Friday, May 07, 2010

EDITORIAL >>Three judges to vote for Fogleman, Baker and Fox

Arkansas will elect two new justices to the Arkansas Supreme Court on May 18 or perhaps in a runoff later in the case of one of the seats. As with all elections for judgeships, they are the most baffling decisions that voters must make because candidates for judicial positions in states like Arkansas that still elect judges are bound by ethical if not legal restraints not to tell voters how they would rule in any case or any particular line of cases. To do so would cast a cloud over the impartiality of future orders that the judge might render.

But those restrictions also can make the choices clearer. Voters do not have to sort through misleading advertisements and slimy attacks on candidates’ opponents. You are left with what each of the candidates has actually done in his or her particular field of practice. Experience and reputation are about the only things that a discerning voter can count on.

That makes the decision for one of the Supreme Court positions easy. Judge John A. Fogleman has many layers of experience in adjudicating, prosecuting and private practice. The other candidate, Judge Courtney Henry, has almost none. The Leader endorses Fogleman’s candidacy for Position 3 on the Supreme Court, the seat vacated by the retiring Tom Glaze. Fogleman ought to be a suitable successor for that eminent jurist.

Fogleman has been a trial judge for 14 years in one of the busiest circuits, the northern Mississippi Delta. Before that, he prosecuted many cases as a deputy prosecuting attorney and he had a wide trial practice as a lawyer. He was one of the prosecutors in the famous case of the West Memphis Three, the young men who were convicted of killing three small boys whose bodies were found in a ditch 17 years ago.

There were allegations that he and the other prosecutors were overly zealous in the prosecutions of the three youngsters, who were convicted on less than overwhelming evidence. Some of the allegations are troubling, but show us a prosecutor who has not been excessively zealous in nailing down convictions. Since then, his career on the bench has been celebrated by both sides of the bar, plaintiff and defendant, for his fairness and scholarship. The trial lawyers made him their jurist of the year, a rare thing for an east Arkansas judge.

Courtney Henry is a bright and accomplished woman, but no one can say much about her legal achievements. She has had virtually no legal practice other than eight years as a clerk for judges on the state Court of Appeals. She ran for one of those seats in 2008 and was elected. She raises a lot of money for these races, overwhelming her opponents. No sooner had she taken her seat on the Court of Appeals for an eight-year term last year than she announced that she was running for the Supreme Court. This is what Shakespeare called vaulting ambition. If she is elected, she plans to live at Fayetteville and do her Supreme Court deliberations and writing from her home rather than the Justice Building at Little Rock. We have an idea that would produce some friction with the other justices.

For the other seat on the Supreme Court, Position 6, we find not enough discernible difference between Judge Karen R. Baker and Judge Tim Fox to make a recommendation. The Leader takes the coward’s way out and endorses both of them. There is a third candidate, Evelyn L. Moorehead, who has had a respectable private practice, 20 years’ worth, but she lacks the extensive judicial experience of Baker and Fox. If no candidate receives a majority May 18, a runoff will be conducted at the general election in November.

Baker, who lives in Clinton and commutes to the Court of Appeals in Little Rock, has been both a trial judge and a member of the Court of Appeals. She has been on the trial and appellate benches for 15 years after a stretch in which she had a private practice and served as a public defender for the poor in criminal cases. We have admired her work at the Court of Appeals. She wrote the powerful opinion for the court last summer when it invalidated the permits issued by the state Public Service Commission and the state Pollution Control Commission to build a giant coal-fired generating plant in southwest Arkansas that will produce intolerable amounts of earth-warming greenhouse gases and other pollutants. That took some independence.

Fox practiced law in North Little Rock for 21 years, including representation of the city, before he was elected to circuit and chancery court in 2002. He is a hardworking judge who demands punctual work from the attorneys in his court, sometimes to their dismay. His opinions have been widely acknowledged for their scholarship and fairness.

Take your choice, Fox or Baker. With either, we know what we are getting.

TOP STORY > >Ponder seeks primary win in 1st District

By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader executive editor

Ben Ponder is one of six Democrats running for Congress in the First District to succeed Rep. Marion Berry, who is retiring.

Ponder is a businessman and educator from Mountain Home. He graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in communications and received a master’s degree in Christian studies from Regent College in Canada and a master’s degree in communication from the UofA. He earned a Ph.D. in communication studies from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

Ponder has worked for SBC (now AT&T), as well as in construction and for a pharmaceutical company.

His book, “American Independence: From Common Sense to the Declaration,” is scheduled for publication this spring.

Ben and his wife, Amy, live in Mountain Home with their four children: Ava, Elise, Lincoln and Whit.

Who is supporting your candidacy?


Ordinary, working Arkansans across the First District are responding to my message of “New Ideas, Old Values.” We are running a grassroots campaign that isn’t shackled by the financial support of lobbyists and special-interest groups.

Why do you think you are qualified to serve in Congress?

When you boil the question down, I think what we’re trying to determine is this: “What is the best preparation for serving the citizens of Arkansas’ First District in the U.S. Congress?”

I have not served in the Arkansas Legislature or on the staff of a congressman, and while both are honorable forms of public service, I don’t think they are necessarily the best preparation for serving as a congressman. Instead of working as a politician,

I have prepared myself for serving you in Congress in two ways: first, by spending a decade studying and writing about the American Revolution and our founding fathers’ original design for how our government should work; and second, by working deeply as an executive, entrepreneur and educator in several of the hot-button industries of today, including health care, renewable energy, telecommunications, construction and education.

I can help fix these industries because I’ve worked in them, and I understand the vocabularies and problems of each more deeply than a professional politician could.

What makes you different from your Democratic opponents and your potential GOP opponent?

As I travel the First District, I have yet to meet anyone who thinks we’re on the “right track” as a country right now. If we’ve gone “off track” as a country, then wouldn’t it make sense to send someone to Washington who is an expert on the “right track” that our nation’s founders designed for our government? In addition to my experience as a leader in the business world,

I have spent the last decade researching and writing a 700-page book about the American Revolution.

I have a Ph.D. in Early American Political Discourse from Northwestern University in Chicago, and I’ve committed myself to understanding the values, ideas and ideals that have made our country great. I’m running for Congress because I want to translate those principles into contemporary terms so that we can repair a broken political culture in Washington.

How will you help Arkansas if you’re elected to Congress?

I will represent the state in Congress with grace, dignity and statesmanship—following in a long tradition of conservative-to-moderate Arkansas Democrats who have been leaders in the U.S. Congress. In addition to my tireless efforts to repair the health- care system, to create rewarding jobs for Arkansans, and to strengthen our public education system, I will marshal our state’s strengths in the areas of agriculture, transportation and logistics, and timber management and place Arkansas at the forefront of the coming “green revolution.”

I will make sure that we become a national and global leader in advanced renewable- energy research, production and generation.

Why did you get into public service?

I’m entering public service for my four precious kids and for your children and grandchildren. I have a governing philosophy that I call “legislating for posterity.” It’s an acknowledgment that the laws and regulations that we pass today will become either a blessing or a curse for future generations. Unfortunately, our society and our Washington political culture has be-come engrossed in instant gratification, quarterly profits and self-interest—at the withering expense of future generations of Americans. We must become fiscally responsible, and we must return to the “long view” of politics that motivated the founders of our country to make great sacrifices in the interest of those who would come after them.

We are at a crossroads as a nation, and unless we elect wise legislators who are willing to make hard calls and to exercise sound judgment, then America’s future looks bleak. I, for one, refuse to be a spectator of America’s decline. I will do everything in my power and by the grace of God to put us on the right course.

Has the political scene changed much in the past few months? Will that help you?

The political scene among the people is best characterized by a deep distrust of government and of politicians. There are two things that we can do to fix this problem. First, we need to elect trustworthy individuals, individuals of strong character and integrity, to Congress. But simply electing good men and women to Congress won’t repair what’s broken with a political system that leans toward corruption and dysfunction. So, second, we need to elect individuals to Congress who have the knowledge and aptitude to solve systemic problems, the kind of complex problems with a thousand variables and myriad moving parts. If your representative can’t understand and solve highly complex problems, then his or her effectiveness at “fixing Washington” will be minuscule.

How close are you politically to Rep. Marion Berry?

I have met him but don’t know him well. I respect all that he has done for Arkansas’ First District over the last 13 years.

Will you support the air base if you’re elected?

Absolutely.

What can we do about health care?

As a former pharmacy chain executive and a hospital consultant, I am knowledgeable and passionate about health-care reform. We must improve the quality and lower the cost of American health care—in short, we must increase the value to patients. I have seven innovative proposals for solving the health-care problem, and I recorded a multi-part video series outlining those objectives. You can find the series and the ideas online at benponder.com under the “media” tab.

What kind of legislation would you support in Congress?

My top three legislative priorities are health care, job creation and education. In the interest of brevity, I’ll mention only one aspect of each legislative area that I plan to introduce. On health care, we all agree that prescription-drug prices are too high, but most people don’t understand why they’re so high. I will introduce legislation that forces drug manufacturers to be transparent with their pricing and their rebate (i.e., kickback) schemes.

On job creation, I will introduce legislation to reform and streamline the Small Business Administration financing program and will introduce a continuing management education component of all SBA-backed loans. On education, I will introduce legislation that will provide 100 percent student-loan forgiveness for anyone who graduates in the top 20 percent of his or her college class and who commits to serve our children as a public school teacher for at least 10 years.

