By NATE ALLEN
Nate Allen Media Services
FAYETTEVILLE – He’s not the Arkansas Razorbacks’ best back, just their biggest.
And in football, there are times when it’s better to be bigger than to be the best.
So it was big news when the University of Arkansas announced Thursday that 6-2, 248-pound sophomore running back Broderick Green’s transfer has gone through without a hitch. The former University of Southern California Trojan will have 2009 football eligibility without having to endure the redshirt year usually mandated when a player transfers from one NCAA Division I school to another.
Based on the illness of his grandmother, which forced Green to return close to home, the Little Rock native and Pulaski Academy alum appealed to the NCAA for 2009 football eligibility upon transferring to the UA last January.
He was at USC for two years, redshirting in 2007 and netting 168 yards and three touchdowns in six games as a reserve in 2008.
“Late yesterday afternoon, I got a call from Jon Fagg, our director of compliance that Broderick Green has been granted immediate eligibility which I am excited about and know he’s fired up about,” Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino told media on Thursday. “The timing couldn’t be better as far as knowing before we get started.”
The Razorbacks begin preseason practice next Thursday, now with a big goal-line presence they sorely lacked last year.
Starting tailback Michael Smith is a great back — good enough to net 1,072 yards in 10 games in 2008 and be voted 2009 preseason first-team All-SEC by both coaches and media.
But it was hard for the 5-7, 173-pound Smith to score on fourth-and-goal or power through the pile on third-and-one.
If he shows the burst to propel it, Green has size that’s hard to stop.
“He does gives us that big running back that we need,” Arkansas running back Tim Horton said Thursday. “He is 248 pounds, and last year we struggled in goal-line and short-yardage situations. A lot of it didn’t have to do with scheme, a lot of it didn’t have to do with how hard the back was running. A lot of it had to do with (the fact that) once they were able to get their hands on a 165-pound running back, he went down pretty easy.
“Well, with a 250-pounder hopefully that will be a little more difficult.”
Offensive coordinator Paul Petrino says a bigger back is simply better equipped to withstand short-yardage poundings.
“When you see the short-yardage, goal-line situations,” Paul Petrino said, “you can’t account for everybody. There’s going to be one guy that shows up late and bangs you, but when you are a big back running downhill, you can run right through that, fall forward and get the first down.
“I think that’s definitely something where he’ll help and I think he’s one of our better pass protectors and can also catch the ball really well out of the backfield.”
Those are big plusses, while his USC background brings some intrigue to capture Hog fans’ imaginations. Frankly, though, from observing Green’s 2009 Arkansas spring practices, several came away with more questions than answers. They weren’t alone. Green did, too.
“He wasn’t very happy with his spring ball and really wanted to talk to me about that,” Bobby Petrino said. “I basically said, ‘Hey, you just need to relax a little bit. I didn’t give you as many reps in spring ball as I would have if I knew you were eligible and ready to go. I think we saw what you can do.’
“He did really show a lot of power on short-yardage and goal-line running, and I think he can play full time, too. He’s a very good pass protector.”
Green’s blue period may be over, now that he has the chance to play right away.
“I am excited about the opportunity to play for Arkansas this season,” Green was quoted in a UA press release. “I appreciate the support of Coach Petrino, the rest of the coaching staff and the athletic department administration in helping make this outcome a reality.
“I’m looking forward to competing for the first time as an Arkansas Razorback.”
Friday, July 31, 2009
SPORTS >> Local athletes head to Junior Olympics
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
Thirteen track hopefuls from the local area are representing Team Elite at the AAU Junior Olympic national championships, which began Saturday and runs through Aug. 8 at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
The athletes qualified for nationals at the regional qualifying meet at Joplin last month.
Team Elite is coached by Searcy’s Wilford Jones, whose daughter, Khaila Jones will be trying for her second consecutive national AAU title in the triple jump. Jones, sister of former Searcy track sensation and current Arkansas Razorback Whitney Jones, won the triple jump at the Junior Olympics last August in the midget division.
She will compete in the sub-youth division this year and comes in with the third-best qualifying mark at 33 feet, three inches.
Darrielle McQueen of Talahassee, Fla., qualified with a leap of 35-00.25.
Jones will also vie in the long jump.
Jacksonville’s Daijah Harris is set to compete in the sub-bantam division of the 200 meters on Tuesday and in the long jump on Thursday.
Nikeya Mosby of Jacksonville and Taylor Person took part in the 1,500 midget walk on Sunday. Person, of North Little Rock, finished ninth with a time of 10 minutes, 29.67 seconds. Mosby was right behind at 10th with a time of 10:35.58.
Jacksonville’s Nikia Williams will race in the sub midget 100 meters. Williams will join Amber Lockhart and Mosby in Friday’s midget 4 x 100 semifinal relay.
Cetra Dale will race in the 100 preliminaries and will compete in the sub-bantam long jump on Thursday. Dale brings an 11th-best qualifying mark of 11-10.50.
Kiara Vaughn qualified for the 100 Mondat and 200 on Tuesday in the bantam division.
Deja Hale will battle in the sub-youth 200 on Tuesday, while Ebony Cox will take part in the 4 x 100 intermediate relay semifinals on Friday.
Leader sports editor
Thirteen track hopefuls from the local area are representing Team Elite at the AAU Junior Olympic national championships, which began Saturday and runs through Aug. 8 at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
The athletes qualified for nationals at the regional qualifying meet at Joplin last month.
Team Elite is coached by Searcy’s Wilford Jones, whose daughter, Khaila Jones will be trying for her second consecutive national AAU title in the triple jump. Jones, sister of former Searcy track sensation and current Arkansas Razorback Whitney Jones, won the triple jump at the Junior Olympics last August in the midget division.
She will compete in the sub-youth division this year and comes in with the third-best qualifying mark at 33 feet, three inches.
Darrielle McQueen of Talahassee, Fla., qualified with a leap of 35-00.25.
Jones will also vie in the long jump.
Jacksonville’s Daijah Harris is set to compete in the sub-bantam division of the 200 meters on Tuesday and in the long jump on Thursday.
Nikeya Mosby of Jacksonville and Taylor Person took part in the 1,500 midget walk on Sunday. Person, of North Little Rock, finished ninth with a time of 10 minutes, 29.67 seconds. Mosby was right behind at 10th with a time of 10:35.58.
Jacksonville’s Nikia Williams will race in the sub midget 100 meters. Williams will join Amber Lockhart and Mosby in Friday’s midget 4 x 100 semifinal relay.
Cetra Dale will race in the 100 preliminaries and will compete in the sub-bantam long jump on Thursday. Dale brings an 11th-best qualifying mark of 11-10.50.
Kiara Vaughn qualified for the 100 Mondat and 200 on Tuesday in the bantam division.
Deja Hale will battle in the sub-youth 200 on Tuesday, while Ebony Cox will take part in the 4 x 100 intermediate relay semifinals on Friday.
SPORTS >> Favre to Rhinos a win-win option
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
If you are a Minnesota Vikings fan and find yourself wearing a purple Brett Favre jersey today, or even have one in your closet, shame on you. Unless you bought it for the sheer novelty of it, that is.
The dashing, risk-taking Favre has always been an unretiring sort. But none of us had this in mind when we described him that way.
I suppose there was always a chance the 39-year-old NFL record holder for touchdown passes, completions, yards passing — and interceptions — was going to suit up and play for the Vikings this year. I’m sure he probably had that in his mind when he began teasing Viking fans back in June.
But it’s hard not to think that on some level — either consciously or unconsciously — he simply wanted to jump start the media frenzy that ended with his “retirement” from the Jets in February. This guy is the Sarah Palin of the NFL: He needs a camera and a microphone in front of him like Pete Rose needs a bookie or John Daly needs another pallet of M&Ms.
If you don’t have a Brett Favre Google alert set up, or if you are one of the many people whose Brett Favre alert has gone off so many times it’s fried your computer, you may have missed the latest decision by the once-hallowed, now-ridiculed (former?)
NFL great. He has … let me check the wire for any updates … retired.
This column may never see the light of day, of course, given that I am writing it on Wednesday for Saturday publication. A guy can pack a lot of press conferences into 72 hours. Rest assured, we’ll take one last look at the AP wire before we go to press on Friday evening.
I couldn’t help but laugh when I read in this morning’s paper that Favre called his retirement the “hardest decision I ever made.” Yeah, and skiing was the hardest thing I ever did — until I’d done it seven or eight times.
Favre announced his original retirement in March of 2008, reversing that decision only three weeks later. It took him until June to actually ask to be reinstated by the Packers. By that time, of course, Green Bay had gone forward with its plans for new young quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
After a prolonged public spat, the Packers understandably refused to give Favre an unconditional release, which would have allowed him to play for division rival Minnesota, and the Vikings wanted him badly. In August, the Packers traded Favre to the New York Jets, who, after an 8-3 start, lost four of their final five games. Favre tossed eight interceptions over the final four games of the season, ensuring the Jets would miss the playoffs.
Displaced Jets quarterback Chad Pennington, by the way, led his new team, the Miami Dolphins, to the playoffs with an 11-5 record. Pennington finished second in the league with a 97.4 quarterback rating. Favre was 23rd with a mediocre 81.0 mark.
Favre proceeded to retire again this February, a decision he held fast to after shoulder surgery in May. But in June, apparently distraught over not receiving any Google alerts with his name in them, Favre dropped a hint that he was considering coming back.
True to his history, Favre spent the next month-and-a-half teasing the Vikings, and his indecision may even have been legitimate in this instance, given that he was feeling out the viability of his shoulder. But it’s hard to give this guy the benefit of the doubt anymore.
Meanwhile, though, the futures of quarterback Tavaris Jackson, who had a respectable 95.4 quarterback rating last season for the Vikings, and Sage Rosenfels were put on the back burner to deal with another round of Favre ego-massaging and press manipulation.
I don’t mean to knock the guy. I used to be a fan. And, no, I don’t resent him because my girlfriend likes the way he looks in a pair of Wranglers. It’s just: Enough already. Get gone. Stay gone. And let us remember you for all the thrills you gave us and not for your shameful end-of-career machinations.
But Brett, if you find you just can’t take the silence, that you require brighter light than the mere sun can provide, may I recommend the Arkansas Rhinos as your next gig?
Owner Oscar Malone is trying to infuse some enthusiasm for his team into Jacksonville-area football fans. It’s a win-win if I ever saw one. Favre gets an injection of life-sustaining publicity (I promise we’ll cover the heck out of it!) and the Rhinos get a full blitz media campaign and packed stands the rest of the season.
Here’s hoping this column sets off a Google alert on Brett’s computer and he gives coach Malone a call.
Leader sports editor
If you are a Minnesota Vikings fan and find yourself wearing a purple Brett Favre jersey today, or even have one in your closet, shame on you. Unless you bought it for the sheer novelty of it, that is.
The dashing, risk-taking Favre has always been an unretiring sort. But none of us had this in mind when we described him that way.
I suppose there was always a chance the 39-year-old NFL record holder for touchdown passes, completions, yards passing — and interceptions — was going to suit up and play for the Vikings this year. I’m sure he probably had that in his mind when he began teasing Viking fans back in June.
But it’s hard not to think that on some level — either consciously or unconsciously — he simply wanted to jump start the media frenzy that ended with his “retirement” from the Jets in February. This guy is the Sarah Palin of the NFL: He needs a camera and a microphone in front of him like Pete Rose needs a bookie or John Daly needs another pallet of M&Ms.
If you don’t have a Brett Favre Google alert set up, or if you are one of the many people whose Brett Favre alert has gone off so many times it’s fried your computer, you may have missed the latest decision by the once-hallowed, now-ridiculed (former?)
NFL great. He has … let me check the wire for any updates … retired.
This column may never see the light of day, of course, given that I am writing it on Wednesday for Saturday publication. A guy can pack a lot of press conferences into 72 hours. Rest assured, we’ll take one last look at the AP wire before we go to press on Friday evening.
I couldn’t help but laugh when I read in this morning’s paper that Favre called his retirement the “hardest decision I ever made.” Yeah, and skiing was the hardest thing I ever did — until I’d done it seven or eight times.
Favre announced his original retirement in March of 2008, reversing that decision only three weeks later. It took him until June to actually ask to be reinstated by the Packers. By that time, of course, Green Bay had gone forward with its plans for new young quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
After a prolonged public spat, the Packers understandably refused to give Favre an unconditional release, which would have allowed him to play for division rival Minnesota, and the Vikings wanted him badly. In August, the Packers traded Favre to the New York Jets, who, after an 8-3 start, lost four of their final five games. Favre tossed eight interceptions over the final four games of the season, ensuring the Jets would miss the playoffs.
Displaced Jets quarterback Chad Pennington, by the way, led his new team, the Miami Dolphins, to the playoffs with an 11-5 record. Pennington finished second in the league with a 97.4 quarterback rating. Favre was 23rd with a mediocre 81.0 mark.
Favre proceeded to retire again this February, a decision he held fast to after shoulder surgery in May. But in June, apparently distraught over not receiving any Google alerts with his name in them, Favre dropped a hint that he was considering coming back.
True to his history, Favre spent the next month-and-a-half teasing the Vikings, and his indecision may even have been legitimate in this instance, given that he was feeling out the viability of his shoulder. But it’s hard to give this guy the benefit of the doubt anymore.
