Alfred Henry
Alfred James Henry, 92, of Jacksonville passed away Oct. 3 at his home. He was born May 8, 1915 to the late Mr. and Mrs. Warren S. Parker Henry in Humnoke.
He was also preceded in death by four brothers, two sisters and a granddaughter, Janice Mitchell.
He was a retired mechanic for the Arkansas Foundry and he loved hunting and fishing as well as working in his garden.
Survivors include his loving wife of 72 years, Juanita J. Tipton Henry of Jacksonville; daughters, Mary Mitchell and husband Paul and Janie Poindexter, all of Jacksonville; one sister, Bessie Antonio of North Little Rock; grandchildren, Patricia Carlisle and husband Joplin, Karen Mims and husband Robert and Shawn Poindexter and wife Christine; as well as seven great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6 at Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home with burial at Arkansas Memorial Gardens.
Rickie Wallace
Rickie Lee Wallace of North Little Rock passed away Oct. 2.
He was born Sept. 20, 1956 in Columbus, Ohio.
He was preceded in death by his father, Kendall W. Wallace.
He is survived by his mother, Thelma Trent Wallace of Jacksonville; a sister, Vickie Lynn Weaver and husband Steve of Rogers; two brothers, Ken Wallace and wife Angela of North Little Rock and Terry Wallace of Jacksonville; nephew, Derrick Weaver and niece, Stacie Weaver.
Private services will be at a later date under the direction of Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
Kay Roberts
Kay Roberts, 69, of Jacksonville went to be with her Lord and savior after a long, hard battle with cancer, Sept. 30.
She was born Dec. 9, 1937 to the late Kenneth and Mildred Stanley of North Little Rock.
One sister, Jean Anahalt, also preceded Kay in death.
She is survived by her loving husband of over 52 years, Thomas J. Roberts; one son, Darrell and wife Alesia Roberts of Ward; her four cherished grandchildren who she adored, Jonathan, Jason, Jesse, and Darla Roberts; two brothers, James and wife Hannah Stanley and David Stanley; three sisters, Linda and husband Gene Oliver, Phyllis and husband Bill Mellas and Sally and husband Richard Robinson. She is also survived by many other relatives and a host of friends.
She was a devout Christian and member of First Assembly of God Church of North Little Rock from the time of Brother Gotcher till the present pastor, Rod Loy.
Funeral services were Oct. 4 at Griffin Leggett-Rest Hills Funeral Home with a private family burial that followed.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
TOP STORY >>New parks possible for west side of town
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Plans are in the works to add about 34 acres of new parks to Jacksonville—all on the west side of town.
Alderman Gary Fletcher told the council at its meeting Thursday night that the parks department had worked out plans for the parks with the developers of the 160-acre Southridge subdivision.
The planned subdivision is south and north of Main Street and west of the Penn Pointe and Tara Mount subdivisions.
Fletcher wants the city to consider using some of the $200,000 it is receiving in one-time turn-back money to develop the parks. “Without putting money into the parks, it’ll just be empty land,” he said.
“We are concerned about building an image to draw young families and lots of neighborhood parks will help,” Fletcher explained.
Mayor Tommy Swaim said he had no problems with some of the money going into the parks, but suggested a better way to fund the parks would be through the new two-cent hamburger tax, which the city started collecting last week.
That tax, which is projected to garner about $450,000 a year, goes to the city’s advertising and promotion commission which must spend at least half of it on the parks and recreation department.
“People don’t realize that once you buy or develop a park, you’ve got to have enough money for annual upkeep and extra personnel,” the mayor explained.
The mayor added that he lived quite a distance from a park. “Well, you give me these parks this year, and I’ll give you one next year,” Fletcher joked.
Plans for the Southridge Subdivision, which is in Fletcher’s ward, call for two one-acre pocket parks north of Main Street, and a two-acre and a 30-acre park on the south side. The 30-acre park, about the size of Excel Park, could become home to baseball and soccer fields, according to Parks and Recreation Director George Biggs.
In other council business:
Aldermen approved an ordinance rezoning 28 acres adjacent to Foxwood from R-0 (single-family homes) to R-1 (single family homes with smaller lots). This allows developer Jack Wilson to proceed with his plans for a subdivision of about 100 homes on the acreage.
The approval caps months of raucous and packed planning commission meetings where the residents put up numerous objections to the plans. Concerns included excessive amount of traffic, safety of the children, speeding and falling property values.
The council approved the final plat of the Jacksonville Shopping Center, Tract 2—the green space between Wendy’s and Mike Wilson’s law office. City Administrator Jay Whisker said the developer had no plans yet for the property, but was just making it more attractive to potential buyers.
Zaxby’s, a new regional chicken restaurant coming to Jacksonville, which could have built on the acreage, has turned in plans to tear down the car wash near New China on Marshall Road and build the restaurant there.
The council also approved a resolution allowing the city to destroy paper records. Some of the records are more than 40 years old. Most are from the early to the mid-90s. “State requires us to keep some records into perpetuity, while others we only need to keep for a certain amount of time,” the mayor explained. All the records listed in the resolution are beyond the required time.
“Many are redundant and take up needed space,” Swaim said.
In its monthly report, the engineering department stated it had issued 19 building permits and 10 business licenses during September. The department also performed more than 300 inspections and issued more than 400 warning letters to residents or business for unsightly or unsanitary property.
Previously, Public Works Director Jim Oakley had released the animal shelter’s August report. That month, the shelter took in 144 dogs and 120 cats. It adopted out 55 dogs and 18 cats, while 33 dogs and two cats were returned to their owners. The shelter euthanized 81 dogs and 88 cats in August.
Three dog bites were reported to animal control officials in August. Two were from a stray lab and the bites occurred at the animal shelter. The third was a pit bull bite. The dog was euthanized.
Leader staff writer
Plans are in the works to add about 34 acres of new parks to Jacksonville—all on the west side of town.
Alderman Gary Fletcher told the council at its meeting Thursday night that the parks department had worked out plans for the parks with the developers of the 160-acre Southridge subdivision.
The planned subdivision is south and north of Main Street and west of the Penn Pointe and Tara Mount subdivisions.
Fletcher wants the city to consider using some of the $200,000 it is receiving in one-time turn-back money to develop the parks. “Without putting money into the parks, it’ll just be empty land,” he said.
“We are concerned about building an image to draw young families and lots of neighborhood parks will help,” Fletcher explained.
Mayor Tommy Swaim said he had no problems with some of the money going into the parks, but suggested a better way to fund the parks would be through the new two-cent hamburger tax, which the city started collecting last week.
That tax, which is projected to garner about $450,000 a year, goes to the city’s advertising and promotion commission which must spend at least half of it on the parks and recreation department.
“People don’t realize that once you buy or develop a park, you’ve got to have enough money for annual upkeep and extra personnel,” the mayor explained.
The mayor added that he lived quite a distance from a park. “Well, you give me these parks this year, and I’ll give you one next year,” Fletcher joked.
Plans for the Southridge Subdivision, which is in Fletcher’s ward, call for two one-acre pocket parks north of Main Street, and a two-acre and a 30-acre park on the south side. The 30-acre park, about the size of Excel Park, could become home to baseball and soccer fields, according to Parks and Recreation Director George Biggs.
In other council business:
Aldermen approved an ordinance rezoning 28 acres adjacent to Foxwood from R-0 (single-family homes) to R-1 (single family homes with smaller lots). This allows developer Jack Wilson to proceed with his plans for a subdivision of about 100 homes on the acreage.
The approval caps months of raucous and packed planning commission meetings where the residents put up numerous objections to the plans. Concerns included excessive amount of traffic, safety of the children, speeding and falling property values.
The council approved the final plat of the Jacksonville Shopping Center, Tract 2—the green space between Wendy’s and Mike Wilson’s law office. City Administrator Jay Whisker said the developer had no plans yet for the property, but was just making it more attractive to potential buyers.
Zaxby’s, a new regional chicken restaurant coming to Jacksonville, which could have built on the acreage, has turned in plans to tear down the car wash near New China on Marshall Road and build the restaurant there.
The council also approved a resolution allowing the city to destroy paper records. Some of the records are more than 40 years old. Most are from the early to the mid-90s. “State requires us to keep some records into perpetuity, while others we only need to keep for a certain amount of time,” the mayor explained. All the records listed in the resolution are beyond the required time.
“Many are redundant and take up needed space,” Swaim said.
In its monthly report, the engineering department stated it had issued 19 building permits and 10 business licenses during September. The department also performed more than 300 inspections and issued more than 400 warning letters to residents or business for unsightly or unsanitary property.
Previously, Public Works Director Jim Oakley had released the animal shelter’s August report. That month, the shelter took in 144 dogs and 120 cats. It adopted out 55 dogs and 18 cats, while 33 dogs and two cats were returned to their owners. The shelter euthanized 81 dogs and 88 cats in August.
Three dog bites were reported to animal control officials in August. Two were from a stray lab and the bites occurred at the animal shelter. The third was a pit bull bite. The dog was euthanized.
TOP STORY >>Ward could seek ’08 sales tax vote
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
Ward city officials are considering asking voters for a sales tax increase in November 2008 to help pay for city services.
Several members of the city council and the mayor met Wednesday afternoon to begin talking about raising the city sales tax. A second meeting will be held Monday following the regular city council meeting.
Alderman Ginger Tarno said the “homework” of the five who attended the Wednesday meeting was to decide how much the tax should be increased and how it would be spent. But her first statement as the meeting began was almost a showstopper.
“I’m not for taxes,” she said. “I know we’ve lost some from the grocery tax (which is now 3 percent instead of 6 percent) but I don’t see putting it back on the people. We’re 74 percent low income.”
Alderman Marrice Jackson disagreed. “How do you think we’re ever going to get anywhere if we don’t?” he asked Tarno. Two or three dollars a week, is there anyone who can’t afford that?”
Alderman Don Howard, chairman of the committee, pointed out that Ward doesn’t have a grocery store, only a couple of businesses that sell grocery items in addition to other products.
“I would think anybody worrying about how much they spend on groceries would go to Beebe or Cabot,” Howard said.
Ward currently collects about $3,200 a month from a one-cent tax that is divided between the police department and the fire department.
If voters approve a second one-cent tax, that amount would more than double, because two new businesses are moving in, a pizza restaurant and a Subway.
Although the group discussed possibly asking for a two-cent tax, they agreed that Ward residents might not pass one cent, so asking for two would almost certainly fail.
“I think all taxes are evil myself, but you can’t live without them,” Jackson said. “We’ve got to have animal control and we’ve got to have police protection.”
If the council decides to ask voters for a tax and if it is approved, the money could be distributed among police, fire, streets, animal control, parks and code enforcement. Who would get how much will be discussed during the next committee meeting.
Mayor Art Brooke told the council members that the city general fund contributes only $9,000 a year to parks and recreation.
Jackson said police and animal control need to be a priority.
“I’ve talked to several people and they do want more police protection and they do want these dogs off the street,” he said.
Even though city councils have the authority to levy a special prepared food tax (hamburger tax) without taking it to the voters, all those present for the committee meeting said they were opposed to doing so.
They also were opposed to holding a special election in part because of low voter turnout but also because they said a special election would cost $5,000 to $6,000, about twice the amount the existing tax brings in every month.
Leader staff writer
Ward city officials are considering asking voters for a sales tax increase in November 2008 to help pay for city services.
Several members of the city council and the mayor met Wednesday afternoon to begin talking about raising the city sales tax. A second meeting will be held Monday following the regular city council meeting.
Alderman Ginger Tarno said the “homework” of the five who attended the Wednesday meeting was to decide how much the tax should be increased and how it would be spent. But her first statement as the meeting began was almost a showstopper.
“I’m not for taxes,” she said. “I know we’ve lost some from the grocery tax (which is now 3 percent instead of 6 percent) but I don’t see putting it back on the people. We’re 74 percent low income.”
Alderman Marrice Jackson disagreed. “How do you think we’re ever going to get anywhere if we don’t?” he asked Tarno. Two or three dollars a week, is there anyone who can’t afford that?”
Alderman Don Howard, chairman of the committee, pointed out that Ward doesn’t have a grocery store, only a couple of businesses that sell grocery items in addition to other products.
“I would think anybody worrying about how much they spend on groceries would go to Beebe or Cabot,” Howard said.
Ward currently collects about $3,200 a month from a one-cent tax that is divided between the police department and the fire department.
If voters approve a second one-cent tax, that amount would more than double, because two new businesses are moving in, a pizza restaurant and a Subway.
Although the group discussed possibly asking for a two-cent tax, they agreed that Ward residents might not pass one cent, so asking for two would almost certainly fail.
“I think all taxes are evil myself, but you can’t live without them,” Jackson said. “We’ve got to have animal control and we’ve got to have police protection.”
If the council decides to ask voters for a tax and if it is approved, the money could be distributed among police, fire, streets, animal control, parks and code enforcement. Who would get how much will be discussed during the next committee meeting.
Mayor Art Brooke told the council members that the city general fund contributes only $9,000 a year to parks and recreation.
Jackson said police and animal control need to be a priority.
“I’ve talked to several people and they do want more police protection and they do want these dogs off the street,” he said.
Even though city councils have the authority to levy a special prepared food tax (hamburger tax) without taking it to the voters, all those present for the committee meeting said they were opposed to doing so.
They also were opposed to holding a special election in part because of low voter turnout but also because they said a special election would cost $5,000 to $6,000, about twice the amount the existing tax brings in every month.
TOP STORY >>School bid for Cabot at $11.6M
By HEATHER HARTSELL
Leader staff writer
Although no commitments were made, Cabot school officials now have a feel for how much rebuilding Cabot Junior High North, lost to a fire last August, will actually cost after nearly 20 bids were opened Thursday afternoon.
According to assistant superintendent Jim Dalton, the total cost for the new 134,000 square-foot campus was bid about $7 million less than the state’s projected cost of $18.5 million.
“With the dirt work, architect fees, soil testing and foundation work, everything except what is moveable – like the student desksand overhead projectors, the lowest bid came in at $11.6 million, which is $86.84 a square-foot,” Dalton said.
“It went very good,” he said of opening the 18 bids. “It far exceeded my expectations,” he said.
Using the state’s projected cost of $18.5 million, the estimated cost for the district to build would be about $3 million. That’s after applying the $10 million they received in January from Great American Insurance Company of Ohio, the district’s insurance company, and a projected $5.2 million (maximum amount) in catastrophic funding received through the state’s Facilities Division.
But with the lowest bid being $6.9 million less, the Cabot district won’t be seeing as high of costs on their end.
“The first $10 million for construction will come from the insurance settlement and we will use the state’s partnership funding for the remainder,” Dalton said.
That means Cabot’s share of the build will be closer to $640,000, rather than $3 million.
“We were extremely pleased with the lower bids because we get out cheaper,” Dalton said, “plus the state will not have to pay as much either.”
In the partnership funding, any costs above $10 million are shared between the state and school district in a 60/40 split, with the state paying the bill for 60 percent.
Now that all the bids have been opened and tallied, the district’s architect, Steve Elliott, of Lewis, Elliott and Studer, Inc., of Little Rock, will review the bids and make his recommendation.
“He’ll make sure the bid bond (5 percent of the company’s total bid) is in order and that all the products listed for use meet the specifications as outlined in the building specs,” Dalton said.
Once Elliott’s recommendation is made, construction on the two-story structure should begin within a month. Dirt work, at a bid of $336,000, has been ongoing for the last couple of months.
The cost of asphalt, curbs and gutters for the parking lots, as well as landscaping, will be bid out at a later date, Dalton said. The landscaping bid will not be bid out until three or four months before construction is complete, he said.
The new CJHN will be rebuilt on the hill with facilities capable of holding 1,200 students. There will be 51,850-square-foot classrooms to meet the new building standards, increasing the classroom size by 100-square feet. It will have a sprinkler system, meet the indoor air quality standards and have a larger cafeteria to hold more students.
The design utilizes current parking and buildings. The vocational building, multi-purpose building and physical education building were left intact after last August’s electrical fire destroyed the rest of the 8-year-old school.
Leader staff writer
Although no commitments were made, Cabot school officials now have a feel for how much rebuilding Cabot Junior High North, lost to a fire last August, will actually cost after nearly 20 bids were opened Thursday afternoon.
According to assistant superintendent Jim Dalton, the total cost for the new 134,000 square-foot campus was bid about $7 million less than the state’s projected cost of $18.5 million.
“With the dirt work, architect fees, soil testing and foundation work, everything except what is moveable – like the student desksand overhead projectors, the lowest bid came in at $11.6 million, which is $86.84 a square-foot,” Dalton said.
“It went very good,” he said of opening the 18 bids. “It far exceeded my expectations,” he said.
Using the state’s projected cost of $18.5 million, the estimated cost for the district to build would be about $3 million. That’s after applying the $10 million they received in January from Great American Insurance Company of Ohio, the district’s insurance company, and a projected $5.2 million (maximum amount) in catastrophic funding received through the state’s Facilities Division.
But with the lowest bid being $6.9 million less, the Cabot district won’t be seeing as high of costs on their end.
“The first $10 million for construction will come from the insurance settlement and we will use the state’s partnership funding for the remainder,” Dalton said.
That means Cabot’s share of the build will be closer to $640,000, rather than $3 million.
“We were extremely pleased with the lower bids because we get out cheaper,” Dalton said, “plus the state will not have to pay as much either.”
In the partnership funding, any costs above $10 million are shared between the state and school district in a 60/40 split, with the state paying the bill for 60 percent.
Now that all the bids have been opened and tallied, the district’s architect, Steve Elliott, of Lewis, Elliott and Studer, Inc., of Little Rock, will review the bids and make his recommendation.
“He’ll make sure the bid bond (5 percent of the company’s total bid) is in order and that all the products listed for use meet the specifications as outlined in the building specs,” Dalton said.
Once Elliott’s recommendation is made, construction on the two-story structure should begin within a month. Dirt work, at a bid of $336,000, has been ongoing for the last couple of months.
The cost of asphalt, curbs and gutters for the parking lots, as well as landscaping, will be bid out at a later date, Dalton said. The landscaping bid will not be bid out until three or four months before construction is complete, he said.
The new CJHN will be rebuilt on the hill with facilities capable of holding 1,200 students. There will be 51,850-square-foot classrooms to meet the new building standards, increasing the classroom size by 100-square feet. It will have a sprinkler system, meet the indoor air quality standards and have a larger cafeteria to hold more students.
The design utilizes current parking and buildings. The vocational building, multi-purpose building and physical education building were left intact after last August’s electrical fire destroyed the rest of the 8-year-old school.
TOP STORY >>Drivers often fail to yield to buses
Story by Leader staff writer Heather Hartsell
Yellow flashing caution lights on school buses alert other drivers that the bus is preparing to stop and children will soon be loading or offloading. Or at least that is what the lights are meant to do.
But one concerned Cabot parent living on Lewisburg Road says she is scared that an accident will occur due to other drivers’ lack of attention.
“Just this morning a vehicle ran past the bus when the caution lights were on. He threw up his hands as if saying ‘I’m sorry,’” the parent said. “In my opinion he had time to stop if he was paying attention,” she said, adding, “this type of thing has happened before and it scares me to death.”
Her two children, 6- and 8-years-old, ride the bus to Magness Creek Elementary when she is not working at the school and know to wait for the bus stop sign to come out and for traffic to stop before they hurry onto the bus and sit down.
“I reinforce it every morning though until I am sure they can do it themselves,” the mother said.
To prepare herself for an accident, she drives her children to the bus stop at the end of their driveway and always has her cell phone with her.
