By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Sherwood needs to have $1 million ready for a down payment and the mechanism in place to fund up to another $5 million within the next 45 days to pay for the condemnation of the 106-acre golf course.
That’s the recommendation attorney Tim Grooms, who is working with the city to purchase the defunct golf course, gave to aldermen and other officials at a workshop Tuesday afternoon at the Bill Harmon Recreation Center.
Mayor Virginia Hillman said that the down payment suggestion was a lot of money. “That’s half of our reserve fund,” she said, adding, “That’s a lot if we don’t have much.”
The workshop was called by City Attorney Stephen Cobb to update the council on four major lawsuits or litigations that the city is involved in.
A $5 million bond issue, according to attorney John Bryant, one of two attorneys working on the bond issue, would cost the city about $500,000 a year for 20 years.
On top of that is a possible damage payment the city may have to make to the golf course owners if a federal lawsuit is decided in favor of the owners, and the money needed to make improvements to the acreage.
Alderman Becki Vassar suggested using the land to build a water park similar to Jacksonville’s Splash Zone, which cost about $2.5 million to build four years ago.
Grooms said the city’s public facilities board needs to meet as soon as possible to initiate the bond-issue request to pay for the property.
“Then a public hearing needs to be scheduled with ten days’ notice, and then the city council needs to approve the bond issue, including the down payment and monthly payments,” Grooms said, adding that all of that should be in place before the condemnation issue is decided in a jury trial late next month.
Under the procedures that the city used to condemn the property, the fair market value that the city will pay the owners, Club Properties, must be decided by a jury trial. That trial is set for July 24-25 and July 30-July 31. The first two days are for legal wrangling, and the last two days will be the actual jury trial to determine the fair market value.
Appraisals range from just under $3 million to more than $5 million. Grooms felt that the lower appraisal was closer to the truth, but that the city had to be prepared to pay the higher amount.
And actually, the city has the option after the fair market value is announced to back away from the condemnation and let the current owners keep the property. “It is certain that the owners would sue for damages if we did that,” another attorney with Grooms firm said.
Grooms said the city could get by with less than a $1 million down payment, but a smaller payment could negatively affect the rate and terms of the bond issue. “The equity credit markets are as tight as I’ve seen them in my lifetime. A 20 percent down will help with rate and terms,” he said.
Bond attorney Joseph Gregory told the workshop attendees that the city’s public facilities board would actually buy the golf course land through the bond issue and lease it to the city. The amount of the lease should cover the bond payment, Gregory said.
The city is also in a lawsuit with First Electric and North Little Rock over the whether or not the city has the right to pick its own electric provider.
A final order is expected from Circuit Judge Tim Fox’s office soon stating that the city may choose its own electric provider, but in going with First Electric, the city breached its contract with North Little Rock and the city needs to return $2 million in franchise fees back to North Little Rock.
North Little Rock is also holding an additional $600,000 in franchise fees per the court order.
Once the final order is issued, Sherwood has the option to appeal or work out a settlement with North Little Rock.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
TOP STORY > >Benchmark tests show area schools doing better
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Most local Benchmark scores mirrored the state’s movement upward and some area schools and classes have nearly all of their students scoring proficient or advanced—six years ahead of schedule.
In fact, nearly 100 percent of students at Arnold Drive in Jacksonville, Magness Creek and Stagecoach in Cabot and Westside Elementary in Searcy scored at grade level or above.
According to the state education department, students continued to show improvement in the latest round of state Benchmark scores, with increases being made at every grade level, which also resulted in a closing of the achievement gap for the second consecutive year.
“You know you’re on the right path when each year marks progress toward your goals,” said Dr. Ken James, Arkansas commissioner of education.
The annual test, given in April in grades three through eighth, is designed to show how well students have mastered grade-level skills in math and literacy. Based upon the scores, students are placed in one of four categories: Advanced (able to work above grade level), proficient (working at grade level); basic (can do grade level work, but needs help) and below basic (has great difficulty with grade- level work). The No Child Left Behind federal regulations require that all students must be working at or above grade level (advanced or proficient) by the end of the 2013-2014 school year.
Dr. James pointed to a number of firsts with this year’s scores. He said it was the first time that more than 60 percent of the state third-graders scored proficient or better in literacy, and the same for the state’s fourth- and fifth-graders.
More than 70 percent of the state’s fourth- and sixth- graders scored proficient or better in math.
PCSSD
At the third-grade level, 75 percent of the county students scored advanced or proficient in math. Arnold Drive students beat that with 91 percent of students making the cut—second highest in the district.
Bayou Meto had 87 percent of its students score proficient or better, while Cato had 86 percent, Warren Dupree was at 80 percent, Tolleson was at 81 percent, Sherwood and Sylvan Hills were both at 78 percent proficient or better; Clinton Elementary was at 75 percent.
Oakbrook was just under the district average coming in at 74 percent proficient or better, Taylor was at 73 percent and Pinewood was at 65 percent.
In literacy, the district average for third-graders was 59 percent proficient or better.
Arnold Drive was the top score- getter in the Jacksonville area with 82 percent of its students proficient or advanced, followed by Cato at 69 percent, Bayou Meto, Sylvan Hills and Tolleson at 66 percent, Sherwood at 63 percent, Warren Dupree at 61 percent, Pinewood at 60 percent and Clinton at 59 percent.
For fourth-graders in the district, the average was 68 percent proficient or better in math.
Bayou Meto reigned supreme with 91 percent of its students at proficient or advanced, followed by Arnold Drive at 88 percent, Oakbrooke at 77 percent, Clinton and Pinewood at 76 percent, Sherwood and Sylvan Hills at 74 percent, Tolleson at 71 percent and Warren Dupree at 68 percent.
In literacy, the district average for fourth-graders was 59 percent. Arnold Drive fourth-graders were tops at 92 percent proficient or advanced.
Arnold Drive was followed by Bayou Meto at 76 percent, Clinton at 72 percent, Oakbrooke at 71 percent, Tolleson at 69 percent, Warren Dupree at 68 percent, Sherwood, Pinewood and Sylvan Hills at 65 percent and Cato at 60 percent.
In the fifth grade, 62 percent of the students were advanced or proficient in math.
Arnold Drive was again tops at 90 percent proficient or better, followed by Bayou Meto at 79 percent, Cato at 75 percent, Sherwood at 73 percent, Tolleson at 70 percent, Oakbrooke at 66 percent, Pinewood at 65 percent and Clinton at 62 percent.
In literacy, the district average for fifth-graders was 64 percent, but Bayou Meto fifth-graders blew past that with 80 percent scoring proficient or better.
Cato had 73 percent, Tolleson had 72 percent of its students scoring proficient or better, Sherwood was at 70 percent, Pinewood at 68 percent, Arnold Drive at 66 percent, Oakbrooke at 65 percent and Warren Dupree at 64 percent.
At the sixth-grade level, 58 percent of the students were advanced or proficient in math. Northwood Middle School was the only area school that met or beat the district average with 72 percent of its students proficient or better.
In literacy, 50 percent of the district sixth-graders scored proficient or better. Northwood had 58 percent of its students proficient or better and Sylvan Hills was at 53 percent.
At the seventh-grade level, 46 percent of the students made the grade in math and 48 percent in literacy.
Northwood had 54 percent of its students score advanced or proficient in math and 55 percent in literacy. At Sylvan Hills, 51 percent of the students made the cut in literacy.
For eight-graders in the district, the average making proficient or better in math was 44 percent and 59 percent in literacy.
Northwood had 45 percent make the cut in math and 62 percent in literacy, while Sylvan Hills was also at 62 percent in literacy. Jacksonville Middle School was at 60 percent.
CABOT
In math, 99 percent of the third-graders at Stagecoach scored proficient or better, followed by Magness Creek at 98 percent, Eastside at 95 percent, Central at 94 percent, Northside at 89 percent, Southside at 83 percent, Ward Central at 81 percent and Westside at 79 percent.
At the fourth-grade level, 93 percent of Magness Creek students scored proficient or better followed by Eastside at 90 percent, Southside at 89 percent, Westside and Stagecoach at 87 percent, Northside at 82 percent, Central at 81 percent and Ward Central at 75 percent.
For fifth grade, 76 percent of the students at Cabot Middle School South scored proficient or better and 73 percent did the same at Cabot Middle School North.
At the sixth-grade level, 88 percent of the Cabot South students were proficient or better, while at Cabot North it was 81 percent.
For seventh grade, 76 percent of Cabot Junior High South scored proficient or better and 73 percent did the same at Cabot Junior High North. At the eighth-grade level, 72 percent of the Cabot South students made the cut, while 68 percent did the same at Cabot North.
In literacy, Stagecoach third- graders slipped by Magness Creek students, 79 to 78 percent. At Westside and Central, 75 percent scored proficient or advanced, followed by Southside and Eastside at 74 percent, Northside at 67 percent and Ward
Central at 58 percent.
At the fourth-grade level, 87 percent of Magness Creek students scored proficient or better, followed by Southside at 84 percent, Westside at 82 percent, Northside at 80 percent, Eastside at 75 percent, Central at 73 percent, Stagecoach at 72 percent and Ward Central at 64 percent.
At the fifth-grade level, 79 percent of Cabot Middle South students made the cut and 76 percent at Cabot Middle North did likewise.
In the sixth grade, 80 percent at Cabot South were proficient or better and 74 percent were the same at Cabot North.
At Cabot Junior High South, 69 percent of the seventh-graders scored proficient or better, while 64 percent did the same at Cabot Junior High North.
At the eighth-grade level, 81 percent made the grade at Cabot South and 79 percent did so at Cabot North.
LONOKE
In Lonoke, 81 percent of the third-graders scored advanced or proficient in math and 61 percent did the same in literacy.
At the fourth-grade level, 76 percent made the cut in math and 66 percent in literacy. In fifth grade, 66 percent were proficient or better in math and 68 percent in literacy.
At the sixth-grade level, 74 percent made the cut in math and 51 percent did so in literacy.
Meanwhile, 74 percent of the seventh-graders scored proficient or better in math and 59 percent did likewise in literacy. In eighth grade, 60 percent were proficient or better in math and in literacy it was 68 percent.
BEEBE
In Beebe, 86 percent of the third-graders were advanced or proficient in math and 68 percent did the same in literacy.
At the fourth-grade level, 84 percent made the cut in math and 73 percent did the same in literacy.
In fifth grade, 74 percent scored proficient or better, while 69 percent did so in literacy.
At the sixth-grade level, 77 percent were proficient or better in math and 67 percent did the same in literacy. For seventh-graders, 71 percent made the cut in math and the same percentage did so in literacy. In eighth grade, 63 percent scored proficient or better in math and 79 percent did so in literacy. For eighth-graders at Badger Academy, 39 percent were proficient or better in math and 54 percent were proficient in literacy.
SEARCY
At the third-grade level, 87 percent of Westside students were proficient or better at math, while Sidney Deener was 84 percent and McRae at 83 percent.
For fourth grade, 92 percent of Westside students were proficient or advanced in math, followed by 82 percent at Sidney Deener and 81 percent at McRae.
In fifth grade, 79 percent of the students were proficient or better at math. At the sixth-grade level, 81 percent made the cut in math.
Seventh-graders were 77 percent proficient or better in math, and 72 percent of the eighth-graders also made the cut in math.
In literacy, 83 percent of Westside students made the cut, followed by 74 percent at Sidney Deener and 71 percent at McRae. Fourth-graders at Westside were nearly perfect, with 90 percent scoring proficient or better, followed by Sidney Deener at 81 percent and McRae at 78 percent.
At the fifth-grade level, 84 percent scored proficient or better in literacy.
For sixth-graders, 80 percent made the cut, while it was 74 percent at seventh grade and 85 percent at eighth grade.
Leader staff writer
Most local Benchmark scores mirrored the state’s movement upward and some area schools and classes have nearly all of their students scoring proficient or advanced—six years ahead of schedule.
In fact, nearly 100 percent of students at Arnold Drive in Jacksonville, Magness Creek and Stagecoach in Cabot and Westside Elementary in Searcy scored at grade level or above.
According to the state education department, students continued to show improvement in the latest round of state Benchmark scores, with increases being made at every grade level, which also resulted in a closing of the achievement gap for the second consecutive year.
“You know you’re on the right path when each year marks progress toward your goals,” said Dr. Ken James, Arkansas commissioner of education.
The annual test, given in April in grades three through eighth, is designed to show how well students have mastered grade-level skills in math and literacy. Based upon the scores, students are placed in one of four categories: Advanced (able to work above grade level), proficient (working at grade level); basic (can do grade level work, but needs help) and below basic (has great difficulty with grade- level work). The No Child Left Behind federal regulations require that all students must be working at or above grade level (advanced or proficient) by the end of the 2013-2014 school year.
Dr. James pointed to a number of firsts with this year’s scores. He said it was the first time that more than 60 percent of the state third-graders scored proficient or better in literacy, and the same for the state’s fourth- and fifth-graders.
More than 70 percent of the state’s fourth- and sixth- graders scored proficient or better in math.
PCSSD
At the third-grade level, 75 percent of the county students scored advanced or proficient in math. Arnold Drive students beat that with 91 percent of students making the cut—second highest in the district.
Bayou Meto had 87 percent of its students score proficient or better, while Cato had 86 percent, Warren Dupree was at 80 percent, Tolleson was at 81 percent, Sherwood and Sylvan Hills were both at 78 percent proficient or better; Clinton Elementary was at 75 percent.
Oakbrook was just under the district average coming in at 74 percent proficient or better, Taylor was at 73 percent and Pinewood was at 65 percent.
In literacy, the district average for third-graders was 59 percent proficient or better.
Arnold Drive was the top score- getter in the Jacksonville area with 82 percent of its students proficient or advanced, followed by Cato at 69 percent, Bayou Meto, Sylvan Hills and Tolleson at 66 percent, Sherwood at 63 percent, Warren Dupree at 61 percent, Pinewood at 60 percent and Clinton at 59 percent.
For fourth-graders in the district, the average was 68 percent proficient or better in math.
Bayou Meto reigned supreme with 91 percent of its students at proficient or advanced, followed by Arnold Drive at 88 percent, Oakbrooke at 77 percent, Clinton and Pinewood at 76 percent, Sherwood and Sylvan Hills at 74 percent, Tolleson at 71 percent and Warren Dupree at 68 percent.
In literacy, the district average for fourth-graders was 59 percent. Arnold Drive fourth-graders were tops at 92 percent proficient or advanced.
Arnold Drive was followed by Bayou Meto at 76 percent, Clinton at 72 percent, Oakbrooke at 71 percent, Tolleson at 69 percent, Warren Dupree at 68 percent, Sherwood, Pinewood and Sylvan Hills at 65 percent and Cato at 60 percent.
In the fifth grade, 62 percent of the students were advanced or proficient in math.
Arnold Drive was again tops at 90 percent proficient or better, followed by Bayou Meto at 79 percent, Cato at 75 percent, Sherwood at 73 percent, Tolleson at 70 percent, Oakbrooke at 66 percent, Pinewood at 65 percent and Clinton at 62 percent.
In literacy, the district average for fifth-graders was 64 percent, but Bayou Meto fifth-graders blew past that with 80 percent scoring proficient or better.
Cato had 73 percent, Tolleson had 72 percent of its students scoring proficient or better, Sherwood was at 70 percent, Pinewood at 68 percent, Arnold Drive at 66 percent, Oakbrooke at 65 percent and Warren Dupree at 64 percent.
At the sixth-grade level, 58 percent of the students were advanced or proficient in math. Northwood Middle School was the only area school that met or beat the district average with 72 percent of its students proficient or better.
In literacy, 50 percent of the district sixth-graders scored proficient or better. Northwood had 58 percent of its students proficient or better and Sylvan Hills was at 53 percent.
At the seventh-grade level, 46 percent of the students made the grade in math and 48 percent in literacy.
Northwood had 54 percent of its students score advanced or proficient in math and 55 percent in literacy. At Sylvan Hills, 51 percent of the students made the cut in literacy.
For eight-graders in the district, the average making proficient or better in math was 44 percent and 59 percent in literacy.
Northwood had 45 percent make the cut in math and 62 percent in literacy, while Sylvan Hills was also at 62 percent in literacy. Jacksonville Middle School was at 60 percent.
CABOT
In math, 99 percent of the third-graders at Stagecoach scored proficient or better, followed by Magness Creek at 98 percent, Eastside at 95 percent, Central at 94 percent, Northside at 89 percent, Southside at 83 percent, Ward Central at 81 percent and Westside at 79 percent.
At the fourth-grade level, 93 percent of Magness Creek students scored proficient or better followed by Eastside at 90 percent, Southside at 89 percent, Westside and Stagecoach at 87 percent, Northside at 82 percent, Central at 81 percent and Ward Central at 75 percent.
For fifth grade, 76 percent of the students at Cabot Middle School South scored proficient or better and 73 percent did the same at Cabot Middle School North.
At the sixth-grade level, 88 percent of the Cabot South students were proficient or better, while at Cabot North it was 81 percent.
For seventh grade, 76 percent of Cabot Junior High South scored proficient or better and 73 percent did the same at Cabot Junior High North. At the eighth-grade level, 72 percent of the Cabot South students made the cut, while 68 percent did the same at Cabot North.
In literacy, Stagecoach third- graders slipped by Magness Creek students, 79 to 78 percent. At Westside and Central, 75 percent scored proficient or advanced, followed by Southside and Eastside at 74 percent, Northside at 67 percent and Ward
Central at 58 percent.
At the fourth-grade level, 87 percent of Magness Creek students scored proficient or better, followed by Southside at 84 percent, Westside at 82 percent, Northside at 80 percent, Eastside at 75 percent, Central at 73 percent, Stagecoach at 72 percent and Ward Central at 64 percent.
At the fifth-grade level, 79 percent of Cabot Middle South students made the cut and 76 percent at Cabot Middle North did likewise.
In the sixth grade, 80 percent at Cabot South were proficient or better and 74 percent were the same at Cabot North.
At Cabot Junior High South, 69 percent of the seventh-graders scored proficient or better, while 64 percent did the same at Cabot Junior High North.
At the eighth-grade level, 81 percent made the grade at Cabot South and 79 percent did so at Cabot North.
LONOKE
In Lonoke, 81 percent of the third-graders scored advanced or proficient in math and 61 percent did the same in literacy.
At the fourth-grade level, 76 percent made the cut in math and 66 percent in literacy. In fifth grade, 66 percent were proficient or better in math and 68 percent in literacy.
At the sixth-grade level, 74 percent made the cut in math and 51 percent did so in literacy.
Meanwhile, 74 percent of the seventh-graders scored proficient or better in math and 59 percent did likewise in literacy. In eighth grade, 60 percent were proficient or better in math and in literacy it was 68 percent.
BEEBE
In Beebe, 86 percent of the third-graders were advanced or proficient in math and 68 percent did the same in literacy.
At the fourth-grade level, 84 percent made the cut in math and 73 percent did the same in literacy.
In fifth grade, 74 percent scored proficient or better, while 69 percent did so in literacy.
At the sixth-grade level, 77 percent were proficient or better in math and 67 percent did the same in literacy. For seventh-graders, 71 percent made the cut in math and the same percentage did so in literacy. In eighth grade, 63 percent scored proficient or better in math and 79 percent did so in literacy. For eighth-graders at Badger Academy, 39 percent were proficient or better in math and 54 percent were proficient in literacy.
