Friday, April 29, 2011

SPORTS>>Volunteers give boost to wrestling for Beebe

By NESTOR CRUZ
Special to The Leader

Since wrestling was introduced in Arkansas high schools five years ago, two Little Rock Air Force Base sergeants have dedicated themselves to mentoring Beebe High School’s wrestlers and transform them into a winning team.

Tech. Sgt. Michael Heister, a 19th Equipment Maintenance Squadron training section chief, and Staff Sgt. Anthony Robertson, a 19th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron electronic warfare craftsman, guided the Badgers to this year’s state championships.

And they did it by volunteering.

“I read an article and found out they were going to start a wrestling program in this state,” said Robertson, who began coaching the team five years ago.

The article listed several schools that were starting wrestling for the 2006-07 school year and invited residents with wrestling experience to help out.

“I lived in Beebe, so I contacted the coach, told him I wrestled in high school and asked if he wanted any help,” Robertson said.

About a month later, Heister heard about the start of the program and decided to lend his nine years of experience to the fledgling team.

“I’m passionate about the sport, so as soon as I heard that they were starting a program, I wanted to get involved,” he said.

The two maintenance NCOs began with humble goals.

“In our first year, we were focused on introducing the sport,” Robertson said. “Arkansas wasn’t a sanctioned state, so even if you won state, it didn’t count. You had to go through the probationary period.”

In 2008-09, Beebe’s third year of wrestling, the Arkansas Activities Association sanctioned the sport.

“Josh Freeman, our 103-pounder, won the state championship for his weight class that year,” Robertson said.

There are 14 weight classes.

Beebe had two other state champions that year. Coaches voted Sammy Williams who wrestled in the 171-pound class, “outstanding wrestler.”

“Being nominated as outstanding wrestler is recognition f a player’s discipline, courtesy, respect and proper sportsmanship,” Heister said.

The team’s winning streak continued under the guidance of the two airmen.

“During our first year, we had only one medal winner, but the next year we had six,” Heister said.

The Badgers won 10 medals in the 2009-10 school year and followed that up with 12 last season. Medals are given to the top six state winners.

The volunteerism is fulfilling to Robertson and Heister thanks to their passion for the sport.

“We definitely have an emotional, vested interest in these kids,” Robertson said. “We watched them grow from young kids with an attitude to young men getting ready to leave school. It’s really gratifying.”

Heister agreed.

“They’re teaching themselves how to be wrestlers,” he said. “And it’s getting to a point now where we step in and fill in the gaps and we polish.”

Both airmen understand the image they project when they interact with the community.

“They see us and the way we present ourselves and ask us what we do and what it’s like being in the Air Force,” Robertson said.

“One of our wrestlers asked me for a character reference, and I thought it was really cool that he would take my opinion of him so highly,” Heister said.

Beebe coach David Payne said he appreciates everything the airmen have done for the team.

“Mike and Anthony had been volunteering since the birth of the program, and I am glad they have chosen to stay,” Payne said. “It takes a special kind of person to spend the amount of time they do without pay. When we go to tournaments, which usually take an entire weekend, they are always there.”

SPORTS>>Big screen not subject to rainouts

By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor

I caught some grief from my buddies in the Dickey-Stephens Park pressbox when I sashayed in for Wednesday night’s doubleheader between Arkansas and Tulsa.

Apparently the guys were miffed at me because I had the foresight not to show up and sit through rain delays, and the ultimate postponements, on Monday and Tuesday.

I did as all men do, I pointed at my friends and laughed at their misfortune.

Rain delays can sometimes be excruciating — the Travelers

waited four hours plus to resume a game last season — but sometimes they can be mercifully short.

Given the severity of the recent weather, Arkansas general manager Pete Laven didn’t wait very long to postpone the Monday and Tuesday games, one of which was made up in Wednesday’s doubleheader.

With so little baseball to write about recently it seems like a good time to introduce my version of that old television time-killer “Rainout Theater.” Instead of discussing baseball games, how about we talk about some baseball movies?

Everyone has their favorites, and there are some films that are almost universally regarded as the best baseball movies made. My short list includes a couple of those and a couple of personal favorites.

First, “Bull Durham,” the top choice of most baseball fans because it offers the most accurate depiction of minor league baseball — at least as it was in the 1980s — and the most spot-on representation of the game itself.

Kevin Costner is a natural as left-hand-hitting catcher Crash Davis and the mound meeting scenes and Costner’s interaction with Nuke LaLoosh, the pitching phenom played by Tim Robbins, are hilarious.

But the film has a couple strikes against it. Robbins’ pitching delivery isn’t fooling anyone, it’s every bit as awkward as Costner’s swing is smooth, and then Nuke is called up to the big leagues — from Class A ball.

That just doesn’t happen. Most minor leaguers at least put in a stint at Class AA first, and certainly one with Nuke’s wildness, a major point in the film, would not be considered major league-ready.

On to “The Natural,” a movie that is just beautiful to look at.

From the glowing cinematography — in which every scene looks like it was shot in early morning or late afternoon — to the ancient hulk of a stadium, to the New York Knights’ baggy uniforms to the way star Robert Redford wears his fedora, this film brings the eye candy.

Critics have complained that the film’s climax is a departure from the heartbreaking ending of Bernard Malamud’s dark novel, but that isn’t my complaint.

In the scene at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, where the Knights are playing the host Cubs, Redford hits a game-ending homer. He shatters the scoreboard clock, circles the bases, his teammates congratulate him and everyone gets up to leave.

Except, the game is IN Chicago. Why don’t the Cubs get their last at-bats? They’re the Cubs, so they would have gone three-up, three-down, but still.

That’s a strike against “The Natural.”

On to “Eight Men Out,” which tells the story of the 1919 Chicago White Sox, or “Black Sox” as they were dubbed after eight players were banned from baseball for conspiring with gamblers to throw the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds.

The old ballparks and dirty flannel uniforms have that great, jazz age look, and the snappy rhythms of the dialogue also ring true. The sympathetic stories of Shoeless Joe Jackson and Buck Weaver, who apparently played their hearts out but were blackballed for keeping quiet about their teammates’ actions, give the film its emotional heart.

This is an enjoyable movie but there appears to be one technical mistake.

During a Series game in Cincinnati, one of the conspirators, Chick Gandil, slaps an excuse-me single through the drawn-in infield to score Weaver from third in extra innings. The street urchins listening on a makeshift radio back in Chicago celebrate, but again, shouldn’t the Reds get their last at-bats?

That’s a strike.

So, for my money the best baseball movie is the original “Bad News Bears.” Profane and gritty, the film tells the story of a rag-tag group of little leaguers who become competitive under their drunken coach played by Walter Matthau.

The young actors, led by Tatum O’Neal as the pitcher, are engaging, and the movie takes a hard look at the harm that can be caused to young athletes by meddling, over-competitive parents and adults.

Plus, the movie finds a way to make the ending happy without taking the easy way out.

Besides that, it takes place in Southern California, where it usually doesn’t rain.

SPORTS>>Travelers squeeze schedule

By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor

The Arkansas Travelers don’t schedule doubleheaders anymore, but they are sure going to play a bunch this season.

Thanks to the recent storms, Arkansas’ two playing dates prior to Friday featured doubleheaders at Northwest Arkansas on April 22 and at home against Tulsa on Wednesday.

The Travelers split both twin bills against their Texas League North Division foes and, because of the postponements, are looking at doubleheaders against th same two teams in May.

At Arkansas’ former home, Ray Winder Field in Little Rock, Saturday night doubleheaders were a staple of the team’s schedule. Since moving into modern Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock in 2007, the Travelers no longer have doubleheaders on their schedule and only play them now when forced to make up postponed games.

Against Tulsa on Wednesday, Arkansas put together a four-run fourth and went on to win the first game 7-2.

