By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
It was another tough conference twin-bill for the Jacksonville Red Devils on Tuesday, as they dropped two games to Jonesboro at Dupree Park. The Golden Hurri-cane took both games by scores of 8-0, with a no-hitter pitched by Jonesboro pitcher Cody Powell in game two. It would make the sixth straight conference game lost by Jacksonville.
“They played like they have 11 seniors on their team, and we played like we’re young,” Jackson-ville coach Larry Burrows said. “Their pitchers made it tough on us. They hit spots and changed speeds. Our young guys have had some playing time; we just have to play better than that.”
Jacksonville’s pitching struggled in the first game. Starting pitcher Cameron Hood was replaced by Jordan Payer in the top of the first inning after Hood walked three straight batters. Payer stayed in until the top of the fifth inning, when Eric Berry stepped in to finish the game from the mound.
A two-run home run from Jonesboro’s Murray Watts gave the Hurricane an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. Payer saved further Jonesboro runs, striking out his first batter with the bases loaded to end the top of the inning.
Adam Ussery got the first of only four Jacksonville hits the entire night in the bottom of the second inning with a shot to left field. Jonesboro starting pitcher Watts got one of his total 10 strikeouts against Payer to leave Ussery on base at the end of the inning.
Adrian Baker would be the next Red Devil to hit in the bottom of the fourth inning with an infield shot for a single. Baker did not stay on long, however, as Jonesboro tagged him out while trying to steal second to end the inning.
The top of the fifth inning was very productive for the Hurri-cane, as six Jonesboro runners made it in for scores. After Payer gave up two runs in the inning, Berry took over pitching duties for Jacksonville. Two more hits off Berry would result in four more Jonesboro runs before the end of the session.
A single to right field from Blake Mattison in the bottom of the fifth and a centerfield shot from Hood in the bottom of the sixth inning were the final two hits for Jacksonville in the game.
A pop up from Jake Ussery ended Mattison’s chances for a score in the fifth, while a pop up from Baker and a strikeout on Adam Ussery ended the Red Devils’ chances in the sixth.
Seven walks and an error in the top of the second inning were the only opportunities offensively for Jacksonville in the second game. Starting Hurricane pitcher Powell recorded eight strike outs on his way to throwing the no-hitter.
After a single score in the bottom of the first and two runs in the bottom of the second, Jonesboro added more runs in the third and fourth innings to put the game out of reach for Jacksonville.
The loss gives Jacksonville a record of 5-8 overall and 0-6 in the AAAAA-East conference.
The Red Devils will face Sylvan Hills in a conference doubleheader next Tuesday in Sher-wood after taking the remainder of this week off for spring break.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
NEIGHBORS >> The tables have turned
By SARA GREENE
Leader staff writer
The time has come for Brooks Nash to take the HOT SEAT
In 1961, Brooks Nash, a member of the Cabot school board and retired principal, became one of the first lettermen on the University of Arkansas at Little Rock basketball team back when the school was called Little Rock University.
He will be the guest of honor at the Cabot Scholarship Foundation’s 11th Annual Roast and Toast at Cabot Junior High North cafeteria at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 18.
The annual event is the primary fund-raiser for the Cabot Scholarship Foundation. It will be catered by Back Yard Burgers.
“In 1960, we were an independent league and we’d play against teams like Carter Buick and the Chore Boys,” Nash said in an interview.
“It’s neat to reflect back on being one of the first lettermen in 1961,” he said.
He met and married fellow teacher-to-be Donna Jenkins, his wife of the past 43 years, before graduating from Little Rock University in 1965. He taught school for two years at McClellan High School and two years at Cloverdale Junior High before opening Minute Man Hamburgers on the corner of Capital and Broadway streets in Little Rock.
“There was just more money to be made in cooking hamburgers,” Nash said. About six years later, Nash realized he was missing spending quality time with his children, daughter, Brooklynn, and son, Mike. So he started teaching in Cabot.
“The best advice I ever got from my dad was never cut off your nose to spite your face,” Mike Nash, 35, told The Leader.
“I never understood any of his advice. He used big words and it all went way over my head,” says Brooklynn Grimm, 36.
The Nash family moved to Cabot, where Brooks started working as a social studies teacher at Cabot High School. Students voted him the Cabot High School Teacher of the Year in 1977.
After that, Brooks Nash became the assistant principal at Cabot High School for two years before becoming principal of Cabot Junior High North. He retired from the district as principal in 2001. He was elected to the school board in 2004.
During retirement, Brooks spends his time with his family including grandson, Tyler Grimm, 2, as well as family dogs Baron Van Wolfgang and Duke. He manages rental property in Little Rock and watches television–mostly football and ‘Days of Our Lives.’
“Dad is obsessive about ‘Days.’ You do not call the house between 1 and 2 p.m.,” said Brooklynn Grimm.
“As he gets older, Dad gets more and more like Frank Costanza on ‘Seinfeld,’” jokes Mike Nash.
Both Mike and Brooklynn followed in their parents’ footsteps by becoming educators in the Cabot School District.
Mike Nash teaches U. S. history and Brooklynn teaches elementary school part-time.
“Brooks served the children in our community for many years,” said Don Elliott, former school superintendent and chairman of the Cabot Scholarship Foundation. “As a principal, he was well-liked by teachers and students alike. As a teacher, he made social studies interesting.”
Tickets for the roast and toast are $25. Reservations for tables of eight are available for $150.
In 2005, the foundation provided $28,000 in scholarships to more than 20 recipients.
Elliott said the organization hopes to give out more than $30,000 in scholarships this year. Scholarship recipients are an-nounced at the roast.
The Cabot Scholarship Foun-dation is a Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. In many cases, employers will meet em-ployee donations to scholarship foundations.
Donations to the foundation are often in memory or in honor of a friend or loved one. Those donations have ranged from $5 to $25,000.
In addition to Elliott, other members of the Cabot Scholarship Foundation board are Nina Butler, Fred Campbell, Tracy French, Carole Jones, Carolyn Park, John C. Thompson and Steve Tipton.
Leader staff writer
The time has come for Brooks Nash to take the HOT SEAT
In 1961, Brooks Nash, a member of the Cabot school board and retired principal, became one of the first lettermen on the University of Arkansas at Little Rock basketball team back when the school was called Little Rock University.
He will be the guest of honor at the Cabot Scholarship Foundation’s 11th Annual Roast and Toast at Cabot Junior High North cafeteria at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 18.
The annual event is the primary fund-raiser for the Cabot Scholarship Foundation. It will be catered by Back Yard Burgers.
“In 1960, we were an independent league and we’d play against teams like Carter Buick and the Chore Boys,” Nash said in an interview.
“It’s neat to reflect back on being one of the first lettermen in 1961,” he said.
He met and married fellow teacher-to-be Donna Jenkins, his wife of the past 43 years, before graduating from Little Rock University in 1965. He taught school for two years at McClellan High School and two years at Cloverdale Junior High before opening Minute Man Hamburgers on the corner of Capital and Broadway streets in Little Rock.
“There was just more money to be made in cooking hamburgers,” Nash said. About six years later, Nash realized he was missing spending quality time with his children, daughter, Brooklynn, and son, Mike. So he started teaching in Cabot.
“The best advice I ever got from my dad was never cut off your nose to spite your face,” Mike Nash, 35, told The Leader.
“I never understood any of his advice. He used big words and it all went way over my head,” says Brooklynn Grimm, 36.
The Nash family moved to Cabot, where Brooks started working as a social studies teacher at Cabot High School. Students voted him the Cabot High School Teacher of the Year in 1977.
After that, Brooks Nash became the assistant principal at Cabot High School for two years before becoming principal of Cabot Junior High North. He retired from the district as principal in 2001. He was elected to the school board in 2004.
During retirement, Brooks spends his time with his family including grandson, Tyler Grimm, 2, as well as family dogs Baron Van Wolfgang and Duke. He manages rental property in Little Rock and watches television–mostly football and ‘Days of Our Lives.’
“Dad is obsessive about ‘Days.’ You do not call the house between 1 and 2 p.m.,” said Brooklynn Grimm.
“As he gets older, Dad gets more and more like Frank Costanza on ‘Seinfeld,’” jokes Mike Nash.
Both Mike and Brooklynn followed in their parents’ footsteps by becoming educators in the Cabot School District.
Mike Nash teaches U. S. history and Brooklynn teaches elementary school part-time.
“Brooks served the children in our community for many years,” said Don Elliott, former school superintendent and chairman of the Cabot Scholarship Foundation. “As a principal, he was well-liked by teachers and students alike. As a teacher, he made social studies interesting.”
Tickets for the roast and toast are $25. Reservations for tables of eight are available for $150.
In 2005, the foundation provided $28,000 in scholarships to more than 20 recipients.
Elliott said the organization hopes to give out more than $30,000 in scholarships this year. Scholarship recipients are an-nounced at the roast.
The Cabot Scholarship Foun-dation is a Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. In many cases, employers will meet em-ployee donations to scholarship foundations.
Donations to the foundation are often in memory or in honor of a friend or loved one. Those donations have ranged from $5 to $25,000.
In addition to Elliott, other members of the Cabot Scholarship Foundation board are Nina Butler, Fred Campbell, Tracy French, Carole Jones, Carolyn Park, John C. Thompson and Steve Tipton.
FROM THE PUBLISHER >> Journalist put down deep roots
Cone Magie, who passed away Monday at the age of 81, was one of those newspaper publishers who are so closely identified with their communities that it’s hard to imagine one without the other.
Magie, who published the Cabot Star-Herald for half a century with his wife Betty, helped shepherd that community’s dramatic growth.
They thrived and prospered, but what most people don’t realize, except maybe for the old-timers, is that Cone, like many of the town’s residents, wasn’t originally from Cabot.
He was born toward the other end of Lonoke County, down in England, and moved around several places before he found his life-long calling, when he and his wife started the Cabot Star in competition with the Cabot Herald.
J.M. Park, the longtime Cabot banker, recalled Tuesday that many residents were unhappy with the Herald, which was closely allied with the town’s longtime mayor.
“We had our political wars in Cabot,” Park said. “The mayor was in office for a long time. He was a little bit dictatorial. People felt the paper leaned a little too much toward the mayor.”
The Star helped usher in a new era in Cabot, and the Magies soon bought out the Herald.
“They were two of the hardest-working people I’ve ever encountered in Cabot,” Park said. “They were community-spirited. I hold them in very high esteem. I admire what they have accomplished.”
Cone quickly became an insider and, really, Mr. Cabot: He was the eyes and ears of the community, and no smart politician would run for office without first consulting him.
Cone knew them all, including Rep. Bill Foster, the Sage of England. The two helped convince the Highway Department to build Hwy. 321, which is named after Foster.
Cone was a lifelong Demo-crat, active in politics (he served on the state Parks and Tourism Commission) and supported Bill Clinton, which made him an FOB (Friend of Bill).
Only two Arkansas publishers are listed as having slept over at the White House during the Clinton years (although others may have slept there who are not on the official list): Betty and Cone Magie and Charlotte and Melvin Schexnayder of Dumas, old-school newspaper people who felt comfortable mixing socially with the people they wrote about.
During Clinton’s second inaugural, Cone paid me a backhanded compliment when I introduced him to my daughter Rebecca.
“How does someone as ugly as you have a beautiful daughter like her?” he asked.
“Thanks, Cone,” I mumbled.
Moore’s Cabot Funeral Home on Second Street is in charge of the funeral. Visitation is from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday. The funeral is at 1 p.m. Thursday at First United Methodist Church in Cabot followed by interment at Concord Cemetery in Furlow.
Magie, who published the Cabot Star-Herald for half a century with his wife Betty, helped shepherd that community’s dramatic growth.
They thrived and prospered, but what most people don’t realize, except maybe for the old-timers, is that Cone, like many of the town’s residents, wasn’t originally from Cabot.
He was born toward the other end of Lonoke County, down in England, and moved around several places before he found his life-long calling, when he and his wife started the Cabot Star in competition with the Cabot Herald.
J.M. Park, the longtime Cabot banker, recalled Tuesday that many residents were unhappy with the Herald, which was closely allied with the town’s longtime mayor.
“We had our political wars in Cabot,” Park said. “The mayor was in office for a long time. He was a little bit dictatorial. People felt the paper leaned a little too much toward the mayor.”
The Star helped usher in a new era in Cabot, and the Magies soon bought out the Herald.
“They were two of the hardest-working people I’ve ever encountered in Cabot,” Park said. “They were community-spirited. I hold them in very high esteem. I admire what they have accomplished.”
Cone quickly became an insider and, really, Mr. Cabot: He was the eyes and ears of the community, and no smart politician would run for office without first consulting him.
Cone knew them all, including Rep. Bill Foster, the Sage of England. The two helped convince the Highway Department to build Hwy. 321, which is named after Foster.
Cone was a lifelong Demo-crat, active in politics (he served on the state Parks and Tourism Commission) and supported Bill Clinton, which made him an FOB (Friend of Bill).
Only two Arkansas publishers are listed as having slept over at the White House during the Clinton years (although others may have slept there who are not on the official list): Betty and Cone Magie and Charlotte and Melvin Schexnayder of Dumas, old-school newspaper people who felt comfortable mixing socially with the people they wrote about.
During Clinton’s second inaugural, Cone paid me a backhanded compliment when I introduced him to my daughter Rebecca.
“How does someone as ugly as you have a beautiful daughter like her?” he asked.
“Thanks, Cone,” I mumbled.
Moore’s Cabot Funeral Home on Second Street is in charge of the funeral. Visitation is from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday. The funeral is at 1 p.m. Thursday at First United Methodist Church in Cabot followed by interment at Concord Cemetery in Furlow.
TOP STORY >> Most area schools meet spending cap
Report Issued
All area school districts, except England, appear to be safe under Gov. Mike Huckabee’s proposed cap on administrative costs as a percentage of total budget, according to a state Education Department’s administrative cost report for the 2004—2005 school year.
But based on categories used to determine a district’s total administrative cost, Cabot and Searcy spent more supervising and administrating athletics than they did on improvement of instructional services. Supervisory and administrative costs of athletics and improvement of instructional services are two of 12 categories the education department used to calculate a district’s total administrative expenses.
All figures, according to Don Stewart, who prepared the report, are from information provided to the state by the individual districts.
Under the athletic supervisory category, Cabot listed $46,130 in administrative expenses, while Searcy has $36,358 coded to that category. Lonoke and Carlisle have no expenses listed, while Beebe has $31,256 in expenses in the athletic category.
Cabot, Beebe and Searcy all report more in their central office athletic fund than does Pulaski County Special School District, which only has $23,928 in that fund.
By comparison, North Little Rock has $151,672 in expenses in the athletic category and Little Rock has $303,812. “In districts where the athletic director wears dual hats, his salary and other expenses may be coded into a different fund,” Stewart said.
Cabot and Searcy list no expenses under the category of improvement of instructional services. Carlisle and England also have no expenses under that category, but have no expenses listed in the athletic category either.
PCSSD has $1.15 million in expenses listed under the supervision of improvement of instructional services category, while Beebe lists $119,256 in expenses.
Stewart’s report, the first of its kind to be generated for the state, tried to reflect the cost of central office administration. “We did not include the cost of principals or any other administrative personnel working at the building level,” Stewart explained.
He said many of the districts have been miscoding information and will use the results of this report to more accurately code their expenses. “I think our next report, which will be generated in September for 2005-2006, will be much more accurate and valid,” Stewart said. The governor’s idea is to cap “administrative expenses” at 7 percent of districts’ total budgets to ensure that more money is available for classroom instruction.
In the Education Department’s report, prepared by Stewart, PCSSD spent 5.13 percent of its 2000-2005 budget on administrative expenses.
Cabot was at 4.24 percent, Lonoke at 6.24 percent, Beebe at 6.14 percent, Carlisle at 5.33 percent and Searcy at 5.53 percent.
England School District, according to the report was the only area district above the proposed cap, at 7.35 percent. The governor hasn’t specified which costs would be considered administrative for purposes of complying with the cap, and there is no uniformity among districts as to which costs fall under which categories. For instance, Cabot doesn’t consider the salaries of administrators and staff as administrative costs, while some districts do.
“There’s going to have to be more specificity in what’s included,” said Julie Thompson, spokesman for the Education Department. For in-stance, “an assistant superintendent for instruction can be coded as an administrative or instructional expense.”
The state report used information reported by the districts in the categories of support-services-general administration, support services-business, supervisory operations and maintenance of plant facilities, supervisory costs of student transportation services, support services-central office and supervisory costs of attendance and social services work. The report also added in the supervisory cost of athletics, guidance services, health services, psychological services, improvement of instructional services and speech pathology and audiology services.
John Archetko, interim chief financial officer of the PCSSD, said the 2004-2005 school year budget did not include additional cuts necessitated by the district’s designation as being in fiscal distress.
Archetko said that through continual belt tightening at the central office, “I’ve lost four or five people in six years. They’ve been paring back for four or five years.”
“I think we are well under the cap with our current budget, but until we find out what the governor classifies as ‘administrative expenses’ we don’t know for certain,” said Frank Holman, superintendent of Cabot School District. School districts are waiting to see what extra expenses–such as bus transportation, operations and maintenance for facilities as well as support services–may be included in the governor’s legislation.
With the new legislation, seven percent of Cabot’s $52.6 million budget would result in about $3 million for administrative services.
“Every time you put funding in a matrix, it takes away flexibility,” Holman told The Leader. For example, Cabot School District may need a higher percentage of funding than other districts for transportation because of the large number of students bused in.
“I think we’ve always done a good job of funding classroom instruction,” Holman said.
Stewart admits the information in his report may contain inaccuracies. “We can only go by what the districts code as their expenses,” he said. But at this point, the state will use the figures generated in the report to look at districts, such as England, coming in above the 7 percent cap figure.
Leader staff writers Rick Kron, Sara Greene and John Hofheimer contributed to this report.
All area school districts, except England, appear to be safe under Gov. Mike Huckabee’s proposed cap on administrative costs as a percentage of total budget, according to a state Education Department’s administrative cost report for the 2004—2005 school year.
But based on categories used to determine a district’s total administrative cost, Cabot and Searcy spent more supervising and administrating athletics than they did on improvement of instructional services. Supervisory and administrative costs of athletics and improvement of instructional services are two of 12 categories the education department used to calculate a district’s total administrative expenses.
All figures, according to Don Stewart, who prepared the report, are from information provided to the state by the individual districts.
Under the athletic supervisory category, Cabot listed $46,130 in administrative expenses, while Searcy has $36,358 coded to that category. Lonoke and Carlisle have no expenses listed, while Beebe has $31,256 in expenses in the athletic category.
Cabot, Beebe and Searcy all report more in their central office athletic fund than does Pulaski County Special School District, which only has $23,928 in that fund.
By comparison, North Little Rock has $151,672 in expenses in the athletic category and Little Rock has $303,812. “In districts where the athletic director wears dual hats, his salary and other expenses may be coded into a different fund,” Stewart said.
Cabot and Searcy list no expenses under the category of improvement of instructional services. Carlisle and England also have no expenses under that category, but have no expenses listed in the athletic category either.
PCSSD has $1.15 million in expenses listed under the supervision of improvement of instructional services category, while Beebe lists $119,256 in expenses.
Stewart’s report, the first of its kind to be generated for the state, tried to reflect the cost of central office administration. “We did not include the cost of principals or any other administrative personnel working at the building level,” Stewart explained.
He said many of the districts have been miscoding information and will use the results of this report to more accurately code their expenses. “I think our next report, which will be generated in September for 2005-2006, will be much more accurate and valid,” Stewart said. The governor’s idea is to cap “administrative expenses” at 7 percent of districts’ total budgets to ensure that more money is available for classroom instruction.
In the Education Department’s report, prepared by Stewart, PCSSD spent 5.13 percent of its 2000-2005 budget on administrative expenses.
