SPORTS >> Falcons knock off top-ranked Lions

North Pulaski coach Raymond Cooper huddles up with his team. The Falcons beat No. 1 LR McClellan on Tuesday.

By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter

It remains to be seen whether North Pulaski will earn a No. 1 overall ranking in the state high school basketball polls, but one thing is clear — the top team will no longer be Little Rock McClellan.

That’s because the Falcons held on to beat their 5A-Southeast Conference rivals 76-73 on Tuesday night at the Falcons Nest in front of a capacity crowd and many of the state’s major media outlets.

North Pulaski (14-4, 6-0) built a 38-23 lead with a dominant first half and maintained its lead through the third quarter. But once McClellan (16-3, 5-1) began to find open shots in the fourth quarter, the comeback was on.

The Falcons hit just enough free throws down the stretch to stay in front, with two free throws by cool-headed freshman I.J. Ready in the final three seconds that iced it for North Pulaski.

“Boy, you talk about weathering the storm, it was a storm — lightning, thunder — everything,” Falcons coach Raymond Cooper said. “They got real physical with us down the stretch, and we didn’t do a good job with handling it. We’ve got to get better with closing games out.

“It was a good win, but there are a lot of improvement points we’re going to take from this game.”

McClellan entered the game ranked No. 1 in the state while North Pulaski was ranked third. That, along with news coverage of the contest by three of the four local television stations, underscored the importance of the game for both teams.

But most importantly for Cooper, it gave his Falcons sole possession first in the 5A-Southeast.

“A conference win; that’s the way we look at it,” Cooper said. “You know, two years ago, they would have stormed the court. Guys would have been jumping around and just been so excited about one win. We’ve got a whole half of the conference left to go. And so that’s the way we’re looking at it.

“This was a good win, and the rankings are very good, but at the end of the year, the rankings don’t mean anything.”

McClellan got few second chances in the first half and most of the third quarter thanks to strong defensive rebounding by Falcons senior forward DaQuan Bryant. But Bryant was living on borrowed time once he picked up his fourth foul in the final 30 seconds of the third.

Bryant was able to hang around most of the fourth quarter until he was called for his fifth foul on McClellan’s D’juan Smith with 1:32 left .

“It’s amazing. As big as he is, he gets pounded on all game long,” Cooper said. “He drives to the hole and they pound him, they pound him, and it’s hard to explain to him why, when he touches somebody, that it’s a foul.

“I guess maybe because of his size that they allow that, but I don’t know a way of telling him how to handle it.”

Kyron Ware helped the Falcons establish their outside game early with a trio of first-quarter three-pointers in a 59-second span. Ware hit his first three-pointer with 2:12 left in the quarter to put North Pulaski up 19-12, took an assist from Aaron Cooper for his next three-pointer with 1:33 to go and got his third with 1:13 left to give the Falcons a 22-12 lead heading into the second quarter.

Ware, a senior forward, went on to lead North Pulaski with 18 points.

“He’s got a knack for hitting big shots,” Cooper said. “He’s got a knack for knowing when we need them and he steps up. And tonight he got us sparked at the beginning, he got us on a roll, got us some momentum.”

The rough nature of the game eventually played into North Pulaski’s favor when McClellan committed its 10th foul with 1:37 left in the game. At that point, the Falcons were 4 of 6 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, but the Lions were forced to send them to the line in the final 1:30.

“Tonight, we did a decent job at the free-throw line,” Cooper said. “But we’ve got to do better, because we could have closed the game out at the free-throw line.”

Ware had been consistent for the Falcons most of the night, but missed two free throws with 37 seconds left. The Lions had pulled to within 72-65 with a three-pointer by Ricky Allen, and Ware’s misses at the line led to another McClellan three-pointer, this time from Tevin Hammond to close the gap to 72-68.

The Lions continued to press, but Cooper, Ready and senior guard Joe Agee used their speed to combat the defense. The Falcons turned the ball over only three times in the fourth quarter, all of them on rushed passes.

“I wasn’t worried about being pressed, because we practice against the press every day,” Cooper said. “And their press is almost identical to ours. We didn’t press as much as we normally do, because we wanted to attack their press. We wanted to focus our energy on attacking it, and making them pay for pressing us.”

Aaron Cooper added 14 points for the Falcons, while Agee and Bryan Coulson both finished with 11. Bryant finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds, eight of which were defensive.

Michael Bradley led McClellan with 22 points, Allen scored 18 and Hammond scored 15.