“I pray to God each day an accident doesn’t happen,” she said. “We all know the reputation of Lewisburg Road. My family has lived on this road for four years, and at least four people have been killed in that time,” she said, adding that her family witnessed an accident last February and were on the scene before the ambulance and others were.
Cabot Superintendent Dr. Tony Thurman said the district agrees it is a very dangerous situation.
“We receive complaints from bus drivers on a regular basis,” Thurman said, “It’s not uncommon for vehicles to pass stopped buses.” Thurman placed a call to Lonoke County Sheriff Jim Roberson and asked him to increase patrols on Lewisburg Road in the mornings and afternoons.
“Sheriff Roberson is always willing to support the school district,” Thurman said. “He has even gone so far as to put deputies on school buses to ride with a patrolman following. The deputy on the bus can watch for violators and radio the trailing unit.”
Charlie Donham, Cabot school’s transportation director, has had a handful of concerned parents and drivers tell him of incidents this year where motorists didn’t heed the lights of a school bus.
He said at least 15 reports were filed last school year when drivers failed to stop for a bus or passed a bus with its yellow lights on.
“I ask all the (drivers) to have more patience,” Donham said. “It’s not a question of where an accident might happen if this keeps on, but of when,” he said.
“The thought of someone running over someone else…people need to have patience,” he reiterated. “You can’t argue the fact that these kids are our pride and joy. I wish people would be careful,” Donham said.
Small percentage
He believes there are probably a small percentage of motorists who truly don’t see the flashing lights because of their minds being elsewhere, but “how do you miss something lit up like a Christmas tree?” he asked.
“We carry precious cargo on our buses,” Donham said, “Our number one goal is to make sure no one is ever hurt or killed while getting on or off, or while riding.”
And with extended learning opportunities (ELO) classes beginning Monday at some Cabot schools, motorists should prepare to see buses later in the evening.
Cabot’s ELO classes end nightly at 5 p.m., putting school buses full of third- through sixth-grade students on the road later than usual.
The classes will be held at both middle schools and at Ward Central, Westside, Northside and Central Elementary schools where buses will be out at night taking students home as quickly as possible. Some buses might still be on the road after it gets dark, Donham said.
By law, when a school bus stops to drop off or pick up students, motorists must stop too.
The buses give other motorists plenty of warning that a stop is about to occur. The yellow flashing caution lights are turned on 250 feet from the bus stop to alert drivers of an impending stop and put them on caution to slow down.
When the bus is completely stopped, the red lights are flashing and the stop arm is extended; both directions of traffic are required to stop at this point. If at a four-way intersection, all four directions of traffic must stop too.
Illegally passing a stopped school bus with red lights flashing is commonly known as a “stop-arm violation,” according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which refers to the stop-sign shaped “arm” that extends from the left side of the bus when the red lights are activated.
The penalty for breaking the law by passing a school bus with its lights on varies by occurrence.
According to Sgt. Brent Lucas with the Cabot Police Department, the penalty for the first occurrence can vary.
“They can be fined anywhere from $250 to $1,000 for passing a stopped school bus; they could be sentenced to no more than 90 days in jail; or a combination of both,” Lucas said. “They might also face up to 400 hours of community service or have their driver’s license suspended from 21 days up to one year,” he said.
If a student is hit and killed by a motorist that failed to stop for the school bus, that person would face manslaughter or negligent homicide charges, depending on the situation, Lucas said.
“Drivers just need to remember to watch out for the kids because sometimes they (the children) don’t watch out for themselves,” he added.
Arkansas law has become more strict on drivers who do not stop for school buses, requiring bus drivers to submit information about the vehicle, such as color, make and license plate number, to the school district’s administrative office.
According to Act 718 of the Arkansas 86th General Assembly, school bus drivers who observe motorists violating code 27-51-1004, passing when stopped prohibited, or code 27-51-1005, operation on multiple lane or divided highways, must report the license plate number, issuing state if not Arkansas, and a brief description of the vehicle to the superintendent of the school district within two hours after the end of the driver’s shift for that period of the day.
The superintendent in turn has 48 hours from the observation to provide the information to the local prosecuting attorney’s office.
“It really helps in prosecuting a motorist if the bus driver has witnesses to back up what happened,” Donham added.
Bus facts
According to NHTSA, school buses are one of the safest motor vehicles on the highways.
In fact, they are nearly eight times safer than passenger vehicles.
However, the most dangerous part of the school bus ride is getting on and off the bus.
An average of 31 pedestrians are killed each year while getting on or off school buses, 23 were struck by the school bus and eight were struck by another vehicle, the NHTSA reported.
Half of the pedestrian fatalities in school bus related crashes are children between 5 and 7 years of age. They are hit in the danger zone around the bus, either by a passing vehicle or by the school bus itself.
The danger zone is the area on all sides of the bus where children are in the most danger of being hit.
Children should stay 10- to 20-feet away from the bus (or as far away as they can) and never go behind it.
They should also take five giant steps in front of the bus before crossing so they can be seen by the bus driver.
The NHTSA also reported that an average of 10 passengers are killed each year in school bus crashes; most of the school bus passenger fatalities were in non-survivable situations.
Education is key
School officials want to stress safety to parents, children and motorists about the do’s and don’ts of bus safety, especially with National School Bus Safety Week being observed the week of Oct. 22-26.
Children must follow the rules to protect themselves, and parents must play a vital part in educating their children on what they should and should not do. It’s also important for other drivers to obey the rules of the road and watch for buses with signal lights on.
TIPS FOR Children
Get to the bus stop at least five minutes before the bus is scheduled to arrive.
When the bus approaches, stand at least three giant steps (six feet) away from the curb and line up away from the street.
Wait until the bus stops, the door opens and the driver says that it’s okay before stepping onto the bus.
If you have to cross the street in front of the bus, walk on the sidewalk or along the side of the road to a point at least five giant steps (10 feet) ahead of the bus before you can cross. Be sure that the bus driver can see you and you can see the bus driver.
Use the handrails to avoid falls. When exiting the bus, be careful that clothing drawstrings and book bags with straps don’t get caught in the handrails or doors.
Never walk behind the bus.
Walk at least three giant steps away from the side of the bus.
If you drop something near the bus, tell the bus driver. Never try to pick it up because the driver may not be able to see you.
TIPS for Drivers
When backing out of a driveway or leaving a garage watch out for children walking or bicycling to school.
When driving in neighborhoods with school zones, watch out for young people who may be thinking about getting to school but may not be thinking of getting there safely.
Slow down. Watch out for children walking in the street, especially if there are no sidewalks in the neighborhood.
Slow down. Watch for children playing and congregating near bus stops.
Be alert. Children arriving late for the bus may dart into the street without looking for traffic.
Learn and obey the school bus laws – learn the flashing signal light system: yellow flashing lights mean the bus is preparing to stop to load or unload children; red flashing lights and extended stop arm indicate the bus has stopped and that children are getting on or off.
Motorists must stop their cars and wait until the red lights stop flashing, the extended stop sign is withdrawn and the bus begins moving before they can start driving again.
Yellow flashing caution lights on school buses alert other drivers that the bus is preparing to stop and children will soon be loading or offloading. Or at least that is what the lights are meant to do.
But one concerned Cabot parent living on Lewisburg Road says she is scared that an accident will occur due to other drivers’ lack of attention.
“Just this morning a vehicle ran past the bus when the caution lights were on. He threw up his hands as if saying ‘I’m sorry,’” the parent said. “In my opinion he had time to stop if he was paying attention,” she said, adding, “this type of thing has happened before and it scares me to death.”
Her two children, 6- and 8-years-old, ride the bus to Magness Creek Elementary when she is not working at the school and know to wait for the bus stop sign to come out and for traffic to stop before they hurry onto the bus and sit down.
“I reinforce it every morning though until I am sure they can do it themselves,” the mother said.
To prepare herself for an accident, she drives her children to the bus stop at the end of their driveway and always has her cell phone with her.
“I pray to God each day an accident doesn’t happen,” she said. “We all know the reputation of Lewisburg Road. My family has lived on this road for four years, and at least four people have been killed in that time,” she said, adding that her family witnessed an accident last February and were on the scene before the ambulance and others were.
Cabot Superintendent Dr. Tony Thurman said the district agrees it is a very dangerous situation.
“We receive complaints from bus drivers on a regular basis,” Thurman said, “It’s not uncommon for vehicles to pass stopped buses.” Thurman placed a call to Lonoke County Sheriff Jim Roberson and asked him to increase patrols on Lewisburg Road in the mornings and afternoons.
“Sheriff Roberson is always willing to support the school district,” Thurman said. “He has even gone so far as to put deputies on school buses to ride with a patrolman following. The deputy on the bus can watch for violators and radio the trailing unit.”
Charlie Donham, Cabot school’s transportation director, has had a handful of concerned parents and drivers tell him of incidents this year where motorists didn’t heed the lights of a school bus.
He said at least 15 reports were filed last school year when drivers failed to stop for a bus or passed a bus with its yellow lights on.
“I ask all the (drivers) to have more patience,” Donham said. “It’s not a question of where an accident might happen if this keeps on, but of when,” he said.
“The thought of someone running over someone else…people need to have patience,” he reiterated. “You can’t argue the fact that these kids are our pride and joy. I wish people would be careful,” Donham said.
Small percentage
He believes there are probably a small percentage of motorists who truly don’t see the flashing lights because of their minds being elsewhere, but “how do you miss something lit up like a Christmas tree?” he asked.
“We carry precious cargo on our buses,” Donham said, “Our number one goal is to make sure no one is ever hurt or killed while getting on or off, or while riding.”
And with extended learning opportunities (ELO) classes beginning Monday at some Cabot schools, motorists should prepare to see buses later in the evening.
Cabot’s ELO classes end nightly at 5 p.m., putting school buses full of third- through sixth-grade students on the road later than usual.
The classes will be held at both middle schools and at Ward Central, Westside, Northside and Central Elementary schools where buses will be out at night taking students home as quickly as possible. Some buses might still be on the road after it gets dark, Donham said.
By law, when a school bus stops to drop off or pick up students, motorists must stop too.
The buses give other motorists plenty of warning that a stop is about to occur. The yellow flashing caution lights are turned on 250 feet from the bus stop to alert drivers of an impending stop and put them on caution to slow down.
When the bus is completely stopped, the red lights are flashing and the stop arm is extended; both directions of traffic are required to stop at this point. If at a four-way intersection, all four directions of traffic must stop too.
Illegally passing a stopped school bus with red lights flashing is commonly known as a “stop-arm violation,” according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which refers to the stop-sign shaped “arm” that extends from the left side of the bus when the red lights are activated.
The penalty for breaking the law by passing a school bus with its lights on varies by occurrence.
According to Sgt. Brent Lucas with the Cabot Police Department, the penalty for the first occurrence can vary.
“They can be fined anywhere from $250 to $1,000 for passing a stopped school bus; they could be sentenced to no more than 90 days in jail; or a combination of both,” Lucas said. “They might also face up to 400 hours of community service or have their driver’s license suspended from 21 days up to one year,” he said.
If a student is hit and killed by a motorist that failed to stop for the school bus, that person would face manslaughter or negligent homicide charges, depending on the situation, Lucas said.
“Drivers just need to remember to watch out for the kids because sometimes they (the children) don’t watch out for themselves,” he added.
Arkansas law has become more strict on drivers who do not stop for school buses, requiring bus drivers to submit information about the vehicle, such as color, make and license plate number, to the school district’s administrative office.
According to Act 718 of the Arkansas 86th General Assembly, school bus drivers who observe motorists violating code 27-51-1004, passing when stopped prohibited, or code 27-51-1005, operation on multiple lane or divided highways, must report the license plate number, issuing state if not Arkansas, and a brief description of the vehicle to the superintendent of the school district within two hours after the end of the driver’s shift for that period of the day.
The superintendent in turn has 48 hours from the observation to provide the information to the local prosecuting attorney’s office.
“It really helps in prosecuting a motorist if the bus driver has witnesses to back up what happened,” Donham added.
Bus facts
According to NHTSA, school buses are one of the safest motor vehicles on the highways.
In fact, they are nearly eight times safer than passenger vehicles.
However, the most dangerous part of the school bus ride is getting on and off the bus.
An average of 31 pedestrians are killed each year while getting on or off school buses, 23 were struck by the school bus and eight were struck by another vehicle, the NHTSA reported.
Half of the pedestrian fatalities in school bus related crashes are children between 5 and 7 years of age. They are hit in the danger zone around the bus, either by a passing vehicle or by the school bus itself.
The danger zone is the area on all sides of the bus where children are in the most danger of being hit.
Children should stay 10- to 20-feet away from the bus (or as far away as they can) and never go behind it.
They should also take five giant steps in front of the bus before crossing so they can be seen by the bus driver.
The NHTSA also reported that an average of 10 passengers are killed each year in school bus crashes; most of the school bus passenger fatalities were in non-survivable situations.
Education is key
School officials want to stress safety to parents, children and motorists about the do’s and don’ts of bus safety, especially with National School Bus Safety Week being observed the week of Oct. 22-26.
Children must follow the rules to protect themselves, and parents must play a vital part in educating their children on what they should and should not do. It’s also important for other drivers to obey the rules of the road and watch for buses with signal lights on.
TIPS FOR Children
Get to the bus stop at least five minutes before the bus is scheduled to arrive.
When the bus approaches, stand at least three giant steps (six feet) away from the curb and line up away from the street.
Wait until the bus stops, the door opens and the driver says that it’s okay before stepping onto the bus.
If you have to cross the street in front of the bus, walk on the sidewalk or along the side of the road to a point at least five giant steps (10 feet) ahead of the bus before you can cross. Be sure that the bus driver can see you and you can see the bus driver.
Use the handrails to avoid falls. When exiting the bus, be careful that clothing drawstrings and book bags with straps don’t get caught in the handrails or doors.
Never walk behind the bus.
Walk at least three giant steps away from the side of the bus.
If you drop something near the bus, tell the bus driver. Never try to pick it up because the driver may not be able to see you.
TIPS for Drivers
When backing out of a driveway or leaving a garage watch out for children walking or bicycling to school.
When driving in neighborhoods with school zones, watch out for young people who may be thinking about getting to school but may not be thinking of getting there safely.
Slow down. Watch out for children walking in the street, especially if there are no sidewalks in the neighborhood.
Slow down. Watch for children playing and congregating near bus stops.
Be alert. Children arriving late for the bus may dart into the street without looking for traffic.
Learn and obey the school bus laws – learn the flashing signal light system: yellow flashing lights mean the bus is preparing to stop to load or unload children; red flashing lights and extended stop arm indicate the bus has stopped and that children are getting on or off.
Motorists must stop their cars and wait until the red lights stop flashing, the extended stop sign is withdrawn and the bus begins moving before they can start driving again.
TOP STORY >>County tries to keep its employees
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Some officials say Pulaski County can pay one-time bonuses and also create a wellness center to show appreciation for under-compensated employees in the competitive local job market.
They would like to split $800,000—about three-quarters—of the 2007 budget money accumulating from salaries for positions authorized but not filled, County Treasurer Deborah Bucker told the quorum court recently.
An ordinance authorizing that is on the agenda for the October quorum court meeting, sponsored by quorum court members Patricia Dicker and Alan Kerr, according to Comptroller Mike Hutchens.
“We hope to distribute (the money) in November,” Hutchens said. The bill is slated to go to committee next Tuesday night.
It’s been three or more years since county employees received even cost-of-living raises and that’s the kind of thing that affects not only their pocket books but also their morale and the likelihood that experienced, trained workers would leave for better-paying jobs.
Based on last year’s budget and information he’s received so far, Hutchens expects the 2008 budget to come in at about $52 million, about 27 percent for law enforcement, running the jail and medical costs of the inmates.
“We’ve had very favorable comments about the ordinance,” Buckner said. “(Quorum Court members) appreciate employees that are still hanging in, people doing more with less.”
As currently written, the one-time bonus would be 3 percent across the board, according to Hutchens. For an $18,000 a year employee, that would be $540, but the money is likely to be paid half in November and half next year.
“Doc (Sheriff Doc Holladay) is losing so many deputies, (employees have gone) a couple of years without raises, people moved on,” Buckner said. “They’ve had no raise and no indication of anything to come.”
Buckner said there is support on the quorum court, including JP Patricia Dicker, who said early this year that there ought to be some way to get some kind of recognition.
“You can’t run a county without people and we’ve lost some good people,” Buckner said.
Hutchens says it is not a raise, doesn’t create a new floor for compensation and thus doesn’t obligate the county to any increase for the 2008 budget currently being decided.
Buckner and Hutchens say there is general support among some quorum court members also to convert space in the old Bale Chevrolet building into a wellness center, which could pay for itself in time with reduced medical costs.
Prosecutor Larry Jegley’s office recently moved from that building into new quarters and it’s being remodeled to accommodate quorum court chambers and offices.
Buckner said it wouldn’t cost much more to section off a space for a wellness center and wire and plumb it, all with workers from the county’s services department.
Employees are self-insured with the county, meaning the county collects the premiums and pays the authorized medical costs.
If regular exercise and perhaps smoking cessation classes led to fewer claims related to obesity, diabetes, hearts and lungs, for instance, it could offset the costs of remodeling and also buying some cardiovascular equipments such as treadmills.
Buckner said the county could save money by financing wellness instead of sick leave. “We are trying to cut our own costs by creating a place where people can go. Not everybody can afford a gym.”
Leader senior staff writer
Some officials say Pulaski County can pay one-time bonuses and also create a wellness center to show appreciation for under-compensated employees in the competitive local job market.
They would like to split $800,000—about three-quarters—of the 2007 budget money accumulating from salaries for positions authorized but not filled, County Treasurer Deborah Bucker told the quorum court recently.
An ordinance authorizing that is on the agenda for the October quorum court meeting, sponsored by quorum court members Patricia Dicker and Alan Kerr, according to Comptroller Mike Hutchens.
“We hope to distribute (the money) in November,” Hutchens said. The bill is slated to go to committee next Tuesday night.
It’s been three or more years since county employees received even cost-of-living raises and that’s the kind of thing that affects not only their pocket books but also their morale and the likelihood that experienced, trained workers would leave for better-paying jobs.
Based on last year’s budget and information he’s received so far, Hutchens expects the 2008 budget to come in at about $52 million, about 27 percent for law enforcement, running the jail and medical costs of the inmates.
“We’ve had very favorable comments about the ordinance,” Buckner said. “(Quorum Court members) appreciate employees that are still hanging in, people doing more with less.”
As currently written, the one-time bonus would be 3 percent across the board, according to Hutchens. For an $18,000 a year employee, that would be $540, but the money is likely to be paid half in November and half next year.
“Doc (Sheriff Doc Holladay) is losing so many deputies, (employees have gone) a couple of years without raises, people moved on,” Buckner said. “They’ve had no raise and no indication of anything to come.”
Buckner said there is support on the quorum court, including JP Patricia Dicker, who said early this year that there ought to be some way to get some kind of recognition.
“You can’t run a county without people and we’ve lost some good people,” Buckner said.
Hutchens says it is not a raise, doesn’t create a new floor for compensation and thus doesn’t obligate the county to any increase for the 2008 budget currently being decided.
Buckner and Hutchens say there is general support among some quorum court members also to convert space in the old Bale Chevrolet building into a wellness center, which could pay for itself in time with reduced medical costs.
Prosecutor Larry Jegley’s office recently moved from that building into new quarters and it’s being remodeled to accommodate quorum court chambers and offices.
Buckner said it wouldn’t cost much more to section off a space for a wellness center and wire and plumb it, all with workers from the county’s services department.
