Tim Griffin never encouraged anyone to invest much confidence in his character — he let his ambition to undercut and replace his old friend and boss, Bud Cummins, corrupt the entire United States Department of Justice — but you could not doubt his political savvy. He had spent all those years toiling at the Republican national headquarters in Washington and then in the political operations of the White House so he would never say anything politically foolish, at least unless he were under duress.
Now we are not so sure. Friday, in his first big public outing since winning the Republican nomination for Congress from the Second District, Griffin was telling the Political Animals Club at Little Rock about why it was important to keep labor unions weak in Arkansas. He is against the so-called “card-check” bill, which would require big employers to bargain with a union if most of their employees signed cards expressing their desire to have the union bargain for them. The bill is dead, but it is a live political tar baby.
Griffin explained that since Arkansas laws restrict unions so much, they have remained weak and that has kept wages and salaries in Arkansas below the levels in other states. Low wages are desirable, he continued, because it makes Arkansas more attractive than other states to businesses.
The unstated message was that Tim Griffin, as a congressman or in some other capacity, would like to see worker incomes depressed because it is good for business and economic development. All that economic development produced by low wages eventually would raise all boats.
We are not sure that the lack of unions or strong ones is the reason that wages and per-capita incomes in Arkansas lag behind the rest of the country, as Griffin seems to believe and as union leaders also would have you believe. Arkansas was well behind the other states before the rise of unions in the industrial heartland and the big cities in the middle of the last century, and that has remained so with the decline of union membership and power since the 1970s.
If low wages and a union-poor environment were an inducement to development, Arkansas instead of California would have had Silicon Valley. Something else has been at work — geography and climate, maybe, education, social factors, political will? — and five generations of political leaders have not discovered the reason and the remedy.
But no one expected economic theory to be Tim Griffin’s forte. His career has been as a shrewd if cynical political operator.
But how smart is it for a candidate for public office to come out squarely for low pay? That will not go over well even with a chamber of commerce audience.
This fellow bears watching, closely. He could be our next congressman.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
TOP STORY>>Sheriff’s program to reduce drug use
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
Since 2007, research has shown that Arkansas teens rank No. 1 in the nation for abuse of prescription pain relievers.
Now, Lonoke County is joining other counties in central Arkansas that are trying to combat the problem by taking unused prescription medicines out of medicine cabinets.
This week, the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Department is collecting those drugs at various locations across the county in trade for $5 gift certificates from Walmart and one-year gift subscriptions to The Leader.
Dubbed Operation Pill Kill, the drug collection started Monday in Lonoke, where response was poor. Investigator Keith Eaton, who is in charge of the operation, said only one person turned in prescription drugs at the Lonoke Community Center. By 9:30
Tuesday morning, one person had turned in drugs, not all of them prescription, at the Carlisle Seniors Center.
Eaton will be at the England Fitness Center at 107 Valley Drive today, the Ward Municipal Complex on Hickory Street Thursday and the Cabot City Annex at 208 N. First St. on Friday.
“We’ve had a lot of burglaries in the county lately and in some, prescription drugs have been taken. We’re also having a big problem with kids taking medicine that’s not prescribed for them,” Eaton said.
“You’ve got kids who will take pills to make them high. Then they can’t sleep and they have to go to school the next day and they take a pill to make them sleep. It takes a toll on your heart,” he said.
According to the Arkansas Department of Health, some of the most commonly abused drugs are narcotics such as Oxycontin, Vicodin, codeine and Percocet, sedatives such as Valium and Xanax and stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall.
Emergency room visits due to abuse of prescription pain relievers has doubled since 2004.
Eaton said he will gladly take any unused prescription, or even non-prescription, drug and dispose of them to keep them off the street but what he hopes to collect are the drugs like the pain killers that are most commonly abused.
To keep drugs out of children’s hands, the Arkansas Department of Health recommends taking these safeguards:
Mix expired or unused prescriptions with a material like coffee grounds or kitty litter before throwing them away, to deter youth from taking them from the trash (never flush them down the toilet—this pollutes the drinking water supply).
Monitor adolescents’ online activities—many websites don’t even require a prescription.
Talk to youth about following instructions when taking medicine, and remind them that it’s never okay to share medication or to take someone else’s medication.
n
Set the record straight—tell youth that prescription drugs can be just as dangerous as street drugs when used inappropriately.
Stress is often cited as a reason for teens to use drugs; talk with your teen about safe ways to reduce stress.
Leader staff writer
Since 2007, research has shown that Arkansas teens rank No. 1 in the nation for abuse of prescription pain relievers.
Now, Lonoke County is joining other counties in central Arkansas that are trying to combat the problem by taking unused prescription medicines out of medicine cabinets.
This week, the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Department is collecting those drugs at various locations across the county in trade for $5 gift certificates from Walmart and one-year gift subscriptions to The Leader.
Dubbed Operation Pill Kill, the drug collection started Monday in Lonoke, where response was poor. Investigator Keith Eaton, who is in charge of the operation, said only one person turned in prescription drugs at the Lonoke Community Center. By 9:30
Tuesday morning, one person had turned in drugs, not all of them prescription, at the Carlisle Seniors Center.
Eaton will be at the England Fitness Center at 107 Valley Drive today, the Ward Municipal Complex on Hickory Street Thursday and the Cabot City Annex at 208 N. First St. on Friday.
“We’ve had a lot of burglaries in the county lately and in some, prescription drugs have been taken. We’re also having a big problem with kids taking medicine that’s not prescribed for them,” Eaton said.
“You’ve got kids who will take pills to make them high. Then they can’t sleep and they have to go to school the next day and they take a pill to make them sleep. It takes a toll on your heart,” he said.
According to the Arkansas Department of Health, some of the most commonly abused drugs are narcotics such as Oxycontin, Vicodin, codeine and Percocet, sedatives such as Valium and Xanax and stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall.
Emergency room visits due to abuse of prescription pain relievers has doubled since 2004.
Eaton said he will gladly take any unused prescription, or even non-prescription, drug and dispose of them to keep them off the street but what he hopes to collect are the drugs like the pain killers that are most commonly abused.
To keep drugs out of children’s hands, the Arkansas Department of Health recommends taking these safeguards:
Mix expired or unused prescriptions with a material like coffee grounds or kitty litter before throwing them away, to deter youth from taking them from the trash (never flush them down the toilet—this pollutes the drinking water supply).
Monitor adolescents’ online activities—many websites don’t even require a prescription.
Talk to youth about following instructions when taking medicine, and remind them that it’s never okay to share medication or to take someone else’s medication.
n
Set the record straight—tell youth that prescription drugs can be just as dangerous as street drugs when used inappropriately.
Stress is often cited as a reason for teens to use drugs; talk with your teen about safe ways to reduce stress.
TOP STORY>>Fair-housing data collection under way
By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
Every five years, municipalities across the country that accept funds from the federal Housing and Urban Development agency are required to conduct an analysis of local barriers to access to fair housing.
A survey is under way in Jacksonville to collect data for the analysis and is available through July on the city’s website, www.cityofjacksonville.net, under the “What’s New” tab.
Concerned citizens as well as anyone with knowledge of the housing industry – through the construction trades, real estate, law and education, or banking and finance – are encouraged to fill out the anonymous questionnaire.
“You want to see if there are any problems in your city so you can ward them off,” said Teresa Watson, the director of community development for the city. “The survey looks at whether everyone has access to fair and affordable housing.
Sometimes people or agencies discriminate, and they don’t know it.”
Watson said that she is not aware of any cases of discrimination in housing in Jacksonville in recent years.
Taking advantage of available email distribution lists, the electronic survey has already been sent out to all employees of the city and Pathfinder, residents of Jacksonville Towers and members of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce. By posting the survey on the city’s website, the hope is to tap a diverse group – “all the players, agencies as well as citizens, homeowners and renters as well,” Watson said.
Local building codes, city planning for home development, zoning ordinances, occupancy standards, real estate and lending practices or simply what individuals know and understand about home ownership and financing are all sources of possible impediments to obtaining safe, affordable housing.
For example, when a city makes way for new housing by tearing down older, smaller houses but then requires newly constructed homes in the area be larger, that practice may limit low-income individuals from finding an affordable place to live.
“For every house removed but not replaced, you create a barrier,” Watson explained. “Sometimes there are barriers that are not done consciously but to make the city grow, because the focus is on upscale, more expensive homes.”
The findings of the survey will be presented at a public forum at 6 p.m. on August 17 at the Jacksonville Community Center.
Dinner will be provided.
The federal Fair Housing Act, part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability or familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents of legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under the age of 18).
The Arkansas Fair Housing Act, passed in 2001, established the Arkansas Fair Housing Commission (AFHC), in order to provide procedures for the investigation and remediation of unfair housing practices, in accord with provisions of federal law.
Carol Johnson, director of the AFHC, said that her office receives about 250 calls annually about suspected discrimination in housing. Of those, 150 to 175 turn into actual complaints that are investigated.
Most common are complaints about available housing that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act or concerns that are related to race, ethnicity or national origin. Familial status has to do with landlords not wanting to rent to families with children or many children are also common complaints, Johnson said.
Statistics are not kept by municipality, but by county so the AFHC cannot comment on barriers to fair housing that might exist in Jacksonville, Johnson said. “The majority of cases that we get are in larger metropolitan areas – Little Rock, Fort Smith and Fayetteville.”
When the survey was conducted in Jacksonville five years ago, a need was identified for education on financial literacy. Such a course is now provided through a partnership with local banks.
The 12-week program addresses various aspects of financial management that impact home ownership – functions of banks, managing personal checking and saving accounts, budgeting, credit card use, borrowing and the responsibilities of owning and maintaining a home.
The class is offered at no charge. Anyone 16 years or older may enroll. The current class runs through July.
“We have a 17-year-old and four ladies from the (Jacksonville) Towers” in the class, Watson said.
Another course is planned for the fall. For more information about the course or the fair housing survey, call 501-982-0026.
Leader staff writer
Every five years, municipalities across the country that accept funds from the federal Housing and Urban Development agency are required to conduct an analysis of local barriers to access to fair housing.
A survey is under way in Jacksonville to collect data for the analysis and is available through July on the city’s website, www.cityofjacksonville.net, under the “What’s New” tab.
Concerned citizens as well as anyone with knowledge of the housing industry – through the construction trades, real estate, law and education, or banking and finance – are encouraged to fill out the anonymous questionnaire.
“You want to see if there are any problems in your city so you can ward them off,” said Teresa Watson, the director of community development for the city. “The survey looks at whether everyone has access to fair and affordable housing.
Sometimes people or agencies discriminate, and they don’t know it.”
Watson said that she is not aware of any cases of discrimination in housing in Jacksonville in recent years.
Taking advantage of available email distribution lists, the electronic survey has already been sent out to all employees of the city and Pathfinder, residents of Jacksonville Towers and members of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce. By posting the survey on the city’s website, the hope is to tap a diverse group – “all the players, agencies as well as citizens, homeowners and renters as well,” Watson said.
Local building codes, city planning for home development, zoning ordinances, occupancy standards, real estate and lending practices or simply what individuals know and understand about home ownership and financing are all sources of possible impediments to obtaining safe, affordable housing.
For example, when a city makes way for new housing by tearing down older, smaller houses but then requires newly constructed homes in the area be larger, that practice may limit low-income individuals from finding an affordable place to live.
“For every house removed but not replaced, you create a barrier,” Watson explained. “Sometimes there are barriers that are not done consciously but to make the city grow, because the focus is on upscale, more expensive homes.”
The findings of the survey will be presented at a public forum at 6 p.m. on August 17 at the Jacksonville Community Center.
Dinner will be provided.
The federal Fair Housing Act, part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability or familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents of legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under the age of 18).
The Arkansas Fair Housing Act, passed in 2001, established the Arkansas Fair Housing Commission (AFHC), in order to provide procedures for the investigation and remediation of unfair housing practices, in accord with provisions of federal law.
Carol Johnson, director of the AFHC, said that her office receives about 250 calls annually about suspected discrimination in housing. Of those, 150 to 175 turn into actual complaints that are investigated.
Most common are complaints about available housing that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act or concerns that are related to race, ethnicity or national origin. Familial status has to do with landlords not wanting to rent to families with children or many children are also common complaints, Johnson said.
Statistics are not kept by municipality, but by county so the AFHC cannot comment on barriers to fair housing that might exist in Jacksonville, Johnson said. “The majority of cases that we get are in larger metropolitan areas – Little Rock, Fort Smith and Fayetteville.”
When the survey was conducted in Jacksonville five years ago, a need was identified for education on financial literacy. Such a course is now provided through a partnership with local banks.
The 12-week program addresses various aspects of financial management that impact home ownership – functions of banks, managing personal checking and saving accounts, budgeting, credit card use, borrowing and the responsibilities of owning and maintaining a home.
The class is offered at no charge. Anyone 16 years or older may enroll. The current class runs through July.
“We have a 17-year-old and four ladies from the (Jacksonville) Towers” in the class, Watson said.
Another course is planned for the fall. For more information about the course or the fair housing survey, call 501-982-0026.
TOP STORY>>Road panel looks to funding
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Desperately needed money to fix and build state highways could come in the form of a half-cent sales-tax increase or from diverting existing sales-tax revenues on cars, trucks and auto parts from the state’s general fund to its highway fund.
Or from both.
Those are the recommendations of state highway commissioner Madison Murphy, who is one of 21 members of the General Assembly’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Highway Finance, but so far, at least, they have not been adopted as the committee’s recommendations.
Murphy said his recommendations are just that—his, and not those of the state Highway Commission or the Blue Ribbon Committee.
The committee met last Wednesday and is scheduled to meet today in advance of its original July 1 deadline for recommendations.
Sen. John Paul Capps, D-Searcy, the committee chairman, says it’s still collecting information and would make an interim report to the General Assembly July 1, but he doesn’t expect to make final recommendations until December.
That could be due to election-year political realities. If the committee recommended a 10-year, half-penny, sales-tax increase July 1, every candidate running for the General Assembly in November could expect to be asked how he or she would vote on the increase. That would create a difficult environment in which to pass a new tax.
It’s axiomatic in Arkansas that you don’t get elected by promising to raise taxes. And as for the transfer of transportation tax revenues from the general fund to a highway fund, Gov. Mike Beebe is on the record as opposing it.
Here’s the problem:
The state Highway and Trans-portation Department projects its needs over the next decade at $23 billion, with anticipated revenues of only $4.1 billion. That means the department expects to have about one of every six dollars it needs.
