IN SHORT: Charles and Mary Garner named Beebe’s top residents
By Sara Greene
Leader staff writer
Normally an outstanding individual gets the Beebe Citizen of the Year award, but this year, the award went to an outstanding volunteer team of two. Charles and Mary Garner were presented with the 2005 Beebe Citizens of the Year Award at the annual Beebe Chamber of Commerce banquet.
“We don’t see why anybody needs an award for doing what they’re supposed to,” said Charles Garner, 84.
“We felt honored. We feel good about what we do,” he said modestly.
The Garners have been married 63 years. They met during high school in Jonesboro. Charles joined the Army Air Corps in 1942 and retired after more than 31 years of service.
They moved to Beebe from Jacksonville more than 20 years ago and got involved helping to run a food bank ministry at their church.
Now the couple volunteers with the non-denominational Beebe Community Outreach program helping deliver food to 38 families in the area.
They stop and visit with the families they serve, and the deliveries usually take up an entire day.
“We stay busy seven days a week,” Charles Garner said.
The Garners have been involved with The Shepherd’s Center of Beebe since its inception five years ago. Both are now board members. They are still actively involved in the classes and activities at the center.
Charles teaches a class on organic gardening, and Mary helps with organizational duties. She pitches in with other volunteers at the center with creating a theme each week and decorating.
Charles laughs when remembering the lesson he got when he taught his first class.
“My first organic gardening class had 11 people, nine ladies, and those ladies were all master gardeners, and there I was, not knowing nothing,” he said.
Charles Garner is chairman of the Wheels That Care program at the center which has about 15 volunteers who drive the elderly to their doctor appointments.
Since January, the program has helped 120 people get to their medical appointments in Searcy and Little Rock.
“The Garners are very handy,” said Paul Ramsey, executive director of The Shepherd’s Center of Beebe. “Anytime they see a need, they just do it. They are most deserving.”
When they aren’t busy volunteering, the Garners enjoy collecting antique bottles and Civil War relics, fishing and gardening.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
SPORTS>> Lookouts split with Stuttgart Sunday
IN SHORT: Legion teams trade blowout victories
By Ray Benton
Leader sports editor
The Lookouts AA team didn’t have a great day Saturday afternoon against Stuttgart, losing 11-4 in seven innings, and giving up seven unearned runs.
“This was the worst we’ve played all season,” Lookout coach Bob Thornton said. He included a 12-1 loss to Searcy in the team’s first week of play.
“Searcy’s a really good team. We just gave this one away.”
Stuttgart scored three earned runs in the first inning, and just one more of its last eight the remainder of the game, including an unearned run in the first that gave the visitors a 4-0 lead after one-half inning.
The Lookouts answered with two runs in the top of the first.
Leadoff hitter Todd Watson singled and two-hole hitter John Mooney doubled him in on the next at bat.
Dusty Thornton and Tyler Thornton walked to load the bases, and Trey Watson singled to score Mooney from third.
Stuttgart scored a run in the second, but the host team scored two in the bottom of the same inning to cut Stuttgart’s margin to one run.
Shawn Robertson singled to lead off and Jared Mathis walked to put two runners on. Two batters later Mooney bounced his second shot off the wall in left-center for a two-RBI double to cut Stuttgart’s lead to 5-4.
It would be the last run the Lookouts would score, while handing over several more runs.
Stuttgart scored once in the third, three times in the fifth and two more in the sixth inning to set the final margin.
Tyler Thornton started and took the loss.
The Lookouts didn’t get a single base hit in the final three innings of the game after picking up seven in the first four innings.
Mooney went 2 for 2 with two doubles and two RBIs, one run scored and one walk.
Robertson went 2 for 3 with a run batter in.
The Lookouts rebounded with a blowout win in the second game against Stuttgart’s A team.
Dusty Thornton pitched the first inning and got the win in just that one inning of work.
Shawn Robertson and Jared Mathis pitched two innings each in relief duty.
Josh Thornton got a home run in the third inning to highlight the game-two victory.
The split makes the Lookouts’ record 4-6 overall. They’ll likely take the rest of the week off after two teams cancelled. Bob Thornton isn’t too upset about the cancellations.
“We’ll get three practices in and we need that right now,” the head coach said. “We looked a lot better in that second game but there’s some things we need to work on.”
By Ray Benton
Leader sports editor
The Lookouts AA team didn’t have a great day Saturday afternoon against Stuttgart, losing 11-4 in seven innings, and giving up seven unearned runs.
“This was the worst we’ve played all season,” Lookout coach Bob Thornton said. He included a 12-1 loss to Searcy in the team’s first week of play.
“Searcy’s a really good team. We just gave this one away.”
Stuttgart scored three earned runs in the first inning, and just one more of its last eight the remainder of the game, including an unearned run in the first that gave the visitors a 4-0 lead after one-half inning.
The Lookouts answered with two runs in the top of the first.
Leadoff hitter Todd Watson singled and two-hole hitter John Mooney doubled him in on the next at bat.
Dusty Thornton and Tyler Thornton walked to load the bases, and Trey Watson singled to score Mooney from third.
Stuttgart scored a run in the second, but the host team scored two in the bottom of the same inning to cut Stuttgart’s margin to one run.
Shawn Robertson singled to lead off and Jared Mathis walked to put two runners on. Two batters later Mooney bounced his second shot off the wall in left-center for a two-RBI double to cut Stuttgart’s lead to 5-4.
It would be the last run the Lookouts would score, while handing over several more runs.
Stuttgart scored once in the third, three times in the fifth and two more in the sixth inning to set the final margin.
Tyler Thornton started and took the loss.
The Lookouts didn’t get a single base hit in the final three innings of the game after picking up seven in the first four innings.
Mooney went 2 for 2 with two doubles and two RBIs, one run scored and one walk.
Robertson went 2 for 3 with a run batter in.
The Lookouts rebounded with a blowout win in the second game against Stuttgart’s A team.
Dusty Thornton pitched the first inning and got the win in just that one inning of work.
Shawn Robertson and Jared Mathis pitched two innings each in relief duty.
Josh Thornton got a home run in the third inning to highlight the game-two victory.
The split makes the Lookouts’ record 4-6 overall. They’ll likely take the rest of the week off after two teams cancelled. Bob Thornton isn’t too upset about the cancellations.
“We’ll get three practices in and we need that right now,” the head coach said. “We looked a lot better in that second game but there’s some things we need to work on.”
SPORT>> Gwatney wins A tourney crown
By Ray Benton
Leader sports editor
Jacksonville’s Gwateny Chevrolet class A American Legion team became the first Gwatney A team to win its annual preseason tournament, beating Benton 10-1 Sunday night to secure the tournament title.
Jacksonville had lost earlier in the tournament to Benton on Friday. They went on to beat North Little Rock on Saturday and Sylvan Hills early Sunday to secure a spot in the championship game on the tiebreaker format.
NLR and Sylvan Hills also went 2-1 in the tournament, but lost the tiebreaker due to head-to-head competition with Jacksonville.
In Sunday night’s championship game, Benton helped Jacksonville early and often throughout the evening. The Sports Shop team committed nine errors and gave up eight unearned runs, playing nothing like the most dominant team of the first tournament through the first three games.
While Benton was kicking the ball around in the field, Jacksonville’s Brian Thurman was making quick work of Benton’s batting order.
Thurman went the five innings and gave up just two hits and no earned runs.
Adam Ussery walked in the second at bat of the first inning. He stole second base and moved to third on an error at shortstop. He then scored on a wild pitch during Zach James’ at bat to give Gwatney a 1-0 lead.
Matt Crane led off the second inning by reaching on an error at third base. Matt Williams singled two batters later and another E5 off the bat of Thurman scored Crane easily.
In the third, Zach Thomas and Zach James were hit in consecutive at bats to start the inning.
Matt Crane got another error at third that scored one run, while Beau Flynn hit a sacrifice grounder to second to score James for Jacksonville’s first earned run of the game.
Benton committed three straight errors on Jacksonville’s first three at bats of the fourth inning. Thurman hit a grounder to short that was bobbled and thrown wildly to first. Leadoff hitter Jake Ussery hit a grounder to first that was kicked and Adam Ussery’s grounder to second was simply missed.
One run scored on Adam Ussery’s at bat, another came in two batters later when James hit a fly ball deep to left field.
That made it 6-0, but Benton finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth after holding Jacksonville score less in the top of the fifth for the first time in the game.
After cutting Gwatney’s lead to 6-1, Jacksonville put together its best inning of the game in the sixth.
The two Ussery’s walked to put runners on first and second with one out. Thomas then singled to left field for one RBI.
Adam Ussery scored two batters later on a wild pitch. James came in on Benton’s fourth error at third base, this time off the bat of Blake Mattison. Another error at second base scored Mattison to set the final margin.
Jacksonville got just three base hits. Benton picked up five.
The A squad played the first game of a class A and AAA doubleheader against Vilonia Tuesday night, and will be back in action at home on Thursday evening.
Leader sports editor
Jacksonville’s Gwateny Chevrolet class A American Legion team became the first Gwatney A team to win its annual preseason tournament, beating Benton 10-1 Sunday night to secure the tournament title.
Jacksonville had lost earlier in the tournament to Benton on Friday. They went on to beat North Little Rock on Saturday and Sylvan Hills early Sunday to secure a spot in the championship game on the tiebreaker format.
NLR and Sylvan Hills also went 2-1 in the tournament, but lost the tiebreaker due to head-to-head competition with Jacksonville.
In Sunday night’s championship game, Benton helped Jacksonville early and often throughout the evening. The Sports Shop team committed nine errors and gave up eight unearned runs, playing nothing like the most dominant team of the first tournament through the first three games.
While Benton was kicking the ball around in the field, Jacksonville’s Brian Thurman was making quick work of Benton’s batting order.
Thurman went the five innings and gave up just two hits and no earned runs.
Adam Ussery walked in the second at bat of the first inning. He stole second base and moved to third on an error at shortstop. He then scored on a wild pitch during Zach James’ at bat to give Gwatney a 1-0 lead.
Matt Crane led off the second inning by reaching on an error at third base. Matt Williams singled two batters later and another E5 off the bat of Thurman scored Crane easily.
In the third, Zach Thomas and Zach James were hit in consecutive at bats to start the inning.
Matt Crane got another error at third that scored one run, while Beau Flynn hit a sacrifice grounder to second to score James for Jacksonville’s first earned run of the game.
Benton committed three straight errors on Jacksonville’s first three at bats of the fourth inning. Thurman hit a grounder to short that was bobbled and thrown wildly to first. Leadoff hitter Jake Ussery hit a grounder to first that was kicked and Adam Ussery’s grounder to second was simply missed.
One run scored on Adam Ussery’s at bat, another came in two batters later when James hit a fly ball deep to left field.
That made it 6-0, but Benton finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth after holding Jacksonville score less in the top of the fifth for the first time in the game.
After cutting Gwatney’s lead to 6-1, Jacksonville put together its best inning of the game in the sixth.
The two Ussery’s walked to put runners on first and second with one out. Thomas then singled to left field for one RBI.
Adam Ussery scored two batters later on a wild pitch. James came in on Benton’s fourth error at third base, this time off the bat of Blake Mattison. Another error at second base scored Mattison to set the final margin.
Jacksonville got just three base hits. Benton picked up five.
The A squad played the first game of a class A and AAA doubleheader against Vilonia Tuesday night, and will be back in action at home on Thursday evening.
TOP STORY>> Farewell to soldier killed in Iraq
IN SHORT: Funeral services here on Monday and last week at Fort Lewis, Wash., honor a fallen young fighter who gave his life for his country.
By Brian Rodriguez
Leader staff writer
A highly decorated 26-year-old Jacksonville soldier was buried Monday in Cabot after memorial services were held at Zion Hill Baptist Church in Cabot and before that at Evergreen Chapel in Fort Lewis, Wash., on Friday.
Army Spec. Phillip Nicholas Sayles, 26, was killed May 28 in Mosul, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his security post. Thirteen other soldiers were wounded, as were numerous Iraqi adults and children.
“I watched him develop as a very special young man who has a special love for God and for his country,” said Royce Lowe, pastor of First Assembly of God in Jacksonville.
“Physically, he was of average size, but he had a big heart and spirit.”
“Nicholas was a caring person. He was a responsible person,” Lowe said. “We will never understand why Nick was taken from us so young. We prayed every week for him in our church services and asked God to protect him.”
Sayles earned numerous awards and badges in the Army, including the Bronze Star and Purple Heart awarded posthumously. He also earned the Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal for Iraq, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal for Iraq, Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Expert Infantryman’s Badge and Sniper Distinction.
Sayles joined the Army as an infantryman and trained to become a sniper before his deployment to Mosul. He worked in the operations section of the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Headquarters, drove and operated computers for the battalion commander in Mosul.
He had pleaded for the chance to get out with an infantry squad, said his former commander, Capt. Bryan Carroll, and he was moved to a job on the line with Bravo Company.
“Nick lived up to every one of my expectations,” Carroll told soldiers and family members at Evergreen Chapel. “Not only was he extremely intelligent, he was a natural leader and a brave soldier. He led from the front, taught, coached, mentored – he looked out for everyone around him.”
Spec. Donald Bergren met Sayles the day they arrived at Fort Lewis to report for duty in September 2002. They were standing in front of the wrong building, trying to find their way.
Bergren, still recovering from the Dec. 21 suicide bombing at a Mosul chow hall that killed 22 people and wounded dozens more, stood with a cane in Ft. Lewis and said Sayles had a sense of humor that could brighten even the worst circumstances.
“It was hard to have a bad day with Nick working next to you,” he said. “Nick always had a smile for a friend, and he was loved by many for it.”
Sayles spent many weekends and holidays with Bergren and his wife and children. Bergren said his friend often said how much he admired their family, and said he hoped to have one of his own some day.
Sayles attended North Pulaski High School and was enrolled in ROTC classes at Jacksonville High School for three years before he graduated from Cabot High School in 1997.
His former youth pastor, Dale Dahl, said Sayles was known for his dependability, excelled in leadership and earned several awards while he was in the ROTC at Jacksonville High School. He was a member of the honor guard and a member of the Elite Saber Team.
“Lowe said he performed the marriage ceremony for Sayles’ parents and had known him all his life.
He remembered Sayles and his brother, Joey, enjoyed playing soldier together when they were young, and that he was a good second-baseman in baseball.
Lowe also remembered a time when Sayles worried several people on a camping trip to Greer Ferry. He got separated from his group and they searched everywhere. He was eventually found rolled up in a quilt, sleeping in their tent.
Funeral services at Zion Hill Baptist Church in Cabot were conducted Monday with Rev. Terry Fortner, Lowe and Dahl officiating. Sayles was buried afterward in Sumner Cemetery in Cabot.
“He made the ultimate sacrifice for our country,” Lowe said. “His love and compassion were big enough to help those who hurt. Nicholas, today we all salute you. We sadly say, Thank you. We are proud of you, and we love you. We do not say goodbye, but we say we’ll see you in a little while.”
His family asked in lieu of flowers that memorials be made to the Nick Sayles ROTC Scholarship Fund at Twin City Bank or Community Bank.
By Brian Rodriguez
Leader staff writer
A highly decorated 26-year-old Jacksonville soldier was buried Monday in Cabot after memorial services were held at Zion Hill Baptist Church in Cabot and before that at Evergreen Chapel in Fort Lewis, Wash., on Friday.
Army Spec. Phillip Nicholas Sayles, 26, was killed May 28 in Mosul, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his security post. Thirteen other soldiers were wounded, as were numerous Iraqi adults and children.
“I watched him develop as a very special young man who has a special love for God and for his country,” said Royce Lowe, pastor of First Assembly of God in Jacksonville.
“Physically, he was of average size, but he had a big heart and spirit.”
“Nicholas was a caring person. He was a responsible person,” Lowe said. “We will never understand why Nick was taken from us so young. We prayed every week for him in our church services and asked God to protect him.”
Sayles earned numerous awards and badges in the Army, including the Bronze Star and Purple Heart awarded posthumously. He also earned the Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal for Iraq, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal for Iraq, Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Expert Infantryman’s Badge and Sniper Distinction.
Sayles joined the Army as an infantryman and trained to become a sniper before his deployment to Mosul. He worked in the operations section of the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Headquarters, drove and operated computers for the battalion commander in Mosul.
He had pleaded for the chance to get out with an infantry squad, said his former commander, Capt. Bryan Carroll, and he was moved to a job on the line with Bravo Company.
“Nick lived up to every one of my expectations,” Carroll told soldiers and family members at Evergreen Chapel. “Not only was he extremely intelligent, he was a natural leader and a brave soldier. He led from the front, taught, coached, mentored – he looked out for everyone around him.”
Spec. Donald Bergren met Sayles the day they arrived at Fort Lewis to report for duty in September 2002. They were standing in front of the wrong building, trying to find their way.
Bergren, still recovering from the Dec. 21 suicide bombing at a Mosul chow hall that killed 22 people and wounded dozens more, stood with a cane in Ft. Lewis and said Sayles had a sense of humor that could brighten even the worst circumstances.
“It was hard to have a bad day with Nick working next to you,” he said. “Nick always had a smile for a friend, and he was loved by many for it.”
Sayles spent many weekends and holidays with Bergren and his wife and children. Bergren said his friend often said how much he admired their family, and said he hoped to have one of his own some day.
Sayles attended North Pulaski High School and was enrolled in ROTC classes at Jacksonville High School for three years before he graduated from Cabot High School in 1997.
His former youth pastor, Dale Dahl, said Sayles was known for his dependability, excelled in leadership and earned several awards while he was in the ROTC at Jacksonville High School. He was a member of the honor guard and a member of the Elite Saber Team.
“Lowe said he performed the marriage ceremony for Sayles’ parents and had known him all his life.
He remembered Sayles and his brother, Joey, enjoyed playing soldier together when they were young, and that he was a good second-baseman in baseball.
Lowe also remembered a time when Sayles worried several people on a camping trip to Greer Ferry. He got separated from his group and they searched everywhere. He was eventually found rolled up in a quilt, sleeping in their tent.
Funeral services at Zion Hill Baptist Church in Cabot were conducted Monday with Rev. Terry Fortner, Lowe and Dahl officiating. Sayles was buried afterward in Sumner Cemetery in Cabot.
“He made the ultimate sacrifice for our country,” Lowe said. “His love and compassion were big enough to help those who hurt. Nicholas, today we all salute you. We sadly say, Thank you. We are proud of you, and we love you. We do not say goodbye, but we say we’ll see you in a little while.”
His family asked in lieu of flowers that memorials be made to the Nick Sayles ROTC Scholarship Fund at Twin City Bank or Community Bank.
