Friday, June 25, 2010

SPORTS>>Jacksonville overcomes Sylvan Hills junior team

By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor

Jacksonville Gwatney Chevrolet overtook Sylvan Hills early and kept going until time ran out in a 9-4 junior American Legion victory at Dupree Park on Thursday.

Gwatney spotted the Bruins two runs in the first, then scored three in the bottom of the inning and led until the two-hour time limit ended the game in the Jacksonville the sixth.

Jacksonville starter D’Vone McClure, who has had only a handful of starts, went the distance, striking out three, walking two and getting charged with three earned runs. His best inning was his last, as he struck out his final two hitters after giving up a one-out walk.

“He threw strikes and he worked ahead in the count quite a bit, that really helped him,’ Jacksonville coach Bob Hickingbotham said. “He probably used a few too many breaking pitches but other than that he did a good job. That’s probably the second or third time he’s been on the mound.”

McClure also helped himself with two runs and an RBI single. Sylvan Hills starter Lance Hunter homered to help his cause but didn’t survive the second and was charged with the loss after giving up five runs.

Xavier Brown, who has played third and been a solid starter in increased playing time because of injuries, was 3 for 3 with two runs and two RBI. Austin Allen was 2 for 4 with a triple, an infield hit and a run; No. 9 hitter Cole Bredenberg was 3 for 3 with two runs and an RBI and Troy Allen had a single and two RBI. The game was called because of time just after Bredenberg beat out a grounder to second for a hit.

“We’ve been able to have a few guys step up,” Hickingbotham said. “What they’ve been doing is they’ve been playing good defense and they’ve been getting up there and trying their best to battle at the plate.”

McClure hit Greg Atchison to open the game and Atchison later scored on Dalton Freeling’s sacrifice fly. Hunter made it 2-0 when he drove a McClure fastball over the left-field fence for a home run.

But Gwatney struck back with a three-run first as McClure led off with a walk and quickly took second on a throwing error by Hunter on a pickoff attempt, then Kenny Cummings reached on Hunter’s wild pitch on strike three. Brown singled in one run and Troy Allen and Alex Tucker drove in one each with groundouts.

After two hits and two hit batters in the Gwatney second, the Bruins relieved Hunter with shortstop Connor Eller, and Jacksonville scored two more runs on a bases-loaded walk to Brown and Chris McClendon’s single to left.

The Bruins got a run back on Sammy Pittman’s RBI single in the third, but Gwatney continued to peck away in the bottom of the inning as it loaded the bases and got RBI singles from Bredenberg and McClure to make it 7-3.

Freeling led off with a double in the Sylvan Hills fifth and scored on Eller’s one-out single to cut it to 7-4, but the Bruins stranded Eller and Pittman, who doubled over McClendon’s head in left, when Blake Hill and Aaron Sarna both grounded out.

But again, Gwatney tweaked the lead, this time loading the bases with two out in the bottom of the inning and scoring when Bredenberg came in on Eller’s wild pitch and making it 9-4 when Troy Allen roped an RBI single to center.

Jacksonville has been without high school stars Jacob Abrahamson, Jesse Harbin and Patrick Castleberry because of injuries.

“Right now we’re kind of struggling,” Hickingbotham said. “We’ve just been struggling and trying to go. They’re coming back a little bit.”

SPORTS>>Americans put in time, take place in history

By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor

I was at Wednesday night’s Arkansas Travelers-Springfield Cardinals game as it dragged into its 12th inning and fourth hour at Dickey-Stephens Park.

Then, mercifully, Arkansas’ Clay Fuller took third on a wild pitch and scrambled to his feet to score on catcher Tony Cruz’s throwing error, and Arkansas had a 3-2, extra-inning victory that lasted three hours and 42 minutes.

Too long, in other words.

Those of us working in the pressbox agreed we only like extra innings, “free baseball” as it’s called, when we’ve paid to get in, especially when beer sales aren’t cut off in the seventh inning.

I don’t know anything about beer sales at Wimbledon, but fans there got plenty of free tennis when American John Isner and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut squared off.

Lots and lots of free tennis.

It was an 11-hour, five-minute match played over three days that finally ended Thursday when Isner hit a backhand up the line for the victory. The score was 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68.

See, by Wimbledon rules there is no tiebreaker per se in the final set, which you have to win by two points.

That was the part Isner and Mahut had trouble with. Neither could break serve as Isner finished with 112 aces and Mahut had 103, both surpassing the previous record of 78.

The final set alone took eight hours 11 minutes. The previous record for longest MATCH was six hours, 33 minutes set in the 2004 French Open.

I don’t know if I could have sat through that, but chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani had no choice.

“I travel economy,” he said. “Seven hours sitting still on court is nothing.”

Fortunately, the sun set on the English umpire, and everyone else, twice. Centre Court at the All England Club has a retractable roof and lights, but the lesser courts where the lower seeds play are not lighted, and so the long match was twice suspended by darkness, giving the players a rest.

By his estimate Isner, seeded 23rd, put away a dozen energy bars and close to 40 bottles of water and credited his training in Florida for helping him endure the three-day epic.

“My coach actually, believe it or not, said jokingly before the tournament started that I’ll be able to play 10 hours,” he said.

Wow. Think how long Isner could have gone if he trained in Arkansas in June.

With his victory Isner, who generously applauded his worthy opponent, contributed to what has been a good week for Americans in international competition.

The U.S. soccer team won a dramatic, 1-0 victory over Algeria in the World Cup on Wednesday to reach the second round. It was the first World Cup victory in eight years for the U.S., which tied England and Slovenia earlier, and it was the first time the U.S. has won its first-round group since the original World Cup in 1930.

And again, the Americans needed extra time to win.

Landon Donovan scored 45 seconds into four minutes of injury time, which is tacked on at the end of the match rather than have the clock stop during regulation every time a player goes down writhing and grabbing his knee when an opponent looks at him funny.

It’s not overtime mind you — the match can still end in a tie after the injury time runs out — but this time it was enough for Donovan and the U.S., which had to survive two bad calls by referees to get to this point.

A blown offsides call on Donovan wiped out what would have been the winning goal against Slovenia and another bad offsides call wiped out a goal by Clint Dempsey against Algeria.

“It makes me believe in good in the world,” Donovan said of Wednesday’s victory. “When you try to do things the right way, that’s good to see them rewarded.”

The team even earned a lockercroom visit from former President Bill Clinton, himself a comeback kid who won four more years.

In honesty it should be pointed out the soccer team and Isner both have a long way to go. The U.S. team only now enters the World Cup round of 16 and Isner was back on the All England Club courts Friday for what was only a second-round match in
Wimbledon’s seven-round singles tournament.

But Isner and the soccer team, as near as I can tell, have been classy and gracious and deserve a championship.

They have certainly put in the time.

SPORTS>>Chevy Boys lights out in comeback

By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor

It’s unusual to have a game suspended by darkness on a lighted field, but that’s what happened in Jacksonville Gwatney Chevrolet’s senior American Legion game with Sylvan Hills at Dupree Park on Thursday.

Jacksonville was batting in a five-run third and had tied it 6-6 when first the right field lights, then the left, went out and couldn’t be turned back on.

After meetings among the umpires and coaches on the partially darkened field, it was decided to suspend the game and pick it up in progress when a suitable date can be found.

“We’re going to pick it up as soon as we can reschedule it,” Jacksonville coach Bob Hickingbotham said. “We didn’t even talk about a date.”

When the game resumes, Gwatney will have No. 9 hitter Thurman Daniel at the plate for the second time in the third with two out and Xavier Brown on second and Alex Tucker on first. Sylvan Hills led 6-1 before Jacksonville fought back in the inning, batting nine and getting five hits to score five runs and tie it.

D’Vone McClure hit an RBI double, A.J. Allen drew a bases-loaded walk, Brown hit a bad-hop, two-run single just before the two right-field light standards went dark, and Tucker hit an RBI single before the lights went out in left field on an attempt to restart the whole array.

Hickingbotham and an umpire strolled to the right-field fence to check on the situation, and then coaches from both teams huddled on the field before it was decided to stop for the night.

“We’ve got a short somewhere,” said Hickingbotham, who was hoping city employees could fix the situation before Friday night’s game with Russellville. “We’ve had that happen but it’s been a long time ago.”

Hickingbotham said the lights aren’t properly focused and need to be adjusted as well.

“It’s dark in center field. We’ve not had that problem before,” he said.

Gwatney starter Stephen Swagerty struggled in the first as he walked one, hit another, threw a wild pitch and got no help from a two-run fielding error by A.J. Allen at second. Blake Rasdon hit an RBI single in the inning while Korey Arnold and Rasdon came home on the error to make it 3-0.

The Bruins added another run in the second when Michael Maddox walked with one out, advanced on Arnold’s single then stole home when Arnold got himself caught in a rundown between first and second.

Sylvan Hills starter Austin Spears hit Jared Toney in the Jacksonville second and Brown hit a single to right that scored Toney from second and cut it to 4-1.

Trey Sims tripled and scored when Brown committed a fielding error on Justin Cook’s grounder to third, and Cook later scored on Maddox’s single to left off Daniel, the starting designated hitter who relieved Swagerty on the mound.