Highway Department Director Dan Flowers has said the state needs an additional $200 million a year just to maintain current conditions.
The two main sources of highway revenue in Arkansas are the per-gallon tax on motor fuel and money sent to the state from the Federal Highway Trust Fund. As fuel prices rise, the number of gallons—and thus the tax revenues—decrease.
Revenues are static or diminishing, even as the need increases, according to Metroplan executive director Jim McKenzie. He is chairman of the committee’s new revenue subcommittee.
McKenzie said Arkansans need to realize no one, including the federal government, is going to rescue the state’s highways.
Arkansans will have to pay for new roads and maintenance or there would be no new roads and the existing roads and highways would continue to deteriorate.
Capps said this week that costs are going up “unbelievably” to build and maintain highways.
While it’s far from certain that the committee will recommend the half-penny sales-tax increase, which could be written to expire at the end of 10 years, it is projected that such a tax would generate about $157 million a year to state highways, with another $33.6 million a year split between counties and cities.
That’s part one of commissioner Murphy’s recommendation.
Part two would gradually transfer existing sales taxes on new and used vehicles, batteries, auto parts and other transportation-related sales to the state’s highway fund. It would be phased in over 10 years, increasing from 10 percent of the total the first year until it reached 100 percent of those tax revenues in the 10th year.
That would reduce the impact on the state general fund and allow for natural growth to offset the absolute loss to the general fund, according to Capps.
Over the course of the 10-year phase-in, the highway fund would receive about $2 billion, and by the end of the 10th year, when the new sales tax expired, the highways would be receiving $300 million a year in additional revenue from the transportation-related taxes.
If a new half-penny tax were approved, the General Assembly would want to use those revenues to pay off a much larger bond issue so the state could embark quickly on a building and maintenance program. It won’t be able to undertake very ambitious projects.
While the General Assembly could increase the sales tax, it would require voters to approve bond sales to pay for the construction. McKenzie said the tax could be structured to take effect only if and when the bond-issue is approved.
As for transferring revenues from the general fund to a dedicated highway fund, the General Assembly could do that too, but it might need sufficient votes to override a veto from the governor.
Leader senior staff writer
Desperately needed money to fix and build state highways could come in the form of a half-cent sales-tax increase or from diverting existing sales-tax revenues on cars, trucks and auto parts from the state’s general fund to its highway fund.
Or from both.
Those are the recommendations of state highway commissioner Madison Murphy, who is one of 21 members of the General Assembly’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Highway Finance, but so far, at least, they have not been adopted as the committee’s recommendations.
Murphy said his recommendations are just that—his, and not those of the state Highway Commission or the Blue Ribbon Committee.
The committee met last Wednesday and is scheduled to meet today in advance of its original July 1 deadline for recommendations.
Sen. John Paul Capps, D-Searcy, the committee chairman, says it’s still collecting information and would make an interim report to the General Assembly July 1, but he doesn’t expect to make final recommendations until December.
That could be due to election-year political realities. If the committee recommended a 10-year, half-penny, sales-tax increase July 1, every candidate running for the General Assembly in November could expect to be asked how he or she would vote on the increase. That would create a difficult environment in which to pass a new tax.
It’s axiomatic in Arkansas that you don’t get elected by promising to raise taxes. And as for the transfer of transportation tax revenues from the general fund to a highway fund, Gov. Mike Beebe is on the record as opposing it.
Here’s the problem:
The state Highway and Trans-portation Department projects its needs over the next decade at $23 billion, with anticipated revenues of only $4.1 billion. That means the department expects to have about one of every six dollars it needs.
Highway Department Director Dan Flowers has said the state needs an additional $200 million a year just to maintain current conditions.
The two main sources of highway revenue in Arkansas are the per-gallon tax on motor fuel and money sent to the state from the Federal Highway Trust Fund. As fuel prices rise, the number of gallons—and thus the tax revenues—decrease.
Revenues are static or diminishing, even as the need increases, according to Metroplan executive director Jim McKenzie. He is chairman of the committee’s new revenue subcommittee.
McKenzie said Arkansans need to realize no one, including the federal government, is going to rescue the state’s highways.
Arkansans will have to pay for new roads and maintenance or there would be no new roads and the existing roads and highways would continue to deteriorate.
Capps said this week that costs are going up “unbelievably” to build and maintain highways.
While it’s far from certain that the committee will recommend the half-penny sales-tax increase, which could be written to expire at the end of 10 years, it is projected that such a tax would generate about $157 million a year to state highways, with another $33.6 million a year split between counties and cities.
That’s part one of commissioner Murphy’s recommendation.
Part two would gradually transfer existing sales taxes on new and used vehicles, batteries, auto parts and other transportation-related sales to the state’s highway fund. It would be phased in over 10 years, increasing from 10 percent of the total the first year until it reached 100 percent of those tax revenues in the 10th year.
That would reduce the impact on the state general fund and allow for natural growth to offset the absolute loss to the general fund, according to Capps.
Over the course of the 10-year phase-in, the highway fund would receive about $2 billion, and by the end of the 10th year, when the new sales tax expired, the highways would be receiving $300 million a year in additional revenue from the transportation-related taxes.
If a new half-penny tax were approved, the General Assembly would want to use those revenues to pay off a much larger bond issue so the state could embark quickly on a building and maintenance program. It won’t be able to undertake very ambitious projects.
While the General Assembly could increase the sales tax, it would require voters to approve bond sales to pay for the construction. McKenzie said the tax could be structured to take effect only if and when the bond-issue is approved.
As for transferring revenues from the general fund to a dedicated highway fund, the General Assembly could do that too, but it might need sufficient votes to override a veto from the governor.
TOP STORY>>Wet or dry, farm family of year sticks to the dirt
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Ground zero for the Minton family farm is on Tar Bottom Road, about three miles from England and backing up to the Department of Correction farms in Jefferson County.
But the 5,000 acres upon which Brooks Minton Sr. and his family grow rice, corn and soybeans stretch 26 miles from Altheimer
to near Lonoke.
The Mintons are the 2010 Lonoke County Farm Family of the Year.
They will join 74 other county farm families in vying for district and state recognition as the Arkansas Farm Family of the Year.
The Arkansas Farm Family of the Year will be announced Dec. 10 at a banquet at the Wyndham Riverfront in North Little Rock.
Minton, his two sons—Brooks Jr. and Greg—and his grandson Bart, with the aid of six full-time hands, keep busy year round.
This year, they’ve planted 1,500 acres of rice, 1,100 acres of corn and 2,400 acres of soybeans.
Starting with Brooks Senior’s grandfather, the family moved its farming from Tennessee to Lonoke County just about the time of the Great Depression, meaning five generations have farmed in the county.
But Brooks Senior’s grandson Bart has two daughters, neither of whom is interested in carrying on in the family business, and Bart says he’s not having any more children, meaning 31-year-old Bart may be the last of the Mintons to farm the land.
“The thing about farming—you’ve got to like it and love the land to stay with it,” the senior Minton said. “There’s not much reward in it and there’s a lot of hard work. It’s a great lifestyle that helps keep families together, and as hard as it is, it supports four families, three of them with brick homes in the big city.”
Of course, like farm families across the country now, the wives have jobs in the city to help cover expenses.
And by the big city, the Mintons mean England.
Johnnie Minton, Brooks senior’s wife, had a city job and still took care of the house on her day off, cooked and cleaned. “I fed nine men every day for two years,” at the family table she remembers.
“Now I have help,” she added.
Greg Minton says he’d have rather been a baseball player, but like so many promising young ball players, “I couldn’t hit a curve ball.”
Brooks Junior’s son Bart was just the opposite. He was sent to college and had other options, but at the end of his first semester, he says he knew he only wanted to farm.
He did get educated on the John Deere computerized GPS automated-tractor navigation system, which is crucial to their farming operation today.
Greg Minton, Brooks Minton’s younger son, says he runs through a tank of diesel in his pickup truck about every day and a half, checking on the crops and the irrigation wells.
Right now, they are pumping from 42 wells, Greg Minton said, but that’s just a part of what they have drilled.
You can’t talk about farming in Lonoke County without talking about water and weather.
“This time last year, we had to pump water off these fields,” Books Junior said.
When Brooks Senior started farming on his own in 1945, an irrigation well might be 11 feet deep, he said. Today, the wells are usually 75 to 120 feet deep, and all their crops depend on irrigation—the rice especially.
Sen. Blanche Lincoln recently announced that she had obtained $37 million of stimulus funds through the Army Corps of Engineers to begin construction on giant pumps to siphon water out of the Arkansas River and irrigate nearly 300,000 acres of farmland, most of it in Lonoke County.
The elder Minton said he looks forward to the day when they irrigate with the help of water pumped from the Arkansas River near Scott, the so-called Bayou Meto Water District project.
‘The water will come right through here,” Brooks Senior said. “Bart may see it, I won’t.”
Farming’s “a lot different than it used to be,” said Brooks Minton Jr. “The tractors are steered by satellite—John Deere and the GreenStar System.
“Set it up right and you could drive from here to Little Rock and stay within an inch of the straight line,” Greg Minton said.
With the satellite at the control and a human in the cab, the tractor will turn automatically and precisely at the end of each row, eliminating overlapping furrows and saving diesel, seed and chemicals.
Wrasslin’ a huge tractor into a turn is not an easy job, even with power steering, so the automatic satellite turns have taken most of the fatigue out of tractor operation, Greg Minton said.
“
I used to go through a dozen Tylenols a day,” he said.
The GPS-controlled tractors can also lay off perfect rows in the middle of the darkest night, he said.
“We used to grow cotton,” said Minton Senior, “but lately the price has been bad compared to the input.”
Minton says he’s seen great strides in the modernization of farming—not just irrigation, but herbicides and technical advances in equipment.
“I first irrigated in 1955 for cotton,” he said.
He started with a one-row combine. Now he has three 16-row combines. His first combine cost $6,500. The most recent one cost about $300,000—the cost of a west Little Rock home.
“We have gone to 350 acres of zero-grade rice fields,” said Greg Minton. That means water can be used more efficiently to keep weeds down. “We couldn’t farm the number of acres if not for Roundup technology,” he said.
When rice came here, it opened up a new life, he said: Rice and soybeans.
The family owns a share of a cotton gin in Gould, and they own cotton-farming equipment, which is of now used for other crops, so if the price-to-cost ratio gets better, the Mintons say they’ll be back in the business.
Meanwhile, they are building a 216,000-bushel grain dryer, which will give them a total storage and drying capacity of about 280,000 bushels, and a competitive edge.
“We can dry it cheaper than they can,” he said of the commercial storage places.
Including 81-year-old Brooks Senior, who says he can still drive a tractor or his D-6 bulldozer, three generations of Mintons get dust—or gumbo-like mud—on their boots on a daily basis, and his father and grandfather also farmed the same piece of land—well, a smaller piece—here in central Arkansas.
Tar Bottom Road is a dusty tan road—the unpaved portions—this time of year, so how was it named?
“You stick with the dirt when it’s dry, and it’ll darn sure stick with you when it’s wet,” Brooks says with relish.
Leader senior staff writer
Ground zero for the Minton family farm is on Tar Bottom Road, about three miles from England and backing up to the Department of Correction farms in Jefferson County.
But the 5,000 acres upon which Brooks Minton Sr. and his family grow rice, corn and soybeans stretch 26 miles from Altheimer
to near Lonoke.
The Mintons are the 2010 Lonoke County Farm Family of the Year.
They will join 74 other county farm families in vying for district and state recognition as the Arkansas Farm Family of the Year.
The Arkansas Farm Family of the Year will be announced Dec. 10 at a banquet at the Wyndham Riverfront in North Little Rock.
Minton, his two sons—Brooks Jr. and Greg—and his grandson Bart, with the aid of six full-time hands, keep busy year round.
This year, they’ve planted 1,500 acres of rice, 1,100 acres of corn and 2,400 acres of soybeans.
Starting with Brooks Senior’s grandfather, the family moved its farming from Tennessee to Lonoke County just about the time of the Great Depression, meaning five generations have farmed in the county.
But Brooks Senior’s grandson Bart has two daughters, neither of whom is interested in carrying on in the family business, and Bart says he’s not having any more children, meaning 31-year-old Bart may be the last of the Mintons to farm the land.
“The thing about farming—you’ve got to like it and love the land to stay with it,” the senior Minton said. “There’s not much reward in it and there’s a lot of hard work. It’s a great lifestyle that helps keep families together, and as hard as it is, it supports four families, three of them with brick homes in the big city.”
Of course, like farm families across the country now, the wives have jobs in the city to help cover expenses.
And by the big city, the Mintons mean England.
Johnnie Minton, Brooks senior’s wife, had a city job and still took care of the house on her day off, cooked and cleaned. “I fed nine men every day for two years,” at the family table she remembers.
“Now I have help,” she added.
Greg Minton says he’d have rather been a baseball player, but like so many promising young ball players, “I couldn’t hit a curve ball.”
Brooks Junior’s son Bart was just the opposite. He was sent to college and had other options, but at the end of his first semester, he says he knew he only wanted to farm.
He did get educated on the John Deere computerized GPS automated-tractor navigation system, which is crucial to their farming operation today.
Greg Minton, Brooks Minton’s younger son, says he runs through a tank of diesel in his pickup truck about every day and a half, checking on the crops and the irrigation wells.
Right now, they are pumping from 42 wells, Greg Minton said, but that’s just a part of what they have drilled.
You can’t talk about farming in Lonoke County without talking about water and weather.
“This time last year, we had to pump water off these fields,” Books Junior said.
When Brooks Senior started farming on his own in 1945, an irrigation well might be 11 feet deep, he said. Today, the wells are usually 75 to 120 feet deep, and all their crops depend on irrigation—the rice especially.
Sen. Blanche Lincoln recently announced that she had obtained $37 million of stimulus funds through the Army Corps of Engineers to begin construction on giant pumps to siphon water out of the Arkansas River and irrigate nearly 300,000 acres of farmland, most of it in Lonoke County.
The elder Minton said he looks forward to the day when they irrigate with the help of water pumped from the Arkansas River near Scott, the so-called Bayou Meto Water District project.
‘The water will come right through here,” Brooks Senior said. “Bart may see it, I won’t.”
Farming’s “a lot different than it used to be,” said Brooks Minton Jr. “The tractors are steered by satellite—John Deere and the GreenStar System.
“Set it up right and you could drive from here to Little Rock and stay within an inch of the straight line,” Greg Minton said.
With the satellite at the control and a human in the cab, the tractor will turn automatically and precisely at the end of each row, eliminating overlapping furrows and saving diesel, seed and chemicals.