TOP STORY>> Matriarch of family is praised
IN SHORT: Funeral today for Ruth Wilson, who touched the lives of many who knew her.
By Sara Greene
Leader staff writer
Funeral services for Ruth Nixon Wilson of Jacksonville will be conducted at 10 a.m. Wednesday at First Presbyterian Church. She passed away in her home Sunday.
She was a faithful member of First Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville and served as the church or-ganist for more than 30 years.
“She was a kind, thoughtful and very gracious lady,” said Alton Johnson, a fellow church member. “She was very dependable. She was always right there and totally committed to her church and family.”
The matriarch of a family prominent in banking and politics, she was born Feb. 25, 1919, in Little Rock to Hugh and Cora Mae McNair Nixon. After graduating from Little Rock High School in 1937, she attended Southwestern College, now Rhodes College, in Memphis.
She transferred to the University of Arkansas, where she graduated in 1941 with a degree in Romance languages. She was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority. She was elected to the honorary academic fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa.
In February 1942, she married Kenneth Pat Wilson. They lived much of their live on land owned by the Nixon family off Military Road.
The Wilsons’ family life revolved around scholastics, church and athletics, according to the 1996 memoir “At Work in the Fields of Commerce and Industry: The Life and Accomplishments of Kenneth Patrick Wilson” by Elizabeth Shores.
Ruth Wilson taught their children Latin during summertime sessions in the living room, and the family rarely missed high school football or basketball games.
“She would drive five miles out to the country and let her boys Mike and Larry play with my younger son Tommy,” said Johnson. “She was really a special person.”
Her relatives remembered her as someone who loved and cared about her family. Her daughter Kathy and grandson Patrick recalled those summertime Latin lessons for the three children when they were just 8, 10 and 12.
Patrick also recalled how she taught her children and grandchildren the importance of reading and learning.
By Sara Greene
Leader staff writer
Funeral services for Ruth Nixon Wilson of Jacksonville will be conducted at 10 a.m. Wednesday at First Presbyterian Church. She passed away in her home Sunday.
She was a faithful member of First Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville and served as the church or-ganist for more than 30 years.
“She was a kind, thoughtful and very gracious lady,” said Alton Johnson, a fellow church member. “She was very dependable. She was always right there and totally committed to her church and family.”
The matriarch of a family prominent in banking and politics, she was born Feb. 25, 1919, in Little Rock to Hugh and Cora Mae McNair Nixon. After graduating from Little Rock High School in 1937, she attended Southwestern College, now Rhodes College, in Memphis.
She transferred to the University of Arkansas, where she graduated in 1941 with a degree in Romance languages. She was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority. She was elected to the honorary academic fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa.
In February 1942, she married Kenneth Pat Wilson. They lived much of their live on land owned by the Nixon family off Military Road.
The Wilsons’ family life revolved around scholastics, church and athletics, according to the 1996 memoir “At Work in the Fields of Commerce and Industry: The Life and Accomplishments of Kenneth Patrick Wilson” by Elizabeth Shores.
Ruth Wilson taught their children Latin during summertime sessions in the living room, and the family rarely missed high school football or basketball games.
“She would drive five miles out to the country and let her boys Mike and Larry play with my younger son Tommy,” said Johnson. “She was really a special person.”
Her relatives remembered her as someone who loved and cared about her family. Her daughter Kathy and grandson Patrick recalled those summertime Latin lessons for the three children when they were just 8, 10 and 12.
Patrick also recalled how she taught her children and grandchildren the importance of reading and learning.
TOP STORY>> Schools to get single-gender classes in fall
By John Hofheimer
Leader staff writer
Adopted last winter with great fanfare, plans to separate Jacksonville’s sixth, seventh and eighth graders by gender for core classes languished in recent months, but the plan is back on track for an August launch, Bishop James Bolden III said Monday.
“For a period of time, the ball had been dropped,” Bolden told Jacksonville Rotary Club members. He represents Jacksonville on the Pulaski County Special School District Board. “I went down and raised heaven,” he told club members.
Jacksonville also will house an alternative school for students who are suspended for several days or expelled. Robert Clowers, interim superintendent, said Mike Nellums will be principal of the alternative school for students north of the Arkansas River, and he may also serve as principal of the boys’ school. That alternative school is likely to be housed in a wing of the boys’ school. Clowers said the alternative school also would help students who were short on credits get back on course.
The single-gender public schools will be the first in the state, according to Bolden, but he said he was unimpressed.
“If I feel it’s flakey, I’ll put it right back on the agenda,” he said.
Among the advertised benefits of the single-gender education are better test scores, fewer discipline problems and—an unexpected consequence—a break from the academic distress designation that the junior high had been on for two years. Clowers said the new configuration of grades and genders would retire the junior high school’s numbers and create a brand new one with a clean academic slate.
NO THEMES
Bolden said the plan to assign themes to the high schools—aeronautics to Jacksonville and hospitality to North Pulaski—would not be implemented this fall.
Several questions—including one by former school board member Pat O’Brien, now Pulaski County/Circuit Clerk—were asked about the current school desegregation status and its consequences as far as Jacksonville getting its own school district.
“I do want Jacksonville to have our own district,” said Bolden, who was a leader of the movement to detach Jacksonville-area schools from Pulaski County a year ago. “I’m starting to get more involved in the desegregation (aspects).”
GENDER SEPARATION
The gender separation idea grew out of the board’s decision to move Jacksonville’s ninth graders from the junior high school to the high school—the way other schools in the district are configured. Marvin Jeter III, assistant superintendent for learning services, championed the single-gender school idea and presided over several public meetings leading to the decision. Bolden said Jeter now was seeking another job and would not be back to guide the program. “Keep on trucking,” Bolden said. “Everyone’s replaceable. The program still goes on.”
Jeter couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Jeter had said grant money would be available to train teachers to teach in single-gender environments, but interim superintendent Clowers, who joined Bolden at the Rotary meeting, said no grant money had been procured, but that the district would pay for it out of its existing teacher-training money.
The teacher training will begin Aug. 11, said Clowers, and would continue throughout the year.
“He’s jumped into this big bowl of gumbo,” said Bolden.
Teachers are now in place to teach at the single-gender schools, located close enough that they will be connected by a covered walkway.
Clowers said James Warren, assistant superintendent for facilities, had said there was money to construct the walkway. That’s good because students must move between the two schools to take electives, which will be coeducational.
Leader staff writer
Adopted last winter with great fanfare, plans to separate Jacksonville’s sixth, seventh and eighth graders by gender for core classes languished in recent months, but the plan is back on track for an August launch, Bishop James Bolden III said Monday.
“For a period of time, the ball had been dropped,” Bolden told Jacksonville Rotary Club members. He represents Jacksonville on the Pulaski County Special School District Board. “I went down and raised heaven,” he told club members.
Jacksonville also will house an alternative school for students who are suspended for several days or expelled. Robert Clowers, interim superintendent, said Mike Nellums will be principal of the alternative school for students north of the Arkansas River, and he may also serve as principal of the boys’ school. That alternative school is likely to be housed in a wing of the boys’ school. Clowers said the alternative school also would help students who were short on credits get back on course.
The single-gender public schools will be the first in the state, according to Bolden, but he said he was unimpressed.
“If I feel it’s flakey, I’ll put it right back on the agenda,” he said.
Among the advertised benefits of the single-gender education are better test scores, fewer discipline problems and—an unexpected consequence—a break from the academic distress designation that the junior high had been on for two years. Clowers said the new configuration of grades and genders would retire the junior high school’s numbers and create a brand new one with a clean academic slate.
NO THEMES
Bolden said the plan to assign themes to the high schools—aeronautics to Jacksonville and hospitality to North Pulaski—would not be implemented this fall.
Several questions—including one by former school board member Pat O’Brien, now Pulaski County/Circuit Clerk—were asked about the current school desegregation status and its consequences as far as Jacksonville getting its own school district.
“I do want Jacksonville to have our own district,” said Bolden, who was a leader of the movement to detach Jacksonville-area schools from Pulaski County a year ago. “I’m starting to get more involved in the desegregation (aspects).”
GENDER SEPARATION
The gender separation idea grew out of the board’s decision to move Jacksonville’s ninth graders from the junior high school to the high school—the way other schools in the district are configured. Marvin Jeter III, assistant superintendent for learning services, championed the single-gender school idea and presided over several public meetings leading to the decision. Bolden said Jeter now was seeking another job and would not be back to guide the program. “Keep on trucking,” Bolden said. “Everyone’s replaceable. The program still goes on.”
Jeter couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Jeter had said grant money would be available to train teachers to teach in single-gender environments, but interim superintendent Clowers, who joined Bolden at the Rotary meeting, said no grant money had been procured, but that the district would pay for it out of its existing teacher-training money.
The teacher training will begin Aug. 11, said Clowers, and would continue throughout the year.
“He’s jumped into this big bowl of gumbo,” said Bolden.
Teachers are now in place to teach at the single-gender schools, located close enough that they will be connected by a covered walkway.
Clowers said James Warren, assistant superintendent for facilities, had said there was money to construct the walkway. That’s good because students must move between the two schools to take electives, which will be coeducational.
TOP STORY>> District sees $3.5M drop for school year
IN SHORT: Miscalculated savings from cutting paid holidays and decline in state aid leave the Pulaski County Special School District short of expectations.
By John Hofheimer
Leader staff writer
Instead of the $11.5 million carryover the Pulaski County Special School District labored to have at the end of the approaching school year, interim Superintendent Robert Clowers now projects only an $8 million fund balance, he told members of the Jacksonville Rotary Club Monday.
The board and administration are attempting to stem the financial hemorrhaging that has increasingly drained district coffers over the past few years, because the district has been dipping into savings to pay its bills. Without a change, it would have been about $5 million in the red by the end of the 2005-2006 school year. As a result, the state Education Department in April designated the district as being in fiscal distress.
The possible consequences of financial distress include annexation with another district, or the possibility that the state could name its own superintendent and dissolve the board.
Led by then-Superintendent Donald Henderson, the board in April made dramatic cuts in spending aimed at reversing the trend and making a plan to rehabilitate its financial circumstances and appease the Education Department.
At that meeting, the board lopped $11.7 million from the proposed 2005-2006 budget of $143 million.
Of that, the board expected to save about $4 million by eliminating all paid holidays from all employees, but John Archetko, the district’s chief financial officer, has reworked the numbers to discover the savings would be closer to $2 million, Clowers said.
In addition, state aid is expected to be about $4 million less than projected earlier, Clowers said, but property tax revenues could be $1.5 million to $2 million greater than a year ago, offsetting some of the shortfall in state aid.
Two weeks ago, Clowers had said he hoped to restore some of the budget cuts, but those hopes were extinguished when the projected $11.7 million fund balance turned out to be closer to $8 million, he said.
“I was hoping we could bring back some holidays,” he said.
The district hand-delivered its plan to get off fiscal distress in April, but Clowers said Monday that the district would submit a revised plan, reflecting the new financial information, within about one week.
“We’re tweaking it,” he said.
The board saved $3.3 million by freezing teacher pay-step increases for experience and continuing education, although the Pulaski Association of Classroom Teachers is trying to get some or all of that reinstated in its current negotiations with the district.
Among other cuts slated for next year are 11 assistant principal positions, the paid holidays and $500,000 in textbook acquisitions.
The board had considered closing Homer Adkins Elementary School to save about $430,000 a year. Clowers said Monday that at least for the next school year, it would remain open as an elementary school.
“Is the union being cooperative?” asked one man.
“I’ll answer that,” said Bishop James Bolden III, Jacksonville’s representative on the school board. “Anytime they ask for money and we’re broke, that’s not cooperative,” he said, then called on state Rep. Will Bond for rebuttal.
“That’s what the union’s supposed to do,” said Bond. “It’s for the board and the superintendent to say no.”
In recent years, the district has spent millions more each year than it receives, depleting its savings to cover the difference. It even spends $10 million a year originally designated to retire school construction bonds and another $14 million dollars in desegregation money from the state.
Archetko has projected ending fund balance for the current fiscal year is $4.9 million, down from about $20 million three years ago according to one board member.
Without carrying the fund balance over and without making cuts, the year-end fund balance next year is projected to be $5.3 million in the red.
Clowers said that Archetko, the interim chief financial officer, had agreed to stay on until the budget process is completed, perhaps another four months.
Clowers himself has not applied for the vacant superintendent job, but said he’d stay on if asked by the board. The application deadline had passed when Clowers was appointed interim chief.
He is fully certified as a school superintendent, he said.
By John Hofheimer
Leader staff writer
Instead of the $11.5 million carryover the Pulaski County Special School District labored to have at the end of the approaching school year, interim Superintendent Robert Clowers now projects only an $8 million fund balance, he told members of the Jacksonville Rotary Club Monday.
The board and administration are attempting to stem the financial hemorrhaging that has increasingly drained district coffers over the past few years, because the district has been dipping into savings to pay its bills. Without a change, it would have been about $5 million in the red by the end of the 2005-2006 school year. As a result, the state Education Department in April designated the district as being in fiscal distress.
The possible consequences of financial distress include annexation with another district, or the possibility that the state could name its own superintendent and dissolve the board.
Led by then-Superintendent Donald Henderson, the board in April made dramatic cuts in spending aimed at reversing the trend and making a plan to rehabilitate its financial circumstances and appease the Education Department.
At that meeting, the board lopped $11.7 million from the proposed 2005-2006 budget of $143 million.
Of that, the board expected to save about $4 million by eliminating all paid holidays from all employees, but John Archetko, the district’s chief financial officer, has reworked the numbers to discover the savings would be closer to $2 million, Clowers said.
In addition, state aid is expected to be about $4 million less than projected earlier, Clowers said, but property tax revenues could be $1.5 million to $2 million greater than a year ago, offsetting some of the shortfall in state aid.
Two weeks ago, Clowers had said he hoped to restore some of the budget cuts, but those hopes were extinguished when the projected $11.7 million fund balance turned out to be closer to $8 million, he said.
“I was hoping we could bring back some holidays,” he said.
The district hand-delivered its plan to get off fiscal distress in April, but Clowers said Monday that the district would submit a revised plan, reflecting the new financial information, within about one week.
“We’re tweaking it,” he said.
The board saved $3.3 million by freezing teacher pay-step increases for experience and continuing education, although the Pulaski Association of Classroom Teachers is trying to get some or all of that reinstated in its current negotiations with the district.
Among other cuts slated for next year are 11 assistant principal positions, the paid holidays and $500,000 in textbook acquisitions.
The board had considered closing Homer Adkins Elementary School to save about $430,000 a year. Clowers said Monday that at least for the next school year, it would remain open as an elementary school.
“Is the union being cooperative?” asked one man.
“I’ll answer that,” said Bishop James Bolden III, Jacksonville’s representative on the school board. “Anytime they ask for money and we’re broke, that’s not cooperative,” he said, then called on state Rep. Will Bond for rebuttal.
“That’s what the union’s supposed to do,” said Bond. “It’s for the board and the superintendent to say no.”
In recent years, the district has spent millions more each year than it receives, depleting its savings to cover the difference. It even spends $10 million a year originally designated to retire school construction bonds and another $14 million dollars in desegregation money from the state.
Archetko has projected ending fund balance for the current fiscal year is $4.9 million, down from about $20 million three years ago according to one board member.
Without carrying the fund balance over and without making cuts, the year-end fund balance next year is projected to be $5.3 million in the red.
Clowers said that Archetko, the interim chief financial officer, had agreed to stay on until the budget process is completed, perhaps another four months.
Clowers himself has not applied for the vacant superintendent job, but said he’d stay on if asked by the board. The application deadline had passed when Clowers was appointed interim chief.
He is fully certified as a school superintendent, he said.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
NEIGHBORS>> Dakota returns from Jerusalem
IN SHORT: Cancer patient is hailed along homecoming route to Cabot
By SARA GREENE
Leader staff writer
Being back home in Cabot is sweeter than ever for the Hawkins family.
They returned Thursday, May 26, from living in Jerusalem for three months for their oldest son Dakota, 14, to undergo leukemia treatment at Hadassah Medical Center. After receiving a cell transplant from his mother, Sharon, and brother, Riley, 12, Dakota is now leukemia-free.
An enthusiastic crowd of friends and relatives gathered at the Little Rock National Airport to welcome the family home. Gasps of surprise erupted from the Hawkins family as they saw the crowd awaiting them in the terminal. Other passengers walking through the terminal glanced at the large group as they hugged and wept.
“We go to church with the Hawkinses at Mt. Carmel and it’s nice to have them back,” said Maghan Slater, holding a “Welcome Home Dakota” sign.
A large group of faculty from Cabot Junior High School North was on hand as well with “CJHS loves the Hawkins family” signs. Dakota’s father, Henry, is an assistant principal at the school.
“It’s so wonderful just to see them again, they all look so good,” said Penny Hawkins, Dakota’s aunt.
When they drove into Cabot, the Hawkins family was given a police escort to their home, and crowds lined up along Hwy. 321 to welcome the motorcade.
“Thanks to all of you who greeted us at the airport and those who made signs and lined up on Hwy. 321 and our road as we came home,” wrote Sharon in the family’s online journal http://www2.caringbridge.org/ar/keepthefaith. “Dakota was so overjoyed at your support. Thank you, Cabot, for all the welcome home signs around town.”
She said the entire family was overwhelmed at the displays of love and support.
“Most of all, thanks to each of you for the prayers of faith, restored health and praying us home,” she wrote.
Dakota is recovering from his treatment and a lung infection. His improvement will be closely monitored during twice weekly clinic visits.
Mindful of Dakota’s recovery, the family is resting and enjoying their return to Cabot.
They spent the weekend visiting with family and friends and eating plenty of American food.
By SARA GREENE
Leader staff writer
Being back home in Cabot is sweeter than ever for the Hawkins family.
They returned Thursday, May 26, from living in Jerusalem for three months for their oldest son Dakota, 14, to undergo leukemia treatment at Hadassah Medical Center. After receiving a cell transplant from his mother, Sharon, and brother, Riley, 12, Dakota is now leukemia-free.
An enthusiastic crowd of friends and relatives gathered at the Little Rock National Airport to welcome the family home. Gasps of surprise erupted from the Hawkins family as they saw the crowd awaiting them in the terminal. Other passengers walking through the terminal glanced at the large group as they hugged and wept.
“We go to church with the Hawkinses at Mt. Carmel and it’s nice to have them back,” said Maghan Slater, holding a “Welcome Home Dakota” sign.
A large group of faculty from Cabot Junior High School North was on hand as well with “CJHS loves the Hawkins family” signs. Dakota’s father, Henry, is an assistant principal at the school.
