The raging but one-sided debate over energy and climate policy, which has focused on our little state because we have about the only two U. S. senators who straddle the fence on the great issues of the day, has produced some exotic arguments.
Nonsensical is another word that comes to mind.
You get some of it from network and local television shows, which now come with commercials from the oil, gas and coal industries and their friends warning that the climate-change bill moving glacially through Congress will drive up your taxes and drive down your living standard. Full-page ads in the daily papers bleat the same message: Capping the carbon emissions from refineries, power plants and big energy-consuming manufacturers and making the industries trade carbon credits to drive down the greenhouse poisoning of the atmosphere is going to cost you your job and destroy the economy. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office figures it will cost the average family the price of a postage stamp a day by the year 2020 without calculating the offsetting benefits of clean and renewable energy, which is the aim of the bill.
Then you have Claiborne Deming’s dog-and-pony show. If you haven’t been to one of the business forums around the state to hear it, you’ve read about it. Deming, the popular executive of Murphy Oil Corp., says the bill favors coal and electricity over the poor oil industry and that its penalties against the oil and gas industries will destroy the country’s economy and ruin us all while doing nothing to make China stop pumping so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. China is the real culprit, Deming said, because it recently passed the U. S. as the No. 1 producer of greenhouse gas poisoning. That’s true, but China has nearly 1.4 billion people and there are 310 million of us. Per capita, no one comes close to us in the volume of greenhouse poisons. Besides, China can’t make us change our energy habits, and our government can’t change China’s.
The Arkansas legislature joint tax committee listened to Deming’s pitch last month and rushed out a proclamation to Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor telling them they must block the cap-and-trade bill to save Arkansas. Lincoln and Pryor are pivotal to the industry’s strategy of blocking a vote on the bill in the Senate. It has already passed the House of Representatives, but with Lincoln’s and Pryor’s help, Republicans aligned with the petroleum industry can prevent a vote in the Senate.
Deming is a good fellow with at least one public-spirited stand to his credit — Murphy Corp.’s scholarship program for El Dorado youngsters — so no one in the media or any of the forums dared raise the obvious point. He is hardly a disinterested or even slightly objective analyst of the debate. Like the Middle East oil oligarchs, who also oppose legislation that would reduce the country’s and world’s oil dependency, Deming’s industry stands to lose, though not so much, if the nation moves to cleaner and more efficient energy sources or if petroleum and coal are forced to clean up their products. It is not so that the carbon industries’ interests are necessarily the nation’s best interest, but the campaign would have you believe it.
Our favorite of all the quaint arguments for maintaining the status quo on energy and climate policy came last week from Progress Arkansas, a new lobby group made up of the big energy industries and their business allies.
In a news release and testimony before the state Public Service Commission last week, Progress Arkansas boasted that Arkansas ranked 15th out of the 50 states and District of Columbia in the per-capita consumption of electricity, oil and gas.
The point was that the government shouldn’t be trying to curb energy consumption or change energy habits.
Here is what it said: “Arkansans use a lot of energy, and that’s a good thing. It means we have industry and businesses here that provide jobs.”
We’re not kidding. That’s what they said. Arkansas a leader in industry? Hardly a state has a smaller industrial base or a lower average wage.
Their figures were right. The U. S. energy information center said that in 2007, Arkansans burned almost twice as many BTUs per person as California and the New England states, where the state governments have directed utilities and industries toward greater efficiency. Each Arkansan consumed 407 million BTUs, each Californian 233 million (at the height of the state’s prosperity). Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, New York burned even less.
That is a good thing for Arkansas?
Trying finally to do its small part toward protecting the climate and cutting the terrible waste in energy consumption, the Arkansas Public Service Commission was holding hearings on how to glean efficiency from Arkansas gas and electric utilities.
The commissioners didn’t seem terribly impressed by Progress Arkansas’ argument. But we’ll bet that it will still carry the day.
Watch our senators’ votes on the climate bill.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
TOP STORY >> Have a beer before suit goes to trial?
By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader executive editor
The Jacksonville police officers who arrested Rizelle Aaron four years ago in Dupree Park committed several blunders, a judge ruled last week, allowing Aaron’s lawsuit against the cops to proceed for violating his constitutional rights and for falsely arresting him on what may have been trumped-up charges.
Aaron is the good Samaritan who tried to break up a drug deal at the park on Sept. 15, 2005. He confronted the drug dealers and then called police, who promptly arrested Aaron for no reason at all, Judge Brian S. Miller ruled.
He said Aaron does have a case against the officers, but not the city or the police department. The JPD later dropped all charges against Aaron, including criminal impersonation of a police officer. It turns out, he wasn’t lying when he told the officers he was a part-time cop.
Miller was ready to try the two police officers, Lieut. Bill Shelley and Officer Gregory Rozenski, this week, but their lawyer is appealing Miller’s ruling to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, and it could take up to a year before that court rules on the case.
Rozenski is still with the police department, but Shelley has left the force and has a job with the city’s public-works department.
In a sharply worded order against the pair for making an arrest without probable cause, Judge Miller found that Aaron was, in fact, a part-time officer with the England Police Department. The JPD eventually made the connection, but not before two of its finest busted Aaron.
“Instead of verifying that Aaron was a Part Time II officer with the England Police Department,” the judge noted, “the record shows that Shelley engaged in what can only be described as a Deputy Dawg, Keystone Kops type of questioning of Aaron regarding Aaron’s law-enforcement credentials.”
Aaron had gone to Dupree Park with his family to watch his son’s football game. The last thing he wanted them to see was a drug deal in the parking lot.
Shelley and Rozenski charged Aaron with four counts of criminal impersonation for nailing the four alleged drug dealers who had crack cocaine and other drugs in their car and admitted to police they had the drugs. The police report identifies them as the victims.
Aaron was also charged with four additional counts of false imprisonment, but, surprisingly, only one count of terroristic threatening. Why not 500 counts of terroristic threatening — for everyone who was at the park that day?
“There is no question that the Fourth Amendment right of citizens not to be arrested without probable cause is … clearly established,” the judge wrote. “A reasonable jury could find that on Sept. 15, 2005, it was objectively unreasonable for Shelley and Rozenski to believe that Aaron had committed a crime and that Shelley and Rozenski therefore lacked probable cause to arrest Aaron.
“The court believes (Shelley and Rozenski) were so disturbed by Aaron’s lack of police identification that they released the suspected drug dealers and ordered Aaron back to the park and arrested him,” Miller wrote in his order.
“There is nothing in the record remotely showing that Aaron told anyone he was a police officer for the purpose of injuring or defrauding anyone,” Judge Miller wrote. “Indeed, it is undisputed that he saw drug activity, and he called the police to the scene. The mere fact that he could not provide police identification to the Jacksonville police did not give Shelley and Rozenski probable cause to arrest him.”
Here’s another important point, although Miller doesn’t mention it: Like anyone else in Arkansas, Aaron could make a citizen’s arrest. He had the guts to confront the drug dealers and told them they were in a heap of trouble. He called the police, and for his troubles he found himself in handcuffs.
Miller, who is from Helena-West Helena, is the state’s newest federal judge: He’s tough, but fair — and very busy.
He will soon decide the long-running Pulaski County school-desegregation case, which could lead to an independent Jacksonville-area school district if he rules the three county districts no longer need court supervision.
He’s also been assigned the case of Damien Echols, the accused West Memphis child murderer who is facing the death penalty but hopes to have his conviction overturned.
Will Aaron’s case ever get to Miller’s court? Or will the two sides come together over a few beers and hash out their differences, the way Professor Henry Louis Gates of Harvard and police Sgt. James Crowley did last summer at the White House after their celebrated case made national headlines?
The Jacksonville case may not cry out for presidential intervention, but it does raise some important issues, such as the right of a citizen not to be picked up by cops just because they think he’s acting out of turn.
Was somebody protecting the drug dealers? What if Aaron had arrested Shelley and Rozenski instead? Imagine how Judge Miller would have ruled in that case.
Leader executive editor
The Jacksonville police officers who arrested Rizelle Aaron four years ago in Dupree Park committed several blunders, a judge ruled last week, allowing Aaron’s lawsuit against the cops to proceed for violating his constitutional rights and for falsely arresting him on what may have been trumped-up charges.
Aaron is the good Samaritan who tried to break up a drug deal at the park on Sept. 15, 2005. He confronted the drug dealers and then called police, who promptly arrested Aaron for no reason at all, Judge Brian S. Miller ruled.
He said Aaron does have a case against the officers, but not the city or the police department. The JPD later dropped all charges against Aaron, including criminal impersonation of a police officer. It turns out, he wasn’t lying when he told the officers he was a part-time cop.
Miller was ready to try the two police officers, Lieut. Bill Shelley and Officer Gregory Rozenski, this week, but their lawyer is appealing Miller’s ruling to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, and it could take up to a year before that court rules on the case.
Rozenski is still with the police department, but Shelley has left the force and has a job with the city’s public-works department.
In a sharply worded order against the pair for making an arrest without probable cause, Judge Miller found that Aaron was, in fact, a part-time officer with the England Police Department. The JPD eventually made the connection, but not before two of its finest busted Aaron.
“Instead of verifying that Aaron was a Part Time II officer with the England Police Department,” the judge noted, “the record shows that Shelley engaged in what can only be described as a Deputy Dawg, Keystone Kops type of questioning of Aaron regarding Aaron’s law-enforcement credentials.”
Aaron had gone to Dupree Park with his family to watch his son’s football game. The last thing he wanted them to see was a drug deal in the parking lot.
Shelley and Rozenski charged Aaron with four counts of criminal impersonation for nailing the four alleged drug dealers who had crack cocaine and other drugs in their car and admitted to police they had the drugs. The police report identifies them as the victims.
Aaron was also charged with four additional counts of false imprisonment, but, surprisingly, only one count of terroristic threatening. Why not 500 counts of terroristic threatening — for everyone who was at the park that day?
“There is no question that the Fourth Amendment right of citizens not to be arrested without probable cause is … clearly established,” the judge wrote. “A reasonable jury could find that on Sept. 15, 2005, it was objectively unreasonable for Shelley and Rozenski to believe that Aaron had committed a crime and that Shelley and Rozenski therefore lacked probable cause to arrest Aaron.
“The court believes (Shelley and Rozenski) were so disturbed by Aaron’s lack of police identification that they released the suspected drug dealers and ordered Aaron back to the park and arrested him,” Miller wrote in his order.
“There is nothing in the record remotely showing that Aaron told anyone he was a police officer for the purpose of injuring or defrauding anyone,” Judge Miller wrote. “Indeed, it is undisputed that he saw drug activity, and he called the police to the scene. The mere fact that he could not provide police identification to the Jacksonville police did not give Shelley and Rozenski probable cause to arrest him.”
Here’s another important point, although Miller doesn’t mention it: Like anyone else in Arkansas, Aaron could make a citizen’s arrest. He had the guts to confront the drug dealers and told them they were in a heap of trouble. He called the police, and for his troubles he found himself in handcuffs.
Miller, who is from Helena-West Helena, is the state’s newest federal judge: He’s tough, but fair — and very busy.
He will soon decide the long-running Pulaski County school-desegregation case, which could lead to an independent Jacksonville-area school district if he rules the three county districts no longer need court supervision.
He’s also been assigned the case of Damien Echols, the accused West Memphis child murderer who is facing the death penalty but hopes to have his conviction overturned.
Will Aaron’s case ever get to Miller’s court? Or will the two sides come together over a few beers and hash out their differences, the way Professor Henry Louis Gates of Harvard and police Sgt. James Crowley did last summer at the White House after their celebrated case made national headlines?
The Jacksonville case may not cry out for presidential intervention, but it does raise some important issues, such as the right of a citizen not to be picked up by cops just because they think he’s acting out of turn.
Was somebody protecting the drug dealers? What if Aaron had arrested Shelley and Rozenski instead? Imagine how Judge Miller would have ruled in that case.
TOP STORY >> Jacksonville shunned by PCSSD
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
The Pulaski County Special School District Board on Monday rejected the concerns of Jackson-ville board member Bill Vasquez in another budget dispute.
The board approved budgeting $20 million from the district’s $30.5 million building fund toward construction of a new high school in Maumelle and a new middle school in Sylvan Hills.
By adding the $20 million from the building fund to the $81 million in second-lien bonds, the district will have about $101 million to spend on those two schools.
The district has received low bids totaling $100 million if all low bidders sign contracts, according to interim Superintendent Rob McGill.
Vasquez said he objected to spending $20 million of the $30.5 million in the building fund on those two schools, saying some of that money should be reserved for a stand-alone Jacksonville school district.
“If we’re declared unitary in January, we’ll have to divvy up that money,” Vasquez said. “One-third should be for Jacksonville,” he insisted.
That set off Sherwood’s board member, Charlie Wood.
“When a few months ago we made a point to exclude Jacksonville from the ($81 million) indebtedness for Oak Grove and Sylvan Hills, I said this would happen.”
Jacksonville doesn’t want to share the debt, but wants to share the money, he said.
“We voted $900,000 for Jacksonville Star Academy for kids who aren’t performing,” Wood said. “We’re trying to give Jacksonville a fair shake.”
