By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
As many as one in five teens have abused prescription drugs at some point in their lives, according to national studies.
The drugs are easy to obtain – as easy as opening the family medicine cabinet or meeting up with a friend who has a supply.
Teens say illicit medications are as easy to get their hands on as beer.
Kids don’t realize the dangers in using prescription drugs recreationally; they think the substances are safe to use because they are medications, something that comes from doctors and drugstores. They don’t see the future risks of addiction, of damaged health and broken dreams.
Helping kids overcome a problem with drugs is not as simple as enacting consequences for bad behavior, such as grounding or taking away the car keys. When a kid breaks rules or violates accepted standards of behavior, the common parental response is punishment: you mess up, you suffer the consequences. The same punitive approach is society’s way of dealing with drug addiction, because criminal behavior is often involved. For most individuals incarcerated in U.S. prisons, drugs were involved in the crimes that got them there. Most remain addicts on the inside.
But now research into the behavioral whys of substanceabuse is leading to an approach that uses the appeal of immediate reward to help both adult and teen addicts stay drug-free, so that they never wind up before a judge.
Psychologists at the Center for Addiction Researcher at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences are applying some old – and new insights – about human behavior into therapies to help individuals with substance abuse problems. The approach is called contingency management.
Contingency management is based on the premise that a behavior is more likely to be repeated if reinforced positively – whether it’s with a pat on the back, money, praise, or other tangible reward. That is nothing new. Psychologists and the rest of us, ordinary folk, have known that for eons.
The newer insight is that individuals with addiction problems tend to live more in the present than the majority. So preaching to them about the horrors and harms of continued addiction – to one’s health, happiness, and finances – may have little impact. The future seems just too far away to matter, when compared to the powerful allure of a high.
In the past 20 years, researchers have been testing out this premise; many studies have shown its effectiveness in helping break addiction for cocaine, marijuana, alcohol, benzodiazephines, opiods, and other drugs.
Those in the business of helping addicts “are beginning to recognize that people involved with drugs extensively are not very good about thinking into the future,” Warren Bickel, director of the UAMS Center for Addiction Research, said. “Immediate reinforcement is often the only thing they can deal with.”
In successful research trials, patients are required to undergo frequent urine samples – several in a week. Clean tests result are rewarded with payments of a few dollars or gift certificates and coupons for goodies such as movie tickets, eating out or store purchases for clothing, electronics, or sporting equipment.
“This is something that works; it has been replicated time and time again,” Bickel said.
When it comes to helping kids with addiction problems, the “in the moment” mindset of the typical adolescent adds to the challenge. As any parent knows, teenagers are notorious for not thinking far into the future and believing they are invincible, beyond harm.
That is why some public health warnings about long-term deleterious health effects of drugs, drinking and tobacco are not effective with this age group.
“The older, classic treatment models for adults – which is very confrontational – don’t work as well with kids,” says Chris Rule, instructor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. “The kids don’t buy into it. It doesn’t faze them in the same way as adults. They don’t see their problem. They say, ‘I know tons and tons of people who do it lots more than I do. I just got caught.’ They don’t see their problem as the start down of path to serious addiction problems.”
The UAMS Substance Abuse Services Program for Adolescents offers assessment and treatment at no cost to youth, ages 12 to 18, who qualify, as part of on-going research into effective programs to prevent and treat substance abuse problems. The research is supported by the National Institutes of Health, the city of Little Rock, and state tobacco settlement funding.
Parental involvement and positive incentives for desired behavior change are two cornerstones of the UAMS research trials.
“Family-based treatments have the most research support to date, and parents are required to participate with their teen in our clinic,” says Catherine Stanger, who with Alan Budney, direct the UAMS Substance Abuse Services for Adolescents. “Also, the use of incentives has been demonstrated to improve outcomes, and all of our research treatment programs use some form of incentives, either for participation or for abstinence.”
Teens accepted in the program receive 14 weeks of counseling and 12 weeks of follow-up services. They are expected to undergo drug testing while in the program and during follow-up. Parental involvement is required.
Parents are encouraged to not delay seeking help for a teen suspected of drug or alcohol abuse.
“Generally, the more severe the teen’s problem is at the time they enter treatment, the worse their outcome,” Stanger says.
“This is why we encourage families to seek treatment early in the development of a substance use problem. We generally tell families that if they have any concerns about their teen’s substance use, it is a good idea to seek an assessment to determine if treatment is appropriate. Don’t wait to see if things get better on their own.”
Tony Thurman, superintendent of Cabot public schools, concurs that “parental involvement is absolutely the key if a teen is to overcome the addiction.” An other essential, he says, is the child getting away from the crowd that is promoting the drug use.
“Typically, unless the student totally changes their peer group, it is almost, impossible for the student to overcome the addiction.”
“Think of drug addiction like an infection – if your defenses are down, you are susceptible – you’ve got to work on keeping your defenses up,” Bickel pointed out. For the teen in treatment for substance abuse – or to prevent one from ever occurring – that means parents need to work on creating the kind of life and environment that makes the youngster less vulnerable to drug use.
“Kids can’t be left alone for long periods to time, which can be a hard thing for parents to think through if both are working,” Bickel continued. “Kids need to be involved in community groups – scouting, museums, libraries, things that are pro-social, with people who are thinking of the best interests of the kids. Parents need to stay connected with their kids, sit down to dinner, hear about their day.”
Overcoming substance abuse is not necessarily a quick process. As anyone who has tried to stick to a diet knows, behavior change is tough. For the adult who has abused drugs or alcohol for years, staying clean involves in the whole person – engrained patterns and habits of life style, job skills and work ethic, friendship and family relationships, and finances.
“Addiction is a chronically relapsing disorder; learning how to be abstinent takes a lot of times trying … it involves learning how to manage how you think,” Bickel noted.
All the more reason to get help for a teen who has a substance abuse problem. Don’t wait for them to outgrow it. They may not.
For information about UAMS Substance Abuse Services for Adolescents, call (501)526-8446.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
TOP STORY > >Base will welcome all to big air show
Little Rock Air Force Base’s open house is set for Saturday and Sunday and is open to the public.
The open house gives the base an opportunity to showcase its mission as the world’s largest C-130 training base and dazzle spectators with aerial and ground events from all branches of the armed forces from varying eras. The host unit is the 19th Airlift Wing, commanded by Brig. Gen. Rowayne Schatz.
The Navy’s premier aerial demonstration team, the Blue Angels, will highlight this year’s show, which boasts a “Combat Airlift” theme.
The Blue Angels performed at the 2006 open house, and more than 250,000 spectators were in attendance. This year’s show is expected to be even bigger.
Also performing at the open house will be the Army’s parachute team, the Golden Knights.
The T-28 Warbird formation/acrobatics team, also known as “Trojan Horsemen,” will perform their acrobatics overhead.
Shockwave — a jet truck that has a record speed of 376 miles per hour on a mile-long runway — will also be performing.
Also in this year’s lineup will be the Viper West F-16 demonstration team; the Air Force’s Air Combat Command Heritage Flight; the C-17, the newest airlifter to enter the Air Force’s inventory; Fat Albert Airlines, an all-Marine Corps crew of three officers and five enlisted personnel who operate the Lockheed-Martin C-130T Hercules; Mike Rinker and his SU-26 “Pink Floyd” aircraft, and the disabled American Veterans’ B-52 “Special Delivery.”
This year’s announcer will be an Emmy Award-winner, Rob Reider, who narrates air shows around the country. “Stepping Stones to Aviation,” a program designed to enrich the education of children by introducing them to the experience of flight in a hands-on program, will let children climb into the realistic simulators, pedal down a colorful runway and taxi into a controlled airspace.
Static displays for ground-based viewing include the F-22 Raptor, the F-15 Eagle, KC-135 Stratofortress, OH-58 Kiowa Warrior, EC-130 J Commando Solo, C-17, C-21, C-130E and J, B-25 and much more.
The base’s open house — more commonly known as air show — is the largest single spectator event in Arkansas, attracting people from not only around the state, but from adjoining states as well and is the largest open house in the south central region.
In what is known as a “combat capabilities” exercise, C-130 aircraft from the base will show what they do in combat: paratroopers will jump in a display of military power and will drop heavy equipment and other cargo.
Five hours of flying and military-related entertainment for attendees will be available at this year’s two-day air show/open house. Also available for spectators to participate in will be the Army’s “Virtual Army Experience.” Participants will employ teamwork, rules of engagement, leadership and high-tech equipment in a virtual Army mission.
Souvenir, food and information booths will also be available. As always, admission and parking are free. For everyone’s safety, all visitors and their vehicles will be subject to search. No coolers, pets, or backpacks are allowed at the open house. Due to limited parking, RVs will not be allowed on base.
The Little Rock Air Force Base is located off Hwy. 67/167, at the air base exit.
Gates will open at 8:30 a.m. and close at 4:30 p.m.
View continuous updates to this year’s air show lineup and find more information at www.littlerock.af.mil or call 501-987-2278 for a recorded informational message.
The open house gives the base an opportunity to showcase its mission as the world’s largest C-130 training base and dazzle spectators with aerial and ground events from all branches of the armed forces from varying eras. The host unit is the 19th Airlift Wing, commanded by Brig. Gen. Rowayne Schatz.
The Navy’s premier aerial demonstration team, the Blue Angels, will highlight this year’s show, which boasts a “Combat Airlift” theme.
The Blue Angels performed at the 2006 open house, and more than 250,000 spectators were in attendance. This year’s show is expected to be even bigger.
Also performing at the open house will be the Army’s parachute team, the Golden Knights.
The T-28 Warbird formation/acrobatics team, also known as “Trojan Horsemen,” will perform their acrobatics overhead.
Shockwave — a jet truck that has a record speed of 376 miles per hour on a mile-long runway — will also be performing.
Also in this year’s lineup will be the Viper West F-16 demonstration team; the Air Force’s Air Combat Command Heritage Flight; the C-17, the newest airlifter to enter the Air Force’s inventory; Fat Albert Airlines, an all-Marine Corps crew of three officers and five enlisted personnel who operate the Lockheed-Martin C-130T Hercules; Mike Rinker and his SU-26 “Pink Floyd” aircraft, and the disabled American Veterans’ B-52 “Special Delivery.”
This year’s announcer will be an Emmy Award-winner, Rob Reider, who narrates air shows around the country. “Stepping Stones to Aviation,” a program designed to enrich the education of children by introducing them to the experience of flight in a hands-on program, will let children climb into the realistic simulators, pedal down a colorful runway and taxi into a controlled airspace.
Static displays for ground-based viewing include the F-22 Raptor, the F-15 Eagle, KC-135 Stratofortress, OH-58 Kiowa Warrior, EC-130 J Commando Solo, C-17, C-21, C-130E and J, B-25 and much more.
The base’s open house — more commonly known as air show — is the largest single spectator event in Arkansas, attracting people from not only around the state, but from adjoining states as well and is the largest open house in the south central region.
In what is known as a “combat capabilities” exercise, C-130 aircraft from the base will show what they do in combat: paratroopers will jump in a display of military power and will drop heavy equipment and other cargo.
Five hours of flying and military-related entertainment for attendees will be available at this year’s two-day air show/open house. Also available for spectators to participate in will be the Army’s “Virtual Army Experience.” Participants will employ teamwork, rules of engagement, leadership and high-tech equipment in a virtual Army mission.
Souvenir, food and information booths will also be available. As always, admission and parking are free. For everyone’s safety, all visitors and their vehicles will be subject to search. No coolers, pets, or backpacks are allowed at the open house. Due to limited parking, RVs will not be allowed on base.
The Little Rock Air Force Base is located off Hwy. 67/167, at the air base exit.
Gates will open at 8:30 a.m. and close at 4:30 p.m.
View continuous updates to this year’s air show lineup and find more information at www.littlerock.af.mil or call 501-987-2278 for a recorded informational message.
Monday, October 13, 2008
SPORTS > > Billies club Badgers
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
Beebe has lost just five times in John Shannon’s season-and-a-half, but the Badger head coach probably has never looked quite as stunned as he did on Friday night.
Maybe he was wondering how in the world Monticello lost two games this season after the Billies put on a dazzling array of weaponry in a convincing 41-14 win over the Badgers on Homecoming at “Bro” Irwin Stadium.
Ty Ferrell, fresh off a high ankle sprain, looked fully recovered in rushing for 209 yards and two touchdowns on just 17 carries. Ferrell also threw for a score. But it wasn’t just Ferrell putting on a show. Running back Lance Ridgell went for 122 more on the ground as the Billies ran over and around a Beebe defense whose hallmark is toughness and physical play.
“They just whipped our butt, bottom line,” said Shannon, whose Badgers fell to 4-2, 2-1 in the 5A-Southeast. “In every phase of the game. There’s nothing else you can say about it.”
The Billies (4-2, 3-0) started the season in the Spread and quickly fell to 0-2. That’s when head coach Van Paschal decided to return to the Double Wing attack that had been in place during his tenure at the school. That appeared to be the right decision as the Billies unleashed a combination of misdirection, speed and power to pile up 446 yards on the ground — 468 overall.
“I thought it would be a low-scoring game,” Paschal said. “But the last three weeks, we’ve played real well. Ferrell has missed almost two weeks. He came back to practice on Wednesday. It was a game-time decision with him tonight.”
Defensively, the Billies were every bit as impressive, limiting Beebe senior fullback Sammy Williams to less than a 100 yards for the first time this season. Williams managed just 99 yards on 24 carries. The Badgers finished with 302 total yards. Purcell added 60 yards on seven carries.
Monticello came off the bus ready to play, embarking on a 14-play scoring drive on their first possession, converting a pair of fourth downs along the way, to take a quick 7-0 lead.
The Billies put 10 in the box on Beebe’s first play from scrimmage, but an option play to Brandon Purcell was good for 36 yards. Beebe had half a dozen big plays on the night, but it wasn’t nearly enough. The drive stalled and Monticello struck quickly, going 67 yards in five plays with Ridgell running a counter 36 yards to paydirt and a 14-0 lead, still in the opening period.
“We knew they were good,” Shannon said. “But we were getting better each and every week and figured we could match them and be as physical, and more physical than they were. But we weren’t. And that’s the disappointing thing, we lost the hitting game tonight and that’s suppose to be our trademark.”
Beebe’s offensive line finally began to open up some gaps on its next drive and Williams and Purcell took advantage as the Badgers marched 72 yards in nine plays to get right back into the ball game at 14-7 less than three minutes into the second period. Williams went through a gaping hole from eight yards for the score.
“We were trying to find the right scheme and (Monticello) kept mixing things up on us,” Shannon said. “We finally found it, but the bottom line is, they just out-hit us, and we didn’t respond.”
But that was as close as the Badgers would get as three minutes later, Ferrell optioned around the right end 44 yards for the score to make it 21-7.
After Williams fumbled on the first play of Beebe’s ensuing possession, Ferrell found Brishen Matthews for a 22-yard touchdown. The Billies’ second score in 16 seconds opened up a commanding 28-7 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Badgers mounted a drive in response, using a 50-yard Roger Glaude-to-Luke Gardner pass play to reach the 21. But the drive stalled and Beebe went into the locker room down three touchdowns.
