The overwhelming impulses after the fall of U. S. Sen. Larry Craig, the Idaho Republican, for soliciting sex in a men’s room stall ought to be sadness and understanding for another politician who like ordinary mortals could not master the frailties of flesh.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed those impulses, solemnly, and nothing else when David Letterman surprised her Thursday night by asking her take on her colleague’s troubles. She hoped he and his family could work things out.
Sen. Craig had been one of the leading jeerleaders in the impeachment proceedings against her husband in 1999, when with a big grin on a national TV show he called the president “a nasty, bad, naughty boy” who deserved more than a slap on the wrist for having oral sex with an intern and for not being completely honest about it.
Craig wanted the president removed from office. Now it’s Republicans, embarrassed and on the defense again, who are asking Craig to quit his office.
Understanding would be easier were it not for the hypocrisy, for which Craig is only the latest poster boy. Craig’s preening righteousness in the Monicagate scandal could be chalked up to the political gamesmanship of the era, in which practically everybody on both sides took part, but it has characterized much of his political life.
Craig, who is expected to resign Saturday, was a family-values Republican, who was happy to sponsor and promote anti-gay legislation and to claim moral superiority for himself and for his party. He led the way on banning homosexual marriages and against making violence and intimidation of homosexuals a hate crime.
His press conference after Roll Call, a Washington journal, reported his guilty plea in the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport sex-sting operation was given over to a screed against the Idaho newspaper that had been investigating his illicit sexual escapades for a year.
He said he was so upset over the newspaper’s harassment that he had committed the terrible misjudgment of pleading guilty when he was actually not guilty of propositioning the undercover policeman. He said it was a misunderstanding.
The Idaho newspaper then published a massive account of its investigation, mainly stories by men who said they had sex with Craig or were propositioned by him going back to his college days.
There seems to be a spirit running through the universe that wants to expose hypocrisy. Sen. Craig’s undoing is just the latest affirmation, and it has left the national Republican Party in shambles.
In the moral fervor over Clinton’s sleazy conduct, which held that high officials must set a higher standard of personal conduct, Republican leaders demanded that he be removed from office and not merely condemned.
One by one, the leaders had to admit sexual indiscretions at least as bad as Clinton’s: serial adultery and homosexual and heterosexual escapades. House Speaker Newt Gingrich was having an affair with an aide.
Rep. Bob Livingston of Louisiana, who was to be his successor, had to resign his leadership position and his seat after his adulterous affairs were exposed. His successor to the Louisiana congressional seat, the pious David Vitter, now a senator, was caught up this year in the Washington call-girl scandal.
The avuncular Henry Hyde, chairman of the Judiciary Committee that recommended impeachment of Clinton, had to own up to adultery. So did Jack Ryan, the great Republican hope in Illinois.
Rep. Helen Chenoweth, another Idaho family-values ideologue, had to admit to a six-year affair with her former boss but said that was different from Clinton’s dalliances with Monica Lewinsky that she had so vehemently condemned.
Then there was Rep. Mark Foley of Florida, who victimized male pages.
One of the leaders of the impeachment drive, our own clean-living Asa Hutchinson, a prosecutor for Hyde’s committee, thankfully has escaped a sex scandal.
But while Congressman Hutchinson was prosecuting Clinton before the Senate in 1999, his Washington roommate, brother Tim, who as a senator voted to convict and oust the president, was carrying on with a female member of his Senate office staff.
Sen. Hutchinson left his wife and married the woman, but Arkansas voters turned him out of office in 2002.
Sen. Craig’s cardinal sin seems to be that he has embarrassed his party. Sen. John McCain said he had harmed the Republican Party’s “reputation with the American people.”
Senate GOP leaders removed him from all his leadership responsibilities, and there were calls for him to resign for the good of the party. But party has nothing to do with it.
The good, if any, that comes from Sen. Craig’s sad downfall will be the final surrender of the idea that a political party has a singular claim on moral rectitude and wholesome values. It doesn’t. Character is an individual journey. And the closet is a roomy but lonely and miserable place that Larry Craig has not helped to liberate.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
OBITUARIES >> 09-01-07
Louis Jeffers
Louis Anderson Jeffers, 84, went home to be with his Lord in the early moring hours of August 29.
Jeffers was born June 1, 1923.
Just last week, he and his wife Marileigh celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with family and friends.
His surrender to Christ in 1948 led to the salvation of three generations of his family. As the patriarch of a devoted and affectionate family, he established his home as a place of acceptance and love. Gatherings at his home for holidays and birthdays were a common occurrence, and his leadership, hugs, and affirmation to his family during these gatherings were reminders of his unchanging and relentless love for them.
He had been told often that he could have been a professional musician, but he chose instead to begin a music ministry at Bayou Meto Baptist Church.
He led singings and choirs in countless revivals across the state serving with numerous evangelists in the 1970’s and 1980’s. His voice was deep, strong and clear and will never be forgotten by those who heard it.
He was a charter member and a deacon of Bayou Meto Baptist Church. After honeymooning in Arkansas at the Buffalo River, he decided to raise his family in this great state, instead of East St. Louis, Mo., where he and Marileigh were raised.
He and his family made annual trips for over 40 years to the Buffalo River and have included hundreds of friends in the camping, singing, horseshoes, card games and fellowship.
He retired from the post office after delivering mail on city and rural routes for 32 years. He was known as the “Singing Mailman” because the song in his heart came out daily as he walked his Jacksonville delivery route or drove his mail Jeep through north Pulaski County.
Survivors include his wife of 60 years, Marileigh Jeffers; two sons, David Jeffers and wife Susan and Bobby Jeffers; one daughter, Becky Russell and husband Ralph; grandchildren, Aundra Boeckman and husband Mitch, Amanda Browning and husband Ryan, Bobby Allen Jeffers, Nathan Jeffers, Andrew Jeffers, Casey Russell, and Abby Russell; and one great-granddaughter, Emma Browning.
He was preceded in death by his parents Frank and Goldie Jeffers; sisters, Irene Kissling and husband Mel and Mildred Chambers and husband Thomas; infant son, Robert Jeffers; and a granddaughter, Jae Lynn Russell.
To honor Louis, the family asks that memorial gifts be made to the “Jae Lynn Russell Educational Scholarship” fund, c/o Arkansas Community Foundation, 1400 West Markham, Suite 206, Little Rock, Ark. 72201.
A celebration of his life will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 1, at Bayou Meto Baptist Church followed by burial at Bayou Meto Cemetery. Arrangements will be by North Little Rock Funeral Home.
Bill Oakley
Bill Oakley, 71, of Jacksonville passed away Aug. 29. He was the previous owner of Oakley Estate Mobile Home Park and before that he was a Jacksonville city employee for 17 years.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Ruth Elizabeth and Dave Oakley.
Survivors include his wife of 23 years, Peggy Oakley; four children, David Oakley, Jimmy Oakley, Stacy Oakley, and Melisa Alvers; two daughters-in-law, Patricia Oakley and Danette Oakley; one son-in-law, Russell Alvers; grandchildren, Felicia Oakley, Charlie Oakley, BryAnna Oakley, Alexis Oakley, Andrea Oakley, Keller Oakley, Tanya Lovell, Ashley Alvers, Alexis Jordan, Luke Jordan, Terry DeWayne Jordan, Jr., Lacy Jordan, Chris Jordan, and Mark Jordan; three step-sons, Donald W. Jordan II, Terry Jordan, and Donald W. Jordan III; and a host of friends and family.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at North Little Rock Funeral Home Chapel.
Burial will be in Arkansas Memorial Gardens.
Sandra McDaniel
Sandra Sue McDaniel, 57, of Austin passed away Aug. 28 in Little Rock. She was born August 25, 1950 to the late Ray and Bertha Harness. Also preceding her in death is one brother, G.B. Harness.
She is survived by her husband, Glen McDaniel of the home; one daughter, Kasai Finley and husband Dewayne of Cabot; five sisters, Daphna and husband Julius Copeland of Judsonia, Flo Passmore of North Little Rock, Martha Rainbolt of Marshall, Sharon Holsted of Jacksonville and Patricia and husband Ed Fraley of Springfield, Mo.; two grandchildren, Trey Goodrich and Kelsea Finley of Cabot; and many other family members and friends.
Funeral services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 1 at Ward First Baptist Church with interment immediately following at Dunkard Cemetery in Austin. Arrangements are by Thomas Funeral Service in Cabot.
Carl Clendenin
Carl Odell Clendenin, Jr., infant son of Carl Odell Clendenin, Sr., and Robin Yelsick of Jacksonville went to be with the Lord on the day of his birth August 27.
Graveside services were August 31 at Chapel Hill Memorial Park in Jacksonville with David Dryer officiating.
Arrangements were by Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
Louis Anderson Jeffers, 84, went home to be with his Lord in the early moring hours of August 29.
Jeffers was born June 1, 1923.
Just last week, he and his wife Marileigh celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with family and friends.
His surrender to Christ in 1948 led to the salvation of three generations of his family. As the patriarch of a devoted and affectionate family, he established his home as a place of acceptance and love. Gatherings at his home for holidays and birthdays were a common occurrence, and his leadership, hugs, and affirmation to his family during these gatherings were reminders of his unchanging and relentless love for them.
He had been told often that he could have been a professional musician, but he chose instead to begin a music ministry at Bayou Meto Baptist Church.
He led singings and choirs in countless revivals across the state serving with numerous evangelists in the 1970’s and 1980’s. His voice was deep, strong and clear and will never be forgotten by those who heard it.
He was a charter member and a deacon of Bayou Meto Baptist Church. After honeymooning in Arkansas at the Buffalo River, he decided to raise his family in this great state, instead of East St. Louis, Mo., where he and Marileigh were raised.
He and his family made annual trips for over 40 years to the Buffalo River and have included hundreds of friends in the camping, singing, horseshoes, card games and fellowship.
He retired from the post office after delivering mail on city and rural routes for 32 years. He was known as the “Singing Mailman” because the song in his heart came out daily as he walked his Jacksonville delivery route or drove his mail Jeep through north Pulaski County.
Survivors include his wife of 60 years, Marileigh Jeffers; two sons, David Jeffers and wife Susan and Bobby Jeffers; one daughter, Becky Russell and husband Ralph; grandchildren, Aundra Boeckman and husband Mitch, Amanda Browning and husband Ryan, Bobby Allen Jeffers, Nathan Jeffers, Andrew Jeffers, Casey Russell, and Abby Russell; and one great-granddaughter, Emma Browning.
He was preceded in death by his parents Frank and Goldie Jeffers; sisters, Irene Kissling and husband Mel and Mildred Chambers and husband Thomas; infant son, Robert Jeffers; and a granddaughter, Jae Lynn Russell.
To honor Louis, the family asks that memorial gifts be made to the “Jae Lynn Russell Educational Scholarship” fund, c/o Arkansas Community Foundation, 1400 West Markham, Suite 206, Little Rock, Ark. 72201.
A celebration of his life will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 1, at Bayou Meto Baptist Church followed by burial at Bayou Meto Cemetery. Arrangements will be by North Little Rock Funeral Home.
Bill Oakley
Bill Oakley, 71, of Jacksonville passed away Aug. 29. He was the previous owner of Oakley Estate Mobile Home Park and before that he was a Jacksonville city employee for 17 years.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Ruth Elizabeth and Dave Oakley.
Survivors include his wife of 23 years, Peggy Oakley; four children, David Oakley, Jimmy Oakley, Stacy Oakley, and Melisa Alvers; two daughters-in-law, Patricia Oakley and Danette Oakley; one son-in-law, Russell Alvers; grandchildren, Felicia Oakley, Charlie Oakley, BryAnna Oakley, Alexis Oakley, Andrea Oakley, Keller Oakley, Tanya Lovell, Ashley Alvers, Alexis Jordan, Luke Jordan, Terry DeWayne Jordan, Jr., Lacy Jordan, Chris Jordan, and Mark Jordan; three step-sons, Donald W. Jordan II, Terry Jordan, and Donald W. Jordan III; and a host of friends and family.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at North Little Rock Funeral Home Chapel.
Burial will be in Arkansas Memorial Gardens.
Sandra McDaniel
Sandra Sue McDaniel, 57, of Austin passed away Aug. 28 in Little Rock. She was born August 25, 1950 to the late Ray and Bertha Harness. Also preceding her in death is one brother, G.B. Harness.
She is survived by her husband, Glen McDaniel of the home; one daughter, Kasai Finley and husband Dewayne of Cabot; five sisters, Daphna and husband Julius Copeland of Judsonia, Flo Passmore of North Little Rock, Martha Rainbolt of Marshall, Sharon Holsted of Jacksonville and Patricia and husband Ed Fraley of Springfield, Mo.; two grandchildren, Trey Goodrich and Kelsea Finley of Cabot; and many other family members and friends.
Funeral services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 1 at Ward First Baptist Church with interment immediately following at Dunkard Cemetery in Austin. Arrangements are by Thomas Funeral Service in Cabot.
Carl Clendenin
Carl Odell Clendenin, Jr., infant son of Carl Odell Clendenin, Sr., and Robin Yelsick of Jacksonville went to be with the Lord on the day of his birth August 27.
Graveside services were August 31 at Chapel Hill Memorial Park in Jacksonville with David Dryer officiating.
Arrangements were by Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
TOP STORY >>Cities continue to weed out their pit-bull dogs
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Many Jacksonville pit bulls are now living in Lonoke County, Pulaski County and even out-of-state as the city’s animal control officers continue to cite owners of unregistered pit bulls.
A cited owner must microchip his or her pit bulls, have them spayed and neutered and move them out of the city. Beebe, Cabot and Lonoke have also recently enacted bans against pit bulls. Ward voted not to ban the breed, and now Lonoke County is looking at revising its animal ordinance.
Judge Charlie Troutman said the county doesn’t plan to ban any particular breed, but wants to give the sheriff’s office more authority to remove any dog considered vicious.
The Lonoke County Quorum Court will look at a new draft of the ordinance at its meeting, Sept. 6. Since the Jacksonville ban went into effect in July, animal-control officers have cited dozens of residents for having unregistered pit bulls in the city.
Only about 120 owners registered, micro-chipped and spayed or neutered their dogs within the required period.
“We are getting a number of calls from residents telling a pit bull is at this address or that location,” explained Cheryl Wood with Jacksonville Animal Control.
She said officers have caught one or two registered pit bulls running loose. “The owners have to move them from the city now, too,” she said.
Overall, Wood said the city is getting the pit-bull problem under control and there have been less bites and attacks.
The Beebe City Council passed a pit bull ban in July for all but the 11 pit bulls that were registered at that time. Other owners were given 30 days to find new homes outside the city for their pit bulls.
The estimated 140 dogs that remained unregistered are now in Beebe illegally and could be destroyed.
Beebe’s ordinance also requires that owners of registered dogs build pens approximately 20 by 40 feet to ensure that the dogs don’t get out. Those dog owners have 30 days left to comply with the ordinance, or their dogs will also be subject to seizure.
The city council passed the ban in part because its neighbors were outlawing the dogs and they said their owners were moving to Beebe. The owners of the dogs that were grandfathered in because they were licensed when the ordinance was passed in July are also required to purchase liability insurance of at least $100,000, get microchips implanted in their dogs for identification and have them spayed or neutered.
Troutman said Lonoke County didn’t have the money for dog pounds and dogcatchers. “We don’t want our new ordinance to get us bogged down in the dog-catching businesses,” Troutman said. “The tighter ordinance won’t be a cure all, but it will sure help.”
Lonoke County Sheriff Jim Roberson said if a dog attacks someone, it is picked up, quarantined and if it doesn’t have rabies, released back to the owner, who must pay the bite bill.
If the dog attacks again, the procedure is repeated. That’s all the authority the county has—at this point, but the new ordinance should change that.
Leader staff writer
Many Jacksonville pit bulls are now living in Lonoke County, Pulaski County and even out-of-state as the city’s animal control officers continue to cite owners of unregistered pit bulls.
A cited owner must microchip his or her pit bulls, have them spayed and neutered and move them out of the city. Beebe, Cabot and Lonoke have also recently enacted bans against pit bulls. Ward voted not to ban the breed, and now Lonoke County is looking at revising its animal ordinance.
Judge Charlie Troutman said the county doesn’t plan to ban any particular breed, but wants to give the sheriff’s office more authority to remove any dog considered vicious.
The Lonoke County Quorum Court will look at a new draft of the ordinance at its meeting, Sept. 6. Since the Jacksonville ban went into effect in July, animal-control officers have cited dozens of residents for having unregistered pit bulls in the city.
Only about 120 owners registered, micro-chipped and spayed or neutered their dogs within the required period.
“We are getting a number of calls from residents telling a pit bull is at this address or that location,” explained Cheryl Wood with Jacksonville Animal Control.
She said officers have caught one or two registered pit bulls running loose. “The owners have to move them from the city now, too,” she said.
Overall, Wood said the city is getting the pit-bull problem under control and there have been less bites and attacks.
The Beebe City Council passed a pit bull ban in July for all but the 11 pit bulls that were registered at that time. Other owners were given 30 days to find new homes outside the city for their pit bulls.
The estimated 140 dogs that remained unregistered are now in Beebe illegally and could be destroyed.
Beebe’s ordinance also requires that owners of registered dogs build pens approximately 20 by 40 feet to ensure that the dogs don’t get out. Those dog owners have 30 days left to comply with the ordinance, or their dogs will also be subject to seizure.
The city council passed the ban in part because its neighbors were outlawing the dogs and they said their owners were moving to Beebe. The owners of the dogs that were grandfathered in because they were licensed when the ordinance was passed in July are also required to purchase liability insurance of at least $100,000, get microchips implanted in their dogs for identification and have them spayed or neutered.
Troutman said Lonoke County didn’t have the money for dog pounds and dogcatchers. “We don’t want our new ordinance to get us bogged down in the dog-catching businesses,” Troutman said. “The tighter ordinance won’t be a cure all, but it will sure help.”
Lonoke County Sheriff Jim Roberson said if a dog attacks someone, it is picked up, quarantined and if it doesn’t have rabies, released back to the owner, who must pay the bite bill.
If the dog attacks again, the procedure is repeated. That’s all the authority the county has—at this point, but the new ordinance should change that.
TOP STORY >>Medicare cuts hurt therapy at hospitals
By HEATHER HARTSELL
Leader staff writer
St. Vincent Rehabilitation Hospital in Sherwood is hopeful a visit from Cong. Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock, might bring about some congressional revisions to the Medicare policy changes, which would result in a drastic decrease in the number of patients receiving in-patient care.
The major federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ change St. Vincent Rehab is concerned with is the 75 Percent Rule, which will require that percentage of patients in inpatient rehabilitation facilities to be there for one of 13 medical conditions in order for hospitals to continue to be reimbursed by Medicare.
Rebsamen Medical Center in Jacksonville closed its inpatient rehabilitation unit July 31 after Medicare reimbursement changes significantly reduced the number of patients eligible for admission.