Wrasslin’ a huge tractor into a turn is not an easy job, even with power steering, so the automatic satellite turns have taken most of the fatigue out of tractor operation, Greg Minton said.
“
I used to go through a dozen Tylenols a day,” he said.
The GPS-controlled tractors can also lay off perfect rows in the middle of the darkest night, he said.
“We used to grow cotton,” said Minton Senior, “but lately the price has been bad compared to the input.”
Minton says he’s seen great strides in the modernization of farming—not just irrigation, but herbicides and technical advances in equipment.
“I first irrigated in 1955 for cotton,” he said.
He started with a one-row combine. Now he has three 16-row combines. His first combine cost $6,500. The most recent one cost about $300,000—the cost of a west Little Rock home.
“We have gone to 350 acres of zero-grade rice fields,” said Greg Minton. That means water can be used more efficiently to keep weeds down. “We couldn’t farm the number of acres if not for Roundup technology,” he said.
When rice came here, it opened up a new life, he said: Rice and soybeans.
The family owns a share of a cotton gin in Gould, and they own cotton-farming equipment, which is of now used for other crops, so if the price-to-cost ratio gets better, the Mintons say they’ll be back in the business.
Meanwhile, they are building a 216,000-bushel grain dryer, which will give them a total storage and drying capacity of about 280,000 bushels, and a competitive edge.
“We can dry it cheaper than they can,” he said of the commercial storage places.
Including 81-year-old Brooks Senior, who says he can still drive a tractor or his D-6 bulldozer, three generations of Mintons get dust—or gumbo-like mud—on their boots on a daily basis, and his father and grandfather also farmed the same piece of land—well, a smaller piece—here in central Arkansas.
Tar Bottom Road is a dusty tan road—the unpaved portions—this time of year, so how was it named?
“You stick with the dirt when it’s dry, and it’ll darn sure stick with you when it’s wet,” Brooks says with relish.
SPORTS>>Nuisances horning in on Majors, World Cup
By Todd Traub
Leader sports editor
I would be remiss as a sports editor if I did not sooner or later mention one of the biggest sporting events in the world.
The World Cup.
There, it’s mentioned. Can we get back to baseball now?
Okay, I admit to not being a big follower of soccer, but there is something about international competition that appeals to my patriotism, so I turned on the second half of the United States’ World Cup match against England televised from South Africa.
It was already tied 1-1 and almost immediately the English sportscaster dared to say England indisputably had the superior players. That got my red, white and blue blood boiling, and I began talking back to the TV from the back of my bandwagon.
“I thought you didn’t care about soccer,” my son said from behind his computer.
“I want to beat THESE guys,” I said, jabbing my finger at England.
Then I noticed this horrible buzzing sound coming from — but not caused by — my TV, and that was my introduction to the vuvuzela, South Africa’s soccer noisemaker of choice.
There is a heated, ongoing debate in this country over soccer and its entertainment value.
On the one hand, it is an internationally popular sport played with skill and endurance and full of close outcomes. On the other hand, soccer allows games to end in ties, and now it has the vuvuzela, a cheap plastic horn rooted in South African tradition
that debuted as a stadium noisemaker in 1992.
Think cicadas on too much coffee and you come close to understanding the annoyance factor of these things.
You want me to sit through a 90-minute scoreless tie? You gotta get rid of the vuvuzela, dog.
Even soccer players don’t like these things. Even South Africans don’t like these things.
I found an article about the vuvuzela, titled “Satan’s Instrument,” with the following quote from South African writer Jon Qwelane: “Nowadays, there is an instrument from hell, called the vuvuzela, which has largely formed my decision to abandon all live games and rather watch on TV, with the sound totally muted.”
The Florida Marlins should have read that article before they handed out vuvuzelas to fans for Saturday’s baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Many players complained about the constant buzzing, some wore earplugs and two older fans had to change seats because of the noise.
“That was the worst handout or giveaway I’ve ever been a part of in baseball,” Rays second baseman Dan Uggla said.
“They’re annoying,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “There’s cool things and there’s very non-cool things. That’s a non-cool thing.”
The vuvuzelas were even blamed for a lineup card mishap that might have cost the Marlins a chance to win.
With the scored tied 5-5 in the fifth, the Marlins’ Brian Barden drew a leadoff walk but home plate umpire Lance Barksdale called him out for batting out of order. Barksdale’s lineup card showed Wes Helms hitting in Barden’s spot, but Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez, who was ejected from the game, said he had explained the switch to Barksdale.
Crew chief Tom Hallion wouldn’t rule out noise from the vuvuzelas as a cause of the confusion.
“It was the most uncomfortable baseball game I’ve been a part of in a long time because of that,” Hallion said. “Whether that had anything to do with it, I don’t know but it could have.”
Maybe the vuvuzelas were responsible for soccer referee Koman Coulibaly’s blown call that cost the U.S. a victory in Friday’s match with Slovenia that ended in a 2-2 draw. The U.S. was bidding to become the first team in World Cup history to rally from a 2-0 deficit and win, and appeared to have done just that when Landon Donovan scored on a free kick, only to have the goal erased when Coulibaly said he was offsides.
So it seems soccer is plagued by bad calls as much as baseball, which is still getting over Jim Joyce’s inexplicable safe call that cost Detroit’s Armando Galarraga a perfect game earlier this month.
And it seems baseball, for better or for much, much worse, now has the vuvuzela.
The difference?
The two U.S. soccer matches I’ve paid any attention to so far both ended in ties while the Rays won 9-8 in 11 innings.
If I have to endure bad officiating and bad noisemakers, at least give me a game where someone wins in the end.
Leader sports editor
I would be remiss as a sports editor if I did not sooner or later mention one of the biggest sporting events in the world.
The World Cup.
There, it’s mentioned. Can we get back to baseball now?
Okay, I admit to not being a big follower of soccer, but there is something about international competition that appeals to my patriotism, so I turned on the second half of the United States’ World Cup match against England televised from South Africa.
It was already tied 1-1 and almost immediately the English sportscaster dared to say England indisputably had the superior players. That got my red, white and blue blood boiling, and I began talking back to the TV from the back of my bandwagon.
“I thought you didn’t care about soccer,” my son said from behind his computer.
“I want to beat THESE guys,” I said, jabbing my finger at England.
Then I noticed this horrible buzzing sound coming from — but not caused by — my TV, and that was my introduction to the vuvuzela, South Africa’s soccer noisemaker of choice.
There is a heated, ongoing debate in this country over soccer and its entertainment value.
On the one hand, it is an internationally popular sport played with skill and endurance and full of close outcomes. On the other hand, soccer allows games to end in ties, and now it has the vuvuzela, a cheap plastic horn rooted in South African tradition
that debuted as a stadium noisemaker in 1992.
Think cicadas on too much coffee and you come close to understanding the annoyance factor of these things.
You want me to sit through a 90-minute scoreless tie? You gotta get rid of the vuvuzela, dog.
Even soccer players don’t like these things. Even South Africans don’t like these things.
I found an article about the vuvuzela, titled “Satan’s Instrument,” with the following quote from South African writer Jon Qwelane: “Nowadays, there is an instrument from hell, called the vuvuzela, which has largely formed my decision to abandon all live games and rather watch on TV, with the sound totally muted.”
The Florida Marlins should have read that article before they handed out vuvuzelas to fans for Saturday’s baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Many players complained about the constant buzzing, some wore earplugs and two older fans had to change seats because of the noise.
“That was the worst handout or giveaway I’ve ever been a part of in baseball,” Rays second baseman Dan Uggla said.
“They’re annoying,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “There’s cool things and there’s very non-cool things. That’s a non-cool thing.”
The vuvuzelas were even blamed for a lineup card mishap that might have cost the Marlins a chance to win.
With the scored tied 5-5 in the fifth, the Marlins’ Brian Barden drew a leadoff walk but home plate umpire Lance Barksdale called him out for batting out of order. Barksdale’s lineup card showed Wes Helms hitting in Barden’s spot, but Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez, who was ejected from the game, said he had explained the switch to Barksdale.
Crew chief Tom Hallion wouldn’t rule out noise from the vuvuzelas as a cause of the confusion.
“It was the most uncomfortable baseball game I’ve been a part of in a long time because of that,” Hallion said. “Whether that had anything to do with it, I don’t know but it could have.”
Maybe the vuvuzelas were responsible for soccer referee Koman Coulibaly’s blown call that cost the U.S. a victory in Friday’s match with Slovenia that ended in a 2-2 draw. The U.S. was bidding to become the first team in World Cup history to rally from a 2-0 deficit and win, and appeared to have done just that when Landon Donovan scored on a free kick, only to have the goal erased when Coulibaly said he was offsides.
So it seems soccer is plagued by bad calls as much as baseball, which is still getting over Jim Joyce’s inexplicable safe call that cost Detroit’s Armando Galarraga a perfect game earlier this month.
And it seems baseball, for better or for much, much worse, now has the vuvuzela.
The difference?
The two U.S. soccer matches I’ve paid any attention to so far both ended in ties while the Rays won 9-8 in 11 innings.
If I have to endure bad officiating and bad noisemakers, at least give me a game where someone wins in the end.
SPORTS>>MSRA set for return to Beebe after rain
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The Mid South Racing Association will make another stop at Beebe Speedway on Friday.
It will be the second of three shows for the year at Beebe, a quarter-mile, sandy clay oval just off Highway 167. Batesville’s Billy Moyer, Jr., won the first MSRA race at Beebe in April over Dane Dacus of Memphis and Gary Christian.
The MSRA was in action two weeks ago with races at Malden Speedway in Missouri and Northeast Arkansas Speedway in Harrisburg.
The doubleheader put the grand total for MSRA races this year to six after rain washed out five events in the spring.
“We finally got in two shows,” MSRA series director Chris Ellis said. “They were really good races too, it was a good weekend.
The weather really got us in the spring.
“At one point, we had four races and five rainouts, but hopefully that’s behind us and we can get some more consistency.”
Dacus won at Malden while Trumann’s Kyle Beard claimed his first victory of the season at NEA Speedway. The 24-year-old known as “The Silent Assassin” also took the season points lead after that weekend.
Moyer was the early points leader after winning the first two events at Beebe and Riverside in early April. But while the MSRA weekend was under way two weeks ago, Moyer opted to race in the famed Dream 100 super late-model race at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
Moyer is beginning to make a name for himself on the national circuit after a pair of third-place finishes in the Lucas Oil series, including at the Show-Me 100. Moyer, known as “Kid Smooth”, is currently taking part in the UMP Summernationals
Hell Tour, which has 27 late-model races across the country in 30 days.
“He was ready to do that,” Ellis said. “He will come back and run some of our shows with us, but he was ready to go to the next level.”
Moyer tentatively plans to compete in the MSRA doubleheader at USA Speedway at Sterlington, La., and I-30 Speedway in Benton on Aug. 6-7.
Moyer’s absence has put Beard in position to capture his first series season-points title. Beard rose to regional prominence in 2007 when he won rookie of the year and was the points runner-up in the defunct AMP late-model series. Beard also won the
MSRA-sanctioned Mid South Dirt Track Championships held in Harrisburg that year.
Beard, who grew up racing at the Harrisburg track, also put his years of experience to good use when he claimed the most recent MSRA event in dominant fashion.
“He was in a different area code,” Ellis said. “He’s made 10 million circles around that place because his dad used to own it.
Dacus finished second there, he’s won a couple of our shows there, so he can get around that place. Bill Frye was third, and he’s good there, but Kyle just knows that place.”
The number of events on the MSRA season schedule will remain the same, but two races have changed locations.
Saturday’s race will be at Crawford County Speedway in Van Buren because of a cancellation at Southwest Arkansas Super Speedway in Nashville. Boothill Speedway in Shreveport, La., has picked up the open July 9 date originally scheduled for the recently closed track in Paris, Texas.
The Boothill date will be the first race in which the restart process is tweaked. The MSRA runs a regional double-file restart, which means the first-place car restarts out front with second and third behind in the next row, followed by fourth and fifth in the next row and so on throughout the field.
To this point, the second-place car has always been forced to restart on the inside, but will now have the choice between restarting inside or outside beginning with the Boothill race.
“They can get that strategy going now,” Ellis said. “You might have a guy out front who wants to run the outside, so you can restart on the top and force him to stay lower where he doesn’t want to race. It should make for an interesting race, and that’s all we’re really trying to do is put on the best show we can.”
Leader sportswriter
The Mid South Racing Association will make another stop at Beebe Speedway on Friday.
It will be the second of three shows for the year at Beebe, a quarter-mile, sandy clay oval just off Highway 167. Batesville’s Billy Moyer, Jr., won the first MSRA race at Beebe in April over Dane Dacus of Memphis and Gary Christian.
The MSRA was in action two weeks ago with races at Malden Speedway in Missouri and Northeast Arkansas Speedway in Harrisburg.
The doubleheader put the grand total for MSRA races this year to six after rain washed out five events in the spring.
“We finally got in two shows,” MSRA series director Chris Ellis said. “They were really good races too, it was a good weekend.
The weather really got us in the spring.
“At one point, we had four races and five rainouts, but hopefully that’s behind us and we can get some more consistency.”
Dacus won at Malden while Trumann’s Kyle Beard claimed his first victory of the season at NEA Speedway. The 24-year-old known as “The Silent Assassin” also took the season points lead after that weekend.
Moyer was the early points leader after winning the first two events at Beebe and Riverside in early April. But while the MSRA weekend was under way two weeks ago, Moyer opted to race in the famed Dream 100 super late-model race at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
Moyer is beginning to make a name for himself on the national circuit after a pair of third-place finishes in the Lucas Oil series, including at the Show-Me 100. Moyer, known as “Kid Smooth”, is currently taking part in the UMP Summernationals
Hell Tour, which has 27 late-model races across the country in 30 days.
“He was ready to do that,” Ellis said. “He will come back and run some of our shows with us, but he was ready to go to the next level.”
Moyer tentatively plans to compete in the MSRA doubleheader at USA Speedway at Sterlington, La., and I-30 Speedway in Benton on Aug. 6-7.
Moyer’s absence has put Beard in position to capture his first series season-points title. Beard rose to regional prominence in 2007 when he won rookie of the year and was the points runner-up in the defunct AMP late-model series. Beard also won the
MSRA-sanctioned Mid South Dirt Track Championships held in Harrisburg that year.
Beard, who grew up racing at the Harrisburg track, also put his years of experience to good use when he claimed the most recent MSRA event in dominant fashion.
“He was in a different area code,” Ellis said. “He’s made 10 million circles around that place because his dad used to own it.
