BY JOAN MCCOY
LEADER STAFF WRITER
Stubby Stumbaugh is running for Congress, which means he has only 15 months left as Cabot’s mayor. But on Monday night, his first city council meeting since the announcement Saturday, it was clear that nothing else has changed.
The mayor’s volatile relationship with the city council was just as evident as before. But the council did show its collective humanity by working with the mayor to end the meeting by 9:30 p.m.
The mayor’s sister is in intensive care in a Little Rock hospital, and he wanted to be there for the evening visiting period. The council held discussion on several ordinances, opting to read them only once and continue them at the next meeting instead of rushing them through in one meeting.
The council voted down at least two ordinances that the mayor supported, and the mayor ridiculed their decisions, saying they were stopping progress in the city. When Alderman Odis Waymack, who is, in practice if not spirit, the mayor’s greatest nemesis, misspoke, calling an ordinance by the wrong number,the mayor poked fun at his mistake.
Waymack, who is legally blind, said later that from now on he will request his copy of the agenda be printed with a larger type and in bold.
The council would not pass an ordinance to increase sewer rates to go into effect if voters don’t extend the existing sales tax in September to pay for a $16.5 million sewer plant.
Six votes were needed to pass the rate increase Monday and begin the 30-day referendum period when voters could challenge the increase with an election.
Stumbaugh said and J.M. Park, chairman of the Water and Wastewater Commission agreed, that the rate increase should be in place if the tax fails so work could begin immediately on the plant.
“They do not listen to the commission’s wishes,” Stumbaugh told the commission when the rate increase did not move forward.
If the tax doesn’t pass, the council could still raise the rates next month.
The council voted down a bid to spray weeds in the city after Alderman Odis Waymack questioned paying $5,000 more for the service than he believed was necessary. Waymack told the council that state law required that those who apply the herbicides have only one type of license.
Jim Towe, the head of pubic works, called on the carpet by Waymack, said he believed there were seven different kinds of licenses for applying herbicides. When he advertised for bids to do the work, he specified that two types of licenses were required.
Two companies turned in bids, but the only one that met the bid specs of two licenses was G. C. Brown and Associates, Inc., which bid $15,280. Mike Moss, Profes-sional Weed Control and Stan White, Affordable Custom Weed Control, bid $9,500.
Stumbaugh said that whoever voted against accepting the bids and getting the spraying started would also need to provide his phone number so the irate citizens who call him about the weeds in ditches and drainage basins could call them instead.
Alderman James Glenn provided the only “yes” vote for awarding the contract to G.C. Brown and Associates, Inc.
In addition to the $5,000 difference in the bid, some council members said it seemed an unnecessary and costly expense to spray weeds so late in the summer. The council approved an ordinance over the mayor’s objection and threat of veto that would require the city to get at least three documented phone bids on purchases from $1,000 to $4,999.99 and written quotes from reputable suppliers for expenditures from $5,000 to $9,999.99.
Expenditures of $10,000 and more would have to be bid. If only one bid is received, the purchase would have to be bid again in a newspaper with statewide circulation. Purchases of less than $1,000 would still be at the mayor’s discretion.
Waymack sponsored the ordinance. He gave as an example of the need of its passage, the fact that the city deals only with one paving company for re-pairing potholes and cuts in the streets to lay water and sewer lines. Stumbaugh protested that there is no way to predict when the service will be needed and no other company will come when called.
Dale Walker, the city’s finance director, said that in his office they already get quotes on everything, even down to pencils, just as Towe gets quotes for most of the materials he needs to run the rest of the city.
The animal shelter was another source of contention.
Alderman David Polantz sponsored a resolution to bid the animal shelter as soon as possible. The mayor objected to the resolution, saying the work is progressing as fast as possible and he resented the implication that he was somehow responsible for any holdup.
He pointed out that plans for the shelter were only recently completed.
The resolution passed, but the mayor said with or without it, work would still start on the animal shelter. If voters say Sept. 13 that they want $200,000 in tax money to be used for the shelter a $450,000 shelter will be built.
If voters turn down paying for it with the tax, it will be downsized so $260,000 already collected to build it will pay for it.
In other business, the council supported unanimously a resolution by Polantz to give $500 a month to Safe Haven, Inc., the nonprofit agency that intends to open a shelter for battered women by January.
The donation is contingent on City Attorney Ken Williams finding a way to do it legally.
The council also approved an ordinance transferring $12,000 from the general fund to the city attorney’s legal defense fund to settle a lawsuit with the veterans group that sold the city the land for the park across from the high school where the community center is to be built.
The group is suing because its contract with the city called for the construction and maintenance of a permanent restroom on the part of the property retained by the group for a veteran’s memorial.
Since the council wants to settle the suit by building the restroom, the money will presumably be used for that purpose.
The council did not pass an ordinance sponsored by Alderman Jerry Stephens that would have significantly increased the cost of connecting to city sewers. Stephens said he sponsored the ordinance because it is time part of the cost of development is paid by builders, who are responsible for Cabot’s growth.
An ordinance sponsored by Alderman Polantz that was introduced at the meeting but not passed would prohibit the city from paying for ads for elected officials.
Polantz had the ordinance drafted after the mayor’s office paid almost $2,300 out of the general fund for an ad in Arkansas Business congratulating Stum-baugh for being named to that publication’s “40 under 40” list of young Arkansans who are successful in their fields.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
TOP STORY>> Funding lawsuit hearing is Friday
By JOHN HOFHEIMER AND SARA GREENE
Leader Staff Writers
General Improvement Fund projects worth $52 million, earmarked for House and Senate districts across the state, hang in the balance as Pulaski County Circuit Judge Willard Proctor holds a preliminary hearing Friday on a lawsuit filed recently by Jacksonville attorney Mike Wilson.
The money—some would characterize it as pork—is intended to help with projects as diverse as a Jacksonville library, a Carlisle civic center, Lonoke’s decrepit county jail and individual volunteer fire departments across the state.
Wilson’s suit would halt 11 named projects, including six earmarked by state Rep. Will Bond for Jacksonville, but also threatens nearly all the projects and the way the General Assembly has awarded General Improvement Funds since 1997. (See editorial, p. 10A.)
This year, depending on their tenure, House members were allowed to earmark $104,000, $158,000 or $212,000 for projects in their district. Each state senator was allowed $750,000 in projects.
Proctor has put a temporary halt to disbursement of funds for the projects named in the suit, saying it was not unreasonable to think Wilson might prevail.
Wilson, a former state representative, says the funding violates Amendment 14 banning state-funded local legislation. The Jacksonville projects named in the case are:
• $190,000 for the new Esther D. Nixon Library;
• $50,000 to the Jackson-ville Boys and Girls Club;
• $50,000 to the Jackson-ville Senior Center;
• $20,000 to the city of Jacksonville;
• $10,000 to the Jacksonville Museum of Military History, and
• $10,000 for the Reed’s Bridge Preservation Society.
Jacksonville voters in July approved a one-mill property tax increase to finance $2.5 million in bonds to build the new library, and Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim promises it will be built with or without the General Improvement Funds arranged by Bond and state Sen. John Paul Capps of Searcy.
Also cited in Wilson’s suit were funds for the Cleburne County Library, and, in Bigelow, for sewers, streets and infrastructure.
Not cited specifically in Wilson’s suit, but threatened in the event of a ruling in his favor is $300,000 toward resolving overcrowding and substandard conditions at the Lonoke County Jail and $350,000 earmarked by state Sen. Bobby Glover for a Carlisle Civic Center.
If Wilson wins his suit it would “have a tremendous effect” on the balance of the $52 million worth of projects, Wilson told The Leader.
“At that point, the Department of Finance and Administration—the people who write the checks—are going to say, ‘We better not write any more checks. These are unconstitutional,’” Wilson said.
Richard Weiss, director of the DF&A, said Aug. 25 is the target date when his department would begin writing checks—other than those put on hold by Proctor.
He said Wilson’s suit had not caused a major increase in recipients wanting expedited checks.
“It’s (Judge Proctor’s) discretion on how broad or narrow of an impact his decision has,” said Matt DeCample, spokesman for the state Attorney General’s Office. Asheton Carter represents the state, while Wilson represents himself.
“If the state is going to simply give money away to anybody, that would require a constitutional amendment,” said Wilson, “a vote by the people.”
General Improvement Funds as they now exist began in 1997, so Wilson, who retired said he wasn’t bringing home the pork when he was a state representative.
The money pretty much was at the discretion of the governor and earmarked for higher education, he said.
“Those projects were ranked or listed every two years. The governor would decide when to release the money.
“It’s bad business from a sensible and practical viewpoint… to give money away with no accountability,” said Wilson.
In addition to the projects cited in Wilson’s suit, the $300,000 appropriation Glover, state Rep. Susan Schulte and state Rep. Lenville Evans secured toward a better Lonoke County Jail and the $350,000 Glover got for a Carlisle Community Center, area projects uncertain include more modest appropriations for:
Volunteer fire departments, libraries in Cabot and Ward, the Cabot Senior Center, Open Arms Shelter in Lonoke; $113,000 earmarked by Evans for the Bayou Meta Water District; North Pulaski Community Center Complex, grants for certified teachers, the Arkansas National Guard, Sherwood Rotary Club’s Veterans Memorial and the Jack Evans Senior Center, Arkansas State University—Beebe, the White County Ameri-can Red Cross, White County Aging Program/Lightle Senior Center, White County Regional Library, White County United Way, and water, sewer and street improvements for Beebe, Judsonia and McRae.
Leader Staff Writers
General Improvement Fund projects worth $52 million, earmarked for House and Senate districts across the state, hang in the balance as Pulaski County Circuit Judge Willard Proctor holds a preliminary hearing Friday on a lawsuit filed recently by Jacksonville attorney Mike Wilson.
The money—some would characterize it as pork—is intended to help with projects as diverse as a Jacksonville library, a Carlisle civic center, Lonoke’s decrepit county jail and individual volunteer fire departments across the state.
Wilson’s suit would halt 11 named projects, including six earmarked by state Rep. Will Bond for Jacksonville, but also threatens nearly all the projects and the way the General Assembly has awarded General Improvement Funds since 1997. (See editorial, p. 10A.)
This year, depending on their tenure, House members were allowed to earmark $104,000, $158,000 or $212,000 for projects in their district. Each state senator was allowed $750,000 in projects.
Proctor has put a temporary halt to disbursement of funds for the projects named in the suit, saying it was not unreasonable to think Wilson might prevail.
Wilson, a former state representative, says the funding violates Amendment 14 banning state-funded local legislation. The Jacksonville projects named in the case are:
• $190,000 for the new Esther D. Nixon Library;
• $50,000 to the Jackson-ville Boys and Girls Club;
• $50,000 to the Jackson-ville Senior Center;
• $20,000 to the city of Jacksonville;
• $10,000 to the Jacksonville Museum of Military History, and
• $10,000 for the Reed’s Bridge Preservation Society.
Jacksonville voters in July approved a one-mill property tax increase to finance $2.5 million in bonds to build the new library, and Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim promises it will be built with or without the General Improvement Funds arranged by Bond and state Sen. John Paul Capps of Searcy.
Also cited in Wilson’s suit were funds for the Cleburne County Library, and, in Bigelow, for sewers, streets and infrastructure.
Not cited specifically in Wilson’s suit, but threatened in the event of a ruling in his favor is $300,000 toward resolving overcrowding and substandard conditions at the Lonoke County Jail and $350,000 earmarked by state Sen. Bobby Glover for a Carlisle Civic Center.
If Wilson wins his suit it would “have a tremendous effect” on the balance of the $52 million worth of projects, Wilson told The Leader.
“At that point, the Department of Finance and Administration—the people who write the checks—are going to say, ‘We better not write any more checks. These are unconstitutional,’” Wilson said.
Richard Weiss, director of the DF&A, said Aug. 25 is the target date when his department would begin writing checks—other than those put on hold by Proctor.
He said Wilson’s suit had not caused a major increase in recipients wanting expedited checks.
“It’s (Judge Proctor’s) discretion on how broad or narrow of an impact his decision has,” said Matt DeCample, spokesman for the state Attorney General’s Office. Asheton Carter represents the state, while Wilson represents himself.
“If the state is going to simply give money away to anybody, that would require a constitutional amendment,” said Wilson, “a vote by the people.”
General Improvement Funds as they now exist began in 1997, so Wilson, who retired said he wasn’t bringing home the pork when he was a state representative.
The money pretty much was at the discretion of the governor and earmarked for higher education, he said.
“Those projects were ranked or listed every two years. The governor would decide when to release the money.
“It’s bad business from a sensible and practical viewpoint… to give money away with no accountability,” said Wilson.
In addition to the projects cited in Wilson’s suit, the $300,000 appropriation Glover, state Rep. Susan Schulte and state Rep. Lenville Evans secured toward a better Lonoke County Jail and the $350,000 Glover got for a Carlisle Community Center, area projects uncertain include more modest appropriations for:
Volunteer fire departments, libraries in Cabot and Ward, the Cabot Senior Center, Open Arms Shelter in Lonoke; $113,000 earmarked by Evans for the Bayou Meta Water District; North Pulaski Community Center Complex, grants for certified teachers, the Arkansas National Guard, Sherwood Rotary Club’s Veterans Memorial and the Jack Evans Senior Center, Arkansas State University—Beebe, the White County Ameri-can Red Cross, White County Aging Program/Lightle Senior Center, White County Regional Library, White County United Way, and water, sewer and street improvements for Beebe, Judsonia and McRae.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
FROM THE PUBLISHER >> Couple still fighting for Russian kids
By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader publisher
The Jacksonville couple who couldn’t bring home the two Russian kids they had recently adopted will go back soon to fight for the right to fly their children to Arkansas.
Monica and David Kraus are hoping they’ll return soon to Russia and bring back the children, Emma, who is 3 years old, and Alex, who is 11 months. The couple adopted the children a few weeks ago, but then ran into a bureaucratic wall that they’re still fighting to tear down.
The Russians have stopped all foreign adoptions for the time being after two American women killed the Russian children they had adopted, apparently in fits of rage.
“We should be traveling the beginning of August to bring the children home,” Monica Kraus told us last week. “We are silently praying nothing else happens to delay the process.”
The Russians have passed new legislation to screen out undesirables who want to adopt children, but the Krauses insist they’re qualified people who will raise the kids right.
Because of the killings, the Russians want to do psychological testing of prospective parents and offer them parenting training.
“While there seems to be no thought given to halting all adoptions permanently, there is talk of requiring some sort of psychological evaluation of all prospective adoptive parents. There is also talk of investigating to see if the adoption was done legally according to Russian law. No one knows how long we will be delayed,” she said.
“We are not certain if new legislation regarding adoptions as a re-sult of this last case will affect us. It is definitely needed. If the death of even one child can be avoided, then it is beneficial,” Mrs. Kraus said.
The couple will appear at an administrative hearing, where they’ll hope to convince the authorities to let them bring home Emma and Alex, who both have their own rooms waiting for them in Jacksonville.
“We will not need a Russian attorney, only a translator at our hearing,” Mrs. Kraus says. “Once a judge finalizes our adoption and we receive our birth certificates and passports in Moscow, the adoption is official and recognized throughout the world. We may go through an American attorney when we return home in order to legalize the adoption according to United States law, but it is not necessary.”
In the meantime, the Russian media keep lashing out at foreign adoptions.
“It’s not the first time this has happened,” Mrs. Kraus says, referring to this latest freeze on foreign adoptions, “and it is more of a result of anti-American sentiment in the Russian media than anything else. We are not alone in this as there are hundreds of other expecting parents across the United States who are facing this same crisis.”
“The Russia media have been all up in arms and have been pushing for the end of international adoptions,” she continued.
She said the children need good, loving homes, where they can eat right and get a good education. She knows there will be an “adjustment period, especially for the toddler. Although they adjust quickly and thrive with a loving family, they are far behind American children in developmental and learning ability.”
“In an orphanage, they do not receive one-on-one attention like they would in a family.
“There are also significant health concerns with malnutrition and different ailments related to poor living conditions. Almost all of the children are anemic and far behind their normal growth rate. However, parents who have adopted from Russia confirm that the children catch up quickly, often surpassing their peers.
“Our next step is to wait. It’s the hardest step of all. We are involved in a support group with similar couples to help us through the waiting process.
“We can only pray that nothing happens to further inflame an already sensitive situation.”
Leader publisher
The Jacksonville couple who couldn’t bring home the two Russian kids they had recently adopted will go back soon to fight for the right to fly their children to Arkansas.
Monica and David Kraus are hoping they’ll return soon to Russia and bring back the children, Emma, who is 3 years old, and Alex, who is 11 months. The couple adopted the children a few weeks ago, but then ran into a bureaucratic wall that they’re still fighting to tear down.
The Russians have stopped all foreign adoptions for the time being after two American women killed the Russian children they had adopted, apparently in fits of rage.
“We should be traveling the beginning of August to bring the children home,” Monica Kraus told us last week. “We are silently praying nothing else happens to delay the process.”
The Russians have passed new legislation to screen out undesirables who want to adopt children, but the Krauses insist they’re qualified people who will raise the kids right.
Because of the killings, the Russians want to do psychological testing of prospective parents and offer them parenting training.
“While there seems to be no thought given to halting all adoptions permanently, there is talk of requiring some sort of psychological evaluation of all prospective adoptive parents. There is also talk of investigating to see if the adoption was done legally according to Russian law. No one knows how long we will be delayed,” she said.
“We are not certain if new legislation regarding adoptions as a re-sult of this last case will affect us. It is definitely needed. If the death of even one child can be avoided, then it is beneficial,” Mrs. Kraus said.
The couple will appear at an administrative hearing, where they’ll hope to convince the authorities to let them bring home Emma and Alex, who both have their own rooms waiting for them in Jacksonville.
“We will not need a Russian attorney, only a translator at our hearing,” Mrs. Kraus says. “Once a judge finalizes our adoption and we receive our birth certificates and passports in Moscow, the adoption is official and recognized throughout the world. We may go through an American attorney when we return home in order to legalize the adoption according to United States law, but it is not necessary.”
In the meantime, the Russian media keep lashing out at foreign adoptions.
“It’s not the first time this has happened,” Mrs. Kraus says, referring to this latest freeze on foreign adoptions, “and it is more of a result of anti-American sentiment in the Russian media than anything else. We are not alone in this as there are hundreds of other expecting parents across the United States who are facing this same crisis.”