Cabot was at 4.24 percent, Lonoke at 6.24 percent, Beebe at 6.14 percent, Carlisle at 5.33 percent and Searcy at 5.53 percent.
England School District, according to the report was the only area district above the proposed cap, at 7.35 percent. The governor hasn’t specified which costs would be considered administrative for purposes of complying with the cap, and there is no uniformity among districts as to which costs fall under which categories. For instance, Cabot doesn’t consider the salaries of administrators and staff as administrative costs, while some districts do.
“There’s going to have to be more specificity in what’s included,” said Julie Thompson, spokesman for the Education Department. For in-stance, “an assistant superintendent for instruction can be coded as an administrative or instructional expense.”
The state report used information reported by the districts in the categories of support-services-general administration, support services-business, supervisory operations and maintenance of plant facilities, supervisory costs of student transportation services, support services-central office and supervisory costs of attendance and social services work. The report also added in the supervisory cost of athletics, guidance services, health services, psychological services, improvement of instructional services and speech pathology and audiology services.
John Archetko, interim chief financial officer of the PCSSD, said the 2004-2005 school year budget did not include additional cuts necessitated by the district’s designation as being in fiscal distress.
Archetko said that through continual belt tightening at the central office, “I’ve lost four or five people in six years. They’ve been paring back for four or five years.”
“I think we are well under the cap with our current budget, but until we find out what the governor classifies as ‘administrative expenses’ we don’t know for certain,” said Frank Holman, superintendent of Cabot School District. School districts are waiting to see what extra expenses–such as bus transportation, operations and maintenance for facilities as well as support services–may be included in the governor’s legislation.
With the new legislation, seven percent of Cabot’s $52.6 million budget would result in about $3 million for administrative services.
“Every time you put funding in a matrix, it takes away flexibility,” Holman told The Leader. For example, Cabot School District may need a higher percentage of funding than other districts for transportation because of the large number of students bused in.
“I think we’ve always done a good job of funding classroom instruction,” Holman said.
Stewart admits the information in his report may contain inaccuracies. “We can only go by what the districts code as their expenses,” he said. But at this point, the state will use the figures generated in the report to look at districts, such as England, coming in above the 7 percent cap figure.
Leader staff writers Rick Kron, Sara Greene and John Hofheimer contributed to this report.
TOP STORY >> Mayor honors teen’s work
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
Sherwood Mayor Bill Harmon Monday night recognized a North Little Rock East Campus student for collecting about 1,400 backpacks, suitcases and other bags for use by foster children as they move through the system.
When a Sherwood family adopted Katya Lyzhina, 16, from Russia, she traveled with all her possessions in a plastic trash bag, a situation she found less than dignified.
She wants the children taken from their homes to escape that particular humiliation, according to her mother, Jan Scholl. Scholl is director of the North Little Rock Mayor’s Youth Council. That’s why she started “Baggage Claim.”
Lyzhina also helped fix up a house for use by Katrina victims.
In other action, the council unanimously rezoned property at 7815 Hwy. 107 from residential to C-3 commercial, but allowed the resident to remain at the property for two years.
The council also found four mobile homes at the corner of Jamesway and Hollomore to constitute a public nuisance.
Having been declared a nuisance, the owners have 30 days to tear down or remove the structures after the city posts a notice.
The annual Easter Egg Hunt was set for 2 p.m. April 16 at Sherwood Forest, and the Arkansas Lady Razorback softball team will host Louisiana-Monroe in a doubleheader beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Sherwood Sportsplex.
The council also reappointed Mayor Harmon, David Henry, Angela Nicholson and Rosetta Ramsey to the retirement board.
The council also appointed Freddie Hudson and Ray Har-rison to five-year terms on the Planning Com-mission and Board of Adjustment, terms ending May 31, 2011.
Leader staff writer
Sherwood Mayor Bill Harmon Monday night recognized a North Little Rock East Campus student for collecting about 1,400 backpacks, suitcases and other bags for use by foster children as they move through the system.
When a Sherwood family adopted Katya Lyzhina, 16, from Russia, she traveled with all her possessions in a plastic trash bag, a situation she found less than dignified.
She wants the children taken from their homes to escape that particular humiliation, according to her mother, Jan Scholl. Scholl is director of the North Little Rock Mayor’s Youth Council. That’s why she started “Baggage Claim.”
Lyzhina also helped fix up a house for use by Katrina victims.
In other action, the council unanimously rezoned property at 7815 Hwy. 107 from residential to C-3 commercial, but allowed the resident to remain at the property for two years.
The council also found four mobile homes at the corner of Jamesway and Hollomore to constitute a public nuisance.
Having been declared a nuisance, the owners have 30 days to tear down or remove the structures after the city posts a notice.
The annual Easter Egg Hunt was set for 2 p.m. April 16 at Sherwood Forest, and the Arkansas Lady Razorback softball team will host Louisiana-Monroe in a doubleheader beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Sherwood Sportsplex.
The council also reappointed Mayor Harmon, David Henry, Angela Nicholson and Rosetta Ramsey to the retirement board.
The council also appointed Freddie Hudson and Ray Har-rison to five-year terms on the Planning Com-mission and Board of Adjustment, terms ending May 31, 2011.
TOP STORY >> Three will challenge Privett in Lonoke
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
Lonoke Mayor Thomas Privett, who has drawn at least three primary opponents in his first reelection bid, said Monday that they may have thought he wasn’t going to run again or that misdemeanor charges filed against him alleging that he had prisoners do personal work weakened him.
“They may think I’m vulnerable,” said Privett.
He has been charged with theft of services for having Act 309 inmates at the Lonoke Jail help with his home garden, hang his Christmas lights and work on an air conditioner.
“I’ve already admitted it to the 309 oversight committee,” said Privett, who will be arraigned April 4.
He said he would nonetheless ask for a jury trial, saying he wanted to tell his story.
Privett has a working relationship with each of the three announced challengers in the Democratic primary.
Jim Parks, who ran unsuccessfully against Privett in 2004, is on the city public safety committee. Roy Henderson helped the mayor with the city’s response to Katrina refugees and Wayne McGee is a sitting Lonoke alderman.
Privett said a couple of his opponents may have thought he wasn’t going to seek reelection, but that he had started several projects that he wanted to see through for the town.
Privett has worked long and hard to help attract a manufacturer to Lonoke and pressed to get the town a new I-40 interchange at Hwy. 89.
He said the two were closely related and that Lonoke might already have landed an auto-parts manufacturer if the interchange had been built or assured.
The new interchange design would have a two-way loop to bring traffic on and off westbound I-40 and another on-off loop for eastbound I-40 traffic.
“We met with the Highway Department last week and they gave us their choice,” said Privett.
As for bringing new industry to a site adjacent to the proposed interchange, Privett said representatives of another auto-related industry had flown in by helicopter last week to meet with leaders and see the site.
Leader staff writer
Lonoke Mayor Thomas Privett, who has drawn at least three primary opponents in his first reelection bid, said Monday that they may have thought he wasn’t going to run again or that misdemeanor charges filed against him alleging that he had prisoners do personal work weakened him.
“They may think I’m vulnerable,” said Privett.
He has been charged with theft of services for having Act 309 inmates at the Lonoke Jail help with his home garden, hang his Christmas lights and work on an air conditioner.
“I’ve already admitted it to the 309 oversight committee,” said Privett, who will be arraigned April 4.
He said he would nonetheless ask for a jury trial, saying he wanted to tell his story.
Privett has a working relationship with each of the three announced challengers in the Democratic primary.
Jim Parks, who ran unsuccessfully against Privett in 2004, is on the city public safety committee. Roy Henderson helped the mayor with the city’s response to Katrina refugees and Wayne McGee is a sitting Lonoke alderman.
Privett said a couple of his opponents may have thought he wasn’t going to seek reelection, but that he had started several projects that he wanted to see through for the town.
Privett has worked long and hard to help attract a manufacturer to Lonoke and pressed to get the town a new I-40 interchange at Hwy. 89.
He said the two were closely related and that Lonoke might already have landed an auto-parts manufacturer if the interchange had been built or assured.
The new interchange design would have a two-way loop to bring traffic on and off westbound I-40 and another on-off loop for eastbound I-40 traffic.
“We met with the Highway Department last week and they gave us their choice,” said Privett.
As for bringing new industry to a site adjacent to the proposed interchange, Privett said representatives of another auto-related industry had flown in by helicopter last week to meet with leaders and see the site.
TOP STORY >> Finalist for chief left job under a cloud
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
Although his resume won’t reflect it, one of the five finalists to be the next Lonoke chief of police was forced from his job as Blytheville chief of police in February, in part for using the “n” word during the course of a drug taskforce operation, according to articles published in the Blytheville Courier News.
In a negotiated settlement with the city, Royce Carpenter ceased his official duties in February, but including accumulated vacation and leave, he will be paid through mid-October.
The settlement between Carpen-ter and the city requires officials to describe his performance and circumstances of his leaving in “neutral terms,” the Courier News learned through the answer to a Freedom of Information request.
Lonoke Mayor Thomas Privett said Tuesday, however, that Blythe-ville Mayor Barrett Harrison had given Carpenter a very good recommendation.
Other terms of the agreement call for Carpenter to receive his regular salary while on extended leave of absence until Oct. 14, 2006 and allow him to retain his title during that time. Asked about that Tuesday, Privett said he had been unaware of the controversy or circumstances surrounding Carpenter’s departure from the Blytheville chief’s job.
“It sounds like there are some internal problems,” he said. “There’s definitely a shadow there.”
Privett said the interviews already were set up and that Alderman Michael Florence was checking Carpenter’s Blytheville references while he had asked state Sen. Bobby Glover to help find people to talk to in Camden, where Carpenter was chief for 20 years.
The 10-person search committee is slated to interview Carpenter and the four other finalists for Lonoke police chief on Thursday. Privett has said he hopes to name a new police chief next week.
Carpenter’s detractors say he left under significant scrutiny and criticism for an abusive management style, raising the ire of some on the city council.
His supporters say he inherited “a mess” when he took over the position with a mandate to clean it up and that many of his problems stemmed from internal resistance to changes he made.
The incident with the racially insensitive language was not directed toward anyone, but part of a term used to describe a situation, according to reports.
In a Feb. 12 press release, Carpenter pointed to the declining number of crimes, saying, “The direction in which I was leading the department was correct and good for the city and its residents.”
Lonoke received 29 applications from around the country as well as from Jordan, South Africa and Great Britain, Privett said.
Lonoke has been without a permanent police chief since Jay Campbell resigned in February after Lonoke County Prosecutor Lona McCastlain filed drug- and theft-related felony charges against him.
Capt. Sean O’Nale, the interim chief since that time, is not a candidate for the job.
The other finalists include Don Black of Tuckerman; Rick Sliger, chief of the of Eagle, Colo., Police Department; Nicholas Finer of Kinston, Ala., and Bobby Tanner of San Bernadino, Calif.
The Colorado and California applicants each had ties to Arkansas, Privett said.
Both Black and Finer continue as police chiefs. No information was readily available by press time about Sliger and Tanner.
Privett said the names of the applicants were removed from the information passed on to the search committee, and each of the 29 was rated by each of the commissioners.
By law, the mayor has the authority to hire the police chief, but he said his recommendation would probably be the same as the committee recommendation. Privett will then ask the city council to endorse his decision.
He said different committee members had different priorities. Some stressed the importance of a new chief’s personality in dealing with the public, his experience and also experience as a successful supervisor.
Leader staff writer
Although his resume won’t reflect it, one of the five finalists to be the next Lonoke chief of police was forced from his job as Blytheville chief of police in February, in part for using the “n” word during the course of a drug taskforce operation, according to articles published in the Blytheville Courier News.
In a negotiated settlement with the city, Royce Carpenter ceased his official duties in February, but including accumulated vacation and leave, he will be paid through mid-October.
The settlement between Carpen-ter and the city requires officials to describe his performance and circumstances of his leaving in “neutral terms,” the Courier News learned through the answer to a Freedom of Information request.
Lonoke Mayor Thomas Privett said Tuesday, however, that Blythe-ville Mayor Barrett Harrison had given Carpenter a very good recommendation.
Other terms of the agreement call for Carpenter to receive his regular salary while on extended leave of absence until Oct. 14, 2006 and allow him to retain his title during that time. Asked about that Tuesday, Privett said he had been unaware of the controversy or circumstances surrounding Carpenter’s departure from the Blytheville chief’s job.
“It sounds like there are some internal problems,” he said. “There’s definitely a shadow there.”
Privett said the interviews already were set up and that Alderman Michael Florence was checking Carpenter’s Blytheville references while he had asked state Sen. Bobby Glover to help find people to talk to in Camden, where Carpenter was chief for 20 years.
The 10-person search committee is slated to interview Carpenter and the four other finalists for Lonoke police chief on Thursday. Privett has said he hopes to name a new police chief next week.
Carpenter’s detractors say he left under significant scrutiny and criticism for an abusive management style, raising the ire of some on the city council.
His supporters say he inherited “a mess” when he took over the position with a mandate to clean it up and that many of his problems stemmed from internal resistance to changes he made.
The incident with the racially insensitive language was not directed toward anyone, but part of a term used to describe a situation, according to reports.
In a Feb. 12 press release, Carpenter pointed to the declining number of crimes, saying, “The direction in which I was leading the department was correct and good for the city and its residents.”
Lonoke received 29 applications from around the country as well as from Jordan, South Africa and Great Britain, Privett said.
Lonoke has been without a permanent police chief since Jay Campbell resigned in February after Lonoke County Prosecutor Lona McCastlain filed drug- and theft-related felony charges against him.
Capt. Sean O’Nale, the interim chief since that time, is not a candidate for the job.
The other finalists include Don Black of Tuckerman; Rick Sliger, chief of the of Eagle, Colo., Police Department; Nicholas Finer of Kinston, Ala., and Bobby Tanner of San Bernadino, Calif.
The Colorado and California applicants each had ties to Arkansas, Privett said.
Both Black and Finer continue as police chiefs. No information was readily available by press time about Sliger and Tanner.
Privett said the names of the applicants were removed from the information passed on to the search committee, and each of the 29 was rated by each of the commissioners.
By law, the mayor has the authority to hire the police chief, but he said his recommendation would probably be the same as the committee recommendation. Privett will then ask the city council to endorse his decision.
He said different committee members had different priorities. Some stressed the importance of a new chief’s personality in dealing with the public, his experience and also experience as a successful supervisor.
TOP STORY >> Candidates continue to file
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
Rep. Will Bond, D-Jacksonville, filed Monday for re-election in Dist. 56.
The lawmaker said his top priority would be trying to make sure that senior citizens can live in their homes as long as possible.
“I want to incentivize by providing in-home services,” he said. “Its cheaper to live at home, and everybody wants to live out their lives in dignity at home, not in a skilled nursing home.”
Bond, who will be term limited at the end of the next term if he’s reelected, lost his bid to be speaker of the House earlier this year to Rep. Benny Petrus, D-Stuttgart.
Bond said he also wants to make sure that the transitional housing funds for the state Correction Department are used to help ensure that inmates are ready before being put back into society. “We need to work on the recidivism rate,” said Bond.
Finally, he said he’d like to see the state working aggressively to help small businesses offer health care to workers.
“We talk a lot about business, but not small business,” he said. “That’s the engine that drives the nation and Arkansas.”
He said a relatively high percentage of Arkansas businesses employing more than 100 provide health care, but a low percentage of smaller businesses do.
“That’s a big issue,” said Bond. “I hope we can focus on that.”
In other state offices, no one has filed in Senate Dists. 28 and 29 for seats held by Democrats Bobby Glover of Carlisle and John Paul Capps of Searcy, or in House Dist. 48, held by Susan Schulte, R-Cabot.
House Dist. 15 Rep. Lenville Evans, D–Lonoke, and Dist. 43 Rep. Jeff Wood, D-Sherwood, both filed March 21.
Ricky Thomas, R-Judsonia, filed March 21 for the House Dist. 49 seat held by Rep. Mark Pate, D-Bald Knob.
Lonoke County Prosecutor Lona McCastlain has announced her intention to run for a fourth term, but unlike her opponent Tim Blair, she had not made the trip to Little Rock to file.
Blair, a Democrat filed March 21. McCastlain, a Republican, said Tuesday afternoon that the April 4 deadline is still days away so she still has time.
“I’m pretty busy here,” she said. “I will file before the deadline, but work is work.”
Prosecutors and circuit judges don’t file at the county clerk’s office like city and county candidates do. They file with the secretary of state.
McCastlain is in her eighth year in office. In 1998, she defeated Barbara Elmore, who had been a deputy prosecutor, by one vote. Two years later, she defeated Elmore again by a wider margin.
When state law changed prosecutors’ terms in office from two years to four, McCastlain ran unopposed for her third term.
The state is divided into 23 judicial districts. Most are made up of more than one county, but Lonoke, the 23rd Judicial District, stands alone.
In the 17th Judicial District, made up of White and Prairie counties, Prosecutor Chris Raff, a Democrat, filed March 24. No other candidate has announced for that office. In the 6th Judicial District, made up of Pulaski and Perry counties, Prosecutor Larry Jegley filed March 25.
Circuit judges were elected for four-year terms until four years ago, when the terms were changed to six years. Now most circuit judges across the state have two years left before they have to run again to keep their jobs. Attorney General Mike Beebe of Searcy, a Democrat, filed for governor Tuesday. He will oppose Republican Asa Hutchinson of Fort Smith.
Republican Tom Formicola of Little Rock filed Monday to run for the 2nd District congressional seat, setting up a GOP primary race for the seat held by Democratic Rep. Vic Snyder, who filed last week.
Formicola, a health care executive, joins Republican Andy May-berry of Hensley in the May 23 primary. Mayberry filed last week.
Leader staff writer
Rep. Will Bond, D-Jacksonville, filed Monday for re-election in Dist. 56.
The lawmaker said his top priority would be trying to make sure that senior citizens can live in their homes as long as possible.
“I want to incentivize by providing in-home services,” he said. “Its cheaper to live at home, and everybody wants to live out their lives in dignity at home, not in a skilled nursing home.”
Bond, who will be term limited at the end of the next term if he’s reelected, lost his bid to be speaker of the House earlier this year to Rep. Benny Petrus, D-Stuttgart.
Bond said he also wants to make sure that the transitional housing funds for the state Correction Department are used to help ensure that inmates are ready before being put back into society. “We need to work on the recidivism rate,” said Bond.
Finally, he said he’d like to see the state working aggressively to help small businesses offer health care to workers.
“We talk a lot about business, but not small business,” he said. “That’s the engine that drives the nation and Arkansas.”
He said a relatively high percentage of Arkansas businesses employing more than 100 provide health care, but a low percentage of smaller businesses do.
“That’s a big issue,” said Bond. “I hope we can focus on that.”
In other state offices, no one has filed in Senate Dists. 28 and 29 for seats held by Democrats Bobby Glover of Carlisle and John Paul Capps of Searcy, or in House Dist. 48, held by Susan Schulte, R-Cabot.
House Dist. 15 Rep. Lenville Evans, D–Lonoke, and Dist. 43 Rep. Jeff Wood, D-Sherwood, both filed March 21.
Ricky Thomas, R-Judsonia, filed March 21 for the House Dist. 49 seat held by Rep. Mark Pate, D-Bald Knob.
Lonoke County Prosecutor Lona McCastlain has announced her intention to run for a fourth term, but unlike her opponent Tim Blair, she had not made the trip to Little Rock to file.
Blair, a Democrat filed March 21. McCastlain, a Republican, said Tuesday afternoon that the April 4 deadline is still days away so she still has time.
“I’m pretty busy here,” she said. “I will file before the deadline, but work is work.”
Prosecutors and circuit judges don’t file at the county clerk’s office like city and county candidates do. They file with the secretary of state.
