DEE MATHIS
Dee Leslie Mathis, died Oct. 17. He is survived by his loving wife of 27 years, Deborah Durham Mathis; five sons, Nolan, Leslie, Steven, Shane and Matthew; three daughters, Stacy, Deanna and Sunny Scott; one brother, Glenn Mathis Jr., four sisters, Opal Jones of Lonoke, Deanee, Kec and wife Lynn of Horseshoe Lake, Shirley Pope Joy and husband, Leon of Mablevale, Glynda Parks and husband Ken of Conway and special long life partner, friend, brother and more. Doug Gordon; 12 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday at Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke. Graveside services will be in Concord Cemetery at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
SCOTT CEURVELS
Scott Alexander Ceurvels of Sherwood passed away Oct. 16. He was preceded in death by his father, John Edward Ceurvels. He is survived by his wife, Lori Lynn Ceurvels of Sherwood, mother, Charlene “Ceurvels” Livezey of Jacksonville; and sister, Johnette Ceurvels of Jacksonville. Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Wednesday at Bethel Baptist Church in Jacksonville with Bro. John Lindsey officiating. Interment will follow at Rest Hills Memorial Park. Arrangements by Roller-Owens Funeral Home.
DOMINIC CEDIO
Dominic Peter Cedio, 70, died Oct. 17. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn Cedio; one daughter, Debbie Cooley of Jacksonville; a son, Larry Cedio of South Carolina; one step-daughter, Barbara Ingle of Hazen; three grandchildren; brothers: Tony, Jimmy, Joseph, Roserareo and Anthony; sisters, Kathleen, Francis, Virginia, Ann, Josephine and Eva. Graveside services will be 2 p.m. Wednesday at Hicks Cemetery, with arrangements by Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke.
VERGIE RUCKS
Vergie Mae Rucks, 78, of Jack-sonville died Oct. 15 at Rebsamen Medical Center in Jacksonville. She was born May 15, 1927, in El Dorado to the late Robert and Willie Mae Cooper Rucks. She was also preceded in death by her husband, Curtis Stanley in 1955; brothers, J.B. Rucks, Au-drey Rucks, Howard Rucks, B.H. Rucks, Odell Rucks.
Rucks was employed 15 years for Dr. Grady Hill in El Dorado. She was a member of Shady Grove Baptist Church in El Dorado.
She is survived by her four children, Robert Stanley of Hephzibah, Ga., Lois Lewis of Jacksonville, Alvin Rucks of Montgomery, Ala., and Faye Cunningham of El Dorado, brother, Leo Rucks of El Dorado, 17 grandchildren, and 41 great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Thursday at Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home Chapel with Mike Roark officiating. Funeral arrangements are under direction of Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
ALMARINE BATTS
Almarine G. Batts of Jackson-ville, born April 27, 1936, passed away on Oct. 15 after a courageous battle with cancer. She was a devoted member of the Little Rock Air Force Base Chapel, Protestant Women of the Chapel, NCO Wives Club and volunteered for many years in the Pulaski County Special School District. She was preceded in death by both parents, one brother, dau-ghter, Tracy Lynn Coverly and husband, Horace Samual Batts.
Her sweetness will be remembered by her family and loved ones.
She is survived by three daughters, Rhonda Denise Kimble, L’Yana Capri Batts, Rachel Denise Futterer (Jason), two grandchildren;,Robert Wayne Gray, Jr. and Carmen Capri Kimble, two great-grandchildren, Aaron Samuel Futterer and Alayna Marie Futterer, one brother, Joseph Franklin Harris, Jr., two sisters, Joanna Bluford and Gloria “Peaches” Oates, 11 nieces, nine nephews, eight great-nieces, 15 great-nephews and “son” Don Landers.
The funeral will be held at the Little Rock Air Force Base Chapel on Friday at 11 a.m. Please allow time for security clearance. Visitation will be held at Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home, 1504 J.P. Wright Loop Road on Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
WILLIAM CARMICAL
William Eugene Carmical, 70, of Cabot, died Oct. 18.
He was born on Dec. 9, 1934, to William and Mabel Counts Carmical in North Little Rock. Eugene was a 33° Mason, a Shriner, an avid golfer, a member of Rolling Hills Country Club, United States Navy Reserve for eight years, retired owner of Gene’s T.V. in Lonoke, a 50-year member at Zion Hill Baptist Church in Cabot. Carmical was a dedicated grandfather and he also enjoyed hunting. Carmical was preceded in death by his parents, his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Roy Counts.
He is survived by his wife, Nell Duke Carmical; his children, Donny and wife, Laura Beth Carmical of Cabot and Christy and husband, Marty Cavin of Austin; grandchildren, Kortney and Drew Coates, Kaycee Carmical and Morgan Cavin.
Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m., Wednesday at 920 W. Hwy. 89. Funeral services are 10 a.m., Thursday at Zion Hill Baptist Church in Cabot with Bro. Terry Fortner officiating. Burial will be at Sumner Cemetery.
JAMES UZZELL
James Franklin Uzzell, 65, of Valdosta, Ga., died Oct. 15 at South Georgia Medical Center. He was born Nov. 11, 1939, in Hazen to the late James and Viola Uzzell. He was an accountant by trade most of his life and traveled the world in that capacity. He was most recently a computer programmer and part-time night auditor.
Survivors include two daughters, Sonya D. Uzzell of Nashville, Ga., and Cherlynn K. Boyer of Safety Harbor, Fla.; one granddaughter, Savannah M. Boyer of Safety Harbor, Fla., and two brothers, Ernest E. Uzzell of Lonoke and David H. Uzzell of Cabot.
Visitation will be 10 a.m. to noon Thursday at Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke. Graveside services will follow at 2 p.m. in Lonoke Cemetery.
ROBERT LITTON
Robert Litton, 72, formerly of Conway, died Oct. 16 at his residence in Valdosta, Ga., following a lengthy illness.
He was born on March 31, 1933, in Lonoke to the late A.G. and Susie Litton. He graduated from Lonoke High School and attended the University of Central Arkansas. He was retired from General Electric and was a member of the Church of Christ. He was preceded in death by his wife, Colleen Litton, a brother, W.C. Litton and a sister, Betty Durst. He is survived by two sons, Ed Litton of The Colony, Texas, Guy Litton and wife, Arsenia of Aubrey, Texas and one daughter, Suzanne Barnett and husband Hollis of Valdosta, Georgia; three granddaughters, Connie Barnett, Katie Barnett, Valentina Litton and numerous nieces and nephews.
Graveside services will be held in Lonoke Cemetery at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Arrangements by Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke.
Memorials may be made to the Cancer Society, Hospice of South Georgia or the Multiple Sclerosis Society.
THURSTON LA FERNEY
Thurston Louis La Ferney, of McRae, born Aug. 10, 1923, died on Oct. 14.
Born in Des Arc, he lived much of his life as a dairy farmer and rural mail carrier in McRae.
He was a veteran of the China-Burma-India Theatre in World War II, a chaplin of the Rural Carriers State Association and a member of McRae United Methodist Church, where he was a lay speaker. He was a lifelong hunter and fisherman and taught himself to play golf at the age of seventy-nine.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Louis and Viola La Ferney. He is survived by his beloved wife of sixty years, Nelda Jean; his daughter, Gwen Fullen and husband David of Arkadelphia; son, Marty La Ferney and wife, Nancy of West Memphis; grandchildren Mark Wade Fullen of Oceanside, Calif., John David Fullen and wife, Allison of Little Rock, Stacy Lynn Dougherty and husband, Robert of West Memphis, and Dustin Louis La Ferney and wife, Mrinda of Palestine, Texas; and two great-grandchildren.
As the oldest of seven children, he will be deeply missed by his brothers, Charles La Ferney of Searcy, Claude La Ferney and wife Mary Lou, also of Searcy, Gerald La Ferney and wife, LaVeta of Austin, and his sisters Juanita Olmstead of Beebe, Freda Miller of McRae and Cleo Milton and husband, Charles of Searcy. Services were held Tuesday, at Westbrook Funeral Home, with burial in Meadowbrook Memorial Gardens.
ELMO "BO" CUMMINGS
Elmo Arthur “Bo” Cummings, 92, of Floyd, left this world on Oct. 14. He was born near El Paso, on September 12, 1913. Mr. Cum-mings was proud to be a veteran. He served in the Army in World War II and earned a Purple Heart. He loved coon hunting, fishing and baseball. He was an avid St. Louis Cardinals fan.
Suffering great pain from cancer, he was anxiously awaiting to be reunited with his twin brother, Elmer, his mother, Maud West Stoops, his baby girl, Connie and numerous other family members and friends. He leaves behind his beloved wife of over 65 years, Alma Cummings; two sons, Jimmy Cummings and wife, Mary of Pine Bluff, Joe Cummings and wife, Cindy of Romance; and one daughter, Linda Winfrey and husband, Lyndel of Floyd. He is also survived by five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
The family wishes to express their appreciation for all the loving support and encouragement given to them and their loved one. They especially want to thank Hospice for sending them an angel in the form of “Nurse Jim.”
He wished to be cremated with no public service or fuss. His family is respecting this wish.
Arrangements were made by Westbrook Funeral Home of Beebe.
BEULAH MONTGOMERY
Beulah A. Montgomery, 81, of Jacksonville, passed away Oct. 16.
She was born to Calvin and Nancy “Hamilton” Arnold in Norfolk.
She was preceded in death by her husband James of 59 years.
Montgomery is survived by her children, Glenn A. Montgomery and his wife, Janis; Janis Thomp-son and husband, James; and Beth Simons; sisters Ethel Lucas, Bernice Van Matre and Ione Partney; grandchildren Blake Montgomery and wife, Shannon; Melissa Jacob and husband, Kevin and Jeffery Hughes; great grandchildren Miles Montgomery, Anna Claire Jacob and Katherine Jacob.
She is also survived by a host of nieces and nephews. The family would like to thank the staff at Woodland Hills in Jacksonville for their loving care. Memorial services were held Tuesday at Griffin Leggett Rest Hills Funeral Home.
Memorials may be made to the American Diabetes Assoc., 212 Natural Resource Drive, Little Rock, Ark., 72205.
ROBERT PHILLIPS
Robert Oscar Phillips, 62, of Jacksonville, passed away Oct. 15 in North Little Rock.
He was born in Stamps on Nov. 9, 1942, to Paul and Irene “Warner” Phillips. In the 1960’s through the 1980’s he built houses for Thurman Lewis in Jacksonville and Bradley T. James. In 1980, he started his own business building houses in Jacksonville.
He was very active in Native American affairs and was past president of the Indian Inter-Tribal Association of Arkansas.
He is survived by his loving wife, Madelynn; three children, William and wife Jynnifer Leggett, and Angella and Bobby Phillips; brother, Larry and wife, Silvia Phillips of Cabot; sisters, Alice and husband Charles Shinn of Glenwood, Peggy and husband, Donald L’Amay of Jonesville, La., and Wanda and husband Rodney Peterson of Magnolia; 10 grandchildren, one great-grandchild and 10 nieces and nephews.
Funeral services were held Tues-day at Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home Chapel followed by interment in Shiloh Cemetery in Stamps. Funeral arrangements are under direction of Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials be made to Robert Phillips, C/O John Loyd, J.P.L. Corporation, P.O. Box 342, Jacksonville, Ark., 72078.
ROY LEE JONES
Roy Lee Jones, 87, of Jacksonville, passed away Oct. 17. Jones was retired from AM&F Cycle Company. He was a loving husband, father and grandfather who will be deeply missed.
His wife of 66 years, Lois E. Melton, survives him.
He is also survived by two sisters, Mary Green of Bryant and Bernice Peters of Texas; one daughter, Shirley Ruth Peter of Little Rock; two grandchildren, Dr. Mark Corbell and Dr. Nathan Corbell and two great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be held Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Griffin Leggett Rest Hills Funeral Home in North Little Rock. Funeral services will be held Friday at 1:30 p.m. at Bayou Meto Baptist Church, 26200 Hwy. 107 in Jacksonville.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
NEIGHBORS >> National Guard unit visits Cabot Central Elementary, spreads anti-drug message
By SARA GREENE
Leader staff writer
The Arkansas National Guard on Friday visited students at Cabot Central Elementary School and talked about the fight the war on drugs in the state.
Guardsmen from the Counter Drug Unit from Camp Robinson arrived in a Light armored vehicle (LAV) and an UH-1 helicopter.
“That’s the most awesome sight to see the helicopter landing and taking off at our campus,” said Stacy Sales, a first-grade teacher at Central Elementary.
“Our neighbors around the school came out to watch too.”
After arriving, the Guardsmen told students about patrolling Arkansas with local sheriff departments to help root out drugs.
Sales says it is never too early to teach children how to say no to drugs.
“We discussed what drugs are, and why students shouldn’t take prescription medicine that isn’t prescribed for them,” she said.
Afterwards, students got to explore the interior of the LAV and helicopter.
The visit was part of Red Ribbon Week, which officially starts Oct. 24. As part of Red Ribbon Week, public schools across the country coordinate daily activities to remind children to keep healthy and away from drugs.
Red Ribbon Week began in 1985 when Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena was kidnapped and murdered in Mexico while investigating marijuana and cocaine traffickers.
In Camarena’s hometown of Calexico, Calif., high school friend Henry Lozano and Cong. Duncan Hunter-R launched “Camarena Clubs” where hundreds of club members wore red ribbons and pledged to lead drug-free lives to honor the sacrifices made by Kiki Camarena and others on behalf of all Americans.
Red Ribbon Week eventually gained momentum throughout California.
In 1985, club members presented the “Camarena Club Proclamation” to then First Lady Nancy Reagan, bringing it national attention.
Later that summer, parent groups in California, Illinois and Virginia began promoting the wearing of Red Ribbons nationwide during late October.
The campaign was then formalized in 1988 with then President Ronald Regan and First Lady Nancy Regan serving as honorary chairpersons.
Today the week-long event is sponsored by the National Family Partnership, previously known as the Federation of Parents for Drug Free Youth.
It has become the annual catalyst to show intolerance for drugs in schools, work places and communities.
Leader staff writer
The Arkansas National Guard on Friday visited students at Cabot Central Elementary School and talked about the fight the war on drugs in the state.
Guardsmen from the Counter Drug Unit from Camp Robinson arrived in a Light armored vehicle (LAV) and an UH-1 helicopter.
“That’s the most awesome sight to see the helicopter landing and taking off at our campus,” said Stacy Sales, a first-grade teacher at Central Elementary.
“Our neighbors around the school came out to watch too.”
After arriving, the Guardsmen told students about patrolling Arkansas with local sheriff departments to help root out drugs.
Sales says it is never too early to teach children how to say no to drugs.
“We discussed what drugs are, and why students shouldn’t take prescription medicine that isn’t prescribed for them,” she said.
Afterwards, students got to explore the interior of the LAV and helicopter.
The visit was part of Red Ribbon Week, which officially starts Oct. 24. As part of Red Ribbon Week, public schools across the country coordinate daily activities to remind children to keep healthy and away from drugs.
