By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams has announced that a $10.8 million National Guard armory has been approved for federal funding next summer by the U.S. House of Representatives – almost five years earlier than expected.
The appropriation must still be approved by the Senate. The cost of the facility was originally estimated at $8 million.
Williams made the an-nouncement Friday morning during a reception in honor of the men who started working late in 2001 to get an armory for Cabot: Jason Carter, Fred Campbell, Moose Cullins, David Hipp, former Mayor Joe Allman, Don Elliott, Charles George, Bill Devoss and Gary McMillan.
The state has not built an armory since September 2005 when a $4.25 million facility went up in Warren.
The 30,000-square-foot facility (now called a readiness center) planned for Cabot will replace the temporary facility that opened in the industrial park on Hwy. 367 late in 2006.
“It was all because of a group of men who had a vision,” Williams told those who had gathered for the reception, including most of those being honored, State Sen. Bobby Glover, D-Carlisle, Lonoke County Judge Charlie Troutman, Lt. Col. Cary Shillcutt, Joint Force Headquarters for the Arkansas National Guard, and Lt. Col. Steve Redman, rear detachment commander with the 39th Brigade.
Currently, 137 National Guard members are from the Cabot area, though not all are members of Cabot’s Foxtrot Company, which is part of the 39th Support Battalion. But that large number was one of the reasons Cabot was a desirable location for a new armory, Lt. Col. Shillcut said.
“We’re very proud to be located here,” he said. “The Guard is very much about the community.”
Although it started with a vision, it could not have happened without money, and Williams thanked Sen. Glover, Gov. Mike Beebe and Cong. Marion Berry for that.
The mayor learned from Cong. Berry that the House had approved the appropriation as part of the 2009 Defense Authorization Bill.
The state has contributed $400,000 to reimburse the city for the purchase of 15.5 acres in the industrial park beside the railroad overpass that is now under construction where the armory will be built. That land has been turned over to the
National Guard, which will receive the federal money to build the armory.
“A lot of the time we appropriate money and we don’t know what it’s going to be used for,” Glover told the mayor. “But this is a worthy cause.”
Glover complimented the mayor and the group of mostly former military men who worked to bring an armory to Cabot.
“You never gave up,” he said. “You had a mission and you succeeded in it.”
As he has said since he became mayor in January 2007, Williams called building the armory “the single biggest thing for Cabot in recent history” and that it will have an economic impact on the city of $1 million or more a year.
It will be visible from the new railroad overpass now under construction, and since the overpass will be used by school buses, Williams says the location will be good for recruiting.
“Construction of this new facility will enhance the Arkansas National Guard’s ability to meet their mission requirements, maintain readiness, and continue to serve our country with honor,” Berry said. “I would like to thank Congressman Vic Snyder and the House Armed Services Committee for working with the Appropriations Committee to authorize funding for this critically needed readiness center.”
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
TOP STORY > >Guard armory gets funds
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams has announced that a $10.8 million National Guard armory has been approved for federal funding next summer by the U.S. House of Representatives – almost five years earlier than expected.
The appropriation must still be approved by the Senate. The cost of the facility was originally estimated at $8 million.
Williams made the an-nouncement Friday morning during a reception in honor of the men who started working late in 2001 to get an armory for Cabot: Jason Carter, Fred Campbell, Moose Cullins, David Hipp, former Mayor Joe Allman, Don Elliott, Charles George, Bill Devoss and Gary McMillan.
The state has not built an armory since September 2005 when a $4.25 million facility went up in Warren.
The 30,000-square-foot facility (now called a readiness center) planned for Cabot will replace the temporary facility that opened in the industrial park on Hwy. 367 late in 2006.
“It was all because of a group of men who had a vision,” Williams told those who had gathered for the reception, including most of those being honored, State Sen. Bobby Glover, D-Carlisle, Lonoke County Judge Charlie Troutman, Lt. Col. Cary Shillcutt, Joint Force Headquarters for the Arkansas National Guard, and Lt. Col. Steve Redman, rear detachment commander with the 39th Brigade.
Currently, 137 National Guard members are from the Cabot area, though not all are members of Cabot’s Foxtrot Company, which is part of the 39th Support Battalion. But that large number was one of the reasons Cabot was a desirable location for a new armory, Lt. Col. Shillcut said.
“We’re very proud to be located here,” he said. “The Guard is very much about the community.”
Although it started with a vision, it could not have happened without money, and Williams thanked Sen. Glover, Gov. Mike Beebe and Cong. Marion Berry for that.
The mayor learned from Cong. Berry that the House had approved the appropriation as part of the 2009 Defense Authorization Bill.
The state has contributed $400,000 to reimburse the city for the purchase of 15.5 acres in the industrial park beside the railroad overpass that is now under construction where the armory will be built. That land has been turned over to the
National Guard, which will receive the federal money to build the armory.
“A lot of the time we appropriate money and we don’t know what it’s going to be used for,” Glover told the mayor. “But this is a worthy cause.”
Glover complimented the mayor and the group of mostly former military men who worked to bring an armory to Cabot.
“You never gave up,” he said. “You had a mission and you succeeded in it.”
As he has said since he became mayor in January 2007, Williams called building the armory “the single biggest thing for Cabot in recent history” and that it will have an economic impact on the city of $1 million or more a year.
It will be visible from the new railroad overpass now under construction, and since the overpass will be used by school buses, Williams says the location will be good for recruiting.
“Construction of this new facility will enhance the Arkansas National Guard’s ability to meet their mission requirements, maintain readiness, and continue to serve our country with honor,” Berry said. “I would like to thank Congressman Vic Snyder and the House Armed Services Committee for working with the Appropriations Committee to authorize funding for this critically needed readiness center.”
Leader staff writer
Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams has announced that a $10.8 million National Guard armory has been approved for federal funding next summer by the U.S. House of Representatives – almost five years earlier than expected.
The appropriation must still be approved by the Senate. The cost of the facility was originally estimated at $8 million.
Williams made the an-nouncement Friday morning during a reception in honor of the men who started working late in 2001 to get an armory for Cabot: Jason Carter, Fred Campbell, Moose Cullins, David Hipp, former Mayor Joe Allman, Don Elliott, Charles George, Bill Devoss and Gary McMillan.
The state has not built an armory since September 2005 when a $4.25 million facility went up in Warren.
The 30,000-square-foot facility (now called a readiness center) planned for Cabot will replace the temporary facility that opened in the industrial park on Hwy. 367 late in 2006.
“It was all because of a group of men who had a vision,” Williams told those who had gathered for the reception, including most of those being honored, State Sen. Bobby Glover, D-Carlisle, Lonoke County Judge Charlie Troutman, Lt. Col. Cary Shillcutt, Joint Force Headquarters for the Arkansas National Guard, and Lt. Col. Steve Redman, rear detachment commander with the 39th Brigade.
Currently, 137 National Guard members are from the Cabot area, though not all are members of Cabot’s Foxtrot Company, which is part of the 39th Support Battalion. But that large number was one of the reasons Cabot was a desirable location for a new armory, Lt. Col. Shillcut said.
“We’re very proud to be located here,” he said. “The Guard is very much about the community.”
Although it started with a vision, it could not have happened without money, and Williams thanked Sen. Glover, Gov. Mike Beebe and Cong. Marion Berry for that.
The mayor learned from Cong. Berry that the House had approved the appropriation as part of the 2009 Defense Authorization Bill.
The state has contributed $400,000 to reimburse the city for the purchase of 15.5 acres in the industrial park beside the railroad overpass that is now under construction where the armory will be built. That land has been turned over to the
National Guard, which will receive the federal money to build the armory.
“A lot of the time we appropriate money and we don’t know what it’s going to be used for,” Glover told the mayor. “But this is a worthy cause.”
Glover complimented the mayor and the group of mostly former military men who worked to bring an armory to Cabot.
“You never gave up,” he said. “You had a mission and you succeeded in it.”
As he has said since he became mayor in January 2007, Williams called building the armory “the single biggest thing for Cabot in recent history” and that it will have an economic impact on the city of $1 million or more a year.
It will be visible from the new railroad overpass now under construction, and since the overpass will be used by school buses, Williams says the location will be good for recruiting.
“Construction of this new facility will enhance the Arkansas National Guard’s ability to meet their mission requirements, maintain readiness, and continue to serve our country with honor,” Berry said. “I would like to thank Congressman Vic Snyder and the House Armed Services Committee for working with the Appropriations Committee to authorize funding for this critically needed readiness center.”
TOP STORY > >Area stops to remember the fallen
By CHRISTY HENDRICKS
Leader staff
Arkansans stopped and remembered the nation’s war dead Monday at commemorations across the state for Memorial Day.
Families brought flags and flowers to lay next to headstones.
Locally, more than 300 people gathered at the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock for a ceremony that included a rifle salute and several attendees throwing floating wreathes into a nearby pond to remember those lost at sea.
Flags lined the road leading down to where Gov. Mike Beebe told those gathered that the hardest thing to do as the state’s top executive is call those who have lost loved ones in war.
“We pay tribute not only to the men and women who have ever worn a uniform, not only the men and women who have given their life to this country, but their families as well,” Beebe said. “We pay tribute not only to those people who lie in the ground as a hero, but we pay tribute to their families who every bit as much sacrificed and served for their country.”
Also attending were Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, Maj. Gen. Bill Wofford of the Arkansas National Guard and Gen. Rowayne Schatz, commander at Little Rock Air Force Base, and the Patriot Guard.
They joined veterans and their families, a handful of Gold Star Wives and military leaders. The event, normally held at the Little Rock National Cemetery, was moved to the Arkansas State Veterans’ Cemetery this year and combined with the Navy Bells ceremony normally held at the Broadway Bridge in Little Rock.
The 106th Army Band performed the National Anthem before Beebe spoke. The governor put a final wreath in place after giving his remarks.
A Navy Bells ceremony was performed and families of those lost at sea placed wreaths in the cemetery’s pond. Students from Sylvan Hills EAST Lab were recognized for their efforts in mapping the cemetery so that graves can be found more easily.
Four Arkansans serving in the armed forces have died in Afghanistan since the start of the war there in 2001. Fifty-eight
Arkansans serving in the military have died since the start of the Iraq war in 2003.
Among the area fallen are 1st Lt. Thomas M. Martin, 27, 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Re-giment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, Ward, died Oct. 14, 2007; Staff Sgt. John T. Self, 29, 314th Security Forces Squadron, 314th Mission Support Group, 314th Airlift Wing Little Rock AFB, Pontotoc, Miss., died May 14, 2007; Spc. Bobby R. West, 23, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 4th In-fantry Division, Beebe, died May 30, 2006; Lance Cpl. Steven A. Valdez, 20, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, McRae, died Sept. 26, 2005; Spc. Phillip N. Sayles, 26, Company B, 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Jacksonville, died May 28, 2005; Spc. Tyler L. Creamean, 21, 73rd Engineer Company, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Jacksonville, died of May 22, 2005, and Sgt. Ronald W. Baker, 34, Company C, 39th Support Battalion, Arkansas Army National Guard, Cabot, died Oct. 13, 2004.
Leader staff
Arkansans stopped and remembered the nation’s war dead Monday at commemorations across the state for Memorial Day.
Families brought flags and flowers to lay next to headstones.
Locally, more than 300 people gathered at the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock for a ceremony that included a rifle salute and several attendees throwing floating wreathes into a nearby pond to remember those lost at sea.
Flags lined the road leading down to where Gov. Mike Beebe told those gathered that the hardest thing to do as the state’s top executive is call those who have lost loved ones in war.
“We pay tribute not only to the men and women who have ever worn a uniform, not only the men and women who have given their life to this country, but their families as well,” Beebe said. “We pay tribute not only to those people who lie in the ground as a hero, but we pay tribute to their families who every bit as much sacrificed and served for their country.”
Also attending were Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, Maj. Gen. Bill Wofford of the Arkansas National Guard and Gen. Rowayne Schatz, commander at Little Rock Air Force Base, and the Patriot Guard.
They joined veterans and their families, a handful of Gold Star Wives and military leaders. The event, normally held at the Little Rock National Cemetery, was moved to the Arkansas State Veterans’ Cemetery this year and combined with the Navy Bells ceremony normally held at the Broadway Bridge in Little Rock.
The 106th Army Band performed the National Anthem before Beebe spoke. The governor put a final wreath in place after giving his remarks.
A Navy Bells ceremony was performed and families of those lost at sea placed wreaths in the cemetery’s pond. Students from Sylvan Hills EAST Lab were recognized for their efforts in mapping the cemetery so that graves can be found more easily.
Four Arkansans serving in the armed forces have died in Afghanistan since the start of the war there in 2001. Fifty-eight
Arkansans serving in the military have died since the start of the Iraq war in 2003.
Among the area fallen are 1st Lt. Thomas M. Martin, 27, 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Re-giment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, Ward, died Oct. 14, 2007; Staff Sgt. John T. Self, 29, 314th Security Forces Squadron, 314th Mission Support Group, 314th Airlift Wing Little Rock AFB, Pontotoc, Miss., died May 14, 2007; Spc. Bobby R. West, 23, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 4th In-fantry Division, Beebe, died May 30, 2006; Lance Cpl. Steven A. Valdez, 20, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, McRae, died Sept. 26, 2005; Spc. Phillip N. Sayles, 26, Company B, 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Jacksonville, died May 28, 2005; Spc. Tyler L. Creamean, 21, 73rd Engineer Company, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Jacksonville, died of May 22, 2005, and Sgt. Ronald W. Baker, 34, Company C, 39th Support Battalion, Arkansas Army National Guard, Cabot, died Oct. 13, 2004.