“The Russia media have been all up in arms and have been pushing for the end of international adoptions,” she continued.
She said the children need good, loving homes, where they can eat right and get a good education. She knows there will be an “adjustment period, especially for the toddler. Although they adjust quickly and thrive with a loving family, they are far behind American children in developmental and learning ability.”
“In an orphanage, they do not receive one-on-one attention like they would in a family.
“There are also significant health concerns with malnutrition and different ailments related to poor living conditions. Almost all of the children are anemic and far behind their normal growth rate. However, parents who have adopted from Russia confirm that the children catch up quickly, often surpassing their peers.
“Our next step is to wait. It’s the hardest step of all. We are involved in a support group with similar couples to help us through the waiting process.
“We can only pray that nothing happens to further inflame an already sensitive situation.”
FROM THE PUBLISHER >> Russians keep couple from adopting kids
David and Monica Kraus of Jacksonville thought they had adopted a couple of Russian children and would fly them home after spending thousands of dollars and dealing for months with bureaucrats here and in Russia.
But a few weeks ago, the Russian authorities suddenly announced that foreigners could no longer adopt orphans there.
The Russians had their reasons: At least two American women — one in Chicago and another out East — had murdered their adopted Russian children.
Not only did the Russian government stop all foreign adoptions, but the media there accused Americans of killing Russian children for their organs.
“We have an empty crib, untouched toys, new clothes that will soon be too small — all for two precious children we were days away from bringing home from Russia,” says Monica Kraus.
The children, Emma, who is 3 years old, and Alex, who is 11 months, may never make it to America, but the couple keeps fighting to get them here, even if it means selling their house to finance the adoptions, which could cost $50,000 if the Russians allow them to go through.
“They’re our children,” Mrs. Kraus insists.
A year ago, the Krauses paid an adoption agency in Memphis $15,000 to help them find a child in Russia after the couple gave up trying to adopt one in this country.
“We decided to pursue an international adoption in August 2004,” Mrs. Kraus says. “The paperwork process, home study and related background checks take six to nine months. We received a referral for an available 10-month-old baby boy in May. At that time we were also informed of a 3-year-old little girl.”
The couple flew to Moscow and then to the Saratov region a couple of hours from the capital. The orphanage is in Volsk, which meant a two-hour drive.
“When we traveled we were not intending to adopt two children. We desired two children, but the financial cost was out of our reach. While in Russia, we met the little girl and decided to do whatever it took to bring her home.
“We are selling our home in order to significantly downsize and have the funds for the adoption. The cost per child is approximately $25,000. This includes the adoption fee, related document processing, travel, translators, drivers, and gifts.”
She says Russian orphanages already have safeguards to protect the children from getting placed in dangerous families.
“When you adopt in Russia you receive one referral for a child and you travel to see that specific child,” Mrs. Kraus explains. “In order to not exploit the children, they do not let people simply walk through an orphanage and choose a child. If for some reason you do not wish to adopt the child who was referred, they will attempt to find another referral while you are there, or you travel back to the States and wait.”
For a while it appeared the Krauses would come home with Emma and Alex.
“We were days away from getting our invitation to pick up our two children, who we had met six weeks ago in Russia,” Mrs. Kraus says.
“We decided to do a blind adoption, traveling to meet the children without photos or video. We did not want to choose a child by what our eyes perceived. We wanted God to choose our children. Even with a natural birth you are never guaranteed on the health or physical appearance of your child.”
She hopes publicizing the couple’s plight might pressure the Russians to let them adopt the children.
“Parents like ourselves could really use a boost in the media,” Mrs. Kraus says. “Can someone please write about those of us who do not kill our children? Can someone please state the incredible high statistics for healthy children adopted from Russia? Can someone please counter the current slander in Moscow and show how many children die in orphanages or from abuse and neglect in Russia each year — or throughout the world?
“This is a global problem and it’s tragic. Those of us caught in the middle are helpless and could use someone on our side. One woman, one child. Yes, it’s incomprehensible, but what about the hundreds of thousands of other wonderful, loving parents providing healthy homes for these children at costs of thousands of dollars? Please help.”
(Next: Dealing with red tape.)
But a few weeks ago, the Russian authorities suddenly announced that foreigners could no longer adopt orphans there.
The Russians had their reasons: At least two American women — one in Chicago and another out East — had murdered their adopted Russian children.
Not only did the Russian government stop all foreign adoptions, but the media there accused Americans of killing Russian children for their organs.
“We have an empty crib, untouched toys, new clothes that will soon be too small — all for two precious children we were days away from bringing home from Russia,” says Monica Kraus.
The children, Emma, who is 3 years old, and Alex, who is 11 months, may never make it to America, but the couple keeps fighting to get them here, even if it means selling their house to finance the adoptions, which could cost $50,000 if the Russians allow them to go through.
“They’re our children,” Mrs. Kraus insists.
A year ago, the Krauses paid an adoption agency in Memphis $15,000 to help them find a child in Russia after the couple gave up trying to adopt one in this country.
“We decided to pursue an international adoption in August 2004,” Mrs. Kraus says. “The paperwork process, home study and related background checks take six to nine months. We received a referral for an available 10-month-old baby boy in May. At that time we were also informed of a 3-year-old little girl.”
The couple flew to Moscow and then to the Saratov region a couple of hours from the capital. The orphanage is in Volsk, which meant a two-hour drive.
“When we traveled we were not intending to adopt two children. We desired two children, but the financial cost was out of our reach. While in Russia, we met the little girl and decided to do whatever it took to bring her home.
“We are selling our home in order to significantly downsize and have the funds for the adoption. The cost per child is approximately $25,000. This includes the adoption fee, related document processing, travel, translators, drivers, and gifts.”
She says Russian orphanages already have safeguards to protect the children from getting placed in dangerous families.
“When you adopt in Russia you receive one referral for a child and you travel to see that specific child,” Mrs. Kraus explains. “In order to not exploit the children, they do not let people simply walk through an orphanage and choose a child. If for some reason you do not wish to adopt the child who was referred, they will attempt to find another referral while you are there, or you travel back to the States and wait.”
For a while it appeared the Krauses would come home with Emma and Alex.
“We were days away from getting our invitation to pick up our two children, who we had met six weeks ago in Russia,” Mrs. Kraus says.
“We decided to do a blind adoption, traveling to meet the children without photos or video. We did not want to choose a child by what our eyes perceived. We wanted God to choose our children. Even with a natural birth you are never guaranteed on the health or physical appearance of your child.”
She hopes publicizing the couple’s plight might pressure the Russians to let them adopt the children.
“Parents like ourselves could really use a boost in the media,” Mrs. Kraus says. “Can someone please write about those of us who do not kill our children? Can someone please state the incredible high statistics for healthy children adopted from Russia? Can someone please counter the current slander in Moscow and show how many children die in orphanages or from abuse and neglect in Russia each year — or throughout the world?
“This is a global problem and it’s tragic. Those of us caught in the middle are helpless and could use someone on our side. One woman, one child. Yes, it’s incomprehensible, but what about the hundreds of thousands of other wonderful, loving parents providing healthy homes for these children at costs of thousands of dollars? Please help.”
(Next: Dealing with red tape.)
EDITORIAL >> Insuring uninsured
The elderly and then children were the people who could not afford insurance and were “underserved” by the health-care system. Medicare under Lyndon B. Johnson and Medicaid expansion under Bill Clinton largely but not altogether solved those problems. Now a different group, reasonably young working adults, is the population in distress.
In few places are they in greater distress than Arkansas. The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement gave lawmakers the unnerving figures this week. Thirty percent of Arkansans between 19 and 44 are not insured, and the percentage is up 7 percent from only four years ago. The share of people from 44 to 64 and children who are uninsured is somewhat smaller but still rising.
But surely these are just deadbeats or else vibrant and prosperous young people who just do not need insurance or think they do not need it? No, the Center for Health Improvement calculated, they are working people on the low end of the pay scale, and most of them work for small businesses, those with fewer than 50 workers.
Is this a crisis, and should the rest of us take any personal interest in it except for an earnest mention in our prayers? You decide.
At some point, when their condition gets very serious, most of the uninsured wind up getting some medical attention — usually in the emergency rooms — although they cannot pay for the care and it is written off. Private hospitals and clinics shift the cost to other patients and their health insurance. Every indigent’s care adds to your premiums.
The medical director of the University of Arkansas Medical Center said his hospital spent almost $40 million a year serving the uninsured, and that the figure is rising. Those are dollars you pay directly. The legislature appropriates your tax dollars every year to operate the hospital.
That is not all that you pay for the uninsured. Your share, from the sales, income, cigarette and alcohol taxes you pay, comes to tens of millions poured into Medicaid each year for the state’s part of medical care for children under Gov. Huckabee’s ArKids First program and medical services for qualifying adults. You might as well count the three-fourths share that Washington covers each year. Those are your taxes, too. Health insurance is considered a national problem, one too daunting for poor states to tackle. But in the absence of federal action, more and more states are innovating to get more of their residents insured. State governments have always been laboratories where formulas for national problems are developed.
Gov. Huckabee and his state health director vowed several years ago to find an Arkansas solution, but the governor is yet to deliver. It is no easy task. But his new state health officer came up with a plan with great promise last year: Have businesses with low-wage workers pay premiums into Medicaid to cover the state’s 25 percent share for the companies’ poor workers. The federal government would pay the usual match. Huckabee submitted the plan to the Bush administration, which has not signed a waiver to implement the plan and, we suspect, never will.
But here’s a promising development worth our legislature’s attention. An Idaho Republican introduced legislation last week that would require Idaho businesses that do not currently provide insurance for their low-income workers to either insure them or reimburse the state government for the cost of providing medical care for their employees and families under Medicaid. The Republican was upset when he saw figures about the state’s cost providing medical care for the employees of Wal-Mart and other big discount companies.
The Arkansas Department of Human Services this spring said that the state Medicaid program paid the hospital and doctor costs for about 10,000 employees of the state’s nine largest employers. Altogether, Medicaid annually covers medical expenses for about 350,000 workers and families in Arkansas who are not insured through the workplace and cannot themselves afford to buy more expensive individual coverage.
Perhaps some bold Republican will propose something similar for Arkansas. Maybe not. But members of the Legislative Council Monday seemed to want to study it, again. Gov. Huckabee ought to put his new state health officer, Dr. Joe Thompson, on the task. That would give us greater hope than another legislative study.
In few places are they in greater distress than Arkansas. The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement gave lawmakers the unnerving figures this week. Thirty percent of Arkansans between 19 and 44 are not insured, and the percentage is up 7 percent from only four years ago. The share of people from 44 to 64 and children who are uninsured is somewhat smaller but still rising.
But surely these are just deadbeats or else vibrant and prosperous young people who just do not need insurance or think they do not need it? No, the Center for Health Improvement calculated, they are working people on the low end of the pay scale, and most of them work for small businesses, those with fewer than 50 workers.
Is this a crisis, and should the rest of us take any personal interest in it except for an earnest mention in our prayers? You decide.
At some point, when their condition gets very serious, most of the uninsured wind up getting some medical attention — usually in the emergency rooms — although they cannot pay for the care and it is written off. Private hospitals and clinics shift the cost to other patients and their health insurance. Every indigent’s care adds to your premiums.
The medical director of the University of Arkansas Medical Center said his hospital spent almost $40 million a year serving the uninsured, and that the figure is rising. Those are dollars you pay directly. The legislature appropriates your tax dollars every year to operate the hospital.
That is not all that you pay for the uninsured. Your share, from the sales, income, cigarette and alcohol taxes you pay, comes to tens of millions poured into Medicaid each year for the state’s part of medical care for children under Gov. Huckabee’s ArKids First program and medical services for qualifying adults. You might as well count the three-fourths share that Washington covers each year. Those are your taxes, too. Health insurance is considered a national problem, one too daunting for poor states to tackle. But in the absence of federal action, more and more states are innovating to get more of their residents insured. State governments have always been laboratories where formulas for national problems are developed.
Gov. Huckabee and his state health director vowed several years ago to find an Arkansas solution, but the governor is yet to deliver. It is no easy task. But his new state health officer came up with a plan with great promise last year: Have businesses with low-wage workers pay premiums into Medicaid to cover the state’s 25 percent share for the companies’ poor workers. The federal government would pay the usual match. Huckabee submitted the plan to the Bush administration, which has not signed a waiver to implement the plan and, we suspect, never will.
But here’s a promising development worth our legislature’s attention. An Idaho Republican introduced legislation last week that would require Idaho businesses that do not currently provide insurance for their low-income workers to either insure them or reimburse the state government for the cost of providing medical care for their employees and families under Medicaid. The Republican was upset when he saw figures about the state’s cost providing medical care for the employees of Wal-Mart and other big discount companies.
The Arkansas Department of Human Services this spring said that the state Medicaid program paid the hospital and doctor costs for about 10,000 employees of the state’s nine largest employers. Altogether, Medicaid annually covers medical expenses for about 350,000 workers and families in Arkansas who are not insured through the workplace and cannot themselves afford to buy more expensive individual coverage.
Perhaps some bold Republican will propose something similar for Arkansas. Maybe not. But members of the Legislative Council Monday seemed to want to study it, again. Gov. Huckabee ought to put his new state health officer, Dr. Joe Thompson, on the task. That would give us greater hope than another legislative study.
OBITS
ARCHIE HAMILTON SR.
Archie Clyde Hamilton Sr., 86, of Gravel Ridge, passed away peacefully at home on Aug. 6. He was born Dec. 3, 1918, in Hunting-ton, Texas, the son of the late Henry and Linnie Hamilton.
He was an active member of the Church of Christ for many years, and was a member of Bailey Street Church of Christ at the time of his passing.
He served in the Army for more than eight years during and after the Second World War in Australia and New Guinea with the 43rd Engineers, and he retired from the Arkansas Army National Guard in Pine Bluff.
He was preceded in death by his parents, one sister, and three brothers. Archie is survived by his wife of 64 exceptionally loving years, Gladys M. Hamilton, who he met in Pine Bluff; his son Archie “A.C.” Hamilton, Jr., and wife Edith of Corpus Christi, Texas; his daughter, Deborah Fitt and husband Cliff of Gravel Ridge; two grandsons; Dirk Hamilton and wife Laura of Bryant and Aric Hamilton of El Dorado; one granddaughter, Jennifer Fitt of Ward; one step-granddaughter, Bobbi Sjoberg of Lutsen, Minn.; one great-granddaughter, Grace Hamilton of El Dorado; two step-great-granddaughters; Kristina Grabher and Brandy Kindrick of Bryant; one step-great-great-granddaughter, Trinity Kindrick of Bryant; one brother, H. Wayne Hamilton and wife Dorothy of Huntington, Texas; many loving cousins, nieces, nephews, and a host of friends. Services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Moore’s Jack-sonville Funeral Home Chapel with Mike Sinapiades officiating. Entombment in Chapel Pines Mausoleum.
Funeral arrangements are under direction of Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Eastern European Mission, P.O. Box 90755, Houston, Texas, 77290
BILLY MCGEE
Billy O. McGee, 73, died Aug. 8. He was a Army veteran of the Korean War and had owned a farm equipment business for 31 years. Survivors include his wife Rose Pickett McGee; three sons, Billy Kirk McGee and his wife Martie, Bobby Kent McGee and wife Jami and Gregory Keith McGee and wife Amy, all of Lonoke; seven grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; brothers, Doyne McGee of Lonoke, Carthal McGee of Texas, Carroll McGee of Ward and Dale McGee of North Little Rock.
Graveside services will be 10 a.m. Thursday at Lonoke Cemetery, arrangements by Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke. A visitation will be held Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home.
MARY DANIEL
Mary Jane Watson Daniel, 78, of Beebe died Aug. 8.
She was born on June 3, 1927, in Beebe and graduated from Beebe High School.
She was preceded in death by her mother, Pauline Warren Wood, her brother, Lt. Richard “Dick” Watson and sister-in-law Bernice Daniel Riggs. Mary Jane is survived by her husband of sixty years, Merold Daniel; one son, Terry Daniel and wife Lanis of Maumelle; one daughter, Anita Jane Pfaffenberger and husband Kenny of Beebe; one sister, Lynn Linton and husband Jack of Benton; brother-in-law Royce Daniel and wife Edwana of Beebe; brother-in-law T. Harold Riggs of North Little Rock; two granddaughters, Courtney Whiting of Pine Bluff and Amanda White of Stuttgart; one grandson Ian Daniel of Beebe; two step-grandsons, Brad Simon of Austin, Texas and Morgan Long of Conway; one step-granddaughter, Tamara Roberts of Benton; two precious great-grandchildren, Rowan Berry and Ridge White; and her uncle, William Warren of Beebe. She also leaves behind a host of relatives and friends. Memorial service will be 2 p.m. Wednesday at Westbrook Funeral Home, with burial to follow at Stoney Point Cemetery.
The family requests memorials be made to First Baptist Church, Beebe.
MARY ANN BURROWS
Mary Ann Burrows, 53, of Cabot, claimed her eternal prize on Aug. 6 in Little Rock. She was born on March 18, 1952 in Little Rock to Malvin and Helen Goode.
She worked in the insurance department at Jacksonville Medical Clinic for 15 years. A special thanks to Dr. Dale Calhoon, Sharron Stephens, the nurses and staff at Jacksonville Medical Clinic, the doctors and nurses at Rebsamen Hospital, and UAMS.
Mary attended Bible Missionary Church in Cabot where she enjoyed working at church camp.
Mary and Larry Joe were married July 9, 1970 and enjoyed 35 loving years together.
She is survived by her parents, Malvin and Helen Goode; her husband, Larry Joe Burrows, Sr.; one son, Larry Joe Burrows, Jr. and wife, Stephanie; one sister, Sandra Rester and husband, Maury; one niece, Kristi Rester; father-in-law, Raymond K. Burrows and mother-in-law, Mary Smith; two grandchildren, Kinley and Clayton Burrows. Funeral services were held Tuesday at Jacksonville Funeral Home Chapel with Mark Evans and Ed Manis officiating. Burial will be at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Cabot. Funeral arrangements are under direction of Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
Archie Clyde Hamilton Sr., 86, of Gravel Ridge, passed away peacefully at home on Aug. 6. He was born Dec. 3, 1918, in Hunting-ton, Texas, the son of the late Henry and Linnie Hamilton.
