North Pulaski High School has a new auditorium after a tornado destroyed the old one nearly two years ago. This is welcome news for Jacksonville, which is seldom the beneficiary of facility improvements from the Little Rock-based Pulaski County Special School District.
As Leader staff writer Sarah Campbell reported Wednesday, the new $3 million Sandy Reed Auditorium is state of the art and modern looking. With walls that have been reinforced with concrete, it should withstand powerful storms.
PCSSD officials, including the district’s chief operating officer Derek Scott, successfully negotiated with the insurance companies to pay all of the reconstruction costs. The district only had to pay a $1,000 deductible. That’s a badly needed bargain for a struggling district that has been under state control for about two years and has so far failed to get its finances in order.
The new auditorium is a testament to the potential of Jacksonville schools and an independent school district. It offers hope to a community that believes good schools are possible not only in neighboring cities to the north.
The new auditorium has natural lighting, stylish seating and soundboards, which will improve the acoustics during performances. Dressing rooms are well designed, and there’s ample storage space for props and wardrobes.
If improvements like this had been made 15 years ago, perhaps PCSSD would be more respected in Jacksonville. Meanwhile, the movement for the city to break away from PCSSD and form an independent, north Pulaski County school district is gaining momentum and could soon become a reality.
But PCSSD seems to only make improvements in Jacksonville when there is a natural disaster or when its schools fall so far behind that the federal government provides emergency funding as was the case with Jacksonville High School.
The high school qualified for a special college preparation program because it ranked in the bottom 5 percent of the state’s schools. The program is funded by a portion of a $5.7 million federal grant. As Sarah Campbell also reported this week, bright students at JHS are eligible to take courses for college credit from Arkansas State University-Beebe.
Nine students recently completed their first semester of classes at the Joint Education Center at Little Rock Air Force Base. They talked about how getting a taste of college classes has given them confidence that they can succeed at the university level. All of the students plan to attend college. One may attend Duke University and another would like to go to the University of California at Berkeley, while others plan to attend prestigious schools across the state.
“It’s been a good program. We’re so proud she’s achieved it and done so well. It really did mature her,” a mother boasted of her daughter’s success in the program.
We hope to say the same of PCSSD after it is released from state control.
Friday, January 11, 2013
TOP STORY >> Carter: Watch Medicaid spending
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
In many respects, Arkansas should be the envy of other states, with a balanced budget, and a $300 million surplus soon to grow to $700 million, House Speaker Davy Carter of Cabot told a full house at the Clinton School of Pubic Service at noon Friday.
Carter, the first Republican House speaker since 1871, summed up what he said was the biggest challenge facing the state — whether or not it could afford to expand its Medicaid coverage without draining the state budget.
Carter, who has just resigned as the division president of Centennial Bank in Cabot, said he hoped to build a cross-the-aisle coalition with Democrats to move the state forward, cooperating in a way not fashionable these days in Washington.
He said he re-signed from the bank to devote 110 percent of his time to his job as speaker, and brushed aside the suggestion that he is running for the Republican nomination as governor.
“Some day, Gov. Beebe will go down as one of the best, if not the best, governor in state history,” he said.
Carter said the state has many challenges, including improving education and infrastructure. But he feared that if the state adopted the new Medicaid track B, which he said would add more than 200,000 people to the state’s Medicaid rolls, there would not be enough money to address those other issues.
He said it was not a good thing that 35 percent of the people in the state are sufficiently poor as to qualify for Medicaid.
“I don’t have a monopoly on good ideas,” he said, adding that legislators would have to study the financial implications of adding to the Medicaid rolls.
The federal government would pay the additional costs at first, but that would be phased out, he said.
“We need to allocate capital to the areas of need that we want to see changed, but there is a finite amount of capital,” Carter said.
Policy makers will have to make hard choices about allocations to education and infrastructure, and with the General Assembly about to start up, “the time is getting closer,” he said.
In visiting with different people and groups around the state, “the conversation has always ended up with Medicaid.”
“What we do will affect everything,” he added. “I expect vigorous policy debates.”
“We will be accountable, we will be responsible and we will be receptive,” he said.
Carter said he loved Arkansas, citing its diversity in people, geography and economics.
“Arkansas is open for business,” he said.
In response to a question, Carter said the current term-limit law needs to be revisited.
“To elect someone in November and expect them to be an expert on all things by January is wrong,” he said. Carter says term limits are a good idea, but they need to be longer.
Leader senior staff writer
In many respects, Arkansas should be the envy of other states, with a balanced budget, and a $300 million surplus soon to grow to $700 million, House Speaker Davy Carter of Cabot told a full house at the Clinton School of Pubic Service at noon Friday.
Carter, the first Republican House speaker since 1871, summed up what he said was the biggest challenge facing the state — whether or not it could afford to expand its Medicaid coverage without draining the state budget.
Carter, who has just resigned as the division president of Centennial Bank in Cabot, said he hoped to build a cross-the-aisle coalition with Democrats to move the state forward, cooperating in a way not fashionable these days in Washington.
He said he re-signed from the bank to devote 110 percent of his time to his job as speaker, and brushed aside the suggestion that he is running for the Republican nomination as governor.
“Some day, Gov. Beebe will go down as one of the best, if not the best, governor in state history,” he said.
Carter said the state has many challenges, including improving education and infrastructure. But he feared that if the state adopted the new Medicaid track B, which he said would add more than 200,000 people to the state’s Medicaid rolls, there would not be enough money to address those other issues.
He said it was not a good thing that 35 percent of the people in the state are sufficiently poor as to qualify for Medicaid.
“I don’t have a monopoly on good ideas,” he said, adding that legislators would have to study the financial implications of adding to the Medicaid rolls.
The federal government would pay the additional costs at first, but that would be phased out, he said.
“We need to allocate capital to the areas of need that we want to see changed, but there is a finite amount of capital,” Carter said.
Policy makers will have to make hard choices about allocations to education and infrastructure, and with the General Assembly about to start up, “the time is getting closer,” he said.
In visiting with different people and groups around the state, “the conversation has always ended up with Medicaid.”
“What we do will affect everything,” he added. “I expect vigorous policy debates.”
“We will be accountable, we will be responsible and we will be receptive,” he said.
Carter said he loved Arkansas, citing its diversity in people, geography and economics.
“Arkansas is open for business,” he said.
In response to a question, Carter said the current term-limit law needs to be revisited.
“To elect someone in November and expect them to be an expert on all things by January is wrong,” he said. Carter says term limits are a good idea, but they need to be longer.
TOP STORY >> Governor touts Air Force base, offers his help
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
The General Assembly will consider two bills proposed by Gov. Mike Beebe that would be good for service members and their families, particularly those at Little Rock Air Force Base. The bill would put the base in a better position when the next round of base closures is considered.
That was the message the governor pushed at Camp Robinson Thursday at a meeting of the community councils of the state’s various military installations.
Congress looks at the welfare of service people at a base as well as of their families during the base realignment and closure process, he said.
An interstate education compact would make it easier for the school-aged children, who as the result of military transfers, find themselves in new school districts. He is proposing legislation that would make those transfers and transfers of course credits easier.
RECIPROCAL LICENSING
Beebe also wants a law that would recognize certifications and licenses from other states for military spouses transferred to Arkansas bases and camps. For instance, it would recognize nursing licenses and teaching certificates issued by other states.
Most of the active-duty military members in the state are stationed at LRAFB. Those in the National Guard and Reserves usually aren’t transferred.
“We are soldier and soldiers’ families friendly,” Beebe said.
“If the Air Force and the Pentagon look at the efficiencies, they’ll leave the 188th National Guard A-10 fighter wing at Fort Smith in tact, and minimize any reductions in force at Little Rock Air Force Base,” the governor told the group.
The 2013 National Defense Authorization Act appears to cut the size of the 19th Airlift Wing’s C-130 fleet by 16 planes, while leaving the 314th Air Education and Training Command Wing about the same and growing the Reserves and National Guard stationed at the base.
“You talk about the 188th in Fort Smith, there’s probably not a more efficient A-10 outfit in America,” Beebe said.
“If you don’t think the National Guard is capable of fulfilling on an equal basis the missions with their full-time counterparts, then why are we sending them to Afghanistan in the first place?” the governor said. “They’re going side by side.”
Based on efficiencies, “if you’re going to leave one A-10 outfit in the whole world, it ought to be the 188th,” he said.
That wing trains at a range that is within minutes of its base. They don’t have to fly across half a state, or two states, to get to a range. They don’t have to spend additional money on fuel.
“Given the fact that a lot of the personnel aren’t full time personnel, that’s another savings,” Beebe said.
LOBBIES FOR GOVERNORS
As a member of the six- person executive council of the National Governor’s Association, Beebe went to Washington late last year to tell Congress to not let the country go over the fiscal cliff and to make necessary budget cuts equitable.
For instance, he told them not to cut federal funding used to pay for mandates without cutting the mandates to states would have to continue funding.
“There’s going to be some sacrifice on all our parts, but make sure the cuts are fair and not disproportionately on the backs of some of us,” he said.
GRIFFIN QUESTIONS AUTHORITY
Second Dist. Rep. Tim Griffin (R-Little Little Rock) said that if the cuts do occur, he hopes that some of the 36 unassigned C-130s included in the act would end up assigned to the base and to the 19th Airlift Wing.
Speaking of President Obama’s suggestion that he might issue new gun laws by executive order, Griffin said, “Politically, he’s going about it all wrong. There’s already a general feeling based on facts that this president has misused his executive authority.”
“They know that people have a mistrust of him,” Griffin continued.
“Why would you come out and say that? I’m sure they have a grand plan in mind,” he said.
Leader senior staff writer
The General Assembly will consider two bills proposed by Gov. Mike Beebe that would be good for service members and their families, particularly those at Little Rock Air Force Base. The bill would put the base in a better position when the next round of base closures is considered.
That was the message the governor pushed at Camp Robinson Thursday at a meeting of the community councils of the state’s various military installations.
Congress looks at the welfare of service people at a base as well as of their families during the base realignment and closure process, he said.
An interstate education compact would make it easier for the school-aged children, who as the result of military transfers, find themselves in new school districts. He is proposing legislation that would make those transfers and transfers of course credits easier.
RECIPROCAL LICENSING
Beebe also wants a law that would recognize certifications and licenses from other states for military spouses transferred to Arkansas bases and camps. For instance, it would recognize nursing licenses and teaching certificates issued by other states.
Most of the active-duty military members in the state are stationed at LRAFB. Those in the National Guard and Reserves usually aren’t transferred.
“We are soldier and soldiers’ families friendly,” Beebe said.
“If the Air Force and the Pentagon look at the efficiencies, they’ll leave the 188th National Guard A-10 fighter wing at Fort Smith in tact, and minimize any reductions in force at Little Rock Air Force Base,” the governor told the group.
The 2013 National Defense Authorization Act appears to cut the size of the 19th Airlift Wing’s C-130 fleet by 16 planes, while leaving the 314th Air Education and Training Command Wing about the same and growing the Reserves and National Guard stationed at the base.
“You talk about the 188th in Fort Smith, there’s probably not a more efficient A-10 outfit in America,” Beebe said.
“If you don’t think the National Guard is capable of fulfilling on an equal basis the missions with their full-time counterparts, then why are we sending them to Afghanistan in the first place?” the governor said. “They’re going side by side.”
Based on efficiencies, “if you’re going to leave one A-10 outfit in the whole world, it ought to be the 188th,” he said.
That wing trains at a range that is within minutes of its base. They don’t have to fly across half a state, or two states, to get to a range. They don’t have to spend additional money on fuel.
“Given the fact that a lot of the personnel aren’t full time personnel, that’s another savings,” Beebe said.
LOBBIES FOR GOVERNORS
As a member of the six- person executive council of the National Governor’s Association, Beebe went to Washington late last year to tell Congress to not let the country go over the fiscal cliff and to make necessary budget cuts equitable.
For instance, he told them not to cut federal funding used to pay for mandates without cutting the mandates to states would have to continue funding.
“There’s going to be some sacrifice on all our parts, but make sure the cuts are fair and not disproportionately on the backs of some of us,” he said.
GRIFFIN QUESTIONS AUTHORITY
Second Dist. Rep. Tim Griffin (R-Little Little Rock) said that if the cuts do occur, he hopes that some of the 36 unassigned C-130s included in the act would end up assigned to the base and to the 19th Airlift Wing.
Speaking of President Obama’s suggestion that he might issue new gun laws by executive order, Griffin said, “Politically, he’s going about it all wrong. There’s already a general feeling based on facts that this president has misused his executive authority.”
“They know that people have a mistrust of him,” Griffin continued.
“Why would you come out and say that? I’m sure they have a grand plan in mind,” he said.
TOP STORY >> Griffin wants oversight of defense cuts
By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader publisher
Proposed cuts in defense spending may have a limited impact here, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Rep. Tim Griffin (R-Little Rock) said after visiting with commanders at Little Rock Air Force Base this week.
Pryor is hoping proposed cuts at the base will be “net neutral” if training expands here and overseas missions decrease as the United States withdraws from two wars in Southwest Asia.
The Pentagon has proposed moving 16 old C-130H cargo planes and cutting some 300 personnel from the 19th Airlift Wing, which would create a net loss here, Griffin said, even if the Guard and Reserves see increases and the 314th Airlift Wing gets no cuts.
Griffin also cited a push in Congress to add 36 C-130s to the transport fleet.
Pryor is optimistic that an additional flight simulator, along with a bigger role for the Air National Guard and Reserves, will boost the training mission here.
“Little Rock Air Force Base always comes out ahead during realignments,” said Pryor, who visited the base on Wednesday.
Griffin, who is a member of the House Armed Services Committee, told The Leader on Friday that he is opposed to across-the-board cuts in military spending and wants congressional oversight to limit cuts to where spending is wasteful.
Griffin thinks defense spending needs to come down, but he says it’s unfair to punish programs that are working, such as the fleet of C-130s at the Jacksonville base that is “the leader for C-130 training and continues to be No. 1.”
Although President Obama and Congress avoided the so-called fiscal cliff when they worked out an agreement on taxes and some spending cuts, sequestration — or forced cuts in the defense budget — could be back on the table in a couple of months.
“Little Rock Air Force Base can stand on its own merit, while there are bases that don’t do as well. Let’s spend money on what works,” Griffin said in an interview.
“Little Rock Air Force Base will be fine in this time of cuts,” Griffin said. “The Guard and Reserves are getting substantial increases.”
“Across-the-board cuts affect everybody,” he added. “We should provide specifics of what’s not working and leave centers of excellence alone.
“Our greatest threat is the national debt. We knew everybody would be impacted,” he continued. “We knew defense cuts were coming. We need targeted cuts for programs that don’t work.”
He said congressional committees should have oversight “to determine which programs are working. The House and Senate need to be proactive and identify inefficiencies.”
Griffin cited one report that identified $170 billion in wasteful defense spending. For example, he called the proposed alternative engine for the F-35 fighter jet wasteful, while C-130s, some of them 50 years old, deliver good value for every dollar spent.
Pryor and Griffin received briefings from commanders and community leaders. Pryor visited the new security operations center, which was recently built for $10.4 million.
Pryor noted the growth of the new 22nd Reserves Wing on base, which has some 300 personnel and 10 C-130s.
He is also hopeful the Air Force will revive the Avionics Modernization Program, which is now on hold.
The program would add modern avionics equipment to older C-130s for $7 million per plane, a fraction of the cost of a new C-130J.
Five older planes have been upgraded and are with the National Guard’s 189th Airlift Wing at the base.
Pryor said the addition of more C-130Js on base will also enhance the C-130 mission because the new plane can carry more personnel and cargo.
The base trains thousands of airmen from the United States and some 40 foreign nations.
To cut the military budget this year by as much as $60 billion, the Pentagon has eliminated 30,000 positions and retired nearly 1,900 aircraft, according to Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley.
More cuts are on the way, the secretary said.
The size of the Air Force will fall to 329,000, the smallest force since the service started in 1947.
Pryor realizes that spending cuts are inevitable as Washington must find ways to balance the federal budget and address the deficit.
“The military budget is declining, and we have to stretch our dollars. We have to do more with less,” the senator said.
Leader publisher
Proposed cuts in defense spending may have a limited impact here, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Rep. Tim Griffin (R-Little Rock) said after visiting with commanders at Little Rock Air Force Base this week.
Pryor is hoping proposed cuts at the base will be “net neutral” if training expands here and overseas missions decrease as the United States withdraws from two wars in Southwest Asia.
The Pentagon has proposed moving 16 old C-130H cargo planes and cutting some 300 personnel from the 19th Airlift Wing, which would create a net loss here, Griffin said, even if the Guard and Reserves see increases and the 314th Airlift Wing gets no cuts.
Griffin also cited a push in Congress to add 36 C-130s to the transport fleet.
Pryor is optimistic that an additional flight simulator, along with a bigger role for the Air National Guard and Reserves, will boost the training mission here.
“Little Rock Air Force Base always comes out ahead during realignments,” said Pryor, who visited the base on Wednesday.
Griffin, who is a member of the House Armed Services Committee, told The Leader on Friday that he is opposed to across-the-board cuts in military spending and wants congressional oversight to limit cuts to where spending is wasteful.
Griffin thinks defense spending needs to come down, but he says it’s unfair to punish programs that are working, such as the fleet of C-130s at the Jacksonville base that is “the leader for C-130 training and continues to be No. 1.”
Although President Obama and Congress avoided the so-called fiscal cliff when they worked out an agreement on taxes and some spending cuts, sequestration — or forced cuts in the defense budget — could be back on the table in a couple of months.
“Little Rock Air Force Base can stand on its own merit, while there are bases that don’t do as well. Let’s spend money on what works,” Griffin said in an interview.
“Little Rock Air Force Base will be fine in this time of cuts,” Griffin said. “The Guard and Reserves are getting substantial increases.”
“Across-the-board cuts affect everybody,” he added. “We should provide specifics of what’s not working and leave centers of excellence alone.
“Our greatest threat is the national debt. We knew everybody would be impacted,” he continued. “We knew defense cuts were coming. We need targeted cuts for programs that don’t work.”
He said congressional committees should have oversight “to determine which programs are working. The House and Senate need to be proactive and identify inefficiencies.”