During the past year, Rebsamen’s 20-bed rehab unit had a daily occupancy rate of about eight patients. Rebsamen now redirects those in need of therapy to their outpatient rehab either in Jacksonville or Cabot, or to a skilled nursing facility.
Starting Saturday, 65 percent of St. Vincent’s rehab patients, as well as all other inpatient rehab-facility patients, must fall into Medicare’s 13 categories, which means a drastic change in the patient numbers for hospitals.
According to Debbie Taylor, director of marketing, the categories are “pretty stringent” – stroke, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, major debilitory illnesses.
“Sometimes we will be able to admit a patient for knee-replacement therapy, but only 35 percent of the time. The others have to go home for home-health therapy or to a nursing home,” Taylor said.
That percentage will increase to 75 percent in two years. Once it is reached Taylor said they hope they will have 20 patients in their 60-bed hospital; the others will have to go to a nursing home.
Ninety-five percent of St. Vincent’s rehab patients use Medicare.
The percentage has been at 60 percent for the last two years with St. Vincent running at a 50 percent occupancy rate.
Taylor explained the change using a typical 70-year-old widow that had a hip replaced.
“Medicare guidelines now don’t consider rehab for a hip replacement as needing in-patient care,” she said. “It makes the patient have to go to a nursing home, where they will stay as long as 30 days and get one hour of therapy a day, and Medicare pay for the costs, compared to a 10-day stay at a rehab hospital where they would receive three hours of therapy a day.”
Taylor said 80 percent of rehab patients are able to return home after therapy because they return to a functioning level of independence.
“The statistics aren’t that high for those that go to a nursing home,” she said. “A short stay here (at St. Vincent Rehab) can make all the difference in the world,” she added.
Medical director Dr. Sean Foley said patients are suffering in Medicare’s attempt to save money. “The patients are not reaching their full potential,” he said.
Lee Frazier, St. Vincent Rehab’s chief executive officer, invited Snyder to tour the hospital’s facilities in order to thank him for his past support and to introduce him to the new technology in use for therapy, like their new AutoAmbulator, an advanced therapeutic walking device the hospital got in late June and the only one in central Arkansas.
“As a physician, he understands and is always supportive of the hospitals and the delivery of care,” Frazier said. “It was nice to reacquaint him with the new technology and what’s available,” he said.
Leader staff writer
St. Vincent Rehabilitation Hospital in Sherwood is hopeful a visit from Cong. Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock, might bring about some congressional revisions to the Medicare policy changes, which would result in a drastic decrease in the number of patients receiving in-patient care.
The major federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ change St. Vincent Rehab is concerned with is the 75 Percent Rule, which will require that percentage of patients in inpatient rehabilitation facilities to be there for one of 13 medical conditions in order for hospitals to continue to be reimbursed by Medicare.
Rebsamen Medical Center in Jacksonville closed its inpatient rehabilitation unit July 31 after Medicare reimbursement changes significantly reduced the number of patients eligible for admission.
During the past year, Rebsamen’s 20-bed rehab unit had a daily occupancy rate of about eight patients. Rebsamen now redirects those in need of therapy to their outpatient rehab either in Jacksonville or Cabot, or to a skilled nursing facility.
Starting Saturday, 65 percent of St. Vincent’s rehab patients, as well as all other inpatient rehab-facility patients, must fall into Medicare’s 13 categories, which means a drastic change in the patient numbers for hospitals.
According to Debbie Taylor, director of marketing, the categories are “pretty stringent” – stroke, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, major debilitory illnesses.
“Sometimes we will be able to admit a patient for knee-replacement therapy, but only 35 percent of the time. The others have to go home for home-health therapy or to a nursing home,” Taylor said.
That percentage will increase to 75 percent in two years. Once it is reached Taylor said they hope they will have 20 patients in their 60-bed hospital; the others will have to go to a nursing home.
Ninety-five percent of St. Vincent’s rehab patients use Medicare.
The percentage has been at 60 percent for the last two years with St. Vincent running at a 50 percent occupancy rate.
Taylor explained the change using a typical 70-year-old widow that had a hip replaced.
“Medicare guidelines now don’t consider rehab for a hip replacement as needing in-patient care,” she said. “It makes the patient have to go to a nursing home, where they will stay as long as 30 days and get one hour of therapy a day, and Medicare pay for the costs, compared to a 10-day stay at a rehab hospital where they would receive three hours of therapy a day.”
Taylor said 80 percent of rehab patients are able to return home after therapy because they return to a functioning level of independence.
“The statistics aren’t that high for those that go to a nursing home,” she said. “A short stay here (at St. Vincent Rehab) can make all the difference in the world,” she added.
Medical director Dr. Sean Foley said patients are suffering in Medicare’s attempt to save money. “The patients are not reaching their full potential,” he said.
Lee Frazier, St. Vincent Rehab’s chief executive officer, invited Snyder to tour the hospital’s facilities in order to thank him for his past support and to introduce him to the new technology in use for therapy, like their new AutoAmbulator, an advanced therapeutic walking device the hospital got in late June and the only one in central Arkansas.
“As a physician, he understands and is always supportive of the hospitals and the delivery of care,” Frazier said. “It was nice to reacquaint him with the new technology and what’s available,” he said.
TOP STORY >>Drought, heat start to ease, but watch out
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Temperatures are dropping into the low 90s for the weekend and a sprinkling of rain has misted most of the state, but the reality of heat-related deaths remains.
The state Health Department has confirmed eight heat-related deaths so far this summer, most occurring because of August’s 12 days of 100-plus degrees.
According to John Senner, branch chief for the Center for Health Statistics, Arkansas averages 10 heat-related deaths a year.
The heat wave topped off Aug. 12 at 106 degrees, and most recently hit 100 degrees Monday. The 106-degree high of Aug. 12 was the hottest temperature central Arkansas has seen in seven years. August ended with 28 days of highs of 95 degrees or greater and a high temperature average about six degrees above the norm.
The heat has been exacerbated by the lack of rain. Most of the central Arkansas went almost the entire month without more than a sprinkle of rain, forcing all central Arkansas counties to issue burn bans. In all, 58 of the state’s 75 counties have issued burn bans.
Most of the state is suffering moderate to extreme drought conditions. Pulaski, Lonoke and White counties are in the severe category according to the National Weather Service.
Pulaski County’s rain totals for August were more than two inches below the average, and the area is more than six inches off the norm for the year.
Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said excessive heat exposure caused more than 8,000 deaths in the United States over the past 25 years.
While elderly, people with health problems and very young children are the most vulnerable, heat can affect anyone—even strong, healthy athletes can be stricken, officials said.
Ann Wright, with the Arkansas Health Department, explained that several factors affect the body’s ability to cool itself during extremely hot weather.
When the humidity is high, sweat will not evaporate as quickly, preventing the body from releasing heat quickly.
Other conditions related to risk include age, obesity, fever, dehydration, heart diseases, mental illness, poor circulation, sunburn and drug use, including alcohol.
“Our bodies are cooled primarily by losing heat through the skin by perspiration and evaporation,” Wright said. “Problems occur when we are unable to shed excess heat. When our heat gain exceeds the amount we can get rid of, our temperature begins to rise and a heat-related illness may develop,” she said.
Heat illness or conditions include rashes, cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
Heat exhaustion and heat stroke can be fatal.
Leader staff writer
Temperatures are dropping into the low 90s for the weekend and a sprinkling of rain has misted most of the state, but the reality of heat-related deaths remains.
The state Health Department has confirmed eight heat-related deaths so far this summer, most occurring because of August’s 12 days of 100-plus degrees.
According to John Senner, branch chief for the Center for Health Statistics, Arkansas averages 10 heat-related deaths a year.
The heat wave topped off Aug. 12 at 106 degrees, and most recently hit 100 degrees Monday. The 106-degree high of Aug. 12 was the hottest temperature central Arkansas has seen in seven years. August ended with 28 days of highs of 95 degrees or greater and a high temperature average about six degrees above the norm.
The heat has been exacerbated by the lack of rain. Most of the central Arkansas went almost the entire month without more than a sprinkle of rain, forcing all central Arkansas counties to issue burn bans. In all, 58 of the state’s 75 counties have issued burn bans.
Most of the state is suffering moderate to extreme drought conditions. Pulaski, Lonoke and White counties are in the severe category according to the National Weather Service.
Pulaski County’s rain totals for August were more than two inches below the average, and the area is more than six inches off the norm for the year.
Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said excessive heat exposure caused more than 8,000 deaths in the United States over the past 25 years.
While elderly, people with health problems and very young children are the most vulnerable, heat can affect anyone—even strong, healthy athletes can be stricken, officials said.
Ann Wright, with the Arkansas Health Department, explained that several factors affect the body’s ability to cool itself during extremely hot weather.
When the humidity is high, sweat will not evaporate as quickly, preventing the body from releasing heat quickly.
Other conditions related to risk include age, obesity, fever, dehydration, heart diseases, mental illness, poor circulation, sunburn and drug use, including alcohol.
“Our bodies are cooled primarily by losing heat through the skin by perspiration and evaporation,” Wright said. “Problems occur when we are unable to shed excess heat. When our heat gain exceeds the amount we can get rid of, our temperature begins to rise and a heat-related illness may develop,” she said.
Heat illness or conditions include rashes, cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
Heat exhaustion and heat stroke can be fatal.
TOP STORY >>Fighting drugs is priority for chief
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
Illegal drugs like meth, cocaine and marijuana are a problem in Beebe like they are everywhere else. And in recent weeks, the police have kicked in the door of a dealer in part as a show of strength. But according to Wayne Ballew, who has officially been chief since Monday night, the average resident will see a different side of the city’s mostly new police force.
He says residents will see them patrolling the streets regularly and if they happen to be outside raking leaves for example, one might pull into the driveway and talk for a while.
“What I hope here in Beebe is that people will get to know who their police officers are,” Ballew said. “We want to do a lot of community policing.”
And already residents are beginning to notice the change, he said.
“I got a call from an older man who told me two different police officers had waved at him,” the chief said. “He told me nothing like that had ever happened before.”
Ballew replaced Don Inns, who was fired early in August, apparently several months after he had already fallen out of favor with his boss, Mayor Mike Robertson.
Since the firing, Robertson has been very outspoken about his discontent with Inns, who he says was soft on drug users and dealers, turning most of them into informants instead of working to see that they were incarcerated for their crimes.
Both Robertson and Ballew say those days are over.
“What I want people to know is that it won’t be tolerated here. If you’re selling drugs in Beebe or delivering drugs in Beebe, you need to be watching your back,” Ballew said, adding apologetically, “I hope that didn’t sound arrogant.”
Ballew, 52, is a big man, more than six feet tall and carrying a few extra pounds, which makes him almost indistinguishable at a glance from several of the officers who now staff his department.
The mayor joked during the Monday night council meeting that it would be easy to find a Santa Claus this year for the lighting of Daniel Park at Christmas.
“That’s O.K,” Ballew said of the good-natured dig. “That’s what happens when you get older.”
Like Ballew, most of the police officers in Beebe are new to the department but not to law enforcement. Their combined backgrounds include work for the state, counties and cities in traffic, drug enforcement and administration.
Ballew, originally from Little Rock, went to work as a cadet with the Little Rock Police Department when he was 18 years old. By the time he was 21 he was a deputy with the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department and then he moved on to the state police where he stayed for 17 years.
He said he moved to Beebe from Bryant after he retired from the state police to take care of his wife’s parents.
After they died, he considered moving back, but his son, who was then in the third grade, didn’t want to go.
“Logan said I like it here,” Ballew said. “He said I like the school here and I like the baseball here.”
And so he and his family have stayed for six years.
Ballew was working in security for ASU-Beebe and helping out part time at the Beebe Police Department when he was named assistant police chief about three months ago.
When he became chief, a vacancy was created that the mayor says could be filled by Ron Lewis, who several years ago was head of the Lonoke County Drug Task Force. Lewis left his job with the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Department about two weeks ago to work for the Beebe Police Department.
Ballew says that most of his police officers are new to their jobs in Beebe and may not know their way around too well yet.
They know the work and they are talking together about the job ahead of them.
“Police officers are notorious about talking to each other,” he said. “They love to share information because they have a common goal.”
Right now, the goal is to get to know the law-abiding residents of Beebe and to make life hard on drug dealers. Ballew said he knows they will not be able to put them all out of business, but he is putting them on notice that they intend to try.
Leader staff writer
Illegal drugs like meth, cocaine and marijuana are a problem in Beebe like they are everywhere else. And in recent weeks, the police have kicked in the door of a dealer in part as a show of strength. But according to Wayne Ballew, who has officially been chief since Monday night, the average resident will see a different side of the city’s mostly new police force.
He says residents will see them patrolling the streets regularly and if they happen to be outside raking leaves for example, one might pull into the driveway and talk for a while.
“What I hope here in Beebe is that people will get to know who their police officers are,” Ballew said. “We want to do a lot of community policing.”
And already residents are beginning to notice the change, he said.
“I got a call from an older man who told me two different police officers had waved at him,” the chief said. “He told me nothing like that had ever happened before.”
Ballew replaced Don Inns, who was fired early in August, apparently several months after he had already fallen out of favor with his boss, Mayor Mike Robertson.
Since the firing, Robertson has been very outspoken about his discontent with Inns, who he says was soft on drug users and dealers, turning most of them into informants instead of working to see that they were incarcerated for their crimes.
Both Robertson and Ballew say those days are over.
“What I want people to know is that it won’t be tolerated here. If you’re selling drugs in Beebe or delivering drugs in Beebe, you need to be watching your back,” Ballew said, adding apologetically, “I hope that didn’t sound arrogant.”
Ballew, 52, is a big man, more than six feet tall and carrying a few extra pounds, which makes him almost indistinguishable at a glance from several of the officers who now staff his department.
The mayor joked during the Monday night council meeting that it would be easy to find a Santa Claus this year for the lighting of Daniel Park at Christmas.
“That’s O.K,” Ballew said of the good-natured dig. “That’s what happens when you get older.”
Like Ballew, most of the police officers in Beebe are new to the department but not to law enforcement. Their combined backgrounds include work for the state, counties and cities in traffic, drug enforcement and administration.
Ballew, originally from Little Rock, went to work as a cadet with the Little Rock Police Department when he was 18 years old. By the time he was 21 he was a deputy with the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department and then he moved on to the state police where he stayed for 17 years.
He said he moved to Beebe from Bryant after he retired from the state police to take care of his wife’s parents.
After they died, he considered moving back, but his son, who was then in the third grade, didn’t want to go.
“Logan said I like it here,” Ballew said. “He said I like the school here and I like the baseball here.”
And so he and his family have stayed for six years.
Ballew was working in security for ASU-Beebe and helping out part time at the Beebe Police Department when he was named assistant police chief about three months ago.
When he became chief, a vacancy was created that the mayor says could be filled by Ron Lewis, who several years ago was head of the Lonoke County Drug Task Force. Lewis left his job with the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Department about two weeks ago to work for the Beebe Police Department.
Ballew says that most of his police officers are new to their jobs in Beebe and may not know their way around too well yet.
They know the work and they are talking together about the job ahead of them.
“Police officers are notorious about talking to each other,” he said. “They love to share information because they have a common goal.”
Right now, the goal is to get to know the law-abiding residents of Beebe and to make life hard on drug dealers. Ballew said he knows they will not be able to put them all out of business, but he is putting them on notice that they intend to try.
TOP STORY >>Funds will run out for for improving area roads
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
The collapse in Minneapolis of the I-35 West bridge Aug. 1 into the Mississippi River could be both a harbinger of things to come and a metaphor for the future of central Arkansas and its infrastructure unless local communities chip in to pay for the expense of maintaining and expanding roads and services, according to Metroplan executive director Jim McKenzie.
DERAIL CABOT GROWTH
In rapidly growing areas like Cabot, expansion will slow, then stop without a massive and unanticipated infusion of money, and bridges, highways, roads and water and sewer lines throughout the area could eventually disintegrate, choking off economic development as well as residential growth, McKenzie predicted.
“There’s no money to sustain new growth,” according to McKenzie.
Speaking to the Metroplan board of directors Wednesday, McKenzie said there are three kinds of money—free money, easy money and real money.
McKenzie told the board that the era of “free” highway money—that is, money from the federal government—is about over.
He said federal highway funding—known as SAFETEA-LU–is two years late, increased funding is illusionary and inadequate, the highway trust fund is in jeopardy and the federal role in funding highways and transportation is “increasingly unclear.”
SAFETEA-LU stands for Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act.
WAIT AT OUR PERIL
“We sit and wait on the federal government at our peril,” he warned. “If we want to continue to grow, we need to take care of our own infrastructure. Those who do will succeed in the future.”
McKenzie added that state money—he calls that “easy” money—is clearly insufficient.
He said the state Highway Department had conservatively identified $19.1 billion worth of needs over the next 10 years, but only $4.1 billion in anticipated funding.
That’s a $15.1 billion shortfall.
Just to fix and maintain existing roads and bridges will cost more than twice the $4.1 billion anticipated.
REAL MONEY
“Real” money, on the other hand, is money that a city or region can generate by taxing itself—money it could count on and use to solve its own problems.
He said former President Reagan did the nation a disservice when he popularized the idea you could get $1.50 worth of services for $1.
The Apian Way, a 500-mile road that sustained the Roman Empire, is still in use because it’s been maintained, according to McKenzie.
“Building a road is the cheap part,” he said. “Maintaining it is the expensive part.”
Much of this nation’s interstate bridge and highway system, begun when Eisenhower was president, is aging and crumbling.
“Stuff wears out,” McKenzie said.
“If we want to continue to grow, we have to take care of our own needs,” he said.
“I prefer not to go softly into the 21st Century and cede the future to China and India,” McKenzie said in a Thursday interview.
He said that two years ago, the General Assembly created Regional Mobility Authorities, and this year it empowered those authorities to propose regional sales or gasoline taxes to pay for highway expansion and maintenance and even mass transportation.
“Energy independence is a critical issue,” he added. “Even if we raised taxes on petroleum, we must develop solar, wind, tidal and geothermal power.”
FOUR FEDERAL SCENARIOS
McKenzie identified four scenarios for the next Transportation Equity Act—TEA. Those are:
Re-TEA—reauthorization as usual by Congress.
Post-TEA—fundamental reform.
Ideology—funding responsibility devolves to the states.
Green TEA—built around energy independence and global warming issues.
McKenzie said the trucking industry has proposed a tax to fund trucks-only roadways that would allow triple trailers and increased allowable axle weight.
The General Assembly authorized Regional Mobility Authorities in 2007. Central Arkansas could establish one this year and next year it could develop a program of projects.
Then, the 2009 General Assembly could authorize a taxing authority, including a one-half cent temporary sales tax to organized and the authority for a 5-cent local gas tax approved by a majority of the quorum. Another 5-cent per-gallon tax could be referred to the public for adoption.
McKenzie said he’d like to see a tax program passed in 2010.
SWAIM CONCERNED
“I have some concerns that when you try to pass a regional tax, it’s difficult because of adjoining cities and counties,” said Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim. “If we formed (a mobility authority) in central Arkansas, it would add to our gas or sales tax, but a lot of the traffic here comes from outside the area. I don’t think there is an easy solution.