Meanwhile, though, the futures of quarterback Tavaris Jackson, who had a respectable 95.4 quarterback rating last season for the Vikings, and Sage Rosenfels were put on the back burner to deal with another round of Favre ego-massaging and press manipulation.
I don’t mean to knock the guy. I used to be a fan. And, no, I don’t resent him because my girlfriend likes the way he looks in a pair of Wranglers. It’s just: Enough already. Get gone. Stay gone. And let us remember you for all the thrills you gave us and not for your shameful end-of-career machinations.
But Brett, if you find you just can’t take the silence, that you require brighter light than the mere sun can provide, may I recommend the Arkansas Rhinos as your next gig?
Owner Oscar Malone is trying to infuse some enthusiasm for his team into Jacksonville-area football fans. It’s a win-win if I ever saw one. Favre gets an injection of life-sustaining publicity (I promise we’ll cover the heck out of it!) and the Rhinos get a full blitz media campaign and packed stands the rest of the season.
Here’s hoping this column sets off a Google alert on Brett’s computer and he gives coach Malone a call.
SPORTS >> BMX motocross track opening in Cabot
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The fast-growing sport of BMX motocross racing is coming to Cabot.
The Cabot BMX Complex will open next weekend at Lonoke County Regional Park on Aug. 8, when it hosts state qualifier motos.
BMX motocross bicycle racing is similar to its motorcycle counterpart. Courses are set up with steep turns and jumps. Riders compete in three different races, or motos, with a winner for each moto along with an overall winner. The overall winner is the rider with the best finishing average of the three events.
The complex, which is located on Willie Ray Drive in Cabot, originally had an astronomical price tag of over $250,000, but thanks to the resourcefulness of local resident Shawn Basinger, the track will open its gates at a cost of under $10,000.
“It’s a lot like when we started building the (youth) football fields; it was done on a shoestring budget,” said Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams. “When we had Carter-Burgess estimate what it would cost, that’s what they came up with, but Shawn got it going for a low cost, and we’re very happy with that. Shawn has such a passion for it, and he’s really taken ownership with it.”
Once Basinger got the green light on the project from Williams in late 2008, he came up with a challenging and innovative design. Complete with a steep, 20-feet high starting hill and a dual-lane section Basinger calls “the decision maker,” the 1,100-foot-long track is set up unlike any other track in the country.
“I sat out there a lot of days just visualizing how we could do it,” said Basinger. “There was nothing out there. The city street department has really been a big help. Cabot Parks and Rec. and the mayor have also been a big help. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what we did in the amount of time that we did it with the funds that we had.”
The track will be sanctioned by the American Bicycle Association, which hosts events across the country.
Motocross BMX has been around since the early 1970’s, but has only begun to grow in this area significantly in recent years. It was featured as an event at the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing, and the Cabot park is the second such facility to open in Arkansas in as many years.
There are now five BMX tracks in the state. Maumelle, Banzai BMX at Burns Park and the track in Fayetteville have all been around for a number of years, with the addition of the Ward Nail Park BMX Track in Lowell opening last year.
For Florida native Basinger, the process has been a labor of love. He began competing as a teenager, and now his children are involved in the sport. Thirteen-year-old son Jaggar is a regular rider, and 10-year-old daughter Kaleigh also rides on occasion.
Basinger knows the ins and outs of promoting such a facility after running the Banzai BMX track at Burns Park a few years back. The largest cost was hauling dirt to the site. Cabot Advertising and Promotion donated $7,600 to help get the dirt to the location, and the ABA chipped in by sending expert track builder Eric Bress from Colorado to the area at no cost.
Bress took Basinger’s design, and within four days, the Cabot BMX complex was born.
“It just started coming together,” said Basinger. “We started piling up dirt and got it ready.”
Shawn and his wife Angie Basinger have just now begun to attract sponsorship interest from various businesses in the area.
“If you look at Cabot, it seemed as if it were impossible to even get that track here to begin with,” said Angie Basinger. “From what I’ve been told, all of the plans were for thousands and thousands of dollars to get here. And when we started, we had zero dollars.
“Now, we still have zero dollars, but God has caused everything to kind of fall into place.”
There are two different divisions of BMX motocross. There’s the cruiser class — which consists of slower, 24-inch bikes — and the normal 20-inch class. The 20-inch class has three levels: novice, intermediate and expert.
“No one sits on the bench. If you don’t like your results, you can go train to get better,” said Basinger. “It’s up to you to fix it. It doesn’t have to be a high-end bike starting out. Anybody can come out and race with what they’ve got.”
There is virtually no age limit to the sport. Riders can start out as young as three-years-old, but can still be competing in their sixties.
“If you can keep a kid involved with BMX or something of that nature, it will keep kids from drinking or smoking,” said Angie Basinger. “Our 13-year-old is the same way. Jaggar has no desire to get into the things that a lot of kids do when they have no hobby or no sport. That’s what we want to accomplish. We want to reach the kids that don’t fit into team sports.”
Basinger originally planned on holding an event this weekend in preparation for next week’s state-qualifier motos, but rain throughout the week forced a cancellation. The state qualifier will pull riders from around Arkansas, as well as surrounding states.
There are also plans to hold a celebrity race on opening night, with Williams as one of the participants.
“I have a mountain bike, so I’m ready, but I’m also afraid of heights,” said Williams. “If I do it, I will have to have plenty of padding. As fun, I may even add a little extra something, anything to drum up attention for the track.”
Leader sportswriter
The fast-growing sport of BMX motocross racing is coming to Cabot.
The Cabot BMX Complex will open next weekend at Lonoke County Regional Park on Aug. 8, when it hosts state qualifier motos.
BMX motocross bicycle racing is similar to its motorcycle counterpart. Courses are set up with steep turns and jumps. Riders compete in three different races, or motos, with a winner for each moto along with an overall winner. The overall winner is the rider with the best finishing average of the three events.
The complex, which is located on Willie Ray Drive in Cabot, originally had an astronomical price tag of over $250,000, but thanks to the resourcefulness of local resident Shawn Basinger, the track will open its gates at a cost of under $10,000.
“It’s a lot like when we started building the (youth) football fields; it was done on a shoestring budget,” said Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams. “When we had Carter-Burgess estimate what it would cost, that’s what they came up with, but Shawn got it going for a low cost, and we’re very happy with that. Shawn has such a passion for it, and he’s really taken ownership with it.”
Once Basinger got the green light on the project from Williams in late 2008, he came up with a challenging and innovative design. Complete with a steep, 20-feet high starting hill and a dual-lane section Basinger calls “the decision maker,” the 1,100-foot-long track is set up unlike any other track in the country.
“I sat out there a lot of days just visualizing how we could do it,” said Basinger. “There was nothing out there. The city street department has really been a big help. Cabot Parks and Rec. and the mayor have also been a big help. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what we did in the amount of time that we did it with the funds that we had.”
The track will be sanctioned by the American Bicycle Association, which hosts events across the country.
Motocross BMX has been around since the early 1970’s, but has only begun to grow in this area significantly in recent years. It was featured as an event at the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing, and the Cabot park is the second such facility to open in Arkansas in as many years.
There are now five BMX tracks in the state. Maumelle, Banzai BMX at Burns Park and the track in Fayetteville have all been around for a number of years, with the addition of the Ward Nail Park BMX Track in Lowell opening last year.
For Florida native Basinger, the process has been a labor of love. He began competing as a teenager, and now his children are involved in the sport. Thirteen-year-old son Jaggar is a regular rider, and 10-year-old daughter Kaleigh also rides on occasion.
Basinger knows the ins and outs of promoting such a facility after running the Banzai BMX track at Burns Park a few years back. The largest cost was hauling dirt to the site. Cabot Advertising and Promotion donated $7,600 to help get the dirt to the location, and the ABA chipped in by sending expert track builder Eric Bress from Colorado to the area at no cost.
Bress took Basinger’s design, and within four days, the Cabot BMX complex was born.
“It just started coming together,” said Basinger. “We started piling up dirt and got it ready.”
Shawn and his wife Angie Basinger have just now begun to attract sponsorship interest from various businesses in the area.
“If you look at Cabot, it seemed as if it were impossible to even get that track here to begin with,” said Angie Basinger. “From what I’ve been told, all of the plans were for thousands and thousands of dollars to get here. And when we started, we had zero dollars.
“Now, we still have zero dollars, but God has caused everything to kind of fall into place.”
There are two different divisions of BMX motocross. There’s the cruiser class — which consists of slower, 24-inch bikes — and the normal 20-inch class. The 20-inch class has three levels: novice, intermediate and expert.
“No one sits on the bench. If you don’t like your results, you can go train to get better,” said Basinger. “It’s up to you to fix it. It doesn’t have to be a high-end bike starting out. Anybody can come out and race with what they’ve got.”
There is virtually no age limit to the sport. Riders can start out as young as three-years-old, but can still be competing in their sixties.
“If you can keep a kid involved with BMX or something of that nature, it will keep kids from drinking or smoking,” said Angie Basinger. “Our 13-year-old is the same way. Jaggar has no desire to get into the things that a lot of kids do when they have no hobby or no sport. That’s what we want to accomplish. We want to reach the kids that don’t fit into team sports.”
Basinger originally planned on holding an event this weekend in preparation for next week’s state-qualifier motos, but rain throughout the week forced a cancellation. The state qualifier will pull riders from around Arkansas, as well as surrounding states.
There are also plans to hold a celebrity race on opening night, with Williams as one of the participants.
“I have a mountain bike, so I’m ready, but I’m also afraid of heights,” said Williams. “If I do it, I will have to have plenty of padding. As fun, I may even add a little extra something, anything to drum up attention for the track.”
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Top Story>>Rural area appears set to support new district
IN SHORT: Survey says Bayou Meto patrons prefer Jacksonville 2-to-1 as PCSSD plans to decide boundary lines.
By John Hofheimer
Leader senior staff writer
By a margin of 2-to-1, Bayou Meto Elementary School attendance-zone respondents prefer affiliation with the proposed Jacksonville-area school district over remaining with the Pulaski County Special School District.
This could clear the way for the PCSSD board to include the Bayou Meto attendance zone in the Jacksonville-area district when the board meets in a special session at 6 this evening at the Dixon Road central office in Little Rock.
According to a breakdown of questionnaires returned at Thursday’s town meeting at Bayou Meto Elementary, 53 area residents prefer to affiliate with Jacksonville, 24 wanted to stay with PCSSD and two preferred splitting that part of the district with Hwy. 107 being the dividing line.
That’s according to PCSSD’s tabulation of the results by Brenda Bowles, assistant superintendent for pupil and equity services.
As many as 200 people attended the hearing at Bayou Meto to discuss the boundary issue.
Supporters of a Jacksonville district seek boundaries that would include all of Jacksonville, Pulaski County north and west of Jacksonville and part of Pulaski County and a small part of Lonoke County in the South Bend area. It would include the entire massive Bayou Meto attendance zone, which has about 800 students.
The options regarding Bayou Meto seem to be: 1. All students go with the Jacksonville district. 2. All of the students stay with PCSSD. 3. Those living west of Hwy. 107 would attend school in PCSSD and those living east of Hwy. 107 would attend the Jacksonville district.
According to the agenda, made available Tuesday afternoon, there will be a report tonight regarding the proposed separation of the Jacksonville school district from PCSSD, with input from Superintendent Rob McGill, members of his cabinet and the district’s desegregation attorney, Sam Jones among others, as well as a spokesman for the Jacksonville Education Foundation and the Office of Desegregation Monitors, the Joshua Intervenors and the Knight Intervenors.
Under new business, there is “approval of a resolution regarding boundaries for the proposed Jacksonville school district and also approval of a resolution to discontinue negotiations for the separation of the proposed Jacksonville school district.
The schools in a Jacksonville district would include Arnold Drive Elementary, Homer Adkins, Jacksonville Elementary, Murrell Taylor, Pinewood, Tolleson, Warren Dupree, Jacksonville Middle School, North Pulaski High School, Jacksonville High School and perhaps Bayou Meto Elementary.
Also at the special meeting, the board will hear a report regarding the comprehensive assessment of central office administrative staff by Key Concepts, Inc.
There will be a consent-agenda item on personnel and also a certified-personnel hearing.
By John Hofheimer
Leader senior staff writer
By a margin of 2-to-1, Bayou Meto Elementary School attendance-zone respondents prefer affiliation with the proposed Jacksonville-area school district over remaining with the Pulaski County Special School District.
This could clear the way for the PCSSD board to include the Bayou Meto attendance zone in the Jacksonville-area district when the board meets in a special session at 6 this evening at the Dixon Road central office in Little Rock.
According to a breakdown of questionnaires returned at Thursday’s town meeting at Bayou Meto Elementary, 53 area residents prefer to affiliate with Jacksonville, 24 wanted to stay with PCSSD and two preferred splitting that part of the district with Hwy. 107 being the dividing line.
That’s according to PCSSD’s tabulation of the results by Brenda Bowles, assistant superintendent for pupil and equity services.
As many as 200 people attended the hearing at Bayou Meto to discuss the boundary issue.
Supporters of a Jacksonville district seek boundaries that would include all of Jacksonville, Pulaski County north and west of Jacksonville and part of Pulaski County and a small part of Lonoke County in the South Bend area. It would include the entire massive Bayou Meto attendance zone, which has about 800 students.
The options regarding Bayou Meto seem to be: 1. All students go with the Jacksonville district. 2. All of the students stay with PCSSD. 3. Those living west of Hwy. 107 would attend school in PCSSD and those living east of Hwy. 107 would attend the Jacksonville district.