Griffin cited one report that identified $170 billion in wasteful defense spending. For example, he called the proposed alternative engine for the F-35 fighter jet wasteful, while C-130s, some of them 50 years old, deliver good value for every dollar spent.
Pryor and Griffin received briefings from commanders and community leaders. Pryor visited the new security operations center, which was recently built for $10.4 million.
Pryor noted the growth of the new 22nd Reserves Wing on base, which has some 300 personnel and 10 C-130s.
He is also hopeful the Air Force will revive the Avionics Modernization Program, which is now on hold.
The program would add modern avionics equipment to older C-130s for $7 million per plane, a fraction of the cost of a new C-130J.
Five older planes have been upgraded and are with the National Guard’s 189th Airlift Wing at the base.
Pryor said the addition of more C-130Js on base will also enhance the C-130 mission because the new plane can carry more personnel and cargo.
The base trains thousands of airmen from the United States and some 40 foreign nations.
To cut the military budget this year by as much as $60 billion, the Pentagon has eliminated 30,000 positions and retired nearly 1,900 aircraft, according to Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley.
More cuts are on the way, the secretary said.
The size of the Air Force will fall to 329,000, the smallest force since the service started in 1947.
Pryor realizes that spending cuts are inevitable as Washington must find ways to balance the federal budget and address the deficit.
“The military budget is declining, and we have to stretch our dollars. We have to do more with less,” the senator said.
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
TOP STORY >> Twelve stories in 2012 that defined the year
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
After culling through more than 1,000 news pages that The Leader printed in 2012, here are the top 12 stories, in no particular order. Some, like the air base, the Pulaski County Special School District and the weather, always seem to make the final cut.
The base for its good news, solid community relations and economic impact; PCSSD for its continued fumbling of education, and the weather for its destructive acts.
Other stories, like the mother and the four children killed in a fire or the three first responders struck by a car and one being killed, hopefully, are one-time entries.
FIRE TRAGEDY
During spring break in March, a fire killed a single mother and her four children living in a Department of Housing and Urban Development-controlled duplex in Jacksonville. Aside from the tragedy of the five deaths, the incident raised questions about HUD management of Max Howell Place and fire department procedures.
Firefighters had been battling a house fire across the highway from the duplex when an early-morning call came in from a neighbor smelling smoke. Firefighters responded to the duplex and, using thermal imagers, detected no smoke, hot spots or activity that would allow them to enter. But they could smell smoke from the other fire. They left without entering the duplex.
Hours later, the firefighters were called back and the bodies were discovered. The mother and one small child were in the bathroom and the other three children were in their beds. None were burned, but all died from smoke inhalation.
Apparently a small fire erupted on the stove and was either put out or went out on its own, but smoke filtered through the home and killed the residents. The fire alarm was nine years older than its expiration date and the wires appeared to be cut.
The father, a truck driver, was out of town when the fire occurred and is considering a lawsuit. Three of the children went to Warren Dupree Elementary and the school had a tough time dealing with the deaths. The school held a special memorial for the students a week after everyone returned from spring break.
The victims were Dequan Single-ton, 10; Sydni Singleton, 9; Haylee Beavers, 6; Emily Beavers, 4, and Marilyn Beavers, 30.
FIREFIGHTER KILLED
About a week before the fatal fire, a firefighter was killed when a driver ignored police and fire department warnings and drove into three first responders.
Another firefighter and a police officer were also injured. The three men were helping the driver’s mother out of her car, which she drove into a ditch off Hwy. 161 in Jacksonville.
The driver, Bryce Allen, 47, had a history of mental problems and had tried to run down a police officer a few years earlier in Ohio. His mother called him, along with the police department, when she wrecked her car and struck a gas main.
Fire Capt. Donald Lee Jones, 56, a 31-year veteran of the department, was killed—the first Jacksonville firefighter to die while on duty. Firefighter Jason Bowmaster and police officer Daniel Dimatteo were seriously injured.
Dimatteo has returned to full duty.Bowmaster is still recovering, but can walk and drive. He still needs at least one more surgery.
Fire Station Four on Hwy. 161 will be dedicated in honor of Capt. Jones.
Allen was been declared incompetent to stand trial at this point. His status will be re-evaluated in June.
INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
Almost everyone, from Jacksonville residents to the Pulaski County Special School District to the state Education Department, now agrees that Jacksonville should have its own school district.
In May, the school district went on record in court that splitting up the district would help the district achieve unitary status and emerge more quickly from fiscal distress. So what are the delays? The courts and a feasibility study.
The feasibility study is being conducted to ensure that Jacksonville can financially support its own school district, that the district will be within the required black/white percentages and that it won’t skewer the county racial percentages.
Mayor Gary Fletcher said the feasibility study should be completed soon and then will be presented to the courts. From there it will go to the state.
The proposed Jacksonville school district would include North Pulaski and Jacksonville high schools, Jacksonville Middle School, Arnold Drive, Bayou Meto, Tolleson, Murrell Taylor, Pinewood and Warren Dupree elementary schools and Homer Adkins Pre-K center.
PCSSD
The Pulaski County Special School District, which was taken over by the state, spent most of the year cutting the budget and trying to toss the employee unions out.
The unions spent most of their time staying involved, active and being the voice of the teachers and employees. They even tried to get the governor to side with them.
Lawsuits have been filed over the state and districts efforts to ignore the unions.
But through the year, neither side has made much mention of students as the district continued to lag behind state averages on the annual Benchmark and end-of-course exams. Graduation rates, although improving, were still well behind the state average.
LRAFB
With a population around 6,000 and because it pumps about $780 million into the local economy, Little Rock Air Force Base is always in the news.
In 2012, the 19th Airlift Wing got a new commander, Col. Brian Robinson. Col. Edward Brewer took over the reins of the 314th Airlift Wing.
First Lady Michelle Obama visited, focusing on the quality and healthiness of food served to the airmen.
When Superstorm Sandy hit, many military aircraft were flown into LRAFB for safety and crews here were put on standby to assist in the wake of the storm.
Additional planes and airmen were assigned to the base during the year and modernization work started on older C-130s.
Throughout the year, base members were deployed and returned from Afghanistan, the Middle East and other areas where they supported the war on terrorists.
AIR SHOW
More than 200,000 visitors packed into Little Rock Air Force Base over a two-day period in September to watch the Blue Angels and other military units perform.
Base spokesman Arlo Taylor said, “I don’t think you could have custom ordered better weather. We are humbled by the massive outpouring of support for our air show by more than 200,000 of our neighbors. It was a tremendous honor to show off our base to them.”
SNOWSTROM
A week before Christmas, the forecasters were being optimistic, declaring there was a slight chance of snow for part of the state on Christmas—little did they know.
As Christmas rolled close snow went from a minute chance to guaranteed, but the questions of how much varied from an inch to 10 inches and no one seemed to have gotten the ice factor correct.
In the end, the rain hit early Christmas. It turned into sleet and ice followed by 10 inches of snow. It cracked tree limbs, electric poles and essentially shutting the state down for two days. The storm put almost 200,000 in the dark.
The outages ranged from a few hours to a few days to a week or more. Many homes and vehicles suffered damages and hotels in the area with power went from half full to having waiting lists.
Now that the snow has melted and most people have their electricity back on all eyes are turning to the costs and long-term repairs.
But long before the snow was dry hot weather. The summer turned out to be the hottest on record. About 85 percent of the state was in the severe drought category and Jacksonville, along with other cities, canceled Fourth of July fireworks because of the dry conditions.
NORTH BELT
Will it or will it not be built? After a year of yes, no, maybe, it’s a doubtful maybe.
The planned $500 million highway loop that is suppose to connect Hwy. 67/167 with Hwy. 107, then through Camp Robinson to I-40, near the I-430 exchange was dealt a blow when a Sherwood developer sued and won a lawsuit that allowed him to start building in the proposed right of way.
Even though the state has spent millions acquiring rights of way for the North Belt, it didn’t have enough to grab all the land it needed in Sherwood.
In the meantime, Metroplan officials put the blame on the state highway department and the highway department faulted Metroplan for lack of action on the project.
Area cities talked about dedicated taxes, regional help and tolls, but nothing transpired in 2012 to move the project out of the grave and back on the road to completion.
SHOOTING RANGE
It was announced three times that funding was set for a 14-station sports shooting range, which would bring in millions of dollars to Jacksonville.
The governor even came out to a groundbreaking on 160 acres set for the facility, but it has yet to be purchased.
By the end of the year, funding, mostly from the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation, seemed to be in place, with the county, city and private donors chipping in the rest.
But bids came in too high twice and were going out one more time. Original plans called for the facility to be completed in April in time to host the youth sports shooting tournaments, which would have generated part of an economic impact of close to $5 million.
Now the hope is that construction will start by April.
GOLF COURSES
Three area golf courses closed during 2012, but two managed to reopen.
Two golf courses at Greystone in Cabot went under and the title owner, Metropolitan Bank, offered the course for sale at an auction. But the bank turned down the high bids for not being high enough.
In March, the bank sold the front golf course (Mountain Springs) for $650,000 to a Melbourne businessman who had the course opened by early summer. The back course (Cypress Creek), which was purchased by a Cabot businessman for $415,000, was reopened in late summer.
But there were no buyers or takers for the Lonoke Golf Course, which closed in April after the owners retired.
STATE FAIR
After more than a year of dangling the carrot, the Arkansas State Fair board voted to turn down Jacksonville’s offer of 440 acres of prime land off I-440 and Hwy. 161, along with more than $1 million worth of infrastructure, to stay in Little Rock on their 80-acre site.
Little Rock offered to buy and give the fair some additional acreage and offered it cash to stay.
Although Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher was initially upset by the decision, he feels the only one who will be hurt in the long run will be the state fair. The mayor is continuing to pursue efforts to lock up the land for a regional fair, a large entertainment complex or some other business.
“There’s a lot of interest in that property and Jacksonville will benefit,” the mayor said.
ELECTIONS
What would an even year be without elections? This year, longtime District Judge Robert Batton of Jacksonville held on to his robe by four votes as attorney and newcomer Marshall Nash challenged him.
Jacksonville added three new faces to the city council as long-term aldermen Marshall Smith, Bob Stroud and Linda Rinker opted to retire or not run again.
In Cabot, Alderman Patrick Hutton dropped out of the race because of a possible conflict with his federal job, but still won his seat. After the results were official, Howell submitted his resignation to the council. A quirk in the law would let the council reappoint him if it wanted to, but the council ended up selecting Dallan Buchanan, who ran unsuccessfully against Hutton in the November election.
In Lonoke County, either a Republican or a Democrat who converted to a Republican won just about every seat.
Leader staff writer
After culling through more than 1,000 news pages that The Leader printed in 2012, here are the top 12 stories, in no particular order. Some, like the air base, the Pulaski County Special School District and the weather, always seem to make the final cut.
The base for its good news, solid community relations and economic impact; PCSSD for its continued fumbling of education, and the weather for its destructive acts.
Other stories, like the mother and the four children killed in a fire or the three first responders struck by a car and one being killed, hopefully, are one-time entries.
FIRE TRAGEDY
During spring break in March, a fire killed a single mother and her four children living in a Department of Housing and Urban Development-controlled duplex in Jacksonville. Aside from the tragedy of the five deaths, the incident raised questions about HUD management of Max Howell Place and fire department procedures.
Firefighters had been battling a house fire across the highway from the duplex when an early-morning call came in from a neighbor smelling smoke. Firefighters responded to the duplex and, using thermal imagers, detected no smoke, hot spots or activity that would allow them to enter. But they could smell smoke from the other fire. They left without entering the duplex.
Hours later, the firefighters were called back and the bodies were discovered. The mother and one small child were in the bathroom and the other three children were in their beds. None were burned, but all died from smoke inhalation.
Apparently a small fire erupted on the stove and was either put out or went out on its own, but smoke filtered through the home and killed the residents. The fire alarm was nine years older than its expiration date and the wires appeared to be cut.
The father, a truck driver, was out of town when the fire occurred and is considering a lawsuit. Three of the children went to Warren Dupree Elementary and the school had a tough time dealing with the deaths. The school held a special memorial for the students a week after everyone returned from spring break.
The victims were Dequan Single-ton, 10; Sydni Singleton, 9; Haylee Beavers, 6; Emily Beavers, 4, and Marilyn Beavers, 30.
FIREFIGHTER KILLED
About a week before the fatal fire, a firefighter was killed when a driver ignored police and fire department warnings and drove into three first responders.
Another firefighter and a police officer were also injured. The three men were helping the driver’s mother out of her car, which she drove into a ditch off Hwy. 161 in Jacksonville.
The driver, Bryce Allen, 47, had a history of mental problems and had tried to run down a police officer a few years earlier in Ohio. His mother called him, along with the police department, when she wrecked her car and struck a gas main.
Fire Capt. Donald Lee Jones, 56, a 31-year veteran of the department, was killed—the first Jacksonville firefighter to die while on duty. Firefighter Jason Bowmaster and police officer Daniel Dimatteo were seriously injured.
Dimatteo has returned to full duty.Bowmaster is still recovering, but can walk and drive. He still needs at least one more surgery.
Fire Station Four on Hwy. 161 will be dedicated in honor of Capt. Jones.
Allen was been declared incompetent to stand trial at this point. His status will be re-evaluated in June.
INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
Almost everyone, from Jacksonville residents to the Pulaski County Special School District to the state Education Department, now agrees that Jacksonville should have its own school district.
In May, the school district went on record in court that splitting up the district would help the district achieve unitary status and emerge more quickly from fiscal distress. So what are the delays? The courts and a feasibility study.
The feasibility study is being conducted to ensure that Jacksonville can financially support its own school district, that the district will be within the required black/white percentages and that it won’t skewer the county racial percentages.
Mayor Gary Fletcher said the feasibility study should be completed soon and then will be presented to the courts. From there it will go to the state.
The proposed Jacksonville school district would include North Pulaski and Jacksonville high schools, Jacksonville Middle School, Arnold Drive, Bayou Meto, Tolleson, Murrell Taylor, Pinewood and Warren Dupree elementary schools and Homer Adkins Pre-K center.
PCSSD
The Pulaski County Special School District, which was taken over by the state, spent most of the year cutting the budget and trying to toss the employee unions out.
The unions spent most of their time staying involved, active and being the voice of the teachers and employees. They even tried to get the governor to side with them.
Lawsuits have been filed over the state and districts efforts to ignore the unions.
But through the year, neither side has made much mention of students as the district continued to lag behind state averages on the annual Benchmark and end-of-course exams. Graduation rates, although improving, were still well behind the state average.
LRAFB
With a population around 6,000 and because it pumps about $780 million into the local economy, Little Rock Air Force Base is always in the news.
In 2012, the 19th Airlift Wing got a new commander, Col. Brian Robinson. Col. Edward Brewer took over the reins of the 314th Airlift Wing.
First Lady Michelle Obama visited, focusing on the quality and healthiness of food served to the airmen.
When Superstorm Sandy hit, many military aircraft were flown into LRAFB for safety and crews here were put on standby to assist in the wake of the storm.
Additional planes and airmen were assigned to the base during the year and modernization work started on older C-130s.
Throughout the year, base members were deployed and returned from Afghanistan, the Middle East and other areas where they supported the war on terrorists.
AIR SHOW
More than 200,000 visitors packed into Little Rock Air Force Base over a two-day period in September to watch the Blue Angels and other military units perform.
Base spokesman Arlo Taylor said, “I don’t think you could have custom ordered better weather. We are humbled by the massive outpouring of support for our air show by more than 200,000 of our neighbors. It was a tremendous honor to show off our base to them.”
SNOWSTROM
A week before Christmas, the forecasters were being optimistic, declaring there was a slight chance of snow for part of the state on Christmas—little did they know.
As Christmas rolled close snow went from a minute chance to guaranteed, but the questions of how much varied from an inch to 10 inches and no one seemed to have gotten the ice factor correct.
In the end, the rain hit early Christmas. It turned into sleet and ice followed by 10 inches of snow. It cracked tree limbs, electric poles and essentially shutting the state down for two days. The storm put almost 200,000 in the dark.
The outages ranged from a few hours to a few days to a week or more. Many homes and vehicles suffered damages and hotels in the area with power went from half full to having waiting lists.
Now that the snow has melted and most people have their electricity back on all eyes are turning to the costs and long-term repairs.
But long before the snow was dry hot weather. The summer turned out to be the hottest on record. About 85 percent of the state was in the severe drought category and Jacksonville, along with other cities, canceled Fourth of July fireworks because of the dry conditions.
NORTH BELT
Will it or will it not be built? After a year of yes, no, maybe, it’s a doubtful maybe.
The planned $500 million highway loop that is suppose to connect Hwy. 67/167 with Hwy. 107, then through Camp Robinson to I-40, near the I-430 exchange was dealt a blow when a Sherwood developer sued and won a lawsuit that allowed him to start building in the proposed right of way.
Even though the state has spent millions acquiring rights of way for the North Belt, it didn’t have enough to grab all the land it needed in Sherwood.
In the meantime, Metroplan officials put the blame on the state highway department and the highway department faulted Metroplan for lack of action on the project.
Area cities talked about dedicated taxes, regional help and tolls, but nothing transpired in 2012 to move the project out of the grave and back on the road to completion.
SHOOTING RANGE
It was announced three times that funding was set for a 14-station sports shooting range, which would bring in millions of dollars to Jacksonville.
The governor even came out to a groundbreaking on 160 acres set for the facility, but it has yet to be purchased.
By the end of the year, funding, mostly from the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation, seemed to be in place, with the county, city and private donors chipping in the rest.
But bids came in too high twice and were going out one more time. Original plans called for the facility to be completed in April in time to host the youth sports shooting tournaments, which would have generated part of an economic impact of close to $5 million.
Now the hope is that construction will start by April.
GOLF COURSES
Three area golf courses closed during 2012, but two managed to reopen.
Two golf courses at Greystone in Cabot went under and the title owner, Metropolitan Bank, offered the course for sale at an auction. But the bank turned down the high bids for not being high enough.
In March, the bank sold the front golf course (Mountain Springs) for $650,000 to a Melbourne businessman who had the course opened by early summer. The back course (Cypress Creek), which was purchased by a Cabot businessman for $415,000, was reopened in late summer.
But there were no buyers or takers for the Lonoke Golf Course, which closed in April after the owners retired.