TOP STORY >> Metroplan approves modest road projects

By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer

A proposed revision of the Metro 2030 long-range transportation plan for central Arkansas has 13 new projects, with two in the Jacksonville or Cabot area, including part of Hwy. 167/67 and widening Hwy. 107.

The Metroplan board Thursday unanimously approved both the draft Metro 2030 plan and a companion draft 2010-2013 transportation improvement program.

Both are out for a 30-day public comment period.

While completion of the North Belt Freeway is on the long-range plan, no funds have been located to build it. The plan estimates the cost at about $700 million by 2030 if any work is done on it at all. The earliest proposed expenditure, other than buying some right of way, would be $16.5 million in the 2014 to 2019 time span, with another $685 million between 2020 and 2030.

One of the two new projects listed on the plan is a cable median barrier on Hwy. 67/167 from the Vandenberg exit at Jacksonville to Hwy. 89 at Cabot, with a projected cost of about $2 million if constructed in 2012. It’s aimed at keeping vehicles from crossing over the median and into the path of oncoming traffic in the other lanes.

The other new project would widen to four lanes Hwy. 107 from Bayou Meto to north of Arnold Drive, projected to cost $11.6 million when bid and constructed in 2013.

Because of budget constraints, Metroplan only updated a version of its improvement plan instead of creating an entirely new long-range transportation plan, required to be updated every five years. When the deadline for a comprehensive 2035 plan approached, Jim McKenzie, executive director of Metroplan, said that staff with approval of the board, just tweaked the existing 2030 plan, calling it 2030.2, like a revision of a software program.

Among those uncertainties are whether the Federal Surface Trans-portation Act will be renewed and at what funding level and whether proposed stricter new ozone standards by the Environmental Protection Agency will finally put Central Arkansas out of compliance and at risk for having to scale back highway construction.

The state Highway Department has told Metroplan to expect a second round of American Reinvestment and Recovery Act money to be announce soon, probably about the same $14 million available for use in Central Arkansas with rules similar to the rules last time.

Also unknown is if or how the state will increase its highway funds through new revenues.
Gov. Mike Beebe has appointed a Blue Ribbon Highway Funding Committee to study ways to increase funding, which is stagnant even as costs and needs grow.

McKenzie said that as soon as some of those questions are settled, he expects Metroplan to begin a real and comprehensive 2035 long-range plan.

Among the problems with the long-range planning is forecasting the costs of projects being let to bid five, 10 and even 20 years from now, according to McKenzie.

Perhaps the most exciting project on tap for Jacksonville, Ward, Austin and Cabot area residents is the reconstruction and widening of the old, narrow and deadly Hwy. 67/167 overpass at Main Street Jacksonville.

While it appears to be included in the $53 million widening of the highway from Redmond Road to Vandenberg Boulevard, which is in the long-range plan, it is broken out more specifically in the draft 2010-2013 Transportation Improvement Program, also approved unanimously by the board Thursday.

Also on tap for that stretch is the widening and reconstruction of the Hwy. 67/167 bridge over Redmond Road and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.

That’s estimated to cost about $6 million when bids are let in 2012.

The TIP has $4 million committed for that job, which is slated to go to bid in 2013.

The widening of Hwy. 67/167 between Kiehl and Hwy. 440 should be let to bid this year at an estimated cost of $12.7 million. In all, the 2030.2 plan commits $3.44 billion through 2030. About $1.4 billion of that is for construction that increases traffic capacity, while about $1.9 is for maintenance and repair.

That doesn’t include $615 million earmarked for transit — mostly CATA bus operations. That tentatively includes $1.25 million for a public transit system in Conway.

Bus service in the Jacksonville Sherwood express route continues at the capacity, with improvements costing about $5 million through 2030.

Additional bus service for Jacksonville/Cabot and for Sherwood was studied but not funded.

TOP STORY >> City gets by without state help

Mike Wilson (from left), Mayor Gary Fletcher and Sen. John Paul Capps talk at the Jacksonville chamber banquet.

New president Jason Wilkinson (left) with his predecessor Phillip Carlisle.

By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer

Jacksonville is moving forward without asking for state money, said outgoing chamber president Phillip Carlisle a number of times at the group’s annual banquet Tuesday, and each time he paused and looked at the guest speaker of the night, Gov. Mike Beebe.

Carlisle said he had the pleasure, during his year as president, to help break ground for the new Jacksonville Lighthouse Academy charter school.

