By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Three former cellmates of Jerry Dale Luker — all Lonoke County residents — were charged with second-degree murder Friday in his death, which resulted from an incident in the Lonoke County Jail last October, according to Prosecuting Attorney Will Feland.
Feland also charged the three — Eddie Thomas Buchy, 29, of Ward, David Chad Lane, 32, of Cabot and Wesley May Minnie, 22, of Cabot — with engaging in violent criminal-group activity and with being habitual criminals. Both charges are sentence enhancers.
The habitual-criminal charge is for defendants previously convicted of four or more felonies, making them subject to an extended term of imprisonment.
Engaging in violent criminal-group activity occurs when someone acts in concert with two or more others. It also enhances penalties.
“I can’t elaborate on the circumstances,” Feland said, except “they were all in the samejail cell with the deceased.” The charges followed an investigation into Luker’s death by the State Police.
The three men will appear in court at 9 a.m. Jan. 25 for plea and arraignment.
Luker, 34, a Lonoke resident, died as the result of a major head injury. He was committed to the state Correction Department to serve a 36-month sentence for fraudulent use of a credit card and felony probation violations, according to the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office.
While in custody in Lonoke, but before he was transferred to the Correction Depart-ment, he received a head injury while in the restroom area of the cellblock, according to a report.
Buchy is serving 36 months in the Correction Department’s Pine Bluff Unit for convictions of theft by receiving, manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance, fraud/possession of drug paraphernalia and probation revocation.
Lane is serving eight years in the Tucker Maximum Security Unit for charges dating back as far as January 1998, including residential burglary, probation revocation, theft of property, manufacture, delivery and possession of a controlled substance, tampering with evidence and absconding.
Minnie is in the Cummins Unit, sentenced to five years for crimes including sexual indecency with a child, residential burglary, possession of drug paraphernalia, theft of property, breaking and entering, theft by receiving, failure to register and probation revocation.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
TOP STORY >> Republicans slam Lincoln
State Sen. Gilbert Baker (left) meets David Mitchell and Brent Cooper, both of Cabot, during a lunchtime campaign stop Monday at Colton’s Steak House and Grill in Cabot. Baker is running for the U.S. Senate in the Republican primary.By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Lonoke County Republicans, spoiling for a good fight and vowing to banish Democrats — Sen. Blanche Lincoln in particular — from power in the nation’s capital, heard what they came for when state Sen. Gilbert Baker and Sen. Kim Hendren, two of nine GOP hopefuls, spoke at Grandpa’s Bar-B-Que in Cabot on Monday night.
Both men, along with state Rep. Davy Carter (R-Cabot) and others, took a shot at the two Lonoke County officials who are drawing state retirement benefits while serving as county treasurer and county assessor.
Karol DePriest is treasurer and Jerry Adams is assessor, both Democrats.
Carter was warmly received when he referred disparagingly to “Barack Hussein” and “Blanche Lambert.” Lambert is Lincoln’s maiden name.
He accused her of “voting in our face every time she pushes a button.”
He warned that when the General Assembly meets in its first regular off-year session beginning Tuesday that he would be voting against all bills, no matter how good they might be, because the session was supposed to be dedicated to financial matters only.
“We’re not going to open the floodgates,” Carter said.
“America’s at a crossroads,” state Sen. Baker (R-Conway) told approximately 35 local Republican officeholders, hopefuls and others at the gathering.
Apparently a campaign catchphrase or theme, he said that several times during his 20-minute talk.
“If we don’t take Blanche out now, we’re done for,” Baker said.
“We’re going to send her back to Virginia,” which, he said, is where she really lives.
“I’m not accepting any earmarks,” Baker said. “I’ve already signed Grover Norquist’s pledge not to raise taxes.” Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform in Washington.
He called Lincoln as a liberal Democrat who yields to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and President Obama.
Baker, who leads a large field in the Republican primary with about $800,000 in his war chest, said voters must consider electability, “not just another 2004, when we just had our say.”
LEADS LINCOLN
He said he led Lincoln 51 percent to 39 percent in a Rasmussen poll of likely voters last week.
He criticized Lincoln for voting for the health-care bill and favoring a climate bill that he said would raise utility bills by $100 a month.
“She voted twice for the health-care bill,” Baker said, which is a sweetheart deal for Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson’s constituents.
“She voted with Pelosi, Reid and Obama.”
He accused her of turning off her office phones so she wouldn’t have to hear from Arkansans.
“We blew it in 2004,” he said, when she was re-elected in a race against former state Sen. Jim Holt of Springdale. He’s running again in the Republican primary, along with eight others.
With a bill to ban gay marriage on the ballot, it was a perfect time for conservatives to take her out in 2004, Baker said.
“She voted for (U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia) Sotomayer, who has trampled on the Second Amendment,” he said. “Senator Gilbert Baker wouldn’t have confirmed her.”
“The Bush tax cuts are going away,” he warned.
HENDREN CHARMS
Hendren, a former Democrat who is in his sixth term in the state Senate, spoke with an easy, good-old boy Gravette charm, alternately attacking the Democrats or drawing laughter.
Of his unsuccessful run for governor in 1982, he said, “They told me I’d have won that if I’d been married to Hillary—but it wasn’t worth it.”
Criticizing President Obama, he said, “I’m not sure you can understand (regular people) when you spend your life in an ivory tower.”
Hendren, who is 71, promised that if he’s elected senator, “two terms and I’m out.”
He criticized the move to double the scholarship amounts based on the Arkansas lottery’s first few months’ revenues.
He said those decisions were improperly being made behind closed doors.
Hendren’s remarks frequently covered the kinds of local Arkansas issues he’s addressed since coming to the General Assembly in 1979.
“We’ve got a balanced budget, but (the state owes) $300 million in unemployment taxes,” he said.
“Now you don’t have to prove you can’t find a job,” he said. “You just have to say so.”
“He who doesn’t work shouldn’t eat,” Hendren insisted.
“We’re not teaching the Constitution to kids,” he lamented.
“Sam Walton campaigned for me,” he said of an early election, referring to Walmart’s founder.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
EDITORIAL >> A pass for polluters
Our nomination for the least surprising news of the week is the recommendation of the director of the state Department of Environmental Quality that the coal-burning utilities in Arkansas be given a pass on reducing their air poisoning by Oct. 15, 2013. The least surprising news next week will be the state Pollution Control and Ecology Commission’s decision to do exactly that.
That is, after all, what the utilities want and there is little record of Arkansas state regulatory agencies disappointing them. The quality of Arkansas air is a secondary matter.
The immediate effect of director Teresa Marks’ recommendation and the commission’s rubber-stamp of her recommendation next week is that Entergy Corp. and the other owners of the White Bluff coal-powered generating plant south of us will not have to install scrubbers at the plant to reduce its emission of sulphur and nitrogen oxides — not for a long while anyway. The White Bluff plant produces more sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide — the chief agents that cause acid rain — than the other Arkansas generating plants combined: about 38 billion tons a year of sulphur dioxide and 22 billion tons of nitrogen oxide.
The utilities did not want to install scrubbers when the plant was built in the 1970s and state regulators said that was fine.
Elsewhere around the country, owing to the rising concern about acid rain on forests and streams, states required scrubbers.
Acid rain declined across the East the last quarter century.
Two years ago, the Environ-mental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush created a new air rule requiring coal plants built in the 1960s and 1970s to be equipped with scrubbers, which remove the sulphur from the exhaust-flue gases of coal and oil plants. The Arkansas pollution agency set Oct. 15, 2013 as the deadline for Arkansas coal plants to comply.
Entergy and the other owners of White Bluff — three city utilities and the electric cooperatives — wanted to install the cleaner at a cost of some $780 million because the alternative was to shut the plant down and build a cleaner one or buy power from a cleaner supplier of electricity like the big gas-powered generating plant at El Dorado.
But the utilities realized the uncertainty at the federal level. The new tougher EPA standards or Congress may write even tougher standards that apply to the carbon gases that produce global warming as well as sulphur and nitrogen. Why clean the air until you absolutely have to and you know exactly the least that you will have to do? Waiving the 2013 deadline means the new deadline will be five years after the EPA eventually approves Arkansas’ plan to comply with the air rules.
It’s best to be philosophical about our obsequious regulatory agencies. The acid hasn’t killed us yet. What’s another five or six years? —E.D.
That is, after all, what the utilities want and there is little record of Arkansas state regulatory agencies disappointing them. The quality of Arkansas air is a secondary matter.
The immediate effect of director Teresa Marks’ recommendation and the commission’s rubber-stamp of her recommendation next week is that Entergy Corp. and the other owners of the White Bluff coal-powered generating plant south of us will not have to install scrubbers at the plant to reduce its emission of sulphur and nitrogen oxides — not for a long while anyway. The White Bluff plant produces more sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide — the chief agents that cause acid rain — than the other Arkansas generating plants combined: about 38 billion tons a year of sulphur dioxide and 22 billion tons of nitrogen oxide.
The utilities did not want to install scrubbers when the plant was built in the 1970s and state regulators said that was fine.
Elsewhere around the country, owing to the rising concern about acid rain on forests and streams, states required scrubbers.
Acid rain declined across the East the last quarter century.
Two years ago, the Environ-mental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush created a new air rule requiring coal plants built in the 1960s and 1970s to be equipped with scrubbers, which remove the sulphur from the exhaust-flue gases of coal and oil plants. The Arkansas pollution agency set Oct. 15, 2013 as the deadline for Arkansas coal plants to comply.
Entergy and the other owners of White Bluff — three city utilities and the electric cooperatives — wanted to install the cleaner at a cost of some $780 million because the alternative was to shut the plant down and build a cleaner one or buy power from a cleaner supplier of electricity like the big gas-powered generating plant at El Dorado.
But the utilities realized the uncertainty at the federal level. The new tougher EPA standards or Congress may write even tougher standards that apply to the carbon gases that produce global warming as well as sulphur and nitrogen. Why clean the air until you absolutely have to and you know exactly the least that you will have to do? Waiving the 2013 deadline means the new deadline will be five years after the EPA eventually approves Arkansas’ plan to comply with the air rules.
It’s best to be philosophical about our obsequious regulatory agencies. The acid hasn’t killed us yet. What’s another five or six years? —E.D.
EDITORIAL >> Those sham retirements
Several Lonoke County officials are red-faced over those sham retirements uncovered last week involving Assessor Jerry Adams and Treasurer Karol DePriest, who have been drawing two checks since last summer — their regular pay and a pension.
But the fallout has also hurt other county officials who probably knew about the scheme.
Their pseudo retirements were met with derision at a meeting of Lonoke County Republicans in Cabot Monday night. But Adams and DePriest say they’ve done nothing wrong and will run for re-election. But if they had felt clean about their temporary stealth retirements, why the secrecy?
We can see the campaign slogans in a Democratic primary or general election now: “Retire retirees for real. Turn out the double dippers. Vote for (fill in the blank).”
Now, it’s easy to say that other officials have pulled off the same deception — secretly drawing a retirement check when the public wasn’t even told that they had temporarily “retired.” It’s still wrong, no matter how many officials have tried to dupe the public.
They didn’t “retire” any more than they walked on the moon. They just happened to have found a loophole in the law that allows retired public employees to return to work when their talents and expertise are needed. The law, of course, was meant to encourage retired teachers to fill vacancies, allowing them to keep their pension checks even if they went back to work.
That sounds reasonable, but then the school superintendents and the politicians saw an opening, and they couldn’t wait for that retirement check. Former Cabot Superintendent Frank Holman called it quits for a few weeks last year when he was superintendent in northwest Arkansas. But at least he told his board he was vacating his position, although the job was never advertised and the public was never told. Media coverage finally uncovered the scheme.
Adams and DePriest supposedly informed a small group of insiders about their intentions to grab an extra paycheck, but county residents and even the quorum court were kept in the dark. When we checked at the courthouse last summer, we were told nobody had retired and come back to work. That was supposed to happen elsewhere.
Other county officials are grudgingly conceding that they may have heard about the scheme after all. It should never have happened, even if the Arkansas Association of Counties was quietly encouraging officials to go for it, hoping the public would never find out.
The Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System, which administers the fund for retirees, is looking into the controversy and is promising to clean house. Let’s hope the reaction against this public deception will end double dipping among elected officials and school superintendents.
Sen. Bobby Glover, D-Carlisle, is among the critics who want to stop the practice. He and the state Legislative Audit Committee have begun an investigation. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has been clear on this issue: He says elected officials cannot collect retirement pay without vacating their offices. It’s common sense, which is often lacking in the public arena.
But the fallout has also hurt other county officials who probably knew about the scheme.
Their pseudo retirements were met with derision at a meeting of Lonoke County Republicans in Cabot Monday night. But Adams and DePriest say they’ve done nothing wrong and will run for re-election. But if they had felt clean about their temporary stealth retirements, why the secrecy?
We can see the campaign slogans in a Democratic primary or general election now: “Retire retirees for real. Turn out the double dippers. Vote for (fill in the blank).”
Now, it’s easy to say that other officials have pulled off the same deception — secretly drawing a retirement check when the public wasn’t even told that they had temporarily “retired.” It’s still wrong, no matter how many officials have tried to dupe the public.
They didn’t “retire” any more than they walked on the moon. They just happened to have found a loophole in the law that allows retired public employees to return to work when their talents and expertise are needed. The law, of course, was meant to encourage retired teachers to fill vacancies, allowing them to keep their pension checks even if they went back to work.
That sounds reasonable, but then the school superintendents and the politicians saw an opening, and they couldn’t wait for that retirement check. Former Cabot Superintendent Frank Holman called it quits for a few weeks last year when he was superintendent in northwest Arkansas. But at least he told his board he was vacating his position, although the job was never advertised and the public was never told. Media coverage finally uncovered the scheme.
Adams and DePriest supposedly informed a small group of insiders about their intentions to grab an extra paycheck, but county residents and even the quorum court were kept in the dark. When we checked at the courthouse last summer, we were told nobody had retired and come back to work. That was supposed to happen elsewhere.
