By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The Lady Falcons sent their senior teammate Kristen James out in style, with a sweep over Blytheville on senior night at Dupree Park on Monday night. North Pulaski scored five runs in the fifth inning of Game 1 to win 11-7, and freshman shortstop Andrea Sneed’s heroic efforts in the nightcap helped seal a 7-3 win for its first conference wins of the season.
Sneed ended the Lady Chickasaws’ efforts in the top of the fourth inning of Game 2 with a double play, nabbing a Blytheville line drive and catching the first base runner out of position with a quick throw to first baseman Elizabeth Swaggerty. Her biggest stop of the night, however, was during the following frame.
Blytheville had the bases loaded after making up two runs of a 5-1 deficit, and was threatening for more. Sneed made a quick grab on a one-hopper in the middle for an unassisted out at second base.
“We were thrilled to get two conference wins,” said North Pulaski coach Anne Tharp. “Our defense was good, but I thought our batting was a little sporadic. We hit well for an inning here and there, but we struggled at times too. We’re a young team. We have one senior and one junior — the rest are ninth and 10th graders.”
Swaggerty played most of the second game at first base after earning the win at the mound in Game 1, but returned in the top of the sixth in relief of Ashley Bures.
She closed the game out solid, striking out four of the final six batters she faced, and forced a groundout to end it.
James was honored in between games by teammates, faculty and fans, and scored the first NP run in the second game after hitting a double to centerfield. A single to left by Bures brought James in for the score to give the Lady Falcons a 1-0 lead after one.
Porcha Anderson started the winning rally with a single to centerfield to start the fourth inning, and a walk for Katie Vidal put her at second. Alex Walls drove in the first run, followed by another single, this time by Sneed to score Vidal.
A walk to James loaded the bases, and a single to right field two batters later by Amber Kirschner plated the final two runs of the inning.
The Lady Falcons survived Blytheville’s rally in the top of the fifth, and answered with a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth with a single to right field by Walls that brought in Anderson and Vidal.
The top of the fifth was also rally time for the Lady Chicks in the opener. They made up all four runs of a 5-1 deficit, but North Pulaski took back control in the bottom half of the frame with a six hit effort, highlighted by a bloop into left field by Sneed that scored two runs.
The Lady Falcons were not quite as fortunate against Batesville on Friday. North Pulaski watched an 8-2 lead disappear in Game 1, as the Lady Pioneers scored seven runs in the top of the third inning on the way to a 16-13 win. The second game was all Batesville, with a 13-1 result at the end of the night.
The Lady Falcons are now 2-6 in 5A East Conference play, and played at Beebe last night after Leader deadlines. They will face Greene County Tech on Thursday in a pair of East matchups before returning home to close out their league schedule next Monday against Wynne.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
SPORTS>> Lanier leads Lady Devils to sweep
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
JONESBORO — The long bus ride had no adverse effects, nor did the drizzly conditions.
Jacksonville dominated both games of a 6A-East Conference doubleheader at Jonesboro on Saturday with a career day for sophomore pitcher Jessica Lanier. Lanier struck out all but six of the batters she faced on her way to throwing a perfect game during a 4-0 win in the opener, and hit it over the wall during both of her trips to the plate in Game 2, which led to a 8-0 Lady Red Devil’s win.
“Jessica had a great day, shepitched well and had two home runs,” Lady Red Devil coach Tanya Ganey said. “But the whole team was really incredible. Defensively, we all stepped up. We had girls that got their first varsity hits.”
Lanier ended up with 28 strikeouts in the two games, with 13 more coming in the nightcap. She did give up a pair of hits and a walk in the second game, but the Lady Devil defense held strong with their second error-free performance of the day.
The victories allowed Jacksonville to keep pace in the conference as one of three teams with two losses. The Lady Red Devils improved to 9-2 in league and 11-4 overall.
Bad weather threatened to cancel yet another day for the Lady Red Devils.
Upon arrival, the two teams had two wait out the rain and lightning that was in the northeast Arkansas area, but it finally subsided, and the games went on as planned.
Jonesboro allowed seven hits in the first game. Jennifer Bock landed two of those hits for the Lady Red Devils, as did Riley Zinc. Taylor Norsworthy, Paula Burr and Chyna Davis each finished with one hit.
Many of the usual suspects stepped up to have good offensive performances in Game 2, and even a couple of new faces.
Lanier’s 2 of 2, two-home-run performance led the way, but Davis also backed up her Game 1 performance by going 2 of 3.
Ganey put some fresh faces into the lineup late after they had the game in hand, and first-timers Casey Tyson and Frederika Hart took advantage by coming away with their first varsity hits.
“We have some big games coming up this week in Marion and Mountain Home; we’ll find out what we’re really made of after those.”
The Lady Devils played at Marion last night after Leader deadlines. The Lady Patriots took the win 2-0 during the first meeting between the two teams, but Jacksonville had one runner on and no outs in the bottom of the sixth when the game was called for weather.
Leader sportswriter
JONESBORO — The long bus ride had no adverse effects, nor did the drizzly conditions.
Jacksonville dominated both games of a 6A-East Conference doubleheader at Jonesboro on Saturday with a career day for sophomore pitcher Jessica Lanier. Lanier struck out all but six of the batters she faced on her way to throwing a perfect game during a 4-0 win in the opener, and hit it over the wall during both of her trips to the plate in Game 2, which led to a 8-0 Lady Red Devil’s win.
“Jessica had a great day, shepitched well and had two home runs,” Lady Red Devil coach Tanya Ganey said. “But the whole team was really incredible. Defensively, we all stepped up. We had girls that got their first varsity hits.”
Lanier ended up with 28 strikeouts in the two games, with 13 more coming in the nightcap. She did give up a pair of hits and a walk in the second game, but the Lady Devil defense held strong with their second error-free performance of the day.
The victories allowed Jacksonville to keep pace in the conference as one of three teams with two losses. The Lady Red Devils improved to 9-2 in league and 11-4 overall.
Bad weather threatened to cancel yet another day for the Lady Red Devils.
Upon arrival, the two teams had two wait out the rain and lightning that was in the northeast Arkansas area, but it finally subsided, and the games went on as planned.
Jonesboro allowed seven hits in the first game. Jennifer Bock landed two of those hits for the Lady Red Devils, as did Riley Zinc. Taylor Norsworthy, Paula Burr and Chyna Davis each finished with one hit.
Many of the usual suspects stepped up to have good offensive performances in Game 2, and even a couple of new faces.
Lanier’s 2 of 2, two-home-run performance led the way, but Davis also backed up her Game 1 performance by going 2 of 3.
Ganey put some fresh faces into the lineup late after they had the game in hand, and first-timers Casey Tyson and Frederika Hart took advantage by coming away with their first varsity hits.
“We have some big games coming up this week in Marion and Mountain Home; we’ll find out what we’re really made of after those.”
The Lady Devils played at Marion last night after Leader deadlines. The Lady Patriots took the win 2-0 during the first meeting between the two teams, but Jacksonville had one runner on and no outs in the bottom of the sixth when the game was called for weather.
SPORTS>> Red Devils cruise past Bombers
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
It’s hard to put an exclamation point on a 14-1 romp, but Jacksonville freshman Nick Rodriquez did just that on Saturday. Rodriguez, in only his third varsity at-bat, sent a Mountain Home pitch over the left field wall to bring in the final two scores of the second game of a 6A-East Conference doubleheader at Hickingbotham Field in Dupree Park.
The Red Devils dominated both games, taking 11-4 and 16-1 wins over the Bombers, who were their own worst enemies at the mound for most of the afternoon.
Jacksonville racked up seven runs during the second inning of Game 1, but didn’t take as long during the finale. The Devils went through their entire lineup in the top of the first inning of Game 2 all the way back to two-hole hitter Jason Regnas, picking up five runs on four hits.
Mountain Home helped them out with a pair of errors during the frame, and watched its pitchingtake a steady nosedive during the run-ruled contest.
“Since we’ve been in the conference, we’ve battled 100 times better,” Jacksonville coach Larry Burrows said. “We’ve had quality A-B after quality A-B. They’ve competed well with the stick. We’re really happy — not necessarily with the way we’re swinging, but just the quality at bats that we’re having.
“We’re making it tough on the opposing pitcher. No matter how good they are, we’re standing in there and competing. I don’t know how many 0-2 walks we’ve gotten. If we get in a hole, they just keep battling back and fighting.”
The Red Devils held a big advantage at the plate all day, and their defense and pitching were also on the mark. Seth Tomboli went six innings to claim the win in Game 1, while his reliever for the seventh inning, Regnas, threw the first three innings of Game 2 to earn the win. Junior Michael Harmon took to the mound to start the fourth inning in relief of Regnas, striking out four of the seven batters he faced.
The pair of wins didn’t exactly clinch Jacksonville (13-11, 6-4 East) for the upcoming state tournament, but did bring it a little closer to securing at least a six seed. The Red Devils are currently in fifth place, ahead of Forrest City, West Memphis and Mountain Home.
After hosting first-place Sylvan Hills on Wednesday, the Red Devils will close out their regular season with West Memphis.
“We still control our own destiny,” Burrows said. “If we win one more game, then it’s for sure clinched, or if West Memphis loses another.”
Harmon led off the fifth with a double to right field, but was stuck in the middle as Mountain Home retired the next two Devil batters. That put Rodriguez up to the plate, who sent it into the road behind the left field fence.
Rodriguez was greeted at the plate by teammates after he rounded the bases.
Regnas got the win, allowing one earned run on three hits, two walks and four strikeouts. He was also stout offensively in
Game 2, going 3 of 5 with a double and three RBI. Cameron Hood was 2 of 3 with a triple and a RBI. Patrick Castleberry led the Devils, going 4 of 4 with two doubles and three RBI.
Leader sportswriter
It’s hard to put an exclamation point on a 14-1 romp, but Jacksonville freshman Nick Rodriquez did just that on Saturday. Rodriguez, in only his third varsity at-bat, sent a Mountain Home pitch over the left field wall to bring in the final two scores of the second game of a 6A-East Conference doubleheader at Hickingbotham Field in Dupree Park.
The Red Devils dominated both games, taking 11-4 and 16-1 wins over the Bombers, who were their own worst enemies at the mound for most of the afternoon.
Jacksonville racked up seven runs during the second inning of Game 1, but didn’t take as long during the finale. The Devils went through their entire lineup in the top of the first inning of Game 2 all the way back to two-hole hitter Jason Regnas, picking up five runs on four hits.
Mountain Home helped them out with a pair of errors during the frame, and watched its pitchingtake a steady nosedive during the run-ruled contest.
“Since we’ve been in the conference, we’ve battled 100 times better,” Jacksonville coach Larry Burrows said. “We’ve had quality A-B after quality A-B. They’ve competed well with the stick. We’re really happy — not necessarily with the way we’re swinging, but just the quality at bats that we’re having.
“We’re making it tough on the opposing pitcher. No matter how good they are, we’re standing in there and competing. I don’t know how many 0-2 walks we’ve gotten. If we get in a hole, they just keep battling back and fighting.”
The Red Devils held a big advantage at the plate all day, and their defense and pitching were also on the mark. Seth Tomboli went six innings to claim the win in Game 1, while his reliever for the seventh inning, Regnas, threw the first three innings of Game 2 to earn the win. Junior Michael Harmon took to the mound to start the fourth inning in relief of Regnas, striking out four of the seven batters he faced.
The pair of wins didn’t exactly clinch Jacksonville (13-11, 6-4 East) for the upcoming state tournament, but did bring it a little closer to securing at least a six seed. The Red Devils are currently in fifth place, ahead of Forrest City, West Memphis and Mountain Home.
After hosting first-place Sylvan Hills on Wednesday, the Red Devils will close out their regular season with West Memphis.
“We still control our own destiny,” Burrows said. “If we win one more game, then it’s for sure clinched, or if West Memphis loses another.”
Harmon led off the fifth with a double to right field, but was stuck in the middle as Mountain Home retired the next two Devil batters. That put Rodriguez up to the plate, who sent it into the road behind the left field fence.