Dacus finished second there, he’s won a couple of our shows there, so he can get around that place. Bill Frye was third, and he’s good there, but Kyle just knows that place.”
The number of events on the MSRA season schedule will remain the same, but two races have changed locations.
Saturday’s race will be at Crawford County Speedway in Van Buren because of a cancellation at Southwest Arkansas Super Speedway in Nashville. Boothill Speedway in Shreveport, La., has picked up the open July 9 date originally scheduled for the recently closed track in Paris, Texas.
The Boothill date will be the first race in which the restart process is tweaked. The MSRA runs a regional double-file restart, which means the first-place car restarts out front with second and third behind in the next row, followed by fourth and fifth in the next row and so on throughout the field.
To this point, the second-place car has always been forced to restart on the inside, but will now have the choice between restarting inside or outside beginning with the Boothill race.
“They can get that strategy going now,” Ellis said. “You might have a guy out front who wants to run the outside, so you can restart on the top and force him to stay lower where he doesn’t want to race. It should make for an interesting race, and that’s all we’re really trying to do is put on the best show we can.”
SPORTS>>Greer is family man on track
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Drivers often talk about the thrill of weekend racing — the rush of showing up at the local short track with the family, trying to conquer the dirt and win a race.
But for veteran driver Todd Greer, his family is a big part of the thrill.
Greer, who lives in Romance and bases his operation in Beebe, has raced for 22 years, mostly at Beebe Speedway.
He won track championships in the mini-stock and street-stock divisions before moving up to the modified class eight years ago.
His family-based race team consists of his brothers and 20-year-old son Justin, who also serves as crew chief.
“They get more tickled about it than I do,” Greer said. “Just watching them about to crawl the fence with excitement while I’m racing — you don’t even have to win — it means a lot.”
The Greer family has had several opportunities to get excited in the first half of the season. In six starts Greer has four top-six finishes, including a pair of third-place runs.
His best shot at a victory ended in his worst finish of the year May 28. Greer won his heat race and earned the outside pole, but his car broke down while he was lining up for the feature.
“It’s such a high and such a low at the same time,” Greer said. “You start on the pole, you break before the race ever starts. So there you go.”
The track may have its ups and downs for Greer but his personal life is stable. He and his wife Jean have been married 28 years, since Todd was 18, and while Justin is the couple’s only child, Todd’s brothers helpfill out the racing operation.
“If it wasn’t for my son and my brothers, I wouldn’t race,” Greer said. “Because they come to the shop. We spend so many hours on the old car to make it run — you can’t do it by yourself.”
As for the car, Greer’s No. 77 modified is black with yellow numbers and a red border. His paint schemes over previous years have featured more blue, but the current graphics give the car a more classic look.
Also giving the car a classic look is its age. Greer drives one of the oldest modified chassis in the central Arkansas area, older than even many of the economy-modified chassis on the local circuit.
Greer has had the chassis for six seasons and confessed to not knowing the car’s actual age.
But Greer and his family still find a way to be competitive in what can be an expensive world of open-wheel modified racing.
“We’re steadily working with it, working with it,” Greer said. “Changing shocks — if they go to modern shocks, we try to put on modern shocks, modern four bars, keep good tires on it, and that seems to get us up in the hunt a little bit.”
Greer runs a paintless, dent-repair business for his full-time job while Justin operates his own lawn-care business. Greer, who has lived in the Beebe area all his life, rides motorcycles as a hobby.
Greer and his family plan to continue racing at Beebe on Friday nights for the foreseeable future, though he has made some appearances this year at Conway County Super Speedway in Plumerville in the Butch Kee owned K1 car.
Greer admitted he sometimes gets tired of the weekly racing grind, but has ridden out those slumps for his family. He said his family is the one thing that makes it all worthwhile, but a good run certainly doesn’t hurt.
“It kind of happens in between weeks, when it’s real hot,” Greer said. “You crash the car, things don’t go too good. I could step out — just a long time doing it kind of wears on you. Then you do good, and you forget all about the burnout.”
Leader sportswriter
Drivers often talk about the thrill of weekend racing — the rush of showing up at the local short track with the family, trying to conquer the dirt and win a race.
But for veteran driver Todd Greer, his family is a big part of the thrill.
Greer, who lives in Romance and bases his operation in Beebe, has raced for 22 years, mostly at Beebe Speedway.
He won track championships in the mini-stock and street-stock divisions before moving up to the modified class eight years ago.
His family-based race team consists of his brothers and 20-year-old son Justin, who also serves as crew chief.
“They get more tickled about it than I do,” Greer said. “Just watching them about to crawl the fence with excitement while I’m racing — you don’t even have to win — it means a lot.”
The Greer family has had several opportunities to get excited in the first half of the season. In six starts Greer has four top-six finishes, including a pair of third-place runs.
His best shot at a victory ended in his worst finish of the year May 28. Greer won his heat race and earned the outside pole, but his car broke down while he was lining up for the feature.
“It’s such a high and such a low at the same time,” Greer said. “You start on the pole, you break before the race ever starts. So there you go.”
The track may have its ups and downs for Greer but his personal life is stable. He and his wife Jean have been married 28 years, since Todd was 18, and while Justin is the couple’s only child, Todd’s brothers helpfill out the racing operation.
“If it wasn’t for my son and my brothers, I wouldn’t race,” Greer said. “Because they come to the shop. We spend so many hours on the old car to make it run — you can’t do it by yourself.”
As for the car, Greer’s No. 77 modified is black with yellow numbers and a red border. His paint schemes over previous years have featured more blue, but the current graphics give the car a more classic look.
Also giving the car a classic look is its age. Greer drives one of the oldest modified chassis in the central Arkansas area, older than even many of the economy-modified chassis on the local circuit.
Greer has had the chassis for six seasons and confessed to not knowing the car’s actual age.
But Greer and his family still find a way to be competitive in what can be an expensive world of open-wheel modified racing.
“We’re steadily working with it, working with it,” Greer said. “Changing shocks — if they go to modern shocks, we try to put on modern shocks, modern four bars, keep good tires on it, and that seems to get us up in the hunt a little bit.”
Greer runs a paintless, dent-repair business for his full-time job while Justin operates his own lawn-care business. Greer, who has lived in the Beebe area all his life, rides motorcycles as a hobby.
Greer and his family plan to continue racing at Beebe on Friday nights for the foreseeable future, though he has made some appearances this year at Conway County Super Speedway in Plumerville in the Butch Kee owned K1 car.
Greer admitted he sometimes gets tired of the weekly racing grind, but has ridden out those slumps for his family. He said his family is the one thing that makes it all worthwhile, but a good run certainly doesn’t hurt.
“It kind of happens in between weeks, when it’s real hot,” Greer said. “You crash the car, things don’t go too good. I could step out — just a long time doing it kind of wears on you. Then you do good, and you forget all about the burnout.”
SPORTS>>Greer is family man on track
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Drivers often talk about the thrill of weekend racing — the rush of showing up at the local short track with the family, trying to conquer the dirt and win a race.
But for veteran driver Todd Greer, his family is a big part of the thrill.
Greer, who lives in Romance and bases his operation in Beebe, has raced for 22 years, mostly at Beebe Speedway.
He won track championships in the mini-stock and street-stock divisions before moving up to the modified class eight years ago.
His family-based race team consists of his brothers and 20-year-old son Justin, who also serves as crew chief.
“They get more tickled about it than I do,” Greer said. “Just watching them about to crawl the fence with excitement while I’m racing — you don’t even have to win — it means a lot.”
The Greer family has had several opportunities to get excited in the first half of the season. In six starts Greer has four top-six finishes, including a pair of third-place runs.
His best shot at a victory ended in his worst finish of the year May 28. Greer won his heat race and earned the outside pole, but his car broke down while he was lining up for the feature.
“It’s such a high and such a low at the same time,” Greer said. “You start on the pole, you break before the race ever starts. So there you go.”
The track may have its ups and downs for Greer but his personal life is stable. He and his wife Jean have been married 28 years, since Todd was 18, and while Justin is the couple’s only child, Todd’s brothers helpfill out the racing operation.
“If it wasn’t for my son and my brothers, I wouldn’t race,” Greer said. “Because they come to the shop. We spend so many hours on the old car to make it run — you can’t do it by yourself.”
As for the car, Greer’s No. 77 modified is black with yellow numbers and a red border. His paint schemes over previous years have featured more blue, but the current graphics give the car a more classic look.
Also giving the car a classic look is its age. Greer drives one of the oldest modified chassis in the central Arkansas area, older than even many of the economy-modified chassis on the local circuit.
Greer has had the chassis for six seasons and confessed to not knowing the car’s actual age.
But Greer and his family still find a way to be competitive in what can be an expensive world of open-wheel modified racing.
“We’re steadily working with it, working with it,” Greer said. “Changing shocks — if they go to modern shocks, we try to put on modern shocks, modern four bars, keep good tires on it, and that seems to get us up in the hunt a little bit.”
Greer runs a paintless, dent-repair business for his full-time job while Justin operates his own lawn-care business. Greer, who has lived in the Beebe area all his life, rides motorcycles as a hobby.
Greer and his family plan to continue racing at Beebe on Friday nights for the foreseeable future, though he has made some appearances this year at Conway County Super Speedway in Plumerville in the Butch Kee owned K1 car.
Greer admitted he sometimes gets tired of the weekly racing grind, but has ridden out those slumps for his family. He said his family is the one thing that makes it all worthwhile, but a good run certainly doesn’t hurt.
“It kind of happens in between weeks, when it’s real hot,” Greer said. “You crash the car, things don’t go too good. I could step out — just a long time doing it kind of wears on you. Then you do good, and you forget all about the burnout.”
Leader sportswriter
Drivers often talk about the thrill of weekend racing — the rush of showing up at the local short track with the family, trying to conquer the dirt and win a race.
But for veteran driver Todd Greer, his family is a big part of the thrill.
Greer, who lives in Romance and bases his operation in Beebe, has raced for 22 years, mostly at Beebe Speedway.
He won track championships in the mini-stock and street-stock divisions before moving up to the modified class eight years ago.
His family-based race team consists of his brothers and 20-year-old son Justin, who also serves as crew chief.
“They get more tickled about it than I do,” Greer said. “Just watching them about to crawl the fence with excitement while I’m racing — you don’t even have to win — it means a lot.”
The Greer family has had several opportunities to get excited in the first half of the season. In six starts Greer has four top-six finishes, including a pair of third-place runs.
His best shot at a victory ended in his worst finish of the year May 28. Greer won his heat race and earned the outside pole, but his car broke down while he was lining up for the feature.
“It’s such a high and such a low at the same time,” Greer said. “You start on the pole, you break before the race ever starts. So there you go.”
The track may have its ups and downs for Greer but his personal life is stable. He and his wife Jean have been married 28 years, since Todd was 18, and while Justin is the couple’s only child, Todd’s brothers helpfill out the racing operation.
“If it wasn’t for my son and my brothers, I wouldn’t race,” Greer said. “Because they come to the shop. We spend so many hours on the old car to make it run — you can’t do it by yourself.”
As for the car, Greer’s No. 77 modified is black with yellow numbers and a red border. His paint schemes over previous years have featured more blue, but the current graphics give the car a more classic look.
Also giving the car a classic look is its age. Greer drives one of the oldest modified chassis in the central Arkansas area, older than even many of the economy-modified chassis on the local circuit.
Greer has had the chassis for six seasons and confessed to not knowing the car’s actual age.
But Greer and his family still find a way to be competitive in what can be an expensive world of open-wheel modified racing.
“We’re steadily working with it, working with it,” Greer said. “Changing shocks — if they go to modern shocks, we try to put on modern shocks, modern four bars, keep good tires on it, and that seems to get us up in the hunt a little bit.”
Greer runs a paintless, dent-repair business for his full-time job while Justin operates his own lawn-care business. Greer, who has lived in the Beebe area all his life, rides motorcycles as a hobby.
Greer and his family plan to continue racing at Beebe on Friday nights for the foreseeable future, though he has made some appearances this year at Conway County Super Speedway in Plumerville in the Butch Kee owned K1 car.
Greer admitted he sometimes gets tired of the weekly racing grind, but has ridden out those slumps for his family. He said his family is the one thing that makes it all worthwhile, but a good run certainly doesn’t hurt.
“It kind of happens in between weeks, when it’s real hot,” Greer said. “You crash the car, things don’t go too good. I could step out — just a long time doing it kind of wears on you. Then you do good, and you forget all about the burnout.”
SPORTS>>Local shines in shootout
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Local drivers dominated the racing card at Beebe Speedway on Friday night.
The factory-stock A-main feature came down to a trio of hometown drivers, while Cabot’s Mike Millwood took his third straight victory in the mini-stock feature.
Another Beebe driver came up big in the E-mod feature when Tommy Burkhead, one of few drivers able to keep his nose clean, won his first feature race of the year. Searcy’s Gage Raines won the hobby feature.
E-mods and turns one and two added up to disaster, as the economy feature came down to a one-lap shootout after six failed attempts to start the race.
Beebe’s Blake Jones and Searcy’s Lane Cullum started on the front row after winning the first and second heats. Jones had a lot to gain from his starting spot after points leader Robert Woodard broke down in the heats and was a no-show for the feature.
There were three attempts at an initial start, but the drivers couldn’t complete a full lap without a wreck. That made the next restart single-file, which ended with another caution on lap two.
Jones jumped out to the lead on the initial start, but a caution when Kyle Russell’s car stalled to bring out the yellow caution flag and force another double-file start. Cullum took the advantage on the first complete restart, but that was negated whenTodd Joslin’s No. 81 car stopped on the backstretch.
The complexion of the race changed completely on the next complete restart when Jones and Cullum made contact and spun in turn one. Both cars were able to continue but went to the back of the line on the single-file restart.
That moved Jay Jenkins to the point with Burkhead behind him in second. Burkhead was able to execute a pass for the lead on the first lap of the restart before the yellow flag waved again on the next circuit, this time for a three-car incident involving Kelton Sanders, Jerry McIntire and Doyle Ainsworth.
Burkhead drove conservatively once he took the lead, as Beebe driver Ryan Redmond worked past Jenkins for second on the next restart. The sixth caution came out on the third lap when fourth-place runner Chris Dollarhide spun in turn three.
Instead of waving a green-white-checkered flag to finish, flagman Gary Stephens showed his disgust with the field by waving the white flag to begin the final restart, reducing the race to a one-lap shootout.
