TOP STORY >> Mayor attends conference for retail growth

By RICK KRON

Leader staff writer

Before leaving on a trip to a retail-development conference in Texas last week, Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher said he had the team with him to make any possible deal.

The regional meeting, Nov. 17-19, was titled the Texas Conference and Deal Making.

Now a week after the conference there is no locked in deal, but a lot of maybes and some planned visits by retailer developers.

Fletcher, along with Jim Durham, the city’s director of administration, Jay Whisker, the city engineer, and Rickey Hayes, the city’s economic consultant, spent three days at the conference near Dallas.

“It was real productive,” the mayor said. “There are a lot of people interested in Jacksonville.”

On Wednesday, Fletcher was busy gathering aerial photos and other data various developers wanted as they consider making a move to Jacksonville.

Fletcher said it was the team’s job to get the word out about Jacksonville to all the movers and shakers at the conference. “We have a story to tell and we have to go out and tell to everyone and anyone willing to listen. Gone is the day where we could sit at home and businesses would come to us,” the mayor said.

“I think we did a good job letting them know about Jacksonville,” he added.

He said Jacksonville was the only town in Arkansas that sent a delegation to the conference.

“There are 500 cities and towns in Arkansas and with us the only one at the conference, it keeps our name in the forefront,” Fletcher explained. “We’ve got to promote ourselves----—the $700 million impact of the base, the impact of the surrounding businesses, the steady high revenues that Chili’s is experiencing.”

Fletcher said whenever a national chain said Jacksonville was too small, he tossed them those figures “And suddenly they wanted us to send them more information.”

The mayor said he came away from the conference more convinced than ever that the city needs to annex the highway corridor north of Jacksonville. “More than one developer told me at the conference that retail outlets feed off of one another and want to be close together, not spread out through a city,” explained the mayor.

As much as he wanted to, Fletcher said he couldn’t name any particular company that looks promising. “We don’t want to scare anyone off,” he said, adding that a number of steakhouses are looking at Jacksonville because of Chili’s success.

Chili’s averages more than $3 million a month in taxable prepared food receipts, according to the city’s advertising and promotion commission.

Fletcher said he also left the conference knowing that Jacksonville has to do more to bring in family-oriented activities such as a movie theater and a bowling alley. “I may propose a family-enterprise zone, which would offer tax credits and incentives to family businesses building or remodeling in downtown Jacksonville.”

The regional meeting in Dallas is one of many put on by the International Council of Shopping Centers.

The mayor said several thousand people attended the show. “Rickey Hayes, who has been to many, many of these, said the crowd was much bigger than in the past few years indicating that retailers, restaurants and other businesses may be gearing up to expand more than they have recently. That’ll be good news for us.”

Founded in 1957, the ICSC is the global-trade association of the shopping-center industry. Its 60,000 worldwide members include shopping-center owners, developers, managers, marketing specialists, investors, lenders, retailers and other professionals as well as academics and public officials.

As the global-industry trade association, ICSC links with more than 25 national and regional shopping-center councils throughout the world.

TOP STORY >> Golf course surpasses projections

By RICK KRON

Leader staff writer

The Sherwood golf course—The Greens At North Hills—is exceeding expectations and will save thousands of dollars on water bills by using its pond to irrigate the course.

 According to a report that Alderman Charlie Harmon gave the city council Monday night, the golf course was expected to bring in $500,000 for the year. But it has already brought in $551,800 just in greens fees. Meeting-room rentals have generated another $36,242.

“It’s just doing wonderful,” said Harmon, chairman of the parks and recreation committee. “And we are receiving wonderful comments about the course.”

He thanked golf-course workers but said most of the success had to go to the golf-course manager Manuel Brockington and the golf pro Dawn Darter.

The city’s public-facilities board holds the $7 million note on the golf course, and the city will make monthly payments until the bonds are paid off.

When the bonds were issued, about $5.5 million went to pay off the short-term note the board acquired to purchase the golf course, and another $900,000 was put in reserve to repair and update the golf-course irrigation system.

Harmon said that work would start in December. The alderman said the front nine holes will be closed for about 60 days as repairs and improvements are made to the irrigation and water system. Once the front nine are completed and back up, the back nine will be closed.

“At no time will the entire golf course be closed,” Harmon said.

He said part of the work includes cleaning and repairing the pond by the tenth hole and cleaning and enlarging the pond by the fifth hole.

“The idea is to be in a position to use less and less city water and cut down on the water bill by using the ponds for irrigation,” Harmon explained.

He said the labor expenses for the work would run about $285,000; pond work is estimated at $122,000, and $389,000 for the irrigation repairs and improvements.

Harmon said if there was money left over, it would be used to revamp the parking lot. An architect has been hired to design the parking lot.

In other council business:

After about a 45-minute public hearing, aldermen without much fanfare voted to approve a new retirement plan for city employees. Alderman Sheila Sulcer was the only no vote.

The council approved an R-3 conditional rezoning for a single-family section on Trammel Road for the construction of a nursing home. If for some reason the nursing home is not built, the rezoning will revert back to single-family homes.

