By SARAH CAMPBELL
Leader staff writer
Black students made up 44.2 percent of the Pulaski County Special School District’s 2011-12 enrollment. But 63 percent of the students who were suspended last school year were black, only 2 percent less than in 2010-11.
These figures don’t bode well for the fiscally distressed PCSSD as it crawls toward a resolution of the decades-old desegregation case. Closing the gap in discipline rates between blacks and non-blacks is one of the goals listed in the district’s desegregation plan — known as Plan 2000.
PCSSD receives between $17 million and $20 million in desegregation money for programs like majority to minority transfers. If the district is declared desegregated, court supervision of PCSSD will end.
By comparison, the Cabot School District isn’t struggling with a gap. Its student population is 90 percent white, 4 percent Hispanic and 3 percent black. Less than half a percent of blacks receive discipline.
How is PCSSD combating disproportionate discipline rates?
The district is using a dual-approach that involves social and academic remedies, according to Brenda Bowles, assistant superintendent for equity and pupil services.
“You can’t separate the two. You have to look at the big picture. Schools are not just academic institutions. They’re social institutions. They’re interdependent,” Bowles said.
PCSSD has a discipline committee that meets every two or three months, she continued. The committee is helping the school pilot intervention and credit recovery programs.
During an intervention, a committee member or members, the principal, the teacher, the parents and a response to intervention staff member try to identify the cause for the student’s misbehavior and brainstorm solutions.
Bowles said, “It’s got to be prescriptive.”
She explained that when students are always late to class, those involved in the response-to-intervention program will ask them why they are always tardy. Parents would be informed of the problem and asked if they know the cause of the misbehavior.
“We want to do what can we do to make sure he comes to class,” Bowles said.
She said the cause could be bullying, that the student doesn’t realize he could fail a class because of his tardiness or it could be that the student’s previous class is on the other end of the school’s campus.
Solutions to the misbehavior could include having the student sign in when he comes to class and rewarding him for being on time, Bowles noted.
She said district officials are visiting schools with an excess of disciplinary problems or more of a disparity in their rates.
The schools with the greatest number of students suspended in the 2011-12 school year of students suspended in the 2011-12 school year were Bates Elementary School in Little Rock, Pinewood Elementary School in Jacksonville, Taylor Elementary School in Jackson-ville, Jacksonville High School, Jacksonville Middle School and Sylvan Hills High School in Sherwood.
PCSSD is also looking at whether there are cultural reasons related to black students misbehaving more than white students, whether more black students are victims of “special circumstances” and how repeat rule-breakers affect the gap.
The committee is compiling a report to explore why there is a gap in discipline rates between blacks and non-blacks. It should be completed by the end of the year, Bowles said.
PCSSD is also addressing academic needs that could be related to disciplinary problems, she continued.
One of the things the district is doing is allowing students who fail the first nine weeks of a class to repeat that part of the course during the second nine weeks.
In this way, a student can pass the class and not be retained, Bowles said. She explained that the new program also keeps a student from being discouraged, which can lead to misbehavior.
“We try to give students more success, better choices, better options. Research hasn’t supported retention,” she said.
Discipline is not one of the areas PCSSD asked U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall to look at in the fall.
PCSSD attorney Sam Jones said the district submitted a status report this month requesting that the judge examine whether it has achieved unitary status in student assignment, advanced placement, gifted and talented and honor programs and special education and staffing.
The district expects the judge to hold a series of hearings in August and September on those issues, Jones said.
Plan 2000 requires that minorities be sufficiently represented in advanced placement classes and not over represented in special education classes, the recruiting of more minorities for professional positions and the elimination of one-race classrooms, he continued.
The state Education Department took control of PCSSD in 2011, disbanding the school board and replacing then-superintendent Charles Hopson with Dr. Jerry Guess.
Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell is acting as the district’s one-man school board. Last month, he said he would ask the Legislature to extend the two years of supervision allowed by state law to five years. That would give PCSSD three more years to get out of fiscal distress.
No extension means that if the district isn’t out of fiscal distress by June the state can disband it, annex it to another district or move various schools to other districts.
The Cabot School District isn’t dealing with the problems PCSSD has, especially when it comes to disciplining black students.
Black students make up about 3 percent of the district’s enrollment. White students are about 90 percent of the student body while the second highest student population — about 4 percent — is Hispanic.
Of the 74 Cabot students who received corporal punishment last year, one student was black, one was of another race and 72 were white.
PCSSD doesn’t practice corporal punishment.
In Cabot, 37 black students, 41 students of another race and 743 white students received out-of-school suspension during 2011-12. Of the 1,118 Cabot students who received in-school suspension, 52 were black, 56 were of another race and 1,010 were white.
Of the 3,300 PCSSD students who were assigned to in-school suspension, 2,080 — 63 percent — were black.
Both of the districts saw more students punished with in-school suspension than with out-of-school suspension.
There were 81 more in-school suspensions in PCSSD than out-of-school suspensions.
In Cabot, there were 297 more in-school suspensions than out-of school suspensions.
According to Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, the state ranks 15th in the nation in the use of out-of-school suspension for all students and 13th in the gap between black and white students in out-of-school suspensions.
A news release from the organization makes the point that out-of-school suspension decreases the learning opportunities of the students who misbehave. Also, according to the National Opportunity to Learn Campaign, suspensions and expulsions can cause lower graduation rates and students with three or more suspensions by their sophomore year are five times more likely to drop out.
Bowles said a PCSSD student could receive five days of in-school suspension every year because of capacity issues. Those five days are usually split into half-days or a couple of days depending on what the punishment is for.
Bowles said, “Being out of school doesn’t help them pass (courses). It gives them more opportunity to get in trouble.”
She said alternative responses to correcting misbehavior include detention hall, a behavior contract, a school discipline management plan, a home school consultant or counselor, a mental health provider, a multi-age classroom, community service and mentoring programs.
Some of the rule violations that a student could receive out-of-school suspension for are gambling, smoking, fighting, theft, vandalism and sexual harassment, Bowles said. PCSSD does not have any zero-tolerance policies that automatically result in out-of-school suspension, she noted. But state law requires that a student who brings a gun to school be expelled, Bowles added.
Cabot Superintendent Tony Thurman said out-of-school suspension could vary from a few hours, typically for the remainder of the day on which the student misbehaves, up to 10 days depending on the behavior.
He continued, “We limit the amount of time a student is out of school as much as possible. It is very common, depending on the severity of a behavior, to do a combination of out-of-school and in-school suspension for the purpose of having the student attending school.”
Thurman said building administrators decide an appropriate punishment for a student who misbehaves. “The punishment and duration, if applicable, considered by our administrators should be set at the minimum level necessary to correct the misbehavior and provide an appropriate consequence,” he noted.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
TOP STORY >> Boozman: Base a star
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Congress isn’t likely to agree on alternative cost-cutting measures in time to head off sequestration — automatic budget cutting — on March 1, Sen. John Boozman (R-Republican) said Tuesday afternoon. But he said Little Rock Air Force Base is too strong and its mission too important to be severely hurt by those cuts. (See editorial, page 6A.)
“At some point, the Senate is going to have to pass a bill so it can go into conference with the House and work out some details,” the senator said.
Boozman said he believed the military was being disproportionately cut. “We want to redistribute where the cuts are coming from.”
Boozman, who met jointly and separately with the commanders of the four wings at the base, called the base “the superstar of the world for C-130s.”
“Lift capacity is always needed,” he said.
“Little Rock Air Force Base has a great story to tell,” he added.
“Central Arkansas and Arkansas depend on the base, as does the whole country,” he said of the pilot, crew and maintainer training, as well as the expeditionary 19th Airlift Wing, which provides airlift in support of military excursions and humanitarian efforts around the world.
He said he doesn’t believe sequestration or alternative budget cuts threaten the Air Force’s procurement of the state-of-the-art C-130Js. He added that he hoped that some sort of avionics upgrade for the older C-130s is still possible. “I would like to see an avionics upgrade go forward,” he said.
And, he said, no other base has the kind of community support that Little Rock Air Force Base has, as evidenced by the base’s winning of the Abilene Trophy for Air Mobility Wing base with greatest community support.
MONEY BORROWED, PRINTED
“We’re spending an extra trillion dollars a year. Forty-five cents of every dollar we spend is either borrowed or we’re printing it. You just can’t continue to do that forever. The military is taking the brunt of the cuts. It needs to be spread among everything.
“The super committee came up with a bunch of agreements, but couldn’t come up with a final agreement,” he said.
Boozman said members of the Arkansas congressional delegation fought unsuccessfully to keep the A-10 fighters at Fort Smith, but that the base there would convert to a center for unmanned aircraft.
NOT SOVIET-STYLE THREAT
“The threat is not the old Soviet-style threat, so the military is changing,” Boozman said.
With sequestration looming large, all governmental agencies — including the Air Force — are trying to figure out what they can most afford to axe or reduce in order to meet these mandatory budget cuts.
Sequestration, or automatic budget cuts, could start next week.
Unless Congress acts to make different cuts, the reduction of $1.2 trillion over a decade would be split evenly between defense and domestic spending.
In order to increase the 2011 U.S. debt ceiling so the government could pay its bills, Republicans insisted on $2 trillion in budget cuts. About half of that has been made, leaving the rest to be implemented now.
$12.4 BILLION SHORTFALL
If sequestration occurs, it would cause the Air Force to have a $12.4 billion shortfall this year, “compounded by another $1.8 billion in overseas contingency operations, Air Force Vice Chief of Staff, Gen. Larry Spencer and Jamie Morin, the acting under secretary of the Air Force, told the press in Washington earlier this month.
Air Force-wide, additional cuts could include irreversible actions, Morin and Spencer said, including one measure that would halt “all but emergency facility repairs across the force.”
That could affect more than 400 projects across more than 140 bases, but result, they said, in only about $2.9 billion in savings.
Aircraft overdue for depot maintenance would be grounded until funds to service them become available later, Morin said.
That will result in serious inefficiency and reduction in operational capabilities, Morin said.
Leader senior staff writer
Congress isn’t likely to agree on alternative cost-cutting measures in time to head off sequestration — automatic budget cutting — on March 1, Sen. John Boozman (R-Republican) said Tuesday afternoon. But he said Little Rock Air Force Base is too strong and its mission too important to be severely hurt by those cuts. (See editorial, page 6A.)
“At some point, the Senate is going to have to pass a bill so it can go into conference with the House and work out some details,” the senator said.
Boozman said he believed the military was being disproportionately cut. “We want to redistribute where the cuts are coming from.”
Boozman, who met jointly and separately with the commanders of the four wings at the base, called the base “the superstar of the world for C-130s.”
“Lift capacity is always needed,” he said.
“Little Rock Air Force Base has a great story to tell,” he added.
“Central Arkansas and Arkansas depend on the base, as does the whole country,” he said of the pilot, crew and maintainer training, as well as the expeditionary 19th Airlift Wing, which provides airlift in support of military excursions and humanitarian efforts around the world.
He said he doesn’t believe sequestration or alternative budget cuts threaten the Air Force’s procurement of the state-of-the-art C-130Js. He added that he hoped that some sort of avionics upgrade for the older C-130s is still possible. “I would like to see an avionics upgrade go forward,” he said.
And, he said, no other base has the kind of community support that Little Rock Air Force Base has, as evidenced by the base’s winning of the Abilene Trophy for Air Mobility Wing base with greatest community support.
MONEY BORROWED, PRINTED
“We’re spending an extra trillion dollars a year. Forty-five cents of every dollar we spend is either borrowed or we’re printing it. You just can’t continue to do that forever. The military is taking the brunt of the cuts. It needs to be spread among everything.
“The super committee came up with a bunch of agreements, but couldn’t come up with a final agreement,” he said.
Boozman said members of the Arkansas congressional delegation fought unsuccessfully to keep the A-10 fighters at Fort Smith, but that the base there would convert to a center for unmanned aircraft.
NOT SOVIET-STYLE THREAT
“The threat is not the old Soviet-style threat, so the military is changing,” Boozman said.
With sequestration looming large, all governmental agencies — including the Air Force — are trying to figure out what they can most afford to axe or reduce in order to meet these mandatory budget cuts.
Sequestration, or automatic budget cuts, could start next week.
Unless Congress acts to make different cuts, the reduction of $1.2 trillion over a decade would be split evenly between defense and domestic spending.
In order to increase the 2011 U.S. debt ceiling so the government could pay its bills, Republicans insisted on $2 trillion in budget cuts. About half of that has been made, leaving the rest to be implemented now.
$12.4 BILLION SHORTFALL
If sequestration occurs, it would cause the Air Force to have a $12.4 billion shortfall this year, “compounded by another $1.8 billion in overseas contingency operations, Air Force Vice Chief of Staff, Gen. Larry Spencer and Jamie Morin, the acting under secretary of the Air Force, told the press in Washington earlier this month.
Air Force-wide, additional cuts could include irreversible actions, Morin and Spencer said, including one measure that would halt “all but emergency facility repairs across the force.”
That could affect more than 400 projects across more than 140 bases, but result, they said, in only about $2.9 billion in savings.
Aircraft overdue for depot maintenance would be grounded until funds to service them become available later, Morin said.
That will result in serious inefficiency and reduction in operational capabilities, Morin said.
SPORTS STORY >> North girls drop title to Conway
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
After a quarter of play, it looked as if the Cabot North Lady Panthers were on their way to the school’s first postseason tournament championship since 2006, but Conway Blue outplayed the host team from the second quarter on to win 48-38 and capture the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference championship Saturday at Panther Arena.
Lily Sinclair and Maddie Rice combined to score the first seven points of the game to give the North ladies a quick 7-0 lead. Futra Banks answered with five points for Conway Blue (19-3) to cut the North lead to two, but the Lady Panthers closed the quarter with a 5-0 run to lead 12-5 after a quarter of play.
The second quarter was a different story all together. A three pointer by Alexis Tolefree with 1:53 to play in the half gave Conway Blue its first lead with the score 15-14. Tolefree’s three capped off a 10-2 start for the Lady Wampus Cats.
MaKenzie Sexton, who scored all five of North’s points in the second quarter, scored her final points of the period on an and-one play with 1:29 to go, which gave the host Lady Panthers a 17-15 lead. But another three from Tolefree on Conway Blue’s ensuing possession gave the visiting team an 18-17 lead at halftime.
“We had a great start, but we didn’t close the second quarter like we wanted to,” said North coach Jeremy Halbrook. “We played them right after Christmas at home, and actually beat them by 10. So they got that back on us. CoCo Calhoun had 21 points the first time we played them. We rely on her to score the majority of our points, and she didn’t have that kind of game today.
“I was really proud of MaKenzie Sexton who came in off the bench. She got some good baskets for us. The effort was there. We just weren’t smart on some possessions and we needed to get her involved a little bit more, CoCo that is.”
Calhoun scored all seven of her points in the second half, two of which came in the third quarter.
Sinclair scored seven of North’s 10 third quarter points, but Tolefree and Banks combined to score 16 for Conway Blue in that time to give the Lady Wampus Cats a 34-27 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Conway Blue increased its lead at the start of the fourth with a 4-0 scoring run. The Lady Panthers did all they could to make a run late, but could never put a serious dent in the Lady Wampus Cats’ lead.
Near the 2:00 mark, Calhoun scored her final basket on a three pointer from the corner that cut Conway Blue’s lead to 43-36, but the Lady Wampus Cats outscored the Lady Panthers 5-2 down the stretch to set the final score.
“Their two players brought it today,” Halbrook said of Tolefree and Banks. “You could see (No.) 5 and (No.) 32 were their go-to girls. They brought it today. But I’m proud of them (North girls). They’ve all done good and they’ve worked hard this whole season. From their stretch from seventh grade to now, I think they lost three games in seventh grade, eighth grade lost one, and we lost six this year.
“So we can’t complain. Our goal was to win our conference, which we did. Of course we’d like to finish off winning the tournament, but we fell one game short. It was a good year. We can’t be ashamed. We finished 18-6 as our final record. This has been one of the better groups we’ve had at North.”
Sexton led the North ladies with 13 points. Sinclair scored 12 and grabbed six rebounds. Calhoun also had six rebounds to go with her seven points. Tolefree scored a game-high 25 points and had six steals. Banks had a great all-around game as she totaled 21 points, 10 rebounds, six steals and three blocks.
Leader sportswriter
After a quarter of play, it looked as if the Cabot North Lady Panthers were on their way to the school’s first postseason tournament championship since 2006, but Conway Blue outplayed the host team from the second quarter on to win 48-38 and capture the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference championship Saturday at Panther Arena.
Lily Sinclair and Maddie Rice combined to score the first seven points of the game to give the North ladies a quick 7-0 lead. Futra Banks answered with five points for Conway Blue (19-3) to cut the North lead to two, but the Lady Panthers closed the quarter with a 5-0 run to lead 12-5 after a quarter of play.
The second quarter was a different story all together. A three pointer by Alexis Tolefree with 1:53 to play in the half gave Conway Blue its first lead with the score 15-14. Tolefree’s three capped off a 10-2 start for the Lady Wampus Cats.
MaKenzie Sexton, who scored all five of North’s points in the second quarter, scored her final points of the period on an and-one play with 1:29 to go, which gave the host Lady Panthers a 17-15 lead. But another three from Tolefree on Conway Blue’s ensuing possession gave the visiting team an 18-17 lead at halftime.
“We had a great start, but we didn’t close the second quarter like we wanted to,” said North coach Jeremy Halbrook. “We played them right after Christmas at home, and actually beat them by 10. So they got that back on us. CoCo Calhoun had 21 points the first time we played them. We rely on her to score the majority of our points, and she didn’t have that kind of game today.
“I was really proud of MaKenzie Sexton who came in off the bench. She got some good baskets for us. The effort was there. We just weren’t smart on some possessions and we needed to get her involved a little bit more, CoCo that is.”
Calhoun scored all seven of her points in the second half, two of which came in the third quarter.
Sinclair scored seven of North’s 10 third quarter points, but Tolefree and Banks combined to score 16 for Conway Blue in that time to give the Lady Wampus Cats a 34-27 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Conway Blue increased its lead at the start of the fourth with a 4-0 scoring run. The Lady Panthers did all they could to make a run late, but could never put a serious dent in the Lady Wampus Cats’ lead.
Near the 2:00 mark, Calhoun scored her final basket on a three pointer from the corner that cut Conway Blue’s lead to 43-36, but the Lady Wampus Cats outscored the Lady Panthers 5-2 down the stretch to set the final score.
“Their two players brought it today,” Halbrook said of Tolefree and Banks. “You could see (No.) 5 and (No.) 32 were their go-to girls. They brought it today. But I’m proud of them (North girls). They’ve all done good and they’ve worked hard this whole season. From their stretch from seventh grade to now, I think they lost three games in seventh grade, eighth grade lost one, and we lost six this year.
“So we can’t complain. Our goal was to win our conference, which we did. Of course we’d like to finish off winning the tournament, but we fell one game short. It was a good year. We can’t be ashamed. We finished 18-6 as our final record. This has been one of the better groups we’ve had at North.”