TOP STORY > >White County to count votes again Tuesday
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
The White County Election Commission has already counted ballots from last week’s election twice because of problems with the voting equipment and procedural errors, but next Tuesday, they will count them again and this time the count will be by hand.
Since 2006, when the touch-screen voting machines were first used in Arkansas, state law has said that when candidates ask for a recount, that count must be taken from the roll of paper on the left-hand side of the computer screen called the real time audit log (RTAL), which is also called the voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT.)
“It’s the official ballot in the case of a recount,” said Natasha Naragon, spokesman for Secretary of State Charlie Daniel.
The recount will be held in the election commission office on the second floor of the old sheriff’s department in Searcy.
“It’s going to be a long day,” said Tanya Burleson, White County clerk.
Four candidates have asked for recounts: Cathy Foster, who lost her race for the District 1 seat on the quorum court to incumbent Horace Taylor, 146 to 145; Mark Derrick, who lost his race for circuit court judge in White and Prairie counties to Tom Hughes by 528 votes, 4,115 to 3,587; Greg Niblock, who was third of four candidates in his race for Searcy District Court and hopes a recount will put him in position for a runoff; and Larry Fisher, who lost his seat on the quorum court by 14 votes, 81 to 67. The race Fisher was in with Bobby Burns was missing from the electronic ballot, and paper ballots had to be brought in.
The recount should settle the question of who won in three of the four races, but in the case of the district court race, it will only decide who goes into the runoff against Mark Pate during the November general election.
In that race, Pate was ahead in the last count with 2,875 votes, while Phyllis Worley received 1,341.
Niblock was third with 1,297 votes, only 44 fewer than Worley, while Robert Hudgins was fourth with 833 votes.
The first count, which was plagued with a number of problems, was not completed until 1 a.m. last Wednesday.
The machine that scanned the absentee ballots didn’t work and those votes had to be hand counted.
Poll workers had difficultly closing down the voting machines because they weren’t set for daylight-saving time and that delayed the counting.
Plus, the paper ballots for Union Township had to be counted by hand.
Later that day, a candidate noticed a great many voters had not voted in all the races on their ballots and that prompted the election commission to seek the advice of experts in the secretary of state’s office.
The problem, they learned, was with the counting of the early votes.
According to the vendor’s tabulation instructions, early votes are to be counted using the early vote compact memory flash cards rather than the early vote personal electronic ballot (PEB).
The commission took its first early voting tally from the PEB.
Last Wednesday, the voting was counted again, with the count for the early voting taken from the compact memory flash cards.
The commission pointed out that the recount changed the numbers, but it didn’t change the outcome of any race.
By state law, candidates who ask for a recount must pay 25 cents for each vote counted but no more than $2,500.
If the recount changes the result of an election, they are reimbursed.
Leader staff writer
The White County Election Commission has already counted ballots from last week’s election twice because of problems with the voting equipment and procedural errors, but next Tuesday, they will count them again and this time the count will be by hand.
Since 2006, when the touch-screen voting machines were first used in Arkansas, state law has said that when candidates ask for a recount, that count must be taken from the roll of paper on the left-hand side of the computer screen called the real time audit log (RTAL), which is also called the voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT.)
“It’s the official ballot in the case of a recount,” said Natasha Naragon, spokesman for Secretary of State Charlie Daniel.
The recount will be held in the election commission office on the second floor of the old sheriff’s department in Searcy.
“It’s going to be a long day,” said Tanya Burleson, White County clerk.
Four candidates have asked for recounts: Cathy Foster, who lost her race for the District 1 seat on the quorum court to incumbent Horace Taylor, 146 to 145; Mark Derrick, who lost his race for circuit court judge in White and Prairie counties to Tom Hughes by 528 votes, 4,115 to 3,587; Greg Niblock, who was third of four candidates in his race for Searcy District Court and hopes a recount will put him in position for a runoff; and Larry Fisher, who lost his seat on the quorum court by 14 votes, 81 to 67. The race Fisher was in with Bobby Burns was missing from the electronic ballot, and paper ballots had to be brought in.
The recount should settle the question of who won in three of the four races, but in the case of the district court race, it will only decide who goes into the runoff against Mark Pate during the November general election.
In that race, Pate was ahead in the last count with 2,875 votes, while Phyllis Worley received 1,341.
Niblock was third with 1,297 votes, only 44 fewer than Worley, while Robert Hudgins was fourth with 833 votes.
The first count, which was plagued with a number of problems, was not completed until 1 a.m. last Wednesday.
The machine that scanned the absentee ballots didn’t work and those votes had to be hand counted.
Poll workers had difficultly closing down the voting machines because they weren’t set for daylight-saving time and that delayed the counting.
Plus, the paper ballots for Union Township had to be counted by hand.
Later that day, a candidate noticed a great many voters had not voted in all the races on their ballots and that prompted the election commission to seek the advice of experts in the secretary of state’s office.
The problem, they learned, was with the counting of the early votes.
According to the vendor’s tabulation instructions, early votes are to be counted using the early vote compact memory flash cards rather than the early vote personal electronic ballot (PEB).
The commission took its first early voting tally from the PEB.
Last Wednesday, the voting was counted again, with the count for the early voting taken from the compact memory flash cards.
The commission pointed out that the recount changed the numbers, but it didn’t change the outcome of any race.
By state law, candidates who ask for a recount must pay 25 cents for each vote counted but no more than $2,500.
If the recount changes the result of an election, they are reimbursed.
TOP STORY > >Save on gas, catch a bus
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
These are the good old days, in so far as gasoline prices are concerned, according to Robert Hirsch, a senior Bush energy adviser. He says gas over time could rise to $12 to $15 per gallon, even resulting in rationing.
While few have agreed with him publicly, the high and climbing cost of gasoline has people throughout the nation and in central Arkansas changing attitudes and behavior regarding driving and mass transit.
Central Arkansas Transit Authority (CATA) has seen an increase of about 600 riders a day compared to this time last year, according to Betty Wineland, CATA director.
EXPRESS BUS
Jacksonville and Sherwood contract with CATA to run two morning buses and three evening buses between Little Rock and Jacksonville, with stops in Gravel Ridge and Sherwood.
Called the Jacksonville/Sherwood Express, ridership is up to about 32 people a day with people having to stand sometimes, Wineland says.
In the past, it has picked up as few as nine and probably averaged about 15 riders per roundtrip.
Those buses originate in Little Rock with the first arriving at Jacksonville and Marshall at 6:35 a.m. and the second at 7:07 a.m., she said.
CATA has ordered 10 new buses to replace older buses in the fleet, but by the end of the year there could be a third morning bus from Jacksonville into Little Rock, particularly if high gas prices stimulate more ridership.
The Jacksonville-Sherwood Ex-press service is provided by contract with CATA, with Jacksonville, Sherwood, Pulaski County and North Little Rock each chipping in, Wineland said.
Jacksonville’s current share is $27,480 a year, according to Mayor Tommy Swaim. It could cost the city another $3,000 to $4,000 a year to add a third morning bus, he said, an idea he would present to the city council should the need and opportunity exist.
Swaim said a bus also goes from Little Rock Air Force Base to the River Market on Fridays and Saturdays.
“One of the concerns of the base realignment and closure process was lack of public transportation for Little Rock Air Force
Base,” Swaim said. “It always gets asked, ‘Is there public transportation available?’”
BRAC is a tool for Congress and the Defense Department to evaluate military installations around the country in an effort to close some and reassign their missions.
“And for people commuting from the Cabot area to Little Rock in a car or truck getting less than 20 miles per gallon, that’s $8 a day in fuel costs,” the mayor said. That translates to about $160 a month.
Although central Arkansas doesn’t currently have the magical 800,000 population density required to help support mass transit, rising fuel costs encourages use of what mass transit there is.
Metroplan executive director Jim McKenzie says higher fuel costs change development and land-use plans.
The higher the fuel costs, the greater the incentive to live near work and the greater incentive to take a bus or other mass transit if available.
In the Little Rock area, mass transit so far is attracting mostly low to moderate income riders, but in New York and Washington D.C., bankers, doctors, lawyers and architects are among daily commuters on the rail-based transit systems.
EVEN HIGHWAYS SUBSIDIZED
Mass transit won’t completely pay for itself any more than highways pay for themselves, Wineland said. Both have to be subsidized and are ultimately paid for by taxpayers.
In its 2030 long-range transportation plan, Metroplan recommended doubling the size of CATA, but because it depended upon approval of a quarter-cent tax, the federal government would not allow it on the transportation plan.
While there are no current plans for mass transit other than some expansion of CATA and perhaps its River Rail system, Metroplan has been for years looking for the best paths in the high use corridors for future use.
Two of the highest-use corridors are the I-630 corridor between Little Rock and west Little Rock and also the Hwy. 67/167 corridor between Little Rock and Cabot.
Because the state Highway Department is moving toward widening I-630, Metroplan has commissioned a study to establish the best route for a dedicated mass transit system, according to McKenzie. That can be factored into the Highway Department’s widening plan.
With all of the hospitals and medical facilities located along the corridor, the east route, not always sharing a right of way with I-630, is likely to have the first dedicated mass transit in the area, probably light rail or bus rapid transit.
SPECULATORS
McKenzie, a professional planner, has been saying for a long time that world oil production had leveled off and that gas prices were headed to $4 and higher.
“I do see higher prices still yet,” said McKenzie. “Oil was up $30 a barrel in the last month. It’s exactly what I predicted would happen when the markets realized that we were at a production peak with surging demand.”
Speculators are driving prices up, and the dollar is dropping like a stone.
Because the world market in oil is made in dollars, a weak dollar itself boosts the price of oil in dollars.
State-owned oil companies, McKenzie said, produce 70 percent of all oil and they are mercantilistic rather than market-driven.
With worldwide production either flat or declining, they’ll get as much per barrel as they can, but there’s no incentive to pump a lot more oil.
So with production declines in Mexico, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Russia at the same time they have increasing domestic markets, prices will continue to trend up.
Meanwhile, the global population, which was 2.5 billion people in 1950, is now 6.6 billion and estimated to be 8.8 billion by 2040, McKenzie said.
TOO IMPORTANT TO BURN
McKenzie said petroleum is too important to burn.
“Our plastic drink, shampoo and detergent bottles, plastic in our homes, used in cars—it’s from petroleum. A lot of the drugs we take come from petroleum. Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers are made from petroleum.”
Several billion people trapped in poverty will want to move into the middle class. Oil prices will move up and down, but the curve is up, he said.
Rising oil costs increase the demand rapidly for mass transit, according to McKenzie.
“Our entire urban form and economy is based on cheap petroleum in abundance forever. We’re readjusting to new reality.
ROADS OR TRANSIT
“Do we not build roads and shift money to public transit?” asked McKenzie, “Or raise revenues significantly.”
Raising new revenues—taxes—is not popular with public officials or the public.
But mass transit requires lead-time, even after people realize the need.
“Right now you wait 18 months for delivery of new buses,” he said. As more communities realize the increased need, it will take even longer.
“We’ll make assumptions about the price of gas, including doubling and tripling in the future, said McKenzie.
That will cause changes in land-use patterns. It will increase demand for housing that’s closer to the metro area and lessen demand for housing further away from jobs.
Metroplan officials hope they can form a regional mobility authority with taxing authority to begin working toward a mass transit future.
SILVER LINING
In central Arkansas, “We have a tremendous opportunity,” said McKenzie.
“We’re small and compact. We have the opportunity to take the lead and be aggressive in restructuring,” he added.
“National leadership has been terribly wanting. I hope a new administration changes that,” he said.
“T. Boone Pickens has invested billions of dollars in a Texas wind farm,” he continued. “Windmill manufacturers are locating in the Little Rock area.”
“Perhaps the three power companies could take the lead in weatherization and if the government provided incentive for solar cell deployment at the state level, the government could help buy down the premium to hybrid vehicles,” he said.
“We need to get serious about transportation and land-use plans and investment making plans for the future. Those (communities) who do will be economically rewarded, while others overly dependent on the petroleum industries will not,” he said.
Leader senior staff writer
These are the good old days, in so far as gasoline prices are concerned, according to Robert Hirsch, a senior Bush energy adviser. He says gas over time could rise to $12 to $15 per gallon, even resulting in rationing.
While few have agreed with him publicly, the high and climbing cost of gasoline has people throughout the nation and in central Arkansas changing attitudes and behavior regarding driving and mass transit.
Central Arkansas Transit Authority (CATA) has seen an increase of about 600 riders a day compared to this time last year, according to Betty Wineland, CATA director.
EXPRESS BUS
Jacksonville and Sherwood contract with CATA to run two morning buses and three evening buses between Little Rock and Jacksonville, with stops in Gravel Ridge and Sherwood.
Called the Jacksonville/Sherwood Express, ridership is up to about 32 people a day with people having to stand sometimes, Wineland says.
In the past, it has picked up as few as nine and probably averaged about 15 riders per roundtrip.
Those buses originate in Little Rock with the first arriving at Jacksonville and Marshall at 6:35 a.m. and the second at 7:07 a.m., she said.
CATA has ordered 10 new buses to replace older buses in the fleet, but by the end of the year there could be a third morning bus from Jacksonville into Little Rock, particularly if high gas prices stimulate more ridership.
The Jacksonville-Sherwood Ex-press service is provided by contract with CATA, with Jacksonville, Sherwood, Pulaski County and North Little Rock each chipping in, Wineland said.
Jacksonville’s current share is $27,480 a year, according to Mayor Tommy Swaim. It could cost the city another $3,000 to $4,000 a year to add a third morning bus, he said, an idea he would present to the city council should the need and opportunity exist.
