By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Sherwood Sharks won their sixth and final meet of the season, and clinched their second straight Central Arkansas Swim League championship with a closer-than-expected 768-730 win over the Maumelle/YMCA consolidated team.
Despite the close score, it was one of the most remarkable meets for the Sharks in the team’s history. A total of 103 Sherwood swimmers posted best times in at least one sport, and a stunning 26 swimmers recorded their best times in all five events.
Those swimmer were Presley Austin, Allie Blenden, Sean Brocious, Richard Buzzitta, Chelsea Churchill, Erica Denny, Kalynn Fisher, Jessie Garrison, Nimit Gandhi, Hannah Gray, Ashley Harris, Hannah Jones, Ashley Lewis, Mary Kate McNulty, Amanda Moore, Andrew Moore, Megan Moore, Aaron Ngo, Seven Powers, Jeremy Smith, Brooke Smothers, Lee Smothers, Calvin Spellman, Alisa Staton, Tina Thompson and Greer Williams.
A total of 19 Sharks broke their previous best times and swam fast enough to move up in category in Saturday’s meet.
For the girls, 6-year-old Seven Powers won the silver division 25-yard backstroke with a gold division time of 32.07. In 7-8 year-olds, it was Patelyn Bailey, Maddie Young and Christy Hawking all improving to silver time in their events. Bailey won the bronze 25-yard backstroke with a silver time of 26.49. Young and Hawking took the top two spots in the 25-yard bronze division breaststroke, both improving to silver division.
Nikki Sanders took the 9-10 year-old 50 yard freestyle, Sanders won the silver event with a gold time of 36.13.
The most records were broke in the 11-12 year-old girls, as five Sharks met new best times. Kris O’Connell won the silver division 50 yard freestyle with a gold time of 33.78. Savannah Lancaster improved to gold in the 50 yard backstroke, winning the silver division event over Meg O’Connell, who also swam to a gold division time. Meg also had a gold time in the 100 yard IM. O’Connell won the silver event at 1:26.92.
For the girls, 6-year-old Seven Powers won the silver division 25-yard backstroke with a gold division time of 32.07. In 7-8 year-olds, it was Patelyn Bailey, Maddie Young and Christy Hawking all improving to silver time in their events. Bailey won the bronze 25 yard backstroke with a silver time of 26.49. Young and Hawking took the top two spots in the 25-yard bronze division breaststroke, both improving to silver division. Lindsay Taylor also improved to a silver division time in the 25-yard freestyle, Taylor took second in the bronze division event, with a time of 22.87.
Nikki Sanders took the 9-10 year-old 50-yard freestyle, Sanders won the silver event with a gold time of 36.13.
The most records were broke in the 11-12 year-old girls, as five Sharks met new best times. Kris O’Connell won the silver division 50-yard freestyle with a gold time of 33.78. Savannah Lancaster improved to gold in the 50-yard backstroke, winning the silver division event over Meg O’Connell, who also swam to a gold division time. Meg also had a gold time in the 100 yard IM. O’Connell won the silver event at 1:26.92.
Allie Blendon won the bronze division 50-yard freestyle, with a silver time of 34.89. Ashley Lewis took second place in the 50-yard butterfly in the bronze division, scoring a silver division time of 44.53.
There were also several other wins for the lady Sharks on Saturday. For the 9-10 year-olds, it was Tayler Jones winning the silver division 50-yard breaststroke and 50-yard butterfly.
Savannah Lancaster took a pair of silver division wins in the 11-12 year-old age group, winning the 50-yard breaststroke and the 50-yard butterfly. Lauren Qualls won the 50- yard backstroke in the silver division with a time of 39.81.
In the older age groups, it was Kelsey Lancaster taking a silver division win in the 100-yard IM for 13-14 year-olds. Ashley Lee won the IM for the bronze division with a time of 1:31.34.
For the 15-16 year-olds, it was Alana Brunke winning the bronze division 50-yard freestyle. Brunke also took the win in the silver division 50-yard backstroke, and the silver 50-yard butterfly. In all, Brunke won four events and had one second place finish for the Sharks.
Chelsea Churchill won four gold division events on Saturday for the 17-18 year-olds. Churchill took wins in the 50-yard freestyle, 50-yard backstroke, 50-yard Breaststroke, and 100-yard IM. Ashley Harris also won the bronze division 50-yard breaststroke for the 17-18 year-olds.
There were several records broken on the boys’ side as well. For the 6 and under group, Andrew Williams took gold time in the 25-yard backstroke. Williams took the silver event wih a time of 28.94. David Price won the silver division 25-yard butterfly in the 7-8 year-old group with a silver time of 26.12. Lee Smothers also improved from bronze to silver time in the butterfly event.
Jummy Esola and Nicolas Williams both won in the 25-yard freestyle. Esola won the silver event in gold time, and Williams won the bronze event with a silver time of 21.65
Ian Kerr won the 50-yard breaststroke for the 9-10 year-olds. Kerr won the bronze event with a silver time of 56.62. Jake Schlag moved from bronze to silver in the 100-yard IM.
Schlag won the event with a time of 1:54.48.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
FROM THE PUBLISHER>> Editor wins prize for column
(This column from last December won first place in the National Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper Contest.)
The state Supreme Court could put the so-called payday lenders out of business in Arkansas.
Consumer advocates are challenging Act 1216 of 1999 that allows predatory lending in the state with rates as high as 650 percent.
The victims are the working poor and the military.
Arkansas should follow the example of several other states and ban storefront payday lenders. This outrage must not continue.
Business has never been better, thanks to our state Legislature that almost unanimously exempted payday lenders from limits on interest rates, which are disguised as fees and supposedly legal, although the Supreme Court may have other ideas about that.
Eager to attract new industries to Arkansas and even more eager for campaign contributions, the Legislature rolled out the red carpet for these out-of-state loan sharks at the expense of the working poor and folks in the military.
Let’s hope the Supreme Court rolls the red carpet back up and sends the payday lenders packing. This is one new industry we can do without.
It’s a $40 billion business that started a decade ago in rural Tennessee and grew an estimated 12 to 18 percent this year. Profit margins are 15 percent — far higher than what banks earn — or about $6 billion a year.
You can see the young airmen entering storefronts with signs advertising cash advances, where they get loans against their next paychecks at outlandish rates.
These businesses are not far from the main entrance to Little Rock Air Force Base, which is how payday lenders like it.
They set up shop near military bases all over the country — sometimes 100 or more in one community — and prey on young military people desperate for a few hundred dollars so they can make a car payment and put food on the table for their families.
Leader reporter John Hof-heimer has written a series of articles highlighting the abuses in the payday industry, whose owners are often shadowy figures with headquarters in states like Nebraska, which allows lenders to charge whatever interest rates they can get away with.
This is how the scheme works: Payday lenders all across the country will let young recruits borrow, say, $300.
They’ll make a check out for $375, which they hope to cover on their next payday.
But they realize they can’t pay their other bills if they repay the loan in a couple of weeks, so they go back and extend the loan, and before they know it, they owe the loan sharks twice what they borrowed a few weeks ago.
Many states have banned payday lenders, including Georgia and New York, but not Arkansas, where politicians encourage the fleecing of America.
It’s estimated that nearly 15 percent of America’s 105 million households borrow from payday lenders, and that figure is even higher in the military, about 25 percent, or some 180,000 service families who fall victim to these sharks at rates only the Mafia can surpass.
That kind of rip-off would land the average banker in prison, but the payday lenders get away with it because politicians let them charge whatever rates they want.
These payday lenders wouldn’t exist without the support of big banks that loan them money, including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan, Wachovia and other behemoths, who prosper at the expense of the least fortunate.
It’s a shame that military people, who often make the ultimate sacrifice for their country, are the payday lenders’ easiest targets because enlisted people are underpaid and overworked.
It doesn’t bother the politicians that the victims are often the same people who protect us from our enemies. While serving abroad they must worry if their spouses can make the interest payment on the 600 percent loan they took out before they shipped to Iraq.
It’s time to pull the plug on these unscrupulous lenders in Arkansas and across the nation.
Until these payday lenders are kicked out of Arkansas, the Pentagon should make these lenders off-limits for service members.
Stressed out and often unsophisticated, these military folks need basic financial counseling. They should know, for example, that they can borrow for a lot less from their own credit union.
When they do get in trouble, they can turn to military services’ relief societies, which often make interest-free loans to members to pay off the payday lenders.
You don’t want a service member fighting for his country while he owes the local loan shark thousands of dollars.
The patriots in the state Legislature should have thought about that when they invited the payday lenders into Arkansas.
Let’s hope the state Supreme Court rights this wrong during this holiday season, even if the lenders say, bah, humbug.
(Postscript: The Arkansas Supreme Court has remanded a lawsuit against payday lenders to Circuit Judge Barry Sims’ court.)
The state Supreme Court could put the so-called payday lenders out of business in Arkansas.
Consumer advocates are challenging Act 1216 of 1999 that allows predatory lending in the state with rates as high as 650 percent.
The victims are the working poor and the military.
Arkansas should follow the example of several other states and ban storefront payday lenders. This outrage must not continue.
Business has never been better, thanks to our state Legislature that almost unanimously exempted payday lenders from limits on interest rates, which are disguised as fees and supposedly legal, although the Supreme Court may have other ideas about that.
Eager to attract new industries to Arkansas and even more eager for campaign contributions, the Legislature rolled out the red carpet for these out-of-state loan sharks at the expense of the working poor and folks in the military.
Let’s hope the Supreme Court rolls the red carpet back up and sends the payday lenders packing. This is one new industry we can do without.
It’s a $40 billion business that started a decade ago in rural Tennessee and grew an estimated 12 to 18 percent this year. Profit margins are 15 percent — far higher than what banks earn — or about $6 billion a year.
You can see the young airmen entering storefronts with signs advertising cash advances, where they get loans against their next paychecks at outlandish rates.
These businesses are not far from the main entrance to Little Rock Air Force Base, which is how payday lenders like it.
They set up shop near military bases all over the country — sometimes 100 or more in one community — and prey on young military people desperate for a few hundred dollars so they can make a car payment and put food on the table for their families.
Leader reporter John Hof-heimer has written a series of articles highlighting the abuses in the payday industry, whose owners are often shadowy figures with headquarters in states like Nebraska, which allows lenders to charge whatever interest rates they can get away with.
This is how the scheme works: Payday lenders all across the country will let young recruits borrow, say, $300.
They’ll make a check out for $375, which they hope to cover on their next payday.
But they realize they can’t pay their other bills if they repay the loan in a couple of weeks, so they go back and extend the loan, and before they know it, they owe the loan sharks twice what they borrowed a few weeks ago.
Many states have banned payday lenders, including Georgia and New York, but not Arkansas, where politicians encourage the fleecing of America.
It’s estimated that nearly 15 percent of America’s 105 million households borrow from payday lenders, and that figure is even higher in the military, about 25 percent, or some 180,000 service families who fall victim to these sharks at rates only the Mafia can surpass.
That kind of rip-off would land the average banker in prison, but the payday lenders get away with it because politicians let them charge whatever rates they want.
These payday lenders wouldn’t exist without the support of big banks that loan them money, including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan, Wachovia and other behemoths, who prosper at the expense of the least fortunate.
It’s a shame that military people, who often make the ultimate sacrifice for their country, are the payday lenders’ easiest targets because enlisted people are underpaid and overworked.
It doesn’t bother the politicians that the victims are often the same people who protect us from our enemies. While serving abroad they must worry if their spouses can make the interest payment on the 600 percent loan they took out before they shipped to Iraq.
It’s time to pull the plug on these unscrupulous lenders in Arkansas and across the nation.
Until these payday lenders are kicked out of Arkansas, the Pentagon should make these lenders off-limits for service members.
Stressed out and often unsophisticated, these military folks need basic financial counseling. They should know, for example, that they can borrow for a lot less from their own credit union.
When they do get in trouble, they can turn to military services’ relief societies, which often make interest-free loans to members to pay off the payday lenders.
You don’t want a service member fighting for his country while he owes the local loan shark thousands of dollars.
The patriots in the state Legislature should have thought about that when they invited the payday lenders into Arkansas.
Let’s hope the state Supreme Court rights this wrong during this holiday season, even if the lenders say, bah, humbug.
(Postscript: The Arkansas Supreme Court has remanded a lawsuit against payday lenders to Circuit Judge Barry Sims’ court.)
EDITORIALS>> Gold in them thar hills
“What was all that about?” a few of you may have been wondering when Deltic Timber Corp. moved the heavens this spring to get legislation from the General Assembly to prevent the Central Arkansas Water utility from condemning some of Deltic’s land on the south shore of Lake Maumelle, the region’s principal source of water.
Central Arkansas Water, you will remember, thought the 220 luxury homes that the timber and land development company plans to build on the slopes above the lovely lake would contaminate the water and cost water users (that’s the rest of us peons) tens of millions of dollars to counteract. A big citizen campaign, along with House Speaker Bill Stovall of Quitman, scotched the bill. It almost certainly will reappear when the legislature meets again.
Why would Deltic spend so much money on one of the most intense lobbying campaigns in recent times and risk so much ill will among 360,000 water users? And then why would it turn down Central Arkansas Water’s offer of $3.8 million for the land, which lies just above the water system’s intake?
If the answer was not obvious, Forbes magazine clarified it last week, although not in the course of explaining the dispute over the development. It was a business story about this highly profitable development company, which started as a wood-products subsidiary of Murphy Oil Corp. of El Dorado.
Here’s a little of the Forbes article:
“Deltic also peddles plots to home builders from its large (60,000 acres) holding west of Little Rock. Since 2001 the development, called Chenal, has sold an average 206 lots annually for $76,000 each. This year’s target: 300 lots. For every $1 the company spends clearing the lots, laying down water pipes and building roads, it gets $2 back from the buyers.”
An average of $76,000 for a lot! And many lots go for several times that amount.
Until utilities are laid to the lots, all the speculative land owned by Deltic and other developers in the Maumelle and Chenal region is assessed for tax purposes at a tiny fraction of those values. The owners assess them as timber or pasture land, although the land is held for upscale development.
Typically, developers pay taxes of about $1.65 an acre a year to your county government and schools. Contemplate how much you pay for your little plot and house.
Although its board of directors are getting cold feet, Central Arkansas Water should proceed with condemnation with all deliberate haste and send a message that it will protect our water supply for our lifetimes.
Surely, the developers will not raise the usual cry about public condemnation: that you’re taking the land off the tax rolls and robbing the schools.
They wouldn’t dare.
Would they?
Central Arkansas Water, you will remember, thought the 220 luxury homes that the timber and land development company plans to build on the slopes above the lovely lake would contaminate the water and cost water users (that’s the rest of us peons) tens of millions of dollars to counteract. A big citizen campaign, along with House Speaker Bill Stovall of Quitman, scotched the bill. It almost certainly will reappear when the legislature meets again.
Why would Deltic spend so much money on one of the most intense lobbying campaigns in recent times and risk so much ill will among 360,000 water users? And then why would it turn down Central Arkansas Water’s offer of $3.8 million for the land, which lies just above the water system’s intake?
If the answer was not obvious, Forbes magazine clarified it last week, although not in the course of explaining the dispute over the development. It was a business story about this highly profitable development company, which started as a wood-products subsidiary of Murphy Oil Corp. of El Dorado.
Here’s a little of the Forbes article:
“Deltic also peddles plots to home builders from its large (60,000 acres) holding west of Little Rock. Since 2001 the development, called Chenal, has sold an average 206 lots annually for $76,000 each. This year’s target: 300 lots. For every $1 the company spends clearing the lots, laying down water pipes and building roads, it gets $2 back from the buyers.”
An average of $76,000 for a lot! And many lots go for several times that amount.
Until utilities are laid to the lots, all the speculative land owned by Deltic and other developers in the Maumelle and Chenal region is assessed for tax purposes at a tiny fraction of those values. The owners assess them as timber or pasture land, although the land is held for upscale development.
Typically, developers pay taxes of about $1.65 an acre a year to your county government and schools. Contemplate how much you pay for your little plot and house.
Although its board of directors are getting cold feet, Central Arkansas Water should proceed with condemnation with all deliberate haste and send a message that it will protect our water supply for our lifetimes.
Surely, the developers will not raise the usual cry about public condemnation: that you’re taking the land off the tax rolls and robbing the schools.
They wouldn’t dare.
Would they?
EDITORIAL>> The virtue of inaction on budget surplus
Deficits are orphans unclaimed even by the parents, but no one can avoid fondling a surplus. The state government ended the fiscal year with leftover cash of a little more than $100 million, about 2 percent of the state budget, and every day’s news brings more proposals for handling it.
Gov. Huckabee talked about a tax cut, but actually, if we divine his purposes accurately, he seemed to prefer doing nothing. For once, that familiar impulse of Mike Huckabee is exactly the right one. “Rainy day fund” is the popular phrase that he used, but it means hold on to the money and see when it comes in handy.
A few Republican lawmakers and pundits talk about calling the legislature into session and cutting taxes. One GOP legislator said the state should use the occasion to slash business taxes and make Arkansas a more attractive place for big corporations. That is the easy, popular and wrong thing to do.
Arkansas, like nearly every state in the union, and the federal government, has experienced unusually healthy revenue growth the past 18 months, owing mainly to the continuing housing boom, low interest rates, whopping corporate profits and solid stock profits. Like other narrow economic boomlets, it will not last.
Employment and wages are stagnant nearly four years after the last short and mild recession ended.
Cut taxes and the state will face a fiscal crisis in short order. The state will be back to raising taxes and cutting services. You will remember (actually, you probably don’t because most people hardly felt them) the tax cuts the legislature engineered at Gov. Huckabee’s behest in the late 1990s. They were followed in short order by an income surtax, increases in motor fuels taxes, several hikes in sales and use taxes and alcoholic beverage taxes.
Why lead the taxpayers through such artifices again? The governor and lawmakers could go home and claim to be tax cutters, not big spenders, but not many voters would fall for it. The experience of the past few years, in Arkansas and in Washington, D.C., is that tax cuts go to corporations and high-income people and the tax increases that follow settle on working families.
If we had to guess, Gov. Huckabee is thinking about the Arkansas Supreme Court. The attorney general is having to defend the governor and the legislature’s appropriation of only about one-twentieth of the money that they had concluded needed to be spent on school facilities to comply with the Supreme Court’s mandate and their refusal to allow one more dime the next school year on teacher salaries and equalization aid to schools — the heart of the constitutional issue before the court.
The attorney general now must stand before the Supreme Court masters and argue that the legislature and governor did all they could reasonably do to bring schools up to constitutional standards while more than $100 million has already been left on the table. His best argument this month may be that what the judges read in the paper was all just the lyin’ press — there is no surplus.
In a way, he would be right. The surplus is a mirage. Every dime of it, and much more, will be needed — and soon. Huckabee knows that.
Our neighbor, Sen. Tracy Steele of North Little Rock, proposed giving half the surplus (roughly $50 million) back to taxpayers in a rebate. It would be, we presume, a one-time check of a few dollars to those who file income tax returns. The poor, who earn too little to pay income taxes but pay plenty in consumption taxes, would get nothing.
Stick to your guns, governor. Do nothing.
Gov. Huckabee talked about a tax cut, but actually, if we divine his purposes accurately, he seemed to prefer doing nothing. For once, that familiar impulse of Mike Huckabee is exactly the right one. “Rainy day fund” is the popular phrase that he used, but it means hold on to the money and see when it comes in handy.
