BY GARRICK FELDMAN
PUBLISHER
Pedophiles are in the news these days. Maybe there aren’t more of them out there, it’s just that more children are speaking out and prosecutors are handing down more indictments.
These cases usually boil down to a child making an accusation against an adult, and adults on a jury would rather believe one of their own sitting in a suit at the defense table than accept the world of a child, who has no reason to lie but has come forward because she can no longer keep the hurt inside and told someone what happened that night when she stayed over at a friend’s house while a guy started “wrestling” with her in their den.
Adults have abused children from the beginning of time and got away with their crimes because for too long their behavior wasn’t even considered criminal.
Kids are defenseless against adult predators, who think they can beat and threaten and molest children and make all kinds of excuses if they’re charged with a crime: It was all innocent “horseplay,” they were just “wrestling” and there’s nothing wrong with picking up a child by the crotch because that’s how they pick up their grandchildren.
They not only violate children sexually, they threaten them with more violence if they tell adults what happened.
The predators are often stepparents who think nothing of violating a child who is not their own. A few years ago, we wrote about a monster who raped his stepdaughter almost daily while his wife was at work.
The little girl was too scared to tell her mother. It wasn’t until years later that her teachers realized she was an abused child and offered to help her.
She finally told her story, and her stepfather was charged with rape and is still in prison.
He had been tried several years earlier for fondling a little girl who was spending the night with his stepdaughter, but there wasn’t much evidence against him, and the jury let him off so he could rape his stepdaughter for a decade or more.
Almost every day we hear reports of abusive men taking advantage of children. Some get long prison sentences, others plead guilty and get reduced sentences, while others get off. But even those who go free eventually get caught because they’re serial abusers, although they’ll hurt many more kids before they’re sent to prison.
The human mind is capable of all kinds of depravity that most people can’t even imagine. But as more cases of abuse are reported, we’ll tell our readers about the problem in our communities and warn predators that they, too, could go to trial and serve long prison sentences.
In other words, they’d better watch out.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
TOP STORY>> Sheriff fights abusers with limited funds
IN SHORT>> Rural White County is seeing a rising number of sex offenders.
By SARA GREENE
Leader staff writer
Living out in the country in the nation’s Bible Belt isn’t as safe as it used to be. Just ask White County Sheriff Pat Garrett. He is keeping a close eye on sex offenders in White County while struggling to combat potential sexual predators.
Garrett said when he began policing in White County in 1994, he would be surprised if there were more than 40,000 people in the county. Now there’s over 70,000 and some of them are sexual offenders.
“I just asked the quorum court for money for an additional person dedicated to sex crimes investigation but they said no,” Garrett said.
“I’m doing the best with what I got.”
Drug abuse in White County, particularly methamphetamine abuse, is “absolutely” one of the leading factors in sex crimes, says Garrett.
Meth users describe an increase in libido while on the drug, but a decrease in sexual function. That, paired with the physical agitation, can lead to violent sexual behavior with drug use.
Garrett credits social awareness and concerned people getting the victims of sex offenders the help they need. All registered sex offenders in Arkansas are required to submit to assessment by the sex offender screening and risk assessment program coordinated by the Ark-ansas Department of Correction. Each offender is assigned a risk level based on the results of the assessment.
Based on information obtained from the risk assessment process, offenders are assigned the following levels: Level 1 — low risk; Level 2 — moderate risk; Level 3 — high risk, and Level 4 — sexually violent predator. Offenders failing to submit to assessment are assigned default Risk Level 3.
As part of the Sex Offender Registration Act of 1997, the Arkansas Crime Information Center lists Level 3 and 4 sex offenders on its Web site, including those who commit crimes against children.
Last week in White County, two men were sentenced in separate cases to five years each for soliciting sex from teenagers over the Internet in 2004.
The 14-year-old girls the men chatted with online were, in fact, detectives from the White County Sheriff’s Department. The detectives visit chat rooms, hoping to catch an online predator by posing as their favorite prey, teens.
By SARA GREENE
Leader staff writer
Living out in the country in the nation’s Bible Belt isn’t as safe as it used to be. Just ask White County Sheriff Pat Garrett. He is keeping a close eye on sex offenders in White County while struggling to combat potential sexual predators.
Garrett said when he began policing in White County in 1994, he would be surprised if there were more than 40,000 people in the county. Now there’s over 70,000 and some of them are sexual offenders.
“I just asked the quorum court for money for an additional person dedicated to sex crimes investigation but they said no,” Garrett said.
“I’m doing the best with what I got.”
Drug abuse in White County, particularly methamphetamine abuse, is “absolutely” one of the leading factors in sex crimes, says Garrett.
Meth users describe an increase in libido while on the drug, but a decrease in sexual function. That, paired with the physical agitation, can lead to violent sexual behavior with drug use.
Garrett credits social awareness and concerned people getting the victims of sex offenders the help they need. All registered sex offenders in Arkansas are required to submit to assessment by the sex offender screening and risk assessment program coordinated by the Ark-ansas Department of Correction. Each offender is assigned a risk level based on the results of the assessment.
Based on information obtained from the risk assessment process, offenders are assigned the following levels: Level 1 — low risk; Level 2 — moderate risk; Level 3 — high risk, and Level 4 — sexually violent predator. Offenders failing to submit to assessment are assigned default Risk Level 3.
As part of the Sex Offender Registration Act of 1997, the Arkansas Crime Information Center lists Level 3 and 4 sex offenders on its Web site, including those who commit crimes against children.
Last week in White County, two men were sentenced in separate cases to five years each for soliciting sex from teenagers over the Internet in 2004.
The 14-year-old girls the men chatted with online were, in fact, detectives from the White County Sheriff’s Department. The detectives visit chat rooms, hoping to catch an online predator by posing as their favorite prey, teens.
TOP STORY>> Predators in our midst
IN SHORT: After several high-profile cases, communities worry about their children, but prosecutors are taking a tough stance against sex offenders, many of whom are serving long sentences.
BY BRIAN RODRIGUEZ
Leader staff writer
This area has had several high-profile sexual-abuse cases in recent years.
The best known was the case of Boy Scout leader Jack Walls III, who is serving several life sentences after he abused dozens of young men, drove one to suicide, and had another kill his parents and sister to cover up the scandal.
Heath Stocks, the young man who shot his parents and sister in 1997, and Walls are both serving life prison sentences, while Wade Knox, the abuse victim who later committed suicide, was recently honored with the opening of a child advocacy center in Lonoke which bears his name.
Last week, a Jacksonville man was sentenced to 30 years in prison when he pled guilty to raping a seven-year-old boy, raising the high area total of sex convictions by one more.
Circuit Judge Marion Humphrey sentenced Robert Leon Brooks, 43, on April 5. He will serve the full 30-year term because of a previous conviction.
Brooks was convicted of rape in 1985 and was sentenced to 20 years, but was released in 1997.
There are less dramatic cases, but Lonoke County prosecutors have had their hands full going after alleged pedophiles. At least two trials have been postponed because of concerns that the same jury hearing disturbing testimony in these cases will get nauseous and vote for convictions.
The Arkansas Department of Correction currently houses 48 sex offenders from Lonoke County, 50 from Pulaski County, and 37 from White County.
Two of those include Walls III and Larry Wayne Stephens, the trigger-case for a motion to recuse that was filed against Lonoke County Circuit Judge Lance Hanshaw.
Walls was convicted of six counts of rape in 1997 and is serving three life sentences and three 40-year terms.
He was charged with only six counts of rape because of the statute of limitations, but some believe he may have abused up to 150 young men before he was stopped.
The first incident allegedly happened when Walls, then 22, showed a Playboy magazine to a 12-year-old boy in 1968 and asked for sex. According to a web site, the boy turned him down and told people about the incident, leading to his being fired from his job and being sent to Vietnam.
He was stopped for the last time when a victim forced him to confess at gunpoint in 1997. The investigation that followed uncovered 60 recent victims.
Stephens was convicted of rape, kidnapping, terroristic threatening in the first degree, and domestic battery in the third degree.
A motion to recuse was filed after Hanshaw went against the jury’s recommendation of 86 years in consecutive sentences to only 40 years in concurrent sentences. Hanshaw said he didn’t think the jury understood the difference between consecutive and concurrent after the recommendation was made.
Stevens, a 10-time felon, beat his girlfriend in the head with a Mason jar and choked her until she lost consciousness. When she awoke, he continued beating her with the Mason jar, yelling at her to admit she had cheated on him.
Stephens finally ripped all her clothes off and raped her. He threatened to kill her and said he could make it look like an accidental fire, the affidavit said. The woman escaped by jumping through a window. She then ran to a neighbor’s house and called the police.
He had previous convictions dating from 1989 to 2001, including sexual abuse in the first degree, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, fleeing, two counts of commercial burglary, impairing a vital public facility, tampering with physical evidence, and two counts of theft of property.
Two upcoming cases include a former ASU-Beebe employee accused of child Internet pornography and a former Ward man accused of abusing his young grandchildren. Jerry Don McCabe, 46, of Austin, was arrested Jan. 7 after a tip was given by Missouri authorities.
He had been chatting with a Diamond, Mo., officer he thought was a 13-year-old girl when he left a chat service. He returned to the chat program and broadcast himself nude to “cindy64840” for about 20 minutes. He returned to her on three of the next four days before the Lonoke Sheriff’s Department confiscated his computer to find child Internet porn.
His pretrial date was set for May 24 with jury trial dates set for May 25-26. Albert Hays, 58, formerly of Ward, now in Bonita Springs, Fla., was arrested Feb. 1, 2004 for rape.
The state alleged that between Jan. 1995 and Dec. 31, 1997, Hays engaged in sexual contact with two grandsons who were less than 14 years of age.
His pretrial date was set for May 24 with jury trial dates set for June 1 and 2.
BY BRIAN RODRIGUEZ
Leader staff writer
This area has had several high-profile sexual-abuse cases in recent years.
The best known was the case of Boy Scout leader Jack Walls III, who is serving several life sentences after he abused dozens of young men, drove one to suicide, and had another kill his parents and sister to cover up the scandal.
Heath Stocks, the young man who shot his parents and sister in 1997, and Walls are both serving life prison sentences, while Wade Knox, the abuse victim who later committed suicide, was recently honored with the opening of a child advocacy center in Lonoke which bears his name.
Last week, a Jacksonville man was sentenced to 30 years in prison when he pled guilty to raping a seven-year-old boy, raising the high area total of sex convictions by one more.
Circuit Judge Marion Humphrey sentenced Robert Leon Brooks, 43, on April 5. He will serve the full 30-year term because of a previous conviction.
Brooks was convicted of rape in 1985 and was sentenced to 20 years, but was released in 1997.
There are less dramatic cases, but Lonoke County prosecutors have had their hands full going after alleged pedophiles. At least two trials have been postponed because of concerns that the same jury hearing disturbing testimony in these cases will get nauseous and vote for convictions.
The Arkansas Department of Correction currently houses 48 sex offenders from Lonoke County, 50 from Pulaski County, and 37 from White County.
Two of those include Walls III and Larry Wayne Stephens, the trigger-case for a motion to recuse that was filed against Lonoke County Circuit Judge Lance Hanshaw.
Walls was convicted of six counts of rape in 1997 and is serving three life sentences and three 40-year terms.
He was charged with only six counts of rape because of the statute of limitations, but some believe he may have abused up to 150 young men before he was stopped.
The first incident allegedly happened when Walls, then 22, showed a Playboy magazine to a 12-year-old boy in 1968 and asked for sex. According to a web site, the boy turned him down and told people about the incident, leading to his being fired from his job and being sent to Vietnam.
He was stopped for the last time when a victim forced him to confess at gunpoint in 1997. The investigation that followed uncovered 60 recent victims.
Stephens was convicted of rape, kidnapping, terroristic threatening in the first degree, and domestic battery in the third degree.
A motion to recuse was filed after Hanshaw went against the jury’s recommendation of 86 years in consecutive sentences to only 40 years in concurrent sentences. Hanshaw said he didn’t think the jury understood the difference between consecutive and concurrent after the recommendation was made.
Stevens, a 10-time felon, beat his girlfriend in the head with a Mason jar and choked her until she lost consciousness. When she awoke, he continued beating her with the Mason jar, yelling at her to admit she had cheated on him.
Stephens finally ripped all her clothes off and raped her. He threatened to kill her and said he could make it look like an accidental fire, the affidavit said. The woman escaped by jumping through a window. She then ran to a neighbor’s house and called the police.
He had previous convictions dating from 1989 to 2001, including sexual abuse in the first degree, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, fleeing, two counts of commercial burglary, impairing a vital public facility, tampering with physical evidence, and two counts of theft of property.
Two upcoming cases include a former ASU-Beebe employee accused of child Internet pornography and a former Ward man accused of abusing his young grandchildren. Jerry Don McCabe, 46, of Austin, was arrested Jan. 7 after a tip was given by Missouri authorities.
He had been chatting with a Diamond, Mo., officer he thought was a 13-year-old girl when he left a chat service. He returned to the chat program and broadcast himself nude to “cindy64840” for about 20 minutes. He returned to her on three of the next four days before the Lonoke Sheriff’s Department confiscated his computer to find child Internet porn.
His pretrial date was set for May 24 with jury trial dates set for May 25-26. Albert Hays, 58, formerly of Ward, now in Bonita Springs, Fla., was arrested Feb. 1, 2004 for rape.
The state alleged that between Jan. 1995 and Dec. 31, 1997, Hays engaged in sexual contact with two grandsons who were less than 14 years of age.
His pretrial date was set for May 24 with jury trial dates set for June 1 and 2.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
OPINION>> Win Paul vs. Asa
BY ERNIE DUMAS
For the first time in 16 years, Arkansas seems guaranteed of a real primary contest for governor in 2006 and, as it was in 1990, it will be between Republicans. More than a year before the traditional filing period, Lt. Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller and Asa Hutchinson announced that they would seek the Republican nomination.
Primary contests for governor once were the province of the Democratic Party, but there has not been a real challenge in the Democratic primary since 1982, when Bill Clinton defeated Jim Guy Tucker and Joe Purcell, two of the party’s biggest vote-getters, to begin his comeback. In the five elections since then, the Democratic nominee was anointed long before the filing began.
This time, Attorney General Mike Beebe is the presumptive nominee, although he has done nothing more than merely hint that he would run.
It is easy to affix epochal meaning to the circumstances. One theory: The Republican Party has finally matured and replaced the Democrats as the party with energy, and the Democratic Party has run out of promising political figures.
Here is a notion that is at least as persuasive: It is the Republican Party that faces a crisis, a struggle for its soul. While some Democrats think their party would be better off and its nominee stronger if there were a vigorous primary fight for the nomination, they should not envy the GOP the dilemma it faces in Hutchinson and Rockefeller.
The Republicans had what they thought was an embarrassment of riches in 1990, when Sheffield Nelson, the handsome gas company executive, and U. S. Rep. Tommy Robinson both switched parties to run for governor, but it turned out to be merely an embarrassment.
The party, helped by a crossover vote by Democrats, picked Nelson, and Gov. Bill Clinton crushed him in the general election when details of the Arkoma gas scandal dribbled out, with Robinson’s assistance. Nelson had helped his friend Jerry Jones collect a fortune and the Dallas Cowboys franchise at the expense of Arkansas natural gas customers.
The party recovered quickly from the bitter personal rivalry that betrayed it in 1990. While the personal animosity may be absent in the Rockefeller-Hutchinson race, at least for now, the divisions may be visceral and subterranean, and even harder to turn into victory.
Hutchinson, who resigned as deputy secretary for Homeland Security after he was twice turned down by President Bush for the top job, has made two statewide races — for the Senate in 1986 and for attorney general in 1990 — and suffered sizable defeats both times. Rockefeller won both his statewide races. His moderate image, the legacy of good will from his father’s rising historical standing and his strength among traditionally Democratic-voting African-Americans stands him in good stead in a statewide contest.
All of those advantages are virtually useless to Rockefeller in a Republican primary with Hutchinson.
Unless there is a sea change in voting habits in 2006, the primary will be largely decided in three northwest Arkansas counties — Benton, Sebastian and Washington — where Hutchinson spent his youth and early political career and which elected him to Con-gress three times in the late 1990s.
It also is the seat of a Republican ideology that Rockefeller’s daddy marginalized 40 years ago: fiercely against taxes and social action, abortion, immigrants, public services for the poor and for a closer alliance of government and gospel.
Rockefeller’s strengths (except his wealth, maybe) will not help him there.
If he is to win many votes there, Rockefeller may have to repudiate much of his father’s legacy, of which he almost certainly will be reminded: higher taxes especially on the wealthy, opposition to the death penalty, authorship of the state minimum wage, greater spending on public education, government-protected rights for all minorities and an end to bigotry in all its forms.
In his first test, in the days after his announcement, Rockefeller said he was reversing his position on abortion. He now favors the government banning all abortions except when the life or health of the mother is imperiled, still slightly to the left of Hutchinson.
In a meeting with Benton County people not long ago, Rockefeller said rich people were overtaxed. (His daddy in 1969 would have had them paying a marginal rate of 12 percent, not 5, in state income taxes.) With every capitulation, Rockefeller moves his party with him further from the center of gravity, where the current governor successfully has made his home.
After much of that, the party may find its chances growing slimmer.
The qualities that make Hutchinson the favorite in the Republican primary make him a distinct underdog against Beebe, or whoever, in the general election. And Hutchinson’s indecision about whether he is an Arkansan is not his major problem.
He seems to run afoul of the Constitution’s residency requirement to be governor because he moved his voter registration to Virginia in 2002 after joining the Bush administration.
The courts have been expansive in interpreting residency requirements.
Home is where the heart is, and regardless of where a person lives the courts have looked for expressions of intent. One is the voting home. Why Hutchinson would have moved his vote to Virginia is a mystery. Men usually do it to avoid the state personal income tax when they have a multimillion-dollar windfall. But challenging Hutchinson’s standing to run won’t be legally or politically winnable.
No, his problem is not where but how he lives.
He chose to cash in on his government service in the time-honored way, joining a Washington law firm — not to practice law but to exploit his connections with the admi-nistration to steer corporate clients to government contracts.
Meantime, Hutchinson's protege Ron Fields, the former Fort Smith prosecutor, is on a forced leave of absence from his job at Homeland Security while the FBI investigates his alleged drug dealing and a conspiracy to murder a woman. That could be more serious than having a tractor run over a gravestone, the issue that defeated the elder Winthrop Rockefeller in his first race for governor in 1964.
Then there is the matter of Hutchinson trying to remove fellow Arkansan Bill Clinton from the presidency. As a prosecutor of Clinton before the Senate, Hutchinson handled some of the dirtier aspects of the Republican campaign to convict the president of high crimes and misdemeanors over his dalliance with Monica Lewinsky.
Hutchinson’s good standing as a Clinton hater will help in the primary fight in northwest Arkansas but he’ll need a cleaner resume in the general election.
For the first time in 16 years, Arkansas seems guaranteed of a real primary contest for governor in 2006 and, as it was in 1990, it will be between Republicans. More than a year before the traditional filing period, Lt. Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller and Asa Hutchinson announced that they would seek the Republican nomination.
Primary contests for governor once were the province of the Democratic Party, but there has not been a real challenge in the Democratic primary since 1982, when Bill Clinton defeated Jim Guy Tucker and Joe Purcell, two of the party’s biggest vote-getters, to begin his comeback. In the five elections since then, the Democratic nominee was anointed long before the filing began.
