By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Terrell Brown saved the best for last on Thursday night.
The Gwatney Chevrolet shortstop belted a game-winning grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Chevy boys beat Greenbrier 11-6 at Dupree Park.
Brown’s smack over the left-center wall allowed the junior Chevy boys to erase a 6-5 deficit to Greenbrier, which did all of its offensive damage in the first two frames.
Greenbrier took a 6-3 lead through two, and the game from there was a stalemate until the bottom of the fifth, when Gwatney made up two runs to pull within one.
Starting Greenbrier pitcher Chase Lear walked Kenny Cummins to start the bottom of the sixth, and an error on a grounder by Jared Toney brought on a pitching change.
Reliever Austin Anderson walked Jordan Gardner to load the bases. He did get a strikeout, but that brought Brown to the plate.
Brown’s shot cleared the wall by a few feet as Cummins, Toney and Gardner all rounded the bases in front of him. It was a dramatic play, but far from the end of Jacksonville’s assault in the sixth.
Matt McAnally then walked, and another infield error by Greenbrier allowed Patrick Castleberry to reach as McAnallycame around to make it 10-6.
Tommy Sanders kept the party going with a single, and Cummins brought in Castleberry with a base hit for the final score of the night.
The game was finally called for the hour-and-50 minute time limit.
McAnally took the win for Gwatney, going the six-inning distance. He struggled through his first two innings, as he gave up six runs on seven hits. But he was solid from the third inning on, recording four strikeouts while allowing only two hits.
Greenbrier struck first with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning, but Gwatney responded. Brown doubled and scored on a single by McAnally, who was driven in by Castleberry. Castleberry’s single set up the final run of the frame, with a double by Sanders plating him for a 3-2 advantage after one.
The Panthers did their biggest damage in the second inning. They came away with four runs and four hits off McAnally, while taking advantage of one of three Gwatney errors on the night.
Sanders was 3 of 4 with a RBI. Brown was 2 of 3 with a home run and 4 RBI. McAnally was 2 of 3 with 2 RBI. For Greenbrier, Anderson was 2 of 4 with a RBI.
Friday, June 13, 2008
SPORTS>> North Little Rock pounds Cabot
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
The Cabot Community Bank junior American Legion team might have thought they were getting out of the heat when their game with North Little Rock ended on Thursday night.
Actually, it was about to get hotter.
“Sometimes you can’t control whether you win or lose, but you can control how hard you play,” said Cabot junior Legion head coach Andy Runyan shortly after his team lost 6-3 to the Colts at Burns Park to fall to 11-3-1 on the season. “From the time we showed up to the fourth inning, we didn’t play very hard. We turned it on late, but it was too late, too little.”
Cabot starter Cole Nicholson was fairly solid through three innings, and entered the fourth in a 2-2 tie. But he began to wear down, and the Colts reached him for two singles and a triple to open up a 4-2 lead.
“It was a combination of things with Cole,” Runyan said. “Their hitters did an outstanding job of fighting him off with two strikes. Thatforced him into a high pitch count. He was at 60 pitches in the third inning.
“The other thing was, he didn’t get ahead in the count. When he’s effective, he’s been getting his curve ball over early and establishing his fast ball. (The Colts) have a good lineup, and they were able to lay back and wait for their pitch.”
After Cody Grace’s triple put North Little Rock on top, Brandon Surdam came on in relief. He issued a couple of walks to load the bases, then gave up a 2-run double to David Hahn, and North Little Rock opened up a 6-2 lead.
Cabot got singles by Matt Evans and pinch hitter Matthew Turner, along with a walk to Powell Bryant, to load the bases with one out in the final inning. One out later, Ty Steele laced a run-scoring single to left and represented the tying run. But Colt relief pitcher Will Harris recorded his third strikeout of the inning — the Colts’ eighth of the game — to end it.
Over the final two innings, Cabot left five runners stranded. They put two on with one out in the fourth after Tyler Carter led off with a lined double to left-center and C.J. Jacoby walked. Both were left stranded.
“Our two-strike hitting was atrocious tonight,” Runyan said. “Their guys were doing a good job of getting their breaking pitch over in the zone. And we were doing a poor job of hitting it where the ball wants to go.
“They were acting like they were wanting to hit me (in the third base coach’s box) instead of taking it to the opposite field. And that showed in the totals tonight.”
Cabot jumped to a 1-0 lead after one inning on an Evans’ double, Powell Bryant’s infield hit and a throwing error.
Two singles and a double in the bottom of the inning put North Little Rock on top 2-1, but Cabot used a two-out rally in the third to tie it. Joe Bryant and Nicholson walked, and Powell Bryant delivered with a two-out, two-strike single to tie the game at 2.
Nicholson pitched out of a jam in the third after and error and a single put runners at first and second with just one out. But Nicholson got a pop up that turned into a force out at second and got out of trouble with his second strikeout of the game.
Cabot picked up seven hits, two each by Powell Bryant and Evans.
“(Evans) has been our catalyst up there,” Runyan said. “He’s been setting the table for us. He was on a couple of times today, but we couldn’t do much with him. We didn’t get a lot of production out of the bottom half of the order.”
NLR SENIORS 11, CABOT SENIORS 0
Matt Evans appeared to have good stuff through the first 1 1/3 innings on Thursday night, but a potent North Little Rock lineup got to him in the second inning.
After making a couple of Colt hitters look bad on swinging strikeouts in pitching around an error in the first, Evans never made it out of the second inning, and the Colts were on their way to a run-ruled win.
Meanwhile, Cabot could manage little against Colt ace Hunter Benton, who is easing his way back into the rotation after injuring his arm during the high school campaign. Benton allowed just two hits and struck out six over four innings. Cabot managed just three hits — singles by Matthew Turner, Shayne Burgan and pinch hitter Andrew Reynolds.
Josh Brown came on in relief of Evans in the second and allowed five hits and two earned runs over 2 1/3 innings.
Cabot didn’t help itself defensively, committing four errors, which led to four unearned runs.
Cabot’s best threat came in the second when Jeremy Wilson walked and Turner singled. But Cabot got only two more base runners the rest of the way.
The Colts banged out 10 hits, including a home run and two RBI singles by nine-hole hitter Kell Crain. The bottom third of the North Little Rock lineup went 4 of 7 with six RBI and five runs scored.
Leader sports editor
The Cabot Community Bank junior American Legion team might have thought they were getting out of the heat when their game with North Little Rock ended on Thursday night.
Actually, it was about to get hotter.
“Sometimes you can’t control whether you win or lose, but you can control how hard you play,” said Cabot junior Legion head coach Andy Runyan shortly after his team lost 6-3 to the Colts at Burns Park to fall to 11-3-1 on the season. “From the time we showed up to the fourth inning, we didn’t play very hard. We turned it on late, but it was too late, too little.”
Cabot starter Cole Nicholson was fairly solid through three innings, and entered the fourth in a 2-2 tie. But he began to wear down, and the Colts reached him for two singles and a triple to open up a 4-2 lead.
“It was a combination of things with Cole,” Runyan said. “Their hitters did an outstanding job of fighting him off with two strikes. Thatforced him into a high pitch count. He was at 60 pitches in the third inning.
“The other thing was, he didn’t get ahead in the count. When he’s effective, he’s been getting his curve ball over early and establishing his fast ball. (The Colts) have a good lineup, and they were able to lay back and wait for their pitch.”
After Cody Grace’s triple put North Little Rock on top, Brandon Surdam came on in relief. He issued a couple of walks to load the bases, then gave up a 2-run double to David Hahn, and North Little Rock opened up a 6-2 lead.
Cabot got singles by Matt Evans and pinch hitter Matthew Turner, along with a walk to Powell Bryant, to load the bases with one out in the final inning. One out later, Ty Steele laced a run-scoring single to left and represented the tying run. But Colt relief pitcher Will Harris recorded his third strikeout of the inning — the Colts’ eighth of the game — to end it.
Over the final two innings, Cabot left five runners stranded. They put two on with one out in the fourth after Tyler Carter led off with a lined double to left-center and C.J. Jacoby walked. Both were left stranded.
“Our two-strike hitting was atrocious tonight,” Runyan said. “Their guys were doing a good job of getting their breaking pitch over in the zone. And we were doing a poor job of hitting it where the ball wants to go.
“They were acting like they were wanting to hit me (in the third base coach’s box) instead of taking it to the opposite field. And that showed in the totals tonight.”
Cabot jumped to a 1-0 lead after one inning on an Evans’ double, Powell Bryant’s infield hit and a throwing error.
Two singles and a double in the bottom of the inning put North Little Rock on top 2-1, but Cabot used a two-out rally in the third to tie it. Joe Bryant and Nicholson walked, and Powell Bryant delivered with a two-out, two-strike single to tie the game at 2.
Nicholson pitched out of a jam in the third after and error and a single put runners at first and second with just one out. But Nicholson got a pop up that turned into a force out at second and got out of trouble with his second strikeout of the game.
Cabot picked up seven hits, two each by Powell Bryant and Evans.
“(Evans) has been our catalyst up there,” Runyan said. “He’s been setting the table for us. He was on a couple of times today, but we couldn’t do much with him. We didn’t get a lot of production out of the bottom half of the order.”
NLR SENIORS 11, CABOT SENIORS 0
Matt Evans appeared to have good stuff through the first 1 1/3 innings on Thursday night, but a potent North Little Rock lineup got to him in the second inning.
After making a couple of Colt hitters look bad on swinging strikeouts in pitching around an error in the first, Evans never made it out of the second inning, and the Colts were on their way to a run-ruled win.
Meanwhile, Cabot could manage little against Colt ace Hunter Benton, who is easing his way back into the rotation after injuring his arm during the high school campaign. Benton allowed just two hits and struck out six over four innings. Cabot managed just three hits — singles by Matthew Turner, Shayne Burgan and pinch hitter Andrew Reynolds.
Josh Brown came on in relief of Evans in the second and allowed five hits and two earned runs over 2 1/3 innings.
Cabot didn’t help itself defensively, committing four errors, which led to four unearned runs.
Cabot’s best threat came in the second when Jeremy Wilson walked and Turner singled. But Cabot got only two more base runners the rest of the way.
The Colts banged out 10 hits, including a home run and two RBI singles by nine-hole hitter Kell Crain. The bottom third of the North Little Rock lineup went 4 of 7 with six RBI and five runs scored.
SPORTS>> North Little Rock pounds Cabot
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
The Cabot Community Bank junior American Legion team might have thought they were getting out of the heat when their game with North Little Rock ended on Thursday night.
Actually, it was about to get hotter.
“Sometimes you can’t control whether you win or lose, but you can control how hard you play,” said Cabot junior Legion head coach Andy Runyan shortly after his team lost 6-3 to the Colts at Burns Park to fall to 11-3-1 on the season. “From the time we showed up to the fourth inning, we didn’t play very hard. We turned it on late, but it was too late, too little.”
Cabot starter Cole Nicholson was fairly solid through three innings, and entered the fourth in a 2-2 tie. But he began to wear down, and the Colts reached him for two singles and a triple to open up a 4-2 lead.
“It was a combination of things with Cole,” Runyan said. “Their hitters did an outstanding job of fighting him off with two strikes. Thatforced him into a high pitch count. He was at 60 pitches in the third inning.
“The other thing was, he didn’t get ahead in the count. When he’s effective, he’s been getting his curve ball over early and establishing his fast ball. (The Colts) have a good lineup, and they were able to lay back and wait for their pitch.”
After Cody Grace’s triple put North Little Rock on top, Brandon Surdam came on in relief. He issued a couple of walks to load the bases, then gave up a 2-run double to David Hahn, and North Little Rock opened up a 6-2 lead.
Cabot got singles by Matt Evans and pinch hitter Matthew Turner, along with a walk to Powell Bryant, to load the bases with one out in the final inning. One out later, Ty Steele laced a run-scoring single to left and represented the tying run. But Colt relief pitcher Will Harris recorded his third strikeout of the inning — the Colts’ eighth of the game — to end it.
Over the final two innings, Cabot left five runners stranded. They put two on with one out in the fourth after Tyler Carter led off with a lined double to left-center and C.J. Jacoby walked. Both were left stranded.
“Our two-strike hitting was atrocious tonight,” Runyan said. “Their guys were doing a good job of getting their breaking pitch over in the zone. And we were doing a poor job of hitting it where the ball wants to go.
“They were acting like they were wanting to hit me (in the third base coach’s box) instead of taking it to the opposite field. And that showed in the totals tonight.”
Cabot jumped to a 1-0 lead after one inning on an Evans’ double, Powell Bryant’s infield hit and a throwing error.
Two singles and a double in the bottom of the inning put North Little Rock on top 2-1, but Cabot used a two-out rally in the third to tie it. Joe Bryant and Nicholson walked, and Powell Bryant delivered with a two-out, two-strike single to tie the game at 2.
Nicholson pitched out of a jam in the third after and error and a single put runners at first and second with just one out. But Nicholson got a pop up that turned into a force out at second and got out of trouble with his second strikeout of the game.
Cabot picked up seven hits, two each by Powell Bryant and Evans.
“(Evans) has been our catalyst up there,” Runyan said. “He’s been setting the table for us. He was on a couple of times today, but we couldn’t do much with him. We didn’t get a lot of production out of the bottom half of the order.”
NLR SENIORS 11, CABOT SENIORS 0
Matt Evans appeared to have good stuff through the first 1 1/3 innings on Thursday night, but a potent North Little Rock lineup got to him in the second inning.
After making a couple of Colt hitters look bad on swinging strikeouts in pitching around an error in the first, Evans never made it out of the second inning, and the Colts were on their way to a run-ruled win.
Meanwhile, Cabot could manage little against Colt ace Hunter Benton, who is easing his way back into the rotation after injuring his arm during the high school campaign. Benton allowed just two hits and struck out six over four innings. Cabot managed just three hits — singles by Matthew Turner, Shayne Burgan and pinch hitter Andrew Reynolds.
Josh Brown came on in relief of Evans in the second and allowed five hits and two earned runs over 2 1/3 innings.
Cabot didn’t help itself defensively, committing four errors, which led to four unearned runs.
Cabot’s best threat came in the second when Jeremy Wilson walked and Turner singled. But Cabot got only two more base runners the rest of the way.
The Colts banged out 10 hits, including a home run and two RBI singles by nine-hole hitter Kell Crain. The bottom third of the North Little Rock lineup went 4 of 7 with six RBI and five runs scored.
Leader sports editor
The Cabot Community Bank junior American Legion team might have thought they were getting out of the heat when their game with North Little Rock ended on Thursday night.
Actually, it was about to get hotter.
“Sometimes you can’t control whether you win or lose, but you can control how hard you play,” said Cabot junior Legion head coach Andy Runyan shortly after his team lost 6-3 to the Colts at Burns Park to fall to 11-3-1 on the season. “From the time we showed up to the fourth inning, we didn’t play very hard. We turned it on late, but it was too late, too little.”
Cabot starter Cole Nicholson was fairly solid through three innings, and entered the fourth in a 2-2 tie. But he began to wear down, and the Colts reached him for two singles and a triple to open up a 4-2 lead.
“It was a combination of things with Cole,” Runyan said. “Their hitters did an outstanding job of fighting him off with two strikes. Thatforced him into a high pitch count. He was at 60 pitches in the third inning.
“The other thing was, he didn’t get ahead in the count. When he’s effective, he’s been getting his curve ball over early and establishing his fast ball. (The Colts) have a good lineup, and they were able to lay back and wait for their pitch.”
After Cody Grace’s triple put North Little Rock on top, Brandon Surdam came on in relief. He issued a couple of walks to load the bases, then gave up a 2-run double to David Hahn, and North Little Rock opened up a 6-2 lead.
Cabot got singles by Matt Evans and pinch hitter Matthew Turner, along with a walk to Powell Bryant, to load the bases with one out in the final inning. One out later, Ty Steele laced a run-scoring single to left and represented the tying run. But Colt relief pitcher Will Harris recorded his third strikeout of the inning — the Colts’ eighth of the game — to end it.
Over the final two innings, Cabot left five runners stranded. They put two on with one out in the fourth after Tyler Carter led off with a lined double to left-center and C.J. Jacoby walked. Both were left stranded.
“Our two-strike hitting was atrocious tonight,” Runyan said. “Their guys were doing a good job of getting their breaking pitch over in the zone. And we were doing a poor job of hitting it where the ball wants to go.
“They were acting like they were wanting to hit me (in the third base coach’s box) instead of taking it to the opposite field. And that showed in the totals tonight.”
Cabot jumped to a 1-0 lead after one inning on an Evans’ double, Powell Bryant’s infield hit and a throwing error.
Two singles and a double in the bottom of the inning put North Little Rock on top 2-1, but Cabot used a two-out rally in the third to tie it. Joe Bryant and Nicholson walked, and Powell Bryant delivered with a two-out, two-strike single to tie the game at 2.
Nicholson pitched out of a jam in the third after and error and a single put runners at first and second with just one out. But Nicholson got a pop up that turned into a force out at second and got out of trouble with his second strikeout of the game.
Cabot picked up seven hits, two each by Powell Bryant and Evans.
“(Evans) has been our catalyst up there,” Runyan said. “He’s been setting the table for us. He was on a couple of times today, but we couldn’t do much with him. We didn’t get a lot of production out of the bottom half of the order.”
NLR SENIORS 11, CABOT SENIORS 0
Matt Evans appeared to have good stuff through the first 1 1/3 innings on Thursday night, but a potent North Little Rock lineup got to him in the second inning.
After making a couple of Colt hitters look bad on swinging strikeouts in pitching around an error in the first, Evans never made it out of the second inning, and the Colts were on their way to a run-ruled win.
Meanwhile, Cabot could manage little against Colt ace Hunter Benton, who is easing his way back into the rotation after injuring his arm during the high school campaign. Benton allowed just two hits and struck out six over four innings. Cabot managed just three hits — singles by Matthew Turner, Shayne Burgan and pinch hitter Andrew Reynolds.
Josh Brown came on in relief of Evans in the second and allowed five hits and two earned runs over 2 1/3 innings.
Cabot didn’t help itself defensively, committing four errors, which led to four unearned runs.
Cabot’s best threat came in the second when Jeremy Wilson walked and Turner singled. But Cabot got only two more base runners the rest of the way.
The Colts banged out 10 hits, including a home run and two RBI singles by nine-hole hitter Kell Crain. The bottom third of the North Little Rock lineup went 4 of 7 with six RBI and five runs scored.
SPORTS>> Bears reach semifinals
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
For Jim Withrow, the first 7-on-7 of the summer was an opportunity to see, as he put it, “who would play when he got tired and who would perform when their backs were against the wall.”
His Sylvan Hills Bears were fresh — or, probably, not so fresh — off a football camp at Ouachita Baptist on Wednesday, and endured the stifling heat that baked the field at the Hoffman-Henry 7 on 7 Summer Showdown on Thursday at Pulaski Robinson High School.
When the footballs stopped flying, the Bears ‘A’ team had won three and lost three and made it to the semifinals.
“I thought both days we did a pretty good job,” Withrow said. “By no means are we ready to go tackle the world, but I saw a lot of positive stuff. I also saw stuff we need to improve.”
