By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader executive editor
“Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, who shall I send, and who shall go for us? Then said I, here am I, send me.”
—Isaiah 6:8
In an old photograph, Master Sgt. Paul Poole of Cabot stands at attention in the back row as Defense Secretary Melvin Laird presents medals to dozens of Green Berets who had flown deep into North Vietnam in November 1970 in hopes of rescuing captured Americans from a POW camp called Son Tay.
Not many people have heard of Son Tay or know about Paul Poole, who died last week at the age of 67. But he was a hero, who said without hesitation, “Here am I, send me,” when his country needed him. He knew that desperate men counted on him to bring them home.
Even those who were alive more than 39 years ago may not remember the raid on Son Tay. For those who were born after the war, it’s probably ancient history.
But to people who knew Paul Poole, a modest, unassuming man who lived on Kerr Station Road, the Son Tay mission was as real and heroic as the Alamo.
“He was a down-to-earth country guy,” said Larry Odom, a neighbor. “He loved horses and airplanes.”
“He didn’t talk much about Vietnam,” Odom continued. “He just said he was lucky to make it home. He’d been in lots of firefights.”
Some 500 men volunteered in the fall of 1970 to try to rescue perhaps as many as 100 POWs, although just a handful knew the details of the mission as it was planned.
Poole was one of those volunteers.
Only 100 were chosen for the mission, including the Green Berets and airmen who would fly the team into the heart of North Vietnam during a midnight raid.
U.S. intelligence flights had picked up the camp in a wooded area not far from Hanoi. The prisoners had scrawled the letter K in the dirt — code for “come get us.” In another camp, the POWs, using their laundry, had spelled out “SAR,” code for “search and rescue,” and the number eight, which was the distance they walked to the fields where they worked.
The 56 Green Berets picked for the rescue mission headed down to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., where a replica of the camp was built for night training for several weeks. They were briefed about their mission to Son Tay only a few hours before they took off for North Vietnam.
Special Forces Col. Arthur (Bull) Simons, who lead the raid on the camp, told his men, “We are going to rescue 70 American prisoners of war, maybe more, from a camp called Son Tay. This is something American prisoners have a right to expect from their fellow soldiers. The target is 23 miles west of Hanoi.”
They had 30 minutes to capture Son Tay and evacuate the POWs.
On the night of Nov. 20, they flew from Thailand in six helicopters. More than 20 other planes, including a C-130 that threw flares at the camp, accompanied them in support of the operation.
They were headed for a heavily fortified area with several North Vietnamese military camps nearby.
The helicopters arrived just after 2 a.m. One plane crash landed inside the camp. A Green Beret, using a bullhorn, shouted,
“We’re Americans. Keep your heads down. We’re Americans. Get on the floor. We’ll be in your cells in a minute.”
Another helicopter landed a quarter of a mile away and engaged enemy forces at the nearby barracks there.
While those Green Berets were fighting away from their main target, Poole’s group, nicknamed “Redwine,” was to look out for North Vietnamese forces approaching Son Tay.
Instead, these Green Berets now fought their way into the camp, while the other group killed the guards at the lesser target.
Poole’s group broke through a seven-foot wall and attacked the guards in their towers and around the camp. As many as 50 guards were killed.
After the firefights and the hand-to-hand combat, as the Green Berets searched for the prisoners, they realized there were no Americans at Son Tay.
“Negative items,” a Green Beret radioed from inside the camp.
Except for the guards, the camp was empty. The North Vietnamese had evacuated Son Tay, perhaps expecting the raid.
The raiders would return empty-handed.
But no Americans were killed, and only a couple were injured in the fighting. The raiders left 29 minutes after they’d landed.
At a White House ceremony five days after the raid, President Nixon awarded the Distinguished Service Medal to Air Force Brig. Gen. LeRoy J. Manor, who organized the rescue attempt. Col. Simons, the leader of the Son Tay raid, received the
Distinguished Cross, along with two other participants.
Three weeks after the rescue attempt, during a ceremony at Fort Bragg, N.C., where the Special Forces had their headquarters, Secretary of Defense Laird presented medals to 56 Green Berets and 40 others who took part in the raid.
Poole received a Silver Star, as did most of the Green Berets. Other medals went to Air Force officers and enlisted men who flew the raiders to Son Tay.
Nine years later, Texas businessman Ross Perot hired Col. Simons, who had retired from the military, to go into Iran and free two of Perot’s employees held in a Teheran jail. Simons and his crew organized a mob that stormed the jail, freeing the Americans, along with some 11,000 prisoners.
Funeral services for Paul Poole were held Tuesday. Larry Odom went to the visitation Monday night. “He was one of my heroes,” Odom said.
On the Son Tay Raider Association Web site honoring the men who took part in the raid, Poole’s name was added over the weekend to the list of remembered warriors, flanked by two eternal flames.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
TOP STORY >> Eight apply for vacant council seat
By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
The Sherwood City Council at its next meeting on Feb. 22 will appoint a replacement for Keith Rankin, who resigned in January, and to serve out the remainder of his term, which is through 2010. There are eight candidates for the post.
By state law, city council vacancies with less than of a year remaining are appointed. The appointee may run in November in the general election for the next full term, which is two years. Filing for the race, which is non-partisan, opens April 28 and closes May 17.
Walter Barnhardt served in the Air Force for 14 years, including three tours of duty in Vietnam. Since retiring from a career in food services, Barnhardt has been active in volunteer work, including building projects at Sherwood Forest, construction of the Veterans Memorial and serving on the sewer and street commissions. For his efforts, the park next to City Hall was named after him, and he was named the Chamber of Commerce 2005 Man of the Year and three times was honored as a volunteer of the year. He has lived in Sherwood for more than 30 years.
Bob Ferguson is a certified public accountant and has been a resident of Sherwood for 27 years. He serves as vice chairman for Pathfinder, Inc., a non-profit provider of services for individuals with developmental disabilities.
He served for seven years on the board of directors for the Arkansas Development Finance Authority. He holds a degree in psychology and accounting from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Lucien Gillham has been a resident of Sherwood for more than 30 years. He is a retired civil engineer and has served on the Sherwood Planning Commission since 1996.
He is a former deputy base commander at Little Rock Air Force Base for the sections that were responsible for the base’s city services. He retired in 1996 after a career of more than 30 years with the U.S. Army Reserve.
Timothy McMinn has lived in Sherwood since 1976. He has been a church pastor for more than 30 years and currently is a pastor at Sylvan Hills Community Church in Sherwood.
He is an electrician, an Air Force veteran and the senior chaplain for the Sherwood Police. He has been the recipient of the Paul Harris Award, the Sherwood Chamber of Commerce Award for Volunteerism and has been named Sherwood Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year.
William Montgomery is a 2002 graduate of Sylvan Hills High School and has lived in Sherwood for 10 years.
He is a student in office management and supervision at Pulaski Technical College. He works as a data entry technician for Dassault Falcon Jet Corp. In high school, he was president of the band, an honor student and recipient of the Sherwood Rotary Club Ethics Award.
Lana Dawn Roach is a senior sales manager at Marriott Little Rock West. She graduated from Hazen High School in 1988 and has an associate’s degree in business. She has lived in Sherwood for five years.
She is a member of the Little Rock and North Little Rock chambers of commerce, the Little Rock Air Force Base and Camp Robinson community councils and is the honorary commander of the 19th Maintenance Squadron at the air base.
Larry Roberts is a licensed real estate agent and broker with 30 years experience as an underwriter for Arkansas Farm Bureau.
He is a graduate of Sylvan Hills High School, completed college coursework in business administration and served stateside with an Army medical unit during the Vietnam War.
He has served since 1990 as a supervisor for the Pulaski County Election Commission. He serves as a board member for the Sherwood Chamber of Commerce and Pulaski County Crimestoppers and as a member of the Sherwood Rotary Club and Little Rock Air Force Base Community Council.
Justin Smith is a 2001 graduate of Sylvan Hills High School, a former Eagle Scout, assistant scout master for the Boy Scouts of America and former president of the Sherwood Mayor’s Council, on which he served for three years.
He has lived in Ward 4 of Sherwood for 18 years and ran against Rankin in 2008. He works as a supervisor for Delta Dental in Sherwood. As a Boy Scout, he helped organize curbside recycling in the Oakbrooke subdivision.
Leader staff writer
The Sherwood City Council at its next meeting on Feb. 22 will appoint a replacement for Keith Rankin, who resigned in January, and to serve out the remainder of his term, which is through 2010. There are eight candidates for the post.
By state law, city council vacancies with less than of a year remaining are appointed. The appointee may run in November in the general election for the next full term, which is two years. Filing for the race, which is non-partisan, opens April 28 and closes May 17.
Walter Barnhardt served in the Air Force for 14 years, including three tours of duty in Vietnam. Since retiring from a career in food services, Barnhardt has been active in volunteer work, including building projects at Sherwood Forest, construction of the Veterans Memorial and serving on the sewer and street commissions. For his efforts, the park next to City Hall was named after him, and he was named the Chamber of Commerce 2005 Man of the Year and three times was honored as a volunteer of the year. He has lived in Sherwood for more than 30 years.
Bob Ferguson is a certified public accountant and has been a resident of Sherwood for 27 years. He serves as vice chairman for Pathfinder, Inc., a non-profit provider of services for individuals with developmental disabilities.
He served for seven years on the board of directors for the Arkansas Development Finance Authority. He holds a degree in psychology and accounting from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Lucien Gillham has been a resident of Sherwood for more than 30 years. He is a retired civil engineer and has served on the Sherwood Planning Commission since 1996.
He is a former deputy base commander at Little Rock Air Force Base for the sections that were responsible for the base’s city services. He retired in 1996 after a career of more than 30 years with the U.S. Army Reserve.
Timothy McMinn has lived in Sherwood since 1976. He has been a church pastor for more than 30 years and currently is a pastor at Sylvan Hills Community Church in Sherwood.
He is an electrician, an Air Force veteran and the senior chaplain for the Sherwood Police. He has been the recipient of the Paul Harris Award, the Sherwood Chamber of Commerce Award for Volunteerism and has been named Sherwood Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year.
William Montgomery is a 2002 graduate of Sylvan Hills High School and has lived in Sherwood for 10 years.
He is a student in office management and supervision at Pulaski Technical College. He works as a data entry technician for Dassault Falcon Jet Corp. In high school, he was president of the band, an honor student and recipient of the Sherwood Rotary Club Ethics Award.
Lana Dawn Roach is a senior sales manager at Marriott Little Rock West. She graduated from Hazen High School in 1988 and has an associate’s degree in business. She has lived in Sherwood for five years.
She is a member of the Little Rock and North Little Rock chambers of commerce, the Little Rock Air Force Base and Camp Robinson community councils and is the honorary commander of the 19th Maintenance Squadron at the air base.
Larry Roberts is a licensed real estate agent and broker with 30 years experience as an underwriter for Arkansas Farm Bureau.
He is a graduate of Sylvan Hills High School, completed college coursework in business administration and served stateside with an Army medical unit during the Vietnam War.
He has served since 1990 as a supervisor for the Pulaski County Election Commission. He serves as a board member for the Sherwood Chamber of Commerce and Pulaski County Crimestoppers and as a member of the Sherwood Rotary Club and Little Rock Air Force Base Community Council.
Justin Smith is a 2001 graduate of Sylvan Hills High School, a former Eagle Scout, assistant scout master for the Boy Scouts of America and former president of the Sherwood Mayor’s Council, on which he served for three years.
He has lived in Ward 4 of Sherwood for 18 years and ran against Rankin in 2008. He works as a supervisor for Delta Dental in Sherwood. As a Boy Scout, he helped organize curbside recycling in the Oakbrooke subdivision.
TOP STORY >> Principal leads students and soldiers
By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
Leading teachers, students and soldiers comes easily for Warren Dupree Elementary School principal Janice Walker. She’s successfully combined what some might consider contradictory careers into a stellar set of accomplishments.
Walker is also a command sergeant major for the Army Reserve’s 489th Engineer Battalion based at Camp Robinson.
A Jacksonville resident, Walker was assigned to the 489th Battalion in June 2008.
She is the first female and the first African-American to hold that position. At one point in the past the unit was designated as an all-male organization because of its combat mission.
“Serving in that position did not come without imminent challenges but they were not insurmountable.
“I found with the dynamics of the military, we are a diverse force and even as a diverse group there are barriers we still must overcome with regard to race and gender,” Walker said.
Walker’s commander, Lt. Col. Charles Jackson, was assigned in August 2009 as battalion commander for the 489th. He, too, is the first African-American to hold that position.
Even though there are different age groups represented in her two careers, Walker is held accountable to maintain high standards both in the military and as an elementary school administrator.
Walker said she has to supervise and make timely decisions both in her military and civilian roles that have an impact on others.
“I have to use sound judgment and fact-finding approaches in addressing and resolving issues that may arise.
“Students are expected to achieve academic success. Soldiers are expected to accomplish the mission,” Walker said.
She continued, “We have 1,400 soldiers in the 489th in three states — Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri. I advise and make recommendations to the battalion commander and staff on matters pertaining to enlisted personnel and their families. I also carry out policies and standards related to enlisted personnel performance and training.”
After graduating from Arkadelphia High School in May 1979, Walker and one of her cousins decided to join the Army Reserve at the city’s recruiting station. Walker had relatives who had served in the military.
She went to basic training at Fort Dix, N.J., where she was trained as a truck driver and was assigned to the 444th Maintenance Company in Camden. Soon after, Walker became a personnel administrative specialist.
Walker was transferred to several units, climbing the ranks from supervisor to military instructor, then as first sergeant, to operations sergeant to her current position as command sergeant major.
Walker has had a military career for 30 years and a career in education for 23 years.
Walker was born and raised on a farm in Arkadelphia. The farm had livestock and grew cotton and peanuts. The property also had a sorghum mill.
Walker is the youngest of 12 siblings. Her father, Booker Jones Sr., was a farmer. Her mother, Zenobia Jones, was an educator.
Zenobia owned a daycare in rural Arkadelphia.
Her parents were both from Arkadelphia and are now deceased.
Walker said her mother had a particular compassion for children.
“Both of my parents were role models. My father was a disciplinarian but always administered it with love. You can do both.” Walker said.
She said her mother stressed the importance of education.
“It wasn’t an option, it was understood as a rule. You were to go to college,” Walker said.
Four of Walker’s siblings furthered their education in college. Her other siblings chose vocational school or the military.
“We were all career-oriented individuals,” Walker said.
Walker said she originally started out going to college for a degree in elementary education, but moved to Texarkana to broaden her horizons.
“I realized it’s better to have a diverse skill set. It provides you with more opportunities to be successful,” she said.
Prior to Walker attending nursing school, she gave birth to her daughter, Shamikah.
“I was a single mom at the time. I understand the difficulties being a single mom. Even as a single mother you still meet the needs of your children. You may have to sacrifice by working hard and making good choices. You are making choices not for yourself but for your child,” Walker said.
She continued, “I wanted my daughter to grow up in an environment of love and discipline. I wanted to ensure I could provide financial support.”
Walker attended nursing school in Texarkana, Texas, in 1983. A year later she completed the program and became a license practical nurse.
Even as Warren Dupree’s principal, Walker continues to hold a current nursing certificate.
“You always have children come from the playground with minor injuries. Having a nursing background when a nurse is not present helps determine the next level of medical care,” Walker said.
“I found it very rewarding to be a nurse,” she said.
After nursing school Walker worked part time at a nursing home in Arkadelphia to support the cost of attending Henderson State for an educational degree.
Walker earned her bachelor’s degree in 1987. Later the same year she began working for the Little Rock School District.
For two years Walker taught fourth and sixth grade at Brady Elementary School. In 1989, she married her husband Michael, a graphic artist.