Other county officials are grudgingly conceding that they may have heard about the scheme after all. It should never have happened, even if the Arkansas Association of Counties was quietly encouraging officials to go for it, hoping the public would never find out.
The Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System, which administers the fund for retirees, is looking into the controversy and is promising to clean house. Let’s hope the reaction against this public deception will end double dipping among elected officials and school superintendents.
Sen. Bobby Glover, D-Carlisle, is among the critics who want to stop the practice. He and the state Legislative Audit Committee have begun an investigation. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has been clear on this issue: He says elected officials cannot collect retirement pay without vacating their offices. It’s common sense, which is often lacking in the public arena.
SPORTS >> Lady ’Rabbits strike early, dominate late
Lonoke’s Cara Neighbors tries to dribble between Bald Knob defenders Friday.By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Friday night’s 2-4A Conference game between rivals Lonoke and Bald Knob was somewhat anti-climactic as the Lady Jackrabbits clubbed the Lady Bulldogs 52-19 in a mercy rule-shortened game at Lonoke.
But the lack of drama was just fine with Lonoke coach Nathan Morris.
Maybe that’s because his Lady ’Rabbits (12-5, 4-0) have taken the driver’s seat in the league standings thanks to a victory over contender Stuttgart earlier in the week and their rout of the defending conference champion Lady Bulldogs on Friday.
Lonoke held Bald Knob (6-7, 1-1) to only four points until the final 1:21 of the first half, and scored all the points necessary to put the clock in continuous motion with 1:53 left in the third quarter. The one-sided victory put a new spin on a series that has traditionally been one of the more closely played in the state.
“It’s been such a big rivalry for the past four or five years,” Morris said. “I think our kids knew that. You can’t hide that. I’m proud of the way they played — I thought we came out very intense early. We pressed well and hit a lot of shots early.”
Quickness, a full-court defense and balanced scoring gave the Lady Jackrabbits an overwhelming advantage, not to mention a 21-0 run that began with two minutes left in the first quarter and ended with 1:21 left in the second, when Lady Bulldogs guard McKenzie Cox finally scored for Bald Knob.
But the Lady Jackrabbits had already built a 29-6 lead by that point, and continued to pressure the slower and less-experienced Lady Bulldogs coming out of halftime.
“We didn’t let up in the second half,” Morris said. “We played hard in the second half. We finished it off, and were able to rest starters. Scoring 14, 17, 17 — that’s good quarters, and at the same time holding them. Defensively, we executed real well and we executed most of the things we wanted to on offense.”
Lonoke junior guard Cara Neighbors led the way with 14 points while Ashleigh Himstedt scored 11 and post player Asiah Scribner scored 10. Senior point guard Michaela Brown scored eight points and made a three-pointer at the 6:12 mark of the first quarter to give the Lady ’Rabbits a 6-2 lead.
“This was a game where we felt like we were better athletes, so we wanted to utilize that,” Morris said. “Against Shiloh, Conway and Star City, we wanted to slow down a little bit, but this game, we wanted to run. I thought we did that; I thought they responded to that real well.”
The bench also came through for Morris. Junior Patrice Smith had a pair of steals and several rebounds while classmate Emily Howell disrupted the Lady Bulldogs inside by forcing jump balls and putting herself in passing and scoring lanes repeatedly.
“I though Patrice Smith did a good job tonight,” Morris said. “I thought she was under control. She’s getting more and more confidence. Those other kids who are playing some minutes are doing well.
“Anna Himstedt, our sophomore starter, has been doing well. And then Emily Howell has been coming off the bench and playing good minutes. They are not scoring a lot of points, but they are doing the things you don’t read about in the papers.”
SPORTS >> Conway outmans Cabot in opener
Alex Baker was Cabot’s leading scorer in Friday’s home loss against Conway.By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
Cabot coach Jerry Bridges pulled up a courtside chair during halftime of the girls game Friday night and watched the Conway boys, Cabot’s opponent in two more quarters, conduct their shoot around.
“If they put him down on the block, I’m in trouble,” said Bridges, warily eyeing Conway’s 6-5 senior forward Preston Purifoy.
Guess what happened?
Purifoy, banging inside, scored 19 points and Conway ran away to a 77-47 victory that came by way of the high school mercy rule. It was the 7A-Central Conference opener for both teams.
Bridges recalled a similar beating on the road, but it was his worst home loss since he took over in 2004.
“The last game of the year at Russellville my third year here, but not in this gym,” Bridges said. “It’s embarrassing.”
The Panthers were within 17-16 when Karsten Powers made two free throws with 4:14 left in the second quarter.
But Purifoy scored 11 points in the quarter as the Wampus Cats took a 36-20 halftime lead. Purifoy took the ball inside and got to the free-throw line for five of his second-quarter points.
“The animal,” Bridges said in his post game interview. “I’m open for suggestions as to who you all think I ought to have guarding him. My guys can’t match with him.”
But Bridges already knew beating Conway was going to be a tall order. Watching film of Conway’s game against Springdale Har-Ber, Bridges said he never saw Purifoy post up, but knew that if he did, Cabot would have its hands full.
Once Purifoy was established around the basket, Conway junior Micah Delph erupted to score 16 of his 18 points in the third quarter. Delph hit four three-pointers in the period as the Wampus Cats took a 64-38 lead into the fourth quarter.
Conway’s Kenyon McNeaill scored eights points in the first quarter before taking a hard fall, banging his hip and elbow.
Conway coach James Bates said the bumps and bruises turned McNeaill into an offensive catalyst.
“I think the one that made it all happen is McNeaill,” Bates said. “He kind of hit hard on his elbow and hip there in the first half and quit looking to score, but he had a bunch of assists and got us going. When those three are all playing well we’ve been really good and tonight was a night to get a good start in conference play.”
Even with half a McNeaill, defending Conway was still a coach’s headache, Bridges said. A double team on Purifoy, or anyone else, was not an option.
“Do we double down on him and let him kick out to Delph and McNeaill, who can knock them down?” Bridges said.
Bridges said Cabot didn’t help itself by giving in to the Wampus Cats’ tempo.
“We’ve got to try do a better job of not letting them speed us up,” Bridges said. “And boy my little guards were just going bananas at the get-go.”
McNeaill made Conway’s first three-point attempt and it never trailed, and with Cabot playing catch-up the entire game, the best thing the Panthers could have hoped for was a few missed shots by the Wampus Cats.
“If they’re not making shots they can’t get into their fullcourt pressure because that’s where they speed you up, and it is relentless,” Bridges said of Conway. “But we played hard; my guys didn’t quit.”
Cabot’s Alex Baker made four three-pointers and led Cabot (6-6, 0-1) with 16 points. Darin Jones added nine.
SPORTS >> Lonoke rallies by Bald Knob
Lonoke guard Ryan White gets heavy pressure from Bald Knob’s Nick Glaze.By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Lonoke senior guard Michael Nelson rebounded a missed Bald Knob free throw with two seconds left to help the Jackrabbits beat the Bulldogs 43-42 in a 2-4A Conference game at Lonoke on Friday.
Everything went Bald Knob’s way in the first half. But Lonoke held the Bulldogs scoreless in the third quarter to go from a 27-15 halftime deficit to a 32-27 lead heading into the fourth quarter to set up the thrilling finish.
Lonoke (6-4, 3-1) has won four straight games.
“We want to try and put as much pressure as we can in the second quarter,” Lonoke coach Dean Campbell said. “But I thought we gave them some open looks. We just came out in the third quarter and made up our mind to play half-court, man-to-man defense and be solid and defend. I’m proud of them.”
It was an offensive duel between post players. Bald Knob senior Trey Gavin led the Bulldogs with 17 points and made three, three-pointers, while center Chad Dixon led the Jackrabbits with 19 points, scoring eight in the pivotal third quarter.
But with Gavin’s physical play also came three first-half fouls, forcing him to sit out the entire third quarter.
“Trey is a very good player,” Campbell said. “He’s got a lot of confidence, especially out of football season. Several of those kids play football just like ours do. He really helps them go.
“Our guys did a good job of helping on team defense as opposed to just individual. Our guys really did take advantage when he was out.”
Lonoke’s fate without Dixon was similar. Bald Knob managed to take Dixon out of the mix in the second quarter after the junior post player had scored seven points in the first.
But the Jackrabbits reversed that in the third quarter by going to Dixon almost exclusively. Dixon scored 10 of Lonoke’s 16 third-quarter points to help the ’Rabbits reclaim the lead.
“We talked at halftime,” Campbell said. “And all I did was put up a picture of the court, put his number on the block and drew arrows from places on the floor for him. And I told them that when that happens, good things have happened.
“He played varsity last year, but he still needs to get more varsity minutes. It’s been up-and-down, and tonight, I thought he did a good job.”
Lonoke also got third-quarter help from Demarcus Dodson, who started the half with a floater in the lane to cut it to 27-17.
Nelson, the quarterback in football, then stepped up for his first points when he hit a free throw to make it 27-24 with 3:43 left in the quarter. Dixon made a pair of free throws and Tarrale Watson followed with a shot assisted by Dodson to make it 30-27.
The Jackrabbits snuck in two more points before the end of the quarter when Dixon hit a second put-back attempt for a 32-27 lead entering the final period.
Mike James added six points for Lonoke, while Watson, Dodson and Nelson finished with five each.
For Bald Knob, Nick Glaze added nine points.
“We’re still trying to figure out who we are – what each kid can do,” Campbell said. “They’re getting more comfortable together. We’re starting to gel a little bit.
“Kids are giving each other five on the free-throw line and encouraging each other. I think this group really likes each other, so that helps.”
Gavin dominated the inside and outside in the first half for Bald Knob. He made an inside shot off an assist from guard Seth Duncan to put the Bulldogs up 5-2 with 5:46 left in the first quarter and ended a 7-0 run by Dixon with a long three-point shot that cut Lonoke’s lead to 10-9 with 1:42 left.
Gavin added another seven points in the second quarter, including a three-pointer with 5:44 left to give the Bulldogs an 18-11 lead and a layup off a steal with 4:18 to play.
SPORTS >> Globetrotter has a ball
Hot Shot interacts with the kids at the Little Rock Air Force Base daycare center.Leader story and photos by Jason King
Harlem Globetrotter Andre “Hot Shot” Branch paid a visit to Little Rock Air Force Base on Friday afternoon to entertain kids and sign autographs at the base daycare center.
Branch, now in his seventh year as a Globetrotter, will also be on hand when the legendary Clown Princes of Basketball take on their archrivals Washington Generals at Verizon Arena on Jan. 20 as part of their 2010 “Magical Memories” world tour.
Branch is a Houston native and a 1995 graduate of Baylor University. He is the sixth-leading scorer at Baylor and holds the school record for career three-pointers with 267, and he is second on the all-time list for three-pointers made in a season with 104.
He received a degree in communications and played minor league basketball oversees until getting the call of a lifetime to don the Globetrotters’ red, white and blue in 2004.
Branch made the grade in a succession of camps the Globetrotters use to develop talent, and earned a place alongside such notables as Kevin “Special K” Daley, who is now in his fifth year as a Globetrotter, and Wun “The Shot” Verser, the elder statesman of active players.
Branch began his visit to the base by giving the children a brief history of the 84-year-old Globetrotters before volunteering some members of the audience to participate in ball-handling drills, which mostly consisted of a no-dribble figure eight. He then enlisted the kids into a silly dance, getting them to shake their hips and wave their hands in the air.
Branch went on to demonstrate ball-handling abilities and command of some of the Globetrotters’ signature tricks before signing autographs as Brother Bones’ “Sweet Georgia Brown”, the Globetrotters’ longtime theme song, played from a boom box set up on the autograph table.
More goes into being a Globetrotter than just basketball skills, Branch said.
“As the season goes along, you start picking up on things,” Branch said. “Your personality, character and all of those things need to be straight too, because you’re talking about an 84-year history. Once you’re able to maintain those things and they feel that you can be a part of this team, then you’ll get your shot.”
Branch received his nickname because of his high shooting percentage and outside accuracy.
The Magical Memories tour follows a tour of U.S. air bases around the world, something the Globetrotters have done for a number of years.
“We always do a military tour before we start our United States tour,” Branch said. “We go to the military bases overseas and we play games for women and men who are serving in the armed forces.
“We want to show appreciation for what they do. They’re over there fighting and battling and sacrificing their lives.
“They are the actual heroes, and we want to bring something to them. And by seeing their faces — they are so happy — we have a great time every place that we go.”
Branch used a camouflage basketball during his appearance at the base; the same basketball the Globetrotters used while entertaining overseas. He said the ball is another way to show appreciation to the troops.
The Globetrotters’ primary adversaries since 1952 have been the Washington Generals, although they were renamed the New York Nationals from 1995-2006 before returning to the familiar green and yellow of the Generals in 2007.
The running gag of the Globetrotters versus Generals rivalry poses the Generals as intent on competing in a serious basketball game, while the fan-favored Globetrotters perform a series of tricks and pranks, usually at the expense of their adversaries.
But even with all of the buffoonery, the Globetrotters still find a way to out score Washington and claim the victory.
Harlem has beaten the Generals over 13,000 times through the years, while going down in defeat only six times. The last time Washington won a game against the Globetrotters was in Martin, Tenn., on January 5, 1971.
When asked if he ever felt guilty about beating up on Generals for a living, in light of all the military appearances, Branch had a quick response.
“Those are a different type of Generals – they’re green and gold,” Branch said. “The good thing about being a Globetrotter and playing the Generals and coming to the arena — we know what outcome the game is going to be — but our main goal and our main focus is to bring all the families together.”
Branch, who grew up as a big fan of the team, said seeing people bond at Globetrotters games has been his biggest reward since joining the organization.
“Because out of my years of watching the Globetrotters growing up, and out of my years of playing, the many games I’ve played, I’ve never remembered the final score of the game,” Branch said.