That included, he said, shoring up the secondary and finding another linebacker.
The North Pulaski Falcons also opened up the 7 on 7 season by going 1-2-1 while playing without standout Jerald Blair. The Falcons’ win came over the Sylvan Hills ‘A’ team (the Bears split up into two squads for Thursday’s tournament). Sylvan Hills avenged that loss in the elimination round with a 31-16 win.
Things couldn’t have started worse for the Falcons, who gave up 40-yard touchdowns on each of the first two Hot Springs’ Lakeside offensive plays to open the tournament. In 7 on 7 football, each team takes the ball at the 40-yard line. Lakeside eventually won the tournament.
“We had a lot of young kids playing out of position,” said North Pulaski coach Tony Bohannon. “We were supposed to be in man and the kid played it like it was zone, and let the receiver go. We had a couple of miscues.”
North Pulaski finally got settled defensively when Orlando Hicks broke up a pass at the goal line on the Rams’ third possession.
The favorite target of Falcon quarterback A.J. Allen on Thursday was Daniel Thurman, who caught all three touchdown passes in NP’s 21-10 win over Sylvan Hills. Thurman hauled in a fingertip catch for North Pulaski’s only score against the Rams.
“Daniel is a good receiver and a gutsy kid,” Bohannon said. “It was tough on A.J. He’s been throwing a baseball (for Gwatney American Legion) and now he has to step in and throw the football. I was really pleased overall with the way the kids performed.”
With backup Sylvan Hills quarterback Michael Maddox injured, Casey Cerrato stood in for the ‘B’ team, which was made up of younger, mostly junior varsity players. Though Cerrato struggled with his throwing and his decisions early, Withrow said he came around later in the day.
“We needed three yards for a first down against Lakeside and he threw deep,” Withrow said. “He turned to me and said, ‘I know.’ He understood. It’s a process and that’s why we’re out there, to get better.”
What most impressed Withrow about Cerrato was how tough he was on a scorching day.
“He’s one of those guys you have to have to win games,” Withrow said. “He’s a great team player. He played quarterback, receiver, safety and corner. (It was like he) ran to Perryville and back (Thursday).
“That’s just Casey. He’s a hard nosed guy and he understands the game.”
But it is Jordan Spears who is tabbed as the No. 1 quarterback this fall, and Withrow was high on him as well. Withrow said Spears’ arm looked great on Thursday, and marveled at his understanding of the game.
Spears hit Ahmad Scott for a 12-yard touchdown in Sylvan Hills’ opening round game against the Sylvan Hills ‘B’ team.
He added another scoring pass to Taylor Pennington, who made a leaping, fingertip grab in the back of the end zone, and capped off the 21-0 win with a strike to Lawrence Hodges, who caught the ball off a tip while falling down in the end zone.
“Ahmad was in a camp with (former Arkansas Razorbacks) J.J. Meadors and Anthony Lucas in the spring, and it shows,” Withrow said. “He ran better routes. And he did better in the secondary, too.”
Pennington, who is filling in for injured tight end Devin Shaw, showed good hands on Thursday, Withrow said, but needs to add consistency. And Juliean Broner caught a lot of passes and intercepted a couple of others, Withrow noted.
“Barry Bir is another guy that hardly ever got off the field (Thursday),” Withrow said. “He’s had a great offseason and is a leader-type guy.”
Bohannon said that would be the final 7 on 7 competition for his team this season, as his Falcons will primarily be a running team this fall. But the experience was good for his club and allowed him to make some early assessments, he said.
“I wasn’t so happy with our defensive coverage,” he said. “We need to be able to make better adjustments. But, again, a lot of that was just inexperience. We would have been a lot better with Jerald there.”
More importantly, Bohannon said, the event allowed his kids to compete.
“We wanted to win, but we wanted to get some work in,” he said. “That’s four games under their belt that a lot of other kids don’t have.”
Leader sports editor
For Jim Withrow, the first 7-on-7 of the summer was an opportunity to see, as he put it, “who would play when he got tired and who would perform when their backs were against the wall.”
His Sylvan Hills Bears were fresh — or, probably, not so fresh — off a football camp at Ouachita Baptist on Wednesday, and endured the stifling heat that baked the field at the Hoffman-Henry 7 on 7 Summer Showdown on Thursday at Pulaski Robinson High School.
When the footballs stopped flying, the Bears ‘A’ team had won three and lost three and made it to the semifinals.
“I thought both days we did a pretty good job,” Withrow said. “By no means are we ready to go tackle the world, but I saw a lot of positive stuff. I also saw stuff we need to improve.”
That included, he said, shoring up the secondary and finding another linebacker.
The North Pulaski Falcons also opened up the 7 on 7 season by going 1-2-1 while playing without standout Jerald Blair. The Falcons’ win came over the Sylvan Hills ‘A’ team (the Bears split up into two squads for Thursday’s tournament). Sylvan Hills avenged that loss in the elimination round with a 31-16 win.
Things couldn’t have started worse for the Falcons, who gave up 40-yard touchdowns on each of the first two Hot Springs’ Lakeside offensive plays to open the tournament. In 7 on 7 football, each team takes the ball at the 40-yard line. Lakeside eventually won the tournament.
“We had a lot of young kids playing out of position,” said North Pulaski coach Tony Bohannon. “We were supposed to be in man and the kid played it like it was zone, and let the receiver go. We had a couple of miscues.”
North Pulaski finally got settled defensively when Orlando Hicks broke up a pass at the goal line on the Rams’ third possession.
The favorite target of Falcon quarterback A.J. Allen on Thursday was Daniel Thurman, who caught all three touchdown passes in NP’s 21-10 win over Sylvan Hills. Thurman hauled in a fingertip catch for North Pulaski’s only score against the Rams.
“Daniel is a good receiver and a gutsy kid,” Bohannon said. “It was tough on A.J. He’s been throwing a baseball (for Gwatney American Legion) and now he has to step in and throw the football. I was really pleased overall with the way the kids performed.”
With backup Sylvan Hills quarterback Michael Maddox injured, Casey Cerrato stood in for the ‘B’ team, which was made up of younger, mostly junior varsity players. Though Cerrato struggled with his throwing and his decisions early, Withrow said he came around later in the day.
“We needed three yards for a first down against Lakeside and he threw deep,” Withrow said. “He turned to me and said, ‘I know.’ He understood. It’s a process and that’s why we’re out there, to get better.”
What most impressed Withrow about Cerrato was how tough he was on a scorching day.
“He’s one of those guys you have to have to win games,” Withrow said. “He’s a great team player. He played quarterback, receiver, safety and corner. (It was like he) ran to Perryville and back (Thursday).
“That’s just Casey. He’s a hard nosed guy and he understands the game.”
But it is Jordan Spears who is tabbed as the No. 1 quarterback this fall, and Withrow was high on him as well. Withrow said Spears’ arm looked great on Thursday, and marveled at his understanding of the game.
Spears hit Ahmad Scott for a 12-yard touchdown in Sylvan Hills’ opening round game against the Sylvan Hills ‘B’ team.
He added another scoring pass to Taylor Pennington, who made a leaping, fingertip grab in the back of the end zone, and capped off the 21-0 win with a strike to Lawrence Hodges, who caught the ball off a tip while falling down in the end zone.
“Ahmad was in a camp with (former Arkansas Razorbacks) J.J. Meadors and Anthony Lucas in the spring, and it shows,” Withrow said. “He ran better routes. And he did better in the secondary, too.”
Pennington, who is filling in for injured tight end Devin Shaw, showed good hands on Thursday, Withrow said, but needs to add consistency. And Juliean Broner caught a lot of passes and intercepted a couple of others, Withrow noted.
“Barry Bir is another guy that hardly ever got off the field (Thursday),” Withrow said. “He’s had a great offseason and is a leader-type guy.”
Bohannon said that would be the final 7 on 7 competition for his team this season, as his Falcons will primarily be a running team this fall. But the experience was good for his club and allowed him to make some early assessments, he said.
“I wasn’t so happy with our defensive coverage,” he said. “We need to be able to make better adjustments. But, again, a lot of that was just inexperience. We would have been a lot better with Jerald there.”
More importantly, Bohannon said, the event allowed his kids to compete.
“We wanted to win, but we wanted to get some work in,” he said. “That’s four games under their belt that a lot of other kids don’t have.”
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
TOP STORY >>District head sees progress
By HEARTHER HARTSELL
Leader staff writer
It’s been a whirlwind first year for the superintendent of Cabot Public Schools, but Dr. Tony Thurman says he’s looking forward to representing the district for a long time as he and his team work to make one of the state’s best school districts even better.
“I take tremendous pride in representing our district as superintendent,” he told The Leader this week. “Cabot is a great place to live and raise a family. We have one of the most outstanding school districts in Arkansas, but there are always areas in which to improve.”
The challenge before him is to build on the great things Cabot schools already have in place, something he promised to do when he got the job.
Thurman was one of 22 people, including five from within the Cabot district, who applied for the position as chief of Cabot schools when then Superintendent Dr. Frank Holman announced he was resigning in March 2007.
Thurman switched roles from high school principal to superintendent of a district with an over 9,000 strong student population at the end of the 2006-07 school year after Holman returned to the Lincoln Consolidated School District near Fayetteville where he had worked for 16 years.
When the school board an-nounced he had been chosen, Thurman, 39, said he would do everything in his power “to continue Cabot’s tradition (of excellence) and make us only bigger and better.”
To his credit, he’s got a pretty good record so far as a first-time superintendent — not only did Cabot schools receive district accreditation during its AdvancEd visit in March, but voters also passed a 3.9 mills increase too.
“Obviously, the success of the millage campaign is the most important accomplishment of the year. I’m so thankful to our patrons for being supportive and I assure everyone that we will be good stewards of public funds,” Thurman said.
He’s proud that the district was able to earn full district accreditation too — “this was huge for our district,” Thurman said.
He told The Leader he must now bring about effective change in the areas needing improvement and must implement a long-term systemic structure that ensures success for students and a positive working environment for staff.
He admits being superintendent is more challenging than he thought it would be, but he wouldn’t change a thing.
“The job never ends and the stress involved can be totally consuming if allowed to be,” he said. “I would still apply for the position even knowing the amount of work involved. I really enjoy my job.”
Although he said he was happy being the high school principal, he applied for the superintendent position as a way to stay in a district he loves and work with all the students in the district. He doesn’t regret making the move to the central administration office, but it gives him less time for day-to-day interaction.
“I wouldn’t say that I regret moving from building level administrator to district level, but I do miss the students, faculty and parents,” Thurman said. “I made the decision to apply for the position with the full understanding that things would really change. I have really missed the day-to-day involvement with the students, parents and faculty members and it has been a difficult transition at times.”
“My favorite part of the day as principal was the morning, lunch and afternoon duty blocks when I could visit with the kids. I still visit schools as much as possible, but it is in a very different role,” he added.
The transition also brought adjustments for his family – wife Tara Leigh, a Cabot elementary school teacher, and two children, Ryane Elizabeth and Rhett Jackson, both in elementary school.
“The adjustment has been a challenge for my wife and children. I’m considerably more busy now than I was as high school principal,” Thurman said, “but I’m very fortunate that my family likes to be involved in school activities. We attend sporting events, plays, banquets, musicals and award ceremonies together as much as possible.”
Leader staff writer
It’s been a whirlwind first year for the superintendent of Cabot Public Schools, but Dr. Tony Thurman says he’s looking forward to representing the district for a long time as he and his team work to make one of the state’s best school districts even better.
“I take tremendous pride in representing our district as superintendent,” he told The Leader this week. “Cabot is a great place to live and raise a family. We have one of the most outstanding school districts in Arkansas, but there are always areas in which to improve.”
The challenge before him is to build on the great things Cabot schools already have in place, something he promised to do when he got the job.
Thurman was one of 22 people, including five from within the Cabot district, who applied for the position as chief of Cabot schools when then Superintendent Dr. Frank Holman announced he was resigning in March 2007.
Thurman switched roles from high school principal to superintendent of a district with an over 9,000 strong student population at the end of the 2006-07 school year after Holman returned to the Lincoln Consolidated School District near Fayetteville where he had worked for 16 years.
When the school board an-nounced he had been chosen, Thurman, 39, said he would do everything in his power “to continue Cabot’s tradition (of excellence) and make us only bigger and better.”
To his credit, he’s got a pretty good record so far as a first-time superintendent — not only did Cabot schools receive district accreditation during its AdvancEd visit in March, but voters also passed a 3.9 mills increase too.
“Obviously, the success of the millage campaign is the most important accomplishment of the year. I’m so thankful to our patrons for being supportive and I assure everyone that we will be good stewards of public funds,” Thurman said.
He’s proud that the district was able to earn full district accreditation too — “this was huge for our district,” Thurman said.
He told The Leader he must now bring about effective change in the areas needing improvement and must implement a long-term systemic structure that ensures success for students and a positive working environment for staff.
He admits being superintendent is more challenging than he thought it would be, but he wouldn’t change a thing.
“The job never ends and the stress involved can be totally consuming if allowed to be,” he said. “I would still apply for the position even knowing the amount of work involved. I really enjoy my job.”
Although he said he was happy being the high school principal, he applied for the superintendent position as a way to stay in a district he loves and work with all the students in the district. He doesn’t regret making the move to the central administration office, but it gives him less time for day-to-day interaction.
“I wouldn’t say that I regret moving from building level administrator to district level, but I do miss the students, faculty and parents,” Thurman said. “I made the decision to apply for the position with the full understanding that things would really change. I have really missed the day-to-day involvement with the students, parents and faculty members and it has been a difficult transition at times.”
“My favorite part of the day as principal was the morning, lunch and afternoon duty blocks when I could visit with the kids. I still visit schools as much as possible, but it is in a very different role,” he added.
The transition also brought adjustments for his family – wife Tara Leigh, a Cabot elementary school teacher, and two children, Ryane Elizabeth and Rhett Jackson, both in elementary school.
“The adjustment has been a challenge for my wife and children. I’m considerably more busy now than I was as high school principal,” Thurman said, “but I’m very fortunate that my family likes to be involved in school activities. We attend sporting events, plays, banquets, musicals and award ceremonies together as much as possible.”
TOP STORY >>District head sees progress
By HEARTHER HARTSELL
Leader staff writer
It’s been a whirlwind first year for the superintendent of Cabot Public Schools, but Dr. Tony Thurman says he’s looking forward to representing the district for a long time as he and his team work to make one of the state’s best school districts even better.
“I take tremendous pride in representing our district as superintendent,” he told The Leader this week. “Cabot is a great place to live and raise a family. We have one of the most outstanding school districts in Arkansas, but there are always areas in which to improve.”
The challenge before him is to build on the great things Cabot schools already have in place, something he promised to do when he got the job.
Thurman was one of 22 people, including five from within the Cabot district, who applied for the position as chief of Cabot schools when then Superintendent Dr. Frank Holman announced he was resigning in March 2007.
Thurman switched roles from high school principal to superintendent of a district with an over 9,000 strong student population at the end of the 2006-07 school year after Holman returned to the Lincoln Consolidated School District near Fayetteville where he had worked for 16 years.
When the school board an-nounced he had been chosen, Thurman, 39, said he would do everything in his power “to continue Cabot’s tradition (of excellence) and make us only bigger and better.”
To his credit, he’s got a pretty good record so far as a first-time superintendent — not only did Cabot schools receive district accreditation during its AdvancEd visit in March, but voters also passed a 3.9 mills increase too.
“Obviously, the success of the millage campaign is the most important accomplishment of the year. I’m so thankful to our patrons for being supportive and I assure everyone that we will be good stewards of public funds,” Thurman said.
He’s proud that the district was able to earn full district accreditation too — “this was huge for our district,” Thurman said.
He told The Leader he must now bring about effective change in the areas needing improvement and must implement a long-term systemic structure that ensures success for students and a positive working environment for staff.
He admits being superintendent is more challenging than he thought it would be, but he wouldn’t change a thing.
“The job never ends and the stress involved can be totally consuming if allowed to be,” he said. “I would still apply for the position even knowing the amount of work involved. I really enjoy my job.”
Although he said he was happy being the high school principal, he applied for the superintendent position as a way to stay in a district he loves and work with all the students in the district. He doesn’t regret making the move to the central administration office, but it gives him less time for day-to-day interaction.
“I wouldn’t say that I regret moving from building level administrator to district level, but I do miss the students, faculty and parents,” Thurman said. “I made the decision to apply for the position with the full understanding that things would really change. I have really missed the day-to-day involvement with the students, parents and faculty members and it has been a difficult transition at times.”
“My favorite part of the day as principal was the morning, lunch and afternoon duty blocks when I could visit with the kids. I still visit schools as much as possible, but it is in a very different role,” he added.
The transition also brought adjustments for his family – wife Tara Leigh, a Cabot elementary school teacher, and two children, Ryane Elizabeth and Rhett Jackson, both in elementary school.
“The adjustment has been a challenge for my wife and children. I’m considerably more busy now than I was as high school principal,” Thurman said, “but I’m very fortunate that my family likes to be involved in school activities. We attend sporting events, plays, banquets, musicals and award ceremonies together as much as possible.”
Leader staff writer
It’s been a whirlwind first year for the superintendent of Cabot Public Schools, but Dr. Tony Thurman says he’s looking forward to representing the district for a long time as he and his team work to make one of the state’s best school districts even better.
“I take tremendous pride in representing our district as superintendent,” he told The Leader this week. “Cabot is a great place to live and raise a family. We have one of the most outstanding school districts in Arkansas, but there are always areas in which to improve.”
The challenge before him is to build on the great things Cabot schools already have in place, something he promised to do when he got the job.
Thurman was one of 22 people, including five from within the Cabot district, who applied for the position as chief of Cabot schools when then Superintendent Dr. Frank Holman announced he was resigning in March 2007.
Thurman switched roles from high school principal to superintendent of a district with an over 9,000 strong student population at the end of the 2006-07 school year after Holman returned to the Lincoln Consolidated School District near Fayetteville where he had worked for 16 years.
When the school board an-nounced he had been chosen, Thurman, 39, said he would do everything in his power “to continue Cabot’s tradition (of excellence) and make us only bigger and better.”
To his credit, he’s got a pretty good record so far as a first-time superintendent — not only did Cabot schools receive district accreditation during its AdvancEd visit in March, but voters also passed a 3.9 mills increase too.
“Obviously, the success of the millage campaign is the most important accomplishment of the year. I’m so thankful to our patrons for being supportive and I assure everyone that we will be good stewards of public funds,” Thurman said.
He’s proud that the district was able to earn full district accreditation too — “this was huge for our district,” Thurman said.
He told The Leader he must now bring about effective change in the areas needing improvement and must implement a long-term systemic structure that ensures success for students and a positive working environment for staff.
He admits being superintendent is more challenging than he thought it would be, but he wouldn’t change a thing.
“The job never ends and the stress involved can be totally consuming if allowed to be,” he said. “I would still apply for the position even knowing the amount of work involved. I really enjoy my job.”
Although he said he was happy being the high school principal, he applied for the superintendent position as a way to stay in a district he loves and work with all the students in the district. He doesn’t regret making the move to the central administration office, but it gives him less time for day-to-day interaction.