Rodriguez was greeted at the plate by teammates after he rounded the bases.
Regnas got the win, allowing one earned run on three hits, two walks and four strikeouts. He was also stout offensively in
Game 2, going 3 of 5 with a double and three RBI. Cameron Hood was 2 of 3 with a triple and a RBI. Patrick Castleberry led the Devils, going 4 of 4 with two doubles and three RBI.
SPORTS>> North Pulaski teams fall
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
Both the North Pulaski girls and boys soccer teams had insult added to injury in first-round playoff losses at the 5A state soccer tournament at Burns Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Falcons fell 4-0 to Greenwood, losing top scoring Claire Crews to a severe ankle injury late in the first half. The boys took on second-seeded Harrison — winners of state titles from 2000-06 — lost goalkeeper Matt Ingersoll early, and lost the game, 7-0.
“[Harrison] could put 11 6-footers out there,” said North Pulaski boys coach Tony Buzzitta, whose Falcons finished 8-9. “They were just bigger and faster than us. But I’m proud of our team. We doubled our victories from last year, and we’re still a young team.”
The Falcons fell behind quickly 1-0 and trailed 3-0 29 minutes into the contest. Ingersoll was hurt two minutes later, when he leaped to make a save and hit his head on the post. He collapsed in a heap and didn’t move for several frightening seconds. But he was able to return to the game in the second half, though not in goal.
Dylan Gililland came on in relief in net and immediately made a couple of spectacular saves back to back, the second one on a dive and cover up. He shut out the Goblins over the final nine minutes of the half.
Meanwhile, the Falcons mounted their only promising attack when Greg West dribbled through three defenders. But he was unable to get off a shot.
The three Harrison goals in the first half were all rebound goals, but the Goblins scored a couple of outstanding individual goals over the first six minutes of the second half to go up 5-0 and put it away.
West got a direct kick from out in front of the net, but the Harrison keeper was there to stop it.
“I didn’t have a lot of subs who weren’t inexperienced or real young,” Buzzitta said. “It was really tough because some of our defenders needed a break out there because of Harrsison’s speed and size.”
West, Jingxiao Lu and Tyler Gilbert are graduating, but a lot of starters will be returning.
“The biggest problem will be goal scoring,” said Buzzitta of losing West, who recorded 29 goals this season. “The positive is the guys realize they can’t rely on him next year and will have to be more aggressive.”
Buzzitta said the season was really two seasons — pre- and post-spring break.
“We never played consistently after spring break,” he said. “We don’t have any indoor facilities so [with all the rain] we didn’t get to practice for almost a month. That really hurt our conditioning and our ball-handling.”
The No.2 seed Lady Falcons also got off to a poor start, falling behind 1-0 within the first five minutes. It was 2-0 at halftime, despite some nifty saves by North Pulaski freshman goalkeeper Jennifer Waylan and some inspired defensive play by defenders Meagan Delao and Ellen Weld.
“Jennifer and Ellen were awesome today,” said North Pulaski girls coach Christie Delao, who is retiring after this season. “And Jennifer is just a freshman so North Pulaski will have her for the next three years.”
Waylan made a slew of early saves in the second half before the Lady Bulldogs broke through to make it 3-0 after a corner kick 27 minutes into the second half. They added their final goal four minutes later.
“Our girls got tired,” Delao said. “Greenwood was fast and they got even more aggressive in the second half. I was thinking, ‘Can’t you give us a break? You’ve already hurt one of our players.’ But that didn’t happen.
“We weren’t really going to the ball today. [Greenwood] won most of the battles.”
Crews was hurt with six minutes left in the first half when her ankle got pinned between a pair of Greenwood defenders and she went down in pain. After tending to her for almost 15 minutes, medics put her on a stretcher and she went off in an ambulance.
“That really hurt us,” Delao said. “She was our main scoring threat.”
Other than a couple of aggressive runs by Cara Sargent and Brittany Hettinger early in the second half, the Lady Falcons never mounted a serious attack.
The Lady Falcons finished 6-5-1.
Leader sports editor
Both the North Pulaski girls and boys soccer teams had insult added to injury in first-round playoff losses at the 5A state soccer tournament at Burns Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Falcons fell 4-0 to Greenwood, losing top scoring Claire Crews to a severe ankle injury late in the first half. The boys took on second-seeded Harrison — winners of state titles from 2000-06 — lost goalkeeper Matt Ingersoll early, and lost the game, 7-0.
“[Harrison] could put 11 6-footers out there,” said North Pulaski boys coach Tony Buzzitta, whose Falcons finished 8-9. “They were just bigger and faster than us. But I’m proud of our team. We doubled our victories from last year, and we’re still a young team.”
The Falcons fell behind quickly 1-0 and trailed 3-0 29 minutes into the contest. Ingersoll was hurt two minutes later, when he leaped to make a save and hit his head on the post. He collapsed in a heap and didn’t move for several frightening seconds. But he was able to return to the game in the second half, though not in goal.
Dylan Gililland came on in relief in net and immediately made a couple of spectacular saves back to back, the second one on a dive and cover up. He shut out the Goblins over the final nine minutes of the half.
Meanwhile, the Falcons mounted their only promising attack when Greg West dribbled through three defenders. But he was unable to get off a shot.
The three Harrison goals in the first half were all rebound goals, but the Goblins scored a couple of outstanding individual goals over the first six minutes of the second half to go up 5-0 and put it away.
West got a direct kick from out in front of the net, but the Harrison keeper was there to stop it.
“I didn’t have a lot of subs who weren’t inexperienced or real young,” Buzzitta said. “It was really tough because some of our defenders needed a break out there because of Harrsison’s speed and size.”
West, Jingxiao Lu and Tyler Gilbert are graduating, but a lot of starters will be returning.
“The biggest problem will be goal scoring,” said Buzzitta of losing West, who recorded 29 goals this season. “The positive is the guys realize they can’t rely on him next year and will have to be more aggressive.”
Buzzitta said the season was really two seasons — pre- and post-spring break.
“We never played consistently after spring break,” he said. “We don’t have any indoor facilities so [with all the rain] we didn’t get to practice for almost a month. That really hurt our conditioning and our ball-handling.”
The No.2 seed Lady Falcons also got off to a poor start, falling behind 1-0 within the first five minutes. It was 2-0 at halftime, despite some nifty saves by North Pulaski freshman goalkeeper Jennifer Waylan and some inspired defensive play by defenders Meagan Delao and Ellen Weld.
“Jennifer and Ellen were awesome today,” said North Pulaski girls coach Christie Delao, who is retiring after this season. “And Jennifer is just a freshman so North Pulaski will have her for the next three years.”
Waylan made a slew of early saves in the second half before the Lady Bulldogs broke through to make it 3-0 after a corner kick 27 minutes into the second half. They added their final goal four minutes later.
“Our girls got tired,” Delao said. “Greenwood was fast and they got even more aggressive in the second half. I was thinking, ‘Can’t you give us a break? You’ve already hurt one of our players.’ But that didn’t happen.
“We weren’t really going to the ball today. [Greenwood] won most of the battles.”
Crews was hurt with six minutes left in the first half when her ankle got pinned between a pair of Greenwood defenders and she went down in pain. After tending to her for almost 15 minutes, medics put her on a stretcher and she went off in an ambulance.
“That really hurt us,” Delao said. “She was our main scoring threat.”
Other than a couple of aggressive runs by Cara Sargent and Brittany Hettinger early in the second half, the Lady Falcons never mounted a serious attack.
The Lady Falcons finished 6-5-1.
EDITORIAL >>A landmark shuts down
When times are tough, even well-established companies struggle and face the prospect of closing.
Gate Precast, the successor to Arkansas Precast, the 40-year-old Jacksonville construction company, will shut its doors at the end of May, the victim of the recession and consolidation in the building industry. About 65 local people will lose their jobs, and a skeletal design team will remain here to serve other plants owned by Gate Precast.
The late Tom Cory, who founded Arkansas Precast in 1968, helped make the business one of the leading suppliers of precast concrete in the nation. It helped build First Arkansas Bank in Jacksonville, Razorback Stadium, the Oklahoma state Capitol, Alltel’s and Axciom’s headquarters in Little Rock and hundreds of other projects, both large and small.
Arkansas Precast built the fountain in front of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce building in memory of Tom Cory, who moved down here from up North to build his successful business.
He helped organize the Jacksonville Commerce Corp., which sought to bring new business to town. That was not always an easy task, but his company’s presence inspired others to start their businesses here, making them feel welcome and assuring them that they, too, could do well if they gave it their best shot and took care of their employees and their customers.
He was the self-made man who worked extra hard when the going got tough, but the company changed hands a couple of times since his passing, and corporate ownership —Arkansas Precast was sold last year to Gate Petroleum of Florida — cares little about the community and more about the bottom line. Companies like that don’t get too sentimental about putting 65 people out of work.
They will have a hard time finding manufacturing jobs around here anytime soon. Tom Cory would have wept.
Gate Precast, the successor to Arkansas Precast, the 40-year-old Jacksonville construction company, will shut its doors at the end of May, the victim of the recession and consolidation in the building industry. About 65 local people will lose their jobs, and a skeletal design team will remain here to serve other plants owned by Gate Precast.
The late Tom Cory, who founded Arkansas Precast in 1968, helped make the business one of the leading suppliers of precast concrete in the nation. It helped build First Arkansas Bank in Jacksonville, Razorback Stadium, the Oklahoma state Capitol, Alltel’s and Axciom’s headquarters in Little Rock and hundreds of other projects, both large and small.
Arkansas Precast built the fountain in front of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce building in memory of Tom Cory, who moved down here from up North to build his successful business.
He helped organize the Jacksonville Commerce Corp., which sought to bring new business to town. That was not always an easy task, but his company’s presence inspired others to start their businesses here, making them feel welcome and assuring them that they, too, could do well if they gave it their best shot and took care of their employees and their customers.
He was the self-made man who worked extra hard when the going got tough, but the company changed hands a couple of times since his passing, and corporate ownership —Arkansas Precast was sold last year to Gate Petroleum of Florida — cares little about the community and more about the bottom line. Companies like that don’t get too sentimental about putting 65 people out of work.
They will have a hard time finding manufacturing jobs around here anytime soon. Tom Cory would have wept.
EDITORIAL >>Forced to tell the truth
Mike Huckabee squared himself with the law again last week, but like so many times before it was after they made him do it. After he was hauled before the state Ethics Commission on a complaint by a Republican critic, the former governor’s lawyer surrendered the names of the donors to a secret fund managed on his behalf by the state government in the last year of his tenure.
The “Special Events Fund,” platitudinously named like so many preceding secret accounts set up by Huckabee since he became lieutenant governor (you will remember the Action America fund set up in 1994 with the help of tobacco lobbyists to help him supplement his low government wage), came to light late last year when a nosy Arkansas Democrat Gazette reporter made one too many freedom of information requests. He found the Special Events Fund, a private bank account set up for Huckabee and operated by his chief of staff but managed by the state Department of Finance and Administration.
It turned out that the fund was created primarily to pay for a portrait of Huckabee that would be hung in the Governor’s Conference Room at the Capitol. But the governor never reported it nor did he disclose the names of people who gave him the money for the portrait, as state law clearly required. When the fund’s existence was disclosed, Jim Parsons of Bella Vista lodged a complaint with the state Ethics Commission.
The commission’s director said the law did seem to require the disclosure but still Huckabee stonewalled. Finally, on the day of the ethics hearing at Little Rock, Huckabee’s attorney released the list of donors and huddled privately with the Ethics Commission. The law finally requited, the commission did not pursue the complaint.
All’s well that ends well, right? Not quite. There is still the little matter of Mike Huckabee’s honesty. He was, after all, the exemplar of virtue in the recently ended (for him) presidential campaign. He talked about bringing a higher level of morality to office and public life. In matters of getting and spending money he has never been quite the moral exemplar he claims to be and that people have a right to expect.
Public officials are required to disclose all gifts made to them outside their circles of family and friends. Huckabee’s annual report to the Ethics Commission said that Nancy Harris of Williamsburg, Va., had donated a portrait that she painted of him.