Employees are self-insured with the county, meaning the county collects the premiums and pays the authorized medical costs.
If regular exercise and perhaps smoking cessation classes led to fewer claims related to obesity, diabetes, hearts and lungs, for instance, it could offset the costs of remodeling and also buying some cardiovascular equipments such as treadmills.
Buckner said the county could save money by financing wellness instead of sick leave. “We are trying to cut our own costs by creating a place where people can go. Not everybody can afford a gym.”
Thursday, October 04, 2007
SPORTS >>Fledgling Southside concerns Jackrabbits
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Two losses to start the season had the ’Rabbit faithful concerned over the 2007 season, but Lonoke has recovered from its early struggles to win the last three games, including the first two 4A-2 Conference games over Heber Springs and Bald Knob. This week, the Jackrabbits will travel to Batesville to take on the Southside Southerners.
The Southerners may still be on the rise in only their second season of having a varsity football program, but they have made great strides in a little over a year’s time. Jackrabbit coach Jeff Jones says his team’s great start to the conference season will have to carry into this Friday against Southside in order to get a win against the quickly evolving Southerners.
“That program has vastly improved,” Jones said. “They throw and catch the ball really well; on defense, they show really great technique. They are definitely a program on the rise, so we have to be ready for them.”
Of the potential weapons that the Southerners posses, Jones says his primary concerns offensively are running back Richard Hughes and receiver Justin Mosier. The work in practice this week for the ’Rabbits will focus on containment of those personnel, along with cleaning up a few loose ends.
“They definitely have the people in place offensively,” Jones said. “But our defense has taken a big step forward. They are getting after it a lot more on that side of the ball, but we’re still not where we need to be. We play really well at times, but we are still making some unforced errors, procedure penalties and things like that.”
Jones also noted that the offensive performances from quarterback Rollins Elam and the Jackrabbit receivers have also reached a more productive level.
In only their second season, the Southerners have already taken non-conference wins over Jonesboro Westside and Salem. Their first two conference games of the season put them in the unfortunate position of taking on league front-runners Stuttgart and Newport.
The contest against the Ricebirds proved difficult, with Southside suffering a 41-0 loss. Last week’s loss on the road to Newport, who is picked by many to run away with the conference title this season, was somewhat of a statement for the Southerners. While they gave up 54 points to the ridiculously-fast Greyhounds, they also scored 23 points of their own against the undefeated squad, the most points anyone has scored against Newport all season.
A win this Friday would give Lonoke 3-0 Conference record, which would be its best league start in over eight seasons. It would also give the Jackrabbits their most promising shot of making the postseason in as many years, but Jones says the mentality now is the same as it was in August, focusing on each opponent each week until its time to tally the conference points.
“We have definitely put ourselves in a good position,” Jones said. “But we have got to keep taking it one game at a time. If you keep putting up wins, the playoffs will happen for you. We want to get through this week with a win, and go from there.”
The Jackrabbits and Southerners will play on the Batesville Southside campus Friday with opening kickoff at 7:30 p.m.
Leader sportswriter
Two losses to start the season had the ’Rabbit faithful concerned over the 2007 season, but Lonoke has recovered from its early struggles to win the last three games, including the first two 4A-2 Conference games over Heber Springs and Bald Knob. This week, the Jackrabbits will travel to Batesville to take on the Southside Southerners.
The Southerners may still be on the rise in only their second season of having a varsity football program, but they have made great strides in a little over a year’s time. Jackrabbit coach Jeff Jones says his team’s great start to the conference season will have to carry into this Friday against Southside in order to get a win against the quickly evolving Southerners.
“That program has vastly improved,” Jones said. “They throw and catch the ball really well; on defense, they show really great technique. They are definitely a program on the rise, so we have to be ready for them.”
Of the potential weapons that the Southerners posses, Jones says his primary concerns offensively are running back Richard Hughes and receiver Justin Mosier. The work in practice this week for the ’Rabbits will focus on containment of those personnel, along with cleaning up a few loose ends.
“They definitely have the people in place offensively,” Jones said. “But our defense has taken a big step forward. They are getting after it a lot more on that side of the ball, but we’re still not where we need to be. We play really well at times, but we are still making some unforced errors, procedure penalties and things like that.”
Jones also noted that the offensive performances from quarterback Rollins Elam and the Jackrabbit receivers have also reached a more productive level.
In only their second season, the Southerners have already taken non-conference wins over Jonesboro Westside and Salem. Their first two conference games of the season put them in the unfortunate position of taking on league front-runners Stuttgart and Newport.
The contest against the Ricebirds proved difficult, with Southside suffering a 41-0 loss. Last week’s loss on the road to Newport, who is picked by many to run away with the conference title this season, was somewhat of a statement for the Southerners. While they gave up 54 points to the ridiculously-fast Greyhounds, they also scored 23 points of their own against the undefeated squad, the most points anyone has scored against Newport all season.
A win this Friday would give Lonoke 3-0 Conference record, which would be its best league start in over eight seasons. It would also give the Jackrabbits their most promising shot of making the postseason in as many years, but Jones says the mentality now is the same as it was in August, focusing on each opponent each week until its time to tally the conference points.
“We have definitely put ourselves in a good position,” Jones said. “But we have got to keep taking it one game at a time. If you keep putting up wins, the playoffs will happen for you. We want to get through this week with a win, and go from there.”
The Jackrabbits and Southerners will play on the Batesville Southside campus Friday with opening kickoff at 7:30 p.m.
SPORTS >>Youthful Wildcats improving for Cabot
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports staff
The Cabot Panthers stay on the road this week in 7A-Central play when they travel to North Little Rock. The Charging Wildcats are a young team that has suffered several close setbacks so far this season. Most recently, the Wildcats dropped a disappointing 10-7 decision to Conway to fall to 0-2 in conference play. They lost their conference opener 20-7 to Russellville.
First-year North Little Rock coach Brad Bolding knew his young team would suffer some growing pains, and hopes a few things are beginning to work themselves out.
“We’ve only got two seniors on offense and two returning starters,” Bolding said. “In fact, we’ve only got two people starting on offense that had ever been on the field for one snap on a Friday night up until this season, so we knew we were going to have some growing pains there.”
Offsetting the inexperienced offense is one of the state’s best defenses. The 28 points given up to Texarkana and the 20 to Russellville are deceiving numbers. A number of turnovers and penalties put the defense in tough situations. Overall, Bolding is pleased with his defense.
“We’ve played pretty well defensively,” Bolding said. “We match up with people pretty well and we haven’t given up much. If we can maintain that kind of play and the offense can come along, we think we can be a pretty good football team.”
It hasn’t been all bad for the NLRHS offense. Without the turnovers and penalties, the team has moved the ball fairly well. It had two touchdowns called back for penalties against Russellville, and another called back against Texarkana.
“We’ve done pretty good on offense, we just have to cut out the mistakes,” Bolding said. “A lot of that goes back to inexperience. I hate to make excuses, but that has been a problem for us this year. You just can’t make mistakes like that and beat good teams. Experience does have its advantages and we’re getting better with every minute these guys are on the field.”
This week Bolding’s squad will face another good team, that may have a chip on its shoulder after losing its first game of the season last week against Catholic High.
The Panthers also have several inexperienced players starting, and that may have played a role in the four turnovers and three personal foul penalties that thwarted drives that were otherwise going well.
Bolding isn’t counting on Cabot continuing to play like they did last week.
“Cabot isn’t a team that usually makes a lot of mistakes,” Bolding said. “They’re usually very sound fundamentally. They do what they do, there are no surprises, and they do it well. We have to be ready for the best possible Cabot team.”
The Panthers’ style, though, shouldn’t be a problem for North Little Rock. Although this is Bolding’s first year, he knows Cabot and NLR play each other from junior high on up.
“The thing about this team is they know Cabot, they’ve played Cabot about ever year,” Bolding said. “They know they have to get low, get under the shoulder pads. They know Cabot is going to come off that line hard, and they know they have to match that.”
North Little Rock’s defensive line is big and athletic. Bolding, though, is concerned with about his small offensive line.
“We probably have the smallest offensive line in the conference,” Bolding said. “That’s definitely a concern for us. Their defense though, isn’t as big as their offense, and I feel like we match up pretty well with them with our defensive line. What we have to do is just get ready to get down and dirty with them, be ready to get our knuckles bloodied and go to battle.”
Leader sports staff
The Cabot Panthers stay on the road this week in 7A-Central play when they travel to North Little Rock. The Charging Wildcats are a young team that has suffered several close setbacks so far this season. Most recently, the Wildcats dropped a disappointing 10-7 decision to Conway to fall to 0-2 in conference play. They lost their conference opener 20-7 to Russellville.
First-year North Little Rock coach Brad Bolding knew his young team would suffer some growing pains, and hopes a few things are beginning to work themselves out.
“We’ve only got two seniors on offense and two returning starters,” Bolding said. “In fact, we’ve only got two people starting on offense that had ever been on the field for one snap on a Friday night up until this season, so we knew we were going to have some growing pains there.”
Offsetting the inexperienced offense is one of the state’s best defenses. The 28 points given up to Texarkana and the 20 to Russellville are deceiving numbers. A number of turnovers and penalties put the defense in tough situations. Overall, Bolding is pleased with his defense.
“We’ve played pretty well defensively,” Bolding said. “We match up with people pretty well and we haven’t given up much. If we can maintain that kind of play and the offense can come along, we think we can be a pretty good football team.”
It hasn’t been all bad for the NLRHS offense. Without the turnovers and penalties, the team has moved the ball fairly well. It had two touchdowns called back for penalties against Russellville, and another called back against Texarkana.
“We’ve done pretty good on offense, we just have to cut out the mistakes,” Bolding said. “A lot of that goes back to inexperience. I hate to make excuses, but that has been a problem for us this year. You just can’t make mistakes like that and beat good teams. Experience does have its advantages and we’re getting better with every minute these guys are on the field.”
This week Bolding’s squad will face another good team, that may have a chip on its shoulder after losing its first game of the season last week against Catholic High.
The Panthers also have several inexperienced players starting, and that may have played a role in the four turnovers and three personal foul penalties that thwarted drives that were otherwise going well.
Bolding isn’t counting on Cabot continuing to play like they did last week.
“Cabot isn’t a team that usually makes a lot of mistakes,” Bolding said. “They’re usually very sound fundamentally. They do what they do, there are no surprises, and they do it well. We have to be ready for the best possible Cabot team.”
The Panthers’ style, though, shouldn’t be a problem for North Little Rock. Although this is Bolding’s first year, he knows Cabot and NLR play each other from junior high on up.
“The thing about this team is they know Cabot, they’ve played Cabot about ever year,” Bolding said. “They know they have to get low, get under the shoulder pads. They know Cabot is going to come off that line hard, and they know they have to match that.”
North Little Rock’s defensive line is big and athletic. Bolding, though, is concerned with about his small offensive line.
“We probably have the smallest offensive line in the conference,” Bolding said. “That’s definitely a concern for us. Their defense though, isn’t as big as their offense, and I feel like we match up pretty well with them with our defensive line. What we have to do is just get ready to get down and dirty with them, be ready to get our knuckles bloodied and go to battle.”
SPORTS >>Rivalry takes back seat Friday
By RAY BENTON & JASON KING
Leader sports staff
Jacksonville should go on the road more often. In their last four games, the Red Devils are 3-0 on the road and 0-1 at home. They’ve outscored their opponents 106-10 in those three wins, and were beaten 36-0 in the home game.
They’ll have to find a way to remedy those home woes this week when they host conference mate and nearby rival Sylvan Hills this Friday at Jan Crow Stadium.
The Bears enter the week with some momentum. They won their first game of the season, 27-7 last week at home against Mountain Home, and now have a rivalry game facing them on the road.
First-year Sylvan Hills coach and former Mills general Jim Withrow says that he is very familiar with PCSSD rivalries. He says that this year, the whole local rival scenario will have to take a back seat to the mentality of simply having to win in order to stay in the playoff hunt.
“Anytime you play another team in this county, it kind of takes on a little bit more meaning,” Withrow said. “I’ve been in Pulaski County for a few years now; I know how big these games can be. This is a huge game for us no matter how you want to look at it. If we can win this game, it can change our fortunes for the rest of the season.”
The rivalry is not what concerns Jacksonville coach Mark Whatley the most either. He’s worried about how well his team will prepare mentally for the upcoming game.
“It’s been a lot better the last two weeks and you can see the difference,” Whatley said. “Hopefully that will continue now that we’re back home. Hopefully we realize that we’ve done it with all the silliness, and we’ve done it without it, and the results have been a lot different.”
Some of the better focus culminated in some smart, heady play in last week’s impressive 47-7 win over Jonesboro.
Despite throwing for 238 yards and three touchdowns, one of quarterback Thomas Blade’s best plays, according to Whatley, gained nothing.
“I thought one of his biggest plays came when they blitzed and we got nothing,” Whatley said. “He rolled out towards the sidelines and threw the ball away. I’ve been waiting three years for a quarterback to do that for me. It gives us a chance to line up live to play another down instead throwing an interception or taking a sack for a 20-yard loss. So one of the biggest things Thomas is doing for us is taking care of the football.”
There were other things that made the offense click. Many of Jacksonville’s big plays last week came on short passes. There is a good reason for that.
“You know I really think the offensive line has been doing a pretty good job all year,” Whatley said. “What was different this week was that we got good blocking from our backs and receivers. That’s finishing, getting those blocks up the field a little bit. That’s what turns a 4-yard gain into a 24-yard gain.
The offensive weapons of the Red Devils have not gone unnoticed by Withrow, who believes that mistakes and points generated from those mistakes will ultimately separate the winner from the loser on Friday.
“It sounds like a dumb thing to say because everyone always says it, but I think turnovers will be the key,” Withrow said. “Whoever makes the least mistakes will win. We can’t give up the big play to them, because it’s pretty obvious that they are going to come out wide open throwing the ball downfield.”
Red Devil Cameron Hood, who started the season at quarterback, has morphed into an all-important utility player. Already one of the best linebackers in the league, Hood spent time at fullback last week, blocking well and carrying the ball effectively.
“He had some good runs for us in a time that we needed him,” Whatley said. “Cam is a luxury in that he can play anywhere on the football field you need him to. He’s also a luxury in that he understands that this is a team, and he’s willing to be a leader and play several different roles in order to make us a better team.”
Whatley has been very pleased with his defense in the past couple of week, yielding just seven points in eight quarters. He knows, though, that the Bears have a game-breaking type player that the Bombers and Hurricane didn’t have.
“Anytime they snap the ball to number 10 you’d better be on your toes,” Whatley said. “That pretty much means we’d better be on our toes at all times. I feel like our defense has been outstanding the past two weeks. There’s just no room to let up in this league. Hopefully we can keep that intensity and keep playing smart.”
Withrow, however, hopes that extensive work in practice this week will get the spread formation working in the air once again, and not primarily on the ground which was the case during last week’s win over Mountain Home.
“We threw the ball well against West Memphis,” Withrow said. “I think we just got a little too conservative in the second half last week. “We had a bad week there, but we worked hard in practice on Monday to try and clean some of those things up. Whatever we do, we just can’t make mistakes against Jacksonville. I don’t think there are any guarantees for either team going into this deal, so one mistake could cost you the game.”
Whatley is concerned with Sylvan Hills’s defense as well.
Defensively its going to be the fastest team we’ve seen,” Whatley said. “It’s a predator defense that gets after you, very aggressive. Overall they may be a little faster than us, so we’re going to have make sure we’re in the right spots.”
Leader sports staff
Jacksonville should go on the road more often. In their last four games, the Red Devils are 3-0 on the road and 0-1 at home. They’ve outscored their opponents 106-10 in those three wins, and were beaten 36-0 in the home game.
They’ll have to find a way to remedy those home woes this week when they host conference mate and nearby rival Sylvan Hills this Friday at Jan Crow Stadium.
The Bears enter the week with some momentum. They won their first game of the season, 27-7 last week at home against Mountain Home, and now have a rivalry game facing them on the road.
First-year Sylvan Hills coach and former Mills general Jim Withrow says that he is very familiar with PCSSD rivalries. He says that this year, the whole local rival scenario will have to take a back seat to the mentality of simply having to win in order to stay in the playoff hunt.
“Anytime you play another team in this county, it kind of takes on a little bit more meaning,” Withrow said. “I’ve been in Pulaski County for a few years now; I know how big these games can be. This is a huge game for us no matter how you want to look at it. If we can win this game, it can change our fortunes for the rest of the season.”
The rivalry is not what concerns Jacksonville coach Mark Whatley the most either. He’s worried about how well his team will prepare mentally for the upcoming game.
“It’s been a lot better the last two weeks and you can see the difference,” Whatley said. “Hopefully that will continue now that we’re back home. Hopefully we realize that we’ve done it with all the silliness, and we’ve done it without it, and the results have been a lot different.”
Some of the better focus culminated in some smart, heady play in last week’s impressive 47-7 win over Jonesboro.
Despite throwing for 238 yards and three touchdowns, one of quarterback Thomas Blade’s best plays, according to Whatley, gained nothing.
“I thought one of his biggest plays came when they blitzed and we got nothing,” Whatley said. “He rolled out towards the sidelines and threw the ball away. I’ve been waiting three years for a quarterback to do that for me. It gives us a chance to line up live to play another down instead throwing an interception or taking a sack for a 20-yard loss. So one of the biggest things Thomas is doing for us is taking care of the football.”
There were other things that made the offense click. Many of Jacksonville’s big plays last week came on short passes. There is a good reason for that.
“You know I really think the offensive line has been doing a pretty good job all year,” Whatley said. “What was different this week was that we got good blocking from our backs and receivers. That’s finishing, getting those blocks up the field a little bit. That’s what turns a 4-yard gain into a 24-yard gain.
The offensive weapons of the Red Devils have not gone unnoticed by Withrow, who believes that mistakes and points generated from those mistakes will ultimately separate the winner from the loser on Friday.
“It sounds like a dumb thing to say because everyone always says it, but I think turnovers will be the key,” Withrow said. “Whoever makes the least mistakes will win. We can’t give up the big play to them, because it’s pretty obvious that they are going to come out wide open throwing the ball downfield.”
Red Devil Cameron Hood, who started the season at quarterback, has morphed into an all-important utility player. Already one of the best linebackers in the league, Hood spent time at fullback last week, blocking well and carrying the ball effectively.
“He had some good runs for us in a time that we needed him,” Whatley said. “Cam is a luxury in that he can play anywhere on the football field you need him to. He’s also a luxury in that he understands that this is a team, and he’s willing to be a leader and play several different roles in order to make us a better team.”
Whatley has been very pleased with his defense in the past couple of week, yielding just seven points in eight quarters. He knows, though, that the Bears have a game-breaking type player that the Bombers and Hurricane didn’t have.
“Anytime they snap the ball to number 10 you’d better be on your toes,” Whatley said. “That pretty much means we’d better be on our toes at all times. I feel like our defense has been outstanding the past two weeks. There’s just no room to let up in this league. Hopefully we can keep that intensity and keep playing smart.”
Withrow, however, hopes that extensive work in practice this week will get the spread formation working in the air once again, and not primarily on the ground which was the case during last week’s win over Mountain Home.
“We threw the ball well against West Memphis,” Withrow said. “I think we just got a little too conservative in the second half last week. “We had a bad week there, but we worked hard in practice on Monday to try and clean some of those things up. Whatever we do, we just can’t make mistakes against Jacksonville. I don’t think there are any guarantees for either team going into this deal, so one mistake could cost you the game.”
