It was so far down in the crime news that you may not have noticed. We like to mark the sparrow’s fall when it comes to former Gov. Mike Huckabee’s history with the criminal element, so we bring it to your attention.
Carlos Lamont Brown, a native of Forrest City, was sentenced to nine years in prison last week for running a credit-card scam that defrauded people of almost $130,000. His confederates would copy credit- and debit-card numbers when people used the cards to pay restaurant bills, and then Brown and his friends would use them to buy goods. The waiters would use hand-held scanning devices supplied by Brown’s team to copy the card numbers and identifications.
Gov. Huckabee never had any connection with Brown as far as we know, but one of the thief’s confederates was James Edward “Jimmy” Hinton, a former basketball star at Little Rock’s Hall High School. Hinton will be tried later this month for his role in the racket. After his playing days, Hinton spent time in the state penitentiary for distributing cocaine.
Huckabee, as we know, had a soft spot for sports and rock stars, businessmen who contributed to the Republican Party, repenting sinners, anyone who had victimized a relative of Bill Clinton and anyone who found a Baptist preacher to vouch for him. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that Huckabee gave Hinton a pardon. We don’t know what the former star told Huckabee that merited a pardon, or whether a preacher interceded for him, a model path to earn clemency in the Huckabee years.
The death toll from Huckabee’s liberal clemency policies still stands at six. Hinton at least did not add to that, but he lengthens the long line of criminals who preyed upon innocents after winning Huckabee’s favor. We have a hunch there will be more before the presidential race in 2012, when Sarah Palin — or someone — will demand that he explain a judgment that ran awry so often and that brought such unspeakable pain.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
EDITORIAL >> Washington owes us one
Some time this year, Arkansas will spend the last of some $2.5 billion that Washington sent our way to save and create jobs and continue the state’s meager services through this deep and lingering recession. People can judge for themselves whether the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act succeeded or was worth the accumulated national debt, which will amount to some $780 billion.
Just about every Republican officeholder and disciples of the Teabagger movement say that it has been a monumental waste.
A Republican state representative from Rogers last year tried to get the legislature to go on record repudiating Arkansas’ share of the stimulus, although she acknowledged that if everyone else was taking the money, maybe it would not be wise of us to send it back since the state did have a few needs it couldn’t meet.
Most Arkansans now have seen some immediate benefit — if nothing else, the huge project to remove the big bottleneck on Interstate 430 and the bridges and road improvements across the state. The people who were hired to do that work will think it worthwhile. But the best aspects are not so tangible, or at least not so visible: the school staffs and education programs that were not cut back, the policemen and firemen who were not furloughed, the public-health services that were not curtailed.
Without the stimulus, the pain for everyone would be less endurable. We are sure of that.
But what bothers us most about the naysaying is the complaint that the federal government should not be investing the borrowed money of the republic helping state and local governments, which are empowered to meet their own needs, and especially states like Arkansas that have not suffered the massive unemployment and budget cuts of the industrial and Sun Belt states.
Here is why they are wrong. The federal government owes us one. You may remember that the giant tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy in 2001 and 2003 had some punishing details for states like Arkansas. The tax act of 2001 phased out the federal tax on rich estates, which added hundreds of billions of dollars to the national debt, but a little-observed section of the act confiscated for the federal treasury the estate taxes levied by most states, including Arkansas. Grabbing the states’ taxes would make the federal budget deficit under President Bush look smaller. To hell with the states. Every Republican in both houses of Congress voted for it.
Arkansas had collected a tax on rich estates since 1909 and by 2003, when Washington began to confiscate the revenues, the estate tax was producing $62 million for Arkansas schools, colleges and health programs. Some years it produced more. In 1996, it generated $117 million.
All of that money has vanished, thanks to Bush and his party, and that is one reason that Gov. Beebe now is having to slash budgets and services. Now that we think about it, all the state’s fiscal travails are traceable to congressional action in that era.
Yes, they owe us one.
Just about every Republican officeholder and disciples of the Teabagger movement say that it has been a monumental waste.
A Republican state representative from Rogers last year tried to get the legislature to go on record repudiating Arkansas’ share of the stimulus, although she acknowledged that if everyone else was taking the money, maybe it would not be wise of us to send it back since the state did have a few needs it couldn’t meet.
Most Arkansans now have seen some immediate benefit — if nothing else, the huge project to remove the big bottleneck on Interstate 430 and the bridges and road improvements across the state. The people who were hired to do that work will think it worthwhile. But the best aspects are not so tangible, or at least not so visible: the school staffs and education programs that were not cut back, the policemen and firemen who were not furloughed, the public-health services that were not curtailed.
Without the stimulus, the pain for everyone would be less endurable. We are sure of that.
But what bothers us most about the naysaying is the complaint that the federal government should not be investing the borrowed money of the republic helping state and local governments, which are empowered to meet their own needs, and especially states like Arkansas that have not suffered the massive unemployment and budget cuts of the industrial and Sun Belt states.
Here is why they are wrong. The federal government owes us one. You may remember that the giant tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy in 2001 and 2003 had some punishing details for states like Arkansas. The tax act of 2001 phased out the federal tax on rich estates, which added hundreds of billions of dollars to the national debt, but a little-observed section of the act confiscated for the federal treasury the estate taxes levied by most states, including Arkansas. Grabbing the states’ taxes would make the federal budget deficit under President Bush look smaller. To hell with the states. Every Republican in both houses of Congress voted for it.
Arkansas had collected a tax on rich estates since 1909 and by 2003, when Washington began to confiscate the revenues, the estate tax was producing $62 million for Arkansas schools, colleges and health programs. Some years it produced more. In 1996, it generated $117 million.
All of that money has vanished, thanks to Bush and his party, and that is one reason that Gov. Beebe now is having to slash budgets and services. Now that we think about it, all the state’s fiscal travails are traceable to congressional action in that era.
Yes, they owe us one.
TOP STORY >> Trial could get Muhammad his death wish
By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader executive editor
Last June, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad killed a soldier from Conway and injured another soldier from Jacksonville in front of a recruiting station in Little Rock.
Pvt. William Long, 23, died from a single bullet wound. Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 19, who lives in the Sunnyside section of Jacksonville, survived by playing dead. Ezeagwula was shot in his neck, back and buttocks.
Muhammad, 24, can’t wait for martyrdom.
Muhammad, aka Carlos Leon Bledsoe, is originally from Memphis. He thinks he’s a soldier for Islam.
He says he joined al-Qaeda when he traveled to Yemen three years ago, but prosecutors and the FBI think he’s just a loner and a loser. His father thinks he’s a fruitcake.
Muhammad wants a quick trial and conviction so he can get to paradise and into the waiting arms of those virgins they told him about when he converted to Islam in 2007.
He says prosecutors who “wish to frighten me with seeking the death penalty” don’t scare him at all.
“Bring it on,” he wrote to a Little Rock TV station recently. “We love death more than you love life. And you can’t kill those who are ready to die.”
Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley, who thinks Muhammad is “a cowardly, cold, calculating killer,” says he’ll seek the death penalty.
Muhammad wants to plead guilty, but Jegley’s not interested in a negotiated plea, which would mean life without parole.
“I won’t pay any respect to his political posturings,” Jegley told us. “I don’t care what his reasons are. We’re on for the trial in June.
“I’ll take care of the homicide charges,” Jegley added.
That would almost certainly mean a death sentence if Muhammad is convicted. The only possible reprieve, short of an acquittal, would be if Pvt. Long’s family took pity on him and asked Jegley for a negotiated plea.
But Jegley said that would be unlikely.
He considers Muhammad a murderer who couldn’t even find his way to al-Qaeda in Yemen, where they operate pretty much out in the open, like street peddlers and money changers.
The U.S. Justice Department thinks he may have made contact with some radical outfits there, but nothing came of it, Jegley told us.
Muhammad said the attack didn’t go as planned. He had hoped to kill more soldiers at the recruiting station. He managed to kill just one white soldier and injured a black soldier. That’s why he thinks he’s a failure.
But he’s not as crazy as he sounds: His lawyers have asked the Arkansas Public Defender Commission to help pay for their client’s defense.
That could cost as much as $100,00-$200,000.
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herb Wright Jr., who will preside over the trial, has ruled that Muhammad should get paid by the public defender’s commission.
The commission will file an appeal today to the state Supreme Court. A spokesman told us the commission can’t afford to spend all of its money on Muhammad, leaving nothing for indigent defendants.
Muhammad is one of several black Americans who have converted to Islam in hopes of finding salvation through violence.
John Allen Muhammad and a young sidekick went on a rampage in the Washington, D.C., area in 2002 and killed 10 people.
Muhammad was executed last November.
Our Muhammad may have had the Washington sniper in mind during the attack in Little Rock. Fortunately, we were spared a bloodbath here, but the prosecution hopes the punishment will be the same.
Leader executive editor
Last June, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad killed a soldier from Conway and injured another soldier from Jacksonville in front of a recruiting station in Little Rock.
Pvt. William Long, 23, died from a single bullet wound. Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 19, who lives in the Sunnyside section of Jacksonville, survived by playing dead. Ezeagwula was shot in his neck, back and buttocks.
Muhammad, 24, can’t wait for martyrdom.
Muhammad, aka Carlos Leon Bledsoe, is originally from Memphis. He thinks he’s a soldier for Islam.
He says he joined al-Qaeda when he traveled to Yemen three years ago, but prosecutors and the FBI think he’s just a loner and a loser. His father thinks he’s a fruitcake.
Muhammad wants a quick trial and conviction so he can get to paradise and into the waiting arms of those virgins they told him about when he converted to Islam in 2007.
He says prosecutors who “wish to frighten me with seeking the death penalty” don’t scare him at all.
“Bring it on,” he wrote to a Little Rock TV station recently. “We love death more than you love life. And you can’t kill those who are ready to die.”
Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley, who thinks Muhammad is “a cowardly, cold, calculating killer,” says he’ll seek the death penalty.
Muhammad wants to plead guilty, but Jegley’s not interested in a negotiated plea, which would mean life without parole.
“I won’t pay any respect to his political posturings,” Jegley told us. “I don’t care what his reasons are. We’re on for the trial in June.
“I’ll take care of the homicide charges,” Jegley added.
That would almost certainly mean a death sentence if Muhammad is convicted. The only possible reprieve, short of an acquittal, would be if Pvt. Long’s family took pity on him and asked Jegley for a negotiated plea.
But Jegley said that would be unlikely.
He considers Muhammad a murderer who couldn’t even find his way to al-Qaeda in Yemen, where they operate pretty much out in the open, like street peddlers and money changers.
The U.S. Justice Department thinks he may have made contact with some radical outfits there, but nothing came of it, Jegley told us.
Muhammad said the attack didn’t go as planned. He had hoped to kill more soldiers at the recruiting station. He managed to kill just one white soldier and injured a black soldier. That’s why he thinks he’s a failure.
But he’s not as crazy as he sounds: His lawyers have asked the Arkansas Public Defender Commission to help pay for their client’s defense.
That could cost as much as $100,00-$200,000.
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herb Wright Jr., who will preside over the trial, has ruled that Muhammad should get paid by the public defender’s commission.
The commission will file an appeal today to the state Supreme Court. A spokesman told us the commission can’t afford to spend all of its money on Muhammad, leaving nothing for indigent defendants.
