Police departments in Jacksonville and Lonoke recently hosted town hall meetings with residents to assure them they’re getting outstanding protection while their rights are being protected.
Jacksonville Police Chief Kenny Boyd and Lonoke Police Chief Patrick Mulligan made impressive presentations for their departments at their community centers held at the same time Sept. 8 before some 45 people in each town. Communication and community were two words repeatedly used during the forums.
“We can improve the police department with community relations,” Boyd said. He urged residents to come forward if they have concerns about the police.
He said a good police department starts with recruiting, “so you do not get bad cops. There is a screening process to maintain the integrity of that officer. We have monitors in place,” Boyd said.
Mulligan expressed similar sentiments. “I might have to arrest someone, but I’ll hand them a card and say call if we can help you in any way.”
Mulligan said he offers free counseling and free anger-management classes in the jail led by local pastors, for prisoners and parolees. “In some jails, people are locked up and forgotten.”
Both town halls were effective, and we recommend them for other communities in our area.
Friday, September 16, 2016
TOP STORY >> Searcy campus marks 50 years
ASU-Beebe will hold a 50th anniversary celebration of its Searcy campus from 2 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6.
Formerly Foothills Vocational Technical School, the Searcy campus opened in 1966 with 17 employees, and was renamed Foothills Technical Institute in 1991. Foothills merged with ASU-Beebe in 2003.
The celebration coincides with a month-long statewide celebration of community colleges called Arkansas Community College Work$.
Dedicated in April 1967 by Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller, the focus was to teach students a trade to immediately enter the workforce. Some of the first programs offered at Foothills Vocational Technical School were auto mechanics, farm and diesel equipment, machine shop, office occupations, practical nursing, welding and drafting.
Since joining with ASU-Beebe, additional educational opportunities have opened up for students.
With 60 employees, the campus serves a range of students from high school through the Regional Career Center, to students working on their GED, to traditional and non-traditional students earning technical certificates or associate degrees.
The Searcy campus offers certificates of proficiency and technical certification in air conditioning, auto-body repair, automotive technology, machine technology, diesel technology, EMT-paramedics, multi-skills technology, medical-records technology, practical nursing and welding.
Students can complete most of the programs in about one year and earn a technical certificate. The credits can also count towards degree programs.
The 50th anniversary is open to the public, and will welcome state and local dignitaries, past and current administration, and former students. Events will include tours of the facilities and demonstrations by students and faculty, beginning at 2 p.m. in the Technology East Building, Room 127.
At 3:30 p.m., a brief program will be presented, with gifts given to alumni in attendance. The program will be followed by a reception.
The Searcy campus is at 1800 E. Moore Ave.
Formerly Foothills Vocational Technical School, the Searcy campus opened in 1966 with 17 employees, and was renamed Foothills Technical Institute in 1991. Foothills merged with ASU-Beebe in 2003.
The celebration coincides with a month-long statewide celebration of community colleges called Arkansas Community College Work$.
Dedicated in April 1967 by Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller, the focus was to teach students a trade to immediately enter the workforce. Some of the first programs offered at Foothills Vocational Technical School were auto mechanics, farm and diesel equipment, machine shop, office occupations, practical nursing, welding and drafting.
Since joining with ASU-Beebe, additional educational opportunities have opened up for students.
With 60 employees, the campus serves a range of students from high school through the Regional Career Center, to students working on their GED, to traditional and non-traditional students earning technical certificates or associate degrees.
The Searcy campus offers certificates of proficiency and technical certification in air conditioning, auto-body repair, automotive technology, machine technology, diesel technology, EMT-paramedics, multi-skills technology, medical-records technology, practical nursing and welding.
Students can complete most of the programs in about one year and earn a technical certificate. The credits can also count towards degree programs.
The 50th anniversary is open to the public, and will welcome state and local dignitaries, past and current administration, and former students. Events will include tours of the facilities and demonstrations by students and faculty, beginning at 2 p.m. in the Technology East Building, Room 127.
At 3:30 p.m., a brief program will be presented, with gifts given to alumni in attendance. The program will be followed by a reception.
The Searcy campus is at 1800 E. Moore Ave.
TOP STORY >> Governor names Byrd to quorum court
By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
The Lonoke County Quorum Court had a new face at the meeting on Thursday. Darlene Byrd of Cabot was appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson earlier in the day to represent District 12. She replaces JP Matt Sanders, who moved out of the district.
Byrd’s appointment expires on Dec. 31. Patty Knox was elected to the position during primary election in March. Knox ran unopposed.
Byrd has lived in Cabot for 19 years. She is an advanced nurse practitioner. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in nursing science from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and a doctorate in nursing practice from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
Byrd has 26 years of nursing experience and is the owner of APN HealthCare, a company where she fills-in for a physician or a nurse practitioner when they are out of the office.
Byrd was appointed by then Gov. Mike Huckabee to the State Board of Nursing for eight years. She was appointed by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt to the National Advisory Committee for Rural Health and Human Services.
Byrd ran for state representative in 2014 and lost the Republican primary to state Rep. Tim Lemons (R-Cabot). They ran for the seat held by Rep. Davy Carter (R-Cabot), who was term-limited.
“It is an honor to be able to do this. I thank Matt Sanders for his service to the county and the quorum court. He did a good job representing the district. I’m appreciative of the governor and his trust in me to appoint me to the position,” Byrd said.
The quorum court approved four appropriation ordinances amending the operation budget for 2016. One ordinance was to appropriate $63,800 from the county general fund to repairs to the Lonoke County Detention Center roof.
A second ordinance was approved to appropriate $5,000 for web service and computer equipment for court automation fund for Divisions 1, 2 and 3 of the Lonoke County Circuit Court.
A third ordinance was approved for the election commission’s reimbursement of $69,890 during the primary election in March from the state board of elections. The funds will be used for the general election in November.
A fourth ordinance was approved to appropriate $13,939 to the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office’s special crime unit.
The funds are overtime reimbursement from the Drug Enforcement Agency’s drug task force for the use of a narcotics sheriff’s deputy.
Lonoke County Museum director Sherryl Miller gave an update on two projects at the museum.
In 1994, two books were completed of the marked headstones in all 80 cemeteries in Lonoke County. The museum is updating the books with all the people who have been buried since ’94.
She said the museum has published a book, “Dr. Ross’s Ledger from Prairie County,” which includes the land now part of Lonoke County. He practiced medicine in 1864 after the Civil War. The ledger records who he visited, the medicine he gave them and how much he charged them.
Leader staff writer
The Lonoke County Quorum Court had a new face at the meeting on Thursday. Darlene Byrd of Cabot was appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson earlier in the day to represent District 12. She replaces JP Matt Sanders, who moved out of the district.
Byrd’s appointment expires on Dec. 31. Patty Knox was elected to the position during primary election in March. Knox ran unopposed.
Byrd has lived in Cabot for 19 years. She is an advanced nurse practitioner. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in nursing science from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and a doctorate in nursing practice from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
Byrd has 26 years of nursing experience and is the owner of APN HealthCare, a company where she fills-in for a physician or a nurse practitioner when they are out of the office.
Byrd was appointed by then Gov. Mike Huckabee to the State Board of Nursing for eight years. She was appointed by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt to the National Advisory Committee for Rural Health and Human Services.
Byrd ran for state representative in 2014 and lost the Republican primary to state Rep. Tim Lemons (R-Cabot). They ran for the seat held by Rep. Davy Carter (R-Cabot), who was term-limited.
“It is an honor to be able to do this. I thank Matt Sanders for his service to the county and the quorum court. He did a good job representing the district. I’m appreciative of the governor and his trust in me to appoint me to the position,” Byrd said.
The quorum court approved four appropriation ordinances amending the operation budget for 2016. One ordinance was to appropriate $63,800 from the county general fund to repairs to the Lonoke County Detention Center roof.
A second ordinance was approved to appropriate $5,000 for web service and computer equipment for court automation fund for Divisions 1, 2 and 3 of the Lonoke County Circuit Court.
A third ordinance was approved for the election commission’s reimbursement of $69,890 during the primary election in March from the state board of elections. The funds will be used for the general election in November.
A fourth ordinance was approved to appropriate $13,939 to the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office’s special crime unit.
The funds are overtime reimbursement from the Drug Enforcement Agency’s drug task force for the use of a narcotics sheriff’s deputy.
Lonoke County Museum director Sherryl Miller gave an update on two projects at the museum.
In 1994, two books were completed of the marked headstones in all 80 cemeteries in Lonoke County. The museum is updating the books with all the people who have been buried since ’94.
She said the museum has published a book, “Dr. Ross’s Ledger from Prairie County,” which includes the land now part of Lonoke County. He practiced medicine in 1864 after the Civil War. The ledger records who he visited, the medicine he gave them and how much he charged them.
TOP STORY >> Judge firm on deseg lawsuit
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
The remaining parties to the Plan 2000 school desegregation lawsuit need to agree that all are unitary in staffing or prepare for an evidentiary hearing or trial by late fall 2017, U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. told them Thursday at the quarterly desegregation status report.
“This is a lawsuit,” the judge said. “There needs to be an end or a moment of clarity,” in the suit that has languished in federal court for nearly 17 years.
“Let’s reach an agreement or let’s have our trial,” the judge said.
Marshall told them that if all parties, which includes John Walker and the Joshua Intervenors, can’t agree the remaining districts are unitary or desegregated in staffing, they need to go to mediation or declare an impasse, which would result in the evidentiary hearing or the trial.
Little Rock and North Little Rock school districts have been declared unitary—that’s desegregated in all categories, leaving the Pulaski County Special School District, and by way of detachment, the brand new Jacksonville-North Pulaski School District to meet all unitary standards. The new school inherited all the unitary and non-unitary declarations when it detached from PCSSD.
In addition to staffing and facilities, the two districts are not unitary in achievement, monitoring and student discipline.
“We need to get our hands around staffing,” Marshall said, “before we lose momentum and lose progress.”
Walker challenged JNPSD over racial balance in staffing and PCSSD Superintendent Jerry Guess over progress on facilities.
JNPSD Attorney Scott Richardson noted that the district had hired approximately 500 certified and classified employees, 27 percent of them minorities. He reported that 16.6 percent of administrators in the new district were black. The new district is about 50 percent minority.
He challenged Richardson, saying that the district had hired white staff to administer to black staff.
Richardson noted that there were three central office administrators in positions of authority, including assistant superintendent Jeremy Owoh, second in command, who was the third hire, and had been involved in many key areas such as the hiring of principals and curriculum issues. In addition to Owoh, the director of special education and curriculum are also black, Richardson said.
“Plan 2000 requires fair process, not numbers,” Richardson said. Among other attempts to hire black staff—teachers and administrators among them—JNPSD recruited at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, a historically black university.
Walker challenged Guess over whether or not PCSSD had kept Joshua informed at each turn regarding progress in building new facilities and rehabilitating older ones.
He asked Guess why, if a new Mills High School was the top priority, dirt work for a new Robinson High School was further along than dirt work at Mills.
Guess said contractors had encountered problems at the Mills site, but that both new high schools were scheduled to open in fall 2018.
Walker asked why the new Mills and Robinson high schools are budgeted for about $40 million each, while the new Jacksonville High School is expected to cost about $60 million.
Walker asked Richardson why JNPSD was building a new high school instead of a new middle school, and why the uncertainty continued about one new elementary school to replace both Arnold Drive and Tolleson elementary schools.
Richardson explained that the new school is high on a list for Defense Department construction funding—it will be built outside the wire on Little Rock Air Force Base—but that it’s about number 35 on a list that currently will contribute to 34 projects.
Richardson said the district was committed to building the new elementary school to open in August 2018, and the new high school to open 2019.
The state Board of Education will let the district know May 1 how much state partnership money the district will get for those projects.
The judge wanted to know what’s next on Jacksonville’s facility plans. It’s likely that the district will build one new elementary school to replace Pinewood and Dupree.
The next status hearing is set for Dec. 7.
Leader staff writer
The remaining parties to the Plan 2000 school desegregation lawsuit need to agree that all are unitary in staffing or prepare for an evidentiary hearing or trial by late fall 2017, U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. told them Thursday at the quarterly desegregation status report.
“This is a lawsuit,” the judge said. “There needs to be an end or a moment of clarity,” in the suit that has languished in federal court for nearly 17 years.
“Let’s reach an agreement or let’s have our trial,” the judge said.
Marshall told them that if all parties, which includes John Walker and the Joshua Intervenors, can’t agree the remaining districts are unitary or desegregated in staffing, they need to go to mediation or declare an impasse, which would result in the evidentiary hearing or the trial.