Red Ribbon Week began in 1985 when Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena was kidnapped and murdered in Mexico while investigating marijuana and cocaine traffickers.
In Camarena’s hometown of Calexico, Calif., high school friend Henry Lozano and Cong. Duncan Hunter-R launched “Camarena Clubs” where hundreds of club members wore red ribbons and pledged to lead drug-free lives to honor the sacrifices made by Kiki Camarena and others on behalf of all Americans.
Red Ribbon Week eventually gained momentum throughout California.
In 1985, club members presented the “Camarena Club Proclamation” to then First Lady Nancy Reagan, bringing it national attention.
Later that summer, parent groups in California, Illinois and Virginia began promoting the wearing of Red Ribbons nationwide during late October.
The campaign was then formalized in 1988 with then President Ronald Regan and First Lady Nancy Regan serving as honorary chairpersons.
Today the week-long event is sponsored by the National Family Partnership, previously known as the Federation of Parents for Drug Free Youth.
It has become the annual catalyst to show intolerance for drugs in schools, work places and communities.
SPORTS >> Jacksonville to host East conference tournament
By RAY BENTON
Leader staff writer
The AAAAA-East volleyball conference tournament finally comes to Jacksonville this Saturday afternoon. The event was supposed to be at JHS last year, but flood damage to the gym due to a leaky roof forced it to Jonesboro.
Now, the Lady Devils have a new floor and probably the best chance to win the tournament they’ve ever had.
The field of five teams is wide open this year. For most of the past 15 years, Jonesboro has been the easy favorite to win the East’s top seed for the state tournament, and have done so.
This year, the Lady Hurricane finished 2-2 in league play and got the No. 2 seed behind 4-0 Moun-tain Home.
Jonesboro, 2-2, opens the tournament against Cabot, who finished 1-3 and got the five seed, at noon Saturday.
Jacksonville will play Sylvan Hills, 1-3, at 2 p.m. while Mountain Home just sits and waits for the final round.
Jacksonville coach Phil Bradley believes there are some advantages to playing the tournament at home, but also says it comes with extra distractions.
“It’s good to play it at home, I just wish there weren’t so many other things going on at the same time,” Bradley said. “There’s a big football game and a dance that weekend, and the ACT is being given here at our school. I know some teams had some players miss the tournament last year to take that test, and that’s likely to happen this year.”
The advantage, Bradley hopes, will come from the crowd. The head Devil believes the crowd helped his team in home matches against Sylvan Hills and Cabot, and hurt it at Mountain Home.
“We had just won game two and tied it up there (Mountain Home) when football practice let out and their classmates showed up,” Bradley said. “They really got behind those girls and I think it lifted them up, and maybe got to us a little bit. I think we had that same advantage against Sylvan Hills and Cabot. I know it’s a Saturday afternoon, but I hope we have some people show up to yell for our girls. I hope there’s a lot of students there.”
Cabot and Sylvan Hills have the opportunity to bring a crowd as well, and the opening-round matches should be exciting. Jonesboro beat Cabot three games to two in the conference matchup earlier this season. It was one of the most exciting matches of the year in the East.
Jacksonville beat Sylvan Hills 3-0 in the conference matchup at Jacksonville, and 3-1 in a non-conference match at Sylvan Hills.
That would tend to make one comfortable with the matchup, but not Bradley.
“It’s tough to beat a team three times in one year,” Bradley said. “Sylvan Hills has some kids capable of coming up big, and we can’t afford to go into that thing thinking we’ve got it won. There’s going to be one pretty good team not make it (to state).”
Leader staff writer
The AAAAA-East volleyball conference tournament finally comes to Jacksonville this Saturday afternoon. The event was supposed to be at JHS last year, but flood damage to the gym due to a leaky roof forced it to Jonesboro.
Now, the Lady Devils have a new floor and probably the best chance to win the tournament they’ve ever had.
The field of five teams is wide open this year. For most of the past 15 years, Jonesboro has been the easy favorite to win the East’s top seed for the state tournament, and have done so.
This year, the Lady Hurricane finished 2-2 in league play and got the No. 2 seed behind 4-0 Moun-tain Home.
Jonesboro, 2-2, opens the tournament against Cabot, who finished 1-3 and got the five seed, at noon Saturday.
Jacksonville will play Sylvan Hills, 1-3, at 2 p.m. while Mountain Home just sits and waits for the final round.
Jacksonville coach Phil Bradley believes there are some advantages to playing the tournament at home, but also says it comes with extra distractions.
“It’s good to play it at home, I just wish there weren’t so many other things going on at the same time,” Bradley said. “There’s a big football game and a dance that weekend, and the ACT is being given here at our school. I know some teams had some players miss the tournament last year to take that test, and that’s likely to happen this year.”
The advantage, Bradley hopes, will come from the crowd. The head Devil believes the crowd helped his team in home matches against Sylvan Hills and Cabot, and hurt it at Mountain Home.
“We had just won game two and tied it up there (Mountain Home) when football practice let out and their classmates showed up,” Bradley said. “They really got behind those girls and I think it lifted them up, and maybe got to us a little bit. I think we had that same advantage against Sylvan Hills and Cabot. I know it’s a Saturday afternoon, but I hope we have some people show up to yell for our girls. I hope there’s a lot of students there.”
Cabot and Sylvan Hills have the opportunity to bring a crowd as well, and the opening-round matches should be exciting. Jonesboro beat Cabot three games to two in the conference matchup earlier this season. It was one of the most exciting matches of the year in the East.
Jacksonville beat Sylvan Hills 3-0 in the conference matchup at Jacksonville, and 3-1 in a non-conference match at Sylvan Hills.
That would tend to make one comfortable with the matchup, but not Bradley.
“It’s tough to beat a team three times in one year,” Bradley said. “Sylvan Hills has some kids capable of coming up big, and we can’t afford to go into that thing thinking we’ve got it won. There’s going to be one pretty good team not make it (to state).”
SPORTS >> Ex-teammates now rivals
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports writer
The talk surrounding this week’s matchup between Jackson-ville and Forrest City has revolved mostly around the side story of the two head coaches involved in the matchup. Jacksonville’s Mark Whatley and Forrest City’s Scott Reed were teammates on the last Red Devil state championship team in 1981, and have remained friends over the years.
While the fans may be talking about it, the coaches themselves are downplaying the story line, and rightfully so. This game not only has playoff implications, but potential conference championship implications as well.
Whatley barely spoke of the side story.
“We’re not playing,” Whatley said. “We’ve both got a bunch of kids working their tails off playing this game. We’ve stayed in touch. He’s a great guy, a great coach who’s had a lot of success and he’s doing an outstanding job turning that program around. I have all the respect in the world for him. Other than that, it’s his team I’m concerned with this week.”
His counterpart, a good friend and former teammate, also downplayed the significance of the coaching story, but did talk about the friendship, and what it will be like coming back to Jan Crow Stadium for the first time in many years.
“Mark and I played on the same baseball team together in the 6th grade, and played together from then on up,” Reed said. “We’ve played a lot of games together and he was a heckuva teammate. I’m very happy for him and it looks like he’s got ‘em rolling. They’re a lot better now than they were at the beginning of the season. This is a big, big game for both teams, any way you slice it. I’ve played in some big games at that stadium, and it’s going to be very odd for me standing on that other sideline.
“But as far as that being important to this game, I don’t really think so. Mark and I have had our time. This is for our kids that have worked so hard to make this game so important.”
Whatley and Reed were somewhat less than satisfied with their teams’ performances last week.
Jacksonville beat Searcy 31-20, but it wasn’t as complete a performance as Whatley wanted to see after showing steady improvement in every game over the previous three weeks.
Jacksonville missed a couple of opportunities to score that likely would have sealed the game much earlier than it did. They also missed an assignment or two on defense that allowed the Lions to score.
“Defensively it was just a couple of busted assignments, mistakes we hadn’t been making lately,” Whatley said. “We can fix that. Rick (defensive coordinator Rick Russell) has done an outstanding job with the defense this year and I’m sure we’ll get those mistakes corrected.”
The offense doesn’t need a lot of correcting, according to the head coach. It just needs to be more opportunistic.
“We just need to be a little more potent running the offense,” Whatley said. “There were a couple different times when we had everything in place to score and just didn’t for different reasons. We could make it easier on ourselves if we would be more potent and score on those plays when it’s there.”
Reed wanted to see his team finish better than it did in a 23-21 win over Sylvan Hills.
The Mustangs were up 23-7 with less than a minute remaining, but the Bears scored twice in the final minute, but failed to convert a two-point try that would have sent the game into overtime.
“We’re going to have to do a lot of things better to even compete this week,” Reed aid. “Most teams have guys, where you bust an assignment, they’re going to get 10 or 12 yards on you. Jacksonville has a couple of guys that will hang six on you no matter where they are on the field. We’re going to have to play our responsibilities, and play smart.”
Reed said the offense had the same task.
“They’ve got guys on defense that just seem to have a nose for the football,” Reed said. “We’re going to have to be safe with it, and accurate.”
Forrest City throws the ball around a lot, but it’s also got a big bruising running back named Ben Wright that has wreaked havoc on opposing defenses lined up to stop the passing game.
“Oh he’s a load,” Whatley said. “He’s a rumbler and a stumbler and we’re going to have to gang- tackle him. We’ve got to make sure we bring him down because you can’t just run up and knock him down. People bounce off him that do that.”
Reed says Wright’s and the running game’s role will likely be determined at game time.
“I just don’t know,” Reed said. “We’ve had games where I thought we’d have to pass for 200 yards to win, and the running game did well. Then we’ve had games where I thought we’d have to be able to run, and the passing game hurt ‘em a lot.”
When asked what he thinks will work against Jacksonville, Reed responded, “We’re still looking. I just don’t know yet.”
Leader sports writer
The talk surrounding this week’s matchup between Jackson-ville and Forrest City has revolved mostly around the side story of the two head coaches involved in the matchup. Jacksonville’s Mark Whatley and Forrest City’s Scott Reed were teammates on the last Red Devil state championship team in 1981, and have remained friends over the years.
While the fans may be talking about it, the coaches themselves are downplaying the story line, and rightfully so. This game not only has playoff implications, but potential conference championship implications as well.
Whatley barely spoke of the side story.
“We’re not playing,” Whatley said. “We’ve both got a bunch of kids working their tails off playing this game. We’ve stayed in touch. He’s a great guy, a great coach who’s had a lot of success and he’s doing an outstanding job turning that program around. I have all the respect in the world for him. Other than that, it’s his team I’m concerned with this week.”
His counterpart, a good friend and former teammate, also downplayed the significance of the coaching story, but did talk about the friendship, and what it will be like coming back to Jan Crow Stadium for the first time in many years.
“Mark and I played on the same baseball team together in the 6th grade, and played together from then on up,” Reed said. “We’ve played a lot of games together and he was a heckuva teammate. I’m very happy for him and it looks like he’s got ‘em rolling. They’re a lot better now than they were at the beginning of the season. This is a big, big game for both teams, any way you slice it. I’ve played in some big games at that stadium, and it’s going to be very odd for me standing on that other sideline.
“But as far as that being important to this game, I don’t really think so. Mark and I have had our time. This is for our kids that have worked so hard to make this game so important.”
Whatley and Reed were somewhat less than satisfied with their teams’ performances last week.
Jacksonville beat Searcy 31-20, but it wasn’t as complete a performance as Whatley wanted to see after showing steady improvement in every game over the previous three weeks.
Jacksonville missed a couple of opportunities to score that likely would have sealed the game much earlier than it did. They also missed an assignment or two on defense that allowed the Lions to score.
“Defensively it was just a couple of busted assignments, mistakes we hadn’t been making lately,” Whatley said. “We can fix that. Rick (defensive coordinator Rick Russell) has done an outstanding job with the defense this year and I’m sure we’ll get those mistakes corrected.”
The offense doesn’t need a lot of correcting, according to the head coach. It just needs to be more opportunistic.
“We just need to be a little more potent running the offense,” Whatley said. “There were a couple different times when we had everything in place to score and just didn’t for different reasons. We could make it easier on ourselves if we would be more potent and score on those plays when it’s there.”
Reed wanted to see his team finish better than it did in a 23-21 win over Sylvan Hills.
The Mustangs were up 23-7 with less than a minute remaining, but the Bears scored twice in the final minute, but failed to convert a two-point try that would have sent the game into overtime.
“We’re going to have to do a lot of things better to even compete this week,” Reed aid. “Most teams have guys, where you bust an assignment, they’re going to get 10 or 12 yards on you. Jacksonville has a couple of guys that will hang six on you no matter where they are on the field. We’re going to have to play our responsibilities, and play smart.”
Reed said the offense had the same task.
“They’ve got guys on defense that just seem to have a nose for the football,” Reed said. “We’re going to have to be safe with it, and accurate.”
Forrest City throws the ball around a lot, but it’s also got a big bruising running back named Ben Wright that has wreaked havoc on opposing defenses lined up to stop the passing game.
“Oh he’s a load,” Whatley said. “He’s a rumbler and a stumbler and we’re going to have to gang- tackle him. We’ve got to make sure we bring him down because you can’t just run up and knock him down. People bounce off him that do that.”
Reed says Wright’s and the running game’s role will likely be determined at game time.
“I just don’t know,” Reed said. “We’ve had games where I thought we’d have to pass for 200 yards to win, and the running game did well. Then we’ve had games where I thought we’d have to be able to run, and the passing game hurt ‘em a lot.”
When asked what he thinks will work against Jacksonville, Reed responded, “We’re still looking. I just don’t know yet.”
EDITORIAL >> Prosecutor can make ’em talk
WASHINGTON — Re-porter: Could you loosen the electrodes, please?
Special Prosecutor: No. Just answer the questions.
Reporter: But I don’t know anything! That’s why I’m a reporter!
Special Prosecutor: Do you know Karl Rove?
Reporter: Not really. YEOWWW!
Special Prosecutor: That was a three. The generator goes up to 10. Do you want me to turn it higher?
Reporter: No, no! I’ll talk!
Special Pro-secutor: I’ll show you a picture. Is that you in the picture?
Reporter: Yes. It must have been taken at the last White House Christmas party. That’s the only time I wear my blue suit.
Special Prosecutor: And who is that man 10 feet behind you, eating baby lamb chops?
Reporter: I ... I’m not sure. YEOWWW!!
Special Prosecutor: That was a four. Now, I ask you again, who is the man behind you eating baby lamp chops?
Reporter: It’s Rove! Karl Rove!
Special Prosecutor: So you do know him.
Reporter: I know him. Everybody knows him. But he doesn’t return my phone calls.
Special Prosecutor: Does he use a mail drop? Or a podcast? Does he ever IM you? Does he use the screen name UnindictedBoyGenius?
Reporter: No, I swear.
Special Prosecutor: Do you know Valerie Flame, a.k.a Victoria Wilson, a.k.a Wood-row Wilson, a.k.a. Queen Victoria?
Reporter: Those people don’t exist. YEOOWWW! I mean they are the names that Judy Miller, The New York Times reporter, wrote in her notebook! But when she wrote Valerie Flame, she really meant Valerie Plame. And when she wrote Victoria Wilson, she really meant Valerie Wilson.