Sexton led the North ladies with 13 points. Sinclair scored 12 and grabbed six rebounds. Calhoun also had six rebounds to go with her seven points. Tolefree scored a game-high 25 points and had six steals. Banks had a great all-around game as she totaled 21 points, 10 rebounds, six steals and three blocks.
SPORTS STORY >> Jackson to play at women’s final four
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Jacksonville basketball sensation Jessica Jackson has been named to the Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association All-American Team, and will play in the WBCA high-school All-American game in New Orleans on April 6 during the women’s NCAA final four, which will be played April 5 through April 9.
Jackson, who called a press conference in November to make a verbal commitment to the University of Arkansas, has averaged 24 points and 12 rebounds this season for the Lady Red Devils. Jackson is joined on the team by Little Rock Hall standout Tyler Scaife and the two become only the second and third players from Arkansas to make the WBCA All-American team. The only other Arkansas player to ever make this elite team was Osceola’s Ruby Vaden in 2002.
“I feel it’s an honor,” Jackson said. “I was very blessed and happy when I got it. It’s an honor to be an All American any way it goes so I was very excited.”
Jackson, 6-foot-2, is the only player that will participate in the game that hasn’t yet signed an NCAA letter of intent, though she remains committed to her verbal declaration in November to sign with the University of Arkansas.
Duke and North Carolina each have three signees playing in the game to lead all NCAA teams. The 20 All Americans will be divided into two teams of 10, though the teams have not been announced.
Despite how they are divided, Jackson expects it to be challenging.
“I think it’s going to be fun,” Jackson said. “The hardest thing will be playing all the top girls around the nation. So I think it’s going to be fun but hard.”
Jackson and the No. 1 ranked Lady Devils just set a school record by running through conference play undefeated, and hope to bring home the school’s first state championship in girls basketball in early March.
“That’s our goal,” Jackson said. “We have a lot to improve but I think we have what it takes to win it all if we’re willing to work for it.”
Leader sports editor
Jacksonville basketball sensation Jessica Jackson has been named to the Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association All-American Team, and will play in the WBCA high-school All-American game in New Orleans on April 6 during the women’s NCAA final four, which will be played April 5 through April 9.
Jackson, who called a press conference in November to make a verbal commitment to the University of Arkansas, has averaged 24 points and 12 rebounds this season for the Lady Red Devils. Jackson is joined on the team by Little Rock Hall standout Tyler Scaife and the two become only the second and third players from Arkansas to make the WBCA All-American team. The only other Arkansas player to ever make this elite team was Osceola’s Ruby Vaden in 2002.
“I feel it’s an honor,” Jackson said. “I was very blessed and happy when I got it. It’s an honor to be an All American any way it goes so I was very excited.”
Jackson, 6-foot-2, is the only player that will participate in the game that hasn’t yet signed an NCAA letter of intent, though she remains committed to her verbal declaration in November to sign with the University of Arkansas.
Duke and North Carolina each have three signees playing in the game to lead all NCAA teams. The 20 All Americans will be divided into two teams of 10, though the teams have not been announced.
Despite how they are divided, Jackson expects it to be challenging.
“I think it’s going to be fun,” Jackson said. “The hardest thing will be playing all the top girls around the nation. So I think it’s going to be fun but hard.”
Jackson and the No. 1 ranked Lady Devils just set a school record by running through conference play undefeated, and hope to bring home the school’s first state championship in girls basketball in early March.
“That’s our goal,” Jackson said. “We have a lot to improve but I think we have what it takes to win it all if we’re willing to work for it.”
SPORTS STORY >> Jacksonville defeats PA
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Jacksonville Lady Red Devils had already locked up at least a share of the conference championship and the No. 1 seed in the state tournament from the 5A Central Conference, but that didn’t stop senior guard Jessica Jackson saving one of her best performances of the season for senior night on Friday. Jackson scored 30 points and pulled down 15 rebounds in the Lady Red Devils 58-48 win over Pulaski Academy in Jacksonville’s final home game.
Jackson played her final game at JHS and admitted she wanted to have a great performance in her final home game, and set out to do it.
“It was my last time to ever play in the Devil’s Den so I was like, I’m just going to leave it out there,” Jackson said. “I had a lot of fun. They came out and played well. They really slowed us down and we’re not used to that. But we got the win.”
Jacksonville (20-4, 13-0) never trailed, but also never put the game away until late in the fourth quarter. The Lady Red Devils built a 12-5 lead early in the first quarter, but the Lady Bruins scored six straight to make it 12-11 with 20 seconds left in the opening frame. Jackson scored to end the quarter and the Lady Devils scored the first nine points of the second for a 23-11 lead with 2:45 remaining in the half. Pulaski Academy finally got on the board in the second quarter, but still went into intermission trailing by 11 at 27-16.
Jacksonville scored first in the third quarter for a 13-point lead, but the Bruins scored the next seven in a row to make it 29-23 with 5:20 left in the third.
Jacksonville then went on a 10-0 run with Jackson scoring eight of those points for a 39-23 lead with 1:20 on the clock in the third period.
The Lady Bruins (11-9, 8-4) trimmed the lead to 10 three times in the fourth quarter, but could never break the double-digit barrier again.
Jackson led all players in points and rebounds. She also finished with a remarkable five steals, four assists and seven blocked shots.
Guards Shakyla Hill and Tiffany Smith scored 10 points apiece for the Lady Red Devils.
Pulaski Academy guard Mackie Kuhn scored 16 points to lead the Lady Bruins. Liana Krisht added nine for PA.
The win assures the Lady Red Devils of an outright conference championship, their first in nearly two decades. Still, Jackson believes her team has some things to improve before the state tournament begins on Feb. 26 at the Pine Bluff Convention Center.
“We have a lot to improve before state,” Jackson said. “We have to be more serious and work harder in practice. We have to put in more running work and get in better condition. And we have to be more ready to play at tip off, and not start slow like we did tonight and against Little Rock Christian.”
Leader sports editor
The Jacksonville Lady Red Devils had already locked up at least a share of the conference championship and the No. 1 seed in the state tournament from the 5A Central Conference, but that didn’t stop senior guard Jessica Jackson saving one of her best performances of the season for senior night on Friday. Jackson scored 30 points and pulled down 15 rebounds in the Lady Red Devils 58-48 win over Pulaski Academy in Jacksonville’s final home game.
Jackson played her final game at JHS and admitted she wanted to have a great performance in her final home game, and set out to do it.
“It was my last time to ever play in the Devil’s Den so I was like, I’m just going to leave it out there,” Jackson said. “I had a lot of fun. They came out and played well. They really slowed us down and we’re not used to that. But we got the win.”
Jacksonville (20-4, 13-0) never trailed, but also never put the game away until late in the fourth quarter. The Lady Red Devils built a 12-5 lead early in the first quarter, but the Lady Bruins scored six straight to make it 12-11 with 20 seconds left in the opening frame. Jackson scored to end the quarter and the Lady Devils scored the first nine points of the second for a 23-11 lead with 2:45 remaining in the half. Pulaski Academy finally got on the board in the second quarter, but still went into intermission trailing by 11 at 27-16.
Jacksonville scored first in the third quarter for a 13-point lead, but the Bruins scored the next seven in a row to make it 29-23 with 5:20 left in the third.
Jacksonville then went on a 10-0 run with Jackson scoring eight of those points for a 39-23 lead with 1:20 on the clock in the third period.
The Lady Bruins (11-9, 8-4) trimmed the lead to 10 three times in the fourth quarter, but could never break the double-digit barrier again.
Jackson led all players in points and rebounds. She also finished with a remarkable five steals, four assists and seven blocked shots.
Guards Shakyla Hill and Tiffany Smith scored 10 points apiece for the Lady Red Devils.
Pulaski Academy guard Mackie Kuhn scored 16 points to lead the Lady Bruins. Liana Krisht added nine for PA.
The win assures the Lady Red Devils of an outright conference championship, their first in nearly two decades. Still, Jackson believes her team has some things to improve before the state tournament begins on Feb. 26 at the Pine Bluff Convention Center.
“We have a lot to improve before state,” Jackson said. “We have to be more serious and work harder in practice. We have to put in more running work and get in better condition. And we have to be more ready to play at tip off, and not start slow like we did tonight and against Little Rock Christian.”
SPORTS STORY >> Red Devils seal up No. 1 seed by beating PA
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Jacksonville Red Devils sealed up the No. 1 seed from the 5A Central with a 51-35 win over Pulaski Academy on Friday. The win doesn’t yet secure an outright league championship.
Even if the Red Devils lose a major upset to Sylvan Hills in their season finale, and second-place McClellan wins, leaving both teams with identical 12-2 conference records, Jacksonville (20-4, 12-1) owns the tiebreaker by virtue of its two wins over the Crimson Lions in conference play. A win over Sylvan Hills in last night’s game after deadlines, means another outright conference championship for Jacksonville.
The Bruins entered the game with no intentions of letting Jacksonville cruise to a No. 1 seed. Though Jacksonville led the entire game, they couldn’t shake the Bruins and seal the win until late in the game.
Jacksonville built a double-digit lead early in the second quarter, but Pulaski Academy cut into that lead then, and the next three times the lead grew to double figures. Jacksonville coach Vic Joyner gave the Bruins all the credit for staying in the game when they were on the ropes so many times.
“I don’t think we let up on them,” Joyner said. “I think they bowed their backs and made some plays. When they had to have a basket, they got aggressive and got to the rim. That team plays hard.”
Jacksonville’s first double-digit lead came with a run early in the second quarter. Jacksonville led 17-7 before the Bruins scored eight unanswered to make it 17-15 with a minute left in the first half. Jacksonville’s Sergio Berkley got a three-point play before halftime to send the Red Devils into intermission with a five-point lead.
Jacksonville scored six points in a hurry to start the third quarter, quickly turning a close game into an 11-point advantage for the home team at 26-15. Both teams bogged down at that point.
Neither team scored for the next two minutes and 30 seconds. Jacksonville’s Brandon Brockman broke the scoreless streak with a three-point play that made it 29-15 with 3:36 left in the third quarter. The play was sparked by an offensive rebound and brilliant pass by junior guard Sergio Berkley.
Berkley stayed with a ball that was being bounced around by several players from both teams. When he finally gained control along the baseline to the left of the goal, he used stellar court awareness to pass the ball backwards over his left shoulder to Brockman, who was standing underneath the basket. Berkley, a guard who came off the bench late in the first quarter, finished with a game-high nine rebounds.
The Bruins finally broke a long scoreless streak 23 seconds later when reserve guard Chad Michaels got a putback. On the ensuing possession, Pulaski Academy’s Brandon Brady got a steal out of the Bruins’ press and scored to make it 39-29 with 2:47 left in the third quarter.
Michaels’ bucket with 3:23 left in the third was PA’s first points of the second half, and first since a 1:10 remained in the first half.
After Brady’s initial steal and layup, the Pulaski Academy press failed to be effective. The Bruins usually run a 3-2 zone defense, but in the face of the deficit, it tried full and half-court pressure to get back into the game. Both presses yielded several layups and free throws for Jacksonville.
“That’s certainly not the original game plan when you play Jacksonville,” Pulaski Academy coach Roger Franks said. “But at a certain point you have to try whatever you think gives you the best chance to win the game. I felt like we had to try something else to have a chance to win it, and it just didn’t work. Jacksonville is a very talented team with a very good point guard in No. 4 (Justin McCleary).”
Joyner believes that Pulaski Academy’s unfamiliarity with running a press defense was the reason his team beat it so easily.
“When you’ve face Mills’ press, Jonesboro’s press, McClellan’s press, and then you face a team that’s not used to doing it, it’s not that hard,” Joyner said. “A press depends on everybody moving in unison. If you’re not used to pressing and you’re not moving together like you need to be for a press to be effective, you can beat a press pretty easily, especially when you’ve faced as many teams as we have that press so efficiently.”
Jacksonville again won the rebounding battle 34-24, but trailed 14-13 in that category at halftime.
“We were allowing ourselves to get boxed out,” Joyner said of his team’s first half play. “When the ball is in the air, you have to fight for position. We’re taller than they are, but we were getting outworked in the first half. So we talked about that at halftime and the players responded to that.”
Brockman and Keith Charleston led Jacksonville with 12 points each. McCleary added 10 for the Red Devils. Brady was the only Bruin in double figures with 14 points. Jacksonville was only 33 percent from the floor on 19 of 57 shooting, including an abysmal 3 of 17 (17 percent) from three-point range.
The Bruins (11-7, 7-4) weren’t much better and took far fewer shots. They were 11 of 41 from the floor and 2 of 8 from outside the arc.
Leader sports editor
The Jacksonville Red Devils sealed up the No. 1 seed from the 5A Central with a 51-35 win over Pulaski Academy on Friday. The win doesn’t yet secure an outright league championship.
Even if the Red Devils lose a major upset to Sylvan Hills in their season finale, and second-place McClellan wins, leaving both teams with identical 12-2 conference records, Jacksonville (20-4, 12-1) owns the tiebreaker by virtue of its two wins over the Crimson Lions in conference play. A win over Sylvan Hills in last night’s game after deadlines, means another outright conference championship for Jacksonville.
The Bruins entered the game with no intentions of letting Jacksonville cruise to a No. 1 seed. Though Jacksonville led the entire game, they couldn’t shake the Bruins and seal the win until late in the game.
Jacksonville built a double-digit lead early in the second quarter, but Pulaski Academy cut into that lead then, and the next three times the lead grew to double figures. Jacksonville coach Vic Joyner gave the Bruins all the credit for staying in the game when they were on the ropes so many times.
“I don’t think we let up on them,” Joyner said. “I think they bowed their backs and made some plays. When they had to have a basket, they got aggressive and got to the rim. That team plays hard.”
Jacksonville’s first double-digit lead came with a run early in the second quarter. Jacksonville led 17-7 before the Bruins scored eight unanswered to make it 17-15 with a minute left in the first half. Jacksonville’s Sergio Berkley got a three-point play before halftime to send the Red Devils into intermission with a five-point lead.
Jacksonville scored six points in a hurry to start the third quarter, quickly turning a close game into an 11-point advantage for the home team at 26-15. Both teams bogged down at that point.
Neither team scored for the next two minutes and 30 seconds. Jacksonville’s Brandon Brockman broke the scoreless streak with a three-point play that made it 29-15 with 3:36 left in the third quarter. The play was sparked by an offensive rebound and brilliant pass by junior guard Sergio Berkley.
Berkley stayed with a ball that was being bounced around by several players from both teams. When he finally gained control along the baseline to the left of the goal, he used stellar court awareness to pass the ball backwards over his left shoulder to Brockman, who was standing underneath the basket. Berkley, a guard who came off the bench late in the first quarter, finished with a game-high nine rebounds.
The Bruins finally broke a long scoreless streak 23 seconds later when reserve guard Chad Michaels got a putback. On the ensuing possession, Pulaski Academy’s Brandon Brady got a steal out of the Bruins’ press and scored to make it 39-29 with 2:47 left in the third quarter.
Michaels’ bucket with 3:23 left in the third was PA’s first points of the second half, and first since a 1:10 remained in the first half.
After Brady’s initial steal and layup, the Pulaski Academy press failed to be effective. The Bruins usually run a 3-2 zone defense, but in the face of the deficit, it tried full and half-court pressure to get back into the game. Both presses yielded several layups and free throws for Jacksonville.
“That’s certainly not the original game plan when you play Jacksonville,” Pulaski Academy coach Roger Franks said. “But at a certain point you have to try whatever you think gives you the best chance to win the game. I felt like we had to try something else to have a chance to win it, and it just didn’t work. Jacksonville is a very talented team with a very good point guard in No. 4 (Justin McCleary).”
Joyner believes that Pulaski Academy’s unfamiliarity with running a press defense was the reason his team beat it so easily.
“When you’ve face Mills’ press, Jonesboro’s press, McClellan’s press, and then you face a team that’s not used to doing it, it’s not that hard,” Joyner said. “A press depends on everybody moving in unison. If you’re not used to pressing and you’re not moving together like you need to be for a press to be effective, you can beat a press pretty easily, especially when you’ve faced as many teams as we have that press so efficiently.”
Jacksonville again won the rebounding battle 34-24, but trailed 14-13 in that category at halftime.
“We were allowing ourselves to get boxed out,” Joyner said of his team’s first half play. “When the ball is in the air, you have to fight for position. We’re taller than they are, but we were getting outworked in the first half. So we talked about that at halftime and the players responded to that.”
Brockman and Keith Charleston led Jacksonville with 12 points each. McCleary added 10 for the Red Devils. Brady was the only Bruin in double figures with 14 points. Jacksonville was only 33 percent from the floor on 19 of 57 shooting, including an abysmal 3 of 17 (17 percent) from three-point range.
The Bruins (11-7, 7-4) weren’t much better and took far fewer shots. They were 11 of 41 from the floor and 2 of 8 from outside the arc.
SPORTS STORY >> Badgers after top seed for playoffs
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The combined scoring attack of Austin Burroughs and Zach Baker proved too much for visiting Nettleton as Beebe eased its way to a 56-44 victory over the Raiders at Badger Sports Arena on Friday to stay atop the 5A East Conference standings.
The Badgers (19-6, 10-2) pushed their advantage to 46-22 by the end of the third quarter before going with subs for most of the final period. Burroughs, Beebe’s dynamic senior forward, finished with 20 points while junior post player Baker was right behind him with 18 points to make up all but eight of the Badgers’ total points.
Three inside shots by Baker in the first quarter, along with a pair of three-point baskets by Burroughs in the opening eight minutes, gave the Badgers an early 12-6 lead through one, and the hosts never looked back.
“That’s something we’ve been wanting the last few weeks is a much better start,” Beebe coach Ryan Marshall said. “Austin putting the ball in the hole the way he did obviously helped that out. I thought we were locked in pretty well defensively. The thing I really liked about it was we got up and never really gave them a chance of winning.”
Both teams had a decent night percentage wise as Beebe went 49 percent (20 of 41) from the floor while the Raiders were 44 percent (19 of 43). The biggest difference for the Badgers was their rebounding advantage in which they finished with 25 boards while holding Nettleton to 13 rebounds.
Senior post player Jared Gowen led the Badgers on the rebounding front with six, many of which he pulled from the reach of unsuspecting Nettleton players underneath.
“Jared has been such a plus for us,” Marshall said. “For two years as a sophomore and junior, he practiced and busted his butt every day. He didn’t get to play a lot of minutes, and of course this year, he’s started for us 90 percent of the time. He does what he can do, and that’s part of having a good ball club is having kids who know their role. He’s just really been a pleasure to have.”
The Raiders doubled their points in the final frame as Beebe sat out most of its starters, particularly junior point guard Tanner Chapman, who has started the past two games despite a nagging knee injury. It is believed Chapman tore his meniscus against Batesville back on Feb. 5.
“We had a couple of kids who needed to rest from an injury standpoint,” Marshall said. “We didn’t want to keep them out there. Don’t think that group didn’t hear about it in the locker room about giving up what they gave up. We don’t want to finish games like that.”