Alderman Butch Davis, chairman of the street committee, said leaf pickup was going well, but asked residents to make sure the leaves are within four feet of the curb, but not in the street. “If the leaves are in the street, they clog up our drains,” Davis said.

Mayor Virginia Hillman said Sherwood’s Enchanted Forest Trail of Lights will be open from 6 to 9:30 p.m. from Monday through Dec. 30, and that the city’s annual Christmas parade will be at 2 p.m. Dec. 5.

TOP STORY >> Black Friday shopping frenzy

By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer

If Black Friday is any indication, local retailers believe the economy is turning the corner.

Every business interviewed said sales this year appear to be besting last year’s totals.

“It looks like the economy is starting to come around,” said Andy Isom with Hastings in Jacksonville.

In Sherwood, Kohl’s Eric Howard echoed those sentiments, “We are looking at a good Black Friday.” And in Cabot, Josh Fraser with Home Depot said it was progressively stronger as the day went on.

The retail industry predicted holiday sales would rise 2.3 percent, to $447.1 billion, from last year’s so-so performance.

According to at least one barometer, fourth-quarter spending is looking much brighter than a year ago. Apparel sales made through Nov. 13 were up almost 10 percent from a year earlier, and luxury purchases, excluding jewelry, rose 6.7 percent, versus a 9.2 percent decline a year ago, according to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse.

Last year, consumers spent $18.6 million and their spending grew to $40.3 million by the end of the weekend, according to SpendingPulse.

Isom, manager at Hastings, said things started off a little slowly for the store this morning, but then picked up and ran steadily the rest of the day.

“We opened at 8 a.m., later than many of the other retailers in the area, and had to wait for customers to circulate over here.”

Isom said consumer electronics were the hottest item Friday and the store was definitely going to beat last year’s totals.

Howard, one of the assistant managers for Kohl’s in Sherwood, said business was strong all day. “We had everyone and their uncle coming in for our door busters. We had over 400 special sales,” Howard said.

He added that cold-weather clothing sales were higher than expected. “The weather turning cold helped there,” he said.

Howard said except for some traffic problems early in the morning, everything went smoothly. “We are looking at another good Black Friday. We had a good one last year too. Sherwood and the surrounding area always supports us,” he said.

Fraser, the operations manager at the Home Depot in Cabot, said business had been strong all day.

“In past years we’ve had a strong run in the morning and then it’s slowed up, but this year was progressively steady all day.”

Fraser seemed to notice a change in consumer spending this year. “They are shopping wiser. In the past, it’s been a lot of consumable merchandise, but this year it’s been more long-term purchases like appliances of all kinds.”

Telah Sivia, a manager at Cabot’s Kmart, said everything went well for the store. “It was stronger than we expected and most definitely we’ll beat last year’s figures.”

Sivia said customers “were wonderful and very cooperative.”

From what she saw, some of the most popular items sold were “any and all gaming systems and our two-for-one sale on a GE digital camera.”

Customer service at the Walmart in Jacksonville referred media to its corporate office, which said in a recording it would not arrange for any interviews over the weekend.

A Beebe man who braved the lines at 4:40 a.m. at the Cabot Walmart for the electronic sale that started at 5 a.m. said it was much more organized than in past years.

Maps of the store directed customers to the isles with the merchandise they wanted to see, he said. At the front of the lines, they got tickets for their merchandise.

At the end of the lines, they either picked up their merchandise or if the merchandise was large, like the 42-inch television he was buying, they were given a ticket with a bar code.

From taking the first ticket, to checking out to loading took him only about 20 minutes.

“It was chaos two years ago with everyone running around buying televisions,” he said. “People were hitting you with their TVs because they were too large for the carts. It was much better this year. There were still a lot of people but they weren’t bumping into you.”

EDITORIAL >>Insurance that’s cheap

Andy Harris, a Maryland physician who got elected to the U. S. House of Representatives three weeks ago, struck a blow last week for the new health-insurance reform law, although it was entirely unintentional. Harris ran against and said he would vote to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which seeks to extend health insurance to everyone.

But during a closed-door briefing for new members of Congress, Harris complained that he and members of his congressional staff would have to wait 28 days after he becomes a congressman before the health-insurance plan for federal employees would cover them. Just like other government employees, members of Congress select a private health-insurance plan from a menu of options. The health-insurance exchanges that the new insurance law will set up in 2014 for people who are uninsured are patterned on the health-insurance system for federal workers. That is the part of the new law that Republicans are asking the courts to strike down.

The congressman-elect wondered if the government couldn’t cover him and his staff under some government plan for the month until they would be eligible for benefits under one of the family plans available for government employees. That sounds eerily like the public option that he and other Republicans opposed and that was left out of the new law.

Democrats, who have been on the defensive over the Affordable Care Act for nearly two years, pounced. If all the Republicans who opposed guaranteeing everyone access to private or public insurance are to be true to their principles, the Democrats said, they should not participate in any of the federal health plans, which are relatively inexpensive because the federal government makes them available and the taxpayers subsidize them.