Special Prosecutor: Yes, it was a code. A clever code that took my team of code-breakers 22 months and $17 million to break. I show you a second picture. Do you recognize the man standing next to Karl Rove at the White House Christmas party?
Reporter: The man cutting up his baby lamb chops for him? That’s Scooter Libby.
Special Prosecutor: Our code-breakers, supplemented by a special team from Halli-burton, have cracked that code, too. “Scooter” Libby is really Lewis Libby.
Reporter: Everybody knows that. YEOWWW! I mean, good work.
Special Prosecutor: On June 23, 2003, Judy Miller met with Lewis, a.k.a. Scooter, a.k.a. Skateboard, a.k.a Rollerblade Libby in the Old Executive Office Building. At that meeting, Libby might have told her that the wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson IV might work at the CIA. Miller wrote, “Wife works at bureau?” in her notebook. Do you deny that?
Reporter: No, except that the CIA is an agency, not a bureau.
Special Prosecutor: Why do reporters get things so wrong in their notes?
Reporter: It makes it easier to make things up later.
Special Prosecutor: Who is “Miss Run Amok”?
Reporter: That is what Judy Miller calls herself.
Special Prosecutor: Did you know that Miss Run Amok spelled backward is “Koma Nur Sim?”
Reporter: What does that mean?
Special Prosecutor: We think it’s more code. Bob Novak spelled backward is Kav On Bob. There’s a pattern there. Given several more years and a billion more dollars, we might be able to crack it.
Reporter: Why are you keeping me here?
Special Prosecutor: We want to know who leaked the identity of Valerie Plame, a.k.a. Victoria Wilson, a.k.a Victoria’s Secret to Bob Novak.
Reporter: Why don’t you just ask Bob Novak?
Special Prosecutor: That would be too easy. OK, you can go now.
Reporter: How long have I been here?
Special Prosecutor: Two months.
Reporter: Hey, how about keeping me another 30 days? I need it for my book deal. YEOWWW!
Special Prosecutor: No. Just answer the questions.
Reporter: But I don’t know anything! That’s why I’m a reporter!
Special Prosecutor: Do you know Karl Rove?
Reporter: Not really. YEOWWW!
Special Prosecutor: That was a three. The generator goes up to 10. Do you want me to turn it higher?
Reporter: No, no! I’ll talk!
Special Pro-secutor: I’ll show you a picture. Is that you in the picture?
Reporter: Yes. It must have been taken at the last White House Christmas party. That’s the only time I wear my blue suit.
Special Prosecutor: And who is that man 10 feet behind you, eating baby lamb chops?
Reporter: I ... I’m not sure. YEOWWW!!
Special Prosecutor: That was a four. Now, I ask you again, who is the man behind you eating baby lamp chops?
Reporter: It’s Rove! Karl Rove!
Special Prosecutor: So you do know him.
Reporter: I know him. Everybody knows him. But he doesn’t return my phone calls.
Special Prosecutor: Does he use a mail drop? Or a podcast? Does he ever IM you? Does he use the screen name UnindictedBoyGenius?
Reporter: No, I swear.
Special Prosecutor: Do you know Valerie Flame, a.k.a Victoria Wilson, a.k.a Wood-row Wilson, a.k.a. Queen Victoria?
Reporter: Those people don’t exist. YEOOWWW! I mean they are the names that Judy Miller, The New York Times reporter, wrote in her notebook! But when she wrote Valerie Flame, she really meant Valerie Plame. And when she wrote Victoria Wilson, she really meant Valerie Wilson.
Special Prosecutor: Yes, it was a code. A clever code that took my team of code-breakers 22 months and $17 million to break. I show you a second picture. Do you recognize the man standing next to Karl Rove at the White House Christmas party?
Reporter: The man cutting up his baby lamb chops for him? That’s Scooter Libby.
Special Prosecutor: Our code-breakers, supplemented by a special team from Halli-burton, have cracked that code, too. “Scooter” Libby is really Lewis Libby.
Reporter: Everybody knows that. YEOWWW! I mean, good work.
Special Prosecutor: On June 23, 2003, Judy Miller met with Lewis, a.k.a. Scooter, a.k.a. Skateboard, a.k.a Rollerblade Libby in the Old Executive Office Building. At that meeting, Libby might have told her that the wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson IV might work at the CIA. Miller wrote, “Wife works at bureau?” in her notebook. Do you deny that?
Reporter: No, except that the CIA is an agency, not a bureau.
Special Prosecutor: Why do reporters get things so wrong in their notes?
Reporter: It makes it easier to make things up later.
Special Prosecutor: Who is “Miss Run Amok”?
Reporter: That is what Judy Miller calls herself.
Special Prosecutor: Did you know that Miss Run Amok spelled backward is “Koma Nur Sim?”
Reporter: What does that mean?
Special Prosecutor: We think it’s more code. Bob Novak spelled backward is Kav On Bob. There’s a pattern there. Given several more years and a billion more dollars, we might be able to crack it.
Reporter: Why are you keeping me here?
Special Prosecutor: We want to know who leaked the identity of Valerie Plame, a.k.a. Victoria Wilson, a.k.a Victoria’s Secret to Bob Novak.
Reporter: Why don’t you just ask Bob Novak?
Special Prosecutor: That would be too easy. OK, you can go now.
Reporter: How long have I been here?
Special Prosecutor: Two months.
Reporter: Hey, how about keeping me another 30 days? I need it for my book deal. YEOWWW!
EDITORIAL >> District to city: drop dead
The Pulaski County Special School District, which has been adrift for years, both academically and financially, is about to slap Jacksonville residents in the face once again: The district, which, according to the state, is in “fiscal distress” — basically bankrupt — hopes to improve its financial standing by closing two of the elementary schools that have seen enrollment drop.
Nine elementary schools have fewer than 300 students, including four in Jacksonville: Arnold Drive, Homer Adkins, Tolleson and Warren Dupree. Most likely to close are Harris Elementary, a magnet school in the McAlmont community, and Scott Elementary. They serve even smaller student populations than the Jacksonville schools.
There are people around here who say the district is punishing Jacksonville for its unsuccessful effort last year to form its own school district.
Problems at the single-gender Jacksonville middle schools will be discussed when the Jacksonville City Council convenes Thursday. On Tuesday, speaking to one of our reporters, Mayor Tommy Swaim lashed out at the district for failing to serve the city’s schools.
While neighboring districts, particularly Cabot, continue to see growing enrollment (due, no doubt, to white flight, but not entirely) and the construction of new schools and state-of-the-art athletic facilities, the Pulaski County District is looking at the possibility of a state takeover, which may not be all that bad in view of the district’s dismal performance thus far.
If PCSSD thinks it can regain solvency by eliminating schools in north Pulaski County, then area residents might well renew their efforts to secede. If parents can show that their children’s constitutional rights have been violated because of the inadequate education they receive, then a second attempt at independence might be in order.
Nine elementary schools have fewer than 300 students, including four in Jacksonville: Arnold Drive, Homer Adkins, Tolleson and Warren Dupree. Most likely to close are Harris Elementary, a magnet school in the McAlmont community, and Scott Elementary. They serve even smaller student populations than the Jacksonville schools.
There are people around here who say the district is punishing Jacksonville for its unsuccessful effort last year to form its own school district.
Problems at the single-gender Jacksonville middle schools will be discussed when the Jacksonville City Council convenes Thursday. On Tuesday, speaking to one of our reporters, Mayor Tommy Swaim lashed out at the district for failing to serve the city’s schools.
While neighboring districts, particularly Cabot, continue to see growing enrollment (due, no doubt, to white flight, but not entirely) and the construction of new schools and state-of-the-art athletic facilities, the Pulaski County District is looking at the possibility of a state takeover, which may not be all that bad in view of the district’s dismal performance thus far.
If PCSSD thinks it can regain solvency by eliminating schools in north Pulaski County, then area residents might well renew their efforts to secede. If parents can show that their children’s constitutional rights have been violated because of the inadequate education they receive, then a second attempt at independence might be in order.
FROM THE PUBLISHER >> Nothing new on ivory-bill
The long-running CBS news program “60 Minutes” did a feature Sunday on the ivory-billed woodpecker in the Big Woods near Brinkley, adding nothing new to the subject, although viewers in this part of the country probably suspected that Ed Bradley, one of the show’s long-time correspondents, didn’t quite know where he was or whether he spent much time here.
The segment included shots of a birding festival in Clarendon, but the elusive woodpecker, long thought to have been extinct, was actually spotted in the Bayou De-View in the Dagmar Wildlife Management Area less than five miles from Brinkley — near I-40, one of the nation’s busiest interstates, which cuts through the wildlife area and which would have made an interesting shot for the segment.
Bradley, who was shown in the bayou where Gene Sparling had reported seeing the bird almost two years ago, probably spent a few hours in the state doing a couple of interviews and read his narration in a studio in New York while his producer and cameraman did most of the work, such as it was.
“60 Minutes” is famous for its stunning camera work, and there were a few good shots from Bayou DeView, although I didn’t hear the bayou’s name mentioned, and the pictures were no different from what we’ve seen on television since last spring, when it was first announced that the ivory-billed woodpecker had been spotted in the bayou several times and videotaped once.
Bradley and his crew missed an opportunity to report on the next phase of the ivory-bill saga: Scientists, mostly from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, who have studied the bird for more than 60 years, will resume their search for the bird this fall, from Cotton Plant in the north down to (yes) Clarendon in the south.
Scientists think as many as a dozen ivory-billed woodpeckers, if they exist at all, are hiding deep in the woods between those two spots, most of them in the Cache River Wildlife Refuge at Claren-don, which is far larger than the Dagmar Wildlife Management Area where Sparling had first seen the bird.
The program missed another crucial angle: The Grand Prairie Irrigation Project on the White River at DeValls Bluff, which environmentalists oppose, as it will drain 158 billion gallons of water every year and threatens the wetlands that have helped preserve the ivory-billed woodpecker.
Construction of the pumping station is well underway and only a court ruling would stop the Corps of Engineers from completing the project.
Perhaps “60 Minutes” will re-turn next winter and do a followup, especially if more sightings are reported. But if the “60 Minutes” team does return, it will be old news, which helps explain why the TV news magazines aren’t as popular as they used to be.
Audiences have deserted these shows after years of inaccurate reporting — from young George Bush’s phony National Guard records on “60 Minutes II” (now cancelled) to fake consumer tests on “Dateline.”
In addition, TV news magazines face more competition from cable and other media. Maybe another reason fewer people are watching is that they’ve figured out correspondents do very little re-porting. So-called producers do most of the leg work before high-priced stars like Mike Wallace and Ed Bradley drop in, read a script and interview their subjects in extreme closeup as they fidget, or better yet, lose their composure.
There were two weepers on “60 Minutes” last Sunday: A segment on a former football player with drug problems who sobbed like a kid, and the head of the Cornell Lab who held back tears as he described his joy over the ivory-billed woodpecker’s rediscovery.
You’d cry too if you spotted the ivory-billed woodpecker in east Arkansas.
You’re less than an hour away from the Big Woods. Start looking.
The segment included shots of a birding festival in Clarendon, but the elusive woodpecker, long thought to have been extinct, was actually spotted in the Bayou De-View in the Dagmar Wildlife Management Area less than five miles from Brinkley — near I-40, one of the nation’s busiest interstates, which cuts through the wildlife area and which would have made an interesting shot for the segment.
Bradley, who was shown in the bayou where Gene Sparling had reported seeing the bird almost two years ago, probably spent a few hours in the state doing a couple of interviews and read his narration in a studio in New York while his producer and cameraman did most of the work, such as it was.
“60 Minutes” is famous for its stunning camera work, and there were a few good shots from Bayou DeView, although I didn’t hear the bayou’s name mentioned, and the pictures were no different from what we’ve seen on television since last spring, when it was first announced that the ivory-billed woodpecker had been spotted in the bayou several times and videotaped once.
Bradley and his crew missed an opportunity to report on the next phase of the ivory-bill saga: Scientists, mostly from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, who have studied the bird for more than 60 years, will resume their search for the bird this fall, from Cotton Plant in the north down to (yes) Clarendon in the south.
Scientists think as many as a dozen ivory-billed woodpeckers, if they exist at all, are hiding deep in the woods between those two spots, most of them in the Cache River Wildlife Refuge at Claren-don, which is far larger than the Dagmar Wildlife Management Area where Sparling had first seen the bird.
The program missed another crucial angle: The Grand Prairie Irrigation Project on the White River at DeValls Bluff, which environmentalists oppose, as it will drain 158 billion gallons of water every year and threatens the wetlands that have helped preserve the ivory-billed woodpecker.
Construction of the pumping station is well underway and only a court ruling would stop the Corps of Engineers from completing the project.
Perhaps “60 Minutes” will re-turn next winter and do a followup, especially if more sightings are reported. But if the “60 Minutes” team does return, it will be old news, which helps explain why the TV news magazines aren’t as popular as they used to be.
Audiences have deserted these shows after years of inaccurate reporting — from young George Bush’s phony National Guard records on “60 Minutes II” (now cancelled) to fake consumer tests on “Dateline.”
In addition, TV news magazines face more competition from cable and other media. Maybe another reason fewer people are watching is that they’ve figured out correspondents do very little re-porting. So-called producers do most of the leg work before high-priced stars like Mike Wallace and Ed Bradley drop in, read a script and interview their subjects in extreme closeup as they fidget, or better yet, lose their composure.
There were two weepers on “60 Minutes” last Sunday: A segment on a former football player with drug problems who sobbed like a kid, and the head of the Cornell Lab who held back tears as he described his joy over the ivory-billed woodpecker’s rediscovery.
You’d cry too if you spotted the ivory-billed woodpecker in east Arkansas.
You’re less than an hour away from the Big Woods. Start looking.
TOP STORY >> Private property handcuffs street plans
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
Discussions about the ownership of streets consumed about half of the more than two-hour city council meeting Monday night in Cabot, where traffic is commonly congested and traveling across town has become a major issue.
Opening Elm Street to keep traffic off Hwy. 89 has been a goal of Alderman David Polantz, and part of the $1.8 million in the bond issue voters approved last month is supposed to pay for it.
But opening the street could prove difficult, because where the street was plotted to go and where the city wants to put it are not the same.
As Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh explained, it is not possible to pave the gap that exists in the street without creating a “dog leg” that would be dangerous to motorists.
To make it run straight would require using property that Larry Nipper bought as an investment in 1974. Nipper is agreeable to selling the property, but he expects the price he could get on the open market for a commercial lot on a newly opened street.
The mayor told him the council would probably pay $25,000, a little more than its value as the residential lot it is.
“Over a year ago, I had a real estate agent approach me about selling for the Bank of the Ozarks,” Nipper told the council. “She offered $135,000. That sounded high to me, but not nearly as high as $25,000 sounds low.”
The amount the city is willing to pay is the same that he paid for it 31 years ago, he said.