Redman challenged Burkhead on the final lap, but Burkhead kept his black 2B machine in the middle of the track to hold his line and prevent Redman from building momentum. Cullum worked his way through the mess to a thirdplace finish, while
Jones’ night went from bad to worse when his F3 car came to a stop on the backstretch on the final lap.
Jenkins fell to fourth in the final rundown while Joey Gee completed the top five.
Curtis “Hollywood” Cook won the modified feature after starting seventh in the nine-car field.
Veteran Mike Bowers started from the pole but shut down entering turn one on lap two to bring out the caution flag. Bowers went to the pits and came back on, but pulled into the infield mid-way through the race as the only retiree.
Robert Baker assumed the lead for the restart, but soon faced a challenge from Beebe’s Jody Jackson. Jackson made his way around Donnie Stingfellow on the restart and took the lead from Baker on lap four.
Cook was right in Jackson’s tracks until he looked inside of the leader on the eighth circuit. Jackson’s line prevented Cook from making a move inside, so the driver of the No. 601 car moved up top and took the lead on the next lap.
Points leader Randy Weaver made his way up to second with four to go when he gave Jackson a nudge out of turn four, but Cook had already pulled out to a straightaway lead by that time.
Jackson held on for third while early leader Baker had to settle for fourth. Romance’s Todd Greer completed the top five.
Gage Raines dominated the hobby feature to take a flag-to-flag victory ahead of Jacksonville’s Todd Sherrill and Dan Blanchard, while Beebe’s Ricky Wilhite won the factory feature when early frontrunners Larry Wise and Jacob Kurtz, also of
Beebe, made contact entering turn one and spun out.
Danny Garringer had a quiet second-place run while Wise recovered and finished third.
Mike Millwood has gone from sentimental favorite to class dominator in the mini-stocks. Millwood earned fast qualifier in the heats and never looked back from his top starting spot in the feature. Beebe’s Jim Atcheson briefly challenged for the lead, but Millwood pulled away for his third-straight victory ahead of Atcheson and Paul Shackleford. Millwood also won in Plumerville on Saturday.
Lynn McDonald won Friday’s powder-puff race.
Leader sportswriter
Local drivers dominated the racing card at Beebe Speedway on Friday night.
The factory-stock A-main feature came down to a trio of hometown drivers, while Cabot’s Mike Millwood took his third straight victory in the mini-stock feature.
Another Beebe driver came up big in the E-mod feature when Tommy Burkhead, one of few drivers able to keep his nose clean, won his first feature race of the year. Searcy’s Gage Raines won the hobby feature.
E-mods and turns one and two added up to disaster, as the economy feature came down to a one-lap shootout after six failed attempts to start the race.
Beebe’s Blake Jones and Searcy’s Lane Cullum started on the front row after winning the first and second heats. Jones had a lot to gain from his starting spot after points leader Robert Woodard broke down in the heats and was a no-show for the feature.
There were three attempts at an initial start, but the drivers couldn’t complete a full lap without a wreck. That made the next restart single-file, which ended with another caution on lap two.
Jones jumped out to the lead on the initial start, but a caution when Kyle Russell’s car stalled to bring out the yellow caution flag and force another double-file start. Cullum took the advantage on the first complete restart, but that was negated whenTodd Joslin’s No. 81 car stopped on the backstretch.
The complexion of the race changed completely on the next complete restart when Jones and Cullum made contact and spun in turn one. Both cars were able to continue but went to the back of the line on the single-file restart.
That moved Jay Jenkins to the point with Burkhead behind him in second. Burkhead was able to execute a pass for the lead on the first lap of the restart before the yellow flag waved again on the next circuit, this time for a three-car incident involving Kelton Sanders, Jerry McIntire and Doyle Ainsworth.
Burkhead drove conservatively once he took the lead, as Beebe driver Ryan Redmond worked past Jenkins for second on the next restart. The sixth caution came out on the third lap when fourth-place runner Chris Dollarhide spun in turn three.
Instead of waving a green-white-checkered flag to finish, flagman Gary Stephens showed his disgust with the field by waving the white flag to begin the final restart, reducing the race to a one-lap shootout.
Redman challenged Burkhead on the final lap, but Burkhead kept his black 2B machine in the middle of the track to hold his line and prevent Redman from building momentum. Cullum worked his way through the mess to a thirdplace finish, while
Jones’ night went from bad to worse when his F3 car came to a stop on the backstretch on the final lap.
Jenkins fell to fourth in the final rundown while Joey Gee completed the top five.
Curtis “Hollywood” Cook won the modified feature after starting seventh in the nine-car field.
Veteran Mike Bowers started from the pole but shut down entering turn one on lap two to bring out the caution flag. Bowers went to the pits and came back on, but pulled into the infield mid-way through the race as the only retiree.
Robert Baker assumed the lead for the restart, but soon faced a challenge from Beebe’s Jody Jackson. Jackson made his way around Donnie Stingfellow on the restart and took the lead from Baker on lap four.
Cook was right in Jackson’s tracks until he looked inside of the leader on the eighth circuit. Jackson’s line prevented Cook from making a move inside, so the driver of the No. 601 car moved up top and took the lead on the next lap.
Points leader Randy Weaver made his way up to second with four to go when he gave Jackson a nudge out of turn four, but Cook had already pulled out to a straightaway lead by that time.
Jackson held on for third while early leader Baker had to settle for fourth. Romance’s Todd Greer completed the top five.
Gage Raines dominated the hobby feature to take a flag-to-flag victory ahead of Jacksonville’s Todd Sherrill and Dan Blanchard, while Beebe’s Ricky Wilhite won the factory feature when early frontrunners Larry Wise and Jacob Kurtz, also of
Beebe, made contact entering turn one and spun out.
Danny Garringer had a quiet second-place run while Wise recovered and finished third.
Mike Millwood has gone from sentimental favorite to class dominator in the mini-stocks. Millwood earned fast qualifier in the heats and never looked back from his top starting spot in the feature. Beebe’s Jim Atcheson briefly challenged for the lead, but Millwood pulled away for his third-straight victory ahead of Atcheson and Paul Shackleford. Millwood also won in Plumerville on Saturday.
Lynn McDonald won Friday’s powder-puff race.
SPORTS>>Whatley departs Devils for Bulldogs
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Mark Whatley is stepping down as head football coach at Jacksonville High School.
Whatley announced this week he is leaving the Red Devils to sign on as offensive coordinator at Springdale High School under new head coach Shane Patrick.
Whatley’s departure adds to a list of coaching vacancies at Jacksonville, but he is the only boys coach in the group.
Whatley is leaving more than just a coaching job. Jacksonville High School is also Whatley’s alma mater, where he was a part of the Red Devils’ most recent state championship football team in 1981.
“The toughest thing is to leave your home town, and young people that you care about,” Whatley said. “There are a lot of kids I’m going to miss, but I had an opportunity to make a move to a place that’s special in athletics and special in academics. It’s tough to do, but sometimes you have to do what’s best for your family, and I feel like this is what’s best.”
Whatley, who took over for longtime Jacksonville coach Johnny Watson following the 2004 season, led the Red Devils to three state playoff appearances in 2005, 2006 — when they won a share of the 6A-East Conference championship — and 2008.
Whatley is 23-31 in five years at Jacksonville and 114-105-2 overall.
“He gave me the courtesy and respect to let me know what was going on,” Jacksonville athletic director Jerry Wilson said. “I respect him for that. It’s obviously a loss for us and a gain for them.”
At Springdale, Whatley will join Patrick, who was head coach at 6A-East member Mountain Home for seven years. Patrick, who led the Bombers to a state championship in 2006, got the job at Springdale in January after former coach Kevin Johnson stepped down because of health issues.
Whatley spoke with Patrick last week and met with the Springdale administration before accepting the offer.
Patrick and Whatley will attempt to return tradition to a Springdale program that was dominant in the first half of the decade.
The Bulldogs captured national attention in 2005 with quarterback Mitch Mustain and coach Gus Malzahn, now offensive coordinator at Auburn.
The Bulldogs mercy ruled every opponent that season and went 14-0 on their way to a AAAAA state championship.
But the Johnson regime was not as successful. In four seasons, Johnson coached Springdale to a 19-22 record with first-round playoff exits in 2008 and 2009.
With just over a month before football practice begins in August, Wilson said Jacksonville will have to move quickly to find Whatley’s replacement, but said it was good timing on Whatley’s part to announce his departure at the start of a two-week athletic dead period.
“He sort of helped me out and gave me the heads up,” Wilson said. “He was very up front about the whole process. He was real professional, and I appreciate that.
“I don’t want to say it will be a quick process with a 10-day posting period, but I will say it won’t be drawn out but won’t be overnight either.”
Once Whatley hands over an official letter of resignation, the Pulaski County Special School District will post the vacancy and give those interested 10 days to apply. Wilson said none of the current members of the football staff had so far expressed interest in being promoted, but also said he expected to hear from some of them.
“I’ve given Jacksonville everything I had,” Whatley said. “I tried to do what was best for the kids and the program. I tried to be fair with the way I dealt with the situation, and I hope they feel the same way.”
Leader sportswriter
Mark Whatley is stepping down as head football coach at Jacksonville High School.
Whatley announced this week he is leaving the Red Devils to sign on as offensive coordinator at Springdale High School under new head coach Shane Patrick.
Whatley’s departure adds to a list of coaching vacancies at Jacksonville, but he is the only boys coach in the group.
Whatley is leaving more than just a coaching job. Jacksonville High School is also Whatley’s alma mater, where he was a part of the Red Devils’ most recent state championship football team in 1981.
“The toughest thing is to leave your home town, and young people that you care about,” Whatley said. “There are a lot of kids I’m going to miss, but I had an opportunity to make a move to a place that’s special in athletics and special in academics. It’s tough to do, but sometimes you have to do what’s best for your family, and I feel like this is what’s best.”
Whatley, who took over for longtime Jacksonville coach Johnny Watson following the 2004 season, led the Red Devils to three state playoff appearances in 2005, 2006 — when they won a share of the 6A-East Conference championship — and 2008.
Whatley is 23-31 in five years at Jacksonville and 114-105-2 overall.
“He gave me the courtesy and respect to let me know what was going on,” Jacksonville athletic director Jerry Wilson said. “I respect him for that. It’s obviously a loss for us and a gain for them.”
At Springdale, Whatley will join Patrick, who was head coach at 6A-East member Mountain Home for seven years. Patrick, who led the Bombers to a state championship in 2006, got the job at Springdale in January after former coach Kevin Johnson stepped down because of health issues.
Whatley spoke with Patrick last week and met with the Springdale administration before accepting the offer.
Patrick and Whatley will attempt to return tradition to a Springdale program that was dominant in the first half of the decade.
The Bulldogs captured national attention in 2005 with quarterback Mitch Mustain and coach Gus Malzahn, now offensive coordinator at Auburn.
The Bulldogs mercy ruled every opponent that season and went 14-0 on their way to a AAAAA state championship.
But the Johnson regime was not as successful. In four seasons, Johnson coached Springdale to a 19-22 record with first-round playoff exits in 2008 and 2009.
With just over a month before football practice begins in August, Wilson said Jacksonville will have to move quickly to find Whatley’s replacement, but said it was good timing on Whatley’s part to announce his departure at the start of a two-week athletic dead period.
“He sort of helped me out and gave me the heads up,” Wilson said. “He was very up front about the whole process. He was real professional, and I appreciate that.
“I don’t want to say it will be a quick process with a 10-day posting period, but I will say it won’t be drawn out but won’t be overnight either.”
Once Whatley hands over an official letter of resignation, the Pulaski County Special School District will post the vacancy and give those interested 10 days to apply. Wilson said none of the current members of the football staff had so far expressed interest in being promoted, but also said he expected to hear from some of them.
“I’ve given Jacksonville everything I had,” Whatley said. “I tried to do what was best for the kids and the program. I tried to be fair with the way I dealt with the situation, and I hope they feel the same way.”
Friday, June 18, 2010
SPORTS>>Barron developing game, leadership for upcoming year
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The adjustment process at North Pulaski is ongoing.
The Falcons had to adjust to a new head coach in former Jacksonville High School defensive coordinator Rick Russell before the 2009 season, and now, in Russell’s second year, they will be adjusting to a new offense.
North Pulaski is moving from the run-based Wing-T to a full-blown passing offense in the Spread.
That puts quarterback Shyheim Barron in the eye of the storm, but the 6-0, 175-pound junior says he is up to the task, and his coach agrees.
“Last year we had a running philosophy,” Russell said. “This season, we’re going to go to the spread offense and throwing. And he can run it and he can throw it. I’m pleased with where he’s at right now.”
Barron earned the starting job last year and quickly established himself as a dual threat.
“I like to pass and run, and we have some good receivers, so I’ll try to get them the ball,” Barron said. “We do a lot of running.
Our passing, if I don’t have it, I’ll run.”
Barron and the Falcons began the switch to a more pass-based style in the spring, and are now part of an informal, four-team, 7-on-7 summer league played on selected Wednesdays at Cabot’s Panther Stadium.
The league, which concludes play in July, gives North Pulaski four weeks to face different defenses. The Falcons are also keeping fit in the weight room as August two-a-days draw near.
“It’s been going good,” Barron said. “We’ve been getting a lot of practice in and getting in shape, getting stronger. Coach has us on the weights every day.
“We’ve got some new linemen in, so we might have a chance to get some wins and get to the playoffs.”
Barron reeled off a number of accurate passes in the Falcons’ opening 7-on-7 game against Hazen at Panther Stadium on Wednesday. But most of those well-placed spirals were dropped, and the productivity of North Pulaski’s offense deteriorated as the night went on.
“Shyheim threw some good balls early,” Russell said. “He got a little frustrated when they didn’t catch them, and then he started forcing some things. We’re going to the spread, and this summer was for him to learn coverages. He’s developing each and every week.”
Barron performed well in his sophomore season, but his youth was a disadvantage when it came to providing leadership on the field. Now that he has spent a year as a starter and has improved confidence, Barron’s leadership should be significantly improved, Russell said.
Wednesday was a test of Barron’s resolve and composure after a number of early passes for potentially good yardage were bobbled.
“His performance tonight was based on the missed balls early,” Russell said. “A lot of them should have been caught. If they had been caught, it would probably have been a totally different attitude after the night was done.”
Although 7-on-7 is regarded as mostly a practice-type situation, Russell said lessons could be learned just as easily as when the high school season starts.
“If that happens on a Friday night, you’ve got to be able to go to the next play,” Russell said. “You’ve got to have a short memory. And that’s what he got out of tonight. There’s going to be games where those receivers make him look like a superstar. Then there’s going to be those games where early, it’s not going to be there. Tonight was a real good thing for him.”
