabbits are serious 4A state championship contenders.
The Jackrabbits finished off an unblemished 2-4A Conference campaign with a 35-7 lark past Clinton at James B. Abraham Stadium, piling up 407 total yards, despite having the ball for less than 18 minutes.
“I never think they’re easy,” said Lonoke head coach Jeff Jones. “But we were happy to be able to send the seniors out in the regular season with a win like that. That’s a good boost going into the playoffs.”
The Jackrabbits (9-1), who already clinched the conference title with an equally easy win over Stuttgart last week, will draw a bye in the opening round of the playoffs and await next Friday’s winner between Pulaski Oak Grove and Warren.
Each of Lonoke’s five scoring drives on Friday night took an average of 84 seconds, despite covering an average of 60 yards each. In other words, the Rabbits were in quick-strike mode against Clinton (4-6, 2-5). They got a couple of 100-yard performances from Brandon Smith and Clarence Harris. Harris needed just 11 carries to rack up 139 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Smith rushed eight times for 120.
“Brandon Smith is a load,” Jones said. “He’s a big kid who runs tough with 4.6 speed. And not many people know it but he’s an AP student, too. I knew last year as a sophomore, when we’d alternate him in there that he was going to be good. But we’ve had so many weapons that we could go to.
“This year, he’s really blossomed.”
Smith spent the night quickly hitting the holes, then dragging Yellowjacket tacklers along for the ride. Harris ran all over the field, sometimes cutting back two and three times and almost always finding a seam.
Meanwhile, quarterback Rollins Elam was as efficient as he had to be, completing 7 of 12 passes for 89 yards, all in the first half. Two of those completions went for touchdowns. The first one was a 29-yard post-pattern strike to Michael Howard that put Lonoke ahead 7-0 with 5:11 left in the first period.
He followed that with a 16-yard screen pass to Morgan Linton, who ran untouched into the end zone to make it 14-0 just 31 seconds into the second period. The Lonoke defense allowed Clinton almost nothing through the first half, surrendering only 83 yards in the first half.
“The whole team has steadily improved all year long,” Jones said. “But the defensive improvement has been the most significant thing. Starting last offseason, we wanted to be a more physical team. And I still think we can get better.
“But the defense totally shut them down. I’m really excited about how that bunch has played, especially going into the playoffs.”
Harris capped off a 5-play, 56-yard drive with a 19-yard touchdown run on a counter play that put the Jackrabbits up 21-0 at intermission.
Twenty-two seconds into the second half, all Clinton hopes of a comeback were dashed when Harris swept left, then cut right and outraced a host of Clinton defenders for a 49-yard touchdown. Eric Graydon tacked on the final Lonoke touchdown when he busted tackles and weaved through defenders on a 23-yard touchdown gallop to make it 35-0.
Sam King was good on all five extra points.
Clinton scored its only touchdown on a 2-yard run midway through the final period against Lonoke’s second-team defense.
Clinton finished with 219 yards. The Rabbits, whose only blemish came against Beebe in Week 2, have now won eight straight and can rest up a week to prepare for the second round of the 4A state playoffs. Jones feels pretty good about his team’s momentum going in.
“I think we’ve got an air about us,” he said. “We know what we have to get done. It’s nothing bordering on cockiness. We know there are a lot of teams out there that can send us home. But we’ve come to practice all year and worked hard and it’s paying off on Friday nights.”
Leader sports editor
The Lonoke Jackrabbits proved a couple of things on Friday night.
One, it’s less important how long you control the ball than what you do with it when you have it and, two, the Rabbits are serious 4A state championship contenders.
The Jackrabbits finished off an unblemished 2-4A Conference campaign with a 35-7 lark past Clinton at James B. Abraham Stadium, piling up 407 total yards, despite having the ball for less than 18 minutes.
“I never think they’re easy,” said Lonoke head coach Jeff Jones. “But we were happy to be able to send the seniors out in the regular season with a win like that. That’s a good boost going into the playoffs.”
The Jackrabbits (9-1), who already clinched the conference title with an equally easy win over Stuttgart last week, will draw a bye in the opening round of the playoffs and await next Friday’s winner between Pulaski Oak Grove and Warren.
Each of Lonoke’s five scoring drives on Friday night took an average of 84 seconds, despite covering an average of 60 yards each. In other words, the Rabbits were in quick-strike mode against Clinton (4-6, 2-5). They got a couple of 100-yard performances from Brandon Smith and Clarence Harris. Harris needed just 11 carries to rack up 139 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Smith rushed eight times for 120.
“Brandon Smith is a load,” Jones said. “He’s a big kid who runs tough with 4.6 speed. And not many people know it but he’s an AP student, too. I knew last year as a sophomore, when we’d alternate him in there that he was going to be good. But we’ve had so many weapons that we could go to.
“This year, he’s really blossomed.”
Smith spent the night quickly hitting the holes, then dragging Yellowjacket tacklers along for the ride. Harris ran all over the field, sometimes cutting back two and three times and almost always finding a seam.
Meanwhile, quarterback Rollins Elam was as efficient as he had to be, completing 7 of 12 passes for 89 yards, all in the first half. Two of those completions went for touchdowns. The first one was a 29-yard post-pattern strike to Michael Howard that put Lonoke ahead 7-0 with 5:11 left in the first period.
He followed that with a 16-yard screen pass to Morgan Linton, who ran untouched into the end zone to make it 14-0 just 31 seconds into the second period. The Lonoke defense allowed Clinton almost nothing through the first half, surrendering only 83 yards in the first half.
“The whole team has steadily improved all year long,” Jones said. “But the defensive improvement has been the most significant thing. Starting last offseason, we wanted to be a more physical team. And I still think we can get better.
“But the defense totally shut them down. I’m really excited about how that bunch has played, especially going into the playoffs.”
Harris capped off a 5-play, 56-yard drive with a 19-yard touchdown run on a counter play that put the Jackrabbits up 21-0 at intermission.
Twenty-two seconds into the second half, all Clinton hopes of a comeback were dashed when Harris swept left, then cut right and outraced a host of Clinton defenders for a 49-yard touchdown. Eric Graydon tacked on the final Lonoke touchdown when he busted tackles and weaved through defenders on a 23-yard touchdown gallop to make it 35-0.
Sam King was good on all five extra points.
Clinton scored its only touchdown on a 2-yard run midway through the final period against Lonoke’s second-team defense.
Clinton finished with 219 yards. The Rabbits, whose only blemish came against Beebe in Week 2, have now won eight straight and can rest up a week to prepare for the second round of the 4A state playoffs. Jones feels pretty good about his team’s momentum going in.
“I think we’ve got an air about us,” he said. “We know what we have to get done. It’s nothing bordering on cockiness. We know there are a lot of teams out there that can send us home. But we’ve come to practice all year and worked hard and it’s paying off on Friday nights.”
SPORTS>> Devils rout Patriots,finish third
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
There was no hangover, just maybe a little bit of anger left over from Jacksonville’s senior night loss to West Memphis last Friday night.
The Red Devils took it out on Marion in a thoroughly dominating 48-22 road win to conclude the regular season and earn the No. 3 seed heading into the state playoffs. More importantly, they will open up at home, most likely against Sheridan next Friday night.
“I’m really pleased because the kids understood how important it was to bring that show back home,” said head coach Mark Whatley, whose team improved to 5-5 and finished the conference at 4-3. “It’s been a long season and these kids have done a lot of hard work to set us up for this.”
Patrick Geans erupted for 225 yards rushing on just 14 carries and scored 4 touchdowns. Quarterback Logan Perry was 8 of 12 for 205 yards and two scores — one, a 23-yarder to Demetris Harris and the other a 31-yard strike to Devin Featherston.
Jacksonville opened up a 28-6 lead at intermission.
“We gave up some big plays tonight, but we kept them out of the end zone,” Whatley said.
Leader sports editor
There was no hangover, just maybe a little bit of anger left over from Jacksonville’s senior night loss to West Memphis last Friday night.
The Red Devils took it out on Marion in a thoroughly dominating 48-22 road win to conclude the regular season and earn the No. 3 seed heading into the state playoffs. More importantly, they will open up at home, most likely against Sheridan next Friday night.
“I’m really pleased because the kids understood how important it was to bring that show back home,” said head coach Mark Whatley, whose team improved to 5-5 and finished the conference at 4-3. “It’s been a long season and these kids have done a lot of hard work to set us up for this.”
Patrick Geans erupted for 225 yards rushing on just 14 carries and scored 4 touchdowns. Quarterback Logan Perry was 8 of 12 for 205 yards and two scores — one, a 23-yarder to Demetris Harris and the other a 31-yard strike to Devin Featherston.
Jacksonville opened up a 28-6 lead at intermission.
“We gave up some big plays tonight, but we kept them out of the end zone,” Whatley said.
Friday, November 07, 2008
SPORTS>> Panthers grind way to title
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Russellville could have definitely used more than the 3:32 of possession time it was limited to in the second half.
Cabot held on to the ball for the final 9:39 of the game to clinch the 7A-Central Conference championship with a 12-7 win over the Cyclones on Friday night at Panther Stadium. It was Cabot’s first outright conference championship since 2003.
Cabot earned a bye in the first round of the 7A state playoffs, and will face the winner of next week’s North Little Rock-Springdale Har-ber game.
Russellville answered the only Cabot score of the second half with a lightning quick drive that went 78 yards in five plays to start the fourth quarter, but it was the last time the Cyclones saw the ball. The Panthers ate up the remainder of time with a 19-play drive, which included a pair of fourth-down conversions by junior fullback Michael James along the way.
“They had a good defense,” Cabot coach Mike Malham said. “In fact, there were two good defenses out there tonight. We did what we do. We didn’t break anything big, but we just nickel-and-dimed them. I don’t know how many times we had to go on fourth down, but we didn’t want to give it to them because it didn’t take long for them to get right back in the ballgame.”
James’ duty went well beyond work horse-load on Friday, carrying the ball 38 times for 168 yards and both Panther touchdowns.
Panther football player John Fortner was honored at the start of the game with a video montage and moment of silence.
Fortner was killed early last Saturday morning in a car accident shortly after the Panthers returned from their road trip to Van Buren.
The student body released 600 red balloons in his honor.
“It was a tough game – it was emotional,” said Cabot quarterback Seth Bloomberg. “All week it’s been tough. John Fortner – God bless his family. They’re going through a tough time right now. It was an important game. We played tough, played through it.”
No one played tougher than James on the night, perhaps with the exception of the offensive line that provided he and halfback Chris Bayles with a number of huge gaps.
Those gaps proved critical on the winning drive. The Panthers took possession at their own 38-yard line at the 4:56 mark of the third quarter, and moved methodically down field.
The biggest run of the drive was a 28-yard scamper by junior Matt Bayles that moved the ball to the Cyclone 17.
James converted four fourth-down plays in the second half. The biggest one came on the opening play of the fourth quarter.
With the Panthers facing fourth and goal from less than a foot away from the goal line, he bulled his way in for his 21st touchdown of the season. Chris Bayles tried to run in the two-point conversion on an inside draw from Bloomberg, but the Cyclone defense stopped him at the line and Cabot led 12-0.
“That’s what you expect when you have two teams playing for a championship,” Malham said. “It was a good game. I’m just proud to be on the right side of that 12-7 score.”
Cabot could never pull away, but it did own the clock for the duration. Russellville’s first drive of the game was a three-and-out, but a booming 67-yard punt pinned the Panthers back at their own 9-yard line.
Though the Panthers were able to move the ball past midfield, they stalled, and a fake punt was sniffed out by Russellville. But once again the Cyclones couldn’t move and Cabot took over at its own 41 and started its first scoring drive of the night.
It wasn’t a highlight-reel drive, with a 21-yard gain by James on the second play of the drive being the only gain of more than seven yards the entire way. The drive was in jeopardy with a fourth-and-one at the Russellville 14, but an offside penalty gave Cabot a free trip inside the 10 and a fresh set of downs.
The Panthers took advantage. Two plays later, James went over from three yards at the 11:27 mark of the second quarter.
Logan Spry’s extra-point attempt was blocked to leave the score 6-0.
Malham was happy with the production of his offensive interior.
“They’ve been playing better and better each week,” Malham said. “We’ve been fortunate enough to move the ball up and down the field. The stats don’t really matter, I’m just glad to see that 12-7 up there in favor of Cabot.”
The Cyclones finally put their Spread to work on the possession following Cabot’s second score. Wide receiver Kenneth Golden pulled down three catches during the drive, his third one good for a 5-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Barrett Hughes with 9:39 remaining. Zach Hocker, who barely missed a 56-yard field goal attempt toward the end of the first half, added the extra-point to make it a five-point game.
“That’s exactly what we needed,” Bloomberg said of Cabot’s performance, especially on critical fourth-down plays. “We just needed to do our jobs, and just do what we’re told to in practice, and that’s what we did.”
Bloomberg added 43 yards passing on 4 of 6 attempts and carried four times for an additional 41 yards. The Panthers had 341 yards of total offense, 18 first downs. For Russellville, Hughes was 15 of 22 passing for 91 yards and a touchdown. The Cyclones had 113 yards of total offense, with eight first downs and one turnover — an interception by Cabot defensive back Justin Wortman midway through the first half.
Leader sportswriter
Russellville could have definitely used more than the 3:32 of possession time it was limited to in the second half.
Cabot held on to the ball for the final 9:39 of the game to clinch the 7A-Central Conference championship with a 12-7 win over the Cyclones on Friday night at Panther Stadium. It was Cabot’s first outright conference championship since 2003.
Cabot earned a bye in the first round of the 7A state playoffs, and will face the winner of next week’s North Little Rock-Springdale Har-ber game.
Russellville answered the only Cabot score of the second half with a lightning quick drive that went 78 yards in five plays to start the fourth quarter, but it was the last time the Cyclones saw the ball. The Panthers ate up the remainder of time with a 19-play drive, which included a pair of fourth-down conversions by junior fullback Michael James along the way.
“They had a good defense,” Cabot coach Mike Malham said. “In fact, there were two good defenses out there tonight. We did what we do. We didn’t break anything big, but we just nickel-and-dimed them. I don’t know how many times we had to go on fourth down, but we didn’t want to give it to them because it didn’t take long for them to get right back in the ballgame.”
James’ duty went well beyond work horse-load on Friday, carrying the ball 38 times for 168 yards and both Panther touchdowns.
Panther football player John Fortner was honored at the start of the game with a video montage and moment of silence.
Fortner was killed early last Saturday morning in a car accident shortly after the Panthers returned from their road trip to Van Buren.
The student body released 600 red balloons in his honor.
“It was a tough game – it was emotional,” said Cabot quarterback Seth Bloomberg. “All week it’s been tough. John Fortner – God bless his family. They’re going through a tough time right now. It was an important game. We played tough, played through it.”
No one played tougher than James on the night, perhaps with the exception of the offensive line that provided he and halfback Chris Bayles with a number of huge gaps.
Those gaps proved critical on the winning drive. The Panthers took possession at their own 38-yard line at the 4:56 mark of the third quarter, and moved methodically down field.
The biggest run of the drive was a 28-yard scamper by junior Matt Bayles that moved the ball to the Cyclone 17.
James converted four fourth-down plays in the second half. The biggest one came on the opening play of the fourth quarter.
With the Panthers facing fourth and goal from less than a foot away from the goal line, he bulled his way in for his 21st touchdown of the season. Chris Bayles tried to run in the two-point conversion on an inside draw from Bloomberg, but the Cyclone defense stopped him at the line and Cabot led 12-0.
“That’s what you expect when you have two teams playing for a championship,” Malham said. “It was a good game. I’m just proud to be on the right side of that 12-7 score.”
Cabot could never pull away, but it did own the clock for the duration. Russellville’s first drive of the game was a three-and-out, but a booming 67-yard punt pinned the Panthers back at their own 9-yard line.
Though the Panthers were able to move the ball past midfield, they stalled, and a fake punt was sniffed out by Russellville. But once again the Cyclones couldn’t move and Cabot took over at its own 41 and started its first scoring drive of the night.
It wasn’t a highlight-reel drive, with a 21-yard gain by James on the second play of the drive being the only gain of more than seven yards the entire way. The drive was in jeopardy with a fourth-and-one at the Russellville 14, but an offside penalty gave Cabot a free trip inside the 10 and a fresh set of downs.
The Panthers took advantage. Two plays later, James went over from three yards at the 11:27 mark of the second quarter.
Logan Spry’s extra-point attempt was blocked to leave the score 6-0.
Malham was happy with the production of his offensive interior.
“They’ve been playing better and better each week,” Malham said. “We’ve been fortunate enough to move the ball up and down the field. The stats don’t really matter, I’m just glad to see that 12-7 up there in favor of Cabot.”
The Cyclones finally put their Spread to work on the possession following Cabot’s second score. Wide receiver Kenneth Golden pulled down three catches during the drive, his third one good for a 5-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Barrett Hughes with 9:39 remaining. Zach Hocker, who barely missed a 56-yard field goal attempt toward the end of the first half, added the extra-point to make it a five-point game.
“That’s exactly what we needed,” Bloomberg said of Cabot’s performance, especially on critical fourth-down plays. “We just needed to do our jobs, and just do what we’re told to in practice, and that’s what we did.”
Bloomberg added 43 yards passing on 4 of 6 attempts and carried four times for an additional 41 yards. The Panthers had 341 yards of total offense, 18 first downs. For Russellville, Hughes was 15 of 22 passing for 91 yards and a touchdown. The Cyclones had 113 yards of total offense, with eight first downs and one turnover — an interception by Cabot defensive back Justin Wortman midway through the first half.
EDITORIAL >>In Boone’s memory
Arkansans have long had a reputation for helping out when help is needed and in our area at least this has continued to remain the case in spite of the recent economic downturn.
Responding to the tragedy that befell the family of David “Boone” Hogan of Cabot, family, friends, co-workers and many strangers stepped up with hopes of raising $10,000 to help the family, which became financially strapped after the 28-year-old Boone was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.