A few Republican lawmakers and pundits talk about calling the legislature into session and cutting taxes. One GOP legislator said the state should use the occasion to slash business taxes and make Arkansas a more attractive place for big corporations. That is the easy, popular and wrong thing to do.
Arkansas, like nearly every state in the union, and the federal government, has experienced unusually healthy revenue growth the past 18 months, owing mainly to the continuing housing boom, low interest rates, whopping corporate profits and solid stock profits. Like other narrow economic boomlets, it will not last.
Employment and wages are stagnant nearly four years after the last short and mild recession ended.
Cut taxes and the state will face a fiscal crisis in short order. The state will be back to raising taxes and cutting services. You will remember (actually, you probably don’t because most people hardly felt them) the tax cuts the legislature engineered at Gov. Huckabee’s behest in the late 1990s. They were followed in short order by an income surtax, increases in motor fuels taxes, several hikes in sales and use taxes and alcoholic beverage taxes.
Why lead the taxpayers through such artifices again? The governor and lawmakers could go home and claim to be tax cutters, not big spenders, but not many voters would fall for it. The experience of the past few years, in Arkansas and in Washington, D.C., is that tax cuts go to corporations and high-income people and the tax increases that follow settle on working families.
If we had to guess, Gov. Huckabee is thinking about the Arkansas Supreme Court. The attorney general is having to defend the governor and the legislature’s appropriation of only about one-twentieth of the money that they had concluded needed to be spent on school facilities to comply with the Supreme Court’s mandate and their refusal to allow one more dime the next school year on teacher salaries and equalization aid to schools — the heart of the constitutional issue before the court.
The attorney general now must stand before the Supreme Court masters and argue that the legislature and governor did all they could reasonably do to bring schools up to constitutional standards while more than $100 million has already been left on the table. His best argument this month may be that what the judges read in the paper was all just the lyin’ press — there is no surplus.
In a way, he would be right. The surplus is a mirage. Every dime of it, and much more, will be needed — and soon. Huckabee knows that.
Our neighbor, Sen. Tracy Steele of North Little Rock, proposed giving half the surplus (roughly $50 million) back to taxpayers in a rebate. It would be, we presume, a one-time check of a few dollars to those who file income tax returns. The poor, who earn too little to pay income taxes but pay plenty in consumption taxes, would get nothing.
Stick to your guns, governor. Do nothing.
FROM THE PUBLISHER>> Music still fills the air over area
BY GARRICK FELDMAN
You can create your own endless summer festival if you travel far enough to find your favorite musicians.
Over the Fourth of July weekend, fans traveled to Mississippi hill country north of Greenwood, where near the community of Avalon, off Hwy. 7, relatives and fans of Mississippi John Hurt honored the memory of the great country blues artist.
The lyrics to one of old his songs, “Coffee Blues,” asking for “just a lovin’ spoonful,” inspired the name of a 1960s rock group, whose leader, John Sebastian, will perform Mon-day near Hurt’s shack off a winding dirt road outside of town.
Sometimes you get lucky, and you’ll find good music in your backyard.
Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson appeared July 2 at Ray Winder Field. Dylan has been called the best white blues singer of all time, and if country is white blues, Nelson isn’t far behind.
Arkansans have heard some great music in recent weeks, including B.B. King at Little Rock’s Riverfest, the Holmes Brothers at Sticky Fingerz and, farther up the road in Eureka Springs, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Mavis Staples and Shemekia Copeland at the Eureka Springs Blues Festival, which attracted hundreds of bikers who came to town to show off their Harleys.
The Holmes Brothers — Wendell on electric guitar and Sherman on bass — are a gifted pair of musicians who play gospel-tinged blues with a drummer to round out their trio.
They played to a smallish crowd on a recent Tuesday night, but they were as enthusiastic as they were at last year’s King Biscuit Festival and at last May’s Handy Awards in Memphis, where they were named best blues group.
The Holmes Brother grew up in church and have moved beyond gospel into the secular world of the blues.
Their gospel-flavored CDs include the award-winning “Simple Truths” (Alligator), as well as “Promised Land” (Rounder), both a pleasure to listen to, especially on a rainy day.
The Blind Boys of Alabama never left the church. Dressed in long blue coats, they sang gospel for more than an hour in the old Eureka Springs Auditorium with their leader Clarence Fountain, along with Jimmy Carter, both original members of the group. (George Scott, another original member, passed away this spring.)
More than halfway through the show, Carter was led off stage and walked up and down the aisles, still singing and calling for a church service right then and there.
You haven’t lived till you’ve heard the Blind Boys of Alabama sing “Amazing Grace” like no one else can. Music in Heaven must sound something like the Blind Boys.
Their CDs include the Grammy Award-winning “Higher Ground” (Real World) with Robert Randolph and the Family Band, as well as “Oh, Lord, Stand by Me” and “Marching up to Zion,” which are two early LPs on one CD, and “The Sermon” (all from Specialty).
Three weekends ago, B.B. King returned to his home town of Indianola, Miss., where he helped break ground for a $10 million blues museum and performed at the city park. He played at the Club Ebony after 1 a.m. and didn’t stop till almost 3 a.m. He said he could have played all night, but the band looked tired, so he stopped.
Chris Thomas King (no relation), who acted in the movies “Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?” and “Ray,” played a couple of numbers at the club, including “What’d I Say?,” before B.B. showed up. The next evening at the club before a small crowd, Chris, a gifted musician, put on a great show for a couple of hours.
The lucky few who were there caught a great performance.
Most blues fans had headed out of town that night, down to Pickens, Miss., where B.B. King played for two nights at the 42nd Medgar Evers Homecoming, a fundraiser in honor of the slain civil rights leader.
Charles Evers, his older brother, gave a moving address about the long struggle to achieve equality for black people, including the right to vote, and at one point, Evers held back tears, and King reminded the white people in the audience that 40 years ago it was against the law for blacks and whites to sit together.
Then it was back to more music.
B.B. gave the band the cue to play Brinkley native Louis Jordan’s “Let the Good Times Roll,” reminding us once again that the blues is not always sad. You’ve got to leave the hard times behind as much as you can and have some fun.
Enjoy the music.
You can create your own endless summer festival if you travel far enough to find your favorite musicians.
Over the Fourth of July weekend, fans traveled to Mississippi hill country north of Greenwood, where near the community of Avalon, off Hwy. 7, relatives and fans of Mississippi John Hurt honored the memory of the great country blues artist.
The lyrics to one of old his songs, “Coffee Blues,” asking for “just a lovin’ spoonful,” inspired the name of a 1960s rock group, whose leader, John Sebastian, will perform Mon-day near Hurt’s shack off a winding dirt road outside of town.
Sometimes you get lucky, and you’ll find good music in your backyard.
Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson appeared July 2 at Ray Winder Field. Dylan has been called the best white blues singer of all time, and if country is white blues, Nelson isn’t far behind.
Arkansans have heard some great music in recent weeks, including B.B. King at Little Rock’s Riverfest, the Holmes Brothers at Sticky Fingerz and, farther up the road in Eureka Springs, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Mavis Staples and Shemekia Copeland at the Eureka Springs Blues Festival, which attracted hundreds of bikers who came to town to show off their Harleys.
The Holmes Brothers — Wendell on electric guitar and Sherman on bass — are a gifted pair of musicians who play gospel-tinged blues with a drummer to round out their trio.
They played to a smallish crowd on a recent Tuesday night, but they were as enthusiastic as they were at last year’s King Biscuit Festival and at last May’s Handy Awards in Memphis, where they were named best blues group.
The Holmes Brother grew up in church and have moved beyond gospel into the secular world of the blues.
Their gospel-flavored CDs include the award-winning “Simple Truths” (Alligator), as well as “Promised Land” (Rounder), both a pleasure to listen to, especially on a rainy day.
The Blind Boys of Alabama never left the church. Dressed in long blue coats, they sang gospel for more than an hour in the old Eureka Springs Auditorium with their leader Clarence Fountain, along with Jimmy Carter, both original members of the group. (George Scott, another original member, passed away this spring.)
More than halfway through the show, Carter was led off stage and walked up and down the aisles, still singing and calling for a church service right then and there.
You haven’t lived till you’ve heard the Blind Boys of Alabama sing “Amazing Grace” like no one else can. Music in Heaven must sound something like the Blind Boys.
Their CDs include the Grammy Award-winning “Higher Ground” (Real World) with Robert Randolph and the Family Band, as well as “Oh, Lord, Stand by Me” and “Marching up to Zion,” which are two early LPs on one CD, and “The Sermon” (all from Specialty).
Three weekends ago, B.B. King returned to his home town of Indianola, Miss., where he helped break ground for a $10 million blues museum and performed at the city park. He played at the Club Ebony after 1 a.m. and didn’t stop till almost 3 a.m. He said he could have played all night, but the band looked tired, so he stopped.
Chris Thomas King (no relation), who acted in the movies “Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?” and “Ray,” played a couple of numbers at the club, including “What’d I Say?,” before B.B. showed up. The next evening at the club before a small crowd, Chris, a gifted musician, put on a great show for a couple of hours.
The lucky few who were there caught a great performance.
Most blues fans had headed out of town that night, down to Pickens, Miss., where B.B. King played for two nights at the 42nd Medgar Evers Homecoming, a fundraiser in honor of the slain civil rights leader.
Charles Evers, his older brother, gave a moving address about the long struggle to achieve equality for black people, including the right to vote, and at one point, Evers held back tears, and King reminded the white people in the audience that 40 years ago it was against the law for blacks and whites to sit together.
Then it was back to more music.
B.B. gave the band the cue to play Brinkley native Louis Jordan’s “Let the Good Times Roll,” reminding us once again that the blues is not always sad. You’ve got to leave the hard times behind as much as you can and have some fun.
Enjoy the music.
OBITUARIES
Wilma Burrow
Wilma Jewel Burrow, 92, of Jacksonville, passed away July 16.
She worked in sales at Sterling Dept. Stores of Little Rock and was a seamstress for Fort Roots for 15 years until her retirement.
She is survived by one son, Bill W. Burrow, Sr., of Cabot; two sisters, Louise Henderson of Cabot and Cleo McConkey of Little Rock; grandchildren, Bill W. Burrow Jr., Kenneth Allen Burrow, Bryan Burrow, Jenny Parker and Carie Anne Ebrahimi; three great- grandchildren and friends of Baring Cross of North Little Rock and Second Baptist Church of Jacksonville. She was preceded in death by her husband, Harvey Dozier Burrow, her parents, Benjamin E. and Eva Georgiana (Galbreath) Edwards, three sisters and two brothers.
Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday at North Little Rock Funeral Home chapel. Burial will be in Rest Hills Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Arkansas Hospice, 2200 Fort Roots Dr., North Little Rock, Ark. 72114.
Elizabeth Edmondson
Elizabeth Marie Ball Edmondson, 57, of Lonoke passed away July 15. She was a member of Cabot First United Methodist Church, a school teacher with Cabot Schools, a farmer and rancher.
She was preceded in death by her infant daughter, Melissa Marie Edmondson, and her parents, Ethel and Baxley Ball.
Survivors include her son, Baxley Glyn “B.G.” Edmondson of Lonoke; daughter, Gynger Edmondson of Cabot; sister-in-law and brother, D’Arylan and John Ball of Scott, and many nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.
Funeral services were held July 18 at Cabot First United Methodist Church with Bro. Richard Lancas-ter officiating. Interment followed at Lonoke Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to the Elizabeth Edmondson Memorial Fund at Cabot First United Methodist Church.
Hazel strickland
Hazel Strickland, 71, of Jacksonville passed away July 16.
She is survived by four sons, Victor Strickland, Jr., and wife Cecelia, Rev. Jerry Strickland, and wife Barbara, and David Strickland, all of Jacksonville, and Danny Strickland and wife Sandra of Venus, Fla.; seven grandchildren, five great-grandchildren; five sisters, Ollie Fay Berdeaux of Cleveland, Ala., Nancy Brown and Patsy Curran, both of Crossett, and JoAnn Aguillard and Linda Harri-son, both of Port Allen, La.
Her husband, Victor B. Strickland, Sr. and her parents, David and Bonnie Sledge, preceded her in death.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at First United Pentecostal Church in north Crossett. Burial will be in Montrose Cemetery in Montrose.
Family will receive friends from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at First United Pentecostal Church in North Crossett. Arrangements are by North Little Rock Funeral Home, 1921 Main St., 758-1170.
Kenneth Spease
Kenneth F. Spease, 82, passed away July 15 in his Jacksonville home following a lengthy illness.
Born Oct. 20, 1922, in Aurora, Ill., he was a son of the late Frederick and Bertha Hartman Spease. He was also preceded in death by a sister, Doris Skaggs; brother, Robert H. Spease; daughter, Anna Marie Spease; grandson, Ronald Dirks, Jr., and nephew Ward Skaggs. He moved to Rock Falls, Ill., shortly after birth. He met and married Charlotte J. McNinch on Sept. 15, 1941.
Spease served in the Army and was a World War II veteran. He retired from Parris Alford in 1979. Shortly after retirement, Mr. and Mrs. Spease moved to Jacksonville.
He is survived by three sons; Charles F. Spease of Ward, Kenneth M. Spease and Robert J. Spease of Jacksonville; one daughter, Judith Martinez of Marion; six grandsons, Michael J. Spease of Jacksonville, Matthew Spease of Ward, Timothy Spease of North Little Rock, Rodney K. Duncan of Blytheville, Paul Martinez of Marion and Phillip Martinez of North Carolina; four granddaughters, Roxanne Long of Beebe, Melissa Telford and Sherie Swagarthy of Jacksonville and Lindsay Martinez of Florida, eight great-grandsons and four great-granddaughters.
Funeral services are under the direction of McDonald Funeral Home, Rock Falls, Ill. Local arrangements are by Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
Russell Drake
Russell Kenneth Drake, 60, of Princeton, Ill., died July 16 in Blessings Hospital in Quincy, Ill.
He was born in Bureau County, Ill., the son of Kenneth and Nelda Drake. In addition to his parents, he is survived by his daughter, Dana and her husband, Greg Rozenski of Jacksonville; a son, Ashley Drake of Jonesboro; two sisters, Martha and her husband, Albert Flaherty of Princeton, Ill., and Linda and her husband, Jim Marlowe of Wyanet, Ill.; three brothers, Leroy and wife Edith Drake of Princeton, Ill., Howard and his wife Alice Drake of Granville, Ill., and Douglas and wife Cheryl Drake of Princeton, Ill., and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his grandparents.
His remains were cremated and a private family service will be held at a later date.
Louise Cazer
Louise Cazer, a member of the Lonoke United Methodist Church, born March 2, 1912, passed from this life to eternity on July 15.
She is survived by loving cousins; nephew Larry Cazer of Brinkley; niece, Sharon Rushin of Ward, and many great-nieces and nephews.
Graveside services were held July 17 at Lonoke Cemetery by Boyd Funeral Home of Lonoke.
Arrangements by Norberg Memorial Home in Princeton, Ill.
Wilma Jewel Burrow, 92, of Jacksonville, passed away July 16.
She worked in sales at Sterling Dept. Stores of Little Rock and was a seamstress for Fort Roots for 15 years until her retirement.
She is survived by one son, Bill W. Burrow, Sr., of Cabot; two sisters, Louise Henderson of Cabot and Cleo McConkey of Little Rock; grandchildren, Bill W. Burrow Jr., Kenneth Allen Burrow, Bryan Burrow, Jenny Parker and Carie Anne Ebrahimi; three great- grandchildren and friends of Baring Cross of North Little Rock and Second Baptist Church of Jacksonville. She was preceded in death by her husband, Harvey Dozier Burrow, her parents, Benjamin E. and Eva Georgiana (Galbreath) Edwards, three sisters and two brothers.
Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday at North Little Rock Funeral Home chapel. Burial will be in Rest Hills Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Arkansas Hospice, 2200 Fort Roots Dr., North Little Rock, Ark. 72114.
Elizabeth Edmondson
Elizabeth Marie Ball Edmondson, 57, of Lonoke passed away July 15. She was a member of Cabot First United Methodist Church, a school teacher with Cabot Schools, a farmer and rancher.
She was preceded in death by her infant daughter, Melissa Marie Edmondson, and her parents, Ethel and Baxley Ball.
Survivors include her son, Baxley Glyn “B.G.” Edmondson of Lonoke; daughter, Gynger Edmondson of Cabot; sister-in-law and brother, D’Arylan and John Ball of Scott, and many nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.
Funeral services were held July 18 at Cabot First United Methodist Church with Bro. Richard Lancas-ter officiating. Interment followed at Lonoke Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to the Elizabeth Edmondson Memorial Fund at Cabot First United Methodist Church.
Hazel strickland
Hazel Strickland, 71, of Jacksonville passed away July 16.
She is survived by four sons, Victor Strickland, Jr., and wife Cecelia, Rev. Jerry Strickland, and wife Barbara, and David Strickland, all of Jacksonville, and Danny Strickland and wife Sandra of Venus, Fla.; seven grandchildren, five great-grandchildren; five sisters, Ollie Fay Berdeaux of Cleveland, Ala., Nancy Brown and Patsy Curran, both of Crossett, and JoAnn Aguillard and Linda Harri-son, both of Port Allen, La.
Her husband, Victor B. Strickland, Sr. and her parents, David and Bonnie Sledge, preceded her in death.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at First United Pentecostal Church in north Crossett. Burial will be in Montrose Cemetery in Montrose.
Family will receive friends from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at First United Pentecostal Church in North Crossett. Arrangements are by North Little Rock Funeral Home, 1921 Main St., 758-1170.
Kenneth Spease
Kenneth F. Spease, 82, passed away July 15 in his Jacksonville home following a lengthy illness.
Born Oct. 20, 1922, in Aurora, Ill., he was a son of the late Frederick and Bertha Hartman Spease. He was also preceded in death by a sister, Doris Skaggs; brother, Robert H. Spease; daughter, Anna Marie Spease; grandson, Ronald Dirks, Jr., and nephew Ward Skaggs. He moved to Rock Falls, Ill., shortly after birth. He met and married Charlotte J. McNinch on Sept. 15, 1941.
Spease served in the Army and was a World War II veteran. He retired from Parris Alford in 1979. Shortly after retirement, Mr. and Mrs. Spease moved to Jacksonville.
He is survived by three sons; Charles F. Spease of Ward, Kenneth M. Spease and Robert J. Spease of Jacksonville; one daughter, Judith Martinez of Marion; six grandsons, Michael J. Spease of Jacksonville, Matthew Spease of Ward, Timothy Spease of North Little Rock, Rodney K. Duncan of Blytheville, Paul Martinez of Marion and Phillip Martinez of North Carolina; four granddaughters, Roxanne Long of Beebe, Melissa Telford and Sherie Swagarthy of Jacksonville and Lindsay Martinez of Florida, eight great-grandsons and four great-granddaughters.
Funeral services are under the direction of McDonald Funeral Home, Rock Falls, Ill. Local arrangements are by Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
Russell Drake
Russell Kenneth Drake, 60, of Princeton, Ill., died July 16 in Blessings Hospital in Quincy, Ill.
He was born in Bureau County, Ill., the son of Kenneth and Nelda Drake. In addition to his parents, he is survived by his daughter, Dana and her husband, Greg Rozenski of Jacksonville; a son, Ashley Drake of Jonesboro; two sisters, Martha and her husband, Albert Flaherty of Princeton, Ill., and Linda and her husband, Jim Marlowe of Wyanet, Ill.; three brothers, Leroy and wife Edith Drake of Princeton, Ill., Howard and his wife Alice Drake of Granville, Ill., and Douglas and wife Cheryl Drake of Princeton, Ill., and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his grandparents.
