BY RAY BENTON
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: Fomer Sylvan Hills standout Kent Taylor will play baseball for the University of Central Arkansas next season.
Sherwood’s Kent Taylor is a Bear once again. The former Sylvan Hills first baseman recently signed with the University of Central Arkansas as an outfielder after spending one season with Pratt Community College in Pratt, Kan.
Taylor is a left-handed hitting outfielder/first baseman and will enter UCA as a sophomore. He hit .320 with six doubles, two triples, two home runs and 30 RBIs at Pratt this past spring. Taylor helped Sylvan Hills High School to a state championship in 2003 and a runner-up finish in 2004.
Taylor chose UCA over offers from Lyon College in Batesville, Cameron University in Okla., Georgia State and another Division II college in West Virginia.
Taylor’s decision to return to central Arkansas after just one year in junior college was an easy one. He was interested in playing for UCA out of high school, but a scholarship offer never came despite a lot of interest shown by the school. The Bears’ program is also moving up to the NCAA Division I level next season.
“That’s always been a dream of mine to play DI,” Taylor said. “It’s closer to home too. My parents hardly ever got to see me play.”
The transition from first base to outfield was an easy one as well. He still played some first base, but spent most of his time in the right and left field grass.
“It was an easy adjustment,” Taylor said. “With my size, being that I’m shorter, they moved me to outfield. They always want a taller guy over there. I played pretty good out there.”
One of the most significant changes in Taylor’s stat line in college, compared to high school, was his 10 stolen bases at Pratt. Taylor wasn’t known as a base stealer, but picked up some important tips during his time on the college playing field.
“I learned a lot of running and stealing,” Taylor said. “The way he (Pratt coach Jeff Brewer) coaches and teaches you how to read the ball out of the pitcher’s hand, it helps give you a little jump. And I am a little faster.”
Being an underclassmen at UCA probably won’t have an effect on how Taylor sees his role on the team. He may not play every game, but he considers himself a leader.
He shared time at first base during his junior year at Sylvan Hills with a senior, but was still one of the clear-cut leaders on that team.
It was a team that was supposed to see a drop-off after the departure of a group that sent nearly the entire starting lineup to college on baseball scholarships, including one that drafted by the New York Mets in the Major League draft.
Instead, that group won the state championship after three previous years of bowing out of the state tournament in the semifinals.
“We always felt we were better than that group in front of us,” Taylor said. “That just wasn’t what everyone else thought for some reason. We had won lots of state championships as kids coming up, so we knew we were good.”
That group was also the first to win the American Legion state championship, making it the first Sylvan Hills class to do both in the same year.
Taylor is part of seven UCA signees so far this recruiting period. He is one of six JUCO transfers, four of which are from Texas. UA-Fort Smith pitcher Corey Grist, and Cabot High School standout Chris Gross are the other signees.
UCA finished 30-18 overall last year and 13-9 in the Gulf South Conference. The Bears finished fourth in the GSC West Division and had the sixth best record in the 17-team conference.
Friday, July 14, 2006
SPORTS >> Bruins get shutout win over Gwatney
By JASON KING
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: Sylvan Hills’ AAA team improved to 5-1 against zone competition Tuesday night by handling Jacksonville 9-0.
Sylvan Hills collected a run-ruled 9-0 shutout over Gwatney Chevrolet at Dupree Park on Tuesday night. The Class AAA game was originally scheduled as a twin bill, but was changed to one seven-inning contest. The Bruins built a 2-0 lead in the third inning before blowing the game wide open in the fourth inning, scoring four runs in the top of the fourth while batting through their entire lineup.
Carter Lance took the win at the mound for Sylvan Hills, allowing six hits and one walk while striking out eight batters. Lance went the six-inning distance in the game for the Bruins, avoiding a scoring threat from Jacksonville in the bottom of the third to record the complete-game shutout.
Starting Jacksonville pitcher Casey Winstead looked strong in the first two innings, allowing only one hit from lead-off batter Shawn Bybee to start the game. The Bruins’ bats woke up to start out the third inning, however, with two hits in the stanza for two runs. Three of the first four batters then singled in the top of the fourth inning to help Sylvan Hills earn a 6-0 lead midway through the game.
Winstead held on until the sixth, at which time he was relieved by Randy Peeples for the final inning.
Grant Garlington led off for Sylvan Hills in the top of the third with a single to second, but fell to a fielder’s choice from following batter Taylor Roark. Bybee followed that with a double to score Roark, and stole to third before coming in on a 1-3 from Hayden Miller.
In the top of the fourth, Ritchie Irvin and Jarrett Boles started things off for the Bruins with back-to-back singles into centerfield to put more scores in position.
Nathan Van Schoyck sent it down the third base line for the next single, scoring Irvan and moving Van Schoyck to third.
Both runners would score off a double to center from Roark, and Toliver added the final hit of the inning with a single to right that scored Roark for a 6-0 Bruins lead.
Austin Gwatney added the seventh run in the top of the fifth. A single to center put the SH outfielder on, and a double from Garlington two batters later sent him around for the run.
The final scores of the game for Sylvan Hills came in the top of the sixth. A Boles single down the third base line brought in Miller and Toliver, putting Jacksonville in danger of being run-ruled.
Gwatney had to score at least two runs in the bottom of the sixth to send the game to its final scheduled inning, but Garlington sent the Chevy boys out with an F8 pop-up from Zach Thomas and strikeouts on Zach James and Tim Payne.
Sylvan Hills had 12 total hits in the game, compared to five for Gwatney. Bybee was 2 for 4 for the Bruins with a double and a RBI. Garlington went 2 for 2 with a double and a RBI, and Toliver was 2 for 4 with a RBI.
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: Sylvan Hills’ AAA team improved to 5-1 against zone competition Tuesday night by handling Jacksonville 9-0.
Sylvan Hills collected a run-ruled 9-0 shutout over Gwatney Chevrolet at Dupree Park on Tuesday night. The Class AAA game was originally scheduled as a twin bill, but was changed to one seven-inning contest. The Bruins built a 2-0 lead in the third inning before blowing the game wide open in the fourth inning, scoring four runs in the top of the fourth while batting through their entire lineup.
Carter Lance took the win at the mound for Sylvan Hills, allowing six hits and one walk while striking out eight batters. Lance went the six-inning distance in the game for the Bruins, avoiding a scoring threat from Jacksonville in the bottom of the third to record the complete-game shutout.
Starting Jacksonville pitcher Casey Winstead looked strong in the first two innings, allowing only one hit from lead-off batter Shawn Bybee to start the game. The Bruins’ bats woke up to start out the third inning, however, with two hits in the stanza for two runs. Three of the first four batters then singled in the top of the fourth inning to help Sylvan Hills earn a 6-0 lead midway through the game.
Winstead held on until the sixth, at which time he was relieved by Randy Peeples for the final inning.
Grant Garlington led off for Sylvan Hills in the top of the third with a single to second, but fell to a fielder’s choice from following batter Taylor Roark. Bybee followed that with a double to score Roark, and stole to third before coming in on a 1-3 from Hayden Miller.
In the top of the fourth, Ritchie Irvin and Jarrett Boles started things off for the Bruins with back-to-back singles into centerfield to put more scores in position.
Nathan Van Schoyck sent it down the third base line for the next single, scoring Irvan and moving Van Schoyck to third.
Both runners would score off a double to center from Roark, and Toliver added the final hit of the inning with a single to right that scored Roark for a 6-0 Bruins lead.
Austin Gwatney added the seventh run in the top of the fifth. A single to center put the SH outfielder on, and a double from Garlington two batters later sent him around for the run.
The final scores of the game for Sylvan Hills came in the top of the sixth. A Boles single down the third base line brought in Miller and Toliver, putting Jacksonville in danger of being run-ruled.
Gwatney had to score at least two runs in the bottom of the sixth to send the game to its final scheduled inning, but Garlington sent the Chevy boys out with an F8 pop-up from Zach Thomas and strikeouts on Zach James and Tim Payne.
Sylvan Hills had 12 total hits in the game, compared to five for Gwatney. Bybee was 2 for 4 for the Bruins with a double and a RBI. Garlington went 2 for 2 with a double and a RBI, and Toliver was 2 for 4 with a RBI.
SPORTS >> Sylvan Hills gets huge playoff win
By JASON KING
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: The Sylvan Hills Class A team defeated Little Rock Blue Friday to avoid elimination from the state tournament at North Little Rock’s Burns Park.
Sylvan Hills was sent to the losers bracket in the first round of the Class A American Legion state tournament at Burns Park with an opening loss to North Little Rock 12-10 in eight innings, but rebounded on Friday to take a 7-4 win over Little Rock Blue.
The Bruins made up a three-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh to take North Little Rock into extra innings in Thursday’s opener. The Colts led 7-4 heading into the last inning, but a double from T.C. Squires bounced off the centerfield wall, and brought in runs from Cody Wood, Hunter Miller and Ross Bogard to tie the game.
After an impressive rally to force extra innings, Sylvan Hills suffered its worst defensive performance of the game in the top of the eighth. The Colts came away with five runs off of four hits and the only Sylvan Hills’ error of the game in the inning, putting the Bruins in an even deeper hole than the one they faced an inning earlier.
For a moment in the bottom of the eighth, it looked as if the Bruins might pull off the unthinkable, making up three of the five runs to pull them back to within a couple of scores of the Colts. Starting pitcher Kyle Thompson was relieved by Brandon Von Ohlan, but Sylvan Hills blasted two hits off the fresh pitcher to make the score 12-10. Von Ohlan finally got a handle on things, with a strikeout on Bogard and a 5-3 groundout from Chris Dalton to retire the stubborn Bruins.
Friday’s matchup with Blue was all Sylvan Hills, with the exception of the fifth inning. Little Rock made up all but one of a four-run deficit in the bottom of the fifth; shrinking a 5-1 Bruins lead down to 5-4 with three hits off of starting SH pitcher Chris Dalton. Dalton went on to take the win, with Brandon Chastain throwing the final two innings to earn the save.
The Bruins did the majority of their offensive damage in the top of the second inning. An E7 on a pop fly allowed Dalton on base to start the inning, and T.C. Squires put the first points on the the board for Sylvan Hills with a two-run home run over the left field wall. Jessie Everett drove home the next run in with a double to center that scored Cody Cormier. Blake Rix came in on a sacrifice grounder from Cody Wood.
Hunter Miller got the last hit of the inning for Sylvan Hills with a double ground ball down the third base line to score Everett. The stout performance in the second gave the Bruins a comfortable 5-0 heading into the third inning.
Nathan Longilotti put Blue’s first run down in the bottom of the second, driving in James Monhead with a single to center.
The Bruins held the four-run advantage until the bottom of the fifth, when the Blue bats finally started to light up.
A single, a hit by pitch and a double led to the first run for Little Rock to start the turn. A single to left from Hunter Senter scored the second run of the inning, and Taylor Brown tagged up on a sacrifice fly from Tim Watson for the final run to bring Blue within one at 5-4.
Sylvan Hills needed more runs for insurance and to keep the momentum. Those runs came in the top of the six with a run from Miller on a Little Rock error, and a score from Ross Bogard off another error after a single from Dalton. Those runs set the final margin of the game, as relief SH pitcher Chastain retired the final six Little Rock batters of the game to secure the win.
Sylvan Hills finished with seven runs, seven hits and one error. Little Rock had four runs, 10 hits and five errors. Everett was 2 for 5 with a double and a RBI; Miller was 2 for 4 with a double and RBI. Dalton finished 1 for 2 with a RBI and Squires was 1 for three with a home run and two RBIs.
Friday’s matchup with Blue was all Sylvan Hills, with the exception of the fifth inning.
Little Rock made up all but one of a four-run deficit in the bottom of the fifth, shrinking a 5-1 Bruins lead down to 5-4 with three hits off of starting SH pitcher Chris Dalton.
Dalton went on to take the win, with Brandon Chastain throwing the final two innings to earn the save.
The Bruins did the majority of their offensive damage in the top of the second inning. An E7 on a pop fly allowed Dalton on base to start the inning, and T.C. Squires put the first points on the board for Sylvan Hills with a two-run home run over the left field wall. Jessie Everett drove home the next run with a double to center that scored Cody Cormier. Blake Rix came in on a sacrifice grounder from Cody Wood.
Hunter Miller got the last hit of the inning for Sylvan Hills with a double ground ball down the third base line to score Everett. The stout performance in the second gave the Bruins a comfortable 5-0 lead heading into the third inning.
Nathan Longilotti put Blue’s first run down in the bottom of the second, driving in James Monhead with a single to center.
The Bruins held the four-run advantage until the bottom of the fifth, when the Blue bats finally started to light up.
A single, a hit by pitch and a double led to the first run for Little Rock to start the turn. A single to left from Hunter Senter scored the second run of the inning, and Taylor Brown tagged up on a sacrifice fly from Tim Watson for the final run to bring Blue within one at 5-4.
Sylvan Hills needed more runs for insurance and to keep the momentum. Those runs came in the top of the six with a run from Miller on a Little Rock error, and a score from Ross Bogard off another error after a single from Dalton.
Those runs set the final margin of the game, as relief SH pitcher Chastain retired the final six Little Rock batters of the game to secure the win.
Sylvan Hills finished with seven runs, seven hits and one error. Little Rock had four runs, 10 hits and five errors. Everett was 2 for 5 with a double and a RBI.
Miller was 2 for 4 with a double and RBI. Dalton finished 1 for 2 with a RBI and Squires was 1 for three with a home run and two RBIs.
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: The Sylvan Hills Class A team defeated Little Rock Blue Friday to avoid elimination from the state tournament at North Little Rock’s Burns Park.
Sylvan Hills was sent to the losers bracket in the first round of the Class A American Legion state tournament at Burns Park with an opening loss to North Little Rock 12-10 in eight innings, but rebounded on Friday to take a 7-4 win over Little Rock Blue.
The Bruins made up a three-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh to take North Little Rock into extra innings in Thursday’s opener. The Colts led 7-4 heading into the last inning, but a double from T.C. Squires bounced off the centerfield wall, and brought in runs from Cody Wood, Hunter Miller and Ross Bogard to tie the game.
After an impressive rally to force extra innings, Sylvan Hills suffered its worst defensive performance of the game in the top of the eighth. The Colts came away with five runs off of four hits and the only Sylvan Hills’ error of the game in the inning, putting the Bruins in an even deeper hole than the one they faced an inning earlier.
For a moment in the bottom of the eighth, it looked as if the Bruins might pull off the unthinkable, making up three of the five runs to pull them back to within a couple of scores of the Colts. Starting pitcher Kyle Thompson was relieved by Brandon Von Ohlan, but Sylvan Hills blasted two hits off the fresh pitcher to make the score 12-10. Von Ohlan finally got a handle on things, with a strikeout on Bogard and a 5-3 groundout from Chris Dalton to retire the stubborn Bruins.
Friday’s matchup with Blue was all Sylvan Hills, with the exception of the fifth inning. Little Rock made up all but one of a four-run deficit in the bottom of the fifth; shrinking a 5-1 Bruins lead down to 5-4 with three hits off of starting SH pitcher Chris Dalton. Dalton went on to take the win, with Brandon Chastain throwing the final two innings to earn the save.
The Bruins did the majority of their offensive damage in the top of the second inning. An E7 on a pop fly allowed Dalton on base to start the inning, and T.C. Squires put the first points on the the board for Sylvan Hills with a two-run home run over the left field wall. Jessie Everett drove home the next run in with a double to center that scored Cody Cormier. Blake Rix came in on a sacrifice grounder from Cody Wood.
Hunter Miller got the last hit of the inning for Sylvan Hills with a double ground ball down the third base line to score Everett. The stout performance in the second gave the Bruins a comfortable 5-0 heading into the third inning.