STATE FAIR
After more than a year of dangling the carrot, the Arkansas State Fair board voted to turn down Jacksonville’s offer of 440 acres of prime land off I-440 and Hwy. 161, along with more than $1 million worth of infrastructure, to stay in Little Rock on their 80-acre site.
Little Rock offered to buy and give the fair some additional acreage and offered it cash to stay.
Although Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher was initially upset by the decision, he feels the only one who will be hurt in the long run will be the state fair. The mayor is continuing to pursue efforts to lock up the land for a regional fair, a large entertainment complex or some other business.
“There’s a lot of interest in that property and Jacksonville will benefit,” the mayor said.
ELECTIONS
What would an even year be without elections? This year, longtime District Judge Robert Batton of Jacksonville held on to his robe by four votes as attorney and newcomer Marshall Nash challenged him.
Jacksonville added three new faces to the city council as long-term aldermen Marshall Smith, Bob Stroud and Linda Rinker opted to retire or not run again.
In Cabot, Alderman Patrick Hutton dropped out of the race because of a possible conflict with his federal job, but still won his seat. After the results were official, Howell submitted his resignation to the council. A quirk in the law would let the council reappoint him if it wanted to, but the council ended up selecting Dallan Buchanan, who ran unsuccessfully against Hutton in the November election.
In Lonoke County, either a Republican or a Democrat who converted to a Republican won just about every seat.
TOP STORY >> JHS students thrive at college level
By SARAH CAMPBELL
Leader staff writer
Nine Jacksonville High School students recently celebrated the end of their first college semester.
They were the first group to take advantage of the school’s concurrent credit program through ASU-Beebe.
The tuition and books for the three- or four-hour course each student enrolled in were paid for with a portion of the $5.7 million federal school-improvement grant JHS received after being ranked in the bottom 5 percent of schools in the state.
The school received $2 million of the grant in June 2011 and was renewed for that same amount this year.
JHS could get the remaining $1.7 million for 2013-14 if the money is used appropriately and the results are positive. And the results of the school’s concurrent program have met that standard, according to the students.
Brandon Toombs, a junior, has earned a three-hour credit in college algebra from ASU-Beebe. He and the other students attended their classes at the Jacksonville-Little Rock Air Force Base joint-education center on Vandenberg Boulevard.
Toombs plans to enroll in statistics next semester. The semester starts next week.
“I wanted to knock out freshman classes and leave a legacy at Jacksonville High School,” he said.
Toombs shared that he learned that college students have to rely on themselves more and scheduling is much different.
“It’s up to you. You don’t have to go to school every day. It’s spaced out and you leave when you choose to leave,” he said.
Toombs’ dream school is the University of Tennessee, but he said his mom wants him to attend Duke University in North Carolina. He wants to major in mathematics or sports management.
Senior Sara Rabun took a four-hour biology lecture and lab. She said she learned how to balance school with other activities.
Rabun explained that she was also held more accountable. She and the other biology students had to review recorded lectures rather than hear them in the classroom.
“What was challenging was making myself go over the lectures,” Rabun said.
She said the advantages of the program included not having to pay for the credit and having people readily available to help.
“If I need help, there are teachers here (at JHS),” Rabun said. She wants to major in history or psychology at Lyon College in Batesville.
Junior Kyaira Brown completed the three-hour English I course.
She said, “I didn’t have to pay for it. I’ll have to take less classes (for my degree). It’s early college experience.”
Brown said she also learned that students play a larger role in college.
“(Your courses are) based off your schedule,” she said.
Brown intends to become a veterinarian. She wants to attend Henderson State University in Arkadelphia
Senior Damitrious Ervin also took English I.
He said, “I always thought (college) would be harder, but it’s easier. It’s not a bunch of homework. It’s more learning. It’s really you decide how it turns out.”
Ervin plans to go to the University of California at Berkley. He moved from California to Arkansas this year. He wants to enter the medical field as a technical surgeon, and is also considering computer science.
The students aren’t the only ones that have been impacted positively by the new program.
Parent Peggy Buchanan said her daughter, Ivy Wallace, has really grown up this past semester.
“It’s been a good program. We’re so proud she’s achieved it and done so well. It really did mature her,” she said.
The students were only allowed to take one course last semester, according to JHS graduation coach Paige Viger.
She said there is no limit, other than the students’ high school schedules, on how many courses they can take this semester.
The concurrent enrollment program is open to any JHS students who have taken and passed the COMPASS exams or scored a 19 or higher on the ACT.
Both tests are used to determine if entering college freshmen need remedial classes.
Leader staff writer
Nine Jacksonville High School students recently celebrated the end of their first college semester.
They were the first group to take advantage of the school’s concurrent credit program through ASU-Beebe.
The tuition and books for the three- or four-hour course each student enrolled in were paid for with a portion of the $5.7 million federal school-improvement grant JHS received after being ranked in the bottom 5 percent of schools in the state.
The school received $2 million of the grant in June 2011 and was renewed for that same amount this year.
JHS could get the remaining $1.7 million for 2013-14 if the money is used appropriately and the results are positive. And the results of the school’s concurrent program have met that standard, according to the students.
Brandon Toombs, a junior, has earned a three-hour credit in college algebra from ASU-Beebe. He and the other students attended their classes at the Jacksonville-Little Rock Air Force Base joint-education center on Vandenberg Boulevard.
Toombs plans to enroll in statistics next semester. The semester starts next week.
“I wanted to knock out freshman classes and leave a legacy at Jacksonville High School,” he said.
Toombs shared that he learned that college students have to rely on themselves more and scheduling is much different.
“It’s up to you. You don’t have to go to school every day. It’s spaced out and you leave when you choose to leave,” he said.
Toombs’ dream school is the University of Tennessee, but he said his mom wants him to attend Duke University in North Carolina. He wants to major in mathematics or sports management.
Senior Sara Rabun took a four-hour biology lecture and lab. She said she learned how to balance school with other activities.
Rabun explained that she was also held more accountable. She and the other biology students had to review recorded lectures rather than hear them in the classroom.
“What was challenging was making myself go over the lectures,” Rabun said.
She said the advantages of the program included not having to pay for the credit and having people readily available to help.
“If I need help, there are teachers here (at JHS),” Rabun said. She wants to major in history or psychology at Lyon College in Batesville.
Junior Kyaira Brown completed the three-hour English I course.
She said, “I didn’t have to pay for it. I’ll have to take less classes (for my degree). It’s early college experience.”
Brown said she also learned that students play a larger role in college.
“(Your courses are) based off your schedule,” she said.
Brown intends to become a veterinarian. She wants to attend Henderson State University in Arkadelphia
Senior Damitrious Ervin also took English I.
He said, “I always thought (college) would be harder, but it’s easier. It’s not a bunch of homework. It’s more learning. It’s really you decide how it turns out.”
Ervin plans to go to the University of California at Berkley. He moved from California to Arkansas this year. He wants to enter the medical field as a technical surgeon, and is also considering computer science.
The students aren’t the only ones that have been impacted positively by the new program.
Parent Peggy Buchanan said her daughter, Ivy Wallace, has really grown up this past semester.
“It’s been a good program. We’re so proud she’s achieved it and done so well. It really did mature her,” she said.
The students were only allowed to take one course last semester, according to JHS graduation coach Paige Viger.
She said there is no limit, other than the students’ high school schedules, on how many courses they can take this semester.
The concurrent enrollment program is open to any JHS students who have taken and passed the COMPASS exams or scored a 19 or higher on the ACT.
Both tests are used to determine if entering college freshmen need remedial classes.
TOP STORY >> Key roles for Guard, Reserves
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
The proposed reduction of 16 older model C-130 airlifters at Little Rock Air Force Base and about 450 jobs “won’t affect our mission at all for the 19th Airlift Wing,” Col. Brian Robinson, commander of both the wing and the base, said Tuesday afternoon.
These are the airmen and planes that have done most of the heavy lifting in Iraq and Afghanistan and upon which the Pentagon most relies for in-theater transport.
Robinson’s tactical wing is slated to lose 28 legacy C-130s, but the Reserve unit and National Guard on the base will actually gain planes, according to the proposal, while the 314th Air Education and Training Wing, which trains pilots, crews and maintainers for the state-of-the-art C-130J, should remain at current strength.
Currently there are about 7,000 military and civilian employees on the base, he said.
Robinson said he didn’t know if the force reduction will be achieved through transfers or attrition, but he said he suspected it would be a combination of both.
Last year and in 2011, the proposal called for a reduction of 9,900 airmen service-wide, mostly members of the Guard and Reserves, but Congress and the governors objected, and the current numbers reflect a new proposal made in November.
The actual numbers are a little soft, because the Joint House Senate Budget Conference Committee’s final version of the bill establishes the National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force, which will be required to provide a comprehensive study on the structure of the Air Force to determine how it should be modified to fulfill mission requirements.
The commission must submit to the president and the congressional defense committees a detailed statement of findings and conclusions with recommendations by Feb. 1, 2014.
Robinson said the numbers are preliminary. Even though the Air Force has to reduce the number of airlift platforms “in the theater realm, the National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law by President Obama earlier this month, would require an additional 32 airlifters, either C-130s or C-27s, without specifying where they would be assigned.”
The revised, compromise plan recently approved by Congress restored about 38 percent of the aircraft and 55 percent of the personnel reductions originally proposed for the Guard and Reserve, while allowing the Air Force to proceed with selected aircraft retirements and transfers necessary to meet budget targets, and to draw down active duty Air Force to about 329,000 personnel, Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley said recently.
While the 19th Airlift Wing is slated to lose 16 planes, the 189th National Guard Wing on the base and the 22nd Air Force Detachment — a reserve wing — are proposed to grow.
314th: NO CHANGE
“There’s really no change,” Robinson said, for the 314th Air Education and Training Wing.
He said the 19th Airlift Wing would “execute within the bounds of the resources we have, with the most ready and well-trained force on the mission.”
“We will manage closely the transitions that will occur in a timely, respectful, dignified manner,” Robinson said, to alleviate the negative effects on the lives of airmen and their families.
“The mission side will sort out when the final answer (on plane numbers) comes.
According to 189th Airlift Commander Col. Harold S. Eggensberger, “We’re well positioned for the future,” on the National Guard side.
“There are currently no plans to cut the 189th Airlift Wing. I’m very optimistic about the future of the 189th. We’re fully invested in training for Air Education Training Command.”
The wing has 10 C-130s. Two of them have improved avionics and three others, on loan from other bases, also have those new features, which are part of the avionics improvement program, which is now temporarily suspended to see if funds become available to upgrade dozens of other older C-130s.
The Air Force has moved to scuttle the existing Avionics Modernization Program and is looking for a new, more limited and less expensive version.
But a group of lawmakers, including Second District Rep. Tim Griffin have preserved the program for at least 90 days after a report on the cost-benefit analysis of quitting the AMP program.
The 22nd Air Force Detachment, a reserve group on base, has “10 permanently assigned aircraft, which is the total under our current plan, according to Col. Edsel “Archie” Frye Jr.
“Improving the quality of life for our members and helping them chase their dreams never gets old,” he said.
The 22nd Reserve wing joins the 189th National Guard wing in training pilots, crews and maintainers for the older model C-130s, which still constitute the majority of the C-130s in service, while the 314th Air Education and Training Wing specializes in training for the C-130Js.
During the height of activity in Iraq and Afghanistan, the defense budget topped out at about $700 billion in 2010 and the Obama Administration and the Pentagon intend to downsize the military budget over the next decade by at least $487 billion.
Cuts could be deeper if former Sen. Chuck Hagel, nominated by the president to be the next secretary of defense, is confirmed.
“The Pentagon needs to be pared down,” he told the Financial Times in 2011.
Garrick Feldman contributed to this report.
Leader senior staff writer
The proposed reduction of 16 older model C-130 airlifters at Little Rock Air Force Base and about 450 jobs “won’t affect our mission at all for the 19th Airlift Wing,” Col. Brian Robinson, commander of both the wing and the base, said Tuesday afternoon.
These are the airmen and planes that have done most of the heavy lifting in Iraq and Afghanistan and upon which the Pentagon most relies for in-theater transport.
Robinson’s tactical wing is slated to lose 28 legacy C-130s, but the Reserve unit and National Guard on the base will actually gain planes, according to the proposal, while the 314th Air Education and Training Wing, which trains pilots, crews and maintainers for the state-of-the-art C-130J, should remain at current strength.
Currently there are about 7,000 military and civilian employees on the base, he said.
Robinson said he didn’t know if the force reduction will be achieved through transfers or attrition, but he said he suspected it would be a combination of both.
Last year and in 2011, the proposal called for a reduction of 9,900 airmen service-wide, mostly members of the Guard and Reserves, but Congress and the governors objected, and the current numbers reflect a new proposal made in November.
The actual numbers are a little soft, because the Joint House Senate Budget Conference Committee’s final version of the bill establishes the National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force, which will be required to provide a comprehensive study on the structure of the Air Force to determine how it should be modified to fulfill mission requirements.
The commission must submit to the president and the congressional defense committees a detailed statement of findings and conclusions with recommendations by Feb. 1, 2014.
Robinson said the numbers are preliminary. Even though the Air Force has to reduce the number of airlift platforms “in the theater realm, the National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law by President Obama earlier this month, would require an additional 32 airlifters, either C-130s or C-27s, without specifying where they would be assigned.”
The revised, compromise plan recently approved by Congress restored about 38 percent of the aircraft and 55 percent of the personnel reductions originally proposed for the Guard and Reserve, while allowing the Air Force to proceed with selected aircraft retirements and transfers necessary to meet budget targets, and to draw down active duty Air Force to about 329,000 personnel, Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley said recently.
While the 19th Airlift Wing is slated to lose 16 planes, the 189th National Guard Wing on the base and the 22nd Air Force Detachment — a reserve wing — are proposed to grow.
314th: NO CHANGE
“There’s really no change,” Robinson said, for the 314th Air Education and Training Wing.
He said the 19th Airlift Wing would “execute within the bounds of the resources we have, with the most ready and well-trained force on the mission.”
“We will manage closely the transitions that will occur in a timely, respectful, dignified manner,” Robinson said, to alleviate the negative effects on the lives of airmen and their families.
“The mission side will sort out when the final answer (on plane numbers) comes.
According to 189th Airlift Commander Col. Harold S. Eggensberger, “We’re well positioned for the future,” on the National Guard side.
“There are currently no plans to cut the 189th Airlift Wing. I’m very optimistic about the future of the 189th. We’re fully invested in training for Air Education Training Command.”
The wing has 10 C-130s. Two of them have improved avionics and three others, on loan from other bases, also have those new features, which are part of the avionics improvement program, which is now temporarily suspended to see if funds become available to upgrade dozens of other older C-130s.
The Air Force has moved to scuttle the existing Avionics Modernization Program and is looking for a new, more limited and less expensive version.
But a group of lawmakers, including Second District Rep. Tim Griffin have preserved the program for at least 90 days after a report on the cost-benefit analysis of quitting the AMP program.
The 22nd Air Force Detachment, a reserve group on base, has “10 permanently assigned aircraft, which is the total under our current plan, according to Col. Edsel “Archie” Frye Jr.
“Improving the quality of life for our members and helping them chase their dreams never gets old,” he said.
The 22nd Reserve wing joins the 189th National Guard wing in training pilots, crews and maintainers for the older model C-130s, which still constitute the majority of the C-130s in service, while the 314th Air Education and Training Wing specializes in training for the C-130Js.
During the height of activity in Iraq and Afghanistan, the defense budget topped out at about $700 billion in 2010 and the Obama Administration and the Pentagon intend to downsize the military budget over the next decade by at least $487 billion.
Cuts could be deeper if former Sen. Chuck Hagel, nominated by the president to be the next secretary of defense, is confirmed.
“The Pentagon needs to be pared down,” he told the Financial Times in 2011.
Garrick Feldman contributed to this report.
SPORT STORY >> ’Rabbits get big win at Newport
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
Lonoke played its first 4A-2 Conference road game Friday at Newport, and left with its second conference win of the season as the Jackrabbits beat the Greyhounds 50-44.
The Jackrabbits (8-4, 2-1) led through all four quarters, but could never gain a comfortable lead over the Greyhounds. Lonoke led 15-6 after the first quarter, but was outscored in the next two quarters, which made it a six-point game entering the fourth.
“We seem to find ways to keep people around,” said Lonoke coach Dean Campbell. “When we had to towards the end, I thought we did a good job of controlling the tempo and controlling the game the last four to five minutes. We spread them out, controlled the tempo, and made them come and get us. I felt like we did a good job of executing on the offensive end.
“There are a few defensive things we have to tie up. I was fairly happy with how we ended the game execution-wise, and I think that’s something we can build on.”
Newport outscored Lonoke 13-12 in the second quarter and 11-9 in the third, but the Jackrabbits’ effort in the opening quarter gave them a 36-30 lead at the start of the fourth. In addition to defensive play, Campbell said free throws are an area his team will need to improve on as the season progresses.
Lonoke made 60 percent of its free throws in the first half, but only 50 percent in the second half on 14 attempts.
“We were 19 of 34 from the free-throw line,” Campbell said. “We were 12 for 20 in the first half, and as you can tell it didn’t get any better in the second half. Some games we shoot real well and other games we don’t. That has to improve for us to be able to separate ourselves during games and separate ourselves from others in our conference.”
Campbell was pleased however with his team’s overall effort on the boards.
“I thought for the most part we rebounded well, better than we have been,” Campbell said. “That’s kind of been an issue for us. I don’t feel like we gave them too many second-chance points, because (Newport) has some size. But the few we did give up always seemed to be at crucial times.
“Nobody played an outstanding game, but I didn’t feel like anybody played really bad either. We allowed them to stick around and we played with them, but we brought it out there at the end, and did well enough to win the game.”
Blake Mack led the way scoring-wise for Lonoke as he finished with 14 points. Darrius McCall scored 13 and Jamel Rankin added nine.
The Lady Rabbits didn’t fare so well in its game with Newport, as the Lady Greyhounds won 43-35. The Lady Rabbits have battled injuries all season, which has been detrimental to a team that features eight sophomores, three juniors, and zero seniors.
Lonoke’s boys and girls continued 4A-2 Conference play yesterday at Marianna, and will play again Friday at home against Heber Springs.
Leader sportswriter
Lonoke played its first 4A-2 Conference road game Friday at Newport, and left with its second conference win of the season as the Jackrabbits beat the Greyhounds 50-44.