Whatley is concerned with Sylvan Hills’s defense as well.
Defensively its going to be the fastest team we’ve seen,” Whatley said. “It’s a predator defense that gets after you, very aggressive. Overall they may be a little faster than us, so we’re going to have make sure we’re in the right spots.”
EDITORIALS>>Cabot keeps growing
To the editor:
We went for a Sunday afternoon drive to Cabot today. Did a little Sunday evening shopping too.
And we have some bad news for old-time Jacksonville residents who are used to Jacksonville having more residents than little Cabot.
We hope it’s not news to Jacksonville’s mayor and city council, but it sure looks like the Cabot area is well on its way to passing Jacksonville in population in the near future.
To this Jacksonville resident, our city seems more compact, and only now starting to spread out.
Everyone knows Jacksonville’s business district: the triangle consisting of the Main Street, North First Street and access roads of U.S. Hwy 67/167.
Want to be amazed at a city’s growth?
Just take a trip to the first Cabot exit and travel down Hwy. 321 to Hwy. 89, up Hwy. 89 to the new high school, take a short run down Hwy 32, then back to Hwy. 89 and downtown, Hwy. 89 back to Wal-Mart and on to Hwy. 5, and then back to U.S. 67/167.
New subdivisions and businesses are popping up all over the place.
And, that growth stretches from Greystone to Ward, Austin, and all around Cabot.
Cabot has an excellent new bowling alley along with Funtastics game center.
Home-grown business and franchise-businesses seem to be all over the place.
The new Wal-Mart Su-percenter, Home Depot, Walgreens, Kroger, K-mart, Colton’s Steak House, an Italian place in the bowling alley, and Dixie Cafe are just a few of the interesting places to check out.
All Cabot appears to need is its own central state government complex with offices for the welfare department, revenue office and unemployment office.
As an outsider, the only things holding Cabot back appear to be a lack of four- and five-lane roads to handle all the traffic jams, and a lack of diversity in shoppers and employees.
The big corporations and franchises might just have to recruit workers from Jacksonville if someone ever files an Equal Opportunity Commission complaint about diversity in employment in Cabot.
If you’re unemployed in Jacksonville, you might want to take a trip up to Cabot to what may be your Land of Opportunity!
Name Withheld
Jacksonville
We went for a Sunday afternoon drive to Cabot today. Did a little Sunday evening shopping too.
And we have some bad news for old-time Jacksonville residents who are used to Jacksonville having more residents than little Cabot.
We hope it’s not news to Jacksonville’s mayor and city council, but it sure looks like the Cabot area is well on its way to passing Jacksonville in population in the near future.
To this Jacksonville resident, our city seems more compact, and only now starting to spread out.
Everyone knows Jacksonville’s business district: the triangle consisting of the Main Street, North First Street and access roads of U.S. Hwy 67/167.
Want to be amazed at a city’s growth?
Just take a trip to the first Cabot exit and travel down Hwy. 321 to Hwy. 89, up Hwy. 89 to the new high school, take a short run down Hwy 32, then back to Hwy. 89 and downtown, Hwy. 89 back to Wal-Mart and on to Hwy. 5, and then back to U.S. 67/167.
New subdivisions and businesses are popping up all over the place.
And, that growth stretches from Greystone to Ward, Austin, and all around Cabot.
Cabot has an excellent new bowling alley along with Funtastics game center.
Home-grown business and franchise-businesses seem to be all over the place.
The new Wal-Mart Su-percenter, Home Depot, Walgreens, Kroger, K-mart, Colton’s Steak House, an Italian place in the bowling alley, and Dixie Cafe are just a few of the interesting places to check out.
All Cabot appears to need is its own central state government complex with offices for the welfare department, revenue office and unemployment office.
As an outsider, the only things holding Cabot back appear to be a lack of four- and five-lane roads to handle all the traffic jams, and a lack of diversity in shoppers and employees.
The big corporations and franchises might just have to recruit workers from Jacksonville if someone ever files an Equal Opportunity Commission complaint about diversity in employment in Cabot.
If you’re unemployed in Jacksonville, you might want to take a trip up to Cabot to what may be your Land of Opportunity!
Name Withheld
Jacksonville
EDITORIALS>>Courts must preserve FOI
It does not take a rotten court precedent long to bear poison fruit.
You will remember the astonishing decision of the Arkansas Supreme Court this summer that said a public official’s misuse of his public time and equipment to conduct his private affairs could be kept secret. Ron Quillen — a former Pulaski County comptroller who last week received a 12-year prison sentence and agreed to repay thousands of dollars he stole from taxpayers — had been sending hundreds of emails from his county computer to a businesswoman with whom his office was doing county business. They were lovers, and the county insisted that those emails thus were embarrassing private matters having nothing to do with the public’s business.
The state Supreme Court, in a 4 to 3 decision, said that correspondence indeed might not be any of the public’s business and directed Circuit Judge Mary Ann McGowan to review every one of the mammoth stack of notes back and forth between the former county official and the Missouri businesswoman and determine which were private and which had some public import. She did that and ruled that all of them had public consequence — they were written on government computers on government property and presumably on taxpayer-paid employee time — except for a few graphic pictures the couple sent each other. Now the case is back before the Supreme Court again.
Immediately, as we predicted, government officials would drag their feet releasing public documents by claiming that they were private and had no public value. Last week, a Pulaski County circuit judge — not the unimpeachable Judge McGowan — slapped a seal on records relating to the firing of the Argenta Community Development Corp. executive director because the agency says making them public would violate his privacy. Ultimately, the courts will surely declare the records public, but that is the problem with the Supreme Court decision.
By requiring a close judicial review of every such instance, the court encourages officials everywhere to stonewall on public records. They can delay the release of records for months or years while the case winds its way through the courts. And, of course, most people will not want to bear the high cost of suing so the records more often than not will never be opened.
When the Supreme Court reviews the hundreds of emails in the Pulaski County fraud-and-sex case, maybe one of the justices — it will take only one to switch the majority — will see the error of the majority’s way and reverse that terrible precedent.
You will remember the astonishing decision of the Arkansas Supreme Court this summer that said a public official’s misuse of his public time and equipment to conduct his private affairs could be kept secret. Ron Quillen — a former Pulaski County comptroller who last week received a 12-year prison sentence and agreed to repay thousands of dollars he stole from taxpayers — had been sending hundreds of emails from his county computer to a businesswoman with whom his office was doing county business. They were lovers, and the county insisted that those emails thus were embarrassing private matters having nothing to do with the public’s business.
The state Supreme Court, in a 4 to 3 decision, said that correspondence indeed might not be any of the public’s business and directed Circuit Judge Mary Ann McGowan to review every one of the mammoth stack of notes back and forth between the former county official and the Missouri businesswoman and determine which were private and which had some public import. She did that and ruled that all of them had public consequence — they were written on government computers on government property and presumably on taxpayer-paid employee time — except for a few graphic pictures the couple sent each other. Now the case is back before the Supreme Court again.
Immediately, as we predicted, government officials would drag their feet releasing public documents by claiming that they were private and had no public value. Last week, a Pulaski County circuit judge — not the unimpeachable Judge McGowan — slapped a seal on records relating to the firing of the Argenta Community Development Corp. executive director because the agency says making them public would violate his privacy. Ultimately, the courts will surely declare the records public, but that is the problem with the Supreme Court decision.
By requiring a close judicial review of every such instance, the court encourages officials everywhere to stonewall on public records. They can delay the release of records for months or years while the case winds its way through the courts. And, of course, most people will not want to bear the high cost of suing so the records more often than not will never be opened.
When the Supreme Court reviews the hundreds of emails in the Pulaski County fraud-and-sex case, maybe one of the justices — it will take only one to switch the majority — will see the error of the majority’s way and reverse that terrible precedent.
OBITUARIES >> 10-03-07
Kenneth Hubbard
Kenneth Harold Hubbard, 77, of Jacksonville died Sept. 28.
He was born Oct. 13, 1929 in Liggett, Ky., to Laura King Hubbard and the late Chester Hubbard.
Hubbard served in the Air Force for 21 years and in Vietnam during the war.
He was a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Jacksonville and enjoyed hunting and fishing.
Hubbard is survived by his wife, Alberta Trosen Hubbard of Jacksonville; his mother, Laura Hubbard of Shreveport, La.; two daughters, Nancy Brown and husband Leonard of Germantown Hills, Ill., and Janet Hubbard of Jacksonville; two brothers, Bill Hubbard and wife Mary of Xenia, Ohio, and Chester Hubbard and wife Maria of Keithville, La.; five grandchildren, Ryan and Bryan Kye, Joy McIntire and husband Doug, Wendy Stephens and husband Corey and Tara Thomas and husband Serrano; 10 great -grandchildren and his dog Lexie.
Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3 in the chapel of Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home with burial in Arkansas State Veteran’s Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to the Michael W. Ray Post 4548 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, P.O. Box 482, Jacksonville, Ark. 72078 or the American Cancer Society, 901 N. University, Little Rock, Ark, 72207.
Ann Dougherty
Ann Craigo Dougherty, longtime resident of Jacksonville, passed away peacefully Oct. 1.
She was born and raised in Hot Springs.
Survivors include three children, Patty Dougherty McLean of Atlanta, Bob Dougherty and wife Cherry of Jacksonville, Butch Dougherty and wife Cathy of Jacksonville; six grandchildren, Scott Tedder and wife Kelley, Robert Dougherty and wife Holley, Patrick Dougherty, Christy Dougherty, Nick Dougherty and Bo Dougherty; three great-grandchildren, Skylar and Saylar Tedder and Julianna Dougherty.
The funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 4 at Caruth-Hale Funeral Home in Hot Springs.
Donations may be made to the Eleanor Klugh Jackson House at 705 Malvern Ave., Hot Springs, Ark., 71901.
LaVida Miller
LaVida Marie Miller, 75, of Beebe celebrated her homegoing Saturday, Sept. 29.
LaVida was born Oct. 5, 1931, to John and Nellie Winingar at Hickoria near Corning.
Her gift and passion was playing the piano and singing. LaVida began playing piano for church at age 12 and continued to play and sing most of her life. She was a loving mother and grandmother, daughter and sister and will be missed by her family and friends.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Jack Miller, who passed on April 15; her father, John A. Winingar and one baby sister, Lavada.
She is survived by her four children, son, Mike and wife Debbie Baum; daughter, Susie and husband Bob DeYoung; son, Keith and wife Debra Baum, all of Beebe; and son, Jay and wife Nancy Baum of Cabot; stepson, Bobby Joe Miller of Des Arc; 14 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; brothers, John and wife Ruth Winingar of Imperial, Mo., Pastor Glenn and wife Joyce Winingar of Little Rock and Larry and Carla Winingar of St. James, Mo.; sister, Joyce and husband Pastor Jim Ballew of Lonoke and her mother, Nellie Winingar, 98, of Lonoke.
Family will receive friends from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3 at Westbrook Funeral Home in Beebe.
Funeral will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 4 at the funeral home with burial in Meadowbrook Memorial Gardens.
Memorials may be made to Hospice Home Care, 106 South Spring, Searcy, Ark., 72143 or Victory Television Network, Channel 25, P.O. Box 22007, Little Rock, Ark., 72211.
The family wishes to thank hospice for their wonderful care.
Vernon Willis
Chief Master Sgt. Vernon Brent Willis, 65, of Jacksonville died Sept. 29. He was born Oct. 18, 1941 in Camden, Texas, to Vernon O. and Johnnie Maxie Willis.
He retired from the Air Force after 30 years of service. He was lovingly known by many as “Willy” or “Brent.” After retiring, he worked for Arkansas Armored Car Service.
He was also an avid fisherman and enjoyed working crossword puzzles in his spare time.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
He is survived by his loving dedicated wife; Jo Marie Willis; two daughters, Rose Marie Willis of Jacksonville and Carol Rosetta Willis of Cabot; one son, William “Willie” J. Willis and wife Virginia of Cabot; seven grandchildren, Dale, Stefanie, Timothy, Louis, Verdell, Heather and Eddie; one brother, Raymond Willis and wife Suzanne of Lufkin, Texas, and one sister, Melba Maxie Eveler and husband Tom of Humble, Texas and a magnitude of friends and nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 3 at Griffin Leggett Rest Hills Chapel followed by entombment in Rest Hills Memorial Park.
Lincoln Ball
Lincoln C. “L.C.” Ball, left for Heaven Sept. 24 after a long illness. He was blessed with the love and friendship of family, neighbors and friends for 87 years.
He joined his parents, Mr. and Mrs. H.C. Ball and his brother, John Frank Ball.
Remembering him with love are his wife of 64 years, Minnie “Sis” Ball; their daughter, Jane and his son-in-law and friend David Willard of Cabot; his most precious granddaughter, Annabeth and her husband Matt Jackson and his pride and joy, great-grandchildren, Avari and Tate Jackson, of Conway and one sister, Emma Laura Gray of Columbia, South Carolina.
He loved many nieces and nephews and cherished the time he shared with them. He was grateful for the kindness of his caregivers, Mrs. Judy Smith of Jacksonville; his sister-in-law, Mrs. Martha Gately of Cabot and Mrs. Cindy Damron of Cabot.
L.C. was an operating engineer. He retired form Pickens-Bond Construction Company in 1983 after a long and successful career. He took great pride in his work and was named Arkansas Craftsman of the Year in 1975.
An advocate of education, he encouraged many of the young people in his community to continue their education and supported a number of scholarship programs.
A Baptist, Mr. Ball was always happy to support church youth programs and was a senior high Sunday school teacher for over 20 years.
He was also the oldest living member of the Cabot Masonic Lodge, and a 32nd degree Mason.
He was a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers.
After retirement, he learned to enjoy gardening and tried to grow the biggest tomatoes in Lonoke County.
He shared his garden generously and looked forward to visiting with friends who felt “at home” there. Neighborhood children who found a watermelon on their front porch knew from whom it came.
An avid sportsman, L.C. enjoyed fishing and hunting.
He was a friend of the Earth and practiced conservation and wanted to preserve the joy of the outdoors for his children, nieces, nephews and great-grandchildren.
He was most proud of his lifetime fishing license and considered it one of the best parts of his retirement.
He loved sharing the fish he caught and telling the stories that went with them. He patiently taught neighborhood children to make and tie lures and how to catch the biggest and best fish.
He leaves as a legacy the Bible verse he taught his daughter while trolling for crappie, “He hath made everything beautiful in His time: also He hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. 12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. 13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11-13).
In faithful friendship, Robert Gilliam, Jerry Cole, Bill Russell and nephews Ronnie Gately, Wayne Gately and Gary Gately honored him as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers included Tom Bush, Jack Lowman, Jim Bennett, Dude Spence, Jack Carrington, Jack Evans, Jack Knox, Will Feland, Charlie Donham, “Stubby,” Marty and Stuart Stumbaugh, Wendel Gibson, Carl Pickard, Robert and Jerry Ross, Austin Gately, Jordan Gately and Cole Gately.
The funeral services were Sept. 27 at the chapel of Cabot Funeral Home. Burial will follow at Mt. Carmel Cemetery.
C.B. White
C.B. White, 68, of Beebe died Sept. 27.
He was born Oct. 22, 1938.
A former well driller and truck driver, he was also a 32nd Degree Mason and a member of Beebe First United Methodist Church.
C. B. was preceded in death by his father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Carl White; and four brothers, Orlan, Verlon, Foster and Bill White.
He is survived by his wife, Pat; daughter, Pam and husband Nathan Perry of Holly Springs; son, Charlie and wife Teresa White of Antioch; four grandchildren, Cortney and husband Josh Lane of Pangburn, Jesse and Jared Perry of Holly Springs, Julie White of Antioch and two great-grandchildren, Rachel and Colton Lane of Pangburn.
He also leaves behind one sister, Delma Kate and husband Reverend Ellsworth Watson of Fairfield Bay and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral was Sept. 29 at Westbrook Funeral Home in Beebe with burial in Meadowbrook Memorial Gardens.
Memorials may be made to Antioch Community Church or Cemetery Fund, c/o Joe T. Belew, 535 Louie Pruitt Rd., Beebe, Ark., 72012.
Zoura Hakos
Zoura Maryenne Hakos, 85, of Jacksonville died Sept. 26.
She was born April 16, 1922 in Sleeper, Mo. to Robert S. Ayers and Beth Marley Ayres.
She was a member of Southbend Methodist Church, where her roles once included MYF director and piano player.
She was an important part of her community. She worked at the arsenal plant during the Second World War and was a substitute teacher. She was instrumental in getting Military Road, Hwy. 294 paved from the Lonoke County line to Hwy. 89.
She is survived by four sons and their spouses, Gordon Taylor McIntyre; Jim McIntyre and wife Kay; Earl McIntyre Jr.; Calvin McIntyre and wife Stephanie; seven grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, a sister and brother and two husbands.
Funeral services were held Sept. 28 at Southbend Methodist Church on Military Road. Burial was in Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Cabot.
Kenneth Harold Hubbard, 77, of Jacksonville died Sept. 28.
He was born Oct. 13, 1929 in Liggett, Ky., to Laura King Hubbard and the late Chester Hubbard.
Hubbard served in the Air Force for 21 years and in Vietnam during the war.
He was a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Jacksonville and enjoyed hunting and fishing.
Hubbard is survived by his wife, Alberta Trosen Hubbard of Jacksonville; his mother, Laura Hubbard of Shreveport, La.; two daughters, Nancy Brown and husband Leonard of Germantown Hills, Ill., and Janet Hubbard of Jacksonville; two brothers, Bill Hubbard and wife Mary of Xenia, Ohio, and Chester Hubbard and wife Maria of Keithville, La.; five grandchildren, Ryan and Bryan Kye, Joy McIntire and husband Doug, Wendy Stephens and husband Corey and Tara Thomas and husband Serrano; 10 great -grandchildren and his dog Lexie.
Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3 in the chapel of Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home with burial in Arkansas State Veteran’s Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to the Michael W. Ray Post 4548 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, P.O. Box 482, Jacksonville, Ark. 72078 or the American Cancer Society, 901 N. University, Little Rock, Ark, 72207.
Ann Dougherty
Ann Craigo Dougherty, longtime resident of Jacksonville, passed away peacefully Oct. 1.
She was born and raised in Hot Springs.
Survivors include three children, Patty Dougherty McLean of Atlanta, Bob Dougherty and wife Cherry of Jacksonville, Butch Dougherty and wife Cathy of Jacksonville; six grandchildren, Scott Tedder and wife Kelley, Robert Dougherty and wife Holley, Patrick Dougherty, Christy Dougherty, Nick Dougherty and Bo Dougherty; three great-grandchildren, Skylar and Saylar Tedder and Julianna Dougherty.
The funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 4 at Caruth-Hale Funeral Home in Hot Springs.
Donations may be made to the Eleanor Klugh Jackson House at 705 Malvern Ave., Hot Springs, Ark., 71901.
LaVida Miller
LaVida Marie Miller, 75, of Beebe celebrated her homegoing Saturday, Sept. 29.
LaVida was born Oct. 5, 1931, to John and Nellie Winingar at Hickoria near Corning.
Her gift and passion was playing the piano and singing. LaVida began playing piano for church at age 12 and continued to play and sing most of her life. She was a loving mother and grandmother, daughter and sister and will be missed by her family and friends.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Jack Miller, who passed on April 15; her father, John A. Winingar and one baby sister, Lavada.