SEARCY
At the third-grade level, 87 percent of Westside students were proficient or better at math, while Sidney Deener was 84 percent and McRae at 83 percent.
For fourth grade, 92 percent of Westside students were proficient or advanced in math, followed by 82 percent at Sidney Deener and 81 percent at McRae.
In fifth grade, 79 percent of the students were proficient or better at math. At the sixth-grade level, 81 percent made the cut in math.
Seventh-graders were 77 percent proficient or better in math, and 72 percent of the eighth-graders also made the cut in math.
In literacy, 83 percent of Westside students made the cut, followed by 74 percent at Sidney Deener and 71 percent at McRae. Fourth-graders at Westside were nearly perfect, with 90 percent scoring proficient or better, followed by Sidney Deener at 81 percent and McRae at 78 percent.
At the fifth-grade level, 84 percent scored proficient or better in literacy.
For sixth-graders, 80 percent made the cut, while it was 74 percent at seventh grade and 85 percent at eighth grade.
SPORTS>>Sherwood Sharks, Cabot post easy victories in meets
The four-time defending Central Ark-ansas Swim League Champion, Sherwood Sharks, posted their third consecutive meet win of the year on Saturday at Otter Creek.
The Sharks won 810 points to 402 for Otter Creek.
The Cabot Piranhas also won their home meet on Saturday against Maumelle and Lonoke. The Piranhas topped the sheets at the end of the day with 618 points, while the Marlins were second with 496 points and the Sharkrockets finished with 79 points.
Sherwood will host Lakewood and Lonoke this Saturday. Cabot will host Otter Creek and YMCA.
The Sharks won 810 points to 402 for Otter Creek.
The Cabot Piranhas also won their home meet on Saturday against Maumelle and Lonoke. The Piranhas topped the sheets at the end of the day with 618 points, while the Marlins were second with 496 points and the Sharkrockets finished with 79 points.
Sherwood will host Lakewood and Lonoke this Saturday. Cabot will host Otter Creek and YMCA.
SPORTS>>Community Bank wins one, loses one at Maumelle
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
For 3 1/3 innings on Monday night, Sam Bates was in complete control.
The Cabot Community Bank senior Legion hurler had struck out five, allowed two harmless bloop singles and begun the fourth with a weak pop to short.
Then the bottom fell out.
Maumelle erupted for six runs on six hits and one critical error and went on to rally for a 10-6 win at Maumelle.
Though Bates’ line doesn’t look too impressive – nine hits over 3 2/3 innings – it hardly tells the story. Trailing 4-0, Maumelle got a pair of solid singles with one out in the fourth, but it appeared Bates and Cabot would escape damage when third baseman Ty Steele threw a runner out at the plate one batter later.
A bloop single scored one, a balk scored another and a misplayed fly ball in left made it 4-3. Two infield singles tied it and a triple put Maumelle ahead 6-4. That was it for Bates, who was replaced by Josh Brown.
Community Bank bounced right back from the disastrous inning to tie it in the fifth. Ben Wainright hit the first offering of the inning over the fence in left. Two walks and a sacrifice by Brown tied it.
A leadoff single by Maumelle in the bottom half was wiped out on a strikeout-throw-’em-out double play when Wainright caught the runner stealing on Chase Thompson’s great catch and tag.
Maumelle scored in only two innings, but both were big ones. Three doubles, two walks and a wild pitch put four more on the board and Maumelle led 10-6 after six.
Community Bank started a potential rally in the seventh with a pair of walks, but a strikeout, a flyout and a caught stealing at third ended it as Cabot fell to 5-6.
Community Bank had opportunities to put the game away early when they stranded six runners over the first three innings. Shayne Burgan and Drew Burks delivered one-out singles in the first but were left on. Cabot took a 1-0 lead in the second on
Matt Turner’s triple and Steele’s RBI single. Steele came across on Powell Bryant’s double.
In the third, Burks drew a leadoff walk and scored on Bates’ rocket double to left-center. Steele made it 4-0 with another run-scoring single.
Brown went 1 1/3 innings, allowing two hits and one earned run, while fanning two. Burks pitched the sixth, giving up two hits and two runs and striking out two.
Maumelle finished with 13 hits, while Community Bank banged out nine, but only one after the third inning. Turner and Steele each had two hits.
CABOT ‘A’ 9, MAUMELLE 2
Community Bank’s junior Legion team showed no ill effects from a 6-day layoff, pounding Maumelle for 12 hits, playing errorless ball and allowing only three hits.
Still, head coach Andy Runyan wasn’t entirely pleased.
“We did some things right, we did some things wrong,” said Runyan, whose club improved to 14-3-1. “At times, we looked like the team we were before the break. And at times, we looked like we’d had five or six days off. But nine runs in your first game back, you can’t really complain about that.”
Leading the offensive attack was Matt Evans, who went 4 of 5 and drove in a run on his only out of the night. He also scored four times.
“The biggest thing is he’s really getting in the mindset of being a leadoff batter,” Runyan said. “He’s taking more pitches, getting on walking, getting on hitting the ball. He may be the best base runner I’ve ever coached. Put that with a guy with an on-base percentage of over .500 and that helps with getting nine runs.”
Community Bank could have gotten a lot more out of their production on Monday, as they stranded two runners in five of the six innings — 11 overall. But they were in control from the third inning on. Powell Bryant’s 2-run single in the first staked Cabot to a 2-0 lead, though Maumelle tied it in the second.
Bryant tripled and scored on Matt Turner’s infield single to put Cabot back on top for good in the third. They added two runs on just one hit in the fourth, getting a leadoff double by Evans, three walks and Turner’s sacrifice fly to go ahead 5-2.
Singles by Brandon Surdam and Evans and Joe Bryant’s 2-run double in the fifth made it 7-2. Bryant came in on a wild pitch.
The final run came in after Tyler Erickson singled and scored on Evans’ ground out in the sixth.
C.J. Jacoby pitched three solid innings for Community Bank, allowing two hits and two earned runs, while striking out four.
Evans gave up just one hit in three innings, striking out three.
“We looked a little rusty on the mound,” Runyan said. “Both guys I ran out there today didn’t get ahead in the counts. But they battled back and worked through their tough spots. I told them not to get too frustrated because it was the first time in six days they’d been on the mound.”
Powell Bryant had two hits and three RBI, while Joe Bryant had two hits, two RBI and three runs scored.
Community Bank makes up for its time off with three more games this week, beginning with a trip to Greers Ferry on Thursday.
Runyan told his team after the game on Monday that it can be as good as it wants to be.
“Playing against their age group, how we do is determined by how we play,” he said. “If we play flat, we can be beaten by anybody. If we play how we’re capable, we’re pretty tough. We haven’t played a great game and been beaten yet.”
Leader sports editor
For 3 1/3 innings on Monday night, Sam Bates was in complete control.
The Cabot Community Bank senior Legion hurler had struck out five, allowed two harmless bloop singles and begun the fourth with a weak pop to short.
Then the bottom fell out.
Maumelle erupted for six runs on six hits and one critical error and went on to rally for a 10-6 win at Maumelle.
Though Bates’ line doesn’t look too impressive – nine hits over 3 2/3 innings – it hardly tells the story. Trailing 4-0, Maumelle got a pair of solid singles with one out in the fourth, but it appeared Bates and Cabot would escape damage when third baseman Ty Steele threw a runner out at the plate one batter later.
A bloop single scored one, a balk scored another and a misplayed fly ball in left made it 4-3. Two infield singles tied it and a triple put Maumelle ahead 6-4. That was it for Bates, who was replaced by Josh Brown.
Community Bank bounced right back from the disastrous inning to tie it in the fifth. Ben Wainright hit the first offering of the inning over the fence in left. Two walks and a sacrifice by Brown tied it.
A leadoff single by Maumelle in the bottom half was wiped out on a strikeout-throw-’em-out double play when Wainright caught the runner stealing on Chase Thompson’s great catch and tag.
Maumelle scored in only two innings, but both were big ones. Three doubles, two walks and a wild pitch put four more on the board and Maumelle led 10-6 after six.
Community Bank started a potential rally in the seventh with a pair of walks, but a strikeout, a flyout and a caught stealing at third ended it as Cabot fell to 5-6.
Community Bank had opportunities to put the game away early when they stranded six runners over the first three innings. Shayne Burgan and Drew Burks delivered one-out singles in the first but were left on. Cabot took a 1-0 lead in the second on
Matt Turner’s triple and Steele’s RBI single. Steele came across on Powell Bryant’s double.
In the third, Burks drew a leadoff walk and scored on Bates’ rocket double to left-center. Steele made it 4-0 with another run-scoring single.
Brown went 1 1/3 innings, allowing two hits and one earned run, while fanning two. Burks pitched the sixth, giving up two hits and two runs and striking out two.
Maumelle finished with 13 hits, while Community Bank banged out nine, but only one after the third inning. Turner and Steele each had two hits.
CABOT ‘A’ 9, MAUMELLE 2
Community Bank’s junior Legion team showed no ill effects from a 6-day layoff, pounding Maumelle for 12 hits, playing errorless ball and allowing only three hits.
Still, head coach Andy Runyan wasn’t entirely pleased.
“We did some things right, we did some things wrong,” said Runyan, whose club improved to 14-3-1. “At times, we looked like the team we were before the break. And at times, we looked like we’d had five or six days off. But nine runs in your first game back, you can’t really complain about that.”
Leading the offensive attack was Matt Evans, who went 4 of 5 and drove in a run on his only out of the night. He also scored four times.
“The biggest thing is he’s really getting in the mindset of being a leadoff batter,” Runyan said. “He’s taking more pitches, getting on walking, getting on hitting the ball. He may be the best base runner I’ve ever coached. Put that with a guy with an on-base percentage of over .500 and that helps with getting nine runs.”
Community Bank could have gotten a lot more out of their production on Monday, as they stranded two runners in five of the six innings — 11 overall. But they were in control from the third inning on. Powell Bryant’s 2-run single in the first staked Cabot to a 2-0 lead, though Maumelle tied it in the second.
Bryant tripled and scored on Matt Turner’s infield single to put Cabot back on top for good in the third. They added two runs on just one hit in the fourth, getting a leadoff double by Evans, three walks and Turner’s sacrifice fly to go ahead 5-2.
Singles by Brandon Surdam and Evans and Joe Bryant’s 2-run double in the fifth made it 7-2. Bryant came in on a wild pitch.
The final run came in after Tyler Erickson singled and scored on Evans’ ground out in the sixth.
C.J. Jacoby pitched three solid innings for Community Bank, allowing two hits and two earned runs, while striking out four.
Evans gave up just one hit in three innings, striking out three.
“We looked a little rusty on the mound,” Runyan said. “Both guys I ran out there today didn’t get ahead in the counts. But they battled back and worked through their tough spots. I told them not to get too frustrated because it was the first time in six days they’d been on the mound.”
Powell Bryant had two hits and three RBI, while Joe Bryant had two hits, two RBI and three runs scored.
Community Bank makes up for its time off with three more games this week, beginning with a trip to Greers Ferry on Thursday.
Runyan told his team after the game on Monday that it can be as good as it wants to be.
“Playing against their age group, how we do is determined by how we play,” he said. “If we play flat, we can be beaten by anybody. If we play how we’re capable, we’re pretty tough. We haven’t played a great game and been beaten yet.”
SPORTS>> Local harriers take next step toward nationals
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
One way to resurrect a track program is to get kids interested in the sport early. That’s what Walter Harris and the NCA Elite Track Club had in mind last fall, and if the early success of several young Jacksonville-area harriers is any indication, it just might be working.
Five area girls from nine to 18 years old will be heading to Joplin, Mo., this Friday for the AAU Region 8 regionals. A sixth did well enough to qualify but is too young to participate at regionals. Yet another overcame tragedy to have an outstanding track season before moving out of the area.
“The track programs are down in Jacksonville,” said Harris, a Jacksonville High School alum who serves as one of the coaches for the NCA Elite Track Club. “There’s just not much emphasis on track in Pulaski County like there used to be.
“We want to get to the younger ones and give them a love for the sport early, to get them to appreciate track, maybe give them an opportunity to go to college.”
Tatiana Washington, 12, said she was approached by Harris when he was substitute teaching at Jacksonville Middle School.
“He was asking who could run,” said Washington, who, like many of her teammates, is in her first year of track. “It’s hard, but it’s fun. I plan on running track for a while. Track gives you dedication and drive to do stuff better.”
Washington will compete this Friday in the 100 and the 400 meters in the sub youth division at Southwest Missouri State University. She will join Jacksonville-area teammates Daijah Harris, 8; Nikia Williams, 9; Ebony Cox, 13; and Kiara Zinson, 18.
Daijah Harris, Walter Harris’ daughter, is the state champ in the 200, the 400 and the long jump. She also has the fastest time in the 100, but each girl is limited to three events and she will sit that one out.
“A lot of the problem with Daijah is there’s really no one to push her at state,” Harris said. “I’m predicting she’ll see some competition at regionals and she’ll lock in and do a lot better. She gets bored being out in front.
“I think she’s on tap to be one of the best sprinters in Arkansas someday.”
The top three finishers at regionals qualify for nationals in late July in Detroit, Mich. Harris thinks several of his girls have a chance to break through. Williams currently owns the fastest regional time in the 400 (one minute, 13 seconds) in the Bantam division, and will also compete in the 100 and the 200.
Williams comes by her talents genetically.
Her mother, Danna Williams-Tillman, ran track at the old Jacksonville Southside Junior High and at Jacksonville High. She said Nikia loves to run, though she adds with a laugh, she sometimes needs an attitude adjustment.
“The 400 is her best event,” she said. “Now if we could just get her to quit whining about it. It’s a tough race and she gets that long face. I just tell her, ‘Suck it up, cowboy up and get it done.’”
In the youth division, Cox has the second-fastest time in the state in the 100, 200 and 400. The girl with the fastest times in those events — Tcara Malone of Pine Bluff — enjoys a distinct advantage with her long legs and 5-8 frame. But Harris doesn’t count Cox out.
“She might can beat her in the 400,” Harris said. “She has a great chance. At the state meet, she gave her all she could handle. It’s just hard for her to overcome her size.”
Though Washington finished second at state in the 400, she owns the best overall time in the state in the sub youth division at 1:10.31.
Zinson, who lives in Jackson-ville but attends North Little Rock, will run the third leg of the 400-meter relay as well as the 200. Zinson, 18, has qualified for regionals before but was unable to attend.
She said she is looking forward to the opportunity.
“I’m going to do my best,” she said. “I’m not really nervous at all because I’m just going to do what I’ve got to do. I have faith I can make it to the next level.”
Harris said that even though 8-year-old Lamya Bulliner will not be attending regionals, her story is particularly inspiring. At the start of the track season, Bulliner’s mother died.
“But she kicked butt in the 100, the 200 and the long jump,” Harris said. “She worked so hard this year and was able to overcome all of that. But her father moved her to Fordyce a week before we went to state. Hopefully, we’ll have her back next year.”
Alycia Shaw is just five, too young to compete at regionals, but she has enjoyed plenty of success in her first year as well.
NCA Elite is coached by Wilford Jones, the father of track sensation Whitney Jones of Searcy, who will run at the University of Arkansas next year. Jones missed most of her high school season and will sit out the summer season recovering from an injury.
All of the girls Harris coaches say Whitney Jones has been a real inspiration.
“Whitney told me that even though you’re tired, you have to keep running,” Daijah Harris said.
Zinson also said Whitney has inspired her in her running.
“She’s taught me how to use my arms and legs better,” Zinson said. “She told me, when I get tired, do not give up on it and keep pushing myself to the finish line. So that’s what I do.”
Wilford Jones, who began the Elite Track Club four years ago, said he sees in this crop of youngsters a similarity to his own daughter.
“It all depends on the talent you’re born with,” he said. “Yeah, it’s kind of rare in the first year of running (to reach regionals).
But coach Harris has done a good job getting these girls to understand track. And they were out there in the cold back in October and November. They persevered through all of that.”
The key, Wilford Jones said, is to get the youngsters through those first potentially overwhelming events when they first face large fields and quality competition.
“They went in there that first time and they didn’t get shaken,” he said. “They competed real well. Just going to regionals that first time is important. That’s how you know about the kids. When they go to the big meet, do they get up, do they get so nervous they don’t perform?
“A lot of times, it’s mental. But the experience of being there is important because the next year, it’s not new to them anymore. Half the battle is getting there.”
Leader sports editor
One way to resurrect a track program is to get kids interested in the sport early. That’s what Walter Harris and the NCA Elite Track Club had in mind last fall, and if the early success of several young Jacksonville-area harriers is any indication, it just might be working.
Five area girls from nine to 18 years old will be heading to Joplin, Mo., this Friday for the AAU Region 8 regionals. A sixth did well enough to qualify but is too young to participate at regionals. Yet another overcame tragedy to have an outstanding track season before moving out of the area.
“The track programs are down in Jacksonville,” said Harris, a Jacksonville High School alum who serves as one of the coaches for the NCA Elite Track Club. “There’s just not much emphasis on track in Pulaski County like there used to be.
“We want to get to the younger ones and give them a love for the sport early, to get them to appreciate track, maybe give them an opportunity to go to college.”
Tatiana Washington, 12, said she was approached by Harris when he was substitute teaching at Jacksonville Middle School.
“He was asking who could run,” said Washington, who, like many of her teammates, is in her first year of track. “It’s hard, but it’s fun. I plan on running track for a while. Track gives you dedication and drive to do stuff better.”
Washington will compete this Friday in the 100 and the 400 meters in the sub youth division at Southwest Missouri State University. She will join Jacksonville-area teammates Daijah Harris, 8; Nikia Williams, 9; Ebony Cox, 13; and Kiara Zinson, 18.
Daijah Harris, Walter Harris’ daughter, is the state champ in the 200, the 400 and the long jump. She also has the fastest time in the 100, but each girl is limited to three events and she will sit that one out.
“A lot of the problem with Daijah is there’s really no one to push her at state,” Harris said. “I’m predicting she’ll see some competition at regionals and she’ll lock in and do a lot better. She gets bored being out in front.
“I think she’s on tap to be one of the best sprinters in Arkansas someday.”
The top three finishers at regionals qualify for nationals in late July in Detroit, Mich. Harris thinks several of his girls have a chance to break through. Williams currently owns the fastest regional time in the 400 (one minute, 13 seconds) in the Bantam division, and will also compete in the 100 and the 200.
Williams comes by her talents genetically.
Her mother, Danna Williams-Tillman, ran track at the old Jacksonville Southside Junior High and at Jacksonville High. She said Nikia loves to run, though she adds with a laugh, she sometimes needs an attitude adjustment.
“The 400 is her best event,” she said. “Now if we could just get her to quit whining about it. It’s a tough race and she gets that long face. I just tell her, ‘Suck it up, cowboy up and get it done.’”
In the youth division, Cox has the second-fastest time in the state in the 100, 200 and 400. The girl with the fastest times in those events — Tcara Malone of Pine Bluff — enjoys a distinct advantage with her long legs and 5-8 frame. But Harris doesn’t count Cox out.
“She might can beat her in the 400,” Harris said. “She has a great chance. At the state meet, she gave her all she could handle. It’s just hard for her to overcome her size.”