Brown, 3 for 3 with two runs and two RBI in the junior game, was on his way to another good outing in the senior game. Before it was suspended Brown was 2 for 2 with three RBI.

Hickingbotham used the senior game to test out some injured players as Jacob Abrahamson, started at shortstop and Patrick Castleberry started at catcher. Each got one hitless at-bat before Ken Cummings replaced Abrahamson and Nick Rodriguez batted for Castleberry.

SPORTS>>Harrison’s hits sink Cabot

By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter

The game changed radically for Sylvan Hills between Forrest Harrison’s two fifth-inning at-bats Wednesday night.

Harrison, Sylvan Hills’ center fielder, led off the pivotal fifth with a hit then came up again to hit the game-winning single and cap a six-run rally as the Bruins beat Cabot 6-5 at Mike Bromley Field.

Harrison led off the inning with a single, only the second hit Cabot starter Dustin Morris allowed as Cabot built its 5-0 lead.

With the two-hour time limit nearing, the hit could not have been more timely as it sparked the Bruins’ rally that was aided by a pair of Cabot errors.

“Before the inning, I told them this was our home field and we were either going to protect it or not,” Bruins coach Billy Sims said. “They went to work and took care of business. There was a bunch of good hits and a lot of hustle. They just all bowed up and played baseball.”

Morris struck out Aaron Sarna after Harrison’s hit, and Cabot appeared to be on the way to a second out when Sammy Pittion hit a routine grounder to shortstop. But Cole Thomas committed the first Cabot error as Harrison to advanced to second.

Blake Hill singled to right to drive in the first Bruins run. Andrew Terry walked, which brought up leadoff man Greg Atchinson, who popped out to center.

That brought Dalton Freeling to the plate to hit a drive down the third-base line to score Pittion. A bad throw by left fielder Rob Rankin ended up at the fence behind first to allow Hill, Terry and Freeling to score and tie the game 5-5.

The poor defense got to Morris, who had been solid to that point but hit Lance Hunter and cleanup batter Conner Eller to put the winning run in scoring position for the Bruins and bring up Harrison for his game-winning hit.

“He had a one-hitter through five; he only threw about 67 pitches,” said Cabot coach Chris Gross, filling in as head coach for Andy Runyan during the AAA athletic dead period. “But the three errors brought them back in the last inning.”

Cabot took control in the top of the third when Zach Patterson walked and Jarred Wilson reached on an error by center fielder Harrison. Rankin then loaded the bases with a single to shallow center.

Atchinson, the Bruins’ reliever, walked Conner Vocque with the bases loaded to drive in the first run and Cole Thomas knocked in Wilson on a liner to left. Dylan Wilson hit a sacrifice fly to score Rankin and give Cabot a 3-0 lead.

Rankin added to Cabot’s lead in the top of the fourth inning when he reached on an error by second baseman Lance Hunter and scored when Wilson singled to left-center.

Rob White led off the Cabot fifth with a triple to deep right field and scored one batter later when Hunter committed another error on James McCranie’s grounder.

Harrison was the only player for either side with more than one hit, as he went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run. Rankin scored two runs for Cabot.

SPORTS>>Starting pitcher paces Bruins

By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter

Sylvan Hills’ 11-1 victory over Cabot was all about maximizing opportunities at the plate.

But stellar defense didn’t hurt anything.

Sylvan Hills starting pitcher Korey Arnold struck out eight and gave up four hits in four shutout innings as the Optimist Bruins won big Wednesday night in the American Legion senior nightcap at Mike Bromley Field.

The junior Bruins won the opening game against Cabot with a six-run rally in the bottom of the fifth, but the senior Bruins went with an opposite strategy as their first six hitters scored in the first.

They added another run in the bottom of the third and scored four in the bottom of the fourth to take an 11-0 lead.

Matt Turner prevented a shutout for Cabot when he hit a two-out double to right to drive in T.C. Carter, who walked.

Cabot used much of its pitching staff against the hard-swinging Bruins.

Andrew Reynolds started and endured the Bruins’ first-inning attack in which they got four hits and took advantage of a pair of walks and one fielding error. Reynolds managed to retire the side in the bottom of the second with only one hit and no runs, but gave up another run in the third.

C.J. Jacoby relieved Reynolds in the bottom of the fourth but gave up a single and three straight doubles with two outs, which led to four more runs, and Jacoby quickly gave way to Chase Beasley.

Ty Van Schoyck led off the game with a walk to start things off for Sylvan Hills. Arnold advanced him with a single and Schoyck scored on a single by Josh Fortner.

Gino Jamerson reached on an error by Cabot third baseman Ty Steele to load the bases and that set up Blake Rasden, who hit a two-run double down the first base line to give Sylvan Hills a 3-0 lead with no outs.

Trey Sims kept things going when he walked to load the bases again for the Bruins.

Cabot finally regrouped and induced a groundout by Greg Atchinson, and Reynolds followed by striking out Justin Cook.

Michael Lock battled Reynolds to a full count, and finally found his pitch when he hit a three-run double into the right-field corner.

Sims scored the Bruins’ next run in the bottom of the third when he walked and scored on Atchinson’s single to left.

Jacoby gave up a leadoff walk to Arnold in the bottom of the fourth before inducing popups from Fortner and Jamerson. But Rasdon singled to right and advanced Arnold to third and Sims followed with a two-run double to the left field fence.

Atchinson doubled to left to drive in Sims and make it 10-0, and Cook drove in one more run when he doubled to right to score Atchinson.

Rasdon was 2 for 3 with two RBI and two runs. Atchinson was 2 for 3 with a double and two RBI and Fortner was also 2 for 3 with an RBI. Sims had one hit and reached on two walks to score three runs.

EDITORIAL>>Arkansas gets Turked

If you wondered how American Electric Power Co. could sink $1 billion into a giant coal-burning power plant at McNab when it had no assurance that the state would ever permit it to operate, the big utility-holding company supplied the answer yesterday. The state’s permission was superfluous.

It was going to build the plant with or without the state’s blessing, no matter what the cost to the air and water across the state, the habitat of the Hempstead County wilderness, the waters of the pristine Little River or the plant’s small contribution to the warming of the planet.

The company announced that it was not going to seek a permit from the state Public Service Commission for the Turk plant but finish and operate it as a merchant plant. A 1992 act of Congress permits investors to build wholesale generation plants free of just about any regulation by state or federal authorities. It was a bonus sought by the coal industry.

Over the strong and eventually persuasive objections of one of its three members, the state Public Service Commission issued a certificate of need and environmental compatibility in 2008, although the company had already scraped away the forest and started building the plant. The state Department of Environmental Quality and the state Pollution Control Commission, following their ancient practice, added their imprimatur. The 6 million metric tons of global-warming gases that the plant would emit each year were an acceptable amount of degradation to the Arkansas air.

The Arkansas Court of Appeals and the Arkansas Supreme Court, vigorously and unanimously, ruled that the Public Service Commission had erred in giving its OK. It had allowed the company to use a procedure that escaped a thorough airing of whether all that generation was needed, whether the plant was the best and cheapest place to get the power and whether its enormous carbon emissions would meet new measurements of their harm. The PSC had to start over again. The federal Environmental Protection Agency, in response to a U. S. Supreme Court ruling, is moving to regulate large-scale carbon-dioxide emissions, the chief cause of the warming climate.

When the Supreme Court refused to reconsider its decision this week, American Electric Power said it was going to bypass the state regulatory agencies and the Arkansas courts and finish the plant. It is about a third completed and will go on line in 2012. It was no surprise. An AEP executive said in 2007 that if they did not receive state approval they would probably build it as a wholesale plant.

For the company, it may be even more profitable. While it cannot structure the building costs into its rate base for Arkansas customers and earn upon the investment, it will be able to sell the electricity to other users or probably even to itself at the prevailing market rates.

For the people of Arkansas, it makes a little difference either.

Each year, the plant will still belch 5 million tons of carbon dioxide, 346 pounds of mercury, significant amounts of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide into the air — the company’s own estimates.

Most of the electricity from the plant will go to customers in Texas and Louisiana. Texas has been canceling coal-powered plants right and left, but its public utility commission approved the Turk plant. So did Louisiana. Why not? They get the power, Arkansas the headaches (and the asthma). What could be fairer than that?

It fits Arkansas’ ancient role as a colony. We ship the good stuff to finer places and absorb the degradation. We are adding coal-burning plants at a fast clip. From 1990 to 2005, greenhouse gas emissions in Arkansas rose 30 percent, twice the national rate, and we are growing much slower. The pace of the emissions is about to pick up.

TOP STORY>>Mayors attend league meeting

By JOAN McCOY and RICK KRON
Leader staff writers

Mayors from area cities attending last week’s Arkansas Municipal League meetings in Hot Springs all came away with something different.

Sherwood Mayor Virginia Hillman came back excited after listening to a presentation on city leadership.

Cabot Mayor Eddie Joe Wil-liams left happy about his city’s presentation at the convention.

Ward Mayor Art Brooke got the scoop on natural gas.

And Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher went to improve his knowledge and skills in obtaining grants for the city. “I’ve got a $7 million wish list and want us to get some help in turning some of the projects into reality,” he said.