McCastlain is in her eighth year in office. In 1998, she defeated Barbara Elmore, who had been a deputy prosecutor, by one vote. Two years later, she defeated Elmore again by a wider margin.
When state law changed prosecutors’ terms in office from two years to four, McCastlain ran unopposed for her third term.
The state is divided into 23 judicial districts. Most are made up of more than one county, but Lonoke, the 23rd Judicial District, stands alone.
In the 17th Judicial District, made up of White and Prairie counties, Prosecutor Chris Raff, a Democrat, filed March 24. No other candidate has announced for that office. In the 6th Judicial District, made up of Pulaski and Perry counties, Prosecutor Larry Jegley filed March 25.
Circuit judges were elected for four-year terms until four years ago, when the terms were changed to six years. Now most circuit judges across the state have two years left before they have to run again to keep their jobs. Attorney General Mike Beebe of Searcy, a Democrat, filed for governor Tuesday. He will oppose Republican Asa Hutchinson of Fort Smith.
Republican Tom Formicola of Little Rock filed Monday to run for the 2nd District congressional seat, setting up a GOP primary race for the seat held by Democratic Rep. Vic Snyder, who filed last week.
Formicola, a health care executive, joins Republican Andy May-berry of Hensley in the May 23 primary. Mayberry filed last week.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
SPORTS >> Cabot flies by Lady Lions with late rally
BY RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
IN SHORT: The Lady Panthers softball team scored six runs in the fifth inning to take command of Friday evening’s AAAAA-East matchup at Searcy. Cabot won the game 11-3 to improve to 7-3 so far this season.
The Lady Panthers broke open a scoreless game in the fourth inning to run away from the Searcy Lions last Friday night in a AAAAA-East conference matchup. The Cabot ladies got on the board first with the help of a couple of Searcy errors to take a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning.
After that, Cabot’s bats got hot as the Lady Panthers rolled to an 11-3 victory.
While Cabot got hot at the plate, the Lady Lions defense continued to struggle, committing five total errors and giving four unearned runs.
Cabot’s seven earned runs were still plenty for the win, thanks to a strong pitching performance by freshman standout Cherie Barfield. Barfield gave up just three hits and fanned 11 Searcy batters in going the distance to get the win on the mound. It was her second win in as many nights after holding Mount St. Mary’s scoreless on Thursday.
Holding a 2-0 lead after four innings, Cabot blew the game open with six runs in the fifth inning off seven base hits and two Searcy errors.
The game-breaker came in the form of a two-out, three-run home run by sophomore first baseman Rachel Glover that capped the inning and gave the Lady Panthers an 8-0 lead.
Searcy finally got on the board with one run on two hits and an error, but the Cabot lead was too large to overcome.
Searcy pitcher Emily Hersberger started strong, giving up just one base hit in the first three innings, but got rocked late in the game. Cabot finished with 11 base hits. Hersberger recorded five strikeouts and walked five Lady Panthers.
The games results leaves Cabot 7-3 overall and 3-1 in conference play. The loss was Searcy’s first in three games, as the Lady Lions fell to 3-3 overall.
Cabot will travel to Jacksonville to take on the first-place Lady Red Devils in a huge AAAAA-East matchup Thursday.
Leader sports editor
IN SHORT: The Lady Panthers softball team scored six runs in the fifth inning to take command of Friday evening’s AAAAA-East matchup at Searcy. Cabot won the game 11-3 to improve to 7-3 so far this season.
The Lady Panthers broke open a scoreless game in the fourth inning to run away from the Searcy Lions last Friday night in a AAAAA-East conference matchup. The Cabot ladies got on the board first with the help of a couple of Searcy errors to take a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning.
After that, Cabot’s bats got hot as the Lady Panthers rolled to an 11-3 victory.
While Cabot got hot at the plate, the Lady Lions defense continued to struggle, committing five total errors and giving four unearned runs.
Cabot’s seven earned runs were still plenty for the win, thanks to a strong pitching performance by freshman standout Cherie Barfield. Barfield gave up just three hits and fanned 11 Searcy batters in going the distance to get the win on the mound. It was her second win in as many nights after holding Mount St. Mary’s scoreless on Thursday.
Holding a 2-0 lead after four innings, Cabot blew the game open with six runs in the fifth inning off seven base hits and two Searcy errors.
The game-breaker came in the form of a two-out, three-run home run by sophomore first baseman Rachel Glover that capped the inning and gave the Lady Panthers an 8-0 lead.
Searcy finally got on the board with one run on two hits and an error, but the Cabot lead was too large to overcome.
Searcy pitcher Emily Hersberger started strong, giving up just one base hit in the first three innings, but got rocked late in the game. Cabot finished with 11 base hits. Hersberger recorded five strikeouts and walked five Lady Panthers.
The games results leaves Cabot 7-3 overall and 3-1 in conference play. The loss was Searcy’s first in three games, as the Lady Lions fell to 3-3 overall.
Cabot will travel to Jacksonville to take on the first-place Lady Red Devils in a huge AAAAA-East matchup Thursday.
SPORTS >> Lady Devils remain perfect
BY RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
IN SHORT: The Jacksonville softball team won four games and the Jacksonville tournament championship this weekend to improve to 7-0 overall so far this season.
The Jacksonville Lady Red Devils won four games over the weekend, including three in the annual Jacksonville fast-pitch tournament, and won the tournament championship.
On Friday, the Lady Devils played their second conference game of the year, and run-ruled Sylvan Hills 10-0 in five innings.
The following day, they swept through Quitman Star City and DeWitt to earn their tournament championship. Jacksonville pitcher Jessica Bock continues to be strong on the mound, and the Lady Devils bats are picking things up.
Bock’s no-hitter for the season is gone. Star City got four hits in a 7-1 loss in the semifinals, but she came back from that game to dominate DeWitt. In the tournament championship, she threw her sixth no-hitter of the season, and struck out 19 Lady Dragons.
“She was on a mission in that game,” Jacksonville coach Phil Bradley said. “That was the best I’ve ever seen her throw, and that’s saying a lot because she’s had some pretty good games. This one though brother, she was out of her mind.”
DeWitt’s pitching wasn’t bad either, and kept Jacksonville off balance through five innings, but for the second time in the tournament, Jacksonville ex-ploded in the sixth.
With the score tied 0-0, the Lady Devils scored four runs off four hits. That held through the final inning as Jacksonville prevailed 4-0.
Leadoff hitter Gabriel Hart started the rally with a single to left-center field. Bock moved her to second with a sacrifice bunt and Taylor Norsworthy singled to score Hart.
Whitney Conrade sacrificed Norsworthy to second, and back-to-back singles by Somer Grimes and Ellen Burr drove in the last two runs.
Burr went 2 for 3 at the plate, and is hitting nearly .700 from the six hole in the lineup.
“She’s the one with the really hot bat right now,” Bradley said. “When you’re getting that kind of production from your six hitter, things are going pretty good.”
The seven, eight and nine hitters are coming along well also.
“For the first time since I’ve been here we’re getting production from the bottom of the lineup,” Bradley said. “When the top isn’t hitting, the bottom is picking it up.”
Jacksonville got at least one hit each from the last three hitters in the win over DeWitt, including a two-RBI, line-drive triple that hit the fence on the fly by nine-hole hitter Megan Towner.
Monica Fletcher went 2 for 3 from the seven spot.
Earlier in the day, Jackson-ville and Star City were tied 0-0 when the Lady Devils blew up for seven runs in the sixth inning.
In game one of the tournament, the Lady Red Devils run-ruled Quitman 10-0.
On Friday, Jacksonville didn’t take as long to get started, scoring eight runs in the first three innings to take command of the game early.
The Lady Devils pounded out 13 hits in the game, but left some runners stranded as well.
They pushed one run across the plate in the fourth, then added the game-ender in the fifth with a line drive to center field by Towner that scored Fletcher.
Burr got three hits and three RBIs in the game while Conrade also drove in three runs on two hits. The weekend’s activities leave the Lady Red Devils 7-0 on the season and 2-0 in conference play.
Their scheduled match with LR McClellan on Monday was cancelled and will not be rescheduled.
They are scheduled to play conference rival Cabot at home on Thursday.
The Lady Panthers beat Searcy 11-1 Friday to improve to 7-3 overall and 3-1 in the AAAAA-East.
Leader sports editor
IN SHORT: The Jacksonville softball team won four games and the Jacksonville tournament championship this weekend to improve to 7-0 overall so far this season.
The Jacksonville Lady Red Devils won four games over the weekend, including three in the annual Jacksonville fast-pitch tournament, and won the tournament championship.
On Friday, the Lady Devils played their second conference game of the year, and run-ruled Sylvan Hills 10-0 in five innings.
The following day, they swept through Quitman Star City and DeWitt to earn their tournament championship. Jacksonville pitcher Jessica Bock continues to be strong on the mound, and the Lady Devils bats are picking things up.
Bock’s no-hitter for the season is gone. Star City got four hits in a 7-1 loss in the semifinals, but she came back from that game to dominate DeWitt. In the tournament championship, she threw her sixth no-hitter of the season, and struck out 19 Lady Dragons.
“She was on a mission in that game,” Jacksonville coach Phil Bradley said. “That was the best I’ve ever seen her throw, and that’s saying a lot because she’s had some pretty good games. This one though brother, she was out of her mind.”
DeWitt’s pitching wasn’t bad either, and kept Jacksonville off balance through five innings, but for the second time in the tournament, Jacksonville ex-ploded in the sixth.
With the score tied 0-0, the Lady Devils scored four runs off four hits. That held through the final inning as Jacksonville prevailed 4-0.
Leadoff hitter Gabriel Hart started the rally with a single to left-center field. Bock moved her to second with a sacrifice bunt and Taylor Norsworthy singled to score Hart.
Whitney Conrade sacrificed Norsworthy to second, and back-to-back singles by Somer Grimes and Ellen Burr drove in the last two runs.
Burr went 2 for 3 at the plate, and is hitting nearly .700 from the six hole in the lineup.
“She’s the one with the really hot bat right now,” Bradley said. “When you’re getting that kind of production from your six hitter, things are going pretty good.”
The seven, eight and nine hitters are coming along well also.
“For the first time since I’ve been here we’re getting production from the bottom of the lineup,” Bradley said. “When the top isn’t hitting, the bottom is picking it up.”
Jacksonville got at least one hit each from the last three hitters in the win over DeWitt, including a two-RBI, line-drive triple that hit the fence on the fly by nine-hole hitter Megan Towner.
Monica Fletcher went 2 for 3 from the seven spot.
Earlier in the day, Jackson-ville and Star City were tied 0-0 when the Lady Devils blew up for seven runs in the sixth inning.
In game one of the tournament, the Lady Red Devils run-ruled Quitman 10-0.
On Friday, Jacksonville didn’t take as long to get started, scoring eight runs in the first three innings to take command of the game early.
The Lady Devils pounded out 13 hits in the game, but left some runners stranded as well.
They pushed one run across the plate in the fourth, then added the game-ender in the fifth with a line drive to center field by Towner that scored Fletcher.
Burr got three hits and three RBIs in the game while Conrade also drove in three runs on two hits. The weekend’s activities leave the Lady Red Devils 7-0 on the season and 2-0 in conference play.
Their scheduled match with LR McClellan on Monday was cancelled and will not be rescheduled.
They are scheduled to play conference rival Cabot at home on Thursday.
The Lady Panthers beat Searcy 11-1 Friday to improve to 7-3 overall and 3-1 in the AAAAA-East.
NEIGHBORS >> Cabot rugby
BY MELISSA TUCKER
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: High-schoolers start rugby team in Cabot with Pirate mascot
The next bad pass means five pushups,” yells Kris McKinney, the assistant rugby coach for Cabot’s new rugby team.
“I say we do 10,” one player replies.
They seem dedicated. After running a couple of drills, the players stop to get water and automatically form up a circle to start passing the ball again before the break is over.
The practice they’re at is not a regular one for the team of high school-aged students. They are at Interstate Park in Little Rock and will run a few practice drills with the men from the Little Rock Rugby Football Club.
The association with the men’s club and the birth of the Cabot Pirates team, dates back to last summer when Kyle Msall, of Cabot, played a few games with the men’s club and became interested in starting one in his hometown. Now Msall is Cabot’s team captain.
Head coach for the Pirates, Pat Beaird, said he tried to get a team going at Hendrix College in Searcy but didn’t have any luck rounding up players.
A year and a half later, he found himself coaching the Cabot team, which has recruited 24 players since November.
“This is good, they’re learning how to think,” said McKinney as he and Beaird watch the students learn to scrum down and run drills with the men’s team.
The practice has turned into a hodgepodge of advice given out by the men’s club coach and veteran players as well as the two Cabot coaches. Everyone is talking at the same time. The young novices just nod and try to take it all in.
In their first game of the season, the team beat Cordova High School in a match played in Jonesboro with a score of 27-0.
The team will play next in the under-19 division of the Ozark Tournament held in Tulsa, Oka., on the weekend of April 8 and April 9.
Three of Cabot’s players, Msall, Jason Aist and Bryan Bopp were chosen for the Ozark Rugby Union’s under-19 select side, an “all-star” team of players. As members of the select side team, they invited to play a game in to St. Louis next weekend.
“When you play for a select side, you’re considered one of the better players of all the teams in your union and you’re asked to represent those teams,” said Beaird.
He said the three don’t even realize what an honor it is to be chosen for the select side.
“They haven’t been playing long enough to know you can play for years and not be asked to play on this level. The fact they’re on a brand new team and are brand new players and got picked is huge.”
The Pirates practice on Tuesday evenings and Sunday afternoons. The next home game will be against the Bentonville Blues on April 15.
Beaird said, the team is not affiliated with the high school and will welcome any players under 19 years of age, male or female.
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: High-schoolers start rugby team in Cabot with Pirate mascot
The next bad pass means five pushups,” yells Kris McKinney, the assistant rugby coach for Cabot’s new rugby team.
“I say we do 10,” one player replies.
They seem dedicated. After running a couple of drills, the players stop to get water and automatically form up a circle to start passing the ball again before the break is over.
The practice they’re at is not a regular one for the team of high school-aged students. They are at Interstate Park in Little Rock and will run a few practice drills with the men from the Little Rock Rugby Football Club.
The association with the men’s club and the birth of the Cabot Pirates team, dates back to last summer when Kyle Msall, of Cabot, played a few games with the men’s club and became interested in starting one in his hometown. Now Msall is Cabot’s team captain.
Head coach for the Pirates, Pat Beaird, said he tried to get a team going at Hendrix College in Searcy but didn’t have any luck rounding up players.
A year and a half later, he found himself coaching the Cabot team, which has recruited 24 players since November.
“This is good, they’re learning how to think,” said McKinney as he and Beaird watch the students learn to scrum down and run drills with the men’s team.
The practice has turned into a hodgepodge of advice given out by the men’s club coach and veteran players as well as the two Cabot coaches. Everyone is talking at the same time. The young novices just nod and try to take it all in.
In their first game of the season, the team beat Cordova High School in a match played in Jonesboro with a score of 27-0.
The team will play next in the under-19 division of the Ozark Tournament held in Tulsa, Oka., on the weekend of April 8 and April 9.
Three of Cabot’s players, Msall, Jason Aist and Bryan Bopp were chosen for the Ozark Rugby Union’s under-19 select side, an “all-star” team of players. As members of the select side team, they invited to play a game in to St. Louis next weekend.
“When you play for a select side, you’re considered one of the better players of all the teams in your union and you’re asked to represent those teams,” said Beaird.
He said the three don’t even realize what an honor it is to be chosen for the select side.
“They haven’t been playing long enough to know you can play for years and not be asked to play on this level. The fact they’re on a brand new team and are brand new players and got picked is huge.”
The Pirates practice on Tuesday evenings and Sunday afternoons. The next home game will be against the Bentonville Blues on April 15.
Beaird said, the team is not affiliated with the high school and will welcome any players under 19 years of age, male or female.
TOP STORY >> Payday lenders aren't leaving yet
BY JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: The state’s largest payday lender has parted ways with its out-of-state bank, but the lender gets licenses to keep doors open in Jacksonville and in other areas around the state.
The celebration was short-lived for consumer advocates who thought the state’s largest high-interest payday lender would close all 30 of its Arkansas stores this summer, including the one at 2021 First Street in Jacksonville.
Advance America Check Cashers had partnered with a South Dakota bank, importing banking laws from that state instead of more restrictive Arkansas laws. Recently the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ordered banks to stop working with payday lenders making extreme high interest loans.
The Advance America stores will remain open, said a company spokesman, but will no longer be affiliated with South Dakota-based First Fidelity Bank.
The Arkansas Board of Collection Agencies, which regulates check cashers and payday lenders, issued 30 licenses March 8 for Advance America’s stores.
“Our intention is to continue operating (and) offering services,” said Jaime Fulmer, director of investor relations for the company. “We have no plans to shut down the centers. As for how we intend to operate, we don’t have an an-nouncement.”
Pressed, Fulmer would not say whether or not Advance America, which has about 2,500 stores in 36 states, would continue making payday loans in Arkansas.
Advance America grossed $500,000 per month in Arkansas last year—that’s $6 million—so many expect the company to continue making payday loans under Arkansas law, which is slightly more restrictive than the South Dakota law it has been operating under.
Advance America had an-nounced in its 2005 Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it would quit making payday loans in June and stop servicing those loans at the end of September.
The SEC filing was necessary because Advance America is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AEA.
The SEC filing reflected First Fidelity’s announcement that it would stop working with payday lenders, as instructed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Operating under the umbrella of the South Dakota bank, Advance America made payday loans of as much as $900 with interest—lenders call it a fee—of 20 percent, typically for two weeks.
Operating under Arkansas law, a consumer could borrow only $350, leaving the lender a $400 check for the two weeks. That’s 10 percent interest for the two weeks, plus a $10 fee, according to Peggy Matson, director of the Arkansas Board of Collection Agencies.
“We’ll continue on, fighting the abuse that we see in charging people 500 to 800 percent interest,” said Hank Klein, speaking for the consumer coalition Arkansans Against Abusive Payday Lending.
“I’d like to think they’ve seen the handwriting on the wall,” said Klein, “but my belief is they will figure out another scheme. “Would you give up $6 million a year?”
“We understand that up in Michigan, (Advance America) just became check cashers until the loan law got changed.”
But Klein warned that under Arkansas licensure, Advance America would be under the scrutiny of Todd Turner, an attorney who has won several decisions against such lenders.
Klein’s group has been critical of what they say is Matson’s failure to rein in the high-interest lenders.
Matson’s office audits each payday store about twice a year and is hiring another auditor to make quarterly examinations of those lenders.
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: The state’s largest payday lender has parted ways with its out-of-state bank, but the lender gets licenses to keep doors open in Jacksonville and in other areas around the state.
The celebration was short-lived for consumer advocates who thought the state’s largest high-interest payday lender would close all 30 of its Arkansas stores this summer, including the one at 2021 First Street in Jacksonville.
Advance America Check Cashers had partnered with a South Dakota bank, importing banking laws from that state instead of more restrictive Arkansas laws. Recently the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ordered banks to stop working with payday lenders making extreme high interest loans.
The Advance America stores will remain open, said a company spokesman, but will no longer be affiliated with South Dakota-based First Fidelity Bank.
The Arkansas Board of Collection Agencies, which regulates check cashers and payday lenders, issued 30 licenses March 8 for Advance America’s stores.
“Our intention is to continue operating (and) offering services,” said Jaime Fulmer, director of investor relations for the company. “We have no plans to shut down the centers. As for how we intend to operate, we don’t have an an-nouncement.”
Pressed, Fulmer would not say whether or not Advance America, which has about 2,500 stores in 36 states, would continue making payday loans in Arkansas.