With the victory, the Badgers clinched a spot in the 5A state playoffs regardless of how the final week of conference plays out.
Beebe hosted Wynne last night in a game that could provide redemption after the Yellowjackets embarrassed the Badgers 67-27 last month in Wynne.
Beebe has to win that game or its final East game against Paragould on Friday in order to clinch the conference title outright.
Leader sportswriter
The combined scoring attack of Austin Burroughs and Zach Baker proved too much for visiting Nettleton as Beebe eased its way to a 56-44 victory over the Raiders at Badger Sports Arena on Friday to stay atop the 5A East Conference standings.
The Badgers (19-6, 10-2) pushed their advantage to 46-22 by the end of the third quarter before going with subs for most of the final period. Burroughs, Beebe’s dynamic senior forward, finished with 20 points while junior post player Baker was right behind him with 18 points to make up all but eight of the Badgers’ total points.
Three inside shots by Baker in the first quarter, along with a pair of three-point baskets by Burroughs in the opening eight minutes, gave the Badgers an early 12-6 lead through one, and the hosts never looked back.
“That’s something we’ve been wanting the last few weeks is a much better start,” Beebe coach Ryan Marshall said. “Austin putting the ball in the hole the way he did obviously helped that out. I thought we were locked in pretty well defensively. The thing I really liked about it was we got up and never really gave them a chance of winning.”
Both teams had a decent night percentage wise as Beebe went 49 percent (20 of 41) from the floor while the Raiders were 44 percent (19 of 43). The biggest difference for the Badgers was their rebounding advantage in which they finished with 25 boards while holding Nettleton to 13 rebounds.
Senior post player Jared Gowen led the Badgers on the rebounding front with six, many of which he pulled from the reach of unsuspecting Nettleton players underneath.
“Jared has been such a plus for us,” Marshall said. “For two years as a sophomore and junior, he practiced and busted his butt every day. He didn’t get to play a lot of minutes, and of course this year, he’s started for us 90 percent of the time. He does what he can do, and that’s part of having a good ball club is having kids who know their role. He’s just really been a pleasure to have.”
The Raiders doubled their points in the final frame as Beebe sat out most of its starters, particularly junior point guard Tanner Chapman, who has started the past two games despite a nagging knee injury. It is believed Chapman tore his meniscus against Batesville back on Feb. 5.
“We had a couple of kids who needed to rest from an injury standpoint,” Marshall said. “We didn’t want to keep them out there. Don’t think that group didn’t hear about it in the locker room about giving up what they gave up. We don’t want to finish games like that.”
With the victory, the Badgers clinched a spot in the 5A state playoffs regardless of how the final week of conference plays out.
Beebe hosted Wynne last night in a game that could provide redemption after the Yellowjackets embarrassed the Badgers 67-27 last month in Wynne.
Beebe has to win that game or its final East game against Paragould on Friday in order to clinch the conference title outright.
SPORT STORY >> Lonoke loses its lead in fourth quarter
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
NEWPORT – Adversity finally caught up with Lonoke as the Jackrabbits lost their grip on the lead late against Dollarway in a 45-38 loss to the Cardinals in the 4A-2 District Finals at Greyhound Fieldhouse on Saturday.
The rubber match between the two teams was the result of their dominant runs in the 4A-2 Conference during the regular season. Dollarway played as the home team on the scoreboard by virtue of winning the conference with a 13-1 record with its only league loss coming to Lonoke, which finished 12-2 in conference to earn the No. 2 seed entering the tournament.
Lonoke played through the district tournament without head coach Dean Campbell, who was forced to sit out due to a strong case of influenza. Assistant coach Heath Swiney led the Jackrabbits to victory in their semifinal-round game over Clinton on Thursday, and looked to be in a good spot in the second half against Dollarway until the Cardinals rallied early in the fourth quarter to seize momentum down the stretch.
“The disappointment was, we had a chance to push it to six or eight there and missed a couple of shots right at the basket,” Swiney said. “Their length bothers you. We got a little rushed and just missed a couple of those layups there that probably would have sealed the game.”
It was a game of clear and definite momentum shifts as the ’Rabbits struggled early with 12 straight misses to start the game.
Lonoke spent the rest of the game recuperating percentage wise after a 1 of 13 start from the floor in the first quarter, finishing 12 of 45 on the game for 27 percent. The Cardinals got off to a slightly better start at 3 of 7 for the opening period and finished 16 of 39 for 41 percent.
“We had a long layover,” Dollarway coach Ellis Berry said. “It kind of hurt us, but the guys picked it up on defense in the third quarter. Coming out of halftime, we got two quick steals, and that’s really what got us going.”
Turnovers played a big role as Lonoke gave the ball away 18 times and Dollarway committed 16 turnovers, all but six of which came in the first half. Kabian Enjo grabbed a steal he converted with a layup to begin the second half, cutting the Jackrabbits’ seven-point margin at the break to 20-15, and Josh Liddell picked up the steal for the Cardinals on the next Lonoke possession that turned into a dunk at the 7:16 mark to make it 20-17.
Lonoke made the most of its momentum in the second quarter after a slow start. Jamel Rankin put a point up for the Jackrabbits in the first 20 seconds when he hit the back end of a two-shot foul, and Blake Mack added two more foul shots at the 5:08 mark to tie the game at 3-3. The first shot from the floor did not come until 1:21 remaining in the opening period when post player Reid McKenzie took a bounce-pass assist in the lane from Rankin and scored to tie the game at 5-5.
Dollarway tied the game at 32-32 to start the fourth quarter but the Jackrabbits responded with back-to-back baskets from junior guard Darrius McCall to put Lonoke back on top 36-32 by the 4:39 mark. The ’Rabbits had a chance to extend the lead to six, but Mack was called for a charging foul while working his way into the lane for his fourth personal with 3:50 to play.
Although the Jackrabbits came up short on the scoreboard, their gutsy performance in the absence of their head coach spoke to their character, especially with their assistant coach.
“Their maturity level has impressed me,” Swiney said. “They’ve done a great job, and that’s what I told them. They’ve responded well to coach Campbell being out, because it’s different when your head coach is out. They’ve done really well in practice for me, and I’m just proud of them and their maturity level. We will be glad when coach Campbell comes back.”
McCall led the Jackrabbits with 13 points while Mack added 12 points. Rankin and senior guard Dra Offord led rebounding with seven each.
For Dollarway, Dequan Christmas led with 17 points while Davone Chapman had nine points and 10 rebounds.
With the win, Dollarway takes the No. 1 seed from 4A-2 into this week’s 4A East Region tournament at Heber Springs, and will face 4A-3 No. 4 seed Jonesboro Westside today at 5:30 p.m. Lonoke is the No. 2 seed from 4A-2 and will take on 4A-3 No. 3 seed Pocahontas Thursday at 8:30 p.m.
Leader sportswriter
NEWPORT – Adversity finally caught up with Lonoke as the Jackrabbits lost their grip on the lead late against Dollarway in a 45-38 loss to the Cardinals in the 4A-2 District Finals at Greyhound Fieldhouse on Saturday.
The rubber match between the two teams was the result of their dominant runs in the 4A-2 Conference during the regular season. Dollarway played as the home team on the scoreboard by virtue of winning the conference with a 13-1 record with its only league loss coming to Lonoke, which finished 12-2 in conference to earn the No. 2 seed entering the tournament.
Lonoke played through the district tournament without head coach Dean Campbell, who was forced to sit out due to a strong case of influenza. Assistant coach Heath Swiney led the Jackrabbits to victory in their semifinal-round game over Clinton on Thursday, and looked to be in a good spot in the second half against Dollarway until the Cardinals rallied early in the fourth quarter to seize momentum down the stretch.
“The disappointment was, we had a chance to push it to six or eight there and missed a couple of shots right at the basket,” Swiney said. “Their length bothers you. We got a little rushed and just missed a couple of those layups there that probably would have sealed the game.”
It was a game of clear and definite momentum shifts as the ’Rabbits struggled early with 12 straight misses to start the game.
Lonoke spent the rest of the game recuperating percentage wise after a 1 of 13 start from the floor in the first quarter, finishing 12 of 45 on the game for 27 percent. The Cardinals got off to a slightly better start at 3 of 7 for the opening period and finished 16 of 39 for 41 percent.
“We had a long layover,” Dollarway coach Ellis Berry said. “It kind of hurt us, but the guys picked it up on defense in the third quarter. Coming out of halftime, we got two quick steals, and that’s really what got us going.”
Turnovers played a big role as Lonoke gave the ball away 18 times and Dollarway committed 16 turnovers, all but six of which came in the first half. Kabian Enjo grabbed a steal he converted with a layup to begin the second half, cutting the Jackrabbits’ seven-point margin at the break to 20-15, and Josh Liddell picked up the steal for the Cardinals on the next Lonoke possession that turned into a dunk at the 7:16 mark to make it 20-17.
Lonoke made the most of its momentum in the second quarter after a slow start. Jamel Rankin put a point up for the Jackrabbits in the first 20 seconds when he hit the back end of a two-shot foul, and Blake Mack added two more foul shots at the 5:08 mark to tie the game at 3-3. The first shot from the floor did not come until 1:21 remaining in the opening period when post player Reid McKenzie took a bounce-pass assist in the lane from Rankin and scored to tie the game at 5-5.
Dollarway tied the game at 32-32 to start the fourth quarter but the Jackrabbits responded with back-to-back baskets from junior guard Darrius McCall to put Lonoke back on top 36-32 by the 4:39 mark. The ’Rabbits had a chance to extend the lead to six, but Mack was called for a charging foul while working his way into the lane for his fourth personal with 3:50 to play.
Although the Jackrabbits came up short on the scoreboard, their gutsy performance in the absence of their head coach spoke to their character, especially with their assistant coach.
“Their maturity level has impressed me,” Swiney said. “They’ve done a great job, and that’s what I told them. They’ve responded well to coach Campbell being out, because it’s different when your head coach is out. They’ve done really well in practice for me, and I’m just proud of them and their maturity level. We will be glad when coach Campbell comes back.”
McCall led the Jackrabbits with 13 points while Mack added 12 points. Rankin and senior guard Dra Offord led rebounding with seven each.
For Dollarway, Dequan Christmas led with 17 points while Davone Chapman had nine points and 10 rebounds.
With the win, Dollarway takes the No. 1 seed from 4A-2 into this week’s 4A East Region tournament at Heber Springs, and will face 4A-3 No. 4 seed Jonesboro Westside today at 5:30 p.m. Lonoke is the No. 2 seed from 4A-2 and will take on 4A-3 No. 3 seed Pocahontas Thursday at 8:30 p.m.
Friday, February 15, 2013
TOP STORY >> Byrd dies, Shorter soars
By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader editor
Donald Byrd, one of finest jazz trumpet players of the second half of the 20th Century, died earlier this month at the age of 80. Some of his fans might not even have known he was still around, having given up the limelight in middle age when he concentrated on music education. They had remembered him as a hard-charging musician in the 1950s and 1960s who changed directions around 1970 and started making more commercial music that harmed his reputation in some jazz circles.
Byrd, a Detroit native, made his first great jazz recordings in the mid-1950s, when he was still in his early 20s. He sounded like an old pro, when he led a group on “Byrd’s World” on the Savoy label with Frank Foster, the Count Basie veteran on tenor saxophone, Hank Jones on piano and Paul Chambers on bass. A year later, he recorded for Prestige with the great John Coltrane and Hank Mobley on tenor, Elmo Hope on piano, Philly Joe Jones and drums and again Chambers of bass.
For the next 15 years, Byrd appeared on several outstanding LPs, most of them for the Blue Note label. He was not among the top tier of trumpet players at Blue Note, where Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard and Kenny Dorham were the trumpet stars, but he was up there with Blue Mitchell and Charles Tolliver, and they were good enough.
Byrd played with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers — Blakey was a great spotter of talent — and also recorded with such Blue Note stars as Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Lou Donaldson and others.
Byrd was a fine leader of his own small groups, and he also co-led with the baritone saxophone player Pepper Adams. “The Complete Blue Note Donald Byrd-Pepper Studio Sessions” from Mosaic in 2000 helped boost Byrd’s image as a hardbop player with younger listeners and older fans who’d forgotten how good he was.
He also nurtured new talent, especially the piano player Herbie Hancock, who appeared on most of Byrd’s mid-period records, including a couple of the Byrd-Pepper sessions, as well as “Free Form” with tenor saxophone player Wayne Shorter, “A New Perspective” with Hank Mobley again and “I’m Trying to Get Home” with Stanley Turrentine on tenor.
By the end of the 1960s, Byrd must have tired of bebop — playing hard takes its toll on a musician — and anyway, by the end of the 1960s, jazz was struggling. So he moved into R&B, fusion and funk and made some serious money, especially with “Blackbyrd,” Blue Note’s biggest seller.
He also became an educator and stayed out of the limelight by the 1980s. Rappers sampled his music, and he must have lived comfortably on the income from his record royalties. From all accounts, Byrd was an unassuming musician even when he led his own groups. He loved to teach and leaves behind a legacy of first-rate jazz from the 1950s and 1960s that will be heard for generations.
Amazingly, the aforementioned Wayne Shorter is recording for Blue Note again after a 40-year absence that took him into similar territory that Byrd inhabited in the 1970s: Shorter’s group Weather Report with Joe Zawinul on keyboards was perhaps the most influential fusion group of the era, but he has returned to more traditional jazz.
Shorter plays tenor and soprano saxophone on “With-out a Net,” his newest from Blue Note, which is as daring as anything he has done during his illustrious career.
His definition of jazz is “I dare you.”
He’s never been afraid to walk a tightrope for more than 50 years, starting with the Maynard Ferguson Orchestra and the Jazz Messengers. He made his biggest mark with Miles Davis in the 1960s.
Along the way, he led several important recording sessions on Blue Note. Before that, in the early 1960s, he co-led sessions on the small VeeJay label with Lee Morgan, whose collaboration is available on the astonishing “Complete VeeJay Lee Morgan-Wayne Shorter Sessions” from Mosaic.
Shorter is also heard on two other important Mosaic box sets, “The Complete Blue Note Record-ings of Art Blakey’s 1960 Jazz Messengers” and “The Complete Plugged Nickel Sessions” with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams.
In his 80th year, Shorter is better than ever. “Without a Net” is a compilation of live recordings made in Europe in 2011 with a brilliant quartet that includes the Panamanian pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and Shreveport’s own Brian Blade on drums.
One lovely tune was recorded in Los Angeles with the Imani Winds quartet.
Some of the music is traditional jazz, much of it is free form and all of it is brilliant. After 55 years, Wayne Shorter continues to explore new sounds, taking new ideas from his collaborators, and in the meantime, reinventing the venerable Blue Note label, which has been issuing glorious music since 1939. May it continue for another 74 years.
Leader editor
Donald Byrd, one of finest jazz trumpet players of the second half of the 20th Century, died earlier this month at the age of 80. Some of his fans might not even have known he was still around, having given up the limelight in middle age when he concentrated on music education. They had remembered him as a hard-charging musician in the 1950s and 1960s who changed directions around 1970 and started making more commercial music that harmed his reputation in some jazz circles.
Byrd, a Detroit native, made his first great jazz recordings in the mid-1950s, when he was still in his early 20s. He sounded like an old pro, when he led a group on “Byrd’s World” on the Savoy label with Frank Foster, the Count Basie veteran on tenor saxophone, Hank Jones on piano and Paul Chambers on bass. A year later, he recorded for Prestige with the great John Coltrane and Hank Mobley on tenor, Elmo Hope on piano, Philly Joe Jones and drums and again Chambers of bass.
For the next 15 years, Byrd appeared on several outstanding LPs, most of them for the Blue Note label. He was not among the top tier of trumpet players at Blue Note, where Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard and Kenny Dorham were the trumpet stars, but he was up there with Blue Mitchell and Charles Tolliver, and they were good enough.
Byrd played with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers — Blakey was a great spotter of talent — and also recorded with such Blue Note stars as Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Lou Donaldson and others.
Byrd was a fine leader of his own small groups, and he also co-led with the baritone saxophone player Pepper Adams. “The Complete Blue Note Donald Byrd-Pepper Studio Sessions” from Mosaic in 2000 helped boost Byrd’s image as a hardbop player with younger listeners and older fans who’d forgotten how good he was.
He also nurtured new talent, especially the piano player Herbie Hancock, who appeared on most of Byrd’s mid-period records, including a couple of the Byrd-Pepper sessions, as well as “Free Form” with tenor saxophone player Wayne Shorter, “A New Perspective” with Hank Mobley again and “I’m Trying to Get Home” with Stanley Turrentine on tenor.
By the end of the 1960s, Byrd must have tired of bebop — playing hard takes its toll on a musician — and anyway, by the end of the 1960s, jazz was struggling. So he moved into R&B, fusion and funk and made some serious money, especially with “Blackbyrd,” Blue Note’s biggest seller.
He also became an educator and stayed out of the limelight by the 1980s. Rappers sampled his music, and he must have lived comfortably on the income from his record royalties. From all accounts, Byrd was an unassuming musician even when he led his own groups. He loved to teach and leaves behind a legacy of first-rate jazz from the 1950s and 1960s that will be heard for generations.
•
Amazingly, the aforementioned Wayne Shorter is recording for Blue Note again after a 40-year absence that took him into similar territory that Byrd inhabited in the 1970s: Shorter’s group Weather Report with Joe Zawinul on keyboards was perhaps the most influential fusion group of the era, but he has returned to more traditional jazz.
Shorter plays tenor and soprano saxophone on “With-out a Net,” his newest from Blue Note, which is as daring as anything he has done during his illustrious career.
His definition of jazz is “I dare you.”
He’s never been afraid to walk a tightrope for more than 50 years, starting with the Maynard Ferguson Orchestra and the Jazz Messengers. He made his biggest mark with Miles Davis in the 1960s.
Along the way, he led several important recording sessions on Blue Note. Before that, in the early 1960s, he co-led sessions on the small VeeJay label with Lee Morgan, whose collaboration is available on the astonishing “Complete VeeJay Lee Morgan-Wayne Shorter Sessions” from Mosaic.
Shorter is also heard on two other important Mosaic box sets, “The Complete Blue Note Record-ings of Art Blakey’s 1960 Jazz Messengers” and “The Complete Plugged Nickel Sessions” with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams.
In his 80th year, Shorter is better than ever. “Without a Net” is a compilation of live recordings made in Europe in 2011 with a brilliant quartet that includes the Panamanian pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and Shreveport’s own Brian Blade on drums.
One lovely tune was recorded in Los Angeles with the Imani Winds quartet.
Some of the music is traditional jazz, much of it is free form and all of it is brilliant. After 55 years, Wayne Shorter continues to explore new sounds, taking new ideas from his collaborators, and in the meantime, reinventing the venerable Blue Note label, which has been issuing glorious music since 1939. May it continue for another 74 years.
