The Leader consistently prints an average of 10 pages per section and five stories per page — that’s 50 news or feature articles every issue, or more than 5,000 news items per year.
This is the third and final in a series looking back on the news of 2012.
SEPTEMBER
• Outages reported as storm blows by — More than 5,000 residents in central Arkansas suffered power outages as the remnants of Hurricane Isaac rolled through with high winds and three inches of rain.
• Sherwood website is redirected by hacker — Extremists disable city hall’s website for a couple hours until the Sherwood could disable the hackers’ message. No permanent damage was done and no city information was affected. But those who tried to go to the website were redirected to a Muslim extremist site calling for the deaths of all Americans.
• Funeral set today for fallen sergeant — Army Sgt. Jason Swindle, 24, of Cabot who was killed in Afghanistan in mid-September was buried in Beebe.
• Council candidates speak — Many candidates for Jacksonville City Council spoke out against the city’s three-year-old contract with an economic developer from Owasso, Okla., at a candidates forum at the community center.
• Water park, ball fields in Cabot’s plans — Plans call for a $2.3 million expansion of the community center, plus a water park, ball fields and other amenities if voters approve continuing a one-cent sales tax.
• City council ties Hillman’s hands — Sherwood aldermen vote against a resolution that would have allowed the mayor to start to renegotiate a long-term contract with North Little Rock Electric.
• D.C. lobby enters local race — Republican Super PACs spent about $60,000 in mailing attack fliers to derail state Rep. Barry Hyde’s chance to defeat state Rep. Jane English for an open state Senate seat.
• JP asks if candidate for sheriff misusing gun locks — Justice of the Peace Alexis Malham questioned the legality of the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Dean White using gun locks originally distributed by the federal government for law enforcement use.
• Jacksonville council favors highway tax — Aldermen approved a resolution supporting a half-cent statewide tax to support highway construction and repairs, which will give the city $500,000 a year to use.
• Principal’s firing upheld by judge — Circuit Judge Barbara Elmore agreed with the Cabot School District in its firing of Northside Elementary School Principal Suzanne Proctor.
• Help save young Tanner — Tanner Varnadore, a first grader at Cabot’s Magness Creek Elementary, has spent half his young life battling acute lymphocytic leukemia and is in need of a bone marrow transplant.
• Fish farmer calls it quits — After 40 years in the business, Robert Murtha of Lonoke closes his catfish business citing the rising cost of feed and foreign competition.
• Mayors: Tax is needed for interchanges — With a shortage of state and federal highway funds, Jacksonville and Cabot look at local taxes to help fund an interchange at Coffelt Crossing and one to connect Hwy. 38 and Willie Ray Drive.
• District seeking lunch money — Students in Cabot owe the school district $108,000 in food charges and the district is starting to collect the back charges.
• Five schools here named among best — Those that made the University of Arkansas listing include Jacksonville’s Arnold Drive and Cabot’s Stagecoach elementary schools, Cabot Middle School South and Searcy’s Ahlf Junior High and Southwest Middle schools.
• Injured policeman glad he’s back on job — Officer Daniel Dimatteo, 40, who was rundown by a driver in an incident that killed a firefighter and injured another, returns to duty, but is confined to desk work as his therapy and treatments continue.
• Open house brings 200,000 to air base — The Blue Angels were the top draw as more than 200,000 from across the state and beyond visited the displays and watched the military demonstrations at Little Rock Air Force Base.
• Deficiencies causing stink in county jail — Lonoke County’s year-old $6 million jail is out of warranty and having problems with its sewer, heat and air systems as well as the video visitation systems.
OCTOBER
• Capital murder charges for trio — Three Jacksonville men face the death penalty or life without parole in the murder of a North Little Rock convenience store clerk.
• Farewell to fallen soldier — One thousand supporters lined the streets in Beebe to salute the body of Army Sgt. Jason Swindle, 24, who was killed in Afghanistan and buried at Westbrook Cemetery.
• In Sherwood, 11 candidates make pitches — Candidates vying for Sherwood City Council, the state legislature and local judgeships all made pitches at a Sherwood Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
• Some residents displeased over annexation plans — Residents of one of the five areas Sherwood is looking to annex are upset with the idea and want the city to clearly explain their intentions for the area.