This time, Attorney General Mike Beebe is the presumptive nominee, although he has done nothing more than merely hint that he would run.
It is easy to affix epochal meaning to the circumstances. One theory: The Republican Party has finally matured and replaced the Democrats as the party with energy, and the Democratic Party has run out of promising political figures.
Here is a notion that is at least as persuasive: It is the Republican Party that faces a crisis, a struggle for its soul. While some Democrats think their party would be better off and its nominee stronger if there were a vigorous primary fight for the nomination, they should not envy the GOP the dilemma it faces in Hutchinson and Rockefeller.
The Republicans had what they thought was an embarrassment of riches in 1990, when Sheffield Nelson, the handsome gas company executive, and U. S. Rep. Tommy Robinson both switched parties to run for governor, but it turned out to be merely an embarrassment.
The party, helped by a crossover vote by Democrats, picked Nelson, and Gov. Bill Clinton crushed him in the general election when details of the Arkoma gas scandal dribbled out, with Robinson’s assistance. Nelson had helped his friend Jerry Jones collect a fortune and the Dallas Cowboys franchise at the expense of Arkansas natural gas customers.
The party recovered quickly from the bitter personal rivalry that betrayed it in 1990. While the personal animosity may be absent in the Rockefeller-Hutchinson race, at least for now, the divisions may be visceral and subterranean, and even harder to turn into victory.
Hutchinson, who resigned as deputy secretary for Homeland Security after he was twice turned down by President Bush for the top job, has made two statewide races — for the Senate in 1986 and for attorney general in 1990 — and suffered sizable defeats both times. Rockefeller won both his statewide races. His moderate image, the legacy of good will from his father’s rising historical standing and his strength among traditionally Democratic-voting African-Americans stands him in good stead in a statewide contest.
All of those advantages are virtually useless to Rockefeller in a Republican primary with Hutchinson.
Unless there is a sea change in voting habits in 2006, the primary will be largely decided in three northwest Arkansas counties — Benton, Sebastian and Washington — where Hutchinson spent his youth and early political career and which elected him to Con-gress three times in the late 1990s.
It also is the seat of a Republican ideology that Rockefeller’s daddy marginalized 40 years ago: fiercely against taxes and social action, abortion, immigrants, public services for the poor and for a closer alliance of government and gospel.
Rockefeller’s strengths (except his wealth, maybe) will not help him there.
If he is to win many votes there, Rockefeller may have to repudiate much of his father’s legacy, of which he almost certainly will be reminded: higher taxes especially on the wealthy, opposition to the death penalty, authorship of the state minimum wage, greater spending on public education, government-protected rights for all minorities and an end to bigotry in all its forms.
In his first test, in the days after his announcement, Rockefeller said he was reversing his position on abortion. He now favors the government banning all abortions except when the life or health of the mother is imperiled, still slightly to the left of Hutchinson.
In a meeting with Benton County people not long ago, Rockefeller said rich people were overtaxed. (His daddy in 1969 would have had them paying a marginal rate of 12 percent, not 5, in state income taxes.) With every capitulation, Rockefeller moves his party with him further from the center of gravity, where the current governor successfully has made his home.
After much of that, the party may find its chances growing slimmer.
The qualities that make Hutchinson the favorite in the Republican primary make him a distinct underdog against Beebe, or whoever, in the general election. And Hutchinson’s indecision about whether he is an Arkansan is not his major problem.
He seems to run afoul of the Constitution’s residency requirement to be governor because he moved his voter registration to Virginia in 2002 after joining the Bush administration.
The courts have been expansive in interpreting residency requirements.
Home is where the heart is, and regardless of where a person lives the courts have looked for expressions of intent. One is the voting home. Why Hutchinson would have moved his vote to Virginia is a mystery. Men usually do it to avoid the state personal income tax when they have a multimillion-dollar windfall. But challenging Hutchinson’s standing to run won’t be legally or politically winnable.
No, his problem is not where but how he lives.
He chose to cash in on his government service in the time-honored way, joining a Washington law firm — not to practice law but to exploit his connections with the admi-nistration to steer corporate clients to government contracts.
Meantime, Hutchinson's protege Ron Fields, the former Fort Smith prosecutor, is on a forced leave of absence from his job at Homeland Security while the FBI investigates his alleged drug dealing and a conspiracy to murder a woman. That could be more serious than having a tractor run over a gravestone, the issue that defeated the elder Winthrop Rockefeller in his first race for governor in 1964.
Then there is the matter of Hutchinson trying to remove fellow Arkansan Bill Clinton from the presidency. As a prosecutor of Clinton before the Senate, Hutchinson handled some of the dirtier aspects of the Republican campaign to convict the president of high crimes and misdemeanors over his dalliance with Monica Lewinsky.
Hutchinson’s good standing as a Clinton hater will help in the primary fight in northwest Arkansas but he’ll need a cleaner resume in the general election.
EDITORIAL>> Our sorry legislature
It is the nature of the Arkansas General Assembly, which does the state’s business once every two years, that it will end in frenzy and confusion, although ordinarily the lawmakers wrap it up not with accusations but with congratulations, whether they are merited or not. This time, the sense of failure and the scent of scandal are everywhere palpable.
And why not? The legislature defaulted on its first sworn duty, which was to put Arkansas’ public education system in order. It had taken a few laudable steps to do that a year ago, goaded by an order of the Supreme Court that it comply with the state Constitution’s mandate that the state provide a suitable, efficient and equal education for all the state’s children. Assured that the 2005 legislature would complete the task, the Supreme Court closed the long-running Lake View school case.
On Wednesday, David Matthews of Lowell, the former legislator and school litigator who had praised the ‘04 legislature before the Supreme Court, lectured senators on their manifest failure. He said he had expected better of them. He will petition the Supreme Court to revive the lawsuit and hold the legislature accountable for reneging on its commitments. The school litigation, which has beleaguered the state and called attention to our demoralizing failures with our children for 25 years, now yawns before us again.
Next year was to be the great leap forward, but the budget thrown together this week allows no increase in the per-pupil spending by schools for 2006, the most resounding failure in living memory. Even the minimalist budget depends upon unlikely scenarios to produce revenues. Someone believes in the rosy economic future perpetually claimed by the Bush administration. By the middle of the fiscal cycle, the state will find that it cannot sustain even the budget that the legislature adopted. It granted too many tax breaks for special interests before the grab-bagging became so embarrassing that the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee last week finally called a halt. The legislature ended the income tax surcharge and refused to extend the tax on wealthy estates, going along with President Bush’s reward to the nation’s wealthy.
Arkansas has levied a tax on great inheritances since 1909. In the past 10 years the tax has added more than $400 million to the treasury, nearly all of it from huge estates. From now on, not a dime. Working people will pick up the slack.
Schools will be cheated indirectly by other miscalculations of this legislature.
Unless the courts stop them, local governments will transfer millions of dollars of taxes levied for the schools to projects to help developers who want to build shopping malls and other commercial districts. This week, the legislature perfected legislation that will take $20 million or so a year in perpetuity from the state’s general fund if a mega-industry needs it. The money would come primarily from education budgets.
But the most glaring default was the legislature’s decision to devote no more than $119 million to school construction. It will offer that much in matching state grants to school districts the next two years, and it made no provision for there ever being anything more. The Supreme Court said the state had to provide equal school facilities for all children, and a legislative study showed that more than $2 billion would be needed to bring decrepit schools across the state up to par.
The state in three months will have a $240 million surplus that it could spend as a down payment on that obligation. But at week’s end legislators were near blows on how much of that sum they would divide among themselves to hand out locally to cement their re-elections.
Here is how dismal the scene was at week’s end: The good guys were insisting that not a dime more than $38 million be stolen from the schools for personal pork-barrel projects while the greedheads were insisting on lots more.
That qualifies for leadership in the term-limited legislature of 2005.
And why not? The legislature defaulted on its first sworn duty, which was to put Arkansas’ public education system in order. It had taken a few laudable steps to do that a year ago, goaded by an order of the Supreme Court that it comply with the state Constitution’s mandate that the state provide a suitable, efficient and equal education for all the state’s children. Assured that the 2005 legislature would complete the task, the Supreme Court closed the long-running Lake View school case.
On Wednesday, David Matthews of Lowell, the former legislator and school litigator who had praised the ‘04 legislature before the Supreme Court, lectured senators on their manifest failure. He said he had expected better of them. He will petition the Supreme Court to revive the lawsuit and hold the legislature accountable for reneging on its commitments. The school litigation, which has beleaguered the state and called attention to our demoralizing failures with our children for 25 years, now yawns before us again.
Next year was to be the great leap forward, but the budget thrown together this week allows no increase in the per-pupil spending by schools for 2006, the most resounding failure in living memory. Even the minimalist budget depends upon unlikely scenarios to produce revenues. Someone believes in the rosy economic future perpetually claimed by the Bush administration. By the middle of the fiscal cycle, the state will find that it cannot sustain even the budget that the legislature adopted. It granted too many tax breaks for special interests before the grab-bagging became so embarrassing that the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee last week finally called a halt. The legislature ended the income tax surcharge and refused to extend the tax on wealthy estates, going along with President Bush’s reward to the nation’s wealthy.
Arkansas has levied a tax on great inheritances since 1909. In the past 10 years the tax has added more than $400 million to the treasury, nearly all of it from huge estates. From now on, not a dime. Working people will pick up the slack.
Schools will be cheated indirectly by other miscalculations of this legislature.
Unless the courts stop them, local governments will transfer millions of dollars of taxes levied for the schools to projects to help developers who want to build shopping malls and other commercial districts. This week, the legislature perfected legislation that will take $20 million or so a year in perpetuity from the state’s general fund if a mega-industry needs it. The money would come primarily from education budgets.
But the most glaring default was the legislature’s decision to devote no more than $119 million to school construction. It will offer that much in matching state grants to school districts the next two years, and it made no provision for there ever being anything more. The Supreme Court said the state had to provide equal school facilities for all children, and a legislative study showed that more than $2 billion would be needed to bring decrepit schools across the state up to par.
The state in three months will have a $240 million surplus that it could spend as a down payment on that obligation. But at week’s end legislators were near blows on how much of that sum they would divide among themselves to hand out locally to cement their re-elections.
Here is how dismal the scene was at week’s end: The good guys were insisting that not a dime more than $38 million be stolen from the schools for personal pork-barrel projects while the greedheads were insisting on lots more.
That qualifies for leadership in the term-limited legislature of 2005.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
NEIGHBORS>> A C-130 named Lonoke
Best kept secret is out with naming of plane
Story and photos by John Hofheimer
hen the Arkansas Air National Guard dubbed a C-130 “City of Lonoke” in a Saturday morning naming ceremony, the highlight—for those not subject to air sickness—was an hour-long flight, including a few turns about 2,000 feet above Lonoke.
“I saw my house real good,” said Sharon Rudder, director of the Lonoke Head Start Program. “I could see the horses, the cows and the barn.”
Mayor Thomas Privett, who pulled off the paper taped over the plane’s new name, was not so lucky.
Privett stood peering out the window without seeing the town, he said later.
About 40 Lonoke-area residents, including several jersey-wearing football players, aldermen Dick Bransford, Michael Florence, Efrem Jones and Wayne McGee, Chamber of Commerce President John Garner and Sean O’Nale, captain of the Lonoke Police Department, were among those who attended the dedication and the City of Lonoke’s maiden flight—if a 43-year-old plane with more than 25,000 air hours on it can be said to have a maiden flight.
O’Nale, himself a member of the 189th Air National Guard Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base, nominated Lonoke for the honor.
O’Nale served a tour of duty in Iraq.
Col. Dwight Balch, commander of the 189th Airlift Wing, dedicated the plane, tail number 62-1784, as City of Lonoke.
For the Air National Guard, which labors in relative obscurity, surrounded at the 6,600 acre Little Rock Air Force Base, the naming ceremonies are a way to publicize both its existence and expertise—tools that could help in recruiting, according to Tech. Sgt. Bob Oldham, the public information officer.
Cabot and Searcy also are among the eight towns with C-130s named for them.
The Air Guard has only 10 C-130s, so when all have been named, the process will start over to honor and educate other Arkansas towns and cities, according to Oldham.
Lonoke resident M. Sgt. Dickey Burgess, with more than 4,000 air hours under his belt, served as flight engineer as the plane flew over Greer’s Ferry Lake and around Lonoke.
The rear cargo door was opened as the City of Lonoke flew over the lake, and someone’s ball cap was whisked out the door, dancing in the slipstream then headed toward the lake.
Prior to the dedication ceremony and flight, Col. Jim Crumpton told the Lonoke guests that the 189th Airlift Wing has been the most decorated Air National Guard unit in the country since it was formed in 1925.
While President Bush is commander in chief of the regular Air Force’s 314th Airlift Wing at the base, the Guard answers to Gov. Huckabee unless it has been mobilized to active duty, said Crumpton, vice commander of the wing.
The 314th trains pilots, navigators, loadmasters, maintainers and others, but the 189th trains the trainers.
Its other duties include disaster relief, dealing with civil unrest and airport security.
In addition to training the teachers, the 189th has an operations group, a maintenance group, a mission support group and a medical group.
Also on the base, taking advantage of administrative services offered by the 189th Airlift wing, is the Guard’s 123rd Intelligence group, which assesses aerial photographs in real time and helps select targets for the war fighters in Iraq and Afghanistan, Oldham said.
Right now, the 189th has 41 volunteers from its civil engineering squadron in Baghdad.
Members of the 189th come from 121 Arkansas towns and cities. Its annual payroll is $21.1 million, with an economic impact around the state estimated at $41.3 million.
Oldham said future recruits would not necessarily come from those attending the Saturday ceremony, but perhaps by word of mouth.
Air Guardsmen can earn a lot toward college, he said, and the threat of deployment into a combat zone is small when compared to the Army Guard.
“We planted a seed,” he said.
While nationally, the National Guard and the Reserves are having trouble meeting recruiting quotas, he said, “On the air side, our wing is at 97 percent capacity.”
“We love to have all these city leaders, businessmen and parents to see what we do on a daily basis,” Oldham said.
“We’ve been the best kept secret for several years. You can’t just drive on base anymore, so this is one way to get people out here to meet our people and see what we do.”
Story and photos by John Hofheimer
hen the Arkansas Air National Guard dubbed a C-130 “City of Lonoke” in a Saturday morning naming ceremony, the highlight—for those not subject to air sickness—was an hour-long flight, including a few turns about 2,000 feet above Lonoke.
“I saw my house real good,” said Sharon Rudder, director of the Lonoke Head Start Program. “I could see the horses, the cows and the barn.”
Mayor Thomas Privett, who pulled off the paper taped over the plane’s new name, was not so lucky.
Privett stood peering out the window without seeing the town, he said later.
About 40 Lonoke-area residents, including several jersey-wearing football players, aldermen Dick Bransford, Michael Florence, Efrem Jones and Wayne McGee, Chamber of Commerce President John Garner and Sean O’Nale, captain of the Lonoke Police Department, were among those who attended the dedication and the City of Lonoke’s maiden flight—if a 43-year-old plane with more than 25,000 air hours on it can be said to have a maiden flight.
O’Nale, himself a member of the 189th Air National Guard Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base, nominated Lonoke for the honor.
O’Nale served a tour of duty in Iraq.
Col. Dwight Balch, commander of the 189th Airlift Wing, dedicated the plane, tail number 62-1784, as City of Lonoke.
For the Air National Guard, which labors in relative obscurity, surrounded at the 6,600 acre Little Rock Air Force Base, the naming ceremonies are a way to publicize both its existence and expertise—tools that could help in recruiting, according to Tech. Sgt. Bob Oldham, the public information officer.
Cabot and Searcy also are among the eight towns with C-130s named for them.
The Air Guard has only 10 C-130s, so when all have been named, the process will start over to honor and educate other Arkansas towns and cities, according to Oldham.
Lonoke resident M. Sgt. Dickey Burgess, with more than 4,000 air hours under his belt, served as flight engineer as the plane flew over Greer’s Ferry Lake and around Lonoke.
The rear cargo door was opened as the City of Lonoke flew over the lake, and someone’s ball cap was whisked out the door, dancing in the slipstream then headed toward the lake.
Prior to the dedication ceremony and flight, Col. Jim Crumpton told the Lonoke guests that the 189th Airlift Wing has been the most decorated Air National Guard unit in the country since it was formed in 1925.
While President Bush is commander in chief of the regular Air Force’s 314th Airlift Wing at the base, the Guard answers to Gov. Huckabee unless it has been mobilized to active duty, said Crumpton, vice commander of the wing.
The 314th trains pilots, navigators, loadmasters, maintainers and others, but the 189th trains the trainers.
Its other duties include disaster relief, dealing with civil unrest and airport security.
In addition to training the teachers, the 189th has an operations group, a maintenance group, a mission support group and a medical group.
Also on the base, taking advantage of administrative services offered by the 189th Airlift wing, is the Guard’s 123rd Intelligence group, which assesses aerial photographs in real time and helps select targets for the war fighters in Iraq and Afghanistan, Oldham said.
Right now, the 189th has 41 volunteers from its civil engineering squadron in Baghdad.
Members of the 189th come from 121 Arkansas towns and cities. Its annual payroll is $21.1 million, with an economic impact around the state estimated at $41.3 million.
Oldham said future recruits would not necessarily come from those attending the Saturday ceremony, but perhaps by word of mouth.
Air Guardsmen can earn a lot toward college, he said, and the threat of deployment into a combat zone is small when compared to the Army Guard.
“We planted a seed,” he said.
While nationally, the National Guard and the Reserves are having trouble meeting recruiting quotas, he said, “On the air side, our wing is at 97 percent capacity.”
“We love to have all these city leaders, businessmen and parents to see what we do on a daily basis,” Oldham said.
“We’ve been the best kept secret for several years. You can’t just drive on base anymore, so this is one way to get people out here to meet our people and see what we do.”
OBITUARIES>> April 6, 2005
BRADY HOOPER
Brady Rudd Hooper, 18 of Cabot died April 3 at his home.
He was born Sept. 29, 1986, in Bowling Green, Ken., to Greg and Sara Lu Rudd Hooper.
Hooper was a senior at Cabot High School where he was an active member of the Air Force Jr. ROTC. Hooper served as Rifle Team Commander and in 2004 he received the Distinguished Cadet Award. He was a member of Cabot First Baptist Church. Brady belonged to the Youth Group, First Student Ministries and Bulgarian Mission Team. He was also in the Delayed Entry Program (DEP) for the U.S. Marines Corp where he was scheduled to join the Corp. following graduation. Brady was preceded in death by his maternal grandmother, Savanna Rudd.
He is survived by his parents, Greg and Sara Lu Hooper of Cabot; two brothers, Ben and Brandon Hooper, both of Cabot; maternal grandfather, Charles and his wife Jackie Rudd of Leesburg, Florida; paternal grandparents, Alvin and Marguerite Hooper of Altamonte Springs, Fla.; aunt, Suzan Hutchinson of Charlotte, N.C., three uncles and their spouses, David and Joann Rudd of Leesburg, Fla., Chuck and Dian Hooper of Ocoee, Fla., Ted and Christy Hooper of Lucedale, Miss.; four cousins.
Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Wednesday at First Baptist Church in Cabot with Rev. Dennis Phelps and Rev. Randy Monroe officiating. Burial will follow at Chapel Hill Memorial Park in Jacksonville.