“We need to continue to work with senators and congressmen to get as much federal funding as possible.”
Locally, a 5-cent per-gallon tax gasoline tax could raise $9.2 million in Pulaski County, $2.4 million in Faulkner, $1.5 million in Lonoke and $2.3 million in Saline.
A halfpenny dedicated sales tax in those counties would raise $32.5 million in Pulaski County, $5 million in Faulkner, $2.1 million in Lonoke and $3.8 million in Saline County.
Leader senior staff writer
The collapse in Minneapolis of the I-35 West bridge Aug. 1 into the Mississippi River could be both a harbinger of things to come and a metaphor for the future of central Arkansas and its infrastructure unless local communities chip in to pay for the expense of maintaining and expanding roads and services, according to Metroplan executive director Jim McKenzie.
DERAIL CABOT GROWTH
In rapidly growing areas like Cabot, expansion will slow, then stop without a massive and unanticipated infusion of money, and bridges, highways, roads and water and sewer lines throughout the area could eventually disintegrate, choking off economic development as well as residential growth, McKenzie predicted.
“There’s no money to sustain new growth,” according to McKenzie.
Speaking to the Metroplan board of directors Wednesday, McKenzie said there are three kinds of money—free money, easy money and real money.
McKenzie told the board that the era of “free” highway money—that is, money from the federal government—is about over.
He said federal highway funding—known as SAFETEA-LU–is two years late, increased funding is illusionary and inadequate, the highway trust fund is in jeopardy and the federal role in funding highways and transportation is “increasingly unclear.”
SAFETEA-LU stands for Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act.
WAIT AT OUR PERIL
“We sit and wait on the federal government at our peril,” he warned. “If we want to continue to grow, we need to take care of our own infrastructure. Those who do will succeed in the future.”
McKenzie added that state money—he calls that “easy” money—is clearly insufficient.
He said the state Highway Department had conservatively identified $19.1 billion worth of needs over the next 10 years, but only $4.1 billion in anticipated funding.
That’s a $15.1 billion shortfall.
Just to fix and maintain existing roads and bridges will cost more than twice the $4.1 billion anticipated.
REAL MONEY
“Real” money, on the other hand, is money that a city or region can generate by taxing itself—money it could count on and use to solve its own problems.
He said former President Reagan did the nation a disservice when he popularized the idea you could get $1.50 worth of services for $1.
The Apian Way, a 500-mile road that sustained the Roman Empire, is still in use because it’s been maintained, according to McKenzie.
“Building a road is the cheap part,” he said. “Maintaining it is the expensive part.”
Much of this nation’s interstate bridge and highway system, begun when Eisenhower was president, is aging and crumbling.
“Stuff wears out,” McKenzie said.
“If we want to continue to grow, we have to take care of our own needs,” he said.
“I prefer not to go softly into the 21st Century and cede the future to China and India,” McKenzie said in a Thursday interview.
He said that two years ago, the General Assembly created Regional Mobility Authorities, and this year it empowered those authorities to propose regional sales or gasoline taxes to pay for highway expansion and maintenance and even mass transportation.
“Energy independence is a critical issue,” he added. “Even if we raised taxes on petroleum, we must develop solar, wind, tidal and geothermal power.”
FOUR FEDERAL SCENARIOS
McKenzie identified four scenarios for the next Transportation Equity Act—TEA. Those are:
Re-TEA—reauthorization as usual by Congress.
Post-TEA—fundamental reform.
Ideology—funding responsibility devolves to the states.
Green TEA—built around energy independence and global warming issues.
McKenzie said the trucking industry has proposed a tax to fund trucks-only roadways that would allow triple trailers and increased allowable axle weight.
The General Assembly authorized Regional Mobility Authorities in 2007. Central Arkansas could establish one this year and next year it could develop a program of projects.
Then, the 2009 General Assembly could authorize a taxing authority, including a one-half cent temporary sales tax to organized and the authority for a 5-cent local gas tax approved by a majority of the quorum. Another 5-cent per-gallon tax could be referred to the public for adoption.
McKenzie said he’d like to see a tax program passed in 2010.
SWAIM CONCERNED
“I have some concerns that when you try to pass a regional tax, it’s difficult because of adjoining cities and counties,” said Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim. “If we formed (a mobility authority) in central Arkansas, it would add to our gas or sales tax, but a lot of the traffic here comes from outside the area. I don’t think there is an easy solution.
“We need to continue to work with senators and congressmen to get as much federal funding as possible.”
Locally, a 5-cent per-gallon tax gasoline tax could raise $9.2 million in Pulaski County, $2.4 million in Faulkner, $1.5 million in Lonoke and $2.3 million in Saline.
A halfpenny dedicated sales tax in those counties would raise $32.5 million in Pulaski County, $5 million in Faulkner, $2.1 million in Lonoke and $3.8 million in Saline County.
TOP STORY >>Most jobs filled when teachers quit schools
By HEATHER HARTSELL
Leader staff writer
Local school districts are faring considerably better than their counterparts across the state and nation, where more baby-boomer teachers are retiring and younger teachers are leaving because of the stress of working in low-performing schools, costing many school districts huge amounts of money as they try to find replacements for the new school year.
Locally, 306 teacher positions had to be filled and 22 positions are still vacant, with special-education teachers being among the hardest to find in most neighboring districts, as well as across the state.
PCSSD
The Pulaski County Special School District needed 202 new teachers this year, more than last year, with 22 teachers still needed as of Thursday. Seven of those still-vacant positions were for schools in Sherwood and Jacksonville.
North Pulaski High School was still looking for an English/journalism teacher and a special-education teacher, but principal Sonny Bull said the special-education slot has been filled.
According to the district’s enrollment numbers, it appears PCSSD needs a half-day English teacher and a half-day biology teacher.
Taylor Elementary is still seeking a literature specialist. Arnold Elementary was sent a surplus teacher last week to fill the vacant primary classroom teacher position. Jacksonville Elementary has filled its open position for a Saturday-school teacher, Principal Gary Beck said.
Jacksonville Middle School Boys needed two special-education teachers, but Principal Michael Nellums said one had been hired.
Substitute teachers are being used in those classrooms until the positions are filled, Deborah Coley, PCSSD’s assistant superintendent for human resources, said.
According to Coley, the hardest positions to fill in PCSSD this year are special-education slots, but most of the time the district has plenty of hopeful applicants.
“We usually have more applications turned in than we have positions open for,” Coley said. “We have a lot of applications come in for elementary teacher positions, too.”
Coley said the district had trouble finding a Spanish teacher last year, but this year the gap is in special education. “Filling upper- level science positions are sometimes hard also,” she added.
Some of those 22 vacancies are because the district had teachers on contract leave earlier in August for other jobs, Coley said.
PCSSD schools have 1,366 certified teachers on 38 campuses, several of whom have been with the district for more than 20 years.
CABOT
The Cabot School District hired 70 new teachers this year after seeing 15 retire from the district in May, some after teaching in Cabot schools for more than 20 years.
Of the 70 new teachers, most were replacements and 22 were hired for new positions with the opening of the new Stagecoach Elementary School, Superintendent Dr. Tony Thurman said.
“We are fortunate in that we are able to attract quality applicants to Cabot,” Thurman said. “There are positions that are more difficult to fill, but we’ve been able to maintain a very high standard for new faculty members.”
The more challenging positions to fill within Cabot are special education, gifted and talented, counseling and media, Thurman said, adding the district is beginning to have problems finding secondary- math applicants.
Cabot schools employ 680 certified teachers and usually have an abundance of teacher applications every school year, especially in the P-4 (birth to fourth-grade) certification area, Thurman said.
Typically, once new teachers are hired in the Cabot district they don’t want to leave. Cabot recognized 18 people last year for working in the district for 15 years, 16 for 20 years, nine for 25 years and six for 30 years.
Those who leave do so when they retire or when they are moving away from the area, Thurman said.
According to Lisa Baker, the district’s director of personnel, the general consensus among newly hired teachers during a new teacher in-service held in August was how proud they were to be part of the Cabot district and the amount of support provided to the teachers.
“Most everyone said they couldn’t believe they were in Cabot,” Baker said, “Every year we get such quality teachers. We take care of them and try our best to support them in everything they do,” she said.
Beebe
The Beebe School District hired 17 new teachers for this school year, Superintendent Dr. Belinda Shook said. That number is higher than usual this year because of the pre-kindergarten program the district started, as well as a larger group of students at the secondary level, Shook said.
Of the 17, five were hired for the pre-K program, 11 were hired as full-time instructors and one is part-time.
“We added a couple of positions for a EAST (Environmental and Spatial Technology) Lab, and that was a choice we made to add the position,” Shook said. “We hired a part-time math teacher for remediation; a fourth art teacher because our art program has grown so. We also added a few new special education teachers and an additional third- and fourth-grade teacher.”
The district usually needs to hire only about four new teachers each year, Shook said, and most of the vacancies have an abundance of applicants. The hardest areas to fill are for secondary math and special-education teachers.
“We receive many applications because we are centrally located and have numerous colleges around us,” Shook said.
“We have a really good atmosphere and are focused on academics and the students. Having good students is a plus, too. We have great students who go here, and that makes teachers want to come here,” Shook said.
She said she is pleased with the excellent group of new teachers. “We’re fortunate to attract those who want to be here with the kids and do a good job,” Shook said.
Beebe schools have 185 certified teachers and see an average of five teachers retire each year, the superintendent said.
As for teachers leaving the district, Shook said most employees have been in Beebe their whole career – like herself, but it depends on their personal situation.
Lonoke
According to Superintendent Sharron Havens, 17 new teachers were hired for the 2007-08 school year, the average number the district needs yearly.
“We usually need to hire about 15-20 each year,” Havens said.
At Lonoke Primary School, a pre-kindergarten through second-grade campus, three new teachers were hired. At the elementary school, four new teachers were needed for third- through fifth-grade. Lonoke Middle School has two new teachers this year and the high school has eight.
Havens said some teachers transferred around the district, but only 17 new people were hired. While most positions fill easily, Havens said a choral-music teacher was the hardest to find for this school year.
“Math and foreign-language teachers are sometimes a problem filling, too,” Havens said. “And a vocational agriculture teacher is sometimes difficult, but we found a new teacher from the Cabot area this year.”
Statewide
Although there are more than 31,000 teachers in Arkansas’ 251 school districts, according to the Arkansas Department of Education, the state is among those that continue to need teachers in critical-shortage areas.
According to the Office of Teacher Recruitment and Reten-tion at ADE, academic areas in need of teachers include math, foreign languages, special education and English as a second language. There is also a shortage of minority teachers in the state.
For the 2007-08 school year, ADE listed the following areas as critical academic teacher licensure shortage areas: art, middle childhood math, science, English/language arts and social studies; foreign language, secondary science, secondary mathematics and special education; gifted and talented, library media, and guidance and counseling were listed as teacher- endorsement shortage areas.
Nationally, according to the most recent Department of Education statistics available, about 269,000 of the nation’s 3.2 million public school teachers, or 8.4 percent, quit the field in the 2003-04 school year; 30 percent retired and 56 percent left to pursue other careers or because they were dissatisfied.
According to the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, 1,900 teachers, an unaudited figure, re-tired this past school year.
Leader staff writer
Local school districts are faring considerably better than their counterparts across the state and nation, where more baby-boomer teachers are retiring and younger teachers are leaving because of the stress of working in low-performing schools, costing many school districts huge amounts of money as they try to find replacements for the new school year.
Locally, 306 teacher positions had to be filled and 22 positions are still vacant, with special-education teachers being among the hardest to find in most neighboring districts, as well as across the state.
PCSSD
The Pulaski County Special School District needed 202 new teachers this year, more than last year, with 22 teachers still needed as of Thursday. Seven of those still-vacant positions were for schools in Sherwood and Jacksonville.
North Pulaski High School was still looking for an English/journalism teacher and a special-education teacher, but principal Sonny Bull said the special-education slot has been filled.
According to the district’s enrollment numbers, it appears PCSSD needs a half-day English teacher and a half-day biology teacher.
Taylor Elementary is still seeking a literature specialist. Arnold Elementary was sent a surplus teacher last week to fill the vacant primary classroom teacher position. Jacksonville Elementary has filled its open position for a Saturday-school teacher, Principal Gary Beck said.
Jacksonville Middle School Boys needed two special-education teachers, but Principal Michael Nellums said one had been hired.
Substitute teachers are being used in those classrooms until the positions are filled, Deborah Coley, PCSSD’s assistant superintendent for human resources, said.
According to Coley, the hardest positions to fill in PCSSD this year are special-education slots, but most of the time the district has plenty of hopeful applicants.
“We usually have more applications turned in than we have positions open for,” Coley said. “We have a lot of applications come in for elementary teacher positions, too.”
Coley said the district had trouble finding a Spanish teacher last year, but this year the gap is in special education. “Filling upper- level science positions are sometimes hard also,” she added.
Some of those 22 vacancies are because the district had teachers on contract leave earlier in August for other jobs, Coley said.
PCSSD schools have 1,366 certified teachers on 38 campuses, several of whom have been with the district for more than 20 years.
CABOT
The Cabot School District hired 70 new teachers this year after seeing 15 retire from the district in May, some after teaching in Cabot schools for more than 20 years.
Of the 70 new teachers, most were replacements and 22 were hired for new positions with the opening of the new Stagecoach Elementary School, Superintendent Dr. Tony Thurman said.
“We are fortunate in that we are able to attract quality applicants to Cabot,” Thurman said. “There are positions that are more difficult to fill, but we’ve been able to maintain a very high standard for new faculty members.”
The more challenging positions to fill within Cabot are special education, gifted and talented, counseling and media, Thurman said, adding the district is beginning to have problems finding secondary- math applicants.
Cabot schools employ 680 certified teachers and usually have an abundance of teacher applications every school year, especially in the P-4 (birth to fourth-grade) certification area, Thurman said.
Typically, once new teachers are hired in the Cabot district they don’t want to leave. Cabot recognized 18 people last year for working in the district for 15 years, 16 for 20 years, nine for 25 years and six for 30 years.
Those who leave do so when they retire or when they are moving away from the area, Thurman said.
According to Lisa Baker, the district’s director of personnel, the general consensus among newly hired teachers during a new teacher in-service held in August was how proud they were to be part of the Cabot district and the amount of support provided to the teachers.
“Most everyone said they couldn’t believe they were in Cabot,” Baker said, “Every year we get such quality teachers. We take care of them and try our best to support them in everything they do,” she said.
Beebe
The Beebe School District hired 17 new teachers for this school year, Superintendent Dr. Belinda Shook said. That number is higher than usual this year because of the pre-kindergarten program the district started, as well as a larger group of students at the secondary level, Shook said.
Of the 17, five were hired for the pre-K program, 11 were hired as full-time instructors and one is part-time.
“We added a couple of positions for a EAST (Environmental and Spatial Technology) Lab, and that was a choice we made to add the position,” Shook said. “We hired a part-time math teacher for remediation; a fourth art teacher because our art program has grown so. We also added a few new special education teachers and an additional third- and fourth-grade teacher.”
The district usually needs to hire only about four new teachers each year, Shook said, and most of the vacancies have an abundance of applicants. The hardest areas to fill are for secondary math and special-education teachers.
“We receive many applications because we are centrally located and have numerous colleges around us,” Shook said.
“We have a really good atmosphere and are focused on academics and the students. Having good students is a plus, too. We have great students who go here, and that makes teachers want to come here,” Shook said.
She said she is pleased with the excellent group of new teachers. “We’re fortunate to attract those who want to be here with the kids and do a good job,” Shook said.
Beebe schools have 185 certified teachers and see an average of five teachers retire each year, the superintendent said.
As for teachers leaving the district, Shook said most employees have been in Beebe their whole career – like herself, but it depends on their personal situation.
Lonoke
According to Superintendent Sharron Havens, 17 new teachers were hired for the 2007-08 school year, the average number the district needs yearly.
“We usually need to hire about 15-20 each year,” Havens said.
At Lonoke Primary School, a pre-kindergarten through second-grade campus, three new teachers were hired. At the elementary school, four new teachers were needed for third- through fifth-grade. Lonoke Middle School has two new teachers this year and the high school has eight.
Havens said some teachers transferred around the district, but only 17 new people were hired. While most positions fill easily, Havens said a choral-music teacher was the hardest to find for this school year.
“Math and foreign-language teachers are sometimes a problem filling, too,” Havens said. “And a vocational agriculture teacher is sometimes difficult, but we found a new teacher from the Cabot area this year.”
Statewide
Although there are more than 31,000 teachers in Arkansas’ 251 school districts, according to the Arkansas Department of Education, the state is among those that continue to need teachers in critical-shortage areas.
According to the Office of Teacher Recruitment and Reten-tion at ADE, academic areas in need of teachers include math, foreign languages, special education and English as a second language. There is also a shortage of minority teachers in the state.
For the 2007-08 school year, ADE listed the following areas as critical academic teacher licensure shortage areas: art, middle childhood math, science, English/language arts and social studies; foreign language, secondary science, secondary mathematics and special education; gifted and talented, library media, and guidance and counseling were listed as teacher- endorsement shortage areas.
Nationally, according to the most recent Department of Education statistics available, about 269,000 of the nation’s 3.2 million public school teachers, or 8.4 percent, quit the field in the 2003-04 school year; 30 percent retired and 56 percent left to pursue other careers or because they were dissatisfied.
According to the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, 1,900 teachers, an unaudited figure, re-tired this past school year.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
SPORTS >>Catholic wanting revenge on Bears
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Today’s opening game between Sylvan Hills and Little Rock Catholic will be a test of speed versus size, as the quicker Bears will take on the larger Rockets at Bill Blackwood Field this evening at 7 p.m. Last year’s Hooten’s kickoff-classic game between the two schools would turn out to be one of the Bears’ best performances of the year, with a big first half that would lift them to a first-week win.
That was then, this is now. And according to new Sylvan Hills coach Jim Withrow, there are plenty of concerns, size of which being the biggest.
“They’re huge,” Withrow said. “You look down their roster, and it’s a lot of 6’2”, 300 lbs., 6’0”, 280 lbs. We expect a good old fashioned smash mouth, pound it down their throats type football. We’ll have to play fast and get after them to give ourselves a chance; with some play-action things off the zone.”
For Rockets coach Scooter Register, his team also has what he feels is one must-do task in order to be victorious.
“We know we have to stop Hunter Miller,” Register said. “He is one of the best quarterbacks around, and we don’t want him to have the same kind of game he had against us last year. We were able to come back on them some last year because they got tired, but I’m sure they have worked on their overall conditioning this summer to improve that.
“I think the biggest thing will be who can keep the mistakes down, it may even come down to the kicking game.” Catholic undoubtedly has the advantage when it comes to numbers, with 25 seniors on this year’s team, and what looks to be one of the more sizeable offensive lines in the state.
The Rockets’ most noticeable absence this season is La’Norris Dukes, the bruising running back that ran for nearly 1,300 yards last season. Although the shoes left by Dukes to fill were enourmous, Register says he has another solid back in Chris Rose?