“I went to purposely get more involved in the grant process. There’s not much free money out there, but there is a lot of 80/20 matching grants,” Fletcher said. In an 80/20 grant the federal or state government will fund 80 percent of the project and the city will chip in the other 20 percent.

The 76th annual Municipal League convention was held June 16-18 and attended by city leaders from across the state.


Convention workshops included avoiding lawsuits, the new social media, the safety of bank deposits, economic development, using technology, dealing with dogs, benefits of parks and recreation and wellness.

“The meetings were very educational for me. I did a lot of networking, which should help us in the future,” the mayor said.

Fletcher said the problem was not so much finding federal or state grants, but finding private foundations willing to help with projects.

The mayor left the convention feeling good about some funding probabilities for revitalizing Main Street and possible funding for a 2,500-square-foot expansion of the senior center. “We are looking at building a safe room in the expansion and using it as an exercise room and for other functions too,” he explained.

The other interesting piece of information that he came back with had to do with what businesses and industries look at when considering to locate to an area.”

“The top item on their quality-of-life list is good public schools, followed by affordable housing costs and having higher-education opportunities in the area,” he said.

Hillman also said it was a good meeting. She said the summer conventions are more laid back than the ones in January, when newly elected city leaders are coming together and, when the state legislature is in session, discussing the bills going through the legislature.

She enjoyed a presentation by Lyle Sumek, a former San Diego city official who now operates his own consulting and motivational company. Sumek’s topic was “Leadership for a Sustainable City—Lessons, Traits, Choices and Actions.”

Sumek focused on how cities need to communicate effectively with their residents, staying proactive on issues and making good decisions and sticking to them even in face of resistance.

Hillman came away feeling good about the direction of Sherwood. She also thought the workshop on using Facebook and Twitter useful. “It gave us a look at the good and bad of using these social networks and will be helpful whenever the city decides to look at those forms of communication,” she said.

Beebe Clerk-Treasurer Carol Crump-Westergren was also at the workshop and said it appeared to draw the most attendees.

“They talked a lot about how Facebook and Twitter are affecting how cities communicate with their citizens,” Crump-Westergren said, adding that twittering was a topic she knew nothing about.

“I thought you had to twitter on your phone, but apparently, you can twitter on a computer. It was interesting,” she said.

Williams presented a workshop on upgrading technology to save time and money. “They called it the bailout that didn’t cost a billion dollars,” the mayor said, referring to the fact that Cabot didn’t have the money to make payroll when he took office almost four years ago and now has $3.35 million in the bank, thanks in part to technology improvements that have increased productivity and cut the time required to process applications—for example, for purchase orders and permits from days to minutes.

Clerk-Treasurer Marva Verkler represented Cabot as president of the state City Clerk Association, and city planner Jim Von Tungeln used Cabot and Bryant in his workshop as an example of how planning should work. Von Tungeln works for both cities.

Ward’s mayor said energy was one of the most significant topics discussed during the convention.

Brooke served on the committee that passes resolutions on proposed changes in law to send to the state legislature.

The committee voted down a resolution that, if passed by the legislature, would require natural gas companies to construct sound barriers to muffle production noise.

The resolution committee also voted down a resolution to take to the legislature that could have increased the amount firefighters and police officers would have had to pay into their retirement accounts, and it also voted down a resolution that would have given cities in dry counties the right to call for an election and vote the city wet.

Brooke said he learned from meeting with representatives from Chesapeake, one of the largest gas companies, that a station to sell natural gas to fuel cars is being built in North Little Rock, so anyone with a natural gas car will have access to fuel.

He said he has never attended a convention when he didn’t learn something.

Jacksonville officials attending the convention included aldermen Kenny Elliott, Bob Stroud, Marshall Smith, Reedie Ray, Kevin McCleary and Bill Howard, human resource director Jill Ross, city engineer Jay Whisker and retired Mayor Tommy Swaim.

Besides Hillman, Sherwood aldermen Butch Davies and Sheila Sulcer were at the meeting.

TOP STORY>>War game links Air Force and Army

By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer

POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C.—Four crews from the 19th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base were among 10 C-130s and eight C-17s participating in this week’s historic joint forcible-entry exercise with the Army.

The role of the military transport planes during the simulated hostile situation was to provide troops and equipment rapidly to the troubled area. All 18 planes taxied together in a long train and flew in formation Tuesday under the cover of darkness. The exercise was performed again on Wednesday night.

According to Capt. Chris Stephen, deputy lead planner for the joint exercise, this was largest number of planes ever flying in formation for an exercise.

More than 1,000 Army paratroops from the 82nd Airborne Division from neighboring Fort Bragg bailed out of the aircrafts in 13 minutes over the designated drop zone. C-130s not loaded with paratroopers were carrying armor re-enforced Humvees dropped from the air to help support the troops on the ground.

LRAFB had two C-130 J-models and two older E-models performing in the scenario. This Leader reporter rode along with LRAFB’s 53rd Airlift Squadron during the exercise. Making up the seven-member crew were Maj. Lars Johnsen, aircraft commander; Capt. Jason Robinson, co-pilot; Capt. Brian Shea, instructor navigator; 1st Lt. Stefan Idso, navigator; Staff Sgt. Thomas Brown, flight engineer, and Staff Sgt. Grant Lane and Airman 1st Class Gregory Izzi, both loadmasters.

DAY 1: TUESDAY

On Tuesday night, the 53rd Squadron was assigned to carry paratroopers over the drop zone. The plane made a second pass over the area to let soldiers who did not jump the first time to bail out.

Before the flight, crew members inspected the plane. They prepared the cargo area by installing seats for the soldiers. Army personnel came out and examined the seating arrangement and the cargo area before the paratroopers went on board.

Soon after, 60 paratroops carrying heavy bags of gear and parachutes waddled like ducks in a row to the plane’s loading ramp.

During the hour-and-a-half exercise, the C-130 flight crew worked on keeping the correct timing, elevation and speeds for the exercise. The loadmasters were busy keeping the Army jumpmaster informed on the progress of the flight. The loadmasters were also relaying information back to the flight crew on the condition of the paratroopers.

Even though it was dark, the C-130 gets hot. Sweat does not bead up but pours out. Having plenty of drinking water becomes a concern. The loadmasters had to contend with soldiers battling dehydration.

Temperatures in North Carolina were in the upper 90s. An Army nurse was on board. Several soldiers became air sick. A couple of paratroopers were unable to make the jump because of heat exhaustion.

Just as the C-130 reached the drop zone, the plane slowed from 230 mph to around 150 mph.

Then when the red light on the cargo area turned green, it was time to jump. Two paratroopers on different sides of the plane jumped out at the same time. It took them 30 seconds to get out.

Loadmaster Izzi explained his role when the C-130 is carrying paratroopers.

“We’ve got to communicate with the jumpmaster to let them know where they should be at in their checklist and giving them time and wind references necessary for a successful jump,” he said.

Afterward, Maj. Johnsen, the aircraft commander, said this was his first joint forcible-entry exercise.

“It was critically important understanding the limitation of the other airplanes. The C-17 takes a long time to slow down,” Johnsen said.

Regarding communications, Johnsen said the big problem was with the radios. The C-17s have five radios and the C-130s have three. There was confusion on the channels during Tuesday’s exercise.

Johnsen said he prefers to carry personnel rather than heavy equipment.

“If the heavy equipment jams up in the plane, it’s a little scarier and you’re assuming more risk,” Johnsen explained.

“The heavy equipment as it extracts out (causes) the balance of the aircraft to shift back. Pilots need to counter the weight movement. But as the load clears the airplane, I immediately need to take out the control input,” the commander said.

“I’m holding the nose down because the weight shifting backwards wants to make the nose come up.”

DAY 2: WEDNESDAY

On the second day of the exercise, the 53rd Squadron was assigned to transport and shuttle heavy equipment for the Army. It began around 7 p.m. with the crew scheduled to deliver two Humvees weighing 19,700 pounds out of the C-130 to the drop zone.

The vehicles were packed with protective cardboard on pallets. Using parachutes, the Humvees would be jerked out of the plane in three seconds by the airstream and descending to the ground.

Sgt. Lane, one of the loadmasters, talked about the difference between unloading heavy equipment compared to soldiers in the air.

“It is not live bodies. It is simpler. The only people you are going to hurt is the crew,” Lane said.

He said with the paratroopers, there is more coordination with people, safety and the jumpmasters.

The Humvee drops did not go as planned. When the C-130’s cargo door opened, the steps to the plane’s portable toilet were not secured tightly enough and fell. Double checking the cargo area before the drop, a loadmaster discovered what had happened.

Concerned about safety, the loadmaster did not want to risk damaging the C-130 and told the crew to cancel the drop. The plane flew back to Pope, where the Humvees were unloaded on to a K-loader, a flatbed cargo transport vehicle.

Nearly two hours later, close to midnight, the C-130 crew flew to Mackall Army Airfield, N.C. There, an Army one-ton truck with two soldiers was driven onto the C-130 cargo ramps, loaded and secured. For an hour, the C-130 was forced to wait with its engines running.