Boone was married with three small daughters, Cortlyn, Madison and Briana. His wife, Nikki, was a nursing student but was forced to suspend her studies when her husband became unable to work.
He had worked as a cabinet maker at Falcon Jet for 10 years before he became ill just over a year ago. He was described by co-worker Chrissy Dougherty who had known him since their school days as “a genuinely good person. He was just the all-
American guy in high school.”
She said his friends decided to start the fund because Boone’s medical bills continued to multiply after he and his wife were unable to work and they needed to pay his insurance premiums to ensure his care. They also needed help with food for the family, she said.
To help him out, family and friends (counting on the kindness of each other, their co-workers and strangers) put together a haunted hayride at Ward which they hoped would be of some help before Boone’s death which his doctors said was imminent.
Unfortunately, Boone passed away Oct. 20, four days before the first hayride on Oct. 24. A two-day effort raised $4,800 for the financially-strapped family and two more hayrides were held Thursday and on Halloween. Co-workers at Falcon Jet raised $700 from office collections for the family and donations may continue to be made to funds set up in his name at Community Bank, First Sate Bank and Twin City Bank.
Dougherty said, “People need to know that this could happen to any of us at anytime and that we should be thankful for every healthy day of our life.” —Eileen Feldman
Responding to the tragedy that befell the family of David “Boone” Hogan of Cabot, family, friends, co-workers and many strangers stepped up with hopes of raising $10,000 to help the family, which became financially strapped after the 28-year-old Boone was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.
Boone was married with three small daughters, Cortlyn, Madison and Briana. His wife, Nikki, was a nursing student but was forced to suspend her studies when her husband became unable to work.
He had worked as a cabinet maker at Falcon Jet for 10 years before he became ill just over a year ago. He was described by co-worker Chrissy Dougherty who had known him since their school days as “a genuinely good person. He was just the all-
American guy in high school.”
She said his friends decided to start the fund because Boone’s medical bills continued to multiply after he and his wife were unable to work and they needed to pay his insurance premiums to ensure his care. They also needed help with food for the family, she said.
To help him out, family and friends (counting on the kindness of each other, their co-workers and strangers) put together a haunted hayride at Ward which they hoped would be of some help before Boone’s death which his doctors said was imminent.
Unfortunately, Boone passed away Oct. 20, four days before the first hayride on Oct. 24. A two-day effort raised $4,800 for the financially-strapped family and two more hayrides were held Thursday and on Halloween. Co-workers at Falcon Jet raised $700 from office collections for the family and donations may continue to be made to funds set up in his name at Community Bank, First Sate Bank and Twin City Bank.
Dougherty said, “People need to know that this could happen to any of us at anytime and that we should be thankful for every healthy day of our life.” —Eileen Feldman
EDITORIAL >>In Boone’s memory
Arkansans have long had a reputation for helping out when help is needed and in our area at least this has continued to remain the case in spite of the recent economic downturn.
Responding to the tragedy that befell the family of David “Boone” Hogan of Cabot, family, friends, co-workers and many strangers stepped up with hopes of raising $10,000 to help the family, which became financially strapped after the 28-year-old Boone was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.
Boone was married with three small daughters, Cortlyn, Madison and Briana. His wife, Nikki, was a nursing student but was forced to suspend her studies when her husband became unable to work.
He had worked as a cabinet maker at Falcon Jet for 10 years before he became ill just over a year ago. He was described by co-worker Chrissy Dougherty who had known him since their school days as “a genuinely good person. He was just the all-
American guy in high school.”
She said his friends decided to start the fund because Boone’s medical bills continued to multiply after he and his wife were unable to work and they needed to pay his insurance premiums to ensure his care. They also needed help with food for the family, she said.
To help him out, family and friends (counting on the kindness of each other, their co-workers and strangers) put together a haunted hayride at Ward which they hoped would be of some help before Boone’s death which his doctors said was imminent.
Unfortunately, Boone passed away Oct. 20, four days before the first hayride on Oct. 24. A two-day effort raised $4,800 for the financially-strapped family and two more hayrides were held Thursday and on Halloween. Co-workers at Falcon Jet raised $700 from office collections for the family and donations may continue to be made to funds set up in his name at Community Bank, First Sate Bank and Twin City Bank.
Dougherty said, “People need to know that this could happen to any of us at anytime and that we should be thankful for every healthy day of our life.” —Eileen Feldman
Responding to the tragedy that befell the family of David “Boone” Hogan of Cabot, family, friends, co-workers and many strangers stepped up with hopes of raising $10,000 to help the family, which became financially strapped after the 28-year-old Boone was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.
Boone was married with three small daughters, Cortlyn, Madison and Briana. His wife, Nikki, was a nursing student but was forced to suspend her studies when her husband became unable to work.
He had worked as a cabinet maker at Falcon Jet for 10 years before he became ill just over a year ago. He was described by co-worker Chrissy Dougherty who had known him since their school days as “a genuinely good person. He was just the all-
American guy in high school.”
She said his friends decided to start the fund because Boone’s medical bills continued to multiply after he and his wife were unable to work and they needed to pay his insurance premiums to ensure his care. They also needed help with food for the family, she said.
To help him out, family and friends (counting on the kindness of each other, their co-workers and strangers) put together a haunted hayride at Ward which they hoped would be of some help before Boone’s death which his doctors said was imminent.
Unfortunately, Boone passed away Oct. 20, four days before the first hayride on Oct. 24. A two-day effort raised $4,800 for the financially-strapped family and two more hayrides were held Thursday and on Halloween. Co-workers at Falcon Jet raised $700 from office collections for the family and donations may continue to be made to funds set up in his name at Community Bank, First Sate Bank and Twin City Bank.
Dougherty said, “People need to know that this could happen to any of us at anytime and that we should be thankful for every healthy day of our life.” —Eileen Feldman
EDITORIAL >>Base housing goes forward
Despite an economic turndown that has stalled construction across the United States, several major building projects are set to take off at Little Rock Air Force Base, which will benefit all of central Arkansas.
As part of the military’s nationwide privatization program, a new contractor has agreed to rebuild and remodel some 1,000 homes on base. Eighteen months ago, American Eagle Communities abandoned the $106 million construction project here and gave up work at other bases, but the Air Force has now turned over the privatization contract to Hunt Development Group of El Paso, Texas, and Pinnacle Development of Irvine, Texas, ensuring completion of the ambitious project that will replace 1950s housing with a more stylish contemporary look, along with modern conveniences that military families deserve and expect.
This is a welcome development, even though the project is two years behind schedule. Our senior writer John Hofheimer has reported in a prize-winning series on the housing fiasco involving American Eagle Communities at LRAFB and at other bases.
Creditors were often shortchanged and very little work was done. But the Air Force was determined to go forward with the privatization program, and it looks like it has found the contractors who can finish the project. Its resumption in these tough economic times shows the Pentagon’s commitment to the base, which has been the recipient of more than $1 billion in recent investments.
There’s plenty of other good news at the air base: Construction will soon start on a college-level schoolhouse funded through a partnership with Jacksonville and the military.
The $14.8 million joint-education center will open in front of Little Rock Air Force Base, paid for in part by Jacksonville residents who approved a 1-cent sales tax five years ago to help pay for the campus in cooperation with the Air Force. The campus will offer college-level courses for both the military and civilians through Pulaski Tech, ASU-Beebe and other institutions of higher learning. In effect, Jacksonville will have its own college campus, putting an emphasis on education for the young and adults as well, cultivating minds and moving the community forward.
The joint-education center will cement a unique bond between the city and the base and could serve as a model for other communities in the U.S. This partnership is the first of its kind in the nation, which is why Brig. Gen. Rowayne Schatz, commander at the air base, and other high-level military officers have thanked Jacksonville for its generous gift, which is reminiscent of the donation of land the Air Force received when it built the air base more than half a century ago.
The city has already handed over a $5 million check for the education center, which the Pentagon will complete in two years with a $9.8 million defense appropriation that was shepherded through Congress by Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Ark., who was at the base on Friday for the dedication of a $6.1 million dining facility. He has also been responsible for a magnificent gym and numerous other projects on base.
When you include some $50 million in recent construction projects, as well as a $10 million runway renovation that is set to start soon, and the 17 C-130Js stationed here at the base, which are worth more than $1 billion, you can see the enormous investment the Air Force keeps making in this community.
Jacksonville’s $5 million donation for the education center is yet another investment in a multi-billion enterprise that should return generous dividends for decades to come.
As part of the military’s nationwide privatization program, a new contractor has agreed to rebuild and remodel some 1,000 homes on base. Eighteen months ago, American Eagle Communities abandoned the $106 million construction project here and gave up work at other bases, but the Air Force has now turned over the privatization contract to Hunt Development Group of El Paso, Texas, and Pinnacle Development of Irvine, Texas, ensuring completion of the ambitious project that will replace 1950s housing with a more stylish contemporary look, along with modern conveniences that military families deserve and expect.
This is a welcome development, even though the project is two years behind schedule. Our senior writer John Hofheimer has reported in a prize-winning series on the housing fiasco involving American Eagle Communities at LRAFB and at other bases.
Creditors were often shortchanged and very little work was done. But the Air Force was determined to go forward with the privatization program, and it looks like it has found the contractors who can finish the project. Its resumption in these tough economic times shows the Pentagon’s commitment to the base, which has been the recipient of more than $1 billion in recent investments.
There’s plenty of other good news at the air base: Construction will soon start on a college-level schoolhouse funded through a partnership with Jacksonville and the military.
The $14.8 million joint-education center will open in front of Little Rock Air Force Base, paid for in part by Jacksonville residents who approved a 1-cent sales tax five years ago to help pay for the campus in cooperation with the Air Force. The campus will offer college-level courses for both the military and civilians through Pulaski Tech, ASU-Beebe and other institutions of higher learning. In effect, Jacksonville will have its own college campus, putting an emphasis on education for the young and adults as well, cultivating minds and moving the community forward.
The joint-education center will cement a unique bond between the city and the base and could serve as a model for other communities in the U.S. This partnership is the first of its kind in the nation, which is why Brig. Gen. Rowayne Schatz, commander at the air base, and other high-level military officers have thanked Jacksonville for its generous gift, which is reminiscent of the donation of land the Air Force received when it built the air base more than half a century ago.
The city has already handed over a $5 million check for the education center, which the Pentagon will complete in two years with a $9.8 million defense appropriation that was shepherded through Congress by Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Ark., who was at the base on Friday for the dedication of a $6.1 million dining facility. He has also been responsible for a magnificent gym and numerous other projects on base.
When you include some $50 million in recent construction projects, as well as a $10 million runway renovation that is set to start soon, and the 17 C-130Js stationed here at the base, which are worth more than $1 billion, you can see the enormous investment the Air Force keeps making in this community.
Jacksonville’s $5 million donation for the education center is yet another investment in a multi-billion enterprise that should return generous dividends for decades to come.
EDITORIAL >>Base housing goes forward
Despite an economic turndown that has stalled construction across the United States, several major building projects are set to take off at Little Rock Air Force Base, which will benefit all of central Arkansas.
As part of the military’s nationwide privatization program, a new contractor has agreed to rebuild and remodel some 1,000 homes on base. Eighteen months ago, American Eagle Communities abandoned the $106 million construction project here and gave up work at other bases, but the Air Force has now turned over the privatization contract to Hunt Development Group of El Paso, Texas, and Pinnacle Development of Irvine, Texas, ensuring completion of the ambitious project that will replace 1950s housing with a more stylish contemporary look, along with modern conveniences that military families deserve and expect.
This is a welcome development, even though the project is two years behind schedule. Our senior writer John Hofheimer has reported in a prize-winning series on the housing fiasco involving American Eagle Communities at LRAFB and at other bases.
Creditors were often shortchanged and very little work was done. But the Air Force was determined to go forward with the privatization program, and it looks like it has found the contractors who can finish the project. Its resumption in these tough economic times shows the Pentagon’s commitment to the base, which has been the recipient of more than $1 billion in recent investments.
There’s plenty of other good news at the air base: Construction will soon start on a college-level schoolhouse funded through a partnership with Jacksonville and the military.
The $14.8 million joint-education center will open in front of Little Rock Air Force Base, paid for in part by Jacksonville residents who approved a 1-cent sales tax five years ago to help pay for the campus in cooperation with the Air Force. The campus will offer college-level courses for both the military and civilians through Pulaski Tech, ASU-Beebe and other institutions of higher learning. In effect, Jacksonville will have its own college campus, putting an emphasis on education for the young and adults as well, cultivating minds and moving the community forward.
The joint-education center will cement a unique bond between the city and the base and could serve as a model for other communities in the U.S. This partnership is the first of its kind in the nation, which is why Brig. Gen. Rowayne Schatz, commander at the air base, and other high-level military officers have thanked Jacksonville for its generous gift, which is reminiscent of the donation of land the Air Force received when it built the air base more than half a century ago.
The city has already handed over a $5 million check for the education center, which the Pentagon will complete in two years with a $9.8 million defense appropriation that was shepherded through Congress by Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Ark., who was at the base on Friday for the dedication of a $6.1 million dining facility. He has also been responsible for a magnificent gym and numerous other projects on base.
When you include some $50 million in recent construction projects, as well as a $10 million runway renovation that is set to start soon, and the 17 C-130Js stationed here at the base, which are worth more than $1 billion, you can see the enormous investment the Air Force keeps making in this community.
Jacksonville’s $5 million donation for the education center is yet another investment in a multi-billion enterprise that should return generous dividends for decades to come.
As part of the military’s nationwide privatization program, a new contractor has agreed to rebuild and remodel some 1,000 homes on base. Eighteen months ago, American Eagle Communities abandoned the $106 million construction project here and gave up work at other bases, but the Air Force has now turned over the privatization contract to Hunt Development Group of El Paso, Texas, and Pinnacle Development of Irvine, Texas, ensuring completion of the ambitious project that will replace 1950s housing with a more stylish contemporary look, along with modern conveniences that military families deserve and expect.
This is a welcome development, even though the project is two years behind schedule. Our senior writer John Hofheimer has reported in a prize-winning series on the housing fiasco involving American Eagle Communities at LRAFB and at other bases.
Creditors were often shortchanged and very little work was done. But the Air Force was determined to go forward with the privatization program, and it looks like it has found the contractors who can finish the project. Its resumption in these tough economic times shows the Pentagon’s commitment to the base, which has been the recipient of more than $1 billion in recent investments.
There’s plenty of other good news at the air base: Construction will soon start on a college-level schoolhouse funded through a partnership with Jacksonville and the military.
The $14.8 million joint-education center will open in front of Little Rock Air Force Base, paid for in part by Jacksonville residents who approved a 1-cent sales tax five years ago to help pay for the campus in cooperation with the Air Force. The campus will offer college-level courses for both the military and civilians through Pulaski Tech, ASU-Beebe and other institutions of higher learning. In effect, Jacksonville will have its own college campus, putting an emphasis on education for the young and adults as well, cultivating minds and moving the community forward.
The joint-education center will cement a unique bond between the city and the base and could serve as a model for other communities in the U.S. This partnership is the first of its kind in the nation, which is why Brig. Gen. Rowayne Schatz, commander at the air base, and other high-level military officers have thanked Jacksonville for its generous gift, which is reminiscent of the donation of land the Air Force received when it built the air base more than half a century ago.
The city has already handed over a $5 million check for the education center, which the Pentagon will complete in two years with a $9.8 million defense appropriation that was shepherded through Congress by Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Ark., who was at the base on Friday for the dedication of a $6.1 million dining facility. He has also been responsible for a magnificent gym and numerous other projects on base.
When you include some $50 million in recent construction projects, as well as a $10 million runway renovation that is set to start soon, and the 17 C-130Js stationed here at the base, which are worth more than $1 billion, you can see the enormous investment the Air Force keeps making in this community.
Jacksonville’s $5 million donation for the education center is yet another investment in a multi-billion enterprise that should return generous dividends for decades to come.
TOP STORY > >Foster care, adoption ban to affect many
By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
Arkansas voters said yes Tuesday, to a proposed ban on adoption or foster parenting of a minor under age 18 by anyone who is living with a sexual partner outside of marriage.
Now, the Arkansas Department of Human Services (and its attorneys have less than two months to decide how to implement the ban. The new law will take effect the first day of 2009 and will apply to all foster care placements and adoptions, including those arranged by public agencies and private entities, from that day forward.
The new law will not apply to guardianship through the courts, which will remain an option for unmarried couples wanting to be foster parents.
In general, the new law will not cause a dramatic decline in the number of foster care placements. For many years, DHS has restricted adults of the opposite sex who live under the same roof – regardless of sexual involvement – from being foster parents. Only recently had the agency decided to liberalize that policy.
“The current (initiated) act is reflective of how we have been practicing except for waivers,” said Julie Munsell, director of communications for DHS.
Policing or monitoring of relations between prospective parents is not likely to happen.
“That kind of information about family dynamics starts with voluntary disclosure or almost always emerges with the home study” that is part of the evaluation of prospective foster homes, Munsell said.
Currently about 3,700 children in Arkansas are in foster care. Nearly 1,200 homes are approved and available for foster care placements.
Forty-eight percent of foster homes are headed by married couples; 18 percent are headed by single, divorced or separated females. Less than 1 percent of the homes are headed by divorced or single males. Emergency shelters or group homes comprise the other foster care settings.
LAW LIMITS ADOPTIONS
Munsell and others involved in foster and adoption placements lament the new law’s limit on the pool of qualified prospective parents and say that it will do nothing to guarantee child safety and well-being.
Currently, children needing a foster home do have a place to go, at least on an emergency basis. The issue, Munsell said, is having the flexibility to select a family setting that best meets a child’s emotional and other needs. Now, placement in the home of a relative will now not be possible if that person is in a sexual relationship with someone living in the same household.
The alternative will then be to go before a judge and petition for guardianship of the child.