The only major issue for the Bears in the preseason has been snap timing. Miscues in the intra-squad game and scrimmages gave the offense its few bad looks, but Withrow says the only way to rectify the problem is repetitive execution in practices.
“Whatever you run, you’re not going to be great at it right off the bat,” Withrow said. “It doesn’t matter how simple or how complex it is, you can’t just jump off the ship and be perfect. It takes a lot of work, and guys getting more familiar with what’s supposed to be going on.”
The Rockets will visit Bill Blackwood Field today for the season opener, with kickoff at 7 p.m.
Leader sportswriter
Today’s opening game between Sylvan Hills and Little Rock Catholic will be a test of speed versus size, as the quicker Bears will take on the larger Rockets at Bill Blackwood Field this evening at 7 p.m. Last year’s Hooten’s kickoff-classic game between the two schools would turn out to be one of the Bears’ best performances of the year, with a big first half that would lift them to a first-week win.
That was then, this is now. And according to new Sylvan Hills coach Jim Withrow, there are plenty of concerns, size of which being the biggest.
“They’re huge,” Withrow said. “You look down their roster, and it’s a lot of 6’2”, 300 lbs., 6’0”, 280 lbs. We expect a good old fashioned smash mouth, pound it down their throats type football. We’ll have to play fast and get after them to give ourselves a chance; with some play-action things off the zone.”
For Rockets coach Scooter Register, his team also has what he feels is one must-do task in order to be victorious.
“We know we have to stop Hunter Miller,” Register said. “He is one of the best quarterbacks around, and we don’t want him to have the same kind of game he had against us last year. We were able to come back on them some last year because they got tired, but I’m sure they have worked on their overall conditioning this summer to improve that.
“I think the biggest thing will be who can keep the mistakes down, it may even come down to the kicking game.” Catholic undoubtedly has the advantage when it comes to numbers, with 25 seniors on this year’s team, and what looks to be one of the more sizeable offensive lines in the state.
The Rockets’ most noticeable absence this season is La’Norris Dukes, the bruising running back that ran for nearly 1,300 yards last season. Although the shoes left by Dukes to fill were enourmous, Register says he has another solid back in Chris Rose?
The only major issue for the Bears in the preseason has been snap timing. Miscues in the intra-squad game and scrimmages gave the offense its few bad looks, but Withrow says the only way to rectify the problem is repetitive execution in practices.
“Whatever you run, you’re not going to be great at it right off the bat,” Withrow said. “It doesn’t matter how simple or how complex it is, you can’t just jump off the ship and be perfect. It takes a lot of work, and guys getting more familiar with what’s supposed to be going on.”
The Rockets will visit Bill Blackwood Field today for the season opener, with kickoff at 7 p.m.
SPORTS >>Beebe anxious to face off with Greenbrier
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Believe it or not, the Beebe Badgers are about to play their first game under the direction of new head coach John Shannon. Shannon has been so outgoing and available to fans, media and parents since his arrival last spring, that it seems like he’s been there forever. An old Badger himself, after an initial rough going with staff changes, he fell right into place almost as if he’d never left.
But all of that is mere perception. Reality is that no one knows for certain how well this team has picked up on the dramatic changes Shannon began implementing upon his arrival.
That will be answered somewhat Friday night when the Badgers host Greenbrier. Shannon has been pleased with the progress his team has made since day one. Other than an occasional bad day of practice, it’s been all good reports about the team’s progress and ability to understand and put into action Shannon’s system.
Even a coach can’t be sure until his team faces a stiff challenge, and that’s what Greenbrier has been for Beebe for the last several years. The Badgers hold a slight win-loss advantage in the series, but most of the games have been close ones. That should mean a good test for the Badgers’ new system.
Like Beebe, Greenbrier has been a spread team for much of the past few seasons. That won’t be the case this year. The Panthers could line up in the spread at times, but it will be just one of many looks the Badger defense could see.
“They line up in a bunch of different formations,” Shannon said. “We have to make sure we get our kids lined up right. We didn’t do that a few times last week (in a scrimmage game against Oak Grove). We’ve got to do better this time.”
While there will be many formations, there may not be a large variety of plays. Few teams show their full hand in benefit games, but the Beebe coaching staff saw something very familiar about the plays Greenbrier was running.
“I’d say they’re basically a Wing-T team,” Shannon said. “Most of their plays are Wing-T plays. They just run them out of different formations. They’re trying to get the angle on you, which is why we have to be sure we’re in the right spots on defense.”
The Badgers have been pumped since having success on offense and defense at last week’s benefit game. That’s something Shannon is glad to see as opening night approaches.
“The kids have responded well since then,” Shannon said. “They had a really good practice the next day and Thursday. We came back in here Saturday morning and hopefully we’re going to hit the ground running on game night. The kids have been excited, they’ve had some pep in their step. I’m real pleased to see that.”
Leader sports editor
Believe it or not, the Beebe Badgers are about to play their first game under the direction of new head coach John Shannon. Shannon has been so outgoing and available to fans, media and parents since his arrival last spring, that it seems like he’s been there forever. An old Badger himself, after an initial rough going with staff changes, he fell right into place almost as if he’d never left.
But all of that is mere perception. Reality is that no one knows for certain how well this team has picked up on the dramatic changes Shannon began implementing upon his arrival.
That will be answered somewhat Friday night when the Badgers host Greenbrier. Shannon has been pleased with the progress his team has made since day one. Other than an occasional bad day of practice, it’s been all good reports about the team’s progress and ability to understand and put into action Shannon’s system.
Even a coach can’t be sure until his team faces a stiff challenge, and that’s what Greenbrier has been for Beebe for the last several years. The Badgers hold a slight win-loss advantage in the series, but most of the games have been close ones. That should mean a good test for the Badgers’ new system.
Like Beebe, Greenbrier has been a spread team for much of the past few seasons. That won’t be the case this year. The Panthers could line up in the spread at times, but it will be just one of many looks the Badger defense could see.
“They line up in a bunch of different formations,” Shannon said. “We have to make sure we get our kids lined up right. We didn’t do that a few times last week (in a scrimmage game against Oak Grove). We’ve got to do better this time.”
While there will be many formations, there may not be a large variety of plays. Few teams show their full hand in benefit games, but the Beebe coaching staff saw something very familiar about the plays Greenbrier was running.
“I’d say they’re basically a Wing-T team,” Shannon said. “Most of their plays are Wing-T plays. They just run them out of different formations. They’re trying to get the angle on you, which is why we have to be sure we’re in the right spots on defense.”
The Badgers have been pumped since having success on offense and defense at last week’s benefit game. That’s something Shannon is glad to see as opening night approaches.
“The kids have responded well since then,” Shannon said. “They had a really good practice the next day and Thursday. We came back in here Saturday morning and hopefully we’re going to hit the ground running on game night. The kids have been excited, they’ve had some pep in their step. I’m real pleased to see that.”
SPORTS >>JHS ladies volleyball overcome Panthers
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The Jacksonville Lady Red Devils continue to look strong in the early season, beating Greenbrier in four games, 28-26, 23-25, 26-24 and 25-18 Monday evening at the Devils Den. The non-conference match would be the first win over Greenbrier for the Lady Red Devils seniors, who came into the match determined not to go out winless against the 5A powerhouse.
The seniors had lost to Greenbrier in both their sophomore and junior years, but pulling out the win in game three to give themselves a 2-1 lead put the Lady Panthers behind the eight ball, and gave Jacksonville a determination in the final game that would carry them from a 12-8 deficit to a 14-14 tie before eventually pulling out the win by seven points to claim the 3-1 decision.
“I can’t be any more proud of them,” Lady Devils coach Melissa Reeves said. “We’re still having a few problems with our work ethic and our attitude, but we’re getting there, and the kids that want to be there, that want to play and put out their best effort – you saw them on the floor tonight. Before that last game, I told them ‘this is your chance.’ If it would have went to five (games), then who knows, but they showed they were ready to play on their home court.”
Greenbrier took early control in each game, only to watch Jacksonville rally each time to take control of the game by the mid-way point. The Lady Devils only had to worry about one major weapon for the young Greenbrier squad in hitter Tarron Henry, but she would be enough to cause a threat both at the net and the service line.
Henry’s low-clearance serves caused problems for Jacksonville, particularly in the opening moments of game two, when she rolled off six straight points for the Lady Panthers. The game-two win for Greenbrier denied the Lady Devils of a sweep, but the mood after the game made it clear that Jacksonville was in no way concerned about giving up a game. After losing to the Lady Panthers their sophomore and junior years, there was little sympathy for Greenbrier from the Lady Devil seniors.
“Payback is a you-know-what,” senior hitter Jennifer? Brown said after the game. “I am so proud of the team. We work as a team; we try to pick each other up if someone gets down. We did pretty good out there today.”
Brown would prove to be too hard for Greenbrier to contain at the net. Brown took control in game four, with three kills and two blocks after sitting out the first half of the game to rest. Brown’s entry into the game in the middle of the final game put momentum on Jacksonville’s side, and seemed to put the Lady Panthers in surrender mode. The Devils took nine of the final 12 points to claim game four and assure the win.
While Brown’s performance was to be expected, it was the back row play of NO 19 and the setting skills of NO 7 that also made a big part of the win. NO 19 had a number of good saves and difficult digs to keep the ball active, particularly when Henry stood at the serve line for Greenbrier. Her injured foot gave her a bit of trouble in the late going, but she played through to finish the contest. NO 7’s setting was best in the final game, when she set up Brown for the kill on three occasions.
The Lady Red Devils are now 3-1, and played ?? last night at home after Leader deadlines.
Leader sportswriter
The Jacksonville Lady Red Devils continue to look strong in the early season, beating Greenbrier in four games, 28-26, 23-25, 26-24 and 25-18 Monday evening at the Devils Den. The non-conference match would be the first win over Greenbrier for the Lady Red Devils seniors, who came into the match determined not to go out winless against the 5A powerhouse.
The seniors had lost to Greenbrier in both their sophomore and junior years, but pulling out the win in game three to give themselves a 2-1 lead put the Lady Panthers behind the eight ball, and gave Jacksonville a determination in the final game that would carry them from a 12-8 deficit to a 14-14 tie before eventually pulling out the win by seven points to claim the 3-1 decision.
“I can’t be any more proud of them,” Lady Devils coach Melissa Reeves said. “We’re still having a few problems with our work ethic and our attitude, but we’re getting there, and the kids that want to be there, that want to play and put out their best effort – you saw them on the floor tonight. Before that last game, I told them ‘this is your chance.’ If it would have went to five (games), then who knows, but they showed they were ready to play on their home court.”
Greenbrier took early control in each game, only to watch Jacksonville rally each time to take control of the game by the mid-way point. The Lady Devils only had to worry about one major weapon for the young Greenbrier squad in hitter Tarron Henry, but she would be enough to cause a threat both at the net and the service line.
Henry’s low-clearance serves caused problems for Jacksonville, particularly in the opening moments of game two, when she rolled off six straight points for the Lady Panthers. The game-two win for Greenbrier denied the Lady Devils of a sweep, but the mood after the game made it clear that Jacksonville was in no way concerned about giving up a game. After losing to the Lady Panthers their sophomore and junior years, there was little sympathy for Greenbrier from the Lady Devil seniors.
“Payback is a you-know-what,” senior hitter Jennifer? Brown said after the game. “I am so proud of the team. We work as a team; we try to pick each other up if someone gets down. We did pretty good out there today.”
Brown would prove to be too hard for Greenbrier to contain at the net. Brown took control in game four, with three kills and two blocks after sitting out the first half of the game to rest. Brown’s entry into the game in the middle of the final game put momentum on Jacksonville’s side, and seemed to put the Lady Panthers in surrender mode. The Devils took nine of the final 12 points to claim game four and assure the win.
While Brown’s performance was to be expected, it was the back row play of NO 19 and the setting skills of NO 7 that also made a big part of the win. NO 19 had a number of good saves and difficult digs to keep the ball active, particularly when Henry stood at the serve line for Greenbrier. Her injured foot gave her a bit of trouble in the late going, but she played through to finish the contest. NO 7’s setting was best in the final game, when she set up Brown for the kill on three occasions.
The Lady Red Devils are now 3-1, and played ?? last night at home after Leader deadlines.
SPORTS >>Cabot hosts Devils to start season
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Cabot Panthers and Jacksonville Red Devils no longer have two-and-a-half months to build up to their rivalry game like they did for so many years while in the same conference. Starting last year, the game was moved to week one, which has done nothing to take any steam off or lessen any of the intensity of the old rivalry game.
There’s always a story line to the game. In recent years, it’s been one team or the other trying to end a losing streak. That’s not the case this season, so that line has given way to the new one, one that Cabot coach Mike Malham summed up well.
“I guess this is the rubbermatch,” Malham said. “Our seniors and their seniors are 1-1 against each other, so I guess this is the one to decide that.”
Cabot won most recently, taking a big win in last seeason’s opener, and also ending a two-year losing streak to the Red Devils. Whatley doesn’t know if his team has the psychological advantage this year, being the team wanting revenge, but does expect his team’s best effort.
“Hopefully every time you step out there, you got that burning desire to succeed and play every game the way it’s supposed to be played,” Whatley said. “They were a very hungry team last year, this year we’re going to have to find that hunger and drive, because they’re better than they were last year.”
Malham also doesn’t think winning last year gives his team’s opponent any psychological edge, partly because of the rubbermatch mentality his team is bringing into the contest, but mostly because it’s week one.
“Everybody wants to win the first one,” Malham said. “Everybody wants to start 1-0 and nobody wants to start 0-1. We sure want to win the first one, it doesn’t matter much who we’re playing.”
Cabot has some advantages, but Malham believes Jacksonville does as well.
“They look pretty good,” Malham said. “They’ve got good skill position people. Their line may not be as big as it has been, but we sure can’t let them get loose because they’ve got speed in spots where we don’t have it.”
The Panthers big advantage is depth, and the news along those lines continues to get better for the home team. Last week Cabot got two starting offensive linemen back. This week they’ll get back a third lineman, tight end Blake Carter, as well as defensive lineman Kyle Deblock.
“There’s two more coming back for us so that’ll help,” Malham said. “That gives us a few more options. It could be an advantage for us. Jacksonville don’t look quite as big up front as they have been.”
Whatley also understands that his team will be at a disadvantage in depth, but that’s not his biggest concern.
“Cabot is Cabot and they’re going to make you play a perfect football game,” Whatley said. “The scheme they run is difficult to defend. They come off that line low and hard, the feet never die. We’re just going to have to be perfect.”
Besides Jacksonville’s speed, his own team’s youth is another concern for Malham. He’ll likely play more sophomores than Jacksonville has on the roster.
“They won’t have very many young guys out there,” Malham said. “We’ll have a bunch of them, and that is a concern because a game like this, a lot of times come down to who makes the fewest mistakes.”
For Jacksonville, depth may be the secondary concern, but it is still a concern. Much of Cabot’s depth is young, but it’s there. For Jacksonville that’s not the case at every position.
“That’s the one thing that is going to be tough on us,” Whatley said. “I do wonder how last Friday would have turned out if that was a complete ballgame, with them having so much more players than we have. Cabot’s going to have that same advantage, so we’re going to have to be ready. I thought our conditioning was improved from what it was at the Red-White game, but it’s going to have to get better.”
The Panthers and Red Devils will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Panther Stadium.
Leader sports editor
The Cabot Panthers and Jacksonville Red Devils no longer have two-and-a-half months to build up to their rivalry game like they did for so many years while in the same conference. Starting last year, the game was moved to week one, which has done nothing to take any steam off or lessen any of the intensity of the old rivalry game.
There’s always a story line to the game. In recent years, it’s been one team or the other trying to end a losing streak. That’s not the case this season, so that line has given way to the new one, one that Cabot coach Mike Malham summed up well.
“I guess this is the rubbermatch,” Malham said. “Our seniors and their seniors are 1-1 against each other, so I guess this is the one to decide that.”
Cabot won most recently, taking a big win in last seeason’s opener, and also ending a two-year losing streak to the Red Devils. Whatley doesn’t know if his team has the psychological advantage this year, being the team wanting revenge, but does expect his team’s best effort.
“Hopefully every time you step out there, you got that burning desire to succeed and play every game the way it’s supposed to be played,” Whatley said. “They were a very hungry team last year, this year we’re going to have to find that hunger and drive, because they’re better than they were last year.”
Malham also doesn’t think winning last year gives his team’s opponent any psychological edge, partly because of the rubbermatch mentality his team is bringing into the contest, but mostly because it’s week one.
“Everybody wants to win the first one,” Malham said. “Everybody wants to start 1-0 and nobody wants to start 0-1. We sure want to win the first one, it doesn’t matter much who we’re playing.”
Cabot has some advantages, but Malham believes Jacksonville does as well.
“They look pretty good,” Malham said. “They’ve got good skill position people. Their line may not be as big as it has been, but we sure can’t let them get loose because they’ve got speed in spots where we don’t have it.”
The Panthers big advantage is depth, and the news along those lines continues to get better for the home team. Last week Cabot got two starting offensive linemen back. This week they’ll get back a third lineman, tight end Blake Carter, as well as defensive lineman Kyle Deblock.
“There’s two more coming back for us so that’ll help,” Malham said. “That gives us a few more options. It could be an advantage for us. Jacksonville don’t look quite as big up front as they have been.”
Whatley also understands that his team will be at a disadvantage in depth, but that’s not his biggest concern.
“Cabot is Cabot and they’re going to make you play a perfect football game,” Whatley said. “The scheme they run is difficult to defend. They come off that line low and hard, the feet never die. We’re just going to have to be perfect.”
Besides Jacksonville’s speed, his own team’s youth is another concern for Malham. He’ll likely play more sophomores than Jacksonville has on the roster.
“They won’t have very many young guys out there,” Malham said. “We’ll have a bunch of them, and that is a concern because a game like this, a lot of times come down to who makes the fewest mistakes.”
For Jacksonville, depth may be the secondary concern, but it is still a concern. Much of Cabot’s depth is young, but it’s there. For Jacksonville that’s not the case at every position.
“That’s the one thing that is going to be tough on us,” Whatley said. “I do wonder how last Friday would have turned out if that was a complete ballgame, with them having so much more players than we have. Cabot’s going to have that same advantage, so we’re going to have to be ready. I thought our conditioning was improved from what it was at the Red-White game, but it’s going to have to get better.”
The Panthers and Red Devils will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Panther Stadium.
EDITORIALS>>Special session is not needed
The flap over legalizing kiddie marriages is a quintessential Arkansas legislature story — Ledge screws up again! — but we think it is overblown and no cause for panic. It certainly seems needless to summon the legislature into urgent special session to fix it, as Gov. Beebe wisely concluded Monday.
In their resolve to fix a curious little constitutional infirmity, a few judges had suggested changing the law on the minimum age for marriage in Arkansas. Without parental consent it was 16 for women but 17 for men.