The crew could not turn off the engines because a compressor had broken, and the crew did not think it could restart the plane.

While waiting, flight engineer Brown and aircraft commander Johnsen had growing concerns over the amount of fuel remaining in the plane.

Finally, word came to fly to a landing zone at the exercise drop zone. Fifteen minutes later, the plane made a dirt landing on the Carolina red clay in the pitch black.

With the C-130s engines running, loadmasters Lane and Izzi unchained the one-ton truck and Army personnel drove the vehicle right down the cargo ramp. From there, it was back to Pope to end the night at 3 a.m.

(Next: More hard work ahead.)

TOP STORY>>Making C-130s like they’re new

By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer

Restructuring of C-130 training at Little Rock Air Force Base, currently in the planning phase, seems to fit hand in glove with the Pentagon’s decision to upgrade “legacy” C-130Hs with the avionics modernization program.

A site-activation taskforce team was on base this week to begin working out reorganization details, even as Boeing on Thursday announced Air Force approval to begin low-rate initial production of 20 AMP kits.

Upon completion of a longer contract, yet to be awarded, 221 C-130Hs will have been updated with digital, computerized cockpits with standardized state-of-the-art avionics, navigation and communication on par with those of the new C-130J airlifters.

The cost of those kits in 2007 was about $14 million per aircraft, according to Boeing spokesman Mike Harris, but by the 69th plane, the cost should be down to about $7 million, he said.

By way of comparison, a new C-130J, which the AMP cockpit emulates in many ways, costs about $85 million per plane, according to Harris.

The AMP is designed to bring the old C-130s into the 21st Century, with digital technology and with standardization.

Currently, there are 30 variants of the C-130 cockpit. Installation of the AMP kits will make the planes identical to pilots and aircrews and make them closely resemble the cockpit of the new C-130J.

In the midst of an emergency, no one will have to wonder where the fuse box is on a C-130 AMP. They will all be located in the same place.

“By standardizing, we can lower ownership cost and make it easier to fly,” a spokesman said.

The AMP program, more than a decade old, was plagued first by malfeasance by a civilian Air Force procurement officer who steered the initial contract to Boeing, then by an Air Force plan to scrap the project as too expensive. But in November, a team of top Pentagon leaders rejected the Air Force’s proposal to kill the multibillion-dollar AMP plan.

Three AMP training simulators already are set up and in use at Little Rock Air Force Base and two of the first C-130 AMPs are at the base, according to Harris.

The simulators include a full-motion, high fidelity simulator that trains aircrews to fly the AMP-modified aircraft in an operational environment. The simultor uses the same software as the C-130 AMP aircraft.

The avionics part task trainer and cockpit familiarization trainer are the other two.

Three C-130AMP aircraft are under installation and preliminary testing.

They will undergo periodic depot maintenance at Warner Robins Air Force Base, Ga., before being delivered to the Air Force C-130 AMP schoolhouse at Little Rock, where initial operational test and evaluation will be conducted, Boeing said.

By 2014, Little Rock’s 314th Airlift Wing will train exclusively on the state-of-the-art C-130Js, according to Col. C.K. Hyde, commander of the 314th Airlift Wing.

The National Guard’s 189th Airlift Wing, in conjunction with a new Air Reserve Command unit to be stood up at the base, will by 2011 train exclusively for C-130H aircraft and the C-130 AMPs

“We’ve known this (realignment) was coming for several years,” Hyde said recently.

Hyde said 17 Vietnam-era C-130Es, average age 46 years old, would be replaced by 18 C-130H or C-130 AMP. Over the next five years, active forces will be converting to all J-model aircraft, Hyde said.

C-130H models from Guard and Reserve bases around the country will fill in at Little Rock, either reassigned or borrowed.

Of the 20 AMP kits Boeing is now authorized to build in a low-rate initial production run, five will be installed by Boeing, five by a competitor yet to be chosen and 10 by the Air Force at Warner Robins.

A competition will be held to determine who will build the balance of the 198 kits in a full-rate production run beginning in 2013, according to a Boeing spokesman.

In addition to switching from analog to digital controls and readouts, the kit will upgrade and standardize communication, navigation and air traffic management, have a glass cockpit including so-called head-up displays, night vision imaging and will meet all military operational environmental conditions.

It has open systems design, which allows easy upgrading or changing.

It has optional color weather radar, and systems for terrain and traffic collision avoidance.

According to Boeing, the C-130 AMP “enhances the situational awareness of the crew both in the battlefield and in civil airspace.”

The AMP cockpit has been tested to minus 140 degrees Fahrenheit and plus-130 degrees Fahrenheit for days.

Boeing has about $1.4 billion invested in the AMP, Harris said.

The original contract, signed almost a decade ago, was for retrofitting 550 C-130Hs with the AMP, but former Air Force procurement officer Doreen Druyun guided the contract to Boeing in exchange for a $250,000-a-year job and jobs for her daughter and son-in-law.

The contract was scrapped and Druyun served nine months in prison.

Lockheed-Martin, BAE and L-3, which lost out to Boeing on the original rigged bids, are likely competitors with Boeing for the new contract.

A spokesman said Lockheed is definitely interested.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

EDITORIAL>>Keet wrong again

In this season of terrible discontent, Jim Keet is still struggling to land an issue that will give his race for governor some traction. He tried and failed again yesterday and not because Gov. Mike Beebe is always on the side of the angels. Keet just picks the wrong fights, and he seemed to know it when he had a news conference to place himself squarely on the side of the people of Weiner, the little farm community in Poinsett County.

This year, it’s Weiner’s turn to have its independent school district abolished under the school-reform law of 2003. School districts that have fewer than 350 students two years in a row are deemed to be too small to have an efficient and quality educational program for kindergarten and 12 grades and must be annexed to another district that can guarantee the diverse programs that schools must offer their children.

The people of Arkansas established the 350 standard by an initiated act in 1948, and more than a thousand separate districts were abolished at once. But the act was poorly written. Districts that fell below 350 after that did not have to be abolished, and scores of schools fell below the threshold in the years afterward, although most of those were consolidated by one act or another by the legislature or the state Board of Education over the next half-century.

hen Gov. Mike Huckabee, faced with a court order to provide equal and adequate educational opportunity for every child in the state, said the solution was to abolish every school district below 1,500 students. Any district smaller than that, he concluded, wasted precious tax dollars. The legislature rebelled, but it did reinstate the 350 threshold of 1948 and this time made it permanent.

Weiner’s is a sympathetic case, but so are they all. It maintains that with 340 students it still manages to have a reasonably good educational program, although it does so with a large subsidy from the state’s taxpayers. If the school district is abolished and its high school merged with another in the vicinity, the town itself will lose its vitality and eventually dry up.

That has been the lamentation of a thousand communities. Many of us from rural townships rode the buses to big high schools to satisfy the consolidation law, and usually have been better for it.

Keet said he joined with the people of Weiner and wanted the state — Gov. Beebe or somebody — to find a way to make an exception for Weiner so that it could keep its little district and then to change the law to allow exceptions. There are no provisions for exceptions in the law. Four years ago, Asa Hutchinson ran for governor on the same platform. Something needed to be done to preserve a little rural school in Saline County. It will work just as well for Jim Keet.

EDITORIAL>>Keet wrong again

In this season of terrible discontent, Jim Keet is still struggling to land an issue that will give his race for governor some traction. He tried and failed again yesterday and not because Gov. Mike Beebe is always on the side of the angels. Keet just picks the wrong fights, and he seemed to know it when he had a news conference to place himself squarely on the side of the people of Weiner, the little farm community in Poinsett County.

This year, it’s Weiner’s turn to have its independent school district abolished under the school-reform law of 2003. School districts that have fewer than 350 students two years in a row are deemed to be too small to have an efficient and quality educational program for kindergarten and 12 grades and must be annexed to another district that can guarantee the diverse programs that schools must offer their children.

The people of Arkansas established the 350 standard by an initiated act in 1948, and more than a thousand separate districts were abolished at once. But the act was poorly written. Districts that fell below 350 after that did not have to be abolished, and scores of schools fell below the threshold in the years afterward, although most of those were consolidated by one act or another by the legislature or the state Board of Education over the next half-century.

hen Gov. Mike Huckabee, faced with a court order to provide equal and adequate educational opportunity for every child in the state, said the solution was to abolish every school district below 1,500 students. Any district smaller than that, he concluded, wasted precious tax dollars. The legislature rebelled, but it did reinstate the 350 threshold of 1948 and this time made it permanent.

Weiner’s is a sympathetic case, but so are they all. It maintains that with 340 students it still manages to have a reasonably good educational program, although it does so with a large subsidy from the state’s taxpayers. If the school district is abolished and its high school merged with another in the vicinity, the town itself will lose its vitality and eventually dry up.

That has been the lamentation of a thousand communities. Many of us from rural townships rode the buses to big high schools to satisfy the consolidation law, and usually have been better for it.

Keet said he joined with the people of Weiner and wanted the state — Gov. Beebe or somebody — to find a way to make an exception for Weiner so that it could keep its little district and then to change the law to allow exceptions. There are no provisions for exceptions in the law. Four years ago, Asa Hutchinson ran for governor on the same platform. Something needed to be done to preserve a little rural school in Saline County. It will work just as well for Jim Keet.

