By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Cabot closes the regular season on the road this Friday against the number one team in the state, North Little Rock. The Panthers can do no better than fourth place in the 7A-Central, and needs to win Friday in order to get that.
While the difference between finishing fourth and fifth may not seem like much to play for, it means the difference between playing at home or probably going all the way to Bentonville for its first-round playoff game.
Even with the win, Cabot (3-3) needs Bryant (4-2) to beat Conway (3-3), in order to get the home playoff game. If Conway and Cabot win, it creates a three-way tie for third place, and Cabot drops to five by virtue of having lost to both Bryant and Conway.
The Wildcats seem to have less to play for as far as the playoffs are concerned, but that’s not the case. They have already sewn up at least a share of the 7A-Central Conference championship, a number one seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs. But they haven’t secured an outright league title and are one game away from a perfect regular season.
Perhaps more importantly for North Little Rock, it has a chance to avenge its last regular-season loss.
The Charging Wildcats have not lost a regular-season game since getting crushed 34-3 by Cabot in week four of last season. They lost 28-21 to Bentonville in the playoff semifinals last year. That’s 15-straight regular-season wins, and 16 wins in the last 17 games.
“We’re playing the number one team in the state,” said Cabot coach Mike Malham. “Undefeated, number one, that’s a good challenge for us. It’d be nice for us to get our act together and pull off a big upset, get some momentum and get back to the playoffs.”
Cabot lost 35-21 to Fort Smith Northside last week. Malham made some changes on offense that seemed to improve the Panthers’ ability to move the football, but turnovers continued to be a major problem. Cabot has committed nine turnovers in its two previous losses. There were four interceptions against Bryant, which Cabot played without starting quarterback Jarrod Barnes in his usual position. There were five more turnovers of all varieties in last week’s loss to Northside.
If Cabot can keep possession, the addition of 6-foot-1, 247-pound Easton Seidl to the offensive backfield could take some of the focus off Barnes, whom Malham says should be back at quarterback this week.
It’s Seidl’s third position this year after starting a linebacker and then moving to defensive tackle.
“Putting Seidl at fullback helped our inside game,” Malham said. “We have some speed but we don’t have a very big offensive line and none of our backs are very big either. Easton gives us a little something we haven’t had. Hopefully that’ll help our inside run a little bit and take some of the defensive focus off the outside where Jarrod and our other backs can have some room to run.”
North Little Rock, however, is the best team on Cabot’s schedule. Not only are the Wildcats undefeated, only one team has played them within four touchdowns. That was Northside on Oct. 21, a game that ended 35-28.
“They’re just talented,” Malham said. “They got talent everywhere, only now they’re a lot more disciplined. Coach (Jamie) Mitchell is one of those old school, hard-nose types, and it didn’t take him long to get it going. But we’re looking to have a good week of practice and go give the number one team a good challenge.”
Wednesday, November 02, 2016
SPORTS STORY >> Wolves shoot 30 outside, pull away
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Jacksonville Lighthouse Charter Wolves won its first regular-season basketball game on Friday, going on the road to defeat Pangburn 95-80 in its first game as an Arkansas High School Activities Association sanctioned team.
The Wolves struggled with the talented and tall Tigers for a while, but began to pull away in the second quarter when outside shots started to fall and Pangburn made no adjustments.
Lighthouse hit 13 of 30 3-point attempts, shooting over Pangburn’s 2-3-zone defense.
“He never came out of that zone even when we started hitting,” said JLCS coach Kelvin Parker. “So I said, OK. If you’re going to stay back, we’re just going to keep firing. We fired up a lot.”
Pangburn (2-2) led 24-23 at the end of a fast-paced first quarter. Tiger center Nick Lukas hit a bucket at the buzzer to give the home team the lead, but the Wolves outscored them 50-30 in the second and third periods. They took a 46-39 lead into intermission, and a defensive adjustment at halftime helped them to take command of the game in the third.
“We switched some things up to try to stop their big kid in the middle,” Parker said. “He (Lukas) was the one hurting us offensively. He had 18 points in the first half, but he didn’t score at all in the third quarter and we got out on them pretty good.”
Senior Zack Bobo led JLCS with 22 points while freshman Gerald Doakes added 20 and Davonte Davis 16. Lukas led Pangburn with 23.
Lighthouse and Pangburn are in the same district and will play in the same postseason conference tournament, but Friday’s game was not a conference matchup because of the blended regular-season leagues the AHSAA has put together for at least this season and next.
“That’s why I scheduled them and a few others,” Parker said. “We only have one team we play in our regular season conference games that’s going to be in our postseason conference tournament. It doesn’t make any sense to me, but I wanted a chance to see as many as I could before going into that, so I scheduled them as nonconference games. It benefits them, too.”
The Lady Wolves were not as successful, falling 68-24 to the Pangburn. Dathonia Powell led JLCS (0-1) with 15 points. Tylar Vernon of Pangburn led all scorers with 17.
Hannah Bourgeois added 13 and Macie Hopkins 12 for the Lady Tigers (2-2).
Lighthouse boys and girls played Academic Charter Plus at Oak Grove last night after Leader deadlines. They will travel to Nevada on Friday.
Leader sports editor
The Jacksonville Lighthouse Charter Wolves won its first regular-season basketball game on Friday, going on the road to defeat Pangburn 95-80 in its first game as an Arkansas High School Activities Association sanctioned team.
The Wolves struggled with the talented and tall Tigers for a while, but began to pull away in the second quarter when outside shots started to fall and Pangburn made no adjustments.
Lighthouse hit 13 of 30 3-point attempts, shooting over Pangburn’s 2-3-zone defense.
“He never came out of that zone even when we started hitting,” said JLCS coach Kelvin Parker. “So I said, OK. If you’re going to stay back, we’re just going to keep firing. We fired up a lot.”
Pangburn (2-2) led 24-23 at the end of a fast-paced first quarter. Tiger center Nick Lukas hit a bucket at the buzzer to give the home team the lead, but the Wolves outscored them 50-30 in the second and third periods. They took a 46-39 lead into intermission, and a defensive adjustment at halftime helped them to take command of the game in the third.
“We switched some things up to try to stop their big kid in the middle,” Parker said. “He (Lukas) was the one hurting us offensively. He had 18 points in the first half, but he didn’t score at all in the third quarter and we got out on them pretty good.”
Senior Zack Bobo led JLCS with 22 points while freshman Gerald Doakes added 20 and Davonte Davis 16. Lukas led Pangburn with 23.
Lighthouse and Pangburn are in the same district and will play in the same postseason conference tournament, but Friday’s game was not a conference matchup because of the blended regular-season leagues the AHSAA has put together for at least this season and next.
“That’s why I scheduled them and a few others,” Parker said. “We only have one team we play in our regular season conference games that’s going to be in our postseason conference tournament. It doesn’t make any sense to me, but I wanted a chance to see as many as I could before going into that, so I scheduled them as nonconference games. It benefits them, too.”
The Lady Wolves were not as successful, falling 68-24 to the Pangburn. Dathonia Powell led JLCS (0-1) with 15 points. Tylar Vernon of Pangburn led all scorers with 17.
Hannah Bourgeois added 13 and Macie Hopkins 12 for the Lady Tigers (2-2).
Lighthouse boys and girls played Academic Charter Plus at Oak Grove last night after Leader deadlines. They will travel to Nevada on Friday.
SPORTS STORY >> Bears wary of underdog Beebe team
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The 8-1 Sylvan Hills Bears will be the big favorites when they travel tomorrow to take on the Beebe Badgers at A.S. Bro Erwin Stadium, but that hasn’t meant much recently.
The Bears have been the favorites going into their games with Beebe the last two seasons, and things haven’t worked out for them either time.
Sylvan Hills is already a lock to finish second in the 7A-Central, while Beebe is practically (though not mathematically) eliminated from playoff contention.
That means neither team is playing for anything tangible, and that’s a concern for both coaches. The Badgers technically still have playoff hopes, but would not only need its own upset win, but also a veritable miracle win by winless J.A. Fair over Little Rock Christian Academy.
Sylvan Hills coach Jim Withrow knows his team can’t gain or lose anything no matter the outcome Thursday, but he still wasn’t entirely pleased with his team’s focus at practice on Monday.
“I think it’s not bad, but I don’t know if I’d go much further than that,” said Withrow. “I thought for the most part we were into it, but not like we should be, or have been other Mondays.”
The Bears (9-1, 5-1) and Badgers (4-5, 3-3) have played two exciting games that went down to the wire the last two seasons. Beebe won both, winning 41-37 at Sylvan Hills in 2014, and 28-21 at Beebe last year. The Badgers had its all-time leading rusher, Trip Smith, for those games, but the 2016 graduate is now gone, as well as the rest of the starting offensive backfield of the last two seasons.
“I think they’re just young, but I think they’re talented,” Withrow said of the Badgers. “They play a lot of sophomores and they’ve made some sophomore mistakes at times that have hurt them. You can tell, I think next year they’re going to be that team that nobody expects anything out of, that’s going to turn out pretty good. What bugs you about that is, what if this is the game they really put it together and get everything out of them. And we’ve not had a lot of success with them, so that’s a concern.”
Beebe coach John Shannon knows his team has won as underdogs the last two years, but also knows the hill to climb this year is a little steeper. Sylvan Hills’ offense has been a force the last two seasons, but Shannon thinks the biggest difference in this year’s SH squad is the defense.
“One thing about going in as underdogs the last couple of years is both times we felt really good about our ability to go in there and move the football,” Shannon said. “Figuring out how to stop them was always a major concern, and now we have to figure how to deal with a really good defense as well. They’ve improved tremendously, I think, especially at linebacker.
“But I think they’re going to have to make some mistakes and we’re going to have to play perfect football. If we can put together long drives, eat the clock, keep that offense off the field and maybe frustrate them that way, we can give ourselves a chance.”
The Bears have been far from a one-trick pony this year, but Shannon still believes slowing down quarterback Jordan Washington is the key to any chance of slowing down the Bears’ offense.
“The quarterback is their best player,” Shannon said. “We have to keep him from reading that zone and taking off up the middle on us. But they put a lot of pressure on you because you have to cover the whole field to deal with all those other talented backs and receivers they’ve got. You hope to put them in third and long and get them a little uncomfortable, but they’re almost as dangerous even then because you drop back to cover and (Washington) takes off running. So I don’t know if there’s any particular down we have to win. It’s just going to take a perfect game on our part.”
Shannon isn’t being subjective in his assessment of Sylvan Hills’ defense. The Bears are better. After nine games last season, Sylvan Hills was 7-2 and had given up 288 points. This year through nine games, it has only given up 171.
Leader sports editor
The 8-1 Sylvan Hills Bears will be the big favorites when they travel tomorrow to take on the Beebe Badgers at A.S. Bro Erwin Stadium, but that hasn’t meant much recently.
The Bears have been the favorites going into their games with Beebe the last two seasons, and things haven’t worked out for them either time.
Sylvan Hills is already a lock to finish second in the 7A-Central, while Beebe is practically (though not mathematically) eliminated from playoff contention.
That means neither team is playing for anything tangible, and that’s a concern for both coaches. The Badgers technically still have playoff hopes, but would not only need its own upset win, but also a veritable miracle win by winless J.A. Fair over Little Rock Christian Academy.
Sylvan Hills coach Jim Withrow knows his team can’t gain or lose anything no matter the outcome Thursday, but he still wasn’t entirely pleased with his team’s focus at practice on Monday.
“I think it’s not bad, but I don’t know if I’d go much further than that,” said Withrow. “I thought for the most part we were into it, but not like we should be, or have been other Mondays.”
The Bears (9-1, 5-1) and Badgers (4-5, 3-3) have played two exciting games that went down to the wire the last two seasons. Beebe won both, winning 41-37 at Sylvan Hills in 2014, and 28-21 at Beebe last year. The Badgers had its all-time leading rusher, Trip Smith, for those games, but the 2016 graduate is now gone, as well as the rest of the starting offensive backfield of the last two seasons.
“I think they’re just young, but I think they’re talented,” Withrow said of the Badgers. “They play a lot of sophomores and they’ve made some sophomore mistakes at times that have hurt them. You can tell, I think next year they’re going to be that team that nobody expects anything out of, that’s going to turn out pretty good. What bugs you about that is, what if this is the game they really put it together and get everything out of them. And we’ve not had a lot of success with them, so that’s a concern.”
Beebe coach John Shannon knows his team has won as underdogs the last two years, but also knows the hill to climb this year is a little steeper. Sylvan Hills’ offense has been a force the last two seasons, but Shannon thinks the biggest difference in this year’s SH squad is the defense.
“One thing about going in as underdogs the last couple of years is both times we felt really good about our ability to go in there and move the football,” Shannon said. “Figuring out how to stop them was always a major concern, and now we have to figure how to deal with a really good defense as well. They’ve improved tremendously, I think, especially at linebacker.
“But I think they’re going to have to make some mistakes and we’re going to have to play perfect football. If we can put together long drives, eat the clock, keep that offense off the field and maybe frustrate them that way, we can give ourselves a chance.”