“It’s so wonderful just to see them again, they all look so good,” said Penny Hawkins, Dakota’s aunt.
When they drove into Cabot, the Hawkins family was given a police escort to their home, and crowds lined up along Hwy. 321 to welcome the motorcade.
“Thanks to all of you who greeted us at the airport and those who made signs and lined up on Hwy. 321 and our road as we came home,” wrote Sharon in the family’s online journal http://www2.caringbridge.org/ar/keepthefaith. “Dakota was so overjoyed at your support. Thank you, Cabot, for all the welcome home signs around town.”
She said the entire family was overwhelmed at the displays of love and support.
“Most of all, thanks to each of you for the prayers of faith, restored health and praying us home,” she wrote.
Dakota is recovering from his treatment and a lung infection. His improvement will be closely monitored during twice weekly clinic visits.
Mindful of Dakota’s recovery, the family is resting and enjoying their return to Cabot.
They spent the weekend visiting with family and friends and eating plenty of American food.
EDITORIAL>> Will Bond for speaker
Call us boosters and homers, but it seems important to us that Rep. Will Bond is elected speaker of the House of Representatives in 2007, a choice that the current House members probably will make tentatively this winter. It means very little of a parochial nature to the community unless Bond turned out to be as grabby with state improvement funds as state Sen. Bob Johnson of Bigelow, but it can mean much to the state of Arkansas.
A profile of the candidates and their fund-raising and political gifts in the Tuesday Arkansas Democrat Gazette provides fresh argument for Bond’s election, if any were needed. Bond’s chief competitor, Rep. Benny Petrus of Stuttgart, raised a whopping $70,000 for his re-election campaign last year, although he ran without opposition.
He explained that he kept raising funds until near the end out of fear that a write-in candidate would run against him. He took much of the cash and passed it around among other House members with races, acquiring chits for his race for speaker. It is an open question whether that is legal under the state ethics law.
Both Petrus and Bond gave money to help another House member pay the medical bills of his son; Petrus gave from his campaign fund, but Bond gave his personal money.
The newspaper article did not raise a more serious ethical problem. Petrus allowed lobbyists for the timber and gambling interests to use his Little Rock apartment during the legislative session as a hospitality suite to wine and dine lawmakers. Perhaps as speaker, Petrus would observe better decorum.
But really the ethical standards of speaker and member should be no different.
Neither should sell his public office or any manifestation of it to private interests.
Who the lawmakers elect speaker will say a lot about the primacy of the public interest in Arkansas. Let us hope that it is Will Bond.
A profile of the candidates and their fund-raising and political gifts in the Tuesday Arkansas Democrat Gazette provides fresh argument for Bond’s election, if any were needed. Bond’s chief competitor, Rep. Benny Petrus of Stuttgart, raised a whopping $70,000 for his re-election campaign last year, although he ran without opposition.
He explained that he kept raising funds until near the end out of fear that a write-in candidate would run against him. He took much of the cash and passed it around among other House members with races, acquiring chits for his race for speaker. It is an open question whether that is legal under the state ethics law.
Both Petrus and Bond gave money to help another House member pay the medical bills of his son; Petrus gave from his campaign fund, but Bond gave his personal money.
The newspaper article did not raise a more serious ethical problem. Petrus allowed lobbyists for the timber and gambling interests to use his Little Rock apartment during the legislative session as a hospitality suite to wine and dine lawmakers. Perhaps as speaker, Petrus would observe better decorum.
But really the ethical standards of speaker and member should be no different.
Neither should sell his public office or any manifestation of it to private interests.
Who the lawmakers elect speaker will say a lot about the primacy of the public interest in Arkansas. Let us hope that it is Will Bond.
SPORTS>> Young making it a hobby
IN SHORT: McRae native building points lead
Beebe’s Jason Young is the man to beat in the Hobby Stock class at Beebe Speedway in 2005. Young holds a very comfortable 40 point lead over closet rival Dennis Fisk in the championship point standings. Young has also won five of the nine feature races held at Beebe so far this year, and has led in all but one feature this season.
This is Young’s fifth season in the Hobby class, and his years of learning the ropes are starting to pay off. Young scored his very first career feature win just last season in 2004.
Much of his ’04 campaign was marred with mechanical failures and less experience than a lot of his competitors. This year is a completely different story altogether. A brand new car for 2005, and a much talked about maturity as a driver has propelled Young into the position of being one of the most feared drivers on the track.
Young belongs to one of the most recognized teams in local racing, the Fox Racing team. Led by Steve Fox and his mother, Carol, the Fox team holds an incredible stable of talent including Young, modified guru Randy Weaver, and hobby class rookie contender Blake Jones. Though Weaver has been the headline grabber for the Fox team in recent years, this season appears to be Young’s time to shine.
“The car has felt really good all season,” Young said. “It really helps when you have a car that runs this well.”
Although some competitors like to hint that the success is all due to the car, anyone who has followed local racing for a number of years remembers a sloppy Jason Young whose inexperience led to collisions and torn up race cars.
That Jason Young is gone, and in his place is an aggressive, precise, and clean driver who can make his car work in any groove on the track, regardless of conditions. Though he now has one of the strongest cars in the field, he also has the talent to match. Young carries more than love of racing to the track every weekend, he also carries the legacy of a fallen friend. Young was best friends with local racing legend Scrapp Fox.
The two discovered racing together in the early nineties, as Young helped his friend turn wrenches on his race car.
“I moved here from Memphis in 1993,” Young recalls, “ Scrapp was the first person I made friends with, so anything that one of us got into, the other was right along with him.” After Scrapp’s death in 2001, Young decided that his friend would want nothing more than for Jason to carry on. “I didn’t know much about cars at first.” Young said. “The more I helped work on the cars, the more I started to learn about handling and setups. When Steve asked me if I wanted to drive the car, I figured it would be a good way to help keep Scrapp’s memory alive.”
Young is more than just a driver to the Fox family, he is almost like family. Aside from his childhood friendship with Scrapp and driving Scrapp’s first race car, Jason also works in the family business at Fox Quality Pools in Beebe.
“I do a little bit of everything there. From running machines to running errands or what have you, just wherever I’m needed.” Young also lives close by, just outside of Beebe with his wife of three years, Kristen.
Though Young’s sights are set on his first track championship in the hobby division this year, he also has his plans for the future figured out as well.
“I really want to try in run in the E-mod class next year.” Young said. “I really hope that class makes it. Maybe they can get their car counts up. It just looks like a lot of fun to run one of those things.”
Jason takes his racing seriously, but also realizes what is truly important when it comes to local racing.
“We’re all like a big family out here. We may get out on the track and beat and bang on each other, but if anyone needs help or ever has any trouble, everyone is always there to help out. This is a big hobby for all of us, so we all want to see each other do well.”
Young has gone from underdog to favorite in less than one year’s time at Beebe Speedway.
Anyone with as much determination and positive outlook on life deserves to be where Jason is now, at the top.
Beebe’s Jason Young is the man to beat in the Hobby Stock class at Beebe Speedway in 2005. Young holds a very comfortable 40 point lead over closet rival Dennis Fisk in the championship point standings. Young has also won five of the nine feature races held at Beebe so far this year, and has led in all but one feature this season.
This is Young’s fifth season in the Hobby class, and his years of learning the ropes are starting to pay off. Young scored his very first career feature win just last season in 2004.
Much of his ’04 campaign was marred with mechanical failures and less experience than a lot of his competitors. This year is a completely different story altogether. A brand new car for 2005, and a much talked about maturity as a driver has propelled Young into the position of being one of the most feared drivers on the track.
Young belongs to one of the most recognized teams in local racing, the Fox Racing team. Led by Steve Fox and his mother, Carol, the Fox team holds an incredible stable of talent including Young, modified guru Randy Weaver, and hobby class rookie contender Blake Jones. Though Weaver has been the headline grabber for the Fox team in recent years, this season appears to be Young’s time to shine.
“The car has felt really good all season,” Young said. “It really helps when you have a car that runs this well.”
Although some competitors like to hint that the success is all due to the car, anyone who has followed local racing for a number of years remembers a sloppy Jason Young whose inexperience led to collisions and torn up race cars.
That Jason Young is gone, and in his place is an aggressive, precise, and clean driver who can make his car work in any groove on the track, regardless of conditions. Though he now has one of the strongest cars in the field, he also has the talent to match. Young carries more than love of racing to the track every weekend, he also carries the legacy of a fallen friend. Young was best friends with local racing legend Scrapp Fox.
The two discovered racing together in the early nineties, as Young helped his friend turn wrenches on his race car.
“I moved here from Memphis in 1993,” Young recalls, “ Scrapp was the first person I made friends with, so anything that one of us got into, the other was right along with him.” After Scrapp’s death in 2001, Young decided that his friend would want nothing more than for Jason to carry on. “I didn’t know much about cars at first.” Young said. “The more I helped work on the cars, the more I started to learn about handling and setups. When Steve asked me if I wanted to drive the car, I figured it would be a good way to help keep Scrapp’s memory alive.”
Young is more than just a driver to the Fox family, he is almost like family. Aside from his childhood friendship with Scrapp and driving Scrapp’s first race car, Jason also works in the family business at Fox Quality Pools in Beebe.
“I do a little bit of everything there. From running machines to running errands or what have you, just wherever I’m needed.” Young also lives close by, just outside of Beebe with his wife of three years, Kristen.
Though Young’s sights are set on his first track championship in the hobby division this year, he also has his plans for the future figured out as well.
“I really want to try in run in the E-mod class next year.” Young said. “I really hope that class makes it. Maybe they can get their car counts up. It just looks like a lot of fun to run one of those things.”
Jason takes his racing seriously, but also realizes what is truly important when it comes to local racing.
“We’re all like a big family out here. We may get out on the track and beat and bang on each other, but if anyone needs help or ever has any trouble, everyone is always there to help out. This is a big hobby for all of us, so we all want to see each other do well.”
Young has gone from underdog to favorite in less than one year’s time at Beebe Speedway.
Anyone with as much determination and positive outlook on life deserves to be where Jason is now, at the top.
SPORTS>> Young making it a hobby
IN SHORT: McRae native building points lead
Beebe’s Jason Young is the man to beat in the Hobby Stock class at Beebe Speedway in 2005. Young holds a very comfortable 40 point lead over closet rival Dennis Fisk in the championship point standings. Young has also won five of the nine feature races held at Beebe so far this year, and has led in all but one feature this season.
This is Young’s fifth season in the Hobby class, and his years of learning the ropes are starting to pay off. Young scored his very first career feature win just last season in 2004.
Much of his ’04 campaign was marred with mechanical failures and less experience than a lot of his competitors. This year is a completely different story altogether. A brand new car for 2005, and a much talked about maturity as a driver has propelled Young into the position of being one of the most feared drivers on the track.
Young belongs to one of the most recognized teams in local racing, the Fox Racing team. Led by Steve Fox and his mother, Carol, the Fox team holds an incredible stable of talent including Young, modified guru Randy Weaver, and hobby class rookie contender Blake Jones. Though Weaver has been the headline grabber for the Fox team in recent years, this season appears to be Young’s time to shine.
“The car has felt really good all season,” Young said. “It really helps when you have a car that runs this well.”
Although some competitors like to hint that the success is all due to the car, anyone who has followed local racing for a number of years remembers a sloppy Jason Young whose inexperience led to collisions and torn up race cars.
That Jason Young is gone, and in his place is an aggressive, precise, and clean driver who can make his car work in any groove on the track, regardless of conditions. Though he now has one of the strongest cars in the field, he also has the talent to match. Young carries more than love of racing to the track every weekend, he also carries the legacy of a fallen friend. Young was best friends with local racing legend Scrapp Fox.
The two discovered racing together in the early nineties, as Young helped his friend turn wrenches on his race car.
“I moved here from Memphis in 1993,” Young recalls, “ Scrapp was the first person I made friends with, so anything that one of us got into, the other was right along with him.” After Scrapp’s death in 2001, Young decided that his friend would want nothing more than for Jason to carry on. “I didn’t know much about cars at first.” Young said. “The more I helped work on the cars, the more I started to learn about handling and setups. When Steve asked me if I wanted to drive the car, I figured it would be a good way to help keep Scrapp’s memory alive.”
Young is more than just a driver to the Fox family, he is almost like family. Aside from his childhood friendship with Scrapp and driving Scrapp’s first race car, Jason also works in the family business at Fox Quality Pools in Beebe.
“I do a little bit of everything there. From running machines to running errands or what have you, just wherever I’m needed.” Young also lives close by, just outside of Beebe with his wife of three years, Kristen.
Though Young’s sights are set on his first track championship in the hobby division this year, he also has his plans for the future figured out as well.
“I really want to try in run in the E-mod class next year.” Young said. “I really hope that class makes it. Maybe they can get their car counts up. It just looks like a lot of fun to run one of those things.”
Jason takes his racing seriously, but also realizes what is truly important when it comes to local racing.
“We’re all like a big family out here. We may get out on the track and beat and bang on each other, but if anyone needs help or ever has any trouble, everyone is always there to help out. This is a big hobby for all of us, so we all want to see each other do well.”
Young has gone from underdog to favorite in less than one year’s time at Beebe Speedway.
Anyone with as much determination and positive outlook on life deserves to be where Jason is now, at the top.
Beebe’s Jason Young is the man to beat in the Hobby Stock class at Beebe Speedway in 2005. Young holds a very comfortable 40 point lead over closet rival Dennis Fisk in the championship point standings. Young has also won five of the nine feature races held at Beebe so far this year, and has led in all but one feature this season.
This is Young’s fifth season in the Hobby class, and his years of learning the ropes are starting to pay off. Young scored his very first career feature win just last season in 2004.
Much of his ’04 campaign was marred with mechanical failures and less experience than a lot of his competitors. This year is a completely different story altogether. A brand new car for 2005, and a much talked about maturity as a driver has propelled Young into the position of being one of the most feared drivers on the track.
Young belongs to one of the most recognized teams in local racing, the Fox Racing team. Led by Steve Fox and his mother, Carol, the Fox team holds an incredible stable of talent including Young, modified guru Randy Weaver, and hobby class rookie contender Blake Jones. Though Weaver has been the headline grabber for the Fox team in recent years, this season appears to be Young’s time to shine.
“The car has felt really good all season,” Young said. “It really helps when you have a car that runs this well.”
Although some competitors like to hint that the success is all due to the car, anyone who has followed local racing for a number of years remembers a sloppy Jason Young whose inexperience led to collisions and torn up race cars.
That Jason Young is gone, and in his place is an aggressive, precise, and clean driver who can make his car work in any groove on the track, regardless of conditions. Though he now has one of the strongest cars in the field, he also has the talent to match. Young carries more than love of racing to the track every weekend, he also carries the legacy of a fallen friend. Young was best friends with local racing legend Scrapp Fox.
The two discovered racing together in the early nineties, as Young helped his friend turn wrenches on his race car.
“I moved here from Memphis in 1993,” Young recalls, “ Scrapp was the first person I made friends with, so anything that one of us got into, the other was right along with him.” After Scrapp’s death in 2001, Young decided that his friend would want nothing more than for Jason to carry on. “I didn’t know much about cars at first.” Young said. “The more I helped work on the cars, the more I started to learn about handling and setups. When Steve asked me if I wanted to drive the car, I figured it would be a good way to help keep Scrapp’s memory alive.”
Young is more than just a driver to the Fox family, he is almost like family. Aside from his childhood friendship with Scrapp and driving Scrapp’s first race car, Jason also works in the family business at Fox Quality Pools in Beebe.
“I do a little bit of everything there. From running machines to running errands or what have you, just wherever I’m needed.” Young also lives close by, just outside of Beebe with his wife of three years, Kristen.
Though Young’s sights are set on his first track championship in the hobby division this year, he also has his plans for the future figured out as well.
“I really want to try in run in the E-mod class next year.” Young said. “I really hope that class makes it. Maybe they can get their car counts up. It just looks like a lot of fun to run one of those things.”
Jason takes his racing seriously, but also realizes what is truly important when it comes to local racing.
“We’re all like a big family out here. We may get out on the track and beat and bang on each other, but if anyone needs help or ever has any trouble, everyone is always there to help out. This is a big hobby for all of us, so we all want to see each other do well.”
Young has gone from underdog to favorite in less than one year’s time at Beebe Speedway.
Anyone with as much determination and positive outlook on life deserves to be where Jason is now, at the top.
SPORTS>> Gwatney secures rematch for title
IN SHORT: Jacksonville class A team beats Benton and Conway Monday
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Jacksonville class A American Legion team earned a trip to the championship game of the North Little Rock Memorial weekend tournament. The young Gwatney team lost its opening game, but won its next two to advance to Tuesday night’s title game against Maumelle.
Maumelle was the team that beat Jacksonville in the tournament opener, but wins Monday against Benton and Conway got Jacksonville a rematch.
Two teams backed out of the tournament when rain canceled play on Sunday, helping pave the way for Jacksonville’s comeback. But winning twice, once against a team it had lost to the week before, still impressed Gwatney coach Travis Lyda.
“We lost 12-1 to Conway last week, and these kids played like that game never happened,” Lyda said. “They were focused and they had some confidence from beating Benton earlier in the day.”
Jordan Payer, the same pitcher that took the loss to Conway last week, got the 6-1 win on the mound Monday. He worked out of trouble in the very first inning, then worked with a lead the rest of the way after Jacksonville put up three runs in the bottom of the first.
Conway opened with a leadoff double, but Payer got a strikeout, a fielder’s choice grounder and another K to close the door on the rally.
“They got some hits off of him, but he worked out of trouble every time,” Lyda said. “He’d get a strikeout or we’d turn a double play every time they’d make a threat. He threw a great game.”
Jacksonville responded with two walks to open up the bottom half of the inning. Jake and Adam Ussery each got free passes. Tyler Uptergrove hit into a fielder’s choice that left runners on first and third. Zach James then got an RBI double to centerfield. Scott Bolen followed with an RBI single and Zach Thomas hit a sacrifice fly to score James for a 3-0 Jacksonville lead.
Both teams added a run in the second, and James closed out the scoring with a two-RBI single in the bottom of the fourth that scored Adam Ussery and Uptergrove to set the final margin.
James went 2 for 3 with three RBIs to lead the offensive attack.
Earlier in the day, Jacksonville beat Benton 3-1, scoring one run in the first and two in the second inning. That was all the runs pitcher Brian Thurman needed. Thurman gave up one earned run while holding Benton Sports Shop to just two base hits in seven innings.
The win ran Gwatney’s record to 3-2 on the season. They lost 5-0 to Maumelle on Saturday. They will be back in action this weekend, hosting their own A tournament at Dupree Park.