According to the agenda, made available Tuesday afternoon, there will be a report tonight regarding the proposed separation of the Jacksonville school district from PCSSD, with input from Superintendent Rob McGill, members of his cabinet and the district’s desegregation attorney, Sam Jones among others, as well as a spokesman for the Jacksonville Education Foundation and the Office of Desegregation Monitors, the Joshua Intervenors and the Knight Intervenors.
Under new business, there is “approval of a resolution regarding boundaries for the proposed Jacksonville school district and also approval of a resolution to discontinue negotiations for the separation of the proposed Jacksonville school district.
The schools in a Jacksonville district would include Arnold Drive Elementary, Homer Adkins, Jacksonville Elementary, Murrell Taylor, Pinewood, Tolleson, Warren Dupree, Jacksonville Middle School, North Pulaski High School, Jacksonville High School and perhaps Bayou Meto Elementary.
Also at the special meeting, the board will hear a report regarding the comprehensive assessment of central office administrative staff by Key Concepts, Inc.
There will be a consent-agenda item on personnel and also a certified-personnel hearing.
EDITORIAL >>Congress must pass health reform
If you’re like most Americans, your mind is made up on what to do about health care: make it affordable and more available.
It took a while to get a response but finally, after being dragged kicking and screaming to the drawing board, six senators from the finance committee, not including Sen. Blanche Lincoln, are talking about how the government will pay for health-care reform.
They could start by having the insurance industry help. While many industries have declined, insurance companies continue to make money. Between 2000 and 2007, the largest insurance providers made almost $11 billion. They are now reporting increased profits even as the number of customers falls while unemployment rises. Those are profits made on the backs of the sickest Americans: children with cancer and leukemia, frail elderly and the disabled.
No other middle man in America is unregulated the way the health insurance industry has been since its creation in the 1930s.
Even used car salesmen have to respond to consumer protection boards and attorney generals if a customer complains. Other players in the health industry risk lawsuits when they fail to provide adequate care to patients or put them at increased risk of illness, including pharmaceutical businesses, hospitals and doctors. But insurance companies don’t.
During a press conference last week, President Obama at long last recognized the elephant in the room, most notably by calling the work he’s pushing Congress to do “health insurance reform.” Even while recognizing the problem, he was careful to not be overly critical. Instead, he blamed doctors, saying many now make decisions based on how much money they will make for a given procedure.
“I make a lot more money if I take this kid’s tonsils out,” Obama said in imitation of a doctor. He should have pointed out that insurance companies make those payment structures and therefore dictate how the medical industry operates.
To defend itself, the insurance industry has spent millions of dollars to launch an argument that a public plan would lead to rationed health care. They’ve given birth to a specter of government bureaucrats who would put a price tag on life if they were given the power.
But it’s insurance companies that already do just that based on how much they are willing to pay for care. Companies deny patients life-saving procedures and drugs if they are viewed as risks to the company and their profit margins. They now dictate who, where and how you will get your care.
A lot of obstetricians and other specialists have stopped taking insurance because of failure to reimburse them adequately.
Many families are forced to pay exorbitant out-of-pocket fees to avoid haggling with insurance companies during a time that should be worry-free.
The onus is on Congress to help reduce health-care expenses that have pushed more Americans into bankruptcy than any other cause. Sen. Lincoln has said every Arkansan should have access to insurance, but as the finance committee continues to debate health care in meetings she’s not attending, North Metro Medical Center’s emergency room will stay full of the uninsured, and middle-class taxpayers will keep subsidizing them.
—Aliya Feldman
It took a while to get a response but finally, after being dragged kicking and screaming to the drawing board, six senators from the finance committee, not including Sen. Blanche Lincoln, are talking about how the government will pay for health-care reform.
They could start by having the insurance industry help. While many industries have declined, insurance companies continue to make money. Between 2000 and 2007, the largest insurance providers made almost $11 billion. They are now reporting increased profits even as the number of customers falls while unemployment rises. Those are profits made on the backs of the sickest Americans: children with cancer and leukemia, frail elderly and the disabled.
No other middle man in America is unregulated the way the health insurance industry has been since its creation in the 1930s.
Even used car salesmen have to respond to consumer protection boards and attorney generals if a customer complains. Other players in the health industry risk lawsuits when they fail to provide adequate care to patients or put them at increased risk of illness, including pharmaceutical businesses, hospitals and doctors. But insurance companies don’t.
During a press conference last week, President Obama at long last recognized the elephant in the room, most notably by calling the work he’s pushing Congress to do “health insurance reform.” Even while recognizing the problem, he was careful to not be overly critical. Instead, he blamed doctors, saying many now make decisions based on how much money they will make for a given procedure.
“I make a lot more money if I take this kid’s tonsils out,” Obama said in imitation of a doctor. He should have pointed out that insurance companies make those payment structures and therefore dictate how the medical industry operates.
To defend itself, the insurance industry has spent millions of dollars to launch an argument that a public plan would lead to rationed health care. They’ve given birth to a specter of government bureaucrats who would put a price tag on life if they were given the power.
But it’s insurance companies that already do just that based on how much they are willing to pay for care. Companies deny patients life-saving procedures and drugs if they are viewed as risks to the company and their profit margins. They now dictate who, where and how you will get your care.
A lot of obstetricians and other specialists have stopped taking insurance because of failure to reimburse them adequately.
Many families are forced to pay exorbitant out-of-pocket fees to avoid haggling with insurance companies during a time that should be worry-free.
The onus is on Congress to help reduce health-care expenses that have pushed more Americans into bankruptcy than any other cause. Sen. Lincoln has said every Arkansan should have access to insurance, but as the finance committee continues to debate health care in meetings she’s not attending, North Metro Medical Center’s emergency room will stay full of the uninsured, and middle-class taxpayers will keep subsidizing them.
—Aliya Feldman
EDITORIAL >>Air base wins big
Little Rock Air Force Base sent four C-130s and some 140 airmen for the weeklong air rodeo competition at McChord Air Force Base in Washington state.
They returned triumphantly to Little Rock Air Force Base on Saturday with nine trophies — including two best overall and seven C-130 awards — outpacing the teams the base sent two years ago, the last time the competition was held.
Our teams showed tremendous skill in all categories, competing against the toughest airmen from around the country and the world. It was a grueling week, but well worth it:
The 19th Airlift Wing won best overall C-130 team and best overall aerial port team.
The wing’s aerial-port crew also won for the best C-130 engine-running off-load team and the best C-130 in-transit visibility team.
The 314 Airlift Wing had the best C-130H post-flight team.
The Team Little Rock maintenance squad picked up three awards. The best C-130 maintenance team award went to the 19th Airlift Wing, J-model. They also brought home the best C-130 pre-flight team.
Another award the 19th Airlift Wing won was best C-130 short field landing crew. The 314 Airlift Wing was awarded the best back-landing combat off-load crew.
LRAFB showed the world that the best airlifters are made right here at the Rock. The men and women who serve our nation with distinction have made us proud. Thanks also to Col. Gregory Otey, 19th Airlift Wing commander, and Col. Charles Hyde, 314th commander, for an outstanding job. We salute you.
They returned triumphantly to Little Rock Air Force Base on Saturday with nine trophies — including two best overall and seven C-130 awards — outpacing the teams the base sent two years ago, the last time the competition was held.
Our teams showed tremendous skill in all categories, competing against the toughest airmen from around the country and the world. It was a grueling week, but well worth it:
The 19th Airlift Wing won best overall C-130 team and best overall aerial port team.
The wing’s aerial-port crew also won for the best C-130 engine-running off-load team and the best C-130 in-transit visibility team.
The 314 Airlift Wing had the best C-130H post-flight team.
The Team Little Rock maintenance squad picked up three awards. The best C-130 maintenance team award went to the 19th Airlift Wing, J-model. They also brought home the best C-130 pre-flight team.
Another award the 19th Airlift Wing won was best C-130 short field landing crew. The 314 Airlift Wing was awarded the best back-landing combat off-load crew.
LRAFB showed the world that the best airlifters are made right here at the Rock. The men and women who serve our nation with distinction have made us proud. Thanks also to Col. Gregory Otey, 19th Airlift Wing commander, and Col. Charles Hyde, 314th commander, for an outstanding job. We salute you.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
EDITORIAL >>Taxpayers robbed again
Since the mid-reign of Gov. Mike Huckabee nine years ago, an Arkansas public official who has been on the job for a number of years and is in the know could draw his or her state pension and stay on the job at full salary. Word of the little loophole created by a 1999 law spread so that now more than 300 state government employees, mostly in the executive ranks, are drawing dual pay, which is familiarly called “double dipping.”
Quite a number of elected county officials, perhaps as many as 200, have been taking advantage of the perk. They “resign” (quietly, of course), stop their salaries for three months while they continue at the office and then put themselves back on the payroll at full salary plus their monthly retirement checks. Three Garland County officials are drawing their $61,385 annual salaries while collecting $30,000 to $36,000 a year in state-funded pensions.
Most of us, the taxpayers, wouldn’t have known about the emolument, which has become quite costly to the Public Employees Retirement System, except for Rep. Allen Kerr of Little Rock, who blew the whistle last week after receiving complaints from unknown individuals in the Garland County government who thought it a little unfair that the politicians were claiming the benefits without the knowledge of the taxpayers and voters.
And maybe illegally. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel says the issue is complicated but that people who really did not retire in the legal sense – they did not actually leave the job and no search for a replacement was conducted – may have acted illegally. He is studying the question and will recommend a remedy.
Here is a remedy: Change the law to make it illegal. The legislature this spring made it a trifle harder to take advantage of the double-dipping option by requiring people to go off the payroll for six months rather than just three months before qualifying for dual pay. But taxpayers would feel better knowing that the government just did not allow it.
The perk arose from a concern that public employees with long and valuable experience who retired might later decide to come back to work and give valuable service to the government in some capacity but would be deterred by the loss of their pensions. So provision was made for them to come back to work and keep their pension checks coming if they had been retired for at least three months first. But it became an entitlement, at least for those in the upper ranks who knew about it, including high-salaried department heads like the head of the prisons.
There is a far-fetched precedent for that in the general employment ranks. People can draw their full Social Security and keep working after the age of 65. They have contributed for a lifetime of work.
Back in the 1990s, when the teaching force was declining as experienced teachers retired, the state created an incentive for experienced teachers to stay on the job while they were still productive. It was called T-drop. After 30 years (now 28) of teaching, they could stop their payroll contributions to the Teacher Retirement System, and while they would not start drawing their pensions, a portion of the pensions they would have earned was put into a special interest-bearing fund that would give them an extra nest egg when they did retire. They can T-drop for up to 10 years. It did not cost the taxpayers more than it would if the teachers had simply retired.
But the public employees’ pension perk is far different from the teachers’ incentive or Social Security. An administrator or an elected county politician can draw both his full retirement and his salary at any age after 28 years of government work or after only five years of government employment at the age of 65. In several instances, a county official would secretly “retire” shortly before his re-election, forego his county salary for the last three months of the year and then be sworn in for another term at a vastly improved pay.
Unlike the teacher incentive, there is no discernible public benefit to the program unless it is happier politicians and ensconced government administrators. That has to be balanced by the happiness of taxpayers who must pay for the emoluments.
Quite a number of elected county officials, perhaps as many as 200, have been taking advantage of the perk. They “resign” (quietly, of course), stop their salaries for three months while they continue at the office and then put themselves back on the payroll at full salary plus their monthly retirement checks. Three Garland County officials are drawing their $61,385 annual salaries while collecting $30,000 to $36,000 a year in state-funded pensions.
Most of us, the taxpayers, wouldn’t have known about the emolument, which has become quite costly to the Public Employees Retirement System, except for Rep. Allen Kerr of Little Rock, who blew the whistle last week after receiving complaints from unknown individuals in the Garland County government who thought it a little unfair that the politicians were claiming the benefits without the knowledge of the taxpayers and voters.
And maybe illegally. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel says the issue is complicated but that people who really did not retire in the legal sense – they did not actually leave the job and no search for a replacement was conducted – may have acted illegally. He is studying the question and will recommend a remedy.
Here is a remedy: Change the law to make it illegal. The legislature this spring made it a trifle harder to take advantage of the double-dipping option by requiring people to go off the payroll for six months rather than just three months before qualifying for dual pay. But taxpayers would feel better knowing that the government just did not allow it.
The perk arose from a concern that public employees with long and valuable experience who retired might later decide to come back to work and give valuable service to the government in some capacity but would be deterred by the loss of their pensions. So provision was made for them to come back to work and keep their pension checks coming if they had been retired for at least three months first. But it became an entitlement, at least for those in the upper ranks who knew about it, including high-salaried department heads like the head of the prisons.
There is a far-fetched precedent for that in the general employment ranks. People can draw their full Social Security and keep working after the age of 65. They have contributed for a lifetime of work.
Back in the 1990s, when the teaching force was declining as experienced teachers retired, the state created an incentive for experienced teachers to stay on the job while they were still productive. It was called T-drop. After 30 years (now 28) of teaching, they could stop their payroll contributions to the Teacher Retirement System, and while they would not start drawing their pensions, a portion of the pensions they would have earned was put into a special interest-bearing fund that would give them an extra nest egg when they did retire. They can T-drop for up to 10 years. It did not cost the taxpayers more than it would if the teachers had simply retired.