Swaim said a bus also goes from Little Rock Air Force Base to the River Market on Fridays and Saturdays.
“One of the concerns of the base realignment and closure process was lack of public transportation for Little Rock Air Force
Base,” Swaim said. “It always gets asked, ‘Is there public transportation available?’”
BRAC is a tool for Congress and the Defense Department to evaluate military installations around the country in an effort to close some and reassign their missions.
“And for people commuting from the Cabot area to Little Rock in a car or truck getting less than 20 miles per gallon, that’s $8 a day in fuel costs,” the mayor said. That translates to about $160 a month.
Although central Arkansas doesn’t currently have the magical 800,000 population density required to help support mass transit, rising fuel costs encourages use of what mass transit there is.
Metroplan executive director Jim McKenzie says higher fuel costs change development and land-use plans.
The higher the fuel costs, the greater the incentive to live near work and the greater incentive to take a bus or other mass transit if available.
In the Little Rock area, mass transit so far is attracting mostly low to moderate income riders, but in New York and Washington D.C., bankers, doctors, lawyers and architects are among daily commuters on the rail-based transit systems.
EVEN HIGHWAYS SUBSIDIZED
Mass transit won’t completely pay for itself any more than highways pay for themselves, Wineland said. Both have to be subsidized and are ultimately paid for by taxpayers.
In its 2030 long-range transportation plan, Metroplan recommended doubling the size of CATA, but because it depended upon approval of a quarter-cent tax, the federal government would not allow it on the transportation plan.
While there are no current plans for mass transit other than some expansion of CATA and perhaps its River Rail system, Metroplan has been for years looking for the best paths in the high use corridors for future use.
Two of the highest-use corridors are the I-630 corridor between Little Rock and west Little Rock and also the Hwy. 67/167 corridor between Little Rock and Cabot.
Because the state Highway Department is moving toward widening I-630, Metroplan has commissioned a study to establish the best route for a dedicated mass transit system, according to McKenzie. That can be factored into the Highway Department’s widening plan.
With all of the hospitals and medical facilities located along the corridor, the east route, not always sharing a right of way with I-630, is likely to have the first dedicated mass transit in the area, probably light rail or bus rapid transit.
SPECULATORS
McKenzie, a professional planner, has been saying for a long time that world oil production had leveled off and that gas prices were headed to $4 and higher.
“I do see higher prices still yet,” said McKenzie. “Oil was up $30 a barrel in the last month. It’s exactly what I predicted would happen when the markets realized that we were at a production peak with surging demand.”
Speculators are driving prices up, and the dollar is dropping like a stone.
Because the world market in oil is made in dollars, a weak dollar itself boosts the price of oil in dollars.
State-owned oil companies, McKenzie said, produce 70 percent of all oil and they are mercantilistic rather than market-driven.
With worldwide production either flat or declining, they’ll get as much per barrel as they can, but there’s no incentive to pump a lot more oil.
So with production declines in Mexico, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Russia at the same time they have increasing domestic markets, prices will continue to trend up.
Meanwhile, the global population, which was 2.5 billion people in 1950, is now 6.6 billion and estimated to be 8.8 billion by 2040, McKenzie said.
TOO IMPORTANT TO BURN
McKenzie said petroleum is too important to burn.
“Our plastic drink, shampoo and detergent bottles, plastic in our homes, used in cars—it’s from petroleum. A lot of the drugs we take come from petroleum. Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers are made from petroleum.”
Several billion people trapped in poverty will want to move into the middle class. Oil prices will move up and down, but the curve is up, he said.
Rising oil costs increase the demand rapidly for mass transit, according to McKenzie.
“Our entire urban form and economy is based on cheap petroleum in abundance forever. We’re readjusting to new reality.
ROADS OR TRANSIT
“Do we not build roads and shift money to public transit?” asked McKenzie, “Or raise revenues significantly.”
Raising new revenues—taxes—is not popular with public officials or the public.
But mass transit requires lead-time, even after people realize the need.
“Right now you wait 18 months for delivery of new buses,” he said. As more communities realize the increased need, it will take even longer.
“We’ll make assumptions about the price of gas, including doubling and tripling in the future, said McKenzie.
That will cause changes in land-use patterns. It will increase demand for housing that’s closer to the metro area and lessen demand for housing further away from jobs.
Metroplan officials hope they can form a regional mobility authority with taxing authority to begin working toward a mass transit future.
SILVER LINING
In central Arkansas, “We have a tremendous opportunity,” said McKenzie.
“We’re small and compact. We have the opportunity to take the lead and be aggressive in restructuring,” he added.
“National leadership has been terribly wanting. I hope a new administration changes that,” he said.
“T. Boone Pickens has invested billions of dollars in a Texas wind farm,” he continued. “Windmill manufacturers are locating in the Little Rock area.”
“Perhaps the three power companies could take the lead in weatherization and if the government provided incentive for solar cell deployment at the state level, the government could help buy down the premium to hybrid vehicles,” he said.
“We need to get serious about transportation and land-use plans and investment making plans for the future. Those (communities) who do will be economically rewarded, while others overly dependent on the petroleum industries will not,” he said.
SPORTS>> Eight area baseball, nine softball players named to All-State
Hunter Miller, Clint Thornton and D.J. Baxendale of the 6A state champion Sylvan Hills Bears were among eight area baseball players named to the All-State team.
Jacksonville’s Jessica Lanier and Taylor Norsworthy were named to the All-State softball team, along with three Beebe Lady Badgers.
Jacksonville’s Cameron Hood, Harding Aca-demy’s Matt Lincoln and J.T. Fisher, Searcy’s Anthony Dillon and Abundant Life’s Austin Crabill were also selected to the All-State team.
The three Lady Badgers selected were Chelsea Sanders, Laura Tucker and Ashley Watkins. Also named to the team were Lonoke’s April Cox and Kristina Lewis, as well as Abundant Life’s Courtney Pack and Searcy’s Auburn Valentine.
Jacksonville’s Jessica Lanier and Taylor Norsworthy were named to the All-State softball team, along with three Beebe Lady Badgers.
Jacksonville’s Cameron Hood, Harding Aca-demy’s Matt Lincoln and J.T. Fisher, Searcy’s Anthony Dillon and Abundant Life’s Austin Crabill were also selected to the All-State team.
The three Lady Badgers selected were Chelsea Sanders, Laura Tucker and Ashley Watkins. Also named to the team were Lonoke’s April Cox and Kristina Lewis, as well as Abundant Life’s Courtney Pack and Searcy’s Auburn Valentine.
SPORTS>> Cabot wins two, ties one in tourney
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
Cabot’s junior Legion team went 2-0-1 in the North Little Rock Memorial Day tournament but missed out in bracket play.
Cabot opened with a win over Sylvan Hills, but after rallying from a 3-run deficit to Texarkana on Saturday to take a 6-5 lead, they allowed a run in the final inning and time expired on a 6-6 tie.
Texarkana jumped on starter Tyler Erickson for five runs over the first two innings, but Cabot hung in with two runs in the second.
Powell Bryant came within inches of cutting into that lead when his leadoff double in the fourth hit off the top of the fence in left-center. Bryant got picked off, but Cabot scored four in the fifth inning to take a 6-5 lead.
Joe Bryant singled with one out and Matt Evans walked. Andrew Reynolds followed with an RBI single and Erickson was safe on an error. Chase Thompson walked before Matthew Turner put Cabot on top with a two-run single to left.
C.J. Jacoby, who pitched four solid innings after coming on in the second, allowed a triple and a single in the sixth inning to tie it. The one hour, 50 minute time limit expired and a tie was declared. Cabot finished pool play with an 8-5 win over Lakeside on Sunday.
SYLVAN HILLS
Sylvan Hills sent 18 men to the plate in the third inning, scoring 13 of them in a 14-2 pasting of Lakeside on Saturday. Sylvan Hills picked up seven hits in the inning and took advantage of six walks and three hit batters.
Corey Arnold had a 2-run double, Greg Nosal had 2-run single, and Justin Cook, Jake Dillon and Mike Maddox each added run-scoring singles.
Austin Spears was hit by pitches in all four of his plate appearances.
Sylvan Hills scored a run in the first inning on two walks, a hit batter and Jordan Spears’ single, but trailed 2-1 after two.
Eric McKinney pitched three solid innings, allowing two hits, striking out two and hitting three. Cameron Graves pitched a 1-2-3 fourth, fanning two, and Arnold pitched a hitless fifth.
Sylvan Hills’ two losses came to Cabot on Friday and to Texarkana on Sunday.
Leader sports editor
Cabot’s junior Legion team went 2-0-1 in the North Little Rock Memorial Day tournament but missed out in bracket play.
Cabot opened with a win over Sylvan Hills, but after rallying from a 3-run deficit to Texarkana on Saturday to take a 6-5 lead, they allowed a run in the final inning and time expired on a 6-6 tie.
Texarkana jumped on starter Tyler Erickson for five runs over the first two innings, but Cabot hung in with two runs in the second.
Powell Bryant came within inches of cutting into that lead when his leadoff double in the fourth hit off the top of the fence in left-center. Bryant got picked off, but Cabot scored four in the fifth inning to take a 6-5 lead.
Joe Bryant singled with one out and Matt Evans walked. Andrew Reynolds followed with an RBI single and Erickson was safe on an error. Chase Thompson walked before Matthew Turner put Cabot on top with a two-run single to left.
C.J. Jacoby, who pitched four solid innings after coming on in the second, allowed a triple and a single in the sixth inning to tie it. The one hour, 50 minute time limit expired and a tie was declared. Cabot finished pool play with an 8-5 win over Lakeside on Sunday.
SYLVAN HILLS
Sylvan Hills sent 18 men to the plate in the third inning, scoring 13 of them in a 14-2 pasting of Lakeside on Saturday. Sylvan Hills picked up seven hits in the inning and took advantage of six walks and three hit batters.
Corey Arnold had a 2-run double, Greg Nosal had 2-run single, and Justin Cook, Jake Dillon and Mike Maddox each added run-scoring singles.
Austin Spears was hit by pitches in all four of his plate appearances.
Sylvan Hills scored a run in the first inning on two walks, a hit batter and Jordan Spears’ single, but trailed 2-1 after two.
Eric McKinney pitched three solid innings, allowing two hits, striking out two and hitting three. Cameron Graves pitched a 1-2-3 fourth, fanning two, and Arnold pitched a hitless fifth.
Sylvan Hills’ two losses came to Cabot on Friday and to Texarkana on Sunday.
SPORTS>> Split Gwatney team reaches semifinals
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
It was not a happy ending to the tournament but it was a pretty good start to the season.
Jacksonville Gwatney’s junior Ameri-can Legion team went 3-0 in pool play over the weekend at the North Little Rock Memorial Day Tournament at Burns Park.
Unfortunately, things went south in the semifinals of bracket play and their tournament run ended with a 16-0 walloping at the hands of Heber Springs.
Gwatney split up to form a Red team and a Gray team for the tourney. Gray went 1-2.
“That really weakened both teams,” said Gwatney coach Bob Hickingbotham. “But we had 23 kids 17 and under and we wanted to let as many play as we could.
“I was pleased with both teams. But we ran out of pitching yesterday.”
Gwatney Red reached bracket play by beating Pine Bluff 6-1 on Sunday in a game pitting two 2-0 teams for the right to advance to the semifinals. Gwatney did almost all off its damage in the first inning against Pine Bluff, taking advantage of four errors to score five runs.
Gwatney collected only two hits in the inning, the big one being Patrick Castleberry’s 2-run single. Castleberry went 2 of 3 with three RBI.
Stephen Swaggerty pitched five strong innings for Gwatney, allowing just two hits and striking out six. That allowed him to overcome eight walks. Daniel Thurman closed it out in the sixth, allowing a hit and striking out one.
While Pine Bluff was kicking the ball all over the infield, Gwatney was mostlysolid defensively. They committed two errors, but made some good plays as well. Castleberry threw out a runner trying to steal third and third baseman Caleb Mitchell made nice catch of a foul pop right up against the dugout in the second inning.
Shortstop Terrell Brown caught a pop up in shallow left in the sixth inning with his back to the infield.
Gwatney picked up five hits. Marshall Shipley had a single and an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
Gwatney Red opened the tourney with a 9-1 cruise past Maumelle on Friday night. Swaggerty also got the win in that one, allowing one hit over three innings, while fanning three. Castleberry belted a home run and a single and drove in two. A.J. Allen had a triple and an RBI. Thurman and Jarod Toney each doubled.
The Red team followed that up with a 6-5 win over North Little Rock on Saturday. Castleberry doubled twice and scored twice while driving in a run. Thurman added a single and an RBI. Toney got the win, surrendering seven hits and striking out four over four innings. Thurman came in to shut down NLR in the sixth, striking out all three batters he faced.
Gwatney missed out on some early chances on Monday against Heber Springs, which piled on with three runs in the second, five in the third and four each in the fifth and sixth in its 16-0 win. Gwatney’s lone hit was A.J. Allen’s double leading off the third.
Gwatney put its first two batters on in both the second and third innings, but couldn’t advance them. They ran into bad luck in the third when Caleb Mitchell’s liner right to the third baseman was turned into a double play.
“Heber Springs had a lot of older kids,” Hickingbotham said. “They had a bunch of 18- and 19-year-olds and they were hitting the ball hard.
“But this is going to be a good group of kids when we get them all together.”
GWATNEY GRAY
The Gray team suffered a dramatic loss but also enjoyed a dramatic win in going 1-2 in the tournament.
Gray opened with a 4-3 loss to Benton when its fifth-inning rally came up short after it scored three in the frame.