“This was a citywide event where the people of Jacksonville got behind the idea, raised the money and built the school without any state money,” he said.

Carlisle paused and looked at the governor for effect.

He went on to say that the city residents voted to tax themselves to raise $5 million for the new Joint Education Center being built near the front entrance to Little Rock Air Force Base. The military chipped in about $9.8 million for the multi-school building that both military and civilians will use.

“Once again,” Carlisle said, “it was Jacksonville taking care of its own, all without help from the state government.”

Carlisle paused once again and all eyes went to the governor.

And then Carlisle told the crowd of about 300 at the community center that the city was working hard to get the new state fairground built on about 400 acres of land inside and outside the city limits. “And guess what, governor — we haven’t asked you for a dime.”

Carlisle added that none of those three projects were chamber projects, but they were projects all sectors of the city were involved in.

Later in the evening, when the governor took to the podium, he said he kept waiting for the other shoe to fall—for Carlisle to say that the city now wanted state help for something, but Carlisle never did. The governor praised the city for its independent efforts and work.
Carlisle also took time to try to answer the No. 1 question he has been asked over the past year: “What does the chamber actually do?”

Ribbon cuttings and groundbreakings are the most visible actions of the chamber. Carlisle admitted that when he became president he was excited about his first ribbon cutting, even if it was in Cabot.

“It showed how important Jacksonville is to outside businesses that they want to be a part of our chamber,” Carlisle explained. That ribbon-cutting was for Fat Daddy’s restaurant, which has since been renamed.

He said the chamber added 41 new members during the year, sponsored the business expo, a health expo and the Wing Ding Festival.

Carlisle said despite the falling economy, the expo was very successful, the need for the health expo was tremendous and the Wing Ding Festival was the city’s best yet. He said the festival was close to becoming one of the top festivals in the area.

“When people think of central Arkansas, they will say Pops on the River, Toad Suck and Wing Ding,” the outgoing president said.

The chamber also sponsored the city’s 52nd annual Christmas parade. “That’s a long time,” he said, adding that the parade had about 1,200 participants.

He said the chamber started quarterly luncheons for the area’s manufacturing and industrial sector and brought in economic-development speakers from the state.

He said the luncheons have been well-received, and incoming president Jason Wilkinson plans to start similar gatherings for small businesses.

Carlisle is proud of the chamber’s mentoring program. He is also an active participant and said it really makes a difference in children’s lives knowing that they have someone they can depend on. He said the program helps 60 kids in local schools, but there are 100 more on the waiting list.

Carlisle concluded by telling the audience that both the city and the chamber were “in wonderful shape.”

Other new chamber officers are vice president Jody Urquhart and treasurer Larry Biernacki.

TOP STORY >> Land feud threatens to quash road plan

By JOHN HOFHEIMER

Leader senior staff writer

Politics and hard feelings on the Lonoke County Quorum Court threaten to scuttle an $800,000 state Highway Department improvement to an unwieldy and dangerous Hwy. 67/167 exit at Cabot.

All planning and engineering have been completed. The money is available, and the Highway Department wants to let the bids in April for the project, which would slightly reroute the southbound Hwy. 67/167 exit traffic to a signal at Hwy. 5.

Currently, it causes a traffic snarl, sometimes backing up toward the highway.

The problem is Lonoke County’s matching funds to buy about two acres of right of way.

Most of it belongs to Lonoke County Quorum Court member Larry Odom and his wife, and the balance belongs to state Rep. Barry Hyde, according to County Judge Charlie Troutman.

Hyde has refused offers of $3 a square foot, Troutman said. He said if they can’t come to an agreement, he’d condemn Hyde’s land.

As the county’s chief executive officer, Troutman is authorized to purchase such property, but Republicans on the quorum court suspected a sweetheart deal between Odom and Troutman, who have worked together on the court for more than a decade.

Odom at first offered to sell his property for $60,000, about half of its appraised value. But some on the court cried foul. Even though Odom is a Republican, he is estranged from fellow Republicans, who don’t like the way he votes or his friendship with Troutman.

A subsequent Highway Depart-ment appraisal of the land it needs from Odom was $144,000, and Odom, feeling insulted by his fellow quorum court members has now said he won’t sell for the original price.

At the January quorum court meeting, Troutman asked the justices to approve an ordinance allowing the sale.

After some heated debate, the motion was tabled. “There is a time frame,” Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams said Friday. “The Highway Department said the bid letting would be in April. Otherwise, the money gets turned back.