When it comes to health- care costs and taxes, what can we do to lessen the burden on individuals and small businesses?

When you look at the income statement of any small business, the employee-benefits line is one of the largest categories of expense.

Often, the majority of that line item is tied up in health insurance premiums. If you’re a business owner or manager, imagine what you could do with the amount of money you spend on subsidizing coverage. I am an advocate of creating portable pools of coverage that are no longer tied to or subsidized by small-to-medium sized businesses.

Reorganizing the health-insurance industry would promote entrepreneurship and would amount to the most effective economic-stimulus plan in our nation’s history. To learn more details about this and other health-care reform proposals, please see benponder.com and look under the “media” tab.

How do we restart the economy?

We restart the economy by focusing on the businesses that I refer to as “too small to fail”: America’s entrepreneurial small businesses. We must improve the access to capital, support and management education for the small-to-medium sized businesses that create most of the jobs in our country. Entrepreneurship is one of the distinctive qualities that has made America so great: we are a nation of risk-takers, of innovators, of pioneers. Our public policy must encourage more people to create new products and services and to bring them to growing markets worldwide.

What does your family think about your running for office?

When my wife, Amy, and I first sat down with our four kids to tell them about the campaign, Ava, our third-grader, was full of questions.

Her class had just finished a social-studies chapter on American government, and she was familiar with the basic functions of the federal government. She said, “Dad, if you’re elected, you’ll help make the laws for our country, right?”

I agreed, and she continued, “So what kind of laws would you make?”

I proceeded in true politician-fashion to rattle off a list of vague categories like job creation, health care and education, but before I made it any further, Ava interjected, “Sure, I get that, but what specific laws are you going to write?”

It was then that I realized these little family meetings were going to be good practice for the rigors of the campaign trail.

TOP STORY > >Many voting early

By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer

Early voting for the May 18 primary election continues through May 17, and in this season of political uncertainty, with Sen. Blanche Lincoln in the battle of her political life and with Rep. Vic Snyder and Rep. Marion Berry both retiring, officials expect a larger-than-usual primary turnout for an “off-year” election, according to Juanita Horn, head of the Lonoke County Election Commission.

On Friday afternoon, more than 4,500 ballots were cast. In Lonoke County, the vote was 187 at the Cabot location and 160 at the Lonoke location.

In White County, 648 voters cast their ballots in the first week of early voting.

Lincoln, in her statewide primary race, is challenged from the left by Halter and from the right by D.C. Morrison.

But Morrison’s candidacy is almost certain to force a Democratic primary runoff election June 8 between Lincoln and Halter.

Whoever wins the primary then faces a tough run in November against the winner of the Republican primary, which includes two former state senators and Rep. John Boozman.

In addition to Boozman and state Sens. Kim Hendren and Gilbert Baker, those running for the Republican nomination are Fred Ramey, Randy Alexander, Curtis Coleman, Jim Holt and Conrad Reynolds.

Democrats seeking the nomination for Berry’s soon-to-be-vacant First District seat, which includes Lonoke and White counties, include Steve Bryles, Chad Causey, David Cook, Terry Green, Ben Ponder and Tim Wooldridge.

Seeking the Republican nomination are Rick Crawford and Princella Smith.

Seeking the Democratic nomination for the Second Congressional District seat currently held by Vic Snyder are state Sen. Joyce Elliott, House Speaker Robbie Wills, Patrick Kennedy, John Adams and David Bolling.

Seeking the Republican nomination for that seat are Tim Griffin and Scott Wallace.

In contested Democratic primaries for statewide office, Pulaski County Circuit Clerk Pat O’Brien is in a three-way race with Doris Tate and Mark Wilcox for secretary of state. The winner faces Republican Mark Martin in November.

State Rep. Monty Davenport, L.J. Bryant and Mike Berg seek the nomination for state land commissioner. The winner will face
Republican John M. Thurston in November.

In the Republican primary for lieutenant governor, Donnie Copeland faces Mark Darr, with the winner to face state Sen. Shane Broadway, a Democrat, in November.

LONOKE COUNTY

In contested primaries in Lonoke County, Assessor Jerry Adams is being challenged by Jim Bailey in the Democratic primary.

The winner will face Republican Jack McNally in November.

County Clerk Dawn Porterfield is being challenged by Rita F. Schmitz in the Democratic primary. The winner will not have an opponent in November.

Former Lonoke County Sheriff Charlie Martin and Steve Rich face off in the Democratic primary for the right to challenge current Lonoke County Sheriff Jim Roberson, a Republican.

Republicans Joe Farrer and Larry Ridgeway face for the District 1 JP seat. The winner will face incumbent JP Jodie Grisham Troutman, a Democrat, and independent Jimmy Hall in November.

In the Republican primary for JP District 2, Gage B. Gilliam is challenging incumbent Janette Minton. There is no Democratic challenger in November.

Larry Odom, the longest serving Republican on the quorum court, is being challenged in the primary by Warren D. Leill for the district 3 JP seat.

District 6 J.P. Alexis Malham, the incumbent, faces Trent Eilts in the Republican primary.

Former JP Richard Kyzer is challenging incumbent Roger Dale Lynch in the Democratic primary for JP District 8.
Dist. 13 JP Mark Edwards is being challenged by former JP Kenny Ridgeway in the Republican primary.

In contested constable races, Bill Hankins, Raymond “Ray” Price and Eugene “Beno” Duke seek the Democratic nomination in Gumwood Township.

In Oak Grove Township, Constable Vincent F. Scarlata faces a challenge from Jerrell Bevill in the Republican primary.

LONOKE

Position 2 Alderman Todd Wheat faces challenger Danny Whitehurst in the Democratic primary.

Also in that primary for JP, Norman Walker seeks to unseat longtime incumbent Raymond Louis Hatton.
In a Democratic primary race to replace O’Brien as Pulaski County circuit clerk, Steve Walden faces Larry Crane.

TIMES, PLACES

Lonoke County: Early voting is taking place in Lonoke at the Election Building, 220 Depot St. through May 15. Weekdays, polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays, 10 a.m. through 4 p.m. Early voting will continue May 17 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

On Election Day, all polling places will open at 7:30 a.m. and close 7:30 p.m.

Early voting is being held at the Cabot Annex Building as well, according to the Lonoke County Election Commission, but only until today from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

In Pulaski County, early voting is at nine sites, as usual, but the Jacksonville early voting site has moved from city hall to the community center next door.

Early voting in Sherwood is at the Jack Evans Senior Citizen Center, and in downtown Little Rock at the Pulaski County Regional Building at Broadway and Markham streets.

Early voting will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays through May 15. Early voting continues May 17 at the downtown Little Rock site only, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on May 18, the actual primary, from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at all sites.

TOP STORY > >FEMA sees damage here

By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer

Lonoke County residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed by tornadoes and storms last weekend could find out as early as next week whether or not the area qualifies for federal assistance, according to Kathy Zasimovich, Lonoke County deputy emergency manager.

Zasimovich and her boss, Jimmy DePriest, took representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Small Business Administration and the state Department of Emergency Management on a damage-assessment tour Wednesday, where they surveyed damage to homes and businesses in the county southeast of Cabot.

“We are seeing what the extent of the damage is overall,” said FEMA public information officer Win Henderson. “We are here at the invitation of the state.”

All the photos and assessments will go to the governor’s office toward appealing for a federal-disaster declaration.

Gov. Mike Beebe last week named 10 counties, including Lonoke County, as disaster areas.

More than 100 homes and buildings in the county were damaged or destroyed by the storms.

For affected county residents to be eligible for federal assistance, the state as a whole must have about $3.4 million worth of uninsured personal property damage, according to Zasimovich.

Meanwhile, all residents can do is contact their insurance agents and continue with the cleanup, she said.

One stop the FEMA and SBA representatives made on their tour of Lonoke County was at the intersection of Hwy. 321 East and LeMay Road. Dewayne and Susan Covington and their sister-in-law Kim Covington were salvaging the belongings of Dewayne’s father’s shop and storage building, ripped apart by the twister.

The shop was not the only area Dewayne and Susan Covington were cleaning up. The tornado continued on its northeasterly path and struck a farm they lease from Dewayne’s parents Wayne and Phyllis Covington on Hwy. 321 North.

Susan Covington, a school nurse at Ward Central Elementary said, “The big hay barn is down, the calf barn is down and there’s damage to the dairy barn.”

The Covingtons had 100 head of cattle. When the storm neared the cows ran into the woods for cover. The cows were battered and bruised by the tornado. They have five horses, one had a laceration on its thigh.

“We have a bull that was injured. A two-by-four impaled his leg. He is being treated in an isolated area (from the rest of the herd),” Susan said.

She was still looking for 15 missing calves that were born only weeks ago.

She fears the missing calves washed away in a creek during the flash flooding.

Dewayne spoke about a pond on the farm near the woods where the cows took shelter.

“The tornado took all the oxygen out the water and killed off the catfish, bass and brim,” he said.

Susan said they have received meals and support from school employees and from Campground Grocery and Grill.

“People were trying to help wherever they saw a need. Neighbors came out to help and members of Oak Grove First Baptist Church brought sandwiches.