It is rather a good point. If government-backed insurance options are bad for other Americans, then they are bad for members of Congress, too. A letter from Democratic congressmen said it a little too forwardly but nevertheless truthfully: “Unfortunately, Republicans. . . are happy to receive care that is paid for, in part, with taxpayer funds, but do not want to extend a similar benefit to hard-working, under- or uninsured Americans.”

A national poll showed that Republicans and independents largely agreed with the Democrats on that point, though not members of their own party. Fifty-three percent of voters think the Republican opponents of insurance reform should not participate in the insurance program as a matter of principle, although the number was much higher among Republicans and independents. People who identified themselves as Democrats tended to think it was all right for the Republicans to take the benefits, even though they opposed it for other people. Go figure.

So new members of Congress were being pressed about whether they would buy the government-backed plans for themselves, their families and employees. The new Arkansas congressmen were noncommittal. Senator-elect John Boozman, his family and staff are already in the government program, but he’s still going to vote to repeal those benefits for other people.

And Tim Griffin, our representative-elect?

Griffin said he wasn’t sure, but he expected, if he’s allowed, to continue with the private insurance he buys from Humana as a member of the Army Reserve and forego the federal employees’ coverage. A man of principle finally?

Hardly. What Griffin didn’t explain was that Humana Tricare is a government-subsidized managed-care insurance plan just like Medicare Advantage or the insurance plans that government workers—and pretty much what other people will be able to buy if he and his colleagues do not succeed in repealing the Affordable Care Act. A Reservist’s individual Tricare premium is $45 a month.

Other Americans won’t get it quite as good as Congressman Griffin, but they’ll get coverage at an affordable rate if he will let them. And most of them won’t shun the protection just because the government had a hand in seeing that it was available to them.

TOP STORY > >Thanksgiving spirit is spread by groups

By jeffrey smith

Leader staff writer

Many local organizations in the area are letting families enjoy a Thanksgiving feast this year during the tough economy.

Cornerstone Assembly Church on Brewer Street in Ward held a turkey dinner at the city hall cafeteria for the community on Saturday to celebrate Thanksgiving.

“We wanted to help the community and the people in need this Thanksgiving season have at least one Thanksgiving meal. The Bible tells us to feed the hungry and help people in need. That is why we’re here,” Pastor Mark Brooke said.

Church members roasted and deep fried 19 turkeys with all the trimming, including mashed potatoes with a choice of gravy or cheese, and many pies and desserts.

The community dinner was the first for the church, Pastor Brooke, son of Mayor Art Brooke, would like to make it an annual event.

“We feel like we’re doing what we’re supposed to do. We’re trying to do our part. We can’t feed everybody but we’re doing our share,” the pastor said.

Church members Ed Lynch and his wife Sharon of Cabot were among those having a hot turkey lunch.

“The food is great and wonderful. We’re new to the church and we love the church. There are a lot of people in need who need this,” he said.

Mayor Brooke said it was a pretty good turnout having the dinner for the first time. There was good food, good fellowship and a lot of good volunteer workers. He appreciated Cornerstone Assembly for holding the event.

“I feel there were some families that needed this,” he said.

Hope’s Closet and Pantry and New Life Church helped 275 families have food for Thanksgiving on Saturday with “Boxes of Hope.” The boxes contained enough food to last two weeks and included sweet potatoes donated by a local farmer and a turkey from Knight’s grocery.

“It’s an honor to serve our community and help those families that are going through hard times. It is very emotional. This community surprises me every time. It makes me want to cry,” Hope’s Closet director Kimberly Buchberger said.

“When parents don’t have jobs or a limited income, it is children who suffer. They do without and this is for them,” Buchberger said.

The food boxes were packed and distributed to the less fortunate at the New Life Church. Many organizations and churches collected canned and non-perishable foods for the boxes including Fellowship Bible Church, Boy Scout Pack 205, Girl Scout Troop 6485 and airmen from Little Rock Air Force Base.

Cabot schools that helped out were Southside Elementary, (which collected nearly 5,000 canned goods alone), Westside Elementary, Stagecoach Ele-mentary, Mountain Springs Elementary, Eastside Elementary and Central Elementary schools, Cabot Middle School South, Cabot Junior High North and Junior High South.

New Life Church Pastor Tim Gaddy said he was grateful for the families that had food to donate and for the churches and schools working together with Hope’s Closet.

“It is community support. To me, it is a pretty neat thing,” Gaddy said.

He said there were people who received help throughout the year from Hope’s Closet who came back to help out.

Along with food boxes, Hope’s Closet gave away 800 used coats that were collected by the high school soccer team.

The Cabot Rotary Club delivered 100 Thanksgiving meal food baskets to families in need on Sunday.

The baskets included hams and full dinners for families of four. It is the Rotary’s annual service project. The Kroger supermarket assisted the Rotary with the baskets.

“I think we are feeding more families than we have before,” Rotary club president Jeff Spann said.

TOP STORY > >Arnold Drive celebrates its special status

By JEFFREY SMITH

Leader staff writer

Monday was a day to celebrate excellence at Arnold Drive Elementary School, as it is one of four schools in the state to be recognized this year as a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education.