He was an active member of the Church of Christ for many years, and was a member of Bailey Street Church of Christ at the time of his passing.
He served in the Army for more than eight years during and after the Second World War in Australia and New Guinea with the 43rd Engineers, and he retired from the Arkansas Army National Guard in Pine Bluff.
He was preceded in death by his parents, one sister, and three brothers. Archie is survived by his wife of 64 exceptionally loving years, Gladys M. Hamilton, who he met in Pine Bluff; his son Archie “A.C.” Hamilton, Jr., and wife Edith of Corpus Christi, Texas; his daughter, Deborah Fitt and husband Cliff of Gravel Ridge; two grandsons; Dirk Hamilton and wife Laura of Bryant and Aric Hamilton of El Dorado; one granddaughter, Jennifer Fitt of Ward; one step-granddaughter, Bobbi Sjoberg of Lutsen, Minn.; one great-granddaughter, Grace Hamilton of El Dorado; two step-great-granddaughters; Kristina Grabher and Brandy Kindrick of Bryant; one step-great-great-granddaughter, Trinity Kindrick of Bryant; one brother, H. Wayne Hamilton and wife Dorothy of Huntington, Texas; many loving cousins, nieces, nephews, and a host of friends. Services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Moore’s Jack-sonville Funeral Home Chapel with Mike Sinapiades officiating. Entombment in Chapel Pines Mausoleum.
Funeral arrangements are under direction of Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Eastern European Mission, P.O. Box 90755, Houston, Texas, 77290
BILLY MCGEE
Billy O. McGee, 73, died Aug. 8. He was a Army veteran of the Korean War and had owned a farm equipment business for 31 years. Survivors include his wife Rose Pickett McGee; three sons, Billy Kirk McGee and his wife Martie, Bobby Kent McGee and wife Jami and Gregory Keith McGee and wife Amy, all of Lonoke; seven grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; brothers, Doyne McGee of Lonoke, Carthal McGee of Texas, Carroll McGee of Ward and Dale McGee of North Little Rock.
Graveside services will be 10 a.m. Thursday at Lonoke Cemetery, arrangements by Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke. A visitation will be held Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home.
MARY DANIEL
Mary Jane Watson Daniel, 78, of Beebe died Aug. 8.
She was born on June 3, 1927, in Beebe and graduated from Beebe High School.
She was preceded in death by her mother, Pauline Warren Wood, her brother, Lt. Richard “Dick” Watson and sister-in-law Bernice Daniel Riggs. Mary Jane is survived by her husband of sixty years, Merold Daniel; one son, Terry Daniel and wife Lanis of Maumelle; one daughter, Anita Jane Pfaffenberger and husband Kenny of Beebe; one sister, Lynn Linton and husband Jack of Benton; brother-in-law Royce Daniel and wife Edwana of Beebe; brother-in-law T. Harold Riggs of North Little Rock; two granddaughters, Courtney Whiting of Pine Bluff and Amanda White of Stuttgart; one grandson Ian Daniel of Beebe; two step-grandsons, Brad Simon of Austin, Texas and Morgan Long of Conway; one step-granddaughter, Tamara Roberts of Benton; two precious great-grandchildren, Rowan Berry and Ridge White; and her uncle, William Warren of Beebe. She also leaves behind a host of relatives and friends. Memorial service will be 2 p.m. Wednesday at Westbrook Funeral Home, with burial to follow at Stoney Point Cemetery.
The family requests memorials be made to First Baptist Church, Beebe.
MARY ANN BURROWS
Mary Ann Burrows, 53, of Cabot, claimed her eternal prize on Aug. 6 in Little Rock. She was born on March 18, 1952 in Little Rock to Malvin and Helen Goode.
She worked in the insurance department at Jacksonville Medical Clinic for 15 years. A special thanks to Dr. Dale Calhoon, Sharron Stephens, the nurses and staff at Jacksonville Medical Clinic, the doctors and nurses at Rebsamen Hospital, and UAMS.
Mary attended Bible Missionary Church in Cabot where she enjoyed working at church camp.
Mary and Larry Joe were married July 9, 1970 and enjoyed 35 loving years together.
She is survived by her parents, Malvin and Helen Goode; her husband, Larry Joe Burrows, Sr.; one son, Larry Joe Burrows, Jr. and wife, Stephanie; one sister, Sandra Rester and husband, Maury; one niece, Kristi Rester; father-in-law, Raymond K. Burrows and mother-in-law, Mary Smith; two grandchildren, Kinley and Clayton Burrows. Funeral services were held Tuesday at Jacksonville Funeral Home Chapel with Mark Evans and Ed Manis officiating. Burial will be at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Cabot. Funeral arrangements are under direction of Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
SPORTS >> Practice picking up for SH Bears
By: JASON KING
Leader sports writer
IN SHORT: Sylvan Hills players are getting used to the heat and practicing with more intensity this week. Head coach Ron Sebastian says his players are showing improvement in the mental aspects.
The Sylvan Hills Bears began week number two of summer practice on Monday morning. The Bears are hoping to repeat the success of the 2004 season, in which the Bruins took the AAAAA-East conference title before losing in the first round of the state playoffs.
Sylvan Hills head coach Ron Sebastian says that the three-hour daily practices have gone smoothly so far, but has a wait-and-see attitude on how his young team will fare this season.
“Initially, August practice always starts out slow,” Sebastian said. “It builds up after a couple of weeks. I feel like our kids are getting used to the heat, and getting mentally ready to play football.”
Although the Bears are getting mental aspects of the game in order, coach Sebastian feels like the team has some catching up to do on the physical side of the game before they are ready to play.
“Physically, we are still a long ways away,” Sebastian said. But mentally they are starting to think about their assignments, and what they are supposed to do. We are starting to see progress after one week of practicing.”
Although the squad has started playing drills, the Bears are still paying close attention to the team’s conditioning. At the Monday morning practice, Sebastian and the coaching staff had the team split into three groups. One group concentrated on conditioning, running quick sprints and doing grass drills.
The second group worked mostly on catching the ball, with some running drills added in. The third group worked on the offensive and defensive lines, specifically opening up a hole offensively for the run.
“We’ve been doing individual drills and team drills both,” Sebastian said.
“We’ve also been working on our agilities, running the ball and catching it.
“Defensively, we’ve worked on mainly blocking and tackling drills and conditioning. All the drills you need to do to get ready.”
Sebastian has yet to make final decisions on which players will step into the positions still up for grabs.
“We’re a young team, we have a lot of starting positions open,” Sebastian said.
“After one week of practice, and just one day in pads, we’re a long ways from knowing who is going to play where on September 2nd.”
Despite all of the younger and less experienced players on this years’ team, Sebastian is cautiously optimistic about how things will go heading into the fall.
The head Bear says that the biggest variable this season will be the team itself, and how they approach each game.
“Teams come together some years, and some years they don’t,” Sebastian said.
“It depends on this team. If they come together, pay the price and show up to practice they should do alright.
“Learning their assignments and not making mistakes will give us more of a chance to win than anything.”
The Bears will continue with morning practices until Thurs-day, when they will make the switch to mid-afternoon practice at the Sherwood Sports Complex due to faculty obligations.
Leader sports writer
IN SHORT: Sylvan Hills players are getting used to the heat and practicing with more intensity this week. Head coach Ron Sebastian says his players are showing improvement in the mental aspects.
The Sylvan Hills Bears began week number two of summer practice on Monday morning. The Bears are hoping to repeat the success of the 2004 season, in which the Bruins took the AAAAA-East conference title before losing in the first round of the state playoffs.
Sylvan Hills head coach Ron Sebastian says that the three-hour daily practices have gone smoothly so far, but has a wait-and-see attitude on how his young team will fare this season.
“Initially, August practice always starts out slow,” Sebastian said. “It builds up after a couple of weeks. I feel like our kids are getting used to the heat, and getting mentally ready to play football.”
Although the Bears are getting mental aspects of the game in order, coach Sebastian feels like the team has some catching up to do on the physical side of the game before they are ready to play.
“Physically, we are still a long ways away,” Sebastian said. But mentally they are starting to think about their assignments, and what they are supposed to do. We are starting to see progress after one week of practicing.”
Although the squad has started playing drills, the Bears are still paying close attention to the team’s conditioning. At the Monday morning practice, Sebastian and the coaching staff had the team split into three groups. One group concentrated on conditioning, running quick sprints and doing grass drills.
The second group worked mostly on catching the ball, with some running drills added in. The third group worked on the offensive and defensive lines, specifically opening up a hole offensively for the run.
“We’ve been doing individual drills and team drills both,” Sebastian said.
“We’ve also been working on our agilities, running the ball and catching it.
“Defensively, we’ve worked on mainly blocking and tackling drills and conditioning. All the drills you need to do to get ready.”
Sebastian has yet to make final decisions on which players will step into the positions still up for grabs.
“We’re a young team, we have a lot of starting positions open,” Sebastian said.
“After one week of practice, and just one day in pads, we’re a long ways from knowing who is going to play where on September 2nd.”
Despite all of the younger and less experienced players on this years’ team, Sebastian is cautiously optimistic about how things will go heading into the fall.
The head Bear says that the biggest variable this season will be the team itself, and how they approach each game.
“Teams come together some years, and some years they don’t,” Sebastian said.
“It depends on this team. If they come together, pay the price and show up to practice they should do alright.
“Learning their assignments and not making mistakes will give us more of a chance to win than anything.”
The Bears will continue with morning practices until Thurs-day, when they will make the switch to mid-afternoon practice at the Sherwood Sports Complex due to faculty obligations.
SPORTS >> Injury bug biting Cabot hard
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports writer
IN SHORT: Eight players, including several key contributors, are injured and sitting out Panther practices.
The Cabot Panthers scrimmaged heavily Monday, but did so with several key players missing from the lineup. Eight Panthers were injured by the time scrimmaging closed practice, five will be counted on to play significantly this season, while one is out for the year with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Clayton Goshien, a two-year starter at guard who has converted to fullback, will miss his senior year of football. Goshien, 5-11, 210, started summer practice as an experiment to give the fullback position some size. He proved to run well and was difficult to tackle, but what was thought to be a minor tweak of the knee during light scrimmaging last Friday, turned out to be serious.
“There goes that,” Cabot coach Mike Malham said. “He’s out. We’re going to have regroup, start over.”
On the bright side, Richard Williams has run the ball well from the fullback position as well during two-a-days. Malham said Williams looks much better now than he did during spring, but his switch back to fullback leaves a void on defense.
“I still feel alright at fullback, but we’re going to have to find someone else on defense,” Malham said. “Williams gave us some speed on defense that we’re not going to have now. You can’t play a guy both ways at that position, especially at 4:30 in the afternoon in August, on artificial turf at War Memorial Stadium (the start time for the season opener against Conway).
Alex Trammell has a back injury, Matt Voegele hurt his shoulder, Sullivan tweaked his knee, Baker sat out with pain in his back and Reid Martin is having problems with his big toe.
Despite the problems, offensive lineman Colton Roberts and Joe Schotts were optimistic about the team’s prospects.
“We’re getting better and better every day,” Schotts said. “There was a lot more focus our there today (Monday).
“We’re actually getting plays done correctly,” Roberts added. “Some guys have had to step in and learn some things, but we’re improving quite a bit.”
Nick Melar, Jason Bays and Scott Baker shined as a ninth grader, but missed his sophomore year with the injury. Everyone is looking forward to seeing him in the Falcon backfield on the varsity squad.
Rod and Charles are going to do their thing,” Uptergrove said. “They’re solid back there, we’re not worried about that.”
Linebacker Talaferrio Parker practiced in pads for the first time Monday as well. He shores up that position if he stays healthy.
The two seniors agreed that the defense is ahead of the offense right now. That’s to be expected this time of year, especially with the offense learning a new system. The good news is that the offense showed signs of progress Monday.
“The offensive line looked the best it has all summer,” Bolen said. “Zach James and Jacob Phillips are doing a great job on that left side. Everyone is getting better and we’re going to be pretty good on the line. We don’t have much size, but the guys know what they’re doing.”
Bolen has separated himself from a large contingent of potential quarterbacks, and emerged as the starter if the season were to start tomorrow. He’s on track to being just the second quarterback to take snaps for the varsity Falcons since head coach Tony Bohannon’s arrival four seasons ago.
Bolen says the pressure to perform isn’t from being a brand new face under center. It’s more simple than that.
“I don’t feel pressure to step in and replace Regnas,” Bolen said. “I do feel pressure to step up and take the job and lead this team. I want to do a great job for my teammates.”
Leader sports writer
IN SHORT: Eight players, including several key contributors, are injured and sitting out Panther practices.
The Cabot Panthers scrimmaged heavily Monday, but did so with several key players missing from the lineup. Eight Panthers were injured by the time scrimmaging closed practice, five will be counted on to play significantly this season, while one is out for the year with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Clayton Goshien, a two-year starter at guard who has converted to fullback, will miss his senior year of football. Goshien, 5-11, 210, started summer practice as an experiment to give the fullback position some size. He proved to run well and was difficult to tackle, but what was thought to be a minor tweak of the knee during light scrimmaging last Friday, turned out to be serious.
“There goes that,” Cabot coach Mike Malham said. “He’s out. We’re going to have regroup, start over.”
On the bright side, Richard Williams has run the ball well from the fullback position as well during two-a-days. Malham said Williams looks much better now than he did during spring, but his switch back to fullback leaves a void on defense.
“I still feel alright at fullback, but we’re going to have to find someone else on defense,” Malham said. “Williams gave us some speed on defense that we’re not going to have now. You can’t play a guy both ways at that position, especially at 4:30 in the afternoon in August, on artificial turf at War Memorial Stadium (the start time for the season opener against Conway).
Alex Trammell has a back injury, Matt Voegele hurt his shoulder, Sullivan tweaked his knee, Baker sat out with pain in his back and Reid Martin is having problems with his big toe.
Despite the problems, offensive lineman Colton Roberts and Joe Schotts were optimistic about the team’s prospects.
“We’re getting better and better every day,” Schotts said. “There was a lot more focus our there today (Monday).
“We’re actually getting plays done correctly,” Roberts added. “Some guys have had to step in and learn some things, but we’re improving quite a bit.”
Nick Melar, Jason Bays and Scott Baker shined as a ninth grader, but missed his sophomore year with the injury. Everyone is looking forward to seeing him in the Falcon backfield on the varsity squad.
Rod and Charles are going to do their thing,” Uptergrove said. “They’re solid back there, we’re not worried about that.”
Linebacker Talaferrio Parker practiced in pads for the first time Monday as well. He shores up that position if he stays healthy.
The two seniors agreed that the defense is ahead of the offense right now. That’s to be expected this time of year, especially with the offense learning a new system. The good news is that the offense showed signs of progress Monday.
“The offensive line looked the best it has all summer,” Bolen said. “Zach James and Jacob Phillips are doing a great job on that left side. Everyone is getting better and we’re going to be pretty good on the line. We don’t have much size, but the guys know what they’re doing.”
Bolen has separated himself from a large contingent of potential quarterbacks, and emerged as the starter if the season were to start tomorrow. He’s on track to being just the second quarterback to take snaps for the varsity Falcons since head coach Tony Bohannon’s arrival four seasons ago.
Bolen says the pressure to perform isn’t from being a brand new face under center. It’s more simple than that.
“I don’t feel pressure to step in and replace Regnas,” Bolen said. “I do feel pressure to step up and take the job and lead this team. I want to do a great job for my teammates.”
TOP STORY >> McRae starts new chapter with merger
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: An open house will be held for the new Beebe Middle School, which was McRae High.
Open house will be held at Beebe Middle School between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Aug. 18, and Dr. Belinda Shook, school superintendent, says she believes those who attend will be pleasantly surprised by what they see.
The new school is the old school in McRae and workers have been busy all summer getting it ready for the fifth and sixth graders from all over the district who will be moving in Aug. 19.
Virtually every part of the campus has been improved. The gym has been refurbished inside and out. And the stage has been removed from the cafeteria to make room for more tables.
But perhaps the biggest improvements have been made at the old high school, where the rooms have been repainted and tiled and equipped with new marker boards.
“It looks so good,” Shook said Tuesday.
The library at the old high school is now the Middle School band room. The old home economic cottage is now the library. The choir room is across from the band room.
“There going to have the coolest stuff up there,” said Shook and she wasn’t referring only to the accommodations, which also include a new computer lab.
A teaching concept called team teaching will be used at the school.
The almost 500 students will be divided into four groups, two fifth-grade groups and two sixth-grade groups. Each group will have five or six teachers who will see them every day. The teachers will coordinate their lesson plans to complement each other.
But just as important, according to Scott Embry, assistant superintendent over curriculum, the teachers will meet to discuss the progress of the students in their groups so each student will have a team of teachers looking out for them.
And at the same time, the students will get to change classes much like the will in higher grades.
It’s a middle school concept of teaching that is possible in great part because the students will be housed on a campus by themselves.
And the hope of the administrators who pushed for moving the students to the campus when it became clear that the Beebe campus was filling up is that it will be a good time for the students.
The estimated cost of renovations at the campus was $375,000, but Shook said she thinks the actual cost might be a little higher.
The old Beebe campus maintenance building has been renovated at a cost of $47,000 into what Shook likes to call “the shuttle lounge.”
Assistant Superintendent Hal Crisco, over transportation and facilities has referred to it as the “staging area” for shuttling students from Beebe to McRae.
The building has new metal siding and new wiring and looks like a physical education building, but Shook says it should be a comfortable place for the students to wait for a ride to McRae.
Figuring out how to provide them with breakfast is still being worked out, she said. Some will probably eat at Beebe and some at McRae.
But some will likely be given sack breakfasts on the shuttle buses which will be leaving as soon as they fill up, she said.
Parents who drive their children to school will be able to drop them off at the school bus garage on Center Street so they won’t have to drive onto the Beebe Campus of the morning.
Those parents who want to take their children to the Middle School may do so, she said.
Shook says she is confident all the details will be worked out and the move will go smoothly. But as for the old campus with the new sign Beebe Badger sign in the middle of McRae. “People will be amazed,” she said.
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: An open house will be held for the new Beebe Middle School, which was McRae High.
Open house will be held at Beebe Middle School between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Aug. 18, and Dr. Belinda Shook, school superintendent, says she believes those who attend will be pleasantly surprised by what they see.