The family suggests memorials be made to Bulgarian Child, Inc., 7522 Campbell Road, Suite 113-172, Dallas, Texas 74248 or Gideons International, 2900 Lebanon Road, Nashville, Tennessee 37214. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Moore’s Cabot Funeral Home.
VIVIAN NICHOLS
Vivian Irene Nichols, 103, of Jacksonville passed away April 4.
She was a member of Bethel Assembly of God.
She is survived by two daughters, Margaret Hardcastle and Avis Mitchell, both of Jacksonville; sister, Audie Smith, of North Little Rock; grandchildren, J.C. and Mike Hardcastle, Sherry Burton, Tammy Wheat and Karen Johnson and seven great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by three brothers, one sister and her husband, Cleve Nichols.
Memorials may be made to Bethel Assembly of God Building Fund, 7311 West Republican Road, Jacksonville, Arkansas 72076.
Funeral services will be held 11 a.m., Wednesday at North Little Rock Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will be in Chapel Hill Memorial Park. Arrangements by North Little Rock Funeral Home.
WAYNDLLE MOORE
Wayndlle “Lee” Leon Moore, 67, of Jacksonville passed away April 5. He was born Jan. 23, 1938, in Winnsboro, Texas, to Hugh and Doris Patrick Moore.
He retired from the U.S. Air Force after 21 years of service. During his military career he was a Purple Heart recipient and received the Staff Service Medal from the Republic of Vietnam. After his retirement from the Air Force he worked as a police officer for the city of Jacksonville and Sherwood. He was a member of the VFW Post 4548. He was preceded in death by his parents and grandson, Jacob Gray. Survivors include his wife, Linda Moore; children, Gina and Lyle Gray of Tupelo, Miss., Terri and Steven Bennett of Jacksonville, Patrick and Pam Moore of Salinas, Calif., Shawna and Paul McNiel of Cabot, Chad and Tina Moore of Cabot; sister, Sara Demlow of Dallas, Texas, and brother, Gary and Nola Moore of Garland, Texas; grandchildren, Nolan McNiel, Zack McNiel, Brandon Schiefelbein, Kiefer Richmond, Blakley Moore, Allen Duncan, Carie Gobbell, Channille Moore and Jordan Moore; great-grandchildren, Chandler Duncan, Tyler and Brent Gobbell.
Graveside services will be 11 a.m. Thursday in Chapel Hill Memorial Park Cemetery in Jacksonville. Visitation will be Wednesday from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the funeral home. Arrangements by Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
DORIS WELCH
Doris Elaine Welch, 83, passed away April 2.
She was preceded in death by her husband, John Welch and is survived by her sister, Kathyrn Barrett of Lonoke; nieces and nephews, Ruby Gagliano, Peggy Benton and Lon Pool of Lonoke, Jane Shaw of North Little Rock, Margaret Byrd of Jacksonville, Jack Felts of Sheridan, Regina Duckett of Little Rock and Charles Pool of Searcy. Funeral services were held Monday at Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke with interment in Lonoke Cemetery.
HAROLD MCLOUD
Harold Keith McLoud, 36, was taken from us suddenly April 2.
He was preceded in death by his father James H. McLoud. Survivors include his mother, Mary Evelyn McLoud of Lonoke; one brother, Louis Elwood “Woody” McLoud of Seattle, Wash.; aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews along with a loving community of family and friends. Funeral services were held Tuesday at Boyd Funeral Home Chapel in Lonoke. Memorials may be made to Arkansas AIDS Foundation, P.O. Box 1208, Little Rock, AR 72203 or World Vision, P.O. Box 9716, Mail Stop 238, Federal Way, WA 98063-9716 or First United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 152, Lonoke, AR 72086.
Brady Rudd Hooper, 18 of Cabot died April 3 at his home.
He was born Sept. 29, 1986, in Bowling Green, Ken., to Greg and Sara Lu Rudd Hooper.
Hooper was a senior at Cabot High School where he was an active member of the Air Force Jr. ROTC. Hooper served as Rifle Team Commander and in 2004 he received the Distinguished Cadet Award. He was a member of Cabot First Baptist Church. Brady belonged to the Youth Group, First Student Ministries and Bulgarian Mission Team. He was also in the Delayed Entry Program (DEP) for the U.S. Marines Corp where he was scheduled to join the Corp. following graduation. Brady was preceded in death by his maternal grandmother, Savanna Rudd.
He is survived by his parents, Greg and Sara Lu Hooper of Cabot; two brothers, Ben and Brandon Hooper, both of Cabot; maternal grandfather, Charles and his wife Jackie Rudd of Leesburg, Florida; paternal grandparents, Alvin and Marguerite Hooper of Altamonte Springs, Fla.; aunt, Suzan Hutchinson of Charlotte, N.C., three uncles and their spouses, David and Joann Rudd of Leesburg, Fla., Chuck and Dian Hooper of Ocoee, Fla., Ted and Christy Hooper of Lucedale, Miss.; four cousins.
Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Wednesday at First Baptist Church in Cabot with Rev. Dennis Phelps and Rev. Randy Monroe officiating. Burial will follow at Chapel Hill Memorial Park in Jacksonville.
The family suggests memorials be made to Bulgarian Child, Inc., 7522 Campbell Road, Suite 113-172, Dallas, Texas 74248 or Gideons International, 2900 Lebanon Road, Nashville, Tennessee 37214. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Moore’s Cabot Funeral Home.
VIVIAN NICHOLS
Vivian Irene Nichols, 103, of Jacksonville passed away April 4.
She was a member of Bethel Assembly of God.
She is survived by two daughters, Margaret Hardcastle and Avis Mitchell, both of Jacksonville; sister, Audie Smith, of North Little Rock; grandchildren, J.C. and Mike Hardcastle, Sherry Burton, Tammy Wheat and Karen Johnson and seven great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by three brothers, one sister and her husband, Cleve Nichols.
Memorials may be made to Bethel Assembly of God Building Fund, 7311 West Republican Road, Jacksonville, Arkansas 72076.
Funeral services will be held 11 a.m., Wednesday at North Little Rock Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will be in Chapel Hill Memorial Park. Arrangements by North Little Rock Funeral Home.
WAYNDLLE MOORE
Wayndlle “Lee” Leon Moore, 67, of Jacksonville passed away April 5. He was born Jan. 23, 1938, in Winnsboro, Texas, to Hugh and Doris Patrick Moore.
He retired from the U.S. Air Force after 21 years of service. During his military career he was a Purple Heart recipient and received the Staff Service Medal from the Republic of Vietnam. After his retirement from the Air Force he worked as a police officer for the city of Jacksonville and Sherwood. He was a member of the VFW Post 4548. He was preceded in death by his parents and grandson, Jacob Gray. Survivors include his wife, Linda Moore; children, Gina and Lyle Gray of Tupelo, Miss., Terri and Steven Bennett of Jacksonville, Patrick and Pam Moore of Salinas, Calif., Shawna and Paul McNiel of Cabot, Chad and Tina Moore of Cabot; sister, Sara Demlow of Dallas, Texas, and brother, Gary and Nola Moore of Garland, Texas; grandchildren, Nolan McNiel, Zack McNiel, Brandon Schiefelbein, Kiefer Richmond, Blakley Moore, Allen Duncan, Carie Gobbell, Channille Moore and Jordan Moore; great-grandchildren, Chandler Duncan, Tyler and Brent Gobbell.
Graveside services will be 11 a.m. Thursday in Chapel Hill Memorial Park Cemetery in Jacksonville. Visitation will be Wednesday from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the funeral home. Arrangements by Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
DORIS WELCH
Doris Elaine Welch, 83, passed away April 2.
She was preceded in death by her husband, John Welch and is survived by her sister, Kathyrn Barrett of Lonoke; nieces and nephews, Ruby Gagliano, Peggy Benton and Lon Pool of Lonoke, Jane Shaw of North Little Rock, Margaret Byrd of Jacksonville, Jack Felts of Sheridan, Regina Duckett of Little Rock and Charles Pool of Searcy. Funeral services were held Monday at Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke with interment in Lonoke Cemetery.
HAROLD MCLOUD
Harold Keith McLoud, 36, was taken from us suddenly April 2.
He was preceded in death by his father James H. McLoud. Survivors include his mother, Mary Evelyn McLoud of Lonoke; one brother, Louis Elwood “Woody” McLoud of Seattle, Wash.; aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews along with a loving community of family and friends. Funeral services were held Tuesday at Boyd Funeral Home Chapel in Lonoke. Memorials may be made to Arkansas AIDS Foundation, P.O. Box 1208, Little Rock, AR 72203 or World Vision, P.O. Box 9716, Mail Stop 238, Federal Way, WA 98063-9716 or First United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 152, Lonoke, AR 72086.
SPORTS>> Cabot soccer shuts out JHS
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Cabot Panther boys and girls soccer teams swept Jacksonville for the second time this season, and this time it really meant something.
New rules for this season state that conference teams will play each other twice during the regular season, but only the second meeting between each school will count towards the conference record.
Monday’s Cabot victories, 8-0 for the boys and 4-0 for the girls, gives both teams a 1-0 record against AAAAA-East competition.
“That’s the way the rules are, but that’s not how we approach things,” Cabot boys coach Clark Bing said. “We’ve gone into every game with an attitude to play as hard as we can to get the win. Maybe some teams haven’t been as intense about the first meetings, but that’s not how we’ve done it.”
The rules, however, aren’t lost on Bing, who recognizes the magnitude of the upcoming stretch of matches against conference rivals, Searcy, Sylvan Hills, Jonesboro and Mountain Home, all within the next two weeks.
“It’s a very important stretch for us,” Bing said. “We did ok the first time through, but we’ve gotten a chance to watch some film and see some things that we needed to work, and now’s the time to go out and execute it.”
Execute it they did Monday night, piling on five goals before halftime en route to the blowout victory over a short-handed Jacksonville team.
Bing knew that the Red Devils were missing a few key players, but was still pleased with how his team executed.
“Jacksonville is a quality team,” Bing began. “I don’t know the whole situation as far as why they were missing some guys, but they play really hard.
“They’re the best Jacksonville team I’ve seen in a while. They beat a Jonesboro team that we tied, so that says something. I just think this was one of our better games all year. The whole team played really well together. That’s been a strength of ours all year long, but it was really pretty good against Jacksonville.”
Sean Engin performed the hat trick with three goals to lead the Panthers Monday. Rodrigo Alves scored twice while Stuart Leiby, Jonathan Tapia and Chris Faber added one goal apiece.
Engin leads the team in scoring, but overall the Panthers have a balanced attack.
“It’s a plus when you don’t have to rely on one guy to carry you offensively, and we don’t have to do that,” Bing said. “We’ve got about six guys that can put it in the goal for us.”
Bing again went back to team unity as the key ingredient to success, and gave most of the credit to his senior class.
“We’re a real senior-laden team. We have 20 guys and 11 of them are seniors. I’m just really proud of the leadership they’ve shown and cohesiveness they bring to the team.”
The Lady Panthers also got a shutout win. Trina Bell scored with 12 minutes remaining in the second half to give Cabot all the goals it would need for the win.
Junior Kim Sitzmann added three more anyway to set the final margin.
The Cabot boys are 4-1-1 and the girls are 3-3 overall and all the games have been against fellow AAAAA-East teams, but because of the new rules, both teams are technically just 1-0.
Next up for Cabot is the return match against Searcy. The Lions are the only team to beat the Cabot boys this year, a 6-1 shellacking to kick off the season. The Panthers are 4-0-1 since that match, and hope for a better showing Thursday at Searcy.
“That was our first game and it was really an eye-opener,” Bing said. “You’d have to say Searcy is the favorite to win conference, and they gave us an early indication of where we would have to be to compete for it. I know we’ve gotten better since then, but it’s always tough to go to Searcy and get a win. We’re looking forward to it.”
Leader sports editor
The Cabot Panther boys and girls soccer teams swept Jacksonville for the second time this season, and this time it really meant something.
New rules for this season state that conference teams will play each other twice during the regular season, but only the second meeting between each school will count towards the conference record.
Monday’s Cabot victories, 8-0 for the boys and 4-0 for the girls, gives both teams a 1-0 record against AAAAA-East competition.
“That’s the way the rules are, but that’s not how we approach things,” Cabot boys coach Clark Bing said. “We’ve gone into every game with an attitude to play as hard as we can to get the win. Maybe some teams haven’t been as intense about the first meetings, but that’s not how we’ve done it.”
The rules, however, aren’t lost on Bing, who recognizes the magnitude of the upcoming stretch of matches against conference rivals, Searcy, Sylvan Hills, Jonesboro and Mountain Home, all within the next two weeks.
“It’s a very important stretch for us,” Bing said. “We did ok the first time through, but we’ve gotten a chance to watch some film and see some things that we needed to work, and now’s the time to go out and execute it.”
Execute it they did Monday night, piling on five goals before halftime en route to the blowout victory over a short-handed Jacksonville team.
Bing knew that the Red Devils were missing a few key players, but was still pleased with how his team executed.
“Jacksonville is a quality team,” Bing began. “I don’t know the whole situation as far as why they were missing some guys, but they play really hard.
“They’re the best Jacksonville team I’ve seen in a while. They beat a Jonesboro team that we tied, so that says something. I just think this was one of our better games all year. The whole team played really well together. That’s been a strength of ours all year long, but it was really pretty good against Jacksonville.”
Sean Engin performed the hat trick with three goals to lead the Panthers Monday. Rodrigo Alves scored twice while Stuart Leiby, Jonathan Tapia and Chris Faber added one goal apiece.
Engin leads the team in scoring, but overall the Panthers have a balanced attack.
“It’s a plus when you don’t have to rely on one guy to carry you offensively, and we don’t have to do that,” Bing said. “We’ve got about six guys that can put it in the goal for us.”
Bing again went back to team unity as the key ingredient to success, and gave most of the credit to his senior class.
“We’re a real senior-laden team. We have 20 guys and 11 of them are seniors. I’m just really proud of the leadership they’ve shown and cohesiveness they bring to the team.”
The Lady Panthers also got a shutout win. Trina Bell scored with 12 minutes remaining in the second half to give Cabot all the goals it would need for the win.
Junior Kim Sitzmann added three more anyway to set the final margin.
The Cabot boys are 4-1-1 and the girls are 3-3 overall and all the games have been against fellow AAAAA-East teams, but because of the new rules, both teams are technically just 1-0.
Next up for Cabot is the return match against Searcy. The Lions are the only team to beat the Cabot boys this year, a 6-1 shellacking to kick off the season. The Panthers are 4-0-1 since that match, and hope for a better showing Thursday at Searcy.
“That was our first game and it was really an eye-opener,” Bing said. “You’d have to say Searcy is the favorite to win conference, and they gave us an early indication of where we would have to be to compete for it. I know we’ve gotten better since then, but it’s always tough to go to Searcy and get a win. We’re looking forward to it.”
SPORTS>> Errors abound
IN SHORT>> Lady Devils make several mistakes, rebound
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Jacksonville Lady Red Devils were handed their first loss of the season over the weekend in the Lady Goblin Fastpitch Invitational in Harrison.
Eventual tournament champion Bryant handed Jacksonville that loss 4-2, but Lady Devil assistant coach Phil Bradley says the opposite happened, his team handed Bryant the win.
“We gave ‘em every one of their runs,” Bradley said. “We’re not undefeated anymore, but there’s still no one that’s beat us. We gave it away.”
The Lady Hornets only garnered three hits in the game, which was the most in a game off sophomore pitcher Jessica Bock this season, but two throwing errors by catcher Whitney Conrade, and an asleep outfield, gave Bryant all the runs it would need to secure the win.
Both errors came when Bryant was attempting to steal. One throw sailed into centerfield, another to left, and both got by the outfielders and rolled to the fence, and both allowed two runs to score.
Jacksonville rebounded with a 2-0 shutout win over Harrison. Bock piled up another 19 strikeouts in the victory and another no hitter.
The Lady Devils closed the tournament by handing previously undefeated Greenbrier its first loss, 2-1. Conrade atoned for earlier mistakes by picking up the hits that drove in both runs in the game. Her double in the first inning scored Somer Grimes, and her single in the sixth broke a 1-1 tie and became the game winner.
Jacksonville was back at home Monday for a non-conference game against Sheridan. A couple more mistakes gave Sheridan a 1-0 lead, but the Lady Devils tied it in the fifth and scored three in the sixth to prevail 4-1.
Jacksonville’s run in the fifth inning was the only earned run by either team, and was the cause of much controversy.
Whitney Belew entered the game to pinch hit with runners on first and second. She sent a line drive down the right field line that landed fair, but rolled into foul territory, past the temporary fence and all the way to the corner of the main fence.
Both base runners scored easily and Belew was tagged out at home.
After some discussion between the home-plate umpire and the field ump, the ruling was made that it was a ground-rule double.
One run was counted, while Conrade, the runner at first, and Belew were sent back to third and second base and the out at home was erased. Jacksonville couldn’t add another run in the inning, but got three off Sheridan errors in the sixth to secure the victory.
Bock gave up just four hits and recorded a season-low nine strikeouts in the victory. Jacksonville has a 6-1 record on the season.
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Jacksonville Lady Red Devils were handed their first loss of the season over the weekend in the Lady Goblin Fastpitch Invitational in Harrison.
Eventual tournament champion Bryant handed Jacksonville that loss 4-2, but Lady Devil assistant coach Phil Bradley says the opposite happened, his team handed Bryant the win.
“We gave ‘em every one of their runs,” Bradley said. “We’re not undefeated anymore, but there’s still no one that’s beat us. We gave it away.”
The Lady Hornets only garnered three hits in the game, which was the most in a game off sophomore pitcher Jessica Bock this season, but two throwing errors by catcher Whitney Conrade, and an asleep outfield, gave Bryant all the runs it would need to secure the win.
Both errors came when Bryant was attempting to steal. One throw sailed into centerfield, another to left, and both got by the outfielders and rolled to the fence, and both allowed two runs to score.
Jacksonville rebounded with a 2-0 shutout win over Harrison. Bock piled up another 19 strikeouts in the victory and another no hitter.
The Lady Devils closed the tournament by handing previously undefeated Greenbrier its first loss, 2-1. Conrade atoned for earlier mistakes by picking up the hits that drove in both runs in the game. Her double in the first inning scored Somer Grimes, and her single in the sixth broke a 1-1 tie and became the game winner.
Jacksonville was back at home Monday for a non-conference game against Sheridan. A couple more mistakes gave Sheridan a 1-0 lead, but the Lady Devils tied it in the fifth and scored three in the sixth to prevail 4-1.
Jacksonville’s run in the fifth inning was the only earned run by either team, and was the cause of much controversy.
Whitney Belew entered the game to pinch hit with runners on first and second. She sent a line drive down the right field line that landed fair, but rolled into foul territory, past the temporary fence and all the way to the corner of the main fence.
Both base runners scored easily and Belew was tagged out at home.
After some discussion between the home-plate umpire and the field ump, the ruling was made that it was a ground-rule double.
One run was counted, while Conrade, the runner at first, and Belew were sent back to third and second base and the out at home was erased. Jacksonville couldn’t add another run in the inning, but got three off Sheridan errors in the sixth to secure the victory.
Bock gave up just four hits and recorded a season-low nine strikeouts in the victory. Jacksonville has a 6-1 record on the season.