Advance America grossed $500,000 per month in Arkansas last year—that’s $6 million—so many expect the company to continue making payday loans under Arkansas law, which is slightly more restrictive than the South Dakota law it has been operating under.
Advance America had an-nounced in its 2005 Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it would quit making payday loans in June and stop servicing those loans at the end of September.
The SEC filing was necessary because Advance America is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AEA.
The SEC filing reflected First Fidelity’s announcement that it would stop working with payday lenders, as instructed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Operating under the umbrella of the South Dakota bank, Advance America made payday loans of as much as $900 with interest—lenders call it a fee—of 20 percent, typically for two weeks.
Operating under Arkansas law, a consumer could borrow only $350, leaving the lender a $400 check for the two weeks. That’s 10 percent interest for the two weeks, plus a $10 fee, according to Peggy Matson, director of the Arkansas Board of Collection Agencies.
“We’ll continue on, fighting the abuse that we see in charging people 500 to 800 percent interest,” said Hank Klein, speaking for the consumer coalition Arkansans Against Abusive Payday Lending.
“I’d like to think they’ve seen the handwriting on the wall,” said Klein, “but my belief is they will figure out another scheme. “Would you give up $6 million a year?”
“We understand that up in Michigan, (Advance America) just became check cashers until the loan law got changed.”
But Klein warned that under Arkansas licensure, Advance America would be under the scrutiny of Todd Turner, an attorney who has won several decisions against such lenders.
Klein’s group has been critical of what they say is Matson’s failure to rein in the high-interest lenders.
Matson’s office audits each payday store about twice a year and is hiring another auditor to make quarterly examinations of those lenders.
TOP STORY >> Payday lenders aren't leaving yet
BY JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: The state’s largest payday lender has parted ways with its out-of-state bank, but the lender gets licenses to keep doors open in Jacksonville and in other areas around the state.
The celebration was short-lived for consumer advocates who thought the state’s largest high-interest payday lender would close all 30 of its Arkansas stores this summer, including the one at 2021 First Street in Jacksonville.
Advance America Check Cashers had partnered with a South Dakota bank, importing banking laws from that state instead of more restrictive Arkansas laws. Recently the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ordered banks to stop working with payday lenders making extreme high interest loans.
The Advance America stores will remain open, said a company spokesman, but will no longer be affiliated with South Dakota-based First Fidelity Bank.
The Arkansas Board of Collection Agencies, which regulates check cashers and payday lenders, issued 30 licenses March 8 for Advance America’s stores.
“Our intention is to continue operating (and) offering services,” said Jaime Fulmer, director of investor relations for the company. “We have no plans to shut down the centers. As for how we intend to operate, we don’t have an an-nouncement.”
Pressed, Fulmer would not say whether or not Advance America, which has about 2,500 stores in 36 states, would continue making payday loans in Arkansas.
Advance America grossed $500,000 per month in Arkansas last year—that’s $6 million—so many expect the company to continue making payday loans under Arkansas law, which is slightly more restrictive than the South Dakota law it has been operating under.
Advance America had an-nounced in its 2005 Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it would quit making payday loans in June and stop servicing those loans at the end of September.
The SEC filing was necessary because Advance America is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AEA.
The SEC filing reflected First Fidelity’s announcement that it would stop working with payday lenders, as instructed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Operating under the umbrella of the South Dakota bank, Advance America made payday loans of as much as $900 with interest—lenders call it a fee—of 20 percent, typically for two weeks.
Operating under Arkansas law, a consumer could borrow only $350, leaving the lender a $400 check for the two weeks. That’s 10 percent interest for the two weeks, plus a $10 fee, according to Peggy Matson, director of the Arkansas Board of Collection Agencies.
“We’ll continue on, fighting the abuse that we see in charging people 500 to 800 percent interest,” said Hank Klein, speaking for the consumer coalition Arkansans Against Abusive Payday Lending.
“I’d like to think they’ve seen the handwriting on the wall,” said Klein, “but my belief is they will figure out another scheme. “Would you give up $6 million a year?”
“We understand that up in Michigan, (Advance America) just became check cashers until the loan law got changed.”
But Klein warned that under Arkansas licensure, Advance America would be under the scrutiny of Todd Turner, an attorney who has won several decisions against such lenders.
Klein’s group has been critical of what they say is Matson’s failure to rein in the high-interest lenders.
Matson’s office audits each payday store about twice a year and is hiring another auditor to make quarterly examinations of those lenders.
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: The state’s largest payday lender has parted ways with its out-of-state bank, but the lender gets licenses to keep doors open in Jacksonville and in other areas around the state.
The celebration was short-lived for consumer advocates who thought the state’s largest high-interest payday lender would close all 30 of its Arkansas stores this summer, including the one at 2021 First Street in Jacksonville.
Advance America Check Cashers had partnered with a South Dakota bank, importing banking laws from that state instead of more restrictive Arkansas laws. Recently the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ordered banks to stop working with payday lenders making extreme high interest loans.
The Advance America stores will remain open, said a company spokesman, but will no longer be affiliated with South Dakota-based First Fidelity Bank.
The Arkansas Board of Collection Agencies, which regulates check cashers and payday lenders, issued 30 licenses March 8 for Advance America’s stores.
“Our intention is to continue operating (and) offering services,” said Jaime Fulmer, director of investor relations for the company. “We have no plans to shut down the centers. As for how we intend to operate, we don’t have an an-nouncement.”
Pressed, Fulmer would not say whether or not Advance America, which has about 2,500 stores in 36 states, would continue making payday loans in Arkansas.
Advance America grossed $500,000 per month in Arkansas last year—that’s $6 million—so many expect the company to continue making payday loans under Arkansas law, which is slightly more restrictive than the South Dakota law it has been operating under.
Advance America had an-nounced in its 2005 Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it would quit making payday loans in June and stop servicing those loans at the end of September.
The SEC filing was necessary because Advance America is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AEA.
The SEC filing reflected First Fidelity’s announcement that it would stop working with payday lenders, as instructed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Operating under the umbrella of the South Dakota bank, Advance America made payday loans of as much as $900 with interest—lenders call it a fee—of 20 percent, typically for two weeks.
Operating under Arkansas law, a consumer could borrow only $350, leaving the lender a $400 check for the two weeks. That’s 10 percent interest for the two weeks, plus a $10 fee, according to Peggy Matson, director of the Arkansas Board of Collection Agencies.
“We’ll continue on, fighting the abuse that we see in charging people 500 to 800 percent interest,” said Hank Klein, speaking for the consumer coalition Arkansans Against Abusive Payday Lending.
“I’d like to think they’ve seen the handwriting on the wall,” said Klein, “but my belief is they will figure out another scheme. “Would you give up $6 million a year?”
“We understand that up in Michigan, (Advance America) just became check cashers until the loan law got changed.”
But Klein warned that under Arkansas licensure, Advance America would be under the scrutiny of Todd Turner, an attorney who has won several decisions against such lenders.
Klein’s group has been critical of what they say is Matson’s failure to rein in the high-interest lenders.
Matson’s office audits each payday store about twice a year and is hiring another auditor to make quarterly examinations of those lenders.
TOP STORY >> Tempers flare as charges are flung
BY SARA GREENE
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: First day of filing gets off to hot start with an even more heated exchange between independent county judge candidate Dennis Gillam and White County Judge Bob Parish.
A firestorm of words erupted in the lobby of the White County Courthouse during the first day of election filing Tuesday as Judge Bob Parish confronted independent candidate for judge Dennis Gillam over rumors Parish was behind the recent consolidation of polling sites around the county from 64 to 32.
“I have never had anything to do with the way people in White County vote,” Parish told Gillam. “We have the Election Commission and that’s their job.”
“Don’t you point your finger at me, Bob, just put your damn hands in your pockets,” Gillam told Parish.
Justices of the peace Layne “Boss” Vaughn and George “Bud” Osborn, both on hand to file for their seats on the quorum court, separated the two men. Both Gillam and Parish left the courthouse and Gillam returned later to file.
He didn’t plan on it, but Brennan Stevens, an independent running for constable of Gray Township, was the first candidate to file for any White County public office when filing opened at noon.
The Republican and Democratic primary election will be held Tuesday, May 23 when voters who declare a party affiliation will choose which candidate will represent them on the ballot in the Nov. 7 general election. Independent candidates are guaranteed to be on the ballot, according to Tanya Burleson. The filing period for independent candidates begins at noon Thursday, July 20 and ends at noon on Thursday, Aug. 9.
As a constable, Stevens would have the authority to arrest, serve warrants and pursue suspected felons in the Searcy city limits. Earlier this year, the White County Quorum Court consolidated the number of townships and thereby reduced the number of constables, from 43 to 13.
The townships are now Union, Cypert, Cadron, Gray, Dogwood, Big Creek, Gum Springs, Liberty and Harrison.
“Now that I’ve filed, I got to get out and do the door-to-door part,” Stevens said.
White County Sheriff Pat Garrett filed for re-election Tuesday as well. Garrett is running for re-election as a Republican after switching political parties last year. He’s expected to have three opponents, Democrats Corey Simmons and Allen Robinson and Ricky Shourd, a Republican.
“I’m going to continue patrols in the rural part of the county to keep our communities crime and drug free,” Garrett said.
Other White County filings in-cluded Kyle Stokes-R and Dennis Gillam-I for county judge; Debra Lang-D for tax assessor, Sue Liles-D for tax collector; Tanya Burleson-R for county clerk; Jimmy House-D for justice of the peace, District 5; Layne “Boss” Vaughn-D and Bob Barnum-D for justice of the peace District 8; Jimmy Dale Smith-I for justice of the peace District 9; Bobby Quattlebaum-R for justice of the peace, District 10; George “Bud” Osborn for District 12; Roger Gray-D for constable of Harrison Township; Rick Veach-D for mayor of Jud-sonia; Julian McFadden-D and Max McDonald-D for mayor of Kensett; Mary Ann Arnett for alderman of Ward 1, Position 2 in Searcy; Carl Nutter-R for alderman Ward 1, Position 1 in Searcy and Dale Brewer-R for mayor of Searcy.
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: First day of filing gets off to hot start with an even more heated exchange between independent county judge candidate Dennis Gillam and White County Judge Bob Parish.
A firestorm of words erupted in the lobby of the White County Courthouse during the first day of election filing Tuesday as Judge Bob Parish confronted independent candidate for judge Dennis Gillam over rumors Parish was behind the recent consolidation of polling sites around the county from 64 to 32.
“I have never had anything to do with the way people in White County vote,” Parish told Gillam. “We have the Election Commission and that’s their job.”
“Don’t you point your finger at me, Bob, just put your damn hands in your pockets,” Gillam told Parish.
Justices of the peace Layne “Boss” Vaughn and George “Bud” Osborn, both on hand to file for their seats on the quorum court, separated the two men. Both Gillam and Parish left the courthouse and Gillam returned later to file.
He didn’t plan on it, but Brennan Stevens, an independent running for constable of Gray Township, was the first candidate to file for any White County public office when filing opened at noon.
The Republican and Democratic primary election will be held Tuesday, May 23 when voters who declare a party affiliation will choose which candidate will represent them on the ballot in the Nov. 7 general election. Independent candidates are guaranteed to be on the ballot, according to Tanya Burleson. The filing period for independent candidates begins at noon Thursday, July 20 and ends at noon on Thursday, Aug. 9.
As a constable, Stevens would have the authority to arrest, serve warrants and pursue suspected felons in the Searcy city limits. Earlier this year, the White County Quorum Court consolidated the number of townships and thereby reduced the number of constables, from 43 to 13.
The townships are now Union, Cypert, Cadron, Gray, Dogwood, Big Creek, Gum Springs, Liberty and Harrison.
“Now that I’ve filed, I got to get out and do the door-to-door part,” Stevens said.
White County Sheriff Pat Garrett filed for re-election Tuesday as well. Garrett is running for re-election as a Republican after switching political parties last year. He’s expected to have three opponents, Democrats Corey Simmons and Allen Robinson and Ricky Shourd, a Republican.
“I’m going to continue patrols in the rural part of the county to keep our communities crime and drug free,” Garrett said.
Other White County filings in-cluded Kyle Stokes-R and Dennis Gillam-I for county judge; Debra Lang-D for tax assessor, Sue Liles-D for tax collector; Tanya Burleson-R for county clerk; Jimmy House-D for justice of the peace, District 5; Layne “Boss” Vaughn-D and Bob Barnum-D for justice of the peace District 8; Jimmy Dale Smith-I for justice of the peace District 9; Bobby Quattlebaum-R for justice of the peace, District 10; George “Bud” Osborn for District 12; Roger Gray-D for constable of Harrison Township; Rick Veach-D for mayor of Jud-sonia; Julian McFadden-D and Max McDonald-D for mayor of Kensett; Mary Ann Arnett for alderman of Ward 1, Position 2 in Searcy; Carl Nutter-R for alderman Ward 1, Position 1 in Searcy and Dale Brewer-R for mayor of Searcy.
TOP STORY >> Swaim could run again
BY RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: Aldermen wish the Jacksonville mayor, who said in 2002 he wouldn’t run again, would make up his mind.
Jacksonville’s 2006 political races rest on the shoulders of Mayor Tommy Swaim.
When elected for his fifth term in 2004, Swaim said it would be his last, but he is now reconsidering, and a number of aldermen are waiting on the mayor to make a decision.
Swaim has not publicly decided yet. “My wife and I have discussed it, and I’ve discussed it with friends, but have made no decision at this time,” the mayor said Tuesday.
He said four years ago this term would be his last, but back in 2002, he didn’t know that there would be so much unfinished business, such as the new library, the police and fire training center and the joint education center near the air base.
Even though independent candidates for Jacksonville offices don’t have to file until May, Alderman Kenny Elliott says he plans to run again, but he doesn’t know if it’ll be for his council seat again or the mayor’s office. “I’m waiting for the mayor to decide.” Elliott said, planning not to run against the incumbent if he goes for a sixth term.
Alderman Gary Fletcher may also run for mayor if Swaim steps aside. If he runs for mayor it’ll be his third try. “The first time I was 28 and too young, the second time I was controversial,” Fletcher said. Now at 50, he feels neither one of those are a factor. Sounding like a candidate, Fletcher said that revitalizing downtown and getting its own school district are the top two issues facing the city.
Currently, the entire council, plus the mayor, city clerk and city attorney positions are up for reelection.
If Swaim decides to go for another round, Fletcher more than likely will announce for the city council again. “It’ll give me 32 years of service,” he said.
Alderman Bob Stroud, who said he doesn’t plan to sign up forever, does plan another run for another term on the council, adding, “I hope the mayor stays. We really need his continued leadership for the next couple of years,” Stroud said.
Alderman Marshall Smith said he wasn’t sure yet, but most likely would run for another term on the city council.
Alderman Linda Rinker, who has enjoyed her first full term as an alderman, plans to run again. “And I’ll be promoting education every chance I get,” said the former principal.
The other woman on the council, Alderman Avis Twitty, also plans to run for reelection.
Aldermen Reedie Ray and Terry Sansing also look forward to another term on the council.
Alderman Bill Howard also plans to run for the city council again, but his top concern was for Alderman Robert Lewis, who has been in the hospital the past three weeks with his ongoing battle against cancer. “We need to keep him in our prayers and hope he gets well enough to run again, if he wishes.”
For all the council candidates, this year marks the beginning of four-year staggered terms for aldermen.
All Position 1 seats in the city’s five wards will be four-year terms. Position 2 seats will be two-year terms, but in 2008 will revert to four-year terms, meaning only half the council will be up for reelection at a time.
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: Aldermen wish the Jacksonville mayor, who said in 2002 he wouldn’t run again, would make up his mind.
Jacksonville’s 2006 political races rest on the shoulders of Mayor Tommy Swaim.
When elected for his fifth term in 2004, Swaim said it would be his last, but he is now reconsidering, and a number of aldermen are waiting on the mayor to make a decision.
Swaim has not publicly decided yet. “My wife and I have discussed it, and I’ve discussed it with friends, but have made no decision at this time,” the mayor said Tuesday.
He said four years ago this term would be his last, but back in 2002, he didn’t know that there would be so much unfinished business, such as the new library, the police and fire training center and the joint education center near the air base.
Even though independent candidates for Jacksonville offices don’t have to file until May, Alderman Kenny Elliott says he plans to run again, but he doesn’t know if it’ll be for his council seat again or the mayor’s office. “I’m waiting for the mayor to decide.” Elliott said, planning not to run against the incumbent if he goes for a sixth term.
Alderman Gary Fletcher may also run for mayor if Swaim steps aside. If he runs for mayor it’ll be his third try. “The first time I was 28 and too young, the second time I was controversial,” Fletcher said. Now at 50, he feels neither one of those are a factor. Sounding like a candidate, Fletcher said that revitalizing downtown and getting its own school district are the top two issues facing the city.
Currently, the entire council, plus the mayor, city clerk and city attorney positions are up for reelection.
If Swaim decides to go for another round, Fletcher more than likely will announce for the city council again. “It’ll give me 32 years of service,” he said.
Alderman Bob Stroud, who said he doesn’t plan to sign up forever, does plan another run for another term on the council, adding, “I hope the mayor stays. We really need his continued leadership for the next couple of years,” Stroud said.
Alderman Marshall Smith said he wasn’t sure yet, but most likely would run for another term on the city council.
Alderman Linda Rinker, who has enjoyed her first full term as an alderman, plans to run again. “And I’ll be promoting education every chance I get,” said the former principal.
The other woman on the council, Alderman Avis Twitty, also plans to run for reelection.
Aldermen Reedie Ray and Terry Sansing also look forward to another term on the council.
Alderman Bill Howard also plans to run for the city council again, but his top concern was for Alderman Robert Lewis, who has been in the hospital the past three weeks with his ongoing battle against cancer. “We need to keep him in our prayers and hope he gets well enough to run again, if he wishes.”
For all the council candidates, this year marks the beginning of four-year staggered terms for aldermen.
All Position 1 seats in the city’s five wards will be four-year terms. Position 2 seats will be two-year terms, but in 2008 will revert to four-year terms, meaning only half the council will be up for reelection at a time.
TOP STORY >> Political races underway
BY JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: Mayor Stumbaugh learns he has no opponent for Congress in the Republican primary.
Cabot Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh, who filed for Congress in the First District Tuesday against Marion Berry, the Democratic incumbent, will not have to run in the primary since the other Republican has dropped out of the race.
Patrick D’Andrea, also of Cabot, who announced five months ago that he would run against Stumbaugh, said on the first day of filing that he had changed his mind.
“It takes away too much time from my family and I should have expected that,” D’Andrea said Tuesday afternoon. “The tradeoff doesn’t appear to be worth it.”
D’Andrea’s wife gave birth to their daughter in January and he said he didn’t want to spend too much time away from her.
“Twenty-six counties is a lot of ground to cover and I am not prepared to make that sort of sacrifice,” he said.
Berry filed for re-election on Tuesday.
D’Andrea announced for Congress before friends and media representatives, but his announcement that he would not run was a quiet one. He said his first call was to Stumbaugh and his second was to Clint Reed, executive director of the state Republican Party.
He intended to call local papers, he said, but at 2 p.m., when The Leader spoke to him, he had not.
Stumbaugh said D’Andrea also told him that he didn’t want to sacrifice time with his family for a political race.
“He’s got a brand new baby,” Stumbaugh said. “I told him that if that was his reason for not running, then I commend him.”
Stumbaugh said D’Andrea offered to support him in his race but not campaign for him.
Quoting the adage that all politicians know — there are only two ways to run, scared or unopposed — Stumbaugh said he was pleased that he appears to be the only Republican in the race and hoped no one else files before the two-week filing period ends.
He said he is excited about the race. “I want people to know that when they vote for me, they’re voting for someone who will look out for them and not play partisan politics,” he said.