The new school is the old school in McRae and workers have been busy all summer getting it ready for the fifth and sixth graders from all over the district who will be moving in Aug. 19.
Virtually every part of the campus has been improved. The gym has been refurbished inside and out. And the stage has been removed from the cafeteria to make room for more tables.
But perhaps the biggest improvements have been made at the old high school, where the rooms have been repainted and tiled and equipped with new marker boards.
“It looks so good,” Shook said Tuesday.
The library at the old high school is now the Middle School band room. The old home economic cottage is now the library. The choir room is across from the band room.
“There going to have the coolest stuff up there,” said Shook and she wasn’t referring only to the accommodations, which also include a new computer lab.
A teaching concept called team teaching will be used at the school.
The almost 500 students will be divided into four groups, two fifth-grade groups and two sixth-grade groups. Each group will have five or six teachers who will see them every day. The teachers will coordinate their lesson plans to complement each other.
But just as important, according to Scott Embry, assistant superintendent over curriculum, the teachers will meet to discuss the progress of the students in their groups so each student will have a team of teachers looking out for them.
And at the same time, the students will get to change classes much like the will in higher grades.
It’s a middle school concept of teaching that is possible in great part because the students will be housed on a campus by themselves.
And the hope of the administrators who pushed for moving the students to the campus when it became clear that the Beebe campus was filling up is that it will be a good time for the students.
The estimated cost of renovations at the campus was $375,000, but Shook said she thinks the actual cost might be a little higher.
The old Beebe campus maintenance building has been renovated at a cost of $47,000 into what Shook likes to call “the shuttle lounge.”
Assistant Superintendent Hal Crisco, over transportation and facilities has referred to it as the “staging area” for shuttling students from Beebe to McRae.
The building has new metal siding and new wiring and looks like a physical education building, but Shook says it should be a comfortable place for the students to wait for a ride to McRae.
Figuring out how to provide them with breakfast is still being worked out, she said. Some will probably eat at Beebe and some at McRae.
But some will likely be given sack breakfasts on the shuttle buses which will be leaving as soon as they fill up, she said.
Parents who drive their children to school will be able to drop them off at the school bus garage on Center Street so they won’t have to drive onto the Beebe Campus of the morning.
Those parents who want to take their children to the Middle School may do so, she said.
Shook says she is confident all the details will be worked out and the move will go smoothly. But as for the old campus with the new sign Beebe Badger sign in the middle of McRae. “People will be amazed,” she said.
TOP STORY: PCSSD is accused of illegal cutbacks
By: JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
The state Education Department has rejected for now Pulaski County Special School District’s fiscal distress improvement plan, pending a satisfactory explanation of the district’s “actual authority to eliminate paid holidays, reduce the number of days in an employment contract and freeze salary schedules and steps for all employees,” according to a letter received by interim Superintendent Robert Clowers July 25.
Those were among the steps taken by the PCSSD board to turn a budget deficit into an $8.5 million surplus by next July.
The district was given 20 days to respond, but Clowers sought and received an extension until Aug. 29.
In a hearing at the August board meeting Tuesday night, support staff members sought to have the decreases in their pay and benefits overturned, citing the letter from the Education Department as proof that the cuts were “a clear violation of the personnel policies law.”
“You didn’t go through the proper channels,” the support staff’s lawyer told them.
The board voted overwhelmingly not to overturn its cuts. “I propose a board meeting about that letter, but we shouldn’t (overturn our previous action) today,” said board member Pam Roberts.
Meanwhile, talks between the Pulaski Association of Classroom Teachers (PACT) and district negotiators has stalled over the same issue—the freezing of step increases and loss of paid holidays, according to James Sharpe, assistant superintendent for human resources.
Teachers are due back Aug. 11 and PACT has a history of not returning to work without a signed contract.
Meanwhile, the district, which had about 80 teaching slots to fill three weeks ago, still has 40 unfilled positions. Sharpe said he was confident that most would be filled by the time school starts.
Leader staff writer
The state Education Department has rejected for now Pulaski County Special School District’s fiscal distress improvement plan, pending a satisfactory explanation of the district’s “actual authority to eliminate paid holidays, reduce the number of days in an employment contract and freeze salary schedules and steps for all employees,” according to a letter received by interim Superintendent Robert Clowers July 25.
Those were among the steps taken by the PCSSD board to turn a budget deficit into an $8.5 million surplus by next July.
The district was given 20 days to respond, but Clowers sought and received an extension until Aug. 29.
In a hearing at the August board meeting Tuesday night, support staff members sought to have the decreases in their pay and benefits overturned, citing the letter from the Education Department as proof that the cuts were “a clear violation of the personnel policies law.”
“You didn’t go through the proper channels,” the support staff’s lawyer told them.
The board voted overwhelmingly not to overturn its cuts. “I propose a board meeting about that letter, but we shouldn’t (overturn our previous action) today,” said board member Pam Roberts.
Meanwhile, talks between the Pulaski Association of Classroom Teachers (PACT) and district negotiators has stalled over the same issue—the freezing of step increases and loss of paid holidays, according to James Sharpe, assistant superintendent for human resources.
Teachers are due back Aug. 11 and PACT has a history of not returning to work without a signed contract.
Meanwhile, the district, which had about 80 teaching slots to fill three weeks ago, still has 40 unfilled positions. Sharpe said he was confident that most would be filled by the time school starts.
TOP STORY >> Less pop, more pep for students
Staff and wire reports
IN SHORT: Local administrator fears there is not enough time in the school day for new regulations such as more physical education.
The director of secondary education for Pulaski County Special School District said Tuesday she didn’t know how the newly mandated physical activity component could be implemented without increasing the length of the school day.
Deborah Bruick’s comments came on the heels of the Arkansas Board of Education’s order Monday requiring less pop and more pep for the state’s public school students.
The board approved strict new nu-trition and physical activity guidelines, such as restricting vending machine sales, in a step lauded by health officials and endorsed by Gov. Huckabee.
The nutritional component will be easier to implement than the mandate for increased physical activity.
“We will have to find a way to be compliant,” said Deborah Bruick, Pulaski County Special School District’s director of secondary education.
“Our days are going to have to get longer,” Bruick said, to fit in core curriculum, remediation and now 30 minutes a day of physical education. “I do not see how we are going to do that. It will be a challenge.”
There are no current plans to lengthen the school day.
“Plus we have to provide remediation during the school day.”
Bruick, appointed to the position created just a month ago, said the district would have to resort to “very creative scheduling.”
“Idealistically, it is wonderful,” said Bruick. “I’d love for them to have all the physical education, supportive remediation and all the academics, but without extending the school day I don’t know how we’re going to do it. There are only so many minutes in a school day.”
Bruick said it was possible for students on sports teams, but those with electives like band would have more difficulty getting the physical activity.
Already some middle schools meet the old physical activity mandate by having students in the mandatory keyboarding class walk around the track instead sometimes, according to Bruick.
The physical activity requirement will add 90 minutes to the amount of activity students in kindergarten through eighth grade are currently mandated to receive. The only existing activity provision for high schoolers is a single semester of physical education.
Starting in 2007, students in kindergarten through sixth grade must have 90 minutes of activity in addition to 60 minutes of physical education per week. The total 30 minutes of daily physical activity for all students can come in the form of P.E. classes, intramurals, walking programs or activity periods.
The new regulations cut back on soft drinks offered in vending machines, ban junk food in elementary schools and mandate each student in kindergarten through 12th grade have at least 150 minutes of physical activity each week.
“We’ll have to look at the physical education regulations,” said Beebe School District Superinten-dent Belinda Shook.
“I’m not sure how we’re going to fit it all in during the day.”
Shook added the district would have to discuss its contract with the Coca-Cola Company to see what it can offer in the school’s vending machines.
Cabot Public School District had already begun limiting the choices in the district’s vending machines, according to Cabot School District Superintendent Frank Holman.
“We had voluntarily moved in a healthier direction by offering water and diet sodas,” Holman said.
“Once we get the regulations, I’ll sit down with Erin Hartz, director of food services for the district, and see how the changes impact the lunch program,” he added.
Holman said once Cabot receives the regulations, the Cabot School Board will start discussing the new physical education requirements.
Huckabee in June suggested local districts should have a choice to implement the guidelines. He backpedaled last month, saying advisers encouraged him to take an aggressive stand for children’s health. Officials estimate about 40 percent of students are obese or overweight.
“The state board has taken a giant step toward addressing the obesity problem in the state of Arkansas,” said Assistant Edu-cation Commissioner Bobbie Davis.
Local school districts will find it easier to limit junk food than to find extra time in the day to shoehorn in yet another state mandate.
The new rules prohibit junk food from being sold or given as a reward at any time during the school day at elementary schools. Junk foods cannot be offered and vending machines cannot be operated at secondary schools until 30 minutes after the last lunch period of the day.
Fifty percent of choices in vending machines in secondary schools must contain water, milk, or 100 percent fruit juice. Effective with any new or revised contract, any beverage dispensed from vending machines must be 12 ounces or smaller.
Exceptions for offering foods of little nutritional value can be made for concessions at athletic events or for holiday parties, for instance. Also, the new rules do not restrict what parents can provide for their child’s lunch or snack.
Dennis Farmer, head of the Arkansas Soft Drink Association, said the new guidelines may hit school pocketbooks statewide.
Farmer said many school contracts with soft drink companies include a provision for the hours the machine is available to students. Schools’ commissions are based on availability, he said.
He has heard different interpretations about how the new rules apply to existing contracts.
“A lot of contracts have hours of operation as part of the contract and that part would be null and void,” if the guidelines are to be immediately implemented. “That’s when the dominoes start to fall from there.”
In addition, he said a large number of fruit juices are not sold in 12 ounce or smaller containers, and most milk products are not compatible with in-school vending machines.
“Schools could get significantly less money because of the way the restrictions are written. There could be very significant problems in being able to comply with all those provisions,” Farmer said. “It could mean that some schools would completely lose their vending program.”
The new guidelines stem from Act 1220 of 2003, which established the Child Health Advisory Council and initiated body mass index testing in the state’s schools.
Many of the regulations were recommended by the advisory council. Health advocates and some council members decried an initial draft of the proposed rules when it appeared school districts would not be required to enact the guidelines.
Dr. Joe Thompson, head of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, said the board’s decision is a sign of support to parents who want to raise healthy children.
“There’s not one magic bullet. We have to do lots of things to improve the health of our citizens and our kids,” Thompson said, saying the new regulations “keep the parent from worrying about whether their kid is buying a soft drink and a candy bar for breakfast and a bag of potato chips for lunch.”
Thompson, the state’s incoming chief health officer, said health is an often-overlooked link to economic development. As the health of Arkansans improve, employers like automobile manufacturers are more likely to relocate here. He said auto manufacturers cite health insurance costs as a major reason not to move to an area.
Leader reporters John Hofheimer and Sara Greene and the Arkansas News Bureau contributed to this report.
IN SHORT: Local administrator fears there is not enough time in the school day for new regulations such as more physical education.
The director of secondary education for Pulaski County Special School District said Tuesday she didn’t know how the newly mandated physical activity component could be implemented without increasing the length of the school day.
Deborah Bruick’s comments came on the heels of the Arkansas Board of Education’s order Monday requiring less pop and more pep for the state’s public school students.
The board approved strict new nu-trition and physical activity guidelines, such as restricting vending machine sales, in a step lauded by health officials and endorsed by Gov. Huckabee.
The nutritional component will be easier to implement than the mandate for increased physical activity.
“We will have to find a way to be compliant,” said Deborah Bruick, Pulaski County Special School District’s director of secondary education.
“Our days are going to have to get longer,” Bruick said, to fit in core curriculum, remediation and now 30 minutes a day of physical education. “I do not see how we are going to do that. It will be a challenge.”
There are no current plans to lengthen the school day.
“Plus we have to provide remediation during the school day.”
Bruick, appointed to the position created just a month ago, said the district would have to resort to “very creative scheduling.”
“Idealistically, it is wonderful,” said Bruick. “I’d love for them to have all the physical education, supportive remediation and all the academics, but without extending the school day I don’t know how we’re going to do it. There are only so many minutes in a school day.”
Bruick said it was possible for students on sports teams, but those with electives like band would have more difficulty getting the physical activity.
Already some middle schools meet the old physical activity mandate by having students in the mandatory keyboarding class walk around the track instead sometimes, according to Bruick.
The physical activity requirement will add 90 minutes to the amount of activity students in kindergarten through eighth grade are currently mandated to receive. The only existing activity provision for high schoolers is a single semester of physical education.
Starting in 2007, students in kindergarten through sixth grade must have 90 minutes of activity in addition to 60 minutes of physical education per week. The total 30 minutes of daily physical activity for all students can come in the form of P.E. classes, intramurals, walking programs or activity periods.
The new regulations cut back on soft drinks offered in vending machines, ban junk food in elementary schools and mandate each student in kindergarten through 12th grade have at least 150 minutes of physical activity each week.
“We’ll have to look at the physical education regulations,” said Beebe School District Superinten-dent Belinda Shook.
“I’m not sure how we’re going to fit it all in during the day.”
Shook added the district would have to discuss its contract with the Coca-Cola Company to see what it can offer in the school’s vending machines.
Cabot Public School District had already begun limiting the choices in the district’s vending machines, according to Cabot School District Superintendent Frank Holman.
“We had voluntarily moved in a healthier direction by offering water and diet sodas,” Holman said.
“Once we get the regulations, I’ll sit down with Erin Hartz, director of food services for the district, and see how the changes impact the lunch program,” he added.
Holman said once Cabot receives the regulations, the Cabot School Board will start discussing the new physical education requirements.
Huckabee in June suggested local districts should have a choice to implement the guidelines. He backpedaled last month, saying advisers encouraged him to take an aggressive stand for children’s health. Officials estimate about 40 percent of students are obese or overweight.
“The state board has taken a giant step toward addressing the obesity problem in the state of Arkansas,” said Assistant Edu-cation Commissioner Bobbie Davis.
Local school districts will find it easier to limit junk food than to find extra time in the day to shoehorn in yet another state mandate.
The new rules prohibit junk food from being sold or given as a reward at any time during the school day at elementary schools. Junk foods cannot be offered and vending machines cannot be operated at secondary schools until 30 minutes after the last lunch period of the day.
Fifty percent of choices in vending machines in secondary schools must contain water, milk, or 100 percent fruit juice. Effective with any new or revised contract, any beverage dispensed from vending machines must be 12 ounces or smaller.
Exceptions for offering foods of little nutritional value can be made for concessions at athletic events or for holiday parties, for instance. Also, the new rules do not restrict what parents can provide for their child’s lunch or snack.
Dennis Farmer, head of the Arkansas Soft Drink Association, said the new guidelines may hit school pocketbooks statewide.
Farmer said many school contracts with soft drink companies include a provision for the hours the machine is available to students. Schools’ commissions are based on availability, he said.
He has heard different interpretations about how the new rules apply to existing contracts.
“A lot of contracts have hours of operation as part of the contract and that part would be null and void,” if the guidelines are to be immediately implemented. “That’s when the dominoes start to fall from there.”
In addition, he said a large number of fruit juices are not sold in 12 ounce or smaller containers, and most milk products are not compatible with in-school vending machines.
“Schools could get significantly less money because of the way the restrictions are written. There could be very significant problems in being able to comply with all those provisions,” Farmer said. “It could mean that some schools would completely lose their vending program.”
The new guidelines stem from Act 1220 of 2003, which established the Child Health Advisory Council and initiated body mass index testing in the state’s schools.
Many of the regulations were recommended by the advisory council. Health advocates and some council members decried an initial draft of the proposed rules when it appeared school districts would not be required to enact the guidelines.
Dr. Joe Thompson, head of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, said the board’s decision is a sign of support to parents who want to raise healthy children.
“There’s not one magic bullet. We have to do lots of things to improve the health of our citizens and our kids,” Thompson said, saying the new regulations “keep the parent from worrying about whether their kid is buying a soft drink and a candy bar for breakfast and a bag of potato chips for lunch.”
Thompson, the state’s incoming chief health officer, said health is an often-overlooked link to economic development. As the health of Arkansans improve, employers like automobile manufacturers are more likely to relocate here. He said auto manufacturers cite health insurance costs as a major reason not to move to an area.
Leader reporters John Hofheimer and Sara Greene and the Arkansas News Bureau contributed to this report.
TOP STORY >> Schools hurry to remedy citations
By: SARA GREENE
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: The state places Cabot High School on accredited-probationary status for not offering enough instructional time.
Several area school districts, including Pulaski County, Beebe and Cabot, are working to meet accreditation standards issued by the Arkansas Board of Education. Lonoke is the only local district not cited.
Cabot High School was placed on accredited-probationary status for not meeting the 360 minutes of instruction time per day that the Arkansas Board of Education requires.
Cabot High School was among 96 schools across the state given probation for failing to meet minimum accreditation standards for the 2004-2005 school year.
The 2004-2005 bell schedule at Cabot High School shows a 369-minute school day, from 8:05 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.
But the Arkansas Board of Education decided 25 minutes of the school day used by Cabot High School students for advising and career-action planning should not be considered instructional because club meetings are permitted during that time. Advisory and career action planning are key components of the High Schools That Work reform initiative pushed by Gov. Huckabee.
“It’s ironic,” said Frank Holman, Cabot School District superintendent.
“We’re doing everything that meets the High Schools That Work reform initiative the governor supports, and now the state is telling us we’re wrong.”
High Schools That Work is an initiative of the Southern Regional Education Board State Vocational Education Consortium that began in 1987. The program provides a framework for schools to offer students both traditional college-preparatory academics with technical and vocational studies.
Accredited-probationary status means a local school district has either failed to correct a problem for which it acquired accredited-cited status or committed a more serious violation of the standards.
“We provided information to the Arkansas Department of Education last spring and felt that we had sufficiently addressed their concerns,” Holman said.
If a local school district continues accredited-probationary status through the violation review date of Oct. 15, 2006, then the district can lose accreditation.
“We met the standard and surpassed it,” Holman said.
“We don’t feel like it was a reflection of what we were actually doing.”
The school is sending out letters to parents and updating the Cabot High School Web site to address the accredited-probationary status.
“We are disappointed that we were cited for attempting to implement strategies within the school day that we feel are good for our students,” Holman wrote in a letter to parents.