Look for information on that tournament, as well as Tuesday’s championship matchup with Maumelle in Saturday’s edition of the Leader.
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Jacksonville class A American Legion team earned a trip to the championship game of the North Little Rock Memorial weekend tournament. The young Gwatney team lost its opening game, but won its next two to advance to Tuesday night’s title game against Maumelle.
Maumelle was the team that beat Jacksonville in the tournament opener, but wins Monday against Benton and Conway got Jacksonville a rematch.
Two teams backed out of the tournament when rain canceled play on Sunday, helping pave the way for Jacksonville’s comeback. But winning twice, once against a team it had lost to the week before, still impressed Gwatney coach Travis Lyda.
“We lost 12-1 to Conway last week, and these kids played like that game never happened,” Lyda said. “They were focused and they had some confidence from beating Benton earlier in the day.”
Jordan Payer, the same pitcher that took the loss to Conway last week, got the 6-1 win on the mound Monday. He worked out of trouble in the very first inning, then worked with a lead the rest of the way after Jacksonville put up three runs in the bottom of the first.
Conway opened with a leadoff double, but Payer got a strikeout, a fielder’s choice grounder and another K to close the door on the rally.
“They got some hits off of him, but he worked out of trouble every time,” Lyda said. “He’d get a strikeout or we’d turn a double play every time they’d make a threat. He threw a great game.”
Jacksonville responded with two walks to open up the bottom half of the inning. Jake and Adam Ussery each got free passes. Tyler Uptergrove hit into a fielder’s choice that left runners on first and third. Zach James then got an RBI double to centerfield. Scott Bolen followed with an RBI single and Zach Thomas hit a sacrifice fly to score James for a 3-0 Jacksonville lead.
Both teams added a run in the second, and James closed out the scoring with a two-RBI single in the bottom of the fourth that scored Adam Ussery and Uptergrove to set the final margin.
James went 2 for 3 with three RBIs to lead the offensive attack.
Earlier in the day, Jacksonville beat Benton 3-1, scoring one run in the first and two in the second inning. That was all the runs pitcher Brian Thurman needed. Thurman gave up one earned run while holding Benton Sports Shop to just two base hits in seven innings.
The win ran Gwatney’s record to 3-2 on the season. They lost 5-0 to Maumelle on Saturday. They will be back in action this weekend, hosting their own A tournament at Dupree Park.
Look for information on that tournament, as well as Tuesday’s championship matchup with Maumelle in Saturday’s edition of the Leader.
TOP STORY>> Schools may see benefits from base growth
IN SHORT: Despite privatization of base housing and the expected influx of nearly 4,000 more people at LRAFB, districts find financial gains uncertain.
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
It’s too early to predict the effect 4,000 new Little Rock Air Force Base jobs could have on the Pulaski County Special School District or neighboring districts over the next six years, but not too early to recognize the givens and the unknowns in the equation, according to John Archetko, acting chief financial officer for the district.
Complicating any early forecasting is the unknown effect the privatization, renovation and new construction of airbase housing will have upon county and school district coffers, Archetko said last week. Privatization, begun last August, is also slated for completion over the next six years.
Pulaski County Special School District receives a certain amount of federal impact aid for children who live on the base, a lesser amount for students or whose parents work—but don’t live—on base, according to Archetko.
For the 2004 school year, the district received $483,000 in federal impact aid for about 1,000 students.
For 2005, the district projects aid of $290,800 for about 780 students.
About 230 fewer students resided on base.
“At this point all I can say is obviously the change in status there and any expansion will have some impact on our impact aid,” he said.
Lonoke Superintendent Sharron Havens said Tuesday that she didn’t know off hand how many children of Air Force Base employees currently attend her district. “We have quite a few students who live between Furlow and Jacksonville on Hwy. 89.
“I have no idea what the impact will be on our district,” she said.
Officials from the Beebe and Cabot school districts did not return calls Tuesday.
Here are some considerations, according to Archetko:
- No one is certain how many school-aged children will accompany parents if the new jobs materialize.
- Of those children, there is no way to estimate how many will attend Pulaski County Special School District schools, or how many will attend Little Rock, North Little Rock, Cabot, Beebe or other schools, public or private.
- The number of airmen living on base is unlikely to increase much, with the number of on-base housing units limited to about 1,200, so federal impact aid for most new students attending the Pulaski district schools will be figured at the reduced rate—one-fifth the compensation for students whose parents live on base.
Other districts schooling children of the expected new jobs presumably also would be compensated at the reduced rate, since none of them would be living on base.
So the amount of new impact revenue to any particular district is unknowable right now.
Another problem in predicting and preparing: “We don’t know the (age and grade) distribution,” said Archetko. “Will it require new classrooms or new teachers?
“There are a lot of interrelationships that take place,” he said. “New students could be spread across 12 grade levels. Or we may get a whole slew of 5-year-olds and need an-other kindergarten class.”
If the new jobs result in construction of new houses, the district’s property-tax base—and thus revenue—would increase.
Independent of all this, says Archetko, is the $5,400 per student minimum state aid that follows the student from district to district.
If 4,000 new employees brought say 1,000 new students, it would mean $5.4 million a year in minimum foundation aid, divided by the districts according to the number of students living in their district.
Because base housing has been sold to American Eagle Com-munities, federal impact fees should diminish, while the company will be paying county property taxes. American Eagle bought the houses last August but so far, Pulaski County Assessor Janet Troutman Ward’s office has not appraised or accessed any of them—and property taxes in Arkansas are paid a year in arrears.
Adding to the uncertainty, Ward has declined to speculate on the value of the remodeled and new houses to be built on the base, saying that would be voodoo economics.
If the properties were appraised now, the district would receive no new revenues until 2006 or 2007, Archetko calculates.
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
It’s too early to predict the effect 4,000 new Little Rock Air Force Base jobs could have on the Pulaski County Special School District or neighboring districts over the next six years, but not too early to recognize the givens and the unknowns in the equation, according to John Archetko, acting chief financial officer for the district.
Complicating any early forecasting is the unknown effect the privatization, renovation and new construction of airbase housing will have upon county and school district coffers, Archetko said last week. Privatization, begun last August, is also slated for completion over the next six years.
Pulaski County Special School District receives a certain amount of federal impact aid for children who live on the base, a lesser amount for students or whose parents work—but don’t live—on base, according to Archetko.
For the 2004 school year, the district received $483,000 in federal impact aid for about 1,000 students.
For 2005, the district projects aid of $290,800 for about 780 students.
About 230 fewer students resided on base.
“At this point all I can say is obviously the change in status there and any expansion will have some impact on our impact aid,” he said.
Lonoke Superintendent Sharron Havens said Tuesday that she didn’t know off hand how many children of Air Force Base employees currently attend her district. “We have quite a few students who live between Furlow and Jacksonville on Hwy. 89.
“I have no idea what the impact will be on our district,” she said.
Officials from the Beebe and Cabot school districts did not return calls Tuesday.
Here are some considerations, according to Archetko:
- No one is certain how many school-aged children will accompany parents if the new jobs materialize.
- Of those children, there is no way to estimate how many will attend Pulaski County Special School District schools, or how many will attend Little Rock, North Little Rock, Cabot, Beebe or other schools, public or private.
- The number of airmen living on base is unlikely to increase much, with the number of on-base housing units limited to about 1,200, so federal impact aid for most new students attending the Pulaski district schools will be figured at the reduced rate—one-fifth the compensation for students whose parents live on base.
Other districts schooling children of the expected new jobs presumably also would be compensated at the reduced rate, since none of them would be living on base.
So the amount of new impact revenue to any particular district is unknowable right now.
Another problem in predicting and preparing: “We don’t know the (age and grade) distribution,” said Archetko. “Will it require new classrooms or new teachers?
“There are a lot of interrelationships that take place,” he said. “New students could be spread across 12 grade levels. Or we may get a whole slew of 5-year-olds and need an-other kindergarten class.”
If the new jobs result in construction of new houses, the district’s property-tax base—and thus revenue—would increase.
Independent of all this, says Archetko, is the $5,400 per student minimum state aid that follows the student from district to district.
If 4,000 new employees brought say 1,000 new students, it would mean $5.4 million a year in minimum foundation aid, divided by the districts according to the number of students living in their district.
Because base housing has been sold to American Eagle Com-munities, federal impact fees should diminish, while the company will be paying county property taxes. American Eagle bought the houses last August but so far, Pulaski County Assessor Janet Troutman Ward’s office has not appraised or accessed any of them—and property taxes in Arkansas are paid a year in arrears.
Adding to the uncertainty, Ward has declined to speculate on the value of the remodeled and new houses to be built on the base, saying that would be voodoo economics.
If the properties were appraised now, the district would receive no new revenues until 2006 or 2007, Archetko calculates.
TOP STORY>> Upscale apartments planned at Greystone
IN SHORT: Cabot is set to annex an area across from the expensive subdivision, which would also see new commercial development, including possibly a new grocery store.
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
Cabot could soon be getting a housing development like none it has seen before.
A Little Rock company, Orion Capital Partners, has bought 50 acres across from Greystone, the city’s upscale golf course subdivision, and will build apartments that will not detract from the exclusive neighborhood.
Brock Martin, with Orion Capital Partners, said this week that some of his tenants will likely be connected in some way to Little Rock Air Force Base, but many will likely be permanent Cabot residents who simply need a temporary home.
“I predict that we will have a number of people who’ll rent from us while they build their houses at Greystone,” he said.
Martin said the apartments will have nine-foot ceilings with crown molding and covered parking. The complex also will include a fitness center and a common area with computers that Martin said he likes to call a homework center.
Some of the property will be set aside for commercial use. Brock said he had spoken with Bill Minton and Jack King, Greystone developers, about what the residents in the area need, and the consensus is that a grocery store is what is needed most.
It has not been decided how many apartments will be built in the first phase of development of the property.
“We’re doing our market research now,” he said.
The company has apartments like the ones it intends to build in Cabot in Little Rock and northwest Arkansas.
Cabot Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh confirmed Tuesday that he talked with Martin a month ago about the subdivision. He said his only concern is that the spot on Hwy. 5 where the entrance will likely be located already is one of the most dangerous in the area. And more traffic will make it even more dangerous, he said.
Stumbaugh says a traffic light is needed there, and the developers will likely have to pay at least part of the cost of installing one.
The property is not currently inside Cabot city limits, but it is on the agenda for the planning commission meeting next Tuesday to start the annexation process.
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
Cabot could soon be getting a housing development like none it has seen before.
A Little Rock company, Orion Capital Partners, has bought 50 acres across from Greystone, the city’s upscale golf course subdivision, and will build apartments that will not detract from the exclusive neighborhood.
Brock Martin, with Orion Capital Partners, said this week that some of his tenants will likely be connected in some way to Little Rock Air Force Base, but many will likely be permanent Cabot residents who simply need a temporary home.
“I predict that we will have a number of people who’ll rent from us while they build their houses at Greystone,” he said.
Martin said the apartments will have nine-foot ceilings with crown molding and covered parking. The complex also will include a fitness center and a common area with computers that Martin said he likes to call a homework center.
Some of the property will be set aside for commercial use. Brock said he had spoken with Bill Minton and Jack King, Greystone developers, about what the residents in the area need, and the consensus is that a grocery store is what is needed most.
It has not been decided how many apartments will be built in the first phase of development of the property.
“We’re doing our market research now,” he said.
The company has apartments like the ones it intends to build in Cabot in Little Rock and northwest Arkansas.
Cabot Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh confirmed Tuesday that he talked with Martin a month ago about the subdivision. He said his only concern is that the spot on Hwy. 5 where the entrance will likely be located already is one of the most dangerous in the area. And more traffic will make it even more dangerous, he said.
Stumbaugh says a traffic light is needed there, and the developers will likely have to pay at least part of the cost of installing one.
The property is not currently inside Cabot city limits, but it is on the agenda for the planning commission meeting next Tuesday to start the annexation process.
TOP STORY>> Upscale apartments planned at Greystone
IN SHORT: Cabot is set to annex an area across from the expensive subdivision, which would also see new commercial development, including possibly a new grocery store.
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
Cabot could soon be getting a housing development like none it has seen before.
A Little Rock company, Orion Capital Partners, has bought 50 acres across from Greystone, the city’s upscale golf course subdivision, and will build apartments that will not detract from the exclusive neighborhood.
Brock Martin, with Orion Capital Partners, said this week that some of his tenants will likely be connected in some way to Little Rock Air Force Base, but many will likely be permanent Cabot residents who simply need a temporary home.
“I predict that we will have a number of people who’ll rent from us while they build their houses at Greystone,” he said.
Martin said the apartments will have nine-foot ceilings with crown molding and covered parking. The complex also will include a fitness center and a common area with computers that Martin said he likes to call a homework center.
Some of the property will be set aside for commercial use. Brock said he had spoken with Bill Minton and Jack King, Greystone developers, about what the residents in the area need, and the consensus is that a grocery store is what is needed most.
It has not been decided how many apartments will be built in the first phase of development of the property.
“We’re doing our market re-search now,” he said.
The company has apartments like the ones it intends to build in Cabot in Little Rock and northwest Arkansas.
Cabot Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh confirmed Tuesday that he talked with Martin a month ago about the subdivision. He said his only concern is that the spot on Hwy. 5 where the entrance will likely be located already is one of the most dangerous in the area. And more traffic will make it even more dangerous, he said.
Stumbaugh says a traffic light is needed there, and the developers will likely have to pay at least part of the cost of installing one.
The property is not currently inside Cabot city limits, but it is on the agenda for the planning commission meeting next Tuesday to start the annexation process.
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
Cabot could soon be getting a housing development like none it has seen before.
A Little Rock company, Orion Capital Partners, has bought 50 acres across from Greystone, the city’s upscale golf course subdivision, and will build apartments that will not detract from the exclusive neighborhood.
Brock Martin, with Orion Capital Partners, said this week that some of his tenants will likely be connected in some way to Little Rock Air Force Base, but many will likely be permanent Cabot residents who simply need a temporary home.
“I predict that we will have a number of people who’ll rent from us while they build their houses at Greystone,” he said.
Martin said the apartments will have nine-foot ceilings with crown molding and covered parking. The complex also will include a fitness center and a common area with computers that Martin said he likes to call a homework center.
Some of the property will be set aside for commercial use. Brock said he had spoken with Bill Minton and Jack King, Greystone developers, about what the residents in the area need, and the consensus is that a grocery store is what is needed most.
It has not been decided how many apartments will be built in the first phase of development of the property.
“We’re doing our market re-search now,” he said.
The company has apartments like the ones it intends to build in Cabot in Little Rock and northwest Arkansas.
Cabot Mayor Stubby Stumbaugh confirmed Tuesday that he talked with Martin a month ago about the subdivision. He said his only concern is that the spot on Hwy. 5 where the entrance will likely be located already is one of the most dangerous in the area. And more traffic will make it even more dangerous, he said.
Stumbaugh says a traffic light is needed there, and the developers will likely have to pay at least part of the cost of installing one.
The property is not currently inside Cabot city limits, but it is on the agenda for the planning commission meeting next Tuesday to start the annexation process.
TOP STORY>> Hawkins taken to hospital
IN SHORT: Cabot youngster is admitted to Arkansas Children’s soon after his return from Jerusalem.
By SARA GREENE
Leader staff writer
Dakota Hawkins, 14, of Cabot, is recovering in Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, after being taken to the emergency room on Monday. He woke up vomiting and complaining of abdominal pain. He is being treated for high liver enzymes.
On Tuesday, Dakota’s mother, Sharon Hawkins, wrote in the family’s online journal
http://www2.caringbridge.org/ar/keep-thefaith
that he seems to be feeling better. He woke up hungry Tuesday morning after a day of not eating.
“We need your continued prayers and appreciate your praises of giving the deserved glory to God for our many answered prayers,” wrote Sharon.
The Hawkins family returned to Little Rock National Airport last Thursday after living in Jerusalem for three months for Dakota to undergo leukemia treatment at Hadassah Medical Center.
After receiving a cell transplant from his mother, Sharon, and brother, Riley, 12, Dakota is now leukemia-free, but is still recovering from the transplants and fungal lung infection. The family is calling Dakota’s battle with leukemia a “Journey of Faith.”
The journey began when the youth was diagnosed with leukemia in December 2002. Dakota underwent five months of intense chemotherapy at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock and went into remission, but relapsed in October 2003.
He received a bone-marrow-transplant from his younger brother Riley in February 2004, but his leukemia returned in late November.
In February 2005, while at the M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston for additional treatments and therapy, the Hawkins family learned of Dr. Shimon Slavin, who offered the family innovative new approaches in cell therapy and leukemia treatment not available in America.
Community fundraising efforts helped the family raise $127,000 within two weeks to cover treatment costs and the family flew to Israel.
Dakota will continue post-transplant cell therapy to prevent the leukemia from coming back.
The family plans to take Dakota back to Israel for a second treatment. His physician plans to infuse Dakota with natural killer cells from both parents.
These cells are often called the human body’s first line of defense against mutant and virus cells such as cancer.
By SARA GREENE
Leader staff writer
Dakota Hawkins, 14, of Cabot, is recovering in Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, after being taken to the emergency room on Monday. He woke up vomiting and complaining of abdominal pain. He is being treated for high liver enzymes.
On Tuesday, Dakota’s mother, Sharon Hawkins, wrote in the family’s online journal
http://www2.caringbridge.org/ar/keep-thefaith
that he seems to be feeling better. He woke up hungry Tuesday morning after a day of not eating.
“We need your continued prayers and appreciate your praises of giving the deserved glory to God for our many answered prayers,” wrote Sharon.
The Hawkins family returned to Little Rock National Airport last Thursday after living in Jerusalem for three months for Dakota to undergo leukemia treatment at Hadassah Medical Center.
After receiving a cell transplant from his mother, Sharon, and brother, Riley, 12, Dakota is now leukemia-free, but is still recovering from the transplants and fungal lung infection. The family is calling Dakota’s battle with leukemia a “Journey of Faith.”
The journey began when the youth was diagnosed with leukemia in December 2002. Dakota underwent five months of intense chemotherapy at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock and went into remission, but relapsed in October 2003.
He received a bone-marrow-transplant from his younger brother Riley in February 2004, but his leukemia returned in late November.
In February 2005, while at the M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston for additional treatments and therapy, the Hawkins family learned of Dr. Shimon Slavin, who offered the family innovative new approaches in cell therapy and leukemia treatment not available in America.
Community fundraising efforts helped the family raise $127,000 within two weeks to cover treatment costs and the family flew to Israel.