Nathan Longilotti put Blue’s first run down in the bottom of the second, driving in James Monhead with a single to center.
The Bruins held the four-run advantage until the bottom of the fifth, when the Blue bats finally started to light up.
A single, a hit by pitch and a double led to the first run for Little Rock to start the turn. A single to left from Hunter Senter scored the second run of the inning, and Taylor Brown tagged up on a sacrifice fly from Tim Watson for the final run to bring Blue within one at 5-4.
Sylvan Hills needed more runs for insurance and to keep the momentum. Those runs came in the top of the six with a run from Miller on a Little Rock error, and a score from Ross Bogard off another error after a single from Dalton. Those runs set the final margin of the game, as relief SH pitcher Chastain retired the final six Little Rock batters of the game to secure the win.
Sylvan Hills finished with seven runs, seven hits and one error. Little Rock had four runs, 10 hits and five errors. Everett was 2 for 5 with a double and a RBI; Miller was 2 for 4 with a double and RBI. Dalton finished 1 for 2 with a RBI and Squires was 1 for three with a home run and two RBIs.
Friday’s matchup with Blue was all Sylvan Hills, with the exception of the fifth inning.
Little Rock made up all but one of a four-run deficit in the bottom of the fifth, shrinking a 5-1 Bruins lead down to 5-4 with three hits off of starting SH pitcher Chris Dalton.
Dalton went on to take the win, with Brandon Chastain throwing the final two innings to earn the save.
The Bruins did the majority of their offensive damage in the top of the second inning. An E7 on a pop fly allowed Dalton on base to start the inning, and T.C. Squires put the first points on the board for Sylvan Hills with a two-run home run over the left field wall. Jessie Everett drove home the next run with a double to center that scored Cody Cormier. Blake Rix came in on a sacrifice grounder from Cody Wood.
Hunter Miller got the last hit of the inning for Sylvan Hills with a double ground ball down the third base line to score Everett. The stout performance in the second gave the Bruins a comfortable 5-0 lead heading into the third inning.
Nathan Longilotti put Blue’s first run down in the bottom of the second, driving in James Monhead with a single to center.
The Bruins held the four-run advantage until the bottom of the fifth, when the Blue bats finally started to light up.
A single, a hit by pitch and a double led to the first run for Little Rock to start the turn. A single to left from Hunter Senter scored the second run of the inning, and Taylor Brown tagged up on a sacrifice fly from Tim Watson for the final run to bring Blue within one at 5-4.
Sylvan Hills needed more runs for insurance and to keep the momentum. Those runs came in the top of the six with a run from Miller on a Little Rock error, and a score from Ross Bogard off another error after a single from Dalton.
Those runs set the final margin of the game, as relief SH pitcher Chastain retired the final six Little Rock batters of the game to secure the win.
Sylvan Hills finished with seven runs, seven hits and one error. Little Rock had four runs, 10 hits and five errors. Everett was 2 for 5 with a double and a RBI.
Miller was 2 for 4 with a double and RBI. Dalton finished 1 for 2 with a RBI and Squires was 1 for three with a home run and two RBIs.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
FROM THE PUBLISHER >> Let’s help him find a long-lost brother
BY GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader publisher
We get calls from readers asking for all kinds of help. Sometimes they’re looking for lost relatives, and we’ll try to reunite them, but we don’t always succeed.
People call from out of state looking for a relative who may have served here in the military decades ago, but they may be long gone from the area, or they may even be dead.
Michael Sholes, 59, called last week from Chesapeake, Va. He’d seen our paper online and wanted to talk to the editor.
He’s looking for his younger brother, Stephen Wayne Sholes, 53. He’s about 53 years old and has lived in Jacksonville and Cabot in recent years.
“I haven’t seen or talked to him in 30 years. The last address I have for him was in Jacksonville,” Michael Sholes said.
“I need to see my brother,” Michael Sholes said. “It’s a family affair. It’s about a family inheritance.”
Perhaps his brother doesn’t even know his father has passed away.
“He works in electronics, installing street lights,” Michael Sholes said. “The last time I saw him was in Waynesboro, Va.”
“Our father died on December 15, 2003 in Virginia,” Sholes continued. “Our sister won’t tell us much about it.”
I had the impression she handled their father’s will and won’t share the inheritance with the brothers.
“Dad was a journalist in the Navy for 20 years,” Michael Sholes said.
He was all right then, I said.
We talked a while longer. I asked for more details about the family, although he’s reluctant to say too much more.
I don’t blame him. Why should he discuss his family’s affairs with a stranger?
I hope he finds his brother and they work out any problems they might have with their sister.
If anyone knows Stephen Wayne Sholes, or if he’s reading this, please call Michael Sholes at 757-536-0408, or write to 1229 Land of Promise Road, Chesapeake, Va. 23322.
I like that address. It shows promise.
I hope the brothers meet again, and they’ll help me finish this story.
Leader publisher
We get calls from readers asking for all kinds of help. Sometimes they’re looking for lost relatives, and we’ll try to reunite them, but we don’t always succeed.
People call from out of state looking for a relative who may have served here in the military decades ago, but they may be long gone from the area, or they may even be dead.
Michael Sholes, 59, called last week from Chesapeake, Va. He’d seen our paper online and wanted to talk to the editor.
He’s looking for his younger brother, Stephen Wayne Sholes, 53. He’s about 53 years old and has lived in Jacksonville and Cabot in recent years.
“I haven’t seen or talked to him in 30 years. The last address I have for him was in Jacksonville,” Michael Sholes said.
“I need to see my brother,” Michael Sholes said. “It’s a family affair. It’s about a family inheritance.”
Perhaps his brother doesn’t even know his father has passed away.
“He works in electronics, installing street lights,” Michael Sholes said. “The last time I saw him was in Waynesboro, Va.”
“Our father died on December 15, 2003 in Virginia,” Sholes continued. “Our sister won’t tell us much about it.”
I had the impression she handled their father’s will and won’t share the inheritance with the brothers.
“Dad was a journalist in the Navy for 20 years,” Michael Sholes said.
He was all right then, I said.
We talked a while longer. I asked for more details about the family, although he’s reluctant to say too much more.
I don’t blame him. Why should he discuss his family’s affairs with a stranger?
I hope he finds his brother and they work out any problems they might have with their sister.
If anyone knows Stephen Wayne Sholes, or if he’s reading this, please call Michael Sholes at 757-536-0408, or write to 1229 Land of Promise Road, Chesapeake, Va. 23322.
I like that address. It shows promise.
I hope the brothers meet again, and they’ll help me finish this story.
TOP STORY >> Hot weather is dangerous
Leader staff report
IN SHORT: In July and August, the heat index, which is a combination of heat and humidity, often tops 110 degrees,
making it rough on those who work outside.
Winter is traditionally the season for sickness, but summer’s heat and humidity are a dangerous mix that contributes to illness and possibly death, especially for anyone working outside, such as city employees and airmen at Little Rock Air Force Base.
“With street crews, they’re surrounded by asphalt that’s somewhere in the neighborhood of 240 degrees, and they’re applying it without any shade. It’s tough, but they stay hydrated and keep on marching,” said Jimmy Oakley, public works director for Jacksonville.
Health officials recommend drinking moderate amounts of water or sports drinks throughout the day and avoiding caffeinated and carbonated drinks during the day because they increase elimination while delaying hydration.
Heat-related illnesses, causes and treatments include:
- Heat cramps. Muscle pain caused by severe salt depletion due to heavy sweating can be treated through salt replacement, cooling down and gentle massage.
- Heat exhaustion. The most common illness caused by heat. Often occurs while the person is working outside or attending outside events in extremely hot, humid weather. Victim may complain of weakness and feel faint. Other symptoms include dizziness, nausea, headache and confusion. The person should be moved to a cooler place, and wet cloths applied for cooling down. Fluid and salt should be replaced.
Depending on the severity of the illness, hospitalization and intravenous fluid replacement may be necessary. This condition usually comes just before heat stroke.
- Heat stroke or sunstroke. This is a life-threatening condition in which the victim’s temperature-control system stops working. Sweating stops completely and the body’s temperature can rise so high that the nervous system, the brain and other organs can be damaged permanently. Death may occur if the body is not cooled quickly.
The symptoms of heat stroke include sudden high fever, dry skin, delirium, convulsions and seizures. Heat stroke is a medical emergency. Call 911 and cool the person as fast as possible with ice, a cold bath and wet sheets until medical help arrives. “We primarily see dehydration and heat exhaustion, which is the level just before heat stroke,” said Kristen James, spokesperson for Rebsamen Medical Center.
“We see those in our emergency room pretty regularly during the summer months and increases during the summer sports season and during football, baseball and when the military has a heavy training session,” James told The Leader.
Those who work, exercise or participate in strenuous activity, such as football practice, for an hour or more during intense heat may eliminate or sweat up to two quarts of water.
“The guys in sanitation have one of the hardest jobs, too. We have four garbage collection trucks and each one visits at least 1,000 houses a day and each truck throws about 10,000 pounds of trash from their specific route.
“They lift and throw bags, jump on and off the truck and sometimes walk ahead of the truck. It’s all strength and durability, not everybody has the wind to keep the pace. They have to pace themselves, of course.
“Other crews can sometimes slow it down a step or two, but sanitation can’t. It’s pretty fast-paced and with designated routes. But if worst comes to worst, we have the option to swap out workers with either community-service people or temporary employees. But above all else, we never run out of liquids,” Oakley explained.
Jacksonville workers in each department have weekly safety meetings to address summer health and heat safety measures.
“We discuss the warning signs of heat exhaustion, such as nausea, headaches, what kind of precautions to take if a coworker gets overheated,” Oakley said.
“We definitely drink more water, or we provide Gatorade, too, which some of the crew members prefer. But we carry plenty of liquids with us wherever we go, whether it’s streets, sanitation, fleet services or animal control. They make sure to pace themselves and stop to take short breaks,” Oakley said.
On Little Rock Air Force Base, airmen stick to a work/rest schedule when working in the heat.
The military has recommended work and rest cycles for outdoor activities. When the temperature tops 90 degrees, it recommends airmen drink a quart of water per hour and rest after 20 minutes of “medium work” such as calisthenics or patrolling.
Employees at Cabot Public Works beat the heat by working when it’s cooler, taking frequent breaks and drinking a lot of water and Gatorade.
“We have water and Gatorade on the trucks and breaks are man-datory,” said Jim Towe, public works director. “We buy Gatorade by the case.”
For most of the year, his employees work from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Towe said. But from Memo-rial Day to Labor Day, they voluntarily give up their 30 minute lunch break in favor of a shorter workday that starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m.
However, they still have plenty of time to eat the snacks they carry with them, he said, because they must break in the shade 15 minutes every hour when the temperatures climb.
At the Cabot Post Office, Post-master Bob Peterson says the LLVs (long life vehicles) city mail carriers drive aren’t equipped with air conditioners and the sliding doors must remain closed when the vehicles are moving, so carriers keep cool by various means.
They freeze bottles of water so they have cool water to drink. They drink Powerade supplied by the post office and they borrow customers’ water hoses to soak towels to wear around their necks.
All those little tricks help them get through the hot days, he said, but their customers also help.
“A lot of people feel sorry for them,” Peterson said, “And on hot days they might open a mailbox and find a nice cold drink there.”
The elderly, people with health problems, and very young children are the most vulnerable to heat related illnesses.
While the elderly, people with health problems, and very young children are equally vulnerable, elderly people should avoid staying shut-up indoors during heat waves without using air conditioning.
More than half of the 700 heat-related deaths in the 1995 Chicago heat wave could have been prevented with an air conditioner in the home.
Locally, elderly people 60 and over who can’t afford air conditioning are invited to the Jacksonville Senior Center at 100 Victory Circle where seniors can come at no cost to spend the day in the cool, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. “We offer lunch and activities in the afternoon so it’s a nice way to spend a hot day,” said Barb Seagle of the Jacksonville Senior Center.
On average, there are 400 heat-related deaths a year in the U.S. The heat wave of 1980 was an especially hard one for Arkansas resulting in 153 heat-related deaths. On July 12, 1980 the temperature in Jackson-ville was 105 degrees.
The 1995 heat wave in the Midwest contributed to 716 heat-related deaths in the U.S. that year alone.
IN SHORT: In July and August, the heat index, which is a combination of heat and humidity, often tops 110 degrees,
making it rough on those who work outside.
Winter is traditionally the season for sickness, but summer’s heat and humidity are a dangerous mix that contributes to illness and possibly death, especially for anyone working outside, such as city employees and airmen at Little Rock Air Force Base.
“With street crews, they’re surrounded by asphalt that’s somewhere in the neighborhood of 240 degrees, and they’re applying it without any shade. It’s tough, but they stay hydrated and keep on marching,” said Jimmy Oakley, public works director for Jacksonville.
Health officials recommend drinking moderate amounts of water or sports drinks throughout the day and avoiding caffeinated and carbonated drinks during the day because they increase elimination while delaying hydration.
Heat-related illnesses, causes and treatments include:
- Heat cramps. Muscle pain caused by severe salt depletion due to heavy sweating can be treated through salt replacement, cooling down and gentle massage.
- Heat exhaustion. The most common illness caused by heat. Often occurs while the person is working outside or attending outside events in extremely hot, humid weather. Victim may complain of weakness and feel faint. Other symptoms include dizziness, nausea, headache and confusion. The person should be moved to a cooler place, and wet cloths applied for cooling down. Fluid and salt should be replaced.
Depending on the severity of the illness, hospitalization and intravenous fluid replacement may be necessary. This condition usually comes just before heat stroke.
- Heat stroke or sunstroke. This is a life-threatening condition in which the victim’s temperature-control system stops working. Sweating stops completely and the body’s temperature can rise so high that the nervous system, the brain and other organs can be damaged permanently. Death may occur if the body is not cooled quickly.
The symptoms of heat stroke include sudden high fever, dry skin, delirium, convulsions and seizures. Heat stroke is a medical emergency. Call 911 and cool the person as fast as possible with ice, a cold bath and wet sheets until medical help arrives. “We primarily see dehydration and heat exhaustion, which is the level just before heat stroke,” said Kristen James, spokesperson for Rebsamen Medical Center.
“We see those in our emergency room pretty regularly during the summer months and increases during the summer sports season and during football, baseball and when the military has a heavy training session,” James told The Leader.
Those who work, exercise or participate in strenuous activity, such as football practice, for an hour or more during intense heat may eliminate or sweat up to two quarts of water.
“The guys in sanitation have one of the hardest jobs, too. We have four garbage collection trucks and each one visits at least 1,000 houses a day and each truck throws about 10,000 pounds of trash from their specific route.
“They lift and throw bags, jump on and off the truck and sometimes walk ahead of the truck. It’s all strength and durability, not everybody has the wind to keep the pace. They have to pace themselves, of course.
“Other crews can sometimes slow it down a step or two, but sanitation can’t. It’s pretty fast-paced and with designated routes. But if worst comes to worst, we have the option to swap out workers with either community-service people or temporary employees. But above all else, we never run out of liquids,” Oakley explained.
Jacksonville workers in each department have weekly safety meetings to address summer health and heat safety measures.
“We discuss the warning signs of heat exhaustion, such as nausea, headaches, what kind of precautions to take if a coworker gets overheated,” Oakley said.
“We definitely drink more water, or we provide Gatorade, too, which some of the crew members prefer. But we carry plenty of liquids with us wherever we go, whether it’s streets, sanitation, fleet services or animal control. They make sure to pace themselves and stop to take short breaks,” Oakley said.
On Little Rock Air Force Base, airmen stick to a work/rest schedule when working in the heat.
The military has recommended work and rest cycles for outdoor activities. When the temperature tops 90 degrees, it recommends airmen drink a quart of water per hour and rest after 20 minutes of “medium work” such as calisthenics or patrolling.