The Bears have been far from a one-trick pony this year, but Shannon still believes slowing down quarterback Jordan Washington is the key to any chance of slowing down the Bears’ offense.
“The quarterback is their best player,” Shannon said. “We have to keep him from reading that zone and taking off up the middle on us. But they put a lot of pressure on you because you have to cover the whole field to deal with all those other talented backs and receivers they’ve got. You hope to put them in third and long and get them a little uncomfortable, but they’re almost as dangerous even then because you drop back to cover and (Washington) takes off running. So I don’t know if there’s any particular down we have to win. It’s just going to take a perfect game on our part.”
Shannon isn’t being subjective in his assessment of Sylvan Hills’ defense. The Bears are better. After nine games last season, Sylvan Hills was 7-2 and had given up 288 points. This year through nine games, it has only given up 171.
Tuesday, November 01, 2016
EDITORIAL >> Election Day is Tuesday
Election Day is Tuesday. Polls will be open from 7:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m.
Early voting continues through Saturday in Jacksonville, Sherwood, Cabot, Lonoke, Little Rock and Searcy, and on Monday in Cabot, Lonoke, Little Rock and Searcy.
The ballot is jam-packed.
The long presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will be settled, assuming there are no contested outcomes, and we will know who will be inaugurated Friday, Jan. 20 as our country’s 45th president.
Arkansas voters will decide several state and local races and four ballot measures, although three more will still appear after being disqualified by the state Supreme Court but too late to be removed from the ballot.
Issue 1 asks voters to extend the terms of county judges, county court clerks and county surveyors from two years to four years.
Issue 2 seeks to let Arkansas governors retain their authority when out of the state.
Issue 3 will ask voters to vastly expand the state’s offerings of incentives to businesses looking to open here. Now, the state can only spend $259 million annually to entice businesses. Issue 3 has been touted as a major economic plan that would create jobs and bring major corporations to Arkansas. It has been criticized as a boondoggle that will add to the state’s debt.
Issue 6 asks to legalize marijuana use for 17 medical conditions and create cannabis dispensaries to be managed by the state Alcoholic Beverage Control.
The disqualified measures were Issues 4, 5 and 7, so voters can save their time and skip over them at the ballot box. Votes cast for them will not be counted.
Issue 4 intended to limit financial awards for medical-malpractice lawsuits.
Issue 5 had hoped to allow casinos to open in Boone, Miller and Washington counties.
Issue 7 was another medical marijuana proposal, more extensive than Issue 6, that would have extended its use to people with dozens of conditions and allowed them to grow their own cannabis if they lived too far from dispensaries.
Sen. John Boozman, a Republican, is up for re-election against Democrat Conner Eldridge, Lonoke native and a former U.S. attorney, and Libertarian Frank Gilbert.
In the Second District, Rep. French Hill (R-Little Rock) has a Democratic challenger, Diane Curry, as well as a libertarian opponent, Chris Hayes.
Locally, state Sen. Jane English (R-North Little Rock) and Democrat Joe Woodson, a North Little Rock attorney, are facing off in Dist. 34, which includes North Little Rock, Sherwood and Jacksonville.
There are three competitive state House races in the area: Dist. 42 Rep. Bob Johnson (D-Jacksonville) is being challenged by Patrick Thomas, and Rep. Camille Bennett (D-Lonoke) is up against Lonoke County Justice of the Peace Roger Lynch.
The Lonoke Chamber of Commerce will host a candidates forum during its luncheon at noon Thursday with Bennett and Lynch, who will have about 10 minutes to introduce themselves, followed by a question-and-answer session.
In Dist. 38, Democrat Victoria Leigh and Republican Carlton Wing, both of North Little Rock, are vying for the seat vacated by Rep. Donnie Copeland, who lost to English in the Republican Senate primary in March. District 38 includes North Little Rock and about half of Sherwood.
Also in Sherwood, voters will decide two Pulaski County Special School Board races: Gloria Lawrence and Linda Remele in Zone 3, and Shelby Thomas and Cori Burgett Fetters in Zone 4.
Sherwood residents are additionally being asked to approve a measure that will improve parks and give the city flexibility to get the work done faster and cheaper without raising taxes.
Cabot has three competitive aldermen races. Alderman Jon Moore is facing Damon Bivens for the Ward 2, Position 2 seat. Alderman Doyle Tullos has two opponents for his Ward 3, Position 1 seat, Norma Naquin and Wendell Gibson. Alderman Rick Prentice is challenged by Tom Koller in Ward 3, Position 2.
The runoff for the Cabot district judge race will also be decided this election. Judge Joe O’Bryan hopes to fend off Ward City Attorney Clint McGue, who finished first in the March vote, but fell short of the required 50 percent to avoid a runoff. The third candidate, John Flynn, has endorsed McGue.
Beebe Alderman Tracy Lightfoot and Donald Lewis are competing for Ward 2, Position 2.
There will also be several uncontested races listed on ballots throughout the area.
The Leader will report all the results in our edition next Wednesday. Happy voting.
Early voting continues through Saturday in Jacksonville, Sherwood, Cabot, Lonoke, Little Rock and Searcy, and on Monday in Cabot, Lonoke, Little Rock and Searcy.
The ballot is jam-packed.
The long presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will be settled, assuming there are no contested outcomes, and we will know who will be inaugurated Friday, Jan. 20 as our country’s 45th president.
Arkansas voters will decide several state and local races and four ballot measures, although three more will still appear after being disqualified by the state Supreme Court but too late to be removed from the ballot.
Issue 1 asks voters to extend the terms of county judges, county court clerks and county surveyors from two years to four years.
Issue 2 seeks to let Arkansas governors retain their authority when out of the state.
Issue 3 will ask voters to vastly expand the state’s offerings of incentives to businesses looking to open here. Now, the state can only spend $259 million annually to entice businesses. Issue 3 has been touted as a major economic plan that would create jobs and bring major corporations to Arkansas. It has been criticized as a boondoggle that will add to the state’s debt.
Issue 6 asks to legalize marijuana use for 17 medical conditions and create cannabis dispensaries to be managed by the state Alcoholic Beverage Control.
The disqualified measures were Issues 4, 5 and 7, so voters can save their time and skip over them at the ballot box. Votes cast for them will not be counted.
Issue 4 intended to limit financial awards for medical-malpractice lawsuits.
Issue 5 had hoped to allow casinos to open in Boone, Miller and Washington counties.
Issue 7 was another medical marijuana proposal, more extensive than Issue 6, that would have extended its use to people with dozens of conditions and allowed them to grow their own cannabis if they lived too far from dispensaries.
Sen. John Boozman, a Republican, is up for re-election against Democrat Conner Eldridge, Lonoke native and a former U.S. attorney, and Libertarian Frank Gilbert.
In the Second District, Rep. French Hill (R-Little Rock) has a Democratic challenger, Diane Curry, as well as a libertarian opponent, Chris Hayes.
Locally, state Sen. Jane English (R-North Little Rock) and Democrat Joe Woodson, a North Little Rock attorney, are facing off in Dist. 34, which includes North Little Rock, Sherwood and Jacksonville.
There are three competitive state House races in the area: Dist. 42 Rep. Bob Johnson (D-Jacksonville) is being challenged by Patrick Thomas, and Rep. Camille Bennett (D-Lonoke) is up against Lonoke County Justice of the Peace Roger Lynch.
The Lonoke Chamber of Commerce will host a candidates forum during its luncheon at noon Thursday with Bennett and Lynch, who will have about 10 minutes to introduce themselves, followed by a question-and-answer session.
In Dist. 38, Democrat Victoria Leigh and Republican Carlton Wing, both of North Little Rock, are vying for the seat vacated by Rep. Donnie Copeland, who lost to English in the Republican Senate primary in March. District 38 includes North Little Rock and about half of Sherwood.
Also in Sherwood, voters will decide two Pulaski County Special School Board races: Gloria Lawrence and Linda Remele in Zone 3, and Shelby Thomas and Cori Burgett Fetters in Zone 4.
Sherwood residents are additionally being asked to approve a measure that will improve parks and give the city flexibility to get the work done faster and cheaper without raising taxes.
Cabot has three competitive aldermen races. Alderman Jon Moore is facing Damon Bivens for the Ward 2, Position 2 seat. Alderman Doyle Tullos has two opponents for his Ward 3, Position 1 seat, Norma Naquin and Wendell Gibson. Alderman Rick Prentice is challenged by Tom Koller in Ward 3, Position 2.
The runoff for the Cabot district judge race will also be decided this election. Judge Joe O’Bryan hopes to fend off Ward City Attorney Clint McGue, who finished first in the March vote, but fell short of the required 50 percent to avoid a runoff. The third candidate, John Flynn, has endorsed McGue.
Beebe Alderman Tracy Lightfoot and Donald Lewis are competing for Ward 2, Position 2.
There will also be several uncontested races listed on ballots throughout the area.
The Leader will report all the results in our edition next Wednesday. Happy voting.
TOP STORY >> Namesake of hardware store dies
By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
Jack Lowman passed away last Wednesday at the age of 87. He was a successful businessman and an icon of the Cabot community.
Lowman was born March 30, 1929, and was a lifelong resident of Cabot.
In 1946, he played in the first Cabot High School football game after the end of the Second World War. Cabot played Lonoke.
Lowman graduated from Cabot High in 1947 with a class of 22 people.
He attended Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, graduating in 1951 with a degree in business and physical-education. He played football there for one year.
Lowman was a big supporter of Cabot schools and Panther football and basketball.
Football coach Mike Malham said when Lowman was able, he was always at the games.
Lowman worked more than 60 years in his family’s business, Lowman and Lowman. The business, at its location on North First Street, was originally started by his father and grandfather as a general mercantile, grocery and hardware store in the early 1890s.
He and his brother, Jake, later ran the business.
Jack Lowman retired from Lowman and Lowman Hardware in 2000. Three generations of Lowmans ran the business for more than 100 years. The original building was destroyed by the 1976 tornado and they rebuilt at the same location.
“Four generations bought groceries here. He really enjoyed people, interested in their lives and kids and what was going on. He said he would rather work than to eat,” his son Mark Lowman said.
Lowman and Lowman Hardware was sold in 2001 to David Cochran and renamed Cabot Handy Hardware and Gifts. Coincidentally, Jack Lowman died the same week as the store closed.
Cochran said Lowman filled-in for him and continued to come to the store until his health prevented that.
“He was a one-of-kind person, an icon of the community. He knew everybody and would do anything for you. He joked around with people. He liked to call people by their maiden name,” Cochran said.
“Jack was a frugal man. For example, he walked to the post office instead of getting in his car and driving over. But he did a lot behind the scenes. He helped a lot kids go to college,” Cochran added.
“He loved his family and took care of his employees,” Cochran said.
One former employee was Harold Bibbs. As a 19 year old, he worked in the grocery’s meat department in 1963 during the summer while in college.
“It was fun to go to work being around Jack and Jake. He was humorous. He never met a stranger. He never made you feel like you were just an employee or a child. The store gave a lot of kids around here part-time jobs back then,” Bibbs said.
Bibbs said Lowman was a successful businessman and he and his wife Pat were successful parents.
Mayor Bill Cypert said Lowman and his family were pillars of the community who helped Cabot become the thriving community that it is today.
Lowman served on the first Cabot Planning Commission after the 1976 tornado.
“He was humble, godly and an honorable person. He had a unique sense of humor that was entertaining at times. I enjoyed sitting down on a stool, drinking a Coke and visiting with him during the day,” Cypert said.
Lowman was a member of First Baptist Church of Cabot, where he served as a deacon, Sunday school teacher and as a much-loved youth leader.
Dearl Dixon was a friend who bird hunted with Lowman.
“He was a Christian man who lived it. He was dedicated to his family. He is going to be missed in the community,” Dixon said.
Lowman was proud of the Bank of Cabot, now Centennial Bank, which was started by his grandfather and others in 1902 to help local farmers and businesses. He was on the board for 42 years. Five generations of his family were stockholders and many were board members. The bank at 300 W. Main St. has a community room named in honor of Jack Lowman.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Jake and Lillian Lowman, and an older brother, Jake Lowman. He is survived by his wife, Patsy Lowman, and his children, Mitchell, Mark and Jacque Lowman. The funeral was held Saturday at First Baptist Church of Cabot with burial in Mount Carmel Cemetery.
Leader staff writer
Jack Lowman passed away last Wednesday at the age of 87. He was a successful businessman and an icon of the Cabot community.
Lowman was born March 30, 1929, and was a lifelong resident of Cabot.
In 1946, he played in the first Cabot High School football game after the end of the Second World War. Cabot played Lonoke.
Lowman graduated from Cabot High in 1947 with a class of 22 people.
He attended Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, graduating in 1951 with a degree in business and physical-education. He played football there for one year.
Lowman was a big supporter of Cabot schools and Panther football and basketball.
Football coach Mike Malham said when Lowman was able, he was always at the games.