Muhammad is one of several black Americans who have converted to Islam in hopes of finding salvation through violence.
John Allen Muhammad and a young sidekick went on a rampage in the Washington, D.C., area in 2002 and killed 10 people.
Muhammad was executed last November.
Our Muhammad may have had the Washington sniper in mind during the attack in Little Rock. Fortunately, we were spared a bloodbath here, but the prosecution hopes the punishment will be the same.
TOP STORY >> Sherwood gas station falling down
This old gas station in Sherwood may be added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The building is suffering from years of neglect.
By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
Sherwood Alderman Becki Vassar hopes others share her sentiment about preserving a little bit of local history – the long-vacant filling station that sits in the midst of the intersection of Trammel and Roundtop roads on the eastern edge of town.
The spot was once a vital way station for travelers between Little Rock and St. Louis. Now, the quaint building, which in 2008 was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, is badly in need of repair.
“It needs everything – it is about to fall down,” Vassar said. “Some repairs have been done on the roof, but it is in total disrepair.”
The tiny white stucco building with red trim and eye-catching turret roof is enough to spark any child’s imagination, as it did when Vassar’s children rode past more than 30 years ago, she recalled when talking about her “fond memories and big wishes” for renovating the structure.
The building is one of the few remaining examples in the state of the whimsical architectural style often chosen in the early 1900s by smaller oil company stations to attract customers.
“There are some people who think it should be torn down, but there are only two, maybe four, left in the state, and we need to do what we can to preserve it,” Vassar said.
According to accounts by the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program and the city of Sherwood, the filling station was constructed in 1936 by North Little Rock developer Justin Matthews for the Pierce Oil Company.
Pierce was one of several “baby Standards” formed after the breakup of the Standard Oil Trust in 1911 and operated in southern Missouri, Arkansas, western Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. Sinclair Oil purchased Pierce Oil in 1940. Photographs indicate that Roundtop later was a DX Oil Company station.
W.D. “Happy” Williford operated the station from the time it opened until it closed in 1972. During that time, Roundtop Road – the old U.S. Hwy. 67 – was a major road prior to construction of the interstate system.
“All the St. Louis-Little Rock traffic passed by it,” states the account in the city history, “The Signs Still Stay Sherwood.” “For many years, it had the only modern bathrooms between Searcy and Little Rock.”
Even so, the amount of gas sold there was very modest by today’s reckoning.
“Pumping a hundred gallons of gas in the glass-bowl pump was a big day,” Williford is quoted as saying.
Williford bought the station in 1957, then sold it in 1999 to George Brown. Brown’s heirs later made the property a gift to the city, which annexed the area in 1975.
Vassar plans to seek a grant to pay for repairs, but senses that the project may require more capital than what a grant could provide.
Her hope is that businesses with the needed expertise, labor or materials will come together to work on the renovation.
She thinks that the building could be put to use, possibly as a station for Sherwood police officers.
“I would like to put together a group of people in the community who are truly interested to raise funds or make repairs or in-kind contributions,” Vassar said.
TOP STORY >> PCSSD interviews hopefuls
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
“I am an agent of change,” Charles L. Hopson of Portland, Ore., told reporters Tuesday afternoon, part of his daylong interview process as a finalist for the Pulaski County Special School District’s superintendent’s job.
Rob McGill, who has been acting superintendent since the board pressured former Superintendent James Sharpe to resign last May, is among four finalists selected from five recommended by the recruitment development team of McPherson and Jacobson.
“I envision a district where race and poverty are not indicative of success,” said Hopson, 52, who has taught at Northwood Middle School.
He said in his experience, most students with disabilities or non-native English speakers can and should be mainstreamed and respond well to more rigorous schooling if they receive proper support.
On Monday, Roy “Cole” Pugh went through the interview process. McGill is slated for an interview today. Thursday, the lone woman, Vashti K. Washington, will be in the hot seat.
Pugh, who has served as superintendent of larger Texas high schools since 1990, pointed to several instances where schools he led dramatically increased benchmark scores.
Pugh is superintendent of the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw School District, which has an enrollment of 16,100, slightly smaller than PCSSD.
He cited his experience working at districts with high minority enrollments with low- income and low-academic achievement.
In the 2008-2009 school year, the number of students taking advanced-placement classes doubled from the number when he arrived in 2006, he said.
Pugh said he served on 12 teams of educators who visited other Texas school districts to help improve performance.
Most people want the best for the children of a district, he said. “Why doesn’t that happen? Because of fragmented efforts.”
Pugh, 60, said he had experience in facilities planning in several districts.
He said when he became superintendent of his first district, the bank account was overdrawn and it was “circling the drain, not an experience I’d like to repeat.”
“Three years later, it was identified as the 10th-best district financially in the state,” he said.
Pugh said test scores could be increased by curriculum alignment. “They need to know the knowledge (they will be tested on),” he said.
District patrons hated to see him move on when he left, he said.
Pugh said he was seeking a position outside of Texas so that he could begin drawing his Texas retirement benefits, but that he expected to continue working at least until his seventh grade son graduated.
Pugh has a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from Stephen F. Austin State University and a master’s degree from the same school in physical education. He received his Ph.D. in education from the University of Houston.
Hopson has local roots. Raised in Prescott, he was a special education teacher in the Helena/West Helena School District and for three years at Northwood Middle School in Gravel Ridge, where he began to develop his inclusive approach to education, he said.
He is deputy superintendent of district-wide programs in Portland, which has 34,546 students.
He has been an administrator in Portland Public Schools for nearly 20 years, where he said he developed a reputation for turning around test scores, improved discipline, turned around low faculty morale and eliminated systemic barriers to education of more challenged students.
“When students are affirmed and successfully engaged, discipline (problems) drop,” he said.
“We took down barriers and expanded advanced-placement opportunities for more students,” he said.
“I will argue that academic disparity is not the result of cognitive deficiency. It’s more about building a culture and framework for high expectation.”
He said at the beginning, students were begging to get out of AP classes because of the rigor. At the end of the year, he got a card signed by many of those students, some English as a second language students, saying, “Thank you for believing in us.
You took us out of classes where we felt dumb.”
He said his methods encountered “tremendous pushback from the teachers,” and that it took time for them to buy into the program. He said some left.
Hopson said he was recruited into a group of superintendents being prepared to lead some of the largest urban school districts.
“I’m supposedly one of the top six candidates (in the nation) for large urban school districts,” he said.
Asked if he would consider it a mandate by the board to implement his vision if hired, Hopson said, “The board is the policy-making entity. I’m looking for opportunities to have courageous conversations that are critical for this district. I’m looking for a cohesive voice, transparency and open dialogue.”
Hopson earned his bachelor’s in elementary/special education at the University of Central Arkansas, His master’s in elementary school administration and supervision also from UCA and In August 1993, he earned his Ph.D. in educational Policy and management at the University of Oregon at Eugene.
Leader senior staff writer
“I am an agent of change,” Charles L. Hopson of Portland, Ore., told reporters Tuesday afternoon, part of his daylong interview process as a finalist for the Pulaski County Special School District’s superintendent’s job.
Rob McGill, who has been acting superintendent since the board pressured former Superintendent James Sharpe to resign last May, is among four finalists selected from five recommended by the recruitment development team of McPherson and Jacobson.
“I envision a district where race and poverty are not indicative of success,” said Hopson, 52, who has taught at Northwood Middle School.
He said in his experience, most students with disabilities or non-native English speakers can and should be mainstreamed and respond well to more rigorous schooling if they receive proper support.
On Monday, Roy “Cole” Pugh went through the interview process. McGill is slated for an interview today. Thursday, the lone woman, Vashti K. Washington, will be in the hot seat.
Pugh, who has served as superintendent of larger Texas high schools since 1990, pointed to several instances where schools he led dramatically increased benchmark scores.
Pugh is superintendent of the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw School District, which has an enrollment of 16,100, slightly smaller than PCSSD.
He cited his experience working at districts with high minority enrollments with low- income and low-academic achievement.
In the 2008-2009 school year, the number of students taking advanced-placement classes doubled from the number when he arrived in 2006, he said.
Pugh said he served on 12 teams of educators who visited other Texas school districts to help improve performance.
Most people want the best for the children of a district, he said. “Why doesn’t that happen? Because of fragmented efforts.”
Pugh, 60, said he had experience in facilities planning in several districts.
He said when he became superintendent of his first district, the bank account was overdrawn and it was “circling the drain, not an experience I’d like to repeat.”
“Three years later, it was identified as the 10th-best district financially in the state,” he said.
Pugh said test scores could be increased by curriculum alignment. “They need to know the knowledge (they will be tested on),” he said.
District patrons hated to see him move on when he left, he said.
Pugh said he was seeking a position outside of Texas so that he could begin drawing his Texas retirement benefits, but that he expected to continue working at least until his seventh grade son graduated.
Pugh has a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from Stephen F. Austin State University and a master’s degree from the same school in physical education. He received his Ph.D. in education from the University of Houston.
Hopson has local roots. Raised in Prescott, he was a special education teacher in the Helena/West Helena School District and for three years at Northwood Middle School in Gravel Ridge, where he began to develop his inclusive approach to education, he said.
He is deputy superintendent of district-wide programs in Portland, which has 34,546 students.
He has been an administrator in Portland Public Schools for nearly 20 years, where he said he developed a reputation for turning around test scores, improved discipline, turned around low faculty morale and eliminated systemic barriers to education of more challenged students.
“When students are affirmed and successfully engaged, discipline (problems) drop,” he said.
“We took down barriers and expanded advanced-placement opportunities for more students,” he said.
“I will argue that academic disparity is not the result of cognitive deficiency. It’s more about building a culture and framework for high expectation.”
He said at the beginning, students were begging to get out of AP classes because of the rigor. At the end of the year, he got a card signed by many of those students, some English as a second language students, saying, “Thank you for believing in us.
You took us out of classes where we felt dumb.”
He said his methods encountered “tremendous pushback from the teachers,” and that it took time for them to buy into the program. He said some left.
Hopson said he was recruited into a group of superintendents being prepared to lead some of the largest urban school districts.
“I’m supposedly one of the top six candidates (in the nation) for large urban school districts,” he said.
Asked if he would consider it a mandate by the board to implement his vision if hired, Hopson said, “The board is the policy-making entity. I’m looking for opportunities to have courageous conversations that are critical for this district. I’m looking for a cohesive voice, transparency and open dialogue.”
Hopson earned his bachelor’s in elementary/special education at the University of Central Arkansas, His master’s in elementary school administration and supervision also from UCA and In August 1993, he earned his Ph.D. in educational Policy and management at the University of Oregon at Eugene.
TOP STORY >> Storm not as bad as feared
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
John Lewis, a Sherwood resident who is with the National Weather Service in Little Rock, said that central Arkansas got neither a snow event nor an ice event last weekend.
He said the atmospheric conditions across the northern part of the state panned out for a major snow event and some areas got as much as one foot of snow.
“They had very little sleet, ice or freezing rain up north, just snow,” Lewis explained.
Across central Arkansas, Lewis said, there were warmer atmospheric conditions that caused the snow to melt and then refreeze. “Because it was refreezing at a relatively high level, we got mostly sleet.”