“I’ve never remembered how many points someone had; I always remember that one particular moment, that great time I had at that game. And that’s what it’s all about, so everyone’s a winner.”
Friday, January 08, 2010
EDITORIAL >> Take these taxes and...
What typically happens to reports of government-sponsored citizen study commissions is that their findings get headlines for a few days and then are bound and stored in the state archives and forgotten. Make room on the shelf for the report of the Arkansas Blue Ribbon Committee on Highway Finance.
The committee will not formally report to the governor and the legislature until its final meeting next week, but its major recommendations seemed apparent this week. It will suggest imposing a fresh excise tax on the wholesale price of motor fuels and indexing the current motor-fuel taxes every year to inflation in highway construction. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that those were the funding measures most favored by the citizen committee members. Sen. John Paul Capps (D-Searcy) is the committee chairman, and it also includes former Rep. Mike Wilson of Jacksonville.
The state Highway Commission says it needs a huge increase in highway funds to maintain the current system and meet the changing traffic demands, including completion of the North Belt freeway, which would cost $200 million, as was reported here last weekend. (Let’s see, when did the Highway Commission NOT need a huge increase in funds? Our memory only goes back 70 years.)
Let’s admit that there is a problem. As vehicles become more and more fuel efficient — President Obama’s new fleet-efficiency standards will raise the mileage of vehicles even more dramatically over the next dozen years — the taxes that the state collects for each mile traveled on the roads keep declining. Traffic is increasing and the cost of road-building and maintenance is increasing but road-building money is dwindling. It’s a nightmare for highway agencies but a beautiful scenario for motorists who pay fewer and fewer taxes per mile — at least until the roads and bridges crumble.
But the Arkansas legislature is not going to pass new fuel taxes — not at the truncated fiscal session next month, and not at the big regular session in 2011. Not, at least, unless the economy comes roaring back and oil prices collapse, and probably not even under those conditions.
It takes three-fourths of the members of both houses of the legislature to raise motor-fuel taxes under the perverse constitutional amendment ratified during the Great Depression. No Republican is allowed now to vote for a tax of any kind because he or she will be drummed out of the party. Since the party now owns a fourth or more of the seats in both houses and probably will increase their numbers this year, that factor alone disposes of the idea of raising highway taxes in the foreseeable future. A sizable quotient of Democrats will vote no, too.
So the nimble citizens on the Blue Ribbon Committee have produced a couple of wrinkles that might get the taxes enacted by a simple majority of both houses. An excise tax on the wholesale rather than the retail price of gasoline would feel the same to consumers but it might be considered an entirely new tax rather than a tax increase and thus not subject to the three-fourths requirement.
The same argument might hold with indexing gasoline taxes to rising (or falling) construction costs. The argument would be that it was not an increase in the tax rate but merely a new formula for calculating the tax rate. The tax rate, you see, could go down as well as up if the country hit a deflationary period.
The parliamentarians of the House and Senate will accept those legal arguments and the courts might, too, after the inevitable lawsuits. But motorists will not. No matter which way the tax rate is calculated, the numbers in the little windows at the pump are the same.
We happen to think the new taxes would be just. We demand smooth, safe and convenient highways and they must be paid for somehow. User taxes are the fairest way. But most motorists and now most legislators will take lots of convincing. Governor Beebe has already indicated that he probably won’t take on the task of selling it.
We thought they had found a better and more politically pleasing way to do it in 2008 when Sheffield Nelson, the old gas man, proposed an initiated act raising the severance tax on natural gas from infinitesimal to 7 percent of the wellhead price. It would raise revenue for highway maintenance and building.
But when Governor Beebe took the idea to the legislature, he had to satisfy the big gas producers to get the three-fourths vote in both houses. Many lawmakers were not going to vote against the interests of the gas companies. So the act created such huge exemptions for the producers and royalty owners that the 5 percent tax raises very little revenue. The money will pick up a little in a couple of years, but it will be a pittance.
That is the politics of highway funding. It will get no better and probably considerably more perilous in the next two years.
Take this study off the shelf in about five years. People will be mad enough by then to want some action.
Until then, don’t expect any major highway improvements, certainly not the extension of the North Belt Loop this decade — although we do remember legislators from north Pulaski County promising us more than two decades ago that a gasoline tax increase would pay for the North Belt Loop. It didn’t even pay for half of it. The cost has more than tripled since then.
The committee will not formally report to the governor and the legislature until its final meeting next week, but its major recommendations seemed apparent this week. It will suggest imposing a fresh excise tax on the wholesale price of motor fuels and indexing the current motor-fuel taxes every year to inflation in highway construction. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that those were the funding measures most favored by the citizen committee members. Sen. John Paul Capps (D-Searcy) is the committee chairman, and it also includes former Rep. Mike Wilson of Jacksonville.
The state Highway Commission says it needs a huge increase in highway funds to maintain the current system and meet the changing traffic demands, including completion of the North Belt freeway, which would cost $200 million, as was reported here last weekend. (Let’s see, when did the Highway Commission NOT need a huge increase in funds? Our memory only goes back 70 years.)
Let’s admit that there is a problem. As vehicles become more and more fuel efficient — President Obama’s new fleet-efficiency standards will raise the mileage of vehicles even more dramatically over the next dozen years — the taxes that the state collects for each mile traveled on the roads keep declining. Traffic is increasing and the cost of road-building and maintenance is increasing but road-building money is dwindling. It’s a nightmare for highway agencies but a beautiful scenario for motorists who pay fewer and fewer taxes per mile — at least until the roads and bridges crumble.
But the Arkansas legislature is not going to pass new fuel taxes — not at the truncated fiscal session next month, and not at the big regular session in 2011. Not, at least, unless the economy comes roaring back and oil prices collapse, and probably not even under those conditions.
It takes three-fourths of the members of both houses of the legislature to raise motor-fuel taxes under the perverse constitutional amendment ratified during the Great Depression. No Republican is allowed now to vote for a tax of any kind because he or she will be drummed out of the party. Since the party now owns a fourth or more of the seats in both houses and probably will increase their numbers this year, that factor alone disposes of the idea of raising highway taxes in the foreseeable future. A sizable quotient of Democrats will vote no, too.
So the nimble citizens on the Blue Ribbon Committee have produced a couple of wrinkles that might get the taxes enacted by a simple majority of both houses. An excise tax on the wholesale rather than the retail price of gasoline would feel the same to consumers but it might be considered an entirely new tax rather than a tax increase and thus not subject to the three-fourths requirement.
The same argument might hold with indexing gasoline taxes to rising (or falling) construction costs. The argument would be that it was not an increase in the tax rate but merely a new formula for calculating the tax rate. The tax rate, you see, could go down as well as up if the country hit a deflationary period.
The parliamentarians of the House and Senate will accept those legal arguments and the courts might, too, after the inevitable lawsuits. But motorists will not. No matter which way the tax rate is calculated, the numbers in the little windows at the pump are the same.
We happen to think the new taxes would be just. We demand smooth, safe and convenient highways and they must be paid for somehow. User taxes are the fairest way. But most motorists and now most legislators will take lots of convincing. Governor Beebe has already indicated that he probably won’t take on the task of selling it.
We thought they had found a better and more politically pleasing way to do it in 2008 when Sheffield Nelson, the old gas man, proposed an initiated act raising the severance tax on natural gas from infinitesimal to 7 percent of the wellhead price. It would raise revenue for highway maintenance and building.
But when Governor Beebe took the idea to the legislature, he had to satisfy the big gas producers to get the three-fourths vote in both houses. Many lawmakers were not going to vote against the interests of the gas companies. So the act created such huge exemptions for the producers and royalty owners that the 5 percent tax raises very little revenue. The money will pick up a little in a couple of years, but it will be a pittance.
That is the politics of highway funding. It will get no better and probably considerably more perilous in the next two years.
Take this study off the shelf in about five years. People will be mad enough by then to want some action.
Until then, don’t expect any major highway improvements, certainly not the extension of the North Belt Loop this decade — although we do remember legislators from north Pulaski County promising us more than two decades ago that a gasoline tax increase would pay for the North Belt Loop. It didn’t even pay for half of it. The cost has more than tripled since then.
TOP STORY >> Jacksonville library’s monthly schedule
The Esther Dewitt Nixon Library in Jacksonville is starting the new year with a slew of events in January.
Among them will be free income-tax assistance, by VITA, on Saturdays starting at the end of January in the meeting room.
Other January events are as follows:
Hot tea tasting at 10 a.m. today. In recognition of National Hot Tea Month, there will be a sampling of some of the tastiest teas around.
Encore and database training, using laptops, is set for 9:30 a.m. Monday. A class of up to five participants will learn how to use CALS electronic resources. Registration is required.
Tyke Tales, storytime for ages 3 to 5, will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday Jan. 13, 20 and 27.
Book Bunch, an after-school storytime for children ages 6 to 8, will be held at 4 p.m. on Wednesdays on Jan. 13, 20 and 27.
A knit and crochet class will be held at noon, Thursday. Bring a bag lunch and current crochet project.
Merry Moppets, storytime fun with toddlers 18 to 36 months, is set for 10:30 a.m. Fridays on Jan. 15, 22 and 29. Advance registration is required.
Teen Time — College Night is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19. There will be information on college and free application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, for high school seniors.
Book Chat, where participants will discuss books read over the past month, is set for 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21.
A crochet class will be at 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23. Beginners of all ages are welcome. Registration is required.
Personal Defense Self-Awareness is set for 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 25. In recognition of Personal Defense Self-Awareness Month, a member of the North Little Rock Police Department will be presenting a workshop on security awareness and defense primarily for women.
Book Club Divas will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26. Copies of the book, “Outer Banks” by Anne Rivers Siddons are available at the front desk.
The library is located at 703 W. Main St. in Jacksonville.
Among them will be free income-tax assistance, by VITA, on Saturdays starting at the end of January in the meeting room.
Other January events are as follows:
Hot tea tasting at 10 a.m. today. In recognition of National Hot Tea Month, there will be a sampling of some of the tastiest teas around.
Encore and database training, using laptops, is set for 9:30 a.m. Monday. A class of up to five participants will learn how to use CALS electronic resources. Registration is required.
Tyke Tales, storytime for ages 3 to 5, will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday Jan. 13, 20 and 27.
Book Bunch, an after-school storytime for children ages 6 to 8, will be held at 4 p.m. on Wednesdays on Jan. 13, 20 and 27.
A knit and crochet class will be held at noon, Thursday. Bring a bag lunch and current crochet project.
Merry Moppets, storytime fun with toddlers 18 to 36 months, is set for 10:30 a.m. Fridays on Jan. 15, 22 and 29. Advance registration is required.
Teen Time — College Night is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19. There will be information on college and free application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, for high school seniors.
Book Chat, where participants will discuss books read over the past month, is set for 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21.
A crochet class will be at 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23. Beginners of all ages are welcome. Registration is required.
Personal Defense Self-Awareness is set for 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 25. In recognition of Personal Defense Self-Awareness Month, a member of the North Little Rock Police Department will be presenting a workshop on security awareness and defense primarily for women.
Book Club Divas will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26. Copies of the book, “Outer Banks” by Anne Rivers Siddons are available at the front desk.
The library is located at 703 W. Main St. in Jacksonville.
TOP STORY >> City council clarifies parking regulations
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
After four months of debate. which included two boisterous public hearings, the Jacksonville council in November approved a nuisance abatement ordinance to help clean up the city.
During the debates, the ordinance was cut in about half and numerous changes were made. But it was soon discovered it needed more tweaking, so the ordinance was amended at the council meeting Thursday night.
The council revamped the street parking aspect of the ordinance to help better define who was in violation. “The ordinance was not meant to cause problems for the visitors who park on the street,” explained Mayor Gary Fletcher. “The amendment will differentiate between visitor parking and residents that use the street as a permanent or regular parking space.”
The city doesn’t want residents parking on the street as it creates a safety hazard, but many people cited after the ordinance first came out were just visitors.
The approved amendment says “no person shall abandon or leave any motor vehicle, attended or unattended, upon any public property or public right of way or within three feet thereof.” Simply put, vehicles can’t park on the street, sidewalk or up against the street.
The amendment allows for an exception “where a person utilizes the street or public right of way immediately adjacent to his or her residence or that of another for the purposes of visiting/entering said residence for a temporary purpose.”
However, the vehicle still can’t block or impede the flow of traffic. Anyone parking in the street, visitor or not, on a regular basis will be cited.
They may have their vehicles towed or impounded if they are not willing to move them from public streets or rights of way after being asked by code- enforcement or law-enforcement officers.
In other council business:
The council voted to accept a bid of $145,500 to build the Farmer’s Market Pavilion south of the community center. The bid by Samco Construction of Cabot was not the lowest bidder, but actually the third lowest.
The council opted not to go with the $127,490 bid by Tru-Star Properties because the company left off $22,000 worth of materials needed to complete the job. The company offered to still honor their bid price, but it was felt that it was not fair to ask a contactor to work without breaking even.
The second-lowest bidder was Key Construction of Magnolia at $142,000, but the firm’s completion time was 180 days longer than the requirements. The company said it could do it in shorter time, but modifying the bid could lead to legal challenges.
In his monthly report, City Engineer Jay Whisker told the council that the engineering department issued 13 building permits and six business licenses during December. The department also performed 192 inspections and wrote 120 warning letters to residents or business owners for yard or structural concerns.
Public Works Director Jim Oakley, in his monthly report, said the animal shelter received 114 dogs and 39 cats during December. Shelter officials were able to adopt 54 dogs and 22 cats, return 29 dogs and one cat to owners and had to euthanize 24 dogs and 33 cats.
Two bite cases were reported during December. A cat bit a shelter worker during an escape attempt and had to be euthanized.
And a shepherd mix bit a lady cutting through the dog’s yard . The dog is in quarantine.
The council appointed Leroy Akridge and Joe Cummings to the Board of Adjustment, Eric McCleary to the Planning Commission and Mike Traylor to the Parks and Recreation Commission.