“I wouldn’t say that I regret moving from building level administrator to district level, but I do miss the students, faculty and parents,” Thurman said. “I made the decision to apply for the position with the full understanding that things would really change. I have really missed the day-to-day involvement with the students, parents and faculty members and it has been a difficult transition at times.”
“My favorite part of the day as principal was the morning, lunch and afternoon duty blocks when I could visit with the kids. I still visit schools as much as possible, but it is in a very different role,” he added.
The transition also brought adjustments for his family – wife Tara Leigh, a Cabot elementary school teacher, and two children, Ryane Elizabeth and Rhett Jackson, both in elementary school.
“The adjustment has been a challenge for my wife and children. I’m considerably more busy now than I was as high school principal,” Thurman said, “but I’m very fortunate that my family likes to be involved in school activities. We attend sporting events, plays, banquets, musicals and award ceremonies together as much as possible.”
TOP STORY >>District head sees progress
By HEARTHER HARTSELL
Leader staff writer
It’s been a whirlwind first year for the superintendent of Cabot Public Schools, but Dr. Tony Thurman says he’s looking forward to representing the district for a long time as he and his team work to make one of the state’s best school districts even better.
“I take tremendous pride in representing our district as superintendent,” he told The Leader this week. “Cabot is a great place to live and raise a family. We have one of the most outstanding school districts in Arkansas, but there are always areas in which to improve.”
The challenge before him is to build on the great things Cabot schools already have in place, something he promised to do when he got the job.
Thurman was one of 22 people, including five from within the Cabot district, who applied for the position as chief of Cabot schools when then Superintendent Dr. Frank Holman announced he was resigning in March 2007.
Thurman switched roles from high school principal to superintendent of a district with an over 9,000 strong student population at the end of the 2006-07 school year after Holman returned to the Lincoln Consolidated School District near Fayetteville where he had worked for 16 years.
When the school board an-nounced he had been chosen, Thurman, 39, said he would do everything in his power “to continue Cabot’s tradition (of excellence) and make us only bigger and better.”
To his credit, he’s got a pretty good record so far as a first-time superintendent — not only did Cabot schools receive district accreditation during its AdvancEd visit in March, but voters also passed a 3.9 mills increase too.
“Obviously, the success of the millage campaign is the most important accomplishment of the year. I’m so thankful to our patrons for being supportive and I assure everyone that we will be good stewards of public funds,” Thurman said.
He’s proud that the district was able to earn full district accreditation too — “this was huge for our district,” Thurman said.
He told The Leader he must now bring about effective change in the areas needing improvement and must implement a long-term systemic structure that ensures success for students and a positive working environment for staff.
He admits being superintendent is more challenging than he thought it would be, but he wouldn’t change a thing.
“The job never ends and the stress involved can be totally consuming if allowed to be,” he said. “I would still apply for the position even knowing the amount of work involved. I really enjoy my job.”
Although he said he was happy being the high school principal, he applied for the superintendent position as a way to stay in a district he loves and work with all the students in the district. He doesn’t regret making the move to the central administration office, but it gives him less time for day-to-day interaction.
“I wouldn’t say that I regret moving from building level administrator to district level, but I do miss the students, faculty and parents,” Thurman said. “I made the decision to apply for the position with the full understanding that things would really change. I have really missed the day-to-day involvement with the students, parents and faculty members and it has been a difficult transition at times.”
“My favorite part of the day as principal was the morning, lunch and afternoon duty blocks when I could visit with the kids. I still visit schools as much as possible, but it is in a very different role,” he added.
The transition also brought adjustments for his family – wife Tara Leigh, a Cabot elementary school teacher, and two children, Ryane Elizabeth and Rhett Jackson, both in elementary school.
“The adjustment has been a challenge for my wife and children. I’m considerably more busy now than I was as high school principal,” Thurman said, “but I’m very fortunate that my family likes to be involved in school activities. We attend sporting events, plays, banquets, musicals and award ceremonies together as much as possible.”
Leader staff writer
It’s been a whirlwind first year for the superintendent of Cabot Public Schools, but Dr. Tony Thurman says he’s looking forward to representing the district for a long time as he and his team work to make one of the state’s best school districts even better.
“I take tremendous pride in representing our district as superintendent,” he told The Leader this week. “Cabot is a great place to live and raise a family. We have one of the most outstanding school districts in Arkansas, but there are always areas in which to improve.”
The challenge before him is to build on the great things Cabot schools already have in place, something he promised to do when he got the job.
Thurman was one of 22 people, including five from within the Cabot district, who applied for the position as chief of Cabot schools when then Superintendent Dr. Frank Holman announced he was resigning in March 2007.
Thurman switched roles from high school principal to superintendent of a district with an over 9,000 strong student population at the end of the 2006-07 school year after Holman returned to the Lincoln Consolidated School District near Fayetteville where he had worked for 16 years.
When the school board an-nounced he had been chosen, Thurman, 39, said he would do everything in his power “to continue Cabot’s tradition (of excellence) and make us only bigger and better.”
To his credit, he’s got a pretty good record so far as a first-time superintendent — not only did Cabot schools receive district accreditation during its AdvancEd visit in March, but voters also passed a 3.9 mills increase too.
“Obviously, the success of the millage campaign is the most important accomplishment of the year. I’m so thankful to our patrons for being supportive and I assure everyone that we will be good stewards of public funds,” Thurman said.
He’s proud that the district was able to earn full district accreditation too — “this was huge for our district,” Thurman said.
He told The Leader he must now bring about effective change in the areas needing improvement and must implement a long-term systemic structure that ensures success for students and a positive working environment for staff.
He admits being superintendent is more challenging than he thought it would be, but he wouldn’t change a thing.
“The job never ends and the stress involved can be totally consuming if allowed to be,” he said. “I would still apply for the position even knowing the amount of work involved. I really enjoy my job.”
Although he said he was happy being the high school principal, he applied for the superintendent position as a way to stay in a district he loves and work with all the students in the district. He doesn’t regret making the move to the central administration office, but it gives him less time for day-to-day interaction.
“I wouldn’t say that I regret moving from building level administrator to district level, but I do miss the students, faculty and parents,” Thurman said. “I made the decision to apply for the position with the full understanding that things would really change. I have really missed the day-to-day involvement with the students, parents and faculty members and it has been a difficult transition at times.”
“My favorite part of the day as principal was the morning, lunch and afternoon duty blocks when I could visit with the kids. I still visit schools as much as possible, but it is in a very different role,” he added.
The transition also brought adjustments for his family – wife Tara Leigh, a Cabot elementary school teacher, and two children, Ryane Elizabeth and Rhett Jackson, both in elementary school.
“The adjustment has been a challenge for my wife and children. I’m considerably more busy now than I was as high school principal,” Thurman said, “but I’m very fortunate that my family likes to be involved in school activities. We attend sporting events, plays, banquets, musicals and award ceremonies together as much as possible.”
TOP STORY >>Water department head is retiring after 23 years
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
After 23 years with the Jacksonville Water Department and 19 years as its chief, Ken Anderson will hand over the reins to Mike Simpson later this month.
Simpson, a 30-year veteran of the department, is currently the operations and maintenance director.
For Anderson it will complete a journey that started basically at the bottom of the ladder and through hard work took him to the top.
After four years in the Air Force and earning a degree in banking and finance at the University of Arkansas, Ander-son took a job in 1985 with the water department as an administrative assistant doing mostly office work. “Back then, we had one big computer for billing and all the other office work was done manually,” Anderson said.
“Now all accounting functions are computerized using much smaller computers too,” he added.
In 1988, he moved up to office manager and then 11 months later was selected to head the department. Anderson, who came to Jacksonville in the mid 50’s with the opening of Little Rock Air Force Base, has spent most of his time in Jacksonville, except when he was in the service and college.
Anderson and his wife plan to stay in the area and spend time with their two grandchildren. “I’ll become a committed babysitter,” he chuckled. Anderson will also be spending time working on his 1972 Datsun 240Z.
“I’ve been renovating it ever since I got it six years ago, doing a bit at a time,” he said. He said he bought it from a friend in Benton who had in in storage after blowing the engine in 1985. “I’ve enjoyed working on cars ever since high school,” he said.
Anderson and his wife plan to do some traveling too.
“But with the price of gas, we’ll still do some but not as much as originally planned,” he said. In his 23 years with the department, he has seen the city’s water use and capacity grow immensely.
When Anderson started the department, it had 23 employees and 7,787 customers. Now it has 33 employees and 9,652 customers. Back in 1989, the department was producing 1.4 billion gallons of water a year. It’s now doing 300 million gallons more at 1.7 billion gallons of water a year. The city has also moved from getting most of its water from wells to using wells and water supplied by Central Arkansas Water, which gets its water from Lake Maumelle.
What Anderson is probably most proud of is all the improvements the department made to get the city’s fire-insurance rating lowered from a four to a three in 1997. In looking back, Anderson said the department added a million gallon storage tank to the city system in 1990. That tank is located in Paradise Park. In 1992 a 12-inch water main was installed from the city’s east water treatment plant on Military Road to west Mai and Shady Lane.
“That created a major loop for that side of town and greatly improved water pressure for those residents,” Anderson said.
Keeping up with technology, Anderson said the department switched out the city water meters in 2007 replacing them with state- of -the-art meters that can be read by a mobile computer as an employee drives the route. “This saves us time and money which results in a savings for the customers,” he said.
Leader staff writer
After 23 years with the Jacksonville Water Department and 19 years as its chief, Ken Anderson will hand over the reins to Mike Simpson later this month.
Simpson, a 30-year veteran of the department, is currently the operations and maintenance director.
For Anderson it will complete a journey that started basically at the bottom of the ladder and through hard work took him to the top.
After four years in the Air Force and earning a degree in banking and finance at the University of Arkansas, Ander-son took a job in 1985 with the water department as an administrative assistant doing mostly office work. “Back then, we had one big computer for billing and all the other office work was done manually,” Anderson said.
“Now all accounting functions are computerized using much smaller computers too,” he added.
In 1988, he moved up to office manager and then 11 months later was selected to head the department. Anderson, who came to Jacksonville in the mid 50’s with the opening of Little Rock Air Force Base, has spent most of his time in Jacksonville, except when he was in the service and college.
Anderson and his wife plan to stay in the area and spend time with their two grandchildren. “I’ll become a committed babysitter,” he chuckled. Anderson will also be spending time working on his 1972 Datsun 240Z.
“I’ve been renovating it ever since I got it six years ago, doing a bit at a time,” he said. He said he bought it from a friend in Benton who had in in storage after blowing the engine in 1985. “I’ve enjoyed working on cars ever since high school,” he said.
Anderson and his wife plan to do some traveling too.
“But with the price of gas, we’ll still do some but not as much as originally planned,” he said. In his 23 years with the department, he has seen the city’s water use and capacity grow immensely.
When Anderson started the department, it had 23 employees and 7,787 customers. Now it has 33 employees and 9,652 customers. Back in 1989, the department was producing 1.4 billion gallons of water a year. It’s now doing 300 million gallons more at 1.7 billion gallons of water a year. The city has also moved from getting most of its water from wells to using wells and water supplied by Central Arkansas Water, which gets its water from Lake Maumelle.
What Anderson is probably most proud of is all the improvements the department made to get the city’s fire-insurance rating lowered from a four to a three in 1997. In looking back, Anderson said the department added a million gallon storage tank to the city system in 1990. That tank is located in Paradise Park. In 1992 a 12-inch water main was installed from the city’s east water treatment plant on Military Road to west Mai and Shady Lane.
“That created a major loop for that side of town and greatly improved water pressure for those residents,” Anderson said.
Keeping up with technology, Anderson said the department switched out the city water meters in 2007 replacing them with state- of -the-art meters that can be read by a mobile computer as an employee drives the route. “This saves us time and money which results in a savings for the customers,” he said.
TOP STORY >>New chief finds lot of heart in officers
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Jacksonville Police Chief Gary Sipes has been on the job for about two months now and is very impressed with the department.
Sipes, who was the Benton police chief before taking over in April, said, “The best thing that I have found about the department is the number of dedicated officers and staff who want to work here and serve the city.
“These guys have the opportunity to go to larger departments in central Arkansas and make more money, but they chose to stay here,” he continued.
That means a lot to the chief who’s three sons all attended Jacksonville High School and live close by. He cites an incident just last week where officers “helped” evict a resident because that resident was a nuisance to that particular neighborhood.
The chief said the location was the site of an arrest and had people loitering in the area night and day.
“Our officers contacted the landlord and made them aware of the activities and the landlord’s responsibilities in cases like this,” the chief explained. “This is something we’ll continue to do.”
Sipes is also proud that the department will be sponsoring its first Citizens Police Academy in September.
“We are looking to have 25 to 30 residents in the class. They will meet one night a week for eight weeks and get a good inside look at the department,” he said.
The chief went on to explain, “You know sometimes you see an officer do something that doesn’t make a bit of sense to the normal citizen but we do things for a reason. I want to educate our citizens as best as we can so they have a positive image about their department.”
Even though the chief is proud of the “heart” the department has, he said it is lacking in equipment.
Thursday night he asked the city council to approve the purchase of Taser weapons, which shoot out an electrical charge to stun suspects.
“This will be the first time that we’ll have these electronic control units,” Sipes explained. “And it will help bring our officer injuries down because the officers will not likely have to put hands on a combative individual.”
The chief also said he is pushing training. “Our officers will receive and attend every training opportunity that presents itself.
The Criminal Justice Institute offers us excellent opportunities at no cost and I’ll take advantage of it,” he said.
Even though Sipes has been on the job just a few months he already has to deal with the budget concerns because of the rising cost of fuel.
“Right now he haven’t made any major changes, except to be aware of the cost and trying to drive smart,” the chief said.
With it being summer time, the department does have some patrol officers on bicycles and that helps keep fuel usage down.
Sipes, who has been married for 32 years and has three grown sons, started his police career when he was 18 as a cadet with the North Little Rock Police Department.
He became a North Little Rock police officer when he turned 21 and worked every division in the department before he retired in April 1999 and became the director for the city’s code enforcement department.
In 2004, he was selected to head up the Benton Police Department.
Just before that, he was a finalist for the open police chief job in Jacksonville left vacant by the departure of Wayne Ruthven.
Capt. Robert Baker was selected as chief and ran the force until his retirement in March.
Two of Sipes’ sons have followed him into law enforcement as one is a North Little Rock police office and the other is a Pulaski County deputy.
Leader staff writer
Jacksonville Police Chief Gary Sipes has been on the job for about two months now and is very impressed with the department.
Sipes, who was the Benton police chief before taking over in April, said, “The best thing that I have found about the department is the number of dedicated officers and staff who want to work here and serve the city.
“These guys have the opportunity to go to larger departments in central Arkansas and make more money, but they chose to stay here,” he continued.
That means a lot to the chief who’s three sons all attended Jacksonville High School and live close by. He cites an incident just last week where officers “helped” evict a resident because that resident was a nuisance to that particular neighborhood.
The chief said the location was the site of an arrest and had people loitering in the area night and day.
“Our officers contacted the landlord and made them aware of the activities and the landlord’s responsibilities in cases like this,” the chief explained. “This is something we’ll continue to do.”
Sipes is also proud that the department will be sponsoring its first Citizens Police Academy in September.
“We are looking to have 25 to 30 residents in the class. They will meet one night a week for eight weeks and get a good inside look at the department,” he said.
The chief went on to explain, “You know sometimes you see an officer do something that doesn’t make a bit of sense to the normal citizen but we do things for a reason. I want to educate our citizens as best as we can so they have a positive image about their department.”
Even though the chief is proud of the “heart” the department has, he said it is lacking in equipment.
Thursday night he asked the city council to approve the purchase of Taser weapons, which shoot out an electrical charge to stun suspects.
“This will be the first time that we’ll have these electronic control units,” Sipes explained. “And it will help bring our officer injuries down because the officers will not likely have to put hands on a combative individual.”
The chief also said he is pushing training. “Our officers will receive and attend every training opportunity that presents itself.
The Criminal Justice Institute offers us excellent opportunities at no cost and I’ll take advantage of it,” he said.
Even though Sipes has been on the job just a few months he already has to deal with the budget concerns because of the rising cost of fuel.
“Right now he haven’t made any major changes, except to be aware of the cost and trying to drive smart,” the chief said.
With it being summer time, the department does have some patrol officers on bicycles and that helps keep fuel usage down.
Sipes, who has been married for 32 years and has three grown sons, started his police career when he was 18 as a cadet with the North Little Rock Police Department.
He became a North Little Rock police officer when he turned 21 and worked every division in the department before he retired in April 1999 and became the director for the city’s code enforcement department.
In 2004, he was selected to head up the Benton Police Department.
Just before that, he was a finalist for the open police chief job in Jacksonville left vacant by the departure of Wayne Ruthven.
Capt. Robert Baker was selected as chief and ran the force until his retirement in March.
Two of Sipes’ sons have followed him into law enforcement as one is a North Little Rock police office and the other is a Pulaski County deputy.
TOP STORY >>Governor waits to hear killer’s plea
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
Gov. Mike Beebe has not granted clemency to a Furlow man who killed his family 11 years ago, but neither has he denied it.
The clemency petition from Heath Stocks, who killed his mother, father and younger sister was not among the 31 requests the governor denied Friday and it was not included in the 42 petitions the governor took no action on, which means those petitions may be refiled again immediately.
Stacy Stark, who is deputy spokesperson for the governor, said this week that the governor received Stocks’ petition Jan. 23 and by state law he has 240 days, until Sept. 19, to respond. Whether any significance should be attached to the governor not acting yet on Stocks’ petition, Stark said she could not say.
Stocks, 31, is asking for his life sentence to be commuted to a sentence of years so that he may someday be eligible for parole. He is incarcerated at the Tucker Maximum Security Unit near Pine Bluff.
The parole board said Stocks’ petition was without merit when it was sent it to the governor. Rhonda Sharp, a spokesperson for the parole board, said the board has no authority to deny clemency, only to make recommendations to the governor, who has sole authority in that area.
Stocks’ appeal is his second since he pleaded guilty to the January 1997 murders of Joe, Barbara and Heather Stocks and was sentenced without a trial to life without the possibility of parole. But he testified later during the victim impact hearing for convicted rapist Charles A. “Jack” Walls III of Lonoke that he was under the influence of Walls and killed his parents because Walls told him to.
Stocks told Judge Lance Hanshaw that he loved Walls like a father and that he killed his family to protect Walls who had sexually abused him since he was 10 years old. Just before he killed his family, his mother came home unexpectedly and found Walls in his bed. Stocks said he told his mother about their relationship and then told Walls what he had done.
Walls had always told his “boys” that if they had a problem, they should kill it, he said.
“Jack told me to take care of the problem,” Stocks told the judge.
Walls, a Boy Scout leader who pleaded guilty to raping five boys under 14 years of age and no contest to raping Stocks, was sentenced to life plus 90 years. Walls is held at the East Arkansas Regional Unit at Brickeys in Lee County.
Whether Stocks’ claim that Walls told him to kill his family is true has not been proven, because the sheriff’s department did not investigate it. Stocks testified during the victim-impact hearing that his public defender told him to keep his relationship with Walls “under his hat.” His maternal grandmother testified that she had learned about Stocks’ relationship with Walls and assumed it would come out during the trial. But there was no trial.