Why not raise it to 18 and make it uniform for both, thereby preventing a challenge based on sexual discrimination? They added a proviso that a pregnant woman could get a waiver if she was under 18 and her parents consented. Our own Rep. Will Bond took the judges’ bill and introduced it, the legislature passed it, and Gov. Beebe signed it into law.
Then it was discovered that an extra “not” got into the language, which on close reading meant that any girl could get married at any age regardless of whether she was pregnant as long as she had a parent’s consent. The discovery raised images of parents marrying off their toddlers to pedophiles. A few legislators thought the governor should assemble the legislature to prevent such atrocities.
It is much ado about very little. The legislature’s intent, if not its language, was clear and the code writers took cognizance of it. County clerks, who issue marriage licenses, can refuse licenses or notify the child-welfare people if people do try to marry off their children before the legislature assembles again and corrects it.
Someone wanting to marry off a child would have to sue to enforce the letter of the law and that won’t happen. Three states now have no minimum marriage age; they provide for voiding them afterward.
There will be far more serious problems that will need the legislature’s attention before long — there already are — and this little canker can be fixed then.
Waiting will save a sizable amount of money that must be spent to run the legislative show for even the minimum three days.
In their resolve to fix a curious little constitutional infirmity, a few judges had suggested changing the law on the minimum age for marriage in Arkansas. Without parental consent it was 16 for women but 17 for men.
Why not raise it to 18 and make it uniform for both, thereby preventing a challenge based on sexual discrimination? They added a proviso that a pregnant woman could get a waiver if she was under 18 and her parents consented. Our own Rep. Will Bond took the judges’ bill and introduced it, the legislature passed it, and Gov. Beebe signed it into law.
Then it was discovered that an extra “not” got into the language, which on close reading meant that any girl could get married at any age regardless of whether she was pregnant as long as she had a parent’s consent. The discovery raised images of parents marrying off their toddlers to pedophiles. A few legislators thought the governor should assemble the legislature to prevent such atrocities.
It is much ado about very little. The legislature’s intent, if not its language, was clear and the code writers took cognizance of it. County clerks, who issue marriage licenses, can refuse licenses or notify the child-welfare people if people do try to marry off their children before the legislature assembles again and corrects it.
Someone wanting to marry off a child would have to sue to enforce the letter of the law and that won’t happen. Three states now have no minimum marriage age; they provide for voiding them afterward.
There will be far more serious problems that will need the legislature’s attention before long — there already are — and this little canker can be fixed then.
Waiting will save a sizable amount of money that must be spent to run the legislative show for even the minimum three days.
EDITORIALS>>Gonzales had to go
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales must have performed some public-spirited act in his many years in the service of George W. Bush, but his resignation at long last was easily his noblest. It relieves a blight on the presidency and gives the country a fresh lease on impartial justice.
President Bush praised his longtime loyalist, who had been giving him advice that he wanted to hear for 15 years. He said Democrats had unfairly victimized Gonzales.
But Little Rock’s Harry E. “Bud” Cummins II, who got this ball rolling by contesting the Justice Department’s explanations for firing a big batch of U.S. attorneys, got it right. Gonzales had to go, Cummins said, because he had corrupted the federal system of justice by politicizing it. It was not just Democrats. After months of lying and stonewalling, Gonzales was virtually bereft of supporters in his own party.
Even at the end, hours before his resignation became public but well after he had notified the president, Gonzales was still lying, saying there was no truth to rumors that he was leaving.
He took a cue from the president, who last year publicly insisted that Donald Rumsfeld was going to remain as secretary of defense after he had already picked his successor. Lying is just no big deal anymore.
Now the president must choose an attorney general for the last 15 months of his administration and he is obliged to appoint someone who will swear to administer even-handed justice and mean it. Surely it will not be Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who is most prominently mentioned.
Chertoff is Washington’s quintessential hatchet man. He will have to answer questions about his lassitude and incompetence after Hurricane Katrina and about whether he lied or had incompetent aides when he testified that he knew nothing about the brutal interrogation techniques at Guantanamo Naval Base when he was head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and his aides were attending meetings on the interrogations.
The Washington speculation is that the president cannot put an independent lawyer in charge of justice because he has too much at stake.
Republicans remember President Bill Clinton’s attorney general, Janet Reno, who appointed special prosecutors — seven of them —to investigate the Clinton administration upon the slightest whiff or rumor of scandal.
With investigations swirling around the political manipulation in the Justice Department and other cabinet offices and wholesale contracting fraud in the Iraq and Afghanistan war operations, Bush politically cannot afford a Janet Reno. The country cannot afford anything less.
President Bush praised his longtime loyalist, who had been giving him advice that he wanted to hear for 15 years. He said Democrats had unfairly victimized Gonzales.
But Little Rock’s Harry E. “Bud” Cummins II, who got this ball rolling by contesting the Justice Department’s explanations for firing a big batch of U.S. attorneys, got it right. Gonzales had to go, Cummins said, because he had corrupted the federal system of justice by politicizing it. It was not just Democrats. After months of lying and stonewalling, Gonzales was virtually bereft of supporters in his own party.
Even at the end, hours before his resignation became public but well after he had notified the president, Gonzales was still lying, saying there was no truth to rumors that he was leaving.
He took a cue from the president, who last year publicly insisted that Donald Rumsfeld was going to remain as secretary of defense after he had already picked his successor. Lying is just no big deal anymore.
Now the president must choose an attorney general for the last 15 months of his administration and he is obliged to appoint someone who will swear to administer even-handed justice and mean it. Surely it will not be Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who is most prominently mentioned.
Chertoff is Washington’s quintessential hatchet man. He will have to answer questions about his lassitude and incompetence after Hurricane Katrina and about whether he lied or had incompetent aides when he testified that he knew nothing about the brutal interrogation techniques at Guantanamo Naval Base when he was head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and his aides were attending meetings on the interrogations.
The Washington speculation is that the president cannot put an independent lawyer in charge of justice because he has too much at stake.
Republicans remember President Bill Clinton’s attorney general, Janet Reno, who appointed special prosecutors — seven of them —to investigate the Clinton administration upon the slightest whiff or rumor of scandal.
With investigations swirling around the political manipulation in the Justice Department and other cabinet offices and wholesale contracting fraud in the Iraq and Afghanistan war operations, Bush politically cannot afford a Janet Reno. The country cannot afford anything less.
OBITUARIES >> 08-29-07
Jim Barrett
Jim Barrett, 87, of Cabot, died Aug. 22. He was a member of St. Jude’s Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus. He retired from the Air Force after 20 years of service and was one of the first chief master sergeants in the Air Force. He was a member of the Flying Tigers during the Second World War.
He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Frances Edney Barrett; three sons, J. Philip Barrett of North Little Rock, Harry D. Barrett and wife B. J. of Cabot and Robert L. “Bob” Barrett of Maumelle; daughter, Linda Barrett Hrynyk of Cabot; six grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
Memorials may be made to Arkansas Hospice, 5600 W. 12th St., Little Rock, Ark., 72204 or St. Jude’s Catholic Church, 2403 McArthur Drive, Jacksonville, Ark. 72076. Mass of Christian burial was Aug. 27 at St. Jude’s Catholic Church. Entombment was in Calvary Cemetery Mausoleum. Arrangements were by North Little Rock Funeral Home.
Annie Kent
Annie “Ruth” Kent, 64, of Jacksonville, died peacefully at home Aug. 24. She was born March 26, 1943 in Blackshear, Ga., to the late Woodrow Strickland and Edith Mae King.
Ruth is survived by her loving brother, Walter A. Strickland; son, John Michael Kent and wife Kellie; daughter, Terry Kent Quinn and husband Walter; three grandchildren, Rian Kent, Luke Quinn and Marge Anna Quinn.
Ruth was a devoted nurse and lived her life caring for others. She was an avid gardener and was passionate about the outdoors.
Memorial services were Aug. 28 at Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home. Memorials may be sent to your local Humane Society in honor of her favorite Yorkie, Gabby.
Jackie Overton
Jackie Lee Overton, 72, of Hensley passed peacefully from this life on Aug. 24. He is survived by two brothers, John Overton and A.B. Wood; three children, Rhonda and husband Edward Gillies, Samee and husband Larry Hollingsworth and Brock Overton; seven grandsons and a great-granddaughter.
A memorial service was held Aug. 27 at Arlie Moore Picnic Pavilion on Lake DeGray with a picnic following. Funeral ar-rangements were by Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
Bill Reveley
Bill Levon Reveley, 71, of Cabot died Aug. 25.
He was born Aug. 11, 1930 in Ward to the late Robert and Ruby Phillips Reveley.
In addition to his parents, Bill was preceded in death by his son Ernest Leonard.
He retired from the Navy after 22 years of service.
He is survived by his wife, Doanie Mitchell Reveley; four children, Mike Reveley and wife Shannon of Ward, Sandra Collins of Jacksonville, Beth Glover and husband Larry and Denise Presley and husband Scott, all of Austin; four siblings, Bobbie Jean Horn of Austin, Johnnie Farris and husband Lynn of Sherwood, Richard Reveley of Conway, and Jimmy Reveley of Ward; 10 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.
The funeral service was August 28 at the chapel of Moore’s Cabot Funeral Home with Rev. Tommy Miller officiating.
Lena Thurman
Lena Thurman, 95, of Deer Park, Texas, formerly of Ward, died August 24.
She was born July 25, 1912, at Ward to Thomas and Sylvia Smith Cox.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Bill Thurman and great-grandson, Spencer Chapman.
She is survived by one daughter, Wanda Chapman and husband John of LaPorte, Texas; two grandchildren, John L. Chapman of LaPorte and Jody Britton and husband Dean of Seabrook, Texas; five great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren.
Graveside service was held Aug. 27 at Butlerville Cemetery. Funeral arrangements were by Westbrook Funeral Home of Beebe.
Danny Fortson
Danny Ray Fortson, 54, of Stephens died Aug. 25.
He was born April 3, 1953 in Searcy to Vernon and Bonnie Fortson.
He was preceded in death by his mother, Bonnie Fortson.
Survivors include his daughter Miranda Fortson; father and step-mother, Vernon and Louise Fortson and one half sister.
Graveside service was held Aug. 28 at Sylvania Cemetery. Arrangement were by Thomas Funeral Service.
Kade Curlett
Kade “Bubba” Curlett, 7-month-old son of Sara Jackson and John Christopher Curlett of Conway, died Aug. 21.
He is also survived by his sisters, Journie Curlett and Sunnie Jackson; grandparents, Rita Krigbaum and husband Bill and Ricky Jackson and wife Lindsey, all of Beebe, and Norma and John Curlett of Conway.
Funeral was Aug. 24 at Westbrook Funeral Home with burial in Meadowbrook Memorial Gardens in Beebe.
Memorials may be made to Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Cardiology Department, P.O. Box 2222, Little Rock, Ark. 72203-0084.
Vicki Carmical
Vicki Jo Carmical, 48, of Cabot died August 10.
She was born Aug. 16, 1958 in Albany, Ga.
She graduated from Fulton High School in 1976.
She was employed by Dassault in Little Rock for 29 years.
She is survived by her parents, Carl and Emma Hopkins Strange; husband, Richard Carmical; two children, Tara V. and Andrew J. Carmical, both of Cabot; two sisters, Kacee Dee Vojdani of Rogers and Jennifer Elaine Raney of Ft. Worth, Texas, and one nephew, Lucas Raney of Forth Worth.
Funeral services were August 13 at Moore’s Cabot Funeral Home with burial at Sumner Cemetery.
Jim Barrett, 87, of Cabot, died Aug. 22. He was a member of St. Jude’s Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus. He retired from the Air Force after 20 years of service and was one of the first chief master sergeants in the Air Force. He was a member of the Flying Tigers during the Second World War.
He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Frances Edney Barrett; three sons, J. Philip Barrett of North Little Rock, Harry D. Barrett and wife B. J. of Cabot and Robert L. “Bob” Barrett of Maumelle; daughter, Linda Barrett Hrynyk of Cabot; six grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
Memorials may be made to Arkansas Hospice, 5600 W. 12th St., Little Rock, Ark., 72204 or St. Jude’s Catholic Church, 2403 McArthur Drive, Jacksonville, Ark. 72076. Mass of Christian burial was Aug. 27 at St. Jude’s Catholic Church. Entombment was in Calvary Cemetery Mausoleum. Arrangements were by North Little Rock Funeral Home.
Annie Kent
Annie “Ruth” Kent, 64, of Jacksonville, died peacefully at home Aug. 24. She was born March 26, 1943 in Blackshear, Ga., to the late Woodrow Strickland and Edith Mae King.
Ruth is survived by her loving brother, Walter A. Strickland; son, John Michael Kent and wife Kellie; daughter, Terry Kent Quinn and husband Walter; three grandchildren, Rian Kent, Luke Quinn and Marge Anna Quinn.
Ruth was a devoted nurse and lived her life caring for others. She was an avid gardener and was passionate about the outdoors.
Memorial services were Aug. 28 at Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home. Memorials may be sent to your local Humane Society in honor of her favorite Yorkie, Gabby.
Jackie Overton
Jackie Lee Overton, 72, of Hensley passed peacefully from this life on Aug. 24. He is survived by two brothers, John Overton and A.B. Wood; three children, Rhonda and husband Edward Gillies, Samee and husband Larry Hollingsworth and Brock Overton; seven grandsons and a great-granddaughter.
A memorial service was held Aug. 27 at Arlie Moore Picnic Pavilion on Lake DeGray with a picnic following. Funeral ar-rangements were by Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
Bill Reveley
Bill Levon Reveley, 71, of Cabot died Aug. 25.
He was born Aug. 11, 1930 in Ward to the late Robert and Ruby Phillips Reveley.
In addition to his parents, Bill was preceded in death by his son Ernest Leonard.
He retired from the Navy after 22 years of service.
He is survived by his wife, Doanie Mitchell Reveley; four children, Mike Reveley and wife Shannon of Ward, Sandra Collins of Jacksonville, Beth Glover and husband Larry and Denise Presley and husband Scott, all of Austin; four siblings, Bobbie Jean Horn of Austin, Johnnie Farris and husband Lynn of Sherwood, Richard Reveley of Conway, and Jimmy Reveley of Ward; 10 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.
The funeral service was August 28 at the chapel of Moore’s Cabot Funeral Home with Rev. Tommy Miller officiating.
Lena Thurman
Lena Thurman, 95, of Deer Park, Texas, formerly of Ward, died August 24.
She was born July 25, 1912, at Ward to Thomas and Sylvia Smith Cox.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Bill Thurman and great-grandson, Spencer Chapman.
She is survived by one daughter, Wanda Chapman and husband John of LaPorte, Texas; two grandchildren, John L. Chapman of LaPorte and Jody Britton and husband Dean of Seabrook, Texas; five great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren.
Graveside service was held Aug. 27 at Butlerville Cemetery. Funeral arrangements were by Westbrook Funeral Home of Beebe.
Danny Fortson
Danny Ray Fortson, 54, of Stephens died Aug. 25.
He was born April 3, 1953 in Searcy to Vernon and Bonnie Fortson.
He was preceded in death by his mother, Bonnie Fortson.
Survivors include his daughter Miranda Fortson; father and step-mother, Vernon and Louise Fortson and one half sister.
Graveside service was held Aug. 28 at Sylvania Cemetery. Arrangement were by Thomas Funeral Service.
Kade Curlett
Kade “Bubba” Curlett, 7-month-old son of Sara Jackson and John Christopher Curlett of Conway, died Aug. 21.
He is also survived by his sisters, Journie Curlett and Sunnie Jackson; grandparents, Rita Krigbaum and husband Bill and Ricky Jackson and wife Lindsey, all of Beebe, and Norma and John Curlett of Conway.
Funeral was Aug. 24 at Westbrook Funeral Home with burial in Meadowbrook Memorial Gardens in Beebe.
Memorials may be made to Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Cardiology Department, P.O. Box 2222, Little Rock, Ark. 72203-0084.
Vicki Carmical
Vicki Jo Carmical, 48, of Cabot died August 10.
She was born Aug. 16, 1958 in Albany, Ga.
She graduated from Fulton High School in 1976.
She was employed by Dassault in Little Rock for 29 years.
She is survived by her parents, Carl and Emma Hopkins Strange; husband, Richard Carmical; two children, Tara V. and Andrew J. Carmical, both of Cabot; two sisters, Kacee Dee Vojdani of Rogers and Jennifer Elaine Raney of Ft. Worth, Texas, and one nephew, Lucas Raney of Forth Worth.
Funeral services were August 13 at Moore’s Cabot Funeral Home with burial at Sumner Cemetery.
TOP STORY >>Woman says defect caused her behavior
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
The woman—perhaps delusional—who grabbed the wheel of an eastbound Greyhound bus July 9, forcing the bus off I-40 and into a stand of trees in Lonoke County, Monday pleaded not guilty by reason of mental defect. Circuit Judge Lance Hanshaw ordered her to undergo an Act 3 mental evaluation before her Nov. 5 court appearance.
Victoria Combs, 27, reportedly a soldier stationed at Ft. Campbell, has been charged with 47 counts of aggravated assault, one for the driver and each of the 46 other passengers on the bus, according to a spokesman for Lonoke County Prosecutor Lona McCastlain. Combs also was charged with a single count of criminal mischief, also a felony.
David Meyers was appointed her public defender. No one was killed or seriously injured, although the bus cleared its own path into the marshy woods.
Combs, who appeared in court in a shirt with the word “ARMY” on the front, said she would like charges dropped so she could return to Afghanistan.
She is free on bond.
Eleven people, including Combs, were taken to hospitals after the crash at about 5:45 p.m.
After the passengers were evacuated and Combs arrested, it took Rich’s Wrecker Service two hours to pull the bus free.
George Rich, company’s owner, said the steering was damaged, the front end smashed and the windshield came out.
Combs had fled out the door after the bus came to rest sharply tilted to one side, but other passengers chased her down and held her until police arrived, one passenger said.
The accident occurred near the Remington Road intersection with I-40 just east of the Pulaski-Lonoke County line, about 30 miles east-northeast of Little Rock.
The bus traveled about 25 yards into the growth brush and, after the crash, could barely be seen from the highway.
Passenger Charlotte Simmons, 29, of Hot Springs, said Combs had been acting erratically since she boarded the bus in Nashville, Tenn.
“She got on with a police escort, saying she was afraid someone was going to kill her,” Simmons said.
Combs reported to the driver that other passengers were spraying her with something.
“Then Combs got up, grabbed the wheel and we all just went flying,” Simmons said.
A spokeswoman for Greyhound said 49 people were aboard the bus.
The bus began its trip at Richmond, Va., and its eventual destination was Dallas.
Leader senior staff writer
The woman—perhaps delusional—who grabbed the wheel of an eastbound Greyhound bus July 9, forcing the bus off I-40 and into a stand of trees in Lonoke County, Monday pleaded not guilty by reason of mental defect. Circuit Judge Lance Hanshaw ordered her to undergo an Act 3 mental evaluation before her Nov. 5 court appearance.