• Gun-range plans blaze forward — Jacksonville’s assistant parks and recreation director told the city council that the planned shooting range will have an economic impact of $5 million a year just from youth sports leagues.
• Reprieve for C-130s — The Air Force is moving ahead with plans to replace its current C-130 modernization program with a less expensive version.
• Guilty plea in attack — A 69-year-old Little Rock man pleads guilty to attacking a bank employee at First Arkansas Bank and Trust in Jacksonville.
• Mayor pushes road tax — Cabot Mayor Bill Cypert is backing a half-cent, statewide sales tax for highways. The tax would provide Cabot with $423,000 annually to use for various projects.
• Forum held at senior center — Nine candidates vying for five seats on the Jacksonville City Council spoke at the senior center.
• Opening shots for firing range — Gov. Beebe and other officials attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the proposed shooting range on 160 acres near the intersection of Graham and Loop roads.
• Firing range bid opening misses mark — Jacksonville was expecting a bid of about $2.1 million to build a proposed sports shooting range, but the lone bid came in at near $4 million and was rejected.
• Sheriff, 2 JPS in GOP facing ouster — Lonoke County sheriff and two justices of the peace are accused of working against the Lonoke County Republican Party Committee and could be expelled.
• Utilities invited to send in bids to city — The Sherwood City Council voted to have the mayor solicit bid proposals from Entergy, North Little Rock and First Electric to determine who should provide electricity to 7,500 city residents whose power is currently provided by North Little Rock.
• Four arrests in killing of Cabot man — Three men and a woman were arrested and charged in the beating death of James Heath, a Cabot man missing since mid-September. His body was buried behind the house of the woman arrested for the murder.
• Cabot parks commission against takeover — The Cabot parks commissioner fears a loss of funding for improvements if the mayor gets his way and dissolves the parks commission.
• Crews ready to help — Superstorm Sandy left 8 million people in the dark along the East Coast and Entergy, Arkansas Electric Cooperatives and CenturyLink sent repair crews and the base went on standby alert to aid with any relief efforts.
• Alderman in Cabot quits race — Longtime Cabot Aldermen Patrick Hutton pulled out of the race for re-election because of a controversy over his campaign material signifying he is a Republican and as a federal employee he is only allowed to run in nonpartisan elections.
NOVEMBER
• PCSSD unions to proceed with lawsuit — Employee unions for the school district disagree with a ruling that releases the state commissioner and the education department from their lawsuit. The unions plan to appeal.
• New faces on city councils — The Nov. 6 general election put three new aldermen on the Jacksonville city council, one on Sherwood’s council and one in Beebe and in Cabot. An aldermen who dropped out of the race still won the election.
• Reprieve for parks in Cabot — Efforts to disband the parks and recreation commission have been tabled indefinitely to give new commission member a chance to work things out.
• Missile silo crew looks back — Retired members of the now-defunct Titan II Missile Combat Crew 119 recall their efforts to prevent a World War III.
• GOP takes charge in Lonoke County — Only the county tax collector and a few Justices of the Peace are Democrats as Republicans complete a near sweep of county offices.
• Approval of highway tax will help road work here —State voters approved a half-cent statewide sales tax meaning area cities and counties will receive extra funds over the next 10 years for various projects.
• Long list of homes facing bulldozing — Jacksonville gets tough on dilapidated properties after warnings, places eight on the condemnation list and slaps a total of $48,000 in liens absent others.
• Support grows for new district — Daniel Gray, spokesman for the North/North Pulaski Education Corps said now is the time for Jacksonville to detach itself from Pulaski County Special School District.
• Legislators from Cabot in top spots — Rep. Davy Carter is elected House Speaker and Sen. Eddie Jo Williams is named majority leader and will be chair for the government committee.
• JPs vote to make special tax legal — A voluntary tax of 2.25 mills for non-profits will still be on Lonoke County property tax statements but will be listed as a tax for contract agencies.
• Liquor sales need legislative approval — Two convenience stores hire a consultant to help convince the state legislature that all of north Pulaski County should be wet and allowed to sell liquor.
• Most schools in area need improvement — State lists schools needing improvement and most Sherwood and Jacksonville schools fell in the lower rungs. However, Arnold Drive Elementary, on the air base, was named one of five exemplary schools in the state.