Other reasons a school can be placed on probationary status include not enough library books or lacking a superintendent, principal, assistant principal, nurse or counselor.
Among the rest of the 1,118 schools across the state, 182 were placed on accredited-cited status. That means a local school district has failed to satisfy the minimum Standards for Accreditation.
If the deficiencies aren’t corrected by the next school year, the school can be placed on accredited-probation.
Additionally, 840 schools were accredited meaning the school district satisfied the minimum Standards for Accreditation established by the Arkansas State Board of Education.
Holman and Cabot High School principal Tony Thurman were at Monday’s Arkansas Board of Education meeting. Thurman said the school was going to appeal the probation status but decided not to.
“We pulled our appeal Monday because we’re going to fix it easily this school year,” Thurman said.
Cabot High School will have a revised bell schedule for the 2006-2007 school year that has 371 minutes of instruction four days a week and 364 minutes of instruction on Thursdays.
This meets the instruction requirements as well as allowing time for tutoring, literature circles and CAP.
Another time crunch for Cabot High School students is the time required between classes.
Typically five minutes are allowed. Cabot High School allows seven minutes, an extra 12 per day, for 1,700 students to navigate the 25 buildings on the 44-acre campus. The new schedule will still allow seven minutes for students to get from one class to another.
“We feel it’s important for students to be involved with school sponsored clubs and activities, as well as the advisory and CAP curriculum,” Thurman said.
“We’re doing good things for kids and we’re being punished. Advisory/CAP time should have been approved as part of the required minutes.”
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: The state places Cabot High School on accredited-probationary status for not offering enough instructional time.
Several area school districts, including Pulaski County, Beebe and Cabot, are working to meet accreditation standards issued by the Arkansas Board of Education. Lonoke is the only local district not cited.
Cabot High School was placed on accredited-probationary status for not meeting the 360 minutes of instruction time per day that the Arkansas Board of Education requires.
Cabot High School was among 96 schools across the state given probation for failing to meet minimum accreditation standards for the 2004-2005 school year.
The 2004-2005 bell schedule at Cabot High School shows a 369-minute school day, from 8:05 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.
But the Arkansas Board of Education decided 25 minutes of the school day used by Cabot High School students for advising and career-action planning should not be considered instructional because club meetings are permitted during that time. Advisory and career action planning are key components of the High Schools That Work reform initiative pushed by Gov. Huckabee.
“It’s ironic,” said Frank Holman, Cabot School District superintendent.
“We’re doing everything that meets the High Schools That Work reform initiative the governor supports, and now the state is telling us we’re wrong.”
High Schools That Work is an initiative of the Southern Regional Education Board State Vocational Education Consortium that began in 1987. The program provides a framework for schools to offer students both traditional college-preparatory academics with technical and vocational studies.
Accredited-probationary status means a local school district has either failed to correct a problem for which it acquired accredited-cited status or committed a more serious violation of the standards.
“We provided information to the Arkansas Department of Education last spring and felt that we had sufficiently addressed their concerns,” Holman said.
If a local school district continues accredited-probationary status through the violation review date of Oct. 15, 2006, then the district can lose accreditation.
“We met the standard and surpassed it,” Holman said.
“We don’t feel like it was a reflection of what we were actually doing.”
The school is sending out letters to parents and updating the Cabot High School Web site to address the accredited-probationary status.
“We are disappointed that we were cited for attempting to implement strategies within the school day that we feel are good for our students,” Holman wrote in a letter to parents.
Other reasons a school can be placed on probationary status include not enough library books or lacking a superintendent, principal, assistant principal, nurse or counselor.
Among the rest of the 1,118 schools across the state, 182 were placed on accredited-cited status. That means a local school district has failed to satisfy the minimum Standards for Accreditation.
If the deficiencies aren’t corrected by the next school year, the school can be placed on accredited-probation.
Additionally, 840 schools were accredited meaning the school district satisfied the minimum Standards for Accreditation established by the Arkansas State Board of Education.
Holman and Cabot High School principal Tony Thurman were at Monday’s Arkansas Board of Education meeting. Thurman said the school was going to appeal the probation status but decided not to.
“We pulled our appeal Monday because we’re going to fix it easily this school year,” Thurman said.
Cabot High School will have a revised bell schedule for the 2006-2007 school year that has 371 minutes of instruction four days a week and 364 minutes of instruction on Thursdays.
This meets the instruction requirements as well as allowing time for tutoring, literature circles and CAP.
Another time crunch for Cabot High School students is the time required between classes.
Typically five minutes are allowed. Cabot High School allows seven minutes, an extra 12 per day, for 1,700 students to navigate the 25 buildings on the 44-acre campus. The new schedule will still allow seven minutes for students to get from one class to another.
“We feel it’s important for students to be involved with school sponsored clubs and activities, as well as the advisory and CAP curriculum,” Thurman said.
“We’re doing good things for kids and we’re being punished. Advisory/CAP time should have been approved as part of the required minutes.”
TOP STORY>> Cabot shelter plans low-cost clinic
By SARA GREENE
Leader staff writer
There will be a reduced cost spay, neuter and shot clinic at the Cabot Animal Shelter, 8000 Kerr Station Road by appointment only Aug. 23 through 25.
For the past seven years, Arkansans for Animals has been serving towns across the state with a modified recreational vehicle serving as a mobile animal surgery hospital.
“We try to have these clinics every couple of months,” said Lisa Hughes, animal control officer.
“People need to sign up early because there’s a couple of forms that need to be filled out before the surgeries.”
The income guidelines for the clinic, according to Arkansans for Animals, are $15,000 for individuals, $25,000 for families. Animal guidelines for the clinic include being free of ticks and fleas, not dipped or treated for ticks and fleas within three days of the surgery or shots and the animals must have a clean, sanitary created for after surgery. There is a $10 deposit that can be used towards the total cost of shots or surgery. The rabies cost is $5. Additional shots are available as well.
The surgery cost depends on the sex and size of the pet. Spaying a dog weighing 55 pounds costs about $65. Neutering a male cat costs $15.
Joyce Hillard, executive director of Arkansans for Animals, said the mobile surgery unit can perform about 25 surgeries each day of the clinic. Dr. Joanna McManus will perform the surgeries at the Cabot clinic.
"With the mobile unit, we’ve done 30,000 surgeries," Hillard said. "I think in certain towns, we’ve completely cleaned up their stray animal problems."
Among the benefits of neutering a dog is decreased aggression such as dog bites.
"It costs $1,500 to treat a person for a dog bite," Hillard said.
"Someone has to pay for that."
She added that in a typical litter of puppies or kittens, one in 12 will find a home. Unadopted, the other 11 will not reach 2 years old.
Hillard said Arkansans for Animals was asked in 1998 by relief agencies if there was any sort of disaster aid program for animals.
"Arkansas had nothing like this," Hillard said.
"There’s no public mandate or state funding. We get our funding from out of state with organizations like SpayUSA and Friends of Animals."
The mobile unit can be anywhere in the state within four hours after a natural disaster such as tornadoes or thunderstorms.
For more information on the reduced cost spay, neuter and shot clinic, contact the Cabot Animal Shelter at (501) 843-2021.
Leader staff writer
There will be a reduced cost spay, neuter and shot clinic at the Cabot Animal Shelter, 8000 Kerr Station Road by appointment only Aug. 23 through 25.
For the past seven years, Arkansans for Animals has been serving towns across the state with a modified recreational vehicle serving as a mobile animal surgery hospital.
“We try to have these clinics every couple of months,” said Lisa Hughes, animal control officer.
“People need to sign up early because there’s a couple of forms that need to be filled out before the surgeries.”
The income guidelines for the clinic, according to Arkansans for Animals, are $15,000 for individuals, $25,000 for families. Animal guidelines for the clinic include being free of ticks and fleas, not dipped or treated for ticks and fleas within three days of the surgery or shots and the animals must have a clean, sanitary created for after surgery. There is a $10 deposit that can be used towards the total cost of shots or surgery. The rabies cost is $5. Additional shots are available as well.
The surgery cost depends on the sex and size of the pet. Spaying a dog weighing 55 pounds costs about $65. Neutering a male cat costs $15.
Joyce Hillard, executive director of Arkansans for Animals, said the mobile surgery unit can perform about 25 surgeries each day of the clinic. Dr. Joanna McManus will perform the surgeries at the Cabot clinic.
"With the mobile unit, we’ve done 30,000 surgeries," Hillard said. "I think in certain towns, we’ve completely cleaned up their stray animal problems."
Among the benefits of neutering a dog is decreased aggression such as dog bites.
"It costs $1,500 to treat a person for a dog bite," Hillard said.
"Someone has to pay for that."
She added that in a typical litter of puppies or kittens, one in 12 will find a home. Unadopted, the other 11 will not reach 2 years old.
Hillard said Arkansans for Animals was asked in 1998 by relief agencies if there was any sort of disaster aid program for animals.
"Arkansas had nothing like this," Hillard said.
"There’s no public mandate or state funding. We get our funding from out of state with organizations like SpayUSA and Friends of Animals."
The mobile unit can be anywhere in the state within four hours after a natural disaster such as tornadoes or thunderstorms.
For more information on the reduced cost spay, neuter and shot clinic, contact the Cabot Animal Shelter at (501) 843-2021.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
SPORTS>> Panthers making moves early
IN SHORT: Cabot football team began practice Monday with a few players in new positions and several new faces working with the varsity squad.
By Ray Benton
Leader sports editor
The Cabot Panthers got right to business Monday morning, the first day of two-a-days football practice for the 2005 high school season. The Panthers had a good total of about 80 kids participating in the first day of summer practice.
Cabot’s first official practice took place with several question marks concerning personnel, but the coaching staff took steps right away to answer those questions.
With the almost the entire starting offensive backfield from last year gone, the Panthers went right to work looking at quarterbacks and running backs. In spring practice, all of the potential backs were on the small side, so Clayton Goshien, 5-feet, 11 inches, 210 pounds, was moved from the offensive line to the fullback position. It was just one of several potential moves the coaching staff is making to try and shore up the holes.
“We’re just experimenting right now and trying to see what will work out,” Cabot head coach Mike Malham said. “We won’t know for sure until we put the pads on, but we’re trying a lot of different things right now.”
Goshien’s move to fullback doesn’t come without its consequences. What was thought to be an experienced offensive line returning this year, now only has three starters back.
Goshien’s move to the backfield coincides with another starter quitting before two-a-days began.
“Now we’re down to (Jason) Aist, Colton Roberts and Joe Schotts coming back on the line,
we didn’t think we were going to have,” Malham said.
The good news is that there are players available to fill those spots that Malham says have potential.
“We’ve got the Trammel kid who has some size and he’s a pretty good athlete; we hope to be able to get him on the field and play that guard spot,” Malham said. “We’ve also got Scott Bayes, who’s 277 pounds, he’s really improved.
“He didn’t play a lot last year because he was so slow, but he’s worked hard and showed a lot of improvement. He’s not there yet, but he wants to play and he’s working hard. He could jump in there at tackle.
“If we can solidify that spot I think we stand a chance to still have a pretty good offensive line.”
Corey Wade figures to be the starting quarterback this season. John Flynn started several games last year in place of in-jured Ryan Cotroneo. He also started at cornerback, and will begin the season focusing on defense.
“We’re still working him at quarterback,” Malham said. “He’s there if we need him, but Wade is the one we’re looking at starting right now. He’s a little stronger throwing the ball when we need to throw it.”
The defense is very inexperienced, with as many as four sophomores figuring into the mix.
Richard Williams stepped up as a fullback prospect in the spring, but will start practice working at defensive back with Goshien’s move.
“He probably runs as good as anyone on our team, so moving him to defense will help us with some speed on that side,” Malham said. “We’re very, very inexperienced pretty much everywhere. We’ve got three down lineman back, so we should be alright there, but we’re green everywhere else. We’re going to make a lot of mistakes, but if they work hard, they’ll get those corrected.” So far, Malham says the work ethic has been good.
“They’ve looked good the first two days. They’re paying attention and responding pretty well. We’ll see for sure how hard they want to work when we put the pads on. We can’t really answer any of this until we get after it.”
By Ray Benton
Leader sports editor
The Cabot Panthers got right to business Monday morning, the first day of two-a-days football practice for the 2005 high school season. The Panthers had a good total of about 80 kids participating in the first day of summer practice.
Cabot’s first official practice took place with several question marks concerning personnel, but the coaching staff took steps right away to answer those questions.
With the almost the entire starting offensive backfield from last year gone, the Panthers went right to work looking at quarterbacks and running backs. In spring practice, all of the potential backs were on the small side, so Clayton Goshien, 5-feet, 11 inches, 210 pounds, was moved from the offensive line to the fullback position. It was just one of several potential moves the coaching staff is making to try and shore up the holes.
“We’re just experimenting right now and trying to see what will work out,” Cabot head coach Mike Malham said. “We won’t know for sure until we put the pads on, but we’re trying a lot of different things right now.”
Goshien’s move to fullback doesn’t come without its consequences. What was thought to be an experienced offensive line returning this year, now only has three starters back.
Goshien’s move to the backfield coincides with another starter quitting before two-a-days began.
“Now we’re down to (Jason) Aist, Colton Roberts and Joe Schotts coming back on the line,
we didn’t think we were going to have,” Malham said.
The good news is that there are players available to fill those spots that Malham says have potential.
“We’ve got the Trammel kid who has some size and he’s a pretty good athlete; we hope to be able to get him on the field and play that guard spot,” Malham said. “We’ve also got Scott Bayes, who’s 277 pounds, he’s really improved.
“He didn’t play a lot last year because he was so slow, but he’s worked hard and showed a lot of improvement. He’s not there yet, but he wants to play and he’s working hard. He could jump in there at tackle.
“If we can solidify that spot I think we stand a chance to still have a pretty good offensive line.”
Corey Wade figures to be the starting quarterback this season. John Flynn started several games last year in place of in-jured Ryan Cotroneo. He also started at cornerback, and will begin the season focusing on defense.
“We’re still working him at quarterback,” Malham said. “He’s there if we need him, but Wade is the one we’re looking at starting right now. He’s a little stronger throwing the ball when we need to throw it.”
The defense is very inexperienced, with as many as four sophomores figuring into the mix.
Richard Williams stepped up as a fullback prospect in the spring, but will start practice working at defensive back with Goshien’s move.
“He probably runs as good as anyone on our team, so moving him to defense will help us with some speed on that side,” Malham said. “We’re very, very inexperienced pretty much everywhere. We’ve got three down lineman back, so we should be alright there, but we’re green everywhere else. We’re going to make a lot of mistakes, but if they work hard, they’ll get those corrected.” So far, Malham says the work ethic has been good.
“They’ve looked good the first two days. They’re paying attention and responding pretty well. We’ll see for sure how hard they want to work when we put the pads on. We can’t really answer any of this until we get after it.”
SPORTS>> Devils introduced to all-new system
IN SHORT: New Jacksonville head coach Mark Whatley used the first day of two-a-day football practice to introduce new drills and routine to his players.
By Ray Benton
Leader sports editor
The high-school football season officially got underway Tuesday. The Jacksonville Red Devils got their first official two-a-day workout under new coach Mark Whatley in the books. The focus for the first practice was a lot of teaching, but little actual football.
“There was just lots of organizational work going on,” Whatley said of the morning session, which began at 8 a.m. “We met early and laid the foundation of what we expect from them and what they can expect from us. We introduced our drills and worked a little on conditioning and that was about the sum of it.”
Whatley summed up the details of the meeting on expectations with few words.
“Like I said, it was about what we expect from them and what they can expect from us, and it basically boiled down to all you got,” Whatley said. “We want everything they’ve got all the time, and in turn that’s what they can expect to see from us. That’s the only way you can go in this sport.”
After taking the practice field, he showed the team the drills he would be running. Some were already familiar to the players and some weren’t, but he felt good about what the staff got in on Monday.
“We ran some excitement drills and pursuit drills, but mostly we just wanted to show them the drills so they’ll know them,” Whatley said. “We don’t want to spend a whole lot of time from here on out explaining what we’re talking about. We want to yell out the name they go to it. I think they picked it up pretty good. I hope they did, we’ll see.”
The evening session, which began at 6 p.m., consisted of a little more teaching of football and the system the Red Devils will be running under Whatley.
The skill position players ran 7-on-7 drills while the linemen practiced and lifted weights inside the field house.
The new head coach said it would be that way consistently the first three days.
On Thursday, the first day of pads, the Red Devils will get down to serious business.
“That’s how we’re going about this,” Whatley said. “The mornings will be drills and conditioning, and the nights will be a lot more football. We’re going to come back here and throw it a little bit. We didn’t get a whole lot of either done the first day, but we’re looking forward to getting back to it.”
Only 55 players were on hand the first day, but Whatley expects several more.
“We had 55, but we have a few out of pocket. We have a couple of key guys that we know where they are and why they’re not here, and we have a few that still have to get physicals.”
Assistant coach Jerry Wilson said he expects around 70 once everyone arrives.
By Ray Benton
Leader sports editor
The high-school football season officially got underway Tuesday. The Jacksonville Red Devils got their first official two-a-day workout under new coach Mark Whatley in the books. The focus for the first practice was a lot of teaching, but little actual football.
“There was just lots of organizational work going on,” Whatley said of the morning session, which began at 8 a.m. “We met early and laid the foundation of what we expect from them and what they can expect from us. We introduced our drills and worked a little on conditioning and that was about the sum of it.”
Whatley summed up the details of the meeting on expectations with few words.
“Like I said, it was about what we expect from them and what they can expect from us, and it basically boiled down to all you got,” Whatley said. “We want everything they’ve got all the time, and in turn that’s what they can expect to see from us. That’s the only way you can go in this sport.”
After taking the practice field, he showed the team the drills he would be running. Some were already familiar to the players and some weren’t, but he felt good about what the staff got in on Monday.
“We ran some excitement drills and pursuit drills, but mostly we just wanted to show them the drills so they’ll know them,” Whatley said. “We don’t want to spend a whole lot of time from here on out explaining what we’re talking about. We want to yell out the name they go to it. I think they picked it up pretty good. I hope they did, we’ll see.”
The evening session, which began at 6 p.m., consisted of a little more teaching of football and the system the Red Devils will be running under Whatley.
The skill position players ran 7-on-7 drills while the linemen practiced and lifted weights inside the field house.
The new head coach said it would be that way consistently the first three days.