Vasquez responded that Jacksonville High School was in year six of school improvement, and the district had to do something or the state would take it over.
“It was not out of largess and magnanimity,” Vasquez said.
Board members Wood, Mildred Tatum, Glen Williams and Tim Clark voted in favor of the building plan fund.
The balance of the $30.5 million building fund included $2 million to renovate Pine Forest Elementary School, $1 million to finish repairing the Clinton Elementary School roof and $3.5 million to repair the Crystal Hill Elementary School roof.
That will leave $4 million uncommitted in the building fund prior to state matching funds, or $11 million including matching funds, which are not available until after the buildings are completed.
McGill told the board members that he hopes the district can sell some more second-lien bonds to finance improvements at other schools. He refused to suggest the amount of such bond sale, but said specialists from Stephens Inc. would meet with the board later in the month to discuss the options.
New media specialist Deb Roush told the board of efforts she had made toward giving the district its own Facebook page as a way to tell parents and students about upcoming events.
Tatum and Williams expressed their opposition to the plan.
“I don’t like Facebook,” Williams said. “I will not be a party to it.” She said she already gets enough e-mails and calls from unhappy constituents.
Roush said both Little Rock and Springdale districts had Facebook pages. “The news comes to you,” she said.
Wood said it was “just another tool, and I think you’re doing a great job.”
At the end of the meeting, the board used one of its favorite ploys to go into executive session, saying it would discuss the superintendent search committee and lawsuits, but that it qualified for executive session “because we might talk about (Superintendent) McGill.”
Leader senior staff writer
The Pulaski County Special School District Board on Monday rejected the concerns of Jackson-ville board member Bill Vasquez in another budget dispute.
The board approved budgeting $20 million from the district’s $30.5 million building fund toward construction of a new high school in Maumelle and a new middle school in Sylvan Hills.
By adding the $20 million from the building fund to the $81 million in second-lien bonds, the district will have about $101 million to spend on those two schools.
The district has received low bids totaling $100 million if all low bidders sign contracts, according to interim Superintendent Rob McGill.
Vasquez said he objected to spending $20 million of the $30.5 million in the building fund on those two schools, saying some of that money should be reserved for a stand-alone Jacksonville school district.
“If we’re declared unitary in January, we’ll have to divvy up that money,” Vasquez said. “One-third should be for Jacksonville,” he insisted.
That set off Sherwood’s board member, Charlie Wood.
“When a few months ago we made a point to exclude Jacksonville from the ($81 million) indebtedness for Oak Grove and Sylvan Hills, I said this would happen.”
Jacksonville doesn’t want to share the debt, but wants to share the money, he said.
“We voted $900,000 for Jacksonville Star Academy for kids who aren’t performing,” Wood said. “We’re trying to give Jacksonville a fair shake.”
Vasquez responded that Jacksonville High School was in year six of school improvement, and the district had to do something or the state would take it over.
“It was not out of largess and magnanimity,” Vasquez said.
Board members Wood, Mildred Tatum, Glen Williams and Tim Clark voted in favor of the building plan fund.
The balance of the $30.5 million building fund included $2 million to renovate Pine Forest Elementary School, $1 million to finish repairing the Clinton Elementary School roof and $3.5 million to repair the Crystal Hill Elementary School roof.
That will leave $4 million uncommitted in the building fund prior to state matching funds, or $11 million including matching funds, which are not available until after the buildings are completed.
McGill told the board members that he hopes the district can sell some more second-lien bonds to finance improvements at other schools. He refused to suggest the amount of such bond sale, but said specialists from Stephens Inc. would meet with the board later in the month to discuss the options.
New media specialist Deb Roush told the board of efforts she had made toward giving the district its own Facebook page as a way to tell parents and students about upcoming events.
Tatum and Williams expressed their opposition to the plan.
“I don’t like Facebook,” Williams said. “I will not be a party to it.” She said she already gets enough e-mails and calls from unhappy constituents.
Roush said both Little Rock and Springdale districts had Facebook pages. “The news comes to you,” she said.
Wood said it was “just another tool, and I think you’re doing a great job.”
At the end of the meeting, the board used one of its favorite ploys to go into executive session, saying it would discuss the superintendent search committee and lawsuits, but that it qualified for executive session “because we might talk about (Superintendent) McGill.”
TOP STORY >> Sherwood neighborhood floods, city responds
Lynn and John McIntosh of Bronco Lane are spending more time outside to avoid the dampness and mold inside their home caused by last week’s flash flood. By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
Residents of nine homes on Bronco Lane in Sherwood are struggling to put their lives back together after flood waters from Woodruff Creek forced them to flee their homes Thursday night, when almost four inches of rain fell within a five-hour period.
On Monday, area residents affected by the flood watched as city workers loaded garbage trucks with their belongings, which had been reduced to rubbish by rushing water that swept through their houses.
The low-lying stretch of Bronco Lane is in a floodplain. It has a history of flooding. Long-time residents say this time was the worst they had ever experienced.
The monsoon-like rains ran off ground already saturated from recent downpours, quickly filling the creek and concrete culvert behind their homes.
By mid-evening, the creek was a torrent that collapsed fences, lifted vehicles, rose more than a foot inside houses and turned lives upside down.
Numerous calls to city hall from flood victims that started Friday and picked up again on Monday got the attention of Mayor Virginia Hillman. At noon on Monday, she made a visit to survey the damage.
She said any Sherwood resident who suffered flood damage – on Bronco Lane or elsewhere – should contact her office. She is exploring public assistance options and wants as much documentation as possible to bolster the city’s request.
“Hopefully we can do something to get some federal assistance,” Hillman said, adding that she is counting on the Sherwood community to help the flood victims.
“I hate it, some folks don’t even have content insurance.” Furniture, clothing, appliances, sheetrock, flooring, carpet and personal belongings were ruined by the rising water that was more than three-feet deep in the street late that evening. By
Friday morning, most of the water had receded.
“As we waded down the street, the water was up to our waists, the lights on the street were not even on,” said Mike Moore, as he recounted his family’s ordeal. “People were evacuating – we saw people carrying bags and kids.”
Less than an hour before, Moore and his wife Carrie had been sopping up water that had begun to seep under doors of their house.
In seven years they’ve lived on Bronco Lane, they had seen the swollen creek come into their backyard, but never once had it made it over the threshold.
Suddenly, the invading water was up to their ankles and they realized this time, it was different.
“We shifted into a different mode,” Carrie Moore recalled. “We were in shock, thinking, ‘This isn’t happening.’”
Realizing that leaving was their only option, the couple began to quickly gather up their two sons and a few belongings. Their plan to drive away was quickly dashed when they looked out their kitchen door into their carport and saw water lapping at the headlights of their SUV.
Rather than open a floodgate, the Moores exited through a bedroom window at the other end of the house. As they left, Carrie called 911. Once they reached higher ground, they and other evacuees were met by Sherwood firefighters and police.
The Moores have insurance on their house, but were shocked to learn that their policy does not cover furnishings or other belongings. Their home was contaminated by sewer water that backed up into their home during the flood.
“It would be nice to get some help,” Mike Moore said. “I would take a bag of towels, soap – something.”
The weekend at a motel and a trip to Walmart for shoes, clothes and other items cost the Moores more than $800. They estimate repairs to their house will take two months. With this one flood experience, they have had enough.
“We are going to fix it up and get out of here,” Mike Moore said.
John and Lynn McIntosh who have lived on Bronco Lane for 37 years say this flood was the worst of four they’ve endured. The couple seemed resigned to their plight, as they picked through their ruined belongings on Monday and told tales of past floods.
To let rising waters out, they would open a door at one end of the house, but then have to grab belongings before they were carried off.
“One year, my Christmas tree went out,” she recalled. Another year, she ventured outside, was overwhelmed by the swift-moving water and wound up clinging to a chain-link fence until rescued by a passer-by. She says it had to be an angel who helped her to higher ground, then disappeared. They say they can’t afford insurance or replacement of items lost over the years to the floods.
Jim Thrasher has lived at 7906 Bronco Lane for 20 years. On Monday, he and his wife Teresa and his son Jeff were cleaning up the damage.
Jim was scraping mud out of the inside of his car that was parked in the driveway when the flood occurred.
The Thrashers are staying with family in Cabot while they clean up their home. The work will take “at least a couple of weeks, probably a month,” Jim said.
“We got ready for something like this when Katrina came through, but nothing happened then. Now, it’s happened,” Jim said.
“The mayor said that the judge had declared the area an emergency to receive (Federal Emergency Management Agency) aid,” Jeff said.
Shena Maxwell had lived in 7910 Bronco Lane with her 2 year-old daughter Imani. She says the home is no longer healthy to live in, so she has rented a home in Levy.
Maxwell had flooding problems before, but nothing like the ones last week’s storm brought. “The backyard would always flood, but it never came in the house,” she said.
A lot of property was damaged, and she was not insured. “I canceled my insurance two months ago trying to save a penny. I’ve learned my lesson,” she said.
She was not impressed with the city’s response to the flood. “Why didn’t we see anybody from the city on Friday?” she asked.
She has lived in Sherwood all of her life, but said she doesn’t see herself moving back to town anytime soon.
Dennis Harris, who has lived on Bronco Lane since 1986, agrees that this time was the worst, with water rising “eight to nine inches” all through his house.
He said that his repeated complaints to the city – starting with Mayor Evans – led to Mayor Bill Harmon having the culvert dug out and concreted. That seemed to lessen the flooding. Harris thought that the problem was a thing of the past. He canceled his insurance after he paid off the mortgage.
“I thought it would be better; I didn’t think it would get this bad, but you never know,” Harris said. “The city needs to dredge the creek out.”
Harris’ son, Chris, and his wife, Salina, who live down the street, also had their house flooded. They say that a flood insurance premium is built into their monthly house payment, but their insurance company is denying that they are covered.
The waters that rose 10 inches throughout their house ruined all their furniture. They’ve been sleeping on air mattresses along with “a houseful of spiders and worms of all kinds” brought in by the flood. They say what has happened has been “a catastrophe,” but they have no plans to leave. They have a 600-square-foot addition planned. “We are going to stay – we have a little bit wrapped up in it,” Chris Harris said.
Chris was impressed with the mayor’s presence on Monday. “She’s really nice. She gave us phone numbers to call for help,” he said.
It is uncertain what the city of Sherwood can or will do to modify the Woodruff Creek culvert to prevent more devastating floods.
“If it is in a floodplain, you can do something to alleviate them, but it can be real hard to change Mother Nature,” Hillman said on Monday.
Leader staff writer Jonathan Feldman contributed to this report.
TOP STORY >> Flooding damage daunting
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
Just like a rising river, the swamp behind the Windwood subdivision in Beebe overflowed its banks Friday evening and ran into 15 houses, most of them on Torrey Lane.
Beebe Fire Chief William Nick said Mayor Mike Robertson was in the subdivision surveying the situation and called him to help residents evacuate.
Most residents left when it became clear that the water would continue to rise, Nick said.
“They got out when they could,” he said, but firefighters waded through knee-deep water and carried two small children out on their backs.
The rescue was between 5:30 and 6 p.m., he said, adding that the children were turned over to their father who arrived home at about the same time the children were brought out.
Continuing down the street, firefighters found themselves in water up to their waists and then to their chests, he said. But the water was not swift, only rising. Boats were available to take residents out if needed, he said, but the firefighters found no one else at home.
Nick said the water had receded by Sunday.
Clerk-Treasurer Carol Crump-Westergren said the flooded houses, which were built in a floodplain, were elevated according to the 2001 floodplain map. So in theory, they shouldn’t flood. Houses built according to the 2005 floodplain map didn’t flood, she said. The mayor said even though houses can be built in a floodplain, the city does not encourage it.
Tamara Jenkins, director of the office of emergency management in White County, was in Beebe Tuesday morning to look at the high water marks in Windwood. But later that day, she was in Georgetown, about 18 miles west of Kensett and a mile upstream from the point where the Little Red River and the White River converge and where flooding is frequently a problem.
The White River backs up into fields along Hwy. 36 there and then if the river continues to rise, it covers the highway too.
Jenkins said the Georgetown residents are accustomed to the problem and when it appears the river will cover the highway, some stock up with supplies and stay home until the water recedes. Some move out.
Last March, when the highway stayed under water longer than usual, rescuers brought some residents out by boat while other residents boated out to their cars, parked outside the floodwater so they could go to work.
Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams was out Tuesday with his department heads touring the areas where the water was the highest last week. Williams said they left notes on the doors telling residents to call city hall if they had water inside their homes.
Money for individual assistance could be available to help pay for damages through the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, he said.
The city will also try to get money from ADEM for damage to the police department which had two feet of water in it Thursday evening.
Williams said he is working on a grant to help pay for a flood control project in the Highland area, where many of the 15 or so houses that flooded are located.
Leader staff writer
Just like a rising river, the swamp behind the Windwood subdivision in Beebe overflowed its banks Friday evening and ran into 15 houses, most of them on Torrey Lane.
Beebe Fire Chief William Nick said Mayor Mike Robertson was in the subdivision surveying the situation and called him to help residents evacuate.
Most residents left when it became clear that the water would continue to rise, Nick said.