Afterwards, she taught fourth grade for seven years at McDermott Elementary School.
She earned her master’s degree in administrative educational leadership from the University of Central Arkansas in 1995.
In 1996, Walker left teaching and went into administration. She was an assistant principal at Rockefeller Incentive School for two years and then was assigned as an assistant principal to Terry Elementary School for a year.
Walker was hired by the Pulaski County Special School District in 1999 as principal at Landmark Fine Arts School. While there, she completed her educational leadership specialist degree and her doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2003.
Leader staff writer
Leading teachers, students and soldiers comes easily for Warren Dupree Elementary School principal Janice Walker. She’s successfully combined what some might consider contradictory careers into a stellar set of accomplishments.
Walker is also a command sergeant major for the Army Reserve’s 489th Engineer Battalion based at Camp Robinson.
A Jacksonville resident, Walker was assigned to the 489th Battalion in June 2008.
She is the first female and the first African-American to hold that position. At one point in the past the unit was designated as an all-male organization because of its combat mission.
“Serving in that position did not come without imminent challenges but they were not insurmountable.
“I found with the dynamics of the military, we are a diverse force and even as a diverse group there are barriers we still must overcome with regard to race and gender,” Walker said.
Walker’s commander, Lt. Col. Charles Jackson, was assigned in August 2009 as battalion commander for the 489th. He, too, is the first African-American to hold that position.
Even though there are different age groups represented in her two careers, Walker is held accountable to maintain high standards both in the military and as an elementary school administrator.
Walker said she has to supervise and make timely decisions both in her military and civilian roles that have an impact on others.
“I have to use sound judgment and fact-finding approaches in addressing and resolving issues that may arise.
“Students are expected to achieve academic success. Soldiers are expected to accomplish the mission,” Walker said.
She continued, “We have 1,400 soldiers in the 489th in three states — Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri. I advise and make recommendations to the battalion commander and staff on matters pertaining to enlisted personnel and their families. I also carry out policies and standards related to enlisted personnel performance and training.”
After graduating from Arkadelphia High School in May 1979, Walker and one of her cousins decided to join the Army Reserve at the city’s recruiting station. Walker had relatives who had served in the military.
She went to basic training at Fort Dix, N.J., where she was trained as a truck driver and was assigned to the 444th Maintenance Company in Camden. Soon after, Walker became a personnel administrative specialist.
Walker was transferred to several units, climbing the ranks from supervisor to military instructor, then as first sergeant, to operations sergeant to her current position as command sergeant major.
Walker has had a military career for 30 years and a career in education for 23 years.
Walker was born and raised on a farm in Arkadelphia. The farm had livestock and grew cotton and peanuts. The property also had a sorghum mill.
Walker is the youngest of 12 siblings. Her father, Booker Jones Sr., was a farmer. Her mother, Zenobia Jones, was an educator.
Zenobia owned a daycare in rural Arkadelphia.
Her parents were both from Arkadelphia and are now deceased.
Walker said her mother had a particular compassion for children.
“Both of my parents were role models. My father was a disciplinarian but always administered it with love. You can do both.” Walker said.
She said her mother stressed the importance of education.
“It wasn’t an option, it was understood as a rule. You were to go to college,” Walker said.
Four of Walker’s siblings furthered their education in college. Her other siblings chose vocational school or the military.
“We were all career-oriented individuals,” Walker said.
Walker said she originally started out going to college for a degree in elementary education, but moved to Texarkana to broaden her horizons.
“I realized it’s better to have a diverse skill set. It provides you with more opportunities to be successful,” she said.
Prior to Walker attending nursing school, she gave birth to her daughter, Shamikah.
“I was a single mom at the time. I understand the difficulties being a single mom. Even as a single mother you still meet the needs of your children. You may have to sacrifice by working hard and making good choices. You are making choices not for yourself but for your child,” Walker said.
She continued, “I wanted my daughter to grow up in an environment of love and discipline. I wanted to ensure I could provide financial support.”
Walker attended nursing school in Texarkana, Texas, in 1983. A year later she completed the program and became a license practical nurse.
Even as Warren Dupree’s principal, Walker continues to hold a current nursing certificate.
“You always have children come from the playground with minor injuries. Having a nursing background when a nurse is not present helps determine the next level of medical care,” Walker said.
“I found it very rewarding to be a nurse,” she said.
After nursing school Walker worked part time at a nursing home in Arkadelphia to support the cost of attending Henderson State for an educational degree.
Walker earned her bachelor’s degree in 1987. Later the same year she began working for the Little Rock School District.
For two years Walker taught fourth and sixth grade at Brady Elementary School. In 1989, she married her husband Michael, a graphic artist.
Afterwards, she taught fourth grade for seven years at McDermott Elementary School.
She earned her master’s degree in administrative educational leadership from the University of Central Arkansas in 1995.
In 1996, Walker left teaching and went into administration. She was an assistant principal at Rockefeller Incentive School for two years and then was assigned as an assistant principal to Terry Elementary School for a year.
Walker was hired by the Pulaski County Special School District in 1999 as principal at Landmark Fine Arts School. While there, she completed her educational leadership specialist degree and her doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2003.
TOP STORY >> District is closer to hiring new chief
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
The Pulaski County Special School District board meeting last night was canceled because of the weather, but the board won’t gather to discuss the candidates for the superintendent’s position until at least Friday, and no action is expected to be taken then, according to Deborah Roush, PCSSD spokesman.
Interim superintendent Rob McGill and Vashti Washington, associate superintendent of the Charleston County School District in South Carolina, met with board members, teacher representatives, principals, the press and the public last week, concluding formal visits by the four finalists in the search for a permanent PCSSD superintendent.
MCGILL’S FAMILIAR
“I’ve set the stage for academic improvements with classroom walkthroughs and audits and collecting data to make decisions based on individual student’s needs,” said McGill, 42.
He has worked his way up from elementary school teacher beginning in 1993 to principal of Pine Forest Elementary from 2005-2009. From there, he was selected as acting superintendent of the district last March, replacing James Sharpe, who was forced out by the board.
“There are a lot of things I’ve tackled head-on, and I want to continue,” he said. “Me being local and familiar with the district for 17 years, I have an idea of issues and challenges and positive things we do in the district.”
“I can continue making decisions based on knowledge we currently have. In the last few months, we’ve started the Star Academy, helping students catch up to their peers,” he said.
“We put a lot of effort into upkeep and maintenance of older facilities, painting, upgrading HVAC systems and bathrooms. We had a summer school program at Jacksonville Elementary School and increased after-school care.”
JACKSONVILLE SEPARATION
“We’ve dealt with several big issues like the Jacksonville separation,” McGill continued. “I have an understanding how it affects desegregations plans. We’re trying to move to unitary status.”
The district converted to online purchasing, cleaned up coding and has gone to the state reporting system for finance, he said.
The district has a pilot Web-based program for processing student data.
He said he’d like to bring the district into more long-range planning for facilities, bus purchase, and crises management — looking ahead and making contingency plans.
He said that union or no union, it’s important that the district treat the teachers in a fair and consistent manner.
“My stance is the board directed that we no longer recognize the union and when four board members say to go in one direction, that’s the direction I’m pointed in,” McGill said.
Consistency and fairness are also important for student discipline. the interim superintendent said.
“They have to understand the rules and consequences and abide by them,” McGill said.
WASHINGTON’S CALLING
Calling her work as an educator “a spiritual calling and a great honor,” Washington came for her interview armed with a three-ring binder full of her research on PCSSD and the Little Rock area.
“Twenty-one years ago, Pulaski County was on of the most productive districts in the state,” she said. “I’d like to help lead the district back to that,” she said.
Washington, 56, said there were a lot of similarities between PCSSD and the Charleston County School District.
“Pulaski County is where we were, regarding academic, discipline and facilities problems,” she said.
Nearly all elementary schools in her district were not meeting annual school improvement goals when she took over. Last year, all but one were.
She said the biggest problem for most districts was the lack of communication. “I’m a collaborative person,” she said, “fair, firm and a good listener.”
“Unions come about because we aren’t listening to each other,” she said.
When I came on (at Charleston) we were suspending at least 50 percent of our students. One of the issues that we needed to face, we needed to get a behavior modification management model. It took a year and a half to train the teachers.”
SUSPENSIONS PLUNGED
In her area of responsibility, which is the district’s elementary schools, suspensions fell from about 50 percent to about 1 percent to two percent, Washington said.
“Elementary school students are easier to get on board,” she said. But through student council, the high school students eventually bought into the program by setting their own reward goals, like increasing the amount of time they could use an iPod or being allowed a once-a-month dance.
“It’s unbelievable how we were able to decrease the number of expulsions and suspensions in our schools. Teachers have to buy into it. They have to be consistent and we have to provide the resources,” she said.
Her district eliminated less necessary positions, replacing them with behavior specialists, kept up with the day-to-day data.
“You could figure out who are the teachers who are having the most problem…. and those are the teachers we pull out and do some one-to-one. And then some, we just say, ‘this is not for you,’” Washington said.
“We had a lot of racial tension,” she said but by being fair in discipline, making sure children know what to expect, the district over came much of that. “Set high expectations,” she said.
Washington said she helped lead an ambitious building program.
Leader senior staff writer
The Pulaski County Special School District board meeting last night was canceled because of the weather, but the board won’t gather to discuss the candidates for the superintendent’s position until at least Friday, and no action is expected to be taken then, according to Deborah Roush, PCSSD spokesman.
Interim superintendent Rob McGill and Vashti Washington, associate superintendent of the Charleston County School District in South Carolina, met with board members, teacher representatives, principals, the press and the public last week, concluding formal visits by the four finalists in the search for a permanent PCSSD superintendent.
MCGILL’S FAMILIAR
“I’ve set the stage for academic improvements with classroom walkthroughs and audits and collecting data to make decisions based on individual student’s needs,” said McGill, 42.
He has worked his way up from elementary school teacher beginning in 1993 to principal of Pine Forest Elementary from 2005-2009. From there, he was selected as acting superintendent of the district last March, replacing James Sharpe, who was forced out by the board.
“There are a lot of things I’ve tackled head-on, and I want to continue,” he said. “Me being local and familiar with the district for 17 years, I have an idea of issues and challenges and positive things we do in the district.”
“I can continue making decisions based on knowledge we currently have. In the last few months, we’ve started the Star Academy, helping students catch up to their peers,” he said.
“We put a lot of effort into upkeep and maintenance of older facilities, painting, upgrading HVAC systems and bathrooms. We had a summer school program at Jacksonville Elementary School and increased after-school care.”
JACKSONVILLE SEPARATION
“We’ve dealt with several big issues like the Jacksonville separation,” McGill continued. “I have an understanding how it affects desegregations plans. We’re trying to move to unitary status.”
The district converted to online purchasing, cleaned up coding and has gone to the state reporting system for finance, he said.
The district has a pilot Web-based program for processing student data.
He said he’d like to bring the district into more long-range planning for facilities, bus purchase, and crises management — looking ahead and making contingency plans.
He said that union or no union, it’s important that the district treat the teachers in a fair and consistent manner.
“My stance is the board directed that we no longer recognize the union and when four board members say to go in one direction, that’s the direction I’m pointed in,” McGill said.
Consistency and fairness are also important for student discipline. the interim superintendent said.
“They have to understand the rules and consequences and abide by them,” McGill said.
WASHINGTON’S CALLING
Calling her work as an educator “a spiritual calling and a great honor,” Washington came for her interview armed with a three-ring binder full of her research on PCSSD and the Little Rock area.
“Twenty-one years ago, Pulaski County was on of the most productive districts in the state,” she said. “I’d like to help lead the district back to that,” she said.
Washington, 56, said there were a lot of similarities between PCSSD and the Charleston County School District.
“Pulaski County is where we were, regarding academic, discipline and facilities problems,” she said.
Nearly all elementary schools in her district were not meeting annual school improvement goals when she took over. Last year, all but one were.
She said the biggest problem for most districts was the lack of communication. “I’m a collaborative person,” she said, “fair, firm and a good listener.”
“Unions come about because we aren’t listening to each other,” she said.
When I came on (at Charleston) we were suspending at least 50 percent of our students. One of the issues that we needed to face, we needed to get a behavior modification management model. It took a year and a half to train the teachers.”
SUSPENSIONS PLUNGED
In her area of responsibility, which is the district’s elementary schools, suspensions fell from about 50 percent to about 1 percent to two percent, Washington said.
“Elementary school students are easier to get on board,” she said. But through student council, the high school students eventually bought into the program by setting their own reward goals, like increasing the amount of time they could use an iPod or being allowed a once-a-month dance.
“It’s unbelievable how we were able to decrease the number of expulsions and suspensions in our schools. Teachers have to buy into it. They have to be consistent and we have to provide the resources,” she said.
Her district eliminated less necessary positions, replacing them with behavior specialists, kept up with the day-to-day data.
“You could figure out who are the teachers who are having the most problem…. and those are the teachers we pull out and do some one-to-one. And then some, we just say, ‘this is not for you,’” Washington said.
“We had a lot of racial tension,” she said but by being fair in discipline, making sure children know what to expect, the district over came much of that. “Set high expectations,” she said.
Washington said she helped lead an ambitious building program.
TOP STORY >> Snow shifts, slams area
Footprints in the snow lead to and from Sherwood City Hall.
Whit Davis Lumber Plus in Cabot nearly collapsed from the weight of snow Monday. The store will be closed temporarily until repairs are made. Phones are being answered at the Jacksonville store.
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
It’s been 22 years since central Arkansas has seen this much snow. Depending upon who’s doing the measuring, totals run from 5 to 8 inches of snow.
The area got 10.4 inches of snow back in early January 1988.
Another storm system moving through the area late Thursday and early Friday could add another inch or two to the monthly snow totals.
The snowfall canceled most area schools Monday and Tuesday, closed city governments and caused many businesses to close early on Monday.
John Lewis, senior forecaster for the National Weather Service, admits the intensity of the storm was a bit unexpected. “We thought the snow line would be more north of us, a line from Fort Smith to Clinton to Batesville, but the line dropped down and basically followed the I-40 corridor,” he said.
The snow also started earlier, was heavier than expected and the warming took longer to occur.
“We predicted snow, then a mix, then rain before turning back into snow. That’s pretty much what happened, but the initial surge of snow was heavier than we thought it would be and the warming trend took longer, meaning it snowed longer,” Lewis explained.
So much snow fell that the weight of it collapsed part of the over hang at the Citgo on Warden Road off Hwy. 67/167 and caused the destruction of the Smokey’s Pub sign and canopy about a mile further south down the road.
In Cabot, police kept watch Monday night at Whit Davis Lumber Plus after part of the roof collapsed from heavy snow build-up.
There were no injuries.
Jim Oakley, public works director for Jacksonville, said Tuesday that most of the city’s major roadways were clear and the crews were working on the smaller streets.
“We’ve got 14 people in the street department and split them into two crews. One crew has been working from 4 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the other from 2 p.m. until midnight. Both crews have been plowing and dropping sand and salt.”
Oakley estimates that the department has gone through about 50 tons of sand and five tons of salt. “We run a mixture of one-quarter salt and three-quarters sand and also drop just straight sand,” Oakley said.
He added that the storm work would cost the city about an extra $5,000. “Because the storm happened during the week, it limited the amount of overtime we needed,” he said.
Oakley added that city crews would be back out Tuesday night and into this morning.
Sherwood police Lt. Cheryl Williams said the city has only had about a dozen storm-related accidents and that they were all minor. She attributed the low number to people heeding warnings to stay at home and to the good job the street department did.
In Ward, a couple of vehicles slid off the road, but no major accidents were reported there. The city spread a combination of sand and salt at intersections and scraped ice off roads with a backhoe.