TOP STORY >> Cabot tax meeting to push extension
By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer
Representatives from the various groups who want Cabot voters to extend the existing one-cent sales tax to pay for about $40 million in improvement projects met Tuesday evening as a task force to talk about possible pitfalls to the tax passing and how to avoid them.
They decided to concentrate on explaining and promoting the $8.2 million sewer project and almost $19 million in parks projects because they are the most misunderstood. And they agreed to all work together to get all the projects approved because as Gary Walker, chairman of the Cabot Water and Wastewater Commission, said, “United we stand; divided we fall.”
A new library in the old Knight’s building on Main Street for $2.6 million needslittle elaboration, Mayor Bill Cypert said. The demand for library services is growing and the entire shopping area where the Knight’s building is located could eventually become an education center for Cabot.
The North interchange to improve traffic flow has been talked about for a decade. The only new part is that the city will have to pay half the cost, $9.5 million.
But people are confused by plans to build a combination baseball park and water park, the mayor said. No one disagrees that the city needs a new baseball park, but they equate a water park to facilities like Wild River Country. So from now on, the water park will be called an outdoor swimming pool complex to replace the existing outdated, outdoor pool.
The need to expand the six-year-old community center is also a point of contention for some voters.
When the mayor and representatives from the task force begin meeting this month with the various organizations and groups that could pass the tax, they will explain that the community center was too small when it was built and that there is no place in Cabot large enough to accommodate groups of more than 500.
As for the sewer project that will increase capacity for growth in the Hwy. 5/Greystone area, it is for economic growth, the mayor said. And economic growth will benefit everyone and allow the city to provide better services for everyone, he said.
The mayor called that project, which includes collection improvements over much of the city, “the key to economic development in Cabot.”
The tax would also pay for a $500,000 drainage project to stop homes from flooding in the Highlands area. Paul Davis who lives in the Highlands said at 77, he’s too old to deal with a home that keeps flooding.
But he also said residents there don’t understand the sales tax extension, and they are concerned about it.
To clear up confusion about what it’s for and how much it will cost, the mayor has scheduled five town hall-style meetings from Feb. 26 until March 26.
Also on the calendar are meetings with the following organizations: Civitan, Rotary Club, Cabot Junior Auxiliary, Lions Club, Kiwanis Club, Cabot chamber general membership luncheon, Cabot/Jacksonville Tea Party and the Cabot Homebuilders Association.
The mayor has requested that representatives from the task force attend the meetings especially representatives from the Cabot Water and Wastewater Commission and the Cabot Parks and Recreation Commission.
The mayor said the most important point to get across is that the tax is not a new tax, it is a tax extension.
If voters approve it, they won’t pay more than they do now. Furthermore, Cabot’s population is about 25,000 but its trade area has a population of about 61,000.
So the money borrowed in bonds to pay for the various projects will be repaid by everyone who shops in Cabot, not just Cabot residents.
The original one-cent sales tax was passed in 1999. It paid for water wells, a water treatment plant and a line to deliver the water to Cabot. Cypert credits that tax with allowing Cabot to continue growing.
Then in 2005, the tax was extended and additional bonds were approved to pay for more work such as the community center, the railroad overpass that connects Hwy. 367 to Hwy. 38, the animal shelter and street improvements.
In everyday language, loans for those projects were refinanced in 2005 and more money was borrowed to pay for the 2005 projects. But to use the accurate terminology that is used on ballots, the bonds were “refunded” and voters approved new bonds.
Ken Kincade, an accountant and vice-chairman of the parks commission, said he thinks it would be better when talking to voters to use terms that apply to their lives.
Most people understand that they can refinance their homes to get lower interest rates and maybe even borrow more money for remodeling.
Essentially, that’s what they will be doing April 9 when they vote to refund the existing bonds and then vote yes to new bonds for new projects, Kincade said.
And if they vote no to the refunding or refinancing their loan payment doesn’t go away, but they might miss a chance at a lower interest rate, and they don’t get projects like the new baseball fields, swimming pool and two new softball fields.
In addition to the meetings that have been scheduled, brochures to explain the tax and the projects it would support will be passed out to voters. And the mayor has asked the task force to provide volunteers to stand at intersections with signs promoting the tax extension during the week of early voting and on April 9.
Leader staff writer
Representatives from the various groups who want Cabot voters to extend the existing one-cent sales tax to pay for about $40 million in improvement projects met Tuesday evening as a task force to talk about possible pitfalls to the tax passing and how to avoid them.
They decided to concentrate on explaining and promoting the $8.2 million sewer project and almost $19 million in parks projects because they are the most misunderstood. And they agreed to all work together to get all the projects approved because as Gary Walker, chairman of the Cabot Water and Wastewater Commission, said, “United we stand; divided we fall.”
A new library in the old Knight’s building on Main Street for $2.6 million needslittle elaboration, Mayor Bill Cypert said. The demand for library services is growing and the entire shopping area where the Knight’s building is located could eventually become an education center for Cabot.
The North interchange to improve traffic flow has been talked about for a decade. The only new part is that the city will have to pay half the cost, $9.5 million.
But people are confused by plans to build a combination baseball park and water park, the mayor said. No one disagrees that the city needs a new baseball park, but they equate a water park to facilities like Wild River Country. So from now on, the water park will be called an outdoor swimming pool complex to replace the existing outdated, outdoor pool.
The need to expand the six-year-old community center is also a point of contention for some voters.
When the mayor and representatives from the task force begin meeting this month with the various organizations and groups that could pass the tax, they will explain that the community center was too small when it was built and that there is no place in Cabot large enough to accommodate groups of more than 500.
As for the sewer project that will increase capacity for growth in the Hwy. 5/Greystone area, it is for economic growth, the mayor said. And economic growth will benefit everyone and allow the city to provide better services for everyone, he said.
The mayor called that project, which includes collection improvements over much of the city, “the key to economic development in Cabot.”
The tax would also pay for a $500,000 drainage project to stop homes from flooding in the Highlands area. Paul Davis who lives in the Highlands said at 77, he’s too old to deal with a home that keeps flooding.
But he also said residents there don’t understand the sales tax extension, and they are concerned about it.
To clear up confusion about what it’s for and how much it will cost, the mayor has scheduled five town hall-style meetings from Feb. 26 until March 26.
Also on the calendar are meetings with the following organizations: Civitan, Rotary Club, Cabot Junior Auxiliary, Lions Club, Kiwanis Club, Cabot chamber general membership luncheon, Cabot/Jacksonville Tea Party and the Cabot Homebuilders Association.
The mayor has requested that representatives from the task force attend the meetings especially representatives from the Cabot Water and Wastewater Commission and the Cabot Parks and Recreation Commission.
The mayor said the most important point to get across is that the tax is not a new tax, it is a tax extension.
If voters approve it, they won’t pay more than they do now. Furthermore, Cabot’s population is about 25,000 but its trade area has a population of about 61,000.
So the money borrowed in bonds to pay for the various projects will be repaid by everyone who shops in Cabot, not just Cabot residents.
The original one-cent sales tax was passed in 1999. It paid for water wells, a water treatment plant and a line to deliver the water to Cabot. Cypert credits that tax with allowing Cabot to continue growing.
Then in 2005, the tax was extended and additional bonds were approved to pay for more work such as the community center, the railroad overpass that connects Hwy. 367 to Hwy. 38, the animal shelter and street improvements.
In everyday language, loans for those projects were refinanced in 2005 and more money was borrowed to pay for the 2005 projects. But to use the accurate terminology that is used on ballots, the bonds were “refunded” and voters approved new bonds.
Ken Kincade, an accountant and vice-chairman of the parks commission, said he thinks it would be better when talking to voters to use terms that apply to their lives.
Most people understand that they can refinance their homes to get lower interest rates and maybe even borrow more money for remodeling.
Essentially, that’s what they will be doing April 9 when they vote to refund the existing bonds and then vote yes to new bonds for new projects, Kincade said.
And if they vote no to the refunding or refinancing their loan payment doesn’t go away, but they might miss a chance at a lower interest rate, and they don’t get projects like the new baseball fields, swimming pool and two new softball fields.
In addition to the meetings that have been scheduled, brochures to explain the tax and the projects it would support will be passed out to voters. And the mayor has asked the task force to provide volunteers to stand at intersections with signs promoting the tax extension during the week of early voting and on April 9.
TOP STORY >> Longtime fire chief retires
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Chief John Vanderhoof will say goodbye to the Jacksonville Fire Department next Friday after being there most of his life.
The chief will leave just shy of 43 years of service and the last 15 as the chief. The official record says 42 years and 10 months; the chief says it has been for a lifetime.
“Even before I was officially with the fire department, I was always at the fire department with my dad. My dad worked his way up to assistant fire chief and was with it when it was an ordnance plant fire department and then stayed when the city took over,” the chief said.
“I spent a lot of days and nights here as a youngster and teen,” he added. “I usually spent Saturday night at the station and then came home Sunday with my dad in time for church and then fried chicken.”
The chief joined the department as a firefighter on May 15, 1970, after joining the Marine Corps.
Vanderhoof really had no plans to be a firefighter. “I did a stint in the Marines, got out in February and was still looking for something to do.”
“I actually had an interview that day with Remington. They were just started up. But a few days earlier I stopped by the station and asked Chief (Wayman) Schmitt and Wilbur Smart what it would take to be a firefighter. They said show up here instead of Remington on the 15th, and that’s what I did.”
City records show him as a temporary firefighter for one month, before he took and passed the civil service test.
It didn’t take long for the future chief to figure out what his dad had known — that firefighter was not a job, not a career, but a lifestyle.
During his almost 43-year stint, he never took a sick day. “Were there days I was sick? Yes, and I had to be literally carried onto the truck.”
He recalls one day Chief Smart made him go home. “I had the mumps, but I made that day up later,” Venderhoof said.
“Back then, there was nothing like getting on the back of engine’s tailboard and seeing that fire and knowing that we were doing good. It was a sense of pride that I still have today,” the chief said.
He added, “We were more aggressive back then. We didn’t have all the safety equipment and health knowledge that we do now. We’d arrive, rush in, fight the fire and come out hacking and blowing soot out of our noses.”
The chief said in a college English class he took after he joined the department he had to write a descriptive paper. “Naturally, I wrote about the adrenalin and the rush and the pride of going to my first fire,” Vanderhoof said.
It certainly wasn’t about the pay — back then it was $325 a month, plus a $50 clothing allowance,now, starting pay is now $2,815 a month. Another way to look at it, the chief started at $1.35 an hour, compared to today’s rate of $11.73. When Vanderhoof started with the fire department, there were only 15 firefighters and now there are 65.
The chief had originally planned to retiree in May, but moved it up. “I love to fish and the crappie will be spawning soon and I want to be there,” he said.
“I’ve been here my whole life and now it’s just time for me. I’m 65 and want to enjoy whatever time I have left with my wife and family and fishing. My wife wants us to travel and we like antiquing and will do more of it,” the chief said.
He spent most of the week telling each fire shift about his decision.
Vanderhoof said the department would be in excellent hands.
“The people under me, the battalion chiefs, have all been trained to do my job and any one of them will do it well. It’s been a wonderful career, but now it’s time do something different.” the chief said.
Vanderhoof is proud of his 15 years at the helm of the department. “The key is to have a vision, then planning comes into place. Does it happen overnight, no, but it does get done.”
He cited as an example the recently opened state-of-the-art public safety training facility off Marshall Road.
“I first envisioned that in 2000, and it’s taken 13 years to come to fruition. At first we looked at land across from Fire Station No. 1 (on Redmond Road), then the old sewer plant, before getting land for it on the old Vertac site,” the chief explained.
He added that it took a lot of work and the support of the people to get it done.
In his career the chief has done everything from hoseman to engineer to cook to CPR and mouth-to-mouth. He has no idea how many lives he’s saved. “You didn’t think about that, you just did the job the best you could.”
About the cooking — he was the chief cook on his shift for a number of years. “They just liked my cooking. Nothing fancy. If I had my choice it would be beans, fried ‘tators and corn bread,” he said.
The roles are reversed at home. “I like to cook, and do sometimes, but mostly my wife cooks, and I clean up. We make a pretty good team.”
Vanderhoof has outlasted three mayors, working on his fourth. When the chief started in 1970, it was Mayor John Harden welcoming him to the fold. He was promoted to driver in 1976 and received a $15 pay raise, going from $700 a month to $715. A little over a year later he became captain and was shaking hands with Mayor James Reid. When Vanderhoof became shift commander, now called battalion chief, in 1993, Tommy Swaim was mayor, and it’ll be Mayor Gary Fletcher signing off on the chief’s retirement paperwork.
“My wife retired a year ago and she’s ready to travel. We’ll probably visit out west and into New England, but only when I’m not fishing or visiting the stations,” the chief said.
He doesn’t look upon his departure as retiring. “I’m having the privilege of joining the elites — those chiefs and great firefighters that have retired before me. They live on in the firefighters’ memories and we look back at what they have done to help create this great fire department of ours.”
Speaking of memories, the chief took a look back in the departments’ logs, which date back to the end of World War II, and looked up the November day he was born in 1947. “And there it is, my dad’s name with a notice by the chief that he was out for family illness; that was me being born.”
For the chief, 2012 was a tough year that may have hastened his retirement. He lost an on-duty firefighter — the first for the department — when a driver purposely swerved to hit first responders working an accident. He also had to deal with the smoke inhalation death of a mom and her four children. Both incidents happened in March.
“But it was also the year that we achieved a Class 2 fire rating. That took a lot of effort and a number of years to achieve.”
What will the chief not miss?
Probably the paperwork work. “The job is essential the same, but the paperwork is now massive. When I first started it was a ledger with the names of who was on duty and what fires occurred.”
Fletcher said Vanderhoof is a visionary. “He had and has great ideas for the department and city. He will leave a legacy.”
Fletcher went on to say that “Vanderhoof did not just fill the position of chief, but lived and expanded it. He will be hard to replace. He has a great, strong work ethic that he has passed on to the department and to his family. Our 911 director, Tabby Hughes, is his daughter and she has that same work ethic.”
The mayor added that Vanderhoof has had a positive, dramatic impact on the department.
Leader staff writer
Chief John Vanderhoof will say goodbye to the Jacksonville Fire Department next Friday after being there most of his life.
The chief will leave just shy of 43 years of service and the last 15 as the chief. The official record says 42 years and 10 months; the chief says it has been for a lifetime.
“Even before I was officially with the fire department, I was always at the fire department with my dad. My dad worked his way up to assistant fire chief and was with it when it was an ordnance plant fire department and then stayed when the city took over,” the chief said.
“I spent a lot of days and nights here as a youngster and teen,” he added. “I usually spent Saturday night at the station and then came home Sunday with my dad in time for church and then fried chicken.”
The chief joined the department as a firefighter on May 15, 1970, after joining the Marine Corps.
Vanderhoof really had no plans to be a firefighter. “I did a stint in the Marines, got out in February and was still looking for something to do.”
“I actually had an interview that day with Remington. They were just started up. But a few days earlier I stopped by the station and asked Chief (Wayman) Schmitt and Wilbur Smart what it would take to be a firefighter. They said show up here instead of Remington on the 15th, and that’s what I did.”
City records show him as a temporary firefighter for one month, before he took and passed the civil service test.
It didn’t take long for the future chief to figure out what his dad had known — that firefighter was not a job, not a career, but a lifestyle.
During his almost 43-year stint, he never took a sick day. “Were there days I was sick? Yes, and I had to be literally carried onto the truck.”
He recalls one day Chief Smart made him go home. “I had the mumps, but I made that day up later,” Venderhoof said.
“Back then, there was nothing like getting on the back of engine’s tailboard and seeing that fire and knowing that we were doing good. It was a sense of pride that I still have today,” the chief said.
He added, “We were more aggressive back then. We didn’t have all the safety equipment and health knowledge that we do now. We’d arrive, rush in, fight the fire and come out hacking and blowing soot out of our noses.”
The chief said in a college English class he took after he joined the department he had to write a descriptive paper. “Naturally, I wrote about the adrenalin and the rush and the pride of going to my first fire,” Vanderhoof said.
It certainly wasn’t about the pay — back then it was $325 a month, plus a $50 clothing allowance,now, starting pay is now $2,815 a month. Another way to look at it, the chief started at $1.35 an hour, compared to today’s rate of $11.73. When Vanderhoof started with the fire department, there were only 15 firefighters and now there are 65.
The chief had originally planned to retiree in May, but moved it up. “I love to fish and the crappie will be spawning soon and I want to be there,” he said.
“I’ve been here my whole life and now it’s just time for me. I’m 65 and want to enjoy whatever time I have left with my wife and family and fishing. My wife wants us to travel and we like antiquing and will do more of it,” the chief said.
He spent most of the week telling each fire shift about his decision.
Vanderhoof said the department would be in excellent hands.
“The people under me, the battalion chiefs, have all been trained to do my job and any one of them will do it well. It’s been a wonderful career, but now it’s time do something different.” the chief said.
Vanderhoof is proud of his 15 years at the helm of the department. “The key is to have a vision, then planning comes into place. Does it happen overnight, no, but it does get done.”
He cited as an example the recently opened state-of-the-art public safety training facility off Marshall Road.
“I first envisioned that in 2000, and it’s taken 13 years to come to fruition. At first we looked at land across from Fire Station No. 1 (on Redmond Road), then the old sewer plant, before getting land for it on the old Vertac site,” the chief explained.
He added that it took a lot of work and the support of the people to get it done.
In his career the chief has done everything from hoseman to engineer to cook to CPR and mouth-to-mouth. He has no idea how many lives he’s saved. “You didn’t think about that, you just did the job the best you could.”
About the cooking — he was the chief cook on his shift for a number of years. “They just liked my cooking. Nothing fancy. If I had my choice it would be beans, fried ‘tators and corn bread,” he said.
The roles are reversed at home. “I like to cook, and do sometimes, but mostly my wife cooks, and I clean up. We make a pretty good team.”
Vanderhoof has outlasted three mayors, working on his fourth. When the chief started in 1970, it was Mayor John Harden welcoming him to the fold. He was promoted to driver in 1976 and received a $15 pay raise, going from $700 a month to $715. A little over a year later he became captain and was shaking hands with Mayor James Reid. When Vanderhoof became shift commander, now called battalion chief, in 1993, Tommy Swaim was mayor, and it’ll be Mayor Gary Fletcher signing off on the chief’s retirement paperwork.
“My wife retired a year ago and she’s ready to travel. We’ll probably visit out west and into New England, but only when I’m not fishing or visiting the stations,” the chief said.
He doesn’t look upon his departure as retiring. “I’m having the privilege of joining the elites — those chiefs and great firefighters that have retired before me. They live on in the firefighters’ memories and we look back at what they have done to help create this great fire department of ours.”
Speaking of memories, the chief took a look back in the departments’ logs, which date back to the end of World War II, and looked up the November day he was born in 1947. “And there it is, my dad’s name with a notice by the chief that he was out for family illness; that was me being born.”