“They got out when they could,” he said, but firefighters waded through knee-deep water and carried two small children out on their backs.
The rescue was between 5:30 and 6 p.m., he said, adding that the children were turned over to their father who arrived home at about the same time the children were brought out.
Continuing down the street, firefighters found themselves in water up to their waists and then to their chests, he said. But the water was not swift, only rising. Boats were available to take residents out if needed, he said, but the firefighters found no one else at home.
Nick said the water had receded by Sunday.
Clerk-Treasurer Carol Crump-Westergren said the flooded houses, which were built in a floodplain, were elevated according to the 2001 floodplain map. So in theory, they shouldn’t flood. Houses built according to the 2005 floodplain map didn’t flood, she said. The mayor said even though houses can be built in a floodplain, the city does not encourage it.
Tamara Jenkins, director of the office of emergency management in White County, was in Beebe Tuesday morning to look at the high water marks in Windwood. But later that day, she was in Georgetown, about 18 miles west of Kensett and a mile upstream from the point where the Little Red River and the White River converge and where flooding is frequently a problem.
The White River backs up into fields along Hwy. 36 there and then if the river continues to rise, it covers the highway too.
Jenkins said the Georgetown residents are accustomed to the problem and when it appears the river will cover the highway, some stock up with supplies and stay home until the water recedes. Some move out.
Last March, when the highway stayed under water longer than usual, rescuers brought some residents out by boat while other residents boated out to their cars, parked outside the floodwater so they could go to work.
Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams was out Tuesday with his department heads touring the areas where the water was the highest last week. Williams said they left notes on the doors telling residents to call city hall if they had water inside their homes.
Money for individual assistance could be available to help pay for damages through the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, he said.
The city will also try to get money from ADEM for damage to the police department which had two feet of water in it Thursday evening.
Williams said he is working on a grant to help pay for a flood control project in the Highland area, where many of the 15 or so houses that flooded are located.
SPORTS >> Panthers’ pair finally tees off
By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
It may have been worth the wait.
Cabot golfers Colby Benton and Kevan Sharp will finally tee off today in the Arkansas State Golf Association High School Overall at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock.
The 18-hole event was postponed from Oct. 15 because of rainy weather, which got decidedly worse as the month wore on.
But November opened under pristine fall skies, and if the weather holds, today’s rounds should be more pleasant than the rain-interrupted 7A state tournament the Panthers won in Fort Smith on Oct. 6.
“It looks like we’re going to finally get some weather for it,” Cabot coach Ronnie Tollett said.
Tollett said his players haven’t been gathering rust and didn’t expect the rest of the boys’ and girls’ fields of more than 20 — if the qualifiers from all classifications accept their invitations — to be rusty either.
“You don’t have to be in condition enough to have to run and jump and all that,” Tollett said. “It’s about timing and tempo. I think most of them probably lost three or four or five days. Ours were back on the golf course all weekend and I’m sure the others were back on the course as well.”
Cabot plays at Greystone Golf Course and the players sometimes use the Rolling Hills Country Club course. Tollett said the Hardscrabble course in Fort Smith, where the Panthers won their team title, is more hilly than Pleasant Valley but is more similar to today’s site than the other places the Panthers have played.
“We’ve played three matches in the rain, we’ve played under wet conditions,” Tollett said. “We’ve tried to play different types of courses just to get as much experience as we can.
“Regardless of the venue, we’ve challenged. We have some other golfers here who very well could have been there this week. Unfortunately they only take three kids from our classification.”
Benton shot a 72 and Sharp a 73 in the state tournament. Benton carried a 72.4 stroke average into the event and Sharp had a 73.2.
“They earned the right to participate in it,” Tollett said of the Overall. “They go out and have a good round and they’ll have a good chance to win. It speaks to the kids and the work ethic.”
The Overall has been reduced from 27 to 18 holes because of the installation of new greens on the third nine at Pleasant Valley.
“If you knock it in the water or catch one wrong and hit it over the green or something like that, you’re looking at a potential double bogey,” Tollett said. “And double bogeys can come back to haunt you. So you’ve got to keep it consistent, keep in the short grass, hit the greens and two-putt
Leader sports editor
It may have been worth the wait.
Cabot golfers Colby Benton and Kevan Sharp will finally tee off today in the Arkansas State Golf Association High School Overall at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock.
The 18-hole event was postponed from Oct. 15 because of rainy weather, which got decidedly worse as the month wore on.
But November opened under pristine fall skies, and if the weather holds, today’s rounds should be more pleasant than the rain-interrupted 7A state tournament the Panthers won in Fort Smith on Oct. 6.
“It looks like we’re going to finally get some weather for it,” Cabot coach Ronnie Tollett said.
Tollett said his players haven’t been gathering rust and didn’t expect the rest of the boys’ and girls’ fields of more than 20 — if the qualifiers from all classifications accept their invitations — to be rusty either.
“You don’t have to be in condition enough to have to run and jump and all that,” Tollett said. “It’s about timing and tempo. I think most of them probably lost three or four or five days. Ours were back on the golf course all weekend and I’m sure the others were back on the course as well.”
Cabot plays at Greystone Golf Course and the players sometimes use the Rolling Hills Country Club course. Tollett said the Hardscrabble course in Fort Smith, where the Panthers won their team title, is more hilly than Pleasant Valley but is more similar to today’s site than the other places the Panthers have played.
“We’ve played three matches in the rain, we’ve played under wet conditions,” Tollett said. “We’ve tried to play different types of courses just to get as much experience as we can.
“Regardless of the venue, we’ve challenged. We have some other golfers here who very well could have been there this week. Unfortunately they only take three kids from our classification.”
Benton shot a 72 and Sharp a 73 in the state tournament. Benton carried a 72.4 stroke average into the event and Sharp had a 73.2.
“They earned the right to participate in it,” Tollett said of the Overall. “They go out and have a good round and they’ll have a good chance to win. It speaks to the kids and the work ethic.”
The Overall has been reduced from 27 to 18 holes because of the installation of new greens on the third nine at Pleasant Valley.
“If you knock it in the water or catch one wrong and hit it over the green or something like that, you’re looking at a potential double bogey,” Tollett said. “And double bogeys can come back to haunt you. So you’ve got to keep it consistent, keep in the short grass, hit the greens and two-putt
SPORTS >> ’Rabbits looking to leap into playoffs
Lonoke’s Brandon Smith scored three, fourth-quarter touchdowns on Friday.By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Every first-year coach looks for progress from his team. Lonoke coach Doug Bost doesn’t have to look very hard.
Bost’s Jackrabbits came one step closer to a 2-4A Conference playoff berth with a 39-27 victory over Stuttgart last Friday. It wasn’t easy, as Lonoke needed a three-touchdown effort by senior tailback Brandon Smith in the fourth quarter to get it done.
The victory gave the league title to unbeaten Bald Knob and placed Lonoke, Stuttgart and Heber Springs in a three-way tie for second place with each holding a 4-2 conference mark.
But the ’Rabbits earned the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Ricebirds with the victory on Friday, and Stuttgart’s 15-12 victory over Heber Springs in Week 4 now puts Lonoke in the position of having to beat Clinton by at least four points on the road this week to secure the No. 2 seed for the playoffs.
That would mean a home game at Abraham Field in the first round.
“We’re going to talk about taking care of this game and getting that first-round playoff game at home,” Bost said. “We’re out of school for meetings on Friday, so as a coach, that kind of gets you out of your routine.”
There was nothing routine about the way the Jackrabbits responded against the Ricebirds last week. Stuttgart held a 21-13 lead at the half, but Lonoke’s defense stepped up with a big stand just before halftime, and continued to pressure and deny for the final two quarters.
The offense, namely Smith, also did its part. Smith, after gaining only 9 yards rushing in the first half, came to Bost with a request to go to the air.
“He hung in there,” Bost said. “It seemed like it opened up for him after we had some success in the passing game. He came up to me and said the running game was not there, that they were keying in on him. So we ended up going to our passing game and had a big 50-yard touchdown pass to Darius Scott, and a 65-yarder to Brandon.”
Smith’s 65-yard catch and run, when Michael Nelson found him wide open over the middle, was Lonoke’s first play of the second half.
“I think that gave him some lanes after that, and in the fourth quarter, he was able to run for some big touchdowns,” Bost said of Smith.
Defensively, Bost had praise for junior lineman Antwan Wilkerson, who led the team in tackles with 10, including two for a loss and his biggest stop of the night, when he took down Stuttgart running back Reid Counce on fourth and 2 to force a turnover on downs, and Lonoke went on to score its final touchdown.
Bost also said Wes Plummer’s interception in the end zone late in the first half to end a Ricebird touchdown threat was a key to the victory.
The muddy conditions at Abraham Field on Friday did little to slow down the Jackrabbits, who went the entire game without a turnover. It was turnovers that killed Lonoke’s chances in earlier league losses to Bald Knob and Heber Springs.
“I think it shows a sign of improvement,” Bost said. “The field conditions were honestly terrible, so to not have any turnovers shows that they’ve come a long way, and that they’re learning a lot. As a coach, it makes you proud to see them getting better at taking care of the little things.
“Earlier in the year, in some big games, we turned the ball over and had poor execution and didn’t win. We’ve preached execution and taking care of the ball all along, and they began to respond. We definitely feel like we did win our biggest one to date for sure.”
But this week’s opponent, Clinton, is certainly no pushover. The Yellowjackets (3-3 conference) have some stake in the playoff outcome but would need the right combination of victories and losses by other 2-4A teams.
“They base out of a wing T, so we know they want to run it,” Bost said. “They will come out in the spread, but that’s not what they want to do — they want to run the football. We want to stop that and force them to pass. If we can do that, we feel like we’ll be playing to our strength.”,
SPORTS >> Bears and Badgers to put it all on line
Sylvan Hills senior quarterback Jordan Spears dives for extra yardage in a recent conference game.By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Forget point differentials, forget the outcome of other games around the conference and forget waiting to see how it all pans out the following week.
The premise to this one is simple.
Thursday’s 5A-Southeast Conference matchup between Sylvan Hills and Beebe at Bill Blackwood Field in Sherwood is for all intents and purposes the league wild card game.
The winner of the regular-season finale will go on to play in the first round of the 5A state playoffs the following week as the 5A-Southeast’s No. 4 seed.
The loser begins its offseason.
“This is it — this is what it’s come down to,” Beebe coach John Shannon said. “The winner will go on and play in the playoffs; the loser will pack up their equipment and go home.”
The Badgers (3-6, 3-3) lost control of their playoff destiny with back-to-back losses to Mills University Studies and White Hall.
The Bears (3-6, 3-3) stayed alive last week with a 33-7 victory over Little Rock McClellan to set up the winner-take-all scenario.
Injuries throughout the season have forced Sylvan Hills to try a multitude of offensive schemes, including the rotation of four different running backs last week.
“We’re at a point now where it’s win or go home,” Sylvan Hills coach Jim Withrow said. “You have all winter to heal up, so we’ll try a number of different guys. If we have a back that gets hot, we’ll probably ride him until he passes out.”
Bears senior quarterback Jordan Spears has not had the kind of passing numbers he looked poised to have after impressive sophomore and junior seasons.
But with leading receiver Ahmad Scott injured for the middle part of the season and all-purpose offensive player Juliean Broner relegated to defense for the same reason most of the year, Spears’ targets have been few.
Withrow said Mother Nature has also had an effect on thepassing game during the last month.
“I don’t blame it on any one thing,” Withrow said of the Bears’ passing game. “We got Ahmad and Broner hurt, and that took away from what we wanted to do. When your big-play-threat guys are gone, it’s hard to get consistency.
“And once we got them back it started raining and turned every game into a mud bowl. That’s kind of the way it’s gone for us.
It’s been a frustrating thing to try and deal with and stay positive.”
The Badgers have had their own offensive struggles, including four trips to the red zone that did not produce points over the last two weeks against Mills and White Hall.
The numbers have been there for Beebe, which had over 300 yards rushing in each game, but the jump from the first-down chains to the scoreboard has fallen short.
“They’re going to get yards just by their philosophy,” Withrow said. “The big thing for us is don’t give them a big play on first down. You give them 7 or 8 yards on first down, you’re in trouble. If you give them a third-and-long situation, it’s tougher for them.
“But another thing for them is that they’ve thrown the ball a little better here lately.”
Shannon is not as concerned about what Sylvan Hills does to his offense as much as what Beebe does to it.
“I feel like when we’re clicking on all cylinders, we can move the ball against anybody,” Shannon said. “But the past two weeks, we haven’t been consistent, whether it’s been turnovers or penalties or missing blocks. That’s going to be the key for us, is overcoming ourselves.”
Shannon and Withrow have streaks on the line as well. Each is in his third season, and the coaches have taken their teams to the playoffs in their first two years.
That makes this game about more than just trying to grab a playoff seed; it’s also about pride and tradition.
“We talked long and hard Saturday morning about what it meant to be a part of a program rather than just being on the team,” Shannon said.
“We told them that being part of this program meant trying to get to the playoffs every year and being one of the elite teams in the state. To do that, you have to be a consistent playoff team.
“We also talked to the seniors about their legacy; if they want to be the group that carried on that tradition, or if they would be the group that let the streak die.”