His remains were cremated and a private family service will be held at a later date.
Louise Cazer
Louise Cazer, a member of the Lonoke United Methodist Church, born March 2, 1912, passed from this life to eternity on July 15.
She is survived by loving cousins; nephew Larry Cazer of Brinkley; niece, Sharon Rushin of Ward, and many great-nieces and nephews.
Graveside services were held July 17 at Lonoke Cemetery by Boyd Funeral Home of Lonoke.
Arrangements by Norberg Memorial Home in Princeton, Ill.
SPORTS>> Piranhas place 65 swimmers into meet
IN SHORT: Cabot swim team finishes season 1-5.
By Ray Benton
Leader sports editor
The Cabot Piranhas fell to the Otter Creek Otters Saturday in the final regular season meet of the Central Arkansas Swim League, and finished 1-5 in the six-week season.
Despite the record, it was still a great season for Cabot, as 65 Piranhas qualified for the CASL Meet of Champions that will be held this Saturday at UALR.
“I think it was a good season considering we have so many disadvantages to the other teams,” Cabot head coach Debbie Skidmore said. “We’re the only team in the league that doesn’t have an indoor pool. Everyone else has a great facility with a full-size (50-yards) pools, and we have to practice in a 20-yard outdoor pool. It’s just too small and too crowded to really teach the kids everything they need. If we had the advantages everyone else has, we would have done a lot better. The commitment is there from everyone except the outside people. The swimmers, the coaches and the parents all do a wonderful job, but the proposal to build a pool didn’t pass. We’re going to start having off-season practices in Jacksonville.”
The score in Saturday’s meet against the league runners up wasn’t close. The Otters won the meet 826-464, but it wasn’t without some Piranha highlights.
Several Cabot swimmers recorded their best times and moved up in classification.
Six-year-old Caitlin Cunningham won the silver division backstroke, and her 31.56 time in the event moved her up to gold level.
In the same event, Emily Harness won the bronze division race and moved up to silver with a time of 38.72.
Otter Creek’s Kara Moser won four of the five gold events in the 6-under age group, but Elaine Helpenstill won the 25-yard kickboard race.
Darby Harmon won the 8-under gold backstroke with a time of 24.44, but teammate Riley Young joined her at the gold level by winning the silver race with a 24.03.
Alex Caple moved up to silver in the breaststroke by winning the bronze race with a time of 31.50.
Ten-year old Piranha Micah Odom won all five top-level events in the 10-under girls division. In the 12-under girls category, where Cabot is deepest with talent, Megan Owens won three events while teammate Stephenie Odom took first in the breaststroke.
Otter Creek’s Erin Moser won the 12-under butterfly to stop a Cabot sweep of the age group.
Otter Creek dominated the girls 14-under age group, but Cabot’s Vicki Lovelette won four of the five gold events in the 16-under division.
Only Lauren Mesker of the Otters stopped a Lovelette sweep by taking the butterfly race.
Otter Creek dominated al-most all of the boys action. 14-year old Piranha Michael Rakoski, however, dominated his age group.
Rakoski was the only Cabot swimmer to win all five gold-level events in his age group.
The MOC will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday morning at UALR’s Donaghey Center.
Skidmore believes she has a few swimmers that are capable of breaking league records this Saturday.
“We’ve got several kids I think can do it.
“I know we’ve got some that are already close, and have already beaten the record times. You have to do it in the Meet of Champs for it to count though.”
Owens, Ashley Baird and Rakoski are among the potential record breakers.
By Ray Benton
Leader sports editor
The Cabot Piranhas fell to the Otter Creek Otters Saturday in the final regular season meet of the Central Arkansas Swim League, and finished 1-5 in the six-week season.
Despite the record, it was still a great season for Cabot, as 65 Piranhas qualified for the CASL Meet of Champions that will be held this Saturday at UALR.
“I think it was a good season considering we have so many disadvantages to the other teams,” Cabot head coach Debbie Skidmore said. “We’re the only team in the league that doesn’t have an indoor pool. Everyone else has a great facility with a full-size (50-yards) pools, and we have to practice in a 20-yard outdoor pool. It’s just too small and too crowded to really teach the kids everything they need. If we had the advantages everyone else has, we would have done a lot better. The commitment is there from everyone except the outside people. The swimmers, the coaches and the parents all do a wonderful job, but the proposal to build a pool didn’t pass. We’re going to start having off-season practices in Jacksonville.”
The score in Saturday’s meet against the league runners up wasn’t close. The Otters won the meet 826-464, but it wasn’t without some Piranha highlights.
Several Cabot swimmers recorded their best times and moved up in classification.
Six-year-old Caitlin Cunningham won the silver division backstroke, and her 31.56 time in the event moved her up to gold level.
In the same event, Emily Harness won the bronze division race and moved up to silver with a time of 38.72.
Otter Creek’s Kara Moser won four of the five gold events in the 6-under age group, but Elaine Helpenstill won the 25-yard kickboard race.
Darby Harmon won the 8-under gold backstroke with a time of 24.44, but teammate Riley Young joined her at the gold level by winning the silver race with a 24.03.
Alex Caple moved up to silver in the breaststroke by winning the bronze race with a time of 31.50.
Ten-year old Piranha Micah Odom won all five top-level events in the 10-under girls division. In the 12-under girls category, where Cabot is deepest with talent, Megan Owens won three events while teammate Stephenie Odom took first in the breaststroke.
Otter Creek’s Erin Moser won the 12-under butterfly to stop a Cabot sweep of the age group.
Otter Creek dominated the girls 14-under age group, but Cabot’s Vicki Lovelette won four of the five gold events in the 16-under division.
Only Lauren Mesker of the Otters stopped a Lovelette sweep by taking the butterfly race.
Otter Creek dominated al-most all of the boys action. 14-year old Piranha Michael Rakoski, however, dominated his age group.
Rakoski was the only Cabot swimmer to win all five gold-level events in his age group.
The MOC will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday morning at UALR’s Donaghey Center.
Skidmore believes she has a few swimmers that are capable of breaking league records this Saturday.
“We’ve got several kids I think can do it.
“I know we’ve got some that are already close, and have already beaten the record times. You have to do it in the Meet of Champs for it to count though.”
Owens, Ashley Baird and Rakoski are among the potential record breakers.
SPORTS>> Joyner to coach Red Devils
IN SHORT: Former North Pulaski coach moving across town to lead Red Devils
By Ray Benton
Leader sports writer
Former North Pulaski head boys basketball coach Victor Joyner accepted the boys head coaching job at Jacksonville High School Monday night. The selection of Joyner ends a search to fill the position that began back in May with the resignation of former head coach Jerry Wilson.
Wilson was on the search committee that interviewed five applicants, and said Joyner was the best fit.
“He’s a guy with lots of success at the high school level, and he’s already a member of this community. He does a lot of stuff with the kids in Jacksonville outside of school. I think it will be a good fit.”
Joyner had many words to describe his feelings when he was informed he got the job.
“I was relieved, excited, a little scared maybe. It’s a new challenge and there are high expectations at Jacksonville. But that’s what makes me go. I love a challenge.”
Jacksonville principal Kenneth Clarke made the final decision on the hire, and said that experience was a major issue among those interviewed.
“He’s the only one (who interviewed) who was a head coach,” Clarke said. “He’s been a head coach for a long time and he’s been very successful. You can’t overlook that kind of experience.”
Experience wasn’t the only contributing factor to Clarke’s decision.
“He a member of this community and he’s very involved. Plus he seemed very focused on the kids. He stressed in his interview that he has always worked hard for his kids as far as helping them make it to the next level, and that he would continue to do so. That was very impressive to me. That’s what we’re here for. He seemed just as much concerned with helping his players get into
college and become better young men, as he did with wins.”
Joyner also expressed a sincere sadness at leaving the site of his first head-coaching job. He even sneaked in at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday to clean out his office, saying he wasn’t ready to say goodbye to anyone just yet.
“I just don’t think I could have handled it at this point,” Joyner said. “I had too many things going through my mind, and there are some people over there that are just like my family. I’ve been there 11 years, and I’ve grown to love those people.”
Joyner reflected on his first day at NP, and shared a spiritual moment that paralleled his first and last day on the job.
“When I first got to NP 11 years ago, I did the same thing and brought everything in here late, late at night,” Joyner said. “I turned the clock on, and it was the only light in the gym. I sat down in the middle of that floor and prayed that I would be able to do what’s right by all the kids that would be coming through here.
“I did the same thing last night. I turned the clock on and sat down in the middle of the floor and prayed. But when I turned the clock on, it was running. It was running down from eight minutes. And then when I looked over, the direction arrow was on. There’s a short in it and it doesn’t come on sometimes, but it came on, and it was pointing to the visitors bench, and it was turned and pointing towards Jacksonville. It might have been nothing, but it made me feel like it was okay to leave. Because I was really struggling to walk out of there.”
Joyner brings an impressive resume from NP, including a streak of about 13 straight wins over JHS. He won eight conference titles, including four straight from 2000 through 2003.
His teams advanced to three state tournament semifinals and made appearances in nine straight state tournaments.
Most of those state tournament appearances came in class AAAA, where NP is one of the largest schools in the classification. He’ll now be taking over one of the smallest schools in the state’s largest classification.
Joyner simply looks at it as another challenge.
“This is without a doubt the toughest conference, but like I said, it’s a new challenge and that’s what I love,” Joyner said. “I couldn’t sleep all night thinking about Jonesboro and West Memphis and those guys. I’m taking over a program in a tough conference that hasn’t been winning. I’m going to have to teach a whole new system, but we’ll get there. I want to get Jacksonville High School to No. 1 in the state and keep ‘em in the top five of the rankings all the time. That’s my dream for this school.”
North Pulaski and Jacksonville are natural rivals, and the two schools gear up for each other in every sport, but Joyner says he never looked at it as a rivalry game.
“I’ve always considered myself a Jacksonville coach,” Joyner said. “It’s not been at Jacksonville High School, but it was still Jacksonville kids, and that’s who I’m here for. I never really looked at the kids at Jacksonville as rivals, and I won’t look at the NP kids that way now. I realize some people don’t look at North Pulaski as a Jacksonville school, but I always have and I’ll continue to do so.”
By Ray Benton
Leader sports writer
Former North Pulaski head boys basketball coach Victor Joyner accepted the boys head coaching job at Jacksonville High School Monday night. The selection of Joyner ends a search to fill the position that began back in May with the resignation of former head coach Jerry Wilson.
Wilson was on the search committee that interviewed five applicants, and said Joyner was the best fit.
“He’s a guy with lots of success at the high school level, and he’s already a member of this community. He does a lot of stuff with the kids in Jacksonville outside of school. I think it will be a good fit.”
Joyner had many words to describe his feelings when he was informed he got the job.
“I was relieved, excited, a little scared maybe. It’s a new challenge and there are high expectations at Jacksonville. But that’s what makes me go. I love a challenge.”
Jacksonville principal Kenneth Clarke made the final decision on the hire, and said that experience was a major issue among those interviewed.
“He’s the only one (who interviewed) who was a head coach,” Clarke said. “He’s been a head coach for a long time and he’s been very successful. You can’t overlook that kind of experience.”
Experience wasn’t the only contributing factor to Clarke’s decision.
“He a member of this community and he’s very involved. Plus he seemed very focused on the kids. He stressed in his interview that he has always worked hard for his kids as far as helping them make it to the next level, and that he would continue to do so. That was very impressive to me. That’s what we’re here for. He seemed just as much concerned with helping his players get into
college and become better young men, as he did with wins.”
Joyner also expressed a sincere sadness at leaving the site of his first head-coaching job. He even sneaked in at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday to clean out his office, saying he wasn’t ready to say goodbye to anyone just yet.
“I just don’t think I could have handled it at this point,” Joyner said. “I had too many things going through my mind, and there are some people over there that are just like my family. I’ve been there 11 years, and I’ve grown to love those people.”
Joyner reflected on his first day at NP, and shared a spiritual moment that paralleled his first and last day on the job.
“When I first got to NP 11 years ago, I did the same thing and brought everything in here late, late at night,” Joyner said. “I turned the clock on, and it was the only light in the gym. I sat down in the middle of that floor and prayed that I would be able to do what’s right by all the kids that would be coming through here.
“I did the same thing last night. I turned the clock on and sat down in the middle of the floor and prayed. But when I turned the clock on, it was running. It was running down from eight minutes. And then when I looked over, the direction arrow was on. There’s a short in it and it doesn’t come on sometimes, but it came on, and it was pointing to the visitors bench, and it was turned and pointing towards Jacksonville. It might have been nothing, but it made me feel like it was okay to leave. Because I was really struggling to walk out of there.”
Joyner brings an impressive resume from NP, including a streak of about 13 straight wins over JHS. He won eight conference titles, including four straight from 2000 through 2003.
His teams advanced to three state tournament semifinals and made appearances in nine straight state tournaments.
Most of those state tournament appearances came in class AAAA, where NP is one of the largest schools in the classification. He’ll now be taking over one of the smallest schools in the state’s largest classification.
Joyner simply looks at it as another challenge.
“This is without a doubt the toughest conference, but like I said, it’s a new challenge and that’s what I love,” Joyner said. “I couldn’t sleep all night thinking about Jonesboro and West Memphis and those guys. I’m taking over a program in a tough conference that hasn’t been winning. I’m going to have to teach a whole new system, but we’ll get there. I want to get Jacksonville High School to No. 1 in the state and keep ‘em in the top five of the rankings all the time. That’s my dream for this school.”
North Pulaski and Jacksonville are natural rivals, and the two schools gear up for each other in every sport, but Joyner says he never looked at it as a rivalry game.
“I’ve always considered myself a Jacksonville coach,” Joyner said. “It’s not been at Jacksonville High School, but it was still Jacksonville kids, and that’s who I’m here for. I never really looked at the kids at Jacksonville as rivals, and I won’t look at the NP kids that way now. I realize some people don’t look at North Pulaski as a Jacksonville school, but I always have and I’ll continue to do so.”
NEIGHBORS>> Having a blast
IN SHORT: It’s not just rocket science at cabot space camp.
By Sara Greene
Leader staff writer
With a jubilant countdown to each blast off, about 40 Junior Space Camp students watched MSgt. Bobby Coe of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps launch model rockets last week at Southside Elementary in Cabot.
The weeklong camp is an enrichment program where students can learn about planets, constellations, life in space and the history of flight through a variety of hand-on activities.
Junior Space Camp has been at Southside Elementary for the past two years. Before that it was held at the Arlene Cherry Memorial Library.
“Today we made space suits,” said kindergarten teacher Jane Shafer, as students displayed their paper bag space suits with empty plastic bottles on the back.
“Those are the rocket packs,” explained Ally Bevis, 5.
One of the highlights of space camp, for teachers as well as students is Rocket Day, when the classes watch members of the Cabot JROTC launch model rockets over the playground.
“This is my first year to launch rockets for Space Camp,” Coe said.
“I’ve been launching these for four years for the ROTC student’s Rocketry class.”
About 20 students watched the morning launch with Shafer and kindergarten teachers Christy Cavin and Terry Donham.
The foot-long model rockets are launched using a battery-powered ignition Coe explained.
The motors are lipstick-sized cardboard tubes of wadding and a small amount of sulfur propellant, less than in most fireworks.
The motors do not get hot enough to damage the rockets. Coe carefully set up each rocket and then pressed a button to launch.
Although each rocket contains a parachute, out of five launches that morning, only one parachute successfully opened.
Students shouted the count down for each launch, sometimes prematurely.
They eagerly informed Coe when the parachutes didn’t open and asked about the lingering smell of sulfur in the air after each launch.
“I do this for these little guys,” Coe said as the students marched back to the classroom to get ready for their parents to pick them up.
Susan Stephens’ daughters Samantha, 6, and Ashley, 9, both attend space camp.
“Ashley’s attended space camp every year,” Stephens said. “They’re teaching me things I didn’t know.”
By Sara Greene
Leader staff writer
With a jubilant countdown to each blast off, about 40 Junior Space Camp students watched MSgt. Bobby Coe of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps launch model rockets last week at Southside Elementary in Cabot.
The weeklong camp is an enrichment program where students can learn about planets, constellations, life in space and the history of flight through a variety of hand-on activities.
Junior Space Camp has been at Southside Elementary for the past two years. Before that it was held at the Arlene Cherry Memorial Library.
“Today we made space suits,” said kindergarten teacher Jane Shafer, as students displayed their paper bag space suits with empty plastic bottles on the back.
“Those are the rocket packs,” explained Ally Bevis, 5.
One of the highlights of space camp, for teachers as well as students is Rocket Day, when the classes watch members of the Cabot JROTC launch model rockets over the playground.
“This is my first year to launch rockets for Space Camp,” Coe said.
“I’ve been launching these for four years for the ROTC student’s Rocketry class.”
About 20 students watched the morning launch with Shafer and kindergarten teachers Christy Cavin and Terry Donham.
The foot-long model rockets are launched using a battery-powered ignition Coe explained.
The motors are lipstick-sized cardboard tubes of wadding and a small amount of sulfur propellant, less than in most fireworks.
The motors do not get hot enough to damage the rockets. Coe carefully set up each rocket and then pressed a button to launch.
Although each rocket contains a parachute, out of five launches that morning, only one parachute successfully opened.
Students shouted the count down for each launch, sometimes prematurely.
They eagerly informed Coe when the parachutes didn’t open and asked about the lingering smell of sulfur in the air after each launch.
“I do this for these little guys,” Coe said as the students marched back to the classroom to get ready for their parents to pick them up.
Susan Stephens’ daughters Samantha, 6, and Ashley, 9, both attend space camp.
“Ashley’s attended space camp every year,” Stephens said. “They’re teaching me things I didn’t know.”
TOP STORY>> Rainfall helps some farmers, late for others
IN SHORT: Drought has hurt some Lonoke soybean fields, but flooded fields hurt others as farmers hope for good yields.
By John Hofheimer
Leader staff writer
“Everybody says farmers are never satisfied, and I guess that’s right,” said Dick Bransford, who along with other Lonoke County farmers, was praying for rain just two weeks ago.
“A little spell of dry would be pretty good,” he said Tuesday afternoon, even as thunder rumbled in Jacksonville. “Let roots of soybeans get a little air down to them. We’re not hurting anywhere for water right now, but that can change in a few days
“All that rain might have hurt us a little bit,” Bransford said. “Some neighbors lost quite a bit of beans,” he said.
Bransford himself has about 100 acres of soybeans damaged by the heavy rains, and he doesn’t know whether or not they will make it.
recently watered before the rains, it stunted them back.”
In contrast to Bransford and his neighbors, Jeff Welch, senior Cooperative Extension Agent for Lonoke County, said many soybean fields were hurt by drought stress, which would result in some reduced yield. “I’m hopeful that we can salvage a decent year, but it’s going to be nip and tuck,” Welch said. “There’s not very much, if any, profit in this crop.”
Bransford said sandy soils could handle the rain, but the heavy buckshot holds water much better—not a good thing when there is too much rain.
“We’ve still got a chance to make a decent crop,” he said.