Victoria Combs, 27, reportedly a soldier stationed at Ft. Campbell, has been charged with 47 counts of aggravated assault, one for the driver and each of the 46 other passengers on the bus, according to a spokesman for Lonoke County Prosecutor Lona McCastlain. Combs also was charged with a single count of criminal mischief, also a felony.
David Meyers was appointed her public defender. No one was killed or seriously injured, although the bus cleared its own path into the marshy woods.
Combs, who appeared in court in a shirt with the word “ARMY” on the front, said she would like charges dropped so she could return to Afghanistan.
She is free on bond.
Eleven people, including Combs, were taken to hospitals after the crash at about 5:45 p.m.
After the passengers were evacuated and Combs arrested, it took Rich’s Wrecker Service two hours to pull the bus free.
George Rich, company’s owner, said the steering was damaged, the front end smashed and the windshield came out.
Combs had fled out the door after the bus came to rest sharply tilted to one side, but other passengers chased her down and held her until police arrived, one passenger said.
The accident occurred near the Remington Road intersection with I-40 just east of the Pulaski-Lonoke County line, about 30 miles east-northeast of Little Rock.
The bus traveled about 25 yards into the growth brush and, after the crash, could barely be seen from the highway.
Passenger Charlotte Simmons, 29, of Hot Springs, said Combs had been acting erratically since she boarded the bus in Nashville, Tenn.
“She got on with a police escort, saying she was afraid someone was going to kill her,” Simmons said.
Combs reported to the driver that other passengers were spraying her with something.
“Then Combs got up, grabbed the wheel and we all just went flying,” Simmons said.
A spokeswoman for Greyhound said 49 people were aboard the bus.
The bus began its trip at Richmond, Va., and its eventual destination was Dallas.
FROM THE PUBLISHER >>Pizzeria closes after move and owner's surgery
The state Highway Department is completing work on an on-ramp at Hwy. 67/167 in north Jacksonville, where the Pizza Company did pretty decent business for more than a decade.
Over the years, other restaurants opened and shut down at that same location on T.P. White Drive, but the Pizza Company had found a niche feeding young athletes and their families, until the Highway Department told the owners a couple of years ago that the northbound on-ramp would go right through their pizzeria, so they had to move last summer.
The Highway Department paid Virgil Wilson and his wife Leigh a few bucks for their moving expenses (they didn’t own the building) and they relocated inside the Howard Johnson’s a couple of miles south of their old location, but business never took off.
Old customers drifted away, and then, a couple of months ago, Virgil, who is 63 and a Vietnam veteran, had triple-bypass surgery.
Virgil returned to work a few days after his surgery — nobody could make pizza like he could, prepared fresh every day — but he was too weak to work seven days a week anymore, so on Aug. 13, he shut the Pizza Company down, a victim of progress, tough times and a broken heart.
“We got screwed over the whole deal,” he says.
“I fought for this country,” Wilson, an Army veteran, told us last year when he was forced to move. “I’ve been shot at. I even have a Bronze Star.”
The Wilsons were optimistic when they first reopened at their new location and hoped they would rebuild their business.
The couple moved a lot of their old décor into the new restaurant and put up a U.S. flag that had flown in Iraq.
“We’ve kept a lot of the old and have added some new,” he said when they moved into the Howard Johnson’s, formerly the Ramada Inn.
The old included a lunch buffet that was expanded to seven days a week. The new included alcoholic beverages as part of the dinner menu, with several new entrees.
“We don’t buy precut onions and vegetables,” he said before he closed his business. “Leigh does all the salad bar cutting and preparations daily.”
He used his own recipes for the restaurant’s barbecue, roast beef, chicken and shrimp dishes, along with the pizzas.
“Our favorites are still pepperoni, supreme and dessert pizzas,” Wilson said. “But you haven’t lived until you try our Polish pizza—mustard sauce, sauerkraut and Polish sausage.”
Before his surgery, Wilson worked 80 hours a week, and his wife about 50 hours.
He himself made 200 pizzas a week and gave a lot of them away to Little League teams, schools and newly arrived airmen.
“We always supported youth sports,” he recalled. If we kept a few of them off the streets and kept them from getting into trouble, it was worth it.”
“We took everything we had and put it in the new location,” he continued. “I just figured things would turn around after I got my feet on the ground. But a lot of things went haywire.”
At his age, he says, “I’m too old to work for somebody else.”
He’s not giving up, though. If his health improves, he’ll start looking for work.
“I’ll try to figure out what to do next,” he said.
Over the years, other restaurants opened and shut down at that same location on T.P. White Drive, but the Pizza Company had found a niche feeding young athletes and their families, until the Highway Department told the owners a couple of years ago that the northbound on-ramp would go right through their pizzeria, so they had to move last summer.
The Highway Department paid Virgil Wilson and his wife Leigh a few bucks for their moving expenses (they didn’t own the building) and they relocated inside the Howard Johnson’s a couple of miles south of their old location, but business never took off.
Old customers drifted away, and then, a couple of months ago, Virgil, who is 63 and a Vietnam veteran, had triple-bypass surgery.
Virgil returned to work a few days after his surgery — nobody could make pizza like he could, prepared fresh every day — but he was too weak to work seven days a week anymore, so on Aug. 13, he shut the Pizza Company down, a victim of progress, tough times and a broken heart.
“We got screwed over the whole deal,” he says.
“I fought for this country,” Wilson, an Army veteran, told us last year when he was forced to move. “I’ve been shot at. I even have a Bronze Star.”
The Wilsons were optimistic when they first reopened at their new location and hoped they would rebuild their business.
The couple moved a lot of their old décor into the new restaurant and put up a U.S. flag that had flown in Iraq.
“We’ve kept a lot of the old and have added some new,” he said when they moved into the Howard Johnson’s, formerly the Ramada Inn.
The old included a lunch buffet that was expanded to seven days a week. The new included alcoholic beverages as part of the dinner menu, with several new entrees.
“We don’t buy precut onions and vegetables,” he said before he closed his business. “Leigh does all the salad bar cutting and preparations daily.”
He used his own recipes for the restaurant’s barbecue, roast beef, chicken and shrimp dishes, along with the pizzas.
“Our favorites are still pepperoni, supreme and dessert pizzas,” Wilson said. “But you haven’t lived until you try our Polish pizza—mustard sauce, sauerkraut and Polish sausage.”
Before his surgery, Wilson worked 80 hours a week, and his wife about 50 hours.
He himself made 200 pizzas a week and gave a lot of them away to Little League teams, schools and newly arrived airmen.
“We always supported youth sports,” he recalled. If we kept a few of them off the streets and kept them from getting into trouble, it was worth it.”
“We took everything we had and put it in the new location,” he continued. “I just figured things would turn around after I got my feet on the ground. But a lot of things went haywire.”
At his age, he says, “I’m too old to work for somebody else.”
He’s not giving up, though. If his health improves, he’ll start looking for work.
“I’ll try to figure out what to do next,” he said.
TOP STORY >>Beebe names new police chief
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
The Beebe City Council hired a new police chief Monday night to complete the transformation of the department which has been underway since the beginning of the summer.
Assistant Chief Wayne Ballew, who has been acting chief since Don Inns was fired earlier this month, is now the official head of a department of mostly seasoned police officers with an average age of more than 40.
The young, inexperienced officers are gone. One police officer and one dispatcher were fired for viewing pornography on a police computer. Another was fired for using inappropriate language on a Web site where he was identified as a Beebe police officer.
Counting Ballew and Hal Britt, who was police chief more than a decade ago and now works as an investigator, six of eight police officers have been hired since the first of the year.
Earlier this month, the council hired Ron Lewis, a part-time Lonoke County sheriff’s deputy and a former state trooper who once headed the Lonoke County Drug Task Force. Monday night, the council gave approval to hire James Armstrong, a former White County sheriff’s deputy, to replace an officer who resigned voluntarily for work elsewhere.
Mayor Mike Robertson said during an interview Tuesday morning that he has known Lewis since 1996 (during Robertson’s first term as mayor) when he helped Britt with the investigation into Big Boy’s Toys, an illegal drug operation masquerading as an antique car dealership.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Ron isn’t named assistant chief,” Robertson said. “We’re going to clean up the drug activity (in Beebe). These people who have been getting by with it aren’t going to get by with it anymore.”
Alderman Becky Short, a former city clerk and lifetime resident, said after the meeting that she was “tickled pink” with the changes that have been made. The city now has a police force that will patrol the streets and treat the residents with respect, she said.
Robertson fired Inns Aug. 5, after learning he had fixed an arrest warrant so that a parolee wanted on drug charges would not be picked up.
Robertson said at that time and again Monday night that too many drug busts ended with no one going to jail. He said Inns told him he intended to use the lawbreakers as informants. But those days are over, Robertson said.
He told the council that in the past two weeks, “doors have been kicked down and arrests have been made. There will be no deals with drug dealers.”
Robertson reported to the council Monday that a state police investigation into the police department is underway. He did not say that Inns is the subject of that investigation, but he did say that Inns was the only department employee with access to the evidence room where confiscated guns and drugs were not properly labeled.
Robertson also said that when Inns was police chief, he was the only employee with access to the department’s “drug buy” money.
Since he was fired, the money ($400) has been turned over to the city clerk.
Leader staff writer
The Beebe City Council hired a new police chief Monday night to complete the transformation of the department which has been underway since the beginning of the summer.
Assistant Chief Wayne Ballew, who has been acting chief since Don Inns was fired earlier this month, is now the official head of a department of mostly seasoned police officers with an average age of more than 40.
The young, inexperienced officers are gone. One police officer and one dispatcher were fired for viewing pornography on a police computer. Another was fired for using inappropriate language on a Web site where he was identified as a Beebe police officer.
Counting Ballew and Hal Britt, who was police chief more than a decade ago and now works as an investigator, six of eight police officers have been hired since the first of the year.
Earlier this month, the council hired Ron Lewis, a part-time Lonoke County sheriff’s deputy and a former state trooper who once headed the Lonoke County Drug Task Force. Monday night, the council gave approval to hire James Armstrong, a former White County sheriff’s deputy, to replace an officer who resigned voluntarily for work elsewhere.
Mayor Mike Robertson said during an interview Tuesday morning that he has known Lewis since 1996 (during Robertson’s first term as mayor) when he helped Britt with the investigation into Big Boy’s Toys, an illegal drug operation masquerading as an antique car dealership.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Ron isn’t named assistant chief,” Robertson said. “We’re going to clean up the drug activity (in Beebe). These people who have been getting by with it aren’t going to get by with it anymore.”
Alderman Becky Short, a former city clerk and lifetime resident, said after the meeting that she was “tickled pink” with the changes that have been made. The city now has a police force that will patrol the streets and treat the residents with respect, she said.
Robertson fired Inns Aug. 5, after learning he had fixed an arrest warrant so that a parolee wanted on drug charges would not be picked up.
Robertson said at that time and again Monday night that too many drug busts ended with no one going to jail. He said Inns told him he intended to use the lawbreakers as informants. But those days are over, Robertson said.
He told the council that in the past two weeks, “doors have been kicked down and arrests have been made. There will be no deals with drug dealers.”
Robertson reported to the council Monday that a state police investigation into the police department is underway. He did not say that Inns is the subject of that investigation, but he did say that Inns was the only department employee with access to the evidence room where confiscated guns and drugs were not properly labeled.
Robertson also said that when Inns was police chief, he was the only employee with access to the department’s “drug buy” money.
Since he was fired, the money ($400) has been turned over to the city clerk.
TOP STORY >>Lights could ease traffic
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
Cabot residents trying to get home from Little Rock during the afternoon rush must deal with wait times of 15 minutes or more on the Hwy. 67/167 shoulders and off- ramp, but traffic signals that are supposed to be installed within two weeks could shorten that delay.
Admittedly that is the same information this newspaper reported at the end of April, but Mayor Eddie Joe Williams said this week that he is confident it really will happen this time and soon.
A snafu in the paperwork was the main reason for the holdup, he said. But the Highway Department marked the location for the poles last week and unless the project hits a snag such as cables being buried where the poles are supposed to be set, then the signals should be in place soon.
The plan is to install two signals, one to stop the traffic on Hwy. 5 and one to move traffic off the ramp. Instead of sitting and waiting for a break in the Hwy. 5 traffic, 20 or 30 motorists will be exiting the off-ramp at one time, he said.
Williams said the project should have cost about $110,000, but the Highway Department has given its blessings on used equipment and wooden poles, and the cost will actually be only about $14,000.
“In the transportation world, a week is a month and 12 weeks is a year,” the mayor said.
But he added that everything is coming together and relief is in sight for the 17,000 or so motorists who pass through the Hwy. 5 interchange daily.
The mayor has also asked the state for a traffic signal at the intersection of Hwy. 5 and South Rockwood, the new road to Wal-Mart which was completed this spring. From the time the road opened, residents have complained that left turns onto Hwy. 5 are almost impossible, but Williams said the Highway Department must conduct a traffic study there before a signal will be considered.
“I’m cautiously optimistic that we’ll have a light down there,” he said during a recent city council meeting.
In addition to evening rush hour, traffic congestion is also a problem during the morning and afternoon when parents are dropping off and picking up children at school. The city’s attempts to alleviate that problem worked at two schools where changes were made but failed at the third school.
Police Chief Jackie Davis reported early last week that traffic moved smoothly at Southside Elementary. Cabot Public Works Director Jerrel Maxwell, who watched the flow at Middle School North, said there was no backup on Kerr Station Road.
But at Northside Elementary, where city officials hoped to stack cars on East Mountain Springs Road to keep them off Locust, parents have been told to go back to the way they used to travel at least until the city and school district have built a loading area on the campus. Maxwell said this week that East Mountain Springs Road isn’t wide enough to have cars stopped on the shoulder while waiting to get on campus.
The school district worked with the city to build a new parking lot for about 40 employees, which took them out of the mix during rush hour.
The district also has approved building a loading area for 100 cars, with the school district paying for the materials and the city providing the labor and equipment, he said. But so far, the city has not seen the district’s plan for the work.
Leader staff writer
Cabot residents trying to get home from Little Rock during the afternoon rush must deal with wait times of 15 minutes or more on the Hwy. 67/167 shoulders and off- ramp, but traffic signals that are supposed to be installed within two weeks could shorten that delay.
Admittedly that is the same information this newspaper reported at the end of April, but Mayor Eddie Joe Williams said this week that he is confident it really will happen this time and soon.
A snafu in the paperwork was the main reason for the holdup, he said. But the Highway Department marked the location for the poles last week and unless the project hits a snag such as cables being buried where the poles are supposed to be set, then the signals should be in place soon.
The plan is to install two signals, one to stop the traffic on Hwy. 5 and one to move traffic off the ramp. Instead of sitting and waiting for a break in the Hwy. 5 traffic, 20 or 30 motorists will be exiting the off-ramp at one time, he said.
Williams said the project should have cost about $110,000, but the Highway Department has given its blessings on used equipment and wooden poles, and the cost will actually be only about $14,000.
“In the transportation world, a week is a month and 12 weeks is a year,” the mayor said.
But he added that everything is coming together and relief is in sight for the 17,000 or so motorists who pass through the Hwy. 5 interchange daily.
The mayor has also asked the state for a traffic signal at the intersection of Hwy. 5 and South Rockwood, the new road to Wal-Mart which was completed this spring. From the time the road opened, residents have complained that left turns onto Hwy. 5 are almost impossible, but Williams said the Highway Department must conduct a traffic study there before a signal will be considered.
“I’m cautiously optimistic that we’ll have a light down there,” he said during a recent city council meeting.
In addition to evening rush hour, traffic congestion is also a problem during the morning and afternoon when parents are dropping off and picking up children at school. The city’s attempts to alleviate that problem worked at two schools where changes were made but failed at the third school.
Police Chief Jackie Davis reported early last week that traffic moved smoothly at Southside Elementary. Cabot Public Works Director Jerrel Maxwell, who watched the flow at Middle School North, said there was no backup on Kerr Station Road.
But at Northside Elementary, where city officials hoped to stack cars on East Mountain Springs Road to keep them off Locust, parents have been told to go back to the way they used to travel at least until the city and school district have built a loading area on the campus. Maxwell said this week that East Mountain Springs Road isn’t wide enough to have cars stopped on the shoulder while waiting to get on campus.
The school district worked with the city to build a new parking lot for about 40 employees, which took them out of the mix during rush hour.
The district also has approved building a loading area for 100 cars, with the school district paying for the materials and the city providing the labor and equipment, he said. But so far, the city has not seen the district’s plan for the work.
TOP STORY >>Insufficient evidence: Jailer gets to go free
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
After being the butt of jokes and innuendo for more than a year for allegedly having sex with an Act 309 state prisoner while she was a dispatcher and jailer at Lonoke city jail in 2005, Amy Staley was acquitted Monday in a bench trial before Special Judge John Cole of Sheridan.
“I can’t determine that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” Cole said in a trial that included neither opening nor closing arguments and lasted less than two hours. “Someone is telling the truth and someone isn’t. I have no choice but to find her not guilty.”
Anthony Shane Scott, handcuffed, in ankle bracelets and wearing the Correction Department inmate whites, testified that he had sex three times with Staley during the spring of 2005, while she was a police department employee and he was an inmate in Lonoke.
Scott is the Act 309 Correction Department inmate whose alleged sexual trysts with Staley and with then-Police Chief Jay Campbell’s wife while in the Lonoke jail led to the investigation that eventually deposed a mayor, imprisoned the popular police chief and his wife and led to serious felony charges against a pair of bail bondsmen.
Act 309 inmates are state inmates screened and loaned to sheriffs and police chiefs as manpower while increasing the number of prison beds available to the state, but the inmate may not perform work for private individuals.
Both Jay Campbell and Thomas Privett, then mayor, admitted paying Act 309 inmates a stipend to do work at their homes.
Privett is expected to face trial next month for theft of services, a misdemeanor, in connection with that work. Lonoke voters turned him out of office last November over the incident.
Campbell was sentenced in April to 40 years in prison for running a criminal enterprise, conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and numerous counts of theft by receiving and drug counts. Kelly Campbell was sentenced to 10 years for participating in an ongoing criminal enterprise, theft of property and illegal possession of drugs. Cole dismissed sex charges against her because technically it was not a crime for a civilian to have sex with an inmate.
Both Campbells are in prison, appealing their sentences. She is at the women’s McPherson Unit, and he is in a Missouri prison for his own safety. Scott testified Monday that he had sex three times with Staley in a bathroom before breaking off the relationship to pursue a sexual relationship with Kelly Campbell.
Staley’s attorney, Eric Kennedy of Des Arc, cross examined Scott, who admitted that the first times he was questioned he denied having sex with Staley. At a subsequent interview he said he had sex with her twice and at yet another interview, he said they had sex three times.
Staley testified that she had never had sex with Scott. There were no witnesses to a sex act between the two, although Staley’s former coworker Courtney Kocourek testified that he walked in on the pair in the jail kitchen when Staley had her arms around Scott’s neck in an embrace and had him pinned against the refrigerator. Kocourek is now a State Police trooper.
Staley said she stood on a box to retrieve her bowl from atop the refrigerator, fell, and Scott caught her.