I worked hard for two years to get it in. It’s one of the most unsafe intersections in the Cabot area. I hope we can resolve it and move on.”

Justice of the Peace Mark Edwards of Cabot, who circulated an email in opposition to the project, now says he believes realigning the exit is a safety concern.

He said he believes about half of the Republicans on the quorum court will vote for it, and most if not all of the Democrats.

One thing that bothers some quorum court members is that the deed to Odom’s property has been signed and filed at the county clerk’s office. They say Troutman put the cart before the horse.

“I think it’s something that we need,” Edwards said. “There’s been something around 80 wrecks in that general area.”

Odom disqualified himself from voting at the January meeting. Troutman says it’s not a conflict of interest for Odom to vote on the matter, but Edwards says he disagrees.

TOP STORY >> Metroplan approves modest road projects

By JOHN HOFHEIMER

Leader staff writer

Much of the 445 acres of land that Jacksonville officials have offered to give to the Arkansas State Fair could be acquired through eminent domain if any of the owners hesitate to sell to the city.

The property is one of three adjacent parcels along the North Belt between Jacksonville and I-40 in North Little Rock that could be the new site for the state fair complex.

The Jacksonville proposal has easy access from the highway, which the state fair requires, while the others lack such access.

Jacksonville is putting on a full-court press to land the fair and has formed an economic development commission to make the site off South Hwy. 161 available to the fair board at no charge.

Entergy owns about half the land that Jacksonville wants to buy for $1 million and give to the fair. The electric utility has told Jacksonville officials it is not interested in selling — even for $3,000 an acre — but the city could offer Entergy other land in a swap.

Jacksonville could also claim eminent domain and acquire the property, the way Little Rock condemned land for the Clinton Presidential Library.

“I can’t imagine Entergy not getting behind this,” Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher said.

The economic development commission will include Fletcher, former Mayor Tommy Swaim, engineer Tommy Bond, banker Donnie Farmer, realtor Jim Peacock and attorney Mike Wilson.

Its aim is to get the property ready as a gift for the state fair, just as Jacksonville residents donated the land for Little Rock Air Force almost 60 years ago.

About 35 acres of the proposed property are inside Jacksonville. The city plans to annex the rest of the land to give to the fair or develop it as an industrial park if the fair plans fall through.

Feasibility study

The Arkansas Livestock Show Association board on Wednesday approved a feasibility study to decide which of the sites will make the final cut if the fair leaves Little Rock.

The Leader reported last week that the three sites on the east side of I-440, from the Rixey exit in Jacksonville to the Galloway exit at I-40 in North Little Rock, were the finalists to replace the fairgrounds on Roosevelt Road in Little Rock.

Board chairman Ned Ray Purtle said, “We’ve never seen as much support as we have from the folks in Jacksonville. We’ve got a great opportunity offered to us.”

The entrance to the Jacksonville site would be on Wooten Road off South Hwy. 161 and I-440. The North Little Rock site would be accessible from Dick Jeter Road off the Galloway exit at I-40.

The Davidson Ranch between those two sites is the third option being considered. The land for the two sites farthest from Jacksonville could cost several million dollars. Building the new complex could cost well over $100 million.

Ralph Shoptaw, general manager of the state fair, told The Leader after the board meeting, “If we can’t pay for it, we’ll have to stay where we are.”

Board member Ed Penick questioned the wisdom of looking for a new fair site during a recession while the state is cutting spending.

“What’s the big hurry?” Penick asked.

Purtle explained that the fair has not asked the state for any funding. The board was only committing $5,000 for a feasibility study and would consider alternative funding for the new fair, such as bonds and grants.

Cost was a prime consideration in the recommendations by engineer Basil Shoptaw to the executive committee of the Arkansas Livestock Show Association.

Keeping the fairground where it is and making improvements would be the least costly of the four possibilities, as little as $25 million and up to $57 million for phased development compared to $100 million or more for starting from scratch at an undeveloped site.

Sites Considered

The three other sites under consideration are located in northeast Pulaski County, to the north of I-40 and east of I-440. All three are adjacent to one to one another.

A proposal submitted by the city of Little Rock offered several levels of modification to the 85-acre site. Expanded parking, connector roads to I-30 and I-630 as well as refurbishment of existing buildings and construction of new ones are among recommended changes.

Drawbacks to the site are limits to how much the site could expand if even nearby homes were acquired to build parking. Expansion to the west is restricted by the fact that the land is in the Fouche Creek floodway.