Though Washington finished second at state in the 400, she owns the best overall time in the state in the sub youth division at 1:10.31.
Zinson, who lives in Jackson-ville but attends North Little Rock, will run the third leg of the 400-meter relay as well as the 200. Zinson, 18, has qualified for regionals before but was unable to attend.
She said she is looking forward to the opportunity.
“I’m going to do my best,” she said. “I’m not really nervous at all because I’m just going to do what I’ve got to do. I have faith I can make it to the next level.”
Harris said that even though 8-year-old Lamya Bulliner will not be attending regionals, her story is particularly inspiring. At the start of the track season, Bulliner’s mother died.
“But she kicked butt in the 100, the 200 and the long jump,” Harris said. “She worked so hard this year and was able to overcome all of that. But her father moved her to Fordyce a week before we went to state. Hopefully, we’ll have her back next year.”
Alycia Shaw is just five, too young to compete at regionals, but she has enjoyed plenty of success in her first year as well.
NCA Elite is coached by Wilford Jones, the father of track sensation Whitney Jones of Searcy, who will run at the University of Arkansas next year. Jones missed most of her high school season and will sit out the summer season recovering from an injury.
All of the girls Harris coaches say Whitney Jones has been a real inspiration.
“Whitney told me that even though you’re tired, you have to keep running,” Daijah Harris said.
Zinson also said Whitney has inspired her in her running.
“She’s taught me how to use my arms and legs better,” Zinson said. “She told me, when I get tired, do not give up on it and keep pushing myself to the finish line. So that’s what I do.”
Wilford Jones, who began the Elite Track Club four years ago, said he sees in this crop of youngsters a similarity to his own daughter.
“It all depends on the talent you’re born with,” he said. “Yeah, it’s kind of rare in the first year of running (to reach regionals).
But coach Harris has done a good job getting these girls to understand track. And they were out there in the cold back in October and November. They persevered through all of that.”
The key, Wilford Jones said, is to get the youngsters through those first potentially overwhelming events when they first face large fields and quality competition.
“They went in there that first time and they didn’t get shaken,” he said. “They competed real well. Just going to regionals that first time is important. That’s how you know about the kids. When they go to the big meet, do they get up, do they get so nervous they don’t perform?
“A lot of times, it’s mental. But the experience of being there is important because the next year, it’s not new to them anymore. Half the battle is getting there.”
SPORTS>> Groundbreaking
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Work began last week just north of the North Pulaski football practice field end zone on the new Falcon field house.
The proposed 60-foot-by-100-foot facility will not be large enough to hold scrimmage practice like the Jacksonville High School field house, but will be more of a weightlifting center similar to that of Sylvan Hills’ facilities.
North Pulaski athletic director and head football coach Tony Bohannon has been campaigning for the new facility for some time. Bohannon was in Fayetteville last week for high-school all-star week when he got the news that ground was finally being broken.
“The good thing for us is that it will free up two more classrooms,” Bohannon said. “It’s good for our kids to have something that is their own from an ownership standpoint, and it’s a good thing to have football-wise.”
The football Falcons’ only winning season came in the mid-eighties, and they have never made a playoff appearance in 30 years of competition. North Pulaski ended a 32-game losing skid on homecoming last September by beating Greene County Tech.
The football Falcons’ struggles have been in part attributed to the lack of field house facilities. While most other PCSSD schools have had these same types of facilities for decades now, the Falcons were low men on the totem pole, due in part to being the newest school in the district.
The current weight room facilities are located near the Falcons Nest gymnasium, and will be petitioned down the middle and converted into two classrooms once construction on the field house is finished.
Bohannon also says that, while all of the equipment going into the new field house will not be brand new, it will at least be refurbished. The athletic department has already recovered and repainted many of the old weight benches and racks, but Bohannon hopes that enough money can be raised between now and the projected completion date of Oct. 17 to add some new equipment.
The field house in its initial configuration will not take up any of the North Pulaski practice field, which sits directly behind the football stadium.
However, Bohannon says it is being constructed in a manner that would allow for another 60’ X 100’ area, which could serve as a scrimmaging field to be built on the south side of the building at a later date.
“It will give us a bigger weight room, and more room for the kids to dress in and out,” Bohannon said. “We’ll be able to get everyone together in the same place if we want to talk to them. We couldn’t even do that in the one we’ve been using.”
One person who is not excited about the new facility is Pulaski County Special School District business affairs coordinator Larry
O’Briant, who cited large cost overruns.
He said the initial plan for the building was far different than what is being built.
“We gave all of the high schools $100,000 last year,” O’Briant told The Leader. “Some of them used that money for bleachers, some of them used it for repairs.
“North Pulaski wanted to save their $100,000 to go toward a new field house and raise the rest of the money they needed themselves through their booster club, but that fell through after they went out and told everyone that they were getting a new field house.
“They came to me and said they had someone that could build it for approximately $200,000, but they didn’t do their homework. They didn’t take into account how much it would cost for building permits and all the channels you have to go through with the city of Jacksonville in order to get something like this done, so it was just poor planning on their part.”
O’Briant said the cost to build the field house currently is at $600,000.
Reached for comment on Tuesday morning on O’Briant’s statements, Bohannon would only say that whatever the cost is, the kids at North Pulaski High School will benefit from the new facilities.
“This is all about the kids,” Bohannon said. “Bottom line, they’re going to be getting a new facility and two extra classrooms.”
Leader sportswriter
Work began last week just north of the North Pulaski football practice field end zone on the new Falcon field house.
The proposed 60-foot-by-100-foot facility will not be large enough to hold scrimmage practice like the Jacksonville High School field house, but will be more of a weightlifting center similar to that of Sylvan Hills’ facilities.
North Pulaski athletic director and head football coach Tony Bohannon has been campaigning for the new facility for some time. Bohannon was in Fayetteville last week for high-school all-star week when he got the news that ground was finally being broken.
“The good thing for us is that it will free up two more classrooms,” Bohannon said. “It’s good for our kids to have something that is their own from an ownership standpoint, and it’s a good thing to have football-wise.”
The football Falcons’ only winning season came in the mid-eighties, and they have never made a playoff appearance in 30 years of competition. North Pulaski ended a 32-game losing skid on homecoming last September by beating Greene County Tech.
The football Falcons’ struggles have been in part attributed to the lack of field house facilities. While most other PCSSD schools have had these same types of facilities for decades now, the Falcons were low men on the totem pole, due in part to being the newest school in the district.
The current weight room facilities are located near the Falcons Nest gymnasium, and will be petitioned down the middle and converted into two classrooms once construction on the field house is finished.
Bohannon also says that, while all of the equipment going into the new field house will not be brand new, it will at least be refurbished. The athletic department has already recovered and repainted many of the old weight benches and racks, but Bohannon hopes that enough money can be raised between now and the projected completion date of Oct. 17 to add some new equipment.
The field house in its initial configuration will not take up any of the North Pulaski practice field, which sits directly behind the football stadium.
However, Bohannon says it is being constructed in a manner that would allow for another 60’ X 100’ area, which could serve as a scrimmaging field to be built on the south side of the building at a later date.
“It will give us a bigger weight room, and more room for the kids to dress in and out,” Bohannon said. “We’ll be able to get everyone together in the same place if we want to talk to them. We couldn’t even do that in the one we’ve been using.”
One person who is not excited about the new facility is Pulaski County Special School District business affairs coordinator Larry
O’Briant, who cited large cost overruns.
He said the initial plan for the building was far different than what is being built.
“We gave all of the high schools $100,000 last year,” O’Briant told The Leader. “Some of them used that money for bleachers, some of them used it for repairs.
“North Pulaski wanted to save their $100,000 to go toward a new field house and raise the rest of the money they needed themselves through their booster club, but that fell through after they went out and told everyone that they were getting a new field house.
“They came to me and said they had someone that could build it for approximately $200,000, but they didn’t do their homework. They didn’t take into account how much it would cost for building permits and all the channels you have to go through with the city of Jacksonville in order to get something like this done, so it was just poor planning on their part.”
O’Briant said the cost to build the field house currently is at $600,000.
Reached for comment on Tuesday morning on O’Briant’s statements, Bohannon would only say that whatever the cost is, the kids at North Pulaski High School will benefit from the new facilities.
“This is all about the kids,” Bohannon said. “Bottom line, they’re going to be getting a new facility and two extra classrooms.”
EDITORIAL >>Soul singer Green keeps streak going
Soul singer Al Green, the minister of love who was born in eastern Arkansas, keeps spreading his message of happiness and good vibes with his third CD from Blue Note, “Lay It Down,” which evokes the exuberance of his 1970s Hi Recordings.
“Lay It Down” is a remarkable feat, even better than “I Can’t Stop” and “Everything’s OK,” his first two Blue Note records, which have helped revive his career and found him new fans.
Several young neo-soul performers were involved in the production of “Lay It Down,” making the 62-year-old Green sound young, too. He still makes it sound nice and easy, even if it takes a little more effort to get out those high notes that sound as if he were singing gospel at his Memphis church.
Rev. Green sings like it’s still 1974, and with gas prices out of control and inflation on the rise, it seems as if not much has changed in three decades, when he was at the height of his fame. He’s one of the last of the great male soul singers: Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, O.V. Wright, James Carr, Joe Tex and Dave Prater (of Sam and Dave) are long gone, and now James Brown and Wilson Pickett have also passed on, although Clarence Carter is still doing pretty well.
But Green is the No. 1 Soul Man: He keeps singing and preaching and selling records thanks to the good folks at Blue Note, who have recorded African American music for almost 70 years.
Green brings a little sanity to the world with his artistry. His career is flourishing, too: He’ll be at Carnegie Hall next weekend and will receive a lifetime achievement award from Black Entertainment TV.
On July 5, he will appear with Gladys Knight at Harrah’s Casino in Tunica, which is worth a trip. (Tickets are still available from Ticket-master.) You can get there on a tankful of gas. That’s not too much to pay to hear a living legend who was born on a farm near Forrest City.
If you can’t get to Carnegie Hall or even Tunica, buy one of the Rev. Green’s records. His message of happiness and love is as strong as ever.
Delmark, the Chicago blues label that has preserved the music of southern migrants to the Windy City for 50 years, continues its series of live blues CDs recorded at local clubs.
The records give you a sense of what it’s like to hear live blues in a Chicago club. Byther Smith’s “Blue on the Moon: Live at Natural Rhythm Social Club” is one of the best of the Delmark releases. He’s a classic performer who moved from Mississippi to Chicago when he was a young man, but it’s as if he’s never left: When he shouts the blues, he evokes more than the music of the Windy City. He takes you back to the Delta, where the music began.
Two other Mississippi transplants — Little Arthur Duncan on “Live at Rosa’s Lounge” Johnny B. Moore on “Live at Blue Chicago” and Jimmy Burns on “Live at B.L.U.E.S.” — also evoke the music of the big city, as well as the Delta. The music is timeless.
From the Arkansas Delta, there’s James Yancy Jones, who hails from Altheimer (Jefferson County) and calls himself Taildragger, and he had a live recording issued a couple of years ago called “My Head Is Bald: Live at Vern’s Friendly Lounge” with Lurrie Bell, Bill Branch and Jimmy Dawkins. The music is a listener-friendly as the lounge where it was recorded.
Younger musicians who weren’t born in the Delta are also part of the Delmark live music series. Dave Spector’s “Live in Chicago,” recorded at Buddy Guy’s Legends and at Ro-sa’s Blues Lounge, has guest performances with the great Jimmy Johnson (also of Chicago by way of north Mississippi), as well as Tad Robinson and Sharon Lewis. Let’s hope Delmark has enough music left over from those sessions to get a Jimmy Johnson CD out of them.
As a bonus, many of these CDs are also on DVD, so you can see what it’s like in a Chicago blues club without having to take a trip there.
This is a great series, and Delmark deserves our thanks for preserving such great music.
“Lay It Down” is a remarkable feat, even better than “I Can’t Stop” and “Everything’s OK,” his first two Blue Note records, which have helped revive his career and found him new fans.
Several young neo-soul performers were involved in the production of “Lay It Down,” making the 62-year-old Green sound young, too. He still makes it sound nice and easy, even if it takes a little more effort to get out those high notes that sound as if he were singing gospel at his Memphis church.
Rev. Green sings like it’s still 1974, and with gas prices out of control and inflation on the rise, it seems as if not much has changed in three decades, when he was at the height of his fame. He’s one of the last of the great male soul singers: Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, O.V. Wright, James Carr, Joe Tex and Dave Prater (of Sam and Dave) are long gone, and now James Brown and Wilson Pickett have also passed on, although Clarence Carter is still doing pretty well.
But Green is the No. 1 Soul Man: He keeps singing and preaching and selling records thanks to the good folks at Blue Note, who have recorded African American music for almost 70 years.
Green brings a little sanity to the world with his artistry. His career is flourishing, too: He’ll be at Carnegie Hall next weekend and will receive a lifetime achievement award from Black Entertainment TV.
On July 5, he will appear with Gladys Knight at Harrah’s Casino in Tunica, which is worth a trip. (Tickets are still available from Ticket-master.) You can get there on a tankful of gas. That’s not too much to pay to hear a living legend who was born on a farm near Forrest City.
If you can’t get to Carnegie Hall or even Tunica, buy one of the Rev. Green’s records. His message of happiness and love is as strong as ever.
Delmark, the Chicago blues label that has preserved the music of southern migrants to the Windy City for 50 years, continues its series of live blues CDs recorded at local clubs.
The records give you a sense of what it’s like to hear live blues in a Chicago club. Byther Smith’s “Blue on the Moon: Live at Natural Rhythm Social Club” is one of the best of the Delmark releases. He’s a classic performer who moved from Mississippi to Chicago when he was a young man, but it’s as if he’s never left: When he shouts the blues, he evokes more than the music of the Windy City. He takes you back to the Delta, where the music began.
Two other Mississippi transplants — Little Arthur Duncan on “Live at Rosa’s Lounge” Johnny B. Moore on “Live at Blue Chicago” and Jimmy Burns on “Live at B.L.U.E.S.” — also evoke the music of the big city, as well as the Delta. The music is timeless.
From the Arkansas Delta, there’s James Yancy Jones, who hails from Altheimer (Jefferson County) and calls himself Taildragger, and he had a live recording issued a couple of years ago called “My Head Is Bald: Live at Vern’s Friendly Lounge” with Lurrie Bell, Bill Branch and Jimmy Dawkins. The music is a listener-friendly as the lounge where it was recorded.
Younger musicians who weren’t born in the Delta are also part of the Delmark live music series. Dave Spector’s “Live in Chicago,” recorded at Buddy Guy’s Legends and at Ro-sa’s Blues Lounge, has guest performances with the great Jimmy Johnson (also of Chicago by way of north Mississippi), as well as Tad Robinson and Sharon Lewis. Let’s hope Delmark has enough music left over from those sessions to get a Jimmy Johnson CD out of them.
As a bonus, many of these CDs are also on DVD, so you can see what it’s like in a Chicago blues club without having to take a trip there.
This is a great series, and Delmark deserves our thanks for preserving such great music.
Friday, June 20, 2008
EDITORIAL >>Where children come last
Of all the statistical reports that come out every year showing Arkansas near the bottom of national rankings, the one we dread the most is the Kids Count Data Book, produced by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. It reports on the condition of children in each of the 50 states.
Kids Count is a downer because it reflects better than anything else the reasons why Arkansas lags so far behind in nearly every other measure of the social and economic condition of the states and because so few remedies seem to offer themselves.
Arkansas ranked 45th in the nation in child well- being, based on data from 2005 and 2006. Arkansas performed worse than the nation as a whole on nine of 10 indicators, our lone exemplary ranking being the school dropout rate. Not so many years ago Arkansas had the highest dropout rate but two or three rounds of school reforms have raised us to 15th best.
We are near the bottom in the rest: low-birthweight babies; infant, child and teen deaths; children born to teens; teens not attending school and not working; children in families where no parent has a full-time job; children in single-parent families; and children living in poverty. The last category embraces all the rest. More children are poor in Arkansas than in just about any other state. The condition is self-repeating. The next generation is almost certain to be the same.
No government program we have seen or that has been proposed will conquer that failing readily. Arkansas actually has taken a few thoughtful steps in the right direction. It has tried to extend health insurance through Medicaid to children whose families are well above the poverty line, but tens of thousands of them still have never been enrolled. The legislature and governor have invested heavily the past three years in preschool education, which is a promising route from recurring poverty, but much more needs to be done. The most promising remedy would be drastically reduced class sizes for kindergarten and early grammar school in poor neighborhoods, which research has shown to escort kids out of poverty in a generation, but the state has considered it way too costly.
That, alas, is the barrier to every potential remedy. When you are poor in spirit as well as the pocketbook, every investment seems too high.
Kids Count is a downer because it reflects better than anything else the reasons why Arkansas lags so far behind in nearly every other measure of the social and economic condition of the states and because so few remedies seem to offer themselves.
Arkansas ranked 45th in the nation in child well- being, based on data from 2005 and 2006. Arkansas performed worse than the nation as a whole on nine of 10 indicators, our lone exemplary ranking being the school dropout rate. Not so many years ago Arkansas had the highest dropout rate but two or three rounds of school reforms have raised us to 15th best.
We are near the bottom in the rest: low-birthweight babies; infant, child and teen deaths; children born to teens; teens not attending school and not working; children in families where no parent has a full-time job; children in single-parent families; and children living in poverty. The last category embraces all the rest. More children are poor in Arkansas than in just about any other state. The condition is self-repeating. The next generation is almost certain to be the same.
No government program we have seen or that has been proposed will conquer that failing readily. Arkansas actually has taken a few thoughtful steps in the right direction. It has tried to extend health insurance through Medicaid to children whose families are well above the poverty line, but tens of thousands of them still have never been enrolled. The legislature and governor have invested heavily the past three years in preschool education, which is a promising route from recurring poverty, but much more needs to be done. The most promising remedy would be drastically reduced class sizes for kindergarten and early grammar school in poor neighborhoods, which research has shown to escort kids out of poverty in a generation, but the state has considered it way too costly.
That, alas, is the barrier to every potential remedy. When you are poor in spirit as well as the pocketbook, every investment seems too high.
TOP STORY > >Hwy. 89 resurfacing set to start
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
The state Highway and Trans-portation Commission has ap-proved the resurfacing of a 4.4 mile stretch of Hwy. 89, beginning at the Lonoke County Courthouse, according to commission vice chairman Carl Rosenbaum.
Cranford Construction Com-pany of North Little Rock submitted the winning bid, $996,576.
This project will begin where Third Street, also designated Hwy. 89, starts opposite the Lonoke County Courthouse.
Resurfacing will continue west on Third Street until it dead ends at Mallard Point Golf Course, then north on Hwy. 89 toward and over I-40. Where the road turns west, parallel to I-40, the resurfacing will continue until approximately the point where the road again turns north, according to commissioner Cliff Hoofman.
The resurfacing project is being funded with money provided during the 2007 legislative session by Gov. Beebe and the Legislature from the state’s general-revenue surplus.
Rosenbaum said work could begin on the project in six to eight weeks, weather permitting.
Completion is expected in the fall of 2008.
Leader staff writer
The state Highway and Trans-portation Commission has ap-proved the resurfacing of a 4.4 mile stretch of Hwy. 89, beginning at the Lonoke County Courthouse, according to commission vice chairman Carl Rosenbaum.