She is survived by her four children, son, Mike and wife Debbie Baum; daughter, Susie and husband Bob DeYoung; son, Keith and wife Debra Baum, all of Beebe; and son, Jay and wife Nancy Baum of Cabot; stepson, Bobby Joe Miller of Des Arc; 14 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; brothers, John and wife Ruth Winingar of Imperial, Mo., Pastor Glenn and wife Joyce Winingar of Little Rock and Larry and Carla Winingar of St. James, Mo.; sister, Joyce and husband Pastor Jim Ballew of Lonoke and her mother, Nellie Winingar, 98, of Lonoke.
Family will receive friends from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3 at Westbrook Funeral Home in Beebe.
Funeral will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 4 at the funeral home with burial in Meadowbrook Memorial Gardens.
Memorials may be made to Hospice Home Care, 106 South Spring, Searcy, Ark., 72143 or Victory Television Network, Channel 25, P.O. Box 22007, Little Rock, Ark., 72211.
The family wishes to thank hospice for their wonderful care.
Vernon Willis
Chief Master Sgt. Vernon Brent Willis, 65, of Jacksonville died Sept. 29. He was born Oct. 18, 1941 in Camden, Texas, to Vernon O. and Johnnie Maxie Willis.
He retired from the Air Force after 30 years of service. He was lovingly known by many as “Willy” or “Brent.” After retiring, he worked for Arkansas Armored Car Service.
He was also an avid fisherman and enjoyed working crossword puzzles in his spare time.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
He is survived by his loving dedicated wife; Jo Marie Willis; two daughters, Rose Marie Willis of Jacksonville and Carol Rosetta Willis of Cabot; one son, William “Willie” J. Willis and wife Virginia of Cabot; seven grandchildren, Dale, Stefanie, Timothy, Louis, Verdell, Heather and Eddie; one brother, Raymond Willis and wife Suzanne of Lufkin, Texas, and one sister, Melba Maxie Eveler and husband Tom of Humble, Texas and a magnitude of friends and nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 3 at Griffin Leggett Rest Hills Chapel followed by entombment in Rest Hills Memorial Park.
Lincoln Ball
Lincoln C. “L.C.” Ball, left for Heaven Sept. 24 after a long illness. He was blessed with the love and friendship of family, neighbors and friends for 87 years.
He joined his parents, Mr. and Mrs. H.C. Ball and his brother, John Frank Ball.
Remembering him with love are his wife of 64 years, Minnie “Sis” Ball; their daughter, Jane and his son-in-law and friend David Willard of Cabot; his most precious granddaughter, Annabeth and her husband Matt Jackson and his pride and joy, great-grandchildren, Avari and Tate Jackson, of Conway and one sister, Emma Laura Gray of Columbia, South Carolina.
He loved many nieces and nephews and cherished the time he shared with them. He was grateful for the kindness of his caregivers, Mrs. Judy Smith of Jacksonville; his sister-in-law, Mrs. Martha Gately of Cabot and Mrs. Cindy Damron of Cabot.
L.C. was an operating engineer. He retired form Pickens-Bond Construction Company in 1983 after a long and successful career. He took great pride in his work and was named Arkansas Craftsman of the Year in 1975.
An advocate of education, he encouraged many of the young people in his community to continue their education and supported a number of scholarship programs.
A Baptist, Mr. Ball was always happy to support church youth programs and was a senior high Sunday school teacher for over 20 years.
He was also the oldest living member of the Cabot Masonic Lodge, and a 32nd degree Mason.
He was a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers.
After retirement, he learned to enjoy gardening and tried to grow the biggest tomatoes in Lonoke County.
He shared his garden generously and looked forward to visiting with friends who felt “at home” there. Neighborhood children who found a watermelon on their front porch knew from whom it came.
An avid sportsman, L.C. enjoyed fishing and hunting.
He was a friend of the Earth and practiced conservation and wanted to preserve the joy of the outdoors for his children, nieces, nephews and great-grandchildren.
He was most proud of his lifetime fishing license and considered it one of the best parts of his retirement.
He loved sharing the fish he caught and telling the stories that went with them. He patiently taught neighborhood children to make and tie lures and how to catch the biggest and best fish.
He leaves as a legacy the Bible verse he taught his daughter while trolling for crappie, “He hath made everything beautiful in His time: also He hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. 12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. 13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11-13).
In faithful friendship, Robert Gilliam, Jerry Cole, Bill Russell and nephews Ronnie Gately, Wayne Gately and Gary Gately honored him as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers included Tom Bush, Jack Lowman, Jim Bennett, Dude Spence, Jack Carrington, Jack Evans, Jack Knox, Will Feland, Charlie Donham, “Stubby,” Marty and Stuart Stumbaugh, Wendel Gibson, Carl Pickard, Robert and Jerry Ross, Austin Gately, Jordan Gately and Cole Gately.
The funeral services were Sept. 27 at the chapel of Cabot Funeral Home. Burial will follow at Mt. Carmel Cemetery.
C.B. White
C.B. White, 68, of Beebe died Sept. 27.
He was born Oct. 22, 1938.
A former well driller and truck driver, he was also a 32nd Degree Mason and a member of Beebe First United Methodist Church.
C. B. was preceded in death by his father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Carl White; and four brothers, Orlan, Verlon, Foster and Bill White.
He is survived by his wife, Pat; daughter, Pam and husband Nathan Perry of Holly Springs; son, Charlie and wife Teresa White of Antioch; four grandchildren, Cortney and husband Josh Lane of Pangburn, Jesse and Jared Perry of Holly Springs, Julie White of Antioch and two great-grandchildren, Rachel and Colton Lane of Pangburn.
He also leaves behind one sister, Delma Kate and husband Reverend Ellsworth Watson of Fairfield Bay and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral was Sept. 29 at Westbrook Funeral Home in Beebe with burial in Meadowbrook Memorial Gardens.
Memorials may be made to Antioch Community Church or Cemetery Fund, c/o Joe T. Belew, 535 Louie Pruitt Rd., Beebe, Ark., 72012.
Zoura Hakos
Zoura Maryenne Hakos, 85, of Jacksonville died Sept. 26.
She was born April 16, 1922 in Sleeper, Mo. to Robert S. Ayers and Beth Marley Ayres.
She was a member of Southbend Methodist Church, where her roles once included MYF director and piano player.
She was an important part of her community. She worked at the arsenal plant during the Second World War and was a substitute teacher. She was instrumental in getting Military Road, Hwy. 294 paved from the Lonoke County line to Hwy. 89.
She is survived by four sons and their spouses, Gordon Taylor McIntyre; Jim McIntyre and wife Kay; Earl McIntyre Jr.; Calvin McIntyre and wife Stephanie; seven grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, a sister and brother and two husbands.
Funeral services were held Sept. 28 at Southbend Methodist Church on Military Road. Burial was in Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Cabot.
TOP STORY >>New law changes sales-tax method
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
A new law that goes into effect Jan. 1 will change the way tax is collected on building material. The tax will be collected where the supplies are delivered, not where they are sold.
For Cabot, that means the city will lose its 2 percent sales tax on lumber and other building materials delivered, for example, to Ward or Austin.
For Ward, where the local sales tax is 1 percent, that means additional sales tax revenue from houses built inside the city limits. For Austin, which has no city sales tax, builders will pay only the 1 percent county sales tax that’s collected all over Lonoke County.
However, if the building materials are not delivered by the seller, the tax where they are sold is applied.
For example, someone living in Beebe, which has no city sales tax, who buys a washing machine at Home Depot in Cabot, loads it into a pickup truck and takes it home, would pay Cabot’s 2 percent tax and Lonoke County’s 1 percent tax, not White County’s 1.5 percent tax.
Cabot Clerk-Treasurer Marva Verkler said she and her counterparts across the state are only beginning to collect information about the new law, passed as part of an initiative for states to cash in on Internet and catalog sales for which sales tax is not usually collected.
Verkler said the new law could potentially net Cabot more in sales tax revenue because builders and other residents often go out of Cabot for such purchases as appliances and lighting. If those items are delivered, then Cabot collects its 2 percent tax.
But the Arkansas Municipal League is advising cities to not count on extra revenue until a trend is evident.
Since it will be March 2008 before a state disbursement and months later before a trend is discernible, Verkler said it could be late in 2008 before it is clear whether the new law will help or hurt the city.
The new state law was passed to comply with the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, of which 23 of the 45 states with sales taxes are now members. The states have banded together with a common goal of streamlining their tax laws in such a way as to show Congress that it is not difficult for Internet and catalog businesses to collect taxes from their out-of-state customers.
Tom Atchley with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration said that for now, those businesses collect taxes on a voluntary basis only.
In the past 18 months, 600 out-of-state internet businesses have collected about $5 million in Arkansas sales taxes, he said. With federal legislation, all Internet and catalog businesses would be required to collect taxes for the point of delivery, he said, and that could mean a significant increase in revenue for the state and cities.
Don Zimmerman, executive director of the Arkansas Municipal League, said the Streamlined Sales Tax Project has found a lot of support among state businesses like Wal-Mart.
“Wal-Mart is all for this because the brick-and-mortar stores are being undercut by the Internet,” Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman said he has heard complaints from business owners that customers will examine merchandise at their stores and then go online to buy it.
“Their contention is that (streamlining tax collection and getting Congress to pass the necessary legislation) would level the playing field,” he said.
Leader staff writer
A new law that goes into effect Jan. 1 will change the way tax is collected on building material. The tax will be collected where the supplies are delivered, not where they are sold.
For Cabot, that means the city will lose its 2 percent sales tax on lumber and other building materials delivered, for example, to Ward or Austin.
For Ward, where the local sales tax is 1 percent, that means additional sales tax revenue from houses built inside the city limits. For Austin, which has no city sales tax, builders will pay only the 1 percent county sales tax that’s collected all over Lonoke County.
However, if the building materials are not delivered by the seller, the tax where they are sold is applied.
For example, someone living in Beebe, which has no city sales tax, who buys a washing machine at Home Depot in Cabot, loads it into a pickup truck and takes it home, would pay Cabot’s 2 percent tax and Lonoke County’s 1 percent tax, not White County’s 1.5 percent tax.
Cabot Clerk-Treasurer Marva Verkler said she and her counterparts across the state are only beginning to collect information about the new law, passed as part of an initiative for states to cash in on Internet and catalog sales for which sales tax is not usually collected.
Verkler said the new law could potentially net Cabot more in sales tax revenue because builders and other residents often go out of Cabot for such purchases as appliances and lighting. If those items are delivered, then Cabot collects its 2 percent tax.
But the Arkansas Municipal League is advising cities to not count on extra revenue until a trend is evident.
Since it will be March 2008 before a state disbursement and months later before a trend is discernible, Verkler said it could be late in 2008 before it is clear whether the new law will help or hurt the city.
The new state law was passed to comply with the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, of which 23 of the 45 states with sales taxes are now members. The states have banded together with a common goal of streamlining their tax laws in such a way as to show Congress that it is not difficult for Internet and catalog businesses to collect taxes from their out-of-state customers.
Tom Atchley with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration said that for now, those businesses collect taxes on a voluntary basis only.
In the past 18 months, 600 out-of-state internet businesses have collected about $5 million in Arkansas sales taxes, he said. With federal legislation, all Internet and catalog businesses would be required to collect taxes for the point of delivery, he said, and that could mean a significant increase in revenue for the state and cities.
Don Zimmerman, executive director of the Arkansas Municipal League, said the Streamlined Sales Tax Project has found a lot of support among state businesses like Wal-Mart.
“Wal-Mart is all for this because the brick-and-mortar stores are being undercut by the Internet,” Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman said he has heard complaints from business owners that customers will examine merchandise at their stores and then go online to buy it.
“Their contention is that (streamlining tax collection and getting Congress to pass the necessary legislation) would level the playing field,” he said.
TOP STORY >>Mixup causes confusion for clerks
Leader staff report
A law that mistakenly could allow teenagers to wed has created widespread confusion among Arkansas’ counties, with clerks uncertain when or if they can issue marriage licenses to minors.
The law passed this year inadvertently allows young women under 18 to marry with parental consent if they aren’t pregnant. In most counties, clerks are leaving it up to judges to decide whether a minor should be allowed to wed, pregnant or not.
Pulaski County Clerk Pat O’Brien said last month he’s decided to refer anyone under 18 who requests a marriage license to a judge and said the law as it’s written could conflict with state laws regarding statutory rape.
“Even if they say they’re pregnant, how do we prove that?” O’Brien said. “It becomes more than the ministerial task our office is obligated to perform.”
White County Clerk Tanya Burleson said she has talked to the judges in White County and they have advised her to let them decide if teenagers who are under 18 and pregnant are allowed to marry.
“If you are under the age of 18, I cannot sell a marriage license to you without a court order,” Burleson said.
“I haven’t really had anybody to come in,” said Lonoke County Clerk Dawn Porterfield.
She said until the confusion is remedied, she would expect to issue licenses under the old law. “I would require proof if they were underage and pregnant,” she said.
“I would check with my circuit judge,” she said.
An independent commission corrected the measure and said the obvious intent of the bill was to allow only minors who are pregnant to marry with their parents’ OK, but clerks across the state said they’re waiting on the outcome of a lawsuit that challenges the commission’s authority to change the law.
“I still think the clerks will just have to do what they think is best for their county,” said Faron Ledbetter, the association’s president and Madison County Clerk. Ledbetter said his county is following the revised law, but has recommended that clerks talk with their attorneys or county judges to determine which law to follow.
For many of the counties, that means leaving up to a judge to decide whether a license should be issued. Officials in 22 counties said they’re leaving up to a circuit judge to decide whether to issue a license to anyone under 18.
Only three counties — Cleburne, Desha and Union — said they’re following the law as it was passed by the Legislature, without a minimum age for anyone with parental consent.
Desha County Deputy Clerk Tina Langley said her office hasn’t had to issue a license to anyone under 18 since the law took effect, and said she would have difficulty issuing a license to some minors.
“Right now, the way it’s worded, a 12-year-old could get a license,” Langley said. “Personally I wouldn’t sell it to them. I have children that age and I just won’t do it.”
Attorney General Dustin McDaniel declined to say which law the counties should follow, but his office originally advised the code revision commission it did not have the authority to make the correction.
McDaniel said last month that the law was “awkward at best.”
“We do believe the law as written leads to unreasonable conclusions,” McDaniel said. “There’s no question that this was not what the legislature truly intended. Obviously, it’s ludicrous to think that a clerk is going to allow some 9-year-old to get married.”
Some counties are bypassing both versions of the law. Bradley County Circuit Judge Robert C. Vittitow said he’s told clerks to follow the old law, which set 17 as the minimum marriage age for females and 16 for males.
“I don’t think the old law has been replaced because it’s obviously a mistake. I don’t think you can replace an old law with a new law that’s obviously a mistake,” Vittitow said.
Before July 31, teenage girls could get married in Arkansas with parental consent when they were 16 and boys could get married with parental consent when they were 17.
At 18, they could get married without anyone’s signed consent except their own.
Teenagers under the minimum ages of 16 and 17 have always needed a court order to get married, Burleson said.
So the only real change she sees is that now older teenagers have to go before a judge.
That simplifies the matter for her office, she said. When teenagers under 18 come in for a marriage license she sends them back for proper documentation like a note from the doctor saying the girl is pregnant and when she is due. Then she sends them to a judge.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A law that mistakenly could allow teenagers to wed has created widespread confusion among Arkansas’ counties, with clerks uncertain when or if they can issue marriage licenses to minors.
The law passed this year inadvertently allows young women under 18 to marry with parental consent if they aren’t pregnant. In most counties, clerks are leaving it up to judges to decide whether a minor should be allowed to wed, pregnant or not.
Pulaski County Clerk Pat O’Brien said last month he’s decided to refer anyone under 18 who requests a marriage license to a judge and said the law as it’s written could conflict with state laws regarding statutory rape.
“Even if they say they’re pregnant, how do we prove that?” O’Brien said. “It becomes more than the ministerial task our office is obligated to perform.”
White County Clerk Tanya Burleson said she has talked to the judges in White County and they have advised her to let them decide if teenagers who are under 18 and pregnant are allowed to marry.
“If you are under the age of 18, I cannot sell a marriage license to you without a court order,” Burleson said.
“I haven’t really had anybody to come in,” said Lonoke County Clerk Dawn Porterfield.
She said until the confusion is remedied, she would expect to issue licenses under the old law. “I would require proof if they were underage and pregnant,” she said.
“I would check with my circuit judge,” she said.
An independent commission corrected the measure and said the obvious intent of the bill was to allow only minors who are pregnant to marry with their parents’ OK, but clerks across the state said they’re waiting on the outcome of a lawsuit that challenges the commission’s authority to change the law.
“I still think the clerks will just have to do what they think is best for their county,” said Faron Ledbetter, the association’s president and Madison County Clerk. Ledbetter said his county is following the revised law, but has recommended that clerks talk with their attorneys or county judges to determine which law to follow.
For many of the counties, that means leaving up to a judge to decide whether a license should be issued. Officials in 22 counties said they’re leaving up to a circuit judge to decide whether to issue a license to anyone under 18.
Only three counties — Cleburne, Desha and Union — said they’re following the law as it was passed by the Legislature, without a minimum age for anyone with parental consent.
Desha County Deputy Clerk Tina Langley said her office hasn’t had to issue a license to anyone under 18 since the law took effect, and said she would have difficulty issuing a license to some minors.
“Right now, the way it’s worded, a 12-year-old could get a license,” Langley said. “Personally I wouldn’t sell it to them. I have children that age and I just won’t do it.”
Attorney General Dustin McDaniel declined to say which law the counties should follow, but his office originally advised the code revision commission it did not have the authority to make the correction.
McDaniel said last month that the law was “awkward at best.”
“We do believe the law as written leads to unreasonable conclusions,” McDaniel said. “There’s no question that this was not what the legislature truly intended. Obviously, it’s ludicrous to think that a clerk is going to allow some 9-year-old to get married.”
Some counties are bypassing both versions of the law. Bradley County Circuit Judge Robert C. Vittitow said he’s told clerks to follow the old law, which set 17 as the minimum marriage age for females and 16 for males.
“I don’t think the old law has been replaced because it’s obviously a mistake. I don’t think you can replace an old law with a new law that’s obviously a mistake,” Vittitow said.
Before July 31, teenage girls could get married in Arkansas with parental consent when they were 16 and boys could get married with parental consent when they were 17.
At 18, they could get married without anyone’s signed consent except their own.
Teenagers under the minimum ages of 16 and 17 have always needed a court order to get married, Burleson said.
So the only real change she sees is that now older teenagers have to go before a judge.
That simplifies the matter for her office, she said. When teenagers under 18 come in for a marriage license she sends them back for proper documentation like a note from the doctor saying the girl is pregnant and when she is due. Then she sends them to a judge.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
TOP STORY >>Cabot man sentenced to 23 years
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
A Cabot man was found guilty Friday in Lonoke County Circuit Court of rape and sexual assault of a child and sentenced to a long prison term.
Kenneth Lemaster, 29, was charged with rape in 2006, after his 5-year-old victim exhibited behavior consistent with sexual abuse and then later told a counselor that she had been abused.
The jury sentenced him to 23 years for rape and 10 years for sexual assault but recommended that the sentences be served concurrently.
Although Lemaster was only convicted of raping one child, several adult victims testified against him in a two-day trial that ended late Friday afternoon.
Those victims, who came forward after an article about the charges ran in The Leader in August, said Lemaster had been sexually abusive to children of both sexes for 18 years. Lemaster is the stepson of Cabot Alderman Becky Lemaster.
Alderman Lemaster said in August that the evidence against her stepson would not support a guilty verdict.