EDITORIAL>> Glover again comes to school's rescue
Tax-increment financing, which in the King’s English means stealing from school children, looked like it was dead a few weeks ago when Attorney General Mike Beebe spelled out clearly what it meant.
Now it has new life in the final days of the General Assembly. Schools and libraries will not be safe from it until the legislature adjourns sine die.
TIF, as the tax gimmick is called, allows local governments to create special development districts to aid private developers who want to build shopping malls or other private developments but want the taxpayers to help foot the bill.
A portion of the property taxes that were voted for schools, libraries or other government entities would be siphoned off for 20 or 30 years to pay for improvements that would benefit the private developer.
Many such districts were underway in prosperous parts of the state until the attorney general said that the money would be drained not just from the local school districts where the developments would occur but from every school and every school child in Arkansas.
But development interests came up with a bill that would exempt some entities from the tax loss, thus diluting the opposition.
Community-college districts, po-lice and firemen’s pension funds and county hospitals would not have any of their taxes transferred to the development under the bill. Schools and libraries, of course, still would bear the burden.
Monday, the bill failed to get out of the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee on a 3-3 vote. Rep. Bobby Glover of Carlisle voted against referring the bill to the Senate and thus kept it tied up.
He deserves the thanks of every school patron in the state.
But the session isn’t over, the bill isn’t dead, and Glover will face pressure to vote the bill out so that the financial interests can work their magic on the Senate floor.
Let us hope that he continues to see his solemn duty to protect the children of our community and the state.
Now it has new life in the final days of the General Assembly. Schools and libraries will not be safe from it until the legislature adjourns sine die.
TIF, as the tax gimmick is called, allows local governments to create special development districts to aid private developers who want to build shopping malls or other private developments but want the taxpayers to help foot the bill.
A portion of the property taxes that were voted for schools, libraries or other government entities would be siphoned off for 20 or 30 years to pay for improvements that would benefit the private developer.
Many such districts were underway in prosperous parts of the state until the attorney general said that the money would be drained not just from the local school districts where the developments would occur but from every school and every school child in Arkansas.
But development interests came up with a bill that would exempt some entities from the tax loss, thus diluting the opposition.
Community-college districts, po-lice and firemen’s pension funds and county hospitals would not have any of their taxes transferred to the development under the bill. Schools and libraries, of course, still would bear the burden.
Monday, the bill failed to get out of the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee on a 3-3 vote. Rep. Bobby Glover of Carlisle voted against referring the bill to the Senate and thus kept it tied up.
He deserves the thanks of every school patron in the state.
But the session isn’t over, the bill isn’t dead, and Glover will face pressure to vote the bill out so that the financial interests can work their magic on the Senate floor.
Let us hope that he continues to see his solemn duty to protect the children of our community and the state.
EDITORIAL>> Lake Maumelle fight not over yet
Not much that the legislature has done in 90 days advanced the public welfare, but it did at least kill a nefarious plan to allow developers to corrupt our drinking water if they could make enough money by doing it.
Friday, Circuit Judge Willard Proctor made that victory for the public manifest by declaring that Central Arkansas Water could condemn 300 acres that developer Rick Ferguson wanted to convert into a residential subdivision on the north shore of Lake Maumelle.
The water company wanted the land to prevent polluting development along the shores of the lake, which it had built for the municipal water supply.
Ferguson had resisted the condemnation by claiming that he was being singled out.
Judge Proctor had held up a ruling while the legislature considered a bill written for Deltic Timber Corp. that would emasculate the utility’s eminent domain authority.
Deltic wanted to build a huge luxury subdivision along the peaks and valleys of the lake’s south shore, right above the intake for the municipal water supply for Central Arkansas cities, including Sherwood, Jacksonville and Cabot.
The bill sailed through the Senate in near record time but eventually died in the Cities, Counties and Local Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, chaired by Jacksonville’s Will Bond. Bond and House Speaker Bill Stovall of Quit-man were pivotal in stopping the bill.
But the water supply still isn’t safe from polluters, not yet. Deltic, the giant timber and development company that was spun off from the global petroleum giant, Murphy Corp. of El Dorado, still intends to exploit the gorgeous scenery that it acquired along the lake. The bill will resurface in the 2007 regular session of the legislature, or earlier at a special legislative session if it can change the dynamics of the House before the next election and get the support of Gov. Mike Huckabee, who would control the agenda at a special session.
That is why it is essential that Central Arkansas Water move swiftly to consolidate its victory. It can do that by beginning condemnation proceedings against the Deltic land sooner rather than later.
Stovall, whose stubborn insistence that the Deltic bill not become law on his watch, will not be the speaker in 2007.
Chances are that the speaker will be Rep. Benny Petrus of Stuttgart, a supporter of the bill and a minion of corporate interests like Deltic. Petrus and Bond are the candidates for speaker in 2007.
Deltic’s swarm of lobbyists have operated a hospitality room from Petrus’ private apartment in the state-owned Capitol Hill Building across the street from the Capitol.
Deltic and other friendly interests will be lining up commitments from legislators to vote for Petrus in the speaker election.
So you thought it would be illegal, or at least unethical, for private lobbying operations to be run from public property?
This is the Arkansas legislature. There is no time for nettlesome ethical questions.
There is too much private greed to be assuaged.
Friday, Circuit Judge Willard Proctor made that victory for the public manifest by declaring that Central Arkansas Water could condemn 300 acres that developer Rick Ferguson wanted to convert into a residential subdivision on the north shore of Lake Maumelle.
The water company wanted the land to prevent polluting development along the shores of the lake, which it had built for the municipal water supply.
Ferguson had resisted the condemnation by claiming that he was being singled out.
Judge Proctor had held up a ruling while the legislature considered a bill written for Deltic Timber Corp. that would emasculate the utility’s eminent domain authority.
Deltic wanted to build a huge luxury subdivision along the peaks and valleys of the lake’s south shore, right above the intake for the municipal water supply for Central Arkansas cities, including Sherwood, Jacksonville and Cabot.
The bill sailed through the Senate in near record time but eventually died in the Cities, Counties and Local Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, chaired by Jacksonville’s Will Bond. Bond and House Speaker Bill Stovall of Quit-man were pivotal in stopping the bill.
But the water supply still isn’t safe from polluters, not yet. Deltic, the giant timber and development company that was spun off from the global petroleum giant, Murphy Corp. of El Dorado, still intends to exploit the gorgeous scenery that it acquired along the lake. The bill will resurface in the 2007 regular session of the legislature, or earlier at a special legislative session if it can change the dynamics of the House before the next election and get the support of Gov. Mike Huckabee, who would control the agenda at a special session.
That is why it is essential that Central Arkansas Water move swiftly to consolidate its victory. It can do that by beginning condemnation proceedings against the Deltic land sooner rather than later.
Stovall, whose stubborn insistence that the Deltic bill not become law on his watch, will not be the speaker in 2007.
Chances are that the speaker will be Rep. Benny Petrus of Stuttgart, a supporter of the bill and a minion of corporate interests like Deltic. Petrus and Bond are the candidates for speaker in 2007.
Deltic’s swarm of lobbyists have operated a hospitality room from Petrus’ private apartment in the state-owned Capitol Hill Building across the street from the Capitol.
Deltic and other friendly interests will be lining up commitments from legislators to vote for Petrus in the speaker election.
So you thought it would be illegal, or at least unethical, for private lobbying operations to be run from public property?
This is the Arkansas legislature. There is no time for nettlesome ethical questions.
There is too much private greed to be assuaged.
TOP STORY>> C-130J called ‘magnificent’
Plane performs well, but its future uncertain, general says
BY GARRICK FELDMAN
Publisher
Lt. Gen. John R. Baker, vice commander of Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., flew a new C-130J transport plane to Little Rock Air Force Base on Tuesday afternoon and pulled up between two hangars.
It was a tight fit, but he had perfectly taxied up to a crowd of airmen and local dignitaries who, under overcast skies, watched the arrival of the $66.5 million plane from Marietta, Ga., where Lockheed-Martin manufactures the C-130Js, whose future production is in doubt as the Bush administration is looking to save $5 billion by eliminating dozens of airplanes, ships and weapons programs from the defense budget.
The general, who later told us he had no idea if the C-130J will stay in production, stepped off the plane and looked like he had enjoyed his flight and hoped Lockheed-Martin would keep making the planes.
After the plane’s engines were turned off, Baker addressed the crowd that had gathered in front of the huge C-130J maintenance hangar. Since they are bigger than the old transport planes, the C-130Js need bigger hangars and have their own flight simulator training center not far from the hangar.
Baker said it was good to be back in Arkansas, where he plans to retire someday. Looking like a pilot who couldn’t be more pleased with his new plane, he declared the C-130J “a magnificent machine. It’s performing extremely well, despite what you might have read.”
Recent newspaper reports have pointed out problems with the plane, including engine troubles, as well as an inability to airdrop supplies, discharge paratroopers, conduct search-and-rescue missions and function well in cold weather.
During a press conference, Baker said those problems were cited in a report that is two years old.
He insisted that “85 to 90 percent of the problems have been fixed.”
“Commanders love it,” he added.
A newspaper recently reported that the C-130J was kept out of Iraq because of the alleged flaws, but Baker said that wasn’t true.
“It’s been in combat and is doing extremely well,” he insisted.
He sounded like someone who didn’t want the bean counters in the Pentagon to kill the new plane.
Critics point out that the plane’s cost has gone up more than 30 percent from the original $50 million price tag from a decade ago.
They think the C-130Js are not as good as the old Hercules planes that have flown for half a century, although Baker insists the new planes are far superior to the old C-130s.
Col. Timothy B. Vining, the inspector general with the 314th Airlift Wing at the air base, called the arrival of the C-130J “a great day for our base, our community and our country.”
“The delivery of our second C-130J model represents the continuing evolution of Little Rock Air Force Base and our mission to serve our country,” Vining continued.
“We welcome the magnificent aircraft to our inventory and look forward to using it to train C-130 crew members fully prepared to serve in combat and humanitarian relief missions around the globe,” the inspector general said.
Vining gave the general a ceremonial key “that symbolizes the official delivery of Aircraft 03-3142 to the C-130 Center of Excellence.”
The base should receive five more C-130Js this year, but that could be it, unless Congress gets its way and keeps funding production.
Congress and the Air Force love the plane, arguing that the aging C-130s, many of them 40 years old and grounded because of cracked wings and other problems, are long overdue for replacement.
Baker made the same point, saying that as the old Hercules become less dependable, the military needs a new backup transport plane.
“If we’re going to have problems with the Hercules, we need to replace them with the C-130Js,” he said.
The debate over the fate of the C-130Js continues in Congress and at the Pentagon.
“I have no idea of its outcome,” the general told us.
BY GARRICK FELDMAN
Publisher
Lt. Gen. John R. Baker, vice commander of Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., flew a new C-130J transport plane to Little Rock Air Force Base on Tuesday afternoon and pulled up between two hangars.
It was a tight fit, but he had perfectly taxied up to a crowd of airmen and local dignitaries who, under overcast skies, watched the arrival of the $66.5 million plane from Marietta, Ga., where Lockheed-Martin manufactures the C-130Js, whose future production is in doubt as the Bush administration is looking to save $5 billion by eliminating dozens of airplanes, ships and weapons programs from the defense budget.
The general, who later told us he had no idea if the C-130J will stay in production, stepped off the plane and looked like he had enjoyed his flight and hoped Lockheed-Martin would keep making the planes.
After the plane’s engines were turned off, Baker addressed the crowd that had gathered in front of the huge C-130J maintenance hangar. Since they are bigger than the old transport planes, the C-130Js need bigger hangars and have their own flight simulator training center not far from the hangar.
Baker said it was good to be back in Arkansas, where he plans to retire someday. Looking like a pilot who couldn’t be more pleased with his new plane, he declared the C-130J “a magnificent machine. It’s performing extremely well, despite what you might have read.”
Recent newspaper reports have pointed out problems with the plane, including engine troubles, as well as an inability to airdrop supplies, discharge paratroopers, conduct search-and-rescue missions and function well in cold weather.
During a press conference, Baker said those problems were cited in a report that is two years old.
He insisted that “85 to 90 percent of the problems have been fixed.”
“Commanders love it,” he added.
A newspaper recently reported that the C-130J was kept out of Iraq because of the alleged flaws, but Baker said that wasn’t true.
“It’s been in combat and is doing extremely well,” he insisted.
He sounded like someone who didn’t want the bean counters in the Pentagon to kill the new plane.
Critics point out that the plane’s cost has gone up more than 30 percent from the original $50 million price tag from a decade ago.
They think the C-130Js are not as good as the old Hercules planes that have flown for half a century, although Baker insists the new planes are far superior to the old C-130s.
Col. Timothy B. Vining, the inspector general with the 314th Airlift Wing at the air base, called the arrival of the C-130J “a great day for our base, our community and our country.”
“The delivery of our second C-130J model represents the continuing evolution of Little Rock Air Force Base and our mission to serve our country,” Vining continued.
“We welcome the magnificent aircraft to our inventory and look forward to using it to train C-130 crew members fully prepared to serve in combat and humanitarian relief missions around the globe,” the inspector general said.
Vining gave the general a ceremonial key “that symbolizes the official delivery of Aircraft 03-3142 to the C-130 Center of Excellence.”
The base should receive five more C-130Js this year, but that could be it, unless Congress gets its way and keeps funding production.
Congress and the Air Force love the plane, arguing that the aging C-130s, many of them 40 years old and grounded because of cracked wings and other problems, are long overdue for replacement.
Baker made the same point, saying that as the old Hercules become less dependable, the military needs a new backup transport plane.
“If we’re going to have problems with the Hercules, we need to replace them with the C-130Js,” he said.
The debate over the fate of the C-130Js continues in Congress and at the Pentagon.
“I have no idea of its outcome,” the general told us.
TOP STORY>> Catholics celebrate pope’s life
IN SHORT>> Catholics pause to remember the Holy Father’s passing in local masses. Services are planned for the rest of the week.
By RICK KRON and SARA GREENE
Leader staff writers
Jacksonville Catholics gathered for Mass Tuesday night to celebrate the life and mourn the death of the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II. St. Jude the Apostle Catholic Church on McArthur Drive honored the pope throughout weekend masses and during a Monday night rosary service.
Masses, rosary and funeral vigils are planned for the rest of the week at area Catholic churches such as St. Jude’s and Immaculate Conception.
The pope’s funeral Mass and burial will take place Friday in St. Peter’s Basilica. St. Jude will have a Mass at 8 a.m. Friday, and there will be a memorial Mass at St. Andrews Cathedral in Little Rock at noon.
Immaculate Conception in North Little Rock will hold a funeral vigil on Thursday night and a memorial Mass on Friday.
John Paul II’s death on Saturday has caused both contemplative pause and a flurry of activity within the Roman Catholic world.
“We treat the Holy Father’s death as we would the death of a member of our own parish,” said Father Les Farley of St. Jude’s.
Farley has been a priest for 11 years and this is the first time he has dealt with a pontiff’s death. For many young Catholics Pope John Paul has been the only pontiff they’ve ever known.
“We don’t want to look too far in the future in regards to who the next pope will be. We want to pay proper respect to the Holy Father,” the priest said.
Jeanne Tucker of Sherwood said Pope John Paul was “one of the most charismatic and outspoken” popes in history.
“He opened up the Catholic Church and the world. You could just look at him and tell he was a good person. He will be greatly missed,” she said.
Even though Tucker has the highest respect for the pope and his accomplishments, she still feels he did let pass the chance to make some important reforms in the church.
“Our lack of priests has been a major issue. Too many good people are leaving the calling of the church to marry and have families. I would have liked to see the pope allow priests to marry,” Tucker said.
For Jacksonville’s Michael Goodman, John Paul was the only pope he’s known.
“I was born the same year that he was selected. He was a great pope. I hope that the next one will have similar views and be equally outspoken,” Goodman said.
Catholics like Goodman aren’t the only ones talking about the new pope. In Ireland, Paddy Power, a popular online betting service, is placing odds and taking bets on who the next pope will be.
According to Paddy’s, an Italian and a Nigerian cardinal are neck-and-neck to be selected as the next pope.
John Paul followed by just John or just Paul are the top bets for the new pope’s papal name.
By RICK KRON and SARA GREENE
Leader staff writers
Jacksonville Catholics gathered for Mass Tuesday night to celebrate the life and mourn the death of the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II. St. Jude the Apostle Catholic Church on McArthur Drive honored the pope throughout weekend masses and during a Monday night rosary service.
Masses, rosary and funeral vigils are planned for the rest of the week at area Catholic churches such as St. Jude’s and Immaculate Conception.
The pope’s funeral Mass and burial will take place Friday in St. Peter’s Basilica. St. Jude will have a Mass at 8 a.m. Friday, and there will be a memorial Mass at St. Andrews Cathedral in Little Rock at noon.
Immaculate Conception in North Little Rock will hold a funeral vigil on Thursday night and a memorial Mass on Friday.
John Paul II’s death on Saturday has caused both contemplative pause and a flurry of activity within the Roman Catholic world.
“We treat the Holy Father’s death as we would the death of a member of our own parish,” said Father Les Farley of St. Jude’s.
Farley has been a priest for 11 years and this is the first time he has dealt with a pontiff’s death. For many young Catholics Pope John Paul has been the only pontiff they’ve ever known.
“We don’t want to look too far in the future in regards to who the next pope will be. We want to pay proper respect to the Holy Father,” the priest said.
Jeanne Tucker of Sherwood said Pope John Paul was “one of the most charismatic and outspoken” popes in history.
“He opened up the Catholic Church and the world. You could just look at him and tell he was a good person. He will be greatly missed,” she said.
Even though Tucker has the highest respect for the pope and his accomplishments, she still feels he did let pass the chance to make some important reforms in the church.
“Our lack of priests has been a major issue. Too many good people are leaving the calling of the church to marry and have families. I would have liked to see the pope allow priests to marry,” Tucker said.
For Jacksonville’s Michael Goodman, John Paul was the only pope he’s known.
“I was born the same year that he was selected. He was a great pope. I hope that the next one will have similar views and be equally outspoken,” Goodman said.
Catholics like Goodman aren’t the only ones talking about the new pope. In Ireland, Paddy Power, a popular online betting service, is placing odds and taking bets on who the next pope will be.
According to Paddy’s, an Italian and a Nigerian cardinal are neck-and-neck to be selected as the next pope.
John Paul followed by just John or just Paul are the top bets for the new pope’s papal name.
TOP STORY>> Bill would open up clemency process
IN SHORT>> Cited for “mastery of the legislative process,” Sen. Bobby Glover has crafted a more rigorous, transparent clemency and pardon and parole bill that seems headed to become law.
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
With the apparent blessing of Gov. Mike Huckabee, state Sen. Bobby Glover’s bill to make the clemency process more transparent passed the Senate on Monday 34-1 and was forwarded to the House, where it landed in the House Judiciary Committee.
“During this whole session, we’ve passed bills to soften sentencing (to help with jail) overcrowding,” said Glover, the Car-lisle Democrat. “We’ve finally done something for the victims of crime.”
“Sen. Glover deserves a lot of credit for picking this issue up for crime victims and law enforcement officers,” said Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley. “We got torpedoed earlier with SB190, but he was dogged making the (clem-ency) process more accountable.”
“Glover has mastery of the legislative process,” he added.
“Glover backed us up after we had trouble getting SB190 out of committee,” said Jegley. “He met with the governor’s representatives and crafted a compromise that I and other prosecutors could support to ensure accountability.”