Cranford Construction Com-pany of North Little Rock submitted the winning bid, $996,576.
This project will begin where Third Street, also designated Hwy. 89, starts opposite the Lonoke County Courthouse.
Resurfacing will continue west on Third Street until it dead ends at Mallard Point Golf Course, then north on Hwy. 89 toward and over I-40. Where the road turns west, parallel to I-40, the resurfacing will continue until approximately the point where the road again turns north, according to commissioner Cliff Hoofman.
The resurfacing project is being funded with money provided during the 2007 legislative session by Gov. Beebe and the Legislature from the state’s general-revenue surplus.
Rosenbaum said work could begin on the project in six to eight weeks, weather permitting.
Completion is expected in the fall of 2008.
TOP STORY > >Lonoke superintendent stepping down
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
Lonoke School District Superintendent Sharron Havens presided over her last regular school board meeting Monday night, where her years of leadership were recognized by the school board, which presented her with a silver pitcher.
Under her leadership, the district has built a new middle school, started a new field house, started a vocational center in the old middle school and made plans for extensive additions and remodeling.
She and Assistant Superintendent John Tackett, who has been hired to replace her, have year-by-year promoted changes implemented by the board to identify and correct shortcomings, first in the education of groups of students and individual students and most recently a similar program to identify and correct problems of individual teachers and administrators.
Havens will preside over a special 7 p.m. Monday, June 30 meeting primarily to approve changes in board policy and to designate Tackett and board members Rick Pennington and Ray Kellybrew to sign checks on behalf of the district.
In the past, the president of the school board has been the board designee, but a $4,500 charge recently implemented by the licenser of the software for changing the names of the signers led the board to instead choose members with three or four years left on their terms.
While on the topic of school board terms, Havens reminded the board that the filing period for the September school board elections opens at noon, July 11 and closes at noon July 18.
Mike Brown intends to file for reelection to the zone 1, position 4 seat, he said Tuesday.
Miles Lilly, appointed when Jimmy Threat moved out of the district and resigned, is not eligible for election to the zone 2, position 1seat.
The board approved the required proposed budget of expenditures for the next school year, kind of a rough draft of the actual budget. The budget was $12.99 million. The about half of that--$6,498,970—is for salaries and benefits.
The budget included increases of between 2 percent and 5 percent in most categories, Havens told the board, and a 25 percent increase in fuel costs.
The board also approved a low bid of $48,420 for weights for the new field house weight room, including installation.
Dirt work on the new field house will come in about $9,000 under budget, Havens said, money that will help offset the cost of the weights.
With little discussion on the final reading, the board approved changes to the student handbook for all four schools.
A more ambitious cell phone policy originally proposed for the middle school and high school was scaled back after consultation with legal counsel for the Arkansas School Board Association.
That attorney, Paul Bloom, told them they were asking for trouble, including freedom of speech questions, if they tried to attach prohibitions on downloading content onto YouTube and other parts of the internet.
He advised the board to simply stick to its prohibition against bringing cell phones to school.
“You lose when you try to control what they do with them,” he said.
“We’ll enforce it as written,” Tackett said. “We can ban them from campus and collect them (when we see them,) Tackett said.
The board emerged from executive session to hire four new teachers, accept the resignations of five and to terminate custodian Brenda Venable.
Teachers hired were Kathy Franks for fifth-grade math and science, Danielle Tringali, for middle school and high school vocal music; and in high school, Greg Burl, special education and assistant football coach; and Jason Bowles, social studies.
Josh Robinson was hired as a district computer technician.
Leader staff writer
Lonoke School District Superintendent Sharron Havens presided over her last regular school board meeting Monday night, where her years of leadership were recognized by the school board, which presented her with a silver pitcher.
Under her leadership, the district has built a new middle school, started a new field house, started a vocational center in the old middle school and made plans for extensive additions and remodeling.
She and Assistant Superintendent John Tackett, who has been hired to replace her, have year-by-year promoted changes implemented by the board to identify and correct shortcomings, first in the education of groups of students and individual students and most recently a similar program to identify and correct problems of individual teachers and administrators.
Havens will preside over a special 7 p.m. Monday, June 30 meeting primarily to approve changes in board policy and to designate Tackett and board members Rick Pennington and Ray Kellybrew to sign checks on behalf of the district.
In the past, the president of the school board has been the board designee, but a $4,500 charge recently implemented by the licenser of the software for changing the names of the signers led the board to instead choose members with three or four years left on their terms.
While on the topic of school board terms, Havens reminded the board that the filing period for the September school board elections opens at noon, July 11 and closes at noon July 18.
Mike Brown intends to file for reelection to the zone 1, position 4 seat, he said Tuesday.
Miles Lilly, appointed when Jimmy Threat moved out of the district and resigned, is not eligible for election to the zone 2, position 1seat.
The board approved the required proposed budget of expenditures for the next school year, kind of a rough draft of the actual budget. The budget was $12.99 million. The about half of that--$6,498,970—is for salaries and benefits.
The budget included increases of between 2 percent and 5 percent in most categories, Havens told the board, and a 25 percent increase in fuel costs.
The board also approved a low bid of $48,420 for weights for the new field house weight room, including installation.
Dirt work on the new field house will come in about $9,000 under budget, Havens said, money that will help offset the cost of the weights.
With little discussion on the final reading, the board approved changes to the student handbook for all four schools.
A more ambitious cell phone policy originally proposed for the middle school and high school was scaled back after consultation with legal counsel for the Arkansas School Board Association.
That attorney, Paul Bloom, told them they were asking for trouble, including freedom of speech questions, if they tried to attach prohibitions on downloading content onto YouTube and other parts of the internet.
He advised the board to simply stick to its prohibition against bringing cell phones to school.
“You lose when you try to control what they do with them,” he said.
“We’ll enforce it as written,” Tackett said. “We can ban them from campus and collect them (when we see them,) Tackett said.
The board emerged from executive session to hire four new teachers, accept the resignations of five and to terminate custodian Brenda Venable.
Teachers hired were Kathy Franks for fifth-grade math and science, Danielle Tringali, for middle school and high school vocal music; and in high school, Greg Burl, special education and assistant football coach; and Jason Bowles, social studies.
Josh Robinson was hired as a district computer technician.
TOP STORY > >Dead pets get burial as burning is stopped
By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer
The incinerator that Cabot used for nine years to dispose of dead dogs and cats from animal control is up for auction at www.GovDeals.com with a starting price of $2,000. The auction ends Sunday, and at press time there were no bidders.
Under a new head of animal control, that department has made more than a few changes since the beginning of April. The entire staff is new; the every-other-month, discount-priced spay and neuter clinic has been stopped, but the shelter is now open for a few hours the last Saturday of the month to try to adopt more unwanted animals. And instead of being cremated at a cost of $400 to $700 a month, dead animals are now taken to Two Pines, the landfill in Jacksonville where they are buried at a cost of $60 a ton.
Depending upon your point of view, the changes could be good or bad. Jason Ellerbee, the head of Cabot Animal Control for two and a half months said it’s just the way things are now.
“It’s just change,” Ellerbee said Friday. “There’s somebody new with a new way of doing things.”
Mayor Eddie Joe Williams wanted to stop using the incinerator a year ago after he learned how much it cost to operate and that the city wasn’t the only one using it. For a time, Ward used it free of charge and so did the Lonoke County Humane Society.
But it remained in use until after Sandra Graham, the former head of animal control who opposed taking the dead animals to the landfill, was asked to resign. When she left, so did the other two women who worked there.
The last big, spay and neuter clinic at the animal shelter was in May. Ellerbee said employees had to volunteer their time for the clinic which often lasted until 8 p.m. They also had to provide food for other volunteers and they had to keep answering calls while trying to assist with the clinic.
“It was a logistical nightmare,” he said.
About 120 animals were spayed or neutered at a reduced cost every time the clinic was held.
Since the clinic was held every other month, the average number of pets spayed or neutered was 60 a month.
Now, reduced-cost spaying and neutering provided by High Hopes Veterinary Clinic is limited to 10 per month on a first-come, first-served basis.
Ellerbee said there are no restrictions for the service except that only Cabot residents are eligible. There were no residency restrictions before.
Ellerbee said once the decision was made to discontinue the spay and neuter clinic, local veterinarians were asked if they would like to fill the void. Only High Hopes Veterinary Clinic responded.
Jerrel Maxwell, the city’s head of public works and Ellerbee’s supervisor, said the city got a permit to take the dead animals to the landfill because cremating them cost too much.
“It got very expensive for us for a while,” Maxwell said. “We were having to fire that thing up far too many times for the number of animals we put down (about 1,000 a year).”
Ellerbee said he takes dead animals to the landfill once a month. Since $60 a ton is the minimum charge, the city bought a larger freezer to store the bodies, and a small dump truck is used to haul them.
Leader staff writer
The incinerator that Cabot used for nine years to dispose of dead dogs and cats from animal control is up for auction at www.GovDeals.com with a starting price of $2,000. The auction ends Sunday, and at press time there were no bidders.
Under a new head of animal control, that department has made more than a few changes since the beginning of April. The entire staff is new; the every-other-month, discount-priced spay and neuter clinic has been stopped, but the shelter is now open for a few hours the last Saturday of the month to try to adopt more unwanted animals. And instead of being cremated at a cost of $400 to $700 a month, dead animals are now taken to Two Pines, the landfill in Jacksonville where they are buried at a cost of $60 a ton.
Depending upon your point of view, the changes could be good or bad. Jason Ellerbee, the head of Cabot Animal Control for two and a half months said it’s just the way things are now.
“It’s just change,” Ellerbee said Friday. “There’s somebody new with a new way of doing things.”
Mayor Eddie Joe Williams wanted to stop using the incinerator a year ago after he learned how much it cost to operate and that the city wasn’t the only one using it. For a time, Ward used it free of charge and so did the Lonoke County Humane Society.
But it remained in use until after Sandra Graham, the former head of animal control who opposed taking the dead animals to the landfill, was asked to resign. When she left, so did the other two women who worked there.
The last big, spay and neuter clinic at the animal shelter was in May. Ellerbee said employees had to volunteer their time for the clinic which often lasted until 8 p.m. They also had to provide food for other volunteers and they had to keep answering calls while trying to assist with the clinic.
“It was a logistical nightmare,” he said.
About 120 animals were spayed or neutered at a reduced cost every time the clinic was held.
Since the clinic was held every other month, the average number of pets spayed or neutered was 60 a month.
Now, reduced-cost spaying and neutering provided by High Hopes Veterinary Clinic is limited to 10 per month on a first-come, first-served basis.
Ellerbee said there are no restrictions for the service except that only Cabot residents are eligible. There were no residency restrictions before.
Ellerbee said once the decision was made to discontinue the spay and neuter clinic, local veterinarians were asked if they would like to fill the void. Only High Hopes Veterinary Clinic responded.
Jerrel Maxwell, the city’s head of public works and Ellerbee’s supervisor, said the city got a permit to take the dead animals to the landfill because cremating them cost too much.
“It got very expensive for us for a while,” Maxwell said. “We were having to fire that thing up far too many times for the number of animals we put down (about 1,000 a year).”
Ellerbee said he takes dead animals to the landfill once a month. Since $60 a ton is the minimum charge, the city bought a larger freezer to store the bodies, and a small dump truck is used to haul them.
TOP STORY > >Glover against giving pardon to young killer
By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer
A Furlow man’s petition for clemency from the governor has caught the attention of State Sen. Bobby Glover, D-Carlisle, who urged the governor in a letter written Thursday to say no.
Heath Stocks, who was sentenced to life in prison in 1997, hopes the governor will commute his sentence to years so that he may someday be eligible for parole.
“I am writing this letter to advise you that I am opposed to the granting of executive clemency for Heath Stocks. I understand that Mr. Stocks’ petition for clemency was received by your office on Jan. 28, 2008, and you have until Sept. 19, 2008, to make a decision,” Glover wrote.
“As you know, Mr. Stocks is currently serving a life sentence without parole for killing his mother, father and younger sister in 1997. Constituents in my district that have contacted me are strongly opposed to the granting of clemency for Mr. Stocks due to the fact he committed such a horrible and heinous crime.
“It is my understanding that the parole board has gone on record stating that Mr. Stock’s petition is without merit. As a state senator, I feel it is incumbent on me to go on record and express my opposition to clemency for Mr. Stocks,” he wrote.
Matt Decample, spokesman for the governor, said Friday that the governor has not yet acted on Stocks’ petition because of the sheer number of requests he receives.
“It’s just a question of volume,” Decample said. “Essentially, we’re just now getting to those requests received in late ’07. It’s the manpower; it’s not the nature of his request.”
Stocks, 31, is incarcerated at the Tucker Maximum Security Unit near Pine Bluff.
His appeal is his second since he pleaded guilty to the January 1997 murders or 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 and sister because Walls told him to.
Stocks told Lonoke Circuit Judge Lance Hanshaw that Walls had sexually abused him since he was 10 years old.
He said Walls always said that “if you had a problem you should kill it.”
And when he told Walls that he told his mother about their relationship, Walls told him to “take care of the problem.”
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.”
Leader staff writer
A Furlow man’s petition for clemency from the governor has caught the attention of State Sen. Bobby Glover, D-Carlisle, who urged the governor in a letter written Thursday to say no.
Heath Stocks, who was sentenced to life in prison in 1997, hopes the governor will commute his sentence to years so that he may someday be eligible for parole.
“I am writing this letter to advise you that I am opposed to the granting of executive clemency for Heath Stocks. I understand that Mr. Stocks’ petition for clemency was received by your office on Jan. 28, 2008, and you have until Sept. 19, 2008, to make a decision,” Glover wrote.
“As you know, Mr. Stocks is currently serving a life sentence without parole for killing his mother, father and younger sister in 1997. Constituents in my district that have contacted me are strongly opposed to the granting of clemency for Mr. Stocks due to the fact he committed such a horrible and heinous crime.
“It is my understanding that the parole board has gone on record stating that Mr. Stock’s petition is without merit. As a state senator, I feel it is incumbent on me to go on record and express my opposition to clemency for Mr. Stocks,” he wrote.
Matt Decample, spokesman for the governor, said Friday that the governor has not yet acted on Stocks’ petition because of the sheer number of requests he receives.
“It’s just a question of volume,” Decample said. “Essentially, we’re just now getting to those requests received in late ’07. It’s the manpower; it’s not the nature of his request.”
Stocks, 31, is incarcerated at the Tucker Maximum Security Unit near Pine Bluff.
His appeal is his second since he pleaded guilty to the January 1997 murders or 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 and sister because Walls told him to.
Stocks told Lonoke Circuit Judge Lance Hanshaw that Walls had sexually abused him since he was 10 years old.
He said Walls always said that “if you had a problem you should kill it.”
And when he told Walls that he told his mother about their relationship, Walls told him to “take care of the problem.”
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.”
TOP STORY > >Board member, principal feud
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
No love is lost between Pulaski County School Board member Bill Vasquez and Jacksonville Boys Middle School principal Mike Nellums.
Nellums, the gender-specific middle schools and the site-based council concept are ground zero in a struggle where Vasquez would have Nellums replaced, make the schools coeducational again and largely run by the site-based council, which is controlled by the teachers and their union.
Nellums insists Vasquez is a tool of the teachers’ union, a man who attacks him in emails to other board members and to the Pulaski Association of Classroom Teachers.
Vasquez says the middle schools are failing because of the lack of leadership by Nellums and girls school principal Kim Forrest, and he wants to replace both of them.
Nellums, initially skeptical of gender-specific education, now says great strides have been made by students in that system and says five years of data and scores are needed to make a reasonable determination of its efficacy.
“He talks about our less-than-stellar (middle school test) scores, but the scores from Jacksonville fifth grades—the students coming into the middle schools—are 20, 30 or 40 points lower than the district as a whole,” Nellums said.
“When I came to this school, 9 percent of students were proficient or better in eighth-grade math and 11 percent in literacy.
That’s what we had when we were one big happy family. Math is now 19 percent and language is 40 percent.
Vasquez envisions both current Jacksonville middle schools in a single, new building, under new leadership and under the site-based council currently in place at the Jacksonville Girls Middle School.
Nellums says that even if the two existing middle schools were to share a building, core classes should remain gender specific, at least until there are sufficient data to track the progress of single-gender education. He, of course, believes he and Forrest should remain the principals of the boys and the girls schools and doesn’t want a site-based council making the important decisions at the boys’ school.
“If I had a franchise and it was losing money, I’d change the leadership,” Vasquez said. “Everybody’s job in the district is to give teachers what they need to educate the children.”
Nellums has been outspoken in suggesting that the teachers’ union dominates site-based councils, propping up those teachers who are lazy and stripping administrators of their authority.
Vasquez counters by saying that no one knows better than the teachers what’s needed in the schools. He said that it is fiscally wrong to operate two buildings, when there are students enough for just one. He said that’s particularly true with duplication of some services and with the energy costs of operating two separate buildings.
At the June PCSSD board meeting, frustrated by Superintendent James Sharpe’s refusal to put his proposal on the agenda, Vasquez tried to suspend the rules during the board-member comment period toward the end of the meeting to consider middle school reorganization for next year. Board president Charlie Wood seconded his motion, which died by a 4-2 vote.
“July 1 is the deadline to reconfigure the schools for the 2008-2009 school year,” Vasquez said.
“If we wanted to build a new middle school, the boys and girls schools were going to have to be combined in the boys building long enough to tear down the girls’ school and construct a new building,” Vasquez said.
“When 149 parents from the district came to us in May and said they wanted to reconfigure the middle schools, we should listen,” he said.
Parents like site-based schools, he said. “They are not being heard by the district.”
During the public-comment portion of the meeting, Nellums said that 149 people out of a town of 29,000 were hardly a mandate. Vasquez said that represents students from 149 families who will not attend the middle schools.
Vasquez said that any doubts he had about the need for a separate Jacksonville school district have been pretty well erased by the indifference that the administration and some of the board members have shown for the Jacksonville students and community.
“The district has shown us nothing but disrespect,” he said.
“I see the pluses of a separate school district but also, you lose the economy of scale of a larger district,” Vasquez said.
Not only would Jacksonville be responsible, in a new district, for paying for at least two new buildings, it would have to hire new administration, teachers, support staff—and employees always have the right to organize, he added.
Vasquez says Jacksonville can probably afford its own district. He figures it will cost roughly $50 million to run.
It could expect $8 million-$9 million from the existing millage, $36 million from state minimum foundation aid—the roughly $5,700 that follows each student to his or her public school district—and $10 million in Title I and National School Lunch Assistance. That’s about $54 million.
Not only would Vasquez like to see both middle schools combined or at least rolled into one building, he said Tuesday that both North Pulaski and Jacksonville high schools could be combined into one building.
“We could close down two old ones and replace them with two state-of-the-art buildings.
“We are dropping 50 kids each year since single-gender education has been in place,” Vasquez said.
The core curriculum is supposed to be taught in the gender-specific classes and electives are supposed to be coeducational, Vasquez said, but “the teacher training didn’t happen.”
That may be the one thing Vasquez and Nellums agree upon.