“Preferential treatment is given to family members; otherwise, you have to assert that there is no relative who is willing or able to care for this child,” Munsell said.
The drawback will be, with the new law, that cohabiting couples acting as guardians will never be able to adopt a child in their care.
Proponents of the new law claim that it will protect children from harm more prevalent in households that are not headed by married couples. They point to research findings that physical abuse against a spouse or child is much higher for cohabiting couples than those who are married.
Munsell agreed that there have been a number of recent child abuse cases involving live-in boyfriends.
However, she questioned the logic that cohabiting was the root cause of the abuse. Emotional instability and other problems that make an individual unfit to parent do not fit neatly into demographic categories, she contended.
“Thirteen foster homes were closed by DHS recently because of abuse or neglect, and they were all over the map,” Munsell said. “Single, married, older, younger, from all over the state. Marital status does not predict; there was no pattern as to who was most likely to harm a child. It is as varying as the uniqueness of individuals and has more to do with substance abuse and family upbringing.”
Munsell said that the best approach to placement is to leave that decision to “skilled workers who can best assess what living situation is best for the child.”
Two months ago, DHS was on the verge of codifying its longstanding practice of not allowing adults of the opposite sex living under the same roof to be foster parents.
DHS REVERSED COURSE
A public hearing as part of the rulemaking process drew unexpectedly broad opposition to the idea from pediatricians, social workers, judges, attorneys and foster children. DHS decided to reverse course and instead formulate rules for a more liberal application process.
Under new rules, which did not have time to take effect, unmarried adults, regardless of marital status, living in the same household would be able to apply, and each situation would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Now, that plan has been scrapped and DHS must get busy drafting rules to conform to the newly approved initiative.
Kaye McLeod, a lawyer who arranges private adoptions, foresees scenarios in which unmarried individuals who are otherwise suited to be adoptive parents will be disallowed by law.
That will include individuals with roommates, grandparents, or couples married under common law in another state and any arrangements in the works for adoptions slated for 2009.
Partners in a common-law marriage from another state might also be barred from adoption or serving as foster care parents, McLeod ventured. Arkansas law does not allow common law marriage but honors those arrangements made in other states.
That will be something for the lawyers to sort out.
In the past, DHS did allow for exceptions to its own restrictions regarding cohabiting adults. Now those waivers will be illegal.
McLeod, who has arranged more than 2,500 adoptions in almost 28 years, recalled a case on the East Coast. The adoptive parent worked in the financial office of an Ivy League university and happened to have a roommate of the same sex.
“There will be a definite impact on these categories; those people’s sexual orientation will be in question if they want to adopt,” McLeod said.
Leader staff writer
Arkansas voters said yes Tuesday, to a proposed ban on adoption or foster parenting of a minor under age 18 by anyone who is living with a sexual partner outside of marriage.
Now, the Arkansas Department of Human Services (and its attorneys have less than two months to decide how to implement the ban. The new law will take effect the first day of 2009 and will apply to all foster care placements and adoptions, including those arranged by public agencies and private entities, from that day forward.
The new law will not apply to guardianship through the courts, which will remain an option for unmarried couples wanting to be foster parents.
In general, the new law will not cause a dramatic decline in the number of foster care placements. For many years, DHS has restricted adults of the opposite sex who live under the same roof – regardless of sexual involvement – from being foster parents. Only recently had the agency decided to liberalize that policy.
“The current (initiated) act is reflective of how we have been practicing except for waivers,” said Julie Munsell, director of communications for DHS.
Policing or monitoring of relations between prospective parents is not likely to happen.
“That kind of information about family dynamics starts with voluntary disclosure or almost always emerges with the home study” that is part of the evaluation of prospective foster homes, Munsell said.
Currently about 3,700 children in Arkansas are in foster care. Nearly 1,200 homes are approved and available for foster care placements.
Forty-eight percent of foster homes are headed by married couples; 18 percent are headed by single, divorced or separated females. Less than 1 percent of the homes are headed by divorced or single males. Emergency shelters or group homes comprise the other foster care settings.
LAW LIMITS ADOPTIONS
Munsell and others involved in foster and adoption placements lament the new law’s limit on the pool of qualified prospective parents and say that it will do nothing to guarantee child safety and well-being.
Currently, children needing a foster home do have a place to go, at least on an emergency basis. The issue, Munsell said, is having the flexibility to select a family setting that best meets a child’s emotional and other needs. Now, placement in the home of a relative will now not be possible if that person is in a sexual relationship with someone living in the same household.
The alternative will then be to go before a judge and petition for guardianship of the child.
“Preferential treatment is given to family members; otherwise, you have to assert that there is no relative who is willing or able to care for this child,” Munsell said.
The drawback will be, with the new law, that cohabiting couples acting as guardians will never be able to adopt a child in their care.
Proponents of the new law claim that it will protect children from harm more prevalent in households that are not headed by married couples. They point to research findings that physical abuse against a spouse or child is much higher for cohabiting couples than those who are married.
Munsell agreed that there have been a number of recent child abuse cases involving live-in boyfriends.
However, she questioned the logic that cohabiting was the root cause of the abuse. Emotional instability and other problems that make an individual unfit to parent do not fit neatly into demographic categories, she contended.
“Thirteen foster homes were closed by DHS recently because of abuse or neglect, and they were all over the map,” Munsell said. “Single, married, older, younger, from all over the state. Marital status does not predict; there was no pattern as to who was most likely to harm a child. It is as varying as the uniqueness of individuals and has more to do with substance abuse and family upbringing.”
Munsell said that the best approach to placement is to leave that decision to “skilled workers who can best assess what living situation is best for the child.”
Two months ago, DHS was on the verge of codifying its longstanding practice of not allowing adults of the opposite sex living under the same roof to be foster parents.
DHS REVERSED COURSE
A public hearing as part of the rulemaking process drew unexpectedly broad opposition to the idea from pediatricians, social workers, judges, attorneys and foster children. DHS decided to reverse course and instead formulate rules for a more liberal application process.
Under new rules, which did not have time to take effect, unmarried adults, regardless of marital status, living in the same household would be able to apply, and each situation would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Now, that plan has been scrapped and DHS must get busy drafting rules to conform to the newly approved initiative.
Kaye McLeod, a lawyer who arranges private adoptions, foresees scenarios in which unmarried individuals who are otherwise suited to be adoptive parents will be disallowed by law.
That will include individuals with roommates, grandparents, or couples married under common law in another state and any arrangements in the works for adoptions slated for 2009.
Partners in a common-law marriage from another state might also be barred from adoption or serving as foster care parents, McLeod ventured. Arkansas law does not allow common law marriage but honors those arrangements made in other states.
That will be something for the lawyers to sort out.
In the past, DHS did allow for exceptions to its own restrictions regarding cohabiting adults. Now those waivers will be illegal.
McLeod, who has arranged more than 2,500 adoptions in almost 28 years, recalled a case on the East Coast. The adoptive parent worked in the financial office of an Ivy League university and happened to have a roommate of the same sex.
“There will be a definite impact on these categories; those people’s sexual orientation will be in question if they want to adopt,” McLeod said.
TOP STORY > >City will tear down seven houses
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Seven asbestos-tainted houses and one foundation in the Sunnyside area of Jacksonville will soon be demolished. Most of the homes were built in the 1940s or earlier and contain asbestos.
All eight properties had previously been condemned by the city and on Thursday night the council approved spending close to $35,000 to have the homes and remains torn down and the contents properly removed.
The council approved a $33,795 bid by Youngblood Excavation and Demolition to do the job. Youngblood was the low bidder among the four companies bidding on the job.
The properties to be demolished under the asbestos removal and demolition bid include 110 North Ave., 127 Galloway Circle, 163 Roosevelt, 183 Pike, 108 Lee, 3034 S. Hwy 161, 105 Lakeshore Dr. and 137 Roosevelt.
The cost of the demolition will be charged to the property owners and if the owners do not or cannot pay the fee, then a tax lien could be placed against the property.
The council Thursday did place more than $46,000 worth of tax liens on various properties throughout the city to cover the city’s cost of mowing the property, cleaning the property or demolishing structures on the lots.
“The law allows us to file a lien against the property,” Mayor Tommy Swaim explained, “and we do this each year near the end of the year if property owners haven’t paid the bill.”
This year the council approved filing liens ranging from $67.98 to $7,436.38 on 80 properties. The liens total $46,773.70. Most of the properties are in the Sunnyside area.
The most expensive liens include $7,436.38 filed against property at 104 Cross St, owned by Leon and Jennifer Brooks; $6,511.46 against 130 Joiner Ave., owned by Glenn Davidson; $6,481.54 filed against 141 North Ave, owned by Marvin and Marva Douglas, $6,225.85 filed against 1116 Sorrells Dr., owned by Jimmie Miller, and $6,086.48 against 128 Central Ave., owned by Jose Ruben Torres.
Other property owners the city has filed liens against include U.S. Mortgage, Veterans Affairs Administration, Pittman and Associates, Washington Mutual and Bank of America.
Once the liens are in place the city will be paid what is owed to it whenever the property is sold.
In other council business:
The council approved the fire department’s request to spend $27,950 from a FEMA grant to purchase a computer simulation package that will allow firefighters to train on a variety of scenarios without risking possible injury or damage to fire equipment.
City Planner Chip McCully, in his monthly report to the city, stated 17 building permits and 11 business licenses were issued during October. He also reported that the engineering department performed 187 inspections during October and sent out more than 100 warning letters to businesses and residences regarding unsightly or unkempt property.
In his monthly report, Public Works Director Jim Oakley said the animal shelter took in 144 dogs and 86 cats during October.
The shelter was able to return 29 dogs to their owners and adopted out 52 more dogs and 20 cats. Shelter officials euthanized 43 dogs and 56 cats in October.
Four bite cases were reported in October. Two involved cats, one involved a stray Chihuahua-terrier mix and the other culprit was a cocker spaniel. None of the animals were declared vicious.
The council also accepted the Community Development Block Grant’s 2009 Strategic Action Plan.
Tommy Dupree with Reed’s Bridge Historical Society asked the council to help purchase a half-acre lot and home that is considered part of the Civil War battlefield. But the council tabled any action, concerned of what it considered a high appraisal from the property owner.
The council set a public hearing for 7 p.m. Nov. 20 at city hall for annexing church property on Gen. Samuels, east of Hwy. 107. The church has petitioned the city asking to be annexed.
The mayor told the council that Gov. Mike Beebe has declared the day after Christmas a state holiday this year, giving state employees Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off. The mayor said the city usually follows the state lead, but had only listed Christmas Eve and Christmas as holidays for city employees.
The council voted to follow the state and also make the day after a city holiday.
Leader staff writer
Seven asbestos-tainted houses and one foundation in the Sunnyside area of Jacksonville will soon be demolished. Most of the homes were built in the 1940s or earlier and contain asbestos.
All eight properties had previously been condemned by the city and on Thursday night the council approved spending close to $35,000 to have the homes and remains torn down and the contents properly removed.
The council approved a $33,795 bid by Youngblood Excavation and Demolition to do the job. Youngblood was the low bidder among the four companies bidding on the job.
The properties to be demolished under the asbestos removal and demolition bid include 110 North Ave., 127 Galloway Circle, 163 Roosevelt, 183 Pike, 108 Lee, 3034 S. Hwy 161, 105 Lakeshore Dr. and 137 Roosevelt.
The cost of the demolition will be charged to the property owners and if the owners do not or cannot pay the fee, then a tax lien could be placed against the property.
The council Thursday did place more than $46,000 worth of tax liens on various properties throughout the city to cover the city’s cost of mowing the property, cleaning the property or demolishing structures on the lots.
“The law allows us to file a lien against the property,” Mayor Tommy Swaim explained, “and we do this each year near the end of the year if property owners haven’t paid the bill.”
This year the council approved filing liens ranging from $67.98 to $7,436.38 on 80 properties. The liens total $46,773.70. Most of the properties are in the Sunnyside area.
The most expensive liens include $7,436.38 filed against property at 104 Cross St, owned by Leon and Jennifer Brooks; $6,511.46 against 130 Joiner Ave., owned by Glenn Davidson; $6,481.54 filed against 141 North Ave, owned by Marvin and Marva Douglas, $6,225.85 filed against 1116 Sorrells Dr., owned by Jimmie Miller, and $6,086.48 against 128 Central Ave., owned by Jose Ruben Torres.
Other property owners the city has filed liens against include U.S. Mortgage, Veterans Affairs Administration, Pittman and Associates, Washington Mutual and Bank of America.
Once the liens are in place the city will be paid what is owed to it whenever the property is sold.
In other council business:
The council approved the fire department’s request to spend $27,950 from a FEMA grant to purchase a computer simulation package that will allow firefighters to train on a variety of scenarios without risking possible injury or damage to fire equipment.
City Planner Chip McCully, in his monthly report to the city, stated 17 building permits and 11 business licenses were issued during October. He also reported that the engineering department performed 187 inspections during October and sent out more than 100 warning letters to businesses and residences regarding unsightly or unkempt property.
In his monthly report, Public Works Director Jim Oakley said the animal shelter took in 144 dogs and 86 cats during October.
The shelter was able to return 29 dogs to their owners and adopted out 52 more dogs and 20 cats. Shelter officials euthanized 43 dogs and 56 cats in October.
Four bite cases were reported in October. Two involved cats, one involved a stray Chihuahua-terrier mix and the other culprit was a cocker spaniel. None of the animals were declared vicious.
The council also accepted the Community Development Block Grant’s 2009 Strategic Action Plan.
Tommy Dupree with Reed’s Bridge Historical Society asked the council to help purchase a half-acre lot and home that is considered part of the Civil War battlefield. But the council tabled any action, concerned of what it considered a high appraisal from the property owner.
The council set a public hearing for 7 p.m. Nov. 20 at city hall for annexing church property on Gen. Samuels, east of Hwy. 107. The church has petitioned the city asking to be annexed.
The mayor told the council that Gov. Mike Beebe has declared the day after Christmas a state holiday this year, giving state employees Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off. The mayor said the city usually follows the state lead, but had only listed Christmas Eve and Christmas as holidays for city employees.
The council voted to follow the state and also make the day after a city holiday.
TOP STORY > >Runoff set for Nov. 25 in Cabot council race
By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer
As is often the case when three candidates run for the same position, there was no clear winner Tuesday in the Cabot City Council race between incumbent Becky Lemaster, Ann Gilliam and Bucky Mayfield.
The runoff election Nov. 25 is between Gilliam, who garnered 3,463 votes, and Lemaster, who finished second with 2,377 votes.
Mayfield, who said his work kept him from campaigning as much as he would have liked, is asking the 1,206 city residents who voted for him to support Gilliam.
Lemaster took office two years ago as did Mayor Eddie Joe Williams. The two have often been at odds. Lemaster fought the mayor over some of the layoffs in his first year in office that he said were necessary because the city’s expenses were higher than its income. More recently, she opposed the purchase of a piece of equipment for ripping up asphalt that would have cost about $80,000. During much of her time in office, Lemaster has had problems with code violations at her home and business.
Neighbors have complained that both are unsightly. Lemaster has complained that the mayor uses the code officer to exact revenge. But Williams declined Friday to say who he supports in the runoff for the Ward 4, Position 1 seat.
Neither would he comment on the defeat of former Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh and Alderman Teri Miessner. Stumbaugh lost his bid for the Ward 3, Position 1 seat held by the ailing Alderman Tom Armstrong, 4,019 to 3,519 while Miessner lost her Ward 3, Position 2 seat to Rick Prentice, 3,597 to 3,382. Lemaster, Miessner, Stum-baugh and Patrick Hutton, who ran unopposed for the city council, are generally considered allies who could have made it difficult for Williams to implement plans to which they were opposed.
“I’m committed to doing what’s best for this city and I’ll work with whoever is elected,” Williams said, adding that he is already planning a January workshop, like those he has held for the past two years, where he will discuss next year’s plans with the council.
Leader staff writer
As is often the case when three candidates run for the same position, there was no clear winner Tuesday in the Cabot City Council race between incumbent Becky Lemaster, Ann Gilliam and Bucky Mayfield.
The runoff election Nov. 25 is between Gilliam, who garnered 3,463 votes, and Lemaster, who finished second with 2,377 votes.
Mayfield, who said his work kept him from campaigning as much as he would have liked, is asking the 1,206 city residents who voted for him to support Gilliam.
Lemaster took office two years ago as did Mayor Eddie Joe Williams. The two have often been at odds. Lemaster fought the mayor over some of the layoffs in his first year in office that he said were necessary because the city’s expenses were higher than its income. More recently, she opposed the purchase of a piece of equipment for ripping up asphalt that would have cost about $80,000. During much of her time in office, Lemaster has had problems with code violations at her home and business.
Neighbors have complained that both are unsightly. Lemaster has complained that the mayor uses the code officer to exact revenge. But Williams declined Friday to say who he supports in the runoff for the Ward 4, Position 1 seat.
Neither would he comment on the defeat of former Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh and Alderman Teri Miessner. Stumbaugh lost his bid for the Ward 3, Position 1 seat held by the ailing Alderman Tom Armstrong, 4,019 to 3,519 while Miessner lost her Ward 3, Position 2 seat to Rick Prentice, 3,597 to 3,382. Lemaster, Miessner, Stum-baugh and Patrick Hutton, who ran unopposed for the city council, are generally considered allies who could have made it difficult for Williams to implement plans to which they were opposed.
“I’m committed to doing what’s best for this city and I’ll work with whoever is elected,” Williams said, adding that he is already planning a January workshop, like those he has held for the past two years, where he will discuss next year’s plans with the council.
TOP STORY > >Runoff set for Nov. 25 in Cabot council race
By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer
As is often the case when three candidates run for the same position, there was no clear winner Tuesday in the Cabot City Council race between incumbent Becky Lemaster, Ann Gilliam and Bucky Mayfield.