The Badgers then did the worst thing possible to open up the second half: They embarked on an 8:15-play drive, which not only ate up valuable time, but came up empty as well.
Monticello took over at its own 5 and began a march that would all but put the game away, going 95 yards and eating up eight-and-a-half minutes to take a 35-7 lead.
Williams capped off a 7-play, 62-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge to make it 35-14 with 4:14 left in the contest.
“We could have tackled better, run better, and blocked better,” Shannon said. “We just didn’t play very good at all and when you don’t play well and you’re playing a team that good, you get your butt kicked. That’s what happened tonight.”
Beebe will try to bounce back next week at McClellan.
Leader sports editor
Beebe has lost just five times in John Shannon’s season-and-a-half, but the Badger head coach probably has never looked quite as stunned as he did on Friday night.
Maybe he was wondering how in the world Monticello lost two games this season after the Billies put on a dazzling array of weaponry in a convincing 41-14 win over the Badgers on Homecoming at “Bro” Irwin Stadium.
Ty Ferrell, fresh off a high ankle sprain, looked fully recovered in rushing for 209 yards and two touchdowns on just 17 carries. Ferrell also threw for a score. But it wasn’t just Ferrell putting on a show. Running back Lance Ridgell went for 122 more on the ground as the Billies ran over and around a Beebe defense whose hallmark is toughness and physical play.
“They just whipped our butt, bottom line,” said Shannon, whose Badgers fell to 4-2, 2-1 in the 5A-Southeast. “In every phase of the game. There’s nothing else you can say about it.”
The Billies (4-2, 3-0) started the season in the Spread and quickly fell to 0-2. That’s when head coach Van Paschal decided to return to the Double Wing attack that had been in place during his tenure at the school. That appeared to be the right decision as the Billies unleashed a combination of misdirection, speed and power to pile up 446 yards on the ground — 468 overall.
“I thought it would be a low-scoring game,” Paschal said. “But the last three weeks, we’ve played real well. Ferrell has missed almost two weeks. He came back to practice on Wednesday. It was a game-time decision with him tonight.”
Defensively, the Billies were every bit as impressive, limiting Beebe senior fullback Sammy Williams to less than a 100 yards for the first time this season. Williams managed just 99 yards on 24 carries. The Badgers finished with 302 total yards. Purcell added 60 yards on seven carries.
Monticello came off the bus ready to play, embarking on a 14-play scoring drive on their first possession, converting a pair of fourth downs along the way, to take a quick 7-0 lead.
The Billies put 10 in the box on Beebe’s first play from scrimmage, but an option play to Brandon Purcell was good for 36 yards. Beebe had half a dozen big plays on the night, but it wasn’t nearly enough. The drive stalled and Monticello struck quickly, going 67 yards in five plays with Ridgell running a counter 36 yards to paydirt and a 14-0 lead, still in the opening period.
“We knew they were good,” Shannon said. “But we were getting better each and every week and figured we could match them and be as physical, and more physical than they were. But we weren’t. And that’s the disappointing thing, we lost the hitting game tonight and that’s suppose to be our trademark.”
Beebe’s offensive line finally began to open up some gaps on its next drive and Williams and Purcell took advantage as the Badgers marched 72 yards in nine plays to get right back into the ball game at 14-7 less than three minutes into the second period. Williams went through a gaping hole from eight yards for the score.
“We were trying to find the right scheme and (Monticello) kept mixing things up on us,” Shannon said. “We finally found it, but the bottom line is, they just out-hit us, and we didn’t respond.”
But that was as close as the Badgers would get as three minutes later, Ferrell optioned around the right end 44 yards for the score to make it 21-7.
After Williams fumbled on the first play of Beebe’s ensuing possession, Ferrell found Brishen Matthews for a 22-yard touchdown. The Billies’ second score in 16 seconds opened up a commanding 28-7 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Badgers mounted a drive in response, using a 50-yard Roger Glaude-to-Luke Gardner pass play to reach the 21. But the drive stalled and Beebe went into the locker room down three touchdowns.
The Badgers then did the worst thing possible to open up the second half: They embarked on an 8:15-play drive, which not only ate up valuable time, but came up empty as well.
Monticello took over at its own 5 and began a march that would all but put the game away, going 95 yards and eating up eight-and-a-half minutes to take a 35-7 lead.
Williams capped off a 7-play, 62-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge to make it 35-14 with 4:14 left in the contest.
“We could have tackled better, run better, and blocked better,” Shannon said. “We just didn’t play very good at all and when you don’t play well and you’re playing a team that good, you get your butt kicked. That’s what happened tonight.”
Beebe will try to bounce back next week at McClellan.
SPORTS > > Smith captures medalist honors; Panthers second
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
Cabot coach Ronny Tollett sure wouldn’t mind seeing the state of Arkansas adopt the high school golf tournament format most of the rest of the country uses to determine state champions.
In Arkansas, teams play a one-day, 18-hole state tournament, not enough, in Tollett’s estimation, to take the best measure of the best teams in the state.
“Every other state does two days, some three,” said Tollett, a couple of days after his Panthers settled for second, three strokes behind Conway, in the 7A state tournament played Tuesday at Cypress Creek Golf Course. “Perhaps some day we will. It’s equal for everyone, but you hate to go to PGA event and see who the best player is over just one day. One or two swings can cost you the whole deal.
“But I’m not making excuses. It’s the same for everyone and Conway was definitely the best team.”
While Cabot finished second, Panther sophomore Hunter Smith earned medalist honors on Tuesday with a 72.
Cabot was coming off a disappointing 2007 season. That disappointment wasn’t the result of poor play last year, just circumstances. The Panthers shot a state tournament-best 310 last season, but had failed to qualify as a team and thus, were ineligible for the title.
The Panthers went into this fall with the very realistic goal of capturing the 7A title and, after winning the 7A-Central Conference tournament on Sept. 23, they were right on schedule.
But other than Smith, the rest of the Panther squad underperformed based on their meet showings throughout the fall. Tollett blamed it on very difficult conditions, which combined wet fairways that lengthened the 6,800-yard course, with gusty winds that dried out the greens and made the tricky pin placements all the more treacherous.
After Smith, the other two Panther golfers who made up Cabot’s top-tier threesome struggled on Tuesday. Nicklaus Benton fired a respectable, though disappointing 76, while brother Colby Benton shot 79.
“Nick has been an excellent player since he got here as a ninth grader,” said Tollett of the senior Benton. “He felt like he let everybody down, but he had blisters on his hand and had a couple of problems on a couple of holes before he could get that taken care of. He’s been our most consistent player all year.”
Rounding out Cabot’s scoring was Cody Webster’s 83 and Kevan Sharp’s 85.
Conway, meanwhile, which finished third in the conference meet, six strokes behind Cabot, had three players finish in the top eight and four finish at 80 or below. The Wampus Cats won despite having a player disqualified for turning in the wrong score after posting an actual 73.
Ironically, the Panthers posted the exact same score (310) that they did at last year’s meet.
“I would have thought we’d done better than that this year,” Tollett said. “We’ve shot under 300 a lot this year. Hunter could have shot lower but couldn’t get any putts to fall. He left himself in good position but the holes were in some tough spots. But he played solid and steady.”
Smith made two birdies — only one with a one-putt — to go along with two bogies.
“Everyone understood they had to shoot pretty well,” Tollett said. “Other than Hunter, our guys ballooned four to six strokes over their average and that was the difference. They were disappointed.”
But six of Cabot’s nine golfers will return next season, including Smith and Colby Benton. All have played at even par at some point this season and all are, in Tollett’s words, “accomplished golfers.” So a 2009 state title is within reach.
“Everybody would like to think that you can put together that great round as a team and win it,” Tollett said.
Leader sports editor
Cabot coach Ronny Tollett sure wouldn’t mind seeing the state of Arkansas adopt the high school golf tournament format most of the rest of the country uses to determine state champions.
In Arkansas, teams play a one-day, 18-hole state tournament, not enough, in Tollett’s estimation, to take the best measure of the best teams in the state.
“Every other state does two days, some three,” said Tollett, a couple of days after his Panthers settled for second, three strokes behind Conway, in the 7A state tournament played Tuesday at Cypress Creek Golf Course. “Perhaps some day we will. It’s equal for everyone, but you hate to go to PGA event and see who the best player is over just one day. One or two swings can cost you the whole deal.
“But I’m not making excuses. It’s the same for everyone and Conway was definitely the best team.”
While Cabot finished second, Panther sophomore Hunter Smith earned medalist honors on Tuesday with a 72.
Cabot was coming off a disappointing 2007 season. That disappointment wasn’t the result of poor play last year, just circumstances. The Panthers shot a state tournament-best 310 last season, but had failed to qualify as a team and thus, were ineligible for the title.
The Panthers went into this fall with the very realistic goal of capturing the 7A title and, after winning the 7A-Central Conference tournament on Sept. 23, they were right on schedule.
But other than Smith, the rest of the Panther squad underperformed based on their meet showings throughout the fall. Tollett blamed it on very difficult conditions, which combined wet fairways that lengthened the 6,800-yard course, with gusty winds that dried out the greens and made the tricky pin placements all the more treacherous.
After Smith, the other two Panther golfers who made up Cabot’s top-tier threesome struggled on Tuesday. Nicklaus Benton fired a respectable, though disappointing 76, while brother Colby Benton shot 79.
“Nick has been an excellent player since he got here as a ninth grader,” said Tollett of the senior Benton. “He felt like he let everybody down, but he had blisters on his hand and had a couple of problems on a couple of holes before he could get that taken care of. He’s been our most consistent player all year.”
Rounding out Cabot’s scoring was Cody Webster’s 83 and Kevan Sharp’s 85.
Conway, meanwhile, which finished third in the conference meet, six strokes behind Cabot, had three players finish in the top eight and four finish at 80 or below. The Wampus Cats won despite having a player disqualified for turning in the wrong score after posting an actual 73.
Ironically, the Panthers posted the exact same score (310) that they did at last year’s meet.
“I would have thought we’d done better than that this year,” Tollett said. “We’ve shot under 300 a lot this year. Hunter could have shot lower but couldn’t get any putts to fall. He left himself in good position but the holes were in some tough spots. But he played solid and steady.”
Smith made two birdies — only one with a one-putt — to go along with two bogies.
“Everyone understood they had to shoot pretty well,” Tollett said. “Other than Hunter, our guys ballooned four to six strokes over their average and that was the difference. They were disappointed.”
But six of Cabot’s nine golfers will return next season, including Smith and Colby Benton. All have played at even par at some point this season and all are, in Tollett’s words, “accomplished golfers.” So a 2009 state title is within reach.
“Everybody would like to think that you can put together that great round as a team and win it,” Tollett said.
SPORTS > > Red Devils fend off Warriors
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The two Red Devil scores in the second half ultimately proved unnecessary thanks to a Jacksonville defensive effort that allowed only 42 yards of offense from Little Rock Hall in the final two quarters on Friday night at Scott Field.
The result was a 27-8 victory for Jacksonville that relied heavily on clock management in the last 24 minutes to grab its second 6A-East Conference win of the season.
The Warriors (1-5, 0-3 conf.) hung tough with Jacksonville (3-3, 2-1 conf.) through most of the first half, but a late first-half injury to starting quarterback Myron Jackson seemed to zap their momentum on offense.
Ricky Thomas did a respectable job of filling in for Jackson, but couldn’t shake a relentless second-half blitz attack led by senior defensive back Corey Bester.
Jacksonville’s only turnover of the night came on the second-half kickoff, which gave the Warriors excellent field position at the Devil 39-yard line. They got down to the Jacksonville 28 before Bester busted through for a pair of huge sacks.
The first one sent Hall back eight yards, and his second one was even more damaging. Bester caught Thomas 13 yards behind the line of scrimmage to set up a fourth-and-32 situation.
“Hats off to them – they kept plugging,” Jacksonville coach Mark Whatley said of the Warriors after the game. “Fortunately, we found a way to win it. I don’t know, we seemed flat – we’re not playing with a lot of excitement or passion. We’ve got to get that back and we’ve got find it quick.”
Despite the disappointment on the overall effort, Whatley was pleased to see the defensive effort in the second half.
“They really came up big,” Whatley said. “We had a couple of stuffs there off the corner that really backed them up and turned the game around a little bit. I was glad to see that happen.”
Bester also put the final stake through the heart with 1:20 left to play with a 10-yard touchdown run that set the final margin, but his sacks proved to be the game changer.
“Coached called them,” Bester said. “Whatever he tells me to do, I’m going to do it. We practice on this every single day since August, and we just pushed it to the next level. And I had to do it for my team, so, there you go.”
Bester also relished his late TD run.
“It felt good,” Bester said. “My team supports me. I couldn’t do any of this without my team behind me.”
Jacksonville took its first possession after a stalled Hall drive to start the game and went 85 yards in 11 plays for the first score. Running back Patrick Geans did most of the damage on the ground, taking six carries for 47 yards, but it was Keith Rodgers that capped off the drive on a seven-yard run with 4:16 left in the first quarter. The point-after attempt was unsuccessful to leave the score 6-0.
The Warriors answered on their ensuing drive. A good kick return netted them great field position at their own 45-yard line, and Sherodrick Smith busted through the Red Devil defensive line from a yard out to start the second quarter, which tied things up at 6-6.
Smith also bulled his way in for the two-point conversion to give Hall its first and only lead of the contest.
The Red Devils kept it on the ground during their next scoring drive. This time, Bester took the first three carries before Geans took over once again. Rodgers gave Jacksonville first and goal at the 2 on a 9-yard carry, and Geans busted through for the score with 2:31 left in the half. The Warriors blocked Price Eubanks’ point-after attempt to leave the score at 12-8 heading into intermission.
The third quarter went scoreless, but the Red Devils finally scored through the air with 9:43 left in the game. QB Logan Perry found Terrell Brown in the corner of the end zone on the left side for an 18-yard touchdown pass. Rodgers ran in the two-point conversion to put Hall down by two scores at 20-8 with little time left to make up the deficit.
Geans led the Red Devils in rushing with 20 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown. Rodgers had six rushes for 69 yards and a touchdown, and got the only turnover for Jacksonville on the final play of the game with an interception, while Bester finished with seven carries for 48 yards and a score.
Perry went 13 of 23 through the air for 145 yards and a touchdown. Demitris Harris had three catches for 33 yards, and Brown had three catches for 39 yards and a touchdown. Jacksonville converted 16 first downs, and was penalized seven times for 40 yards. The Red Devils had 351 yards of total offense, with 143 yards of total offense for Little Rock Hall. The Warriors had nine first downs and five penalties for 45 yards.
The Red Devils host Searcy for Homecoming next Friday.
Leader sportswriter
The two Red Devil scores in the second half ultimately proved unnecessary thanks to a Jacksonville defensive effort that allowed only 42 yards of offense from Little Rock Hall in the final two quarters on Friday night at Scott Field.