Dakota will continue post-transplant cell therapy to prevent the leukemia from coming back.
The family plans to take Dakota back to Israel for a second treatment. His physician plans to infuse Dakota with natural killer cells from both parents.
These cells are often called the human body’s first line of defense against mutant and virus cells such as cancer.
TOP STORY>> Soldiers who fell in Iraq praised
IN SHORT: Two service members from Jacksonville are killed within a week, along with another soldier from Van Buren.
By BRIAN RODRIGUEZ
Leader staff writer
A Jacksonville soldier, remembered as a quiet man who just did his job, was killed Saturday in Mosul, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his security position.
Army Spec. Phillip Nick Sayles, 26, of Jacksonville was killed when a roadside bomb was detonated near where he was helping check for weapons in three cars that American troops had stopped. The explosion killed Sayles and wounded 13 other soldiers and eight Iraqi civilians. Three of the civilians were children under 10 years of age.
Sayles attended North Pulaski High School and was active in the Jacksonville High School ROTC program through a PCSSD agreement that allowed students to participate in programs on other campuses that were not available at their own schools.
“I got some really good students through the agreement, and of course Nick was one of those,” said retired Maj. Bob Jones, who taught at JHS. “Nick was a quiet young man. He simply got the job done that he was tasked to do. He was a good kid. He knew what he wanted to do and he did it.”
Jones said Sayles was a very effective member of the cadet program, a scholastic simulation of military life.
“It’s a hands-on program where you don’t sit in the class and spout theory,” Jones said.
Sayles was responsible for teaching younger cadets under the guidance of ROTC instructors before his senior year, when he transferred to Cabot High School.
“It was a good program, and Nick was definitely a good asset to that program,” Jones said.
Sayles graduated from Cabot High School in 1997 and joined the Army. He was assigned to the Army’s 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash., before he was sent overseas to support Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“He was a credit, not only to my program, but to his family,” Jones said. “I’m very grateful to Nick’s family for letting me borrow him for that time. My heart absolutely grieves with his family, and my prayers are with his family.”
Jones said Sayles gave his life for freedom, a concept so intangible that most people don’t appreciate it, and he hopes that his family realizes what his contribution means.
“Hopefully one day,” he said, “when the grief is not so heavy on them, they’ll understand that too.”
Sayles is the 35th serviceman with Arkansas ties to die in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and was the second soldier killed with Jacksonville ties within a week.
Army Spec. Tyler Loren Creamean, 21, of Jacksonville, died May 22 in Mosul after an improvised explosive device went off near his Humvee.
According to reports, he and 1st Lt. Aaron N. Seesan, 25, of Massillon, Ohio, who also died in the explosion, kept telling medical personnel to see to each other and to a third soldier in the Humvee who survived.
“That didn’t surprise me at all. That does not surprise me,” said Mary Coop, an oral communications teacher at Jacksonville High School. “He turned into a great young man, a wonderful young man.”
People who knew him did not see his role searching for roadside bombs as a surprise either.
“I could see him being out there and doing that,” said Jessica Jensen, who knew Creamean since he was about 14. “Tyler likes to be where the action is and where the excitement is.”
“I know he was responsible and whatever he signed up for he would do that job responsibly,” Coop said, “whatever it took.”
Jensen said she met Creamean one summer when she was working as a lifeguard at the recreation center in Jacksonville.
He spent half the summer in “time out” under her chair for causing mischief, she said.
“He would do something and you’d want to get mad at him, but you’d just want to laugh,” she said. “He ended up being one of my dearest and closest friends.”
Creamean joined her the next summer as a lifeguard. Jensen said it was odd to see the size difference between him and the people he dove in to save, but said she had full confidence in him.
“He was so skinny, so little…Whenever he would make a save it was just comical,” she said. “He did it right. He was a great lifeguard and a great person.”
Coop said he was also a mischievous student, but never got into any trouble.
“He was the type of student who each teacher would wish it was legal to tie him to his chair and tape his mouth shut,” Coop said jokingly.
“He did not have a mean bone in his body, he was just the type of student who drove you crazy.”
She would get frustrated with his antics, she said, but she couldn’t stay mad at him because he would do something funny.
“He just knew how to make people feel at ease, and if something needed to have a laugh, he would provide it,” she said. “I’m really gonna miss him.”
“He just always wanted to make light of every situation,” Jensen said, “and sometimes school wasn’t that way.”
Creamean left Jacksonville High School after his sophomore year and joined the Youth Challenge, a 22-week program sponsored by the Arkansas National Guard.
He graduated from the program and earned the spirit award before joining the Army in April 2003.
He was stationed at Fort Lewis in August, was sent to Mosul on Nov. 1, and earned his first purple heart in mid-December.
He returned to the United States on leave for his birthday on Feb. 24 and married his girlfriend, KaMisha Hickman, that day.
He earned his second purple heart for a head injury on March 3, the day he returned to active duty. Creamean, who had conducted more than 600 patrols, will receive a third purple heart posthumously for the explosion that took his life.
By BRIAN RODRIGUEZ
Leader staff writer
A Jacksonville soldier, remembered as a quiet man who just did his job, was killed Saturday in Mosul, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his security position.
Army Spec. Phillip Nick Sayles, 26, of Jacksonville was killed when a roadside bomb was detonated near where he was helping check for weapons in three cars that American troops had stopped. The explosion killed Sayles and wounded 13 other soldiers and eight Iraqi civilians. Three of the civilians were children under 10 years of age.
Sayles attended North Pulaski High School and was active in the Jacksonville High School ROTC program through a PCSSD agreement that allowed students to participate in programs on other campuses that were not available at their own schools.
“I got some really good students through the agreement, and of course Nick was one of those,” said retired Maj. Bob Jones, who taught at JHS. “Nick was a quiet young man. He simply got the job done that he was tasked to do. He was a good kid. He knew what he wanted to do and he did it.”
Jones said Sayles was a very effective member of the cadet program, a scholastic simulation of military life.
“It’s a hands-on program where you don’t sit in the class and spout theory,” Jones said.
Sayles was responsible for teaching younger cadets under the guidance of ROTC instructors before his senior year, when he transferred to Cabot High School.
“It was a good program, and Nick was definitely a good asset to that program,” Jones said.
Sayles graduated from Cabot High School in 1997 and joined the Army. He was assigned to the Army’s 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash., before he was sent overseas to support Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“He was a credit, not only to my program, but to his family,” Jones said. “I’m very grateful to Nick’s family for letting me borrow him for that time. My heart absolutely grieves with his family, and my prayers are with his family.”
Jones said Sayles gave his life for freedom, a concept so intangible that most people don’t appreciate it, and he hopes that his family realizes what his contribution means.
“Hopefully one day,” he said, “when the grief is not so heavy on them, they’ll understand that too.”
Sayles is the 35th serviceman with Arkansas ties to die in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and was the second soldier killed with Jacksonville ties within a week.
Army Spec. Tyler Loren Creamean, 21, of Jacksonville, died May 22 in Mosul after an improvised explosive device went off near his Humvee.
According to reports, he and 1st Lt. Aaron N. Seesan, 25, of Massillon, Ohio, who also died in the explosion, kept telling medical personnel to see to each other and to a third soldier in the Humvee who survived.
“That didn’t surprise me at all. That does not surprise me,” said Mary Coop, an oral communications teacher at Jacksonville High School. “He turned into a great young man, a wonderful young man.”
People who knew him did not see his role searching for roadside bombs as a surprise either.
“I could see him being out there and doing that,” said Jessica Jensen, who knew Creamean since he was about 14. “Tyler likes to be where the action is and where the excitement is.”
“I know he was responsible and whatever he signed up for he would do that job responsibly,” Coop said, “whatever it took.”
Jensen said she met Creamean one summer when she was working as a lifeguard at the recreation center in Jacksonville.
He spent half the summer in “time out” under her chair for causing mischief, she said.
“He would do something and you’d want to get mad at him, but you’d just want to laugh,” she said. “He ended up being one of my dearest and closest friends.”
Creamean joined her the next summer as a lifeguard. Jensen said it was odd to see the size difference between him and the people he dove in to save, but said she had full confidence in him.
“He was so skinny, so little…Whenever he would make a save it was just comical,” she said. “He did it right. He was a great lifeguard and a great person.”
Coop said he was also a mischievous student, but never got into any trouble.
“He was the type of student who each teacher would wish it was legal to tie him to his chair and tape his mouth shut,” Coop said jokingly.
“He did not have a mean bone in his body, he was just the type of student who drove you crazy.”
She would get frustrated with his antics, she said, but she couldn’t stay mad at him because he would do something funny.
“He just knew how to make people feel at ease, and if something needed to have a laugh, he would provide it,” she said. “I’m really gonna miss him.”
“He just always wanted to make light of every situation,” Jensen said, “and sometimes school wasn’t that way.”
Creamean left Jacksonville High School after his sophomore year and joined the Youth Challenge, a 22-week program sponsored by the Arkansas National Guard.
He graduated from the program and earned the spirit award before joining the Army in April 2003.
He was stationed at Fort Lewis in August, was sent to Mosul on Nov. 1, and earned his first purple heart in mid-December.
He returned to the United States on leave for his birthday on Feb. 24 and married his girlfriend, KaMisha Hickman, that day.
He earned his second purple heart for a head injury on March 3, the day he returned to active duty. Creamean, who had conducted more than 600 patrols, will receive a third purple heart posthumously for the explosion that took his life.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
EDITORIAL>> Missing Mr. Smith
Pining for the good old days of vigilant government is not always misplaced nostalgia.
For a half-century, you could count on the state of Arkansas to protect people, particularly the unwary, from loan sharks.
Arkansas had the toughest usury law in the land — even a mite over 10 percent interest was unlawful — and every time a lender would concoct a way to skirt the constitutional limit, the Arkansas Supreme Court would strike it down and order the lender to double the borrower’s money back.
That happened for the nearly 50 years that Justice George Rose Smith was on the court. He usually delivered the court’s stern opinion, which was that whatever clever name you called a lending fee, it was interest.
Justice Smith has been gone for more than a decade, and the state is a haven for predatory lenders. Payday lenders now fleece the desperate at interest rates of 300 percent or more.
Millions of dollars are sucked from the pockets of the working poor and out of the state.
The legislature authorized check cashers, gave them pretty much carte blanche and refuses to correct its mistake. The governor and attorneys general have for several years looked the other way. The Supreme Court, sans Justice Smith, temporizes. The state agency that is supposed to regulate the lenders shrugs and asks, what can we do?
It was at work again this week. Representatives of 20 groups appealed to the state Board of Collection Agencies to enforce the law and an admittedly fuzzy court mandate and require the surety company of a payday lender to pay a $191,000 judgment against the lender to customers whom it had fleeced. The executive director of the board did not think it had the authority under the law to do that.
The case is complicated — purposely and needlessly complicated, we think.
The circuit court in Pope County ordered the surety company for the lender, Russellville Check Express, to release its $50,000 surety to the people who sued the check company, which loaned people money at stratospheric rates in exchange for which people would turn over their next paycheck. The Supreme Court overturned the judgment because the plaintiffs had not first gone through the board of collection agencies to get relief.
So they were back before the board this week to do that. It was clear after a short hearing that it would be futile.
An attorney for the surety company, standing in for the absent check casher, said that the company did not have to pay because the court had not said flatly that the lender had violated the law. The board ruled unanimously against the customers two years ago and it seemed unimpressed by their argument this time. It will hold another hearing sometime.
Paul Kelly of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families urged the board to rule for the customers and make the company and its insurer pay a price for violating the usury law.
Afterward, he said he expected the board to rule for the lenders. “We just want them to sweat and know that people are watching them,” he said.
George Rose Smith is dead, the Supreme Court is changed, and the law has been weakened. But society seems to have changed, too. Government is no longer the tribune of the poor and of working people, as we see almost weekly in the decisions on workers’ compensation and the shrinking power of people to sue over corporate neglect and abuse.
Jesus was only having a bad day when he threw the moneychangers from the temple. What he surely meant to say was caveat emptor.
For a half-century, you could count on the state of Arkansas to protect people, particularly the unwary, from loan sharks.
Arkansas had the toughest usury law in the land — even a mite over 10 percent interest was unlawful — and every time a lender would concoct a way to skirt the constitutional limit, the Arkansas Supreme Court would strike it down and order the lender to double the borrower’s money back.
That happened for the nearly 50 years that Justice George Rose Smith was on the court. He usually delivered the court’s stern opinion, which was that whatever clever name you called a lending fee, it was interest.
Justice Smith has been gone for more than a decade, and the state is a haven for predatory lenders. Payday lenders now fleece the desperate at interest rates of 300 percent or more.
Millions of dollars are sucked from the pockets of the working poor and out of the state.
The legislature authorized check cashers, gave them pretty much carte blanche and refuses to correct its mistake. The governor and attorneys general have for several years looked the other way. The Supreme Court, sans Justice Smith, temporizes. The state agency that is supposed to regulate the lenders shrugs and asks, what can we do?
It was at work again this week. Representatives of 20 groups appealed to the state Board of Collection Agencies to enforce the law and an admittedly fuzzy court mandate and require the surety company of a payday lender to pay a $191,000 judgment against the lender to customers whom it had fleeced. The executive director of the board did not think it had the authority under the law to do that.
The case is complicated — purposely and needlessly complicated, we think.
The circuit court in Pope County ordered the surety company for the lender, Russellville Check Express, to release its $50,000 surety to the people who sued the check company, which loaned people money at stratospheric rates in exchange for which people would turn over their next paycheck. The Supreme Court overturned the judgment because the plaintiffs had not first gone through the board of collection agencies to get relief.
So they were back before the board this week to do that. It was clear after a short hearing that it would be futile.
An attorney for the surety company, standing in for the absent check casher, said that the company did not have to pay because the court had not said flatly that the lender had violated the law. The board ruled unanimously against the customers two years ago and it seemed unimpressed by their argument this time. It will hold another hearing sometime.
Paul Kelly of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families urged the board to rule for the customers and make the company and its insurer pay a price for violating the usury law.
Afterward, he said he expected the board to rule for the lenders. “We just want them to sweat and know that people are watching them,” he said.
George Rose Smith is dead, the Supreme Court is changed, and the law has been weakened. But society seems to have changed, too. Government is no longer the tribune of the poor and of working people, as we see almost weekly in the decisions on workers’ compensation and the shrinking power of people to sue over corporate neglect and abuse.
Jesus was only having a bad day when he threw the moneychangers from the temple. What he surely meant to say was caveat emptor.
FROM THE PUBLISHER>> Group to buy 200,000 acres to save woodpecker
There’s an abandoned railroad trestle bridge on a dirt road at the Dagmar Wildlife Management Area off Hwy. 70 just past Biscoe, where you can watch for birds before the weather gets hot and the mosquitoes want to eat you alive.
The dirt road is on the right, and to the left, there’s a display about the recently discovered ivory-billed woodpecker. If you go past that display on the left about five miles down a nearby dirt road along Bayou DeView, you’ll get close to where Gene Sparling of Hot Springs spotted an ivory-billed woodpecker on February 2004.
The ivory-billed was believed extinct until Sparling alerted the outside world that the elusive bird was alive in the Cache River Wildlife Refuge.
It is in this area and beyond that the Arkansas chapter of the Nature Conservancy hopes to buy 200,000 acres as part of a preservation plan for the ivory-bill, which was considered extinct until Sparling made his credible sighting. Volunteers with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have made several more sightings since Sparling’s discovery.
For three decades, the Nature Conservancy has helped preserve thousands of acres along the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge that probably saved the ivory-bill. The area could be the home to several other ivory-bills.
At the Big Woods Birding Festival in Clarendon last Saturday, Sparling was holding an ivory-billed woodpecker, just like the one he had spotted more than a year ago in the Bayou DeView near Brinkley.
But the coal-black creature in his hand was a stuffed bird that a collector had mounted back in the 1930s.
He was also holding a mounted pileated woodpecker, a more common bird that is sometimes mistaken for an ivory-bill. The pileated is smaller and its wing is all black on top, while the ivory bill has white on top of its wing. Both species have red crests, except for the female ivory-bill, whose head is black.
The man who spotted the elusive woodpecker is a shy outdoorsman who made an appearance at the Big Woods Birding Festival in Clarendon last Saturday and talked about how he spotted the bird on a February afternoon while he was taking it easy in his canoe.
"I sat my paddle down," he recalled. "It was a moment of contentment. I felt like one of the luckiest people in the world."
"At the end of the channel," he continued, "a long woodpecker headed toward me. I thought it was the biggest pileated I’ve ever seen. It became aware of me and dodged left toward a tree."
Sparling saw the bird’s white wings in flight, and as it perched near the base of the tree, he remembered that "the feathers on the lower portion of the wing were white-yellow on the tail."
"The bird made a jerky, odd motion," he continued. "It seemed animated. It made a quick jerk of the head. It bounced to the other side of the tree in typical woodpecker fashion. It continued its flight straight and direct, more so than a pileated."
"As the bird was sitting on the base of the tree, I thought of the ivory-bill," he said.
But then, sitting there in the bayou, he thought it couldn’t have been an ivory-bill. It supposed to be extinct, and when it was still around, it lived farther south in Louisiana, Texas and Florida.
"I didn’t know they ranged this far north," Sparling said.
But seeing the woodpecker’s white wings, he suddenly realized he had witnessed what was until then considered impossible: A dead species had made an appearance in the swamps of east Arkansas.
" If it wasn’t a pileated, it had to be an ivory-bill," he concluded.
He posted his discovery on a Web site, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology folks were soon in touch with him, and they hung out in the swamps for more than a year before they told the world about their amazing discovery.
Jay Harrod, a spokesman for the Arkansas Nature Conservancy, says preserving more land will ensure a spacious habitat for the bird, which thrives in southern swamp forests that have all been destroyed, except for the Big Woods of eastern Arkansas.
The real threat to the bird are not hunters but "the loss of habitat and the health and the health of the Cache and White Rivers," Harrod said.
But Scott Simon, who directs the state Nature Conservancy, warns against planned dredging of the White River, which could threaten the bird.
"The real threat to the ivory-billed woodpecker is hydraulic changes to the rivers, which serve as the lifeblood to this region," Simon says. "Higher water tables and periodic flooding made it possible for birds to survive."
What can the average person do to help preserve the ivory-billed woodpecker?
Act responsibly in the refuge and join the Nature Conservancy.
The dirt road is on the right, and to the left, there’s a display about the recently discovered ivory-billed woodpecker. If you go past that display on the left about five miles down a nearby dirt road along Bayou DeView, you’ll get close to where Gene Sparling of Hot Springs spotted an ivory-billed woodpecker on February 2004.