Nipper said that since the city is determined to own his property, he should be allowed to rezone it to commercial. He pointed out that it is surrounded by businesses and therefore it should be zoned commercial. Furthermore, the city had caught him off guard with talk about taking it.
“If you’re trying to appraise it as R-1, you’re trying to take advantage of me,” Nipper said.
Jason Carter, the former Cabot city attorney who has filled in since Ken Williams resigned last month, suggested that an arbitrator should be called to settle the matter. He said after the meeting that it is clear neither side wants to take advantage of the other.
If arbitration fails, the city would simply take the property and a jury would decide how much it is worth, he told the council.
The council also dealt with improvements to Meirs Lane, a private drive that leads to Pleas-ant Forrest subdivision.
The planning commission wants the developers to use Meirs Lane as a secondary entrance to the subdivision. The street is considered private because there is no record that it was ever deeded to the city. However, the city has paved the street and therefore has a right to claim it, Carter said.
But the subdivision developers maintain that it doesn’t actually join their property so they have no authority to compel the owners to allow them to do anything to it.
The matter was sent back to the planning commission for discussion on an alternative to Meirs Lane.
In other business, the council voted 5-2 with one abstention “to prohibit the spending of city funds on advertising for an elected official without council approval.”
The ordinance was a direct result of the city paying $2,300 for an ad in Arkansas Business congratulating the mayor for being named to that publications’ “40 under 40” list of young Arkansans who are successful in their fields.
It was introduced two months ago by Alder-man Polantz, who made the motion Monday night to adopt it. Alder-man Eddie Cook seconded the motion.
Alderman Patrick Hutton spoke out against it, saying the city had enough laws on the books and that one was not necessary.
Voting for the ordinance were aldermen Polantz, Cook, James Glenn, Odis Waymack and Tom Armstrong. Voting against were Hutton and Jerry Steph-ens. Bob Duke abstained from voting.
The vote to approve spending $222,148 for a special census was unanimous.
The Cabot City Council is considering a special census that would cost $222,148, but could gain and additional $305,000, a year in tax revenue or $1.3 million between the time the census is completed and the next regular census is completed in 2011.
The city will borrow the money to pay for the census, since there is none in the city budget for it. Stumbaugh said he believed the money could be repaid in two years.
The mayor and council got information about the advantages of a special census that was provided by Metroplan, which uses building permits to estimate cities’ growth.
Metroplan estimates Cabot’s population at 19,967, which is 30.8 percent larger than it was when the 2000 census gave the city an official population of 15,261.
In making the estimates about the revenue gain, Metroplan assumed that the census would be completed early in 2006. The additional tax revenue from the state would be $64.92 per person.
The council also listened to a presentation by Sherman Banks about Sister Cities International, a program started by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 who hoped it would prevent future wars. Today the program also promotes commerce and an exchange of ideas.
The council agreed to talk about joining the organization.
Leader staff writer
Discussions about the ownership of streets consumed about half of the more than two-hour city council meeting Monday night in Cabot, where traffic is commonly congested and traveling across town has become a major issue.
Opening Elm Street to keep traffic off Hwy. 89 has been a goal of Alderman David Polantz, and part of the $1.8 million in the bond issue voters approved last month is supposed to pay for it.
But opening the street could prove difficult, because where the street was plotted to go and where the city wants to put it are not the same.
As Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh explained, it is not possible to pave the gap that exists in the street without creating a “dog leg” that would be dangerous to motorists.
To make it run straight would require using property that Larry Nipper bought as an investment in 1974. Nipper is agreeable to selling the property, but he expects the price he could get on the open market for a commercial lot on a newly opened street.
The mayor told him the council would probably pay $25,000, a little more than its value as the residential lot it is.
“Over a year ago, I had a real estate agent approach me about selling for the Bank of the Ozarks,” Nipper told the council. “She offered $135,000. That sounded high to me, but not nearly as high as $25,000 sounds low.”
The amount the city is willing to pay is the same that he paid for it 31 years ago, he said.
Nipper said that since the city is determined to own his property, he should be allowed to rezone it to commercial. He pointed out that it is surrounded by businesses and therefore it should be zoned commercial. Furthermore, the city had caught him off guard with talk about taking it.
“If you’re trying to appraise it as R-1, you’re trying to take advantage of me,” Nipper said.
Jason Carter, the former Cabot city attorney who has filled in since Ken Williams resigned last month, suggested that an arbitrator should be called to settle the matter. He said after the meeting that it is clear neither side wants to take advantage of the other.
If arbitration fails, the city would simply take the property and a jury would decide how much it is worth, he told the council.
The council also dealt with improvements to Meirs Lane, a private drive that leads to Pleas-ant Forrest subdivision.
The planning commission wants the developers to use Meirs Lane as a secondary entrance to the subdivision. The street is considered private because there is no record that it was ever deeded to the city. However, the city has paved the street and therefore has a right to claim it, Carter said.
But the subdivision developers maintain that it doesn’t actually join their property so they have no authority to compel the owners to allow them to do anything to it.
The matter was sent back to the planning commission for discussion on an alternative to Meirs Lane.
In other business, the council voted 5-2 with one abstention “to prohibit the spending of city funds on advertising for an elected official without council approval.”
The ordinance was a direct result of the city paying $2,300 for an ad in Arkansas Business congratulating the mayor for being named to that publications’ “40 under 40” list of young Arkansans who are successful in their fields.
It was introduced two months ago by Alder-man Polantz, who made the motion Monday night to adopt it. Alder-man Eddie Cook seconded the motion.
Alderman Patrick Hutton spoke out against it, saying the city had enough laws on the books and that one was not necessary.
Voting for the ordinance were aldermen Polantz, Cook, James Glenn, Odis Waymack and Tom Armstrong. Voting against were Hutton and Jerry Steph-ens. Bob Duke abstained from voting.
The vote to approve spending $222,148 for a special census was unanimous.
The Cabot City Council is considering a special census that would cost $222,148, but could gain and additional $305,000, a year in tax revenue or $1.3 million between the time the census is completed and the next regular census is completed in 2011.
The city will borrow the money to pay for the census, since there is none in the city budget for it. Stumbaugh said he believed the money could be repaid in two years.
The mayor and council got information about the advantages of a special census that was provided by Metroplan, which uses building permits to estimate cities’ growth.
Metroplan estimates Cabot’s population at 19,967, which is 30.8 percent larger than it was when the 2000 census gave the city an official population of 15,261.
In making the estimates about the revenue gain, Metroplan assumed that the census would be completed early in 2006. The additional tax revenue from the state would be $64.92 per person.
The council also listened to a presentation by Sherman Banks about Sister Cities International, a program started by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 who hoped it would prevent future wars. Today the program also promotes commerce and an exchange of ideas.
The council agreed to talk about joining the organization.
TOP STORY >> Cutting jobs critical to balancing budget
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
The question of a new quarter-cent, dedicated county sales tax to run the jail was the 800-pound gorilla studiously ignored by County Judge Floyd “Buddy” Villines and members of the Pulaski County Budget Com-mittee during a meeting Tues-day morning.
For now, the county, obligated by law to submit a balanced budget, is faced with the pros-pect of cutting 122 county jobs to trim $7 million from the budget. The county’s financial woes are largely attributable to the county’s ever-increasing share of the cost of running a 1,125-bed detention facility filled mostly with prisoners from Little Rock and North Little Rock.
While 2006 general-fund requests, based on the 2005 budget, totaled $62 million, the county ultimately has only $40.1 million available for appropriation, according to Villines, compared to $46.3 million last year.
That means elected officials must cut nearly $7 million.
It can reduce the budget by about $6 million by cutting the 122 positions from a total of 786 positions.
Most of the rest will come from substituting compensatory time for overtime and from cutting most part-time and extra help.
Of those, Villines proposes to cut 28 people from his staff, while Sheriff Randy Johnson must cut 91 positions, many of them jailers and deputies.
The county will begin shutting down a 165-bed pod of the jail starting the last day of October, according to John Rehraurer, spokesman for the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office, and cut it by 20 beds per week until the inmate population is reduced from 1,125 to 800.
“It’s becoming a harder and harder jail,” he said, with the non-violent offenders being released.
About a dozen deputies gathered around County Clerk Pat O’Brien and County Attorney Karla Burnett to ask why a new tax couldn’t be enacted by voters.
O’Brien said it would take only about 45 days to get a proposal on the ballot, but a new tax could not be enacted in time to affect the county’s 2006 budget crisis, according to Burnett. There is also a 30-day waiting period to allow appeals after such a vote.
“We have to have a balanced budget by Dec. 31,” Burnett said.
While the county must pay $19 million out of a $40 million budget to run the jail, Little Rock is not happy about paying its $2 million share out of a $130 million budget, said quorum court member Pat-ricia Dicker.
In 1997, the county’s share was only about $4 million.
Because the county jail sops up about one-half of all available revenues, the county has had to divert money from capital improvements — fixing roofs, for instance.
Villines said people used the word “crisis” too freely, “but folks, this is a crisis,” he said.
“We’ve never experienced anything like this.”
Three members of Mothers Against Drunk Driving held posters in the front row of the meeting, expressing opposition to plans to reduce the number of available beds in the lock up from 1,125 to 800 in order to reduce costs — mostly personnel costs.
Villines identified four reasons for the financial difficulty:
• Growth in the number of jail beds and associated costs including prisoner medical costs
• An ever-decreasing amount of revenue from the countywide sales tax attributable to the growth of cities at the expense of the county
• Expansion of the number of stores in adjacent counties — meaning they don’t have to come to Pulaski County to shop
• An increase in employee benefits.
Leader staff writer
The question of a new quarter-cent, dedicated county sales tax to run the jail was the 800-pound gorilla studiously ignored by County Judge Floyd “Buddy” Villines and members of the Pulaski County Budget Com-mittee during a meeting Tues-day morning.
For now, the county, obligated by law to submit a balanced budget, is faced with the pros-pect of cutting 122 county jobs to trim $7 million from the budget. The county’s financial woes are largely attributable to the county’s ever-increasing share of the cost of running a 1,125-bed detention facility filled mostly with prisoners from Little Rock and North Little Rock.
While 2006 general-fund requests, based on the 2005 budget, totaled $62 million, the county ultimately has only $40.1 million available for appropriation, according to Villines, compared to $46.3 million last year.
That means elected officials must cut nearly $7 million.
It can reduce the budget by about $6 million by cutting the 122 positions from a total of 786 positions.
Most of the rest will come from substituting compensatory time for overtime and from cutting most part-time and extra help.
Of those, Villines proposes to cut 28 people from his staff, while Sheriff Randy Johnson must cut 91 positions, many of them jailers and deputies.
The county will begin shutting down a 165-bed pod of the jail starting the last day of October, according to John Rehraurer, spokesman for the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office, and cut it by 20 beds per week until the inmate population is reduced from 1,125 to 800.
“It’s becoming a harder and harder jail,” he said, with the non-violent offenders being released.
About a dozen deputies gathered around County Clerk Pat O’Brien and County Attorney Karla Burnett to ask why a new tax couldn’t be enacted by voters.
O’Brien said it would take only about 45 days to get a proposal on the ballot, but a new tax could not be enacted in time to affect the county’s 2006 budget crisis, according to Burnett. There is also a 30-day waiting period to allow appeals after such a vote.
“We have to have a balanced budget by Dec. 31,” Burnett said.
While the county must pay $19 million out of a $40 million budget to run the jail, Little Rock is not happy about paying its $2 million share out of a $130 million budget, said quorum court member Pat-ricia Dicker.
In 1997, the county’s share was only about $4 million.
Because the county jail sops up about one-half of all available revenues, the county has had to divert money from capital improvements — fixing roofs, for instance.
Villines said people used the word “crisis” too freely, “but folks, this is a crisis,” he said.
“We’ve never experienced anything like this.”
Three members of Mothers Against Drunk Driving held posters in the front row of the meeting, expressing opposition to plans to reduce the number of available beds in the lock up from 1,125 to 800 in order to reduce costs — mostly personnel costs.
Villines identified four reasons for the financial difficulty:
• Growth in the number of jail beds and associated costs including prisoner medical costs
• An ever-decreasing amount of revenue from the countywide sales tax attributable to the growth of cities at the expense of the county
• Expansion of the number of stores in adjacent counties — meaning they don’t have to come to Pulaski County to shop
• An increase in employee benefits.
TOP STORY >> PCSSD is to blame for woes, city says
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
A growing number of people in the Jacksonville community think the Pulaski County Special School District is inflicting punishment in return for the town’s attempt to start its own school district.
“That’s absolutely, 100 percent totally false,” school board member Jeff Shaneyfelt said Tuesday. “They’ll throw gas on a fire to make it burn. I have no problem with Jacksonville. I think it ought to get what everyone else gets.
“The district budget is $5 to $6 million up-side down. Where do you get the money? We tried the cut payroll. The state board said no. We cut everybody out we can cut.”
Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim is among those who think his community isn’t being treated fairly by the school district, especially the way the district is handling problems at the Jacksonville Middle School’s boys campus.
“I believe it’s set up for failure so they can say Jacksonville didn’t do it,” the mayor said Tuesday. “Parents are trying to work within the system and teachers are working hard. The district is just not coming close to what they promised.”
Rising to his feet, district board member Rev. James Bolden of Jacksonville, loudly denounced school officials Monday evening for reneging, he said, on a freshly minted promise to leave two assistant principals at the troubled boys campus.
“I know you have a problem with (boys school Principal Mic-hael) Nellums, and I know you have a problem with me,” Bolden told Marvin V. Jeter III, assistant superintendent for learning services, in a stentorian voice he usually reserves for chasing evil from the sanctuary of his Jacksonville church.
“You went and talked against me. I’m sorry, but I know doggone well what I’m dealing with,” Bolden charged as board members and administrators sat silently at a meeting called to address the district’s Fiscal Dis-tress Improvement Plan.
“We had a meeting (last week). You said we could have two (assistant principals), but you pulled one out and sent (her) to (Jacksonville High School.)”
The board last week declined to approve an administration recommendation to transfer Jackie Calhoun, Nellums’ lone full-time assistant principal at the troubled boys campus, to the high school.
But by Monday, administrators had instead moved a part-time assistant principal, Colleen John-son, to the high school.
Acting Superintendent Robert Clowers on Monday night declined to confirm that a principal had been moved, saying instead that his staff would reconsider the matter Tuesday. Clowers didn’t return a telephone call about that issue Tuesday.
Asked Tuesday how many assistants he now had at the boys campus, Nellums said, “I have one. They took Ms. Johnson away, sent her to the high school.”
Problems with implementation of the single-gender school at the boys campus have stirred up the Jacksonville community and spilled over into a meeting last week with the chamber of commerce education committee. The topic will be on the agenda when the Jacksonville City Council meets at 7 p.m. Thursday at city hall.
At that chamber meeting with some district officials on Oct. 12, area businessmen told Clowers and Jeter that they needed to provide whatever help the boys campus needed to succeed in the new, single-gender environment.
Jacksonville officials and Nellums want more disciplinary help — like assistant principals at the boys campus, where more than 60 boys have been suspended since the beginning of the school year, and fights at the school are common.