The result was a 27-8 victory for Jacksonville that relied heavily on clock management in the last 24 minutes to grab its second 6A-East Conference win of the season.
The Warriors (1-5, 0-3 conf.) hung tough with Jacksonville (3-3, 2-1 conf.) through most of the first half, but a late first-half injury to starting quarterback Myron Jackson seemed to zap their momentum on offense.
Ricky Thomas did a respectable job of filling in for Jackson, but couldn’t shake a relentless second-half blitz attack led by senior defensive back Corey Bester.
Jacksonville’s only turnover of the night came on the second-half kickoff, which gave the Warriors excellent field position at the Devil 39-yard line. They got down to the Jacksonville 28 before Bester busted through for a pair of huge sacks.
The first one sent Hall back eight yards, and his second one was even more damaging. Bester caught Thomas 13 yards behind the line of scrimmage to set up a fourth-and-32 situation.
“Hats off to them – they kept plugging,” Jacksonville coach Mark Whatley said of the Warriors after the game. “Fortunately, we found a way to win it. I don’t know, we seemed flat – we’re not playing with a lot of excitement or passion. We’ve got to get that back and we’ve got find it quick.”
Despite the disappointment on the overall effort, Whatley was pleased to see the defensive effort in the second half.
“They really came up big,” Whatley said. “We had a couple of stuffs there off the corner that really backed them up and turned the game around a little bit. I was glad to see that happen.”
Bester also put the final stake through the heart with 1:20 left to play with a 10-yard touchdown run that set the final margin, but his sacks proved to be the game changer.
“Coached called them,” Bester said. “Whatever he tells me to do, I’m going to do it. We practice on this every single day since August, and we just pushed it to the next level. And I had to do it for my team, so, there you go.”
Bester also relished his late TD run.
“It felt good,” Bester said. “My team supports me. I couldn’t do any of this without my team behind me.”
Jacksonville took its first possession after a stalled Hall drive to start the game and went 85 yards in 11 plays for the first score. Running back Patrick Geans did most of the damage on the ground, taking six carries for 47 yards, but it was Keith Rodgers that capped off the drive on a seven-yard run with 4:16 left in the first quarter. The point-after attempt was unsuccessful to leave the score 6-0.
The Warriors answered on their ensuing drive. A good kick return netted them great field position at their own 45-yard line, and Sherodrick Smith busted through the Red Devil defensive line from a yard out to start the second quarter, which tied things up at 6-6.
Smith also bulled his way in for the two-point conversion to give Hall its first and only lead of the contest.
The Red Devils kept it on the ground during their next scoring drive. This time, Bester took the first three carries before Geans took over once again. Rodgers gave Jacksonville first and goal at the 2 on a 9-yard carry, and Geans busted through for the score with 2:31 left in the half. The Warriors blocked Price Eubanks’ point-after attempt to leave the score at 12-8 heading into intermission.
The third quarter went scoreless, but the Red Devils finally scored through the air with 9:43 left in the game. QB Logan Perry found Terrell Brown in the corner of the end zone on the left side for an 18-yard touchdown pass. Rodgers ran in the two-point conversion to put Hall down by two scores at 20-8 with little time left to make up the deficit.
Geans led the Red Devils in rushing with 20 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown. Rodgers had six rushes for 69 yards and a touchdown, and got the only turnover for Jacksonville on the final play of the game with an interception, while Bester finished with seven carries for 48 yards and a score.
Perry went 13 of 23 through the air for 145 yards and a touchdown. Demitris Harris had three catches for 33 yards, and Brown had three catches for 39 yards and a touchdown. Jacksonville converted 16 first downs, and was penalized seven times for 40 yards. The Red Devils had 351 yards of total offense, with 143 yards of total offense for Little Rock Hall. The Warriors had nine first downs and five penalties for 45 yards.
The Red Devils host Searcy for Homecoming next Friday.
SPORTS > > Panthers wallop ’Cats
By RAY BENTON
Special to the Leader
There are usually fireworks when 28 points are scored in the final 1:43 of a football game. In the case of Cabot’s 34-21 homecoming victory over North Little Rock last night, the final 21 were academic.
The Panthers scored with 1:43 left in the game to take a commanding 27-7 lead when senior halfback Wesley Sowell scampered around the right side for 21 yards and the score. It capped a dominant second half for the home team after the two squads battled to a 7-7 deadlock at halftime.
“I thought the offensive line did a good job,” Cabot coach Mike Malham said. “Defensively we gave up a few yards here and there, but boy we held them a couple times down there around the 20. When we finally got the ball with the lead in the second half and I started feeling a lot better.”
From that point, North Little Rock marched 80 yards in 43 seconds against Cabot’s prevent defense to make it 27-14. Panther cornerback Joe Bryant then scooped up the onside kick, raced around the right side of the Wildcat front line and ran 48 yards for the Panthers’ final touchdown. North Little Rock got the ball back with 48 seconds left and scored again with eight seconds remaining after a rapid 75-yard drive to set the final margin.
“We backed off too much,” Malham said. “You can’t back off that much, you got to be in the ball park, but everything worked out. We got a conference win, we’re 2-1 and we’re a lot better off than we were last week.”
The Wildcats threatened to score on the opening drive of the game, marching 59 yards in five plays to the Panther 21. North Little Rock hurt itself with a fumbled handoff exchange on first down. After one incompletion, Bryant knocked down a pass to set up fourth and 12. The Wildcats called timeout to discuss the situation, and decided to go for it. The Panthers were expecting pass and sent the kitchen sink after NLR quarterback David Hope. Three Panthers, senior linebacker Ethan Coffee and junior linemen Jared Maxwell and T.J. Bertrand, converged on Hope simultaneously and took him down for a 12-yard loss.
Cabot took over and marched 60 yards in eight plays with fullback Michael James capping the drive with a 1-yard plunge. Sowell kept the drive alive on fourth and one from the 49 with an 18 yard burst off right tackle.
North Little Rock came right back, marching down the field again, only this time without the late mistakes. The Wildcats again faced a fourth down, but this time they were at the Cabot 3-yard line and needed just two yards for the first down. After another timeout, running back Michael Tillman got just enough to keep the drive alive. A play later, he scored to tie the game.
That’s the way the half ended, although the Wildcats threatened again. Taking over on its own 36 with just 1:07 left in the half, NLR got to the Cabot 10 and a half-yard line with the help of a Panther pass interference call. The Wildcats lost five yards on a fumble and missed a 33-yard field goal to close the half.
The Panthers got the ball to start the second half and went on a 14-play, 71-yard drive to take the lead for good. James again did the honors, scoring from seven yards out on second and goal. The Panther defense then held NLR to three and out, but fumbled it away after reaching the NLR 14-yard line.
The gift was returned two plays later when Hope, facing heavy pressure from Cabot senior defensive tackle Cody Myers, let go an ill-advised pass that went right to senior defensive end Nicholas McTague. McTague returned it eight yards to the Wildcat 17. Four plays later, quarterback Seth Bloomberg kept on the option read from five yards out to put the home team up 20-7.
The Panther defense bent again on NLR’s next drive, but again didn’t break. The visitors drove from their own 23 to the Cabot 8-yard line. Three straight pass attempts were knocked out of the air by Bryant, Nathan Byrnes and Spencer Neumann, setting Cabot up for its final scoring drive.
North Little Rock finished with 409 total yards, with 155 of those came in the last 1:43 of the game. The Panthers amassed 349 total yards, 341 on the ground.
James led all rushers with 153 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries. All of Cabot’s backs had good games. Bloomberg rushed six times for 60 yards and a score, Sowell had 11 carries for 77 yards and a score and Chris Bayless toted it 13 times for 74 yards.
Hope did the work for NLR, completing 21 of 35 pass attempts for 323 yards and two touchdowns. He spread it out well, hitting six different receivers. Senior Donald James led four receivers with 60-plus yards with seven catches for 92 yards.
Cabot improved to 5-1 and 2-1 in the 7A-Central while North Little Rock fell to 4-2 and 1-2. Cabot travels to Little Rock Central next week while NLR hosts conference leader Catholic.
Special to the Leader
There are usually fireworks when 28 points are scored in the final 1:43 of a football game. In the case of Cabot’s 34-21 homecoming victory over North Little Rock last night, the final 21 were academic.
The Panthers scored with 1:43 left in the game to take a commanding 27-7 lead when senior halfback Wesley Sowell scampered around the right side for 21 yards and the score. It capped a dominant second half for the home team after the two squads battled to a 7-7 deadlock at halftime.
“I thought the offensive line did a good job,” Cabot coach Mike Malham said. “Defensively we gave up a few yards here and there, but boy we held them a couple times down there around the 20. When we finally got the ball with the lead in the second half and I started feeling a lot better.”
From that point, North Little Rock marched 80 yards in 43 seconds against Cabot’s prevent defense to make it 27-14. Panther cornerback Joe Bryant then scooped up the onside kick, raced around the right side of the Wildcat front line and ran 48 yards for the Panthers’ final touchdown. North Little Rock got the ball back with 48 seconds left and scored again with eight seconds remaining after a rapid 75-yard drive to set the final margin.
“We backed off too much,” Malham said. “You can’t back off that much, you got to be in the ball park, but everything worked out. We got a conference win, we’re 2-1 and we’re a lot better off than we were last week.”
The Wildcats threatened to score on the opening drive of the game, marching 59 yards in five plays to the Panther 21. North Little Rock hurt itself with a fumbled handoff exchange on first down. After one incompletion, Bryant knocked down a pass to set up fourth and 12. The Wildcats called timeout to discuss the situation, and decided to go for it. The Panthers were expecting pass and sent the kitchen sink after NLR quarterback David Hope. Three Panthers, senior linebacker Ethan Coffee and junior linemen Jared Maxwell and T.J. Bertrand, converged on Hope simultaneously and took him down for a 12-yard loss.
Cabot took over and marched 60 yards in eight plays with fullback Michael James capping the drive with a 1-yard plunge. Sowell kept the drive alive on fourth and one from the 49 with an 18 yard burst off right tackle.
North Little Rock came right back, marching down the field again, only this time without the late mistakes. The Wildcats again faced a fourth down, but this time they were at the Cabot 3-yard line and needed just two yards for the first down. After another timeout, running back Michael Tillman got just enough to keep the drive alive. A play later, he scored to tie the game.
That’s the way the half ended, although the Wildcats threatened again. Taking over on its own 36 with just 1:07 left in the half, NLR got to the Cabot 10 and a half-yard line with the help of a Panther pass interference call. The Wildcats lost five yards on a fumble and missed a 33-yard field goal to close the half.
The Panthers got the ball to start the second half and went on a 14-play, 71-yard drive to take the lead for good. James again did the honors, scoring from seven yards out on second and goal. The Panther defense then held NLR to three and out, but fumbled it away after reaching the NLR 14-yard line.
The gift was returned two plays later when Hope, facing heavy pressure from Cabot senior defensive tackle Cody Myers, let go an ill-advised pass that went right to senior defensive end Nicholas McTague. McTague returned it eight yards to the Wildcat 17. Four plays later, quarterback Seth Bloomberg kept on the option read from five yards out to put the home team up 20-7.
The Panther defense bent again on NLR’s next drive, but again didn’t break. The visitors drove from their own 23 to the Cabot 8-yard line. Three straight pass attempts were knocked out of the air by Bryant, Nathan Byrnes and Spencer Neumann, setting Cabot up for its final scoring drive.
North Little Rock finished with 409 total yards, with 155 of those came in the last 1:43 of the game. The Panthers amassed 349 total yards, 341 on the ground.
James led all rushers with 153 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries. All of Cabot’s backs had good games. Bloomberg rushed six times for 60 yards and a score, Sowell had 11 carries for 77 yards and a score and Chris Bayless toted it 13 times for 74 yards.
Hope did the work for NLR, completing 21 of 35 pass attempts for 323 yards and two touchdowns. He spread it out well, hitting six different receivers. Senior Donald James led four receivers with 60-plus yards with seven catches for 92 yards.
Cabot improved to 5-1 and 2-1 in the 7A-Central while North Little Rock fell to 4-2 and 1-2. Cabot travels to Little Rock Central next week while NLR hosts conference leader Catholic.
SPORTS > > Closing on a high note
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
It hasn’t always been easy, but it has proved to be rewarding.
Back in 2005, Jessica Beaver started her freshman year at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock on a soccer scholarship. Beaver had been the most talented player on her Jacksonville High School team, but the world of Division I soccer was new and sometimes overwhelming.
Four years later, Beaver, now a senior, is tied for fifth in the Sun Belt Conference in goals. She has also knocked home a pair of game-winning goals, good for fifth in the SBC.
“It was a lot to take in at first,” said Beaver, who played at JHS under longtime soccer coach Bill Vasquez. “In high school, a lot of the girls on that team had never even been on a team before, but it was nothing new for me because I had been on one team or another since I was 5.
“Coming in my freshman year, it was a lot faster game. Everyone had speed, and could move as fast as you.”
Beaver has been a starter all four years at UALR in a variety of positions, but is closing out her career strictly as a forward.
First-year UALR soccer coach Freddy Delgado said Beaver was already solid when he first joined the program, and has continued to develop during his short tenure.
“Jessie is having an excellent season,” Delgado said. “It started out a little rough. She was not quite where she needed to be physically when we started out, but I could see the potential there.
“She just gets better every day. She is a great leader for the team as well. She has a good balance of being serious but at the same time having fun. She’s probably the funniest player on our team. She’s quite a character.”
Beaver is one of only three seniors on this year’s Lady Trojan team, and their leadership has been invaluable to the new coach.
“They have the experience of being in this conference for four years,” Delgado said. “And the program has gotten better every year. They only won two conference games back in ’05, and to go from that to last season when they had their most success is a pretty good accomplishment. Success starts from the top down, and they have the rest of the team believing in the program.”
Beaver chose UALR over a variety of schools, including Delta State and Harding. She took an instant liking to the Lady Trojan program. It had the added advantage of keeping her close to her parents Kathy and Carl Beaver.
The Lady Trojans missed the Sun Belt tournament in her freshman season, but have made it both times since. The 2007 season ended historically for Beaver and her UALR teammates. In fact, they made history twice with one win.
The Lady Trojans had never beaten Middle Tennessee in school history, nor had they made it to the semifinal round of the conference tourney. That all changed when they downed the Lady Raiders in the quarterfinals in a dramatic shootout ending, but even that is not her most memorable performance.
For that, you have to go back to her senior year of high school, and a game against cross-town rival North Pulaski. It was that game in which Beaver recorded her only career high-school hat trick in a 3-1 win over the Lady Falcons.
Before her senior year of high school, most of Beaver’s high-school accolades came from basketball. She was a two-time all-conference selection and an all-state selection her senior year for the Lady Devils basketball team before earning all-conference in soccer her senior year, which earned her an invitation to the prestigious all-star game the following summer in Fayetteville.
She also played club soccer for the Searcy Crush, which earned a state title during her tenure.
Jacksonville High School athletic director Jerry Wilson has seen his share of college signees go through his program over his 20 years at the school, but said that a DI signee was fairly rare.