SOYBEANS UP
The price of soybeans is up nearly $2 a bushel, but fuel costs have doubled, which is significant to farmers who ran irrigation pumps around the clock earlier this season.
The recent rain has been a blessing as far as saving fuel on soybeans, cotton, rice and corn irrigation, according to Welch. “It’s saving a lot of money. It’s a break on labor and time and mentally it gives the farmer time to recoup,” Welch said. “On pasture, it helped grow more forage for hay and dairy.”
“It looks like we have a good corn crop,” said Welch, who had just left Laudies Brantley’s farm near Keo. “They just terminated irrigation.”
The good news is that most fields haven’t required any irrigation since the July 5 deluge.
“Expenses are ungodly,” said Bransford. “Fertilizer is up 40 or 50 percent.
“My fuel bill for all the irrigating is tearing us up.”
FUEL SURCHARGE
His crop dusters didn’t increase their prices this year, but a 7 percent surcharge was levied to cover in-creased fuel costs.
“If my bill was $10,000, then there’s a $700 fuel-adjustment cost. And I’m sure they need it, but I can’t pass it on.”
While soybean prices are “quite attractive,” cotton and rice are still selling below the loan price, he said.
Cotton and rice
The cotton crop is looking pretty good, but Bransford and neighbor Leon Hill both have crops severely damaged by some unexplained application of the herbicide 2,4-D. Bransford could lose 36 acres and Hill about 125, he said.
The state Plant Board is investigating the source of the defoliant.
“We don’t even know what direction it came from,” he said.
He said many producers had already spent their budget on irrigation, fuel and fertilizer and have run out of money. There were no reports yet of banks refusing to make loans, but “they are going to be very frugal.”
“At the end of the year, the question will be, can the farmer hold on another year? Some may very well not,” he said.
STUNTED HAY
As the seventh largest livestock producer in the state, White County depends on hay for winter feed. But the lack of rain this summer means a poor hay crop, said Keith Martin, White County extension agent.
Compounding the imminent problem, the pastures also are dry and farmers have been forced to feed hay stored for the winter.
“When you’re feeding hay the first of July, it’s really serious because that’s when you’re supposed to be growing it,” Martin said.
Some farmers have already started their second cutting, he said. But the first cutting was down 50 percent or more in some areas, he said, so there is really no way to completely recover this year.
“Even if the later cuttings do produce more, we’re probably going to be short,” he said.
As a result, some farmers might aggressively cull their herds so they won’t need as much hay, he said. But others will likely buy hay either from out of state or in state where rainfall and therefore hay production has been heavier, he said.
Leader staff writer Joan McCoy contributed to this report.
By John Hofheimer
Leader staff writer
“Everybody says farmers are never satisfied, and I guess that’s right,” said Dick Bransford, who along with other Lonoke County farmers, was praying for rain just two weeks ago.
“A little spell of dry would be pretty good,” he said Tuesday afternoon, even as thunder rumbled in Jacksonville. “Let roots of soybeans get a little air down to them. We’re not hurting anywhere for water right now, but that can change in a few days
“All that rain might have hurt us a little bit,” Bransford said. “Some neighbors lost quite a bit of beans,” he said.
Bransford himself has about 100 acres of soybeans damaged by the heavy rains, and he doesn’t know whether or not they will make it.
recently watered before the rains, it stunted them back.”
In contrast to Bransford and his neighbors, Jeff Welch, senior Cooperative Extension Agent for Lonoke County, said many soybean fields were hurt by drought stress, which would result in some reduced yield. “I’m hopeful that we can salvage a decent year, but it’s going to be nip and tuck,” Welch said. “There’s not very much, if any, profit in this crop.”
Bransford said sandy soils could handle the rain, but the heavy buckshot holds water much better—not a good thing when there is too much rain.
“We’ve still got a chance to make a decent crop,” he said.
SOYBEANS UP
The price of soybeans is up nearly $2 a bushel, but fuel costs have doubled, which is significant to farmers who ran irrigation pumps around the clock earlier this season.
The recent rain has been a blessing as far as saving fuel on soybeans, cotton, rice and corn irrigation, according to Welch. “It’s saving a lot of money. It’s a break on labor and time and mentally it gives the farmer time to recoup,” Welch said. “On pasture, it helped grow more forage for hay and dairy.”
“It looks like we have a good corn crop,” said Welch, who had just left Laudies Brantley’s farm near Keo. “They just terminated irrigation.”
The good news is that most fields haven’t required any irrigation since the July 5 deluge.
“Expenses are ungodly,” said Bransford. “Fertilizer is up 40 or 50 percent.
“My fuel bill for all the irrigating is tearing us up.”
FUEL SURCHARGE
His crop dusters didn’t increase their prices this year, but a 7 percent surcharge was levied to cover in-creased fuel costs.
“If my bill was $10,000, then there’s a $700 fuel-adjustment cost. And I’m sure they need it, but I can’t pass it on.”
While soybean prices are “quite attractive,” cotton and rice are still selling below the loan price, he said.
Cotton and rice
The cotton crop is looking pretty good, but Bransford and neighbor Leon Hill both have crops severely damaged by some unexplained application of the herbicide 2,4-D. Bransford could lose 36 acres and Hill about 125, he said.
The state Plant Board is investigating the source of the defoliant.
“We don’t even know what direction it came from,” he said.
He said many producers had already spent their budget on irrigation, fuel and fertilizer and have run out of money. There were no reports yet of banks refusing to make loans, but “they are going to be very frugal.”
“At the end of the year, the question will be, can the farmer hold on another year? Some may very well not,” he said.
STUNTED HAY
As the seventh largest livestock producer in the state, White County depends on hay for winter feed. But the lack of rain this summer means a poor hay crop, said Keith Martin, White County extension agent.
Compounding the imminent problem, the pastures also are dry and farmers have been forced to feed hay stored for the winter.
“When you’re feeding hay the first of July, it’s really serious because that’s when you’re supposed to be growing it,” Martin said.
Some farmers have already started their second cutting, he said. But the first cutting was down 50 percent or more in some areas, he said, so there is really no way to completely recover this year.
“Even if the later cuttings do produce more, we’re probably going to be short,” he said.
As a result, some farmers might aggressively cull their herds so they won’t need as much hay, he said. But others will likely buy hay either from out of state or in state where rainfall and therefore hay production has been heavier, he said.
Leader staff writer Joan McCoy contributed to this report.
TOP STORY>> Single-gender school ready
IN SHORT: Boys principal defines the problem as the Pulaski district rolls out an innovative, if so-far unproven, approach to education.
By John Hofheimer
Leader staff writer
Like it or not, boys will be in one building, girls in another when Jacksonville Middle School starts the new school year August 19—the state’s first modern-day experiment with single-gender schools.
Throughout the country, there were 161 districts implementing or preparing to implement single-gender classes last spring, according to Marvin V. Jeter III, assistant superintendent for learning services.
Jeter said many of the teachers and parents he talked to were excited about the innovative program, but others were adopting a wait-and-see attitude.
Laura Shirley, who will serve as principal of the girls school, is out of town, but Michael Nellums, principal of both the boys school and the in-school suspension program in yet another building, thinks the idea may work.
“We’re looking for opportunities to change young men’s direction as it relates to academics,” Nellums said. “Boys have always done worse at this level. We’re hoping to change that picture drastically.
“Discipline will be a challenge,” said Nellums. “We’re putting all the boys—they account for 82 percent of discipline referrals and 73 percent of suspensions—under one umbrella. I have two outstanding assistant principals, Jackie Calhoun and Colleen Johnson.”
He said Johnson, new to the district, brings a wealth of knowledge working in successful middle school programs.
“We’re fortunate to have her in this community.”
Nellums said he hoped the teachers would be sensitive to the needs and behavioral tendencies of adolescent males.
Bishop James Bolden III, Jacksonville’s representative on the Pulaski County Special School District Board, has questions of his own, but he made the motion to separate the genders, and he has pitched in cleaning up the grounds and has watched developments with a close eye. The boys will take their core classes in the old junior high school and the girls in the nearby old middle school. Elective classes will be coeducational.
Having single-gender classes in public schools—or single-gender schools—has only been legal for a couple of years in this country, so it’s too early for domestic data, but in other countries, test scores have improved for boys and girls when attending separate classes, according to Jeter.
Discipline problems also are said to diminish when boys don’t feel compelled to show off in front of girls, he said.
The idea came about after the decision to move Jacksonville’s ninth grade from the junior high to the high school, according to Jeter, and officials began looking for the best way to divide up grades six through eight between the middle school and junior high.
Jeter and then-Superintendent Donald Henderson held a series of meetings with Jacksonville parents and members of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce. Although some students and parents didn’t like the idea, there was enough support for the school board to approve the idea for this school year.
The first teacher instruction specific to this arrangement will be a one-day in-service training — gender, ethnicity and student achievement — led by Leonard Sax, author of “Why Gender Matters.”
Jeter said there were still a few teaching positions to be filled in the boys and girls schools, and a total of 63 teaching positions yet to be filled district wide. New basketball courts and benches will be installed outdoors at the boys school, according to James Warren, assistant superintendent for facilities.
A plan to connect the two main buildings by a covered walkway was nixed by the Jacksonville Fire Department, which said such a walkway would limit their access to the buildings in the event of fire.
When it’s raining, a shuttle bus will carry students between the two buildings, according to Warren.
Jeter, who says he has several grants pending, said the district may be in the running for U.S. Department of Education money to build an all purpose building between the two schools for elective classes, computer labs, a media center and other purposes.
The project seemed to lose momentum in recent months and Bolden has been critical. Jeter said Tuesday that the project had slowed while awaiting approval by the Office of Desegregation Monitoring.
Warren said by housing in-school suspension in a building adjacent to the boys school, the district would save about $16,000 a year in rent. Overall, the district has been doing some painting and sprucing up of the buildings and before school opens, there should be new signs—Jacksonville Middle School—Girls and Jacksonville Middle School—Boys.
Board members have said they would expect to see benchmark test scores improve over the next couple of years.
By John Hofheimer
Leader staff writer
Like it or not, boys will be in one building, girls in another when Jacksonville Middle School starts the new school year August 19—the state’s first modern-day experiment with single-gender schools.
Throughout the country, there were 161 districts implementing or preparing to implement single-gender classes last spring, according to Marvin V. Jeter III, assistant superintendent for learning services.
Jeter said many of the teachers and parents he talked to were excited about the innovative program, but others were adopting a wait-and-see attitude.
Laura Shirley, who will serve as principal of the girls school, is out of town, but Michael Nellums, principal of both the boys school and the in-school suspension program in yet another building, thinks the idea may work.
“We’re looking for opportunities to change young men’s direction as it relates to academics,” Nellums said. “Boys have always done worse at this level. We’re hoping to change that picture drastically.
“Discipline will be a challenge,” said Nellums. “We’re putting all the boys—they account for 82 percent of discipline referrals and 73 percent of suspensions—under one umbrella. I have two outstanding assistant principals, Jackie Calhoun and Colleen Johnson.”
He said Johnson, new to the district, brings a wealth of knowledge working in successful middle school programs.
“We’re fortunate to have her in this community.”
Nellums said he hoped the teachers would be sensitive to the needs and behavioral tendencies of adolescent males.
Bishop James Bolden III, Jacksonville’s representative on the Pulaski County Special School District Board, has questions of his own, but he made the motion to separate the genders, and he has pitched in cleaning up the grounds and has watched developments with a close eye. The boys will take their core classes in the old junior high school and the girls in the nearby old middle school. Elective classes will be coeducational.
Having single-gender classes in public schools—or single-gender schools—has only been legal for a couple of years in this country, so it’s too early for domestic data, but in other countries, test scores have improved for boys and girls when attending separate classes, according to Jeter.
Discipline problems also are said to diminish when boys don’t feel compelled to show off in front of girls, he said.
The idea came about after the decision to move Jacksonville’s ninth grade from the junior high to the high school, according to Jeter, and officials began looking for the best way to divide up grades six through eight between the middle school and junior high.
Jeter and then-Superintendent Donald Henderson held a series of meetings with Jacksonville parents and members of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce. Although some students and parents didn’t like the idea, there was enough support for the school board to approve the idea for this school year.
The first teacher instruction specific to this arrangement will be a one-day in-service training — gender, ethnicity and student achievement — led by Leonard Sax, author of “Why Gender Matters.”
Jeter said there were still a few teaching positions to be filled in the boys and girls schools, and a total of 63 teaching positions yet to be filled district wide. New basketball courts and benches will be installed outdoors at the boys school, according to James Warren, assistant superintendent for facilities.
A plan to connect the two main buildings by a covered walkway was nixed by the Jacksonville Fire Department, which said such a walkway would limit their access to the buildings in the event of fire.
When it’s raining, a shuttle bus will carry students between the two buildings, according to Warren.
Jeter, who says he has several grants pending, said the district may be in the running for U.S. Department of Education money to build an all purpose building between the two schools for elective classes, computer labs, a media center and other purposes.
The project seemed to lose momentum in recent months and Bolden has been critical. Jeter said Tuesday that the project had slowed while awaiting approval by the Office of Desegregation Monitoring.
Warren said by housing in-school suspension in a building adjacent to the boys school, the district would save about $16,000 a year in rent. Overall, the district has been doing some painting and sprucing up of the buildings and before school opens, there should be new signs—Jacksonville Middle School—Girls and Jacksonville Middle School—Boys.
Board members have said they would expect to see benchmark test scores improve over the next couple of years.
TOP STORY>> Veterans get toilet after fight with city
IN SHORT: Group files suit to make Cabot officials keep promise to rebuild facilities at park.
By Joan McCoy
Leader staff writer
The veterans group that sold the land to Cabot where the community center is supposed to be built is suing the city over a toilet, but the city now says it will build a toilet after all.
Jack Knox, representing Cabot War Veterans Memorial Associ-ation, filed suit in circuit court last week. The suit says the city has not lived up to its contractual obligation to provide a permanent restroom on the property which also holds a veterans monument.
The suit was made public at the end of the Monday night city council meeting by Alderman Odis Way-mack, who wanted to appoint the council’s veterans to deal with Knox. City Attorney Ken Williams said at this point the council can only deal with Larry Cook, Knox’s lawyer.
But the council decided that the only proper action, considering the city had violated the contract with the veterans, was to give Knox what he wanted and told the mayor to get it started.
“We need to build a restroom,” Alderman Bob Duke said.
A unisex restroom will cost about $10,000, Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh told the council, adding that he has already obtained plans for the project.
The city did build a permanent restroom on the property but tore it down to start the dirt work for the planned, but not completely funded community center.
Stumbaugh told the council that he had a handicapped portable toilet placed near the veterans’ memorial after Knox complained, but the city’s contract with the veterans says it must be permanent and public and they will accept nothing less.
Carroll Astin, director of city parks, said the suit was filed after the parks commission declined to honor the veterans’ request that a new restroom be built near the monument.
The property is located across the street from Cabot High School and the commission is concerned that a public restroom so near a school could be dangerous for the students, Astin said.
“A public restroom that near a school could be a breeding ground for illicit activities,” he said.
Stumbaugh listed some of those feared activities during the city council meeting: sex, drugs and vandalism.
The commission told the veterans that when the community center is built, the visitors to the monument may use the restrooms in the center.
Astin said that even before the restroom was razed, it was not really public. It was left locked until the veterans needed it for some event.
Knox, 80, and one of only five of the 105 veterans who bought the property where the community center is to be built, said he is suing because he had no success in trying to work with city officials.
“What gets me is that we had a restroom and they tore it down,” Knox said.
Furthermore, he said the restroom was not even on the land the veterans sold to the city but on the part they retained for their monument.
Knox thinks little of the park commission’s plan to allow the veterans to use the restroom in a community center which may not even be built.
“We have people coming there in wheelchairs and walkers and no place to relieve themselves,” he said.
The city bought the property from the veterans group about five years ago, paying $50,000 for about eight acres, Knox said.
Waymack learned about the suit Friday and said he was disturbed that no one had told the council it was even a possibility.
The mayor and some members of the council have talked a lot in recent months about the importance of keeping their word and allowing a one-cent sales tax to sunset as promised, Waymack said.
Waymack supports using the tax to build a $16 million sewer plant and to pay for other projects including the community center.
“They say they must follow the law by letting the tax end, but the city council is responsible by law for all the city’s property and I didn’t find out about this lawsuit until after it was filed,” he said.
By Joan McCoy
Leader staff writer
The veterans group that sold the land to Cabot where the community center is supposed to be built is suing the city over a toilet, but the city now says it will build a toilet after all.
Jack Knox, representing Cabot War Veterans Memorial Associ-ation, filed suit in circuit court last week. The suit says the city has not lived up to its contractual obligation to provide a permanent restroom on the property which also holds a veterans monument.
The suit was made public at the end of the Monday night city council meeting by Alderman Odis Way-mack, who wanted to appoint the council’s veterans to deal with Knox. City Attorney Ken Williams said at this point the council can only deal with Larry Cook, Knox’s lawyer.
But the council decided that the only proper action, considering the city had violated the contract with the veterans, was to give Knox what he wanted and told the mayor to get it started.
“We need to build a restroom,” Alderman Bob Duke said.
A unisex restroom will cost about $10,000, Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh told the council, adding that he has already obtained plans for the project.
The city did build a permanent restroom on the property but tore it down to start the dirt work for the planned, but not completely funded community center.
Stumbaugh told the council that he had a handicapped portable toilet placed near the veterans’ memorial after Knox complained, but the city’s contract with the veterans says it must be permanent and public and they will accept nothing less.
Carroll Astin, director of city parks, said the suit was filed after the parks commission declined to honor the veterans’ request that a new restroom be built near the monument.
The property is located across the street from Cabot High School and the commission is concerned that a public restroom so near a school could be dangerous for the students, Astin said.
“A public restroom that near a school could be a breeding ground for illicit activities,” he said.
Stumbaugh listed some of those feared activities during the city council meeting: sex, drugs and vandalism.
The commission told the veterans that when the community center is built, the visitors to the monument may use the restrooms in the center.
Astin said that even before the restroom was razed, it was not really public. It was left locked until the veterans needed it for some event.
Knox, 80, and one of only five of the 105 veterans who bought the property where the community center is to be built, said he is suing because he had no success in trying to work with city officials.
“What gets me is that we had a restroom and they tore it down,” Knox said.
Furthermore, he said the restroom was not even on the land the veterans sold to the city but on the part they retained for their monument.
Knox thinks little of the park commission’s plan to allow the veterans to use the restroom in a community center which may not even be built.
“We have people coming there in wheelchairs and walkers and no place to relieve themselves,” he said.
The city bought the property from the veterans group about five years ago, paying $50,000 for about eight acres, Knox said.
Waymack learned about the suit Friday and said he was disturbed that no one had told the council it was even a possibility.
The mayor and some members of the council have talked a lot in recent months about the importance of keeping their word and allowing a one-cent sales tax to sunset as promised, Waymack said.
Waymack supports using the tax to build a $16 million sewer plant and to pay for other projects including the community center.
“They say they must follow the law by letting the tax end, but the city council is responsible by law for all the city’s property and I didn’t find out about this lawsuit until after it was filed,” he said.
TOP STORY>> Tax supporting Cabot projects on ballot again
IN SHORT: Proposal would raise $26 million for a new sewer plant, railroad overpass, community center, animal shelter and other projects, but if voters reject the tax, their sewer rates would more than double, officials say.