But the public employees’ pension perk is far different from the teachers’ incentive or Social Security. An administrator or an elected county politician can draw both his full retirement and his salary at any age after 28 years of government work or after only five years of government employment at the age of 65. In several instances, a county official would secretly “retire” shortly before his re-election, forego his county salary for the last three months of the year and then be sworn in for another term at a vastly improved pay.
Unlike the teacher incentive, there is no discernible public benefit to the program unless it is happier politicians and ensconced government administrators. That has to be balanced by the happiness of taxpayers who must pay for the emoluments.
TOP STORY > >Alamo could use a prison consultant
By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader editor-in-chief
Tony Alamo, the self-anointed preacher and serial child molester, looked nervous outside the federal courthouse in Texarkana on Friday.
The former hotshot leader of the Tony and Susan Alamo Christian Foundation, who was once just a smalltime hoodlum and a washed-up crooner before he became rich robbing people of their dignity and freedom, was looking at serious prison time.
He realized he would die behind bars.
Alamo had exploited vulnerable people and broken the law for 40 years, and he’d bought off local officials wherever he set up his so-called ministry and flouted the law.
He smoked big cigars and drank cognac whenever he went out of town, while his followers slaved at his many businesses.
They worked without pay. He took their children and raped them.
He thought he could get away with kidnapping, brainwashing, child abuse, tax evasion and even threatening a federal judge.
After all, authorities in western Arkansas, where Tony and Susan Alamo set up their Christian ministry back in the 1970s, welcomed the couple as solid members of the community who contributed to the local economy when they opened scores of businesses in and around Fort Smith.
These officials were showered with gifts and took generous payoffs. Alamo probably supplied them with booze, drugs and underage girls.
I saw how he and his wife abused their followers and first wrote about them almost 30 years ago, while the Fort Smith newspaper praised the Alamos for taking hippies off the streets and putting them to work.
Sure, the feds put him behind bars for four years in 1991 for tax evasion, but Alamo, by then a widower, was right back in business.
He’d rip off his followers and “marry” their children, and not one Arkansas law-enforcement agency was curious about what was going on in those compounds in Dyer in Crawford County.
He distributed millions of subliterate fliers around the country. He attacked the Catholic Church, the new world order and the federal government for persecuting him.
But then Tony Alamo pushed his luck too far.
Last week, a federal jury convicted him on 10 counts of transporting underage girls across state lines for sex. Suddenly, Tony wasn’t his old arrogant self but look scared.
The 74-year-old Alamo knew he was facing up to 175 years in prison. Tony is kind of dumb — why take girls, even if they’re his “wives,” from Arkansas to Arizona when the feds are watching you? — but even he understood that the jury’s decision was a death sentence.
U.S. District Judge Harry F. Barnes will sentence Alamo in about two months. Even if the judge takes pity on him and sentences him to half the maximum allowed, Tony’s looking at 80 years — or about a year for every girl he molested.
But remember, there’s no parole in federal prisons. He’ll get credit for good behavior, so he might get out when he’s 150 or so.
If Tony were a white-collar criminal, he could hire a jail consultant to help him pick out the right penitentiary. He might try www.ready4prison.com.
But he won’t get to choose his own prison, which will be his tomb.
It’s a steep decline from the 1970s and 1980s, when Tony and Susan moved to Alma so she could be closer to Dyer, where she grew up the daughter of pig farmers during the Depression.
The Alamos bought a lot of land and opened a huge restaurant on Hwy. 71 in Alma. Country stars performed there. The Alamos sold fancy rhinestone-studded denim jackets made by captive labor.
They never paid their workers. No wonder their businesses made millions.
But then Susan Alamo died in 1982 from lung cancer — meeting her the year before, I could tell she was a heavy smoker — even though she told her followers she didn’t smoke and promised her followers she would be cured.
Tony wouldn’t bury her. Perhaps cruelly, people said Tony just kept playing the Everly Brothers’ “Wake Up, Little Susie,” but it didn’t help.
Nothing seemed to go right after that. The phony preacher smoked and drank and fornicated, but he was losing control of himself and his businesses.
His bizarre obsession with young girls led to his eventual ruin. The feds would first get Alamo on taxes, like Al Capone.
Less than a decade after his wife died, Tony found himself in federal prison.
When he came out, he set up shop in Fouke, near Texarkana. It was said he’d bought off the city council, but his empire was just about gone.
The word was out that he was a degenerate. When he was exposed in court as a child molester, the self-styled minister said out loud in court, “Bull----.’’
The jury must have thought: What a dork.
Alamo didn’t testify in his own behalf, even though he’d bragged that he would.
The jury believed his victims. The judge should throw away the key.
The Tony Alamo jail ministry should keep him occupied for quite a while.
Leader editor-in-chief
Tony Alamo, the self-anointed preacher and serial child molester, looked nervous outside the federal courthouse in Texarkana on Friday.
The former hotshot leader of the Tony and Susan Alamo Christian Foundation, who was once just a smalltime hoodlum and a washed-up crooner before he became rich robbing people of their dignity and freedom, was looking at serious prison time.
He realized he would die behind bars.
Alamo had exploited vulnerable people and broken the law for 40 years, and he’d bought off local officials wherever he set up his so-called ministry and flouted the law.
He smoked big cigars and drank cognac whenever he went out of town, while his followers slaved at his many businesses.
They worked without pay. He took their children and raped them.
He thought he could get away with kidnapping, brainwashing, child abuse, tax evasion and even threatening a federal judge.
After all, authorities in western Arkansas, where Tony and Susan Alamo set up their Christian ministry back in the 1970s, welcomed the couple as solid members of the community who contributed to the local economy when they opened scores of businesses in and around Fort Smith.
These officials were showered with gifts and took generous payoffs. Alamo probably supplied them with booze, drugs and underage girls.
I saw how he and his wife abused their followers and first wrote about them almost 30 years ago, while the Fort Smith newspaper praised the Alamos for taking hippies off the streets and putting them to work.
Sure, the feds put him behind bars for four years in 1991 for tax evasion, but Alamo, by then a widower, was right back in business.
He’d rip off his followers and “marry” their children, and not one Arkansas law-enforcement agency was curious about what was going on in those compounds in Dyer in Crawford County.
He distributed millions of subliterate fliers around the country. He attacked the Catholic Church, the new world order and the federal government for persecuting him.
But then Tony Alamo pushed his luck too far.
Last week, a federal jury convicted him on 10 counts of transporting underage girls across state lines for sex. Suddenly, Tony wasn’t his old arrogant self but look scared.
The 74-year-old Alamo knew he was facing up to 175 years in prison. Tony is kind of dumb — why take girls, even if they’re his “wives,” from Arkansas to Arizona when the feds are watching you? — but even he understood that the jury’s decision was a death sentence.
U.S. District Judge Harry F. Barnes will sentence Alamo in about two months. Even if the judge takes pity on him and sentences him to half the maximum allowed, Tony’s looking at 80 years — or about a year for every girl he molested.
But remember, there’s no parole in federal prisons. He’ll get credit for good behavior, so he might get out when he’s 150 or so.
If Tony were a white-collar criminal, he could hire a jail consultant to help him pick out the right penitentiary. He might try www.ready4prison.com.
But he won’t get to choose his own prison, which will be his tomb.
It’s a steep decline from the 1970s and 1980s, when Tony and Susan moved to Alma so she could be closer to Dyer, where she grew up the daughter of pig farmers during the Depression.
The Alamos bought a lot of land and opened a huge restaurant on Hwy. 71 in Alma. Country stars performed there. The Alamos sold fancy rhinestone-studded denim jackets made by captive labor.
They never paid their workers. No wonder their businesses made millions.
But then Susan Alamo died in 1982 from lung cancer — meeting her the year before, I could tell she was a heavy smoker — even though she told her followers she didn’t smoke and promised her followers she would be cured.
Tony wouldn’t bury her. Perhaps cruelly, people said Tony just kept playing the Everly Brothers’ “Wake Up, Little Susie,” but it didn’t help.
Nothing seemed to go right after that. The phony preacher smoked and drank and fornicated, but he was losing control of himself and his businesses.
His bizarre obsession with young girls led to his eventual ruin. The feds would first get Alamo on taxes, like Al Capone.
Less than a decade after his wife died, Tony found himself in federal prison.
When he came out, he set up shop in Fouke, near Texarkana. It was said he’d bought off the city council, but his empire was just about gone.
The word was out that he was a degenerate. When he was exposed in court as a child molester, the self-styled minister said out loud in court, “Bull----.’’
The jury must have thought: What a dork.
Alamo didn’t testify in his own behalf, even though he’d bragged that he would.
The jury believed his victims. The judge should throw away the key.
The Tony Alamo jail ministry should keep him occupied for quite a while.
TOP STORY > > Cabot could serve beer at state fair
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
If the Arkansas State Fair needs a new home away from Little Rock, Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams sees no reason why Cabot shouldn’t provide it, even though the city is in a dry county.
The deadline for submitting sealed proposals for locations for a new fair grounds is Sept. 15. Williams said he will discuss the idea with the council in August to find out if the aldermen agree with him.
“I don’t know why they wouldn’t because of the economic impact alone,” Williams said Monday, the day after an ad soliciting proposals appeared in a Little Rock newspaper.
But the mayor said he had been approached “some time ago” by a real estate agent hired by the fair board to look for possible locations.
But since Lonoke County is dry, alcohol sales were not allowed except in private clubs like those attached to golf courses. But a change in state law aimed at promoting tourism now makes it possible for restaurants to sell alcohol using private club liquor licenses.
Williams fought the liquor applications of Fat Daddy’s and Kopan in Cabot. He said he didn’t know city leaders would feel about beer sales on the fairgrounds if Cabot is chosen as a new site.
“I don’t know how it would be received,” the mayor said. “But I think it would be possible just the way the restaurants do it.”
Ralph Shoptaw, general manager of the fairgrounds, said Tuesday that beer sales are an important part of the income. He said that he would check with the director of Alcoholic Beverage Control to see if Cabot would be eligible under the new law to host the state fair.
“They’ve always worked well with us,” Shoptaw said.
Shoptaw, who has managed the fairgrounds for five years, said as he understood the history, there was talk of moving before the 18,000-seat Alltel Arena (now Verizon Arena) was built in North Little Rock a decade ago.
The talk then was of a new arena on a larger plot of land replacing the 10,000-seat Barton Colliseum located at the fairgrounds. But then Alltel was built in North Little Rock and the talk died down until about one and a half years ago when North Little Rock wanted to host the fair. The board decided it was time to look around for more room, at least “350 contiguous acres,” according to the request for proposals, with adjoining land that could be purchased later.
Attendance at the state fair has doubled in recent years from about 200,000 to about 400,000, he said. The fairgrounds is 70 years old and it is too small, critics say. There isn’t enough room for parking and the 33,000-square foot Hall of Industry needs to be at least 100,000-square-feet to accommodate some of the businesses that have been turned away because of lack of space.
And then there is difficulty in getting to the fairgrounds, located in an older, deteriorating part of the capital city.
“There’s only two ways in,” Shoptaw said, “Roosevelt to the east and Roosevelt to the west.”
Little Rock wants to keep the fairgrounds and asked for time to conduct a study and submit a proposal for improvements, he said. That plan, completed in the spring, included taking in about 25-30 more acres on the east side of the existing grounds, better access to the grounds and improvements totaling about $57 million.
But Shoptaw said the average size for state fairgrounds is 366 acres. The Arkansas State Fair Ground is about 100 acres and it is unlikely it could ever be large enough even if surrounding property is taken in.
“Because we got a proposal for Little Rock to stay here, we think we’re doing due diligence to look elsewhere too,” he said.
It is almost certain that North Little Rock will submit a proposal, he said. But the request for proposals specifies that any suitable parcel within 35 miles of the existing fairgrounds will be considered. So that means the cities of Conway, Carlisle, Pine Bluff and Benton might also be interested. The board will also consider proposals submitted by private land owners.
The board is working with Thomas Engineering Company of North Little Rock and Mike Berg Company, Buyer’s Real Estate Agent of Little Rock. Their ideal site would be flat but not in a wetland, accessible and visible from an interstate or four-lane highway with utilities available.
Shoptaw said if a suitable site is found, new fairgrounds will likely cost $100 to $150 million and it could be completed in three to five years. Funding would come from bonds and long-term loans and fundraising by the dormant livestock association foundation.
“We really haven’t had a cause in quite a while,” he said. “This would be a major cause.”
Leader staff writer
If the Arkansas State Fair needs a new home away from Little Rock, Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams sees no reason why Cabot shouldn’t provide it, even though the city is in a dry county.
The deadline for submitting sealed proposals for locations for a new fair grounds is Sept. 15. Williams said he will discuss the idea with the council in August to find out if the aldermen agree with him.
“I don’t know why they wouldn’t because of the economic impact alone,” Williams said Monday, the day after an ad soliciting proposals appeared in a Little Rock newspaper.
But the mayor said he had been approached “some time ago” by a real estate agent hired by the fair board to look for possible locations.
But since Lonoke County is dry, alcohol sales were not allowed except in private clubs like those attached to golf courses. But a change in state law aimed at promoting tourism now makes it possible for restaurants to sell alcohol using private club liquor licenses.
Williams fought the liquor applications of Fat Daddy’s and Kopan in Cabot. He said he didn’t know city leaders would feel about beer sales on the fairgrounds if Cabot is chosen as a new site.