Dewayne said, “I’ve been impressed by how hard the power company (First Electric) has worked.”

Over on Hwy. 321 North, cattle rancher Doug Erwin was continuing to cut downed trees into logs. More than half the trees on his property were either snapped or uprooted.

The tornado totaled three of his barns and damaged the roof of his house. Less than a mile up the road Erwin lost the building he owned that was home to Destiny Cowboy Church, on 422 Hwy. 321 North.

His wife’s 13-year-old horse, a registered paint mare they had raised, had to be put down after it was injured by debris.

After the storm Erwin’s dog Millie, a border collie had to be rescued. Millie took shelter under an out-building. The tornado’s strong winds shoved the structure two feet over. Millie was trapped under the floor beams for three hours. The family cut the building’s wood floor and dug her out.

Erwin said, “I wasn’t scared of storms, but now I respect them and the damage they can do. When you experience it personally, you have a different outlook on it.”

Looking on the bright side he said, “We have an excellent Farm Bureau insurance adjuster and agents. They were here the next morning.”

On Sunday, a group of Air Force personnel stopped by Erwin’s farm to assist in the cleanup effort by piling up bent tin and downed trees.

“I want to thank them. I’ve never met them before and they wanted to help,” he said.

Erwin said a dozen men from the area showed up with chainsaws and started cutting all day long Saturday and Sunday.

“It restores your faith in humanity,” he said.

TOP STORY > >State helps embattled supervisor

By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer

The Arkansas Department of Educat-ion has accepted three grant applications for after-school programs in Sher-wood and Jacksonville, even though the applicant has decided not to comply with a proposed agreement from the Pulaski County Special School District in exchange for the district superintendent’s signatures on the applications, a requirement for submission.

The three grants total $1.5 million and would provide enrichment programs for up to 630 elementary and secondary students.

The ADE decided to temporarily waive the signature requirement so that Jody Abernathy, who wrote the grants and also directs the DREAM pre-school and after-school programs at Harris Elementary School in the McAlmont community—could meet the deadline, which was yesterday.

“It was a way to enable Abernathy to submit the applications without the signatures, rather than say, ‘This is over for you this year,’” said Julie Thompson, ADE spokesperson.

Abernathy has been under fire from PCSSD because she is behind on her payments to the district’s food services for meals and snacks provided to her programs. The district says she owes $26,666, and she vows to have it paid by the end of the fiscal year, which is June 30. The PCSSD school board wants to contractually hold her to that promise and also have oversight controls over DREAM in place in exchange for McGill’s signatures on the grant applications. Abernathy says the proposed agreement, passed this week by the board, turns over too much authority of DREAM to the district.

A letter dated May 6 from Tammy Cloyes, the coordinator of the 21st Century Learning Center grant program at the ADE, said,
“The ADE’s approval for submission is based on the PCSSD board of education’s recommendation that Mr. McGill sign the application. Once the matter between DREAM and PCSSD is resolved, Jody Abernathy will obtain an original superintendent signature within thirty days.”

According to the contract drawn up by district attorneys and school board member Charlie Wood, Abernathy would be required to pay $13,000 of what she owes by May 31 and the remainder, along with any other accrued charges, by June 30. Further, it asks her to give the district the right to review DREAM financial records at any time. The district would also have the authority to decide who runs any new DREAM programs. Two of the grants submitted by Abernathy would expand DREAM – to Sylvan Hills Elementary School and Jacksonville High School. Specifically, the agreement states, “Any new DREAM programs at other District facilities will be initially under the leadership of a different program director.” The agreement goes on to say that “PCSSD reserves the right to recognize Abernathy as director of any new programs,” if she proves herself.

Abernathy says that she has no problem with opening her books, but that the agreement would open the door to meddling and management by the district of DREAM, which is a nonprofit organization independent of PCSSD.

“I am okay with anybody looking at our financial records,” Abernathy said. “Our state legislative audits are clean. We don’t owe anybody but PCSSD, and there is a reason for that. But basically, the contract is saying that the district can manage the program and says who can and cannot work and in what position. Basically, that is turning the direction of the program over to the district.”

Abernathy is an independent contractor. She started DREAM at a North Little Rock church in 2008 and relocated to Harris Elementary School in 2009, when a similar program run by the district ended with its failure to secure an extension of funding.

Abernathy and McGill for more than a month have been engaged in a tug-of-war over the signatures and Abernathy’s outstanding bill to the district’s food service. McGill has not wanted to sign the applications because of the debt. The PCSSD school board has twice in the last month directed McGill to sign the applications and then this week added the proposed contract as part of the deal. Abernathy says that she got behind on payments last year because she was waiting to meet with the district to discuss what she felt was an over-charge. She contends that she is being unfairly billed at a higher rate than other independent contractors providing similar services. She says she’ll pay up, despite refusing to sign the contract proposed by the board.

“I think that is important and hope to have even half of it on (May 31),” Abernathy said, adding that the fact that she has reduced the balance owed from $73,000 to $26,000 in the last month “doesn’t show somebody that is not paying their bills.”

TOP STORY > >State helps embattled supervisor

By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer

The Arkansas Department of Educat-ion has accepted three grant applications for after-school programs in Sher-wood and Jacksonville, even though the applicant has decided not to comply with a proposed agreement from the Pulaski County Special School District in exchange for the district superintendent’s signatures on the applications, a requirement for submission.

The three grants total $1.5 million and would provide enrichment programs for up to 630 elementary and secondary students.

The ADE decided to temporarily waive the signature requirement so that Jody Abernathy, who wrote the grants and also directs the DREAM pre-school and after-school programs at Harris Elementary School in the McAlmont community—could meet the deadline, which was yesterday.

“It was a way to enable Abernathy to submit the applications without the signatures, rather than say, ‘This is over for you this year,’” said Julie Thompson, ADE spokesperson.

Abernathy has been under fire from PCSSD because she is behind on her payments to the district’s food services for meals and snacks provided to her programs. The district says she owes $26,666, and she vows to have it paid by the end of the fiscal year, which is June 30. The PCSSD school board wants to contractually hold her to that promise and also have oversight controls over DREAM in place in exchange for McGill’s signatures on the grant applications. Abernathy says the proposed agreement, passed this week by the board, turns over too much authority of DREAM to the district.

A letter dated May 6 from Tammy Cloyes, the coordinator of the 21st Century Learning Center grant program at the ADE, said,
“The ADE’s approval for submission is based on the PCSSD board of education’s recommendation that Mr. McGill sign the application. Once the matter between DREAM and PCSSD is resolved, Jody Abernathy will obtain an original superintendent signature within thirty days.”

According to the contract drawn up by district attorneys and school board member Charlie Wood, Abernathy would be required to pay $13,000 of what she owes by May 31 and the remainder, along with any other accrued charges, by June 30. Further, it asks her to give the district the right to review DREAM financial records at any time. The district would also have the authority to decide who runs any new DREAM programs. Two of the grants submitted by Abernathy would expand DREAM – to Sylvan Hills Elementary School and Jacksonville High School. Specifically, the agreement states, “Any new DREAM programs at other District facilities will be initially under the leadership of a different program director.” The agreement goes on to say that “PCSSD reserves the right to recognize Abernathy as director of any new programs,” if she proves herself.

Abernathy says that she has no problem with opening her books, but that the agreement would open the door to meddling and management by the district of DREAM, which is a nonprofit organization independent of PCSSD.

“I am okay with anybody looking at our financial records,” Abernathy said. “Our state legislative audits are clean. We don’t owe anybody but PCSSD, and there is a reason for that. But basically, the contract is saying that the district can manage the program and says who can and cannot work and in what position. Basically, that is turning the direction of the program over to the district.”

Abernathy is an independent contractor. She started DREAM at a North Little Rock church in 2008 and relocated to Harris Elementary School in 2009, when a similar program run by the district ended with its failure to secure an extension of funding.

Abernathy and McGill for more than a month have been engaged in a tug-of-war over the signatures and Abernathy’s outstanding bill to the district’s food service. McGill has not wanted to sign the applications because of the debt. The PCSSD school board has twice in the last month directed McGill to sign the applications and then this week added the proposed contract as part of the deal. Abernathy says that she got behind on payments last year because she was waiting to meet with the district to discuss what she felt was an over-charge. She contends that she is being unfairly billed at a higher rate than other independent contractors providing similar services. She says she’ll pay up, despite refusing to sign the contract proposed by the board.

“I think that is important and hope to have even half of it on (May 31),” Abernathy said, adding that the fact that she has reduced the balance owed from $73,000 to $26,000 in the last month “doesn’t show somebody that is not paying their bills.”

TOP STORY > >Hopson: I’m ready

By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer

Late Friday, contract negotiations were drawing to a close for the new superintendent of Pulaski County Special School District.

“It is being finalized today,” said Charles Hopson, who is set to assume the reins of the district on July 1. “The contract is now back with the board.”

The school board approved the tentative agreement at a special meeting on Wednesday, after more than two hours of discussion in a closed session.

As part of the transition to the new post, Hopson plans to be in the district most of the coming week, again in late May and back again in June.

“After June 18, I’ll be in Little Rock pretty much permanently based. We’re doing this in stages to help it be a seamless transition.”

As chief of the third-largest school district in the state, Hopson will be paid $205,000 annually. His contract is for three years with an automatic one-year extension annually unless opposed by the board.