By Joan McCoy
Leader staff writer
A 5-3 vote of the Cabot City Council Monday night will give city residents the choice between more than doubling their sewer rates to pay for a new treatment plant or paying for that plant with an existing but temporary 1-cent tax that was is-sued to pay off water improvement bonds.
If voters don’t approve extending the sales tax in an election tentatively set for Sept. 13, the council will raise sewer rates to pay for the new plant. Alderman Eddie Cook, who, along with Alderman Odis Waymack, co-sponsored the ordinance referring the tax extension to city voters, said after the council meeting that he hopes he is able to make that point clear to city voters in the weeks leading up to the election.
“We either extend the sales tax or we raise the rates. There are no other options,” he said.
Voting for the ordinance were aldermen Cook, Waymack, Tom Armstrong, James Glenn and Bob Duke.
Voting against it were aldermen David Polantz, Jerry Stephens and Patrick Hutton.
In addition to money for the sewer treatment plant, the ordinance also includes funding for several other city projects that might not be completed without extending the tax or will not be completed any time soon.
It includes $16.5 million for the sewer treatment plant and repairs to the collection system, $1.5 million for the community center that came in over budget, $200,000 to build an animal shelter at one time instead of in phases, $800,000 for the city’s part of a federally funded railroad overpass and $7 million to pay off the existing debt that is supported by the one-cent tax.
If voters don’t approve extending the sales tax, the railroad overpass could still be built in 2008, when it was originally scheduled for construction.
But plans for the community center will die, officials say. The city has sold $3.5 million in bonds funded by existing city taxes to pay for the project, but the low bid for construction was $4.2 million. The city has three years from the time the bonds were sold to use the money or refund it, but without additional funding, the project can’t progress past the $500,000 in dirt work that is already completed.
Polantz, who has voted against extending the sales tax every one of the three times it has come before the council in the past two months, defended his position by saying it was a matter of integrity. The council told voters in 1999 when they approved the tax that it would sunset when the water improvement bonds it supports are paid off.
He wanted to pay for the community center and overpass by increasing the city millage from 3.5 to 4.5, but city voters said no to that plan in last week’s election, which cost the city about $5,000.
“Since I’ve been on the council, all I’ve heard about is unfunded projects, unfunded projects,” said Cook, who is in his first year on the council.
“Let’s complete all our projects, then let’s put the burden back on the council and mayor to make sure we are frugal with the money so there are no more unfunded projects,” he said.
A public hearing on in-creasing sewer rates was held before the regular council meeting, and the council chamber was still so full during the regular meeting that people had to stand against the wall.
One of those standing was Bill Pedersen, a member of the Lonoke County Quorum Court, who addressed the council, saying people are tired of being taxed as evidenced by the election the week before.
Pedersen told the aldermen they should take off the community center and overpass because voters had clearly rejected them. Cook said the voters had only said they didn’t want any new taxes.
Patty Webber disagreed with Peder-sen. The disappointment of the children who use the gym on Richie Road was palpable, she said, making the already hot gym seem even hotter.
Margie Webb told the council that a sales tax hurts poor people the most, and there was no guarantee extending the tax will hold sewer rates down.
But Janet Clinton said taxes will never go down anyway, so the council should give people the choice between paying for the new sewer plant with a rate increase or the existing tax.
Waymack, who is trying to limit his public support of paying for the plant with the tax, said that was all the council is really doing with its ordinance, putting the question to the voters and letting them decide.
By Joan McCoy
Leader staff writer
A 5-3 vote of the Cabot City Council Monday night will give city residents the choice between more than doubling their sewer rates to pay for a new treatment plant or paying for that plant with an existing but temporary 1-cent tax that was is-sued to pay off water improvement bonds.
If voters don’t approve extending the sales tax in an election tentatively set for Sept. 13, the council will raise sewer rates to pay for the new plant. Alderman Eddie Cook, who, along with Alderman Odis Waymack, co-sponsored the ordinance referring the tax extension to city voters, said after the council meeting that he hopes he is able to make that point clear to city voters in the weeks leading up to the election.
“We either extend the sales tax or we raise the rates. There are no other options,” he said.
Voting for the ordinance were aldermen Cook, Waymack, Tom Armstrong, James Glenn and Bob Duke.
Voting against it were aldermen David Polantz, Jerry Stephens and Patrick Hutton.
In addition to money for the sewer treatment plant, the ordinance also includes funding for several other city projects that might not be completed without extending the tax or will not be completed any time soon.
It includes $16.5 million for the sewer treatment plant and repairs to the collection system, $1.5 million for the community center that came in over budget, $200,000 to build an animal shelter at one time instead of in phases, $800,000 for the city’s part of a federally funded railroad overpass and $7 million to pay off the existing debt that is supported by the one-cent tax.
If voters don’t approve extending the sales tax, the railroad overpass could still be built in 2008, when it was originally scheduled for construction.
But plans for the community center will die, officials say. The city has sold $3.5 million in bonds funded by existing city taxes to pay for the project, but the low bid for construction was $4.2 million. The city has three years from the time the bonds were sold to use the money or refund it, but without additional funding, the project can’t progress past the $500,000 in dirt work that is already completed.
Polantz, who has voted against extending the sales tax every one of the three times it has come before the council in the past two months, defended his position by saying it was a matter of integrity. The council told voters in 1999 when they approved the tax that it would sunset when the water improvement bonds it supports are paid off.
He wanted to pay for the community center and overpass by increasing the city millage from 3.5 to 4.5, but city voters said no to that plan in last week’s election, which cost the city about $5,000.
“Since I’ve been on the council, all I’ve heard about is unfunded projects, unfunded projects,” said Cook, who is in his first year on the council.
“Let’s complete all our projects, then let’s put the burden back on the council and mayor to make sure we are frugal with the money so there are no more unfunded projects,” he said.
A public hearing on in-creasing sewer rates was held before the regular council meeting, and the council chamber was still so full during the regular meeting that people had to stand against the wall.
One of those standing was Bill Pedersen, a member of the Lonoke County Quorum Court, who addressed the council, saying people are tired of being taxed as evidenced by the election the week before.
Pedersen told the aldermen they should take off the community center and overpass because voters had clearly rejected them. Cook said the voters had only said they didn’t want any new taxes.
Patty Webber disagreed with Peder-sen. The disappointment of the children who use the gym on Richie Road was palpable, she said, making the already hot gym seem even hotter.
Margie Webb told the council that a sales tax hurts poor people the most, and there was no guarantee extending the tax will hold sewer rates down.
But Janet Clinton said taxes will never go down anyway, so the council should give people the choice between paying for the new sewer plant with a rate increase or the existing tax.
Waymack, who is trying to limit his public support of paying for the plant with the tax, said that was all the council is really doing with its ordinance, putting the question to the voters and letting them decide.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
OBITUARIES
Paul Elcan
Paul J. Elcan, age 67, went to the Lord July 10. He was born July 17, 1937, to Henry L. and Ethel M. Elcan. He retired from the Arkansas Highway Department in January 2000, after 40 years.
He was a member of Concord United Methodist Church in Furlow. He was a past master of the Lonoke Lodge #51, a 32 Degree Scottish Rite Mason as well as a member of the Order of the Eastern Star #421. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn A. Elcan; son, Michael P. Elcan; daughter, Melanie A. Lloyd and husband Marshall; sister, Cora Oliver and husband Ernie; grandchildren, Austin and Ashleigh Lloyd; aunts, Rosalie Elcan Stovall and Freida Elcan; niece, Cynthia Rovnaghi and children Leah and Laila, all from Lonoke; nephew, Kevin Oliver and wife Mary and children Jessica and Kael; great-grand nephews, Mason and Skylar, of Fenton, Missouri; cousins, Kania Barkhart and husband Lester of Hot Springs, Derek Hood, Iowa; Anita Isbell and husband Dick and Chris Isbell of California and life long best friends, Bill and Troy Graves of Cabot.
Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Wednesday at Concord United Methodist Church with burial in Lonoke Cemetery, arrangements by Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke.
Carrol Hutchinson
Carrol Wayne Hutchinson, 63, of Jacksonville, died July 10 in North Little Rock. He was born December 21, 1941 in Little Rock to Eugene Hutchinson and Laverne Summers Hutchinson Holland who preceded him in death.
He is survived by his step-father, Albert Holland of Cabot as well as a host of cousins, aunts and uncles. Hutchinson was a driller for Holland Well Drilling and was a member of the Jacksonville VFW post. He was of the Methodist faith.
A memorial service will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Chapel of Cabot Funeral Home.
Judy Alexander
Longtime Garland, Texas, resident and business owner Judy Lorene Alexander died July 4 at her home in Henderson, Nev., after a long battle with Stevens-Johnson syndrome followed by uterine cancer. She worked for Garland Medical Center Hospital, Dallas Osteopathic Hospital and Parkland Memorial Hospital. She owned Alexander Transcription doing medical transcription in Garland for many years before moving her business to Henderson, Nev., in 1996.
She is survived by her mother, Virginia L. Alexander of Henderson, Nev., a sister, former Garland resident Norma Taliaferro and family of North Little Rock. Cousins; Robin Viray and family of Palmdale, Calif., and Shawn Salter of Los Angeles as well as countless friends in the Dallas and Las Vegas areas.
Services will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home, 1504 Loop Road in Jacksonville. She is truly missed by those of us who loved her.
Funeral arrangements by Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
Billy McManus
Billy Lynn McManus, Sr., 57, of Ward passed away July 9. He was retired from Pirelli Armstrong. He is survived by his wife, Diane; two sons, Lynn McManus and wife Sandy; Jerry McManus and wife Angel; two daughters, Wanda Simpson and husband Stacy, Kaye Adamos and husband Adrian all of Ward; a brother, Lewis McManus, Jr. of Fresno, Calif.; two sisters, Delphine Harris and Mary Ann Landgon of Hazelhurst, Miss.; eight grandchildren and many adopted children. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lewis, Sr. and Beatrice Delain Spears McManus.
Funeral will be 10 a.m. Wednesday at Westbrook Funeral Home with burial in Sunset Memorial Gardens, Lonoke.
Ruby Rechtin
Ruby Rechtin, 87, of DeSoto, Texas, formerly of Beebe died July 10 in Dallas. Born Oct. 16, 1917, at Des Arc she was a graduate of McRae schools and was a member of the Church of Christ. She was preceded in death by her husband of fifty-six years, James O. Rechtin and a son, Richard.
She is survived by her son, David and wife Sharon of Grand Prairie, Texas; two grandchildren, James and wife Marti of Keller, Texas and Daniel of Grand Prairie; one brother, Raymond Corder and wife Peggy of Boston, Massachusetts; three special cousins, Arlene Baxley, Burt LaFerney; and Roberta Lofton; and numerous other relatives and friends. Visitation begins at noon Wednesday at Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe, with family receiving friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Funeral will be 10 a.m. at Westbrook Funeral Home with burial in Weir Cemetery.
James W. Phillips
James W. Phillips, age 83, of Beebe was born Sept. 27, 1921, at Derry, Penn., to Angelo and Mary Phillips, and he died July 12. He was a member of the Catholic Church, a lifetime member of DAV and a member of the Shepherd’s Center. He was a retired construction analyst for the U.S. Depart-ment of Housing and Urban Development.
He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Mary Margaret; a daughter, Vicki Berg of Texas; a son Richard Phillips of California; three step-children, Micki Smith of Little Rock, Richard Smith of Connecticut and Julie Warme of Massachusetts; five grandchildren, six step-grandchildren, three great-grandchildren; five sisters, Virginia Pezzoni, Carmella Spehar, Margaret Baroni, Dolores James and Maryann Schall all of Pennsylvania and his mother-in-law, Pauline Thompson of Beebe. Jim was preceded in death by his sister, Amelia Phillips.
Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe. Funeral will be 2 p.m. Friday at Westbrook Funeral Home with burial in Antioch Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Shepherd’s Center of Beebe, P.O. Box 247, Beebe, Ark. 72012.
Larry White
Larry Wesley White, age 63, died Thursday, July 7, 2005, after a valiant battle with cancer. He was born July 25, 1941 to James Wesley and Evelyn White. Larry graduated from Carlisle schools where he excelled in athletics and academics. He attended college at ASU Beebe and UALR. He faithfully served his country as a member of the United States Air Force. Larry was employed by Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission for 40 years and retired two years ago as assistant director. He also served on the board of Professional Counseling of Arkansas for ten years and was president of this board for three years.
Larry was preceded in death by his father, Jimmie W. White. He is survived by his loving wife of 16 years, Annette Wilson Lackie White; his mother, Evelyn White; three daughters, Melanie Morris, Mandy Forest-Lam and husband James, Jennifer Barnette and husband Danny; step-daughter, Kelly Lackie Waller Ratcliff and husband Charles; step-sons, Kevin Lackie and wife Barbara and Kyle Lackie and wife Amber; his sister, Brenda Halijan; grandchildren, Justin and Jordan Morris, Britney White, Lindsey Gammill, Josh, Tylor, Savanna and Ciara Barnette, Keith and Katie Waller, Haley, Felecia and Josh Ratcliff, and Kaylan Lackie and a host of relatives and friends.
Funeral services were at Boyd Funeral Home on Monday. Burial followed in Hebron Cemetery. Memorials may be made in Larry’s honor to the American Cancer Society or Hebron Cemetery, Rt. 2, Box 194, Ark., 72024.
Winona Carpenter
Winona Carpenter, 86, died July 10. She is survived by her husband, Louis Carpenter; one daughter, Patricia DeWhitt of Higdon; a sister-in-law, Marjorie Hodkin of Arkansas City, Kan.; 13 grandchildren, including grandson, Michael Faircloth of Carrollton, Texas; eight great grandchildren; one great-great grandchild; step-children, Louis W. Carpenter and Emily Carpenter of Lonoke, Martha Sanders of Jacksonville and Joyce Pittman of California. Preceding her in death were her parents and husband Charles Shipp.
Funeral services were held Tuesday at Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke with interment in Concord Cemetery. The family wishes to thank Drs. Anderson, Dinehart and Bucolo; the staff at Golden Years Manor and Hospice Home Care.
Ruth Hatcher
Ruth Estelle Hatcher of Modesto, Calif., 79, passed away June 4 at Memorial Medical Center with her loving husband, daughter and son-in-law by her side. She was born Oct. 5, 1925 in Cabot. She and her husband Rick moved to Modesto in 1970.
She is survived by her husband of 40 years, Rick; daughters Beverly and husband Michael Ries of Stockton, Calif. and Anita and husband David Greufe of Oregon; grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She is also survived by brothers Joe and Roy Christian and sister Velma Jones, all of Arkansas.
Funeral services were held June 9 at Lakewood Memorial Park and Funeral Home in Hughston, Calif., with committal following.
Johnnie Loretz
Johnnie Louise Powell Loretz, 78, of Carlisle went to be with her Lord on July 9.
She was born April 29, 1927 in Monett. She is survived by her husband of 59 years, Jack Loretz; three sons, Michael Loretz and his wife, Barbara, Reverend Danny Loretz, Sr. and his wife Sally, all of Carlisle and John Loretz and his wife April of Castle Rock, Colo.; eight grandchildren, Melissa Wilson and her husband, L.V. of Searcy, Shelly Allen and her husband, John of Prattsville, Melanie Reinert and her husband, Jeff of Springfield, Mo., Danny Loretz, Jr. of Conway, Kirk Loretz of Maumelle, Tyler Loretz of Castle Rock, Colo., Todd O’Keefe and his wife Jennifer of Pine Bluff, and Jenifer Spears and her husband, Ronnie of Hot Springs and seven great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her mother, Verla Gann Roberts of Beebe.
“Miss Johnnie”, as she was known, was a friend and a support for many children.
She spent many years as a volunteer scout leader where she earned the Quapaw Area Council Silver Beaver Award, Scouter’s Award, the Grand Prairie District Award of Merit and the Commissioner Arrowhead Award.
Funeral services were Tuesday at Lonoke Baptist Church where she was a member. Services were officiated by her son, Danny and assisted by Rev. Jimmy Wallace. Interment followed in Carlisle Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Lonoke Baptist Church Building Fund at 406 W. Front St., Lonoke, Ark. 72086. Arrangements are entrusted to Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe.
Paul J. Elcan, age 67, went to the Lord July 10. He was born July 17, 1937, to Henry L. and Ethel M. Elcan. He retired from the Arkansas Highway Department in January 2000, after 40 years.
He was a member of Concord United Methodist Church in Furlow. He was a past master of the Lonoke Lodge #51, a 32 Degree Scottish Rite Mason as well as a member of the Order of the Eastern Star #421. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn A. Elcan; son, Michael P. Elcan; daughter, Melanie A. Lloyd and husband Marshall; sister, Cora Oliver and husband Ernie; grandchildren, Austin and Ashleigh Lloyd; aunts, Rosalie Elcan Stovall and Freida Elcan; niece, Cynthia Rovnaghi and children Leah and Laila, all from Lonoke; nephew, Kevin Oliver and wife Mary and children Jessica and Kael; great-grand nephews, Mason and Skylar, of Fenton, Missouri; cousins, Kania Barkhart and husband Lester of Hot Springs, Derek Hood, Iowa; Anita Isbell and husband Dick and Chris Isbell of California and life long best friends, Bill and Troy Graves of Cabot.
Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Wednesday at Concord United Methodist Church with burial in Lonoke Cemetery, arrangements by Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke.
Carrol Hutchinson
Carrol Wayne Hutchinson, 63, of Jacksonville, died July 10 in North Little Rock. He was born December 21, 1941 in Little Rock to Eugene Hutchinson and Laverne Summers Hutchinson Holland who preceded him in death.
He is survived by his step-father, Albert Holland of Cabot as well as a host of cousins, aunts and uncles. Hutchinson was a driller for Holland Well Drilling and was a member of the Jacksonville VFW post. He was of the Methodist faith.
A memorial service will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Chapel of Cabot Funeral Home.
Judy Alexander
Longtime Garland, Texas, resident and business owner Judy Lorene Alexander died July 4 at her home in Henderson, Nev., after a long battle with Stevens-Johnson syndrome followed by uterine cancer. She worked for Garland Medical Center Hospital, Dallas Osteopathic Hospital and Parkland Memorial Hospital. She owned Alexander Transcription doing medical transcription in Garland for many years before moving her business to Henderson, Nev., in 1996.
She is survived by her mother, Virginia L. Alexander of Henderson, Nev., a sister, former Garland resident Norma Taliaferro and family of North Little Rock. Cousins; Robin Viray and family of Palmdale, Calif., and Shawn Salter of Los Angeles as well as countless friends in the Dallas and Las Vegas areas.
Services will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home, 1504 Loop Road in Jacksonville. She is truly missed by those of us who loved her.
Funeral arrangements by Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
Billy McManus
Billy Lynn McManus, Sr., 57, of Ward passed away July 9. He was retired from Pirelli Armstrong. He is survived by his wife, Diane; two sons, Lynn McManus and wife Sandy; Jerry McManus and wife Angel; two daughters, Wanda Simpson and husband Stacy, Kaye Adamos and husband Adrian all of Ward; a brother, Lewis McManus, Jr. of Fresno, Calif.; two sisters, Delphine Harris and Mary Ann Landgon of Hazelhurst, Miss.; eight grandchildren and many adopted children. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lewis, Sr. and Beatrice Delain Spears McManus.
Funeral will be 10 a.m. Wednesday at Westbrook Funeral Home with burial in Sunset Memorial Gardens, Lonoke.