Tom Sanders, who pitched three innings of no-hit ball, had a single and an RBI. Alex Tucker, Hayden Simpson and Matt McAnally each singled and scored. Benton scored all its runs in the fourth.
McAnally was the hero in a 10-9 win over Texarkana ‘A’ on Saturday. After Zachary Roman had singled, McAnally delivered a walk-off double.
The Gray team fell to Lake Hamilton, 8-1, on Sunday.
Leader sports editor
It was not a happy ending to the tournament but it was a pretty good start to the season.
Jacksonville Gwatney’s junior Ameri-can Legion team went 3-0 in pool play over the weekend at the North Little Rock Memorial Day Tournament at Burns Park.
Unfortunately, things went south in the semifinals of bracket play and their tournament run ended with a 16-0 walloping at the hands of Heber Springs.
Gwatney split up to form a Red team and a Gray team for the tourney. Gray went 1-2.
“That really weakened both teams,” said Gwatney coach Bob Hickingbotham. “But we had 23 kids 17 and under and we wanted to let as many play as we could.
“I was pleased with both teams. But we ran out of pitching yesterday.”
Gwatney Red reached bracket play by beating Pine Bluff 6-1 on Sunday in a game pitting two 2-0 teams for the right to advance to the semifinals. Gwatney did almost all off its damage in the first inning against Pine Bluff, taking advantage of four errors to score five runs.
Gwatney collected only two hits in the inning, the big one being Patrick Castleberry’s 2-run single. Castleberry went 2 of 3 with three RBI.
Stephen Swaggerty pitched five strong innings for Gwatney, allowing just two hits and striking out six. That allowed him to overcome eight walks. Daniel Thurman closed it out in the sixth, allowing a hit and striking out one.
While Pine Bluff was kicking the ball all over the infield, Gwatney was mostlysolid defensively. They committed two errors, but made some good plays as well. Castleberry threw out a runner trying to steal third and third baseman Caleb Mitchell made nice catch of a foul pop right up against the dugout in the second inning.
Shortstop Terrell Brown caught a pop up in shallow left in the sixth inning with his back to the infield.
Gwatney picked up five hits. Marshall Shipley had a single and an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
Gwatney Red opened the tourney with a 9-1 cruise past Maumelle on Friday night. Swaggerty also got the win in that one, allowing one hit over three innings, while fanning three. Castleberry belted a home run and a single and drove in two. A.J. Allen had a triple and an RBI. Thurman and Jarod Toney each doubled.
The Red team followed that up with a 6-5 win over North Little Rock on Saturday. Castleberry doubled twice and scored twice while driving in a run. Thurman added a single and an RBI. Toney got the win, surrendering seven hits and striking out four over four innings. Thurman came in to shut down NLR in the sixth, striking out all three batters he faced.
Gwatney missed out on some early chances on Monday against Heber Springs, which piled on with three runs in the second, five in the third and four each in the fifth and sixth in its 16-0 win. Gwatney’s lone hit was A.J. Allen’s double leading off the third.
Gwatney put its first two batters on in both the second and third innings, but couldn’t advance them. They ran into bad luck in the third when Caleb Mitchell’s liner right to the third baseman was turned into a double play.
“Heber Springs had a lot of older kids,” Hickingbotham said. “They had a bunch of 18- and 19-year-olds and they were hitting the ball hard.
“But this is going to be a good group of kids when we get them all together.”
GWATNEY GRAY
The Gray team suffered a dramatic loss but also enjoyed a dramatic win in going 1-2 in the tournament.
Gray opened with a 4-3 loss to Benton when its fifth-inning rally came up short after it scored three in the frame.
Tom Sanders, who pitched three innings of no-hit ball, had a single and an RBI. Alex Tucker, Hayden Simpson and Matt McAnally each singled and scored. Benton scored all its runs in the fourth.
McAnally was the hero in a 10-9 win over Texarkana ‘A’ on Saturday. After Zachary Roman had singled, McAnally delivered a walk-off double.
The Gray team fell to Lake Hamilton, 8-1, on Sunday.
SPORTS>> No 3-peat for Jones
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
There will be a new state heptathlon champion this year for the first time since 2006. Two-time defending winner Whitney Jones of Searcy will not compete in the event at Cabot High School today and Thursday due to a leg injury.
Jones was planning on defending her crown as recently as last week, and was still listed on the Arkansas Activities Association’s entry sheet for the event when it was released on Tuesday.
Jones, who sustained a hamstring injury at the Panther meet earlier this spring, was forced to miss the 6A-East Conference meet, the state meet and last week’s Meet of Champs due to her injury.
“It’s a big disappointment; it’s sad, really,” Searcy track coach Charlie Carroll said. “But it happens. It seems like it happens to somebody almost every season, you just hope that it doesn’t happen to any of your kids.”
It has been an amazing run for Jones, since stunning the state during her sophomore season with a runaway win in the heptathlon. She scored 4,969 points on her way to winning that year, and backed it up last year with 4,885 points.
She won the long jump and 200-meter run on her way to her second straight heptathlon win in ’07 after setting the state triple jump record the same year with a 39-0.25 mark.
Entering her senior year of high school track with a scholarship to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville already in hand before the spring, expectations for Jones were understandably high.
After shocking the state with her heptathlon win as a sophomore, and a record-breaking junior year, Jones’ injury-plagued senior season has made for a disappointing ending to one of the most distinguished local high school track and field careers in quite some time.
Jones’ absence puts Pine Bluff senior Kanesha Hicks at the top of the favorites list. Hicks finished a distant second to Jones last year, but has projected herself to break the 5,000 point barrier this year.
The loss of Jones is a big blow to the Lady Lions, but all is not lost with sophomore Kristen Celsor and junior Shalisha Anthony in the show.
Celsor is coming off a big win in the high jump at the Meet of Champs last week. For Anthony, it will be her second trip to the event.
Last year, she finished 30th with 2,655 points, but Carroll looks for her to be higher up the charts on Thursday.
“We look for Kristen to have avery good day Thursday,” Carroll said. “Shalisha was there last year, and we’re hoping that she’s learned to pace herself better this year. We’re hoping for her to approach her events stronger.
“I believe she will do a lot better than last year.”
Other local entries to the heptathlon will be Beebe’s Taylor Brock and Alison Embrey, along with Cabot Lady Panther competitors Emily Carpenter and Marissa De La Paz.
It will be the first heptathlon for all four, as Beebe’s Taylor closes out her career for the Lady Badgers, while Lamar signee Carpenter takes part in her final high-school event for Cabot.
The Panthers have a pair of competitors with decathlon experience on the boys side. Senior Jared Santiago and junior Drew Burks will return to the event this year.
Burks finished mid-pack last year with 5,265 points, good enough for 23rd of the 44 competitors on hand. Santiago finished 35th last year with 4,280 points.
Leader sportswriter
There will be a new state heptathlon champion this year for the first time since 2006. Two-time defending winner Whitney Jones of Searcy will not compete in the event at Cabot High School today and Thursday due to a leg injury.
Jones was planning on defending her crown as recently as last week, and was still listed on the Arkansas Activities Association’s entry sheet for the event when it was released on Tuesday.
Jones, who sustained a hamstring injury at the Panther meet earlier this spring, was forced to miss the 6A-East Conference meet, the state meet and last week’s Meet of Champs due to her injury.
“It’s a big disappointment; it’s sad, really,” Searcy track coach Charlie Carroll said. “But it happens. It seems like it happens to somebody almost every season, you just hope that it doesn’t happen to any of your kids.”
It has been an amazing run for Jones, since stunning the state during her sophomore season with a runaway win in the heptathlon. She scored 4,969 points on her way to winning that year, and backed it up last year with 4,885 points.
She won the long jump and 200-meter run on her way to her second straight heptathlon win in ’07 after setting the state triple jump record the same year with a 39-0.25 mark.
Entering her senior year of high school track with a scholarship to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville already in hand before the spring, expectations for Jones were understandably high.
After shocking the state with her heptathlon win as a sophomore, and a record-breaking junior year, Jones’ injury-plagued senior season has made for a disappointing ending to one of the most distinguished local high school track and field careers in quite some time.
Jones’ absence puts Pine Bluff senior Kanesha Hicks at the top of the favorites list. Hicks finished a distant second to Jones last year, but has projected herself to break the 5,000 point barrier this year.
The loss of Jones is a big blow to the Lady Lions, but all is not lost with sophomore Kristen Celsor and junior Shalisha Anthony in the show.
Celsor is coming off a big win in the high jump at the Meet of Champs last week. For Anthony, it will be her second trip to the event.
Last year, she finished 30th with 2,655 points, but Carroll looks for her to be higher up the charts on Thursday.
“We look for Kristen to have avery good day Thursday,” Carroll said. “Shalisha was there last year, and we’re hoping that she’s learned to pace herself better this year. We’re hoping for her to approach her events stronger.
“I believe she will do a lot better than last year.”
Other local entries to the heptathlon will be Beebe’s Taylor Brock and Alison Embrey, along with Cabot Lady Panther competitors Emily Carpenter and Marissa De La Paz.
It will be the first heptathlon for all four, as Beebe’s Taylor closes out her career for the Lady Badgers, while Lamar signee Carpenter takes part in her final high-school event for Cabot.
The Panthers have a pair of competitors with decathlon experience on the boys side. Senior Jared Santiago and junior Drew Burks will return to the event this year.
Burks finished mid-pack last year with 5,265 points, good enough for 23rd of the 44 competitors on hand. Santiago finished 35th last year with 4,280 points.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
TOP STORY>> White County offices
County Judge
Dennis Gillam..............................2,221
Barth Grayson.............................1,880
Justice of the Peace
Dist. 2 Larry Marvin Fisher................81
Dist. 2 Bobby Burns.........................67
State Legislature
Dist. 49 Kieth Williams...................930
Dist. 49 Johnny Wheetley...............747
Searcy District Judge
Mark Pate ..................................2,875
Phyllis Worley..............................1,341
Greg Niblock...............................1,297
Robert Hudgins..............................833
Circuit Court Judge
Tom Hughes...............................4,115
Mark Derrick ..............................3,587
Dennis Gillam..............................2,221
Barth Grayson.............................1,880
Justice of the Peace
Dist. 2 Larry Marvin Fisher................81
Dist. 2 Bobby Burns.........................67
State Legislature
Dist. 49 Kieth Williams...................930
Dist. 49 Johnny Wheetley...............747
Searcy District Judge
Mark Pate ..................................2,875
Phyllis Worley..............................1,341
Greg Niblock...............................1,297
Robert Hudgins..............................833
Circuit Court Judge
Tom Hughes...............................4,115
Mark Derrick ..............................3,587
TOP STORY>> Khobar Towers: Survivor's Amazing Story
“I never heard an explosion that loud in my life,” recalled MSgt. Bob Oldham, describing his experiences during the Khobar Towers bombing more than a decade ago.
Oldham, a public affairs specialist with the 189th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base, spoke recently at the Jacksonville Museum of Military History as part of its continuing lecture series.
He was two weeks away from coming home on June 25, 1996 when terrorists blew up a fuel truck with an estimated 5,000 pounds of explosives parked alongside concrete barriers protecting Building 131 at the Khobar complex at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The blast ripped the face off the towers. The complex included several buildings that housed U.S. and allied forces. The blast killed 19 airmen and injured 400 at the complex.
Before the blast, Oldham, 28 at the time, was coming back to the towers complex after working a 12-hour shift at King Abdul Aziz Air Base, less than a mile away. There was no housing on the air base, which was adjacent to a commercial runway.
In the evening between 8 and 10, the temperature cooled down, and it was a time for exercise. Oldham was back in his room around 9:50 p.m. and crawled into bed to sleep. Oldham and his roommate were talking and looking forward to getting back stateside. Ten minutes later, there was the loudest explosion he had ever heard.
“I thought a plane went down into the towers. There was a bright flash of light, and the building shook. It felt like it was coming down. The room went pitch black with a dusty concrete haze in the room,” said Oldham.
The dormitory where he was staying was not one of the towers that sustained the direct blast. Even though his building did not face the towers that took a direct hit, the concussion blew the interior doors off the hinges and forced the broken window glass inside the rooms.
“We were on the first floor and our building remained intact. I put my feet on the floor and got glass in them. I grabbed a shirt and my dog tags and went to go get the door, and it wasn’t there,” recalled Oldham.
The building’s residents went to the center of dining facility for a head count. He said he still didn’t know what had happened and saw security forces running with weapons. The airmen didn’t have
weapons, but there was no ground fire.
The area had no trauma center, so the injured were treated in the dormitories and transported to the local hospital. Oldham did not know the airmen who were killed.
The sergeant said he finally went to sleep around 6 a.m. on the floor of the dormitory. Power was on the next day. The broken windows were replaced with Plexiglas and plywood. He was back in his room within two days.
According to Oldham, the explosion occurred when a fuel truck tried to enter the Khobar complex at a single entry-point gate and was turned away. Then the truck drove around and parked on the outside perimeter of the complex’s protective concrete barriers. Men were seen running from the truck and into a car immediately before the blast.
After the blast, the airmen were restricted to the Khobar complex for 48 hours. Then they could leave, swap troops and go to work.
“Talk about post-traumatic stress syndrome — it affected me for about a year. I did not want to go into public places or the mall. I would look for escape routes. When I heard a vehicle backfire, I hit the floor quickly,” Oldham recalled.
He continued, “I could have used some help. The guys over in Iraq, what they are seeing, they need some help.”
Oldham stayed at the Khobar complex for two-and-a-half more weeks and came home June 27.
He said it wasn’t al Qaeda that was responsible for the terrorist attack.
A grand jury indicted 13 members of pro-Iran Saudi Hezbollah and one unidentified member of Lebanese Hezbollah, or the Party of God.