The site offered by Jacksonville consists of 445 acres, 160 of which are in a floodplain. Highway access would be from Wooten Road at the Hwy. 161 and I-440 interchange.

There are nine owners of the land, including Entergy, real estate investment companies and individuals. The city has offered to acquire the land and provide utilities at no cost to the state fair association. The plan is to raise up to $1 million to buy the land – taking it by eminent domain if necessary.

According to Shoptaw, it will take further research to determine how problematic the floodplain is for the Jacksonville site.

He suspects that for 124 acres drainage issues may be minimal. The other 56 acres are a wetland that could be preserved or modified as a lake. However, there are complexities involved whenever wetlands are on a site in regard to securing permits for any changes, he noted.

Another site under consideration lies to the south of the one offered by the city. It is 827 acres owned by Davidson Ranch that has 3,000 feet of frontage on I-440 and is partially visible from I-40. It includes 38 acres to the west of I-440, and 540 acres are in the floodplain. It carries a $2,995 per acre price tag.

The site does not meet highway access criteria. Existing access is along a two-lane for almost two miles from the Galloway Road/ I-40 interchange.

The third site is the southernmost of the three. It consists of 632 acres with three owners. The price is $4,512 per acre.

The tract is bound by Ink Bayou to the east and I-440 to the west and is known to include wetlands, though exactly how extensive is unknown.

The site would be visible along two miles of I-440. The site does not meet access requirements, requiring travel for two miles from the Galloway Road/I-40 interchange.

No site under consideration is ideal, in Shoptaw’s opinion.

The existing fairground is hindered by old buildings, lack of space and little room to expand. The three sites north of the river all have wetlands or low-lying areas. Two of those sites did not meet the highway-access criteria asked for in the request for proposals.

An option for planners is to take the most suitable land from the three northeast Pulaski sites – as well as adjacent land – to meld into a site with the most favorable characteristics – highway visibility, frontage and access, good drainage, proximity to utilities and all at the right price.

Deciding boundaries

“Are we restricted by absolute boundaries? No we are not. We will determine what we need and see what we can get. None of the sites is absolutely perfect. We will look at the area and look at sites and try to come up with a plan that would be very nice. One of the most important criteria is to make sure that there is adjacent land available.”

Price and proximity to I-40 figured strongly in Shoptaw’s recommendation of the three northeast Pulaski sites.

“They were the three lowest priced land, 1, 2, 3,” he said. “And they were the only good areas in terms of visibility and access. We always liked the idea of having a presence on I-40, and of course I-440 is very near to I-40. The only drawback is the scattered wetland issue, but hopefully we could work around that.”

Coming to a decision about the feasibility of relocating the state fairgrounds and where that might be is still months away.

Making a decision

The decision will be based on findings from several sources: A study about impact of a new fairgrounds on the state and local economies is due from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock within a few days; a feasibility study that will look at potential revenue streams that could come with a fairgrounds that operated year-round; and further research of the three northeast Pulaski sites by Shoptaw.

Then there is the whole question of raising the money to develop a new fairground. “A menu of funding” likely would come into play, said Ralph Shoptaw, the state fair general manager.

That could include private and corporate donations for naming rights, foundation funding and low-interest loans.

“A lot will be determined by the feasibility study,” he said. “At the end of the day, what we build will have to have enough revenue to pay the note.”

Ralph Shoptaw estimates that once all preliminaries are complete – site selection, land purchase, financing, design and planning, actual construction will be another three to five years away.

TOP STORY >> City in full-court press for fair

By NANCY DOCKTER and GARRICK FELDMAN

Leader staff writer and Editor-in-chief

Much of the 445 acres of land that Jacksonville officials have offered to give to the Arkansas State Fair could be acquired through eminent domain if any of the owners hesitate to sell to the city.

The property is one of three adjacent parcels along the North Belt between Jacksonville and I-40 in North Little Rock that could be the new site for the state fair complex.

The Jacksonville proposal has easy access  from the highway, which the state fair requires, while the others lack such access.

Jacksonville is putting on a full-court press to land the fair and has formed an economic development commission to make the site off South Hwy. 161 available to the fair board at no charge.

Entergy owns about half the land that Jacksonville wants to buy for $1 million and give to the fair. The electric utility has told Jacksonville officials it is not interested in selling — even for $3,000 an acre — but the city could offer Entergy other land in a swap.

Jacksonville could also claim eminent domain and acquire the property, the way Little Rock condemned land for the Clinton Presidential Library.

“I can’t imagine Entergy not getting behind this,” Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher said.