“She was always the epitome of a good student athlete,” Wilson said. “She was the type of person that could come out, and if you needed help in one sport or another, she could do it. She also got it done in the classroom. She just had a great attitude about everything – truly unique.”
Beaver graduated from JHS with a 3.6 grade point average.
This season may be her last to compete as a player, but her future plans will most likely have her on the soccer fields in the central Arkansas area. With a major in math and a minor in coaching, Beaver hopes to become a high-school math teacher and coach.
The self-described “homebody” wants to stay in the Little Rock area to begin her teaching and coaching career.
“I’ve been in sports all my life,” Beaver said. “Just because this is ending for me as a player doesn’t mean I want to stop. I like kids, and I like being involved.”
She is making the most of her senior year at UALR. Along with her 2008 Sun-Belt records, she currently sits 12th on the Lady Trojans’ all-time goals list with 10, and is 14th in career points with 24. Her highest ranking is in career shots, where she sits in eighth-place with 85 shots. All this with seven matches still left in the regular season.
As the ’08 Sun Belt soccer season winds down, the Lady Trojans are in the middle of the fight for one of the top-eight seeds required to reach the conference tournament, which will be held in Denton, Tx., on Nov. 5-8. Now 2-2 in league play, the Lady Trojans’ two-year streak of reaching the postseason is on the line, but Beaver remains confident.
“The last couple of practices, we’ve been refreshing things,” she said. “Not really changing anything, just using the same things but trying to make them better. We all feel like we should be 4-0 (in conf.) right now. We felt like we were the better team in the two that we lost, but we didn’t finish the way that we needed to. We’re going to stick to our game plan. We definitely have the team to make it.”
As for her career and her choice of school, she says there are no regrets.
“It’s been a rollercoaster ride,” Beaver said. “There’s been a lot of ups and downs, and it hasn’t always been easy. I feel like playing all four years is a pretty good accomplishment for me. Not everyone lasts.”
“But I’m glad I stuck with it. It’s definitely been worth it.”
Leader sportswriter
It hasn’t always been easy, but it has proved to be rewarding.
Back in 2005, Jessica Beaver started her freshman year at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock on a soccer scholarship. Beaver had been the most talented player on her Jacksonville High School team, but the world of Division I soccer was new and sometimes overwhelming.
Four years later, Beaver, now a senior, is tied for fifth in the Sun Belt Conference in goals. She has also knocked home a pair of game-winning goals, good for fifth in the SBC.
“It was a lot to take in at first,” said Beaver, who played at JHS under longtime soccer coach Bill Vasquez. “In high school, a lot of the girls on that team had never even been on a team before, but it was nothing new for me because I had been on one team or another since I was 5.
“Coming in my freshman year, it was a lot faster game. Everyone had speed, and could move as fast as you.”
Beaver has been a starter all four years at UALR in a variety of positions, but is closing out her career strictly as a forward.
First-year UALR soccer coach Freddy Delgado said Beaver was already solid when he first joined the program, and has continued to develop during his short tenure.
“Jessie is having an excellent season,” Delgado said. “It started out a little rough. She was not quite where she needed to be physically when we started out, but I could see the potential there.
“She just gets better every day. She is a great leader for the team as well. She has a good balance of being serious but at the same time having fun. She’s probably the funniest player on our team. She’s quite a character.”
Beaver is one of only three seniors on this year’s Lady Trojan team, and their leadership has been invaluable to the new coach.
“They have the experience of being in this conference for four years,” Delgado said. “And the program has gotten better every year. They only won two conference games back in ’05, and to go from that to last season when they had their most success is a pretty good accomplishment. Success starts from the top down, and they have the rest of the team believing in the program.”
Beaver chose UALR over a variety of schools, including Delta State and Harding. She took an instant liking to the Lady Trojan program. It had the added advantage of keeping her close to her parents Kathy and Carl Beaver.
The Lady Trojans missed the Sun Belt tournament in her freshman season, but have made it both times since. The 2007 season ended historically for Beaver and her UALR teammates. In fact, they made history twice with one win.
The Lady Trojans had never beaten Middle Tennessee in school history, nor had they made it to the semifinal round of the conference tourney. That all changed when they downed the Lady Raiders in the quarterfinals in a dramatic shootout ending, but even that is not her most memorable performance.
For that, you have to go back to her senior year of high school, and a game against cross-town rival North Pulaski. It was that game in which Beaver recorded her only career high-school hat trick in a 3-1 win over the Lady Falcons.
Before her senior year of high school, most of Beaver’s high-school accolades came from basketball. She was a two-time all-conference selection and an all-state selection her senior year for the Lady Devils basketball team before earning all-conference in soccer her senior year, which earned her an invitation to the prestigious all-star game the following summer in Fayetteville.
She also played club soccer for the Searcy Crush, which earned a state title during her tenure.
Jacksonville High School athletic director Jerry Wilson has seen his share of college signees go through his program over his 20 years at the school, but said that a DI signee was fairly rare.
“She was always the epitome of a good student athlete,” Wilson said. “She was the type of person that could come out, and if you needed help in one sport or another, she could do it. She also got it done in the classroom. She just had a great attitude about everything – truly unique.”
Beaver graduated from JHS with a 3.6 grade point average.
This season may be her last to compete as a player, but her future plans will most likely have her on the soccer fields in the central Arkansas area. With a major in math and a minor in coaching, Beaver hopes to become a high-school math teacher and coach.
The self-described “homebody” wants to stay in the Little Rock area to begin her teaching and coaching career.
“I’ve been in sports all my life,” Beaver said. “Just because this is ending for me as a player doesn’t mean I want to stop. I like kids, and I like being involved.”
She is making the most of her senior year at UALR. Along with her 2008 Sun-Belt records, she currently sits 12th on the Lady Trojans’ all-time goals list with 10, and is 14th in career points with 24. Her highest ranking is in career shots, where she sits in eighth-place with 85 shots. All this with seven matches still left in the regular season.
As the ’08 Sun Belt soccer season winds down, the Lady Trojans are in the middle of the fight for one of the top-eight seeds required to reach the conference tournament, which will be held in Denton, Tx., on Nov. 5-8. Now 2-2 in league play, the Lady Trojans’ two-year streak of reaching the postseason is on the line, but Beaver remains confident.
“The last couple of practices, we’ve been refreshing things,” she said. “Not really changing anything, just using the same things but trying to make them better. We all feel like we should be 4-0 (in conf.) right now. We felt like we were the better team in the two that we lost, but we didn’t finish the way that we needed to. We’re going to stick to our game plan. We definitely have the team to make it.”
As for her career and her choice of school, she says there are no regrets.
“It’s been a rollercoaster ride,” Beaver said. “There’s been a lot of ups and downs, and it hasn’t always been easy. I feel like playing all four years is a pretty good accomplishment for me. Not everyone lasts.”
“But I’m glad I stuck with it. It’s definitely been worth it.”
Friday, October 10, 2008
TOP STORY > >Victim’s body is identified, more sought
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
The woman whose remains were recently found near the Wright Cabinet shop in Jacksonville has been identified as Sandra Ann Givens of White County, who would have been 32 at the time of her murder a year ago. So far law-enforcement officials have nothing to say regarding as many as 14 other murders allegedly committed by the same suspects in at least two other states, according to Lt. Matt Rice of the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office.
George Alan Smith, 33, of Jacksonville has been charged in Pulaski County with capital murder in connection with Givens’ death, but the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office is the lead agency in the larger investigation based on information from a Jacksonville informant, currently awaiting trial in the Faulkner County Jail on two other counts of murder.
Weeks after The Leader named Ronald Dean Charles, 31, as the informant and possible serial killer, officials now confirm that identification. Charles, who has a Cabot address and was raised in Jacksonville, told Faulkner County investigators that he was involved in as many as 15 murders. He implicated Smith in Givens’ murder and may have implicated Smith or others in other deaths.
Charles and Troy Allen Crook, 29, of 2716 Moro Lane, Jacksonville, are awaiting trial in connection with the April 9, 2008 murders of cousins Bobby Don Brock, 45, and Lonnie Franklin Brock, 62.
In addition to two capital murder charges, Charles and Crook each face a bevy of other charges related to the Brock killings.
Charles reportedly helped lead officials to Givens’ body, and law- enforcement officials from several jurisdictions, including the State Police and the FBI, are involved in checking out his claims to have murdered many others.
Smith, who was apparently identified by Charles in connection with Givens’ murder, is in the Pulaski County Jail.
Jacksonville Police have not released details of Givens’ murder or proposed a motive, according to April Kiser, a spokesman.
Givens’ family reported her missing to the White County Sheriff’s Office Oct. 6, 2007, Kiser said.
Givens’ remains were recovered Sept. 25 and the state Crime Lab identified her through dental records on Thursday.
Her family is caring for her three young sons, William, Brandon and Johnny, “who meant the world to her,” according to a statement from her sister, Beverly Stills.
“We hope to shelter them from some of the intense pain and hurt we all are experiencing,” according to Sills’ statement.
“We wish to thank the (Jack-sonville) Police Department for their professionalism in clarifying the circumstances surrounding Sandra’s murder,” Sills said in her statement.
The Givens Family Assistance Fund has been started at the Bank of America, with all donations going directly to the children, Sills said.
“We’re trying to get the Jack-sonville one out of the way,” said Rice of the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Department, “before moving on to other things.”
He said his office believes both Smith and Charles were involved in Givens’ death.
Smith was reportedly slated to be a witness for the prosecution when Charles and Crook stand trial for the murder of the Brocks.
Leader senior staff writer
The woman whose remains were recently found near the Wright Cabinet shop in Jacksonville has been identified as Sandra Ann Givens of White County, who would have been 32 at the time of her murder a year ago. So far law-enforcement officials have nothing to say regarding as many as 14 other murders allegedly committed by the same suspects in at least two other states, according to Lt. Matt Rice of the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office.
George Alan Smith, 33, of Jacksonville has been charged in Pulaski County with capital murder in connection with Givens’ death, but the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office is the lead agency in the larger investigation based on information from a Jacksonville informant, currently awaiting trial in the Faulkner County Jail on two other counts of murder.
Weeks after The Leader named Ronald Dean Charles, 31, as the informant and possible serial killer, officials now confirm that identification. Charles, who has a Cabot address and was raised in Jacksonville, told Faulkner County investigators that he was involved in as many as 15 murders. He implicated Smith in Givens’ murder and may have implicated Smith or others in other deaths.
Charles and Troy Allen Crook, 29, of 2716 Moro Lane, Jacksonville, are awaiting trial in connection with the April 9, 2008 murders of cousins Bobby Don Brock, 45, and Lonnie Franklin Brock, 62.
In addition to two capital murder charges, Charles and Crook each face a bevy of other charges related to the Brock killings.
Charles reportedly helped lead officials to Givens’ body, and law- enforcement officials from several jurisdictions, including the State Police and the FBI, are involved in checking out his claims to have murdered many others.
Smith, who was apparently identified by Charles in connection with Givens’ murder, is in the Pulaski County Jail.
Jacksonville Police have not released details of Givens’ murder or proposed a motive, according to April Kiser, a spokesman.
Givens’ family reported her missing to the White County Sheriff’s Office Oct. 6, 2007, Kiser said.
Givens’ remains were recovered Sept. 25 and the state Crime Lab identified her through dental records on Thursday.
Her family is caring for her three young sons, William, Brandon and Johnny, “who meant the world to her,” according to a statement from her sister, Beverly Stills.
“We hope to shelter them from some of the intense pain and hurt we all are experiencing,” according to Sills’ statement.
“We wish to thank the (Jack-sonville) Police Department for their professionalism in clarifying the circumstances surrounding Sandra’s murder,” Sills said in her statement.
The Givens Family Assistance Fund has been started at the Bank of America, with all donations going directly to the children, Sills said.
“We’re trying to get the Jack-sonville one out of the way,” said Rice of the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Department, “before moving on to other things.”
He said his office believes both Smith and Charles were involved in Givens’ death.
Smith was reportedly slated to be a witness for the prosecution when Charles and Crook stand trial for the murder of the Brocks.
TOP STORY > >Beebe animal shelter will start euthanizing
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
For about two years, Beebe Animal Control working with a rescue group in Texas has shipped to states in the east most of the unwanted dogs picked up in Beebe. As a result, about 350 dogs have found new homes and the city has the reputation of running a no-kill shelter.
But during a special council meeting Thursday night, Mayor Mike Robertson got the council’s blessings to change that perception.
Although no firm date has been set for euthanizations to start, the mayor told the council that the shelter is currently holding roughly twice the dozen dogs that can comfortably be housed there and Horace Taylor, the animal control officer, has refused to pick up dogs when residents call.
Robertson explained that the dogs must be certified healthy before they can be shipped out of state but with the close quarters at the shelter there is no room to quarantine sick animals.
So if one comes in with an infec tion, more become infected; shipping is delayed, and the shelter becomes overfilled.
Robertson said that although he supports the concept of rescuing dogs rather than euthanizing them, medical experts have told him that euthanization is the best plan until a better shelter is built.
The city council has agreed that a new shelter should be constructed in the spring with the proceeds from the city 1.8 mil real estate tax, which should bring in $50,000 to $60,000.
The mayor told the council that he has been reluctant to discuss problems at the shelter because it is a delicate one with the potential of causing problems for the city.
For about four months, he has been monitoring Internet sites where Beebe Animal Control is discussed and he knew from those sites that the situation was becoming volatile.
The volunteers who work to rescue impounded dogs and find new homes for them in the east have exaggerated the poor conditions at the shelter when soliciting donations, he said.
On Thursday, he fired a part- time worker at the shelter after she emailed the director of the Beebe Chamber of Commerce criticizing the city for not building the shelter now.
Her job was to work 19 hours a week cleaning the cages, not “saying when things should be done and how they should be done,” Robertson said.
He also warned the council that euthanizing dogs could potentially bring the wrath of animal-rights advocates down on the city, but the council backed his decision to proceed as necessary.
“I just wanted you to know, here we go,” the mayor said.
Leader staff writer
For about two years, Beebe Animal Control working with a rescue group in Texas has shipped to states in the east most of the unwanted dogs picked up in Beebe. As a result, about 350 dogs have found new homes and the city has the reputation of running a no-kill shelter.
But during a special council meeting Thursday night, Mayor Mike Robertson got the council’s blessings to change that perception.
Although no firm date has been set for euthanizations to start, the mayor told the council that the shelter is currently holding roughly twice the dozen dogs that can comfortably be housed there and Horace Taylor, the animal control officer, has refused to pick up dogs when residents call.
Robertson explained that the dogs must be certified healthy before they can be shipped out of state but with the close quarters at the shelter there is no room to quarantine sick animals.
So if one comes in with an infec tion, more become infected; shipping is delayed, and the shelter becomes overfilled.
Robertson said that although he supports the concept of rescuing dogs rather than euthanizing them, medical experts have told him that euthanization is the best plan until a better shelter is built.
The city council has agreed that a new shelter should be constructed in the spring with the proceeds from the city 1.8 mil real estate tax, which should bring in $50,000 to $60,000.