Ruby Rechtin
Ruby Rechtin, 87, of DeSoto, Texas, formerly of Beebe died July 10 in Dallas. Born Oct. 16, 1917, at Des Arc she was a graduate of McRae schools and was a member of the Church of Christ. She was preceded in death by her husband of fifty-six years, James O. Rechtin and a son, Richard.
She is survived by her son, David and wife Sharon of Grand Prairie, Texas; two grandchildren, James and wife Marti of Keller, Texas and Daniel of Grand Prairie; one brother, Raymond Corder and wife Peggy of Boston, Massachusetts; three special cousins, Arlene Baxley, Burt LaFerney; and Roberta Lofton; and numerous other relatives and friends. Visitation begins at noon Wednesday at Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe, with family receiving friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Funeral will be 10 a.m. at Westbrook Funeral Home with burial in Weir Cemetery.
James W. Phillips
James W. Phillips, age 83, of Beebe was born Sept. 27, 1921, at Derry, Penn., to Angelo and Mary Phillips, and he died July 12. He was a member of the Catholic Church, a lifetime member of DAV and a member of the Shepherd’s Center. He was a retired construction analyst for the U.S. Depart-ment of Housing and Urban Development.
He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Mary Margaret; a daughter, Vicki Berg of Texas; a son Richard Phillips of California; three step-children, Micki Smith of Little Rock, Richard Smith of Connecticut and Julie Warme of Massachusetts; five grandchildren, six step-grandchildren, three great-grandchildren; five sisters, Virginia Pezzoni, Carmella Spehar, Margaret Baroni, Dolores James and Maryann Schall all of Pennsylvania and his mother-in-law, Pauline Thompson of Beebe. Jim was preceded in death by his sister, Amelia Phillips.
Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe. Funeral will be 2 p.m. Friday at Westbrook Funeral Home with burial in Antioch Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Shepherd’s Center of Beebe, P.O. Box 247, Beebe, Ark. 72012.
Larry White
Larry Wesley White, age 63, died Thursday, July 7, 2005, after a valiant battle with cancer. He was born July 25, 1941 to James Wesley and Evelyn White. Larry graduated from Carlisle schools where he excelled in athletics and academics. He attended college at ASU Beebe and UALR. He faithfully served his country as a member of the United States Air Force. Larry was employed by Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission for 40 years and retired two years ago as assistant director. He also served on the board of Professional Counseling of Arkansas for ten years and was president of this board for three years.
Larry was preceded in death by his father, Jimmie W. White. He is survived by his loving wife of 16 years, Annette Wilson Lackie White; his mother, Evelyn White; three daughters, Melanie Morris, Mandy Forest-Lam and husband James, Jennifer Barnette and husband Danny; step-daughter, Kelly Lackie Waller Ratcliff and husband Charles; step-sons, Kevin Lackie and wife Barbara and Kyle Lackie and wife Amber; his sister, Brenda Halijan; grandchildren, Justin and Jordan Morris, Britney White, Lindsey Gammill, Josh, Tylor, Savanna and Ciara Barnette, Keith and Katie Waller, Haley, Felecia and Josh Ratcliff, and Kaylan Lackie and a host of relatives and friends.
Funeral services were at Boyd Funeral Home on Monday. Burial followed in Hebron Cemetery. Memorials may be made in Larry’s honor to the American Cancer Society or Hebron Cemetery, Rt. 2, Box 194, Ark., 72024.
Winona Carpenter
Winona Carpenter, 86, died July 10. She is survived by her husband, Louis Carpenter; one daughter, Patricia DeWhitt of Higdon; a sister-in-law, Marjorie Hodkin of Arkansas City, Kan.; 13 grandchildren, including grandson, Michael Faircloth of Carrollton, Texas; eight great grandchildren; one great-great grandchild; step-children, Louis W. Carpenter and Emily Carpenter of Lonoke, Martha Sanders of Jacksonville and Joyce Pittman of California. Preceding her in death were her parents and husband Charles Shipp.
Funeral services were held Tuesday at Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke with interment in Concord Cemetery. The family wishes to thank Drs. Anderson, Dinehart and Bucolo; the staff at Golden Years Manor and Hospice Home Care.
Ruth Hatcher
Ruth Estelle Hatcher of Modesto, Calif., 79, passed away June 4 at Memorial Medical Center with her loving husband, daughter and son-in-law by her side. She was born Oct. 5, 1925 in Cabot. She and her husband Rick moved to Modesto in 1970.
She is survived by her husband of 40 years, Rick; daughters Beverly and husband Michael Ries of Stockton, Calif. and Anita and husband David Greufe of Oregon; grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She is also survived by brothers Joe and Roy Christian and sister Velma Jones, all of Arkansas.
Funeral services were held June 9 at Lakewood Memorial Park and Funeral Home in Hughston, Calif., with committal following.
Johnnie Loretz
Johnnie Louise Powell Loretz, 78, of Carlisle went to be with her Lord on July 9.
She was born April 29, 1927 in Monett. She is survived by her husband of 59 years, Jack Loretz; three sons, Michael Loretz and his wife, Barbara, Reverend Danny Loretz, Sr. and his wife Sally, all of Carlisle and John Loretz and his wife April of Castle Rock, Colo.; eight grandchildren, Melissa Wilson and her husband, L.V. of Searcy, Shelly Allen and her husband, John of Prattsville, Melanie Reinert and her husband, Jeff of Springfield, Mo., Danny Loretz, Jr. of Conway, Kirk Loretz of Maumelle, Tyler Loretz of Castle Rock, Colo., Todd O’Keefe and his wife Jennifer of Pine Bluff, and Jenifer Spears and her husband, Ronnie of Hot Springs and seven great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her mother, Verla Gann Roberts of Beebe.
“Miss Johnnie”, as she was known, was a friend and a support for many children.
She spent many years as a volunteer scout leader where she earned the Quapaw Area Council Silver Beaver Award, Scouter’s Award, the Grand Prairie District Award of Merit and the Commissioner Arrowhead Award.
Funeral services were Tuesday at Lonoke Baptist Church where she was a member. Services were officiated by her son, Danny and assisted by Rev. Jimmy Wallace. Interment followed in Carlisle Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Lonoke Baptist Church Building Fund at 406 W. Front St., Lonoke, Ark. 72086. Arrangements are entrusted to Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe.
EDITORIAL>> Some private demagoguery
The candidates for governor were stumbling over each other — we choose our verb carefully — to demagogue the U. S. Supreme Court’s decision last month that upheld the government taking private property for other private use as long as it has a legitimate public purpose.
Asa Hutchinson was first. He deplored the 5-4 decision and said he would not support condemning private property for any but legitimate government use such as roads, but he wasn’t specific and wasn’t asked to be. He said the state might want to examine its laws and clarify them to be sure that private takings for private purposes were not allowed. Attorney General Mike Beebe and Lt. Gov. Winthrop Paul Rockefeller were close behind, Beebe even suggesting that the state Constitution already prohibited it with a powerful statement about the sanctity of private property.
But Beebe didn’t finish the sentence. The provision simply says government can’t take private property without properly compensating the owners. The legislature can authorize the condemnation of private property for other than strictly governmental purposes, and it has done so.
We would point out the 2000 constitutional amendment, initiated by the General Assembly, that authorizes what is known as tax-increment financing — converting taxes levied for schools and other local governments to aid private development.
The legislature then provided by statute for local governments to condemn private property for projects that will create jobs and enhance the community, like movie theaters, golf courses and shopping malls.
Asa Hutchinson was first. He deplored the 5-4 decision and said he would not support condemning private property for any but legitimate government use such as roads, but he wasn’t specific and wasn’t asked to be. He said the state might want to examine its laws and clarify them to be sure that private takings for private purposes were not allowed. Attorney General Mike Beebe and Lt. Gov. Winthrop Paul Rockefeller were close behind, Beebe even suggesting that the state Constitution already prohibited it with a powerful statement about the sanctity of private property.
But Beebe didn’t finish the sentence. The provision simply says government can’t take private property without properly compensating the owners. The legislature can authorize the condemnation of private property for other than strictly governmental purposes, and it has done so.
We would point out the 2000 constitutional amendment, initiated by the General Assembly, that authorizes what is known as tax-increment financing — converting taxes levied for schools and other local governments to aid private development.
The legislature then provided by statute for local governments to condemn private property for projects that will create jobs and enhance the community, like movie theaters, golf courses and shopping malls.
EDITORIAL>> Bring more of them here
Three separate delegations from Arkansas communities made their way to San Antonio on Monday to address the Base Realignment and Closure Commission that is reviewing a Pentagon decision to close or reduce several military bases, although some lucky sections of the country, including central Arkansas, could see a dramatic increase in their missions.
Members of our congressional delegation and local officials spoke up in behalf of keeping the 188th Fighter Wing in Fort Smith and saving the Red River Depot in Texarkana, which the Defense Department believes are dispensable. The commission could overrule the Pen-tagon’s recommendation, but it’s a long shot, although you can’t blame Fort Smith and Texarkana for trying.
The commission could also overrule the Pentagon’s recommendation to assign some 3,900 additional personnel and 66 more C-130s to Little Rock Air Force Base, but our crystal ball tells us that we’ll get those folks and planes and Fort Smith and Texarkana will not.
Jacksonville is doing a lot better than Fort Smith and Texarkana for several reasons: LRAFB has a showcase military facility worth billions of dollars and is the center of the C-130 universe. Fort Smith and Texarkana are marginal bases at best.
Although Arkansans sang the praises of all three facilities, everyone knows only one will survive this latest round of base closings. The military has invested hundreds of millions of dollars at Little Rock Air Force Base, and there’s no reason to stop investing more as the Pentagon looks for savings through consolidation.
“Little Rock is the center of C-130 training now and no one has suggested this mission could be more easily or efficiently conducted anywhere else,” Cong. Vic Snyder, D-Ark., told the commissioners. (We would have changed the wording from Little Rock to Jacksonville — after all, the base is in the city limits of Jacksonville, which is finally on the rebound after years of struggle.)
The economic impact of losing a military base is almost incalculable, and so is the expansion at Little Rock Air Force Base, although we’d guess in the long run the impact here will run in the hundreds of millions of dollars. That is why no community likes to lose a base: Everyone talks about their military value, but when politicians and business leaders fight to keep them open, they’re not really talking about patriotism but about jobs.
Military people often tell us that the level of community support here is unsurpassed anywhere in the nation. A half century ago, this community came together and donated 6,000 acres to the Defense Department so it could build an air base here.
Not long ago, Jacksonville voters approved a tax increase to build a joint civilian-military education center in front of the base.
As Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim told the base commission on Monday, “We’re not only excited” about future growth at LRAFB, “but we’re prepared to do whatever is necessary to provide for members of the military and their families.”
No wonder officials from around the state had nothing but praise for the Pentagon’s decision to send more people and planes our way. Let’s hope the BRAC commission approve the decision, which will then make its way up to President Bush and Congress for final approval.
A decade from now, when more bases will close, the Pentagon ought to keep adding on at our base, which has plenty of room for growth.
It’s been a good partnership.
Members of our congressional delegation and local officials spoke up in behalf of keeping the 188th Fighter Wing in Fort Smith and saving the Red River Depot in Texarkana, which the Defense Department believes are dispensable. The commission could overrule the Pen-tagon’s recommendation, but it’s a long shot, although you can’t blame Fort Smith and Texarkana for trying.
The commission could also overrule the Pentagon’s recommendation to assign some 3,900 additional personnel and 66 more C-130s to Little Rock Air Force Base, but our crystal ball tells us that we’ll get those folks and planes and Fort Smith and Texarkana will not.
Jacksonville is doing a lot better than Fort Smith and Texarkana for several reasons: LRAFB has a showcase military facility worth billions of dollars and is the center of the C-130 universe. Fort Smith and Texarkana are marginal bases at best.
Although Arkansans sang the praises of all three facilities, everyone knows only one will survive this latest round of base closings. The military has invested hundreds of millions of dollars at Little Rock Air Force Base, and there’s no reason to stop investing more as the Pentagon looks for savings through consolidation.
“Little Rock is the center of C-130 training now and no one has suggested this mission could be more easily or efficiently conducted anywhere else,” Cong. Vic Snyder, D-Ark., told the commissioners. (We would have changed the wording from Little Rock to Jacksonville — after all, the base is in the city limits of Jacksonville, which is finally on the rebound after years of struggle.)
The economic impact of losing a military base is almost incalculable, and so is the expansion at Little Rock Air Force Base, although we’d guess in the long run the impact here will run in the hundreds of millions of dollars. That is why no community likes to lose a base: Everyone talks about their military value, but when politicians and business leaders fight to keep them open, they’re not really talking about patriotism but about jobs.
Military people often tell us that the level of community support here is unsurpassed anywhere in the nation. A half century ago, this community came together and donated 6,000 acres to the Defense Department so it could build an air base here.
Not long ago, Jacksonville voters approved a tax increase to build a joint civilian-military education center in front of the base.
As Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim told the base commission on Monday, “We’re not only excited” about future growth at LRAFB, “but we’re prepared to do whatever is necessary to provide for members of the military and their families.”
No wonder officials from around the state had nothing but praise for the Pentagon’s decision to send more people and planes our way. Let’s hope the BRAC commission approve the decision, which will then make its way up to President Bush and Congress for final approval.
A decade from now, when more bases will close, the Pentagon ought to keep adding on at our base, which has plenty of room for growth.
It’s been a good partnership.
NEIGHBORS>> Buried in books
IN SHORT: Readers rewarded for spending summer days in the library.
By Brian Rodriguez
Leader staff writer
The Ward Public Library on Friday ended its summer reading program with a bang, getting a $500 donation from First Electric Cooperative’s Operation Round-Up program.
Ward librarian Venessa Ford said she had originally asked for items for grab bags when she went to pay her utility bill at First Electric. She was told about Operation Round-Up.
The program is funded by First Electric customers who allow the company to round their utility bills up to the nearest whole dollar amount for a tax-deductible donation. The donation, averaging 50 cents per month or $6 per year, is held in a trust account that funds donations to local non-profit organizations.
“That’s who we want to donate to,” said Jacksonville district manager Bill Devos, “groups that help the community.”
Ford said $400 of the grant would be used to purchase books requested by patrons, and the remaining $100 would be put toward a new encyclopedia fund.
The donation was presented during a party to celebrate the end of the Dragons, Dreams, and Daring Deeds summer reading program for children from birth to 16 years of age.
There were 55 participants who turned in their reading logs for a total of 1,724 books read in one month, an average of 31 books per child.
Ford credited the parents for reading to the younger children and for making sure their children had a way to get to the summer reading program.
“The parents have been real good because if it wasn’t for them bringing their kids, it wouldn’t have been such a success,” she said. “They’re unbelievable, what they’ve done with their children.”
Grab bags were given to each participant Friday at an end-of-the summer reading program with special recognition given to the children who read the most books in each age group.
The top readers included Christina Babbs with 13 books in the 14-16-year-old category; Faith Ford with 101 books in the 11-13-year-old category; Logan Cle-mons with 106 books in the 6-10-year-old category, and Trystan Smith with 65 books in the birth to 5-year-old category.
Operation Round-Up has made nearly 200 contributions totaling more than $181,000 since it was created in 1998.
Ford wanted to thank all the businesses that contributed to the reading party, which included parents, Little Caesar’s, Pizza Pro, Domino’s Pizza, More than Manna food bank, McDonald’s, Frito Lay, Dixie Café, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Wendy’s, Arby’s, Taco Bell, Burger King, Tasty Freeze, Sonic, Western Sizzlin,’ Ron Campbell Ford and Com-munity Bank.
By Brian Rodriguez
Leader staff writer
The Ward Public Library on Friday ended its summer reading program with a bang, getting a $500 donation from First Electric Cooperative’s Operation Round-Up program.
Ward librarian Venessa Ford said she had originally asked for items for grab bags when she went to pay her utility bill at First Electric. She was told about Operation Round-Up.
The program is funded by First Electric customers who allow the company to round their utility bills up to the nearest whole dollar amount for a tax-deductible donation. The donation, averaging 50 cents per month or $6 per year, is held in a trust account that funds donations to local non-profit organizations.
“That’s who we want to donate to,” said Jacksonville district manager Bill Devos, “groups that help the community.”
Ford said $400 of the grant would be used to purchase books requested by patrons, and the remaining $100 would be put toward a new encyclopedia fund.
The donation was presented during a party to celebrate the end of the Dragons, Dreams, and Daring Deeds summer reading program for children from birth to 16 years of age.
There were 55 participants who turned in their reading logs for a total of 1,724 books read in one month, an average of 31 books per child.
Ford credited the parents for reading to the younger children and for making sure their children had a way to get to the summer reading program.
“The parents have been real good because if it wasn’t for them bringing their kids, it wouldn’t have been such a success,” she said. “They’re unbelievable, what they’ve done with their children.”
Grab bags were given to each participant Friday at an end-of-the summer reading program with special recognition given to the children who read the most books in each age group.
The top readers included Christina Babbs with 13 books in the 14-16-year-old category; Faith Ford with 101 books in the 11-13-year-old category; Logan Cle-mons with 106 books in the 6-10-year-old category, and Trystan Smith with 65 books in the birth to 5-year-old category.
Operation Round-Up has made nearly 200 contributions totaling more than $181,000 since it was created in 1998.
Ford wanted to thank all the businesses that contributed to the reading party, which included parents, Little Caesar’s, Pizza Pro, Domino’s Pizza, More than Manna food bank, McDonald’s, Frito Lay, Dixie Café, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Wendy’s, Arby’s, Taco Bell, Burger King, Tasty Freeze, Sonic, Western Sizzlin,’ Ron Campbell Ford and Com-munity Bank.
SPORTS>> Bruins on cruise early in A district
IN SHORT: Sylvan Hills class A team wins easily in tournament.
By Jason King
Leader sports writer
The Sylvan Hills Bruins A squad has been on a roll in the American Legion zone tournament at Burns Park. The Bruins won their first three games in the tournament in decisive form, controlling all three games both offensively and defensively.
“I am very pleased with the way these guys have played so far,” Bruins head coach Brock Moore said. “They are all hitting the ball excellent. One through nine, everyone has been solid.”
In Friday night’s opener, the Bruins routed Gwatney 10-0. Taylor Roark stood out for Sylvan Hills in Friday’s game with a two-run homer. “We didn’t have one big inning in that game like we wanted to,” Moore said. “The runs were kind of scattered throughout the game.”
Saturday’s game against Greenbrier went just as easily for the Bruins. Hunter Miller put in a great performance on the mound for Sylvan Hills in Saturday’s game, with nine Ks on the day.
Sylvan Hills did most of their scoring damage in the top of the second inning. Jarrett Boles scored the first run for the Bruins, when catcher David Simpson RBI’d to center field.
The Bruins also got some help from Greenbrier errors on Saturday. A missed throw to second allowed Sylvan Hills to load the bases. A pair of RBIs by Jerry Lawson and Ryan Wood gave Sylvan Hills a 4-0 advantage. Lawson tagged up on a pop-up to add one more run for the Bruins before the end of the inning.
Things looked pretty bleak for Greenbrier offensively, with only one hit through the first three innings.
Miller’s pitching proved to be too much for Greenbrier, as Miller caught five looking in the opening three innings.
The Bruins added two more runs in the top of the fourth inning. A deep shot to center from Boles drove in Lawson and Wood to give the Bruins a 7-0 lead.