The Jackrabbits (8-4, 2-1) led through all four quarters, but could never gain a comfortable lead over the Greyhounds. Lonoke led 15-6 after the first quarter, but was outscored in the next two quarters, which made it a six-point game entering the fourth.
“We seem to find ways to keep people around,” said Lonoke coach Dean Campbell. “When we had to towards the end, I thought we did a good job of controlling the tempo and controlling the game the last four to five minutes. We spread them out, controlled the tempo, and made them come and get us. I felt like we did a good job of executing on the offensive end.
“There are a few defensive things we have to tie up. I was fairly happy with how we ended the game execution-wise, and I think that’s something we can build on.”
Newport outscored Lonoke 13-12 in the second quarter and 11-9 in the third, but the Jackrabbits’ effort in the opening quarter gave them a 36-30 lead at the start of the fourth. In addition to defensive play, Campbell said free throws are an area his team will need to improve on as the season progresses.
Lonoke made 60 percent of its free throws in the first half, but only 50 percent in the second half on 14 attempts.
“We were 19 of 34 from the free-throw line,” Campbell said. “We were 12 for 20 in the first half, and as you can tell it didn’t get any better in the second half. Some games we shoot real well and other games we don’t. That has to improve for us to be able to separate ourselves during games and separate ourselves from others in our conference.”
Campbell was pleased however with his team’s overall effort on the boards.
“I thought for the most part we rebounded well, better than we have been,” Campbell said. “That’s kind of been an issue for us. I don’t feel like we gave them too many second-chance points, because (Newport) has some size. But the few we did give up always seemed to be at crucial times.
“Nobody played an outstanding game, but I didn’t feel like anybody played really bad either. We allowed them to stick around and we played with them, but we brought it out there at the end, and did well enough to win the game.”
Blake Mack led the way scoring-wise for Lonoke as he finished with 14 points. Darrius McCall scored 13 and Jamel Rankin added nine.
The Lady Rabbits didn’t fare so well in its game with Newport, as the Lady Greyhounds won 43-35. The Lady Rabbits have battled injuries all season, which has been detrimental to a team that features eight sophomores, three juniors, and zero seniors.
Lonoke’s boys and girls continued 4A-2 Conference play yesterday at Marianna, and will play again Friday at home against Heber Springs.
SPORT STORY >> North ladies solid at line, beat Conway
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The Cabot Junior High North Lady Panthers came back from the holiday break strong with a 43-33 victory over Conway Blue at the CJHN gymnasium on Monday.
Free-throw shooting went a long way for the Lady Panthers, who went 13 for 16 from the stripe, including an 8-for-10 performance for leading scorer CoCo Calhoun. Calhoun led the way for the Lady Panthers with 21 points, along with five rebounds and two steals.
“That’s what we need from her,” Lady Panthers coach Jeremy Holbrook said. “She’s our best player, and if she can play like that, we can win a lot of games. We talked to her over the Christmas break and challenged her a little bit, and as you can see tonight, she stepped up and did what we expect her to do for us.”
Outside shooting kept the Lady ’Cats in the game most of the way. Conway hit a pair of three-point baskets in the first quarter, but Calhoun answered for Cabot with eight of her points, including four free throws. Calhoun also assisted the other goal for the Lady Panthers in the first six minutes on a shot underneath the basket by Claire Eifling to give Cabot a 9-8 lead at the 1:30 mark.
Eifling put the Lady Panthers up 13-10 at the start of the second quarter with a pair of free throws, but Conway came back with five straight points to go up 15-13. The rest of the half was essentially a trade off until Calhoun hit Cabot’s only three pointer of the night inside five seconds to give the Lady Panthers a 25-21 lead at the break.
“I thought our team played a little bit better as a group,” Holbrook said. “We went to Heber Springs over the Christmas break and played probably two of our worst games we’ve had. Maybe that got us going a little bit. I was real proud of them sticking to the game plan.”
The Lady Panthers were able to slowly extend their lead throughout the second quarter as more players started to get into the mix scoring wise. Rachael Allgood gave Cabot a 31-22 lead when she came away with a steal and converted it with a layup with 2:48 left to play in the third quarter. Calhoun pulled down a defensive rebound in the final minute of the third, which led to a basket by Maddie Rice to put the Lady Panthers up 35-28.
Rebounding was vital for Cabot. Conway kept the Lady Panthers off the defensive glass early and generated a number of second and third-chance opportunities, but post player Lily Sinclair got involved midway through the opening period and went on to lead Cabot with seven rebounds.
Conway cut the lead to 39-33 with just over a minute to play and quickly called timeout to set up a press defense. Cabot beat the attempt, which gave Calhoun an open look for an easy basket. The Lady ’Cats sent Allgood to the line inside 30 seconds, and she sank both shots to set the final margin.
Eifling added 10 points for Cabot, which improved to 10-4 overall and 1-0 in Central Arkansas Junior High Conference play.
Leader sportswriter
The Cabot Junior High North Lady Panthers came back from the holiday break strong with a 43-33 victory over Conway Blue at the CJHN gymnasium on Monday.
Free-throw shooting went a long way for the Lady Panthers, who went 13 for 16 from the stripe, including an 8-for-10 performance for leading scorer CoCo Calhoun. Calhoun led the way for the Lady Panthers with 21 points, along with five rebounds and two steals.
“That’s what we need from her,” Lady Panthers coach Jeremy Holbrook said. “She’s our best player, and if she can play like that, we can win a lot of games. We talked to her over the Christmas break and challenged her a little bit, and as you can see tonight, she stepped up and did what we expect her to do for us.”
Outside shooting kept the Lady ’Cats in the game most of the way. Conway hit a pair of three-point baskets in the first quarter, but Calhoun answered for Cabot with eight of her points, including four free throws. Calhoun also assisted the other goal for the Lady Panthers in the first six minutes on a shot underneath the basket by Claire Eifling to give Cabot a 9-8 lead at the 1:30 mark.
Eifling put the Lady Panthers up 13-10 at the start of the second quarter with a pair of free throws, but Conway came back with five straight points to go up 15-13. The rest of the half was essentially a trade off until Calhoun hit Cabot’s only three pointer of the night inside five seconds to give the Lady Panthers a 25-21 lead at the break.
“I thought our team played a little bit better as a group,” Holbrook said. “We went to Heber Springs over the Christmas break and played probably two of our worst games we’ve had. Maybe that got us going a little bit. I was real proud of them sticking to the game plan.”
The Lady Panthers were able to slowly extend their lead throughout the second quarter as more players started to get into the mix scoring wise. Rachael Allgood gave Cabot a 31-22 lead when she came away with a steal and converted it with a layup with 2:48 left to play in the third quarter. Calhoun pulled down a defensive rebound in the final minute of the third, which led to a basket by Maddie Rice to put the Lady Panthers up 35-28.
Rebounding was vital for Cabot. Conway kept the Lady Panthers off the defensive glass early and generated a number of second and third-chance opportunities, but post player Lily Sinclair got involved midway through the opening period and went on to lead Cabot with seven rebounds.
Conway cut the lead to 39-33 with just over a minute to play and quickly called timeout to set up a press defense. Cabot beat the attempt, which gave Calhoun an open look for an easy basket. The Lady ’Cats sent Allgood to the line inside 30 seconds, and she sank both shots to set the final margin.
Eifling added 10 points for Cabot, which improved to 10-4 overall and 1-0 in Central Arkansas Junior High Conference play.
SPORT STORY >> Beebe earns opening win
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Beebe started out 5A East Conference play on the right note with a big 54-33 victory over Blytheville on the road Friday. The Badgers were coming off a strong runner-up performance in their own Christmas Classic tournament the previous weekend, and carried that momentum into their league opener, improving to 9-4 overall and 1-0 in 5A East Conference play.
Senior guard Jake Schlenker led the way with 20 points while junior post player Zach Baker added 13 points. Beebe got off to a slow start and trailed the Chickasaws 10-6 at the end of the first quarter before rallying in the second quarter to take a 25-19 lead at the break.
The Badgers were solid defensively, holding Blytheville to just seven points in each of the final two quarters while stretching their advantage. They all but put it away in the third quarter, outscoring their host 19-7 to take a 44-26 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
“We were brain dead in the first quarter,” Badgers coach Ryan Marshall said. “We had a lot of trips down the court where we were not too sharp, but we picked it up. Schlenker gave us a lot of senior leadership. He gave us a spark and got things going for us.”
Beebe went on a 40-11 run at one point in the game. The victory gave the Badgers early footing in the conference battle, but still, Marshall hopes to see more improvement.
“We did a good job of boxing out,” Marshall said. “It wasn’t bad defensively, but I thought we would be further along than what we are at this point in the season.”
One recent benefit for the Badgers has been the return of senior forward Austin Burroughs. Burroughs sat out most of December recovering from a leg injury, but returned in time for the Christmas tournament, scoring 18 points against McCrory and 22 points in the semifinal matchup against Cabot, and had a strong defensive presence in the conference opener against Blytheville.
The Lady Badgers also came away with a victory as they downed the Lady Chicks 66-37.
Senior guard Jamie Jackson led the way for Beebe with 27 points while junior Kalela Miller chipped in 15 points. Sydney Gunter added 12 points with seven for junior Madison Richey. The victory improved the Lady Badgers’ record to 10-5 overall and 1-0 in the 5A East Conference.
Beebe continued 5A East Conference play last night at Batesville, and will host Paragould on Friday. The girls matchup against Paragould will be particularly important as the Lady Rams are the defending East champions while the Lady Badgers finished second behind them in league play last year.
Leader sportswriter
Beebe started out 5A East Conference play on the right note with a big 54-33 victory over Blytheville on the road Friday. The Badgers were coming off a strong runner-up performance in their own Christmas Classic tournament the previous weekend, and carried that momentum into their league opener, improving to 9-4 overall and 1-0 in 5A East Conference play.
Senior guard Jake Schlenker led the way with 20 points while junior post player Zach Baker added 13 points. Beebe got off to a slow start and trailed the Chickasaws 10-6 at the end of the first quarter before rallying in the second quarter to take a 25-19 lead at the break.
The Badgers were solid defensively, holding Blytheville to just seven points in each of the final two quarters while stretching their advantage. They all but put it away in the third quarter, outscoring their host 19-7 to take a 44-26 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
“We were brain dead in the first quarter,” Badgers coach Ryan Marshall said. “We had a lot of trips down the court where we were not too sharp, but we picked it up. Schlenker gave us a lot of senior leadership. He gave us a spark and got things going for us.”
Beebe went on a 40-11 run at one point in the game. The victory gave the Badgers early footing in the conference battle, but still, Marshall hopes to see more improvement.
“We did a good job of boxing out,” Marshall said. “It wasn’t bad defensively, but I thought we would be further along than what we are at this point in the season.”
One recent benefit for the Badgers has been the return of senior forward Austin Burroughs. Burroughs sat out most of December recovering from a leg injury, but returned in time for the Christmas tournament, scoring 18 points against McCrory and 22 points in the semifinal matchup against Cabot, and had a strong defensive presence in the conference opener against Blytheville.
The Lady Badgers also came away with a victory as they downed the Lady Chicks 66-37.
Senior guard Jamie Jackson led the way for Beebe with 27 points while junior Kalela Miller chipped in 15 points. Sydney Gunter added 12 points with seven for junior Madison Richey. The victory improved the Lady Badgers’ record to 10-5 overall and 1-0 in the 5A East Conference.
Beebe continued 5A East Conference play last night at Batesville, and will host Paragould on Friday. The girls matchup against Paragould will be particularly important as the Lady Rams are the defending East champions while the Lady Badgers finished second behind them in league play last year.
SPORT STORY >> McClellan runs out on Bears
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
Sylvan Hills managed to stay within striking distance of Little Rock McClellan after two quarters of play, but the Crimson Lions were too much to handle in the second half as the Bears fell 74-47 in Friday’s 5A Central Conference opener at McClellan High School.
The Bears led 8-7 midway through the opening quarter, but a 14-4 scoring run by the Crimson Lions put Sylvan Hills (3-5, 0-1) down nine by the end of the first. McClellan (7-5, 1-0) increased its lead to 14 points with a 5-0 run to start the second, but from there, the Bears steadily chipped away at the lead.
Sylvan Hills found ways to break McClellan’s press defense toward the end of the half, and with 1:32 to play, Marlon Clemmons cut the Lions’ lead back to single digits with a layup. The Bears trimmed the deficit to six by halftime on three successful free throws by Trajan Doss. Doss drained two straight with 50 seconds to go, setting the halftime score at 36-30.
“It was all about transition defense tonight,” said Sylvan Hills coach Kevin Davis. “We weren’t getting back (on the defensive end). That cost us in the first half. We dug a big hole, but we went back and tried to get in our secondary break sets, and we did, and put ourselves right back in the ball game.”
The third quarter was when the Lions all but put the game away. McClellan forced 10 Sylvan Hills turnovers in the quarter, and outscored the Bears 25-6. Derrick Hardy led the way for the Lions with eight points during the stretch. McClellan committed just one turnover in the third and held a comfortable 61-36 lead at the start of the fourth.
The fourth quarter was much more competitive than the third, but the game was already out of the Bears’ reach. McClellan narrowly outscored Sylvan Hills 13-11 in the final eight minutes. Ronnie Hinton scored the final basket of the game on a layup with 22 seconds to play.
David Johnson, Sylvan Hills’ biggest presence in the post, got into foul trouble early in the second half, which put the Bears at a disadvantage on the boards. Despite playing the majority of the second half with four fouls, Johnson had the best overall game for Sylvan Hills as he finished the conference opener with a double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
“We came out in the second half and I was a little disappointed,” Davis said. “I thought we gave (McClellan) too many inside, easy looks. David got in foul trouble, so we were soft. He went back out there with four fouls early in the third. So we got real soft in the paint. We were so much smaller than they were.
“Passes we thought were open, they’d close down the lanes real quick. That’s typical of McClellan. That’s what they do and how they make their living, and they’re pretty good at it. And with a young team that’s never seen that before, it was a little overwhelming for them. You just have to toss that thing up and play, and go from here. And make sure you learn from this experience, and hopefully it’ll make a young team a little better.”
Hinton led the Bears with 13 points. Doss added nine. Four players for McClellan scored in double figures. Davion Givens led the Lions with 12 points. Hardy scored 11. Jason Hendrix and Akee Johnson scored 10 apiece.
Sylvan Hills continued 5A Central play yesterday at Mills and will host Helena-West Helena Central on Friday.
Leader sportswriter
Sylvan Hills managed to stay within striking distance of Little Rock McClellan after two quarters of play, but the Crimson Lions were too much to handle in the second half as the Bears fell 74-47 in Friday’s 5A Central Conference opener at McClellan High School.
The Bears led 8-7 midway through the opening quarter, but a 14-4 scoring run by the Crimson Lions put Sylvan Hills (3-5, 0-1) down nine by the end of the first. McClellan (7-5, 1-0) increased its lead to 14 points with a 5-0 run to start the second, but from there, the Bears steadily chipped away at the lead.
Sylvan Hills found ways to break McClellan’s press defense toward the end of the half, and with 1:32 to play, Marlon Clemmons cut the Lions’ lead back to single digits with a layup. The Bears trimmed the deficit to six by halftime on three successful free throws by Trajan Doss. Doss drained two straight with 50 seconds to go, setting the halftime score at 36-30.
“It was all about transition defense tonight,” said Sylvan Hills coach Kevin Davis. “We weren’t getting back (on the defensive end). That cost us in the first half. We dug a big hole, but we went back and tried to get in our secondary break sets, and we did, and put ourselves right back in the ball game.”
The third quarter was when the Lions all but put the game away. McClellan forced 10 Sylvan Hills turnovers in the quarter, and outscored the Bears 25-6. Derrick Hardy led the way for the Lions with eight points during the stretch. McClellan committed just one turnover in the third and held a comfortable 61-36 lead at the start of the fourth.
The fourth quarter was much more competitive than the third, but the game was already out of the Bears’ reach. McClellan narrowly outscored Sylvan Hills 13-11 in the final eight minutes. Ronnie Hinton scored the final basket of the game on a layup with 22 seconds to play.
David Johnson, Sylvan Hills’ biggest presence in the post, got into foul trouble early in the second half, which put the Bears at a disadvantage on the boards. Despite playing the majority of the second half with four fouls, Johnson had the best overall game for Sylvan Hills as he finished the conference opener with a double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
“We came out in the second half and I was a little disappointed,” Davis said. “I thought we gave (McClellan) too many inside, easy looks. David got in foul trouble, so we were soft. He went back out there with four fouls early in the third. So we got real soft in the paint. We were so much smaller than they were.
“Passes we thought were open, they’d close down the lanes real quick. That’s typical of McClellan. That’s what they do and how they make their living, and they’re pretty good at it. And with a young team that’s never seen that before, it was a little overwhelming for them. You just have to toss that thing up and play, and go from here. And make sure you learn from this experience, and hopefully it’ll make a young team a little better.”
Hinton led the Bears with 13 points. Doss added nine. Four players for McClellan scored in double figures. Davion Givens led the Lions with 12 points. Hardy scored 11. Jason Hendrix and Akee Johnson scored 10 apiece.
Sylvan Hills continued 5A Central play yesterday at Mills and will host Helena-West Helena Central on Friday.
SPORTS STORY >> Falcons win on the road
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
North Pulaski opened conference play with a bang Friday night at Central High School in Helena-West Helena. The Falcons beat the Cougars 77-68 in a game that saw several strategy changes by the visiting team.
“I had gotten a couple of scouting reports from coaches who’ve seen them, but I didn’t really have much to go on,” North Pulaski coach Roy Jackson said. “I heard they played hard, were athletic and tried to beat you off the dribble a lot. I wasn’t ready for how long and physical they are. They were probably the second or third most physical team we’ve played. They had a big boy inside and it took a minute to adjust to them.”
The Falcons came out in a zone defense to try to keep the quick-footed Cougar guards from penetrating the lane. The plan backfired when Central hit a barrage of three pointers to build a nine-point lead.
North Pulaski fought back and evened the score at 37 by halftime after switching to a man defense and staying on the outside shooters.
The third quarter belonged to the Falcons. Halfway through the period, Jackson called for full-court pressure and the host team didn’t handle it well.