EDITORIAL>>Tim Griffin and unions

Tim Griffin never encouraged anyone to invest much confidence in his character — he let his ambition to undercut and replace his old friend and boss, Bud Cummins, corrupt the entire United States Department of Justice — but you could not doubt his political savvy. He had spent all those years toiling at the Republican national headquarters in Washington and then in the political operations of the White House so he would never say anything politically foolish, at least unless he were under duress.

Now we are not so sure. Friday, in his first big public outing since winning the Republican nomination for Congress from the Second District, Griffin was telling the Political Animals Club at Little Rock about why it was important to keep labor unions weak in Arkansas. He is against the so-called “card-check” bill, which would require big employers to bargain with a union if most of their employees signed cards expressing their desire to have the union bargain for them. The bill is dead, but it is a live political tar baby.

Griffin explained that since Arkansas laws restrict unions so much, they have remained weak and that has kept wages and salaries in Arkansas below the levels in other states. Low wages are desirable, he continued, because it makes Arkansas more attractive than other states to businesses.

The unstated message was that Tim Griffin, as a congressman or in some other capacity, would like to see worker incomes depressed because it is good for business and economic development. All that economic development produced by low wages eventually would raise all boats.

We are not sure that the lack of unions or strong ones is the reason that wages and per-capita incomes in Arkansas lag behind the rest of the country, as Griffin seems to believe and as union leaders also would have you believe. Arkansas was well behind the other states before the rise of unions in the industrial heartland and the big cities in the middle of the last century, and that has remained so with the decline of union membership and power since the 1970s.

If low wages and a union-poor environment were an inducement to development, Arkansas instead of California would have had Silicon Valley. Something else has been at work — geography and climate, maybe, education, social factors, political will? — and five generations of political leaders have not discovered the reason and the remedy.

But no one expected economic theory to be Tim Griffin’s forte. His career has been as a shrewd if cynical political operator.

But how smart is it for a candidate for public office to come out squarely for low pay? That will not go over well even with a chamber of commerce audience.

This fellow bears watching, closely. He could be our next congressman.

TOP STORY>>Sheriff’s program to reduce drug use

By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer

Since 2007, research has shown that Arkansas teens rank No. 1 in the nation for abuse of prescription pain relievers.

Now, Lonoke County is joining other counties in central Arkansas that are trying to combat the problem by taking unused prescription medicines out of medicine cabinets.

This week, the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Department is collecting those drugs at various locations across the county in trade for $5 gift certificates from Walmart and one-year gift subscriptions to The Leader.

Dubbed Operation Pill Kill, the drug collection started Monday in Lonoke, where response was poor. Investigator Keith Eaton, who is in charge of the operation, said only one person turned in prescription drugs at the Lonoke Community Center. By 9:30

Tuesday morning, one person had turned in drugs, not all of them prescription, at the Carlisle Seniors Center.

Eaton will be at the England Fitness Center at 107 Valley Drive today, the Ward Municipal Complex on Hickory Street Thursday and the Cabot City Annex at 208 N. First St. on Friday.

“We’ve had a lot of burglaries in the county lately and in some, prescription drugs have been taken. We’re also having a big problem with kids taking medicine that’s not prescribed for them,” Eaton said.

“You’ve got kids who will take pills to make them high. Then they can’t sleep and they have to go to school the next day and they take a pill to make them sleep. It takes a toll on your heart,” he said.

According to the Arkansas Department of Health, some of the most commonly abused drugs are narcotics such as Oxycontin, Vicodin, codeine and Percocet, sedatives such as Valium and Xanax and stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall.

Emergency room visits due to abuse of prescription pain relievers has doubled since 2004.

Eaton said he will gladly take any unused prescription, or even non-prescription, drug and dispose of them to keep them off the street but what he hopes to collect are the drugs like the pain killers that are most commonly abused.

To keep drugs out of children’s hands, the Arkansas Department of Health recommends taking these safeguards:

Mix expired or unused prescriptions with a material like coffee grounds or kitty litter before throwing them away, to deter youth from taking them from the trash (never flush them down the toilet—this pollutes the drinking water supply).

Monitor adolescents’ online activities—many websites don’t even require a prescription.

Talk to youth about following instructions when taking medicine, and remind them that it’s never okay to share medication or to take someone else’s medication.
n
Set the record straight—tell youth that prescription drugs can be just as dangerous as street drugs when used inappropriately.

Stress is often cited as a reason for teens to use drugs; talk with your teen about safe ways to reduce stress.

TOP STORY>>Fair-housing data collection under way

By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer

Every five years, municipalities across the country that accept funds from the federal Housing and Urban Development agency are required to conduct an analysis of local barriers to access to fair housing.

A survey is under way in Jacksonville to collect data for the analysis and is available through July on the city’s website, www.cityofjacksonville.net, under the “What’s New” tab.

Concerned citizens as well as anyone with knowledge of the housing industry – through the construction trades, real estate, law and education, or banking and finance – are encouraged to fill out the anonymous questionnaire.

“You want to see if there are any problems in your city so you can ward them off,” said Teresa Watson, the director of community development for the city. “The survey looks at whether everyone has access to fair and affordable housing.

Sometimes people or agencies discriminate, and they don’t know it.”

Watson said that she is not aware of any cases of discrimination in housing in Jacksonville in recent years.

Taking advantage of available email distribution lists, the electronic survey has already been sent out to all employees of the city and Pathfinder, residents of Jacksonville Towers and members of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce. By posting the survey on the city’s website, the hope is to tap a diverse group – “all the players, agencies as well as citizens, homeowners and renters as well,” Watson said.

Local building codes, city planning for home development, zoning ordinances, occupancy standards, real estate and lending practices or simply what individuals know and understand about home ownership and financing are all sources of possible impediments to obtaining safe, affordable housing.

For example, when a city makes way for new housing by tearing down older, smaller houses but then requires newly constructed homes in the area be larger, that practice may limit low-income individuals from finding an affordable place to live.

“For every house removed but not replaced, you create a barrier,” Watson explained. “Sometimes there are barriers that are not done consciously but to make the city grow, because the focus is on upscale, more expensive homes.”

The findings of the survey will be presented at a public forum at 6 p.m. on August 17 at the Jacksonville Community Center.

Dinner will be provided.

The federal Fair Housing Act, part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability or familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents of legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under the age of 18).

The Arkansas Fair Housing Act, passed in 2001, established the Arkansas Fair Housing Commission (AFHC), in order to provide procedures for the investigation and remediation of unfair housing practices, in accord with provisions of federal law.

Carol Johnson, director of the AFHC, said that her office receives about 250 calls annually about suspected discrimination in housing. Of those, 150 to 175 turn into actual complaints that are investigated.

Most common are complaints about available housing that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act or concerns that are related to race, ethnicity or national origin. Familial status has to do with landlords not wanting to rent to families with children or many children are also common complaints, Johnson said.

Statistics are not kept by municipality, but by county so the AFHC cannot comment on barriers to fair housing that might exist in Jacksonville, Johnson said. “The majority of cases that we get are in larger metropolitan areas – Little Rock, Fort Smith and Fayetteville.”

When the survey was conducted in Jacksonville five years ago, a need was identified for education on financial literacy. Such a course is now provided through a partnership with local banks.

The 12-week program addresses various aspects of financial management that impact home ownership – functions of banks, managing personal checking and saving accounts, budgeting, credit card use, borrowing and the responsibilities of owning and maintaining a home.

The class is offered at no charge. Anyone 16 years or older may enroll. The current class runs through July.

“We have a 17-year-old and four ladies from the (Jacksonville) Towers” in the class, Watson said.

Another course is planned for the fall. For more information about the course or the fair housing survey, call 501-982-0026.

TOP STORY>>Road panel looks to funding

By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer

Desperately needed money to fix and build state highways could come in the form of a half-cent sales-tax increase or from diverting existing sales-tax revenues on cars, trucks and auto parts from the state’s general fund to its highway fund.
Or from both.

Those are the recommendations of state highway commissioner Madison Murphy, who is one of 21 members of the General Assembly’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Highway Finance, but so far, at least, they have not been adopted as the committee’s recommendations.

Murphy said his recommendations are just that—his, and not those of the state Highway Commission or the Blue Ribbon Committee.

The committee met last Wednesday and is scheduled to meet today in advance of its original July 1 deadline for recommendations.

Sen. John Paul Capps, D-Searcy, the committee chairman, says it’s still collecting information and would make an interim report to the General Assembly July 1, but he doesn’t expect to make final recommendations until December.

That could be due to election-year political realities. If the committee recommended a 10-year, half-penny, sales-tax increase July 1, every candidate running for the General Assembly in November could expect to be asked how he or she would vote on the increase. That would create a difficult environment in which to pass a new tax.

It’s axiomatic in Arkansas that you don’t get elected by promising to raise taxes. And as for the transfer of transportation tax revenues from the general fund to a highway fund, Gov. Mike Beebe is on the record as opposing it.

Here’s the problem:

The state Highway and Trans-portation Department projects its needs over the next decade at $23 billion, with anticipated revenues of only $4.1 billion. That means the department expects to have about one of every six dollars it needs.