In Beebe, no accidents with injuries were reported, only vehicles in ditches. The city has no equipment for spreading sand, which has made traveling city streets rough going.
Cabot reported no major accidents through Tuesday afternoon. Its street department spent Monday and Tuesday spreading sand on railroad crossings and overpasses using a truck bought last year.
“We’ve had a hard time because we’d sand and it would snow on top of it,” said Public Works Director Jerrel Maxwell. “I told the mayor if this global warming keeps up, we’re going to have to buy another truck.”
By 3 p.m. Monday, police in Beebe had measured snowfall totals at 7.5 to 8 inches. By mid-afternoon, downtown Little Rock had five inches; Austin reported 5.5 inches and Sherwood had five inches.
The Little Rock Air Force Base weather squadron recorded four inches of snowfall and the National Weather Service puts the total area snowfall at 7.2 inches.
This snow follows at the heals of a winter storm the end of January that also closed schools and businesses and snarled up traffic. That storm brought in almost two inches of snow and made January the snowiest since 2000.
January was also the coldest in seven years, even though no low-temperature records were broken. The air base recorded the lowest January temperature in the area on Jan. 10, a temperature of nine degrees, the first single digit low temperature in the area since 2001.
Lonoke County Sheriff Jim Roberson estimated that state and local lawmen worked about 60 weather-related accidents in the county this week, most of them on state highways.
“We’re running pretty strong,” he said of his deputies. “We didn’t get a little bit of a break. All the wreckers were pretty busy.”
Roberson said the weather stopped most county residents in their tracks.
“I haven’t been out in the weather,” said County Judge Charlie Troutman, who is by definition the head of the county road department.
“No one with the county worked yesterday or today,” Troutman said Tuesday. That included both the county courthouse and the road department.
“We had so much damage from flooding (in January). This won’t help us any,” Troutman said. “It’ll be a while putting it all back together and fixing everything.”
“Most people just pulled a blanket over their head and stayed in. I don’t know if schools will operate tomorrow or not, what with the buses and the back roads.”
“At least we have money to fix them with,” Troutman said.
The snow means a break for county farmers, according to Jeff Welch, head of the Lonoke County Extension Service.
“They can’t do anything with the snow on the ground. Back when boll weevils were a problem, this would help us. Now they are waiting to fertilize what wheat we have in the ground.”
Welch said the snow was not a problem, but a similar snow in three weeks would be a bad time.
“We really need to get after this wheat,” he said.
(Leader writers Joan McCoy and John Hofheimer also contributed to this article.)
SPORTS >> Bears turn to seniors, beat Billies
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Senior night came a little early for the Sylvan Hills Bears on Friday.
All the talk of talented underclassmen on Kevin Davis’ team took a backseat to senior leadership against the Monticello Billies, and it paid off with a 61-49 victory at Sylvan Hills on Friday night.
The sophomore “triplets” of Trey Smith, Archie Goodwin and post player Devin Pearson eventually made their way onto the court in the first quarter, but the Bears started the game with an all-senior look that featured Bruce Mack, Kolby Davis, Matt Cable, two-sport star Ahmad Scott and Demetric Gross.
“I thought some seniors made senior plays down the stretch,” Kevin Davis said. “They were communicating with me and playing the game like seniors should be playing the ballgame, and my seniors did that tonight. And I thought that was what made the difference for us down the stretch tonight.”
The all-senior starting lineup wasn’t based on any particular strategy for Davis; it was just coincidental.
“Two of those seniors led using rebounding at McClellan, and I like to reward people for hard work,” Davis said. “And that was Cable and Davis. And so they were automatically in the starting lineup, that’s something we just do. We reward guys that work hard.”
Goodwin ended up in his normal role as leading scorer for the Bears, but it was Pearson’s nine points inside that the Billies found hardest to answer. Gross also had a solid outing with 13 points, while Ziegler managed seven points in his limited role and point guard Mack scored six points for the Bears.
Sylvan Hills (11-8, 2-6 5A Southeast) led the entire way, but never by more than 12 points. The Bears enjoyed their largest margin when Mack drove inside for a jumper to make it 38-26 with 1:08 left in the first quarter.
That followed an eight-point flurry by Goodwin, who made up for failing to convert an old-fashioned three-point play with 7:06 left in the period with back-to-back three-pointers to increase the Bears’ lead from 24-20 to 32-22 with 4:05 to go.
Gross scored on a putback and Goodwin hit a pair of free throws leading up to Mack’s driving shot, but the Billies began to fight back after that.
Monticello closed the gap with a three-point basket and an inside shot by post player Reshaud Jones to cut the lead to 38-31.
Smith made a free throw just before the end of the third quarter to give the Bears a 39-31 lead starting the fourth.
The Billies tried to get themselves back in the game by pressing in the final three minutes, but Pearson broke through the press for a basket with 2:21 remaining to give the Bears a 50-43 lead, and Monticello resorted to clock-stopping fouls.
“They have a smaller lineup, so that should happen,” Davis said. “He’s a big 6-5 kid in there, and Devin has come on. He’s gotten better and better. He’s always minding the game, trying to get better.”
Scott finished with only four points, but his efforts on defense held Monticello sharp shooter Jones to a 10-point night. Jones scored 23 against the Bears in their first meeting, but Scott’s efforts limited him to one of his lowest nights of point production all season.
“It’s a good, balanced conference,” Davis said. “These guys had to stay positive, and kind of persevere. I told them they had some home games coming, that they needed to keep their heads up and keep at them.”
Leader sportswriter
Senior night came a little early for the Sylvan Hills Bears on Friday.
All the talk of talented underclassmen on Kevin Davis’ team took a backseat to senior leadership against the Monticello Billies, and it paid off with a 61-49 victory at Sylvan Hills on Friday night.
The sophomore “triplets” of Trey Smith, Archie Goodwin and post player Devin Pearson eventually made their way onto the court in the first quarter, but the Bears started the game with an all-senior look that featured Bruce Mack, Kolby Davis, Matt Cable, two-sport star Ahmad Scott and Demetric Gross.
“I thought some seniors made senior plays down the stretch,” Kevin Davis said. “They were communicating with me and playing the game like seniors should be playing the ballgame, and my seniors did that tonight. And I thought that was what made the difference for us down the stretch tonight.”
The all-senior starting lineup wasn’t based on any particular strategy for Davis; it was just coincidental.
“Two of those seniors led using rebounding at McClellan, and I like to reward people for hard work,” Davis said. “And that was Cable and Davis. And so they were automatically in the starting lineup, that’s something we just do. We reward guys that work hard.”
Goodwin ended up in his normal role as leading scorer for the Bears, but it was Pearson’s nine points inside that the Billies found hardest to answer. Gross also had a solid outing with 13 points, while Ziegler managed seven points in his limited role and point guard Mack scored six points for the Bears.
Sylvan Hills (11-8, 2-6 5A Southeast) led the entire way, but never by more than 12 points. The Bears enjoyed their largest margin when Mack drove inside for a jumper to make it 38-26 with 1:08 left in the first quarter.
That followed an eight-point flurry by Goodwin, who made up for failing to convert an old-fashioned three-point play with 7:06 left in the period with back-to-back three-pointers to increase the Bears’ lead from 24-20 to 32-22 with 4:05 to go.
Gross scored on a putback and Goodwin hit a pair of free throws leading up to Mack’s driving shot, but the Billies began to fight back after that.
Monticello closed the gap with a three-point basket and an inside shot by post player Reshaud Jones to cut the lead to 38-31.
Smith made a free throw just before the end of the third quarter to give the Bears a 39-31 lead starting the fourth.
The Billies tried to get themselves back in the game by pressing in the final three minutes, but Pearson broke through the press for a basket with 2:21 remaining to give the Bears a 50-43 lead, and Monticello resorted to clock-stopping fouls.
“They have a smaller lineup, so that should happen,” Davis said. “He’s a big 6-5 kid in there, and Devin has come on. He’s gotten better and better. He’s always minding the game, trying to get better.”
Scott finished with only four points, but his efforts on defense held Monticello sharp shooter Jones to a 10-point night. Jones scored 23 against the Bears in their first meeting, but Scott’s efforts limited him to one of his lowest nights of point production all season.
“It’s a good, balanced conference,” Davis said. “These guys had to stay positive, and kind of persevere. I told them they had some home games coming, that they needed to keep their heads up and keep at them.”
SPORTS >> Self-proclaimed media taking ‘scouting’ too far
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
If this is the future of football, then you can count me out.
Newly named USC head coach Lane Kiffin recently offered a full-ride scholarship from one of the nation’s most prestigious schools and storied college football programs to David Sills, who happens to be 13 years old.
I’m not kidding.
It could simply be another headline-grabbing ploy by the attention-hungry Kiffin, who himself seems to struggle with becoming any kind of proven commodity. This is not the first time Mr. Kiffin has ventured onto the middle school playground to find his next (insert top-notch player Kiffin has coached here.)
By the way, is it too soon to christen him “The Kif”? I ran a search for his current nicknames, and the closest thing I could find was “Lane Kiffin the Weasel.” Again, I can’t make this stuff up; it’s just out there.
But my fear is that the current fad of beating the whole scouting process into the ground with endless ranting, speculating and boasting of insider knowledge will become bigger than the game itself.
It already has in some circles.
My partner Todd Traub has already documented the ridiculousness involved with national signing day — the gurus (nerds) with nothing better to do than wait in the driveway of 16-year-old potential gridiron greats and try to plant bugs in their houses, the endless Internet speculation over who is going where and who wants what player, leading to my personal favorite: fans who start their own Web sites and declare themselves “a member of the sports media.”
You can find these uneducated and unrealistic goofballs quite easily, just Google your local high-school team or player, and up will pop a barrage of sites (usually pay sites) with names like SuperScouts.com or StateVarsity.com or BigRivalry.com.
What a flipping joke.
Granted, I take it a bit personal because I went through the proper ranks and channels for a chance at reporting sports for a living, but these guys have more loose screws than a Toyota driver’s side floorboard.
There’s even one guy in the area who gets on various message boards and brags about his knowledge and insider information of college football.
To most of us “mere mortals,” his info is better known as ESPN’s College Football. I suspect that is where he gets much of his “top secret” stuff. At least it has been all the times I have caught him in lies.
He touts himself as “the sports media” as he bragged in one post, only to reveal in another post that he considered basketball to be a non-sport.
You know, basketball, only the second most popular and most-played athletic activity in the entire world.
First of all, there is a big difference between a professional sportswriter and a football geek who has figured out how to operate a Web site. Now that we’ve established that, there’s also the matter of having an actual talent for writing.
This bozo’s Web site has so many sentence fragments, misspellings and terms taken out of context and used in his little blurbs, I first thought I was reading transcripts of speeches by George W. Bush.
His latest post was a boast on his coverage of signing day at Arkansas State, complete with photos depicting him wearing — What else? — an Arkansas State Red Wolves T-shirt.
I guess the whole objective and unbiased reporting thing is reserved for us poor little reporters who work for actual news agencies.
Sports are seasonal for a reason — so we won’t grow tired of them. I love football, but I also love basketball and auto racing. I don’t want to pore over details of how Johnny shaved half a tenth off his 40 time when district and regional basketball tournaments are about to begin, nor do I want to get an injury status update on a football player in the middle of April when the late models are in town.
Who cares? The guy has several months to get healthy, and we all have our own lives to live.
Basketball gets very interesting this time of year, and with racing — and baseball for you stick-and-ball types — right around the corner, let the football guys do what they have done since the game’s inception: enjoy some peace and quiet in the off-season.
Leader sportswriter
If this is the future of football, then you can count me out.
Newly named USC head coach Lane Kiffin recently offered a full-ride scholarship from one of the nation’s most prestigious schools and storied college football programs to David Sills, who happens to be 13 years old.
I’m not kidding.
It could simply be another headline-grabbing ploy by the attention-hungry Kiffin, who himself seems to struggle with becoming any kind of proven commodity. This is not the first time Mr. Kiffin has ventured onto the middle school playground to find his next (insert top-notch player Kiffin has coached here.)
By the way, is it too soon to christen him “The Kif”? I ran a search for his current nicknames, and the closest thing I could find was “Lane Kiffin the Weasel.” Again, I can’t make this stuff up; it’s just out there.
But my fear is that the current fad of beating the whole scouting process into the ground with endless ranting, speculating and boasting of insider knowledge will become bigger than the game itself.
It already has in some circles.
My partner Todd Traub has already documented the ridiculousness involved with national signing day — the gurus (nerds) with nothing better to do than wait in the driveway of 16-year-old potential gridiron greats and try to plant bugs in their houses, the endless Internet speculation over who is going where and who wants what player, leading to my personal favorite: fans who start their own Web sites and declare themselves “a member of the sports media.”
You can find these uneducated and unrealistic goofballs quite easily, just Google your local high-school team or player, and up will pop a barrage of sites (usually pay sites) with names like SuperScouts.com or StateVarsity.com or BigRivalry.com.
What a flipping joke.
Granted, I take it a bit personal because I went through the proper ranks and channels for a chance at reporting sports for a living, but these guys have more loose screws than a Toyota driver’s side floorboard.
There’s even one guy in the area who gets on various message boards and brags about his knowledge and insider information of college football.
To most of us “mere mortals,” his info is better known as ESPN’s College Football. I suspect that is where he gets much of his “top secret” stuff. At least it has been all the times I have caught him in lies.
He touts himself as “the sports media” as he bragged in one post, only to reveal in another post that he considered basketball to be a non-sport.
You know, basketball, only the second most popular and most-played athletic activity in the entire world.
First of all, there is a big difference between a professional sportswriter and a football geek who has figured out how to operate a Web site. Now that we’ve established that, there’s also the matter of having an actual talent for writing.
This bozo’s Web site has so many sentence fragments, misspellings and terms taken out of context and used in his little blurbs, I first thought I was reading transcripts of speeches by George W. Bush.
His latest post was a boast on his coverage of signing day at Arkansas State, complete with photos depicting him wearing — What else? — an Arkansas State Red Wolves T-shirt.
I guess the whole objective and unbiased reporting thing is reserved for us poor little reporters who work for actual news agencies.
Sports are seasonal for a reason — so we won’t grow tired of them. I love football, but I also love basketball and auto racing. I don’t want to pore over details of how Johnny shaved half a tenth off his 40 time when district and regional basketball tournaments are about to begin, nor do I want to get an injury status update on a football player in the middle of April when the late models are in town.
Who cares? The guy has several months to get healthy, and we all have our own lives to live.
Basketball gets very interesting this time of year, and with racing — and baseball for you stick-and-ball types — right around the corner, let the football guys do what they have done since the game’s inception: enjoy some peace and quiet in the off-season.
SPORTS >> Falcons go small to beat Comets big
By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
North Pulaski entered Friday’s game against with Mills with questions.
The Flacons left with answers.
Playing without injured inside man Daquan Bryant, North Pulaski used a smaller, faster lineup to run away from Mills in a 73-43, 5A-Southeast Conference victory at North Pulaski.
With Bryant, nursing a knee injury, on the bench in street clothes and a bowtie in a nod to basketball homecoming festivities, the Falcons started sophomore Courvoica Allen and turned in a group rebounding effort.
“I was really pleased,” North Pulaski coach Raymond Cooper said. “I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was kind of a little nervous at the start of the game. We started a sophomore who hadn’t played very much all season long. I figured now would be the time rather than sit him on the bench and let him wait.
“Go ahead and start him, and he really responded for us.”
Allen delivered four points while the Falcons banded together to pick up the rebounding slack for the absent Bryant.
“We were worried about rebounding and our depth inside so what we tried to do was try to do it by committee,” Cooper said.