Alderman Bill Howard and Chad Young were reappointed to the Planning Commission.
Leader staff writer
After four months of debate. which included two boisterous public hearings, the Jacksonville council in November approved a nuisance abatement ordinance to help clean up the city.
During the debates, the ordinance was cut in about half and numerous changes were made. But it was soon discovered it needed more tweaking, so the ordinance was amended at the council meeting Thursday night.
The council revamped the street parking aspect of the ordinance to help better define who was in violation. “The ordinance was not meant to cause problems for the visitors who park on the street,” explained Mayor Gary Fletcher. “The amendment will differentiate between visitor parking and residents that use the street as a permanent or regular parking space.”
The city doesn’t want residents parking on the street as it creates a safety hazard, but many people cited after the ordinance first came out were just visitors.
The approved amendment says “no person shall abandon or leave any motor vehicle, attended or unattended, upon any public property or public right of way or within three feet thereof.” Simply put, vehicles can’t park on the street, sidewalk or up against the street.
The amendment allows for an exception “where a person utilizes the street or public right of way immediately adjacent to his or her residence or that of another for the purposes of visiting/entering said residence for a temporary purpose.”
However, the vehicle still can’t block or impede the flow of traffic. Anyone parking in the street, visitor or not, on a regular basis will be cited.
They may have their vehicles towed or impounded if they are not willing to move them from public streets or rights of way after being asked by code- enforcement or law-enforcement officers.
In other council business:
The council voted to accept a bid of $145,500 to build the Farmer’s Market Pavilion south of the community center. The bid by Samco Construction of Cabot was not the lowest bidder, but actually the third lowest.
The council opted not to go with the $127,490 bid by Tru-Star Properties because the company left off $22,000 worth of materials needed to complete the job. The company offered to still honor their bid price, but it was felt that it was not fair to ask a contactor to work without breaking even.
The second-lowest bidder was Key Construction of Magnolia at $142,000, but the firm’s completion time was 180 days longer than the requirements. The company said it could do it in shorter time, but modifying the bid could lead to legal challenges.
In his monthly report, City Engineer Jay Whisker told the council that the engineering department issued 13 building permits and six business licenses during December. The department also performed 192 inspections and wrote 120 warning letters to residents or business owners for yard or structural concerns.
Public Works Director Jim Oakley, in his monthly report, said the animal shelter received 114 dogs and 39 cats during December. Shelter officials were able to adopt 54 dogs and 22 cats, return 29 dogs and one cat to owners and had to euthanize 24 dogs and 33 cats.
Two bite cases were reported during December. A cat bit a shelter worker during an escape attempt and had to be euthanized.
And a shepherd mix bit a lady cutting through the dog’s yard . The dog is in quarantine.
The council appointed Leroy Akridge and Joe Cummings to the Board of Adjustment, Eric McCleary to the Planning Commission and Mike Traylor to the Parks and Recreation Commission.
Alderman Bill Howard and Chad Young were reappointed to the Planning Commission.
TOP STORY >> Vicious freeze is set to move out
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
From the wettest year on record to some of the coldest days the area has seen since 1996, the weather has been a hot topic.
But single-digit freezing cold will give way to temperatures in the mid-50s by Thursday.
A low of 10 degrees Friday morning was a record-setter and today’s single-digit reading of about 8 degrees will be close to setting a record, but those mornings don’t compare to the 5 degrees on Feb. 5, 1996.
Along with a forecast of warmer weather, meaning at or above normal temperatures for the start of the week, rain is also mentioned for Thursday through the rest of the week.
And rain, and lots of it, was the word for 2009. With more than 80 inches of rain in the local area, the year became the wettest since record-keeping started in 1882.
In fact, 18 reporting sites in the state reported 80 or more inches of rain for the year compared to just three in 2008. Two sites
last year reached 90 inches, and Leola (Grant County) had 100.05 inches.
The months with the most rain were May (wettest on record), July (third wettest), September (second wettest), October (wettest) and December (unofficially the wettest).
Rainfall was the most impressive in October, with 10 to more than 20 inches common across the state. It was the wettest month since January 1937.
In December, a powerful winter storm brought blizzard conditions from the Plains into the upper Midwest just before Christmas. In Arkansas it meant more rain. Some spots measured more than 11 inches of precipitation from the 22nd through the 25th.
But the year’s largest winter event, according to the National Weather Service, unfolded on Jan. 26 and lasted for three to four days.
A paralyzing ice storm across the northern counties left behind 1 to 2 inches of freezing rain and sleet...and locally more. At least 350,000 customers were left without power and 30,000 utility poles were downed or snapped.
As many as 18 fatalities were reported across the state.
Besides the wet weather, 2009 was an active tornado year. During the year, 45 tornadoes were counted across Arkansas. In a normal year, there are 26 tornadoes
Of last year’s tornadoes, 37 were rated EF0 or EF1, five tornadoes were EF2, and three tornadoes were given an EF3 rating.
The tornadoes caused three deaths and 42 injuries.
Looking back at 2009, January was the coolest January since 2003 even though it did hit 77 degrees on the third.
It went from a cool January to a warm February, as February became the warmest February in central Arkansas since 2005.
March was only the second March since 2003 that saw any snowfall.
May was the coolest May since 2002, the wettest on record.
June was the 10th warmest on record and twice it hit 99 degrees during the month, the warmest June temperatures since 2005.
But the heat wave reversed in July as it turned out to be the coolest since 1968 and the 12th coolest on record. A low temperature of 63 degrees on the 18th was the coolest July temperature in five years. July was also the wettest July since 1891.
August was the coolest August in five years and the first August since 2004 without a 100-degree reading.
October turned out to be the coolest since 1987, the 10th coolest on record and had fewer 80-degree days than any other October. It was the wettest October ever and the wettest month since January 1937.
November turned warm and dry. It was the warmest November since 2005 and the driest since 1999.
It was the coolest December since December 2000 and the wettest December since 1987.
Overall 2009 turned out to be the wettest year on record and the coolest since 2003.
State crop losses, because of the weather, have been estimated at more than $300 million.
Leader staff writer
From the wettest year on record to some of the coldest days the area has seen since 1996, the weather has been a hot topic.
But single-digit freezing cold will give way to temperatures in the mid-50s by Thursday.
A low of 10 degrees Friday morning was a record-setter and today’s single-digit reading of about 8 degrees will be close to setting a record, but those mornings don’t compare to the 5 degrees on Feb. 5, 1996.
Along with a forecast of warmer weather, meaning at or above normal temperatures for the start of the week, rain is also mentioned for Thursday through the rest of the week.
And rain, and lots of it, was the word for 2009. With more than 80 inches of rain in the local area, the year became the wettest since record-keeping started in 1882.
In fact, 18 reporting sites in the state reported 80 or more inches of rain for the year compared to just three in 2008. Two sites
last year reached 90 inches, and Leola (Grant County) had 100.05 inches.
The months with the most rain were May (wettest on record), July (third wettest), September (second wettest), October (wettest) and December (unofficially the wettest).
Rainfall was the most impressive in October, with 10 to more than 20 inches common across the state. It was the wettest month since January 1937.
In December, a powerful winter storm brought blizzard conditions from the Plains into the upper Midwest just before Christmas. In Arkansas it meant more rain. Some spots measured more than 11 inches of precipitation from the 22nd through the 25th.
But the year’s largest winter event, according to the National Weather Service, unfolded on Jan. 26 and lasted for three to four days.
A paralyzing ice storm across the northern counties left behind 1 to 2 inches of freezing rain and sleet...and locally more. At least 350,000 customers were left without power and 30,000 utility poles were downed or snapped.
As many as 18 fatalities were reported across the state.
Besides the wet weather, 2009 was an active tornado year. During the year, 45 tornadoes were counted across Arkansas. In a normal year, there are 26 tornadoes
Of last year’s tornadoes, 37 were rated EF0 or EF1, five tornadoes were EF2, and three tornadoes were given an EF3 rating.
The tornadoes caused three deaths and 42 injuries.
Looking back at 2009, January was the coolest January since 2003 even though it did hit 77 degrees on the third.
It went from a cool January to a warm February, as February became the warmest February in central Arkansas since 2005.
March was only the second March since 2003 that saw any snowfall.
May was the coolest May since 2002, the wettest on record.
June was the 10th warmest on record and twice it hit 99 degrees during the month, the warmest June temperatures since 2005.
But the heat wave reversed in July as it turned out to be the coolest since 1968 and the 12th coolest on record. A low temperature of 63 degrees on the 18th was the coolest July temperature in five years. July was also the wettest July since 1891.
August was the coolest August in five years and the first August since 2004 without a 100-degree reading.
October turned out to be the coolest since 1987, the 10th coolest on record and had fewer 80-degree days than any other October. It was the wettest October ever and the wettest month since January 1937.
November turned warm and dry. It was the warmest November since 2005 and the driest since 1999.
It was the coolest December since December 2000 and the wettest December since 1987.
Overall 2009 turned out to be the wettest year on record and the coolest since 2003.
State crop losses, because of the weather, have been estimated at more than $300 million.
TOP STORY >> Air base wins conservation award
From left, Ken Coley, Arkansas Forestry Commission assistant director; Col. Kirk Lear, 314th Airlift Wing vice commander; Alana Myers, Child Development Center director; Janet Carson, University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service master gardener coordinator, and Col. Michael Zick, 19th Airlift Wing vice commander; plant a tree during the base’s Arbor Day ceremony. Arbor Day, which celebrates the beauty and utility of trees, was first observed in 1885, the creation of a Nebraska pioneer, Sterling Morton.The Natural State’s largest military base was recently recognized by Air Mobility Command for its excellent environmental stewardship.
The base’s 19th Civil Engineer Squadron’s Natural Resources Element won the command’s 2009 General Thomas D. White Natural Resources Conservation Award in the small base category.
“Little Rock Air Force Base personnel and all of our state and federal environmental partners can take great pride in winning this award. It takes a lot of people from many different agencies working together to make all of our different natural resources programs work,” said James Popham, 19th CES natural resources manager.
The base has a very active natural-resources program overseeing 6,100-plus acres of diverse habitat, terrain, flora and fauna — of which about 3,000 acres are wooded. The program manages all aspects of natural resources including urban and commercial forests, fish and wildlife, streams, lakes, wetlands, and floodplains, endangered species, hunting and fishing, and even geological resources.
“All this diversity adds to the health of the base’s ecosystems and provides base personnel with a great opportunity to enjoy the outdoors right in their backyards,” Popham said.
The base hunting program is used to control the 400-plus deer herd while providing recreation for hunters with little cost to the Air Force.
Keeping the deer population under control helps reduce the tick infestation, maintain a healthy deer herd, and reduce the chance a deer will get hit by an airplane on the runway or by a car on the main base, Popham said.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission gave the base 250 “Unrestricted Weapons” doe tags to support this population control.
The two base lakes are managed for recreational fishing as well as an endangered species, the interior least tern. The AGFC routinely stocks the base lakes with catfish and rainbow trout in support of recreational fishing and helps deliver minnows to stock for the interior least terns.
The interior least terns were discovered in 2006 feeding at the base lakes and ponds. In 2007, the birds were discovered using the top of Building 450 as a safe- haven when the Arkansas River was too flooded for them to nest on the sand bars.
The base now works with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and AGFC to protect and support the largest interior least tern nesting colony in the state.
Fish and Wildlife Service officials said the base’s discovery and efforts to protect the least terns nests are very significant for the Arkansas River population.
“The base was the first to report and identify rooftop nesting of the interior least terns in Arkansas. Our knowledge of the species, its behavior, and requirements for recovery has increased substantially due to the base’s discovery and assistance,” said Lindsey Lewis of the Fish and Wildlife Service. “Without the base’s findings and efforts, we would have no knowledge of rooftop nesting, the actual annual population numbers or actual recruitment success that is occurring.”
This year also marks the base’s 16th year as a Tree City USA. The base has also been recognized by the Arkansas Forestry Commission for its active urban forestry program.
The urban forest on base is worth over a million dollars for storm-water runoff control and the removal of air pollutants, Popham said.
“Our Tree City USA recognition shows we have an ongoing plan to care for our urban trees. We try to protect our trees during construction projects starting with the design process. We saved many big trees from construction including the sixth-largest post oak in the state located next to the base housing Welcome Center,” Popham said.
The base has an active commercial forest program and the timber is sold and that money is used to make improvements to other base forest areas.
The base recently teamed with the Army Corps of Engineers to harvest more than 50 acres of commercial timber.
About 10 of those acres were located where the new joint-education center is being built at the corner of Vandenberg Boulevard and Hwy. 67/167.
The project saved the base at least $50,000 in land-clearing costs.
The base will now compete for an Air Force-level award which honors Gen. Thomas D. White, Air Force chief of staff from 1957 to 1961. He charted the course for Air Force environmental programs.
The purpose of the award is to promote excellence in every aspect of Air Force natural-resources conservation programs and is designed to recognize efforts of Air Force installations for conservation of natural resources.
(Reprinted from the Combat Airlifter, the Little Rock Air Force Base newspaper.)
TOP STORY >> County officials: Bayou Meto flooding is fact of life
By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
Dick Jeter community homeowners whose property flooded on Christmas Day learned this week that fixing the Bayou Meto is not going to be part of the solution to their woes.
The community is southeast of Jacksonville in an unincorporated area in the vicinity of Valentine and Wooten roads.
About 12 homes in the area were flooded as a result of the heavy rains that started on Dec. 23. Other residents have reported damage to septic tanks and vehicles, as well as pollution to their property as a result of septic tank overflows.
There may be some financial relief in the way of low-interest loans to help property owners pay for repairs. That will be up to FEMA to decide. It could take months before any help does come.
Sherman Smith, a county engineer who met at Mt. Ararat Baptist Church on Monday night with 40 homeowners to discuss ways to mitigate future flooding, said that cleaning out culverts and trapping beavers were feasible strategies, but that an overhaul of the bayou, a protected wetland, was not.