The investigation into Walls’ crimes, headed by special prosecutor Betty Dickey, revealed that he likely had more than 60 victims. The courtroom was full of them during the victim-impact hearing, though most did not testify. Those who did testify told how Walls would take them camping, get them drunk, give them pornography and molest them.
His victims talked about his arsenal of weapons, the training he gave them as hit men and about his plan to kill a Carlisle man and his son who tried to tell the world about his perversions. They said they knew those weapons could easily be turned on them.
Six months after the death of Joe, Barbara and Heather Stocks, Wade Knox, Walls’ nephew and next door neighbor, held a gun to his head and forced him tell his parents how he had abused him since he was 10 years old.
Knox, who suffered from mental illness reportedly linked to the abuse, later killed himself. The Wade Knox Advocacy Center in Lonoke, where suspected victims of child abuse are interviewed, is named in his honor.
Beebe is considering pardoning eight convicted felons, which means their criminal records will be wiped clean.
The eight applicants intended for pardons have completed all jail time, fulfilled all parole and probationary requirements and paid all fines related to their sentences.
There is a 30-day waiting period for public feedback on the pardons before final action is taken.
Included in the list are Chris Hunt of Cabot, who was convicted in 1983 and 1990 on charges of burglary, theft by deception and possession of a controlled substance.
Leader staff writer
Gov. Mike Beebe has not granted clemency to a Furlow man who killed his family 11 years ago, but neither has he denied it.
The clemency petition from Heath Stocks, who killed his mother, father and younger sister was not among the 31 requests the governor denied Friday and it was not included in the 42 petitions the governor took no action on, which means those petitions may be refiled again immediately.
Stacy Stark, who is deputy spokesperson for the governor, said this week that the governor received Stocks’ petition Jan. 23 and by state law he has 240 days, until Sept. 19, to respond. Whether any significance should be attached to the governor not acting yet on Stocks’ petition, Stark said she could not say.
Stocks, 31, is asking for his life sentence to be commuted to a sentence of years so that he may someday be eligible for parole. He is incarcerated at the Tucker Maximum Security Unit near Pine Bluff.
The parole board said Stocks’ petition was without merit when it was sent it to the governor. Rhonda Sharp, a spokesperson for the parole board, said the board has no authority to deny clemency, only to make recommendations to the governor, who has sole authority in that area.
Stocks’ appeal is his second since he pleaded guilty to the January 1997 murders of Joe, Barbara and Heather Stocks and was sentenced without a trial to life without the possibility of parole. But he testified later during the victim impact hearing for convicted rapist Charles A. “Jack” Walls III of Lonoke that he was under the influence of Walls and killed his parents because Walls told him to.
Stocks told Judge Lance Hanshaw that he loved Walls like a father and that he killed his family to protect Walls who had sexually abused him since he was 10 years old. Just before he killed his family, his mother came home unexpectedly and found Walls in his bed. Stocks said he told his mother about their relationship and then told Walls what he had done.
Walls had always told his “boys” that if they had a problem, they should kill it, he said.
“Jack told me to take care of the problem,” Stocks told the judge.
Walls, a Boy Scout leader who pleaded guilty to raping five boys under 14 years of age and no contest to raping Stocks, was sentenced to life plus 90 years. Walls is held at the East Arkansas Regional Unit at Brickeys in Lee County.
Whether Stocks’ claim that Walls told him to kill his family is true has not been proven, because the sheriff’s department did not investigate it. Stocks testified during the victim-impact hearing that his public defender told him to keep his relationship with Walls “under his hat.” His maternal grandmother testified that she had learned about Stocks’ relationship with Walls and assumed it would come out during the trial. But there was no trial.
The investigation into Walls’ crimes, headed by special prosecutor Betty Dickey, revealed that he likely had more than 60 victims. The courtroom was full of them during the victim-impact hearing, though most did not testify. Those who did testify told how Walls would take them camping, get them drunk, give them pornography and molest them.
His victims talked about his arsenal of weapons, the training he gave them as hit men and about his plan to kill a Carlisle man and his son who tried to tell the world about his perversions. They said they knew those weapons could easily be turned on them.
Six months after the death of Joe, Barbara and Heather Stocks, Wade Knox, Walls’ nephew and next door neighbor, held a gun to his head and forced him tell his parents how he had abused him since he was 10 years old.
Knox, who suffered from mental illness reportedly linked to the abuse, later killed himself. The Wade Knox Advocacy Center in Lonoke, where suspected victims of child abuse are interviewed, is named in his honor.
Beebe is considering pardoning eight convicted felons, which means their criminal records will be wiped clean.
The eight applicants intended for pardons have completed all jail time, fulfilled all parole and probationary requirements and paid all fines related to their sentences.
There is a 30-day waiting period for public feedback on the pardons before final action is taken.
Included in the list are Chris Hunt of Cabot, who was convicted in 1983 and 1990 on charges of burglary, theft by deception and possession of a controlled substance.
TOP STORY >>Sales tax approved in Austin
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
“We can progress,” said Austin Mayor Bernie Chamberlain on Tuesday night after residents approved a penny sales tax, 40-25.
“We’ll have a little more money to do stuff. Everybody wants stuff done, but we (didn’t) have the money,” she said.
Austin residents imposed a penny sales tax on building materials and appliances purchased elsewhere but delivered to the fast-growing town. The tax also will apply to Austin’s few commercial ventures, including Chamberlain’s grocery station and the local flooring shop, Chamberlain said.
“The turnout was very low,” Chamberlain said. She said her daughter, training in immigration enforcement in Texas, just received her absentee ballot on Election Day, meaning her vote wouldn’t count.
Chamberlain said city water bills sent recently to customers urged residents “Vote yes June 10,” and she said there was talk that the results might be challenged as a result of that.
In Lonoke’s only other election Tuesday, a runoff for JP District 10, voters picked Bill Ryker over Ronnie Evans by a vote of 161 to 119.
Evans and Ryker were the two top vote getters in the May 20 Democratic primary, which also included Wes Clement.
Ryker, a Lonoke florist, is active in the community and serves as the city’s liaison to the state Highway Department on the planned new I-40/Hwy. 89 interchange on the west side of town.
Leader senior staff writer
“We can progress,” said Austin Mayor Bernie Chamberlain on Tuesday night after residents approved a penny sales tax, 40-25.
“We’ll have a little more money to do stuff. Everybody wants stuff done, but we (didn’t) have the money,” she said.
Austin residents imposed a penny sales tax on building materials and appliances purchased elsewhere but delivered to the fast-growing town. The tax also will apply to Austin’s few commercial ventures, including Chamberlain’s grocery station and the local flooring shop, Chamberlain said.
“The turnout was very low,” Chamberlain said. She said her daughter, training in immigration enforcement in Texas, just received her absentee ballot on Election Day, meaning her vote wouldn’t count.
Chamberlain said city water bills sent recently to customers urged residents “Vote yes June 10,” and she said there was talk that the results might be challenged as a result of that.
In Lonoke’s only other election Tuesday, a runoff for JP District 10, voters picked Bill Ryker over Ronnie Evans by a vote of 161 to 119.
Evans and Ryker were the two top vote getters in the May 20 Democratic primary, which also included Wes Clement.
Ryker, a Lonoke florist, is active in the community and serves as the city’s liaison to the state Highway Department on the planned new I-40/Hwy. 89 interchange on the west side of town.
TOP STORY >>Parents: Give us our own schools
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Jacksonville will have its own school district within two years, Rep. Will Bond predicted Sunday at the first general membership meeting of the Jacksonville World Class Education Organization.
“We are closer than we’ve ever been to having our own district,” the Jacksonville Democrat said.
Bond, Jacksonville’s term-limited state representative, has successfully introduced legislation encouraging the North Little Rock and Pulaski County Special School districts to apply for unitary school status. Unitary status—that’s desegregation certification— would open the door for Jacksonville to have its own district. The third district involved in the desegregation agreement — Little Rock — already has been declared unitary by U.S. District Judge Bill Wilson, but the Joshua Intervenors have challenged that designation in the appeals court.
About 35 people attended the general membership meeting, according to Daniel Gray, vice president of the Jacksonville World Class Education Organization. “We didn’t see as many new faces as we hoped,” he said.
He said he hoped the new members would get involved on the committees. Gray said the next general membership meeting would probably be in August or September.
“The purpose of the meeting was to make clear to everyone that we want to hear from them,” said Bond. “There has been some criticism that we need to be more open,” he said, referring to the group of former classmates who are driving the organization. “We want to hear from the community, teachers, administrators, parents, to know what we can do.
“There are some great success stories at those middle schools,” he said. “We need to inform elementary school parents of those opportunities and see what opportunities they want to exist at the middle school level. Many area students are leaving the local public school system rather than attend the Jacksonville middle schools.
Bond said boys middle school principal Mike Nellums wants to increase the size of the new mentoring program and girls middle school principal Kim Forrest wants a tutoring program at her school.
By the time all three districts are declared unitary and dismissed from the existing school desegregation agreement, the state will have spent more than $1 billion on the effort, Bond said. That’s $1 billion over what they would have received otherwise.
Bond, who is president of the world-class education organization, said once the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds Little
Rock’s unitary status, the most difficult of the legal impediments to a Jacksonville district will be swept away.
Meanwhile, the Jacksonville Education Foundation—as distinguished from the world-class organization—has hired an expert to crunch the numbers, which foundation members believe will prove that both the PCSSD and the Jacksonville area would benefit financially from a stand-alone Jacksonville district. Don Stewart will analyze the numbers to show what the revenues and expenses of PCSSD and a Jacksonville district would look like separately.
“We hope to have those numbers by the end of July,” Bond said. “We’re interested in presenting that to the board. We think we can show them it’s in everyone’s best interest. Our focus is getting the board on our side, which I think is a real possibility.”
Stewart is former chief financial officer for PCSSD and was a top “numbers guy” at the state Department of Education.
“It’s time for the desegregation case to be brought to a close,” Bond said. “Little Rock is unitary. We should have an appellate decision by September.
“One reason PCSSD should get rid of us is that they will be on the facilities distress list otherwise,” Bond said. “They can’t ignore our needs. We would have a greater opportunity to fix our facilities if we were on our own.
“There are some great success stories at those middle schools,” he continued. “We need to inform elementary school parents of those opportunities and see what opportunities they want to exist at the middle school level.”
Leader senior staff writer
Jacksonville will have its own school district within two years, Rep. Will Bond predicted Sunday at the first general membership meeting of the Jacksonville World Class Education Organization.
“We are closer than we’ve ever been to having our own district,” the Jacksonville Democrat said.
Bond, Jacksonville’s term-limited state representative, has successfully introduced legislation encouraging the North Little Rock and Pulaski County Special School districts to apply for unitary school status. Unitary status—that’s desegregation certification— would open the door for Jacksonville to have its own district. The third district involved in the desegregation agreement — Little Rock — already has been declared unitary by U.S. District Judge Bill Wilson, but the Joshua Intervenors have challenged that designation in the appeals court.
About 35 people attended the general membership meeting, according to Daniel Gray, vice president of the Jacksonville World Class Education Organization. “We didn’t see as many new faces as we hoped,” he said.
He said he hoped the new members would get involved on the committees. Gray said the next general membership meeting would probably be in August or September.
“The purpose of the meeting was to make clear to everyone that we want to hear from them,” said Bond. “There has been some criticism that we need to be more open,” he said, referring to the group of former classmates who are driving the organization. “We want to hear from the community, teachers, administrators, parents, to know what we can do.
“There are some great success stories at those middle schools,” he said. “We need to inform elementary school parents of those opportunities and see what opportunities they want to exist at the middle school level. Many area students are leaving the local public school system rather than attend the Jacksonville middle schools.
Bond said boys middle school principal Mike Nellums wants to increase the size of the new mentoring program and girls middle school principal Kim Forrest wants a tutoring program at her school.
By the time all three districts are declared unitary and dismissed from the existing school desegregation agreement, the state will have spent more than $1 billion on the effort, Bond said. That’s $1 billion over what they would have received otherwise.
Bond, who is president of the world-class education organization, said once the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds Little
Rock’s unitary status, the most difficult of the legal impediments to a Jacksonville district will be swept away.
Meanwhile, the Jacksonville Education Foundation—as distinguished from the world-class organization—has hired an expert to crunch the numbers, which foundation members believe will prove that both the PCSSD and the Jacksonville area would benefit financially from a stand-alone Jacksonville district. Don Stewart will analyze the numbers to show what the revenues and expenses of PCSSD and a Jacksonville district would look like separately.
“We hope to have those numbers by the end of July,” Bond said. “We’re interested in presenting that to the board. We think we can show them it’s in everyone’s best interest. Our focus is getting the board on our side, which I think is a real possibility.”
Stewart is former chief financial officer for PCSSD and was a top “numbers guy” at the state Department of Education.
“It’s time for the desegregation case to be brought to a close,” Bond said. “Little Rock is unitary. We should have an appellate decision by September.
“One reason PCSSD should get rid of us is that they will be on the facilities distress list otherwise,” Bond said. “They can’t ignore our needs. We would have a greater opportunity to fix our facilities if we were on our own.
“There are some great success stories at those middle schools,” he continued. “We need to inform elementary school parents of those opportunities and see what opportunities they want to exist at the middle school level.”
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
TOP STORY >>AF chief trained at base
By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader editor-in-chief
The general nominated to be the chief of staff of the Air Force received his C-130 training at Little Rock Air Force Base and was a squadron commander here in the 1970s.
Four-star Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, commander of U.S. Transportation Command at Scott AFB, Ill., has been nominated by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to lead the Air Force.
Schwartz visited Little Rock Air Force Base last September when Col. Ro-wayne Schatz, commander of the 314th Airlift Wing, was promoted to brigadier general. Schwartz’s wife, Suzie, who graduated from Jacksonville High School, also attended the ceremony.
Schatz served under Schwartz as his executive secretary at transportation command in 2006 and 2007. Schatz was then promoted to deputy director of operations there before moving here as wing commander in May 2007.
Schatz hailed Schwartz as an excellent choice to lead the Air Force.
“I was excited for the Air Force when I heard of his nomination,” Schatz said in an interview Tuesday. “He has tremendous integrity. He’s smart. He’s a warrior. He’s dedicated to doing the right thing. He’ll provide the best value for the taxpayers’ dollar.
“I’ve watched him closely. He’s an outstanding leader,” Schatz continued. “He’s one of the finest officers I had the privilege of serving under.
“He’s well-respected throughout the Department of Defense. The Air Force will be in good hands. He’s dedicated his service to his country.”
Schwartz 56, received his C-130 training at LRAFB in 1974-75, not long after he graduated from the Air Force Academy. He was a flight examiner with the 61st Tactical Airlift Squadron here from 1977-79.
Schwartz, a New Jersey native, was picked Monday for his new job after Gates fired Gen. Michael Moseley as Air Force chief. Gates also dismissed Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and has nominated Michael Donley for the civilian job.
Moseley and Wynne were among those blamed for two recent embarrassing episodes involving the delivery of cruise missiles from an air base in North Dakota to Louisiana. The mistake was so serious that President Bush was informed as soon as the error was discovered.
The Air Force had also mistakenly shipped nuclear fuses to Taiwan instead of helicopter batteries.
Gates’ choice for Air Force chief of staff has a transportation background — Schwartz heads the military’s global transportation system --— and has a long history in special operations. Gates wanted someone with more than just aerial combat experience.
The new chief, who was a C-130 pilot in Vietnam, can rapidly deliver personnel and supplies worldwide — but he is also expected to develop new strategies, such as unmanned aerial reconnaissance, along with an emphasis on special operations.
The C-130s play a critical role in transportation command, said Maj. Kimberley Garbett, public affairs spokesperson at Little Rock Air Force Base.
“They’re a huge part of our airlift into combat,” Garbett said.
The defense secretary has said the Air Force must do more in the war on terror and has emphasized increased responsibilities for the service in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Gates has also decided to keep Air Force levels at 330,000 rather than cut down to 300,000, which is about half the number of personnel the service had at the end of the Cold War.
At Schatz’s promotion ceremony here last fall, Schwartz discussed the importance of civilian control of the military.
“What we do today is unique and special, because in our country, it is the civilian leadership that decides the who, what and why of our military operations. It is an obligation and responsibility called upon those who serve in the senior ranks of our services to assist our civilian leaders with the when and how,” Schwartz said.
“It’s a meaningful moment to come and pin Wayne Schatz to rank of brigadier general in the Air Force. What a thrill it is to be a part of this lovely moment,” Schwartz said at Schatz’s promotion.
Turning to Schwartz, the new general said it was special to have him at the ceremony. “There is no one else I would prefer to do this for us (than Schwartz),” he said.
In announcing the appointments and calling for more professionalism and improvements, Gates said that he wants “a service that is, from top to bottom, more reflective and more responsive to shortcomings that may arise in this or any other critical area.”
Heather Hartsell, Leader staff writer, contributed to this article.
Leader editor-in-chief
The general nominated to be the chief of staff of the Air Force received his C-130 training at Little Rock Air Force Base and was a squadron commander here in the 1970s.
Four-star Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, commander of U.S. Transportation Command at Scott AFB, Ill., has been nominated by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to lead the Air Force.
Schwartz visited Little Rock Air Force Base last September when Col. Ro-wayne Schatz, commander of the 314th Airlift Wing, was promoted to brigadier general. Schwartz’s wife, Suzie, who graduated from Jacksonville High School, also attended the ceremony.
Schatz served under Schwartz as his executive secretary at transportation command in 2006 and 2007. Schatz was then promoted to deputy director of operations there before moving here as wing commander in May 2007.
Schatz hailed Schwartz as an excellent choice to lead the Air Force.
“I was excited for the Air Force when I heard of his nomination,” Schatz said in an interview Tuesday. “He has tremendous integrity. He’s smart. He’s a warrior. He’s dedicated to doing the right thing. He’ll provide the best value for the taxpayers’ dollar.
“I’ve watched him closely. He’s an outstanding leader,” Schatz continued. “He’s one of the finest officers I had the privilege of serving under.
“He’s well-respected throughout the Department of Defense. The Air Force will be in good hands. He’s dedicated his service to his country.”
Schwartz 56, received his C-130 training at LRAFB in 1974-75, not long after he graduated from the Air Force Academy. He was a flight examiner with the 61st Tactical Airlift Squadron here from 1977-79.
Schwartz, a New Jersey native, was picked Monday for his new job after Gates fired Gen. Michael Moseley as Air Force chief. Gates also dismissed Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and has nominated Michael Donley for the civilian job.
Moseley and Wynne were among those blamed for two recent embarrassing episodes involving the delivery of cruise missiles from an air base in North Dakota to Louisiana. The mistake was so serious that President Bush was informed as soon as the error was discovered.
The Air Force had also mistakenly shipped nuclear fuses to Taiwan instead of helicopter batteries.
Gates’ choice for Air Force chief of staff has a transportation background — Schwartz heads the military’s global transportation system --— and has a long history in special operations. Gates wanted someone with more than just aerial combat experience.