Annual raises will match the highest percentage granted any employee group for a given year, in addition to the yearly step increase for administrators.

Hopson said that the last aspect of the contract to be worked out is in regard to the terms for termination.

“That is always a bit controversial,” Hopson said.

The proposed contract gives the board the right “with good cause” to terminate Hopson’s employment and enumerates specific conditions for termination. The contract also gives the board the authority to terminate Hopson’s contract “without cause.” In that event, the superintendent would be paid salary and benefits for the remaining time in his contract or for 18 months, whichever is less.

At Hopson’s request, the contract stipulates that within 60 days of his start date, and each year thereafter, he and the board will meet to develop a set of goals and priorities. His annual performance evaluations will be based on how well he meets those goals.

The superintendent’s benefits package would include 21 days of vacation annually, reimbursement of travel expenses, a yearly $10,000 annuity payment, monthly contributions to the state teachers’ retirement program, an annual $2,400 expense account, payment of professional and civic organization dues, and disability insurance, as well as dental and medical insurance for him and his family and a life insurance policy.

In addition, Hopson will be provided a vehicle, for which the district will pay all maintenance and insurance expenses. He will be issued a gasoline credit card for personal and professional use. To cover the cost of cell phone and district-related computer and technology needs, Hopson will receive a monthly $300 communications and technology allowance.

Moving expenses for Hopson and his family for up to $25,000 would be paid for by the district. Hopson currently lives in
Portland, Ore., where he is a deputy superintendent of public schools.

He is from Prescott and worked for several years in Arkansas public schools, including the Pulaski County Special School District, as a teacher and principal before relocating to Oregon 20 years ago.

TOP STORY > >Hopson: I’m ready

By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer

Late Friday, contract negotiations were drawing to a close for the new superintendent of Pulaski County Special School District.

“It is being finalized today,” said Charles Hopson, who is set to assume the reins of the district on July 1. “The contract is now back with the board.”

The school board approved the tentative agreement at a special meeting on Wednesday, after more than two hours of discussion in a closed session.

As part of the transition to the new post, Hopson plans to be in the district most of the coming week, again in late May and back again in June.

“After June 18, I’ll be in Little Rock pretty much permanently based. We’re doing this in stages to help it be a seamless transition.”

As chief of the third-largest school district in the state, Hopson will be paid $205,000 annually. His contract is for three years with an automatic one-year extension annually unless opposed by the board.

Annual raises will match the highest percentage granted any employee group for a given year, in addition to the yearly step increase for administrators.

Hopson said that the last aspect of the contract to be worked out is in regard to the terms for termination.

“That is always a bit controversial,” Hopson said.

The proposed contract gives the board the right “with good cause” to terminate Hopson’s employment and enumerates specific conditions for termination. The contract also gives the board the authority to terminate Hopson’s contract “without cause.” In that event, the superintendent would be paid salary and benefits for the remaining time in his contract or for 18 months, whichever is less.

At Hopson’s request, the contract stipulates that within 60 days of his start date, and each year thereafter, he and the board will meet to develop a set of goals and priorities. His annual performance evaluations will be based on how well he meets those goals.

The superintendent’s benefits package would include 21 days of vacation annually, reimbursement of travel expenses, a yearly $10,000 annuity payment, monthly contributions to the state teachers’ retirement program, an annual $2,400 expense account, payment of professional and civic organization dues, and disability insurance, as well as dental and medical insurance for him and his family and a life insurance policy.

In addition, Hopson will be provided a vehicle, for which the district will pay all maintenance and insurance expenses. He will be issued a gasoline credit card for personal and professional use. To cover the cost of cell phone and district-related computer and technology needs, Hopson will receive a monthly $300 communications and technology allowance.

Moving expenses for Hopson and his family for up to $25,000 would be paid for by the district. Hopson currently lives in
Portland, Ore., where he is a deputy superintendent of public schools.

He is from Prescott and worked for several years in Arkansas public schools, including the Pulaski County Special School District, as a teacher and principal before relocating to Oregon 20 years ago.

SPORTS>>Baseball is most lively viewed live

By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor

One of my co-workers, Mike Kwangkeow, threw me a curve the other day.

“Hey Todd,” he said. “What’s so exciting about baseball?”

Mike is one of the designers at our newspaper but he ought to be a reporter because it was a good question.

Mike is 20 and his family is from Thailand. They run an 18-star restaurant in Sherwood and you should go check it out, unless you have a problem with really good food.

Mike graduated from Little Rock Parkview with a double major in art and science and he currently attends Pulaski Tech.

Recently, Mike saved himself $4,000 by building his own computer, or at least that’s what he said.

I personally think Mike has been working on a giant robot he will use to take over the world.

Mike got his U.S. citizenship last year, which means he can travel safely in Arizona as long as he carries his documentation. He played pickup basketball and apparently led his team in fouls and fouls attempted.

But when it comes to baseball, Mike, despite his incredible smarts, is looking for a little help in understanding the allure of his new country’s national pastime.

“What’s so exciting about baseball?” Indeed.

Mike’s first problem was that he tried to watch the game on TV.

TV and baseball, in my opinion, have been a bad marriage. Other than exposing the game to a lot of people, the idiot box does nothing to enhance a fan’s enjoyment.

While generating whopping revenues for the major leagues, television means more night games for a sport best enjoyed in sunshine and it means more commercial breaks, which have led playoff games to last well past midnight Eastern time, and sometimes Central time.

How do you interest someone in a game when he can’t stay up to finish it?

I won’t commit the time-honored sin of degrading one sport to build up another. I love football, but compared to baseball, it stands as a good example of a a successful marriage between a game and entertainment technology.

All the graphics and hyperbolic announcers keep things moving, and the commercials distract us from seeing just how much standing around goes on in a football game. The moments of action are lively indeed, but I read last season the average NFL game only contains between 11-13 minutes of real playing time.

Unlike football, played on a rectangular grid, baseball doesn’t fit very well onto the TV screen. The game is one of our few major sports in which you don’t possess the ball to score; in fact, the farther you hit it from the starting point the better off you are.

So where do you point the camera? At the hitter, the pitcher or the guy who is chasing the ball?

So Mike, my first bit of advice is for you to hop over to one of the local high schools or get down to Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock and see real, professional, wood-bat baseball.

From the stands you can see a long drive rattling around in the left-field corner, the fielder in pursuit and the baserunner digging around second and being waved home by his third-base coach. You can see the play at the plate shaping up and appreciate just how close it’s going to be.

You might see the runner slam into the catcher as he tries to break up the throw home, and you’ll be reminded that, yes, baseball is a contact sport.

At a live game, if you have a good seat at least, you can hear the air sizzle and the glove pop when a pitcher delivers a 98 mph fastball.

At a live game you can appreciate the ballet that is a well-turned double play and see just how quickly a guy can get down the line to first, or what a challenging distance 90 feet can be.

At a live game you can be part of a ninth-inning, foot-stomping crowd too excited to sit as it watches a pitcher clinging to a one-run lead with the bases full, the count 3-2 and no place to put ‘em.

Baseball is exciting because it’s hard. Well-played it looks easy, poorly played and you see just how tough it is.

The difficulty is what makes the great plays seem like miracles.

I’m going to give way to a reliever to wrap this up, Mike. Here’s what the great American writer John Updike said about the great American game and I hope, when you make it to the ballpark, you remember this:

“Baseball was invented in America, where beneath the good cheer and sly jazz, the chance of failure is everybody’s right, beginning with baseball.”

SPORTS>>Flattened Panthers recover, rock Tigers

By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter

Just as quickly as Cabot dug itself a hole, the Panthers worked themselves out of it in an 11-4 victory over Little Rock Central at Conrade Memorial Field on Tuesday.

The Tigers (13-11, 6-6 7A-Central) scored three runs in the top of the first inning, but gave two back to the Panthers in the bottom half. Cabot (15-10, 5-7) then took complete control with an eight-run spree in the bottom of the second.

“We haven’t really responded well when we’ve been hit in the face,” Panthers coach Jay Fitch said. “We’ve been just flat-out hit in the face, knocked on our back, and haven’t responded. So they came out, scored three on our ace, and we came right back with two. That was huge.”

The Panthers (15-11, 5-8) stayed alive in the 7A state tournament hunt with the victory, but fell 9-8 to Bryant in 15 innings Thursday. That kept them in a tie for last place with Russellville, three games behind leader North Little Rock and two games behind Conway, Bryant, Catholic and Van Buren with only one conference game remaining.

Cabot starter Matt Evans recovered from a disastrous first and pitched four solid innings Tuesday until giving way to reliever Chase Beasley in the top of the sixth with the Panthers holding a 10-4 lead. Beasley, who had limited time in the bullpen before taking the mound, gave up a walk and a single to start the inning.

He induced a pop-up to right from Clayton Booth for the first out, but Will Parham reached on an error at third to load the bases. Beasley’s arm finally loosened up, and the senior struck out the next two batters to deny the Tigers a comeback opportunity.

“That was a little bit tough on him,” Fitch said. “He had to hurry up and try to get loose, and I don’t think we probably gave him enough time. It was almost like he had to continue to get loose on the mound.

“You know, you hate to do that to a kid. But he finally settled in, started throwing strikes, but it raised my blood pressure a little bit.”