Lonoke County Prosecutor Lona McCastlain was enthusiastic about the bill. “Bobby has worked so hard on this and he’s come up with something that everybody can live with. We support it.”
Its new provisions would require the governor to file his reasons for granting each clemency, pardon or parole. The bill would prohibit a prisoner-applicant whose clemency petition was denied from applying again for four years. Currently, an inmate may apply yearly.
Glover’s bill would give the Post Pardon Transfer Board subpoena power and require it to conduct an investigation of each person applying for clemency, pardon or parole.
After the board made a recommendation, the governor would have 240 days to act on the application.
Glover said the increased time is intended to take the haste out of the governor’s deliberation.
It would require notification of victims or their families, and the appropriate law enforcement offices and prosecutors of the application and allow time for their responses.
Applicants would have to sign their petitions under oath and include certified copies of the judgment and commitment orders.
The clemency process and the governor’s use of it became an issue to central Arkansans last year when Huckabee announced his intention last year to grant clemency to three convicted murderers.
One of those was Glen M. Green, the Little Rock Air Force Base sergeant who attempted to rape, then beat to death and threw in Bayou Meto Helen Lynette Spencer, a Gravel Ridge teenager. He was sentenced to life in prison in May 1976.
Green was convicted for beating Spencer with martial arts fighting sticks, running over her with a car and throwing her partially nude body off a bridge, but the governor wouldn’t have known that from reading Green’s application for executive clemency and commutation of his sentence.
“This is an agreed-upon bill,” said Glover, meaning that Huckabee agreed with it and would sign it if passed.
“It shouldn’t have much problem (in the House),” said the senator.
He said he didn’t know who would handle the bill for him in the house judiciary committee.
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
With the apparent blessing of Gov. Mike Huckabee, state Sen. Bobby Glover’s bill to make the clemency process more transparent passed the Senate on Monday 34-1 and was forwarded to the House, where it landed in the House Judiciary Committee.
“During this whole session, we’ve passed bills to soften sentencing (to help with jail) overcrowding,” said Glover, the Car-lisle Democrat. “We’ve finally done something for the victims of crime.”
“Sen. Glover deserves a lot of credit for picking this issue up for crime victims and law enforcement officers,” said Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley. “We got torpedoed earlier with SB190, but he was dogged making the (clem-ency) process more accountable.”
“Glover has mastery of the legislative process,” he added.
“Glover backed us up after we had trouble getting SB190 out of committee,” said Jegley. “He met with the governor’s representatives and crafted a compromise that I and other prosecutors could support to ensure accountability.”
Lonoke County Prosecutor Lona McCastlain was enthusiastic about the bill. “Bobby has worked so hard on this and he’s come up with something that everybody can live with. We support it.”
Its new provisions would require the governor to file his reasons for granting each clemency, pardon or parole. The bill would prohibit a prisoner-applicant whose clemency petition was denied from applying again for four years. Currently, an inmate may apply yearly.
Glover’s bill would give the Post Pardon Transfer Board subpoena power and require it to conduct an investigation of each person applying for clemency, pardon or parole.
After the board made a recommendation, the governor would have 240 days to act on the application.
Glover said the increased time is intended to take the haste out of the governor’s deliberation.
It would require notification of victims or their families, and the appropriate law enforcement offices and prosecutors of the application and allow time for their responses.
Applicants would have to sign their petitions under oath and include certified copies of the judgment and commitment orders.
The clemency process and the governor’s use of it became an issue to central Arkansans last year when Huckabee announced his intention last year to grant clemency to three convicted murderers.
One of those was Glen M. Green, the Little Rock Air Force Base sergeant who attempted to rape, then beat to death and threw in Bayou Meto Helen Lynette Spencer, a Gravel Ridge teenager. He was sentenced to life in prison in May 1976.
Green was convicted for beating Spencer with martial arts fighting sticks, running over her with a car and throwing her partially nude body off a bridge, but the governor wouldn’t have known that from reading Green’s application for executive clemency and commutation of his sentence.
“This is an agreed-upon bill,” said Glover, meaning that Huckabee agreed with it and would sign it if passed.
“It shouldn’t have much problem (in the House),” said the senator.
He said he didn’t know who would handle the bill for him in the house judiciary committee.
TOP STORY>> Cabot to vote on higher taxes for projects
IN SHORT: Public to decide in two months if higher mills should pay for community center, railroad overpass.
The Cabot City Council, meeting in special session Monday night, agreed to let voters decide if they’ll pay higher taxes to fund the community center and the railroad overpass on Polk Street.
Voters will be asked in less than two months to increase city millage from 3.5 to 4.5 and pass $2 million in bonds for both projects.
If passed, the increase would add about $20 to the tax on a $100,000 home.
Alderman Patrick Hutton was the only holdout to a unanimous voice vote to have City Attorney Ken Williams draft the ordinances that would be the ballot titles for the election.
During discussion about funding the two projects, Hutton talked about creating a priority list of city projects and fund them as cash becomes available.
He remained silent during the vote, saying neither “yea” nor “nay” when the mayor asked who was for or against the election.
Hutton said after the meeting that he thought if was important to present options to increasing city taxes.
“I just didn’t want it to be a rubber stamp,” he said.
Alderman David Polantz, who was shut out on every piece of legislation he tried to get before the council last month, carried the discussion on the proposed millage increase during the Monday night meeting. It was his idea, and he told the council he had worked several hours to provide the information they needed to know about the proposal.
The millage increase would bring in about $180,000 a year, according to Dale Walker, city finance director, more than enough to pay back 20-year-bonds for $2 million.
Polantz told the council that even though it is uncertain whether federal money that will pay for 80 percent of the railroad overpass will be available this year, it would be far worse for the money to be there and the city not have its 20 percent match of about $1 million.
The overpass is actually scheduled for 2008, but Jim McKenzie, executive director of Metroplan, the agency in Little Rock that distributes federal highway dollars, says it is likely Little Rock will not be ready for some of its projects this year, so Cabot’s overpass could move ahead.
The city is short about $1.2 million on the bid construction price of $4.2 million for the new community center. The city has saved about $260,000 toward the overpass and Union Pacific has agreed to pay at least $75,000. So bonds of $2 million would allow both projects to begin this year.
The council agreed that the ballots also would say that the millage would be rolled back once the bonds are retired.
Construction was supposed to begin in January on a $3.5 million community center but when the bids were opened in December, the low bid, which did not include the already completed dirt work was $4.2 million.
The plans drawn by Taggart, Foster, Currence and Gray Architects, Inc., of Little Rock included a basketball gymnasium and a swimming pool. When the bids came in high, Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh told the architects to redesign it to cost less while retaining all the amenities voters approved almost two years ago. The architects made some changes, but not enough that the center could be built with available funds.
Polantz told the council Monday night that if voters turn down the millage increase, the council will have some hard decisions to make in June about paying for the overpass and community center.
Since safety is the driving force behind construction of the overpass, it should take priority over the community center, he said.
With more businesses coming to Cabot, the city sales tax will likely bring in about $200,000 more than anticipated this year, Polantz told the council. So the city could borrow the money for the overpass and pay it back within five years as state law now allows, he said.
The mayor agreed that was an option but said it would be difficult to pay back 600,000 in five years.
For about two months, Polantz has talked about increasing franchise fees for businesses like the electric companies and gas companies that do business in Cabot. Polantz proposes using the money to establish a city-owned and operated ambulance service.
The city attorney told the council that his research shows the gas company charges a franchise fee of $2 a year for each meter. Last year that amounted to $9,000 in the city coffers. But if the city increased that fee to 4.25 percent as allowed by state law, the gas company would have to pay the city about $200,000 a year.
The council made no decision about increasing franchise fees, which also would be a tax increase for city residents.
Hutton said such an increase might make it unnecessary to increase the city millage, but Polantz and other members of the council said franchise fees would not legally support a bond issue and neither would they be available in time to start the railroad overpass.
The Cabot City Council, meeting in special session Monday night, agreed to let voters decide if they’ll pay higher taxes to fund the community center and the railroad overpass on Polk Street.
Voters will be asked in less than two months to increase city millage from 3.5 to 4.5 and pass $2 million in bonds for both projects.
If passed, the increase would add about $20 to the tax on a $100,000 home.
Alderman Patrick Hutton was the only holdout to a unanimous voice vote to have City Attorney Ken Williams draft the ordinances that would be the ballot titles for the election.
During discussion about funding the two projects, Hutton talked about creating a priority list of city projects and fund them as cash becomes available.
He remained silent during the vote, saying neither “yea” nor “nay” when the mayor asked who was for or against the election.
Hutton said after the meeting that he thought if was important to present options to increasing city taxes.
“I just didn’t want it to be a rubber stamp,” he said.
Alderman David Polantz, who was shut out on every piece of legislation he tried to get before the council last month, carried the discussion on the proposed millage increase during the Monday night meeting. It was his idea, and he told the council he had worked several hours to provide the information they needed to know about the proposal.
The millage increase would bring in about $180,000 a year, according to Dale Walker, city finance director, more than enough to pay back 20-year-bonds for $2 million.
Polantz told the council that even though it is uncertain whether federal money that will pay for 80 percent of the railroad overpass will be available this year, it would be far worse for the money to be there and the city not have its 20 percent match of about $1 million.
The overpass is actually scheduled for 2008, but Jim McKenzie, executive director of Metroplan, the agency in Little Rock that distributes federal highway dollars, says it is likely Little Rock will not be ready for some of its projects this year, so Cabot’s overpass could move ahead.
The city is short about $1.2 million on the bid construction price of $4.2 million for the new community center. The city has saved about $260,000 toward the overpass and Union Pacific has agreed to pay at least $75,000. So bonds of $2 million would allow both projects to begin this year.
The council agreed that the ballots also would say that the millage would be rolled back once the bonds are retired.
Construction was supposed to begin in January on a $3.5 million community center but when the bids were opened in December, the low bid, which did not include the already completed dirt work was $4.2 million.
The plans drawn by Taggart, Foster, Currence and Gray Architects, Inc., of Little Rock included a basketball gymnasium and a swimming pool. When the bids came in high, Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh told the architects to redesign it to cost less while retaining all the amenities voters approved almost two years ago. The architects made some changes, but not enough that the center could be built with available funds.
Polantz told the council Monday night that if voters turn down the millage increase, the council will have some hard decisions to make in June about paying for the overpass and community center.
Since safety is the driving force behind construction of the overpass, it should take priority over the community center, he said.
With more businesses coming to Cabot, the city sales tax will likely bring in about $200,000 more than anticipated this year, Polantz told the council. So the city could borrow the money for the overpass and pay it back within five years as state law now allows, he said.
The mayor agreed that was an option but said it would be difficult to pay back 600,000 in five years.
For about two months, Polantz has talked about increasing franchise fees for businesses like the electric companies and gas companies that do business in Cabot. Polantz proposes using the money to establish a city-owned and operated ambulance service.
The city attorney told the council that his research shows the gas company charges a franchise fee of $2 a year for each meter. Last year that amounted to $9,000 in the city coffers. But if the city increased that fee to 4.25 percent as allowed by state law, the gas company would have to pay the city about $200,000 a year.
The council made no decision about increasing franchise fees, which also would be a tax increase for city residents.
Hutton said such an increase might make it unnecessary to increase the city millage, but Polantz and other members of the council said franchise fees would not legally support a bond issue and neither would they be available in time to start the railroad overpass.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
TOP STORIES>> Center to help abused youngsters
IN SHORT>> The couple who lost their son after a child predator molested him and dozens of children have honored their son’s memory with the opening of the Wade Knox Child Advocacy Center in Lonoke.
BY BRIAN RODRIGUEZ
Leader Staff writer
The parents of a young man who committed suicide after years of sexual abuse by an uncle are honoring their son’s memory with a child advocacy center that will help abused children get counseling.
Karen and Charlie Knox of Lonoke, whose son Wade committed suicide in 2003, had been wondering how to help other families avoid what their son went through. Then they got a call from the prosecutor’s office about using Wade Knox’s name for the child advocacy center.
The Knoxes donated office space at 1524 N. Center St., Lonoke, and utilities for two years to get the Wade Knox Child Advocacy Center started.
“We just feel like this is the least we can do to help children and to help our community,” said Karen Knox.
She said she has been impressed with the help community members have had in putting together the center, which will be a gathering place for professionals who will pull their resources together as they help youngsters with problems.
Norene Smith, a former Lonoke County deputy prosecutor, said the idea of creating a center began in October 2003 and that she was parents trusted enough to be their children’s guardian in the event of their deaths, a long-time Boy Scout leader and the son of a prominent attorney who became a respected county judge.
Walls’ good standing in the community helped hide his secret life as a sexual predator: He had sexually abused Wade Knox for about 10 years and several other Lonoke County boys over 30 years.
“Tell them how you screwed up my life,” Wade Knox was reported saying as he held a gun to Walls in front of his parents, Karen and Charlie Knox.
“It’s all true,” Walls admitted.
Despite the admission, Karen Knox said she didn’t know what “it” was — that Walls had sexually abused not only Wade Knox, but countless others as well.
Her husband, Charlie, spent his evenings talking to the boys for about a month. He started with the ones they thought might have been Walls’ victims, she said. Then, those boys pointed him to other victims.
By the time he stopped searching for victims, Knox had found about 30 boys, who all told him the same stories about how Walls won their confidence, molested them, then kept them quiet with threats.
He gave them alcohol, pornography and the services of prostitutes. But always there was the threat that his ever-present guns could be used on them. He told them he would kill them, and they didn’t doubt it.
Karen Knox had said he had been the man who could reach her sons when she and her husband could not. Walls had stood with her in church to pray. They had shared family meals. He was the one she wanted to raise her children if anything ever happened to her and her husband.
“We took care of his girls while he was raping our boys,” she said.
The police investigation that followed produced about 30 victims in addition to the first 30 Charlie found. Authorities suspect there might have been many more.
Heath Stocks, 28, one of Walls’ last victims, said he killed his father, mother and younger sister to protect Walls. His mother caught them in bed together, and he and Walls feared she would tell the authorities.
Stocks is serving a life sentence without parole for capital murder. He began his sentence June 6, 1997, and is being held at the Maximum Security Unit in Tucker.
According to speculation on the Heath Stocks web site, www.heathstocks.com, the actual number of victims may be closer to 150 because the first incident reportedly happened when Walls was only 22. According to the web site, arrangements were made for him to join the military and do a stint in Vietnam to escape investigators.
Walls is serving three life terms, plus three 40-year terms, for six counts of rape. He began his sentence Feb. 4, 1998, and is being held at the Eastern Arkansas Regional Unit in Brickeys.
He was charged with only six counts of rape because of the Arkansas statute of limitations.
BY BRIAN RODRIGUEZ
Leader Staff writer
The parents of a young man who committed suicide after years of sexual abuse by an uncle are honoring their son’s memory with a child advocacy center that will help abused children get counseling.
Karen and Charlie Knox of Lonoke, whose son Wade committed suicide in 2003, had been wondering how to help other families avoid what their son went through. Then they got a call from the prosecutor’s office about using Wade Knox’s name for the child advocacy center.
The Knoxes donated office space at 1524 N. Center St., Lonoke, and utilities for two years to get the Wade Knox Child Advocacy Center started.
“We just feel like this is the least we can do to help children and to help our community,” said Karen Knox.
She said she has been impressed with the help community members have had in putting together the center, which will be a gathering place for professionals who will pull their resources together as they help youngsters with problems.
Norene Smith, a former Lonoke County deputy prosecutor, said the idea of creating a center began in October 2003 and that she was parents trusted enough to be their children’s guardian in the event of their deaths, a long-time Boy Scout leader and the son of a prominent attorney who became a respected county judge.
Walls’ good standing in the community helped hide his secret life as a sexual predator: He had sexually abused Wade Knox for about 10 years and several other Lonoke County boys over 30 years.
“Tell them how you screwed up my life,” Wade Knox was reported saying as he held a gun to Walls in front of his parents, Karen and Charlie Knox.
“It’s all true,” Walls admitted.
Despite the admission, Karen Knox said she didn’t know what “it” was — that Walls had sexually abused not only Wade Knox, but countless others as well.
Her husband, Charlie, spent his evenings talking to the boys for about a month. He started with the ones they thought might have been Walls’ victims, she said. Then, those boys pointed him to other victims.
By the time he stopped searching for victims, Knox had found about 30 boys, who all told him the same stories about how Walls won their confidence, molested them, then kept them quiet with threats.
He gave them alcohol, pornography and the services of prostitutes. But always there was the threat that his ever-present guns could be used on them. He told them he would kill them, and they didn’t doubt it.
Karen Knox had said he had been the man who could reach her sons when she and her husband could not. Walls had stood with her in church to pray. They had shared family meals. He was the one she wanted to raise her children if anything ever happened to her and her husband.
“We took care of his girls while he was raping our boys,” she said.
The police investigation that followed produced about 30 victims in addition to the first 30 Charlie found. Authorities suspect there might have been many more.
Heath Stocks, 28, one of Walls’ last victims, said he killed his father, mother and younger sister to protect Walls. His mother caught them in bed together, and he and Walls feared she would tell the authorities.
Stocks is serving a life sentence without parole for capital murder. He began his sentence June 6, 1997, and is being held at the Maximum Security Unit in Tucker.
According to speculation on the Heath Stocks web site, www.heathstocks.com, the actual number of victims may be closer to 150 because the first incident reportedly happened when Walls was only 22. According to the web site, arrangements were made for him to join the military and do a stint in Vietnam to escape investigators.
Walls is serving three life terms, plus three 40-year terms, for six counts of rape. He began his sentence Feb. 4, 1998, and is being held at the Eastern Arkansas Regional Unit in Brickeys.
He was charged with only six counts of rape because of the Arkansas statute of limitations.
OBITUARIES
WAYNE LOFTIN
Wayne Loftin, 69, died March 28. He was born Jan. 8, 1936, in McRae. He retired from Affiliated Foods after 27 years of service. He was previously employed by Central Arkansas Milk Producers Associa-tion and Associated Milk Producers Association for many years.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Gaines and Pauline Loftin. He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Bobbie Neal; son Doug Loftin and wife Cindy of Bryant; daughters Charlotte of Cut Bank, Montana and Tonya Alkire and husband David Pike of Pangburn; three grandchildren, Wesley and wife Shelly of Alexander, Aaron of Bryant and Alison Alkire of Pangburn; brothers, Hiram “Junior” and wife Roberta of Memphis, Tenn., Ron and wife Fran of Homestead, Fla.; sisters Jamell Short and husband Bill of Conway, Willa Dean Hill and husband Dean of Silafee, Texas; several nieces and nephews and numerous friends and family.
Visitation begins at noon Wednesday at Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe, with family receiving friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Westbrook Funeral Home, with burial in Antioch Cemetery. Charles Curlie, Travis Hall, Larry Reynolds, Raysel Bradberry, Preston Roberts and Jimmy Rogers will serve as pallbearers. In lieu of flowers, family requests memorials be made to American Heart Association or the American Cancer Society.
JULIUS SMITH
Julius Smith, 81, of Sherwood was born on Jan. 2, 1924, in rural Lonoke County and died March 26.