Freshman Rashawn Langston went on a point-scoring spree once the press was called. The 6-foot-3 guard hit a pair of three pointers off steals by Joe Aikens and Eric Mouton. He then got his own steal and layup, followed by a free throw after being fouled.
“He flourishes in that type of game,” Jackson said. “He gets a little lost in the shuffle when a team slows us down and we get into a half court game. But he’s a freshman. He’s learning how to move without the ball and just learning how to be a more complete player. But he’s as good as any freshman out there in this type of game.”
The Falcons were able to keep Central at bay through the first half of the fourth quarter. That forced the Cougars to start fouling, and North Pulaski hit their free throws to seal the win.
“We closed them out and that was important,” Jackson said. “For an inexperienced team to go on the road in its first conference game, that was very important for us.”
Langston led all scorers with 29 points. Three other Falcons ended the game in double figures. Mouton had a season-high 18. It was his second consecutive solid performance, according to Jackson.
“Eric has really been coming on these last few games,” Jackson said. “Even in the one we lost at Camden against Magnolia, he played well in that game.”
Junior Joe Aikens, who leads the team in scoring, added 14 points and found other ways to help the team.
“Joe’s been just our scorer but he had the most impressive stat line of the night,” Jackson said. Aikens added seven assists, five steals and three rebounds to his 14 points.
Aaron Williamson scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Falcons (7-5, 1-0).
The Lady Falcons didn’t fare as well, losing to the Lady Cougars 56-37. Things fell apart for the North Pulaski ladies in the first quarter as Central raced out to a quick double-digit lead. The Lady Falcons regrouped and got back within eight points in the third quarter, but another run by Central sealed the victory for the home team.
The Falcons hosted their first conference game last night against Pulaski Academy. Look for details of those games in Saturday’s edition of The Leader. They will also host cross-town rival Jacksonville on Friday.
Leader sports editor
North Pulaski opened conference play with a bang Friday night at Central High School in Helena-West Helena. The Falcons beat the Cougars 77-68 in a game that saw several strategy changes by the visiting team.
“I had gotten a couple of scouting reports from coaches who’ve seen them, but I didn’t really have much to go on,” North Pulaski coach Roy Jackson said. “I heard they played hard, were athletic and tried to beat you off the dribble a lot. I wasn’t ready for how long and physical they are. They were probably the second or third most physical team we’ve played. They had a big boy inside and it took a minute to adjust to them.”
The Falcons came out in a zone defense to try to keep the quick-footed Cougar guards from penetrating the lane. The plan backfired when Central hit a barrage of three pointers to build a nine-point lead.
North Pulaski fought back and evened the score at 37 by halftime after switching to a man defense and staying on the outside shooters.
The third quarter belonged to the Falcons. Halfway through the period, Jackson called for full-court pressure and the host team didn’t handle it well.
Freshman Rashawn Langston went on a point-scoring spree once the press was called. The 6-foot-3 guard hit a pair of three pointers off steals by Joe Aikens and Eric Mouton. He then got his own steal and layup, followed by a free throw after being fouled.
“He flourishes in that type of game,” Jackson said. “He gets a little lost in the shuffle when a team slows us down and we get into a half court game. But he’s a freshman. He’s learning how to move without the ball and just learning how to be a more complete player. But he’s as good as any freshman out there in this type of game.”
The Falcons were able to keep Central at bay through the first half of the fourth quarter. That forced the Cougars to start fouling, and North Pulaski hit their free throws to seal the win.
“We closed them out and that was important,” Jackson said. “For an inexperienced team to go on the road in its first conference game, that was very important for us.”
Langston led all scorers with 29 points. Three other Falcons ended the game in double figures. Mouton had a season-high 18. It was his second consecutive solid performance, according to Jackson.
“Eric has really been coming on these last few games,” Jackson said. “Even in the one we lost at Camden against Magnolia, he played well in that game.”
Junior Joe Aikens, who leads the team in scoring, added 14 points and found other ways to help the team.
“Joe’s been just our scorer but he had the most impressive stat line of the night,” Jackson said. Aikens added seven assists, five steals and three rebounds to his 14 points.
Aaron Williamson scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Falcons (7-5, 1-0).
The Lady Falcons didn’t fare as well, losing to the Lady Cougars 56-37. Things fell apart for the North Pulaski ladies in the first quarter as Central raced out to a quick double-digit lead. The Lady Falcons regrouped and got back within eight points in the third quarter, but another run by Central sealed the victory for the home team.
The Falcons hosted their first conference game last night against Pulaski Academy. Look for details of those games in Saturday’s edition of The Leader. They will also host cross-town rival Jacksonville on Friday.
Saturday, January 05, 2013
SPORTS TORY >> Wants to succeed and works for it
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Thoughtful and soft-spoken, Jacksonville senior Justin McCleary has grown into the player head coach Vic Joyner thought he would when he made him a rare freshman starter in the Red Devil basketball program. Joyner hardly ever plays freshmen on the varsity team, but it’s not a hard and fast rule. Four years ago he spotted a player in his middle-school program he felt could handle the test.
That player was McCleary, and today he still exhibits those skills, only now it’s in a taller, stronger body.
“First of all he was physically mature enough to do it,” Joyner said. “Most guys aren’t ready at 14 years old to play varsity at this level, but Justin had a senior-high body in ninth grade. Second was the mental aspect.”
McCleary, 6-foot-2, admits that his freshman year was his most difficult as a Red Devil guard. Finding things in common with teammates, especially the senior class, escaped him.
“It was fun but I just didn’t fit in with that team,” McCleary said. “It was hard at times, but you just keep working harder.”
Joyner still felt McCleary’s basketball ability was an asset. He says there have been other players come through his system that had the physical talent to help as freshmen, but didn’t have the stable temperament to handle the pressure of the game or from the older players.
“They didn’t like that this kid moved up and took some peoples’ spots and minutes,” Joyner said. “That’s going to happen to just about any freshman. I thought J Mac could handle it and he proved me right. There were times when I stepped in and stood up for him, but most of the time I wanted him to man up and handle it. And he did. He’s been the same ever since. I’m comfortable when he has the ball. He’s a steady hand.”
That steadiness is only one of the things that makes McCleary a leader on a team with a senior class that Joyner says is one of the best of his career.
“This whole group is a good group,” Joyner said. “They get the class work done. They go hard in practice. They’re just tight. It’s been that way since they started playing together. Most of them have been together since seventh grade. McCleary is the one with the most experience, so in that sense, this is his team. But this whole class plays a big role in whatever success we’re going to have.”
McCleary, son of Kevin and Evelyn McCleary, has at least a 3.5 grade-point average. He says it might be a 3.6. He’s already made a 21 on the ACT, which is well over the minimum requirement for eligibility to play NCAA Division I basketball.
He already has one DI offer from Central Arkansas, where three former Jacksonville teammates are currently on scholarship.
“I’d be excited to go there,” McCleary said. “It would be cool to go there because of all the Jacksonville players, but I’m going to wait and see what else comes up.”
Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Penn., has shown serious interest and has come to Arkansas to watch McCleary play in person, but hasn’t yet come through with a hard offer. McCleary is intrigued by the Patriot League school, but isn’t sure why or how they became aware of him. Joyner knows.
“You have to have your grades and be getting it done in the classroom for them to even look at you,” Joyner said. “I sent some tapes out, but it was that and his work ethic in the class room that got them interested.”
McCleary says science comes easy to him and that he enjoys the subject more than others, which is one reason he plans to major in physical therapy. He still holds out for the possibility of a professional basketball career.
“I don’t really have any idea at all what I’m going to do after college,” McCleary said. “Whether it’s the NBA, or playing overseas or just becoming a physical therapist. I’m just going to go 100 percent in both areas and see where it leads to. I just want to succeed.”
McCleary could just about have his choice of the lower division schools, but for now he’s focusing on winning his first state title. He was in eighth grade the last time the Red Devils won it all. He made it back to the title game as a sophomore, and still feels the sting of not winning it all last year, despite being considered the 6A’s best team and having gone 4-0 in the regular season against the two teams that played for the championship.
“Winning it all, everything, that’s our goal,” McCleary said of this season. “I still can’t explain just what happened last year (in the semifinal loss to Jonesboro, a team Jacksonville mercy ruled earlier in the season). I’ve never experienced anything like that.”
This season has already included several memorable moments. The Red Devils are undefeated against highly-touted out-of-state opponents, with wins over teams from Memphis, Oklahoma City and Chicago. On a personal note, McCleary scored a career-high 31 points in the win over Olive Branch of the Memphis area.
“That was fun,” McCleary said. “Beating all those big-time teams, scoring a career high, those are definitely highlights, but we still want that state championship."
Leader sports editor
Thoughtful and soft-spoken, Jacksonville senior Justin McCleary has grown into the player head coach Vic Joyner thought he would when he made him a rare freshman starter in the Red Devil basketball program. Joyner hardly ever plays freshmen on the varsity team, but it’s not a hard and fast rule. Four years ago he spotted a player in his middle-school program he felt could handle the test.
That player was McCleary, and today he still exhibits those skills, only now it’s in a taller, stronger body.
“First of all he was physically mature enough to do it,” Joyner said. “Most guys aren’t ready at 14 years old to play varsity at this level, but Justin had a senior-high body in ninth grade. Second was the mental aspect.”
McCleary, 6-foot-2, admits that his freshman year was his most difficult as a Red Devil guard. Finding things in common with teammates, especially the senior class, escaped him.
“It was fun but I just didn’t fit in with that team,” McCleary said. “It was hard at times, but you just keep working harder.”
Joyner still felt McCleary’s basketball ability was an asset. He says there have been other players come through his system that had the physical talent to help as freshmen, but didn’t have the stable temperament to handle the pressure of the game or from the older players.
“They didn’t like that this kid moved up and took some peoples’ spots and minutes,” Joyner said. “That’s going to happen to just about any freshman. I thought J Mac could handle it and he proved me right. There were times when I stepped in and stood up for him, but most of the time I wanted him to man up and handle it. And he did. He’s been the same ever since. I’m comfortable when he has the ball. He’s a steady hand.”
That steadiness is only one of the things that makes McCleary a leader on a team with a senior class that Joyner says is one of the best of his career.
“This whole group is a good group,” Joyner said. “They get the class work done. They go hard in practice. They’re just tight. It’s been that way since they started playing together. Most of them have been together since seventh grade. McCleary is the one with the most experience, so in that sense, this is his team. But this whole class plays a big role in whatever success we’re going to have.”
McCleary, son of Kevin and Evelyn McCleary, has at least a 3.5 grade-point average. He says it might be a 3.6. He’s already made a 21 on the ACT, which is well over the minimum requirement for eligibility to play NCAA Division I basketball.
He already has one DI offer from Central Arkansas, where three former Jacksonville teammates are currently on scholarship.
“I’d be excited to go there,” McCleary said. “It would be cool to go there because of all the Jacksonville players, but I’m going to wait and see what else comes up.”
Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Penn., has shown serious interest and has come to Arkansas to watch McCleary play in person, but hasn’t yet come through with a hard offer. McCleary is intrigued by the Patriot League school, but isn’t sure why or how they became aware of him. Joyner knows.
“You have to have your grades and be getting it done in the classroom for them to even look at you,” Joyner said. “I sent some tapes out, but it was that and his work ethic in the class room that got them interested.”
McCleary says science comes easy to him and that he enjoys the subject more than others, which is one reason he plans to major in physical therapy. He still holds out for the possibility of a professional basketball career.
“I don’t really have any idea at all what I’m going to do after college,” McCleary said. “Whether it’s the NBA, or playing overseas or just becoming a physical therapist. I’m just going to go 100 percent in both areas and see where it leads to. I just want to succeed.”
McCleary could just about have his choice of the lower division schools, but for now he’s focusing on winning his first state title. He was in eighth grade the last time the Red Devils won it all. He made it back to the title game as a sophomore, and still feels the sting of not winning it all last year, despite being considered the 6A’s best team and having gone 4-0 in the regular season against the two teams that played for the championship.
“Winning it all, everything, that’s our goal,” McCleary said of this season. “I still can’t explain just what happened last year (in the semifinal loss to Jonesboro, a team Jacksonville mercy ruled earlier in the season). I’ve never experienced anything like that.”
This season has already included several memorable moments. The Red Devils are undefeated against highly-touted out-of-state opponents, with wins over teams from Memphis, Oklahoma City and Chicago. On a personal note, McCleary scored a career-high 31 points in the win over Olive Branch of the Memphis area.
“That was fun,” McCleary said. “Beating all those big-time teams, scoring a career high, those are definitely highlights, but we still want that state championship."
SPORT STORY >> Sylvan Hills girls top McClellan
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
The Sylvan Hills ladies trailed Little Rock McClellan by one at halftime in their 5A Central Conference opener, but a big third quarter helped catapult the Lady Bears to a 39-33 victory Friday at McClellan High School.
Sylvan Hills outscored McClellan 12-3 in the third to take a 30-22 lead heading into the final quarter. It was the only quarter that the Lady Bears were able to outscore its 5A Central Conference foe.
Yesterday’s game was the Lady Bears’ first since Dec. 21. In that game Sylvan Hills lost handily to Vilonia at home. Sylvan Hills coach Shelley Davis was anxious to see how her team would respond after such a long layoff.
“Coming off of two weeks I felt like we looked sloppy,” Davis said. “At first they weren’t executing correctly. They were playing sloppy and kind of laid back. But I knew if we could keep on with it that we’d eventually get some turnovers.”
The first half was close as the Lady Lions led 12-11 after the opening quarter, and held a one-point lead at the break. Calyn Fulton found DeQuandra Robinson underneath the basket and Robinson’s bucket made the score 19-18 at the end of two quarters.
Sylvan Hills played its best basketball of the night in the next eight minutes. Senior two guard Naomi Gregory scored back-to-back baskets to open the third quarter, which gave the Lady Bears a three-point lead.
Fellow senior Val Jarrett made the back end of a two-shot foul to put Sylvan Hills up four. Sophomore guard Jessica Brasfield added four points in the quarter and Gregory scored the final three points of the third for the Lady Bears on free throws.
“I felt like we stepped up our press and played it like we were supposed to play it in the third quarter and it caused turnovers,” Davis said. “At first we weren’t even running, we were just standing there. But they came out and played better in the press in the third quarter.”
McClellan outscored Sylvan Hills 11-9 in the fourth, but a couple of those baskets came late with the game already out of reach. The Lady Bears (5-6, 1-0) went 5 for 7 at the free throw line in the quarter, which kept the Lady Lions (1-6, 0-1) from making a serious run in the final minutes.
With one second to play, Justina Lanigan scored on a rebound and put-back to set the final score. Sylvan Hills did suffer a setback in the winning effort. Gregory left the game about midway through the fourth after re-aggravating a previous knee injury.
“She just hurt her leg two weeks ago,” Davis said of Gregory. “Finally we got it better. We’d been taping it, taping it, and taping it. Tonight she didn’t play with tape on it or anything and she stepped on a kid’s foot.
“And the way she landed on it had to hurt because it was still so tender. She probably won’t be back for another week and a half or two.”
Sylvan Hills won despite narrowly losing the rebounding battle 33-30. The Lady Bears committed one fewer turnover than the Lady Lions with 24. Sylvan Hills was also the better team at the free-throw line, making 59 percent of its shots at the line compared to McClellan’s 35 percent.
Gregory led the Lady Bears with 18 points. Fulton scored six. Brasfield scored five. Jarrett and Jalmedal Byrd scored four apiece, and Robinson added two.
Sylvan Hills will look to stay unbeaten in 5A Central play against Mills University Studies on Tuesday at Little Rock.
Leader sportswriter
The Sylvan Hills ladies trailed Little Rock McClellan by one at halftime in their 5A Central Conference opener, but a big third quarter helped catapult the Lady Bears to a 39-33 victory Friday at McClellan High School.
Sylvan Hills outscored McClellan 12-3 in the third to take a 30-22 lead heading into the final quarter. It was the only quarter that the Lady Bears were able to outscore its 5A Central Conference foe.
Yesterday’s game was the Lady Bears’ first since Dec. 21. In that game Sylvan Hills lost handily to Vilonia at home. Sylvan Hills coach Shelley Davis was anxious to see how her team would respond after such a long layoff.
“Coming off of two weeks I felt like we looked sloppy,” Davis said. “At first they weren’t executing correctly. They were playing sloppy and kind of laid back. But I knew if we could keep on with it that we’d eventually get some turnovers.”
The first half was close as the Lady Lions led 12-11 after the opening quarter, and held a one-point lead at the break. Calyn Fulton found DeQuandra Robinson underneath the basket and Robinson’s bucket made the score 19-18 at the end of two quarters.
Sylvan Hills played its best basketball of the night in the next eight minutes. Senior two guard Naomi Gregory scored back-to-back baskets to open the third quarter, which gave the Lady Bears a three-point lead.
Fellow senior Val Jarrett made the back end of a two-shot foul to put Sylvan Hills up four. Sophomore guard Jessica Brasfield added four points in the quarter and Gregory scored the final three points of the third for the Lady Bears on free throws.
“I felt like we stepped up our press and played it like we were supposed to play it in the third quarter and it caused turnovers,” Davis said. “At first we weren’t even running, we were just standing there. But they came out and played better in the press in the third quarter.”
McClellan outscored Sylvan Hills 11-9 in the fourth, but a couple of those baskets came late with the game already out of reach. The Lady Bears (5-6, 1-0) went 5 for 7 at the free throw line in the quarter, which kept the Lady Lions (1-6, 0-1) from making a serious run in the final minutes.
With one second to play, Justina Lanigan scored on a rebound and put-back to set the final score. Sylvan Hills did suffer a setback in the winning effort. Gregory left the game about midway through the fourth after re-aggravating a previous knee injury.
“She just hurt her leg two weeks ago,” Davis said of Gregory. “Finally we got it better. We’d been taping it, taping it, and taping it. Tonight she didn’t play with tape on it or anything and she stepped on a kid’s foot.
“And the way she landed on it had to hurt because it was still so tender. She probably won’t be back for another week and a half or two.”
Sylvan Hills won despite narrowly losing the rebounding battle 33-30. The Lady Bears committed one fewer turnover than the Lady Lions with 24. Sylvan Hills was also the better team at the free-throw line, making 59 percent of its shots at the line compared to McClellan’s 35 percent.