The economic development commission will include Fletcher, former Mayor Tommy Swaim, engineer Tommy Bond, banker Donnie Farmer, realtor Jim Peacock and attorney Mike Wilson.

Its aim is to get the property ready as a gift for the state fair, just as Jacksonville residents donated the land for Little Rock Air Force almost 60 years ago.

About 35 acres of the proposed property are inside Jacksonville. The city plans to annex the rest of the land to give to the fair or develop it as an industrial park if the fair plans fall through.

Feasibility study

The Arkansas Livestock Show Association board on Wednesday approved a feasibility study to decide which of the sites will make the final cut if the fair leaves Little Rock.

The Leader reported last week that the three sites on the east side of I-440, from the Rixey exit in Jacksonville to the Galloway exit at I-40 in North Little Rock, were the finalists to replace the fairgrounds on Roosevelt Road in Little Rock.

Board chairman Ned Ray Purtle said, “We’ve never seen as much support as we have from the folks in Jacksonville. We’ve got a great opportunity offered to us.”

The entrance to the Jacksonville site would be on Wooten Road off South Hwy. 161 and I-440. The North Little Rock site would be accessible from Dick Jeter Road off the Galloway exit at I-40.

The Davidson Ranch between those two sites is the third option being considered. The land for the two sites farthest from Jacksonville could cost several million dollars. Building the new complex could cost well over $100 million.

Ralph Shoptaw, general manager of the state fair, told The Leader after the board meeting, “If we can’t pay for it, we’ll have to stay where we are.”

Board member Ed Penick questioned the wisdom of looking for a new fair site during a recession while the state is cutting spending.

“What’s the big hurry?” Penick asked.

Purtle explained that the fair has not asked the state for any funding. The board was only committing $5,000 for a feasibility study and would consider alternative funding for the new fair, such as bonds and grants.

Cost was a prime consideration in the recommendations by engineer Basil Shoptaw to the executive committee of the Arkansas Livestock Show Association.

Keeping the fairground where it is and making improvements would be the least costly of the four possibilities, as little as $25 million and up to $57 million for phased development compared to $100 million or more for starting from scratch at an undeveloped site.

Sites Considered

The three other sites under consideration are located in northeast Pulaski County, to the north of I-40 and east of I-440. All three are adjacent to one to one another.

A proposal submitted by the city of Little Rock offered several levels of modification to the 85-acre site. Expanded parking, connector roads to I-30 and I-630 as well as refurbishment of existing buildings and construction of new ones are among recommended changes.

Drawbacks to the site are limits to how much the site could expand if even nearby homes were acquired to build parking. Expansion to the west is restricted by the fact that the land is in the Fouche Creek floodway.

The site offered by Jacksonville consists of 445 acres, 160 of which are in a floodplain. Highway access would be from Wooten Road at the Hwy. 161 and I-440 interchange.

There are nine owners of the land, including Entergy, real estate investment companies and individuals. The city has offered to acquire the land and provide utilities at no cost to the state fair association. The plan is to raise up to $1 million to buy the land – taking it by eminent domain if necessary. 

According to Shoptaw, it will take further research to determine how problematic the floodplain is for the Jacksonville site.

He suspects that for 124 acres drainage issues may be minimal. The other 56 acres are a wetland that could be preserved or modified as a lake. However, there are complexities involved whenever wetlands are on a site in regard to securing permits for any changes, he noted.

Another site under consideration lies to the south of the one offered by the city. It is 827 acres owned by Davidson Ranch that has 3,000 feet of frontage on I-440 and is partially visible from I-40. It includes 38 acres to the west of I-440, and 540 acres are in the floodplain. It carries a $2,995 per acre price tag.

The site does not meet highway access criteria. Existing access is along a two-lane for almost two miles from the Galloway Road/ I-40 interchange.

The third site is the southernmost of the three. It consists of 632 acres with three owners. The price is $4,512 per acre.

The tract is bound by Ink Bayou to the east and I-440 to the west and is known to include wetlands, though exactly how extensive is unknown.

The site would be visible along two miles of I-440. The site does not meet access requirements, requiring travel for two miles from the Galloway Road/I-40 interchange.

No site under consideration is ideal, in Shoptaw’s opinion.

The existing fairground is hindered by old buildings, lack of space and little room to expand. The three sites north of the river all have wetlands or low-lying areas. Two of those sites did not meet the highway-access criteria asked for in the request for proposals.