But it was a different story in south-central Arkansas, particularly along a band from Hot Springs to Pine Bluff to Stuttgart; there, the refreezing occurred close to the ground.
“That caused them to get freezing rain, which caused more problems,” Lewis said. “At one time about 30,000 people were without power in the area because of the freezing rain icing up and cracking lines and trees.”
The storm, which turned out to be much milder than expected, still had city and county road crews working long hours dumping sand and chemicals on bridges, intersections and hills to try to minimize traffic accidents.
Hal Toney, the street department superintendent for Jacksonville, said his department put in 219 man-hours and dumped about 80 tons of sand and seven tons of salt on the city, starting late Thursday and going through Saturday.
In Sherwood, crews also put in about 200 man-hours. Chester Bymer, the street department supervisor, said the city spread 30 yards of sand onto the streets and bridges during the storm.
The storm left the Jacksonville Police Department still short five officers.
Police Chief Gary Sipes had gone to the Civil Service Commission in December to get permission to offer out-of-cycle testing to fill four vacancies. Shortly after the request was approved, a Jacksonville officer was fired and arrested on drug charges, leaving the department five short.
The testing was set for Saturday, but the wintry mix of weather caused the testing to be canceled.
TOP STORY >> Railroad, FEMA view aftermath of Beebe floods
By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer
Union Pacific railroad officials, along with Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel, were in Beebe recently to survey damage from two floods that devastated part of the Windwood subdivision.
Mayor Mike Robertson said the railroad appears open to the idea of rebuilding trestles taken out decades ago to allow water to flow out of the subdivision faster if that would help. And FEMA might be able to provide money to relocate some of the residents whose homes were severely damaged if a federal disaster area is declared. But for now, he has no real update on the solution to the flooding or relief for its victims. Too many questions are still unanswered.
Robertson said officials with Union Pacific didn’t say no when asked about rebuilding railroad trestles (bridges that water could flow through) that were taken out 20 years ago and replaced with dirt beds that act as dams holding runoff in the subdivision.
“At least they were receptive,” he said.
The mayor said he sent the railroad representatives to Don Beavers with BF Engineering because Beavers understands the problems in the area. But the railroad will want its own engineering study, he said.
The flooding, the day before Halloween and Christmas Eve, had two causes, he said. Runoff has gotten worse in recent years as the entire area, not just Beebe, has developed. The water could not get through the remaining railroad trestle to a lower-lying area as fast as it came into the subdivision. At the same time, Cypress Bayou was already full and backed up into the subdivision.
“There was no place for it to go,” he said.
Robertson said his information about progress with FEMA comes from the county’s Office of Emergency Management in Searcy.
Someone from his office calls at least every two days, he said. But until a federal disaster declaration is made, there will be no federal money to help with the problem.
Some residents want the city to use federal money to buy their homes which will likely be difficult to sell because they were flooded even if the flooding problem is solved.
Robertson said he knows money for that might be available, but he doesn’t know if it will be. And if it is, it would have to be a full grant to the city because the city couldn’t afford to pay any of the cost of buying flooded homes.
In the meantime, the owners of about half the dozen homes that were damaged by flood water are making repairs.
Some of the flooded homes were not protected by flood insurance. The mayor said some residents have filed lawsuits against the financial institutions that financed them.
Some residents have said the city should have told them they needed the insurance. Robertson said the city could have told them their homes were in a flood zone if they had asked, but they didn’t ask and the city has no way of knowing when a home is sold.
The city ordinance on building in flood zones says homes that sustain flood damage of half their value cannot be rebuilt. So far, only one home fits that description.
Leader staff writer
Union Pacific railroad officials, along with Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel, were in Beebe recently to survey damage from two floods that devastated part of the Windwood subdivision.
Mayor Mike Robertson said the railroad appears open to the idea of rebuilding trestles taken out decades ago to allow water to flow out of the subdivision faster if that would help. And FEMA might be able to provide money to relocate some of the residents whose homes were severely damaged if a federal disaster area is declared. But for now, he has no real update on the solution to the flooding or relief for its victims. Too many questions are still unanswered.
Robertson said officials with Union Pacific didn’t say no when asked about rebuilding railroad trestles (bridges that water could flow through) that were taken out 20 years ago and replaced with dirt beds that act as dams holding runoff in the subdivision.
“At least they were receptive,” he said.
The mayor said he sent the railroad representatives to Don Beavers with BF Engineering because Beavers understands the problems in the area. But the railroad will want its own engineering study, he said.
The flooding, the day before Halloween and Christmas Eve, had two causes, he said. Runoff has gotten worse in recent years as the entire area, not just Beebe, has developed. The water could not get through the remaining railroad trestle to a lower-lying area as fast as it came into the subdivision. At the same time, Cypress Bayou was already full and backed up into the subdivision.
“There was no place for it to go,” he said.
Robertson said his information about progress with FEMA comes from the county’s Office of Emergency Management in Searcy.
Someone from his office calls at least every two days, he said. But until a federal disaster declaration is made, there will be no federal money to help with the problem.
Some residents want the city to use federal money to buy their homes which will likely be difficult to sell because they were flooded even if the flooding problem is solved.
Robertson said he knows money for that might be available, but he doesn’t know if it will be. And if it is, it would have to be a full grant to the city because the city couldn’t afford to pay any of the cost of buying flooded homes.
In the meantime, the owners of about half the dozen homes that were damaged by flood water are making repairs.
Some of the flooded homes were not protected by flood insurance. The mayor said some residents have filed lawsuits against the financial institutions that financed them.
Some residents have said the city should have told them they needed the insurance. Robertson said the city could have told them their homes were in a flood zone if they had asked, but they didn’t ask and the city has no way of knowing when a home is sold.
The city ordinance on building in flood zones says homes that sustain flood damage of half their value cannot be rebuilt. So far, only one home fits that description.
SPORTS >> Lifeblood of football is life itself
By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
Well, it’s national signing day and you know what that means.
Yes, it’s time to break out the William Shatner impression.
You remember the SNL sketch in which Shatner, old Capt. Kirk himself, addresses the rabid, costumed fans at the Star Trek convention with the immortal words: “Get a life, will you people?”
For a lot of football fans with not enough to do, today is the sports equivalent of the Star Trek convention. And I echo Shatner, minus the chewed scenery.
Across the nation, athletes in several sports will sign NCAA letters of intent to compete for institutions of higher learning next year. The focus, around here and everywhere else, of course, is on football.
Since the game is our most popular spectator sport, the attention is understandable and fans’ interest is justified, though locally we have athletes signing in baseball, softball and track and field as well.
I don’t have a problem with a kid getting a full athletic scholarship. None.
You know that on the field, at least, the scholarship has been earned in a measurable way, quantifiable by film and statistics, and such a ride gives an opportunity to a kid who might not have otherwise had one. That’s regardless of whether or not he stays in school or declares for a draft.
I personally hope he stays in school and finds a cure for cancer someday.
No, what has made the whole recruiting scene a “colossal waste of time” as Shatner also told the Trekkers, are the Internet sites like Rivals.com, message boards, radio talk shows and media coverage that have turned recruiting into a spectator sport unto itself.
That and the obsessive fans who gobble up this stuff.
Many of the so-called media experts are glorified fans of the programs they cover; they have been known to brag about landing recruits for a particular team or, just as unethically, they become too close to recruits and wind up trying to find them a coach with a scholarship to give — in other words, they meddle in the stories they are supposed to be writing.
I have seen this firsthand.
Many coaches don’t put stock in the Internet rankings and choose to do their own player evaluations. Arkansas State’s Steve Roberts told me that by the time a 17 year old cracks the Rivals top 100, he may have already reached his athletic peak, and college coaches have to sign players as much for their potential as for the players they are.
Yes, recruiting is the lifeblood of the sport, but it doesn’t have to be life for the sports fan. If you like athletics, there are real live sports being played right now.
High school basketball is coming up on its regular season home stretch, the college basketball races are starting to take shape and for pity’s sake football fans, the Super Bowl is Sunday.
Do the recruitniks miss football so much when the season is over they actually have to know if a kid in Possum Guts, Tenn., is considering playing for Arkansas?
Sure it means your program is doing well if you’re landing the so-called blue chippers, it means you’ve won some games, you have a high profile, people want to play for you. It’s understandable a fan might like to know who is in this year’s signing class.
But even recruiting guys like Little Rock Christian’s Michael Dyer, the all-time Arkansas high school rushing leader heading to Auburn, can be a crapshoot. Hasn’t Dyer struggled with ankle injuries in the past?
Say that lineman from Possum Guts commits to Arkansas and one of the two recruiting “gurus” in the statewide daily breathlessly reports the news?
What does the fan do with that news once he has it? Sit on pins and needles for the two years or more it will take for that lineman to become a contributing player?
Consider:
The kid has to make it to campus and not get hurt during summer conditioning or some high school all-star game or some sort of youthful hijinx.
He must log time on the scout team and learn the system.
He must make grades.
He must stay out of trouble (never as easy as it sounds).
He will probably redshirt.
And he must live up to the expectations that got him signed in the first place.
Then, maybe in two years minimum, the kid becomes a contributor, if he stays injury free.
You could read a lot of good books waiting for that moment. You could take a lot of long walks with your wife or spend a lot time with your kids. Two years is plenty of time to lose 10 pounds or quit smoking.
You could get a life.
Leader sports editor
Well, it’s national signing day and you know what that means.
Yes, it’s time to break out the William Shatner impression.
You remember the SNL sketch in which Shatner, old Capt. Kirk himself, addresses the rabid, costumed fans at the Star Trek convention with the immortal words: “Get a life, will you people?”
For a lot of football fans with not enough to do, today is the sports equivalent of the Star Trek convention. And I echo Shatner, minus the chewed scenery.
Across the nation, athletes in several sports will sign NCAA letters of intent to compete for institutions of higher learning next year. The focus, around here and everywhere else, of course, is on football.
Since the game is our most popular spectator sport, the attention is understandable and fans’ interest is justified, though locally we have athletes signing in baseball, softball and track and field as well.
I don’t have a problem with a kid getting a full athletic scholarship. None.
You know that on the field, at least, the scholarship has been earned in a measurable way, quantifiable by film and statistics, and such a ride gives an opportunity to a kid who might not have otherwise had one. That’s regardless of whether or not he stays in school or declares for a draft.
I personally hope he stays in school and finds a cure for cancer someday.
No, what has made the whole recruiting scene a “colossal waste of time” as Shatner also told the Trekkers, are the Internet sites like Rivals.com, message boards, radio talk shows and media coverage that have turned recruiting into a spectator sport unto itself.
That and the obsessive fans who gobble up this stuff.
Many of the so-called media experts are glorified fans of the programs they cover; they have been known to brag about landing recruits for a particular team or, just as unethically, they become too close to recruits and wind up trying to find them a coach with a scholarship to give — in other words, they meddle in the stories they are supposed to be writing.
I have seen this firsthand.
Many coaches don’t put stock in the Internet rankings and choose to do their own player evaluations. Arkansas State’s Steve Roberts told me that by the time a 17 year old cracks the Rivals top 100, he may have already reached his athletic peak, and college coaches have to sign players as much for their potential as for the players they are.
Yes, recruiting is the lifeblood of the sport, but it doesn’t have to be life for the sports fan. If you like athletics, there are real live sports being played right now.