Lowman worked more than 60 years in his family’s business, Lowman and Lowman. The business, at its location on North First Street, was originally started by his father and grandfather as a general mercantile, grocery and hardware store in the early 1890s.
He and his brother, Jake, later ran the business.
Jack Lowman retired from Lowman and Lowman Hardware in 2000. Three generations of Lowmans ran the business for more than 100 years. The original building was destroyed by the 1976 tornado and they rebuilt at the same location.
“Four generations bought groceries here. He really enjoyed people, interested in their lives and kids and what was going on. He said he would rather work than to eat,” his son Mark Lowman said.
Lowman and Lowman Hardware was sold in 2001 to David Cochran and renamed Cabot Handy Hardware and Gifts. Coincidentally, Jack Lowman died the same week as the store closed.
Cochran said Lowman filled-in for him and continued to come to the store until his health prevented that.
“He was a one-of-kind person, an icon of the community. He knew everybody and would do anything for you. He joked around with people. He liked to call people by their maiden name,” Cochran said.
“Jack was a frugal man. For example, he walked to the post office instead of getting in his car and driving over. But he did a lot behind the scenes. He helped a lot kids go to college,” Cochran added.
“He loved his family and took care of his employees,” Cochran said.
One former employee was Harold Bibbs. As a 19 year old, he worked in the grocery’s meat department in 1963 during the summer while in college.
“It was fun to go to work being around Jack and Jake. He was humorous. He never met a stranger. He never made you feel like you were just an employee or a child. The store gave a lot of kids around here part-time jobs back then,” Bibbs said.
Bibbs said Lowman was a successful businessman and he and his wife Pat were successful parents.
Mayor Bill Cypert said Lowman and his family were pillars of the community who helped Cabot become the thriving community that it is today.
Lowman served on the first Cabot Planning Commission after the 1976 tornado.
“He was humble, godly and an honorable person. He had a unique sense of humor that was entertaining at times. I enjoyed sitting down on a stool, drinking a Coke and visiting with him during the day,” Cypert said.
Lowman was a member of First Baptist Church of Cabot, where he served as a deacon, Sunday school teacher and as a much-loved youth leader.
Dearl Dixon was a friend who bird hunted with Lowman.
“He was a Christian man who lived it. He was dedicated to his family. He is going to be missed in the community,” Dixon said.
Lowman was proud of the Bank of Cabot, now Centennial Bank, which was started by his grandfather and others in 1902 to help local farmers and businesses. He was on the board for 42 years. Five generations of his family were stockholders and many were board members. The bank at 300 W. Main St. has a community room named in honor of Jack Lowman.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Jake and Lillian Lowman, and an older brother, Jake Lowman. He is survived by his wife, Patsy Lowman, and his children, Mitchell, Mark and Jacque Lowman. The funeral was held Saturday at First Baptist Church of Cabot with burial in Mount Carmel Cemetery.
TOP STORY >> Johnson touts Endorsements
Rep. Bob Johnson (D- Jacksonville) has received endorsements from several key political action committees, including those of the Arkansas Education Association, Arkansas Realtors, Arkansas State Employees Association, Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association and others.
The AEA’s political action committee voted to recommend Johnson’s candidacy to its members and gave him $500 in his re-election effort.
“We value your opinions and ideas of public education in Arkansas,” the AEA said in a letter to Johnson, who supports pre-kindergarten education in public schools.
Johnson is opposed by Republican Patrick Thomas of Jacksonville.
The trial lawyers, representing 1,000 attorneys in the state, contributed $1,000 to Johnson’s re-election, saying he stands up for the Seventh Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees the right to jury trials.
The PAC praised his “strong belief in the preservation of the Seventh Amendment, who support(s) the ability of a local jury to reflect the values of their own communities and who values(s) protection of our constitutional right to access to justice for individuals with legitimate lawsuits, despite taking on the most powerful interests.”
The Arkansas Realtors Political Action Committee gave Johnson a $500 contribution.
The State Employees of Arkansas Political Action Committee has also endorsed Johnson and contributed $200.
“The Arkansas State Employees Association is proud to announce that SEAPAC is endorsing your candidacy,” wrote John Bridges, SEAPAC liaison and ASEA assistant director.
The political action committee of Arkansas Manufactured Housing Association has also endorsed Johnson.
The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers also endorsed Johnson and gave him $500.
The SMART transportation division represents railroad, bus, sheet metal and airline members in the United States and Canada. The organization’s predecessor, the United Transportation Union, was founded in Hot Springs in 1969. It represents 1,100 active and more than 2,000 retired railroad conductors, trainmen and engineers in Arkansas.
The AEA’s political action committee voted to recommend Johnson’s candidacy to its members and gave him $500 in his re-election effort.
“We value your opinions and ideas of public education in Arkansas,” the AEA said in a letter to Johnson, who supports pre-kindergarten education in public schools.
Johnson is opposed by Republican Patrick Thomas of Jacksonville.
The trial lawyers, representing 1,000 attorneys in the state, contributed $1,000 to Johnson’s re-election, saying he stands up for the Seventh Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees the right to jury trials.
The PAC praised his “strong belief in the preservation of the Seventh Amendment, who support(s) the ability of a local jury to reflect the values of their own communities and who values(s) protection of our constitutional right to access to justice for individuals with legitimate lawsuits, despite taking on the most powerful interests.”
The Arkansas Realtors Political Action Committee gave Johnson a $500 contribution.
The State Employees of Arkansas Political Action Committee has also endorsed Johnson and contributed $200.
“The Arkansas State Employees Association is proud to announce that SEAPAC is endorsing your candidacy,” wrote John Bridges, SEAPAC liaison and ASEA assistant director.
The political action committee of Arkansas Manufactured Housing Association has also endorsed Johnson.
The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers also endorsed Johnson and gave him $500.
The SMART transportation division represents railroad, bus, sheet metal and airline members in the United States and Canada. The organization’s predecessor, the United Transportation Union, was founded in Hot Springs in 1969. It represents 1,100 active and more than 2,000 retired railroad conductors, trainmen and engineers in Arkansas.
TOP STORY >> Judge rules state grants aren’t illegal
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Circuit Judge Chris Piazza on Tuesday ruled against former state Rep. Mike Wilson’s suit seeking to prohibit the Central Arkansas Planning and Developing District from approving General Improvement grants and cutting checks to local groups at the direction of lawmakers.
Piazza said, “I find that it is constitutional.”
Wilson said he would appeal to the state Supreme Court.
CAPDD hasn’t approved applications nor written checks since Wilson filed his suit in February, saying the grants violated the state constitution, which prohibits funding local projects with state money.
It wasn’t immediately clear when CAPDD would resume distributing state funds again.
Wilson, a Jacksonville businessman and lawyer, won a similar suit in 2007, upheld by the state Supreme Court, and has charged that lawmakers have since begun laundering the GIF money through the state treasurer’s office and then through the planning and development districts.
But after a 90-minute hearing on competing motions for summary judgment, Piazza ruled the awarding of grants designated by lawmakers under current law is constitutional.
In the suit in which Wilson prevailed in 2007, individual appropriations were written to fund local libraries, Boys and Girls Clubs, buy equipment for volunteer fire departments and for other local uses. While Wilson said they often are for good causes, they are nonetheless illegal.
Defendants in Wilson’s suit are Larry Walther, director of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, Andrea Lea, state auditor and Dennis Milligan, state treasurer and Central Arkansas Planning and Development District, Inc.
He seeks to recover the money for the state.
Each lawmaker would have an equal share of the general improvement funds from which to make appropriations.
Under what Wilson calls “a work-around,” the General Assembly decided that each representative could endorse $70,000 worth of grants through the planning and development district and each state senator, $285,000.
But Assistant Attorney General Colin Jorgensen argued that the uses of the money and the details of CAPDD’s awarding GIF grants were not material to the case.
Sam Jones, representing CAPDD and its director, Rodney Larsen, said the General Assembly had to change the process for distributing GIF funds after Wilson won his case in 2007.
The issue is whether or not the actions of the state and the CAPDD comply with the statutes that currently control expenditure of GIF funds, Jones said.
The new method of distributing “excess” state revenues through grants administered by the CAPDD is constitutional, Piazza said.
Jorgensen has written an order for the judge, and Wilson and his attorney John Ogles are currently assessing it.
Judd Deere, spokesman for the attorney general’s office, said once all the attorneys have approved it, Piazza would sign it, probably Wednesday afternoon.
Larsen said he’d like to recover about $40,000 in attorney’s fees from the plaintiff.
Leader senior staff writer
Circuit Judge Chris Piazza on Tuesday ruled against former state Rep. Mike Wilson’s suit seeking to prohibit the Central Arkansas Planning and Developing District from approving General Improvement grants and cutting checks to local groups at the direction of lawmakers.
Piazza said, “I find that it is constitutional.”
Wilson said he would appeal to the state Supreme Court.
CAPDD hasn’t approved applications nor written checks since Wilson filed his suit in February, saying the grants violated the state constitution, which prohibits funding local projects with state money.
It wasn’t immediately clear when CAPDD would resume distributing state funds again.
Wilson, a Jacksonville businessman and lawyer, won a similar suit in 2007, upheld by the state Supreme Court, and has charged that lawmakers have since begun laundering the GIF money through the state treasurer’s office and then through the planning and development districts.
But after a 90-minute hearing on competing motions for summary judgment, Piazza ruled the awarding of grants designated by lawmakers under current law is constitutional.
In the suit in which Wilson prevailed in 2007, individual appropriations were written to fund local libraries, Boys and Girls Clubs, buy equipment for volunteer fire departments and for other local uses. While Wilson said they often are for good causes, they are nonetheless illegal.
Defendants in Wilson’s suit are Larry Walther, director of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, Andrea Lea, state auditor and Dennis Milligan, state treasurer and Central Arkansas Planning and Development District, Inc.
He seeks to recover the money for the state.
Each lawmaker would have an equal share of the general improvement funds from which to make appropriations.
Under what Wilson calls “a work-around,” the General Assembly decided that each representative could endorse $70,000 worth of grants through the planning and development district and each state senator, $285,000.
But Assistant Attorney General Colin Jorgensen argued that the uses of the money and the details of CAPDD’s awarding GIF grants were not material to the case.
Sam Jones, representing CAPDD and its director, Rodney Larsen, said the General Assembly had to change the process for distributing GIF funds after Wilson won his case in 2007.
The issue is whether or not the actions of the state and the CAPDD comply with the statutes that currently control expenditure of GIF funds, Jones said.
The new method of distributing “excess” state revenues through grants administered by the CAPDD is constitutional, Piazza said.
Jorgensen has written an order for the judge, and Wilson and his attorney John Ogles are currently assessing it.
Judd Deere, spokesman for the attorney general’s office, said once all the attorneys have approved it, Piazza would sign it, probably Wednesday afternoon.
Larsen said he’d like to recover about $40,000 in attorney’s fees from the plaintiff.
Saturday, October 29, 2016
SPORTS STORY >> Lonoke out in quarterfinals
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
For the second-straight season the Lonoke volleyball team was knocked out of the state tournament by 4A-West powerhouse Mena, this time as tournament hosts at the Gina Cox Center on Wednesday.
The Lady Jackrabbits (35-5-1) fell to the Lady Bearcats 3-0 by scores of 25-16, 25-16, and 25-11. Mena (28-7) moved on to the semifinals to face Brookland on Thursday, a 3-1 winner over defending state champion Shiloh Christian.
The loss was a tough one for a young Lonoke team with an eye on a championship ring, but with a lot of key components returning next year, coach Laura Park is still optimistic about the future.
“I hate that it ended this way,” said Park. “They wanted to win state. They didn’t want the season to end. We had three seniors on the team. Madison McFadden is my starting libero. Sarina Jones and Mary Katherine Summer come off the bench when needed. Those three girls are great leaders on and off the court. They’re a big presence and a great group of girls. We played a lot of tenth graders and juniors. I feel like we should be a lot stronger and more experienced, and these girls want it. With that desire, and if it continues and their work ethic, there will be better things next year.”
Lonoke is very athletic and typically an aggressive volleyball team, but a shaky start hampered that aggressiveness and the Lady Jackrabbits never got fully into their gameplan.
“I think you can want something too much, that you are wound up too tight,” said Lonoke coach Laura Park. “They couldn’t take that breath and step back and get everything under control. We struggled from the beginning instead of starting off aggressive like we normally do.”
Mena won the first point of set one after a long rally, and the score reached 4-0 before the Lady Rabbits got on the scoreboard with consecutive points. Unforced errors and two kills by the Lady Cats upped the lead to 10-3. A net violation by Mena and a block to the floor by Kennedy White cut the lead to 10-5, but again the Lady Cats jumped out to a 17-6 advantage before the Lady Rabbits went on a scoring run on the serves of Lindsey McFadden and Emily Armstrong.
The run included a block by Maddie Pool, three kills by Keiunna Walker, and one by Kaley Woodruff. Lonoke pulled within four at 18-14, but two kills by Jayzlee Bahr and a set-ending ace by Reagan Sikes helped the Lady Cats take the first set 25-16.