Only four schools in Arkansas won the coveted honor. They are all elementary schools, and only Arnold Drive is in central Arkansas.

Jacksonville community leaders, Little Rock Air Force Base commanders and Pulaski County Special School District administrators came out to the school to join students in a program for the special achievement.

Arnold Drive was one of 304 public and private schools — out of some 185,000 — designated Blue Ribbon schools.

The Blue Ribbon schools’ pro-gram honors schools that are either academically superior or that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement, according to Education Secretary Arnie Duncan.

Last year on the Benchmark exam, the fifth-graders at ArnoldDrive scored 100 percent proficient and advanced in math. Students scored 92 percent proficient and advanced in literacy.

The fourth-grade students scored 96 percent proficienct and advanced in both literacy and math. The third-grade students scored 96 percent proficient in math and 87 percent proficient in literacy.

Interim principal Gean Vines said Arnold Drive Elementary received a certificate Monday from the University of Arkansas for being the highest performing elementary school in central Arkansas based on Benchmark mathematics achievement.

The school has 240 students in pre-K through fifth grade. The school has 42 employees either support staff and certified staff who work with the students.

“This has been a wonderful celebration of excellence by the entire Arnold Drive community. As always the community has been so supportive — that contributes to the success we have here,” school principal Julie Davenport said.

“This school is really special,” Davenport said. “We knew if we made annual improvements, we’d be a Blue Ribbon school.”

Arnold Drive was honored in a ceremony in Washington last week, but no one from the school attended because of a lack of funds.

Davenport, who is recovering from back surgery, praised the hard-working students and staff, as well as parents who volunteer thousands of hours a year.

Col. Mike Minihan, commander of the 19th Airlift Wing, echoed Davenport’s sentiments.

“It’s always nice to be recognized, but we always knew excellence existed here,” Minihan said. “Thanks for the hard work and recognition you deserve.”
Minihan led fourth- and fifth-grade students in three “Wahoo” shouts—one to recognize parents, one for teachers and administrators and one for the students themselves.

Those results helped rank Arnold Drive best in the Pulaski County Special School District and one of the best in the state.

“You don’t celebrate average, you celebrate champions,” Mayor Gary Fletcher said.

He said the achievement Arnold Drive Elementary has made is a source of pride for the community. The students can look back and say they were champions.

At the end of the program, Arnold Drive had a parade around the school for Blue Ribbon students.

The other three schools were Calico Rock Elementary School, Kingston Elementary School and Salem Elementary School.

The website Schooldigger.com gives Arnold Drive a five-star rating, placing it 16th among the state’s 457 elementary schools, but the same website gives PCSSD just one star and ranks it 172nd out of 236 state school districts.

Arnold Drive has 240 students, and about half are on free or reduced lunch.

The average percentage of students on free or reduced lunch in the top 20 list is 32 percent.
Free or reduced lunches are markers for economic distress.

Garrick Feldman and John Hofheimer of The Leader staff contributed to this report.

TOP STORY > >Cypert, Hillman prevail in mayor runoffs

By Joan McCoy and RICK KRON

Leader staff writers

WaterWorks commissioner Bill Cypert handily put a stop to Stubby Stumbaugh’s efforts to be mayor of Cabot again in a runoff vote Tuesday, while in Sherwood, Mayor Virginia Hillman held back a feisty challenge from Alderman Sheila Sulcer.

In the runoff race for the Ward 3, Position 1 alderman seat in Cabot, Angie Armstrong Hoschouer defeated Richard Cannon.

“I’m humbled that the voters of Cabot have confidence in me,” Cypert said. “And I’m excited. Cabot’s got a very bright future.”

Few folks were willing to predict the outcome of the runoff race for Cabot mayor. Cypert was the top vote-getter in the Nov. 2 general election, with Stumbaugh finishing a solid second. 

Alderman Eddie Cook, the third-place finisher, threw his support behind Cypert, which clearly helped Cypert sprint away from Stumbaugh.

Cypert topped Stumbaugh by nearly 1,400 votes in the runoff election. Cypert finished with 2,022 votes, or 79 percent, to Stumbaugh’s 845 votes, or 21 percent.

Cypert, the secretary and spokesman for Cabot Water and Wastewater, campaigned through the general election on what he could give Cabot—a plan for orderly growth similar to what he had helped develop for Cabot WaterWorks. 

But for the runoff, Cypert switched tactics and started talking about what he called the turmoil four years ago that had been Stumbaugh’s administration.

This was Stumbaugh’s third loss since he was elected mayor in 2002. He also lost races for Congress and the Cabot City Council.

Cypert said last week that he had been criticized for his negative campaigning. 

Whether that new strategy won him the office is not yet clear, but Cypert said after the votes were counted that he was simply relieved that it is over and he was ready to go to work.

Former Alderman Odis Waymack, Stumbaugh’s nemesis when he was mayor and Cypert’s campaign manager, said he had always believed Cypert would win, but he was pleased that the margin was so wide.

Mayor Eddie Joe Williams, who was elected state senator earlier this month, said he will start working with Cypert next week to transition into January when he takes over.