The mayor told the council that he has been reluctant to discuss problems at the shelter because it is a delicate one with the potential of causing problems for the city.
For about four months, he has been monitoring Internet sites where Beebe Animal Control is discussed and he knew from those sites that the situation was becoming volatile.
The volunteers who work to rescue impounded dogs and find new homes for them in the east have exaggerated the poor conditions at the shelter when soliciting donations, he said.
On Thursday, he fired a part- time worker at the shelter after she emailed the director of the Beebe Chamber of Commerce criticizing the city for not building the shelter now.
Her job was to work 19 hours a week cleaning the cages, not “saying when things should be done and how they should be done,” Robertson said.
He also warned the council that euthanizing dogs could potentially bring the wrath of animal-rights advocates down on the city, but the council backed his decision to proceed as necessary.
“I just wanted you to know, here we go,” the mayor said.
TOP STORY > >City collars 137 pit bulls
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
“It’s as if we don’t have a pit bull ban at all,” says Hedy Limke, supervisor of Jacksonville’s Animal Control Department.
Even though Jacksonville has had a ban in place for about two years, Limke says this year alone her department has picked up 137 pit bull or pit mixes.
Of those, 101 have been euthanized.
Of the 36 returned to their owners, six were registered, 30 were not, and all were banished from the city.
“Most of these pits were running loose when we picked them up,” Limke says. She says owners then have 48 hours to contact the shelter and make proper arrangements for the dog.
Those arrangements include showing proof of rabies shots, making an appointment to have the pit bull spayed our neutered, and having the dog micro chipped. Then the dog must be moved outside the city limits.
“Before we release a pit bull back to the owner, they must provide us with the dog’s new address outside the city limits,” Limke says.
She adds, besides the shots, the neutering and the micro chipping, the owner is charged a $100 service charge and given a citation that could cost the owner up to another $500.
“If we see the animal within the city limits a second time, it is destroyed,” she says.
Limke doesn’t understand why so many pit bulls are being found in the city, but say its “crazy out there.”
“We got in five more pit bulls just last week, it’s like there’s no ban,” she says.
Luckily, she says the increase in loose pit bulls have not resulted in a rash of pit bull bites or attacks. “We’ve only had two bite-related cases this year, so that has definitely gone down,” she says.
Sherwood had a run of pit bulls in May and June, says Robin Breaux, supervisor of that city’s animal control department.
“We’ve had our ban in place since the late 90s, and average five to 10 a year, but when Gravel Ridge became a part of
Sherwood in May we had an increase in pit bulls.”
Breaux says in May the city took in six pit bulls from Gravel Ridge and 15 more in June. “We didn’t take anyone’s dog away, these we all pit bulls that were running loose.”
She says most pit bull or pit mixes that the shelter get in are destroyed. “We just can’t take a chance. Our number one priority is to protect the public, but we do currently have one pit bull up for adoption who is a real sweetheart.”
But Breaux says the pit bulls that the shelter decides are safe enough to be adopted just don’t go to anyone. “We do a home visit and inspection before releasing the animal,” she says.
Both cities do require all animals to be vaccinated and licensed. In Jacksonville the licensing fee runs $30 if the pet is not neutered or spayed and up to date on shots, $5 if spayed and neutered and free if neutered and up to date on shots.
In Sherwood a license costs $3 and can be obtained from the shelter or local vet when the animal receives rabies shots.
Leader staff writer
“It’s as if we don’t have a pit bull ban at all,” says Hedy Limke, supervisor of Jacksonville’s Animal Control Department.
Even though Jacksonville has had a ban in place for about two years, Limke says this year alone her department has picked up 137 pit bull or pit mixes.
Of those, 101 have been euthanized.
Of the 36 returned to their owners, six were registered, 30 were not, and all were banished from the city.
“Most of these pits were running loose when we picked them up,” Limke says. She says owners then have 48 hours to contact the shelter and make proper arrangements for the dog.
Those arrangements include showing proof of rabies shots, making an appointment to have the pit bull spayed our neutered, and having the dog micro chipped. Then the dog must be moved outside the city limits.
“Before we release a pit bull back to the owner, they must provide us with the dog’s new address outside the city limits,” Limke says.
She adds, besides the shots, the neutering and the micro chipping, the owner is charged a $100 service charge and given a citation that could cost the owner up to another $500.
“If we see the animal within the city limits a second time, it is destroyed,” she says.
Limke doesn’t understand why so many pit bulls are being found in the city, but say its “crazy out there.”
“We got in five more pit bulls just last week, it’s like there’s no ban,” she says.
Luckily, she says the increase in loose pit bulls have not resulted in a rash of pit bull bites or attacks. “We’ve only had two bite-related cases this year, so that has definitely gone down,” she says.
Sherwood had a run of pit bulls in May and June, says Robin Breaux, supervisor of that city’s animal control department.
“We’ve had our ban in place since the late 90s, and average five to 10 a year, but when Gravel Ridge became a part of
Sherwood in May we had an increase in pit bulls.”
Breaux says in May the city took in six pit bulls from Gravel Ridge and 15 more in June. “We didn’t take anyone’s dog away, these we all pit bulls that were running loose.”
She says most pit bull or pit mixes that the shelter get in are destroyed. “We just can’t take a chance. Our number one priority is to protect the public, but we do currently have one pit bull up for adoption who is a real sweetheart.”
But Breaux says the pit bulls that the shelter decides are safe enough to be adopted just don’t go to anyone. “We do a home visit and inspection before releasing the animal,” she says.
Both cities do require all animals to be vaccinated and licensed. In Jacksonville the licensing fee runs $30 if the pet is not neutered or spayed and up to date on shots, $5 if spayed and neutered and free if neutered and up to date on shots.
In Sherwood a license costs $3 and can be obtained from the shelter or local vet when the animal receives rabies shots.
TOP STORY > >How hospital might operate
By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
In order to shore up the financial base of North Metro Medical Center, the hospital’s board of directors is considering converting the facility to a long-term acute care hospital.
The hope is that the higher rate of insurance reimbursement garnered for long-term care would strengthen the hospital’s revenue stream, making it possible to keep doors open to continue vital services to the community, especially emergency care.
Opening a long-term acute care hospital, or LTACH as it is known in the health care industry, is part of negotiations underway between the hospital board and Allegiance Health Management, a Shreveport-based firm with LTACH’s in Little Rock and Greenville, Mississippi.
Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim, who is also chairman of North Metro’s board of directors, met with representatives of Allegiance on Thursday. He said that no firm date is yet in sight for concluding negotiations. A lease agreement and other financial arrangements must be settled in order for the hospital facility to be turned over to Allegiance.
Allegiance recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of its LTACH at the former Southwest Regional Medical Center in Little Rock, now owned by Baptist Health. Allegiance leases the second floor of the hospital and has license for 40 beds; 20 are currently occupied.
Allegiance leases the second floor of the hospital and has license for 40 beds; 20 are currently occupied.
“Occupancy varies and is much higher in the fall and winter, with pneumonia, flu and other respiratory problems,” said Kristen Burton, director of public relations for Allegiance Specialty Hospital in Little Rock.
An LTACH is much different than a rehabilitation center, such as the one that closed at North Metro due to lack of profitability.
Similar centers exist at North Metro’s two main competitors, St. Vincent Medical Center in Sherwood and Baptist Health in North Little Rock.
A rehabilitation center cares for patients with comparatively much less complex medical problems, such as a broken hip or recuperation from an illness. Patients who go to an LTACH have more complex medical problems and often require a ventilator.
The average stay is 25 days. Many come directly from a hospital intensive-care unit and need the same focused around-the-clock attention.
Conditions treated at Al-legiance’s Little Rock LTACH include cardiac and multi-system failure, ventilator dependence, infectious, renal and respiratory diseases, malnutrition, complex wound care, re-constructive and long-term post-surgical care, and other medically complex needs, according to a press release.
The Little Rock LTACH recently added to services a ventilator-weaning program. The Respironics ventilator device used allows patients to speak without an external valve; the hospital touts the device as the only one of its kind in central Arkansas.
Other LTACH’s in Arkansas include St. Vincent Select Specialty Hospital at Little Rock, Baptist Extended Care Hospital at Little Rock, Advanced Care Hospital at Searcy, Regency Hospital at Springdale, and Advance Care Hospital at Hot Springs, as well as Fort Smith.
Leader staff writer
In order to shore up the financial base of North Metro Medical Center, the hospital’s board of directors is considering converting the facility to a long-term acute care hospital.
The hope is that the higher rate of insurance reimbursement garnered for long-term care would strengthen the hospital’s revenue stream, making it possible to keep doors open to continue vital services to the community, especially emergency care.
Opening a long-term acute care hospital, or LTACH as it is known in the health care industry, is part of negotiations underway between the hospital board and Allegiance Health Management, a Shreveport-based firm with LTACH’s in Little Rock and Greenville, Mississippi.
Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim, who is also chairman of North Metro’s board of directors, met with representatives of Allegiance on Thursday. He said that no firm date is yet in sight for concluding negotiations. A lease agreement and other financial arrangements must be settled in order for the hospital facility to be turned over to Allegiance.
Allegiance recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of its LTACH at the former Southwest Regional Medical Center in Little Rock, now owned by Baptist Health. Allegiance leases the second floor of the hospital and has license for 40 beds; 20 are currently occupied.
Allegiance leases the second floor of the hospital and has license for 40 beds; 20 are currently occupied.
“Occupancy varies and is much higher in the fall and winter, with pneumonia, flu and other respiratory problems,” said Kristen Burton, director of public relations for Allegiance Specialty Hospital in Little Rock.
An LTACH is much different than a rehabilitation center, such as the one that closed at North Metro due to lack of profitability.
Similar centers exist at North Metro’s two main competitors, St. Vincent Medical Center in Sherwood and Baptist Health in North Little Rock.
A rehabilitation center cares for patients with comparatively much less complex medical problems, such as a broken hip or recuperation from an illness. Patients who go to an LTACH have more complex medical problems and often require a ventilator.
The average stay is 25 days. Many come directly from a hospital intensive-care unit and need the same focused around-the-clock attention.
Conditions treated at Al-legiance’s Little Rock LTACH include cardiac and multi-system failure, ventilator dependence, infectious, renal and respiratory diseases, malnutrition, complex wound care, re-constructive and long-term post-surgical care, and other medically complex needs, according to a press release.
The Little Rock LTACH recently added to services a ventilator-weaning program. The Respironics ventilator device used allows patients to speak without an external valve; the hospital touts the device as the only one of its kind in central Arkansas.
Other LTACH’s in Arkansas include St. Vincent Select Specialty Hospital at Little Rock, Baptist Extended Care Hospital at Little Rock, Advanced Care Hospital at Searcy, Regency Hospital at Springdale, and Advance Care Hospital at Hot Springs, as well as Fort Smith.
TOP STORY > >Prosecutor named for Lonoke County
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Gov. Mike Beebe has named a former prosecutor long active in the Cabot community to serve out the balance of Lona McCastlain’s term as District 23 prosecuting attorney.
Will Price Feland, 56, who is a lawyer, a businessman, a minister, former president of the Cabot Chamber of Commerce and a Lonoke Exceptional School board member, will replace McCastlain.
She resigned effective Dec. 31 to accompany her husband Bruce, a colonel in the Army National Guard, on an overseas assignment.
Bruce McCastlain, who serves fulltime in the National Guard, was promoted Sept. 14 from lieutenant colonel to full colonel. He got his orders for Europe Sept. 17, she said.
“I couldn’t have been more pleased if I had (picked him) myself,” McCastlain said Thursday. “He’s professional and will serve the people well. He did it before and I know he will do it again.”
“I served in the office as deputy prosecutor, then was elected for four terms,” Feland said Friday. In 1992, he did not seek reelection, going into seminary instead.
He said he wanted to assure continuity of the office.
Because he’s appointed to the position, he’ll not be eligible to succeed himself at the end of his term. He will serve until Dec. 31, 2010.
McCastlain said Feland was one of just a couple of people she recommended to Beebe for the position.
Feland is pastor of the First Christian Church in Sherwood and has a business, Pinnacle Structures in Cabot.
He said he would visit McCastlain’s office to ensure a smooth transition before taking over Jan. 1.
“My hope would be to maintain the staff. I’ll meet with them next week. I want to maintain a very professional environment,” he said.
He said he would be getting a feel for what staff members are charged with what responsibilities, and what cases are likely to go into the first of the year.
He will have to reacquaint himself with the county’s law enforcement community, which has turned completely over since he left 17 years ago.
“I’m looking forward to a very smooth transition,” McCastlain said. “I don’t think he’ll come in and upset the apple cart, but that’s up to him.”
She said there are a couple of murders pending and a full docket.
“I told the governor I’d be leaving the position in good hands,” she said.
Feland is a former Cabot School Board member.
He is also a member of the Arkansas Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
McCastlain was a tireless advocate working for battered and sexually abused women and children, and Feland said his office would remain active in prosecuting such cases.
His wife, Martha, was on the school board for 10 years. His son Price, 27, works for Sen. Mark Pryor, and his daughter Nancy is a Cabot School teacher.
Feland is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and of the University of Arkansas Law School at Little Rock. He is also a certified public accountant.
Leader senior staff writer
Gov. Mike Beebe has named a former prosecutor long active in the Cabot community to serve out the balance of Lona McCastlain’s term as District 23 prosecuting attorney.
Will Price Feland, 56, who is a lawyer, a businessman, a minister, former president of the Cabot Chamber of Commerce and a Lonoke Exceptional School board member, will replace McCastlain.
She resigned effective Dec. 31 to accompany her husband Bruce, a colonel in the Army National Guard, on an overseas assignment.
Bruce McCastlain, who serves fulltime in the National Guard, was promoted Sept. 14 from lieutenant colonel to full colonel. He got his orders for Europe Sept. 17, she said.
“I couldn’t have been more pleased if I had (picked him) myself,” McCastlain said Thursday. “He’s professional and will serve the people well. He did it before and I know he will do it again.”
“I served in the office as deputy prosecutor, then was elected for four terms,” Feland said Friday. In 1992, he did not seek reelection, going into seminary instead.
He said he wanted to assure continuity of the office.
Because he’s appointed to the position, he’ll not be eligible to succeed himself at the end of his term. He will serve until Dec. 31, 2010.
McCastlain said Feland was one of just a couple of people she recommended to Beebe for the position.
Feland is pastor of the First Christian Church in Sherwood and has a business, Pinnacle Structures in Cabot.
He said he would visit McCastlain’s office to ensure a smooth transition before taking over Jan. 1.
“My hope would be to maintain the staff. I’ll meet with them next week. I want to maintain a very professional environment,” he said.
He said he would be getting a feel for what staff members are charged with what responsibilities, and what cases are likely to go into the first of the year.
He will have to reacquaint himself with the county’s law enforcement community, which has turned completely over since he left 17 years ago.
“I’m looking forward to a very smooth transition,” McCastlain said. “I don’t think he’ll come in and upset the apple cart, but that’s up to him.”