The final score of set two was identical to set one, but was much closer until Mena pulled away at the end. Armstrong got the first point of the set for the Lady Rabbits with a kill tip, and the teams exchanged points until Armstrong won a joust at the net to tie the score at 8-8. Walker had a kill to tie at nine, and Lonoke had the lead at 10-9.
Kills by Sydney Hallum and Kayla Shelton, a block by White, and a net violation on Mena made the score 16-15 in favor of the Lady Cats, but Lonoke was only able to score one more point as Mena rallied on the serves of Grace Wagner and Alicia Barrett to finish out the set.
Two kills by Walker and one by White got set three off to a good start for Lonoke, but things then went more the way of Mena. Lonoke was within three at 11-8 on a kill tip by Walker and a kill by Pool, but the Lady Cats went ahead 17-8 on the serve of Sealy Thigpen, and the Lady Rabbits could only score three more points before Mena reached 25 points, and the 25-11 final set victory.
Leader sports editor
For the second-straight season the Lonoke volleyball team was knocked out of the state tournament by 4A-West powerhouse Mena, this time as tournament hosts at the Gina Cox Center on Wednesday.
The Lady Jackrabbits (35-5-1) fell to the Lady Bearcats 3-0 by scores of 25-16, 25-16, and 25-11. Mena (28-7) moved on to the semifinals to face Brookland on Thursday, a 3-1 winner over defending state champion Shiloh Christian.
The loss was a tough one for a young Lonoke team with an eye on a championship ring, but with a lot of key components returning next year, coach Laura Park is still optimistic about the future.
“I hate that it ended this way,” said Park. “They wanted to win state. They didn’t want the season to end. We had three seniors on the team. Madison McFadden is my starting libero. Sarina Jones and Mary Katherine Summer come off the bench when needed. Those three girls are great leaders on and off the court. They’re a big presence and a great group of girls. We played a lot of tenth graders and juniors. I feel like we should be a lot stronger and more experienced, and these girls want it. With that desire, and if it continues and their work ethic, there will be better things next year.”
Lonoke is very athletic and typically an aggressive volleyball team, but a shaky start hampered that aggressiveness and the Lady Jackrabbits never got fully into their gameplan.
“I think you can want something too much, that you are wound up too tight,” said Lonoke coach Laura Park. “They couldn’t take that breath and step back and get everything under control. We struggled from the beginning instead of starting off aggressive like we normally do.”
Mena won the first point of set one after a long rally, and the score reached 4-0 before the Lady Rabbits got on the scoreboard with consecutive points. Unforced errors and two kills by the Lady Cats upped the lead to 10-3. A net violation by Mena and a block to the floor by Kennedy White cut the lead to 10-5, but again the Lady Cats jumped out to a 17-6 advantage before the Lady Rabbits went on a scoring run on the serves of Lindsey McFadden and Emily Armstrong.
The run included a block by Maddie Pool, three kills by Keiunna Walker, and one by Kaley Woodruff. Lonoke pulled within four at 18-14, but two kills by Jayzlee Bahr and a set-ending ace by Reagan Sikes helped the Lady Cats take the first set 25-16.
The final score of set two was identical to set one, but was much closer until Mena pulled away at the end. Armstrong got the first point of the set for the Lady Rabbits with a kill tip, and the teams exchanged points until Armstrong won a joust at the net to tie the score at 8-8. Walker had a kill to tie at nine, and Lonoke had the lead at 10-9.
Kills by Sydney Hallum and Kayla Shelton, a block by White, and a net violation on Mena made the score 16-15 in favor of the Lady Cats, but Lonoke was only able to score one more point as Mena rallied on the serves of Grace Wagner and Alicia Barrett to finish out the set.
Two kills by Walker and one by White got set three off to a good start for Lonoke, but things then went more the way of Mena. Lonoke was within three at 11-8 on a kill tip by Walker and a kill by Pool, but the Lady Cats went ahead 17-8 on the serve of Sealy Thigpen, and the Lady Rabbits could only score three more points before Mena reached 25 points, and the 25-11 final set victory.
SPORTS STORY >> Bison escape Clarendon on homecoming
By ANN THARP
Special to The Leader
The Carlisle Bison held on for an exciting 35-34 homecoming victory over the Clarendon Lions (3-6, 3-4) on Friday night at Fred C. Hardke Field. Carlisle (6-3, 5-2) trailed at the half by two touchdowns, but the defense had three interceptions and a defensive stand late in
the fourth quarter to aid in the victory.
“It was a big win right there for us,” said Carlisle coach Mark Uhiren. “I think Clarendon deserves a lot of credit. They played hard, and they played physical. There were a couple of players on their team that would not quit, would not stop what they were doing. And most of what they were doing was working. We were very, very fortunate to get out of this one. We keep finding ways to win. We don’t quit. We’ve had to prove ourselves several times already.”
Carlisle scored on its first drive of the game with a completion from quarterback Carson Cunningham to Houston Garrich for 26 yards,w a big factor. Jasean Harper had a run of 10 yards, and Devon Kendrick carried the ball the final nine yards for the touchdown. Kendrick also added the extra point for the 7-0 lead with 9:14 remaining in the opening quarter.
Clarendon answered with a nine-play 80-yard drive of its own, with quarterback Jama Cross scoring from one yard out. The Lions went for the two-point conversion and were successful to take an 8-7 edge.
Braiden Jenkins returned the ensuing kick off to the 49-yard line, and Kendrick picked up a first down, but the Bison fumbled the ball away on fourth down and eight.
It only took Clarendon one play to take advantage as Cross took the ball 59 yards for a touchdown and the 14-7 lead. The two-point conversion was no good.
The Bison bounced right back to tie as Kendrick had a run of 23 yards, and Harper ran the ball in from 15 yards away. Kendrick added the point after for the 14-14 score with 11:07 to go in the second quarter.
The Lions scored twice more in the quarter, once on the next possession to lead 20-14, and then after recovering another Carlisle fumble, took a 28-14 lead with 0:10 in the half. Marvin Horns scored both touchdowns.
The teams exchanged punts to start the third quarter, but the Bison moved 79 yards to score and cut into the lead with 3:43 remaining. Harper had a run of 39 yards and Kendrick found the end zone from one yard away. Kendrick also added the extra point and the score was 28-21.
Then, the Bison defense had Cross under duress, and Tristan Seidenswartz picked off his pass for a pick six to pull Carlisle to within one. The Bison went for the two-point conversion and it was good by Kendrick to take the lead at 29-28.
Clarendon had moved to the Bison 19-yard line and was threatening, but Cross was again intercepted, this time by Jenkins.
Carlisle took advantage of the turnover to score again as Ian Seidenswartz had runs of 17 and 33, and Harper finished the drive with a 25-yard touchdown scamper. The Bison went for two and it was no good, so the score was 35-28 with 6:20 remaining in the contest.
Clarendon answered and scored with 3:45 to go in the game, and the lead was cut to 35-34. The Lions went for the two-point conversion and the lead, but the pass by Cross was intercepted by Harper to maintain the lead for the Bison.
Carlisle then fumbled, and Clarendon recovered on the Bison 45-yard line. Horns got loose for 31 yards, but then the Carlisle defense held firm and on fourth and seven from the 13-yard line, Dylan Nichols led on a tackle for loss, the Lions had turned the ball over on downs, and the final score was set at 35-34 Bison.
Carlisle finished with 338 yards of offense, while the Lions had 515 yards. Kendrick led the Bison with 24 carries for 117 yards, two touchdowns, one two-point conversion, and three one-point conversions.
Special to The Leader
The Carlisle Bison held on for an exciting 35-34 homecoming victory over the Clarendon Lions (3-6, 3-4) on Friday night at Fred C. Hardke Field. Carlisle (6-3, 5-2) trailed at the half by two touchdowns, but the defense had three interceptions and a defensive stand late in
the fourth quarter to aid in the victory.
“It was a big win right there for us,” said Carlisle coach Mark Uhiren. “I think Clarendon deserves a lot of credit. They played hard, and they played physical. There were a couple of players on their team that would not quit, would not stop what they were doing. And most of what they were doing was working. We were very, very fortunate to get out of this one. We keep finding ways to win. We don’t quit. We’ve had to prove ourselves several times already.”
Carlisle scored on its first drive of the game with a completion from quarterback Carson Cunningham to Houston Garrich for 26 yards,w a big factor. Jasean Harper had a run of 10 yards, and Devon Kendrick carried the ball the final nine yards for the touchdown. Kendrick also added the extra point for the 7-0 lead with 9:14 remaining in the opening quarter.
Clarendon answered with a nine-play 80-yard drive of its own, with quarterback Jama Cross scoring from one yard out. The Lions went for the two-point conversion and were successful to take an 8-7 edge.
Braiden Jenkins returned the ensuing kick off to the 49-yard line, and Kendrick picked up a first down, but the Bison fumbled the ball away on fourth down and eight.
It only took Clarendon one play to take advantage as Cross took the ball 59 yards for a touchdown and the 14-7 lead. The two-point conversion was no good.
The Bison bounced right back to tie as Kendrick had a run of 23 yards, and Harper ran the ball in from 15 yards away. Kendrick added the point after for the 14-14 score with 11:07 to go in the second quarter.
The Lions scored twice more in the quarter, once on the next possession to lead 20-14, and then after recovering another Carlisle fumble, took a 28-14 lead with 0:10 in the half. Marvin Horns scored both touchdowns.
The teams exchanged punts to start the third quarter, but the Bison moved 79 yards to score and cut into the lead with 3:43 remaining. Harper had a run of 39 yards and Kendrick found the end zone from one yard away. Kendrick also added the extra point and the score was 28-21.
Then, the Bison defense had Cross under duress, and Tristan Seidenswartz picked off his pass for a pick six to pull Carlisle to within one. The Bison went for the two-point conversion and it was good by Kendrick to take the lead at 29-28.
Clarendon had moved to the Bison 19-yard line and was threatening, but Cross was again intercepted, this time by Jenkins.
Carlisle took advantage of the turnover to score again as Ian Seidenswartz had runs of 17 and 33, and Harper finished the drive with a 25-yard touchdown scamper. The Bison went for two and it was no good, so the score was 35-28 with 6:20 remaining in the contest.
Clarendon answered and scored with 3:45 to go in the game, and the lead was cut to 35-34. The Lions went for the two-point conversion and the lead, but the pass by Cross was intercepted by Harper to maintain the lead for the Bison.
Carlisle then fumbled, and Clarendon recovered on the Bison 45-yard line. Horns got loose for 31 yards, but then the Carlisle defense held firm and on fourth and seven from the 13-yard line, Dylan Nichols led on a tackle for loss, the Lions had turned the ball over on downs, and the final score was set at 35-34 Bison.
Carlisle finished with 338 yards of offense, while the Lions had 515 yards. Kendrick led the Bison with 24 carries for 117 yards, two touchdowns, one two-point conversion, and three one-point conversions.
SPORTS STORY >> Grizzlies hand Panthers their second-straight 7A-Central loss
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
The scoreboard Friday night showed Fort Smith Northside beat Cabot, 35-21, but the Panthers really beat themselves with five turnovers, an errant long snap and an unsportsmanlike conduct called that caused the ejection of one of their offensive linemen.
The loss will make the Panthers, more than likely, the number five-seed in post-season play, which means they will have to win on the road.
For the Grizzlies, the win guarantees a second seed ranking and home field advantage.
The Panthers started out strong using eight minutes and a power running game captained by quarterback Jarrod Barnes.
Easton Seidl, listed in the program as a linebacker, was Cabot’s top running back, garnering about 100 yards, and the first score of the night, lumbering in from the one-yard line at the 4:30 mark of the first quarter.
An extra point by Mason Martin made it 7-0.
The Cabot defense looked solid early, forcing the Northside Grizzlies to punt.
But when Cabot took over this time, Barnes, who was shaken up during the first drive, was on the bench, and didn’t come back in until the fourth quarter. Cody Skinner was in at quarterback and had the team marching forward. On a second and one from their own 47, Austin Morse broke loose on a pitch out, but fumbled as he was hit 30 yards down field.
The Grizzlies capitalized on the fumble running two identical delayed handoffs to Kedrick Thomas who garnered 17 yards the first play and a touchdown on the second. The extra point tied things at 7 all.
Both teams traded short trips before a Cabot bad snap on a punt gave the Grizzlies the ball on the Panthers’ 19-yard line. The snap flew over the head of Eric Larsen who picked it up at the six-yard line to avoid a safety or an easy Grizzlies touchdown and ran it out to the 19-yard line.
Four plays later, Derrick Wise took it in around the right side for a Southside touchdown at the 2:44 mark.
Cabot countered behind the running of Seidl and Morse, tying it at 14-14.
But Northside went ahead for good with just five seconds left in the half Hunter Pendalton walked it in from the 1-yard line.