Stumbaugh said it was a hard-fought battle and the loss was a tough one. “But I’ve got to tell you, I’m 43 years old and have lived a most fulfilled life you can imagine. Losing ain’t easy, but somebody had to,” the one-time mayor said.

He said he had called Cypert and congratulated him and wished him the best. 

“We don’t agree on a lot of issues, but we want what is best for Cabot,” Stumbaugh said.

He added that he was grateful for all the support. “I had some of the greatest support this city and state have ever seen.”

Stumbaugh said he’d stay active in civic organizations and continue to support Cabot anyway he can.

For Mayor Hillman, winning the runoff meant a short celebration at her church and then getting ready for work.

“We are all excited about the win and I appreciate everyone who voted for me. We are looking at a four good years ahead of us,” Hillman said. 

Hillman defeated Sulcer by about 700 votes. Hillman garnered 2,374 votes, or 58.5 percent, while Sulcer netted 1,686 votes, or 41.5 percent.

After getting news of her victory Tuesday evening, Hillman said she would be “back at it tomorrow.” She said she had a 9 a.m. meeting to prepare for and a budget to finalize. “We’ve got another meeting next Tuesday on the budget,” she said.

Her challenger, because of the loss, will be out of city politics come Jan 1. When Sulcer threw her name into the mayor’s race, it opened up her alderman seat. Toni Butler, a former alderman, ran unopposed for Sulcer’s seat in the general election and will take over Jan. 1.

On Tuesday night, Sulcer said, “The citizens made their decision and I’m very humbled by the support I received.”

In the runoff for Cabot City Council, Hoschouer defeated Cannon 1,458 to 1,146 votes. 

Hoschouer is the daughter of Alderman Tom Armstrong, who died Nov. 14. He held the Ward 3 Position 1 seat that she will hold beginning Jan. 1. 

“My first reaction was to cry because Daddy won’t be here to see me sworn in,” Hoschouer said. “But I’m looking forward to serving. There are good people on the council and I think very highly of the new mayor. I think we will have a good team.”

Cannon came in first in the general election.

He had experience as a council member in Barling, outside Fort Smith, said the loss was disappointing but not devastating.

“These things happen,” Cannon said. “But we ran a good race.”

SPORTS>>Cabot’s run concludes at Southside

By Todd traub

Leader sports editor

Cabot’s hoped for home game didn’t come about as Fort Smith Southside knocked the Panthers out of the playoffs with a 28-7 victory at Fort Smith on Saturday.

The game was a rematch of the 2000 AAAAA state championship game won by Cabot, and though the Panthers didn’t win the latest matchup it was something of a credit to the program that they even got that far into this year’s playoffs.

Cabot, hoping to win and play a semifinal game at home, ended the regular season with five key players out because of injuries while others, like kicker/defensive back Logan Spry, were battling nagging pains.

Running back Spencer Smith, wearing a flak jacket to help protect his injured shoulder, and tight end Jesse Roberts returned for Friday’s game, and it looked as if running back Jeremy Berry, who suited up at halftime, was going to return to action as well.

But none of that helped the Panthers as Fort Smith raced to a 21-0 halftime lead behind quarterback Hunter Whorton and running back Julius Jones as the Rebels took advantage of some Cabot miscues and bad breaks.

Southside led 7-0 when a bad pitch stalled one Cabot drive and then punter Max Carroll fielded a low snap on one knee and was ruled down at the Panthers’ 27, setting up the Rebels’ next quick score on a run by Whorton on the first play.

The Panthers showed signs of life in the second half, scoring on Mason James’ 24-yard run with 4:58 left in the third quarter.

But quarterback/return man Bryson Morris dropped a punt and Fort Smith Southside recovered and went on to score, and the Panthers didn’t have enough time left to overcome the 21-point deficit.

The Panthers’ season opening roster featured 23 seniors, and they picked up another in the second part of the year when Will Hidalgo joined as the kicker after Spry was unable to kick because of an abdominal injury and sophomore Jesus Marquez hit a slump.

Key departures on offense include Smith, tight end Rod Quinn, Berry, and running backs Andre Ausejo and Mason James.

Pivotal defensive players who will graduate include Spry, defensive backs Greg Phelps and Ethan Covington, lineman Jason Sled and linebacker Riley Hawkins.

Quarterback Zach Craig, who was lost to a knee injury in the regular season finale, will be back as a senior next season.

Cabot opened the year with a 28-14 victory over non-conference rival Jacksonville at War Memorial Stadium, survived a shootout at Pulaski Academy then lost to its perennial playoff nemesis, Springdale Har-Ber, in Week 3.

The Panthers then endured their worst defeat, 41-7, in the 7A/6A-Central opener at Conway. Cabot then began to clean up its mistakes, cutting down the penalties and turnovers, to start a six-game winning streak with a victory over Little Rock Catholic.

Cabot, Conway and Bryant ended in a three-way tie, but Conway had the lthe tie breakers to take the top seed to the state playoffs.

Cabot did clinch a share of the conference title and beat Rogers Heritage to open the playoffs.