But that was not true. She was paid for the painting and the governor hit up lobbyists and people he had appointed to state boards and commissions to pony up the cash for the painting. They pitched in $32,000 and it was channeled through a private bank account.
The largest contributors, if you want to measure influence with Mike Huckabee, were Entergy Corp., the power company regulated by the state, and two businessmen whom Huckabee appointed to the state Game and Fish Commission and the Pollution Control and Ecology Commission. They gave $5,000 each.
The “Special Events Fund,” platitudinously named like so many preceding secret accounts set up by Huckabee since he became lieutenant governor (you will remember the Action America fund set up in 1994 with the help of tobacco lobbyists to help him supplement his low government wage), came to light late last year when a nosy Arkansas Democrat Gazette reporter made one too many freedom of information requests. He found the Special Events Fund, a private bank account set up for Huckabee and operated by his chief of staff but managed by the state Department of Finance and Administration.
It turned out that the fund was created primarily to pay for a portrait of Huckabee that would be hung in the Governor’s Conference Room at the Capitol. But the governor never reported it nor did he disclose the names of people who gave him the money for the portrait, as state law clearly required. When the fund’s existence was disclosed, Jim Parsons of Bella Vista lodged a complaint with the state Ethics Commission.
The commission’s director said the law did seem to require the disclosure but still Huckabee stonewalled. Finally, on the day of the ethics hearing at Little Rock, Huckabee’s attorney released the list of donors and huddled privately with the Ethics Commission. The law finally requited, the commission did not pursue the complaint.
All’s well that ends well, right? Not quite. There is still the little matter of Mike Huckabee’s honesty. He was, after all, the exemplar of virtue in the recently ended (for him) presidential campaign. He talked about bringing a higher level of morality to office and public life. In matters of getting and spending money he has never been quite the moral exemplar he claims to be and that people have a right to expect.
Public officials are required to disclose all gifts made to them outside their circles of family and friends. Huckabee’s annual report to the Ethics Commission said that Nancy Harris of Williamsburg, Va., had donated a portrait that she painted of him.
But that was not true. She was paid for the painting and the governor hit up lobbyists and people he had appointed to state boards and commissions to pony up the cash for the painting. They pitched in $32,000 and it was channeled through a private bank account.
The largest contributors, if you want to measure influence with Mike Huckabee, were Entergy Corp., the power company regulated by the state, and two businessmen whom Huckabee appointed to the state Game and Fish Commission and the Pollution Control and Ecology Commission. They gave $5,000 each.
TOP STORY > >Recognition for mayor is deserved
By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer
Art Brooke, the Ward mayor who for the past 10 years has worked to upgrade the city’s water and sewer systems to get ready for the growth that he knew was almost certain to come, was named last week the Ward Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year.
He was given the honor because he de-served it, said Sharon Roberts, branch manager of Community Bank in Ward, vice president of the board of the Ward Chamber of Commerce and Brooke’slongtime friend.
“He’s just an outstanding citizen,” Roberts said. “He volunteers in everything in the Ward area. He’s an outstanding Christian man and I just think the world of him. A lot of people do.”
John Barclay, last year’s citizen of the year, made the presentation, saying Brooke was chosen because of his integrity and his dedication to taking care of people first.
When Brooke became mayor in 1999, the outgoing mayor had asked the council to cut the salary for the office from $20,000 to $10,000 and it stayed there for almost a year even though Brooke routinely worked 70 hours a week and attended long meetings in Little Rock and across the central part of the state while he worked on improvement projects for the city.
In his first years, improvements in the city sewer and water systems put the city 11 years ahead of where it had to be for the size of the population. Now the mayor says that margin is narrowing and he is working toward more improvements.
Brooke said he rejected initial proposals for the latest planned $2.7 million water project because it would have raised the flat rate by $5.70.
“The people couldn’t afford that,” he said.
By shopping around for the money and borrowing for 35 years instead of 30, that increase will be only $1.70, he said.
Brooke, 67, retired as chief of infrastructure at Little Rock Air Force Base to run for mayor.
In addition to improvements to water and sewer, he has to his credit the purchase of the Ward Elementary School building that now houses his office, the water department, police department, the library and parks.
Asked why he thought he was honored by the chamber, Brooke said he hoped the picture Barclay had painted of him is the one that most people see. Although planning for the future consumes much of his time, Brooke said he tries to never turn anyone away who comes to him with a problem.
Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel was the keynote speaker for the 34th annual Ward Chamber of Commerce banquet. He talked about the importance of quality education for all children, and gave updates on current litigation and issues he is involved with.
He is currently reviewing the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the protocol used for lethal in-jection in Kentucky is legal. Since Arkansas’ is similar, he will soon talk to the governor and the department of corrections about what the ruling means for Arkansas.
He also has been looking into the legality of payday lenders and following the recent state Supreme Court decisions. His office sent cease-and-desist letters to about 156 business locations. McDaniel said he is thankful for the public support he has received on this matter, and is encouraged by the industry’s initial response.
Like Ward’s newest citizen of the year, McDaniel says he is concerned about people. His office has launched a new comprehensive initiative called “Be Street Smart,” which includes a Web site (www.bestreetsmart.org), as well as some public service announcements featuring information on credit card fraud, Internet safety and drunk driving.
The purpose of the initiative is to educate and inform the public on ways to prevent identity theft, avoid consumer scams and learn more about Internet safety and senior protection.
The banquet is a fundraiser for the Ward Chamber of Commerce. Roberts said the proceeds will help pay for a program that is just starting to help the elderly cool their homes with donated fans and air conditioners.
Programs of that type are what Brooke means when he says he tries to not send anyone away from city hall without the help they need.
“If I or my staff can’t help them, we try to put them in touch with someone who can,” Brooke said. “I believe in helping. It’s who I am whether I’m the citizen of the year or not.”
Leader staff writer
Art Brooke, the Ward mayor who for the past 10 years has worked to upgrade the city’s water and sewer systems to get ready for the growth that he knew was almost certain to come, was named last week the Ward Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year.
He was given the honor because he de-served it, said Sharon Roberts, branch manager of Community Bank in Ward, vice president of the board of the Ward Chamber of Commerce and Brooke’slongtime friend.
“He’s just an outstanding citizen,” Roberts said. “He volunteers in everything in the Ward area. He’s an outstanding Christian man and I just think the world of him. A lot of people do.”
John Barclay, last year’s citizen of the year, made the presentation, saying Brooke was chosen because of his integrity and his dedication to taking care of people first.
When Brooke became mayor in 1999, the outgoing mayor had asked the council to cut the salary for the office from $20,000 to $10,000 and it stayed there for almost a year even though Brooke routinely worked 70 hours a week and attended long meetings in Little Rock and across the central part of the state while he worked on improvement projects for the city.
In his first years, improvements in the city sewer and water systems put the city 11 years ahead of where it had to be for the size of the population. Now the mayor says that margin is narrowing and he is working toward more improvements.
Brooke said he rejected initial proposals for the latest planned $2.7 million water project because it would have raised the flat rate by $5.70.
“The people couldn’t afford that,” he said.
By shopping around for the money and borrowing for 35 years instead of 30, that increase will be only $1.70, he said.
Brooke, 67, retired as chief of infrastructure at Little Rock Air Force Base to run for mayor.
In addition to improvements to water and sewer, he has to his credit the purchase of the Ward Elementary School building that now houses his office, the water department, police department, the library and parks.
Asked why he thought he was honored by the chamber, Brooke said he hoped the picture Barclay had painted of him is the one that most people see. Although planning for the future consumes much of his time, Brooke said he tries to never turn anyone away who comes to him with a problem.
Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel was the keynote speaker for the 34th annual Ward Chamber of Commerce banquet. He talked about the importance of quality education for all children, and gave updates on current litigation and issues he is involved with.
He is currently reviewing the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the protocol used for lethal in-jection in Kentucky is legal. Since Arkansas’ is similar, he will soon talk to the governor and the department of corrections about what the ruling means for Arkansas.
He also has been looking into the legality of payday lenders and following the recent state Supreme Court decisions. His office sent cease-and-desist letters to about 156 business locations. McDaniel said he is thankful for the public support he has received on this matter, and is encouraged by the industry’s initial response.
Like Ward’s newest citizen of the year, McDaniel says he is concerned about people. His office has launched a new comprehensive initiative called “Be Street Smart,” which includes a Web site (www.bestreetsmart.org), as well as some public service announcements featuring information on credit card fraud, Internet safety and drunk driving.
The purpose of the initiative is to educate and inform the public on ways to prevent identity theft, avoid consumer scams and learn more about Internet safety and senior protection.
The banquet is a fundraiser for the Ward Chamber of Commerce. Roberts said the proceeds will help pay for a program that is just starting to help the elderly cool their homes with donated fans and air conditioners.
Programs of that type are what Brooke means when he says he tries to not send anyone away from city hall without the help they need.
“If I or my staff can’t help them, we try to put them in touch with someone who can,” Brooke said. “I believe in helping. It’s who I am whether I’m the citizen of the year or not.”
TOP STORY > >Day Obama’s White House hopes ended
April 28 may be the date Barack Obama lost any chance he had of winning the White House.
After an incendiary address at an NAACP dinner and a rambling interview with Bill Moyers on PBS last weekend, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s former pastor, went before the National Press Club in Washington on Monday and left no doubt that he was a fool.
He lobbed a Molotov cocktail at Obama for distancing himself from Wright’s vicious sermons that accused the U.S. government of inventing the AIDS virus to kill black people, routinely called America “U.S. of KKK A,” compared America to al Qaeda and blamed the victims for 9/11.
Obama on Tuesday called his pastor’s comments “appalling,” but that won’t help him much as he sinks in the polls.
No wonder former Gov. Mike Huck-abee, himself a former presidential hopeful, thinks Hillary Clinton might be paying Rev. Wright to embarrass Obama, who was a member of Wright’s church for 20 years.
Obama must have heard plenty of bigoted sermons over the years at Trinity United Church of Christ on the south side of Chicago, where the Nation of Islam has its headquarters.
Wright is a lot like Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader, whom Wright calls a friend. Wright left the National Press Club with a phalanx of Nation of Islam bodyguards.
He complains about the media using only soundbites to make him look bad, but almost everything he says is weird.
“I believe our government is capable of doing anything,” the pastor told the Press Club. Perhaps blow up the Twin Towers? He also contradicted Obama’s claims that he wasn’t at church when the Rev. Wright gave his strange sermons.
Obama has looked grim all month, as if he’d been expecting some bad news. I guess he knew Rev. Wright was going to go nuts at the Press Club, and he was right.
Obama could still get the nomination, but if he does, Republicans will crucify him over his association with the Reverend. Be prepared for more of Rev. Wright’s soundbites 24/7 this fall.
Hillary and Bill Clinton are hoping the Reverend will scare primary voters and superdelegates away from Obama, who knows he’s been wounded and sees his presidential hopes are fading.
John McCain, meanwhile, doesn’t have to do anything except stay awake and not say anything dumb while Democrats duke it out.
Rev. Wright will never get a cabinet post in an Obama administration, but Sen. Clinton and Sen. McCain might reward him with a job if he helps either one get elected, and it looks like he will.
After an incendiary address at an NAACP dinner and a rambling interview with Bill Moyers on PBS last weekend, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s former pastor, went before the National Press Club in Washington on Monday and left no doubt that he was a fool.
He lobbed a Molotov cocktail at Obama for distancing himself from Wright’s vicious sermons that accused the U.S. government of inventing the AIDS virus to kill black people, routinely called America “U.S. of KKK A,” compared America to al Qaeda and blamed the victims for 9/11.
Obama on Tuesday called his pastor’s comments “appalling,” but that won’t help him much as he sinks in the polls.
No wonder former Gov. Mike Huck-abee, himself a former presidential hopeful, thinks Hillary Clinton might be paying Rev. Wright to embarrass Obama, who was a member of Wright’s church for 20 years.
Obama must have heard plenty of bigoted sermons over the years at Trinity United Church of Christ on the south side of Chicago, where the Nation of Islam has its headquarters.