Evans hit Central leadoff batter Ivan Tate with a stray curve in the top of the first to set up the first of three Tigers’ runs.

Clayton Booth singled and then Parham hit a double down the third-base line to drive in both runners.

Cabot retired two before Parham finally scored on a squeeze bunt by Macon Speed to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.

Evans drew a walk from Central starter Daniel Imbro to lead off the bottom of the first. No. 3 hitter Powell Bryant doubled to advance Evans to third, but Evans was thrown out at the plate when Tyler Erickson hit into a fielder’s choice at third.

Ty Steele finally got the Panthers on the scoreboard when he drove in Bryant and Erickson with a single up the middle to make the score 3-2.

Cole Nicholson started Cabot’s decisive second inning with a single to right field, followed by a double from Brandon Surdam. Joe Bryant batted in both runners with a double into deep left field to put the Panthers up 4-3.

But Cabot wasn’t finished.

Evans brought in Joe Bryant with a single to right and advanced when Andrew Reynolds walked. Powell Bryant then loaded the bases when he hit a bloop into shallow right.

That set up Erickson, and the senior infielder delivered by driving a pitch deep into center field for a three-RBI double to make it 8-3.

Nicholson book ended the inning when he drove in the final two runs with a double down the first-base line.

Central scored its final run in the top of the fourth when Booth doubled to right and scored Tate, who was hit by an Evans pitch for the second time in three at-bats. But Evans appeared to get stronger, and struck out four of the final six batters he faced until giving way to Beasley.

“He does that,” Fitch said of Evans. “He’s an athletic, strong kid, and he just throws it well. We know he’s our ace, and so we kind of get up a little bit more when he’s on the mound. What he also started doing was hitting his spots a little bit better, getting that curveball over.”

Joe Bryant singled to start the bottom of the sixth and scored Cabot’s final run when his brother Powell hit into a fielder’s choice.

Powell Bryant was 2 for 4 with a double, an RBI and two runs. Nicholson was 2 for 3 with a double and two RBI. Erickson finished with a double and three RBI, and Steele had a single and two RBI.

For Central, Booth was 3 for 4 with a double, an RBI and a run.

SPORTS>>Bryant girls hammer Cabot

By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter

Cabot’s chances at a higher tournament seed disappeared with a crack of Bryant catcher Jesse Taylor’s bat in the top of the fourth inning Thursday.

Taylor’s three-run home run gave the Lady Hornets a 9-3 lead and complete momentum, as Bryant went on to win 13-3 at Conrade Sports Complex.

A victory for the Lady Panthers (19-9, 12-1 7A-Central) would have tied them with Bryant for second in the conference, one game behind leader North Little Rock, but it was not meant to be.

The Lady Hornets (21-2, 12-1) held the Lady Panthers scoreless after the second inning and triggered the sportsmanship/run rule at the end of six innings. The Lady Panthers matched Bryant run for run early on.

The Lady Hornets scored two runs in the top of the first, but Cabot answered with a drive by No. 3 hitter Kristi Flesher that triggered a fielding error at shortstop, with the ball going into left where the fielder and bobbled it for the second error on the same play. The miscues scored leadoff hitter Caitlinn Gunn and Chelsea Conrade.

Bryant took the lead again in the second, but Cabot tied it again in the bottom of the second when designated player Taylor Anderson tagged up and scored when Sarah Martin popped out to left, making it 3-3.

But the rest was all Bryant.

The Lady Hornets scored two runs in the third, and added to their lead in the fourth with five runs off four hits, including Taylor’s homer over the left-field wall, and three Cabot errors.

SPORTS>>Red Devils win 6A-East, dive into tourney

By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor

As it turned out, Jacksonville won its 6A-East Conference championship April 29.

The Red Devils only claimed it Tuesday night.

Jacksonville split its doubleheader with Searcy 5-4 and 4-3, but thanks to their split with Mountain Home over a week ago — and Mountain Home’s split with Jonesboro on Tuesday — the Red Devils had the tiebreaker to earn the No. 1 seed to the state tournament.

Jacksonville (12-2 6A-East) beat Mountain Home 5-1 and lost 5-4, and the margin-of-victory tiebreaker gave the Red Devils a three-run cushion and the championship after Mountain Home also finished 12-2.

“I expected us to be in the running, no doubt, at the beginning of the year,” Jacksonville coach Larry Burrows said of his squad, which features just one senior. “I’m happy for those kids. They came and played every day.”

The Red Devils receive a bye to the state tournament beginning May 14 and will play the winner of the first-round game between the 6A-South’s No. 4 seed, still to be determined, and the No. 5 seed from the East, which should be West Memphis.

Burrows said he would use Monday’s regular-season, non-conference finale at Sylvan Hills as a tune-up for the state tournament.

“We’re going to enjoy it for a day,” Burrows said of the conference championship. “They can reminisce on that later.”

Searcy handed Jacksonville only its second conference loss in the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader as the Red Devils got 10 hits but struck out at key times with men on base.

“Our two losses, we got beat 5-4 and 4-3 by two pretty dadgum good pitchers,” Burrows said. “But we also beat some pretty good pitching so I’m proud of them. I’m glad for them that they got a conference championship. That’s something that group will always get to share.”

In the first game Jacksonville rallied behind starter Jesse Harbin and reliever and second-game starter Mike Lamb. Jacksonville scored three runs in the fifth inning to overcome a 4-2 deficit and beat standout junior right-hander Dillon Howard (6-4), Searcy’s professional and major-college prospect.

“They got up there and battled with the stick against a guy who’s going to be making a lot of money one day,” Burrows said.
Holland had an uncharacteristic, sub-par outing, hitting four batters in six innings. But it was two walks he issued to Harbin and Jacob Abrahamson that were critical in the fifth.

Both runners scored when D’Vone McClure hit a two-run double that dropped inside the right-field line.

Howard hit catcher Patrick Castleberry, then Caleb Mitchell singled to score McClure from second to make it 5-4 Jacksonville.

Harbin (8-1) hit Jared Haggard to open the game and Haggard scored from third on an error by second baseman Kenny
Cummings, who missed when he tried to cut off Castleberry’s throw on a steal attempt and the ball went into center.

The Red Devils got the run back when Howard hit McClure, the No. 2 hitter, and McClure scored when Castleberry sliced a double into left, just inside the line.

Searcy got three runs on just one hit in the third.

Haggard walked, Zach Langley reached on a fielder’s choice as Jacob Abrahamson dropped the ball trying to force Haggard at second and Preston Tarkington singled to load the bases. Hayden Mercer hit a sacrifice fly, Mike Brown hit an RBI double and Tarkington scored from third on a wild pitch to make it 4-1.

The Red Devils cut it to 4-2 on pinch-hitter Xavier Brown’s RBI single in the fourth but Jacksonville had a man gunned down at third while stranding another.

Burrows said he liked having Sylvan Hills, a perennial contender in the 5A-Southeast and at the state level, in the final because he would get a realistic challenge before the state tournament. Burrows will use all three of his starters, Harbin, a sophomore who threw 100 pitches Tuesday, Lamb and Nick Rodriguez.

“I think Harbin threw 100. I don’t know what Lamb threw,” Burrows said. “But they were outside long tossing yesterday. Both of them are kind of rubber-army. Neither one of them, they don’t get sore.”

SPORTS>>Playing the futures game

By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor

It’s not that Searcy junior pitcher Dillon Howard can already throw a fastball clocked at 93 mph.

Although that helps.

It’s not that the right-handed Howard has command of three other pitches, a 6-4, 210-pound build and a nose for the game of baseball.

Although those things help too.

The clue to what has Howard drawing clusters of Major League scouts to Lions games can be found in the way he dealt with a recent loss.

After walking two in a three-run inning, hitting four batters total and being charged with his fourth loss of the year in a 6A-East Conference game at Jacksonville, Howard was asked for an interview.

“Sure man,” he said, and went on to dissect his game, where he went wrong and what he intended to do about it.

“I’ve got to tip my hat to Jacksonville,” said Howard (6-4) after the 5-4 loss at Dupree Park. “They’re a great team. They swung the bats well. It wasn’t my day pitching but it comes with the job.”

And that’s what makes Howard a pitcher and not just a thrower. The highs aren’t too high and the lows aren’t too low and he knows there is always another game.

In Howard’s case, given the number of pro scouts and college recruiters on his trail, there should be plenty of other games.

“I think he’s going to have a lot of options,” Searcy coach Clay McCammon said. “We’re hopeful that if he continues to improve and can even build off what he’s done this year, yeah there’s a chance he could get drafted pretty high and have the opportunity to go that route.

“But he’s going to have numerous opportunities at the collegiate level.”

Have the firing squads of radar guns aimed at Howard through the chain link been a distraction? In Howard’s case, of course not.

“It’s not something I dwell on,” he said. “It has happened. It just comes with the job once again. I don’t dwell on it. It’s a good feeling but it doesn’t affect what I do on a daily basis.”

What he does do on a daily basis is bedevil unsuspecting hitters with his four-pitch arsenal that includes the fastball, a changeup, curve and cut fastball.

“He’s got four good pitches that, when he locates them, people have trouble hitting them,” McCammon said.

Even when he’s not having his best day, as at Jacksonville on Monday, Howard can still get a guy with a pickoff move, as he
did when he erased a Red Devils runner, or with his grasp of what’s going on around him.