“We had to really commit to little things like boxing out because Daquan is such a unique athlete you can’t replace whim with one guy.
“So we talked about all of us, between his 12 rebounds a game, everybody’s got to get one more and that’s what we kept preaching was one more.”
North Pulaski responded so effectively that it took a 65-35 lead into the fourth quarter, which was played with a fast-moving clock under the high school sportsmanship/timing rule.
“We shot the ball well, which really covers up a lot of stuff,” Cooper said. “We defended them well and we rebounded.”
In fact, Cooper said, the Falcons (17-4, 8-0) didn’t just get by without Bryant, they may have found another effective facet of their game.
“We knew we were going to be outsized, and to get those rebounds and what those rebounds did, they started our break,” Cooper said. “And one thing I found out, was when we got smaller, we got faster and so that was a plus. Now I may have found a lineup that I normally would never use.”
For Mills coach Leo Olberts, the Falcons, ranked No. 1 in 5A, were already deadly enough without a new look.
“You don’t get to be No. 1 in the state unless you’ve got a pretty good bunch and they certainly do,” Olberts said. “They’ve got so many guys who can shoot the basketball, that’s the thing. Defensively, it seems like no matter what you do, they’ve got an answer for it. It’s not just against us, it’s against everybody they play.”
Aaron Cooper made four three-pointers and led North Pulaski with 24 points and Bryan Colson scored 13. Kyle Jackson and Chris Neal scored eight points apiece for Mills, with Jackson getting six on free throws.
Mills fell to 9-12, 4-5.
“We’ve won our last four coming into to tonight and we’ve just go to forget about this one and take care of business the rest of the way,” Olberts said.
Mills rallied from an early, 11-2 deficit to go ahead 14-13 on Neal’s midcourt steal and dunk with 2:36 left in the first quarter.
But that may have been the highlight for Mills as Colson got a rebound and putback to start a 21-0 run that ended with Joe Agee’s steal and breakaway layup for the 34-14 lead with 6:01 left in the second quarter.
Shyheim Barron drove a basket that made it 65-35 at the end of the third quarter, and the 30-point lead triggered the mercy rule at the start of the fourth.
Leader sports editor
North Pulaski entered Friday’s game against with Mills with questions.
The Flacons left with answers.
Playing without injured inside man Daquan Bryant, North Pulaski used a smaller, faster lineup to run away from Mills in a 73-43, 5A-Southeast Conference victory at North Pulaski.
With Bryant, nursing a knee injury, on the bench in street clothes and a bowtie in a nod to basketball homecoming festivities, the Falcons started sophomore Courvoica Allen and turned in a group rebounding effort.
“I was really pleased,” North Pulaski coach Raymond Cooper said. “I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was kind of a little nervous at the start of the game. We started a sophomore who hadn’t played very much all season long. I figured now would be the time rather than sit him on the bench and let him wait.
“Go ahead and start him, and he really responded for us.”
Allen delivered four points while the Falcons banded together to pick up the rebounding slack for the absent Bryant.
“We were worried about rebounding and our depth inside so what we tried to do was try to do it by committee,” Cooper said.
“We had to really commit to little things like boxing out because Daquan is such a unique athlete you can’t replace whim with one guy.
“So we talked about all of us, between his 12 rebounds a game, everybody’s got to get one more and that’s what we kept preaching was one more.”
North Pulaski responded so effectively that it took a 65-35 lead into the fourth quarter, which was played with a fast-moving clock under the high school sportsmanship/timing rule.
“We shot the ball well, which really covers up a lot of stuff,” Cooper said. “We defended them well and we rebounded.”
In fact, Cooper said, the Falcons (17-4, 8-0) didn’t just get by without Bryant, they may have found another effective facet of their game.
“We knew we were going to be outsized, and to get those rebounds and what those rebounds did, they started our break,” Cooper said. “And one thing I found out, was when we got smaller, we got faster and so that was a plus. Now I may have found a lineup that I normally would never use.”
For Mills coach Leo Olberts, the Falcons, ranked No. 1 in 5A, were already deadly enough without a new look.
“You don’t get to be No. 1 in the state unless you’ve got a pretty good bunch and they certainly do,” Olberts said. “They’ve got so many guys who can shoot the basketball, that’s the thing. Defensively, it seems like no matter what you do, they’ve got an answer for it. It’s not just against us, it’s against everybody they play.”
Aaron Cooper made four three-pointers and led North Pulaski with 24 points and Bryan Colson scored 13. Kyle Jackson and Chris Neal scored eight points apiece for Mills, with Jackson getting six on free throws.
Mills fell to 9-12, 4-5.
“We’ve won our last four coming into to tonight and we’ve just go to forget about this one and take care of business the rest of the way,” Olberts said.
Mills rallied from an early, 11-2 deficit to go ahead 14-13 on Neal’s midcourt steal and dunk with 2:36 left in the first quarter.
But that may have been the highlight for Mills as Colson got a rebound and putback to start a 21-0 run that ended with Joe Agee’s steal and breakaway layup for the 34-14 lead with 6:01 left in the second quarter.
Shyheim Barron drove a basket that made it 65-35 at the end of the third quarter, and the 30-point lead triggered the mercy rule at the start of the fourth.
SPORTS >> Taking his shot
By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
Adam Sterrenberg has a uniform, a role and, lately, some meaningful minutes at Arkansas State.
If any further evidence was needed to prove the freshman from Cabot had arrived in college basketball to stay, it came Thursday at UALR when Sterrenberg got the ultimate compliment — a nickname from hostile fans.
Sterrenberg entered with 12:36 left in the first half and just over a minute later got a rebound and putback for his first points to pull Arkansas State within 18-16 against its Sun Belt Conference rival.
With his mop of brown hair at full flop, Sterrenberg hit a three-pointer from the left corner to give the Red Wolves a 21-20 lead and start a 12-3 run. He got a defensive rebound leading to another Arkansas State basket and was fouled shooting a three-pointer and made 2 of 3 free throws to put the Red Wolves up 29-21 with 7:32 to go.
If the Trojans hadn’t noticed Sterrenberg yet, their fans had.
“Watch Shaggy,” a Trojans rooter hollered from the Stephens Center seats as Sterrenberg, open on the left wing, signaled for a pass that eventually came his way.
Sterrenberg missed that shot, and was pulled in the second half after missing a three-pointer and a short jumper as UALR went on to win 79-77 on Alex Mendoza-Garica’s last-second, 42-foot three-pointer.
But Sterrenberg scored seven points in seven, first-half minutes and had taken another step in his growth as a college player.
“I knew it was going to be a whole lot more up-pace and a lot more physical,” Sterrenberg said, comparing the college game to his previous experience with Cabot in the 7A-Central Conference. “The speed I’m all right with but I need to get stronger to get my game better, but it’s pretty much everything I imagined it to be really.”
Injuries to perimeter players Mike Lance and Donald Boone have moved Sterrenberg up the bench to where he is now one of coach John Brady’s first options when he needs to bring in an outside man.
“The team told me I needed to pick it up and they needed me,” Sterrenberg said. “They had confidence in me and that helps a tremendous amount and I didn’t want to let them down.”
Sterrenberg averaged 22.9 points and five assists a game for Jerry Bridges’ Panthers last year, helping the team to a 23-6 finish and, in a program first, a share of the 7A-Central championship which spring-boarded Cabot to the state semifinals.
Heading into his second year at Arkansas State, Brady, the former Final Four coach at LSU, had no idea of Cabot’s reputation as a high school football powerhouse that rarely produced college-level men’s basketball talent.
Brady only knew Sterrenberg was the kind of player he could use, and made him part of last year’s Red Wolves recruiting class.
“He was a good signing for us and he’s going to be a good player for us too,” Brady said.
Brady said he and his staff scouted Sterrenberg with the high-profile Arkansas Wings AAU program. While Sterrenberg’s introduction to basketball came in driveway games of horse with his four, athletic older sisters, it was in AAU where he began to show signs he might be able to play college ball somewhere.
“We didn’t know if it was going to be D-I or not,” Sterrenberg’s father Dan said. “But we knew at that time, we started playing a lot of AAU ball and we started hearing how these kids, how they started playing against some of the tougher kids in the country. And this D-I guy in Kansas was looking at him and we kind of knew at that time we had a shot because he was playing fairly well.”
Adam cemented his prospect status in his senior year of high school, and attracted recruiters not only from Arkansas State, but also from Sun Belt members UALR and North Texas and Southland Conference member Central Arkansas.
“He can shoot it, he can pass it,” Brady said. “He handles it well, he sees the floor extremely well. I think he’s a very underrated passer. He got labeled in high school as a shooter.”
For Adam, who knew of Brady’s SEC credentials that included six postseason berths, two SEC championships and three West Division titles it was love at first sight with Arkansas State.
“I knew he was a winner,” Sterrenberg said.
“We were real excited about coach Brady just because of his tradition,” Dan Sterrenberg said. “We always thought that he was a winner. Adam had some other schools he was looking at, but he was very interested in it and when we went down to Arkansas State Adam was ready to commit that day.”
The father made sure the son honored his other planned college visits, but Adam’s path was clearly set.
Not that it has always been an easy path.
Adam admitted he struggled on defense early and knows he needs to put more muscle on his 6-3, 175-pound frame. And averaging just over 12 minutes after being the centerpiece at Cabot can be hard to swallow, he said.
“It’s a little frustrating, but I’ve got to keep in mind I’m a freshman,” Sterrenberg said. “My time will come.”
Brady said Sterrenberg, if not ahead of schedule, is certainly not behind.
“I’ve been really pleased with him and how he’s progressing,” Brady said. “He didn’t play as much early as he would have liked.
I think the more he’s learned and the more he’s gotten used to playing at this level, particularly from a defensive standpoint, he’s progressed quite well.”
Sterrenberg was disappointed — with family, former teammates and Bridges in the stands — that the Red Wolves couldn’t pull out a victory Thursday.
But after going 5-13 last year, Arkansas State entered today 14-9 and in first place in the Sun Belt West at 9-3. With the conference tournament set for Hot Springs in March, Sterrenberg will likely get another shot to perform in a meaningful game before a partisan crowd.
“The coaches and payers all have confidence in me and that’s all I need,” Sterrenberg said.
Leader sports editor
Adam Sterrenberg has a uniform, a role and, lately, some meaningful minutes at Arkansas State.
If any further evidence was needed to prove the freshman from Cabot had arrived in college basketball to stay, it came Thursday at UALR when Sterrenberg got the ultimate compliment — a nickname from hostile fans.
Sterrenberg entered with 12:36 left in the first half and just over a minute later got a rebound and putback for his first points to pull Arkansas State within 18-16 against its Sun Belt Conference rival.
With his mop of brown hair at full flop, Sterrenberg hit a three-pointer from the left corner to give the Red Wolves a 21-20 lead and start a 12-3 run. He got a defensive rebound leading to another Arkansas State basket and was fouled shooting a three-pointer and made 2 of 3 free throws to put the Red Wolves up 29-21 with 7:32 to go.
If the Trojans hadn’t noticed Sterrenberg yet, their fans had.
“Watch Shaggy,” a Trojans rooter hollered from the Stephens Center seats as Sterrenberg, open on the left wing, signaled for a pass that eventually came his way.
Sterrenberg missed that shot, and was pulled in the second half after missing a three-pointer and a short jumper as UALR went on to win 79-77 on Alex Mendoza-Garica’s last-second, 42-foot three-pointer.
But Sterrenberg scored seven points in seven, first-half minutes and had taken another step in his growth as a college player.
“I knew it was going to be a whole lot more up-pace and a lot more physical,” Sterrenberg said, comparing the college game to his previous experience with Cabot in the 7A-Central Conference. “The speed I’m all right with but I need to get stronger to get my game better, but it’s pretty much everything I imagined it to be really.”
Injuries to perimeter players Mike Lance and Donald Boone have moved Sterrenberg up the bench to where he is now one of coach John Brady’s first options when he needs to bring in an outside man.
“The team told me I needed to pick it up and they needed me,” Sterrenberg said. “They had confidence in me and that helps a tremendous amount and I didn’t want to let them down.”
Sterrenberg averaged 22.9 points and five assists a game for Jerry Bridges’ Panthers last year, helping the team to a 23-6 finish and, in a program first, a share of the 7A-Central championship which spring-boarded Cabot to the state semifinals.
Heading into his second year at Arkansas State, Brady, the former Final Four coach at LSU, had no idea of Cabot’s reputation as a high school football powerhouse that rarely produced college-level men’s basketball talent.
Brady only knew Sterrenberg was the kind of player he could use, and made him part of last year’s Red Wolves recruiting class.
“He was a good signing for us and he’s going to be a good player for us too,” Brady said.
Brady said he and his staff scouted Sterrenberg with the high-profile Arkansas Wings AAU program. While Sterrenberg’s introduction to basketball came in driveway games of horse with his four, athletic older sisters, it was in AAU where he began to show signs he might be able to play college ball somewhere.
“We didn’t know if it was going to be D-I or not,” Sterrenberg’s father Dan said. “But we knew at that time, we started playing a lot of AAU ball and we started hearing how these kids, how they started playing against some of the tougher kids in the country. And this D-I guy in Kansas was looking at him and we kind of knew at that time we had a shot because he was playing fairly well.”
Adam cemented his prospect status in his senior year of high school, and attracted recruiters not only from Arkansas State, but also from Sun Belt members UALR and North Texas and Southland Conference member Central Arkansas.
“He can shoot it, he can pass it,” Brady said. “He handles it well, he sees the floor extremely well. I think he’s a very underrated passer. He got labeled in high school as a shooter.”
For Adam, who knew of Brady’s SEC credentials that included six postseason berths, two SEC championships and three West Division titles it was love at first sight with Arkansas State.
“I knew he was a winner,” Sterrenberg said.
“We were real excited about coach Brady just because of his tradition,” Dan Sterrenberg said. “We always thought that he was a winner. Adam had some other schools he was looking at, but he was very interested in it and when we went down to Arkansas State Adam was ready to commit that day.”
The father made sure the son honored his other planned college visits, but Adam’s path was clearly set.
Not that it has always been an easy path.
Adam admitted he struggled on defense early and knows he needs to put more muscle on his 6-3, 175-pound frame. And averaging just over 12 minutes after being the centerpiece at Cabot can be hard to swallow, he said.
“It’s a little frustrating, but I’ve got to keep in mind I’m a freshman,” Sterrenberg said. “My time will come.”
Brady said Sterrenberg, if not ahead of schedule, is certainly not behind.
“I’ve been really pleased with him and how he’s progressing,” Brady said. “He didn’t play as much early as he would have liked.
I think the more he’s learned and the more he’s gotten used to playing at this level, particularly from a defensive standpoint, he’s progressed quite well.”
Sterrenberg was disappointed — with family, former teammates and Bridges in the stands — that the Red Wolves couldn’t pull out a victory Thursday.
But after going 5-13 last year, Arkansas State entered today 14-9 and in first place in the Sun Belt West at 9-3. With the conference tournament set for Hot Springs in March, Sterrenberg will likely get another shot to perform in a meaningful game before a partisan crowd.
“The coaches and payers all have confidence in me and that’s all I need,” Sterrenberg said.
Friday, February 05, 2010
EDITORIAL >> Boozman’s pork, perks
For the first time in many years — well, probably ever — the Republican Party will provide Arkansas voters and observers this spring the one illuminating and exciting primary campaign. The Republican race for the U.S. Senate nomination at least offers the prospect.
Unless something happened overnight, U.S. Rep. John Boozman will enter that race today, joining a field that already could fill out the roster of a baseball team. Boozman is a stolid campaigner who has never frenzied or even charmed a crowd, but he will give the aimless primary campaign what it was missing, a target — someone with a record. Boozman’s nine years of roll calls, travel and sponsorships will be the fulcrum of the campaign. It is going to be, we hope, a worthy dialogue.