Employees at Cabot Public Works beat the heat by working when it’s cooler, taking frequent breaks and drinking a lot of water and Gatorade.
“We have water and Gatorade on the trucks and breaks are man-datory,” said Jim Towe, public works director. “We buy Gatorade by the case.”
For most of the year, his employees work from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Towe said. But from Memo-rial Day to Labor Day, they voluntarily give up their 30 minute lunch break in favor of a shorter workday that starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m.
However, they still have plenty of time to eat the snacks they carry with them, he said, because they must break in the shade 15 minutes every hour when the temperatures climb.
At the Cabot Post Office, Post-master Bob Peterson says the LLVs (long life vehicles) city mail carriers drive aren’t equipped with air conditioners and the sliding doors must remain closed when the vehicles are moving, so carriers keep cool by various means.
They freeze bottles of water so they have cool water to drink. They drink Powerade supplied by the post office and they borrow customers’ water hoses to soak towels to wear around their necks.
All those little tricks help them get through the hot days, he said, but their customers also help.
“A lot of people feel sorry for them,” Peterson said, “And on hot days they might open a mailbox and find a nice cold drink there.”
The elderly, people with health problems, and very young children are the most vulnerable to heat related illnesses.
While the elderly, people with health problems, and very young children are equally vulnerable, elderly people should avoid staying shut-up indoors during heat waves without using air conditioning.
More than half of the 700 heat-related deaths in the 1995 Chicago heat wave could have been prevented with an air conditioner in the home.
Locally, elderly people 60 and over who can’t afford air conditioning are invited to the Jacksonville Senior Center at 100 Victory Circle where seniors can come at no cost to spend the day in the cool, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. “We offer lunch and activities in the afternoon so it’s a nice way to spend a hot day,” said Barb Seagle of the Jacksonville Senior Center.
On average, there are 400 heat-related deaths a year in the U.S. The heat wave of 1980 was an especially hard one for Arkansas resulting in 153 heat-related deaths. On July 12, 1980 the temperature in Jackson-ville was 105 degrees.
The 1995 heat wave in the Midwest contributed to 716 heat-related deaths in the U.S. that year alone.
TOP STORY >> Arkansas truck driver dodges bullets in Iraq
BY JAN COTTINGHAM
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: Woman chronicles her time in the war zone as a civilian contractor, saying it was scary-going, but she’s ready to go back.
The first question one woman asks another who voluntarily goes to Iraq to work is, of course, Why?
Why would a feisty, blue-jeans-wearing American woman go to, of all places, the Middle East, of all places, Iraq, of all places, a war zone to drive trucks? Cindy Morgan, raised in DeWitt and a mother of three boys, answers that question with much more than the usual formula of “to support the troops,” though that was one of her reasons.
Morgan, pretty and feminine but with a tom-boy swagger, already had a career as a truck driver.
She took a truck-driving job in Iraq, as a civilian contractor conveying food and supplies to U.S. troops, partly to leave her hard-luck life be-hind, to escape an abusive husband, her third. While there, she found a reason for living, one that didn’t involve tolerating indifference, carelessness, stupidity, cruelty or dishonesty.
But she also learned a lesson she thinks a lot of Americans need to learn: What happens in the rest of the world matters here.
“Sitting here in the United States—you know we have it really good. And we see stuff over in countries like that and we say, ‘Oh, that’s not going to affect us.’ But in ways it does. … It’s like the old saying, There are six degrees of separation. It’s a small world when you really look at it, and everything affects everything else.”
Cynthia I. Morgan has written about her experiences in a new book, “Cindy in Iraq: A Civilian’s Year in the War Zone” (Free Press, $25.)
While in North Little Rock last week to promote the book, she sat down in the Books-a-Million café for an interview, some 7,000 miles and a culture away from war to discuss those experiences and why she decided to write about them. Her eldest son, Kenny, joined the Arkan-sas National Guard and later followed his mother to Iraq, where he was attached to the 39th Infantry Brigade and spent 10 months.
During her time in Iraq, Morgan kept an on-line journal that became particularly popular with the families of civilians working for private contractors supporting the troops. Her book stems from that journal, but she also wanted to present more than her personal experiences, which involved ambushes, seeing fellow truckers shot and taking shrapnel herself.
Morgan said that the American public needed to know about the vital, though extremely dangerous, work of civilians in supporting U.S. troops in the Iraqi war. And, she said, Americans need to know that good things have come of the U.S. presence in Iraq: A vicious dictator has been deposed, living conditions have improved, and many Iraqis, Morgan said, are grateful.
“We have done the right thing, no matter what the reason was,” Morgan said.
“When you see the people living like they did and you see firsthand what he [Saddam Hussein] did to the people who lived in his country, you just can’t help but know that we did the right thing. Granted, things are not great. We’re talking about an area of the world that has been fighting for 2,000 years, and it’s not going to stop overnight.
“But their living conditions in lots of places have gotten better. They’re getting clean, sanitary water and the trash isn’t everywhere, and the electricity grid is starting to get better so they don’t have power outages all the time. And their way of life is getting better. It’s still dangerous. I won’t deny that. There are still civilian Iraqis getting killed, unfortunately. But it is getting better.”
Morgan, however, expresses dismay at the U.S. public’s attitude toward civilian contractors working in Iraq.
“A lot of people think that we’re just a bunch of money-hungry mercenaries out there toting guns and killing civilians, when 99 percent of us aren’t allowed to carry a weapon,” she said.
“Unless you’re in security or you’re running private security in convoy escorts, you’re not allowed to carry a firearm. And we eat, we sleep right beside the soldiers. We run the convoys with them. We get shot at. We get killed beside them.
“There’s not enough money in this world to go play Russian roulette with your life,” she said. “They’re [private contractors] there for more than just some money. It’s God and country, and a lot of these guys are like I am. We were just too old to join the military after 9/11 and we wanted to serve our country.
“I had one reporter call us the ‘shadow army’ because we’re behind the scenes. Our military’s been cut back so much they can’t support themselves. We’re part of the largest contingent of civilian contractors we’ve ever had in a combat zone, and if it wasn’t for us, they [the troops] wouldn’t have a lot of the things they have. We rely on them for protection, and they rely on us for supplies.”
Asked how she was treated in the Middle East, Morgan acknowledged: “Being an American is a downside over there. Being a woman over there is a downside. You put the two together, and it’s like, oh, my gosh. It was scary going over just from the culture and everything you hear about that part of the world.” But working for KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary, helped shield her.
“We didn’t have a whole lot of dealings with the general public,” she said.
“We were staged out on the roads because a lot of the camps didn’t have big enough staging areas for all of the trucks. And we would get to meet the kids and some of the people that way, and that was our interaction with the locals.
“Some of them were rude, but if they were rude to me they were rude to the men as well,” Morgan said.
“And some of them were just as polite and respectful as they could be. And that really surprised me, especially when I became a CC [convoy commander], and we started having TCNs, third-country nationals, running with us.” The third-country nationals, also truck drivers employed by KBR, were from all over the Middle East and Asia, and many were Muslim.
“I was really afraid of how they would take having a woman tell them what to do and how to do this. But I walked in with, I guess you can say, an ‘attitude’ of ‘This is my job. This is what we’ve got to do.’ And whether I was totally sure of what I was doing or not, I presented the confidence that I was. These guys—it didn’t take long. They respected me and did what I asked them to do, even went out of their way. Made me tea, would ask me to come eat dinner with them.”
Sadly, while she was in Iraq, Morgan suffered more harm from a fellow American than from any Iraqi insurgents.
While in company-provided housing in Kuwait, she was sexually assaulted. The assailant wasn’t caught, and Morgan considered coming home. But a friend dissuaded her, saying, “You’ve let men dictate to you all of your life. Are you going to let this one? You’ve finally found something that you believe in, something that you are fulfilled by.” She decided to stay, ultimately spending a year in Iraq.
Morgan returned to private life in the United States, driving a truck. But she missed her work in the Middle East. She’s due to go back to Iraq July 24, as a camp manager for another private contractor, Houston-based Falcon SIS.
“It still gives me a chance to support the troops,” she said. “It makes my family feel a little bit easier than I’m not going to be outside the wire driving a truck. And you get used to that way of life.”
In her book, Morgan says that while in Iraq, she found her pride. As for the book itself:
“It’s my story. It’s a way to get to the American public what civilian contractors are doing over there and the fact that we’re side by side with the soldiers. There’s a lot of brave men over there—and women.”
Jan Cottingham is a freelance writer living in Little Rock.
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: Woman chronicles her time in the war zone as a civilian contractor, saying it was scary-going, but she’s ready to go back.
The first question one woman asks another who voluntarily goes to Iraq to work is, of course, Why?
Why would a feisty, blue-jeans-wearing American woman go to, of all places, the Middle East, of all places, Iraq, of all places, a war zone to drive trucks? Cindy Morgan, raised in DeWitt and a mother of three boys, answers that question with much more than the usual formula of “to support the troops,” though that was one of her reasons.
Morgan, pretty and feminine but with a tom-boy swagger, already had a career as a truck driver.
She took a truck-driving job in Iraq, as a civilian contractor conveying food and supplies to U.S. troops, partly to leave her hard-luck life be-hind, to escape an abusive husband, her third. While there, she found a reason for living, one that didn’t involve tolerating indifference, carelessness, stupidity, cruelty or dishonesty.
But she also learned a lesson she thinks a lot of Americans need to learn: What happens in the rest of the world matters here.
“Sitting here in the United States—you know we have it really good. And we see stuff over in countries like that and we say, ‘Oh, that’s not going to affect us.’ But in ways it does. … It’s like the old saying, There are six degrees of separation. It’s a small world when you really look at it, and everything affects everything else.”
Cynthia I. Morgan has written about her experiences in a new book, “Cindy in Iraq: A Civilian’s Year in the War Zone” (Free Press, $25.)
While in North Little Rock last week to promote the book, she sat down in the Books-a-Million café for an interview, some 7,000 miles and a culture away from war to discuss those experiences and why she decided to write about them. Her eldest son, Kenny, joined the Arkan-sas National Guard and later followed his mother to Iraq, where he was attached to the 39th Infantry Brigade and spent 10 months.
During her time in Iraq, Morgan kept an on-line journal that became particularly popular with the families of civilians working for private contractors supporting the troops. Her book stems from that journal, but she also wanted to present more than her personal experiences, which involved ambushes, seeing fellow truckers shot and taking shrapnel herself.
Morgan said that the American public needed to know about the vital, though extremely dangerous, work of civilians in supporting U.S. troops in the Iraqi war. And, she said, Americans need to know that good things have come of the U.S. presence in Iraq: A vicious dictator has been deposed, living conditions have improved, and many Iraqis, Morgan said, are grateful.
“We have done the right thing, no matter what the reason was,” Morgan said.
“When you see the people living like they did and you see firsthand what he [Saddam Hussein] did to the people who lived in his country, you just can’t help but know that we did the right thing. Granted, things are not great. We’re talking about an area of the world that has been fighting for 2,000 years, and it’s not going to stop overnight.
“But their living conditions in lots of places have gotten better. They’re getting clean, sanitary water and the trash isn’t everywhere, and the electricity grid is starting to get better so they don’t have power outages all the time. And their way of life is getting better. It’s still dangerous. I won’t deny that. There are still civilian Iraqis getting killed, unfortunately. But it is getting better.”
Morgan, however, expresses dismay at the U.S. public’s attitude toward civilian contractors working in Iraq.
“A lot of people think that we’re just a bunch of money-hungry mercenaries out there toting guns and killing civilians, when 99 percent of us aren’t allowed to carry a weapon,” she said.
“Unless you’re in security or you’re running private security in convoy escorts, you’re not allowed to carry a firearm. And we eat, we sleep right beside the soldiers. We run the convoys with them. We get shot at. We get killed beside them.
“There’s not enough money in this world to go play Russian roulette with your life,” she said. “They’re [private contractors] there for more than just some money. It’s God and country, and a lot of these guys are like I am. We were just too old to join the military after 9/11 and we wanted to serve our country.
“I had one reporter call us the ‘shadow army’ because we’re behind the scenes. Our military’s been cut back so much they can’t support themselves. We’re part of the largest contingent of civilian contractors we’ve ever had in a combat zone, and if it wasn’t for us, they [the troops] wouldn’t have a lot of the things they have. We rely on them for protection, and they rely on us for supplies.”
Asked how she was treated in the Middle East, Morgan acknowledged: “Being an American is a downside over there. Being a woman over there is a downside. You put the two together, and it’s like, oh, my gosh. It was scary going over just from the culture and everything you hear about that part of the world.” But working for KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary, helped shield her.
“We didn’t have a whole lot of dealings with the general public,” she said.
“We were staged out on the roads because a lot of the camps didn’t have big enough staging areas for all of the trucks. And we would get to meet the kids and some of the people that way, and that was our interaction with the locals.
“Some of them were rude, but if they were rude to me they were rude to the men as well,” Morgan said.
“And some of them were just as polite and respectful as they could be. And that really surprised me, especially when I became a CC [convoy commander], and we started having TCNs, third-country nationals, running with us.” The third-country nationals, also truck drivers employed by KBR, were from all over the Middle East and Asia, and many were Muslim.
“I was really afraid of how they would take having a woman tell them what to do and how to do this. But I walked in with, I guess you can say, an ‘attitude’ of ‘This is my job. This is what we’ve got to do.’ And whether I was totally sure of what I was doing or not, I presented the confidence that I was. These guys—it didn’t take long. They respected me and did what I asked them to do, even went out of their way. Made me tea, would ask me to come eat dinner with them.”
Sadly, while she was in Iraq, Morgan suffered more harm from a fellow American than from any Iraqi insurgents.
While in company-provided housing in Kuwait, she was sexually assaulted. The assailant wasn’t caught, and Morgan considered coming home. But a friend dissuaded her, saying, “You’ve let men dictate to you all of your life. Are you going to let this one? You’ve finally found something that you believe in, something that you are fulfilled by.” She decided to stay, ultimately spending a year in Iraq.
Morgan returned to private life in the United States, driving a truck. But she missed her work in the Middle East. She’s due to go back to Iraq July 24, as a camp manager for another private contractor, Houston-based Falcon SIS.
“It still gives me a chance to support the troops,” she said. “It makes my family feel a little bit easier than I’m not going to be outside the wire driving a truck. And you get used to that way of life.”
In her book, Morgan says that while in Iraq, she found her pride. As for the book itself:
“It’s my story. It’s a way to get to the American public what civilian contractors are doing over there and the fact that we’re side by side with the soldiers. There’s a lot of brave men over there—and women.”
Jan Cottingham is a freelance writer living in Little Rock.
TOP STORY >> ModifiedC-130s ready to fly in war
BY SARA GREENE
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: Despite age, cargo plane remains workhorse in the global war on terror.
During a change of command ceremony at Little Rock Air Force Base last week, a 40-year-old C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft was parked nearby in the hangar, a reminder the plane is older than many of the aviators who pilot them in the global war on terror.
“It’s always been the workhorse of war,” said Lynn Hall, a contractor for Lockheed Martin. Hall teaches C-130 navigation to airmen at Little Rock Air Force Base.
“It can carry a lot of people, a lot of gear, land on small, rough airfields and it has the power for quick takeoffs,” Hall told The Leader.
Recently at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia, mechanics created a modified version of the C-130– called a MC-130W – the first of a dozen such aircraft being re-designed by Air Force Special Operations Command to replace combat losses experienced over time .
Modifications to the planes include a basic electronic warfare capability to avoid potential threats, ability to work in special light conditions and strengthening of the tail. The aircraft are also equipped with air refueling pods for in-flight refueling of Special Operations Forces aircraft and combat search and rescue helicopters. The planes can also receive fuel from other refueling aircraft.