Leadoff man and Los Angeles Angels top prospect Mike Trout was 3 for 4 with two doubles, a triple, and two runs and Luis Jimenez was 2 for 3 with two RBI singles.

Trout, the center fielder, was Los Angeles’ No. 1 draft pick, 25th overall in 2009, and is getting his first Class AA experience this year.

Shortstop Adam Younger also tripled for Arkansas and Orlando Mercado and Angel Castillo also had RBI hits, with Mercado adding a sacrifice fly.

With the run support Travelers starter Garrett Richards cruised through six innings to get the victory, with his only bump in the road a two-run home run by Tim Wheeler in the second inning.

Tulsa starter Christian Friedrich took the loss.

In the second game, four Travelers pitchers combined to strike out 13 Drillers, but a pair of throwing errors by reliever Daniel Sattler allowed Tulsa to score its only run and take a 1-0 victory.

Sattler came on to start the fifth and with one out hit right fielder Mike Daniel, then committed a two-base throwing error trying to pick him off first.

Warren Schaeffer walked, then got caught in a rundown but avoided the tag getting back to first and Daniel scored on what was officially scored as a steal of home.

Right-hander Steven Geltz pitched the final two innings and struck out five while allowing only Darin Holcomb’s double in the sixth.

Tulsa also used four pitchers, who combined to strike out eight in the final four innings and hold Arkansas to three hits, one of them Castillo’s infield single that ricocheted off reliever Stephen Dodson.

With the weather clearing, Arkansas concluded the Tulsa series Thursday and then played host to Northwest Arkansas, the defending league champion, in a four-game series beginning Friday.

Monday’s rainout will be made up in a doubleheader May 12. The rainouts at Northwest Arkansas will be made up May 23.

In all, the Travelers were rained out four times in five days.

Under clear skies on Thursday, the Drillers wrapped up the rain-shortened series with a 10-8 victory at “Bark in the Park” night.

Arkansas staked starter Trevor Reckling to a 3-0 lead but the left-hander couldn’t hold it as the Drillers pulled out to a 9-3 lead, then had to survive a four-run Arkansas seventh featuring Jimenez’s three-run double.

Northwest Arkansas, which beat Midland for last year’s championship, was making its first trip to North Little Rock on Friday night.

SPORTS>>Bears’ Spears strikes down Billies

By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter

Austin Spears was not about to be the guy who blew it for Sylvan Hills.

The Bears senior first baseman and pitcher hit a two-run, game-ending single in the seventh inning to lift his team past visiting Monticello, 12-11, in Game 1 of a badly needed 5A-Southeast Conference doubleheader sweep for Sylvan Hills.

The winning hit was redemption for Spears after he gave up the go-ahead hit for the Billies in the top of the seventh.

The Bears (13-10, 8-2) dominated the nightcap 12-2, with Spears picking up victories on the mound in both games.

“Anytime you can sweep a doubleheader against a quality opponent, it’s a good night,” Bears coach Denny Tipton said. “Austin came into that at-bat 0 for 4, but I’ve always told them that last at-bat could be the one that makes the difference.”

Spears popped out in his four previous at-bats in the first game, but sent a two RBI single to left center that scored Justin Cook and Dylan Boone to bring the Bears back after the Billies scored six runs to overcome a 9-5 deficit and take an 11-9 lead entering the seventh.

“We’re just trying to get on a good roll in conference,” Spears said. “And it was good to pull out that win.”

Spears came on in relief of Boone in the top of the seventh with two outs and two runners on and had Monticello’s cleanup hitter down 0-2 before a two RBI single to center gave the Billies the 11-9 lead.

“I thought I had him,” Spears said. “My fastball kept rising on me; I threw him a curveball, and he made me pay for it. I’m just glad we won.”

The Bears responded with a seventh inning rally that began when Sims was hit by a pitch with one out.

Cook walked, and Boone scored Sims with a single to left that cut the margin to 11-10.

Hunter singled to put the winning run at first and Spears clinched it with his line drive into center.

The Bears got off to a fast start with five runs in the bottom of the first, starting with a leadoff double by junior Trey Sims.

Justin Cook and Dylan Boone reached on errors, and starting pitcher Lance Hunter loaded the bases with a single.

Blake Rasdon drove in Cook with a single and Boone scored when Michael Maddox drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 3-0.

Monticello’s starter hit John Miller with a pitch to score Hunter, and Rasdon scored when Greg Atchison hit into a fielder’s choice at shortstop.

Monticello made up runs in the top of the second before Hunter, Atchison and Boone all singled in the bottom of the third as part of a three-run rally for Sylvan Hills.

Sims led off the Sylvan Hills fifth with a single to right and Cook drove him in with a single to right to give the Bears a 9-5 lead.

Rasdon was 3 for 4 in Game 1 with two runs while Sims was 2 for 3 with a double and two runs.

Maddox was 2 for 3 with a double and Boone was 2 for 4 an RBI and two runs. Hunter was 2 for 5 with a RBI.

The Bears will wrap up conference play with a home doubleheader against White Hall on Tuesday.

Sylvan Hills can secure the No. 2 seed from the conference with a sweep, but a split or two losses will push the Bears back to third.

SPORTS>>Derby-bound Archarcharch has day

Jacksonville mayor, owners celebrate colt

By TODD TRAUB

Leader sports editor

It had something of a winner’s circle feel.

The only thing missing was the horse.

While Archarcharch was away training for his big day, next week’s Kentucky Derby at Louisville’s Churchill Downs, the colt was honored with a different sort of day Thursday afternoon.

Jacksonville mayor Gary Fletcher presented Archarcharch owners Bob and Val Yagos, of Jacksonville, with a proclamation making Thursday “Archarcharch Day” in honor of the three-year-old’s Arkansas Derby victory and berth in the 137th Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the Triple Crown, next Saturday.

Fletcher even went as far as to predict a Triple Crown sweep for Archarcharch, which would mean additional victories in the Preakness and Belmont. But for now, the owners are just happy to be running at Churchill Downs a week from today.

“This is the first time for us, the first time for our trainer and the first time for our jockey,” said Bob Yagos, who bought Archarcharch at auction at Keeneland, in Lexington, Ky., when the horse was about 16 months old.

Archarcharch, who won the Arkansas Derby on April 16, is the first Yagos-owned horse to race in the main field of the $2 million Kentucky Derby.

Bob Yagos said he had a two-year-old, Spot’s Gone, in a preliminary race, but this trip to Louisville is going to be much different.

“It’s unbelievable, I’m still not believing yet,” Val Yagos said. “It’s amazing. It’s huge. And if Archarcharch doesn’t win another race we’ve won the Arkansas Derby.”

Archarcharch is already in Louisville training for the race.

Odds won’t be released until Wednesday, Bob Yagos said, but this year’s race field doesn’t appear to have a clear-cut favorite, and Archarcharch is entering with some momentum having won the Southwestern Stakes and Arkansas Derby.

Dialed In topped the list of top 10 Kentucky Derby contenders after winning the Florida Derby.

“It’s pretty wide open, even with Dialed In,” Yagos said. “We’re really the only horse in there that has won two graded stakes races going into the Derby. We won the Southwest, which is Grade 3 and then Arkansas Derby was Grade 1, so we’re basically the only horse in the race that has won two graded stakes races as a career.”

Archarcharch’s trainer is veteran Jinks Fires and the horse’s primary jockey is Fires’ son-in-law Jon Court.

When the owners had a chance to sell Archarcharch to an overseas interest in February, it would have been like breaking up a family, Val Yagos said of the horse’s close-knit team, and she was grateful for her change of heart that led she and her husband to keep Archarcharch.

“What played into it was we’ve got a trainer who’s 70 years old and never been to the Derby and been in this business all his life,” Val Yagos said. “Our jockey is 50 and never been to the Derby. They’re like our family and when we get to thinking about really taking this horse away from them it was really heart-wrenching.”