The runoff election Nov. 25 is between Gilliam, who garnered 3,463 votes, and Lemaster, who finished second with 2,377 votes.
Mayfield, who said his work kept him from campaigning as much as he would have liked, is asking the 1,206 city residents who voted for him to support Gilliam.
Lemaster took office two years ago as did Mayor Eddie Joe Williams. The two have often been at odds. Lemaster fought the mayor over some of the layoffs in his first year in office that he said were necessary because the city’s expenses were higher than its income. More recently, she opposed the purchase of a piece of equipment for ripping up asphalt that would have cost about $80,000. During much of her time in office, Lemaster has had problems with code violations at her home and business.
Neighbors have complained that both are unsightly. Lemaster has complained that the mayor uses the code officer to exact revenge. But Williams declined Friday to say who he supports in the runoff for the Ward 4, Position 1 seat.
Neither would he comment on the defeat of former Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh and Alderman Teri Miessner. Stumbaugh lost his bid for the Ward 3, Position 1 seat held by the ailing Alderman Tom Armstrong, 4,019 to 3,519 while Miessner lost her Ward 3, Position 2 seat to Rick Prentice, 3,597 to 3,382. Lemaster, Miessner, Stum-baugh and Patrick Hutton, who ran unopposed for the city council, are generally considered allies who could have made it difficult for Williams to implement plans to which they were opposed.
“I’m committed to doing what’s best for this city and I’ll work with whoever is elected,” Williams said, adding that he is already planning a January workshop, like those he has held for the past two years, where he will discuss next year’s plans with the council.
Leader staff writer
As is often the case when three candidates run for the same position, there was no clear winner Tuesday in the Cabot City Council race between incumbent Becky Lemaster, Ann Gilliam and Bucky Mayfield.
The runoff election Nov. 25 is between Gilliam, who garnered 3,463 votes, and Lemaster, who finished second with 2,377 votes.
Mayfield, who said his work kept him from campaigning as much as he would have liked, is asking the 1,206 city residents who voted for him to support Gilliam.
Lemaster took office two years ago as did Mayor Eddie Joe Williams. The two have often been at odds. Lemaster fought the mayor over some of the layoffs in his first year in office that he said were necessary because the city’s expenses were higher than its income. More recently, she opposed the purchase of a piece of equipment for ripping up asphalt that would have cost about $80,000. During much of her time in office, Lemaster has had problems with code violations at her home and business.
Neighbors have complained that both are unsightly. Lemaster has complained that the mayor uses the code officer to exact revenge. But Williams declined Friday to say who he supports in the runoff for the Ward 4, Position 1 seat.
Neither would he comment on the defeat of former Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh and Alderman Teri Miessner. Stumbaugh lost his bid for the Ward 3, Position 1 seat held by the ailing Alderman Tom Armstrong, 4,019 to 3,519 while Miessner lost her Ward 3, Position 2 seat to Rick Prentice, 3,597 to 3,382. Lemaster, Miessner, Stum-baugh and Patrick Hutton, who ran unopposed for the city council, are generally considered allies who could have made it difficult for Williams to implement plans to which they were opposed.
“I’m committed to doing what’s best for this city and I’ll work with whoever is elected,” Williams said, adding that he is already planning a January workshop, like those he has held for the past two years, where he will discuss next year’s plans with the council.
TOP STORY > >Some lenders still open
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
High-interest payday loans are unconstitutional in Arkansas, the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday, but that’s not going to stop one home-grown lender who channels his payday loans through a South Dakota finance company he chartered.
“We are very pleased with today’s ruling,” said Todd Turner, the Arkadelphia attorney who has dogged the payday industry for about a decade. “This is a great victory for Arkansas consumers. There are many attorneys, including my co-counsel, Chris Averitt, and organizations who worked very hard on this case, and we hope that this will signal an end to usurious payday lending in Arkansas.”
Arkansans Against Abusive Payday Lending, a coalition of organizations and individuals who have worked to curtail these unfair practices, has been instrumental in developing public awareness of this issue.
At the beginning of the year, there were 275 payday lenders operating in the state. After the attorney general’s office sent cease-and-desist orders to many of them, that number fell to 139 and now it’s 80, according to Hank Klein, a consumer activist who turned his focus on payday predatory lenders in the state.
Of that 80, three remain open in Jacksonville, two of them owned by W. Cosby Hodges and Robert Srygley. Hodges is from Fort Smith, Srygley from Fayettville. They own 53 stores, which claim they operate under a South Dakota charter and are thus not subject to the Arkansas interest limitations.
First American Cash Advance, a Delaware corporation, owns the other 27 stores.
“This is what we’ve been saying for four or five years,” said Klein in praising the 6-0 Supreme Court decision. “The law (allowing high-interest payday lenders) is unconstitutional. You can’t possibly follow the law and follow the Constitution and do it with a straight face.”
The top interest rate in Arkansas is 17 percent. In deciding the Arkansas check casher’s law was unconstitutional, the justices found that payday lenders routinely charged an effective annual rate of 370 percent and more for their $300 or $400 two-week loans, rendering the check-cashing law under which payday lenders operate unconstitutional.
“In the American Check Cashers/MoneyDepot/ShowmetheMoney situation that Srygley and Hodges have, the out-of-state lender (Mount Rushmore, a South Dakota loan company) is just a sham company they have started themselves to try to get around Arkansas law,” Klein said.
“We’re going to make sure they are all closed up and then fold up our tent,” said Klein, a founder of Arkansans Against Abusive Payday Loans.
Hodges wouldn’t speak on the record Thursday, but he faxed a statement that stated, “The products offered by Mount Rushmore meet every aspect of the laws of the state of South Dakota and conform with Arkansas law, which allows parties to a contract to select the rate of another state to govern their contract or transactions.
“Mount Rushmore…does not offer deferred presentment agreements, referred to as payday loans which were…recently ruled invalid by the Arkansas Supreme Court,” Hodges added.
“The Supreme Court reminded everyone that the law has to be consistent with the Constitution,” Justin Allen, Attorney General McDaniel’s chief deputy, said Thursday.
Allen said the attorney general’s office had begun negotiating with Hodges and Srygley.
“We tend to disagree,” Allen said. “We’re at a precipice. We know they are out there but there are different arguments. It may be harder. If there is no compromise, we’ll take some (legal) action.”
Leader senior staff writer
High-interest payday loans are unconstitutional in Arkansas, the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday, but that’s not going to stop one home-grown lender who channels his payday loans through a South Dakota finance company he chartered.
“We are very pleased with today’s ruling,” said Todd Turner, the Arkadelphia attorney who has dogged the payday industry for about a decade. “This is a great victory for Arkansas consumers. There are many attorneys, including my co-counsel, Chris Averitt, and organizations who worked very hard on this case, and we hope that this will signal an end to usurious payday lending in Arkansas.”
Arkansans Against Abusive Payday Lending, a coalition of organizations and individuals who have worked to curtail these unfair practices, has been instrumental in developing public awareness of this issue.
At the beginning of the year, there were 275 payday lenders operating in the state. After the attorney general’s office sent cease-and-desist orders to many of them, that number fell to 139 and now it’s 80, according to Hank Klein, a consumer activist who turned his focus on payday predatory lenders in the state.
Of that 80, three remain open in Jacksonville, two of them owned by W. Cosby Hodges and Robert Srygley. Hodges is from Fort Smith, Srygley from Fayettville. They own 53 stores, which claim they operate under a South Dakota charter and are thus not subject to the Arkansas interest limitations.
First American Cash Advance, a Delaware corporation, owns the other 27 stores.
“This is what we’ve been saying for four or five years,” said Klein in praising the 6-0 Supreme Court decision. “The law (allowing high-interest payday lenders) is unconstitutional. You can’t possibly follow the law and follow the Constitution and do it with a straight face.”
The top interest rate in Arkansas is 17 percent. In deciding the Arkansas check casher’s law was unconstitutional, the justices found that payday lenders routinely charged an effective annual rate of 370 percent and more for their $300 or $400 two-week loans, rendering the check-cashing law under which payday lenders operate unconstitutional.
“In the American Check Cashers/MoneyDepot/ShowmetheMoney situation that Srygley and Hodges have, the out-of-state lender (Mount Rushmore, a South Dakota loan company) is just a sham company they have started themselves to try to get around Arkansas law,” Klein said.
“We’re going to make sure they are all closed up and then fold up our tent,” said Klein, a founder of Arkansans Against Abusive Payday Loans.
Hodges wouldn’t speak on the record Thursday, but he faxed a statement that stated, “The products offered by Mount Rushmore meet every aspect of the laws of the state of South Dakota and conform with Arkansas law, which allows parties to a contract to select the rate of another state to govern their contract or transactions.
“Mount Rushmore…does not offer deferred presentment agreements, referred to as payday loans which were…recently ruled invalid by the Arkansas Supreme Court,” Hodges added.
“The Supreme Court reminded everyone that the law has to be consistent with the Constitution,” Justin Allen, Attorney General McDaniel’s chief deputy, said Thursday.
Allen said the attorney general’s office had begun negotiating with Hodges and Srygley.
“We tend to disagree,” Allen said. “We’re at a precipice. We know they are out there but there are different arguments. It may be harder. If there is no compromise, we’ll take some (legal) action.”
TOP STORY > >Base housing work back on track
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Nearly 18 months after American Eagle Communities abandoned its housing-privatization contract at Little Rock Air Force Base and three other military installations, a pair of proven military-housing contractors have purchased it from American Eagle for an undisclosed amount of money, and work should resume in the spring.
Hunt Development Group of El Paso, Texas, and Pinnacle AMS Development Company LLC of Irvine, Calif., are the two principals in HP Communities LLC, the new owner. (Base opens dining facility, p. 4A.)
Their contract reduces the number of housing units from about 1,200 to 1,000, and also cuts from 468 to 150 the number of new houses to be built, according to Col. James Johnson, vice commander of the 19th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base.
The balance will be remodeled.
“This is about quality of life,” Johnson said.
HP Communities will build or remodel and own the homes for 50 years, managing them, doing maintenance and collecting and keeping the rents, according to Paula Baker, a Pinnacle investment manager who was already at the site on Little Rock Air Force Base on Friday.
“We are going to take care of these people who have gotten the short end of the stick for a while,” she said. “We think military families deserve to be taken care of.”
“We’re doing strategic planning,” she said. “This is day three — the deal closed on the fifth. We’re seeing maintenance orders and taking care of people,” she said.
The four contracts were bundled together, and HP Communities purchased all four, which should total about 2,600 homes.
Hunt and Pinnacle together and separately have successfully worked on several military construction housing-privatization projects, Baker said.
“Hunt has built more milcon housing than anyone else,” she said, adding that construction and remodeling would begin this spring and the job is expected to take about three years to complete.
American Eagle was two years behind schedule just three years into the contract, base commander Brig. Gen. Rowayne Schatz Jr. said of American Eagle last winter.
By the time American Eagle should have completed 125 new houses, there were only 25 and about 70 poured concrete slabs.
“It’s very frustrating how long it has taken,” Cong. Vic Snyder of Little Rock said Friday. Snyder, chairman of the House Armed Services Oversight Committee, said the Air Force needs to monitor such projects more closely in the future.
Senators Mark Pryor of Arkan-sas and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia have focused attention on the problems caused by American Eagle and have proposed legislation calling for closer oversight of such privatization contracts.
“After meeting with countless Air Force officials, business owners and developers to uncover the flaws in the housing-privatization process, I moved two pieces of legislation into law to fix and prevent the problems from reoccurring,” Pryor said.
“Now, I believe we have established the right oversight and accountability measures in place to ensure military families finally receive the housing they deserve and that we prevent taxpayer waste.”
“I’m pleased this contract has been finalized, and I expect HP Communities LLC to move full speed ahead on this project,” Pryor said. “Our men and women in uniform and their families have waited too long already.”
American Eagle, which was a partnership between Cara-betta Enterprises and Shaw Infrastructures, failed similarly to fulfill its contracts at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia, Patrick Air Force Base in Florida and Hanscom Air Force Base in Maryland.
Contractors and suppliers were left holding the bag for millions of dollars.
Leader senior staff writer
Nearly 18 months after American Eagle Communities abandoned its housing-privatization contract at Little Rock Air Force Base and three other military installations, a pair of proven military-housing contractors have purchased it from American Eagle for an undisclosed amount of money, and work should resume in the spring.
Hunt Development Group of El Paso, Texas, and Pinnacle AMS Development Company LLC of Irvine, Calif., are the two principals in HP Communities LLC, the new owner. (Base opens dining facility, p. 4A.)
Their contract reduces the number of housing units from about 1,200 to 1,000, and also cuts from 468 to 150 the number of new houses to be built, according to Col. James Johnson, vice commander of the 19th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base.
The balance will be remodeled.
“This is about quality of life,” Johnson said.
HP Communities will build or remodel and own the homes for 50 years, managing them, doing maintenance and collecting and keeping the rents, according to Paula Baker, a Pinnacle investment manager who was already at the site on Little Rock Air Force Base on Friday.
“We are going to take care of these people who have gotten the short end of the stick for a while,” she said. “We think military families deserve to be taken care of.”
“We’re doing strategic planning,” she said. “This is day three — the deal closed on the fifth. We’re seeing maintenance orders and taking care of people,” she said.
The four contracts were bundled together, and HP Communities purchased all four, which should total about 2,600 homes.
Hunt and Pinnacle together and separately have successfully worked on several military construction housing-privatization projects, Baker said.
“Hunt has built more milcon housing than anyone else,” she said, adding that construction and remodeling would begin this spring and the job is expected to take about three years to complete.
American Eagle was two years behind schedule just three years into the contract, base commander Brig. Gen. Rowayne Schatz Jr. said of American Eagle last winter.
By the time American Eagle should have completed 125 new houses, there were only 25 and about 70 poured concrete slabs.
“It’s very frustrating how long it has taken,” Cong. Vic Snyder of Little Rock said Friday. Snyder, chairman of the House Armed Services Oversight Committee, said the Air Force needs to monitor such projects more closely in the future.
Senators Mark Pryor of Arkan-sas and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia have focused attention on the problems caused by American Eagle and have proposed legislation calling for closer oversight of such privatization contracts.
“After meeting with countless Air Force officials, business owners and developers to uncover the flaws in the housing-privatization process, I moved two pieces of legislation into law to fix and prevent the problems from reoccurring,” Pryor said.
“Now, I believe we have established the right oversight and accountability measures in place to ensure military families finally receive the housing they deserve and that we prevent taxpayer waste.”
“I’m pleased this contract has been finalized, and I expect HP Communities LLC to move full speed ahead on this project,” Pryor said. “Our men and women in uniform and their families have waited too long already.”
American Eagle, which was a partnership between Cara-betta Enterprises and Shaw Infrastructures, failed similarly to fulfill its contracts at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia, Patrick Air Force Base in Florida and Hanscom Air Force Base in Maryland.
Contractors and suppliers were left holding the bag for millions of dollars.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Incomplete election results from area races
Click on results to enlarge view
Click on results to enlarge view
Click on results to enlarge view
TOP STORY > >Unexpected blowout as nation veers to left
By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader editor-in-chief
The election of Barack Obama as president is as dramatic as the election of Ronald Reagan a generation ago.
But the shift to the left is much more dramatic than anyone of us expected. With the Democrats taking the White House and holding a clear majority in Congress, expect more spending on the domestic front and cutbacks on national security.
There will be another $700 billion bailout. The first was a warmup act for much more serious spending next year and beyond.
There was jubilation last night in Chicago, Sen. Obama’s home town, where an estimated 1 million turned out to celebrate.
Elsewhere, there was shock and disbelief that an African American had defeated the political establishment: Before the vote Monday, David Gergen, the former presidential adviser, was holding back tears on CNN. He admires Obama, but he had hoped a war hero would have done better and been given a chance to lead the nation.
Now he’s just an also-ran — like much of the Republican Party, he was swept away in a Democratic tide. Even Patrick Buchanan was stunned by Tuesday’s avalanche. (See the editorial page for Buchanan’s and others’ take on the election.)
When the hamlet of Dixville Notch, N.H., the first in the nation to go to the polls after midnight Tuesday, voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama, 15-6, it was a sign of things to come.
More red states went blue — and also elected Democrats to the House and Senate — and that became the theme for much of the evening: Even the old Confederacy is no longer solidly Republican. Obama captured enough votes there (but not in Arkansas) to ensure his election, which seemed a 100-1 shot even a year ago, and only somewhat better last summer.
Even Karl Rove, who helped wreck George Bush’s presidency, admitted the obvious a couple of days ago: Obama would take most of the electoral votes, handing the Republicans, who also lost a lot of ground in Congress, their worst defeat in more than 40 years, allowing for one-party rule that could pass legislation at least as sweeping as the Great Society programs of the mid-1960s.
Right up to Election Day, the true believers at Fox News and the Drudge Report found hope in the most obscure polls that showed the tiniest movement toward McCain, while key Republicans, from Colin Powell to Kenneth Duberstein, Ronald Reagan’s chief of staff, endorsed Obama. His association with radical religious and political figures had a negligible effect on the voters.
The electorate punished the party in charge of the White House for its failures — for running up the deficit and the national debt, throwing the nation into a recession while waging war on two fronts in Southwest Asia.
The American public does not like to reward failure and McCain himself parodied his ineffective campaign on “Saturday Night Live” — the grumpy old loser reduced to selling jewelry with his wife on the QVC Network.
A more experienced running mate than Sarah Palin — Mitt Romney or Tom Ridge or even Mike Huckabee — might have helped McCain’s chances, but maybe not enough to make much of a difference in the end.
What should the winner do?
On the domestic front, we must make America prosperous again. Ninety percent of the voters said the economy is their main worry, as it should be.
Obama could show real leadership by inviting the brightest figures from both parties to help rebuild America: Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana is being considered for Secretary of State, and Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, another Republican who has been a rational voice in the war on terror, could also serve in a key national security position.