She said there are a couple of murders pending and a full docket.
“I told the governor I’d be leaving the position in good hands,” she said.
Feland is a former Cabot School Board member.
He is also a member of the Arkansas Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
McCastlain was a tireless advocate working for battered and sexually abused women and children, and Feland said his office would remain active in prosecuting such cases.
His wife, Martha, was on the school board for 10 years. His son Price, 27, works for Sen. Mark Pryor, and his daughter Nancy is a Cabot School teacher.
Feland is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and of the University of Arkansas Law School at Little Rock. He is also a certified public accountant.
EDITORIAL >>Global warming and Arkansas
Study commissions in Arkansas have a long and dreary history of fostering government assistance to any kind of business development. So it was refreshing to read that the Governor’s Commission on Global Warming, a creature of the 2007 legislature, chose the broader public interest over investor profits.
The commission recommended that Arkansas build no more coal-fired generating plants until the power industry develops ways to burn coal cleanly. “Clean coal” is the advertising mantra of the coal and power industries, but coal is not clean. It is the dirtiest of all fuels. It is the biggest producer of climate-warming greenhouse gases in the world, and the United States is the biggest producer. We do our share in Arkansas. The three coal plants pump 58 billion pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year, and a molecule of CO2 hangs around for 50 to 200 years.
Another 6 million tons of the poison a year will be lofted into the atmosphere when Southwestern Electric Power Co. opens its power plant at McNab for business. That is more than the exhausts from all the cars, trucks and tractors in the state.
One day, the industry will perfect the technology of sequestering carbon dioxide emissions deep underground, but that day is not at hand.
Some members of the commission and the industry say the commission was meddling by addressing the issue of coal plants.
But as the chairman, state Rep. Kathy Webb of Little Rock said, how can you have a commission on global warming and not address the biggest contributor to climate change in the world?
Gov. Beebe has taken no position on the coal plant at McNab, at least outwardly, declining to use his bully pulpit to influence either of the state agencies under his command that must provide permits for the plant. The state Public Service Commission granted a permit but the Department of Environmental Quality continues to sit on it. But it seems clear enough that it will follow suit. Its commission overwhelmingly scotched a rule change to begin to regulate carbon dioxide. The environmental commission is stacked with industry backers and environmental concerns always take a back seat to development.
Gov. Beebe could say the word, as governors in other states have done, and Arkansas and the world would be saved from another 6 million tons of carbon poisoning a year. His Commission on Global Warming has given him the cover to do it. Let’s hope he takes it.
The commission recommended that Arkansas build no more coal-fired generating plants until the power industry develops ways to burn coal cleanly. “Clean coal” is the advertising mantra of the coal and power industries, but coal is not clean. It is the dirtiest of all fuels. It is the biggest producer of climate-warming greenhouse gases in the world, and the United States is the biggest producer. We do our share in Arkansas. The three coal plants pump 58 billion pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year, and a molecule of CO2 hangs around for 50 to 200 years.
Another 6 million tons of the poison a year will be lofted into the atmosphere when Southwestern Electric Power Co. opens its power plant at McNab for business. That is more than the exhausts from all the cars, trucks and tractors in the state.
One day, the industry will perfect the technology of sequestering carbon dioxide emissions deep underground, but that day is not at hand.
Some members of the commission and the industry say the commission was meddling by addressing the issue of coal plants.
But as the chairman, state Rep. Kathy Webb of Little Rock said, how can you have a commission on global warming and not address the biggest contributor to climate change in the world?
Gov. Beebe has taken no position on the coal plant at McNab, at least outwardly, declining to use his bully pulpit to influence either of the state agencies under his command that must provide permits for the plant. The state Public Service Commission granted a permit but the Department of Environmental Quality continues to sit on it. But it seems clear enough that it will follow suit. Its commission overwhelmingly scotched a rule change to begin to regulate carbon dioxide. The environmental commission is stacked with industry backers and environmental concerns always take a back seat to development.
Gov. Beebe could say the word, as governors in other states have done, and Arkansas and the world would be saved from another 6 million tons of carbon poisoning a year. His Commission on Global Warming has given him the cover to do it. Let’s hope he takes it.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
EDITORIAL >>Bingo tax Unpopular
Invoking the courage of our fighting men and honoring our veterans are sure-fire vote-getters, but we have to draw the line at using the fighting men and women as bait to protect gambling proceeds.
At a legislative committee meeting at the Capitol the other day, representatives of bingo parlors raged at lawmakers for passing a law regulating bingo and collecting a minuscule tax to cover the state’s costs. You will remember that bingo was illegal — it was a form of lottery — until bingo operators persuaded legislators to offer a constitutional amendment to legalize “charitable” bingo.
Voters adopted the amendment in 2006 and the legislature, answering the amendment’s call for state regulation of the gambling to be sure that it was charitable and not profitable, enacted a law to do that. It imposed the little tax, one penny per bingo card.
Some bingo is run by veterans groups, and they were at the Capitol to plead for the removal of the tax when the legislature convenes in January. The tax is onerous and unpatriotic, they said, because some of the proceeds are nominally to be used to help veterans.
Listen to this overheated bloviation by Gene McVay of Fort Smith, who fancied himself a 21st Century Thomas Paine:
“The once proud American fighting men from America’s finest generation who were not defeated at Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima or Normandy, in the twilight of their lives they stand defeated by legislation.”
State Senator David Bisbee, R-Springdale, noted that the bingo operators wanted to be legalized and to be regulated.
“I have found,” he observed, “that it’s almost always more profitable to be illegal than legal.”
If they wanted to retain the maximum take from the betting, they should have just expected the law to continue to wink at the violations, as most law-enforcement agencies had been doing for years.
The little tax is nothing more than a nuisance for the parlors, but it does cover the costs of enforcing the law. The taxpayers should not have to pick up the costs of regulating the pleasures of bingo players. But watch the legislature. It will remove the tax.
At a legislative committee meeting at the Capitol the other day, representatives of bingo parlors raged at lawmakers for passing a law regulating bingo and collecting a minuscule tax to cover the state’s costs. You will remember that bingo was illegal — it was a form of lottery — until bingo operators persuaded legislators to offer a constitutional amendment to legalize “charitable” bingo.
Voters adopted the amendment in 2006 and the legislature, answering the amendment’s call for state regulation of the gambling to be sure that it was charitable and not profitable, enacted a law to do that. It imposed the little tax, one penny per bingo card.
Some bingo is run by veterans groups, and they were at the Capitol to plead for the removal of the tax when the legislature convenes in January. The tax is onerous and unpatriotic, they said, because some of the proceeds are nominally to be used to help veterans.
Listen to this overheated bloviation by Gene McVay of Fort Smith, who fancied himself a 21st Century Thomas Paine:
“The once proud American fighting men from America’s finest generation who were not defeated at Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima or Normandy, in the twilight of their lives they stand defeated by legislation.”
State Senator David Bisbee, R-Springdale, noted that the bingo operators wanted to be legalized and to be regulated.
“I have found,” he observed, “that it’s almost always more profitable to be illegal than legal.”
If they wanted to retain the maximum take from the betting, they should have just expected the law to continue to wink at the violations, as most law-enforcement agencies had been doing for years.
The little tax is nothing more than a nuisance for the parlors, but it does cover the costs of enforcing the law. The taxpayers should not have to pick up the costs of regulating the pleasures of bingo players. But watch the legislature. It will remove the tax.
EDITORIAL >>Hard times for hospital
The federal government does not bail out struggling community hospitals. Only multi-billion Wall Street firms qualify for rescue plans, while Washington pays just a fraction of the cost of treating Medicare patients and those covered by federal insurance, such as Tricare for military members and their families.
Small community hospitals like North Metro Medical Center must write off millions of dollars a year for treating uninsured patients, whom the hospital cannot turn away when they show up for treatment. But why punish hospitals, especially those that are nonprofit, for providing health care to people who can’t afford it?
As the economy worsens, fewer patients can afford to pay their hospital bills. Competition from nearby hospitals, with deeper pockets and more affluent patients, has hurt North Metro.
It’s no wonder, then, that North Metro is reporting $3 million in annual losses. That’s a steep increase over the previous year’s loss of about $800,000.
The city-owned hospital is negotiating with Allegiance Health Management of Shreveport to take over the Jacksonville facility and perhaps offer different services that might help cut North Metro’s losses.
If Allegiance leases the hospital, it could specialize in long-term care but keep the emergency room open. Long-term care can mean more generous reimbursement from insurance companies and the government. But residents from Jacksonville and Lonoke County might have to drive farther for services that might not be available at North Metro, which has just closed its maternity ward.
The city has also negotiated with Baptist North in North Little Rock and St. Vincent North in Sherwood, but Allegiance appears to be the front-runner to take over the troubled hospital.
Large medical centers in Little Rock and North Little Rock are doing quite well with more generous reimbursements and patients who have quality health insurance, but the odds are against the smaller hospitals, with fewer insured patients and more competition and mounting debt. Medicare reimbursements are a problem nationwide — not just in Arkansas — because they are often lower than what private insurers will pay.
Doctors and hospital administrators fear the problem will worsen, and they support universal healthcare because hospitals are the ones caught holding the bag when it comes to serving patients who are unable to afford care but who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid.
The state can’t afford to subsidize community hospitals; there are so many small-town hospitals in trouble or that have already closed that only an infusion of local capital, such as new sales taxes, or new management with deep pockets, might give the hospitals a fighting chance. A Jacksonville sales tax could hardly cover mounting losses at North Metro.
There ought to be a federal solution before hundreds of community hospitals shut their doors nationwide.
Small community hospitals like North Metro Medical Center must write off millions of dollars a year for treating uninsured patients, whom the hospital cannot turn away when they show up for treatment. But why punish hospitals, especially those that are nonprofit, for providing health care to people who can’t afford it?
As the economy worsens, fewer patients can afford to pay their hospital bills. Competition from nearby hospitals, with deeper pockets and more affluent patients, has hurt North Metro.
It’s no wonder, then, that North Metro is reporting $3 million in annual losses. That’s a steep increase over the previous year’s loss of about $800,000.
The city-owned hospital is negotiating with Allegiance Health Management of Shreveport to take over the Jacksonville facility and perhaps offer different services that might help cut North Metro’s losses.
If Allegiance leases the hospital, it could specialize in long-term care but keep the emergency room open. Long-term care can mean more generous reimbursement from insurance companies and the government. But residents from Jacksonville and Lonoke County might have to drive farther for services that might not be available at North Metro, which has just closed its maternity ward.
The city has also negotiated with Baptist North in North Little Rock and St. Vincent North in Sherwood, but Allegiance appears to be the front-runner to take over the troubled hospital.
Large medical centers in Little Rock and North Little Rock are doing quite well with more generous reimbursements and patients who have quality health insurance, but the odds are against the smaller hospitals, with fewer insured patients and more competition and mounting debt. Medicare reimbursements are a problem nationwide — not just in Arkansas — because they are often lower than what private insurers will pay.
Doctors and hospital administrators fear the problem will worsen, and they support universal healthcare because hospitals are the ones caught holding the bag when it comes to serving patients who are unable to afford care but who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid.
The state can’t afford to subsidize community hospitals; there are so many small-town hospitals in trouble or that have already closed that only an infusion of local capital, such as new sales taxes, or new management with deep pockets, might give the hospitals a fighting chance. A Jacksonville sales tax could hardly cover mounting losses at North Metro.
There ought to be a federal solution before hundreds of community hospitals shut their doors nationwide.
TOP STORY > >Helping youngsters stay off drugs
By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
The DARE program – Drug Abuse Resistance Education – is an established part of public school life in Jacksonville, Sherwood, Cabot and across the United States as well as 50 other countries. The brain- child of Los Angeles Police Chief Darryl Gates more than 25 years ago, the program is now in every state and 1,800 school districts, where the curriculum is delivered by 15,000 police officers trained and certified as DARE instructors. By one estimate, the program reaches 36 million students each year.
The DARE program is free to the schools, provided by local law enforcement agencies, relieving financially strapped school systems from the cost of program materials and implementation.
The question for years has been, how effective is DARE in helping youth resist using drugs, alcohol, and tobacco? Those in the business of evaluating the effectiveness of public health education programsare not convinced the popular program really works. DARE does not appear on the lengthy list of effective, research-based youth substance-abuse programs recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the federal government. The U.S. surgeon general and U.S. Department of Education are among critics who say DARE is ineffective or even counter-productive.
Police, who as school resource officers interact day in, day out with Jacksonville youth, say that they don’t necessarily need a research study to convince them that the DARE program is worthwhile. Proof enough is the bond between child and officer and how a caring adult can “speak into a child’s life,” says Cpt. Charley Jenkins, a former school resource officer.
For him, the chance meeting with a young man years after graduating from DARE who proudly proclaimed “still drug free!” is the kind of evidence that counts.
“My four years in the schools have been a success, having reached that one man,” Jenkins said. “You don’t necessarily hear about the ones staying drug free.”
“We form a strong relationship with a lot of kids – that is important from the police’s perspective – to get them to trust you,” Cpl. Les Hockaday, longtime school resource and DARE instructor, said. “They can talk to you if they are having a problem, as a friend. The little ones, they love their DARE officers and miss you when you are not there.”
The Jacksonville Police Department invests about $10,000 annually in the DARE program, which is taught in all Jacksonville schools, in fifth grade and again in middle school health classes. Ten hours of classroom time is used for each program.
Besides instructional materials, the funds pay for “incentives” to help get the DARE message across – ball caps, T-shirts, pens, rulers, pencils, and other items. Four police officers are assigned to all the campuses – elementary, middle and high school.
In order to become a DARE instructor, an officer completes an interview, a written application, and then two weeks of training that helps make the shift from street cop to educator – “some of the hardest training I ever had and that includes 20 years-plus in the Air Force,” Hockaday said.
Drug resistance education is only one component of DARE. Self-esteem, how to wisely choose friends, and good decision-making skills are other topics covered in DARE. And the school resource officer program is about more than the DARE program. The officers who participate are ready to address a host of problems – disorder in the classroom, bullying, gangs, and violence – in accord with a principal’s request, Hockaday said.
Hockaday says early bonding between the officers and children is a crucial element of the program’s effectiveness that carries into middle and high school.
“We have got kids that come to us all the time and let us know if someone has drugs. They don’t want drugs on their campus.
We teach them that with drugs come violence; if someone has drugs, they’ll be carrying a gun.”
There is a box in every school in which students can anonymously leave a message for the police or tip about someone suspected of possession of illegal substances.
“Kids put questions in the box about a lot of things, and sometimes you might find a disclosure,” Hockaday said. He recalled one such message that resulted in one child’s relatives being arrested and imprisoned for drug possession.
Michael Nellums, principal of the Jacksonville Boys Middle School, and Kimala Forrest, principal of Jacksonville Girls Middle School, both report an absence of drug- and alcohol-related incidents on campus. Forrest credits DARE and the middle school curriculum, an addition to the original DARE. She says students are “hearing and retaining” DARE material presented to them in elementary school, because her girls recollect it.