EDITORIAL >>Campaign in full swing

Ads attacking Rep. Mike Ross for being a spendthrift hit the radio market this week in that huge new district that sweeps up from the Mississippi River to near the Missouri border. It’s the first salvo in the 2012 congressional elections, which the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee hopes will whisk the last Democratic congressman in Arkansas out of office.

Soon we will see radio, TV and newspaper commercials here and in much of the rest of the state with the opposite theme, praising the state’s new Republican congressmen for voting to smash federal spending and end budget deficits. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is spending a little to target the First and Second District representatives, Rick Crawford and Tim Griffin, for voting to end Medicare in 2021 and replace it with a mandate that the elderly and disabled buy private health-insurance policies. But the Democrats, like in 2010, will not spend much in Arkansas because they don’t have as much money to spend and the state is not considered a good prospect for Democratic gains because President Obama is unusually unpopular in the state.

The hypocrisy in all the advertising is not hard to miss. Take the ads against Ross, who has made himself famous for opposing congressional spending projects, such as the Medicare prescription-drug program in 2003. He voted against the Democratic health-insurance reform in 2009 because he said it would not save enough money. But Ross made himself vulnerable to the Republican attack by voting against all five budget blueprints, from the liberal to the extreme Republican plan of Paul Ryan, in a single day. Ross didn’t find any of them acceptable.

But the Republican ads make it sound like Ross just did not want to reduce federal spending on anything and that he was the biggest spender of all. People in the Fourth District have many good reasons to be disappointed with Mike Ross, but his support of government spending is not one of them. The ads aren’t likely to change anyone’s mind about Ross.

Ross’ vote against all five budget blueprints saved the Republican campaign committee from having to condemn him for voting against the Republican plan, which would involve defending the plan. Of course, they can’t. The Republican plan, which the ads do not even mention, would decimate south Arkansas, which has an extraordinarily high number of elderly and disabled who depend on Medicare and one of the highest percentages in the country of people who receive medical assistance through Medicaid—either nursing home care, SCHIP for poor children or other small health assistance programs.

The Republican plan adopted by the House would essentially turn Medicaid over to state governments, which would have to decide how to ration the diminishing federal help—empty many nursing home beds, cut off sick children or stop the catastrophic assistance for extremely sick and disabled infants. The Republican plan would slash taxes for a few hundred of the richest people in Arkansas and offset it by making the elderly and poor pay more for health care.

Ross would sure enough have cut his own throat by voting for such a plan in his poor district.

Griffin and Crawford will have their work cut out defending their own votes with the Republican leadership, but the GOP is more adept at this than Democrats. Griffin said he was merely “saving” Medicare by turning it into a private-voucher system. The plan gives Griffin, Crawford and other Republicans some cover by protecting current Medicare beneficiaries from having to absorb a huge part of future medical bills themselves or see their care rationed by insurance companies protecting their profits, so perhaps those people will not get too mad. You see, the GOP system wouldn’t go into effect until 2021 and people who would be going into the system after that aren’t much worried now about things so far into the future.

There is another proven strategy, which works for all clever politicians: Say one thing, do the opposite and take credit for both.

It was on display last week at Conway and Little Rock. Griffin went to Conway to help kick off the construction of a new city airport to replace the dangerous one downtown. Griffin has been blasting government spending—a highly popular move as long as you keep it vague—and in particular the stimulus spending that was supposed to soften the economic downturn by hiring people for local projects and putting spending money in their pockets.

The $25 million Conway airport project depends upon 90 percent federal aid. Griffin’s predecessor, Vic Snyder, helped get money for the project. Yes, Griffin praised the project for having a big economic impact on central Arkansas. No one snickered and no one pointed out the hypocrisy. Sen. John Boozman, who signed a Republican pledge last year not to seek any federal money for Arkansas projects and told people to go see his opponent, Sen. Blanche Lincoln, to get her help, was honest enough not to show up and take credit, though he did issue a statement from Washington saying the project was important and a boon to economic development.

Griffin, Crawford and the rest voted to cut $450 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which tracks weather patterns throughout the country and the hemisphere. It would cut $126 million from the National Weather Service, which has been providing all that data and radar to the TV and radio stations on thunderstorms and tornadoes coursing through Arkansas communities this turbulent spring.

Yes, it’s the Weather Service that’s endangering the country’s economic security, not the mammoth increases in war, defense and domestic security spending, health care or sharply reduced government revenues. Our congressman is on its trail.

TOP STORY > >Jacksonville Elementary to unearth time capsule

Jacksonville Elementary School, which is to permanently close at the end of the school year, will unearth a time capsule that was buried by pupils there in 1976.

Members of the 1976 sixth-grade class will reunite at 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 31. Principal Sonya Whitfield is forming a committee to coordinate the event.

“We know for certain that the class buried a time capsule, but that was 35 years ago. We don't know the exact location or even what might be in it,” she said.

“This is very exciting and we’re hoping that it will be a community-wide event that will be a fun look back at the city’s and school’s progress,” she said.

Whitfield sees significance in the event because of her school’s planned closure as part of the Pulaski County Special School District’s plan to build and remodel several schools.

The original cornerstone, or the first building block of the school, which has the names of some of the founding families of the city of Jacksonville engraved on it, will be on display during the reunion.

The event will take place during the school day so that graduates and residents can have a final look at the school filled with students.

“Overall, we want to make sure that as we look forward with anticipation to the opportunities ahead of us, we take a minute to celebrate where we have been,” she said.

Whitfield said anyone in the community is welcome to help plan the reunion, and donations for food and decorations also are appreciated.

For more information, call the school at 501-982-6571.

TOP STORY > >Jacksonville’s Relay for Life set

Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher on Monday proclaimed May 13 and 14 to be Relay for Life days in the city.

The annual fundraiser for the American Cancer Society will take place on those days at Jacksonville High School’s Jan Crow Stadium.

The event promotes awareness of cancer and brings survivors of the disease together. Proceeds will fund cancer research.

This year’s theme is “Celebrate Every Day Like a Holiday.” The Relay for Life will begin at 6 p.m. May 13 with a survivor ceremony, and end at 6 a.m. May 14. Luminaria will be held at 9 p.m. May 13.

Anyone who wants to make a luminaria donation or form a team may call Penny Wells, the event chairwoman, at 501-988-4014 or visit relayforlife.org/jacksonvillear. Each candle is $10.

“The luminaria ceremony is a moving way to remember loved ones lost to cancer and to pay tribute to cancer survivors,” she said.

Before the luminaria ceremony, the survivors’ lap will kick off the 2011 Relay For Life event in Jacksonville at 6 p.m. May 13 as survivors will circle the track, surrounded by friends and family cheering them on.

Also a part of Jacksonville’s Relay For Life event is the “Fight Back” Ceremony, in which a community leader will inspire participants with his or her own commitment and will challenge them to take a personal pledge of action (e.g., stop smoking, eat more healthily, exercise regularly) in fighting back.

This year celebrates the 26th anniversary of Relay for Life and Jacksonville’s 12th year to hold a rally.

Last year, Jacksonville Relay for Life raised more than $40,000 through donations and the purchase of 250 luminarias with the names of those who have battled cancer over the years.

TOP STORY > >Appeal sent to state on designation

By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer

The Pulaski County Special School District Board has approved and implemented corrections or filed answers to every finding of the state Legislative Audit, which criticized the district for improper spending.

Sam Jones, the district’s attorney, told the board Wednesday he was sending the formal appeal of the proposed fiscal-distress finding to the state Board of Education on Friday.

“We’re going full-speed ahead,” he said.

Jones was very critical of the negative finding of Navigant—“this outfit from New York City, headquartered at 90 Park Avenue”—that the district had not always spent its state desegregation funds on desegregation-related matters.

“The timing is certainly interesting,” he said.

Jones said the $17 million to $20 million the state provided the district annually was only a fraction of the money the district spends on desegregation.