Wright is a lot like Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader, whom Wright calls a friend. Wright left the National Press Club with a phalanx of Nation of Islam bodyguards.
He complains about the media using only soundbites to make him look bad, but almost everything he says is weird.
“I believe our government is capable of doing anything,” the pastor told the Press Club. Perhaps blow up the Twin Towers? He also contradicted Obama’s claims that he wasn’t at church when the Rev. Wright gave his strange sermons.
Obama has looked grim all month, as if he’d been expecting some bad news. I guess he knew Rev. Wright was going to go nuts at the Press Club, and he was right.
Obama could still get the nomination, but if he does, Republicans will crucify him over his association with the Reverend. Be prepared for more of Rev. Wright’s soundbites 24/7 this fall.
Hillary and Bill Clinton are hoping the Reverend will scare primary voters and superdelegates away from Obama, who knows he’s been wounded and sees his presidential hopes are fading.
John McCain, meanwhile, doesn’t have to do anything except stay awake and not say anything dumb while Democrats duke it out.
Rev. Wright will never get a cabinet post in an Obama administration, but Sen. Clinton and Sen. McCain might reward him with a job if he helps either one get elected, and it looks like he will.
TOP STORY > >Ban on pit bulls is strengthened
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
The Sherwood City Council updated its 20-year ban on pit bulls and other vicious animals Monday night.
The updated ordinance reflects “current standards for responsible pet owner... and provide a level of enforcement capabilities that will betterprotect the health, safety and welfare of our citizens and innocent animals from irresponsible owners.”
The new version gives marauding animals “that growl, charge, bite or attempt to bite or display extreme fear of people” just two days to be claimed by their owners or face “humane euthanasia.”
Stray pit bulls that exhibit acceptable temperaments and behaviors will be eligible for adoption “to a legitimate rescue group or to a qualified person.”
The ordinance also gives residents in newly annexed areas like Gravel Ridge 90 days to register or remove any pit bulls they may own.
Registration includes photographing, micro chipping and sterilizing the dog, as well as paying a prohibited-breed registration fee and purchasing a special permit, which must be renewed annually.
The ordinance specifically bans the pit bull terrier breed, the Staffordshire bull terrier, the American pit bull terrier, the American Staffordshire terrier, the American bulldog or mixed breed that is predominantly pit bull.
Leader staff writer
The Sherwood City Council updated its 20-year ban on pit bulls and other vicious animals Monday night.
The updated ordinance reflects “current standards for responsible pet owner... and provide a level of enforcement capabilities that will betterprotect the health, safety and welfare of our citizens and innocent animals from irresponsible owners.”
The new version gives marauding animals “that growl, charge, bite or attempt to bite or display extreme fear of people” just two days to be claimed by their owners or face “humane euthanasia.”
Stray pit bulls that exhibit acceptable temperaments and behaviors will be eligible for adoption “to a legitimate rescue group or to a qualified person.”
The ordinance also gives residents in newly annexed areas like Gravel Ridge 90 days to register or remove any pit bulls they may own.
Registration includes photographing, micro chipping and sterilizing the dog, as well as paying a prohibited-breed registration fee and purchasing a special permit, which must be renewed annually.
The ordinance specifically bans the pit bull terrier breed, the Staffordshire bull terrier, the American pit bull terrier, the American Staffordshire terrier, the American bulldog or mixed breed that is predominantly pit bull.
TOP STORY > >Gravel Ridge annexed again
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
After three elections and an annexation ordinance, Sherwood still needed to approve one more ordinance to bring the community of Gravel Ridge into the city.
Now Gravel Ridge will officially become part of Sherwood on May 8 after the proper legal paperwork is filed with the secretary of state.
Monday night, the council unanimously approved an ordinance that verified the first ordinance and the election results, gave the legal description of the 2,500 acres taken in and split Gravel Ridge’s political base between two wards.
Part of Gravel Ridge went to Ward 1, whose aldermen are Becki Vassar and Charles Harmon, and the remaining portion of Gravel Ridge was put into Ward 2, whose aldermen are Butch Davis and David Henry.
The ordinance also states that all of Gravel Ridge will be placed under rules and regulations of single-family home (R-1) zoning until the city council has time to update the Sherwood zoning map.
This means any plans for apartments or commercial developments will have to seek special approval and variances before going through thenormal approval process.
On April 1, Gravel Ridge residents voted overwhelmingly to become part of Sherwood instead of Jacksonville, bringing to an end a four-month effort by both Jacksonville and Sherwood to annex the community of 3,500.
According the Pulaski County Election Commission, 632 residents, or 74 percent, voted to join Sherwood, while 221, or 26 percent, voted to become part of Jacksonville.
“We are so excited to have our neighbors in Gravel Ridge joining us,” said Sherwood Mayor Virginia Hillman.
That appreciation was emphasized in section four of the ordinance, which states “the city council extends its gratitude to the citizens of Gravel Ridge and welcomes them into the city of Sherwood.”
Jacksonville was the first to vote to annex Gravel Ridge back in December and set a February election date. Sherwood soon followed suit and set a March election vote.
When cities initiate annexation procedures as Jacksonville and Sherwood did, both the city and the affected area must vote on the issue.
Jacksonville’s annexation vote—which included Jacksonville and Gravel Ridge voters only—was Feb. 5. In that election, 66 percent of the votes were for the annexation, and 34 percent were against annexation, but about 70 percent of the Gravel Ridge voters were against the idea.
Sherwood’s vote to annex Gravel Ridge—which included Sherwood and Gravel Ridge voters only—was March 11.
In that election, 82 percent of the votes were for annexation and 18 percent were against. Even the Gravel Ridge residents approved of the annexation.
Leader staff writer
After three elections and an annexation ordinance, Sherwood still needed to approve one more ordinance to bring the community of Gravel Ridge into the city.
Now Gravel Ridge will officially become part of Sherwood on May 8 after the proper legal paperwork is filed with the secretary of state.
Monday night, the council unanimously approved an ordinance that verified the first ordinance and the election results, gave the legal description of the 2,500 acres taken in and split Gravel Ridge’s political base between two wards.
Part of Gravel Ridge went to Ward 1, whose aldermen are Becki Vassar and Charles Harmon, and the remaining portion of Gravel Ridge was put into Ward 2, whose aldermen are Butch Davis and David Henry.
The ordinance also states that all of Gravel Ridge will be placed under rules and regulations of single-family home (R-1) zoning until the city council has time to update the Sherwood zoning map.
This means any plans for apartments or commercial developments will have to seek special approval and variances before going through thenormal approval process.
On April 1, Gravel Ridge residents voted overwhelmingly to become part of Sherwood instead of Jacksonville, bringing to an end a four-month effort by both Jacksonville and Sherwood to annex the community of 3,500.
According the Pulaski County Election Commission, 632 residents, or 74 percent, voted to join Sherwood, while 221, or 26 percent, voted to become part of Jacksonville.
“We are so excited to have our neighbors in Gravel Ridge joining us,” said Sherwood Mayor Virginia Hillman.
That appreciation was emphasized in section four of the ordinance, which states “the city council extends its gratitude to the citizens of Gravel Ridge and welcomes them into the city of Sherwood.”
Jacksonville was the first to vote to annex Gravel Ridge back in December and set a February election date. Sherwood soon followed suit and set a March election vote.
When cities initiate annexation procedures as Jacksonville and Sherwood did, both the city and the affected area must vote on the issue.
Jacksonville’s annexation vote—which included Jacksonville and Gravel Ridge voters only—was Feb. 5. In that election, 66 percent of the votes were for the annexation, and 34 percent were against annexation, but about 70 percent of the Gravel Ridge voters were against the idea.
Sherwood’s vote to annex Gravel Ridge—which included Sherwood and Gravel Ridge voters only—was March 11.
In that election, 82 percent of the votes were for annexation and 18 percent were against. Even the Gravel Ridge residents approved of the annexation.
TOP STORY > >Contractors rebuilding sports fields
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
“Overwhelming,” is how Sherwood’s Parks and Recreation Director Sonny Janssen described the damage to the city’s sports complex the morning after an EF-2 tornado roared through the area.
The tornado also caused about $750,000 worth of damage to Sylvan Hills High School, forcing seniors to move to the Bill Harmon Recreation Center, but they’re now back as repairs are being made as quickly as possible.
“I was at the sports complex the night before just after the storms and it didn’t seem so bad, but I was seeing just what the flashlight was picking up. The next morning I saw the whole picture and it was overwhelming,” he said.
The complex has been closed since the tornado hit April 3. Janssen said it will remain closed as repairs are being made and the area is being made safe and secure. “We just need the general public to stay out of the area. We have heavy equipment going four five different ways as everyone is working fast and hard to repair the damage,” Janssen said.
As examples of why to stay out of the complex, Janssen said some light poles are being taken down and replaced. Between the old ones coming out of the ground and the new ones going in, big holes exist. The same is true for fence posts being replaced.
“We don’t want anyone breaking a leg or getting hurt in any way,” he said.
Most of the repair work, Janssen explained, is being done by contractors hired by the insurance companies.
“Contrary to rumors, we haven’t received any insurance money. Not even any estimates. But the insurers have hired a number of contractors directly to make repairs.”
At the Sherwood City Council meeting Monday night, Janssen gave the aldermen an update on the complex. “A lot of work and repairs have already been accomplished,” he said.
Janssen said contractors have removed most of the damaged fencing (about a mile’s worth), replaced most of the damaged sheet metal on the softball fields, repaired or ordered 14 sets of bleachers, ordered bleachers and dugout covers and are re-aiming all the softball field lights.
Janssen said the softball fields were not damaged as heavily as the baseball and other fields and should be ready for games first. “I can’t say if that’ll be tomorrow or the next day or five weeks from now. But as soon as they are ready, we’ll be playing ball on them,” he said.
In the meantime, the youth soccer, softball and baseball programs have been moved to other locations. The Sherwood softball and baseball programs, run by the Optimist Club, are playing games in Cabot, Jacksonville, Rose City and North Heights. The soccer programs have been moved to Victory Baptist School and Sylvan Hills High School. “The soccer season will probably be finished before we reopen the sports complex,” Janssen said.
He said overall the youth programs are running smoothly. “As smoothly as it can with games all over the place and parents having to get their children there,” Janssen said.
The parks and recreation director told the aldermen that the city gets daily updates on progress. “It’s coming together, but it takes time,” he said.
The tornado that hit the complex, according to John Robinson of the National Weather Service, was an EF-2 tornado with winds at 111 to 135 miles per hour.
Robinson said the tornado’s path was more than seven miles long. It started near the intersection of Camp Robinson Road and Donovan Briley Boulevard in North Little Rock, passed through the southeast corner of Camp Robinson, ripped through the North Little Rock airport, then through Sherwood, hitting the sports complex and the high school, before zipping through Gravel Ridge. The tornado’s path ended about 1.5 miles north of Gravel Ridge, according to Robinson.
“Understand that the city of Sherwood is committed to re-opening a safe and kid friendly athletic facility as soon as possible,” Janssen said.
Leader staff writer
“Overwhelming,” is how Sherwood’s Parks and Recreation Director Sonny Janssen described the damage to the city’s sports complex the morning after an EF-2 tornado roared through the area.
The tornado also caused about $750,000 worth of damage to Sylvan Hills High School, forcing seniors to move to the Bill Harmon Recreation Center, but they’re now back as repairs are being made as quickly as possible.
“I was at the sports complex the night before just after the storms and it didn’t seem so bad, but I was seeing just what the flashlight was picking up. The next morning I saw the whole picture and it was overwhelming,” he said.
The complex has been closed since the tornado hit April 3. Janssen said it will remain closed as repairs are being made and the area is being made safe and secure. “We just need the general public to stay out of the area. We have heavy equipment going four five different ways as everyone is working fast and hard to repair the damage,” Janssen said.
As examples of why to stay out of the complex, Janssen said some light poles are being taken down and replaced. Between the old ones coming out of the ground and the new ones going in, big holes exist. The same is true for fence posts being replaced.