The Falcons will play at Cabot two more times in early July before daily fall practices begin in August. But the process of adjustment and improvement for Barron will be non-stop.
“I’m going to work out and get my arm stronger,” Barron said. “I work out every day, and I play basketball during the summer too.”
Leader sportswriter
The adjustment process at North Pulaski is ongoing.
The Falcons had to adjust to a new head coach in former Jacksonville High School defensive coordinator Rick Russell before the 2009 season, and now, in Russell’s second year, they will be adjusting to a new offense.
North Pulaski is moving from the run-based Wing-T to a full-blown passing offense in the Spread.
That puts quarterback Shyheim Barron in the eye of the storm, but the 6-0, 175-pound junior says he is up to the task, and his coach agrees.
“Last year we had a running philosophy,” Russell said. “This season, we’re going to go to the spread offense and throwing. And he can run it and he can throw it. I’m pleased with where he’s at right now.”
Barron earned the starting job last year and quickly established himself as a dual threat.
“I like to pass and run, and we have some good receivers, so I’ll try to get them the ball,” Barron said. “We do a lot of running.
Our passing, if I don’t have it, I’ll run.”
Barron and the Falcons began the switch to a more pass-based style in the spring, and are now part of an informal, four-team, 7-on-7 summer league played on selected Wednesdays at Cabot’s Panther Stadium.
The league, which concludes play in July, gives North Pulaski four weeks to face different defenses. The Falcons are also keeping fit in the weight room as August two-a-days draw near.
“It’s been going good,” Barron said. “We’ve been getting a lot of practice in and getting in shape, getting stronger. Coach has us on the weights every day.
“We’ve got some new linemen in, so we might have a chance to get some wins and get to the playoffs.”
Barron reeled off a number of accurate passes in the Falcons’ opening 7-on-7 game against Hazen at Panther Stadium on Wednesday. But most of those well-placed spirals were dropped, and the productivity of North Pulaski’s offense deteriorated as the night went on.
“Shyheim threw some good balls early,” Russell said. “He got a little frustrated when they didn’t catch them, and then he started forcing some things. We’re going to the spread, and this summer was for him to learn coverages. He’s developing each and every week.”
Barron performed well in his sophomore season, but his youth was a disadvantage when it came to providing leadership on the field. Now that he has spent a year as a starter and has improved confidence, Barron’s leadership should be significantly improved, Russell said.
Wednesday was a test of Barron’s resolve and composure after a number of early passes for potentially good yardage were bobbled.
“His performance tonight was based on the missed balls early,” Russell said. “A lot of them should have been caught. If they had been caught, it would probably have been a totally different attitude after the night was done.”
Although 7-on-7 is regarded as mostly a practice-type situation, Russell said lessons could be learned just as easily as when the high school season starts.
“If that happens on a Friday night, you’ve got to be able to go to the next play,” Russell said. “You’ve got to have a short memory. And that’s what he got out of tonight. There’s going to be games where those receivers make him look like a superstar. Then there’s going to be those games where early, it’s not going to be there. Tonight was a real good thing for him.”
The Falcons will play at Cabot two more times in early July before daily fall practices begin in August. But the process of adjustment and improvement for Barron will be non-stop.
“I’m going to work out and get my arm stronger,” Barron said. “I work out every day, and I play basketball during the summer too.”
SPORTS>>Veteran pro played Hogan, still active
By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
When his all-expenses-paid government vacation ended, Tom Hanson had just about had his fill of the great outdoors.
Just about.
Hanson, 81, is still helping out at the revamped Greens of North Hills Golf Course in Sherwood, where he was head pro from 1962-1985. Hanson is as happy on a golf course as the day he left the U.S. Army and 21 miserable months in the field in the early 1950s.
“After that, the only outdoors I liked were on a golf course,” Hanson said. “They talk about camping and fishing and hunting and I was like ‘No thanks, I’ve been through that.’ ”
Hanson assists his one-time apprentice Dawn Darter, who hasreturned to the now-public North Hills as head pro. It’s a way for Hanson to stay connected to the game he has loved since his amateur success in pre-WWII Kansas.
Hanson was born in Emporia, Kan., and began caddying in Wichita in 1940.
He said a golfer’s education came primarily through caddy training programs, which allowed the young men to play on Mondays but also taught them the rules and etiquette they would need when working for their 75-cent fees the rest of the week.
“If you knocked yourself out and didn’t lose a ball you might get a dime tip,” said Hanson who worked his way up through a pool of 60 or so “boys,” many of them grown family men and veteran, first-list caddies.
The war soon siphoned off the military-aged men and gave Hanson a chance to earn money.
He also recalled a 1944 exhibition by the legendary Byron Nelson, who paid a princely $50 for a dozen pre-war Spalding Dot balls, whose production had been suspended for the war effort.
For perspective, the suggested retail price of a dozen of today’s Titleist Pro V1 balls is approximately $50.
Hanson won the Kansas high school championship in 1945, played in the men’s state amateur in Salinas in 1946 and won the state caddy tournament that year. He played a year at Wichita State and then embraced the life of a club pro when he began assisting head pro Gene O’Brien at Wichita’s Rolling Hills Country Club in the spring of 1948.
Hanson remembers O’Brien for his teaching ability and people skills.
“One of the best club professionals there ever was,” Hanson said.
Hanson’s stay at Rolling Hills ended in November 1950 thanks to the U.S. government.
“I worked with Gene for about two years and then Uncle Sam invited me to spend two years with them and I graciously consented,” Hanson said.
The Korean War had been under way since June, but Hanson took his chances in the draft in November and two years in the Army rather than volunteering for three years in the Air Force.
The Army assigned him to a topographic engineer battalion and Hanson spent 21 of his 24 months outdoors dealing with map-plotting problems and, for one summer, Alaska’s Jeep-swallowing mud and clouds of mosquitoes.
Yet Hanson knew he was lucky not to be in Korea. A bout with the measles put him in an Army hospital in San Francisco in 1951, and Hanson saw hundreds of war casualties, many of them frostbite victims.
“These boys had all lost either one or both feet to frostbite,” Hanson said. “It was a very sobering experience there and again I was extremely lucky to get by like I did.”
Hanson returned to Rolling Hills after the service and on July 13, 1954, he teamed with O’Brien in an exhibition to play PGA legend Ben Hogan and Roland Harper, one of Hanson’s former high school opponents and an assistant pro.
The four teed off in 114-degree heat before a crowd of 1,500, and 18 holes later Hanson and O’Brien finished 8 under, two strokes better than Hogan and Harper.
“We tried for a month to get a bet and they just laughed at us,” Hanson said.
However, Hogan — coming off his Masters, U.S. and British Open victories of 1953 — didn’t disappoint as he shot an individual 5-under 67 to flirt with the course record.
Hanson thought about becoming a touring pro but didn’t think he could find the financial backing. After working at or operating courses in Oklahoma, he arrived in Arkansas in 1962 as head pro at North Hills Country Club.
He started a popular pro-am, then became head pro at Pleasant Valley in Little Rock from 1985-92. Hanson has since bounced around teaching and giving lessons, and he was happy to return to North Hills to do whatever he can to help out Darter.
“I’m in awe of that girl. I just stay out of her way,” Hanson said.
Hanson gives lessons, supervises the volunteer starters and still tries to provide the quality care he learned from O’Brien.
“You give them a little service, you take care of them and give them a smile,” Hanson said.
Leader sports editor
When his all-expenses-paid government vacation ended, Tom Hanson had just about had his fill of the great outdoors.
Just about.
Hanson, 81, is still helping out at the revamped Greens of North Hills Golf Course in Sherwood, where he was head pro from 1962-1985. Hanson is as happy on a golf course as the day he left the U.S. Army and 21 miserable months in the field in the early 1950s.
“After that, the only outdoors I liked were on a golf course,” Hanson said. “They talk about camping and fishing and hunting and I was like ‘No thanks, I’ve been through that.’ ”
Hanson assists his one-time apprentice Dawn Darter, who hasreturned to the now-public North Hills as head pro. It’s a way for Hanson to stay connected to the game he has loved since his amateur success in pre-WWII Kansas.
Hanson was born in Emporia, Kan., and began caddying in Wichita in 1940.
He said a golfer’s education came primarily through caddy training programs, which allowed the young men to play on Mondays but also taught them the rules and etiquette they would need when working for their 75-cent fees the rest of the week.
“If you knocked yourself out and didn’t lose a ball you might get a dime tip,” said Hanson who worked his way up through a pool of 60 or so “boys,” many of them grown family men and veteran, first-list caddies.
The war soon siphoned off the military-aged men and gave Hanson a chance to earn money.
He also recalled a 1944 exhibition by the legendary Byron Nelson, who paid a princely $50 for a dozen pre-war Spalding Dot balls, whose production had been suspended for the war effort.
For perspective, the suggested retail price of a dozen of today’s Titleist Pro V1 balls is approximately $50.
Hanson won the Kansas high school championship in 1945, played in the men’s state amateur in Salinas in 1946 and won the state caddy tournament that year. He played a year at Wichita State and then embraced the life of a club pro when he began assisting head pro Gene O’Brien at Wichita’s Rolling Hills Country Club in the spring of 1948.
Hanson remembers O’Brien for his teaching ability and people skills.
“One of the best club professionals there ever was,” Hanson said.
Hanson’s stay at Rolling Hills ended in November 1950 thanks to the U.S. government.
“I worked with Gene for about two years and then Uncle Sam invited me to spend two years with them and I graciously consented,” Hanson said.
The Korean War had been under way since June, but Hanson took his chances in the draft in November and two years in the Army rather than volunteering for three years in the Air Force.
The Army assigned him to a topographic engineer battalion and Hanson spent 21 of his 24 months outdoors dealing with map-plotting problems and, for one summer, Alaska’s Jeep-swallowing mud and clouds of mosquitoes.
Yet Hanson knew he was lucky not to be in Korea. A bout with the measles put him in an Army hospital in San Francisco in 1951, and Hanson saw hundreds of war casualties, many of them frostbite victims.
“These boys had all lost either one or both feet to frostbite,” Hanson said. “It was a very sobering experience there and again I was extremely lucky to get by like I did.”
Hanson returned to Rolling Hills after the service and on July 13, 1954, he teamed with O’Brien in an exhibition to play PGA legend Ben Hogan and Roland Harper, one of Hanson’s former high school opponents and an assistant pro.
The four teed off in 114-degree heat before a crowd of 1,500, and 18 holes later Hanson and O’Brien finished 8 under, two strokes better than Hogan and Harper.
“We tried for a month to get a bet and they just laughed at us,” Hanson said.
However, Hogan — coming off his Masters, U.S. and British Open victories of 1953 — didn’t disappoint as he shot an individual 5-under 67 to flirt with the course record.
Hanson thought about becoming a touring pro but didn’t think he could find the financial backing. After working at or operating courses in Oklahoma, he arrived in Arkansas in 1962 as head pro at North Hills Country Club.
He started a popular pro-am, then became head pro at Pleasant Valley in Little Rock from 1985-92. Hanson has since bounced around teaching and giving lessons, and he was happy to return to North Hills to do whatever he can to help out Darter.
“I’m in awe of that girl. I just stay out of her way,” Hanson said.
Hanson gives lessons, supervises the volunteer starters and still tries to provide the quality care he learned from O’Brien.
“You give them a little service, you take care of them and give them a smile,” Hanson said.
SPORTS>>Darter back at North Hills
By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
Dawn Darter isn’t just at home on the golf course. The course is her childhood home.
Darter, 50, has returned to the course where she grew up, Sherwood’s newly renovated The Greens at North Hills, to serve as the course pro.
Darter’s childhood home, where her parents Dawn and Gene Barlow still live, is on hole No. 6, and the former country club, which officially reopened as a public course May 29, is where Darter developed her game and apprenticed as a club pro under veteran Tom Hanson in the early 1980s.
“I just played every day,” said Darter, a 1977 graduate of Mount St. Mary, in Little Rock, and a three-time Arkansas high school state champion.
Darter’s warm feelings toward The Greens at North Hills stem not only from her upbringing on the course but from the warm reception she got from the mostly male golfers around her.
“They all embraced me as one of their own,” Darter said. “It was very nice. To this day they’re all my good friends.”
Darter was a medalist in the state women’s amateur at age 15-16 and earned a golf scholarship to the University of Oklahoma
as the school’s first out-of-state athlete to participate under Title IX.
As part of the Educational Amendments of 1972, Title IX banned sex discrimination in athletics and academics at schools receiving federal funds.
“I saw opportunities as a golfer,” Darter said. “If I wanted to play sports for a living, I had an avenue.”
Darter worked at being a touring pro after college, until she was 21.
“There wasn’t enough money out there to chase and I didn’t want to wake up later and see that I wasted 20 years of my life,” Darter said.
So Darter married her love of golf with the life of the club pro and apprenticed under Hanson, a one-time standout junior golfer in Kansas and a veteran of North Hills himself.
“Tommy was a great role model,” Darter said.
Darter learned aspects of course management that included operation of the pro shop, merchandising, assigning carts, giving lessons and the oh-so-important scheduling of tee times that keeps play from bogging down.
Darter left North Hills to become head pro at Jacksonville’s Foxwood Country Club from 1982-85, then she moved on to Blytheville before taking the pro job at Black Mountain Golf and Country Club in Henderson, Nev.
From 2004 until February, Darter was the director of golf at Wild Horse Golf Club, which she opened as Henderson’s first municipal course on which players averaged between 60and 65,000 rounds a year.
But Darter had always been interested in her old home course in Sherwood, even when the facility was closed for three years.
Darter said she tried to let people in Sherwood know she was interested in North Hills and didn’t want to see the place fall into decay and disrepair.
So when plans were set in motion to renovate and reopen the 106-acre North Hills Country Club at a cost of $7 million, which included overcoming several legal hurdles, Darter left the dry heat of Nevada for the humidity of her native Arkansas.
“This property holds a lot of sentimental value to me,” Darter said. “This is the only property I would have left Nevada for.”
Darter isn’t the only person enjoying a homecoming at The Greens at North Hills.
Hanson, who at 81 assists Darter any way he can, is the former club pro and Mandel Brockington, who worked there as a teenager, is the golf superintendent.
“We’re not just looking for money,” Darter said. “We’re not just looking for paid greens fees. We’re looking for people to play golf.”
With the course opening in late spring during peak golfing weather, The Greens at North Hills had some catching up to do.
Darter initially spent 15-hour days on her duties and staff training.