The district’s formal position—backed by Jones, Superintendent Charles Hopson and by former PCSSD Superintendent Bobby Lester—is that the district was never required to separate the state funds for desegregation use.

UNFAIR, INACCURATE REPORT

Jones characterized the Navigant report as “unfair and inaccurate,” saying it had tunnel vision and never asked district officials about the total spent on desegregation.

“I’d recommend we hire an Arkansas company to go behind this outfit, point out its mistakes, or get staff to do a proper and full-blown (study) of allocation (of money for desegregation purposes),” Jones told the board.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel commissioned the Navigant report for $250,000 to help determine what sort of continued desegregation financial aid the state should provide once the districts are ruled unitary—or substantially desegregated.

Little Rock is already unitary, and Judge Brian Miller has been considering releasing North Little Rock and Pulaski County Special school districts from the desegregation agreement for more than a year.

TOP STORY > >PCSSD has spending plan

By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer

The Pulaski County Special School District Board on Wednesday night approved a $241 million 2011-2012 budget with $7.9 million in cuts, which will be used to pay for a $104 million building program for three new schools in Jacksonville and school makeovers at College Station, Harris and Scott elementary schools and Robinson Middle School.

That proposal includes closing Jacksonville Elementary School at the end of this year, reassigning teachers and students to nearby elementary schools until a replacement opens for the 2013-2014 school year.

The budget also calls for yanking Maumelle Middle School’s successful “true middle school concept” block schedule because the school board feared it couldn’t afford it for all district middle school programs.

PACT GRIEVaNCE

Marty Nix, president of the Pulaski Association of Classroom Teachers, had notified Superintendent Charles Hopson that the union would file a grievance over the closing of Jacksonville Elementary, when no other school in recent history has been closed before its replacement was completed.

“We’ve never been opposed to building new schools in Jacksonville,” Nix said. “But there is no need to displace teachers and students.”

She said the grievance was based on deviation from past practices.

Hopson replied in an e-mail that he intended to press on with the building program, which required closing Jacksonville Elementary School.

The question of funding Maumelle’s middle school schedule arose when board member Gwen Williams said if all middle schools can’t have it, none should, except Fuller Middle School, where it is court ordered.

Hopson said he was a supporter of the middle school concept, which includes block scheduling, which features longer and fewer class periods and features team teaching, but that this year, the building program has taken the top priority.

With the state Education Department threatening to designate PCSSD as being in fiscal distress, the board was reluctant to spend the additional $1.5 million from its $5 million “rainy-day fund” for the additional 23 teachers that would be needed.

PREAPPROVAL REQUIRED

The question of implementing a true middle school concept across the board died when Chief Financial Officer Anita Farver reminded the board that with the district under the threat of fiscal distress, it could not spend more money or add teachers without prior approval of the state.

Board member Tim Clark of Maumelle voted against the motion that stripped Maumelle Middle School’s program.

Board president Bill Vasquez promised the board could revisit the question after the district’s fiscal-distress appeal is considered at the state Board of Education meeting May 16.

Most school districts pass their operating budgets at the beginning of the school year, but Farver said the board’s decision to approve its projected budget in April, beginning this year, was another step in the move toward sound financial oversight and control.

Vasquez said the fiscal-distress question is not about the actual money the district has, but about the legislative audit that was critical of the financial controls the district did and did not exert over its finances.

Vasquez said because of the new proposed building program in the district, he expected enrollment to be up next year for the first time in 20 years.

There is some evidence that the new Sherwood Middle School and the new Maumelle High School would attract new students, bringing the district an additional $7,000 per student in state aid.

TOP STORY > >For air base, it’s recovery, going to war

By CHRISTY HENDRICKS
Leader staff writer

Little Rock Air Force Base has resumed deployments overseas following the tornado that struck the base Monday night.

The National Weather Service has assessed Monday night’s tornado that hit the base as an EF-2 (111-135 mph) tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale with a 5-mile path that was 1,000 feet wide. The tornado’s path extended from three-quarters of a mile east of Gravel Ridge to six miles southwest of Cabot.

The tornado damaged more than 100 base houses, with a dozen uninhabitable, damaged three C-130 aircraft and tore roofs off and damaged many buildings in the base’s flightline area.

But base airmen dusted off, picked each other up and immediately launched recovery efforts to take care of the families who were impacted by the storm.

Most of the base had power restored at week’s end.

The base’s mission rolled on early Thursday and Friday mornings with the deployment of airmen and aircraft from the 50th Airlift Squadron “Red Devils” — the first of nearly 20 C-130 Hercules aircraft and 1,000 airmen leaving for operations in Afghanistan and Southwest Asia.

This was the first deployment of airmen and aircraft from the base since the tornado.

“My hat’s off to our whole community for the extraordinary work they have done to take care of our deployers and their families while continuing to attend to the urgent needs of airmen and families impacted by Monday night’s tornado,” said Col. Mike Minihan, 19th Airlift Wing commander.

“It takes a total team effort to weather a devastating storm and continue our base’s mission to support warfighters without missing a beat. I am proud of our people and continually amazed by their sacrifice, dedication and professionalism,” Minihan added.

A town hall meeting was held Thursday afternoon with airmen and families affected directly by the tornado.

“The giving nature of Arkan-sans is simply overwhelming,” Bob Oldham, 19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs, said in an email Thursday. “And I know that’s an understatement. You guys rock!

“Internally,” he continued, “our airmen have responded phenomenally to this equivalent of a boxer’s ‘shot to the chin.’ But, we’ve got our legs under us and we’re back in the fight.”

“Right now, their basic needs are being met,” Oldham continued. “They have food, shelter and clothing, but we owe it to them to help them move forward and put the pieces of their lives back together.”

Those basic needs include canned food and clothing for those displaced.

Donations are being accepted at First Arkansas Bank and Trust and Arkansas Federal Credit Union to help displaced airmen.

Cash, checks, or gift cards to assist with immediate living expenses are the most appreciated way to help. Financial donations to the “LRAFB Good Samaritan Fund” can be made at any First Arkansas Bank and Trust bank, Arkansas Federal Credit Union branch or at the Tornado Assistance Center located at the Thomas Community Activity Center on base.

Families need non-perishable food, furniture, clothing, kitchenwares and children’s toys.

Donated items may be dropped off at the Arkansas Federal Credit Union branch located at 4848 North Hills Blvd. in North Little Rock and the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce located at 200 Dupree Drive at the intersection of Main Street, James Street and Dupree Drive.

First Arkansas Bank and Trust employees on Wednesday grilled hot dogs in front of its base branch. More than 600 meals were prepared.

The bank has established a Good Samaritan Fund for residents to make donations and assist displaced military families with financial assistance to purchase necessities. Donations may be made at any First Arkansas Bank location.

To keep up with the latest information on the base recovery, follow Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., on Facebook.

Arlo Taylor, 19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs, and The Combat Airlifter, the newspaper at Little Rock Air Force Base, provided information for this report.

TOP STORY > >For air base, it’s recovery, going to war

By CHRISTY HENDRICKS
Leader staff writer

Little Rock Air Force Base has resumed deployments overseas following the tornado that struck the base Monday night.

The National Weather Service has assessed Monday night’s tornado that hit the base as an EF-2 (111-135 mph) tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale with a 5-mile path that was 1,000 feet wide. The tornado’s path extended from three-quarters of a mile east of Gravel Ridge to six miles southwest of Cabot.

The tornado damaged more than 100 base houses, with a dozen uninhabitable, damaged three C-130 aircraft and tore roofs off and damaged many buildings in the base’s flightline area.

But base airmen dusted off, picked each other up and immediately launched recovery efforts to take care of the families who were impacted by the storm.

Most of the base had power restored at week’s end.