“I don’t know how it would be received,” the mayor said. “But I think it would be possible just the way the restaurants do it.”
Ralph Shoptaw, general manager of the fairgrounds, said Tuesday that beer sales are an important part of the income. He said that he would check with the director of Alcoholic Beverage Control to see if Cabot would be eligible under the new law to host the state fair.
“They’ve always worked well with us,” Shoptaw said.
Shoptaw, who has managed the fairgrounds for five years, said as he understood the history, there was talk of moving before the 18,000-seat Alltel Arena (now Verizon Arena) was built in North Little Rock a decade ago.
The talk then was of a new arena on a larger plot of land replacing the 10,000-seat Barton Colliseum located at the fairgrounds. But then Alltel was built in North Little Rock and the talk died down until about one and a half years ago when North Little Rock wanted to host the fair. The board decided it was time to look around for more room, at least “350 contiguous acres,” according to the request for proposals, with adjoining land that could be purchased later.
Attendance at the state fair has doubled in recent years from about 200,000 to about 400,000, he said. The fairgrounds is 70 years old and it is too small, critics say. There isn’t enough room for parking and the 33,000-square foot Hall of Industry needs to be at least 100,000-square-feet to accommodate some of the businesses that have been turned away because of lack of space.
And then there is difficulty in getting to the fairgrounds, located in an older, deteriorating part of the capital city.
“There’s only two ways in,” Shoptaw said, “Roosevelt to the east and Roosevelt to the west.”
Little Rock wants to keep the fairgrounds and asked for time to conduct a study and submit a proposal for improvements, he said. That plan, completed in the spring, included taking in about 25-30 more acres on the east side of the existing grounds, better access to the grounds and improvements totaling about $57 million.
But Shoptaw said the average size for state fairgrounds is 366 acres. The Arkansas State Fair Ground is about 100 acres and it is unlikely it could ever be large enough even if surrounding property is taken in.
“Because we got a proposal for Little Rock to stay here, we think we’re doing due diligence to look elsewhere too,” he said.
It is almost certain that North Little Rock will submit a proposal, he said. But the request for proposals specifies that any suitable parcel within 35 miles of the existing fairgrounds will be considered. So that means the cities of Conway, Carlisle, Pine Bluff and Benton might also be interested. The board will also consider proposals submitted by private land owners.
The board is working with Thomas Engineering Company of North Little Rock and Mike Berg Company, Buyer’s Real Estate Agent of Little Rock. Their ideal site would be flat but not in a wetland, accessible and visible from an interstate or four-lane highway with utilities available.
Shoptaw said if a suitable site is found, new fairgrounds will likely cost $100 to $150 million and it could be completed in three to five years. Funding would come from bonds and long-term loans and fundraising by the dormant livestock association foundation.
“We really haven’t had a cause in quite a while,” he said. “This would be a major cause.”
TOP STORY > >Ward police to get stimulus money
The Ward Police Department will receive $128,809 to hire one additional police officer for three years, according to members of the Arkansas congressional delegation.
The money, from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Stimulus), appropriated about $8.7 million to hire 60 new officers at 16 Arkansas towns.
The stimulus money is intended to pay 75 percent of the officer’s salary and benefits for three years, with the town providing the other 25 percent.
“This funding will help our state keep and create jobs for our local law-enforcement officers,” said Rep. Marion Berry. “At a time when our police officers are forced to do more with fewer resources, this funding will help support their efforts to keep our communities safe.”
Other cities receiving money for officers include Cotton Plant, Hot Springs (two officers), Jonesboro (seven positions), Little Rock (20 officers), Madison, Marianna, Montrose, Morrilton, Nashville, North Little Rock (nine officers), Osceola, Pine Bluff (seven officers), Texarkana (four officers) and West Helena (two officers.)
The money, from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Stimulus), appropriated about $8.7 million to hire 60 new officers at 16 Arkansas towns.
The stimulus money is intended to pay 75 percent of the officer’s salary and benefits for three years, with the town providing the other 25 percent.
“This funding will help our state keep and create jobs for our local law-enforcement officers,” said Rep. Marion Berry. “At a time when our police officers are forced to do more with fewer resources, this funding will help support their efforts to keep our communities safe.”
Other cities receiving money for officers include Cotton Plant, Hot Springs (two officers), Jonesboro (seven positions), Little Rock (20 officers), Madison, Marianna, Montrose, Morrilton, Nashville, North Little Rock (nine officers), Osceola, Pine Bluff (seven officers), Texarkana (four officers) and West Helena (two officers.)
TOP STORY > >Jacksonville’s ‘Idol’ comes home
Story and photos by Christy Hendricks
The “American Idols Live 2009” tour was making a stop at the Verizon Arena in North Little Rock on Saturday night.
Kris Allen, the newest American Idol, was headlining the tour. The former Jacksonville resident, who played Little League baseball there and was a substitute teacher in Cabot, would soon be getting ready for the show Saturday.
It was four hours before show time.
Stopping by a media room, Allen sat down with a Leader reporter to talk about the tour and his newfound celebrity.
“How does it feel to be back home?” he was asked.
“It’s good,” Allen told The Leader. “It’s so nice to be back in Arkansas. It’s good to be where family and friends are – for one day at least.”
The newest American Idol has lived in the Jacksonville and Cabot area for most of his life, although he now calls Conway home. He was born in Jacksonville and lived in the city until he was 17. He also lived in Cabot before his family moved to Maumelle.
The Idol winner says life is now “the complete opposite of what it was” a year ago.
“I wasn’t doing anything before,” Allen says. “I had just gotten married and was going to school.”
“I believe things happen for a reason,” he says. “I feel it was meant to be.”
The 52-stop tour has been exhausting for the idols. “I’m tired,” Allen says. “I’m not going to lie to you, but when you’re on stage, the adrenaline kicks in.”
Charlie Wood, Allen’s grandfather, was at a ceremony Friday morning to unveil the proposed “Welcome to Jacksonville” sign on Hwy. 67/167, which will proclaim “Boyhood Home of Kris Allen.”
Allen says he is honored by the sign. “I heard my grandpa was there,” he said.
“He’s pretty great,” Allen said of his grandfather. “He’s going to make it out tonight (to the show).”
Allen says of the sign, and of his home-state fans, that “the support that places like Jacksonville have given me … it’s reassuring.”
Allen says his wife, Katy, who has already attended a couple of the shows along the tour, can go to any show she wanted, but she “has been busy working.”
The “American Idols Live 2009” tour was making a stop at the Verizon Arena in North Little Rock on Saturday night.
Kris Allen, the newest American Idol, was headlining the tour. The former Jacksonville resident, who played Little League baseball there and was a substitute teacher in Cabot, would soon be getting ready for the show Saturday.
It was four hours before show time.
Stopping by a media room, Allen sat down with a Leader reporter to talk about the tour and his newfound celebrity.
“How does it feel to be back home?” he was asked.
“It’s good,” Allen told The Leader. “It’s so nice to be back in Arkansas. It’s good to be where family and friends are – for one day at least.”
The newest American Idol has lived in the Jacksonville and Cabot area for most of his life, although he now calls Conway home. He was born in Jacksonville and lived in the city until he was 17. He also lived in Cabot before his family moved to Maumelle.
The Idol winner says life is now “the complete opposite of what it was” a year ago.
“I wasn’t doing anything before,” Allen says. “I had just gotten married and was going to school.”
“I believe things happen for a reason,” he says. “I feel it was meant to be.”
The 52-stop tour has been exhausting for the idols. “I’m tired,” Allen says. “I’m not going to lie to you, but when you’re on stage, the adrenaline kicks in.”
Charlie Wood, Allen’s grandfather, was at a ceremony Friday morning to unveil the proposed “Welcome to Jacksonville” sign on Hwy. 67/167, which will proclaim “Boyhood Home of Kris Allen.”
Allen says he is honored by the sign. “I heard my grandpa was there,” he said.
“He’s pretty great,” Allen said of his grandfather. “He’s going to make it out tonight (to the show).”
Allen says of the sign, and of his home-state fans, that “the support that places like Jacksonville have given me … it’s reassuring.”
Allen says his wife, Katy, who has already attended a couple of the shows along the tour, can go to any show she wanted, but she “has been busy working.”
SPORTS>>Decline of Legion baseball undeniable, difficult to witness
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
Baseball season, for us at The Leader anyway, officially came to an end with Cabot’s loss to Fayetteville on Saturday afternoon at Burns Park.
No more stifling early evenings chronicling the junior American Legion teams. No more endless, error-plagued, mosquito-infested senior nightcaps. No more walk-filled, action-free 12-1 routs in which the winning team scores all its runs on three hits. No more giving up reruns of ‘House’ or missing ‘The Office’ or ‘30 Rock’ to cover the fourth game of the week.
Yes, of course I’ll miss it. After all, not all the games were bad. And as much as I hate summer, there’s something about a soft summer night at the ballpark. Plus, I love the game itself. Played well, played fluently, there’s nothing better to watch. Played poorly, unfortunately, there are few things worse.
My concern, having covered American Legion baseball over the past eight years, is its trend toward mediocrity. The most obvious reasons for this are the influx of traveling teams, 7 on 7 football, and the increasing disinclination of kids to endure the rigors of a long summer at the ballpark.
On that latter point, it’s not hard to understand. It is, after all, summer, and you can see why kids might not want to trade in all that limitless freedom for a 30-game schedule played over two sizzling months.
Of our three area teams — Sylvan Hills Optimist Club, Jacksonville Gwatney Chevrolet and Cabot Centennial Bank — only the Bruins lost players to a traveling squad. They struggled as a result. It was hard to watch Sylvan Hills fail to live up to its proud baseball tradition this season as the seniors quietly bowed out in two games at the zone tournament.
Of all six of our area teams — juniors and seniors combined — only two made it to state. Given that only two teams from each zone qualify, maybe that doesn’t sound so bad. But both teams went out in two games at the state tournament. The Sylvan Hills junior team — the only junior team to reach state — was routed by a combined score of 25-1 by Sheridan and Bryant.
Cabot, which at times looked dominant throughout a 16-12 season, wasn’t humiliated but failed to put up much of a battle against Jonesboro and Fayetteville in losing 9-3 and 7-1. Cabot was out-hit by a combined 31-14 in those games.
Cabot reached its first-ever senior state tournament, one season after its juniors achieved that same honor. The fact is, Cabot baseball is on the upswing. And there are reports that Matt Evans, a dynamic sophomore pitcher and shortstop in 2008, may be returning to Cabot. That won’t hurt matters at all.
The other problem with American Legion is its inherent inequality. Cabot drew all its players from Cabot. Jonesboro drew from three separate high schools, including from 4A state champion Valley View as well as from Jonesboro and Nettleton, each of which reached state last year.
Fayetteville’s senior Legion club had players from Fayetteville High, Springdale, Gravette, Elkins, Prairie Grove and even Oklahoma on its roster. It’s hard to compete against that large of a drawing area.
One last observation regarding the decline of American Legion baseball: At times, it seemed as though players weren’t taking it all that seriously. I heard reports of players not showing up for practices. I witnessed on two separate occasions opposing pitchers (neither from our area, thankfully) laughing while getting shelled. On another occasion a pitcher seemed to find it amusing that he couldn’t find the strike zone.
Now, I recognize it’s a long season and I recognize that it’s just a game. But if you’re going to commit to something, commit to it. That’s why I admired the endless enthusiasm of Gwatney junior coach John Walker, who despite the score and despite the heat index, was always shouting encouragement from his third-base box.
Likewise, Cabot junior coach Andy Runyan was clearly committed to his team. Yes, he sometimes lost his cool and maybe that’s for another discussion. But his commitment was obvious and admirable. Senior coach Jay Darr is to be commended for providing a Web site with up-to-date stats and other critical information that helped make our job easier and our stories more thorough.
And old-timers Bob Hicking-botham at Jacksonville and Mike Bromley at Sylvan Hills have worked tireless hours and have done all they can to keep the league going.
The bottom line is, I fear for the future of American Legion baseball. With ever-decreasing media coverage as well as player participation, it could be on its way out. Let’s hope not. Because, over these past eight years, it’s been worth all the heat, all the walks and errors, all the hit batters and wild pitches and all the midnight drives home.
Leader sports editor
Baseball season, for us at The Leader anyway, officially came to an end with Cabot’s loss to Fayetteville on Saturday afternoon at Burns Park.
No more stifling early evenings chronicling the junior American Legion teams. No more endless, error-plagued, mosquito-infested senior nightcaps. No more walk-filled, action-free 12-1 routs in which the winning team scores all its runs on three hits. No more giving up reruns of ‘House’ or missing ‘The Office’ or ‘30 Rock’ to cover the fourth game of the week.
Yes, of course I’ll miss it. After all, not all the games were bad. And as much as I hate summer, there’s something about a soft summer night at the ballpark. Plus, I love the game itself. Played well, played fluently, there’s nothing better to watch. Played poorly, unfortunately, there are few things worse.
My concern, having covered American Legion baseball over the past eight years, is its trend toward mediocrity. The most obvious reasons for this are the influx of traveling teams, 7 on 7 football, and the increasing disinclination of kids to endure the rigors of a long summer at the ballpark.
On that latter point, it’s not hard to understand. It is, after all, summer, and you can see why kids might not want to trade in all that limitless freedom for a 30-game schedule played over two sizzling months.