“The days of dredging by the Army Corps of Engineers are over because of environmental regulations,” said Smith, the director of Pulaski County Public Works Department. “The Bayou Meto has to be left natural. You can’t clean it out or channel it.”
The group was meeting with county officials to air their grievances about the floodwater that swept across their community, which is in a floodplain.
What they had to say echoed a long-standing sentiment that the county government is neglectful of the area and in doing its part to manage the floodplain where the Dick Jeter Community is located.
Several individuals at the meeting expressed frustration, saying that their repeated past requests for the county’s assistance in maintaining culverts had gone unheeded.
“We have a legitimate problem,” said Frank Hood. “I’ve been three years trying to contact peoples about the culverts. When we approach you all, we want you to help us.”
Harold Ford, another area resident, said he “gives credit where credit is due,” regarding the county’s regular mowing along roadways and in the neighborhood park. But that cleanup from illegal dumping which has clogged drainage ditches is where the community could really use the county’s help.
Barbara Richard, director of roads and bridges for the county, told the group that her department is shorthanded and that if the community would supply the labor for cleaning out the culverts, the county would haul off the trash and widen the ditches.
Most of the area residents are of retirement age.
“There are a lot of culverts in the county that are inadequate – we know that – but we don’t have enough labor to pull the trash out,” Richard said. “Someone needs to organize that.”
Justice of the Peace Robert Green offered to speak with County Judge Buddy Villines about use of county jail inmates to assist a cleanup.
“But don’t complain about inmates around your house,” Green said.
Green said a similar cleanup had been done in the McAlmont area and that flooding had not been a problem on Christmas Day.
Hood said that there are two dams that have been constructed across the Ink Bayou that may be hampering the flow of water.
He asked Smith to find out who built them and that those individuals be required to remove them or monitor them during times of heavy rains.
“Who keeps tabs on all of this?” Hood asked. “Why is it there are two dams in there, I don’t know. Somebody needs to be responsible for that, if they put a dam in there.”
Smith promised to investigate, but said after the meeting that the county has no jurisdiction on water abatement issues below the level of a 100-year flood.
If community residents want the dams removed, they would have to sue the individuals who installed them.
CULVERTS REPAIRED, BEAVERS TRAPPED
What the county should have done, did do, or didn’t do in the past may be water over the dam. However, the harm done to the Dick Jeter community as a result of the Christmas flood does now have the attention of the county public works.
Smith said this week that efforts are under way to get drainage ditches and culverts in the area up to standard so that runoff from future storms will flow as efficiently as possible as it moves southeast toward the Arkansas River.
Crews are “looking for bottlenecks and installing and enlarging culverts,” as well as securing easements from property owners in order to make improvements where needed, Smith said.
Fifteen to 20 beaver traps have been set in waterways along Republican, Southeastern and Valentine roads, but no beavers have yet been caught because the water is still too high, said Richard, whose office dedicates three workers to trapping beavers in unincorporated areas in the county.
“They trap them first and then go in by boat and break up the dams,” Richard said.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR REPAIRS
Home and business owners as well as renters in areas affected by floods may be eligible for federal assistance in the way of low-interest loans.
The first step will be assessments beginning next week in all counties in Arkansas that have been declared disaster areas.
Smith said that FEMA representatives will include the Dick Jeter community among areas assessed in Pulaski County. That process will take about a week.
Recommendations for areas to qualify for either individual assistance, as well as public assistance (for roads, bridges, debris clean-up), will then be forwarded to the governor for approval.
The ultimate decision-maker will be the president.
“That could take a week or several weeks,” said Kim Pease, a public information officer for FEMA.
The money funding individual-assistance loans will come from the national Small Business Administration’s disaster-loan program.
Disaster loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate.
Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property.
Businesses of any size and private, nonprofit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets.
The Small Business Administration can also lend additional funds to homeowners and businesses to help with the cost of making improvements that protect against, prevent or minimize the same type of disaster damage from occurring in the future.
WHAT IS A HUNDRED-YEAR FLOOD?
Lifelong residents of the Dick Jeter community say the Christmas flood was the worst in their memories.
Some thought for sure it had to be a 100-year flood.
Mary Nash, whose house filled with water in the flood, said, “It has never been like this.” She will be 72 this year.
“That doesn’t make it a 100-year flood,” Smith said. “What occurred was probably a 65- or 70-year flood.”
Flood designations are not only critical to insurance rates, but in determining what kind of disaster assistance an individual or community may qualify for.
A 100-year flood is one that has the probability of occurring every 100 years.
In FEMA’s book, that is quantified in feet that the floodwater is anticipated to rise in a specific geographic area, called a base water elevation. That is calculated using computer modeling and data from hydrologic studies of flow rates in waterways in specific geographic areas.
“Those studies cost $10,000 per mile,” Smith said.
In the case of the Dick Jeter community, the 100-year base flood elevation is 243 feet above sea level.
Smith says that surveyors in the area during the Christmas flood found the floodwater peaked just below that.
“The highest point shot out there was 241.6 feet,” Smith said.
Leader staff writer
Dick Jeter community homeowners whose property flooded on Christmas Day learned this week that fixing the Bayou Meto is not going to be part of the solution to their woes.
The community is southeast of Jacksonville in an unincorporated area in the vicinity of Valentine and Wooten roads.
About 12 homes in the area were flooded as a result of the heavy rains that started on Dec. 23. Other residents have reported damage to septic tanks and vehicles, as well as pollution to their property as a result of septic tank overflows.
There may be some financial relief in the way of low-interest loans to help property owners pay for repairs. That will be up to FEMA to decide. It could take months before any help does come.
Sherman Smith, a county engineer who met at Mt. Ararat Baptist Church on Monday night with 40 homeowners to discuss ways to mitigate future flooding, said that cleaning out culverts and trapping beavers were feasible strategies, but that an overhaul of the bayou, a protected wetland, was not.
“The days of dredging by the Army Corps of Engineers are over because of environmental regulations,” said Smith, the director of Pulaski County Public Works Department. “The Bayou Meto has to be left natural. You can’t clean it out or channel it.”
The group was meeting with county officials to air their grievances about the floodwater that swept across their community, which is in a floodplain.
What they had to say echoed a long-standing sentiment that the county government is neglectful of the area and in doing its part to manage the floodplain where the Dick Jeter Community is located.
Several individuals at the meeting expressed frustration, saying that their repeated past requests for the county’s assistance in maintaining culverts had gone unheeded.
“We have a legitimate problem,” said Frank Hood. “I’ve been three years trying to contact peoples about the culverts. When we approach you all, we want you to help us.”
Harold Ford, another area resident, said he “gives credit where credit is due,” regarding the county’s regular mowing along roadways and in the neighborhood park. But that cleanup from illegal dumping which has clogged drainage ditches is where the community could really use the county’s help.
Barbara Richard, director of roads and bridges for the county, told the group that her department is shorthanded and that if the community would supply the labor for cleaning out the culverts, the county would haul off the trash and widen the ditches.
Most of the area residents are of retirement age.
“There are a lot of culverts in the county that are inadequate – we know that – but we don’t have enough labor to pull the trash out,” Richard said. “Someone needs to organize that.”
Justice of the Peace Robert Green offered to speak with County Judge Buddy Villines about use of county jail inmates to assist a cleanup.
“But don’t complain about inmates around your house,” Green said.
Green said a similar cleanup had been done in the McAlmont area and that flooding had not been a problem on Christmas Day.
Hood said that there are two dams that have been constructed across the Ink Bayou that may be hampering the flow of water.
He asked Smith to find out who built them and that those individuals be required to remove them or monitor them during times of heavy rains.
“Who keeps tabs on all of this?” Hood asked. “Why is it there are two dams in there, I don’t know. Somebody needs to be responsible for that, if they put a dam in there.”
Smith promised to investigate, but said after the meeting that the county has no jurisdiction on water abatement issues below the level of a 100-year flood.
If community residents want the dams removed, they would have to sue the individuals who installed them.
CULVERTS REPAIRED, BEAVERS TRAPPED
What the county should have done, did do, or didn’t do in the past may be water over the dam. However, the harm done to the Dick Jeter community as a result of the Christmas flood does now have the attention of the county public works.
Smith said this week that efforts are under way to get drainage ditches and culverts in the area up to standard so that runoff from future storms will flow as efficiently as possible as it moves southeast toward the Arkansas River.
Crews are “looking for bottlenecks and installing and enlarging culverts,” as well as securing easements from property owners in order to make improvements where needed, Smith said.
Fifteen to 20 beaver traps have been set in waterways along Republican, Southeastern and Valentine roads, but no beavers have yet been caught because the water is still too high, said Richard, whose office dedicates three workers to trapping beavers in unincorporated areas in the county.
“They trap them first and then go in by boat and break up the dams,” Richard said.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR REPAIRS
Home and business owners as well as renters in areas affected by floods may be eligible for federal assistance in the way of low-interest loans.
The first step will be assessments beginning next week in all counties in Arkansas that have been declared disaster areas.
Smith said that FEMA representatives will include the Dick Jeter community among areas assessed in Pulaski County. That process will take about a week.
Recommendations for areas to qualify for either individual assistance, as well as public assistance (for roads, bridges, debris clean-up), will then be forwarded to the governor for approval.
The ultimate decision-maker will be the president.
“That could take a week or several weeks,” said Kim Pease, a public information officer for FEMA.
The money funding individual-assistance loans will come from the national Small Business Administration’s disaster-loan program.
Disaster loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate.
Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property.
Businesses of any size and private, nonprofit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets.
The Small Business Administration can also lend additional funds to homeowners and businesses to help with the cost of making improvements that protect against, prevent or minimize the same type of disaster damage from occurring in the future.
WHAT IS A HUNDRED-YEAR FLOOD?
Lifelong residents of the Dick Jeter community say the Christmas flood was the worst in their memories.
Some thought for sure it had to be a 100-year flood.
Mary Nash, whose house filled with water in the flood, said, “It has never been like this.” She will be 72 this year.
“That doesn’t make it a 100-year flood,” Smith said. “What occurred was probably a 65- or 70-year flood.”
Flood designations are not only critical to insurance rates, but in determining what kind of disaster assistance an individual or community may qualify for.
A 100-year flood is one that has the probability of occurring every 100 years.
In FEMA’s book, that is quantified in feet that the floodwater is anticipated to rise in a specific geographic area, called a base water elevation. That is calculated using computer modeling and data from hydrologic studies of flow rates in waterways in specific geographic areas.
“Those studies cost $10,000 per mile,” Smith said.
In the case of the Dick Jeter community, the 100-year base flood elevation is 243 feet above sea level.
Smith says that surveyors in the area during the Christmas flood found the floodwater peaked just below that.
“The highest point shot out there was 241.6 feet,” Smith said.
TOP STORY >> Probe starts into officials’ ‘retirements’
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Two Lonoke County officials caught double-dipping — drawing their salary and state retirement — claim at least three county officials knew when they “retired” last year, although a legislative committee is looking into the matter.
Assessor Jerry Adams and Treasurer Karol DePriest — each of whom now draws both the salary for their constitutional office and simultaneously state retirement benefits — say they were advised they could step down for three months and then draw two paychecks.
But they’re willing to return their retirement money if they did anything wrong, even though their attorney says everything was done above board.
They were so quiet about their retirements last summer and about their resuming their offices three months later that the quorum court members were unaware of their retirements. Adams and DePriest continued to attend meetings and apparently attended to business in their official capacities.
They are two of about 10 city or county officials across the state receiving pay and retirement pay, according to Jerry Wills, attorney for the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System (APERS), which administers the state retirement program.
Those who are serving in office while drawing state retirement say they had been told that not drawing a paycheck for three months constituted resigning, making them eligible for retirement benefits.
Eddie Jones, executive director of the Arkansas Association of Counties, testified Friday at a hearing of the state Legislative Audit Committee that county officials were told last year that they could trigger retirement benefits by going off the payroll for 90 days. That’s according to Denise Hoggard, attorney for Adams, DePriest and most of the others in question.
According to Hoggard, Jones said he heard APERS retirement coordinator Pam Stroud give that information to people at a meeting of the Association of County Executives.
Retiring under APERS rules is not the same thing as vacating the office, Hoggard added.
DePriest and Adams earn $48,500 a year. APERS retirement runs between 45 percent and 52 percent, meaning they would draw about $21,800 a year from the retirement fund.
Adams declined comment, referring questions to his attorney. DePriest did the same, although she did say they hadn’t done anything wrong and that at least three county officials knew what they were doing — County clerk Dawn Porterfield, who signs the paychecks, county judge Charlie Troutman and county attorney Jeff Sykes.
The two are prepared to return the retirement checks or do whatever is required to satisfy APERS, according to Hoggard, but these officials did what they believed in good faith. They followed what APERS was saying were the rules, he insisted.
“Double dipping is a negative term without justification,” Hoggard said. “They are elected officials who, according to statute, had a right to retire, then go back into position. Double dipping sounds like something wrong.”
DePriest said she and Adams believed that termination was simply going off the payroll for at least three months.
“County elected officials were being told at association of counties that termination was off the payroll,” she said.
“Some time later the attorney general’s opinion disagreed,” she said. “Now they are saying the rules are changing and they’ve done something wrong. They want to follow the law and the rules.”
The state Legislative Audit Committee met with APERS officials, including executive director Gail Stone, for about two hours Friday, trying to sort through facts and issues and determine what needs to be done.
Typically, when a county official resigns or retires during an elected term, the county quorum court declares a vacancy, the county judge recommends one or more replacements and the governor appoints a replacement, who is not eligible to run for the office at the next election.
But apparently none of the quorum court members knew they had resigned and, in fact, both appeared to fulfill their duties during the three months they did not draw salary, according to Troutman.
“We’ve been waiting since June, since the attorney general’s office came out with the opinion,” DePriest said. “If we did something wrong, they need to tell us how to fix it.”