“We don’t want anyone breaking a leg or getting hurt in any way,” he said.
Most of the repair work, Janssen explained, is being done by contractors hired by the insurance companies.
“Contrary to rumors, we haven’t received any insurance money. Not even any estimates. But the insurers have hired a number of contractors directly to make repairs.”
At the Sherwood City Council meeting Monday night, Janssen gave the aldermen an update on the complex. “A lot of work and repairs have already been accomplished,” he said.
Janssen said contractors have removed most of the damaged fencing (about a mile’s worth), replaced most of the damaged sheet metal on the softball fields, repaired or ordered 14 sets of bleachers, ordered bleachers and dugout covers and are re-aiming all the softball field lights.
Janssen said the softball fields were not damaged as heavily as the baseball and other fields and should be ready for games first. “I can’t say if that’ll be tomorrow or the next day or five weeks from now. But as soon as they are ready, we’ll be playing ball on them,” he said.
In the meantime, the youth soccer, softball and baseball programs have been moved to other locations. The Sherwood softball and baseball programs, run by the Optimist Club, are playing games in Cabot, Jacksonville, Rose City and North Heights. The soccer programs have been moved to Victory Baptist School and Sylvan Hills High School. “The soccer season will probably be finished before we reopen the sports complex,” Janssen said.
He said overall the youth programs are running smoothly. “As smoothly as it can with games all over the place and parents having to get their children there,” Janssen said.
The parks and recreation director told the aldermen that the city gets daily updates on progress. “It’s coming together, but it takes time,” he said.
The tornado that hit the complex, according to John Robinson of the National Weather Service, was an EF-2 tornado with winds at 111 to 135 miles per hour.
Robinson said the tornado’s path was more than seven miles long. It started near the intersection of Camp Robinson Road and Donovan Briley Boulevard in North Little Rock, passed through the southeast corner of Camp Robinson, ripped through the North Little Rock airport, then through Sherwood, hitting the sports complex and the high school, before zipping through Gravel Ridge. The tornado’s path ended about 1.5 miles north of Gravel Ridge, according to Robinson.
“Understand that the city of Sherwood is committed to re-opening a safe and kid friendly athletic facility as soon as possible,” Janssen said.
TOP STORY > >Air base practices flights at Stuttgart
By LEIGH KREIMEIER
Stuttgart Daily Leader
Stuttgart Municipal Airport has seen some friendly military action flying above the area lately since Little Rock Air Force Base has chosen the airport as the spot to do some military training.
The C130s — models E, H and new largest model J — will be seen trying random approaches, different military maneuvers and flight training in general at the airport, according to Carl Humphries, Stuttgart Municipal Airport manager.
“For the past several weeks, they have been doing night stuff while we are not here,” Humphries said.
The reason for choosing the smaller airport is the lengths of the runways and availability for instrument approaches for flight training.
“It is closer to home and it saves on fuel,” he explained.
According to Humphries, the airport could see more military fuel sales in the future, which brings in money for the local airport because of the exercises.
The public is invited to watch the training, although a schedule has not been announced.
As the training progresses, Humphries said, LRAFB will send out 48-hour notices for spectators.
Training is scheduled late at night Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and randomly during the day.
The Stuttgart Fire Department will see extra training because of the exercises.
“It will be hands-on training on how to handle an aircraft crash,” SFD Chief J.P. Jordan said.
“Their mission is using the runway at Stuttgart to practice, and our mission as the city fire department is to assist them,” the chief explained.
LRAFB will bring a crash truck, Jordan said, and SFD will supply crews with water. The flights will let the department practice how to handle airplane crashes at the airport.
“Thankfully that is something we don’t see a lot of,” Jordan said.
The news was broken at the recent Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours held at the airport, when Humphries asked the base to provide tours of the planes and information about the base mission.
LRAFB is the home of combat airlift.
The 314th Airlift Wing is the host unit, which reports to Air Education and Training Command.
Two major associate units, the 463rd Airlift Group and the Air Force Mobility Weapons School, report to Air Mobility Command.
Additionally, the 189th Airlift Wing of the Arkansas Air National Guard is located there. The 189th AW also reports to Air Education and Training Command.
Stuttgart Daily Leader
Stuttgart Municipal Airport has seen some friendly military action flying above the area lately since Little Rock Air Force Base has chosen the airport as the spot to do some military training.
The C130s — models E, H and new largest model J — will be seen trying random approaches, different military maneuvers and flight training in general at the airport, according to Carl Humphries, Stuttgart Municipal Airport manager.
“For the past several weeks, they have been doing night stuff while we are not here,” Humphries said.
The reason for choosing the smaller airport is the lengths of the runways and availability for instrument approaches for flight training.
“It is closer to home and it saves on fuel,” he explained.
According to Humphries, the airport could see more military fuel sales in the future, which brings in money for the local airport because of the exercises.
The public is invited to watch the training, although a schedule has not been announced.
As the training progresses, Humphries said, LRAFB will send out 48-hour notices for spectators.
Training is scheduled late at night Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and randomly during the day.
The Stuttgart Fire Department will see extra training because of the exercises.
“It will be hands-on training on how to handle an aircraft crash,” SFD Chief J.P. Jordan said.
“Their mission is using the runway at Stuttgart to practice, and our mission as the city fire department is to assist them,” the chief explained.
LRAFB will bring a crash truck, Jordan said, and SFD will supply crews with water. The flights will let the department practice how to handle airplane crashes at the airport.
“Thankfully that is something we don’t see a lot of,” Jordan said.
The news was broken at the recent Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours held at the airport, when Humphries asked the base to provide tours of the planes and information about the base mission.
LRAFB is the home of combat airlift.
The 314th Airlift Wing is the host unit, which reports to Air Education and Training Command.
Two major associate units, the 463rd Airlift Group and the Air Force Mobility Weapons School, report to Air Mobility Command.
Additionally, the 189th Airlift Wing of the Arkansas Air National Guard is located there. The 189th AW also reports to Air Education and Training Command.
TOP STORY > >Grant refusal upsets patrons
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Pulaski County Special School District officials last week refused to sign two otherwise completed grant applications that could have brought $300,000 worth of educational services next year to Jacksonville-area children, and hundreds of thousands of dollars more over the succeeding four years. The funds were federal funds.
Those seeking the two 21st Century grants from the state say the district personnel either said or implied that PCSSD wouldn’t sign off because Jacksonville could have its own school district before the five-year grants expired.
‘CERTAINLY NOT TRUE’
Jacksonville school activists say it’s just another example of the district penalizing Jacksonville because some want the area to detach from PCSSD.
But at a board workshop Monday, acting Superintendent Beverly Ruth-ven denied that she or anyone had based refusal to sign off on a grant request to expand Jacksonville’s preschool programs because Jacksonville seeks detachment from PCSSD or that administration policy therefore discourages or prohibits helping them.
“That is certainly not true,” Ruthven said in response to a charge by Bill Vasquez, a school board member representing Jacksonville.
The grant discussed at the board workshop would have provided $150,000 for Kareer Kids Child Development Center to partner with Warren Dupree and some other areaelementary schools with planned activities based on the Arkansas Consolidated School Improvement Plan.
BOYS GRANT
The second grant application that the district refused to sign would have provided after-school and summer programs at Jacksonville Boys Middle School to remediate English and math and to teach parents to deal successfully with issues like homework and discipline.
It would provide academic enrichment opportunities, tutoring and mentoring, according to Yvonne Montgomery, a teacher there. It was sought in cooperation with the Arthur and Ethel Johnson Foundation and with True Word Ministries, which would have provided any necessary matching funds, she said.
REASONS CITED
Here’s what Ruthven wrote to Montgomery in declining her grant application:
1. The district is waiting for a court decision on unitary status.
2. The district is not in a position to make a five-year commitment on fiscal obligations for a grant at this time.
3. The district is concerned about the sustainability of the project.
“I feel they are not giving our boys a fair playing ground,” said Montgomery.
She said she waited at the administration building April 24 for an hour in case any administrators had questions for her about the grant.
After administration refusal to sign the applications, she said she submitted the application to the state Education Department unsigned.
Kristy Brown, executive director of Kareer Kids, said Barbara Frederick at PCSSD told her that the superintendent’s cabinet had decided against signing any 21st CCLC grants for Pulaski County School District at this time.
LEGAL DECISION
“She then told me that this grant is a five-year commitment and we are still waiting on a legal decision regarding Jacksonville schools because they may not even be part of Pulaski County in five years and they were not willing to make that commitment because they may not even be tied to the school at the end of the grant,” Brown said.
“That was never said,” Ruthven told Vasquez. “The grant came in at 10:30 a.m. Friday by fax. It was 38 pages long, required matching funds from the district and needed to be singed (and faxed elsewhere) by 5:30 p.m.,” she said.
Cara Walloch, who owns Kareer Kids, said the district knew it would not be responsible for the matching money for the grant.
TOO LATE
Ruthven said the 21st Century grant could have been considered if it had come earlier to the district.
Vasquez said he hated to think that eventual, possible detachment by Jacksonville would result in a district policy against providing things helpful to the students and teachers in the area.
“Is it district policy not to support Jacksonville schools because they might detach?” asked Vasquez.
Also discussed at the meeting, which was characterized as a workshop, was reducing the number of principals at Mills High School from two and a half to two and a quarter.
Board member Mildred Tatum said parents are already worried about their children’s safety at Mills and this was no time to reduce the number of principals.
Ruthven said that while there was a reduction of one-quarter of a principal position, that several other staff members were being added.
The board discussed having pre-meeting meetings to set the agenda and ask questions, but decided instead on just getting the agenda sent to them earlier, with opportunities to make changes or ask questions individually through Board President
Charlie Wood.
PRIVATIZE BUSES
Chief financial officer Larry O’Briant said the district has eliminated two of three bidders from taking over school bus driving from the district, but was putting information from the third—First Student—into a spread sheet to compare to the costs of the district continuing to run its own transportation department.
Nationwide, First Student maintains 62,000 buses and transports four million students.
Moral reportedly is low among school bus drivers, waiting to see if the board chooses to hire a private firm and to get out of the transportation business.
Board member Gwen Williams said several drivers “think it’s a done deal,” and have begun looking for jobs elsewhere.
Drivers believe they will lose pay and benefits if service is privatized, although it is widely believed that a new firm would hire most.
Vasquez pointed out that the drivers would still lose accumulated sick leave.
Leader senior staff writer
Pulaski County Special School District officials last week refused to sign two otherwise completed grant applications that could have brought $300,000 worth of educational services next year to Jacksonville-area children, and hundreds of thousands of dollars more over the succeeding four years. The funds were federal funds.
Those seeking the two 21st Century grants from the state say the district personnel either said or implied that PCSSD wouldn’t sign off because Jacksonville could have its own school district before the five-year grants expired.
‘CERTAINLY NOT TRUE’
Jacksonville school activists say it’s just another example of the district penalizing Jacksonville because some want the area to detach from PCSSD.
But at a board workshop Monday, acting Superintendent Beverly Ruth-ven denied that she or anyone had based refusal to sign off on a grant request to expand Jacksonville’s preschool programs because Jacksonville seeks detachment from PCSSD or that administration policy therefore discourages or prohibits helping them.
“That is certainly not true,” Ruthven said in response to a charge by Bill Vasquez, a school board member representing Jacksonville.
The grant discussed at the board workshop would have provided $150,000 for Kareer Kids Child Development Center to partner with Warren Dupree and some other areaelementary schools with planned activities based on the Arkansas Consolidated School Improvement Plan.
BOYS GRANT
The second grant application that the district refused to sign would have provided after-school and summer programs at Jacksonville Boys Middle School to remediate English and math and to teach parents to deal successfully with issues like homework and discipline.
It would provide academic enrichment opportunities, tutoring and mentoring, according to Yvonne Montgomery, a teacher there. It was sought in cooperation with the Arthur and Ethel Johnson Foundation and with True Word Ministries, which would have provided any necessary matching funds, she said.