Three of the candidates — Gilbert Baker, Kim Hendren and Jim Holt — have served a little time in the Arkansas legislature but that is not the same thing. Until now, none of the candidates had contrived to raise a single issue that separated him from the crowd except fund-raising ability and electability. Polls show that any of them would have a good shot, this month, at unseating Sen. Blanche Lincoln.
All the candidates have claimed the mantle of conservatism and sought the allegiance of this year’s passionate quotient of the movement — the teabaggers (or Tea Party sympathizers or teapartiers if you’re in the cognoscenti who have heard the pornography industry’s quaint use of the word). Those are people who are driven by horror at the taxpayer bailouts of corporations and the ballooning budget deficits.
Boozman is not one of those rare Republican moderates — not in today’s Republican Party anyway — but he will still give that debate over the soul of Republicanism some context. Boozman has hewn to Republican orthodoxy on House roll calls as closely as anybody in either house, but that is not altogether a good thing in this supercharged climate.
Take earmarks, for example. Those are the spending propositions by individual members of Congress that target federal money to projects in their districts or states. Earmarks are not a big part of the federal budget, but they resonate with many voters as the perfect symbol of what is so awry about Washington. There is some truth to the view. The prevailing attitude is:
My spending is good, the rest is bad.
You saw it the other day, when President Obama presented his fiscal 2011 budget, which sought to restrain spending in many discretionary domestic programs. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, whose biggest constituency in her 18-year career in Washington has been big farming, strongly condemned the president’s proposed reduction in farm subsidies while saying she was working hard to cut federal spending. Rep. Boozman didn’t like the president’s reduction in Army Corps of Engineers spending, of which he has gotten plenty in his district.
Unless we miss our guess, the congressman is going to have to defend his great love of earmarks (as long as they are for his district). For 2008-2009 alone, he sponsored $101 million in earmarks, often in league with (who else?) Blanche Lincoln.
Baker has taken a pledge not to engage in earmarkery at all if he is elected (although as a state senator he has been the first one at the trough for personal capital-improvement earmarks). Curtis Coleman, the other major contender in this race, may be in a better position, having no such record to defend. He blasted Sen. Lincoln last week for opposing the Democratic president’s farm-subsidy cuts. He said he thought farmers would agree with him. We’d like to see a poll of farmers on that question. But it was a gutsy stand that will set him apart.
This is going to be an interesting debate. Voters dislike the idea of pork barrel, but they seem to expect their delegate, whether in Washington or Little Rock, to bring back his share of treasure. For nearly 40 years, Sen. John L. McClellan, Rep. Jim Trimble and Rep. Wilbur D. Mills were legends because they boasted of the millions of federal dollars they brought to Arkansas by their seniority on key spending committees.
We no doubt will get to hear about other symbols of government flagrancy like congressional travel. Boozman and his staff have taken quite a few trips at the expense of taxpayers or, more often, special interests. So have nearly all members of Congress, but they’re not facing critics in their own party.
If deficit-spending is the galvanizing issue, Boozman will have some real trouble in the primary, though not so much in the general election because he and Lincoln have nearly identical records on the great issues that drove the plunge to trillion-dollar deficits. They voted for the big Medicare prescription drug bill, which has added hundreds of billions of dollars to the national debt in only four years. You may remember that Rep. Marion Berry of Gillett warned at the time that it would drive drug prices sky high, pad the profits of insurance and pharmaceutical companies and send deficits soaring. He was proved right.
Boozman and Lincoln voted for the first George Bush tax cuts that drastically reduced government revenues without curtailing spending, and they supported the two wars that, unlike all previous wars, were financed totally by debt, mostly to foreign powers. Of the $1.3 trillion deficit in the past fiscal year, their votes accounted for fully two-thirds of it. The rest was the product of the recession: plummeting tax receipts and recessionary spending triggers.
We have an idea Boozman will comport himself successfully, but the Republican Party needs the debate anyway.
Unless something happened overnight, U.S. Rep. John Boozman will enter that race today, joining a field that already could fill out the roster of a baseball team. Boozman is a stolid campaigner who has never frenzied or even charmed a crowd, but he will give the aimless primary campaign what it was missing, a target — someone with a record. Boozman’s nine years of roll calls, travel and sponsorships will be the fulcrum of the campaign. It is going to be, we hope, a worthy dialogue.
Three of the candidates — Gilbert Baker, Kim Hendren and Jim Holt — have served a little time in the Arkansas legislature but that is not the same thing. Until now, none of the candidates had contrived to raise a single issue that separated him from the crowd except fund-raising ability and electability. Polls show that any of them would have a good shot, this month, at unseating Sen. Blanche Lincoln.
All the candidates have claimed the mantle of conservatism and sought the allegiance of this year’s passionate quotient of the movement — the teabaggers (or Tea Party sympathizers or teapartiers if you’re in the cognoscenti who have heard the pornography industry’s quaint use of the word). Those are people who are driven by horror at the taxpayer bailouts of corporations and the ballooning budget deficits.
Boozman is not one of those rare Republican moderates — not in today’s Republican Party anyway — but he will still give that debate over the soul of Republicanism some context. Boozman has hewn to Republican orthodoxy on House roll calls as closely as anybody in either house, but that is not altogether a good thing in this supercharged climate.
Take earmarks, for example. Those are the spending propositions by individual members of Congress that target federal money to projects in their districts or states. Earmarks are not a big part of the federal budget, but they resonate with many voters as the perfect symbol of what is so awry about Washington. There is some truth to the view. The prevailing attitude is:
My spending is good, the rest is bad.
You saw it the other day, when President Obama presented his fiscal 2011 budget, which sought to restrain spending in many discretionary domestic programs. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, whose biggest constituency in her 18-year career in Washington has been big farming, strongly condemned the president’s proposed reduction in farm subsidies while saying she was working hard to cut federal spending. Rep. Boozman didn’t like the president’s reduction in Army Corps of Engineers spending, of which he has gotten plenty in his district.
Unless we miss our guess, the congressman is going to have to defend his great love of earmarks (as long as they are for his district). For 2008-2009 alone, he sponsored $101 million in earmarks, often in league with (who else?) Blanche Lincoln.
Baker has taken a pledge not to engage in earmarkery at all if he is elected (although as a state senator he has been the first one at the trough for personal capital-improvement earmarks). Curtis Coleman, the other major contender in this race, may be in a better position, having no such record to defend. He blasted Sen. Lincoln last week for opposing the Democratic president’s farm-subsidy cuts. He said he thought farmers would agree with him. We’d like to see a poll of farmers on that question. But it was a gutsy stand that will set him apart.
This is going to be an interesting debate. Voters dislike the idea of pork barrel, but they seem to expect their delegate, whether in Washington or Little Rock, to bring back his share of treasure. For nearly 40 years, Sen. John L. McClellan, Rep. Jim Trimble and Rep. Wilbur D. Mills were legends because they boasted of the millions of federal dollars they brought to Arkansas by their seniority on key spending committees.
We no doubt will get to hear about other symbols of government flagrancy like congressional travel. Boozman and his staff have taken quite a few trips at the expense of taxpayers or, more often, special interests. So have nearly all members of Congress, but they’re not facing critics in their own party.
If deficit-spending is the galvanizing issue, Boozman will have some real trouble in the primary, though not so much in the general election because he and Lincoln have nearly identical records on the great issues that drove the plunge to trillion-dollar deficits. They voted for the big Medicare prescription drug bill, which has added hundreds of billions of dollars to the national debt in only four years. You may remember that Rep. Marion Berry of Gillett warned at the time that it would drive drug prices sky high, pad the profits of insurance and pharmaceutical companies and send deficits soaring. He was proved right.
Boozman and Lincoln voted for the first George Bush tax cuts that drastically reduced government revenues without curtailing spending, and they supported the two wars that, unlike all previous wars, were financed totally by debt, mostly to foreign powers. Of the $1.3 trillion deficit in the past fiscal year, their votes accounted for fully two-thirds of it. The rest was the product of the recession: plummeting tax receipts and recessionary spending triggers.
We have an idea Boozman will comport himself successfully, but the Republican Party needs the debate anyway.
TOP STORY >> City purchases alert system to help save lives
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
The Jacksonville City Council agreed Thursday night to spend up to $22,500 for a computerized system that will call residents in cases of emergencies, alerts and even more mundane news like a change in the garbage schedule.
Cabot has been using the rapid emergency-communication system known as CodeRED for about six months, and Mayor Eddie Jo Williams is very pleased with it.
Tornadoes are the main reason Cabot is willing to pay $15,000 a year for the service ($10,000 for general messages and $5,000 for the weather alerts), the mayor said.
Cabot was almost destroyed by a tornado more than 30 years ago and it was hit twice last year.
The Cabot mayor said the city has the system that calls everyone in the city anytime the tornado sirens are sounded.
According to Jill Mason, a company representative who gave a 45-minute presentation to the council, the CodeRED Emergency Notification System is a high-volume, high-speed communication service available for mass emergency notifications. CodeRED employs a one-of-a-kind Internet mapping capability for geographic targeting of calls, coupled with a high-speed telephone-calling system capable of delivering millions of customized prerecorded emergency messages directly to homes and businesses every day.
The company is based in Ormond, Fla.
Jacksonville has purchased two tiers of the warning system—the weather-alert programming and the one for city announcements.
The tier for city announcements is restricted to 50,000 minutes of use per year, but the city can buy more time if needed. Any weather alerts that go out on the system don’t count against the minutes.
Mason said that 50,000 minutes will probably be two to three times more minutes than the city needs. “It works out to 100,000 30-second calls and not all messages will be that long or go to everyone.”
Under the computerized calling system the city will be able to target neighborhoods, businesses and even individual streets.
So if a water pipe breaks near Martin and First streets the city can place an overlay on the computer map and only people in that area will be called and warned.
Mason said the system has proven its effectiveness and usefulness in a number of storms and natural disasters over the years.
The system can also be used to send out missing-child alerts and other police alerts.
The storm-warning tier will be controlled by the National Weather Service, which would call only those city residents who live in the path of a tornado and who have signed up for storm warnings.
Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher predicted the system would eventually replace the tornado sirens. “As the city grows and the siren system ages, it becomes very expensive to maintain.”
He added that tornado sirens are designed to be heard outside and sometimes inside. But they often can’t be heard over vacuum cleaners, televisions and washing machines.
The Jacksonville council waived procedures to get the purchase of the CodeRED system on the agenda and approved because of the closeness to the state’s severe weather season.
When asked how quickly the system could be up and running, Mason said it could be operational within a few weeks.
The system calls cell phones and land lines. It also has the capability to email, text and tweeter messages.
Residents will have to go online to register for the alerts, but Mason said it was a simple process.
Once the city is ready, CodeRED will begin a major public push to get residents registered to receive the calls.
Because the Jacksonville budget has already been set, the $22,500 ($15,000 for the city or general-announcement tier and $7,500 for the weather alerts) the money will come out of Jacksonville’s $100,000 contingency fund.
Fletcher said as the 2010 budget was being worked, most departments were able to keep at least one item on their wish list.
“This is what was on mine,” he said.
Leader staff writer
The Jacksonville City Council agreed Thursday night to spend up to $22,500 for a computerized system that will call residents in cases of emergencies, alerts and even more mundane news like a change in the garbage schedule.
Cabot has been using the rapid emergency-communication system known as CodeRED for about six months, and Mayor Eddie Jo Williams is very pleased with it.
Tornadoes are the main reason Cabot is willing to pay $15,000 a year for the service ($10,000 for general messages and $5,000 for the weather alerts), the mayor said.
Cabot was almost destroyed by a tornado more than 30 years ago and it was hit twice last year.
The Cabot mayor said the city has the system that calls everyone in the city anytime the tornado sirens are sounded.
According to Jill Mason, a company representative who gave a 45-minute presentation to the council, the CodeRED Emergency Notification System is a high-volume, high-speed communication service available for mass emergency notifications. CodeRED employs a one-of-a-kind Internet mapping capability for geographic targeting of calls, coupled with a high-speed telephone-calling system capable of delivering millions of customized prerecorded emergency messages directly to homes and businesses every day.
The company is based in Ormond, Fla.
Jacksonville has purchased two tiers of the warning system—the weather-alert programming and the one for city announcements.
The tier for city announcements is restricted to 50,000 minutes of use per year, but the city can buy more time if needed. Any weather alerts that go out on the system don’t count against the minutes.
Mason said that 50,000 minutes will probably be two to three times more minutes than the city needs. “It works out to 100,000 30-second calls and not all messages will be that long or go to everyone.”
Under the computerized calling system the city will be able to target neighborhoods, businesses and even individual streets.
So if a water pipe breaks near Martin and First streets the city can place an overlay on the computer map and only people in that area will be called and warned.
Mason said the system has proven its effectiveness and usefulness in a number of storms and natural disasters over the years.
The system can also be used to send out missing-child alerts and other police alerts.
The storm-warning tier will be controlled by the National Weather Service, which would call only those city residents who live in the path of a tornado and who have signed up for storm warnings.
Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher predicted the system would eventually replace the tornado sirens. “As the city grows and the siren system ages, it becomes very expensive to maintain.”
He added that tornado sirens are designed to be heard outside and sometimes inside. But they often can’t be heard over vacuum cleaners, televisions and washing machines.
The Jacksonville council waived procedures to get the purchase of the CodeRED system on the agenda and approved because of the closeness to the state’s severe weather season.
When asked how quickly the system could be up and running, Mason said it could be operational within a few weeks.
The system calls cell phones and land lines. It also has the capability to email, text and tweeter messages.
Residents will have to go online to register for the alerts, but Mason said it was a simple process.
Once the city is ready, CodeRED will begin a major public push to get residents registered to receive the calls.
Because the Jacksonville budget has already been set, the $22,500 ($15,000 for the city or general-announcement tier and $7,500 for the weather alerts) the money will come out of Jacksonville’s $100,000 contingency fund.
Fletcher said as the 2010 budget was being worked, most departments were able to keep at least one item on their wish list.
“This is what was on mine,” he said.
TOP STORY >> Lawmakers heading back to work
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Sen. Bobby Glover (D-Carlisle) is no fan of the historic legislative financial session that will get under way Monday, but Glover, who is ineligible to run again because of term limits, will be there to begin his last session.
The General Assembly is expected to consider two pieces of business, both at least loosely fitting into the “fiscal” category.
The first is expected to set at $5,000 a year the amount of lottery-generated scholarship money available to Arkansas students attending Arkansas colleges, the second to use money from the General Improvement Fund to pay the state’s debt to county jails for holding state prisoners.
The General Assembly historically had been a biennial body, meeting on the odd years after an election, and reconvening after that only when the governor called a special session.
Voters in the last general election approved a constitutional amendment calling for the General Assembly to meet annually, with the odd-year session covering all matters, and the even-year session devoted only to fiscal matters unless consideration of other matters is approved by a three-fourths majority.
“We’ve had budget hearings, we’re having some more, and everything pretty well worked,” Glover said. “I still don’t think it’s necessary, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Glover said when the session, which could last 30 days, is over, then he’s going to find out how much it cost the taxpayers.
“I don’t know of anything the governor and the head of the Department of Finance and Administration couldn’t have done. I don’t see a lot coming out of it.”
Glover said the anticipated budget cuts in response to the recent downturn in revenues may not have to be as deep as originally anticipated. “This last month we came out of the red for the first time in months,” Glover said. “I talked to the governor last night. He said, ‘Looking pretty good this month.’”
“I think (the session) will confirm very close to what the people put in an amendment they passed, dealing for the most part with budgetary and fiscal matters,” said Sen. John Paul Capps (D-Searcy).