DePriest stopped drawing pay on April 9 and returned to the payroll on July 16, Hoggard said, and Adams stopped drawing pay on March 12 and returned to the payroll on June 18.
Hoggard says state statute now says it requires 180 days off to be terminated. The new definition says that termination means that the employment relationship has been brought to an end and no longer exists in any form.
State Sen. Bobby Glover (D-Carlisle), who represents Lonoke County and who attended the meeting, asked, “The big question is, when they actually terminated their positions to draw retirement, is that a permanent termination or do they have the authority to go back into their office?
“I foresee that this matter will be a legal question before it’s over with,” Glover said.
Troutman said he was only marginally concerned because, “it cost the county not one single cent.”
He said as far as he knew, DePriest and Adams were the only Lonoke County employees who had resigned and kept working.
“I don’t know if the law is broken or if they got bad advice,” said quorum court member Mark Edwards. “Common sense would say that if you retire from your post, you have to retire and leave that post. It only makes sense to me that if you did retire, the governor would have to appoint someone to fill your term and you wouldn’t be eligible to run again. I don’t know as a quorum court if we can do anything or if we should do anything. I wish the attorney general would say.”
“They are elected officials,” said quorum court member Mike Dolan. “We have little if any control over them. But it doesn’t put them in a pretty light.”
“We have looked at every county and municipal official employee who has retired (in recent years),” said Wills, the APERS lawyer. He said concerns, if any, are limited to fewer than 10 of 480 who have retired since about 2000. “Most never returned to work.
“If we make the determination that they didn’t properly terminate employment — if they continued working, kept the office keys or an official car — we’re required to terminate their current payments until there is proper termination.”
He said taking back payment could have negative consequences to taxpayers. “We’d have to give them back credit for the additional time they served in office, in some cases several years and that could result in even higher benefits upon actual retirement,” Wills said.
Wills would not comment on individual cases, but in general, he said, the APERS director, he and an internal auditor will review “suspect individuals.” Stone, the director, will decide. “If appropriate, we’ll cut off benefits until retirement. We may also make demand on benefits that have been paid,” Wills said.
“To ensure the integrity of our results, a team of (legislative auditors) will come behind the work we’ve done,” Wills said.
“I don’t think anyone did this with an evil heart,” he said, although the attorney general’s opinion may have changed that feeling by the public.
Leader senior staff writer
Two Lonoke County officials caught double-dipping — drawing their salary and state retirement — claim at least three county officials knew when they “retired” last year, although a legislative committee is looking into the matter.
Assessor Jerry Adams and Treasurer Karol DePriest — each of whom now draws both the salary for their constitutional office and simultaneously state retirement benefits — say they were advised they could step down for three months and then draw two paychecks.
But they’re willing to return their retirement money if they did anything wrong, even though their attorney says everything was done above board.
They were so quiet about their retirements last summer and about their resuming their offices three months later that the quorum court members were unaware of their retirements. Adams and DePriest continued to attend meetings and apparently attended to business in their official capacities.
They are two of about 10 city or county officials across the state receiving pay and retirement pay, according to Jerry Wills, attorney for the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System (APERS), which administers the state retirement program.
Those who are serving in office while drawing state retirement say they had been told that not drawing a paycheck for three months constituted resigning, making them eligible for retirement benefits.
Eddie Jones, executive director of the Arkansas Association of Counties, testified Friday at a hearing of the state Legislative Audit Committee that county officials were told last year that they could trigger retirement benefits by going off the payroll for 90 days. That’s according to Denise Hoggard, attorney for Adams, DePriest and most of the others in question.
According to Hoggard, Jones said he heard APERS retirement coordinator Pam Stroud give that information to people at a meeting of the Association of County Executives.
Retiring under APERS rules is not the same thing as vacating the office, Hoggard added.
DePriest and Adams earn $48,500 a year. APERS retirement runs between 45 percent and 52 percent, meaning they would draw about $21,800 a year from the retirement fund.
Adams declined comment, referring questions to his attorney. DePriest did the same, although she did say they hadn’t done anything wrong and that at least three county officials knew what they were doing — County clerk Dawn Porterfield, who signs the paychecks, county judge Charlie Troutman and county attorney Jeff Sykes.
The two are prepared to return the retirement checks or do whatever is required to satisfy APERS, according to Hoggard, but these officials did what they believed in good faith. They followed what APERS was saying were the rules, he insisted.
“Double dipping is a negative term without justification,” Hoggard said. “They are elected officials who, according to statute, had a right to retire, then go back into position. Double dipping sounds like something wrong.”
DePriest said she and Adams believed that termination was simply going off the payroll for at least three months.
“County elected officials were being told at association of counties that termination was off the payroll,” she said.
“Some time later the attorney general’s opinion disagreed,” she said. “Now they are saying the rules are changing and they’ve done something wrong. They want to follow the law and the rules.”
The state Legislative Audit Committee met with APERS officials, including executive director Gail Stone, for about two hours Friday, trying to sort through facts and issues and determine what needs to be done.
Typically, when a county official resigns or retires during an elected term, the county quorum court declares a vacancy, the county judge recommends one or more replacements and the governor appoints a replacement, who is not eligible to run for the office at the next election.
But apparently none of the quorum court members knew they had resigned and, in fact, both appeared to fulfill their duties during the three months they did not draw salary, according to Troutman.
“We’ve been waiting since June, since the attorney general’s office came out with the opinion,” DePriest said. “If we did something wrong, they need to tell us how to fix it.”
DePriest stopped drawing pay on April 9 and returned to the payroll on July 16, Hoggard said, and Adams stopped drawing pay on March 12 and returned to the payroll on June 18.
Hoggard says state statute now says it requires 180 days off to be terminated. The new definition says that termination means that the employment relationship has been brought to an end and no longer exists in any form.
State Sen. Bobby Glover (D-Carlisle), who represents Lonoke County and who attended the meeting, asked, “The big question is, when they actually terminated their positions to draw retirement, is that a permanent termination or do they have the authority to go back into their office?
“I foresee that this matter will be a legal question before it’s over with,” Glover said.
Troutman said he was only marginally concerned because, “it cost the county not one single cent.”
He said as far as he knew, DePriest and Adams were the only Lonoke County employees who had resigned and kept working.
“I don’t know if the law is broken or if they got bad advice,” said quorum court member Mark Edwards. “Common sense would say that if you retire from your post, you have to retire and leave that post. It only makes sense to me that if you did retire, the governor would have to appoint someone to fill your term and you wouldn’t be eligible to run again. I don’t know as a quorum court if we can do anything or if we should do anything. I wish the attorney general would say.”
“They are elected officials,” said quorum court member Mike Dolan. “We have little if any control over them. But it doesn’t put them in a pretty light.”
“We have looked at every county and municipal official employee who has retired (in recent years),” said Wills, the APERS lawyer. He said concerns, if any, are limited to fewer than 10 of 480 who have retired since about 2000. “Most never returned to work.
“If we make the determination that they didn’t properly terminate employment — if they continued working, kept the office keys or an official car — we’re required to terminate their current payments until there is proper termination.”
He said taking back payment could have negative consequences to taxpayers. “We’d have to give them back credit for the additional time they served in office, in some cases several years and that could result in even higher benefits upon actual retirement,” Wills said.
Wills would not comment on individual cases, but in general, he said, the APERS director, he and an internal auditor will review “suspect individuals.” Stone, the director, will decide. “If appropriate, we’ll cut off benefits until retirement. We may also make demand on benefits that have been paid,” Wills said.
“To ensure the integrity of our results, a team of (legislative auditors) will come behind the work we’ve done,” Wills said.
“I don’t think anyone did this with an evil heart,” he said, although the attorney general’s opinion may have changed that feeling by the public.
SPORTS >> Good Neighbors aids Lonoke girls
Cara Neighbors led Lonoke with 20 points in the Lady ’Rabbits’ latest victory.By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
Whatever poison Stuttgart chose against the Lonoke girls Tuesday night, it was lethal.
The Lady Ricebirds put their defensive focus on Lady Jackrabbits senior and UALR signee Asiah Scribner, which only released Cara Neighbors to do the damage in Lonoke’s 52-48 victory at Lonoke.
Neighbors, who missed several non-conference games as she recovered from wrist surgery, led Lonoke with 20 points to help the Lady Jackrabbits take the lead in the second quarter and hold on the rest of the game.
“She’s led us scoring,” Lonoke coach Nathan Morris said. “That’s the one that’s been out with the surgery. She’s led us in scoring four straight games since she got back.
“She’s been doing what she has to do, the other ones are continuing to do what they have to do.”
Neighbors helped illustrate a problem teams have when facing Lonoke (11-5, 3-0 2-4A Conference). Focus on one player defensively, and another can take her place.
“They’ve got to pick their poison,” Morris said. “We’ve got a couple kids that can play.”
Scribner got loose in the fourth quarter to score seven points and finish with 15 and Ashleigh Himstedt, who scored Lonoke’s final five points of the first half to break a 20-20 tie, finished with 13.
Gang up Scribner, Morris said, and you have to contend with Neighbors, Himstedt or Michaela Brown.
“They were double-teaming her in there,” Morris said of Scribner. “You’ve got a kid like that, you’re throwing her a lot of respect. She doesn’t have to outscore everybody. She’s got everybody double-teaming her.
“Neighbors starts shooting the ball out on the floor. Himstedt and Brown, that opened that up and we went out there in the second half.”
Lonoke took its biggest lead, 32-23, when Himstedt made a three-pointer from the right wing with 4:30 left in the third quarter.
Neighbors matched the margin, 39-30, when she made a nine-footer with 7:24 left in the game and Himstedt put Lonoke up by nine again when she made a three-pointer from the left corner for the 44-35 lead with 5:24 to go.
Stuttgart fought back to within 46-43 when Kayla Robinson drew a foul from Himstedt and made both free throws with 1:54 left.
But Scribner made a left-handed layup, got a rebound, a foul and made a free throw to push Lonoke’s lead to 49-43 with 51.3 seconds left. Two more free throws by Brown made it 50-45 with 23.5 seconds left, helping the Lady Jackrabbits to survive Kynsha Geans’ three-pointer with 13.3 second to go.
“We talk to the kids all the time; to win a conference title you’ve got to win the home games,” Morris said. “That’s so important. Then you’ve got to win the ones you’re supposed to on the road.
“Certainly we would have liked to finish a little better, but we got the job done against a very good Stuttgart team.”
Morris, hoping to lead his team to its fourth straight state final appearance and first championship in that stretch, was unhappy with his team’s aggressiveness against Stuttgart’s zone in the first half.
“I don’t know if we’re in very good shape right now,” he said. “I think that’s got to get better; I think it will get better. Yeah, we need to be a little bit more aggressive when they’re packed in the zone. We’ve got kids that can score. They need to get loose and score.”
Another area of concern was free-throw shooting. Lonoke was 13 for 23 and made just four of 11 in the fourth quarter.
“We definitely have got to work on free throws,” Morris said. “Can somebody send me a book and I’ll try to figure it out.”
SPORTS >> Sylvan Hills girls show no signs of rust, power to victory behind press
Lady Bear guard Lindsay Smith drives to the basket.By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The start of the 5A-Southeast Conference season amounted to a light workout for the Sylvan Hills Lady Bears in a 50-21 victory over Little Rock McClellan on Tuesday.
Visiting McClellan struggled offensively and defensively, and the Lady Bears (7-4, 1-0) capitalized from the outset with a stifling full-court press that led to a number of transition scores in the first half.
It was the first game for Sylvan Hills in nearly a month, but the Lady Bears showed little rust from the tip-off until the end of the third quarter, when they slowed their offensive attack to spare the Lady Lions from the sportsmanship/timing rule until late in the fourth quarter.
Lady Bears forward Ashley Johnson outscored the Lady Lions in the first quarter with six points, and matched them in the next period with seven to account for all of her game-high 13 points.
That helped Sylvan Hills build a 33-12 lead at halftime and make the second half mostly a formality.
“We talked about coming out in the first quarter and establishing the tempo,” Lady Bears coach Bee Rodden said. “We wanted to create some turnovers and get some shots in transition.”
Senior Dee Dee Lewis also scored six points in the opening quarter, but most of hers came from the free-throw line. Lewis went 4 of 4 at the line and added a basket late in the first period as the Lady Bears jumped out 16-5 atthe end of the first quarter.
“We knew they were going to come out in a 2-3 zone,” Rodden said. “They did, and we tried to get as many transition shots as we could and pull down some quick defensive rebounds. We wanted to score before they spread out in the big old zone.”
McClellan did not get many looks at the basket in the first eight minutes. That was because of Sylvan Hills’ full-court pressure.
The Lady Bears used their quickness to trap, which led to turnovers and rushed shots from the Lady Lions who have lost players to ineligibility.
“It was a good way to come back from the break,” Rodden said. “Our last game was Dec. 11, so they came out and made a big impact. We’ve gone from having 11 kids to nine, but the main five out there on the court are experienced players. They all got to play a lot last year.”
Johnson and Lewis slowed their shooting attacks in the second half, but senior transfer Lindsay Smith took over to score most of her nine points.
While the offensive pace slowed in the second half, Sylvan Hills continued to stifle McClellan defensively.
The Lady Bears held the Lady Lions to five points in the third quarter while putting up 12 of their own, extending their lead to 45-17 with eight minutes still to play. They finally triggered the mercy-rule status with a substitute-heavy squad in the final three minutes.
Terica Kendrick finished with seven points for the Lady Bears while Kashina Wright and Ashley Evans each had four.
While overall depth could be an issue for Rodden this season, she said having a dependable addition in Smith should go a long way.
“All of our starters played last year except for Lindsay Smith,” Rodden said. “But she had a really good camp during the summer, and we’re expecting good things.”
The Lady Bears played at Monticello on Friday night and will host White Hall next Friday.
SPORTS >> ’Rabbits edge Ricebirds
T.J. Scott is one of Lonoke’s contributing sophomores.By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
The Lonoke Jackrabbits proved winning is great medicine for growing pains Tuesday night.