“We still maintain his innocence and we’ll be going through the appeal process,” she said Tuesday.
Lonoke County Prosecutor Lona McCastlain said Lemaster still faces charges of raping another child. No court date has been set in that case.
Until he was convicted, Lemaster was employed by Cabot WaterWorks.
On Monday, a notice was posted that his job is open.
Leader staff writer
A Cabot man was found guilty Friday in Lonoke County Circuit Court of rape and sexual assault of a child and sentenced to a long prison term.
Kenneth Lemaster, 29, was charged with rape in 2006, after his 5-year-old victim exhibited behavior consistent with sexual abuse and then later told a counselor that she had been abused.
The jury sentenced him to 23 years for rape and 10 years for sexual assault but recommended that the sentences be served concurrently.
Although Lemaster was only convicted of raping one child, several adult victims testified against him in a two-day trial that ended late Friday afternoon.
Those victims, who came forward after an article about the charges ran in The Leader in August, said Lemaster had been sexually abusive to children of both sexes for 18 years. Lemaster is the stepson of Cabot Alderman Becky Lemaster.
Alderman Lemaster said in August that the evidence against her stepson would not support a guilty verdict.
“We still maintain his innocence and we’ll be going through the appeal process,” she said Tuesday.
Lonoke County Prosecutor Lona McCastlain said Lemaster still faces charges of raping another child. No court date has been set in that case.
Until he was convicted, Lemaster was employed by Cabot WaterWorks.
On Monday, a notice was posted that his job is open.
TOP STORY >>PCSSD recruits students in area
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
As regular television watchers probably know by now, the Pulaski County Special School District has taken the initiative to slow the steady decline in the number of students attending, and Jacksonville residents are invited to visit local schools next week.
“Come see what we’re doing,” is the theme for the Zone 6 schools in Jacksonville that week, and district officials hope that parents, grandparents, business people and other visitors will drop by, according to Carletta Wilson, the district’s director of community affairs.
Participating in the first of the district’s school-promotion weeks will be Jacksonville High School, Jacksonville Girls Middle School, Jacksonville Boys Middle School, and Jacksonville, Pinewood and Murrell Taylor elementary schools. “We want to call attention to positive things we’re doing for the kids,” said Wilson this week, and to encourage area residents to become more active in the local schools.
Wilson said banners and yard signs would welcome visitors, who, like any visitors to the schools, must first sign in at the office.
The tours will be led by school administrators or volunteers from the student council and the Parent-Teacher Association.
Wilson, whose husband is Jacksonville athletic director Jerry Wilson, says those interested may visit classrooms or tour the schools in general.
On Friday, members of the Jacksonville Girls Middle School will hold an “everything pink” party to celebrate the more than $1,000 the students raised for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.
Wilson said there would be cake and punch, and presentations promoting breast-cancer awareness.
Tours of the Jackson-ville Middle School for Boys would include the new audio-visual studios and production equipment that Principal Michael Nellums has wrangled to help his students.
“We’re definitely wanting to reverse the (downward) attendance trend,” Wilson said.
She added that the promotion week has nothing to do with the push for a new Jacksonville school district, which would be drawn from area students currently enrolled in the PCSSD.
“We have to deal with the here and now,” she said.
For further information, Wilson can be reached at 490-6203.
Leader senior staff writer
As regular television watchers probably know by now, the Pulaski County Special School District has taken the initiative to slow the steady decline in the number of students attending, and Jacksonville residents are invited to visit local schools next week.
“Come see what we’re doing,” is the theme for the Zone 6 schools in Jacksonville that week, and district officials hope that parents, grandparents, business people and other visitors will drop by, according to Carletta Wilson, the district’s director of community affairs.
Participating in the first of the district’s school-promotion weeks will be Jacksonville High School, Jacksonville Girls Middle School, Jacksonville Boys Middle School, and Jacksonville, Pinewood and Murrell Taylor elementary schools. “We want to call attention to positive things we’re doing for the kids,” said Wilson this week, and to encourage area residents to become more active in the local schools.
Wilson said banners and yard signs would welcome visitors, who, like any visitors to the schools, must first sign in at the office.
The tours will be led by school administrators or volunteers from the student council and the Parent-Teacher Association.
Wilson, whose husband is Jacksonville athletic director Jerry Wilson, says those interested may visit classrooms or tour the schools in general.
On Friday, members of the Jacksonville Girls Middle School will hold an “everything pink” party to celebrate the more than $1,000 the students raised for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.
Wilson said there would be cake and punch, and presentations promoting breast-cancer awareness.
Tours of the Jackson-ville Middle School for Boys would include the new audio-visual studios and production equipment that Principal Michael Nellums has wrangled to help his students.
“We’re definitely wanting to reverse the (downward) attendance trend,” Wilson said.
She added that the promotion week has nothing to do with the push for a new Jacksonville school district, which would be drawn from area students currently enrolled in the PCSSD.
“We have to deal with the here and now,” she said.
For further information, Wilson can be reached at 490-6203.
FROM THE PUBLISHER >>It doesn’t take long to get out of prison
You’ve probably noticed how criminals get their names in the papers over and over again. They get convicted and sent to prison for a few years, and then they’re out on the streets, and before you know it, they’re in trouble again.
Some of them are smart enough to avoid the slammer altogether — or they hire smart lawyers who get them off the hook — but even those who get convicted of serious crimes don’t spend that much time behind bars.
An ex-con named Demetrie Culbreath, who grew up in Jackson-ville and served five years of a 20-year sentence for killing a man in a drive-by shooting in 2000, was himself killed over the weekend in a drive-by shooting outside a nightclub in Little Rock.
Culbreath, 30, got into an argument with a group of patrons at the notorious Sandpiper Club on Geyer Springs Road. They left the club and got their guns from their vehicles when a Jeep drove up, gunning down Culbreath and two others. He was pronounced dead at St. Vincents Hospital.
This was almost the mirror image of the drive-by shooting he was involved in back in 2000, only this time someone else was doing the shooting from a vehicle and Culbreath was the victim.
Then there’s the case of Shawn Kelly Yielding, 36, of Cabot, who is accused of murdering his friend Kevin Wayne Bell, 39, who was shot several times in his kitchen the week before last.
Back in 2000, Yielding was found guilty of second-degree murder in White County for stabbing and killing a man over $20 at a Searcy apartment complex.
Yielding was charged with first-degree murder but agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder instead and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
He was freed three years later, but he didn’t bother reporting to his parole officer, so he also faces an absconding charge in addition to murder, although the latter charge is probably the least of his worries.
Culbreath and Yielding served a fourth of their sentences because with time spent in jail while awaiting trial and good behavior in prison, even violent criminals are eligible for parole long before their sentences are up.
It’s an old story, but Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley thinks it’s ridiculous to free killers after just a few years behind bars.
“I’ve long had difficulty with how our parole and good-time system works,”
Jegley told us Tuesday. “There ought to be a bright line for violent offenders.”
In other words, don’t let them go before they’ve served most of their sentence — because if you let them out before they did their time, they’ll just kill again.
“I know our prisons are overcrowded,” Jegley continued, “but the people who shoot at folks have no regard for human life. People who shoot at others have no second thoughts at all.”
When violent criminals are in their 20s and 30s and go free, chances are high they’ll kill again. The older they get, those chances drop considerably.
Had Culbreath and Yielding stayed in prison till they were in their 40s, two people would probably still be alive today.
It’s too late for Culbreath to think about that, but you have to wonder if that thought has crossed Yielding’s mind as he sits in the Lonoke County Jail, waiting for his murder trial.
Some of them are smart enough to avoid the slammer altogether — or they hire smart lawyers who get them off the hook — but even those who get convicted of serious crimes don’t spend that much time behind bars.
An ex-con named Demetrie Culbreath, who grew up in Jackson-ville and served five years of a 20-year sentence for killing a man in a drive-by shooting in 2000, was himself killed over the weekend in a drive-by shooting outside a nightclub in Little Rock.
Culbreath, 30, got into an argument with a group of patrons at the notorious Sandpiper Club on Geyer Springs Road. They left the club and got their guns from their vehicles when a Jeep drove up, gunning down Culbreath and two others. He was pronounced dead at St. Vincents Hospital.
This was almost the mirror image of the drive-by shooting he was involved in back in 2000, only this time someone else was doing the shooting from a vehicle and Culbreath was the victim.
Then there’s the case of Shawn Kelly Yielding, 36, of Cabot, who is accused of murdering his friend Kevin Wayne Bell, 39, who was shot several times in his kitchen the week before last.
Back in 2000, Yielding was found guilty of second-degree murder in White County for stabbing and killing a man over $20 at a Searcy apartment complex.
Yielding was charged with first-degree murder but agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder instead and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
He was freed three years later, but he didn’t bother reporting to his parole officer, so he also faces an absconding charge in addition to murder, although the latter charge is probably the least of his worries.
Culbreath and Yielding served a fourth of their sentences because with time spent in jail while awaiting trial and good behavior in prison, even violent criminals are eligible for parole long before their sentences are up.
It’s an old story, but Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley thinks it’s ridiculous to free killers after just a few years behind bars.
“I’ve long had difficulty with how our parole and good-time system works,”
Jegley told us Tuesday. “There ought to be a bright line for violent offenders.”
In other words, don’t let them go before they’ve served most of their sentence — because if you let them out before they did their time, they’ll just kill again.
“I know our prisons are overcrowded,” Jegley continued, “but the people who shoot at folks have no regard for human life. People who shoot at others have no second thoughts at all.”
When violent criminals are in their 20s and 30s and go free, chances are high they’ll kill again. The older they get, those chances drop considerably.
Had Culbreath and Yielding stayed in prison till they were in their 40s, two people would probably still be alive today.
It’s too late for Culbreath to think about that, but you have to wonder if that thought has crossed Yielding’s mind as he sits in the Lonoke County Jail, waiting for his murder trial.
TOP STORY >>Area contractors wonder whether they will be paid
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
The housing-privatization debacle—as one subcontractor called it—at Little Rock Air Force Base has left area contractors wondering if and when they will be paid for hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of work and materials.
Some could go under.
“It’s like we’re bobbing around in a 55-gallon drum and someone’s trying to seal the lid down on us,” said a spokesman for JR Construction of Cabot.
American Eagle Communities, a partnership between Carabetta Enterprises and Shaw Infrastructure, contracted to own, remodel, build and manage about 1,200 homes for airmen and their families at the base, but quickly fell behind, completing only 25 of the 468 new homes to be completed by 2011.
They were two years behind schedule, according to Brig. Gen. Rowayne Schatz, the base commander. American Eagle was to remodel another 732 homes. The developer pulled the plug on the job May 7.
OWED $136,000
JR Construction isn’t about to file for bankruptcy protection, but the company is still owed about $136,000 for dirt and concrete work it did for American Eagle Communities at LRAFB over the past two years.
JR Construction says it can’t pay its subcontractors like Tommy Austin of Austin Concrete.
BOND SIGNED
On April 3, 2006, Salvatore R. Carabetta, as manager of American Eagle Design-Build Studio LLC and also manager of Little Rock Family Housing LLC, along with Robert Pearson, an attorney for Arch Insurance, signed a $5.8 million performance and payment bond ensuring construction of 50 new homes on the base.
Some central Arkansas contractors have filed claims against the bondholder, Arch Insurance, and while they say Arch has acknowledged receipt of their claims, none have been paid within the time allowed the bondholder.
Spokesmen for neither Arch Insurance nor the Carabetta organization responded to phone calls or emails for this story.
JR Construction has filed a lien with the surety bondholder, Arch Insurance Company, and co-owners Rebecca Schiermeyer and Jack Sullivan can’t understand why the Air Force isn’t forcing someone to pay up.
The 45 days Arch had to respond to JR Construction’s claim has expired and now JR has filed suit.
ENOUGH ANGER
There is enough anger and frustration to go around—directed at American Eagle for its failure to pay its bills, at Arch Insurance Company and its broker Richard F. Ferrucci & Associates of Garden City, New York and finally, at the Air Force and the U.S. government, which they say has been no help so far.
Sen. Mark Pryor has passed a resolution giving the U.S. comptroller general 180 days to find out what went wrong and suggest ways to straighten it out.
The comptroller general will look into American Eagle Communities housing privatization contracts at Little Rock Air Force Base and elsewhere, the extent of the problem and options open to the federal government and to subcontractors hurt by American Eagle, thanks to a resolution sponsored by Pryor and Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia. Moody AFB, where American Eagle has defaulted on a similar project, reportedly leaving subcontractors out of work and owed millions of dollars, is in Georgia.
Meanwhile, the Air Force says American Eagle and its managing partner, Carabetta Enterprises, are “actively pursuing a sale of (their) ownership interest in the project,” according to a spokesman for the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment, based at Brooks, Texas.
Neither American Eagle nor the Carabetta family is mentioned by name in the resolution, but according to the Air Force, they are the only privatization developers experiencing such problems.
JR Construction, named for Jack Sullivan and Rebecca Schiermeyer, built forms, poured concrete slabs and did grading to minimize storm-water pollution.
“We’re just hanging on by a thread,” said Schiermeyer.
ARCH RESPONSIBLE
“I don’t understand why the Air Force isn’t pushing harder. If American Eagle can’t do it, then Arch Insurance should have some responsibility,” Schiermeyer said.
Sullivan said several houses were essentially complete, but exposed to the weather without siding or paint.
Schiermeyer estimated that there were about 22 contractors still owed money, including Central Arkansas Plumbing,
Jonesboro Heat and Air, Patriot Pest Control, Ferguson Excavating and Concrete, Capitol Insulators and Advance Lawn and Landscape.
The subcontractors began having trouble collecting on their bills almost immediately.
Getting paid for their work, “It’s like pulling teeth,” said Blake Poe, division manager for Capital Insulators. “They always had an excuse,” for not paying on time.
“The bond company is the one screwing us out of our money,” said Poe.
COURT EXPENSIVE
His outfit is owed about $25,000, he said. He has filed with Arch Insurance, but said if they aren’t given their money or suitable assurances by Monday, “We’ll have to go to federal district court and that’s real expensive.”
Poe said his company was set to do about $250,000 worth of work on the job. It had done about $50,000 worth of insulation and gutters and been paid for about half of that.
Jason Ferguson of Ferguson Excavating and Concrete figures he is owed about $60,000. He’s paid all his people and paid off materials, although he had to take loans out when American Eagle failed to live up to its side of the bargain.
Ferguson and his employees excavated yards, removed and replaced curbs, gutters, sidewalks and driveways—pretty much dirt work and drainage.
“I think it’s crazy that the Air Force doesn’t step up and take care of it,” he said.
He said even if he gets paid, any profit could be offset by interest on the loans he took to pay off workers and suppliers.
SELL EQUIPMENT
Still, he says he’s in better shape than some. “I’ve had several tell me they’ve had to sell equipment. I’ve stayed busy enough, but it’s not easy. Some ain’t been that fortunate.”
Carabetta, alone or in partnership with Shaw, was due to own, manage, remodel, build and collect rents on perhaps 10,000 housing units. Those included privatization jobs here, at Moody AFB in Georgia, Hanscom Air Force Base in Maryland, Patrick Air Force Base in Florida and also Navy housing at Puget Sound, Washington.
They have defaulted on all the Air Force jobs, sold the Navy job pending approval of the defense department and may yet finish a privatization job at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.
While there is little online to suggest widespread problems with Shaw Infrastructure, there are plenty of cautionary reports detailing Carabetta bankruptcy, and a 25-year history of unpaid subcontractors, suits and counter suits and failed projects. Contractors on one completed and paid-for public school job in Connecticut say Carabetta still owes them about $1 million. Local contractors—and the U.S. Senate—want to know how and why the Air Force overlooked those problems in awarding so many contracts to the Carabettas. Mostly, they want to know when they will be paid.
Leader senior staff writer
The housing-privatization debacle—as one subcontractor called it—at Little Rock Air Force Base has left area contractors wondering if and when they will be paid for hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of work and materials.
Some could go under.
“It’s like we’re bobbing around in a 55-gallon drum and someone’s trying to seal the lid down on us,” said a spokesman for JR Construction of Cabot.
American Eagle Communities, a partnership between Carabetta Enterprises and Shaw Infrastructure, contracted to own, remodel, build and manage about 1,200 homes for airmen and their families at the base, but quickly fell behind, completing only 25 of the 468 new homes to be completed by 2011.
They were two years behind schedule, according to Brig. Gen. Rowayne Schatz, the base commander. American Eagle was to remodel another 732 homes. The developer pulled the plug on the job May 7.
OWED $136,000
JR Construction isn’t about to file for bankruptcy protection, but the company is still owed about $136,000 for dirt and concrete work it did for American Eagle Communities at LRAFB over the past two years.
JR Construction says it can’t pay its subcontractors like Tommy Austin of Austin Concrete.
BOND SIGNED
On April 3, 2006, Salvatore R. Carabetta, as manager of American Eagle Design-Build Studio LLC and also manager of Little Rock Family Housing LLC, along with Robert Pearson, an attorney for Arch Insurance, signed a $5.8 million performance and payment bond ensuring construction of 50 new homes on the base.
Some central Arkansas contractors have filed claims against the bondholder, Arch Insurance, and while they say Arch has acknowledged receipt of their claims, none have been paid within the time allowed the bondholder.
Spokesmen for neither Arch Insurance nor the Carabetta organization responded to phone calls or emails for this story.
JR Construction has filed a lien with the surety bondholder, Arch Insurance Company, and co-owners Rebecca Schiermeyer and Jack Sullivan can’t understand why the Air Force isn’t forcing someone to pay up.
The 45 days Arch had to respond to JR Construction’s claim has expired and now JR has filed suit.
ENOUGH ANGER
There is enough anger and frustration to go around—directed at American Eagle for its failure to pay its bills, at Arch Insurance Company and its broker Richard F. Ferrucci & Associates of Garden City, New York and finally, at the Air Force and the U.S. government, which they say has been no help so far.
Sen. Mark Pryor has passed a resolution giving the U.S. comptroller general 180 days to find out what went wrong and suggest ways to straighten it out.
The comptroller general will look into American Eagle Communities housing privatization contracts at Little Rock Air Force Base and elsewhere, the extent of the problem and options open to the federal government and to subcontractors hurt by American Eagle, thanks to a resolution sponsored by Pryor and Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia. Moody AFB, where American Eagle has defaulted on a similar project, reportedly leaving subcontractors out of work and owed millions of dollars, is in Georgia.
Meanwhile, the Air Force says American Eagle and its managing partner, Carabetta Enterprises, are “actively pursuing a sale of (their) ownership interest in the project,” according to a spokesman for the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment, based at Brooks, Texas.
Neither American Eagle nor the Carabetta family is mentioned by name in the resolution, but according to the Air Force, they are the only privatization developers experiencing such problems.
JR Construction, named for Jack Sullivan and Rebecca Schiermeyer, built forms, poured concrete slabs and did grading to minimize storm-water pollution.
“We’re just hanging on by a thread,” said Schiermeyer.
ARCH RESPONSIBLE
“I don’t understand why the Air Force isn’t pushing harder. If American Eagle can’t do it, then Arch Insurance should have some responsibility,” Schiermeyer said.
Sullivan said several houses were essentially complete, but exposed to the weather without siding or paint.
Schiermeyer estimated that there were about 22 contractors still owed money, including Central Arkansas Plumbing,
Jonesboro Heat and Air, Patriot Pest Control, Ferguson Excavating and Concrete, Capitol Insulators and Advance Lawn and Landscape.
The subcontractors began having trouble collecting on their bills almost immediately.