The last time “Herk” crews flew combat airdrops at this level was the Vietnam War. The plane is the aircraft of choice for inter-theater airlift in Afghanistan and Iraq capable of flying from areas located on some of the toughest terrain on the planet. C-130 crews from around the country have airlifted and airdropped thousands of supplies, some of it falling from the sky in the form of container-delivery system bundles weighing 1,200 to 2,300 pounds.
Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Co., European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company and L3 – a joint venture between Boeing, L-3 Communications and an Italian company called Alenia — are competing to design and build a Joint Cargo Aircraft described as a shorter, twin-engine version of the C-130.
About 70 of the planes would be delivered to the Army and 75 to the Air Force by 2010. Since the planes haven’t even been designed yet, there’s no price tag for the aircraft.
The latest version of the C-130, the J model, is 112 ft., 9 in. long, 15 ft. longer than the older E and H models. It is also more expensive, between $45 million and $90 million per plane compared to the $30 million price tag of the 40 year old E and H models.
To date, the Air Force has taken delivery of 37 C-130J aircraft from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, including seven at LRAFB. The C-130J contract was nearly scrapped by lawmakers, but an estimated $1.78 billion in cancellation costs made quitting the program just as expensive as continuing.
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: Despite age, cargo plane remains workhorse in the global war on terror.
During a change of command ceremony at Little Rock Air Force Base last week, a 40-year-old C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft was parked nearby in the hangar, a reminder the plane is older than many of the aviators who pilot them in the global war on terror.
“It’s always been the workhorse of war,” said Lynn Hall, a contractor for Lockheed Martin. Hall teaches C-130 navigation to airmen at Little Rock Air Force Base.
“It can carry a lot of people, a lot of gear, land on small, rough airfields and it has the power for quick takeoffs,” Hall told The Leader.
Recently at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia, mechanics created a modified version of the C-130– called a MC-130W – the first of a dozen such aircraft being re-designed by Air Force Special Operations Command to replace combat losses experienced over time .
Modifications to the planes include a basic electronic warfare capability to avoid potential threats, ability to work in special light conditions and strengthening of the tail. The aircraft are also equipped with air refueling pods for in-flight refueling of Special Operations Forces aircraft and combat search and rescue helicopters. The planes can also receive fuel from other refueling aircraft.
The last time “Herk” crews flew combat airdrops at this level was the Vietnam War. The plane is the aircraft of choice for inter-theater airlift in Afghanistan and Iraq capable of flying from areas located on some of the toughest terrain on the planet. C-130 crews from around the country have airlifted and airdropped thousands of supplies, some of it falling from the sky in the form of container-delivery system bundles weighing 1,200 to 2,300 pounds.
Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Co., European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company and L3 – a joint venture between Boeing, L-3 Communications and an Italian company called Alenia — are competing to design and build a Joint Cargo Aircraft described as a shorter, twin-engine version of the C-130.
About 70 of the planes would be delivered to the Army and 75 to the Air Force by 2010. Since the planes haven’t even been designed yet, there’s no price tag for the aircraft.
The latest version of the C-130, the J model, is 112 ft., 9 in. long, 15 ft. longer than the older E and H models. It is also more expensive, between $45 million and $90 million per plane compared to the $30 million price tag of the 40 year old E and H models.
To date, the Air Force has taken delivery of 37 C-130J aircraft from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, including seven at LRAFB. The C-130J contract was nearly scrapped by lawmakers, but an estimated $1.78 billion in cancellation costs made quitting the program just as expensive as continuing.
TOP STORY >>New lines will bring sure flow of water
BY PEG KENYON AND JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writers
IN SHORT: Central Arkansas Water to pay $13.5 million, while local utilities pitch in $30.5 million, double earlier estimates.
A $44 million water project that will end Jacksonville’s, Cabot’s and North Pulaski Water Association’s dependence on well water is underway with a transmission line that is heading north from Little Rock-based Central Arkansas Water.
All the work, including a bid of $6.7 million to lay two 30-inch steel pipes under the I-430 bridge spanning the Arkansas River, has been about twice as much as expected, but all those involved say they will pay their part to keep the project moving ahead. CAW will pay $13.5 million for its part of the $44 million project and Jack-sonville, Cabot and North Pulaski Water Association will pay $30.5 million.
When the Lake Maumelle project first started three years ago, Cabot and Jacksonville expected to pay about $7 million each and North Pulaski expected to pay $800,000 for their part of upgrades to a CAW pumping station and to lay water lines under I-430. Now, all three will have to pay twice that amount and none say they are willing to pull out of the project because they have no other good option for water for the future.
A sign stands on the site where a water tank will be built between the Redmond Road railroad tracks and the south end of the newly-developed Hidden Oaks subdivision in Jacksonville. The sign reads that upon completion, the elevated tank will hold one million gallons of water. The cost to build the water tower is set at $2 million and is not included in the $44 million to connect to CAW.
One of two transmission lines taking water north (called the Northbelt transmission line) that will connect CAW to Jacksonville at this site in about four or five years, said Ken Anderson, Jacksonville Water Department general manager.
It will follow the route of existing railroad tracks toward the Brushy Island area. Going past the Two Pines landfill, this transmission line will tie into one of CAW’s existing lines. Anderson estimated the cost to lay the water pipeline at $4.5 million. This part of the project requires easements as well. “There are only three or four major landowners on this side, and the landfill has already agreed to it,” Anderson said.
A second, more costly transmission line heading toward Gravel Ridge to the west of Jacksonville must also be completed, but its exact route has yet to be determined. “At the end of the project, Jacksonville will have four tanks and maybe a fifth one, depending on the Sher-wood annexation,”Anderson said.
At the request of property owners, Jacksonville plans to annex undeveloped land, which includes an area to the north and east of Bayou Meto.
Local funding to cover expenditures for the project has already begun. In 2005, Jacksonville’s water rates increased 28 percent. Cabot’s doubled at about the same time.
This year, Jacksonville raised its rates another 12.5 percent and a 10.5 percent increase is planned for 2007. Cabot borrowed $21 million from the Arkansas Natural Re-sources Commission (then called Soil and Water) to pay its part of getting CAW water to Gravel Ridge and to build a 30-inch transmission line from Gravel Ridge to Cabot, but Tim Joyner, general manager of Cabot WaterWorks, said about $10 million more will be needed.
Leader staff writers
IN SHORT: Central Arkansas Water to pay $13.5 million, while local utilities pitch in $30.5 million, double earlier estimates.
A $44 million water project that will end Jacksonville’s, Cabot’s and North Pulaski Water Association’s dependence on well water is underway with a transmission line that is heading north from Little Rock-based Central Arkansas Water.
All the work, including a bid of $6.7 million to lay two 30-inch steel pipes under the I-430 bridge spanning the Arkansas River, has been about twice as much as expected, but all those involved say they will pay their part to keep the project moving ahead. CAW will pay $13.5 million for its part of the $44 million project and Jack-sonville, Cabot and North Pulaski Water Association will pay $30.5 million.
When the Lake Maumelle project first started three years ago, Cabot and Jacksonville expected to pay about $7 million each and North Pulaski expected to pay $800,000 for their part of upgrades to a CAW pumping station and to lay water lines under I-430. Now, all three will have to pay twice that amount and none say they are willing to pull out of the project because they have no other good option for water for the future.
A sign stands on the site where a water tank will be built between the Redmond Road railroad tracks and the south end of the newly-developed Hidden Oaks subdivision in Jacksonville. The sign reads that upon completion, the elevated tank will hold one million gallons of water. The cost to build the water tower is set at $2 million and is not included in the $44 million to connect to CAW.
One of two transmission lines taking water north (called the Northbelt transmission line) that will connect CAW to Jacksonville at this site in about four or five years, said Ken Anderson, Jacksonville Water Department general manager.
It will follow the route of existing railroad tracks toward the Brushy Island area. Going past the Two Pines landfill, this transmission line will tie into one of CAW’s existing lines. Anderson estimated the cost to lay the water pipeline at $4.5 million. This part of the project requires easements as well. “There are only three or four major landowners on this side, and the landfill has already agreed to it,” Anderson said.
A second, more costly transmission line heading toward Gravel Ridge to the west of Jacksonville must also be completed, but its exact route has yet to be determined. “At the end of the project, Jacksonville will have four tanks and maybe a fifth one, depending on the Sher-wood annexation,”Anderson said.
At the request of property owners, Jacksonville plans to annex undeveloped land, which includes an area to the north and east of Bayou Meto.
Local funding to cover expenditures for the project has already begun. In 2005, Jacksonville’s water rates increased 28 percent. Cabot’s doubled at about the same time.
This year, Jacksonville raised its rates another 12.5 percent and a 10.5 percent increase is planned for 2007. Cabot borrowed $21 million from the Arkansas Natural Re-sources Commission (then called Soil and Water) to pay its part of getting CAW water to Gravel Ridge and to build a 30-inch transmission line from Gravel Ridge to Cabot, but Tim Joyner, general manager of Cabot WaterWorks, said about $10 million more will be needed.
TOP STORY >>New rules could oust young vets from VFW halls
BY PAUL PETERSON
Leader staff writer
They are old enough to go to war and die but can’t smoke in a public building. That seems to be the view the state is taking with young veterans, and it’s one that concerns Veterans of Foreign Wars commanders.
Jacksonville VFW Post 4548 Commander Don Reynolds said he understands what legislators are trying to accomplish with the smoking ban, but also believes the matter needs further examination to determine whether or not it will be as effective as it is anticipated to be.
“Well, I think they need to look at it a little closer,” Reynolds said. “We do a lot of charity work, kids activities here, especially around Christmas. It’s gonna hurt the kids more than it will us. The way the Clean Air Act is written now, we can’t let them in the building.”
The new state law bans smoking in workplaces and takes effect July 21. It exempts certain establishments, including bars that don’t allow anyone under the age of 21 on the premises.
With an exemption, many military-service organizations could allow smoking but would have to post a sign saying anyone under 21 would not be allowed in.
“We’ve got 18, 19, 20-year-olds who are in Iraq and who can buy cigarettes, but they can’t come into our place,” Reynolds complained.
“It’s a concern of ours because we can ask them to join the VFW, but they can’t participate and it really makes it bad,’’ said Bill Hill, commander of VFW Post 2278 in Hot Springs. “Probably 50 to 60 percent of those in Iraq are in that young age group and when they come home, they’ve got no place to go, and I’m having a hard time accepting that,’’ said Hill.
Reynolds and other VFW commanders believe the law is a bad situation for the VFWs, American Legions and other service clubs, he said. “This is not what we went to war and fought for,’’ Reynolds said.
Reynolds said the VFW members would have to decide if the post would be either all smoking or all non-smoking. “There’s no way we could survive if we went all non-smoking. I understand it’s still up in the air until we get some sure-fire definition of how it’s going to work. It’ll require them to look at this a lot deeper,” Reynolds said.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Leader staff writer
They are old enough to go to war and die but can’t smoke in a public building. That seems to be the view the state is taking with young veterans, and it’s one that concerns Veterans of Foreign Wars commanders.
Jacksonville VFW Post 4548 Commander Don Reynolds said he understands what legislators are trying to accomplish with the smoking ban, but also believes the matter needs further examination to determine whether or not it will be as effective as it is anticipated to be.
“Well, I think they need to look at it a little closer,” Reynolds said. “We do a lot of charity work, kids activities here, especially around Christmas. It’s gonna hurt the kids more than it will us. The way the Clean Air Act is written now, we can’t let them in the building.”
The new state law bans smoking in workplaces and takes effect July 21. It exempts certain establishments, including bars that don’t allow anyone under the age of 21 on the premises.
With an exemption, many military-service organizations could allow smoking but would have to post a sign saying anyone under 21 would not be allowed in.
“We’ve got 18, 19, 20-year-olds who are in Iraq and who can buy cigarettes, but they can’t come into our place,” Reynolds complained.
“It’s a concern of ours because we can ask them to join the VFW, but they can’t participate and it really makes it bad,’’ said Bill Hill, commander of VFW Post 2278 in Hot Springs. “Probably 50 to 60 percent of those in Iraq are in that young age group and when they come home, they’ve got no place to go, and I’m having a hard time accepting that,’’ said Hill.
Reynolds and other VFW commanders believe the law is a bad situation for the VFWs, American Legions and other service clubs, he said. “This is not what we went to war and fought for,’’ Reynolds said.
Reynolds said the VFW members would have to decide if the post would be either all smoking or all non-smoking. “There’s no way we could survive if we went all non-smoking. I understand it’s still up in the air until we get some sure-fire definition of how it’s going to work. It’ll require them to look at this a lot deeper,” Reynolds said.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
TOP STORY >> Smokers to put butts out
BY RICK KRON AND PAUL PETERSON
Leader staff writers
On one side, a group is asking all Arkansans to eat out at their favorite restaurants on July 21 to show support for the statewide smoking ban, which goes into effect that day.
On the other side, a local radio station is calling for a smoke-in the day before the ban starts to protest government’s continued intrusion into the rights of business owners.
And Gerald Grummer, manager of Jacksonville’s Western Sizzlin just wants things to be fair.
The Clean Indoor Air Act, which bans smoking in most public places, was approved during a special legislative session in April. The ban includes exemptions for small hotels, nursing homes and Oaklawn Park thoroughbred racetrack and Southland Grey-hound Park in West Memphis.
Tobacco shops and home-based businesses with fewer than three employees are also exempt.
The statewide ban also exempts any bars that don’t allow anyone under the age of 21 on the premises.
Overall, Jacksonville has about 40 restaurants and about a dozen of them have smoking sections. Sherwood numbers about the same, while Cabot has about eight restaurants which allow smoking.
“As long as we are all on a level playing field, I’m okay with it,” Grum-mer said. His restaurant, on John Harden, currently has a smoking section. “But it doesn’t get much use, so I don’t think we’ll be hurt any,” he said.
The Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas is planning the “Dine Out in Arkansas” event to celebrate the start of the smoking ban.
Many restaurant owners claimed the ban would take away business and the “Dine Out in Arkansas” event may allay some of those fears, according to the group’s executive director, Kathe-rine Donald. “We’re just trying to bring about additional awareness to the new indoor clean-air law,” she said.
Meanwhile, KARN radio is sponsoring a gathering Thursday, July 20, from 8:30 to 11:45 a.m. at Julie’s Restaurant in Little Rock to protest the heavy-handedness of government and the hypocrisies in the new law, according to the station’s morning host, Kevin Gordon.
“About 75 percent of all businesses are already smoke-free. This ban, with the exemptions, may raise that to 85 percent. All this work for just 10 to 15 percent. Where’s the tobacco funding for education and incentives to get businesses to go smoke-free?” Gordon asked.
Zaffino’s Italian Restaurant in Sherwood will convert to a non-smoking atmosphere on the day the law takes effect, Friday, July 21, said owner Nori Fryar. “We just got a letter today from the Health Depart-ment explaining how the law works,” she said.
“Customers will not be able to smoke inside, but can outside in our patio dining area.” Fryar explained.
Kathy Meyer, who helps Fryar manage the restaurant, said the law shouldn’t have any profound effects on business, even without the indoor smoking section. “I don’t think we’ll have any problems,” Meyer said. “Right now, we maybe have four or five tables a night of smokers who can take about 10 steps and be right on our outdoor patio.”
Fryar does plan to accommodate his employees who smoke. “We have young adults who work here that can smoke outside on their breaks,” Fryar said.
Waffle House, which is synonymous with coffee and cigarettes, has started to build benches outside its local restaurants to accommodate smokers. “Our smoking customers are just as valuable as everyone else and we don’t want to lose them,” a local spokesperson said. “But we will abide by the law,” she said.