Darter said the course is averaging 100 golfers a day and she would be happy if, with the late start, it could finish the year with 28,000 rounds played.
“This is where we set our trends,” Darter said.
The Greens at North Hills is a public course, like the one Darter left in Nevada, and while it offers rental space for receptions and meetings, there is no longer a pool or tennis courts. However. the objective is to enhance the public-course, golf experience with certain country club-style amenities.
Golfers are met in the parking lot and have their bags carried to the cart area, a full-service bar and restaurant sit next to the pro shop and the course requires tee times seven days a week and allows no individual play.
Darter said the tee times are especially important in maintaining the PGA-rated course’s pace of play at four hours and 15 minutes for 18 holes. Also, Darter’s staff pairs lone golfers with twosomes or threesomes to avoid slow play.
“You’ve got to look at a golf course as a highway,” Darter said.
“Traffic backs up. The car- pool lane moves because there are more people in the car,” she added.
There is another benefit to pairing off stray golfers, Darter said.
It’s one of the reasons she has loved the game since she took it up at age 5.
“It’s a social game,” she said. “It’s a game for all ages. You can pair the youngest guy with the oldest guy and they’ll have a great time.”
Leader sports editor
Dawn Darter isn’t just at home on the golf course. The course is her childhood home.
Darter, 50, has returned to the course where she grew up, Sherwood’s newly renovated The Greens at North Hills, to serve as the course pro.
Darter’s childhood home, where her parents Dawn and Gene Barlow still live, is on hole No. 6, and the former country club, which officially reopened as a public course May 29, is where Darter developed her game and apprenticed as a club pro under veteran Tom Hanson in the early 1980s.
“I just played every day,” said Darter, a 1977 graduate of Mount St. Mary, in Little Rock, and a three-time Arkansas high school state champion.
Darter’s warm feelings toward The Greens at North Hills stem not only from her upbringing on the course but from the warm reception she got from the mostly male golfers around her.
“They all embraced me as one of their own,” Darter said. “It was very nice. To this day they’re all my good friends.”
Darter was a medalist in the state women’s amateur at age 15-16 and earned a golf scholarship to the University of Oklahoma
as the school’s first out-of-state athlete to participate under Title IX.
As part of the Educational Amendments of 1972, Title IX banned sex discrimination in athletics and academics at schools receiving federal funds.
“I saw opportunities as a golfer,” Darter said. “If I wanted to play sports for a living, I had an avenue.”
Darter worked at being a touring pro after college, until she was 21.
“There wasn’t enough money out there to chase and I didn’t want to wake up later and see that I wasted 20 years of my life,” Darter said.
So Darter married her love of golf with the life of the club pro and apprenticed under Hanson, a one-time standout junior golfer in Kansas and a veteran of North Hills himself.
“Tommy was a great role model,” Darter said.
Darter learned aspects of course management that included operation of the pro shop, merchandising, assigning carts, giving lessons and the oh-so-important scheduling of tee times that keeps play from bogging down.
Darter left North Hills to become head pro at Jacksonville’s Foxwood Country Club from 1982-85, then she moved on to Blytheville before taking the pro job at Black Mountain Golf and Country Club in Henderson, Nev.
From 2004 until February, Darter was the director of golf at Wild Horse Golf Club, which she opened as Henderson’s first municipal course on which players averaged between 60and 65,000 rounds a year.
But Darter had always been interested in her old home course in Sherwood, even when the facility was closed for three years.
Darter said she tried to let people in Sherwood know she was interested in North Hills and didn’t want to see the place fall into decay and disrepair.
So when plans were set in motion to renovate and reopen the 106-acre North Hills Country Club at a cost of $7 million, which included overcoming several legal hurdles, Darter left the dry heat of Nevada for the humidity of her native Arkansas.
“This property holds a lot of sentimental value to me,” Darter said. “This is the only property I would have left Nevada for.”
Darter isn’t the only person enjoying a homecoming at The Greens at North Hills.
Hanson, who at 81 assists Darter any way he can, is the former club pro and Mandel Brockington, who worked there as a teenager, is the golf superintendent.
“We’re not just looking for money,” Darter said. “We’re not just looking for paid greens fees. We’re looking for people to play golf.”
With the course opening in late spring during peak golfing weather, The Greens at North Hills had some catching up to do.
Darter initially spent 15-hour days on her duties and staff training.
Darter said the course is averaging 100 golfers a day and she would be happy if, with the late start, it could finish the year with 28,000 rounds played.
“This is where we set our trends,” Darter said.
The Greens at North Hills is a public course, like the one Darter left in Nevada, and while it offers rental space for receptions and meetings, there is no longer a pool or tennis courts. However. the objective is to enhance the public-course, golf experience with certain country club-style amenities.
Golfers are met in the parking lot and have their bags carried to the cart area, a full-service bar and restaurant sit next to the pro shop and the course requires tee times seven days a week and allows no individual play.
Darter said the tee times are especially important in maintaining the PGA-rated course’s pace of play at four hours and 15 minutes for 18 holes. Also, Darter’s staff pairs lone golfers with twosomes or threesomes to avoid slow play.
“You’ve got to look at a golf course as a highway,” Darter said.
“Traffic backs up. The car- pool lane moves because there are more people in the car,” she added.
There is another benefit to pairing off stray golfers, Darter said.
It’s one of the reasons she has loved the game since she took it up at age 5.
“It’s a social game,” she said. “It’s a game for all ages. You can pair the youngest guy with the oldest guy and they’ll have a great time.”
SPORTS>>Panthers partition coverage program
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Cabot’s run-based Dead-T offense is not very 7-on-7 friendly.
But there’s plenty of practical experience for the Panthers to gain on the defensive side.
That was the plan for the Panthers as they hosted the second week of summer football at Panther Stadium on Wednesday. Bald Knob, Hazen and nearby North Pulaski make up the other teams in the small league, which will meet two more times in July.
While Wednesday was another opportunity for Cabot to size up competing quarterbacks Zach Craig and Bryson Morris, most of the focus centered on the two defensive units.
“That’s the one reason why we do it,” Cabot defensive coordinator Randy Black said. “We do it for defensive purposes. As a matter of fact, we’re just now working on throwing the ball. In the spring, we didn’t throw a pass. That’s the reason we started.”
The Panthers began the evening with a 30-minute scrimmage against Bald Knob before facing Hazen and then North Pulaski.
All of the teams then convened at the south end zone, and each defense made a nine-play stand as opponents rotated out after every play.
The Bulldogs were the most productive team offensively, scoring three times against the Panthers. But Cabot was able to limit
Hazen in the second scrimmage, and held North Pulaski scoreless in the final head-to-head battle.
“We did a great job of communicating, and it seemed like we were a little bit smarter,” Black said. “At this point, I was pleased with our calls and our rotations. We need to do a better job of breaking on the ball.”
Bald Knob threw two more touchdowns against Cabot in the goal-line finale, but the Panthers shut out Hazen and North Pulaski.
“The goal-line period — I thought that was our highlight,” Black said. “We had a pretty good goal-line period. Out of nine plays, we only had two busts. Seven out of nine is not bad for this early.”
Offensively, it wasn’t completions that meant as much to Cabot as the center-quarterback exchange.
Morris and Craig both bobbled snaps, with Black roaring, “He’s down, he’s down,” each time. The two also had to make an undignified bear crawl to the sidelines as punishment after each mishap.
“We’re looking at a lot of people,” Black said. “We went two complete groups, and that first group, we rotated in three more kids. So basically, we looked at 11 kids in that first group.
“In the second group, we rotated in the whole time. Offense wise, we went with two huddles. So we looked at two different quarterbacks, and we had five different receivers in each group.”
The matchup between Cabot and North Pulaski began with both teams throwing interceptions early in a drive. The Falcons had several incompletions but came up big with a 25-yard pass play on fourth and 10 that put them on the 5-yard line.
But the Panther defense was strong deep in the red zone and forced the Falcons to squander their first down on a no-throw time limit, then Cabot batted away the second-down pass before North Pulaski receivers dropped the next two attempts.
Black, head coach Mike Malham and the rest of the staff have a pretty good idea of who is capable of what at this point, but Black said there are still roles on the team to be filled with improvement over the summer.
“We did that in spring ball,” Black said. “So basically, we’re looking for the next three or four, somebody to really step up. And that could change, even in August. Spring ball helps us size up, but with 7-on-7, we’re looking for people to get the job done.”
Leader sportswriter
Cabot’s run-based Dead-T offense is not very 7-on-7 friendly.
But there’s plenty of practical experience for the Panthers to gain on the defensive side.
That was the plan for the Panthers as they hosted the second week of summer football at Panther Stadium on Wednesday. Bald Knob, Hazen and nearby North Pulaski make up the other teams in the small league, which will meet two more times in July.
While Wednesday was another opportunity for Cabot to size up competing quarterbacks Zach Craig and Bryson Morris, most of the focus centered on the two defensive units.
“That’s the one reason why we do it,” Cabot defensive coordinator Randy Black said. “We do it for defensive purposes. As a matter of fact, we’re just now working on throwing the ball. In the spring, we didn’t throw a pass. That’s the reason we started.”
The Panthers began the evening with a 30-minute scrimmage against Bald Knob before facing Hazen and then North Pulaski.
All of the teams then convened at the south end zone, and each defense made a nine-play stand as opponents rotated out after every play.
The Bulldogs were the most productive team offensively, scoring three times against the Panthers. But Cabot was able to limit
Hazen in the second scrimmage, and held North Pulaski scoreless in the final head-to-head battle.
“We did a great job of communicating, and it seemed like we were a little bit smarter,” Black said. “At this point, I was pleased with our calls and our rotations. We need to do a better job of breaking on the ball.”
Bald Knob threw two more touchdowns against Cabot in the goal-line finale, but the Panthers shut out Hazen and North Pulaski.
“The goal-line period — I thought that was our highlight,” Black said. “We had a pretty good goal-line period. Out of nine plays, we only had two busts. Seven out of nine is not bad for this early.”
Offensively, it wasn’t completions that meant as much to Cabot as the center-quarterback exchange.
Morris and Craig both bobbled snaps, with Black roaring, “He’s down, he’s down,” each time. The two also had to make an undignified bear crawl to the sidelines as punishment after each mishap.
“We’re looking at a lot of people,” Black said. “We went two complete groups, and that first group, we rotated in three more kids. So basically, we looked at 11 kids in that first group.
“In the second group, we rotated in the whole time. Offense wise, we went with two huddles. So we looked at two different quarterbacks, and we had five different receivers in each group.”
The matchup between Cabot and North Pulaski began with both teams throwing interceptions early in a drive. The Falcons had several incompletions but came up big with a 25-yard pass play on fourth and 10 that put them on the 5-yard line.
But the Panther defense was strong deep in the red zone and forced the Falcons to squander their first down on a no-throw time limit, then Cabot batted away the second-down pass before North Pulaski receivers dropped the next two attempts.
Black, head coach Mike Malham and the rest of the staff have a pretty good idea of who is capable of what at this point, but Black said there are still roles on the team to be filled with improvement over the summer.
“We did that in spring ball,” Black said. “So basically, we’re looking for the next three or four, somebody to really step up. And that could change, even in August. Spring ball helps us size up, but with 7-on-7, we’re looking for people to get the job done.”
EDITORIAL>>How Snyder won
Far from winning only Pulaski County, Rep. Vic Snyder won an average of seven of the eight counties during his career in the House of Representatives.
There is an urban legend that Snyder, elected seven times to represent Arkansas’ Second Congressional District, won by carrying the heavily populated Pulaski County, but lost all the other counties in his district.
In reality, that has never happened.
Not once.
Since his first race in 1996 for the seat vacated by Cong. Ray Thornton, Snyder’s never won fewer than half the eight counties in his district, he said this week, and a check of election records at the secretary of state’s website proved him correct.
“It’s such a common error, it’s got its own mythology,” Snyder said earlier this week when he called to correct just such a story in an article I wrote.
Snyder has been elected to the office seven times, never winning less than 52 percent of the vote, never winning fewer than four of the eight counties in the district—and three times winning all eight counties.
In addition to Pulaski County, the district includes Conway, Faulkner, Perry, Saline, Van Buren, White and Yell counties.
In the primary runoff earlier this month, Joyce Elliott defeated Robbie Wills to run as the Democrat for the Second Congressional District seat in November again Tim Griffin, the Republican nominee.
Elliott defeated Wills by winning big in Pulaski County, while losing big in the other seven, and I repeated without attribution the widely accepted myth—that Snyder usually won big in Pulaski County and lost the others.
Here’s what I found when I checked:
In the five years that Snyder had Republican opposition in the general election, he won an average of six of the eight counties.
His closest race was the first year, when he defeated Republican Bud Cummins with 52 percent of the vote and won four counties.
Add in 2008, when he was opposed only by a Green Party candidate, and in 2002, when he was opposed only by a write-in candidate, Snyder won an average of seven counties in seven November general elections—a far cry from winning only Pulaski County.
Here’s a recap, starting with the most recent general election and working back:
In 2008, Snyder won with 77 percent of the vote against Deb McFarland of the Green Party. The Republicans did not field a candidate.
Snyder won all eight counties.
In 2006, Snyder beat Republican Andy Mayberry 60.5 percent to 39 percent, with Mayberry winning only his home county—Saline—and that by less than 500 votes.
In 2004, Snyder won 58 percent of the vote, beating Republican Marvin Parks in five counties: Conway, Perry, Pulaski, Van Buren and Yell.
In 2002, Snyder ran without Republican opposition in November, winning all eight counties with 93 percent of the vote against write-in candidate Ed Garner.
In 2000, Snyder won seven of eight counties against Republican Bob Thomas, who won White County by 20 votes out of 17,718. Snyder won the congressional seat with 58 percent of the vote.
In 1998, Snyder garnered 58 percent of the vote, defeating Republican candidate Phil Wyrick in all eight counties.
In 1996, running for his first term, Snyder beat Republican Bud Cummins with 52 percent of the vote, winning four of the eight counties.
Just so you know.
—John Hofheimer
There is an urban legend that Snyder, elected seven times to represent Arkansas’ Second Congressional District, won by carrying the heavily populated Pulaski County, but lost all the other counties in his district.
In reality, that has never happened.
Not once.
Since his first race in 1996 for the seat vacated by Cong. Ray Thornton, Snyder’s never won fewer than half the eight counties in his district, he said this week, and a check of election records at the secretary of state’s website proved him correct.
“It’s such a common error, it’s got its own mythology,” Snyder said earlier this week when he called to correct just such a story in an article I wrote.