“But I will represent the views and values of the Republican Party,” he added.
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: Mayor Stumbaugh learns he has no opponent for Congress in the Republican primary.
Cabot Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh, who filed for Congress in the First District Tuesday against Marion Berry, the Democratic incumbent, will not have to run in the primary since the other Republican has dropped out of the race.
Patrick D’Andrea, also of Cabot, who announced five months ago that he would run against Stumbaugh, said on the first day of filing that he had changed his mind.
“It takes away too much time from my family and I should have expected that,” D’Andrea said Tuesday afternoon. “The tradeoff doesn’t appear to be worth it.”
D’Andrea’s wife gave birth to their daughter in January and he said he didn’t want to spend too much time away from her.
“Twenty-six counties is a lot of ground to cover and I am not prepared to make that sort of sacrifice,” he said.
Berry filed for re-election on Tuesday.
D’Andrea announced for Congress before friends and media representatives, but his announcement that he would not run was a quiet one. He said his first call was to Stumbaugh and his second was to Clint Reed, executive director of the state Republican Party.
He intended to call local papers, he said, but at 2 p.m., when The Leader spoke to him, he had not.
Stumbaugh said D’Andrea also told him that he didn’t want to sacrifice time with his family for a political race.
“He’s got a brand new baby,” Stumbaugh said. “I told him that if that was his reason for not running, then I commend him.”
Stumbaugh said D’Andrea offered to support him in his race but not campaign for him.
Quoting the adage that all politicians know — there are only two ways to run, scared or unopposed — Stumbaugh said he was pleased that he appears to be the only Republican in the race and hoped no one else files before the two-week filing period ends.
He said he is excited about the race. “I want people to know that when they vote for me, they’re voting for someone who will look out for them and not play partisan politics,” he said.
“But I will represent the views and values of the Republican Party,” he added.
FROM THE PUBLISHER >>How did we go from 10 percent to 3,000 percent on loans?
BY GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader publisher
A populist state like Arkansas, which once had the lowest usury rate in the nation — 10 percent was the interest limit until 1982 — now allows payday lenders to charge outrageous interest rates — often several hundred percent interest.
“How do you go from there to over 800 percent?” asked Cliff Hoofman, a former legislator from North Little Rock, referring to predatory check cashers who’ve been known to charge more than 3,000 percent interest.
He was addressing lawmakers at last week’s Joint House and Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, which heard testimony about abuses in the payday lenders industry and ways to regulate the businesses.
That won’t be easy: Check cashers keep bending the rules and ignoring interest limits that are in the state Constitution. Even when the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. tells banks they cannot loan money to check cashers, they find other sources for operating capital.
Arkansans were once protected from predatory lenders, who were fined if they charged more than 10 percent interest. Contracts were voided and lenders had to repay twice the interest they charged.
Laws were in place to protect consumers, but not anymore: Amendment 60, passed in 1982, raised interest rates, but even so, Arkansas prided itself in protecting consumers from unscrupulous lenders. There is a 17 percent limit on interest rates, but almost everyone, not just the payday lenders, is flouting the law.
No wonder check cashers are protesting that everyone’s picking on them. In a way, they have a point: Credit card companies charge whatever they want and banks charge $30 overdraft fees, which are really short-term loans.
Mob juice loans are 25 percent or higher, but at least no one’s pretending they’re legal.
But payday lenders are the worst: They charge the most and exploit the most vulnerable: The working poor.
How did these check cashers sneak into Arkansas, which, as I say, had the strictest rules against gouging consumers?
Well, if you attended last week’s Joint House and Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at the Capitol, you would have learned that they sneaked in here under false pre-tenses — which figures, since they lie about everything.
The check cashers came here in 1999 and wrote the law on payday lenders, which the Legislature duly passed after the usual suspects were paid off in the form of campaign contributions.
Officially, these operators said they wanted to provide a public service to poor working people by cashing their paychecks.
“It proved to be a little more than that,” Hoofman told legislators and reminded the committee that Arkansas has “gone from being one of the most protective to totally unprotected” when it comes to shielding borrowers from predatory lending.
The former lawmaker gave the committee a little history lesson, admitting his own complicity in helping to pass Amendment 60, which raised the state’s usury limit but set no penalties on lenders who violated the new ceiling. “We failed to do what the people asked us to do,” Hoofman said.
But, in any case, he said the check cashers are violating the state’s 17-percent interest limit, and “the Legislature ought to set a penalty.”
Sen. Tracy Steele, D-North Little Rock, told the committee that check cashers have moved into Arkansas because of a lack of regulation, although he, along with consumer groups, believes that the state’s interest ceiling is being violated. He said laws must be passed to “stop these bad actors in their tracks.”
The problem with the payday loans, apart from the interest rates they charge, is that they’re not installment loans. They must be repaid in full within two weeks. If they’re not repaid, they’re rolled over and interest rates skyrocket.
If borrowers are charged more than 3,000 percent interest, they must pay back thousands of dollars on a small loan.
As Hank Klein, a former credit union executive, said last week, if you compare those rates with an automobile loan, a car buyer would have to pay back $9,000 every payday, or $1.2 million on an SUV.
If that’s how banks operated, only millionaires would drive cars.
Postscript: When my earlier column on check cashers appeared last weekend on our Web site www.arkansasleader.com, Google, to our horror, placed several payday-lender ads above the column.
That’s like putting anti-semitic ads on Web sites honoring Holocaust victims.
Google is not a very nice company — it runs ads for dubious businesses, profits hugely from pornography and makes lucrative deals with dictators. So payday lending fits right in with their philosophy.
Needless to say, we have canceled our agreement with Google to place national advertising on our Web site.
Next: Why payday lenders are hard to put out of business.
Leader publisher
A populist state like Arkansas, which once had the lowest usury rate in the nation — 10 percent was the interest limit until 1982 — now allows payday lenders to charge outrageous interest rates — often several hundred percent interest.
“How do you go from there to over 800 percent?” asked Cliff Hoofman, a former legislator from North Little Rock, referring to predatory check cashers who’ve been known to charge more than 3,000 percent interest.
He was addressing lawmakers at last week’s Joint House and Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, which heard testimony about abuses in the payday lenders industry and ways to regulate the businesses.
That won’t be easy: Check cashers keep bending the rules and ignoring interest limits that are in the state Constitution. Even when the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. tells banks they cannot loan money to check cashers, they find other sources for operating capital.
Arkansans were once protected from predatory lenders, who were fined if they charged more than 10 percent interest. Contracts were voided and lenders had to repay twice the interest they charged.
Laws were in place to protect consumers, but not anymore: Amendment 60, passed in 1982, raised interest rates, but even so, Arkansas prided itself in protecting consumers from unscrupulous lenders. There is a 17 percent limit on interest rates, but almost everyone, not just the payday lenders, is flouting the law.
No wonder check cashers are protesting that everyone’s picking on them. In a way, they have a point: Credit card companies charge whatever they want and banks charge $30 overdraft fees, which are really short-term loans.
Mob juice loans are 25 percent or higher, but at least no one’s pretending they’re legal.
But payday lenders are the worst: They charge the most and exploit the most vulnerable: The working poor.
How did these check cashers sneak into Arkansas, which, as I say, had the strictest rules against gouging consumers?
Well, if you attended last week’s Joint House and Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at the Capitol, you would have learned that they sneaked in here under false pre-tenses — which figures, since they lie about everything.
The check cashers came here in 1999 and wrote the law on payday lenders, which the Legislature duly passed after the usual suspects were paid off in the form of campaign contributions.
Officially, these operators said they wanted to provide a public service to poor working people by cashing their paychecks.
“It proved to be a little more than that,” Hoofman told legislators and reminded the committee that Arkansas has “gone from being one of the most protective to totally unprotected” when it comes to shielding borrowers from predatory lending.
The former lawmaker gave the committee a little history lesson, admitting his own complicity in helping to pass Amendment 60, which raised the state’s usury limit but set no penalties on lenders who violated the new ceiling. “We failed to do what the people asked us to do,” Hoofman said.
But, in any case, he said the check cashers are violating the state’s 17-percent interest limit, and “the Legislature ought to set a penalty.”
Sen. Tracy Steele, D-North Little Rock, told the committee that check cashers have moved into Arkansas because of a lack of regulation, although he, along with consumer groups, believes that the state’s interest ceiling is being violated. He said laws must be passed to “stop these bad actors in their tracks.”
The problem with the payday loans, apart from the interest rates they charge, is that they’re not installment loans. They must be repaid in full within two weeks. If they’re not repaid, they’re rolled over and interest rates skyrocket.
If borrowers are charged more than 3,000 percent interest, they must pay back thousands of dollars on a small loan.
As Hank Klein, a former credit union executive, said last week, if you compare those rates with an automobile loan, a car buyer would have to pay back $9,000 every payday, or $1.2 million on an SUV.
If that’s how banks operated, only millionaires would drive cars.
Postscript: When my earlier column on check cashers appeared last weekend on our Web site www.arkansasleader.com, Google, to our horror, placed several payday-lender ads above the column.
That’s like putting anti-semitic ads on Web sites honoring Holocaust victims.
Google is not a very nice company — it runs ads for dubious businesses, profits hugely from pornography and makes lucrative deals with dictators. So payday lending fits right in with their philosophy.
Needless to say, we have canceled our agreement with Google to place national advertising on our Web site.
Next: Why payday lenders are hard to put out of business.
SATURDAY EDITORIAL >> Adequate school funds
Sometime before he summons the legislature into special session Gov. Huckabee should read the Arkansas Supreme Court decision that required it. A refresher civics lesson would help, too. While Huckabee will have little influence on the school legislation that emerges from the session, the extra knowledge might save the governor, or the rest of us, more embarrassment.
Huckabee continues to demand that lawmakers insert in whatever school laws they enact a blistering reprimand of the Supreme Court for holding that the 2005 school-funding laws violated the state Constitution. He wants to insert sentences telling the Supreme Court that he and the legislature have determined that their work is constitutional and that the Supreme Court should shut up and butt out.
From the day when Huckabee heard about the decision (he was out of state) until this week, his remarks demonstrate little understanding of what the Supreme Court said. He thinks the court said that it knew more about what an “adequate” education was than Huckabee and the legislature did and that the two branches must embrace its view and its budget.
One more time, class, this is what the justices said: Every time that the legislature budgets for the next two years, it is required both by the Constitution and the law that it passed in 2004 to determine what is needed to provide an adequate education for all children and then it should budget those sums.
The legislature and the governor, by their own admission, did not do that in 2005. They had determined in 2004 what was adequate and funded it — and the Supreme Court acknowledged it. But the school budget this year, unlike the budget for every other government program, did not give the schools a dime more either to cover inflationary cost increases like fuel, a pay increase or any money to cover the new financial burdens that its laws placed on the schools. Those failures provided unrebutted evidence that the school budget this year did not meet the constitutional requirement that the state must budget for an adequate school program.
Legislative leaders intend to raise the public school budget by $135 million or so over the biennium if Huckabee will call the session, and that will put the schools on the same footing with the rest of government. And the state will be on constitutional footing again as well. Huckabee seems to endorse that spending, which makes his criticism of the Supreme Court the more bizarre. The governor thinks that he and the legislature, not the courts, get to say what the Constitution means and when laws are constitutional. Ninth graders are taught the respective roles of the three branches of government.
Sen. Jim Luker of Wynne said the legislature should not include the nonsense proposed by the governor in any bill. The grandstanding would have no legal force, Luker said. And it would have no other effect except to make the lawmakers look stupid. Most of them have had enough of that. Court bashing is in vogue today in Republican politics. Last year, Republican House Leader Tom DeLay wanted to impeach judges for not intervening to keep the brain-dead Terri Schiavo on life support for many more years.
At least Huckabee is not advocating that someone poison the justices as Republican pundit Ann Coulter suggested at Little Rock last month that someone do to Justice John Paul Stevens of the U. S. Supreme Court, or have them slain some other way, as a Republican blog was suggesting for the two women U.S. Supreme Court justices who wrote that it was all right for the court to consider international law in its deliberations. Thank goodness our governor has a heart even if his judgment is lacking.
Ernie Dumas writes editorials for The Leader.
Huckabee continues to demand that lawmakers insert in whatever school laws they enact a blistering reprimand of the Supreme Court for holding that the 2005 school-funding laws violated the state Constitution. He wants to insert sentences telling the Supreme Court that he and the legislature have determined that their work is constitutional and that the Supreme Court should shut up and butt out.
From the day when Huckabee heard about the decision (he was out of state) until this week, his remarks demonstrate little understanding of what the Supreme Court said. He thinks the court said that it knew more about what an “adequate” education was than Huckabee and the legislature did and that the two branches must embrace its view and its budget.
One more time, class, this is what the justices said: Every time that the legislature budgets for the next two years, it is required both by the Constitution and the law that it passed in 2004 to determine what is needed to provide an adequate education for all children and then it should budget those sums.
The legislature and the governor, by their own admission, did not do that in 2005. They had determined in 2004 what was adequate and funded it — and the Supreme Court acknowledged it. But the school budget this year, unlike the budget for every other government program, did not give the schools a dime more either to cover inflationary cost increases like fuel, a pay increase or any money to cover the new financial burdens that its laws placed on the schools. Those failures provided unrebutted evidence that the school budget this year did not meet the constitutional requirement that the state must budget for an adequate school program.
Legislative leaders intend to raise the public school budget by $135 million or so over the biennium if Huckabee will call the session, and that will put the schools on the same footing with the rest of government. And the state will be on constitutional footing again as well. Huckabee seems to endorse that spending, which makes his criticism of the Supreme Court the more bizarre. The governor thinks that he and the legislature, not the courts, get to say what the Constitution means and when laws are constitutional. Ninth graders are taught the respective roles of the three branches of government.
Sen. Jim Luker of Wynne said the legislature should not include the nonsense proposed by the governor in any bill. The grandstanding would have no legal force, Luker said. And it would have no other effect except to make the lawmakers look stupid. Most of them have had enough of that. Court bashing is in vogue today in Republican politics. Last year, Republican House Leader Tom DeLay wanted to impeach judges for not intervening to keep the brain-dead Terri Schiavo on life support for many more years.
At least Huckabee is not advocating that someone poison the justices as Republican pundit Ann Coulter suggested at Little Rock last month that someone do to Justice John Paul Stevens of the U. S. Supreme Court, or have them slain some other way, as a Republican blog was suggesting for the two women U.S. Supreme Court justices who wrote that it was all right for the court to consider international law in its deliberations. Thank goodness our governor has a heart even if his judgment is lacking.
Ernie Dumas writes editorials for The Leader.
WEDNESDAY EDITORIAL >> Rewriting history
Guilt by association is a slimy tactic whether it is undertaken in the judicial or political system. Its employers should not be allowed to get away with it.
But the Republican Party and Gov. Huckabee got away with a nasty little gambit last week when they suggested that Attorney General Mike Beebe was a crony of former state Sen. Nick Wilson, with whom he served in the Senate for a couple of decades. Their implication was that a Beebe administration would smile on corruption.
Wilson, you will remember, pled guilty in federal district court six years ago to a conspiracy to skim money from state programs that he had a hand in creating.
Huckabee said that electing Asa Hutchinson as governor instead of Democrat Beebe would prevent a return to that kind of government. The Republican Party joined the attack, suggesting that Beebe and Wilson were cronies in the Senate. Beebe denied it, and Sunday the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, the party’s house organ, devoted a long editorial to rebutting Beebe’s denial that he was a crony of Wilson. It cited as its evidence a previous Democrat Gazette editorial.
The trouble is that both editorials, presumably written by the same uninformed editorialist, were flat wrong, as every state senator who served the past two decades and every legislative employee, reporter and lobbyist who hung around the Senate knows. Their enmity was legendary. A faction led by Beebe sharply curtailed Wilson’s power in the Senate and the two men held each other in thinly concealed contempt. Wilson derisively referred to Beebe and his sidekick, Sen. Morril Harriman of Van Buren, as “the golfers.”
Since Hutchinson and Huckabee have become so intimate, what if Beebe and his party were to suggest that if Hutchinson got elected he could be counted on to try to turn convicted rapists like Wayne Dumond loose so that they could murder? You can see how this thing could get out of hand.
But the Republican Party and Gov. Huckabee got away with a nasty little gambit last week when they suggested that Attorney General Mike Beebe was a crony of former state Sen. Nick Wilson, with whom he served in the Senate for a couple of decades. Their implication was that a Beebe administration would smile on corruption.
Wilson, you will remember, pled guilty in federal district court six years ago to a conspiracy to skim money from state programs that he had a hand in creating.
Huckabee said that electing Asa Hutchinson as governor instead of Democrat Beebe would prevent a return to that kind of government. The Republican Party joined the attack, suggesting that Beebe and Wilson were cronies in the Senate. Beebe denied it, and Sunday the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, the party’s house organ, devoted a long editorial to rebutting Beebe’s denial that he was a crony of Wilson. It cited as its evidence a previous Democrat Gazette editorial.
The trouble is that both editorials, presumably written by the same uninformed editorialist, were flat wrong, as every state senator who served the past two decades and every legislative employee, reporter and lobbyist who hung around the Senate knows. Their enmity was legendary. A faction led by Beebe sharply curtailed Wilson’s power in the Senate and the two men held each other in thinly concealed contempt. Wilson derisively referred to Beebe and his sidekick, Sen. Morril Harriman of Van Buren, as “the golfers.”
Since Hutchinson and Huckabee have become so intimate, what if Beebe and his party were to suggest that if Hutchinson got elected he could be counted on to try to turn convicted rapists like Wayne Dumond loose so that they could murder? You can see how this thing could get out of hand.
WEDNESDAY EDITORIAL >> Whitewater, RIP
Whitewater, which started one day in 1992 in a downtown Little Rock office and expanded into the costliest and looniest investigation in American history, ended Monday morning in the most appropriate way. The U. S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from Jim Guy Tucker, who was tricked by prosecutors into pleading guilty to cheating on taxes that he did not owe.
Yes, you read that correctly. After Whitewater Prosecutor Kenneth S. Starr and his cohorts finally packed their bags and left the remnants of Whitewater to the career men in government, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (and the federal courts, too) agreed with Tucker that the tax law under which he had been prosecuted had been repealed nearly two years before the cable-television bankruptcy transactions in 1988 that ensnared him. Rather than skipping out on $3.8 million in taxes, which is what Starr told the grand jury that indicted Tucker, he owes at most $62,714.94 and may be entitled to a refund.
For 40 years, U.S. courts have followed a precedent that says the government must give a man a new trial if it withholds any information from him that might affect his guilt or innocence or his penalty. A panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis simply said the precedent did not apply in Tucker’s case. It did not really explain why. As Tucker’s trial approached in 1998, Starr had refused to divulge to him the particulars of the case against him, including the specific law that he was accused of violating. Recuperating from a liver transplant and worrying about serving prison time if he lost, the former governor accepted a bargain from Starr to plead guilty to a reduced charge and not go to prison. Much later he would learn that they were using the outdated law, and then he wanted to withdraw his guilty plea and go to trial.
No one expected the Supreme Court to hear his appeal. It accepts fewer than 2 percent of the cases that reach it, and manifest injustice in an individual case is not usually a reason to accept an appeal. Settling the issue must have wider consequences. What are the chances a case like Tucker’s will ever arise again?
The legal non sequitur in Tucker’s case is the most fitting monument to Whitewater. It began in 1992 when Jim McDougal sat down in the Little Rock office of Sheffield Nelson, a political foe of Bill Clinton and Tucker, and told him about his unhappiness with his former friends over their failed business transactions together and their refusal to help him. (Clinton would not give him a state job.) Nelson told a New York Times reporter with whom he had done business. The reporter wrote about the transactions, including McDougal’s land venture in 1979 with Bill and Hillary Clinton on a remote mountainside in Marion County called Whitewater Estates.