High school basketball is coming up on its regular season home stretch, the college basketball races are starting to take shape and for pity’s sake football fans, the Super Bowl is Sunday.
Do the recruitniks miss football so much when the season is over they actually have to know if a kid in Possum Guts, Tenn., is considering playing for Arkansas?
Sure it means your program is doing well if you’re landing the so-called blue chippers, it means you’ve won some games, you have a high profile, people want to play for you. It’s understandable a fan might like to know who is in this year’s signing class.
But even recruiting guys like Little Rock Christian’s Michael Dyer, the all-time Arkansas high school rushing leader heading to Auburn, can be a crapshoot. Hasn’t Dyer struggled with ankle injuries in the past?
Say that lineman from Possum Guts commits to Arkansas and one of the two recruiting “gurus” in the statewide daily breathlessly reports the news?
What does the fan do with that news once he has it? Sit on pins and needles for the two years or more it will take for that lineman to become a contributing player?
Consider:
The kid has to make it to campus and not get hurt during summer conditioning or some high school all-star game or some sort of youthful hijinx.
He must log time on the scout team and learn the system.
He must make grades.
He must stay out of trouble (never as easy as it sounds).
He will probably redshirt.
And he must live up to the expectations that got him signed in the first place.
Then, maybe in two years minimum, the kid becomes a contributor, if he stays injury free.
You could read a lot of good books waiting for that moment. You could take a lot of long walks with your wife or spend a lot time with your kids. Two years is plenty of time to lose 10 pounds or quit smoking.
You could get a life.
SPORTS >> North Pulaski gets no bounce in poll
Freshman I.J. Ready has been a contributor for North Pulaski this season. By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
At least North Pulaski didn’t drop in the statewide rankings.
But Falcons coach Raymond Cooper was scratching his head a little over North Pulaski’s stationary status after it beat No. 1 Little Rock McClellan last week.
“We started at four, beat them, stayed at four,” Cooper said.
The Falcons (14-4, 6-0 5A-Southeast) beat McClellan 76-73 on Jan. 26 then had last Friday’s game with White Hall postponed until the end of the season because of the winter weather that blew into Arkansas late last week.
It is hard to say if the cancellation and the missed chance to win another game may have kept the Falcons from moving up the overall rankings, in which Conway, of the 7A, is No. 1 followed by 6A members West Memphis and Little Rock Hall. McClellan dropped to No. 5.
North Pulaski is No. 1 in 5A, but Cooper clearly expected the Falcons to move a little, if not all the way to No. 1, in the overall rankings.
“We’ve never done well in the polls,” Cooper said. “I don’t know if people underestimate us because of our size or whatever the case may be, but it’s a little stuff to put on the bulletin board.”
Cooper and the Falcons, who reached the 5A state final and lost to Greene Co. Tech last year, didn’t get a chance to discuss the snub over the icy weekend, but Cooper figured it would be a hot topic going into Monday’s practice.
“Of course I haven’t seen them since then. I’ll find a good time to use it,” Cooper said.
The good news at least, is that North Pulaski went into its unexpected time off after a victory.
“I’d rather be coming off a win than coming off a loss,” Cooper said. “You get a whole lot of time to mull it over and then not being able to practice either, so I’d much rather be coming off a win.”
Kyron Ware led North Pulaski with 18 points in the McClellan victory and freshman I.J. Ready made two free throws with three seconds left for the final margin.
Cooper said the Falcons’ effort was good to see after some lackluster performances early in the season.
“We picked it up in the last couple weeks and the biggest thing is practice picked up, and preparing,” Cooper said. “Preparing for the games and sustaining. We still had a letdown against McClellan, we got up 18 in the third quarter and we went into that little mode again.”
Cooper said his players still sometimes stand around when it’s time to grab a rebound, and he hasn’t always been happy with the speed of the Falcons’ transition game and a lack of communication in transition.
“These are things that are mental because we drill it all the time and sometimes we lost focus,” Cooper said.
But the Falcons wouldn’t be perfect in the conference and in the state’s top five without having some highlights too. For Cooper, such a highlight has been balanced scoring.
“In the McClellan game and the Beebe game both we had equal distribution of scoring,” Cooper said. “At Beebe we had five guys with double digits and one guy with eight points. Against McClellan we had four and I think one guy had eight so we had almost five guys in double digits against McClellan.
“That’s when we’re at our best, everybody contributing and you can’t really key in on anybody.”
Ware is averaging close to 18 points to lead the Falcons, Aaron Cooper is averaging close to 17 and Bryan Coulson’s average is around 10.
While North Pulaski would have liked to continue its groove after beating McClellan, the snow day last Friday actually came at a pretty good time.
“It was kind of good for us because we have some guys that have some nagging injuries,” Ray Cooper said. “It allows them to heal up a little bit.”
Bryant has been playing though a back injury, Colson has a nagging groin pull and Ready has been dealing with a sore ankle.
“They’ve been playing but we just haven’t had a lot of time to get them well,” Ray Cooper said. “So this was a chance to get off it and take a few days and get some of those injuries better.”
SPORTS >> Climate changes schedule
By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
Winter weather put a crimp in the basketball schedules last week, but as quickly as the precipitation began to melt, most area athletic directors were already putting contingencies in place.
Jacksonville, of the 6A-East Conference, and Cabot, of the 7A-Central, had their respective games with Mountain Home and at Russellville postponed Friday as snow and ice blew into Arkansas.
But both schools had Tuesday open this week, and it was a fairly easy decision to move the games to that date.
“We’re doing everything from Friday on Tuesday,” Jackson-ville athletic director Jerry Wilson said as school was back in session Monday.
All of the 7A classification had an open Tuesday to allow for a simple rescheduling of Friday’s postponements, meaning Cabot was at Russellville on Tuesday night.
Most schools in the 6A-East also had Tuesday free as a first option for rescheduling. Only Marion and Little Rock Parkview had a regularly scheduled game against each other Tuesday and would have to find another night to make up their Friday games.
Parkview had been scheduled to play at West Memphis on Friday and Searcy was supposed to travel to Marion.
Smaller schools like Lonoke were trying to squeeze in the postponed games where they could. Lonoke’s Friday home game with Southside Batesville was moved to Wednesday.
North Pulaski moved its game at White Hall to Friday, Feb. 26, meaning the Falcons, already scheduled to host White Hall in the regular-season finale Feb. 23, will face the same team twice in one week.
Wilson moved more quickly than many to reschedule the Red Devils’ and Lady Red Devils’ Friday games. With Mountain Home looking at a 3 ½-hour bus trip, Wilson called the game and notified local media on Thursday, before the bad weather had really rolled in.
“I’d already made the decision,” Wilson said. “We had a meeting on Wednesday and they were expecting 8 to 12 inches, so we already rescheduled.”
Wilson also had to take into account that Jacksonville had its basketball homecoming scheduled for the Friday games with Mountain Home. The sooner he could reschedule, the easier it would be for parents, members of the homecoming court and others to change their plans.
Tipoff for the Jacksonville-Mountain Home girls game was 5 p.m. to allow for the on-court ceremonies.
“We just bumped up the time and we’ll go right on down the road,” Wilson said.
Most important, Wilson said, was the issue of Mountain Home’s safety.
“It’s so ironic, it always seems to be Mountain Home, too,” Wilson said of the postponement of the games with the Bombers and Lady Bombers. “We’re looking out for the safety of the kids. That’s what it’s all about. When you’re on a bus with kids traveling 3 ½ hours, you’ve got to be sure of the safety of the kids.”
Leader sports editor
Winter weather put a crimp in the basketball schedules last week, but as quickly as the precipitation began to melt, most area athletic directors were already putting contingencies in place.
Jacksonville, of the 6A-East Conference, and Cabot, of the 7A-Central, had their respective games with Mountain Home and at Russellville postponed Friday as snow and ice blew into Arkansas.
But both schools had Tuesday open this week, and it was a fairly easy decision to move the games to that date.
“We’re doing everything from Friday on Tuesday,” Jackson-ville athletic director Jerry Wilson said as school was back in session Monday.
All of the 7A classification had an open Tuesday to allow for a simple rescheduling of Friday’s postponements, meaning Cabot was at Russellville on Tuesday night.
Most schools in the 6A-East also had Tuesday free as a first option for rescheduling. Only Marion and Little Rock Parkview had a regularly scheduled game against each other Tuesday and would have to find another night to make up their Friday games.
Parkview had been scheduled to play at West Memphis on Friday and Searcy was supposed to travel to Marion.
Smaller schools like Lonoke were trying to squeeze in the postponed games where they could. Lonoke’s Friday home game with Southside Batesville was moved to Wednesday.
North Pulaski moved its game at White Hall to Friday, Feb. 26, meaning the Falcons, already scheduled to host White Hall in the regular-season finale Feb. 23, will face the same team twice in one week.
Wilson moved more quickly than many to reschedule the Red Devils’ and Lady Red Devils’ Friday games. With Mountain Home looking at a 3 ½-hour bus trip, Wilson called the game and notified local media on Thursday, before the bad weather had really rolled in.
“I’d already made the decision,” Wilson said. “We had a meeting on Wednesday and they were expecting 8 to 12 inches, so we already rescheduled.”
Wilson also had to take into account that Jacksonville had its basketball homecoming scheduled for the Friday games with Mountain Home. The sooner he could reschedule, the easier it would be for parents, members of the homecoming court and others to change their plans.
Tipoff for the Jacksonville-Mountain Home girls game was 5 p.m. to allow for the on-court ceremonies.
“We just bumped up the time and we’ll go right on down the road,” Wilson said.
Most important, Wilson said, was the issue of Mountain Home’s safety.
“It’s so ironic, it always seems to be Mountain Home, too,” Wilson said of the postponement of the games with the Bombers and Lady Bombers. “We’re looking out for the safety of the kids. That’s what it’s all about. When you’re on a bus with kids traveling 3 ½ hours, you’ve got to be sure of the safety of the kids.”
SPORTS >> Lady ’Rabbits on track to claim conference
Lady Jackrabbits coach Nathan Morris goes over strategy in the finals of the Beebe Christmas Classic tournament.
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The Lonoke Lady Jackrabbits kept their 2-4A Conference mark clean with a crucial victory on the road at Stuttgart last Tuesday.
Lonoke (17-5, 9-0) overcame a close, foul-plagued first half and outscored the Lady Ricebirds 20-11 in the third quarter on the way to a 63-47 victory.
Winning on the road is not always easy in conference play, but the Lady ’Rabbits have now beaten Stuttgart, Clinton and Heber Springs at their home gyms. Clinton and Heber Springs have two conference losses each while Stuttgart has three.
“We’ve got a two-game lead with those teams coming to our place,” Lonoke coach Nathan Morris said. “We don’t talk about an opponent until they’re here. We’ve tried to take the approach of one game at a time. If we let people talk about the postseason, it’s taking away from what’s going on right now.”
Senior guard Ashleigh Himstedt led the Lady Jackrabbits against Stuttgart with 21 points — eight of which came in the decisive third quarter — and six rebounds. Post player and UALR signee Asiah Scribner fought her way to 15 points and 11 rebounds despite facing a double team most of the night.
Junior Cara Neighbors added 14 points and five assists, while senior point guard Michaela Brown had six points, four steals, three rebounds and three assists.