The new chief, who was a C-130 pilot in Vietnam, can rapidly deliver personnel and supplies worldwide — but he is also expected to develop new strategies, such as unmanned aerial reconnaissance, along with an emphasis on special operations.
The C-130s play a critical role in transportation command, said Maj. Kimberley Garbett, public affairs spokesperson at Little Rock Air Force Base.
“They’re a huge part of our airlift into combat,” Garbett said.
The defense secretary has said the Air Force must do more in the war on terror and has emphasized increased responsibilities for the service in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Gates has also decided to keep Air Force levels at 330,000 rather than cut down to 300,000, which is about half the number of personnel the service had at the end of the Cold War.
At Schatz’s promotion ceremony here last fall, Schwartz discussed the importance of civilian control of the military.
“What we do today is unique and special, because in our country, it is the civilian leadership that decides the who, what and why of our military operations. It is an obligation and responsibility called upon those who serve in the senior ranks of our services to assist our civilian leaders with the when and how,” Schwartz said.
“It’s a meaningful moment to come and pin Wayne Schatz to rank of brigadier general in the Air Force. What a thrill it is to be a part of this lovely moment,” Schwartz said at Schatz’s promotion.
Turning to Schwartz, the new general said it was special to have him at the ceremony. “There is no one else I would prefer to do this for us (than Schwartz),” he said.
In announcing the appointments and calling for more professionalism and improvements, Gates said that he wants “a service that is, from top to bottom, more reflective and more responsive to shortcomings that may arise in this or any other critical area.”
Heather Hartsell, Leader staff writer, contributed to this article.
EDITORIAL >>Code to teach by
It is easy to dismiss the adoption of an ethics code for teachers as a feel-good exercise for a profession that either does not need or merit it or else will be impervious to the state’s usual lax policing of business and professional conduct. But the state Board of Education’s approval of licensure and discipline procedures for teachers is an important step that everyone who wants better education should appreciate.
Teacher misconduct is not the most serious shortcoming in education or even the most serious problem in the teaching corps, but a set of ethical standards and a way to enforce them are omissions that most people probably imagine had been corrected long ago. At any rate, they are long overdue.
An act of the legislature last year reconstituted the state licensing board for teachers and administrators and directed it to formulate a code of ethics for educators, the first such standards for Arkansas.
The state has long prescribed standards for getting a teaching or administrator license — course requirements and the like — but never rules for professional conduct.
The rules specify the professional relationship teachers must maintain with students and their duty to make reports according to the law, keep student information confidential, be good stewards of school monies and maintain their pedagogical skills. Accusations will bring teachers and administrators before the state licensing board, which can mete out fines and suspend licenses.
Educators might always have been subject to punishment by superintendents and local school boards, but upon subjective standards that did not always reflect what was best for students. Politics and community relationships are more often the motive. That is still possible but now the profession also has a fairly objective and education-based standard of conduct and a professional board that is supposed to hold educators accountable.
Profession is the key word. Teachers will now join the ranks of the other more-honored, better-paid and more-appreciated professions, like doctors, lawyers, accountants and architects, who find themselves judged by their peers when they flout the rules by which good players live and work.
Educators, whose professional associations helped write the ethical code, supported the new regimen and it was achieved with a consensus that the state education director considered nothing short of miraculous because teacher discipline has always been an intensely fractious issue. This is a good omen for children, too.
Teacher misconduct is not the most serious shortcoming in education or even the most serious problem in the teaching corps, but a set of ethical standards and a way to enforce them are omissions that most people probably imagine had been corrected long ago. At any rate, they are long overdue.
An act of the legislature last year reconstituted the state licensing board for teachers and administrators and directed it to formulate a code of ethics for educators, the first such standards for Arkansas.
The state has long prescribed standards for getting a teaching or administrator license — course requirements and the like — but never rules for professional conduct.
The rules specify the professional relationship teachers must maintain with students and their duty to make reports according to the law, keep student information confidential, be good stewards of school monies and maintain their pedagogical skills. Accusations will bring teachers and administrators before the state licensing board, which can mete out fines and suspend licenses.
Educators might always have been subject to punishment by superintendents and local school boards, but upon subjective standards that did not always reflect what was best for students. Politics and community relationships are more often the motive. That is still possible but now the profession also has a fairly objective and education-based standard of conduct and a professional board that is supposed to hold educators accountable.
Profession is the key word. Teachers will now join the ranks of the other more-honored, better-paid and more-appreciated professions, like doctors, lawyers, accountants and architects, who find themselves judged by their peers when they flout the rules by which good players live and work.
Educators, whose professional associations helped write the ethical code, supported the new regimen and it was achieved with a consensus that the state education director considered nothing short of miraculous because teacher discipline has always been an intensely fractious issue. This is a good omen for children, too.
EDITORIAL >>Defense boss cleans house
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has proved to be such a pleasing anomaly, a man bent on efficiency and accountability in an administration that has been a vast desert of incompetence. When it is sanctioned at the top, incompetence can be like a virus, spreading unbidden to places that are supposed to be hostile to political cronyism, which is the agent of incompetence.
Places like the armed services.
Since he replaced Donald Rumsfeld after the 2006 election, Gates has moved methodically to retire generals who had blundered so badly and repeatedly in Iraq. Last week, he unceremoniously dumped both the top civilian and officer in the Air Force, and this week he replaced them with what one hopes will be hard-eyed men who will restore the reliability and precision that Americans imagine their defense forces maintain.
Gates’ appointment of Gen. Norton Schwartz, who started his career at Little Rock Air Force Base, is welcome. The new chief of staff is a professional who will improve America’s ability to fight its enemies. He’s also a great guy. (See article on p. 1A.)
With what had to be sadness, Gates sacked Bush’s civilian secretary, Michael W. Wynne, and the chief of staff, Gen. T. Michael Moseley, because he couldn’t trust them to address the service’s manifold troubles, illustrated by two frightening nuclear episodes. Nuclear-armed cruise missiles were flown across the country by mistake, unbeknownst even to the pilots, and nuclear weapon fuses were shipped to Taiwan, which only wanted helicopter batteries. We berate other nations over nuclear proliferation and carelessness, and this is our own service.
Wynne’s failures should have been no surprise. As an executive of General Dynamics, a defense contractor, he had been a key Bush supporter. At the Air Force as an undersecretary, he was peripherally involved in the $23.5 billion plan to lease jets from the Boeing Co. to refuel tankers, a corrupt deal that resulted in prison terms for a former Boeing officer and Air Force official. The Defense Department inspector general faulted Wynne for not requiring the Air Force to follow proper procedures on the Boeing leases and then misleading the White House budget office about the matter. Still, Bush made him secretary of the Air Force, where he worked until Gates’ housecleaning.
Gates’ actions seemed to signal a new direction for the Air Force, which he thinks has been unable to adapt to the counterinsurgent nature of the wars in the Middle East and the need for better and more unmanned surveillance and for greater accountability. He also announced that he was stopping the Air Force’s planned reduction in personnel, which is supposed to be winnowed down to 300,000 next year.
It is too bad that President Bush could not have found Robert Gates earlier and cloned him for the rest of his unhappy government.
Places like the armed services.
Since he replaced Donald Rumsfeld after the 2006 election, Gates has moved methodically to retire generals who had blundered so badly and repeatedly in Iraq. Last week, he unceremoniously dumped both the top civilian and officer in the Air Force, and this week he replaced them with what one hopes will be hard-eyed men who will restore the reliability and precision that Americans imagine their defense forces maintain.
Gates’ appointment of Gen. Norton Schwartz, who started his career at Little Rock Air Force Base, is welcome. The new chief of staff is a professional who will improve America’s ability to fight its enemies. He’s also a great guy. (See article on p. 1A.)
With what had to be sadness, Gates sacked Bush’s civilian secretary, Michael W. Wynne, and the chief of staff, Gen. T. Michael Moseley, because he couldn’t trust them to address the service’s manifold troubles, illustrated by two frightening nuclear episodes. Nuclear-armed cruise missiles were flown across the country by mistake, unbeknownst even to the pilots, and nuclear weapon fuses were shipped to Taiwan, which only wanted helicopter batteries. We berate other nations over nuclear proliferation and carelessness, and this is our own service.
Wynne’s failures should have been no surprise. As an executive of General Dynamics, a defense contractor, he had been a key Bush supporter. At the Air Force as an undersecretary, he was peripherally involved in the $23.5 billion plan to lease jets from the Boeing Co. to refuel tankers, a corrupt deal that resulted in prison terms for a former Boeing officer and Air Force official. The Defense Department inspector general faulted Wynne for not requiring the Air Force to follow proper procedures on the Boeing leases and then misleading the White House budget office about the matter. Still, Bush made him secretary of the Air Force, where he worked until Gates’ housecleaning.
Gates’ actions seemed to signal a new direction for the Air Force, which he thinks has been unable to adapt to the counterinsurgent nature of the wars in the Middle East and the need for better and more unmanned surveillance and for greater accountability. He also announced that he was stopping the Air Force’s planned reduction in personnel, which is supposed to be winnowed down to 300,000 next year.
It is too bad that President Bush could not have found Robert Gates earlier and cloned him for the rest of his unhappy government.
SPORTS>>Community Bank downs Morrilton
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Matt Evans threw one of his strongest games of the early summer on Friday night, scattering seven Morrilton hits and striking out 10 in a 5-1 win for the Cabot Community Bank Senior Legion team at Conrade Field.
The home crowd was treated to a solid win, as well as a good show by a flamboyant plate umpire, who called out players while doing a little dance.
“Coming in tonight, I thought I had a little more pitching than I had,” Cabot coach Jay Darr said. “But a couple of guys have sore arms, so I really needed Matt to go the distance tonight, and he stepped up and did that. He threw very few pitches, and scattered the hits, so he did a good job.”
Matt Turner and Jackson Chism led off the first with singles, though Turner was thrown out on the play by right fielder Mill Faulkner. After Chase Thompson reached on an error, and Cabot tied the game at 1-1 on Evans’ RBI single.
Cabot took its first lead in the bottom of the second with a pair of runs that made it 3-1.
In all, Morrilton committed three errors for the game, compared to only one for Cabot. Both teams tallied seven hits.
Cabot put it away in the bottom of the fifth. A single by Powell Bryant started things off, and Sam Bates reached on an error, which allowed Bryant to score. Bates came around on a long double by Ben Wainwright.
Bates tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the first when his triple plated Drew Burks, who had singled to left.
“It’s a learning process,” Darr said. “Some of these kids I had last year when I coached the younger kids. We’re learning each other and getting a feel for each other. The longer we stick with it, the more we’ll come together before it’s all over, but there’s always growing pains early on.”
Wainwright was 2 of 3 with a double and a RBI, while Bates was 1 of 2 with a triple and two RBI. For Morrilton, Landon Jones was 3 of 4 with two runs scored.
The Community Bank Junior Legion team ran away with the opening game over Morrilton with a 17-2 blowout on Friday. The game was run-ruled after only three innings after a second-inning eruption by Cabot that took them through the order, turning a 1-1 tie into a rout. C. J. Jacoby earned the win at the mound for Cabot with another dominating effort, with Andrew Reynolds closing things out.
“They came out, and they gave us some trouble early on,” Cabot Junior Legion coach Andy Runyon said. “They hit the ball well. I mean, they came out and they were aggressive. C. J. has really gone unscathed this year. He’s thrown great and given hitters fits.
“He was a little bit up in the zone, but they hit hard. We made a couple of errors, and they got up on us, but our bats took over from there.”
Runyan said the slow start at the plate for his team was not out of the ordinary, nor was the big finish.
“When we show up, and we play our brand of baseball, we can swing it pretty well,” Runyan said. “We’re averaging a little over nine runs a game now, and when we swing it like we’re capable of, we can put up big numbers.” Runyan also praised catcher Tyler Carter’s efforts for the game both offensively and defensively.
Leader sportswriter
Matt Evans threw one of his strongest games of the early summer on Friday night, scattering seven Morrilton hits and striking out 10 in a 5-1 win for the Cabot Community Bank Senior Legion team at Conrade Field.
The home crowd was treated to a solid win, as well as a good show by a flamboyant plate umpire, who called out players while doing a little dance.
“Coming in tonight, I thought I had a little more pitching than I had,” Cabot coach Jay Darr said. “But a couple of guys have sore arms, so I really needed Matt to go the distance tonight, and he stepped up and did that. He threw very few pitches, and scattered the hits, so he did a good job.”
Matt Turner and Jackson Chism led off the first with singles, though Turner was thrown out on the play by right fielder Mill Faulkner. After Chase Thompson reached on an error, and Cabot tied the game at 1-1 on Evans’ RBI single.
Cabot took its first lead in the bottom of the second with a pair of runs that made it 3-1.
In all, Morrilton committed three errors for the game, compared to only one for Cabot. Both teams tallied seven hits.
Cabot put it away in the bottom of the fifth. A single by Powell Bryant started things off, and Sam Bates reached on an error, which allowed Bryant to score. Bates came around on a long double by Ben Wainwright.
Bates tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the first when his triple plated Drew Burks, who had singled to left.
“It’s a learning process,” Darr said. “Some of these kids I had last year when I coached the younger kids. We’re learning each other and getting a feel for each other. The longer we stick with it, the more we’ll come together before it’s all over, but there’s always growing pains early on.”
Wainwright was 2 of 3 with a double and a RBI, while Bates was 1 of 2 with a triple and two RBI. For Morrilton, Landon Jones was 3 of 4 with two runs scored.
The Community Bank Junior Legion team ran away with the opening game over Morrilton with a 17-2 blowout on Friday. The game was run-ruled after only three innings after a second-inning eruption by Cabot that took them through the order, turning a 1-1 tie into a rout. C. J. Jacoby earned the win at the mound for Cabot with another dominating effort, with Andrew Reynolds closing things out.
“They came out, and they gave us some trouble early on,” Cabot Junior Legion coach Andy Runyon said. “They hit the ball well. I mean, they came out and they were aggressive. C. J. has really gone unscathed this year. He’s thrown great and given hitters fits.
“He was a little bit up in the zone, but they hit hard. We made a couple of errors, and they got up on us, but our bats took over from there.”
Runyan said the slow start at the plate for his team was not out of the ordinary, nor was the big finish.
“When we show up, and we play our brand of baseball, we can swing it pretty well,” Runyan said. “We’re averaging a little over nine runs a game now, and when we swing it like we’re capable of, we can put up big numbers.” Runyan also praised catcher Tyler Carter’s efforts for the game both offensively and defensively.
SPORTS>> Junior Gwatney team gets power jolt from Allen
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
Gwatney Junior American Legion concluded a 2-0 pool-play run in the sixth annual Gwatney Junior Legion Tournament on Saturday with a charity-laden 10-3 win over Sylvan Hills.
The Chevy boys were the beneficiaries of six Sylvan Hills errors, six walks and five hit batsman, and required just four hits to produce their 10 runs.
On Friday night, A.J. Allen provided the big punch by belting two home runs — including a sixth-inning grand slam — and driving in five runs in Gwatney’s 7-4 win over Benton.
On Saturday, Gwatney starter Hayden Simpson allowed just one hit over four innings, but fell behind 1-0 after a hit batter and Blake Radson’s RBI single in the first.
The Chevy boys put up five in the first on just two hits. An error, a strikeout-wild pitch, two walks and a hit batsman aided Gwatney greatly in the inning. The big hits were Marshall Shipley’s rocket 2-run double to left-center and Nicholas Rodriguez’s run-scoring single to center.
Gwatney added three more in the second. Allen was hit by a pitch, but was thrown out trying to steal by Sylvan Hills’ catcher Ross Bogart. But Matt McAnally walked and Daniel Thurman was hit with a pitch. A throwing error and a wild pitch scored McAnally, and Shipley belted his second double to bring home Thurman. Shipley scored on Sylvan Hills’ fourth error of the game to make it 8-2.
The game remained that way until Korey Arnold’s double and Justin Cook’s single cut the lead to 8-3 in the sixth.
A walk, Jonathan Delf’s infield single and a throwing error accounted for Gwatney’s final two runs in the sixth.
Sylvan Hills reliever Michael Lock pitched solidly after entering in the second inning, allowing just two hits and two earned runs over the final 4 1/3 innings.
Shipley was 2 of 3 with three RBI. For Sylvan Hills, five players had a hit apiece.
Against Benton, Stephen Swaggerty went the distance to get the win, allowing only two hits and fanning 14 over six innings.
Patrick Castleberry had a double and a run scored.
The game was tied 3-3 in the sixth when Tom Sanders and Jared Toney were hit by pitches and Simpson singled to load the bases. Allen then hit his second home run of the game to make it 7-3.
Allen added a third home run in the championship game.
SYLVAN HILLS 10, NORTH LITTLE ROCK 3
The Bruins took home fifth place in the tournament with a win over the Colts on Sunday. Sylvan Hills jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first on RBI singles by Austin Spears and Jake Dillon.
Spears went 3 of 4 with two runs and an RBI.
The Bruins fell 8-3 to Benton on Saturday evening. Sylvan Hills scored all of its runs in the third, getting an RBI double from Spears and an RBI single from William Carter.
Leader sports editor
Gwatney Junior American Legion concluded a 2-0 pool-play run in the sixth annual Gwatney Junior Legion Tournament on Saturday with a charity-laden 10-3 win over Sylvan Hills.
The Chevy boys were the beneficiaries of six Sylvan Hills errors, six walks and five hit batsman, and required just four hits to produce their 10 runs.
On Friday night, A.J. Allen provided the big punch by belting two home runs — including a sixth-inning grand slam — and driving in five runs in Gwatney’s 7-4 win over Benton.
On Saturday, Gwatney starter Hayden Simpson allowed just one hit over four innings, but fell behind 1-0 after a hit batter and Blake Radson’s RBI single in the first.
The Chevy boys put up five in the first on just two hits. An error, a strikeout-wild pitch, two walks and a hit batsman aided Gwatney greatly in the inning. The big hits were Marshall Shipley’s rocket 2-run double to left-center and Nicholas Rodriguez’s run-scoring single to center.
Gwatney added three more in the second. Allen was hit by a pitch, but was thrown out trying to steal by Sylvan Hills’ catcher Ross Bogart. But Matt McAnally walked and Daniel Thurman was hit with a pitch. A throwing error and a wild pitch scored McAnally, and Shipley belted his second double to bring home Thurman. Shipley scored on Sylvan Hills’ fourth error of the game to make it 8-2.
The game remained that way until Korey Arnold’s double and Justin Cook’s single cut the lead to 8-3 in the sixth.
A walk, Jonathan Delf’s infield single and a throwing error accounted for Gwatney’s final two runs in the sixth.
Sylvan Hills reliever Michael Lock pitched solidly after entering in the second inning, allowing just two hits and two earned runs over the final 4 1/3 innings.
Shipley was 2 of 3 with three RBI. For Sylvan Hills, five players had a hit apiece.
Against Benton, Stephen Swaggerty went the distance to get the win, allowing only two hits and fanning 14 over six innings.
Patrick Castleberry had a double and a run scored.
The game was tied 3-3 in the sixth when Tom Sanders and Jared Toney were hit by pitches and Simpson singled to load the bases. Allen then hit his second home run of the game to make it 7-3.
Allen added a third home run in the championship game.