For the chief, 2012 was a tough year that may have hastened his retirement. He lost an on-duty firefighter — the first for the department — when a driver purposely swerved to hit first responders working an accident. He also had to deal with the smoke inhalation death of a mom and her four children. Both incidents happened in March.
“But it was also the year that we achieved a Class 2 fire rating. That took a lot of effort and a number of years to achieve.”
What will the chief not miss?
Probably the paperwork work. “The job is essential the same, but the paperwork is now massive. When I first started it was a ledger with the names of who was on duty and what fires occurred.”
Fletcher said Vanderhoof is a visionary. “He had and has great ideas for the department and city. He will leave a legacy.”
Fletcher went on to say that “Vanderhoof did not just fill the position of chief, but lived and expanded it. He will be hard to replace. He has a great, strong work ethic that he has passed on to the department and to his family. Our 911 director, Tabby Hughes, is his daughter and she has that same work ethic.”
The mayor added that Vanderhoof has had a positive, dramatic impact on the department.
TOP STORY >> Tailor Medicaid to fit Arkansas, legislators say
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Thirty-five percent of Arkansans are poor enough to qualify for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and that’s just “unacceptable,” according to House Speaker Davy Carter (R-Cabot).
But that doesn’t necessarily mean that going whole hog on Medicaid expansion is the best idea, Carter told The Leader on Friday.
“We’ve got to work a lot harder to get that number to where people are able to ...have more success and prosperity and live better lives,” he said.
Carter and state Sen. Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe), who joined Carter in the interview, agreed that as Republicans, they were not supportive of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. But since it became law and has been upheld by the Supreme Court, they say they want to see how the law can be best tailored to suit Arkansans.
Carter said that by reading between the lines, it appears that there is flexibility in implementation.
Through Gov. Mike Beebe, that question has been posed to Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the Health and Human Services Department.
IMPORTANT DECISION
“This is probably the most important decision that any General Assembly has made for a long time,” Carter said. “I mean for the next 10, 20, 30 years of our state’s future — if we get this wrong...well, we can’t get this wrong.”
Toward that end, the General Assembly is about to contract with an independent auditing firm to try to nail down numbers — the numbers of new Medicaid recipients and the cost over time to the state of providing Medicaid under the new rules.
Many legislators are not comfortable with numbers they are getting from the Congressional Budget Office nor from the state Department of Human Services.
1.6 MILLION QUALIFY
Currently, about 208,000 Arkansans receive Medicaid, but under the president’s plan that number could grow by a factor of eight to 1.6 million, Carter said.
The cost of Medicaid expansion would be nothing for the first three years, but by the end of 10 years, Arkansas would be paying 10 percent, the federal government the balance. Currently, Arkansas pays 30 percent of the costs of the 208,000 recipients.
In the first full year of expansion, the new Medicaid would cost the state $1 billion a year, according to Dismang.
“We need to make sure we are looking at the long-term,” he said. “We need to have agreed-to numbers.”
OTHER OPTIONS
If the state doesn’t participate in Medicaid expansion, families earning 100 percent to 138 percent of the poverty level would still qualify for a Medicaid subsidy that would cap their monthly premium at $14 to $26.
By way of example, a family of three earning $32,040 a year would qualify for the subsidy. Carter said that subsidy disappears if the state approves the Medicaid expansion.
Carter said that somewhere in the debate, legislators get down to the question of whether they keep spending on Medicaid, or whether they spend more money on education and better tax policy to create more jobs and opportunities.
BIG STEEL DEBATE
Medicaid expansion is not the only big issue Carter and Dismang say needs review by an independent auditor. They cite the proposed $125 billion state subsidy in support of the the Big River Steel Mill at Osceola (Mississippi County).
“I’m optimistic about it,” Carter said. “We haven’t seen the economic analysis from the (Arkansas Industrial Development Commission) yet. When we get that analysis, we’ll do due diligence.
The proposal includes a $75 million construction grant from the state and a $50 million loan.
Barring discovery of a red flag, both Carter and Dismang say it seems like a good thing, and highly recommended by AIDC.
While a large number of bills have been filed this session, there hasn’t been much action. Dismang said each session develops its own rhythm.
Leader senior staff writer
Thirty-five percent of Arkansans are poor enough to qualify for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and that’s just “unacceptable,” according to House Speaker Davy Carter (R-Cabot).
But that doesn’t necessarily mean that going whole hog on Medicaid expansion is the best idea, Carter told The Leader on Friday.
“We’ve got to work a lot harder to get that number to where people are able to ...have more success and prosperity and live better lives,” he said.
Carter and state Sen. Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe), who joined Carter in the interview, agreed that as Republicans, they were not supportive of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. But since it became law and has been upheld by the Supreme Court, they say they want to see how the law can be best tailored to suit Arkansans.
Carter said that by reading between the lines, it appears that there is flexibility in implementation.
Through Gov. Mike Beebe, that question has been posed to Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the Health and Human Services Department.
IMPORTANT DECISION
“This is probably the most important decision that any General Assembly has made for a long time,” Carter said. “I mean for the next 10, 20, 30 years of our state’s future — if we get this wrong...well, we can’t get this wrong.”
Toward that end, the General Assembly is about to contract with an independent auditing firm to try to nail down numbers — the numbers of new Medicaid recipients and the cost over time to the state of providing Medicaid under the new rules.
Many legislators are not comfortable with numbers they are getting from the Congressional Budget Office nor from the state Department of Human Services.
1.6 MILLION QUALIFY
Currently, about 208,000 Arkansans receive Medicaid, but under the president’s plan that number could grow by a factor of eight to 1.6 million, Carter said.
The cost of Medicaid expansion would be nothing for the first three years, but by the end of 10 years, Arkansas would be paying 10 percent, the federal government the balance. Currently, Arkansas pays 30 percent of the costs of the 208,000 recipients.
In the first full year of expansion, the new Medicaid would cost the state $1 billion a year, according to Dismang.
“We need to make sure we are looking at the long-term,” he said. “We need to have agreed-to numbers.”
OTHER OPTIONS
If the state doesn’t participate in Medicaid expansion, families earning 100 percent to 138 percent of the poverty level would still qualify for a Medicaid subsidy that would cap their monthly premium at $14 to $26.
By way of example, a family of three earning $32,040 a year would qualify for the subsidy. Carter said that subsidy disappears if the state approves the Medicaid expansion.
Carter said that somewhere in the debate, legislators get down to the question of whether they keep spending on Medicaid, or whether they spend more money on education and better tax policy to create more jobs and opportunities.
BIG STEEL DEBATE
Medicaid expansion is not the only big issue Carter and Dismang say needs review by an independent auditor. They cite the proposed $125 billion state subsidy in support of the the Big River Steel Mill at Osceola (Mississippi County).
“I’m optimistic about it,” Carter said. “We haven’t seen the economic analysis from the (Arkansas Industrial Development Commission) yet. When we get that analysis, we’ll do due diligence.
The proposal includes a $75 million construction grant from the state and a $50 million loan.
Barring discovery of a red flag, both Carter and Dismang say it seems like a good thing, and highly recommended by AIDC.
While a large number of bills have been filed this session, there hasn’t been much action. Dismang said each session develops its own rhythm.
SPORTS STORY >> North girls playing for league title
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Revenge was both sweet and productive for Cabot North as the junior Lady Panthers avenged a pair of regular-season losses to Conway White with a 39-32 victory in the semifinal round of the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference tournament at Panther Pavilion on Thursday.
The Lady Panthers (18-5) will take on Conway Blue in the championship game today at noon at Panther Arena.
It was the third matchup between the two teams, as the Lady Wampus Cats came into the game with the confidence of two prior wins, but could not find a handle on defending dynamic North guard CoCo Calhoun. Calhoun dominated both offensively and defensively with a game-high 16 points, along with a number of key steals and defensive rebounds that made the biggest difference in the game, particularly in the second half.
“We’ve been playing team basketball since the beginning of the year,” North coach Jeremy Halbrook said. “Since the first of the year, we’re 10-1 now. The way we’ve been executing, playing team ball, I couldn’t be any happier. Yesterday, when we found out we were playing Conway White, I told the girls that’s who I wanted to play, because they’re the only team we have not beat on our schedule this year. It’s nice to get a little revenge. I’m very proud of the girls.”
North and Conway Blue were co-conference champs during the regular season, making today’s final a true winner-take-all matchup.
The Lady Wampus Cats rushed out to an early 6-0 lead before Cabot came back on the strength of Calhoun, who made two free throws and a three-point basket to close the gap to one by the 2:02 mark of the first quarter.
The two teams battled to a 20-20 tie at the half before White took a 23-20 lead to open the second half. Calhoun responded for the Lady Panthers with three-consecutive baskets to hand the lead back to Cabot at 26-23 by the 3:42 mark.
“She’s been a good leader this year,” Halbrook said of Calhoun. “Her work ethic is real good. She’ll probably be a player that gets to move up at the end of our year and play with the high school. Overall this year, her competitiveness and will to win, it has made everyone else better.”
Lily Sinclair gave Cabot a late boost when she made a three-point basket with two minutes remaining to give the Lady Panthers a 34-30 lead. From there, North went 5 of 10 from the free-throw line and held Conway to a single basket.
While Calhoun is the undeniable breakout star of the team, Halbrook was quick to point out that North’s success has been a collaborative effort this season.
“My point guard, Rachel Allgood, she does an excellent job controlling the tempo,” Halbrook said. “We had a big three-point shot there by Lily Sinclair. In the last five games, Lily has stepped up. If she had played like this all year, we would probably be unbeatable. Maddie Rice has done a really good job as well. She’s improved. At the beginning of the year, Maddie was timid with the ball, but she’s learned to relax and play. My post player Claire Eifling, she’s done her part.”
Eifling added nine points for the Lady Panthers while Sinclair finished with eight points. Allgood had four points for Cabot North.
CABOT SOUTH LADIES FALTER
It was a rubber match with big implications as Conway Blue pulled off a second-half comeback to down Cabot South 43-38 in the semifinal round of the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference tournament at Panther Pavilion on Thursday.
The two teams split their two regular-season conference games, but Conway (18-3) got the last word with a strong defensive performance in the second half.
The Lady Panthers dominated the first half and carried a 28-18 lead into the break, but the Lady Wampus Cats held their hosts to a single point in the third quarter and 10 points in the entire second half with an improved defensive strategy that denied South from getting into the paint for easy looks.
“We’ve been playing good defense, but we had to get on to them a little bit at halftime,” Conway Blue head coach Marlon Williams said. “Cabot is awesome. They’re a good team. We were just trying to keep them out of the lane. They’re really good at getting in the lane and getting easy buckets, and they will out work you any day. We just tried to make sure that we worked hard and boxed out and keep them off the boards, and that helped us in the end.”
Conway Blue will face Cabot South in the championship game today at noon at Panther Arena.
Heather Hill sent the Lady Panthers into the break with a 28-18 lead at the half when she drove in under the basket from the right side and scored just before the buzzer for her only points of the game. Anna Sullivan and Chloe Ban led Cabot North with 11 points each while Leighton Taylor and Sarah Davis each had five points for the Lady Panthers.
For Conway Blue, guard Alexis Tolefree led with 20 points while Futra Banks had 13 points.
Sullivan gave the Lady Panthers their largest lead of the game at the 5:16 mark of the third quarter when she hit the front end of a two-shot foul to make it 29-18, but Cabot South went scoreless for the remainder of the period. In that time, Conway Blue made up major ground primarily with a transition-based offense.
Banks cut the margin to 29-27 with a basket and free throw at the 3:14 mark, and tied the game at 29-29 with a bank shot inside with 2:55 left to play in the period. Banks wrapped up the frame by hitting the back end of a two-shot foul to give the Lady Cats their first lead of the game, 32-31, heading into the final quarter.
Ban finally ended the scoring drought for South when she scored on a putback with 4:25 left to play to cut Conway’s lead to 32-31, but Tolefree responded for the Lady Wampus Cats with a long-distance three pointer. Sullivan cut it back to one with a basket and free throw, but two more free throws from Tolefree made it 37-34, and an inside shot by Charlena Green made it a two-possession game.
Leader sportswriter
Revenge was both sweet and productive for Cabot North as the junior Lady Panthers avenged a pair of regular-season losses to Conway White with a 39-32 victory in the semifinal round of the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference tournament at Panther Pavilion on Thursday.
The Lady Panthers (18-5) will take on Conway Blue in the championship game today at noon at Panther Arena.
It was the third matchup between the two teams, as the Lady Wampus Cats came into the game with the confidence of two prior wins, but could not find a handle on defending dynamic North guard CoCo Calhoun. Calhoun dominated both offensively and defensively with a game-high 16 points, along with a number of key steals and defensive rebounds that made the biggest difference in the game, particularly in the second half.
“We’ve been playing team basketball since the beginning of the year,” North coach Jeremy Halbrook said. “Since the first of the year, we’re 10-1 now. The way we’ve been executing, playing team ball, I couldn’t be any happier. Yesterday, when we found out we were playing Conway White, I told the girls that’s who I wanted to play, because they’re the only team we have not beat on our schedule this year. It’s nice to get a little revenge. I’m very proud of the girls.”
North and Conway Blue were co-conference champs during the regular season, making today’s final a true winner-take-all matchup.
The Lady Wampus Cats rushed out to an early 6-0 lead before Cabot came back on the strength of Calhoun, who made two free throws and a three-point basket to close the gap to one by the 2:02 mark of the first quarter.
The two teams battled to a 20-20 tie at the half before White took a 23-20 lead to open the second half. Calhoun responded for the Lady Panthers with three-consecutive baskets to hand the lead back to Cabot at 26-23 by the 3:42 mark.
“She’s been a good leader this year,” Halbrook said of Calhoun. “Her work ethic is real good. She’ll probably be a player that gets to move up at the end of our year and play with the high school. Overall this year, her competitiveness and will to win, it has made everyone else better.”
Lily Sinclair gave Cabot a late boost when she made a three-point basket with two minutes remaining to give the Lady Panthers a 34-30 lead. From there, North went 5 of 10 from the free-throw line and held Conway to a single basket.
While Calhoun is the undeniable breakout star of the team, Halbrook was quick to point out that North’s success has been a collaborative effort this season.
“My point guard, Rachel Allgood, she does an excellent job controlling the tempo,” Halbrook said. “We had a big three-point shot there by Lily Sinclair. In the last five games, Lily has stepped up. If she had played like this all year, we would probably be unbeatable. Maddie Rice has done a really good job as well. She’s improved. At the beginning of the year, Maddie was timid with the ball, but she’s learned to relax and play. My post player Claire Eifling, she’s done her part.”
Eifling added nine points for the Lady Panthers while Sinclair finished with eight points. Allgood had four points for Cabot North.
CABOT SOUTH LADIES FALTER
It was a rubber match with big implications as Conway Blue pulled off a second-half comeback to down Cabot South 43-38 in the semifinal round of the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference tournament at Panther Pavilion on Thursday.
The two teams split their two regular-season conference games, but Conway (18-3) got the last word with a strong defensive performance in the second half.
The Lady Panthers dominated the first half and carried a 28-18 lead into the break, but the Lady Wampus Cats held their hosts to a single point in the third quarter and 10 points in the entire second half with an improved defensive strategy that denied South from getting into the paint for easy looks.
“We’ve been playing good defense, but we had to get on to them a little bit at halftime,” Conway Blue head coach Marlon Williams said. “Cabot is awesome. They’re a good team. We were just trying to keep them out of the lane. They’re really good at getting in the lane and getting easy buckets, and they will out work you any day. We just tried to make sure that we worked hard and boxed out and keep them off the boards, and that helped us in the end.”
Conway Blue will face Cabot South in the championship game today at noon at Panther Arena.
Heather Hill sent the Lady Panthers into the break with a 28-18 lead at the half when she drove in under the basket from the right side and scored just before the buzzer for her only points of the game. Anna Sullivan and Chloe Ban led Cabot North with 11 points each while Leighton Taylor and Sarah Davis each had five points for the Lady Panthers.
For Conway Blue, guard Alexis Tolefree led with 20 points while Futra Banks had 13 points.
Sullivan gave the Lady Panthers their largest lead of the game at the 5:16 mark of the third quarter when she hit the front end of a two-shot foul to make it 29-18, but Cabot South went scoreless for the remainder of the period. In that time, Conway Blue made up major ground primarily with a transition-based offense.
Banks cut the margin to 29-27 with a basket and free throw at the 3:14 mark, and tied the game at 29-29 with a bank shot inside with 2:55 left to play in the period. Banks wrapped up the frame by hitting the back end of a two-shot foul to give the Lady Cats their first lead of the game, 32-31, heading into the final quarter.
Ban finally ended the scoring drought for South when she scored on a putback with 4:25 left to play to cut Conway’s lead to 32-31, but Tolefree responded for the Lady Wampus Cats with a long-distance three pointer. Sullivan cut it back to one with a basket and free throw, but two more free throws from Tolefree made it 37-34, and an inside shot by Charlena Green made it a two-possession game.
SPORTS STORY >> Jackrabbit boys top Southside at district
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
NEWPORT – The Lonoke Jackrabbits get their rubber match with Pine Bluff Dollarway at 7:30 p.m. today in Newport. The Jackrabbits handled Southside-Batesville 68-49 in the semifinals of the 4A-2 district tournament without the help of head coach Dean Campbell, who was in Newport earlier in the day, but had to be taken home because of illness before the tournament games began.
Lonoke assistant coach Heath Swiney stood in as head coach while girls coach Nathan Morris sat in as assistant. Swiney was pleased with how the squad reacted to not having its head coach.
“I think the kids showed a lot of maturity to go out there and play hard like that with their head coach not on the bench like they’re used to,” Swiney said. “They played very good in spots. We didn’t rebound very well but the kids stepped up and made important shots at the right times and stayed in control.”
Southside briefly held a 3-1 lead in the first moments of the game, but Lonoke scored five straight and never trailed again. The lead was up to 15-8 by the end of the first quarter.
Darian Young hit a three to start the second quarter to give the Jackrabbits a double-digit lead, but the rest of the second period was even. The Southerners began to penetrate and dish effectively, creating several open layups.
Lonoke began to struggle with its half-court offense, relying on the outside shot and getting to the free-throw line. The lead was eight at 26-18 at halftime, but the Jackrabbits would pull things together in the second half.
Lonoke led 30-21 with five minutes left in the third quarter when it made its first big run. It appeared the game was about to become a blowout when the Jackrabbits went on a 7-1 run for a 37-22 lead with 3:40 left, but Southside answered with four quick points off two Lonoke turnovers.
The Jackrabbits’ owned turnovers increased when they increased the pace of the game, but the up-and-down action still benefited Lonoke much more than the rough and rugged Southerners. Southside tried on a couple of occasions to make it a very rough and physical game, but Lonoke did not get caught up in it.
After a scoring drought of nearly three minutes, Lonoke’s lead was down to 37-26 with a minute remaining in the third quarter.
Post player Reid McKenzie then scored four straight to push it back to 15. Southside added a free-throw to make it 41-27 by the start of the fourth quarter.