SPORTS>>A seat at the pigskin table

BY TODD TRAUB

Leader sports editor

The high school football playoffs are in the stretch run to the December finals in Little Rock, and I’ve observed a few things during the past couple weeks of the postseason.

Most disturbing to me is the idea that, more and more, the press box is no longer being set aside for the press.

My co-worker Jason King actually proved he can read a map and made it to Batesville recently for the Beebe Badgers’, Class 5A first-round game against the Pioneers, only to have to cover the game from the sidelines.

Maybe we should have phoned ahead and reserved Jason a seat, but forgive us credentialed members of the press if we think we should actually be allowed in the press box.

I mean, Jason had his orange Arkansas Activities Association playoff pass and everything, yet he found himself squeezed out by all the cameramen, radio people and — forgive me for being cynical but I’ve seen it before — hangers on who probably don’t have a working function in said “press” box.

It seems ironic Jason traveled all that way to stand outside the press box at a Beebe road game — he could have gone up the highway to Beebe and suffered the same fate.

The Badgers have a smallish press box and have to allot space on a first come, first served basis, and since we sportswriters have to hit happy hour at Chili’s first, we often find ourselves among the late arrivals.

Speaking of Beebe, why is it every time I see a picture of coach John Shannon and his haircut I have this inexplicable urge to go watch “Midway” again?

Seriously, congratulations to Shannon and the Badgers for their fine conference run, and we are appreciative of any and all hospitality we receive throughout the season.

Whether we’re enjoying that big box of chicken and dinner rolls that are a Jacksonville tradition, the wacky antics of the crew at Lonoke, the people who are Johnny on the spot with the rosters at Cabot or that magical crock pot full of lovin’ at Sylvan Hills, it has been a pleasure to cover local games each Friday, or Thursday, or Tuesday or whenever the heck high school football is played these days.

All we need is about three feet of space and a clear line of sight to get our jobs done, but people go out of their way to give us so much more than that.

So, since it’s Thanksgiving week, we say thanks.

I have also observed this playoff season that there is no substitute for having a program.

No, not that book with the rosters that the cheerleaders sell at the stadium gates, but a real football program, which is not the same thing as fielding a team.

A program has continuity, coaches who know each other and work well together, team leadership, offseason conditioning and an offensive and defensive system you can hang your hat on.

Though beaten at Fort Smith Southside on Friday, Cabot proved once again it has a program — when you lose five starters to injuries just before the playoffs and can plug in other guys and win a game it’s clear your program is operating.

Jacksonville is headed that way under first-year head coach Rick Russell, who spent years with the Red Devils as defensive coordinator.

Under Shannon, Beebe — running a version of Cabot’s Dead T offense — also appears to be on the upswing after missing the postseason last year.

In Searcy, Harding Academy seems to always have plenty of pilots for its high-flying Spread offense and is headed for the 3A quarterfinals, the Searcy Lions just completed their second straight playoff trip under second-year coach Tim Harper while Riverview, which reached the postseason in its first year as a varsity program two seasons ago, made it to the second round this season.

Suffice to say, it’s been another interesting football season around here, and it’s not quite over yet.

We’ll keep our eye on things, even if we can’t get in the press box.

Happy Thanksgiving.

SPORTS>>Sylvan Hills’ Goodwin is a pretty good one

By Jason king

Leader sportswriter

It’s hard to imagine Sylvan Hills junior guard and top college prospect Archie Goodwin getting beat by a girl in a game of pickup basketball.

But that scenario was the catalyst for Goodwin, then a grade-school student, to improve on the game he now dominates almost nightly as a returning two-year starter on a Bears team already loaded with talent.

Goodwin can still recall the embarrassing, if not pivotal moment, even as elite NCAA Division I basketball coaches parade almost daily through the Sylvan Hills gym to catch a glimpse of the program’s first five-star recruit.

“It’s kind of a funny story,” Goodwin said. “I started playing when I was three, but I wasn’t really serious. So I never had my dad or anybody helping me out. One day, I played against this girl in basketball, and she beat me.

“I went home, and I was crying about it. My step dad, he asked me if I wanted to learn how to play basketball and I told him yes. He just explained to me how hard it was going to be, and from that day forward, I got in the gym every day and just continued to get better and better and better.”

Indeed, he got better.

Goodwin improved his skills to the point where he skipped over seventh grade and played up a year. His classmates caught up to him the following season and together they began to form the nucleus of a team many believe could terrorize Class 5A basketball over the next two years.

All the requirements to reach the upper echelons of college basketball are there – ball handling, outside shooting, driving to the rim, rebounding and defense, not to mention a sturdy, 6-5 frame that Goodwin’s family doctor said could extend to 6-8 by the time he stops developing.

His academics have not suffered either. Goodwin has maintained at least a 3.0 GPA since his sophomore year, and pushed it to 3.5 at the end of the last semester.

Goodwin’s easygoing demeanor and matter-of-fact self-analysis are a refreshing break from other high-profile athletes his age who tend to believe their hype and develop egos to match. He gives himself due credit on his aggressiveness and ability to score, but Goodwin doesn’t hesitate to say he needs to improve his defense and strength.