He was the fourth of 12 children born to Burl and Edith Smith. He served with the 8th Air Force 457th Bomber Group in World War II and flew 29 missions over Germany including D-Day. He was a member of the Eaker Chapter of the Distin-guished Flying Cross Society. Post-war he farmed and worked in sales. He started the Department of Public Safety at UALR in 1969 and retired in 1986. He was a member of Victory Missionary Baptist Church in Sherwood.
He leaves his wife of 61 years, Clara; two sons, Larone and wife Pat of North Little Rock, Danny and wife Ginger of Russellville; three grandsons, Michael Smith and wife Leigh of Fayetteville, Jason Smith and wife Jennifer of Russellville and Brian Smith of Jonesboro; one granddaughter, Kimberly Furhman and husband Chad of Fayetteville; four great-grandsons, Aidan, Isaac and Samuel Smith of Fayetteville and Noah Fuhrman of Fayetteville; four sisters, Lottie Stubbs of Little Rock, Dorothy Dube of Sherwood, Adlee Stratton of Cordova, Tenn., and Sharon Bass of Beebe; four brothers, J. B. Smith of Marianna, Sammy Smith of Ward, Gene Smith and Gary Smith, both of Cabot, and a large extended family.
He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Alvin and Jimmy Smith and one sister, Madge King. Funeral services were held Monday at Victory Missionary Baptist Church in Sherwood, with burial in Butlerville Cemetery.
LOUISE POWELL
Louise (Lucy) Huber Powell, 64, of Austin was born June 18, 1940, at Pine Bluff to the late Edward W. and Margaret L. Huber, and she died March 26 after a courageous battle against lung cancer. Louise was also preceded in death by her husband of 23 years, Bobby W. Powell. She and Bob were members of 16th Section United Methodist Church at Austin. A 1957 graduate of Stuttgart High School, Louise retired from U.S. Postal Service.
She is survived by a son, Paul Christian of Dallas, Texas; two daughters, Wendy Nilsson of Rich-ardson, Texas and Lisa Buckner of Fayetteville; three sisters, Margie Martin of Kyle, Texas, Crystal Hu-ber of North Little Rock and Laura Huber of Maumelle; nine grandchildren; two great-grandchildren and many other relatives and friends. A special thanks to Arkansas Oncology Associates, CARTI, Dr. Sauer and the staff at Hospice Home Care.
Funeral services were Tuesday at 16th Section United Methodist Church at Austin with burial in 16th Section Cemetery by Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe. Family requests donations be made to Arkansas Children’s Hospital or Beebe Humane Society, 707 Hwy 64 West, Beebe, Ark. 72012.
ESTHER FIELDS
Esther May “Bratcher” Fields, 88 of Jacksonville, passed away on March 26. She was a member of Marshall Road Baptist Church of Jacksonville.
Survivors are five daughters, Linda Hicks of Ohio, Sharon Teel and Betty Roe, both of Hector, and Joyce Mullins and Becky Fields, both of Jacksonville; three sons, Ray Fields of Judsonia, J.R. Fields of North Little Rock, and Billy Fields of Jacksonville; one brother, Mearl Bratcher of Missouri; 25 grandchildren; 38 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild. Funeral services were held Tuesday at Marshall Road Baptist Church. Burial followed in Shady Grove Cemetery in Bald Knob.
PAULINE FOLEY
Pauline Estelle Robicheaux Foley, 85, of Jacksonville passed away March 25. She was born Sept. 5, 1919 to H.J. Gill and Ressie Dowell. She was a member of First Baptist Church in Gravel Ridge. She loved to collect coins and stamps. She was known for loving to cook and won many awards for her cooking. She is preceded in death by both her husbands, Wilma L. Robicheaux and Joe Foley.
Her sisters, Delores Witcher and Nancy Clark also preceded her in death. She is survived by her son, Leigh Robicheaux; grandchildren, Brandon Robicheaux and Aimee Milligan; great grandchildren Chloe and Cierra; five nieces, Judy Hodges and DeeAnn Davis, Amy Jo Dixon, Michelle O’Donnell and Deanna Harris; a nephew Joe Witcher; and an aunt, Vera Begnaud.
Funeral services were held Tuesday at First Baptist Church of Gravel Ridge. Interment followed at Rest Hills Memorial Park.
Arrangements are by Griffin-Leggett Rest Hills Funeral Home.
Wayne Loftin, 69, died March 28. He was born Jan. 8, 1936, in McRae. He retired from Affiliated Foods after 27 years of service. He was previously employed by Central Arkansas Milk Producers Associa-tion and Associated Milk Producers Association for many years.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Gaines and Pauline Loftin. He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Bobbie Neal; son Doug Loftin and wife Cindy of Bryant; daughters Charlotte of Cut Bank, Montana and Tonya Alkire and husband David Pike of Pangburn; three grandchildren, Wesley and wife Shelly of Alexander, Aaron of Bryant and Alison Alkire of Pangburn; brothers, Hiram “Junior” and wife Roberta of Memphis, Tenn., Ron and wife Fran of Homestead, Fla.; sisters Jamell Short and husband Bill of Conway, Willa Dean Hill and husband Dean of Silafee, Texas; several nieces and nephews and numerous friends and family.
Visitation begins at noon Wednesday at Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe, with family receiving friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Westbrook Funeral Home, with burial in Antioch Cemetery. Charles Curlie, Travis Hall, Larry Reynolds, Raysel Bradberry, Preston Roberts and Jimmy Rogers will serve as pallbearers. In lieu of flowers, family requests memorials be made to American Heart Association or the American Cancer Society.
JULIUS SMITH
Julius Smith, 81, of Sherwood was born on Jan. 2, 1924, in rural Lonoke County and died March 26.
He was the fourth of 12 children born to Burl and Edith Smith. He served with the 8th Air Force 457th Bomber Group in World War II and flew 29 missions over Germany including D-Day. He was a member of the Eaker Chapter of the Distin-guished Flying Cross Society. Post-war he farmed and worked in sales. He started the Department of Public Safety at UALR in 1969 and retired in 1986. He was a member of Victory Missionary Baptist Church in Sherwood.
He leaves his wife of 61 years, Clara; two sons, Larone and wife Pat of North Little Rock, Danny and wife Ginger of Russellville; three grandsons, Michael Smith and wife Leigh of Fayetteville, Jason Smith and wife Jennifer of Russellville and Brian Smith of Jonesboro; one granddaughter, Kimberly Furhman and husband Chad of Fayetteville; four great-grandsons, Aidan, Isaac and Samuel Smith of Fayetteville and Noah Fuhrman of Fayetteville; four sisters, Lottie Stubbs of Little Rock, Dorothy Dube of Sherwood, Adlee Stratton of Cordova, Tenn., and Sharon Bass of Beebe; four brothers, J. B. Smith of Marianna, Sammy Smith of Ward, Gene Smith and Gary Smith, both of Cabot, and a large extended family.
He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Alvin and Jimmy Smith and one sister, Madge King. Funeral services were held Monday at Victory Missionary Baptist Church in Sherwood, with burial in Butlerville Cemetery.
LOUISE POWELL
Louise (Lucy) Huber Powell, 64, of Austin was born June 18, 1940, at Pine Bluff to the late Edward W. and Margaret L. Huber, and she died March 26 after a courageous battle against lung cancer. Louise was also preceded in death by her husband of 23 years, Bobby W. Powell. She and Bob were members of 16th Section United Methodist Church at Austin. A 1957 graduate of Stuttgart High School, Louise retired from U.S. Postal Service.
She is survived by a son, Paul Christian of Dallas, Texas; two daughters, Wendy Nilsson of Rich-ardson, Texas and Lisa Buckner of Fayetteville; three sisters, Margie Martin of Kyle, Texas, Crystal Hu-ber of North Little Rock and Laura Huber of Maumelle; nine grandchildren; two great-grandchildren and many other relatives and friends. A special thanks to Arkansas Oncology Associates, CARTI, Dr. Sauer and the staff at Hospice Home Care.
Funeral services were Tuesday at 16th Section United Methodist Church at Austin with burial in 16th Section Cemetery by Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe. Family requests donations be made to Arkansas Children’s Hospital or Beebe Humane Society, 707 Hwy 64 West, Beebe, Ark. 72012.
ESTHER FIELDS
Esther May “Bratcher” Fields, 88 of Jacksonville, passed away on March 26. She was a member of Marshall Road Baptist Church of Jacksonville.
Survivors are five daughters, Linda Hicks of Ohio, Sharon Teel and Betty Roe, both of Hector, and Joyce Mullins and Becky Fields, both of Jacksonville; three sons, Ray Fields of Judsonia, J.R. Fields of North Little Rock, and Billy Fields of Jacksonville; one brother, Mearl Bratcher of Missouri; 25 grandchildren; 38 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild. Funeral services were held Tuesday at Marshall Road Baptist Church. Burial followed in Shady Grove Cemetery in Bald Knob.
PAULINE FOLEY
Pauline Estelle Robicheaux Foley, 85, of Jacksonville passed away March 25. She was born Sept. 5, 1919 to H.J. Gill and Ressie Dowell. She was a member of First Baptist Church in Gravel Ridge. She loved to collect coins and stamps. She was known for loving to cook and won many awards for her cooking. She is preceded in death by both her husbands, Wilma L. Robicheaux and Joe Foley.
Her sisters, Delores Witcher and Nancy Clark also preceded her in death. She is survived by her son, Leigh Robicheaux; grandchildren, Brandon Robicheaux and Aimee Milligan; great grandchildren Chloe and Cierra; five nieces, Judy Hodges and DeeAnn Davis, Amy Jo Dixon, Michelle O’Donnell and Deanna Harris; a nephew Joe Witcher; and an aunt, Vera Begnaud.
Funeral services were held Tuesday at First Baptist Church of Gravel Ridge. Interment followed at Rest Hills Memorial Park.
Arrangements are by Griffin-Leggett Rest Hills Funeral Home.
SPORTS >> Colleges taking notice
Cabot’s Kim Sitzmann has become one of Arkansas’ premier hoopsters
By Ray Benton
Leader sports editor
The Cabot girls basketball program will have a Division I signee for the second straight year next season. The University of Arkan-sas-Little Rock extended an official scholarship offer to junior Lady Panther forward Kimberly Sitzmann last week.
Sitzmann has visited the campus and the coaching staff, and leans very heavily towards the Lady Trojans, although she’s waiting to see what else comes her way in the future before making a final decision.
“I really think I’d enjoy it there,” Sitzmann said. “They offered me a full scholarship and lots of other great stuff. They are building a new arena and all that fun stuff. Unless something a whole lot better comes along, I could see myself playing there.”
Lady Panther senior Ashley Anderson signed with Arkansas State University at the beginning of the season, and would become a rival of Sitzmann’s if she decides to become a Lady Trojan.
UALR is the only Division I school to extend an offer so far, but since her junior season just ended, it’s still very early in Sitzmann’s recruiting process.
The University of Arkansas, the University of Colorado, Tulsa University and Oral Roberts University have also contacted Sitzmann and shown serious interest in her.
Sitzmann is likely to get more calls in the near future after last week’s trip to Springdale for the Arkansas Athletes Outreach invitational basketball camp.
Sitzmann was one of 73 juniors and sophomores, as well as a couple of freshmen, invited to the camp and each player competed in six games with various teams.
At the end of the six games, an all-star team was selected by coaches and evaluators and Sitzmann was one of the all-stars.
She’ll take her basketball talents on the road this summer to compete with the Arkansas Mavericks’ 16-under AAU team. The Mavericks’ roster looks like a who’s who list of Arkansas girls basketball players.
They get their AAU season underway this weekend, but Sitzmann will also take part in team camps with her high-school team. The Lady Panthers will travel to Indiana for a camp in July.
But basketball is not the only sport at which Sitzmann excels. She is also a star soccer player.
She has already scored nine goals in just five games this spring for the Cabot high school team.
In junior high and ninth grade, Sitzmann thought soccer would be her ticket to college.
She began receiving interest from colleges her freshman year. But after a taste of the competitiveness of high-school basketball, Sitzmann found a new love, which she accredited for changing her focus.
“It was just the love of the game,” Sitzmann said. “I love how competitive it is and how aggressive it can be. I like playing that way and just love playing basketball.”
With straight A’s, a 3.8 GPA, a ACT score of 22 and plans of getting it even higher, Sitzmann has a third way to punch her ticket to college, even without athletics.
Strong-willed, focused and goal-oriented, Sitzmann already knows what course of study she wants to pursue in college.
“First I’m just going to get my basics out of the way while I play, but after that I want to study medicine. I want to major in pharmacy.”
Sitzmann is enrolled in Cabot’s MACH I medical academy to get a head start in the study of medicine and medicinal science. In need of more immediate attention, however, is her immediate future. As the summer and the AAU season progresses, and more coaches see her, more and more offers are likely to come. But Sitzmann doesn’t plan on letting it distract her during her final high-school season.
“I’m going to commit by November,” Sitzmann said. “I want to get all that out of the way and focus on my senior year.”
By Ray Benton
Leader sports editor
The Cabot girls basketball program will have a Division I signee for the second straight year next season. The University of Arkan-sas-Little Rock extended an official scholarship offer to junior Lady Panther forward Kimberly Sitzmann last week.
Sitzmann has visited the campus and the coaching staff, and leans very heavily towards the Lady Trojans, although she’s waiting to see what else comes her way in the future before making a final decision.
“I really think I’d enjoy it there,” Sitzmann said. “They offered me a full scholarship and lots of other great stuff. They are building a new arena and all that fun stuff. Unless something a whole lot better comes along, I could see myself playing there.”
Lady Panther senior Ashley Anderson signed with Arkansas State University at the beginning of the season, and would become a rival of Sitzmann’s if she decides to become a Lady Trojan.
UALR is the only Division I school to extend an offer so far, but since her junior season just ended, it’s still very early in Sitzmann’s recruiting process.
The University of Arkansas, the University of Colorado, Tulsa University and Oral Roberts University have also contacted Sitzmann and shown serious interest in her.
Sitzmann is likely to get more calls in the near future after last week’s trip to Springdale for the Arkansas Athletes Outreach invitational basketball camp.
Sitzmann was one of 73 juniors and sophomores, as well as a couple of freshmen, invited to the camp and each player competed in six games with various teams.
At the end of the six games, an all-star team was selected by coaches and evaluators and Sitzmann was one of the all-stars.
She’ll take her basketball talents on the road this summer to compete with the Arkansas Mavericks’ 16-under AAU team. The Mavericks’ roster looks like a who’s who list of Arkansas girls basketball players.
They get their AAU season underway this weekend, but Sitzmann will also take part in team camps with her high-school team. The Lady Panthers will travel to Indiana for a camp in July.
But basketball is not the only sport at which Sitzmann excels. She is also a star soccer player.
She has already scored nine goals in just five games this spring for the Cabot high school team.
In junior high and ninth grade, Sitzmann thought soccer would be her ticket to college.
She began receiving interest from colleges her freshman year. But after a taste of the competitiveness of high-school basketball, Sitzmann found a new love, which she accredited for changing her focus.
“It was just the love of the game,” Sitzmann said. “I love how competitive it is and how aggressive it can be. I like playing that way and just love playing basketball.”
With straight A’s, a 3.8 GPA, a ACT score of 22 and plans of getting it even higher, Sitzmann has a third way to punch her ticket to college, even without athletics.
Strong-willed, focused and goal-oriented, Sitzmann already knows what course of study she wants to pursue in college.
“First I’m just going to get my basics out of the way while I play, but after that I want to study medicine. I want to major in pharmacy.”
Sitzmann is enrolled in Cabot’s MACH I medical academy to get a head start in the study of medicine and medicinal science. In need of more immediate attention, however, is her immediate future. As the summer and the AAU season progresses, and more coaches see her, more and more offers are likely to come. But Sitzmann doesn’t plan on letting it distract her during her final high-school season.
“I’m going to commit by November,” Sitzmann said. “I want to get all that out of the way and focus on my senior year.”
SPORTS>> Sylvan Hills takes two from Devils
Bears stay atop standings with route of Jacksonville
By Ray Benton
Leader sports editor
First-place Sylvan Hills took advantage of shorthanded and last place Jacksonville in a AAAAA-East doubleheader Tuesday afternoon at the Sherwood sports complex.
The Bears got to play a scheduled road series at home and swept both games from the Red Devils to remain undefeated in conference play. Sylvan Hills won game one 15-5 and prevailed 11-0 in game two.
The double dip was scheduled to take place at Jacksonville on Monday, but weekend rains forced the game to Tuesday. Hickingbotham Field never dried and the decision was made to move it to Sherwood.
Jacksonville also played without four starters, including senior Zach Darr, who is first in Jacksonville’s pitching rotation for game one of doubleheaders.
Tuesday, that duty fell to sophomore Eric Berry, who gave up 10 runs in two-and-a-third innings before leaving the mound.
Sylvan Hills’ bats were hot from beginning to end of game one as the Bears scored in every inning of the run-rule-shortened game two.
Chase Elder, who started in the outfield and left after the third inning to prepare to take the mound in game two, got things rolling in the first inning with a flare single to left field.
Brandon Eller followed with a walk, but Elder was thrown out when pitcher Matt Presson hit into a fielder’s choice. Cody Sanders hit a deep fly to centerfield that was misplayed, allowing both base runners to score on the play.
Presson stepped to the mound in the bottom of the first and sat the Red Devils down in order.
Trey Enis led off the second inning with a single to left field and scored two batters later on a single by Shawn Bybee. Bybee’s single was the first of four straight by Sylvan Hills. Hayden Miller, Elder and Eller provided the next three, with Elder and Eller each picking up an RBI.
Presson grounded out to second base to score the final run of the inning as the Bears took a 5-0 lead after one and a half.
Jacksonville went three up, three down again in the bottom of the second, and Sylvan Hills made it 10-0 in the third.
Baker singled to lead off the inning and the next two batters flew out to centerfield. That paved the way for some two-out Bear longball. Bybee and Miller hit back-to-back doubles, with each gathering an RBI, and Elder and Eller followed with the fireworks. The lefty Elder hit a two-run home run down the right-field line. Eller, who bats right-handed, went opposite field over the fence in right on the next at bat to make it 10-0.
Jacksonville finally got something going offensively when Eller flubbed the throw to first on a grounder by Jeremy Williams. A passed ball and a wild pitch got Williams to third, and freshman Cameron Hood singled to right field to score Williams. Blake Mattison walked and Hood stole third base. Another passed ball allowed Hood to take home and make it 10-2. The rest of the game was mostly played by reserves.
Sylvan Hills scored four runs in the fourth and another in the top of the fifth inning. Jacksonville rallied in the bottom of the fifth and almost closed the margin to within the run-rule limit, but a pop up to shortstop by Jake Ussery ended the rally with the bases loaded.
Chase Elder turned in the best offensive performance of the game, going 3 for 3 with a double, a home run and three RBIs.
Sylvan Hills is now 6-0 in conference play while Jackson-ville falls to 0-6.
Sylvan Hills will take part in the Conway tournament this weekend before coming back to take on Forrest City on April 5. Jacksonville is off until April 5. They play at Mountain Home.
By Ray Benton
Leader sports editor
First-place Sylvan Hills took advantage of shorthanded and last place Jacksonville in a AAAAA-East doubleheader Tuesday afternoon at the Sherwood sports complex.
The Bears got to play a scheduled road series at home and swept both games from the Red Devils to remain undefeated in conference play. Sylvan Hills won game one 15-5 and prevailed 11-0 in game two.