Little Rock and North Little Rock school districts have been declared unitary—that’s desegregated in all categories, leaving the Pulaski County Special School District, and by way of detachment, the brand new Jacksonville-North Pulaski School District to meet all unitary standards. The new school inherited all the unitary and non-unitary declarations when it detached from PCSSD.
In addition to staffing and facilities, the two districts are not unitary in achievement, monitoring and student discipline.
“We need to get our hands around staffing,” Marshall said, “before we lose momentum and lose progress.”
Walker challenged JNPSD over racial balance in staffing and PCSSD Superintendent Jerry Guess over progress on facilities.
JNPSD Attorney Scott Richardson noted that the district had hired approximately 500 certified and classified employees, 27 percent of them minorities. He reported that 16.6 percent of administrators in the new district were black. The new district is about 50 percent minority.
He challenged Richardson, saying that the district had hired white staff to administer to black staff.
Richardson noted that there were three central office administrators in positions of authority, including assistant superintendent Jeremy Owoh, second in command, who was the third hire, and had been involved in many key areas such as the hiring of principals and curriculum issues. In addition to Owoh, the director of special education and curriculum are also black, Richardson said.
“Plan 2000 requires fair process, not numbers,” Richardson said. Among other attempts to hire black staff—teachers and administrators among them—JNPSD recruited at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, a historically black university.
Walker challenged Guess over whether or not PCSSD had kept Joshua informed at each turn regarding progress in building new facilities and rehabilitating older ones.
He asked Guess why, if a new Mills High School was the top priority, dirt work for a new Robinson High School was further along than dirt work at Mills.
Guess said contractors had encountered problems at the Mills site, but that both new high schools were scheduled to open in fall 2018.
Walker asked why the new Mills and Robinson high schools are budgeted for about $40 million each, while the new Jacksonville High School is expected to cost about $60 million.
Walker asked Richardson why JNPSD was building a new high school instead of a new middle school, and why the uncertainty continued about one new elementary school to replace both Arnold Drive and Tolleson elementary schools.
Richardson explained that the new school is high on a list for Defense Department construction funding—it will be built outside the wire on Little Rock Air Force Base—but that it’s about number 35 on a list that currently will contribute to 34 projects.
Richardson said the district was committed to building the new elementary school to open in August 2018, and the new high school to open 2019.
The state Board of Education will let the district know May 1 how much state partnership money the district will get for those projects.
The judge wanted to know what’s next on Jacksonville’s facility plans. It’s likely that the district will build one new elementary school to replace Pinewood and Dupree.
The next status hearing is set for Dec. 7.
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
TOP STORY >> Bond running for Senate
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
Jacksonville native Will Bond, a Democrat now of Little Rock, is running against Libertarian Jacob Mosier for state Senate District 32, the rare Arkansas district so Democratic that they are without a Republican challenger.
Mosier is a bank teller for Onebanc, and doesn’t seem to have an online election presence and no financial disclosure records were on file with the Secretary of State’s website.
That district, currently represented by Democrat David Johnson, covers downtown Little Rock roughly between I-30 Bridge and Shackleford on the east and west and the Arkansas River and I-630 on the north and west.
Bond, 46, who was Jacksonville’s state representative from 2003 through 2008, said because Johnson elected to run for judge instead of reelection, it created an opening just at a time when “I was ready to run again.”
Bond, managing partner at McMath Wood Law and former Dist. 44 state representative representing Jacksonville, moved to Little Rock several years ago, but he is best known in his home town for his work both in the House and on behalf of creation of the Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District.
Bond’s mother, Pat Bond, worked for a new district when she was the area’s state representative, and when Bond succeeded her, he sponsored language that allowed the eventual creation of the district.
Bond was active in the various groups that worked toward a Jacksonville school district and he says he’s impressed with the work that has been done to make the new district a reality.
“All these big changes required the efforts of a lot of people,” Bond said, including great teachers and administrators who stuck with the program patiently.
He also had high praise for Superintendent Tony Wood and former interim Superintendent Bobby Lester, who helped guide the fledgling district. This was the first time a new district was detached from an existing district, and there was no road map, he said.
“I’ve know Tony for a long time,” Bond said. “They are incredible, competent administrators.”
There was a false start in 2003, but the local district court and the 8th U.S. Circuit Court put the brakes on derailing that effort. “The only thing better than getting the new district now would have bee getting it 10 years ago,” Bond said.
New term-limits rules allow for a total of 16 years in the General Assembly, which could allow him 10 years in the state senate.
He says he’s proud of the restrained budget adopted in 2007, with a big surplus.
He has worked hard as a volunteer lawyer to increase the minimum wage and also proud of the work he and former state Rep. Sandra Prater (D-Jacksonville) did to create tax-deductible health savings accounts and to allow senior citizens to buy insurance to protect some of their assets if they have to go into nursing homes.
“It was the right thing to do and we saved the state money,” Bond said.
“If we can somehow resist the initial urge toward sarcasm and the easy jab (at people who disagree) there can be efficient solutions found to some of our problems,” Bond said.
There are facts, data and things that have worked in some other states, Bond said.
“If we work to make things better, we can build a bigger, brighter future for all Arkansans. We ought to do it,” he added.
“What we can do in the state is have a real discussion over the budget. It shows our values and priorities. We’ve got to expand pre-K opportunities for kids,” he added. “It improves outcomes. The pre-K budget hasn’t kept up with inflation.”
Bond wants to make sure “we replenish school buildings, infrastructure and make sure facilities are clean and safe.
He would also like to see less money go to prisons, and more to treat addiction and mental health. He says there’s a big hole that gets filled with law enforcement officers who have to act as psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers when dealing with people who have mental health problems.
Bond, a 1988 graduate of Jacksonville High School, played baseball for Vanderbilt University and holds a law degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
“We were state champs in 1987,” Bond said and the following year their Gwatney Chevrolet American Legion team won the state.
Bond and his wife Gabriel will celebrate their 20th anniversary next month. They have a son Cy, 15, and twin girls, 11.
Leader staff writer
Jacksonville native Will Bond, a Democrat now of Little Rock, is running against Libertarian Jacob Mosier for state Senate District 32, the rare Arkansas district so Democratic that they are without a Republican challenger.
Mosier is a bank teller for Onebanc, and doesn’t seem to have an online election presence and no financial disclosure records were on file with the Secretary of State’s website.
That district, currently represented by Democrat David Johnson, covers downtown Little Rock roughly between I-30 Bridge and Shackleford on the east and west and the Arkansas River and I-630 on the north and west.
Bond, 46, who was Jacksonville’s state representative from 2003 through 2008, said because Johnson elected to run for judge instead of reelection, it created an opening just at a time when “I was ready to run again.”
Bond, managing partner at McMath Wood Law and former Dist. 44 state representative representing Jacksonville, moved to Little Rock several years ago, but he is best known in his home town for his work both in the House and on behalf of creation of the Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District.
Bond’s mother, Pat Bond, worked for a new district when she was the area’s state representative, and when Bond succeeded her, he sponsored language that allowed the eventual creation of the district.
Bond was active in the various groups that worked toward a Jacksonville school district and he says he’s impressed with the work that has been done to make the new district a reality.
“All these big changes required the efforts of a lot of people,” Bond said, including great teachers and administrators who stuck with the program patiently.
He also had high praise for Superintendent Tony Wood and former interim Superintendent Bobby Lester, who helped guide the fledgling district. This was the first time a new district was detached from an existing district, and there was no road map, he said.
“I’ve know Tony for a long time,” Bond said. “They are incredible, competent administrators.”
There was a false start in 2003, but the local district court and the 8th U.S. Circuit Court put the brakes on derailing that effort. “The only thing better than getting the new district now would have bee getting it 10 years ago,” Bond said.
New term-limits rules allow for a total of 16 years in the General Assembly, which could allow him 10 years in the state senate.
He says he’s proud of the restrained budget adopted in 2007, with a big surplus.
He has worked hard as a volunteer lawyer to increase the minimum wage and also proud of the work he and former state Rep. Sandra Prater (D-Jacksonville) did to create tax-deductible health savings accounts and to allow senior citizens to buy insurance to protect some of their assets if they have to go into nursing homes.
“It was the right thing to do and we saved the state money,” Bond said.
“If we can somehow resist the initial urge toward sarcasm and the easy jab (at people who disagree) there can be efficient solutions found to some of our problems,” Bond said.
There are facts, data and things that have worked in some other states, Bond said.
“If we work to make things better, we can build a bigger, brighter future for all Arkansans. We ought to do it,” he added.
“What we can do in the state is have a real discussion over the budget. It shows our values and priorities. We’ve got to expand pre-K opportunities for kids,” he added. “It improves outcomes. The pre-K budget hasn’t kept up with inflation.”
Bond wants to make sure “we replenish school buildings, infrastructure and make sure facilities are clean and safe.
He would also like to see less money go to prisons, and more to treat addiction and mental health. He says there’s a big hole that gets filled with law enforcement officers who have to act as psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers when dealing with people who have mental health problems.
Bond, a 1988 graduate of Jacksonville High School, played baseball for Vanderbilt University and holds a law degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
“We were state champs in 1987,” Bond said and the following year their Gwatney Chevrolet American Legion team won the state.
Bond and his wife Gabriel will celebrate their 20th anniversary next month. They have a son Cy, 15, and twin girls, 11.
TOP STORY >> Medieval-themed fair Sept. 24
By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
The 40th annual Sherwood Fest will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24 at Sherwood Forest, 1111 W. Maryland Ave. Admission is free.
Sherwood Fest will have medieval-themed contests throughout the day.
The Conquer the Climb 5K run will start at 8 a.m. at the Sherwood Forest Trail. An archery contest is scheduled at 10:30 a.m.
Castle building using recycled materials will be at 12:45 p.m. at the Forest Room Stage.
A hammer throw is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. A tug-of-war will be at 1:45 p.m.
Horseshoes pitching contest is at 2 p.m. Pie-jousting is happening at 2:45 p.m.
Performing at the festival will be the Southwind Band at 11:45 a.m., a four-piece band playing classic traditional country and classic rock. Big Dam Horns will follow at 12:45 p.m. The band has a six-piece horn section. They play a mix of classic rock, funk, rhythm and blues.
The Zac Dunlap Band takes the stage at 3 p.m. Zac and Hannah Dunlap are musicians from Little Rock. Tragikly White will perform at 4:30 p.m. playing dance favorites from the 1970s to 2010.
Dancing groups performing during the day are Marissa and Jacq’s Dancers, Impact Gymnastics, Limelight Studios, Dance FX and Ms. Karen’s Dance Studio.
Local acts performing are Lily Guess, Cierra Willison, Caleb Allen, Allie Keen, Heart of Rock, Boss and Sydney McGill.
Sherwood Fest will have rides and inflatables. The purchase of a $5 armband allows for unlimited access to the ride and inflatables. There will a live pony carousel, an obstacle course, sumo wrestling, moonwalks, joust, slides and other inflatables.
A kid zone will have free crafts, games and balloon animals.
Leader staff writer
The 40th annual Sherwood Fest will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24 at Sherwood Forest, 1111 W. Maryland Ave. Admission is free.
Sherwood Fest will have medieval-themed contests throughout the day.
The Conquer the Climb 5K run will start at 8 a.m. at the Sherwood Forest Trail. An archery contest is scheduled at 10:30 a.m.
Castle building using recycled materials will be at 12:45 p.m. at the Forest Room Stage.
A hammer throw is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. A tug-of-war will be at 1:45 p.m.
Horseshoes pitching contest is at 2 p.m. Pie-jousting is happening at 2:45 p.m.
Performing at the festival will be the Southwind Band at 11:45 a.m., a four-piece band playing classic traditional country and classic rock. Big Dam Horns will follow at 12:45 p.m. The band has a six-piece horn section. They play a mix of classic rock, funk, rhythm and blues.
The Zac Dunlap Band takes the stage at 3 p.m. Zac and Hannah Dunlap are musicians from Little Rock. Tragikly White will perform at 4:30 p.m. playing dance favorites from the 1970s to 2010.
Dancing groups performing during the day are Marissa and Jacq’s Dancers, Impact Gymnastics, Limelight Studios, Dance FX and Ms. Karen’s Dance Studio.
Local acts performing are Lily Guess, Cierra Willison, Caleb Allen, Allie Keen, Heart of Rock, Boss and Sydney McGill.
Sherwood Fest will have rides and inflatables. The purchase of a $5 armband allows for unlimited access to the ride and inflatables. There will a live pony carousel, an obstacle course, sumo wrestling, moonwalks, joust, slides and other inflatables.
A kid zone will have free crafts, games and balloon animals.
TOP STORY >> Release medical records
By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader executive editor
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump said this week they will release “detailed medical records” amid rumors about Hillary’s health, especially in the wake of her near-fainting spell at Sunday’s 9/11 ceremony in New York.