The ivory-billed was believed extinct until Sparling alerted the outside world that the elusive bird was alive in the Cache River Wildlife Refuge.
It is in this area and beyond that the Arkansas chapter of the Nature Conservancy hopes to buy 200,000 acres as part of a preservation plan for the ivory-bill, which was considered extinct until Sparling made his credible sighting. Volunteers with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have made several more sightings since Sparling’s discovery.
For three decades, the Nature Conservancy has helped preserve thousands of acres along the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge that probably saved the ivory-bill. The area could be the home to several other ivory-bills.
At the Big Woods Birding Festival in Clarendon last Saturday, Sparling was holding an ivory-billed woodpecker, just like the one he had spotted more than a year ago in the Bayou DeView near Brinkley.
But the coal-black creature in his hand was a stuffed bird that a collector had mounted back in the 1930s.
He was also holding a mounted pileated woodpecker, a more common bird that is sometimes mistaken for an ivory-bill. The pileated is smaller and its wing is all black on top, while the ivory bill has white on top of its wing. Both species have red crests, except for the female ivory-bill, whose head is black.
The man who spotted the elusive woodpecker is a shy outdoorsman who made an appearance at the Big Woods Birding Festival in Clarendon last Saturday and talked about how he spotted the bird on a February afternoon while he was taking it easy in his canoe.
"I sat my paddle down," he recalled. "It was a moment of contentment. I felt like one of the luckiest people in the world."
"At the end of the channel," he continued, "a long woodpecker headed toward me. I thought it was the biggest pileated I’ve ever seen. It became aware of me and dodged left toward a tree."
Sparling saw the bird’s white wings in flight, and as it perched near the base of the tree, he remembered that "the feathers on the lower portion of the wing were white-yellow on the tail."
"The bird made a jerky, odd motion," he continued. "It seemed animated. It made a quick jerk of the head. It bounced to the other side of the tree in typical woodpecker fashion. It continued its flight straight and direct, more so than a pileated."
"As the bird was sitting on the base of the tree, I thought of the ivory-bill," he said.
But then, sitting there in the bayou, he thought it couldn’t have been an ivory-bill. It supposed to be extinct, and when it was still around, it lived farther south in Louisiana, Texas and Florida.
"I didn’t know they ranged this far north," Sparling said.
But seeing the woodpecker’s white wings, he suddenly realized he had witnessed what was until then considered impossible: A dead species had made an appearance in the swamps of east Arkansas.
" If it wasn’t a pileated, it had to be an ivory-bill," he concluded.
He posted his discovery on a Web site, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology folks were soon in touch with him, and they hung out in the swamps for more than a year before they told the world about their amazing discovery.
Jay Harrod, a spokesman for the Arkansas Nature Conservancy, says preserving more land will ensure a spacious habitat for the bird, which thrives in southern swamp forests that have all been destroyed, except for the Big Woods of eastern Arkansas.
The real threat to the bird are not hunters but "the loss of habitat and the health and the health of the Cache and White Rivers," Harrod said.
But Scott Simon, who directs the state Nature Conservancy, warns against planned dredging of the White River, which could threaten the bird.
"The real threat to the ivory-billed woodpecker is hydraulic changes to the rivers, which serve as the lifeblood to this region," Simon says. "Higher water tables and periodic flooding made it possible for birds to survive."
What can the average person do to help preserve the ivory-billed woodpecker?
Act responsibly in the refuge and join the Nature Conservancy.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
SPORTS>> Early heat slows down Falcons' spring drills
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The North Pulaski Falcons got spring practice started again this week, and the unseasonable heat played a big role in just the third day of full pads.
“It’s hot,” North Pulaski coach Tony Bohannon said. “In a way you want it hot, but it’s taking its toll on ‘em. You could really see it (Monday).”
One of the biggest question marks the Falcons face heading into the spring session is at the quarterback position. Four players have been taking snaps, trying to fill the hole left by three-year starter Mitchell Regnas.
Scott Bolen, Shane Graham, Josh Wiley and Jason Regnas are currently working the position under center. Bolen and Graham may be moving ahead of the others as the top two for the spot.
“Scott Bolen and Shane Graham are both doing well, especially Scott,” Bohannon said. “He’s doing a good job and looking pretty good. It’s still way too early to tell though. That’s just for right now. They’re all four still kind of bunched up together.”
Bohannon made it clear that the 2005 football Falcons would attempt to put the ball in the air much more than in the past, while keeping much of their run formations intact as well.
“We’re not completely discarding the I-formation, but we’ve got some new stuff we want to put in. We’re doing a lot of learning.”
The new formations have required a lot of teaching time so far this spring. But the team has still gotten after it physically.
“We’re doing some learning but there’s been a few licks passed out too,” Bohannon said.
The physical nature of the practices hasn’t caused any injuries so far. One player has suffered a dislocated finger, but no other injuries have been reported.
“We’ve escaped injuries so far,” Bohannon said. “The kids are playing through some little aches and things. They’re responding very well to what we’re teaching them. It’s been a good spring so far.”
Bohannon says the Falcons plan to do some live scrimmaging on Thursday, their last day of spring practice.
Numbers haven’t increased, still hovering between 35 and 40 players dressing out per day. Athletic banquets for other sports, among other things, have interfered with football practice for some players. But more are expected to come out when two-a-days begin in August.
Leader sports editor
The North Pulaski Falcons got spring practice started again this week, and the unseasonable heat played a big role in just the third day of full pads.
“It’s hot,” North Pulaski coach Tony Bohannon said. “In a way you want it hot, but it’s taking its toll on ‘em. You could really see it (Monday).”
One of the biggest question marks the Falcons face heading into the spring session is at the quarterback position. Four players have been taking snaps, trying to fill the hole left by three-year starter Mitchell Regnas.
Scott Bolen, Shane Graham, Josh Wiley and Jason Regnas are currently working the position under center. Bolen and Graham may be moving ahead of the others as the top two for the spot.
“Scott Bolen and Shane Graham are both doing well, especially Scott,” Bohannon said. “He’s doing a good job and looking pretty good. It’s still way too early to tell though. That’s just for right now. They’re all four still kind of bunched up together.”
Bohannon made it clear that the 2005 football Falcons would attempt to put the ball in the air much more than in the past, while keeping much of their run formations intact as well.
“We’re not completely discarding the I-formation, but we’ve got some new stuff we want to put in. We’re doing a lot of learning.”
The new formations have required a lot of teaching time so far this spring. But the team has still gotten after it physically.
“We’re doing some learning but there’s been a few licks passed out too,” Bohannon said.
The physical nature of the practices hasn’t caused any injuries so far. One player has suffered a dislocated finger, but no other injuries have been reported.
“We’ve escaped injuries so far,” Bohannon said. “The kids are playing through some little aches and things. They’re responding very well to what we’re teaching them. It’s been a good spring so far.”
Bohannon says the Falcons plan to do some live scrimmaging on Thursday, their last day of spring practice.
Numbers haven’t increased, still hovering between 35 and 40 players dressing out per day. Athletic banquets for other sports, among other things, have interfered with football practice for some players. But more are expected to come out when two-a-days begin in August.
SPORTS>> Cabot southpaw signs with coach-less Trojans
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Cabot pitcher Tim Payne became just the second Panther baseball player to sign a Division I scholarship when he signed on with the University of Arkansas-Little Rock last Thursday afternoon. Payne is a 6-foot, 4-inch southpaw.
Payne is currently unsure about who will be his head coach when he arrives on campus late this summer. UALR just announced Tuesday morning that head baseball coach Brian Rhees has been terminated after nine years. Rhees compiled a 190-292 record while overseeing stadium and facility renovations.
UALR called Payne last week and offered him the opportunity to back out of the commitment, but Payne decided to stick with his original choice even without knowing who his coach will be. Payne was also informed by pitching coach William Colberson, the man who recruited Payne to UALR, that he would not be back next season either.
Still, Payne chose to stay a Trojan.
“I just told them to go ahead and send my paperwork in,” Payne said. “Coach Colberson had a lot to do with my decision. I really thought he could help me out a lot. But I just really liked everything about UALR so I decided to stick with my decision.”
He didn’t have as good of a senior season on the mound as he had hoped, but a tall, hard-throwing lefty was too much upside potential for colleges to turn away from.
Payne chose the Trojans over several other schools ranging from mid-major DI to NAIA. While lots of schools courted Payne, he felt all along he wanted to be a Trojan.
“I kind of knew I wanted to play there when I played there in the juniors All-Star game last summer,” Payne said. “I pretty much had my heart set on UALR.”
Payne had an outstanding outing in that Xtra Innings Magazine sponsored event, blowing through the state’s best underclassmen throughout the two-day event.
Culbertson called Payne just a couple days later to express interest in Payne joining his team. Colberson kept in touch frequently and finally made an official scholarship offer after the Panthers swept West Memphis earlier this season.
Payne compiled a 5-3 record this season. He struck out 53 batters in 53 innings of work and walked 37.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Payne’s senior year at Cabot was hit hitting. Payne had his best season, by far, at the plate.
Payne had 65 at bats, picked up 29 hits including three doubles. He walked 14 times while striking out just seven times for a .446 batting average. He also drove in 14 runs this season.
Cabot coach Jay Fitch said Payne put in a lot of work to improve his hitting between his junior and senior seasons.
“Even though he’s always wanted to be a college pitcher, he has worked hard on his hitting mechanics the last three years,” Fitch said. “That coupled with him getting stronger and having confidence helped him to have the year he had at the plate. I like to call it senioritis—I expect them to have the best year of their careers as seniors.”
Payne plans to join a few of his senior teammates on the Jacksonville American Legion team this summer before reporting to UALR.
Leader sports editor
Cabot pitcher Tim Payne became just the second Panther baseball player to sign a Division I scholarship when he signed on with the University of Arkansas-Little Rock last Thursday afternoon. Payne is a 6-foot, 4-inch southpaw.
Payne is currently unsure about who will be his head coach when he arrives on campus late this summer. UALR just announced Tuesday morning that head baseball coach Brian Rhees has been terminated after nine years. Rhees compiled a 190-292 record while overseeing stadium and facility renovations.
UALR called Payne last week and offered him the opportunity to back out of the commitment, but Payne decided to stick with his original choice even without knowing who his coach will be. Payne was also informed by pitching coach William Colberson, the man who recruited Payne to UALR, that he would not be back next season either.
Still, Payne chose to stay a Trojan.
“I just told them to go ahead and send my paperwork in,” Payne said. “Coach Colberson had a lot to do with my decision. I really thought he could help me out a lot. But I just really liked everything about UALR so I decided to stick with my decision.”
He didn’t have as good of a senior season on the mound as he had hoped, but a tall, hard-throwing lefty was too much upside potential for colleges to turn away from.
Payne chose the Trojans over several other schools ranging from mid-major DI to NAIA. While lots of schools courted Payne, he felt all along he wanted to be a Trojan.
“I kind of knew I wanted to play there when I played there in the juniors All-Star game last summer,” Payne said. “I pretty much had my heart set on UALR.”
Payne had an outstanding outing in that Xtra Innings Magazine sponsored event, blowing through the state’s best underclassmen throughout the two-day event.
Culbertson called Payne just a couple days later to express interest in Payne joining his team. Colberson kept in touch frequently and finally made an official scholarship offer after the Panthers swept West Memphis earlier this season.
Payne compiled a 5-3 record this season. He struck out 53 batters in 53 innings of work and walked 37.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Payne’s senior year at Cabot was hit hitting. Payne had his best season, by far, at the plate.
Payne had 65 at bats, picked up 29 hits including three doubles. He walked 14 times while striking out just seven times for a .446 batting average. He also drove in 14 runs this season.
Cabot coach Jay Fitch said Payne put in a lot of work to improve his hitting between his junior and senior seasons.
“Even though he’s always wanted to be a college pitcher, he has worked hard on his hitting mechanics the last three years,” Fitch said. “That coupled with him getting stronger and having confidence helped him to have the year he had at the plate. I like to call it senioritis—I expect them to have the best year of their careers as seniors.”
Payne plans to join a few of his senior teammates on the Jacksonville American Legion team this summer before reporting to UALR.
EDITORIAL>> The court 'next time'
There must be days when the title “justice” is a heavy mantle about the shoulders, and the bearer yearns to be on the other side of the bench. Such was Thursday, when the Arkansas Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a motion by 47 Arkansas school districts, including the Pulaski County Special School District, that the court reopen the Lake View school case.
We do not envy the court its task. However it rules, it cannot escape the criticism that it has been fickle and impetuous, not good qualities in an appellate court that is the final arbiter of law in the state. After finally holding the Arkansas public school funding formula unconstitutional and assigning responsibility to the Legislature and the governor, it declared the case closed in 2002, then reopened it when the legislature and the governor dallied in 2004, then seemed to close it again after the legislature had leaped into action and passed a few taxes and a lot of school laws.
Now the school districts contend that the 2005 legislature reneged on the commitments that led to the court’s finding last year that it was in compliance with the Constitution. The court has to decide whether it has retained jurisdiction or whether the Lake View case is indeed legally dead, in which case schools must start over with a fresh suit in Pulaski Circuit Court.
If it retains jurisdiction, then in very short order it may have to face a graver choice than the justices have yet faced, whether to order the legislature or perhaps the governor to take concrete steps to make the schools constitutionally whole. In the most painful and direct questioning by Justice Donald L. Corbin, the schools’ lead attorney, David Matthews of Lowell, explained what that final step might be. The court need not order new taxes — a truly unprecedented step in this state — but it could order the state’s chief fiscal officer, who serves the governor, to cut warrants to school districts representing the amount of money that the court deemed constitutionally appropriate.
The Supreme Court’s original order said the legislature could no longer simply divide up the state’s general revenues each year and assign a portion to all the services that it had mandated. That is the Revenue Stabilization Act, which has ruled the distribution of taxes since 1947. Rather, since an adequate education is specifically mandated in the Constitution and other programs are not, the state must determine what the schools must have first, then distribute what remains elsewhere.
Last year, that is precisely what the legislature did and the Supreme Court found it to be good. This year, however, the legislature kept the schools’ per-child aid for the coming year at exactly that of the current year because it had so many other demands to meet: colleges, prisons, Medicaid, public employee raises, the hustle by local groups for pork projects. That almost by definition defies the new rule of obliging the schools first.
It is always dangerous to predict future court votes by oral arguments, but we will be shocked if the court reopens the case and keeps jurisdiction. The court has seemed to be split 4-3 in the past. Justices Corbin, Tom Glaze and Betty Dickey have wanted to keep the case before the court and hold the legislators’ feet to the fire.
Glaze has been eloquent in saying that the court should not flinch when it is so close finally to achieving a constitutional school system. Corbin and Glaze still seem to be of the same mind. Dickey, who serves a temporary appointment on the court from Gov. Huckabee, was with Glaze and Corbin last time, perhaps because Huckabee at the time wanted the legislature punished for not embracing his school consolidation remedy. Now that Huckabee is on the other side — he says the legislature did marvelous work this time — Dickey may join Chief Justice Jim Hannah, Justices Jim Gunter and Robert L. Brown and another special Huckabee justice if she is needed, all of whom seem to want to consider the case over.
Justices Brown and Hannah have all along said the court could not be a superlegislature, mandamusing either taxes or the specific distribution of them, a role they say is assigned exclusively to the legislative branch. The newly elected Jim Gunter seems to be of the same mind.
Were we to guess, we would imagine that the court will let this cup pass from its hand this time but send a strong message to the state officials and to the next trial court that next time — next time, by golly — it will not brook half measures.
We do not envy the court its task. However it rules, it cannot escape the criticism that it has been fickle and impetuous, not good qualities in an appellate court that is the final arbiter of law in the state. After finally holding the Arkansas public school funding formula unconstitutional and assigning responsibility to the Legislature and the governor, it declared the case closed in 2002, then reopened it when the legislature and the governor dallied in 2004, then seemed to close it again after the legislature had leaped into action and passed a few taxes and a lot of school laws.
Now the school districts contend that the 2005 legislature reneged on the commitments that led to the court’s finding last year that it was in compliance with the Constitution. The court has to decide whether it has retained jurisdiction or whether the Lake View case is indeed legally dead, in which case schools must start over with a fresh suit in Pulaski Circuit Court.
If it retains jurisdiction, then in very short order it may have to face a graver choice than the justices have yet faced, whether to order the legislature or perhaps the governor to take concrete steps to make the schools constitutionally whole. In the most painful and direct questioning by Justice Donald L. Corbin, the schools’ lead attorney, David Matthews of Lowell, explained what that final step might be. The court need not order new taxes — a truly unprecedented step in this state — but it could order the state’s chief fiscal officer, who serves the governor, to cut warrants to school districts representing the amount of money that the court deemed constitutionally appropriate.
The Supreme Court’s original order said the legislature could no longer simply divide up the state’s general revenues each year and assign a portion to all the services that it had mandated. That is the Revenue Stabilization Act, which has ruled the distribution of taxes since 1947. Rather, since an adequate education is specifically mandated in the Constitution and other programs are not, the state must determine what the schools must have first, then distribute what remains elsewhere.
Last year, that is precisely what the legislature did and the Supreme Court found it to be good. This year, however, the legislature kept the schools’ per-child aid for the coming year at exactly that of the current year because it had so many other demands to meet: colleges, prisons, Medicaid, public employee raises, the hustle by local groups for pork projects. That almost by definition defies the new rule of obliging the schools first.
It is always dangerous to predict future court votes by oral arguments, but we will be shocked if the court reopens the case and keeps jurisdiction. The court has seemed to be split 4-3 in the past. Justices Corbin, Tom Glaze and Betty Dickey have wanted to keep the case before the court and hold the legislators’ feet to the fire.
Glaze has been eloquent in saying that the court should not flinch when it is so close finally to achieving a constitutional school system. Corbin and Glaze still seem to be of the same mind. Dickey, who serves a temporary appointment on the court from Gov. Huckabee, was with Glaze and Corbin last time, perhaps because Huckabee at the time wanted the legislature punished for not embracing his school consolidation remedy. Now that Huckabee is on the other side — he says the legislature did marvelous work this time — Dickey may join Chief Justice Jim Hannah, Justices Jim Gunter and Robert L. Brown and another special Huckabee justice if she is needed, all of whom seem to want to consider the case over.
Justices Brown and Hannah have all along said the court could not be a superlegislature, mandamusing either taxes or the specific distribution of them, a role they say is assigned exclusively to the legislative branch. The newly elected Jim Gunter seems to be of the same mind.