SYLVAN HILLS 10, NORTH LITTLE ROCK 3
The Bruins took home fifth place in the tournament with a win over the Colts on Sunday. Sylvan Hills jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first on RBI singles by Austin Spears and Jake Dillon.
Spears went 3 of 4 with two runs and an RBI.
The Bruins fell 8-3 to Benton on Saturday evening. Sylvan Hills scored all of its runs in the third, getting an RBI double from Spears and an RBI single from William Carter.
SPORTS>> Rhinos bringing semi-pro football to town
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Football. It’s not just an autumn affair anymore.
The Arkansas Rhinos will bring semi-pro football to Jacksonville this summer as part of the North America Football League.
The Rhinos, who have been around since 2001, played their first seven seasons in Little Rock and feature several big names in state football over the past decade. They are led by former Arkansas Razorback Oscar Malone. Malone joined the Rhinos roster back in 2002 as a player, but took over head coaching duties in 2004 for departing Virgil Stargell. Stargell coached for two seasons when first-year head coach West Baker left after the first year.
Despite their short life, the Rhinos have already established a great deal of tradition, including five straight division titles in the Tennessee Valley Conference from ’02 to ’06, and an appearance in the NAFL semifinals in 2005.
The ’05 campaign proved to be their strongest, as Malone rebounded from a difficult 5-6 season his first year to lead the Rhinos to an undefeated 10-0 regular-season record. They were one game away from the championship game of the 117-team league when their year ended with final record of 13-1 and the southern region title.
Fast forward three years. The Rhinos are currently revving up for their opener on June 14 in Memphis. Arkansas will take on the Memphis Blast twice to start the season — the first on the road, and the second at their new home at Red Devil Field at Jacksonville Middle School on June 28.
Malone says the move to Jacksonville began as more of a suggestion.
“A lot of people, a lot of fans said to move to a football town,” Malone said. “There’s a lot to do in Little Rock, but nothing to do in Jacksonville. They said, if you guys move up here, we can support you guys, and you can make it your new home, and I said, ‘You know what, let’s give it a shot.’”
A short meeting between Malone and Jacksonville Middle School Boys principal Michael Nellums secured a home field for the Rhinos, and the team introduced themselves to the community with a media day appearance at Burger King on John Harden Drive this past Saturday.
The Rhinos hope to draw between 1,500 to 2,000 fans per home game.
Malone says that along with making it to the elusive NAFL title game and gaining more fans this season, one of the biggest goals is to differentiate the Rhinos from other Arkansas gridiron teams.
“We need to get over that hump,” Malone said. “This is our eighth season coming up. We’ve got a lot of fans, a lot of people.
We just need a broader group of people around the area interested. It’s outdoor football.
“A lot of people confuse us with the (Arena Football League’s Arkansas) Twisters. We’re semi-pro. There’s a big difference.”
The NAFL follows NFL rules exactly, with the exception of having instant replay. The season begins in mid June, and the regular season wraps up in late September, with the playoffs going through the month of October.
Marcus Yarbrough and former Jacksonville Red Devil Brandon Nelson will be vital to the Rhinos’ defense this season, Malone said. The cousins will split the field from the cornerback positions — Yarbrough on the left and Nelson on the right.
This will be Nelson’s first stint with the Rhinos. Yarbrough, a ’97 graduate of Little Rock Central, is a veteran of the team, and is beginning his seventh season. One of the team captains, Yarbrough has led the Rhinos in interceptions over the past several seasons.
“It seems like a pretty good move for us,” Yarbrough said. “Jacksonville seems to follow football pretty well, so we’re really excited about playing out here. We hope to bring in some big crowds, especially since we’re going to be right off the freeway.”
Yarbrough says that while there may not be any pay involved, his love of the game is more than enough compensation.
“It’s real fun,” Yarbrough said. “True enough, you’re not getting paid, but it’s really not all about payment. It’s really more about coming out here and having a lot of fun. As long as I still have some kind of talent left, I’m still going to use it. Plus, I just really like being around these guys. They’re a lot of fun to be around.”
Nelson is back in his hometown after graduating from the University of Arkansas, where he played briefly with the Hogs. He is now establishing a career for himself at UAMS Medical Center, and looks forward to donning the silver, blue and black of the Rhinos for the first time.
“Marcus was always saying that I could get on the team whenever I got back home,” Nelson said. “I’ve known Oscar for a couple of years. I was on the team at Fayetteville for a couple of years, and it didn’t pan out like I thought it was going to, but I still had it in me to want to play. It’s another opportunity to play football, so I want to take advantage of that.”
Nelson hopes that his hometown connections will help increase interest.
“I love being here, in Jack-sonville,” Nelson said. “It’s my hometown, and all my friends and family are here, so hopefully I can do some marketing and get some folks down here.”
Many Jacksonville fans are already quite familiar with the name Brandon Nelson. From 2000-02, Nelson was a star player for the Red Devils under longtime coach Johnny Watson. He made All-State in both his junior and senior seasons, and also played in the All-Star game his senior year.
With limited playing time on the UA squad, Nelson made the difficult decision to drop football to concentrate on studies.
But now that he’s back, Nelson hopes to enter the NAFL with a bang. Aside from his duties at corner, Nelson also hopes to assist Malone and the Rhinos coaching staff.
“I just hope to add stability and consistency,” Nelson said. “It’s kind of catch 22, where a lot of us were the guy on their high school teams, but a lot of us didn’t play much in college. So now, you get back, and most of us are around the same age.
“You have the same level of maturity trying to coach and play together, and sometimes you butt heads because everybody has different perspectives on how things should be done, and the one thing I want to bring is that cohesiveness — having everybody on the same page.”
As for the NAFL title, Yarbrough hopes the heartbreaks of the past will lead to an overall championship in 2008.
“We’ve been close, a few times,” Yarbrough said. “We just have to make it all the way this year. We seem to have a pretty good core of guys out here, and I think we have a pretty good shot at it.”
Leader sportswriter
Football. It’s not just an autumn affair anymore.
The Arkansas Rhinos will bring semi-pro football to Jacksonville this summer as part of the North America Football League.
The Rhinos, who have been around since 2001, played their first seven seasons in Little Rock and feature several big names in state football over the past decade. They are led by former Arkansas Razorback Oscar Malone. Malone joined the Rhinos roster back in 2002 as a player, but took over head coaching duties in 2004 for departing Virgil Stargell. Stargell coached for two seasons when first-year head coach West Baker left after the first year.
Despite their short life, the Rhinos have already established a great deal of tradition, including five straight division titles in the Tennessee Valley Conference from ’02 to ’06, and an appearance in the NAFL semifinals in 2005.
The ’05 campaign proved to be their strongest, as Malone rebounded from a difficult 5-6 season his first year to lead the Rhinos to an undefeated 10-0 regular-season record. They were one game away from the championship game of the 117-team league when their year ended with final record of 13-1 and the southern region title.
Fast forward three years. The Rhinos are currently revving up for their opener on June 14 in Memphis. Arkansas will take on the Memphis Blast twice to start the season — the first on the road, and the second at their new home at Red Devil Field at Jacksonville Middle School on June 28.
Malone says the move to Jacksonville began as more of a suggestion.
“A lot of people, a lot of fans said to move to a football town,” Malone said. “There’s a lot to do in Little Rock, but nothing to do in Jacksonville. They said, if you guys move up here, we can support you guys, and you can make it your new home, and I said, ‘You know what, let’s give it a shot.’”
A short meeting between Malone and Jacksonville Middle School Boys principal Michael Nellums secured a home field for the Rhinos, and the team introduced themselves to the community with a media day appearance at Burger King on John Harden Drive this past Saturday.
The Rhinos hope to draw between 1,500 to 2,000 fans per home game.
Malone says that along with making it to the elusive NAFL title game and gaining more fans this season, one of the biggest goals is to differentiate the Rhinos from other Arkansas gridiron teams.
“We need to get over that hump,” Malone said. “This is our eighth season coming up. We’ve got a lot of fans, a lot of people.
We just need a broader group of people around the area interested. It’s outdoor football.
“A lot of people confuse us with the (Arena Football League’s Arkansas) Twisters. We’re semi-pro. There’s a big difference.”
The NAFL follows NFL rules exactly, with the exception of having instant replay. The season begins in mid June, and the regular season wraps up in late September, with the playoffs going through the month of October.
Marcus Yarbrough and former Jacksonville Red Devil Brandon Nelson will be vital to the Rhinos’ defense this season, Malone said. The cousins will split the field from the cornerback positions — Yarbrough on the left and Nelson on the right.
This will be Nelson’s first stint with the Rhinos. Yarbrough, a ’97 graduate of Little Rock Central, is a veteran of the team, and is beginning his seventh season. One of the team captains, Yarbrough has led the Rhinos in interceptions over the past several seasons.
“It seems like a pretty good move for us,” Yarbrough said. “Jacksonville seems to follow football pretty well, so we’re really excited about playing out here. We hope to bring in some big crowds, especially since we’re going to be right off the freeway.”
Yarbrough says that while there may not be any pay involved, his love of the game is more than enough compensation.
“It’s real fun,” Yarbrough said. “True enough, you’re not getting paid, but it’s really not all about payment. It’s really more about coming out here and having a lot of fun. As long as I still have some kind of talent left, I’m still going to use it. Plus, I just really like being around these guys. They’re a lot of fun to be around.”
Nelson is back in his hometown after graduating from the University of Arkansas, where he played briefly with the Hogs. He is now establishing a career for himself at UAMS Medical Center, and looks forward to donning the silver, blue and black of the Rhinos for the first time.
“Marcus was always saying that I could get on the team whenever I got back home,” Nelson said. “I’ve known Oscar for a couple of years. I was on the team at Fayetteville for a couple of years, and it didn’t pan out like I thought it was going to, but I still had it in me to want to play. It’s another opportunity to play football, so I want to take advantage of that.”
Nelson hopes that his hometown connections will help increase interest.
“I love being here, in Jack-sonville,” Nelson said. “It’s my hometown, and all my friends and family are here, so hopefully I can do some marketing and get some folks down here.”
Many Jacksonville fans are already quite familiar with the name Brandon Nelson. From 2000-02, Nelson was a star player for the Red Devils under longtime coach Johnny Watson. He made All-State in both his junior and senior seasons, and also played in the All-Star game his senior year.
With limited playing time on the UA squad, Nelson made the difficult decision to drop football to concentrate on studies.
But now that he’s back, Nelson hopes to enter the NAFL with a bang. Aside from his duties at corner, Nelson also hopes to assist Malone and the Rhinos coaching staff.
“I just hope to add stability and consistency,” Nelson said. “It’s kind of catch 22, where a lot of us were the guy on their high school teams, but a lot of us didn’t play much in college. So now, you get back, and most of us are around the same age.
“You have the same level of maturity trying to coach and play together, and sometimes you butt heads because everybody has different perspectives on how things should be done, and the one thing I want to bring is that cohesiveness — having everybody on the same page.”
As for the NAFL title, Yarbrough hopes the heartbreaks of the past will lead to an overall championship in 2008.
“We’ve been close, a few times,” Yarbrough said. “We just have to make it all the way this year. We seem to have a pretty good core of guys out here, and I think we have a pretty good shot at it.”
SPORTS>> Chevy boys fall short in finals
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
It was a bizarre end to an otherwise solid tournament for Gwatney Chevrolet at the sixth annual Junior Legion tournament at Dupree Park over the weekend.
The Chevy boys let a 9-1 lead evaporate as Sheridan roared back to claim the tournament championship with an 11-9 win on Sunday night.
The Chevy boys were strong in both pool games, defeating Benton on Friday before recording their third-straight win over Sylvan Hills the following day. That pitted them against the Yellowjackets in the title game.
Sheridan scored the first run of the game in the top of the second, but a nine-run Gwatney eruption in the bottom half appeared to have put the game out of reach.
The ’Jackets put themselves back in the game when a heavily subbed Gwatney infield began to falter in the top of the fourth inning, resulting in a five-run spree for Sheridan.
From there, the momentum completely switched. Not even putting reliever Tommy Sanders on the mound for Gwatney in the sixth inning could slow the Yellowjackets down, as they scored three more runs in the frame to overtake the Chevy boys for the title.
Gwatney scored all its runs in the second inning, sending 15 batters to the plate. Cleanup batter Patrick Castleberry led off the inning with a double, followed by a single bloop to left field by Matt McAnally. Daniel Thurman was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
One out later, Hayden Simpson singled in McAnally, and an error after the play allowed Thurman in for a 2-1 Gwatney lead. Jeff
Tillman then singled to score Toney.
A.J. Allen then belted his third home run of the tourney — a 3-run shot that stretched the lead to 6-1. But Gwatney was just getting started.
Terrell Brown singled, and Caleb Mitchell greeted relief pitcher Cody Clemons with a double. Castleberry reached on an error, allowing Brown to score, and a groundout by McAnally plated Simpson. Walks to Thurman and Toney loaded the bases, and Simpson got the final Gwatney RBI of the game when he singled to score Castleberry to make it 9-1. Sheridan made up one run in the top of the third when Jordan Batchelor came in on a passed ball, but a three-hit, three-error debacle in the top of the fourth highlighted by a three-run double by Landon Moore, gave the Yellowjackets momentum, as Gwatney managed only two hits over the final four innings.
Simpson was 2 of 3 for Gwatney with two RBI. Brown was 2 of 3 with a double, and Allen was 1 of 3 with a home run and three RBI. For Sheridan, Jacob Brown was 2 of 4 with a RBI, while Clemons got the win at the mound.
Gwatney Junior Legion will host Sylvan Hills for a double- header today starting at 6 p.m.
Leader sportswriter
It was a bizarre end to an otherwise solid tournament for Gwatney Chevrolet at the sixth annual Junior Legion tournament at Dupree Park over the weekend.
The Chevy boys let a 9-1 lead evaporate as Sheridan roared back to claim the tournament championship with an 11-9 win on Sunday night.
The Chevy boys were strong in both pool games, defeating Benton on Friday before recording their third-straight win over Sylvan Hills the following day. That pitted them against the Yellowjackets in the title game.
Sheridan scored the first run of the game in the top of the second, but a nine-run Gwatney eruption in the bottom half appeared to have put the game out of reach.
The ’Jackets put themselves back in the game when a heavily subbed Gwatney infield began to falter in the top of the fourth inning, resulting in a five-run spree for Sheridan.
From there, the momentum completely switched. Not even putting reliever Tommy Sanders on the mound for Gwatney in the sixth inning could slow the Yellowjackets down, as they scored three more runs in the frame to overtake the Chevy boys for the title.
Gwatney scored all its runs in the second inning, sending 15 batters to the plate. Cleanup batter Patrick Castleberry led off the inning with a double, followed by a single bloop to left field by Matt McAnally. Daniel Thurman was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
One out later, Hayden Simpson singled in McAnally, and an error after the play allowed Thurman in for a 2-1 Gwatney lead. Jeff
Tillman then singled to score Toney.
A.J. Allen then belted his third home run of the tourney — a 3-run shot that stretched the lead to 6-1. But Gwatney was just getting started.
Terrell Brown singled, and Caleb Mitchell greeted relief pitcher Cody Clemons with a double. Castleberry reached on an error, allowing Brown to score, and a groundout by McAnally plated Simpson. Walks to Thurman and Toney loaded the bases, and Simpson got the final Gwatney RBI of the game when he singled to score Castleberry to make it 9-1. Sheridan made up one run in the top of the third when Jordan Batchelor came in on a passed ball, but a three-hit, three-error debacle in the top of the fourth highlighted by a three-run double by Landon Moore, gave the Yellowjackets momentum, as Gwatney managed only two hits over the final four innings.
Simpson was 2 of 3 for Gwatney with two RBI. Brown was 2 of 3 with a double, and Allen was 1 of 3 with a home run and three RBI. For Sheridan, Jacob Brown was 2 of 4 with a RBI, while Clemons got the win at the mound.
Gwatney Junior Legion will host Sylvan Hills for a double- header today starting at 6 p.m.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
TOP STORY >>Double murder puts men in jail
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
A Cabot man is being held without bond in the Faulkner County Jail on charges of murder, aggravated robbery, theft and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to Maj. Andy Shock of the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office.
Ronald Dean Charles, 31, of 45 Oak Meadows Drive in Cabot, was arrested at his residence Monday by Faulkner County sheriff’s deputies, assisted by the Cabot Police Department, according to Shock.
Charles and Roy Allen Crook, 29, of 2716 Moro Lane, Jacksonville, were charged in connection with the April 9 murder of cousins Bobby Don Brock, 45, and Lonnie Franklin Brock, 62, according to documents on file atthe Faulkner County Courthouse.
Shock didn’t want to discuss the cause of death, but one published report says the bodies were found with blunt trauma wounds. One man was found in the house and one in the yard at their residence near Vilonia.
Crook was arrested April 10, Charles on June 2. The arrests were the result of evidence and witness statements, Shock said.
No further arrests are expected, according to Shock.
Each man is charged with two counts of capital murder, two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of theft of property and two counts of being felons in possession of a firearm.
Firearms were among items allegedly stolen by the pair during commission of the crimes, according to the felony information on file with the Faulkner County circuit clerk.
Both men have prior records, Charles’ record stretching back to a 1995 Pulaski County conviction for two counts of commercial burglary and two counts of theft of property.
He was 18 at the time, and was sentenced to two years in prison. In 1999, he was sentenced to six years for residential burglary and theft of property.
Crook was convicted in Pulaski County for residential burglary in 2000, probation revocation in 2001, and was convicted in 2006 of fraudulent use of a credit card.
In addition to the charges related to the Brock killings, Crook also faces charges of parole violation, failure to comply and has a hold placed on him from another county, according to information provided by Shock.
Pretrial motions for Charles are slated to be heard in circuit court in Vilonia Aug. 28.
He was declared indigent at Tuesday’s arraignment.
Leader staff writer
A Cabot man is being held without bond in the Faulkner County Jail on charges of murder, aggravated robbery, theft and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to Maj. Andy Shock of the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office.
Ronald Dean Charles, 31, of 45 Oak Meadows Drive in Cabot, was arrested at his residence Monday by Faulkner County sheriff’s deputies, assisted by the Cabot Police Department, according to Shock.
Charles and Roy Allen Crook, 29, of 2716 Moro Lane, Jacksonville, were charged in connection with the April 9 murder of cousins Bobby Don Brock, 45, and Lonnie Franklin Brock, 62, according to documents on file atthe Faulkner County Courthouse.
Shock didn’t want to discuss the cause of death, but one published report says the bodies were found with blunt trauma wounds. One man was found in the house and one in the yard at their residence near Vilonia.
Crook was arrested April 10, Charles on June 2. The arrests were the result of evidence and witness statements, Shock said.
No further arrests are expected, according to Shock.
Each man is charged with two counts of capital murder, two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of theft of property and two counts of being felons in possession of a firearm.
Firearms were among items allegedly stolen by the pair during commission of the crimes, according to the felony information on file with the Faulkner County circuit clerk.
Both men have prior records, Charles’ record stretching back to a 1995 Pulaski County conviction for two counts of commercial burglary and two counts of theft of property.
He was 18 at the time, and was sentenced to two years in prison. In 1999, he was sentenced to six years for residential burglary and theft of property.