The base’s mission rolled on early Thursday and Friday mornings with the deployment of airmen and aircraft from the 50th Airlift Squadron “Red Devils” — the first of nearly 20 C-130 Hercules aircraft and 1,000 airmen leaving for operations in Afghanistan and Southwest Asia.

This was the first deployment of airmen and aircraft from the base since the tornado.

“My hat’s off to our whole community for the extraordinary work they have done to take care of our deployers and their families while continuing to attend to the urgent needs of airmen and families impacted by Monday night’s tornado,” said Col. Mike Minihan, 19th Airlift Wing commander.

“It takes a total team effort to weather a devastating storm and continue our base’s mission to support warfighters without missing a beat. I am proud of our people and continually amazed by their sacrifice, dedication and professionalism,” Minihan added.

A town hall meeting was held Thursday afternoon with airmen and families affected directly by the tornado.

“The giving nature of Arkan-sans is simply overwhelming,” Bob Oldham, 19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs, said in an email Thursday. “And I know that’s an understatement. You guys rock!

“Internally,” he continued, “our airmen have responded phenomenally to this equivalent of a boxer’s ‘shot to the chin.’ But, we’ve got our legs under us and we’re back in the fight.”

“Right now, their basic needs are being met,” Oldham continued. “They have food, shelter and clothing, but we owe it to them to help them move forward and put the pieces of their lives back together.”

Those basic needs include canned food and clothing for those displaced.

Donations are being accepted at First Arkansas Bank and Trust and Arkansas Federal Credit Union to help displaced airmen.

Cash, checks, or gift cards to assist with immediate living expenses are the most appreciated way to help. Financial donations to the “LRAFB Good Samaritan Fund” can be made at any First Arkansas Bank and Trust bank, Arkansas Federal Credit Union branch or at the Tornado Assistance Center located at the Thomas Community Activity Center on base.

Families need non-perishable food, furniture, clothing, kitchenwares and children’s toys.

Donated items may be dropped off at the Arkansas Federal Credit Union branch located at 4848 North Hills Blvd. in North Little Rock and the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce located at 200 Dupree Drive at the intersection of Main Street, James Street and Dupree Drive.

First Arkansas Bank and Trust employees on Wednesday grilled hot dogs in front of its base branch. More than 600 meals were prepared.

The bank has established a Good Samaritan Fund for residents to make donations and assist displaced military families with financial assistance to purchase necessities. Donations may be made at any First Arkansas Bank location.

To keep up with the latest information on the base recovery, follow Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., on Facebook.

Arlo Taylor, 19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs, and The Combat Airlifter, the newspaper at Little Rock Air Force Base, provided information for this report.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

TOP STORY >> High school hit, but plans are to reopen it Friday

By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer

North Pulaski High School will reopen Friday, and the junior-senior prom will be held as scheduled at the Junior League Center in downtown Little Rock that evening, district spokesman Deborah Roush said Tuesday after high winds—possibly a tornado—ripped the metal roof from Sandy Reed Auditorium, blew out a block-and-brick wall and turned the science lab into an open-air classroom teetering atop a storage area.

Arnold Drive Elementary School on the storm-ravaged Little Rock Air Force Base will reopen Wednesday if electricity is restored there.

Even as officials, engineers, insurance inspectors and workmen swarmed, what remains of North Pulaski High School’s Sandy Reed Auditorium and north-end classrooms, Pulaski County Special School District senior staff moved forward. Principal Jeff Senn and teachers worked out new classroom assignments.

A temporary wall will separate about 15 damaged classrooms and the auditorium from the usable portions of the school, leaving the north-end restrooms and the media center, according to Timothy J. Miles, risk administrator for Central Arkansas Risk Management Association.

This shouldn’t affect district plans to sell $104 million in construction bonds to build three new schools in Jacksonville and do extreme makeovers of four others, Derek Scott, PCSSD chief of operations, told Roush. The North Pulaski repairs will be paid for by insurance.

Miles said the district and its schools self-insure through CARMA, and that repair work should be able to begin immediately. Miles said the building was insured for replacement cost.

“I certainly hope (they’ll rebuild it),” said Sara Cooke, who teaches stage craft in the badly damaged auditorium.

“The roof always did leak,” said Cooke, a 20-year teacher. “I have too many memories.”

Her classroom was on the stage of the auditorium.

Standing with her was choir director Robert Craig. “It’s a whole lot worse than I expected,” he said. There were end-of-the year concerts planned for the auditorium, and the grand prom march “would have been here Friday,” he said.

Early in the morning, officials notified the state Department of Education that end-of-year biology exams would not be administered Tuesday as originally scheduled. Classes and extracurricular activities were canceled until the reopening of school Friday.

Inside the school, workers from Metro Builders mopped and squeegeed water from the floors and picked up soaked panels of fiberglass insulation and ceiling tiles, while atop the building, workers from Roof Maintenance, Inc. nailed loose roofing and covered some compromised portions with tarps.

Both PCSSD security and Jacksonville Police arrived on the scene late Monday night to secure the site.

Oak trees were uprooted on school grounds, while across Harris Road, a pair of airmen patrolled about 100 yards of downed chain link—ironically known as “hurricane” or “cyclone”—fence along the perimeter of the Little Rock Air Force Base.

The base reportedly had damage to about 100 houses.

“We’ve had to relocate about 40 families,” said Mary Holladay Sopko,” a spokeswoman for Pinnacle management, which owns and leases those houses. A handful of houses were destroyed or seriously damaged, she said. Fortunately, some could move into newly renovated houses. Hunt-Pinnacle has insurance on the buildings and each family has at least $20,000 in personal property insurance.

“We jumped in today, and started assessing damage,” she said. “We have teams coming in from Hunt and Pinnacle. Some Hunt construction crews were already on site, finishing up the remodeling.”

Arlo Taylor, a base public-information officer, said most of the damage was to houses on Tennessee and Pennsylvania drives and to some of new housing.

The Little Rock office of the National Weather Service had teams evaluating the damage in from the destructive tornado in Vilonia and it was determined to be an EF-2 tornado, according to Chris Buonanno, the science and operations officer. He said no determination of the Jacksonville-area storm had yet been made.

EDITORIAL >> The storms around us

A tornado Monday night damaged homes, planes and automobiles at Little Rock Air Force Base and destroyed much of North Pulaski High School nearby, reminding us that no area of Arkansas is safe from nature’s fury, especially this time of the year. 

Crews yesterday were clearing debris on the air base, although it will take a while for both the base and the high school to rebuild what was lost in the vicious storm. Planes are flying and classes will resume Friday, and we’re grateful no one was seriously hurt here, although at least 10 Arkansans lost their lives elsewhere. 

“Into every life a little rain must fall,” Longfellow wrote, but for the Pulaski County Special School District, North Pulaski High School and for much of the state, this is just too much. 

A few hours before the storm, Bobby Lester, the retired superintendent of the Pulaski County Special School District, was talking about problems in the district — mostly financial ones. 

Lester doesn’t care much for the report that Attorney General Dustin McDaniel issued last week criticizing the county schools for misspending hundreds of millions of dollars in state-funded desegregation money. 

“I don’t remember any specific items that were supposed to be paid for with desegregation funding,” Lester told us. “There was no money necessarily earmarked for certain items.” 

He said the Office of Desegregation Monitoring  audited the three county districts semiannually for several years and has found them in compliance with funding requirements. 

Lester says as long as the county schools are under court supervision, they can say everything they do is to achieve integration. 

McDaniel — who wants to be governor or senator one day — paid an accounting firm a lot of money to make some political points.  

Over the last two decades, the state Education Department has funneled about $1 billion to the county school districts to achieve integration. 

A billion dollars will not necessarily get you a good education in Pulaski County. That’s the conclusion of a $250,000 audit commissioned by our ambitious attorney general, who hired Navigant, a New York accounting firm, to tell us that the Pulaski County districts have not always spent the public’s money wisely. 