“I was skeptical initially,” Nellums said of gender-specific education, intended to take advantage of the different ways boys and girls that age learn. “I don’t think there was enough planning or that the faculty was adequately trained. We’ve learned how boys learn and accomplished a lot without much assistance from the district.”
Vasquez has said that measuring by test scores, the experiment has failed.
Nellums says the test scores in his school have increased dramatically, with limited resources, while serving a high poverty school-age population and a high special-needs population.
Nellums said that from their sixth-grade year to their eighth grade years, the percentage of students proficient in math increased from 16 percent to 45 percent—students were three times more likely to be proficient in math.
Twenty percent of the students at the boys school are in special education, but because of the so-called “no-child-left-behind” mandate, still counted when determining what percentage of the students are performing at least adequately.
Just 80 percent of the school-age population has an above average chance of being proficient.
“The Pulaski Association of Classroom Teachers worked hard to get (Bishop James) Bolden out and (Vasquez) in. The people of this community would prefer higher educational standards over whether the union is satisfied,” Nellums said.
“There is no doubt that site-based councils are a tool of the union. There is not one iota of evidence that scores improve significantly in any school where they lead,” Nellums added.
Nellums says Vasquez sends libelous emails about him and Forrest to school board members and to PACT officials. “I don’t appreciate that.”
Nellums said Vasquez wouldn’t talk with him or visit the school.
Vasquez said Tuesday that he hadn’t been invited, but Nellums said Vasquez had been invited to come talk to the teachers at his school.
Leader senior staff writer
No love is lost between Pulaski County School Board member Bill Vasquez and Jacksonville Boys Middle School principal Mike Nellums.
Nellums, the gender-specific middle schools and the site-based council concept are ground zero in a struggle where Vasquez would have Nellums replaced, make the schools coeducational again and largely run by the site-based council, which is controlled by the teachers and their union.
Nellums insists Vasquez is a tool of the teachers’ union, a man who attacks him in emails to other board members and to the Pulaski Association of Classroom Teachers.
Vasquez says the middle schools are failing because of the lack of leadership by Nellums and girls school principal Kim Forrest, and he wants to replace both of them.
Nellums, initially skeptical of gender-specific education, now says great strides have been made by students in that system and says five years of data and scores are needed to make a reasonable determination of its efficacy.
“He talks about our less-than-stellar (middle school test) scores, but the scores from Jacksonville fifth grades—the students coming into the middle schools—are 20, 30 or 40 points lower than the district as a whole,” Nellums said.
“When I came to this school, 9 percent of students were proficient or better in eighth-grade math and 11 percent in literacy.
That’s what we had when we were one big happy family. Math is now 19 percent and language is 40 percent.
Vasquez envisions both current Jacksonville middle schools in a single, new building, under new leadership and under the site-based council currently in place at the Jacksonville Girls Middle School.
Nellums says that even if the two existing middle schools were to share a building, core classes should remain gender specific, at least until there are sufficient data to track the progress of single-gender education. He, of course, believes he and Forrest should remain the principals of the boys and the girls schools and doesn’t want a site-based council making the important decisions at the boys’ school.
“If I had a franchise and it was losing money, I’d change the leadership,” Vasquez said. “Everybody’s job in the district is to give teachers what they need to educate the children.”
Nellums has been outspoken in suggesting that the teachers’ union dominates site-based councils, propping up those teachers who are lazy and stripping administrators of their authority.
Vasquez counters by saying that no one knows better than the teachers what’s needed in the schools. He said that it is fiscally wrong to operate two buildings, when there are students enough for just one. He said that’s particularly true with duplication of some services and with the energy costs of operating two separate buildings.
At the June PCSSD board meeting, frustrated by Superintendent James Sharpe’s refusal to put his proposal on the agenda, Vasquez tried to suspend the rules during the board-member comment period toward the end of the meeting to consider middle school reorganization for next year. Board president Charlie Wood seconded his motion, which died by a 4-2 vote.
“July 1 is the deadline to reconfigure the schools for the 2008-2009 school year,” Vasquez said.
“If we wanted to build a new middle school, the boys and girls schools were going to have to be combined in the boys building long enough to tear down the girls’ school and construct a new building,” Vasquez said.
“When 149 parents from the district came to us in May and said they wanted to reconfigure the middle schools, we should listen,” he said.
Parents like site-based schools, he said. “They are not being heard by the district.”
During the public-comment portion of the meeting, Nellums said that 149 people out of a town of 29,000 were hardly a mandate. Vasquez said that represents students from 149 families who will not attend the middle schools.
Vasquez said that any doubts he had about the need for a separate Jacksonville school district have been pretty well erased by the indifference that the administration and some of the board members have shown for the Jacksonville students and community.
“The district has shown us nothing but disrespect,” he said.
“I see the pluses of a separate school district but also, you lose the economy of scale of a larger district,” Vasquez said.
Not only would Jacksonville be responsible, in a new district, for paying for at least two new buildings, it would have to hire new administration, teachers, support staff—and employees always have the right to organize, he added.
Vasquez says Jacksonville can probably afford its own district. He figures it will cost roughly $50 million to run.
It could expect $8 million-$9 million from the existing millage, $36 million from state minimum foundation aid—the roughly $5,700 that follows each student to his or her public school district—and $10 million in Title I and National School Lunch Assistance. That’s about $54 million.
Not only would Vasquez like to see both middle schools combined or at least rolled into one building, he said Tuesday that both North Pulaski and Jacksonville high schools could be combined into one building.
“We could close down two old ones and replace them with two state-of-the-art buildings.
“We are dropping 50 kids each year since single-gender education has been in place,” Vasquez said.
The core curriculum is supposed to be taught in the gender-specific classes and electives are supposed to be coeducational, Vasquez said, but “the teacher training didn’t happen.”
That may be the one thing Vasquez and Nellums agree upon.
“I was skeptical initially,” Nellums said of gender-specific education, intended to take advantage of the different ways boys and girls that age learn. “I don’t think there was enough planning or that the faculty was adequately trained. We’ve learned how boys learn and accomplished a lot without much assistance from the district.”
Vasquez has said that measuring by test scores, the experiment has failed.
Nellums says the test scores in his school have increased dramatically, with limited resources, while serving a high poverty school-age population and a high special-needs population.
Nellums said that from their sixth-grade year to their eighth grade years, the percentage of students proficient in math increased from 16 percent to 45 percent—students were three times more likely to be proficient in math.
Twenty percent of the students at the boys school are in special education, but because of the so-called “no-child-left-behind” mandate, still counted when determining what percentage of the students are performing at least adequately.
Just 80 percent of the school-age population has an above average chance of being proficient.
“The Pulaski Association of Classroom Teachers worked hard to get (Bishop James) Bolden out and (Vasquez) in. The people of this community would prefer higher educational standards over whether the union is satisfied,” Nellums said.
“There is no doubt that site-based councils are a tool of the union. There is not one iota of evidence that scores improve significantly in any school where they lead,” Nellums added.
Nellums says Vasquez sends libelous emails about him and Forrest to school board members and to PACT officials. “I don’t appreciate that.”
Nellums said Vasquez wouldn’t talk with him or visit the school.
Vasquez said Tuesday that he hadn’t been invited, but Nellums said Vasquez had been invited to come talk to the teachers at his school.
SPORTS>>Russellville routs Cabot before break
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
It might have been the perfect time for Cabot to take a few days off.
Community Bank’s ‘AAA’ Legion baseball team headed into a 5-day layoff with a 12-1 pasting at the hands of Russellville on Wednesday night at Conrade Field.
The tale of this one can be told by the numbers: Cabot collected only two hits, while committing five errors, hitting six batters and issuing four walks. Russellville scored in every inning.
The game began with a Cabot error, whichprovided a preview of things to come. One single and two hit batsmen later, and Russellville was on the board with a 1-0 lead.
Cabot sent three harmless ground balls to the second baseman in its half of the first, before Russellville parlayed three singles and two Cabot errors into three more runs in the second.
Sam Bates drew a leadoff walk in the second, but was cut down between second and third base after Ben Wainright’s sacrifice bunt. That cost Community Bank a run as Matt Evans delivered one of the few solid blows all game — a ringing triple into the left field corner.
Three more singles and another Cabot error in the third extended the lead to 6-0. That grew to 10-0 when Russellville added four more runs on just one hit in the fourth.
There was a frightening moment in the top of the fifth when a Russellville batter sent a rocket back to the mound. Reliever Andrew Reynolds appeared never to see it, but it went right into his glove.
Cabot avoided the shutout in the fifth when Jeffrey Cooper delivered a pinch single to drive in Reynolds.
Russellville picked up 10 hits in the contest.
Community Bank returns to action Monday at Maumelle.
Leader sports editor
It might have been the perfect time for Cabot to take a few days off.
Community Bank’s ‘AAA’ Legion baseball team headed into a 5-day layoff with a 12-1 pasting at the hands of Russellville on Wednesday night at Conrade Field.
The tale of this one can be told by the numbers: Cabot collected only two hits, while committing five errors, hitting six batters and issuing four walks. Russellville scored in every inning.
The game began with a Cabot error, whichprovided a preview of things to come. One single and two hit batsmen later, and Russellville was on the board with a 1-0 lead.
Cabot sent three harmless ground balls to the second baseman in its half of the first, before Russellville parlayed three singles and two Cabot errors into three more runs in the second.
Sam Bates drew a leadoff walk in the second, but was cut down between second and third base after Ben Wainright’s sacrifice bunt. That cost Community Bank a run as Matt Evans delivered one of the few solid blows all game — a ringing triple into the left field corner.
Three more singles and another Cabot error in the third extended the lead to 6-0. That grew to 10-0 when Russellville added four more runs on just one hit in the fourth.
There was a frightening moment in the top of the fifth when a Russellville batter sent a rocket back to the mound. Reliever Andrew Reynolds appeared never to see it, but it went right into his glove.
Cabot avoided the shutout in the fifth when Jeffrey Cooper delivered a pinch single to drive in Reynolds.
Russellville picked up 10 hits in the contest.
Community Bank returns to action Monday at Maumelle.
SPORTS>>Russellville routs Cabot before break
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
It might have been the perfect time for Cabot to take a few days off.
Community Bank’s ‘AAA’ Legion baseball team headed into a 5-day layoff with a 12-1 pasting at the hands of Russellville on Wednesday night at Conrade Field.
The tale of this one can be told by the numbers: Cabot collected only two hits, while committing five errors, hitting six batters and issuing four walks. Russellville scored in every inning.
The game began with a Cabot error, whichprovided a preview of things to come. One single and two hit batsmen later, and Russellville was on the board with a 1-0 lead.
Cabot sent three harmless ground balls to the second baseman in its half of the first, before Russellville parlayed three singles and two Cabot errors into three more runs in the second.
Sam Bates drew a leadoff walk in the second, but was cut down between second and third base after Ben Wainright’s sacrifice bunt. That cost Community Bank a run as Matt Evans delivered one of the few solid blows all game — a ringing triple into the left field corner.
Three more singles and another Cabot error in the third extended the lead to 6-0. That grew to 10-0 when Russellville added four more runs on just one hit in the fourth.
There was a frightening moment in the top of the fifth when a Russellville batter sent a rocket back to the mound. Reliever Andrew Reynolds appeared never to see it, but it went right into his glove.
Cabot avoided the shutout in the fifth when Jeffrey Cooper delivered a pinch single to drive in Reynolds.
Russellville picked up 10 hits in the contest.
Community Bank returns to action Monday at Maumelle.
Leader sports editor
It might have been the perfect time for Cabot to take a few days off.
Community Bank’s ‘AAA’ Legion baseball team headed into a 5-day layoff with a 12-1 pasting at the hands of Russellville on Wednesday night at Conrade Field.
The tale of this one can be told by the numbers: Cabot collected only two hits, while committing five errors, hitting six batters and issuing four walks. Russellville scored in every inning.
The game began with a Cabot error, whichprovided a preview of things to come. One single and two hit batsmen later, and Russellville was on the board with a 1-0 lead.
Cabot sent three harmless ground balls to the second baseman in its half of the first, before Russellville parlayed three singles and two Cabot errors into three more runs in the second.
Sam Bates drew a leadoff walk in the second, but was cut down between second and third base after Ben Wainright’s sacrifice bunt. That cost Community Bank a run as Matt Evans delivered one of the few solid blows all game — a ringing triple into the left field corner.
Three more singles and another Cabot error in the third extended the lead to 6-0. That grew to 10-0 when Russellville added four more runs on just one hit in the fourth.
There was a frightening moment in the top of the fifth when a Russellville batter sent a rocket back to the mound. Reliever Andrew Reynolds appeared never to see it, but it went right into his glove.
Cabot avoided the shutout in the fifth when Jeffrey Cooper delivered a pinch single to drive in Reynolds.
Russellville picked up 10 hits in the contest.
Community Bank returns to action Monday at Maumelle.
SPORTS>> Lonoke star adds honor to resume
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Lonoke’s Bradley Spencer capped off his high-school basketball career in style in Fayetteville this week by winning the Arvest Most Valuable Player award at the East-West All-Star game at Bud Walton Arena on Thursday night.
Spencer led the East squad with 16 points, and pulled down six rebounds, dished out six assists and made two steals in a 106-102 win over the West.
Spencer made 6 of 7 shots. His only miss came on a botched dunk attempt — the rest were all net.
It wasn’t like Spencer had the task of carrying the team. His teammates included fellow state championship MVP players John Ukadike of Catholic and Rose Bud’s ZachProthro. They had solid games themselves with nine points each, but Spencer’s dominant performance put him in the state spotlight for the second time in the past four months.
“Everybody had the same ability out there,” said the Harding University signee, who led the Jackrabbits to a state title back in March in Hot Springs, and earned MVP honors in that game as well. “We were all there to play and have fun. We all came out and everybody was juiced for the game. There was a lot of equal talent out there, so it was all up for grabs.”
Spencer said that while he may already be a Bison and is looking forward to playing at rowdy Rhodes Field House in Searcy, he enjoyed reveling in the tradition and glitz of Bud Walton Arena.
“It felt good to walk out on that court,” Spencer said. “I’ve always seen games there on TV, but had never played there. It just felt good to play on the same court as some of the Razorback players I grew up watching.”
As for the missed jam, which was reminiscent of a breakaway gone bad during the ’Rabbits first-round regional game against Highland in February, Spencer says he hopes to have his showboating skills down a little more solid before he wears the black and gold this winter.
“I got hung,” Spencer joked. “That’s the second one I’ve missed in a game like that. I’m going to have to work on that.”
He also says the comradeship among the players made the night even more special.
“Guys were coming up to me and saying, ‘Good job, boy,’ and stuff like that,” he said. “I knew a couple of those guys already.
We were basically giving each other thanks and congratulations when it was over. I had a lot of fun.”
Leader sportswriter
Lonoke’s Bradley Spencer capped off his high-school basketball career in style in Fayetteville this week by winning the Arvest Most Valuable Player award at the East-West All-Star game at Bud Walton Arena on Thursday night.
Spencer led the East squad with 16 points, and pulled down six rebounds, dished out six assists and made two steals in a 106-102 win over the West.
Spencer made 6 of 7 shots. His only miss came on a botched dunk attempt — the rest were all net.
It wasn’t like Spencer had the task of carrying the team. His teammates included fellow state championship MVP players John Ukadike of Catholic and Rose Bud’s ZachProthro. They had solid games themselves with nine points each, but Spencer’s dominant performance put him in the state spotlight for the second time in the past four months.
“Everybody had the same ability out there,” said the Harding University signee, who led the Jackrabbits to a state title back in March in Hot Springs, and earned MVP honors in that game as well. “We were all there to play and have fun. We all came out and everybody was juiced for the game. There was a lot of equal talent out there, so it was all up for grabs.”
Spencer said that while he may already be a Bison and is looking forward to playing at rowdy Rhodes Field House in Searcy, he enjoyed reveling in the tradition and glitz of Bud Walton Arena.
“It felt good to walk out on that court,” Spencer said. “I’ve always seen games there on TV, but had never played there. It just felt good to play on the same court as some of the Razorback players I grew up watching.”
As for the missed jam, which was reminiscent of a breakaway gone bad during the ’Rabbits first-round regional game against Highland in February, Spencer says he hopes to have his showboating skills down a little more solid before he wears the black and gold this winter.
“I got hung,” Spencer joked. “That’s the second one I’ve missed in a game like that. I’m going to have to work on that.”
He also says the comradeship among the players made the night even more special.
“Guys were coming up to me and saying, ‘Good job, boy,’ and stuff like that,” he said. “I knew a couple of those guys already.
We were basically giving each other thanks and congratulations when it was over. I had a lot of fun.”
SPORTS>> Lonoke star adds honor to resume
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Lonoke’s Bradley Spencer capped off his high-school basketball career in style in Fayetteville this week by winning the Arvest Most Valuable Player award at the East-West All-Star game at Bud Walton Arena on Thursday night.
Spencer led the East squad with 16 points, and pulled down six rebounds, dished out six assists and made two steals in a 106-102 win over the West.
Spencer made 6 of 7 shots. His only miss came on a botched dunk attempt — the rest were all net.
It wasn’t like Spencer had the task of carrying the team. His teammates included fellow state championship MVP players John Ukadike of Catholic and Rose Bud’s ZachProthro. They had solid games themselves with nine points each, but Spencer’s dominant performance put him in the state spotlight for the second time in the past four months.
“Everybody had the same ability out there,” said the Harding University signee, who led the Jackrabbits to a state title back in March in Hot Springs, and earned MVP honors in that game as well. “We were all there to play and have fun. We all came out and everybody was juiced for the game. There was a lot of equal talent out there, so it was all up for grabs.”
Spencer said that while he may already be a Bison and is looking forward to playing at rowdy Rhodes Field House in Searcy, he enjoyed reveling in the tradition and glitz of Bud Walton Arena.
“It felt good to walk out on that court,” Spencer said. “I’ve always seen games there on TV, but had never played there. It just felt good to play on the same court as some of the Razorback players I grew up watching.”
As for the missed jam, which was reminiscent of a breakaway gone bad during the ’Rabbits first-round regional game against Highland in February, Spencer says he hopes to have his showboating skills down a little more solid before he wears the black and gold this winter.
“I got hung,” Spencer joked. “That’s the second one I’ve missed in a game like that. I’m going to have to work on that.”
He also says the comradeship among the players made the night even more special.
“Guys were coming up to me and saying, ‘Good job, boy,’ and stuff like that,” he said. “I knew a couple of those guys already.
We were basically giving each other thanks and congratulations when it was over. I had a lot of fun.”
Leader sportswriter
Lonoke’s Bradley Spencer capped off his high-school basketball career in style in Fayetteville this week by winning the Arvest Most Valuable Player award at the East-West All-Star game at Bud Walton Arena on Thursday night.
Spencer led the East squad with 16 points, and pulled down six rebounds, dished out six assists and made two steals in a 106-102 win over the West.
Spencer made 6 of 7 shots. His only miss came on a botched dunk attempt — the rest were all net.
It wasn’t like Spencer had the task of carrying the team. His teammates included fellow state championship MVP players John Ukadike of Catholic and Rose Bud’s ZachProthro. They had solid games themselves with nine points each, but Spencer’s dominant performance put him in the state spotlight for the second time in the past four months.