She said she’s been suffering from pneumonia for several days, and she appears to be on the mend.
The Internet is filled with conspiracy theories about her health, but also about Trump, whose doctor last December released an embarrassingly fulsome medical report that described him as the healthiest presidential candidate in history.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s name inevitably figures in some of the most prominent conspiracy theories. Putin, who has been killing his opponents for decades, hates Clinton and admires Trump. Putin has called Trump “colorful,” and Trump has returned the compliment by calling Putin “a great leader.”
Putin’s critics who are familiar with his poisoning opponents, think he’s trying to harm Clinton.
Dr. Bennet Omalu, the American physician who connected head injuries in football players to degenerative brain disease, is convinced Putin is out to harm Clinton.
“I do not trust Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump. With these two all things are possible," he tweeted.
“I must advice (sic) the Clinton campaign to perform toxicological analysis of Ms. Clinton’s blood. It is possible she is being poisoned.”
In 2006, Putin’s agents poisoned Alexander Litvinenko, who had defected from the Federal Security Service (the successor to the dreaded KGB, where Putin served as an officer). They brought polonium from a Russian nuclear plant and put the poison in Litvinenko’s tea in a London restaurant. He fell ill suddenly and died three weeks later.
Putin’s agents also poisoned former Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko during his re-election campaign in 2004. They put dioxin in his food. Yushchenko survived, but is disfigured for life.
Putin is a menace to his own people and the rest of the world. He has protected Syrian dictator Assad and has protected drug cartels in St. Petersburg, where he was vice mayor before he became president.
He almost certainly ordered the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s emails.
He has reasons to wish Clinton were incapacitated. He probably has a thick file on Hillary and Trump as well. Why Trump thinks so highly of the tiny dictator is a mystery.
But beyond medical records, Trump should follow Clinton’s example and release 10 years worth of financial records and tax returns, including the work of his foundation. A co-founder of LinkedIn says he’ll give a veterans group $5 million if Trump releases his tax returns.
Sketchy records uncovered by the Washington Post show the foundation has not received any money from Trump in more than a decade.
The Post says Trump has used other people's money to pay for a handful of charities, but more seriously, the foundation has made political donations in violation of IRS rules.
The foundation recently paid a $2,500 fine after it made an improper $25,000 gift to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who called off an investigation of Trump University, which has been accused of defrauding participants in the real estate seminar out of millions of dollars.
Some naïve participants paid as much as $35,000 hoping to learn about Trump’s real estate secrets.
The presidential campaign will get nastier, but foreigners like Putin must be warned to stay out of our politics.
We have a long dossier on him, thanks to Litvinenko: Putin ordered the bombings of apartment buildings in 1999 in Russia, where nearly 300 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured.
Chechen rebels were blamed for the attacks, but Russian scholars believe it was Putin’s Federal Security Service that carried out the bombings to whip up support for a war against Chechnya.
Local police arrested several FSB agents planting bombs at one of the apartment buildings but were later released.
According to Litvinenko, Putin is also a known pedophile. He has looted an estimated $40 billion from the Russian people.
If Putin wants an oligarch’s McMansion, he tells him to move out and he should be glad he wasn’t poisoned.
Others have not been so lucky.
Leader executive editor
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump said this week they will release “detailed medical records” amid rumors about Hillary’s health, especially in the wake of her near-fainting spell at Sunday’s 9/11 ceremony in New York.
She said she’s been suffering from pneumonia for several days, and she appears to be on the mend.
The Internet is filled with conspiracy theories about her health, but also about Trump, whose doctor last December released an embarrassingly fulsome medical report that described him as the healthiest presidential candidate in history.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s name inevitably figures in some of the most prominent conspiracy theories. Putin, who has been killing his opponents for decades, hates Clinton and admires Trump. Putin has called Trump “colorful,” and Trump has returned the compliment by calling Putin “a great leader.”
Putin’s critics who are familiar with his poisoning opponents, think he’s trying to harm Clinton.
Dr. Bennet Omalu, the American physician who connected head injuries in football players to degenerative brain disease, is convinced Putin is out to harm Clinton.
“I do not trust Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump. With these two all things are possible," he tweeted.
“I must advice (sic) the Clinton campaign to perform toxicological analysis of Ms. Clinton’s blood. It is possible she is being poisoned.”
In 2006, Putin’s agents poisoned Alexander Litvinenko, who had defected from the Federal Security Service (the successor to the dreaded KGB, where Putin served as an officer). They brought polonium from a Russian nuclear plant and put the poison in Litvinenko’s tea in a London restaurant. He fell ill suddenly and died three weeks later.
Putin’s agents also poisoned former Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko during his re-election campaign in 2004. They put dioxin in his food. Yushchenko survived, but is disfigured for life.
Putin is a menace to his own people and the rest of the world. He has protected Syrian dictator Assad and has protected drug cartels in St. Petersburg, where he was vice mayor before he became president.
He almost certainly ordered the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s emails.
He has reasons to wish Clinton were incapacitated. He probably has a thick file on Hillary and Trump as well. Why Trump thinks so highly of the tiny dictator is a mystery.
But beyond medical records, Trump should follow Clinton’s example and release 10 years worth of financial records and tax returns, including the work of his foundation. A co-founder of LinkedIn says he’ll give a veterans group $5 million if Trump releases his tax returns.
Sketchy records uncovered by the Washington Post show the foundation has not received any money from Trump in more than a decade.
The Post says Trump has used other people's money to pay for a handful of charities, but more seriously, the foundation has made political donations in violation of IRS rules.
The foundation recently paid a $2,500 fine after it made an improper $25,000 gift to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who called off an investigation of Trump University, which has been accused of defrauding participants in the real estate seminar out of millions of dollars.
Some naïve participants paid as much as $35,000 hoping to learn about Trump’s real estate secrets.
The presidential campaign will get nastier, but foreigners like Putin must be warned to stay out of our politics.
We have a long dossier on him, thanks to Litvinenko: Putin ordered the bombings of apartment buildings in 1999 in Russia, where nearly 300 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured.
Chechen rebels were blamed for the attacks, but Russian scholars believe it was Putin’s Federal Security Service that carried out the bombings to whip up support for a war against Chechnya.
Local police arrested several FSB agents planting bombs at one of the apartment buildings but were later released.
According to Litvinenko, Putin is also a known pedophile. He has looted an estimated $40 billion from the Russian people.
If Putin wants an oligarch’s McMansion, he tells him to move out and he should be glad he wasn’t poisoned.
Others have not been so lucky.
TOP STORY >> Lonoke is ready for a big cleanup
By DEBORAH HORN
Leader staff writer
Lonoke is about to embark on a major cleanup effort to spruce up the city.
“We’re trying to clean up the whole town,” Mayor Wayne McGee told the city council Monday during a public-comment period.
In attempts to get the city to take action, Delories Allison complained about old junk cars, high grass and trash.
She believes the debris makes the neighborhood “unsafe.”
“We need to get together and do something about it…More needs to be done,” said Allison, who lives on Pleasant Street.
Joyce Jones of East Palm Street also spoke.
“There are 17 (non-running) cars within a four-block radius of my house…Carports are filled with junk. We need to get busy,” Jones said.
In response, McGee said his office had hired two code-enforcement officers who were currently taking code enforcement classes through the city of Rogers for Heating and Air Conditioning inspections.
Mayor McGee said the officers will attend additional classes, covering other areas of code-enforcement laws, in the coming month.
At next month’s meeting, McGee said the city council will draft an ordinance giving the officers authority to issue citations and tickets, as well setting fine amounts.
Once the ordinance is adopted, officers will be issuing warnings and citations, possibly as early as October, he said.
Also, the city has slated as many as 10 properties for demolition, McGee said. If the property owner isn’t willing to “fix it up,” he said the city will eventually tear the building down and remove the debris from the property.
As part of that effort, he said the city has scheduled a fall cleanup from Saturday, Oct. 8 through Saturday, Oct. 15 from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Dumpsters will be located at the Lonoke City Shop at 1219 Barnes St.
For more information, contact the Lonoke Public Works Department at 676-4370 or 676-2422.
Aldermen Pat Howell and Wendell Walker were absent.
HOME DAYCARE
Ordinance 712 drew a large crowd to the Monday meeting.
Basically, the city council changed the wording of its R1 rating of day care facilities, allowing service providers to care for up to seven children as long as they are in compliance with the state and meet the definition of residential home day care.
Alderman Pat Howell voted against the measure on the first reading—saying the ordinance wording needed to include a proprietor’s notification of intent to neighbors through public notice.
Once other members agreed to amend the ordinance in the near future, Howell voted in favor of the wording during the second and third readings of the ordinance.
The council approved the day care family homes in R-1 zoning districts by conditional use, which would require consideration by the Lonoke Planning Commission on a case-by-case basis.
PALM ST. REPAIR
The city also unanimously passed Ordinance 711, which allows Lonoke to pay for road construction services on Palm Street.
During the excavation and repair of Palm Street, city workers and Rogers Construction, Inc. of Conway discovered several areas “where the aggregate base was either missing or more unstable than previously anticipated, and where additional rock and shale were needed to correct the substandard base.”
Rogers Construction provided the additional base but that upped costs over the already council-approved $158,300, and the new ordinance approved an additional $11,328 that needed to pay the invoice in full.
It was unanimously approved by the aldermen.
9/11 ADVISORY BOARD
The city also unanimously passed an ordinance at the request of Lonoke Quorum Court JP RD Hopper, allowing a representative of the city to participate in a 911 Advisory Board.
Hopper said when calling 911 from a landline, the dispatch operator knows the caller’s address. However, cell phones ping off the nearest cell tower, so it’s impossible for the operator to determine the caller’s location.
Hopper is leading the county’s effort to establish the 911 Advisory Board, which he hopes will include cities from around the county, as well as one Lonoke Quorum Court JP and members of the various state and local emergency service agencies.
UNSAFE DRIVERS
Lonoke Police Chief Pat Mulligan asked the city to allow him and the Lonoke City Attorney Camille Bennett to craft an “unsafe drivers” ordinance that would be presented at the October meeting for passage.
It would allow his officers to issue tickets to unsafe drivers for $150. State-issued tickets for the same offense cost the driver between $200 and $300 and goes on the operator’s driving record.
Lonoke’s violation would not, Mulligan said.
The council unanimously approved Mulligan’s request.
He also informed members that state inmates housed at the Lonoke City Jail can now stay longer than six weeks.
“We can now keep people up to six months,” Mulligan said.
The city jail reserves 28 spaces for their own usage but have an additional half dozen spots to house state inmates. Lonoke receives $30 a day per prisoner from the state, and McGee said it offsets city jail costs and inmates can be used to help on city projects.
“It’s free labor,” McGee said.
THRIVE TEAM
In order to accommodate the Thrive team, the mayor allowed Will Staley, Thrive co-founder and creative director, to talk about their nonprofit design services immediately following the public comment portion of the meeting.
Thrive is based in Helena and has done work for the King Biscuit Blues Festival, East Arkansas Planning and Development District, Delta Cultural Center and Southern Bancorp Community Partners and more.
The firm was recommended by the Lonoke Industrial Development Commission and could be an asset to the city’s Kick Start Lonoke effort.
“We create marketing tools but not the (marketing) plan,” Staley told the Council. Their services include website design and construction but not site maintenance, he said.
Ryan Biles, a Lonoke Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors member, said the Lonoke Chamber of Commerce members realize they need a new website.
In early June, the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) at Conway announced it had selected Lonoke as its 2016 Community Development Institute (CDI) community and would work with community and city leaders to help improve its economic climate.
The CDI program is a cooperative effort between UCA and the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Office Breakthrough Solutions Program.
Thrive’s services will cost the city about $40,000.
Council members unanimously approved hiring Thrive, with the money to pay for the services coming from the coffers of the city’s Retail Economic Commission.
Biles said after the meeting, “I’m particularly excited about the methodology and process that Thrive will utilize to first learn what makes Lonoke unique and then develop the tools which highlight those aspects. The opportunity for Thrive to undertake their work in tandem with the Kick Start Lonoke initiative underway now is especially advantageous for our community.”
Also, as part of Kick Start Lonoke program, the mayor said, “We need to have everyone fill out their survey.”
It is designed to identify citizens’ and business owners’ top priorities for the city’s long term and economic development.
A printed version of the survey was included in last month’s water bill but is also available online at https://kickstartlonoke.wordpress.com/…/lonoke-launches-co…/.
PUMP STATION OUT
The mayor reported that the waste water pump station at Rosemary Street recently “went down” leaving a number of customers, including three Lonoke schools and the Lonoke Community Center, without services.
But he said the city quickly replaced the faulty relief valve and added a quick connect valve that allows the city to bypass the main pump in the future if it ever fails again.