Obama has said he would even ask John McCain to act as a bridge to the loyal opposition.
No one knows whether an Obama victory is only a temporary setback to Republicans’ fortunes or whether it could be as long-lasting as the Reagan revolution, which, inevitably, was betrayed by his own followers.
We are moving into a new age without a name. It could be a new age of liberalism and the end of conservatism, but then George W. Bush was no conservative, either, a one-man wrecking crew who has destroyed his party and its standard bearer and put his nation in jeopardy.
Leader editor-in-chief
The election of Barack Obama as president is as dramatic as the election of Ronald Reagan a generation ago.
But the shift to the left is much more dramatic than anyone of us expected. With the Democrats taking the White House and holding a clear majority in Congress, expect more spending on the domestic front and cutbacks on national security.
There will be another $700 billion bailout. The first was a warmup act for much more serious spending next year and beyond.
There was jubilation last night in Chicago, Sen. Obama’s home town, where an estimated 1 million turned out to celebrate.
Elsewhere, there was shock and disbelief that an African American had defeated the political establishment: Before the vote Monday, David Gergen, the former presidential adviser, was holding back tears on CNN. He admires Obama, but he had hoped a war hero would have done better and been given a chance to lead the nation.
Now he’s just an also-ran — like much of the Republican Party, he was swept away in a Democratic tide. Even Patrick Buchanan was stunned by Tuesday’s avalanche. (See the editorial page for Buchanan’s and others’ take on the election.)
When the hamlet of Dixville Notch, N.H., the first in the nation to go to the polls after midnight Tuesday, voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama, 15-6, it was a sign of things to come.
More red states went blue — and also elected Democrats to the House and Senate — and that became the theme for much of the evening: Even the old Confederacy is no longer solidly Republican. Obama captured enough votes there (but not in Arkansas) to ensure his election, which seemed a 100-1 shot even a year ago, and only somewhat better last summer.
Even Karl Rove, who helped wreck George Bush’s presidency, admitted the obvious a couple of days ago: Obama would take most of the electoral votes, handing the Republicans, who also lost a lot of ground in Congress, their worst defeat in more than 40 years, allowing for one-party rule that could pass legislation at least as sweeping as the Great Society programs of the mid-1960s.
Right up to Election Day, the true believers at Fox News and the Drudge Report found hope in the most obscure polls that showed the tiniest movement toward McCain, while key Republicans, from Colin Powell to Kenneth Duberstein, Ronald Reagan’s chief of staff, endorsed Obama. His association with radical religious and political figures had a negligible effect on the voters.
The electorate punished the party in charge of the White House for its failures — for running up the deficit and the national debt, throwing the nation into a recession while waging war on two fronts in Southwest Asia.
The American public does not like to reward failure and McCain himself parodied his ineffective campaign on “Saturday Night Live” — the grumpy old loser reduced to selling jewelry with his wife on the QVC Network.
A more experienced running mate than Sarah Palin — Mitt Romney or Tom Ridge or even Mike Huckabee — might have helped McCain’s chances, but maybe not enough to make much of a difference in the end.
What should the winner do?
On the domestic front, we must make America prosperous again. Ninety percent of the voters said the economy is their main worry, as it should be.
Obama could show real leadership by inviting the brightest figures from both parties to help rebuild America: Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana is being considered for Secretary of State, and Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, another Republican who has been a rational voice in the war on terror, could also serve in a key national security position.
Obama has said he would even ask John McCain to act as a bridge to the loyal opposition.
No one knows whether an Obama victory is only a temporary setback to Republicans’ fortunes or whether it could be as long-lasting as the Reagan revolution, which, inevitably, was betrayed by his own followers.
We are moving into a new age without a name. It could be a new age of liberalism and the end of conservatism, but then George W. Bush was no conservative, either, a one-man wrecking crew who has destroyed his party and its standard bearer and put his nation in jeopardy.
TOP STORY > >Jacksonville gets a charter school, but not another
By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
The state Board of Education commissioners on Monday approved one application for an open- enrollment charter school to open in Jacksonville, but denied a second proposal that would have given the community two open-enrollment charter schools next fall.
The board gave its unanimous approval for Jacksonville Lighthouse Academy, but then unanimously rejected the application for Jacksonville Charter Academy.
Board sentiment was that Jacksonville children deserved an alternative to local schools, but that two charter schools at once was moving too quickly and could bring harm to the Pulaski County Special School District, which opposes the charter schools.
Several dozen community members and a contingent of current and former public officials – including Mayor Tommy Swaim, parks and recreation director George Biggs, state representatives Pat Bond, Will Bond, and Sandra Prater, and state senators John Paul Capps and Mike Wilson – were there in a show of support for the Jacksonville Lighthouse Academy.
PREPARATIONS FOR JACKSONVILLE LIGHTHOUSE ACADEMY NOW MOVE FORWARD
Organizers say the selection process can now begin in earnest for the school’s principal, who will then begin hiring teachers. A national search for the principal is already underway, but the hope is to hire a candidate from Arkansas.
Southern Financial Corpo-ration, a Little Rock-based organization that funds community development projects, is providing financing for the construction of the school building at the corner of Willow and North First streets.
The school will be the 11th in the national Lighthouse Academies system, which started its first school in 2004 in the South Bronx. Nine other schools are in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Washington. The Lighthouse mission is educating underserved populations in urban areas.
Lighthouse Academies boast of an “arts-infused” curriculum that begins preparing students in kindergarten for college and a positive, individualized approach to learning, character development, and discipline problems.
The first year, the school will have space for 344 students, kindergarten through sixth grade. The two kindergarten classes will have 22 students each. All other grades would have two classes of 25 students. A grade would be added each year through high school for a capped enrollment of 644 students.
The school will be supported by public funds as part of the county school district. Students attending the open-enrollment school, however, could live in a school district, city, or county other than where the school is located.
In the likely event that the number of applicants will exceed the available seats, lottery will determine which students are admitted. The application process will be in the spring.
PCSSD CHALLENGES CHARTER SCHOOLS FOR JACKSONVILLE
Brenda Bowles, PCSSD assistant superintendent for equity and pupil services, told state commissioners that opening a charter school would mean a $1.97 million revenue loss in the first year and put in jeopardy efforts by the district for release from court-ordered monitoring of its desegregation plan.
Three of the six Jacksonville elementary schools are not meeting mandates for racial balance and a charter school, historically popular with whites, would only make that situation worse, Bowles argued.
Bowles also questioned the need for an alternative to existing Jacksonville schools, noting that Benchmark test scores show that four of the six local elementary schools “are doing great.”
Rebel Wilson, a Lighthouse Academy board member, countered Bowles’ position in her presentation to commissioners on the need for a charter school.
Wilson cited “startling statistics” in a recent state Department of Education report. Three elementary schools, three middle schools and both high schools in north Pulaski County have failed to meet federal education standards. Harris Elementary, Jacksonville Elementary, Murrell Taylor Elementary, Jacksonville Middle School Girls, Northwood Middle, Jacksonville Middle School Boys, Jacksonville High, and North Pulaski High schools were among 18 schools in the PCSSD that did not attain test score levels mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind program. For three of the schools, this is the fifth year on the “needs-improvement” list.
Substandard performance by both area high schools means that an option for a quality high school education “simply does not exist,” Wilson said. “This is an injustice to our community.”
Wilson also noted a 28 percent high school dropout rate locally and the need for college remedial courses by two-thirds of college freshman coming from Jacksonville.
Also speaking for the application were Biggs, Swaim, Lighthouse Academies founder and CEO Mike Ronan, Mike Wilson, and Capps.
Swaim told the board that local activism for improved public schools in Jacksonville dates back 30 years. The recent taxpayers’ $5 million gift to Little Rock Air Force Base for a college education center and a locally funded $4 million public library is clear proof, he said, of strong support for better education.
Education commissioners expressed concern about the impact of the school on racial balance in Jacksonville schools.
Mike Wilson and Ronan vowed that every effort would be made to recruit a racially diverse applicant pool.
Jeremy Lasiter, legal counsel for the state Department of Education, told commissioners, “No one is clairvoyant; we are not going to be able to know the makeup of these schools.”
In the end, commissioners concluded that the over riding issue was giving Jacksonville children an alternative to current school offerings.
JACKSONVILLE CHARTER ACADEMY APPLICATION DENIED
But sentiments shifted in response to the Jacksonville Charter Academy application. Commissioners voiced reluctance to push the envelope with two charter schools the same year.
The application was defended by Buster Lackey, principal and deputy superintendent of Academics Plus, a charter school in Maumelle. Lackey has been working as a consultant with “I Can, We Can, We All Can,” the organization spearheading the application. Planning began a year ago with a racially diverse group of parents, some parishioners at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, who wanted to improve education for their children.
The strengths of the proposed school, Lackey told commissioners, included a location convenient for Hwy. 67-167 commuters and Little Rock Air Force Base families, strong community participation, individualized education plans for all students, free college-level courses via a partnership with University of Central Arkansas, and vocational-trade school training for students not geared to college.
Lackey said that the school application had the support of Swaim, the Jacksonville City Council and the Jacksonville police.
Craig Collier, Mt. Pisgah pastor, and Mona Briggs, an educational consultant working with Jacksonville Charter Academy planners, spoke passionately about the proposed school.
Briggs told commissioners not to get hung up on worries about impacts on the local school district but to see the proposed school with its strong parental engagement as a rare opportunity that should not be missed.
“We have schools in crisis in this state, and communities desperate to improve, and when we find pockets or places with the desire to meet the need, and when the leadership is there, what does it hurt to give them the chance?” Briggs said. “This is an opportunity to allow a group of people who have come together with a vision for their children.”
Commissioners questioned Lackey about his decision, as stated in the application, to not seek federal funds the first year for meals for students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunches.
Lackey said that the excessive paperwork made application until the second year prohibitive, but promised that private contributions would cover the meal costs for all children the first year.
As each commissioner voted down the application, most expressed interest in seeing how the approved school impacted the county school district before allowing another to open in the same community.
Ben Mays said, “We have already provided something to give relief to Jacksonville.”
Sam Ledbetter also voiced concern about “going too fast, too quickly,” but also said he had “issues with the application” not fully addressing state requirements.
Jim Cooper said he feared that a second charter might do “too much damage to the existing school district.”
Lackey said that advocates for Jacksonville Charter Academy would return next year to seek state approval.
After the meeting, Briggs said that the school would have not been a drain on the county district, because it would have attracted families with parents commuting from other counties into work in Little Rock.
Briggs called the decision “arbitrary and unfair.”
“There are enough children in central Arkansas that are not being successful. The application should have been heard on its own merits,” Briggs said, adding she had hoped “that the commissioners would have shown more courage.”
Leader staff writer
The state Board of Education commissioners on Monday approved one application for an open- enrollment charter school to open in Jacksonville, but denied a second proposal that would have given the community two open-enrollment charter schools next fall.
The board gave its unanimous approval for Jacksonville Lighthouse Academy, but then unanimously rejected the application for Jacksonville Charter Academy.
Board sentiment was that Jacksonville children deserved an alternative to local schools, but that two charter schools at once was moving too quickly and could bring harm to the Pulaski County Special School District, which opposes the charter schools.
Several dozen community members and a contingent of current and former public officials – including Mayor Tommy Swaim, parks and recreation director George Biggs, state representatives Pat Bond, Will Bond, and Sandra Prater, and state senators John Paul Capps and Mike Wilson – were there in a show of support for the Jacksonville Lighthouse Academy.
PREPARATIONS FOR JACKSONVILLE LIGHTHOUSE ACADEMY NOW MOVE FORWARD
Organizers say the selection process can now begin in earnest for the school’s principal, who will then begin hiring teachers. A national search for the principal is already underway, but the hope is to hire a candidate from Arkansas.
Southern Financial Corpo-ration, a Little Rock-based organization that funds community development projects, is providing financing for the construction of the school building at the corner of Willow and North First streets.
The school will be the 11th in the national Lighthouse Academies system, which started its first school in 2004 in the South Bronx. Nine other schools are in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Washington. The Lighthouse mission is educating underserved populations in urban areas.
Lighthouse Academies boast of an “arts-infused” curriculum that begins preparing students in kindergarten for college and a positive, individualized approach to learning, character development, and discipline problems.
The first year, the school will have space for 344 students, kindergarten through sixth grade. The two kindergarten classes will have 22 students each. All other grades would have two classes of 25 students. A grade would be added each year through high school for a capped enrollment of 644 students.
The school will be supported by public funds as part of the county school district. Students attending the open-enrollment school, however, could live in a school district, city, or county other than where the school is located.
In the likely event that the number of applicants will exceed the available seats, lottery will determine which students are admitted. The application process will be in the spring.
PCSSD CHALLENGES CHARTER SCHOOLS FOR JACKSONVILLE
Brenda Bowles, PCSSD assistant superintendent for equity and pupil services, told state commissioners that opening a charter school would mean a $1.97 million revenue loss in the first year and put in jeopardy efforts by the district for release from court-ordered monitoring of its desegregation plan.
Three of the six Jacksonville elementary schools are not meeting mandates for racial balance and a charter school, historically popular with whites, would only make that situation worse, Bowles argued.
Bowles also questioned the need for an alternative to existing Jacksonville schools, noting that Benchmark test scores show that four of the six local elementary schools “are doing great.”
Rebel Wilson, a Lighthouse Academy board member, countered Bowles’ position in her presentation to commissioners on the need for a charter school.
Wilson cited “startling statistics” in a recent state Department of Education report. Three elementary schools, three middle schools and both high schools in north Pulaski County have failed to meet federal education standards. Harris Elementary, Jacksonville Elementary, Murrell Taylor Elementary, Jacksonville Middle School Girls, Northwood Middle, Jacksonville Middle School Boys, Jacksonville High, and North Pulaski High schools were among 18 schools in the PCSSD that did not attain test score levels mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind program. For three of the schools, this is the fifth year on the “needs-improvement” list.
Substandard performance by both area high schools means that an option for a quality high school education “simply does not exist,” Wilson said. “This is an injustice to our community.”
Wilson also noted a 28 percent high school dropout rate locally and the need for college remedial courses by two-thirds of college freshman coming from Jacksonville.
Also speaking for the application were Biggs, Swaim, Lighthouse Academies founder and CEO Mike Ronan, Mike Wilson, and Capps.
Swaim told the board that local activism for improved public schools in Jacksonville dates back 30 years. The recent taxpayers’ $5 million gift to Little Rock Air Force Base for a college education center and a locally funded $4 million public library is clear proof, he said, of strong support for better education.
Education commissioners expressed concern about the impact of the school on racial balance in Jacksonville schools.
Mike Wilson and Ronan vowed that every effort would be made to recruit a racially diverse applicant pool.
Jeremy Lasiter, legal counsel for the state Department of Education, told commissioners, “No one is clairvoyant; we are not going to be able to know the makeup of these schools.”
In the end, commissioners concluded that the over riding issue was giving Jacksonville children an alternative to current school offerings.
JACKSONVILLE CHARTER ACADEMY APPLICATION DENIED
But sentiments shifted in response to the Jacksonville Charter Academy application. Commissioners voiced reluctance to push the envelope with two charter schools the same year.
The application was defended by Buster Lackey, principal and deputy superintendent of Academics Plus, a charter school in Maumelle. Lackey has been working as a consultant with “I Can, We Can, We All Can,” the organization spearheading the application. Planning began a year ago with a racially diverse group of parents, some parishioners at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, who wanted to improve education for their children.
The strengths of the proposed school, Lackey told commissioners, included a location convenient for Hwy. 67-167 commuters and Little Rock Air Force Base families, strong community participation, individualized education plans for all students, free college-level courses via a partnership with University of Central Arkansas, and vocational-trade school training for students not geared to college.
Lackey said that the school application had the support of Swaim, the Jacksonville City Council and the Jacksonville police.
Craig Collier, Mt. Pisgah pastor, and Mona Briggs, an educational consultant working with Jacksonville Charter Academy planners, spoke passionately about the proposed school.
Briggs told commissioners not to get hung up on worries about impacts on the local school district but to see the proposed school with its strong parental engagement as a rare opportunity that should not be missed.
“We have schools in crisis in this state, and communities desperate to improve, and when we find pockets or places with the desire to meet the need, and when the leadership is there, what does it hurt to give them the chance?” Briggs said. “This is an opportunity to allow a group of people who have come together with a vision for their children.”
Commissioners questioned Lackey about his decision, as stated in the application, to not seek federal funds the first year for meals for students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunches.
Lackey said that the excessive paperwork made application until the second year prohibitive, but promised that private contributions would cover the meal costs for all children the first year.
As each commissioner voted down the application, most expressed interest in seeing how the approved school impacted the county school district before allowing another to open in the same community.
Ben Mays said, “We have already provided something to give relief to Jacksonville.”
Sam Ledbetter also voiced concern about “going too fast, too quickly,” but also said he had “issues with the application” not fully addressing state requirements.
Jim Cooper said he feared that a second charter might do “too much damage to the existing school district.”
Lackey said that advocates for Jacksonville Charter Academy would return next year to seek state approval.
After the meeting, Briggs said that the school would have not been a drain on the county district, because it would have attracted families with parents commuting from other counties into work in Little Rock.
Briggs called the decision “arbitrary and unfair.”
“There are enough children in central Arkansas that are not being successful. The application should have been heard on its own merits,” Briggs said, adding she had hoped “that the commissioners would have shown more courage.”
TOP STORY > >Schools warned: Improve scores
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Sylvan Hills Middle School in Sherwood has entered its sixth year of being on the state’s infamous School Improvement List.
North Pulaski and Jack-sonville high schools are entering their fifth year.
In the recently released list of 375 schools across the state that need improvement based on the 2008 Benchmark Exam, 24 area schools are on the list.
Four Beebe schools made the list, three from Cabot, four from Lonoke, two from Searcy, and the rest from the Jacksonville and Sherwood areas.