Neighbors’ numbers for the season are tops for Lonoke. Though she sat out much of December recovering from wrist surgery, Neighbors has a 15.8 average through only 11 games and has shot 41 percent from three-point range.
Himsted is averaging 12.5 points a game, but she has been the team leader since the start of league play, averaging 15.8 points in nine conference games.
Scribner is averaging 13.3 points a game with a 10.7 rebounding average.
“Asiah is probably the only player in our conference who gets double teamed night in and night out,” Morris said. “If it were me having to defend us, I guess I would try to stop her under the basket and hope that no one else is hitting.”
Lonoke had 10 fouls against Stuttgart in the first half but committed only four in the second. Himstedt contributed more than points by grabbing six offensive rebounds.
“It seemed like everybody had a stat that was outside the normal columns that stood out,” Morris said. “I’m proud of the way we kept our composure through the first half, and we had people that came in once some of our starters got into foul trouble and filled in nicely.”
Neighbors helped the Lady Jackrabbits establish momentum in the third quarter with a pair of three-point baskets. Lonoke led 48-39 at the end of the third quarter and held the Lady Ricebirds to only eight points in the final period.
Judging by the double teams, Scribner has one of the more dangerous reputations in the 2-4A Conference, but she has gotten strong support from post players Anna Himstedt, Emily Howell and Artice Morris.
“Those three together are averaging nine rebounds a game,” Morris said. “That’s keeping the ball alive for us.”
SPORTS >> Success Abundant
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Abundant Life’s victory at Conway St. Joseph in mid January all but wrapped up the 5-2A North Conference title for the Owls and gave Abundant Life two consecutive season sweeps of its primary league adversary.
But Abundant Life coach Tim Ballard is hoping history doesn’t repeat itself from this point forward.
The Owls actually beat the Bulldogs three times last year, including one last showdown in the district finals. But St. Joe ended up on the more favorable side of the state tournament bracket, away from 2A state tournament host Melbourne.
That was where the Owls found themselves in the quarterfinals, as the Bearkatz, with home-court advantage, sent them home two rounds shy of a fourth meeting with Conway St. Joseph.
St. Joe went on to beat Melbourne in the finals to claim the 2A championship.
“I’m trying to prepare for the worst,” Ballard said. “You may have to beat a top-tier team just to get to state. You could have a game that could be a state final four if someone slips in their district tournament, and that is a concern to me.”
The Owls, who played Little Rock Lutheran on Tuesday, beat Bigelow in their previous game to improve to 25-4, 9-0. Point guard Mike Stramiello led Abundant Life with 13 points while George Herring, Garrett Southerland and Tanner Cypret scored 12 each.
While Cypret is just now emerging as a threat for Abundant Life, Stramiello, Herring and Southerland have alternated as Ballard’s go-to guys for the entire season.
“They have been there every game,” Ballard said. “I figured that would be the case. It hasn’t surprised me at all.”
Southerland, a lanky 6-6 post player, is also an advanced-placement student at Abundant Life. He possesses an outside shooting ability absent in many big guys, but college interest in Southerland has surprisingly been lukewarm to this point.
“I’ve had a couple of smaller colleges calling and asking about him, but he hasn’t gotten any offers,” Ballard said. “He’s an outstanding high school player, but he doesn’t have that natural ability that wows colleges.”
While Southerland’s outside touch and height are nice attributes, he may not be physical enough or lacks the deception that interests college recruiters, Ballard said.
“If you didn’t know him, you would say he’s a 6-6 post that can play outside,” Ballard said. “But he’s not overly strong, overly athletic, overly fast. If you knew him, you would know you could do well by picking him. He’s the best kid I’ve coached as far as being a great person. He’s a real humble person.”
Southerland leads the Owls with an average 21 points and nine rebounds a game. Herring is not far behind with 19 points a game and Stramiello weighs in with 16 points a game.
Stramiello played most of his junior high and high school career as a shooting guard, but made the move to the point at the start of this season.
“I had other point guards, but not anyone with his size and toughness,” Ballard said. “He’s a good scoring point guard, and he gets a better feel for the position every week. He’s what I call a savvy player, but he’s also one of those street-tough kids.”
There is a strong possibility of another Abundant Life-Conway St. Joseph showdown in the 5-2A North district finals. The two will most likely enter as the respective No. 1 and No. 2 seeds with Conway Christian a probable third.
But given the unpredictable outcome of last year, and with many observers and prognosticators picking Abundant Life to breeze to a state title, Ballard said he is not counting on anything.
“Any tournament — even college — how often do you end up with four No. 1 seeds? It doesn’t happen often,” Ballard said. “I’m not sure that if St. Joe would have played Melbourne at home if they would have won. That’s a tough thing to do.
“I don’t look at it as this should be our year. I hope it turns out to be, and I feel like it could be, but I also know that the game of basketball is a crazy thing.”
Leader sportswriter
Abundant Life’s victory at Conway St. Joseph in mid January all but wrapped up the 5-2A North Conference title for the Owls and gave Abundant Life two consecutive season sweeps of its primary league adversary.
But Abundant Life coach Tim Ballard is hoping history doesn’t repeat itself from this point forward.
The Owls actually beat the Bulldogs three times last year, including one last showdown in the district finals. But St. Joe ended up on the more favorable side of the state tournament bracket, away from 2A state tournament host Melbourne.
That was where the Owls found themselves in the quarterfinals, as the Bearkatz, with home-court advantage, sent them home two rounds shy of a fourth meeting with Conway St. Joseph.
St. Joe went on to beat Melbourne in the finals to claim the 2A championship.
“I’m trying to prepare for the worst,” Ballard said. “You may have to beat a top-tier team just to get to state. You could have a game that could be a state final four if someone slips in their district tournament, and that is a concern to me.”
The Owls, who played Little Rock Lutheran on Tuesday, beat Bigelow in their previous game to improve to 25-4, 9-0. Point guard Mike Stramiello led Abundant Life with 13 points while George Herring, Garrett Southerland and Tanner Cypret scored 12 each.
While Cypret is just now emerging as a threat for Abundant Life, Stramiello, Herring and Southerland have alternated as Ballard’s go-to guys for the entire season.
“They have been there every game,” Ballard said. “I figured that would be the case. It hasn’t surprised me at all.”
Southerland, a lanky 6-6 post player, is also an advanced-placement student at Abundant Life. He possesses an outside shooting ability absent in many big guys, but college interest in Southerland has surprisingly been lukewarm to this point.
“I’ve had a couple of smaller colleges calling and asking about him, but he hasn’t gotten any offers,” Ballard said. “He’s an outstanding high school player, but he doesn’t have that natural ability that wows colleges.”
While Southerland’s outside touch and height are nice attributes, he may not be physical enough or lacks the deception that interests college recruiters, Ballard said.
“If you didn’t know him, you would say he’s a 6-6 post that can play outside,” Ballard said. “But he’s not overly strong, overly athletic, overly fast. If you knew him, you would know you could do well by picking him. He’s the best kid I’ve coached as far as being a great person. He’s a real humble person.”
Southerland leads the Owls with an average 21 points and nine rebounds a game. Herring is not far behind with 19 points a game and Stramiello weighs in with 16 points a game.
Stramiello played most of his junior high and high school career as a shooting guard, but made the move to the point at the start of this season.
“I had other point guards, but not anyone with his size and toughness,” Ballard said. “He’s a good scoring point guard, and he gets a better feel for the position every week. He’s what I call a savvy player, but he’s also one of those street-tough kids.”
There is a strong possibility of another Abundant Life-Conway St. Joseph showdown in the 5-2A North district finals. The two will most likely enter as the respective No. 1 and No. 2 seeds with Conway Christian a probable third.
But given the unpredictable outcome of last year, and with many observers and prognosticators picking Abundant Life to breeze to a state title, Ballard said he is not counting on anything.
“Any tournament — even college — how often do you end up with four No. 1 seeds? It doesn’t happen often,” Ballard said. “I’m not sure that if St. Joe would have played Melbourne at home if they would have won. That’s a tough thing to do.
“I don’t look at it as this should be our year. I hope it turns out to be, and I feel like it could be, but I also know that the game of basketball is a crazy thing.”
Monday, February 01, 2010
SPORTS >> Miracle shot drawing fire as theorists weighing in
By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
Did you see the miracle shot the girls basketball coach made recently at Olathe, Kan.?
As part of a school-wide prank, Olathe Northwest girls’ coach and science teacher Joel Branstrom was brought out to attempt a halfcourt shot blindfolded. Branstrom, the story goes, was told he would be given NCAA Tournament tickets if he made the shot.
When Branstrom, who sensed something was up and expected a pie in the face, shot his expected airball the students planned to cheer wildly to make him think he’d made it. And of course there were no NCAA tickets to give.
Except Branstrom stunned everyone when he swished the shot, first dumfounding the students then provoking an even wilder reaction than the one that had been planned.
The video has made the YouTube rounds, and when I mentioned it to my 14-year-old son, a YouTube aficionado if ever there was one, he surprised me with his reaction.
“Fake,” he said.
Yes my son had been all over the video, and he and his buddies had already broken it down with the same zeal with which the Warren Commission pored over the Zapruder film.
Branstrom could see through that weird, zebra-striped blindfold, my son and his friends are saying. Someone else pointed out Branstrom, a former walk-on at Kansas University, didn’t put enough oomph into his halfcourt shot — there wasn’t enough apparent effort to get the ball to the goal and Branstrom’s form should have made for a flatter trajectory.
Then my son pointed out the ball flies up out of the picture before reappearing as it drops through the net. That’s an old, fake video trick he said, switching one ball with another off camera.
There is also an obvious glitch in the film just as Branstrom shoots.
The whole thing made me recall those realistic looking sports drink videos from a few years ago, the ones in which an average guy appears to throw a football a mile.
My son pointed out the local newscaster who followed up Branstrom’s story made the same shot from the same spot on the floor, only instead of wearing a blindfold he faced away from the basket.
“No way he could do it too,” my son said.
Well I watched the videos again and they did make me wonder.
The actual shot itself, with the students going nuts, looks legitimate to me, though it’s true the ball is temporarily off the screen and there is that obvious glitch. That means there could have somehow been an off-camera switch with a replacement ball being dropped through the net.
Then I saw the local TV guy, Rob Lowe do exactly what my son said, make his over-the-head shot while facing away. Then he made a halfcourt shot facing the basket, or appeared to, and gave Branstrom a chance to repeat his shot without the blindfold, and Branstrom made it, or appeared to.
That’s a lot of miracle shots in a short span.
I believe the newsman’s over-the-head shot was faked, the ball just got to the basket way too quickly, and it was probably staged for laughs. But did he make his halfcourt shot while facing the hoop?
When the ball drops through, a group of players visible to the right of the basket hardly seems impressed. Yet when Branstrom repeats his shot without the blindfold, stragglers in the gym can clearly be heard whooping and cheering.
So was the shot the sports equivalent of those alleged chupacabra carcasses that have popped up in the Southwest? Is it a hoax, a shot as mythical as that fabled, and seriously ugly, beast?
If the shot were a prank, well, it would be a darn good one. It would be a nesting doll of a practical joke, a prank within a prank in which the ultimate target is the general public.