“Everybody had the same ability out there,” said the Harding University signee, who led the Jackrabbits to a state title back in March in Hot Springs, and earned MVP honors in that game as well. “We were all there to play and have fun. We all came out and everybody was juiced for the game. There was a lot of equal talent out there, so it was all up for grabs.”
Spencer said that while he may already be a Bison and is looking forward to playing at rowdy Rhodes Field House in Searcy, he enjoyed reveling in the tradition and glitz of Bud Walton Arena.
“It felt good to walk out on that court,” Spencer said. “I’ve always seen games there on TV, but had never played there. It just felt good to play on the same court as some of the Razorback players I grew up watching.”
As for the missed jam, which was reminiscent of a breakaway gone bad during the ’Rabbits first-round regional game against Highland in February, Spencer says he hopes to have his showboating skills down a little more solid before he wears the black and gold this winter.
“I got hung,” Spencer joked. “That’s the second one I’ve missed in a game like that. I’m going to have to work on that.”
He also says the comradeship among the players made the night even more special.
“Guys were coming up to me and saying, ‘Good job, boy,’ and stuff like that,” he said. “I knew a couple of those guys already.
We were basically giving each other thanks and congratulations when it was over. I had a lot of fun.”
SPORTS>> There’s no match for Benton again
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
The last time anyone did what Nicklaus Benton did on Thursday morning, Richard Nixon was president and gas was 50 cents a gallon.
Benton, the senior-to-be golf sensation from Cabot, became the first golfer since Doug Ward in 1973-74 to win back-to-back ASGA Junior Match Play championships when he beat up-and-comer Matt Mabrey 3 and 1 at Foxwood Country Club.
“I had glanced at the trophy, but I didn’t really take that into account,” Benton said of becoming the first repeat winner in 34 years. “Now that I realize it, it means a lot.”
Three weeks ago, Benton probably wasn’t too excited about his chances of a repeat performance. His game was out of whack, his wedge game was struggling and his balance was off.
But coach R.D. Roulston went to work on him and tweaked a few things. It worked.
“My tempo was way off,” Benton admitted. “Mr. R.D. got my balance going and my weight transfer going and it finally started to kick in.”
Benton was solid tee to green on Thursday, making three bogeys, but five birdies over 16 holes. He had a 4-footer for another on 17 when Mabrey conceded.
His final birdie of the day — on 16 — was the most dramatic, even though it took most of the rest of the drama out of the match. Two up with three to go, Benton appeared to be in trouble just off the back of the green while Mabrey had a 3-footer for birdie. A win for Mabrey on the hole would have narrowed Benton’s lead to one with two holes left.
“I told my brother (caddy Colby Benton) right before I hit it, ‘Colby, I’m going to land it just short of the green and it’s going to roll up and go it,” Benton said.
Which is precisely what happened. Benton began raising his wedge skyward as the ball tracked toward the cup and in.
That put the match at dormie, meaning Mabrey would have had to win the final two holes to send it to a playoff. But Benton took no chances, lofting a soft wedge to within four feet of the hole on 17. When Mabrey’s 25-foot putt for birdie missed, he conceded the hole and the match.
It was Benton’s 14th round in 16 days, but fatigue never seemed to be a factor. Asked if, like Tiger Woods, he planned on taking a little time off, Benton laughed.
“I’ve got some work to do to catch up to Tiger,” said the 2007 ASGA Junior Player of the Year. “But, no, I want to keep going. It’s a lot of golf, but I enjoy it.”
Mabrey, a 15-year-old who plays for Little Rock Catholic, birdied the first hole to take a 1-up lead, but Benton evened it with a birdie of his own on two.
He missed a short par putt on three to fall behind again, but Mabrey returned the favor with a short miss on four, and the match remained even until a rare bad chip on eight led to Benton’s second bogey of the day as he went one down again.
But the match swung over the next three holes, thanks to a pair of wayward shots by Mabrey and a magnificent approach by Benton. Mabrey tried to cut too much off the sharp dogleg right ninth hole and left his tee shot in the woods. He had to play out into the fairway on his second and left his third shot some 15 feet away.
Meanwhile, Benton had about the same length for birdie. Mabrey bogeyed and the match was even heading to the back nine.
Benton hit the shot of the day on 10 after his drive landed on the hardpan near the cart path along the right side of the fairway. He picked it clean and knocked a wedge stiff, finishing it off with a 10-foot birdie to claim a 1-up lead.
“That stuff is like rock,” Benton said of the hardpan lie. “It’s pretty much like hitting off a cart path. I just choked down on a wedge and got a good bounce.”
Mabrey then sprayed his tee shot on the par 3 11th into the greenside hazard and took double-bogey to fall into a 2-down hole.
Both players birdied the par-5, 12th and Mabrey had a good chance to cut the lead to one on 13. But he missed a 6-footer.
Benton’s bogey on 14 did tighten the match, but Mabrey lipped out a par putt on 15 to extend Benton’s lead to 2 up with three to go.
Benton had a small gallery following him, which included his mother Shelley, sister Kaylee, girlfriend Ashley Bartels and Roulston. His father, Jack, last year’s ASGA Men’s Player of the Year, was away on business so Shelley spent the morning texting him updates of the match.
“I wish my dad could have been here,” Benton said in the post-match ceremony. “He always wanted me to play golf. I also want to thank coach Roulston for a couple of swing changes he made.”
Benton, who was also being followed by Arkansas-Little Rock golf coach Wyn Norwood, said the only complaint he had about his game was his iron play, which he labeled, “pathetic.”
“But match play is all about putting,” he said. “Today, my putter kind of kicked in, and it didn’t really in the first couple of matches. My chipping and putting were as good it’s been ever. Normally, my weakness is my short game.”
Leader sports editor
The last time anyone did what Nicklaus Benton did on Thursday morning, Richard Nixon was president and gas was 50 cents a gallon.
Benton, the senior-to-be golf sensation from Cabot, became the first golfer since Doug Ward in 1973-74 to win back-to-back ASGA Junior Match Play championships when he beat up-and-comer Matt Mabrey 3 and 1 at Foxwood Country Club.
“I had glanced at the trophy, but I didn’t really take that into account,” Benton said of becoming the first repeat winner in 34 years. “Now that I realize it, it means a lot.”
Three weeks ago, Benton probably wasn’t too excited about his chances of a repeat performance. His game was out of whack, his wedge game was struggling and his balance was off.
But coach R.D. Roulston went to work on him and tweaked a few things. It worked.
“My tempo was way off,” Benton admitted. “Mr. R.D. got my balance going and my weight transfer going and it finally started to kick in.”
Benton was solid tee to green on Thursday, making three bogeys, but five birdies over 16 holes. He had a 4-footer for another on 17 when Mabrey conceded.
His final birdie of the day — on 16 — was the most dramatic, even though it took most of the rest of the drama out of the match. Two up with three to go, Benton appeared to be in trouble just off the back of the green while Mabrey had a 3-footer for birdie. A win for Mabrey on the hole would have narrowed Benton’s lead to one with two holes left.
“I told my brother (caddy Colby Benton) right before I hit it, ‘Colby, I’m going to land it just short of the green and it’s going to roll up and go it,” Benton said.
Which is precisely what happened. Benton began raising his wedge skyward as the ball tracked toward the cup and in.
That put the match at dormie, meaning Mabrey would have had to win the final two holes to send it to a playoff. But Benton took no chances, lofting a soft wedge to within four feet of the hole on 17. When Mabrey’s 25-foot putt for birdie missed, he conceded the hole and the match.
It was Benton’s 14th round in 16 days, but fatigue never seemed to be a factor. Asked if, like Tiger Woods, he planned on taking a little time off, Benton laughed.
“I’ve got some work to do to catch up to Tiger,” said the 2007 ASGA Junior Player of the Year. “But, no, I want to keep going. It’s a lot of golf, but I enjoy it.”
Mabrey, a 15-year-old who plays for Little Rock Catholic, birdied the first hole to take a 1-up lead, but Benton evened it with a birdie of his own on two.
He missed a short par putt on three to fall behind again, but Mabrey returned the favor with a short miss on four, and the match remained even until a rare bad chip on eight led to Benton’s second bogey of the day as he went one down again.
But the match swung over the next three holes, thanks to a pair of wayward shots by Mabrey and a magnificent approach by Benton. Mabrey tried to cut too much off the sharp dogleg right ninth hole and left his tee shot in the woods. He had to play out into the fairway on his second and left his third shot some 15 feet away.
Meanwhile, Benton had about the same length for birdie. Mabrey bogeyed and the match was even heading to the back nine.
Benton hit the shot of the day on 10 after his drive landed on the hardpan near the cart path along the right side of the fairway. He picked it clean and knocked a wedge stiff, finishing it off with a 10-foot birdie to claim a 1-up lead.
“That stuff is like rock,” Benton said of the hardpan lie. “It’s pretty much like hitting off a cart path. I just choked down on a wedge and got a good bounce.”
Mabrey then sprayed his tee shot on the par 3 11th into the greenside hazard and took double-bogey to fall into a 2-down hole.
Both players birdied the par-5, 12th and Mabrey had a good chance to cut the lead to one on 13. But he missed a 6-footer.
Benton’s bogey on 14 did tighten the match, but Mabrey lipped out a par putt on 15 to extend Benton’s lead to 2 up with three to go.
Benton had a small gallery following him, which included his mother Shelley, sister Kaylee, girlfriend Ashley Bartels and Roulston. His father, Jack, last year’s ASGA Men’s Player of the Year, was away on business so Shelley spent the morning texting him updates of the match.
“I wish my dad could have been here,” Benton said in the post-match ceremony. “He always wanted me to play golf. I also want to thank coach Roulston for a couple of swing changes he made.”
Benton, who was also being followed by Arkansas-Little Rock golf coach Wyn Norwood, said the only complaint he had about his game was his iron play, which he labeled, “pathetic.”
“But match play is all about putting,” he said. “Today, my putter kind of kicked in, and it didn’t really in the first couple of matches. My chipping and putting were as good it’s been ever. Normally, my weakness is my short game.”
SPORTS>> Gwatney sweeps
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Both Maumelle rallies were furious, but in the end, they were each a run short.
Jacksonville Gwatney Chevrolet completed a home sweep over the Bulldogs in junior and senior Legion play at Dupree Park on Thursday night.
The junior Chevy boys held off Maumelle for a 5-4 win, while the senior squad had to bring in pitching ace Clayton Fenton during the final inning to secure an 8-7 win.
Fenton recorded a strikeout with the tying run at third base to seal the deal.
There was no shortage of big plays for either team in the offensively-charged finale on Thursday. The game was tied 2-2 before Jacksonville established momentum in the fourth inning.
That momentum did not last, however, as the Bulldogs made up two runs of an 8-5 deficit, and were threatening to tie with a runner at third base before Fenton was able to shut them down.
A pitcher’s duel it was not. Gwatney started the game with Michael Harmon on the hill, who gave way to Stephen Swaggerty in the top of the fourth inning. Swaggerty threw three innings of shutout baseball, but was pulled for Fenton after giving up a double to start the seventh inning.
Fenton, who took a tough loss in Cabot earlier in the week after throwing an outstanding game, forced a pop-up against the first batter he faced, and then struck out Maumelle’s Stracener on a full count to retire the first two batters. But a fielding error allowed a run to score to cut the lead to 8-6.
Another double from the seven-hole hitter narrowed the lead to one, and the runner reached third on a passed ball. Another full-count added to the drama, but Fenton came up with another big strikeout to end the contest.
Maumelle took the initial lead with a two-run effort in the top of the first, but Gwatney leadoff man Adam Ussery scored on a passed ball, and an infield single by Daniel Henard scored Patrick Castleberry to tie it.
A double by the Bulldogs in the top of the second made it 4-2, but RBI doubles by Matt McAnally andCastleberry for Gwatney in the bottom of the second tied it up once more.
Starting Gwatney pitcher Harmon broke the two-run pattern by Maumelle in the top of the third, but the Bulldogs did plate one to go up 5-4. That went unanswered until the bottom of the fourth, when Ussery drove in Tyler Wisdom courtesy of a Maumelle error to tie, and Cameron Hood singled to drive in the go-ahead run.
While relief pitcher Swaggerty was holding off the Bulldog bats in the middle of the game, the Chevy boys added runs in the fifth and sixth innings to extend their lead. Ussery came up with another big hit in the bottom of the fifth with a double that scored Wisdom, and a sacrifice fly by Henard in the sixth allowed Castleberry to tag up at third and make it 8-5.
Castleberry was 2 of 3 with a RBI, and Wisdom also finished 2 of 3. Swaggerty took the win at the mound for Jacksonville.
The junior game started out slow, with Jacksonville holding a 1-0 lead through the first two innings until the Bulldogs answered in the top of the third inning. The bottom of the third inning proved to be the clincher for Gwatney, with a double by Castleberry that scored two runs.
Tommy Sanders got the third RBI of the game moments later on a sacrifice fly that scored Daniel Thurman. Relief pitcher Drew Pierce’s insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI single by Bill Boullon ended up being much needed.
Maumelle made up one run in the fifth, and scored two more in the top of the seventh against new pitcher Daniel Thurman, and had the go-ahead run on the bag before a pop-up saved the win.
Terrell Brown was 2 of 3 for Gwatney, with Jared Toney taking the win on the mound.
BRYANT 20, GWATNEY 6
Scoring eight of their first nine batters was only the tip of the iceberg for the Bryant Blacksox on Wednesday in a 20-6 rout over Jacksonville Gwatney Chevrolet at Dupree Park in American Legion senior play.
The Chevy boys ended up scattering runs in the five-inning contest, but starting pitcher Brian Thurman and reliever Matt McAnally gave up 13 hits and five walks in the first two frames.
Six of those hits by Bryant came in the top of the first against Thurman, and a pair of home runs in the top of the second inning off of McAnally put the Blacksox at 18 runs, and the game completely out of reach for Jacksonville.
Gwatney did plate its first batter. Adam Ussery led off the game with a double into center, and scored when cleanup hitter Patrick Castleberry singled.
Thurman added a run in the bottom of the third inning when he doubled and came in on Cameron Hood’s sacrifice fly.
Jacksonville needed seven runs to avoid the run-rule in the bottom of the fifth, but fell five short. Hood doubled and was driven in by Daniel Henard, who then came in off a double by Jared Toney. That cut the score to 20-6, but it was as far as the Chevy boys made it.
Henard led Gwatney, going 2 of 3 with an RBI and two runs scored. For Bryant, Haydon was 3 of 4 with 2 RBI, and Knight was 2 of 3 with 3 RBI and a home run.
Leader sportswriter
Both Maumelle rallies were furious, but in the end, they were each a run short.
Jacksonville Gwatney Chevrolet completed a home sweep over the Bulldogs in junior and senior Legion play at Dupree Park on Thursday night.
The junior Chevy boys held off Maumelle for a 5-4 win, while the senior squad had to bring in pitching ace Clayton Fenton during the final inning to secure an 8-7 win.
Fenton recorded a strikeout with the tying run at third base to seal the deal.
There was no shortage of big plays for either team in the offensively-charged finale on Thursday. The game was tied 2-2 before Jacksonville established momentum in the fourth inning.
That momentum did not last, however, as the Bulldogs made up two runs of an 8-5 deficit, and were threatening to tie with a runner at third base before Fenton was able to shut them down.
A pitcher’s duel it was not. Gwatney started the game with Michael Harmon on the hill, who gave way to Stephen Swaggerty in the top of the fourth inning. Swaggerty threw three innings of shutout baseball, but was pulled for Fenton after giving up a double to start the seventh inning.
Fenton, who took a tough loss in Cabot earlier in the week after throwing an outstanding game, forced a pop-up against the first batter he faced, and then struck out Maumelle’s Stracener on a full count to retire the first two batters. But a fielding error allowed a run to score to cut the lead to 8-6.
Another double from the seven-hole hitter narrowed the lead to one, and the runner reached third on a passed ball. Another full-count added to the drama, but Fenton came up with another big strikeout to end the contest.
Maumelle took the initial lead with a two-run effort in the top of the first, but Gwatney leadoff man Adam Ussery scored on a passed ball, and an infield single by Daniel Henard scored Patrick Castleberry to tie it.
A double by the Bulldogs in the top of the second made it 4-2, but RBI doubles by Matt McAnally andCastleberry for Gwatney in the bottom of the second tied it up once more.
Starting Gwatney pitcher Harmon broke the two-run pattern by Maumelle in the top of the third, but the Bulldogs did plate one to go up 5-4. That went unanswered until the bottom of the fourth, when Ussery drove in Tyler Wisdom courtesy of a Maumelle error to tie, and Cameron Hood singled to drive in the go-ahead run.
While relief pitcher Swaggerty was holding off the Bulldog bats in the middle of the game, the Chevy boys added runs in the fifth and sixth innings to extend their lead. Ussery came up with another big hit in the bottom of the fifth with a double that scored Wisdom, and a sacrifice fly by Henard in the sixth allowed Castleberry to tag up at third and make it 8-5.
Castleberry was 2 of 3 with a RBI, and Wisdom also finished 2 of 3. Swaggerty took the win at the mound for Jacksonville.
The junior game started out slow, with Jacksonville holding a 1-0 lead through the first two innings until the Bulldogs answered in the top of the third inning. The bottom of the third inning proved to be the clincher for Gwatney, with a double by Castleberry that scored two runs.
Tommy Sanders got the third RBI of the game moments later on a sacrifice fly that scored Daniel Thurman. Relief pitcher Drew Pierce’s insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI single by Bill Boullon ended up being much needed.
Maumelle made up one run in the fifth, and scored two more in the top of the seventh against new pitcher Daniel Thurman, and had the go-ahead run on the bag before a pop-up saved the win.
Terrell Brown was 2 of 3 for Gwatney, with Jared Toney taking the win on the mound.
BRYANT 20, GWATNEY 6
Scoring eight of their first nine batters was only the tip of the iceberg for the Bryant Blacksox on Wednesday in a 20-6 rout over Jacksonville Gwatney Chevrolet at Dupree Park in American Legion senior play.
The Chevy boys ended up scattering runs in the five-inning contest, but starting pitcher Brian Thurman and reliever Matt McAnally gave up 13 hits and five walks in the first two frames.
Six of those hits by Bryant came in the top of the first against Thurman, and a pair of home runs in the top of the second inning off of McAnally put the Blacksox at 18 runs, and the game completely out of reach for Jacksonville.
Gwatney did plate its first batter. Adam Ussery led off the game with a double into center, and scored when cleanup hitter Patrick Castleberry singled.
Thurman added a run in the bottom of the third inning when he doubled and came in on Cameron Hood’s sacrifice fly.
Jacksonville needed seven runs to avoid the run-rule in the bottom of the fifth, but fell five short. Hood doubled and was driven in by Daniel Henard, who then came in off a double by Jared Toney. That cut the score to 20-6, but it was as far as the Chevy boys made it.
Henard led Gwatney, going 2 of 3 with an RBI and two runs scored. For Bryant, Haydon was 3 of 4 with 2 RBI, and Knight was 2 of 3 with 3 RBI and a home run.
SPORTS>> Gwatney sweeps
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Both Maumelle rallies were furious, but in the end, they were each a run short.
Jacksonville Gwatney Chevrolet completed a home sweep over the Bulldogs in junior and senior Legion play at Dupree Park on Thursday night.