The No Child Left Behind Act calls for all students to be at grade level or above (profi cient or advanced) in literacy and mathematics by the end of the 2014 school year. Between now and then, schools are required to make adequate yearly progress-— about 6-percent advancement per year—toward that 100 percent proficient or advanced goal.
At this point at least half the students at a school should be proficient or advanced.
The federal law states that schools must meet their yearly progress goals as an entire school and in various subgroups that include African-Americans, Caucasians, economically disadvantaged and students with disabilities.
Aside from test scores, a school may also be placed on the improvement list if less than 95 percent of its students took the Benchmark Exams, had low student attendance or graduation rates.
Dr. Ken James, the Arkansas commissioner of education, was not surprised to see that this year’s list had 50 more schools on it than last year’s list.
“The probability is very high that the number of schools placed on the list of schools in need of improvement will increase each year because the bar gets higher each year,” he said.
Of the 375 schools on the current list, 67 on them are on it for the first time. Also 82 of the schools on the list did make adequate progress, but are required to have two consecutive good years before being removed from the list.
This year there were:
104 schools in Year One of school improvement, including Harris Elementary, Jacksonville Middle School (Boys), Oakbrooke Elementary School, Southwest Middle School, Beebe Elementary School, Beebe Junior High, Beebe Middle School, Beebe Intermediate and Cabot Middle School South.
88 schools are in Year Two, including Cabot Junior High South, Ahlf Junior High School, Lonoke Elementary School, Lonoke Middle School, Lonoke High School and Lonoke Primary School.
58 schools are in Year Three, including Cabot Middle School North and Jacksonville Elementary School.
59 schools are in Year Four, including Jacksonville Middle School (Girls), Murrell Taylor Elementary School and Sylvan Hills High School.
49 schools are in Year Five, including North Pulaski High School, Northwood Middle School and Jacksonville High School.
14 schools are in Year Six, including Sylvan Hills Middle School.
Two schools are in Year Seven.
One school is in Year Eight.
Schools that are on the list for the first year are required to review their school improvement plan and provide extra training for teachers and staff.
Schools in Year Two must provide students an option to attend another school in the area that is not on the improvement list.
The schools may also offer supplemental or additional services such as after-school tutoring.
Schools in Year Three must continue to let students option out to other schools and must provide additional services.
When a school is on the improvement list for the fourth consecutive year then the state steps in with an academic and corrective plan for the school.
Schools in Year Five are restructured by the state, meaning that principals, teachers and staff could be replaced and need programs adopted.
There are no actions listed in the state regulations for schools that remain on the list after the fifth year.
The state uses the annual literacy and math Benchmark Exams in grades third through eighth, the 11th-grade literacy Benchmark and the end-of-course algebra I and geometry test to determine if a school is making adequate yearly progress.
Overall, Dr. James said, “It is really encouraging to see how many schools are moving their students toward proficiency.”
Leader staff writer
Sylvan Hills Middle School in Sherwood has entered its sixth year of being on the state’s infamous School Improvement List.
North Pulaski and Jack-sonville high schools are entering their fifth year.
In the recently released list of 375 schools across the state that need improvement based on the 2008 Benchmark Exam, 24 area schools are on the list.
Four Beebe schools made the list, three from Cabot, four from Lonoke, two from Searcy, and the rest from the Jacksonville and Sherwood areas.
The No Child Left Behind Act calls for all students to be at grade level or above (profi cient or advanced) in literacy and mathematics by the end of the 2014 school year. Between now and then, schools are required to make adequate yearly progress-— about 6-percent advancement per year—toward that 100 percent proficient or advanced goal.
At this point at least half the students at a school should be proficient or advanced.
The federal law states that schools must meet their yearly progress goals as an entire school and in various subgroups that include African-Americans, Caucasians, economically disadvantaged and students with disabilities.
Aside from test scores, a school may also be placed on the improvement list if less than 95 percent of its students took the Benchmark Exams, had low student attendance or graduation rates.
Dr. Ken James, the Arkansas commissioner of education, was not surprised to see that this year’s list had 50 more schools on it than last year’s list.
“The probability is very high that the number of schools placed on the list of schools in need of improvement will increase each year because the bar gets higher each year,” he said.
Of the 375 schools on the current list, 67 on them are on it for the first time. Also 82 of the schools on the list did make adequate progress, but are required to have two consecutive good years before being removed from the list.
This year there were:
104 schools in Year One of school improvement, including Harris Elementary, Jacksonville Middle School (Boys), Oakbrooke Elementary School, Southwest Middle School, Beebe Elementary School, Beebe Junior High, Beebe Middle School, Beebe Intermediate and Cabot Middle School South.
88 schools are in Year Two, including Cabot Junior High South, Ahlf Junior High School, Lonoke Elementary School, Lonoke Middle School, Lonoke High School and Lonoke Primary School.
58 schools are in Year Three, including Cabot Middle School North and Jacksonville Elementary School.
59 schools are in Year Four, including Jacksonville Middle School (Girls), Murrell Taylor Elementary School and Sylvan Hills High School.
49 schools are in Year Five, including North Pulaski High School, Northwood Middle School and Jacksonville High School.
14 schools are in Year Six, including Sylvan Hills Middle School.
Two schools are in Year Seven.
One school is in Year Eight.
Schools that are on the list for the first year are required to review their school improvement plan and provide extra training for teachers and staff.
Schools in Year Two must provide students an option to attend another school in the area that is not on the improvement list.
The schools may also offer supplemental or additional services such as after-school tutoring.
Schools in Year Three must continue to let students option out to other schools and must provide additional services.
When a school is on the improvement list for the fourth consecutive year then the state steps in with an academic and corrective plan for the school.
Schools in Year Five are restructured by the state, meaning that principals, teachers and staff could be replaced and need programs adopted.
There are no actions listed in the state regulations for schools that remain on the list after the fifth year.
The state uses the annual literacy and math Benchmark Exams in grades third through eighth, the 11th-grade literacy Benchmark and the end-of-course algebra I and geometry test to determine if a school is making adequate yearly progress.
Overall, Dr. James said, “It is really encouraging to see how many schools are moving their students toward proficiency.”
TOP STORY > >Inmates could still build jail
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Lonoke County Judge Charlie Troutman and JP Larry Odom have joined Sheriff Jim Roberson in saying the new county jail can be built despite the loss of the Act 309 state trustee program.
Modeled on the jail and construction program designed by Dallas County Sheriff Donny Ford, officials, including those three had told residents that state or county inmates could provide most of the labor for building a new 140-bed jail, and based in part on that assurance, in May voters narrowly approved a 12-month, countywide penny sales tax to build the jail that all agree is needed.
But in the wake of the discovery that one poorly supervised Act 309 inmate managed to have sex with two female inmates at the jail and that some others had improperly worked on some cars — including one belonging to the sheriff’s daughter — Roberson and the county voluntarily gave up its program, according to Roberson.
In October, Lonoke County businesses began collecting the income tax and by December the county treasury should receive the first of 12 installments from the state, which could total $6 million.
“Any help you get should reduce overall cost of it,” Troutman said Tuesday. He said county jail prisoners could do the grunt labor, but that the county would have to pay masons, plumbers, electricians and HVAC contractors.
‘I don’t know that that type of labor is available (in the jail or prison),” Troutman said.
“We going to use (inmates) all we can. “
He didn’t know the total cost of the proposed jail, saying, “I don’t know if anyone can tell you.”
He said the $6 million tax revenue estimate was based on the economy in the county remaining viable.
As for the size of the jail that can be built, he said it would depend not only the amount of money raised, but also on the jail’s configuration.
With a lot of high security single-bed cells, the population would be less than if the jail were built with a large dormitory-style area.
“If we can use inmates, I have no problem with it; if we can’t, I’ll go some other route,” he said.
“I don’t foresee it bothering us at all,” said Odom, who ramrodded through the motion that put the tax on the ballot.
He has visited with Ford several times about the design of the jail and also the use of prison labor.
“We have 50 to 80 inmates at all times,” he said. “We’ve plenty of people in jail to do what we want.”
Odom, who is the longest serving justice on the court, is head of the building committee and currently he’s trying to secure the land needed to build the new jail adjacent to the old one, he said.
It was abuse of the Act 309 inmates at the city’s jail that eventually led to a far-flung investigation of former Lonoke Police Chief Jay Campbell, who is in prison pending appeal of his 40-year sentence for several charges including conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and being the kingpin of a continuing criminal enterprise.
Prosecutor Lona McCastlain said no further investigation is under way of Roberson, who self-reported the problems at the county jail and who took his 309 inmates back to the state prison.
Leader senior staff writer
Lonoke County Judge Charlie Troutman and JP Larry Odom have joined Sheriff Jim Roberson in saying the new county jail can be built despite the loss of the Act 309 state trustee program.
Modeled on the jail and construction program designed by Dallas County Sheriff Donny Ford, officials, including those three had told residents that state or county inmates could provide most of the labor for building a new 140-bed jail, and based in part on that assurance, in May voters narrowly approved a 12-month, countywide penny sales tax to build the jail that all agree is needed.
But in the wake of the discovery that one poorly supervised Act 309 inmate managed to have sex with two female inmates at the jail and that some others had improperly worked on some cars — including one belonging to the sheriff’s daughter — Roberson and the county voluntarily gave up its program, according to Roberson.
In October, Lonoke County businesses began collecting the income tax and by December the county treasury should receive the first of 12 installments from the state, which could total $6 million.
“Any help you get should reduce overall cost of it,” Troutman said Tuesday. He said county jail prisoners could do the grunt labor, but that the county would have to pay masons, plumbers, electricians and HVAC contractors.
‘I don’t know that that type of labor is available (in the jail or prison),” Troutman said.
“We going to use (inmates) all we can. “
He didn’t know the total cost of the proposed jail, saying, “I don’t know if anyone can tell you.”
He said the $6 million tax revenue estimate was based on the economy in the county remaining viable.
As for the size of the jail that can be built, he said it would depend not only the amount of money raised, but also on the jail’s configuration.
With a lot of high security single-bed cells, the population would be less than if the jail were built with a large dormitory-style area.
“If we can use inmates, I have no problem with it; if we can’t, I’ll go some other route,” he said.
“I don’t foresee it bothering us at all,” said Odom, who ramrodded through the motion that put the tax on the ballot.
He has visited with Ford several times about the design of the jail and also the use of prison labor.
“We have 50 to 80 inmates at all times,” he said. “We’ve plenty of people in jail to do what we want.”
Odom, who is the longest serving justice on the court, is head of the building committee and currently he’s trying to secure the land needed to build the new jail adjacent to the old one, he said.
It was abuse of the Act 309 inmates at the city’s jail that eventually led to a far-flung investigation of former Lonoke Police Chief Jay Campbell, who is in prison pending appeal of his 40-year sentence for several charges including conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and being the kingpin of a continuing criminal enterprise.
Prosecutor Lona McCastlain said no further investigation is under way of Roberson, who self-reported the problems at the county jail and who took his 309 inmates back to the state prison.
TOP STORY > >All ballot initiatives pass
Arkansas voters on Tuesday approved all the ballot initiatives, including Act 1, which would prevent unmarried couples from adopting children or serve as their custodial parents.
Voters have also approved a measure creating a statewide lottery for Arkansas, overturning a ban set in the state’s constitution since 1874.
Amendment 2 was also passed, requiring the legislature to meet in regular session every year and limit appropriations every year.
Voters also approved Amendment 1, which cleans up some obsolete language in the state constitution dealing with elections.
Sen. John McCain easily carried Arkansas in his losing bid for the presidency.
Cong. Vic Snyder was easily re-elected to a seventh term.
About two-thirds of voters supported the lottery proposal championed by Lt. Governor Bill Halter, which will fund college scholarships through ticket sales. About 36 percent voted against the measure.
Halter has said a lottery would raise $100 million annually and likely would have scratch-off games and lottery drawings like other states. The Legislature will decide what types of games will be offered during its 2009 session.
Those opposing the lottery measure warned it would subsidize scholarships on the backs of the state’s poor.
Arkansas is one of only eight states in the nation without a lottery.
Voters also approved a measure Tuesday night that would allow up to $300 million in bonds to be issued for water projects around the state.
The bond package, referred to voters by lawmakers, would offer low-interest loans and grants through the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission for local governments building sewer and water projects.
The proposal would limit the total amount to be issued during any two-year budget cycle to $60 million, unless the Legislature authorized more.
The adoption and foster ban, aimed primarily at keeping gays from becoming foster or adoptive parents, received support from 56.5-percent of voters in unofficial returns.
About two-thirds of voters supported the lottery measure championed by Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, which will fund college scholarships through ticket sales.
The foster measure grew out of a 2006 Arkansas Supreme Court decision that struck down a state policy banning gay foster parents.
McCain picked up more than six out of 10 votes among the majority white voting populace, was favored slightly among female voters who also vote in greater numbers than males, and won support among independents. A majority of Arkansas voters, considering themselves white evangelical/born-again Christians, favored McCain.
Besides the conservative vote, McCain picked up some support among moderates, who slightly favored Democrat Barack Obama, and even secured votes from among the liberal minority who, as a whole, chose Obama over McCain.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Voters have also approved a measure creating a statewide lottery for Arkansas, overturning a ban set in the state’s constitution since 1874.
Amendment 2 was also passed, requiring the legislature to meet in regular session every year and limit appropriations every year.
Voters also approved Amendment 1, which cleans up some obsolete language in the state constitution dealing with elections.
Sen. John McCain easily carried Arkansas in his losing bid for the presidency.
Cong. Vic Snyder was easily re-elected to a seventh term.
About two-thirds of voters supported the lottery proposal championed by Lt. Governor Bill Halter, which will fund college scholarships through ticket sales. About 36 percent voted against the measure.
Halter has said a lottery would raise $100 million annually and likely would have scratch-off games and lottery drawings like other states. The Legislature will decide what types of games will be offered during its 2009 session.
Those opposing the lottery measure warned it would subsidize scholarships on the backs of the state’s poor.
Arkansas is one of only eight states in the nation without a lottery.
Voters also approved a measure Tuesday night that would allow up to $300 million in bonds to be issued for water projects around the state.
The bond package, referred to voters by lawmakers, would offer low-interest loans and grants through the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission for local governments building sewer and water projects.
The proposal would limit the total amount to be issued during any two-year budget cycle to $60 million, unless the Legislature authorized more.
The adoption and foster ban, aimed primarily at keeping gays from becoming foster or adoptive parents, received support from 56.5-percent of voters in unofficial returns.
About two-thirds of voters supported the lottery measure championed by Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, which will fund college scholarships through ticket sales.
The foster measure grew out of a 2006 Arkansas Supreme Court decision that struck down a state policy banning gay foster parents.
McCain picked up more than six out of 10 votes among the majority white voting populace, was favored slightly among female voters who also vote in greater numbers than males, and won support among independents. A majority of Arkansas voters, considering themselves white evangelical/born-again Christians, favored McCain.
Besides the conservative vote, McCain picked up some support among moderates, who slightly favored Democrat Barack Obama, and even secured votes from among the liberal minority who, as a whole, chose Obama over McCain.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
TOP STORY > >Roberson re-elected, Lemaster in runoff
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
With all ballots counted in Lonoke County, it looks like former Cabot Mayor Mickey “Stubby” Stumbaugh lost his bid to get back into city politics, embattled Alderman Becky Lemaster is forced into a possible run-off and Lonoke County Sheriff Jim Roberson is re-elected.
Incumbent Tom Armstrong pushed past Stumbaugh for the Ward 3, Position 1 seat by 500 votes. Armstrong garnered 4,019 votes to Stumbaugh’s 3,519.
Meanwhile, Lemaster came in second in a three-way race for her Ward 4, Position 1 seat, but leader Ann Gilliam ended up 1 percent shy of garnering 50 percent of the vote. However, some absentee ballots still need to be counted.
Gilliam received 3,463 votes to Lemaster’s 2,377, while Paul “Bucky” Mayfield gathered 1,206 votes. (See results on p. 12A.)
In the other Cabot council races, Rick Prentiss, with 3,597 votes, edged out Teri Miessner, who netted 3,382 votes, for the
Ward 3, Position 2 seat.
For Ward 4, Position 2 seat, incumbent Lisa Brickell bested Ryan Flynn, 4,153 to 2,711.
In the county-wide races, Republican Sheriff Jim Roberson beat back a challenge from Democrat Steve Rich, despite a last-minute revelation of problems with Act 309 prisoners at the county jail. Roberson garnered 15,087 votes to Rich’s 7,728.
Democrat Walls McCrary avoided a run-off in a three-way race for state representative Dist. 15 seat by capturing 55 percent of the vote. Walls received 5,210 votes, compared to Republican Doug Hatcher’s 3,622 and independent candidate Trent Eilts’ 649 votes.
In the race for county clerk, Democratic incumbent Dawn Porterfield beat Republican challenger Cassandra Pitts, 11,329 votes to 10,875.
In the circuit clerk’s race, Democratic incumbent Deborah Oglesby turned back a challenge from Republican Denise Brown, 12,938 votes to 9,560.
In the four contested races for Lonoke County Quorum Court, incumbent Republican Lynn Weeks Clark lost her Justice of the Peace Dist. 5 seat to Democratic challenger Barry Weathers. Weathers received 1,000 votes to Clark’s 974.
Incumbent Dist. 2 JP Jeanette Minton, a Republican, defeated Democratic challenger Vincent Ables, 1,030 votes to 414.
Dist.13 incumbent Mark Edwards, a Republican, stood off a challenge from former Democratic JP Kenny Ridgeway, 1,487 to 818.
Dist. 1 JP Jodie Grisham Troutman, a Democrat, got 2,277 votes against 34 write-in votes.
Other races around the county included Ward 1, Pos. 6 in Austin, where incumbent Donna Soellner kept her seat, getting 257 votes to challenger Steve Bruno’s 167.