Capps, like Glover, is in the last year of his eligibility. “From what I hear, (the leadership) wants to keep it confined to the fiscal issues for the one-year budget we are authorized to put into effect.”
He said the governor had talked about using the General Improvement Fund money to pay the state’s jail bill to the counties.
“That would be one way to use the money.”
“We’re plowing new ground,” he said of the fiscal session. “We want to stay as close to the wording of the amendment as possible and conclude in 30 days or less.”
“I think we’ll just stick to nothing but budget bills,” said Rep. Jane English, a Republican who represents much of north Pulaski County, “one for the lottery and the scholarships and the revenue stabilization bill.”
“We have a (balanced budget) law going back to 1945,” she said. “That’s why the governor cut the $200 million.”
She said those cuts had been identified and would be in the bills considered this time.
Sen. Gilbert Baker (R-Conway) and Rep. Bruce Maloch (D-Magnolia) had determined what would be in those bills.
“The governor’s tried real hard to do these across the board,” she said. “It’s a complicated process and federal money on top of it. In a lot of ways there’s some fluff built in.”
English’s fellow area Republican, state Rep. Davy Carter of Cabot, did not return phone calls.
Rep. Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe), said although approving the governor’s budget is the reason for the even-year session, the legislature also will set lottery scholarships at $2,500 for two-year schools and $5,000 for four-year schools.
Although Gov. Mike Beebe prefers smaller amounts of $1,300 and $2,600 for current college students, he has said he will sign into law the larger amounts if approved by the legislature.
And even though the governor has asked legislators to limit their actions to budget matters as called for in the constitutional amendment setting the yearly session for budgets, Dismang said other legislation is almost certain to be introduced.
This is tax season, and Dismang, an accountant with a Little Rock firm, said getting away from his day job for the three to four week legislative session will not be easy.
“I’m putting in extra hours now,” he said, adding that he is not ruling out the possibility of some night work to take care of his clients.
“We’ve been doing joint budget meetings for three weeks,” said Rep. Mark Perry (D-Jacksonville). “This will be strictly on the budget, with changes of the lottery commission bill authorizing $5,000 annual scholarship awards.”
“We’re all kind of anxious to start,” Perry said.
“I know the speaker wants it to be a short, sweet, easy deal and anyone that tries to raise an issue will be shot down,” said Rep. Walls McCrary (D-Lonoke). “We’ll have to pass the lottery scholarship bill and maybe some minor things that help the process along.”
McCrary said he thought both bodies would consider using at least part of the $15 million left in the General Improvement Fund to reimburse counties for keeping state prisoners in their jails.
“The governor would love us to use that to send to the county jails to pay for the prisoners that the state put in there and can’t pay for,” McCrary said. “We don’t need to saddle the county jails.”
“It’s going to be a short session,” predicted Rep. Jim Nichols (D-Sherwood). “I don’t expect us to go the full 30 days.”
Nichols said that budget hearings last month went “pretty smooth.”
“Because we aren’t going to spend more than what we have, it actually makes it easier on us,” he said.
Nichols said some state agencies and departments would take a hit because of the weak economy.
“So much of our money goes for K-12 education and it has too which means other areas have to cover the shortfalls,” Nickles said.
Leader staff writers Joan McCoy and Rick Kron contributed to this report.
Leader senior staff writer
Sen. Bobby Glover (D-Carlisle) is no fan of the historic legislative financial session that will get under way Monday, but Glover, who is ineligible to run again because of term limits, will be there to begin his last session.
The General Assembly is expected to consider two pieces of business, both at least loosely fitting into the “fiscal” category.
The first is expected to set at $5,000 a year the amount of lottery-generated scholarship money available to Arkansas students attending Arkansas colleges, the second to use money from the General Improvement Fund to pay the state’s debt to county jails for holding state prisoners.
The General Assembly historically had been a biennial body, meeting on the odd years after an election, and reconvening after that only when the governor called a special session.
Voters in the last general election approved a constitutional amendment calling for the General Assembly to meet annually, with the odd-year session covering all matters, and the even-year session devoted only to fiscal matters unless consideration of other matters is approved by a three-fourths majority.
“We’ve had budget hearings, we’re having some more, and everything pretty well worked,” Glover said. “I still don’t think it’s necessary, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Glover said when the session, which could last 30 days, is over, then he’s going to find out how much it cost the taxpayers.
“I don’t know of anything the governor and the head of the Department of Finance and Administration couldn’t have done. I don’t see a lot coming out of it.”
Glover said the anticipated budget cuts in response to the recent downturn in revenues may not have to be as deep as originally anticipated. “This last month we came out of the red for the first time in months,” Glover said. “I talked to the governor last night. He said, ‘Looking pretty good this month.’”
“I think (the session) will confirm very close to what the people put in an amendment they passed, dealing for the most part with budgetary and fiscal matters,” said Sen. John Paul Capps (D-Searcy).
Capps, like Glover, is in the last year of his eligibility. “From what I hear, (the leadership) wants to keep it confined to the fiscal issues for the one-year budget we are authorized to put into effect.”
He said the governor had talked about using the General Improvement Fund money to pay the state’s jail bill to the counties.
“That would be one way to use the money.”
“We’re plowing new ground,” he said of the fiscal session. “We want to stay as close to the wording of the amendment as possible and conclude in 30 days or less.”
“I think we’ll just stick to nothing but budget bills,” said Rep. Jane English, a Republican who represents much of north Pulaski County, “one for the lottery and the scholarships and the revenue stabilization bill.”
“We have a (balanced budget) law going back to 1945,” she said. “That’s why the governor cut the $200 million.”
She said those cuts had been identified and would be in the bills considered this time.
Sen. Gilbert Baker (R-Conway) and Rep. Bruce Maloch (D-Magnolia) had determined what would be in those bills.
“The governor’s tried real hard to do these across the board,” she said. “It’s a complicated process and federal money on top of it. In a lot of ways there’s some fluff built in.”
English’s fellow area Republican, state Rep. Davy Carter of Cabot, did not return phone calls.
Rep. Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe), said although approving the governor’s budget is the reason for the even-year session, the legislature also will set lottery scholarships at $2,500 for two-year schools and $5,000 for four-year schools.
Although Gov. Mike Beebe prefers smaller amounts of $1,300 and $2,600 for current college students, he has said he will sign into law the larger amounts if approved by the legislature.
And even though the governor has asked legislators to limit their actions to budget matters as called for in the constitutional amendment setting the yearly session for budgets, Dismang said other legislation is almost certain to be introduced.
This is tax season, and Dismang, an accountant with a Little Rock firm, said getting away from his day job for the three to four week legislative session will not be easy.
“I’m putting in extra hours now,” he said, adding that he is not ruling out the possibility of some night work to take care of his clients.
“We’ve been doing joint budget meetings for three weeks,” said Rep. Mark Perry (D-Jacksonville). “This will be strictly on the budget, with changes of the lottery commission bill authorizing $5,000 annual scholarship awards.”
“We’re all kind of anxious to start,” Perry said.
“I know the speaker wants it to be a short, sweet, easy deal and anyone that tries to raise an issue will be shot down,” said Rep. Walls McCrary (D-Lonoke). “We’ll have to pass the lottery scholarship bill and maybe some minor things that help the process along.”
McCrary said he thought both bodies would consider using at least part of the $15 million left in the General Improvement Fund to reimburse counties for keeping state prisoners in their jails.
“The governor would love us to use that to send to the county jails to pay for the prisoners that the state put in there and can’t pay for,” McCrary said. “We don’t need to saddle the county jails.”
“It’s going to be a short session,” predicted Rep. Jim Nichols (D-Sherwood). “I don’t expect us to go the full 30 days.”
Nichols said that budget hearings last month went “pretty smooth.”
“Because we aren’t going to spend more than what we have, it actually makes it easier on us,” he said.
Nichols said some state agencies and departments would take a hit because of the weak economy.
“So much of our money goes for K-12 education and it has too which means other areas have to cover the shortfalls,” Nickles said.
Leader staff writers Joan McCoy and Rick Kron contributed to this report.
TOP STORY >> Ex-chief to get 15 years after his guilty plea
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Former Lonoke Police Chief Ronald Jay Campbell entered a negotiated plea of no contest to four felonies before Lonoke Circuit Judge Barbara Elmore on Friday. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison with credit for about 36 months already served.
Campbell faced 17 charges, according to Lonoke County Prosecutor Will Feland. His pleas were to two burglaries, one theft of property and one count of obtaining drugs by fraud.
The other 13 charges were nolle prossed — no longer pursued.
He goes back to prison Friday.
Feland said he believed that Campbell’s first parole eligibility could be sometime this year.
His wife, Kelly Harrison Campbell, is serving 10 years in prison and will be eligible for parole this year also.
Campbell’s sentence was “an upward departure from the sentencing guidelines,” Feland said, because he was in a position of trust, had multiple victims and multiple counts. He was sentenced as a habitual criminal.
He will be unable to own a firearm and can’t get a job in law enforcement, according to Feland.
“That was important to us. The general sense, the universal consensus, the victims wanted closure,” Feland said.
Patrick Benca, Campbell’s attorney, had prepared motions to dismiss the cases, citing double jeopardy and for a change of venue.
The prosecution faced additional burdens of pressing a case where one important witness—Ronald Adams—had died and where evidentiary rules were not yet certain, since Campbell’s original convictions had been overturned by the state Supreme Court, Feland said.
On Nov. 5, the state Supreme Court overturned Campbell’s 2007 convictions on 23 charges including running a continuing criminal enterprise, conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and a bevy of burglary and drug-related charges. The court remanded the case back to Lonoke County Circuit Court.
Benca, said the state was “overreaching” in its efforts to convict Campbell as kingpin of an ongoing criminal enterprise.
The court also threw out all evidence collected at the Campbell home, saying there was not reasonable cause for issuance of a search warrant.
“It’s the closing of a chapter,” said Benca, who was Campbell’s attorney through the original trial. “It was a long process and it appears to be done.”
“We worked on this all morning,” Benca said of the negotiated plea. “Neither side is particularly happy, but that’s what negotiation is about.”
Campbell did not give a statement other than pleading no contest.
“He told me it was important to his family that he get this behind him and the residents of Lonoke as well,” Benca said.
Leader senior staff writer
Former Lonoke Police Chief Ronald Jay Campbell entered a negotiated plea of no contest to four felonies before Lonoke Circuit Judge Barbara Elmore on Friday. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison with credit for about 36 months already served.
Campbell faced 17 charges, according to Lonoke County Prosecutor Will Feland. His pleas were to two burglaries, one theft of property and one count of obtaining drugs by fraud.
The other 13 charges were nolle prossed — no longer pursued.
He goes back to prison Friday.
Feland said he believed that Campbell’s first parole eligibility could be sometime this year.
His wife, Kelly Harrison Campbell, is serving 10 years in prison and will be eligible for parole this year also.
Campbell’s sentence was “an upward departure from the sentencing guidelines,” Feland said, because he was in a position of trust, had multiple victims and multiple counts. He was sentenced as a habitual criminal.
He will be unable to own a firearm and can’t get a job in law enforcement, according to Feland.
“That was important to us. The general sense, the universal consensus, the victims wanted closure,” Feland said.
Patrick Benca, Campbell’s attorney, had prepared motions to dismiss the cases, citing double jeopardy and for a change of venue.
The prosecution faced additional burdens of pressing a case where one important witness—Ronald Adams—had died and where evidentiary rules were not yet certain, since Campbell’s original convictions had been overturned by the state Supreme Court, Feland said.
On Nov. 5, the state Supreme Court overturned Campbell’s 2007 convictions on 23 charges including running a continuing criminal enterprise, conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and a bevy of burglary and drug-related charges. The court remanded the case back to Lonoke County Circuit Court.
Benca, said the state was “overreaching” in its efforts to convict Campbell as kingpin of an ongoing criminal enterprise.
The court also threw out all evidence collected at the Campbell home, saying there was not reasonable cause for issuance of a search warrant.
“It’s the closing of a chapter,” said Benca, who was Campbell’s attorney through the original trial. “It was a long process and it appears to be done.”
“We worked on this all morning,” Benca said of the negotiated plea. “Neither side is particularly happy, but that’s what negotiation is about.”
Campbell did not give a statement other than pleading no contest.
“He told me it was important to his family that he get this behind him and the residents of Lonoke as well,” Benca said.
TOP STORY >> Lockup shovel-ready
By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
County officials ceremonially turned the first shovels of dirt for a new $6 million, 134-bed Lonoke County Detention Center on Wednesday.
The morning was chilly but the ground was sufficiently thawed for the warmly received reception for the long-overdue lockup, located at the end of Dee Dee Lane in the Lonoke Industrial Park behind McDonald’s restaurant.
Sheriff Jim Roberson thanked county residents during the ceremony. He said they are the ones whose tax dollars made it possible. He said the center would be a major improvement for the county.
Lonoke County residents, notoriously resistant to tax increases, nonetheless approved a one-year penny sales tax dedicated to jail construction.
“This is a great day for Lonoke County,” said County Judge Charlie Troutman.
Community leaders and elected officials from Cabot, Austin, Lonoke, Ward, England, Carlisle and Lonoke County gathered at the new site.
The jail, which should be completed early next year, will include sheriff’s offices and a courtroom for plea and arraignment.
Troutman said on the west end will be a new county road shop.
The county traded the city half a block in downtown Lonoke, which included the shop, for the land in the industrial park.
After the groundbreaking ceremony, Cabot Police Chief Jackie Davis said, “We’ve needed it a long time. It won’t be long before it is full.”
“We are looking forward to it and continuing to work with the county. We will be able to lock up the offenders who need to be locked up,” Austin Police Chief John Staley said.
Circuit Judge Barbara Elmore said, “I’m glad we are going to have a jail that will accommodate the offenders and those who fail to pay their child support.
“Safety-wise, I’m glad there is a courtroom for first appearances. It makes it safer for all the citizens, because you don’t have the risk of escape,” Elmore said.
She said there will be more security for judges with sheriff’s deputies there. Elmore said they had people in court (who wanted) to flee the courtroom in the last four months.
“I’m proud to be a JP today to be a part of this,” Justice of the Peace Robert Moery said. “When I initially got elected they were talking about closing the jail because of the conditions.”
Justice of the Peace Alexis Malham said, “It is needed in Lonoke County, and I’m glad the taxpayers voted for the one-cent sunset sales tax.”
Among those in attendance who did not break ground with a shovel were Ward Police Chief Charlie Martin, Austin Mayor Bernie Chamberlain, England Police Chief Herman Hutton, Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams and former Judge Carol Bevis.
Later in the day, the first construction meeting of the detention center was held at the CSEPP building conference room in Lonoke.
Leader staff writer
County officials ceremonially turned the first shovels of dirt for a new $6 million, 134-bed Lonoke County Detention Center on Wednesday.
The morning was chilly but the ground was sufficiently thawed for the warmly received reception for the long-overdue lockup, located at the end of Dee Dee Lane in the Lonoke Industrial Park behind McDonald’s restaurant.
Sheriff Jim Roberson thanked county residents during the ceremony. He said they are the ones whose tax dollars made it possible. He said the center would be a major improvement for the county.
Lonoke County residents, notoriously resistant to tax increases, nonetheless approved a one-year penny sales tax dedicated to jail construction.
“This is a great day for Lonoke County,” said County Judge Charlie Troutman.
Community leaders and elected officials from Cabot, Austin, Lonoke, Ward, England, Carlisle and Lonoke County gathered at the new site.
The jail, which should be completed early next year, will include sheriff’s offices and a courtroom for plea and arraignment.
Troutman said on the west end will be a new county road shop.
The county traded the city half a block in downtown Lonoke, which included the shop, for the land in the industrial park.