With three sophomores in critical roles, the Jackrabbits battled back from a nine-point, third-quarter deficit to beat rival Stuttgart 46-44 in a 2-4A Conference game at Lonoke.
“You don’t want to jump the gun, but we’re starting to grow up a little bit,” Lonoke coach Dean Campbell said.
Darius Scott hit a pull-up jumper in the lane with 40.1 seconds left to give Lonoke a 45-44 lead, and after a series of Stuttgart misses and offensive rebounds, Chad Dixon made one of two free throws for the Jackrabbits with 9.4 seconds left for the final margin.
Lonoke still wasn’t out of the woods, as Stuttgart’s Charles Coleman rebounded Dixon’s missed free throw with time to score, but Glenn King missed a three-pointer and Devonte Ice missed the follow-up before Dixon could grab the rebound and lock it up.
“There were points where we did get caught watching their offensive rebounds late, within a minute down there,” Campbell said. “I don’t want to keep going back to it, but those are all things that young, inexperienced teams do. That’s what you’re going to get. We get stretches where we do it and stretches where we don’t.”
The Jackrabbits struggled to contend with the Ricebirds’ traps and double and triple teams that forced multiple turnovers in the first half as Stuttgart took a 21-17 halftime lead.
But with sophomores C.J Whitehead, Tarrale Watson and T.J. Scott on the floor at key times in the second half, the Jackrabbits fought back after Stuttgart took a 26-17 lead with 5:19 left in the third quarter.
“For us to be able to take the pressure they were giving and fight through and get a win after being down, I’m pretty proud of them,” Campbell said. “I looked up one time and we had three sophomores out there in the heat of it when we needed stops, when we needed good possessions on offense.”
Mike James tied it at 28 with a layup with 35 seconds left in the third quarter, but the Ricebirds pulled away again, taking a 35-28lead when Darrell Horner made a three-pointer with 6:21 left in the game.
Whitehead made two free throws to get Lonoke within 37-35 with 5:21 left, then dribbled behind his back and hit James for an open layup to tie at 37. T.J. Scott’s leaner tied it again at 39, and Storm Beeler made a jumper from the high post to give Lonoke its first lead since early in the second quarter, 43-42, with 1:43 left.
King made a jumper from the free-throw line with 49 seconds left to give Stuttgart its final lead.
Darius Scott, a 5-10 junior, led Lonoke (4-4, 1-1) with 16 points and Beeler, a 5-10 junior, added 10. The two were members of Lonoke’s state runner-up football team, as is reserve Michael Nelson, the quarterback.
Lonoke’s march through the football postseason forced the Jackrabbits to postpone their basketball game with DeWitt, leading them to play three games, two at home, in the coming week.
Campbell said as long as another Lonoke program was having success, it was worth the wait.
“And those kids, hopefully, carry winning from one program over to another and I think it goes back in the other direction as well,” Campbell said.
Campbell said the difference in Tuesday’s second half, compared to the first, was that his players remembered what had been discussed before the game.
“Just simple things we talked about with being a young team,” he said. “We forget what we talked about and what we just went over.
“There were gaps that we didn’t go hit. We were staying away. There were some gaps that we really focused on. Just catching and what we call peeking at the rim. That helps to slow us down a little bit.”
The highlight of the first half may have been when Darius Scott lost the ball after crossing center court with time running out, picked it up and made a desperation three-pointer from near the right sideline as time expired in the first quarter to give Lonoke a 12-8 lead.
But Stuttgart outscored Lonoke 13-5 in the second quarter to take its halftime lead.
SPORTS >> Mascot heads to big sty in the sky
By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
Anyone hoping for a good start to 2010 had to be stunned at the tragic news reported out of Fayetteville this week.
Tusk, the Arkansas Razorbacks’ real, porcine mascot, was found dead in his pen at his farm home outside of Dardanelle. He was seven years old.
Tsk tsk, poor Tusk. Alas, pork Yorick.
Tusk, whose given name was Tusk II, was born Aug. 12, 2002 and served as Arkansas’ mascot from 2005 until his final appearance at Saturday’s Liberty Bowl game in Memphis a week ago.
The football Razorbacks went 35-28 during Tusk’s tenure.
Tusk was apparently a gentle fellow who would eat grapes from the hands of fans.
He was laid to rest Monday at the Stokes family farm in Dardanelle, where he stayed when not making his many appearances in Fayetteville and elsewhere.
Fans wishing to leave a message for the Stokes family or a remembrance of Tusk may follow the link on ArkansasRazorbacks.com or leave a Facebook message at Tusk Razorback Mascot.
Contributions to the live mascot program can be sent in Tusk’s memory to Tusk Fund c/0 The Razorback Foundation, 1295 Razorback Road, Suite A, Fayetteville, Ark, 72701.
Natural causes were cited in the university news release from Fayetteville that announced Tusk’s passing, and sources said the specific cause was a heart attack.
I suppose Tusk’s death proves bacon is bad for you, especially if your whole body is bacon.
One smarty-pants I know suggested Tusk died from all the excitement of the Liberty Bowl. He went on to suggest Tusk succumbed to shock when erratic grid-Hogs kicker Alex Tejada nailed the game-winner in the 20-17, overtime victory over East Carolina.
Another clever-trousers put forth the theory Tusk died from fear after seeing the 7-8 hardwood-Hogs play at basketball.
“Was he afraid of clowns?” The jokester asked.
One nice young woman unintentionally got to the root of Tusk’s apparent problem.
“Bless his heart,” she said.
Someone else suggested Tusk suffered the same fate that befalls so many celebrities, an unfortunate mixture of drugs and alcohol.
All joking aside — no strike that, there is plenty of joking to come — there are many questions surrounding not only Tusk’s death, but also questions as to why he was installed as the Hogs’ mascot in the first place.
Understand first that Tusk was a Russian boar, not even a real razorback. Come on, a Russkie? As the premiere mascot in a patriotic red state like Arkansas?
I suppose Tusk advocated socialized medicine too. Or at least Medicare.
Maybe Tusk was a mole, sent from a former Soviet Union clinging to its Cold War ethos to bring down our mighty football-industrial complex from the inside. Maybe some patriot decided to stop him.
Or maybe Tusk’s death was the work of a serial mascot killer. After all, Tusk wasn’t the first in the SEC to snuff it during the just-concluded football season.
The most recent incarnation of the Georgia Bulldogs’ mascot, the live bulldog named Uga VII, checked out Nov. 19 at age four.
Cause of death was also reported to be heart ailments.
Come on, the dog had an air-conditioned house and more handlers than coach Mark Richt has assistants.
And if it’s foul play, you have to look to the only fowls in the SEC, the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Maybe that cocky coach Steve Spurrier was ticked off his Gamecocks laid an egg in the Papajohns.com Bowl while Arkansas and Georgia won their bowl games.
Except Uga died before Georgia beat Texas A&M in the Independence Bowl, so Spurrier may be lacking a motive after all.
So let’s move on to an examination of the shady, mascot line of succession at Arkansas.
Tusk succeeded his father, Tusk I, and is survived by his brother, Tusk III, who will assume mascot duties at Arkansas.
I thought we frowned on that kind of nepotism in this country. Well, except for the Kennedys, the Pryors, the Bushes, the Clintons and Bobby and Patrick Knight.
Anyway, it smells, because as some fans have pointed out, now would be a great time to install a real razorback as mascot, or at least a true, Arkansas feral hog.
My friend Matt here at The Leader had the perfect candidate. For weeks, his remote game cam tracked the comings and goings of a huge feral hog at Matt’s deer feeding station in south Arkansas.
Except Matt is a hunter, and he shared his eventual success with some of his co-workers in a delicious ham and bean concoction on New Year’s Eve.
Oh well, around here we’re usually consumed by the Hogs, so it was a nice change of pace.
Leader sports editor
Anyone hoping for a good start to 2010 had to be stunned at the tragic news reported out of Fayetteville this week.
Tusk, the Arkansas Razorbacks’ real, porcine mascot, was found dead in his pen at his farm home outside of Dardanelle. He was seven years old.
Tsk tsk, poor Tusk. Alas, pork Yorick.
Tusk, whose given name was Tusk II, was born Aug. 12, 2002 and served as Arkansas’ mascot from 2005 until his final appearance at Saturday’s Liberty Bowl game in Memphis a week ago.
The football Razorbacks went 35-28 during Tusk’s tenure.
Tusk was apparently a gentle fellow who would eat grapes from the hands of fans.
He was laid to rest Monday at the Stokes family farm in Dardanelle, where he stayed when not making his many appearances in Fayetteville and elsewhere.
Fans wishing to leave a message for the Stokes family or a remembrance of Tusk may follow the link on ArkansasRazorbacks.com or leave a Facebook message at Tusk Razorback Mascot.
Contributions to the live mascot program can be sent in Tusk’s memory to Tusk Fund c/0 The Razorback Foundation, 1295 Razorback Road, Suite A, Fayetteville, Ark, 72701.
Natural causes were cited in the university news release from Fayetteville that announced Tusk’s passing, and sources said the specific cause was a heart attack.
I suppose Tusk’s death proves bacon is bad for you, especially if your whole body is bacon.
One smarty-pants I know suggested Tusk died from all the excitement of the Liberty Bowl. He went on to suggest Tusk succumbed to shock when erratic grid-Hogs kicker Alex Tejada nailed the game-winner in the 20-17, overtime victory over East Carolina.
Another clever-trousers put forth the theory Tusk died from fear after seeing the 7-8 hardwood-Hogs play at basketball.
“Was he afraid of clowns?” The jokester asked.
One nice young woman unintentionally got to the root of Tusk’s apparent problem.
“Bless his heart,” she said.
Someone else suggested Tusk suffered the same fate that befalls so many celebrities, an unfortunate mixture of drugs and alcohol.
All joking aside — no strike that, there is plenty of joking to come — there are many questions surrounding not only Tusk’s death, but also questions as to why he was installed as the Hogs’ mascot in the first place.
Understand first that Tusk was a Russian boar, not even a real razorback. Come on, a Russkie? As the premiere mascot in a patriotic red state like Arkansas?
I suppose Tusk advocated socialized medicine too. Or at least Medicare.
Maybe Tusk was a mole, sent from a former Soviet Union clinging to its Cold War ethos to bring down our mighty football-industrial complex from the inside. Maybe some patriot decided to stop him.
Or maybe Tusk’s death was the work of a serial mascot killer. After all, Tusk wasn’t the first in the SEC to snuff it during the just-concluded football season.
The most recent incarnation of the Georgia Bulldogs’ mascot, the live bulldog named Uga VII, checked out Nov. 19 at age four.
Cause of death was also reported to be heart ailments.
Come on, the dog had an air-conditioned house and more handlers than coach Mark Richt has assistants.
And if it’s foul play, you have to look to the only fowls in the SEC, the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Maybe that cocky coach Steve Spurrier was ticked off his Gamecocks laid an egg in the Papajohns.com Bowl while Arkansas and Georgia won their bowl games.
Except Uga died before Georgia beat Texas A&M in the Independence Bowl, so Spurrier may be lacking a motive after all.
So let’s move on to an examination of the shady, mascot line of succession at Arkansas.
Tusk succeeded his father, Tusk I, and is survived by his brother, Tusk III, who will assume mascot duties at Arkansas.
I thought we frowned on that kind of nepotism in this country. Well, except for the Kennedys, the Pryors, the Bushes, the Clintons and Bobby and Patrick Knight.
Anyway, it smells, because as some fans have pointed out, now would be a great time to install a real razorback as mascot, or at least a true, Arkansas feral hog.
My friend Matt here at The Leader had the perfect candidate. For weeks, his remote game cam tracked the comings and goings of a huge feral hog at Matt’s deer feeding station in south Arkansas.
Except Matt is a hunter, and he shared his eventual success with some of his co-workers in a delicious ham and bean concoction on New Year’s Eve.
Oh well, around here we’re usually consumed by the Hogs, so it was a nice change of pace.
SPORTS >> Lions overwhelm Bears
Senior Demetric Gross, above, looks for an open teammate against a LR McClellan press.
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Sylvan Hills’ 9-2 record leading up to Tuesday night’s matchup with Little Rock McClellan was proof the young but talented Bears squad was capable of competing with anyone on a given night.
But the Lions’ merciless thumping of the Bears in a 76-45 victory proved experience and good size, not to mention deadeye shooting, still rule the court most nights.
McClellan (12-2, 1-0 5A-Southeast) put up 11 quick points before Sylvan Hills (9-3, 0-1) scored any during the 5A-Southeast game at Sylvan Hills High School.
The Lions also put their superior depth on display with solid contributions from the bench. A total of 11 McClellan players found their way on to the scoreboard, while the Bears struggled with the McClellan press and the Lions’ overall defensive intensity.
The Lions keyed on sophomore standout Archie Goodwin most of the night. The 6-3 Bears forward still led Sylvan Hills with 17 points, but most of that came from his 13-of-15 performance at the free-throw line.
Goodwin’s only field-goal makes were a pair of hard-fought inside jumpers in the middle of the first quarter.
Goodwin’s back-to-back jumpers gave the Bears their first points with 5:45 left in the first quarter.
The Lions jumped to their 11-0 lead with big shots from Tevin Hammond and Marcus Jordan. Hammond scored 23 first-half points while Jordan backed him up with 11 points through the first two quarters.
Free throws by Bears sophomore post Devin Pearson and Goodwin helped Sylvan Hills pull to within 17-8. Ahmad Scott made a layup with 1:28 left in the quarter to make it 19-10 and making Scott just the second Bears player to score a field goal.
Sylvan Hills pulled within 20-14 with 45 seconds left in the quarter when Demetric Gross made a basket, but McClellan hit a three-pointer in the final 20 seconds to increase its lead to nine, and Hammond and company continued to push the Bears in the next frame.