“It won’t be a problem again,” the mayor said.
MANY GAS LEAKS
Fire Chief Jimmy Wallace said his department is responding to as many as 30 calls per month, including a high number of gas leaks, such as the one firefighters responded to earlier that day because a faulty gas line connected to the water heater was leaking.
“We transported two (people who were in the home) to the hospital today,” he said.
His department wants to spend nearly $2,000 on a carbon monoxide and natural gas detector, as well as a calibrator for the detector.
The Council approved the expenditure.
Community center director Mike Brown said there are plans for the addition of an approximately 300 square-foot kitchen to the center’s multi-purpose room. Preliminary drawings by Russ Matson, president of Matson Construction of Little Rock, also include a storage room and men’s and women’s restroom facilities.
The plans include warming ovens, a refrigerator and sink.
“We’re in the process of finalizing our plans,” Brown said. The plans will go to the council for approval and the project will be put out to bid.
He hopes to keep the total cost under $120,000, which the community center has in hand.
The center serves more than 900 members each month.
Leader staff writer
Lonoke is about to embark on a major cleanup effort to spruce up the city.
“We’re trying to clean up the whole town,” Mayor Wayne McGee told the city council Monday during a public-comment period.
In attempts to get the city to take action, Delories Allison complained about old junk cars, high grass and trash.
She believes the debris makes the neighborhood “unsafe.”
“We need to get together and do something about it…More needs to be done,” said Allison, who lives on Pleasant Street.
Joyce Jones of East Palm Street also spoke.
“There are 17 (non-running) cars within a four-block radius of my house…Carports are filled with junk. We need to get busy,” Jones said.
In response, McGee said his office had hired two code-enforcement officers who were currently taking code enforcement classes through the city of Rogers for Heating and Air Conditioning inspections.
Mayor McGee said the officers will attend additional classes, covering other areas of code-enforcement laws, in the coming month.
At next month’s meeting, McGee said the city council will draft an ordinance giving the officers authority to issue citations and tickets, as well setting fine amounts.
Once the ordinance is adopted, officers will be issuing warnings and citations, possibly as early as October, he said.
Also, the city has slated as many as 10 properties for demolition, McGee said. If the property owner isn’t willing to “fix it up,” he said the city will eventually tear the building down and remove the debris from the property.
As part of that effort, he said the city has scheduled a fall cleanup from Saturday, Oct. 8 through Saturday, Oct. 15 from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Dumpsters will be located at the Lonoke City Shop at 1219 Barnes St.
For more information, contact the Lonoke Public Works Department at 676-4370 or 676-2422.
Aldermen Pat Howell and Wendell Walker were absent.
HOME DAYCARE
Ordinance 712 drew a large crowd to the Monday meeting.
Basically, the city council changed the wording of its R1 rating of day care facilities, allowing service providers to care for up to seven children as long as they are in compliance with the state and meet the definition of residential home day care.
Alderman Pat Howell voted against the measure on the first reading—saying the ordinance wording needed to include a proprietor’s notification of intent to neighbors through public notice.
Once other members agreed to amend the ordinance in the near future, Howell voted in favor of the wording during the second and third readings of the ordinance.
The council approved the day care family homes in R-1 zoning districts by conditional use, which would require consideration by the Lonoke Planning Commission on a case-by-case basis.
PALM ST. REPAIR
The city also unanimously passed Ordinance 711, which allows Lonoke to pay for road construction services on Palm Street.
During the excavation and repair of Palm Street, city workers and Rogers Construction, Inc. of Conway discovered several areas “where the aggregate base was either missing or more unstable than previously anticipated, and where additional rock and shale were needed to correct the substandard base.”
Rogers Construction provided the additional base but that upped costs over the already council-approved $158,300, and the new ordinance approved an additional $11,328 that needed to pay the invoice in full.
It was unanimously approved by the aldermen.
9/11 ADVISORY BOARD
The city also unanimously passed an ordinance at the request of Lonoke Quorum Court JP RD Hopper, allowing a representative of the city to participate in a 911 Advisory Board.
Hopper said when calling 911 from a landline, the dispatch operator knows the caller’s address. However, cell phones ping off the nearest cell tower, so it’s impossible for the operator to determine the caller’s location.
Hopper is leading the county’s effort to establish the 911 Advisory Board, which he hopes will include cities from around the county, as well as one Lonoke Quorum Court JP and members of the various state and local emergency service agencies.
UNSAFE DRIVERS
Lonoke Police Chief Pat Mulligan asked the city to allow him and the Lonoke City Attorney Camille Bennett to craft an “unsafe drivers” ordinance that would be presented at the October meeting for passage.
It would allow his officers to issue tickets to unsafe drivers for $150. State-issued tickets for the same offense cost the driver between $200 and $300 and goes on the operator’s driving record.
Lonoke’s violation would not, Mulligan said.
The council unanimously approved Mulligan’s request.
He also informed members that state inmates housed at the Lonoke City Jail can now stay longer than six weeks.
“We can now keep people up to six months,” Mulligan said.
The city jail reserves 28 spaces for their own usage but have an additional half dozen spots to house state inmates. Lonoke receives $30 a day per prisoner from the state, and McGee said it offsets city jail costs and inmates can be used to help on city projects.
“It’s free labor,” McGee said.
THRIVE TEAM
In order to accommodate the Thrive team, the mayor allowed Will Staley, Thrive co-founder and creative director, to talk about their nonprofit design services immediately following the public comment portion of the meeting.
Thrive is based in Helena and has done work for the King Biscuit Blues Festival, East Arkansas Planning and Development District, Delta Cultural Center and Southern Bancorp Community Partners and more.
The firm was recommended by the Lonoke Industrial Development Commission and could be an asset to the city’s Kick Start Lonoke effort.
“We create marketing tools but not the (marketing) plan,” Staley told the Council. Their services include website design and construction but not site maintenance, he said.
Ryan Biles, a Lonoke Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors member, said the Lonoke Chamber of Commerce members realize they need a new website.
In early June, the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) at Conway announced it had selected Lonoke as its 2016 Community Development Institute (CDI) community and would work with community and city leaders to help improve its economic climate.
The CDI program is a cooperative effort between UCA and the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Office Breakthrough Solutions Program.
Thrive’s services will cost the city about $40,000.
Council members unanimously approved hiring Thrive, with the money to pay for the services coming from the coffers of the city’s Retail Economic Commission.
Biles said after the meeting, “I’m particularly excited about the methodology and process that Thrive will utilize to first learn what makes Lonoke unique and then develop the tools which highlight those aspects. The opportunity for Thrive to undertake their work in tandem with the Kick Start Lonoke initiative underway now is especially advantageous for our community.”
Also, as part of Kick Start Lonoke program, the mayor said, “We need to have everyone fill out their survey.”
It is designed to identify citizens’ and business owners’ top priorities for the city’s long term and economic development.
A printed version of the survey was included in last month’s water bill but is also available online at https://kickstartlonoke.wordpress.com/…/lonoke-launches-co…/.
PUMP STATION OUT
The mayor reported that the waste water pump station at Rosemary Street recently “went down” leaving a number of customers, including three Lonoke schools and the Lonoke Community Center, without services.
But he said the city quickly replaced the faulty relief valve and added a quick connect valve that allows the city to bypass the main pump in the future if it ever fails again.
“It won’t be a problem again,” the mayor said.
MANY GAS LEAKS
Fire Chief Jimmy Wallace said his department is responding to as many as 30 calls per month, including a high number of gas leaks, such as the one firefighters responded to earlier that day because a faulty gas line connected to the water heater was leaking.
“We transported two (people who were in the home) to the hospital today,” he said.
His department wants to spend nearly $2,000 on a carbon monoxide and natural gas detector, as well as a calibrator for the detector.
The Council approved the expenditure.
Community center director Mike Brown said there are plans for the addition of an approximately 300 square-foot kitchen to the center’s multi-purpose room. Preliminary drawings by Russ Matson, president of Matson Construction of Little Rock, also include a storage room and men’s and women’s restroom facilities.
The plans include warming ovens, a refrigerator and sink.
“We’re in the process of finalizing our plans,” Brown said. The plans will go to the council for approval and the project will be put out to bid.
He hopes to keep the total cost under $120,000, which the community center has in hand.
The center serves more than 900 members each month.
TOP STORY >> Arkansas Military Expo Saturday
The free family-friendly Arkansas Military Expo is coming to Little Rock Air Force Base on Saturday.
Team Little Rock will be opening its gates to welcome community partners on the 69th anniversary of the founding of the Air Force.
“We are going to bring all facets of our military, our reservists, our citizen soldiers, our Guardsmen, our active duty, our civilians and our contractors and showcase what they bring to the fight on behalf of the state of Arkansas and the nation each and every day,” said Air Force Col. Charles Brown, 19th Airlift Wing commander.
The expo, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. will include festivities such as aircraft demonstrations, static displays, a C-130J cargo drop demonstration, and multiple vendors. The Vandenberg Gate opens at 9 a.m.
AERIAL EVENTS
C-130
The C-130 is a cargo aircraft capable of operating from rough, dirt strips and is the prime transport for airdropping troops and equipment into hostile areas. The C-130 can accommodate a wide variety of oversized cargo, including everything from utility helicopters and six-wheeled armored vehicles to standard palletized cargo and military personnel.
C-17 GLOBEMASTER III
The C-17 Globemaster III is the newest, most flexible cargo aircraft to enter the airlift force. The C-17 is capable of rapidstrategic delivery of troops and all types of cargo to main operating bases or directly to forward bases in the deployment area.
The aircraft can perform tactical airlift and airdrop missions and can transport litters and ambulatory patients during aeromedical evacuations when required. T-6 The T-6 is fully aerobatic and features a pressurized cockpit with an anti-G system, ejection seat and an advanced avionics package with sunlight-readable liquid crystal displays.
WARBIRDS
Warbirds are retired military aircraft that have been restored to flying condition.
MQ-1B PREDATOR
The MQ-1 is an armed, multi-mission, medium-altitude, long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft that is employed primarily as an intelligence-collection asset and secondarily against dynamic execution targets.
In addition to the wide-array of aircraft on display, there will be other events and activities including bouncy castles and static displays, providing fun for the whole family.
“This surrounding community has built this base,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Christopher Bennett, 19th AW vice commander.
“Doing things like the Arkansas Military Expo this fall is just one little way we can say thank you and communicate how much we value that partnership just a little bit more.”
Team Little Rock will be opening its gates to welcome community partners on the 69th anniversary of the founding of the Air Force.
“We are going to bring all facets of our military, our reservists, our citizen soldiers, our Guardsmen, our active duty, our civilians and our contractors and showcase what they bring to the fight on behalf of the state of Arkansas and the nation each and every day,” said Air Force Col. Charles Brown, 19th Airlift Wing commander.
The expo, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. will include festivities such as aircraft demonstrations, static displays, a C-130J cargo drop demonstration, and multiple vendors. The Vandenberg Gate opens at 9 a.m.
AERIAL EVENTS
C-130
The C-130 is a cargo aircraft capable of operating from rough, dirt strips and is the prime transport for airdropping troops and equipment into hostile areas. The C-130 can accommodate a wide variety of oversized cargo, including everything from utility helicopters and six-wheeled armored vehicles to standard palletized cargo and military personnel.
C-17 GLOBEMASTER III
The C-17 Globemaster III is the newest, most flexible cargo aircraft to enter the airlift force. The C-17 is capable of rapidstrategic delivery of troops and all types of cargo to main operating bases or directly to forward bases in the deployment area.
The aircraft can perform tactical airlift and airdrop missions and can transport litters and ambulatory patients during aeromedical evacuations when required. T-6 The T-6 is fully aerobatic and features a pressurized cockpit with an anti-G system, ejection seat and an advanced avionics package with sunlight-readable liquid crystal displays.
WARBIRDS
Warbirds are retired military aircraft that have been restored to flying condition.
MQ-1B PREDATOR
The MQ-1 is an armed, multi-mission, medium-altitude, long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft that is employed primarily as an intelligence-collection asset and secondarily against dynamic execution targets.
In addition to the wide-array of aircraft on display, there will be other events and activities including bouncy castles and static displays, providing fun for the whole family.
“This surrounding community has built this base,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Christopher Bennett, 19th AW vice commander.
“Doing things like the Arkansas Military Expo this fall is just one little way we can say thank you and communicate how much we value that partnership just a little bit more.”
EDITORIAL >> Candidate may be disqualified
Folks in Beebe are wondering if city council candidate Joe Morgan may be disqualified from running for office because of a theft conviction.
Morgan, 35, is running for the Ward 3, Position 1 seat held by Alderman Matt Dugger, who is seeking re-election in November.