REASONS CITED
Here’s what Ruthven wrote to Montgomery in declining her grant application:
1. The district is waiting for a court decision on unitary status.
2. The district is not in a position to make a five-year commitment on fiscal obligations for a grant at this time.
3. The district is concerned about the sustainability of the project.
“I feel they are not giving our boys a fair playing ground,” said Montgomery.
She said she waited at the administration building April 24 for an hour in case any administrators had questions for her about the grant.
After administration refusal to sign the applications, she said she submitted the application to the state Education Department unsigned.
Kristy Brown, executive director of Kareer Kids, said Barbara Frederick at PCSSD told her that the superintendent’s cabinet had decided against signing any 21st CCLC grants for Pulaski County School District at this time.
LEGAL DECISION
“She then told me that this grant is a five-year commitment and we are still waiting on a legal decision regarding Jacksonville schools because they may not even be part of Pulaski County in five years and they were not willing to make that commitment because they may not even be tied to the school at the end of the grant,” Brown said.
“That was never said,” Ruthven told Vasquez. “The grant came in at 10:30 a.m. Friday by fax. It was 38 pages long, required matching funds from the district and needed to be singed (and faxed elsewhere) by 5:30 p.m.,” she said.
Cara Walloch, who owns Kareer Kids, said the district knew it would not be responsible for the matching money for the grant.
TOO LATE
Ruthven said the 21st Century grant could have been considered if it had come earlier to the district.
Vasquez said he hated to think that eventual, possible detachment by Jacksonville would result in a district policy against providing things helpful to the students and teachers in the area.
“Is it district policy not to support Jacksonville schools because they might detach?” asked Vasquez.
Also discussed at the meeting, which was characterized as a workshop, was reducing the number of principals at Mills High School from two and a half to two and a quarter.
Board member Mildred Tatum said parents are already worried about their children’s safety at Mills and this was no time to reduce the number of principals.
Ruthven said that while there was a reduction of one-quarter of a principal position, that several other staff members were being added.
The board discussed having pre-meeting meetings to set the agenda and ask questions, but decided instead on just getting the agenda sent to them earlier, with opportunities to make changes or ask questions individually through Board President
Charlie Wood.
PRIVATIZE BUSES
Chief financial officer Larry O’Briant said the district has eliminated two of three bidders from taking over school bus driving from the district, but was putting information from the third—First Student—into a spread sheet to compare to the costs of the district continuing to run its own transportation department.
Nationwide, First Student maintains 62,000 buses and transports four million students.
Moral reportedly is low among school bus drivers, waiting to see if the board chooses to hire a private firm and to get out of the transportation business.
Board member Gwen Williams said several drivers “think it’s a done deal,” and have begun looking for jobs elsewhere.
Drivers believe they will lose pay and benefits if service is privatized, although it is widely believed that a new firm would hire most.
Vasquez pointed out that the drivers would still lose accumulated sick leave.
Friday, April 25, 2008
EDITORIAL >>How Hillary can still win
When does victory spell defeat? When you need a miracle rather than a mere good win. That was Sen. Hillary Clinton’s dilemma before the Pennsylvania primary last week, and it remains her obstacle with eight diminishing contests to go.
With the Democratic Party’s superdemocratic system of apportioning convention delegates according to everyone’s proportion of popular votes, she has no realistic chance of overtaking Sen. Barack Obama’s narrow lead in elected delegates. She will be fortunate to win, by any margin, half of the remaining state elections, only one of which — North Carolina — has a rich delegate prize. Her best hope there is to hold Obama to a close victory.
What her 10-point triumph in Pennsylvania on Tuesday did was keep on life support her single strategy, persuading the undecided superdelegates that Obama, despite his big margin in states won, cannot win in the big industrial states that the Democrat must win in November. Of the 10 largest states, Obama has won only two — Georgia and his home state of Illinois — and he is expected to win the 10th, North Carolina.
She has, in fact, won the big states by significant margins. If the Democrats apportioned delegates the way Republicans do in most states — the leading vote-getter by the slightest margin gets all the delegates — she and not Obama would be leading in delegates today and there would be calls for him to leave the race for the good of the party. And if the Republicans used the purer democratic system of the Democrats, John McCain today would be far short of nomination and fighting for his political life, against Mike Huckabee and probably Mitt Romney.
Now, Clinton must win the two remaining heartland states, Indiana and Kentucky, to keep plausible the theory that she is better suited to carry a region that is central to a Democratic victory. But it does not end there. She then must do better than split the remaining states and territories, all of which favor Obama except Puerto Rico. She could claim then to lead in total popular votes and in voting power in key states, though not quite in elected delegates. (The unuttered argument is that she also can get the votes of white men who will not vote for a black man, a cohort that polls suggest may be as high as 15 percent.) All of that would produce a powerful incentive for wavering superdelegates to embrace her.
That is an electoral strategy that seems improbable but not impossible. And it entails a daunting risk: What kind of campaign must she wage to do it, and how much harm does she do to the eventual nominee, whether it be she or he?
With the Democratic Party’s superdemocratic system of apportioning convention delegates according to everyone’s proportion of popular votes, she has no realistic chance of overtaking Sen. Barack Obama’s narrow lead in elected delegates. She will be fortunate to win, by any margin, half of the remaining state elections, only one of which — North Carolina — has a rich delegate prize. Her best hope there is to hold Obama to a close victory.
What her 10-point triumph in Pennsylvania on Tuesday did was keep on life support her single strategy, persuading the undecided superdelegates that Obama, despite his big margin in states won, cannot win in the big industrial states that the Democrat must win in November. Of the 10 largest states, Obama has won only two — Georgia and his home state of Illinois — and he is expected to win the 10th, North Carolina.
She has, in fact, won the big states by significant margins. If the Democrats apportioned delegates the way Republicans do in most states — the leading vote-getter by the slightest margin gets all the delegates — she and not Obama would be leading in delegates today and there would be calls for him to leave the race for the good of the party. And if the Republicans used the purer democratic system of the Democrats, John McCain today would be far short of nomination and fighting for his political life, against Mike Huckabee and probably Mitt Romney.
Now, Clinton must win the two remaining heartland states, Indiana and Kentucky, to keep plausible the theory that she is better suited to carry a region that is central to a Democratic victory. But it does not end there. She then must do better than split the remaining states and territories, all of which favor Obama except Puerto Rico. She could claim then to lead in total popular votes and in voting power in key states, though not quite in elected delegates. (The unuttered argument is that she also can get the votes of white men who will not vote for a black man, a cohort that polls suggest may be as high as 15 percent.) All of that would produce a powerful incentive for wavering superdelegates to embrace her.
That is an electoral strategy that seems improbable but not impossible. And it entails a daunting risk: What kind of campaign must she wage to do it, and how much harm does she do to the eventual nominee, whether it be she or he?
TOP STORY > >Golf course suit placed on hold
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
The federal lawsuit that the owners of the North Hills Country Club filed against Sherwood for stopping the sale of the 106-acre green space, and Ron Campbell and Roy Marple, who didn’t follow through with the $5.1 million purchase, has been stayed, or put on hold.
Federal Judge G. Thomas Eisele decided recently to stay any ruling until a lower court has ruled on Sherwood’s condemnation of the property.
Sherwood, using eminent domain, condemned the property earlier this year and has filed the condemnation order, but the court must decide the fair market price of the land that the Sherwood will have to pay Club Properties, the golf course owners.
That issue will be heard in Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox’s court at the end of July.
Fox is the same judge who heard the lawsuit over electric rates between Sherwood, North Little Rock and First Electric. He issued a ruling earlier this year, but all three parties asked him for further clarification. He has not done so yet.
Sherwood City Attorney Stephen Cobb said Eisele’s stay doesn’t dismiss the lawsuit. It just means he’ll wait until the lower court determines the cost and other issues in the condemnation.
Club Properties filed the suit last year saying Sherwood’s moratorium and other actions by the city undermined its efforts to sell the property at a fair price. Club Properties included Campbell and Marple in the suit because they want the pair to stand by its $5.1 million offer on the property.
Campbell and Marple had offered early last year to buy the property for $5.1 million and develop it into a high-end gated residential community, but they say the six-month building moratorium that the city council slapped on the property killed the deal.
After the six-month moratorium expired in October, Club Properties went before the Sherwood Planning Commission with its own residential development plan for the property. The commission has delayed any action on those plans because the city is currently without a city engineer.
In the meantime, the city council voted to use its eminent domain powers and condemned the property. Under this type of condemnation, the city takes over the property and a judge decides at a later date what the fair market price for the property is. City figures showed the property to be worth as little as $1.5 million, while Club Properties has an appraisal showing the property is worth $5.5 million.
Club Properties, in its suit, has asked the court to grant “specific performance of the real estate sales contract, as amended, on which the buyers defaulted and require the buyers to fully perform under such contract by paying the plaintiffs the sum of $5.1 million, plus interest from April 27, 2007, or the contractual costs for the delay in closing plus an award of their attorney fees and costs incurred,” according to court filings.
Leader staff writer
The federal lawsuit that the owners of the North Hills Country Club filed against Sherwood for stopping the sale of the 106-acre green space, and Ron Campbell and Roy Marple, who didn’t follow through with the $5.1 million purchase, has been stayed, or put on hold.
Federal Judge G. Thomas Eisele decided recently to stay any ruling until a lower court has ruled on Sherwood’s condemnation of the property.
Sherwood, using eminent domain, condemned the property earlier this year and has filed the condemnation order, but the court must decide the fair market price of the land that the Sherwood will have to pay Club Properties, the golf course owners.
That issue will be heard in Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox’s court at the end of July.
Fox is the same judge who heard the lawsuit over electric rates between Sherwood, North Little Rock and First Electric. He issued a ruling earlier this year, but all three parties asked him for further clarification. He has not done so yet.
Sherwood City Attorney Stephen Cobb said Eisele’s stay doesn’t dismiss the lawsuit. It just means he’ll wait until the lower court determines the cost and other issues in the condemnation.
Club Properties filed the suit last year saying Sherwood’s moratorium and other actions by the city undermined its efforts to sell the property at a fair price. Club Properties included Campbell and Marple in the suit because they want the pair to stand by its $5.1 million offer on the property.
Campbell and Marple had offered early last year to buy the property for $5.1 million and develop it into a high-end gated residential community, but they say the six-month building moratorium that the city council slapped on the property killed the deal.
After the six-month moratorium expired in October, Club Properties went before the Sherwood Planning Commission with its own residential development plan for the property. The commission has delayed any action on those plans because the city is currently without a city engineer.
In the meantime, the city council voted to use its eminent domain powers and condemned the property. Under this type of condemnation, the city takes over the property and a judge decides at a later date what the fair market price for the property is. City figures showed the property to be worth as little as $1.5 million, while Club Properties has an appraisal showing the property is worth $5.5 million.
Club Properties, in its suit, has asked the court to grant “specific performance of the real estate sales contract, as amended, on which the buyers defaulted and require the buyers to fully perform under such contract by paying the plaintiffs the sum of $5.1 million, plus interest from April 27, 2007, or the contractual costs for the delay in closing plus an award of their attorney fees and costs incurred,” according to court filings.
TOP STORY > >Troutman refuses to drop agent
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Using seldom-exercised executive branch powers, Lonoke County Judge Charlie Troutman on Thursday used his judgment to supersede that of the quorum court and overturned its decision to award the county’s United HealthCare contract to a new agent.
In its regular meeting, the quorum court voted to accept a bid to provide health care to county employees from United, its current provider, but had expressed dissatisfaction with Lisa Jacobs Burgess and the Legacy Capital Group, the county’s current insurance agent.
By a 7-4 vote, the quorum court last week accepted United’s bid but specified Cindy Dixon of the Sellers Group as its agent.
Sellers can provide United HealthCare, but submitted BlueCross/Blue Shield bids for the contract.
The county’s health insurance group plan expires at midnight April 30. Troutman saw no need to change agents.
Some members of the quorum court said they thought Burgess and Legacy Group weren’t very hands-on with helping the county after the contract was awarded. They said they wanted an agent who would be available and check in with the county regularly.