But I’d like to believe the blindfolded shot, at least, was real. And I’m glad someone apparently has scared up and donated NCAA tickets to make it all good for Branstrom, who walked out on the court in good faith, or at least in good humor, and should be rewarded.
I’d like to enjoy something nifty during these trying times in which either nothing is at it seems or people tell you not to believe what you see.
These are the days when humanitarian aid to a poor, disaster-stricken nation is criticized as a cynical, political ploy.
These are the days when a coach promises fans Fort Knox on a stick then bolts for the first open job.
These are the days when almost 20 years of hard work with one sick day are rewarded not with a raise or retirement but with a layoff.
These are the days when we can all use a little magic.
You could see that with a blindfold on.
Leader sports editor
Did you see the miracle shot the girls basketball coach made recently at Olathe, Kan.?
As part of a school-wide prank, Olathe Northwest girls’ coach and science teacher Joel Branstrom was brought out to attempt a halfcourt shot blindfolded. Branstrom, the story goes, was told he would be given NCAA Tournament tickets if he made the shot.
When Branstrom, who sensed something was up and expected a pie in the face, shot his expected airball the students planned to cheer wildly to make him think he’d made it. And of course there were no NCAA tickets to give.
Except Branstrom stunned everyone when he swished the shot, first dumfounding the students then provoking an even wilder reaction than the one that had been planned.
The video has made the YouTube rounds, and when I mentioned it to my 14-year-old son, a YouTube aficionado if ever there was one, he surprised me with his reaction.
“Fake,” he said.
Yes my son had been all over the video, and he and his buddies had already broken it down with the same zeal with which the Warren Commission pored over the Zapruder film.
Branstrom could see through that weird, zebra-striped blindfold, my son and his friends are saying. Someone else pointed out Branstrom, a former walk-on at Kansas University, didn’t put enough oomph into his halfcourt shot — there wasn’t enough apparent effort to get the ball to the goal and Branstrom’s form should have made for a flatter trajectory.
Then my son pointed out the ball flies up out of the picture before reappearing as it drops through the net. That’s an old, fake video trick he said, switching one ball with another off camera.
There is also an obvious glitch in the film just as Branstrom shoots.
The whole thing made me recall those realistic looking sports drink videos from a few years ago, the ones in which an average guy appears to throw a football a mile.
My son pointed out the local newscaster who followed up Branstrom’s story made the same shot from the same spot on the floor, only instead of wearing a blindfold he faced away from the basket.
“No way he could do it too,” my son said.
Well I watched the videos again and they did make me wonder.
The actual shot itself, with the students going nuts, looks legitimate to me, though it’s true the ball is temporarily off the screen and there is that obvious glitch. That means there could have somehow been an off-camera switch with a replacement ball being dropped through the net.
Then I saw the local TV guy, Rob Lowe do exactly what my son said, make his over-the-head shot while facing away. Then he made a halfcourt shot facing the basket, or appeared to, and gave Branstrom a chance to repeat his shot without the blindfold, and Branstrom made it, or appeared to.
That’s a lot of miracle shots in a short span.
I believe the newsman’s over-the-head shot was faked, the ball just got to the basket way too quickly, and it was probably staged for laughs. But did he make his halfcourt shot while facing the hoop?
When the ball drops through, a group of players visible to the right of the basket hardly seems impressed. Yet when Branstrom repeats his shot without the blindfold, stragglers in the gym can clearly be heard whooping and cheering.
So was the shot the sports equivalent of those alleged chupacabra carcasses that have popped up in the Southwest? Is it a hoax, a shot as mythical as that fabled, and seriously ugly, beast?
If the shot were a prank, well, it would be a darn good one. It would be a nesting doll of a practical joke, a prank within a prank in which the ultimate target is the general public.
But I’d like to believe the blindfolded shot, at least, was real. And I’m glad someone apparently has scared up and donated NCAA tickets to make it all good for Branstrom, who walked out on the court in good faith, or at least in good humor, and should be rewarded.
I’d like to enjoy something nifty during these trying times in which either nothing is at it seems or people tell you not to believe what you see.
These are the days when humanitarian aid to a poor, disaster-stricken nation is criticized as a cynical, political ploy.
These are the days when a coach promises fans Fort Knox on a stick then bolts for the first open job.
These are the days when almost 20 years of hard work with one sick day are rewarded not with a raise or retirement but with a layoff.
These are the days when we can all use a little magic.
You could see that with a blindfold on.
SPORTS >> Standouts get the call as all-stars
By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
Five Leader area football players have been named to the East roster for the Arkansas High School Coaches Association all-star football game.
Cabot got its full allotment of two players — all-state linebacker Spencer Neumann and all-state defensive lineman T.J. Bertrand — while Lonoke standout running back Brandon Smith, Searcy defensive lineman Larry Kirkpatrick and Harding Academy defensive tackle Montgomery Fisher were also selected.
The game, pitting a squad of East all-stars against a team from the West, will be played June 25 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville. The all-star game is in its 55th year.
Neumann, signing with Central Arkansas on Wednesday, is The Leader defensive player of the year who had 108 tackles for Cabot. Smith, who has narrowed his college choices to Arkansas Tech or Missouri Southern, is The Leader offensive player of the year after gaining 1,953 yards and scoring 24 touchdowns.
“He had a great football season this year,” said Lonoke coach Doug Bost, who led the Jackrabbits to the 4A state final. “A young man that’s going to go off to college and keep playing football. That’s a great way to end his high school career. He’s been a three-year starter for us. That’s a great honor right there to be one of the top 50 in the state.”
Neumann finished his career as Cabot’s all-time leading tackler and was expected to be an automatic all-star pick after three years of all-state honors.
But Cabot coach Mike Malham said Bertrand was also a clear choice.
“I knew T.J. would be in there because he was the outstanding lineman of the 7A-Central Conference and that’s an automatic,” Malham said.
Bertrand, also an all 7A-Central pick, had 61 tackles, six sacks and one forced fumble and has drawn the interest of Memphis.
“As far as our defense, we had two or three others that if they’d go in instead of those two, I wouldn’t have complained,” Malham said. “We had five that made the all-state team, any of those five.”
Each high school team is allowed only two all-star representatives, unless a kicker is also selected.
Lonoke tackle Tyler Breashears, who won the Brandon Burlsworth award for outstanding lineman in the state final loss to Shiloh Christian, was also nominated for all-star selection and Bost was holding out hope Breashears would eventually wind up on the team.
“Over the next few months people back out and he could get invited,” Bost said. Regardless, one last high school game against former opponents is always and honor and a pleasant experience, Bost said.
“They’re going to play with kids they competed against the last three years,” Bost said. “You get to go for a whole week and room with them and hang out. I think that’s a great opportunity.”
Malham said he was glad the all-star game is played in June, instead of late summer as it had been in the past. The schedule is easier on college-bound players like Neumann, Malham said.
As for the chance of an injury sidelining a player just before the next phase of his career, Malham said that’s just part of the game, even if it’s an all-star game.
There will be playing time for everyone, and East coach Paul Johnston, of Bald Knob, and West coach Tommy Gilleran, of Fountain Lake, aren’t expected to make the proceedings too strenuous.
“Practice is like a picnic compared to what we do,” Malham said.
Leader sports editor
Five Leader area football players have been named to the East roster for the Arkansas High School Coaches Association all-star football game.
Cabot got its full allotment of two players — all-state linebacker Spencer Neumann and all-state defensive lineman T.J. Bertrand — while Lonoke standout running back Brandon Smith, Searcy defensive lineman Larry Kirkpatrick and Harding Academy defensive tackle Montgomery Fisher were also selected.
The game, pitting a squad of East all-stars against a team from the West, will be played June 25 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville. The all-star game is in its 55th year.
Neumann, signing with Central Arkansas on Wednesday, is The Leader defensive player of the year who had 108 tackles for Cabot. Smith, who has narrowed his college choices to Arkansas Tech or Missouri Southern, is The Leader offensive player of the year after gaining 1,953 yards and scoring 24 touchdowns.
“He had a great football season this year,” said Lonoke coach Doug Bost, who led the Jackrabbits to the 4A state final. “A young man that’s going to go off to college and keep playing football. That’s a great way to end his high school career. He’s been a three-year starter for us. That’s a great honor right there to be one of the top 50 in the state.”
Neumann finished his career as Cabot’s all-time leading tackler and was expected to be an automatic all-star pick after three years of all-state honors.
But Cabot coach Mike Malham said Bertrand was also a clear choice.
“I knew T.J. would be in there because he was the outstanding lineman of the 7A-Central Conference and that’s an automatic,” Malham said.
Bertrand, also an all 7A-Central pick, had 61 tackles, six sacks and one forced fumble and has drawn the interest of Memphis.
“As far as our defense, we had two or three others that if they’d go in instead of those two, I wouldn’t have complained,” Malham said. “We had five that made the all-state team, any of those five.”
Each high school team is allowed only two all-star representatives, unless a kicker is also selected.
Lonoke tackle Tyler Breashears, who won the Brandon Burlsworth award for outstanding lineman in the state final loss to Shiloh Christian, was also nominated for all-star selection and Bost was holding out hope Breashears would eventually wind up on the team.
“Over the next few months people back out and he could get invited,” Bost said. Regardless, one last high school game against former opponents is always and honor and a pleasant experience, Bost said.
“They’re going to play with kids they competed against the last three years,” Bost said. “You get to go for a whole week and room with them and hang out. I think that’s a great opportunity.”
Malham said he was glad the all-star game is played in June, instead of late summer as it had been in the past. The schedule is easier on college-bound players like Neumann, Malham said.
As for the chance of an injury sidelining a player just before the next phase of his career, Malham said that’s just part of the game, even if it’s an all-star game.
There will be playing time for everyone, and East coach Paul Johnston, of Bald Knob, and West coach Tommy Gilleran, of Fountain Lake, aren’t expected to make the proceedings too strenuous.
“Practice is like a picnic compared to what we do,” Malham said.
SPORTS >> Lady Panthers cruise past Pointerettes
Cabot’s Amber Rock, right, battles for the ball Tuesday against Van Buren.By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
The Cabot Lady Panthers haven’t been known for strong second-half performances or runaway victories this season, but Cabot improved its performance in both areas against Van Buren on Tuesday night.
The Lady Panthers had four players in double figures and used a big third quarter to rout the Pointerettes 71-54 in a 7A-Central Conference game at Cabot.
It was a satisfying, solid performance for a team that is rebuilding a year after reaching the 7A state tournament.
“We’re really young and we’re really just playing a lot of young people,” Cabot coach Carla Crowder said. “And we’re just trying to get better every game and work. And our kids have worked really hard and they’re good kids.”
The one-sided score and the way it was accomplished was something of a surprise to Crowder. Post Sara Moore is one of Cabot’s few seniors, and Crowder expected her youthful team to play in a much closer game.
“We thought it probably would be,” Crowder said. “We shot really well so we’re real excited about that.”
Cabot (9-10, 2-4) took its first double-digit lead, 15-5, when Brooke Taylor made a three-pointer from the right wing with 2:42 left in the first quarter. But Van Buren (9-11, 2-4) pulled within 18-13 at the end of the period and got within 18-15 when Keri Arnold hit a running jumper for the first points of the second quarter.