Of our three area teams — Sylvan Hills Optimist Club, Jacksonville Gwatney Chevrolet and Cabot Centennial Bank — only the Bruins lost players to a traveling squad. They struggled as a result. It was hard to watch Sylvan Hills fail to live up to its proud baseball tradition this season as the seniors quietly bowed out in two games at the zone tournament.
Of all six of our area teams — juniors and seniors combined — only two made it to state. Given that only two teams from each zone qualify, maybe that doesn’t sound so bad. But both teams went out in two games at the state tournament. The Sylvan Hills junior team — the only junior team to reach state — was routed by a combined score of 25-1 by Sheridan and Bryant.
Cabot, which at times looked dominant throughout a 16-12 season, wasn’t humiliated but failed to put up much of a battle against Jonesboro and Fayetteville in losing 9-3 and 7-1. Cabot was out-hit by a combined 31-14 in those games.
Cabot reached its first-ever senior state tournament, one season after its juniors achieved that same honor. The fact is, Cabot baseball is on the upswing. And there are reports that Matt Evans, a dynamic sophomore pitcher and shortstop in 2008, may be returning to Cabot. That won’t hurt matters at all.
The other problem with American Legion is its inherent inequality. Cabot drew all its players from Cabot. Jonesboro drew from three separate high schools, including from 4A state champion Valley View as well as from Jonesboro and Nettleton, each of which reached state last year.
Fayetteville’s senior Legion club had players from Fayetteville High, Springdale, Gravette, Elkins, Prairie Grove and even Oklahoma on its roster. It’s hard to compete against that large of a drawing area.
One last observation regarding the decline of American Legion baseball: At times, it seemed as though players weren’t taking it all that seriously. I heard reports of players not showing up for practices. I witnessed on two separate occasions opposing pitchers (neither from our area, thankfully) laughing while getting shelled. On another occasion a pitcher seemed to find it amusing that he couldn’t find the strike zone.
Now, I recognize it’s a long season and I recognize that it’s just a game. But if you’re going to commit to something, commit to it. That’s why I admired the endless enthusiasm of Gwatney junior coach John Walker, who despite the score and despite the heat index, was always shouting encouragement from his third-base box.
Likewise, Cabot junior coach Andy Runyan was clearly committed to his team. Yes, he sometimes lost his cool and maybe that’s for another discussion. But his commitment was obvious and admirable. Senior coach Jay Darr is to be commended for providing a Web site with up-to-date stats and other critical information that helped make our job easier and our stories more thorough.
And old-timers Bob Hicking-botham at Jacksonville and Mike Bromley at Sylvan Hills have worked tireless hours and have done all they can to keep the league going.
The bottom line is, I fear for the future of American Legion baseball. With ever-decreasing media coverage as well as player participation, it could be on its way out. Let’s hope not. Because, over these past eight years, it’s been worth all the heat, all the walks and errors, all the hit batters and wild pitches and all the midnight drives home.
SPORTS>>Heye, Haralson go on record rampage at MOC
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Sharks don’t have to be big to be fierce. Just look at 10-year-old, pint-sized Sherwood Shark swimmers Delaney Haralson and Thomas Heye, who each took several big bites out of the record books on July 18 at the Meet of Champs.
Haralson broke records in five of the six gold events she competed in, while Heye set new marks in all six of his events.
Haralson’s and Heye’s performances were part of another dominant CASL season and MOC win for the Sharks, in which the Sherwood team captured its sixth consecutive season title and summer-ending crown jewel meet.
Haralson broke her own record in the 9-10-year-old, 50-yard butterfly event with a 32.70 at this year’s event, and put four new records under her belt. She swam a 29.67 in the gold freestyle to win the event and claim the fastest time ever in MOC competition in her age group, and did the same in the 50-yard breaststroke with a 39.73. She also claimed a record in the individual medley with a 1:12.06. Haralson then teamed up Victoria Haley, Camryn Jenkins and Madeline Darcey for a record-setting time of 1:04.63. It was the first time the four had competed together in a relay event.
“I always have to push myself,” said Haralson. “It’s always fun to cut time and break records. Practices are alwaysfun and you get encouragement from all the older kids. We always push each other and have fun.”
Heye, who is one of four brothers in his family who swim competitively, went a perfect 6-for-6 at the Meet of Champs this year, breaking records in each one.
“It was a really good feeling,” said Heye. “It’s the best feeling in the world. You feel like nothing can stop you, like you’re Superman.
A year ago, it was Christopher Heye who made a big splash with six record-breaking MOC performances in the 11-12-year-old age division. Christopher, who moved up to the 13-14-year-old age division this year, made quite an impression on younger brother Thomas.
“I still look up to him, because he practices so hard every day and he goes to every practice,” said Thomas.
Keith McAfee has been head coach of the Sharks since their unbeaten streak began in 2004, and also coaches Haralson, Heye, and many other members of the Sharks team on the year-round Arkansas Dolphin-Lasers USA league swim team.
“I’m really proud of all our young swimmers,” said McAfee. “The success of one swimmer helps all of our swimmers. It helps everyone become better. When you have the talent that we have, it makes our jobs as coaches a lot easier.”
Neither winning nor setting records is new to Heye and Haralson. Heye broke his own records in the 9-10 gold freestyle, backstroke and individual medley, which he set a year ago. He added the butterfly, breaststroke and relay records at this year’s MOC.
Both began their MOC tenures as five-year-olds in 2004. Their results were more modest then, with each taking wins in the kickboard event, which is a 6-under substitute for the more complex IM event.
They began their dominance the following year by sweeping the 6-under categories. Haralson took gold-level wins in the freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke while setting new records in the butterfly and kickboard events. Heye won all the same events on the boys side, setting records in the freestyle, backstroke, kickboard and breaststroke.
In her first season in the 7-8 division, Haralson won gold-level events in the freestyle and butterfly, and set a record in the individual medley. Although Heye reached gold status in every event that year, He had to settle for a pair of runner-up finishes.
In the summer of ’07, both won all six of their events, including the relay.
“Thomas and Delaney are both very talented and hard working young swimmers,” said McAfee. “They both love to race.
Thomas continues to improve all the time, and I believe he will continue to improve. Delaney loves to race and works hard in practice every time she gets in the pool.”
Leader sportswriter
Sharks don’t have to be big to be fierce. Just look at 10-year-old, pint-sized Sherwood Shark swimmers Delaney Haralson and Thomas Heye, who each took several big bites out of the record books on July 18 at the Meet of Champs.
Haralson broke records in five of the six gold events she competed in, while Heye set new marks in all six of his events.
Haralson’s and Heye’s performances were part of another dominant CASL season and MOC win for the Sharks, in which the Sherwood team captured its sixth consecutive season title and summer-ending crown jewel meet.
Haralson broke her own record in the 9-10-year-old, 50-yard butterfly event with a 32.70 at this year’s event, and put four new records under her belt. She swam a 29.67 in the gold freestyle to win the event and claim the fastest time ever in MOC competition in her age group, and did the same in the 50-yard breaststroke with a 39.73. She also claimed a record in the individual medley with a 1:12.06. Haralson then teamed up Victoria Haley, Camryn Jenkins and Madeline Darcey for a record-setting time of 1:04.63. It was the first time the four had competed together in a relay event.
“I always have to push myself,” said Haralson. “It’s always fun to cut time and break records. Practices are alwaysfun and you get encouragement from all the older kids. We always push each other and have fun.”
Heye, who is one of four brothers in his family who swim competitively, went a perfect 6-for-6 at the Meet of Champs this year, breaking records in each one.
“It was a really good feeling,” said Heye. “It’s the best feeling in the world. You feel like nothing can stop you, like you’re Superman.
A year ago, it was Christopher Heye who made a big splash with six record-breaking MOC performances in the 11-12-year-old age division. Christopher, who moved up to the 13-14-year-old age division this year, made quite an impression on younger brother Thomas.
“I still look up to him, because he practices so hard every day and he goes to every practice,” said Thomas.
Keith McAfee has been head coach of the Sharks since their unbeaten streak began in 2004, and also coaches Haralson, Heye, and many other members of the Sharks team on the year-round Arkansas Dolphin-Lasers USA league swim team.
“I’m really proud of all our young swimmers,” said McAfee. “The success of one swimmer helps all of our swimmers. It helps everyone become better. When you have the talent that we have, it makes our jobs as coaches a lot easier.”
Neither winning nor setting records is new to Heye and Haralson. Heye broke his own records in the 9-10 gold freestyle, backstroke and individual medley, which he set a year ago. He added the butterfly, breaststroke and relay records at this year’s MOC.
Both began their MOC tenures as five-year-olds in 2004. Their results were more modest then, with each taking wins in the kickboard event, which is a 6-under substitute for the more complex IM event.
They began their dominance the following year by sweeping the 6-under categories. Haralson took gold-level wins in the freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke while setting new records in the butterfly and kickboard events. Heye won all the same events on the boys side, setting records in the freestyle, backstroke, kickboard and breaststroke.
In her first season in the 7-8 division, Haralson won gold-level events in the freestyle and butterfly, and set a record in the individual medley. Although Heye reached gold status in every event that year, He had to settle for a pair of runner-up finishes.
In the summer of ’07, both won all six of their events, including the relay.
“Thomas and Delaney are both very talented and hard working young swimmers,” said McAfee. “They both love to race.
Thomas continues to improve all the time, and I believe he will continue to improve. Delaney loves to race and works hard in practice every time she gets in the pool.”
SPORTS>>Rhinos roll over Jaguars, 35-0
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
After a woeful offensive performance in their loss to the St. Louis Bulldogs a week earlier, the Arkansas Rhinos took their frustrations out on the hopelessly outmanned Arkansas Jaguars on Saturday night, improving to 3-1 with a lopsided 35-0 victory.
The Rhinos showed off their revamped up tempo offense for the first time at Jacksonville’s Bob Hill Memorial Stadium, though the game got out of hand in such a hurry, team owner and offensive coordinator Oscar Malone called off the dogs pretty quickly.
“What I liked was the way (quarterback Damien Dunning) checked off on several plays,” Malone said. “That’s the type of defense we’re going to play against (a 4-3) and his checks resulted in two touchdowns.”
Dunning was a surprise starter at quarterback and made the most of his limited opportunity, running for a touchdown and tossing a touchdown pass. Malone used Dunning, regular starter Jeremiah Crouch and newcomer Tye Forte equally in the contest.
Forte delivered the most impressive play of the night when he hit a streaking Tim Mason down the right sideline for a 54-yard touchdown pass midway through the final period to set the final margin.
“We’re fortunate enough to be able to get all these quarterbacks,” Malone said. “The problem is Forte came in so late with the offense. Crouch and Dunning have been here since day one.”
The North American Football League’s top-ranked defense pitched its second consecutive shutout at home and has now allowed only 30 points in four games. The Rhino ‘D’ was especially tough on the Jaguars, forcing four turnovers and limiting them to 122 total yards. The Rhinos totaled 236 yards, though they lost three fumbles in the contest.
The defense set the tone for the evening on the game’s first series, forcing three straight incompletions as the Jaguars opened up in a shotgun spread before switching to a wing T. Rhino safety Daniel Brown returned the punt 18 yards to the Jaguar 28, setting the theme for the night: the Rhinos began eight of their nine possessions in Jaguar territory and ran only three plays all night on their side of the field.
After Brown’s return, Brendan Medcalf ran for eight and nine yards. One play later, Dunning hit Stewart Franks at the goal line near the right sideline for a 16-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
The Jaguars tried to run one more set out of the shotgun, but Tarence Keatonpicked off a Justin Elliot pass and returned it 30 yards to the Jaguar 21. From there, it took only two plays. Jerald Marshall rushed 20 yards to the 1, and Dunning took over from there.
Less than two minutes later, the Rhinos added to their lead when Tyler Knight picked off a pass at the Rhino 43 and raced 57 yards before doing a flip into the end zone for a 21-0 lead with 5:39 left in the first period.
The Jaguars shifted to a wing T formation on their next series, but the hard-hitting Rhinos forced a fumble that was recovered by Antonio Anderson at the Jaguar 45. Matthew Stewart busted a tackle at the 30, cut outside and raced down the left sideline for a 45-yard touchdown and a 28-0 lead.
“Stewart looks like Donovan McNabb,” Malone said. “That’s what we call him. He’s a good one, but he’s unfortunate running behind two good running backs.”
The second half featured almost nothing but turnovers. The Rhinos fumbled three times, while Chris Johnson recovered a Jaguar fumble.
The only action of the second half came on Forte’s perfect strike to Mason, who caught the ball in stride at the right pylon for a 54-yard touchdown.
Because of their short field all night, the Rhinos ran only 25 offensive plays, going 3 of 5 for 93 yards through the air and rushing 20 times for 143 yards. Medcalf led the way with 65 yards on seven carries, while Stewart rushed six times for 49 yards.
Things figure to get significantly more difficult this Saturday when the Rhinos head to Nashville to face a team that has had their number of late. The Storm has beaten Arkansas the past four seasons after the Rhinos had won the previous seven.
“This is a big-time rivalry game,” Malone said. “We look forward to it every year. From here on out (the schedule is stacked).”
The Rhinos visit the Arkansas Wildcats the following week before returning home to face the Nashville Storm again on Aug. 15.
Leader sports editor
After a woeful offensive performance in their loss to the St. Louis Bulldogs a week earlier, the Arkansas Rhinos took their frustrations out on the hopelessly outmanned Arkansas Jaguars on Saturday night, improving to 3-1 with a lopsided 35-0 victory.