According to our reporter Jeffrey Smith in The Leader on Saturday, Morgan filed a petition with White County District Court on Sept. 2 to seal the records of his criminal conviction that he believes restores his eligibility to hold office.
Morgan was found guilty of theft of property, a Class-A misdemeanor, in August 2013 in Searcy District Court. Morgan was fined $1,000, sentenced to 20 days of community service and one year of supervised probation.
The victim told Searcy police in October 2012 that he loaned Morgan a Taurus .38 Special handgun Morgan needed for his security job. The victim said he couldn’t get his gun back or any money from Morgan, who allegedly pawned the weapon at Guns Plus in Searcy. The gun was later sold at a Conway gun show for $400.
Morgan works for the Arkansas Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America as safety director and manager of education and training. Gov. Asa Hutchinson appointed Morgan to the Arkansas Apprenticeship Coordination Steering Committee. He also serves on the Little Rock Workforce Development Board. His theft conviction might disqualify him from both positions. A White County judge needs to rule before November on whether Morgan is eligible to run for public office. Someone should also seek an attorney general’s opinion on whether Morgan is qualified to serve on public boards.
Morgan, 35, is running for the Ward 3, Position 1 seat held by Alderman Matt Dugger, who is seeking re-election in November.
According to our reporter Jeffrey Smith in The Leader on Saturday, Morgan filed a petition with White County District Court on Sept. 2 to seal the records of his criminal conviction that he believes restores his eligibility to hold office.
Morgan was found guilty of theft of property, a Class-A misdemeanor, in August 2013 in Searcy District Court. Morgan was fined $1,000, sentenced to 20 days of community service and one year of supervised probation.
The victim told Searcy police in October 2012 that he loaned Morgan a Taurus .38 Special handgun Morgan needed for his security job. The victim said he couldn’t get his gun back or any money from Morgan, who allegedly pawned the weapon at Guns Plus in Searcy. The gun was later sold at a Conway gun show for $400.
Morgan works for the Arkansas Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America as safety director and manager of education and training. Gov. Asa Hutchinson appointed Morgan to the Arkansas Apprenticeship Coordination Steering Committee. He also serves on the Little Rock Workforce Development Board. His theft conviction might disqualify him from both positions. A White County judge needs to rule before November on whether Morgan is eligible to run for public office. Someone should also seek an attorney general’s opinion on whether Morgan is qualified to serve on public boards.
EDITORIAL >> A new field of dreams
Demolition crews at the old middle school in Jacksonville have worked hard in the last couple of weeks to clear the 30-acre site for a new high school near Main Street and Hwy. 67/167. Demolition should be completed in about a month as the Jacksonville-North Pulaski School District looks to a fresh start with construction of a new high school and three more elementary schools in the next few years.
The $60 million high school will open in 2019 with an initial enrollment of 1,200-1,400 students and is expected to grow to a projected 10-year enrollment of 1,693 students. That number could drop, but the school district will then downsize plans if enrollment doesn’t reach the more optimistic numbers.
Current enrollment at the old high school is 966 students, and enrollment should typically grow to about 1,000 by the end of the school year, according to School Superintendent Tony Wood.
We’d like to think enrollment will increase at the new high school when parents see the new campus under construction. It will be visible from Hwy. 67/167 and will be a great advertisement not just for the school district but for the whole city.
“I think you’ll be writing about growth for years to come as we grow stronger and are more progressive and mature, growth will come,” he told our reporter John Hofheimer last week.
The high school will have about 260,000 square feet of energy-efficient space, such as dining and media center, which can be increased or downsized depending on enrollment.
Plans call for four science labs and 50 additional core classrooms, a 900-seat auditorium with after-hours accessibility and a 1,500-seat competition gym and practice gym with lockers and support space.
The student-run Simply Delicious Restaurant will continue to operate on campus, along with career-education spaces for auto body, information technology, robotics, computer aided design and crafting, computer coding and more totaling 21,000 square feet in all.
Lead architect Eldon Bock of Witsell, Evans and Rasco said there also would be spaces for choir, art, band and orchestra and a storm shelter sized for the campus populations.
Athletic facilities will include weight training, sports-field seating, concessions and press box and collaboration spaces for teacher teaming and small group interaction.
The new high school campus will signal Jacksonville’s rebirth and will help revive the rest of the city along with its neighbors.
School board president Daniel Gray said at the start of the demolition, “JNPSD will provide our kids with the world-class facilities, curriculum and opportunities they deserve.”
He said parents no longer need to leave Jacksonville to give their children the best education. We agree: If you build it, they will come.
The $60 million high school will open in 2019 with an initial enrollment of 1,200-1,400 students and is expected to grow to a projected 10-year enrollment of 1,693 students. That number could drop, but the school district will then downsize plans if enrollment doesn’t reach the more optimistic numbers.
Current enrollment at the old high school is 966 students, and enrollment should typically grow to about 1,000 by the end of the school year, according to School Superintendent Tony Wood.
We’d like to think enrollment will increase at the new high school when parents see the new campus under construction. It will be visible from Hwy. 67/167 and will be a great advertisement not just for the school district but for the whole city.
“I think you’ll be writing about growth for years to come as we grow stronger and are more progressive and mature, growth will come,” he told our reporter John Hofheimer last week.
The high school will have about 260,000 square feet of energy-efficient space, such as dining and media center, which can be increased or downsized depending on enrollment.
Plans call for four science labs and 50 additional core classrooms, a 900-seat auditorium with after-hours accessibility and a 1,500-seat competition gym and practice gym with lockers and support space.
The student-run Simply Delicious Restaurant will continue to operate on campus, along with career-education spaces for auto body, information technology, robotics, computer aided design and crafting, computer coding and more totaling 21,000 square feet in all.
Lead architect Eldon Bock of Witsell, Evans and Rasco said there also would be spaces for choir, art, band and orchestra and a storm shelter sized for the campus populations.
Athletic facilities will include weight training, sports-field seating, concessions and press box and collaboration spaces for teacher teaming and small group interaction.
The new high school campus will signal Jacksonville’s rebirth and will help revive the rest of the city along with its neighbors.
School board president Daniel Gray said at the start of the demolition, “JNPSD will provide our kids with the world-class facilities, curriculum and opportunities they deserve.”
He said parents no longer need to leave Jacksonville to give their children the best education. We agree: If you build it, they will come.
SPORTS STORY >> K-Rich’s replacement performs well
By NATE ALLEN
Special to The Leader
FAYETTEVILLE - Officially, two tackles comprised Arkansas senior cornerback Jared Collins’ only statistics during the Razorbacks’ 41-38 double overtime victory over the then 15th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs last Saturday night.
Unofficially, says Arkansas coach Bret Bielema, though certainly official in his mind, Collins, of Tulsa greatly impacted the outcome at TCU’s Amon Carter Stadium in Fort Worth.
“He’s playing extremely well,” Bielema said Monday. “They’re not throwing it his way because he’s covering them like a glove and doing really, really well.”
As you would expect, TCU quarterback Kenny Hill attacked sophomore backup become starting cornerback Ryan Pulley of Fort Myers, Fla.
Pulley started at cornerback because against TCU’s Spread offense, starting cornerback Henre Toliver moved to starting nickel back, replacing Kevin Richardson, the junior from Jacksonville lost for the season following surgery to repair pectoral muscles torn during Arkansas’ 21-20 Sept. 3 season-opening victory over Louisiana Tech in Fayetteville.
Pulley responded by breaking up three passes and making four tackles.
“Ryan played really well,” Bielema said.
Albeit a 13-yard touchdown, that was the only catch that TCU receiver Taj Williams caught from Hill against Arkansas after catching 11 for 158 yards the previous week in the Horned Frogs’ 59-41 victory over South Dakota State in Fort Worth.
“Yeah, that guy caught 12 balls the week before if I’m not mistaken,” Bielema said, his offhand memory just one catch off. “I tell you what, Ryan, since he’s got here, is a guy that I’ve said has extreme talents. He’s got long arms. He’s very, very competitive. He laid it all out on the field.”
Pulley literally laid it out on the field cramping up late in the game on a hot night against a hurry-up, no-huddle offense. Arkansas senior middle linebacker Brooks Ellis also was felled by cramps while playing the game of his life, 13 tackles and a 47-yard touchdown return of the Hill pass he intercepted.
“I know the fans over there thought we were laying down on purpose to stop clocks or whatever,” Bielema said. “I mean he was cramping up. He was in full body cramps. He did everything he could.”
TCU fans booed especially vociferously when Ellis cramped late in the game and had to be assisted off the field. The booing galled Bielema and Arkansas linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves.
“I thought it was a very sick moment,” Bielema said. “As Vernon said to me, ‘Yeah, I want Brooks Ellis out of the game. Right, we’re faking an injury. We’re taking what we think may be our best player off the field.’ It makes no sense.”
Of course the TCU fans’ cynicism was fed by how quickly Ellis returned to the fray.
“He got the quickest IV I’ve ever seen in the history of mankind,” Bielema said. “Our doctors should be the SEC doctors of the week. They probably wouldn’t get it, and I’m not going to quit over it.”
That was Bielema’s joking post game Saturday reference that he would “quit” if Arkansas senior punter Toby Baker, five punts of 50 yards plus and the sixth, 37, intentionally bee-lined out of bounds to neutralize outstanding TCU returner Kavontae Turpin.
Baker didn’t get the SEC Special Teams Award. The SEC Office in Birmingham couldn’t let the Hogs hog all the weekly honors with junior quarterback Austin Allen named SEC Offensive Player of the Week and senior left tackle and field goal blocker Dan Skipper named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week.
Back to Pulley and his impact on the Robb Smith coordinated Razorbacks defense.
“He was very emotional after the game to get his first real dose of so much football,” Bielema said. “Him and Robb are very close. Robb recruited him and I know Robb was very proud of him. I think we’re just scratching the surface of what Ryan can be.”
Smith isn’t alone proud of Pulley.
“A lot of guys are really proud of the way Ryan Pulley competed,” Smith said Monday. “That was kind of his first start against a power five school. You guys remember last year we kind of threw him into the fire against Tennessee-Martin.”
Pulley got burned some as though outclassed, 63-28, UTM did total 380 yards passing.
Hill netted 377 yards passing on Arkansas in Fort Worth but needed 56 passes, completing 33, to do it.
“He (Pulley) kind of reminds what a lot of our guys went through,” Smith said. “We took our lumps at times. but it’s all part of the process. He showed up and he competed every snap and he was feeling it (the cramps) at the end of the game but he found a way to compete and help us win a big football game against a ranked opponent on the road.”
Pulley’s progress propels under new defensive backfield coach Paul Rhoads, Smith said.
“That says a lot to what Paul has done with him and the hard work that Ryan has had in the offseason,” Smith said. “The sky is the limit for Ryan.”
Special to The Leader
FAYETTEVILLE - Officially, two tackles comprised Arkansas senior cornerback Jared Collins’ only statistics during the Razorbacks’ 41-38 double overtime victory over the then 15th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs last Saturday night.
Unofficially, says Arkansas coach Bret Bielema, though certainly official in his mind, Collins, of Tulsa greatly impacted the outcome at TCU’s Amon Carter Stadium in Fort Worth.
“He’s playing extremely well,” Bielema said Monday. “They’re not throwing it his way because he’s covering them like a glove and doing really, really well.”
As you would expect, TCU quarterback Kenny Hill attacked sophomore backup become starting cornerback Ryan Pulley of Fort Myers, Fla.
Pulley started at cornerback because against TCU’s Spread offense, starting cornerback Henre Toliver moved to starting nickel back, replacing Kevin Richardson, the junior from Jacksonville lost for the season following surgery to repair pectoral muscles torn during Arkansas’ 21-20 Sept. 3 season-opening victory over Louisiana Tech in Fayetteville.
Pulley responded by breaking up three passes and making four tackles.
“Ryan played really well,” Bielema said.
Albeit a 13-yard touchdown, that was the only catch that TCU receiver Taj Williams caught from Hill against Arkansas after catching 11 for 158 yards the previous week in the Horned Frogs’ 59-41 victory over South Dakota State in Fort Worth.
“Yeah, that guy caught 12 balls the week before if I’m not mistaken,” Bielema said, his offhand memory just one catch off. “I tell you what, Ryan, since he’s got here, is a guy that I’ve said has extreme talents. He’s got long arms. He’s very, very competitive. He laid it all out on the field.”
Pulley literally laid it out on the field cramping up late in the game on a hot night against a hurry-up, no-huddle offense. Arkansas senior middle linebacker Brooks Ellis also was felled by cramps while playing the game of his life, 13 tackles and a 47-yard touchdown return of the Hill pass he intercepted.
“I know the fans over there thought we were laying down on purpose to stop clocks or whatever,” Bielema said. “I mean he was cramping up. He was in full body cramps. He did everything he could.”