Highway Department Director Dan Flowers has said the state needs an additional $200 million a year just to maintain current conditions.

The two main sources of highway revenue in Arkansas are the per-gallon tax on motor fuel and money sent to the state from the Federal Highway Trust Fund. As fuel prices rise, the number of gallons—and thus the tax revenues—decrease.

Revenues are static or diminishing, even as the need increases, according to Metroplan executive director Jim McKenzie. He is chairman of the committee’s new revenue subcommittee.

McKenzie said Arkansans need to realize no one, including the federal government, is going to rescue the state’s highways.

Arkansans will have to pay for new roads and maintenance or there would be no new roads and the existing roads and highways would continue to deteriorate.

Capps said this week that costs are going up “unbelievably” to build and maintain highways.

While it’s far from certain that the committee will recommend the half-penny sales-tax increase, which could be written to expire at the end of 10 years, it is projected that such a tax would generate about $157 million a year to state highways, with another $33.6 million a year split between counties and cities.

That’s part one of commissioner Murphy’s recommendation.

Part two would gradually transfer existing sales taxes on new and used vehicles, batteries, auto parts and other transportation-related sales to the state’s highway fund. It would be phased in over 10 years, increasing from 10 percent of the total the first year until it reached 100 percent of those tax revenues in the 10th year.

That would reduce the impact on the state general fund and allow for natural growth to offset the absolute loss to the general fund, according to Capps.

Over the course of the 10-year phase-in, the highway fund would receive about $2 billion, and by the end of the 10th year, when the new sales tax expired, the highways would be receiving $300 million a year in additional revenue from the transportation-related taxes.

If a new half-penny tax were approved, the General Assembly would want to use those revenues to pay off a much larger bond issue so the state could embark quickly on a building and maintenance program. It won’t be able to undertake very ambitious projects.

While the General Assembly could increase the sales tax, it would require voters to approve bond sales to pay for the construction. McKenzie said the tax could be structured to take effect only if and when the bond-issue is approved.

As for transferring revenues from the general fund to a dedicated highway fund, the General Assembly could do that too, but it might need sufficient votes to override a veto from the governor.

TOP STORY>>Wet or dry, farm family of year sticks to the dirt

By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer

Ground zero for the Minton family farm is on Tar Bottom Road, about three miles from England and backing up to the Department of Correction farms in Jefferson County.

But the 5,000 acres upon which Brooks Minton Sr. and his family grow rice, corn and soybeans stretch 26 miles from Altheimer
to near Lonoke.

The Mintons are the 2010 Lonoke County Farm Family of the Year.

They will join 74 other county farm families in vying for district and state recognition as the Arkansas Farm Family of the Year.

The Arkansas Farm Family of the Year will be announced Dec. 10 at a banquet at the Wyndham Riverfront in North Little Rock.

Minton, his two sons—Brooks Jr. and Greg—and his grandson Bart, with the aid of six full-time hands, keep busy year round.

This year, they’ve planted 1,500 acres of rice, 1,100 acres of corn and 2,400 acres of soybeans.

Starting with Brooks Senior’s grandfather, the family moved its farming from Tennessee to Lonoke County just about the time of the Great Depression, meaning five generations have farmed in the county.

But Brooks Senior’s grandson Bart has two daughters, neither of whom is interested in carrying on in the family business, and Bart says he’s not having any more children, meaning 31-year-old Bart may be the last of the Mintons to farm the land.

“The thing about farming—you’ve got to like it and love the land to stay with it,” the senior Minton said. “There’s not much reward in it and there’s a lot of hard work. It’s a great lifestyle that helps keep families together, and as hard as it is, it supports four families, three of them with brick homes in the big city.”

Of course, like farm families across the country now, the wives have jobs in the city to help cover expenses.

And by the big city, the Mintons mean England.

Johnnie Minton, Brooks senior’s wife, had a city job and still took care of the house on her day off, cooked and cleaned. “I fed nine men every day for two years,” at the family table she remembers.


“Now I have help,” she added.

Greg Minton says he’d have rather been a baseball player, but like so many promising young ball players, “I couldn’t hit a curve ball.”

Brooks Junior’s son Bart was just the opposite. He was sent to college and had other options, but at the end of his first semester, he says he knew he only wanted to farm.

He did get educated on the John Deere computerized GPS automated-tractor navigation system, which is crucial to their farming operation today.

Greg Minton, Brooks Minton’s younger son, says he runs through a tank of diesel in his pickup truck about every day and a half, checking on the crops and the irrigation wells.

Right now, they are pumping from 42 wells, Greg Minton said, but that’s just a part of what they have drilled.

You can’t talk about farming in Lonoke County without talking about water and weather.

“This time last year, we had to pump water off these fields,” Books Junior said.

When Brooks Senior started farming on his own in 1945, an irrigation well might be 11 feet deep, he said. Today, the wells are usually 75 to 120 feet deep, and all their crops depend on irrigation—the rice especially.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln recently announced that she had obtained $37 million of stimulus funds through the Army Corps of Engineers to begin construction on giant pumps to siphon water out of the Arkansas River and irrigate nearly 300,000 acres of farmland, most of it in Lonoke County.

The elder Minton said he looks forward to the day when they irrigate with the help of water pumped from the Arkansas River near Scott, the so-called Bayou Meto Water District project.

‘The water will come right through here,” Brooks Senior said. “Bart may see it, I won’t.”

Farming’s “a lot different than it used to be,” said Brooks Minton Jr. “The tractors are steered by satellite—John Deere and the GreenStar System.

“Set it up right and you could drive from here to Little Rock and stay within an inch of the straight line,” Greg Minton said.

With the satellite at the control and a human in the cab, the tractor will turn automatically and precisely at the end of each row, eliminating overlapping furrows and saving diesel, seed and chemicals.

Wrasslin’ a huge tractor into a turn is not an easy job, even with power steering, so the automatic satellite turns have taken most of the fatigue out of tractor operation, Greg Minton said.


I used to go through a dozen Tylenols a day,” he said.

The GPS-controlled tractors can also lay off perfect rows in the middle of the darkest night, he said.

“We used to grow cotton,” said Minton Senior, “but lately the price has been bad compared to the input.”

Minton says he’s seen great strides in the modernization of farming—not just irrigation, but herbicides and technical advances in equipment.

“I first irrigated in 1955 for cotton,” he said.

He started with a one-row combine. Now he has three 16-row combines. His first combine cost $6,500. The most recent one cost about $300,000—the cost of a west Little Rock home.

“We have gone to 350 acres of zero-grade rice fields,” said Greg Minton. That means water can be used more efficiently to keep weeds down. “We couldn’t farm the number of acres if not for Roundup technology,” he said.

When rice came here, it opened up a new life, he said: Rice and soybeans.

The family owns a share of a cotton gin in Gould, and they own cotton-farming equipment, which is of now used for other crops, so if the price-to-cost ratio gets better, the Mintons say they’ll be back in the business.

Meanwhile, they are building a 216,000-bushel grain dryer, which will give them a total storage and drying capacity of about 280,000 bushels, and a competitive edge.

“We can dry it cheaper than they can,” he said of the commercial storage places.

Including 81-year-old Brooks Senior, who says he can still drive a tractor or his D-6 bulldozer, three generations of Mintons get dust—or gumbo-like mud—on their boots on a daily basis, and his father and grandfather also farmed the same piece of land—well, a smaller piece—here in central Arkansas.

Tar Bottom Road is a dusty tan road—the unpaved portions—this time of year, so how was it named?

“You stick with the dirt when it’s dry, and it’ll darn sure stick with you when it’s wet,” Brooks says with relish.

SPORTS>>Nuisances horning in on Majors, World Cup

By Todd Traub
Leader sports editor

I would be remiss as a sports editor if I did not sooner or later mention one of the biggest sporting events in the world.

The World Cup.

There, it’s mentioned. Can we get back to baseball now?

Okay, I admit to not being a big follower of soccer, but there is something about international competition that appeals to my patriotism, so I turned on the second half of the United States’ World Cup match against England televised from South Africa.

It was already tied 1-1 and almost immediately the English sportscaster dared to say England indisputably had the superior players. That got my red, white and blue blood boiling, and I began talking back to the TV from the back of my bandwagon.

“I thought you didn’t care about soccer,” my son said from behind his computer.

“I want to beat THESE guys,” I said, jabbing my finger at England.

Then I noticed this horrible buzzing sound coming from — but not caused by — my TV, and that was my introduction to the vuvuzela, South Africa’s soccer noisemaker of choice.

There is a heated, ongoing debate in this country over soccer and its entertainment value.

On the one hand, it is an internationally popular sport played with skill and endurance and full of close outcomes. On the other hand, soccer allows games to end in ties, and now it has the vuvuzela, a cheap plastic horn rooted in South African tradition
that debuted as a stadium noisemaker in 1992.

Think cicadas on too much coffee and you come close to understanding the annoyance factor of these things.

You want me to sit through a 90-minute scoreless tie? You gotta get rid of the vuvuzela, dog.

Even soccer players don’t like these things. Even South Africans don’t like these things.