Were we to guess, we would imagine that the court will let this cup pass from its hand this time but send a strong message to the state officials and to the next trial court that next time — next time, by golly — it will not brook half measures.
OBITUARIES>> May 25, 2005
DELBERT FLORY
Delbert Flory, 74, of Cabot, went to be with the Lord Monday, May 23.
He was a retired supervisor in the meat department for Sexton Foods. Mr. Flory enjoyed woodworking and listening to Bluegrass music. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Frances; one daughter, Deborah Wooten and husband Steven of Cabot; two sons, Dwight Flory and wife Peggy of Austin and Phillip Flory and wife Camellia of Houston, Texas; five grandchildren, Jason Flory, Detria Birch, Chris Wooten, Daniel Wooten, Sean Wooten; three great-grandchildren, Madison Tounzen, Noah Birch and Madison Birch; one brother, Winfred “Buddy” Flory of Cabot; two sisters, Lorine Arey of Benton and Catherine High of Little Rock.
Visitation begins at noon Wednesday at Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe, with family receiving friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Funeral service will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, Cabot, with burial at Mt. Carmel Cemetery.
Arrangements are by West-brook Funeral Home.
SCOTT MCRANEY
Scott Alexander McCraney, 20 of Jacksonville died May 19. McCraney was born Feb. 24, 1985 to Kimberly McCraney.
He worked for Pathfinder.
Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Thursday at Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home Chapel followed by interment in Chapel Hill Memorial Park. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. Funeral arrangements are under direction of Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
THELMA GASSAWAY
Thelma Gasaway, 95, of Beebe, died May 22. She was a retired sales clerk and a Methodist. Graveside service is at 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 25 at Antioch Cemetery. Arrangements are by Westbrook Funeral Home.
BETTEYE BAILEY
Bettye Ruth Bailey, 74, of Beebe, went to be with the Lord Saturday, May 21. She was born in Walker, on July 6, 1930.
Bettye was a devoted wife and mother. She retired from the VFW Post 7769 after eleven years of service as a janitor and was a member of the Beebe First Church of the Nazarene.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Louie Cosby Bailey, Sr.; one daughter, Juanita Evans; and one son, David Lynn Gray, Sr. She is survived by four sons, Louie Cosby Bailey, Jr. of Floyd, Charles Ray McElhaney, Sr. and wife Joni of Tall Timbers, Maryland, Allan D. McElhaney and wife Claudetta of Gravel Ridge, and Freeland Omar McElhaney and wife Michelle of Vilonia; two daughters, Shirley Dianne Haley and husband David and Lisa Monten Evans and husband Allen, all of Beebe; 20 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren; one brother, Orville D. Gray of Tuscumbia, Ala., and many nieces and nephews.
Funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 25 at Beebe First Church of the Nazarene, with burial in Meadowbrook Memorial Gardens.
Arrangements are by Westbrook Funeral Home.
CLARA TUBBS
Clara Helene Kellogg Tubbs, 89, of Jacksonville, formerly of Ovid, Michigan passed away Sunday, May 22 at Woodland Hills Healthcare Center in Jacksonville.
She was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Jacksonville for many years and enjoyed volunteering there.
For over 30 years Mrs. Tubbs was an active volunteer at the Rebsamen Regional Medical Center in Jacksonville where she cherished her life as a member of the Hospital Auxiliary.
She enjoyed many precious friendships made in these two areas of her life. She was preceded in death by her husband Gordon Tubbs.
Mrs. Tubbs is survived by two sons, Norman (Marilyn) Tubbs of Burnsville, Minnesota, Dan (Pam) Tubbs of Sherwood; three grandchildren, LeAnne (Keith) Spears of Minneapolis, Minn., Nicole (Derek) Girtman of Farmington, Minn., Joshua Tubbs of Sher-wood; two great-grandchildren, Hannah Lee and Jack Norman Girtman of Farmington, Minn.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Carol Goddard officiating. Interment will be at Chapel Hill Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Pathfinder Inc., 2411 West Main St., Jacksonville, AR. 72076 or Rebsamen Hospital Auxiliary, 1400 Braden St., Jacksonville, Arkansas 72076.
Funeral arrangements are under direction of Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
CAROL YOUNG
Carol Franklin Young, 90, of Carlisle went to be with the Lord May 21. He was born Sept. 9, 1914 in the Hamilton Community to Charles and Lula Young. He was a member of Carlisle United Methodist Church.
He was a lifelong farmer and an avid sports fan.
He played semi-pro baseball for many years, and was chosen to play for the St. Louis Cardinals during the 1940s, but family and farming took precedence. He was founder of Babe Ruth baseball in Carlisle where he coached for over 20 years.
For his dedication to baseball and youth, a field was named in his honor, Carol Young field at Rockefeller Park.
Carol also had a passion for dancing and did this on a regular basis. He was considered one of the best waltzers to have ever danced. He enjoyed life and lived it to the fullest and loved this community and its people.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 51 years, Tince Boals Young.
Survivors include four daughters, Betty Flo Elder and Sandra Hart of Carlisle, Barbara (Dub) Hamric of Hazen, Sherry (Kent) Barbee of Gilmer, Texas; also, John Hart of Carlisle; a twin brother, Harold (Inda) Young of Dewitt; a sister, Hazel Thomas of Nashville; 11 grandchildren 16 great-grandchildren, four great-great-grandchildren, several nieces, nephews and cousins.
Funeral services were held Monday at Carlisle First United Methodist Church with interment in Carlisle Cemetery.
Arrangements by Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke.
CARLENE NICHOLS
Carlene “Nick” Claybon Nichols, age 70, of Jacksonville was called to heaven on May 21.
This sweet angel departed in peace and tranquility. Carlene was born in Madisonville, Ky. on Sept. 15, 1934 to Pete and Marie Logan Nichols, Sr. He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, George and Leroy Nichols, and sister, Effie Buell.
He was a loving and devoted husband, father and grandfather, with a wonderful sense of humor. Nick enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1954, rising to the rank of Technical Sergeant.
He served as a flight engineer for his entire 20 year career. He served in Vietnam and was stationed all over the world.
After his retirement in 1974, Nick opened an upholstery shop with a partner, becoming independent after about 10 years.
He continued in business until he became ill in 2000.
Nick also worked as a tax consultant for H & R Block for 15 years. Always wearing a smile, he never met a stranger and his jokes will always be remembered by those who knew him well.
Nick’s smiling face and sense of humor will be missed tremendously by his family, friends and acquaintances. His wings were truly earned and well deserved.
He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Joanetta Steppe Nichols; daughters; Kimala Forrest, Carletta (Jerry) Wilson all of Jacksonville; son, Rochone (Cathy) Nic-hols of Arlington, Texas; brothers, James (Eula) and John (Frankie) Nichols of Madisonville, Ky., and Pete (Betty) Nichols of Indiana-polis, Ind.; sister, Annie Nell Nichols of Madisonville, Kentucky; mother-in-law, Mattie Larkin and Aunt Lillian Lyles also of Jack-sonville. Nichols leaves seven blessed grandchildren, Aramy Qualenta Forrest, Ashley Martin Nichols, Cortessa, Jerica and Jeremy Wilson and Adreanna Nichols. Nick cherished his friendship and love with Micheal Forrest, many nieces, nephews and other relatives and friends.
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home Chapel followed by entombment in Chapel Hill Memorial Park Mausoleum.
Funeral arrangements are under direction of Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
RAY MJRRAY
Ray Murray, 92, passed away May 22. He was born to Lewis and Mary Stanfield Murray on Nov. 20, 1912.
He was a World War II veteran serving in the infantry 1942-1945. He was a veterans Friend, and life member of VFW and DAV.
A member of Lonoke Baptist Church and a self-employed timberman
He was preceded in death by his parents, and brothers, Walter, Marvin and Gilcy Murray.
Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Thelma Murray, and his nieces and nephews.
Funeral services were Tuesday, at Boyd Chapel with interment in Lonoke Cemetery.
Arrangements are by Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke.
Delbert Flory, 74, of Cabot, went to be with the Lord Monday, May 23.
He was a retired supervisor in the meat department for Sexton Foods. Mr. Flory enjoyed woodworking and listening to Bluegrass music. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Frances; one daughter, Deborah Wooten and husband Steven of Cabot; two sons, Dwight Flory and wife Peggy of Austin and Phillip Flory and wife Camellia of Houston, Texas; five grandchildren, Jason Flory, Detria Birch, Chris Wooten, Daniel Wooten, Sean Wooten; three great-grandchildren, Madison Tounzen, Noah Birch and Madison Birch; one brother, Winfred “Buddy” Flory of Cabot; two sisters, Lorine Arey of Benton and Catherine High of Little Rock.
Visitation begins at noon Wednesday at Westbrook Funeral Home, Beebe, with family receiving friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Funeral service will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, Cabot, with burial at Mt. Carmel Cemetery.
Arrangements are by West-brook Funeral Home.
SCOTT MCRANEY
Scott Alexander McCraney, 20 of Jacksonville died May 19. McCraney was born Feb. 24, 1985 to Kimberly McCraney.
He worked for Pathfinder.
Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Thursday at Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home Chapel followed by interment in Chapel Hill Memorial Park. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. Funeral arrangements are under direction of Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
THELMA GASSAWAY
Thelma Gasaway, 95, of Beebe, died May 22. She was a retired sales clerk and a Methodist. Graveside service is at 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 25 at Antioch Cemetery. Arrangements are by Westbrook Funeral Home.
BETTEYE BAILEY
Bettye Ruth Bailey, 74, of Beebe, went to be with the Lord Saturday, May 21. She was born in Walker, on July 6, 1930.
Bettye was a devoted wife and mother. She retired from the VFW Post 7769 after eleven years of service as a janitor and was a member of the Beebe First Church of the Nazarene.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Louie Cosby Bailey, Sr.; one daughter, Juanita Evans; and one son, David Lynn Gray, Sr. She is survived by four sons, Louie Cosby Bailey, Jr. of Floyd, Charles Ray McElhaney, Sr. and wife Joni of Tall Timbers, Maryland, Allan D. McElhaney and wife Claudetta of Gravel Ridge, and Freeland Omar McElhaney and wife Michelle of Vilonia; two daughters, Shirley Dianne Haley and husband David and Lisa Monten Evans and husband Allen, all of Beebe; 20 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren; one brother, Orville D. Gray of Tuscumbia, Ala., and many nieces and nephews.
Funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 25 at Beebe First Church of the Nazarene, with burial in Meadowbrook Memorial Gardens.
Arrangements are by Westbrook Funeral Home.
CLARA TUBBS
Clara Helene Kellogg Tubbs, 89, of Jacksonville, formerly of Ovid, Michigan passed away Sunday, May 22 at Woodland Hills Healthcare Center in Jacksonville.
She was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Jacksonville for many years and enjoyed volunteering there.
For over 30 years Mrs. Tubbs was an active volunteer at the Rebsamen Regional Medical Center in Jacksonville where she cherished her life as a member of the Hospital Auxiliary.
She enjoyed many precious friendships made in these two areas of her life. She was preceded in death by her husband Gordon Tubbs.
Mrs. Tubbs is survived by two sons, Norman (Marilyn) Tubbs of Burnsville, Minnesota, Dan (Pam) Tubbs of Sherwood; three grandchildren, LeAnne (Keith) Spears of Minneapolis, Minn., Nicole (Derek) Girtman of Farmington, Minn., Joshua Tubbs of Sher-wood; two great-grandchildren, Hannah Lee and Jack Norman Girtman of Farmington, Minn.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Carol Goddard officiating. Interment will be at Chapel Hill Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Pathfinder Inc., 2411 West Main St., Jacksonville, AR. 72076 or Rebsamen Hospital Auxiliary, 1400 Braden St., Jacksonville, Arkansas 72076.
Funeral arrangements are under direction of Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
CAROL YOUNG
Carol Franklin Young, 90, of Carlisle went to be with the Lord May 21. He was born Sept. 9, 1914 in the Hamilton Community to Charles and Lula Young. He was a member of Carlisle United Methodist Church.
He was a lifelong farmer and an avid sports fan.
He played semi-pro baseball for many years, and was chosen to play for the St. Louis Cardinals during the 1940s, but family and farming took precedence. He was founder of Babe Ruth baseball in Carlisle where he coached for over 20 years.
For his dedication to baseball and youth, a field was named in his honor, Carol Young field at Rockefeller Park.
Carol also had a passion for dancing and did this on a regular basis. He was considered one of the best waltzers to have ever danced. He enjoyed life and lived it to the fullest and loved this community and its people.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 51 years, Tince Boals Young.
Survivors include four daughters, Betty Flo Elder and Sandra Hart of Carlisle, Barbara (Dub) Hamric of Hazen, Sherry (Kent) Barbee of Gilmer, Texas; also, John Hart of Carlisle; a twin brother, Harold (Inda) Young of Dewitt; a sister, Hazel Thomas of Nashville; 11 grandchildren 16 great-grandchildren, four great-great-grandchildren, several nieces, nephews and cousins.
Funeral services were held Monday at Carlisle First United Methodist Church with interment in Carlisle Cemetery.
Arrangements by Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke.
CARLENE NICHOLS
Carlene “Nick” Claybon Nichols, age 70, of Jacksonville was called to heaven on May 21.
This sweet angel departed in peace and tranquility. Carlene was born in Madisonville, Ky. on Sept. 15, 1934 to Pete and Marie Logan Nichols, Sr. He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, George and Leroy Nichols, and sister, Effie Buell.
He was a loving and devoted husband, father and grandfather, with a wonderful sense of humor. Nick enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1954, rising to the rank of Technical Sergeant.
He served as a flight engineer for his entire 20 year career. He served in Vietnam and was stationed all over the world.
After his retirement in 1974, Nick opened an upholstery shop with a partner, becoming independent after about 10 years.
He continued in business until he became ill in 2000.
Nick also worked as a tax consultant for H & R Block for 15 years. Always wearing a smile, he never met a stranger and his jokes will always be remembered by those who knew him well.
Nick’s smiling face and sense of humor will be missed tremendously by his family, friends and acquaintances. His wings were truly earned and well deserved.
He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Joanetta Steppe Nichols; daughters; Kimala Forrest, Carletta (Jerry) Wilson all of Jacksonville; son, Rochone (Cathy) Nic-hols of Arlington, Texas; brothers, James (Eula) and John (Frankie) Nichols of Madisonville, Ky., and Pete (Betty) Nichols of Indiana-polis, Ind.; sister, Annie Nell Nichols of Madisonville, Kentucky; mother-in-law, Mattie Larkin and Aunt Lillian Lyles also of Jack-sonville. Nichols leaves seven blessed grandchildren, Aramy Qualenta Forrest, Ashley Martin Nichols, Cortessa, Jerica and Jeremy Wilson and Adreanna Nichols. Nick cherished his friendship and love with Micheal Forrest, many nieces, nephews and other relatives and friends.
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home Chapel followed by entombment in Chapel Hill Memorial Park Mausoleum.
Funeral arrangements are under direction of Moore’s Jacksonville Funeral Home.
RAY MJRRAY
Ray Murray, 92, passed away May 22. He was born to Lewis and Mary Stanfield Murray on Nov. 20, 1912.
He was a World War II veteran serving in the infantry 1942-1945. He was a veterans Friend, and life member of VFW and DAV.
A member of Lonoke Baptist Church and a self-employed timberman
He was preceded in death by his parents, and brothers, Walter, Marvin and Gilcy Murray.
Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Thelma Murray, and his nieces and nephews.
Funeral services were Tuesday, at Boyd Chapel with interment in Lonoke Cemetery.
Arrangements are by Boyd Funeral Home, Lonoke.
TOP STORY>> Court, legislature could clash, Bond warns
IN SHORT: The Jacksonville representative tells the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce that the state Supreme Court could tell lawmakers how much the state should spend on public school education.
By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader editor
Rep. Will Bond (D-Jacksonville) on Tuesday raised the possibility that the state Supreme Court could take over public school education in Arkansas if justices decide later this week that the legislature has not appropriated enough money for school districts.
Bond told a luncheon meeting of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce that the Supreme Court, as it revisits the Lake View lawsuit, could issue a narrow ruling in favor of the 47 state school districts that have filed suit against the state for more funding.
If that happens, the court would appoint a special master again who would decide how much the state should spend on public education, Bond said.
“They’re becoming the legislature,” Bond complained, referring to the Supreme Court. “They’ve gone about as far as they can without a showdown.”
“We’re treading on dangerous ground,” he warned, saying that the court could become a superlegislature.
“Can courts dictate spending?” Bond asked. “This is a separation of powers issue.”
Bond, who is running for House speaker next year, laid out the possibility that the court could double the amount the state should spend on school building improvements.
“What if the special master says the legislature should spend $200 million for facilities?” Bond asked. “They’re taking over the job of the legislature.”
He said the legislature appropriated $100 million for school building improve ments, but if the special master demands more spending, the governor would have to call a special session.
“What if the governor won’t call a special session?” Bond went on. “He’s the only one who can do it. It’s a pretty scary thing.”
Special masters were appointed last year but took no action as they let the legislature decide how to fund education.
Bond thinks the legislature during the last special session spent about as much as it could with the limited resources it has.
Per pupil spending has in-creased to $5,400, and the legislature has allowed for additional funding for the poorest districts, although the figures are the same for next year, which is why many school districts are suing the state.
Compounding the problem of state funding is a disparity among school districts when it comes to teacher salaries. Bond pointed out that the Bentonville School District has given teachers $5,400 in teacher raises, while poor districts cannot match that and will lose teachers to better-paying districts.
The state could equalize teacher salaries, Bond said, but he didn’t think that was a good idea.
Arkansas faces two immediate problems, he said: Lack of available revenues and inexperienced legislators who must leave office after just a few years at the Capitol.
Bond, who believes Arkansas is not investing enough in its future, said the state is next-to-last in property taxes, with $371 per capita, compared with, say, more than $1,100 in Texas.
But Arkansas has one of the highest sales-tax rates in the nation, ranking fifth after the latest eighth-cent sales tax for education.
Expenses are rising not only for education, but also for the Department of Human Services, which has seen a 29.5 percent increase in its 2005 budget. The Department of Correction is up 12 percent, he said.
“These are significant budget issues that we have to deal with,” the representative said.
With a $15 billion budget, Arkan-sas’ revenues are not keeping up with its needs. General revenues are ex-pected to increase to $4.7 billion in 2005-06, up from $4.6 billion in 2004-05.
Yet the part-time legislature must tackle complicated finances when many lawmakers get less than a year of actual legislative experience over six to eight years in office.
Calling himself a progressive. Bond said he’s concerned about “the politics of individualism” as more people are concerned only about themselves and not the community’s general welfare.