Gregory led the Lady Bears with 18 points. Fulton scored six. Brasfield scored five. Jarrett and Jalmedal Byrd scored four apiece, and Robinson added two.
Sylvan Hills will look to stay unbeaten in 5A Central play against Mills University Studies on Tuesday at Little Rock.
SPORT STORY >> Devils stick with game plan, win
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
A close, hard-fought battle for two and a half quarters was suddenly a blowout as Jacksonville (8-3, 1-0) pulled away to beat Mills 66-42 at JHS on Friday in the 5A Central Conference opener. Jacksonville led 39-38 with two minutes left in the third quarter, but dominated every facet of the game from that point.
The Red Devils stashed away their usual man defense, electing to go with a 1-3-1 zone against the Comets for the entire game. It finally began to pay off in the fourth quarter. Jacksonville coach Victor Joyner had a simple explanation for going with the zone.
“They’re too quick,” Joyner said. “We can’t keep them in front of us in man. They can get to the basket on anybody, so we went zone with help if they got penetration.”
Despite the fact that Mills (6-6, 0-1) kept it close for so long, Joyner credits sticking with the zone and his players’ execution for turning it into a blowout in the fourth quarter.
“Just stick to the game plan,” Joyner said. “The kids stayed with it. We didn’t execute it as well as we could have early on. But the kids stuck with it and started executing.”
Mills coach Raymond Cooper was upset with his team for what he thought was a lack of poise when things began to Jacksonville’s way.
“We became paralyzed,” Cooper said. “We did not do anything we worked on for a 1-3-1.”
Cooper didn’t necessarily expect Jacksonville to come out in a zone defense, but said his team has seen the 1-3-1 twice this year, and has a plan of attack for it.
“We’ve played Hall twice and they run that 1-3-1,” Cooper said. “We have three ways to attack it that we’ve worked on a lot this year. We just didn’t execute anything. We didn’t run the offense, didn’t move the ball. We stood around and took long shots or just tried to penetrate and force something.”
Jacksonville scored the final five points of the third quarter and outscored Mills 22-4 in the fourth to finish the game on a 27-4 run.
Jacksonville held a 39-32 lead before Mills scored six straight on three pointers by Devin Campbell and Kaylon Tappin.
Jacksonville’s Justin McCleary answered with a three-point play and reserve guard Tederick Wolfe hit a fast-break layup off a steal and assist by Sergio Berkley to make it 44-38 after three periods.
Mills controlled the boards for the first half of the game, but that also faded late. The Comets opened the third quarter with possession and down 29-27. They took eight shots, got six offensive rebounds and made three free throws to take the lead before Jacksonville even took possession with 6:40 left in the quarter.
Joyner called his team over to the sideline during Mills’ free throws and had a quick but intense conversation about giving up so many offensive rebounds. At that point, Mills held a 17-11 advantage in rebounding, but got just five more rebounds the rest of the game and lost the battle of the boards 25-22.
The first quarter was back-and-forth but ugly. Jacksonville committed nine turnovers and Mills gave it up 12 times. The Red Devils led 14-13 at the end of the first quarter.
Senior Khaleel Hart led all scorers with 20 points. McCleary finished with 13 points, five steals, five assists and four rebounds. Berkley dropped in 11 for the Red Devils. Tappin led Mills with 14 points while Campbell scored 12.
Jacksonville travels to Little Rock Christian Academy on Tuesday.
Leader sports editor
A close, hard-fought battle for two and a half quarters was suddenly a blowout as Jacksonville (8-3, 1-0) pulled away to beat Mills 66-42 at JHS on Friday in the 5A Central Conference opener. Jacksonville led 39-38 with two minutes left in the third quarter, but dominated every facet of the game from that point.
The Red Devils stashed away their usual man defense, electing to go with a 1-3-1 zone against the Comets for the entire game. It finally began to pay off in the fourth quarter. Jacksonville coach Victor Joyner had a simple explanation for going with the zone.
“They’re too quick,” Joyner said. “We can’t keep them in front of us in man. They can get to the basket on anybody, so we went zone with help if they got penetration.”
Despite the fact that Mills (6-6, 0-1) kept it close for so long, Joyner credits sticking with the zone and his players’ execution for turning it into a blowout in the fourth quarter.
“Just stick to the game plan,” Joyner said. “The kids stayed with it. We didn’t execute it as well as we could have early on. But the kids stuck with it and started executing.”
Mills coach Raymond Cooper was upset with his team for what he thought was a lack of poise when things began to Jacksonville’s way.
“We became paralyzed,” Cooper said. “We did not do anything we worked on for a 1-3-1.”
Cooper didn’t necessarily expect Jacksonville to come out in a zone defense, but said his team has seen the 1-3-1 twice this year, and has a plan of attack for it.
“We’ve played Hall twice and they run that 1-3-1,” Cooper said. “We have three ways to attack it that we’ve worked on a lot this year. We just didn’t execute anything. We didn’t run the offense, didn’t move the ball. We stood around and took long shots or just tried to penetrate and force something.”
Jacksonville scored the final five points of the third quarter and outscored Mills 22-4 in the fourth to finish the game on a 27-4 run.
Jacksonville held a 39-32 lead before Mills scored six straight on three pointers by Devin Campbell and Kaylon Tappin.
Jacksonville’s Justin McCleary answered with a three-point play and reserve guard Tederick Wolfe hit a fast-break layup off a steal and assist by Sergio Berkley to make it 44-38 after three periods.
Mills controlled the boards for the first half of the game, but that also faded late. The Comets opened the third quarter with possession and down 29-27. They took eight shots, got six offensive rebounds and made three free throws to take the lead before Jacksonville even took possession with 6:40 left in the quarter.
Joyner called his team over to the sideline during Mills’ free throws and had a quick but intense conversation about giving up so many offensive rebounds. At that point, Mills held a 17-11 advantage in rebounding, but got just five more rebounds the rest of the game and lost the battle of the boards 25-22.
The first quarter was back-and-forth but ugly. Jacksonville committed nine turnovers and Mills gave it up 12 times. The Red Devils led 14-13 at the end of the first quarter.
Senior Khaleel Hart led all scorers with 20 points. McCleary finished with 13 points, five steals, five assists and four rebounds. Berkley dropped in 11 for the Red Devils. Tappin led Mills with 14 points while Campbell scored 12.
Jacksonville travels to Little Rock Christian Academy on Tuesday.
SPORTS STORY >> Lady Wildcats get revenge against Cabot
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The game wasn’t quite as ugly as North Little Rock coach Daryl Fimple had hoped for, but still ugly enough at the end that the Lady Wildcats were able to hold on and take a 54-50 victory over host Cabot at Panther Arena on Friday to begin 7A/6A East conference play.
The Lady Wildcat win avenged a mercy-rule loss to the Lady Panthers in the final of the season-opening Heavenly Hoops Classic.
Cabot (7-4, 0-1) cut an 11-point deficit to start the fourth quarter down to the final margin of four points, with a lot of fouls for both sides along the way throughout the second half.
North Little Rock (8-3, 1-0) suffered one of its weakest games at the free-throw line all season but had a strong enough cushion at the end to withstand the Lady Panthers final push.
“We kind of got into their legs a little bit,” Fimple said. “This long break and bad weather has probably made it really hard for practice. That’s a big strength of ours is that we’ve got a lot of depth, a lot of kids who can play. We kept attacking the basket and finally making some layups. We missed a ton of them, still. We’re a young team, but I thought we did some really good things.”
Kyra Collier and Kierra Webb led the Lady Wildcats on the scoreboard with 10 points each while Candice McDaniels added seven points. For Cabot, Elliot Taylor led the way with 20 points, while Alyssa Hamilton and Ally Van Enk each added nine points for the Lady Panthers.
Cabot went on a 6-2 run in the final minutes, including an inside shot by Hamilton with an assist from Taylor with 3:26remaining and a successful shot by Taylor with 1:35 remaining to cut NLR’s lead to 53-48.
“Experience wise, we struggle in certain situations,” Fimple said. “We’ve shot free throws really well up until tonight, and we couldn’t make them or layups. We have to have ugly games up to be really good. We’ve got to get in an ugly game for us to be any good.”
Alyssa Hamilton gave the Lady Panthers an early 3-2 lead when she hit the back end of a two-shot free throw with 5:57 remaining in the opening period, but Deja Hamilton answered for North Little Rock with an inside basket at the 5:15 mark to put the Lady Wildcats back up 4-3.
Webb increased the margin to 6-3 with an inbounds basket with 4:06 left to play in the opening period before Taylor converted a basket and a free throw to tie the game with 3:53 remaining.
Mays split the lane for the next Wildcats score with a jumper at the 3:23 mark that gave North Little Rock an 8-6 lead, and Haley Hill added a free throw seconds later before Monk scored in transition for a 10-7 Lady Wildcats’ lead.
Alyssa Hamilton took a bounce assist from Jaylin Bridges across the inside lane for Cabot’s next score with 2:10 left in the first quarter. Hill extended the lead again for the Lady ’Cats with a three-point basket at the 1:21 mark, but Taylor came through inside for Cabot on the ensuing possession with a basket that made it 13-11 inside a minute.
Turnovers plagued the Lady Panthers through most of the second quarter. North Little Rock capitalized on three straight Cabot turnovers early in the period to extend its lead to 19-13 at the 7:18 mark following another transition score for Monk.
The Lady Panthers closed the gap to five points midway through the third quarter when Taylor scored inside to make it 34-29. But Taylor ended up as the only scorer from that point on with the exception of two free throws by Ryan Wilson.
Leader sportswriter
The game wasn’t quite as ugly as North Little Rock coach Daryl Fimple had hoped for, but still ugly enough at the end that the Lady Wildcats were able to hold on and take a 54-50 victory over host Cabot at Panther Arena on Friday to begin 7A/6A East conference play.
The Lady Wildcat win avenged a mercy-rule loss to the Lady Panthers in the final of the season-opening Heavenly Hoops Classic.
Cabot (7-4, 0-1) cut an 11-point deficit to start the fourth quarter down to the final margin of four points, with a lot of fouls for both sides along the way throughout the second half.
North Little Rock (8-3, 1-0) suffered one of its weakest games at the free-throw line all season but had a strong enough cushion at the end to withstand the Lady Panthers final push.
“We kind of got into their legs a little bit,” Fimple said. “This long break and bad weather has probably made it really hard for practice. That’s a big strength of ours is that we’ve got a lot of depth, a lot of kids who can play. We kept attacking the basket and finally making some layups. We missed a ton of them, still. We’re a young team, but I thought we did some really good things.”
Kyra Collier and Kierra Webb led the Lady Wildcats on the scoreboard with 10 points each while Candice McDaniels added seven points. For Cabot, Elliot Taylor led the way with 20 points, while Alyssa Hamilton and Ally Van Enk each added nine points for the Lady Panthers.
Cabot went on a 6-2 run in the final minutes, including an inside shot by Hamilton with an assist from Taylor with 3:26remaining and a successful shot by Taylor with 1:35 remaining to cut NLR’s lead to 53-48.
“Experience wise, we struggle in certain situations,” Fimple said. “We’ve shot free throws really well up until tonight, and we couldn’t make them or layups. We have to have ugly games up to be really good. We’ve got to get in an ugly game for us to be any good.”
Alyssa Hamilton gave the Lady Panthers an early 3-2 lead when she hit the back end of a two-shot free throw with 5:57 remaining in the opening period, but Deja Hamilton answered for North Little Rock with an inside basket at the 5:15 mark to put the Lady Wildcats back up 4-3.
Webb increased the margin to 6-3 with an inbounds basket with 4:06 left to play in the opening period before Taylor converted a basket and a free throw to tie the game with 3:53 remaining.
Mays split the lane for the next Wildcats score with a jumper at the 3:23 mark that gave North Little Rock an 8-6 lead, and Haley Hill added a free throw seconds later before Monk scored in transition for a 10-7 Lady Wildcats’ lead.
Alyssa Hamilton took a bounce assist from Jaylin Bridges across the inside lane for Cabot’s next score with 2:10 left in the first quarter. Hill extended the lead again for the Lady ’Cats with a three-point basket at the 1:21 mark, but Taylor came through inside for Cabot on the ensuing possession with a basket that made it 13-11 inside a minute.
Turnovers plagued the Lady Panthers through most of the second quarter. North Little Rock capitalized on three straight Cabot turnovers early in the period to extend its lead to 19-13 at the 7:18 mark following another transition score for Monk.
The Lady Panthers closed the gap to five points midway through the third quarter when Taylor scored inside to make it 34-29. But Taylor ended up as the only scorer from that point on with the exception of two free throws by Ryan Wilson.
TOP STORY >> 2012: Outages, candidates, air show, fallen soldier
The Leader consistently prints an average of 10 pages per section and five stories per page — that’s 50 news or feature articles every issue, or more than 5,000 news items per year.
This is the third and final in a series looking back on the news of 2012.
SEPTEMBER
• Outages reported as storm blows by — More than 5,000 residents in central Arkansas suffered power outages as the remnants of Hurricane Isaac rolled through with high winds and three inches of rain.
• Sherwood website is redirected by hacker — Extremists disable city hall’s website for a couple hours until the Sherwood could disable the hackers’ message. No permanent damage was done and no city information was affected. But those who tried to go to the website were redirected to a Muslim extremist site calling for the deaths of all Americans.
• Funeral set today for fallen sergeant — Army Sgt. Jason Swindle, 24, of Cabot who was killed in Afghanistan in mid-September was buried in Beebe.
• Council candidates speak — Many candidates for Jacksonville City Council spoke out against the city’s three-year-old contract with an economic developer from Owasso, Okla., at a candidates forum at the community center.
• Water park, ball fields in Cabot’s plans — Plans call for a $2.3 million expansion of the community center, plus a water park, ball fields and other amenities if voters approve continuing a one-cent sales tax.
• City council ties Hillman’s hands — Sherwood aldermen vote against a resolution that would have allowed the mayor to start to renegotiate a long-term contract with North Little Rock Electric.
• D.C. lobby enters local race — Republican Super PACs spent about $60,000 in mailing attack fliers to derail state Rep. Barry Hyde’s chance to defeat state Rep. Jane English for an open state Senate seat.
• JP asks if candidate for sheriff misusing gun locks — Justice of the Peace Alexis Malham questioned the legality of the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Dean White using gun locks originally distributed by the federal government for law enforcement use.
• Jacksonville council favors highway tax — Aldermen approved a resolution supporting a half-cent statewide tax to support highway construction and repairs, which will give the city $500,000 a year to use.
• Principal’s firing upheld by judge — Circuit Judge Barbara Elmore agreed with the Cabot School District in its firing of Northside Elementary School Principal Suzanne Proctor.
• Help save young Tanner — Tanner Varnadore, a first grader at Cabot’s Magness Creek Elementary, has spent half his young life battling acute lymphocytic leukemia and is in need of a bone marrow transplant.
• Fish farmer calls it quits — After 40 years in the business, Robert Murtha of Lonoke closes his catfish business citing the rising cost of feed and foreign competition.
• Mayors: Tax is needed for interchanges — With a shortage of state and federal highway funds, Jacksonville and Cabot look at local taxes to help fund an interchange at Coffelt Crossing and one to connect Hwy. 38 and Willie Ray Drive.
• District seeking lunch money — Students in Cabot owe the school district $108,000 in food charges and the district is starting to collect the back charges.
• Five schools here named among best — Those that made the University of Arkansas listing include Jacksonville’s Arnold Drive and Cabot’s Stagecoach elementary schools, Cabot Middle School South and Searcy’s Ahlf Junior High and Southwest Middle schools.
• Injured policeman glad he’s back on job — Officer Daniel Dimatteo, 40, who was rundown by a driver in an incident that killed a firefighter and injured another, returns to duty, but is confined to desk work as his therapy and treatments continue.
• Open house brings 200,000 to air base — The Blue Angels were the top draw as more than 200,000 from across the state and beyond visited the displays and watched the military demonstrations at Little Rock Air Force Base.
• Deficiencies causing stink in county jail — Lonoke County’s year-old $6 million jail is out of warranty and having problems with its sewer, heat and air systems as well as the video visitation systems.
OCTOBER
• Capital murder charges for trio — Three Jacksonville men face the death penalty or life without parole in the murder of a North Little Rock convenience store clerk.
• Farewell to fallen soldier — One thousand supporters lined the streets in Beebe to salute the body of Army Sgt. Jason Swindle, 24, who was killed in Afghanistan and buried at Westbrook Cemetery.
• In Sherwood, 11 candidates make pitches — Candidates vying for Sherwood City Council, the state legislature and local judgeships all made pitches at a Sherwood Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
• Some residents displeased over annexation plans — Residents of one of the five areas Sherwood is looking to annex are upset with the idea and want the city to clearly explain their intentions for the area.
• Gun-range plans blaze forward — Jacksonville’s assistant parks and recreation director told the city council that the planned shooting range will have an economic impact of $5 million a year just from youth sports leagues.
• Reprieve for C-130s — The Air Force is moving ahead with plans to replace its current C-130 modernization program with a less expensive version.
• Guilty plea in attack — A 69-year-old Little Rock man pleads guilty to attacking a bank employee at First Arkansas Bank and Trust in Jacksonville.
• Mayor pushes road tax — Cabot Mayor Bill Cypert is backing a half-cent, statewide sales tax for highways. The tax would provide Cabot with $423,000 annually to use for various projects.
• Forum held at senior center — Nine candidates vying for five seats on the Jacksonville City Council spoke at the senior center.
• Opening shots for firing range — Gov. Beebe and other officials attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the proposed shooting range on 160 acres near the intersection of Graham and Loop roads.
• Firing range bid opening misses mark — Jacksonville was expecting a bid of about $2.1 million to build a proposed sports shooting range, but the lone bid came in at near $4 million and was rejected.
• Sheriff, 2 JPS in GOP facing ouster — Lonoke County sheriff and two justices of the peace are accused of working against the Lonoke County Republican Party Committee and could be expelled.
• Utilities invited to send in bids to city — The Sherwood City Council voted to have the mayor solicit bid proposals from Entergy, North Little Rock and First Electric to determine who should provide electricity to 7,500 city residents whose power is currently provided by North Little Rock.
• Four arrests in killing of Cabot man — Three men and a woman were arrested and charged in the beating death of James Heath, a Cabot man missing since mid-September. His body was buried behind the house of the woman arrested for the murder.