The double dip was scheduled to take place at Jacksonville on Monday, but weekend rains forced the game to Tuesday. Hickingbotham Field never dried and the decision was made to move it to Sherwood.
Jacksonville also played without four starters, including senior Zach Darr, who is first in Jacksonville’s pitching rotation for game one of doubleheaders.
Tuesday, that duty fell to sophomore Eric Berry, who gave up 10 runs in two-and-a-third innings before leaving the mound.
Sylvan Hills’ bats were hot from beginning to end of game one as the Bears scored in every inning of the run-rule-shortened game two.
Chase Elder, who started in the outfield and left after the third inning to prepare to take the mound in game two, got things rolling in the first inning with a flare single to left field.
Brandon Eller followed with a walk, but Elder was thrown out when pitcher Matt Presson hit into a fielder’s choice. Cody Sanders hit a deep fly to centerfield that was misplayed, allowing both base runners to score on the play.
Presson stepped to the mound in the bottom of the first and sat the Red Devils down in order.
Trey Enis led off the second inning with a single to left field and scored two batters later on a single by Shawn Bybee. Bybee’s single was the first of four straight by Sylvan Hills. Hayden Miller, Elder and Eller provided the next three, with Elder and Eller each picking up an RBI.
Presson grounded out to second base to score the final run of the inning as the Bears took a 5-0 lead after one and a half.
Jacksonville went three up, three down again in the bottom of the second, and Sylvan Hills made it 10-0 in the third.
Baker singled to lead off the inning and the next two batters flew out to centerfield. That paved the way for some two-out Bear longball. Bybee and Miller hit back-to-back doubles, with each gathering an RBI, and Elder and Eller followed with the fireworks. The lefty Elder hit a two-run home run down the right-field line. Eller, who bats right-handed, went opposite field over the fence in right on the next at bat to make it 10-0.
Jacksonville finally got something going offensively when Eller flubbed the throw to first on a grounder by Jeremy Williams. A passed ball and a wild pitch got Williams to third, and freshman Cameron Hood singled to right field to score Williams. Blake Mattison walked and Hood stole third base. Another passed ball allowed Hood to take home and make it 10-2. The rest of the game was mostly played by reserves.
Sylvan Hills scored four runs in the fourth and another in the top of the fifth inning. Jacksonville rallied in the bottom of the fifth and almost closed the margin to within the run-rule limit, but a pop up to shortstop by Jake Ussery ended the rally with the bases loaded.
Chase Elder turned in the best offensive performance of the game, going 3 for 3 with a double, a home run and three RBIs.
Sylvan Hills is now 6-0 in conference play while Jackson-ville falls to 0-6.
Sylvan Hills will take part in the Conway tournament this weekend before coming back to take on Forrest City on April 5. Jacksonville is off until April 5. They play at Mountain Home.
EDITORIAL>> Clinton named first in poll
File this for the next presidential election. If your interest is a robust national economy, pay no attention to those who promise to spur the economy by tax cuts for business and the investor class. Modern history suggests that those are not the ones who will deliver.
Forbes, the financial magazine run by Steve Forbes, the conservative wannabe president, produced a formula for measuring the economic success of modern presidents. The magazine plugged in the figures for growth of the gross national product, per-capita income growth, employment gains, reduction in the unemployment rate, inflation reduction and federal-deficit reduction.
Guess who was the greatest economic president in the modern era? It was none other than Arkansas’ own Bill Clinton. He came out well ahead of all the others, owing to phenomenal job numbers, historically low unemployment, the first budget surpluses since 1968 and big gains in per-capita income.
President Lyndon B. Johnson, the last previous president to produce a budget surplus, was second and John F. Kennedy third. Kennedy inherited a recession and produced robust economic growth.
Ronald Reagan? He was fourth. Reagan enjoyed a fast-growing economy in his second term. His first term, which began with big tax cuts for corporations and high-income individuals, was battered by a long and steep recession and double-digit unemployment that followed the tax cuts.
He blamed it on residual effects of the policies of his predecessor, Jimmy Carter.
Forbes credited Carter (1977-81) with the greatest record of job growth in the nation’s history. But Carter’s record was marred by an oil-price spike and other factors that produced record high interest rates.
Forbes didn’t factor President George W. Bush, but unless there is an extraordinary turnaround in the next three years that no economist is now predicting, he will go the bottom, below even the elder Bush.
Arkansas did not do so badly when Bill Clinton was governor either. For a period in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Arkansas was among the leading states in percentage job growth and, amazingly, was one of the few states adding manufacturing jobs.
Liberals are supposed to be bad for the economy and conservatives good for it. Go figure.
Forbes, the financial magazine run by Steve Forbes, the conservative wannabe president, produced a formula for measuring the economic success of modern presidents. The magazine plugged in the figures for growth of the gross national product, per-capita income growth, employment gains, reduction in the unemployment rate, inflation reduction and federal-deficit reduction.
Guess who was the greatest economic president in the modern era? It was none other than Arkansas’ own Bill Clinton. He came out well ahead of all the others, owing to phenomenal job numbers, historically low unemployment, the first budget surpluses since 1968 and big gains in per-capita income.
President Lyndon B. Johnson, the last previous president to produce a budget surplus, was second and John F. Kennedy third. Kennedy inherited a recession and produced robust economic growth.
Ronald Reagan? He was fourth. Reagan enjoyed a fast-growing economy in his second term. His first term, which began with big tax cuts for corporations and high-income individuals, was battered by a long and steep recession and double-digit unemployment that followed the tax cuts.
He blamed it on residual effects of the policies of his predecessor, Jimmy Carter.
Forbes credited Carter (1977-81) with the greatest record of job growth in the nation’s history. But Carter’s record was marred by an oil-price spike and other factors that produced record high interest rates.
Forbes didn’t factor President George W. Bush, but unless there is an extraordinary turnaround in the next three years that no economist is now predicting, he will go the bottom, below even the elder Bush.
Arkansas did not do so badly when Bill Clinton was governor either. For a period in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Arkansas was among the leading states in percentage job growth and, amazingly, was one of the few states adding manufacturing jobs.
Liberals are supposed to be bad for the economy and conservatives good for it. Go figure.
EDITORIAL>> People win, Deltic loses
Intense lobbying by one of Arkansas’ largest industries could not persuade a House committee on Wednesday to approve a bill that would have polluted Lake Maumelle.
Had the bill slipped through the committee, following easy passage in the Senate last month, the utility that provides much of the water for this area would have been barred from keeping developers out of the Lake Maumelle watershed, leading to pollution and reducing the availability of safe drinking water.
Deltic Timber, which poured thousands of dollars into a public-relations campaign that went nowhere, will have a much harder time convincing the courts that it’s in the public interest to build $1 million homes overlooking the lake that taxpayers’ money had developed to provide pure drinking water for central Arkansas. Deltic thinks it should have the right to destroy what took decades to build.
Deltic’s proposed development is the equivalent of allowing a pig farm inside your city limits. The stink and pollution are unbearable at these pig farms, and Deltic’s plan was no less appalling. It’s a good thing the Ledge buried the proposal at least until the next session.
If the committee had turned the bill loose to the House, which would probably have approved the proposal, passage almost certainly would have stopped the court proceedings against the development on the north shore. Now the judge can rule in that condemnation case prohibiting developers from moving into the watershed.
The committee’s burial of the Deltic bill presumably kills the issue for a good while, and we can also presume that CAW commissioner Jane Dickey’s willingness to compromise with Deltic is also dead at the water board, which can now move expeditiously to protect the lake and provide us with more water in the future.
The City, County and Local Affairs Committee, chaired by Rep. Will Bond, D-Jacksonville, preserved some honor for this legislature by rejecting this special-interest grab. Speaker Bill Stovall of Quitman, who helped kill the bill, deserves a special pat on the back, too.
Stovall and Bond, along with nearly the entire committee, fought the good fight that ended as a victory for the people and good government. Central Arkansas Water, the utility that fought Deltic Timber, will, at least for now, preserve the right of eminent domain, allowing it to control development along the lake. The power of eminent domain works for the public good and keeps polluters in check, outfits like Deltic that paint the rosiest of scenarios with no concern for the rest of us.
Rep. Bond, along with most area legislators, came out against Deltic and the polluters.
Speaker Stovall was strong in his opposition since he knows the importance of expanding the supply of fresh water. Stovall’s district is relying on Greers Ferry Lake for the area’s growing water needs, and pollution along any lake jeopardizes the health and welfare of the entire state.
Almost no one else in the legislature outside the Central Arkansas Water area showed any interest in this fight, so Stovall’s brave stance in support of the metropolitan area is especially satisfying. It was also a pleasure to see Sen. Jodie Mahony, D-El Dorado, one of the bill’s sponsors, flee the committee hearing room when he realized his proposal had no chance of getting out of committee.
Mahony, who has had a long and distinguished career, represents the area where Murphy Oil, Deltic’s parent company, is based, but he has lost his credibility in the legislature on account of his slavish devotion to his paymasters.
It was good to see him squirm. The people won this round.
Had the bill slipped through the committee, following easy passage in the Senate last month, the utility that provides much of the water for this area would have been barred from keeping developers out of the Lake Maumelle watershed, leading to pollution and reducing the availability of safe drinking water.
Deltic Timber, which poured thousands of dollars into a public-relations campaign that went nowhere, will have a much harder time convincing the courts that it’s in the public interest to build $1 million homes overlooking the lake that taxpayers’ money had developed to provide pure drinking water for central Arkansas. Deltic thinks it should have the right to destroy what took decades to build.
Deltic’s proposed development is the equivalent of allowing a pig farm inside your city limits. The stink and pollution are unbearable at these pig farms, and Deltic’s plan was no less appalling. It’s a good thing the Ledge buried the proposal at least until the next session.
If the committee had turned the bill loose to the House, which would probably have approved the proposal, passage almost certainly would have stopped the court proceedings against the development on the north shore. Now the judge can rule in that condemnation case prohibiting developers from moving into the watershed.
The committee’s burial of the Deltic bill presumably kills the issue for a good while, and we can also presume that CAW commissioner Jane Dickey’s willingness to compromise with Deltic is also dead at the water board, which can now move expeditiously to protect the lake and provide us with more water in the future.
The City, County and Local Affairs Committee, chaired by Rep. Will Bond, D-Jacksonville, preserved some honor for this legislature by rejecting this special-interest grab. Speaker Bill Stovall of Quitman, who helped kill the bill, deserves a special pat on the back, too.
Stovall and Bond, along with nearly the entire committee, fought the good fight that ended as a victory for the people and good government. Central Arkansas Water, the utility that fought Deltic Timber, will, at least for now, preserve the right of eminent domain, allowing it to control development along the lake. The power of eminent domain works for the public good and keeps polluters in check, outfits like Deltic that paint the rosiest of scenarios with no concern for the rest of us.
Rep. Bond, along with most area legislators, came out against Deltic and the polluters.
Speaker Stovall was strong in his opposition since he knows the importance of expanding the supply of fresh water. Stovall’s district is relying on Greers Ferry Lake for the area’s growing water needs, and pollution along any lake jeopardizes the health and welfare of the entire state.
Almost no one else in the legislature outside the Central Arkansas Water area showed any interest in this fight, so Stovall’s brave stance in support of the metropolitan area is especially satisfying. It was also a pleasure to see Sen. Jodie Mahony, D-El Dorado, one of the bill’s sponsors, flee the committee hearing room when he realized his proposal had no chance of getting out of committee.
Mahony, who has had a long and distinguished career, represents the area where Murphy Oil, Deltic’s parent company, is based, but he has lost his credibility in the legislature on account of his slavish devotion to his paymasters.
It was good to see him squirm. The people won this round.
EDITORIAL>> Stop giveaways to corporations
Another day at the legislature, another batch of special interests are relieved of having to pay taxes that the rest of us bear: One day last week it was Arkansas companies with payrolls greater than $50,000 and millionaires — no, make it billionaires — who want to set up their own private art museum in northwest Arkansas. They’ll get a break on sales or income taxes. It goes on and on, but someday someone is going to have to pick up the slack and pay for the government everyone wants.
We have a few candidates.
We nominate big multistate corporations that decided a few years ago they didn’t want to pay much, if any, taxes anymore on their profits in Arkansas. They’re too big to pay taxes to a rinky-dink place like Arkansas, so their accountants and tax lawyers set it up so they wouldn’t.
State Rep. Phil Jackson of Berryville, a Republican businessman, has introduced a bill (HB 2686) to make them pay once again. He thinks that if it becomes law it would net the state another $30 million a year to pay for schools, highways and all the other needs the legislature has at least recognized. His guess is probably very low.
But that is idle talk. HB 2686 will not become law; Jackson is not apt to even get it out of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee, although he is the chairman. The Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and other corporate lobbyists will see to it that it doesn’t get a vote in the House.
Two years ago, when Jackson offered the same bill, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, a multilayered and multistate corporation itself, editorially denounced the bill as the worst of the entire legislative session. We think it may be the best. It certainly is the fairest.
The Council on State Taxation, a trade group of some 570 multistate corporations and their accounting firms and tax lawyers, is out to protect state tax loopholes they created in the 1990s. State chambers do their lobbying on the ground.
Jackson’s bill, which has become law in 17 other states, would require corporations operating in many states to file unitary tax returns. They would have to combine income and losses from all their subsidiaries and the state would tax it proportionately. It is called combined reporting.
Corporations like the major oil companies, General Electric, big multistate banks, SBC Communications and Kmart maneuver their profits from a state like Arkansas to special subsidiaries set up in states that do not have corporate income taxes or else have low tax rates or give companies special treatment.
Oil companies, for example, will have an exploration subsidiary in one state and assess their distribution operations in a state like Arkansas with very high wholesale prices for gasoline. Thus profits in Arkansas are almost nonexistent. All the profits are in the state where they will not be taxed.
Or take the now famous example of the national chain Toys R Us. A Delaware subsidiary owns the rights to the logo with the backward “R” and the trademark giraffe Geoffrey. Operating stores in Arkansas and other states are charged exorbitant royalties for using the logo and the giraffe and thus show few taxable profits. The Delaware subsidiary that owns Geoffrey and the logo has all the profits and pays no state tax. One postoffice box in Delaware may be the tax home of 90 corporations. A small office in Las Vegas or Reno, Nev., may be the tax home of hundreds of companies.
Most of the giant companies compete in some way with Arkansas businesses — independent gasoline stations, clothing stores, hardware stores, grocers — that pay their state income taxes. It is simple fairness that the big boys pay, too. The top rate is 6.5 percent and they get to deduct the state tax from their federal taxes.
Since the early 1990s, when Price Waterhouse and the other big accounting companies began developing these schemes, the state corporate income tax has plummeted as a share of state taxes even while corporate profits have soared. You’ve picked up the slack for them, most recently by another 7/8ths of a percent of sales taxes and a 3 percent income tax surcharge.
Legislators won’t get that message. They’ll hear the chamber lobbyists say that if Jackson’s bill passes it will make Arkansas antibusiness and dry up industrial development. What an outrage. But it works.
We have a few candidates.
We nominate big multistate corporations that decided a few years ago they didn’t want to pay much, if any, taxes anymore on their profits in Arkansas. They’re too big to pay taxes to a rinky-dink place like Arkansas, so their accountants and tax lawyers set it up so they wouldn’t.
State Rep. Phil Jackson of Berryville, a Republican businessman, has introduced a bill (HB 2686) to make them pay once again. He thinks that if it becomes law it would net the state another $30 million a year to pay for schools, highways and all the other needs the legislature has at least recognized. His guess is probably very low.
But that is idle talk. HB 2686 will not become law; Jackson is not apt to even get it out of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee, although he is the chairman. The Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and other corporate lobbyists will see to it that it doesn’t get a vote in the House.
Two years ago, when Jackson offered the same bill, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, a multilayered and multistate corporation itself, editorially denounced the bill as the worst of the entire legislative session. We think it may be the best. It certainly is the fairest.
The Council on State Taxation, a trade group of some 570 multistate corporations and their accounting firms and tax lawyers, is out to protect state tax loopholes they created in the 1990s. State chambers do their lobbying on the ground.
Jackson’s bill, which has become law in 17 other states, would require corporations operating in many states to file unitary tax returns. They would have to combine income and losses from all their subsidiaries and the state would tax it proportionately. It is called combined reporting.
Corporations like the major oil companies, General Electric, big multistate banks, SBC Communications and Kmart maneuver their profits from a state like Arkansas to special subsidiaries set up in states that do not have corporate income taxes or else have low tax rates or give companies special treatment.
Oil companies, for example, will have an exploration subsidiary in one state and assess their distribution operations in a state like Arkansas with very high wholesale prices for gasoline. Thus profits in Arkansas are almost nonexistent. All the profits are in the state where they will not be taxed.
Or take the now famous example of the national chain Toys R Us. A Delaware subsidiary owns the rights to the logo with the backward “R” and the trademark giraffe Geoffrey. Operating stores in Arkansas and other states are charged exorbitant royalties for using the logo and the giraffe and thus show few taxable profits. The Delaware subsidiary that owns Geoffrey and the logo has all the profits and pays no state tax. One postoffice box in Delaware may be the tax home of 90 corporations. A small office in Las Vegas or Reno, Nev., may be the tax home of hundreds of companies.
Most of the giant companies compete in some way with Arkansas businesses — independent gasoline stations, clothing stores, hardware stores, grocers — that pay their state income taxes. It is simple fairness that the big boys pay, too. The top rate is 6.5 percent and they get to deduct the state tax from their federal taxes.
Since the early 1990s, when Price Waterhouse and the other big accounting companies began developing these schemes, the state corporate income tax has plummeted as a share of state taxes even while corporate profits have soared. You’ve picked up the slack for them, most recently by another 7/8ths of a percent of sales taxes and a 3 percent income tax surcharge.
Legislators won’t get that message. They’ll hear the chamber lobbyists say that if Jackson’s bill passes it will make Arkansas antibusiness and dry up industrial development. What an outrage. But it works.
NEIGHBORS>> CHS mock Disaster
Drill prepares Cabot medical academy students for crisis
By Sara Greene
Leader staff writer
"Where’s my son? I heard there was an explosion! Where is he?” screamed a hysterical mother.
That was the scene as the Medical Academy at Cabot High-I (MACH-I) conducted two mock disaster drills Friday to help students get a feel for working during a crisis.
MACH-I used White County Medical Center’s Career and Medical Profession (CAMP) program. It is a six-day program requiring five days of classroom training. On the sixth day, the disaster drill allows students to work in tandem with Cabot’s emergency service and medical personnel from White County Medical Center.
Students in MACH-I are already certified in basic first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs).
“Several years ago we developed this program to get junior high school students interested in the health profession. Our program today is a little more advanced,” said Todd Wolfe, education coordinator at White County Medical Center.
Both disaster drills revolved around a mock explosion in the cafeteria. In the morning exercise, students shadowing the emergency response personnel found 17 “wounded” MACH-I students sprawled among overturned chairs in the cafeteria.
“We had the drama department help us out with the make-up for the injuries, the blood and gore,” said Randy Granderson, assistant principal and MACH-I director.
“We sent out notes with all the students and alerted our local law enforcement. We didn’t want passerbys to panic if they see the injured students and the ambulance. This is important for our students, but they can have fun with it too.”
The injuries included burns, spinal injuries, broken bones, cuts, bruises and shock. The emergency services students inventoried and assessed the wounded. Some of the victims moaned painfully while others giggled, unable to maintain an injured persona. The seriously injured were stabilized and taken by stretcher to the “hospital” in the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps building. The less injured walked to the hospital.