Lonoke opened the fourth with a 6-1 run to take a 47-28 lead. Southside answered with its final and best run of the game.
With 2:51 left in the game, Lonoke’s lead was down to 50-40, but the Southerners had little left in the tank. Instead of trying to run out the clock, like it had when Southside made its charge, Lonoke went back to pressure. The leg-weary Southerners couldn’t handle it.
The Jackrabbits had scored no more than 15 points in any quarter, but scored 16 in a period of a minute and 35 seconds to take a 66-45 lead with 55 seconds remaining. The highlights came at the 1:15 mark. Blake Mack got a steal and mid-court and converted an acrobatic layup while being fouled.
He missed the free throw, but stole the ball under the goal and flushed it home with 55 seconds remaining for Lonoke’s biggest lead. Southside scored the next four points, but Mack got one more dunk, this time in transition, to close the show with a bang.
Mack led the Jackrabbits with 22 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter. He also recorded five rebounds, five steals and four blocked shots. Point guard Jamel Rankin was the most consistent player throughout the game. He finished with 21 points and five steals and four assists. McKenzie came off the bench to score all 11 of his points in the second half, and grab a team-high seven rebounds.
Jake Henderson led the Southerners with 12 points while Taylor Ellis scored 10.
Lonoke and Dollarway split during the regular season with each team winning on the road.
Leader sports editor
NEWPORT – The Lonoke Jackrabbits get their rubber match with Pine Bluff Dollarway at 7:30 p.m. today in Newport. The Jackrabbits handled Southside-Batesville 68-49 in the semifinals of the 4A-2 district tournament without the help of head coach Dean Campbell, who was in Newport earlier in the day, but had to be taken home because of illness before the tournament games began.
Lonoke assistant coach Heath Swiney stood in as head coach while girls coach Nathan Morris sat in as assistant. Swiney was pleased with how the squad reacted to not having its head coach.
“I think the kids showed a lot of maturity to go out there and play hard like that with their head coach not on the bench like they’re used to,” Swiney said. “They played very good in spots. We didn’t rebound very well but the kids stepped up and made important shots at the right times and stayed in control.”
Southside briefly held a 3-1 lead in the first moments of the game, but Lonoke scored five straight and never trailed again. The lead was up to 15-8 by the end of the first quarter.
Darian Young hit a three to start the second quarter to give the Jackrabbits a double-digit lead, but the rest of the second period was even. The Southerners began to penetrate and dish effectively, creating several open layups.
Lonoke began to struggle with its half-court offense, relying on the outside shot and getting to the free-throw line. The lead was eight at 26-18 at halftime, but the Jackrabbits would pull things together in the second half.
Lonoke led 30-21 with five minutes left in the third quarter when it made its first big run. It appeared the game was about to become a blowout when the Jackrabbits went on a 7-1 run for a 37-22 lead with 3:40 left, but Southside answered with four quick points off two Lonoke turnovers.
The Jackrabbits’ owned turnovers increased when they increased the pace of the game, but the up-and-down action still benefited Lonoke much more than the rough and rugged Southerners. Southside tried on a couple of occasions to make it a very rough and physical game, but Lonoke did not get caught up in it.
After a scoring drought of nearly three minutes, Lonoke’s lead was down to 37-26 with a minute remaining in the third quarter.
Post player Reid McKenzie then scored four straight to push it back to 15. Southside added a free-throw to make it 41-27 by the start of the fourth quarter.
Lonoke opened the fourth with a 6-1 run to take a 47-28 lead. Southside answered with its final and best run of the game.
With 2:51 left in the game, Lonoke’s lead was down to 50-40, but the Southerners had little left in the tank. Instead of trying to run out the clock, like it had when Southside made its charge, Lonoke went back to pressure. The leg-weary Southerners couldn’t handle it.
The Jackrabbits had scored no more than 15 points in any quarter, but scored 16 in a period of a minute and 35 seconds to take a 66-45 lead with 55 seconds remaining. The highlights came at the 1:15 mark. Blake Mack got a steal and mid-court and converted an acrobatic layup while being fouled.
He missed the free throw, but stole the ball under the goal and flushed it home with 55 seconds remaining for Lonoke’s biggest lead. Southside scored the next four points, but Mack got one more dunk, this time in transition, to close the show with a bang.
Mack led the Jackrabbits with 22 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter. He also recorded five rebounds, five steals and four blocked shots. Point guard Jamel Rankin was the most consistent player throughout the game. He finished with 21 points and five steals and four assists. McKenzie came off the bench to score all 11 of his points in the second half, and grab a team-high seven rebounds.
Jake Henderson led the Southerners with 12 points while Taylor Ellis scored 10.
Lonoke and Dollarway split during the regular season with each team winning on the road.
SPORTS STORY >> Cabot bowling teams win both state championships
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Cabot High School brought home two state championships from the state bowling meet this week in Fort Smith. The boys won their second-consecutive state title while the girls brought home their third championships in the last five years.
The Cabot boys were the heavy favorites and did not disappoint. They had everyone back from last year’s championship team, and made an emphatic statement in the conference meet in the days leading up to state.
As a warning shot to the rest of the state, the Cabot boys broke the overall state record by more than 200 pins at conference, scoring 4854 and eclipsing the old mark of 4614. Each of the top five scorers at conference were Cabot bowlers. That set the tone for state.
The highest individual scorer for Cabot, Chris Brown, missed out on an individual medal, finishing fourth overall by two pins with a score of 716, but the Panthers still set the team record for a state meet, scoring 4790 and easily beating second-place Bentonville by 624 pins. That margin of victory is also a record for a state meet, beating the old one by 15 pins.
“The boys’ championship was no surprise,” Cabot coach Mike Nash said. “With everyone back from a state championship team, you expect to do well. It may have been a little bit of a surprise that they dominated the way they did, though.”
The top 16 scorers made All State and the list included four Cabot bowlers. Joining Brown on the All-State team were Kenny Pederson, Jace Jennings and Cayden Cook. Dylan Wilson finished one pin out of the top 16 with a 645 and Adrian Nicholas was 20th, making the Panthers the only team to put all six bowlers in the top 20 of 104 bowlers.
In the girls division, senior Shelby Smith tied a state record by becoming the second bowler in state history to win the individual championship three consecutive years. She didn’t score as high as last year’s state record performance, but the rest of the Lady Panthers stepped up in a big way to aid the title run.
“We talked about how important it was to start fast,” Nash said. “And the girls did that. Everyone except Shelby bowled their highest score in the first game. That put the pressure on everyone else to have to play catch up while we still had our best bowler yet to bowl her best game. That was really important for the girls to execute like that.”
Leader sports editor
Cabot High School brought home two state championships from the state bowling meet this week in Fort Smith. The boys won their second-consecutive state title while the girls brought home their third championships in the last five years.
The Cabot boys were the heavy favorites and did not disappoint. They had everyone back from last year’s championship team, and made an emphatic statement in the conference meet in the days leading up to state.
As a warning shot to the rest of the state, the Cabot boys broke the overall state record by more than 200 pins at conference, scoring 4854 and eclipsing the old mark of 4614. Each of the top five scorers at conference were Cabot bowlers. That set the tone for state.
The highest individual scorer for Cabot, Chris Brown, missed out on an individual medal, finishing fourth overall by two pins with a score of 716, but the Panthers still set the team record for a state meet, scoring 4790 and easily beating second-place Bentonville by 624 pins. That margin of victory is also a record for a state meet, beating the old one by 15 pins.
“The boys’ championship was no surprise,” Cabot coach Mike Nash said. “With everyone back from a state championship team, you expect to do well. It may have been a little bit of a surprise that they dominated the way they did, though.”
The top 16 scorers made All State and the list included four Cabot bowlers. Joining Brown on the All-State team were Kenny Pederson, Jace Jennings and Cayden Cook. Dylan Wilson finished one pin out of the top 16 with a 645 and Adrian Nicholas was 20th, making the Panthers the only team to put all six bowlers in the top 20 of 104 bowlers.
In the girls division, senior Shelby Smith tied a state record by becoming the second bowler in state history to win the individual championship three consecutive years. She didn’t score as high as last year’s state record performance, but the rest of the Lady Panthers stepped up in a big way to aid the title run.
“We talked about how important it was to start fast,” Nash said. “And the girls did that. Everyone except Shelby bowled their highest score in the first game. That put the pressure on everyone else to have to play catch up while we still had our best bowler yet to bowl her best game. That was really important for the girls to execute like that.”
SPORTS STORY >> Red Devils sweep Helena
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Jacksonville Red Devils and Lady Devils got easy wins on Tuesday, sweeping Helena-West Helena Central in a pair of 5A Central Conference games at the Devil’s Den. Five Red Devils scored in double figures in the boys 82-58 win. Despite the 24-point final margin, Jacksonville broke the mercy rule barrier by taking a 63-28 lead midway through the third quarter.
“We were a little sluggish to start, but that’s to be expected when you have unusual circumstances like we had,” Jacksonville assistant coach Jerry Wilson said. Wilson coached the game in the absence of head coach Vic Joyner, who missed to due to illness. “Plus Helena is very athletic. It takes a little while to get used to how athletic they are.”
Jacksonville led by just three points midway through the second quarter, but blew it open with a 43-11 run from late in the second quarter to midway through the third.
Justin McCleary led the way for Jacksonville with 16 points, including 13 in the second half. Aaron Smith scored 11 while Sergio Berkley, Brandon Brockman and Keith Charleston all scored 10 points for Jacksonville.
Senior post player Frederick Bedford led Central with 22 points while Anthony Lewis scored 14.
Jacksonville is now 11-1 in conference play and can wrap up the league’s No. 1 seed in the state tournament with a win in either of its final two games. It can secure an outright conference championship by winning both games or by McClellan losing either of its final two games. The four playoff spots are locked in the boys’ division. Jacksonville and McClellan are the likely top two seeds. Pulaski Academy entered last night’s game at Jacksonville a half game ahead of Mills for third place. The Comets, the only team to beat Jacksonville, still have to make up the Jan. 15 postponement at North Pulaski on Thursday. The Bruins won 44-35 at Mills on Jan. 25, and host the Comets to close the regular season next Friday.
The Lady Red Devils got practically no resistance in their 82-27 victory. Jacksonville led 29-4 after one quarter and 71-18 after three periods. Jessica Jackson led the way with 22 points. Merkela Bryles added 13, Tiffany Smith 12 and Shakyla Hill 11.
The ladies’ division is settled with two games to go. No matter what happens, Jacksonville will be the No. 1 seed, and will be outright champs with one more win. Little Rock Christian Academy is the two seed with Pulaski Academy third and Sylvan Hills fourth.
Leader sports editor
The Jacksonville Red Devils and Lady Devils got easy wins on Tuesday, sweeping Helena-West Helena Central in a pair of 5A Central Conference games at the Devil’s Den. Five Red Devils scored in double figures in the boys 82-58 win. Despite the 24-point final margin, Jacksonville broke the mercy rule barrier by taking a 63-28 lead midway through the third quarter.
“We were a little sluggish to start, but that’s to be expected when you have unusual circumstances like we had,” Jacksonville assistant coach Jerry Wilson said. Wilson coached the game in the absence of head coach Vic Joyner, who missed to due to illness. “Plus Helena is very athletic. It takes a little while to get used to how athletic they are.”
Jacksonville led by just three points midway through the second quarter, but blew it open with a 43-11 run from late in the second quarter to midway through the third.
Justin McCleary led the way for Jacksonville with 16 points, including 13 in the second half. Aaron Smith scored 11 while Sergio Berkley, Brandon Brockman and Keith Charleston all scored 10 points for Jacksonville.
Senior post player Frederick Bedford led Central with 22 points while Anthony Lewis scored 14.
Jacksonville is now 11-1 in conference play and can wrap up the league’s No. 1 seed in the state tournament with a win in either of its final two games. It can secure an outright conference championship by winning both games or by McClellan losing either of its final two games. The four playoff spots are locked in the boys’ division. Jacksonville and McClellan are the likely top two seeds. Pulaski Academy entered last night’s game at Jacksonville a half game ahead of Mills for third place. The Comets, the only team to beat Jacksonville, still have to make up the Jan. 15 postponement at North Pulaski on Thursday. The Bruins won 44-35 at Mills on Jan. 25, and host the Comets to close the regular season next Friday.
The Lady Red Devils got practically no resistance in their 82-27 victory. Jacksonville led 29-4 after one quarter and 71-18 after three periods. Jessica Jackson led the way with 22 points. Merkela Bryles added 13, Tiffany Smith 12 and Shakyla Hill 11.
The ladies’ division is settled with two games to go. No matter what happens, Jacksonville will be the No. 1 seed, and will be outright champs with one more win. Little Rock Christian Academy is the two seed with Pulaski Academy third and Sylvan Hills fourth.
SPORTS STORY >> Badgers control 5A East title race
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The 5A-East Conference basketball landscape has changed and Beebe is the new architect – on both sides of the conference standings.
Tuesday night, the Beebe Badgers, who have been step-for-step with Forrest City all season long in conference play, took their biggest step of the season by holding off the Mustangs 61-55 at Mustang Arena.
The win gave Beebe sole possession of first place in the boys standings and dropped the Mustangs to second place. Each team has three games left to play.
Beebe would have to drop two of their final three games and Forrest City would have to win out for the Mustangs to have a shot at winning the outright league title. and the top seed into the Class 5A state tournament.
If the Badgers win out, the league title and No. 1 seed into state is theirs. A straight up tie for first place at the end would mean a co-championship, but it would give Beebe the No. 1 seed into the state tournament.
Forrest City’s Trey Thompson led all scorers with 29 points Tuesday, but beyond that the 6’9” junior forward had little to no help. Senior guard Terion Smith, off the bench, was the next high man for the Mustangs with eight points.
Forrest City’s remaining four starters contributed a total of 12 points. Thompson added eight rebounds to go along with his point total.
From the floor, the Mus-tangs connected on just 17 of their 44 shots and were 4 of 16 from the three-point arc.
Austin Burroughs led Beebe with 22 points, 13 of that in the first half, which included four three-pointers. Jake Schlenker added 11 points for the Badgers, while Tanner Chapman had nine and Zach Baker had eight.
Forrest City led 19-14 after one period, closing out the quarter with a 14-2 run.
Beebe used a pair of scoring runs in the second period – a 7-2 spurt after Forrest City tied the game at 23-23 – to lead 32-26 at the half. The Mustangs grabbed a 38-37 lead, but missed their next nine shots, and the Badgers scored the final seven points to regain a 44-38 cushion to start the fourth period.
“I thought that stretch, going 0 for 9, was the turning point in the game,” said Forrest City coach Dwight Lofton.
After cutting Beebe’s lead to four points in the first two minutes of the final frame, Beebe pushed the margin to 52-42 with less than two minutes to play. A rebound and putback by Dwain Whitfield got the Mustangs within three at 53-50 with a minute left. A Jared Gowan layup put Beebe’s lead at 57-50 with 44 seconds to play.
Still, the Mustangs refused to fold, getting within four points at 59-55 with five seconds left, after a Thompson three. Chapman hit two free throws to ice the game for the Badgers, who hit 9 of 11 free throws in the fourth.
SENIOR GIRLS
Kalela Miller and Jamie Jackson combined to score 58 points Tuesday night to lead the Beebe Lady Badgers past Forrest City’s Lady Mustangs 81-66 at Mustang Arena.
The win keeps the Lady Badgers unbeaten in the 5A-East Conference at 11-0 and clinches a class 5A state tournament berth, with three games remaining.
Forrest City drops to 3-8 in the East and into sixth place with three games left to play.
Miller led with 34 points (11 points in the first and fourth periods and 13 in the second period) while Jackson added 24 points – 11 of that in the fourth.
The two teams battled to a 15-15 tie to end the first period before Beebe took a 10-point lead into halftime. Forrest City got within four at 49-45 late in the third period on a long two by Mary Burks. The Lady Mustangs were within six points with 4:37 to play in the game, before Beebe used a 20-to-11 run to close out the game.
Burks and Jakayla Burke led Forrest City with 15 points while Dominique Dillard and Nikima Chatters had 12 each and Jabrisha Hawkins had 10.
Leader sportswriter
The 5A-East Conference basketball landscape has changed and Beebe is the new architect – on both sides of the conference standings.
Tuesday night, the Beebe Badgers, who have been step-for-step with Forrest City all season long in conference play, took their biggest step of the season by holding off the Mustangs 61-55 at Mustang Arena.
The win gave Beebe sole possession of first place in the boys standings and dropped the Mustangs to second place. Each team has three games left to play.
Beebe would have to drop two of their final three games and Forrest City would have to win out for the Mustangs to have a shot at winning the outright league title. and the top seed into the Class 5A state tournament.
If the Badgers win out, the league title and No. 1 seed into state is theirs. A straight up tie for first place at the end would mean a co-championship, but it would give Beebe the No. 1 seed into the state tournament.
Forrest City’s Trey Thompson led all scorers with 29 points Tuesday, but beyond that the 6’9” junior forward had little to no help. Senior guard Terion Smith, off the bench, was the next high man for the Mustangs with eight points.
Forrest City’s remaining four starters contributed a total of 12 points. Thompson added eight rebounds to go along with his point total.
From the floor, the Mus-tangs connected on just 17 of their 44 shots and were 4 of 16 from the three-point arc.
Austin Burroughs led Beebe with 22 points, 13 of that in the first half, which included four three-pointers. Jake Schlenker added 11 points for the Badgers, while Tanner Chapman had nine and Zach Baker had eight.
Forrest City led 19-14 after one period, closing out the quarter with a 14-2 run.
Beebe used a pair of scoring runs in the second period – a 7-2 spurt after Forrest City tied the game at 23-23 – to lead 32-26 at the half. The Mustangs grabbed a 38-37 lead, but missed their next nine shots, and the Badgers scored the final seven points to regain a 44-38 cushion to start the fourth period.
“I thought that stretch, going 0 for 9, was the turning point in the game,” said Forrest City coach Dwight Lofton.
After cutting Beebe’s lead to four points in the first two minutes of the final frame, Beebe pushed the margin to 52-42 with less than two minutes to play. A rebound and putback by Dwain Whitfield got the Mustangs within three at 53-50 with a minute left. A Jared Gowan layup put Beebe’s lead at 57-50 with 44 seconds to play.
Still, the Mustangs refused to fold, getting within four points at 59-55 with five seconds left, after a Thompson three. Chapman hit two free throws to ice the game for the Badgers, who hit 9 of 11 free throws in the fourth.
SENIOR GIRLS
Kalela Miller and Jamie Jackson combined to score 58 points Tuesday night to lead the Beebe Lady Badgers past Forrest City’s Lady Mustangs 81-66 at Mustang Arena.
The win keeps the Lady Badgers unbeaten in the 5A-East Conference at 11-0 and clinches a class 5A state tournament berth, with three games remaining.
Forrest City drops to 3-8 in the East and into sixth place with three games left to play.
Miller led with 34 points (11 points in the first and fourth periods and 13 in the second period) while Jackson added 24 points – 11 of that in the fourth.