TCU fans booed especially vociferously when Ellis cramped late in the game and had to be assisted off the field. The booing galled Bielema and Arkansas linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves.
“I thought it was a very sick moment,” Bielema said. “As Vernon said to me, ‘Yeah, I want Brooks Ellis out of the game. Right, we’re faking an injury. We’re taking what we think may be our best player off the field.’ It makes no sense.”
Of course the TCU fans’ cynicism was fed by how quickly Ellis returned to the fray.
“He got the quickest IV I’ve ever seen in the history of mankind,” Bielema said. “Our doctors should be the SEC doctors of the week. They probably wouldn’t get it, and I’m not going to quit over it.”
That was Bielema’s joking post game Saturday reference that he would “quit” if Arkansas senior punter Toby Baker, five punts of 50 yards plus and the sixth, 37, intentionally bee-lined out of bounds to neutralize outstanding TCU returner Kavontae Turpin.
Baker didn’t get the SEC Special Teams Award. The SEC Office in Birmingham couldn’t let the Hogs hog all the weekly honors with junior quarterback Austin Allen named SEC Offensive Player of the Week and senior left tackle and field goal blocker Dan Skipper named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week.
Back to Pulley and his impact on the Robb Smith coordinated Razorbacks defense.
“He was very emotional after the game to get his first real dose of so much football,” Bielema said. “Him and Robb are very close. Robb recruited him and I know Robb was very proud of him. I think we’re just scratching the surface of what Ryan can be.”
Smith isn’t alone proud of Pulley.
“A lot of guys are really proud of the way Ryan Pulley competed,” Smith said Monday. “That was kind of his first start against a power five school. You guys remember last year we kind of threw him into the fire against Tennessee-Martin.”
Pulley got burned some as though outclassed, 63-28, UTM did total 380 yards passing.
Hill netted 377 yards passing on Arkansas in Fort Worth but needed 56 passes, completing 33, to do it.
“He (Pulley) kind of reminds what a lot of our guys went through,” Smith said. “We took our lumps at times. but it’s all part of the process. He showed up and he competed every snap and he was feeling it (the cramps) at the end of the game but he found a way to compete and help us win a big football game against a ranked opponent on the road.”
Pulley’s progress propels under new defensive backfield coach Paul Rhoads, Smith said.
“That says a lot to what Paul has done with him and the hard work that Ryan has had in the offseason,” Smith said. “The sky is the limit for Ryan.”
SPORTS STORY >> Cabot boys’ golf having great year
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Cabot boys’ golf team beat North Little Rock at the Greens at North Hills last Thursday, but suffered its first defeat of the season on Monday in a close match with Conway.
Playing just nine-hole rounds, Cabot easily outdistanced the Charging Wildcats in Sherwood last week, firing a team score of 152 to North Little Rock’s 168.
Panther Caleb Miller took medalist honors with a nine-hole round of 37, while Connor Gaunt and Cade Carter each shot 38 for the Panthers. Blaine Calhoon shot a 39 to round out the top four team scores. Jordan Lott and Logan Stephens added 40s while Hayes Barger shot a 45.
On Monday at the Cypress Creek course in Cabot, Conway nipped the Panthers by one stroke, shooting a 153 to Cabot’s 154.
Conway’s Whit Parker shot an even par 136 at the long back course at Greystone to earn medalist honors. Miller and Gaunt each shot 38 to lead Cabot while Stephens and Lott shot 39. Calhoon turned in a 40 for the Panthers.
Blake Brindley shot 38 for Conway. Michael Tate shot a 39 for the Wampus Cats while Jackson Goodwin and Hunter Hull each shot a 40.
The Lady Panthers lost both of their recent matches. Taking just the top three scores, North Little Rock beat Cabot 118-149. Hannah Bakalekos shot even par 36 for medalist. Cloe Ann Doyle led Cabot with a 47.
Against Conway, Casey Ott shot a 2-under par 34 to lead the Lady Wampus Cats to a 117-147 win. Doyle, Maggie Martin and Ashley DeSalvo each shot 49 for Cabot.
Leader sports editor
The Cabot boys’ golf team beat North Little Rock at the Greens at North Hills last Thursday, but suffered its first defeat of the season on Monday in a close match with Conway.
Playing just nine-hole rounds, Cabot easily outdistanced the Charging Wildcats in Sherwood last week, firing a team score of 152 to North Little Rock’s 168.
Panther Caleb Miller took medalist honors with a nine-hole round of 37, while Connor Gaunt and Cade Carter each shot 38 for the Panthers. Blaine Calhoon shot a 39 to round out the top four team scores. Jordan Lott and Logan Stephens added 40s while Hayes Barger shot a 45.
On Monday at the Cypress Creek course in Cabot, Conway nipped the Panthers by one stroke, shooting a 153 to Cabot’s 154.
Conway’s Whit Parker shot an even par 136 at the long back course at Greystone to earn medalist honors. Miller and Gaunt each shot 38 to lead Cabot while Stephens and Lott shot 39. Calhoon turned in a 40 for the Panthers.
Blake Brindley shot 38 for Conway. Michael Tate shot a 39 for the Wampus Cats while Jackson Goodwin and Hunter Hull each shot a 40.
The Lady Panthers lost both of their recent matches. Taking just the top three scores, North Little Rock beat Cabot 118-149. Hannah Bakalekos shot even par 36 for medalist. Cloe Ann Doyle led Cabot with a 47.
Against Conway, Casey Ott shot a 2-under par 34 to lead the Lady Wampus Cats to a 117-147 win. Doyle, Maggie Martin and Ashley DeSalvo each shot 49 for Cabot.
SPORT STORY >> Badgers’ progress needs to continue
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Beebe Badgers got what coach John Shannon believes was an important win last Friday against Lonoke. This year’s Beebe squad is heavily dependent on young players, and the head Badgers felt like an early win would be a confidence boost for his squad.
That became even more crucial after a disappointing, five-turnover performance in a 21-point loss at Greenbrier in the season opener. So beating Lonoke 49-7 last week was almost urgent.
“It was important confidence-wise,” said Shannon. “They realize they can play high school football. I felt like, when we didn’t turn the ball over, we executed pretty well against Greenbrier. But there’s nothing like getting that win on the record to show you’re moving forward and give you that confidence.”
Up next for Beebe is perennial power Wynne, a former 5A-East stable mate of the Badgers, and a team that has changed offenses since the last time the two have met.
That last meeting was in the 2014 5A state semifinals; an exciting game the Yellowjackets won 35-28 with a late defensive stand. That team featured a strong passing quarterback and ran the Spread. This year, the Yellowjackets have gone to the Flexbone, which is catered more towards Wynne’s usual strength, speed.
It’s more reminiscent of the Diamond T utilized by legendary coach Don Campbell when he helped build WHS into the powerhouse it became in the 90s and early 2000s.
Wynne (2-0) has beaten Marion 42-17 and Maumelle 38-21 in its first two games this season.
“They’re really good,” Shannon said of Wynne. “They’ve switched over to the Flexbone and have a really good fullback. They have good slots that they run the option with, the toss sweep with some speed. But the best thing about them on film, to me, is the offensive line. They get off the ball exceptionally well. They’re low, they’re strong. It’s going to be a tremendous challenge for us. It’s going take a stellar performance on our part.”
Beebe’s defense is more confident after the second game. After giving up 54 points to Greenbrier, Shannon was particularly glad to see his defense dominate Lonoke, which also runs the Flexbone. The Badgers gave up just two first downs and only 80 total yards of offense.
Shannon doesn’t expect that kind of domination against Wynne, but he was glad to see his defense turn in such a solid performance.
“I thought our inside linebackers showed a lot of progress,” Shannon said. “Luke Oakley is a sophomore that had a really good game at outside linebacker last week. But Wynne is a different monster. They’re a lot bigger than Lonoke and Lonoke had some injuries on offense that hurt them a little bit. They turned it over a few times for us, but I think our defense had something to do with a couple of those turnovers. We’re getting better, but we’re going to have to keep getting better to have a chance in this one.
“We had a good practice and it looks like we’re doing that. Our goal is minimize mistakes on defense, don’t turn it over on offense and give ourselves a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter.”
Leader sports editor
The Beebe Badgers got what coach John Shannon believes was an important win last Friday against Lonoke. This year’s Beebe squad is heavily dependent on young players, and the head Badgers felt like an early win would be a confidence boost for his squad.
That became even more crucial after a disappointing, five-turnover performance in a 21-point loss at Greenbrier in the season opener. So beating Lonoke 49-7 last week was almost urgent.
“It was important confidence-wise,” said Shannon. “They realize they can play high school football. I felt like, when we didn’t turn the ball over, we executed pretty well against Greenbrier. But there’s nothing like getting that win on the record to show you’re moving forward and give you that confidence.”
Up next for Beebe is perennial power Wynne, a former 5A-East stable mate of the Badgers, and a team that has changed offenses since the last time the two have met.
That last meeting was in the 2014 5A state semifinals; an exciting game the Yellowjackets won 35-28 with a late defensive stand. That team featured a strong passing quarterback and ran the Spread. This year, the Yellowjackets have gone to the Flexbone, which is catered more towards Wynne’s usual strength, speed.
It’s more reminiscent of the Diamond T utilized by legendary coach Don Campbell when he helped build WHS into the powerhouse it became in the 90s and early 2000s.
Wynne (2-0) has beaten Marion 42-17 and Maumelle 38-21 in its first two games this season.
“They’re really good,” Shannon said of Wynne. “They’ve switched over to the Flexbone and have a really good fullback. They have good slots that they run the option with, the toss sweep with some speed. But the best thing about them on film, to me, is the offensive line. They get off the ball exceptionally well. They’re low, they’re strong. It’s going to be a tremendous challenge for us. It’s going take a stellar performance on our part.”
Beebe’s defense is more confident after the second game. After giving up 54 points to Greenbrier, Shannon was particularly glad to see his defense dominate Lonoke, which also runs the Flexbone. The Badgers gave up just two first downs and only 80 total yards of offense.
Shannon doesn’t expect that kind of domination against Wynne, but he was glad to see his defense turn in such a solid performance.
“I thought our inside linebackers showed a lot of progress,” Shannon said. “Luke Oakley is a sophomore that had a really good game at outside linebacker last week. But Wynne is a different monster. They’re a lot bigger than Lonoke and Lonoke had some injuries on offense that hurt them a little bit. They turned it over a few times for us, but I think our defense had something to do with a couple of those turnovers. We’re getting better, but we’re going to have to keep getting better to have a chance in this one.
“We had a good practice and it looks like we’re doing that. Our goal is minimize mistakes on defense, don’t turn it over on offense and give ourselves a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter.”
SPORT STORY >> Bears favored at Titans
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Jacksonville and Sylvan Hills face off again this Friday at Jan Crow Stadium, and for the first time in five years, it’s a nonconference matchup. Jacksonville moved up to Class 6A this year, but the visiting Bears will be the favorites when they roll into Jan Crow for the 7 p.m. kickoff.
Sylvan Hills is 2-0, despite not playing very well offensively in last week’s 28-27 win over Hot Springs Lakeside. The Bears beat Catholic 48-34 in week one, while Jacksonville (1-1) lost 31-6 to Catholic last week at War Memorial Stadium.
“We got our work cut out for us,” said Jacksonville coach Barry Hickingbotham. They’ve got weapons all over the field, and that quarterback can go. He’ll hurt you just as bad running or throwing it, so you can’t load up on one or the other.”
Sylvan Hills has had two big halves offensively and two bad ones. The Bears scored 41 of their 48 points against Catholic in the first half, and all 28 of their points against Lakeside in the second half.
They needed a blocked field goal on the last play of the game to preserve last week’s victory, but even that play came with a scare.
“We just didn’t play very well offensively,” said Sylvan Hills coach Jim Withrow. “We just made a bunch of silly mistakes, and one of them almost cost us the game. We block the field goal, and half the team runs off the field celebrating. They had a guy pick it up at the 7-yard line, and fortunately we had a few with the presence of mind to tackle him before he scored. We were very fortunate to get out of there with a win. We really were, because we didn’t play well at all.”
The good news for Withrow and Sylvan Hills, the head Bear knows his team can play a lot better.
”Without a doubt we can,” Withrow said. “I think it’s a case where we just kind of expected to be successful. After that first half against Catholic, we thought it was going to be easy. We have to learn that’s not how it is, and it’s never going to be that way. We aren’t going to be able to just roll out there and score 40 every half. We have to execute.”
Withrow detailed a few of those mistakes last Friday.