“We now have more officers trained to be in the schools, and kids are better educated,” Forrest said. “They start in the elementary schools and added middle school. That has made a big difference.”
Researchers say that positive anecdotes about students here and there are not sufficient evidence that DARE is widely effective.
If a medication or treatment only helped a small percentage of the population, it would not be marketed. The same standard, they say, should go for educational programs meant to change behavior. How well a program is liked by teachers and police officers does not validate its effectiveness.
Over the last decade, study after study found the original DARE program to be ineffective and in some cases counterproductive in deterring kids from using illegal substances. One study, by researchers at the University of Kentucky Center for Prevention Research, found no impact on use of cigarettes, alcohol, or marijuana for students one year and five years after going through 16 weeks of DARE training in sixth grade, compared to students who had had one unit about drugs in health class. Researchers faulted the DARE program for not being in tune with what scientists know about adolescent development.
In 2001, with the help of a $13.6 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, DARE was redesigned in response to criticisms. Decision making, communication, and refusal skills are now central to the curriculum. The “new DARE” reaches kindergarteners and offers “booster” programs for the upper grades, when youngsters are most likely to experiment with illicit substances.
The program now focuses more intensively on the gateway drugs, tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and inhalants, and offers a curriculum on abuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs. The Jacksonville Police Department plans to use the new program this year.
“Looking at national trends, I really wanted to push that curriculum this year,” Jenkins said.
The methods for engaging students has changed too, with fewer lectures and more group activities, role playing, courtroom enactments, and colorful videos.
Preliminary results of a five-year study tracking more than 20,000 students in the DARE program in Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark (N.J.), New Orleans, and St. Louis showed slightly better decision making and drug resistance skills for DARE graduates in seventh-grade, compared with a control group. The conclusive report on DARE’s effectiveness in rates of substance abuse, especially in later adolescence, has not been published.
Warren Bickel, director of the Center of Addiction Research at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, hopes that Arkansas schools use rigorous criteria in choosing a drug-abuse prevention program.
“As in deciding what works with their educational efforts – that the same is applied with their drug prevention efforts – that they have more criteria than it’s cheap and easy – but that it also works,” Bickel said.
“Everybody and their brother expect the schools to solve all the problems and fix kids. It is a hard row to hoe. DARE in some ways makes it easy for the schools.”
Karen Sullards, principal of Bayou Meto Elementary School, misses the DARE program, which no longer is in the Pulaski County schools outside Jacksonville and Sherwood city limits. Funding shortfalls forced the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office to cut the program in 2005.
“When fifth-graders went through DARE, they learned a lot of things – how to say no, how to handle peer pressure especially. It really helped those kids who couldn’t verbalize their feelings. It helped them come out.”
Leader staff writer
The DARE program – Drug Abuse Resistance Education – is an established part of public school life in Jacksonville, Sherwood, Cabot and across the United States as well as 50 other countries. The brain- child of Los Angeles Police Chief Darryl Gates more than 25 years ago, the program is now in every state and 1,800 school districts, where the curriculum is delivered by 15,000 police officers trained and certified as DARE instructors. By one estimate, the program reaches 36 million students each year.
The DARE program is free to the schools, provided by local law enforcement agencies, relieving financially strapped school systems from the cost of program materials and implementation.
The question for years has been, how effective is DARE in helping youth resist using drugs, alcohol, and tobacco? Those in the business of evaluating the effectiveness of public health education programsare not convinced the popular program really works. DARE does not appear on the lengthy list of effective, research-based youth substance-abuse programs recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the federal government. The U.S. surgeon general and U.S. Department of Education are among critics who say DARE is ineffective or even counter-productive.
Police, who as school resource officers interact day in, day out with Jacksonville youth, say that they don’t necessarily need a research study to convince them that the DARE program is worthwhile. Proof enough is the bond between child and officer and how a caring adult can “speak into a child’s life,” says Cpt. Charley Jenkins, a former school resource officer.
For him, the chance meeting with a young man years after graduating from DARE who proudly proclaimed “still drug free!” is the kind of evidence that counts.
“My four years in the schools have been a success, having reached that one man,” Jenkins said. “You don’t necessarily hear about the ones staying drug free.”
“We form a strong relationship with a lot of kids – that is important from the police’s perspective – to get them to trust you,” Cpl. Les Hockaday, longtime school resource and DARE instructor, said. “They can talk to you if they are having a problem, as a friend. The little ones, they love their DARE officers and miss you when you are not there.”
The Jacksonville Police Department invests about $10,000 annually in the DARE program, which is taught in all Jacksonville schools, in fifth grade and again in middle school health classes. Ten hours of classroom time is used for each program.
Besides instructional materials, the funds pay for “incentives” to help get the DARE message across – ball caps, T-shirts, pens, rulers, pencils, and other items. Four police officers are assigned to all the campuses – elementary, middle and high school.
In order to become a DARE instructor, an officer completes an interview, a written application, and then two weeks of training that helps make the shift from street cop to educator – “some of the hardest training I ever had and that includes 20 years-plus in the Air Force,” Hockaday said.
Drug resistance education is only one component of DARE. Self-esteem, how to wisely choose friends, and good decision-making skills are other topics covered in DARE. And the school resource officer program is about more than the DARE program. The officers who participate are ready to address a host of problems – disorder in the classroom, bullying, gangs, and violence – in accord with a principal’s request, Hockaday said.
Hockaday says early bonding between the officers and children is a crucial element of the program’s effectiveness that carries into middle and high school.
“We have got kids that come to us all the time and let us know if someone has drugs. They don’t want drugs on their campus.
We teach them that with drugs come violence; if someone has drugs, they’ll be carrying a gun.”
There is a box in every school in which students can anonymously leave a message for the police or tip about someone suspected of possession of illegal substances.
“Kids put questions in the box about a lot of things, and sometimes you might find a disclosure,” Hockaday said. He recalled one such message that resulted in one child’s relatives being arrested and imprisoned for drug possession.
Michael Nellums, principal of the Jacksonville Boys Middle School, and Kimala Forrest, principal of Jacksonville Girls Middle School, both report an absence of drug- and alcohol-related incidents on campus. Forrest credits DARE and the middle school curriculum, an addition to the original DARE. She says students are “hearing and retaining” DARE material presented to them in elementary school, because her girls recollect it.
“We now have more officers trained to be in the schools, and kids are better educated,” Forrest said. “They start in the elementary schools and added middle school. That has made a big difference.”
Researchers say that positive anecdotes about students here and there are not sufficient evidence that DARE is widely effective.
If a medication or treatment only helped a small percentage of the population, it would not be marketed. The same standard, they say, should go for educational programs meant to change behavior. How well a program is liked by teachers and police officers does not validate its effectiveness.
Over the last decade, study after study found the original DARE program to be ineffective and in some cases counterproductive in deterring kids from using illegal substances. One study, by researchers at the University of Kentucky Center for Prevention Research, found no impact on use of cigarettes, alcohol, or marijuana for students one year and five years after going through 16 weeks of DARE training in sixth grade, compared to students who had had one unit about drugs in health class. Researchers faulted the DARE program for not being in tune with what scientists know about adolescent development.
In 2001, with the help of a $13.6 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, DARE was redesigned in response to criticisms. Decision making, communication, and refusal skills are now central to the curriculum. The “new DARE” reaches kindergarteners and offers “booster” programs for the upper grades, when youngsters are most likely to experiment with illicit substances.
The program now focuses more intensively on the gateway drugs, tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and inhalants, and offers a curriculum on abuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs. The Jacksonville Police Department plans to use the new program this year.
“Looking at national trends, I really wanted to push that curriculum this year,” Jenkins said.
The methods for engaging students has changed too, with fewer lectures and more group activities, role playing, courtroom enactments, and colorful videos.
Preliminary results of a five-year study tracking more than 20,000 students in the DARE program in Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark (N.J.), New Orleans, and St. Louis showed slightly better decision making and drug resistance skills for DARE graduates in seventh-grade, compared with a control group. The conclusive report on DARE’s effectiveness in rates of substance abuse, especially in later adolescence, has not been published.
Warren Bickel, director of the Center of Addiction Research at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, hopes that Arkansas schools use rigorous criteria in choosing a drug-abuse prevention program.
“As in deciding what works with their educational efforts – that the same is applied with their drug prevention efforts – that they have more criteria than it’s cheap and easy – but that it also works,” Bickel said.
“Everybody and their brother expect the schools to solve all the problems and fix kids. It is a hard row to hoe. DARE in some ways makes it easy for the schools.”
Karen Sullards, principal of Bayou Meto Elementary School, misses the DARE program, which no longer is in the Pulaski County schools outside Jacksonville and Sherwood city limits. Funding shortfalls forced the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office to cut the program in 2005.
“When fifth-graders went through DARE, they learned a lot of things – how to say no, how to handle peer pressure especially. It really helped those kids who couldn’t verbalize their feelings. It helped them come out.”
TOP STORY > >30th CabotFest is set this weekend
By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
Autumn is in the air and so will the sights and sounds of the 30th annual Cabotfest 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday. Admission and parking are free.
“CabotFest has grown in size along with the city. It brings the community together, from individuals to organizations working together to show what a great city we’ve got,” said Mayor Eddie Joe Williams.
An expected 20,000 people are estimated to attend CabotFest.
“The chamber invites you to join your friends and neighbors for a fun-filled day atCabotFest,” said Billye Everett, director of the Cabot Chamber of Commerce.
Musical entertainment for this year includes sets from the Salty Dogs, a county band from Little Rock; Married by Elvis, a melting pot of county, rock and blues, from Nashville, Tenn.; Kingsdown, a rock band from Batesville; Hwy. 5, Christian rock from Little Rock; and PriceCrew, a pop group from Jacksonville.
Also Luke Williams Band, country and southern rock, from Beebe; Dennis Farmer and the Hallelujah Harmony Quartet, a gospel group based in Cabot, and gospel singers Amy and Howie Ross.
A second stage will hold performances from several local bands, martial arts demonstrations and dance studio performances.
An unusual event new this year is a cricket-spitting contest put on by the Living Waters Church youth group.
Contestants will be spitting frozen crickets to see who can make the insects travel the furthest.
New to the festival is the Kids Zone, at Regions Bank’s parking lot. A secured fenced-area with an inflatable playground and a large sand pile will be available for children to play in at the fest.
CabotFest attendees will have a lot to see. There will be arts and crafts displayed, nearly 150 vendors to visit, along with 16 food vendors selling everything from corn dogs and funnel cakes to cotton candy.
Returning this year is the carnival. Beginning Friday night from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. festival goers can ride an unlimited amount of rides with an armband for $12 in advance and $15 at the booth.
Leader staff writer
Autumn is in the air and so will the sights and sounds of the 30th annual Cabotfest 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday. Admission and parking are free.
“CabotFest has grown in size along with the city. It brings the community together, from individuals to organizations working together to show what a great city we’ve got,” said Mayor Eddie Joe Williams.
An expected 20,000 people are estimated to attend CabotFest.
“The chamber invites you to join your friends and neighbors for a fun-filled day atCabotFest,” said Billye Everett, director of the Cabot Chamber of Commerce.
Musical entertainment for this year includes sets from the Salty Dogs, a county band from Little Rock; Married by Elvis, a melting pot of county, rock and blues, from Nashville, Tenn.; Kingsdown, a rock band from Batesville; Hwy. 5, Christian rock from Little Rock; and PriceCrew, a pop group from Jacksonville.
Also Luke Williams Band, country and southern rock, from Beebe; Dennis Farmer and the Hallelujah Harmony Quartet, a gospel group based in Cabot, and gospel singers Amy and Howie Ross.
A second stage will hold performances from several local bands, martial arts demonstrations and dance studio performances.
An unusual event new this year is a cricket-spitting contest put on by the Living Waters Church youth group.
Contestants will be spitting frozen crickets to see who can make the insects travel the furthest.
New to the festival is the Kids Zone, at Regions Bank’s parking lot. A secured fenced-area with an inflatable playground and a large sand pile will be available for children to play in at the fest.
CabotFest attendees will have a lot to see. There will be arts and crafts displayed, nearly 150 vendors to visit, along with 16 food vendors selling everything from corn dogs and funnel cakes to cotton candy.
Returning this year is the carnival. Beginning Friday night from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. festival goers can ride an unlimited amount of rides with an armband for $12 in advance and $15 at the booth.
TOP STORY > >Three battle for Dist. 15 House seat
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
With the election rapidly approaching, Trent Eilts, Doug Hatcher and Walls McCrary asked Lonoke Chamber members for their support last week as the three men position themselves to replace District 15 state Rep. Lenville Evans, D-Lonoke.
Evans has served three terms, making him ineligible to run again because of term limits.
Hatcher, who lost to Evans in 2002, will run on a platform of tougher sentences and more prison beds. Four gang members murdered his 17-year-old, son Jason Hatcher, in 1993 at a Sherwood Harvest Foods parking lot. Hatcher is a Union Pacific engineer.
McCrary is city treasurer, a community leader and retired businessman in Lonoke. He says he will focus on education and economic development. He also owns and manages farmland.
Eilts, who lives south of Cabot, said the government needed to make the kind of commitment to technology that it made in the 1950s in building the interstate system.
He said in trying to fix the economy, health care and the school system, it was really the symptoms, not the problems, being fixed.
“Good technology is like air conditioning,” he said. “We haven’t always had it but we don’t want to live without it.”
Eilts said universal high speed Internet would benefit E-prescriptions, ambulance response times and schools. Eilts also would en-courage development of bio-fuels and natural gas vehicles, he said.
“Less government is the best government,” he said.
Hatcher, who lives in Butlerville, came to politics as an extension of his advocacy for keeping violent criminals in prison for their full terms, but he told the chamber members that he was not a single-issue candidate.
Hatcher said the country was in a recession and that state government must not grow faster than the economy.
In education, he favors merit pay for teachers and discipline in the classroom, and calls himself pro-life and pro-family, favoring the Biblical view of marriage, including opposing homosexuality.
He also supports private gun ownership.
“If we have the best leadership, why are thousands of violent, dangerous felons free?” he asked. “I want accountability. We have to stop the revolving door for violent criminals.”
“What happened to me started my journey into politics.”
He said he believed that members of the parole board accept payoffs to let violent felons free.
McCrary, who has managed his family’s farm and also its historic store in Lonoke, said he was campaigning on the issue of proven leadership. “I’m a life-long resident and Democrat,” he said.
“I want to serve the people of Lonoke County. I don’t have any other dog in the hunt and no personal ax to grind.”
“Both my opponents are good men, good Christians,” he said.
McCrary, the Lonoke city treasurer, stressed his experience as president or board member of the Lonoke Chamber of Commerce, County Library Board, and chairman of the Bayou Meto Drainage District Board. He served on the Lonoke School Board for 16 years.
The election is Nov. 4 and early voting begins Oct. 20.
Leader senior staff writer
With the election rapidly approaching, Trent Eilts, Doug Hatcher and Walls McCrary asked Lonoke Chamber members for their support last week as the three men position themselves to replace District 15 state Rep. Lenville Evans, D-Lonoke.