Getting paid for their work, “It’s like pulling teeth,” said Blake Poe, division manager for Capital Insulators. “They always had an excuse,” for not paying on time.
“The bond company is the one screwing us out of our money,” said Poe.
COURT EXPENSIVE
His outfit is owed about $25,000, he said. He has filed with Arch Insurance, but said if they aren’t given their money or suitable assurances by Monday, “We’ll have to go to federal district court and that’s real expensive.”
Poe said his company was set to do about $250,000 worth of work on the job. It had done about $50,000 worth of insulation and gutters and been paid for about half of that.
Jason Ferguson of Ferguson Excavating and Concrete figures he is owed about $60,000. He’s paid all his people and paid off materials, although he had to take loans out when American Eagle failed to live up to its side of the bargain.
Ferguson and his employees excavated yards, removed and replaced curbs, gutters, sidewalks and driveways—pretty much dirt work and drainage.
“I think it’s crazy that the Air Force doesn’t step up and take care of it,” he said.
He said even if he gets paid, any profit could be offset by interest on the loans he took to pay off workers and suppliers.
SELL EQUIPMENT
Still, he says he’s in better shape than some. “I’ve had several tell me they’ve had to sell equipment. I’ve stayed busy enough, but it’s not easy. Some ain’t been that fortunate.”
Carabetta, alone or in partnership with Shaw, was due to own, manage, remodel, build and collect rents on perhaps 10,000 housing units. Those included privatization jobs here, at Moody AFB in Georgia, Hanscom Air Force Base in Maryland, Patrick Air Force Base in Florida and also Navy housing at Puget Sound, Washington.
They have defaulted on all the Air Force jobs, sold the Navy job pending approval of the defense department and may yet finish a privatization job at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.
While there is little online to suggest widespread problems with Shaw Infrastructure, there are plenty of cautionary reports detailing Carabetta bankruptcy, and a 25-year history of unpaid subcontractors, suits and counter suits and failed projects. Contractors on one completed and paid-for public school job in Connecticut say Carabetta still owes them about $1 million. Local contractors—and the U.S. Senate—want to know how and why the Air Force overlooked those problems in awarding so many contracts to the Carabettas. Mostly, they want to know when they will be paid.
TOP STORY >>Soldiers activated, report to armories
By HEATHER HARTSELL
Leader staff writer
Soldiers from the Arkansas Army National Guard’s 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team were activated Monday as they reported to their local armories in preparation for a maximum one-year deployment to Iraq.
The 3,000 soldiers of the 39th, Arkansas’ largest Guard unit with units based in towns around the state, includiing several from this area, will deploy in early January as part of the replacement forces currently operating in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The four units of the 39th went on active duty at their home stations for a 90-day pre-mobilization training program, said Maj. Gen. William D. Wofford, the adjutant general of Arkansas.
Approximately 800 soldiers from the brigade’s 2nd Battalion, 153rd Infantry, headquartered in Searcy, and the 1st Battalion, 151st Cavalry, headquartered in Warren, are training at Fort Chaffee for two weeks before returning to their home station armories as more 39th Brigade soldiers rotate in for training.
“The support of the entire state for our soldiers and their families has been tremendous,” Wofford said.
“On behalf of our soldiers, we ask for that continued support, which will allow these 3,200 men and women to focus on their mission and return home safely at its end,” he added.
As the soldiers spend time training at their home armories, at Camp Robinson and at Fort Chaffee over the next three months, the effort will ensure the soldiers’ readiness through home station training while minimizing time away from family.
Priorities for the 39th during their training will be on soldier readiness processing – an inventory of equipment, getting medical and shot records updated, taking care of any legal service needs and hearing a variety of mandatory briefings, individual training such as weapon qualifications and meeting the warrior tasks. All these things allow them to focus on unit level collective training once they get to the mobilization station.
“The 39th will adhere to a liberal leave policy during the December holiday season to allow even more time with family prior to departure to the brigade’s mobilization station in early January,” Wofford said.
After the completion of the initial 65 days of the pre-mobilization training, soldiers may opt to be released from active duty orders from Dec. 5-31 if necessary for personal or family reasons.
Those choosing to do so must complete the pre-mobilization training requirements prior to the brigade’s mobilization date, Wofford said.
“The other option to complete the required training and preparations consisted of multiple extended weekend drills and annual training periods, which was simply not reasonable due to the fact that our soldiers have civilian employers,” Wofford said.
“Many of these employers have expressed their desire to support their troops, but they simply cannot manage a business if they have to endure multiple absences due to military training. They don’t want to lose their employees at all, but if they have to, that absence needs to be a single window of time so they can hire a replacement in the meantime,” he said.
“Our primary concerns were not only to prepare our soldiers, but also to take care of their families and employers, by providing them a timely notification of when they could expect to come on active duty,” Wofford added.
The 39th as a whole was last deployed in October 2003, and released from active duty in April 2005.
About 600 Arkansas National Guard soldiers and airmen are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Leader staff writer
Soldiers from the Arkansas Army National Guard’s 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team were activated Monday as they reported to their local armories in preparation for a maximum one-year deployment to Iraq.
The 3,000 soldiers of the 39th, Arkansas’ largest Guard unit with units based in towns around the state, includiing several from this area, will deploy in early January as part of the replacement forces currently operating in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The four units of the 39th went on active duty at their home stations for a 90-day pre-mobilization training program, said Maj. Gen. William D. Wofford, the adjutant general of Arkansas.
Approximately 800 soldiers from the brigade’s 2nd Battalion, 153rd Infantry, headquartered in Searcy, and the 1st Battalion, 151st Cavalry, headquartered in Warren, are training at Fort Chaffee for two weeks before returning to their home station armories as more 39th Brigade soldiers rotate in for training.
“The support of the entire state for our soldiers and their families has been tremendous,” Wofford said.
“On behalf of our soldiers, we ask for that continued support, which will allow these 3,200 men and women to focus on their mission and return home safely at its end,” he added.
As the soldiers spend time training at their home armories, at Camp Robinson and at Fort Chaffee over the next three months, the effort will ensure the soldiers’ readiness through home station training while minimizing time away from family.
Priorities for the 39th during their training will be on soldier readiness processing – an inventory of equipment, getting medical and shot records updated, taking care of any legal service needs and hearing a variety of mandatory briefings, individual training such as weapon qualifications and meeting the warrior tasks. All these things allow them to focus on unit level collective training once they get to the mobilization station.
“The 39th will adhere to a liberal leave policy during the December holiday season to allow even more time with family prior to departure to the brigade’s mobilization station in early January,” Wofford said.
After the completion of the initial 65 days of the pre-mobilization training, soldiers may opt to be released from active duty orders from Dec. 5-31 if necessary for personal or family reasons.
Those choosing to do so must complete the pre-mobilization training requirements prior to the brigade’s mobilization date, Wofford said.
“The other option to complete the required training and preparations consisted of multiple extended weekend drills and annual training periods, which was simply not reasonable due to the fact that our soldiers have civilian employers,” Wofford said.
“Many of these employers have expressed their desire to support their troops, but they simply cannot manage a business if they have to endure multiple absences due to military training. They don’t want to lose their employees at all, but if they have to, that absence needs to be a single window of time so they can hire a replacement in the meantime,” he said.
“Our primary concerns were not only to prepare our soldiers, but also to take care of their families and employers, by providing them a timely notification of when they could expect to come on active duty,” Wofford added.
The 39th as a whole was last deployed in October 2003, and released from active duty in April 2005.
About 600 Arkansas National Guard soldiers and airmen are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
FROM THE PUBLISHER >>It’s Biscuit time in Helena
The Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival in downtown Helena — formerly the King Biscuit Blues Festival, although it’s still the Biscuit for most fans and it’s still free — will kick off next Thursday with several strong acts and will continue through next Saturday with plenty more good music, and there’s still lots more across the river the following afternoon in downtown Clarksdale, Miss.
If you were thinking about going down to Helena for just a few hours on Saturday, consider making it a long weekend, but take your camper or tent with you since the motels in the area are probably sold out.
The festival changed its name a couple of years ago, after a New York outfit bought the rights to the King Biscuit logo and threatened to hold a competing festival in Memphis (that hasn’t happened yet). But the Helena festival is still going strong, drawing thousands of visitors from all over the world. (See www.bluesandheritage.com for a complete listing.)
The musicians at this year’s festival may not be household names — the original blues giants are mostly gone, including Arkansas native Robert Lockwood Junior, who performed at King Biscuit just about every year and passed away last November at the age of 91 — but 94-year-old Pinetop Perkins is scheduled to appear Friday, and there will still be plenty of good music by young and old artists, who will keep the blues alive for at least a couple of generations.
The festival opens with several winners of blues competitions, followed by blues elder statesman and educator Sterling Billingsley of Mississippi and then gospel-blues singer Diunne Greenleaf of Houston.
Wayne Baker Brooks of Chicago, son of blues great Lonnie Brooks, follows Greenleaf. Mississippi blues-soul legend Bobby Rush performs with Blinddog Smokin’ and the evening ends with the Lee Boys, a sacred-steel band from Miami.
Friday’s festivities start early in the afternoon with two important Mississippi Delta bluesmen, Lil’ Dave Thompson and drummer Sam Carr, the son of famed bluesman Robert Nighthawk, both originally from Helena, where Nighthawk is buried. (Carr lives across the river in Dundee, Miss.)
Smokin’ Joe Kubek of Dallas comes on with Bnois King of Louisiana, combining Kubek’s heavy guitar playing with King’s jazz guitar and vocals.
Friday evening, it’s Pinetop Perkins, a festival favorite, with his sidekick Bob Margolin, who both played in Muddy Waters’ band.
Up next will be a great blues showman, Chicagoan Lil’ Ed Williams and his Blues Imperials. Wearing a fez, he evokes the spirit of his uncle, the late great J.B. Hutto.
Sherman Robertson of Louisiana will add a touch of Cajun music to the festivities, followed by three incendiary guitar players, North Little Rock’s own Michael Burks, who will be joined by Larry McCray and Carl Weathersby.
That’s Friday’s impressive lineup on the main stage, but nearby on the Houston Stackhouse acoustic stage, don’t miss Louisiana wizard Eugene (Hideaway) Bridges and Mississippi bluesmen Bill Abel, Cadillac John and Jimmy (Duck) Holmes.
Bridges also appears at noon Saturday on the main stage, followed by Alabama bluesman Willie King and Terry Evans from Los Angeles.
There’s plenty more on Saturday:
Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets (without the late, great Sam Myers), Robert Lockwood Junior Band (without Robert). Then it’s 70ish Hubert Sumlin (Howlin’ Wolf’s guitarist) and Helena native Willie (Big Eyes) Smith (Muddy Waters’ drummer). Cajun bluesman Kenny Neal is next, followed by the Mannish Boys from Texas.
Try the gumbo on Cherry Street between the acts.
On Sunday afternoon, you might cross the river to downtown Clarksdale, where several musicians will perform in front of Cat Head music store, including Fat Possum recording artists Robert Belfour and T-Model Ford. Across the tracks at the train depot (where Muddy Waters caught a train to Chicago 65 years ago), it will be the amazing Rooster Blues artist Robert Bilbo Walker.
Then you might make it over the nearby Hopson Plantation, where several musicians will honor Pinetop. The nonagenarian keyboardist might or might not play, because his mother warned him about playing the blues on Sunday, but he might play a couple of bars if his mother looks down at him from heaven and tells him it’s OK.
It’s great music, and it’s all free, except for the Hopson program (where they serve some of the best barbecue in the Delta), but try to tip the musicians whenever you can. They’re not rich. That’s why they call it the blues.
If you were thinking about going down to Helena for just a few hours on Saturday, consider making it a long weekend, but take your camper or tent with you since the motels in the area are probably sold out.
The festival changed its name a couple of years ago, after a New York outfit bought the rights to the King Biscuit logo and threatened to hold a competing festival in Memphis (that hasn’t happened yet). But the Helena festival is still going strong, drawing thousands of visitors from all over the world. (See www.bluesandheritage.com for a complete listing.)
The musicians at this year’s festival may not be household names — the original blues giants are mostly gone, including Arkansas native Robert Lockwood Junior, who performed at King Biscuit just about every year and passed away last November at the age of 91 — but 94-year-old Pinetop Perkins is scheduled to appear Friday, and there will still be plenty of good music by young and old artists, who will keep the blues alive for at least a couple of generations.
The festival opens with several winners of blues competitions, followed by blues elder statesman and educator Sterling Billingsley of Mississippi and then gospel-blues singer Diunne Greenleaf of Houston.
Wayne Baker Brooks of Chicago, son of blues great Lonnie Brooks, follows Greenleaf. Mississippi blues-soul legend Bobby Rush performs with Blinddog Smokin’ and the evening ends with the Lee Boys, a sacred-steel band from Miami.
Friday’s festivities start early in the afternoon with two important Mississippi Delta bluesmen, Lil’ Dave Thompson and drummer Sam Carr, the son of famed bluesman Robert Nighthawk, both originally from Helena, where Nighthawk is buried. (Carr lives across the river in Dundee, Miss.)
Smokin’ Joe Kubek of Dallas comes on with Bnois King of Louisiana, combining Kubek’s heavy guitar playing with King’s jazz guitar and vocals.
Friday evening, it’s Pinetop Perkins, a festival favorite, with his sidekick Bob Margolin, who both played in Muddy Waters’ band.
Up next will be a great blues showman, Chicagoan Lil’ Ed Williams and his Blues Imperials. Wearing a fez, he evokes the spirit of his uncle, the late great J.B. Hutto.
Sherman Robertson of Louisiana will add a touch of Cajun music to the festivities, followed by three incendiary guitar players, North Little Rock’s own Michael Burks, who will be joined by Larry McCray and Carl Weathersby.
That’s Friday’s impressive lineup on the main stage, but nearby on the Houston Stackhouse acoustic stage, don’t miss Louisiana wizard Eugene (Hideaway) Bridges and Mississippi bluesmen Bill Abel, Cadillac John and Jimmy (Duck) Holmes.
Bridges also appears at noon Saturday on the main stage, followed by Alabama bluesman Willie King and Terry Evans from Los Angeles.
There’s plenty more on Saturday:
Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets (without the late, great Sam Myers), Robert Lockwood Junior Band (without Robert). Then it’s 70ish Hubert Sumlin (Howlin’ Wolf’s guitarist) and Helena native Willie (Big Eyes) Smith (Muddy Waters’ drummer). Cajun bluesman Kenny Neal is next, followed by the Mannish Boys from Texas.
Try the gumbo on Cherry Street between the acts.
On Sunday afternoon, you might cross the river to downtown Clarksdale, where several musicians will perform in front of Cat Head music store, including Fat Possum recording artists Robert Belfour and T-Model Ford. Across the tracks at the train depot (where Muddy Waters caught a train to Chicago 65 years ago), it will be the amazing Rooster Blues artist Robert Bilbo Walker.
Then you might make it over the nearby Hopson Plantation, where several musicians will honor Pinetop. The nonagenarian keyboardist might or might not play, because his mother warned him about playing the blues on Sunday, but he might play a couple of bars if his mother looks down at him from heaven and tells him it’s OK.
It’s great music, and it’s all free, except for the Hopson program (where they serve some of the best barbecue in the Delta), but try to tip the musicians whenever you can. They’re not rich. That’s why they call it the blues.
EVENTS>>Early Fall 2007
Lonoke County seeks to train new leaders
Applications for the Lonoke County Leadership Training Program are due by Friday. Drop off, fax or e-mail applications to Kyle Proctor.
Only 30 applications, which are available at all Lonoke County Chamber of Commerce offices, will be accepted. At a total cost of $100, participants in the program will meet biweekly from January through April 2008 in the Lonoke Community Center.
The Lonoke County Coalition for Progress was formed in 2006 to establish a regional network of strong leaders that identify and motivate individuals with leadership potential and acquaint them with countywide needs.
The seven-session program’s purpose is to establish a regional network of strong leaders and empower new leaders to assure a continuous flow of leadership.
Cabot’s Santa Shack ready for picture-taking fun
Cabot City Beautiful opened its 11th annual Santa Shack yesterday at Cabot Wal-Mart. Children can now see Santa Claus and tell him what they’d like him to bring them for Christmas.
Santa will be there to visit with kids from 6 to 8 p.m. on Fridays, on Saturdays from 9 to 11 a.m.; also noon to 2 p.m., 3 to 5 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. On Sundays the jolly old fellow will be at Santa Shack from 1 to 3 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m.
Santa will be available until Saturday, Dec. 23. There will be free candy canes and photos will be available.
Jacksonville’s Mt. Pisgah will have revival Tuesday
Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, 1017 Ray Road, Jacksonville will hold a revival at 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday with special guest speakers each night. Pastor James Thrower from Mercy Seat Baptist Church in Little Rock will speak Tuesday night.
Pastor Brian Baker from Victory Praise and Worship Church in Jacksonville will speak Wednesday night and Pastor Dwight Townsend with Longley Baptist Church in Little Rock will speak Thursday.
The public is invited to attend. For more information, contact pastor Craig Collier Sr. at 982-6215.
Military Museum to present Fallen Hero Memorial
The Jacksonville Museum of Military History presents The Arkansas Fallen Hero Memorial Friday through Sunday.
Since 9/11, Arkansas men and women have risked their lives for our country. Some have given the ultimate sacrifice. To honor and remember these brave men and women, the Jacksonville Museum of Military History will host the Arkansas Fallen Hero Memorial.
The 100-by-100-foot walk through memorial contains an American flag for each Arkansan that has given their life in service to this country since 9/11. Along each flag will stand a post that will feature a picture of each fallen hero and a short biography. For more information call 241-1943.
Help encourage high school students to read
In an effort to encourage Jacksonville High School students to take more interest in reading, the Million Word Campaign or “25-Book Express” will kick off Friday.
Businesses, companies, churches and individuals are invited to step up and step into Jacksonville High School with gift cards, restaurant coupons or other incentives for those who meet or exceed the million-word goal. Statistics show better readers have the capacity to earn greater income as they go on to compete in a global economy.
Working together, we can help our young people prepare to meet the requisites of the 21st Century workforce.
For more information, contact Patricia White of the Jacksonville High School Leadership Team and Co-Director of Journey into Excellence at 982-2128.
With Christmas near, parade plans abound
As the Christmas season opens, area cities get ready to display the spirit of the holiday season with their annual parades.
“Jacksonville’s Golden Christmas,” the city’s 50th annual parade, will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1 starting at Sharp and Main, down Main to Second. Brig. Gen. Rowayne Schatz will marshal the event.
Beebe’s annual parade will be held at 6 p.m. the same day. The theme is “Christmas Melodies”, and floats will line up at Beebe Public Schools at 5 p.m.
Cabot’s parade will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9 and has “All I Want For Christmas” as its theme.
Sherwood’s parade, “A Child’s Magical Christmas,” will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2 on Kiehl Ave. from Lantrip to Oakbrook St.
Cabot Fire and Police meeting will be Thursday
Cabot Fire and Police Committee will meet Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The regular date was rescheduled because it fell on Thanksgiving.
Santa Shack opens Friday at Cabot’s Wal-Mart
Cabot City Beautiful opens its 11th annual Santa Shack Friday, Nov. 23 at Cabot Wal-Mart. Children will be able to see Santa Claus and tell him what they’d like him to bring them for Christmas.
There will be free candy canes for every child and photos will be available. Santa will be there to visit with kids from 6 to 8 p.m. on Fridays, on Saturdays from 9 to 11 a.m.; also noon to 2 p.m., 3 to 5 p.m., and 6 to 8 p.m. On Sundays the jolly old fellow will be at Santa Shack from 1 to 3 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. Santa will be available until Saturday, Dec. 23. Proceeds go to Cabot City Beautiful’s community projects.