The Rhinos showed off their revamped up tempo offense for the first time at Jacksonville’s Bob Hill Memorial Stadium, though the game got out of hand in such a hurry, team owner and offensive coordinator Oscar Malone called off the dogs pretty quickly.
“What I liked was the way (quarterback Damien Dunning) checked off on several plays,” Malone said. “That’s the type of defense we’re going to play against (a 4-3) and his checks resulted in two touchdowns.”
Dunning was a surprise starter at quarterback and made the most of his limited opportunity, running for a touchdown and tossing a touchdown pass. Malone used Dunning, regular starter Jeremiah Crouch and newcomer Tye Forte equally in the contest.
Forte delivered the most impressive play of the night when he hit a streaking Tim Mason down the right sideline for a 54-yard touchdown pass midway through the final period to set the final margin.
“We’re fortunate enough to be able to get all these quarterbacks,” Malone said. “The problem is Forte came in so late with the offense. Crouch and Dunning have been here since day one.”
The North American Football League’s top-ranked defense pitched its second consecutive shutout at home and has now allowed only 30 points in four games. The Rhino ‘D’ was especially tough on the Jaguars, forcing four turnovers and limiting them to 122 total yards. The Rhinos totaled 236 yards, though they lost three fumbles in the contest.
The defense set the tone for the evening on the game’s first series, forcing three straight incompletions as the Jaguars opened up in a shotgun spread before switching to a wing T. Rhino safety Daniel Brown returned the punt 18 yards to the Jaguar 28, setting the theme for the night: the Rhinos began eight of their nine possessions in Jaguar territory and ran only three plays all night on their side of the field.
After Brown’s return, Brendan Medcalf ran for eight and nine yards. One play later, Dunning hit Stewart Franks at the goal line near the right sideline for a 16-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
The Jaguars tried to run one more set out of the shotgun, but Tarence Keatonpicked off a Justin Elliot pass and returned it 30 yards to the Jaguar 21. From there, it took only two plays. Jerald Marshall rushed 20 yards to the 1, and Dunning took over from there.
Less than two minutes later, the Rhinos added to their lead when Tyler Knight picked off a pass at the Rhino 43 and raced 57 yards before doing a flip into the end zone for a 21-0 lead with 5:39 left in the first period.
The Jaguars shifted to a wing T formation on their next series, but the hard-hitting Rhinos forced a fumble that was recovered by Antonio Anderson at the Jaguar 45. Matthew Stewart busted a tackle at the 30, cut outside and raced down the left sideline for a 45-yard touchdown and a 28-0 lead.
“Stewart looks like Donovan McNabb,” Malone said. “That’s what we call him. He’s a good one, but he’s unfortunate running behind two good running backs.”
The second half featured almost nothing but turnovers. The Rhinos fumbled three times, while Chris Johnson recovered a Jaguar fumble.
The only action of the second half came on Forte’s perfect strike to Mason, who caught the ball in stride at the right pylon for a 54-yard touchdown.
Because of their short field all night, the Rhinos ran only 25 offensive plays, going 3 of 5 for 93 yards through the air and rushing 20 times for 143 yards. Medcalf led the way with 65 yards on seven carries, while Stewart rushed six times for 49 yards.
Things figure to get significantly more difficult this Saturday when the Rhinos head to Nashville to face a team that has had their number of late. The Storm has beaten Arkansas the past four seasons after the Rhinos had won the previous seven.
“This is a big-time rivalry game,” Malone said. “We look forward to it every year. From here on out (the schedule is stacked).”
The Rhinos visit the Arkansas Wildcats the following week before returning home to face the Nashville Storm again on Aug. 15.
SPORTS>> Centennial Bank bows out
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
Coming into the American Legion senior state tournament, the last thing Cabot Centennial Bank head coach Jay Darr was concerned about was his offense.
Cabot, after all, had just finished pounding out 60 runs at the zone tournament the previous weekend and came into the state tourney as hot as any of the eight teams.
But the Cabot bats went largely silent in two games and the season came to an end in a 7-1 loss to Fayetteville in an elimination game on Saturday morning at Burns Park. Centennial Bank, which on Friday lost 9-3 to Jonesboro, managed just four runs and 14 hits in their two-game stint. They finish the season 16-12.
In both of its losses, Cabot gave up key two-out hits after nearly escaping jams. Friday, it was Jonesboro scoring five unearned runs after two were out to break open a 4-3 game in the eighth.
On Saturday, it was Christian Allen delivering the big two-out blow when he belted a double over Brandon Surdam’s head in centerfield to clear the bases and give Fayetteville a 3-0 lead. The inning began with Tyler Shaddy’s liner off the arm of Cabot starting pitcher Andrew Reynolds, which forced him to leave the game.
Tyler Erickson came on in reliefand got a strikeout and a pop up sandwiched around a walk. But Erickson hit Adam Baker to keep the inning alive and Allen made him pay when he lined the first pitch to straightaway center.
Fayetteville’s Mike Sisco was anything but overpowering. He struck out the first batter of the game, but fanned only two more after that. But he kept Cabot hitters off balance. They got only two hits in one inning — the ninth — and picked up single hits in the second, third, fourth, seventh and eighth innings. Sisco held Sam Bates hitless after he tore up pitching at the zone tournament when he went 14 of 21.
Erickson kept the game within reach through the eighth. He allowed a run in the seventh on a single and a double as Fayetteville took a 4-0 lead. Centennial Bank got on the scoreboard in the eighth when Chase Thompson beat out an infield single, stole second, moved to third on Powell Bryant’s sacrifice fly and scored on Surdam’s ground out.
But Fayetteville all but put it away with a three-spot in the eighth on two singles, a double and an error.
Though Erickson allowed 11 hits over 6 2/3 innings, he gave up only four earned runs while fanning six. He allowed three walks and hit two batters.
Against Sisco, Centennial Bank didn’t get a runner past first until the sixth, when Powell Bryant reached on an error and moved to second on a ground out. Bates’ bid to narrow the gap to 3-1 was frustrated when his hard liner into right center was hauled in on a diving catch by Blake Sanford. Cabot then wasted a two-out double by Ben Wainwright in the seventh.
In the ninth, Burks and Matt Turner singled with one out, but Wainwright’s line drive went right to the third baseman, and Erickson’s bouncer back to the mound ended the game and Cabot’s season.
Leader sports editor
Coming into the American Legion senior state tournament, the last thing Cabot Centennial Bank head coach Jay Darr was concerned about was his offense.
Cabot, after all, had just finished pounding out 60 runs at the zone tournament the previous weekend and came into the state tourney as hot as any of the eight teams.
But the Cabot bats went largely silent in two games and the season came to an end in a 7-1 loss to Fayetteville in an elimination game on Saturday morning at Burns Park. Centennial Bank, which on Friday lost 9-3 to Jonesboro, managed just four runs and 14 hits in their two-game stint. They finish the season 16-12.
In both of its losses, Cabot gave up key two-out hits after nearly escaping jams. Friday, it was Jonesboro scoring five unearned runs after two were out to break open a 4-3 game in the eighth.
On Saturday, it was Christian Allen delivering the big two-out blow when he belted a double over Brandon Surdam’s head in centerfield to clear the bases and give Fayetteville a 3-0 lead. The inning began with Tyler Shaddy’s liner off the arm of Cabot starting pitcher Andrew Reynolds, which forced him to leave the game.
Tyler Erickson came on in reliefand got a strikeout and a pop up sandwiched around a walk. But Erickson hit Adam Baker to keep the inning alive and Allen made him pay when he lined the first pitch to straightaway center.
Fayetteville’s Mike Sisco was anything but overpowering. He struck out the first batter of the game, but fanned only two more after that. But he kept Cabot hitters off balance. They got only two hits in one inning — the ninth — and picked up single hits in the second, third, fourth, seventh and eighth innings. Sisco held Sam Bates hitless after he tore up pitching at the zone tournament when he went 14 of 21.
Erickson kept the game within reach through the eighth. He allowed a run in the seventh on a single and a double as Fayetteville took a 4-0 lead. Centennial Bank got on the scoreboard in the eighth when Chase Thompson beat out an infield single, stole second, moved to third on Powell Bryant’s sacrifice fly and scored on Surdam’s ground out.
But Fayetteville all but put it away with a three-spot in the eighth on two singles, a double and an error.
Though Erickson allowed 11 hits over 6 2/3 innings, he gave up only four earned runs while fanning six. He allowed three walks and hit two batters.
Against Sisco, Centennial Bank didn’t get a runner past first until the sixth, when Powell Bryant reached on an error and moved to second on a ground out. Bates’ bid to narrow the gap to 3-1 was frustrated when his hard liner into right center was hauled in on a diving catch by Blake Sanford. Cabot then wasted a two-out double by Ben Wainwright in the seventh.
In the ninth, Burks and Matt Turner singled with one out, but Wainwright’s line drive went right to the third baseman, and Erickson’s bouncer back to the mound ended the game and Cabot’s season.
Monday, July 27, 2009
TOP STORY >> LRAFB flies home with big awards
IN SHORT: Little Rock was named best overall in two areas and won many C-130 contests.
The four C-130s returning to the Little Rock Air Force Base on Saturday are a bit heavier from all the trophies Team Little Rock won during the week-long air rodeo competition at McChord Air Force Base in Washington state.
Team Little Rock came home with two best overall awards and seven C-130 awards.
The 19th Airlift Wing won best overall C-130 team and best overall aerial Port team in the rodeo competition.
The wing’s aerial port crew won for the best C-130 engine running off-load team and the best C-130 in-transit visibility team.
Master Sgt. James Langston said, “We came out here to earn respect and let the rest of the aerial port world know that we can hold our own. To finish with two wins and high in all the events we accomplished that.”
He said Little Rock Air Force Base moves 30 tons of cargo compared to Travis Air Force Base, which moves 200 tons a day.
“We move 100 passengers a month. They move 500 to 1,000 passengers a day. It is a David versus Goliath story,” Langston said.
Team Little Rock maintenance team picked up three awards. The best C-130 maintenance team award went to the 19th Airlift Wing, J-model. They also brought home the best C-130 pre-flight team.
The best C-130 post-flight team was the 314th Airlift Wing, H-model.
Another award the 19th Airlift Wing won was best C-130 short field landing crew. The 314th Airlift Wing was awarded the best back-landing combat off-load crew.
—Jeffrey Smith
The four C-130s returning to the Little Rock Air Force Base on Saturday are a bit heavier from all the trophies Team Little Rock won during the week-long air rodeo competition at McChord Air Force Base in Washington state.
Team Little Rock came home with two best overall awards and seven C-130 awards.
The 19th Airlift Wing won best overall C-130 team and best overall aerial Port team in the rodeo competition.
The wing’s aerial port crew won for the best C-130 engine running off-load team and the best C-130 in-transit visibility team.
Master Sgt. James Langston said, “We came out here to earn respect and let the rest of the aerial port world know that we can hold our own. To finish with two wins and high in all the events we accomplished that.”
He said Little Rock Air Force Base moves 30 tons of cargo compared to Travis Air Force Base, which moves 200 tons a day.
“We move 100 passengers a month. They move 500 to 1,000 passengers a day. It is a David versus Goliath story,” Langston said.
Team Little Rock maintenance team picked up three awards. The best C-130 maintenance team award went to the 19th Airlift Wing, J-model. They also brought home the best C-130 pre-flight team.
The best C-130 post-flight team was the 314th Airlift Wing, H-model.
Another award the 19th Airlift Wing won was best C-130 short field landing crew. The 314th Airlift Wing was awarded the best back-landing combat off-load crew.
—Jeffrey Smith
TOp STORY >> Judging the world’s best
IN SHORT: Officer from Beebe is assigned to help choose the best airlifters.
By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
One of the hardest jobs at the air rodeo at McChord Air Force Base may be that of the umpire, who must judge the best airlifters in the world.
Maj. Jon Ratz of the 19th Airlift Wing has that job, as an aerial umpire for the flying competition of all C-130 models.
“I judge the air crew portion of the air drop which includes low level navigation, short field landings and airdrops,” Ratz said.
“The other primary function of the umpire is that of a safety observer. I know what the plan is and can stop things from happening to prevent anyone getting hurt or things broken,” Ratz said.
Ratz, a Beebe resident, is one of 44 C-130 umpires. In fairness, he does not judge anyone from Little Rock Air Force Base and a judge does not fly with the same crew twice during the competition.
Ratz said it is a busy week, but the missions are short. He judges one mission a day. He said pressure is on the crews to perform well.
“The participants are striving for excellence and prepare for all the different events. We have to prepare, but not at the same level. We need to know exactly what the crews need to do based on the rules and judge them accordingly,” he said.
Ratz continued, “At this level of competition the differences are small. We are looking at the fine points, the slight differences between the abilities of the different crews.
“Everyone you meet here is a wonderful competitor. You want them to do well. You feel bad when they make small mistakes. You are trying to find who is the best. It is tough because they are all good,” he said.
Ratz said the air rodeo is a venue where airlifters can learn from each other. Everyone does the same thing with small, individual differences.
Each C-130 crew has two day missions and one night mission. Ratz said crews air drop a heavy equipment platform and a paratrooper jumps out of the plane.
The umpire is in the plane judging a crew’s navigational skills as they fly over several points on the ground. Then the crew is judged on reaching a drop zone at a specific time, measured in seconds.