On Thursday, the first day of pads, the Red Devils will get down to serious business.
“That’s how we’re going about this,” Whatley said. “The mornings will be drills and conditioning, and the nights will be a lot more football. We’re going to come back here and throw it a little bit. We didn’t get a whole lot of either done the first day, but we’re looking forward to getting back to it.”
Only 55 players were on hand the first day, but Whatley expects several more.
“We had 55, but we have a few out of pocket. We have a couple of key guys that we know where they are and why they’re not here, and we have a few that still have to get physicals.”
Assistant coach Jerry Wilson said he expects around 70 once everyone arrives.
NEIGHBORS>> Preserving Lonoke's history
IN SHORT: After seven years, museum finds a permanent home.
By John Hofheimer
Leader staff writer
When Dorothy Jackson Deats and eight other family members piled all over each other into a one-seat Chevy in Lonoke in the 1950s and lit out for Oklahoma, members of this share-cropping family thought they had it made, she told Sherryl Miller, executive director of the Lonoke County Museum Board.
Her father had gotten a job at Fort Sill in Lawton, Okla., making $150 a month.
“We thought we were bad rich,” she remembered.
Deats, visiting relatives, huddled with Linda Acrey and Miller in Miller’s Lonoke Library office sharing history and patching holes in her geneology.
A year from now, this meeting might have taken place two blocks away in the old Scott Chevrolet building, which the museum board hopes to renovate in stages until they have a permanent facility for the many papers and artifacts that have been assembled.
After more than a year of frustrating negotiations with the Lonoke City Council, which always sounded supportive but never quite got around to making the museum board the asked-for, long-term lease for land upon which to construct a museum, unnamed benefactors came to the rescue this spring.
The building has been renovated many times, but it will be a great asset to our community and the county of Lonoke, Miller said.
She said an architect is assessing the needed fixes and changes. Miller, who refused to name the people who donated the property, said that soon, after years of looking and waiting, the museum would finally have a permanent home.
She said it was the perfect example of the difference that one big-hearted family can make to a community.
Miller said the only stipulation to the gift was that it be used as a museum.
Deats, the visitor from Oklahoma, said she was excited and hoped to find some way to help with the big task ahead—converting an old, historic home and auto dealership into the 9,000 sq. foot museum it can be.
The building sits on lots on Hwy. 70 in downtown Lonoke, across the road from the old railroad right-of-way the board had once hoped to lease from the city.
The museum board is busy writing grants to fix the building’s roof and began making the other needed repairs and upgrades necessary to house its collection in a watertight, temperature controlled home with modern lighting, wiring and plumbing.
“We need $30,000 for the roof,” said Miller.
“We might can get a 50-50 grant through central Arkansas Planning and Development,” she said.
After the first of the year we can apply for Arkansas Humanities and other grants.”
Deats was a child when she Arkansas. As the three women pored over books and documents, helping her fill out her history, Acrey said.
“This is the kind of thing Sherryl does. Her good deeds are the stars in her crown,” she added.
Miller is employed 10 hours a week at the Lonoke library and often works 30 or 40 additional hours a week, helping with historical projects.
In the renovated museum, Miller will have an office adjoining the room designated for the geneology materials. The kitchen will be torn out, leaving about three rooms plus the very large attached building behind it.
“We need committed souls,” said Acrey. “We need someone who’s on fire for the museum. Sherryl eats and sleeps museum,” she added.
Miller said the museum is in need of sports memorabilia, local Indian artifacts and artifacts of pioneer life, the Civil War, local politicians, Eberts Air Field, the world wars, old businesses, old county maps and old family pictures.
Miller can be reached at (501) 676-6635.
By John Hofheimer
Leader staff writer
When Dorothy Jackson Deats and eight other family members piled all over each other into a one-seat Chevy in Lonoke in the 1950s and lit out for Oklahoma, members of this share-cropping family thought they had it made, she told Sherryl Miller, executive director of the Lonoke County Museum Board.
Her father had gotten a job at Fort Sill in Lawton, Okla., making $150 a month.
“We thought we were bad rich,” she remembered.
Deats, visiting relatives, huddled with Linda Acrey and Miller in Miller’s Lonoke Library office sharing history and patching holes in her geneology.
A year from now, this meeting might have taken place two blocks away in the old Scott Chevrolet building, which the museum board hopes to renovate in stages until they have a permanent facility for the many papers and artifacts that have been assembled.
After more than a year of frustrating negotiations with the Lonoke City Council, which always sounded supportive but never quite got around to making the museum board the asked-for, long-term lease for land upon which to construct a museum, unnamed benefactors came to the rescue this spring.
The building has been renovated many times, but it will be a great asset to our community and the county of Lonoke, Miller said.
She said an architect is assessing the needed fixes and changes. Miller, who refused to name the people who donated the property, said that soon, after years of looking and waiting, the museum would finally have a permanent home.
She said it was the perfect example of the difference that one big-hearted family can make to a community.
Miller said the only stipulation to the gift was that it be used as a museum.
Deats, the visitor from Oklahoma, said she was excited and hoped to find some way to help with the big task ahead—converting an old, historic home and auto dealership into the 9,000 sq. foot museum it can be.
The building sits on lots on Hwy. 70 in downtown Lonoke, across the road from the old railroad right-of-way the board had once hoped to lease from the city.
The museum board is busy writing grants to fix the building’s roof and began making the other needed repairs and upgrades necessary to house its collection in a watertight, temperature controlled home with modern lighting, wiring and plumbing.
“We need $30,000 for the roof,” said Miller.
“We might can get a 50-50 grant through central Arkansas Planning and Development,” she said.
After the first of the year we can apply for Arkansas Humanities and other grants.”
Deats was a child when she Arkansas. As the three women pored over books and documents, helping her fill out her history, Acrey said.
“This is the kind of thing Sherryl does. Her good deeds are the stars in her crown,” she added.
Miller is employed 10 hours a week at the Lonoke library and often works 30 or 40 additional hours a week, helping with historical projects.
In the renovated museum, Miller will have an office adjoining the room designated for the geneology materials. The kitchen will be torn out, leaving about three rooms plus the very large attached building behind it.
“We need committed souls,” said Acrey. “We need someone who’s on fire for the museum. Sherryl eats and sleeps museum,” she added.
Miller said the museum is in need of sports memorabilia, local Indian artifacts and artifacts of pioneer life, the Civil War, local politicians, Eberts Air Field, the world wars, old businesses, old county maps and old family pictures.
Miller can be reached at (501) 676-6635.
EDITORIAL>> Another giveaway
Congress last week finally passed an energy bill that has been four years in gestation, and there seemed to be general relief and celebration that the government finally did something about the nation’s energy problems. Gasoline prices that exceeded $2.50 a gallon in some places drove both houses finally to action.
We can restrain our joy. Congress in the end took out the worst features of the Bush administration’s bill — opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling and liability protection for gasoline additive companies — but the massive bill that passed will do nothing to lower fuel prices, now or ever. Even President Bush acknowledges as much. The bill is a Christmas tree of tax breaks and subsidies for scores of energy companies, which finally put aside their competition to lobby for its passage.
Absent from the bill were any of the measures that might have produced for the nation a more abundant energy supply. Raising the corporate average fuel efficiency (CAFE) standards, which have been static for more than a decade, would dramatically reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil supplies.
The CAFE standards instituted in the Carter administration did just that, but the big oil companies and carmakers scotched the movement once Republicans took control of both houses of Congress in 1995.
We and our grandchildren will pay an awful price for the dereliction. The people of almost no state will pay a bigger price than Arkansas, where the average number of miles driven per person is about the highest in the United States. Nothing in the bill will benefit Arkansas except a provision directing the cleanup of the old nuclear site in Washington County once operated by the Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor (SEFOR).
It is not enough.
We can restrain our joy. Congress in the end took out the worst features of the Bush administration’s bill — opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling and liability protection for gasoline additive companies — but the massive bill that passed will do nothing to lower fuel prices, now or ever. Even President Bush acknowledges as much. The bill is a Christmas tree of tax breaks and subsidies for scores of energy companies, which finally put aside their competition to lobby for its passage.
Absent from the bill were any of the measures that might have produced for the nation a more abundant energy supply. Raising the corporate average fuel efficiency (CAFE) standards, which have been static for more than a decade, would dramatically reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil supplies.
The CAFE standards instituted in the Carter administration did just that, but the big oil companies and carmakers scotched the movement once Republicans took control of both houses of Congress in 1995.
We and our grandchildren will pay an awful price for the dereliction. The people of almost no state will pay a bigger price than Arkansas, where the average number of miles driven per person is about the highest in the United States. Nothing in the bill will benefit Arkansas except a provision directing the cleanup of the old nuclear site in Washington County once operated by the Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor (SEFOR).
It is not enough.
OBITUARIES
Tamara Waddell
Tamara Diane Waddell, 34, of Cabot, passed away July 31. She was born Dec. 27, 1970, in Long Beach, Calif., to Carl and Diana Allen. Tamara was employed with Mitchell, Williams Law Firm in Little Rock.
She is survived by her parents, husband, Shawn Waddell of Cabot; two children, Landon Waddell and Carrington Rose, both of Cabot; one sister, Kristy Christensen; brother-in-law, John Christensen; sister-in-law, Jennifer Sanders; grandmother, Wanda Sears; uncles and aunts, Dean and Kay Nakken, Milton H. and Margie Edwards, Chuck Edwards, Larry and Marcia Wofford; father-in-law and mother-in-law, Wally and Bobbie Waddell; nieces, Kylee and husband Aaron Henry, Brook Christensen, Courtnie Christensen; cousins, Jason and Juston Nakken, Jeff Edwards, Jody Edwards and Mendi Cook, Mark Wofford and Joy Wofford; great-nephew, Blane Henry; great-niece, Breelyn Christensen.
Visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Cabot Funeral Home.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m., Thursday at Country Chapel in Sylvania with Rev. Steve Zumalt officiating.
Burial will follow at Old Austin Cemetery in Ward. Arrangements are by Cabot Funeral Home.
Girtha Taylor
Girtha Deloris Taylor passed away July 30.
She leaves behind her husband, William “Bill” Taylor; three daughters, Annette McGarity of Walnut Ridge, Delois Kemp and Theresa Flowers of Lonoke; two sons, Howard Joseph Bradford of Searcy and Mike Taylor of Lonoke; stepdaughters, Susan Phelphs and Rose Ann Fogleman, both of Kansas; a brother, Eugene Stinson of Wynne; 18 grandchildren; 28 great grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at Boyd Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will follow in Lonoke Cemetery. Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.
Patrick Page
Patrick Glenn Page, 19, of Beebe, died Aug. 1. He is survived by his parents, Larry and Gail Page; one son, Dylan Patrick Page; one daughter, Madison Brooke Page, all of Beebe; two sisters, Sarah Morrison and husband Alan of Cordova, Tenn., and Anna Page of Beebe; his maternal grandparents, Ruby and Ross Jackson of Georgia, Ronald and Becky Gardner of Crossett; and paternal grandparents Patrick and Olga Page of Louisiana.
Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe.
Funeral will be 2:30 p.m. Thursday at Union Valley Baptist Church, with burial in Meadowbrook Memorial Gardens.
Roy McCollum
Roy Glen McCollum, 76, of Cabot, passed away July 29. He was born May 8, 1929, in Violet Hill to the late Lee and Martha McCollum.
Also preceding him in death are three sisters and four brothers. Survivors include his wife of 56 years Dorothy McCollum; daughter Pat Taylor of Cabot; sons Larry and Dewayne McCollum of Jonesboro; sister Bunice Bookout of Wiseman; six grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren.
Graveside services were held Sunday at Morriston Cemetery in Morriston. Arrangements were by Thomas Funeral Service, Cabot.
Earnest Justice
Earnest Patton Justice died on July 29. He was born July 14, 1920 in Lonoke County.
He was a World War II veteran, a member of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church and a self-employed poultry farmer. He was preceded in death by his parents Charlie Patton Justice and Ada Bell Trickey; brothers Luther Justice, Monroe Justice, and Otha Justice.
He is survived by his sister and brother-in-law, Almeda and Dale Sullivan; sister, Lizzy Underwood; sister-in-law, Mary Justice, and a host of nieces and nephews.
Graveside services were held July 30 at Glover Cemetery, with arrangements by Boyd Funeral Home of Lonoke.
The family would like to give special thanks to the staff of Spring Creek Living Center, Cabot.
Carl White
Carl Sidney White, 66, of Beebe, died Monday, Aug. 1.
He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; daughters Carla Choate and Connie Choate; son Walt White and his wife, Pam; and his grandchildren, Laura Nick, Chris Nick, Will Choate, Guy Choate, John Choate, Zac White, Jacob White, and Sarah White; his sister, Beverly Darwin; brother, Richard White; and his mother-in-law, Maxine Walters. His parents, V.C. and Irene White, his sister, Katherine Card-well, and his father-in-law, Guy Walters, predeceased him.
Sidney was a life-long member of the Beebe First United Methodist Church, a Mason, a board member of the Beebe Shepherd Center, an automobile dealer and cattle farmer.
He graduated from Beebe High School and served on the Beebe School Board.
Family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Beebe First United Methodist Church with burial at Meadowbrook Memorial Gar-dens. The family asks that memorials be made to the Beebe First United Methodist Church Building Fund or to the Beebe Public Education Foundation.
June Seymour
June Angela Seymour, 52, of Lonoke, passed away July 30.
She is survived by her husband Richard Seymour of the home.
Private memorial services will be held at a later date. Cremation arrangements are by Thomas Funeral Service in Cabot.
Tamara Diane Waddell, 34, of Cabot, passed away July 31. She was born Dec. 27, 1970, in Long Beach, Calif., to Carl and Diana Allen. Tamara was employed with Mitchell, Williams Law Firm in Little Rock.
She is survived by her parents, husband, Shawn Waddell of Cabot; two children, Landon Waddell and Carrington Rose, both of Cabot; one sister, Kristy Christensen; brother-in-law, John Christensen; sister-in-law, Jennifer Sanders; grandmother, Wanda Sears; uncles and aunts, Dean and Kay Nakken, Milton H. and Margie Edwards, Chuck Edwards, Larry and Marcia Wofford; father-in-law and mother-in-law, Wally and Bobbie Waddell; nieces, Kylee and husband Aaron Henry, Brook Christensen, Courtnie Christensen; cousins, Jason and Juston Nakken, Jeff Edwards, Jody Edwards and Mendi Cook, Mark Wofford and Joy Wofford; great-nephew, Blane Henry; great-niece, Breelyn Christensen.
Visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Cabot Funeral Home.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m., Thursday at Country Chapel in Sylvania with Rev. Steve Zumalt officiating.
Burial will follow at Old Austin Cemetery in Ward. Arrangements are by Cabot Funeral Home.
Girtha Taylor
Girtha Deloris Taylor passed away July 30.
She leaves behind her husband, William “Bill” Taylor; three daughters, Annette McGarity of Walnut Ridge, Delois Kemp and Theresa Flowers of Lonoke; two sons, Howard Joseph Bradford of Searcy and Mike Taylor of Lonoke; stepdaughters, Susan Phelphs and Rose Ann Fogleman, both of Kansas; a brother, Eugene Stinson of Wynne; 18 grandchildren; 28 great grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at Boyd Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will follow in Lonoke Cemetery. Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.
Patrick Page
Patrick Glenn Page, 19, of Beebe, died Aug. 1. He is survived by his parents, Larry and Gail Page; one son, Dylan Patrick Page; one daughter, Madison Brooke Page, all of Beebe; two sisters, Sarah Morrison and husband Alan of Cordova, Tenn., and Anna Page of Beebe; his maternal grandparents, Ruby and Ross Jackson of Georgia, Ronald and Becky Gardner of Crossett; and paternal grandparents Patrick and Olga Page of Louisiana.
Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe.
Funeral will be 2:30 p.m. Thursday at Union Valley Baptist Church, with burial in Meadowbrook Memorial Gardens.
Roy McCollum
Roy Glen McCollum, 76, of Cabot, passed away July 29. He was born May 8, 1929, in Violet Hill to the late Lee and Martha McCollum.
Also preceding him in death are three sisters and four brothers. Survivors include his wife of 56 years Dorothy McCollum; daughter Pat Taylor of Cabot; sons Larry and Dewayne McCollum of Jonesboro; sister Bunice Bookout of Wiseman; six grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren.
Graveside services were held Sunday at Morriston Cemetery in Morriston. Arrangements were by Thomas Funeral Service, Cabot.
Earnest Justice
Earnest Patton Justice died on July 29. He was born July 14, 1920 in Lonoke County.
He was a World War II veteran, a member of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church and a self-employed poultry farmer. He was preceded in death by his parents Charlie Patton Justice and Ada Bell Trickey; brothers Luther Justice, Monroe Justice, and Otha Justice.
He is survived by his sister and brother-in-law, Almeda and Dale Sullivan; sister, Lizzy Underwood; sister-in-law, Mary Justice, and a host of nieces and nephews.
Graveside services were held July 30 at Glover Cemetery, with arrangements by Boyd Funeral Home of Lonoke.
The family would like to give special thanks to the staff of Spring Creek Living Center, Cabot.
Carl White
Carl Sidney White, 66, of Beebe, died Monday, Aug. 1.
He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; daughters Carla Choate and Connie Choate; son Walt White and his wife, Pam; and his grandchildren, Laura Nick, Chris Nick, Will Choate, Guy Choate, John Choate, Zac White, Jacob White, and Sarah White; his sister, Beverly Darwin; brother, Richard White; and his mother-in-law, Maxine Walters. His parents, V.C. and Irene White, his sister, Katherine Card-well, and his father-in-law, Guy Walters, predeceased him.
Sidney was a life-long member of the Beebe First United Methodist Church, a Mason, a board member of the Beebe Shepherd Center, an automobile dealer and cattle farmer.
He graduated from Beebe High School and served on the Beebe School Board.
Family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Beebe First United Methodist Church with burial at Meadowbrook Memorial Gar-dens. The family asks that memorials be made to the Beebe First United Methodist Church Building Fund or to the Beebe Public Education Foundation.
June Seymour
June Angela Seymour, 52, of Lonoke, passed away July 30.
She is survived by her husband Richard Seymour of the home.
Private memorial services will be held at a later date. Cremation arrangements are by Thomas Funeral Service in Cabot.