Northside was on the receiving end of the second-half opening kick-off and in less than three minutes made the score 14-21 in a six-play, 81 yard drive that was aided by a 15-yard Cabot penalty for hitting the quarterback after he went out-of-bounds.
A highlight for the Panthers came about midway in the second quarter when Dylan Smith nabbed his first interception of the year, stepping in from of Southside’s Greg Washington as the Grizzlies were looking to move the ball from the 45-yard line to the 28.
Cabot, behind that interception, bullied the ball all the way to first and goal at the five before fumbling it away on the 8-yard line. Three plays and 92-yards later, Cabot found itself behind by another touchdown, 14-28.
Things got testy early in the fourth quarter with the officials dropping flags for personal fouls. Cabot offensive lineman Colin Thompson got ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Barnes came back in to quarterback for Cabot in the fourth quarter, but the Panthers fumbled the ball on their own 34-yard line on a fourth down play, so either way Southside got the ball and one play later scored another touchdown. With the extra punt, Cabot was down 14-35.
Skinner was back at quarterback and Cabot scored with less than 40 seconds on the clock on a run by Morris to make the game 21-35.
An onside kick went Cabot’s way as the Panther’s recovered it on the 50-yard line. Barnes got blindsided on the next play even though he was 10-yards from the running play and laying flat on the ground in pain.
The next play was another interception and sealed the game.
Leader staff writer
The scoreboard Friday night showed Fort Smith Northside beat Cabot, 35-21, but the Panthers really beat themselves with five turnovers, an errant long snap and an unsportsmanlike conduct called that caused the ejection of one of their offensive linemen.
The loss will make the Panthers, more than likely, the number five-seed in post-season play, which means they will have to win on the road.
For the Grizzlies, the win guarantees a second seed ranking and home field advantage.
The Panthers started out strong using eight minutes and a power running game captained by quarterback Jarrod Barnes.
Easton Seidl, listed in the program as a linebacker, was Cabot’s top running back, garnering about 100 yards, and the first score of the night, lumbering in from the one-yard line at the 4:30 mark of the first quarter.
An extra point by Mason Martin made it 7-0.
The Cabot defense looked solid early, forcing the Northside Grizzlies to punt.
But when Cabot took over this time, Barnes, who was shaken up during the first drive, was on the bench, and didn’t come back in until the fourth quarter. Cody Skinner was in at quarterback and had the team marching forward. On a second and one from their own 47, Austin Morse broke loose on a pitch out, but fumbled as he was hit 30 yards down field.
The Grizzlies capitalized on the fumble running two identical delayed handoffs to Kedrick Thomas who garnered 17 yards the first play and a touchdown on the second. The extra point tied things at 7 all.
Both teams traded short trips before a Cabot bad snap on a punt gave the Grizzlies the ball on the Panthers’ 19-yard line. The snap flew over the head of Eric Larsen who picked it up at the six-yard line to avoid a safety or an easy Grizzlies touchdown and ran it out to the 19-yard line.
Four plays later, Derrick Wise took it in around the right side for a Southside touchdown at the 2:44 mark.
Cabot countered behind the running of Seidl and Morse, tying it at 14-14.
But Northside went ahead for good with just five seconds left in the half Hunter Pendalton walked it in from the 1-yard line.
Northside was on the receiving end of the second-half opening kick-off and in less than three minutes made the score 14-21 in a six-play, 81 yard drive that was aided by a 15-yard Cabot penalty for hitting the quarterback after he went out-of-bounds.
A highlight for the Panthers came about midway in the second quarter when Dylan Smith nabbed his first interception of the year, stepping in from of Southside’s Greg Washington as the Grizzlies were looking to move the ball from the 45-yard line to the 28.
Cabot, behind that interception, bullied the ball all the way to first and goal at the five before fumbling it away on the 8-yard line. Three plays and 92-yards later, Cabot found itself behind by another touchdown, 14-28.
Things got testy early in the fourth quarter with the officials dropping flags for personal fouls. Cabot offensive lineman Colin Thompson got ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Barnes came back in to quarterback for Cabot in the fourth quarter, but the Panthers fumbled the ball on their own 34-yard line on a fourth down play, so either way Southside got the ball and one play later scored another touchdown. With the extra punt, Cabot was down 14-35.
Skinner was back at quarterback and Cabot scored with less than 40 seconds on the clock on a run by Morris to make the game 21-35.
An onside kick went Cabot’s way as the Panther’s recovered it on the 50-yard line. Barnes got blindsided on the next play even though he was 10-yards from the running play and laying flat on the ground in pain.
The next play was another interception and sealed the game.
SPORTS EVENTS >> Bears punish parkview
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Sylvan Hills defense was smothering and the offense was machine-like as the Bears totally dismantled Little Rock Parkview 48-7 Friday at Blackwood Field in Sherwood.
The game was all but over by the end of the first quarter, when Sylvan Hills already led 28-0. That increased to 48-0 by halftime, and the Sylvan Hills backups played the entire second half as the clock ran continuously.
Sylvan Hills’ defense recorded two sacks, nine tackles for loss, blocked a punt, covered a fumble and intercepted a pass in the first half.
Total yardage in the opening half favored Sylvan Hills 341-14, and that’s the statistic Bear head coach Jim Withrow liked the most.
“That’s the thing, in order for us to win a championship, our defense has to be good,” Withrow said. “They were great tonight. They’ve gotten better every week and that’s what we want to see.”
The Bears got the ball first and floated down the field, picking up yards in big chunks. Dylan Fairrow had back-to-back runs of 21 and 14 yards before quarterback Jordan Washington kept for 15 to set up first down at the 10-yard line.
Two plays later, Washington got the final 7 yards of the drive and Wesley Smith added the extra point for a 7-0 lead with 9:17 on the clock.
Parkview lost 21 yards on its second play on a sack by safety Darius Waddell. The Patriots punted from their own 12, but the kick was blocked. Bear defender Davien Farr caught the deflected punt at the 8 and returned it to the 4.
From there, Deon Youngblood rumbled 4 yards for a 14-0 lead with 6:22 left in the opening quarter.
Sylvan Hills held Parkview to just 4 yards on the next possession and forced another punt.
Starting from their own 30, the Bears went 70 yards in five plays. The key play came on third and 9 when Washington found Aaron Dixon down the right sideline for a 48-yard gain to the 21. Youngblood went 14 to set up first and goal, and Washington did the rest for a 21-0 lead with 3:30 remaining in the opening quarter.
Sylvan Hills then covered an onside kick and started again at the Parkview 47.
The Patriots sacked Washington on first down, but the Bear QB hit Fairrow down the middle on second down. Fairrow dodged one tackler and turned it into a 51-yard touchdown reception.
Smith’s extra point made it 28-0 with 2:38 still to go in the first quarter.
Not much changed in the second quarter. Parkview got a little bit of offense going, but plays for lost yardage negated most of the gains.
Parkview’s best drive started at their own 31 and got all the way to the Sylvan Hills 30, but everything went wrong from there.
Running back Zachary Smith was dropped for a 9-yard loss by Dixon, and then a 4-yard loss by Fred Mackey. The shotgun snap then got away from quarterback Gary Allman and resulted in a loss of 23 yards. On the next play, the snap bounced off Parkview’s motion man and into the arms of Farr, which set the Bears up at the Patriot 39.
Three runs by Jamar Porter of 14, 16 and 9 yards were all the Bears needed for a 34-0 lead with 11:12 left in the half.
Parkview’s Zachery Smith reeled off a 16-yard run on the next possession, but on the next play, Sylvan Hills safety Camron Flippo got his first of two interceptions on the night.
Ryan Lumpkin caught a pass for 11 yards on the first play after the turnover. Three plays later on third and 10, Porter turned a swing pass to the left into a 22-yard gain to the Parkview 38.
A holding penalty backed the Bears up 10 yards, but Devante White made a 21-yard catch before Washington kept for 21 yards to the 15.
Porter then had runs of 12 and 3 for a 41-0 lead with 6:38 to go in the second quarter.
Parkview gained just 2 yards on its next possession before turning it over on downs at its own 37.
Lumpkin replaced Washington at quarterback and threw for 7 yards to Jamar Lane on second and 10. Porter got 3 yards on fourth and 1 to keep the drive going. Lumpkin then hit Porter for a 20-yard pass play to the Parkview 6. After a 4-yard run by Porter, Lumpkin hit tight end Cole Miller in the end zone for a 48-0 lead with 1:04 left in the half.
Parkview scored to set the final margin on the opening drive of the second half. Sophomore Chris Scroggins carried four times for 37 yards on the drive, including a 27-yard run for the touchdown.
Sylvan Hills’ offensive attack was balanced and spread out. The Bears ran for 219 yards though Porter was the leading rusher with 55 yards on eight carries. Sylvan Hills threw for 174 yards, with Washington completing 5 of 8 for 144, and Lumpkin going 3 for 3 for 30.
The Bears (8-1, 5-1) will travel to Beebe to close the regular season next week. The Badgers (4-5, 3-3) have struggled at times this season, but will be playing for a potential playoff berth and have beaten Sylvan Hills the past two seasons.
Leader sports editor
The Sylvan Hills defense was smothering and the offense was machine-like as the Bears totally dismantled Little Rock Parkview 48-7 Friday at Blackwood Field in Sherwood.
The game was all but over by the end of the first quarter, when Sylvan Hills already led 28-0. That increased to 48-0 by halftime, and the Sylvan Hills backups played the entire second half as the clock ran continuously.
Sylvan Hills’ defense recorded two sacks, nine tackles for loss, blocked a punt, covered a fumble and intercepted a pass in the first half.
Total yardage in the opening half favored Sylvan Hills 341-14, and that’s the statistic Bear head coach Jim Withrow liked the most.
“That’s the thing, in order for us to win a championship, our defense has to be good,” Withrow said. “They were great tonight. They’ve gotten better every week and that’s what we want to see.”
The Bears got the ball first and floated down the field, picking up yards in big chunks. Dylan Fairrow had back-to-back runs of 21 and 14 yards before quarterback Jordan Washington kept for 15 to set up first down at the 10-yard line.
Two plays later, Washington got the final 7 yards of the drive and Wesley Smith added the extra point for a 7-0 lead with 9:17 on the clock.
Parkview lost 21 yards on its second play on a sack by safety Darius Waddell. The Patriots punted from their own 12, but the kick was blocked. Bear defender Davien Farr caught the deflected punt at the 8 and returned it to the 4.
From there, Deon Youngblood rumbled 4 yards for a 14-0 lead with 6:22 left in the opening quarter.
Sylvan Hills held Parkview to just 4 yards on the next possession and forced another punt.
Starting from their own 30, the Bears went 70 yards in five plays. The key play came on third and 9 when Washington found Aaron Dixon down the right sideline for a 48-yard gain to the 21. Youngblood went 14 to set up first and goal, and Washington did the rest for a 21-0 lead with 3:30 remaining in the opening quarter.
Sylvan Hills then covered an onside kick and started again at the Parkview 47.
The Patriots sacked Washington on first down, but the Bear QB hit Fairrow down the middle on second down. Fairrow dodged one tackler and turned it into a 51-yard touchdown reception.
Smith’s extra point made it 28-0 with 2:38 still to go in the first quarter.
Not much changed in the second quarter. Parkview got a little bit of offense going, but plays for lost yardage negated most of the gains.
Parkview’s best drive started at their own 31 and got all the way to the Sylvan Hills 30, but everything went wrong from there.
Running back Zachary Smith was dropped for a 9-yard loss by Dixon, and then a 4-yard loss by Fred Mackey. The shotgun snap then got away from quarterback Gary Allman and resulted in a loss of 23 yards. On the next play, the snap bounced off Parkview’s motion man and into the arms of Farr, which set the Bears up at the Patriot 39.
Three runs by Jamar Porter of 14, 16 and 9 yards were all the Bears needed for a 34-0 lead with 11:12 left in the half.
Parkview’s Zachery Smith reeled off a 16-yard run on the next possession, but on the next play, Sylvan Hills safety Camron Flippo got his first of two interceptions on the night.
Ryan Lumpkin caught a pass for 11 yards on the first play after the turnover. Three plays later on third and 10, Porter turned a swing pass to the left into a 22-yard gain to the Parkview 38.
A holding penalty backed the Bears up 10 yards, but Devante White made a 21-yard catch before Washington kept for 21 yards to the 15.
Porter then had runs of 12 and 3 for a 41-0 lead with 6:38 to go in the second quarter.
Parkview gained just 2 yards on its next possession before turning it over on downs at its own 37.
Lumpkin replaced Washington at quarterback and threw for 7 yards to Jamar Lane on second and 10. Porter got 3 yards on fourth and 1 to keep the drive going. Lumpkin then hit Porter for a 20-yard pass play to the Parkview 6. After a 4-yard run by Porter, Lumpkin hit tight end Cole Miller in the end zone for a 48-0 lead with 1:04 left in the half.
Parkview scored to set the final margin on the opening drive of the second half. Sophomore Chris Scroggins carried four times for 37 yards on the drive, including a 27-yard run for the touchdown.