Another portion of Ratz’s job is to make sure the C-130 landing is safe. He watches to see if the crew lands the plane in the middle of a touchdown zone that is 500-feet long and 60-feet wide. To gain all points, the plane must land at the 250-foot mark.
By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
One of the hardest jobs at the air rodeo at McChord Air Force Base may be that of the umpire, who must judge the best airlifters in the world.
Maj. Jon Ratz of the 19th Airlift Wing has that job, as an aerial umpire for the flying competition of all C-130 models.
“I judge the air crew portion of the air drop which includes low level navigation, short field landings and airdrops,” Ratz said.
“The other primary function of the umpire is that of a safety observer. I know what the plan is and can stop things from happening to prevent anyone getting hurt or things broken,” Ratz said.
Ratz, a Beebe resident, is one of 44 C-130 umpires. In fairness, he does not judge anyone from Little Rock Air Force Base and a judge does not fly with the same crew twice during the competition.
Ratz said it is a busy week, but the missions are short. He judges one mission a day. He said pressure is on the crews to perform well.
“The participants are striving for excellence and prepare for all the different events. We have to prepare, but not at the same level. We need to know exactly what the crews need to do based on the rules and judge them accordingly,” he said.
Ratz continued, “At this level of competition the differences are small. We are looking at the fine points, the slight differences between the abilities of the different crews.
“Everyone you meet here is a wonderful competitor. You want them to do well. You feel bad when they make small mistakes. You are trying to find who is the best. It is tough because they are all good,” he said.
Ratz said the air rodeo is a venue where airlifters can learn from each other. Everyone does the same thing with small, individual differences.
Each C-130 crew has two day missions and one night mission. Ratz said crews air drop a heavy equipment platform and a paratrooper jumps out of the plane.
The umpire is in the plane judging a crew’s navigational skills as they fly over several points on the ground. Then the crew is judged on reaching a drop zone at a specific time, measured in seconds.
Another portion of Ratz’s job is to make sure the C-130 landing is safe. He watches to see if the crew lands the plane in the middle of a touchdown zone that is 500-feet long and 60-feet wide. To gain all points, the plane must land at the 250-foot mark.
TOP STORY >> Team Little Rock has true grit
IN SHORT: LRAFB crews excel at competition and are cheered by civilians.
By Jeffrey Smith
Leader staff writer
The air rodeo this week at McChord Air Force Base in Washington state is considered the Olympics for the best airlifters in the world.
Little Rock Air Force Base sent some 140 airmen and four planes from the 314th Airlift Wing and the 19th Airlift Wing for the week-long competition.
Every afternoon, airmen who competed in the rodeo got together around 5 p.m. to check the leader board to see where their airlift team was in the standings.
At each competition, either Col. C.K. Hyde, commander of the 314th Airlift Wing, or Col. Gregory Otey, commander of the 19th Airlift Wing, were on the sidelines with command chiefs, airmen and civic leaders cheering the home team on.
The base teams competed in judged events against other airlift bases around the nation and the world. Competing airmen strive for perfect scores while avoiding errors that can cost a team points.
Events included aeromedical evacuations, loading and unloading cargo, takeoffs, landings, dropping cargo loads in a drop zone, and refueling and post-flight operations by maintenance crews.
Former Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim was an enthusiastic spectator at the air rodeo. “It has been exciting to see our military perform the same activities they do in the war zone,” Swaim said.
“It is important for citizens in the community to interact with military team members. It is critical that we are able to see the difficulties they deal with in war,” he added.
Phil Davis, honorary commander of the 19th Airlift Wing, said he was impressed with the thoroughness and realism of the missions during the competition.
“All the little details, the loss of points on time, everything has to be split-second like it is in combat. As a civilian, you see how the different units are interdependent on each other. It all affects the broader mission,” Davis said.
Larry Biernacki, CEO of Arkansas Federal Credit Union, also attended the air rodeo. He said, “The rodeo is an opportunity for the men and women of the Air Force to come together and truly show how great they are.
“It is an opportunity for me to develop relationships with the airmen. You get to meet the airmen and recognize that they are regular people behind the service uniform,” he explained.
The 314th Airlift Wing maintenance team, the backbone of airlifters, also competed — and won. Without these crews, the C-130s would be grounded.
Senior Airman Ronnie Backus, maintenance crew chief with the 314th Airlift Wing, said the maintenance crews work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The only thing that stops the crew is lightning.
The crew is out at the plane three to four hours before take-off, he said.
Tech Sgt. Michael Goodwin was ready to show the world what the 314th Airlift Wing maintenance crew does.
“I hope we take home all the trophies. I feel we have the best maintenance crew,” Goodwin said. The crew came in first.
The maintenance crew competed in four events: preflight, basic postflight, refueling and basic post-operatives.
The maintenance crew in-cludes two engine maintainers. One focused on the hydraulics and one on the communications and navigations systems, one on the guidance and control system and one for the electronics.
There are three crew chiefs, one team leader and a lieutenant.
Goodwin said maintainers are all about safety and accomplishing the mission. Crew members work together to get things done.
Backus said the maintenance crews send out a lot of planes. He said he and the crew work on four to five planes daily at the Air Education and Training Command at the base.
As for the air rodeo, Backus said, “We want to show we are the best maintenance crew in the world.” They did just that.
By Jeffrey Smith
Leader staff writer
The air rodeo this week at McChord Air Force Base in Washington state is considered the Olympics for the best airlifters in the world.
Little Rock Air Force Base sent some 140 airmen and four planes from the 314th Airlift Wing and the 19th Airlift Wing for the week-long competition.
Every afternoon, airmen who competed in the rodeo got together around 5 p.m. to check the leader board to see where their airlift team was in the standings.
At each competition, either Col. C.K. Hyde, commander of the 314th Airlift Wing, or Col. Gregory Otey, commander of the 19th Airlift Wing, were on the sidelines with command chiefs, airmen and civic leaders cheering the home team on.
The base teams competed in judged events against other airlift bases around the nation and the world. Competing airmen strive for perfect scores while avoiding errors that can cost a team points.
Events included aeromedical evacuations, loading and unloading cargo, takeoffs, landings, dropping cargo loads in a drop zone, and refueling and post-flight operations by maintenance crews.
Former Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim was an enthusiastic spectator at the air rodeo. “It has been exciting to see our military perform the same activities they do in the war zone,” Swaim said.
“It is important for citizens in the community to interact with military team members. It is critical that we are able to see the difficulties they deal with in war,” he added.
Phil Davis, honorary commander of the 19th Airlift Wing, said he was impressed with the thoroughness and realism of the missions during the competition.
“All the little details, the loss of points on time, everything has to be split-second like it is in combat. As a civilian, you see how the different units are interdependent on each other. It all affects the broader mission,” Davis said.
Larry Biernacki, CEO of Arkansas Federal Credit Union, also attended the air rodeo. He said, “The rodeo is an opportunity for the men and women of the Air Force to come together and truly show how great they are.
“It is an opportunity for me to develop relationships with the airmen. You get to meet the airmen and recognize that they are regular people behind the service uniform,” he explained.
The 314th Airlift Wing maintenance team, the backbone of airlifters, also competed — and won. Without these crews, the C-130s would be grounded.
Senior Airman Ronnie Backus, maintenance crew chief with the 314th Airlift Wing, said the maintenance crews work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The only thing that stops the crew is lightning.
The crew is out at the plane three to four hours before take-off, he said.
Tech Sgt. Michael Goodwin was ready to show the world what the 314th Airlift Wing maintenance crew does.
“I hope we take home all the trophies. I feel we have the best maintenance crew,” Goodwin said. The crew came in first.
The maintenance crew competed in four events: preflight, basic postflight, refueling and basic post-operatives.
The maintenance crew in-cludes two engine maintainers. One focused on the hydraulics and one on the communications and navigations systems, one on the guidance and control system and one for the electronics.
There are three crew chiefs, one team leader and a lieutenant.
Goodwin said maintainers are all about safety and accomplishing the mission. Crew members work together to get things done.
Backus said the maintenance crews send out a lot of planes. He said he and the crew work on four to five planes daily at the Air Education and Training Command at the base.
As for the air rodeo, Backus said, “We want to show we are the best maintenance crew in the world.” They did just that.
Base students lead district
This year’s benchmark and SAT-10 test scores continue to show what Jacksonville and Little Rock Air Force Base have known for years — Arnold Drive Elementary School gives more to the Pulaski County Special School District than the district gives to the school.
Arnold Drive scores were about 15 points higher across the board than the district average. Arnold Drive third-graders were 97 percent proficient or advanced in math and 91 percent proficient or better in literacy, tops in the district. The fourth-graders, with scores of 94 percent in math and 97 percent in literacy, were also tops in the district and the fifth-graders scoring 91 percent proficient in math and 86 percent in literacy were among the top.
With students working that hard, and their teachers working hard as well in a dilapidated building that the Air Force asked the district to replace more than 20 years ago, it’s a salute to the students, the teachers and their parents.
It’s a team effort wherever students do well, but at PCSSD, it’s a special challenge where conditions are far from satisfactory. Former Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim, who had been in office for more than 22 years, has said, “Every wing commander since I’ve been mayor has asked (for a new school).”
Imagine what the teachers and students could do in a decent building. They could rank in the top 99 percent in the nation.
No wonder Lisa Otey, wife of Col. Gregory Otey, the base commander, is concerned about conditions in the district. She expressed her views in a letter to the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce and to the school district complaining that PCSSD isn’t doing its part.
In 2007, Brig. Gen Kip Self, then base commander, along with Rep. Vic Snyder and U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, toured the school. Snyder said at the time the facility was “a very substandard school building that was built years ago only to be temporary. At any given time, 25 percent of these kids have parents assigned overseas in Iraq or Afghanistan. We owe these parents and kids a better facility.”
The president of the Little Rock Air Force Base Community Council, Carmie Henry, went even further, saying the building was 50 years old, leaked like a sieve, was too small and in a bad location.
Despite all this, Arnold Drive children solidly and repeatedly outperform nearly the rest of the district. Shouldn’t they reap some reward?
Now Mrs. Otey has taken up the battle. She’s a military wife and a military mother who clearly understands the needs of military children.
“Our children deserve better,” Mrs. Otey said in her letter to the Jacksonville chamber. “Our military children deserve the best this state has to offer.”
She and her husband have urged the district to build a new school for the air base. How can the county district ignore her pleas?
The school board also needs to remember the base’s annual economic impact in central Arkansas totals more than $500 million, and the district itself receives $250,000 in federal impact aid each year to educate the base’s children.
Perhaps it will take a new north Pulaski County district before new schools are built. For the children whose parents sacrifice so much during their long service to our nation, they deserve better than rundown schools and leaky roofs.
Thank you, Col. Otey and Mrs. Otey for all you do for the children of military members and for the entire community. Congratulations also on the great test scores. Imagine how much they would improve with modern facilities and some positive district support.
Arnold Drive scores were about 15 points higher across the board than the district average. Arnold Drive third-graders were 97 percent proficient or advanced in math and 91 percent proficient or better in literacy, tops in the district. The fourth-graders, with scores of 94 percent in math and 97 percent in literacy, were also tops in the district and the fifth-graders scoring 91 percent proficient in math and 86 percent in literacy were among the top.
With students working that hard, and their teachers working hard as well in a dilapidated building that the Air Force asked the district to replace more than 20 years ago, it’s a salute to the students, the teachers and their parents.
It’s a team effort wherever students do well, but at PCSSD, it’s a special challenge where conditions are far from satisfactory. Former Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim, who had been in office for more than 22 years, has said, “Every wing commander since I’ve been mayor has asked (for a new school).”
Imagine what the teachers and students could do in a decent building. They could rank in the top 99 percent in the nation.
No wonder Lisa Otey, wife of Col. Gregory Otey, the base commander, is concerned about conditions in the district. She expressed her views in a letter to the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce and to the school district complaining that PCSSD isn’t doing its part.
In 2007, Brig. Gen Kip Self, then base commander, along with Rep. Vic Snyder and U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, toured the school. Snyder said at the time the facility was “a very substandard school building that was built years ago only to be temporary. At any given time, 25 percent of these kids have parents assigned overseas in Iraq or Afghanistan. We owe these parents and kids a better facility.”
The president of the Little Rock Air Force Base Community Council, Carmie Henry, went even further, saying the building was 50 years old, leaked like a sieve, was too small and in a bad location.
Despite all this, Arnold Drive children solidly and repeatedly outperform nearly the rest of the district. Shouldn’t they reap some reward?
Now Mrs. Otey has taken up the battle. She’s a military wife and a military mother who clearly understands the needs of military children.
“Our children deserve better,” Mrs. Otey said in her letter to the Jacksonville chamber. “Our military children deserve the best this state has to offer.”
She and her husband have urged the district to build a new school for the air base. How can the county district ignore her pleas?
The school board also needs to remember the base’s annual economic impact in central Arkansas totals more than $500 million, and the district itself receives $250,000 in federal impact aid each year to educate the base’s children.
Perhaps it will take a new north Pulaski County district before new schools are built. For the children whose parents sacrifice so much during their long service to our nation, they deserve better than rundown schools and leaky roofs.
Thank you, Col. Otey and Mrs. Otey for all you do for the children of military members and for the entire community. Congratulations also on the great test scores. Imagine how much they would improve with modern facilities and some positive district support.
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