TOP STORY>> District is awaiting report on facilities
IN SHORT: Teams from the Department of Education are halfway through evaluating school districts applying for immediate repair funding.
The Cabot School District will find out in mid-September if it gets any of the $1,559,945 million requested for facilities repair, including asbestos removal at Westside Elementary and the high school.
Five evaluation teams of architects and engineers are fanning out across the state to examine buildings of the 142 school districts applying for part of $20 million in state funding. The money was set aside by the General Assembly this spring to fix facilities in immediate need of repair as part of the first round of facilities funding.
Cabot was one of the first schools visited by an evaluation team in early July.
Westside Elementary and Champs Hall on the high school campus have asbestos floor tiles that need removal.
Additionally, Champs Hall needs a new roof, new wiring and a new heating, ventilation and cooling system.
Buildings “C” and “D” on the high school campus are scheduled for demolition in 2006 after the new high school construction is completed.
The buildings require asbestos removal before they are torn down.
The district is also requesting new roofs at Cabot Middle School South and Ward Central Elementary.
The evaluation teams are checking the repairs listed on the funding applications against the deficiencies listed in the facilities study conducted last year by the Arkansas Task Force to Joint Committee on Educational Facilities.
“Our survey teams are roughly halfway through,” said Dave Floyd, director of the Arkansas Department of Education Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation Division.
“They’ve evaluated 70 schools so far. We have a target date of the first week in September to make recommendations to the commission for funding of projects.
The evaluation team surveys are expected to be complete by Aug. 22.
“The teams are all Arkansas-based firms,” said Dave Floyd, director of school facilities.
“The team sizes vary depending on how large the surveyed buildings are.”
The three Little Rock-based architectural firms include Taggart Foster Currence Gray, Steelman Connell Mosley and Woods Carradine.
The teams have divided the schools up by regional sections.
Little Rock based TME Consulting Engineers is providing all the engineering evaluations for the surveys except for northwest Arkansas.
Harrison French Architecture in Bentonville is doing both the architectural and engineering surveys for the schools in the northwest corner of the state.
The four firms were selected for not being heavily involved in school district construction.
Firms will be allowed to work for the districts they did not evaluate.
The three-member Public School Commission will review the recommendations. Schools that receive funding will be announced in mid-September.
The commission consists of Ken James, state Department of Education commissioner; Richard Weiss, state Department of Finance and Administration director, and Mac Dobson, president of the Arkansas Finance Development Authority.
The Beebe School District did not apply for funding because it was earmarked for schools with immediate safety needs.
Beebe Superintendent Belinda Shook the district will apply for funding during the next round to offset the cost of adding on to the junior high building.
The Cabot School District will find out in mid-September if it gets any of the $1,559,945 million requested for facilities repair, including asbestos removal at Westside Elementary and the high school.
Five evaluation teams of architects and engineers are fanning out across the state to examine buildings of the 142 school districts applying for part of $20 million in state funding. The money was set aside by the General Assembly this spring to fix facilities in immediate need of repair as part of the first round of facilities funding.
Cabot was one of the first schools visited by an evaluation team in early July.
Westside Elementary and Champs Hall on the high school campus have asbestos floor tiles that need removal.
Additionally, Champs Hall needs a new roof, new wiring and a new heating, ventilation and cooling system.
Buildings “C” and “D” on the high school campus are scheduled for demolition in 2006 after the new high school construction is completed.
The buildings require asbestos removal before they are torn down.
The district is also requesting new roofs at Cabot Middle School South and Ward Central Elementary.
The evaluation teams are checking the repairs listed on the funding applications against the deficiencies listed in the facilities study conducted last year by the Arkansas Task Force to Joint Committee on Educational Facilities.
“Our survey teams are roughly halfway through,” said Dave Floyd, director of the Arkansas Department of Education Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation Division.
“They’ve evaluated 70 schools so far. We have a target date of the first week in September to make recommendations to the commission for funding of projects.
The evaluation team surveys are expected to be complete by Aug. 22.
“The teams are all Arkansas-based firms,” said Dave Floyd, director of school facilities.
“The team sizes vary depending on how large the surveyed buildings are.”
The three Little Rock-based architectural firms include Taggart Foster Currence Gray, Steelman Connell Mosley and Woods Carradine.
The teams have divided the schools up by regional sections.
Little Rock based TME Consulting Engineers is providing all the engineering evaluations for the surveys except for northwest Arkansas.
Harrison French Architecture in Bentonville is doing both the architectural and engineering surveys for the schools in the northwest corner of the state.
The four firms were selected for not being heavily involved in school district construction.
Firms will be allowed to work for the districts they did not evaluate.
The three-member Public School Commission will review the recommendations. Schools that receive funding will be announced in mid-September.
The commission consists of Ken James, state Department of Education commissioner; Richard Weiss, state Department of Finance and Administration director, and Mac Dobson, president of the Arkansas Finance Development Authority.
The Beebe School District did not apply for funding because it was earmarked for schools with immediate safety needs.
Beebe Superintendent Belinda Shook the district will apply for funding during the next round to offset the cost of adding on to the junior high building.
FROM THE PUBLISHER>> Couple still fighting for Russian kids
The Jacksonville couple who couldn’t bring home the two Russian kids they had recently adopted will go back soon to fight for the right to fly their children to Arkansas.
Monica and David Kraus are hoping they’ll return soon to Russia and bring back the children, Emma, who is 3 years old, and Alex, who is 11 months. The couple adopted the children a few weeks ago, but then ran into a bureaucratic wall that they’re still fighting to tear down.
The Russians have stopped all foreign adoptions for the time being after two American women killed the Russian children they had adopted, apparently in fits of rage.
“We should be traveling the beginning of August to bring the children home,” Monica Kraus told us last week. “We are silently praying nothing else happens to delay the process.”
The Russians have passed new legislation to screen out undesirables who want to adopt children, but the Krauses insist they’re qualified people who will raise the kids right.
Because of the killings, the Russians want to do psychological testing of prospective parents and offer them parenting training.
“While there seems to be no thought given to halting all adoptions permanently, there is talk of requiring some sort of psychological evaluation of all prospective adoptive parents. There is also talk of investigating to see if the adoption was done legally according to Russian law. No one knows how long we will be delayed,” she said.
“We are not certain if new legislation regarding adoptions as a result of this last case will affect us. It is definitely needed. If the death of even one child can be avoided, then it is beneficial,” Mrs. Kraus said.
The couple will appear at an administrative hearing, where they’ll hope to convince the authorities to let them bring home Emma and Alex, who both have their own rooms waiting for them in Jacksonville.
“We will not need a Russian attorney, only a translator at our hearing,” Mrs. Kraus says. “Once a judge finalizes our adoption and we receive our birth certificates and passports in Moscow, the adoption is official and recognized throughout the world. We may go through an American attorney when we return home in order to legalize the adoption according to United States law, but it is not necessary.”
In the meantime, the Russian media keep lashing out at foreign adoptions.
“It’s not the first time this has happened,” Mrs. Kraus says, referring to this latest freeze on foreign adoptions, “and it is more of a result of anti-American sentiment in the Russian media than anything else. We are not alone in this as there are hundreds of other expecting parents across the United States who are facing this same crisis.”
“The Russia media have been all up in arms and have been pushing for the end of international adoptions,” she continued.
She said the children need good, loving homes, where they can eat right and get a good education. She knows there will be an “adjustment period, especially for the toddler. Although they adjust quickly and thrive with a loving family, they are far behind American children in developmental and learning ability.”
“In an orphanage, they do not receive one-on-one attention like they would in a family.
“There are also significant health concerns with malnutrition and different ailments related to poor living conditions. Almost all of the children are anemic and far behind their normal growth rate. However, parents who have adopted from Russia confirm that the children catch up quickly, often surpassing their peers.
“Our next step is to wait. It’s the hardest step of all. We are involved in a support group with similar couples to help us through the waiting process.
“We can only pray that nothing happens to further inflame an already sensitive situation.”
Monica and David Kraus are hoping they’ll return soon to Russia and bring back the children, Emma, who is 3 years old, and Alex, who is 11 months. The couple adopted the children a few weeks ago, but then ran into a bureaucratic wall that they’re still fighting to tear down.
The Russians have stopped all foreign adoptions for the time being after two American women killed the Russian children they had adopted, apparently in fits of rage.
“We should be traveling the beginning of August to bring the children home,” Monica Kraus told us last week. “We are silently praying nothing else happens to delay the process.”
The Russians have passed new legislation to screen out undesirables who want to adopt children, but the Krauses insist they’re qualified people who will raise the kids right.
Because of the killings, the Russians want to do psychological testing of prospective parents and offer them parenting training.
“While there seems to be no thought given to halting all adoptions permanently, there is talk of requiring some sort of psychological evaluation of all prospective adoptive parents. There is also talk of investigating to see if the adoption was done legally according to Russian law. No one knows how long we will be delayed,” she said.
“We are not certain if new legislation regarding adoptions as a result of this last case will affect us. It is definitely needed. If the death of even one child can be avoided, then it is beneficial,” Mrs. Kraus said.
The couple will appear at an administrative hearing, where they’ll hope to convince the authorities to let them bring home Emma and Alex, who both have their own rooms waiting for them in Jacksonville.
“We will not need a Russian attorney, only a translator at our hearing,” Mrs. Kraus says. “Once a judge finalizes our adoption and we receive our birth certificates and passports in Moscow, the adoption is official and recognized throughout the world. We may go through an American attorney when we return home in order to legalize the adoption according to United States law, but it is not necessary.”
In the meantime, the Russian media keep lashing out at foreign adoptions.
“It’s not the first time this has happened,” Mrs. Kraus says, referring to this latest freeze on foreign adoptions, “and it is more of a result of anti-American sentiment in the Russian media than anything else. We are not alone in this as there are hundreds of other expecting parents across the United States who are facing this same crisis.”
“The Russia media have been all up in arms and have been pushing for the end of international adoptions,” she continued.
She said the children need good, loving homes, where they can eat right and get a good education. She knows there will be an “adjustment period, especially for the toddler. Although they adjust quickly and thrive with a loving family, they are far behind American children in developmental and learning ability.”
“In an orphanage, they do not receive one-on-one attention like they would in a family.
“There are also significant health concerns with malnutrition and different ailments related to poor living conditions. Almost all of the children are anemic and far behind their normal growth rate. However, parents who have adopted from Russia confirm that the children catch up quickly, often surpassing their peers.
“Our next step is to wait. It’s the hardest step of all. We are involved in a support group with similar couples to help us through the waiting process.
“We can only pray that nothing happens to further inflame an already sensitive situation.”
TOP STORY>> Austin gets ready for boom
IN SHORT: Town sees 25 percent population growth, could see much more as developers hope to build 850 new homes and 40 duplexes.
By Joan McCoy
Leader staff writer
Austin, which lies between Ward and Cabot and has for years been threatened with annexation by its neighbors, is on the verge of growing large enough to put an end to all that talk.
Austin Mayor Bernie Chamberlain estimates the city’s population at 800, up about 200 from the 2000 census. But now, developers have moved in with plans to build more than 850 houses and 40 duplexes. When they are all completed and sold, Austin’s population could theoretically grow from 800 to more than 2,500, three times its current size.
“I knew Austin would grow, but I never thought it would grow this fast,” said Chamberlain, who admits the city has growing pains. The city’s water and sewer systems are too small to accommodate some of the subdivisions, but those problems are being addressed now.
The city will need more police officers, she said. A fire station is being planned for across the freeway and the city has applied for a grant for a new fire truck.
The land where Carriage Court and Weathering Heights subdivisions are to be built was already inside the city, off Ed Haymes Road. But three subdivisions, Quapaw, Shadow Creek and Orchard Estates, were annexed into the city this week.
Those three could just have easily gone to Cabot, which builds about 500 new homes a year. But developers chose Austin after a disagreement with Cabot over how much they should pay for sewer improvements.
Those annexations effectively ended Cabot’s growth on High-way 38, because the two cities are now adjacent.
Cabot Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh has said he doesn’t necessarily see the loss of the subdivisions as a negative for Cabot. Instead, he says the people who move there without adequate fire protection should be worried.
Chamberlain says it is simply time for Austin to grow. Cabot is running out of room, she said. And while Cabot’s fire rating is better, making insurance rates lower, property tax is lower in Austin, she said.
Chamberlain said any talk of being swallowed up by Ward and Cabot is just talk as far as she is concerned. But some of the older people take it seriously, and they don’t like it.
“Austin has been here too long to be taken over,” she said. “The people here have stayed because they wanted to live in Austin. You don’t want to lose a town like that.”
By Joan McCoy
Leader staff writer
Austin, which lies between Ward and Cabot and has for years been threatened with annexation by its neighbors, is on the verge of growing large enough to put an end to all that talk.
Austin Mayor Bernie Chamberlain estimates the city’s population at 800, up about 200 from the 2000 census. But now, developers have moved in with plans to build more than 850 houses and 40 duplexes. When they are all completed and sold, Austin’s population could theoretically grow from 800 to more than 2,500, three times its current size.
“I knew Austin would grow, but I never thought it would grow this fast,” said Chamberlain, who admits the city has growing pains. The city’s water and sewer systems are too small to accommodate some of the subdivisions, but those problems are being addressed now.
The city will need more police officers, she said. A fire station is being planned for across the freeway and the city has applied for a grant for a new fire truck.
The land where Carriage Court and Weathering Heights subdivisions are to be built was already inside the city, off Ed Haymes Road. But three subdivisions, Quapaw, Shadow Creek and Orchard Estates, were annexed into the city this week.
Those three could just have easily gone to Cabot, which builds about 500 new homes a year. But developers chose Austin after a disagreement with Cabot over how much they should pay for sewer improvements.
Those annexations effectively ended Cabot’s growth on High-way 38, because the two cities are now adjacent.
Cabot Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh has said he doesn’t necessarily see the loss of the subdivisions as a negative for Cabot. Instead, he says the people who move there without adequate fire protection should be worried.
Chamberlain says it is simply time for Austin to grow. Cabot is running out of room, she said. And while Cabot’s fire rating is better, making insurance rates lower, property tax is lower in Austin, she said.
Chamberlain said any talk of being swallowed up by Ward and Cabot is just talk as far as she is concerned. But some of the older people take it seriously, and they don’t like it.
“Austin has been here too long to be taken over,” she said. “The people here have stayed because they wanted to live in Austin. You don’t want to lose a town like that.”
TOP STORY>> Sales tax vote seen as crucial in Cabot
IN SHORT: Balloting would not only fund sewer plant but also other improvement projects.
By Joan McCoy
Leader staff writer
It’s official. Cabot voters will get to decide Sept. 13 if they want to pay for a new sewer treatment plant with a rate increase or with an existing one-cent sales tax.
At the same time, voters will decide if they want to use the existing tax to pay for other projects in the city – a community center, railroad overpass, street improvements and an animal shelter.
Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh, who opposes extending the sales tax to pay for the projects and held the power to veto the election ordinance the council passed last week, decided over the weekend he would not use that power.
“While it’s against what I believe, I thought it best to let it move forward,” Stumbaugh said Tuesday.
Besides, he said, he had to be realistic. There was no guarantee that the council didn’t have the six votes needed to override a veto.
Although Alderman David Polantz favors ending the tax because that was the promise made to city voters in 1999 when the tax was passed, and he voted against it last week, Stumbaugh pointed out that Polantz voted to allow the ordinance to be passed in one night instead of three nights and he voted for the emergency clause that would make it take effect immediately.
Therefore, it is conceivable that Polantz might have voted with the five who supported the ordinance to override a veto.
Stumbaugh agrees with Polantz, Jerry Stephens and Patrick Hutton, the three council members who voted against the ordinance, that the sales tax should sunset after the water bonds it supports are paid off and that sewer customers should pay for improvements to the system, not Cabot shoppers.
The sewer treatment plant has not worked properly since it was built, he said. And the city council should have taken steps to correct its problems years ago.
The council could have raised rates last year to begin the process of building a new plant but wouldn’t do it, he said.
And while they wait, the cost of materials keeps going up. Also, the city will be fined (probably less than $10,000) for failing to bring the existing plant into compliance with state standards.
“I will not be a part of those who let this thing continue on and on and cost the taxpayers thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars,” he said. “Since they can’t make a decision, I decided it was best to let the people make the decision.”
Alderman Eddie Cook, who along with Alderman Odis Waymack sponsored the ordinance calling for the election, said he intends to make the rounds of local civic organizations to build support for continuing the sales tax to pay for the sewer plant and other projects.
“You can’t argue with common sense,” Cook said. “You’re going to save $7.4 million in interest alone [compared to paying for the new plant with a rate increase]. It’s going to pay off so much earlier.”
Besides, he said, with a sales tax more people will help pay off the debt.
“We’re going to be asking the 70,000 people who live in a 30-mile radius to help pay for our facilities,” Cook said.
“And I hope everyone would realize that these projects we’ve tacked on will not add any significant time to the payoff of the loan,” he said.
Voters will be asked to approve about $28 million in debt to be supported by the existing one-cent tax: $7 million to pay off the existing bonds for improvement to the city’s water system which are supported by the tax; $16.5 million for the sewer treatment plant and repairs to the collection system; $800,000 for the railroad overpass; $1.5 million to build the community center that came in over budget; $1.8 million for street improvements and $200,000 to build at one time an animal shelter that was supposed to be built in stages.
Last month, Cabot voters turned down a millage increase that would have added about $20 to the property tax on a $100,000 home to pay for the overpass and community center.
Before that election, the Cabot School Board passed a resolution in support of the city’s efforts to raise money for those projects since both would benefit the school district.
The school’s swimming team will use the community center and the overpass would keep almost 30 buses a day from having to cross the tracks. The board has not yet spoken about support for continuing the sales tax.
But before the mayor had decided to not exercise his veto power, the new Cabot Water and Wastewater Commission was already making plans to inform voters about the good and bad points of both possible sources of paying for a new sewer plant.
“Conceptually, we’re going to put together a fact sheet of the pros and cons of the sales tax versus the rate increase, said Bill Cypert, one of the three members of the commission who also served for about six months as a member of its predecessor, the Cabot Public Utilities Commission.
The former commission went before the city council twice with ordinances calling for an election to continue the sales tax to pay for the plant. But it didn’t pass until Cook and Waymack added the additional projects.