Recruiting revelation

Central Arkansas high-school basketball aficionados learned of Goodwin in his freshman year, when he was

part of a 20-3, junior Bears team that swept the River City Junior High Conference tournament in late February of 2009. Those on the AAU circuit had also seen the wunderkind play on the Arkansas Wings 15-Under team.

But it was a trip to St. Louis in June for the annual Nike Hoop Jamboree that propelled Goodwin into the national spotlight.

Just as Chicago-area post player Quincy Miller had done in the Jamboree the year before, Goodwin went from obscurity to become the darling of the nation’s recruiters with a dazzling performance in a field that included fellow junior Brandon Ashley, a top recruit from Oakland.

Goodwin turned heads with his versatility, even straying from his two-guard position to run the point during the elite showcase. ESPN’s recruiting blog listed Goodwin as the breakout player of the event.

“It’s been exciting; it’s been fun,” Bears coach Kevin Davis said of the numerous visitors from the college ranks. “We’re all in the education business together. Being a part of it has been special. The colleges that have been on our campus are too many to try and mention all of them.”

If Goodwin has a bright future it is the result not just of talent but hard work, which stems from a grounded family life. He is the son of Archie Goodwin, Jr. and Melesha Humphrey and his stepfather is Detron Humphrey. Goodwin is near the middle, age-wise, of a pack of 10 sibling and stepsiblings.

Once the college offers began to pour in, Goodwin’s family went to work with positive reinforcement, stressing he make careful choices because he has too much to lose. It may be a familiar lecture, but it resonates with Goodwin.

“I hear that speech all the time,” he said. “I get it from my mom, my dad, my step dad, my uncles – I get it from everybody. I understand what they’re saying. Sometimes, people don’t have that person who drives them, and that’s why some people don’t make it as far as they could have.”

Offers are already on the table from schools like Baylor, Arkansas, Memphis and Kansas. Arkansas coach John Pelphrey told Goodwin he is the primary focus of the Razorbacks’ 2012 recruiting class.

Goodwin has also taken unofficial visits to Kentucky and North Carolina, and has received interest from Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.

For Goodwin, the benefits of the attention are twofold. Not only does he have a chance to reach the top levels of college basketball, so do some of his teammates.

“It’s been great,” Goodwin said. “Actually, it’s given a lot of the players on my team a chance to get looked at by coaches. Most of them may have come to see me, but they may find something else they like.

“It gives them all a good chance, and I’m just glad that I have the opportunity to be looked at. I’m just blessed for it.”

The recruiting blogs, notorious for speculation and gross over-analysis, have already put Goodwin in Razorbacks red or the light blue of North Carolina. One site curiously projected him to sign with Georgia, but the word straight from the source is that the pool of almost 40 interested schools will be narrowed down before a decision is made in 2011.

“I’m just going to wait it out,” Goodwin said. “I’ll make my decision sometime next year. I don’t know when exactly, but I can say I will probably narrow my list down to 10 by the end of the season.”

“The Triplets”

The list of Goodwin’s teammates on the AAU Wings is a Who’s Who of the state’s leading college prospects. The impressive list includes three who have already committed to the Arkansas: Aaron Ross (Little Rock Parkview), Hunter Milkelson (Jonesboro Westside) and Ky Madden (East Poinsett County) as well as 6-6 Little Rock Hall senior and future Nebraska Cornhusker David Rivers.

But it is classmates Devin Pearson and Larry Ziegler that Goodwin is most identified with on the local front. Davis began calling them “The Triplets” — after the famed Razorback trio of Marvin Delph, Sidney Moncrief and Ron Brewer — while they were freshman, although another junior, point guard Trey Smith, has come into his own as a valuable component of the Bears.

“I think we have a pretty good team,” Goodwin said. “It’s just exciting to see the talent we have, and how we play together. I’m just happy to be a part of this thing. We all have the same goal to win the state championship, which hopefully, we can do.”

Each player brings something different.

Pearson, a big-bodied 6-5 post player, is perhaps the strongest defender while handling the post’s rebounding and inside scoring duties. Ziegler is a 6-3 forward whose versatility is similar to Goodwin’s, while Smith, 6-0, is the Bears’ most consistent outside shooting threat.

The excitement around Sylvan Hills basketball was evident at the Bears’ home and season opener against Pulaski Oak Grove last week. Goodwin and company did not disappoint the standing room only crowd as they turned in a 93-73 victory fueled by Smith’s game high 20 points, 12 of which came from three-pointers.

Ziegler had 19 points and Goodwin had 18 while Pearson turned in a 17-point, 12-rebound performance on the low block.

“He’s got a great cast around him,” Davis said. “You can box-and-one, double team him or whatever, and he has no worries about who he gives the basketball to. That’s what makes it exciting around here.

“The faculty was extremely excited the next day. That’s a great experience. You come in to work, these kids come to school, and the faculty has been there to watch them, and they’re so exited about what you’re doing.”

Gearjammer

Davis has had his share of talent in his 13 years at Sylvan Hills, with outcomes good and bad. He reached the 5A state semifinals in 2006 with a team of scrappy underdogs that included point guard U.S. Robinson, utility guard Mike Gross and beefy post player Robert McKinney.