The junior Chevy boys held off Maumelle for a 5-4 win, while the senior squad had to bring in pitching ace Clayton Fenton during the final inning to secure an 8-7 win.
Fenton recorded a strikeout with the tying run at third base to seal the deal.
There was no shortage of big plays for either team in the offensively-charged finale on Thursday. The game was tied 2-2 before Jacksonville established momentum in the fourth inning.
That momentum did not last, however, as the Bulldogs made up two runs of an 8-5 deficit, and were threatening to tie with a runner at third base before Fenton was able to shut them down.
A pitcher’s duel it was not. Gwatney started the game with Michael Harmon on the hill, who gave way to Stephen Swaggerty in the top of the fourth inning. Swaggerty threw three innings of shutout baseball, but was pulled for Fenton after giving up a double to start the seventh inning.
Fenton, who took a tough loss in Cabot earlier in the week after throwing an outstanding game, forced a pop-up against the first batter he faced, and then struck out Maumelle’s Stracener on a full count to retire the first two batters. But a fielding error allowed a run to score to cut the lead to 8-6.
Another double from the seven-hole hitter narrowed the lead to one, and the runner reached third on a passed ball. Another full-count added to the drama, but Fenton came up with another big strikeout to end the contest.
Maumelle took the initial lead with a two-run effort in the top of the first, but Gwatney leadoff man Adam Ussery scored on a passed ball, and an infield single by Daniel Henard scored Patrick Castleberry to tie it.
A double by the Bulldogs in the top of the second made it 4-2, but RBI doubles by Matt McAnally andCastleberry for Gwatney in the bottom of the second tied it up once more.
Starting Gwatney pitcher Harmon broke the two-run pattern by Maumelle in the top of the third, but the Bulldogs did plate one to go up 5-4. That went unanswered until the bottom of the fourth, when Ussery drove in Tyler Wisdom courtesy of a Maumelle error to tie, and Cameron Hood singled to drive in the go-ahead run.
While relief pitcher Swaggerty was holding off the Bulldog bats in the middle of the game, the Chevy boys added runs in the fifth and sixth innings to extend their lead. Ussery came up with another big hit in the bottom of the fifth with a double that scored Wisdom, and a sacrifice fly by Henard in the sixth allowed Castleberry to tag up at third and make it 8-5.
Castleberry was 2 of 3 with a RBI, and Wisdom also finished 2 of 3. Swaggerty took the win at the mound for Jacksonville.
The junior game started out slow, with Jacksonville holding a 1-0 lead through the first two innings until the Bulldogs answered in the top of the third inning. The bottom of the third inning proved to be the clincher for Gwatney, with a double by Castleberry that scored two runs.
Tommy Sanders got the third RBI of the game moments later on a sacrifice fly that scored Daniel Thurman. Relief pitcher Drew Pierce’s insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI single by Bill Boullon ended up being much needed.
Maumelle made up one run in the fifth, and scored two more in the top of the seventh against new pitcher Daniel Thurman, and had the go-ahead run on the bag before a pop-up saved the win.
Terrell Brown was 2 of 3 for Gwatney, with Jared Toney taking the win on the mound.
BRYANT 20, GWATNEY 6
Scoring eight of their first nine batters was only the tip of the iceberg for the Bryant Blacksox on Wednesday in a 20-6 rout over Jacksonville Gwatney Chevrolet at Dupree Park in American Legion senior play.
The Chevy boys ended up scattering runs in the five-inning contest, but starting pitcher Brian Thurman and reliever Matt McAnally gave up 13 hits and five walks in the first two frames.
Six of those hits by Bryant came in the top of the first against Thurman, and a pair of home runs in the top of the second inning off of McAnally put the Blacksox at 18 runs, and the game completely out of reach for Jacksonville.
Gwatney did plate its first batter. Adam Ussery led off the game with a double into center, and scored when cleanup hitter Patrick Castleberry singled.
Thurman added a run in the bottom of the third inning when he doubled and came in on Cameron Hood’s sacrifice fly.
Jacksonville needed seven runs to avoid the run-rule in the bottom of the fifth, but fell five short. Hood doubled and was driven in by Daniel Henard, who then came in off a double by Jared Toney. That cut the score to 20-6, but it was as far as the Chevy boys made it.
Henard led Gwatney, going 2 of 3 with an RBI and two runs scored. For Bryant, Haydon was 3 of 4 with 2 RBI, and Knight was 2 of 3 with 3 RBI and a home run.
Leader sportswriter
Both Maumelle rallies were furious, but in the end, they were each a run short.
Jacksonville Gwatney Chevrolet completed a home sweep over the Bulldogs in junior and senior Legion play at Dupree Park on Thursday night.
The junior Chevy boys held off Maumelle for a 5-4 win, while the senior squad had to bring in pitching ace Clayton Fenton during the final inning to secure an 8-7 win.
Fenton recorded a strikeout with the tying run at third base to seal the deal.
There was no shortage of big plays for either team in the offensively-charged finale on Thursday. The game was tied 2-2 before Jacksonville established momentum in the fourth inning.
That momentum did not last, however, as the Bulldogs made up two runs of an 8-5 deficit, and were threatening to tie with a runner at third base before Fenton was able to shut them down.
A pitcher’s duel it was not. Gwatney started the game with Michael Harmon on the hill, who gave way to Stephen Swaggerty in the top of the fourth inning. Swaggerty threw three innings of shutout baseball, but was pulled for Fenton after giving up a double to start the seventh inning.
Fenton, who took a tough loss in Cabot earlier in the week after throwing an outstanding game, forced a pop-up against the first batter he faced, and then struck out Maumelle’s Stracener on a full count to retire the first two batters. But a fielding error allowed a run to score to cut the lead to 8-6.
Another double from the seven-hole hitter narrowed the lead to one, and the runner reached third on a passed ball. Another full-count added to the drama, but Fenton came up with another big strikeout to end the contest.
Maumelle took the initial lead with a two-run effort in the top of the first, but Gwatney leadoff man Adam Ussery scored on a passed ball, and an infield single by Daniel Henard scored Patrick Castleberry to tie it.
A double by the Bulldogs in the top of the second made it 4-2, but RBI doubles by Matt McAnally andCastleberry for Gwatney in the bottom of the second tied it up once more.
Starting Gwatney pitcher Harmon broke the two-run pattern by Maumelle in the top of the third, but the Bulldogs did plate one to go up 5-4. That went unanswered until the bottom of the fourth, when Ussery drove in Tyler Wisdom courtesy of a Maumelle error to tie, and Cameron Hood singled to drive in the go-ahead run.
While relief pitcher Swaggerty was holding off the Bulldog bats in the middle of the game, the Chevy boys added runs in the fifth and sixth innings to extend their lead. Ussery came up with another big hit in the bottom of the fifth with a double that scored Wisdom, and a sacrifice fly by Henard in the sixth allowed Castleberry to tag up at third and make it 8-5.
Castleberry was 2 of 3 with a RBI, and Wisdom also finished 2 of 3. Swaggerty took the win at the mound for Jacksonville.
The junior game started out slow, with Jacksonville holding a 1-0 lead through the first two innings until the Bulldogs answered in the top of the third inning. The bottom of the third inning proved to be the clincher for Gwatney, with a double by Castleberry that scored two runs.
Tommy Sanders got the third RBI of the game moments later on a sacrifice fly that scored Daniel Thurman. Relief pitcher Drew Pierce’s insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI single by Bill Boullon ended up being much needed.
Maumelle made up one run in the fifth, and scored two more in the top of the seventh against new pitcher Daniel Thurman, and had the go-ahead run on the bag before a pop-up saved the win.
Terrell Brown was 2 of 3 for Gwatney, with Jared Toney taking the win on the mound.
BRYANT 20, GWATNEY 6
Scoring eight of their first nine batters was only the tip of the iceberg for the Bryant Blacksox on Wednesday in a 20-6 rout over Jacksonville Gwatney Chevrolet at Dupree Park in American Legion senior play.
The Chevy boys ended up scattering runs in the five-inning contest, but starting pitcher Brian Thurman and reliever Matt McAnally gave up 13 hits and five walks in the first two frames.
Six of those hits by Bryant came in the top of the first against Thurman, and a pair of home runs in the top of the second inning off of McAnally put the Blacksox at 18 runs, and the game completely out of reach for Jacksonville.
Gwatney did plate its first batter. Adam Ussery led off the game with a double into center, and scored when cleanup hitter Patrick Castleberry singled.
Thurman added a run in the bottom of the third inning when he doubled and came in on Cameron Hood’s sacrifice fly.
Jacksonville needed seven runs to avoid the run-rule in the bottom of the fifth, but fell five short. Hood doubled and was driven in by Daniel Henard, who then came in off a double by Jared Toney. That cut the score to 20-6, but it was as far as the Chevy boys made it.
Henard led Gwatney, going 2 of 3 with an RBI and two runs scored. For Bryant, Haydon was 3 of 4 with 2 RBI, and Knight was 2 of 3 with 3 RBI and a home run.
SPORTS>> Gwatney sweeps
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Both Maumelle rallies were furious, but in the end, they were each a run short.
Jacksonville Gwatney Chevrolet completed a home sweep over the Bulldogs in junior and senior Legion play at Dupree Park on Thursday night.
The junior Chevy boys held off Maumelle for a 5-4 win, while the senior squad had to bring in pitching ace Clayton Fenton during the final inning to secure an 8-7 win.
Fenton recorded a strikeout with the tying run at third base to seal the deal.
There was no shortage of big plays for either team in the offensively-charged finale on Thursday. The game was tied 2-2 before Jacksonville established momentum in the fourth inning.
That momentum did not last, however, as the Bulldogs made up two runs of an 8-5 deficit, and were threatening to tie with a runner at third base before Fenton was able to shut them down.
A pitcher’s duel it was not. Gwatney started the game with Michael Harmon on the hill, who gave way to Stephen Swaggerty in the top of the fourth inning. Swaggerty threw three innings of shutout baseball, but was pulled for Fenton after giving up a double to start the seventh inning.
Fenton, who took a tough loss in Cabot earlier in the week after throwing an outstanding game, forced a pop-up against the first batter he faced, and then struck out Maumelle’s Stracener on a full count to retire the first two batters. But a fielding error allowed a run to score to cut the lead to 8-6.
Another double from the seven-hole hitter narrowed the lead to one, and the runner reached third on a passed ball. Another full-count added to the drama, but Fenton came up with another big strikeout to end the contest.
Maumelle took the initial lead with a two-run effort in the top of the first, but Gwatney leadoff man Adam Ussery scored on a passed ball, and an infield single by Daniel Henard scored Patrick Castleberry to tie it.
A double by the Bulldogs in the top of the second made it 4-2, but RBI doubles by Matt McAnally andCastleberry for Gwatney in the bottom of the second tied it up once more.
Starting Gwatney pitcher Harmon broke the two-run pattern by Maumelle in the top of the third, but the Bulldogs did plate one to go up 5-4. That went unanswered until the bottom of the fourth, when Ussery drove in Tyler Wisdom courtesy of a Maumelle error to tie, and Cameron Hood singled to drive in the go-ahead run.
While relief pitcher Swaggerty was holding off the Bulldog bats in the middle of the game, the Chevy boys added runs in the fifth and sixth innings to extend their lead. Ussery came up with another big hit in the bottom of the fifth with a double that scored Wisdom, and a sacrifice fly by Henard in the sixth allowed Castleberry to tag up at third and make it 8-5.
Castleberry was 2 of 3 with a RBI, and Wisdom also finished 2 of 3. Swaggerty took the win at the mound for Jacksonville.
The junior game started out slow, with Jacksonville holding a 1-0 lead through the first two innings until the Bulldogs answered in the top of the third inning. The bottom of the third inning proved to be the clincher for Gwatney, with a double by Castleberry that scored two runs.
Tommy Sanders got the third RBI of the game moments later on a sacrifice fly that scored Daniel Thurman. Relief pitcher Drew Pierce’s insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI single by Bill Boullon ended up being much needed.
Maumelle made up one run in the fifth, and scored two more in the top of the seventh against new pitcher Daniel Thurman, and had the go-ahead run on the bag before a pop-up saved the win.
Terrell Brown was 2 of 3 for Gwatney, with Jared Toney taking the win on the mound.
BRYANT 20, GWATNEY 6
Scoring eight of their first nine batters was only the tip of the iceberg for the Bryant Blacksox on Wednesday in a 20-6 rout over Jacksonville Gwatney Chevrolet at Dupree Park in American Legion senior play.
The Chevy boys ended up scattering runs in the five-inning contest, but starting pitcher Brian Thurman and reliever Matt McAnally gave up 13 hits and five walks in the first two frames.
Six of those hits by Bryant came in the top of the first against Thurman, and a pair of home runs in the top of the second inning off of McAnally put the Blacksox at 18 runs, and the game completely out of reach for Jacksonville.
Gwatney did plate its first batter. Adam Ussery led off the game with a double into center, and scored when cleanup hitter Patrick Castleberry singled.
Thurman added a run in the bottom of the third inning when he doubled and came in on Cameron Hood’s sacrifice fly.
Jacksonville needed seven runs to avoid the run-rule in the bottom of the fifth, but fell five short. Hood doubled and was driven in by Daniel Henard, who then came in off a double by Jared Toney. That cut the score to 20-6, but it was as far as the Chevy boys made it.
Henard led Gwatney, going 2 of 3 with an RBI and two runs scored. For Bryant, Haydon was 3 of 4 with 2 RBI, and Knight was 2 of 3 with 3 RBI and a home run.
Leader sportswriter
Both Maumelle rallies were furious, but in the end, they were each a run short.
Jacksonville Gwatney Chevrolet completed a home sweep over the Bulldogs in junior and senior Legion play at Dupree Park on Thursday night.
The junior Chevy boys held off Maumelle for a 5-4 win, while the senior squad had to bring in pitching ace Clayton Fenton during the final inning to secure an 8-7 win.
Fenton recorded a strikeout with the tying run at third base to seal the deal.
There was no shortage of big plays for either team in the offensively-charged finale on Thursday. The game was tied 2-2 before Jacksonville established momentum in the fourth inning.
That momentum did not last, however, as the Bulldogs made up two runs of an 8-5 deficit, and were threatening to tie with a runner at third base before Fenton was able to shut them down.
A pitcher’s duel it was not. Gwatney started the game with Michael Harmon on the hill, who gave way to Stephen Swaggerty in the top of the fourth inning. Swaggerty threw three innings of shutout baseball, but was pulled for Fenton after giving up a double to start the seventh inning.
Fenton, who took a tough loss in Cabot earlier in the week after throwing an outstanding game, forced a pop-up against the first batter he faced, and then struck out Maumelle’s Stracener on a full count to retire the first two batters. But a fielding error allowed a run to score to cut the lead to 8-6.
Another double from the seven-hole hitter narrowed the lead to one, and the runner reached third on a passed ball. Another full-count added to the drama, but Fenton came up with another big strikeout to end the contest.
Maumelle took the initial lead with a two-run effort in the top of the first, but Gwatney leadoff man Adam Ussery scored on a passed ball, and an infield single by Daniel Henard scored Patrick Castleberry to tie it.
A double by the Bulldogs in the top of the second made it 4-2, but RBI doubles by Matt McAnally andCastleberry for Gwatney in the bottom of the second tied it up once more.
Starting Gwatney pitcher Harmon broke the two-run pattern by Maumelle in the top of the third, but the Bulldogs did plate one to go up 5-4. That went unanswered until the bottom of the fourth, when Ussery drove in Tyler Wisdom courtesy of a Maumelle error to tie, and Cameron Hood singled to drive in the go-ahead run.
While relief pitcher Swaggerty was holding off the Bulldog bats in the middle of the game, the Chevy boys added runs in the fifth and sixth innings to extend their lead. Ussery came up with another big hit in the bottom of the fifth with a double that scored Wisdom, and a sacrifice fly by Henard in the sixth allowed Castleberry to tag up at third and make it 8-5.
Castleberry was 2 of 3 with a RBI, and Wisdom also finished 2 of 3. Swaggerty took the win at the mound for Jacksonville.
The junior game started out slow, with Jacksonville holding a 1-0 lead through the first two innings until the Bulldogs answered in the top of the third inning. The bottom of the third inning proved to be the clincher for Gwatney, with a double by Castleberry that scored two runs.
Tommy Sanders got the third RBI of the game moments later on a sacrifice fly that scored Daniel Thurman. Relief pitcher Drew Pierce’s insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI single by Bill Boullon ended up being much needed.
Maumelle made up one run in the fifth, and scored two more in the top of the seventh against new pitcher Daniel Thurman, and had the go-ahead run on the bag before a pop-up saved the win.
Terrell Brown was 2 of 3 for Gwatney, with Jared Toney taking the win on the mound.
BRYANT 20, GWATNEY 6
Scoring eight of their first nine batters was only the tip of the iceberg for the Bryant Blacksox on Wednesday in a 20-6 rout over Jacksonville Gwatney Chevrolet at Dupree Park in American Legion senior play.
The Chevy boys ended up scattering runs in the five-inning contest, but starting pitcher Brian Thurman and reliever Matt McAnally gave up 13 hits and five walks in the first two frames.
Six of those hits by Bryant came in the top of the first against Thurman, and a pair of home runs in the top of the second inning off of McAnally put the Blacksox at 18 runs, and the game completely out of reach for Jacksonville.
Gwatney did plate its first batter. Adam Ussery led off the game with a double into center, and scored when cleanup hitter Patrick Castleberry singled.
Thurman added a run in the bottom of the third inning when he doubled and came in on Cameron Hood’s sacrifice fly.
Jacksonville needed seven runs to avoid the run-rule in the bottom of the fifth, but fell five short. Hood doubled and was driven in by Daniel Henard, who then came in off a double by Jared Toney. That cut the score to 20-6, but it was as far as the Chevy boys made it.
Henard led Gwatney, going 2 of 3 with an RBI and two runs scored. For Bryant, Haydon was 3 of 4 with 2 RBI, and Knight was 2 of 3 with 3 RBI and a home run.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
EDITORIAL >>Huck the Entertainer
Mike Huckabee has finally landed the job for which he is perfectly suited. Fox News signed him last week to a one-year contract to provide political commentary.
It is easy and profitable work for which our former governor has been preparing for 25 years, since he developed the television ministry that catapulted him from the pulpit to politics. He has the cool personality that the medium requires and a clever wit when he can control it, and he will finally have a forum where his chance outrageous or foolish remark will hardly be noticed. He can joke about assassinations and no one will expect an apology.
Huckabee cannot match the nightly offenses of Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity. Racist, sexist or simply tasteless utterances get commentators in trouble and occasionally suspensions at other networks, but at Fox the threshold of indecency has not been established.
Huckabee will introduce a measure of balance to the Fox news programming. Not ideological balance — Rupert Murdoch does not believe in that. But in the phalanx of mean-spirited Republican polemicists, Huckabee will seem moderate, tolerant and almost kind. Although he will never criticize Sen. John McCain, he will sometimes say a kind word about the Democrat, Sen. Barack Obama. A few Fox devotees may find that refreshing, if odd.
The Fox contract ends the speculation that McCain will choose Huckabee as his running mate. Joking about the assassination of Obama at the National Rifle Association convention, the last of a string of gaffes, ended any serious consideration of that ticket.