• Cabot parks commission against takeover — The Cabot parks commissioner fears a loss of funding for improvements if the mayor gets his way and dissolves the parks commission.
• Crews ready to help — Superstorm Sandy left 8 million people in the dark along the East Coast and Entergy, Arkansas Electric Cooperatives and CenturyLink sent repair crews and the base went on standby alert to aid with any relief efforts.
• Alderman in Cabot quits race — Longtime Cabot Aldermen Patrick Hutton pulled out of the race for re-election because of a controversy over his campaign material signifying he is a Republican and as a federal employee he is only allowed to run in nonpartisan elections.
NOVEMBER
• PCSSD unions to proceed with lawsuit — Employee unions for the school district disagree with a ruling that releases the state commissioner and the education department from their lawsuit. The unions plan to appeal.
• New faces on city councils — The Nov. 6 general election put three new aldermen on the Jacksonville city council, one on Sherwood’s council and one in Beebe and in Cabot. An aldermen who dropped out of the race still won the election.
• Reprieve for parks in Cabot — Efforts to disband the parks and recreation commission have been tabled indefinitely to give new commission member a chance to work things out.
• Missile silo crew looks back — Retired members of the now-defunct Titan II Missile Combat Crew 119 recall their efforts to prevent a World War III.
• GOP takes charge in Lonoke County — Only the county tax collector and a few Justices of the Peace are Democrats as Republicans complete a near sweep of county offices.
• Approval of highway tax will help road work here —State voters approved a half-cent statewide sales tax meaning area cities and counties will receive extra funds over the next 10 years for various projects.
• Long list of homes facing bulldozing — Jacksonville gets tough on dilapidated properties after warnings, places eight on the condemnation list and slaps a total of $48,000 in liens absent others.
• Support grows for new district — Daniel Gray, spokesman for the North/North Pulaski Education Corps said now is the time for Jacksonville to detach itself from Pulaski County Special School District.
• Legislators from Cabot in top spots — Rep. Davy Carter is elected House Speaker and Sen. Eddie Jo Williams is named majority leader and will be chair for the government committee.
• JPs vote to make special tax legal — A voluntary tax of 2.25 mills for non-profits will still be on Lonoke County property tax statements but will be listed as a tax for contract agencies.
• Liquor sales need legislative approval — Two convenience stores hire a consultant to help convince the state legislature that all of north Pulaski County should be wet and allowed to sell liquor.
• Most schools in area need improvement — State lists schools needing improvement and most Sherwood and Jacksonville schools fell in the lower rungs. However, Arnold Drive Elementary, on the air base, was named one of five exemplary schools in the state.
• Council in Cabot passes ’13 budget — The city council approved a $13.6 million general budget, which includes dedicated funds for streets, the library and the senior center.
• Vertac a fading memory — Toxic waste site has been cleaned up and turned into a multimillion training facility that will also hold the new police headquarters building.
• JHS band tight knit and tight on stage — More than just a band, the high school group, preparing to perform in New Orleans, is also a family, focusing on each other first and the music second.
• Ward man posts bond in death — A white Ward resident who admitted to shooting a black employee posted $100,000 bond even though he had not been officially charged in the death. Meanwhile the family of the deceased hired the attorney in the Treyvon Martin wrongful death suit to help them.
• Fireworks limited to protect roosts — Beebe has put restrictions on fireworks to prevent unnecessary deaths of roosting blackbirds. In 2010, thousands died and the incident attracted worldwide attention and in 2011, about 450 birds were killed.
• Sherwood stays with NLR utility after long fight —The city council voted to renew its contract with North Little Rock Electric after months of meetings and debates.
DECEMBER
• North Belt tangled up in turf fight — Metroplan and the state highway department continue to bicker over who’s to blame for the apparent demise of the highway project.
• Ex-senator’s son in deadly wreck — The son of former state Sen. Bobby Glover is accused of hitting a woman attempting to flag down motorists after she ran out of gas on Hwy. 70.
• Austin names new chief — Tony Bryant, a Ward police sergeant will become the new chief of the Austin Police Department.
• Dangerous overpass — Another accident pointed out the dangers of the Hwy. 67/167 Main Street overpass. From 2001 to 2010, state troopers have worked 249 crashes on the bridge.
• Cabot makes plans for a sales-tax vote — The mayor and council work out details for a special election around April for a tax to support a north interchange, baseball fields and a water park.
• Pearl Harbor horrors recalled — World War II veteran Charlie Flynt, 90, recalls his time on the USS Ramsay, which was docked in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
• $500,000 roundabout for Ward — The city council approved the roundabout to control traffic at the intersections of Locust Street, Griffin Street, Hwy. 367 and Hwy. 319.
• Jacksonville man admits to murders — A man who bludgeoned and then shot two cousins to death pleads guilty to avoid the death penalty. He was instead sentenced to 100 years in prison.
• Unitary status hearing in fall — Federal Judge D. Price Marshall agrees to hear evidence next year that the county school district is making desegregation progress.
• Jacksonville budget set for $24.5M — The 2013 general budget includes a $500 raise for full-time employees and no layoffs or cutback of services.
• Staley names a chief deputy — When John Staley takes over as the Lonoke County Sheriff his new chief deputy will be Mike Kindall, a 30-year law enforcement veteran.
• Foreign crews keep training at base here — Each year, more than 250 students from 40 nations pass through the C-130 Center of Excellence.
• Lonoke considers rules on leaf burning — Council gets into a heated debate over charging a fee for burn permits.
• Teacher is going to prison — A former Cabot Junior High North instructor admits to an affair with a student and is sentenced to 15 years in prison, with nine suspended, meaning she’ll be eligible for parole in two years.
• Sherwood approves a $20.1M budget — After a discussion over the mayor and city clerk’s car allowance, the council approves the 2013 general budget.
• Center repairs will take months — It may take up to a year and almost $700,000 to make repairs to the pool’s roof at Cabot’s Veterans Park community center.
• Cypert tells JPs: Court hurt by cuts — The Cabot mayor said the district court system in Lonoke County is broken and that if it’s not repaired Cabot could stop hearing misdemeanor cases filed by the county.
• Funds for firing range approved — State, city and private donations will cover the $3 million necessary to build a sports shooting range on the east side of Jacksonville.
• Grand opening for subdivision — Jacksonville completes construction of $9.8 million subdivision of 55 single-family low-cost rental homes.
• New district would get more aid — Splitting from Pulaski County Special School District would make schools far better in Jacksonville, according to those pushing for an independent district.
• Crews still work hard to restore electricity — Thousands of area residents were without power for hours and up to a week after record ice and snow hit the area late Christmas afternoon.
• Residents improvise in outage — Tips were offered to help residents endure their time without power.
This is the third and final in a series looking back on the news of 2012.
SEPTEMBER
• Outages reported as storm blows by — More than 5,000 residents in central Arkansas suffered power outages as the remnants of Hurricane Isaac rolled through with high winds and three inches of rain.
• Sherwood website is redirected by hacker — Extremists disable city hall’s website for a couple hours until the Sherwood could disable the hackers’ message. No permanent damage was done and no city information was affected. But those who tried to go to the website were redirected to a Muslim extremist site calling for the deaths of all Americans.
• Funeral set today for fallen sergeant — Army Sgt. Jason Swindle, 24, of Cabot who was killed in Afghanistan in mid-September was buried in Beebe.
• Council candidates speak — Many candidates for Jacksonville City Council spoke out against the city’s three-year-old contract with an economic developer from Owasso, Okla., at a candidates forum at the community center.
• Water park, ball fields in Cabot’s plans — Plans call for a $2.3 million expansion of the community center, plus a water park, ball fields and other amenities if voters approve continuing a one-cent sales tax.
• City council ties Hillman’s hands — Sherwood aldermen vote against a resolution that would have allowed the mayor to start to renegotiate a long-term contract with North Little Rock Electric.
• D.C. lobby enters local race — Republican Super PACs spent about $60,000 in mailing attack fliers to derail state Rep. Barry Hyde’s chance to defeat state Rep. Jane English for an open state Senate seat.
• JP asks if candidate for sheriff misusing gun locks — Justice of the Peace Alexis Malham questioned the legality of the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Dean White using gun locks originally distributed by the federal government for law enforcement use.
• Jacksonville council favors highway tax — Aldermen approved a resolution supporting a half-cent statewide tax to support highway construction and repairs, which will give the city $500,000 a year to use.
• Principal’s firing upheld by judge — Circuit Judge Barbara Elmore agreed with the Cabot School District in its firing of Northside Elementary School Principal Suzanne Proctor.
• Help save young Tanner — Tanner Varnadore, a first grader at Cabot’s Magness Creek Elementary, has spent half his young life battling acute lymphocytic leukemia and is in need of a bone marrow transplant.
• Fish farmer calls it quits — After 40 years in the business, Robert Murtha of Lonoke closes his catfish business citing the rising cost of feed and foreign competition.
• Mayors: Tax is needed for interchanges — With a shortage of state and federal highway funds, Jacksonville and Cabot look at local taxes to help fund an interchange at Coffelt Crossing and one to connect Hwy. 38 and Willie Ray Drive.
• District seeking lunch money — Students in Cabot owe the school district $108,000 in food charges and the district is starting to collect the back charges.
• Five schools here named among best — Those that made the University of Arkansas listing include Jacksonville’s Arnold Drive and Cabot’s Stagecoach elementary schools, Cabot Middle School South and Searcy’s Ahlf Junior High and Southwest Middle schools.
• Injured policeman glad he’s back on job — Officer Daniel Dimatteo, 40, who was rundown by a driver in an incident that killed a firefighter and injured another, returns to duty, but is confined to desk work as his therapy and treatments continue.
• Open house brings 200,000 to air base — The Blue Angels were the top draw as more than 200,000 from across the state and beyond visited the displays and watched the military demonstrations at Little Rock Air Force Base.
• Deficiencies causing stink in county jail — Lonoke County’s year-old $6 million jail is out of warranty and having problems with its sewer, heat and air systems as well as the video visitation systems.
OCTOBER
• Capital murder charges for trio — Three Jacksonville men face the death penalty or life without parole in the murder of a North Little Rock convenience store clerk.
• Farewell to fallen soldier — One thousand supporters lined the streets in Beebe to salute the body of Army Sgt. Jason Swindle, 24, who was killed in Afghanistan and buried at Westbrook Cemetery.
• In Sherwood, 11 candidates make pitches — Candidates vying for Sherwood City Council, the state legislature and local judgeships all made pitches at a Sherwood Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
• Some residents displeased over annexation plans — Residents of one of the five areas Sherwood is looking to annex are upset with the idea and want the city to clearly explain their intentions for the area.
• Gun-range plans blaze forward — Jacksonville’s assistant parks and recreation director told the city council that the planned shooting range will have an economic impact of $5 million a year just from youth sports leagues.
• Reprieve for C-130s — The Air Force is moving ahead with plans to replace its current C-130 modernization program with a less expensive version.
• Guilty plea in attack — A 69-year-old Little Rock man pleads guilty to attacking a bank employee at First Arkansas Bank and Trust in Jacksonville.
• Mayor pushes road tax — Cabot Mayor Bill Cypert is backing a half-cent, statewide sales tax for highways. The tax would provide Cabot with $423,000 annually to use for various projects.
• Forum held at senior center — Nine candidates vying for five seats on the Jacksonville City Council spoke at the senior center.
• Opening shots for firing range — Gov. Beebe and other officials attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the proposed shooting range on 160 acres near the intersection of Graham and Loop roads.
• Firing range bid opening misses mark — Jacksonville was expecting a bid of about $2.1 million to build a proposed sports shooting range, but the lone bid came in at near $4 million and was rejected.
• Sheriff, 2 JPS in GOP facing ouster — Lonoke County sheriff and two justices of the peace are accused of working against the Lonoke County Republican Party Committee and could be expelled.
• Utilities invited to send in bids to city — The Sherwood City Council voted to have the mayor solicit bid proposals from Entergy, North Little Rock and First Electric to determine who should provide electricity to 7,500 city residents whose power is currently provided by North Little Rock.
• Four arrests in killing of Cabot man — Three men and a woman were arrested and charged in the beating death of James Heath, a Cabot man missing since mid-September. His body was buried behind the house of the woman arrested for the murder.
• Cabot parks commission against takeover — The Cabot parks commissioner fears a loss of funding for improvements if the mayor gets his way and dissolves the parks commission.
• Crews ready to help — Superstorm Sandy left 8 million people in the dark along the East Coast and Entergy, Arkansas Electric Cooperatives and CenturyLink sent repair crews and the base went on standby alert to aid with any relief efforts.
• Alderman in Cabot quits race — Longtime Cabot Aldermen Patrick Hutton pulled out of the race for re-election because of a controversy over his campaign material signifying he is a Republican and as a federal employee he is only allowed to run in nonpartisan elections.
NOVEMBER
• PCSSD unions to proceed with lawsuit — Employee unions for the school district disagree with a ruling that releases the state commissioner and the education department from their lawsuit. The unions plan to appeal.
• New faces on city councils — The Nov. 6 general election put three new aldermen on the Jacksonville city council, one on Sherwood’s council and one in Beebe and in Cabot. An aldermen who dropped out of the race still won the election.
• Reprieve for parks in Cabot — Efforts to disband the parks and recreation commission have been tabled indefinitely to give new commission member a chance to work things out.
• Missile silo crew looks back — Retired members of the now-defunct Titan II Missile Combat Crew 119 recall their efforts to prevent a World War III.
• GOP takes charge in Lonoke County — Only the county tax collector and a few Justices of the Peace are Democrats as Republicans complete a near sweep of county offices.
• Approval of highway tax will help road work here —State voters approved a half-cent statewide sales tax meaning area cities and counties will receive extra funds over the next 10 years for various projects.
• Long list of homes facing bulldozing — Jacksonville gets tough on dilapidated properties after warnings, places eight on the condemnation list and slaps a total of $48,000 in liens absent others.
• Support grows for new district — Daniel Gray, spokesman for the North/North Pulaski Education Corps said now is the time for Jacksonville to detach itself from Pulaski County Special School District.
• Legislators from Cabot in top spots — Rep. Davy Carter is elected House Speaker and Sen. Eddie Jo Williams is named majority leader and will be chair for the government committee.
• JPs vote to make special tax legal — A voluntary tax of 2.25 mills for non-profits will still be on Lonoke County property tax statements but will be listed as a tax for contract agencies.
• Liquor sales need legislative approval — Two convenience stores hire a consultant to help convince the state legislature that all of north Pulaski County should be wet and allowed to sell liquor.
• Most schools in area need improvement — State lists schools needing improvement and most Sherwood and Jacksonville schools fell in the lower rungs. However, Arnold Drive Elementary, on the air base, was named one of five exemplary schools in the state.
• Council in Cabot passes ’13 budget — The city council approved a $13.6 million general budget, which includes dedicated funds for streets, the library and the senior center.
• Vertac a fading memory — Toxic waste site has been cleaned up and turned into a multimillion training facility that will also hold the new police headquarters building.
• JHS band tight knit and tight on stage — More than just a band, the high school group, preparing to perform in New Orleans, is also a family, focusing on each other first and the music second.
• Ward man posts bond in death — A white Ward resident who admitted to shooting a black employee posted $100,000 bond even though he had not been officially charged in the death. Meanwhile the family of the deceased hired the attorney in the Treyvon Martin wrongful death suit to help them.
• Fireworks limited to protect roosts — Beebe has put restrictions on fireworks to prevent unnecessary deaths of roosting blackbirds. In 2010, thousands died and the incident attracted worldwide attention and in 2011, about 450 birds were killed.
• Sherwood stays with NLR utility after long fight —The city council voted to renew its contract with North Little Rock Electric after months of meetings and debates.
DECEMBER
• North Belt tangled up in turf fight — Metroplan and the state highway department continue to bicker over who’s to blame for the apparent demise of the highway project.
• Ex-senator’s son in deadly wreck — The son of former state Sen. Bobby Glover is accused of hitting a woman attempting to flag down motorists after she ran out of gas on Hwy. 70.
• Austin names new chief — Tony Bryant, a Ward police sergeant will become the new chief of the Austin Police Department.
• Dangerous overpass — Another accident pointed out the dangers of the Hwy. 67/167 Main Street overpass. From 2001 to 2010, state troopers have worked 249 crashes on the bridge.
• Cabot makes plans for a sales-tax vote — The mayor and council work out details for a special election around April for a tax to support a north interchange, baseball fields and a water park.
• Pearl Harbor horrors recalled — World War II veteran Charlie Flynt, 90, recalls his time on the USS Ramsay, which was docked in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
• $500,000 roundabout for Ward — The city council approved the roundabout to control traffic at the intersections of Locust Street, Griffin Street, Hwy. 367 and Hwy. 319.
• Jacksonville man admits to murders — A man who bludgeoned and then shot two cousins to death pleads guilty to avoid the death penalty. He was instead sentenced to 100 years in prison.
• Unitary status hearing in fall — Federal Judge D. Price Marshall agrees to hear evidence next year that the county school district is making desegregation progress.
• Jacksonville budget set for $24.5M — The 2013 general budget includes a $500 raise for full-time employees and no layoffs or cutback of services.
• Staley names a chief deputy — When John Staley takes over as the Lonoke County Sheriff his new chief deputy will be Mike Kindall, a 30-year law enforcement veteran.
• Foreign crews keep training at base here — Each year, more than 250 students from 40 nations pass through the C-130 Center of Excellence.
• Lonoke considers rules on leaf burning — Council gets into a heated debate over charging a fee for burn permits.
• Teacher is going to prison — A former Cabot Junior High North instructor admits to an affair with a student and is sentenced to 15 years in prison, with nine suspended, meaning she’ll be eligible for parole in two years.
• Sherwood approves a $20.1M budget — After a discussion over the mayor and city clerk’s car allowance, the council approves the 2013 general budget.
• Center repairs will take months — It may take up to a year and almost $700,000 to make repairs to the pool’s roof at Cabot’s Veterans Park community center.
• Cypert tells JPs: Court hurt by cuts — The Cabot mayor said the district court system in Lonoke County is broken and that if it’s not repaired Cabot could stop hearing misdemeanor cases filed by the county.
• Funds for firing range approved — State, city and private donations will cover the $3 million necessary to build a sports shooting range on the east side of Jacksonville.