Sylvan Hills’ offensive attack was balanced and spread out. The Bears ran for 219 yards though Porter was the leading rusher with 55 yards on eight carries. Sylvan Hills threw for 174 yards, with Washington completing 5 of 8 for 144, and Lumpkin going 3 for 3 for 30.
The Bears (8-1, 5-1) will travel to Beebe to close the regular season next week. The Badgers (4-5, 3-3) have struggled at times this season, but will be playing for a potential playoff berth and have beaten Sylvan Hills the past two seasons.
Friday, October 28, 2016
EDITORIAL >> How to cut lines at polls
Early voting sites have seen long lines ever since opening on Monday.
In Jacksonville and Sherwood, people have waited an hour to cast their ballots. We think the long waits are caused by unnecessary, perhaps illegal, requests by poll workers that voters present photo ID. Poll workers should be reminded by election officials that they should not ask voters for identification, only their name and address.
Poll workers deserve better training on that point. Voter fraud is a partisan myth. It seldom occurs, and when it does it isn’t enough to sway an election.
The real election scandal is that most people don’t vote or care to learn about what’s on the ballot.
Another reason why polling sites have lengthy wait times is that there are seven ballot issues, though three have been disqualified by the state Supreme Court but nevertheless will be on the ballots and delaying voters who will struggle to read them and understand them the best they can.
Voters can speed things up by knowing that Issues 4, 5 and 7 have been declared illegitimate for various reasons but not in time to be removed from the ballot. Don’t waste time trying to read through the legalese, because no votes will be counted for those anyway.
But voters should be informed about Issues 1, 2, 3 and 6:
Issue 1 asks voters to extend county officials’ term limits from two years to four.
Issue 2 wants to allow governors to retain their authority while traveling out of state.
Issue 3 asks voters to allow the state and cities to give limitless incentives to businesses in the name of economic development and job creation. Sounds promising, but anyone who had reservations about Jacksonville hiring an out-of-state economic developer should know that cities could fork over millions of dollars to anyone with a convincing sales pitch. They can throw $100 bills down Main Street and call it economic development.
Issue 6 wants to legalize the use of medical marijuana for 17 illnesses.
We hope this helps move things along. Campaign season has gone on long enough.
In Jacksonville and Sherwood, people have waited an hour to cast their ballots. We think the long waits are caused by unnecessary, perhaps illegal, requests by poll workers that voters present photo ID. Poll workers should be reminded by election officials that they should not ask voters for identification, only their name and address.
Poll workers deserve better training on that point. Voter fraud is a partisan myth. It seldom occurs, and when it does it isn’t enough to sway an election.
The real election scandal is that most people don’t vote or care to learn about what’s on the ballot.
Another reason why polling sites have lengthy wait times is that there are seven ballot issues, though three have been disqualified by the state Supreme Court but nevertheless will be on the ballots and delaying voters who will struggle to read them and understand them the best they can.
Voters can speed things up by knowing that Issues 4, 5 and 7 have been declared illegitimate for various reasons but not in time to be removed from the ballot. Don’t waste time trying to read through the legalese, because no votes will be counted for those anyway.
But voters should be informed about Issues 1, 2, 3 and 6:
Issue 1 asks voters to extend county officials’ term limits from two years to four.
Issue 2 wants to allow governors to retain their authority while traveling out of state.
Issue 3 asks voters to allow the state and cities to give limitless incentives to businesses in the name of economic development and job creation. Sounds promising, but anyone who had reservations about Jacksonville hiring an out-of-state economic developer should know that cities could fork over millions of dollars to anyone with a convincing sales pitch. They can throw $100 bills down Main Street and call it economic development.
Issue 6 wants to legalize the use of medical marijuana for 17 illnesses.
We hope this helps move things along. Campaign season has gone on long enough.
TOP STORY >> One marijuana issue removed
By DEBORAH HORN
and JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writers
The state Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that supporters of Issue 7, the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act, failed to gather the necessary number of qualified petition signatures to be counted in the Nov. 8 general election.
Since the ballots are already prepared electronically and printed on paper and early voting has begun, Issue 7 will appear on the ballot but will not be counted.
Issue 6, a proposed constitutional amendment short titled the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment, passed an earlier challenge in the Supreme Court and remains on the ballot.
The sponsor of the stricken measure submitted 117,547 signatures to the secretary of state’s office. An initiated petition must contain at least 67,887 signatures of registered voters from at least 15 counties.
The secretary of state validated 77,516 signatures, nearly 10,000 more than required, but attorney Kara Benca challenged 17,746 of them for various deficiencies, and after striking about 12,104 signatures, sponsors of the measures were left with approximately 65,412—approximately 2,465 fewer than needed to appear on the ballot.
The court granted Benca’s petition, thus Issue 7 failed to have enough signatures to appear on the ballot.
The court’s majority disallowed 7,580 from canvassers who did not have State Police background checks, or had them after beginning to collect signatures.
Another 2,087 were disqualified because canvassers used their business addresses instead of their residence address. Another 3,329 signatures were disallowed because the voter signing didn’t include the residential address.
NO GROW-YOUR-OWN
Issue 7, the one disallowed by the Supreme Court, is perhaps best distinguished from the other because it included a “grow-your-own” provision for patients who lived too far from a dispensary.
“The sponsors of the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act will fight this decision, but the priority for Compassionate Arkansans is and has always been that patients have safe access to medical cannabis,” said Ryan Denham, deputy director of Issue 7.
ISSUE 6
Issue 6 or the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment is an initiated constitutional amendment.
A “no” vote opposes this amendment, while a “yes” vote creates a medical marijuana commission; supports the legalization of medical marijuana for 17 conditions; directs tax revenues to vocational and technical institutions and workforce training and the state’s General Revenue coffers.
Arkansans United for Medical Marijuana is a supporter of Issue 6 and David Couch, a sponsor, said, “If a physician believes it is appropriate for his patient then that’s his medical judgment. It should be respected.”
Statewide polls indicate that more than 80 percent of Arkansans support the use of medical marijuana when prescribed by a doctor.
Issue 7 or the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act would have allowed the General Assembly to determine the legality of medical marijuana by a two-thirds majority. It would have charged the state Health Department with oversight of medical marijuana.
GOVERNOR OPPOSES
Gov. Asa Hutchinson opposes Issue 6, along with Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, Arkansas Surgeon General Greg Bledsoe and U.S. Sen. John Boozman, as do the state Health Department, the Arkansas Faith and Ethics Council and Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.
Former U.S. Attorney and candidate for the U.S. Senate, Conner Eldridge on Thursday announced his support for Issue 6 on the Arkansas ballot, the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment.
Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley said he didn’t support either ballot issue. “Burning or inhaling anything causes more issues than not,” he said.
Bledsoe has taken the lead in opposition on behalf of Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and has made himself available to churches and civic groups to speak against medical marijuana.
WHY NOT?
Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, past director of the state Health Department, has a different take.
“If a doctor feels that smoking a plant or chewing and eating a plant…is helpful for their patients with certain chronic diseases and it makes them feel better, why not?” she told Jonathan Kaufman of KUAR. “Why not let them be as comfortable as they could be for as long as they could be?”
On Tuesday, she told The Leader, “There are several medical conditions in which patients and doctors felt it was beneficial.” She cited patients with nausea, vomiting and with cancer and AIDS, who lost appetite or suffered seizures and those with certain types of neurological diseases as possible beneficiaries.
She said marijuana was safer than the opoids currently prescribed in many cases.
LAWMAKERS OPPOSE
Eighty-four of 135 state lawmakers this week signed a letter opposing legalization of medical marijuana.
“Although I understand the need for compassionate care, I believe there is a better way than what is being offered to the voters of Arkansas with Issues 6 and 7, wrote House Speaker Jeremy Gillam (R-Judsonia). “I encourage Arkansans to vote against these issues and work with legislators in the upcoming session to craft a responsible and compassionate solution.”
“Many of us agree that there are medical compounds that can possibly be derived from marijuana, but we need to allow the medical community and the FDA to make those determinations, not those looking to simply profit off of Arkansans,” said Senate President Pro-Tempre Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe). “Please vote no on Issues 6 and 7.”
Several other local lawmakers are among those who signed the letter, including state representatives Tim Lemons (R-Cabot), Donnie Copeland (R-North Little Rock), Karilyn Brown, (R-Sherwood) Doug House (R-North Little Rock), Joe Farrer (R-Austin) and senators Jane English, (R-North Little Rock) and Eddie Joe Williams (R-Cabot).
“There could be some benefit, but the risks and downside is too great,” Williams said.
State Rep. Camille Bennett (D-Lonoke) was not listed on the press release, but she said this week that she’s not convinced that either one of these measures should pass.
DON’T PRETEND
“If we’re going to have recreational use, let’s vote on that and not pretend it’s about medical marijuana,” Bennett said. “I’m concerned about the ability to grow your own.” She said the list of conditions for which it could be prescribed is “so exhaustive that it seems to be opening up to recreational use.”
Bennett is challenged by Republican Roger Lynch. “I feel that allowing either, the way they are worded, is wrong. If someone is really in need, they should be able to go through their local doctor and pharmacy,” he said.
Lynch said there is an extract legally available.
LAWMAKER’S SON
Rep. Bob Johnson (D- Jacksonville) says his son, 100 percent combat disabled with post traumatic stress disorder, could be helped by the drug. “I see the benefit. I’m probably going to support it because my experience with him,” he said.
“I don’t want to get into recreational use, and I’d like to be assured of patients getting a quality product.”
His son, whom he didn’t name for privacy reasons, is chairman of the Veterans Impact and the Central Arkansas Mental Health Council.
Farrer called marijuana “a precursor to harder drugs, that’s where they start.” He said he’s against both measures. “I don’t think Arkansas is ready for it.”
State Rep. David Hill-man, (D-Almyra) said he’s against a constitutional amendment that allows a few people to get rich off it. “The Legislature could rewrite a better more comprehensive act,” he said.
LEGISLATION PLAN
He said he had conferred with Dan Douglas (R- Bentonville), who has a draft proposal that the general assembly could consider if neither of the ballot proposals is approved.
Douglas’ draft legislation, called the Arkansas Compassionate Use Act of 2017, would allow medical marijuana use for 10 conditions: cancer; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease or ALS); epilepsy or seizures related to head trauma; multiple sclerosis; Crohn’s disease; mitochondrial disease, Parkinson’s disease and sickle-cell disease.
In Thursday’s decision, Justice Courtney Hudson Goodson concurred with the majority in disqualifying Issue 7, but wrote that “As forewarned in (McDaniel v.) Spencer, this case illustrates that the general Assembly has made it unduly difficult for measures to be placed on the ballot.”
Goodson wrote that Act 1413 of 2013 infringes on citizens’ constitutional right to propose laws and amendments to the constitution, “The Act imposes arduous and burdensome requirements to the procedures for circulating and filing petitions for initiatives and referenda. By erecting such obstacles, the Act imposes a chilling effect on the rights of our citizens to initiate laws.”
and JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writers
The state Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that supporters of Issue 7, the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act, failed to gather the necessary number of qualified petition signatures to be counted in the Nov. 8 general election.
Since the ballots are already prepared electronically and printed on paper and early voting has begun, Issue 7 will appear on the ballot but will not be counted.
Issue 6, a proposed constitutional amendment short titled the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment, passed an earlier challenge in the Supreme Court and remains on the ballot.
The sponsor of the stricken measure submitted 117,547 signatures to the secretary of state’s office. An initiated petition must contain at least 67,887 signatures of registered voters from at least 15 counties.
The secretary of state validated 77,516 signatures, nearly 10,000 more than required, but attorney Kara Benca challenged 17,746 of them for various deficiencies, and after striking about 12,104 signatures, sponsors of the measures were left with approximately 65,412—approximately 2,465 fewer than needed to appear on the ballot.
The court granted Benca’s petition, thus Issue 7 failed to have enough signatures to appear on the ballot.
The court’s majority disallowed 7,580 from canvassers who did not have State Police background checks, or had them after beginning to collect signatures.
Another 2,087 were disqualified because canvassers used their business addresses instead of their residence address. Another 3,329 signatures were disallowed because the voter signing didn’t include the residential address.
NO GROW-YOUR-OWN
Issue 7, the one disallowed by the Supreme Court, is perhaps best distinguished from the other because it included a “grow-your-own” provision for patients who lived too far from a dispensary.
“The sponsors of the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act will fight this decision, but the priority for Compassionate Arkansans is and has always been that patients have safe access to medical cannabis,” said Ryan Denham, deputy director of Issue 7.
ISSUE 6
Issue 6 or the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment is an initiated constitutional amendment.
A “no” vote opposes this amendment, while a “yes” vote creates a medical marijuana commission; supports the legalization of medical marijuana for 17 conditions; directs tax revenues to vocational and technical institutions and workforce training and the state’s General Revenue coffers.
Arkansans United for Medical Marijuana is a supporter of Issue 6 and David Couch, a sponsor, said, “If a physician believes it is appropriate for his patient then that’s his medical judgment. It should be respected.”