An option for planners is to take the most suitable land from the three northeast Pulaski sites – as well as adjacent land – to meld into a site with the most favorable characteristics – highway visibility, frontage and access, good drainage, proximity to utilities and all at the right price.

Deciding boundaries

“Are we restricted by absolute boundaries? No we are not. We will determine what we need and see what we can get. None of the sites is absolutely perfect. We will look at the area and look at sites and try to come up with a plan that would be very nice. One of the most important criteria is to make sure that there is adjacent land available.”

Price and proximity to I-40 figured strongly in Shoptaw’s recommendation of the three northeast Pulaski sites.

“They were the three lowest priced land, 1, 2, 3,” he said. “And they were the only good areas in terms of visibility and access. We always liked the idea of having a presence on I-40, and of course I-440 is very near to I-40. The only drawback is the scattered wetland issue, but hopefully we could work around that.”

Coming to a decision about the feasibility of relocating the state fairgrounds and where that might be is still months away.

Making a decision

The decision will be based on findings from several sources: A study about impact of a new fairgrounds on the state and local economies is due from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock within a few days; a feasibility study that will look at potential revenue streams that could come with a fairgrounds that operated year-round; and further research of the three northeast Pulaski sites by Shoptaw. 

Then there is the whole question of raising the money to develop a new fairground. “A menu of funding” likely would come into play, said Ralph Shoptaw, the state fair general manager.

That could include private and corporate donations for naming rights, foundation funding and low-interest loans.

“A lot will be determined by the feasibility study,” he said. “At the end of the day, what we build will have to have enough revenue to pay the note.”

Ralph Shoptaw estimates that once all preliminaries are complete – site selection, land purchase, financing, design and planning, actual construction will be another three to five years away.

EDITORIAL >> Buying elections

One school of thought is that we need not get too exercised about the U. S. Supreme Court decision telling governments and the American public that they cannot stop corporations from buying elections or controlling officeholders by spending vast sums of cash for or against them or threatening to do it. 


How could corporations influence elections and policy any more than they already do? It is a good question. 


Here in our little out-of-the-way state, we have seen in the past year how some of the country’s most profitable corporations through the expenditure of tens of millions of dollars on television and newspaper advertising, direct mail and lobbying sharply changed public views of important legislation in Congress — health insurance reform, climate legislation and collective bargaining rules. In doing so, they have already influenced the elections this season.


All those millions did not come from corporate general treasuries but rather through the accustomed ruses — political action committees, associations, public-spirited sounding front groups and various schemes for laundering money.


The insurance companies washed millions through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which underwrote television commercials attacking health bills as “a government takeover” of health care.


Will corporations spend any more now that the Supreme Court says they do not have to hide it and can spend directly from general funds? And isn’t it better if they do it directly and make full public disclosure so that we all know what they are doing?


No, there is nothing good about the arrangement, starting with the constitutional dialectic used by the five former corporate lawyers on the Court who rendered the decision. They said the framers of the Bill of Rights intended for corporations to have the same rights as individuals.


The checkout clerk at the supermarket can spend any amount that she wants to elect or defeat U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln or the local mayor or to shape public opinion about them, although she is restricted if she gives the money directly to a candidate’s campaign.


Exxon Mobil or ARAMCO, the U. S. unit of the Saudi national oil company, is entitled also to spend whatever it wants, too, the justices said. They view that as a simple matter of equality. Emily and Bank of America have equal footing.


A corporation is not an individual, and you can find writings by the authors of the Bill of Rights to that effect. A corporation does not have ideas or feelings that it needs to the public to hear, not apart from the ideas of its CEO and directors.


Jefferson and Madison warned about the power of corporations, even in the formative days of the republic, to overwhelm the public voice in the councils of government. Corporate speech and its agent, the company’s wealth, are merely an extension of the CEO or the board of directors, whose speech rights as individuals are already protected.


Former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the Reagan justice whose successor cast the deciding vote for the corporations and whose opinion in 2002 was one of the precedents overturned by the court, was incensed by the decision.


She raised a point that should be especially alarming to people in Arkansas. Special interests may have a legitimate right to use their power to force the legislative and executive branches to do their bidding, but the judicial system is another matter, she said. There, at least theoretically, matters are settled by law, not by opinion or political influence.


But states that elect their judges — Arkansas is one of them — will now find powerful interests bidding to control the courts. Insurance, tobacco and energy companies on one hand and trial lawyers and labor unions on the other will spend heavily on trial and appellate judges to see that their cases are tried by sympathetic judges.