In Ward, incumbent Charles K. Gastineau also kept his Ward 3, Pos. 1 seat, beating challenger Ron Bissett, 540 votes to 256.
In Keo, Gloria Stachurski bested David Lanehart by just two votes for the Position 2 seat, 63 votes to 61.
For constable of Oak Grove Township, Republican Vincent Scarlata got 908 votes to Democrat Michael Sipe’s 567. In the Gray Township constable race, Republican William Tony Southerland got 566 votes to Democrat Wesley Harris’ 450.
Running unopposed were County Judge Charlie Troutman, Treasurer Karol DePriest, Assessor Jerry Adams, Collector Patricia McCallie, Coroner Sherry Stracener, JP Dist. 3 Larry Odom, JP Dist. 4 Timothy Lemons, JP Dist. 6 Alexis Malham, JP Dist. 7 Adam Sims, JP Dist. 8 Roger Lynch, JP Dist. Dist. 9 Robert “Sonny” Moery, JP Dist. 10 Bill Ryker, JP. Dist. 11 Mike Dolan and JP Dist. 12 Henry Lang
Leader senior staff writer
With all ballots counted in Lonoke County, it looks like former Cabot Mayor Mickey “Stubby” Stumbaugh lost his bid to get back into city politics, embattled Alderman Becky Lemaster is forced into a possible run-off and Lonoke County Sheriff Jim Roberson is re-elected.
Incumbent Tom Armstrong pushed past Stumbaugh for the Ward 3, Position 1 seat by 500 votes. Armstrong garnered 4,019 votes to Stumbaugh’s 3,519.
Meanwhile, Lemaster came in second in a three-way race for her Ward 4, Position 1 seat, but leader Ann Gilliam ended up 1 percent shy of garnering 50 percent of the vote. However, some absentee ballots still need to be counted.
Gilliam received 3,463 votes to Lemaster’s 2,377, while Paul “Bucky” Mayfield gathered 1,206 votes. (See results on p. 12A.)
In the other Cabot council races, Rick Prentiss, with 3,597 votes, edged out Teri Miessner, who netted 3,382 votes, for the
Ward 3, Position 2 seat.
For Ward 4, Position 2 seat, incumbent Lisa Brickell bested Ryan Flynn, 4,153 to 2,711.
In the county-wide races, Republican Sheriff Jim Roberson beat back a challenge from Democrat Steve Rich, despite a last-minute revelation of problems with Act 309 prisoners at the county jail. Roberson garnered 15,087 votes to Rich’s 7,728.
Democrat Walls McCrary avoided a run-off in a three-way race for state representative Dist. 15 seat by capturing 55 percent of the vote. Walls received 5,210 votes, compared to Republican Doug Hatcher’s 3,622 and independent candidate Trent Eilts’ 649 votes.
In the race for county clerk, Democratic incumbent Dawn Porterfield beat Republican challenger Cassandra Pitts, 11,329 votes to 10,875.
In the circuit clerk’s race, Democratic incumbent Deborah Oglesby turned back a challenge from Republican Denise Brown, 12,938 votes to 9,560.
In the four contested races for Lonoke County Quorum Court, incumbent Republican Lynn Weeks Clark lost her Justice of the Peace Dist. 5 seat to Democratic challenger Barry Weathers. Weathers received 1,000 votes to Clark’s 974.
Incumbent Dist. 2 JP Jeanette Minton, a Republican, defeated Democratic challenger Vincent Ables, 1,030 votes to 414.
Dist.13 incumbent Mark Edwards, a Republican, stood off a challenge from former Democratic JP Kenny Ridgeway, 1,487 to 818.
Dist. 1 JP Jodie Grisham Troutman, a Democrat, got 2,277 votes against 34 write-in votes.
Other races around the county included Ward 1, Pos. 6 in Austin, where incumbent Donna Soellner kept her seat, getting 257 votes to challenger Steve Bruno’s 167.
In Ward, incumbent Charles K. Gastineau also kept his Ward 3, Pos. 1 seat, beating challenger Ron Bissett, 540 votes to 256.
In Keo, Gloria Stachurski bested David Lanehart by just two votes for the Position 2 seat, 63 votes to 61.
For constable of Oak Grove Township, Republican Vincent Scarlata got 908 votes to Democrat Michael Sipe’s 567. In the Gray Township constable race, Republican William Tony Southerland got 566 votes to Democrat Wesley Harris’ 450.
Running unopposed were County Judge Charlie Troutman, Treasurer Karol DePriest, Assessor Jerry Adams, Collector Patricia McCallie, Coroner Sherry Stracener, JP Dist. 3 Larry Odom, JP Dist. 4 Timothy Lemons, JP Dist. 6 Alexis Malham, JP Dist. 7 Adam Sims, JP Dist. 8 Roger Lynch, JP Dist. Dist. 9 Robert “Sonny” Moery, JP Dist. 10 Bill Ryker, JP. Dist. 11 Mike Dolan and JP Dist. 12 Henry Lang
TOP STORY > >Villines, English,Holladay Winners
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Longtime Pulaski County Judge Buddy Villines gets another term, Sheriff Doc Holladay gets to wear the badge for another round and the Sherwood City Council will see one new face.
With 100 percent of the Pulaski County vote counted Tuesday night, Democrat Villines bested Republican Phil Wyrick 89,700 votes, or 59 percent, to 62,588, or 41 percent.
In the sheriff’s race, Democrat Holladay retained his job by about a 3-to-1 margin over his Republican challenger, Patrick Mulligan. Holladay received 111,211 votes, or 74 percent, to Mulligan’s 39,679, or 26 percent.
For state representative, Dist. 42, which covers a portion of Jacksonville and north Pulaski County, Republican Jane English bested two other candidates, Democrat Val Yagos and Green Party member Gene Mason to take the open seat.
English received 3,243 votes, or 55 percent, to Yagos’ 2,414, or 41 percent and Mason’s 228 votes, or 4 percent.
For the Dist. 43 seat, which covers a large segment of Sherwood, Democrat Jim Nickels squeezed passed Republican Steven Meckfessel for that open seat.
Green Party member Richard Carroll defeated two write-in candidates to grab the open state representative Dist. 39 seat, which covers a large section of North Little Rock and portions of the county.
Mark Perry was unopposed for the open state representative Dist. 44 seat, which covers portions of Sherwood and the county.
Pulaski County Clerk Pat O’Brien was also unopposed for his job.
In Sherwood, there will be one new face on the council, Kevin Lilly, who ran unopposed for the Ward 2, Pos. 2 seat. He’ll be joined by incumbents Marina Brooks, Steve Fender and Charlie Harmon.
Brooks will keep her Ward 3, Pos. 2 seat, defeating challenger Bill Montgomery, 1,752 votes, or 68 percent, to 825, or 32 percent.
Fender, representing Ward 4, Pos. 2, staved off two challengers and a run-off by garnering 71 percent of the vote. Fender received 1,561 votes to Norman Cartwright’s 376, or 17 percent, and Justin Smith’s 273 votes, or 12 percent.
Alderman Charlie Harmon, Ward 1, Pos. 2, was unopposed.
Nickels received 7,107 votes, or 52 percent, to Meckfessel’s 6,475, or 48 percent.
Hill Township Constable Dennis Sobba, a Democrat, was re-elected, beating back a challenge from Republican Rick Scott. Sobba got 31,931 votes, or 57 percent, while Scott received 24,319, or 43 percent.
In Jacksonville, all five aldermen up for re-election were unopposed and retained their seats for another four years. Those included Marshall Smith, Ward 1, Pos.2: Terry Sansing, Ward 2, Pos. 2; Linda Rinker, Ward 3, Pos. 2; Bob Stroud, Ward 4, Pos. 2; and Bill Howard, Ward 5, Pos. 2.
For the juvenile court judicial position, officially known as circuit judge, division 11, subdistrict 6.2, Melinda Gilbert bested Cathi Compton, 57,988 votes to 53,077.
Leader staff writer
Longtime Pulaski County Judge Buddy Villines gets another term, Sheriff Doc Holladay gets to wear the badge for another round and the Sherwood City Council will see one new face.
With 100 percent of the Pulaski County vote counted Tuesday night, Democrat Villines bested Republican Phil Wyrick 89,700 votes, or 59 percent, to 62,588, or 41 percent.
In the sheriff’s race, Democrat Holladay retained his job by about a 3-to-1 margin over his Republican challenger, Patrick Mulligan. Holladay received 111,211 votes, or 74 percent, to Mulligan’s 39,679, or 26 percent.
For state representative, Dist. 42, which covers a portion of Jacksonville and north Pulaski County, Republican Jane English bested two other candidates, Democrat Val Yagos and Green Party member Gene Mason to take the open seat.
English received 3,243 votes, or 55 percent, to Yagos’ 2,414, or 41 percent and Mason’s 228 votes, or 4 percent.
For the Dist. 43 seat, which covers a large segment of Sherwood, Democrat Jim Nickels squeezed passed Republican Steven Meckfessel for that open seat.
Green Party member Richard Carroll defeated two write-in candidates to grab the open state representative Dist. 39 seat, which covers a large section of North Little Rock and portions of the county.
Mark Perry was unopposed for the open state representative Dist. 44 seat, which covers portions of Sherwood and the county.
Pulaski County Clerk Pat O’Brien was also unopposed for his job.
In Sherwood, there will be one new face on the council, Kevin Lilly, who ran unopposed for the Ward 2, Pos. 2 seat. He’ll be joined by incumbents Marina Brooks, Steve Fender and Charlie Harmon.
Brooks will keep her Ward 3, Pos. 2 seat, defeating challenger Bill Montgomery, 1,752 votes, or 68 percent, to 825, or 32 percent.
Fender, representing Ward 4, Pos. 2, staved off two challengers and a run-off by garnering 71 percent of the vote. Fender received 1,561 votes to Norman Cartwright’s 376, or 17 percent, and Justin Smith’s 273 votes, or 12 percent.
Alderman Charlie Harmon, Ward 1, Pos. 2, was unopposed.
Nickels received 7,107 votes, or 52 percent, to Meckfessel’s 6,475, or 48 percent.
Hill Township Constable Dennis Sobba, a Democrat, was re-elected, beating back a challenge from Republican Rick Scott. Sobba got 31,931 votes, or 57 percent, while Scott received 24,319, or 43 percent.
In Jacksonville, all five aldermen up for re-election were unopposed and retained their seats for another four years. Those included Marshall Smith, Ward 1, Pos.2: Terry Sansing, Ward 2, Pos. 2; Linda Rinker, Ward 3, Pos. 2; Bob Stroud, Ward 4, Pos. 2; and Bill Howard, Ward 5, Pos. 2.
For the juvenile court judicial position, officially known as circuit judge, division 11, subdistrict 6.2, Melinda Gilbert bested Cathi Compton, 57,988 votes to 53,077.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
EDITORIAL >>How Obama won Tuesday
It is not often that an election can be called earthshaking — 1860 and 1932 come to mind — but if you voted on Nov. 4, 2008, you participated in one. History will have to judge one day what it meant after its impact has been measured over years, but even in the angst-ridden hours after the polls’ closing it was clear that the American electorate meant to cast out the old order and head in a new direction.
Earth-shattering enough is the election of the first African-American president in history — a young man with such a mysterious and unelectable name, Barack Hussein Obama, born of a native intellectual from the heart of Africa and a white woman from the Kansas prairie and reared by white grandparents in Hawaii. Who could seriously have contemplated such a thing even two years ago?
It is easy to invest too much importance in the symbolism of that event and to suggest or else to hope that it means that the United States has finally closed the book on the darkest chapters of its history, slavery and segregation. One election, even of a president, will not end the harvest from those seeds. Bigotry and suspicion were not absent from this election either.
But the election was even larger and more cataclysmic than that. If the appearances are borne out by the official results, Americans went to the polls with a fury unmatched in 100 years. Despite unprecedented early voting, people clogged polling places so densely that tens of thousands and perhaps millions gave up, and the election machinery in many places could not handle the new registrants and voters. Members of Congress or anyone else with even a casual association with the presidency of George W. Bush were apt to be swept from office. Democrats will once again have a strong majority in both houses of Congress and in the statehouses across the land.
We are not sure at this point whether the monumental election of 2008 was an expression of unusual hope or desperation.
Political scientists will have to figure out what accounts for the stunning Obama victory. He was the first to divine that people wanted change, badly. Being a Democrat in the midst of the vast wreckage of the Bush administration was an enormous advantage. Any Democrat might have won this year. Certainly Sen. Hillary Clinton would have won, and she would have carried Arkansas as well. But the intensity, we are sure, would not have matched that created by Obama — on the other side as well as his supporters.
We have another theory about what guided Obama voters. Famously, George Bush was the fellow everyone would like to quaff a beer with, though he had given up hard drink. People this time decided that intelligence and competence were better requisites in a national leader than chumminess. People had tried ignorance and ineptitude, and they had not worked. Obama ran a brilliant and flawless campaign for two years, avoiding the rhetorical blunders that beset Clinton and then John McCain, and following a 50-state strategy that had looked enervating but proved astounding. It is a pretty good qualification for running the country, though there are recent exceptions that defy the rule.
Obama’s opponents from the beginning to the end accused him of “elitism.” It was a favorite word of Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, who graduated undistinguished after six years at five schools. Even Clinton, a Wellesley and Yale honor grad, had joined in the cry before she realized that it was not working. Obama graduated at the top of his class at two of the top universities in the world and then taught constitutional law at a third; John McCain ranked 894th out of 899 grads at the Naval Academy. McCain wrote of himself that he had been a screw-up in school and in the service.
A good academic record is not a full measure of a person’s leadership capacity, but voters recognized that running a country is not piecework. Brains are a good thing even in government.
It will take rare intelligence and much, much more to raise the country from the economic wreckage and its badly weakened standing in the world. Three Republican presidents have run the national debt past $10 trillion, and the government this year will add another $1 trillion to restore the credit system. It will take unusual genius to trigger a recovery when the national treasury is in such desperate straits.
People elected to trust the man with the brains yesterday. Now we must all wait with trepidation to see if he and this new government have the other intangibles to lead us across the great divide.
Earth-shattering enough is the election of the first African-American president in history — a young man with such a mysterious and unelectable name, Barack Hussein Obama, born of a native intellectual from the heart of Africa and a white woman from the Kansas prairie and reared by white grandparents in Hawaii. Who could seriously have contemplated such a thing even two years ago?
It is easy to invest too much importance in the symbolism of that event and to suggest or else to hope that it means that the United States has finally closed the book on the darkest chapters of its history, slavery and segregation. One election, even of a president, will not end the harvest from those seeds. Bigotry and suspicion were not absent from this election either.
But the election was even larger and more cataclysmic than that. If the appearances are borne out by the official results, Americans went to the polls with a fury unmatched in 100 years. Despite unprecedented early voting, people clogged polling places so densely that tens of thousands and perhaps millions gave up, and the election machinery in many places could not handle the new registrants and voters. Members of Congress or anyone else with even a casual association with the presidency of George W. Bush were apt to be swept from office. Democrats will once again have a strong majority in both houses of Congress and in the statehouses across the land.
We are not sure at this point whether the monumental election of 2008 was an expression of unusual hope or desperation.
Political scientists will have to figure out what accounts for the stunning Obama victory. He was the first to divine that people wanted change, badly. Being a Democrat in the midst of the vast wreckage of the Bush administration was an enormous advantage. Any Democrat might have won this year. Certainly Sen. Hillary Clinton would have won, and she would have carried Arkansas as well. But the intensity, we are sure, would not have matched that created by Obama — on the other side as well as his supporters.
We have another theory about what guided Obama voters. Famously, George Bush was the fellow everyone would like to quaff a beer with, though he had given up hard drink. People this time decided that intelligence and competence were better requisites in a national leader than chumminess. People had tried ignorance and ineptitude, and they had not worked. Obama ran a brilliant and flawless campaign for two years, avoiding the rhetorical blunders that beset Clinton and then John McCain, and following a 50-state strategy that had looked enervating but proved astounding. It is a pretty good qualification for running the country, though there are recent exceptions that defy the rule.
Obama’s opponents from the beginning to the end accused him of “elitism.” It was a favorite word of Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, who graduated undistinguished after six years at five schools. Even Clinton, a Wellesley and Yale honor grad, had joined in the cry before she realized that it was not working. Obama graduated at the top of his class at two of the top universities in the world and then taught constitutional law at a third; John McCain ranked 894th out of 899 grads at the Naval Academy. McCain wrote of himself that he had been a screw-up in school and in the service.
A good academic record is not a full measure of a person’s leadership capacity, but voters recognized that running a country is not piecework. Brains are a good thing even in government.
It will take rare intelligence and much, much more to raise the country from the economic wreckage and its badly weakened standing in the world. Three Republican presidents have run the national debt past $10 trillion, and the government this year will add another $1 trillion to restore the credit system. It will take unusual genius to trigger a recovery when the national treasury is in such desperate straits.
People elected to trust the man with the brains yesterday. Now we must all wait with trepidation to see if he and this new government have the other intangibles to lead us across the great divide.
SPORTS>>Home, sweet home on line
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
It’s really pretty simple. The difference between a win and a loss between Beebe and Sylvan Hills this Thursday night at “Bro” Erwin Stadium is the difference between a first-round home game against Blytheville in the 5A playoffs and a long bus ride to take on either one-loss Batesville or one-loss West Helena.
“Our goal all season has been to get a home playoff game,” said Beebe head coach John Shannon. “It’s been a few years since we had one here. This is big.”
Sylvan Hills has been chasing the 5A-Southeast leaders from the get-go, ever since it opened league play with a dismal loss at home to White Hall. In the long run, that loss means little as the 4-2 Bears would have had to beatthe 6-1 Badgers on Thursday either way to capture the No. 2 seed.
The Bears, 5-4 overall, bounced back from that White Hall loss to win four of five and, according to head coach Jim Withrow, played better each week along the way.