Crook was convicted in Pulaski County for residential burglary in 2000, probation revocation in 2001, and was convicted in 2006 of fraudulent use of a credit card.
In addition to the charges related to the Brock killings, Crook also faces charges of parole violation, failure to comply and has a hold placed on him from another county, according to information provided by Shock.
Pretrial motions for Charles are slated to be heard in circuit court in Vilonia Aug. 28.
He was declared indigent at Tuesday’s arraignment.
TOP STORY >>Double murder puts men in jail
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
A Cabot man is being held without bond in the Faulkner County Jail on charges of murder, aggravated robbery, theft and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to Maj. Andy Shock of the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office.
Ronald Dean Charles, 31, of 45 Oak Meadows Drive in Cabot, was arrested at his residence Monday by Faulkner County sheriff’s deputies, assisted by the Cabot Police Department, according to Shock.
Charles and Roy Allen Crook, 29, of 2716 Moro Lane, Jacksonville, were charged in connection with the April 9 murder of cousins Bobby Don Brock, 45, and Lonnie Franklin Brock, 62, according to documents on file atthe Faulkner County Courthouse.
Shock didn’t want to discuss the cause of death, but one published report says the bodies were found with blunt trauma wounds. One man was found in the house and one in the yard at their residence near Vilonia.
Crook was arrested April 10, Charles on June 2. The arrests were the result of evidence and witness statements, Shock said.
No further arrests are expected, according to Shock.
Each man is charged with two counts of capital murder, two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of theft of property and two counts of being felons in possession of a firearm.
Firearms were among items allegedly stolen by the pair during commission of the crimes, according to the felony information on file with the Faulkner County circuit clerk.
Both men have prior records, Charles’ record stretching back to a 1995 Pulaski County conviction for two counts of commercial burglary and two counts of theft of property.
He was 18 at the time, and was sentenced to two years in prison. In 1999, he was sentenced to six years for residential burglary and theft of property.
Crook was convicted in Pulaski County for residential burglary in 2000, probation revocation in 2001, and was convicted in 2006 of fraudulent use of a credit card.
In addition to the charges related to the Brock killings, Crook also faces charges of parole violation, failure to comply and has a hold placed on him from another county, according to information provided by Shock.
Pretrial motions for Charles are slated to be heard in circuit court in Vilonia Aug. 28.
He was declared indigent at Tuesday’s arraignment.
Leader staff writer
A Cabot man is being held without bond in the Faulkner County Jail on charges of murder, aggravated robbery, theft and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to Maj. Andy Shock of the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office.
Ronald Dean Charles, 31, of 45 Oak Meadows Drive in Cabot, was arrested at his residence Monday by Faulkner County sheriff’s deputies, assisted by the Cabot Police Department, according to Shock.
Charles and Roy Allen Crook, 29, of 2716 Moro Lane, Jacksonville, were charged in connection with the April 9 murder of cousins Bobby Don Brock, 45, and Lonnie Franklin Brock, 62, according to documents on file atthe Faulkner County Courthouse.
Shock didn’t want to discuss the cause of death, but one published report says the bodies were found with blunt trauma wounds. One man was found in the house and one in the yard at their residence near Vilonia.
Crook was arrested April 10, Charles on June 2. The arrests were the result of evidence and witness statements, Shock said.
No further arrests are expected, according to Shock.
Each man is charged with two counts of capital murder, two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of theft of property and two counts of being felons in possession of a firearm.
Firearms were among items allegedly stolen by the pair during commission of the crimes, according to the felony information on file with the Faulkner County circuit clerk.
Both men have prior records, Charles’ record stretching back to a 1995 Pulaski County conviction for two counts of commercial burglary and two counts of theft of property.
He was 18 at the time, and was sentenced to two years in prison. In 1999, he was sentenced to six years for residential burglary and theft of property.
Crook was convicted in Pulaski County for residential burglary in 2000, probation revocation in 2001, and was convicted in 2006 of fraudulent use of a credit card.
In addition to the charges related to the Brock killings, Crook also faces charges of parole violation, failure to comply and has a hold placed on him from another county, according to information provided by Shock.
Pretrial motions for Charles are slated to be heard in circuit court in Vilonia Aug. 28.
He was declared indigent at Tuesday’s arraignment.
Friday, June 06, 2008
TOP STORY > >County gives away mulch from storms
By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
For gardeners and landscapers in Pulaski County, there’s a silver lining to the tornadoes that struck the area this spring. The storms provided 300 truck loads of free mulch for anyone who wants it, and there is more to come.
“We had a choice to either burn it, bury it or sell it,” said Pulaski County Judge Buddy Villines. “The public paid for the debris to be picked up and ground up, so we are giving it back.”
On Wednesday, officials from Pulaski County and the city of Sherwood were on hand at Sherwood Forest to let the public know about the free material.
Sherwood Mayor Virginia Hillman said the mulching of the debris is a creative way for Sherwood and Pulaski County to work together.
At the mulching area at Sherwood Forest, 1111 W. Maryland Ave., more than 520 dump truck loads of organic storm debris has been taken to the site. Tree limbs and stumps have been hauled in from Cammack Village, Hensley and Gravel Ridge. The storm debris was brought to the location as a faster way to clear the brush piles from yards and trees from the streets.
After the Sherwood site has turned the piles of tree branches into mulch, the grinder will be moved to southern Pulaski County where another storage area of tree debris is located.
Sherman Smith, Pulaski County public works director, said mulching is a way to keep the debris out of the landfill.
“The county bought the grinder for $166,000 to process large stumps and treetrunks. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse the county for the hours the machine is used for storm cleanup based on an hourly rate,” said Smith.
“The grinder can take stumps and tree trunks five feet in diameter and reduce them eight to one,” added Smith.
The machine operators accidentally discovered the power of the mulch grinder’s 540-horsepower engine when a discarded engine block hidden in a brush pile was chipped to bits.
Billy Ellis, equipment operator, said, “I love running the grinder. It gets the job done.”
Mulch will be available for residents from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays until all the mulch is given away. The site will have workers on hand to load mulch into the beds of pickup trucks or onto trailers.
For additional information, contact the Pulaski County Road and Bridge Department at 340-6800.
Leader staff writer
For gardeners and landscapers in Pulaski County, there’s a silver lining to the tornadoes that struck the area this spring. The storms provided 300 truck loads of free mulch for anyone who wants it, and there is more to come.
“We had a choice to either burn it, bury it or sell it,” said Pulaski County Judge Buddy Villines. “The public paid for the debris to be picked up and ground up, so we are giving it back.”
On Wednesday, officials from Pulaski County and the city of Sherwood were on hand at Sherwood Forest to let the public know about the free material.
Sherwood Mayor Virginia Hillman said the mulching of the debris is a creative way for Sherwood and Pulaski County to work together.
At the mulching area at Sherwood Forest, 1111 W. Maryland Ave., more than 520 dump truck loads of organic storm debris has been taken to the site. Tree limbs and stumps have been hauled in from Cammack Village, Hensley and Gravel Ridge. The storm debris was brought to the location as a faster way to clear the brush piles from yards and trees from the streets.
After the Sherwood site has turned the piles of tree branches into mulch, the grinder will be moved to southern Pulaski County where another storage area of tree debris is located.
Sherman Smith, Pulaski County public works director, said mulching is a way to keep the debris out of the landfill.
“The county bought the grinder for $166,000 to process large stumps and treetrunks. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse the county for the hours the machine is used for storm cleanup based on an hourly rate,” said Smith.
“The grinder can take stumps and tree trunks five feet in diameter and reduce them eight to one,” added Smith.
The machine operators accidentally discovered the power of the mulch grinder’s 540-horsepower engine when a discarded engine block hidden in a brush pile was chipped to bits.
Billy Ellis, equipment operator, said, “I love running the grinder. It gets the job done.”
Mulch will be available for residents from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays until all the mulch is given away. The site will have workers on hand to load mulch into the beds of pickup trucks or onto trailers.
For additional information, contact the Pulaski County Road and Bridge Department at 340-6800.
TOP STORY > >County gives away mulch from storms
By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
For gardeners and landscapers in Pulaski County, there’s a silver lining to the tornadoes that struck the area this spring. The storms provided 300 truck loads of free mulch for anyone who wants it, and there is more to come.
“We had a choice to either burn it, bury it or sell it,” said Pulaski County Judge Buddy Villines. “The public paid for the debris to be picked up and ground up, so we are giving it back.”
On Wednesday, officials from Pulaski County and the city of Sherwood were on hand at Sherwood Forest to let the public know about the free material.
Sherwood Mayor Virginia Hillman said the mulching of the debris is a creative way for Sherwood and Pulaski County to work together.
At the mulching area at Sherwood Forest, 1111 W. Maryland Ave., more than 520 dump truck loads of organic storm debris has been taken to the site. Tree limbs and stumps have been hauled in from Cammack Village, Hensley and Gravel Ridge. The storm debris was brought to the location as a faster way to clear the brush piles from yards and trees from the streets.
After the Sherwood site has turned the piles of tree branches into mulch, the grinder will be moved to southern Pulaski County where another storage area of tree debris is located.
Sherman Smith, Pulaski County public works director, said mulching is a way to keep the debris out of the landfill.
“The county bought the grinder for $166,000 to process large stumps and treetrunks. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse the county for the hours the machine is used for storm cleanup based on an hourly rate,” said Smith.
“The grinder can take stumps and tree trunks five feet in diameter and reduce them eight to one,” added Smith.
The machine operators accidentally discovered the power of the mulch grinder’s 540-horsepower engine when a discarded engine block hidden in a brush pile was chipped to bits.
Billy Ellis, equipment operator, said, “I love running the grinder. It gets the job done.”
Mulch will be available for residents from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays until all the mulch is given away. The site will have workers on hand to load mulch into the beds of pickup trucks or onto trailers.
For additional information, contact the Pulaski County Road and Bridge Department at 340-6800.
Leader staff writer
For gardeners and landscapers in Pulaski County, there’s a silver lining to the tornadoes that struck the area this spring. The storms provided 300 truck loads of free mulch for anyone who wants it, and there is more to come.
“We had a choice to either burn it, bury it or sell it,” said Pulaski County Judge Buddy Villines. “The public paid for the debris to be picked up and ground up, so we are giving it back.”
On Wednesday, officials from Pulaski County and the city of Sherwood were on hand at Sherwood Forest to let the public know about the free material.
Sherwood Mayor Virginia Hillman said the mulching of the debris is a creative way for Sherwood and Pulaski County to work together.
At the mulching area at Sherwood Forest, 1111 W. Maryland Ave., more than 520 dump truck loads of organic storm debris has been taken to the site. Tree limbs and stumps have been hauled in from Cammack Village, Hensley and Gravel Ridge. The storm debris was brought to the location as a faster way to clear the brush piles from yards and trees from the streets.
After the Sherwood site has turned the piles of tree branches into mulch, the grinder will be moved to southern Pulaski County where another storage area of tree debris is located.
Sherman Smith, Pulaski County public works director, said mulching is a way to keep the debris out of the landfill.
“The county bought the grinder for $166,000 to process large stumps and treetrunks. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse the county for the hours the machine is used for storm cleanup based on an hourly rate,” said Smith.
“The grinder can take stumps and tree trunks five feet in diameter and reduce them eight to one,” added Smith.
The machine operators accidentally discovered the power of the mulch grinder’s 540-horsepower engine when a discarded engine block hidden in a brush pile was chipped to bits.
Billy Ellis, equipment operator, said, “I love running the grinder. It gets the job done.”
Mulch will be available for residents from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays until all the mulch is given away. The site will have workers on hand to load mulch into the beds of pickup trucks or onto trailers.
For additional information, contact the Pulaski County Road and Bridge Department at 340-6800.
TOP STORY > >Jacksonville to buy Tasers for its police
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
The use of Taser weapons by Jack-sonville police will prevent officer injuries and save the city insurance money, explained Police Chief Gary Sipes Thursday evening as he asked the city council permission to buy 20 of the weapons for the department.
“Our worker’s comp carrier has been trying to get us to use Tasers for the past five years,” Mayor Tommy Swaim said. Both he and the chief agreed that Tasers would prevent injuries by allowing officers to not get too close to combative suspects.
Tasers are electroshock weapons that use electro-muscular disruption technology to cause strong muscle contractions or disruption in a suspect.
A Taser, which looks like a futuristic pistol and is smaller than the radios police carry, fires two small dart-like electrodes connected to the main unit by a conducive wire and propelled by small nitrogen charges. The Tasers the department will use will have at least a 15-foot range.
Alderman Gary Fletcher voiced concern, “There has been a lot of controversy the past few years over the use of Tasers. Are we going to be comfortable using them?”
Sipes said he’s very comfortable with them. “They come with audio and video recorders and the weapon is more effective than pepper spray,” he said. “If youare hit with a Taser in about five seconds it’s over, but pepper spray is long lasting and many times if you try to wash it out, you re-infect yourself.”
The chief said the department has an officer who is a certified trainer. “He will get recertified and then teach the rest of the force,” Sipes said.
As part of the training, each officer will be tased. “This cuts done on improper use or someone using the weapon excessively because the officer will know what it feels like,” Sipes explained.
In the two months he has been chief, Sipes said there have been three incidents of use of force by police.
Fletcher wanted assurances, and received them from the chief, that the department wouldn’t “get Taser happy.”
Alderman Reedie Ray agreed with Sipes that the Taser was an effective weapon since he had been on the receiving end of one.
“It’s not what you think,” he said, chuckling. “I was at a convention where the weapon was being demonstrated and was volunteered to be the Guinea pig.”
The council approved the chief’s request to buy 20 of the weapons and related equipment from a Louisiana company for $29,400.
In other council business:
In his monthly report, Public Works Director Jim Oakley said the animal shelter took in 164 dogs and 98 cats during May. The shelter was able to return 38 dogs and two cats to their owners and adopted out 52 dogs and 41 cats, but 67 dogs and 66 cats had to be euthanized during the month.
Oakley also reported that there were five animal bites or attacks on humans including a military canine, a terrier, a Yorkie, a chow mix and a pit mix. None of the animals were declared vicious because of the attacks, but the pit mix and the Yorkie were euthanized.
Alderman Bob Stroud commended the excellent work of the animal control department, saying, “I believe this is the first pit bite of the year. Our ordinance (banning pit bulls) is working,” he said.
City Planner Chip McCulley, in his monthly report to the council, said his department issued 13 building permits and 11 business licenses in May. The engineering department also conducted more than 200 inspections and wrote 253 warning letters to residents or business owners because of excessive grass or trash on the property.
The council also approved a resolution allowing the mayor and city clerk to work out a lease agreement with Arkansas Midland Railroad to operate and maintain the city’s railroad lines and spurs in the city’s industrial park.
“There’ll be no financial transaction involved,” the mayor said, adding that the city had acquired the railroad lines in a long-term lease from Union Pacific, but that lease ended in October.
The mayor said the advantage of having Midland operate the lines is that an engine would be available every day of the week to move train cars. “Right now we have access to one just three days a week,” Swaim said.
Because of Fourth of July holiday commitments, the council voted to move its June 19 meeting to June 26 and to cancel its July 3 meeting.
Leader staff writer
The use of Taser weapons by Jack-sonville police will prevent officer injuries and save the city insurance money, explained Police Chief Gary Sipes Thursday evening as he asked the city council permission to buy 20 of the weapons for the department.
“Our worker’s comp carrier has been trying to get us to use Tasers for the past five years,” Mayor Tommy Swaim said. Both he and the chief agreed that Tasers would prevent injuries by allowing officers to not get too close to combative suspects.
Tasers are electroshock weapons that use electro-muscular disruption technology to cause strong muscle contractions or disruption in a suspect.
A Taser, which looks like a futuristic pistol and is smaller than the radios police carry, fires two small dart-like electrodes connected to the main unit by a conducive wire and propelled by small nitrogen charges. The Tasers the department will use will have at least a 15-foot range.
Alderman Gary Fletcher voiced concern, “There has been a lot of controversy the past few years over the use of Tasers. Are we going to be comfortable using them?”
Sipes said he’s very comfortable with them. “They come with audio and video recorders and the weapon is more effective than pepper spray,” he said. “If youare hit with a Taser in about five seconds it’s over, but pepper spray is long lasting and many times if you try to wash it out, you re-infect yourself.”
The chief said the department has an officer who is a certified trainer. “He will get recertified and then teach the rest of the force,” Sipes said.
As part of the training, each officer will be tased. “This cuts done on improper use or someone using the weapon excessively because the officer will know what it feels like,” Sipes explained.
In the two months he has been chief, Sipes said there have been three incidents of use of force by police.
Fletcher wanted assurances, and received them from the chief, that the department wouldn’t “get Taser happy.”
Alderman Reedie Ray agreed with Sipes that the Taser was an effective weapon since he had been on the receiving end of one.
“It’s not what you think,” he said, chuckling. “I was at a convention where the weapon was being demonstrated and was volunteered to be the Guinea pig.”
The council approved the chief’s request to buy 20 of the weapons and related equipment from a Louisiana company for $29,400.
In other council business:
In his monthly report, Public Works Director Jim Oakley said the animal shelter took in 164 dogs and 98 cats during May. The shelter was able to return 38 dogs and two cats to their owners and adopted out 52 dogs and 41 cats, but 67 dogs and 66 cats had to be euthanized during the month.
Oakley also reported that there were five animal bites or attacks on humans including a military canine, a terrier, a Yorkie, a chow mix and a pit mix. None of the animals were declared vicious because of the attacks, but the pit mix and the Yorkie were euthanized.
Alderman Bob Stroud commended the excellent work of the animal control department, saying, “I believe this is the first pit bite of the year. Our ordinance (banning pit bulls) is working,” he said.
City Planner Chip McCulley, in his monthly report to the council, said his department issued 13 building permits and 11 business licenses in May. The engineering department also conducted more than 200 inspections and wrote 253 warning letters to residents or business owners because of excessive grass or trash on the property.
The council also approved a resolution allowing the mayor and city clerk to work out a lease agreement with Arkansas Midland Railroad to operate and maintain the city’s railroad lines and spurs in the city’s industrial park.
“There’ll be no financial transaction involved,” the mayor said, adding that the city had acquired the railroad lines in a long-term lease from Union Pacific, but that lease ended in October.
The mayor said the advantage of having Midland operate the lines is that an engine would be available every day of the week to move train cars. “Right now we have access to one just three days a week,” Swaim said.
Because of Fourth of July holiday commitments, the council voted to move its June 19 meeting to June 26 and to cancel its July 3 meeting.
TOP STORY > >Jacksonville to buy Tasers for its police
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
The use of Taser weapons by Jack-sonville police will prevent officer injuries and save the city insurance money, explained Police Chief Gary Sipes Thursday evening as he asked the city council permission to buy 20 of the weapons for the department.
“Our worker’s comp carrier has been trying to get us to use Tasers for the past five years,” Mayor Tommy Swaim said. Both he and the chief agreed that Tasers would prevent injuries by allowing officers to not get too close to combative suspects.
Tasers are electroshock weapons that use electro-muscular disruption technology to cause strong muscle contractions or disruption in a suspect.