SPORTS >> Cabot wrangling Russellville for crown
By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
After nine games, a statewide television debut, one stunning loss and one flood, the Cabot Panthers are just about where they hoped to be this time of year.
A season that began on the small screen against Jacksonville, in the state’s first commercial television broadcast of a high school game, wraps up at Russellville on Thursday with the 7A-Central championship on the line.
“We put ourselves in position to do what we needed to going into the last game of the regular season with a chance to win the conference,” Cabot coach Mike Malham said. “All the marbles are out there Thursday night. Hopefully we’ll play like we did last week and not the week before against Bryant.”
Bryant’s 35-7 victory on the muddy ground at Hornet Stadium was the only blot on Cabot’s season. Steady rains made the field a mess, but the weather got even worse last Friday, with flash flooding in the central Arkansas area.
This time, however, Cabot was back on its pristine artificial surface and made Van Buren pay in a 55-14 victory. Matt Bayles rushed for 191 yards and four touchdowns as the Panthers rolled up 520 total yards, all on the ground.
Bryant, meanwhile, was losing to North Little Rock — Cabot’s victim in Week 6 — and the outcome set Thursday’s deciding matchup between the Panthers and Cyclones.
“When you get down to the last game and you’re still in the thick of it, that’s not a bad season right there,” Malham said.
“Obviously, if we can win Thursday it will be a real good season.”
A victory over Russellville would give Cabot (8-1, 5-1) a first-round bye and home field advantage throughout the 7A playoffs.
A loss, with the various tiebreakers, would drop Cabot to fourth and take away the bye, but give the Panthers at least a first-round home game.
“Of course we hope to do even more,” Malham said.
Last week’s game was more than just an exercise in releasing frustration against a down-on-its-luck opponent. If the Panthers had taken the Pointers lightly and fallen in an upset, this week’s championship game scenario would be off the books.
“If they didn’t figure it out against Bryant there’s not a lot that I can say,” Malham said. “They need to find out they’re not invincible and have got to be ready to play every week. When they are, we’re not too bad.”
Russellville (7-1-1, 5-1) suffered its lone loss to North Little Rock and tied Fayetteville in a non-conference game. The Cyclones, behind senior quarterback Barrett Hughes, are outscoring opponents an average 11.6 points a game and allowing an average 12.7.
“They’re pretty well balanced,” Malham said. “Like Bryant, they do a lot of formations. They can run or throw, of course Bryant did more running against us — I don’t blame them, it was worth it — but it’s about 50-50.”
Malham said at this point in the season the run-oriented Panthers, who thrive in the dead T offense, should be prepared to throw the ball a little more like they did in victories against Little Rock Catholic and North Little Rock.
“We’ve got to be a little bit more two dimensional,” Malham said. “They’ve seen what we’ve been doing all year.”
But win or lose Thursday, for Cabot, it’s all going to start on the ground.
“Hopefully we can move it on the ground,” Malham said. “If we can’t move it on the ground, it’s going to be a long night for us, that’s for sure.”
Cabot was able to rest its offense and many of its defensive players in the second half last week and should be rested for Thursday’s pivotal game.
“It didn’t hurt to get a little rest. We got on top of them pretty quick and things went right for us,” Malham said.
The Panthers should be at full strength this week, with the exception of absent running back Hunter Sales, who has pins in his wrist from an injury suffered against Little Rock Central in Week 7 and needs at least a couple of weeks to return, if he can make it back at all.
But Cabot was able to welcome injured senior fullback/linebacker Michael James back to the lineup in the North Little Rock game.Plus the Panthers have had plenty of depth in the backfield for most of the season.
“We’ve been fortunate enough there,” Malham said.
Leader sports editor
After nine games, a statewide television debut, one stunning loss and one flood, the Cabot Panthers are just about where they hoped to be this time of year.
A season that began on the small screen against Jacksonville, in the state’s first commercial television broadcast of a high school game, wraps up at Russellville on Thursday with the 7A-Central championship on the line.
“We put ourselves in position to do what we needed to going into the last game of the regular season with a chance to win the conference,” Cabot coach Mike Malham said. “All the marbles are out there Thursday night. Hopefully we’ll play like we did last week and not the week before against Bryant.”
Bryant’s 35-7 victory on the muddy ground at Hornet Stadium was the only blot on Cabot’s season. Steady rains made the field a mess, but the weather got even worse last Friday, with flash flooding in the central Arkansas area.
This time, however, Cabot was back on its pristine artificial surface and made Van Buren pay in a 55-14 victory. Matt Bayles rushed for 191 yards and four touchdowns as the Panthers rolled up 520 total yards, all on the ground.
Bryant, meanwhile, was losing to North Little Rock — Cabot’s victim in Week 6 — and the outcome set Thursday’s deciding matchup between the Panthers and Cyclones.
“When you get down to the last game and you’re still in the thick of it, that’s not a bad season right there,” Malham said.
“Obviously, if we can win Thursday it will be a real good season.”
A victory over Russellville would give Cabot (8-1, 5-1) a first-round bye and home field advantage throughout the 7A playoffs.
A loss, with the various tiebreakers, would drop Cabot to fourth and take away the bye, but give the Panthers at least a first-round home game.
“Of course we hope to do even more,” Malham said.
Last week’s game was more than just an exercise in releasing frustration against a down-on-its-luck opponent. If the Panthers had taken the Pointers lightly and fallen in an upset, this week’s championship game scenario would be off the books.
“If they didn’t figure it out against Bryant there’s not a lot that I can say,” Malham said. “They need to find out they’re not invincible and have got to be ready to play every week. When they are, we’re not too bad.”
Russellville (7-1-1, 5-1) suffered its lone loss to North Little Rock and tied Fayetteville in a non-conference game. The Cyclones, behind senior quarterback Barrett Hughes, are outscoring opponents an average 11.6 points a game and allowing an average 12.7.
“They’re pretty well balanced,” Malham said. “Like Bryant, they do a lot of formations. They can run or throw, of course Bryant did more running against us — I don’t blame them, it was worth it — but it’s about 50-50.”
Malham said at this point in the season the run-oriented Panthers, who thrive in the dead T offense, should be prepared to throw the ball a little more like they did in victories against Little Rock Catholic and North Little Rock.
“We’ve got to be a little bit more two dimensional,” Malham said. “They’ve seen what we’ve been doing all year.”
But win or lose Thursday, for Cabot, it’s all going to start on the ground.
“Hopefully we can move it on the ground,” Malham said. “If we can’t move it on the ground, it’s going to be a long night for us, that’s for sure.”
Cabot was able to rest its offense and many of its defensive players in the second half last week and should be rested for Thursday’s pivotal game.
“It didn’t hurt to get a little rest. We got on top of them pretty quick and things went right for us,” Malham said.
The Panthers should be at full strength this week, with the exception of absent running back Hunter Sales, who has pins in his wrist from an injury suffered against Little Rock Central in Week 7 and needs at least a couple of weeks to return, if he can make it back at all.
But Cabot was able to welcome injured senior fullback/linebacker Michael James back to the lineup in the North Little Rock game.Plus the Panthers have had plenty of depth in the backfield for most of the season.
“We’ve been fortunate enough there,” Malham said.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
SPORTS >> Blue Devils cruise past Red Devils in blowout
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The same fate awaited Jacksonville on Friday that has befallen every other West Memphis opponent this season – a blowout loss.
The Blue Devils scorched the Red Devils 42-0 at Hamilton-Schultz Field in West Memphis to remain perfect at 9-0 and 6-0 in the 6A-East Conference.
The Red Devils (1-8, 1-5) fell behind 21-0 at the end of the first quarter, and the Blue Devils set the game’s final margin before the end of the first half.
“They got on us right out of the box early and scored quickly, and we couldn’t get anything going,” Jacksonville coach Mark Whatley said. “We knew we were going to have our hands full. They’re a good team, and they outplayed us tonight.”
Jacksonville’s game plan to spread the field was hampered by the mushy field conditions resulting from the recent, heavy rains that blanketed the state and caused flooding in several areas.
“It got so dadgum muddy out there that it was hard to control the ball,” Whatley said. “We had a couple of plays here and there, and we got pretty good protection from the line, but we just didn’t make the connections, and we didn’t run clean routes.
“A lot of that had to do with the field conditions, though. It was like a pig sty out there all night.”
And it ruined Jacksonville’s game plan.
“We tried not to run the ball, we tried to keep it spread out and keep them out of the box,” Whatley said. “We just came up short.”
Junior wide receiver Kenny Cummings was one of few bright spots for the Red Devils with several catches, two of which turned into Jacksonville’s biggest plays.
The Red Devils will close out the season next week with senior night and a home game against Marion.
“We hope we can go out on a good note with it being senior night next week,” Whatley said. “Hopefully we can go out and win and take that into the off season and figure out what we need. And a lot of that comes down to preparation.”
The loss more than likely cost Jacksonville its last hopes for one of the six playoff berths from the 6A-East.
Searcy and Mountain Home, who both beat Jacksonville earlier in the season, notched victories on Friday. Searcy shut out Little Rock Hall 45-0 and Little Rock Parkview, which beat Jacksonville last week, stopped Mountain Home 33-14.
Jacksonville’s lone conference victory was over Hall in Week 6. The Red Devils’ one non-conference victory was at home against Vilonia in Week 2.
Jacksonville’s struggles Friday shouldn’t have been all that surprising, coming as they did against a West Memphis team that was outscoring its opponents by an average 23.8 points a game, an average that climbs to 32.6 in 6A-East games.
The Blue Devils entered the night holding opponents to 14.6 points a game and keeping its conference opponents to 10.2.
Its five blowout victories entering Friday gave Memphis a points per game average of 42.8 in conference.
Jacksonville’s average margin of defeat was minus 4.5 points.
Leader sportswriter
The same fate awaited Jacksonville on Friday that has befallen every other West Memphis opponent this season – a blowout loss.
The Blue Devils scorched the Red Devils 42-0 at Hamilton-Schultz Field in West Memphis to remain perfect at 9-0 and 6-0 in the 6A-East Conference.
The Red Devils (1-8, 1-5) fell behind 21-0 at the end of the first quarter, and the Blue Devils set the game’s final margin before the end of the first half.
“They got on us right out of the box early and scored quickly, and we couldn’t get anything going,” Jacksonville coach Mark Whatley said. “We knew we were going to have our hands full. They’re a good team, and they outplayed us tonight.”
Jacksonville’s game plan to spread the field was hampered by the mushy field conditions resulting from the recent, heavy rains that blanketed the state and caused flooding in several areas.
“It got so dadgum muddy out there that it was hard to control the ball,” Whatley said. “We had a couple of plays here and there, and we got pretty good protection from the line, but we just didn’t make the connections, and we didn’t run clean routes.
“A lot of that had to do with the field conditions, though. It was like a pig sty out there all night.”
And it ruined Jacksonville’s game plan.
“We tried not to run the ball, we tried to keep it spread out and keep them out of the box,” Whatley said. “We just came up short.”
Junior wide receiver Kenny Cummings was one of few bright spots for the Red Devils with several catches, two of which turned into Jacksonville’s biggest plays.
The Red Devils will close out the season next week with senior night and a home game against Marion.
“We hope we can go out on a good note with it being senior night next week,” Whatley said. “Hopefully we can go out and win and take that into the off season and figure out what we need. And a lot of that comes down to preparation.”
The loss more than likely cost Jacksonville its last hopes for one of the six playoff berths from the 6A-East.
Searcy and Mountain Home, who both beat Jacksonville earlier in the season, notched victories on Friday. Searcy shut out Little Rock Hall 45-0 and Little Rock Parkview, which beat Jacksonville last week, stopped Mountain Home 33-14.
Jacksonville’s lone conference victory was over Hall in Week 6. The Red Devils’ one non-conference victory was at home against Vilonia in Week 2.
Jacksonville’s struggles Friday shouldn’t have been all that surprising, coming as they did against a West Memphis team that was outscoring its opponents by an average 23.8 points a game, an average that climbs to 32.6 in 6A-East games.
The Blue Devils entered the night holding opponents to 14.6 points a game and keeping its conference opponents to 10.2.
Its five blowout victories entering Friday gave Memphis a points per game average of 42.8 in conference.
Jacksonville’s average margin of defeat was minus 4.5 points.
SPORTS >> Diamond State produces gems
By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
With pinpoint control and a couple flips of his gloved right hand, Benton’s Cliff Lee called first dibs on the World Series spotlight Wednesday night.
Lee, the lefty getting the Game 1 start for the Philadelphia Phillies, silenced the New York Yankees with 10 strikeouts, no walks and two catches heavy on style points but far apart on the degree-of-difficulty scale.
He was as indifferent as a French waiter when he nonchalantly caught Johnny Damon’s sixth-inning pop-up, and he was so cat-quick with his behind-the-back snare of Robinson Cano’s eighth-inning come-backer that Lee could only shrug at his own bad self.
“I don’t get nervous,” the low-key Lee told a nationwide audience after his 6-1 victory.
Obviously. Lee already has the 2008 Cy Young award in his pocket and is 3-0 in the 2009 postseason while striking another blow for Arkansas baseball supremacy.