Waffle House, like other restaurants, will have signs posted, but it doesn't plan to make a big deal if someone lights up. “We’ll very politely ask them to put it out or take it outside,” the spokesperson said.
Patty Diptroni at the Goal Post, just north of Jacksonville, said. “We’re not affected at all because you’ve got to be 21 to enter here.”
Larry Wallace with Chili’s in Jacksonville said, “I’m not allowed to comment right now, but we’re a family establishment and we’ll abide by the law as it’s written.”
Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, director for Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Health Advance-ment, said restaurant owners should not worry. She said that in other states with similar bans, business at restaurants and bars has increased since smoking bans were imposed.
“There are a lot of non-smokers who wouldn’t ordinarily be going to those restaurants and bars because they’re too smoky,” Dillaha said. “In Arkansas there are three times as many nonsmokers as there are smokers, so I’m anticipating that there will be a similar result here.”
Associated Press writer Annie Bergman contributed to this article.
Leader staff writers
On one side, a group is asking all Arkansans to eat out at their favorite restaurants on July 21 to show support for the statewide smoking ban, which goes into effect that day.
On the other side, a local radio station is calling for a smoke-in the day before the ban starts to protest government’s continued intrusion into the rights of business owners.
And Gerald Grummer, manager of Jacksonville’s Western Sizzlin just wants things to be fair.
The Clean Indoor Air Act, which bans smoking in most public places, was approved during a special legislative session in April. The ban includes exemptions for small hotels, nursing homes and Oaklawn Park thoroughbred racetrack and Southland Grey-hound Park in West Memphis.
Tobacco shops and home-based businesses with fewer than three employees are also exempt.
The statewide ban also exempts any bars that don’t allow anyone under the age of 21 on the premises.
Overall, Jacksonville has about 40 restaurants and about a dozen of them have smoking sections. Sherwood numbers about the same, while Cabot has about eight restaurants which allow smoking.
“As long as we are all on a level playing field, I’m okay with it,” Grum-mer said. His restaurant, on John Harden, currently has a smoking section. “But it doesn’t get much use, so I don’t think we’ll be hurt any,” he said.
The Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas is planning the “Dine Out in Arkansas” event to celebrate the start of the smoking ban.
Many restaurant owners claimed the ban would take away business and the “Dine Out in Arkansas” event may allay some of those fears, according to the group’s executive director, Kathe-rine Donald. “We’re just trying to bring about additional awareness to the new indoor clean-air law,” she said.
Meanwhile, KARN radio is sponsoring a gathering Thursday, July 20, from 8:30 to 11:45 a.m. at Julie’s Restaurant in Little Rock to protest the heavy-handedness of government and the hypocrisies in the new law, according to the station’s morning host, Kevin Gordon.
“About 75 percent of all businesses are already smoke-free. This ban, with the exemptions, may raise that to 85 percent. All this work for just 10 to 15 percent. Where’s the tobacco funding for education and incentives to get businesses to go smoke-free?” Gordon asked.
Zaffino’s Italian Restaurant in Sherwood will convert to a non-smoking atmosphere on the day the law takes effect, Friday, July 21, said owner Nori Fryar. “We just got a letter today from the Health Depart-ment explaining how the law works,” she said.
“Customers will not be able to smoke inside, but can outside in our patio dining area.” Fryar explained.
Kathy Meyer, who helps Fryar manage the restaurant, said the law shouldn’t have any profound effects on business, even without the indoor smoking section. “I don’t think we’ll have any problems,” Meyer said. “Right now, we maybe have four or five tables a night of smokers who can take about 10 steps and be right on our outdoor patio.”
Fryar does plan to accommodate his employees who smoke. “We have young adults who work here that can smoke outside on their breaks,” Fryar said.
Waffle House, which is synonymous with coffee and cigarettes, has started to build benches outside its local restaurants to accommodate smokers. “Our smoking customers are just as valuable as everyone else and we don’t want to lose them,” a local spokesperson said. “But we will abide by the law,” she said.
Waffle House, like other restaurants, will have signs posted, but it doesn't plan to make a big deal if someone lights up. “We’ll very politely ask them to put it out or take it outside,” the spokesperson said.
Patty Diptroni at the Goal Post, just north of Jacksonville, said. “We’re not affected at all because you’ve got to be 21 to enter here.”
Larry Wallace with Chili’s in Jacksonville said, “I’m not allowed to comment right now, but we’re a family establishment and we’ll abide by the law as it’s written.”
Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, director for Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Health Advance-ment, said restaurant owners should not worry. She said that in other states with similar bans, business at restaurants and bars has increased since smoking bans were imposed.
“There are a lot of non-smokers who wouldn’t ordinarily be going to those restaurants and bars because they’re too smoky,” Dillaha said. “In Arkansas there are three times as many nonsmokers as there are smokers, so I’m anticipating that there will be a similar result here.”
Associated Press writer Annie Bergman contributed to this article.
EDITORIALS >> A little perspective
What a spate of good economic news we have had the past week. The state treasury is flush, having accumulated a surplus of $400 million in the fiscal year that ended at the first of the month, and the U.S. Treasury reports that a rush of income-tax receipts this year will drive the federal budget deficit for 2006 much lower than the administration’s last forecast in February.
President Bush boasted yesterday that the four rounds of tax cuts that he has engineered are responsible for the gushing revenues in government treasuries. It proves, he said, that his theory that lower taxes raise government revenues while releasing furious economic growth was right.
We can rest easy now, can’t we? We can quit worrying about exploding deficits and soaring debt financed by foreign banks and the oil cartel or an economy that is not producing many new jobs or growing paychecks.
Restrain your exhilaration. Let’s pay closer attention to those exuberant claims.
First, real per-capita federal revenues — adjusted, that is, for inflation and population growth — are only now returning to the level of five years ago when Congress enacted the first of the Bush tax cuts and a brief recession began.
Even counting the administration’s projections for this year, the growth rate of revenues in the five and a half years of the administration is far below the rate of any previous business cycle since World War II. The new revenue forecast for this fiscal year is still $300 billion below the forecast in 2001 under the tax rates that governed the latter Bill Clinton years.
Much of the furious growth in revenues this year, in Washington and in Little Rock, is from corporate income taxes. Surging corporate taxes account for almost a fourth of the Arkansas surplus. It reflects a mammoth surge in profits that corporations choose to report this year. It also reflects a surge in capital-gains and dividend income from wealthy investors and the large bonuses and salary increases of corporate executives rather than a rise in the incomes of average Americans.
The figures suggest a rapidly widening income disparity between corporations and high-income individuals and the rest of society.
Last, let us be reminded that in the five and a half years since the first tax cuts for the wealthy were enacted, in March 2001, the Bush administration has borrowed $3 trillion. Even with the burst of revenues in recent months, counting the administration’s borrowing from Social Security trust funds to pay for wars, it will add $470 billion this year to the debt that our children and grandchildren will be taxed to pay.
When this all began in 2001, remember, the United States was running 12-digit surpluses and forecasting ever-larger ones as far as the eye could see. When politicians brag, memory helps.
President Bush boasted yesterday that the four rounds of tax cuts that he has engineered are responsible for the gushing revenues in government treasuries. It proves, he said, that his theory that lower taxes raise government revenues while releasing furious economic growth was right.
We can rest easy now, can’t we? We can quit worrying about exploding deficits and soaring debt financed by foreign banks and the oil cartel or an economy that is not producing many new jobs or growing paychecks.
Restrain your exhilaration. Let’s pay closer attention to those exuberant claims.
First, real per-capita federal revenues — adjusted, that is, for inflation and population growth — are only now returning to the level of five years ago when Congress enacted the first of the Bush tax cuts and a brief recession began.
Even counting the administration’s projections for this year, the growth rate of revenues in the five and a half years of the administration is far below the rate of any previous business cycle since World War II. The new revenue forecast for this fiscal year is still $300 billion below the forecast in 2001 under the tax rates that governed the latter Bill Clinton years.
Much of the furious growth in revenues this year, in Washington and in Little Rock, is from corporate income taxes. Surging corporate taxes account for almost a fourth of the Arkansas surplus. It reflects a mammoth surge in profits that corporations choose to report this year. It also reflects a surge in capital-gains and dividend income from wealthy investors and the large bonuses and salary increases of corporate executives rather than a rise in the incomes of average Americans.
The figures suggest a rapidly widening income disparity between corporations and high-income individuals and the rest of society.
Last, let us be reminded that in the five and a half years since the first tax cuts for the wealthy were enacted, in March 2001, the Bush administration has borrowed $3 trillion. Even with the burst of revenues in recent months, counting the administration’s borrowing from Social Security trust funds to pay for wars, it will add $470 billion this year to the debt that our children and grandchildren will be taxed to pay.
When this all began in 2001, remember, the United States was running 12-digit surpluses and forecasting ever-larger ones as far as the eye could see. When politicians brag, memory helps.
EDITORIALS >> New man
The 314th Mission Support Group changed commanders last Wednesday morning in a moving ceremony in Hangar 276 at Little Rock Air Force Base. Col. Scott C. Lockard succeeded Col. John A. Starkey as commander. Hundreds of military people, the officers’ relatives and community leaders watched as Brig. Gen. Kip Self, the base commander, presided over the passing of the group’s guidon from Col. Starkey to Col. Lockard.
For some 60 years, the Air Force has attracted the cream of the crop, where diversity is its strength. That is reflected in the colonels’ backgrounds: Col. Starkey, a native New Yorker, and Col. Lockard, a native of Kentucky, come from different sections of the nation, but they strengthen their branch of the military with the unique qualities of their regions.
A sense of camaraderie, a unity of purpose, was evident at the ceremony. But beyond that, as Gen. Self put it, there is a certain je ne sais quoi in the Air Force, a can-do spirit that has made the base a center of excellence in the military.
As Gen. Self said, the 314th Mission Support Group, which trains and sends flight crews into battle, will remain in good hands under a new commander. The general reminded the audience that the military never lacks for good leadership: When one outstanding commander like Col. Starkey leaves, another one like Col. Lockard takes his place.
Col. Lockard and the men and women of the 314th MSG, like the rest of the air base, are on duty around the clock. For those of us who only catch glimpses of their important work, their preparedness means we’re safe and secure, a comforting notion in these difficult times.
For some 60 years, the Air Force has attracted the cream of the crop, where diversity is its strength. That is reflected in the colonels’ backgrounds: Col. Starkey, a native New Yorker, and Col. Lockard, a native of Kentucky, come from different sections of the nation, but they strengthen their branch of the military with the unique qualities of their regions.
A sense of camaraderie, a unity of purpose, was evident at the ceremony. But beyond that, as Gen. Self put it, there is a certain je ne sais quoi in the Air Force, a can-do spirit that has made the base a center of excellence in the military.
As Gen. Self said, the 314th Mission Support Group, which trains and sends flight crews into battle, will remain in good hands under a new commander. The general reminded the audience that the military never lacks for good leadership: When one outstanding commander like Col. Starkey leaves, another one like Col. Lockard takes his place.
Col. Lockard and the men and women of the 314th MSG, like the rest of the air base, are on duty around the clock. For those of us who only catch glimpses of their important work, their preparedness means we’re safe and secure, a comforting notion in these difficult times.
EDITORIAL >> Having it both ways
To say one thing, do quite another and get credit for both is the optimum skill in politics. It is much easier when you are traversing the country and the local media do not know the difference.
Monday, Gov. Huckabee was wrapping up another three-day swing through Iowa, the first state to engage in presidential selection in 2008. At a news conference, someone asked Huckabee about Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack’s veto of a bill putting limitations on the condemnation of private property for private economic development. Vilsack is a Democrat and, like Huckabee, a long-shot candidate for president. But he isn’t much of a demagogue.
Huckabee said if he were governor of Iowa he probably would not have vetoed the bill, which he admitted that he had not read. When government takes private property for the benefit of private entities and individuals, Huckabee said, “that is really a threshold that once we cross we have a hard time getting back, and I think there’s a lot of angst I hear about it.”
“I know that is a very sensitive issue in Arkansas and most places,” he continued. “We haven’t had to do anything because we’ve never had a situation that I’m aware of where we’ve taken private property for a private development.”
Maybe not, but contrary to the impression he left in Iowa, Huckabee signed into law legislation to permit exactly that in Arkansas. It was the tax-increment-finance statute.
A 2002 constitutional amendment, supported by the governor, empowers local governments to create redevelopment districts with the goal of creating new jobs and to tap school, city and county property taxes to build infrastruture. The enabling statute signed by the governor explicitly granted local governments condemnation power.
Could the governor have misapprehended the purpose owing to vague language?
The statute says a redevelopment project may take private property, including vacant lots, “for development, redevelopment or rehabilitation by private enterprise. . .” Could a statute be any clearer?
The law has not been used yet to condemn property for private development, but projects are in the works from North Little Rock’s Dark Hollow to Jonesboro and Rogers.
Asa Hutchinson, the nominee of Huckabee’s party to succeed him, has been exploiting the eminent-domain issue with the same finesse. They inveigh against a U. S. Supreme Court decision that said the U.S. Constitution did not prohibit property takings for quasi-public purposes but then signal to developers that it’s really OK in their case.
They don’t want to irritate developers who want to rake off school taxes to build freeway exits to their shopping malls.
It turns out that in politics you really can have it both ways.
Monday, Gov. Huckabee was wrapping up another three-day swing through Iowa, the first state to engage in presidential selection in 2008. At a news conference, someone asked Huckabee about Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack’s veto of a bill putting limitations on the condemnation of private property for private economic development. Vilsack is a Democrat and, like Huckabee, a long-shot candidate for president. But he isn’t much of a demagogue.
Huckabee said if he were governor of Iowa he probably would not have vetoed the bill, which he admitted that he had not read. When government takes private property for the benefit of private entities and individuals, Huckabee said, “that is really a threshold that once we cross we have a hard time getting back, and I think there’s a lot of angst I hear about it.”
“I know that is a very sensitive issue in Arkansas and most places,” he continued. “We haven’t had to do anything because we’ve never had a situation that I’m aware of where we’ve taken private property for a private development.”
Maybe not, but contrary to the impression he left in Iowa, Huckabee signed into law legislation to permit exactly that in Arkansas. It was the tax-increment-finance statute.
A 2002 constitutional amendment, supported by the governor, empowers local governments to create redevelopment districts with the goal of creating new jobs and to tap school, city and county property taxes to build infrastruture. The enabling statute signed by the governor explicitly granted local governments condemnation power.
Could the governor have misapprehended the purpose owing to vague language?
The statute says a redevelopment project may take private property, including vacant lots, “for development, redevelopment or rehabilitation by private enterprise. . .” Could a statute be any clearer?
The law has not been used yet to condemn property for private development, but projects are in the works from North Little Rock’s Dark Hollow to Jonesboro and Rogers.
Asa Hutchinson, the nominee of Huckabee’s party to succeed him, has been exploiting the eminent-domain issue with the same finesse. They inveigh against a U. S. Supreme Court decision that said the U.S. Constitution did not prohibit property takings for quasi-public purposes but then signal to developers that it’s really OK in their case.
They don’t want to irritate developers who want to rake off school taxes to build freeway exits to their shopping malls.
It turns out that in politics you really can have it both ways.
OBITUARIES >> 07-12-06
Mattie Haralson, 101
Mattie Josiephene May Haral-son, 101, of Jacksonville passed away July 9 at Woodland Hills Nursing Home in Jacksonville. She was born Nov. 30, 1904, at Hattieville to Hen-ry Columbus May and Savannah Georgia Hicks May.