Nine of the 14 people where charged with 46 separate criminal counts, including conspiracy to kill Americans and employees of the U.S.; use of weapons of mass destruction and destroying U.S. property.
He continued, “It was the most deadly since the Beirut bombings in the 1980’s at that time.” According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Oldham said, the terrorists carried out the bombing to try to get Americans out of Saudi Arabia.
“When we would go downtown, you’d get a lot of looks. You can’t blend in in a Muslim country,” said Oldham.
The Air Force abandoned King Abdul Aziz Air Base, and moved operations to Prince Sultan Air Base, in an isolated area of Saudi Arabia, he said.
Oldham, a public affairs specialist with the 189th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base, spoke recently at the Jacksonville Museum of Military History as part of its continuing lecture series.
He was two weeks away from coming home on June 25, 1996 when terrorists blew up a fuel truck with an estimated 5,000 pounds of explosives parked alongside concrete barriers protecting Building 131 at the Khobar complex at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The blast ripped the face off the towers. The complex included several buildings that housed U.S. and allied forces. The blast killed 19 airmen and injured 400 at the complex.
Before the blast, Oldham, 28 at the time, was coming back to the towers complex after working a 12-hour shift at King Abdul Aziz Air Base, less than a mile away. There was no housing on the air base, which was adjacent to a commercial runway.
In the evening between 8 and 10, the temperature cooled down, and it was a time for exercise. Oldham was back in his room around 9:50 p.m. and crawled into bed to sleep. Oldham and his roommate were talking and looking forward to getting back stateside. Ten minutes later, there was the loudest explosion he had ever heard.
“I thought a plane went down into the towers. There was a bright flash of light, and the building shook. It felt like it was coming down. The room went pitch black with a dusty concrete haze in the room,” said Oldham.
The dormitory where he was staying was not one of the towers that sustained the direct blast. Even though his building did not face the towers that took a direct hit, the concussion blew the interior doors off the hinges and forced the broken window glass inside the rooms.
“We were on the first floor and our building remained intact. I put my feet on the floor and got glass in them. I grabbed a shirt and my dog tags and went to go get the door, and it wasn’t there,” recalled Oldham.
The building’s residents went to the center of dining facility for a head count. He said he still didn’t know what had happened and saw security forces running with weapons. The airmen didn’t have
weapons, but there was no ground fire.
The area had no trauma center, so the injured were treated in the dormitories and transported to the local hospital. Oldham did not know the airmen who were killed.
The sergeant said he finally went to sleep around 6 a.m. on the floor of the dormitory. Power was on the next day. The broken windows were replaced with Plexiglas and plywood. He was back in his room within two days.
According to Oldham, the explosion occurred when a fuel truck tried to enter the Khobar complex at a single entry-point gate and was turned away. Then the truck drove around and parked on the outside perimeter of the complex’s protective concrete barriers. Men were seen running from the truck and into a car immediately before the blast.
After the blast, the airmen were restricted to the Khobar complex for 48 hours. Then they could leave, swap troops and go to work.
“Talk about post-traumatic stress syndrome — it affected me for about a year. I did not want to go into public places or the mall. I would look for escape routes. When I heard a vehicle backfire, I hit the floor quickly,” Oldham recalled.
He continued, “I could have used some help. The guys over in Iraq, what they are seeing, they need some help.”
Oldham stayed at the Khobar complex for two-and-a-half more weeks and came home June 27.
He said it wasn’t al Qaeda that was responsible for the terrorist attack.
A grand jury indicted 13 members of pro-Iran Saudi Hezbollah and one unidentified member of Lebanese Hezbollah, or the Party of God.
Nine of the 14 people where charged with 46 separate criminal counts, including conspiracy to kill Americans and employees of the U.S.; use of weapons of mass destruction and destroying U.S. property.
He continued, “It was the most deadly since the Beirut bombings in the 1980’s at that time.” According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Oldham said, the terrorists carried out the bombing to try to get Americans out of Saudi Arabia.
“When we would go downtown, you’d get a lot of looks. You can’t blend in in a Muslim country,” said Oldham.
The Air Force abandoned King Abdul Aziz Air Base, and moved operations to Prince Sultan Air Base, in an isolated area of Saudi Arabia, he said.
Friday, May 23, 2008
TOP STORY > >LRAFB holds ceremony to mark Memorial Day
More than 200 airmen from Little Rock Air Force Base’s 314th Airlift Wing gathered in Heritage Park on Friday for a mass formal retreat ceremony to remember fallen service members and to commemorate Memorial Day.
“We should remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice,” Bob Largent, Air Force Association chairman of the board and guest speaker at the event, said.
“All of us must step up and support our country,” he said. He commented on the professionalism and selflessness required of service members.
The base unveiled a memorial honoring fallen airmen earlier this month. The names of Sgt. John Self, 314th Security Forces Squadron, and Staff Sgt. Dustin Peters, 314th Logistics Readiness Squadron, who both died while fighting in Iraq, were placed on it.
“We should remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice,” Bob Largent, Air Force Association chairman of the board and guest speaker at the event, said.
“All of us must step up and support our country,” he said. He commented on the professionalism and selflessness required of service members.
The base unveiled a memorial honoring fallen airmen earlier this month. The names of Sgt. John Self, 314th Security Forces Squadron, and Staff Sgt. Dustin Peters, 314th Logistics Readiness Squadron, who both died while fighting in Iraq, were placed on it.
TOP STORY > >Ceremonies honor those who served
By EILEEN FELDMAN
Leader executive editor
Memorial Day marks the unofficial beginning of summer and is also the traditional day to remember one’s dearly departed by visiting family burial grounds and military cemeteries.
Military cemeteries will be having observances including Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery on Maryland Ave. in North Little Rock which will have a Memorial Day observance beginning at 11 a.m.
Air Force MSgt. David Farrier, who is helping to organize the event, said Gov. Mike Beebe is expected to attend and will speak.
He said Gen. Rowayne Schatz, Little Rock Air Force Base commander, and Sen. Mark Pryor are also expected to attend. The Patriot Guard will be on hand and an Air Force detail will be there in full dress blues.
Jacksonville’s city offices will be closed on Monday in observance of Memorial Day. Monday’s garbage, yard waste and recycling routes will be collected on Tuesday, and Tuesday’s routes will run on Wednesday.
The schedule for the remainder of the week remains the same. Landfill day for bulk items is Friday, May 30.
Sherwood city offices will be closed Monday. Trash routes for Monday will be picked up on Tuesday along with Tuesday’s routes.
Cabot’s municipal offices will be closed on Monday, but the city’s trash pickup schedule will remain the same for Monday’s pickups.
In Ward, all city offices will be closed but trash pickup routes will remain the same.
In Austin, city offices are closed and trash routes will be one day behind.
Lonoke city offices will be closed on Memorial Day. Trash routes will run as usual on Tuesday and Thursday.
Lonoke County offices and the courthouse will also be closed.
Searcy’s municipal offices will be closed on Monday.
Trash pickup for Monday will be on Tuesday and Tuesday’s pickup will be Wednesday. Recycling pickup for Monday will be picked up on Tuesday along with Tuesday’s regular recycling route.
Beebe’s municipal offices will be closed on Monday. Trash routes will remain the same for businesses but are one day behind for residential pickups according to a Waste Management spokesman.
Lower White River Museum State Park will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday in observance of Memorial Day. The park is located at 2009 Main St. in Des Arc. For more information, call 870-256-3711.
Pat O’ Brien, circuit-county clerk and voter registrar, said his office at 401 W. Markham in Little Rock, along with other Pulaski County offices, will be closed on Monday.
Leader executive editor
Memorial Day marks the unofficial beginning of summer and is also the traditional day to remember one’s dearly departed by visiting family burial grounds and military cemeteries.
Military cemeteries will be having observances including Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery on Maryland Ave. in North Little Rock which will have a Memorial Day observance beginning at 11 a.m.
Air Force MSgt. David Farrier, who is helping to organize the event, said Gov. Mike Beebe is expected to attend and will speak.
He said Gen. Rowayne Schatz, Little Rock Air Force Base commander, and Sen. Mark Pryor are also expected to attend. The Patriot Guard will be on hand and an Air Force detail will be there in full dress blues.
Jacksonville’s city offices will be closed on Monday in observance of Memorial Day. Monday’s garbage, yard waste and recycling routes will be collected on Tuesday, and Tuesday’s routes will run on Wednesday.
The schedule for the remainder of the week remains the same. Landfill day for bulk items is Friday, May 30.
Sherwood city offices will be closed Monday. Trash routes for Monday will be picked up on Tuesday along with Tuesday’s routes.
Cabot’s municipal offices will be closed on Monday, but the city’s trash pickup schedule will remain the same for Monday’s pickups.
In Ward, all city offices will be closed but trash pickup routes will remain the same.
In Austin, city offices are closed and trash routes will be one day behind.
Lonoke city offices will be closed on Memorial Day. Trash routes will run as usual on Tuesday and Thursday.
Lonoke County offices and the courthouse will also be closed.
Searcy’s municipal offices will be closed on Monday.
Trash pickup for Monday will be on Tuesday and Tuesday’s pickup will be Wednesday. Recycling pickup for Monday will be picked up on Tuesday along with Tuesday’s regular recycling route.
Beebe’s municipal offices will be closed on Monday. Trash routes will remain the same for businesses but are one day behind for residential pickups according to a Waste Management spokesman.
Lower White River Museum State Park will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday in observance of Memorial Day. The park is located at 2009 Main St. in Des Arc. For more information, call 870-256-3711.
Pat O’ Brien, circuit-county clerk and voter registrar, said his office at 401 W. Markham in Little Rock, along with other Pulaski County offices, will be closed on Monday.
TOP STORY > >Counting in Lonoke County is done early
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
Turnout for the Lonoke County primaries was up nearly 50 percent this year, according to Larry Clarke, chairman of the election commission, even though only about 20 percent of the county’s registered voters exercised their franchise.
He said 7,256 residents voted, compared to the usual 5,000. That’s out of about 34,000 registered voters.
About 20 percent of all ballots were cast in the early voting period, Clarke said.
He said the commission had the absentee paper ballots all scanned and in the computer by 3 p.m. election day, but didn’t announce those results until the polls closed at 7:30.
A runoff election June 10 will settle whether Ronald Evans or Bill Ryker will be the Lonoke County District 10 justice of the peace, and Austin voters will decide on a penny sales tax.
Early voting will begin June 3.
While there have been no challenges or requests for recounts, one race is still technically up in the air, he said. Janette Minton maintained her quorum court seat with a four-vote victory over Larry Ridgeway, but five overseas ballots have yet to be counted. Other absentee ballots have trended toward Minton.
Meanwhile, in a county where only a few years ago it took four days to get the result, and more recently final figures weren’t available until about 2 a.m., election officials began packing up about 9:30 Tuesday night.
Gone are the days when results from each township had to be hand posted on a giant grid, and in its place, a computer cycled continuously through the updated results in the lobby of the courthouse.
The large turnout was helped by interest in the circuit judge’s races and by a recent surge in voter registration in preparation for the November presidential race, Clarke speculated.
Nearly all votes in Lonoke County are cast on touch-screen computer voting machines. The only paper ballots are for absentee and provisional ballots, Clarke said.
Election officials from each of the 26 Lonoke County townships now bring a small electronic storage device not much bigger than a pack of cigarettes. At the courthouse, that device is plugged into the election commission’s laptop computer.
The results are downloaded instantaneously, and available to local observers immediately on the projection screen in the courthouse lobby.
“We were done about 9:30 p.m.,” said Clarke, but we were waiting for only two precincts since 8:30—Magness and England.”
He said they are farthest from the courthouse, but Clarke said he hoped they would get their election results into the courthouse more quickly in the future.
Clarke, who has been at the helm of the shift from paper to electronic voting, said the technology was 1950s when he started.
“It was totally out of control,” he said. Clarke says he convinced the other election commissioners and the quorum court to bring the county into the 21st Century.
“We’ve increased the confidence of the voters that when they vote, it’s going to count. We’re shooting results starting at 7:30 p.m. — no more of that two and three in the morning stuff.”
In the November general election, the only challenges for office within the county will be Republican Doug Hatcher against Democrat Walls McCreary to replace Democrat Lenville Evans as Dist. 15 state representative.
Also, Republican Sheriff Jim Roberson against Democrat Steve Rick for sheriff; Democratic County Clerk Dawn Porterfield against Republican Cassandra Pitts; Circuit Clerk Deborah Oglesby, a Democrat, against Susan Denise Browne, a Republican; Dist. 13 JP Mark Edwards, a Republican, against Kenny Ridgeway, a Democrat, and Dist. 5 JP Lynn Clarke, a Republican, against Barry Weathers, a Democrat.
“Everything else is uncontested,” Larry Clarke said of the county races.
Clarke, who installs swimming pools, says the amount of time and energy it takes to run elections is enormous and that he looks forward to a time in the not-so-distant future when someone else can take on the burden.
The general elections aren’t too hard on his swimming pool business, but the primaries fall at a time when people want swimming pools, he said.
Leader staff writer
Turnout for the Lonoke County primaries was up nearly 50 percent this year, according to Larry Clarke, chairman of the election commission, even though only about 20 percent of the county’s registered voters exercised their franchise.
He said 7,256 residents voted, compared to the usual 5,000. That’s out of about 34,000 registered voters.
About 20 percent of all ballots were cast in the early voting period, Clarke said.
He said the commission had the absentee paper ballots all scanned and in the computer by 3 p.m. election day, but didn’t announce those results until the polls closed at 7:30.