“We are extremely happy,” said Kennedy. “I’m just glad she can move on with her life,” he said. “I felt like that’s what the outcome would be.”
“When you’re dealing with sex, and only two people know the truth—I knew this could happen,” said Prosecutor Lona McCastlain.
“The evidence was there, but she has a second chance,” McCastlain added.
Leader senior staff writer
After being the butt of jokes and innuendo for more than a year for allegedly having sex with an Act 309 state prisoner while she was a dispatcher and jailer at Lonoke city jail in 2005, Amy Staley was acquitted Monday in a bench trial before Special Judge John Cole of Sheridan.
“I can’t determine that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” Cole said in a trial that included neither opening nor closing arguments and lasted less than two hours. “Someone is telling the truth and someone isn’t. I have no choice but to find her not guilty.”
Anthony Shane Scott, handcuffed, in ankle bracelets and wearing the Correction Department inmate whites, testified that he had sex three times with Staley during the spring of 2005, while she was a police department employee and he was an inmate in Lonoke.
Scott is the Act 309 Correction Department inmate whose alleged sexual trysts with Staley and with then-Police Chief Jay Campbell’s wife while in the Lonoke jail led to the investigation that eventually deposed a mayor, imprisoned the popular police chief and his wife and led to serious felony charges against a pair of bail bondsmen.
Act 309 inmates are state inmates screened and loaned to sheriffs and police chiefs as manpower while increasing the number of prison beds available to the state, but the inmate may not perform work for private individuals.
Both Jay Campbell and Thomas Privett, then mayor, admitted paying Act 309 inmates a stipend to do work at their homes.
Privett is expected to face trial next month for theft of services, a misdemeanor, in connection with that work. Lonoke voters turned him out of office last November over the incident.
Campbell was sentenced in April to 40 years in prison for running a criminal enterprise, conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and numerous counts of theft by receiving and drug counts. Kelly Campbell was sentenced to 10 years for participating in an ongoing criminal enterprise, theft of property and illegal possession of drugs. Cole dismissed sex charges against her because technically it was not a crime for a civilian to have sex with an inmate.
Both Campbells are in prison, appealing their sentences. She is at the women’s McPherson Unit, and he is in a Missouri prison for his own safety. Scott testified Monday that he had sex three times with Staley in a bathroom before breaking off the relationship to pursue a sexual relationship with Kelly Campbell.
Staley’s attorney, Eric Kennedy of Des Arc, cross examined Scott, who admitted that the first times he was questioned he denied having sex with Staley. At a subsequent interview he said he had sex with her twice and at yet another interview, he said they had sex three times.
Staley testified that she had never had sex with Scott. There were no witnesses to a sex act between the two, although Staley’s former coworker Courtney Kocourek testified that he walked in on the pair in the jail kitchen when Staley had her arms around Scott’s neck in an embrace and had him pinned against the refrigerator. Kocourek is now a State Police trooper.
Staley said she stood on a box to retrieve her bowl from atop the refrigerator, fell, and Scott caught her.
“We are extremely happy,” said Kennedy. “I’m just glad she can move on with her life,” he said. “I felt like that’s what the outcome would be.”
“When you’re dealing with sex, and only two people know the truth—I knew this could happen,” said Prosecutor Lona McCastlain.
“The evidence was there, but she has a second chance,” McCastlain added.
TOP STORY >>Base contractor on way out
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
“Given the current project’s financial conditions, it is unlikely that American Eagle will be able to resume work (on them),” an Air Force spokesman said Monday of housing privatization contracts at the Jacksonville air base and three other air bases.
That could confirm Brig. Gen. (Select) Rowayne Schatz’s comment last week that he believed a different developer would finish the job.
American Eagle Communities has not responded to questions emailed Friday.
Work stopped May 7 on the company’s $127 million contract to build, renovate, own, manage and rent housing to airmen and their families at Little Rock Air Force Base. American Eagle Communities, a joint limited-liability venture between the Carabetta family of Meridan, Conn., and Shaw Infrastructures of Baton Rouge, has left some contractors and suppliers on the LRAFB project owed hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Carabettas, through American Eagle and other legal entities, have privatization contracts with four Air Force bases, and work has stopped on all four.
They have said publicly that they are selling two of the jobs and trying to sell the others.
Work stopped in March at Moody Air Force Base, where contractors may be owed millions of dollars, and at Hanscom and Patrick air bases as well.
“American Eagle’s obligations as stated in the project documents, are still valid,” according to Mike Hawkins, spokesman for the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment.
Schatz, the base commander, has said the project is already two years behind schedule and that about 200 homes should have been built by now instead of the 25 completed.
He reported recently that the base paid more than $9 million through its basic housing allowance in 2006.
Hawkins said this week that the project was still receiving rent revenues, but that it “goes into a lockbox account.”
He said the proceeds were used to pay for daily operational expenses such as repairs, maintenance and utilities, plus insurance payments and debt service.
“Additional revenue beyond these expenses generally goes into accounts for long-term capital repair and replacement, i.e., hot water heaters, roofs, carpeting…and reinvestment accounts.
“The project lenders (at Moody Family Housing) have initiated legal action/documentation to default the project owners or place the project into state receivership,” according to Hawkins.
“The Air Force has legal remedies as well which may also be pursued. We work on a daily basis with the bondholders, the project owner, and other stakeholders to resolve issues at hand as expeditiously as possible.”
Tom Brockway, American Eagle’s project manager for LRAFB Family Housing, is still overseeing operations, but he declined to answer questions last week, asking instead for an email that he would forward to his bosses.
Among those questions, so far unanswered, are whether or not American Eagle intends to complete the LRAFB contract, default on it or sell it and why the company is so far behind schedule both at the Jacksonville base and at similar bases and forts across the country.
We asked whether they intended to pay suppliers and subcontractors and if so, whether they would be paid in full and when.
We asked whether the company had filed for bankruptcy and whether it was in receivership, and finally, “What happened?”
Hawkins said the privatization problems are unique to the Carabetta projects.
“The Air Force hopes that the current impasse gets resolved expeditiously and that construction resumes as quickly as possible,” according to Hawkins. “The Air Force goal is to get quality housing for our airmen.”
Here’s a roundup of their military privatization jobs:
Little Rock Air Force Base, Jacksonville—Worked stopped in May on American Eagle’s project to build 468 new homes and remodel 732 homes. Twenty-five homes completed to date.
Moody Air Force Base, Georgia—Carabetta Enterprises Inc. contracted to build more than 600 homes.
Work stopped in May with two houses built.
Patrick Air Force Base, Pelican Coast Florida—American Eagle Communities contracted to build 552 homes for Air Force personnel and 400 for non-military.
Of those, 164 have been completed and work has stopped.
Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.—Contract awarded in April 2007 to American Eagle for at least 784 new homes. Work proceeds intermittently.
Beale Air Force Base, near Sacramento—American Eagle won a contract in 2004 to build 585 new housing units and remodel 759, but was dropped from the contract over a legal question.
Ft. Leonard Wood—Work began in January 2004 to privatize and manage more than 2,200 military family housing units.
An Army spokesman says the job is on schedule. A local observer says the job is behind schedule.
Pacific Northwest Com-munities—American Eagle is selling its contract to build or renovate and manage more than 2,700 Navy homes throughout Puget Sound, including 604 new homes. The contract was signed in September 2005.
Leader senior staff writer
“Given the current project’s financial conditions, it is unlikely that American Eagle will be able to resume work (on them),” an Air Force spokesman said Monday of housing privatization contracts at the Jacksonville air base and three other air bases.
That could confirm Brig. Gen. (Select) Rowayne Schatz’s comment last week that he believed a different developer would finish the job.
American Eagle Communities has not responded to questions emailed Friday.
Work stopped May 7 on the company’s $127 million contract to build, renovate, own, manage and rent housing to airmen and their families at Little Rock Air Force Base. American Eagle Communities, a joint limited-liability venture between the Carabetta family of Meridan, Conn., and Shaw Infrastructures of Baton Rouge, has left some contractors and suppliers on the LRAFB project owed hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Carabettas, through American Eagle and other legal entities, have privatization contracts with four Air Force bases, and work has stopped on all four.
They have said publicly that they are selling two of the jobs and trying to sell the others.
Work stopped in March at Moody Air Force Base, where contractors may be owed millions of dollars, and at Hanscom and Patrick air bases as well.
“American Eagle’s obligations as stated in the project documents, are still valid,” according to Mike Hawkins, spokesman for the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment.
Schatz, the base commander, has said the project is already two years behind schedule and that about 200 homes should have been built by now instead of the 25 completed.
He reported recently that the base paid more than $9 million through its basic housing allowance in 2006.
Hawkins said this week that the project was still receiving rent revenues, but that it “goes into a lockbox account.”
He said the proceeds were used to pay for daily operational expenses such as repairs, maintenance and utilities, plus insurance payments and debt service.
“Additional revenue beyond these expenses generally goes into accounts for long-term capital repair and replacement, i.e., hot water heaters, roofs, carpeting…and reinvestment accounts.
“The project lenders (at Moody Family Housing) have initiated legal action/documentation to default the project owners or place the project into state receivership,” according to Hawkins.
“The Air Force has legal remedies as well which may also be pursued. We work on a daily basis with the bondholders, the project owner, and other stakeholders to resolve issues at hand as expeditiously as possible.”
Tom Brockway, American Eagle’s project manager for LRAFB Family Housing, is still overseeing operations, but he declined to answer questions last week, asking instead for an email that he would forward to his bosses.
Among those questions, so far unanswered, are whether or not American Eagle intends to complete the LRAFB contract, default on it or sell it and why the company is so far behind schedule both at the Jacksonville base and at similar bases and forts across the country.
We asked whether they intended to pay suppliers and subcontractors and if so, whether they would be paid in full and when.
We asked whether the company had filed for bankruptcy and whether it was in receivership, and finally, “What happened?”
Hawkins said the privatization problems are unique to the Carabetta projects.
“The Air Force hopes that the current impasse gets resolved expeditiously and that construction resumes as quickly as possible,” according to Hawkins. “The Air Force goal is to get quality housing for our airmen.”
Here’s a roundup of their military privatization jobs:
Little Rock Air Force Base, Jacksonville—Worked stopped in May on American Eagle’s project to build 468 new homes and remodel 732 homes. Twenty-five homes completed to date.
Moody Air Force Base, Georgia—Carabetta Enterprises Inc. contracted to build more than 600 homes.
Work stopped in May with two houses built.
Patrick Air Force Base, Pelican Coast Florida—American Eagle Communities contracted to build 552 homes for Air Force personnel and 400 for non-military.
Of those, 164 have been completed and work has stopped.
Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.—Contract awarded in April 2007 to American Eagle for at least 784 new homes. Work proceeds intermittently.
Beale Air Force Base, near Sacramento—American Eagle won a contract in 2004 to build 585 new housing units and remodel 759, but was dropped from the contract over a legal question.
Ft. Leonard Wood—Work began in January 2004 to privatize and manage more than 2,200 military family housing units.
An Army spokesman says the job is on schedule. A local observer says the job is behind schedule.
Pacific Northwest Com-munities—American Eagle is selling its contract to build or renovate and manage more than 2,700 Navy homes throughout Puget Sound, including 604 new homes. The contract was signed in September 2005.
TOP STORY >>Area cities get boost from state turnbacks
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Sherwood is set to receive a one-time payment of about $145,000 from the state. Jacksonville is expecting more than $200,000. Cabot is looking forward to a $150,000 windfall and Lonoke is to get approximately $29,000.
The money is a one-time return of tax funds that divvies up the almost $900 million surplus the state had at the end of last year. The state legislature earmarked the extra money for a number of projects and also decided to give each city a portion of the surplus.
“It works out to $6.75 per person,” Sherwood Mayor Virginia Hillman told the city council Monday night.
She suggested the city use the money to update and replace the city’s storm sirens.
Alderman Sheila Sulcer agreed, saying the one in her neighborhood wasn’t working last year. “If we had a tornado come through, it would have been horrible,” she said.
Hillman said she believed all the sirens were working, but that there were always problems with them.
The council took no action Monday, but will decide at a later council meeting if they want to spend the one-time money on the sirens.
Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim said the city has been anticipating the state refund, but no check has been cut yet. “We did not put the money in our budget, and I’m coming up with a list of possible projects that we can spend the money on. The final decision will be up to the council,” the mayor said. He added there is no deadline for cities to spend or use the money.
Cabot will be using its money to help pay for 15.5 acres in the industrial park on Hwy. 367, where an armory is supposed to be built.
The city council has agreed to purchase the property for $399,000 with the stipulation that all but $49,000 of that amount will come from the state.
Once the property is purchased, the deed will be signed over to the Arkansas National Guard, which will have the construction of the $8 million armory placed in line for federal funding within the next five years. Lonoke will be using its funds to finish remodeling the old train depot where the city holds meetings, according to Mayor Wayne McGee.
Leader staff writer
Sherwood is set to receive a one-time payment of about $145,000 from the state. Jacksonville is expecting more than $200,000. Cabot is looking forward to a $150,000 windfall and Lonoke is to get approximately $29,000.
The money is a one-time return of tax funds that divvies up the almost $900 million surplus the state had at the end of last year. The state legislature earmarked the extra money for a number of projects and also decided to give each city a portion of the surplus.
“It works out to $6.75 per person,” Sherwood Mayor Virginia Hillman told the city council Monday night.
She suggested the city use the money to update and replace the city’s storm sirens.
Alderman Sheila Sulcer agreed, saying the one in her neighborhood wasn’t working last year. “If we had a tornado come through, it would have been horrible,” she said.
Hillman said she believed all the sirens were working, but that there were always problems with them.
The council took no action Monday, but will decide at a later council meeting if they want to spend the one-time money on the sirens.
Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim said the city has been anticipating the state refund, but no check has been cut yet. “We did not put the money in our budget, and I’m coming up with a list of possible projects that we can spend the money on. The final decision will be up to the council,” the mayor said. He added there is no deadline for cities to spend or use the money.
Cabot will be using its money to help pay for 15.5 acres in the industrial park on Hwy. 367, where an armory is supposed to be built.
The city council has agreed to purchase the property for $399,000 with the stipulation that all but $49,000 of that amount will come from the state.
Once the property is purchased, the deed will be signed over to the Arkansas National Guard, which will have the construction of the $8 million armory placed in line for federal funding within the next five years. Lonoke will be using its funds to finish remodeling the old train depot where the city holds meetings, according to Mayor Wayne McGee.
Monday, August 27, 2007
SPORTS >>Bears potent in scrimmage
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
If the early scrimmages held Tuesday are any indication, this year’s version of the Sylvan Hills Bears proves to be offensively potent. The Bears had two successful scrimmages against Little Rock Hall and Little Rock Parkview on Tuesday, downing both teams in regulation two-quarter halves.
There were four teams on hand for the scrimmages held at Bill Blackwood Field, with Parkview and Pulaski Academy squaring off in game one before the Bears and Warriors took to the field for game two. The Bruins downed Parkview in the opener 27-17, and would take the win over Hall in the third game also.
Hall took first possession, and was forced to punt when the SH defense held them to only four yards in three plays. It didn’t take long for the Bears to show their hand, as Hunter Miller found Jacob Clark on a crossing pattern on the Bears’ second play from scrimmage. Clark cleared a pair of nearside defenders, and scooted the rest of the way in for a 70-yard touchdown play.
The second possession for Sylvan Hills would also produce a score, but it would take a lot more work to punch it in this time. The drive was mostly sustained by runs from senior quarterback Miller, who called his own number to get the ball into Warrior territory.
Miller then converted on a fourth and five play when he had to scramble out of the pocket for the yardage necessary for the first down, and junior Lawrence Hodges advanced the ball into the Hall red zone with a run up the middle to the 15-yard line. Hodges had also saved the drive moments earlier when he gained 20 yards on a run to the left side that took the Bears from facing a third and 25 to a more manageable fourth and five.
Miller took things from there, finding room off the right side of the line before cutting back to the middle to run the ball in from 15 yards out for the score.
The Bears’ defense looked particularly good against Hall, not giving up a first down until the Warriors’ third possession. A large number of junior varsity players were on the field when Hall finally started moving the ball. The Warriors scored with 7:58 left in the first quarter on a 43-yard pass play.
Frequent substitutions and experimental plays made ball movement a little more sparse in the second quarter, but Miller did get the chance to showcase his passing abilities with a 39-yard toss down the left side to senior Clint Thornton. Miller’s pass had good placement, and Thornton pulled the ball down for the short dash to the end zone for the third and final Sylvan Hills score of the scrimmage. Mitch Zimmerman backed up his strong performance in last Friday’s intra-squad game with another good showing in the defensive backfield. Zimmerman put an exclamation point on the first scrimmage for Sylvan Hills with an interception in the final minute.
Zimmerman may have been tops for the Bears defensively in the opener, but it was senior linebacker Blake Rix who had the biggest hand in stopping Parkview in the finale. Rix recorded five tackles and fell on two loose balls for Sylvan Hills, showing much more speed than his 5’7”, 170 lb. might indicate at first glance.
Offensively, the Bears started out strong with more good runs by Miller and sophomore Juliean Broner. Broner and teammate Hodges have looked to be the class of the underclassmen in early scrimmage action. Broner averaged 10.1 yards per carry against the Patriots, carrying six times for 62 yards, including a 28-yard run in the final minute after being nearly brought down by Parkview at the line of scrimmage on the tailback draw play.
Miller carried the ball six times for 69 yards against Parkview, including a 25-yard touchdown run on the Bears’ first possession, but with one fumble. Thornton carried only one time in the second game, but it was good enough for a touchdown run from 19 yards out.
“It was a good effort,” Bears coach Jim Withrow said. “We gave up some big plays on defense, and we can’t do that. Turnovers were the only thing that really got me hot. One turnover is one too many; three or four is just disgraceful. We have a long ways to go on our execution and consistency — I thought we lost focus some in that second game instead of putting them away.” Chris Daulton also had a solid game on the defensive side in game two, recording a pair of tackles and coming away with an interception on Parkview quarterback Darell Mixon in the first half.
Leader sportswriter
If the early scrimmages held Tuesday are any indication, this year’s version of the Sylvan Hills Bears proves to be offensively potent. The Bears had two successful scrimmages against Little Rock Hall and Little Rock Parkview on Tuesday, downing both teams in regulation two-quarter halves.
There were four teams on hand for the scrimmages held at Bill Blackwood Field, with Parkview and Pulaski Academy squaring off in game one before the Bears and Warriors took to the field for game two. The Bruins downed Parkview in the opener 27-17, and would take the win over Hall in the third game also.
Hall took first possession, and was forced to punt when the SH defense held them to only four yards in three plays. It didn’t take long for the Bears to show their hand, as Hunter Miller found Jacob Clark on a crossing pattern on the Bears’ second play from scrimmage. Clark cleared a pair of nearside defenders, and scooted the rest of the way in for a 70-yard touchdown play.
The second possession for Sylvan Hills would also produce a score, but it would take a lot more work to punch it in this time. The drive was mostly sustained by runs from senior quarterback Miller, who called his own number to get the ball into Warrior territory.