When a Red Devils hitter popped a bunt foul, it was Howard who reminded the umpire the foul came on a two-strike count and the hitter was out.

Yet Howard, like the scouts stalking him, knows a baseball player is always a work in progress. Unlike the NFL or NBA drafts, when players are taken because they look like they can immediately contribute, baseball players are drafted for their potential.
Howard is still trying to fulfill his.

“I’ve got a lot to learn, obviously,” said Howard, who admitted he is still seeking that one pitch he can rely on for outs. “I’ve got to learn about pitching and just what goes on, what preparation and stuff like that, how to throw to hitters. Just knowing how to play the game and the right way to play the game.”

When he has accomplished all he can in high school and his progression continues, Howard will then have to decide between the pros or the colleges. But like a good pitcher, he’s not rushing anything.

“I couldn’t give a straight answer on that honestly,” Howard said. “I’ve got a lot of days ahead of me before I have to make that decision. We’ll see. I think I’ll make the right decision, whichever one it is.”

McCammon said the most scouts he has counted at a Searcy game so far have been either five or six, but many more are expected to follow next season.

In the meantime, Howard has other, perhaps more important priorities for a guy his age. He spends time with his girlfriend or fishing for bass and crappie on the 20-plus acres his grandparents own.

“It’s just kind of an easy life, you know? Being a teenager, I guess,” he said.

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

SPORTS >> Falcons’ boys, girls make an early exit

North Pulaski’s Michelle Treat battles a Jacksonville player for possession.

By JASON KING

Leader sportswriter

North Pulaski teams made an early exit from the 5A state tournament in Harrison over the weekend.

Both teams struggled with foul weather and tough draws, as the host Harrison Goblins beat the North Pulaski boys 6-0 and the North Pulaski girls lost to Greenbrier by the same score.

Harrison, the No. 1 seed out of the 5A West, took a 2-0 halftime lead over the Falcons, but North Pulaski found moving the ball difficult in winds up to 30 mph.

“We couldn’t keep the ball out of our own end,” Falcons coach Tony Buzzitta said. “If you didn’t play it on the ground, it just flew back over on our side. The second half wore us down. We had a chance, but they were just too much in the second half. The kids never gave up, though.”

Harrison kept the ball on North Pulaski’s end for most of the second half and added four more goals. The Goblins faced Paragould in the second round on Saturday and advanced to the semifinals with another 6-0 victory.

The Falcons finished the season 6-10.

“There were parts of the season where we overachieved and some parts where we underachieved,” Buzzitta said. “It took us a while to get in a rhythm, but we played pretty well most of the year.”

The Falcons lose a strong group of 10 senior players, including three-year starter Mathew Ingersoll and four-year starters Derek Gililland and Jonathan Buzzitta.

The Lady Falcons also faced severe weather conditions in their first-round game with Greenbrier’s Lady Panthers.

A rain delay 20 minutes into the match halted play for several minutes, and the Lady Panthers came out strong when things resumed. Greenbrier scored four goals in the remainder of the first half and found the net twice in the second half against an improved North Pulaski defense.

“During the rain delay, they decided to leave it all on the field,” Buzzitta said. “They went out an relaxed and had a good time and played their butts off. It was really a tale of two halves.”

The Lady Falcons (4-9) are losing key seniors, including four-year starters Tara Taykowski and Myranda Thomen. Michelle Threat is another experienced senior who is departing after lettering three years. But the biggest loss among the seven departing seniors is forward Claire Crews.

Crews led the Lady Falcons offensively and had on-field chemistry with junior standout forward Stephanie Alvis. Crews is also North Pulaski’s last remaining athlete from its only state championship in any sport — the 400-meter relay championship won in 2007.

“It’s going to be tough,” Buzzitta said. “Offensively, I’m just not sure how we will be, but we should be pretty good defensively.”

Returning with Alvis next year will be key defender Mercedes Wilson and goalkeeper Jennifer Waylan, who sat out most of the season with injuries. Fellow goalkeeper Ariel West will return for her junior season, as will Jordan Sereal.

EVENTS >>09-15 -10

CABOT CLEANUP IS SEPT. 25, VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT

Cabot Fall Cleanup has been set for 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 25. Volunteers are needed to help collect litter from the city’s streets.

The event is sponsored by Cabot City Beautiful, and held in conjunction with the Great Arkansas Cleanup.

All members of the Cabot community are encouraged to participate: civic and service organizations, church and youth groups, school clubs, boy and girl scouts, families, and businesses.

Volunteers should meet at Cabot Public Schools Administrative Building’s parking lot at 602 North Lincoln St. They should arrive at 9 am to check-in with event staff.

Volunteers will be assigned routes. Orange safety vests and garbage bags will be provided, but bringing a pair of work gloves is
recommended. At noon, all volunteers will meet back at the parking lot for a free lunch.

The clean-up effort will concentrate on the city’s main thoroughfares. It’s a great chance to spruce up the city before CabotFest on Oct. 10.

To register, call 501-920-2122 or email cabotbeautiful@yahoo.com.

ASU-BEEBE RECRUITING PREPARES FOR CLASSES ON LRAFB

Arkansas State University at Beebe will hold an information session for prospective students at the Jacksonville Community Center from 2:30 to 7 p.m. Sept. 16 and 21. The event will provide information about the school’s Little Rock Air Force Base branch, which begins its fall session on Oct. 20.

Attendees can register courses and apply for a military-issued photo ID for access to the air base.

For more information, call 501-988-4151 or email lrafb@asub.edu.

NORTH PULASKI COMMUNITY FEST SET FOR SEPT. 25

North Pulaski Community Fest will be Saturday, Sept. 25 at the North Pulaski Fire Department on Republican Road.

A flag ceremony will begin at 10 a.m., followed by a fishing derby for kids 15 and under, a bow and arrow shoot, lawnmower pulls, food and music. A fireworks display will start at nightfall.

Booths are $20 without electricity, $30 with 110 volts and $40 with 220 volts. Free booths are available for nonprofit groups.
For more information or to reserve a booth, call Tommy Majors at 501-988-9943. The event is sponsored by North Pulaski Crime Watch.

CABOTFEST IS OCT. 9; MICHAEL SARVER TO PERFORM

CabotFest is Saturday, Oct. 9. The event is free, and will include Bingo, a BMX stunt show, a magic show, a car show, a carnival, and the ever-popular cricket-spitting contest. The festivities begin at 8 a.m. The country musician Michael Sarver, a former American Idol contestant, will perform from 5:30 to 7 p.m. For more information or to rent a booth, call the Cabot Chamber of
Commerce at 501-843-2136.

RED CROSS PLANS BLOOD DRIVE IN CABOT AND LONOKE

Walmart in Cabot from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 27.

Lonoke Community Center from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 28.

ASU-BEEBE PREPARES FOR CLASSES ON LRAFB

Arkansas State University at Beebe will hold an information session for prospective students at the Jacksonville Community Center from 2:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday and Sept. 21. The event will provide information about the school’s Little Rock Air Force Base branch, which begins its fall session on Oct. 20.

Attendees can register for courses and apply for a military-issued photo ID for access to the air base.

For more information, call 501-988-4151 or email lrafb@asub.edu.

SPAGHETTI SUPPER TO BENEFIT ROAD TO BETHLEHEM

A spaghetti supper will be served at 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18 to benefit the Christmas Road to Bethlehem at Bethlehem Church.

The Gospel Tones are scheduled to perform at 6:30 p.m., and other entertainment is planned. The church is just 10 miles east of Cabot, 10 miles north of Lonoke and 10 miles south of Beebe.

FALL-FESTIVAL SEASON KICKS OFF SATURDAY

The fall-festival season gets started Saturday with events in Sherwood, Ward and Beebe.

Sherwood Fest is at Sherwood Forest, 1111 W. Maryland Ave. The day begins with a pancake breakfast from 8 to 10 a.m. hosted by Sherwood Chamber of Commerce. The Sherwood Explorer’s Guitar Hero contest will be held at 11 a.m. Centennial Bank will host a cute- kids contest at noon. The event promises live music, children’s activities, a climbing wall, inflatable-bouce houses, medieval re-enactors, a magic show and lots of good food and vendors.

A chili cook-off will be held at 7 p.m. Friday before the festival. The dinner includes lots of door prizes and entertainment. Tasting cups are $2.

To rent a booth or for more information, visit www.sherwoodfestar.com or call 501-833-3790.

Ward Jamboree begins at 9 a.m. The annual event is hosted by the city’s chamber of commerce. Good food, games, a silent auction, a beauty pageant and a concert by the Cummins Prison Band are promised.

Registration for the pageant will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, and on the morning of the jamboree.

For more information about the pageant, call Kelly Probus at 501-658-9384. For information about booths, call Wayne Guess at 501-843-8348 or Sharon Roberts at 501-743-4395.

Beebe Fall Fest, sponsored by the Beebe Chamber of Commerce, is from 3 to 9 p.m. The festival is held downtown.

Booths are $75 without electricity or $100 with electricity.

For more information, call 501-827-0353.

NORTH PULASKI COMMUNITY FEST SET FOR SEPT. 25

North Pulaski Community Fest will be Saturday, Sept. 25 at the North Pulaski Fire Department on Republican Road.