A runoff election June 10 will settle whether Ronald Evans or Bill Ryker will be the Lonoke County District 10 justice of the peace, and Austin voters will decide on a penny sales tax.
Early voting will begin June 3.
While there have been no challenges or requests for recounts, one race is still technically up in the air, he said. Janette Minton maintained her quorum court seat with a four-vote victory over Larry Ridgeway, but five overseas ballots have yet to be counted. Other absentee ballots have trended toward Minton.
Meanwhile, in a county where only a few years ago it took four days to get the result, and more recently final figures weren’t available until about 2 a.m., election officials began packing up about 9:30 Tuesday night.
Gone are the days when results from each township had to be hand posted on a giant grid, and in its place, a computer cycled continuously through the updated results in the lobby of the courthouse.
The large turnout was helped by interest in the circuit judge’s races and by a recent surge in voter registration in preparation for the November presidential race, Clarke speculated.
Nearly all votes in Lonoke County are cast on touch-screen computer voting machines. The only paper ballots are for absentee and provisional ballots, Clarke said.
Election officials from each of the 26 Lonoke County townships now bring a small electronic storage device not much bigger than a pack of cigarettes. At the courthouse, that device is plugged into the election commission’s laptop computer.
The results are downloaded instantaneously, and available to local observers immediately on the projection screen in the courthouse lobby.
“We were done about 9:30 p.m.,” said Clarke, but we were waiting for only two precincts since 8:30—Magness and England.”
He said they are farthest from the courthouse, but Clarke said he hoped they would get their election results into the courthouse more quickly in the future.
Clarke, who has been at the helm of the shift from paper to electronic voting, said the technology was 1950s when he started.
“It was totally out of control,” he said. Clarke says he convinced the other election commissioners and the quorum court to bring the county into the 21st Century.
“We’ve increased the confidence of the voters that when they vote, it’s going to count. We’re shooting results starting at 7:30 p.m. — no more of that two and three in the morning stuff.”
In the November general election, the only challenges for office within the county will be Republican Doug Hatcher against Democrat Walls McCreary to replace Democrat Lenville Evans as Dist. 15 state representative.
Also, Republican Sheriff Jim Roberson against Democrat Steve Rick for sheriff; Democratic County Clerk Dawn Porterfield against Republican Cassandra Pitts; Circuit Clerk Deborah Oglesby, a Democrat, against Susan Denise Browne, a Republican; Dist. 13 JP Mark Edwards, a Republican, against Kenny Ridgeway, a Democrat, and Dist. 5 JP Lynn Clarke, a Republican, against Barry Weathers, a Democrat.
“Everything else is uncontested,” Larry Clarke said of the county races.
Clarke, who installs swimming pools, says the amount of time and energy it takes to run elections is enormous and that he looks forward to a time in the not-so-distant future when someone else can take on the burden.
The general elections aren’t too hard on his swimming pool business, but the primaries fall at a time when people want swimming pools, he said.
TOP STORY > >Election in White County a mess
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
If it could have gone wrong with the election in White County, it did.
The machine that scanned the absentee ballots didn’t work. Some candidates were missing from the Union Township ballots and the poll workers couldn’t shut down the electronic voting machines because they weren’t set for daylight savings time.
Members of the White County Election Commission finally completed their counting at 1 a.m. Wednesday only to learn later that day that their tallies were wrong because they had used the wrong method to count the early votes. So Wednesday night they counted all the ballots again. The winners didn’t change, but the numbers did.
Now, Cathy Foster, who lost her District 1 race for the quorum court in the Democratic primary to incumbent Horace Taylor 146 to 145, has asked for a recount.
Dianne Thomas, who has been on the election commission for three years, said Friday that she has not been through an election with so many problems. But some were caused by mistakes that they have all learned from, and she expects the November election to run smoothly.
In the Democratic primary for the Arkansas House of Representatives, Kieth Williams won over Johnny Wheetley in District 49, 930 to 747. But there will be a runoff in District 58 between Jody Dickinson and L.J. Bryant. In that race, Dickinson received 253 votes to Bryant’s 199 while Jerry Carlew received 105 and Jamie Darling received 98.
There also will be a runoff for Searcy District Court judge between Mark Pate and Phyllis Worley, who received 2,875 and 1,341 respectively. Also in that four-way race were Greg Niblock, 1,297 votes and Robert Hudgins, 833 votes.
The runoff for the House of Representatives will be June 10, but the runoff in the judicial race will be held during the November general election.
Voters in White and Prairie counties got to choose the new circuit court judge. White County preferred Mark Derrick by a narrow margin, while Prairie County wanted Tom Hughes. But when votes from both counties were added together, Hughes came out the winner by 528 votes. In White County the vote was 3,112 to 3,095 in Derrick’s favor. But in Prairie County, the vote was 1,020 to 475 in Hughes’ favor.
In the Democratic primary for White County judge, Dennis Gillam won over Barth Grayson 2,221 to 1,880.
In the Republican primary race for District 2 of the quorum court, incumbent Larry Fisher lost to Bobby Burns, 81 to 67.
Thomas said a candidate brought to the election commission’s attention the problem with the counting of early voting ballots.
Something was noticeably wrong because the count showed that too many choices on the ballots were left unmarked.
A call to the secretary of state uncovered the problem, she said. With the electronic voting machines, the votes may be counted in two different ways. The ballots used by early voters are supposed to be counted after regular ballots and the tallying is supposed to be done from the computer chips in the PEBs called flashcards.
The commission counted the ballots first using information stored directly in the PEBs and as a result of those mistakes; some of the counts were twice as high as they should have been.
Thomas said the commission has learned that a ballot for early voting contains more data than a PEB can accurately process. Only the flashcard accurately processes early voting ballots.
White County has about 46,000 registered voters but Thomas said only about 12 percent voted in the primary.
Voter apathy is partly to blame, she said, adding that a low turnout was expected because the presidential primary was in February this year.
“I’ve had several people tell me they forgot,” she said. “They voted in February, but they forgot about this primary.”
Leader staff writer
If it could have gone wrong with the election in White County, it did.
The machine that scanned the absentee ballots didn’t work. Some candidates were missing from the Union Township ballots and the poll workers couldn’t shut down the electronic voting machines because they weren’t set for daylight savings time.
Members of the White County Election Commission finally completed their counting at 1 a.m. Wednesday only to learn later that day that their tallies were wrong because they had used the wrong method to count the early votes. So Wednesday night they counted all the ballots again. The winners didn’t change, but the numbers did.
Now, Cathy Foster, who lost her District 1 race for the quorum court in the Democratic primary to incumbent Horace Taylor 146 to 145, has asked for a recount.
Dianne Thomas, who has been on the election commission for three years, said Friday that she has not been through an election with so many problems. But some were caused by mistakes that they have all learned from, and she expects the November election to run smoothly.
In the Democratic primary for the Arkansas House of Representatives, Kieth Williams won over Johnny Wheetley in District 49, 930 to 747. But there will be a runoff in District 58 between Jody Dickinson and L.J. Bryant. In that race, Dickinson received 253 votes to Bryant’s 199 while Jerry Carlew received 105 and Jamie Darling received 98.
There also will be a runoff for Searcy District Court judge between Mark Pate and Phyllis Worley, who received 2,875 and 1,341 respectively. Also in that four-way race were Greg Niblock, 1,297 votes and Robert Hudgins, 833 votes.
The runoff for the House of Representatives will be June 10, but the runoff in the judicial race will be held during the November general election.
Voters in White and Prairie counties got to choose the new circuit court judge. White County preferred Mark Derrick by a narrow margin, while Prairie County wanted Tom Hughes. But when votes from both counties were added together, Hughes came out the winner by 528 votes. In White County the vote was 3,112 to 3,095 in Derrick’s favor. But in Prairie County, the vote was 1,020 to 475 in Hughes’ favor.
In the Democratic primary for White County judge, Dennis Gillam won over Barth Grayson 2,221 to 1,880.
In the Republican primary race for District 2 of the quorum court, incumbent Larry Fisher lost to Bobby Burns, 81 to 67.
Thomas said a candidate brought to the election commission’s attention the problem with the counting of early voting ballots.
Something was noticeably wrong because the count showed that too many choices on the ballots were left unmarked.
A call to the secretary of state uncovered the problem, she said. With the electronic voting machines, the votes may be counted in two different ways. The ballots used by early voters are supposed to be counted after regular ballots and the tallying is supposed to be done from the computer chips in the PEBs called flashcards.
The commission counted the ballots first using information stored directly in the PEBs and as a result of those mistakes; some of the counts were twice as high as they should have been.
Thomas said the commission has learned that a ballot for early voting contains more data than a PEB can accurately process. Only the flashcard accurately processes early voting ballots.
White County has about 46,000 registered voters but Thomas said only about 12 percent voted in the primary.
Voter apathy is partly to blame, she said, adding that a low turnout was expected because the presidential primary was in February this year.
“I’ve had several people tell me they forgot,” she said. “They voted in February, but they forgot about this primary.”
EDITORIAL >>Let’s go back to old ways
When the luckless people of Zimbabwe turn out in far greater proportions to vote in a hopeless election than people in this old democratic commonwealth, we have a problem. We will not know the precise figures for a while, but 18 percent or fewer of the eligible voters in Arkansas went to the polls Tuesday in the preferential primaries.
You may have to go back to 1924 to find a lower numerical turnout in a statewide biennial election. That year, some 194,000 persons voted in the preferential primary.
There are a few ameliorating factors. Since the conversion to four-year terms for state constitutional offices like governor, the off-election seasons tend to produce a lower turnout. Nothing drives people to the polls like a spirited race for governor. A larger factor was that not many people were moved to run for public office — any political office — in 2008. Up and down the ballot, from the U. S. Senate to justice of the peace, people ran unopposed. It was not because people were discouraged about running against deeply entrenched incumbent politicians. Men running for a seat for the first time got no opposition. That is not a good omen for democratic institutions.
Bifurcating the primaries so that we voted on presidential candidates in separate primaries on Feb. 5 did not help. That was Sen. Tracy Steele’s idea, and he persuaded the legislature and the governor to go along. The idea was that shoving the presidential voting into the first week of February would give Arkansas a far larger role in the selection of presidential nominees in both parties. Candidates and their retinues would come trooping into Arkansas like they do to New Hampshire and Iowa, producing an economic and public-relations bonanza for the state and driving up voter interest. It failed on every count.
Arkansas might have received more attention, at least in the Democratic race, if we picked our candidate last Tuesday. Surely, the legislature next January will rectify that mistake and move the presidential primaries to May again. It will save money, too. Statewide elections are expensive, and one is cheaper than two.
But that does not account for the political lethargy of the season. One culprit, we are convinced, is term limits, the constitutional restriction on longevity that is only now fully kicking in. By preventing long tenures in the Senate and House of Representatives, it was supposed bring droves of people into legislative elections. Powerful incumbents would no longer intimidate the ambitious.
But this is the result: Sixty-three of the 100 House seats in 2009 will be filled without a contest either in the primaries or the general election. Only three of the 17 Senate seats up for election are contested.
In 1996, in the early stage of term limits, 34 of the 100 seats in the House of Representatives were contested in the general election in November, but this year only 21 are contested. Six of the 17 Senate seats were contested by the other party but this year only one. So much for the rise of two-party politics.
The common explanation is that since representatives may serve only three two-year terms, those ambitious to serve tend to wait until the newly elected legislator completes his or her allotted terms (three in the House, two in the Senate), so once elected to the House or Senate a person is virtually assured of finishing his allotted terms without a contest. A House term now is effectively six years, a Senate term eight. Is that better democracy?
But something else is at work. Legislative office is not as attractive if you must surrender it when you have barely mastered the mechanics of lawmaking, and fewer and fewer people are taking the risk at all.
Candidates are increasingly winning legislative office simply by filing for the first time. In an ordinarily highly competitive Senate district in Little Rock last week, David Johnson won his first term without facing a Democratic or Republican opponent. He will enjoy eight years in the upper chamber without having to expose his ideas to the crucible of an election.
We can and almost certainly will cure the bifurcated elections next year by returning to a single primary, and maybe we are approaching the day that people will reconsider the false appeal of term limits and reinstate a full measure of democracy.
You may have to go back to 1924 to find a lower numerical turnout in a statewide biennial election. That year, some 194,000 persons voted in the preferential primary.
There are a few ameliorating factors. Since the conversion to four-year terms for state constitutional offices like governor, the off-election seasons tend to produce a lower turnout. Nothing drives people to the polls like a spirited race for governor. A larger factor was that not many people were moved to run for public office — any political office — in 2008. Up and down the ballot, from the U. S. Senate to justice of the peace, people ran unopposed. It was not because people were discouraged about running against deeply entrenched incumbent politicians. Men running for a seat for the first time got no opposition. That is not a good omen for democratic institutions.
Bifurcating the primaries so that we voted on presidential candidates in separate primaries on Feb. 5 did not help. That was Sen. Tracy Steele’s idea, and he persuaded the legislature and the governor to go along. The idea was that shoving the presidential voting into the first week of February would give Arkansas a far larger role in the selection of presidential nominees in both parties. Candidates and their retinues would come trooping into Arkansas like they do to New Hampshire and Iowa, producing an economic and public-relations bonanza for the state and driving up voter interest. It failed on every count.
Arkansas might have received more attention, at least in the Democratic race, if we picked our candidate last Tuesday. Surely, the legislature next January will rectify that mistake and move the presidential primaries to May again. It will save money, too. Statewide elections are expensive, and one is cheaper than two.