Miller then converted on a fourth and five play when he had to scramble out of the pocket for the yardage necessary for the first down, and junior Lawrence Hodges advanced the ball into the Hall red zone with a run up the middle to the 15-yard line. Hodges had also saved the drive moments earlier when he gained 20 yards on a run to the left side that took the Bears from facing a third and 25 to a more manageable fourth and five.
Miller took things from there, finding room off the right side of the line before cutting back to the middle to run the ball in from 15 yards out for the score.
The Bears’ defense looked particularly good against Hall, not giving up a first down until the Warriors’ third possession. A large number of junior varsity players were on the field when Hall finally started moving the ball. The Warriors scored with 7:58 left in the first quarter on a 43-yard pass play.
Frequent substitutions and experimental plays made ball movement a little more sparse in the second quarter, but Miller did get the chance to showcase his passing abilities with a 39-yard toss down the left side to senior Clint Thornton. Miller’s pass had good placement, and Thornton pulled the ball down for the short dash to the end zone for the third and final Sylvan Hills score of the scrimmage. Mitch Zimmerman backed up his strong performance in last Friday’s intra-squad game with another good showing in the defensive backfield. Zimmerman put an exclamation point on the first scrimmage for Sylvan Hills with an interception in the final minute.
Zimmerman may have been tops for the Bears defensively in the opener, but it was senior linebacker Blake Rix who had the biggest hand in stopping Parkview in the finale. Rix recorded five tackles and fell on two loose balls for Sylvan Hills, showing much more speed than his 5’7”, 170 lb. might indicate at first glance.
Offensively, the Bears started out strong with more good runs by Miller and sophomore Juliean Broner. Broner and teammate Hodges have looked to be the class of the underclassmen in early scrimmage action. Broner averaged 10.1 yards per carry against the Patriots, carrying six times for 62 yards, including a 28-yard run in the final minute after being nearly brought down by Parkview at the line of scrimmage on the tailback draw play.
Miller carried the ball six times for 69 yards against Parkview, including a 25-yard touchdown run on the Bears’ first possession, but with one fumble. Thornton carried only one time in the second game, but it was good enough for a touchdown run from 19 yards out.
“It was a good effort,” Bears coach Jim Withrow said. “We gave up some big plays on defense, and we can’t do that. Turnovers were the only thing that really got me hot. One turnover is one too many; three or four is just disgraceful. We have a long ways to go on our execution and consistency — I thought we lost focus some in that second game instead of putting them away.” Chris Daulton also had a solid game on the defensive side in game two, recording a pair of tackles and coming away with an interception on Parkview quarterback Darell Mixon in the first half.
SPORTS >>Panthers run over Wolves
By RAY BENTON
Leader sportswriter
The Cabot Panthers ran like a wrecking ball through Lake Hamilton in a preseason scrimmage Tuesday night at Panther Stadium. The varsity offense scored on every possession, and were never stopped on downs. The two teams traded four, 15-play drives, two each for varsity and junior varsity. The Panther JV offense didn’t look bad either.
Cabot coach Mike Malham was very pleased with the looks of the offense.
“I thought they looked pretty good,” Malham said. “(Chris) Bayles and (Jordan) Carlisle ran the ball real well. Michael James, the sophomore, looked good at fullback. We got (linemen) Jackson (Matt) and Gunn (Jordan) back, and of course that helps. Overall I thought the line blocked well. We’ve got some size up there. I wish they were a little quicker, but they come off good, and they’re physical.”
Lake Hamilton’s first string started with the ball, and drove down the field without much resistance. That ended when the Wolves got into the red zone. Cabot’s defense stiffened up inside the 10-yard line. Lake Hamilton failed to score a touchdown after first and goal, and settled for a field goal.
Cabot then took the ball and ate up yardage in chunks. Bayles took the first carry 11 yards. Carlisle took the second 15 to set up first down at the Lake Hamilton 49-yard line.
Michael James then carried 11 yards for the third first down in as many plays.
Things briefly got a little tougher. Cabot was faced with fourth and inches after three more plays, but James easily converted with a three-yard carry.
He then went nine and eight yards to set up first and goal at the eight. Keifer Richmond then carried for three yards before quarterback Seth Bloomberg kept for the final five and the score on the 11th play of the drive.
With four plays left, Cabot tried a few things besides running up the middle. A downfield pass attempt to Les McGregor was incomplete, and an option pitch from Bloomberg to Carlisle was off the mark. Carlisle fell on the loose ball for a loss of six yards. A Bayles run of six and a Bloomberg keeper for three yards ended the drive. The second string’s first offensive drive was highlighted by a 45-yard run by Nathan Millar down to the 1-yard line. He got to finish his work on the next play with a one-yard plunge for a touchdown.
Lake Hamilton looked better on its second varsity possession. After two incompletions, the Wolves struck for a 36-yard pass play for a first down at the 34.
After that, Lake Hamilton ate up chunks of yardage. Two for seven yards, one for eight and a 12-yard run capped the scoring drive with eight plays left.
Those final eight plays weren’t nearly as productive. After an initial 15-yard completion, Ben Ford got the first sack of the game for a one-yard loss.
After a three-yard run set up third and eight, another sack by Callen Boris for an eight-yard loss made it fourth and 15. Boris then deflected a pass on fourth down. The Wolves got just one more yard on their final three plays.
Cabot put together another good drive, this time a 13-play march for its second score. The longest run of the drive was the last one, a 12-yard run by James.
James carried 12 times in the two drives for 82 yards.
The two teams then traded three possessions each starting at the 10-yard line to work on goal- line situations. Neither defense did well. Six touchdowns were scored in the six combined possessions.
“Our goal line defense will have to be better than that,” Malham said. “I thought the defense did ok. There were a lot of mistakes made out there, but they were playing hard and Lake Hamilton has a pretty good offense. They were pretty good last year and they’ve got everybody back.”
Cabot opens the season Friday at home against Jacksonville.
Leader sportswriter
The Cabot Panthers ran like a wrecking ball through Lake Hamilton in a preseason scrimmage Tuesday night at Panther Stadium. The varsity offense scored on every possession, and were never stopped on downs. The two teams traded four, 15-play drives, two each for varsity and junior varsity. The Panther JV offense didn’t look bad either.
Cabot coach Mike Malham was very pleased with the looks of the offense.
“I thought they looked pretty good,” Malham said. “(Chris) Bayles and (Jordan) Carlisle ran the ball real well. Michael James, the sophomore, looked good at fullback. We got (linemen) Jackson (Matt) and Gunn (Jordan) back, and of course that helps. Overall I thought the line blocked well. We’ve got some size up there. I wish they were a little quicker, but they come off good, and they’re physical.”
Lake Hamilton’s first string started with the ball, and drove down the field without much resistance. That ended when the Wolves got into the red zone. Cabot’s defense stiffened up inside the 10-yard line. Lake Hamilton failed to score a touchdown after first and goal, and settled for a field goal.
Cabot then took the ball and ate up yardage in chunks. Bayles took the first carry 11 yards. Carlisle took the second 15 to set up first down at the Lake Hamilton 49-yard line.
Michael James then carried 11 yards for the third first down in as many plays.
Things briefly got a little tougher. Cabot was faced with fourth and inches after three more plays, but James easily converted with a three-yard carry.
He then went nine and eight yards to set up first and goal at the eight. Keifer Richmond then carried for three yards before quarterback Seth Bloomberg kept for the final five and the score on the 11th play of the drive.
With four plays left, Cabot tried a few things besides running up the middle. A downfield pass attempt to Les McGregor was incomplete, and an option pitch from Bloomberg to Carlisle was off the mark. Carlisle fell on the loose ball for a loss of six yards. A Bayles run of six and a Bloomberg keeper for three yards ended the drive. The second string’s first offensive drive was highlighted by a 45-yard run by Nathan Millar down to the 1-yard line. He got to finish his work on the next play with a one-yard plunge for a touchdown.
Lake Hamilton looked better on its second varsity possession. After two incompletions, the Wolves struck for a 36-yard pass play for a first down at the 34.
After that, Lake Hamilton ate up chunks of yardage. Two for seven yards, one for eight and a 12-yard run capped the scoring drive with eight plays left.
Those final eight plays weren’t nearly as productive. After an initial 15-yard completion, Ben Ford got the first sack of the game for a one-yard loss.
After a three-yard run set up third and eight, another sack by Callen Boris for an eight-yard loss made it fourth and 15. Boris then deflected a pass on fourth down. The Wolves got just one more yard on their final three plays.
Cabot put together another good drive, this time a 13-play march for its second score. The longest run of the drive was the last one, a 12-yard run by James.
James carried 12 times in the two drives for 82 yards.
The two teams then traded three possessions each starting at the 10-yard line to work on goal- line situations. Neither defense did well. Six touchdowns were scored in the six combined possessions.
“Our goal line defense will have to be better than that,” Malham said. “I thought the defense did ok. There were a lot of mistakes made out there, but they were playing hard and Lake Hamilton has a pretty good offense. They were pretty good last year and they’ve got everybody back.”
Cabot opens the season Friday at home against Jacksonville.
SPORTS >>Cabot wins in tri-match
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Lack of size and seniors made 2006 a little trying for the Lady Panthers at times last season, but those two problems appear to be things of the past after a very successful opening week this year. Cabot beat both Morrilton and Lonoke during a tri-match Tuesday at the Panther gym, and downed Morrilton again on Thursday in a regulation match in five sets.
Cabot’s overall hitting has started out especially strong. Senior Katie Mantione and junior Tori Hendrix handled the bulk of the hitting duties as expected, and racked up some impressive early-season numbers in the Thursday match against Morrilton.
Mantione recorded 20 kills on nine errors for a .256 percentage, while Hendrix managed 25 kills on just four errors for a .389 average. The overall team hitting ended up at .299, just one tick away from the desired .300 mark.
While the first week has been strong for the Lady Panthers, there has been an odd glitch in their second game performances. Cabot has dominated every first game of its first three matches, but has experienced systematic breakdowns heading into the second game. The second game against Morrilton on Thursday was actually the Lady Panthers’ first lost game, followed by another struggling frame in game three.
Lady Panthers coach Terry Williams attributes the game two struggles to lost focus. She believes that too much of a relaxed attitude after winning the openers have caused the troubles in the following game.
“I think it all starts when you have to switch benches,” Williams said. “We move to the other side of the court and don’t get back down to business. Our second game has been weak in every game. We have to get it more consistent.”
Sara Fuller would take leading hitter honors during Tuesday’s tri-match, ending up with a .389 percentage for the night. The team hit .250 overall against Lonoke and Morrilton, with a perfect 24 for 24 serving performance by Whitney High.
The Thursday match with Morrilton ended up going the distance. Cabot took game one 25-16, but gave up game two 13-25. The Lady Devil Dogs also took game three 22-25, but the Lady Panthers came back to claim the final two games 25-22 and 15-10.
“I think they proved to themselves that they can be competitive,” Williams said. “For the first week, they did a really good job of taking care of the ball.” Williams was also pleased with the effort by her team Thursday with one starter on the bench. Morgan Young sat out the Morrilton match while under the weather, and Williams said the team responded well.
“They had to do a lot of shifting around and adjusting,” Williams said. “They pulled together and put in a good effort. They handled the line-up change really well.”
The Lady Panthers have one more non-conference match with Beebe on Thursday in Cabot, and will begin conference play the following Thursday at Russellville.
Leader sportswriter
Lack of size and seniors made 2006 a little trying for the Lady Panthers at times last season, but those two problems appear to be things of the past after a very successful opening week this year. Cabot beat both Morrilton and Lonoke during a tri-match Tuesday at the Panther gym, and downed Morrilton again on Thursday in a regulation match in five sets.
Cabot’s overall hitting has started out especially strong. Senior Katie Mantione and junior Tori Hendrix handled the bulk of the hitting duties as expected, and racked up some impressive early-season numbers in the Thursday match against Morrilton.
Mantione recorded 20 kills on nine errors for a .256 percentage, while Hendrix managed 25 kills on just four errors for a .389 average. The overall team hitting ended up at .299, just one tick away from the desired .300 mark.
While the first week has been strong for the Lady Panthers, there has been an odd glitch in their second game performances. Cabot has dominated every first game of its first three matches, but has experienced systematic breakdowns heading into the second game. The second game against Morrilton on Thursday was actually the Lady Panthers’ first lost game, followed by another struggling frame in game three.
Lady Panthers coach Terry Williams attributes the game two struggles to lost focus. She believes that too much of a relaxed attitude after winning the openers have caused the troubles in the following game.
“I think it all starts when you have to switch benches,” Williams said. “We move to the other side of the court and don’t get back down to business. Our second game has been weak in every game. We have to get it more consistent.”
Sara Fuller would take leading hitter honors during Tuesday’s tri-match, ending up with a .389 percentage for the night. The team hit .250 overall against Lonoke and Morrilton, with a perfect 24 for 24 serving performance by Whitney High.
The Thursday match with Morrilton ended up going the distance. Cabot took game one 25-16, but gave up game two 13-25. The Lady Devil Dogs also took game three 22-25, but the Lady Panthers came back to claim the final two games 25-22 and 15-10.
“I think they proved to themselves that they can be competitive,” Williams said. “For the first week, they did a really good job of taking care of the ball.” Williams was also pleased with the effort by her team Thursday with one starter on the bench. Morgan Young sat out the Morrilton match while under the weather, and Williams said the team responded well.
“They had to do a lot of shifting around and adjusting,” Williams said. “They pulled together and put in a good effort. They handled the line-up change really well.”
The Lady Panthers have one more non-conference match with Beebe on Thursday in Cabot, and will begin conference play the following Thursday at Russellville.
EDITORIALS>>Vote against dirty plant
That coal-fired generating plant in Hempstead County, which is supposed to start sending 6 million tons of carbon dioxide a year our way by 2011, is looking like less a bargain every day. Southwestern Electric Power Co. is trying to persuade the state Public Service Commission of the need for the big electricity plant and of the environmental tranquility that it will offer all of us.
The hearings at the Capitol need to start producing some fetching testimony for the company fast. But we frankly hope they don’t. The world doesn’t need another dirty plant that contributes so much to atmospheric warming, and the evidence so far is that the region doesn’t really need the power anytime soon either.
We had a deep suspicion early on that Swepco picked Arkansas for the plant because it thought its regulators were the most pliable. It had considered a number of sites for the plant and it chose one in southwestern Arkansas, although the electricity that it would produce would go primarily to Texas. The Public Service Commission under Gov. Mike Huckabee, who was still in charge when Swepco applied to build the plant, was not known as a stern taskmaster for utilities, and the prospective next governor, one Mike Beebe, had a reputation as a state senator who was especially friendly to the power industry.
Our suspicions were confirmed when officials testified this week about why they moved the Arkansas plant site, near the town of McNab between Hope and Texarkana, ahead of all the others, although other sites ranked higher on the company’s scale of attributes. Low Arkansas property taxes made the construction and operating costs lower than some sites. But a primary concern was heavy opposition in Texas. Mayors tended not to want the belching smokestacks near their population. (Hope wants them.) Opposition to plans for 11 coal-fired plants in Texas being proposed by TXU Corp. — they were all scrapped eventually — moved Swepco away from Texas sites, so it settled on Arkansas.
Arkansas already has some of the dirtiest coal plants west of the Mississippi River. They pump 58 billion pounds of carbon into the atmosphere every year. A molecule of carbon dioxide, the chief global-warming compound, hangs around in the atmosphere for 50 to 200 years. The PSC is supposed to ponder the environmental impact of the plant on the surrounding land, water and air. It will use some 6,000 gallons of water a minute from the Little River, and its emissions will affect the waterfowl and animal habitat for miles around and add to the respiratory problems of much of the citizenry. But we hope the commission assumes a wider mission and considers that it is a tribune for future generations of denizens of this planet.
But is the plant — somewhere — essential? Experts testified Thursday that, well, actually it isn’t. There is an abundance of power in the region already. It is just hard to access now because there is not a good transmission grid. Entergy Corp. has substantial excess power it would be willing to sell, if it could. A big independent generating plant at El Dorado, fired by clean-burning natural gas, has bountiful capacity that it is not using because it doesn’t have a buyer. It would like to sell it to the Texas customers but reliable transmission apparently is a problem. But that is an inexpensive problem to solve. State and federal regulators ought to be able to do it.
As we have observed before, the new Public Service Commission — thank you, Gov. Beebe — seems to take its obligations of public service seriously. We hope the power company misjudged the regulatory climate in Arkansas.
The hearings at the Capitol need to start producing some fetching testimony for the company fast. But we frankly hope they don’t. The world doesn’t need another dirty plant that contributes so much to atmospheric warming, and the evidence so far is that the region doesn’t really need the power anytime soon either.
We had a deep suspicion early on that Swepco picked Arkansas for the plant because it thought its regulators were the most pliable. It had considered a number of sites for the plant and it chose one in southwestern Arkansas, although the electricity that it would produce would go primarily to Texas. The Public Service Commission under Gov. Mike Huckabee, who was still in charge when Swepco applied to build the plant, was not known as a stern taskmaster for utilities, and the prospective next governor, one Mike Beebe, had a reputation as a state senator who was especially friendly to the power industry.
Our suspicions were confirmed when officials testified this week about why they moved the Arkansas plant site, near the town of McNab between Hope and Texarkana, ahead of all the others, although other sites ranked higher on the company’s scale of attributes. Low Arkansas property taxes made the construction and operating costs lower than some sites. But a primary concern was heavy opposition in Texas. Mayors tended not to want the belching smokestacks near their population. (Hope wants them.) Opposition to plans for 11 coal-fired plants in Texas being proposed by TXU Corp. — they were all scrapped eventually — moved Swepco away from Texas sites, so it settled on Arkansas.
Arkansas already has some of the dirtiest coal plants west of the Mississippi River. They pump 58 billion pounds of carbon into the atmosphere every year. A molecule of carbon dioxide, the chief global-warming compound, hangs around in the atmosphere for 50 to 200 years. The PSC is supposed to ponder the environmental impact of the plant on the surrounding land, water and air. It will use some 6,000 gallons of water a minute from the Little River, and its emissions will affect the waterfowl and animal habitat for miles around and add to the respiratory problems of much of the citizenry. But we hope the commission assumes a wider mission and considers that it is a tribune for future generations of denizens of this planet.
But is the plant — somewhere — essential? Experts testified Thursday that, well, actually it isn’t. There is an abundance of power in the region already. It is just hard to access now because there is not a good transmission grid. Entergy Corp. has substantial excess power it would be willing to sell, if it could. A big independent generating plant at El Dorado, fired by clean-burning natural gas, has bountiful capacity that it is not using because it doesn’t have a buyer. It would like to sell it to the Texas customers but reliable transmission apparently is a problem. But that is an inexpensive problem to solve. State and federal regulators ought to be able to do it.
As we have observed before, the new Public Service Commission — thank you, Gov. Beebe — seems to take its obligations of public service seriously. We hope the power company misjudged the regulatory climate in Arkansas.
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