When Vince Foster, a White House lawyer who had the old Whitewater records, committed suicide in 1993, Republicans in Congress got interested in the Whitewater deal. The interest quickened when Clinton’s Small Business Administration turned in a small-time Little Rock crook and Republican bankroller named David Hale for defrauding the agency of loan funds and Hale claimed that some of his dirty work was done for Clinton.
Hale’s accusation proved bogus, but the Whitewater investigation was off and running. Eventually, the government through the independent counsel’s office and the FBI would spend $70 million on the prosecution of 17 people for small-time business dealings in Arkansas, mostly with Hale and McDougal. But only one had even a remote connection to the Clintons. That was the conviction of Webb Hubbell for defrauding his business partners at the Rose Law Firm. One of his victims happened to be Hillary Clinton, a partner in the firm and, like her husband, at one time a friend.
Tucker always maintained that if the Republicans had not gone after Clinton he would never have been accused of any wrongdoing.
“It’s probably true,” the deputy prosecutor who handled Tucker’s case acknowledged Monday.
That was Whitewater and it is finally, mercifully dead. R.I.P.
Ernie Dumas writes editorials for The Leader.
Yes, you read that correctly. After Whitewater Prosecutor Kenneth S. Starr and his cohorts finally packed their bags and left the remnants of Whitewater to the career men in government, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (and the federal courts, too) agreed with Tucker that the tax law under which he had been prosecuted had been repealed nearly two years before the cable-television bankruptcy transactions in 1988 that ensnared him. Rather than skipping out on $3.8 million in taxes, which is what Starr told the grand jury that indicted Tucker, he owes at most $62,714.94 and may be entitled to a refund.
For 40 years, U.S. courts have followed a precedent that says the government must give a man a new trial if it withholds any information from him that might affect his guilt or innocence or his penalty. A panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis simply said the precedent did not apply in Tucker’s case. It did not really explain why. As Tucker’s trial approached in 1998, Starr had refused to divulge to him the particulars of the case against him, including the specific law that he was accused of violating. Recuperating from a liver transplant and worrying about serving prison time if he lost, the former governor accepted a bargain from Starr to plead guilty to a reduced charge and not go to prison. Much later he would learn that they were using the outdated law, and then he wanted to withdraw his guilty plea and go to trial.
No one expected the Supreme Court to hear his appeal. It accepts fewer than 2 percent of the cases that reach it, and manifest injustice in an individual case is not usually a reason to accept an appeal. Settling the issue must have wider consequences. What are the chances a case like Tucker’s will ever arise again?
The legal non sequitur in Tucker’s case is the most fitting monument to Whitewater. It began in 1992 when Jim McDougal sat down in the Little Rock office of Sheffield Nelson, a political foe of Bill Clinton and Tucker, and told him about his unhappiness with his former friends over their failed business transactions together and their refusal to help him. (Clinton would not give him a state job.) Nelson told a New York Times reporter with whom he had done business. The reporter wrote about the transactions, including McDougal’s land venture in 1979 with Bill and Hillary Clinton on a remote mountainside in Marion County called Whitewater Estates.
When Vince Foster, a White House lawyer who had the old Whitewater records, committed suicide in 1993, Republicans in Congress got interested in the Whitewater deal. The interest quickened when Clinton’s Small Business Administration turned in a small-time Little Rock crook and Republican bankroller named David Hale for defrauding the agency of loan funds and Hale claimed that some of his dirty work was done for Clinton.
Hale’s accusation proved bogus, but the Whitewater investigation was off and running. Eventually, the government through the independent counsel’s office and the FBI would spend $70 million on the prosecution of 17 people for small-time business dealings in Arkansas, mostly with Hale and McDougal. But only one had even a remote connection to the Clintons. That was the conviction of Webb Hubbell for defrauding his business partners at the Rose Law Firm. One of his victims happened to be Hillary Clinton, a partner in the firm and, like her husband, at one time a friend.
Tucker always maintained that if the Republicans had not gone after Clinton he would never have been accused of any wrongdoing.
“It’s probably true,” the deputy prosecutor who handled Tucker’s case acknowledged Monday.
That was Whitewater and it is finally, mercifully dead. R.I.P.
Ernie Dumas writes editorials for The Leader.
OBITUARIES >> 03-22-06
ELFREDA BAKER
Elfreda Baker, 74, of Cabot, died March 19 at Rebsamen Medical Center in Jacksonville.
She was born Nov. 18, 1931 in Lenexa, Kan., to Norman and Bessie May Leonard Reeves. She was a member of Mount Carmel Baptist Church. She enjoyed bowling and was a licensed practical nurse for 48 years who specialized in elder care.
Her parents and one brother, Leo-nard Reeves, preceded her in death.
She is survived by her husband, Bil-ly Baker of the home, one son Curtis Baker of Ward; one daughter, Tamela Robinson-Williams and her husband James of Cabot.
Also surviving her are two sisters, Rosalie Wetherill of Overland Park, Kan., and Guinda Reeves of Phoenix, Ariz., as well as two grandchildren, Kayla and Kimberly Robinson and one foster grandchild, Christian Morris in addition to a host of nieces, nephews and other family.
The funeral services will be 11 a.m. Wednesday in the Chapel of Cabot Funeral Home with burial to follow in Mount Carmel Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to the American Heart Association; 7272 Greenville Ave., Dallas, Texas 75231. Arrangements are under the direction of Cabot Funeral Home.
EDITH SONGER
Edith Ann Songer, 69, of Beebe went to be with the Lord on March 20. She is survived by two children, Clayton T. Songer and Shannon Magill, both of Beebe, and one nephew, James Armstrong and wife Crystal of Kensett.
She was preceded in death by her parents, one sister and two daughters.
Visitation begins at noon Wednesday at Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe, with graveside service to follow at 2 p.m. at Weir Cemetery.
ERVIN SPEARS
Ervin E. Spears, 83, went to be with the Lord on March 17. He was born Oct. 6, 1922, in Stigler, Okla. He was a member of Steel Bridge Baptist Church in Lonoke. He was a Mason for 50 years and was an Army veteran, serving in the Second Wolrd War.
He was preceded in death by parents, Frank and Nora Spears, three brothers and three sisters. Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Lexie Sprears; two sisters, Lucille Breshears of Hot Springs and Hazel Donahue of Stockton, Calif.; two daughters, Linda Moore and husband Vernon of North Little Rock and Martha Dunigan and husband Ronald of Lexa; two sons, Ervin Spears Jr., and wife Tracy of Little Rock and Samuel Spears and wife Joyce of Loogootee, Ind.; 10 grandchildren; seven great grandchildren and a host of relatives and friends.
Funeral services were held Tuesday at Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke, officiated by Bro. Joe Kraft and Bro. Ben Leonard with interment in Lonoke Cemetery.
HAROLD CARLISLE
Harold Carlisle, 79, of Jacksonville died March 17 at Rebsamen Medical Center. He was born Sept. 16, 1926, in Tull (Grant County) to Luther and Mae Burrow Carlisle.
He was a jolly man always with a smile on his face. He was the owner and operator of Carlisle Department Store until he retired.
He belonged to First United Methodist Church of Jacksonville where he served as Sunday School superintendent, on the building committee and on the board of trustees.
Carlisle was a member of the Methodist Men and the men’s Sun-day school class which is taught by Walt Jones and was a 46 year member of the Jacksonville Lions Club.
Carlisle was preceded in death by his parents, one brother, Ed-ward Carlisle and three sisters; Cecil Kirk, Willie Mae Scarbrough and Dulcie Smith.
Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Mary F. Coppock Carlisle of Jacksonville; one son, Phillip Carlisle and his wife Karen of Jacksonville and one precious granddaughter, Taylor Carlisle of Jacksonville, who was the joy of his life. A loving family of nieces and nephews also survive him.
Funeral services were held Monday at First United Methodist Church of Jacksonville with Pastor Don Hall and the Rev. Carol Goddard officiating. Burial was held in Ebenezer Cemetery in Tull.
Pallbearers were Danny Scarbrough, Bruce Carlisle, Bob Carlisle, Roy Wayne Coppock, James Coppock and Mark Coppock.
Honorary pallbearers were the men’s Sunday School class and the Jacksonville Lions Club.
The family wishes to thank the doctors and staff at Rebsamen Medical Center for all their care and compassion.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Methodist Church of Jacksonville or the Ebenezer Cemetery in Tull.
Arrangements are under the direction of Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
LESTER PALMER
Lester Thomas Palmer, 67, died March 17. He was a member of Brownsville Baptist Church; retired from GTE in 1990 and was recently an associate at Lonoke County Co-op.
Survivors include his wife, Gloria Jean Palmer; four children, Joe Palmer, Jim and wife Lori Palmer and Jeremy and wife Joyce Palmer, all of Illinois and Janet and husband Wayne Brown of Texas; eight grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; sisters, Pat and husband Bill Duncan, Dora Jean and husband Louie Donath and Ina Smith of Illinois; one brother, George and wife Delia Palmer of Florida; stepchildren Chris Jones of Yellville and Jen-nifer Shepherd of Jacksonville.
Services were held Monday at Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke with interment in Brownsville Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Carle Hospice, 206A W. Anthony Dr., Champaign, Ill. 61822.
VICKY IRVING
Vicky Irving, 68, of El Paso was born June 26, 1937, to the late Canada Lofton and Edith Opal Height Patrom, and she died March 15.
She is survived by one son, Albert Irving of Wooster; two brothers, Charles Patrom of El Paso and Chip Patrom of Conway; five sisters, Velma Colter of Malvern, Opal Holt of Missouri, Sharon Waddle of Mayflower, Rebecca Payne of Conway and Faye Kilbourgh of Georgia.
Family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe. Funeral will be 10 a.m. Friday at Westbrook Funeral Home with burial in Grissard Cemetery.
THOMAS LONG
Thomas Joseph Long, 48, of Leesville, La., died March 12 in Leesville.
He was born June 6, 1957, in Riverside, Calif., to Charles Thomas and Joan Boytim Long. He served 20 years in the Army until retiring in 1996.
He was employed six years with the postal service.
He was married to Chong Yun Long. He enjoyed woodworking and loved to fish. He was also a shadetree mechanic. Long was preceded in death by his father; three brothers, Russel Long, Jerry Long and Gary Long; nephew, Derek Balog.
He is survived by his wife; two children, Catherine Long of Leesville, Kevin Long of Houston, Texas; mother, Joan Long of Jack-sonville; granddaughter, Catarina Harley of Leesville; five brothers and sisters, Pat Long of Benton, Diane Laurent of Jacksonville, Linda Ferrell of San Antonio, Texas, Carol Long and Doug Long, both of Jacksonville; a host of nieces and nephews and Lucky, the cat.
Funeral services were held Friday at Moore’s Cabot Funeral Home Chapel. Burial followed at Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Cabot. The family suggests memorials be made to Shriner’s Hospital in Shreveport, La.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Moore’s Cabot Funeral Home.
WILLIAM MCALISTER
William “Leo” McAlister, 79, of Jacksonville, passed away March 21. Leo was born Nov. 30, 1926 in Searcy, a son of the late W.T. McAlister and Nellie Beaumont McAlister. Leo was retired from Franklin Electric.
He was preceded in death by his parents, W.T. McAlister and Nellie Beaumont McAlister; his sister, Jewel Stephens, and his daughter, Barbara McAlister.
He is survived by his wife of 10 years, Joyce Toney McAlister of Jacksonville; daughters, Shirley Bradford of Missouri and Lisa McAlister of Arkansas; stepchildren, Christine Broyles, Brenda Carter, Virgil J. Heard, all of Arkansas, and David L. Heard of Germany; four grandchildren; four sisters, Vera Hardin, Opal Moye, Imogene Wheat, Margaret Poe, and one brother, W.B. McAlister, all of Arkansas.
Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Griffin Leggett Rest Hills Funeral Home. Services will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at Griffin Leggett Rest Hills Chapel, 7724 Landers Road, North Little Rock, with Bro. Doug Smith officiating. Interment will be at Bayou Meto Cemetery.
The family requests that memorials be made to Marshall Road Baptist Church, 821 Marshall Road, Jacksonville, Ark. 72076.
WENDY SPENCER
Wendy Linn Davis Spencer of Cabot was born on May 25, 1975. Baptized July 29, 1985 in Strawberry River at Poughkeep-sie, N.Y., and went to meet Jesus and her baby Shae on March 20, 2006.
Wendy was preceded in death by her daughter Shae and her grandparents Radie and Irene King and special aunt Rhonda Glover.
She is survived by her husband Shane Spencer and son Tyler of the home; parents, James C. and Barbara Davis of Jacksonville; sisters and family, Gwen, Melvin, Cody, and Ali Styers of Jack-sonville; Leah, Michael Moyer, Abby and Zachary Davis of Cabot and twin brother and family Michael and Betty Davis, Maghan and Madison of Conway; grandparents, Gloria and Duaine Davis of Smithville; a special family, Jack and Judy Roberson; Ed, Kristy, Jessica, Samantha and Jill Terry; Ryan Faulk; Angela, Amber, Felicia and Molly Moore; Larry and Debby Spencer and many friends and co-workers.
Visitation will be held at Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Funeral services will be held at New Hope Baptist Church on Hwy. 236 East at 10 a.m. Thurs-day officiated by her uncle Tim Davis. Burial will follow in New Hope Cemetery. Memorial may be made to the Arkansas School for the Deaf Foundation and Paragould Childrens Home.
CORA COFFELT
Cora Mae Grandgeorge Coffelt, 90, died March 21.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Andrew Coffelt. Survivors include her children, Rosa Mae Evans and husband Carroll of Stuttgart; Delores Robinson of Arlington, Texas, Homer Louis Coffelt of Carlisle and Elmer Henry Coffelt of Hazen; four grandchildren, Mike Robinson, Pam Maddox, Greg Robinson and Caroline Raines; and eight great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at First United Methodist Church, Carlisle with interment in Hamilton Cemetery, arrangements by Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke.
Visitation, one hour prior to service at the church.
JANESSA PATTY
Jennessa Louise Patty, 31, of Gravel Ridge, died Tuesday, March 21.
She was born March 27, 1974 in Hazelwood, Mo., to Michael W. and Nancy E. Edwards Apperson.
Jennessa was a pre-school teacher and a member of Bible Baptist Church.
Survivors include her husband Donald Patty; two daughters, Syerra Apperson and Donna Patty, both of Gravel Ridge; her parents, David and Nancy Cook of Romance; a sister, Virginia Apperson of Aus-tin; grandmother, Virginia Graul of Marble Hill, Mo., her grandfather, George Edwards of St. Louis, a stepbrother, David Cook, Jr. of Jacksonville, a stepsister, Amy Cave of Florida; a half-sister, Michelle Apperson of St. Louis; seven uncles, two aunts, two nieces, four nephews and best friend,
Nikki Dunn.
Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m.Friday at Moore’s funeral home.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Moore’s Funeral Home Chapel in Jack-sonville with Rev. David Cwenar officiating. Interment will follow at Chapel Hill Memorial Park. Funeral arrangements are under direction of Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
Elfreda Baker, 74, of Cabot, died March 19 at Rebsamen Medical Center in Jacksonville.
She was born Nov. 18, 1931 in Lenexa, Kan., to Norman and Bessie May Leonard Reeves. She was a member of Mount Carmel Baptist Church. She enjoyed bowling and was a licensed practical nurse for 48 years who specialized in elder care.
Her parents and one brother, Leo-nard Reeves, preceded her in death.
She is survived by her husband, Bil-ly Baker of the home, one son Curtis Baker of Ward; one daughter, Tamela Robinson-Williams and her husband James of Cabot.
Also surviving her are two sisters, Rosalie Wetherill of Overland Park, Kan., and Guinda Reeves of Phoenix, Ariz., as well as two grandchildren, Kayla and Kimberly Robinson and one foster grandchild, Christian Morris in addition to a host of nieces, nephews and other family.
The funeral services will be 11 a.m. Wednesday in the Chapel of Cabot Funeral Home with burial to follow in Mount Carmel Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to the American Heart Association; 7272 Greenville Ave., Dallas, Texas 75231. Arrangements are under the direction of Cabot Funeral Home.
EDITH SONGER
Edith Ann Songer, 69, of Beebe went to be with the Lord on March 20. She is survived by two children, Clayton T. Songer and Shannon Magill, both of Beebe, and one nephew, James Armstrong and wife Crystal of Kensett.
She was preceded in death by her parents, one sister and two daughters.
Visitation begins at noon Wednesday at Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe, with graveside service to follow at 2 p.m. at Weir Cemetery.
ERVIN SPEARS
Ervin E. Spears, 83, went to be with the Lord on March 17. He was born Oct. 6, 1922, in Stigler, Okla. He was a member of Steel Bridge Baptist Church in Lonoke. He was a Mason for 50 years and was an Army veteran, serving in the Second Wolrd War.
He was preceded in death by parents, Frank and Nora Spears, three brothers and three sisters. Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Lexie Sprears; two sisters, Lucille Breshears of Hot Springs and Hazel Donahue of Stockton, Calif.; two daughters, Linda Moore and husband Vernon of North Little Rock and Martha Dunigan and husband Ronald of Lexa; two sons, Ervin Spears Jr., and wife Tracy of Little Rock and Samuel Spears and wife Joyce of Loogootee, Ind.; 10 grandchildren; seven great grandchildren and a host of relatives and friends.
Funeral services were held Tuesday at Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke, officiated by Bro. Joe Kraft and Bro. Ben Leonard with interment in Lonoke Cemetery.
HAROLD CARLISLE
Harold Carlisle, 79, of Jacksonville died March 17 at Rebsamen Medical Center. He was born Sept. 16, 1926, in Tull (Grant County) to Luther and Mae Burrow Carlisle.
He was a jolly man always with a smile on his face. He was the owner and operator of Carlisle Department Store until he retired.
He belonged to First United Methodist Church of Jacksonville where he served as Sunday School superintendent, on the building committee and on the board of trustees.
Carlisle was a member of the Methodist Men and the men’s Sun-day school class which is taught by Walt Jones and was a 46 year member of the Jacksonville Lions Club.
Carlisle was preceded in death by his parents, one brother, Ed-ward Carlisle and three sisters; Cecil Kirk, Willie Mae Scarbrough and Dulcie Smith.
Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Mary F. Coppock Carlisle of Jacksonville; one son, Phillip Carlisle and his wife Karen of Jacksonville and one precious granddaughter, Taylor Carlisle of Jacksonville, who was the joy of his life. A loving family of nieces and nephews also survive him.
Funeral services were held Monday at First United Methodist Church of Jacksonville with Pastor Don Hall and the Rev. Carol Goddard officiating. Burial was held in Ebenezer Cemetery in Tull.
Pallbearers were Danny Scarbrough, Bruce Carlisle, Bob Carlisle, Roy Wayne Coppock, James Coppock and Mark Coppock.
Honorary pallbearers were the men’s Sunday School class and the Jacksonville Lions Club.
The family wishes to thank the doctors and staff at Rebsamen Medical Center for all their care and compassion.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Methodist Church of Jacksonville or the Ebenezer Cemetery in Tull.
Arrangements are under the direction of Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
LESTER PALMER
Lester Thomas Palmer, 67, died March 17. He was a member of Brownsville Baptist Church; retired from GTE in 1990 and was recently an associate at Lonoke County Co-op.
Survivors include his wife, Gloria Jean Palmer; four children, Joe Palmer, Jim and wife Lori Palmer and Jeremy and wife Joyce Palmer, all of Illinois and Janet and husband Wayne Brown of Texas; eight grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; sisters, Pat and husband Bill Duncan, Dora Jean and husband Louie Donath and Ina Smith of Illinois; one brother, George and wife Delia Palmer of Florida; stepchildren Chris Jones of Yellville and Jen-nifer Shepherd of Jacksonville.