Dixon came highly recommended by White County officials, JPs said.
On Wednesday morning, however, Troutman convened the county court, an infrequently used judicial branch of county government over which he presides. Troutman also presides over the quorum court, which is the county’s legislative branch of government.
Troutman summoned Dixon, who later said she felt attacked and overwhelmed by Troutman’s questions, and also heard from Sharon Moss, the deputy county clerk who works with the chosen health insurer.
“I have just been told that a county court order has been issued naming my firm as the consultant of record,” Burgess emailed
The Leader Thursday morning. “Lonoke County will remain with Legacy Capital Group for the next 12 months.”
No county court order had been issued, Troutman said, but he confirmed that he had made his decision to reinstate her as agent and would file an order as early as Friday.
“I asked myself to have the hearing,” Troutman said.
“A (quorum court) motion to change insurance agents doesn’t compel the executive (Troutman) to do anything,” county attorney Jeff Sikes said Thursday. “I don’t think the quorum court can choose the actual agent. That smacks of an executive branch function.”
As for the judge convening county court without notification and on his own initiative, Sikes said, “That’s the way it usually happens.”
“I informed the Legacy Group that I made a decision (to give them the contract),” Troutman confirmed Thursday morning.
“Next week, someone has to represent Lonoke County employees. At some point the elected county judge has to make a decision. He’s allowed to overturn the quorum court.”
His decision could be appealed to the Lonoke County Circuit Court, but Mark Edwards, a quorum court member and member of its insurance committee, said such an appeal was unlikely.
He said if Sikes thought Troutman had the power, then there was nothing to appeal.
“I do wonder if part of this (is) based on threats Burgess made to various people,” Edwards said. “(Troutman) kind of sprung (county court) on everyone. No one but Alexis Malham was there from the insurance committee.”
“Friday, everyone gets threatening phone calls from Lisa Burgess,” said Malham, head of the county insurance committee.
Malham said she found out by accident and less than 24 hours-notice before Troutman held court. Unlike quorum court meetings, there is no freedom of information requirement to notify the press and interested parties when county court convenes.
Troutman said he made his ruling in county court, rather than vetoing the quorum court’s decision so they could appeal if they wanted to. Had he exercised his veto power, the quorum court’s earliest opportunity to override his veto would be at the regular May meeting, after the contract expiration.
Leader senior staff writer
Using seldom-exercised executive branch powers, Lonoke County Judge Charlie Troutman on Thursday used his judgment to supersede that of the quorum court and overturned its decision to award the county’s United HealthCare contract to a new agent.
In its regular meeting, the quorum court voted to accept a bid to provide health care to county employees from United, its current provider, but had expressed dissatisfaction with Lisa Jacobs Burgess and the Legacy Capital Group, the county’s current insurance agent.
By a 7-4 vote, the quorum court last week accepted United’s bid but specified Cindy Dixon of the Sellers Group as its agent.
Sellers can provide United HealthCare, but submitted BlueCross/Blue Shield bids for the contract.
The county’s health insurance group plan expires at midnight April 30. Troutman saw no need to change agents.
Some members of the quorum court said they thought Burgess and Legacy Group weren’t very hands-on with helping the county after the contract was awarded. They said they wanted an agent who would be available and check in with the county regularly.
Dixon came highly recommended by White County officials, JPs said.
On Wednesday morning, however, Troutman convened the county court, an infrequently used judicial branch of county government over which he presides. Troutman also presides over the quorum court, which is the county’s legislative branch of government.
Troutman summoned Dixon, who later said she felt attacked and overwhelmed by Troutman’s questions, and also heard from Sharon Moss, the deputy county clerk who works with the chosen health insurer.
“I have just been told that a county court order has been issued naming my firm as the consultant of record,” Burgess emailed
The Leader Thursday morning. “Lonoke County will remain with Legacy Capital Group for the next 12 months.”
No county court order had been issued, Troutman said, but he confirmed that he had made his decision to reinstate her as agent and would file an order as early as Friday.
“I asked myself to have the hearing,” Troutman said.
“A (quorum court) motion to change insurance agents doesn’t compel the executive (Troutman) to do anything,” county attorney Jeff Sikes said Thursday. “I don’t think the quorum court can choose the actual agent. That smacks of an executive branch function.”
As for the judge convening county court without notification and on his own initiative, Sikes said, “That’s the way it usually happens.”
“I informed the Legacy Group that I made a decision (to give them the contract),” Troutman confirmed Thursday morning.
“Next week, someone has to represent Lonoke County employees. At some point the elected county judge has to make a decision. He’s allowed to overturn the quorum court.”
His decision could be appealed to the Lonoke County Circuit Court, but Mark Edwards, a quorum court member and member of its insurance committee, said such an appeal was unlikely.
He said if Sikes thought Troutman had the power, then there was nothing to appeal.
“I do wonder if part of this (is) based on threats Burgess made to various people,” Edwards said. “(Troutman) kind of sprung (county court) on everyone. No one but Alexis Malham was there from the insurance committee.”
“Friday, everyone gets threatening phone calls from Lisa Burgess,” said Malham, head of the county insurance committee.
Malham said she found out by accident and less than 24 hours-notice before Troutman held court. Unlike quorum court meetings, there is no freedom of information requirement to notify the press and interested parties when county court convenes.
Troutman said he made his ruling in county court, rather than vetoing the quorum court’s decision so they could appeal if they wanted to. Had he exercised his veto power, the quorum court’s earliest opportunity to override his veto would be at the regular May meeting, after the contract expiration.
TOP STORY > >FEMA still assessing amount of damages
By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer
Mayor Eddie Joe Williams says the city’s ongoing cost for cleaning up and repairing the damage from the April 3 tornado could be as high as $300,000, much of which will be reimbursed by the federal and state governments at a rate of 75 percent federal and 12.5 percent state.
In the meantime, Williams said Karen Davis, his operations director, is keeping up with all the city’s out-of-pocket expenses, including overtime for the city employees who have worked to clean up the mess the tornado left behind.
“We had over 200 truckloads of storm debris,” the mayor said. “Everything we’ve done will have to be verified, but the city – well Karen – is keeping meticulous records.”
FEMA has announced that both the uninsured public and individual losses in Lonoke County met the threshold of $3.11 per resident, but no total damage estimate has been released.
This week, representatives from The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADEM) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) were in Cabot, going door to door to speak to residents who had losses from the storm.
Davis said FEMA sent three representatives initially, but then two more were called in. Residents and business owners who incurred damages from the tornado are encouraged to register with FEMA to receive assistance, she said.
“What they told me is that it is very important that you register,” she said. “They told me ‘don’t let anyone disqualify themselves without talking to us.’”
Although there was no damage to public property in Ward, Mayor Art Brooke said he thinks the losses to individuals in his city are about $300,000.
“There was a lot of roof damage, including mine,” Brooke said, adding that on Hwy. 38, the grandson of former Lonoke County Judge Dude Spence lost his entire roof, including his rafters, decking and shingles.
But most of the damage was to mobile homes. Two on Margie Lane were completely destroyed, the mayor said, adding that he has not seen any representatives from FEMA or ADEM.
Although Cabot sustained the most damage of any area in Lonoke County, since the total of uninsured damage exceeded the $164,295 threshold, all county residents who sustained damage are potentially eligible for disaster-relief assistance.
Register by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) anytime between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily or online at www.fema.gov. Information also is available at Cabot City Hall at 501-843-3566.
Leader staff writer
Mayor Eddie Joe Williams says the city’s ongoing cost for cleaning up and repairing the damage from the April 3 tornado could be as high as $300,000, much of which will be reimbursed by the federal and state governments at a rate of 75 percent federal and 12.5 percent state.
In the meantime, Williams said Karen Davis, his operations director, is keeping up with all the city’s out-of-pocket expenses, including overtime for the city employees who have worked to clean up the mess the tornado left behind.
“We had over 200 truckloads of storm debris,” the mayor said. “Everything we’ve done will have to be verified, but the city – well Karen – is keeping meticulous records.”
FEMA has announced that both the uninsured public and individual losses in Lonoke County met the threshold of $3.11 per resident, but no total damage estimate has been released.
This week, representatives from The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADEM) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) were in Cabot, going door to door to speak to residents who had losses from the storm.
Davis said FEMA sent three representatives initially, but then two more were called in. Residents and business owners who incurred damages from the tornado are encouraged to register with FEMA to receive assistance, she said.
“What they told me is that it is very important that you register,” she said. “They told me ‘don’t let anyone disqualify themselves without talking to us.’”
Although there was no damage to public property in Ward, Mayor Art Brooke said he thinks the losses to individuals in his city are about $300,000.
“There was a lot of roof damage, including mine,” Brooke said, adding that on Hwy. 38, the grandson of former Lonoke County Judge Dude Spence lost his entire roof, including his rafters, decking and shingles.
But most of the damage was to mobile homes. Two on Margie Lane were completely destroyed, the mayor said, adding that he has not seen any representatives from FEMA or ADEM.
Although Cabot sustained the most damage of any area in Lonoke County, since the total of uninsured damage exceeded the $164,295 threshold, all county residents who sustained damage are potentially eligible for disaster-relief assistance.
Register by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) anytime between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily or online at www.fema.gov. Information also is available at Cabot City Hall at 501-843-3566.
TOP STORY > >Jacksonville plant closing
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
About 65 area workers will be out of work by the end of May, when Gate Precast closes the doors of its production plant on Cory Drive in Jacksonville.
The plant, which manufactures precast concrete construction panels, will continue to operate a 12- to 15-person design department in the area, according to Andy Cameron, Gate vice president of operations for Arkansas and Texas, and about 15 more employees are expected to transfer to one of the nine other plants in Texas or in the eastern third of the U.S.
The Jacksonville, Fla.-based Gate Petroleum bought Arkansas Precast’s two plants—the other is in Hillsboro, Texas—and its erection company for an undisclosed amount of money last November from Cameron and two partners.
Arkansas Precast, which was started in 1968 by the late Tom Cory, supplied cast concrete panels mostly within a 300-mile radius, including Memphis, Tulsa and St. Louis areas, and can be seen locally in the Alltel Headquarters, Clinton Library Archive Building and the Acxiom building in downtown Little Rock, according to Cameron, a Cabot resident.
“We put the dome on the Oklahoma State Capitol,” Cameron said. “We clad outside of the Razorback Stadium.”
Memphis was among the main markets for the Jacksonville plant, and business there had “been slow for a while,” said Cameron.
“Gate has higher requirements from some of their facilities,” he said. “They need to see bigger numbers than (Arkansas Precast) needed to see.”
“I will continue on at least through the end of the year,” Cameron said.
“Production will trickle into early June,” he said. “We’ve got to wrap up some things.”
Cameron said a lot of workers with 20 or 30 years experience had been unable or unwilling to accept work at the other facilities. “They were born and raised families here,” he said.
He said employees would receive accrued vacation.
The employees were notified of the closure April 17, he said, and morale was “not good.”
“That was not my best day,” Cameron said.
“We’ve had 40 years of success and support,” he said. “It’s been appreciated.”
Gate will sell the plant and the design center will operate out of office space, probably in the Jacksonville, Sherwood or Cabot area.
Gate Precast Company is the largest producer of architectural precast concrete in the country with eight architectural precast manufacturing facilities and two structural/prestressed manufacturing facilities that operate under the name of Gate Concrete Products Company.
Leader senior staff writer
About 65 area workers will be out of work by the end of May, when Gate Precast closes the doors of its production plant on Cory Drive in Jacksonville.
The plant, which manufactures precast concrete construction panels, will continue to operate a 12- to 15-person design department in the area, according to Andy Cameron, Gate vice president of operations for Arkansas and Texas, and about 15 more employees are expected to transfer to one of the nine other plants in Texas or in the eastern third of the U.S.
The Jacksonville, Fla.-based Gate Petroleum bought Arkansas Precast’s two plants—the other is in Hillsboro, Texas—and its erection company for an undisclosed amount of money last November from Cameron and two partners.