“We have a run and shoot play to open the game, and nobody (defender) is there. We could have walked it in from 50 yards, and we drop it. On our third play, Jordan (Washington) keeps it, and if the receiver just blocks the guy and doesn’t hold, that’s a touchdown. We came back later and dropped a deep ball. So there were points to be had that we left out there. It was really kind of embarrassing how bad we were in the first half. But we also know, if we don’t make those mistakes, we win that game without near as much trouble.”
Jacksonville has exhibited a big-play threat offensively, but struggled to finish drives against the Rockets. The Titans have scored five touchdowns this year, and four have covered at least half the field.
“It’s always great to have that threat, but you can’t rely on that to win many games,” Hickingbotham said. “We have to do a better job of finishing drives. We’re not trying to focus on touchdowns with each and every play. We’re focusing on first downs, and marching down the field. We can’t keep putting ourselves behind the chains or losing the football. It was just a case where, evidence of a young and inexperienced team reared its head on us last week. We moved the football and got close, but then made mistakes that cost us those opportunities. We just have to keep growing and maturing and working to get better. What I like is this group has shown the willingness and desire to do that.”
Withrow is wary of Jacksonville’s big-play threat, but was also pleased with his defense last week.
“That was a case last week where the defense kept us in the game in the first half,” Withrow said. “They were outstanding, and they had to be. If they hadn’t been as good as they were, we would’ve been in a big hole in that second half. Darius Waddell had a good game at safety. Anthony Duncan got his second interception of the year. Curtis Wiggins is the one that got through and blocked that field goal, so there were a lot of positives for us defensively.”
Leader sports editor
Jacksonville and Sylvan Hills face off again this Friday at Jan Crow Stadium, and for the first time in five years, it’s a nonconference matchup. Jacksonville moved up to Class 6A this year, but the visiting Bears will be the favorites when they roll into Jan Crow for the 7 p.m. kickoff.
Sylvan Hills is 2-0, despite not playing very well offensively in last week’s 28-27 win over Hot Springs Lakeside. The Bears beat Catholic 48-34 in week one, while Jacksonville (1-1) lost 31-6 to Catholic last week at War Memorial Stadium.
“We got our work cut out for us,” said Jacksonville coach Barry Hickingbotham. They’ve got weapons all over the field, and that quarterback can go. He’ll hurt you just as bad running or throwing it, so you can’t load up on one or the other.”
Sylvan Hills has had two big halves offensively and two bad ones. The Bears scored 41 of their 48 points against Catholic in the first half, and all 28 of their points against Lakeside in the second half.
They needed a blocked field goal on the last play of the game to preserve last week’s victory, but even that play came with a scare.
“We just didn’t play very well offensively,” said Sylvan Hills coach Jim Withrow. “We just made a bunch of silly mistakes, and one of them almost cost us the game. We block the field goal, and half the team runs off the field celebrating. They had a guy pick it up at the 7-yard line, and fortunately we had a few with the presence of mind to tackle him before he scored. We were very fortunate to get out of there with a win. We really were, because we didn’t play well at all.”
The good news for Withrow and Sylvan Hills, the head Bear knows his team can play a lot better.
”Without a doubt we can,” Withrow said. “I think it’s a case where we just kind of expected to be successful. After that first half against Catholic, we thought it was going to be easy. We have to learn that’s not how it is, and it’s never going to be that way. We aren’t going to be able to just roll out there and score 40 every half. We have to execute.”
Withrow detailed a few of those mistakes last Friday.
“We have a run and shoot play to open the game, and nobody (defender) is there. We could have walked it in from 50 yards, and we drop it. On our third play, Jordan (Washington) keeps it, and if the receiver just blocks the guy and doesn’t hold, that’s a touchdown. We came back later and dropped a deep ball. So there were points to be had that we left out there. It was really kind of embarrassing how bad we were in the first half. But we also know, if we don’t make those mistakes, we win that game without near as much trouble.”
Jacksonville has exhibited a big-play threat offensively, but struggled to finish drives against the Rockets. The Titans have scored five touchdowns this year, and four have covered at least half the field.
“It’s always great to have that threat, but you can’t rely on that to win many games,” Hickingbotham said. “We have to do a better job of finishing drives. We’re not trying to focus on touchdowns with each and every play. We’re focusing on first downs, and marching down the field. We can’t keep putting ourselves behind the chains or losing the football. It was just a case where, evidence of a young and inexperienced team reared its head on us last week. We moved the football and got close, but then made mistakes that cost us those opportunities. We just have to keep growing and maturing and working to get better. What I like is this group has shown the willingness and desire to do that.”
Withrow is wary of Jacksonville’s big-play threat, but was also pleased with his defense last week.
“That was a case last week where the defense kept us in the game in the first half,” Withrow said. “They were outstanding, and they had to be. If they hadn’t been as good as they were, we would’ve been in a big hole in that second half. Darius Waddell had a good game at safety. Anthony Duncan got his second interception of the year. Curtis Wiggins is the one that got through and blocked that field goal, so there were a lot of positives for us defensively.”
Saturday, September 10, 2016
SPORTS STORY >> Titans move ball, can’t finish drives
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
The Arkansas heat and Rocket hits put two Titan quarterbacks out of the game and wore down the rest of the team as Catholic pulled away from Jacksonville in the second half, winning Friday night’s competition at War Memorial, 31 to 6.
“We played good at times,” said Titans Coach Barry Higginbotham, “but we had too many signs of a young team. We’ve got to be able to go 48 minutes.”
The Titans looked strong early, recovering an onside kick, grabbing an interception and recovering a fumble that the officials, after a delay, called an incomplete pass.
The game started out in the Titans favor when they recovered their own onside kick on the opening kickoff, but the drive stalled.
Strong Safety Isaac Verser stopped a Rocket drive coming up with an interception on the Titans’ 15-yard line. The Titans’ offense, led by quarterback Rowdy Weathers, was able to move the ball to about mid-field before his first of many hard hits to the ribs slowed the drive and Jacksonville turned it over on downs.
The first quarter ended with neither team coming close to the end zone.
Early in the second quarter, the Rockets had to punt and the ball bounced out at the 10-yard line, pinning the Titans deep on their side of the field.
Weathers hit wide receiver HD Martin on a swing pass that Martin caught about a yard behind the scrimmage and burst 91-yards up along the sidelines for the first touchdown of the game. The point after failed, but at the 10:20 mark of the second quarter, Jacksonville had the lead.
The Rockets, behind the running and passing of quarterback Price Taylor, worked their way down the field despite solid tackling by Titans’’ Kevin Fulton. With a first down and goal to go on the 4-yard line, Rocket Luke Schildknecht bullied his way in to tie the game. The extra point was good and the Rockets took the lead and didn’t look back.
Catholic scored one more time before the half, one play after blocking a Titan punt.
Jacksonville had a chance to score right before the half when Weathers hit Martin on a 15-yard pass that Martin turned into a 70-yard gain before being horse-collared on the 10-yard line. Martin had to wait on the pass and that allowed Catholic defenders to catch him, but the horse collar drew a flag and the Titans were just five yards from a score, but went backwards in three plays to the 13-yard line.
The Titans tried a 23-yard field goal, but the kick, like the earlier PAT, missed to the left.
Early in the second half, Weathers was called for intentional grounding after a late hit to his rib put him down and his receiver wasn’t in the area of errant pass because he was held. The call didn’t set well with the sprinkling of Titan fans in the stadium.
Even with that setback, Weathers went up the middle on a keeper for 6 yards, and then hit Marcus Casey on a 14-yard pass play. The next pass, an attempt to Jonathan Hall, almost resulted in an interception, but Hall turned into a defensive back and ripped the ball out of the Rockets’ possession and the drive stalled.
Behind good defensive play of Fulton and Derrick Bragg, the Titans forced the Rockets to punt and Jacksonville took over again on their own 10-yard line. A hard 15-yard run by Jakyree Wynne followed by a high gear 55-yard dash by Shawn Ellis had the Titans at Catholic’s 25-yard line, looking to score.
But another late, hard hit to the ribs put Weathers down again and this time with leg cramps, too. He was helped off the field and control of the offense was given to Martin, who overthrew Dillon Birge in the middle of the field on fourth and 14.
Taking over on downs again, Catholic put together another drive and punched it in from the 1-yard line. After another successful PAT, Titans were down 21-6.
Jacksonville mounted a good drive early in the fourth quarter, which included passes from Martin to Myles Mason, Rodney Middleton and Wynne.
At the Catholic 24-yard line, Martin kept the ball on a hard zigzag run down to the 11 were the ball and his helmet were ripped from him and he went down, also with apparent leg cramps. He also had to be helped from the field.
Weathers, holding his side, tried to convince the coaches to let him back in, but they went with sophomore Cam Holston to finish the game.
“It was a non-conference game and too early in the season to take a chance putting Weathers back in,” Higginbotham said.
Catholic scored another touchdown after the Titans missed tackling Rockets’ running back Sammy Johnson on the scoring run.
A field goal in the final minutes set the final margin at 31-6.
After the game, the coach said the team needed to build more depth and execute better. “We’ve got to be ready to play in conference,” he said.
Leader staff writer
The Arkansas heat and Rocket hits put two Titan quarterbacks out of the game and wore down the rest of the team as Catholic pulled away from Jacksonville in the second half, winning Friday night’s competition at War Memorial, 31 to 6.
“We played good at times,” said Titans Coach Barry Higginbotham, “but we had too many signs of a young team. We’ve got to be able to go 48 minutes.”
The Titans looked strong early, recovering an onside kick, grabbing an interception and recovering a fumble that the officials, after a delay, called an incomplete pass.
The game started out in the Titans favor when they recovered their own onside kick on the opening kickoff, but the drive stalled.
Strong Safety Isaac Verser stopped a Rocket drive coming up with an interception on the Titans’ 15-yard line. The Titans’ offense, led by quarterback Rowdy Weathers, was able to move the ball to about mid-field before his first of many hard hits to the ribs slowed the drive and Jacksonville turned it over on downs.
The first quarter ended with neither team coming close to the end zone.
Early in the second quarter, the Rockets had to punt and the ball bounced out at the 10-yard line, pinning the Titans deep on their side of the field.
Weathers hit wide receiver HD Martin on a swing pass that Martin caught about a yard behind the scrimmage and burst 91-yards up along the sidelines for the first touchdown of the game. The point after failed, but at the 10:20 mark of the second quarter, Jacksonville had the lead.
The Rockets, behind the running and passing of quarterback Price Taylor, worked their way down the field despite solid tackling by Titans’’ Kevin Fulton. With a first down and goal to go on the 4-yard line, Rocket Luke Schildknecht bullied his way in to tie the game. The extra point was good and the Rockets took the lead and didn’t look back.
Catholic scored one more time before the half, one play after blocking a Titan punt.
Jacksonville had a chance to score right before the half when Weathers hit Martin on a 15-yard pass that Martin turned into a 70-yard gain before being horse-collared on the 10-yard line. Martin had to wait on the pass and that allowed Catholic defenders to catch him, but the horse collar drew a flag and the Titans were just five yards from a score, but went backwards in three plays to the 13-yard line.
The Titans tried a 23-yard field goal, but the kick, like the earlier PAT, missed to the left.
Early in the second half, Weathers was called for intentional grounding after a late hit to his rib put him down and his receiver wasn’t in the area of errant pass because he was held. The call didn’t set well with the sprinkling of Titan fans in the stadium.
Even with that setback, Weathers went up the middle on a keeper for 6 yards, and then hit Marcus Casey on a 14-yard pass play. The next pass, an attempt to Jonathan Hall, almost resulted in an interception, but Hall turned into a defensive back and ripped the ball out of the Rockets’ possession and the drive stalled.
Behind good defensive play of Fulton and Derrick Bragg, the Titans forced the Rockets to punt and Jacksonville took over again on their own 10-yard line. A hard 15-yard run by Jakyree Wynne followed by a high gear 55-yard dash by Shawn Ellis had the Titans at Catholic’s 25-yard line, looking to score.
But another late, hard hit to the ribs put Weathers down again and this time with leg cramps, too. He was helped off the field and control of the offense was given to Martin, who overthrew Dillon Birge in the middle of the field on fourth and 14.
Taking over on downs again, Catholic put together another drive and punched it in from the 1-yard line. After another successful PAT, Titans were down 21-6.
Jacksonville mounted a good drive early in the fourth quarter, which included passes from Martin to Myles Mason, Rodney Middleton and Wynne.
At the Catholic 24-yard line, Martin kept the ball on a hard zigzag run down to the 11 were the ball and his helmet were ripped from him and he went down, also with apparent leg cramps. He also had to be helped from the field.
Weathers, holding his side, tried to convince the coaches to let him back in, but they went with sophomore Cam Holston to finish the game.
“It was a non-conference game and too early in the season to take a chance putting Weathers back in,” Higginbotham said.
Catholic scored another touchdown after the Titans missed tackling Rockets’ running back Sammy Johnson on the scoring run.