Services were held Monday at Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke with interment in Brownsville Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Carle Hospice, 206A W. Anthony Dr., Champaign, Ill. 61822.
VICKY IRVING
Vicky Irving, 68, of El Paso was born June 26, 1937, to the late Canada Lofton and Edith Opal Height Patrom, and she died March 15.
She is survived by one son, Albert Irving of Wooster; two brothers, Charles Patrom of El Paso and Chip Patrom of Conway; five sisters, Velma Colter of Malvern, Opal Holt of Missouri, Sharon Waddle of Mayflower, Rebecca Payne of Conway and Faye Kilbourgh of Georgia.
Family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe. Funeral will be 10 a.m. Friday at Westbrook Funeral Home with burial in Grissard Cemetery.
THOMAS LONG
Thomas Joseph Long, 48, of Leesville, La., died March 12 in Leesville.
He was born June 6, 1957, in Riverside, Calif., to Charles Thomas and Joan Boytim Long. He served 20 years in the Army until retiring in 1996.
He was employed six years with the postal service.
He was married to Chong Yun Long. He enjoyed woodworking and loved to fish. He was also a shadetree mechanic. Long was preceded in death by his father; three brothers, Russel Long, Jerry Long and Gary Long; nephew, Derek Balog.
He is survived by his wife; two children, Catherine Long of Leesville, Kevin Long of Houston, Texas; mother, Joan Long of Jack-sonville; granddaughter, Catarina Harley of Leesville; five brothers and sisters, Pat Long of Benton, Diane Laurent of Jacksonville, Linda Ferrell of San Antonio, Texas, Carol Long and Doug Long, both of Jacksonville; a host of nieces and nephews and Lucky, the cat.
Funeral services were held Friday at Moore’s Cabot Funeral Home Chapel. Burial followed at Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Cabot. The family suggests memorials be made to Shriner’s Hospital in Shreveport, La.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Moore’s Cabot Funeral Home.
WILLIAM MCALISTER
William “Leo” McAlister, 79, of Jacksonville, passed away March 21. Leo was born Nov. 30, 1926 in Searcy, a son of the late W.T. McAlister and Nellie Beaumont McAlister. Leo was retired from Franklin Electric.
He was preceded in death by his parents, W.T. McAlister and Nellie Beaumont McAlister; his sister, Jewel Stephens, and his daughter, Barbara McAlister.
He is survived by his wife of 10 years, Joyce Toney McAlister of Jacksonville; daughters, Shirley Bradford of Missouri and Lisa McAlister of Arkansas; stepchildren, Christine Broyles, Brenda Carter, Virgil J. Heard, all of Arkansas, and David L. Heard of Germany; four grandchildren; four sisters, Vera Hardin, Opal Moye, Imogene Wheat, Margaret Poe, and one brother, W.B. McAlister, all of Arkansas.
Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Griffin Leggett Rest Hills Funeral Home. Services will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at Griffin Leggett Rest Hills Chapel, 7724 Landers Road, North Little Rock, with Bro. Doug Smith officiating. Interment will be at Bayou Meto Cemetery.
The family requests that memorials be made to Marshall Road Baptist Church, 821 Marshall Road, Jacksonville, Ark. 72076.
WENDY SPENCER
Wendy Linn Davis Spencer of Cabot was born on May 25, 1975. Baptized July 29, 1985 in Strawberry River at Poughkeep-sie, N.Y., and went to meet Jesus and her baby Shae on March 20, 2006.
Wendy was preceded in death by her daughter Shae and her grandparents Radie and Irene King and special aunt Rhonda Glover.
She is survived by her husband Shane Spencer and son Tyler of the home; parents, James C. and Barbara Davis of Jacksonville; sisters and family, Gwen, Melvin, Cody, and Ali Styers of Jack-sonville; Leah, Michael Moyer, Abby and Zachary Davis of Cabot and twin brother and family Michael and Betty Davis, Maghan and Madison of Conway; grandparents, Gloria and Duaine Davis of Smithville; a special family, Jack and Judy Roberson; Ed, Kristy, Jessica, Samantha and Jill Terry; Ryan Faulk; Angela, Amber, Felicia and Molly Moore; Larry and Debby Spencer and many friends and co-workers.
Visitation will be held at Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Funeral services will be held at New Hope Baptist Church on Hwy. 236 East at 10 a.m. Thurs-day officiated by her uncle Tim Davis. Burial will follow in New Hope Cemetery. Memorial may be made to the Arkansas School for the Deaf Foundation and Paragould Childrens Home.
CORA COFFELT
Cora Mae Grandgeorge Coffelt, 90, died March 21.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Andrew Coffelt. Survivors include her children, Rosa Mae Evans and husband Carroll of Stuttgart; Delores Robinson of Arlington, Texas, Homer Louis Coffelt of Carlisle and Elmer Henry Coffelt of Hazen; four grandchildren, Mike Robinson, Pam Maddox, Greg Robinson and Caroline Raines; and eight great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at First United Methodist Church, Carlisle with interment in Hamilton Cemetery, arrangements by Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke.
Visitation, one hour prior to service at the church.
JANESSA PATTY
Jennessa Louise Patty, 31, of Gravel Ridge, died Tuesday, March 21.
She was born March 27, 1974 in Hazelwood, Mo., to Michael W. and Nancy E. Edwards Apperson.
Jennessa was a pre-school teacher and a member of Bible Baptist Church.
Survivors include her husband Donald Patty; two daughters, Syerra Apperson and Donna Patty, both of Gravel Ridge; her parents, David and Nancy Cook of Romance; a sister, Virginia Apperson of Aus-tin; grandmother, Virginia Graul of Marble Hill, Mo., her grandfather, George Edwards of St. Louis, a stepbrother, David Cook, Jr. of Jacksonville, a stepsister, Amy Cave of Florida; a half-sister, Michelle Apperson of St. Louis; seven uncles, two aunts, two nieces, four nephews and best friend,
Nikki Dunn.
Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m.Friday at Moore’s funeral home.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Moore’s Funeral Home Chapel in Jack-sonville with Rev. David Cwenar officiating. Interment will follow at Chapel Hill Memorial Park. Funeral arrangements are under direction of Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
Friday, March 17, 2006
FROM THE PUBLISHER >>Payday lenders still in charge
BY GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader publisher
A couple of local women wept during a meeting of the Joint Senate and House Judiciary Committees at the Capitol Thursday as they talked about their nightmarish experiences with so-called payday lenders in Jacksonville.
These are the storefront lenders who take your personal check for $500, give you a little more than $400 in cash, but if that check isn’t good in two weeks, you could wind up paying more than $3,000.
That’s pretty much what happened to Hazel Lavern Lynch and Glenda Malone, who found themselves short of money and went to their neighborhood check cashers to borrow a few hundred dollars.
When they couldn’t pay, they were threatened and harassed, their lives made miserable by goons who work at these storefront businesses, until help came along from consumer groups that called off the dogs.
The women tearfully told lawmakers it was the worst experience of their lives.
They would have been better off going to a mob-connected loan shark, who wouldn’t have had the heart to charge 3,600 percent interest as some of these check cashers do.
That may explain why the mob, as far as we know, isn’t in the business of payday advances. “It would make them look bad,” a consumer advocate told us before the meeting.
Glenda Malone, who works in Jacksonville and used to have a sunny personality, looked distraught when she gave her testimony at the committee hearing. She explained that her husband had suffered an injury on the job and retired with a small disability check. They weren’t making enough money, so she decided to go to a payday lender.
She might as well have walked through the gates of hell.
“Payday lenders have practices that weren’t very pleasant,” she said, holding back tears. “They’re abusive. They’ll harass you. They’ll harass you at your job. They threaten to call your boss. They go to the bank and try to cash the check.”
There was an overdraft charge every time they presented the check to the bank, as well as a service charge by the payday lenders.
Desperate for money, she went to another check casher to pay the first lender.
When the nightmare ended, she said, “I paid over $1,400 for a $500 check.”
Hazel Lavern Lynch, an elderly black woman, was another witness. Mark Johnson, a lobbyist for AARP, which supports legislation that would chase payday lenders out of Arkansas, helped her get seated behind a microphone and seemed to help her get comfortable, which was a moving scene, since many people think of his father, Jim, as an old segregationist.
She lives on Social Security and had a part-time job in Jacksonville, but when she found herself out of work, she needed $500 to visit her family and go to a class reunion.
“I hoped to get back to work and hoped to repay the loan,” she told lawmakers.
She was eligible for a $300 loan and wrote a check for $350.
“I didn’t get the job back, so I couldn’t pay. They began to call me at home. They called my 84-year-old mother. They came to my home and went to my neighbors. They were asking them a lot of questions. They continued to call. I told them I’d pay them when I got the money. All I had were Social Security payments. They went to my bank. They knew they were direct deposited.”
They cashed her check when the Social Security money was deposited, so the old woman didn’t have her Social Security money that month and had to borrow from another check casher so she could pay the rent.
The old woman was a poignant witness, but she didn’t get much sympathy from legislators. While Johnson’s acts of kindness must have impressed others in the room, a black representative named Booker T. Clemons, a term-limited legislator from Pine Bluff, heaped mostly abuse on her.
He wanted to know why she didn’t repay the first loan. She told him she didn’t have a job. With these payday lenders, you can’t make a partial payment. They want it all, or nothing.
Even some of the money changers in the hearing room seemed moved by the women’s plight, and these lenders are seldom moved by anything except at the sight of money.
But they don’t have to worry about the Legislature ending their abusive practices anytime soon: They’ve bought enough legislators that it will be tough to pass meaningful reforms in Little Rock. What’s really amazing is not so much the sight of legislators who are bought, but how Arkansas has allowed these check cashers to make usurious loans in violation of the state Constitution.
Next: How the check cashers were allowed into Arkansas and how to get rid of them.
Leader publisher
A couple of local women wept during a meeting of the Joint Senate and House Judiciary Committees at the Capitol Thursday as they talked about their nightmarish experiences with so-called payday lenders in Jacksonville.
These are the storefront lenders who take your personal check for $500, give you a little more than $400 in cash, but if that check isn’t good in two weeks, you could wind up paying more than $3,000.
That’s pretty much what happened to Hazel Lavern Lynch and Glenda Malone, who found themselves short of money and went to their neighborhood check cashers to borrow a few hundred dollars.
When they couldn’t pay, they were threatened and harassed, their lives made miserable by goons who work at these storefront businesses, until help came along from consumer groups that called off the dogs.
The women tearfully told lawmakers it was the worst experience of their lives.
They would have been better off going to a mob-connected loan shark, who wouldn’t have had the heart to charge 3,600 percent interest as some of these check cashers do.
That may explain why the mob, as far as we know, isn’t in the business of payday advances. “It would make them look bad,” a consumer advocate told us before the meeting.
Glenda Malone, who works in Jacksonville and used to have a sunny personality, looked distraught when she gave her testimony at the committee hearing. She explained that her husband had suffered an injury on the job and retired with a small disability check. They weren’t making enough money, so she decided to go to a payday lender.
She might as well have walked through the gates of hell.
“Payday lenders have practices that weren’t very pleasant,” she said, holding back tears. “They’re abusive. They’ll harass you. They’ll harass you at your job. They threaten to call your boss. They go to the bank and try to cash the check.”
There was an overdraft charge every time they presented the check to the bank, as well as a service charge by the payday lenders.
Desperate for money, she went to another check casher to pay the first lender.
When the nightmare ended, she said, “I paid over $1,400 for a $500 check.”
Hazel Lavern Lynch, an elderly black woman, was another witness. Mark Johnson, a lobbyist for AARP, which supports legislation that would chase payday lenders out of Arkansas, helped her get seated behind a microphone and seemed to help her get comfortable, which was a moving scene, since many people think of his father, Jim, as an old segregationist.
She lives on Social Security and had a part-time job in Jacksonville, but when she found herself out of work, she needed $500 to visit her family and go to a class reunion.
“I hoped to get back to work and hoped to repay the loan,” she told lawmakers.
She was eligible for a $300 loan and wrote a check for $350.
“I didn’t get the job back, so I couldn’t pay. They began to call me at home. They called my 84-year-old mother. They came to my home and went to my neighbors. They were asking them a lot of questions. They continued to call. I told them I’d pay them when I got the money. All I had were Social Security payments. They went to my bank. They knew they were direct deposited.”
They cashed her check when the Social Security money was deposited, so the old woman didn’t have her Social Security money that month and had to borrow from another check casher so she could pay the rent.
The old woman was a poignant witness, but she didn’t get much sympathy from legislators. While Johnson’s acts of kindness must have impressed others in the room, a black representative named Booker T. Clemons, a term-limited legislator from Pine Bluff, heaped mostly abuse on her.
He wanted to know why she didn’t repay the first loan. She told him she didn’t have a job. With these payday lenders, you can’t make a partial payment. They want it all, or nothing.
Even some of the money changers in the hearing room seemed moved by the women’s plight, and these lenders are seldom moved by anything except at the sight of money.
But they don’t have to worry about the Legislature ending their abusive practices anytime soon: They’ve bought enough legislators that it will be tough to pass meaningful reforms in Little Rock. What’s really amazing is not so much the sight of legislators who are bought, but how Arkansas has allowed these check cashers to make usurious loans in violation of the state Constitution.
Next: How the check cashers were allowed into Arkansas and how to get rid of them.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
SATURDAY EDITORIAL >> Bill Harmon: A class act
Sherwood Mayor Bill Harmon will not seek re-election this November after nearly a quarter century in public service. He made the announcement at last week’s Sherwood City Council meeting, following a “good news” state of the city address.
In an interview with The Leader, Harmon admitted to some of his accomplishments, spreading the credit around and saying his job was done.
He will now let a new generation take over a community that has been called one of the finest suburbs in the nation. Under his leadership, Sher-wood has grown dramatically, but it has avoided many of the problems associated with suburban sprawl: Clogged roads, overburdened city services, outdated infrastructure, inadequate law-enforcement and more.
Sherwood has thrived through Bill Harmon’s leadership. He has stood up for the interests of ordinary residents rather than special interests. When, for example, the North Belt extension threatened to disrupt too many neighborhoods, the mayor came out against the proposed route and has supported a less destructive route.
Harmon has been a great ambassador for his city, building a reputation as a straight-talking mayor whose ever-present Stetson symbolizes small-town values. You always knew where Bill Harmon stood, and he has always kept his word.
He didn’t suffer fools lightly, and when he made up his mind, he was hard to move.
Always quick to safeguard Sherwood’s interests, the mayor appointed a committee to watch over the consultants doing a study of the feasibility of dissolving the Pulaski County Special School District and reconfiguring all districts in Pulaski County.
Always an advocate for the young and old, he oversaw construction of new parks, a recreation center and a senior center as well.
Bill Harmon also showed class when he announced his retirement in plenty of time for prospective mayoral candidates to jump in the race before the May filing deadline. Sherwood has a deep bench with good leadership ready to go to bat: Alderman Denny Stedman has announced that he will run for mayor, signifying the passing of the torch to a younger generation that is ready to take Sherwood forward, thanks to Bill Harmon’s stewardship that will make the town better that it has ever been.
In an interview with The Leader, Harmon admitted to some of his accomplishments, spreading the credit around and saying his job was done.
He will now let a new generation take over a community that has been called one of the finest suburbs in the nation. Under his leadership, Sher-wood has grown dramatically, but it has avoided many of the problems associated with suburban sprawl: Clogged roads, overburdened city services, outdated infrastructure, inadequate law-enforcement and more.
Sherwood has thrived through Bill Harmon’s leadership. He has stood up for the interests of ordinary residents rather than special interests. When, for example, the North Belt extension threatened to disrupt too many neighborhoods, the mayor came out against the proposed route and has supported a less destructive route.
Harmon has been a great ambassador for his city, building a reputation as a straight-talking mayor whose ever-present Stetson symbolizes small-town values. You always knew where Bill Harmon stood, and he has always kept his word.
He didn’t suffer fools lightly, and when he made up his mind, he was hard to move.
Always quick to safeguard Sherwood’s interests, the mayor appointed a committee to watch over the consultants doing a study of the feasibility of dissolving the Pulaski County Special School District and reconfiguring all districts in Pulaski County.
Always an advocate for the young and old, he oversaw construction of new parks, a recreation center and a senior center as well.
Bill Harmon also showed class when he announced his retirement in plenty of time for prospective mayoral candidates to jump in the race before the May filing deadline. Sherwood has a deep bench with good leadership ready to go to bat: Alderman Denny Stedman has announced that he will run for mayor, signifying the passing of the torch to a younger generation that is ready to take Sherwood forward, thanks to Bill Harmon’s stewardship that will make the town better that it has ever been.
SPORTS >> Beebe ladies win two, lose one at MSM tournament
BY RAY BENTON
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: The Beebe Lady Badgers came away with wins over Malvern and North Little Rock during last weekend’s Mount St. Mary’s tourney in Sherwood, but lost to Benton.
The Lady Badgers softball team added two more wins to their season total over the weekend in the Mount St. Mary’s tournament in Sherwood, but they also added their first loss.
Beebe beat Malvern 6-2 in the first round, then knocked off North Little Rock 1-0 Saturday afternoon.
The loss came in the following game in the quarterfinals of the 35-team tournament against Benton. The Lady Panthers handed Beebe its first loss with a 1-0 decision.
“Our defense and pitching was really good that second day, but we just were a little off at the plate,” Beebe coach Terry Flenor said. “Our timing was just a little off and we just weren’t getting it done. We were going against good quality pitching, but hopefully as the season goes on, we’ll still do better than that.”
Beebe’s defense wasn’t so great against Malvern, but the bats were hot as the Lady Badgers scored six earned runs on nine hits.
The Lady Leopards took the lead in the top of the first inning. The first two batters to step to the plate got a single and a double for the first run of the game.
Beebe pitcher Callie Mahoney settled down after the rough first inning, and allowed just one bunt single over the next five.
Meanwhile, Beebe scored at least one run in every inning, and scored twice in the second.
Brandi Burkhalter got things started in the first with an infield single.
A stolen base and a sacrifice moved her to third, where Chelsea Sanders singled to drive in the run.
Burkhalter did some damage in the second inning as well, but instead of scoring the runs, she drove them in.
Mykia Cox and Laura Foreman singled to get on base, and moved up a base on a sacrifice grounder by Laura Tucker. That brought Burkhalter back to the plate, who singled for two RBIs and a 3-1 Beebe lead it would not relinquish.
The Lady Badgers had a chance to put together a huge inning in the fifth when they got the two leadoff hitters on base, but bad luck struck.
Mahoney and Sara Flenor each hit hard line drives to left field, but the Malvern outfielder made outstanding plays to get both batters out.
She made an overhead stab of Flenor’s shot that would have cleared the bases if the play wasn’t made.
Coach Terry Flenor said more of that same kind of luck struck on Saturday.
“We didn’t hit very well overall, but we did a hit a few really hard, they were just right at somebody,” Flenor said.
Beebe, 4-1, opened conference play last night at home against Marion, and will play a doubleheader on the road Thursday at Nettleton.
Look for details of those games in Saturday’s edition of the Leader.
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: The Beebe Lady Badgers came away with wins over Malvern and North Little Rock during last weekend’s Mount St. Mary’s tourney in Sherwood, but lost to Benton.
The Lady Badgers softball team added two more wins to their season total over the weekend in the Mount St. Mary’s tournament in Sherwood, but they also added their first loss.
Beebe beat Malvern 6-2 in the first round, then knocked off North Little Rock 1-0 Saturday afternoon.
The loss came in the following game in the quarterfinals of the 35-team tournament against Benton. The Lady Panthers handed Beebe its first loss with a 1-0 decision.
“Our defense and pitching was really good that second day, but we just were a little off at the plate,” Beebe coach Terry Flenor said. “Our timing was just a little off and we just weren’t getting it done. We were going against good quality pitching, but hopefully as the season goes on, we’ll still do better than that.”