Navigant has discovered — surprise, surprise — that the Pulaski County Special School District and the North Little Rock School District have misspent millions of dollars in state desegregation money for other purposes.  

That was the message McDaniel trumpeted last week, but the districts insist they did nothing wrong—that every dollar the state sends them is spent on balancing enrollment in their schools and offering better programs. 

According to the report, PCSSD has received $105 million in desegregation funding in the last five years alone, but only $61.5 million went toward desegregation efforts.  

Arkansas taxpayers have suspected this for a long time: All the desegregation money in the world won’t guarantee that a kid will learn to read and write. 

He’s hoping the courts will soon declare them “unitary,” or integrated, and the state aid for that purpose will end. 

The state Education Department is eager to shut off the spigot — $1 billion is a lot of money in a small state like Arkansas, especially when there’s not much to show for it. But there’s something more dramatic on the horizon: The department could take over PCSSD because of failing scores, financial mismanagement, including expense-account cheating, and nepotism. That will mean the dismissal of the school board and the superintendent. 

Lester, who was PCSSD superintendent from 1984-1999, has seen the district go from one crisis to the next. In the last dozen years, PCSSD has had seven superintendents. Buildings are crumbling and schools are closing. The troubled district has promised to spend more than $100 million on new schools, including three in Jacksonville, but any state takeover could delay such plans. 

Lester says PCSSD needs to reduce expenses to stay afloat. “We lost 37 percent of our tax base when a part of our district was moved into Little Rock,” he said. “We had to make several cuts in our budget.” 

But voters approved a millage increase in 1992 and the district survived. Because of the district’s shaky record, no such approval is likely anytime soon. That will put PCSSD in limbo indefinitely, probably under strict state supervision until the district puts its finances in order. That could take several years and perhaps longer.

Let’s hope North Pulaski High School is rebuilt sooner than later and the air base gets back to normal. And, please, no more storms for a while.

TOP STORY >> Mother nature cuts off tax talk

By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer

The Sherwood mayor and most of the city council were escorted to jail Monday night, not because of anything they did, but because of severe weather hitting the city.

The mayor and most of the aldermen, department heads, residents and reporters attending the council meeting -— which was to consider a temporary sales tax for a library and animal shelter — spent more than an hour deep inside the police department until there was a break in the storm.

Alderman Steve Fender, who lives almost across from the police department, chose to head home instead of jail.

Once there was a break, the council reconvened in the hallway, about 8:50 p.m., next to the squad room and voted to adjourn the meeting, and then everyone quickly left.

Because of the weather disruption, the council will now hold a special meeting within the next two weeks to discuss and vote on sending the tax idea to the voters. The council, itself, cannot pass the tax.

Everyone in the council chambers was asked to follow the police about 7:15 p.m. just as the aldermen were beginning to discuss a temporary two-year one-cent sales tax to build a new library and animal shelter.

The council was hoping to approve the idea of the tax Monday night and then set a date for a special election, giving residents the final say.

The proposed tax would be used, according to the ordinance, “to acquire land and construct a new library, for the construction and equipping of an animal services facility, either in its current or in a new location, and to allocate any surplus funds to street repair or improvement.”

Bobby Roberts, the director of the Central Arkansas Library Systems was at the meeting to speak in favor of the proposed tax as was Robin Breaux, head of the city’s animal shelter. But there were also a number of residents wanting to speak against the idea.

All will have the opportunity again at the next meeting which will be announced in the newspaper and on the city’s website, www.ci.sherwood.ar.us.

While the mayor and other were sheltered in the catacombs of the police department, the mayor was receiving updates of damage from the police chief.

While the council and others were sequestered, trees were toppled near Brockington, hail was hitting parts of the city along with flying debris and there were reports of high winds and possible damage near the Nazarene church on Brockington.

Before the meeting was interrupted by the weather, the council discussed new ward boundaries that are needed because of the census numbers and the annexation of Gravel Ridge.

“Right now Gravel Ridge is split into two wards,” said Alderman Marina Brooks, “And it would be good if it says together.”

Alderman Steve Fender was concerned with one option the council was looking at.

“Ninety percent of my neighbors and friends for the past 25 years will no longer be able to vote for me. They won’t be in my ward. That’s not fair,” he complained, unhappy with the drop in the residents he would represent.

Brook said right now the wards go from 5,200 to 9,900 residents.

Alderman Tim McMinn suggested that the council take some time to look at all the options and even suggested some workshops to give residents a voice in the design of the new wards.

The council also wants to see what ideas Metroplan may have for the ward boundaries. “We’re not taking any action tonight,” Mayor Virginia Hillman said. “It’s just on the agenda for discussion.”

But the council hopes to agree on new boundaries within 90 days.

Jacksonville Meeting halted

In Jacksonville, Warren Street’s first Neighborhood Watch meeting was stopped Monday night midway through as a tornado ripped through nearby North Pulaski High School on Harris Road in Jacksonville near Little Rock Air Force Base.

A dozen concerned residents living along Warren Street, Dupree Drive and Bailey Street were inside Westside Baptist Church downtown. Also in attendance were Alderman Bill Howard and this Leader reporter.

The meeting at 7 p.m. was held in the sanctuary. It was led by Jacksonville auxiliary police Capt. Charles Jenkins with officer Don Bredenberg helping with the PowerPoint presentation.

Soon the tornado sirens wailed. A variety of musical ring tones filled the room as cell phones started going off with warnings from the Code- Red severe weather-alert system and from family members about the tornado warning.

Lightning could be seen flashing though the stained glass windows.

The power went out for a few seconds. It was decided to the stop the meeting and seek shelter.

The group rounded the kitchen for snacks and drinks and headed for the lowest part of the church, an empty baptism tank for safety.

During the height of the storm, a mother with three children saw people were inside the church and sought refuge inside.

Leader staff writer Jeffrey Smith contributed to this report.

TOP STORY >> Air base digs out after tornado

By CHRISTY HENDRICKS
Leader staff writer

Approximately 100 homes were damaged, and about half completely demolished, in a storm at Little Rock Air Force Base on Monday night. Two C-130Es and one C-130H model aircraft were damaged, but the extent of the damage is not yet known.

“I was watching (the tornado) when the power went out,” Col. Mike Minihan, 19th Airlift Wing and Little Rock Air Force Base installation commander, said during a press conference Tuesday morning, referring to Monday night’s storm.

The base was functioning on 25 percent electricity when Minihan spoke. Full power was restored around noon Tuesday.

The tornado hit at 8 p.m., according to Minihan, with devastating results to housing, infrastructure, aircraft and more. He said a tornado warning came from the National Weather Service around 7 p.m.

“We knew we were in imminent danger,” the commander said.

The base holds regular exercises to test readiness for emergencies, tornadoes being one of those airmen train for.

Several injuries were reported, but only three people were taken to the hospital. An infant’s foot was cut, an airman suffered a back injury from debris and an Army officer received cuts. All three were treated and released.

Several vehicles were tossed and turned over in the BX parking lot. Several trees were broken or uprooted. Electric poles were snapped in two and the base skate park was damaged.

Airmen were assessing the base’s aircraft Tuesday morning. “It’s still too early to tell, but the damage looks significant,” Minihan told the media. “We are concerned for our fellow airmen and Vilonia.”

Twenty-five families had relocated to lodging on base. It’s estimated those displaced by the storm damage will be in temporary housing for at least a month, according to Minihan.

Although there were no serious injuries, some base residents needed help to get out of their homes. “No one was pinned,” Minihan said. “They just needed a clear path to get out.”

Members of the 19th and 314th airlift wings were out assessing the damage and cleaning up when possible. Air National Guard members had gone to Vilonia to assist in the cleanup. Four people are reported dead and 12 reported missing in Vilonia after a suspected tornado ripped through the area.

Minihan told reporters his top priority Tuesday was 100 percent accountability of members of the installation and their families, assessing damage and preparing for a second round of storms slated for Tuesday night.