Some parents had asked the board to leave Calhoun at the school, and the board did.
Shaneyfelt said discipline is a district-wide problem. He said about a dozen parents of high-school students in his district were considering transferring to other districts to escape the unruly environment.
“We all need help with discipline,” Shaneyfelt said.
The district is implementing a ratio of one assistant principal for each 375 students at a school, a higher-staffing level than the state minimum of 1 per 500 students.
Bolden said he wanted the boys and girls campuses to be redesignated as two separate schools, each with its own principal and assistant principals — a position backed by Swaim at the chamber meeting.
“Everybody knows we’ve been trying to get our own school district and the judge says we can’t do that,” Swaim said.
“So we’ve been trying to help the district every way we can. The middle school is an experimental process and the city of Jacksonville and its constituents were willing to do that. Now I’m disappointed. (The school) is not provided re-sources, or a proper administrative staff.
“I have gotten positive calls from the girls school and boys school that think it can work, but not unless the school district provides the proper resources.”
Leader staff writer
A growing number of people in the Jacksonville community think the Pulaski County Special School District is inflicting punishment in return for the town’s attempt to start its own school district.
“That’s absolutely, 100 percent totally false,” school board member Jeff Shaneyfelt said Tuesday. “They’ll throw gas on a fire to make it burn. I have no problem with Jacksonville. I think it ought to get what everyone else gets.
“The district budget is $5 to $6 million up-side down. Where do you get the money? We tried the cut payroll. The state board said no. We cut everybody out we can cut.”
Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim is among those who think his community isn’t being treated fairly by the school district, especially the way the district is handling problems at the Jacksonville Middle School’s boys campus.
“I believe it’s set up for failure so they can say Jacksonville didn’t do it,” the mayor said Tuesday. “Parents are trying to work within the system and teachers are working hard. The district is just not coming close to what they promised.”
Rising to his feet, district board member Rev. James Bolden of Jacksonville, loudly denounced school officials Monday evening for reneging, he said, on a freshly minted promise to leave two assistant principals at the troubled boys campus.
“I know you have a problem with (boys school Principal Mic-hael) Nellums, and I know you have a problem with me,” Bolden told Marvin V. Jeter III, assistant superintendent for learning services, in a stentorian voice he usually reserves for chasing evil from the sanctuary of his Jacksonville church.
“You went and talked against me. I’m sorry, but I know doggone well what I’m dealing with,” Bolden charged as board members and administrators sat silently at a meeting called to address the district’s Fiscal Dis-tress Improvement Plan.
“We had a meeting (last week). You said we could have two (assistant principals), but you pulled one out and sent (her) to (Jacksonville High School.)”
The board last week declined to approve an administration recommendation to transfer Jackie Calhoun, Nellums’ lone full-time assistant principal at the troubled boys campus, to the high school.
But by Monday, administrators had instead moved a part-time assistant principal, Colleen John-son, to the high school.
Acting Superintendent Robert Clowers on Monday night declined to confirm that a principal had been moved, saying instead that his staff would reconsider the matter Tuesday. Clowers didn’t return a telephone call about that issue Tuesday.
Asked Tuesday how many assistants he now had at the boys campus, Nellums said, “I have one. They took Ms. Johnson away, sent her to the high school.”
Problems with implementation of the single-gender school at the boys campus have stirred up the Jacksonville community and spilled over into a meeting last week with the chamber of commerce education committee. The topic will be on the agenda when the Jacksonville City Council meets at 7 p.m. Thursday at city hall.
At that chamber meeting with some district officials on Oct. 12, area businessmen told Clowers and Jeter that they needed to provide whatever help the boys campus needed to succeed in the new, single-gender environment.
Jacksonville officials and Nellums want more disciplinary help — like assistant principals at the boys campus, where more than 60 boys have been suspended since the beginning of the school year, and fights at the school are common.
Some parents had asked the board to leave Calhoun at the school, and the board did.
Shaneyfelt said discipline is a district-wide problem. He said about a dozen parents of high-school students in his district were considering transferring to other districts to escape the unruly environment.
“We all need help with discipline,” Shaneyfelt said.
The district is implementing a ratio of one assistant principal for each 375 students at a school, a higher-staffing level than the state minimum of 1 per 500 students.
Bolden said he wanted the boys and girls campuses to be redesignated as two separate schools, each with its own principal and assistant principals — a position backed by Swaim at the chamber meeting.
“Everybody knows we’ve been trying to get our own school district and the judge says we can’t do that,” Swaim said.
“So we’ve been trying to help the district every way we can. The middle school is an experimental process and the city of Jacksonville and its constituents were willing to do that. Now I’m disappointed. (The school) is not provided re-sources, or a proper administrative staff.
“I have gotten positive calls from the girls school and boys school that think it can work, but not unless the school district provides the proper resources.”
TOP STORY >> Beebe enjoys steady growth
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
It’s not a boom yet, but Beebe is growing at a faster rate than it has in the past and new businesses are opening to provide services that will be needed to support a larger population.
Allen Ridings, Beebe’s code enforcement officer, said this week that he has sold almost as many building permits in the first nine months of 2005 as he sold all of last year.
“It’s really getting ready to bust out,” he said.
Perhaps the most obvious commercial addition is the new Sonic on Dewitt Henry Drive which opened Sunday. The old Sonic was razed two months ago to make room for the new one, which boasts the longest canopy in Arkansas, just a few feet short of the length of a football field.
Beebe Alderman Bobby Robinson, who owns the restaurant, said he has hired about 40 young people to staff the business and he intends to put them on roller skates to make their car-side deliveries.
With a canopy that is almost 100 yards long, skates will make for faster service, but also, “It’s just more fun,” he said.
Around the corner from the new Sonic on Hwy. 64, Community Bank will soon have a second full-service branch with a canopy covering four drive-through stations.
Tracy French, CEO of Comm-unity Bank in Cabot, said his customer base had already outgrown the current branch on Dewitt Henry Drive and he believes Beebe will continue to grow, especially along Hwy. 64.
A new interchange opened last month in Beebe that makes for easier access to ASU-Beebe. When it did, a new Conoco station was already there, ready to cash in on the change of traffic flow.
Now, a new Simmons Bank is planned for a lot across the street from the new gas station. Also planned for the same area is a 66-unit apartment complex.
A new car wash is going in on Dewitt Henry Drive near the existing Community Bank and farther down the street toward McRae, plans are set for 24 apartments.
Two small subdivisions are also in the works, one with 29 lots off East Mississippi and one with seven between Hwy. 31 and 1st Street.
Much of the growth in the Beebe area is outside the city limits. Growth inside the city is limited by the lack of available land, and an attempt to grow by annexation failed this summer.
Economic Director Marjorie Armstrong said it is unclear at this time if the city will attempt annexation again in the near future. It’s up to the council to decide if and when they will try again.
“We’ll just have to wait and see,” she said.
Leader staff writer
It’s not a boom yet, but Beebe is growing at a faster rate than it has in the past and new businesses are opening to provide services that will be needed to support a larger population.
Allen Ridings, Beebe’s code enforcement officer, said this week that he has sold almost as many building permits in the first nine months of 2005 as he sold all of last year.
“It’s really getting ready to bust out,” he said.
Perhaps the most obvious commercial addition is the new Sonic on Dewitt Henry Drive which opened Sunday. The old Sonic was razed two months ago to make room for the new one, which boasts the longest canopy in Arkansas, just a few feet short of the length of a football field.
Beebe Alderman Bobby Robinson, who owns the restaurant, said he has hired about 40 young people to staff the business and he intends to put them on roller skates to make their car-side deliveries.
With a canopy that is almost 100 yards long, skates will make for faster service, but also, “It’s just more fun,” he said.
Around the corner from the new Sonic on Hwy. 64, Community Bank will soon have a second full-service branch with a canopy covering four drive-through stations.
Tracy French, CEO of Comm-unity Bank in Cabot, said his customer base had already outgrown the current branch on Dewitt Henry Drive and he believes Beebe will continue to grow, especially along Hwy. 64.
A new interchange opened last month in Beebe that makes for easier access to ASU-Beebe. When it did, a new Conoco station was already there, ready to cash in on the change of traffic flow.
Now, a new Simmons Bank is planned for a lot across the street from the new gas station. Also planned for the same area is a 66-unit apartment complex.
A new car wash is going in on Dewitt Henry Drive near the existing Community Bank and farther down the street toward McRae, plans are set for 24 apartments.
Two small subdivisions are also in the works, one with 29 lots off East Mississippi and one with seven between Hwy. 31 and 1st Street.
Much of the growth in the Beebe area is outside the city limits. Growth inside the city is limited by the lack of available land, and an attempt to grow by annexation failed this summer.
Economic Director Marjorie Armstrong said it is unclear at this time if the city will attempt annexation again in the near future. It’s up to the council to decide if and when they will try again.
“We’ll just have to wait and see,” she said.
TOP STORY>> Schools to close?
By JOHN HOFHEIMER AND RICKY HARVEY
Leader staff writers
Jacksonville leaders and residents rallied Tuesday morning in support of Homer Adkins, Arnold Drive, Warren Dupree, Harris and Tolleson elementary schools, which were identified among candidates for closure at a Pulaski County Special School District workshop Mon-day as the district refined its fiscal distress improvement plan.
The district has been designated by the State Department of Education as being in fiscal distress, and if it can’t recover by the end of this school year, it could be taken over by the state. That happened recently to the Helena-West Helena district. An appropriate improvement plan is considered the first step to recovery.
The district, poised to save just over $5 million in the 2005-2006 school year, proposes to save approximately $600,000 of that by closing two small elementary schools, according to acting Superintendent Robert Clowers.
The Monday workshop was intended to help the district fix shortcomings identified by the State Department of Education by including more details and setting timelines for various actions.
The administration and board have considered a wide range of cost-saving measures, some of which — like freezing teacher salaries — have been rejected by the state, resulting in a lawsuit.
Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim, who spent most of Tuesday morning talking with concerned residents, said, “I understand the school district’s problem with finances, but I think they need to learn to manage their assets and be concerned with educating the children, which is what their main function is.”
“Closing any schools is certainly going to impact the neighborhoods that have to displace students,” Swaim said.
The State Department of Education wants to know which schools will be closed and the steps and timetable for closing them.
Of the district’s 24 elementary schools, nine have fewer than 300 students enrolled, including the five area schools, as well as College Station, Landmark, Oak Grove and Scott elementaries.
The district tried last year to close Scott, which has the lowest enrollment at 101 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, or 138 including pre-kindergarten students.
“Closing a school is a last resort,” said school board member Jeff Shaneyfelt. “But the state board is encouraging us at looking at that.”
Shaneyfelt said size wouldn’t be the only factor in deciding which schools to close.
“We need to look at transportation costs, impact on the community … a lot of things need to be looked at,” he said.
At least one inside observer considers Scott Elementary School a likely candidate for closure.
Swaim said he called the district to express his own concerns, and talked to principals to assure them that the city would do everything it could to make sure their schools aren’t closed.
The district will hold public meetings in November, prior to its decision to approve specific schools for reconfiguration and/or closure, probably at its regular December board meeting. That would allow time to notify parents or reassignment in January, open pre-registration in February and notify staff of assignments in April, before the May 1 deadline to notify teachers of non-renewal of contracts.
“I still feel very strongly that a separate school district would be to our advantage, however I acknowledge we’ve been told we can’t have that, so we’re trying to work with the system … and nothing has been successful,” Swaim said.
“Cities need to have neighborhood schools and neighborhood schools need districts to be supportive,” said Bonita Rownd, director of the Jacksonville Chamber of Com-merce. “Our city has taken continual hits with the district having to have the desegregation program, where many of our students are pooled and recruited to schools in other cities. Our shrinking enrollment is evidence that the population here doesn’t have a firm belief in what this district is doing.”
“The PCSSD is a concern for us,” Swaim said. “We’re part of that district. We wish it would be successful and I’m disappointed it isn’t. There is a lot of room for improvement and there is definitely a lack of understanding of the problems we have in Jacksonville.”
Swaim said if Jacksonville had its own school district, residents would be much more receptive to passing milages and have better parental support.
The largest of the other proposed savings are: Paying off early retirement incentive, $1 million; cutting text-book purchases, $500,000; providing its own substitute teachers, $500,000; cutting the number of assistant principals by 11, $587,668; and cutting Transportation Department cuts, $248,000.
Big tentative cuts pending legal action are eliminating paid holidays for support staff and certified ad-ministrators, $931,035, and freezing support staff salaries, $452,118.
Leader staff writers
Jacksonville leaders and residents rallied Tuesday morning in support of Homer Adkins, Arnold Drive, Warren Dupree, Harris and Tolleson elementary schools, which were identified among candidates for closure at a Pulaski County Special School District workshop Mon-day as the district refined its fiscal distress improvement plan.
The district has been designated by the State Department of Education as being in fiscal distress, and if it can’t recover by the end of this school year, it could be taken over by the state. That happened recently to the Helena-West Helena district. An appropriate improvement plan is considered the first step to recovery.
The district, poised to save just over $5 million in the 2005-2006 school year, proposes to save approximately $600,000 of that by closing two small elementary schools, according to acting Superintendent Robert Clowers.
The Monday workshop was intended to help the district fix shortcomings identified by the State Department of Education by including more details and setting timelines for various actions.
The administration and board have considered a wide range of cost-saving measures, some of which — like freezing teacher salaries — have been rejected by the state, resulting in a lawsuit.
Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim, who spent most of Tuesday morning talking with concerned residents, said, “I understand the school district’s problem with finances, but I think they need to learn to manage their assets and be concerned with educating the children, which is what their main function is.”
“Closing any schools is certainly going to impact the neighborhoods that have to displace students,” Swaim said.
The State Department of Education wants to know which schools will be closed and the steps and timetable for closing them.
Of the district’s 24 elementary schools, nine have fewer than 300 students enrolled, including the five area schools, as well as College Station, Landmark, Oak Grove and Scott elementaries.
The district tried last year to close Scott, which has the lowest enrollment at 101 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, or 138 including pre-kindergarten students.
“Closing a school is a last resort,” said school board member Jeff Shaneyfelt. “But the state board is encouraging us at looking at that.”
Shaneyfelt said size wouldn’t be the only factor in deciding which schools to close.
“We need to look at transportation costs, impact on the community … a lot of things need to be looked at,” he said.
At least one inside observer considers Scott Elementary School a likely candidate for closure.
Swaim said he called the district to express his own concerns, and talked to principals to assure them that the city would do everything it could to make sure their schools aren’t closed.
The district will hold public meetings in November, prior to its decision to approve specific schools for reconfiguration and/or closure, probably at its regular December board meeting. That would allow time to notify parents or reassignment in January, open pre-registration in February and notify staff of assignments in April, before the May 1 deadline to notify teachers of non-renewal of contracts.
“I still feel very strongly that a separate school district would be to our advantage, however I acknowledge we’ve been told we can’t have that, so we’re trying to work with the system … and nothing has been successful,” Swaim said.