“Arkansas has viewed itself as 49th and 50th. That’s not how it should be. Should we accept stagnant growth? That’s my challenge — to do better,” he said.
By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader editor
Rep. Will Bond (D-Jacksonville) on Tuesday raised the possibility that the state Supreme Court could take over public school education in Arkansas if justices decide later this week that the legislature has not appropriated enough money for school districts.
Bond told a luncheon meeting of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce that the Supreme Court, as it revisits the Lake View lawsuit, could issue a narrow ruling in favor of the 47 state school districts that have filed suit against the state for more funding.
If that happens, the court would appoint a special master again who would decide how much the state should spend on public education, Bond said.
“They’re becoming the legislature,” Bond complained, referring to the Supreme Court. “They’ve gone about as far as they can without a showdown.”
“We’re treading on dangerous ground,” he warned, saying that the court could become a superlegislature.
“Can courts dictate spending?” Bond asked. “This is a separation of powers issue.”
Bond, who is running for House speaker next year, laid out the possibility that the court could double the amount the state should spend on school building improvements.
“What if the special master says the legislature should spend $200 million for facilities?” Bond asked. “They’re taking over the job of the legislature.”
He said the legislature appropriated $100 million for school building improve ments, but if the special master demands more spending, the governor would have to call a special session.
“What if the governor won’t call a special session?” Bond went on. “He’s the only one who can do it. It’s a pretty scary thing.”
Special masters were appointed last year but took no action as they let the legislature decide how to fund education.
Bond thinks the legislature during the last special session spent about as much as it could with the limited resources it has.
Per pupil spending has in-creased to $5,400, and the legislature has allowed for additional funding for the poorest districts, although the figures are the same for next year, which is why many school districts are suing the state.
Compounding the problem of state funding is a disparity among school districts when it comes to teacher salaries. Bond pointed out that the Bentonville School District has given teachers $5,400 in teacher raises, while poor districts cannot match that and will lose teachers to better-paying districts.
The state could equalize teacher salaries, Bond said, but he didn’t think that was a good idea.
Arkansas faces two immediate problems, he said: Lack of available revenues and inexperienced legislators who must leave office after just a few years at the Capitol.
Bond, who believes Arkansas is not investing enough in its future, said the state is next-to-last in property taxes, with $371 per capita, compared with, say, more than $1,100 in Texas.
But Arkansas has one of the highest sales-tax rates in the nation, ranking fifth after the latest eighth-cent sales tax for education.
Expenses are rising not only for education, but also for the Department of Human Services, which has seen a 29.5 percent increase in its 2005 budget. The Department of Correction is up 12 percent, he said.
“These are significant budget issues that we have to deal with,” the representative said.
With a $15 billion budget, Arkan-sas’ revenues are not keeping up with its needs. General revenues are ex-pected to increase to $4.7 billion in 2005-06, up from $4.6 billion in 2004-05.
Yet the part-time legislature must tackle complicated finances when many lawmakers get less than a year of actual legislative experience over six to eight years in office.
Calling himself a progressive. Bond said he’s concerned about “the politics of individualism” as more people are concerned only about themselves and not the community’s general welfare.
“Arkansas has viewed itself as 49th and 50th. That’s not how it should be. Should we accept stagnant growth? That’s my challenge — to do better,” he said.
TOP STORY>> Aquatic center grand opening delayed one week
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
The opening of Jacksonville’s $2.5 million aquatic park has been delayed a week.
The original Memorial Day weekend opening has been shifted to noon, Saturday, June 4.
The main reason? No slides yet.
“They’re in transport,” said Annabelle Davis, with the Parks and Recreation Department. “Besides that, we’ve got just some bits and pieces yet to do.”
The infrastructure for the slides is in, so it won’t take long to install them. The aquatic manager, Dianne Novotny, said, “The baby pool looks great, the lap pool water is still a little cloudy, but everything is just about ready to go, except the slides.”
The ribbon cutting for the three-pool facility, located on Martin and First streets, will be at 4 p.m., Friday, June 3, followed by an open house until 6 p.m. “there’ll be no swimming during the open house, but it’ll give residents a chance to tour the facility,” Davis said.
Fees for the new water park are higher than those for the community center pool, but the hours of availability and variety of activities are so much greater, according to Novotny.
Daily fees will be $4 for anyone over the age of two. A 20-visit pass will be available for $60. An individual season pass will be $75, while a family pass (up to four members) will be $150.
To use the plunge pool, which contains the slides, will cost an extra $1 a day. Visitors must be at least 48 inches or taller to use the slides. Groundbreaking for the three-pool aquatic park was July 6, 2003. The water park replaces the Martin Street pool, which slowly became a health and safety hazard after about 30 years of use.
The exterior work was substantially completed earlier this year and the crews have been focusing on interior work and final touches since.
Some of that final touch work was the reason the lap pool water was cloudy Monday. It was caused by water run off from some of the construction work.
With the construction, residents only had use of the indoor pool at the community center, and based on end of the year reports, the pool stayed busy in 2004.
Pool parties at the community center were up 10 percent, and pool party revenue was up 20 percent.
Swim lessons were so popular that more instructors were added to keep up with the demand, according to Novotny. Overall, there was a 60 percent increase in the number of participants.
Three swim teams use the Community Center pool for practice and meets: The Arkansas Dolphins, the Cabot Piranhas and the Jacksonville High School swim team.
Some of that activity will paddle over to the new park when it opens.
Davis expects the new park will become a popular recreation destination for residents and visitors from the surrounding area.
The facility will feature a three-foot-deep plunge pool with water slides and zero-depth entrance; a two-foot-deep play pool complete with shade areas, play structures, a “rain shower” area; also, a deeper diving and swimming pool with painted lanes, hydrotherapy seating and ramp access.
Other site features will include an entry area, shaded party area, a concession stand with tables, offices and a lifeguard training and rest area.
The $2.6 million park is funded in part by a voter approved one-cent sales tax increase.
That will also help fund construction of a $14 million joint education center with the Air Force, moving college level courses currently offered on base to the off base facility. The city has pledged $5 million, with the Air Force awaiting funding for the rest through Congress. The tax will also fund a $2 million fire and police training center to be located on part of the former Vertac site.
Getting the project started was more difficult than getting voter approval for the tax increase. An original cost estimate of $2.1 million for the park turned out to be more than 20 percent below the low construction bid of $2.78 million due to increases in the cost of steel among other issues.
The city’s parks commission then whittled some amenities off the project, bringing the price tag down to $2.6 million.
From there, a court ruling on an unrelated tax case unlocked thousands of dollars for cities in Pulaski County, including Jacksonville, which covered the rest of the project’s cost.
Leader staff writer
The opening of Jacksonville’s $2.5 million aquatic park has been delayed a week.
The original Memorial Day weekend opening has been shifted to noon, Saturday, June 4.
The main reason? No slides yet.
“They’re in transport,” said Annabelle Davis, with the Parks and Recreation Department. “Besides that, we’ve got just some bits and pieces yet to do.”
The infrastructure for the slides is in, so it won’t take long to install them. The aquatic manager, Dianne Novotny, said, “The baby pool looks great, the lap pool water is still a little cloudy, but everything is just about ready to go, except the slides.”
The ribbon cutting for the three-pool facility, located on Martin and First streets, will be at 4 p.m., Friday, June 3, followed by an open house until 6 p.m. “there’ll be no swimming during the open house, but it’ll give residents a chance to tour the facility,” Davis said.
Fees for the new water park are higher than those for the community center pool, but the hours of availability and variety of activities are so much greater, according to Novotny.
Daily fees will be $4 for anyone over the age of two. A 20-visit pass will be available for $60. An individual season pass will be $75, while a family pass (up to four members) will be $150.
To use the plunge pool, which contains the slides, will cost an extra $1 a day. Visitors must be at least 48 inches or taller to use the slides. Groundbreaking for the three-pool aquatic park was July 6, 2003. The water park replaces the Martin Street pool, which slowly became a health and safety hazard after about 30 years of use.
The exterior work was substantially completed earlier this year and the crews have been focusing on interior work and final touches since.
Some of that final touch work was the reason the lap pool water was cloudy Monday. It was caused by water run off from some of the construction work.
With the construction, residents only had use of the indoor pool at the community center, and based on end of the year reports, the pool stayed busy in 2004.
Pool parties at the community center were up 10 percent, and pool party revenue was up 20 percent.
Swim lessons were so popular that more instructors were added to keep up with the demand, according to Novotny. Overall, there was a 60 percent increase in the number of participants.
Three swim teams use the Community Center pool for practice and meets: The Arkansas Dolphins, the Cabot Piranhas and the Jacksonville High School swim team.
Some of that activity will paddle over to the new park when it opens.
Davis expects the new park will become a popular recreation destination for residents and visitors from the surrounding area.
The facility will feature a three-foot-deep plunge pool with water slides and zero-depth entrance; a two-foot-deep play pool complete with shade areas, play structures, a “rain shower” area; also, a deeper diving and swimming pool with painted lanes, hydrotherapy seating and ramp access.
Other site features will include an entry area, shaded party area, a concession stand with tables, offices and a lifeguard training and rest area.
The $2.6 million park is funded in part by a voter approved one-cent sales tax increase.
That will also help fund construction of a $14 million joint education center with the Air Force, moving college level courses currently offered on base to the off base facility. The city has pledged $5 million, with the Air Force awaiting funding for the rest through Congress. The tax will also fund a $2 million fire and police training center to be located on part of the former Vertac site.
Getting the project started was more difficult than getting voter approval for the tax increase. An original cost estimate of $2.1 million for the park turned out to be more than 20 percent below the low construction bid of $2.78 million due to increases in the cost of steel among other issues.
The city’s parks commission then whittled some amenities off the project, bringing the price tag down to $2.6 million.
From there, a court ruling on an unrelated tax case unlocked thousands of dollars for cities in Pulaski County, including Jacksonville, which covered the rest of the project’s cost.
TOP STORY>> Cabot group seeks ways to pay for sewer plant
IN SHORT: Disbanded commission meets to discuss options that would lessen the impact of rate increases on senior citizens.
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
The group formerly known as the Cabot Public Utilities Commission met Monday to discuss raising sewer rates to pay for a much-needed sewer treatment plant.
The current plant is out of compliance with both state and federal standards and is not expected to pass a June inspection.
The city could be fined about $10,000 for its non-compliance.
The group, which now has no official standing in the city and whose members are referring to themselves somewhat jokingly as “seven concerned citizens,” will recommend increases over the next three years that will more than double sewer rates for most customers but will only raise the rates 60 cents a month for customers who use 2,000 gallons or less.
The four former members who attended the meeting Monday are not in favor of a flat surcharge added to every bill to pay for a $16.5 million plant or any combination of a surcharge and rate increase, because both would significantly raise rates for senior citizens, a situation everyone involved with the issue is trying to avoid.
If the council approves of the rate increase as proposed by the former commission, rates for customers who use an average of 7,000 gallons a month would go up this year from $12.95 a month to $25.70 a month, a 98 percent increase. In 2006 that same bill would increase an additional 15 percent to $29.45. In 2007 it would go up another 18 percent to $34.70.
City Finance Director Dale Walker, working with bond attorney Jack Truemper with Stephens Inc., ran the numbers the former commission will recommend to the council when it meets in special session probably in early June.
Mayor Stubby Stum-baugh, who will call the meeting when he finds a convenient date, will likely appoint three of seven former commissioners to the new Water and Wastewater Com-mission that was created by ordinance last week to replace the Public Utilities Commission, which was essentially without power to run the water and sewer departments as it was expected to do.
Attending the Monday meeting were chairman J.M. Park, vice chairman Don Keesee, Bill Cypert and Bob Jackson.
Not attending were Doyne Plummer, David Hicks and Don Tripp. Of those three, Plummer has moved outside the city limits and is assumed ineligible to serve and Tripp has told the mayor he doesn’t want to be appointed to the new commission.
The members of the former commission were appointed by the city council.
The new commission is of the type allowed by state law. When it takes full control in January, it will be autonomous, with power over the department’s finances, equipment and personnel. Its members are appointed by the mayor and approved by the council.
Stumbaugh isn’t saying which of the five who are eligible and willing to serve will be appointed, though it is common knowledge that the ordinance creating the new commission has a January startup date at the request of Park, who said he would not serve otherwise.
The former commission unanimously favored paying for the new plant by continuing the city’s one-cent sales tax that was passed in 1999 to pay for water improvements.
The mayor and several on the council are opposed to paying for utilities with a sales tax since utilities are supposed to be self supporting and the tax money is needed elsewhere.
But the tax is not a dead issue. Supporters for continuing the tax have the option of forcing the council by referendum to call for an election to let voters decide if they want to continue the tax or raise sewer rates.
“I’ve heard it’s coming,” the city finance director said of the rumor that is circulating about a petition calling for an election.
“I don’t know who’s doing it, but I’ve heard it’s coming. It should be an interesting (June council) meeting,” Walker added.
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
The group formerly known as the Cabot Public Utilities Commission met Monday to discuss raising sewer rates to pay for a much-needed sewer treatment plant.
The current plant is out of compliance with both state and federal standards and is not expected to pass a June inspection.
The city could be fined about $10,000 for its non-compliance.
The group, which now has no official standing in the city and whose members are referring to themselves somewhat jokingly as “seven concerned citizens,” will recommend increases over the next three years that will more than double sewer rates for most customers but will only raise the rates 60 cents a month for customers who use 2,000 gallons or less.
The four former members who attended the meeting Monday are not in favor of a flat surcharge added to every bill to pay for a $16.5 million plant or any combination of a surcharge and rate increase, because both would significantly raise rates for senior citizens, a situation everyone involved with the issue is trying to avoid.
If the council approves of the rate increase as proposed by the former commission, rates for customers who use an average of 7,000 gallons a month would go up this year from $12.95 a month to $25.70 a month, a 98 percent increase. In 2006 that same bill would increase an additional 15 percent to $29.45. In 2007 it would go up another 18 percent to $34.70.
City Finance Director Dale Walker, working with bond attorney Jack Truemper with Stephens Inc., ran the numbers the former commission will recommend to the council when it meets in special session probably in early June.
Mayor Stubby Stum-baugh, who will call the meeting when he finds a convenient date, will likely appoint three of seven former commissioners to the new Water and Wastewater Com-mission that was created by ordinance last week to replace the Public Utilities Commission, which was essentially without power to run the water and sewer departments as it was expected to do.
Attending the Monday meeting were chairman J.M. Park, vice chairman Don Keesee, Bill Cypert and Bob Jackson.
Not attending were Doyne Plummer, David Hicks and Don Tripp. Of those three, Plummer has moved outside the city limits and is assumed ineligible to serve and Tripp has told the mayor he doesn’t want to be appointed to the new commission.
The members of the former commission were appointed by the city council.
The new commission is of the type allowed by state law. When it takes full control in January, it will be autonomous, with power over the department’s finances, equipment and personnel. Its members are appointed by the mayor and approved by the council.
Stumbaugh isn’t saying which of the five who are eligible and willing to serve will be appointed, though it is common knowledge that the ordinance creating the new commission has a January startup date at the request of Park, who said he would not serve otherwise.
The former commission unanimously favored paying for the new plant by continuing the city’s one-cent sales tax that was passed in 1999 to pay for water improvements.
The mayor and several on the council are opposed to paying for utilities with a sales tax since utilities are supposed to be self supporting and the tax money is needed elsewhere.
But the tax is not a dead issue. Supporters for continuing the tax have the option of forcing the council by referendum to call for an election to let voters decide if they want to continue the tax or raise sewer rates.
“I’ve heard it’s coming,” the city finance director said of the rumor that is circulating about a petition calling for an election.
“I don’t know who’s doing it, but I’ve heard it’s coming. It should be an interesting (June council) meeting,” Walker added.
TOP STORY>> LRAFB biggest AF winner
IN SHORT: The base would see the most gains in the Air Force if the closure list is upheld and Bush and Congress sign off on it.
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
Advocates for many bases chosen for closure will take their cases to the Base Relocation and Closure (BRAC) Commission over the next four months, but if they fail, Little Rock Air Force Base will realize the full growth detailed in the Defense Department recommendations.
Tentatively selected to get about 3,900 new jobs, the Jacksonville air base is slated to have the ninth largest gain in personnel of all bases — and the largest gain among all Air Force bases.
The recommendations calls for increasing the number of jobs at the base 7,166 to 11,064, most of them military jobs.
The only installations making larger gains all are Army bases.
Those bases expecting larger gains in personnel than Little Rock are:
- Fort Belvoir, Va., 11,858
- Fort Bliss, Texas, 11,501
- Fort Benning, Ga., 9,839
- Fort Sam Houston, Texas, 9,364
- Fort Lee, Va., 7,344
- Fort Meade, Md., 5,361
- Fort Carson, Colo., 4,377
- Fort Bragg, N. C., 4,325
In earlier rounds of base closings, about 85 percent of the Defense Department’s recommendations have been approved.
The BRAC Commission has nine members, and it takes only a simple majority—five—to remove a base from the closure list, but seven commissioners to add a base to the list.
The purpose of BRAC is to make the most efficient and effective use of all the Department of Defense’s resources.
Commission president Anthony Prin-cipi has said he expects changes to be made and that the commission would hold 16 hearing around the country between early June and the end of July, according to
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
Advocates for many bases chosen for closure will take their cases to the Base Relocation and Closure (BRAC) Commission over the next four months, but if they fail, Little Rock Air Force Base will realize the full growth detailed in the Defense Department recommendations.
Tentatively selected to get about 3,900 new jobs, the Jacksonville air base is slated to have the ninth largest gain in personnel of all bases — and the largest gain among all Air Force bases.
The recommendations calls for increasing the number of jobs at the base 7,166 to 11,064, most of them military jobs.
The only installations making larger gains all are Army bases.
Those bases expecting larger gains in personnel than Little Rock are:
- Fort Belvoir, Va., 11,858
- Fort Bliss, Texas, 11,501
- Fort Benning, Ga., 9,839
- Fort Sam Houston, Texas, 9,364
- Fort Lee, Va., 7,344
- Fort Meade, Md., 5,361
- Fort Carson, Colo., 4,377
- Fort Bragg, N. C., 4,325
In earlier rounds of base closings, about 85 percent of the Defense Department’s recommendations have been approved.
The BRAC Commission has nine members, and it takes only a simple majority—five—to remove a base from the closure list, but seven commissioners to add a base to the list.
The purpose of BRAC is to make the most efficient and effective use of all the Department of Defense’s resources.
Commission president Anthony Prin-cipi has said he expects changes to be made and that the commission would hold 16 hearing around the country between early June and the end of July, according to
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