• Grand opening for subdivision — Jacksonville completes construction of $9.8 million subdivision of 55 single-family low-cost rental homes.
• New district would get more aid — Splitting from Pulaski County Special School District would make schools far better in Jacksonville, according to those pushing for an independent district.
• Crews still work hard to restore electricity — Thousands of area residents were without power for hours and up to a week after record ice and snow hit the area late Christmas afternoon.
• Residents improvise in outage — Tips were offered to help residents endure their time without power.
TOP STORY >> Storm debris lingers
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Picking up downed trees and limbs from the Christmas snowstorm will keep the Jacksonville and Sherwood sanitation departments busy for weeks to come.
Both cities pick up yard waste (limbs, leaves and downed trees cut into reasonable lengths) once a week normally, but right now they are spending three to four days a week to cover just one day’s worth of debris.
The storm has kept Cabot busy too, but not to the degree of Jacksonville and Sherwood.
At the Jacksonville council meeting Thursday night, Public Works Director Jim Oakley called the Christmas storm a challenge. “We’ve still got so much debris out there, and we are working from dusk to dawn and on Saturdays to pick it all up,” he said.
Jacksonville has received special permission from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality to burn the majority of the debris, saving the city a lot on landfill charges.
In Jacksonville, yard waste is supposed to be picked up the same day as garbage and trash, while in Sherwood, the yard waste pickup runs a day behind the garbage service.
Oakley said his crews spent a week picking up limbs and tree trunks from just the Monday route alone. “We must have picked up about 1,200 cubic yards of debris,” he said.
Oakley added that his crews, which are working Saturdays, are on Tuesday’s lawn waste route and have already surpassed the Monday totals. He said Tuesday’s route has more trees than the Wednesday and Thursday routes, but once his crews get their routes done, he’ll know there may be plenty more debris to pick up.
“By the time we get back to Monday again, residents will have had a chance to pull all the downed limbs out of their backyards for us,” Oakley said.
He figures it will take about three weeks, if there’s good weather, to get back to a normal pickup schedule. “We just need everyone to hang in there with us for now,” Oakley said.
Brian Galloway, Sherwood’s public works director, said his city is in the same situation.
“It’s been a week since the storm, and we are only about a third of the way through town,” he said. “There’s still a lot of debris that we need to clear from just city property,” he said.
Galloway said his crews pulled 24-hour shifts during the height of the storm that dropped a layer of ice before bringing in 10 inches of snow. Sherwood crews were out early Christmas Day sanding, plowing and getting trees and limbs out of the roadway.
“I’m not sure how much sand and salt we used,” explained Galloway. “We’ve just been so busy, but I did check our bins and make sure we still have enough if another storm rolls in and we do.”
Oakley said his crews worked around the clock during the storm and used about 10 tons of salt and 200 tons of sand. “But we spent most of our time just clearing limbs out of the roadway,” he said.
Brian Boroughs, head of public works in Cabot, said about 30 tons of sand was spread on the streets during the first 24 hours of the storm.
He’s keeping up with his workers’ hours and other expenses, but all the bills for the cleanup are not yet in.
Progressive Waste Solutions, formerly IESI, has been removing many of the piles of limbs as part of its contract for waste collection in Cabot and that is holding costs down, he said.
Mayor Bill Cypert said he estimates the cost of the cleanup at $15,000 to $20,000.
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being a disaster and 1 being no damage, Cabot’s damage is about 3.5, Cypert said.
Regular garbage collection would have been a day late because of Christmas, but the storm made it two days late, Boroughs said. It also ran late this week because of New Year’s Day. But it should be back on schedule next week.
Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher is still totaling up damage costs. “I hope to have a figure to present next week. I’m hopeful we’ll get some reimbursement from the feds since Gov. Beebe declared the state a disaster after the storm rolled through,” Fletcher said.
Leader staff writer
Picking up downed trees and limbs from the Christmas snowstorm will keep the Jacksonville and Sherwood sanitation departments busy for weeks to come.
Both cities pick up yard waste (limbs, leaves and downed trees cut into reasonable lengths) once a week normally, but right now they are spending three to four days a week to cover just one day’s worth of debris.
The storm has kept Cabot busy too, but not to the degree of Jacksonville and Sherwood.
At the Jacksonville council meeting Thursday night, Public Works Director Jim Oakley called the Christmas storm a challenge. “We’ve still got so much debris out there, and we are working from dusk to dawn and on Saturdays to pick it all up,” he said.
Jacksonville has received special permission from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality to burn the majority of the debris, saving the city a lot on landfill charges.
In Jacksonville, yard waste is supposed to be picked up the same day as garbage and trash, while in Sherwood, the yard waste pickup runs a day behind the garbage service.
Oakley said his crews spent a week picking up limbs and tree trunks from just the Monday route alone. “We must have picked up about 1,200 cubic yards of debris,” he said.
Oakley added that his crews, which are working Saturdays, are on Tuesday’s lawn waste route and have already surpassed the Monday totals. He said Tuesday’s route has more trees than the Wednesday and Thursday routes, but once his crews get their routes done, he’ll know there may be plenty more debris to pick up.
“By the time we get back to Monday again, residents will have had a chance to pull all the downed limbs out of their backyards for us,” Oakley said.
He figures it will take about three weeks, if there’s good weather, to get back to a normal pickup schedule. “We just need everyone to hang in there with us for now,” Oakley said.
Brian Galloway, Sherwood’s public works director, said his city is in the same situation.
“It’s been a week since the storm, and we are only about a third of the way through town,” he said. “There’s still a lot of debris that we need to clear from just city property,” he said.
Galloway said his crews pulled 24-hour shifts during the height of the storm that dropped a layer of ice before bringing in 10 inches of snow. Sherwood crews were out early Christmas Day sanding, plowing and getting trees and limbs out of the roadway.
“I’m not sure how much sand and salt we used,” explained Galloway. “We’ve just been so busy, but I did check our bins and make sure we still have enough if another storm rolls in and we do.”
Oakley said his crews worked around the clock during the storm and used about 10 tons of salt and 200 tons of sand. “But we spent most of our time just clearing limbs out of the roadway,” he said.
Brian Boroughs, head of public works in Cabot, said about 30 tons of sand was spread on the streets during the first 24 hours of the storm.
He’s keeping up with his workers’ hours and other expenses, but all the bills for the cleanup are not yet in.
Progressive Waste Solutions, formerly IESI, has been removing many of the piles of limbs as part of its contract for waste collection in Cabot and that is holding costs down, he said.
Mayor Bill Cypert said he estimates the cost of the cleanup at $15,000 to $20,000.
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being a disaster and 1 being no damage, Cabot’s damage is about 3.5, Cypert said.
Regular garbage collection would have been a day late because of Christmas, but the storm made it two days late, Boroughs said. It also ran late this week because of New Year’s Day. But it should be back on schedule next week.
Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher is still totaling up damage costs. “I hope to have a figure to present next week. I’m hopeful we’ll get some reimbursement from the feds since Gov. Beebe declared the state a disaster after the storm rolled through,” Fletcher said.
Wednesday, January 02, 2013
SPORTS STORY >> Lions grind out win over Beebe
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Leader sportswriter
Athleticism carried the night – eventually.
Little Rock McClellan struggled to put away a feisty Beebe team through three quarters before taking over in the final eight minutes for a 47-32 victory over the Badgers in the championship game of the Badger Christmas Classic basketball tournament at Badger Sports Arena on Monday.
The Lions (6-5) had a distinct advantage in size and speed, but missed a number of easy looks inside during the first half. The Badgers (8-4) had nice inside performances from post players Zach Baker and Jared Gowen, who put up some of the best scoring and rebounding numbers of his career.
“One thing we talked about is the grind of the game,” Lions coach Chris Threatt said. “I thought over the course of the game we were a little more athletic. We had a nice little burst right there at the beginning of the fourth quarter that helped us.”
Tyrin Hollis made a three-point basket with 5:33 remaining to put McClellan up 34-25 before the Lions extended their lead with four more points off transition breaks, including a pair of free throws by footballstandout Akee Johnson that gave them a 36-25 lead.
“They have athleticism, and they made a little adjustment against our press,” Beebe coach Ryan Marshall said. “We just made some bad decisions and kind of hit the panic button, got away from defending drives and defending the way we were supposed to, and it just created more opportunities for them. I thought we battled there for a while, they’re just extremely quick and athletic.”
Beebe fed off the energy from the home crowd in the early going to claim a 6-2 lead.
Senior Austin Burroughs put the first points up before Baker scored twice inside, including an inside basket off an assist from junior point guard Tanner Chapman on an inbound play at the 4:20 mark.
Johnson fought back for McClellan later in the period with a couple of inside shots to give the Lions an 8-6 lead. The low scoring of the first half made every point count for McClellan as the Lions worked meticulously to build some kind of a cushion in the second quarter. They took a 19-16 lead at the 37-second mark when Johnson scored inside and made a free throw, but that lead was erased when senior guard Jake Schlenker made a three pointer at the buzzer for Beebe to tie the game at the half.
“I know from my experience that’s the kind of team you love to come to work to coach,” Threatt said of Beebe. “Because they’re going to do what you say; they’re not going to beat themselves. As a coach, all you can do is ask the kids to give 100 percent, and from what I’ve seen, that’s what those kids do.”
Gowen hung tough against McClellan big men Derrick Hardy and Kelechi Kingsley inside with nine points along with five rebounds and three steals. Five of those points came in the fourth quarter while a pair of Schlenker three-point baskets made up the remainder of Beebe’s scoring in the final period.
“I thought he played with such poise,” Marshall said. “He didn’t get rushed, and felt them on his back and which side he needed to go on. That’s huge for us going into conference to be able to step up and do that.”
Johnson led the Lions with 14 points while Hollis added nine for McClellan. For Beebe, Schlenker and Gowen led with nine points each while Burroughs finished with six and Baker had five points.
Beebe will begin 5A East Conference play at Blytheville on Friday.
Little Rock McClellan struggled to put away a feisty Beebe team through three quarters before taking over in the final eight minutes for a 47-32 victory over the Badgers in the championship game of the Badger Christmas Classic basketball tournament at Badger Sports Arena on Monday.
The Lions (6-5) had a distinct advantage in size and speed, but missed a number of easy looks inside during the first half. The Badgers (8-4) had nice inside performances from post players Zach Baker and Jared Gowen, who put up some of the best scoring and rebounding numbers of his career.
“One thing we talked about is the grind of the game,” Lions coach Chris Threatt said. “I thought over the course of the game we were a little more athletic. We had a nice little burst right there at the beginning of the fourth quarter that helped us.”
Tyrin Hollis made a three-point basket with 5:33 remaining to put McClellan up 34-25 before the Lions extended their lead with four more points off transition breaks, including a pair of free throws by footballstandout Akee Johnson that gave them a 36-25 lead.
“They have athleticism, and they made a little adjustment against our press,” Beebe coach Ryan Marshall said. “We just made some bad decisions and kind of hit the panic button, got away from defending drives and defending the way we were supposed to, and it just created more opportunities for them. I thought we battled there for a while, they’re just extremely quick and athletic.”
Beebe fed off the energy from the home crowd in the early going to claim a 6-2 lead.
Senior Austin Burroughs put the first points up before Baker scored twice inside, including an inside basket off an assist from junior point guard Tanner Chapman on an inbound play at the 4:20 mark.
Johnson fought back for McClellan later in the period with a couple of inside shots to give the Lions an 8-6 lead. The low scoring of the first half made every point count for McClellan as the Lions worked meticulously to build some kind of a cushion in the second quarter. They took a 19-16 lead at the 37-second mark when Johnson scored inside and made a free throw, but that lead was erased when senior guard Jake Schlenker made a three pointer at the buzzer for Beebe to tie the game at the half.
“I know from my experience that’s the kind of team you love to come to work to coach,” Threatt said of Beebe. “Because they’re going to do what you say; they’re not going to beat themselves. As a coach, all you can do is ask the kids to give 100 percent, and from what I’ve seen, that’s what those kids do.”
Gowen hung tough against McClellan big men Derrick Hardy and Kelechi Kingsley inside with nine points along with five rebounds and three steals. Five of those points came in the fourth quarter while a pair of Schlenker three-point baskets made up the remainder of Beebe’s scoring in the final period.
“I thought he played with such poise,” Marshall said. “He didn’t get rushed, and felt them on his back and which side he needed to go on. That’s huge for us going into conference to be able to step up and do that.”
Johnson led the Lions with 14 points while Hollis added nine for McClellan. For Beebe, Schlenker and Gowen led with nine points each while Burroughs finished with six and Baker had five points.
Beebe will begin 5A East Conference play at Blytheville on Friday.
SPORTS STORY >> Cabot gets some luck, gets a win
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Cabot needed a little bit of luck, and a steady shooting hand from Nick Thomas from the free-throw line in the closing seconds, as the Panthers rallied to overtake Brookland 44-43 in the third-place game of the Badger Christmas Classic at Badger Sports Arena on Monday.
The Panthers (5-6) struggled from the floor most of the night, but kept themselves in contention through the first half with free throws. Cabot made only two shots from the floor in the first half, but went 8 of 11 from the charity stripe in that time to trail 15-14 at the break.
“We didn’t play very good,” Cabot coach Jerry Bridges said. “A lot of it, I give credit to Brookland, but I was proud of our guys. We could have quit, but we kept plugging and led at the end.”
The coaches and fans for each team made things spirited in the closing moments. Cabot fans disputed a late foul called against Clayton Vaught that sent Devon Newton to the line with Brookland trailing 43-42 and 11 seconds remaining on the clock. Newton hit both ends to give the Bearcats a 43-42 lead.
Senior point guard Bryan Shrum brought it down for the Panthers and attempted a three pointer that fell short. Thomas picked up the rebound in the lane and went back up just as the buzzer sounded and also drew a foul. That sent him to the line with no time left on the clock and Cabot trailing 43-42, but Thomas kept his cool under the pressure and swished both foul shots to give the Panthers the win.
“We couldn’t hit shots,” Bridges said. “We’re missing easy shots. I’m proud of us for still playing defense, because usually when you do that, you’re going to drop your intensity on defense. I was proud of Nick Thomas, I want to recognize him, because he hasn’t played much varsity ball all year. I told him he had a chance to be the hero at the end just because of how he played defense in the third quarter. He expended all his energy for us defensively. That’s why I put him out there at the end. He’s a good kid who works every day, so good for Nick.”
Brookland appeared to be pulling away late in the third quarter, pushing the margin to 24-16 by the 4:34 mark. The Bearcats took their biggest lead with 5:54 left to play when Will Ballard hit a three-point basket to make it 31-22. Cabot answered with an inside basket by Ryan Stafford, followed by a transition basket by Shrum off a steal to cut it back to 31-26 with 5:01 remaining.
Vaught pulled down a vital defensive rebound with 1:13 left to play that set up a shot by Thomas in the paint to cut Brookland’s lead to 41-40. Thomas then got a steal that led to a three-point basket by Vaught to give Cabot its first lead of the game, 42-41 with 11 seconds left to play.
“Thirteen fouls on us, four on them,” Bridges said. “And in the first quarter, it’s eight on us and two on them and we’re in our matchup. I’m not saying we’re not fouling, but I promise they’re fouling more than they’re calling on them, but I don’t know, those were two calls at the end that you wish could have been different.”
Hunter York led the Panthers with nine points while Ballard led Brookland with 11 points.
The Panthers will begin 7A/6A East Conference play with a home game against North Little Rock on Friday.
Leader sportswriter
Cabot needed a little bit of luck, and a steady shooting hand from Nick Thomas from the free-throw line in the closing seconds, as the Panthers rallied to overtake Brookland 44-43 in the third-place game of the Badger Christmas Classic at Badger Sports Arena on Monday.
The Panthers (5-6) struggled from the floor most of the night, but kept themselves in contention through the first half with free throws. Cabot made only two shots from the floor in the first half, but went 8 of 11 from the charity stripe in that time to trail 15-14 at the break.
“We didn’t play very good,” Cabot coach Jerry Bridges said. “A lot of it, I give credit to Brookland, but I was proud of our guys. We could have quit, but we kept plugging and led at the end.”
The coaches and fans for each team made things spirited in the closing moments. Cabot fans disputed a late foul called against Clayton Vaught that sent Devon Newton to the line with Brookland trailing 43-42 and 11 seconds remaining on the clock. Newton hit both ends to give the Bearcats a 43-42 lead.
Senior point guard Bryan Shrum brought it down for the Panthers and attempted a three pointer that fell short. Thomas picked up the rebound in the lane and went back up just as the buzzer sounded and also drew a foul. That sent him to the line with no time left on the clock and Cabot trailing 43-42, but Thomas kept his cool under the pressure and swished both foul shots to give the Panthers the win.
“We couldn’t hit shots,” Bridges said. “We’re missing easy shots. I’m proud of us for still playing defense, because usually when you do that, you’re going to drop your intensity on defense. I was proud of Nick Thomas, I want to recognize him, because he hasn’t played much varsity ball all year. I told him he had a chance to be the hero at the end just because of how he played defense in the third quarter. He expended all his energy for us defensively. That’s why I put him out there at the end. He’s a good kid who works every day, so good for Nick.”
Brookland appeared to be pulling away late in the third quarter, pushing the margin to 24-16 by the 4:34 mark. The Bearcats took their biggest lead with 5:54 left to play when Will Ballard hit a three-point basket to make it 31-22. Cabot answered with an inside basket by Ryan Stafford, followed by a transition basket by Shrum off a steal to cut it back to 31-26 with 5:01 remaining.
Vaught pulled down a vital defensive rebound with 1:13 left to play that set up a shot by Thomas in the paint to cut Brookland’s lead to 41-40. Thomas then got a steal that led to a three-point basket by Vaught to give Cabot its first lead of the game, 42-41 with 11 seconds left to play.
“Thirteen fouls on us, four on them,” Bridges said. “And in the first quarter, it’s eight on us and two on them and we’re in our matchup. I’m not saying we’re not fouling, but I promise they’re fouling more than they’re calling on them, but I don’t know, those were two calls at the end that you wish could have been different.”
Hunter York led the Panthers with nine points while Ballard led Brookland with 11 points.
The Panthers will begin 7A/6A East Conference play with a home game against North Little Rock on Friday.
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