Snyder has been elected to the office seven times, never winning less than 52 percent of the vote, never winning fewer than four of the eight counties in the district—and three times winning all eight counties.
In addition to Pulaski County, the district includes Conway, Faulkner, Perry, Saline, Van Buren, White and Yell counties.
In the primary runoff earlier this month, Joyce Elliott defeated Robbie Wills to run as the Democrat for the Second Congressional District seat in November again Tim Griffin, the Republican nominee.
Elliott defeated Wills by winning big in Pulaski County, while losing big in the other seven, and I repeated without attribution the widely accepted myth—that Snyder usually won big in Pulaski County and lost the others.
Here’s what I found when I checked:
In the five years that Snyder had Republican opposition in the general election, he won an average of six of the eight counties.
His closest race was the first year, when he defeated Republican Bud Cummins with 52 percent of the vote and won four counties.
Add in 2008, when he was opposed only by a Green Party candidate, and in 2002, when he was opposed only by a write-in candidate, Snyder won an average of seven counties in seven November general elections—a far cry from winning only Pulaski County.
Here’s a recap, starting with the most recent general election and working back:
In 2008, Snyder won with 77 percent of the vote against Deb McFarland of the Green Party. The Republicans did not field a candidate.
Snyder won all eight counties.
In 2006, Snyder beat Republican Andy Mayberry 60.5 percent to 39 percent, with Mayberry winning only his home county—Saline—and that by less than 500 votes.
In 2004, Snyder won 58 percent of the vote, beating Republican Marvin Parks in five counties: Conway, Perry, Pulaski, Van Buren and Yell.
In 2002, Snyder ran without Republican opposition in November, winning all eight counties with 93 percent of the vote against write-in candidate Ed Garner.
In 2000, Snyder won seven of eight counties against Republican Bob Thomas, who won White County by 20 votes out of 17,718. Snyder won the congressional seat with 58 percent of the vote.
In 1998, Snyder garnered 58 percent of the vote, defeating Republican candidate Phil Wyrick in all eight counties.
In 1996, running for his first term, Snyder beat Republican Bud Cummins with 52 percent of the vote, winning four of the eight counties.
Just so you know.
—John Hofheimer
EDITORIAL>>The eagle has landed
The conference center at Little Rock Air Force Base was filled with community leaders on Tuesday, when Gov. Mike Beebe presented the prestigious Abilene Trophy to Jacksonville and its neighbors for being Air Mobility Command’s most supportive community.
Representatives from the Abilene, Texas, Chamber of Commerce brought the sculpted eagle to the conference center after selecting our area for the award and receiving final approval from AMC, which is an honor indeed.
Members of the Little Rock Air Force Base Community Council gave a standing ovation when the governor handed the trophy to Col. Gregory S. Otey, the wing commander, and to area mayors, who beamed with pride, and rightly so: There’s not another military community in the world that supports its base with more fervor than this area.
Just ask the folks at Air Mobility Command or Air Education and Training Command, which make up the main components at the base. The Air Force has watched the base grow going back 55 years, when the community raised $1.2 million and donated 6,600 acres that made the base possible, and right up to today, with Jacksonville paying $5 million toward a new joint-education center in front of the air base.
There’s so much more: Airpower Arkansas, a subset of the community council, raised funds for the base’s 2010 air show, collecting more than $50,000 from local businesses and individuals.
Community members also donated more than $22,000 in support of the LRAFB rodeo teams and accompanied the teams to the air competition.
In return, the base generates about $500 million a year in goods and services in local communities. It’s a pretty decent trade-off.
The Abilene Trophy is well deserved and much appreciated. The only question is: What took so long for the eagle to finally land here?
Representatives from the Abilene, Texas, Chamber of Commerce brought the sculpted eagle to the conference center after selecting our area for the award and receiving final approval from AMC, which is an honor indeed.
Members of the Little Rock Air Force Base Community Council gave a standing ovation when the governor handed the trophy to Col. Gregory S. Otey, the wing commander, and to area mayors, who beamed with pride, and rightly so: There’s not another military community in the world that supports its base with more fervor than this area.
Just ask the folks at Air Mobility Command or Air Education and Training Command, which make up the main components at the base. The Air Force has watched the base grow going back 55 years, when the community raised $1.2 million and donated 6,600 acres that made the base possible, and right up to today, with Jacksonville paying $5 million toward a new joint-education center in front of the air base.
There’s so much more: Airpower Arkansas, a subset of the community council, raised funds for the base’s 2010 air show, collecting more than $50,000 from local businesses and individuals.
Community members also donated more than $22,000 in support of the LRAFB rodeo teams and accompanied the teams to the air competition.
In return, the base generates about $500 million a year in goods and services in local communities. It’s a pretty decent trade-off.
The Abilene Trophy is well deserved and much appreciated. The only question is: What took so long for the eagle to finally land here?
EDITORIAL>>Don’t let BP off the hook
While governments and industry wrestle with the insoluble problems created by the cataclysmic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the politics of the worst man-made environmental disaster in history is proving equally insoluble. Thursday, when BP’s chief executive made his dramatic appearance before a congressional committee, was the worst day since the company’s deep-water well exploded, at least for the Republican Party, which has struggled to find a way to make hay with the catastrophe.
Wednesday, President Obama had jawboned BP executives into setting aside $20 billion to pay for the cleanup and for the ruin to the hundreds of thousands of businesses and people whose lives and careers lie in the path of the spreading destruction.
While the president has been castigated in many quarters for being too nice to the multinational giant and its drilling partners, Republican leaders have criticized him for placing so much blame on the company that its profits and viability may be jeopardized.
Before Tony Hayward, the BP CEO, could make his opening excuses, Rep. Joe L. Barton of Texas, the ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, apologized to him for the conduct of the president of the United States. Barton, who has benefited handsomely from political gifts from BP and its subsidiaries and from the oil and gas industry generally ($1.4 million), described President Obama’s negotiations with the company as a “shakedown” and he said he did not want to live in a country where the president would do such a terrible thing to a good business.
Other Republican leaders had been making essentially the same point though less colorfully. Barton’s comments, watched on national TV and instantly blogged around the world, seemed to be a terrible political miscalculation. The House’s Republican leaders, John Boehner and Eric Cantor, summoned Barton and told him that he had to rescind his apology or else they would have to give in to demands that he be removed from his leadership of the energy committee. Barton went back to the hearing room and said that in case anyone misconstrued his remarks, he did not mean that BP shouldn’t pay for the cleanup and for reparations.
But Barton’s problem was that he was too clear and too colorful. The Republican Study Committee, a group of conservative Republicans that includes our own Rep. John Boozman — the Republican nominee for the U. S. Senate in Arkansas — had issued a statement the day that Obama met with the oil executives bashing the president for demanding that the corporation create the escrow fund. Barton had even copied the group’s language. Boozman’s committee said the president had exerted “Chicago-style shakedown politics” and that BP shouldn’t give in. Rush Limbaugh, the broadcaster who is the acknowledged avatar of the Republican Party, said BP shouldn’t create the fund or else it should pass out the money itself rather than let an independent arbiter pay the claims. Limbaugh predicted that Acorn would get the $20 billion. Then Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, the hottest Republican on the circuit next to Sarah Palin, said she didn’t like the idea of making BP pay for all the damage because it needed all its cash to drill more wells.
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, who was in Little Rock early this week plumping for Jim Keet, the former Floridian who moved here last year to run for governor, objected to making BP set aside $20 billion in escrow to pay claims because the company needs the money to drill more offshore wells so that it can reap big profits, which in turn will allow it to pay claims later.
Barbour, the leader of the Republican governors, had compared the oil gushing from the ruptured well to the sheen that appears in the wake of speedboats that tow skiers around the Gulf’s resort beaches. It’s just no big deal. The real harm, Barbour said, is not from the oil leak but from all the publicity about it. It is scaring vacationers away from Mississippi’s beaches at Gulfport and Biloxi. Barbour noted that there have always been tarballs from leaky wells washing up on the shores.
The Republicans seek to make the president’s hardheaded negotiations with the British-based giant a Jeffersonian test of the proper role of a national executive. After all, Congress some years ago fixed a ceiling, $75 million, on an oil company’s liability for all the harm that it might cause. Republicans so far have blocked efforts to raise that ceiling. Did the founders anticipate a president using his office as a bully pulpit to force a corporation to change its behavior, even if it is in the national interest?
We know that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney would never do it. (It was Cheney’s company, Halliburton, that cemented the well just before it blew.)
Obama is acting like Harry Truman, both Roosevelts and John F. Kennedy, who used the prestige of the their office to force industries to act in the national interest. He is in rather better company.
Ernie Dumas writes editorials for The Leader.
Wednesday, President Obama had jawboned BP executives into setting aside $20 billion to pay for the cleanup and for the ruin to the hundreds of thousands of businesses and people whose lives and careers lie in the path of the spreading destruction.
While the president has been castigated in many quarters for being too nice to the multinational giant and its drilling partners, Republican leaders have criticized him for placing so much blame on the company that its profits and viability may be jeopardized.
Before Tony Hayward, the BP CEO, could make his opening excuses, Rep. Joe L. Barton of Texas, the ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, apologized to him for the conduct of the president of the United States. Barton, who has benefited handsomely from political gifts from BP and its subsidiaries and from the oil and gas industry generally ($1.4 million), described President Obama’s negotiations with the company as a “shakedown” and he said he did not want to live in a country where the president would do such a terrible thing to a good business.
Other Republican leaders had been making essentially the same point though less colorfully. Barton’s comments, watched on national TV and instantly blogged around the world, seemed to be a terrible political miscalculation. The House’s Republican leaders, John Boehner and Eric Cantor, summoned Barton and told him that he had to rescind his apology or else they would have to give in to demands that he be removed from his leadership of the energy committee. Barton went back to the hearing room and said that in case anyone misconstrued his remarks, he did not mean that BP shouldn’t pay for the cleanup and for reparations.
But Barton’s problem was that he was too clear and too colorful. The Republican Study Committee, a group of conservative Republicans that includes our own Rep. John Boozman — the Republican nominee for the U. S. Senate in Arkansas — had issued a statement the day that Obama met with the oil executives bashing the president for demanding that the corporation create the escrow fund. Barton had even copied the group’s language. Boozman’s committee said the president had exerted “Chicago-style shakedown politics” and that BP shouldn’t give in. Rush Limbaugh, the broadcaster who is the acknowledged avatar of the Republican Party, said BP shouldn’t create the fund or else it should pass out the money itself rather than let an independent arbiter pay the claims. Limbaugh predicted that Acorn would get the $20 billion. Then Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, the hottest Republican on the circuit next to Sarah Palin, said she didn’t like the idea of making BP pay for all the damage because it needed all its cash to drill more wells.
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, who was in Little Rock early this week plumping for Jim Keet, the former Floridian who moved here last year to run for governor, objected to making BP set aside $20 billion in escrow to pay claims because the company needs the money to drill more offshore wells so that it can reap big profits, which in turn will allow it to pay claims later.
Barbour, the leader of the Republican governors, had compared the oil gushing from the ruptured well to the sheen that appears in the wake of speedboats that tow skiers around the Gulf’s resort beaches. It’s just no big deal. The real harm, Barbour said, is not from the oil leak but from all the publicity about it. It is scaring vacationers away from Mississippi’s beaches at Gulfport and Biloxi. Barbour noted that there have always been tarballs from leaky wells washing up on the shores.
The Republicans seek to make the president’s hardheaded negotiations with the British-based giant a Jeffersonian test of the proper role of a national executive. After all, Congress some years ago fixed a ceiling, $75 million, on an oil company’s liability for all the harm that it might cause. Republicans so far have blocked efforts to raise that ceiling. Did the founders anticipate a president using his office as a bully pulpit to force a corporation to change its behavior, even if it is in the national interest?
We know that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney would never do it. (It was Cheney’s company, Halliburton, that cemented the well just before it blew.)
Obama is acting like Harry Truman, both Roosevelts and John F. Kennedy, who used the prestige of the their office to force industries to act in the national interest. He is in rather better company.
Ernie Dumas writes editorials for The Leader.
TOP STORY>>Thief gets just 18 months
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
A former Pulaski County Special School District employee was sentenced Friday to 18 months in prison for stealing about $500,000 from the district to support his drug habit.
U.S. District Judge Bill Wilson also placed James Diemer, 49, the district’s ex-maintenance supervisor, on three-years
supervised probation after his prison term.
Saline County sheriff’s deputies arrested Diemer on May 15, 2009. He pleaded guilty in January to theft of property from a government entity that received federal funds.
Diemer, a PCSSD employee since 1999, admitted to investigators of defrauding the district “from day one” of becoming supervisor of mechanical systems “because he knew no one was looking.”
Diemer understood how the district system worked and he made it work for himself. The district allows blanket purchase orders for purchases under $2,500. He knew that excesses were allowed and that as his invoices passed up the chain of command to the superintendent, they were rubber-stamped without review.
A part of his scheme was to use one vendor to order items from another vendor so that excesses over monthly limits per vendor would go undetected.
Over five years, Diemer made purchases for equipment totaling $439,745. The items included 266 cordless toolkits, seven truck toolboxes, 28 radios, eight generators and 19 icemakers. Most he had sold; a few were found at Diemer’s residence.
Much of the money was supposedly used to support Diemer’s addiction to Hydrocodone or Oxycontin.
Leader staff writer
A former Pulaski County Special School District employee was sentenced Friday to 18 months in prison for stealing about $500,000 from the district to support his drug habit.
U.S. District Judge Bill Wilson also placed James Diemer, 49, the district’s ex-maintenance supervisor, on three-years
supervised probation after his prison term.
Saline County sheriff’s deputies arrested Diemer on May 15, 2009. He pleaded guilty in January to theft of property from a government entity that received federal funds.
Diemer, a PCSSD employee since 1999, admitted to investigators of defrauding the district “from day one” of becoming supervisor of mechanical systems “because he knew no one was looking.”
Diemer understood how the district system worked and he made it work for himself. The district allows blanket purchase orders for purchases under $2,500. He knew that excesses were allowed and that as his invoices passed up the chain of command to the superintendent, they were rubber-stamped without review.
A part of his scheme was to use one vendor to order items from another vendor so that excesses over monthly limits per vendor would go undetected.
Over five years, Diemer made purchases for equipment totaling $439,745. The items included 266 cordless toolkits, seven truck toolboxes, 28 radios, eight generators and 19 icemakers. Most he had sold; a few were found at Diemer’s residence.
Much of the money was supposedly used to support Diemer’s addiction to Hydrocodone or Oxycontin.
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