Yes I said Arkansas BASEBALL supremacy. Quit sniggering into your plastic Hog hat.
Look no further than the Game 2 winner, Yankees starter A.J. Burnett, of North Little Rock via Central Arkansas Christian High School, which I’m sure is where Burnett developed his interest in tattoos and piercings.
There was a possibility Lee could have faced Burnett in Game 1, had the ALCS played out differently. As it is, the fact two front-line starters from the Natural State are competing in the same Series is something to celebrate.
If you know there is more to Arkansas baseball than the “Diamond Hogs” in Fayetteville then you know this state has its share of World Series heroes and baseball heroes in general.
But this seems like a good time to do the list, so with apologies to those left off because of space, here goes.
Brooks Robinson. He honed his game with the American Legion Doughboys at Little Rock’s Lamar Porter Field before he went on to become the “vacuum cleaner,” at third base in a Hall of Fame career with the Baltimore Orioles.
Robinson’s daring and flawless fielding led to 22 Gold Gloves and earned him MVP honors in the 1970 World Series. Sparky Anderson once said, “He can throw his glove out there and it will start 10 double plays by itself.”
Jay Hanna “Dizzy” Dean. He was born in Lucas and will be remembered as much for his Ozarks-flavored charm as the 150-83 record and 3.02 ERA he posted with the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs from 1930-1941 and in one 1947 comeback game.
“It ain’t braggin’ if you can back it up,” Dean said. Though injuries shortened his career, he backed it up enough to reach the Hall of Fame and pitch in two World Series before going on to an equally colorful broadcasting career.
George Kell. The Swifton native and 10-time all-star batted .306 from 1943-1957. His best years were with the Detroit Tigers and Kell, who kept an auto dealership and home in nearby Newport until his death in March, earned Hall of Fame induction on a veteran’s committee vote in 1983.
Bill Dickey. His railroad-employee father moved the family to Arkansas from Louisiana early in Bill’s life and Dickey went on to play for the Little Rock Travelers before breaking in with the Yankees, where he spent all of his Hall of Fame career from 1928-1946.
Dickey was an 11-time all-star with a .255 World Series batting average. If there is a blot on his career it might be that he managed the 1947 Travelers to a record 103 losses. But the Travelers certainly forgave Dickey; their North Little Rock home Dickey-Stephens Park is partially named for Dickey and his brother George.
Lou Brock. Born in El Dorado, Brock played in three World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals during his 18-year, Hall of Fame career. Brock was a six-time all-star and was the one-time stolen base king with 938, plus a career .293 batting average.
Brock is known for being part of one of the worst trades in baseball history. After three-plus seasons the Chicago Cubs shipped the future superstar to the St. Louis Cardinals for Lou Broglio and Bobby Shantz, making the deal a steal in more ways than one.
Erwin Charles “Preacher” Roe. The Preacher, who got his nickname from his family and not because he went to Harding College in Searcy, was born in Ash Flat. Roe was 127-84 with a 3.43 ERA and spent his best days with the Brooklyn Dodgers, from 1948-54, making him one of the original “Boys of Summer.”
Our honorable mentions include Pine Bluff’s Torii Hunter, whose Los Angeles Angels just missed the World Series this year.
Hunter is as an electrifying outfielder who once ran through a minor league fence and who robbed Barry Bonds of a home run in the 2002 All-Star Game.
Hunter is a likable straight shooter who appears to play with joy. Someone please get this guy into a World Series soon.
And let’s give it up for Kevin McReynolds, the former Sylvan Hills Bear and former Razorback who played in a World Series with the 1984 San Diego Padres and batted .265 in 12 seasons. If you want an autograph, you probably can find McReynolds in a duck blind not far from here.
Did I call Arkansas the Natural State earlier? For the above reasons, maybe we can go back to calling it the Diamond State.
Leader sports editor
With pinpoint control and a couple flips of his gloved right hand, Benton’s Cliff Lee called first dibs on the World Series spotlight Wednesday night.
Lee, the lefty getting the Game 1 start for the Philadelphia Phillies, silenced the New York Yankees with 10 strikeouts, no walks and two catches heavy on style points but far apart on the degree-of-difficulty scale.
He was as indifferent as a French waiter when he nonchalantly caught Johnny Damon’s sixth-inning pop-up, and he was so cat-quick with his behind-the-back snare of Robinson Cano’s eighth-inning come-backer that Lee could only shrug at his own bad self.
“I don’t get nervous,” the low-key Lee told a nationwide audience after his 6-1 victory.
Obviously. Lee already has the 2008 Cy Young award in his pocket and is 3-0 in the 2009 postseason while striking another blow for Arkansas baseball supremacy.
Yes I said Arkansas BASEBALL supremacy. Quit sniggering into your plastic Hog hat.
Look no further than the Game 2 winner, Yankees starter A.J. Burnett, of North Little Rock via Central Arkansas Christian High School, which I’m sure is where Burnett developed his interest in tattoos and piercings.
There was a possibility Lee could have faced Burnett in Game 1, had the ALCS played out differently. As it is, the fact two front-line starters from the Natural State are competing in the same Series is something to celebrate.
If you know there is more to Arkansas baseball than the “Diamond Hogs” in Fayetteville then you know this state has its share of World Series heroes and baseball heroes in general.
But this seems like a good time to do the list, so with apologies to those left off because of space, here goes.
Brooks Robinson. He honed his game with the American Legion Doughboys at Little Rock’s Lamar Porter Field before he went on to become the “vacuum cleaner,” at third base in a Hall of Fame career with the Baltimore Orioles.
Robinson’s daring and flawless fielding led to 22 Gold Gloves and earned him MVP honors in the 1970 World Series. Sparky Anderson once said, “He can throw his glove out there and it will start 10 double plays by itself.”
Jay Hanna “Dizzy” Dean. He was born in Lucas and will be remembered as much for his Ozarks-flavored charm as the 150-83 record and 3.02 ERA he posted with the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs from 1930-1941 and in one 1947 comeback game.
“It ain’t braggin’ if you can back it up,” Dean said. Though injuries shortened his career, he backed it up enough to reach the Hall of Fame and pitch in two World Series before going on to an equally colorful broadcasting career.
George Kell. The Swifton native and 10-time all-star batted .306 from 1943-1957. His best years were with the Detroit Tigers and Kell, who kept an auto dealership and home in nearby Newport until his death in March, earned Hall of Fame induction on a veteran’s committee vote in 1983.
Bill Dickey. His railroad-employee father moved the family to Arkansas from Louisiana early in Bill’s life and Dickey went on to play for the Little Rock Travelers before breaking in with the Yankees, where he spent all of his Hall of Fame career from 1928-1946.
Dickey was an 11-time all-star with a .255 World Series batting average. If there is a blot on his career it might be that he managed the 1947 Travelers to a record 103 losses. But the Travelers certainly forgave Dickey; their North Little Rock home Dickey-Stephens Park is partially named for Dickey and his brother George.
Lou Brock. Born in El Dorado, Brock played in three World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals during his 18-year, Hall of Fame career. Brock was a six-time all-star and was the one-time stolen base king with 938, plus a career .293 batting average.
Brock is known for being part of one of the worst trades in baseball history. After three-plus seasons the Chicago Cubs shipped the future superstar to the St. Louis Cardinals for Lou Broglio and Bobby Shantz, making the deal a steal in more ways than one.
Erwin Charles “Preacher” Roe. The Preacher, who got his nickname from his family and not because he went to Harding College in Searcy, was born in Ash Flat. Roe was 127-84 with a 3.43 ERA and spent his best days with the Brooklyn Dodgers, from 1948-54, making him one of the original “Boys of Summer.”
Our honorable mentions include Pine Bluff’s Torii Hunter, whose Los Angeles Angels just missed the World Series this year.
Hunter is as an electrifying outfielder who once ran through a minor league fence and who robbed Barry Bonds of a home run in the 2002 All-Star Game.
Hunter is a likable straight shooter who appears to play with joy. Someone please get this guy into a World Series soon.
And let’s give it up for Kevin McReynolds, the former Sylvan Hills Bear and former Razorback who played in a World Series with the 1984 San Diego Padres and batted .265 in 12 seasons. If you want an autograph, you probably can find McReynolds in a duck blind not far from here.
Did I call Arkansas the Natural State earlier? For the above reasons, maybe we can go back to calling it the Diamond State.
SPORTS >> Fast final curtain falls on local teams
Jenny Evans hits a return for the Cabot Lady Panthers in recent action.By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The Sylvan Hills Lady Bears couldn’t make their successful regular season carry over into the state tournament.
No. 4 seed Central Arkansas Christian beat Sylvan Hills 3-0 in the 5A first round Tuesday at Siloam Springs.
The Lady Bears (15 -6) went undefeated in conference to claim their second straight 5A-Southeast title during the regular season, but found a tough, opening-round opponent in the Lady Mustangs, who rushed out to a 2-0 lead by winning each of the first two games 25-9.
Sylvan Hills fought hard to stay alive in Game 3 but came up short 25-19.
“I told the girls that of the 16 teams playing today, only one of them will end the season with a win,” Lady Bears coach Harold Treadway said. “Down the road, a lot of people will only remember how things went in the tournament, but when they look
back they’re going to know that you have to have a good year just to get there.”
Tuesday was the final match for seniors Dee Dee Lewis, Tanisha Romes, Tyler Pearson, Laura Roberts and Brooke Frehenback.
“There wasn’t really a superstar player among the five of them, they were just a group of girls that played really well together and complemented each other,” Treadway said. “I’m going to miss all of them, and I missed not getting to coach them for their entire senior year.”
Treadway was absent for much of the regular season while serving his third tour in Iraq with Air National Guard. Assistant Laura Allred led the Lady Bears for the bulk of their successful conference run.
The Lady Bears, along with Beebe and North Pulaski, will play in an all-new conference next year with Little Rock Christian, CAC, Batesville and Vilonia.
“It’s going to be a tough conference,” Treadway said. “But it will be better for everyone in the conference. It will help those four teams that make it to the state tournament. I’m excited about the girls we have coming back, and I’m excited about the conference as well.”
The Cabot Lady Panthers had the misfortune of drawing defending state champion Bentonville in the first round of the 7A tournament in Van Buren on Tuesday.
The Lady Tigers, the 7A-West’s No. 1 seed, downed the Lady Panthers 25-13 and 25-16 in the first two games before closing out the match with a 25-20 victory in Game 3.
For Cabot, it was the end of an exciting road just to make the postseason.
The Lady Panthers earned the 7A-Central No. 6 seed with a come-from-behind victory over Van Buren in the final conference match of the season.
Benton ended the Jacksonville Lady Red Devils’ season Wednesday night with a 3-0 victory in the quarterfinal round of the 6A tournament in Jonesboro.
The Lady Panthers, the No. 1 seed from the 6A-West, advanced to the semifinals by winning 25-8, 25-11 and 25-17.
For the Lady Red Devils, it was the end of a successful season in which they earned a No. 4 seed out of the 6A-East and handily defeated Little Rock Fair 3-1 in Tuesday’s opening round. Jacksonville won the first two games 25-11 and 25-12, but fell 24-26 in Game 3.
The Lady Red Devils put the match away 25-18 in Game 4 to advance.
The North Pulaski Lady Falcons ended their season with a 3-0 loss to Alma in the 5A first round on Tuesday.
The Lady Falcons, the 5A-Southeast’s No. 2 seed, took a decisive 25-9 loss in Game 1 before making things close in the second game, losing 25-23. The Lady Airedales, the No. 3 seed from the 5A-West, won 25-18 in Game 3 to advance to the quarterfinal round, where they fell to Wynne 3-1 on Wednesday.
5A-Southeast No. 3 seed Beebe lost its first-round match with Greenwood 3-0 on Tuesday.
The Lady Bulldogs, the 5A-West’s second seed, won 25-14, 25-8 and 25-6, and advanced to the semifinals Wednesday with another shutout over Nettleton.
SPORTS >> Quarterback hurt, Falcons falter
North Pulaski Falcons sophomore runner Willie Frazier picks up yardage against Mills in Friday night’s loss to the Comets at Falcon Stadium.By MIKE GARRITY
Special to The Leader
An injury to North Pulaski quarterback Shyheim Barron proved to be the turning point in a hard-fought defensive game in which the Mills Comets beat the Falcons 20-6.
The game was tied through three quarters, but after Barron’s injury the Falcons turned the ball over three times in the final 13 minutes.
Barron had the Falcons (1-7, 1-5 5A-Southeast) driving for what would be a go-ahead score before the injury. North Pulaski had a first down on the Comets’ 20-yard line, then Barron ran a quarterback keep and gained three yards, but the play was negated by a holding penalty and Barron was helped off the field.
“He went down with a knee injury late in the third quarter and that took us out of rhythm on offense a little bit,” Falcons coach Rick Russell said. “But the kids competed well and we gave it our best shot. We are proud of them.”
On the next snap, reserve quarterback Marshall Shipley tried to run a keeper, but the Comets Anthony Bizzell ripped the ball out of his hands and returned it to the 39.