Arnold made a five-footer to pull Van Buren within 20-17 with 6:25 left, but the Lady Panthers outscored the Pointerettes 20-10 the rest of the quarter to take a 40-27 halftime lead.
Moore scored all of heir eight, second-quarter points during the stretch while Amber Rock made two three-pointers.
While Crowder was pleased with Cabot’s solid shooting and expected a closer game, the shots and shot selection weren’t entirely a surprise.
“We work on it every day,” she said.
The third quarter was decisive as Cabot outscored Van Buren 19-7. With the Lady Panthers leading 46-32, Kaki Thomas made a three-pointer from the top of the key with 2:40 left to start a 13-2 run that closed out the quarter and gave Cabot a 59-34 lead.
“We’ve not been playing well in the third quarter,” Crowder said. “So we were really trying to come out and hopefully have a good third quarter and maybe concentrate more.”
Rock made four three-pointers and led Cabot with 18 points, Moore scored 15, Thomas had 11 and Melissa Wolff scored 10.
SPORTS >> Closing seconds unkind as Cabot drops close one
Cabot’s Darin Jones, right, tries a jumper against Van Buren’s Drew White on Tuesday.By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
Cabot cut Van Buren down to size Tuesday, but Pointers sophomore guard Deven Goodwin slashed the Panthers’ hopes for a victory.
Goodwin drove into the lane and hit a short floater with 19 seconds left as Van Buren beat Cabot 52-50 in a 7A-Central Conference game at Cabot.
The Panthers tied it at 50 when Alex Baker made two free throws with 53 seconds left. Van Buren then broke past Cabot’s man-to-man pressure to get the ball to Goodwin, who drove from the left, made a jump stop and scored from the right.
Baker’s last-second, 15-footer against a double team was off to the left as Van Buren held on.
“We can second guess ourselves all we want, but you know, heck, what can I ask?” Cabot coach Jerry Bridges said. “I can’t ask any more out of our kids.”
Goodwin’s game-winner accounted for the last of his six points.
“He had a lane, guy slid over and he’s good enough to come to a little jump stop and a little floater off the glass,” Van Buren coach Randy Loyd said. “And luckily it went in for us.”
Loyd labeled Goodwin a “winner,” but admitted the sophomore point guard had been frustrated earlier by Cabot’s pressure.
The Panthers also did a solid defensive job on the Pointers’ 7-foot junior center Hooper Vint, holding him to just 10 points. But Vint was able to distribute the ball to Van Buren’s outside men Logan Patterson and Tyler Spoon, who had four and three 3-pointers, respectively.
Vint also made two free throws that gave Van Buren a 48-45 lead with 1:42 left and got a rebound leading to free throws by Goodwin that made it 49-45 with 1:07 left. Vint also got the final defensive rebound to make sure Cabot got no follow-up shot after Baker’s late miss.
“Hoop’s a great passer and he looks and he’s not selfish,” Loyd said. “Sometimes he’s unselfish, sometimes, but he makes the plays and we’ve got some guys that can shoot it from the perimeter and that helps for sure.”
Bridges praised Christian Armstrong who led the defensive effort in containing Vint, but said it was tough to defend everything Van Buren had.
“It’s sort of a double-edge sword,” Bridges said. “Do we front him and let him lob over and shoot over more runts? That’s all we have on the backside. So our goal was to play behind him and see if we could get him pushed out a little further.
“At times he got us down low and we’re at his mercy then, to be honest.”
Baker, Cabot’s leading scorer with 20 points, made a three-pointer from the left corner to cut it to 50-48 with 57 seconds left and he drew a foul from Goodwin to make his tying free throws.
Bridges said Baker’s shot on Cabot’s final possession didn’t quite play out as it was drawn up.
“If I could do it over now with what happened we might have called a timeout, okay?” Bridges said. “But we did have something drawn up and we failed to get in our spots to execute it. Alex tried to make a great play at the end and about hit a great shot for us.”
Bridges said he had drawn up the final play during the previous sequence and was reluctant to call timeout for fear Van Buren would switch defenses, then Cabot had players out of position when the possession started.
“If he wouldn’t have got the look we feel like we could have gotten it to someone else,” Bridges said. “Hindsight is 20-20.”
But Bridges was proud of Cabot’s effort against a taller team that featured Vint and Drew White, 6-5. Cabot’s tallest players are Kai Davis, a thin 6-4, Bridges said, and Armstrong.
“Armstrong may be 6-2 if we put three pairs of socks on him,” Bridges said.
Cabot lost point guard Seth Bloomberg to fouls with just under four minutes left, yet rallied from a 44-38 deficit, getting within 46-45 when Davis scored on an inbounds play with close to two minutes left and tying it on Baker’s free throws.
Darin Jones added 10 points for Cabot (7-10, 5-1) and Bloomberg scored eight. Patterson scored 14 points to lead Van Buren (16-4, 4-2) while Spoon and White added 10 each.
“We know we’re not the biggest group in the world,” Bridges said. “We know right now we’re not where we want to be by any means. But I promise if you come to practice tomorrow and watch us practice, we don’t practice like we’re 1-5 in conference right now.
“We’re going to keep battling and we’re going to fight to try to get a playoff spot. That’s our goal when we started. We could have laid down against a very good team and we didn’t.”
SPORTS >> Falcons knock off top-ranked Lions
North Pulaski coach Raymond Cooper huddles up with his team. The Falcons beat No. 1 LR McClellan on Tuesday.By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
It remains to be seen whether North Pulaski will earn a No. 1 overall ranking in the state high school basketball polls, but one thing is clear — the top team will no longer be Little Rock McClellan.
That’s because the Falcons held on to beat their 5A-Southeast Conference rivals 76-73 on Tuesday night at the Falcons Nest in front of a capacity crowd and many of the state’s major media outlets.
North Pulaski (14-4, 6-0) built a 38-23 lead with a dominant first half and maintained its lead through the third quarter. But once McClellan (16-3, 5-1) began to find open shots in the fourth quarter, the comeback was on.
The Falcons hit just enough free throws down the stretch to stay in front, with two free throws by cool-headed freshman I.J. Ready in the final three seconds that iced it for North Pulaski.
“Boy, you talk about weathering the storm, it was a storm — lightning, thunder — everything,” Falcons coach Raymond Cooper said. “They got real physical with us down the stretch, and we didn’t do a good job with handling it. We’ve got to get better with closing games out.
“It was a good win, but there are a lot of improvement points we’re going to take from this game.”
McClellan entered the game ranked No. 1 in the state while North Pulaski was ranked third. That, along with news coverage of the contest by three of the four local television stations, underscored the importance of the game for both teams.
But most importantly for Cooper, it gave his Falcons sole possession first in the 5A-Southeast.
“A conference win; that’s the way we look at it,” Cooper said. “You know, two years ago, they would have stormed the court. Guys would have been jumping around and just been so excited about one win. We’ve got a whole half of the conference left to go. And so that’s the way we’re looking at it.
“This was a good win, and the rankings are very good, but at the end of the year, the rankings don’t mean anything.”
McClellan got few second chances in the first half and most of the third quarter thanks to strong defensive rebounding by Falcons senior forward DaQuan Bryant. But Bryant was living on borrowed time once he picked up his fourth foul in the final 30 seconds of the third.
Bryant was able to hang around most of the fourth quarter until he was called for his fifth foul on McClellan’s D’juan Smith with 1:32 left .
“It’s amazing. As big as he is, he gets pounded on all game long,” Cooper said. “He drives to the hole and they pound him, they pound him, and it’s hard to explain to him why, when he touches somebody, that it’s a foul.
“I guess maybe because of his size that they allow that, but I don’t know a way of telling him how to handle it.”
Kyron Ware helped the Falcons establish their outside game early with a trio of first-quarter three-pointers in a 59-second span. Ware hit his first three-pointer with 2:12 left in the quarter to put North Pulaski up 19-12, took an assist from Aaron Cooper for his next three-pointer with 1:33 to go and got his third with 1:13 left to give the Falcons a 22-12 lead heading into the second quarter.
Ware, a senior forward, went on to lead North Pulaski with 18 points.
“He’s got a knack for hitting big shots,” Cooper said. “He’s got a knack for knowing when we need them and he steps up. And tonight he got us sparked at the beginning, he got us on a roll, got us some momentum.”
The rough nature of the game eventually played into North Pulaski’s favor when McClellan committed its 10th foul with 1:37 left in the game. At that point, the Falcons were 4 of 6 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, but the Lions were forced to send them to the line in the final 1:30.
“Tonight, we did a decent job at the free-throw line,” Cooper said. “But we’ve got to do better, because we could have closed the game out at the free-throw line.”
Ware had been consistent for the Falcons most of the night, but missed two free throws with 37 seconds left. The Lions had pulled to within 72-65 with a three-pointer by Ricky Allen, and Ware’s misses at the line led to another McClellan three-pointer, this time from Tevin Hammond to close the gap to 72-68.
The Lions continued to press, but Cooper, Ready and senior guard Joe Agee used their speed to combat the defense. The Falcons turned the ball over only three times in the fourth quarter, all of them on rushed passes.
“I wasn’t worried about being pressed, because we practice against the press every day,” Cooper said. “And their press is almost identical to ours. We didn’t press as much as we normally do, because we wanted to attack their press. We wanted to focus our energy on attacking it, and making them pay for pressing us.”
Aaron Cooper added 14 points for the Falcons, while Agee and Bryan Coulson both finished with 11. Bryant finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds, eight of which were defensive.
Michael Bradley led McClellan with 22 points, Allen scored 18 and Hammond scored 15.
TOP STORY >> Metroplan approves modest road projects
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
A proposed revision of the Metro 2030 long-range transportation plan for central Arkansas has 13 new projects, with two in the Jacksonville or Cabot area, including part of Hwy. 167/67 and widening Hwy. 107.
The Metroplan board Thursday unanimously approved both the draft Metro 2030 plan and a companion draft 2010-2013 transportation improvement program.
Both are out for a 30-day public comment period.
While completion of the North Belt Freeway is on the long-range plan, no funds have been located to build it. The plan estimates the cost at about $700 million by 2030 if any work is done on it at all. The earliest proposed expenditure, other than buying some right of way, would be $16.5 million in the 2014 to 2019 time span, with another $685 million between 2020 and 2030.
One of the two new projects listed on the plan is a cable median barrier on Hwy. 67/167 from the Vandenberg exit at Jacksonville to Hwy. 89 at Cabot, with a projected cost of about $2 million if constructed in 2012. It’s aimed at keeping vehicles from crossing over the median and into the path of oncoming traffic in the other lanes.
The other new project would widen to four lanes Hwy. 107 from Bayou Meto to north of Arnold Drive, projected to cost $11.6 million when bid and constructed in 2013.
Because of budget constraints, Metroplan only updated a version of its improvement plan instead of creating an entirely new long-range transportation plan, required to be updated every five years. When the deadline for a comprehensive 2035 plan approached, Jim McKenzie, executive director of Metroplan, said that staff with approval of the board, just tweaked the existing 2030 plan, calling it 2030.2, like a revision of a software program.
Among those uncertainties are whether the Federal Surface Trans-portation Act will be renewed and at what funding level and whether proposed stricter new ozone standards by the Environmental Protection Agency will finally put Central Arkansas out of compliance and at risk for having to scale back highway construction.