Student administrators filled out forms and triage students ordered patients to radiology, lab/pharmacy, trauma, surgery or the waiting room. The entire building buzzed with the controlled chaos of an actual emergency room.
Granderson had some surprises in store for students participating in the morning disaster drill.
The trauma students were busy dealing with a seriously wounded patient when a hysterical woman came in screaming for her son.
Some stopped to stare and were encouraged to focus on their jobs by White County Medical Center emergency room staff. Students in hospital administration called codes for security to escort the woman, Mandee Carmical, a biology teacher at Cabot, from the area.
Moments later, Granderson feigned a heart attack and confusion ensued as both triage and trauma teams worked on him while more wounded arrived.
“It’s been fun, especially when Mrs. Carmical came in screaming like that,” said victim No. 10, holding a gauze pad on her facial laceration.
The entire disaster drill lasted about 45 minutes. Afterwards, students peeled off their bandages and wounds to participate in a brief question-and-answer session. The discussion focused on the variety of careers available in healthcare including accounting, administration and lab work.
“We’ve got CAMP copyrighted and we’ve received calls from all over, including California,” said Pam Williams, human resource director at White County Medical Center.
“There aren’t many programs like this. I’m enthusiastic about it. It shows students there’s more to the healthcare profession than just nursing,” she added.
By Sara Greene
Leader staff writer
"Where’s my son? I heard there was an explosion! Where is he?” screamed a hysterical mother.
That was the scene as the Medical Academy at Cabot High-I (MACH-I) conducted two mock disaster drills Friday to help students get a feel for working during a crisis.
MACH-I used White County Medical Center’s Career and Medical Profession (CAMP) program. It is a six-day program requiring five days of classroom training. On the sixth day, the disaster drill allows students to work in tandem with Cabot’s emergency service and medical personnel from White County Medical Center.
Students in MACH-I are already certified in basic first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs).
“Several years ago we developed this program to get junior high school students interested in the health profession. Our program today is a little more advanced,” said Todd Wolfe, education coordinator at White County Medical Center.
Both disaster drills revolved around a mock explosion in the cafeteria. In the morning exercise, students shadowing the emergency response personnel found 17 “wounded” MACH-I students sprawled among overturned chairs in the cafeteria.
“We had the drama department help us out with the make-up for the injuries, the blood and gore,” said Randy Granderson, assistant principal and MACH-I director.
“We sent out notes with all the students and alerted our local law enforcement. We didn’t want passerbys to panic if they see the injured students and the ambulance. This is important for our students, but they can have fun with it too.”
The injuries included burns, spinal injuries, broken bones, cuts, bruises and shock. The emergency services students inventoried and assessed the wounded. Some of the victims moaned painfully while others giggled, unable to maintain an injured persona. The seriously injured were stabilized and taken by stretcher to the “hospital” in the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps building. The less injured walked to the hospital.
Student administrators filled out forms and triage students ordered patients to radiology, lab/pharmacy, trauma, surgery or the waiting room. The entire building buzzed with the controlled chaos of an actual emergency room.
Granderson had some surprises in store for students participating in the morning disaster drill.
The trauma students were busy dealing with a seriously wounded patient when a hysterical woman came in screaming for her son.
Some stopped to stare and were encouraged to focus on their jobs by White County Medical Center emergency room staff. Students in hospital administration called codes for security to escort the woman, Mandee Carmical, a biology teacher at Cabot, from the area.
Moments later, Granderson feigned a heart attack and confusion ensued as both triage and trauma teams worked on him while more wounded arrived.
“It’s been fun, especially when Mrs. Carmical came in screaming like that,” said victim No. 10, holding a gauze pad on her facial laceration.
The entire disaster drill lasted about 45 minutes. Afterwards, students peeled off their bandages and wounds to participate in a brief question-and-answer session. The discussion focused on the variety of careers available in healthcare including accounting, administration and lab work.
“We’ve got CAMP copyrighted and we’ve received calls from all over, including California,” said Pam Williams, human resource director at White County Medical Center.
“There aren’t many programs like this. I’m enthusiastic about it. It shows students there’s more to the healthcare profession than just nursing,” she added.
TOP STORY>> Metroplan could decide on overpass
IN SHORT: Cabot has to raise funds to get railroad bridge built early or wait several more years.
By Joan McCoy
Leader staff writer
The board of Metroplan, the agency that distributes federal highway money, meets today in Little Rock and could decide what steps Cabot must take toward construction of a railroad overpass this year.
The proposed Polk Street overpass is touted as the only means of keeping school buses off the railroad tracks and as the first step in a north interchange that would connect Highway 38 to Highway 5.
If the board decides the project will be considered for funding three years ahead of schedule, the city would need to raise about $700,000 for its 20 percent match for the $5 million project before contracts are signed with the state Highway Department, possibly in October.
The city’s alternative to raising the needed cash by fall is to set aside about $230,000 a year for the next three years and build the overpass in 2008, the original construction date. The city has set aside $260,000 since the project started about six years ago. The railroad also has agreed to pay about $75,000 for the actual bridge.
Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh says the overpass is a priority, but the city simply doesn’t have the money and he is opposed to raising taxes to pay for it.
Moving up the construction of the Cabot overpass was discussed during the February Metroplan meeting and since then two prospective candidates for mayor have gone public with their opinions about it.
Former Alderman Eddie Joe Williams, who announced his intention to run for mayor shortly after Stumbaugh took office, says the city should make every effort to build the overpass now. He criticized Stumbaugh during the March council meeting, saying the mayor is prepared to abandon the project over a feud with local developers.
The developers chose to annex into Austin rather than pay for infrastructure required by Cabot. The mayor denies that he used the overpass as leverage to keep Austin from annexing the upscale, 600-home subdivision, but says he believes that if part of the overpass is inside Austin city limits, Austin should pay for part of it.
Darren Waymack, one of the owners of the subdivision, said last week that a section of commercial property separates the residential subdivision from the proposed overpass.
Alderman David Polantz has not announced his candidacy, though Stumbaugh says Polantz intends to run for mayor. Polantz says only that several city residents have told him he should run.
Polantz has called a meeting for Monday of the council’s finance committee to discuss increasing the city millage from 3.5 to 4.5 to pay for the overpass and to build the community center. The center was budgeted at $3.5 million, including $500,000 for the dirt work. But the low bid for construction came in $1.2 million over budget.
Polantz says he wants to take the millage increase and 20-year bonds for the overpass and community center to the voters for approval.
If the millage increase is not approved, the city should save toward building the overpass in 2008 and downsize the community center to fit the $3 million available to build it, he said.
If the millage is approved it would not be collected until 2006. The city could use the $260,000 set aside to build the overpass to make payments until revenue from the increased millage comes in, he said. The increased millage would raise about $160,000 a year, he said.
Once allies, Stumbaugh now criticizes Polantz for making too many demands on city employees’ time and for trying to pass legislation that would diminish his control at city hall.
The mayor said Tuesday that he was aware that Polantz had called a finance committee meeting, but if Metroplan says Cabot might be in the running for project funding this year, he intends to call a meeting of the full council instead for the same time, 7 p.m. Monday.
He wants all eight council members involved in the discussion, he said.
Jim McKenzie, Metroplan executive director, apologized for the uproar that followed the announcement that the overpass could be funded this year.
McKenzie said Tuesday that nothing is certain until the end of August when the federal fiscal year ends. At that time it will be known definitely whether projects in Little Rock that are ahead of Cabot’s will be ready for construction.
If they aren’t, then the Cabot overpass could be next in line because it appears ready to go. The engineering has been completed. The public hearings have been held and the rights-of-way have been acquired at a total cost of about $450,000 with Cabot paying about $90,000.
But McKenzie emphasized that nothing is certain at this point. He said Metroplan staff is constantly monitoring progress on Little Rock projects that have been in the works for a decade and that at this point all he can do is recommend to Cabot to get ready in case those other projects are held up.
“This stuff is so soft, it would be hard to give a hard answer on it,” McKenzie said of the availability of federal funds this year for the Cabot overpass.
By Joan McCoy
Leader staff writer
The board of Metroplan, the agency that distributes federal highway money, meets today in Little Rock and could decide what steps Cabot must take toward construction of a railroad overpass this year.
The proposed Polk Street overpass is touted as the only means of keeping school buses off the railroad tracks and as the first step in a north interchange that would connect Highway 38 to Highway 5.
If the board decides the project will be considered for funding three years ahead of schedule, the city would need to raise about $700,000 for its 20 percent match for the $5 million project before contracts are signed with the state Highway Department, possibly in October.
The city’s alternative to raising the needed cash by fall is to set aside about $230,000 a year for the next three years and build the overpass in 2008, the original construction date. The city has set aside $260,000 since the project started about six years ago. The railroad also has agreed to pay about $75,000 for the actual bridge.
Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh says the overpass is a priority, but the city simply doesn’t have the money and he is opposed to raising taxes to pay for it.
Moving up the construction of the Cabot overpass was discussed during the February Metroplan meeting and since then two prospective candidates for mayor have gone public with their opinions about it.
Former Alderman Eddie Joe Williams, who announced his intention to run for mayor shortly after Stumbaugh took office, says the city should make every effort to build the overpass now. He criticized Stumbaugh during the March council meeting, saying the mayor is prepared to abandon the project over a feud with local developers.
The developers chose to annex into Austin rather than pay for infrastructure required by Cabot. The mayor denies that he used the overpass as leverage to keep Austin from annexing the upscale, 600-home subdivision, but says he believes that if part of the overpass is inside Austin city limits, Austin should pay for part of it.
Darren Waymack, one of the owners of the subdivision, said last week that a section of commercial property separates the residential subdivision from the proposed overpass.
Alderman David Polantz has not announced his candidacy, though Stumbaugh says Polantz intends to run for mayor. Polantz says only that several city residents have told him he should run.
Polantz has called a meeting for Monday of the council’s finance committee to discuss increasing the city millage from 3.5 to 4.5 to pay for the overpass and to build the community center. The center was budgeted at $3.5 million, including $500,000 for the dirt work. But the low bid for construction came in $1.2 million over budget.
Polantz says he wants to take the millage increase and 20-year bonds for the overpass and community center to the voters for approval.
If the millage increase is not approved, the city should save toward building the overpass in 2008 and downsize the community center to fit the $3 million available to build it, he said.
If the millage is approved it would not be collected until 2006. The city could use the $260,000 set aside to build the overpass to make payments until revenue from the increased millage comes in, he said. The increased millage would raise about $160,000 a year, he said.
Once allies, Stumbaugh now criticizes Polantz for making too many demands on city employees’ time and for trying to pass legislation that would diminish his control at city hall.
The mayor said Tuesday that he was aware that Polantz had called a finance committee meeting, but if Metroplan says Cabot might be in the running for project funding this year, he intends to call a meeting of the full council instead for the same time, 7 p.m. Monday.
He wants all eight council members involved in the discussion, he said.
Jim McKenzie, Metroplan executive director, apologized for the uproar that followed the announcement that the overpass could be funded this year.
McKenzie said Tuesday that nothing is certain until the end of August when the federal fiscal year ends. At that time it will be known definitely whether projects in Little Rock that are ahead of Cabot’s will be ready for construction.
If they aren’t, then the Cabot overpass could be next in line because it appears ready to go. The engineering has been completed. The public hearings have been held and the rights-of-way have been acquired at a total cost of about $450,000 with Cabot paying about $90,000.
But McKenzie emphasized that nothing is certain at this point. He said Metroplan staff is constantly monitoring progress on Little Rock projects that have been in the works for a decade and that at this point all he can do is recommend to Cabot to get ready in case those other projects are held up.
“This stuff is so soft, it would be hard to give a hard answer on it,” McKenzie said of the availability of federal funds this year for the Cabot overpass.
TOP STORY>> Metroplan could decide on overpass
IN SHORT: Cabot has to raise funds to get railroad bridge built early or wait several more years.
By Joan McCoy
Leader staff writer
The board of Metroplan, the agency that distributes federal highway money, meets today in Little Rock and could decide what steps Cabot must take toward construction of a railroad overpass this year.
The proposed Polk Street overpass is touted as the only means of keeping school buses off the railroad tracks and as the first step in a north interchange that would connect Highway 38 to Highway 5.
If the board decides the project will be considered for funding three years ahead of schedule, the city would need to raise about $700,000 for its 20 percent match for the $5 million project before contracts are signed with the state Highway Department, possibly in October.
The city’s alternative to raising the needed cash by fall is to set aside about $230,000 a year for the next three years and build the overpass in 2008, the original construction date. The city has set aside $260,000 since the project started about six years ago. The railroad also has agreed to pay about $75,000 for the actual bridge.
Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh says the overpass is a priority, but the city simply doesn’t have the money and he is opposed to raising taxes to pay for it.
Moving up the construction of the Cabot overpass was discussed during the February Metroplan meeting and since then two prospective candidates for mayor have gone public with their opinions about it.
Former Alderman Eddie Joe Williams, who announced his intention to run for mayor shortly after Stumbaugh took office, says the city should make every effort to build the overpass now. He criticized Stumbaugh during the March council meeting, saying the mayor is prepared to abandon the project over a feud with local developers.
The developers chose to annex into Austin rather than pay for infrastructure required by Cabot. The mayor denies that he used the overpass as leverage to keep Austin from annexing the upscale, 600-home subdivision, but says he believes that if part of the overpass is inside Austin city limits, Austin should pay for part of it.
Darren Waymack, one of the owners of the subdivision, said last week that a section of commercial property separates the residential subdivision from the proposed overpass.
Alderman David Polantz has not announced his candidacy, though Stumbaugh says Polantz intends to run for mayor. Polantz says only that several city residents have told him he should run.
Polantz has called a meeting for Monday of the council’s finance committee to discuss increasing the city millage from 3.5 to 4.5 to pay for the overpass and to build the community center. The center was budgeted at $3.5 million, including $500,000 for the dirt work. But the low bid for construction came in $1.2 million over budget.
Polantz says he wants to take the millage increase and 20-year bonds for the overpass and community center to the voters for approval.
If the millage increase is not approved, the city should save toward building the overpass in 2008 and downsize the community center to fit the $3 million available to build it, he said.
If the millage is approved it would not be collected until 2006. The city could use the $260,000 set aside to build the overpass to make payments until revenue from the increased millage comes in, he said. The increased millage would raise about $160,000 a year, he said.
Once allies, Stumbaugh now criticizes Polantz for making too many demands on city employees’ time and for trying to pass legislation that would diminish his control at city hall.
The mayor said Tuesday that he was aware that Polantz had called a finance committee meeting, but if Metroplan says Cabot might be in the running for project funding this year, he intends to call a meeting of the full council instead for the same time, 7 p.m. Monday.
He wants all eight council members involved in the discussion, he said.
Jim McKenzie, Metroplan executive director, apologized for the uproar that followed the announcement that the overpass could be funded this year.
McKenzie said Tuesday that nothing is certain until the end of August when the federal fiscal year ends. At that time it will be known definitely whether projects in Little Rock that are ahead of Cabot’s will be ready for construction.
If they aren’t, then the Cabot overpass could be next in line because it appears ready to go. The engineering has been completed. The public hearings have been held and the rights-of-way have been acquired at a total cost of about $450,000 with Cabot paying about $90,000.
But McKenzie emphasized that nothing is certain at this point. He said Metroplan staff is constantly monitoring progress on Little Rock projects that have been in the works for a decade and that at this point all he can do is recommend to Cabot to get ready in case those other projects are held up.
“This stuff is so soft, it would be hard to give a hard answer on it,” McKenzie said of the availability of federal funds this year for the Cabot overpass.
By Joan McCoy
Leader staff writer
The board of Metroplan, the agency that distributes federal highway money, meets today in Little Rock and could decide what steps Cabot must take toward construction of a railroad overpass this year.
The proposed Polk Street overpass is touted as the only means of keeping school buses off the railroad tracks and as the first step in a north interchange that would connect Highway 38 to Highway 5.
If the board decides the project will be considered for funding three years ahead of schedule, the city would need to raise about $700,000 for its 20 percent match for the $5 million project before contracts are signed with the state Highway Department, possibly in October.
The city’s alternative to raising the needed cash by fall is to set aside about $230,000 a year for the next three years and build the overpass in 2008, the original construction date. The city has set aside $260,000 since the project started about six years ago. The railroad also has agreed to pay about $75,000 for the actual bridge.
Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh says the overpass is a priority, but the city simply doesn’t have the money and he is opposed to raising taxes to pay for it.
Moving up the construction of the Cabot overpass was discussed during the February Metroplan meeting and since then two prospective candidates for mayor have gone public with their opinions about it.
Former Alderman Eddie Joe Williams, who announced his intention to run for mayor shortly after Stumbaugh took office, says the city should make every effort to build the overpass now. He criticized Stumbaugh during the March council meeting, saying the mayor is prepared to abandon the project over a feud with local developers.
The developers chose to annex into Austin rather than pay for infrastructure required by Cabot. The mayor denies that he used the overpass as leverage to keep Austin from annexing the upscale, 600-home subdivision, but says he believes that if part of the overpass is inside Austin city limits, Austin should pay for part of it.
Darren Waymack, one of the owners of the subdivision, said last week that a section of commercial property separates the residential subdivision from the proposed overpass.
Alderman David Polantz has not announced his candidacy, though Stumbaugh says Polantz intends to run for mayor. Polantz says only that several city residents have told him he should run.
Polantz has called a meeting for Monday of the council’s finance committee to discuss increasing the city millage from 3.5 to 4.5 to pay for the overpass and to build the community center. The center was budgeted at $3.5 million, including $500,000 for the dirt work. But the low bid for construction came in $1.2 million over budget.
Polantz says he wants to take the millage increase and 20-year bonds for the overpass and community center to the voters for approval.
If the millage increase is not approved, the city should save toward building the overpass in 2008 and downsize the community center to fit the $3 million available to build it, he said.
If the millage is approved it would not be collected until 2006. The city could use the $260,000 set aside to build the overpass to make payments until revenue from the increased millage comes in, he said. The increased millage would raise about $160,000 a year, he said.
Once allies, Stumbaugh now criticizes Polantz for making too many demands on city employees’ time and for trying to pass legislation that would diminish his control at city hall.
The mayor said Tuesday that he was aware that Polantz had called a finance committee meeting, but if Metroplan says Cabot might be in the running for project funding this year, he intends to call a meeting of the full council instead for the same time, 7 p.m. Monday.
He wants all eight council members involved in the discussion, he said.
Jim McKenzie, Metroplan executive director, apologized for the uproar that followed the announcement that the overpass could be funded this year.
McKenzie said Tuesday that nothing is certain until the end of August when the federal fiscal year ends. At that time it will be known definitely whether projects in Little Rock that are ahead of Cabot’s will be ready for construction.
If they aren’t, then the Cabot overpass could be next in line because it appears ready to go. The engineering has been completed. The public hearings have been held and the rights-of-way have been acquired at a total cost of about $450,000 with Cabot paying about $90,000.
But McKenzie emphasized that nothing is certain at this point. He said Metroplan staff is constantly monitoring progress on Little Rock projects that have been in the works for a decade and that at this point all he can do is recommend to Cabot to get ready in case those other projects are held up.
“This stuff is so soft, it would be hard to give a hard answer on it,” McKenzie said of the availability of federal funds this year for the Cabot overpass.
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