I found an article about the vuvuzela, titled “Satan’s Instrument,” with the following quote from South African writer Jon Qwelane: “Nowadays, there is an instrument from hell, called the vuvuzela, which has largely formed my decision to abandon all live games and rather watch on TV, with the sound totally muted.”

The Florida Marlins should have read that article before they handed out vuvuzelas to fans for Saturday’s baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Many players complained about the constant buzzing, some wore earplugs and two older fans had to change seats because of the noise.

“That was the worst handout or giveaway I’ve ever been a part of in baseball,” Rays second baseman Dan Uggla said.

“They’re annoying,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “There’s cool things and there’s very non-cool things. That’s a non-cool thing.”

The vuvuzelas were even blamed for a lineup card mishap that might have cost the Marlins a chance to win.

With the scored tied 5-5 in the fifth, the Marlins’ Brian Barden drew a leadoff walk but home plate umpire Lance Barksdale called him out for batting out of order. Barksdale’s lineup card showed Wes Helms hitting in Barden’s spot, but Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez, who was ejected from the game, said he had explained the switch to Barksdale.

Crew chief Tom Hallion wouldn’t rule out noise from the vuvuzelas as a cause of the confusion.

“It was the most uncomfortable baseball game I’ve been a part of in a long time because of that,” Hallion said. “Whether that had anything to do with it, I don’t know but it could have.”

Maybe the vuvuzelas were responsible for soccer referee Koman Coulibaly’s blown call that cost the U.S. a victory in Friday’s match with Slovenia that ended in a 2-2 draw. The U.S. was bidding to become the first team in World Cup history to rally from a 2-0 deficit and win, and appeared to have done just that when Landon Donovan scored on a free kick, only to have the goal erased when Coulibaly said he was offsides.

So it seems soccer is plagued by bad calls as much as baseball, which is still getting over Jim Joyce’s inexplicable safe call that cost Detroit’s Armando Galarraga a perfect game earlier this month.

And it seems baseball, for better or for much, much worse, now has the vuvuzela.

The difference?

The two U.S. soccer matches I’ve paid any attention to so far both ended in ties while the Rays won 9-8 in 11 innings.

If I have to endure bad officiating and bad noisemakers, at least give me a game where someone wins in the end.

SPORTS>>MSRA set for return to Beebe after rain

By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter

The Mid South Racing Association will make another stop at Beebe Speedway on Friday.

It will be the second of three shows for the year at Beebe, a quarter-mile, sandy clay oval just off Highway 167. Batesville’s Billy Moyer, Jr., won the first MSRA race at Beebe in April over Dane Dacus of Memphis and Gary Christian.

The MSRA was in action two weeks ago with races at Malden Speedway in Missouri and Northeast Arkansas Speedway in Harrisburg.

The doubleheader put the grand total for MSRA races this year to six after rain washed out five events in the spring.

“We finally got in two shows,” MSRA series director Chris Ellis said. “They were really good races too, it was a good weekend.

The weather really got us in the spring.

“At one point, we had four races and five rainouts, but hopefully that’s behind us and we can get some more consistency.”

Dacus won at Malden while Trumann’s Kyle Beard claimed his first victory of the season at NEA Speedway. The 24-year-old known as “The Silent Assassin” also took the season points lead after that weekend.

Moyer was the early points leader after winning the first two events at Beebe and Riverside in early April. But while the MSRA weekend was under way two weeks ago, Moyer opted to race in the famed Dream 100 super late-model race at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

Moyer is beginning to make a name for himself on the national circuit after a pair of third-place finishes in the Lucas Oil series, including at the Show-Me 100. Moyer, known as “Kid Smooth”, is currently taking part in the UMP Summernationals

Hell Tour, which has 27 late-model races across the country in 30 days.

“He was ready to do that,” Ellis said. “He will come back and run some of our shows with us, but he was ready to go to the next level.”

Moyer tentatively plans to compete in the MSRA doubleheader at USA Speedway at Sterlington, La., and I-30 Speedway in Benton on Aug. 6-7.

Moyer’s absence has put Beard in position to capture his first series season-points title. Beard rose to regional prominence in 2007 when he won rookie of the year and was the points runner-up in the defunct AMP late-model series. Beard also won the
MSRA-sanctioned Mid South Dirt Track Championships held in Harrisburg that year.

Beard, who grew up racing at the Harrisburg track, also put his years of experience to good use when he claimed the most recent MSRA event in dominant fashion.

“He was in a different area code,” Ellis said. “He’s made 10 million circles around that place because his dad used to own it.

Dacus finished second there, he’s won a couple of our shows there, so he can get around that place. Bill Frye was third, and he’s good there, but Kyle just knows that place.”

The number of events on the MSRA season schedule will remain the same, but two races have changed locations.

Saturday’s race will be at Crawford County Speedway in Van Buren because of a cancellation at Southwest Arkansas Super Speedway in Nashville. Boothill Speedway in Shreveport, La., has picked up the open July 9 date originally scheduled for the recently closed track in Paris, Texas.

The Boothill date will be the first race in which the restart process is tweaked. The MSRA runs a regional double-file restart, which means the first-place car restarts out front with second and third behind in the next row, followed by fourth and fifth in the next row and so on throughout the field.

To this point, the second-place car has always been forced to restart on the inside, but will now have the choice between restarting inside or outside beginning with the Boothill race.

“They can get that strategy going now,” Ellis said. “You might have a guy out front who wants to run the outside, so you can restart on the top and force him to stay lower where he doesn’t want to race. It should make for an interesting race, and that’s all we’re really trying to do is put on the best show we can.”

SPORTS>>Greer is family man on track

By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter

Drivers often talk about the thrill of weekend racing — the rush of showing up at the local short track with the family, trying to conquer the dirt and win a race.

But for veteran driver Todd Greer, his family is a big part of the thrill.

Greer, who lives in Romance and bases his operation in Beebe, has raced for 22 years, mostly at Beebe Speedway.

He won track championships in the mini-stock and street-stock divisions before moving up to the modified class eight years ago.

His family-based race team consists of his brothers and 20-year-old son Justin, who also serves as crew chief.

“They get more tickled about it than I do,” Greer said. “Just watching them about to crawl the fence with excitement while I’m racing — you don’t even have to win — it means a lot.”

The Greer family has had several opportunities to get excited in the first half of the season. In six starts Greer has four top-six finishes, including a pair of third-place runs.

His best shot at a victory ended in his worst finish of the year May 28. Greer won his heat race and earned the outside pole, but his car broke down while he was lining up for the feature.

“It’s such a high and such a low at the same time,” Greer said. “You start on the pole, you break before the race ever starts. So there you go.”

The track may have its ups and downs for Greer but his personal life is stable. He and his wife Jean have been married 28 years, since Todd was 18, and while Justin is the couple’s only child, Todd’s brothers helpfill out the racing operation.

“If it wasn’t for my son and my brothers, I wouldn’t race,” Greer said. “Because they come to the shop. We spend so many hours on the old car to make it run — you can’t do it by yourself.”

As for the car, Greer’s No. 77 modified is black with yellow numbers and a red border. His paint schemes over previous years have featured more blue, but the current graphics give the car a more classic look.

Also giving the car a classic look is its age. Greer drives one of the oldest modified chassis in the central Arkansas area, older than even many of the economy-modified chassis on the local circuit.

Greer has had the chassis for six seasons and confessed to not knowing the car’s actual age.

But Greer and his family still find a way to be competitive in what can be an expensive world of open-wheel modified racing.

“We’re steadily working with it, working with it,” Greer said. “Changing shocks — if they go to modern shocks, we try to put on modern shocks, modern four bars, keep good tires on it, and that seems to get us up in the hunt a little bit.”

Greer runs a paintless, dent-repair business for his full-time job while Justin operates his own lawn-care business. Greer, who has lived in the Beebe area all his life, rides motorcycles as a hobby.

Greer and his family plan to continue racing at Beebe on Friday nights for the foreseeable future, though he has made some appearances this year at Conway County Super Speedway in Plumerville in the Butch Kee owned K1 car.

Greer admitted he sometimes gets tired of the weekly racing grind, but has ridden out those slumps for his family. He said his family is the one thing that makes it all worthwhile, but a good run certainly doesn’t hurt.

“It kind of happens in between weeks, when it’s real hot,” Greer said. “You crash the car, things don’t go too good. I could step out — just a long time doing it kind of wears on you. Then you do good, and you forget all about the burnout.”

SPORTS>>Greer is family man on track

By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter

Drivers often talk about the thrill of weekend racing — the rush of showing up at the local short track with the family, trying to conquer the dirt and win a race.

But for veteran driver Todd Greer, his family is a big part of the thrill.

Greer, who lives in Romance and bases his operation in Beebe, has raced for 22 years, mostly at Beebe Speedway.

He won track championships in the mini-stock and street-stock divisions before moving up to the modified class eight years ago.

His family-based race team consists of his brothers and 20-year-old son Justin, who also serves as crew chief.

“They get more tickled about it than I do,” Greer said. “Just watching them about to crawl the fence with excitement while I’m racing — you don’t even have to win — it means a lot.”

The Greer family has had several opportunities to get excited in the first half of the season. In six starts Greer has four top-six finishes, including a pair of third-place runs.