The state Highway Department has told Metroplan to expect a second round of American Reinvestment and Recovery Act money to be announce soon, probably about the same $14 million available for use in Central Arkansas with rules similar to the rules last time.
Also unknown is if or how the state will increase its highway funds through new revenues.
Gov. Mike Beebe has appointed a Blue Ribbon Highway Funding Committee to study ways to increase funding, which is stagnant even as costs and needs grow.
McKenzie said that as soon as some of those questions are settled, he expects Metroplan to begin a real and comprehensive 2035 long-range plan.
Among the problems with the long-range planning is forecasting the costs of projects being let to bid five, 10 and even 20 years from now, according to McKenzie.
Perhaps the most exciting project on tap for Jacksonville, Ward, Austin and Cabot area residents is the reconstruction and widening of the old, narrow and deadly Hwy. 67/167 overpass at Main Street Jacksonville.
While it appears to be included in the $53 million widening of the highway from Redmond Road to Vandenberg Boulevard, which is in the long-range plan, it is broken out more specifically in the draft 2010-2013 Transportation Improvement Program, also approved unanimously by the board Thursday.
Also on tap for that stretch is the widening and reconstruction of the Hwy. 67/167 bridge over Redmond Road and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.
That’s estimated to cost about $6 million when bids are let in 2012.
The TIP has $4 million committed for that job, which is slated to go to bid in 2013.
The widening of Hwy. 67/167 between Kiehl and Hwy. 440 should be let to bid this year at an estimated cost of $12.7 million. In all, the 2030.2 plan commits $3.44 billion through 2030. About $1.4 billion of that is for construction that increases traffic capacity, while about $1.9 is for maintenance and repair.
That doesn’t include $615 million earmarked for transit — mostly CATA bus operations. That tentatively includes $1.25 million for a public transit system in Conway.
Bus service in the Jacksonville Sherwood express route continues at the capacity, with improvements costing about $5 million through 2030.
Additional bus service for Jacksonville/Cabot and for Sherwood was studied but not funded.
Leader senior staff writer
A proposed revision of the Metro 2030 long-range transportation plan for central Arkansas has 13 new projects, with two in the Jacksonville or Cabot area, including part of Hwy. 167/67 and widening Hwy. 107.
The Metroplan board Thursday unanimously approved both the draft Metro 2030 plan and a companion draft 2010-2013 transportation improvement program.
Both are out for a 30-day public comment period.
While completion of the North Belt Freeway is on the long-range plan, no funds have been located to build it. The plan estimates the cost at about $700 million by 2030 if any work is done on it at all. The earliest proposed expenditure, other than buying some right of way, would be $16.5 million in the 2014 to 2019 time span, with another $685 million between 2020 and 2030.
One of the two new projects listed on the plan is a cable median barrier on Hwy. 67/167 from the Vandenberg exit at Jacksonville to Hwy. 89 at Cabot, with a projected cost of about $2 million if constructed in 2012. It’s aimed at keeping vehicles from crossing over the median and into the path of oncoming traffic in the other lanes.
The other new project would widen to four lanes Hwy. 107 from Bayou Meto to north of Arnold Drive, projected to cost $11.6 million when bid and constructed in 2013.
Because of budget constraints, Metroplan only updated a version of its improvement plan instead of creating an entirely new long-range transportation plan, required to be updated every five years. When the deadline for a comprehensive 2035 plan approached, Jim McKenzie, executive director of Metroplan, said that staff with approval of the board, just tweaked the existing 2030 plan, calling it 2030.2, like a revision of a software program.
Among those uncertainties are whether the Federal Surface Trans-portation Act will be renewed and at what funding level and whether proposed stricter new ozone standards by the Environmental Protection Agency will finally put Central Arkansas out of compliance and at risk for having to scale back highway construction.
The state Highway Department has told Metroplan to expect a second round of American Reinvestment and Recovery Act money to be announce soon, probably about the same $14 million available for use in Central Arkansas with rules similar to the rules last time.
Also unknown is if or how the state will increase its highway funds through new revenues.
Gov. Mike Beebe has appointed a Blue Ribbon Highway Funding Committee to study ways to increase funding, which is stagnant even as costs and needs grow.
McKenzie said that as soon as some of those questions are settled, he expects Metroplan to begin a real and comprehensive 2035 long-range plan.
Among the problems with the long-range planning is forecasting the costs of projects being let to bid five, 10 and even 20 years from now, according to McKenzie.
Perhaps the most exciting project on tap for Jacksonville, Ward, Austin and Cabot area residents is the reconstruction and widening of the old, narrow and deadly Hwy. 67/167 overpass at Main Street Jacksonville.
While it appears to be included in the $53 million widening of the highway from Redmond Road to Vandenberg Boulevard, which is in the long-range plan, it is broken out more specifically in the draft 2010-2013 Transportation Improvement Program, also approved unanimously by the board Thursday.
Also on tap for that stretch is the widening and reconstruction of the Hwy. 67/167 bridge over Redmond Road and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.
That’s estimated to cost about $6 million when bids are let in 2012.
The TIP has $4 million committed for that job, which is slated to go to bid in 2013.
The widening of Hwy. 67/167 between Kiehl and Hwy. 440 should be let to bid this year at an estimated cost of $12.7 million. In all, the 2030.2 plan commits $3.44 billion through 2030. About $1.4 billion of that is for construction that increases traffic capacity, while about $1.9 is for maintenance and repair.
That doesn’t include $615 million earmarked for transit — mostly CATA bus operations. That tentatively includes $1.25 million for a public transit system in Conway.
Bus service in the Jacksonville Sherwood express route continues at the capacity, with improvements costing about $5 million through 2030.
Additional bus service for Jacksonville/Cabot and for Sherwood was studied but not funded.
TOP STORY >> City gets by without state help
Mike Wilson (from left), Mayor Gary Fletcher and Sen. John Paul Capps talk at the Jacksonville chamber banquet.
New president Jason Wilkinson (left) with his predecessor Phillip Carlisle.By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Jacksonville is moving forward without asking for state money, said outgoing chamber president Phillip Carlisle a number of times at the group’s annual banquet Tuesday, and each time he paused and looked at the guest speaker of the night, Gov. Mike Beebe.
Carlisle said he had the pleasure, during his year as president, to help break ground for the new Jacksonville Lighthouse Academy charter school.
“This was a citywide event where the people of Jacksonville got behind the idea, raised the money and built the school without any state money,” he said.
Carlisle paused and looked at the governor for effect.
He went on to say that the city residents voted to tax themselves to raise $5 million for the new Joint Education Center being built near the front entrance to Little Rock Air Force Base. The military chipped in about $9.8 million for the multi-school building that both military and civilians will use.
“Once again,” Carlisle said, “it was Jacksonville taking care of its own, all without help from the state government.”
Carlisle paused once again and all eyes went to the governor.
And then Carlisle told the crowd of about 300 at the community center that the city was working hard to get the new state fairground built on about 400 acres of land inside and outside the city limits. “And guess what, governor — we haven’t asked you for a dime.”
Carlisle added that none of those three projects were chamber projects, but they were projects all sectors of the city were involved in.
Later in the evening, when the governor took to the podium, he said he kept waiting for the other shoe to fall—for Carlisle to say that the city now wanted state help for something, but Carlisle never did. The governor praised the city for its independent efforts and work.
Carlisle also took time to try to answer the No. 1 question he has been asked over the past year: “What does the chamber actually do?”
Ribbon cuttings and groundbreakings are the most visible actions of the chamber. Carlisle admitted that when he became president he was excited about his first ribbon cutting, even if it was in Cabot.
“It showed how important Jacksonville is to outside businesses that they want to be a part of our chamber,” Carlisle explained. That ribbon-cutting was for Fat Daddy’s restaurant, which has since been renamed.
He said the chamber added 41 new members during the year, sponsored the business expo, a health expo and the Wing Ding Festival.
Carlisle said despite the falling economy, the expo was very successful, the need for the health expo was tremendous and the Wing Ding Festival was the city’s best yet. He said the festival was close to becoming one of the top festivals in the area.
“When people think of central Arkansas, they will say Pops on the River, Toad Suck and Wing Ding,” the outgoing president said.
The chamber also sponsored the city’s 52nd annual Christmas parade. “That’s a long time,” he said, adding that the parade had about 1,200 participants.
He said the chamber started quarterly luncheons for the area’s manufacturing and industrial sector and brought in economic-development speakers from the state.
He said the luncheons have been well-received, and incoming president Jason Wilkinson plans to start similar gatherings for small businesses.
Carlisle is proud of the chamber’s mentoring program. He is also an active participant and said it really makes a difference in children’s lives knowing that they have someone they can depend on. He said the program helps 60 kids in local schools, but there are 100 more on the waiting list.
Carlisle concluded by telling the audience that both the city and the chamber were “in wonderful shape.”
Other new chamber officers are vice president Jody Urquhart and treasurer Larry Biernacki.
TOP STORY >> Land feud threatens to quash road plan
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Politics and hard feelings on the Lonoke County Quorum Court threaten to scuttle an $800,000 state Highway Department improvement to an unwieldy and dangerous Hwy. 67/167 exit at Cabot.
All planning and engineering have been completed. The money is available, and the Highway Department wants to let the bids in April for the project, which would slightly reroute the southbound Hwy. 67/167 exit traffic to a signal at Hwy. 5.
Currently, it causes a traffic snarl, sometimes backing up toward the highway.
The problem is Lonoke County’s matching funds to buy about two acres of right of way.
Most of it belongs to Lonoke County Quorum Court member Larry Odom and his wife, and the balance belongs to state Rep. Barry Hyde, according to County Judge Charlie Troutman.
Hyde has refused offers of $3 a square foot, Troutman said. He said if they can’t come to an agreement, he’d condemn Hyde’s land.
As the county’s chief executive officer, Troutman is authorized to purchase such property, but Republicans on the quorum court suspected a sweetheart deal between Odom and Troutman, who have worked together on the court for more than a decade.
Odom at first offered to sell his property for $60,000, about half of its appraised value. But some on the court cried foul. Even though Odom is a Republican, he is estranged from fellow Republicans, who don’t like the way he votes or his friendship with Troutman.
A subsequent Highway Depart-ment appraisal of the land it needs from Odom was $144,000, and Odom, feeling insulted by his fellow quorum court members has now said he won’t sell for the original price.
At the January quorum court meeting, Troutman asked the justices to approve an ordinance allowing the sale.
After some heated debate, the motion was tabled. “There is a time frame,” Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams said Friday. “The Highway Department said the bid letting would be in April. Otherwise, the money gets turned back.
I worked hard for two years to get it in. It’s one of the most unsafe intersections in the Cabot area. I hope we can resolve it and move on.”
Justice of the Peace Mark Edwards of Cabot, who circulated an email in opposition to the project, now says he believes realigning the exit is a safety concern.
He said he believes about half of the Republicans on the quorum court will vote for it, and most if not all of the Democrats.
One thing that bothers some quorum court members is that the deed to Odom’s property has been signed and filed at the county clerk’s office. They say Troutman put the cart before the horse.
“I think it’s something that we need,” Edwards said. “There’s been something around 80 wrecks in that general area.”
Odom disqualified himself from voting at the January meeting. Troutman says it’s not a conflict of interest for Odom to vote on the matter, but Edwards says he disagrees.
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