• Council in Cabot passes ’13 budget — The city council approved a $13.6 million general budget, which includes dedicated funds for streets, the library and the senior center.
• Vertac a fading memory — Toxic waste site has been cleaned up and turned into a multimillion training facility that will also hold the new police headquarters building.
• JHS band tight knit and tight on stage — More than just a band, the high school group, preparing to perform in New Orleans, is also a family, focusing on each other first and the music second.
• Ward man posts bond in death — A white Ward resident who admitted to shooting a black employee posted $100,000 bond even though he had not been officially charged in the death. Meanwhile the family of the deceased hired the attorney in the Treyvon Martin wrongful death suit to help them.
• Fireworks limited to protect roosts — Beebe has put restrictions on fireworks to prevent unnecessary deaths of roosting blackbirds. In 2010, thousands died and the incident attracted worldwide attention and in 2011, about 450 birds were killed.
• Sherwood stays with NLR utility after long fight —The city council voted to renew its contract with North Little Rock Electric after months of meetings and debates.
DECEMBER
• North Belt tangled up in turf fight — Metroplan and the state highway department continue to bicker over who’s to blame for the apparent demise of the highway project.
• Ex-senator’s son in deadly wreck — The son of former state Sen. Bobby Glover is accused of hitting a woman attempting to flag down motorists after she ran out of gas on Hwy. 70.
• Austin names new chief — Tony Bryant, a Ward police sergeant will become the new chief of the Austin Police Department.
• Dangerous overpass — Another accident pointed out the dangers of the Hwy. 67/167 Main Street overpass. From 2001 to 2010, state troopers have worked 249 crashes on the bridge.
• Cabot makes plans for a sales-tax vote — The mayor and council work out details for a special election around April for a tax to support a north interchange, baseball fields and a water park.
• Pearl Harbor horrors recalled — World War II veteran Charlie Flynt, 90, recalls his time on the USS Ramsay, which was docked in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
• $500,000 roundabout for Ward — The city council approved the roundabout to control traffic at the intersections of Locust Street, Griffin Street, Hwy. 367 and Hwy. 319.
• Jacksonville man admits to murders — A man who bludgeoned and then shot two cousins to death pleads guilty to avoid the death penalty. He was instead sentenced to 100 years in prison.
• Unitary status hearing in fall — Federal Judge D. Price Marshall agrees to hear evidence next year that the county school district is making desegregation progress.
• Jacksonville budget set for $24.5M — The 2013 general budget includes a $500 raise for full-time employees and no layoffs or cutback of services.
• Staley names a chief deputy — When John Staley takes over as the Lonoke County Sheriff his new chief deputy will be Mike Kindall, a 30-year law enforcement veteran.
• Foreign crews keep training at base here — Each year, more than 250 students from 40 nations pass through the C-130 Center of Excellence.
• Lonoke considers rules on leaf burning — Council gets into a heated debate over charging a fee for burn permits.
• Teacher is going to prison — A former Cabot Junior High North instructor admits to an affair with a student and is sentenced to 15 years in prison, with nine suspended, meaning she’ll be eligible for parole in two years.
• Sherwood approves a $20.1M budget — After a discussion over the mayor and city clerk’s car allowance, the council approves the 2013 general budget.
• Center repairs will take months — It may take up to a year and almost $700,000 to make repairs to the pool’s roof at Cabot’s Veterans Park community center.
• Cypert tells JPs: Court hurt by cuts — The Cabot mayor said the district court system in Lonoke County is broken and that if it’s not repaired Cabot could stop hearing misdemeanor cases filed by the county.
• Funds for firing range approved — State, city and private donations will cover the $3 million necessary to build a sports shooting range on the east side of Jacksonville.
• Grand opening for subdivision — Jacksonville completes construction of $9.8 million subdivision of 55 single-family low-cost rental homes.
• New district would get more aid — Splitting from Pulaski County Special School District would make schools far better in Jacksonville, according to those pushing for an independent district.
• Crews still work hard to restore electricity — Thousands of area residents were without power for hours and up to a week after record ice and snow hit the area late Christmas afternoon.
• Residents improvise in outage — Tips were offered to help residents endure their time without power.