But this is better for everyone: Mike Huckabee, the Republican Party and the citizenry. Entertaining, not governing, is his forte, and we can all celebrate when someone makes the right life choice.
It is easy and profitable work for which our former governor has been preparing for 25 years, since he developed the television ministry that catapulted him from the pulpit to politics. He has the cool personality that the medium requires and a clever wit when he can control it, and he will finally have a forum where his chance outrageous or foolish remark will hardly be noticed. He can joke about assassinations and no one will expect an apology.
Huckabee cannot match the nightly offenses of Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity. Racist, sexist or simply tasteless utterances get commentators in trouble and occasionally suspensions at other networks, but at Fox the threshold of indecency has not been established.
Huckabee will introduce a measure of balance to the Fox news programming. Not ideological balance — Rupert Murdoch does not believe in that. But in the phalanx of mean-spirited Republican polemicists, Huckabee will seem moderate, tolerant and almost kind. Although he will never criticize Sen. John McCain, he will sometimes say a kind word about the Democrat, Sen. Barack Obama. A few Fox devotees may find that refreshing, if odd.
The Fox contract ends the speculation that McCain will choose Huckabee as his running mate. Joking about the assassination of Obama at the National Rifle Association convention, the last of a string of gaffes, ended any serious consideration of that ticket.
But this is better for everyone: Mike Huckabee, the Republican Party and the citizenry. Entertaining, not governing, is his forte, and we can all celebrate when someone makes the right life choice.
EDITORIAL >>King panel in turmoil
As the chief executive of the government, Gov. Beebe seemed obliged to do something about the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, a small state agency that is supposed to promote the great leader’s goals of peace and understanding but has often seemed impelled toward warfare and discord. What he chose to do last week did not seem quite satisfactory, but the governor’s half-measures always have a way of moving us along toward a resolution.
Beebe said he was not going to appoint anyone else to the giant commission until the legislature next year reviews its work and finds a way to recreate it into a workable program.
The law authorizes 26 commissioners, surely the largest policy-making body in state government — the commission over highways and transportation has only five members and utility regulation only three — and simply winnowing that unwieldy body through attrition ought to help a little.
For at least four years, the agency has been in turmoil. A faction of the commission tried to oust its director, state Sen. Tracy Steele, whose two government hats created an irreconcilable conflict for the agency. Steele survived that attempt but resigned 18 months ago, triggering a fresh battle over his successor, who has legal problems of his own.
Lawsuits and rancor apparently have kept the agency distracted because it would be hard to pinpoint much that it has done.
Having a worthy purpose is not a suitable reason to exist without good works. Taxpayers may consider the agency’s annual appropriation of $337,000 too high a price to pay for bedlam when it can be had for free.
Restructuring with a manageable commission that actually meets and acts is the least that should happen with the MLK Commission, and Beebe’s minimalist action may move it there.
Beebe said he was not going to appoint anyone else to the giant commission until the legislature next year reviews its work and finds a way to recreate it into a workable program.
The law authorizes 26 commissioners, surely the largest policy-making body in state government — the commission over highways and transportation has only five members and utility regulation only three — and simply winnowing that unwieldy body through attrition ought to help a little.
For at least four years, the agency has been in turmoil. A faction of the commission tried to oust its director, state Sen. Tracy Steele, whose two government hats created an irreconcilable conflict for the agency. Steele survived that attempt but resigned 18 months ago, triggering a fresh battle over his successor, who has legal problems of his own.
Lawsuits and rancor apparently have kept the agency distracted because it would be hard to pinpoint much that it has done.
Having a worthy purpose is not a suitable reason to exist without good works. Taxpayers may consider the agency’s annual appropriation of $337,000 too high a price to pay for bedlam when it can be had for free.
Restructuring with a manageable commission that actually meets and acts is the least that should happen with the MLK Commission, and Beebe’s minimalist action may move it there.
TOP STORY > >Access road goes one-way June 24
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
The frontage roads between Wildwood and Kiehl avenues along Highway 67/167 will be permanently converted to one-way overnight June 24 as work continues to widen the highway to three lanes north and three lanes south, according to Glenn
Bolick, a state Highway Department spokesman.
Landers Road will be one-way north and Warden Road will be one-way south.
Those two frontage roads already are one-way between McCain Boulevard and Wildwood, Bolick said, and despite misgivings expressed at the time by businesses located on those roads, it has worked out well for motorists and businesses alike, Bolick said.
The frontage roads between Wildwood and Kiehl, in addition to becoming one-way, will each have one lane temporarily shut down to aid in the overall construction of the project.
Converting Hwy. 67/167 to sixanes from I-40 to Redmond Road in Jacksonville could cost as much as $100 million, but it will just be used as a four-lane highway until all that work is done.
The first segment, from McCain Boulevard to Wildwood, included a flyover at the south end and an underpass at Five Mile Creek—now the site of Gander Mountain—to connect the frontage roads into a loop without motorists having to get onto the highway. That segment, completed in 2005, cost about $22.5 million, Bolick said.
The current work—a segment between I-40 to McCain Boulevard and a segment from Wildwood to Kiehl, cost another $42.3 million. It could be completed by next fall, Bolick said, meaning that all the construction between I-40 and Kiehl Avenue will be done. Also underway currently is the widening of northbound lanes of Hwy. 67/167 from the Northbelt Loop to Redmond Road, including construction of a new bridge over the Bayou Meto. The segment will cost $14 million, Bolick said.
“We’ll be done about this time next year,” Bolick said. “About that time we’ll be able to let bids on the southbound lanes.”
Once that is complete, the final segment, north and south, between Kiehl Avenue and the North Belt Loop will be widened. That work is slated for 2010, Bolick said. After that, the state Highway Department will open the full I-40 to Redmond Road stretch as a six-lane freeway, three each direction. Until then, only two lanes will be used each direction.
Leader senior staff writer
The frontage roads between Wildwood and Kiehl avenues along Highway 67/167 will be permanently converted to one-way overnight June 24 as work continues to widen the highway to three lanes north and three lanes south, according to Glenn
Bolick, a state Highway Department spokesman.
Landers Road will be one-way north and Warden Road will be one-way south.
Those two frontage roads already are one-way between McCain Boulevard and Wildwood, Bolick said, and despite misgivings expressed at the time by businesses located on those roads, it has worked out well for motorists and businesses alike, Bolick said.
The frontage roads between Wildwood and Kiehl, in addition to becoming one-way, will each have one lane temporarily shut down to aid in the overall construction of the project.
Converting Hwy. 67/167 to sixanes from I-40 to Redmond Road in Jacksonville could cost as much as $100 million, but it will just be used as a four-lane highway until all that work is done.
The first segment, from McCain Boulevard to Wildwood, included a flyover at the south end and an underpass at Five Mile Creek—now the site of Gander Mountain—to connect the frontage roads into a loop without motorists having to get onto the highway. That segment, completed in 2005, cost about $22.5 million, Bolick said.
The current work—a segment between I-40 to McCain Boulevard and a segment from Wildwood to Kiehl, cost another $42.3 million. It could be completed by next fall, Bolick said, meaning that all the construction between I-40 and Kiehl Avenue will be done. Also underway currently is the widening of northbound lanes of Hwy. 67/167 from the Northbelt Loop to Redmond Road, including construction of a new bridge over the Bayou Meto. The segment will cost $14 million, Bolick said.
“We’ll be done about this time next year,” Bolick said. “About that time we’ll be able to let bids on the southbound lanes.”
Once that is complete, the final segment, north and south, between Kiehl Avenue and the North Belt Loop will be widened. That work is slated for 2010, Bolick said. After that, the state Highway Department will open the full I-40 to Redmond Road stretch as a six-lane freeway, three each direction. Until then, only two lanes will be used each direction.
TOP STORY > >Area will get $3.64 million water plant
By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer
The water associations of Grand Prairie and Bayou Two, which merged in May 2007 to save on administrative costs, broke ground last week on a water-treatment plant that is part of an improvement project that will provide Ward with up to 10 million gallons of water a month and free Bayou Two customers from their dependence on Jacksonville water.
The entire $3.64 million projects includes four new wells that are already in production, the treatment plant and new lines in the Bayou Two district that will run west from the Hwy. 31 treatment plant along Hwy. 321 to Dogwood Lane then south to Mt. Tabor Road, west to Hwy. 89 and south to Mahoney Road to tie into the tank on Duckcoop Lane.
Now known as Grand Prairie Bayou Two Public Facilities Board of Lonoke County, the utility currently pays Jacksonville $3.40 per thousand gallons for the first 5million gallons of water purchased every month and $3.20 per thousand for all over 5 million gallons. The cost of producing well water is 80 cents per thousand gallons.
Terry House, general manager for the utility, said this week that all the water used by Bayou Two customers is purchased from Jacksonville. The treatment plant is expected to be online by January 2009. The water line in the Bayou Two district should be completed by the end of 2009. When both those projects are completed, Bayou Two will no longer be dependent Jacksonville water except as a backup source, he said.
Grand Prairie Bayou Two has 3,900 customers and serves a population of about 10,000 in the northeast corner of Lonoke County, including some customers inside Cabot city limits.
To pay for the major improvement projects the utility saved $1.2 million. The savings in one year from consolidating was $108,000, House said.
“We’re very frugal,” he said.
But it also refinanced some bonds and borrowed $1 million from the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission at 3.25 percent interest.
House said the rates would likely be restructured after the work is completed with Bayou Two customers seeing a considerable savings. It is likely, he said, that customers who use less water will pay less per thousand gallons than customers who use a lot of water.
Currently, the biggest users are customers with lawn sprinkling systems, he said.
Eventually, cities and water associations will have to get their water from lakes or other surface sources. Grand Prairie Bayou Two, like the city of Ward, is part of the Lonoke-White Water Project which is supposed to bring water to the area from Greers Ferry Lake. That project was in the planning stages 15 years ago and has made some progress. The partners own property for an intake site and right-of-way for a water line. But there is currently no money for construction.
But Grand Prairie Bayou Two has a permit from the state to take ground water until 2027 and House said he is confident the Lonoke- White Project will be completed long before that permit expires.
Leader staff writer
The water associations of Grand Prairie and Bayou Two, which merged in May 2007 to save on administrative costs, broke ground last week on a water-treatment plant that is part of an improvement project that will provide Ward with up to 10 million gallons of water a month and free Bayou Two customers from their dependence on Jacksonville water.
The entire $3.64 million projects includes four new wells that are already in production, the treatment plant and new lines in the Bayou Two district that will run west from the Hwy. 31 treatment plant along Hwy. 321 to Dogwood Lane then south to Mt. Tabor Road, west to Hwy. 89 and south to Mahoney Road to tie into the tank on Duckcoop Lane.
Now known as Grand Prairie Bayou Two Public Facilities Board of Lonoke County, the utility currently pays Jacksonville $3.40 per thousand gallons for the first 5million gallons of water purchased every month and $3.20 per thousand for all over 5 million gallons. The cost of producing well water is 80 cents per thousand gallons.
Terry House, general manager for the utility, said this week that all the water used by Bayou Two customers is purchased from Jacksonville. The treatment plant is expected to be online by January 2009. The water line in the Bayou Two district should be completed by the end of 2009. When both those projects are completed, Bayou Two will no longer be dependent Jacksonville water except as a backup source, he said.
Grand Prairie Bayou Two has 3,900 customers and serves a population of about 10,000 in the northeast corner of Lonoke County, including some customers inside Cabot city limits.
To pay for the major improvement projects the utility saved $1.2 million. The savings in one year from consolidating was $108,000, House said.
“We’re very frugal,” he said.
But it also refinanced some bonds and borrowed $1 million from the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission at 3.25 percent interest.
House said the rates would likely be restructured after the work is completed with Bayou Two customers seeing a considerable savings. It is likely, he said, that customers who use less water will pay less per thousand gallons than customers who use a lot of water.
Currently, the biggest users are customers with lawn sprinkling systems, he said.
Eventually, cities and water associations will have to get their water from lakes or other surface sources. Grand Prairie Bayou Two, like the city of Ward, is part of the Lonoke-White Water Project which is supposed to bring water to the area from Greers Ferry Lake. That project was in the planning stages 15 years ago and has made some progress. The partners own property for an intake site and right-of-way for a water line. But there is currently no money for construction.
But Grand Prairie Bayou Two has a permit from the state to take ground water until 2027 and House said he is confident the Lonoke- White Project will be completed long before that permit expires.
TOP STORY > >Experienced lawmakers know right from wrong
Sen. Jack Crumbly of eastern Arkansas can keep his seat despite “flagrant fraud” that helped him get elected, but two veteran senators are outraged that their colleagues voted last week to let him stay in the Senate.
“I thought he got there in a fraudulent manner and he shouldn’t be there,” Sen. John Paul Capps, D-Searcy, told us Monday.
“This was not a free election. It smelled. I thought he would resign.”
Capps thinks the Senate should have called for another election with outside supervision to make sure the vote was honest.
“The corruption and voter fraud was almost unbelievable,” Capps told us.
“If we can’t have fair elections, what have we got?” he asked. “I felt sorry for the good people of St. Francis County.
Bobby Glover, D-Carlisle, also said the election was “crooked” and Crumbly should have been expelled.
“It’s very clear to me that the election was perhaps one of the most corrupt in the state of Arkansas,” he told reporters after the Senate voted 19-12 not to expel Crumbly.
“I think there’s always going to be a cloud there over him,” Glover said. What’s more, he added, “I think there will always be a cloud over the Senate because of the actions that were taken here today.”
Unlike these veteran legislators, a lot of younger senators didn’t seem too upset about the ballot stuffing that got Crumbly re-elected. It makes you wish we had more experienced lawmakers like Glover and Capps, but because of term limits, they’ll be gone at the end of 2010.
Arkansas will miss their legislative expertise. Capps served 36 years in the House, while Glover was there for 20 years. They’ll both serve eight years in the Senate when their terms expire. I guess the Crumblys and their allies will remain in charge.
But Glover and Capps know exactly what was going on in St. Francis County a couple of years ago, when the disputed primary took place: Old-fashioned vote stealing right out of the Lyndon Johnson playbook, which calls for stealing just enough votes to have yourself declared the winner during the recount.
Crumbly, of Widener, supposedly defeated Rep. Arnell Willis in the 2006 Democratic primary by 68 votes. Although Willis was initially declared the winner, Crumbly claimed victory after a recount.
There was voter fraud everywhere: Crumbly’s campaign manager was a St. Francis County election commissioner who rigged the outcome with newly found absentee ballots, phantom votes, forged signatures, missing ballot stubs — you name it, this vote would have made a Chicago alderman call for honest government.
Glover said there was a “blatant and proven disregard of election laws,” including:
Allowing unregistered voters to cast ballots.
A paid Crumbly campaign worker, nicknamed the Queen of Absentee Ballots, admitted handling between 250 and 275 ballots, when the law allows her to handle no more than two.
Ninety-nine early voting ballots were missing.
511 early voting stubs were missing.
Seventy-two stubs for early voting were found out of sequence banded together in a stub box.
There were 97 more absentee stubs than ballots and two were not counted.
There’s more, but you get the idea.
A special prosecutor is looking into the case, and the U.S. attorney’s office will also probably investigate the allegations of fraud.
Don’t be surprised if some of the characters involved in the shenanigans are indicted.
But Sen. Shane Broadway, D-Bryant, who voted to let Crumbly stay in the Senate, doesn’t think the decision has hurt the Senate’s image.
“I think the credibility of the Senate has been enhanced by the whole way this situation was handled,” Broadway foolishly told reporters. “I think it’s been handled with dignity and it’s been handled with class.”
There’s nothing dignified or classy about fraud at the polls. Here you have the difference between a young legislator who can’t tell right from wrong, and two old-time lawmakers who know that the voters of St. Francis County have been cheated.
But Glover and Capps won’t be around in a couple of years to provide leadership in the Senate, although the Crumblys and Broadways will stick around and embarrass the Senate a while longer.
It won’t be soon enough when they, too, are term-limited. They can take their dignity and class with them.
“I thought he got there in a fraudulent manner and he shouldn’t be there,” Sen. John Paul Capps, D-Searcy, told us Monday.
“This was not a free election. It smelled. I thought he would resign.”
Capps thinks the Senate should have called for another election with outside supervision to make sure the vote was honest.
“The corruption and voter fraud was almost unbelievable,” Capps told us.
“If we can’t have fair elections, what have we got?” he asked. “I felt sorry for the good people of St. Francis County.
Bobby Glover, D-Carlisle, also said the election was “crooked” and Crumbly should have been expelled.
“It’s very clear to me that the election was perhaps one of the most corrupt in the state of Arkansas,” he told reporters after the Senate voted 19-12 not to expel Crumbly.
“I think there’s always going to be a cloud there over him,” Glover said. What’s more, he added, “I think there will always be a cloud over the Senate because of the actions that were taken here today.”
Unlike these veteran legislators, a lot of younger senators didn’t seem too upset about the ballot stuffing that got Crumbly re-elected. It makes you wish we had more experienced lawmakers like Glover and Capps, but because of term limits, they’ll be gone at the end of 2010.
Arkansas will miss their legislative expertise. Capps served 36 years in the House, while Glover was there for 20 years. They’ll both serve eight years in the Senate when their terms expire. I guess the Crumblys and their allies will remain in charge.
But Glover and Capps know exactly what was going on in St. Francis County a couple of years ago, when the disputed primary took place: Old-fashioned vote stealing right out of the Lyndon Johnson playbook, which calls for stealing just enough votes to have yourself declared the winner during the recount.
Crumbly, of Widener, supposedly defeated Rep. Arnell Willis in the 2006 Democratic primary by 68 votes. Although Willis was initially declared the winner, Crumbly claimed victory after a recount.
There was voter fraud everywhere: Crumbly’s campaign manager was a St. Francis County election commissioner who rigged the outcome with newly found absentee ballots, phantom votes, forged signatures, missing ballot stubs — you name it, this vote would have made a Chicago alderman call for honest government.
Glover said there was a “blatant and proven disregard of election laws,” including:
Allowing unregistered voters to cast ballots.
A paid Crumbly campaign worker, nicknamed the Queen of Absentee Ballots, admitted handling between 250 and 275 ballots, when the law allows her to handle no more than two.
Ninety-nine early voting ballots were missing.
511 early voting stubs were missing.
Seventy-two stubs for early voting were found out of sequence banded together in a stub box.
There were 97 more absentee stubs than ballots and two were not counted.
There’s more, but you get the idea.
A special prosecutor is looking into the case, and the U.S. attorney’s office will also probably investigate the allegations of fraud.
Don’t be surprised if some of the characters involved in the shenanigans are indicted.
But Sen. Shane Broadway, D-Bryant, who voted to let Crumbly stay in the Senate, doesn’t think the decision has hurt the Senate’s image.
“I think the credibility of the Senate has been enhanced by the whole way this situation was handled,” Broadway foolishly told reporters. “I think it’s been handled with dignity and it’s been handled with class.”
There’s nothing dignified or classy about fraud at the polls. Here you have the difference between a young legislator who can’t tell right from wrong, and two old-time lawmakers who know that the voters of St. Francis County have been cheated.
But Glover and Capps won’t be around in a couple of years to provide leadership in the Senate, although the Crumblys and Broadways will stick around and embarrass the Senate a while longer.
It won’t be soon enough when they, too, are term-limited. They can take their dignity and class with them.
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