She was a homemaker and member of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Little Rock. She was preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Price Monroe Haralson; a son, Houston Haralson; a daughter, Marilyn Brown; a son-in-law, Britt Hall; three brothers; one sister; two grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
She is survived by two sons and daughters-in-law, Price Monroe Jr. and Sybil Haralson of Redfield, Bobby Joe and Norma Haralson of Jacksonville; a daughter, Vernie Hall of Pine Bluff; a daughter-in-law, Nadine Haralson of Gravel Ridge; son-in-law, Truman Brown of Splendora, Texas; 16 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren, and 14 great-great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. today at East Union Missionary Baptist Church with Reverend Bob Slagley officiating.
Burial will follow in Salem Cemetery. Pallbearers will be her grandsons. Memorials may be made to East Union Missionary Baptist Church, 20422 N. Spring-lake Road, Hensley, Ark. 72065, or Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, 5300 Stagecoach Road, Little Rock, Ark., 72204.
Arrangements are by Buie Funeral Home of Sheridan.
Bertha Smith
Bertha Marion Smith, 90, of Jacksonville, died July 7 at home. She was born March 12, 1916, to the late Aaron and Margaret Sherlock Adler in Nottingham, England. She is survived by her daughter, Deirdre Reilly of Jack-sonville; four grandchildren, Michael and Sharon Moore, Patrick and Carol Reilly, Daniel Reilly, Shona and Jason McAtee, and eight great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by a son, John Smith. Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. today at Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Jerold Posey.
Charles Middleton
Charles “Charlie” Edwin Middle-ton, 67, of Cottonwood, Ariz., passed away July 3.
He was born to the late Sallie and Edwin Gladstone “E.G.” Middleton in Arkansas. He spent most of his life in Arkansas, graduating from Quit-man High School. He did a tour of duty in the Navy and afterwards, he pursued his passion for trucks and over-the-road driving, working for Traveler Boats and Transcon. He retired in 1997 after 28 years with ABF Freight Systems. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge of Jacksonville, the Scottish Rite of Little Rock and the Teamsters of Little Rock. He was also a member of Sedona United Methodist Church in Arizona. He was preceded in death by his wife, Lois Marie Middleton.
Survivors include his two daughters, Karen Middleton Britton of Colorado and Sheila Middleton Sals-man of New Mexico; one sister, Mary Hassell Maxson of Arizona, and four grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Rest Hills Chapel in North Little Rock. Visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home. There will also be a memorial service held at a later date in Arizona.
The family requests memorials be made to the First United Methodist Church, 220 W. Main Street in Jacksonville or Sedona United Methodist Church, 1109 Indian Cliffs Road, Sedona, Ariz., 86336.
Selma Thornton
“Granny” Selma Lilly Thornton, 93, of Cabot, went to be with Jesus July 9. She was born April 7, 1913, in Cabot to the late Marion Wesley and Callie Elizabeth Cole. She was the founding executor of the Faith Chris-tian Center Church and a Prayer Warrior all of her life.
Also preceding her in death are one son, William Thornton, Jr.; three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Survivors include three daughters, Connie Mahoney and Donna Williams of Cabot and Betty J. Gilliam of Jacksonville; one son, Doyne T. Thornton of Alpena; one sister, Maycel Wood of Bakersfield, Calif.; 22 grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren and 21 great-great grandchildren.
Visitation will be held from 2 to 9 p.m. today with the family receiving friends from 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at Faith Christian Center, 6706 T.P. White Drive in Jacksonville with Rev. Gene Gilliam officiating.
Interment will follow at 16th Section Cemetery. Arrangements are by Thomas Funeral Service.
Jesse Maddox
Jesse Alexander Maddox, 86, of Cabot, went to be with his Heavenly Father on July 9. He was born Jan. 8, 1920 in Guin, Ala.
He was preceded in death by his parents E.A. and Alice Foster Maddox, four brothers and two sisters.
He is survived by his loving wife of 54 years, Betty of Cabot; one son, Sam Maddox, and his wife, Sandra of Stuttgart; two daughters, Peggy Reichenbach and her husband, Carl and Becky Rummel and her husband, Larry, all of Cabot; six grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. today at Victory Baptist Church of Cabot with burial at Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Arkansas Children’s Hospital for cancer research.
Jimmy Woosley
Jimmy Darrell Woosley, Sr., of Cabot passed away July 7. He was born July 7, 1936, in England to the late Charley Richard and Thelma Jones Woosley.
Also preceding him in death were two sisters, Patricia and Lois Woosley and three brothers, Ray, Doyne and Eugene Woosley.
Survivors include his loving wife of 45 years, Penny Jackson Woosley of the home; four sons, Floyd Whitten of El Paso, and Bruce, Danny and Jimmy Woosley, all of Cabot; one sister Carolyn Schmerber of Salem, Oregon, and one brother Joe Woosley of Cabot; seven grandchildren, Paul and Brandy Whitten of Mississippi, Maggie Gray and Laura Woosley of Cabot, Crystal Crisco of Beebe and Judy and Jessica Woosley of Cabot, and six great-grandchildren.
Funeral services were held Tuesday at Cabot United Methodist Church with Rev. Rick Meadows officiating. Interment followed at Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Cabot. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Kidney Foundation or to Union Valley Cemetery, 14633 Hwy. 31 So., England, Ark., 72046. Arrangements were by Thomas Funeral Service of Cabot.
Raelynne Duckett
Raelynne Bliss Rachelle Duckett of Beebe, infant daughter of Jacilyn Duckett and Billy Heaston, died July 7.
She is also survived by a brother, Xander Duckett of Beebe; her grandparents, George and Sandra Beals of Beebe; and great-grandmother, Helen Bliss of Okla-homa. A memorial service will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at West-brook Funeral Home of Beebe.
Louvinia Love
Louvinia Love, 69, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, baptized July 1, 1975, died July 6 in Searcy.
She was born to the late Charles M. Love, Sr., and Georgia Christian in Judsonia on July 20, 1936.
She has lived in Vacaville, Calif., for the last 11 years and had returned to Heber Springs for a family reunion.
She is preceded in death by one daughter, Tricia Ann Ruhl.
She is survived by her children, Edward Ruhl and wife, Peppa of Yuma, Arizona, Beverly Lowery and Tonya Marie Love, both of Vacaville, Calif., Walter Henry Sullivan, Jr., and wife, Robbie of Bald Knob, and Debra Fulton of Jacksonville; brothers Charles Love, Dale E. Love, Robert Love, Jr., and Paul Love; and sisters, Bobbie Marie McKee and Billie Rea Leduc.
Memorial services were held Sunday at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Searcy at 6:30 p.m. with Russell Smith officiating. Arrangements were under the direction of Moore’s Cabot Funeral Home.
Mattie Josiephene May Haral-son, 101, of Jacksonville passed away July 9 at Woodland Hills Nursing Home in Jacksonville. She was born Nov. 30, 1904, at Hattieville to Hen-ry Columbus May and Savannah Georgia Hicks May.
She was a homemaker and member of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Little Rock. She was preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Price Monroe Haralson; a son, Houston Haralson; a daughter, Marilyn Brown; a son-in-law, Britt Hall; three brothers; one sister; two grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
She is survived by two sons and daughters-in-law, Price Monroe Jr. and Sybil Haralson of Redfield, Bobby Joe and Norma Haralson of Jacksonville; a daughter, Vernie Hall of Pine Bluff; a daughter-in-law, Nadine Haralson of Gravel Ridge; son-in-law, Truman Brown of Splendora, Texas; 16 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren, and 14 great-great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. today at East Union Missionary Baptist Church with Reverend Bob Slagley officiating.
Burial will follow in Salem Cemetery. Pallbearers will be her grandsons. Memorials may be made to East Union Missionary Baptist Church, 20422 N. Spring-lake Road, Hensley, Ark. 72065, or Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, 5300 Stagecoach Road, Little Rock, Ark., 72204.
Arrangements are by Buie Funeral Home of Sheridan.
Bertha Smith
Bertha Marion Smith, 90, of Jacksonville, died July 7 at home. She was born March 12, 1916, to the late Aaron and Margaret Sherlock Adler in Nottingham, England. She is survived by her daughter, Deirdre Reilly of Jack-sonville; four grandchildren, Michael and Sharon Moore, Patrick and Carol Reilly, Daniel Reilly, Shona and Jason McAtee, and eight great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by a son, John Smith. Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. today at Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Jerold Posey.
Charles Middleton
Charles “Charlie” Edwin Middle-ton, 67, of Cottonwood, Ariz., passed away July 3.
He was born to the late Sallie and Edwin Gladstone “E.G.” Middleton in Arkansas. He spent most of his life in Arkansas, graduating from Quit-man High School. He did a tour of duty in the Navy and afterwards, he pursued his passion for trucks and over-the-road driving, working for Traveler Boats and Transcon. He retired in 1997 after 28 years with ABF Freight Systems. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge of Jacksonville, the Scottish Rite of Little Rock and the Teamsters of Little Rock. He was also a member of Sedona United Methodist Church in Arizona. He was preceded in death by his wife, Lois Marie Middleton.
Survivors include his two daughters, Karen Middleton Britton of Colorado and Sheila Middleton Sals-man of New Mexico; one sister, Mary Hassell Maxson of Arizona, and four grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Rest Hills Chapel in North Little Rock. Visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home. There will also be a memorial service held at a later date in Arizona.
The family requests memorials be made to the First United Methodist Church, 220 W. Main Street in Jacksonville or Sedona United Methodist Church, 1109 Indian Cliffs Road, Sedona, Ariz., 86336.
Selma Thornton
“Granny” Selma Lilly Thornton, 93, of Cabot, went to be with Jesus July 9. She was born April 7, 1913, in Cabot to the late Marion Wesley and Callie Elizabeth Cole. She was the founding executor of the Faith Chris-tian Center Church and a Prayer Warrior all of her life.
Also preceding her in death are one son, William Thornton, Jr.; three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Survivors include three daughters, Connie Mahoney and Donna Williams of Cabot and Betty J. Gilliam of Jacksonville; one son, Doyne T. Thornton of Alpena; one sister, Maycel Wood of Bakersfield, Calif.; 22 grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren and 21 great-great grandchildren.
Visitation will be held from 2 to 9 p.m. today with the family receiving friends from 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at Faith Christian Center, 6706 T.P. White Drive in Jacksonville with Rev. Gene Gilliam officiating.
Interment will follow at 16th Section Cemetery. Arrangements are by Thomas Funeral Service.
Jesse Maddox
Jesse Alexander Maddox, 86, of Cabot, went to be with his Heavenly Father on July 9. He was born Jan. 8, 1920 in Guin, Ala.
He was preceded in death by his parents E.A. and Alice Foster Maddox, four brothers and two sisters.
He is survived by his loving wife of 54 years, Betty of Cabot; one son, Sam Maddox, and his wife, Sandra of Stuttgart; two daughters, Peggy Reichenbach and her husband, Carl and Becky Rummel and her husband, Larry, all of Cabot; six grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. today at Victory Baptist Church of Cabot with burial at Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Arkansas Children’s Hospital for cancer research.
Jimmy Woosley
Jimmy Darrell Woosley, Sr., of Cabot passed away July 7. He was born July 7, 1936, in England to the late Charley Richard and Thelma Jones Woosley.
Also preceding him in death were two sisters, Patricia and Lois Woosley and three brothers, Ray, Doyne and Eugene Woosley.
Survivors include his loving wife of 45 years, Penny Jackson Woosley of the home; four sons, Floyd Whitten of El Paso, and Bruce, Danny and Jimmy Woosley, all of Cabot; one sister Carolyn Schmerber of Salem, Oregon, and one brother Joe Woosley of Cabot; seven grandchildren, Paul and Brandy Whitten of Mississippi, Maggie Gray and Laura Woosley of Cabot, Crystal Crisco of Beebe and Judy and Jessica Woosley of Cabot, and six great-grandchildren.
Funeral services were held Tuesday at Cabot United Methodist Church with Rev. Rick Meadows officiating. Interment followed at Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Cabot. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Kidney Foundation or to Union Valley Cemetery, 14633 Hwy. 31 So., England, Ark., 72046. Arrangements were by Thomas Funeral Service of Cabot.
Raelynne Duckett
Raelynne Bliss Rachelle Duckett of Beebe, infant daughter of Jacilyn Duckett and Billy Heaston, died July 7.
She is also survived by a brother, Xander Duckett of Beebe; her grandparents, George and Sandra Beals of Beebe; and great-grandmother, Helen Bliss of Okla-homa. A memorial service will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at West-brook Funeral Home of Beebe.
Louvinia Love
Louvinia Love, 69, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, baptized July 1, 1975, died July 6 in Searcy.
She was born to the late Charles M. Love, Sr., and Georgia Christian in Judsonia on July 20, 1936.
She has lived in Vacaville, Calif., for the last 11 years and had returned to Heber Springs for a family reunion.
She is preceded in death by one daughter, Tricia Ann Ruhl.
She is survived by her children, Edward Ruhl and wife, Peppa of Yuma, Arizona, Beverly Lowery and Tonya Marie Love, both of Vacaville, Calif., Walter Henry Sullivan, Jr., and wife, Robbie of Bald Knob, and Debra Fulton of Jacksonville; brothers Charles Love, Dale E. Love, Robert Love, Jr., and Paul Love; and sisters, Bobbie Marie McKee and Billie Rea Leduc.
Memorial services were held Sunday at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Searcy at 6:30 p.m. with Russell Smith officiating. Arrangements were under the direction of Moore’s Cabot Funeral Home.
SPORTS >> Cabot falls on Cogswell walk off
BY RAY BENTON
Leader sports writer
The Cabot American Legion team didn’t take much time to equal its previous hit total against Russellville. The Home Depot squad managed just one hit in a 10-1 loss a month ago, but leadoff hitter Sam Bates got that with the first swing of the game last Friday.
The extra hitting made the game close, but couldn’t secure a win as the Cogswell Motors team scored a single run in the bottom of the last inning to pull out a 4-3 victory.
Cabot jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and got several runners on base afterwards, but failed to bring them around.
Russellville clinched the game when Derek Owens doubled to lead off the inning, and Garrett Hill singled for the winning RBI.
It was Russellville’s only earned run of the game. Cabot miscues let Cogswell back into the affair. Two errors led to two Russellville runs in the fifth inning to cut Cabot’s lead to 3-2.
In the sixth, another run scored after a would-be strikeout ended up with Russellville’s Josh Boger standing on second base. The third strike was mishandled, and a wild throw to first sailed into right field.
A base hit followed and the game was tied at 3-3.
Sam Bates, Logan Lucas, Chris Gross and Colin Fuller accounted for Cabot’s four base hits. Russellville also totaled four hits off Cabot pitcher Justin Haas.
The Panthers are now 12-17 overall.
Leader sports writer
The Cabot American Legion team didn’t take much time to equal its previous hit total against Russellville. The Home Depot squad managed just one hit in a 10-1 loss a month ago, but leadoff hitter Sam Bates got that with the first swing of the game last Friday.
The extra hitting made the game close, but couldn’t secure a win as the Cogswell Motors team scored a single run in the bottom of the last inning to pull out a 4-3 victory.
Cabot jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and got several runners on base afterwards, but failed to bring them around.
Russellville clinched the game when Derek Owens doubled to lead off the inning, and Garrett Hill singled for the winning RBI.
It was Russellville’s only earned run of the game. Cabot miscues let Cogswell back into the affair. Two errors led to two Russellville runs in the fifth inning to cut Cabot’s lead to 3-2.
In the sixth, another run scored after a would-be strikeout ended up with Russellville’s Josh Boger standing on second base. The third strike was mishandled, and a wild throw to first sailed into right field.
A base hit followed and the game was tied at 3-3.
Sam Bates, Logan Lucas, Chris Gross and Colin Fuller accounted for Cabot’s four base hits. Russellville also totaled four hits off Cabot pitcher Justin Haas.