A flag ceremony will begin at 10 a.m., followed by a fishing derby for kids 15 and under, a bow and arrow shoot, lawnmower pulls, food and music. A fireworks display will start at nightfall.

Booths are $20 without electricity, $30 with 110 volts and $40 with 220 volts. Free booths are available for nonprofit groups.

For more information or to reserve a booth, call Tommy Majors at 501-988-9943. The event is sponsored by North Pulaski Crime Watch.

CAR-SEAT SAFETY CHECK IN CABOT ON SATURDAY

A car-seat safety check will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Cabot Walmart Supercenter.

The event is sponsored by Cabot Junior Auxiliary, Arkansas Children’s Hospital and Cabot police and fire departments. This is the ninth year for the event known as Buckle Buddies.

The safety check is free and open to anyone using a child-restraint system in their vehicle. Car seats will be checked by certified car-seat- safety technicians.

According to the National Highway Safety Administration data, 95 percent of car seats are improperly installed. Common mistakes are seat placement and direction, harness-strap security, improper fitting, poor clips, inappropriate seats according to the child’s age and weight, and defective parts.

CABOT PARKS AND RECREATION YARD SALE SATURDAY

Cabot Parks and Recreation will hold its first annual Clean out Your Closets Community Yard Sale from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Veterans Park Community Center.

Larry Tarrant, parks director, said the idea for the event came from Jacksonville Parks and Recreation which holds a yard sale in the spring.

At only $25 to rent two parking slots for one booth, the event likely won’t be a big fundraiser for parks, Tarrant said. It’s a service to the community.

Since this will be the parks’ first yard sale, Tarrant said he doesn’t have any idea what will be for sale. But so far, 20 booths have been rented and the hope is that the number will double today.

Get applications at the community center, 508 N. Lincoln. For more information, call Stacy at 501 605-1506.

GUN AND KNIFE SHOW IN JACKSONVILLE THIS WEEKEND

A gun and knife show will be held this weekend at the Memphis Flea Market in the old Walmart building in Jacksonville.

The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. According to organizers, it is the largest show of its kind to be held in Arkansas. For more information, call 501-927-8176.

JACKSONVILLE ANNEXATION GROUP MEETS THURSDAY

A citizens’ committee formed by the Jacksonville City Council will hold its second meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at city hall to discuss annexation.

The committee consists of five aldermen and five residents who live in the 3.8 square miles that Jacksonville wants to annex.

SPORTS EVENTS >> 1-22-11

COACHES CALL US

The Leader would like to hear from all coaches in all sports in our coverage area. Please e-mail results, statistics or information to leadersports@arkansasleader.com or fax to 501-985-0026 or call 982-9421.


JACKSONVILLE SCEDULES YOUTH SOFTBALL SIGNUP

The Jacksonville Parks and Recreation Department will begin registration for youth softball from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Jan. 29 at the Jacksonville Community Center.

Additional signup dates are Feb. 5, Feb. 12 and Feb. 29.

For information call the community center at (501) 982-4171. Point of contact is Josh Mayes.






TRAVERLERS PUT HOGS-TICKETS UP FOR SALE

A limited number of reserved and box seats are available for the Arkansas-Memphis baseball game, scheduled for March 22 at 6:30 p.m., at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.

Tickets will go on sale Monday at 10 a.m. and will be available through the Arkansas Travelers’ website, travs.com or by contacting the Dickey-Stephens Park box office in person or by phone at (501) 664-1555.

Reserved seats are $15, while box seats are $18. Because of the limited number, tickets are expected to go quickly. General admission tickets to see the Razorbacks and Tigers are also available for $12.

The Razorbacks will be playing in central Arkansas for the second consecutive season. Last year, Arkansas beat Louisiana Tech 5-4 in 10 innings in front of a sellout crowd of 10,200. The game was the Hogs’ first in central Arkansas since 1986.

For more information regarding Razorback baseball or University of Arkansas athletics, please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.





CABOT ROLLER DERBY TO SKATE IN SEASON-OPENER


The Cabot-based Girls Rollin’ in the South Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby league will host its inagural season opener Saturday.GRITS’ first team, the Breakneck Brawlers, will face Mountain Gateway’s Sisterhood of Steel, out of Poteau, Okla.

The bout will be held at Skateworld in Jacksonville. Doors open at 4 p.m. Admissions is $7 at the door, $5 with a military ID. 

Advance tickets can be purchased at Sandy’s Pet Grooming and Joyland Skating Center in Cabot and Ink Slingers Tattoos in Searcy.

For more information, visit www.girlsrollininthesouth.com.



YOUTH BASEBALL CAMP SET AT JACKSONVILLE HIGH

The Jackconville High School campus will be the site of the Jacksonville Baseball Camp Jan.31- Feb.4

OBITUARIES >> 7-3-10

NATHAN JORDAN JR.

Nathan Leroy Jordan Jr., 68, of Jacksonville passed away July 1.

He was born Oct. 31, 1941, in Cabot to Nathan Leroy Jordan Sr. and Ina Ruth Swaim Jordan.

He worked for Vertac Chemical Company from 1959 until 1986.

He was also a mechanical technician for Delux Video retiring in 2004.

He loved camping, antiquing and fishing.

Jordan was preceded in death by his mother and a daughter, Renae Jordan.

Jordan is survived by his loving wife, Willa Dean Lee Jordan. He is also survived by a son, Phillip Jordan of Jacksonville; two sisters, Bonnie Wooley and her husband Bob of Jacksonville and Karen Lowerey and her husband John of Minnesota, and his godson, Gary Jameson of Chesterfield, Mo.

The funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 4 at Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home with Bro. Ben Leonard officiating.

Interment will follow in Chapel Hill Memorial Park. Visitation will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 3 at the funeral home.

Arrangements are by Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.

BRYAN SHOEMAKER

Bryan James Shoemaker, Sr. of Cabot passed away June 29.

He was born May 31, 1932 in Lexington, N.Y., to the late George and Florabell Shoemaker.

He was preceded in death by his brother, George Shoe-maker.

After serving “20 years and three days” for our country in the Air Force, he retired as a tech sergeant and then be-gan to work at Remington Arms in Lonoke, where he retired after 19 years.

He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Dorothy May Shoemaker; son, Bryan James Shoemaker, Jr. and his wife Julia of Cabot; daughter, Christine Ruth McCullough and her husband Allan of Cabot; nephew, David Neal Jr. of the home; brother, Edgar Shoemaker and his wife Ann of West Kill, N.Y.; seven grandchildren, Bryan James III, Emily Mae, Erin Marie, Bonnie Lynn, Benjamin Andrew, Allan Ronald Jr. and Kathleen Annamaymarie, and four great-grandchildren, Lillian Marie, Isabella Sky, Brayden James and Delylia Leann.

Funeral services were July 2 at Old Austin United Methodist Church with interment immediately following at Mt. Carmel Cemetery.

Arrangements were by Thomas Funeral Service in Cabot.

The family would like to thank Baptist Home Health Care and Baptist Hospice for the great care that they provided.

JULIE ANN COSENTINO

Julie Ann Cosentino, 10, of Lonoke passed away June 30 after fighting cancer.

She was born Feb. 1, 2000, in Emmett, Idaho.

Julie attended Lonoke Elementary School.

She was saved May 5, 2010, and was a member of Roberson Baptist Church.

Julie enjoyed swimming, fishing, family get-togethers and loved horses.

She is survived by her mother and father, Suzanne Caldwell and Derrick Johnson; grandparents, Michael and Nancy Mixon, and Jerry Caldwell Sr.; great-grandparents, Linda and Daniel Gibson and James and Merlee Mixon, and many aunts, uncles and cousins.

Visitation is from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 3, at Boyd Funeral Home in Lonoke.

The funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, July 5 at Roberson Baptist Church with Bro. Larry Childers officiating.

Burial will follow in Lonoke Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Arkansas Children’s Hospital or Roberson Baptist Church.

JACK REID

Jack Reid, 79, of Cabot died June 23.

He was born Dec. 23, 1930, in Carrollton, Ga., to the late Ruell and Ivor Johnson Reid.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by one brother, Jerry Reid.

Jack grew up and attended school in Akron, Ohio.

He and his wife Ina of nearly 56 years moved to Cabot four years ago.

Reid is survived by his wife, Ina Harder Reid; one daughter, Michele and her husband Col. Aaron Maynard of Rome, Italy; one brother, Edwin Reid of Akron, Ohio; one sister, Jeanie and her husband Joe Tillman of Uniontown, Ohio; two grandsons, Reid and Max Maynard and one granddaughter, Emma Maynard, all of Rome, Italy, and many close friends and neighbors.

A memorial service was June 28 at Moore’s Cabot Funeral Home Chapel.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Pickens Assembly of God, Kitchen Fund in Pickens, Ohio.

Arrangements were by Moore’s Cabot Funeral Home.

H. SCOTT SHIPLETT

H. Scott Shiplett, 67, of El Paso died June 24 at his home with his family by his side after a courageous battle with cancer.

He was born Dec. 23, 1942, in Richmond, Ind., to the late Warren and Grace Coy Shiplett.

He was also preceded in death by one brother, Pat Shiplett.

Scott was a retired Air Force master sergeant. He was a loving person who will be greatly missed by his family and many friends.