A Taser, which looks like a futuristic pistol and is smaller than the radios police carry, fires two small dart-like electrodes connected to the main unit by a conducive wire and propelled by small nitrogen charges. The Tasers the department will use will have at least a 15-foot range.
Alderman Gary Fletcher voiced concern, “There has been a lot of controversy the past few years over the use of Tasers. Are we going to be comfortable using them?”
Sipes said he’s very comfortable with them. “They come with audio and video recorders and the weapon is more effective than pepper spray,” he said. “If youare hit with a Taser in about five seconds it’s over, but pepper spray is long lasting and many times if you try to wash it out, you re-infect yourself.”
The chief said the department has an officer who is a certified trainer. “He will get recertified and then teach the rest of the force,” Sipes said.
As part of the training, each officer will be tased. “This cuts done on improper use or someone using the weapon excessively because the officer will know what it feels like,” Sipes explained.
In the two months he has been chief, Sipes said there have been three incidents of use of force by police.
Fletcher wanted assurances, and received them from the chief, that the department wouldn’t “get Taser happy.”
Alderman Reedie Ray agreed with Sipes that the Taser was an effective weapon since he had been on the receiving end of one.
“It’s not what you think,” he said, chuckling. “I was at a convention where the weapon was being demonstrated and was volunteered to be the Guinea pig.”
The council approved the chief’s request to buy 20 of the weapons and related equipment from a Louisiana company for $29,400.
In other council business:
In his monthly report, Public Works Director Jim Oakley said the animal shelter took in 164 dogs and 98 cats during May. The shelter was able to return 38 dogs and two cats to their owners and adopted out 52 dogs and 41 cats, but 67 dogs and 66 cats had to be euthanized during the month.
Oakley also reported that there were five animal bites or attacks on humans including a military canine, a terrier, a Yorkie, a chow mix and a pit mix. None of the animals were declared vicious because of the attacks, but the pit mix and the Yorkie were euthanized.
Alderman Bob Stroud commended the excellent work of the animal control department, saying, “I believe this is the first pit bite of the year. Our ordinance (banning pit bulls) is working,” he said.
City Planner Chip McCulley, in his monthly report to the council, said his department issued 13 building permits and 11 business licenses in May. The engineering department also conducted more than 200 inspections and wrote 253 warning letters to residents or business owners because of excessive grass or trash on the property.
The council also approved a resolution allowing the mayor and city clerk to work out a lease agreement with Arkansas Midland Railroad to operate and maintain the city’s railroad lines and spurs in the city’s industrial park.
“There’ll be no financial transaction involved,” the mayor said, adding that the city had acquired the railroad lines in a long-term lease from Union Pacific, but that lease ended in October.
The mayor said the advantage of having Midland operate the lines is that an engine would be available every day of the week to move train cars. “Right now we have access to one just three days a week,” Swaim said.
Because of Fourth of July holiday commitments, the council voted to move its June 19 meeting to June 26 and to cancel its July 3 meeting.
Leader staff writer
The use of Taser weapons by Jack-sonville police will prevent officer injuries and save the city insurance money, explained Police Chief Gary Sipes Thursday evening as he asked the city council permission to buy 20 of the weapons for the department.
“Our worker’s comp carrier has been trying to get us to use Tasers for the past five years,” Mayor Tommy Swaim said. Both he and the chief agreed that Tasers would prevent injuries by allowing officers to not get too close to combative suspects.
Tasers are electroshock weapons that use electro-muscular disruption technology to cause strong muscle contractions or disruption in a suspect.
A Taser, which looks like a futuristic pistol and is smaller than the radios police carry, fires two small dart-like electrodes connected to the main unit by a conducive wire and propelled by small nitrogen charges. The Tasers the department will use will have at least a 15-foot range.
Alderman Gary Fletcher voiced concern, “There has been a lot of controversy the past few years over the use of Tasers. Are we going to be comfortable using them?”
Sipes said he’s very comfortable with them. “They come with audio and video recorders and the weapon is more effective than pepper spray,” he said. “If youare hit with a Taser in about five seconds it’s over, but pepper spray is long lasting and many times if you try to wash it out, you re-infect yourself.”
The chief said the department has an officer who is a certified trainer. “He will get recertified and then teach the rest of the force,” Sipes said.
As part of the training, each officer will be tased. “This cuts done on improper use or someone using the weapon excessively because the officer will know what it feels like,” Sipes explained.
In the two months he has been chief, Sipes said there have been three incidents of use of force by police.
Fletcher wanted assurances, and received them from the chief, that the department wouldn’t “get Taser happy.”
Alderman Reedie Ray agreed with Sipes that the Taser was an effective weapon since he had been on the receiving end of one.
“It’s not what you think,” he said, chuckling. “I was at a convention where the weapon was being demonstrated and was volunteered to be the Guinea pig.”
The council approved the chief’s request to buy 20 of the weapons and related equipment from a Louisiana company for $29,400.
In other council business:
In his monthly report, Public Works Director Jim Oakley said the animal shelter took in 164 dogs and 98 cats during May. The shelter was able to return 38 dogs and two cats to their owners and adopted out 52 dogs and 41 cats, but 67 dogs and 66 cats had to be euthanized during the month.
Oakley also reported that there were five animal bites or attacks on humans including a military canine, a terrier, a Yorkie, a chow mix and a pit mix. None of the animals were declared vicious because of the attacks, but the pit mix and the Yorkie were euthanized.
Alderman Bob Stroud commended the excellent work of the animal control department, saying, “I believe this is the first pit bite of the year. Our ordinance (banning pit bulls) is working,” he said.
City Planner Chip McCulley, in his monthly report to the council, said his department issued 13 building permits and 11 business licenses in May. The engineering department also conducted more than 200 inspections and wrote 253 warning letters to residents or business owners because of excessive grass or trash on the property.
The council also approved a resolution allowing the mayor and city clerk to work out a lease agreement with Arkansas Midland Railroad to operate and maintain the city’s railroad lines and spurs in the city’s industrial park.
“There’ll be no financial transaction involved,” the mayor said, adding that the city had acquired the railroad lines in a long-term lease from Union Pacific, but that lease ended in October.
The mayor said the advantage of having Midland operate the lines is that an engine would be available every day of the week to move train cars. “Right now we have access to one just three days a week,” Swaim said.
Because of Fourth of July holiday commitments, the council voted to move its June 19 meeting to June 26 and to cancel its July 3 meeting.
TOP STORY > >Ideas sought on easing traffic jams
By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader editor-in-chief
Are you tired of getting stuck in traffic jams that no one is working to eliminate?
Or driving down Main Street, where the traffic lights are uncoordinated, and you have to wait at red lights when there’s no traffic around you?
Metroplan, which helps central Ar-kansas communities with their long-range transportation needs, wants to find answers to the area’s traffic woes.
“We don’t want to rely just on the experts,” Jim McKenzie, Metroplan’s executive director in Little Rock, said Thursday. “The people who use the system know where the problems are.”
In hopes of alleviating congestion problems and poor commutes, Metroplan will soon launch Operation Bottleneck, inviting area residents to voice their opinions on how to improve traffic in their communities.
Public hearings will be held in every central Arkansas county in September, he said.
Suggestions from the public could include supporting major traffic projects, such as widening Hwy. 67/167 from Little Rock to Cabot or completing the North Belt Freeway (a project that has awaited funding since 1947), although funds, estimated to be $200 million, won’t be available for many years, McKenzie said.
But in the meantime, McKenzie wants to hear from the public about small projects that won’t cost much, whether it’s getting out of a driveway to shave a few minutes off a trip, or having enough sidewalks to encourage people to walk and ride bikes.
The aim is to reduce congestion and help people get around better, which will save energy and reduce pollution, he said.
McKenzie said drivers should also consider using public transportation.
Toward that end, Metroplan will run surveys in area newspapers in addition to the public meetings.
Metroplan will hold “a walkable community” seminar in Cabot to en-courage more sidewalks. In addition, Metroplan is also promoting a regional bicycle plan.
These projects will cost money, but federal funds are drying up, he said. The federal highway trust fund, which is supported by gasoline taxes, is also falling. People are driving less— there’s been an 8 percent drop from a year ago, McKenzie said — which means less revenue since taxes are not collected as a percentage of the cost of gasoline but at a flat rate. Arkansas levies 40.2 cents on each gallon sold, regardless of the price of gasoline.
The state will also charge a higher tax on natural gas, which could make up the loss from gasoline usage if motorists cut back on their driving, which they will keep doing if the cost of gasoline goes to $4 a gallon or more
Leader editor-in-chief
Are you tired of getting stuck in traffic jams that no one is working to eliminate?
Or driving down Main Street, where the traffic lights are uncoordinated, and you have to wait at red lights when there’s no traffic around you?
Metroplan, which helps central Ar-kansas communities with their long-range transportation needs, wants to find answers to the area’s traffic woes.
“We don’t want to rely just on the experts,” Jim McKenzie, Metroplan’s executive director in Little Rock, said Thursday. “The people who use the system know where the problems are.”
In hopes of alleviating congestion problems and poor commutes, Metroplan will soon launch Operation Bottleneck, inviting area residents to voice their opinions on how to improve traffic in their communities.
Public hearings will be held in every central Arkansas county in September, he said.
Suggestions from the public could include supporting major traffic projects, such as widening Hwy. 67/167 from Little Rock to Cabot or completing the North Belt Freeway (a project that has awaited funding since 1947), although funds, estimated to be $200 million, won’t be available for many years, McKenzie said.
But in the meantime, McKenzie wants to hear from the public about small projects that won’t cost much, whether it’s getting out of a driveway to shave a few minutes off a trip, or having enough sidewalks to encourage people to walk and ride bikes.
The aim is to reduce congestion and help people get around better, which will save energy and reduce pollution, he said.
McKenzie said drivers should also consider using public transportation.
Toward that end, Metroplan will run surveys in area newspapers in addition to the public meetings.
Metroplan will hold “a walkable community” seminar in Cabot to en-courage more sidewalks. In addition, Metroplan is also promoting a regional bicycle plan.
These projects will cost money, but federal funds are drying up, he said. The federal highway trust fund, which is supported by gasoline taxes, is also falling. People are driving less— there’s been an 8 percent drop from a year ago, McKenzie said — which means less revenue since taxes are not collected as a percentage of the cost of gasoline but at a flat rate. Arkansas levies 40.2 cents on each gallon sold, regardless of the price of gasoline.
The state will also charge a higher tax on natural gas, which could make up the loss from gasoline usage if motorists cut back on their driving, which they will keep doing if the cost of gasoline goes to $4 a gallon or more
TOP STORY > >Ideas sought on easing traffic jams
By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader editor-in-chief
Are you tired of getting stuck in traffic jams that no one is working to eliminate?
Or driving down Main Street, where the traffic lights are uncoordinated, and you have to wait at red lights when there’s no traffic around you?
Metroplan, which helps central Ar-kansas communities with their long-range transportation needs, wants to find answers to the area’s traffic woes.
“We don’t want to rely just on the experts,” Jim McKenzie, Metroplan’s executive director in Little Rock, said Thursday. “The people who use the system know where the problems are.”
In hopes of alleviating congestion problems and poor commutes, Metroplan will soon launch Operation Bottleneck, inviting area residents to voice their opinions on how to improve traffic in their communities.
Public hearings will be held in every central Arkansas county in September, he said.
Suggestions from the public could include supporting major traffic projects, such as widening Hwy. 67/167 from Little Rock to Cabot or completing the North Belt Freeway (a project that has awaited funding since 1947), although funds, estimated to be $200 million, won’t be available for many years, McKenzie said.
But in the meantime, McKenzie wants to hear from the public about small projects that won’t cost much, whether it’s getting out of a driveway to shave a few minutes off a trip, or having enough sidewalks to encourage people to walk and ride bikes.
The aim is to reduce congestion and help people get around better, which will save energy and reduce pollution, he said.
McKenzie said drivers should also consider using public transportation.
Toward that end, Metroplan will run surveys in area newspapers in addition to the public meetings.
Metroplan will hold “a walkable community” seminar in Cabot to en-courage more sidewalks. In addition, Metroplan is also promoting a regional bicycle plan.
These projects will cost money, but federal funds are drying up, he said. The federal highway trust fund, which is supported by gasoline taxes, is also falling. People are driving less— there’s been an 8 percent drop from a year ago, McKenzie said — which means less revenue since taxes are not collected as a percentage of the cost of gasoline but at a flat rate. Arkansas levies 40.2 cents on each gallon sold, regardless of the price of gasoline.
The state will also charge a higher tax on natural gas, which could make up the loss from gasoline usage if motorists cut back on their driving, which they will keep doing if the cost of gasoline goes to $4 a gallon or more
Leader editor-in-chief
Are you tired of getting stuck in traffic jams that no one is working to eliminate?
Or driving down Main Street, where the traffic lights are uncoordinated, and you have to wait at red lights when there’s no traffic around you?
Metroplan, which helps central Ar-kansas communities with their long-range transportation needs, wants to find answers to the area’s traffic woes.
“We don’t want to rely just on the experts,” Jim McKenzie, Metroplan’s executive director in Little Rock, said Thursday. “The people who use the system know where the problems are.”
In hopes of alleviating congestion problems and poor commutes, Metroplan will soon launch Operation Bottleneck, inviting area residents to voice their opinions on how to improve traffic in their communities.
Public hearings will be held in every central Arkansas county in September, he said.
Suggestions from the public could include supporting major traffic projects, such as widening Hwy. 67/167 from Little Rock to Cabot or completing the North Belt Freeway (a project that has awaited funding since 1947), although funds, estimated to be $200 million, won’t be available for many years, McKenzie said.
But in the meantime, McKenzie wants to hear from the public about small projects that won’t cost much, whether it’s getting out of a driveway to shave a few minutes off a trip, or having enough sidewalks to encourage people to walk and ride bikes.
The aim is to reduce congestion and help people get around better, which will save energy and reduce pollution, he said.
McKenzie said drivers should also consider using public transportation.
Toward that end, Metroplan will run surveys in area newspapers in addition to the public meetings.
Metroplan will hold “a walkable community” seminar in Cabot to en-courage more sidewalks. In addition, Metroplan is also promoting a regional bicycle plan.
These projects will cost money, but federal funds are drying up, he said. The federal highway trust fund, which is supported by gasoline taxes, is also falling. People are driving less— there’s been an 8 percent drop from a year ago, McKenzie said — which means less revenue since taxes are not collected as a percentage of the cost of gasoline but at a flat rate. Arkansas levies 40.2 cents on each gallon sold, regardless of the price of gasoline.
The state will also charge a higher tax on natural gas, which could make up the loss from gasoline usage if motorists cut back on their driving, which they will keep doing if the cost of gasoline goes to $4 a gallon or more
TOP STORY > >Election should go better next time
By JOAM McCOY
Leader staff writer
The White County Election Commission, those unpaid volunteers responsible for making sure elections are conducted in accordance with state law, fell short of making sure the primary came off without a hitch and had to spend more than 24 hours hand counting the ballots for the May primary, only to report Wednesday night that the recount changed nothing.
All the winners are still winners and there still will be a runoff for Searcy District Court during the November general election.
There also will be a runoff among Democratic candidates for House District 58, which covers part of Jackson County and part of White County on June 10.
“The secretary of state told us it would be a long and tedious process, but we didn’t know it would be that long,” said Cindy Barker, a member of the election commission, after the counting was completed. “We didn’t know it would take that long.
There was nothing wrong, no problems, we were just taking our time and doing it right.”
But Barker said the problems are behindthem. Not only have they learned from the procedural errors that skewed the first count, but Leslie Bellamy, the certified election coordinator who usually works with them, has come back early from maternity leave to make sure the runoff election as well as the general election run smoothly.
In Bellamy’s absence, the commission hired other election coordinators who were responsible for some of the problems with the election.
“Leslie started programming sometime last week,” Barker said. “As a matter of fact, she programmed the machine for early election.”
In the Democratic primary for JP District 1, Horace Taylor won over Cathy Foster 146 to 145. In the Republican primary for JP District 2, Bobby Burns won over Larry Fisher 81 to 67.
Mark Derrick, who lost his race for circuit court to Tom Hughes, withdrew his request for a recount.
In Searcy District Court, there will be a November runoff election between Mark Pate and Phyllis Worley. In that race, Pate received 2,911 votes to Worley’s 1,356. Greg Niblock, another candidate for that office, requested the recount when he nearly tied with Worley for the runoff, but the recount showed him still in third place with 1,317 votes while Robert Hudgins came in last with 1,078.
In the Democratic primary for House District 58, both White and Jackson counties will hold runoff elections to determine the winner.
The runoff is between Jody Dickinson who received a two-county total of 1,095 votes while Jody Bryant came in second with 897; Jamie Darling came in third with 857 and Jerry Calew finished last with 495.
Candidates asked for the recount after problems with the election including procedural errors in the counting and bad programming of the voting machines forced the commission to count the ballots a second time. The hand count, which is required by the state when candidates ask for a recount, was the third time the ballots were counted.
Leader staff writer
The White County Election Commission, those unpaid volunteers responsible for making sure elections are conducted in accordance with state law, fell short of making sure the primary came off without a hitch and had to spend more than 24 hours hand counting the ballots for the May primary, only to report Wednesday night that the recount changed nothing.
All the winners are still winners and there still will be a runoff for Searcy District Court during the November general election.
There also will be a runoff among Democratic candidates for House District 58, which covers part of Jackson County and part of White County on June 10.
“The secretary of state told us it would be a long and tedious process, but we didn’t know it would be that long,” said Cindy Barker, a member of the election commission, after the counting was completed. “We didn’t know it would take that long.
There was nothing wrong, no problems, we were just taking our time and doing it right.”
But Barker said the problems are behindthem. Not only have they learned from the procedural errors that skewed the first count, but Leslie Bellamy, the certified election coordinator who usually works with them, has come back early from maternity leave to make sure the runoff election as well as the general election run smoothly.
In Bellamy’s absence, the commission hired other election coordinators who were responsible for some of the problems with the election.
“Leslie started programming sometime last week,” Barker said. “As a matter of fact, she programmed the machine for early election.”
In the Democratic primary for JP District 1, Horace Taylor won over Cathy Foster 146 to 145. In the Republican primary for JP District 2, Bobby Burns won over Larry Fisher 81 to 67.
Mark Derrick, who lost his race for circuit court to Tom Hughes, withdrew his request for a recount.
In Searcy District Court, there will be a November runoff election between Mark Pate and Phyllis Worley. In that race, Pate received 2,911 votes to Worley’s 1,356. Greg Niblock, another candidate for that office, requested the recount when he nearly tied with Worley for the runoff, but the recount showed him still in third place with 1,317 votes while Robert Hudgins came in last with 1,078.
In the Democratic primary for House District 58, both White and Jackson counties will hold runoff elections to determine the winner.
The runoff is between Jody Dickinson who received a two-county total of 1,095 votes while Jody Bryant came in second with 897; Jamie Darling came in third with 857 and Jerry Calew finished last with 495.
Candidates asked for the recount after problems with the election including procedural errors in the counting and bad programming of the voting machines forced the commission to count the ballots a second time. The hand count, which is required by the state when candidates ask for a recount, was the third time the ballots were counted.
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