“When Barron went down, our next quarterback came in,” Russell said. “With the wet ball and him not having a chance to take any snaps to warm up, we had some turnovers. The weather probably had something to do with that. Sometimes that happens in football, and I think that is what happened. He controlled the ball well when he had a few reps under his belt.”
After the teams traded punts, North Pulaski started a drive at its 44, but another fumble on the first play gave the ball back to Mills. This time Chris Neal recovered at the Falcons 43.
The Comets responded immediately as Clark took a pitch around the right side and went 43 yards for a score.
“We did enough in the second half to win the game, and we will take it,” Comets head coach Patrick Russell said. “You will always take a bad-looking win over a beautiful loss anytime.”
Shipley threw an interception on the next Falcons possession and finished the game 2 for 4 for 5 yards.
“We played hard. We were right there tied in the fourth quarter,” Rick Russell said. “Mistakes are part of sports. The team that makes the fewest mistakes is going to win the game. On the first turnover, they scored right away and that was it. But our kids played hard.”
Following the fumble, the Comets (5-3, 3-2) drove 61 yards and took the lead on a 5-yard run around the right side by Stephen Clark, who finished with 113 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries. Clark was limited to just 11 yards on a pair of carries in the first half.
“He is a good back, who started getting into the flow,” Patrick Russell said. “He is a big back that has a chance to break some tackles and we started pitching it to him. That is what you have to do in the option. You can’t just rely on the dive and the quarterback keep, you have to pitch the ball.”
Mills relied heavily on Clark’s running in the second half, as he picked up 102 yards and both fourth-quarter scores that iced the game.
“They were running the option in the first half and we did a pretty good jump of stopping them,” Rick Russell said. “In the second half, they started overloading and running the sweep to him. They had more blockers than we had out there. They were chipping away and finally broke one. Give them credit, they did what they had to do to win. We stopped them, and then they made some plays and we didn’t.”
In the first half, neither offense played particularly well, as the Falcons compiled just 58 yards while the Comets had 52.
After forcing the Comets to punt on the first possession of the game, North Pulaski orchestrated a seven-play drive that covered 51 yards and scored when Billy Barron went up the middle on a 3-yard run that gave the Falcons a 6-0 lead with 7:32 left in the first quarter.
SPORTS >> Panthers pop Pointers
Cabot running back Spencer Smith celebrates the Panthers’ victory on Friday.By RAY BENTON
Special to The Leader
The dive was the call, 11 in the box was defensive strategy and Matt Bayles was the main beneficiary in Cabot’s comfortable, 55-14 victory over Van Buren Friday night at Panther Stadium.
The Panther senior halfback shredded the Pointer defense for 191 yards and four touchdowns in just the first half, and he did it on just nine carries.
Once Bayles broke past the initial line of defense, he had open field in front of him and no one who could catch him from behind.
The 5-10, 170-pound senior scored on runs of 7, 71, 86 and 1 yards, but he wasn’t the only one to reap the benefits of the play that is one of Cabot’s standards.
Junior halfback Jeremy Berry got just three carries, but he scored on two of them, once from 9 yards out and again from 55 yards away.
Heavily favored despite a big loss last week and looking for a solid performance, Cabot got what it was after. Coach Mike Malham wanted to see his team come out focused and intense after suffering a sloppy 35-7 loss at Bryant, and he was pleased with what he saw.
“It was good to see us show up tonight ready to play,” Malham said. “Last week we were beat from the word go, but we came out a little bit more focused and executed the offense. I thought the defense played well too. They’ve got a pretty good offense that’s been putting some points up against some pretty good teams. We were able to slow that down and keep them out of the end zone.”
Cabot compiled 520 yards, all on the ground. Smith also went over 100 yards for Cabot, totaling 112 yards on 11 carries.
The victory lifts Cabot to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in 7A-Central play. It also sets up a showdown with Russellville in week 10 for the No. 1 seed in the playoffs and at least a share of the conference championship.
Cabot had seven possessions in the first half and scored seven touchdowns, taking a 48-7 lead into intermission. Van Buren got on the scoreboard in the first half only after falling behind 35-0, but did so with an impressive four-play, 76-yard drive.
Turnovers helped put the Pointers into an early hole. Cabot defensive back Joe Bryant intercepted a Tyler Spoon pass on the game’s second play and returned it 26 yards to the 9.
Berry then scored on Cabot’s first play, giving the Panthers a 7-0 lead just 21 seconds into the game.
It would only take another 32 seconds before Cabot got the ball back, this time on a fumbled option pitch that was recovered by Hunter Sales at the Pointers 21.
It took Cabot five plays to get the needed yardage, with Bayles getting the last 7 for the score with 8:47 left in the first quarter.
Van Buren finally held onto the ball long enough to punt, but it only set up Berry’s 55-yard scoring run on the first play of the ensuing drive.
After another Pointer three-play series, Bayles got his second score on yet another one-play drive.
Van Buren then put together a decent drive that went 57 yards, but Powell Bryant put an end to it when he tipped a pass and intercepted it in the back of the end zone and ran it out to the 5-yard line.
An off-sides penalty got the Panthers to the 10, and two Spencer Smith runs put it at the 14 to set up Bayles’ 86-yard carry that made it 35-0 just 13 seconds into the second quarter.
After Van Buren’s first touchdown, Cabot marched 65 yards in eight plays, with the final 43 yards coming on Smith’s run up the middle for a 42-7 lead with 5:54 left in the half.
A long kickoff return by Joseph Snapp gave Van Buren the ball at the Cabot 26, but the Pointers gained 3 yards before turning it over on downs.
From there Cabot embarked on its seventh scoring drive of the half.
The Pointers scored first in the second half with a 13-play, 93-yard drive, and Cabot capped the scoring with a 32-yard run by sophomore Austin Alley with 9:37 left in the game.
Van Buren finished with 348 total yards.
EDITORIAL >> Tax dollars at work
Yesterday, the refurbished and expanded communications office of the Arkansas House of Representatives put out a three-page release to Arkansas newspapers and broadcast stations. The breathtaking news?
The manager of the city pound at Little Rock and a fellow lawmaker heaped praise upon Rep. Pam Adcock of Little Rock for sponsoring a dramatic law last spring that is going to revolutionize the handling of stray animals. The law, Act 692 of 2009, lets people buy a decal for their license plates that says “Support Animal Rescue and Shelters.” The proceeds of the decal sale, if there are any, will be divided among cities that have animal shelters.
You didn’t know that, did you? The newspapers carried only a brief mention of the bill at the time, leaving the citizenry uncognizant of the majestic leadership of their lawmakers in this critical area.
There will be many more such pronouncements. House Speaker Robbie Wills fired the House’s longtime press officer in September and expanded the little communications office so that the people of Arkansas will get a better picture of the great work that their legislators are doing.
In addition to the staff, the House pays a $5,000 monthly retainer to Little Rock public relations man Craig Douglass to help promote the legislators. Douglass’ company lost out on the advertising contract for the Arkansas lottery. The taxpayers owe him something all right, but see what they’re getting for their dollars.
—Ernie Dumas
The manager of the city pound at Little Rock and a fellow lawmaker heaped praise upon Rep. Pam Adcock of Little Rock for sponsoring a dramatic law last spring that is going to revolutionize the handling of stray animals. The law, Act 692 of 2009, lets people buy a decal for their license plates that says “Support Animal Rescue and Shelters.” The proceeds of the decal sale, if there are any, will be divided among cities that have animal shelters.
You didn’t know that, did you? The newspapers carried only a brief mention of the bill at the time, leaving the citizenry uncognizant of the majestic leadership of their lawmakers in this critical area.
There will be many more such pronouncements. House Speaker Robbie Wills fired the House’s longtime press officer in September and expanded the little communications office so that the people of Arkansas will get a better picture of the great work that their legislators are doing.
In addition to the staff, the House pays a $5,000 monthly retainer to Little Rock public relations man Craig Douglass to help promote the legislators. Douglass’ company lost out on the advertising contract for the Arkansas lottery. The taxpayers owe him something all right, but see what they’re getting for their dollars.
—Ernie Dumas
EDITORIAL >> South Pulaski inhospitable
Those who prefer suburban governance to the big city should be thankful they live north of the great divide, the Arkansas River. Our sisters on the southern fringe of the metroplex can’t seem to get the hang of self-government. The towns of Wrightsville and Alexander are forever in the news, answering to the state auditors or federal investigators for the misuse of their puny treasuries.
This week, the disclosures in federal court about law enforcement and municipal governance in Alexander (pop. 614) were especially alarming. Alexander will take its place as the poster city for racial profiling, an evil that has plagued law enforcement everywhere but which we like to think is a rare and fading phenomenon.
Not in Alexander. Several Hispanics sued the city, its policemen and a towing service alleging that the city targeted Hispanics, who were mostly poor, to fill the town’s coffers. The testimony this week from men who were arrested along with a former city attorney and a former auxiliary cop was shocking. As bizarre as anything was the revelation in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette that this town of 600 has six full-time and seven part-time policemen, all busily writing citations. They bring in a lot of money for a hamlet. At that rate, Jacksonville, Cabot, Ward, Austin, Lonoke or Beebe would have hundreds of full-time and part-time policemen.
The allegations centered mainly on one policeman, Tommy Leath, who has since been promoted to assistant police chief for training. While many Hispanics live in the southern part of the county and in neighboring Saline County, the population of Alexander is only 2.3 percent Hispanic. But in one two-month period in 2007, 53 percent of the 115 traffic citations Leath wrote went to Hispanics. About half of the citations were for driving with an obstructed view. Hispanics are mostly Catholic and many hang rosary beads from their rearview mirrors. Others had a small air-freshener hanging from the mirror or small stickers on the corner of their rear windows.
That would get them stopped, cited and searched for other violations — not carrying a driver’s license, faulty lights or brakes, no proof of liability insurance. Their cars would be confiscated and towed. Their cases would be postponed repeatedly in traffic court. It would take days and $300 to $400 in towing and storage fees to get their cars back. These were the poorest people in the vicinity, their vehicles usually old and decrepit.
A former city attorney testified that when she took the job in 2007, the courtroom would be full of Hispanics. She convicted many but dismissed other cases because there was no evidence about what the “obstruction” was. She received a letter from the mayor warning her that if she dismissed any more cases, the lost city revenue would be taken out of her paltry pay as city attorney.
Thus did the government, which ought to be the protector of the poorest, become their exploiter.
A church youth director who served a while in 2007 as an auxiliary policeman worked with Leath. “We’d sit around and we’d look, and if they looked Hispanic we’d try to find probable cause to pull them over,” the man testified. “He knew that most of them didn’t have their driver’s licenses, and it would be an easy ticket and an easy tow.” He said the policeman joked that if anyone complained that he was targeting Hispanics, he would point out that his wife was of Hispanic heritage.
Since then, the policeman has shed the Hispanic wife and taken up with the youth director’s wife, who happens to be the Alexander court clerk. They are engaged to be married. She testified for him in the federal suit Thursday.
Leath insisted that he had never targeted Hispanics. They just happened to be the ones violating the law about visual obstruction. For her part, the mayor said she just didn’t believe that her policemen would single out people because of their ethnicity.
We have had a little experience on this side of the river with corrupt and discriminatory law enforcement. It does not engender confidence in government. Our advice to the city fathers and mothers on the other side of the county is that they treat people evenhandedly and finance their government services in ways that do not encumber the backs of the poor. Fewer cops and a salary cut for the mayor would be a good start.
This week, the disclosures in federal court about law enforcement and municipal governance in Alexander (pop. 614) were especially alarming. Alexander will take its place as the poster city for racial profiling, an evil that has plagued law enforcement everywhere but which we like to think is a rare and fading phenomenon.
Not in Alexander. Several Hispanics sued the city, its policemen and a towing service alleging that the city targeted Hispanics, who were mostly poor, to fill the town’s coffers. The testimony this week from men who were arrested along with a former city attorney and a former auxiliary cop was shocking. As bizarre as anything was the revelation in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette that this town of 600 has six full-time and seven part-time policemen, all busily writing citations. They bring in a lot of money for a hamlet. At that rate, Jacksonville, Cabot, Ward, Austin, Lonoke or Beebe would have hundreds of full-time and part-time policemen.
The allegations centered mainly on one policeman, Tommy Leath, who has since been promoted to assistant police chief for training. While many Hispanics live in the southern part of the county and in neighboring Saline County, the population of Alexander is only 2.3 percent Hispanic. But in one two-month period in 2007, 53 percent of the 115 traffic citations Leath wrote went to Hispanics. About half of the citations were for driving with an obstructed view. Hispanics are mostly Catholic and many hang rosary beads from their rearview mirrors. Others had a small air-freshener hanging from the mirror or small stickers on the corner of their rear windows.
That would get them stopped, cited and searched for other violations — not carrying a driver’s license, faulty lights or brakes, no proof of liability insurance. Their cars would be confiscated and towed. Their cases would be postponed repeatedly in traffic court. It would take days and $300 to $400 in towing and storage fees to get their cars back. These were the poorest people in the vicinity, their vehicles usually old and decrepit.
A former city attorney testified that when she took the job in 2007, the courtroom would be full of Hispanics. She convicted many but dismissed other cases because there was no evidence about what the “obstruction” was. She received a letter from the mayor warning her that if she dismissed any more cases, the lost city revenue would be taken out of her paltry pay as city attorney.