ASU-Beebe offers GED testing through December
The Adult Education Department at Arkansas State University-Beebe is offering the GED test during November and December.
The test will be offered at the Beebe center at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 27 and Thursday, Nov. 29.
Candidates must fulfill preliminary testing requirements before taking the official GED exam. Contact the Adult Education Center 501-207-4090 to determine eligibility.
Revival planned at Mt. Pisgah in Jacksonville
Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, 1017 Ray Road will hold a revival at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27 through Thursday, Nov. 29 with special guest speakers each night. Pastor James Thrower from Mercy Seat Baptist Church in Little Rock will speak Tuesday night.
Pastor Brian Baker from Victory Praise and Worship Church in Jacksonville will speak Wednesday night and Pastor Dwight Townsend with Longley Baptist Church in Little Rock will speak Thursday.
The public is invited to attend. For more information, contact Pastor Craig Collier Sr. at 982-6215.
LDS invites public to devotional for Christmas
The public is invited to attend a special Christmas devotional at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 2 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6110 T. P. White Drive, Jacksonville. Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the church, will be the featured speaker.
Senior center seeking donations for meals
Donate $5 in honor or in memory of a senior citizen and a red heart with the name of the donor and designated senior will be posted in a conspicuous spot in the Jacksonville Senior Center. The program runs now through Wednesday, Dec. 19.
“The Holiday Heart” program will benefit the senior center’s meal- delivery program, which delivers 200 hot, nutritious and carefully prepared meals a day in north Pulaski County to seniors unable to cook for themselves. For questions, contact David Adamson at 982-7531.
Beebe planning its annual Christmas celebration
The city of Beebe will host its annual Christmas Lighting Celebration at Daniel Park at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30. Tony Witt, a well-known Elvis impersonator, the Luke Williams Band and the ASU Beebe choir and band will provide entertainment for the event. Other free attractions include train rides for the children, pictures with Santa, hot chocolate, warm cider, cotton candy popcorn and cookies.
Ward Animal Shelter plans annual chili cook-off
The Ward Animal Shelter will hold its third annual chili cook-off at 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1, after the city’s Christmas parade and tree lighting. The cost is $5 for adults and $3 for children 10 and under. All proceeds will go to the Ward Animal Shelter for its various needs. For more information, call Lola or Aleks at 501-843-2271.
CareLink helps with Medicare Part D enrollment
The open enrollment period for Medicare Part D (prescription drug coverage) is Thursday through Mon., December 31. CareLink provides free enrollment assistance to people in its service area, which includes Faulkner, Lonoke, Monroe, Prairie, Pulaski and Saline counties. Those who would like help understanding the different plans, signing up for a plan or changing providers for Medicare Part D can call CareLink at 372-5300 or 800-482-6359 to make an appointment. CareLink has no affiliation with any of the prescription drug plans that are available.
CareLink, a private, nonprofit organization based in North Little Rock, provides older people and their family caregivers with information and resources that help them stay active and independent. CareLink partners with Jacksonville Senior Center and Lonoke County Council on Aging for senior center services.
Shepherd’s Center will hold new learning classes
The Shepherd’s Center of Beebe, a senior center at 302 N. Main Street, will begin a new session of adult learning classes called “Adventures in Learning.” Classes will begin meeting today at 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and all following Wednesdays through Dec. 12.
There is a $10 registration fee. A noon catered luncheon is also available or members can bring a sack lunch.
Call 501-882-0243 to register or write Shepherds Center of Beebe, P. O. Box 247, Beebe, AR, 72012.
Care Channel preparing for Christmas toy drive
The Jacksonville Care Channel for the Needy is registering residents and businesses for its Christmas food basket and toy celebration. Local churches, businesses and organizations are needed to assist with the mission. Last year, the Care Channel gave food to 425 families and toys to more than 700 children. More needy families who need help are anticipated to contact the Care Channel this Christmas. People who want to donate can sign up now through Dec. 7. Dec. 12 will be the last day to receive regular assistance from the Care Channel and the organization will be closed Dec. 13 through Jan. 1 except Dec. 20, which will be the only day to pick up Christmas baskets.
If you are interested in volunteering to bag toys, distribute baskets or donate to the drive, call Peggy at 982-4647. Donations and volunteers are more than welcome to help with the project.
Applications for the Lonoke County Leadership Training Program are due by Friday. Drop off, fax or e-mail applications to Kyle Proctor.
Only 30 applications, which are available at all Lonoke County Chamber of Commerce offices, will be accepted. At a total cost of $100, participants in the program will meet biweekly from January through April 2008 in the Lonoke Community Center.
The Lonoke County Coalition for Progress was formed in 2006 to establish a regional network of strong leaders that identify and motivate individuals with leadership potential and acquaint them with countywide needs.
The seven-session program’s purpose is to establish a regional network of strong leaders and empower new leaders to assure a continuous flow of leadership.
Cabot’s Santa Shack ready for picture-taking fun
Cabot City Beautiful opened its 11th annual Santa Shack yesterday at Cabot Wal-Mart. Children can now see Santa Claus and tell him what they’d like him to bring them for Christmas.
Santa will be there to visit with kids from 6 to 8 p.m. on Fridays, on Saturdays from 9 to 11 a.m.; also noon to 2 p.m., 3 to 5 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. On Sundays the jolly old fellow will be at Santa Shack from 1 to 3 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m.
Santa will be available until Saturday, Dec. 23. There will be free candy canes and photos will be available.
Jacksonville’s Mt. Pisgah will have revival Tuesday
Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, 1017 Ray Road, Jacksonville will hold a revival at 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday with special guest speakers each night. Pastor James Thrower from Mercy Seat Baptist Church in Little Rock will speak Tuesday night.
Pastor Brian Baker from Victory Praise and Worship Church in Jacksonville will speak Wednesday night and Pastor Dwight Townsend with Longley Baptist Church in Little Rock will speak Thursday.
The public is invited to attend. For more information, contact pastor Craig Collier Sr. at 982-6215.
Military Museum to present Fallen Hero Memorial
The Jacksonville Museum of Military History presents The Arkansas Fallen Hero Memorial Friday through Sunday.
Since 9/11, Arkansas men and women have risked their lives for our country. Some have given the ultimate sacrifice. To honor and remember these brave men and women, the Jacksonville Museum of Military History will host the Arkansas Fallen Hero Memorial.
The 100-by-100-foot walk through memorial contains an American flag for each Arkansan that has given their life in service to this country since 9/11. Along each flag will stand a post that will feature a picture of each fallen hero and a short biography. For more information call 241-1943.
Help encourage high school students to read
In an effort to encourage Jacksonville High School students to take more interest in reading, the Million Word Campaign or “25-Book Express” will kick off Friday.
Businesses, companies, churches and individuals are invited to step up and step into Jacksonville High School with gift cards, restaurant coupons or other incentives for those who meet or exceed the million-word goal. Statistics show better readers have the capacity to earn greater income as they go on to compete in a global economy.
Working together, we can help our young people prepare to meet the requisites of the 21st Century workforce.
For more information, contact Patricia White of the Jacksonville High School Leadership Team and Co-Director of Journey into Excellence at 982-2128.
With Christmas near, parade plans abound
As the Christmas season opens, area cities get ready to display the spirit of the holiday season with their annual parades.
“Jacksonville’s Golden Christmas,” the city’s 50th annual parade, will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1 starting at Sharp and Main, down Main to Second. Brig. Gen. Rowayne Schatz will marshal the event.
Beebe’s annual parade will be held at 6 p.m. the same day. The theme is “Christmas Melodies”, and floats will line up at Beebe Public Schools at 5 p.m.
Cabot’s parade will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9 and has “All I Want For Christmas” as its theme.
Sherwood’s parade, “A Child’s Magical Christmas,” will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2 on Kiehl Ave. from Lantrip to Oakbrook St.
Cabot Fire and Police meeting will be Thursday
Cabot Fire and Police Committee will meet Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The regular date was rescheduled because it fell on Thanksgiving.
Santa Shack opens Friday at Cabot’s Wal-Mart
Cabot City Beautiful opens its 11th annual Santa Shack Friday, Nov. 23 at Cabot Wal-Mart. Children will be able to see Santa Claus and tell him what they’d like him to bring them for Christmas.
There will be free candy canes for every child and photos will be available. Santa will be there to visit with kids from 6 to 8 p.m. on Fridays, on Saturdays from 9 to 11 a.m.; also noon to 2 p.m., 3 to 5 p.m., and 6 to 8 p.m. On Sundays the jolly old fellow will be at Santa Shack from 1 to 3 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. Santa will be available until Saturday, Dec. 23. Proceeds go to Cabot City Beautiful’s community projects.
ASU-Beebe offers GED testing through December
The Adult Education Department at Arkansas State University-Beebe is offering the GED test during November and December.
The test will be offered at the Beebe center at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 27 and Thursday, Nov. 29.
Candidates must fulfill preliminary testing requirements before taking the official GED exam. Contact the Adult Education Center 501-207-4090 to determine eligibility.
Revival planned at Mt. Pisgah in Jacksonville
Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, 1017 Ray Road will hold a revival at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27 through Thursday, Nov. 29 with special guest speakers each night. Pastor James Thrower from Mercy Seat Baptist Church in Little Rock will speak Tuesday night.
Pastor Brian Baker from Victory Praise and Worship Church in Jacksonville will speak Wednesday night and Pastor Dwight Townsend with Longley Baptist Church in Little Rock will speak Thursday.
The public is invited to attend. For more information, contact Pastor Craig Collier Sr. at 982-6215.
LDS invites public to devotional for Christmas
The public is invited to attend a special Christmas devotional at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 2 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6110 T. P. White Drive, Jacksonville. Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the church, will be the featured speaker.
Senior center seeking donations for meals
Donate $5 in honor or in memory of a senior citizen and a red heart with the name of the donor and designated senior will be posted in a conspicuous spot in the Jacksonville Senior Center. The program runs now through Wednesday, Dec. 19.
“The Holiday Heart” program will benefit the senior center’s meal- delivery program, which delivers 200 hot, nutritious and carefully prepared meals a day in north Pulaski County to seniors unable to cook for themselves. For questions, contact David Adamson at 982-7531.
Beebe planning its annual Christmas celebration
The city of Beebe will host its annual Christmas Lighting Celebration at Daniel Park at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30. Tony Witt, a well-known Elvis impersonator, the Luke Williams Band and the ASU Beebe choir and band will provide entertainment for the event. Other free attractions include train rides for the children, pictures with Santa, hot chocolate, warm cider, cotton candy popcorn and cookies.
Ward Animal Shelter plans annual chili cook-off
The Ward Animal Shelter will hold its third annual chili cook-off at 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1, after the city’s Christmas parade and tree lighting. The cost is $5 for adults and $3 for children 10 and under. All proceeds will go to the Ward Animal Shelter for its various needs. For more information, call Lola or Aleks at 501-843-2271.
CareLink helps with Medicare Part D enrollment
The open enrollment period for Medicare Part D (prescription drug coverage) is Thursday through Mon., December 31. CareLink provides free enrollment assistance to people in its service area, which includes Faulkner, Lonoke, Monroe, Prairie, Pulaski and Saline counties. Those who would like help understanding the different plans, signing up for a plan or changing providers for Medicare Part D can call CareLink at 372-5300 or 800-482-6359 to make an appointment. CareLink has no affiliation with any of the prescription drug plans that are available.
CareLink, a private, nonprofit organization based in North Little Rock, provides older people and their family caregivers with information and resources that help them stay active and independent. CareLink partners with Jacksonville Senior Center and Lonoke County Council on Aging for senior center services.
Shepherd’s Center will hold new learning classes
The Shepherd’s Center of Beebe, a senior center at 302 N. Main Street, will begin a new session of adult learning classes called “Adventures in Learning.” Classes will begin meeting today at 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and all following Wednesdays through Dec. 12.
There is a $10 registration fee. A noon catered luncheon is also available or members can bring a sack lunch.
Call 501-882-0243 to register or write Shepherds Center of Beebe, P. O. Box 247, Beebe, AR, 72012.
Care Channel preparing for Christmas toy drive
The Jacksonville Care Channel for the Needy is registering residents and businesses for its Christmas food basket and toy celebration. Local churches, businesses and organizations are needed to assist with the mission. Last year, the Care Channel gave food to 425 families and toys to more than 700 children. More needy families who need help are anticipated to contact the Care Channel this Christmas. People who want to donate can sign up now through Dec. 7. Dec. 12 will be the last day to receive regular assistance from the Care Channel and the organization will be closed Dec. 13 through Jan. 1 except Dec. 20, which will be the only day to pick up Christmas baskets.
If you are interested in volunteering to bag toys, distribute baskets or donate to the drive, call Peggy at 982-4647. Donations and volunteers are more than welcome to help with the project.
SPORTS >>Badgers control line, Falcons
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The Badgers made sure that North Pulaski’s latest streak would end after only one game, downing the Falcons 34-7 Friday night at Bro Erwin Stadium during the second week of 5A-East Conference play.
Beebe racked up 421 yards of total offense on its way to a 5-0 mark, shutting out the Falcons until the final eight minutes of the contest.
A good first drive for North Pulaski ended on a big play by Beebe that gave the home team the momentum.
The Falcons’ first drive went 46 yards down to the Badger 4-yard line, where the Falcons opted to try for a 21-yard field goal attempt on fourth and goal. Beebe’s Josh Turner opted to block it, giving the Badgers the ball and the momentum that they kept for the remainder of the game.
Beebe ended up with more points than needed in the first half, with three touchdowns to go ahead 20-0 at the intermission, and would only add to that score in the final 16 minutes of the contest.
The start of the second half would lead to the fourth Beebe touchdown of the night on a 79-yard drive that was capped off with a 14-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Charlie Spakes with 9:15 left in the third quarter. Spakes’ TD was set up by a 17-yard run by halfback Kyle Williams, and another scramble of 36 yards by Spakes.
Jerald Blair, who was a key component of NP’s win over Greene County Tech last week, tried to spark a rally for the Falcons once again this week with a 30-yard run on the ensuing drive. That would put the ball in Beebe territory, but Jo Barrick forced a fumble for the Badgers, and Josh Turner would recover.
Beebe would take that turnover and put the game away with a 75-yard drive that started on a 35-yard run by Chris Blundell and ended with an 11-yard touchdown dash by Joe Barrick with 5:11 left in the third quarter to make it 34-0 in favor of the Badgers.
The Falcons may not have made it two straight, but they refused to come back to Jacksonville empty handed. Arlando Hicks made the defensive play of the game for the Falcons when he recovered a Beebe fumble on the Badger 45-yard line. It only took three plays from there for quarterback A.J. Allen to find Daniel Thurman for a 42-yard touchdown pass with 8:38 left in the game. Melvin Tenner added the extra point, which set the final margin.
The Falcons actually put themselves in position to take the lead early in the game, when they forced the Badgers to punt on their opening possession and proceeded to move the ball 46 yards down to the Beebe 13-yard line. The Badger defense held North Pulaski to force a field goal attempt by Tenner, which was blocked by Turner.
Beebe took advantage of its next possession, taking the ball in for the score on the heels of fullback Blundell, who scored on a three-yard run with 7:00 left to go in the second quarter. Blundell also set up the score with a 34-yard run that took the ball deep into NP territory.
It would be Blundell on the next Beebe scoring drive as well. This time, it was a 62-yard touchdown run on forth and two with 6:38 left in the half to put the Badgers up by two scores.
The Badgers would score their next touchdown before the intermission through the air, with a 21-yard toss from Spakes to Turner for the score with 1:19 left in the second quarter. This would give Beebe a three-score lead at halftime, and would also prove to be too much deficit for the Falcons to recover.
Beebe finished the game with 421 yards of total offense, 392 yards of which come from the running game out of the patented full-house backfield. Blundell led offensively for the Badgers with 13 carries for 179 yards and two touchdowns. Spakes carried six times for 73 yards.
Beebe is now 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the 5A-East Conference. North Pulaski falls to 1-4 overall and 1-1 in the 5A-East. Beebe will take on Wynne on the road next week, while the Falcons host Batesville.
Leader sportswriter
The Badgers made sure that North Pulaski’s latest streak would end after only one game, downing the Falcons 34-7 Friday night at Bro Erwin Stadium during the second week of 5A-East Conference play.
Beebe racked up 421 yards of total offense on its way to a 5-0 mark, shutting out the Falcons until the final eight minutes of the contest.
A good first drive for North Pulaski ended on a big play by Beebe that gave the home team the momentum.
The Falcons’ first drive went 46 yards down to the Badger 4-yard line, where the Falcons opted to try for a 21-yard field goal attempt on fourth and goal. Beebe’s Josh Turner opted to block it, giving the Badgers the ball and the momentum that they kept for the remainder of the game.
Beebe ended up with more points than needed in the first half, with three touchdowns to go ahead 20-0 at the intermission, and would only add to that score in the final 16 minutes of the contest.
The start of the second half would lead to the fourth Beebe touchdown of the night on a 79-yard drive that was capped off with a 14-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Charlie Spakes with 9:15 left in the third quarter. Spakes’ TD was set up by a 17-yard run by halfback Kyle Williams, and another scramble of 36 yards by Spakes.
Jerald Blair, who was a key component of NP’s win over Greene County Tech last week, tried to spark a rally for the Falcons once again this week with a 30-yard run on the ensuing drive. That would put the ball in Beebe territory, but Jo Barrick forced a fumble for the Badgers, and Josh Turner would recover.
Beebe would take that turnover and put the game away with a 75-yard drive that started on a 35-yard run by Chris Blundell and ended with an 11-yard touchdown dash by Joe Barrick with 5:11 left in the third quarter to make it 34-0 in favor of the Badgers.
The Falcons may not have made it two straight, but they refused to come back to Jacksonville empty handed. Arlando Hicks made the defensive play of the game for the Falcons when he recovered a Beebe fumble on the Badger 45-yard line. It only took three plays from there for quarterback A.J. Allen to find Daniel Thurman for a 42-yard touchdown pass with 8:38 left in the game. Melvin Tenner added the extra point, which set the final margin.
The Falcons actually put themselves in position to take the lead early in the game, when they forced the Badgers to punt on their opening possession and proceeded to move the ball 46 yards down to the Beebe 13-yard line. The Badger defense held North Pulaski to force a field goal attempt by Tenner, which was blocked by Turner.
Beebe took advantage of its next possession, taking the ball in for the score on the heels of fullback Blundell, who scored on a three-yard run with 7:00 left to go in the second quarter. Blundell also set up the score with a 34-yard run that took the ball deep into NP territory.
It would be Blundell on the next Beebe scoring drive as well. This time, it was a 62-yard touchdown run on forth and two with 6:38 left in the half to put the Badgers up by two scores.
The Badgers would score their next touchdown before the intermission through the air, with a 21-yard toss from Spakes to Turner for the score with 1:19 left in the second quarter. This would give Beebe a three-score lead at halftime, and would also prove to be too much deficit for the Falcons to recover.
Beebe finished the game with 421 yards of total offense, 392 yards of which come from the running game out of the patented full-house backfield. Blundell led offensively for the Badgers with 13 carries for 179 yards and two touchdowns. Spakes carried six times for 73 yards.
Beebe is now 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the 5A-East Conference. North Pulaski falls to 1-4 overall and 1-1 in the 5A-East. Beebe will take on Wynne on the road next week, while the Falcons host Batesville.
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