“Cities need to have neighborhood schools and neighborhood schools need districts to be supportive,” said Bonita Rownd, director of the Jacksonville Chamber of Com-merce. “Our city has taken continual hits with the district having to have the desegregation program, where many of our students are pooled and recruited to schools in other cities. Our shrinking enrollment is evidence that the population here doesn’t have a firm belief in what this district is doing.”
“The PCSSD is a concern for us,” Swaim said. “We’re part of that district. We wish it would be successful and I’m disappointed it isn’t. There is a lot of room for improvement and there is definitely a lack of understanding of the problems we have in Jacksonville.”
Swaim said if Jacksonville had its own school district, residents would be much more receptive to passing milages and have better parental support.
The largest of the other proposed savings are: Paying off early retirement incentive, $1 million; cutting text-book purchases, $500,000; providing its own substitute teachers, $500,000; cutting the number of assistant principals by 11, $587,668; and cutting Transportation Department cuts, $248,000.
Big tentative cuts pending legal action are eliminating paid holidays for support staff and certified ad-ministrators, $931,035, and freezing support staff salaries, $452,118.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
OBITS
CARLIS D. HATFIELD, JR.
Carlis D. Hatfield, Jr., of Ward went home on Oct. 7 to be with his mother and father, and two sisters.
He was a retired Air Force master sergeant, and also retired from Remington Arms at the age of 55. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Mabel Hatfield; one daughter, Paula Jean Hatfield Peppers and husband Charles; two sons, Carl David Hatfield and wife Wanda Joyce, and Max Hatfield and wife Connie; six grandchildren, Kelly Michelle Passen, Stephen Eric Smith, Jessica Nicole Graves and husband Charlie, Becca Jean Peppers, Amanda Leigh Wood and Jeffery David Wood; six great-grandchildren, Jordan Blake Passen, Cody Spen-cer Passen, Skylar McCala Passen and Baliegh McKenzie Passen, Brennen Cade Smith and Summerlyn Skye Graves; and one sister, Jean Miller of West Palm Springs, Florida.
A private memorial service will be held at a later date. Funeral arrangements by Westbrook Funeral Home of Beebe.
ROSEMMA HEDRICK
Rosemma Morris Hedrick, 84, of Carlisle died Oct. 8. She was the widow of Dean Hedrick and a member of Palm Street Church of Christ, Lonoke. Survivors include one son, Ray and wife Mary of White Bluff, Tenn.; her daughter, Mary Dulaney and husband Dewayne of Carlisle; two sisters, Cora Madar, Pine Bluff and Florence Losak, Searcy; and a brother, Ruben Morris of Lonoke.
Funeral services were held Tuesday at Palm Street Church of Christ, with interment in Carlisle Cemetery. Memorials may be sent to Southern Christian Home, P.O. Box 649, Morrilton, 72110 or Children’s Home, Inc., P.O. Box 460, Paragould, Ark. 72451-9935.
Funeral arrangements by Boyd Funeral Home of Lonoke.
ILA MALONE
Ila Mae Malone, 81, of Little Rock, died Oct. 10. She is survived by one son, David Malone and wife Deborah of Little Rock; a grandson, Michael and wife, Allyson Malone of Arlington, Va.; two great-grandchildren, Olivia-Lin Malone and Mia Rose Malone; and one sister, Vernie Gray of Jacksonville.
Graveside service will be at 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 17 at Old Austin Cemetery, by Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe.
Memorials may be made to Alzheimer’s Arkansas, 10411 W. Markham, Ste. 130, Little Rock, Ark. 72205-1409 or Pulaski Heights Methodist Church, 4823 Woodlawn Ave., Little Rock, Ark. 72205-3755. www.westbrookfuneralhome.com.
Carlis D. Hatfield, Jr., of Ward went home on Oct. 7 to be with his mother and father, and two sisters.
He was a retired Air Force master sergeant, and also retired from Remington Arms at the age of 55. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Mabel Hatfield; one daughter, Paula Jean Hatfield Peppers and husband Charles; two sons, Carl David Hatfield and wife Wanda Joyce, and Max Hatfield and wife Connie; six grandchildren, Kelly Michelle Passen, Stephen Eric Smith, Jessica Nicole Graves and husband Charlie, Becca Jean Peppers, Amanda Leigh Wood and Jeffery David Wood; six great-grandchildren, Jordan Blake Passen, Cody Spen-cer Passen, Skylar McCala Passen and Baliegh McKenzie Passen, Brennen Cade Smith and Summerlyn Skye Graves; and one sister, Jean Miller of West Palm Springs, Florida.
A private memorial service will be held at a later date. Funeral arrangements by Westbrook Funeral Home of Beebe.
ROSEMMA HEDRICK
Rosemma Morris Hedrick, 84, of Carlisle died Oct. 8. She was the widow of Dean Hedrick and a member of Palm Street Church of Christ, Lonoke. Survivors include one son, Ray and wife Mary of White Bluff, Tenn.; her daughter, Mary Dulaney and husband Dewayne of Carlisle; two sisters, Cora Madar, Pine Bluff and Florence Losak, Searcy; and a brother, Ruben Morris of Lonoke.
Funeral services were held Tuesday at Palm Street Church of Christ, with interment in Carlisle Cemetery. Memorials may be sent to Southern Christian Home, P.O. Box 649, Morrilton, 72110 or Children’s Home, Inc., P.O. Box 460, Paragould, Ark. 72451-9935.
Funeral arrangements by Boyd Funeral Home of Lonoke.
ILA MALONE
Ila Mae Malone, 81, of Little Rock, died Oct. 10. She is survived by one son, David Malone and wife Deborah of Little Rock; a grandson, Michael and wife, Allyson Malone of Arlington, Va.; two great-grandchildren, Olivia-Lin Malone and Mia Rose Malone; and one sister, Vernie Gray of Jacksonville.
Graveside service will be at 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 17 at Old Austin Cemetery, by Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe.
Memorials may be made to Alzheimer’s Arkansas, 10411 W. Markham, Ste. 130, Little Rock, Ark. 72205-1409 or Pulaski Heights Methodist Church, 4823 Woodlawn Ave., Little Rock, Ark. 72205-3755. www.westbrookfuneralhome.com.
EDITORIAL >> Let us praise the masters
Of all the hysterical reactions to the scolding of the legislature by the special masters in the Lake View school case, Gov. Huckabee’s was the most incomprehensible. Masters Bradley D. Jesson and David Newbern embraced the governor’s old passion for school consolidation and made the case for him better than did his own administration back in 2003 and 2004.
But Huckabee was on the radio and in the prints this week condemning the masters and the Supreme Court justices who appointed them with stronger words than we have heard him use on anybody but environmentalists, whom he was fond of calling “wackos.”
In their first incarnation after the 2004 special session on the schools, the same two men reported favorably to the Supreme Court on the work of the legislature, including passage of a law consolidating some 50 school districts with the smallest enrollments. Huckabee considered the consolidation weak and hardly worth the effort. He had sought wholesale consolidation of schools to bring about the efficiency that the state Constitution seems to prescribe. The Constitution says the state must provide an equal education for all students, one that is suitable and efficient. Huckabee might indeed have had some reason to expect that the court would define efficiency in a way that would support his stand for comprehensive consolidation.
Neither the masters nor the Supreme Court, however, did that. The Court almost ignored the consolidation issue and Huckabee did not hide his disappointment. Nevertheless, when the Supreme Court in the late spring reopened the school case on the motion of some 40 school districts and appointed Jesson and Newbern as the fact-finders again to analyze what the legislature had accomplished toward making the schools constitutional, Huckabee praised Jesson and Newbern as men whose whole lives “scream integrity and honor.”
Four months later, their iniquities and treacheries know no bounds. He considered the masters’ report a personal attack on him and his leadership. It makes you wonder who told the governor what the masters wrote. They barely mentioned Huckabee.
He was most incensed about what they said about school consolidation.
Here is how they broached the subject very briefly at the end of the report, and Huckabee ought to take their words and renew his crusade:
“Gov. Huckabee, through counsel, was a participant in the hearings in 2004 as an advocate of achieving greater efficiency through consolidation. The governor is no longer actively participating in this case.” [That is undeniably true. This time, he did not have his own counsel and contributed nothing to the hearings.]
The masters point out that Huckabee’s chief fiscal man, Richard Weiss, testified at the hearings that serious inefficiencies continue to occur because the state has more than 250 school districts. Despite Weiss’ testimony and Huckabee’s earlier strong arguments on that issue, the masters said, the legislature this year ignored consolidation and its potential efficiencies.
“Apparently,” they continued “there is a new plan for district consolidation by default that results in even less efficiency.”
Indeed, the state does now have an operating consolidation plan, and it does, as the masters argue, produce even greater inefficiencies along with abiding harm to students. The masters make the case for the kind of formulaic consolidation that Huckabee sought in 2003 and 2004. He ought to praise them, not vilify them.
In the Pulaski County School District we are witnessing the insidious effects of that plan.
Under the stealth consolidation plan, school districts can fall into “fiscal distress,” “academic distress” or even “facilities distress” if their fund balances plummet, their pupil test scores do not measure up or they fail to modernize their facilities. The period takes several years but ultimately the downward spiral leads to a takeover by the state Education Department and then potentially forcible consolidation.
The masters documented how many school districts, owing to the perversity of state laws and their own peculiar geographical and wealth situations, do not have the money to maintain their academic programs or their facilities in repair so they exhaust their reserves. Sixteen school districts were in fiscal distress this summer, 66 were on academic probation and headed for academic distress. The state has not got around yet to determining what will constitute facilities distress.
Newbern and Jesson then got to the heart of the matter:
“The problem with the approach to consolidation as the result of failure is that it ignores what is happening in the classrooms during the years leading up to one or more of the distress conditions and the ensuing struggle to cope with it the local level.”
For all the children in those classrooms, it is a cruel thing and as patent a violation of the equal, suitable and efficient doctrine as anything you will find in the schools. Instead of bashing them, Gov. Huckabee should summon Jesson and Newbern to the Capitol and give them one of those certificates of merit, or whatever he calls it, that he gives to people whose deeds suit him.
But Huckabee was on the radio and in the prints this week condemning the masters and the Supreme Court justices who appointed them with stronger words than we have heard him use on anybody but environmentalists, whom he was fond of calling “wackos.”
In their first incarnation after the 2004 special session on the schools, the same two men reported favorably to the Supreme Court on the work of the legislature, including passage of a law consolidating some 50 school districts with the smallest enrollments. Huckabee considered the consolidation weak and hardly worth the effort. He had sought wholesale consolidation of schools to bring about the efficiency that the state Constitution seems to prescribe. The Constitution says the state must provide an equal education for all students, one that is suitable and efficient. Huckabee might indeed have had some reason to expect that the court would define efficiency in a way that would support his stand for comprehensive consolidation.
Neither the masters nor the Supreme Court, however, did that. The Court almost ignored the consolidation issue and Huckabee did not hide his disappointment. Nevertheless, when the Supreme Court in the late spring reopened the school case on the motion of some 40 school districts and appointed Jesson and Newbern as the fact-finders again to analyze what the legislature had accomplished toward making the schools constitutional, Huckabee praised Jesson and Newbern as men whose whole lives “scream integrity and honor.”
Four months later, their iniquities and treacheries know no bounds. He considered the masters’ report a personal attack on him and his leadership. It makes you wonder who told the governor what the masters wrote. They barely mentioned Huckabee.
He was most incensed about what they said about school consolidation.
Here is how they broached the subject very briefly at the end of the report, and Huckabee ought to take their words and renew his crusade:
“Gov. Huckabee, through counsel, was a participant in the hearings in 2004 as an advocate of achieving greater efficiency through consolidation. The governor is no longer actively participating in this case.” [That is undeniably true. This time, he did not have his own counsel and contributed nothing to the hearings.]
The masters point out that Huckabee’s chief fiscal man, Richard Weiss, testified at the hearings that serious inefficiencies continue to occur because the state has more than 250 school districts. Despite Weiss’ testimony and Huckabee’s earlier strong arguments on that issue, the masters said, the legislature this year ignored consolidation and its potential efficiencies.
“Apparently,” they continued “there is a new plan for district consolidation by default that results in even less efficiency.”
Indeed, the state does now have an operating consolidation plan, and it does, as the masters argue, produce even greater inefficiencies along with abiding harm to students. The masters make the case for the kind of formulaic consolidation that Huckabee sought in 2003 and 2004. He ought to praise them, not vilify them.
In the Pulaski County School District we are witnessing the insidious effects of that plan.
Under the stealth consolidation plan, school districts can fall into “fiscal distress,” “academic distress” or even “facilities distress” if their fund balances plummet, their pupil test scores do not measure up or they fail to modernize their facilities. The period takes several years but ultimately the downward spiral leads to a takeover by the state Education Department and then potentially forcible consolidation.
The masters documented how many school districts, owing to the perversity of state laws and their own peculiar geographical and wealth situations, do not have the money to maintain their academic programs or their facilities in repair so they exhaust their reserves. Sixteen school districts were in fiscal distress this summer, 66 were on academic probation and headed for academic distress. The state has not got around yet to determining what will constitute facilities distress.
Newbern and Jesson then got to the heart of the matter:
“The problem with the approach to consolidation as the result of failure is that it ignores what is happening in the classrooms during the years leading up to one or more of the distress conditions and the ensuing struggle to cope with it the local level.”
For all the children in those classrooms, it is a cruel thing and as patent a violation of the equal, suitable and efficient doctrine as anything you will find in the schools. Instead of bashing them, Gov. Huckabee should summon Jesson and Newbern to the Capitol and give them one of those certificates of merit, or whatever he calls it, that he gives to people whose deeds suit him.
TOP STORY >> PCSSD distress plan not accepted
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
The State Education Department has for the third time sent Pulaski County Special School District officials back to the drawing board to formulate an acceptable fiscal-distress improvement plan.
In a letter received by the district Wednesday, the education department informed the district that its most recent plan was “not approved.”
“We’ve already started working on that,” school board president Mildred Tatum said. “We just wish we had known exactly what they wanted.”
The letter, signed by Bobbie Davis, assistant commissioner of fiscal and administrative services, told acting PCSSD Superintendent Robert L. Clowers that the plan lacked sufficient specific timelines and detailed actions and depended too much upon verbal communications.
The submitted plan could include closing or consolidating one or more of the smaller schools in the district.
The district was found to be in fiscal distress April 11, but school officials said a meeting on Sept. 23 was the first time the department had asked for timelines.
The problems with the district’s various plan submissions have been complicated by lawsuits filed by teachers and non-certified personnel claiming that the district acted illegally by freezing pay and eliminating paid holidays.
The teachers suit tentatively has been settled, but negotiations and the suit with the non-certified personnel continue.
The plan submitted in June would have saved the district about $8.5 million, according to John Archetko, the district’s chief financial officer, but the education department refused to accept the plan, saying the district probably lacked the authority to freeze the teacher salaries.
The revised plan submitted in August — the one the state refused to accept this week — is intended to save PCSSD a total of about $5.2 million for the 2005-2006 and the 2006-2007 school years, Archetko said.