Statewide polls indicate that more than 80 percent of Arkansans support the use of medical marijuana when prescribed by a doctor.
Issue 7 or the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act would have allowed the General Assembly to determine the legality of medical marijuana by a two-thirds majority. It would have charged the state Health Department with oversight of medical marijuana.
GOVERNOR OPPOSES
Gov. Asa Hutchinson opposes Issue 6, along with Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, Arkansas Surgeon General Greg Bledsoe and U.S. Sen. John Boozman, as do the state Health Department, the Arkansas Faith and Ethics Council and Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.
Former U.S. Attorney and candidate for the U.S. Senate, Conner Eldridge on Thursday announced his support for Issue 6 on the Arkansas ballot, the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment.
Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley said he didn’t support either ballot issue. “Burning or inhaling anything causes more issues than not,” he said.
Bledsoe has taken the lead in opposition on behalf of Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and has made himself available to churches and civic groups to speak against medical marijuana.
WHY NOT?
Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, past director of the state Health Department, has a different take.
“If a doctor feels that smoking a plant or chewing and eating a plant…is helpful for their patients with certain chronic diseases and it makes them feel better, why not?” she told Jonathan Kaufman of KUAR. “Why not let them be as comfortable as they could be for as long as they could be?”
On Tuesday, she told The Leader, “There are several medical conditions in which patients and doctors felt it was beneficial.” She cited patients with nausea, vomiting and with cancer and AIDS, who lost appetite or suffered seizures and those with certain types of neurological diseases as possible beneficiaries.
She said marijuana was safer than the opoids currently prescribed in many cases.
LAWMAKERS OPPOSE
Eighty-four of 135 state lawmakers this week signed a letter opposing legalization of medical marijuana.
“Although I understand the need for compassionate care, I believe there is a better way than what is being offered to the voters of Arkansas with Issues 6 and 7, wrote House Speaker Jeremy Gillam (R-Judsonia). “I encourage Arkansans to vote against these issues and work with legislators in the upcoming session to craft a responsible and compassionate solution.”
“Many of us agree that there are medical compounds that can possibly be derived from marijuana, but we need to allow the medical community and the FDA to make those determinations, not those looking to simply profit off of Arkansans,” said Senate President Pro-Tempre Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe). “Please vote no on Issues 6 and 7.”
Several other local lawmakers are among those who signed the letter, including state representatives Tim Lemons (R-Cabot), Donnie Copeland (R-North Little Rock), Karilyn Brown, (R-Sherwood) Doug House (R-North Little Rock), Joe Farrer (R-Austin) and senators Jane English, (R-North Little Rock) and Eddie Joe Williams (R-Cabot).
“There could be some benefit, but the risks and downside is too great,” Williams said.
State Rep. Camille Bennett (D-Lonoke) was not listed on the press release, but she said this week that she’s not convinced that either one of these measures should pass.
DON’T PRETEND
“If we’re going to have recreational use, let’s vote on that and not pretend it’s about medical marijuana,” Bennett said. “I’m concerned about the ability to grow your own.” She said the list of conditions for which it could be prescribed is “so exhaustive that it seems to be opening up to recreational use.”
Bennett is challenged by Republican Roger Lynch. “I feel that allowing either, the way they are worded, is wrong. If someone is really in need, they should be able to go through their local doctor and pharmacy,” he said.
Lynch said there is an extract legally available.
LAWMAKER’S SON
Rep. Bob Johnson (D- Jacksonville) says his son, 100 percent combat disabled with post traumatic stress disorder, could be helped by the drug. “I see the benefit. I’m probably going to support it because my experience with him,” he said.
“I don’t want to get into recreational use, and I’d like to be assured of patients getting a quality product.”
His son, whom he didn’t name for privacy reasons, is chairman of the Veterans Impact and the Central Arkansas Mental Health Council.
Farrer called marijuana “a precursor to harder drugs, that’s where they start.” He said he’s against both measures. “I don’t think Arkansas is ready for it.”
State Rep. David Hill-man, (D-Almyra) said he’s against a constitutional amendment that allows a few people to get rich off it. “The Legislature could rewrite a better more comprehensive act,” he said.
LEGISLATION PLAN
He said he had conferred with Dan Douglas (R- Bentonville), who has a draft proposal that the general assembly could consider if neither of the ballot proposals is approved.
Douglas’ draft legislation, called the Arkansas Compassionate Use Act of 2017, would allow medical marijuana use for 10 conditions: cancer; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease or ALS); epilepsy or seizures related to head trauma; multiple sclerosis; Crohn’s disease; mitochondrial disease, Parkinson’s disease and sickle-cell disease.
In Thursday’s decision, Justice Courtney Hudson Goodson concurred with the majority in disqualifying Issue 7, but wrote that “As forewarned in (McDaniel v.) Spencer, this case illustrates that the general Assembly has made it unduly difficult for measures to be placed on the ballot.”
Goodson wrote that Act 1413 of 2013 infringes on citizens’ constitutional right to propose laws and amendments to the constitution, “The Act imposes arduous and burdensome requirements to the procedures for circulating and filing petitions for initiatives and referenda. By erecting such obstacles, the Act imposes a chilling effect on the rights of our citizens to initiate laws.”
TOP STORY >> Early voting rolls on with few hiccups
By DEBORAH HORN
Leader staff writer
About 100 people stood in line to cast their vote at the Jacksonville Community Center on Thursday afternoon, and all the half dozen who were asked said they believed in the fairness and honesty of the state’s voting system.
Robert Bolwinick, a Pulaski County resident, couldn’t remember any incidents of voter fraud in the state but had heard of fraud in Texas on Facebook and was worried about the possibility of fraud in other parts of the country, including Arkansas. Nonetheless, he said he had faith in Arkansas’ polls.
Pulaski County voting station Chief Judge Laura Umfleet, who is overseeing the voting at the Jacksonville Community Center, said, “We take our job very seriously.”
Chris Powell, spokesman for the Arkansas Secretary of State’s Election Division, said there have been no reports of unauthorized poll watchers in the state. The Arkansas State Board of Election Com-missioners said the same.
Shawn Camp, assistant director of elections for Pulaski County, said his office has received “no reports of unauthorized poll watchers” in the county. However, he said poll workers are “trained to work with authorized poll watchers on Election Day.”
Susan Inman, who is a former director of elections and Arkansas Election Commission and in 2011 published a book titled “A How-to Handbook for those interested in Becoming County Election Commissioners in Arkansas,” said, “Allegations of voter fraud is like a slap in the face, an insult to all the people who work hard to ensure we have fair, honest elections. Voter fraud has not been and is not a problem in Arkansas.”
Inman is currently running for the state House of Representatives.
TRAINED POLL WORKERS
Not only do Umfleet’s six poll workers take an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution, they are also required to sign the oath and they receive classroom training on election process and procedure.
She said many of her poll workers are cross-trained in case of an absence or other problems.
“We can fill in for each other,” she said.
Training usually lasts from two to six hours and is repeated each year.
Umfleet said different polling jobs include varying responsibilities, such as overseeing the voter rolls or dealing with voter machines.
The rolls of poll workers is made up of Democrats and Republicans, but nonetheless, Inman said, “It’s not just that they take an oath, but most feel a sense of civic responsibility to get it right. Many chief judges and poll workers go above and beyond what’s expected of them.”
Inman added, “The entire process is very strict with lots of checks and balances.”
In addition to training, Inman said every voting machine in the state is checked for accuracy and publicly tested and certified with the county clerk’s office before the election.
Once this happens, the machine is locked, numbered and sealed.
Inman said if the seal is broken, it can’t be used, and the numbers must match the machine issued to a precinct.
Umfleet said, “I believe in our equipment 100 percent.”
Once the election is concluded, the machine is sealed and the results are certified by the County Board of Election Commissioners and filed with the secretary of state’s office, Inman said.
One woman who didn’t want to give her name, said, “I have faith in our system.”
YOUR VOTE DOESN’T REQUIRE AN ID
The polling place inside the Sherwood Senior Center also had about 75 people waiting to vote around 3 p.m., but Bill Satterfield of Pulaski County had his ID ready and was undaunted by the large number of voters.
Neither was Bill Wilde.
“I have faith in Arkansas. I think we have a good (voter) system,” Wilde said.
But at the Jacksonville poll located inside the community center on Municipal Drive, June Porter, a Pulaski County resident, strongly believes that in order to prevent voter fraud, “They should ask for ID.”
In Arkansas, poll workers do ask but the voter doesn’t have to produce ID, said Umfleet.
However, here are exceptions, including a first time voter who registered by mail but didn’t include the proper identification with the application.
If the name, date of birth or other information don’t match what is on the current voter roll, the voter may be asked for ID by the poll worker.
Early voting continues at a strong pace in central Arkansas with sunny, warm weather aiding those often waiting in relatively short lines. The election commission said that through Friday evening about 32,000 votes had been cast in Pulaski County this week.
In Jacksonville, the number of early voters topped 2,100 and in Sherwood it’s more than 2,200 for the week.
Early voting continues Saturday and all next week, as well as Monday, Nov. 6 in Cabot, Lonoke, Searcy and Little Rock before Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
UNCONSTITUTIONAL TO REQUIRE ID
According to Encyclopedia of American Politics, Ballotpedia, the poll workers’ request stems from a 2013 Senate Bill that required voters to provide photo identification despite Arkansas’ Constitution, which says the state has no right to write a law that prevents or impairs an Arkansan’s voting rights.
Then Gov. Mike Beebe vetoed the bill.
A few days later, the Arkansas Senate overrode Beebe’s veto, as did the Arkansas House of Representatives.
The next year, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas and the Arkansas Public Law Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of voters without ID.
“On April 24, 2014, a circuit court in Pulaski County ruled that the Arkansas State Legislature had exceeded its authority in implementing the voter ID bill,” Ballotpedia stated.
The Arkansas Supreme Court sided with the circuit court later that year.
In New Jersey in 1981, the Republican Party put together a coordinated poll watch that included armed police in precincts with a large number of minorities on the ballot rolls.
As a result, the Democratic Party filed a suit with the U.S. District Court and won.
For nearly 34 years, the RNC has been under a court decree, which is set to expire next year and prevents the party from taking ballot suppression or interrogation measures — similar to the ones Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is now calling for by his faithful because he claims the presidential election is “rigged.”
In response to RNC support of Trump’s call for “poll watchers” at polling sites around the country, the Democrats have again filed suit.
Leader staff writer
About 100 people stood in line to cast their vote at the Jacksonville Community Center on Thursday afternoon, and all the half dozen who were asked said they believed in the fairness and honesty of the state’s voting system.
Robert Bolwinick, a Pulaski County resident, couldn’t remember any incidents of voter fraud in the state but had heard of fraud in Texas on Facebook and was worried about the possibility of fraud in other parts of the country, including Arkansas. Nonetheless, he said he had faith in Arkansas’ polls.
Pulaski County voting station Chief Judge Laura Umfleet, who is overseeing the voting at the Jacksonville Community Center, said, “We take our job very seriously.”
Chris Powell, spokesman for the Arkansas Secretary of State’s Election Division, said there have been no reports of unauthorized poll watchers in the state. The Arkansas State Board of Election Com-missioners said the same.
Shawn Camp, assistant director of elections for Pulaski County, said his office has received “no reports of unauthorized poll watchers” in the county. However, he said poll workers are “trained to work with authorized poll watchers on Election Day.”
Susan Inman, who is a former director of elections and Arkansas Election Commission and in 2011 published a book titled “A How-to Handbook for those interested in Becoming County Election Commissioners in Arkansas,” said, “Allegations of voter fraud is like a slap in the face, an insult to all the people who work hard to ensure we have fair, honest elections. Voter fraud has not been and is not a problem in Arkansas.”
Inman is currently running for the state House of Representatives.
TRAINED POLL WORKERS
Not only do Umfleet’s six poll workers take an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution, they are also required to sign the oath and they receive classroom training on election process and procedure.
She said many of her poll workers are cross-trained in case of an absence or other problems.
“We can fill in for each other,” she said.
Training usually lasts from two to six hours and is repeated each year.
Umfleet said different polling jobs include varying responsibilities, such as overseeing the voter rolls or dealing with voter machines.
The rolls of poll workers is made up of Democrats and Republicans, but nonetheless, Inman said, “It’s not just that they take an oath, but most feel a sense of civic responsibility to get it right. Many chief judges and poll workers go above and beyond what’s expected of them.”
Inman added, “The entire process is very strict with lots of checks and balances.”
In addition to training, Inman said every voting machine in the state is checked for accuracy and publicly tested and certified with the county clerk’s office before the election.
Once this happens, the machine is locked, numbered and sealed.
Inman said if the seal is broken, it can’t be used, and the numbers must match the machine issued to a precinct.
Umfleet said, “I believe in our equipment 100 percent.”
Once the election is concluded, the machine is sealed and the results are certified by the County Board of Election Commissioners and filed with the secretary of state’s office, Inman said.