The Panthers are now 12-17 overall.
SPORTS >> Sylvan Hills advances to Class A legion state
BY JASON KING
Leader sports writer
IN SHORT: The Bruins A team took second in the Zone 2 tourney and will play in state Thursday.
Sylvan Hills came up one run short of claiming its second-straight Zone two American Legion Class A title, but did manage to qualify for this week’s state tourney with a runner-up finish to zone winner Conway.
The Wampus Cats were the only team to go undefeated in the tournament at Vince De Salvo Stadium in North Little Rock, but not before a close final game against the Bruins.
After a convincing 10-2 win over Greenbrier in the opening round on Thursday, a close 12-10 loss to Gwatney Chevrolet Friday night put the Bruins in the loser’s bracket early on. Sylvan Hills recovered from Friday’s slip, beating Vilonia 4-2 before overtaking the Panthers for the second straight time. The two wins on Saturday put them in a rematch with Jacksonville on Sunday to determine Conway’s opponent in the finals.
Sylvan Hills was determined not to lose two straight games to its local rival, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
Cody Wood set up the early run by reaching on a Gwatney error, and was driven in moments later by Chris Eastham.
Cody Cormier drove in the next run in the top of the second inning with a RBI that scored T. C. Squires for a 2-0 Bruins lead.
The next score would not come until the top of the fifth inning. Chris Dalton led the inning off with a single hopper at third base. Squires then hit into a fielder’s choice at third base, but Gwatney first baseman Adrian Baker failed to step on the bag after getting the throw from third baseman Cameron Hood.
Thinking he had the out at first, Baker threw the ball back to Hood in an attempt to tag Dalton, but the throw was too high, and Dalton came in for the score to give the Bruins a 3-0 lead.
Baker made up for his defensive slip in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run home run for Jacksonville that closed the gap to 3-2.
Seth Tombolli came in at pitcher for Gwatney in the top of the seventh, and put away the first two batters by forcing pop-ups. Tombolli went for three-up and three-down with Cormier at the plate, but hit him with a pitch to put a runner on for Sylvan Hills.
Blake Rix singled to right field to put two runners on base, and a walk for Jessie Everett loaded the bases for the Bruins with two outs.
The deciding moment in the game occurred when following batter Wood knocked it into centerfield to score all three runners, giving Sylvan Hills a 6-2 lead and killing any hopes of a Gwatney comeback.
Sylvan Hills starting pitcher Eastham went the distance on the mound for the Bruins, giving up only one hit to Jacksonville in the final inning to secure the win and send them into the final game against Conway.
The Bruins took to the field to face the Wampus Cats less than a half an hour after beating Jacksonville. Conway arrived well-rested and ready to play, putting Sylvan Hills at a disadvantage before the game even started.
If the Bruins were fatigued, they showed no sign of it early on. The game went scoreless until the top of the third inning, when Sylvan Hills struck first with a sacrifice fly from Eastham that allowed Everett to tag up at third for the score.
Sylvan Hills held on to the narrow lead until the bottom of the fourth, when a passed ball allowed James Murphy in for the first Conway run of the game, tying the score at 1-1.
Ricky Wheeler came in to relieve starting Bruins pitcher Brandon Chastain at that point, but the Wampus Cats tacked on two more runs in the inning to take a 3-1 lead after four.
Ross Bogard scored on a Conway fielding error in the top of the sixth to close the gap to within a single run at 3-2, but it would be the final score in the game for either team.
Wood put the tying run in position for Sylvan Hills in the top of the seventh by reaching third base, but a pop-up from Bogard gave Conway the third out of the inning, and sealed the win for the Wampus Cats.
Sylvan Hills finished the game with two runs, three hits and one error. Conway had three runs, one hit and two errors.
Sylvan Hills will start state tournament play tomorrow with a 10 a.m. matchup against host team North Little Rock. The Colts will be looking to redeem themselves after going winless in the zone tourney with losses to Conway and Greenbrier.
Leader sports writer
IN SHORT: The Bruins A team took second in the Zone 2 tourney and will play in state Thursday.
Sylvan Hills came up one run short of claiming its second-straight Zone two American Legion Class A title, but did manage to qualify for this week’s state tourney with a runner-up finish to zone winner Conway.
The Wampus Cats were the only team to go undefeated in the tournament at Vince De Salvo Stadium in North Little Rock, but not before a close final game against the Bruins.
After a convincing 10-2 win over Greenbrier in the opening round on Thursday, a close 12-10 loss to Gwatney Chevrolet Friday night put the Bruins in the loser’s bracket early on. Sylvan Hills recovered from Friday’s slip, beating Vilonia 4-2 before overtaking the Panthers for the second straight time. The two wins on Saturday put them in a rematch with Jacksonville on Sunday to determine Conway’s opponent in the finals.
Sylvan Hills was determined not to lose two straight games to its local rival, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
Cody Wood set up the early run by reaching on a Gwatney error, and was driven in moments later by Chris Eastham.
Cody Cormier drove in the next run in the top of the second inning with a RBI that scored T. C. Squires for a 2-0 Bruins lead.
The next score would not come until the top of the fifth inning. Chris Dalton led the inning off with a single hopper at third base. Squires then hit into a fielder’s choice at third base, but Gwatney first baseman Adrian Baker failed to step on the bag after getting the throw from third baseman Cameron Hood.
Thinking he had the out at first, Baker threw the ball back to Hood in an attempt to tag Dalton, but the throw was too high, and Dalton came in for the score to give the Bruins a 3-0 lead.
Baker made up for his defensive slip in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run home run for Jacksonville that closed the gap to 3-2.
Seth Tombolli came in at pitcher for Gwatney in the top of the seventh, and put away the first two batters by forcing pop-ups. Tombolli went for three-up and three-down with Cormier at the plate, but hit him with a pitch to put a runner on for Sylvan Hills.
Blake Rix singled to right field to put two runners on base, and a walk for Jessie Everett loaded the bases for the Bruins with two outs.
The deciding moment in the game occurred when following batter Wood knocked it into centerfield to score all three runners, giving Sylvan Hills a 6-2 lead and killing any hopes of a Gwatney comeback.
Sylvan Hills starting pitcher Eastham went the distance on the mound for the Bruins, giving up only one hit to Jacksonville in the final inning to secure the win and send them into the final game against Conway.
The Bruins took to the field to face the Wampus Cats less than a half an hour after beating Jacksonville. Conway arrived well-rested and ready to play, putting Sylvan Hills at a disadvantage before the game even started.
If the Bruins were fatigued, they showed no sign of it early on. The game went scoreless until the top of the third inning, when Sylvan Hills struck first with a sacrifice fly from Eastham that allowed Everett to tag up at third for the score.
Sylvan Hills held on to the narrow lead until the bottom of the fourth, when a passed ball allowed James Murphy in for the first Conway run of the game, tying the score at 1-1.
Ricky Wheeler came in to relieve starting Bruins pitcher Brandon Chastain at that point, but the Wampus Cats tacked on two more runs in the inning to take a 3-1 lead after four.
Ross Bogard scored on a Conway fielding error in the top of the sixth to close the gap to within a single run at 3-2, but it would be the final score in the game for either team.
Wood put the tying run in position for Sylvan Hills in the top of the seventh by reaching third base, but a pop-up from Bogard gave Conway the third out of the inning, and sealed the win for the Wampus Cats.
Sylvan Hills finished the game with two runs, three hits and one error. Conway had three runs, one hit and two errors.
Sylvan Hills will start state tournament play tomorrow with a 10 a.m. matchup against host team North Little Rock. The Colts will be looking to redeem themselves after going winless in the zone tourney with losses to Conway and Greenbrier.
OPINION >> Razorback lineman preparing for finale
BY NATE ALLEN
Special to the Leader
IN SHORT: After injuries delayed his time in the spotlight, Arkansas tackle Zach Tubbs is ready to lead the Hogs’ O-line.
FAYETTEVILLE — Football isn’t a marathon. Football isn’t a sprint.
It’s both. And when you are 6-6, over 330 pounds and coming off two years of a broken ankle and blood clots, you might not feel too good about your chances for either. Especially with the sprint-endurance part getting all the faster and more fatiguing with some no-huddle added to the Arkansas offense by new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn.
A beleaguered giant can despair or smile. Zac Tubbs smiles. He smiles, that is, when the Arkansas fifth-year senior offensive tackle isn’t huffing and puffing up the Razorback Stadium steps after lifting weights and more running. The Cullman, Ala., native does this all the while dieting like a model told to fit a swimsuit now two sizes too small or else.
And that’s already after dieting from once being above 370.
“He’s 330 trying to get down to 320,” coach Houston Nutt said. “And he keeps at it after the injuries he’s had. I like his attitude!”
It’s the only attitude to have if you want to play, Tubbs believes. And you can believe after two years of injury-enforced idleness, Zac Tubbs wants to play. Even if it means going through the marathon 12-game season, 14 games he hopes if the Hogs can add the SEC Championship game and a bowl game, without even much break between plays when Nutt and Malzahn order no huddle.
“It’s hard,” Tubbs said, bathed in sweat after a Friday workout, “but all I have to do is get back in the groove and get in shape. I’ll get in shape. We all will be ready to go for the no-huddle.”
Just having Tubbs available to go at all would seem worth huddling to accommodate him.
Arkansas’ biggest offensive lineman was supposed to be Arkansas’ best once the big man he understudied, two-time All-American and Camden native Shawn Andrews, moved on early to the pros.
As a true freshman in 2002, Tubbs played the entire second half against South Carolina when Andrews was injured and started the following game against Louisiana-Monroe.
When Andrews turned professional in 2003 before the Independence Bowl, Tubbs started that 27-14 victory over Missouri. He started the first five games of 2004.
Then disaster struck during an Oct. 5 open date practice. He fractured his left ankle in two places, underwent surgery, and during the portion of recovery when he couldn’t move around much, suffered a blood clot in his leg that went to his lung.
Needless to say, Tubbs did not practice the spring of 2005.
But by August he thought he was well and could practice, then hurt the ankle again. Knowing he couldn’t play after a few plays of a season-ending debut three games into the year against Southern California, Tubbs preserved a hardship season for 2006.
He practiced last spring but certainly wasn’t ready for no-huddle; not that many linemen were. But he practiced every practice while his weight kept dropping.
“That’s what I’m proudest about,” strength coach Don Decker said, “he’s always had trouble with his body weight. But he’s held a high 340 now for eight or nine months without gaining weight when he goes home for Christmas break or spring break. His conditioning level is getting better. He’s moving better, bending better. Zac doesn’t have to wear the brace any more on his ankle.”
He’s good to go, trainer Dean Weber said.
“He had a lot of issues,” Weber said, “but he’s overcome all that and is doing well. As far as we are concerned, there don’t appear any limitations on him at all.”
That will include no-huddle, Tubbs vows.
“We weren’t used to it in the spring,” Tubbs said last Friday, “but we know it now.”
He’s fixing to know it a lot better, Decker says smiling.
Tubbs knows all about that, the simulated no-huddle crash course in summer conditioning before the Razorbacks report Aug. 4 for official practice commencing Aug. 5.
“We are going to start drills on it next week,” Tubbs said last Friday. “It’s all part of it to get our legs in shape. I feel real good and ready to go.”
Aside from the no-huddle, Tubbs has had to familiarize himself with the new pass-blocking scheme of Malzahn’s offense.
Something is comfortably familiar, though, for Tubbs and the rest of veteran offensive line coach Mike Markuson’s linemen.
They still get to block for sensational sophomore tailbacks Darren McFadden and Felix Jones.
“Any time you have those two guys back there and little Mike Smith (the redshirt freshman tailback injured in preseason last year), too,” Tubbs said ... “just give them a crease, and they make big things happen. I’m really excited about that. There’s a lot to be excited for.”
Special to the Leader
IN SHORT: After injuries delayed his time in the spotlight, Arkansas tackle Zach Tubbs is ready to lead the Hogs’ O-line.
FAYETTEVILLE — Football isn’t a marathon. Football isn’t a sprint.
It’s both. And when you are 6-6, over 330 pounds and coming off two years of a broken ankle and blood clots, you might not feel too good about your chances for either. Especially with the sprint-endurance part getting all the faster and more fatiguing with some no-huddle added to the Arkansas offense by new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn.
A beleaguered giant can despair or smile. Zac Tubbs smiles. He smiles, that is, when the Arkansas fifth-year senior offensive tackle isn’t huffing and puffing up the Razorback Stadium steps after lifting weights and more running. The Cullman, Ala., native does this all the while dieting like a model told to fit a swimsuit now two sizes too small or else.
And that’s already after dieting from once being above 370.
“He’s 330 trying to get down to 320,” coach Houston Nutt said. “And he keeps at it after the injuries he’s had. I like his attitude!”
It’s the only attitude to have if you want to play, Tubbs believes. And you can believe after two years of injury-enforced idleness, Zac Tubbs wants to play. Even if it means going through the marathon 12-game season, 14 games he hopes if the Hogs can add the SEC Championship game and a bowl game, without even much break between plays when Nutt and Malzahn order no huddle.
“It’s hard,” Tubbs said, bathed in sweat after a Friday workout, “but all I have to do is get back in the groove and get in shape. I’ll get in shape. We all will be ready to go for the no-huddle.”
Just having Tubbs available to go at all would seem worth huddling to accommodate him.
Arkansas’ biggest offensive lineman was supposed to be Arkansas’ best once the big man he understudied, two-time All-American and Camden native Shawn Andrews, moved on early to the pros.
As a true freshman in 2002, Tubbs played the entire second half against South Carolina when Andrews was injured and started the following game against Louisiana-Monroe.
When Andrews turned professional in 2003 before the Independence Bowl, Tubbs started that 27-14 victory over Missouri. He started the first five games of 2004.
Then disaster struck during an Oct. 5 open date practice. He fractured his left ankle in two places, underwent surgery, and during the portion of recovery when he couldn’t move around much, suffered a blood clot in his leg that went to his lung.
Needless to say, Tubbs did not practice the spring of 2005.
But by August he thought he was well and could practice, then hurt the ankle again. Knowing he couldn’t play after a few plays of a season-ending debut three games into the year against Southern California, Tubbs preserved a hardship season for 2006.
He practiced last spring but certainly wasn’t ready for no-huddle; not that many linemen were. But he practiced every practice while his weight kept dropping.
“That’s what I’m proudest about,” strength coach Don Decker said, “he’s always had trouble with his body weight. But he’s held a high 340 now for eight or nine months without gaining weight when he goes home for Christmas break or spring break. His conditioning level is getting better. He’s moving better, bending better. Zac doesn’t have to wear the brace any more on his ankle.”
He’s good to go, trainer Dean Weber said.
“He had a lot of issues,” Weber said, “but he’s overcome all that and is doing well. As far as we are concerned, there don’t appear any limitations on him at all.”
That will include no-huddle, Tubbs vows.
“We weren’t used to it in the spring,” Tubbs said last Friday, “but we know it now.”
He’s fixing to know it a lot better, Decker says smiling.
Tubbs knows all about that, the simulated no-huddle crash course in summer conditioning before the Razorbacks report Aug. 4 for official practice commencing Aug. 5.
“We are going to start drills on it next week,” Tubbs said last Friday. “It’s all part of it to get our legs in shape. I feel real good and ready to go.”
Aside from the no-huddle, Tubbs has had to familiarize himself with the new pass-blocking scheme of Malzahn’s offense.
Something is comfortably familiar, though, for Tubbs and the rest of veteran offensive line coach Mike Markuson’s linemen.
They still get to block for sensational sophomore tailbacks Darren McFadden and Felix Jones.
“Any time you have those two guys back there and little Mike Smith (the redshirt freshman tailback injured in preseason last year), too,” Tubbs said ... “just give them a crease, and they make big things happen. I’m really excited about that. There’s a lot to be excited for.”