After the groundbreaking ceremony, Cabot Police Chief Jackie Davis said, “We’ve needed it a long time. It won’t be long before it is full.”
“We are looking forward to it and continuing to work with the county. We will be able to lock up the offenders who need to be locked up,” Austin Police Chief John Staley said.
Circuit Judge Barbara Elmore said, “I’m glad we are going to have a jail that will accommodate the offenders and those who fail to pay their child support.
“Safety-wise, I’m glad there is a courtroom for first appearances. It makes it safer for all the citizens, because you don’t have the risk of escape,” Elmore said.
She said there will be more security for judges with sheriff’s deputies there. Elmore said they had people in court (who wanted) to flee the courtroom in the last four months.
“I’m proud to be a JP today to be a part of this,” Justice of the Peace Robert Moery said. “When I initially got elected they were talking about closing the jail because of the conditions.”
Justice of the Peace Alexis Malham said, “It is needed in Lonoke County, and I’m glad the taxpayers voted for the one-cent sunset sales tax.”
Among those in attendance who did not break ground with a shovel were Ward Police Chief Charlie Martin, Austin Mayor Bernie Chamberlain, England Police Chief Herman Hutton, Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Williams and former Judge Carol Bevis.
Later in the day, the first construction meeting of the detention center was held at the CSEPP building conference room in Lonoke.
SPORTS >> Falcons keep eye on Bryant
A dream season for North Pulaski has turned into more of a watch-and-wait.
Senior forward Daquan Bryant, a first-team all-conference selection the past two years and the leading rebounder for the Falcons, injured his knee at a recent practice and will be out for at least two weeks.
“He sprained his knee in practice,” North Pulaski coach Ray Cooper said. “He’s a big part of what we do. How we are going to replace his rebounding, I don’t know. But it is what it is and hopefully we can get him back. We hope it won’t be but a couple of weeks or so.”
Bryant went for tests, including an MRI, Wednesday. The results will not be back until Monday, but doctors and trainers determined it to be a sprained ligament on the outside of his kneecap.
They also ruled out torn ligaments, including the anterior cruciate, which would have required surgery and ended Bryant’s high school career.
“The trainer got him to move it some,” Cooper said. “So we know it’s not an ACL or anything like that. He won’t have to have surgery, so best case scenario, we could have him back in time for the state tournament.”
Bryant’s 12 rebounds led the Falcons in a key victory over No. 1 Little Rock McClellan.
Bryant used his 6-3 frame to provide the inside muscle for the Falcons in their triumph over the top-ranked Lions, but the Falcons will likely not have Bryant’s muscle for the 5A-Southeast Conference rematch on Feb. 16.
Senior forward Daquan Bryant, a first-team all-conference selection the past two years and the leading rebounder for the Falcons, injured his knee at a recent practice and will be out for at least two weeks.
“He sprained his knee in practice,” North Pulaski coach Ray Cooper said. “He’s a big part of what we do. How we are going to replace his rebounding, I don’t know. But it is what it is and hopefully we can get him back. We hope it won’t be but a couple of weeks or so.”
Bryant went for tests, including an MRI, Wednesday. The results will not be back until Monday, but doctors and trainers determined it to be a sprained ligament on the outside of his kneecap.
They also ruled out torn ligaments, including the anterior cruciate, which would have required surgery and ended Bryant’s high school career.
“The trainer got him to move it some,” Cooper said. “So we know it’s not an ACL or anything like that. He won’t have to have surgery, so best case scenario, we could have him back in time for the state tournament.”
Bryant’s 12 rebounds led the Falcons in a key victory over No. 1 Little Rock McClellan.
Bryant used his 6-3 frame to provide the inside muscle for the Falcons in their triumph over the top-ranked Lions, but the Falcons will likely not have Bryant’s muscle for the 5A-Southeast Conference rematch on Feb. 16.
SPORTS >> Girls seize first victory for Beebe
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Building an early lead was the easy part for Beebe, but the Lady Badgers struggled to put irksome North Pulaski away in the final minutes of their 46-35 victory Tuesday.
But a wide-open shot by post player Shelbie Thomas with 1:01 left to play put the Lady Badgers ahead by 10 following a late push by the Lady Falcons, and Beebe went on to win its first game of the season at Badger Sports Arena.
Shaylin Young provided the scoring consistency Beebe needed to end its unflattering losing streak. Young led the Lady Badgers with 15 points, with eight in the first half and seven in the second.
Thomas also took over the rebounding in the late going for Beebe, and North Pulaski never scored again after Denesha Shelton’s bank shot with 1:51 left to play.
“I thought we did what we had to do,” Lady Badgers coach Lora Jackson said. “We talked at halftime about going to the boards and blocking out. We did well for the first five or six minutes of the first quarter, and after that, it started to become a problem for us. I thought we did a much better job in the second half.”
The Lady Badgers (1-18, 1-6 5A-Southeast) went on an early run that gave them a comfortable four-score cushion they were able to maintain most of the way.
But the Lady Falcons (2-12, 1-6) pushed back in the final three minutes with a 5-0 run by Shelton, who went on to lead North Pulaski with 13 points.
Beebe’s victory put two teams in a tie for seventh in the 5A-Southeast and avenged a 50-39 loss at North Pulaski in the first meeting in mid-January.
“We rebounded a lot better,” Jackson said. “We’ve improved greatly. We’ve done a lot of things that are helping us. We’re being a lot more patient offensively, and we’re working a little more defensively.
“We handled the pressure a little bit better tonight, and those were all things we’ve been trying to improve on. It all came together tonight and we did it.”
The Lady Falcons kept Beebe senior post player Danna Jackson out of the mix until the fourth quarter, when she began to find open shots. Jackson scored all of her five points in the quarter, including a basket and free throw with 6:40 left to give Beebe a 37-26 lead, and another shot, assisted by Thomas, with 4:12 left to make it 41-30.
“They came out and started putting some more pressure on us at the perimeter, and that left the middle open a little more,” Lora Jackson said. “The first half, they were clogging up the middle. Whenever we played them the first time, the high post was open quite a bit.
“We were able to get it inside, and our posts did a good job of finding one another. They played the post-buddy game, and it paid off for us.”
Thomas added eight points for Beebe, and pulled down the majority of the rebounds on both ends. Her defensive play also forced the Lady Falcons to attempt their comeback with outside shooting.
“She’s really come along the last few ballgames,” Jackson said. “The last couple of weeks, she’s been playing a lot stronger.
Finishing around the basket, rebounding for us, and that’s what we need.
“We need that spark, and I think she’s really done a good job there.”
Guard Alexis Miguel scored seven points for the Lady Badgers and post player Kelsie Walker added six. Laura Dortch scored seven points for North Pulaski while Bianca Harper and post player Brianna Cash each added six.
Leader sportswriter
Building an early lead was the easy part for Beebe, but the Lady Badgers struggled to put irksome North Pulaski away in the final minutes of their 46-35 victory Tuesday.
But a wide-open shot by post player Shelbie Thomas with 1:01 left to play put the Lady Badgers ahead by 10 following a late push by the Lady Falcons, and Beebe went on to win its first game of the season at Badger Sports Arena.
Shaylin Young provided the scoring consistency Beebe needed to end its unflattering losing streak. Young led the Lady Badgers with 15 points, with eight in the first half and seven in the second.
Thomas also took over the rebounding in the late going for Beebe, and North Pulaski never scored again after Denesha Shelton’s bank shot with 1:51 left to play.
“I thought we did what we had to do,” Lady Badgers coach Lora Jackson said. “We talked at halftime about going to the boards and blocking out. We did well for the first five or six minutes of the first quarter, and after that, it started to become a problem for us. I thought we did a much better job in the second half.”
The Lady Badgers (1-18, 1-6 5A-Southeast) went on an early run that gave them a comfortable four-score cushion they were able to maintain most of the way.
But the Lady Falcons (2-12, 1-6) pushed back in the final three minutes with a 5-0 run by Shelton, who went on to lead North Pulaski with 13 points.
Beebe’s victory put two teams in a tie for seventh in the 5A-Southeast and avenged a 50-39 loss at North Pulaski in the first meeting in mid-January.
“We rebounded a lot better,” Jackson said. “We’ve improved greatly. We’ve done a lot of things that are helping us. We’re being a lot more patient offensively, and we’re working a little more defensively.
“We handled the pressure a little bit better tonight, and those were all things we’ve been trying to improve on. It all came together tonight and we did it.”
The Lady Falcons kept Beebe senior post player Danna Jackson out of the mix until the fourth quarter, when she began to find open shots. Jackson scored all of her five points in the quarter, including a basket and free throw with 6:40 left to give Beebe a 37-26 lead, and another shot, assisted by Thomas, with 4:12 left to make it 41-30.
“They came out and started putting some more pressure on us at the perimeter, and that left the middle open a little more,” Lora Jackson said. “The first half, they were clogging up the middle. Whenever we played them the first time, the high post was open quite a bit.
“We were able to get it inside, and our posts did a good job of finding one another. They played the post-buddy game, and it paid off for us.”
Thomas added eight points for Beebe, and pulled down the majority of the rebounds on both ends. Her defensive play also forced the Lady Falcons to attempt their comeback with outside shooting.
“She’s really come along the last few ballgames,” Jackson said. “The last couple of weeks, she’s been playing a lot stronger.
Finishing around the basket, rebounding for us, and that’s what we need.
“We need that spark, and I think she’s really done a good job there.”
Guard Alexis Miguel scored seven points for the Lady Badgers and post player Kelsie Walker added six. Laura Dortch scored seven points for North Pulaski while Bianca Harper and post player Brianna Cash each added six.
SPORTS >> Angels, Travelers can boast continuity from top to bottom
By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
Talk about continuity.
Not only are the Los Angeles Angels returning Bobby Magallanes to the Arkansas Travelers as manager for a fourth straight season, they have retained the field staffs of every team in their minor league system.
Call it happiness with the Angels’ performance last year — Los Angeles reached the American League Championship Series before losing to the New York Yankees — or call it part of a master plan, but the club sees such continuity as a plus.
“It basically gets back to what we believe in, our mantra, to develop contributors on a championship-caliber club,” said Angels player-development director Abe Flores, who was in town with Magallanes on Tuesday for the Travelers’ annual Hot Stove reception.
The Angels’ 40-man roster boasts 25 former Travelers, nine of them probable starters or front-line pitchers.
“We had the most home-grown guys of any team in the Major League playoffs, which tells us we’re continuing to do what we’re supposed to be doing around here,” Flores said.
Magallanes, whose first year was 2007 when Dickey-Stephens Park opened in North Little Rock, becomes only the fourth Travelers manager to serve four straight years. Jim Riggleman led Arkansas in 1985-88, Doc Prothro was manager from 1935-38, Kid Eberfeld managed from 1918-1924 and Mike Finn was manager from 1901-04.
Chris Maloney served four non-consecutive years, in 1994 and from 1998-2000, when Arkansas was affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals.
“Every year you learn,” Magallanes said. “You’re getting better every year.”
Magallanes will also welcome back his pitching coach from last season, Ken Patterson, and last year’s hitting coach Francisco Matos. Patterson will also serve his fourth year with the Travs after coaching the pitchers at Ray Winder Field in 2006 and in2008-09 at Dickey-Stephens Park.
Patterson was not present Tuesday but his name came up when Travelers general manager Pete Laven announced a significant alteration to Dickey-Stephens Park. Long known as a haven for pitchers, the park should be a little more hitter-friendly with a new, 3 ½-foot basket atop the left-field wall similar to what Chicago Cubs have in Wrigley Field.
“It won’t hurt,” Laven said. “I think the only person who won’t like it will be Patterson.”
Magallanes, 167-231 with a 2008 Texas League championship at Arkansas, said he has never stopped learning in his career as a manager and added that one of the biggest adjustments is getting his teams to play to their home environment.
“This team here in this ballpark has got to be a special team,” Magallanes said.
He pointed out how recent sluggers like Mark Trumbo and Sean Rodriguez saw their home run numbers drop from 32 and 28, respectively, to 15 at Dickey-Stephens Park. Likewise, pitchers have seen their ERAs shrink at Dickey-Stephens only to expand after they are promoted to Class AAA Salt Lake.
In tailoring the team to the ballpark, Magallanes has tried to follow the Angels’ small-ball blueprint, using the hit and run, steals and sacrifices to manufacture runs.
“You’ve got to manage according to what kind of team you have but also according to the Angels’ philosophy,” Magallanes said.
The Travelers are entering their 10th season as the Angels’ Class AA Texas League affiliate. Los Angeles signed with Arkansas after the 2000 season to replace St. Louis, which had a 35-year relationship with Arkansas.
In the past nine seasons the Travelers have won two Texas League championships, in 2001 under Mike Brumley and under Magallanes in 2008, and played for a third under Tom Gamboa in 2005.
There were grumblings among fans and team insiders after last season, in which the Travelers finished 61-59 and last overall in the North Division, but the Angels expect a crop of prospects to make the jump to Arkansas from Class A Rancho Cucamonga, in the California League, and provide a little more excitement.
“We’re going to come here and we know we’re going to own this ballpark because we know how to play in this ballpark,” Magallanes said.
Arkansas opens the season at Midland, Texas, on April 8 and has its home opener with Midland on April 15. Pitchers and catchers begin reporting to spring training Feb. 18 and Major League opening day is April 4.
Leader sports editor
Talk about continuity.
Not only are the Los Angeles Angels returning Bobby Magallanes to the Arkansas Travelers as manager for a fourth straight season, they have retained the field staffs of every team in their minor league system.
Call it happiness with the Angels’ performance last year — Los Angeles reached the American League Championship Series before losing to the New York Yankees — or call it part of a master plan, but the club sees such continuity as a plus.
“It basically gets back to what we believe in, our mantra, to develop contributors on a championship-caliber club,” said Angels player-development director Abe Flores, who was in town with Magallanes on Tuesday for the Travelers’ annual Hot Stove reception.
The Angels’ 40-man roster boasts 25 former Travelers, nine of them probable starters or front-line pitchers.
“We had the most home-grown guys of any team in the Major League playoffs, which tells us we’re continuing to do what we’re supposed to be doing around here,” Flores said.
Magallanes, whose first year was 2007 when Dickey-Stephens Park opened in North Little Rock, becomes only the fourth Travelers manager to serve four straight years. Jim Riggleman led Arkansas in 1985-88, Doc Prothro was manager from 1935-38, Kid Eberfeld managed from 1918-1924 and Mike Finn was manager from 1901-04.
Chris Maloney served four non-consecutive years, in 1994 and from 1998-2000, when Arkansas was affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals.
“Every year you learn,” Magallanes said. “You’re getting better every year.”
Magallanes will also welcome back his pitching coach from last season, Ken Patterson, and last year’s hitting coach Francisco Matos. Patterson will also serve his fourth year with the Travs after coaching the pitchers at Ray Winder Field in 2006 and in2008-09 at Dickey-Stephens Park.
Patterson was not present Tuesday but his name came up when Travelers general manager Pete Laven announced a significant alteration to Dickey-Stephens Park. Long known as a haven for pitchers, the park should be a little more hitter-friendly with a new, 3 ½-foot basket atop the left-field wall similar to what Chicago Cubs have in Wrigley Field.
“It won’t hurt,” Laven said. “I think the only person who won’t like it will be Patterson.”
Magallanes, 167-231 with a 2008 Texas League championship at Arkansas, said he has never stopped learning in his career as a manager and added that one of the biggest adjustments is getting his teams to play to their home environment.
“This team here in this ballpark has got to be a special team,” Magallanes said.