The biggest financial impact would come from eliminating block scheduling, forecast to save the district $1 million a year, and reducing the number of assistant principals, another $918,000 a year.
Other savings would come from reducing to the state minimums the numbers of principals, guidance counselors, media specialists, bookkeepers and registrars and also gifted and talented teachers.
The plan would move athletics, cheerleading and dance periods to after school, and identify and reconfigure financially or operationally inefficient schools.
“I’m disappointed it wasn’t accepted,” Clowers said Friday. “The cabinet met yesterday and today and will meet again Monday. We’ll meet as often as it takes to provide the additional information the department is wanting — markers and timelines and things that would trigger various things.”
For instance, if block scheduling is to be eliminated, there needs to be preparation. If some assistant principals will be sent back to the classroom, they need proper notification.
“At some point, the professionals on both sides need to sit down and resolve the matter, not just shoot paper back a forth,” said board member Jeff Shaney-felt.
“I’m a policy maker and accountant, an outsider. We have to let the administration do its job and the state do its job.”
“At the (Sept. 23) meeting, there were some verbal indications of changes they wanted to make to the plan,” said Julie Thompson, director of communications.
“They are asked to add detailed timelines and detailed savings.”
Thompson said 11 districts were put on fiscal distress in April.
One has been consolidated, Helena-West Helena has been taken over by the state and the department of education has approved five or six districts’ plans and continues to work with the others, including Pulaski County Special School District.
“I think this is a process that the department is going through,” Thompson said. “Right now, we’ve asked them to submit another plan by Nov. 1.
“Our bottom line is concern for the education of the children in Arkansas.”
Leader staff writer
The State Education Department has for the third time sent Pulaski County Special School District officials back to the drawing board to formulate an acceptable fiscal-distress improvement plan.
In a letter received by the district Wednesday, the education department informed the district that its most recent plan was “not approved.”
“We’ve already started working on that,” school board president Mildred Tatum said. “We just wish we had known exactly what they wanted.”
The letter, signed by Bobbie Davis, assistant commissioner of fiscal and administrative services, told acting PCSSD Superintendent Robert L. Clowers that the plan lacked sufficient specific timelines and detailed actions and depended too much upon verbal communications.
The submitted plan could include closing or consolidating one or more of the smaller schools in the district.
The district was found to be in fiscal distress April 11, but school officials said a meeting on Sept. 23 was the first time the department had asked for timelines.
The problems with the district’s various plan submissions have been complicated by lawsuits filed by teachers and non-certified personnel claiming that the district acted illegally by freezing pay and eliminating paid holidays.
The teachers suit tentatively has been settled, but negotiations and the suit with the non-certified personnel continue.
The plan submitted in June would have saved the district about $8.5 million, according to John Archetko, the district’s chief financial officer, but the education department refused to accept the plan, saying the district probably lacked the authority to freeze the teacher salaries.
The revised plan submitted in August — the one the state refused to accept this week — is intended to save PCSSD a total of about $5.2 million for the 2005-2006 and the 2006-2007 school years, Archetko said.
The biggest financial impact would come from eliminating block scheduling, forecast to save the district $1 million a year, and reducing the number of assistant principals, another $918,000 a year.
Other savings would come from reducing to the state minimums the numbers of principals, guidance counselors, media specialists, bookkeepers and registrars and also gifted and talented teachers.
The plan would move athletics, cheerleading and dance periods to after school, and identify and reconfigure financially or operationally inefficient schools.
“I’m disappointed it wasn’t accepted,” Clowers said Friday. “The cabinet met yesterday and today and will meet again Monday. We’ll meet as often as it takes to provide the additional information the department is wanting — markers and timelines and things that would trigger various things.”
For instance, if block scheduling is to be eliminated, there needs to be preparation. If some assistant principals will be sent back to the classroom, they need proper notification.
“At some point, the professionals on both sides need to sit down and resolve the matter, not just shoot paper back a forth,” said board member Jeff Shaney-felt.
“I’m a policy maker and accountant, an outsider. We have to let the administration do its job and the state do its job.”
“At the (Sept. 23) meeting, there were some verbal indications of changes they wanted to make to the plan,” said Julie Thompson, director of communications.
“They are asked to add detailed timelines and detailed savings.”
Thompson said 11 districts were put on fiscal distress in April.
One has been consolidated, Helena-West Helena has been taken over by the state and the department of education has approved five or six districts’ plans and continues to work with the others, including Pulaski County Special School District.
“I think this is a process that the department is going through,” Thompson said. “Right now, we’ve asked them to submit another plan by Nov. 1.
“Our bottom line is concern for the education of the children in Arkansas.”
TOP STORY >> Air Show 2005
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
United States Air Force Thunderbirds pilot Maj. Rusty Keen loves his job and it shows.
“I still can’t believe I get paid for this,” Keen said Thursday, just minutes after performing a series of arrival exercises and landing his F-16 fighter at Little Rock Air Force Base in preparation for the base’s 50th Anniversary air show today and Sunday. “I’m living a dream.”
Flying the F-16 in a show is “an adrenaline rush, like playing in the Super Bowl,” he said.
Keen said he was happy to be in Arkansas to help celebrate the base’s 50th anniversary, mainly in recognition of the local community support.
“It’s an absolute dream, representing all the men and women of the Air Force,” said Keen, an 11-year veteran who has flown about 200 hours of combat missions in Bosnia and Iraq.
Keen and the other members of the Air Force’s precision flying team, based at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, fly 90 shows a year between March and November. This weekend’s show is No. 75.
Next November, Capt. Nicole Malachowski will become the first female Thunderbirds pilot, according to Capt. Angela Johnson, the group’s public affairs spokesman.
Thunderbirds pilots serve two years on the team, with three of the six pilots replaced each year by three new pilots halfway through his first year, Keen said.
Keen, married and the father of two, is away from home 257 days a year, although his family sometimes joins him at shows.
This year, the Thunderbirds will also perform in Guatemala, El Salvador and Acapulco.
He is a graduate of Southwest Texas State University, where he played baseball and was a pole vaulter, he said.
When his two years are up, he will go back to flying F-16s similar to his Thunderbirds plane.
“Put a 20mm gun in place of the (smoking) oil pot and we’re ready to go to war,” he said.
From November through March each year, the pilots begin working on their formations, practicing two or three times a day — “very intensive, long days,” Keen said.
The planes start high and wide, gradually tightening up the formations and flying lower until, by the beginning of the show season, the four planes in the precision formations sometime have wingtips only 18 inches apart at 600 miles per hour, he said.
During the performance season, they leave home every Thursday and do arrival routines at the site of the approaching show.
On Friday they practice the show for Make-A-Wish Founda-tion guests and others and visit schools, hospitals or scouts, and have a briefing.
The shows are on Saturdays and Sundays and the group flies home to Las Vegas on Monday.
They practice again on Tuesdays and take Wednesdays off to take care of business and wash clothes, then hit the rack and get ready to start again.
The pilots have to be in peak condition — they can pull between six and nine Gs during their routines. Keen lifts weights and does aerobic exercises.
“It’s super exciting,” Keen said.
Leader staff writer
United States Air Force Thunderbirds pilot Maj. Rusty Keen loves his job and it shows.
“I still can’t believe I get paid for this,” Keen said Thursday, just minutes after performing a series of arrival exercises and landing his F-16 fighter at Little Rock Air Force Base in preparation for the base’s 50th Anniversary air show today and Sunday. “I’m living a dream.”
Flying the F-16 in a show is “an adrenaline rush, like playing in the Super Bowl,” he said.
Keen said he was happy to be in Arkansas to help celebrate the base’s 50th anniversary, mainly in recognition of the local community support.
“It’s an absolute dream, representing all the men and women of the Air Force,” said Keen, an 11-year veteran who has flown about 200 hours of combat missions in Bosnia and Iraq.
Keen and the other members of the Air Force’s precision flying team, based at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, fly 90 shows a year between March and November. This weekend’s show is No. 75.
Next November, Capt. Nicole Malachowski will become the first female Thunderbirds pilot, according to Capt. Angela Johnson, the group’s public affairs spokesman.
Thunderbirds pilots serve two years on the team, with three of the six pilots replaced each year by three new pilots halfway through his first year, Keen said.
Keen, married and the father of two, is away from home 257 days a year, although his family sometimes joins him at shows.
This year, the Thunderbirds will also perform in Guatemala, El Salvador and Acapulco.
He is a graduate of Southwest Texas State University, where he played baseball and was a pole vaulter, he said.
When his two years are up, he will go back to flying F-16s similar to his Thunderbirds plane.
“Put a 20mm gun in place of the (smoking) oil pot and we’re ready to go to war,” he said.
From November through March each year, the pilots begin working on their formations, practicing two or three times a day — “very intensive, long days,” Keen said.
The planes start high and wide, gradually tightening up the formations and flying lower until, by the beginning of the show season, the four planes in the precision formations sometime have wingtips only 18 inches apart at 600 miles per hour, he said.
During the performance season, they leave home every Thursday and do arrival routines at the site of the approaching show.
On Friday they practice the show for Make-A-Wish Founda-tion guests and others and visit schools, hospitals or scouts, and have a briefing.
The shows are on Saturdays and Sundays and the group flies home to Las Vegas on Monday.
They practice again on Tuesdays and take Wednesdays off to take care of business and wash clothes, then hit the rack and get ready to start again.
The pilots have to be in peak condition — they can pull between six and nine Gs during their routines. Keen lifts weights and does aerobic exercises.
“It’s super exciting,” Keen said.
EVENTS >> October 12, 2005
Two senior driving classes coming up
There will be an AARP Driver Safety Program on October 19 and 20 from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at First Arkansas Bank and Trust, 600 W. Main Street, in Jacksonville. The cost is $10 per person and attendance both days is required to complete the course. Interested participants may call 985-4068 for reservations or further information.
Another class will be held from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20 and Friday, Oct. 21 in the Health Education building of Rebsamen Medical Center. Arkansas law requires auto insurance carriers to offer a discount to qualified graduates, age 55 and older, of approved courses such as this one. Policyholders should contact their carriers for more information. A $10 fee for course materials will be charged and attendance both nights is required. All materials will be given. To register call Dick Wolfe at 988-4844.
Russell Cellular promoting safety awareness
Russell Cellular Satellite is promoting October as Safety Awareness Month and from Monday, Oct. 17 to Saturday, Oct. 22, ear buds will be given to anyone with a commercial driver’s license.
From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct. 22, which is Morgan Amber Nick Day, parents can get ‘Have You Seen This Child?’ photos.
For more information, contact Leann or Jenny at 985-1400.
Retired federal employees plan meeting Thursday
The Jacksonville Chapter No. 1597 of NARFE (National Active and Retired Federal Employees) will host its monthly meeting at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Western Sizzlin in Jacksonville.
Speaker will be Becky Griffith from Blue Cross Blue Shield.
There will be an AARP Driver Safety Program on October 19 and 20 from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at First Arkansas Bank and Trust, 600 W. Main Street, in Jacksonville. The cost is $10 per person and attendance both days is required to complete the course. Interested participants may call 985-4068 for reservations or further information.
Another class will be held from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20 and Friday, Oct. 21 in the Health Education building of Rebsamen Medical Center. Arkansas law requires auto insurance carriers to offer a discount to qualified graduates, age 55 and older, of approved courses such as this one. Policyholders should contact their carriers for more information. A $10 fee for course materials will be charged and attendance both nights is required. All materials will be given. To register call Dick Wolfe at 988-4844.
Russell Cellular promoting safety awareness
Russell Cellular Satellite is promoting October as Safety Awareness Month and from Monday, Oct. 17 to Saturday, Oct. 22, ear buds will be given to anyone with a commercial driver’s license.
From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct. 22, which is Morgan Amber Nick Day, parents can get ‘Have You Seen This Child?’ photos.
For more information, contact Leann or Jenny at 985-1400.
Retired federal employees plan meeting Thursday
The Jacksonville Chapter No. 1597 of NARFE (National Active and Retired Federal Employees) will host its monthly meeting at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Western Sizzlin in Jacksonville.
Speaker will be Becky Griffith from Blue Cross Blue Shield.
SPORTS >> Panthers in a must-win situation
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Cabot is in quite a predicament as it approaches its homecoming game this Friday night against Mountain Home. The Panthers are 1-5 overall, but more importantly are 1-2 in conference play. That record is only good for fifth place in the current AAAAA-East standings. Three teams, including Mountain Home, are tied for first at 3-0, and Jacksonville is 2-1 and in fourth place.
West Memphis and Jacksonville are heavy favorites to win, while Forrest City is slightly less favored to beat Sylvan Hills. That means a Cabot loss would probably put the Panthers two games behind fourth place with only three games remaining.
“It’s tough right now, but there’s still a lot to play for,” Cabot coach Mike Malham said. “We just need to get it together and win these last four games. If we do that, we’re still looking at a good shot at the three seed at least.”
Cabot suffered a big setback last week when it lost 6-0 to Forrest City. The irony of the loss is that the offense, which has been pretty consistent and productive all season, broke down at key times while the defense, which has struggled mightily against the pass, almost completely shut down Forrest City’s spread offense.
“The defense played well,” Malham said. “When you only give up six points, you should win the ballgame. Just when the defense stepped up, the offense took a break.
“We blew some assignments at key times. We had it down there at the 12 going in and missed an assignment and put it on the ground. We had it again down around the 30 and did the same thing. We didn’t lose them, but we lost a down and it hurt us. We can’t keep doing that.
“We’re still looking to get it all together at the same time.”
It has to happen this week, and Malham and the Panthers know that they can’t afford another loss and a 1-3 league record.
In order to beat the Bombers, Cabot will have to stop Mountain Home’s suddenly potent wishbone attack.
Mountain Home posted the first mercy-rule win in school history last week against Jonesboro.
The Bombers won’t have as much of a speed advantage as some teams have had over the Panthers this year, but they’ve been extremely efficient while winning their last five consecutive games.
“They’re not the fastest team in the world, and they’re not very big,” Malham said.
“Some of the teams we’ve played have really dwarfed us. Mountain Home does have good quickness and they play hard. They’ve found ways to get it done, which is what we’ve got to do.”
Cabot’s injury report is looking a little better than last week. Halfback Raul Gault, who led the team in rushing two previous weeks, is back after missing the Forrest City game with a concussion he suffered in practice.
Fullback Richard Williams is out indefinitely with a knee injury, so Alec Tripp will stay at the fullback spot he filled last week.
Leader sports editor
Cabot is in quite a predicament as it approaches its homecoming game this Friday night against Mountain Home. The Panthers are 1-5 overall, but more importantly are 1-2 in conference play. That record is only good for fifth place in the current AAAAA-East standings. Three teams, including Mountain Home, are tied for first at 3-0, and Jacksonville is 2-1 and in fourth place.
West Memphis and Jacksonville are heavy favorites to win, while Forrest City is slightly less favored to beat Sylvan Hills. That means a Cabot loss would probably put the Panthers two games behind fourth place with only three games remaining.