His best shot at a victory ended in his worst finish of the year May 28. Greer won his heat race and earned the outside pole, but his car broke down while he was lining up for the feature.

“It’s such a high and such a low at the same time,” Greer said. “You start on the pole, you break before the race ever starts. So there you go.”

The track may have its ups and downs for Greer but his personal life is stable. He and his wife Jean have been married 28 years, since Todd was 18, and while Justin is the couple’s only child, Todd’s brothers helpfill out the racing operation.

“If it wasn’t for my son and my brothers, I wouldn’t race,” Greer said. “Because they come to the shop. We spend so many hours on the old car to make it run — you can’t do it by yourself.”

As for the car, Greer’s No. 77 modified is black with yellow numbers and a red border. His paint schemes over previous years have featured more blue, but the current graphics give the car a more classic look.

Also giving the car a classic look is its age. Greer drives one of the oldest modified chassis in the central Arkansas area, older than even many of the economy-modified chassis on the local circuit.

Greer has had the chassis for six seasons and confessed to not knowing the car’s actual age.

But Greer and his family still find a way to be competitive in what can be an expensive world of open-wheel modified racing.

“We’re steadily working with it, working with it,” Greer said. “Changing shocks — if they go to modern shocks, we try to put on modern shocks, modern four bars, keep good tires on it, and that seems to get us up in the hunt a little bit.”

Greer runs a paintless, dent-repair business for his full-time job while Justin operates his own lawn-care business. Greer, who has lived in the Beebe area all his life, rides motorcycles as a hobby.

Greer and his family plan to continue racing at Beebe on Friday nights for the foreseeable future, though he has made some appearances this year at Conway County Super Speedway in Plumerville in the Butch Kee owned K1 car.

Greer admitted he sometimes gets tired of the weekly racing grind, but has ridden out those slumps for his family. He said his family is the one thing that makes it all worthwhile, but a good run certainly doesn’t hurt.

“It kind of happens in between weeks, when it’s real hot,” Greer said. “You crash the car, things don’t go too good. I could step out — just a long time doing it kind of wears on you. Then you do good, and you forget all about the burnout.”

SPORTS>>Local shines in shootout

By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter

Local drivers dominated the racing card at Beebe Speedway on Friday night.

The factory-stock A-main feature came down to a trio of hometown drivers, while Cabot’s Mike Millwood took his third straight victory in the mini-stock feature.

Another Beebe driver came up big in the E-mod feature when Tommy Burkhead, one of few drivers able to keep his nose clean, won his first feature race of the year. Searcy’s Gage Raines won the hobby feature.

E-mods and turns one and two added up to disaster, as the economy feature came down to a one-lap shootout after six failed attempts to start the race.

Beebe’s Blake Jones and Searcy’s Lane Cullum started on the front row after winning the first and second heats. Jones had a lot to gain from his starting spot after points leader Robert Woodard broke down in the heats and was a no-show for the feature.

There were three attempts at an initial start, but the drivers couldn’t complete a full lap without a wreck. That made the next restart single-file, which ended with another caution on lap two.

Jones jumped out to the lead on the initial start, but a caution when Kyle Russell’s car stalled to bring out the yellow caution flag and force another double-file start. Cullum took the advantage on the first complete restart, but that was negated whenTodd Joslin’s No. 81 car stopped on the backstretch.

The complexion of the race changed completely on the next complete restart when Jones and Cullum made contact and spun in turn one. Both cars were able to continue but went to the back of the line on the single-file restart.

That moved Jay Jenkins to the point with Burkhead behind him in second. Burkhead was able to execute a pass for the lead on the first lap of the restart before the yellow flag waved again on the next circuit, this time for a three-car incident involving Kelton Sanders, Jerry McIntire and Doyle Ainsworth.

Burkhead drove conservatively once he took the lead, as Beebe driver Ryan Redmond worked past Jenkins for second on the next restart. The sixth caution came out on the third lap when fourth-place runner Chris Dollarhide spun in turn three.

Instead of waving a green-white-checkered flag to finish, flagman Gary Stephens showed his disgust with the field by waving the white flag to begin the final restart, reducing the race to a one-lap shootout.

Redman challenged Burkhead on the final lap, but Burkhead kept his black 2B machine in the middle of the track to hold his line and prevent Redman from building momentum. Cullum worked his way through the mess to a thirdplace finish, while

Jones’ night went from bad to worse when his F3 car came to a stop on the backstretch on the final lap.

Jenkins fell to fourth in the final rundown while Joey Gee completed the top five.

Curtis “Hollywood” Cook won the modified feature after starting seventh in the nine-car field.

Veteran Mike Bowers started from the pole but shut down entering turn one on lap two to bring out the caution flag. Bowers went to the pits and came back on, but pulled into the infield mid-way through the race as the only retiree.

Robert Baker assumed the lead for the restart, but soon faced a challenge from Beebe’s Jody Jackson. Jackson made his way around Donnie Stingfellow on the restart and took the lead from Baker on lap four.

Cook was right in Jackson’s tracks until he looked inside of the leader on the eighth circuit. Jackson’s line prevented Cook from making a move inside, so the driver of the No. 601 car moved up top and took the lead on the next lap.

Points leader Randy Weaver made his way up to second with four to go when he gave Jackson a nudge out of turn four, but Cook had already pulled out to a straightaway lead by that time.

Jackson held on for third while early leader Baker had to settle for fourth. Romance’s Todd Greer completed the top five.

Gage Raines dominated the hobby feature to take a flag-to-flag victory ahead of Jacksonville’s Todd Sherrill and Dan Blanchard, while Beebe’s Ricky Wilhite won the factory feature when early frontrunners Larry Wise and Jacob Kurtz, also of

Beebe, made contact entering turn one and spun out.

Danny Garringer had a quiet second-place run while Wise recovered and finished third.

Mike Millwood has gone from sentimental favorite to class dominator in the mini-stocks. Millwood earned fast qualifier in the heats and never looked back from his top starting spot in the feature. Beebe’s Jim Atcheson briefly challenged for the lead, but Millwood pulled away for his third-straight victory ahead of Atcheson and Paul Shackleford. Millwood also won in Plumerville on Saturday.

Lynn McDonald won Friday’s powder-puff race.

SPORTS>>Whatley departs Devils for Bulldogs

By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter

Mark Whatley is stepping down as head football coach at Jacksonville High School.

Whatley announced this week he is leaving the Red Devils to sign on as offensive coordinator at Springdale High School under new head coach Shane Patrick.

Whatley’s departure adds to a list of coaching vacancies at Jacksonville, but he is the only boys coach in the group.

Whatley is leaving more than just a coaching job. Jacksonville High School is also Whatley’s alma mater, where he was a part of the Red Devils’ most recent state championship football team in 1981.

“The toughest thing is to leave your home town, and young people that you care about,” Whatley said. “There are a lot of kids I’m going to miss, but I had an opportunity to make a move to a place that’s special in athletics and special in academics. It’s tough to do, but sometimes you have to do what’s best for your family, and I feel like this is what’s best.”

Whatley, who took over for longtime Jacksonville coach Johnny Watson following the 2004 season, led the Red Devils to three state playoff appearances in 2005, 2006 — when they won a share of the 6A-East Conference championship — and 2008.

Whatley is 23-31 in five years at Jacksonville and 114-105-2 overall.

“He gave me the courtesy and respect to let me know what was going on,” Jacksonville athletic director Jerry Wilson said. “I respect him for that. It’s obviously a loss for us and a gain for them.”

At Springdale, Whatley will join Patrick, who was head coach at 6A-East member Mountain Home for seven years. Patrick, who led the Bombers to a state championship in 2006, got the job at Springdale in January after former coach Kevin Johnson stepped down because of health issues.

Whatley spoke with Patrick last week and met with the Springdale administration before accepting the offer.

Patrick and Whatley will attempt to return tradition to a Springdale program that was dominant in the first half of the decade.

The Bulldogs captured national attention in 2005 with quarterback Mitch Mustain and coach Gus Malzahn, now offensive coordinator at Auburn.

The Bulldogs mercy ruled every opponent that season and went 14-0 on their way to a AAAAA state championship.

But the Johnson regime was not as successful. In four seasons, Johnson coached Springdale to a 19-22 record with first-round playoff exits in 2008 and 2009.

With just over a month before football practice begins in August, Wilson said Jacksonville will have to move quickly to find Whatley’s replacement, but said it was good timing on Whatley’s part to announce his departure at the start of a two-week athletic dead period.

“He sort of helped me out and gave me the heads up,” Wilson said. “He was very up front about the whole process. He was real professional, and I appreciate that.

“I don’t want to say it will be a quick process with a 10-day posting period, but I will say it won’t be drawn out but won’t be overnight either.”

Once Whatley hands over an official letter of resignation, the Pulaski County Special School District will post the vacancy and give those interested 10 days to apply. Wilson said none of the current members of the football staff had so far expressed interest in being promoted, but also said he expected to hear from some of them.

“I’ve given Jacksonville everything I had,” Whatley said. “I tried to do what was best for the kids and the program. I tried to be fair with the way I dealt with the situation, and I hope they feel the same way.”