But that does not account for the political lethargy of the season. One culprit, we are convinced, is term limits, the constitutional restriction on longevity that is only now fully kicking in. By preventing long tenures in the Senate and House of Representatives, it was supposed bring droves of people into legislative elections. Powerful incumbents would no longer intimidate the ambitious.
But this is the result: Sixty-three of the 100 House seats in 2009 will be filled without a contest either in the primaries or the general election. Only three of the 17 Senate seats up for election are contested.
In 1996, in the early stage of term limits, 34 of the 100 seats in the House of Representatives were contested in the general election in November, but this year only 21 are contested. Six of the 17 Senate seats were contested by the other party but this year only one. So much for the rise of two-party politics.
The common explanation is that since representatives may serve only three two-year terms, those ambitious to serve tend to wait until the newly elected legislator completes his or her allotted terms (three in the House, two in the Senate), so once elected to the House or Senate a person is virtually assured of finishing his allotted terms without a contest. A House term now is effectively six years, a Senate term eight. Is that better democracy?
But something else is at work. Legislative office is not as attractive if you must surrender it when you have barely mastered the mechanics of lawmaking, and fewer and fewer people are taking the risk at all.
Candidates are increasingly winning legislative office simply by filing for the first time. In an ordinarily highly competitive Senate district in Little Rock last week, David Johnson won his first term without facing a Democratic or Republican opponent. He will enjoy eight years in the upper chamber without having to expose his ideas to the crucible of an election.
We can and almost certainly will cure the bifurcated elections next year by returning to a single primary, and maybe we are approaching the day that people will reconsider the false appeal of term limits and reinstate a full measure of democracy.
SPORTS>> Jackrabbits return plenty of talent on both sides of ball
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
The progression from year one to year two in the Jeff Jones era at Lonoke was apparent last season when the Jackrabbits reached the second round of the playoffs after a 4-6 record in 2006.
And last year’s 8-4 turnaround was achieved despite a season of emotional upheaval, which included the death ofquarterback Alex Cash in a car accident in June.
“We had a lot of adversity last year and we weren’t able to overcome it all,” said Jones, whose Jackrabbits concluded spring football practice this past week. “So whatever the Lord presents us this year, hopefully, we can overcome it.
“Last season actually turned out to be a blessing. Fighting everything we fought through and making it to the second round of the playoffs, I felt this team really dug down deep and held on.”
It was a topsy-turvy season, for sure. The Jackrabbits lost their first two games of the season — one, the result of seven turnovers, and the other when they squandered a 21-point lead to Hot Springs and lost by a point on a last-second Trojan touchdown.
They bounced back to win seven in a row, but lost quarterback Rollins Elam to a broken leg in the eighth game of the season and went 2-2 the rest of the way. Elam threw for more than 1,900 yards in those eight games, and accounted for 70 percent of his team’s offensive production. But his loss meant more than just yards gained and points scored, Jones said.
“Rollins came in and did an outstanding job last season,” Jones said. “We knew he was an outstanding quarterback, but was just waiting his turn. He is really a good leader. The two we played at home after we lost him, we won easy. But the two on the road, where leadership matters, we lost.
“I’m not saying we would have won those games, but I would have liked our chances a lot better.”
Elam is back, along with almost all of the skill players and most of the offensive line. In fact, Jones has nine starters back on both sides of the ball. The big losses to graduation are receiver/safety Alvin Farmer, fullback/linebacker Amir Fleming, tight end/safety Daniel Smith and offensive/defensive lineman Kiefer Vaughn.
“It will be hard to replace our safeties,” Jones said, noting that Farmer, an Arkansas Tech signee, picked off 10 passes a season ago. “Both (Farmer and Smith) were two-year starters.”
But with leading tackler Joel Harris taking over for Fleming at the middle linebacker spot, as well as replacing Smith at tight end, most of those other holes have been filled. Jones said the defensive line looks solid with Morgan Linton and Nick Head as the anchors.
Jones figures the offense will be explosive this season, with outstanding receivers Clarence Harris and Michael Howard (1,000 yards, 15 TDs) returning and with a stronger-but-every-bit-as-fast Brandon Smith back at tailback.
“He’s put on 35 pounds in the weight room,” Jones said. “He’s a legit 4.6 (seconds in the 40-yard dash). And our fullback Morgan Linton is back and both of those guys are very capable of carrying the ball.”
Add to that move-in Eric Graydon, who can dazzle with his 4.4 speed, and it’s easy to see why Jones thinks the scoreboard might be lighting up this fall.
Despite all that talent at the skill positions, Jones still cites the offensive line as “the strength of the team.”
“I like the seasoning of our line,” Jones said. “We have a pretty intricate blocking system (in the spread offense), but I feel pretty good about us being on the same page. The timing will get better and we’ll get stronger through the summer.”
Having two years under their belt in the new spread offense makes everything so much easier, Jones said. All the offensive and defensive packages are already installed. Now, he said, it’s just a matter of fine-tuning things for the fall.
“We’re not where we need to be,” he admitted. “But I see a little improvement every day. The guys are getting so much more comfortable with the system and just understanding the game of football better.”
Though most people think pass when they hear the word spread, Jones is hoping for balance in his attack again this season.
He’d like, he said, 50-50 production out of his running and passing game. He said his offense’s flexibility will be a big asset.
“Our offense is pretty inclusive,” he said. “We can do anything. We have the capability of an I-formation running game and the spread passing game out of any formation we have. We really like what we’re doing.”
Jones said having a multiple offense is not only a luxury, it’s vital.
“Today, as good as the defenses are, I don’t think you can sit on one formation unless you’re just that much better than the guys you’re playing” he insists. “It’s a necessity for us to be in something like that.”
Leader sports editor
The progression from year one to year two in the Jeff Jones era at Lonoke was apparent last season when the Jackrabbits reached the second round of the playoffs after a 4-6 record in 2006.
And last year’s 8-4 turnaround was achieved despite a season of emotional upheaval, which included the death ofquarterback Alex Cash in a car accident in June.
“We had a lot of adversity last year and we weren’t able to overcome it all,” said Jones, whose Jackrabbits concluded spring football practice this past week. “So whatever the Lord presents us this year, hopefully, we can overcome it.
“Last season actually turned out to be a blessing. Fighting everything we fought through and making it to the second round of the playoffs, I felt this team really dug down deep and held on.”
It was a topsy-turvy season, for sure. The Jackrabbits lost their first two games of the season — one, the result of seven turnovers, and the other when they squandered a 21-point lead to Hot Springs and lost by a point on a last-second Trojan touchdown.
They bounced back to win seven in a row, but lost quarterback Rollins Elam to a broken leg in the eighth game of the season and went 2-2 the rest of the way. Elam threw for more than 1,900 yards in those eight games, and accounted for 70 percent of his team’s offensive production. But his loss meant more than just yards gained and points scored, Jones said.
“Rollins came in and did an outstanding job last season,” Jones said. “We knew he was an outstanding quarterback, but was just waiting his turn. He is really a good leader. The two we played at home after we lost him, we won easy. But the two on the road, where leadership matters, we lost.
“I’m not saying we would have won those games, but I would have liked our chances a lot better.”
Elam is back, along with almost all of the skill players and most of the offensive line. In fact, Jones has nine starters back on both sides of the ball. The big losses to graduation are receiver/safety Alvin Farmer, fullback/linebacker Amir Fleming, tight end/safety Daniel Smith and offensive/defensive lineman Kiefer Vaughn.
“It will be hard to replace our safeties,” Jones said, noting that Farmer, an Arkansas Tech signee, picked off 10 passes a season ago. “Both (Farmer and Smith) were two-year starters.”
But with leading tackler Joel Harris taking over for Fleming at the middle linebacker spot, as well as replacing Smith at tight end, most of those other holes have been filled. Jones said the defensive line looks solid with Morgan Linton and Nick Head as the anchors.
Jones figures the offense will be explosive this season, with outstanding receivers Clarence Harris and Michael Howard (1,000 yards, 15 TDs) returning and with a stronger-but-every-bit-as-fast Brandon Smith back at tailback.
“He’s put on 35 pounds in the weight room,” Jones said. “He’s a legit 4.6 (seconds in the 40-yard dash). And our fullback Morgan Linton is back and both of those guys are very capable of carrying the ball.”
Add to that move-in Eric Graydon, who can dazzle with his 4.4 speed, and it’s easy to see why Jones thinks the scoreboard might be lighting up this fall.
Despite all that talent at the skill positions, Jones still cites the offensive line as “the strength of the team.”
“I like the seasoning of our line,” Jones said. “We have a pretty intricate blocking system (in the spread offense), but I feel pretty good about us being on the same page. The timing will get better and we’ll get stronger through the summer.”
Having two years under their belt in the new spread offense makes everything so much easier, Jones said. All the offensive and defensive packages are already installed. Now, he said, it’s just a matter of fine-tuning things for the fall.
“We’re not where we need to be,” he admitted. “But I see a little improvement every day. The guys are getting so much more comfortable with the system and just understanding the game of football better.”
Though most people think pass when they hear the word spread, Jones is hoping for balance in his attack again this season.
He’d like, he said, 50-50 production out of his running and passing game. He said his offense’s flexibility will be a big asset.
“Our offense is pretty inclusive,” he said. “We can do anything. We have the capability of an I-formation running game and the spread passing game out of any formation we have. We really like what we’re doing.”
Jones said having a multiple offense is not only a luxury, it’s vital.
“Today, as good as the defenses are, I don’t think you can sit on one formation unless you’re just that much better than the guys you’re playing” he insists. “It’s a necessity for us to be in something like that.”
SPORTS>>Numbers down, talent up
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The numbers are not overwhelming, but the talent returning is the best the program has seen in years.
The North Pulaski football Falcons ended their two-week run of spring practice this week, with numbers as high as 38 and as low as 27.
Player numbers have not been the only thing down this spring. There are currently three coaching vacancies among the North Pulaski staff, leaving the Falcons with just head coach Tony Bohannon and assistants Rich Rogers and Robbie Walker.
“This time of year, you (normally) have six of us,” Bohannon said. “You work three groups, and you have two coaches working with each one. So we’re half-staffed right now. That’s made it a little bit tough at times.”
Although the coaching situation is difficult, Bohannon says he is not concerned with the lower player turnout. He said the numbers don’t include most of next year’s sophomores, so the turnout should be higher come August.
Injuries have also played a role in the spring, most notably to starting returning senior Daniel Thurman, who is out with back problems. Junior Camaron Stoneking has also had back issues, but Bohannon expects both players to be back at full force by August.
A solid core of skill players are returning, including quarterbacks Andrew Allen and Marshall Shipley, along with senior running back Jerald Blair and sophomore Darius Cage. Senior Alex Harper will return at tight end and defensive end in the fall, and Huston Reagan will see time at fullback and linebacker this year. Defensive ace Arlando Hicks will also return for his senior year of football in August.
Four returning linemen return to the offense, including 6-foot, 9-inch, 325-pound Cliff Copeland. Copeland tipped the scales at over 350 during certain times last year, but Bohannon says he has done well with his exercise regimen over the past several months, which has him in much better shape over this time a year ago.
“This is the most returning starters we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Bohannon said. “We just hope we can keep them all together. There are some days when we will be thin on linemen and other days where we’re thin on backs. But the one thing about it is, the young guys that are out there, they get worked in, and a lot of them are guys that haven’t got a lot of work before. Everybody’s getting some this spring.”
Changes in both the offensive and defensive schemes have taken center stage for the Falcons this spring. The defense has been working on going to a five-man front, while the offense is adding another running back.
The Falcons have used primarily a wing-T formation for most of Bohannon’s tenure, but are now switching to the newly revived dead-T formation.
“The T we ran before was more of a veer-type,” Bohannon said. “Where you break it down and run the pro set out of it. What we’re going to now is more like what you see out of Cabot and Beebe. We’ll see if we can hang on to the ball a little bit more and get a little more out of it.”
The plan is to alleviate fatigue as much as possible on both sides of the ball, but Bohannon said that may not be a reality at the interior. Senior linemen Jared Pflaster and Dylan Shefield will most likely line up at both offense and defense throughout the season, and Copeland could even see time on the D-line in the fall.
Bohannon has high expectations for senior running back/defensive back Jerald Blair. Blair was the only Falcon to make All-State last year, and has lined up in the spring at running back and quarterback, along with his defensive job in the secondary.
Bohannon said it is more than just the Falcon faithful who have their eyes on Blair.
“He has gotten a lot of mail this spring,” Bohannon said. “We’ll see how it goes. They’re checking transcripts and all of that good stuff. We’ll have to see how it all works out.”
Leader sportswriter
The numbers are not overwhelming, but the talent returning is the best the program has seen in years.
The North Pulaski football Falcons ended their two-week run of spring practice this week, with numbers as high as 38 and as low as 27.
Player numbers have not been the only thing down this spring. There are currently three coaching vacancies among the North Pulaski staff, leaving the Falcons with just head coach Tony Bohannon and assistants Rich Rogers and Robbie Walker.
“This time of year, you (normally) have six of us,” Bohannon said. “You work three groups, and you have two coaches working with each one. So we’re half-staffed right now. That’s made it a little bit tough at times.”
Although the coaching situation is difficult, Bohannon says he is not concerned with the lower player turnout. He said the numbers don’t include most of next year’s sophomores, so the turnout should be higher come August.
Injuries have also played a role in the spring, most notably to starting returning senior Daniel Thurman, who is out with back problems. Junior Camaron Stoneking has also had back issues, but Bohannon expects both players to be back at full force by August.
A solid core of skill players are returning, including quarterbacks Andrew Allen and Marshall Shipley, along with senior running back Jerald Blair and sophomore Darius Cage. Senior Alex Harper will return at tight end and defensive end in the fall, and Huston Reagan will see time at fullback and linebacker this year. Defensive ace Arlando Hicks will also return for his senior year of football in August.