Hammond dominated the second quarter for the Lions. The speedy and accurate guard hit two straight field goals to put McClellan up 29-16 with 4:50 left in the half, and he extended the lead with a pair of three-pointers in the final two minutes to make it 43-24.
He added one more three-pointer with 20 seconds left in the half while Goodwin closed out the quarter for the Bears with a pair of free throws that cut the halftime margin to 51-30.
The Bears continued to struggle from the floor in the second half. Larry Ziegler and Pearson scored goals in the third quarter, but everyone else came up empty as the Lions extended their lead.
Rhakeem Brown did the inside work for McClellan with a putback at the 2:28 mark, followed by a dunk after a Sylvan Hills’ turnover that made it 66-36. He also scored on another putback with 1:28 left in the third.
The Lions ended the third quarter as they did the previous two with a long three-pointer that gave them a 72-38 lead.
Hammond led McClellan with 23 points, while Brown and Crandon Isac each added nine. Gross finished with nine points for Sylvan Hills.
The Bears played at Monticello on Friday night and will return home next Friday to host White Hall.
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
EDITORIAL >> Costly golf clubs
Jacksonville just said no to a deal that would essentially have given it a fully functional golf course for just $200,000 a year because it could not or would not justify the expense.
Jacksonville Alderman Bill Howard said that a municipal magazine recently published an article about how cities are unloading money-draining golf courses for more mundane things like fire and police protection and employee raises and health benefits.
In Sherwood, the 106-acre North Hills golf course is costing the city around $25,000 a month.
On top of that, the city budgeted $300,000 for maintenance last year, hired a golf course superintendent at a salary of $54,000, plus a rent-free home valued at more than $200,000, and additional ground and equipment laborers.
This year’s golf course budget includes another $300,000 for maintenance, and more money for more employees—$147,948 for five employees after the hiring freeze was announced.
With all that Sherwood has invested in The Greens at North Hills, its acreage needs to turn some green or the city’s financial ledger will run red.
Jacksonville Alderman Bill Howard said that a municipal magazine recently published an article about how cities are unloading money-draining golf courses for more mundane things like fire and police protection and employee raises and health benefits.
In Sherwood, the 106-acre North Hills golf course is costing the city around $25,000 a month.
On top of that, the city budgeted $300,000 for maintenance last year, hired a golf course superintendent at a salary of $54,000, plus a rent-free home valued at more than $200,000, and additional ground and equipment laborers.
This year’s golf course budget includes another $300,000 for maintenance, and more money for more employees—$147,948 for five employees after the hiring freeze was announced.
With all that Sherwood has invested in The Greens at North Hills, its acreage needs to turn some green or the city’s financial ledger will run red.
EDITORIAL >> State income keeps falling
Living in the economic backwaters has its good points and its bad points. When, in 2007, the country fell into the worst recession since the Great Depression, the misery index steepened on the seaboards and in the industrial Midwest and high-growth meccas like Nevada, Florida and Arizona. Governments found themselves strapped for the revenues to continue services.
As with economic downturns historically, things were not so bad in Arkansas, or at least not so much worse than they always were. We didn’t have an industrial base to contract and most of Arkansas had lain outside the great housing bubble.
Foreclosure notices were making the big newspapers a little richer, but it was nothing like California, the desert resorts, south Florida or even Cleveland. Our state government continued to run budget surpluses well into 2008, and unemployment at its peak barely topped 7 percent, roughly half what it was in our sister lottery state of South Carolina over on the coast.
But, as always, the misery was just late coming, and it is apt to linger after the good times rebound in the glitzier precincts, which we hope but have little faith will begin shortly.
The state fiscal agency ladled out the bad news yesterday. Government revenues have been falling sharply, a little worse every month, and December was very bad. The report reflected taxes on commerce only through November, not the Christmas season, so there likely is more bad news directly ahead. The state will have to tighten its belt again, for the second time this fiscal year. Our fiscal system requires it so that government does not finish the year in the red. There almost certainly will have to be some reductions in state services unless Governor Beebe throws more of the state’s dwindling fund balances into the breach.
In a few weeks, the legislature will be returning for its first-ever fiscal session and the lawmakers and the governor will have to determine whether the state’s budget priorities need to change in light of the declining revenue outlook. There should be no significant change. Public education is already guaranteed priority funding. We would hope that services to the neediest like indigent medical care would be sustained at whatever cost. Colleges and universities will take a hit in the fiscal year starting this fall even if budget priorities remain fixed, and lawmakers may decide that the institutions can stand a bigger hit. Beebe and the legislators will undoubtedly consider the considerable infusion of college aid through the lottery next fall and decide that the institutions can handle the hard times better than more vulnerable constituents of state aid. If you have college-bound youngsters, you can count on another tuition increase next fall, which can be covered for most of you by the fattened scholarships.
The lottery, after all, played a not insignificant part in the revenue decline, along with the new sales tax exemptions passed by the legislature in 2007. If people spend more than $400 million on lottery tickets this year, that is $400 million that will not be spent on goods and services that are subject to sales and excise taxes. Income taxes on lottery winnings will not make up the difference.
The adjustments need not be terribly wrenching. Just pray that it gets no worse.
As with economic downturns historically, things were not so bad in Arkansas, or at least not so much worse than they always were. We didn’t have an industrial base to contract and most of Arkansas had lain outside the great housing bubble.
Foreclosure notices were making the big newspapers a little richer, but it was nothing like California, the desert resorts, south Florida or even Cleveland. Our state government continued to run budget surpluses well into 2008, and unemployment at its peak barely topped 7 percent, roughly half what it was in our sister lottery state of South Carolina over on the coast.
But, as always, the misery was just late coming, and it is apt to linger after the good times rebound in the glitzier precincts, which we hope but have little faith will begin shortly.
The state fiscal agency ladled out the bad news yesterday. Government revenues have been falling sharply, a little worse every month, and December was very bad. The report reflected taxes on commerce only through November, not the Christmas season, so there likely is more bad news directly ahead. The state will have to tighten its belt again, for the second time this fiscal year. Our fiscal system requires it so that government does not finish the year in the red. There almost certainly will have to be some reductions in state services unless Governor Beebe throws more of the state’s dwindling fund balances into the breach.
In a few weeks, the legislature will be returning for its first-ever fiscal session and the lawmakers and the governor will have to determine whether the state’s budget priorities need to change in light of the declining revenue outlook. There should be no significant change. Public education is already guaranteed priority funding. We would hope that services to the neediest like indigent medical care would be sustained at whatever cost. Colleges and universities will take a hit in the fiscal year starting this fall even if budget priorities remain fixed, and lawmakers may decide that the institutions can stand a bigger hit. Beebe and the legislators will undoubtedly consider the considerable infusion of college aid through the lottery next fall and decide that the institutions can handle the hard times better than more vulnerable constituents of state aid. If you have college-bound youngsters, you can count on another tuition increase next fall, which can be covered for most of you by the fattened scholarships.
The lottery, after all, played a not insignificant part in the revenue decline, along with the new sales tax exemptions passed by the legislature in 2007. If people spend more than $400 million on lottery tickets this year, that is $400 million that will not be spent on goods and services that are subject to sales and excise taxes. Income taxes on lottery winnings will not make up the difference.
The adjustments need not be terribly wrenching. Just pray that it gets no worse.
TOP STORY >> Weather safety tips from Red Cross
The Red Cross offers several suggestions to help stay safe during winter storms.
Tips for staying safe at home:
Be careful with candles – do not use candles for lighting if the power goes out. Use flashlights only.
Don’t use a generator, grill, camp stove or other gasoline, propane, natural gas or charcoal-burning devices inside your home, basement or garage. Locate units away from doors, windows and vents that could allow carbon monoxide to come indoors.
Prevent frozen pipes — when the weather is very cold outside, open cabinet doors to let warm air circulate around water pipes.
Let the cold water drip from the faucet served by exposed pipes. Running water through the pipe — even at a trickle — helps prevent pipes from freezing because the temperature of the water running through it is above freezing. Keep the thermostat set to a consistent temperature.
Never use a stove or oven to heat your home.
If you plan on using a fireplace to stay warm, keep a glass or metal fire screen around the fireplace and never leave a lit fire unattended.
If using a space heater, follow the manufacturer’s instructions on how to safely use the heater. Place it on a level, hard, nonflammable surface. Turn the space heater off when you leave the room or go to sleep. Keep children and pets away from your space heater and do not use it to dry wet clothing.
Avoid overloading electrical outlets.
Check on your animals and make sure that their access to food and water is not blocked by snow drifts, ice or other obstacles. If possible, bring them indoors.
Tips for protecting yourself while outdoors and traveling:
Walk carefully on snowy, icy sidewalks and stairs.
If you shovel snow, be extremely careful. Take frequent breaks, stay hydrated and avoid overexertion.
Minimize travel whenever possible. If travel is necessary keep a disaster-supplies kit with extra food and blankets in your vehicle.
Avoid driving when conditions include sleet, freezing rain or drizzle, snow or dense fog.
Winterize your vehicle and keep the gas tank full. A full tank will keep the fuel line from freezing.
Tips for staying safe at home:
Be careful with candles – do not use candles for lighting if the power goes out. Use flashlights only.
Don’t use a generator, grill, camp stove or other gasoline, propane, natural gas or charcoal-burning devices inside your home, basement or garage. Locate units away from doors, windows and vents that could allow carbon monoxide to come indoors.
Prevent frozen pipes — when the weather is very cold outside, open cabinet doors to let warm air circulate around water pipes.
Let the cold water drip from the faucet served by exposed pipes. Running water through the pipe — even at a trickle — helps prevent pipes from freezing because the temperature of the water running through it is above freezing. Keep the thermostat set to a consistent temperature.
Never use a stove or oven to heat your home.
If you plan on using a fireplace to stay warm, keep a glass or metal fire screen around the fireplace and never leave a lit fire unattended.
If using a space heater, follow the manufacturer’s instructions on how to safely use the heater. Place it on a level, hard, nonflammable surface. Turn the space heater off when you leave the room or go to sleep. Keep children and pets away from your space heater and do not use it to dry wet clothing.
Avoid overloading electrical outlets.
Check on your animals and make sure that their access to food and water is not blocked by snow drifts, ice or other obstacles. If possible, bring them indoors.
Tips for protecting yourself while outdoors and traveling:
Walk carefully on snowy, icy sidewalks and stairs.
If you shovel snow, be extremely careful. Take frequent breaks, stay hydrated and avoid overexertion.
Minimize travel whenever possible. If travel is necessary keep a disaster-supplies kit with extra food and blankets in your vehicle.
Avoid driving when conditions include sleet, freezing rain or drizzle, snow or dense fog.
Winterize your vehicle and keep the gas tank full. A full tank will keep the fuel line from freezing.
TOP STORY >> Cabot slips to sixth in boomtown rankings
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
Cabot has lost its boomtown designation to Maumelle, a suburb of Little Rock that should soon get its own high school.
Cabot was called the state’s boomtown almost a year ago by a Little Rock company that provides marketing information to large retailers nationwide. At that time, Cabot was the third fastest-growing city in the state, but its continual growth in population over a 10-year period and 83-percent increase in household income over that same period had reached $98,555, an impressive number by most standards.
But this year, that same company, the Gadberry Group, says Cabot is sixth for growth in the state behind Maumelle, Bryant, Conway, Centerton and Lowell, and ahead of Rogers, Bentonville and Fayetteville.
The report, released Monday, says the number of households in Maumelle grew by 85 percent from 2000 to 2009.
It also found the average household income rose by nearly $28,000 to $100,701.
Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams said Tuesday morning that he isn’t concerned that his city has moved down in ranking. Cabot is still doing well and building is on the rise since the stock of available houses has been sold down.
And perhaps more importantly, smaller homes for young families are again being built in Cabot. For at least five years the 1,200- to 1,400-square-foot houses have been built in Ward and Austin where land was less expensive.
The high cost of land in Cabot was a deterrent to building starter homes. Instead, it has been used for many years as building sites for the homes of officers from Little Rock Air Force Base, who, like the Little Rock transplants who also have moved to Cabot by the thousands, were looking for good public schools for their children.
Those with jobs that paid less moved to Ward and Austin, which are also part of the Cabot School District.
But Williams said he is hopeful that the new subdivision of starter homes that is already under construction in Cabot is a sign of things to come, and that landowners are beginning to realize that they will have to lower their prices if they want their land to sell to developers.
Leader staff writer
Cabot has lost its boomtown designation to Maumelle, a suburb of Little Rock that should soon get its own high school.
Cabot was called the state’s boomtown almost a year ago by a Little Rock company that provides marketing information to large retailers nationwide. At that time, Cabot was the third fastest-growing city in the state, but its continual growth in population over a 10-year period and 83-percent increase in household income over that same period had reached $98,555, an impressive number by most standards.
But this year, that same company, the Gadberry Group, says Cabot is sixth for growth in the state behind Maumelle, Bryant, Conway, Centerton and Lowell, and ahead of Rogers, Bentonville and Fayetteville.
The report, released Monday, says the number of households in Maumelle grew by 85 percent from 2000 to 2009.
It also found the average household income rose by nearly $28,000 to $100,701.
Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams said Tuesday morning that he isn’t concerned that his city has moved down in ranking. Cabot is still doing well and building is on the rise since the stock of available houses has been sold down.
And perhaps more importantly, smaller homes for young families are again being built in Cabot. For at least five years the 1,200- to 1,400-square-foot houses have been built in Ward and Austin where land was less expensive.
The high cost of land in Cabot was a deterrent to building starter homes. Instead, it has been used for many years as building sites for the homes of officers from Little Rock Air Force Base, who, like the Little Rock transplants who also have moved to Cabot by the thousands, were looking for good public schools for their children.
Those with jobs that paid less moved to Ward and Austin, which are also part of the Cabot School District.
But Williams said he is hopeful that the new subdivision of starter homes that is already under construction in Cabot is a sign of things to come, and that landowners are beginning to realize that they will have to lower their prices if they want their land to sell to developers.
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