Beebe’s defense wasn’t so great against Malvern, but the bats were hot as the Lady Badgers scored six earned runs on nine hits.
The Lady Leopards took the lead in the top of the first inning. The first two batters to step to the plate got a single and a double for the first run of the game.
Beebe pitcher Callie Mahoney settled down after the rough first inning, and allowed just one bunt single over the next five.
Meanwhile, Beebe scored at least one run in every inning, and scored twice in the second.
Brandi Burkhalter got things started in the first with an infield single.
A stolen base and a sacrifice moved her to third, where Chelsea Sanders singled to drive in the run.
Burkhalter did some damage in the second inning as well, but instead of scoring the runs, she drove them in.
Mykia Cox and Laura Foreman singled to get on base, and moved up a base on a sacrifice grounder by Laura Tucker. That brought Burkhalter back to the plate, who singled for two RBIs and a 3-1 Beebe lead it would not relinquish.
The Lady Badgers had a chance to put together a huge inning in the fifth when they got the two leadoff hitters on base, but bad luck struck.
Mahoney and Sara Flenor each hit hard line drives to left field, but the Malvern outfielder made outstanding plays to get both batters out.
She made an overhead stab of Flenor’s shot that would have cleared the bases if the play wasn’t made.
Coach Terry Flenor said more of that same kind of luck struck on Saturday.
“We didn’t hit very well overall, but we did a hit a few really hard, they were just right at somebody,” Flenor said.
Beebe, 4-1, opened conference play last night at home against Marion, and will play a doubleheader on the road Thursday at Nettleton.
Look for details of those games in Saturday’s edition of the Leader.
SPORTS >> ALL STARS: Several local players named to All-State/Conference
BY RAY BENTON
Leader sports writer
Basketball season is over, but the honors and accolades are just starting to roll in. Several players from local-coverage teams made their respective leagues’ all-conference teams, while a select few were named to the All-State squad.
Leading the list of local players is Jacksonville senior Lavar Neely. Neely, a 5-11 guard, has been the team’s leading scorer for two years, and was the second-leading scorer in the AAAAA-East. His 24 points per game was second behind West Memphis’ Jason Henry.
Neely was also nominated for the All-Star team. Henry got the league’s automatic bid, but Neely made the list of top-five league players to be considered for invitations to the summer classic.
The Cabot girls, who won the AAAAA-East with a perfect 14-0 record, put three players on the All-State team, led by senior Kim Sitzmann. Sitzmann, who signed an NCAA letter of intent early with UALR, is also up for All-Star consideration.
Sitzmann was joined by junior guards Maddie Helms and Jamie Sterrenberg on the All-State list.
Jacksonville senior post player Tarneshia Scott also made the AAAAA-East All-State team.
Lonoke senior guard Meaghan Kelleybrew is also up for All-Star consideration. She made the All-State team after averaging 13 points, four rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.2 blocks, 1.4 steals and shooting 70 percent from the free-throw line.
Her point and block averages, as well as her free-throw percentage, led the Lady Jackrabbits, who finished second behind state champion CAC in the 6AAA.
North Pulaski senior guard Tish Howell also made All-State. She averaged 18 points per game for the Lady Falcons, who finished fourth and advanced to the state playoffs from the AAAA-Southeast conference. She had a season-high 27 points against Stuttgart in a game that locked up NP’s playoff bid.
Riverview post player Cory Cooperwood is the 2AAA’s No. 1 selection for the All-Star team. Cooperwood dominated the league, averaging 25 points and 15 rebounds per game.
Twice this season Cooperwood scored 30-plus while pulling down 20-plus rebounds.
His most remarkable effort of the season came in the regional tournament against Gosnell. The 6-foot-6 post scored 35 points, grabbed 23 rebounds, blocked 10 shots and dished out 10 assists for a quadruple-double.
Across town, Searcy senior and Wichita State signee Chris Brown made the All-State team for the Lions. Brown averaged 22 points and eight rebounds this season.
Harding Academy put one boy and one girl on the All-State team. Senior post player Jessica Stevens made All-State, as well as Wildcat junior guard Alex Beene.
In an odd twist, Lady Wildcat guard Sara Montgomery was not named to the All-State team, but was nominated as the league’s top consideration for the All-Star game. She was also named to the All-State tournament team for her performance in the class AA tournament, leading the Lady Wildcats to the quarterfinal round.
Beene averaged 19 points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists per game for the Wildcats, and knocked 101 three pointers this season.
Stevens scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds per game, while Montgomery averaged 10 points and seven assists.
The list of All-conference players is even more prolific. Dozens of local players made the list.
The Jacksonville boys put Kelsey Credit and Kajuan Watson on the first-team, while Will Christian, Airic Hughes and Bryan Owens made second-team.
Lady Devil Frankie Brown made the girls All-Conference team.
Cabot junior Lindsey Watts joined the three Lady Panther All-Staters on the All-Conference first team, while senior Lauren Walker and sophomores Rachel Glover and Leah Watts made the second team.
Chad Glover, Mike Lowery and Matt Shinn were the Cabot boys All-Conference selections.
Sylvan Hills seniors Mike Gross and Ulysses Robinson made first-team All-Conference from the Bears’ state semifinal team.
Gross was also named to the All-State tournament team after averaging nearly 20 points per game in the Bears’ three tournament matchups.
Lady Jackrabbits Jenny Evans, Libby Gay and Calisha Kirk joined Kelleybrew on the 6AAA All-Conference first team, while Christy Shinn made the second-team.
Eligha Gooden and Kylon Boyd made the 6AAA first team for the Jackrabbits. Chris Moragne and Brentley Spencer made second-team. The 6AAA also makes an academic All-Conference team, and Walter Ellis and Lady Rabbit Nikki McCoy made that list.
North Pulaski’s Quinn Cooper was the Falcons’ All-Conference selection. Lady Falcons Jalecia Bateman and Lakeyshia Ridgeway joined Howell on the All-Conference team.
Riverview’s junior guard Tony Hall made the 2AAA’s first-team All-Con-ference list. He and Cooperwood were both named to the class AAA All-State tournament te-am. Harding Academy’s Nick Beene made All-Conference and was selected as one of the league’s All-Star nominees. Joining the Beene brothers on the 2-AA South All-Conference team by teammates Luke Tribble, Lance Carr and James Kee. Lady Wildcats Jennifer Kee, Rebekah Keese, Liz Ashley, Katie Cook and Taylor Pryor made the All-Conference team from the 2AA-South.
Leader sports writer
Basketball season is over, but the honors and accolades are just starting to roll in. Several players from local-coverage teams made their respective leagues’ all-conference teams, while a select few were named to the All-State squad.
Leading the list of local players is Jacksonville senior Lavar Neely. Neely, a 5-11 guard, has been the team’s leading scorer for two years, and was the second-leading scorer in the AAAAA-East. His 24 points per game was second behind West Memphis’ Jason Henry.
Neely was also nominated for the All-Star team. Henry got the league’s automatic bid, but Neely made the list of top-five league players to be considered for invitations to the summer classic.
The Cabot girls, who won the AAAAA-East with a perfect 14-0 record, put three players on the All-State team, led by senior Kim Sitzmann. Sitzmann, who signed an NCAA letter of intent early with UALR, is also up for All-Star consideration.
Sitzmann was joined by junior guards Maddie Helms and Jamie Sterrenberg on the All-State list.
Jacksonville senior post player Tarneshia Scott also made the AAAAA-East All-State team.
Lonoke senior guard Meaghan Kelleybrew is also up for All-Star consideration. She made the All-State team after averaging 13 points, four rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.2 blocks, 1.4 steals and shooting 70 percent from the free-throw line.
Her point and block averages, as well as her free-throw percentage, led the Lady Jackrabbits, who finished second behind state champion CAC in the 6AAA.
North Pulaski senior guard Tish Howell also made All-State. She averaged 18 points per game for the Lady Falcons, who finished fourth and advanced to the state playoffs from the AAAA-Southeast conference. She had a season-high 27 points against Stuttgart in a game that locked up NP’s playoff bid.
Riverview post player Cory Cooperwood is the 2AAA’s No. 1 selection for the All-Star team. Cooperwood dominated the league, averaging 25 points and 15 rebounds per game.
Twice this season Cooperwood scored 30-plus while pulling down 20-plus rebounds.
His most remarkable effort of the season came in the regional tournament against Gosnell. The 6-foot-6 post scored 35 points, grabbed 23 rebounds, blocked 10 shots and dished out 10 assists for a quadruple-double.
Across town, Searcy senior and Wichita State signee Chris Brown made the All-State team for the Lions. Brown averaged 22 points and eight rebounds this season.
Harding Academy put one boy and one girl on the All-State team. Senior post player Jessica Stevens made All-State, as well as Wildcat junior guard Alex Beene.
In an odd twist, Lady Wildcat guard Sara Montgomery was not named to the All-State team, but was nominated as the league’s top consideration for the All-Star game. She was also named to the All-State tournament team for her performance in the class AA tournament, leading the Lady Wildcats to the quarterfinal round.
Beene averaged 19 points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists per game for the Wildcats, and knocked 101 three pointers this season.
Stevens scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds per game, while Montgomery averaged 10 points and seven assists.
The list of All-conference players is even more prolific. Dozens of local players made the list.
The Jacksonville boys put Kelsey Credit and Kajuan Watson on the first-team, while Will Christian, Airic Hughes and Bryan Owens made second-team.
Lady Devil Frankie Brown made the girls All-Conference team.
Cabot junior Lindsey Watts joined the three Lady Panther All-Staters on the All-Conference first team, while senior Lauren Walker and sophomores Rachel Glover and Leah Watts made the second team.
Chad Glover, Mike Lowery and Matt Shinn were the Cabot boys All-Conference selections.
Sylvan Hills seniors Mike Gross and Ulysses Robinson made first-team All-Conference from the Bears’ state semifinal team.
Gross was also named to the All-State tournament team after averaging nearly 20 points per game in the Bears’ three tournament matchups.
Lady Jackrabbits Jenny Evans, Libby Gay and Calisha Kirk joined Kelleybrew on the 6AAA All-Conference first team, while Christy Shinn made the second-team.
Eligha Gooden and Kylon Boyd made the 6AAA first team for the Jackrabbits. Chris Moragne and Brentley Spencer made second-team. The 6AAA also makes an academic All-Conference team, and Walter Ellis and Lady Rabbit Nikki McCoy made that list.
North Pulaski’s Quinn Cooper was the Falcons’ All-Conference selection. Lady Falcons Jalecia Bateman and Lakeyshia Ridgeway joined Howell on the All-Conference team.
Riverview’s junior guard Tony Hall made the 2AAA’s first-team All-Con-ference list. He and Cooperwood were both named to the class AAA All-State tournament te-am. Harding Academy’s Nick Beene made All-Conference and was selected as one of the league’s All-Star nominees. Joining the Beene brothers on the 2-AA South All-Conference team by teammates Luke Tribble, Lance Carr and James Kee. Lady Wildcats Jennifer Kee, Rebekah Keese, Liz Ashley, Katie Cook and Taylor Pryor made the All-Conference team from the 2AA-South.
NEIGHBORS >> Chat 'N' Chew
BY SARA GREENE
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: School reading program involves students, community leaders and lunch
Fourth grade students at Magness Creek Elementary are becoming excited about reading through the Chat ‘N’ Chew book clubs started by literacy teacher Joni Coats.
“Of my 41 students, 21 had been identified at some risk in the area of reading comprehension,” Coats said. “With that many Academic Improvement Plans I knew the school would never be able to supply me with the tutoring assistance I needed to accommodate all these children.” Inspired by Oprah Winfrey’s book clubs, Coats suggested fourth-grade book clubs during lunch led not by teachers, but rather by community members who could become mentors to the children. Magness Creek principal Blaine Alexander volunteered to lead one of the book clubs and sent an e-mail to the administration office and out to the community.
Now seven Chat ‘N’ Chew book clubs, four for girls, three for boys, with six students in each, meet throughout the week. Book club students take their lunches and books into conference rooms where community volunteers lead the Chat ‘N’ Chew discussions.
Other community volunteers beside Alexander include Pam Carter and Robert Martin both of the Cabot School Central Office; Angela Kuntzman of Cebridge Communications in Cabot; Jeff Hardage of Whit Davis Lumber Plus in Cabot; Charlotte Ramsey and Kylie McGinty, both teacher interns from the University of Central Arkansas. “It’s over lunch so it’s casual and fun and not like a classroom atmosphere,” Coats said. In addition to building literacy skills in a relaxed environment the clubs are helping with student behavior problems in the classroom.
“The students are seeing that reading is a wonderful thing, not from a teacher but from ordinary grown-ups. Children love the clubs. They like having a special place to eat and talk to someone other than a teacher about books,” Coats said.
During the first meeting the students decide how many chapters they’re going to read for each Chat ‘N’ Chew, usually two to three chapters a week. It takes about six to eight Chat ‘N’ Chew meetings to complete a book.
In Martin’s book club, the boys are reading “Snow Treasure” by Marie McSwigan, a 156-page historical mystery about Nazis invading Norway.
“We’re learning about context clues and predicting what’s going to happen next,” Martin said. A self-described history buff, Martin used the Internet to show the students where Norway is and what a fjord looks like to aid them in understanding the setting of the novel.
Down the hall in Jeff Hardage’s book club, the group is discussing the 96-page “The X-ed Out X-Ray” an A to Z Mystery by Ron Roy. “At home I read more managerial books and hunting magazines,” says Hardage. “I think it’s important to show the young students that reading is enjoyable and adults are interested in it.”
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: School reading program involves students, community leaders and lunch
Fourth grade students at Magness Creek Elementary are becoming excited about reading through the Chat ‘N’ Chew book clubs started by literacy teacher Joni Coats.
“Of my 41 students, 21 had been identified at some risk in the area of reading comprehension,” Coats said. “With that many Academic Improvement Plans I knew the school would never be able to supply me with the tutoring assistance I needed to accommodate all these children.” Inspired by Oprah Winfrey’s book clubs, Coats suggested fourth-grade book clubs during lunch led not by teachers, but rather by community members who could become mentors to the children. Magness Creek principal Blaine Alexander volunteered to lead one of the book clubs and sent an e-mail to the administration office and out to the community.
Now seven Chat ‘N’ Chew book clubs, four for girls, three for boys, with six students in each, meet throughout the week. Book club students take their lunches and books into conference rooms where community volunteers lead the Chat ‘N’ Chew discussions.
Other community volunteers beside Alexander include Pam Carter and Robert Martin both of the Cabot School Central Office; Angela Kuntzman of Cebridge Communications in Cabot; Jeff Hardage of Whit Davis Lumber Plus in Cabot; Charlotte Ramsey and Kylie McGinty, both teacher interns from the University of Central Arkansas. “It’s over lunch so it’s casual and fun and not like a classroom atmosphere,” Coats said. In addition to building literacy skills in a relaxed environment the clubs are helping with student behavior problems in the classroom.
“The students are seeing that reading is a wonderful thing, not from a teacher but from ordinary grown-ups. Children love the clubs. They like having a special place to eat and talk to someone other than a teacher about books,” Coats said.
During the first meeting the students decide how many chapters they’re going to read for each Chat ‘N’ Chew, usually two to three chapters a week. It takes about six to eight Chat ‘N’ Chew meetings to complete a book.
In Martin’s book club, the boys are reading “Snow Treasure” by Marie McSwigan, a 156-page historical mystery about Nazis invading Norway.
“We’re learning about context clues and predicting what’s going to happen next,” Martin said. A self-described history buff, Martin used the Internet to show the students where Norway is and what a fjord looks like to aid them in understanding the setting of the novel.
Down the hall in Jeff Hardage’s book club, the group is discussing the 96-page “The X-ed Out X-Ray” an A to Z Mystery by Ron Roy. “At home I read more managerial books and hunting magazines,” says Hardage. “I think it’s important to show the young students that reading is enjoyable and adults are interested in it.”
SATURDAY EDITORIAL >>Halter is no Bumpers
Bill Halter got out of the Arkansas governor’s race Thursday, reflecting greater wisdom than the young Rhodes scholar had demonstrated in his brief political career. Halter said he was persuaded that he would have to savage Mike Beebe to have any chance of winning the Democratic nomination and he was loathe to run that kind of campaign. In that manner alone did he remind anyone of young Dale Bumpers, who was unknown outside the mountain hamlet of Charleston where he practiced law and ran a hardware store when he came out of a large pack of candidates to defeat the giants of Arkansas politics in one five-month span 35 years ago. Bumpers refused to attack his opponents, a stance he would keep for 28 remarkable years. Halter had not restrained himself since announcing last fall that he might run for governor, but at least he did not have the stomach for the mudslinging that Republicans hoped he would undertake.
At least as likely, he concluded he could not win at any cost. Attorney General Beebe has too many powers-that-be, too much of the party, too much money, too much caution, too much savvy to be sidetracked by an unknown in a primary only a little more than two months away. Halter’s campaign of ideas, which he had promised and which his superb education led us to expect, was an immediate bust. His big idea was a lottery.
Now Halter joins the innumerable caravan that wants to be Arkansas lieutenant governor. He joins four Democrats and three Republicans running for a job that requires less heavy lifting than any public position in these parts except constable of Big Rock Township. The lieutenant governor has a single duty under the Arkansas Constitution, which is to preside over the state Senate a few hours a week for three months in off-numbered years — if he wants to. If the lieutenant governor wants to knock off, the Senate president pro tempore or another senator will slide into the Senate president’s chair and government runs just as smoothly. Until a few years ago, the lieutenant governor rarely set foot in the Capitol except when the legislature was in session.
But neither the joy of presiding over the somnolent upper chamber or the lassitude of doing next to nothing and drawing a regular paycheck is what impels Halter and all the others. It is the knowledge that lightning struck for the last two lieutenant governors. They fell into the governor’s office without first having to run for it. Jim Guy Tucker became governor when Bill Clinton resigned to become president, and Mike Huckabee became governor when Tucker resigned after his conviction for misdeeds in his business affairs in the 1980s. The only other lieutenant governor who climbed out of the obscurity of the office was the first one, Harvey Parnell, who got to be governor.
From what we have gleaned from Halter, unless we misjudge him, this may be the perfect job.
At least as likely, he concluded he could not win at any cost. Attorney General Beebe has too many powers-that-be, too much of the party, too much money, too much caution, too much savvy to be sidetracked by an unknown in a primary only a little more than two months away. Halter’s campaign of ideas, which he had promised and which his superb education led us to expect, was an immediate bust. His big idea was a lottery.
Now Halter joins the innumerable caravan that wants to be Arkansas lieutenant governor. He joins four Democrats and three Republicans running for a job that requires less heavy lifting than any public position in these parts except constable of Big Rock Township. The lieutenant governor has a single duty under the Arkansas Constitution, which is to preside over the state Senate a few hours a week for three months in off-numbered years — if he wants to. If the lieutenant governor wants to knock off, the Senate president pro tempore or another senator will slide into the Senate president’s chair and government runs just as smoothly. Until a few years ago, the lieutenant governor rarely set foot in the Capitol except when the legislature was in session.
But neither the joy of presiding over the somnolent upper chamber or the lassitude of doing next to nothing and drawing a regular paycheck is what impels Halter and all the others. It is the knowledge that lightning struck for the last two lieutenant governors. They fell into the governor’s office without first having to run for it. Jim Guy Tucker became governor when Bill Clinton resigned to become president, and Mike Huckabee became governor when Tucker resigned after his conviction for misdeeds in his business affairs in the 1980s. The only other lieutenant governor who climbed out of the obscurity of the office was the first one, Harvey Parnell, who got to be governor.
From what we have gleaned from Halter, unless we misjudge him, this may be the perfect job.
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