Greenbrier finally scored in the bottom of the fourth. The Bruins allowed one run, but Miller once again pulled through for Sylvan Hills. With bases loaded and no outs, Greenbrier looked as if they might get back in the game. Miller decided against it, striking out one batter and fielding two other hits to hold Greenbrier to only one run.
David Simpson scored one more run for the Bruins in the top of the fifth off of another Greenbrier error. Greenbrier tried to come back in the bottom of the seventh, scoring two runs. Relief pitcher Boles kept things under control, forcing the final two batters for Greenbrier to ground out, giving the game to Sylvan Hills 8-4.
Sunday’s game against Conway started out with a scare for the Bruins. Conway jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Sylvan Hills was able to answer in the bottom of the first, with runs from Wood, Taylor Roark and Miller.
The bottom of the third inning would prove disastrous for the Wampus Cats, as the Bruins went on a nine run scoring spree. Every batter in the lineup made it to base at one point in the inning. Conway was finally forced put in its third pitcher in three innings to try and end the nine run assault.
By the time Conway got their third out, the Bruins had run the score up 12-3. Each team would go on to score one run apiece in the final innings, giving Sylvan Hills an important win.
Sunday’s win also put Sylvan Hills into the semi-finals of the tournament as the only remaining unbeaten team. It would also put them one win away from a bid to the state tournament.
“We’re confident right now, but we are not taking anything for granted,” Moore said. “We are definitely not taking anyone lightly.”
By Jason King
Leader sports writer
The Sylvan Hills Bruins A squad has been on a roll in the American Legion zone tournament at Burns Park. The Bruins won their first three games in the tournament in decisive form, controlling all three games both offensively and defensively.
“I am very pleased with the way these guys have played so far,” Bruins head coach Brock Moore said. “They are all hitting the ball excellent. One through nine, everyone has been solid.”
In Friday night’s opener, the Bruins routed Gwatney 10-0. Taylor Roark stood out for Sylvan Hills in Friday’s game with a two-run homer. “We didn’t have one big inning in that game like we wanted to,” Moore said. “The runs were kind of scattered throughout the game.”
Saturday’s game against Greenbrier went just as easily for the Bruins. Hunter Miller put in a great performance on the mound for Sylvan Hills in Saturday’s game, with nine Ks on the day.
Sylvan Hills did most of their scoring damage in the top of the second inning. Jarrett Boles scored the first run for the Bruins, when catcher David Simpson RBI’d to center field.
The Bruins also got some help from Greenbrier errors on Saturday. A missed throw to second allowed Sylvan Hills to load the bases. A pair of RBIs by Jerry Lawson and Ryan Wood gave Sylvan Hills a 4-0 advantage. Lawson tagged up on a pop-up to add one more run for the Bruins before the end of the inning.
Things looked pretty bleak for Greenbrier offensively, with only one hit through the first three innings.
Miller’s pitching proved to be too much for Greenbrier, as Miller caught five looking in the opening three innings.
The Bruins added two more runs in the top of the fourth inning. A deep shot to center from Boles drove in Lawson and Wood to give the Bruins a 7-0 lead.
Greenbrier finally scored in the bottom of the fourth. The Bruins allowed one run, but Miller once again pulled through for Sylvan Hills. With bases loaded and no outs, Greenbrier looked as if they might get back in the game. Miller decided against it, striking out one batter and fielding two other hits to hold Greenbrier to only one run.
David Simpson scored one more run for the Bruins in the top of the fifth off of another Greenbrier error. Greenbrier tried to come back in the bottom of the seventh, scoring two runs. Relief pitcher Boles kept things under control, forcing the final two batters for Greenbrier to ground out, giving the game to Sylvan Hills 8-4.
Sunday’s game against Conway started out with a scare for the Bruins. Conway jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Sylvan Hills was able to answer in the bottom of the first, with runs from Wood, Taylor Roark and Miller.
The bottom of the third inning would prove disastrous for the Wampus Cats, as the Bruins went on a nine run scoring spree. Every batter in the lineup made it to base at one point in the inning. Conway was finally forced put in its third pitcher in three innings to try and end the nine run assault.
By the time Conway got their third out, the Bruins had run the score up 12-3. Each team would go on to score one run apiece in the final innings, giving Sylvan Hills an important win.
Sunday’s win also put Sylvan Hills into the semi-finals of the tournament as the only remaining unbeaten team. It would also put them one win away from a bid to the state tournament.
“We’re confident right now, but we are not taking anything for granted,” Moore said. “We are definitely not taking anyone lightly.”
SPORTS>> Ruff-Neks take ASA state title
By Ray Benton
Leader sports editor
Things didn’t go as easily as they were supposed to, but the Cabot Ruff-Neks 12-under fastpitch team did manage to win the ASA state championship game Sunday afternoon in Cabot.
The Ruff-Neks had cruised, for the most part, through the winners’ bracket, but met up with a determined Hot Springs team that didn’t plan to lay down without a fight.
The Purple Magic came out of the losers’ bracket and beat Cabot 5-2 to force the “if” game to determine the champion.
The Ruff-Neks gathered their focus in game two, and got an outstanding performance from pitcher Emily Bass to win 4-0 and claim the state title.
“Sometimes you just can’t tell what youngsters are going to do,” Ruff-Neks coach Tim Marvin said. “They had already beaten this team earlier in the tournament, so I think they may have just gone in there with the mindset that it would just happen again, instead of going in with the focus they needed. They gained that focus though and played a very complete game in the second one.”
Bass threw the entire game, giving up just one hit while striking out seven and walking none.
Offensively, neither team did much until the third inning. That’s when Cabot finally got on the board.
Kendall Colderon led off the bottom of the third with a double to the fence in center field. Mallory Sexton entered to pinch run and stole third base. She scored the game’s first run on an RBI, sacrifice fly by Chelsea Conrade.
The Ruff-Neks added two more to that total in the bottom of the next inning. Bailey Lowery hit a fly ball that fell in shallow left center field and left her safely at second base. Guess then reached on an error at shortstop that put runners at first and third.
Nikki King followed with a sacrifice bunt that scored Guess, and Tara Boyd hit an RBI groundout to make it 3-0 Cabot after four.
The final run came in the fifth. Conrade walked and reached second on a passed ball. Makenzi Drake singled to left field, and Kristy Flesher did the same to score Conrade.
ASA didn’t name a tournament MVP, and Marvin was reluctant to try and pick one from his team.
“As you can see with how we scored our runs in the final game, this bunch plays as a team,” Marvin said. “Everybody contributes. That’s just the makeup of this team.”
The Ruff-Neks will take part in the International Baseball and Softball Association World Series this weekend in Jacksonville. The next week, they will head off to Gulf Port, Mississippi, for the NFSA World Series.
Leader sports editor
Things didn’t go as easily as they were supposed to, but the Cabot Ruff-Neks 12-under fastpitch team did manage to win the ASA state championship game Sunday afternoon in Cabot.
The Ruff-Neks had cruised, for the most part, through the winners’ bracket, but met up with a determined Hot Springs team that didn’t plan to lay down without a fight.
The Purple Magic came out of the losers’ bracket and beat Cabot 5-2 to force the “if” game to determine the champion.
The Ruff-Neks gathered their focus in game two, and got an outstanding performance from pitcher Emily Bass to win 4-0 and claim the state title.
“Sometimes you just can’t tell what youngsters are going to do,” Ruff-Neks coach Tim Marvin said. “They had already beaten this team earlier in the tournament, so I think they may have just gone in there with the mindset that it would just happen again, instead of going in with the focus they needed. They gained that focus though and played a very complete game in the second one.”
Bass threw the entire game, giving up just one hit while striking out seven and walking none.
Offensively, neither team did much until the third inning. That’s when Cabot finally got on the board.
Kendall Colderon led off the bottom of the third with a double to the fence in center field. Mallory Sexton entered to pinch run and stole third base. She scored the game’s first run on an RBI, sacrifice fly by Chelsea Conrade.
The Ruff-Neks added two more to that total in the bottom of the next inning. Bailey Lowery hit a fly ball that fell in shallow left center field and left her safely at second base. Guess then reached on an error at shortstop that put runners at first and third.
Nikki King followed with a sacrifice bunt that scored Guess, and Tara Boyd hit an RBI groundout to make it 3-0 Cabot after four.
The final run came in the fifth. Conrade walked and reached second on a passed ball. Makenzi Drake singled to left field, and Kristy Flesher did the same to score Conrade.
ASA didn’t name a tournament MVP, and Marvin was reluctant to try and pick one from his team.
“As you can see with how we scored our runs in the final game, this bunch plays as a team,” Marvin said. “Everybody contributes. That’s just the makeup of this team.”
The Ruff-Neks will take part in the International Baseball and Softball Association World Series this weekend in Jacksonville. The next week, they will head off to Gulf Port, Mississippi, for the NFSA World Series.
TOP STORY>> Board votes to remove stickers
IN SHORT: Beebe Schools end standoff with ACLU over
evolution-versus-creation disclaimer in textbooks.
By Joan McCoy
Leader staff writer
A six-month-long standoff between the Beebe School Board and the American Civil Liberties Union ended Monday night when the board voted 3-2 to remove disclaimers about evolution versus creation stuck to the inside covers of science books from the fourth grade through the twelfth.
Those voting for removing the stickers said they didn’t want school teachers educating their children about religious matters. They also wanted to avoid spending money on a lawsuit that should be used for educating children.
But it was clear from comments by board member Sherill Strayhorn that the board didn’t appreciate the ACLU exerting pressure to get the stickers cut out of the books before school starts next month.
“I wish we had the money to challenge the ACLU,” Strayhorn said, adding that “people cower to the ACLU like a scalded dog.
“That galls me more than anything else,” he added.
Contacted Tuesday morning, Rita Sklar, ACLU executive director, said she was pleased with the vote in spite of the reasons for it.
“I’m glad they’re doing the right thing regardless of their reasons,” Sklar said. “Of course, I wish it was out of respect for religious liberty and the separation of church and state. It is the separation of church and state that allows for the rich diversity of freedom of religion we enjoy in this country.
“I’m also glad they are avoiding costly litigation that would only harm the students and the school district,” she said.
Exactly how close the district was to being sued, as the ACLU of Arkansas threatened in January, is unclear. The ACLU contacted the school district about the stickers as soon as a federal judge ruled in Georgia that similar stickers in science books used by the Cobb County School District had to come out. But that ruling was appealed almost immediately, buying the Beebe board a little time, and that appeal is still in progress.
Butch Rice, president of the Beebe School Board, wanted to wait about voting at least until after district patrons were made aware that a vote was imminent.
The disclaimer stickers have been “a sleeping giant,” that the board has not spoken of in months, he said.
The looming lawsuit is not just a board problem, it is a district problem, he said.
“I wouldn’t want our district to think we pushed something under the rug until a one-night meeting,” he said.
Rice voted against removing the stickers as did Lorrie Belew, who told Dr. Belinda Shook and the three board members who voted to remove the stickers that she understood that they wanted to avoid a lawsuit, but she said, “Sometimes when you need to stand up for something, you need to stand up for it.”
Voting for taking out the stickers were Strayhorn, Harold Davis and Tommy Vanaman.
Vanaman told the board that he believed the stickers were illegal and he feared the loss of $1.5 million in federal funds if they remained in the textbooks.
Davis brought a prepared statement to the meeting and read it before the vote.
He wrote in part: “I was taught at a very young age that God created the heavens and earth. He spoke everything into existence except for man. He created man in his own image, with his own hands and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life….This is the belief that I hold sacred and have taught my children at a very young age….I believe that these discussions are the responsibilities of parents not public schools. I also believe the insertion of a sticker in a book could generate discussions that may be contrary to the belief of parents.
“The bottom line is that I do not want my children taught these issues by teachers who I have no knowledge of their own beliefs,” he wrote.
Shook, in her first month as school superintendent, told the board the stickers could be cut out without damaging the books and she recommended doing so.
Evolution is not an area of concentration in the district’s science program, she said. Furthermore, her own two children used the books and never even noticed the stickers were there.
In fact, when the issue was raised in January, no one including the school board and Dr. Kieth Williams, Shook’s predecessor, was aware that the stickers were in the books.
Former board members say the stickers were approved sometime before Williams was hired as superintendent in 1996.
Tom Jenkins, who was on the school board at that time, said earlier this year that he couldn’t recall why the stickers were placed in the books. However he remembered that a group of parents was concerned about stories of witchcraft in an elementary textbook. It is likely, he said, that the evolution sticker was an outgrowth of that issue and the product of a parent committee put together to select books.
Adopting text books is a yearly function of the school board, but Rice said when the issue arose that the existing board was never asked about the stickers.
“We have to vote on text books every year and we didn’t know about those stickers,” he said then. “I guess it’s just one of those things. You get new science books and those stickers go on.”
But Tuesday night when the board talked about cutting the stickers out, they also said that whether they cut them out or left them in, their decision was bound to anger many.
Even those who agreed with the statements on the stickers would likely be upset about the lawsuit that was inevitable unless they were removed, the board said.
evolution-versus-creation disclaimer in textbooks.
By Joan McCoy
Leader staff writer
A six-month-long standoff between the Beebe School Board and the American Civil Liberties Union ended Monday night when the board voted 3-2 to remove disclaimers about evolution versus creation stuck to the inside covers of science books from the fourth grade through the twelfth.
Those voting for removing the stickers said they didn’t want school teachers educating their children about religious matters. They also wanted to avoid spending money on a lawsuit that should be used for educating children.
But it was clear from comments by board member Sherill Strayhorn that the board didn’t appreciate the ACLU exerting pressure to get the stickers cut out of the books before school starts next month.
“I wish we had the money to challenge the ACLU,” Strayhorn said, adding that “people cower to the ACLU like a scalded dog.
“That galls me more than anything else,” he added.
Contacted Tuesday morning, Rita Sklar, ACLU executive director, said she was pleased with the vote in spite of the reasons for it.
“I’m glad they’re doing the right thing regardless of their reasons,” Sklar said. “Of course, I wish it was out of respect for religious liberty and the separation of church and state. It is the separation of church and state that allows for the rich diversity of freedom of religion we enjoy in this country.
“I’m also glad they are avoiding costly litigation that would only harm the students and the school district,” she said.
Exactly how close the district was to being sued, as the ACLU of Arkansas threatened in January, is unclear. The ACLU contacted the school district about the stickers as soon as a federal judge ruled in Georgia that similar stickers in science books used by the Cobb County School District had to come out. But that ruling was appealed almost immediately, buying the Beebe board a little time, and that appeal is still in progress.
Butch Rice, president of the Beebe School Board, wanted to wait about voting at least until after district patrons were made aware that a vote was imminent.
The disclaimer stickers have been “a sleeping giant,” that the board has not spoken of in months, he said.
The looming lawsuit is not just a board problem, it is a district problem, he said.
“I wouldn’t want our district to think we pushed something under the rug until a one-night meeting,” he said.
Rice voted against removing the stickers as did Lorrie Belew, who told Dr. Belinda Shook and the three board members who voted to remove the stickers that she understood that they wanted to avoid a lawsuit, but she said, “Sometimes when you need to stand up for something, you need to stand up for it.”
Voting for taking out the stickers were Strayhorn, Harold Davis and Tommy Vanaman.
Vanaman told the board that he believed the stickers were illegal and he feared the loss of $1.5 million in federal funds if they remained in the textbooks.
Davis brought a prepared statement to the meeting and read it before the vote.
He wrote in part: “I was taught at a very young age that God created the heavens and earth. He spoke everything into existence except for man. He created man in his own image, with his own hands and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life….This is the belief that I hold sacred and have taught my children at a very young age….I believe that these discussions are the responsibilities of parents not public schools. I also believe the insertion of a sticker in a book could generate discussions that may be contrary to the belief of parents.
“The bottom line is that I do not want my children taught these issues by teachers who I have no knowledge of their own beliefs,” he wrote.
Shook, in her first month as school superintendent, told the board the stickers could be cut out without damaging the books and she recommended doing so.
Evolution is not an area of concentration in the district’s science program, she said. Furthermore, her own two children used the books and never even noticed the stickers were there.
In fact, when the issue was raised in January, no one including the school board and Dr. Kieth Williams, Shook’s predecessor, was aware that the stickers were in the books.
Former board members say the stickers were approved sometime before Williams was hired as superintendent in 1996.
Tom Jenkins, who was on the school board at that time, said earlier this year that he couldn’t recall why the stickers were placed in the books. However he remembered that a group of parents was concerned about stories of witchcraft in an elementary textbook. It is likely, he said, that the evolution sticker was an outgrowth of that issue and the product of a parent committee put together to select books.
Adopting text books is a yearly function of the school board, but Rice said when the issue arose that the existing board was never asked about the stickers.
“We have to vote on text books every year and we didn’t know about those stickers,” he said then. “I guess it’s just one of those things. You get new science books and those stickers go on.”
But Tuesday night when the board talked about cutting the stickers out, they also said that whether they cut them out or left them in, their decision was bound to anger many.
Even those who agreed with the statements on the stickers would likely be upset about the lawsuit that was inevitable unless they were removed, the board said.
TOP STORY>> Beebe rejects city expansion
IN SHORT: Only voters in Searcy were in an agreeable mood, approving a 1-cent sales tax for a new fire station and to retire old debt.
By Joan McCoy
Leader staff writer
Beebe said no Tuesday, by 36 votes, to a proposed annexation that would have doubled the size of the city, while Searcy residents voted yes to a nine-month, 1-cent sales tax to finance the new central fire station and help retire part of the city’s debt.
In Beebe, 382 people, or 52 percent, said no to the annexation, while 346, or 48 percent, said yes.
In Searcy, the vote was 550, or 55 percent, in favor of the tax and 469, or 45 percent, against it. In Beebe, both city residents and those living in the proposed annexation area were allowed to vote.
Not surprisingly, the residents in the area to be annexed voted against the plan 108 to 27. But the vote was close inside the city limits where the count from the polls was 310 for, 250 against.
Jason Scheel, chairman of the planning commission, which pushed for the annexation, said the low voter turnout was not unexpected and neither was the close vote since most votes in Beebe are close.
But Scheel said unsigned flyers that turned up in people’s yards over the weekend might have swayed some city residents to vote against the annexation.
One flyer depicted a stop sign and warned residents that their taxes would go up to support the “new Beebe.”
The annexation had been talked about since last year and actively pursued for about six months by the time the city council voted more than a month ago to go ahead with the election.
County residents who either opposed becoming Beebe residents or just wanted more information about what the city had to offer filled the council chambers for public meetings held by the planning commission and city council.
In the days leading up to the election, there was little visible evidence that the city was trying to expand except one homemade sign on Highway 64 in opposition to the annexation and a few yard signs inside the city telling residents the annexation was for their future.
The city campaigned for the annexation by placing brochures in local businesses.
Marjorie Armstrong, the city’s economic director, said a larger population would make it easier for her to promote the city to businesses looking for a place to locate.
The new Searcy tax will go into effect in October. It is expected to generate $3.3 million for Searcy. The money will be used to finance the construction of a new $1.6 million central fire station at the edge of downtown on the corner of Elm Street and Beebe-Capps Expressway.
The new station replaces the central fire station destroyed in a Jan. 27 blaze. The remainder of the money raised by the tax will be used to help retire $900,000 in city debt.
“It’s going to be good for the city,” said Mayor Belinda LaForce after the vote totals were released Tuesday evening.
But not all seemed happy.