Don Keesee, who along with Cypert and J.M. Park served on the first commission, said during a recent meeting that it should be clear to the public where they stand on paying for the plant with the sales tax, but Cypert said Tuesday the commission will try to remain non-political.
The first draft of the fact sheet should be ready for the commission to go over by the Thursday commission meeting, Cypert said.
Patti Patrick, a member of the city’s park commission which supports extending the sales tax to help build the community center, said the commission waited to see whether Stumbaugh would veto the ordinance.
Since he didn’t, the commission will have to get to work telling voters what it’s all about.
“The main thing now is to get out there and let the voters know what they’re voting on,” Patrick said.
By Joan McCoy
Leader staff writer
It’s official. Cabot voters will get to decide Sept. 13 if they want to pay for a new sewer treatment plant with a rate increase or with an existing one-cent sales tax.
At the same time, voters will decide if they want to use the existing tax to pay for other projects in the city – a community center, railroad overpass, street improvements and an animal shelter.
Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh, who opposes extending the sales tax to pay for the projects and held the power to veto the election ordinance the council passed last week, decided over the weekend he would not use that power.
“While it’s against what I believe, I thought it best to let it move forward,” Stumbaugh said Tuesday.
Besides, he said, he had to be realistic. There was no guarantee that the council didn’t have the six votes needed to override a veto.
Although Alderman David Polantz favors ending the tax because that was the promise made to city voters in 1999 when the tax was passed, and he voted against it last week, Stumbaugh pointed out that Polantz voted to allow the ordinance to be passed in one night instead of three nights and he voted for the emergency clause that would make it take effect immediately.
Therefore, it is conceivable that Polantz might have voted with the five who supported the ordinance to override a veto.
Stumbaugh agrees with Polantz, Jerry Stephens and Patrick Hutton, the three council members who voted against the ordinance, that the sales tax should sunset after the water bonds it supports are paid off and that sewer customers should pay for improvements to the system, not Cabot shoppers.
The sewer treatment plant has not worked properly since it was built, he said. And the city council should have taken steps to correct its problems years ago.
The council could have raised rates last year to begin the process of building a new plant but wouldn’t do it, he said.
And while they wait, the cost of materials keeps going up. Also, the city will be fined (probably less than $10,000) for failing to bring the existing plant into compliance with state standards.
“I will not be a part of those who let this thing continue on and on and cost the taxpayers thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars,” he said. “Since they can’t make a decision, I decided it was best to let the people make the decision.”
Alderman Eddie Cook, who along with Alderman Odis Waymack sponsored the ordinance calling for the election, said he intends to make the rounds of local civic organizations to build support for continuing the sales tax to pay for the sewer plant and other projects.
“You can’t argue with common sense,” Cook said. “You’re going to save $7.4 million in interest alone [compared to paying for the new plant with a rate increase]. It’s going to pay off so much earlier.”
Besides, he said, with a sales tax more people will help pay off the debt.
“We’re going to be asking the 70,000 people who live in a 30-mile radius to help pay for our facilities,” Cook said.
“And I hope everyone would realize that these projects we’ve tacked on will not add any significant time to the payoff of the loan,” he said.
Voters will be asked to approve about $28 million in debt to be supported by the existing one-cent tax: $7 million to pay off the existing bonds for improvement to the city’s water system which are supported by the tax; $16.5 million for the sewer treatment plant and repairs to the collection system; $800,000 for the railroad overpass; $1.5 million to build the community center that came in over budget; $1.8 million for street improvements and $200,000 to build at one time an animal shelter that was supposed to be built in stages.
Last month, Cabot voters turned down a millage increase that would have added about $20 to the property tax on a $100,000 home to pay for the overpass and community center.
Before that election, the Cabot School Board passed a resolution in support of the city’s efforts to raise money for those projects since both would benefit the school district.
The school’s swimming team will use the community center and the overpass would keep almost 30 buses a day from having to cross the tracks. The board has not yet spoken about support for continuing the sales tax.
But before the mayor had decided to not exercise his veto power, the new Cabot Water and Wastewater Commission was already making plans to inform voters about the good and bad points of both possible sources of paying for a new sewer plant.
“Conceptually, we’re going to put together a fact sheet of the pros and cons of the sales tax versus the rate increase, said Bill Cypert, one of the three members of the commission who also served for about six months as a member of its predecessor, the Cabot Public Utilities Commission.
The former commission went before the city council twice with ordinances calling for an election to continue the sales tax to pay for the plant. But it didn’t pass until Cook and Waymack added the additional projects.
Don Keesee, who along with Cypert and J.M. Park served on the first commission, said during a recent meeting that it should be clear to the public where they stand on paying for the plant with the sales tax, but Cypert said Tuesday the commission will try to remain non-political.
The first draft of the fact sheet should be ready for the commission to go over by the Thursday commission meeting, Cypert said.
Patti Patrick, a member of the city’s park commission which supports extending the sales tax to help build the community center, said the commission waited to see whether Stumbaugh would veto the ordinance.
Since he didn’t, the commission will have to get to work telling voters what it’s all about.
“The main thing now is to get out there and let the voters know what they’re voting on,” Patrick said.
TOP STORY>> BRAC finishes evaluation of bases
IN SHORT: Pentagon probes cost of C-130Js, asks Lockheed for documentation
By John Hofheimer
Leader staff writer
With the future of Little Rock Air Force Base and scores of other installations hanging in the balance, the Base Relocation and Closure (BRAC) commission will wind up its site visits next week, ending three months of hearings throughout the U.S.
While many installations are fighting for their very survival, the Little Rock base is in line to expand its C-130 fleet by 60 aircraft and the number of on-base jobs by as many as 3,898, according to Defense Department recommendations.
North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole wants to keep the 43rd Airlift Wing at Pope Air Force Base or else in a joint force at Ft. Bragg, also in her state. Under the Pentagon’s proposal, the 43rd Airlift Wing now at Pope would be shifted to Little Rock. About 4,300 airmen would be involved.
“While we continue to receive written data throughout the remainder of the process, it is critical that our review and analysis team is allowed the necessary time to thoroughly read, evaluate and incorporate the data that has, to date, been provided,” according to Anthony Principi, the panel chairman.
Commissioners are slated to meet with Air Force and Air Guard leaders Aug. 11 on Capital Hill to resolve lingering issues surrounding the Pentagon’s recommendation to take all aircraft from several Air National Guard bases.
The Arkansas Air National Guard, which is likely to lose its F-16 fighter wing at Ft. Smith, is expected to receive several state-of-the-art C-130Js at the Little Rock base it shares with the active Air Force, including those currently assigned to the Air Force at Little Rock AFB.
The commission’s recommendations are due to the White House by Sept. 8. President Bush has said he would sign those recommendations and forward them to Congress. Neither Congress nor the president can change the recommendations, but may only accept or reject them as a whole.
Meanwhile, although the C-130J may be back in the defense budget, at least three Defense Department investigations are underway regarding the price the government paid Lockheed Martin and the nature of the contract.
The Defense Department’s $4 billion contract for 60 planes was on the verge of extinction earlier this year, when the plane was reported to be too expensive with a spotty record of performing the functions for which it was designed.
To speed the acquisition pro-cess, the Air Force declared the C-130J to be a commercial item even though no commercial market for it exists. This meant that the Air Force was able to bypass federal truth-in-negotiating rules that require a contractor to give the government complete cost and pricing data.
In 1995, a basic C-130J cost $33.9 million. By 1998, it had risen to $49.7 million. Today, the cost is $66.5 million a plane, with some versions edging close to $90 million.
Watchdog groups lobbied for discontinuation of the program, while congressmen from Georgia, Arkansas, Indiana and some other states with a financial stake in the C-130J program, argued that the plane had overcome its flaws.
They added the plane was needed in the war on terrorism and in the future to replace the aging C-130 cargo fleet that plays such a large role in transporting and supplying troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as other places.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has been critical of the commercial-style contract between the Air Force and Lockheed, and has been active in investigating that relationship.
The Pentagon expects to complete the conversion of Lockheed Martin’s $4.1 billion C-130J cargo aircraft contract into a more highly regulated defense contract by Nov. 15, new chief weapons buyer Kenneth Krieg said in mid- July.
This is significant to central Arkansas residents because Little Rock Air Force Base is considered the premier C-130 base in the world, and C-130 crews and maintainers from the U.S. and abroad are trained there.
Those conducting reviews and investigators are the Defense Department’s Inspector General, the Defense Contract Audit Agency and the Defense Contract Management Agency.
To critics of the plane, Air Force officials have announced that this summer the C-130J made its first combat airdrop successfully, and the weather version of the plane has performed properly in tropical storms and hurricanes.
By John Hofheimer
Leader staff writer
With the future of Little Rock Air Force Base and scores of other installations hanging in the balance, the Base Relocation and Closure (BRAC) commission will wind up its site visits next week, ending three months of hearings throughout the U.S.
While many installations are fighting for their very survival, the Little Rock base is in line to expand its C-130 fleet by 60 aircraft and the number of on-base jobs by as many as 3,898, according to Defense Department recommendations.
North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole wants to keep the 43rd Airlift Wing at Pope Air Force Base or else in a joint force at Ft. Bragg, also in her state. Under the Pentagon’s proposal, the 43rd Airlift Wing now at Pope would be shifted to Little Rock. About 4,300 airmen would be involved.
“While we continue to receive written data throughout the remainder of the process, it is critical that our review and analysis team is allowed the necessary time to thoroughly read, evaluate and incorporate the data that has, to date, been provided,” according to Anthony Principi, the panel chairman.
Commissioners are slated to meet with Air Force and Air Guard leaders Aug. 11 on Capital Hill to resolve lingering issues surrounding the Pentagon’s recommendation to take all aircraft from several Air National Guard bases.
The Arkansas Air National Guard, which is likely to lose its F-16 fighter wing at Ft. Smith, is expected to receive several state-of-the-art C-130Js at the Little Rock base it shares with the active Air Force, including those currently assigned to the Air Force at Little Rock AFB.
The commission’s recommendations are due to the White House by Sept. 8. President Bush has said he would sign those recommendations and forward them to Congress. Neither Congress nor the president can change the recommendations, but may only accept or reject them as a whole.
Meanwhile, although the C-130J may be back in the defense budget, at least three Defense Department investigations are underway regarding the price the government paid Lockheed Martin and the nature of the contract.
The Defense Department’s $4 billion contract for 60 planes was on the verge of extinction earlier this year, when the plane was reported to be too expensive with a spotty record of performing the functions for which it was designed.
To speed the acquisition pro-cess, the Air Force declared the C-130J to be a commercial item even though no commercial market for it exists. This meant that the Air Force was able to bypass federal truth-in-negotiating rules that require a contractor to give the government complete cost and pricing data.
In 1995, a basic C-130J cost $33.9 million. By 1998, it had risen to $49.7 million. Today, the cost is $66.5 million a plane, with some versions edging close to $90 million.
Watchdog groups lobbied for discontinuation of the program, while congressmen from Georgia, Arkansas, Indiana and some other states with a financial stake in the C-130J program, argued that the plane had overcome its flaws.
They added the plane was needed in the war on terrorism and in the future to replace the aging C-130 cargo fleet that plays such a large role in transporting and supplying troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as other places.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has been critical of the commercial-style contract between the Air Force and Lockheed, and has been active in investigating that relationship.
The Pentagon expects to complete the conversion of Lockheed Martin’s $4.1 billion C-130J cargo aircraft contract into a more highly regulated defense contract by Nov. 15, new chief weapons buyer Kenneth Krieg said in mid- July.
This is significant to central Arkansas residents because Little Rock Air Force Base is considered the premier C-130 base in the world, and C-130 crews and maintainers from the U.S. and abroad are trained there.
Those conducting reviews and investigators are the Defense Department’s Inspector General, the Defense Contract Audit Agency and the Defense Contract Management Agency.
To critics of the plane, Air Force officials have announced that this summer the C-130J made its first combat airdrop successfully, and the weather version of the plane has performed properly in tropical storms and hurricanes.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
FROM THE PUBLISHER>> Death of a tenor giant
Stubblefield passes after long illness; Big George Brock on CD
BY GARRICK FELDMAN
PUBLISHER
John Stubblefield, a great tenor saxophone player who was born in Little Rock and worked as a jazz musician in New York with some of the most talented people in the business, died on the Fourth of July at the age of 60 after battling prostate cancer.
Stubblefield’s death has hardly been noted in Arkansas — the Little Rock paper published only a small paid obituary announcing his passing — although former Presi-dent Bill Clinton and comedian Bill Cosby visited him a few weeks ago at the hospital. Clinton told him he hadn’t played his saxophone in three years because he’d been busy writing his autobiography, and then his heart surgery made it difficult to play. Clinton also visited other patients before he left the hospital.
Stories about Stubble-field and his music appeared on the Internet as soon as his death was announced.
The New York Times ran an article that was placed prominently on the top left-hand corner of its obituary page, and deservedly so.
Stubblefield played and composed for the Charles Mingus Big Band and also played with Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, Mary Lou Williams and other stellar musicians. He was among a small group of brilliant saxophone players who grew up in the Little Rock area — the others are Pharoah Sanders and Sam Rivers (both still going strong) — and all three are admired by both fans and fellow musicians for their powerful sound and sweetness of spirit.
It figures that Arkansas would produce three first-class musicians who could play ferocious jazz and still sound lyrical when they wanted to, and be as down-to-earth once they put their instruments down.
Stubblefield appeared with Rivers a couple of years ago at UALR when Rivers returned here for the first time in more than 50 years. Sanders, who was known as “Little Rock” when he lived in New York, also made a rare appearance here last fall when he was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.
“Family Portrait” (Audioquest) is one of Stubblefield’s best CDs and includes Eduardo Simon on piano, Cecil McBee on bass and Victor Lewis on drums. Stubblefield dominates the CD with his rich, full-throttle sound.
He is also heard on McCoy Tyner’s Big Band CD, “Journey” (Verve) with an all-star cast: Tyner on piano, Eddie Henderson on trumpet, Steve Turre and Frank Lacy on trombones and others.
Friends and family held a celebration of Stubblefield’s life on Thursday in Little Rock. Funeral services were held Friday. He’s gone, but his music lives on.
Roger Stolle, who owns Cat Head music shop down in Clarksdale, Miss., has started a record label so the whole world can hear the Mississippi-born harp player Big George Brock, a 73-year-old bluesman with a sound as big as a freight train hurtling through the cotton fields in the Delta.
Cat Head has just released Brock’s “Club Caravan,” featuring the Houserockers for 50 raucous minutes of classic blues that will take you back to 1950s Chicago, although Brock, a former boxer who was born in Grenada, Miss., has lived in St. Louis for most of his life.
Big George composed most of the music on “Club Caravan” (named after one of the blues clubs he ran in St. Louis), with some Jimmy Reed, Sonny Boy Williamson and Muddy Waters tossed in to spice things up. But this is Brock’s show, which sounds like one of his marathon juke joint performances.
All you have to do is hit replay and keep listening to a genuine master of the Delta blues.
Big George is one of the last of the authentic Southern bluesmen. Most people don’t even know they’re still around. When they’re gone, their music will only be heard on CDs and LPs. Stolle has recorded one of the best.
“Club Caravan” is available from www.cathead.biz.
BY GARRICK FELDMAN
PUBLISHER
John Stubblefield, a great tenor saxophone player who was born in Little Rock and worked as a jazz musician in New York with some of the most talented people in the business, died on the Fourth of July at the age of 60 after battling prostate cancer.
Stubblefield’s death has hardly been noted in Arkansas — the Little Rock paper published only a small paid obituary announcing his passing — although former Presi-dent Bill Clinton and comedian Bill Cosby visited him a few weeks ago at the hospital. Clinton told him he hadn’t played his saxophone in three years because he’d been busy writing his autobiography, and then his heart surgery made it difficult to play. Clinton also visited other patients before he left the hospital.
Stories about Stubble-field and his music appeared on the Internet as soon as his death was announced.
The New York Times ran an article that was placed prominently on the top left-hand corner of its obituary page, and deservedly so.
Stubblefield played and composed for the Charles Mingus Big Band and also played with Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, Mary Lou Williams and other stellar musicians. He was among a small group of brilliant saxophone players who grew up in the Little Rock area — the others are Pharoah Sanders and Sam Rivers (both still going strong) — and all three are admired by both fans and fellow musicians for their powerful sound and sweetness of spirit.
It figures that Arkansas would produce three first-class musicians who could play ferocious jazz and still sound lyrical when they wanted to, and be as down-to-earth once they put their instruments down.
Stubblefield appeared with Rivers a couple of years ago at UALR when Rivers returned here for the first time in more than 50 years. Sanders, who was known as “Little Rock” when he lived in New York, also made a rare appearance here last fall when he was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.
“Family Portrait” (Audioquest) is one of Stubblefield’s best CDs and includes Eduardo Simon on piano, Cecil McBee on bass and Victor Lewis on drums. Stubblefield dominates the CD with his rich, full-throttle sound.
He is also heard on McCoy Tyner’s Big Band CD, “Journey” (Verve) with an all-star cast: Tyner on piano, Eddie Henderson on trumpet, Steve Turre and Frank Lacy on trombones and others.
Friends and family held a celebration of Stubblefield’s life on Thursday in Little Rock. Funeral services were held Friday. He’s gone, but his music lives on.
Roger Stolle, who owns Cat Head music shop down in Clarksdale, Miss., has started a record label so the whole world can hear the Mississippi-born harp player Big George Brock, a 73-year-old bluesman with a sound as big as a freight train hurtling through the cotton fields in the Delta.
Cat Head has just released Brock’s “Club Caravan,” featuring the Houserockers for 50 raucous minutes of classic blues that will take you back to 1950s Chicago, although Brock, a former boxer who was born in Grenada, Miss., has lived in St. Louis for most of his life.
Big George composed most of the music on “Club Caravan” (named after one of the blues clubs he ran in St. Louis), with some Jimmy Reed, Sonny Boy Williamson and Muddy Waters tossed in to spice things up. But this is Brock’s show, which sounds like one of his marathon juke joint performances.
All you have to do is hit replay and keep listening to a genuine master of the Delta blues.
Big George is one of the last of the authentic Southern bluesmen. Most people don’t even know they’re still around. When they’re gone, their music will only be heard on CDs and LPs. Stolle has recorded one of the best.
“Club Caravan” is available from www.cathead.biz.
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