Thus did the government, which ought to be the protector of the poorest, become their exploiter.
A church youth director who served a while in 2007 as an auxiliary policeman worked with Leath. “We’d sit around and we’d look, and if they looked Hispanic we’d try to find probable cause to pull them over,” the man testified. “He knew that most of them didn’t have their driver’s licenses, and it would be an easy ticket and an easy tow.” He said the policeman joked that if anyone complained that he was targeting Hispanics, he would point out that his wife was of Hispanic heritage.
Since then, the policeman has shed the Hispanic wife and taken up with the youth director’s wife, who happens to be the Alexander court clerk. They are engaged to be married. She testified for him in the federal suit Thursday.
Leath insisted that he had never targeted Hispanics. They just happened to be the ones violating the law about visual obstruction. For her part, the mayor said she just didn’t believe that her policemen would single out people because of their ethnicity.
We have had a little experience on this side of the river with corrupt and discriminatory law enforcement. It does not engender confidence in government. Our advice to the city fathers and mothers on the other side of the county is that they treat people evenhandedly and finance their government services in ways that do not encumber the backs of the poor. Fewer cops and a salary cut for the mayor would be a good start.
TOP STORY >> Beebe clinic in short supply
Daniel Holland of Beebe, along with hundreds of others, gets a free seasonal flu shot Friday at the Beebe Health Unit from clinic coordinator Becky Snodgrass.
By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
Demand for the H1N1 vaccinations and seasonal flu shots was so high that the Beebe Health Unit ran out on Friday. The clinic doors were locked by 2:15 p.m. and dejected residents walked to their cars in hopes of getting shots on another day.
A few residents were in luck when the clinic reopened briefly after staff found an additional supply of seasonal flu shots. By noon, the White County Health Unit had given 225 seasonal flu shots and 48 swine flu nasal vaccines.
Daniel Holland of Beebe was one of the few who missed the long lines in the morning.
“I was supposed to have a shot at work, but I had to go to an alternate source.
“I want to prevent being sick this year if at all possible,” Holland said.
In Cabot, 700 flu vaccinations were given by noon at the Veterans Park Community Center.
The line thinned out by late morning.
Administering the vaccinations in Cabot were students from both Baptist Health’s School of Nursing and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Nursing, along with nurses from the White County Regional Medical Center and Arkansas Department of Health.
Milton Garris, Arkansas Department of Health administrator for Lonoke County, said the flu clinic had a solid turnout. The clinic still had shots to give out at noon. He said the average wait was 30 minutes.
“There were a couple hundred waiting when the doors opened at 9 a.m. We’ve been steady all day,” Garris said.
The flu clinic allowed nursing students on-the-job training for their future careers.
UALR registered nursing student Kelsey Whitlock said, “You definitely get practice on giving shots for when you get out in the working world. You are not as nervous.”
Hannah Gibson, also a registered nursing student at UALR, said the flu clinic had been an eye-opening experience. She said it is important for nursing students to volunteer. Gibson said it was encouraging to see nurses helping the nursing students and the community.
TOP STORY >> Angel Tree at Salvation Army takes donations to help needy
Maj. Diane Johnson of the Jacksonville Salvation Army holds two “angels” that will be available for adoption. The Angel Tree program begins on Friday, Nov. 13 and runs through Dec. 14. Donors are needed to help needy families.
Brandi Fisher, a Salvation Army volunteer, fills out paperwork to help a family applying for the Angel Tree program. The Jacksonville Salvation Army helps families in northern Pulaski County, Lonoke County and White County.
By ALIYA FELDMAN
Leader editor
The holidays are fast-arriving and for many families who can afford to give, this is the season to do it.
Many families who need help can be seen waiting in a line outside the Salvation Army to receive assistance, according to Justin Simmons, who directs social services for the charity in Jacksonville.
Maj. Diane Johnson, who directs the Salvation Army in Jacksonville, and Simmons recently set up an angel tree in the office at 209 S. Oak St. The tree allows caring members of the community the opportunity to help families who can’t afford Christmas this year.
“In the past two days (the first days the tree was set up), 50-plus families have signed up (for help),” Simmons said.
Going by that number, he expects 25 families a day who will come into the Salvation Army looking for help to have Christmas this year.
That number shouldn’t be surprising, however heartbreaking, given increased unemployment this year.
Angels can be bought Friday, Nov. 13 through Dec. 14. The office is open from 9:30 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. The office accepts clothing donations and canned foods and other non-perishables year round. For Christmas, Simmons said he would like to see all the donations that are given to families be new items.
Angels can also be bought by calling Simmons at 501-985-1331. “We’re also looking for bell ringers for the upcoming holiday season,” Simmons said.
Bell ringers can be seen standing outside popular stores like Knight’s and Walmart to collect Christmas donations for Salvation Army to give to the needy.
Volunteers are especially needed to buy angels, which represent specific families for whom Salvation Army has determined their needs. These are basic needs, Simmons said, that many might not even consider as usual Christmas gifts, such as clothing and shoes.
“We try to give children at least one toy,” Simmons added. “We also try to give a jacket, a shirt, a pair of pants, and hopefully a pair of shoes,” but there may not be enough donations to provide shoes this year, Simmons said.
In addition to donations, volunteers are badly needed to help out at the Jacksonville office.
Simmons handwrote and mailed about 300 letters to churches and other groups looking for volunteers but he didn’t hear back from many, he said, possibly because many churches and non-profit organizations are already busy providing for their members who need help this year.
“We don’t have enough volunteers this year,” he said.
Families who sign up for Christmas help will also be given $25 gift cards in place of a food basket, so volunteers can focus on getting clothing and gift donations together.
Many families depend on Salvation Army throughout the year for extra food.
Simmons said, “We depend solely on the community” for donations to help needy families. For now, the Christmas season has him working hard and hoping more volunteers will arrive soon.
“We’re trying to get Christmas for these kids,” Simmons said. “We want (them) to have smiles on their faces Christmas morning.”
TOP STORY >> Thousands get flu shots
Jacksonville kindergartner Alex Moix gets a seasonal flu shot from Brenda Webb, an Arkansas Health Department registered nurse, at the Jacksonville Community Center on Thursday. More than 1,900 people were vaccinated at the clinic.By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
Rainy weather that continues to dog the state added another complication to community mass flu clinics already contending with shortages of vaccine for the swine flu. Every county in the state had at least one location where free flu vaccinations were provided. The clinics – 92 in all – opened on Thursday and continued through Friday.
By noon yesterday, 119,851 doses of the seasonal and H1N1vaccine had been given statewide at the mass clinics.
In Jacksonville on Thursday, 1,900 people braved the threat of storms to receive the free vaccine; a total of 2,280 doses of the seasonal and H1N1 vaccine were administered.
A second mass flu clinic is already set for Dec. 5 in Jacksonville to ensure that everyone wanting the H1N1 vaccine will get it.
Yesterday, at the mass clinics in Beebe, 458 doses total of flu vaccine were given, bringing the total doses of vaccine given over a two-day period in White County to 2,177. On Thursday, a mass clinic was held at the Searcy health unit.
By mid-afternoon Friday, the state Health Department had inoculated 1,261 people at Cabot’s Veterans Park Community Center, with about 200 of those receiving both the seasonal flu shot and the H1N1 swine flu vaccination, according to Milt Garris, director of the Lonoke County Health Department.
He said there was plenty of vaccine on hand to finish out the clinic, which was slated to run until 5 p.m.
He said they had given the H1N1 vaccine to children from six months to 4 years old, to pregnant women and to people between five and 18 years of age with medical conditions.
“We expect to get more vaccine in to do the school clinics at Cabot on Nov. 4 and Nov.5,” he said.
About a week ago, school clinics were held at Lonoke, where about 800 doses of vaccine were given and at Carlisle, where about 700 doses were given.
The vaccines are being paid for by the newly instituted tobacco tax, he said.
Garris said he didn’t know of the weather interfered with attendance at the clinic. Everyone was able to wait inside, he said.
The clinics at a few locations got off to a “rocky start” on Thursday due to “the combination of bad weather, heavy demand and a limited supply of H1N1 vaccine,” said Paul Halverson, director of the Arkansas Department of Health. “We wish that we would have had sunny skies so that families and children wouldn’t have to have been in damp, cold conditions. We appreciate the public’s patience and understanding as we undertake the largest mass-vaccination effort in the state’s history.”
Jacksonville health unit administrator Patricia Henderson was glad that she decided to move this year’s annual flu clinic to a more spacious location and booked a conference room at Jacksonville Community Center. The past two years, the clinic was held at the local health unit. Last year, the number of people showing up doubled from the year before and cars overflowed the parking lot.
“We just out-grew it, and then with H1N1 coming along, this was the right thing to do,” she said. “The city has been just wonderful, helping us set up, directing people. Nothing I asked for did they not give me.”
When the doors opened at 8 a.m., the line of early birds spread across the parking lot. Some had a wait of up to an hour and a half, but by 11 a.m., “maybe 10 people were in line,” Henderson said. “I think it started like any clinic would start with 300 already lined up, but it went well. No one was turned away.”
Susan Winkler, administrator of the Searcy and Beebe health units, deemed the Beebe clinic a success – a first at that location – but that “at one point it hit pretty hard, with a line out the door and around the building,” but that volunteers kept traffic in the parking lot from turning into a bottleneck.
Winkler called the school and community mass flu clinics “a wonderful thing to provide to the community,” but “the staff gets slammed pretty hard.” Some nurses left the clinic last night “with numb and sore hands from filling out all the paperwork.”
The clinics are not close to done for Health Department staff, Winkler said. With two community and five school clinics behind them, 21 more school clinics – and at least one more community clinic – will occur in White County between now and December, meaning work weeks of 50 to 60 hours. “There has got to be a better way to do this,” she said.
The H1N1 flu vaccine continues to be in short supply nationally, forcing health officials to sharply restrict who gets the vaccine first to those most at risk of severe complications if infected.
“This follows priority group guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),” said Paul Halverson, director of the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH). “If we have plenty of vaccine, the recommended priority groups include pregnant women, children ages 6 months through 24 years, health care workers and emergency medical responders, people caring for infants under 6 months of age, and people ages 25-64 years with underlying health conditions.
“If there is limited vaccine, the CDC guidelines for priority groups shift to pregnant women, people caring for infants less than 6 months of age, health care and emergency medical responders, children ages 6 months through 4 years and children and adolescents ages 5 through 18 years who have medical conditions that put them at higher risk for influenza-related complications,” Halverson continued.
But due to the extreme national shortage of H1N1 vaccine, the state Health Department “was forced to further narrow the priority group to pregnant women, children 6 months through 4 years and to those children who are age 5 through18 with underlying medical conditions,” Halverson explained.
Lonoke County resident Malanya Donaho took her son, Gideon, and grandfather, Walter White, to the Jacksonville clinic. Only her son, who is 7 years old, would be getting the H1N1 vaccine.
“He’s got asthma and a bad immune system,” Donaho said. “He got the regular shot yesterday, but they didn’t have the H1N1.
I was afraid to wait. There’s too much of it around. It is kind of scary.”
The ADH expects the supplies of the H1N1 vaccine to increase significantly in the next month. Additional mass-flu clinics will be scheduled so that any Arkansan wanting the H1N1 vaccine can get it. The vaccine will also be distributed to about 900 health care providers.
Meanwhile, health officials advise that everyone get the seasonal flu vaccine; both vaccines are needed to protect against both strains of the flu virus.
Leader staff writer John Hof-heimer contributed to this report.
Friday, October 30, 2009
TOP STORY >> Deluge brings rescue efforts
Officer Michael Tippin with the Sherwood Police Department checks out a section of East Lee Street that flooded Thursday night.
Tyrone Lee makes his way to dry land Friday morning after retrieving items from his apartment at New Brittany Apartments on Jacksonville Cut-off in Gravel Ridge. Rescue workers pulled people from cars in the area all day. 
High waters spill over South Rockwood Road in Cabot, making driving hazardous and causing vehicles to spray water into traffic.By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Four area fire departments using boats and other rescue equipment evacuated about a dozen people Friday morning from a trailer park off Tom Box Road in north Pulaski County.
Also, a number of people had to be rescued Friday morning from the roofs of their floating cars at Hwy. 161 and the railroad overpass in Jacksonville and another person was pulled to safety as their car continued to float away on Jacksonville Cutoff near the one-way bridge on Main Street.
The Ward Fire Department ran rescue missions all night as the rain fell, pulling one family from a car that had stalled in four feet of water on Hwy. 319 and Lewisburg Road and saving dogs in the city’s animal control kennels off Hwy. 367.
Ward Police Chief Charlie Martin said firefighters waded in water up to their armpits to get the dogs to safety.
Friday afternoon, the Sherwood Fire Department personnel had to rescue a woman who tried to drive through a flooded Rixey Road. Water was still running high on that road Friday evening.
The latest onslaught of rains to hit the state dropped more than five inches of rain on the area in less than 24 hours, and may have contributed to one traffic death in Cabot.
Tabitha Goode, 31, of 1771 W. Mountain Springs Road in Cabot was killed late Thursday in a three-car accident on Hwy. 5 at Shirley Lane.