A field goal in the final minutes set the final margin at 31-6.
After the game, the coach said the team needed to build more depth and execute better. “We’ve got to be ready to play in conference,” he said.
SPORTS STORY >> Panthers survive gambles, fumbles
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Cabot Panthers gambled a lot late, and it never paid off. But they got out of lower Arkansas with a victory anyway, beating 6A powerhouse El Dorado 28-13 in a game that was much closer than the score indicates.
Three lost fumbles cost Cabot three scoring opportunities over the course of the game, and two huge gambles late in the fourth quarter breathed new life into an El Dorado team that trailed 14-7 and had struggled all game to get any momentum.
El Dorado finally put together a nice drive late in the game until Austin Swackhammer’s second interception stopped the drive. Swackhammer picked off the 11-yard pass attempt at the goal line, setting Cabot up at the 20 with 4:30 left in the game.
But the Panthers failed to run much time off the clock. After a quick first down, quarterback Jarrod Barnes ran out of bounds on first down. Two plays later an incomplete pass stopped the clock again on fourth down.
Cabot lined up to punt, and rolled the dice for the first time. Halfback Austin Morse took the direct snap but was stopped 2 yards short of the first down. That set El Dorado up at the Cabot 47 with 2:37 left in the game.
The Panthers were called for pass interference on the first play of the drive, moving the ball to the 32.
Wildcat quarterback Darius Holly scrambled for 13 yards when he couldn’t find anyone open, making it first down at the Cabot 19. The next pass went for -3 yards, and that set up Cabot’s next huge gamble.
This time, the Panthers went with an all-out blitz, and Holly calmly hit Blake Cunningham for the score to pull the home team to within one point.
El Dorado coach Scott Reed decided himself to gamble, and went for two and the win instead of kicking the extra point to force overtime. The pass fell incomplete, leaving Cabot with the lead.
El Dorado had to try an on-side kick with 1:19 remaining, but Cabot’s John Wiens caught in amidst a gap in the Wildcat coverage, and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown with 1:09 left in the game.
Mason Martin’s extra point made it 21-13.
Cabot kicked deep and El Dorado took over on its own 28. After one incomplete pass, Jarrod Barnes, who was on the field on defense for the first time this season, picked off a pass at the Cabot 45 and ran it back 55 yards for the final score of the game.
Both offenses struggled most of the game. Penalties and turnovers thwarted several Cabot drives, while El Dorado couldn’t keep Cabot’s defense out of its backfield.
Spencer Nickell had three sacks for Cabot, while Cody Nabors had three tackles for loss.
Barnes had another big night running the ball. He finished with 17 carries for 210 yards and two touchdowns, but also had three fumbles, one of which was lost.
Both of Cabot’s second-half fumbles were hotly contested by Cabot coach Mike Malham, who felt fullback Braxton Burton and Barnes were both down before losing the ball.
Cabot held El Dorado to just 119 total yards.
The Panthers will stay on the road next week when it travels to Class 5A J.A. Fair. The War Eagles were beaten 60-0 by Morrilton on Friday, and have not won a game on the field since opening week of the 2013 season. They were awarded a forfeit victory over McClellan in 2014. Fair has won two games on the field since 2010, and have been winless on the field in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015.
Leader sports editor
The Cabot Panthers gambled a lot late, and it never paid off. But they got out of lower Arkansas with a victory anyway, beating 6A powerhouse El Dorado 28-13 in a game that was much closer than the score indicates.
Three lost fumbles cost Cabot three scoring opportunities over the course of the game, and two huge gambles late in the fourth quarter breathed new life into an El Dorado team that trailed 14-7 and had struggled all game to get any momentum.
El Dorado finally put together a nice drive late in the game until Austin Swackhammer’s second interception stopped the drive. Swackhammer picked off the 11-yard pass attempt at the goal line, setting Cabot up at the 20 with 4:30 left in the game.
But the Panthers failed to run much time off the clock. After a quick first down, quarterback Jarrod Barnes ran out of bounds on first down. Two plays later an incomplete pass stopped the clock again on fourth down.
Cabot lined up to punt, and rolled the dice for the first time. Halfback Austin Morse took the direct snap but was stopped 2 yards short of the first down. That set El Dorado up at the Cabot 47 with 2:37 left in the game.
The Panthers were called for pass interference on the first play of the drive, moving the ball to the 32.
Wildcat quarterback Darius Holly scrambled for 13 yards when he couldn’t find anyone open, making it first down at the Cabot 19. The next pass went for -3 yards, and that set up Cabot’s next huge gamble.
This time, the Panthers went with an all-out blitz, and Holly calmly hit Blake Cunningham for the score to pull the home team to within one point.
El Dorado coach Scott Reed decided himself to gamble, and went for two and the win instead of kicking the extra point to force overtime. The pass fell incomplete, leaving Cabot with the lead.
El Dorado had to try an on-side kick with 1:19 remaining, but Cabot’s John Wiens caught in amidst a gap in the Wildcat coverage, and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown with 1:09 left in the game.
Mason Martin’s extra point made it 21-13.
Cabot kicked deep and El Dorado took over on its own 28. After one incomplete pass, Jarrod Barnes, who was on the field on defense for the first time this season, picked off a pass at the Cabot 45 and ran it back 55 yards for the final score of the game.
Both offenses struggled most of the game. Penalties and turnovers thwarted several Cabot drives, while El Dorado couldn’t keep Cabot’s defense out of its backfield.
Spencer Nickell had three sacks for Cabot, while Cody Nabors had three tackles for loss.
Barnes had another big night running the ball. He finished with 17 carries for 210 yards and two touchdowns, but also had three fumbles, one of which was lost.
Both of Cabot’s second-half fumbles were hotly contested by Cabot coach Mike Malham, who felt fullback Braxton Burton and Barnes were both down before losing the ball.
Cabot held El Dorado to just 119 total yards.
The Panthers will stay on the road next week when it travels to Class 5A J.A. Fair. The War Eagles were beaten 60-0 by Morrilton on Friday, and have not won a game on the field since opening week of the 2013 season. They were awarded a forfeit victory over McClellan in 2014. Fair has won two games on the field since 2010, and have been winless on the field in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015.
SPORTS STORY >> Jacksonville wins thriller over Patriots
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Lady Titan volleyball team came out on the winning end of one of the most exciting matches in the state on Tuesday, beating Parkview 3-2 at JHS to earn its second victory of the season. Scores in the match were 25-19, 19-25, 21-25, 30-28 and 15-13.
“These girls showed more fight, and more heart than any time since I’ve been with them,” said Jacksonville coach Savannah Jacoby. “It was a privilege to be a part of this with them. They were down two sets to one, and 23-18, and they just fought. I told them, they have to do this. I can believe in them all I want, but they have to believe they can go out there and make that comeback and win it. And they went out there and did it. I’m so proud of them all.”
In the deciding game five, Parkview took a 10-8 lead with four-straight points, but Aaliyah Burks took serve for Jacksonville and served three-straight points, including one ace, giving the Lady Titans an 11-10 advantage. Jacksonville senior Elizabeth Brown served three more points, giving the Lady Titans four set points. Parkview took away three of them with three-straight, but Jacksonville won the match with a side out to move to 2-1 in the 5A/6A District 4.
Game four was even more exciting. Jacksonville had to win it to force a game five, and was in a desperate way when it trailed 23-18 and 24-21.
Down 23-18, Titan sophomore Basia Brown took serve and got three points back before Parkview broke. That put the Lady Patriots on serve with two match points, but Jacksonville broke back with a kill by junior Rebecca Brown.
That made the score 24-22, and Lindsey Holt then took serve, and served up three-consecutive points, including an ace that put Jacksonville in front 25-24 and gave them a set point.
“Lindsey has a powerful serve and she can be deceiving,” Jacoby said. “People look at her and think she isn’t going to be that powerful, so that’s a good weapon to have.”
The two teams rallied back and forth until Parkview took a 28-27 lead. That’s when Jacksonville scored three-straight to win the game and stay alive.
After a side out, Rebecca Brown aced Parkview with her first serve, and Jacksonville won a rally on set point to make it 2-2 and force the tiebreak set.
Blair Jones and Savannah McKinney led Jacksonville in its game-one win. Jacksonville scored six points on Jones’ serve and five on McKinney’s. Rebecca Brown added three kills in the set while McKinney had two.
“We’re working on spreading the ball around and getting more and more people involved,” Jacoby said. “Savannah stepped up and had a great match. I communicated a lot with (setter) Elizabeth during the match on where to go with it, and she’s getting better and better.”
McKinney added three more kills in game two, but Jacksonville’s service game was off. The Lady Titans never scored more than two consecutive points on serve, and that only three times. Meanwhile, Parkview’s Lizeth Vargas served six-straight from trailing 6-5 to a 10-6 Parkview lead. Later, she served three more in a row, including two aces, to extend Parkview’s lead from 20-18 to 23-18.
In game four, it was Shacora Cooper who scored nine points on serve to lead Parkview. Four of those came late, and pulled the Lady Patriots out of a 20-19 deficit and into a 23-20 lead.
Pulaski Academy and Little Rock Christian are both 3-0 and share the league lead. Jacksonville, Maumelle and Sylvan Hills are all tied at 2-1 while Parkview, J.A. Fair and Hall High remain winless at 0-3.
Jacksonville added an easy road win over J.A. Fair on Thursday to move to 3-5 overall and in 3-1 conference play. The Lady Titans will host rival Sylvan Hills on Tuesday.
Leader sports editor
The Lady Titan volleyball team came out on the winning end of one of the most exciting matches in the state on Tuesday, beating Parkview 3-2 at JHS to earn its second victory of the season. Scores in the match were 25-19, 19-25, 21-25, 30-28 and 15-13.
“These girls showed more fight, and more heart than any time since I’ve been with them,” said Jacksonville coach Savannah Jacoby. “It was a privilege to be a part of this with them. They were down two sets to one, and 23-18, and they just fought. I told them, they have to do this. I can believe in them all I want, but they have to believe they can go out there and make that comeback and win it. And they went out there and did it. I’m so proud of them all.”
In the deciding game five, Parkview took a 10-8 lead with four-straight points, but Aaliyah Burks took serve for Jacksonville and served three-straight points, including one ace, giving the Lady Titans an 11-10 advantage. Jacksonville senior Elizabeth Brown served three more points, giving the Lady Titans four set points. Parkview took away three of them with three-straight, but Jacksonville won the match with a side out to move to 2-1 in the 5A/6A District 4.
Game four was even more exciting. Jacksonville had to win it to force a game five, and was in a desperate way when it trailed 23-18 and 24-21.
Down 23-18, Titan sophomore Basia Brown took serve and got three points back before Parkview broke. That put the Lady Patriots on serve with two match points, but Jacksonville broke back with a kill by junior Rebecca Brown.
That made the score 24-22, and Lindsey Holt then took serve, and served up three-consecutive points, including an ace that put Jacksonville in front 25-24 and gave them a set point.
“Lindsey has a powerful serve and she can be deceiving,” Jacoby said. “People look at her and think she isn’t going to be that powerful, so that’s a good weapon to have.”
The two teams rallied back and forth until Parkview took a 28-27 lead. That’s when Jacksonville scored three-straight to win the game and stay alive.
After a side out, Rebecca Brown aced Parkview with her first serve, and Jacksonville won a rally on set point to make it 2-2 and force the tiebreak set.
Blair Jones and Savannah McKinney led Jacksonville in its game-one win. Jacksonville scored six points on Jones’ serve and five on McKinney’s. Rebecca Brown added three kills in the set while McKinney had two.
“We’re working on spreading the ball around and getting more and more people involved,” Jacoby said. “Savannah stepped up and had a great match. I communicated a lot with (setter) Elizabeth during the match on where to go with it, and she’s getting better and better.”
McKinney added three more kills in game two, but Jacksonville’s service game was off. The Lady Titans never scored more than two consecutive points on serve, and that only three times. Meanwhile, Parkview’s Lizeth Vargas served six-straight from trailing 6-5 to a 10-6 Parkview lead. Later, she served three more in a row, including two aces, to extend Parkview’s lead from 20-18 to 23-18.
In game four, it was Shacora Cooper who scored nine points on serve to lead Parkview. Four of those came late, and pulled the Lady Patriots out of a 20-19 deficit and into a 23-20 lead.
Pulaski Academy and Little Rock Christian are both 3-0 and share the league lead. Jacksonville, Maumelle and Sylvan Hills are all tied at 2-1 while Parkview, J.A. Fair and Hall High remain winless at 0-3.
Jacksonville added an easy road win over J.A. Fair on Thursday to move to 3-5 overall and in 3-1 conference play. The Lady Titans will host rival Sylvan Hills on Tuesday.
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