“It’s tough right now, but there’s still a lot to play for,” Cabot coach Mike Malham said. “We just need to get it together and win these last four games. If we do that, we’re still looking at a good shot at the three seed at least.”
Cabot suffered a big setback last week when it lost 6-0 to Forrest City. The irony of the loss is that the offense, which has been pretty consistent and productive all season, broke down at key times while the defense, which has struggled mightily against the pass, almost completely shut down Forrest City’s spread offense.
“The defense played well,” Malham said. “When you only give up six points, you should win the ballgame. Just when the defense stepped up, the offense took a break.
“We blew some assignments at key times. We had it down there at the 12 going in and missed an assignment and put it on the ground. We had it again down around the 30 and did the same thing. We didn’t lose them, but we lost a down and it hurt us. We can’t keep doing that.
“We’re still looking to get it all together at the same time.”
It has to happen this week, and Malham and the Panthers know that they can’t afford another loss and a 1-3 league record.
In order to beat the Bombers, Cabot will have to stop Mountain Home’s suddenly potent wishbone attack.
Mountain Home posted the first mercy-rule win in school history last week against Jonesboro.
The Bombers won’t have as much of a speed advantage as some teams have had over the Panthers this year, but they’ve been extremely efficient while winning their last five consecutive games.
“They’re not the fastest team in the world, and they’re not very big,” Malham said.
“Some of the teams we’ve played have really dwarfed us. Mountain Home does have good quickness and they play hard. They’ve found ways to get it done, which is what we’ve got to do.”
Cabot’s injury report is looking a little better than last week. Halfback Raul Gault, who led the team in rushing two previous weeks, is back after missing the Forrest City game with a concussion he suffered in practice.
Fullback Richard Williams is out indefinitely with a knee injury, so Alec Tripp will stay at the fullback spot he filled last week.
SPORTS >> Devils set for Searcy
By JASON KING
Leader sports writer
Friday’s game between the Searcy Lions and the Jacksonville Red Devils will be important to both teams for very different reasons. The Red Devils are trying to keep their momentum intact as the season winds down and secure a spot in the AAAAA playoffs and possibly at least a share of the conference championship. Searcy is simply looking for a victory to get rid of the dreaded goose egg that currently resides in its win column.
Despite Searcy’s struggles this year, Jacksonville head coach Mark Whatley says his Red Devils are in no way taking the winless Lions for granted. A team’s record has little significance when it comes to game time, according to Whatley.
“It’s a new football game,” Whatley said. “They are going to get after it, they are going to fight hard and play hard. They look like they are getting better every week. It’s going to be like any other AAAAA East Friday night. You better have your A game with you when you go, they’re no different from anyone else.”
The Red Devils are coming off their second conference win of the season against county and conference rival Sylvan Hills. Last Friday’s win over the Bears helped improve Jacksonville’s record to 2-1 in the East and 3-3 overall.
Searcy suffered another tough loss on the road last week at the hands of West Memphis. The Lions have had a trying season full of injuries and missed opportunities. Last year, the Lions went eight weeks into the season before getting their first win against Jonesboro at home in a game that no one expected them to win. Searcy hopes to pull he same type of late-season upset this Friday.
Searcy has used the spread offense exclusively this season under first-year head coach Bart McFarland. Their closest shot at a win this season was the conference opener at Cabot.
The Lions scored 21 unanswered points in the first quarter, only to have the Panthers tie the game at the half.
Cabot wore the Lions down in the second half with a series of interceptions, and took the win away from Searcy.
“We’ve seen some spread offenses before, they seem to be running out of it a lot right now more than anything,” Whatley said. “Anytime people are in the spread, they want you to bust a coverage or two or line up wrong. It makes you aware of where everybody is on the field; hopefully that won’t be a problem for us defensively.”
Jacksonville will also spread the field, and has also been running out of the spread more often in the last two weeks.
Searcy has had a great deal of trouble stopping the run this year. With the quickness of Red Devil junior tailback Justin Akins, and speedy receivers like Levar Neely and Marcus Hildreth, as well as Eugene Cherry and Justin Sebourn, who have emerged as offensive threats in recent games, the Lions will have to improve on their ability to contain fast players.
Offensively, the Lions have moved the ball successfully, but have committed more turnovers than any other team in the conference.
Leader sports writer
Friday’s game between the Searcy Lions and the Jacksonville Red Devils will be important to both teams for very different reasons. The Red Devils are trying to keep their momentum intact as the season winds down and secure a spot in the AAAAA playoffs and possibly at least a share of the conference championship. Searcy is simply looking for a victory to get rid of the dreaded goose egg that currently resides in its win column.
Despite Searcy’s struggles this year, Jacksonville head coach Mark Whatley says his Red Devils are in no way taking the winless Lions for granted. A team’s record has little significance when it comes to game time, according to Whatley.
“It’s a new football game,” Whatley said. “They are going to get after it, they are going to fight hard and play hard. They look like they are getting better every week. It’s going to be like any other AAAAA East Friday night. You better have your A game with you when you go, they’re no different from anyone else.”
The Red Devils are coming off their second conference win of the season against county and conference rival Sylvan Hills. Last Friday’s win over the Bears helped improve Jacksonville’s record to 2-1 in the East and 3-3 overall.
Searcy suffered another tough loss on the road last week at the hands of West Memphis. The Lions have had a trying season full of injuries and missed opportunities. Last year, the Lions went eight weeks into the season before getting their first win against Jonesboro at home in a game that no one expected them to win. Searcy hopes to pull he same type of late-season upset this Friday.
Searcy has used the spread offense exclusively this season under first-year head coach Bart McFarland. Their closest shot at a win this season was the conference opener at Cabot.
The Lions scored 21 unanswered points in the first quarter, only to have the Panthers tie the game at the half.
Cabot wore the Lions down in the second half with a series of interceptions, and took the win away from Searcy.
“We’ve seen some spread offenses before, they seem to be running out of it a lot right now more than anything,” Whatley said. “Anytime people are in the spread, they want you to bust a coverage or two or line up wrong. It makes you aware of where everybody is on the field; hopefully that won’t be a problem for us defensively.”
Jacksonville will also spread the field, and has also been running out of the spread more often in the last two weeks.
Searcy has had a great deal of trouble stopping the run this year. With the quickness of Red Devil junior tailback Justin Akins, and speedy receivers like Levar Neely and Marcus Hildreth, as well as Eugene Cherry and Justin Sebourn, who have emerged as offensive threats in recent games, the Lions will have to improve on their ability to contain fast players.
Offensively, the Lions have moved the ball successfully, but have committed more turnovers than any other team in the conference.
EDITORIAL >> What’s politics without hypocrisy?
No democracy and no political party can dispense fully with hypocrisy, but we thought the Arkansas Republican Party engineered more of it than one small group should be permitted in a single week.
First, the party condemned Attorney General Mike Beebe, until recently the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee for governor in 2006, for going wobbly on the energy companies. Gasoline and heating bills are going up, up, up and the Republican headquarters wanted consumers to know that Beebe was at least partly responsible. Specifically, he had allowed Entergy Corp. to ask for a big rate increase for residential customers and then to put part of the increase into effect on Oct. 1 on an emergency basis while it awaits a hearing and determination by the state Public Service Commission.
Now, it is true that Beebe in his long years in the state Senate has been a friend to the light company more often than a tribune of the ratepayers, and he will have to answer for that. Realizing, like the Republicans, that energy costs are a volatile political issue, Beebe called on energy companies — gas and electric — to hold down their prices this winter no matter what their wholesale and energy-acquisition costs are. When the Republicans attacked, Beebe bragged that his little utility division had helped get tens of millions of dollars in rate reductions for consumers since he became attorney general.
But the specifics were illuminating. Beebe asked the PSC to order a reduction in the emergency rates that Entergy put into effect because the utility should not punish ratepayers for problems the company had with railroads that contracted to deliver coal to the utility’s Arkansas generating plants. The Republican office said that Beebe should have opposed the rate request if he thought it was not justified. When the party was told that he had indeed filed his opposition, only after it took effect, it said he should have opposed it earlier.
The problem with all this is that the attorney general has little to do with utility rates.
He can oppose them, to the same effect as can you. The agency that does set the rates is the Public Service Commission, whose commissioners were appointed by the governor and whose staff serves at the governor’s pleasure. On the recommendation of the PSC staff, which said Entergy should be allowed to install the emergency rates, the PSC went along with the utility.
Did the Republican Party condemn Gov. Huckabee or his Republican team at the PSC? Not as of when we went to press. Huckabee has been as chummy with the energy companies as Beebe. The party, when pressed, said it had no position itself on whether people should pay higher rates for electricity.
On the same day as it was lambasting Beebe for being soft on the power company, the Republican headquarters said it had filed a complaint with the state Ethics Commission against Jimmie Lou Fisher, the losing Democratic candidate for governor in 2002 because some people who gave money to retire her campaign debt wound up giving more than the $1,000 limit per person for a campaign. The excess gifts, the GOP said, amounted to $15,853. Some 25 contributors, including U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder, gave more than the limit.
Snyder’s gift was long ago adjudicated. He gave money to Fisher’s campaign in the 2002 party primary and the check did not get recorded in campaign accounts until after the primary election, which made it appear to be a general-election contribution.
Two days later, Gov. Huckabee piled on. He was outraged that people may have exceeded the individual contribution limits to a Democrat. He wanted punishment exacted for such inexcusable violations. Sloppy bookkeeping is not a valid excuse, he said. He would be watching what the Ethics Commission did with the complaint.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette story reporting the governor’s outrage gallantly did not resurrect this from the newspaper’s own files on April 29, a mere five months earlier:
“The Republican Party of Arkansas has agreed to pay a sum of $360,000 civil penalty within the next six months for violations of federal campaign finance law during the 2000 election cycle, the Federal Election Commission said last Thursday.
“The FEC found that the party accepted excessive contributions and failed to properly report finances.
“The penalty represents the largest fine ever levied by the FEC against a state political party, a commission spokesman said ... The FEC said it found that the state GOP:
“‘Failed to properly account for more than $2 million in media and other expenses during the 1999-2000 election cycle. That failure resulted in excessive use of nonfederal or “soft money” for those expenses.
“‘Failed to properly report more than $600,000 in transfers received from Republican national party committees.
“‘Failed to disclose specific information about a “significant proportion” of its contributions and spending during this period.
“‘Received $28,500 during the period in excessive contributions from individuals and $11,500 in contributions that were from sources prohibited under the Federal Election Campaign Act.
“‘A previous FEC audit of the party during the 2000 election cycle found that the party spent $331,021 more than allowed on the 2000 campaign of Republican U.S. Rep. Jay Dickey of Pine Bluff. Dickey was unseated by Democrat Mike Ross of Prescott in a close race for the state’s 4th congressional district seat.’”
You never know when memories will fail. The paper’s omission of that little background in its coverage proves again that while hypocrisy does have its wages, truth goes a-beggin’.
First, the party condemned Attorney General Mike Beebe, until recently the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee for governor in 2006, for going wobbly on the energy companies. Gasoline and heating bills are going up, up, up and the Republican headquarters wanted consumers to know that Beebe was at least partly responsible. Specifically, he had allowed Entergy Corp. to ask for a big rate increase for residential customers and then to put part of the increase into effect on Oct. 1 on an emergency basis while it awaits a hearing and determination by the state Public Service Commission.
Now, it is true that Beebe in his long years in the state Senate has been a friend to the light company more often than a tribune of the ratepayers, and he will have to answer for that. Realizing, like the Republicans, that energy costs are a volatile political issue, Beebe called on energy companies — gas and electric — to hold down their prices this winter no matter what their wholesale and energy-acquisition costs are. When the Republicans attacked, Beebe bragged that his little utility division had helped get tens of millions of dollars in rate reductions for consumers since he became attorney general.
But the specifics were illuminating. Beebe asked the PSC to order a reduction in the emergency rates that Entergy put into effect because the utility should not punish ratepayers for problems the company had with railroads that contracted to deliver coal to the utility’s Arkansas generating plants. The Republican office said that Beebe should have opposed the rate request if he thought it was not justified. When the party was told that he had indeed filed his opposition, only after it took effect, it said he should have opposed it earlier.
The problem with all this is that the attorney general has little to do with utility rates.
He can oppose them, to the same effect as can you. The agency that does set the rates is the Public Service Commission, whose commissioners were appointed by the governor and whose staff serves at the governor’s pleasure. On the recommendation of the PSC staff, which said Entergy should be allowed to install the emergency rates, the PSC went along with the utility.
Did the Republican Party condemn Gov. Huckabee or his Republican team at the PSC? Not as of when we went to press. Huckabee has been as chummy with the energy companies as Beebe. The party, when pressed, said it had no position itself on whether people should pay higher rates for electricity.
On the same day as it was lambasting Beebe for being soft on the power company, the Republican headquarters said it had filed a complaint with the state Ethics Commission against Jimmie Lou Fisher, the losing Democratic candidate for governor in 2002 because some people who gave money to retire her campaign debt wound up giving more than the $1,000 limit per person for a campaign. The excess gifts, the GOP said, amounted to $15,853. Some 25 contributors, including U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder, gave more than the limit.
Snyder’s gift was long ago adjudicated. He gave money to Fisher’s campaign in the 2002 party primary and the check did not get recorded in campaign accounts until after the primary election, which made it appear to be a general-election contribution.
Two days later, Gov. Huckabee piled on. He was outraged that people may have exceeded the individual contribution limits to a Democrat. He wanted punishment exacted for such inexcusable violations. Sloppy bookkeeping is not a valid excuse, he said. He would be watching what the Ethics Commission did with the complaint.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette story reporting the governor’s outrage gallantly did not resurrect this from the newspaper’s own files on April 29, a mere five months earlier:
“The Republican Party of Arkansas has agreed to pay a sum of $360,000 civil penalty within the next six months for violations of federal campaign finance law during the 2000 election cycle, the Federal Election Commission said last Thursday.
“The FEC found that the party accepted excessive contributions and failed to properly report finances.
“The penalty represents the largest fine ever levied by the FEC against a state political party, a commission spokesman said ... The FEC said it found that the state GOP:
“‘Failed to properly account for more than $2 million in media and other expenses during the 1999-2000 election cycle. That failure resulted in excessive use of nonfederal or “soft money” for those expenses.
“‘Failed to properly report more than $600,000 in transfers received from Republican national party committees.
“‘Failed to disclose specific information about a “significant proportion” of its contributions and spending during this period.
“‘Received $28,500 during the period in excessive contributions from individuals and $11,500 in contributions that were from sources prohibited under the Federal Election Campaign Act.
“‘A previous FEC audit of the party during the 2000 election cycle found that the party spent $331,021 more than allowed on the 2000 campaign of Republican U.S. Rep. Jay Dickey of Pine Bluff. Dickey was unseated by Democrat Mike Ross of Prescott in a close race for the state’s 4th congressional district seat.’”
You never know when memories will fail. The paper’s omission of that little background in its coverage proves again that while hypocrisy does have its wages, truth goes a-beggin’.
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