Tiffany Chinn, 19, of 42 Hummingbird Lane in Cabot was injured.
According to the State Police report, Goode was traveling south on Hwy. 5 in a 2004 Chevy Cavalier when she crossed the center line and sideswiped a 2006 Honda Accord, turned sideways and was struck by a 2004 Kia Rio driven by Chinn.
The driver of the Accord, Carla Odwyer of Conway, was not injured.
The roads were wet and it was raining at the time of the accident.
Although state Hwy. 67/167 was never officially closed Friday, one man said he left home in Beebe at 8:30 a.m. and it took three hours to reach work in Jacksonville as floodwaters raced across all the highway lanes and rain pelted down throughout the morning.
“There was one lane southbound, one lane northbound open because of the rising water,” said Randy Ort, spokesman for the state Highway and Transportation Department. “The main issue was one lane each way and no frontage roads.”
Both northbound lanes were open by mid afternoon, good news for commuters headed north from the Little Rock area.
Parts of Hwy. 31 were also flooded during the morning rush. Raging floodwaters caused a small bridge section to collapse on Batesville Pike north of Maryland Avenue outside Sherwood.
Jacksonville Public Works Director Jim Oakley agreed with Ort that the morning commute was a mess. But by late afternoon, he said the only roadways still covered with water or blocked were a southbound lane on Hwy. 167 near the northern edge of the city, parts of Redmond Road around Dupree Park and the old West Main bridge.
North Pulaski, Gravel Ridge, Sherwood and Jacksonville fire departments responded with boats and rescue equipment to Tom Box Road about 9 a.m. and stayed on scene for a couple of hours.
Gravel Ridge Fire Chief Andy Traffanstedt said the four fire departments, along with MEMS, responded. “There were about 11 trailers in the area and water was either up to the doors or running into the homes,” he said.
The chief said it wasn’t a life-saving operation, but the people had to get out. “We had four boats out checking all the homes and evacuated 11 people. A number of others said they would stay,” he said.
Traffanstedt said Jacksonville stayed on the scene with its boat and helped First Electric crews turn off electricity to prevent problems.
The trailer park operation wasn’t the only weather-related call for the Gravel Ridge department. “We had about eight vehicle rescues—people in the vehicles and on rooftops, mostly on Jacksonville-Cato Road,” the chief said.
The Ward kennels are adjacent to the city ball field and sewer-treatment plant. Mayor Art Brooke said the fear was that water had gotten into the plant, and he was relieved to learn that it was still dry.
Parts of eight or nine streets inside the city were covered with water and the mayor said firefighters made sure no one drove through them. Morning found them on the freeway between Ward and Austin, where a car had washed off into the ditch.
Beebe was wet, Mayor Mike Robertson said Friday afternoon, but $100,000-plus spent on cleaning ditches over the past two years kept the city drier than some of the surrounding areas.
By late Thursday afternoon, the only real trouble spot was the Windwood subdivision where the water that was creeping into backyards earlier in the day had filled the streets in the back of the subdivision and was inching its way toward the houses.
The houses in the most danger of flooding are in the flood zone, the mayor said.
“It comes from the bottoms and it’s always going to be this way,” he said. “There’s nothing we can do about it.”
Flooding that caused problems in the new Southfork subdivision is being corrected with tons of gravel to raise the streets out of the water and ditching to make the water flow away. Robertson said about 200 tons of gravel was hauled into Southfork Friday and that much more will be brought in Monday. The payoff is that residents there were able to get home Friday evening.
Total rainfall for Thursday and Friday in central Arkansas topped 5.3 inches, giving the area 16.58 inches of rain for October, and making October the wettest on record, which go back to 1878.
The previous record was 15.35 inches in October 1984. This October is also the wettest month since January 1937.
For the year, rainfall totals are close to 68.5 inches, making the year — with two months to go yet — the fifth wettest on record.
If central Arkansas gets a little more than seven inches of precipitation between now and the end of December, then 2009 will be the wettest on record, surpassing the old record of 75.54 inches set in 1882.
(Leader staff writer Joan McCoy contributed to this article.)
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
TOP STORY >> Charter academy moves into new building
Principal Nigena Livingston welcomes students for their first day of classes at the new school. Livingston led them in a couple of rousing chants, then talked with them about self-discipline and humility.By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
After more than two months holding classes at a temporary location, the Jacksonville Lighthouse Academy opened at its permanent North First Street location Tuesday morning.
Wet weather marked the first day at the gleaming new facility as it had for many weeks throughout construction, from a delayed groundbreaking in March to now preventing completion of the school’s parking lot, driveway and playground. All that must wait for drier weather.
But, on this day, what mattered to staff, board members, students and parents gathered for a school assembly was that they were finally at their “home,” as several called it.
Keri Urquhart, president of the school’s board of trustees, told students (called “scholars” at the school) that it had only been a year and a half since charter school organizer Mike Ronan had offered his assistance to Jacksonville residents.
“In that short time, we have enrolled 340 bright young scholars, built a brand-new school, and hired wonderful, hardworking teachers,” Urquhart said. “This school is going to do great things.”
Assemblies at the school are a venue for character education. This morning was no different. Principal Nigena Livingston led students in a couple of rousing chants, then talked with them about self-discipline and humility.
Humility, she explained, is about “being humble, letting your actions speak louder than your words, not bragging, doing something not for a reward, but because it is the right thing to do.”
After the assembly, board member and city council member Kevin McCleary expressed elation about the new school and its new building.
“This is one way to get a new school in Jacksonville, the first one in 30 years,” he said. “I think the whole community is excited. I am excited, and I don’t even have any children here.”
A grand opening celebration at the school, to which the entire community will be invited, is set for Nov. 5.
Parent Lisa McCranie said that despite the delay in getting into the new building, she is pleased so far with the education her son, first-grader William McCranie, is receiving.
At home, he recites the rhymes and songs utilized for memory work in the classroom. “He is always singing, and he loves his teacher. I feel good for the kids – they’ve done lots of good stuff for them, but feel it can be even better now that we’re home.”
Patricia Castellano is pleased with “the discipline, how they are serious about the uniforms and don’t say one thing and do another. That will help the children in the future stick to rules.” Her 11-year-old son, Giovanni, tells her, “‘I can’t wait for tomorrow to go to school.”
“He says that he thought he wouldn’t like it. He didn’t want to leave his friends. But now he loves it.”
Beth Barlow wanted her son, Trinten, to attend the new school because of its emphasis on college preparation. She attended Mount St. Mary in Little Rock, a parochial high school with a similar academic focus. “It made the transition to college very easy,” she said.
Other than that, she looks forward to some smoothing out of the morning and afternoon “picking up and dropping off process, but that will come in time.”
Nicholas Kann is pleased so far, as a parent – his daughter, Cailey, attends fourth grade there – and as a college student with aspirations of becoming a primary school teacher.
Based on classroom observations at the school, Kann says he appreciates its “higher standard of education and emphasis on core areas – math, science and the arts – what the students will actually need and use.”
Jacksonville Lighthouse Academy was founded in November 2008 with the granting of a five-year charter by the state Board of Education. As an open-enrollment charter school, it is a public school open to Arkansans regardless of place of residence. Although required to meet state educational mandates, an open-enrollment charter school is governed by a local, independent board of trustees.
The school is part of the Lighthouse Academies school system, which has 10 other schools – two in Chicago, one in New York City, three in Gary, Ind., and three in Indianapolis. Lighthouse Academies is a national nonprofit, charter-school-management organization whose mission is opening and operating of schools in urban areas that have been underserved historically.
Construction of the 28,425-square-foot building got off to a late start in March, in part due to spring rains. Frequent bouts of wet weather ever since have plagued the project.
Even after the building interior was finished, the weather twice delayed the move. There haven’t been enough sunny days to dry out the ground so that the parking lot could be built or the driveway finished.
Project planners finally gave up on waiting for enough dry weather to lay asphalt and instead put in a temporary gravel surface to make driving and parking possible.
“We scraped away as much mud as we could and will have to wait ‘til it dries out to get asphalt down,” said Jim Green, general contractor for the project.
“We’re still looking forward to getting the parking lot paved and landscaped and a playground built so the kids will have a place outside to play,” said Livingston, adding, “The inside looks great.”
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
EDITORIAL >> Decision near on health care
Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor have expressed doubts about Sen. Harry Reid’s just-introduced health-care bill, which includes a so-called public option. The Arkansas Democrats are reluctant to align themselves with the Senate majority leader’s bill that seems too liberal to some of their constituents. But because the public option would allow states to drop out of the program if they don’t like it, there’s still a chance Lincoln and Pryor will reluctantly join fellow Democrats in the next few weeks and throw their support behind a bill that will be the most comprehensive overhaul of our health-care system since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid 45 years ago.
Both sides know there’s much at stake, and Republicans are continuing their rearguard action against reform. They will hold a rally Thursday in Little Rock.
A commercial financed by the Family Research Council recently went on the air that warns of supposed financial hardships that health-care reform would place on future generations. In the ad, a little boy is waved out of the door and sent off to work by his grandfather, who tells the kid he needs a paycheck to pay for his surgery.
The point the commercial tries to make is discredited by its own argument: health care will be so expensive in the future, children will be forced to work. But it’s the children of baby boomers, and many baby boomers themselves, who are already in financial straits because of past policies with appalling consequences that younger generations are now seeing first-hand for themselves. We’re already strained financially. Scare tactics won’t work on people who are struggling.
The agenda pushed through Congress in the last several years didn’t help young people go to college or receive job training, or families meet vast health-care and mortgage payments or reduce waste in government services. Instead, those policies led the country into a financial meltdown.
The thousands of people bankrupted by medical bills have left the institutions that cared for them holding the bag. That results in job losses for the employees who work at those institutions and places a hardship on cities where those institutions are located at a loss. Before you know it, there’s health crisis across the country.
Reforming health-care costs that would contribute to a healthier work force would make America competitive globally, something we need now more than ever in history. Reform would also leave more money for other deserving sectors of the economy, such as infrastructure. The failure to guarantee the health of the American people for the past century, while just one small part of the fractured economy, has drained other parts of American society.
Attempts to remediate the problem, such as faith-based groups that provide free medical care to needy people, have eased some of the burden on those struggling to pay their bills. Just like individuals, local governments are also feeling the strain of an overburdened health system.
Hospitals are reporting that they must charge private insurers, and their clients, more for services because government payments are not high enough. Most hospitals are tax-exempt organizations, and that status should count as a government contribution to their bottom line.
There are other ways that health reform could contribute to hospitals and keep money in patients’ pocketbooks. Proponents of health-care reform have suggested that it would save money by insuring people when they’re young, which would decrease costs by the time they become eligible for Medicare. If they’re healthy when they are 65, cost for their health care will be substantially less.
Most of the bills under consideration in Congress include preventative care that is cheaper than emergency care. Health-care reform could save us billions of dollars over time and pour more money into a struggling economy because healthy people make for a more productive society.
Both sides know there’s much at stake, and Republicans are continuing their rearguard action against reform. They will hold a rally Thursday in Little Rock.
A commercial financed by the Family Research Council recently went on the air that warns of supposed financial hardships that health-care reform would place on future generations. In the ad, a little boy is waved out of the door and sent off to work by his grandfather, who tells the kid he needs a paycheck to pay for his surgery.
The point the commercial tries to make is discredited by its own argument: health care will be so expensive in the future, children will be forced to work. But it’s the children of baby boomers, and many baby boomers themselves, who are already in financial straits because of past policies with appalling consequences that younger generations are now seeing first-hand for themselves. We’re already strained financially. Scare tactics won’t work on people who are struggling.
The agenda pushed through Congress in the last several years didn’t help young people go to college or receive job training, or families meet vast health-care and mortgage payments or reduce waste in government services. Instead, those policies led the country into a financial meltdown.
The thousands of people bankrupted by medical bills have left the institutions that cared for them holding the bag. That results in job losses for the employees who work at those institutions and places a hardship on cities where those institutions are located at a loss. Before you know it, there’s health crisis across the country.
Reforming health-care costs that would contribute to a healthier work force would make America competitive globally, something we need now more than ever in history. Reform would also leave more money for other deserving sectors of the economy, such as infrastructure. The failure to guarantee the health of the American people for the past century, while just one small part of the fractured economy, has drained other parts of American society.
Attempts to remediate the problem, such as faith-based groups that provide free medical care to needy people, have eased some of the burden on those struggling to pay their bills. Just like individuals, local governments are also feeling the strain of an overburdened health system.
Hospitals are reporting that they must charge private insurers, and their clients, more for services because government payments are not high enough. Most hospitals are tax-exempt organizations, and that status should count as a government contribution to their bottom line.
There are other ways that health reform could contribute to hospitals and keep money in patients’ pocketbooks. Proponents of health-care reform have suggested that it would save money by insuring people when they’re young, which would decrease costs by the time they become eligible for Medicare. If they’re healthy when they are 65, cost for their health care will be substantially less.
Most of the bills under consideration in Congress include preventative care that is cheaper than emergency care. Health-care reform could save us billions of dollars over time and pour more money into a struggling economy because healthy people make for a more productive society.
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