One woman who didn’t want to give her name, said, “I have faith in our system.”
YOUR VOTE DOESN’T REQUIRE AN ID
The polling place inside the Sherwood Senior Center also had about 75 people waiting to vote around 3 p.m., but Bill Satterfield of Pulaski County had his ID ready and was undaunted by the large number of voters.
Neither was Bill Wilde.
“I have faith in Arkansas. I think we have a good (voter) system,” Wilde said.
But at the Jacksonville poll located inside the community center on Municipal Drive, June Porter, a Pulaski County resident, strongly believes that in order to prevent voter fraud, “They should ask for ID.”
In Arkansas, poll workers do ask but the voter doesn’t have to produce ID, said Umfleet.
However, here are exceptions, including a first time voter who registered by mail but didn’t include the proper identification with the application.
If the name, date of birth or other information don’t match what is on the current voter roll, the voter may be asked for ID by the poll worker.
Early voting continues at a strong pace in central Arkansas with sunny, warm weather aiding those often waiting in relatively short lines. The election commission said that through Friday evening about 32,000 votes had been cast in Pulaski County this week.
In Jacksonville, the number of early voters topped 2,100 and in Sherwood it’s more than 2,200 for the week.
Early voting continues Saturday and all next week, as well as Monday, Nov. 6 in Cabot, Lonoke, Searcy and Little Rock before Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
UNCONSTITUTIONAL TO REQUIRE ID
According to Encyclopedia of American Politics, Ballotpedia, the poll workers’ request stems from a 2013 Senate Bill that required voters to provide photo identification despite Arkansas’ Constitution, which says the state has no right to write a law that prevents or impairs an Arkansan’s voting rights.
Then Gov. Mike Beebe vetoed the bill.
A few days later, the Arkansas Senate overrode Beebe’s veto, as did the Arkansas House of Representatives.
The next year, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas and the Arkansas Public Law Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of voters without ID.
“On April 24, 2014, a circuit court in Pulaski County ruled that the Arkansas State Legislature had exceeded its authority in implementing the voter ID bill,” Ballotpedia stated.
The Arkansas Supreme Court sided with the circuit court later that year.
In New Jersey in 1981, the Republican Party put together a coordinated poll watch that included armed police in precincts with a large number of minorities on the ballot rolls.
As a result, the Democratic Party filed a suit with the U.S. District Court and won.
For nearly 34 years, the RNC has been under a court decree, which is set to expire next year and prevents the party from taking ballot suppression or interrogation measures — similar to the ones Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is now calling for by his faithful because he claims the presidential election is “rigged.”
In response to RNC support of Trump’s call for “poll watchers” at polling sites around the country, the Democrats have again filed suit.
TOP STORY >> Ghosts of Lonoke County Courthouse
By DEBORAH HORN
Leader staff writer
There are published reports of hangings, a suicide and a death in a dumbwaiter, of a loud bang and a scream at midnight and an early morning ghost sighting by a well-respected and beloved Lonoke County journalist, law- enforcement officers and other residents.
Still, the county judge remains skeptical of ghosts roaming the halls of the Lonoke County Courthouse, but there are others who claim to have heard strange noises and witnessed flickering lights, an old man whose presence can’t be explained but who seems to have the ability to appear or disappear in an instant, and there are unusual office machinery malfunctions that can’t be explained.
For years, rumors of ghosts have swirled around the building that’s nearing it 88th birthday, but the grounds where it was built has a much longer, more colorful history dating to before the Civil War.
FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS
Just a few feet from Lonoke County Judge Doug Erwin’s office, his assistant, Leigh Kennedy claims her adding machine starts clicking at odd moments and when no one else is around.
“It’s always zeros,” Kennedy says about the key that acts up. She believes the ghost’s fascination with the adding machine means the ghost is a woman.
Her office mate, Jenny Nelson, nods in agreement, but otherwise, she says, she’s seen “nothing strange.”
The judge muses that perhaps Kennedy needs a new calculator.
Two floors above, Margaret Uzzell, court assistant to Circuit Court Judge Sandy Huckabee, has heard her share of noises, including the slamming doors — ones that were open only moments earlier, she says.
“I’ve never seen a ghost but have heard doors shutting and open in the morning before other people have gotten here and in the evening after everyone is gone.”
She tells the story of a prisoner who got stuck in the dumbwaiter and died.
Erwin says, “I’ve heard that story before.”
Uzzell says about the third floor, located just below the old jail, “I just don’t know, but there are things that I can’t explain.”
OFFICIAL REPORT
While Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley says he’s heard stories, Deputy Keith Sorrells, who serves at the courthouse, claims to have heard and seen “things” he can’t explain.
While locking up for the evening, Sorrells says there are strange noises and “lights going on and off” for no reason.
Staley says, “I’ve heard of the (old man) ghost” firsthand and from a trusted source.
Sorrells has heard the same story from others as well.
LONG HISTORY
A few blocks away at the Lonoke County Museum, its director, Sherryl Miller, says the Lonoke County government has a colored past that predates the Civil War and its first courthouse at Brownsville.
The first courthouse was a wooden structure, built in 1847, that burned down about seven years later. The next courthouse and the county jail were built in 1854 but were later torn down by the Union Army.
She says the brick was moved to DeValls Bluff, and it was used to construct ovens to bake bread needed to feed Union soldiers.
The cells and doors from the original jail were saved and used by a local Brownsville farmer as a corn crib.
The county seat was moved from Brownsville to Lonoke in 1873, and the courthouse at Brownsville was dismantled and moved to Lonoke.
In 1928, a new four-story brick courthouse with the county jail on the fourth floor was built. The original jail doors from the Brownsville jail were again recycled and used to secure prisoners on the fourth floor. There are 20 cells, 18 for men and two for women, and the jail opens to the roof, where prisoners could get a little exercise and fresh air.
The original door still hangs on the old jail.
The Lonoke County Courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
“It’s a beautiful courthouse,” Miller says.
HANGINGS AND SUICIDE
While Miller has no firsthand experience with ghosts at the courthouse, she says deaths have occurred at the building.
Before construction of the present day courthouse, Miller says, “Henry Burnett was hanged Thursday (Sept. 3, 1885) in the presence of 4,000 people,” according to a newspaper report.
She believes it probably happened on the courthouse lawn as was the tradition at that time.
Tragically in 1893, Lonoke County Judge H.T. Bradford’s son entered the nearby jail and with a gun he found there, he “took his own life,” whether accidentally or on purpose.
He was in the fifth grade.
Erwin tells the tale of a prisoner jumping off the fourth floor’s exercise yard on the roof to the ground below.
He didn’t die but broke both legs.
At one point, coffins for paupers were made onsite.
There’s also an Oct. 27, 1999 article, written by Ed Galucki for the Lonoke Democrat. The now retired reporter turned ghost hunter spent the night at the courthouse with his wife, Sue.
They were awakened at midnight by a gunshot or slamming door and a scream, but Galucki also reported seeing a vanishing old man and an overturned potted plant, among other unexplained events.
In retrospect, Galucki says, “I never did go back, though I wanted to. And yes, I think there is something there.”
He says he has tried to find someone to talk about the old man — perhaps the same one he saw — but, he adds, “I found no one willing to speak for print. They were worried about being thought a little crazy.”
BREATHING NEW LIFE INTO OLD JAIL
Whether ghosts roam these halls or not, Erwin says he wants to give the old jail new life.
“All it needs is a facelift,” that, Erwin says, includes a good cleaning and a new coat of paint.
Currently, it remains off-limits to the public because it’s filled with decades of court papers — already mountains of papers are being moved to the old county jail at 301 Court St. that was replaced by the new Lonoke County Sheriff Detention Center at 440 Dee Dee Lane.
Each county department gets its own cell for storage, he says.
Erwin believes he could do the work on the cheap, and the old jail with its 162-year-old door and other hardware, as well as the building, could potentially draw tourists to the courthouse, he said.
Leader staff writer
There are published reports of hangings, a suicide and a death in a dumbwaiter, of a loud bang and a scream at midnight and an early morning ghost sighting by a well-respected and beloved Lonoke County journalist, law- enforcement officers and other residents.
Still, the county judge remains skeptical of ghosts roaming the halls of the Lonoke County Courthouse, but there are others who claim to have heard strange noises and witnessed flickering lights, an old man whose presence can’t be explained but who seems to have the ability to appear or disappear in an instant, and there are unusual office machinery malfunctions that can’t be explained.
For years, rumors of ghosts have swirled around the building that’s nearing it 88th birthday, but the grounds where it was built has a much longer, more colorful history dating to before the Civil War.
FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS
Just a few feet from Lonoke County Judge Doug Erwin’s office, his assistant, Leigh Kennedy claims her adding machine starts clicking at odd moments and when no one else is around.
“It’s always zeros,” Kennedy says about the key that acts up. She believes the ghost’s fascination with the adding machine means the ghost is a woman.
Her office mate, Jenny Nelson, nods in agreement, but otherwise, she says, she’s seen “nothing strange.”
The judge muses that perhaps Kennedy needs a new calculator.
Two floors above, Margaret Uzzell, court assistant to Circuit Court Judge Sandy Huckabee, has heard her share of noises, including the slamming doors — ones that were open only moments earlier, she says.
“I’ve never seen a ghost but have heard doors shutting and open in the morning before other people have gotten here and in the evening after everyone is gone.”
She tells the story of a prisoner who got stuck in the dumbwaiter and died.
Erwin says, “I’ve heard that story before.”
Uzzell says about the third floor, located just below the old jail, “I just don’t know, but there are things that I can’t explain.”
OFFICIAL REPORT
While Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley says he’s heard stories, Deputy Keith Sorrells, who serves at the courthouse, claims to have heard and seen “things” he can’t explain.
While locking up for the evening, Sorrells says there are strange noises and “lights going on and off” for no reason.
Staley says, “I’ve heard of the (old man) ghost” firsthand and from a trusted source.
Sorrells has heard the same story from others as well.
LONG HISTORY
A few blocks away at the Lonoke County Museum, its director, Sherryl Miller, says the Lonoke County government has a colored past that predates the Civil War and its first courthouse at Brownsville.
The first courthouse was a wooden structure, built in 1847, that burned down about seven years later. The next courthouse and the county jail were built in 1854 but were later torn down by the Union Army.
She says the brick was moved to DeValls Bluff, and it was used to construct ovens to bake bread needed to feed Union soldiers.
The cells and doors from the original jail were saved and used by a local Brownsville farmer as a corn crib.
The county seat was moved from Brownsville to Lonoke in 1873, and the courthouse at Brownsville was dismantled and moved to Lonoke.
In 1928, a new four-story brick courthouse with the county jail on the fourth floor was built. The original jail doors from the Brownsville jail were again recycled and used to secure prisoners on the fourth floor. There are 20 cells, 18 for men and two for women, and the jail opens to the roof, where prisoners could get a little exercise and fresh air.
The original door still hangs on the old jail.
The Lonoke County Courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
“It’s a beautiful courthouse,” Miller says.
HANGINGS AND SUICIDE
While Miller has no firsthand experience with ghosts at the courthouse, she says deaths have occurred at the building.
Before construction of the present day courthouse, Miller says, “Henry Burnett was hanged Thursday (Sept. 3, 1885) in the presence of 4,000 people,” according to a newspaper report.
She believes it probably happened on the courthouse lawn as was the tradition at that time.
Tragically in 1893, Lonoke County Judge H.T. Bradford’s son entered the nearby jail and with a gun he found there, he “took his own life,” whether accidentally or on purpose.
He was in the fifth grade.
Erwin tells the tale of a prisoner jumping off the fourth floor’s exercise yard on the roof to the ground below.
He didn’t die but broke both legs.
At one point, coffins for paupers were made onsite.
There’s also an Oct. 27, 1999 article, written by Ed Galucki for the Lonoke Democrat. The now retired reporter turned ghost hunter spent the night at the courthouse with his wife, Sue.
They were awakened at midnight by a gunshot or slamming door and a scream, but Galucki also reported seeing a vanishing old man and an overturned potted plant, among other unexplained events.
In retrospect, Galucki says, “I never did go back, though I wanted to. And yes, I think there is something there.”
He says he has tried to find someone to talk about the old man — perhaps the same one he saw — but, he adds, “I found no one willing to speak for print. They were worried about being thought a little crazy.”
BREATHING NEW LIFE INTO OLD JAIL
Whether ghosts roam these halls or not, Erwin says he wants to give the old jail new life.
“All it needs is a facelift,” that, Erwin says, includes a good cleaning and a new coat of paint.
Currently, it remains off-limits to the public because it’s filled with decades of court papers — already mountains of papers are being moved to the old county jail at 301 Court St. that was replaced by the new Lonoke County Sheriff Detention Center at 440 Dee Dee Lane.
Each county department gets its own cell for storage, he says.
Erwin believes he could do the work on the cheap, and the old jail with its 162-year-old door and other hardware, as well as the building, could potentially draw tourists to the courthouse, he said.
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