Our neighbor Texas furnishes a harrowing example of corporate purchase of judicial seats. Justice O’Connor pointed to a recent case in West Virginia as a harbinger of what is coming.


The CEO of A. T. Massey Coal Co. spent $3 million to defeat a justice on the state Supreme Court, which was about to consider an appeal of a $50 million judgment against the coal company. 


The coal executive got his man elected to the Supreme Court, and the new justice then cast the deciding vote overturning the verdict against the corporation. The company spent $3 million and saved $47 million.


As a result of the court’s corporate- speech decision, any company or an entire industry can dump a vast fortune into an independent campaign committee — commonly known as a “527 committee” — and either attack or support a candidate for any public office, from alderman on our city councils to president of the United States.


It was just such a 527 committee — this one dedicated to demonizing Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton with a film distorting her work in Arkansas and beyond — that gave the Supreme Court the chance to take the last restraints off corporations.


This is not going to be pretty. Justice O’Connor said it best: “Mutually assured destruction is the most likely outcome.”

TOP STORY >> Brrrrrr—this ice is not nice

By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer

By mid-morning Friday, the sanding crews in Jacksonville thought they might get out of their round-the-clock shift, but that lull in the wintry mix didn’t last long.


By noon, sleet was hitting the area with a vengeance. “We’ve been pretty lucky,” said Jacksonville Public Works director Jim Oakley, “that we’ve only had one minor accident through the afternoon.”


Sherwood police officer Joshua Adams said his department had also been pretty quiet. “We’ve had just a few one-car accidents and no major injuries,” he reported.

The same was true for Cabot. The winter storm closed schools for the day statewide, which  helped take some traffic off the roadways. Power outages were reported in many areas north of here.

Oakley praised crews for doing an outstanding job with two sand trucks and a grader. “Intersections, hills and bridges have been our priority,” Oakley said.

He said people staying off the roads resulted in fewer accidents.

Oakley said that Friday morning the streets in Jacksonville were mostly slushy, and by mid- afternoon the temperature warmed to above freezing, easing road concerns, but by early afternoon the temperature was falling again.

“It’s a lot more serious now,” a worried Oakley said late Friday.

His crews will continue to work as long as there is a need, he said. Adams said the city also had its sand truck out, but as traffic increased Friday afternoon and the sleet continued to fall, the roads were packing down and that could cause more problems.

Gov. Mike Beebe declared a state of emergency Friday morning in response to the ice and snow already in Arkansas and expected to continue accumulating throughout the day.

 The declaration carries with it up to $20,000 from the Governor’s Disaster Fund for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management to supply additional support and resources if needed.

A separate declaration by Beebe suspended some federal guidelines that regulate utility trucks. This allowed utility companies to work extra hours in responding to outages and storm damage.

Officials at the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management have been in contact with county emergency officials, preparing to take appropriate actions to counter the storm. The Arkansas National Guard also has personnel and supplies ready to go for emergency response.

The storm divided the state into a snowy north, dropping up to 12 inches of snow, and an icy south, with accumulations of ice up to about a half an inch in spots.

Interstate 40 has ice, sleet, slush or snow for its entire length, from Oklahoma to Tennessee. Interstate 30 has wintry conditions in Pulaski and Saline counties.

Police are asking residents to travel only if necessary. A lot of people involved in accidents are out looking around at the effects of the weather.

Most remnants of the storm should be gone by Monday or Tuesday as temperatures for Sunday are supposed to be in the higher 30s and the mid-40s by Tuesday.


Rain chances for the week run about 20 percent each day.

TOP STORY >> Sand truck put to work in Cabot as roads ice up

By JOAN McCOY

Leader staff writer

At 9 a.m. Friday, with the streets covered with sleet and snow, Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams said the sand truck he bought in 2009 had already done its job for the day.

“We’ve been rolling since early this morning with the sand truck,” Williams said. “We’ve not had a wreck this morning and I attribute that to these guys working instead of us waiting for the state to help.”

The dump truck fitted with a spreader for sand and salt came from Iowa, but the mayor said it had been well-maintained and at about $6,000 it was a bargain for the city.

The sand, stockpiled at the city garage in concrete bins built last year for that purpose, was spread on Hwy. 321, Hwy. 367 and on railroad crossings.

The state takes care of overpasses on major roads, but Williams said less traveled streets are low on the state’s list of priorities.

Workers were out early, while the sleet was still falling. The sand imbeds in the ice but remains effective, the mayor said.