“The majority of the people are disgusted about the tax and said they were voting against it because they just don’t know what it’s about,” said Bobby Quattlebaum, owner of Bobby’s Family Restaurant in downtown Searcy.
He added city officials did a poor job of educating the public about the temporary tax.
“During early voting at the court house there were signs up saying ‘Vote Here’ and I had people coming in asking what in the world was being voted on,” Quattlebaum said.
“I’ve had people say they wouldn’t vote for any tax and others said they would vote for it because it’s temporary and primarily for public safety,” said Alderman Dale Brewer, co-sponsor of the ordinance.
Responding to some of the criticism, the mayor said, “We feel like we’ve beat a dead horse to death. We discussed it at city council meetings for months. It’s a pretty simple issue and I think we took care of it.”
Fire Chief Bill Baldridge was one of the first people to vote Tuesday at Southside Elementary’s cafeteria, the city’s central polling location.
The central fire station has been operating from a temporary location on the corner of Higginson Street and Booth Road. According to Baldridge, the temporary location adds up to ten minutes to the fire department’s response time for fires downtown.
“Fire scenes change every sixty seconds so ten minutes is a lot of time,” Baldridge said.
In the meantime, construction on the new fire station at the corner of Elm Street and Beebe-Capps Expressway is moving ahead.
“The mayor has said the station will be built,” Baldridge said.
“Brooks Jackson Architects are surveying the lot and taking soil samples. They’re going to put in about three feet of fill dirt to build it up.”
By Joan McCoy
Leader staff writer
Beebe said no Tuesday, by 36 votes, to a proposed annexation that would have doubled the size of the city, while Searcy residents voted yes to a nine-month, 1-cent sales tax to finance the new central fire station and help retire part of the city’s debt.
In Beebe, 382 people, or 52 percent, said no to the annexation, while 346, or 48 percent, said yes.
In Searcy, the vote was 550, or 55 percent, in favor of the tax and 469, or 45 percent, against it. In Beebe, both city residents and those living in the proposed annexation area were allowed to vote.
Not surprisingly, the residents in the area to be annexed voted against the plan 108 to 27. But the vote was close inside the city limits where the count from the polls was 310 for, 250 against.
Jason Scheel, chairman of the planning commission, which pushed for the annexation, said the low voter turnout was not unexpected and neither was the close vote since most votes in Beebe are close.
But Scheel said unsigned flyers that turned up in people’s yards over the weekend might have swayed some city residents to vote against the annexation.
One flyer depicted a stop sign and warned residents that their taxes would go up to support the “new Beebe.”
The annexation had been talked about since last year and actively pursued for about six months by the time the city council voted more than a month ago to go ahead with the election.
County residents who either opposed becoming Beebe residents or just wanted more information about what the city had to offer filled the council chambers for public meetings held by the planning commission and city council.
In the days leading up to the election, there was little visible evidence that the city was trying to expand except one homemade sign on Highway 64 in opposition to the annexation and a few yard signs inside the city telling residents the annexation was for their future.
The city campaigned for the annexation by placing brochures in local businesses.
Marjorie Armstrong, the city’s economic director, said a larger population would make it easier for her to promote the city to businesses looking for a place to locate.
The new Searcy tax will go into effect in October. It is expected to generate $3.3 million for Searcy. The money will be used to finance the construction of a new $1.6 million central fire station at the edge of downtown on the corner of Elm Street and Beebe-Capps Expressway.
The new station replaces the central fire station destroyed in a Jan. 27 blaze. The remainder of the money raised by the tax will be used to help retire $900,000 in city debt.
“It’s going to be good for the city,” said Mayor Belinda LaForce after the vote totals were released Tuesday evening.
But not all seemed happy.
“The majority of the people are disgusted about the tax and said they were voting against it because they just don’t know what it’s about,” said Bobby Quattlebaum, owner of Bobby’s Family Restaurant in downtown Searcy.
He added city officials did a poor job of educating the public about the temporary tax.
“During early voting at the court house there were signs up saying ‘Vote Here’ and I had people coming in asking what in the world was being voted on,” Quattlebaum said.
“I’ve had people say they wouldn’t vote for any tax and others said they would vote for it because it’s temporary and primarily for public safety,” said Alderman Dale Brewer, co-sponsor of the ordinance.
Responding to some of the criticism, the mayor said, “We feel like we’ve beat a dead horse to death. We discussed it at city council meetings for months. It’s a pretty simple issue and I think we took care of it.”
Fire Chief Bill Baldridge was one of the first people to vote Tuesday at Southside Elementary’s cafeteria, the city’s central polling location.
The central fire station has been operating from a temporary location on the corner of Higginson Street and Booth Road. According to Baldridge, the temporary location adds up to ten minutes to the fire department’s response time for fires downtown.
“Fire scenes change every sixty seconds so ten minutes is a lot of time,” Baldridge said.
In the meantime, construction on the new fire station at the corner of Elm Street and Beebe-Capps Expressway is moving ahead.
“The mayor has said the station will be built,” Baldridge said.
“Brooks Jackson Architects are surveying the lot and taking soil samples. They’re going to put in about three feet of fill dirt to build it up.”
TOP STORY>> Officials tell panel base can take on growth
IN SHORT: Central Arkansas’ top guns remind BRAC commissioners of LRAFB’s
ability to expand its mission.
By John Hofheimer
Leader staff writer
Cong. Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock, and Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim traveled to San Antonio Monday to reinforce to members of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission the correctness of the Defense Department’s decision to expand the mission at Little Rock Air Force Base.
Congressmen, senators and local representatives from bases slated to lose planes, missions and personnel to the Little Rock base have been lobbying the commission in favor of the status quo, so the Jacksonville delegation testified in favor of the current BRAC proposal. That proposal would bring 66 additional C-130s at the base and about 3,900 new jobs. Swaim, Snyder and others sought to ward off efforts of bases slated to lose planes, missions and personnel to Little Rock.
In the minutes allotted, officials told commissioners that LRAFB was the premiere C-130 base in the country, that conditions at the base were optimal for training C-130 crews and stressed the community’s 50-year embrace of the base.
The BRAC commission will decide by late summer whether to approve the Department of Defense recommendations. The president and Congress must also sign off on the plan before the restructuring takes effect, likely by the end of the year.
Four of the nine BRAC commissioners attended Monday’s hearing at the Henry B. Gonzalez Conven-tion Center in downtown San Antonio.
“There are no easy decisions here,” Snyder told the commissioners. “You have two chores. First, to make the right decisions, and second, to have a decision-making process, the conclusions of which some will disagree with, but all will have no doubt regarding its fairness, transparency, and integrity.”
Swaim said the delegation’s work was hindered by the relatively short—eight minutes—amount of time allocated for testimony about Little Rock Air Force Base.
Local advocates lobbying to keep 29 C-130s at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, rather than moving them to Little Rock had much more time to make their case. Most of the Arkansas time was devoted to senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor and others working to keep the Air National Guard’s 188th Fighter Wing based at Fort Smith, which is slated to close, Swaim said.
Others in the Arkansas delegation supporting Little Rock Air Force Base were Bart Gray, Paul Latture, Mike Wilson and Leon Matthews—all past presidents of the base’s community council.
Swaim, in addition to being mayor, is in his second term as community council president.
“My job was to make sure the BRAC commission understood we were glad to have (the base) in the community and glad to have additions and willing to do what was necessary for services and infrastructure,” Swaim said Tuesday.
Swaim, in his comments, noted that 50 years ago, community leaders bought the 6,000 acres upon which the base now sits for $1 million and presented it to the Air Force. Swaim said he and Snyder were changing their prepared remarks right up to the last minute.
Swaim commented on the local impact of having more missions here and pointed to the future joint education center between the city and Little Rock Air Force Base, while Snyder commented on the state-wide impact the base increase would have.
Swaim told the commissioners that the local communities would do whatever was necessary in terms of additional services and infrastructure to support the new jobs and missions proposed for the base. He stressed the base’s recognition as a C-130 center of excellence, the excellent flying conditions, the drop zone, assault landing strip and adequate ramp and runway space.
As evidence of that, both Swaim and Snyder told the commissioners that a couple dozen or more C-130s and helicopters were evacuated to the base last weekend from Florida to avoid possible hurricane damage.
He told them that the community had passed a $5 million tax to support better education through joint education facility.
“We think the evaluation of Little Rock Air Force Base and its ability to accept additional missions is accurate and we encourage you to review the data and send the Little Rock Air Force Base recommendations forward to the president for approval,” Swaim testified. “We’re confident that our community is prepared to handle the recommended consolidation.”
Wilson and Latture, executive director of the Little Rock Port Authority, said Swaim and Snyder worked well together in their limited amount of speaking time of about five minutes each.
“They made a good team,” Wilson said.
He said Swaim did especially well at fitting his message into a tight package.
“I thought it was excellent as usual,” he said. “Pointed, brief and forceful. Very good.”
“All of the presentations were really factual,” Latture said. “Your oratory didn’t win you any prize.”
He said the hearings were all kept very factual and the BRAC commissioners showed little facial expression, if any.
“I hope they took it well, but you couldn’t tell,” Latture said. “There were no questions.”
Wilson, on the other hand, seemed to think it went well.
“I think they welcomed support for the position that the Department of Defense has taken,” he said. “Those commissioners are pretty knowledgeable about the nation’s defense and bases in general.”
Wilson said the lack of questions was encouraging compared to the few questions directed at people arguing against upcoming decisions.
“My nine years of interaction with Little Rock Air Force Base made evident to me the ability of this fine base to play an even greater role in our national defense,” Snyder told the commissioners.
He stressed the intensely close working relationship between the active Air Force and the Air Guard at the base in training instructor pilots.
“Little Rock Air Force Base for years has been a model for how the Air Guard and active component as a team can thrive together,” said the congressman.
“There are several important considerations in the C-130 community. Overall, the fleet is declining in number due to wing box problems, the slow rate of C-130J acquisition and the currently stalled C-130 Aviation Moderniza-tion Program,” Snyder said.
“The high rate of use of C-130s means it is desirable to increase the operational availability and flexibility of the fleet. We have to maximize the assets we have, and we believe that the Air Force’s plan for the Active Duty C-130s does this. It is also my hope that centralizing more airplanes will allow the aircrews and their families to have more stability in assignments and lives,” Snyder said.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson, former undersecretary for Homeland Security, testified in favor of keeping the 188th Fighter Wing stationed at Fort Smith.
“The military capabilities index, as calculated by the DOD, falls short of measuring the actual military vaule of Fort Smith,” he said.
He called the 188th’s current mission “vital to the homeland defense Air Sovereignty Alert Mis-sion,” and said reassigning the F-16s would deprive the nation of “a key air defense facility capable of responding to terrorist threats to the southwestern interior of the United States.”
ability to expand its mission.
By John Hofheimer
Leader staff writer
Cong. Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock, and Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim traveled to San Antonio Monday to reinforce to members of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission the correctness of the Defense Department’s decision to expand the mission at Little Rock Air Force Base.
Congressmen, senators and local representatives from bases slated to lose planes, missions and personnel to the Little Rock base have been lobbying the commission in favor of the status quo, so the Jacksonville delegation testified in favor of the current BRAC proposal. That proposal would bring 66 additional C-130s at the base and about 3,900 new jobs. Swaim, Snyder and others sought to ward off efforts of bases slated to lose planes, missions and personnel to Little Rock.
In the minutes allotted, officials told commissioners that LRAFB was the premiere C-130 base in the country, that conditions at the base were optimal for training C-130 crews and stressed the community’s 50-year embrace of the base.
The BRAC commission will decide by late summer whether to approve the Department of Defense recommendations. The president and Congress must also sign off on the plan before the restructuring takes effect, likely by the end of the year.
Four of the nine BRAC commissioners attended Monday’s hearing at the Henry B. Gonzalez Conven-tion Center in downtown San Antonio.
“There are no easy decisions here,” Snyder told the commissioners. “You have two chores. First, to make the right decisions, and second, to have a decision-making process, the conclusions of which some will disagree with, but all will have no doubt regarding its fairness, transparency, and integrity.”
Swaim said the delegation’s work was hindered by the relatively short—eight minutes—amount of time allocated for testimony about Little Rock Air Force Base.
Local advocates lobbying to keep 29 C-130s at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, rather than moving them to Little Rock had much more time to make their case. Most of the Arkansas time was devoted to senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor and others working to keep the Air National Guard’s 188th Fighter Wing based at Fort Smith, which is slated to close, Swaim said.
Others in the Arkansas delegation supporting Little Rock Air Force Base were Bart Gray, Paul Latture, Mike Wilson and Leon Matthews—all past presidents of the base’s community council.
Swaim, in addition to being mayor, is in his second term as community council president.
“My job was to make sure the BRAC commission understood we were glad to have (the base) in the community and glad to have additions and willing to do what was necessary for services and infrastructure,” Swaim said Tuesday.
Swaim, in his comments, noted that 50 years ago, community leaders bought the 6,000 acres upon which the base now sits for $1 million and presented it to the Air Force. Swaim said he and Snyder were changing their prepared remarks right up to the last minute.
Swaim commented on the local impact of having more missions here and pointed to the future joint education center between the city and Little Rock Air Force Base, while Snyder commented on the state-wide impact the base increase would have.
Swaim told the commissioners that the local communities would do whatever was necessary in terms of additional services and infrastructure to support the new jobs and missions proposed for the base. He stressed the base’s recognition as a C-130 center of excellence, the excellent flying conditions, the drop zone, assault landing strip and adequate ramp and runway space.
As evidence of that, both Swaim and Snyder told the commissioners that a couple dozen or more C-130s and helicopters were evacuated to the base last weekend from Florida to avoid possible hurricane damage.
He told them that the community had passed a $5 million tax to support better education through joint education facility.
“We think the evaluation of Little Rock Air Force Base and its ability to accept additional missions is accurate and we encourage you to review the data and send the Little Rock Air Force Base recommendations forward to the president for approval,” Swaim testified. “We’re confident that our community is prepared to handle the recommended consolidation.”
Wilson and Latture, executive director of the Little Rock Port Authority, said Swaim and Snyder worked well together in their limited amount of speaking time of about five minutes each.
“They made a good team,” Wilson said.
He said Swaim did especially well at fitting his message into a tight package.
“I thought it was excellent as usual,” he said. “Pointed, brief and forceful. Very good.”
“All of the presentations were really factual,” Latture said. “Your oratory didn’t win you any prize.”
He said the hearings were all kept very factual and the BRAC commissioners showed little facial expression, if any.
“I hope they took it well, but you couldn’t tell,” Latture said. “There were no questions.”
Wilson, on the other hand, seemed to think it went well.
“I think they welcomed support for the position that the Department of Defense has taken,” he said. “Those commissioners are pretty knowledgeable about the nation’s defense and bases in general.”
Wilson said the lack of questions was encouraging compared to the few questions directed at people arguing against upcoming decisions.
“My nine years of interaction with Little Rock Air Force Base made evident to me the ability of this fine base to play an even greater role in our national defense,” Snyder told the commissioners.
He stressed the intensely close working relationship between the active Air Force and the Air Guard at the base in training instructor pilots.
“Little Rock Air Force Base for years has been a model for how the Air Guard and active component as a team can thrive together,” said the congressman.
“There are several important considerations in the C-130 community. Overall, the fleet is declining in number due to wing box problems, the slow rate of C-130J acquisition and the currently stalled C-130 Aviation Moderniza-tion Program,” Snyder said.
“The high rate of use of C-130s means it is desirable to increase the operational availability and flexibility of the fleet. We have to maximize the assets we have, and we believe that the Air Force’s plan for the Active Duty C-130s does this. It is also my hope that centralizing more airplanes will allow the aircrews and their families to have more stability in assignments and lives,” Snyder said.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson, former undersecretary for Homeland Security, testified in favor of keeping the 188th Fighter Wing stationed at Fort Smith.
“The military capabilities index, as calculated by the DOD, falls short of measuring the actual military vaule of Fort Smith,” he said.
He called the 188th’s current mission “vital to the homeland defense Air Sovereignty Alert Mis-sion,” and said reassigning the F-16s would deprive the nation of “a key air defense facility capable of responding to terrorist threats to the southwestern interior of the United States.”
TOP STORY>> Cabot voters say NO
IN SHORT: City must find other financing for overpass, community center.
By Joan McCoy
Leader staff writer
Cabot voters said no Tuesday to a millage increase that would have paid for a community center and railroad overpass.
The vote on the railroad overpass was 537 against and 493 for. The vote on the community center was 551 against and 475 for.
Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh said after learning the results of the election that he was both surprised and disappointed.
“I think it’s sad. I just really think it’s sad. But the people spoke and you move on,” Stumbaugh said.
Residents were asked to increase their city property tax from 3.5 mills to 4.5 mills to raise $700,000 for the city’s part of the federally funded $5 million overpass and $2 million to help pay for a planned community center that came in over budget.
A month ago, Stumbaugh said if the voters turned down the millage increase, there would be no way to build the community center, and the overpass would have to wait until 2008. But that is no longer the case.
Aldermen Eddie Cook and Odis Waymack will sponsor an ordinance that will go before the council Monday night to ask voters to extend an existing one-cent sales tax to pay for a new sewer plant, the community center, overpass and a new animal shelter and provide about $2 million for street improvements.
Cook and Waymack are opposed to paying for the new sewer treatment plant by more than doubling sewer rates as the council plans to do.
Stumbaugh said Tuesday evening that an organized effort against the millage increase might have helped defeat it.
Cook, who has been the most outspoken about the proposed sales tax referendum he will co-sponsor with Waymack, said he knew of no organized effort, but he does believe voters are saying they don’t want any new taxes.
Cook said he voted for the millage increase and he is shocked that it didn’t pass, but he is aware that his ordinance to continue the existing tax now has a better chance of passing the council because the millage failed.
“I hate it that it failed, but it does strengthen my ordinance incredibly,” Cook said.
By Joan McCoy
Leader staff writer
Cabot voters said no Tuesday to a millage increase that would have paid for a community center and railroad overpass.
The vote on the railroad overpass was 537 against and 493 for. The vote on the community center was 551 against and 475 for.
Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh said after learning the results of the election that he was both surprised and disappointed.
“I think it’s sad. I just really think it’s sad. But the people spoke and you move on,” Stumbaugh said.
Residents were asked to increase their city property tax from 3.5 mills to 4.5 mills to raise $700,000 for the city’s part of the federally funded $5 million overpass and $2 million to help pay for a planned community center that came in over budget.
A month ago, Stumbaugh said if the voters turned down the millage increase, there would be no way to build the community center, and the overpass would have to wait until 2008. But that is no longer the case.
Aldermen Eddie Cook and Odis Waymack will sponsor an ordinance that will go before the council Monday night to ask voters to extend an existing one-cent sales tax to pay for a new sewer plant, the community center, overpass and a new animal shelter and provide about $2 million for street improvements.
Cook and Waymack are opposed to paying for the new sewer treatment plant by more than doubling sewer rates as the council plans to do.
Stumbaugh said Tuesday evening that an organized effort against the millage increase might have helped defeat it.
Cook, who has been the most outspoken about the proposed sales tax referendum he will co-sponsor with Waymack, said he knew of no organized effort, but he does believe voters are saying they don’t want any new taxes.
Cook said he voted for the millage increase and he is shocked that it didn’t pass, but he is aware that his ordinance to continue the existing tax now has a better chance of passing the council because the millage failed.
“I hate it that it failed, but it does strengthen my ordinance incredibly,” Cook said.
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