He pointed out how recent sluggers like Mark Trumbo and Sean Rodriguez saw their home run numbers drop from 32 and 28, respectively, to 15 at Dickey-Stephens Park. Likewise, pitchers have seen their ERAs shrink at Dickey-Stephens only to expand after they are promoted to Class AAA Salt Lake.
In tailoring the team to the ballpark, Magallanes has tried to follow the Angels’ small-ball blueprint, using the hit and run, steals and sacrifices to manufacture runs.
“You’ve got to manage according to what kind of team you have but also according to the Angels’ philosophy,” Magallanes said.
The Travelers are entering their 10th season as the Angels’ Class AA Texas League affiliate. Los Angeles signed with Arkansas after the 2000 season to replace St. Louis, which had a 35-year relationship with Arkansas.
In the past nine seasons the Travelers have won two Texas League championships, in 2001 under Mike Brumley and under Magallanes in 2008, and played for a third under Tom Gamboa in 2005.
There were grumblings among fans and team insiders after last season, in which the Travelers finished 61-59 and last overall in the North Division, but the Angels expect a crop of prospects to make the jump to Arkansas from Class A Rancho Cucamonga, in the California League, and provide a little more excitement.
“We’re going to come here and we know we’re going to own this ballpark because we know how to play in this ballpark,” Magallanes said.
Arkansas opens the season at Midland, Texas, on April 8 and has its home opener with Midland on April 15. Pitchers and catchers begin reporting to spring training Feb. 18 and Major League opening day is April 4.
SPORTS >> Owls take shot, hit more
By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
Abundant Life used its entire roster, including junior varsity players, and 11 of the 15 scored in the Owls’ 77-51 home victory over Little Rock Lutheran on Tuesday.
But Lutheran was not without its highlights.
Abundant Life was on its way to a 41-18 halftime lead when Little Rock Lutheran guard Lake Hollowell fired a one-handed, baseball throw from in front of the Lutheran bench— on the far side of the center line — to make a buzzer-beating three-pointer that cut it to 41-21.
“A hail Mary, I don’t know,” Abundant Life coach Tim Ballard said of the parochial school prayer shot. “We’re not Catholic. I don’t guess.”
Apparently, Lutheran has a way of making such miracles almost routine.
“He did that yesterday in practice,” Lutheran coach Aaron DuVall said of Hollowell. “He just picked up a basketball, one hand all the way down the floor and it went in. I don’t know; it’s crazy. We’ve hit a halfcourt shot like that before here so, I don’t know, it’s just funny.”
Ballard remembered a similar shot at Lutheran from a few years ago.
“Over the years, Lutheran has made about four or five of those on us,” Ballard said. “It doesn’t matter, they always make them.
One time at their place they made a fullcourt shot but there was a problem with the clock — it would have won the game — so then they ran it again and hit the backboard and the rim and came out.”
But while Lutheran had the eye-popping single shot, Abundant Life emptied its bench in the second half and got its baskets in bushels to make the difference Tuesday. Ballard wanted his players to exploit the perimeter this season and gave orders that no one could get on the floor unless he was able to make a three-pointer.
Mission accomplished, as six different Owls made three-pointers, including some of the last players off the bench, and Abundant Life had a total of 10.
“If somebody starts playing a junk defense, like they were doing tonight with a triangle and two, they leave the perimeter open,” Ballard said. “So I told my guys it’s going to be a matter of playing horse the rest of the game on shooting open threes.”
The junior varsity game scheduled for Tuesday didn’t take place because Lutheran didn’t have enough players. Ballard was happy for the opportunity to get his younger players in the game as the Owls continued to hold, or build, their big lead in the second half.
The only danger was the chance Abundant Life would build its lead to 30 and trigger the nonstop clock under the high school sportsmanship/timing rule.
“I felt terrible because it was supposed to be their last JV game,” Ballard said. “I was really trying to keep the score under 30 so the clock wouldn’t run so we could give those guys more time. So that’s why we were subbing a little earlier than usual.”
Abundant Life played Thurs-day at Conway Christian and has its regular season finale at Mountain View on Friday. With the district tournament around the corner, Ballard welcomed the chance to use a lot of players, resting starters and getting backups more experience.
“This time of the year, that third string is not getting a lot of my time in practice,” Ballard said. “So to be able to reward them a little bit, hopefully, will bring them back a little bit more motivated tomorrow for practice.”
Mike Stramiello scored 11 of his team-high 16 points in the first quarter as Abundant Life (26-4, 10-0 5-2A North) rolled to a 23-9 lead. Cameron Slayton made four three-pointers and finished with 14 points and George Herring chipped in 12 points.
Hollowell led Lutheran (10-10, 4-7) with 13 points and Markham Roberson scored 11.
“They shot the ball unbelievably well,” DuVall said. “I don’t know how many threes they hit but it seemed like, with guys in their face, they had outstanding shooting. And that’s kind of what we expected coming here and we just did the best we can to defend it.”
Leader sports editor
Abundant Life used its entire roster, including junior varsity players, and 11 of the 15 scored in the Owls’ 77-51 home victory over Little Rock Lutheran on Tuesday.
But Lutheran was not without its highlights.
Abundant Life was on its way to a 41-18 halftime lead when Little Rock Lutheran guard Lake Hollowell fired a one-handed, baseball throw from in front of the Lutheran bench— on the far side of the center line — to make a buzzer-beating three-pointer that cut it to 41-21.
“A hail Mary, I don’t know,” Abundant Life coach Tim Ballard said of the parochial school prayer shot. “We’re not Catholic. I don’t guess.”
Apparently, Lutheran has a way of making such miracles almost routine.
“He did that yesterday in practice,” Lutheran coach Aaron DuVall said of Hollowell. “He just picked up a basketball, one hand all the way down the floor and it went in. I don’t know; it’s crazy. We’ve hit a halfcourt shot like that before here so, I don’t know, it’s just funny.”
Ballard remembered a similar shot at Lutheran from a few years ago.
“Over the years, Lutheran has made about four or five of those on us,” Ballard said. “It doesn’t matter, they always make them.
One time at their place they made a fullcourt shot but there was a problem with the clock — it would have won the game — so then they ran it again and hit the backboard and the rim and came out.”
But while Lutheran had the eye-popping single shot, Abundant Life emptied its bench in the second half and got its baskets in bushels to make the difference Tuesday. Ballard wanted his players to exploit the perimeter this season and gave orders that no one could get on the floor unless he was able to make a three-pointer.
Mission accomplished, as six different Owls made three-pointers, including some of the last players off the bench, and Abundant Life had a total of 10.
“If somebody starts playing a junk defense, like they were doing tonight with a triangle and two, they leave the perimeter open,” Ballard said. “So I told my guys it’s going to be a matter of playing horse the rest of the game on shooting open threes.”
The junior varsity game scheduled for Tuesday didn’t take place because Lutheran didn’t have enough players. Ballard was happy for the opportunity to get his younger players in the game as the Owls continued to hold, or build, their big lead in the second half.
The only danger was the chance Abundant Life would build its lead to 30 and trigger the nonstop clock under the high school sportsmanship/timing rule.
“I felt terrible because it was supposed to be their last JV game,” Ballard said. “I was really trying to keep the score under 30 so the clock wouldn’t run so we could give those guys more time. So that’s why we were subbing a little earlier than usual.”
Abundant Life played Thurs-day at Conway Christian and has its regular season finale at Mountain View on Friday. With the district tournament around the corner, Ballard welcomed the chance to use a lot of players, resting starters and getting backups more experience.
“This time of the year, that third string is not getting a lot of my time in practice,” Ballard said. “So to be able to reward them a little bit, hopefully, will bring them back a little bit more motivated tomorrow for practice.”
Mike Stramiello scored 11 of his team-high 16 points in the first quarter as Abundant Life (26-4, 10-0 5-2A North) rolled to a 23-9 lead. Cameron Slayton made four three-pointers and finished with 14 points and George Herring chipped in 12 points.
Hollowell led Lutheran (10-10, 4-7) with 13 points and Markham Roberson scored 11.
“They shot the ball unbelievably well,” DuVall said. “I don’t know how many threes they hit but it seemed like, with guys in their face, they had outstanding shooting. And that’s kind of what we expected coming here and we just did the best we can to defend it.”
SPORTS >> North Pulaski presses, pulls away
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The 73-45 final score was a result of North Pulaski coach Raymond Cooper calling off the dogs very early in the second half.
Because up to that point, Cooper’s Falcons had dominated Beebe in every aspect of the game on their way to a 34-7 lead after one quarter and a 53-16 lead at halftime.
The Falcons (15-4, 7-0 5A-Southeast) were 6 of 6 from three-point range and forced seven Badger turnovers in the first quarter with a relentless full-court press.
In fact, North Pulaski increased the lead to the 30 points required to trigger the sportsmanship/timing rule with 6:48 left in the second quarter as it kept its conference record unblemished.
“We shot lights out,” Cooper said. “When you’re shooting like that, you’re going to score pretty good. We came out, got hot and our guys played pretty good defense in the first half too.”
Despite the Falcons’ good fortunes on the court, adversity was represented on the bench, where senior three-year starting forward DaQuan Bryant was wearing a knee brace on his right leg. Bryant did not play.
It was the sixth consecutive, 5A-Southeast loss for the Badgers (3-16, 1-7), but they were able to clean up the deficit somewhat in the second half after the disastrous first in which the Falcons held them to only four points until Caleb Davidson made a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 29-6 with 1:27 left in the first quarter.
The Falcons’ press led to three steals in the first period. They also capitalized on a 10-second call and forced a double dribble that led to the second of North Pulaski senior guard Aaron Cooper’s four, three-pointers in the first quarter.
“We got better rotations, which is something we’ve been working out of,” Cooper said. “We’ve had breakdowns after three or four passes. And tonight, they stayed disciplined and didn’t get over aggressive. They just kind of let it come to them and took advantage of it.”
Senior guard Joe Agee was the first to strike for the Falcons with a three-pointer off the tip, followed by Cooper’s first three-pointer with 7:16 left to make it 6-0. Bryan Colson scored inside with 5:56 left for the first of his 10 points and an 8-0 Falcon lead.
Davidson was the only Badger able to shake off North Pulaski’s stifling defense early on. He scored Beebe’s first points with 5:03 left in the first quarter, and managed to beat the press for a wide-open lay-up with 4:12 left in the first half.
But that was sandwiched between two threes for Cooper, who went on to lead the Falcons with 26 points, 18 of which came in the first quarter.
Sophomore reserve Shyheim Barron provided North Pulaski’s next first-quarter spark when he came off the bench and made a fade shot with 2:31 left in the period to make it 22-4.
Barron opened the scoring with 2:15 left in the first and converted a basket and free throw with 1:50 left in the quarter to give the Falcons a 29-4 lead. He capped off the first quarter with a three-pointer in the final 30 seconds as part of his 14 total points.
Beebe battled back against the North Pulaski reserves in the second half.
Devonte Young found open shots around the perimeter, while Davidson and Zach May scored tough inside points. Young led
Beebe with 11 points. Davidson scored 10 and May scored nine.
Colson added 10 points for North Pulaski.
Leader sportswriter
The 73-45 final score was a result of North Pulaski coach Raymond Cooper calling off the dogs very early in the second half.
Because up to that point, Cooper’s Falcons had dominated Beebe in every aspect of the game on their way to a 34-7 lead after one quarter and a 53-16 lead at halftime.
The Falcons (15-4, 7-0 5A-Southeast) were 6 of 6 from three-point range and forced seven Badger turnovers in the first quarter with a relentless full-court press.
In fact, North Pulaski increased the lead to the 30 points required to trigger the sportsmanship/timing rule with 6:48 left in the second quarter as it kept its conference record unblemished.
“We shot lights out,” Cooper said. “When you’re shooting like that, you’re going to score pretty good. We came out, got hot and our guys played pretty good defense in the first half too.”
Despite the Falcons’ good fortunes on the court, adversity was represented on the bench, where senior three-year starting forward DaQuan Bryant was wearing a knee brace on his right leg. Bryant did not play.
It was the sixth consecutive, 5A-Southeast loss for the Badgers (3-16, 1-7), but they were able to clean up the deficit somewhat in the second half after the disastrous first in which the Falcons held them to only four points until Caleb Davidson made a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 29-6 with 1:27 left in the first quarter.
The Falcons’ press led to three steals in the first period. They also capitalized on a 10-second call and forced a double dribble that led to the second of North Pulaski senior guard Aaron Cooper’s four, three-pointers in the first quarter.
“We got better rotations, which is something we’ve been working out of,” Cooper said. “We’ve had breakdowns after three or four passes. And tonight, they stayed disciplined and didn’t get over aggressive. They just kind of let it come to them and took advantage of it.”
Senior guard Joe Agee was the first to strike for the Falcons with a three-pointer off the tip, followed by Cooper’s first three-pointer with 7:16 left to make it 6-0. Bryan Colson scored inside with 5:56 left for the first of his 10 points and an 8-0 Falcon lead.
Davidson was the only Badger able to shake off North Pulaski’s stifling defense early on. He scored Beebe’s first points with 5:03 left in the first quarter, and managed to beat the press for a wide-open lay-up with 4:12 left in the first half.
But that was sandwiched between two threes for Cooper, who went on to lead the Falcons with 26 points, 18 of which came in the first quarter.
Sophomore reserve Shyheim Barron provided North Pulaski’s next first-quarter spark when he came off the bench and made a fade shot with 2:31 left in the period to make it 22-4.
Barron opened the scoring with 2:15 left in the first and converted a basket and free throw with 1:50 left in the quarter to give the Falcons a 29-4 lead. He capped off the first quarter with a three-pointer in the final 30 seconds as part of his 14 total points.
Beebe battled back against the North Pulaski reserves in the second half.
Devonte Young found open shots around the perimeter, while Davidson and Zach May scored tough inside points. Young led
Beebe with 11 points. Davidson scored 10 and May scored nine.
Colson added 10 points for North Pulaski.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
TOP STORY >> Cattle sniper stalks rancher
A Lonoke County rancher’s livelihood is on the line after two of his cows were shot in the head recently.
None of the cows have died, but rancher Carl Hart says the veterinarian bills are stacking up.
The cost of treating the animals’ wounds “could run in to a few thousand dollars,” he said.
This is not the first time that his cows have been shot either.
“It started last year around deer season,” he said.
Five cows were shot on his land last year. Two weeks ago, one was shot again and then last week, another one was found shot.
The recent bout of cow sniping began about seven weeks ago when Hart found another cow shot in the neck.
Hart’s ranch is near Hwy. 236 and Clayhill Road. The cows are valued at about $1,500.
Deputies say the shooter is using a small caliber firearm, probably a .22 or .22 magnum, which is not powerful enough to kill the cows.
The stress causes the cows to stop producing milk and their calves could die, he said.
Sheriff Jim Roberson wants to put at end to this and charge the shooter with cruelty to animals.
Anyone with information pertaining to these acts is asked to contact the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office at (501) 676-3000.
None of the cows have died, but rancher Carl Hart says the veterinarian bills are stacking up.
The cost of treating the animals’ wounds “could run in to a few thousand dollars,” he said.
This is not the first time that his cows have been shot either.
“It started last year around deer season,” he said.
Five cows were shot on his land last year. Two weeks ago, one was shot again and then last week, another one was found shot.
The recent bout of cow sniping began about seven weeks ago when Hart found another cow shot in the neck.
Hart’s ranch is near Hwy. 236 and Clayhill Road. The cows are valued at about $1,500.
Deputies say the shooter is using a small caliber firearm, probably a .22 or .22 magnum, which is not powerful enough to kill the cows.
The stress causes the cows to stop producing milk and their calves could die, he said.
Sheriff Jim Roberson wants to put at end to this and charge the shooter with cruelty to animals.
Anyone with information pertaining to these acts is asked to contact the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office at (501) 676-3000.
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