SPORTS >> AAA Bruins too much for ’Cats
BY JASON KING
Leader sports writer
IN SHORT: The Bruins took both games of a doubleheader against the Conway Wampus Cats Monday night at Kevin McReynolds Field in American Legion Class AAA action.
Sylvan Hills had an easy time with the Wampus Cats on Monday, sweeping both sides of a Class AAA American Legion twin bill at Kevin McReynolds Field in Sherwood. The Bruins won game one 4-1, followed by a strong offensive performance in game two to win 10-6.
Both starting pitchers went the distance for Sylvan Hills. Tony Pavan increased his season record to 6-3 in the opener, allowing five hits while giving up only one walk and striking out four batters.
Pavan retired eight straight batters from the top of the fifth until the top of the seventh, when an error allowed Casey Cooper to reach in the final inning.
Pavan has had a noticeable improvement in endurance while on the mound this summer.
He credits an increase in confidence as a key factor in his increased stamina.
“I feel like my arm is getting stronger,” Pavan said. “I have been able to build my confidence and strength. As the game went on, I felt like I could get ahead of the batters. That is what I think keeps me effective.”
Although Taylor Roark gave up eight hits and four walks in the nightcap, Conway did most of the damage in a single inning.
The Wampus Cats had their way with Roark in the top of the fourth inning, but he settled down for the remainder of the contest, only allowing two hits and one RBI from the fifth inning on.
The Bruins grabbed the lead early on in the opener off a RBI double from Ritchie Irvin that drove in Shawn Bybee and Austin Gwatney.
Bybee recorded a RBI of his own in the bottom of the fourth, sending in Nathan Van Schoyck with a single to give Sylvan Hills a 3-1 lead.
Taylor Roark added the final run for the Bruins in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring on a passed ball after reaching on an E7 fly.
The second game was a high- scoring affair, with 17 total hits in the game. Conway used the losing effort as a pitching clinic, putting five different hurlers on the mound throughout the contest.
Conway took the lead in the top of the second inning with a single from Jeremy Atkins that scored Luke Pruett for the first run of the game.
Sylvan Hills scored two runs in the bottom of the second courtesy of four straight base on balls from starting ‘Cats pitcher Jon Houston. Jordan Leach replaced Houston at the mound at that point.
Gwatney was the first batter Leach would face in the inning, forcing him into a rare 1-2-3 double play to retire the side for the Wampus Cats.
Conway took control of the game briefly in the top of the fourth inning. The Wampus Cats racked up four runs off of five hits and two walks from Roark to reclaim the lead 5-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth.
The lead did not last very long for Conway. The Bruins retaliated in the bottom of the inning with five runs off of five hits and two walks at the hands of two different Wampus Cat pitchers.
Gwatney drove in two runs with a single to left, and Hayden Miller followed that with a two-run RBI double of his own that scored Ryan Wood and Gwatney. Miller then came in with an Irwin single to give the Bruins an 8-5 lead after four.
Irwin and Jarrett Boles added the final two runs for Sylvan Hills in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Conway tried to mount a rally in the final inning, but a single run off of one walk and one hit was all Roark would allow, securing the win and the clean sweep for the Bruins.
Miller was 3 for 4 in game two with a triple and two RBIs. Boles was 2 for 3 for Sylvan Hills. For Conway, Atkins was 2 for 2 with a RBI.
The Bruins head into the final stretch of their regular-season schedule this week. They faced Gwatney Chevrolet at Dupree Park in another doubleheader last night after Leader deadlines, and will play a nine-inning road game against North Little Rock today at 6 p.m.
This weekend will wrap up season play for Sylvan Hills, with single nine-inning games at home against Russellville on Saturday and Little Rock Red on Sunday.
Leader sports writer
IN SHORT: The Bruins took both games of a doubleheader against the Conway Wampus Cats Monday night at Kevin McReynolds Field in American Legion Class AAA action.
Sylvan Hills had an easy time with the Wampus Cats on Monday, sweeping both sides of a Class AAA American Legion twin bill at Kevin McReynolds Field in Sherwood. The Bruins won game one 4-1, followed by a strong offensive performance in game two to win 10-6.
Both starting pitchers went the distance for Sylvan Hills. Tony Pavan increased his season record to 6-3 in the opener, allowing five hits while giving up only one walk and striking out four batters.
Pavan retired eight straight batters from the top of the fifth until the top of the seventh, when an error allowed Casey Cooper to reach in the final inning.
Pavan has had a noticeable improvement in endurance while on the mound this summer.
He credits an increase in confidence as a key factor in his increased stamina.
“I feel like my arm is getting stronger,” Pavan said. “I have been able to build my confidence and strength. As the game went on, I felt like I could get ahead of the batters. That is what I think keeps me effective.”
Although Taylor Roark gave up eight hits and four walks in the nightcap, Conway did most of the damage in a single inning.
The Wampus Cats had their way with Roark in the top of the fourth inning, but he settled down for the remainder of the contest, only allowing two hits and one RBI from the fifth inning on.
The Bruins grabbed the lead early on in the opener off a RBI double from Ritchie Irvin that drove in Shawn Bybee and Austin Gwatney.
Bybee recorded a RBI of his own in the bottom of the fourth, sending in Nathan Van Schoyck with a single to give Sylvan Hills a 3-1 lead.
Taylor Roark added the final run for the Bruins in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring on a passed ball after reaching on an E7 fly.
The second game was a high- scoring affair, with 17 total hits in the game. Conway used the losing effort as a pitching clinic, putting five different hurlers on the mound throughout the contest.
Conway took the lead in the top of the second inning with a single from Jeremy Atkins that scored Luke Pruett for the first run of the game.
Sylvan Hills scored two runs in the bottom of the second courtesy of four straight base on balls from starting ‘Cats pitcher Jon Houston. Jordan Leach replaced Houston at the mound at that point.
Gwatney was the first batter Leach would face in the inning, forcing him into a rare 1-2-3 double play to retire the side for the Wampus Cats.
Conway took control of the game briefly in the top of the fourth inning. The Wampus Cats racked up four runs off of five hits and two walks from Roark to reclaim the lead 5-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth.
The lead did not last very long for Conway. The Bruins retaliated in the bottom of the inning with five runs off of five hits and two walks at the hands of two different Wampus Cat pitchers.
Gwatney drove in two runs with a single to left, and Hayden Miller followed that with a two-run RBI double of his own that scored Ryan Wood and Gwatney. Miller then came in with an Irwin single to give the Bruins an 8-5 lead after four.
Irwin and Jarrett Boles added the final two runs for Sylvan Hills in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Conway tried to mount a rally in the final inning, but a single run off of one walk and one hit was all Roark would allow, securing the win and the clean sweep for the Bruins.
Miller was 3 for 4 in game two with a triple and two RBIs. Boles was 2 for 3 for Sylvan Hills. For Conway, Atkins was 2 for 2 with a RBI.
The Bruins head into the final stretch of their regular-season schedule this week. They faced Gwatney Chevrolet at Dupree Park in another doubleheader last night after Leader deadlines, and will play a nine-inning road game against North Little Rock today at 6 p.m.
This weekend will wrap up season play for Sylvan Hills, with single nine-inning games at home against Russellville on Saturday and Little Rock Red on Sunday.
Friday, July 07, 2006
TOP STORY >> Animals will soon get new shelter
BY JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: City employees are pitching in to get the facility ready for its July 17 opening.
City employees are pitching in to get Cabot’s new animal shelter ready to open soon.
Jim Towe, the city’s director of public works, said Friday that he and City Engineer Gail Mainard will work this weekend and evenings next week to help complete the $452,000, 7,000-square-foot facility.
Specifically, they intend to complete the bathroom this weekend, including painting the cabinet and installing the laminate top, he said.
Both Towe and Mainard are salaried workers, so their “overtime” hours don’t cost the city extra, he said.
If all the work is completed as expected, the shelter should be ready to open by the week of July 17, Towe said, but it is too soon to say when the grand opening will be held.
Cabot City Beautiful is expected to landscape the grounds next week, he said. Workers are currently laying the tile floor and hanging solid wood doors that were donated anonymously.
Towe said it is disappointing that the building was not completed in time for this weekend’s ball tournament at the Allman-Bevis Sports Complex, where the shelter is located. But he said there will be other events at the complex, and the stray animals the shelter will house will have a much better chance of finding homes than the ones at the old shelter at 800 Kerr Station Road beside the old city shop.
In addition to the better location, the new shelter will have an inside play area and an outside play area, so prospective pet owners will have a chance to get to know the animals before they take them home.
The new shelter also will have two rooms for cats, which cannot be housed at the old shelter, a puppy room, 20 kennels, a laundry room for washing bedding, an office, a room for storing food and one for preparing it, a quarantine room and a room for euthanizing animals that are not adopted and is being called a “surgery room.”
One more advantage at the new shelter is the number of volunteers who are expected to help with the animals.
“We’ve got people coming out of our ears wanting to volunteer,” Towe said. “I don’t blame them for not wanting to come to the old one with the shape it’s in. But we’ve got a lot of people who want to help out at this one.”
The new shelter is part of a $28 million bond issue that is supported by a 1-cent tax. In addition to $200,000 for the shelter, the bond issue includes $7 million to pay off the old bonds, $16.5 million for a sewer treatment plant, $1.5 million to help build a community center that is now under construction, $1.8 million for street improvements and $800,000 for the city’s part of a railroad overpass near Austin.
A small part of the money for the new animal shelter was donated or earned through fundraisers, but most of the $250,000 that was available for the shelter before the bond issue came from the city’s general fund.
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: City employees are pitching in to get the facility ready for its July 17 opening.
City employees are pitching in to get Cabot’s new animal shelter ready to open soon.
Jim Towe, the city’s director of public works, said Friday that he and City Engineer Gail Mainard will work this weekend and evenings next week to help complete the $452,000, 7,000-square-foot facility.
Specifically, they intend to complete the bathroom this weekend, including painting the cabinet and installing the laminate top, he said.
Both Towe and Mainard are salaried workers, so their “overtime” hours don’t cost the city extra, he said.
If all the work is completed as expected, the shelter should be ready to open by the week of July 17, Towe said, but it is too soon to say when the grand opening will be held.
Cabot City Beautiful is expected to landscape the grounds next week, he said. Workers are currently laying the tile floor and hanging solid wood doors that were donated anonymously.
Towe said it is disappointing that the building was not completed in time for this weekend’s ball tournament at the Allman-Bevis Sports Complex, where the shelter is located. But he said there will be other events at the complex, and the stray animals the shelter will house will have a much better chance of finding homes than the ones at the old shelter at 800 Kerr Station Road beside the old city shop.
In addition to the better location, the new shelter will have an inside play area and an outside play area, so prospective pet owners will have a chance to get to know the animals before they take them home.
The new shelter also will have two rooms for cats, which cannot be housed at the old shelter, a puppy room, 20 kennels, a laundry room for washing bedding, an office, a room for storing food and one for preparing it, a quarantine room and a room for euthanizing animals that are not adopted and is being called a “surgery room.”
One more advantage at the new shelter is the number of volunteers who are expected to help with the animals.
“We’ve got people coming out of our ears wanting to volunteer,” Towe said. “I don’t blame them for not wanting to come to the old one with the shape it’s in. But we’ve got a lot of people who want to help out at this one.”
The new shelter is part of a $28 million bond issue that is supported by a 1-cent tax. In addition to $200,000 for the shelter, the bond issue includes $7 million to pay off the old bonds, $16.5 million for a sewer treatment plant, $1.5 million to help build a community center that is now under construction, $1.8 million for street improvements and $800,000 for the city’s part of a railroad overpass near Austin.
A small part of the money for the new animal shelter was donated or earned through fundraisers, but most of the $250,000 that was available for the shelter before the bond issue came from the city’s general fund.
TOP STORY >> Band high steps in Washington
BY SARA GREENE
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: Cabot High School Band marched and played before a national audience during the national Independence Day Parade down Constitution Avenue in the U.S. capital.
The Cabot High School Band made its national debut during the Independence Day Parade in Washington Tuesday. Cabot had 168 band members in the mile-long parade playing for 90 minutes for more than 250,000 spectators.
“It’s quite a feeling to be standing on Constitution Avenue, playing patriotic music on the Fourth of July,” said Cabot High School Band director Joe Trusty. The band performed “Tribute to America,” a medley of “God Bless America” and “This Is My Country.”
Forty adults accompanied the students to Washington, including Mark Tenney, assistant band director at Cabot High School, and the junior high band directors John Prater, Kara Reynolds, Erica Hahn and Janet Granderson.
“It was a good experience,” said trumpet player Daniel Gates, 18.
“I definitely want to go back because we only saw half the things up there,” Gates said.
The students have been preparing for the trip since December to raise the $130,000 needed for the trip, as well as practicing twice a week since school got out.
Even with the most rigorous training, marching with instruments, in full uniform in the 94-degree temperature proved too much for a handful of students who had to step out of the parade to rest.
“I think every band there had people stepping out. I could not have been more proud of our students,” Trusty said.
There was plenty of fun and sightseeing once the group arrived in the nation’s capital.
On Monday, the band placed a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers in Arlington National Cemetery.
“That was the most moving experience in my life. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place,” said Doug Gates, Daniel’s father and chaperone.
“The kids were great. They were well behaved, patient and flexible whenever we had a rain delay here or a traffic jam there,” Gates said.
After the parade, the group rested before another round of sightseeing and watching the fireworks display over the National Mall.
“I’ve been to Disney World on the Fourth of July, and that fireworks display was nothing compared to what we saw in Washington,” said Tom Lieblong, one of the parents on the trip. His son Joshua also plays trumpet.
“It was the first time to travel for a lot of those kids and it was a great trip,” Lieblong said.
Leader staff writer
IN SHORT: Cabot High School Band marched and played before a national audience during the national Independence Day Parade down Constitution Avenue in the U.S. capital.
The Cabot High School Band made its national debut during the Independence Day Parade in Washington Tuesday. Cabot had 168 band members in the mile-long parade playing for 90 minutes for more than 250,000 spectators.
“It’s quite a feeling to be standing on Constitution Avenue, playing patriotic music on the Fourth of July,” said Cabot High School Band director Joe Trusty. The band performed “Tribute to America,” a medley of “God Bless America” and “This Is My Country.”
Forty adults accompanied the students to Washington, including Mark Tenney, assistant band director at Cabot High School, and the junior high band directors John Prater, Kara Reynolds, Erica Hahn and Janet Granderson.
“It was a good experience,” said trumpet player Daniel Gates, 18.
“I definitely want to go back because we only saw half the things up there,” Gates said.
The students have been preparing for the trip since December to raise the $130,000 needed for the trip, as well as practicing twice a week since school got out.
Even with the most rigorous training, marching with instruments, in full uniform in the 94-degree temperature proved too much for a handful of students who had to step out of the parade to rest.
“I think every band there had people stepping out. I could not have been more proud of our students,” Trusty said.
There was plenty of fun and sightseeing once the group arrived in the nation’s capital.
On Monday, the band placed a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers in Arlington National Cemetery.
“That was the most moving experience in my life. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place,” said Doug Gates, Daniel’s father and chaperone.
“The kids were great. They were well behaved, patient and flexible whenever we had a rain delay here or a traffic jam there,” Gates said.
After the parade, the group rested before another round of sightseeing and watching the fireworks display over the National Mall.
“I’ve been to Disney World on the Fourth of July, and that fireworks display was nothing compared to what we saw in Washington,” said Tom Lieblong, one of the parents on the trip. His son Joshua also plays trumpet.
“It was the first time to travel for a lot of those kids and it was a great trip,” Lieblong said.
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