“We have plenty of manpower,” he said. “The community jumped in to help.

“Watching people, without having to be told, help was amazing,” he continued.

Some phones were out during and after the storm hit the base, leading to some door-to-door activity to account for those in base housing.

Minihan said anyone scheduled to deploy who may have been affected by the storms will stay and take care of family before deployment. But that should not have much of an impact on the base’s upcoming deployments.

“At this time, we are asking for your thoughts and prayers,” Minihan said. “We are thankful to our community, especially Mayor (Gary) Fletcher, who was out immediately with a team to help.”

Minihan also asked for thoughts and prayers for residents of Vilonia.

Jacksonville Police Chief Gary Sipes offered his department’s support.

“Our community needs to know how special they are,” Minihan said of the communities surrounding the base. He said people can help, ranging from clothing to financial, to aid the families who were affected.

The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office reported homes near 2832 Valentine Road were damaged; trees down at Reeves Recycling on Hwy. 161; power lines were down at Hwy. 89 and Hwy. 107 East; trees were on the home at 303 W. Carmichael Road; trees and power lines were down at 411 W. Republican Road; power lines down at Hwy. 70 near Galloway; fallen trees at East Carmichael Road and Hwy. 5, and trees were down in the 18104 block of Hwy. 365.

All branches of Arkansas Federal Credit Union are accepting donations for Little Rock Air Force Base families who lost their homes. For details, call the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce at 501-982-1511.

SPORTS >> Travs deal with rain, Naturals

By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor

At least the Arkansas Travelers didn’t have to travel very far to sit around.

The Travelers made the season’s first visit to Texas League rival Northwest Arkansas in Springdale only to have rainouts or postponements in three of the scheduled four days at Arvest Ballpark.

Rain on Thursday forced the playing of a Friday night doubleheader, which was plagued by three rain delays, and Arkansas earned a spit with a 6-4 victory in the first game while the Naturals won Game Two 6-1.

Saturday’s and Sunday’s action was rained out and the games will be made up in doubleheaders on May 21 and May 23 during the Travelers’ next visit to Springdale.

The Travelers got three base hits from Orlando Mercado and two RBI from Clay Fuller in their first-game victory Friday. Fuller hit his second home run of the year and had two base hits, while Mercado hit two singles along with a double and drove in two runs.

All nine Travs starters got at least one hit for a season-high 13.

Three different Naturals hit home runs in Northwest Arkansas’ second-game victory.

In the first game, the Travelers hit Naturals left-hander and former teammate Will Smith (0-2) hard, scoring five runs over four innings on ten base hits. Mike Trout hit a leadoff single in the first and came in when Darwin Perez lined a triple to left-center.

Fuller, who finished 2 for 3 with two RBI, staked Arkansas to a 2-0 lead when he led off the second with a long home run to left.Back-to-back doubles by Dillon Baird and Mercado gave the Travs a 3-0 lead.

Smith (0-2) issued a walk to Perez leading off the third, and Perez advanced to third on a single by Ryan Mount. Fuller punched a single to left to drive in Perez for a 4-0 lead.

The teams were pulled off the field for a 25-minute rain delay before the start of the fifth inning and then Mario Santiago took the mound for the Naturals.

He walked Mount, who stole second and took third when the throw got past second baseman Kurt Mertins for an error.

Mercado’s hit a two-out single to score Mount to increase the Travs’ lead to 5-0.

After allowing just four base runners through four innings, Arkansas starter Orangel Arenas walked the leadoff batter Mario Lisson following the rain delay in the fifth.Two groundouts moved Lisson to third, and he scored on Christian Colon’s infield single.

Arenas came back for the sixth and allowed a leadoff double by Jamie Romak, a two-out single by Anthony Seratelli and a three-run homer from Lisson, his fourth, to pull the Naturals within 5-4.

Arenas (2-0) gave up four runs on seven hits with three walks and one strikeout in his six innings.

The Travs got a run back in the seventh thanks to alert base running by Luis Jimenez. Jimenez hit a leadoff single and Mount sacrificed him to second.

SPORTS >> Lions get best shot from foes

By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter

The final stretch for Searcy could hold surprises as the Lions inch closer to another top seed in the 6A-East Conference and a shot at their fifth straight state soccer championship.

The first part of their conference run certainly had its share of surprises.

The Lions (13-1, 7-0) successfully completed a three-game conference home stretch with victories over Mountain Home, Jacksonville and Jonesboro over the past two weeks.

But Mountain Home came into Lion Stadium with a trick up its sleeve and the Bombers took the Lions into overtime as regulation ended in a 1-1 tie. That led to a penalty kick period in which Searcy finally pulled it out to win 6-5.

Mountain Home’s defensive strategy was not necessarily anything new, but the fact that it came from such an offensive oriented team caught Searcy coach Bronco King off guard.

“They put everybody except for one person in front of the goal,” King said. “I wasn’t expecting it.”

Sophomore Evan Scarbrough scored the Lions’ regulation goal, and it took a committee of players scoring goals in overtime to seal the victory.

Senior Steven Seitz, juniors Manuel Ruiz and Isia Garcia, Scarbrough and classmate Cam Woodruff all contributed a goal each.

“We’re usually in a position to get somebody’s best shot,” King said. “Mountain Home, Parkview, they usually have pretty good game plans. Parkview always plays us tough.

“If you go back and look, a lot of the games we’ve played have been 2-1, 2-0 — low scoring, defensive oriented games.”

Searcy easily handled Jacksonville 11-1, and the outcome included three goals for Woodruff and two goals for Seitz.

The Lions could have shut out Jonesboro in their 4-2 victory if not for a pair of bizarre plays in front of the Searcy goal that resulted in two scores for the Hurricane. Jonesboro players sent a pair of headers at Lions senior goalkeeper Ty Lay, who defended the shots with headers, but both were deflected into the goal.

Ian Hatchell scored two of Searcy’s goals while sophomore center-midfielder Kevin Berkheimer and senior center-midfielder Brandon Treece each had a goal.

Searcy has seen defensive strategies similar to the one pursued by Mountain Home two weeks ago, but King, in his third season as coach of the Lions, doesn’t mind if a victory is low scoring.

“They’ve got to play offense too,” King said. “An ugly win is always a good win. It worked into their favor, but our guys played well enough that we were able to get the win.”

The Lions played at Little Rock Parkview on Tuesday night, and will travel to Mountain Home on Friday for a rematch that will most likely decide the top two East seeds for the 6A state tournament.

The Lady Lions will also carry a perfect 6A-East Conference record into the final stretch. Searcy, 11-2, 7-0, defeated Mountain Home 2-1 after being held scoreless through one half by the Lady Bombers’ goalkeeper, who swatted away several high kicks through the first 40 minutes.

Sophomore Avery Albright struck first for Searcy while freshman Micah Tipton added the go-ahead goal late.

The Lady Lions shut out Jacksonville 11-0 before rallying to beat Jonesboro 3-2 on Friday.

Kerry Moon, senior McKenna Smith and Albright scored a goal each.

The Lady Lions hosted a game against Little Rock Christian Tuesday night that was billed by many as a matchup of the state’s two best girls programs.

Searcy will play at Mountain Home on Friday.

SPORTS >> Cabot fighting wet weather rust

By TODD TRAUB
Leader sportswriter

Cabot baseball coach Jay Fitch thinks another two or three victories might be enough to get the Panthers into the 7A state tournament.

If only they could play another two or three games.

Cabot has been idle since losing a non-conference game to Beebe on April 15. Like most area baseball teams, including the Class AA Texas League’s Arkansas Travelers, the Panthers have been looking for a break in the stormy weather to get some playing time.