Shiplett is survived by his wife of 44 years, Mary; two daughters, Sonia and her husband David Stratton, Shannon and her husband Scott Sweeney; five grandchildren, Haley, Austin, Reagan, Ivan and Aidan; two sisters, Iva Palmer and Pam Huwitt, and one brother, Danny Shiplett.

The funeral was June 27 at Moore’s Cabot Funeral Home.

Arrangements were by Moore’s Cabot Funeral Home.

WANDA SMITH

Wanda “Jet” Jeanette Smith, 76, of Jackson-ville passed away on June 27.

She was born July 23, 1933, to Boyd and Julia Rowton Graves. She was of the Baptist faith.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Burl, in 2007.

She is survived by two daughters, Monica A. Busby and Valerie L. Bowen; one sister, Adele “Jackie” Gaspard; three grandchildren, Brandi L. and her husband Stephen B. Newman, Shawna N. Abbott, and Andrea Jeanette Smith, and two great-grandchildren, Alyssa N. and Abigail B. Newman.

Arrangements were by Wood Bean Family Memorial Center.

MICHAEL STAFFORD

Michael Ray Stafford, 42, of Austin passed away on June 30.

He was born July 13, 1967 to Wilma Stafford.

He is survived by his mother, Wilma of Sherwood; two daughters, Ashley Stafford and her husband Jerrome of Jacksonville and Brandy Scarburough of Bryant; four brothers, Ronnie Ray Lute and his wife Julie of Jacksonville, Wesley Perkins and his wife Margaret of Sheridan, John Perkins and his wife Linda of Austin and Joe Stafford and his wife Angela of Cabot; three sisters, Tonia Anderson of Sherwood, Kim Burkett of Austin and Jackie Weston and her husband Phillip of Cabot, and grandchildren Jerrome Hart, Jr., Jalyn Hart and Jonathan Scarborough.

A private memorial will take place at a later date.

Arrangements are by Thomas Funeral Service in Cabot.

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

TOP STORY >> Petraeus salutes camp liberators

Beryl Wolfson in his World War II uniform with his wife Esther during a ceremony at the Holocaust Memorial Museum honoring soldiers who liberated concentration camps in Europe.

By GARRICK FELDMAN

Leader executive editor

It was 65 years ago Monday that Beryl Wolfson helped liberate the Dachau concentration camp in southeastern Germany.

“We went into the camp on May 3, 1945,” he told me on the anniversary of the camp’s liberation. “Bodies were piled up everywhere.”

Wolfson, who is 87, was talking on the phone from his home in Hagarville, near Lamar in Johnson County, where he’s lived since he retired from the Army in 1965.

Wolfson and his wife Esther were recently at the U.S. Capitol and the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, where Gen. David Petraeus, commander of Central Command, presented medals to 120 liberators.

“We’re still looking for a few good men,” Petraeus told the group.

“We’ll sign up for two weeks,” shouted one old veteran.

Wolfson joined the National Guard in early 1941 in New Orleans, where he was born and raised.

“I was 17 and lied about my age,” he said. “Nobody checked back then how old you were.”

He became a radio operator and fought with the 12th Armored Division in North Africa in 1942 with Gen. Patton’s Third Army, which made its way through Italy — Salerno, Naples, Cassino, Rome, Florence and then Marseilles in southern France and Alsace Lorraine and into Germany.

Wolfson was in the 935th Field Artillery Battalion, which was fighting its way toward Munich. The soldiers didn’t know there was a camp near there.

“We arrived early in the morning and entered through a side gate,” he recalled.

Nothing prepared them for the horrors of Dachau — the corpses everywhere piled up like cordwood, or the human hair and clothes and suitcases taken from prisoners before they were gassed and burned.

“There were 50 or 60 boxcars near the gate,” he continued. “You couldn’t see the end of them.”
Wolfson, who was then a 22-year-old Army sergeant, and a group of his men opened the boxcars and found thousands of corpses inside.

“We went through them to see if anybody was alive,” he said. “They were all dead. The prisoners were sent on the train from Buchenwald and were left to die inside. The smell was so bad, I was throwing up.”

He put on a gas mask he’d found on a dead German soldier, but it didn’t help. There were more horrors to come.

“Two or three survivors in their striped uniforms took us around the camp,” he continued. “They took us to the showers that were really the gas chamber, but I didn’t go inside,” Wolfson said. “They took us to the furnace. They weren’t working. The Germans ran out of coal. The bodies were piled up as high as a building.

“They showed us a moat near the gate with bodies of German soldiers. The prisoners said when they heard the Americans were on the way, they jumped the guards and threw them in the moat.

“They took us to the officers quarters, where they had lamp shades made out of human skin,” he said.

“They made soap out of hair that was shaved off the prisoners. In a basement they still had strapped up bodies that were attacked by dogs. The GIs shot all the dogs.

Even after their liberation, prisoners were still dying. “Their stomachs had shrunk, they couldn’t eat. They were eating grass before we got there. We tried to give them hash from C-Rations and make soup of it, but they couldn’t eat it.

“They were dying like flies. They had typhoid fever. Prisoners couldn’t stand up. They’d be sitting down, leaning against a wall one minute, and a minute later they were dead,” Wolfson said.

“It was the worst experience I had during the war,” he said. “I’ve had some bad experiences—I was shot in the leg and arm in Italy, and I still have shrapnel in my arm. But Dachau was the worst.”

Gen. Petraeus told the veterans in Washington, “The liberators with us here today should know that their actions continue to inspire those who wear our nation’s uniform.

“A generation of Americans fought in World War II and hundreds of thousands of them died, staring evil in the face, in the effort to defeat the Nazis and bring the Third Reich to an end,” Petraeus said.

“We, and indeed all of humanity, owe them an eternal debt of gratitude for accomplishing their mission in Europe and for giving Holocaust survivors the greatest gifts of all – their lives and their freedom,” the general said.

“I still get nightmares,” Wolfson said, “and I have post-traumatic stress. I’ll never forget what I saw.”

TOP STORY >> Only PCSSD has schools on bottom of rankings

By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer

The 2009 annual performance report card ranks schools in 13 categories under No Child Left Behind’s adequate yearly progress guidelines, from achieving standards (at the top) down to state directed (at the bottom).

Pulaski County Special School District has 12 schools in the top category and nine at the bottom.

The Cabot district has eight in the top category and none on the bottom rung. Likewise Lonoke and Beebe school districts have no schools in the lowest category. Lonoke has one in the top category and Beebe has none.

Deborah Roush, with the PCSSD, said Monday that the district has been working hard to improve its schools.

She said last year the district entered into a contract with the Arkansas Leadership Academy to provide assistance to the low-performing schools. The academy has teams that work with principals and assistants to provide stronger leadership.

“That leadership trickles down and the entire school sees improvement,” Roush said. “With 39 schools in our district, strong leadership is paramount.”

The district is seeing such good results with the leadership team program that it will have more teams in more schools next year.

In some cases, the district has changed principals to bring about improved performances.

Roush added that teachers through the county district are involved in more focused intensive professional development.

In some cases schools have been revamped because of consistently poor performance. That’s one reason the boys and girls campuses at Jacksonville Middle School were recombined into one school, rather than two separate gender-based facilities, she said.

Roush said the district expects the results will show up in next year’s performance report card.

But based on the 2009 results, here is where area schools stand based on NCLB parameters, from best to worst:

(Exact placement is determined by the number of years a school has or has not met required test-score levels and whether a particular group or segment is failing to perform well or the entire school population is underperforming or failing.)

Achieving standards: Arnold Drive Elementary (PCSSD), Bayou Meto Elementary (PCSSD), Clinton Elementary (PCSSD), Warren Dupree (PCSSD), Eastside Elementary (Cabot), Central Elementary (Cabot), Westside Elementary (Cabot), Southside Elementary (Cabot), Northside Elementary (Cabot), Ward Central (Cabot), Magness Creek Elementary (Cabot), Stagecoach Elementary (Cabot), Lonoke Middle School, Tolleson Elementary (PCSSD), Sherwood Elementary (PCSSD), Pinewood Elementary (PCSSD).

Year one not to make standards: Cato Elementary (PCSSD), Cabot High School, Cabot Middle School South, Cabot Junior High North, Beebe High School.

Year one of targeted school improvement: Harris Elementary (PCSSD), Beebe Elementary, Beebe Intermediate.

Year two of targeted school improvement: Cabot Junior High South, Beebe Junior High, Beebe Middle School, Oakbrooke Elementary (PCSSD).

Targeted corrective action: Cabot Middle School North, Lonoke Elementary, Lonoke Primary School.

Targeted intensive school improvement: None.

Target restructuring: Sylvan Hills High School (PCSSD)

Year one of whole school improvement: Sylvan Hills Elementary (PCSSD).

Year two of whole school improvement: Jacksonville Middle School Boys (PCSSD).

Whole school corrective action: Lonoke High School.

Whole school intensive improvement: Jacksonville Elementary (PCSSD), Murrell Taylor Elementary (PCSSD).

Whole school intensive restructuring: Jacksonville Middle School Girls (PCSSD).

State directed: Northwood Middle School (PCSSD), Sylvan Hills Middle School (PCSSD), Jacksonville High School (PCSSD), North Pulaski High School (PCSSD).

(This is the last in a series of five articles on school rankings.)