The two teams battled to a 15-15 tie to end the first period before Beebe took a 10-point lead into halftime. Forrest City got within four at 49-45 late in the third period on a long two by Mary Burks. The Lady Mustangs were within six points with 4:37 to play in the game, before Beebe used a 20-to-11 run to close out the game.
Burks and Jakayla Burke led Forrest City with 15 points while Dominique Dillard and Nikima Chatters had 12 each and Jabrisha Hawkins had 10.
SPORTS STORY >> Panthers win third straight, defeat Central
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
The Cabot Panthers won their third straight 7A/6A East Conference game Tuesday with a lopsided 63-35 decision over Little Rock Central at Panther Arena.
The win avenged last month’s 49-47 loss to the Tigers at Central High School. Cabot has showed steady improvement since the beginning of the season, especially in the post. Junior 6-foot-4 post player Michael Smith played his best game as a Panther, scoring a career-high 25 points.
“They beat us at their place 49-47, and I thought we played OK then,” said head Panther Jerry Bridges. “We’re executing our stuff well and we’re getting good shots. Michael Smith, I’ve been seeing progress the past 10 days. He’s coming on and I’m really happy for him, but I just thought our team did a good job of working together and getting the good shot.”
A three pointer by Jake Ferguson 46 seconds into the game was the start of a 13-2 Cabot scoring run. At the end of the quarter, the Panthers led 18-8 before Smith scored on a rebound and putback to give the home team a 20-8 lead.
Cabot (10-12, 5-6) pushed its lead to 15 on an and-one play by Smith at the 5:15 mark of the second quarter, but Central (6-13, 3-8) responded with a 12-0 run to cut the Panther lead to 25-22. With 2:02 to play in the half, Ferguson ended Cabot’s scoreless streak with a baseline three, which sparked a 7-0 run to close the half. The Panthers led 32-22 at the break.
“We went through that one stretch where we got out of our nature,” Bridges said about Central’s second-quarter run. “We settled down and Jake Ferguson hit a big three for us that really helped us, and we got back to doing what we do.”
The Panthers committed half of their 12 turnovers during the Tigers’ run in the second quarter. Central also totaled 12 turnovers, but committed eight in the second half. At the start of the third quarter, Cabot pushed its lead to 16 as Smith scored the first six points of the second half from his post position.
Smith was a perfect 4 for 4 from the field in the third, scoring eight of the Panthers’ 19 points in the period. Central scored seven points in the period on three field goals, and at the end of three, Cabot led by a comfortable 51-29 margin.
“When I realized I had already put 13 points up in the first half I was like all right, well, let’s give me the ball and let’s score,” said Smith. “But, you know, it’s a team effort and that’s what really helped out. We lost by two at their place, but we knew that we wanted this win, because we want to get to state and that’s our team goal. Everybody is playing like a team and that’s what’s helping us.”
Like the previous quarter, Smith scored the first basket of the fourth, and made two free throws to give the Panthers a 55-29 lead before sitting the rest of the game. Cabot outscored Central 12-6 in the final quarter to set the final score.
Cabot dominated the paint through all four quarters, outrebounding Central 25-12. The Panthers made 13 of 17 free throws for 76 percent, and 4 of 10 three pointers for 40 percent. Central made 6 of 11 free throws for 55 percent, and 1 of 9 three pointers for an abysmal 11 percent.
Ferguson finished with eight points. Kyle Theilemier added six, and Bryan Shrum, Clayton Vaught and Nick Thomas each scored five points for Cabot. Kyle Nelson led Central with nine points.
The Panthers continued 7A/6A East play against West Memphis yesterday at home after deadlines, and will travel to No. 2 Jonesboro on Tuesday.
Leader sportswriter
The Cabot Panthers won their third straight 7A/6A East Conference game Tuesday with a lopsided 63-35 decision over Little Rock Central at Panther Arena.
The win avenged last month’s 49-47 loss to the Tigers at Central High School. Cabot has showed steady improvement since the beginning of the season, especially in the post. Junior 6-foot-4 post player Michael Smith played his best game as a Panther, scoring a career-high 25 points.
“They beat us at their place 49-47, and I thought we played OK then,” said head Panther Jerry Bridges. “We’re executing our stuff well and we’re getting good shots. Michael Smith, I’ve been seeing progress the past 10 days. He’s coming on and I’m really happy for him, but I just thought our team did a good job of working together and getting the good shot.”
A three pointer by Jake Ferguson 46 seconds into the game was the start of a 13-2 Cabot scoring run. At the end of the quarter, the Panthers led 18-8 before Smith scored on a rebound and putback to give the home team a 20-8 lead.
Cabot (10-12, 5-6) pushed its lead to 15 on an and-one play by Smith at the 5:15 mark of the second quarter, but Central (6-13, 3-8) responded with a 12-0 run to cut the Panther lead to 25-22. With 2:02 to play in the half, Ferguson ended Cabot’s scoreless streak with a baseline three, which sparked a 7-0 run to close the half. The Panthers led 32-22 at the break.
“We went through that one stretch where we got out of our nature,” Bridges said about Central’s second-quarter run. “We settled down and Jake Ferguson hit a big three for us that really helped us, and we got back to doing what we do.”
The Panthers committed half of their 12 turnovers during the Tigers’ run in the second quarter. Central also totaled 12 turnovers, but committed eight in the second half. At the start of the third quarter, Cabot pushed its lead to 16 as Smith scored the first six points of the second half from his post position.
Smith was a perfect 4 for 4 from the field in the third, scoring eight of the Panthers’ 19 points in the period. Central scored seven points in the period on three field goals, and at the end of three, Cabot led by a comfortable 51-29 margin.
“When I realized I had already put 13 points up in the first half I was like all right, well, let’s give me the ball and let’s score,” said Smith. “But, you know, it’s a team effort and that’s what really helped out. We lost by two at their place, but we knew that we wanted this win, because we want to get to state and that’s our team goal. Everybody is playing like a team and that’s what’s helping us.”
Like the previous quarter, Smith scored the first basket of the fourth, and made two free throws to give the Panthers a 55-29 lead before sitting the rest of the game. Cabot outscored Central 12-6 in the final quarter to set the final score.
Cabot dominated the paint through all four quarters, outrebounding Central 25-12. The Panthers made 13 of 17 free throws for 76 percent, and 4 of 10 three pointers for 40 percent. Central made 6 of 11 free throws for 55 percent, and 1 of 9 three pointers for an abysmal 11 percent.
Ferguson finished with eight points. Kyle Theilemier added six, and Bryan Shrum, Clayton Vaught and Nick Thomas each scored five points for Cabot. Kyle Nelson led Central with nine points.
The Panthers continued 7A/6A East play against West Memphis yesterday at home after deadlines, and will travel to No. 2 Jonesboro on Tuesday.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
EVENTS >> 2-13-2013
LONOKE COUNTY LITERACY COUNCIL SEEKS STUDENTS
The Literacy Council of Lonoke County is now offering spring semester classes at its Cabot office, 114 N. First St., suite E inside the Cabot Mini-Mall.
Americans or foreign-born residents who would like to learn to read English better should register by calling 501-843-7323.
Classes and materials are free.
“Illiteracy fuels unemployment and poverty. Over 45 percent of prison inmates do not have a high school diploma. It is estimated that 20 percent of Arkansans read below the level considered necessary to deal with current societal reading issues,” according to a news release from the Literacy Council of Lonoke County. The group also needs volunteers to work as tutors and in its bookstore. Call 501-843-7323 for details.
WOODLAWN COMMUNITY CENTER BENEFIT SUPPER
The Woodlawn Community Center will have a cornbread, bean and fried-potato supper at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16 as a fundraiser for the Woodlawn Extension Homemakers Club.
Tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for kids under 10 years old.
The Woodlawn Community Center’s seniors will provide desserts. The center is at Hwy. 31 north.
For more information, call 501-676-3695.
FATHER-DAUGHTER DANCE IS FEB. 15
The Jacksonville Sertoma Club’s third annual Father-Daughter Banquet will be held at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15 at the Jacksonville Community Center.
It is an evening for dads and their daughters to spend time together with dinner, dessert and dancing. The event is not limited to fathers though. Girls can bring their grandfathers, uncles or male role models. Men dress in suits or slacks and a nice tie and daughters will be in glamorous formal wear.
Daughters will receive tiaras and will have their pictures taken with their dads. A silent auction will also be held.
The event encourages youngsters, teens and adults to spend the evening with their dads.
Tickets are $35 for a father and one daughter, $45 for a father and two daughters and $50 for a father and three or more daughters.
Tickets are available by calling Mary Twitty at 501- 912-9422 or Valarie Perry at 501-529-3685.
Jacksonville Sertoma provides hearing aids and financial assistance for people of all ages, from elementary school students to adults.
MISS GREATER JACKSONVILLE PAGEANT ON FEB. 23
The Miss Greater Jacksonville Scholarship Pageant and the Miss Greater Jacksonville’s Outstanding Teen Pageant will be held Feb. 23 at the Jacksonville Community Center. The pageants are preliminary competitions for the Miss Arkansas and Miss Arkansas Outstanding Teen Pageants to be held in Hot Springs in July.
Participants must be residents, students or full-time employees of Faulkner, Grant, Lonoke, Jefferson, Perry, Pulaski or Saline counties for at least the last six months.
Miss Greater Jacksonville contestants must be 17 to 24 years old. Entry forms can be found online at www.missarkansas.org and at www.missamericaforkids.org. Outstanding Teen contestants must be between 12 and 17 years old. Entry forms can be found online at www.missarkansasot.org.
The pageants will be held on the same day as the Miss Greater Jacksonville Junior Pageant. The contestants will compete in beauty, with optional talent and photogenic portions. Junior age groups are baby miss for 18 months and under, toddler miss for 19-35 months, wee miss for 3 to 4 year olds, tiny miss for 5 to 6 year olds, little miss for 7 to 9 year olds and petite miss for 10 to 12 year olds.
Contact Sharon Boyd for entry forms by calling 501-982-3898 or e-mailing sharonsbdng@aol.com. Feb. 15 is the deadline.
CARE CHANNEL ALTERS THRIFT STORE'S HOURS
The Jacksonville Care Channel thrift shop will be open from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and the first Saturday of the month. The store is at 201 N. Elm St.
For more information, call 501-982-4647.
SOUTH BEND UMC SPAGHETTI SUPPER ON FEB. 23
South Bend United Methodist Church will hold a spaghetti supper from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23 as a fundraiser for its JAM (Jesus and Me) youth group. Tickets are $5 and also includes bread, salad, dessert and a drink.
The church is at Hwy. 294 at Shelton Road.
BEEBE TO SPEAK AT SHELTER DINNER
Gov. Mike Beebe will be the keynote speaker when Cabot’s Open Arms Shelter holds its first Child Abuse Awareness Banquet and silent auction at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 4.
KARK anchorman Bob Claussen will emcee the event and Sondra Burnett, a Southern Gospel songwriter and singer, will perform.
Dinner sponsors are being sought. Sponsors who donate $500 will have the company’s logo displayed continuously on a video screen throughout the event, their company logo displayed on a company table placard and the company’s logo will be printed in the program. Included are eight tickets to the dinner and auction.
Table sponsors will have their company name displayed at the table on a placards and eight tickets to the dinner.
Individual tickets are $25.
Those who attend will receive a blue lapel ribbon to wear during April, National Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month.
To become a sponsor or for ticket information, contact Executive Director Nancy Hamlin at oashamlin@sbcglobal.net or call (501) 676-6166, Rhonda Harps at fourharps@hotmail.com or call (501) 690-3916, or Rhonda House at rhondahouse73@gmail.com or call (501) 843-9460 or (501) 259-0509.
E-READER CLASS FEB. 22 AT WARD PUBLIC LIBRARY
The Ward Public Library will have an e-book lunch and learn on Friday, Feb. 22. Participants should bring their e-readers. The library will provide lunch. It is at 205 Hickory, Suite 100. Call 501-941-3220 to make a reservation.
JACKSONVILLE AARP DRIVERS-SAFETY CLASS FEB. 20
An AARP Driver Safety Class will be held at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20 at St. Jude’s Catholic Church on MacArthur Drive in Jacksonville. The cost of the class is $12 for AARP members and $14 for nonmembers.
GOSPEL QUARTET WILL PERFORM IN WARD MARCH 7
Gold City, a Southern gospel quartet, will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 7 at First Landmark Missionary Baptist Church in Ward. There is no admission charge, but an offering will be collected.
For more information, call 501-843-3336.
The Literacy Council of Lonoke County is now offering spring semester classes at its Cabot office, 114 N. First St., suite E inside the Cabot Mini-Mall.
Americans or foreign-born residents who would like to learn to read English better should register by calling 501-843-7323.
Classes and materials are free.
“Illiteracy fuels unemployment and poverty. Over 45 percent of prison inmates do not have a high school diploma. It is estimated that 20 percent of Arkansans read below the level considered necessary to deal with current societal reading issues,” according to a news release from the Literacy Council of Lonoke County. The group also needs volunteers to work as tutors and in its bookstore. Call 501-843-7323 for details.
WOODLAWN COMMUNITY CENTER BENEFIT SUPPER
The Woodlawn Community Center will have a cornbread, bean and fried-potato supper at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16 as a fundraiser for the Woodlawn Extension Homemakers Club.
Tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for kids under 10 years old.
The Woodlawn Community Center’s seniors will provide desserts. The center is at Hwy. 31 north.
For more information, call 501-676-3695.
FATHER-DAUGHTER DANCE IS FEB. 15
The Jacksonville Sertoma Club’s third annual Father-Daughter Banquet will be held at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15 at the Jacksonville Community Center.
It is an evening for dads and their daughters to spend time together with dinner, dessert and dancing. The event is not limited to fathers though. Girls can bring their grandfathers, uncles or male role models. Men dress in suits or slacks and a nice tie and daughters will be in glamorous formal wear.
Daughters will receive tiaras and will have their pictures taken with their dads. A silent auction will also be held.
The event encourages youngsters, teens and adults to spend the evening with their dads.
Tickets are $35 for a father and one daughter, $45 for a father and two daughters and $50 for a father and three or more daughters.
Tickets are available by calling Mary Twitty at 501- 912-9422 or Valarie Perry at 501-529-3685.
Jacksonville Sertoma provides hearing aids and financial assistance for people of all ages, from elementary school students to adults.
MISS GREATER JACKSONVILLE PAGEANT ON FEB. 23
The Miss Greater Jacksonville Scholarship Pageant and the Miss Greater Jacksonville’s Outstanding Teen Pageant will be held Feb. 23 at the Jacksonville Community Center. The pageants are preliminary competitions for the Miss Arkansas and Miss Arkansas Outstanding Teen Pageants to be held in Hot Springs in July.
Participants must be residents, students or full-time employees of Faulkner, Grant, Lonoke, Jefferson, Perry, Pulaski or Saline counties for at least the last six months.
Miss Greater Jacksonville contestants must be 17 to 24 years old. Entry forms can be found online at www.missarkansas.org and at www.missamericaforkids.org. Outstanding Teen contestants must be between 12 and 17 years old. Entry forms can be found online at www.missarkansasot.org.
The pageants will be held on the same day as the Miss Greater Jacksonville Junior Pageant. The contestants will compete in beauty, with optional talent and photogenic portions. Junior age groups are baby miss for 18 months and under, toddler miss for 19-35 months, wee miss for 3 to 4 year olds, tiny miss for 5 to 6 year olds, little miss for 7 to 9 year olds and petite miss for 10 to 12 year olds.
Contact Sharon Boyd for entry forms by calling 501-982-3898 or e-mailing sharonsbdng@aol.com. Feb. 15 is the deadline.
CARE CHANNEL ALTERS THRIFT STORE'S HOURS
The Jacksonville Care Channel thrift shop will be open from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and the first Saturday of the month. The store is at 201 N. Elm St.
For more information, call 501-982-4647.
SOUTH BEND UMC SPAGHETTI SUPPER ON FEB. 23
South Bend United Methodist Church will hold a spaghetti supper from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23 as a fundraiser for its JAM (Jesus and Me) youth group. Tickets are $5 and also includes bread, salad, dessert and a drink.
The church is at Hwy. 294 at Shelton Road.
BEEBE TO SPEAK AT SHELTER DINNER
Gov. Mike Beebe will be the keynote speaker when Cabot’s Open Arms Shelter holds its first Child Abuse Awareness Banquet and silent auction at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 4.
KARK anchorman Bob Claussen will emcee the event and Sondra Burnett, a Southern Gospel songwriter and singer, will perform.
Dinner sponsors are being sought. Sponsors who donate $500 will have the company’s logo displayed continuously on a video screen throughout the event, their company logo displayed on a company table placard and the company’s logo will be printed in the program. Included are eight tickets to the dinner and auction.
Table sponsors will have their company name displayed at the table on a placards and eight tickets to the dinner.
Individual tickets are $25.
Those who attend will receive a blue lapel ribbon to wear during April, National Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month.
To become a sponsor or for ticket information, contact Executive Director Nancy Hamlin at oashamlin@sbcglobal.net or call (501) 676-6166, Rhonda Harps at fourharps@hotmail.com or call (501) 690-3916, or Rhonda House at rhondahouse73@gmail.com or call (501) 843-9460 or (501) 259-0509.
E-READER CLASS FEB. 22 AT WARD PUBLIC LIBRARY
The Ward Public Library will have an e-book lunch and learn on Friday, Feb. 22. Participants should bring their e-readers. The library will provide lunch. It is at 205 Hickory, Suite 100. Call 501-941-3220 to make a reservation.
JACKSONVILLE AARP DRIVERS-SAFETY CLASS FEB. 20
An AARP Driver Safety Class will be held at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20 at St. Jude’s Catholic Church on MacArthur Drive in Jacksonville. The cost of the class is $12 for AARP members and $14 for nonmembers.
GOSPEL QUARTET WILL PERFORM IN WARD MARCH 7
Gold City, a Southern gospel quartet, will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 7 at First Landmark Missionary Baptist Church in Ward. There is no admission charge, but an offering will be collected.
For more information, call 501-843-3336.
OBITUARIES >> 2-13-2013
BENJAMIN LeGROW
Silas Benjamin LeGrow, 90, of Jacksonville and Cabot passed away on Jan. 15 to his Lord and to those who went before him.
He was a retired Air Force chief master sergeant and a recipient of the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, a World War II veteran and a POW survivor of the Bataan Death March and of Japanese prison camps.
He was born on Aug. 12, 1922, to Benjamin and Mary Whalen LeGrow at Bauline, Newfoundland, Canada, a small fishing village on the Atlantic coast of the island.
Both parents passed away before he turned 7. He was adopted by his Aunt Florence. He immigrated to America, arriving in Vanceboro, Maine, on Aug. 28, 1929. He lived with his aunt in Tampa, Fla., where he grew up and went to school.
After finishing school, he went with his cousin to Toledo, Ohio, and wound up joining the Ohio National Guard in November 1940. He was assigned to Company C, 192nd Tank Battalion. After training at Fort Knox, Ky., and Fort Polk, La., the battalion was ordered to the Philippines by Gen. Patton.