Four returning linemen return to the offense, including 6-foot, 9-inch, 325-pound Cliff Copeland. Copeland tipped the scales at over 350 during certain times last year, but Bohannon says he has done well with his exercise regimen over the past several months, which has him in much better shape over this time a year ago.
“This is the most returning starters we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Bohannon said. “We just hope we can keep them all together. There are some days when we will be thin on linemen and other days where we’re thin on backs. But the one thing about it is, the young guys that are out there, they get worked in, and a lot of them are guys that haven’t got a lot of work before. Everybody’s getting some this spring.”
Changes in both the offensive and defensive schemes have taken center stage for the Falcons this spring. The defense has been working on going to a five-man front, while the offense is adding another running back.
The Falcons have used primarily a wing-T formation for most of Bohannon’s tenure, but are now switching to the newly revived dead-T formation.
“The T we ran before was more of a veer-type,” Bohannon said. “Where you break it down and run the pro set out of it. What we’re going to now is more like what you see out of Cabot and Beebe. We’ll see if we can hang on to the ball a little bit more and get a little more out of it.”
The plan is to alleviate fatigue as much as possible on both sides of the ball, but Bohannon said that may not be a reality at the interior. Senior linemen Jared Pflaster and Dylan Shefield will most likely line up at both offense and defense throughout the season, and Copeland could even see time on the D-line in the fall.
Bohannon has high expectations for senior running back/defensive back Jerald Blair. Blair was the only Falcon to make All-State last year, and has lined up in the spring at running back and quarterback, along with his defensive job in the secondary.
Bohannon said it is more than just the Falcon faithful who have their eyes on Blair.
“He has gotten a lot of mail this spring,” Bohannon said. “We’ll see how it goes. They’re checking transcripts and all of that good stuff. We’ll have to see how it all works out.”
SPORTS>> Sports just one of Pastor’s loves, talents
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Some high school athletes think that being a champion is the only thing that matters. For 17-year-old Hannah Pastor, championships are just one more thing that make it fun to be a kid.
Abundant Life’s standout track star will return in the fall as the only female state champion in school history, and also as the
Lady Owls leading scorer from last season in basketball.
Pastor qualified for this week’s Meet of Champs at Lake Hamilton with her second state track title in as many years.
Last year, she broke the 3A state record in the 400-meter dash. That record was broken by Shiloh Christian’s Lindsey Roe this year, but Pastor responded by simply setting another record — this time, in the triple jump.
Her leap of 35 feet, 1 inch was a new 3A state record, and earned Pastor her second straight state championship. Although she did not repeat in the 400, she did run second in the event. She also picked up a second place in the 200 meters.
Pastor qualified for the Meet of Champs with her record-setting triple jump, and bested that mark by four inches on Wednesday with a 35-5 jump at the Meet of Champs, good for sixth-place overall. She also finished fourth in the 400-meter with a time of 1:00.27.
Pastor says the past couple of weeks have been tumultuous, but worth every bit of the hard work.
“After I went to state, it didn’t really hit me until the next day,” Pastor said. “Coach (Tim Ballard) was like, OK, we have to start training for the Meet of Champs now. So we started practicing and running 400’s like crazy so I would be ready.”
Ballard lists Pastor as the mosttalented overall athlete the school has ever seen. Abundant Life has no track facilities, only a strip of a vacant parking lot between the school and nearby church, but Ballard said that matters little to Pastor.
“The thing about Hannah is, all that extra hubbub about championships and all that other stuff doesn’t mean much to her,” Ballard said. “She’s already said that she doesn’t have much desire to do athletics in college. She’s more about enjoying life and having fun and doing whatever comes up.”
After winning her state title in the 400 last season as a sophomore, Pastor switched focus to the triple jump for the ’08 season. That move paid off, as she earned her second-straight trip to the prestigious Meet of Champs event.
“That’s the thing about her, too.” Ballard said. “Whatever she wants to do, she does. Whatever she feels like doing, she gets done. Last year, we focused on the 400, and she won the state championship in the 400. This year, we focused on the triple jump, and she won the state championship, and then got runner-up finishes both years, also. So whatever her focus is for the time being, that is what she excels at.”
Ballard noted that, because of her easy-going nature, motivation can sometimes be an issue for Pastor. He said he even has to go so far as to try to make her mad.
“Coach Ballard has taught me so much,” Pastor said. “He’s taught me how to channel my competitive energy, and how to get my adrenaline going, because sometimes I’m a laid-back person, and I just like to have fun.”
She also credited head basketball coach Justin Moseley with helping her keep a positive attitude when things get tough.
“He’s always been a very supportive coach, so I’m really thankful for both of them,” she said. “I love them both.”
But Pastor’s athletic prowess is only part of the story. There are also other things that make her who she is, such as perfect grades, devout spirituality and love of the arts.
She has matched her athletic achievements in the classroom. Pastor holds a 4.0 GPA, and scored 22 on her ACT exam. She is leaning toward Oklahoma State, but has not ruled out in-state universities such as Central Arkansas and Harding, and is also considering the University of Arkansas.
Even with sports and academics, Pastor still finds time to pursue her artistic endeavors.
She entered the Arkansas Flower and Garden show last year, where her painting earned a third-place ribbon. She sold one of her paintings for $250 at Art for the Heart.
She also plays guitar and writes her own songs.
Pastor is interested in marine biology as a career, but is unsure of living on one of the coasts thousands of miles from home.
Meteorology — specifically, storm-chasing — is another passion of hers.
With all those interests, Pastor said she is unsure whether she will continue her sports career in college.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I’m not really looking into doing sports in college. But it all depends on what the Lord has for me.
Whatever He gives me or whatever path He’s chosen for me to take is what I’ll do.
“I don’t know how it’s going to go because I really do have a competitive nature.”
She has one year left at Abundant Life and plans on savoring the camaraderie at the school.
“It’s really because we are a Christ-ian school, and because we have the Lord here,” Pastor said. “That’s God — God brings people together like that. I feel so privileged and so lucky to go to a school like this. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Leader sportswriter
Some high school athletes think that being a champion is the only thing that matters. For 17-year-old Hannah Pastor, championships are just one more thing that make it fun to be a kid.
Abundant Life’s standout track star will return in the fall as the only female state champion in school history, and also as the
Lady Owls leading scorer from last season in basketball.
Pastor qualified for this week’s Meet of Champs at Lake Hamilton with her second state track title in as many years.
Last year, she broke the 3A state record in the 400-meter dash. That record was broken by Shiloh Christian’s Lindsey Roe this year, but Pastor responded by simply setting another record — this time, in the triple jump.
Her leap of 35 feet, 1 inch was a new 3A state record, and earned Pastor her second straight state championship. Although she did not repeat in the 400, she did run second in the event. She also picked up a second place in the 200 meters.
Pastor qualified for the Meet of Champs with her record-setting triple jump, and bested that mark by four inches on Wednesday with a 35-5 jump at the Meet of Champs, good for sixth-place overall. She also finished fourth in the 400-meter with a time of 1:00.27.
Pastor says the past couple of weeks have been tumultuous, but worth every bit of the hard work.
“After I went to state, it didn’t really hit me until the next day,” Pastor said. “Coach (Tim Ballard) was like, OK, we have to start training for the Meet of Champs now. So we started practicing and running 400’s like crazy so I would be ready.”
Ballard lists Pastor as the mosttalented overall athlete the school has ever seen. Abundant Life has no track facilities, only a strip of a vacant parking lot between the school and nearby church, but Ballard said that matters little to Pastor.
“The thing about Hannah is, all that extra hubbub about championships and all that other stuff doesn’t mean much to her,” Ballard said. “She’s already said that she doesn’t have much desire to do athletics in college. She’s more about enjoying life and having fun and doing whatever comes up.”
After winning her state title in the 400 last season as a sophomore, Pastor switched focus to the triple jump for the ’08 season. That move paid off, as she earned her second-straight trip to the prestigious Meet of Champs event.
“That’s the thing about her, too.” Ballard said. “Whatever she wants to do, she does. Whatever she feels like doing, she gets done. Last year, we focused on the 400, and she won the state championship in the 400. This year, we focused on the triple jump, and she won the state championship, and then got runner-up finishes both years, also. So whatever her focus is for the time being, that is what she excels at.”
Ballard noted that, because of her easy-going nature, motivation can sometimes be an issue for Pastor. He said he even has to go so far as to try to make her mad.
“Coach Ballard has taught me so much,” Pastor said. “He’s taught me how to channel my competitive energy, and how to get my adrenaline going, because sometimes I’m a laid-back person, and I just like to have fun.”
She also credited head basketball coach Justin Moseley with helping her keep a positive attitude when things get tough.
“He’s always been a very supportive coach, so I’m really thankful for both of them,” she said. “I love them both.”
But Pastor’s athletic prowess is only part of the story. There are also other things that make her who she is, such as perfect grades, devout spirituality and love of the arts.
She has matched her athletic achievements in the classroom. Pastor holds a 4.0 GPA, and scored 22 on her ACT exam. She is leaning toward Oklahoma State, but has not ruled out in-state universities such as Central Arkansas and Harding, and is also considering the University of Arkansas.
Even with sports and academics, Pastor still finds time to pursue her artistic endeavors.
She entered the Arkansas Flower and Garden show last year, where her painting earned a third-place ribbon. She sold one of her paintings for $250 at Art for the Heart.
She also plays guitar and writes her own songs.
Pastor is interested in marine biology as a career, but is unsure of living on one of the coasts thousands of miles from home.
Meteorology — specifically, storm-chasing — is another passion of hers.
With all those interests, Pastor said she is unsure whether she will continue her sports career in college.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I’m not really looking into doing sports in college. But it all depends on what the Lord has for me.
Whatever He gives me or whatever path He’s chosen for me to take is what I’ll do.
“I don’t know how it’s going to go because I really do have a competitive nature.”
She has one year left at Abundant Life and plans on savoring the camaraderie at the school.
“It’s really because we are a Christ-ian school, and because we have the Lord here,” Pastor said. “That’s God — God brings people together like that. I feel so privileged and so lucky to go to a school like this. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
SPORTS>> Celsor, Anderson win
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
PEARCY — Beebe’s James Anderson and Searcy’s Kristen Celsor won the high jump competition at the Meet of Champs at Lake Hamilton High School on Wednesday.
Anderson’s leap of 6 feet, 9 inches edged out Chris Gragg of Warren. Celsor won with a jump of 5-5.
Cabot’s Amber Rizoff took sixth (5-2), while Searcy’s Shalisha Anthony was 10th (4-8).
The Meet of Champs features the winners of each event in all seven classifications from the state track meets last week, plus a select group of extras.
Abundant Life’s Hannah Pastor, who set the 3A state meet record in winning the triple jump last week, finished sixth on Wednesday with a jump of 35-5, four inches better than her state meet jump. Pastor also took fourth in the 400 meters (1 minute, 27-hundredths of a second).
The Cabot boys earned a second-place finish in the 1,600-meter relay (3:24.68) and third in the 3,200-meter relay (8:13.22).
The Cabot girls finished second in the 3,200-meter relay (9:57.82).
Emily Carpenter of Cabot was fourth in the 3,200 meters (11:48.57), while Cabot’s Brandon Tucker was fifth in the boys 3,200 (10:09.32).
Reilly McAfee of Cabot took home a sixth in the 800 meters (2:25.42), while Searcy’s Kyle Campbell was sixth in the 100-meter hurdles (15.36). Taking seventh place in the long jump was Searcy’s Josh McFalls (20-9.25). Anthony also took seventh in the 200 meters (26.20).
Searcy senior star and University of Arkansas signee Whitney Jones missed the Meet of Champs after sitting out the state meet with a hamstring injury. Jones won four Meet of Champs events last year. Jones is planning on defending her heptathlon title next week at Cabot. Jones has won the event the past two seasons.
Leader sportswriter
PEARCY — Beebe’s James Anderson and Searcy’s Kristen Celsor won the high jump competition at the Meet of Champs at Lake Hamilton High School on Wednesday.
Anderson’s leap of 6 feet, 9 inches edged out Chris Gragg of Warren. Celsor won with a jump of 5-5.
Cabot’s Amber Rizoff took sixth (5-2), while Searcy’s Shalisha Anthony was 10th (4-8).
The Meet of Champs features the winners of each event in all seven classifications from the state track meets last week, plus a select group of extras.
Abundant Life’s Hannah Pastor, who set the 3A state meet record in winning the triple jump last week, finished sixth on Wednesday with a jump of 35-5, four inches better than her state meet jump. Pastor also took fourth in the 400 meters (1 minute, 27-hundredths of a second).
The Cabot boys earned a second-place finish in the 1,600-meter relay (3:24.68) and third in the 3,200-meter relay (8:13.22).
The Cabot girls finished second in the 3,200-meter relay (9:57.82).
Emily Carpenter of Cabot was fourth in the 3,200 meters (11:48.57), while Cabot’s Brandon Tucker was fifth in the boys 3,200 (10:09.32).
Reilly McAfee of Cabot took home a sixth in the 800 meters (2:25.42), while Searcy’s Kyle Campbell was sixth in the 100-meter hurdles (15.36). Taking seventh place in the long jump was Searcy’s Josh McFalls (20-9.25). Anthony also took seventh in the 200 meters (26.20).
Searcy senior star and University of Arkansas signee Whitney Jones missed the Meet of Champs after sitting out the state meet with a hamstring injury. Jones won four Meet of Champs events last year. Jones is planning on defending her heptathlon title next week at Cabot. Jones has won the event the past two seasons.
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