“I think it’s been part of the maturation process,” he said. “We have 10 seniors who have done a fantastic job as leaders. And as young as we are, the young kids are really getting after it. The whole team is playing with toughness.”
Toughness is something that was strangely lacking in the Badgers, beginning with a Week 3 loss to Vilonia and continuing through a Week 6 loss to conference champion Monticello. Shannon said he’s hard-pressed to explain, only that he’s glad the toughness that was the trademark of his team in his first season last year appears to have returned.
“It was pretty frustrating for a while,” said Shannon, whose Badgers improved to 7-2 overall with a decidedly hard-hitting 34-14 win at White Hall on Friday. “All summer, we were physical in the weight room and in two-a-days and in the first two games of the year. Then it was like we forgot how to hit. I’m glad it’s back.”
Shannon said his team hit as hard as it has hit all season against White Hall, a week after playing nearly as physically in a win over Mills. The Badger defense kept both outstanding Bulldog running backs to under 100 yards on Friday. Both were averaging 100 yards per game.
“Take away a 52-yard run and our numbers were really good,” Shannon said. “It was the best-hitting game of the year. We were laying some pretty good licks.”
The Bears laid a pretty good licking on hapless McClellan last week, scoring 28 first-quarter points en route to a 42-8 win.
Lawrence Hodges rumbled for 166 yards and three touchdowns in a little less than one-and-a-half quarters. Backfield mate Juliean Broner added 118 yards.
Thursday night’s game will be a battle of contrasting styles to some extent, though both teams will look to run the ball a lot.
Sylvan Hills began the season as a balanced offense, but threw only two passes a week ago. Beebe is big, while Sylvan Hills is undersized, but quick.
“They’ll play a 5-2 with some wrinkles,” Withrow said of Beebe’s defense. “But you know they’ll play physical. We’re going to have to bring it up front, be physical up front and crank it up another notch.”
Shannon said he’s impressed by the Bears’ offense since Withrow switched from a shotgun to a split-back set after the White Hall game.
“They are playing well since they changed,” he said. “They finally have their rhythm running the football. Their defense has been good all year. They’re quick as all get-out. They don’t look real big, but they try to shoot gaps and crowd the line of scrimmage and get you confused. We feel like if we don’t turn the ball over, we may have a chance to pop a big one.”
For Beebe, of course, it will be a whole lot of fullback Sammy Williams, quite a bit of halfback Brandon Pursell and maybe a little more of halfback Luke Gardner, who, according to Shannon, had his best game of the year. Gardner rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown and caught a pass for another score.
In the East conference, which will square off against the Southeast to begin the playoffs, West Helena (8-0-1), which played 6A’s top-ranked West Memphis Blue Devils to a tie in Week 1, travels to 9-0 Batesville to decide the 5A East. Meanwhile, Blytheville has sewn up the No. 3 seed and waits to find out if it will drive to Beebe or to Sylvan Hills on Nov. 15.
For Withrow, the Bears are pretty much where he hoped they’d be when the season began.
“We were disappointed with the (21-7 loss to White Hall),” he said. “But we kept playing and playing and we’re pleased with where we’re at. I just think we need to keep doing what we’re doing and crank it up a notch from here on out. It’s a playoff type deal and we have to have a playoff intensity.”
Leader sports editor
It’s really pretty simple. The difference between a win and a loss between Beebe and Sylvan Hills this Thursday night at “Bro” Erwin Stadium is the difference between a first-round home game against Blytheville in the 5A playoffs and a long bus ride to take on either one-loss Batesville or one-loss West Helena.
“Our goal all season has been to get a home playoff game,” said Beebe head coach John Shannon. “It’s been a few years since we had one here. This is big.”
Sylvan Hills has been chasing the 5A-Southeast leaders from the get-go, ever since it opened league play with a dismal loss at home to White Hall. In the long run, that loss means little as the 4-2 Bears would have had to beatthe 6-1 Badgers on Thursday either way to capture the No. 2 seed.
The Bears, 5-4 overall, bounced back from that White Hall loss to win four of five and, according to head coach Jim Withrow, played better each week along the way.
“I think it’s been part of the maturation process,” he said. “We have 10 seniors who have done a fantastic job as leaders. And as young as we are, the young kids are really getting after it. The whole team is playing with toughness.”
Toughness is something that was strangely lacking in the Badgers, beginning with a Week 3 loss to Vilonia and continuing through a Week 6 loss to conference champion Monticello. Shannon said he’s hard-pressed to explain, only that he’s glad the toughness that was the trademark of his team in his first season last year appears to have returned.
“It was pretty frustrating for a while,” said Shannon, whose Badgers improved to 7-2 overall with a decidedly hard-hitting 34-14 win at White Hall on Friday. “All summer, we were physical in the weight room and in two-a-days and in the first two games of the year. Then it was like we forgot how to hit. I’m glad it’s back.”
Shannon said his team hit as hard as it has hit all season against White Hall, a week after playing nearly as physically in a win over Mills. The Badger defense kept both outstanding Bulldog running backs to under 100 yards on Friday. Both were averaging 100 yards per game.
“Take away a 52-yard run and our numbers were really good,” Shannon said. “It was the best-hitting game of the year. We were laying some pretty good licks.”
The Bears laid a pretty good licking on hapless McClellan last week, scoring 28 first-quarter points en route to a 42-8 win.
Lawrence Hodges rumbled for 166 yards and three touchdowns in a little less than one-and-a-half quarters. Backfield mate Juliean Broner added 118 yards.
Thursday night’s game will be a battle of contrasting styles to some extent, though both teams will look to run the ball a lot.
Sylvan Hills began the season as a balanced offense, but threw only two passes a week ago. Beebe is big, while Sylvan Hills is undersized, but quick.
“They’ll play a 5-2 with some wrinkles,” Withrow said of Beebe’s defense. “But you know they’ll play physical. We’re going to have to bring it up front, be physical up front and crank it up another notch.”
Shannon said he’s impressed by the Bears’ offense since Withrow switched from a shotgun to a split-back set after the White Hall game.
“They are playing well since they changed,” he said. “They finally have their rhythm running the football. Their defense has been good all year. They’re quick as all get-out. They don’t look real big, but they try to shoot gaps and crowd the line of scrimmage and get you confused. We feel like if we don’t turn the ball over, we may have a chance to pop a big one.”
For Beebe, of course, it will be a whole lot of fullback Sammy Williams, quite a bit of halfback Brandon Pursell and maybe a little more of halfback Luke Gardner, who, according to Shannon, had his best game of the year. Gardner rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown and caught a pass for another score.
In the East conference, which will square off against the Southeast to begin the playoffs, West Helena (8-0-1), which played 6A’s top-ranked West Memphis Blue Devils to a tie in Week 1, travels to 9-0 Batesville to decide the 5A East. Meanwhile, Blytheville has sewn up the No. 3 seed and waits to find out if it will drive to Beebe or to Sylvan Hills on Nov. 15.
For Withrow, the Bears are pretty much where he hoped they’d be when the season began.
“We were disappointed with the (21-7 loss to White Hall),” he said. “But we kept playing and playing and we’re pleased with where we’re at. I just think we need to keep doing what we’re doing and crank it up a notch from here on out. It’s a playoff type deal and we have to have a playoff intensity.”
SPORTS>>Red Devils control playoff destiny
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Barring clinching an outright conference championship, the best a team can hope for is to go into the final week controlling its own destiny.
The Jacksonville Red Devils are in that position this Friday when they travel to Marion. The Red Devils (4-5, 3-3 6A-East Conference) can finish as high as third with a win, or sixth with a loss. The Patriots (5-4, 2-4) currently sit in that sixth spot, but with Jacksonville and Mountain Home currently tied, they could potentially leap frog into the No. 4 seed with a win.
Parkview currently holds the third spot in the 6A-East standings with a 4-2 record, but will play unbeaten West Memphis this week. Mountain Home is tied with Jacksonville at 3-3 and figures to have little trouble at Searcy. The Red Devils beat Mountain Home to start league play and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
“It just shows you how important this game actually is,” said Red Devils coach Mark Whatley. “We need to seize that opportunity. The kids have done a great job all year long, we just need to go in there and finish it off.”
Last week was the toughest yet for the Red Devils, who hosted dominating and top-ranked West Memphis. The Blue Devils have given up only 27 points since the start of the conference season, and none to Jacksonville. The closest marginthey’ve faced was two weeks ago during a 48-14 win over Mountain Home.
While the Devils won’t be facing a team that features 21 starting seniors again this week, Whatley is concerned about the multiple look of the Patriot offense.
“It’s not just their running game,” Whatley said. “They’re also going to the spread a lot. They’ll line up double wing, and they’ll go diamond and then spread it out. The biggest thing for us will be making sure that we’re lined up right.
“A team that does so many different things makes you have to think a lot. We need to do a good job of tackling, and that’s one thing coach (Def. coordinator Rick) Russell harped to them about yesterday in practice was on tackling.”
The Patriots have also had their share of ups and downs in 2008. Last week’s heartbreaking 35-34 loss to Jonesboro was one of the downs, but they ended a three-game skid the week before with a win over Hall.
There were a lot of unknowns for the Red Devils coming into the 2008 season after a difficult year last fall. Some inconsistencies, the hallmark of a young team, have led to a few letdowns over the course of the season, but Whatley has liked what he’s seen for the most part.
“The biggest thing is, we’ve gone out and played hard every single week,” Whatley said. “We’ve gotten better as a football team, and the kids have responded well. Last week, we had a breakdown in our kicking game, which got it all started for them, but we’ve moved the ball really well at times.
“Looking back, it’s been kind of an up and down year, but this is our final game of the regular season. And it’s not some token game, it’s a very important one.”
Leader sportswriter
Barring clinching an outright conference championship, the best a team can hope for is to go into the final week controlling its own destiny.
The Jacksonville Red Devils are in that position this Friday when they travel to Marion. The Red Devils (4-5, 3-3 6A-East Conference) can finish as high as third with a win, or sixth with a loss. The Patriots (5-4, 2-4) currently sit in that sixth spot, but with Jacksonville and Mountain Home currently tied, they could potentially leap frog into the No. 4 seed with a win.
Parkview currently holds the third spot in the 6A-East standings with a 4-2 record, but will play unbeaten West Memphis this week. Mountain Home is tied with Jacksonville at 3-3 and figures to have little trouble at Searcy. The Red Devils beat Mountain Home to start league play and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
“It just shows you how important this game actually is,” said Red Devils coach Mark Whatley. “We need to seize that opportunity. The kids have done a great job all year long, we just need to go in there and finish it off.”
Last week was the toughest yet for the Red Devils, who hosted dominating and top-ranked West Memphis. The Blue Devils have given up only 27 points since the start of the conference season, and none to Jacksonville. The closest marginthey’ve faced was two weeks ago during a 48-14 win over Mountain Home.
While the Devils won’t be facing a team that features 21 starting seniors again this week, Whatley is concerned about the multiple look of the Patriot offense.
“It’s not just their running game,” Whatley said. “They’re also going to the spread a lot. They’ll line up double wing, and they’ll go diamond and then spread it out. The biggest thing for us will be making sure that we’re lined up right.
“A team that does so many different things makes you have to think a lot. We need to do a good job of tackling, and that’s one thing coach (Def. coordinator Rick) Russell harped to them about yesterday in practice was on tackling.”
The Patriots have also had their share of ups and downs in 2008. Last week’s heartbreaking 35-34 loss to Jonesboro was one of the downs, but they ended a three-game skid the week before with a win over Hall.
There were a lot of unknowns for the Red Devils coming into the 2008 season after a difficult year last fall. Some inconsistencies, the hallmark of a young team, have led to a few letdowns over the course of the season, but Whatley has liked what he’s seen for the most part.
“The biggest thing is, we’ve gone out and played hard every single week,” Whatley said. “We’ve gotten better as a football team, and the kids have responded well. Last week, we had a breakdown in our kicking game, which got it all started for them, but we’ve moved the ball really well at times.
“Looking back, it’s been kind of an up and down year, but this is our final game of the regular season. And it’s not some token game, it’s a very important one.”
SPORTS>>Playing for all the marbles
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The winner will walk away with the 7A-Central Conference championship on Friday when Russellville visits Panther Stadium for the final game of the regular season. Cabot (8-1, 5-1 conf.) is coming off an easy win at Van Buren last week. The Cyclones (8-1, 5-1) suffered their first setback of the season last Friday in a stunning loss to Conway.
The Panther players and fans will enter the game with heavy hearts, after the unexpected death of senior team captain John Fortner early Saturday.
Last year’s game between the two teams at Russellville was not for the conference championonship, but still featured major drama. Cabot overcame a massive deficit to secure the No. 4 playoff seed on the final play of the game.
Panthers coach Mike Malham said he hopes the 10-plus months of preparation for a big payoff game like this won will pay dividends.
“The winner is the outright conference champ,” Malham said. “I hope the kids can stay focused as long and hard as they’ve worked toward this goal. We started this back in January with offseason, and they’ve put in a lot of hard work.
“I would hate to see all of that done for nothing. And plus, if we’re going to dedicate this game and our season to old John, we better be prepared to put forth our best effort.”
Last week’s game against the Pointers seemed over not long after the national anthem, with a number of Van Buren turnovers that put the Panthers up 35-0 at halftime. That allowed Cabot to clear its bench.
“It was one of those games where everything fell into place really quick,” Malham said. “The defense intercepted a pass and we scored in the first three minutes. That was a game where we were able to take advantages of opportunities. We didn’t take that whole team, we only took 54, but everybody got to play.”
The Cyclones’ dream season came to a halt last week when Conway snuck by with a last-second field goal to hand them their first loss of the year. Russellville wasn’t highly touted coming into the season, but all that changed with an eye-opening Week 3 win over Fayetteville that put them on the radar. The Cyclones’ win over Catholic two weeks ago put them atop the 7A-Central standings.
The Cylcones have struggled most of the season offensively and are getting it done with a veteran defense that is limiting opponents to nine points a game. They are not big, except for 330 pound nose guard Dwight Stewart, but are extremely quick.
Special teams have also carried Russellville this season. Blocked punts and kicks, along with a solid kicker in Zach Hocker, have helped the Cyclones overcome their offensive struggles.
Russellville has a junior quarterback and a pair of solid running backs in Kenneth Golden and fullback Tanner Keeling. The offensive line features a pair of dandy sophomores, including the brother of former Nashville standout lineman Matt Hall.
The Panthers got another solid performance from junior fullback Michael James last week. James started off the scoring for Cabot last Friday, and scored the last touchdown of the opening half with a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs.
He sits right at 1,000 yards for the season, down almost 700 yards from his breakout sophomore season. Malham said the drop in the team’s overall offensive production has led to a dip in James’ numbers, but improved defense has more than made up for it.
“He’s not on pace to have another season like he did last year,” Malham said. “I don’t know that our offense is quite as good as last year, but our defense is much better. It’s not coming as easy for him this year, but the defense is doing what it takes to keep us out in front once we score.”
Both teams will receive bye into the second round of the playoffs.
Leader sportswriter
The winner will walk away with the 7A-Central Conference championship on Friday when Russellville visits Panther Stadium for the final game of the regular season. Cabot (8-1, 5-1 conf.) is coming off an easy win at Van Buren last week. The Cyclones (8-1, 5-1) suffered their first setback of the season last Friday in a stunning loss to Conway.
The Panther players and fans will enter the game with heavy hearts, after the unexpected death of senior team captain John Fortner early Saturday.
Last year’s game between the two teams at Russellville was not for the conference championonship, but still featured major drama. Cabot overcame a massive deficit to secure the No. 4 playoff seed on the final play of the game.
Panthers coach Mike Malham said he hopes the 10-plus months of preparation for a big payoff game like this won will pay dividends.
“The winner is the outright conference champ,” Malham said. “I hope the kids can stay focused as long and hard as they’ve worked toward this goal. We started this back in January with offseason, and they’ve put in a lot of hard work.
“I would hate to see all of that done for nothing. And plus, if we’re going to dedicate this game and our season to old John, we better be prepared to put forth our best effort.”
Last week’s game against the Pointers seemed over not long after the national anthem, with a number of Van Buren turnovers that put the Panthers up 35-0 at halftime. That allowed Cabot to clear its bench.
“It was one of those games where everything fell into place really quick,” Malham said. “The defense intercepted a pass and we scored in the first three minutes. That was a game where we were able to take advantages of opportunities. We didn’t take that whole team, we only took 54, but everybody got to play.”
The Cyclones’ dream season came to a halt last week when Conway snuck by with a last-second field goal to hand them their first loss of the year. Russellville wasn’t highly touted coming into the season, but all that changed with an eye-opening Week 3 win over Fayetteville that put them on the radar. The Cyclones’ win over Catholic two weeks ago put them atop the 7A-Central standings.
The Cylcones have struggled most of the season offensively and are getting it done with a veteran defense that is limiting opponents to nine points a game. They are not big, except for 330 pound nose guard Dwight Stewart, but are extremely quick.
Special teams have also carried Russellville this season. Blocked punts and kicks, along with a solid kicker in Zach Hocker, have helped the Cyclones overcome their offensive struggles.
Russellville has a junior quarterback and a pair of solid running backs in Kenneth Golden and fullback Tanner Keeling. The offensive line features a pair of dandy sophomores, including the brother of former Nashville standout lineman Matt Hall.
The Panthers got another solid performance from junior fullback Michael James last week. James started off the scoring for Cabot last Friday, and scored the last touchdown of the opening half with a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs.
He sits right at 1,000 yards for the season, down almost 700 yards from his breakout sophomore season. Malham said the drop in the team’s overall offensive production has led to a dip in James’ numbers, but improved defense has more than made up for it.
“He’s not on pace to have another season like he did last year,” Malham said. “I don’t know that our offense is quite as good as last year, but our defense is much better. It’s not coming as easy for him this year, but the defense is doing what it takes to keep us out in front once we score.”
Both teams will receive bye into the second round of the playoffs.
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