Cabot has been trying since Friday to get in a 7A-Central Conference game against North Little Rock. It was postponed last week, moved to Monday and postponed again, and now the Panthers (8-11) are hoping to play the Charging Wildcats at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

“Our field doesn’t drain very well and if it’s too wet Saturday we may have to play that one on Monday, who knows?” Fitch said.

Compounding the scheduling problems was Monday’s round of storms that blew the tarp off Conway’s field and soaked the diamond, forcing the conference game to be moved from Thursday to Friday, assuming the field is able to dry.

If that scenario comes to pass, and with more bad weather in the forecast it’s no guarantee, Fitch would have to pitch his top starters, sophomore Ryan Logan and senior Cole Nicholson, on back-to-back days.

The hope would be to stay out of the bullpen as much as possible and have a committee rested for the next scheduled game against Little Rock Central on Tuesday. The Panthers have a non-conference game with Hot Springs Lakeside on Wednesday.

“If it stays the once a week deal that’s no problem,” Fitch said. “With us having to play Thursday, possibly Friday, and turn around play Saturday, we’re pretty much stuck with the rotation, our little sophomore and then Nicholson.

“After that you kind of make do and hope whoever you’re playing is in the same boat as you are.”

Given the wear and tear the baseball pitching motion puts on a young player’s arm and shoulder, it is risky to give him too many innings, especially after he has thrown on the side to stay loose.

“When other sports get rained out, if it’s soccer and even softball, softball can come back and throw the same pitcher over and over again,” Fitch said.

“Rainouts are particularly serious for baseball because you’ve got to guard your pitching. Most high school staffs aren’t blessed with tremendously deep pitching.”

Nicholson (5-1) is the staff ace with an ERA below 2.50. On offense, junior catcher and No. 3 hitter Tyler Carter has been the most consistent, batting close to .480 with three home runs.

“He’ll be an all-state candidate with the year that he’s having,” Fitch said.

Senior outfielder Brandon Surdam is also a contributor, Fitch said.

“He’s probably not got quite the average but he has two home runs and he’s probably around .340 or .360,” Fitch said.

About all Cabot can when the ground is wet is adjourn to one of the campus parking lots to bat and throw around the rubber “dimple ball.”

When it is raining the team moves indoors to the gym where the players can throw to stay loose while pitchers can do their work off of indoor mounds.

“If it’s raining at the time and we need to hit we’ve got an indoor gym that has two rollout nets,” Fitch said.

But when indoors it is hard for the Panthers to work on most defensive and base running situations.

“For sure the situation deal is really tough,” Fitch said.

Fitch is keeping an eye on the points system designed to address imbalances between the 7A and 6A teams, like West Memphis and Hall, who compete in the same regular-season conferences and then play in separate state tournaments.

Like most coaches in most sports, Fitch wishes conference championships and postseason seedings could be settled strictly on the field. But with a couple more victories, Fitch thinks the Panthers will appear in the postseason bracket.

“For a team that’s been starting a freshman and four or five sophomores at a time, that will be pretty good,” Fitch said.

“We’re going to hopefully finish as high as we can and I’ve been telling the kids anything can happen if you get in the tournament.”

SPORTS >> Lady Bears clinch, boys in middle of scrap

By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter

The prospect of a historic season is growing closer to fruition for the Sylvan Hills Lady Bears.

Sylvan Hills, 6-1 in the 5A-Southeast Conference, has clinched the No. 2 seed for the state tournament. The Lady Bears’ likely opponent will be Arkadelphia, which is on its way to securing a No. 3 seed out of the 5A-Southwest Conference.

Lady Bears soccer teams have made numerous trips to the state playoffs, but have always entered as a No. 3 or No. 4 seed, and have never advanced out of the first round.

At the start of the season coach Nate Persson set the goal of capturing a first-round victory.

“We’re looking pretty good right now,” Persson said. “Things have been going well. We’re scoring a lot of goals and playing well defensively.”

The only personnel setback for Sylvan Hills has been an ankle injury to freshman Calyn Fulton, who also plays volleyball and basketball. The injury has nagged Fulton off and on for close to a year, and with her latest mishap, her doctor ordered two weeks of recovery time.

Fulton was cleared to return to action in time for Tuesday night’s home game against North Pulaski.

“We’ve accomplished all that we need for the regular season, so we really don’t need her until state begins,” Persson said. “I’m debating on whether or not to sit her out longer and let her recover some more, or let her get in there and get more of the experience she needs.”

The Lady Bears defeated Mills 4-1 and won at Monticello by forfeit before tying Sheridan 2-2 in a non-conference game. Dominant Little Rock Christian handed Sylvan Hills its only league loss so far, 9-1.

Freshman Abi Persson has emerged as the Lady Bears’ primary scoring threat despite being a midfielder instead of playing the traditional scoring position of forward. Persson has over 20 goals for the season, and for coach and father Nate Persson, it has made the experience even sweeter.

“It’s been a source of pride for me,” Persson said. “Not just her skills, but also the heart she is developing. The one thing that she lacks in her game is conditioning, and she’s been working hard at it.

“Little by little, she’s developing stamina.”

The Sylvan Hills boys find themselves in the middle of a heated race in the 5A-Southeast Conference with three teams separated by one game in the standings.

Sylvan Hills lost to Mills University Studies 5-4 in overtime after battling to a 3-3 tie at the end of regulation.

The Bears bounced back from their Mills loss to win at Monticello 4-2. Sylvan Hills then took its third conference loss in a 7-0 shutout to Little Rock Christian.

As it stands, the Bears are tied with Mills for third in the Southeast Conference at 4-3. Little Rock Christian is in first at 7-0 and will most likely wrap up yet another league title, while White Hall (4-2) is second.

SPORTS >> Archarcharch takes place in muddled field

By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor

Dialed In appears to be the favorite for the Kentucky Derby, but the picture is far from clear heading into the May 7 race.

Dialed In, the winner of this month’s Florida Derby, remains No. 1 on The Associated Press’ final list of Top 10 Derby contenders and leads in almost all other polls.

With upsets and injuries to several Derby hopefuls, Dialed In moved to the head of the 3-year-old class last week. The Top 10 is unchanged after two Derby prep races over the weekend failed to produce new contenders.

Risen Star winner Mucho Macho Man is No. 2, followed by Wood Memorial winner Toby’s Corner, former No. 1 Uncle Mo and Arkansas Derby winner Archarcharch, owned by Jacksonville’s Bob and Val Yagos.

The most recent noteworthy Derby dropout is Jaycito, who will sit out with a bruised foot.

When Uncle Mo suffered his upset loss in the Grade I Wood Memorial on April 9, the field lost what was expected to be the clear leader, and entering its 137th running, the Kentucky Derby looks like it could be anybody’s race.

Dialed In hasn’t done much to upset his status as Derby favorite. He is explosive but his late-closing style could put him reach of the other horses at Churchill Downs on May 7.

He will have his final work at Palm Meadows Training Center before shipping to Churchill Downs on Saturday

Uncle Mo lost supporters and momentum following his Wood Memorial loss and subsequent diagnosis of a GI tract infection, but trainer Todd Pletcher said he has been encouraged with the way the reigning juvenile champion has responded to treatment.

Uncle Mo was to have his first serious work since his third-place run in the Wood Memorial on Tuesday at Churchill Downs, with jockey John Velazquez flying in for the 5-furlong work.

Barring injury or illness, Archarcharch will represent the first Kentucky Derby start for jockey Jon Court and his father-in-law, trainer Jinks Fires. Archarcharch was most effective off the pace to make one big run to win the Grade I Arkansas Derby, but his past form shows he has tactical ability and as good a chance as any Kentucky Derby entrant right now.

Archarcharch is in Kentucky with Fires prepping for the Derby.

Keep an eye also on Nehro, who only has a maiden victory to his credit but closed to take second in both the Louisiana Derby and Arkansas Derby, with Archarcharch beating him by a neck at Hot Springs’ Oaklawn Park.

Information for this report was obtained from the Associated Press.