Arkansas Precast, which was started in 1968 by the late Tom Cory, supplied cast concrete panels mostly within a 300-mile radius, including Memphis, Tulsa and St. Louis areas, and can be seen locally in the Alltel Headquarters, Clinton Library Archive Building and the Acxiom building in downtown Little Rock, according to Cameron, a Cabot resident.
“We put the dome on the Oklahoma State Capitol,” Cameron said. “We clad outside of the Razorback Stadium.”
Memphis was among the main markets for the Jacksonville plant, and business there had “been slow for a while,” said Cameron.
“Gate has higher requirements from some of their facilities,” he said. “They need to see bigger numbers than (Arkansas Precast) needed to see.”
“I will continue on at least through the end of the year,” Cameron said.
“Production will trickle into early June,” he said. “We’ve got to wrap up some things.”
Cameron said a lot of workers with 20 or 30 years experience had been unable or unwilling to accept work at the other facilities. “They were born and raised families here,” he said.
He said employees would receive accrued vacation.
The employees were notified of the closure April 17, he said, and morale was “not good.”
“That was not my best day,” Cameron said.
“We’ve had 40 years of success and support,” he said. “It’s been appreciated.”
Gate will sell the plant and the design center will operate out of office space, probably in the Jacksonville, Sherwood or Cabot area.
Gate Precast Company is the largest producer of architectural precast concrete in the country with eight architectural precast manufacturing facilities and two structural/prestressed manufacturing facilities that operate under the name of Gate Concrete Products Company.
TOP STORY > >PR firm hired to promote city
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Only one agency submitted an application to be Jacksonville’s marketing and advertising firm, and the city has decided to award that agency the contract.
Sells/Clark, which has offices in Little Rock and Fayetteville, will have an initial contract of three years and must, according to Jacksonville advertising and promotion commission’s requirements, “develop an image campaign that will allow the commission to promote Jacksonville as a destination for visitors, business travelers, sports events as well as a site for meeting and convention groups.”
Sells/Clark’s president Brian Clark is very familiar with Jacksonville and Little Rock Air Force Base.
“My dad was a C-130 pilot out at the base for years, and that’s what brought our family to the area, and we loved it and stayed,” he said.
“We are excited about representing a city in central Arkansas with so much potential. It’s a huge opportunity,” he added.
The city’s advertising and promotion commission made the decision to hire Sells/Clark at a special meeting Thursday afternoon. “We are now negotiating the fees with the company,” said Paul Mushrush, the city’s finance director.
The commission had initially budgeted about $170,000 this year from the two-cent hamburger tax to pay for a professional marketing campaign.
“A real campaign will run hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Mayor Tommy Swaim has said at previous commission meetings.
According to their promotional packet, Sells/Clark has managed and supervised accounts in the travel and tourism industry over the years in Arkansas and Louisiana with budgets ranging from $50,000 to $8 million.
The company has done promotional work for the city of Fayetteville, Riverfest, Arvest Bank, J.B. Hunt, Acxiom and Mercy Health Systems of Northwest Arkansas.
Clark said that his company was recently recognized by the financial rater Dun and Bradstreet as being in the top 5 percent of credit worthiness in the advertising agency category.
“With advertising agencies coming and going these days for various reasons, the Jacksonville Advertising and Promotion Com-mission can rest assured we will manage your business as we manage our own,” Clark said.
Mushrush said it would take the company about six months to develop a marketing campaign for Jacksonville.
The advertising agency will give an update at the next commission meeting, set for 7 p.m. May 19.
Leader staff writer
Only one agency submitted an application to be Jacksonville’s marketing and advertising firm, and the city has decided to award that agency the contract.
Sells/Clark, which has offices in Little Rock and Fayetteville, will have an initial contract of three years and must, according to Jacksonville advertising and promotion commission’s requirements, “develop an image campaign that will allow the commission to promote Jacksonville as a destination for visitors, business travelers, sports events as well as a site for meeting and convention groups.”
Sells/Clark’s president Brian Clark is very familiar with Jacksonville and Little Rock Air Force Base.
“My dad was a C-130 pilot out at the base for years, and that’s what brought our family to the area, and we loved it and stayed,” he said.
“We are excited about representing a city in central Arkansas with so much potential. It’s a huge opportunity,” he added.
The city’s advertising and promotion commission made the decision to hire Sells/Clark at a special meeting Thursday afternoon. “We are now negotiating the fees with the company,” said Paul Mushrush, the city’s finance director.
The commission had initially budgeted about $170,000 this year from the two-cent hamburger tax to pay for a professional marketing campaign.
“A real campaign will run hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Mayor Tommy Swaim has said at previous commission meetings.
According to their promotional packet, Sells/Clark has managed and supervised accounts in the travel and tourism industry over the years in Arkansas and Louisiana with budgets ranging from $50,000 to $8 million.
The company has done promotional work for the city of Fayetteville, Riverfest, Arvest Bank, J.B. Hunt, Acxiom and Mercy Health Systems of Northwest Arkansas.
Clark said that his company was recently recognized by the financial rater Dun and Bradstreet as being in the top 5 percent of credit worthiness in the advertising agency category.
“With advertising agencies coming and going these days for various reasons, the Jacksonville Advertising and Promotion Com-mission can rest assured we will manage your business as we manage our own,” Clark said.
Mushrush said it would take the company about six months to develop a marketing campaign for Jacksonville.
The advertising agency will give an update at the next commission meeting, set for 7 p.m. May 19.
TOP STORY > >Impact fees needed to fund Cabot programs
By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer
When the Cabot City Council voted earlier this week to rescind the impact fee on new construction it took away the only revenue source in place — more than $1,000 per home — to build the fire station needed to keep insurance premiums down in some of the newest subdivisions on Hwy. 5.
Now, Mayor Eddie Joe Williams says reinstating the impact fee for the fire department only is one solution to the problem that will be discussed when the council’s fire and police committee meets May 1.
Alderman Eddie Cook suggested during the Mon-day night council meeting that it would be prudent to keep that one part of the fee, which collected $75,000 of the total of $208,000 in the year it was in place. The balance of the fee went to the library, parks, streets and wastewater.
But Cook was among the seven council members who voted to rescind the 2006 ordinance that established the impact fee on both commercial and residential construction.
Only Alderman Teri Miessner voted against rescinding the impact fee.
City officials learned in 2006 that the city had outgrown its fire protection and that the insurance premiums for several hundred residents in Greystone and Magness Creek could double or triple as a result.
Former Alderman Odis Waymack learned from talking to the Insurance Service Office (ISO), which rates cities’ fire protection for insurance purposes, that simply parking an un-staffed fire engine within five highway- miles of the affected area would be a temporary fix for the problem.
So the city rented a bay at the Mountain Springs Volunteer Fire Department for $200 a month and then early in 2007 paid $259,600 for three acres and buildings on the corner of Hwy. 5 and Mountain Springs and moved an un-staffed engine to that location.
The plan was never actually to build a permanent station there. The council said the city could get its money back by selling the property for commercial use.
But eventually, the city will have to build another fire station. And that, the mayor says, will cost $1.5 million for the building, $1 million for equipment and $500,000 a year for the firefighters who will staff it.
Because the city council acted quickly with its Band-aid fix for the fire department problem, the city’s fire rating is currently a Class 3. But after the ISO inspection of the city’s fire suppression system in the summer of 2006, the rating was set to drop to Class 3 / 9. With ISO ratings, the lower the number, the higher the rating and the less insurance is likely to cost.
A letter from ISO to Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh dated Sept. 27, 2006, told the mayor that the rating had dropped for property more than five road-miles from the nearest responding fire station or within five road-miles of the nearest responding fire station but more than 1,000 feet from a fire hydrant. The former is now a Class 10, the lowest possible, and the latter is a Class 9.
Fire Chief Phil Robinson said after the city received the letter from ISO that all houses beyond 903 Greystone Blvd. would be Class 10. That included the subdivisions of Mystery Lake, Southern Hills, Georgetown, Signature and Kensington.
In Magness Creek North subdivision, the 11 streets beyond 61 Lakeland would have been downgraded to Class 10 if the council had not taken action.
When the council Monday night passed the ordinance repealing the impact fee, the mayor said there was nothing in the new ordinance that would prevent the council from imposing the fee again at a later date if necessary.
He said the city’s finances have improved since the council passed the impact fee. Voters passed a one-cent sales tax that built a much-needed wastewater treatment plant, helped pay for the animal shelter, the community center and the railroad overpass now under construction.
Layoffs last year in all city departments have kept salaries down.
He said in a later interview that the city is now requiring developers to improve existing streets where they build. The city also has successfully partnered with the county and state to make needed street improvements, so the impact fee for streets is not needed as much as it once was.
But even though the city is saving $5,000 a month to buy firefighting equipment, there is no money for another fire station that must be built in the near future, he said.
Leader staff writer
When the Cabot City Council voted earlier this week to rescind the impact fee on new construction it took away the only revenue source in place — more than $1,000 per home — to build the fire station needed to keep insurance premiums down in some of the newest subdivisions on Hwy. 5.
Now, Mayor Eddie Joe Williams says reinstating the impact fee for the fire department only is one solution to the problem that will be discussed when the council’s fire and police committee meets May 1.
Alderman Eddie Cook suggested during the Mon-day night council meeting that it would be prudent to keep that one part of the fee, which collected $75,000 of the total of $208,000 in the year it was in place. The balance of the fee went to the library, parks, streets and wastewater.
But Cook was among the seven council members who voted to rescind the 2006 ordinance that established the impact fee on both commercial and residential construction.
Only Alderman Teri Miessner voted against rescinding the impact fee.
City officials learned in 2006 that the city had outgrown its fire protection and that the insurance premiums for several hundred residents in Greystone and Magness Creek could double or triple as a result.
Former Alderman Odis Waymack learned from talking to the Insurance Service Office (ISO), which rates cities’ fire protection for insurance purposes, that simply parking an un-staffed fire engine within five highway- miles of the affected area would be a temporary fix for the problem.
So the city rented a bay at the Mountain Springs Volunteer Fire Department for $200 a month and then early in 2007 paid $259,600 for three acres and buildings on the corner of Hwy. 5 and Mountain Springs and moved an un-staffed engine to that location.
The plan was never actually to build a permanent station there. The council said the city could get its money back by selling the property for commercial use.
But eventually, the city will have to build another fire station. And that, the mayor says, will cost $1.5 million for the building, $1 million for equipment and $500,000 a year for the firefighters who will staff it.
Because the city council acted quickly with its Band-aid fix for the fire department problem, the city’s fire rating is currently a Class 3. But after the ISO inspection of the city’s fire suppression system in the summer of 2006, the rating was set to drop to Class 3 / 9. With ISO ratings, the lower the number, the higher the rating and the less insurance is likely to cost.
A letter from ISO to Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh dated Sept. 27, 2006, told the mayor that the rating had dropped for property more than five road-miles from the nearest responding fire station or within five road-miles of the nearest responding fire station but more than 1,000 feet from a fire hydrant. The former is now a Class 10, the lowest possible, and the latter is a Class 9.
Fire Chief Phil Robinson said after the city received the letter from ISO that all houses beyond 903 Greystone Blvd. would be Class 10. That included the subdivisions of Mystery Lake, Southern Hills, Georgetown, Signature and Kensington.
In Magness Creek North subdivision, the 11 streets beyond 61 Lakeland would have been downgraded to Class 10 if the council had not taken action.
When the council Monday night passed the ordinance repealing the impact fee, the mayor said there was nothing in the new ordinance that would prevent the council from imposing the fee again at a later date if necessary.
He said the city’s finances have improved since the council passed the impact fee. Voters passed a one-cent sales tax that built a much-needed wastewater treatment plant, helped pay for the animal shelter, the community center and the railroad overpass now under construction.
Layoffs last year in all city departments have kept salaries down.
He said in a later interview that the city is now requiring developers to improve existing streets where they build. The city also has successfully partnered with the county and state to make needed street improvements, so the impact fee for streets is not needed as much as it once was.
But even though the city is saving $5,000 a month to buy firefighting equipment, there is no money for another fire station that must be built in the near future, he said.
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