They arrived in November 1941, only to be attacked by the Japanese on Dec. 8. They fought back for almost four months before their capture in April.
They were forced on the infamous Bataan Death March. Surviving the march, he suffered 39 months as a POW in Japanese prison camps in the Philippines, then on a hell ship and finally the camp at Hoten, Mukden, Manchuria, until being liberated by the Russians in August 1945.
He returned to the States and convalesced in the hospital for eight months before finally returned to Tampa. He married his sweetheart for life, Edna L. Lewis, of Tampa on Dec. 29, 1946. He became a U.S. citizen on Jan. 14, 1947.
They were later stationed at Fairchild Air Base in Spokane, Wash., Tachikawa Air Force Base in Japan and Ernest Harmon Air Force Base in Newfoundland, his birthplace, before returning stateside to Little Rock Air Force Base, where he worked at base supply as non-commissioned officer in charge. He retired from the Air Force after serving his country for 27 and a half years.
He settled in Jacksonville with his family of five sons. He went to work at Hollis and Co. in Little Rock for a short period, then at Great Plains Bag Co. in Jacksonville, where he would retire again. He was a lifetime member of VFW Post 4548 in Jacksonville. He was president of Jacksonville AARP for three years. He was also president and a lifetime member of Arkansas Retired Military Association in Jacksonville.
He loved serving his community and sharing with friends. He was a member of First United Methodist Church in Jacksonville and spent many Sundays and gatherings as a member of the chapel family at LRAFB.
He spoke with many about his experience as a POW, visiting schools and local groups.
He went on a very special trip to Russia with his wife, Edna, and other ex-POWs that was led by former Sen. Blanche Lincoln and UAMS staff to meet Russian World War II veterans and officials during Russia’s Veterans Day ceremonies and celebrations in 2002.
He loved working in his yard all day and his garden in the spring and summer and especially loved fishing with his sons at Greers Ferry Lake, the Little Red River and float trips on the White River.
He was preceded to Heaven by his parents, Benjamin and Mary Whalen LeGrow; his son, Michael Wayne LeGrow, at 12; brothers, Roland and Wilson, of Newfoundland; brother-in-laws, Frank and Randolph Lewis, of Tampa, and a sister-in-law, Ruth and her husband Lewis Davies of Cocoa, Fla. His living loved ones are his loving wife of 66 years, Edna; his son, Robert (Bob) LeGrow, who is an Army veteran and his wife Kay of Hernando, Miss.; a grandson, Brett LeGrow and his wife Jennifer; great grandchildren, Brooke and Blake; his son, Howard LeGrow, of Jacksonville amd Cabot, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam; his son David (Dave) LeGrow, an Air Force veteran, and his wife Kathy of West Plains, Mo.; a grandson, Aaron, of San Diego, Calif., and his son Kenneth (Ken) LeGrow of Jacksonville and Cabot; his sister, Anita (Nita) Gaulton and family of Stephensville, Newfoundland; his cousin, Miriam Engelbrecht, of St. Johns, Newfoundland; a sister-in-law, Martha and her husband Lewis Schulteis and her husband Ed of Kansas City; a brother-in-law, George Lewis and wife Stella of Cocoa, Fla., and his many nieces and nephews and many great friends, especially Monroe and Ola Flucas and neighbors Ron and Jeanette Quisenberry.
Memorials may be made to the LRAFB Chapel or a charity in his name. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 15 at Roller-Owens Funeral Home Chapel in North Little Rock.
Interment will follow at Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery.
A fellowship gathering will be held after the services at the Jacksonville VFW.
CHERYL OUZTS
Cheryl Kay Ouzts, 58, of Lonoke passed away Feb. 9 at her home. She was born June 9, 1954.
Survived by her husband, Larry Ouzts; one son, John Bright, of Sacramento, Calif.; two stepdaughters, Tonya Ouzts and Sarah Ouzts, both of Cabot, one grandchild and five step grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at a later date.
Cremation arrangements are by Thomas Funeral Service in Cabot.
THEODORE HINES
Theodore Edward Hines, 94, of McRae went home to be with his Lord and Savior surrounded by his family on Feb. 8.
He was born Jan. 19, 1919, at Fox. He was a member of the Pentecostal Holiness Church in Beebe.
Mr. Hines was a World War II veteran serving in the Army Air Force and was a 32nd-degree Mason. He worked in civil service at Little Rock Air Force Base until retirement. He then worked as an electrician in Beebe and surrounding areas. He was a beloved husband, father and grandfather.
Mr. Hines is survived by four daughters, Joan and her husband Clint Crump of Branson, Mo., Judy and her husband Ken Coffee of McRae, Cleta and her husband Doug George of Heber Springs, and Reta Hines of Branson, Mo., 11 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and nine great-great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Charlie and Ella Griffith Hines; his wife, Dovie Branscum Hines; a daughter, Jan Hines Wittenburg Faubus; a son-in-law, Gov. Orval Faubus; a son-in-law, Don Wittenburg; a grandson, Ricky Don Wittenburg, and six brothers and two sisters.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Higginson Trinity Pentecostal Church of God Building Fund, 100 Rachel Drive, McRae, Ark. 72102.
The funeral was Feb. 11 at Westbrook Funeral Home with burial in Fox Cemetery. Arrangements are by West-brook Funeral Home in Beebe.
VANCE WILLIAMS
Vance G. Williams, 83, of Jacksonville passed away on Feb. 11. He was born Oct. 26, 1929, in Jefferson County, Ga., to the late William S. Williams and Jesse Williams.
He was a retired master sergeant in the Air Force who served during Vietnam and the Cold War.
He later retired from the Postal Service.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Betty Lou Williams.
He is survived by his children, David Williams and his wife Annabelle, Kevin Williams and his wife Alice, and Lorane Mancini, and one granddaughter, Mary Ann Carter-Neyland.
A graveside service will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 14 at Chapel Hill Memorial Park in Jacksonville with military honors.
Arrangements are by Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
FREDERICK SPEARS
Frederick Lee (Freddy) Spears, 58, of Beebe died Feb. 11.
He richly and deeply loved his family and his friends. Freddy was always available to lend a helping hand to those in need.
He is survived by his father, Fred Spears, of Beebe; brothers, Greg of Memphis, Jim of Vilonia, Tim of Ward, and Gary of Beebe; a sister, Honey Jo Spears, of Beebe; a close friend, Jeremy Mar-chant, many nieces and nephews and numerous family and friends.
Freddy was preceded in death by his mother, Jean Spears, and grandfather Richard Gerome Bayles.
His family asks that memorials be made in his honor to carry on his caring and loving spirit to Arkansas Sheriff’s Youth Ranches, P.O. Box 3964, Batesville, Ark. 72503; Arkansas Children’s Hospital Foundation, P.O. Box 2222, Little Rock, Ark. 72203; Gideon’s International, P.O. Box 1165, Searcy, Ark. 72145, or Arkansas Hospice, 14 Parkstone Circle, North Little Rock, Ark. 72116.
A memorial service will be held at noon Saturday, Feb. 16 at Ward City Hall, 405 Hickory St. with a time of fellowship and pot luck to follow at 1 p.m.
Cremation arrangements are by Westbrook Funeral Home in Beebe.
RUTH FLETCHER
Ruth Ida Fletcher, 89, of Fairfield Bay passed away Feb. 8 at Clinton. She was born Oct. 30, 1923, in Warren to the late Euert and Louise Durham.
She was also preceded in death by her husband, John Gould Fletcher; a brother, Eugene Durham, and a sister, Martha Sue Culbertson.
She was a member of Fairfield Bay Baptist Church and past president of the American Business Women’s Association.
She is survived by a son, John Fletcher, of Conway; a daughter, Nancy Fletcher, of Fairfield Bay, 11 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 6 until 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13 at Thomas Funeral Service. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16 at Fairfield Bay Baptist Church.
Cremation arrangements are by Thomas Funeral Service in Cabot.
MADELINE HARRINGTON
Madeline J. Frizzell Harrington, 73, of Austin went home to be with her Heavenly Father on Feb. 10.
As a member of Faith Missionary Baptist Church, Madeline loved her church and church family more than can be expressed. She was a devoted Christian lady, who not only taught her children and grandchildren the love of Jesus, but also tried to share it with everyone she met. Employed as a realtor and an income-tax professional, she always worked hard for her clients and treated them as she said she would want to be treated.
Madeline is survived by her children, Cynthia Sims and her fiancé Ronnie Guyot, of Ward, and Dennis Harrington of Austin; three very special grandchildren, Whitney Sims, Zach Harrington and Jacob Harrington; a brother, Otha Frizzell, of England, and several very loved nieces and nephews.
Madeline was preceded in death by her parents, Otha and Mable Frizzell, and two sisters, Shirley Halley and Doris Blackwell.
Memorials may be made in Madeline’s name to Faith Missionary Baptist Church, 301 Bill Foster Memorial Hwy., Cabot, Ark. 72023.
The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13 at Faith Missionary Baptist Church in Cabot with burial in Oak Grove Cemetery.
Arrangements are by Westbrook Funeral Home in Beebe.
Silas Benjamin LeGrow, 90, of Jacksonville and Cabot passed away on Jan. 15 to his Lord and to those who went before him.
He was a retired Air Force chief master sergeant and a recipient of the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, a World War II veteran and a POW survivor of the Bataan Death March and of Japanese prison camps.
He was born on Aug. 12, 1922, to Benjamin and Mary Whalen LeGrow at Bauline, Newfoundland, Canada, a small fishing village on the Atlantic coast of the island.
Both parents passed away before he turned 7. He was adopted by his Aunt Florence. He immigrated to America, arriving in Vanceboro, Maine, on Aug. 28, 1929. He lived with his aunt in Tampa, Fla., where he grew up and went to school.
After finishing school, he went with his cousin to Toledo, Ohio, and wound up joining the Ohio National Guard in November 1940. He was assigned to Company C, 192nd Tank Battalion. After training at Fort Knox, Ky., and Fort Polk, La., the battalion was ordered to the Philippines by Gen. Patton.
They arrived in November 1941, only to be attacked by the Japanese on Dec. 8. They fought back for almost four months before their capture in April.
They were forced on the infamous Bataan Death March. Surviving the march, he suffered 39 months as a POW in Japanese prison camps in the Philippines, then on a hell ship and finally the camp at Hoten, Mukden, Manchuria, until being liberated by the Russians in August 1945.
He returned to the States and convalesced in the hospital for eight months before finally returned to Tampa. He married his sweetheart for life, Edna L. Lewis, of Tampa on Dec. 29, 1946. He became a U.S. citizen on Jan. 14, 1947.
They were later stationed at Fairchild Air Base in Spokane, Wash., Tachikawa Air Force Base in Japan and Ernest Harmon Air Force Base in Newfoundland, his birthplace, before returning stateside to Little Rock Air Force Base, where he worked at base supply as non-commissioned officer in charge. He retired from the Air Force after serving his country for 27 and a half years.
He settled in Jacksonville with his family of five sons. He went to work at Hollis and Co. in Little Rock for a short period, then at Great Plains Bag Co. in Jacksonville, where he would retire again. He was a lifetime member of VFW Post 4548 in Jacksonville. He was president of Jacksonville AARP for three years. He was also president and a lifetime member of Arkansas Retired Military Association in Jacksonville.
He loved serving his community and sharing with friends. He was a member of First United Methodist Church in Jacksonville and spent many Sundays and gatherings as a member of the chapel family at LRAFB.
He spoke with many about his experience as a POW, visiting schools and local groups.
He went on a very special trip to Russia with his wife, Edna, and other ex-POWs that was led by former Sen. Blanche Lincoln and UAMS staff to meet Russian World War II veterans and officials during Russia’s Veterans Day ceremonies and celebrations in 2002.
He loved working in his yard all day and his garden in the spring and summer and especially loved fishing with his sons at Greers Ferry Lake, the Little Red River and float trips on the White River.
He was preceded to Heaven by his parents, Benjamin and Mary Whalen LeGrow; his son, Michael Wayne LeGrow, at 12; brothers, Roland and Wilson, of Newfoundland; brother-in-laws, Frank and Randolph Lewis, of Tampa, and a sister-in-law, Ruth and her husband Lewis Davies of Cocoa, Fla. His living loved ones are his loving wife of 66 years, Edna; his son, Robert (Bob) LeGrow, who is an Army veteran and his wife Kay of Hernando, Miss.; a grandson, Brett LeGrow and his wife Jennifer; great grandchildren, Brooke and Blake; his son, Howard LeGrow, of Jacksonville amd Cabot, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam; his son David (Dave) LeGrow, an Air Force veteran, and his wife Kathy of West Plains, Mo.; a grandson, Aaron, of San Diego, Calif., and his son Kenneth (Ken) LeGrow of Jacksonville and Cabot; his sister, Anita (Nita) Gaulton and family of Stephensville, Newfoundland; his cousin, Miriam Engelbrecht, of St. Johns, Newfoundland; a sister-in-law, Martha and her husband Lewis Schulteis and her husband Ed of Kansas City; a brother-in-law, George Lewis and wife Stella of Cocoa, Fla., and his many nieces and nephews and many great friends, especially Monroe and Ola Flucas and neighbors Ron and Jeanette Quisenberry.
Memorials may be made to the LRAFB Chapel or a charity in his name. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 15 at Roller-Owens Funeral Home Chapel in North Little Rock.
Interment will follow at Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery.
A fellowship gathering will be held after the services at the Jacksonville VFW.
CHERYL OUZTS
Cheryl Kay Ouzts, 58, of Lonoke passed away Feb. 9 at her home. She was born June 9, 1954.
Survived by her husband, Larry Ouzts; one son, John Bright, of Sacramento, Calif.; two stepdaughters, Tonya Ouzts and Sarah Ouzts, both of Cabot, one grandchild and five step grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at a later date.
Cremation arrangements are by Thomas Funeral Service in Cabot.
THEODORE HINES
Theodore Edward Hines, 94, of McRae went home to be with his Lord and Savior surrounded by his family on Feb. 8.
He was born Jan. 19, 1919, at Fox. He was a member of the Pentecostal Holiness Church in Beebe.
Mr. Hines was a World War II veteran serving in the Army Air Force and was a 32nd-degree Mason. He worked in civil service at Little Rock Air Force Base until retirement. He then worked as an electrician in Beebe and surrounding areas. He was a beloved husband, father and grandfather.
Mr. Hines is survived by four daughters, Joan and her husband Clint Crump of Branson, Mo., Judy and her husband Ken Coffee of McRae, Cleta and her husband Doug George of Heber Springs, and Reta Hines of Branson, Mo., 11 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and nine great-great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Charlie and Ella Griffith Hines; his wife, Dovie Branscum Hines; a daughter, Jan Hines Wittenburg Faubus; a son-in-law, Gov. Orval Faubus; a son-in-law, Don Wittenburg; a grandson, Ricky Don Wittenburg, and six brothers and two sisters.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Higginson Trinity Pentecostal Church of God Building Fund, 100 Rachel Drive, McRae, Ark. 72102.
The funeral was Feb. 11 at Westbrook Funeral Home with burial in Fox Cemetery. Arrangements are by West-brook Funeral Home in Beebe.
VANCE WILLIAMS
Vance G. Williams, 83, of Jacksonville passed away on Feb. 11. He was born Oct. 26, 1929, in Jefferson County, Ga., to the late William S. Williams and Jesse Williams.
He was a retired master sergeant in the Air Force who served during Vietnam and the Cold War.
He later retired from the Postal Service.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Betty Lou Williams.
He is survived by his children, David Williams and his wife Annabelle, Kevin Williams and his wife Alice, and Lorane Mancini, and one granddaughter, Mary Ann Carter-Neyland.
A graveside service will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 14 at Chapel Hill Memorial Park in Jacksonville with military honors.
Arrangements are by Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
FREDERICK SPEARS
Frederick Lee (Freddy) Spears, 58, of Beebe died Feb. 11.
He richly and deeply loved his family and his friends. Freddy was always available to lend a helping hand to those in need.
He is survived by his father, Fred Spears, of Beebe; brothers, Greg of Memphis, Jim of Vilonia, Tim of Ward, and Gary of Beebe; a sister, Honey Jo Spears, of Beebe; a close friend, Jeremy Mar-chant, many nieces and nephews and numerous family and friends.
Freddy was preceded in death by his mother, Jean Spears, and grandfather Richard Gerome Bayles.
His family asks that memorials be made in his honor to carry on his caring and loving spirit to Arkansas Sheriff’s Youth Ranches, P.O. Box 3964, Batesville, Ark. 72503; Arkansas Children’s Hospital Foundation, P.O. Box 2222, Little Rock, Ark. 72203; Gideon’s International, P.O. Box 1165, Searcy, Ark. 72145, or Arkansas Hospice, 14 Parkstone Circle, North Little Rock, Ark. 72116.
A memorial service will be held at noon Saturday, Feb. 16 at Ward City Hall, 405 Hickory St. with a time of fellowship and pot luck to follow at 1 p.m.
Cremation arrangements are by Westbrook Funeral Home in Beebe.
RUTH FLETCHER
Ruth Ida Fletcher, 89, of Fairfield Bay passed away Feb. 8 at Clinton. She was born Oct. 30, 1923, in Warren to the late Euert and Louise Durham.
She was also preceded in death by her husband, John Gould Fletcher; a brother, Eugene Durham, and a sister, Martha Sue Culbertson.
She was a member of Fairfield Bay Baptist Church and past president of the American Business Women’s Association.
She is survived by a son, John Fletcher, of Conway; a daughter, Nancy Fletcher, of Fairfield Bay, 11 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 6 until 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13 at Thomas Funeral Service. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16 at Fairfield Bay Baptist Church.
Cremation arrangements are by Thomas Funeral Service in Cabot.
MADELINE HARRINGTON
Madeline J. Frizzell Harrington, 73, of Austin went home to be with her Heavenly Father on Feb. 10.
As a member of Faith Missionary Baptist Church, Madeline loved her church and church family more than can be expressed. She was a devoted Christian lady, who not only taught her children and grandchildren the love of Jesus, but also tried to share it with everyone she met. Employed as a realtor and an income-tax professional, she always worked hard for her clients and treated them as she said she would want to be treated.
Madeline is survived by her children, Cynthia Sims and her fiancé Ronnie Guyot, of Ward, and Dennis Harrington of Austin; three very special grandchildren, Whitney Sims, Zach Harrington and Jacob Harrington; a brother, Otha Frizzell, of England, and several very loved nieces and nephews.
Madeline was preceded in death by her parents, Otha and Mable Frizzell, and two sisters, Shirley Halley and Doris Blackwell.
Memorials may be made in Madeline’s name to Faith Missionary Baptist Church, 301 Bill Foster Memorial Hwy., Cabot, Ark. 72023.
The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13 at Faith Missionary Baptist Church in Cabot with burial in Oak Grove Cemetery.
Arrangements are by Westbrook Funeral Home in Beebe.
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