The group graduated that spring, leaving Davis’ roster depleted. By 2008, he had turned his eyes on the talent emerging from the junior-high ranks as the Bears returned to the Class 5A after two struggling seasons in 6A.

Goodwin and his teammates wrapped up their dominant freshman run in February of 2009, just in time for Goodwin to be pulled up to the varsity team for the end of the season. He made his debut at the Sylvan Hills gym in the 5A-Southeast Conference finale against Beebe, but played limited minutes.

Goodwin made his mark in Alma during the first round of the 5A state tournament against Greene County Tech, which eventually won the state title that year. Goodwin played most of the second half and went on to lead the team in scoring with 16 points.

He averaged 22 points a game and five rebounds in 10th grade, and Goodwin became the first Sylvan Hills sophomore named all state since Jeremy Brown in 2002.

“I basically have everything on the offensive part down,” Goodwin said. “On defense, I try to get into my defender, and I like to play the passing lanes too. I play aggressive, and sometimes, that can get you in trouble.”

As Goodwin’s game and body continue to develop, Davis’ keeps a watchful eye, as he has done for the past four years.

“Archie’s special,” Davis said. “I’ve been saying that since he was in the eighth grade. He’s got a gear that I haven’t seen, and this is my 20th year in the business around here. He’s just got a little something — got a nice flair about him. I call it an extra gear he can shift into.

“When you come and pay admission to see that kid, there’s no telling what you’ll see that night.”

SPORTS>>Red Devils wrap it up

BY TODD TRAUB

Leader sports editor

The Jacksonville Red Devils didn’t get where they wanted to be this year, but they did come a long way.

A year after it won just two games, Jacksonville became a 7A/6A-East Conference contender and a playoff qualifier in its first season under coach Rick Russell.

The Red Devils’ run ended with a 30-6 loss at Pine Bluff in the second round of the postseason, but Russell was happy with his team’s performance during the season.

“We’re real proud of the kids,” Russell said. “Week in, week out they came to practice very businesslike in their approach. They prepared for that week’s opponent.”

Jacksonville, the No. 3 seed from the East, beat Sheridan 31-7 in the first round of the playoffs and stayed with Pine Bluff for a quarter before the Zebras came to life, holding the Red Devils to 29 yards over the final three periods.

Pine Bluff earned the No. 2 seed in the South and was coming off a first-round bye.

“We felt like we could push a little further but Pine Bluff is a good football team,” Russell said. “They just won the battle in the trenches. They wore us down.”

It may be a bit misleading to say Russell is a first-year coach. After 15 years on the Jacksonville staff he spent last season as head coach across town at North Pulaski before returning to the program where he spent so much timeas defensive coordinator.

Russell replaced Mark Whatley, who left to join the staff at Springdale.

“We started in the middle of July and it was a good year, a good year,” Russell said. “I thought our season was successful because of the interaction of the coaches and the players.”

Jacksonville opened the year against non-conference rival Cabot in War Memorial Stadium, with 7A Cabot winning 28-14. Within its own classification, Jacksonville had more non-conference success, beating Benton and Hot Springs.

On statewide television Sept. 23, Jacksonville opened conference play with a 26-2 victory over Mountain Home at Jan Crow Stadium.

The Red Devils’ conference losses were to Jonesboro — which took the top seed from the East — at home against West Memphis as they fell out of conference championship contention and at Marion in the season finale the following week.

But Jacksonville responded with its convincing playoff victory over Sheridan.

“The seniors led real well,” Russell said. “They had great attitude. They did what we asked them to do the way we asked them to do it.”

The Red Devils must replace 21 seniors, including quarterback Logan Perry, a three-year starter.

“He’s been in the wars,” Russell said. “He’s been a very positive influence in that huddle. That quarterback on offense is always going to be missed.”

Other significant losses will be cornerbacks Tyler Crook and Kenny Cummings, Russell said, as well as explosive two-way player Antwone Mosby.

“A running back and linebacker,” Russell said of Mosby. “That’s two spots right there.”

Russell said Jacksonville would also miss offensive/defensive lineman Rhakeem James.

But the Red Devils will not be starting over next season. Russell said the coaching staff has been grooming players to step in at every practice.

“We practice two groups all year long,” Russell said.

“We’ve got some younger kids and they’ve watched and they’ve learned and some of them have played a lot. It was good for them to see the program and the offensive and defensive schemes that we brought in. We can only get better.”

The Red Devils will start from a good spot with the return of D’Vone McClure next season. McClure is a threat at receiver of when carrying the ball.

“He’s a good football player who wants to win and is very competitive,” Russell said.

Just as important, Jacksonville will return some experience to the offensive line. James Reddick, Carter Grandison and Tyler Skeet will be back throwing blocks next season.

“We’ve got three guys who played every snap every night,” Russell said.

Jacarius Jordan is expected to lead the secondary next year along with Kevin Richardson and Demeris Williams will return to anchor the defensive line.

“We’ve got some guys that have some good experience,” Russell said. “We’re excited about where we finished this year and where we’re going.”