Evans has served three terms, making him ineligible to run again because of term limits.
Hatcher, who lost to Evans in 2002, will run on a platform of tougher sentences and more prison beds. Four gang members murdered his 17-year-old, son Jason Hatcher, in 1993 at a Sherwood Harvest Foods parking lot. Hatcher is a Union Pacific engineer.
McCrary is city treasurer, a community leader and retired businessman in Lonoke. He says he will focus on education and economic development. He also owns and manages farmland.
Eilts, who lives south of Cabot, said the government needed to make the kind of commitment to technology that it made in the 1950s in building the interstate system.
He said in trying to fix the economy, health care and the school system, it was really the symptoms, not the problems, being fixed.
“Good technology is like air conditioning,” he said. “We haven’t always had it but we don’t want to live without it.”
Eilts said universal high speed Internet would benefit E-prescriptions, ambulance response times and schools. Eilts also would en-courage development of bio-fuels and natural gas vehicles, he said.
“Less government is the best government,” he said.
Hatcher, who lives in Butlerville, came to politics as an extension of his advocacy for keeping violent criminals in prison for their full terms, but he told the chamber members that he was not a single-issue candidate.
Hatcher said the country was in a recession and that state government must not grow faster than the economy.
In education, he favors merit pay for teachers and discipline in the classroom, and calls himself pro-life and pro-family, favoring the Biblical view of marriage, including opposing homosexuality.
He also supports private gun ownership.
“If we have the best leadership, why are thousands of violent, dangerous felons free?” he asked. “I want accountability. We have to stop the revolving door for violent criminals.”
“What happened to me started my journey into politics.”
He said he believed that members of the parole board accept payoffs to let violent felons free.
McCrary, who has managed his family’s farm and also its historic store in Lonoke, said he was campaigning on the issue of proven leadership. “I’m a life-long resident and Democrat,” he said.
“I want to serve the people of Lonoke County. I don’t have any other dog in the hunt and no personal ax to grind.”
“Both my opponents are good men, good Christians,” he said.
McCrary, the Lonoke city treasurer, stressed his experience as president or board member of the Lonoke Chamber of Commerce, County Library Board, and chairman of the Bayou Meto Drainage District Board. He served on the Lonoke School Board for 16 years.
The election is Nov. 4 and early voting begins Oct. 20.
TOP STORY > >Tax collections go up for cities in tough times
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
The poor economy is helping area cities fill up their coffers with local sales tax collections.
Jacksonville’s coffers are up, according to the city’s finance director Paul Mushrush.
Higher prices on staple items, along with an influx of hurricane refugees has helped push Jacksonville tax collections hundreds of thousands of dollars ahead of last year’s totals.
Sherwood is also seeing an increase in its tax totals.
The good news was first announced at the last Jacksonville Advertising and Promotion Commission meeting where Mushrush said collections of the commission’s hotel-motel room tax was substantially ahead of last year, and the best in the four years of the tax.
He also said the commission’s prepared- foods levy, known as the hamburger tax, also continued to come in strong.
But the news on the city’s two-cent tax andits share of the county’s one cent tax are even better.
Through September, the city has collected $5,530,855 from its two-cent tax, more than $400,000 ahead of last year’s take of $5,120,969 through the same nine months.
Jacksonville is one of eight county cities that share in the county’s one-cent sales tax. Jacksonville receives about 8.27 percent which this year, through September, amounts to $4,828,980, running just under $200,000 ahead of last year’s collections for the same time period of $4,640,138.
In Sherwood, the city has brought in, through August, $2.9 million on its one-cent sales tax, $70,000 more than the $2.83 million for the same period in 2007.
Sherwood’s share of the county tax totaled to $3.47 million through August, nearly $240,000 ahead of last year’s total for the same time period, $3.33 million.
Mushrush credits higher gas prices for generating the higher tax amounts. “I do a lot of the grocery shopping for my family and the price of such staples as toilet paper have doubled recently,” he said. Mushrush said the higher prices mean a higher total bill which translates into more tax being charged and collected.
Jacksonville’s tax fortune is not completely built on a struggling economy. “We’ve got the air show next weekend and that will bring in thousands of people pumping money into our city,” Mushrush said, adding that Jacksonville hotels are already filled for the open house weekend.
SHERWOOD
Some of Sherwood’s increase is from tax collected off sales of the new Wal-Mart Supercenter located near Highway 107 and Maryland Avenue.
Through August, Jacksonville’s A&P commission’s two-cent hotel tax had generated $56,508, more than $5,000 above last year’s amount.
The two-cent hamburger tax last month came in at $449,437, one of the strongest months since the tax was first collected last October.
Sherwood has no hotel-room tax, but does have a two-cent hamburger tax. Through August, the hamburger tax has brought in $367,471 for Sherwood compared to $330,011 for the same period last year.
CABOT
A change in the way sales tax is collected doesn’t appear do have hurt Cabot, where revenue is up about $7,000 a month.
Since the beginning of the year, local sales tax is collected at the point of delivery, not where the merchandise is sold. For Cabot, that means the city doesn’t get the tax money for material purchased at lumber yards inside the city limits and delivered to building sites elsewhere. But the city would collect revenue for any appliances or other merchandise purchase elsewhere but delivered to Cabot.
“We’re still looking at that trying to develop a trend,” Marva Verkler, city clerk-treasurer, said this week. “We’re still trying to decide if it’s hurting us or helping us. We’re hoping it helps.”
This much is clear, the city received $305,000 from the state on Sept. 25 for taxes collected in July, which is about $7,000 more than the monthly average for 2007. So far this year, the city has collected $2.745 million, she said.
The city’s 1.5 percent hamburger tax brought in $51,500 in September compared to $47,000 this time last year, she said.
AUSTIN
The change in the tax law, which was really intended to level the playing field between Internet and catalog stores and local brick- and-mortar businesses, prompted the city of Austin to pass a sales tax.
Building was booming there last year and Mayor Bernie Chamberlain wanted her city to get its share of the sales tax revenue from building materials delivered to subdivisions in Austin. But the sales tax can’t be collected in a city that doesn’t have a sales tax, so the voters approved a one-cent tax that went into effect Oct. 1.
Chamberlain said it appears the economy has not slowed construction very much in Austin. The issuance of building permits is down, but not much, she said. Until the tax money starts coming in near the end of the year, it won’t be known how much the city will gain. But the mayor said she hopes it will be enough to pay for the two additional police officers who have been hired and water projects that are ongoing. Street repairs also are planned if the tax revenue meets expectations, she said.
WARD
Ward’s local tax revenue has increased, according to information available from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. In July 2007, the city’s tax brought in $11,283 compared to $13,159 in July 2008.
Local tax revenue also has increased in Beebe, from $67,602 in July 2007 to $79,694 in July 2008.
LONOKE
No one’s disputing that the economy is contracting and there are tough times ahead, but through the first nine months of
2008, tax revenues in Lonoke County are greater than they were a year ago, according to Karol DePriest, the county treasurer.
“Nothing is hurting us much right now,” said DePriest, but September tax collections won’t be turned back from the state until sometime in December.
By law, the sales tax money goes into the county road, solid waste and library accounts, she said.
The county general funds, which support most everything else, are from tax, property tax and personal taxes, and it arrives in the form of turnback from the state.
Collections this year through September are $856,067, up from $771,335 last year, DePriest said.
Even though there’s an additional $33 million in new assessed value on the county books compared to three years ago, that only translates to about $115,000 in new revenue, she said.
The primary factors in the amount of those revenues is the appraised evaluation of homes in the county, the number of new homes built and appraised and the amount of millage residents pay.
She said residents didn’t seem to be more delinquent than usual in paying their taxes.
“We may know more next month,” she said.
County residents approved a one-year, one penny sales tax in May and collection of that money begins in October, DePriest said, with the first money hitting county coffers in December of January.
Most of Arkansas in general and Lonoke County in particular never experienced an inflated housing-price bubble, according to County Assessor Jerry Adams.
So far, as the county’s contractor finishes up the most recent three-year reappraisal, the most significant change is not the value of the homes being reassessed, but the value of new homes being assessed for the first time.
“They tell me they’re still building houses at Cabot at a pretty rapid pace,” Adams said. “The market shows it hasn’t been affected in this county yet.”
“If the economy stays the way it is, the sales will be going down when (appraisers) set values for the new three-year cycle,” Adams said.
But for now, there’s been a 38 percent growth in the appraised value of real estate in Lonoke County over the preceding three-year reassessment compared with the three-year appraisal completed in 2005.
Leader staff writers John Hofheimer and Joan McCoy contributed to this article.
Leader staff writer
The poor economy is helping area cities fill up their coffers with local sales tax collections.
Jacksonville’s coffers are up, according to the city’s finance director Paul Mushrush.
Higher prices on staple items, along with an influx of hurricane refugees has helped push Jacksonville tax collections hundreds of thousands of dollars ahead of last year’s totals.
Sherwood is also seeing an increase in its tax totals.
The good news was first announced at the last Jacksonville Advertising and Promotion Commission meeting where Mushrush said collections of the commission’s hotel-motel room tax was substantially ahead of last year, and the best in the four years of the tax.
He also said the commission’s prepared- foods levy, known as the hamburger tax, also continued to come in strong.
But the news on the city’s two-cent tax andits share of the county’s one cent tax are even better.
Through September, the city has collected $5,530,855 from its two-cent tax, more than $400,000 ahead of last year’s take of $5,120,969 through the same nine months.
Jacksonville is one of eight county cities that share in the county’s one-cent sales tax. Jacksonville receives about 8.27 percent which this year, through September, amounts to $4,828,980, running just under $200,000 ahead of last year’s collections for the same time period of $4,640,138.
In Sherwood, the city has brought in, through August, $2.9 million on its one-cent sales tax, $70,000 more than the $2.83 million for the same period in 2007.
Sherwood’s share of the county tax totaled to $3.47 million through August, nearly $240,000 ahead of last year’s total for the same time period, $3.33 million.
Mushrush credits higher gas prices for generating the higher tax amounts. “I do a lot of the grocery shopping for my family and the price of such staples as toilet paper have doubled recently,” he said. Mushrush said the higher prices mean a higher total bill which translates into more tax being charged and collected.
Jacksonville’s tax fortune is not completely built on a struggling economy. “We’ve got the air show next weekend and that will bring in thousands of people pumping money into our city,” Mushrush said, adding that Jacksonville hotels are already filled for the open house weekend.
SHERWOOD
Some of Sherwood’s increase is from tax collected off sales of the new Wal-Mart Supercenter located near Highway 107 and Maryland Avenue.
Through August, Jacksonville’s A&P commission’s two-cent hotel tax had generated $56,508, more than $5,000 above last year’s amount.
The two-cent hamburger tax last month came in at $449,437, one of the strongest months since the tax was first collected last October.
Sherwood has no hotel-room tax, but does have a two-cent hamburger tax. Through August, the hamburger tax has brought in $367,471 for Sherwood compared to $330,011 for the same period last year.
CABOT
A change in the way sales tax is collected doesn’t appear do have hurt Cabot, where revenue is up about $7,000 a month.
Since the beginning of the year, local sales tax is collected at the point of delivery, not where the merchandise is sold. For Cabot, that means the city doesn’t get the tax money for material purchased at lumber yards inside the city limits and delivered to building sites elsewhere. But the city would collect revenue for any appliances or other merchandise purchase elsewhere but delivered to Cabot.
“We’re still looking at that trying to develop a trend,” Marva Verkler, city clerk-treasurer, said this week. “We’re still trying to decide if it’s hurting us or helping us. We’re hoping it helps.”
This much is clear, the city received $305,000 from the state on Sept. 25 for taxes collected in July, which is about $7,000 more than the monthly average for 2007. So far this year, the city has collected $2.745 million, she said.
The city’s 1.5 percent hamburger tax brought in $51,500 in September compared to $47,000 this time last year, she said.
AUSTIN
The change in the tax law, which was really intended to level the playing field between Internet and catalog stores and local brick- and-mortar businesses, prompted the city of Austin to pass a sales tax.
Building was booming there last year and Mayor Bernie Chamberlain wanted her city to get its share of the sales tax revenue from building materials delivered to subdivisions in Austin. But the sales tax can’t be collected in a city that doesn’t have a sales tax, so the voters approved a one-cent tax that went into effect Oct. 1.
Chamberlain said it appears the economy has not slowed construction very much in Austin. The issuance of building permits is down, but not much, she said. Until the tax money starts coming in near the end of the year, it won’t be known how much the city will gain. But the mayor said she hopes it will be enough to pay for the two additional police officers who have been hired and water projects that are ongoing. Street repairs also are planned if the tax revenue meets expectations, she said.
WARD
Ward’s local tax revenue has increased, according to information available from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. In July 2007, the city’s tax brought in $11,283 compared to $13,159 in July 2008.
Local tax revenue also has increased in Beebe, from $67,602 in July 2007 to $79,694 in July 2008.
LONOKE
No one’s disputing that the economy is contracting and there are tough times ahead, but through the first nine months of
2008, tax revenues in Lonoke County are greater than they were a year ago, according to Karol DePriest, the county treasurer.
“Nothing is hurting us much right now,” said DePriest, but September tax collections won’t be turned back from the state until sometime in December.
By law, the sales tax money goes into the county road, solid waste and library accounts, she said.
The county general funds, which support most everything else, are from tax, property tax and personal taxes, and it arrives in the form of turnback from the state.
Collections this year through September are $856,067, up from $771,335 last year, DePriest said.
Even though there’s an additional $33 million in new assessed value on the county books compared to three years ago, that only translates to about $115,000 in new revenue, she said.
The primary factors in the amount of those revenues is the appraised evaluation of homes in the county, the number of new homes built and appraised and the amount of millage residents pay.
She said residents didn’t seem to be more delinquent than usual in paying their taxes.
“We may know more next month,” she said.
County residents approved a one-year, one penny sales tax in May and collection of that money begins in October, DePriest said, with the first money hitting county coffers in December of January.
Most of Arkansas in general and Lonoke County in particular never experienced an inflated housing-price bubble, according to County Assessor Jerry Adams.
So far, as the county’s contractor finishes up the most recent three-year reappraisal, the most significant change is not the value of the homes being reassessed, but the value of new homes being assessed for the first time.
“They tell me they’re still building houses at Cabot at a pretty rapid pace,” Adams said. “The market shows it hasn’t been affected in this county yet.”
“If the economy stays the way it is, the sales will be going down when (appraisers) set values for the new three-year cycle,” Adams said.
But for now, there’s been a 38 percent growth in the appraised value of real estate in Lonoke County over the preceding three-year reassessment compared with the three-year appraisal completed in 2005.
Leader staff writers John Hofheimer and Joan McCoy contributed to this article.
TOP STORY > >Hospital to see changes
By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
The board of directors of North Metro Medical Center has signed a letter of intent to begin negotiations with Allegiance Health Management about leasing the hospital building, which is owned by the city of Jacksonville. In effect, this means Allegiance would assume control of operations of the hospital. With that could come new services, and possible elimination of others.
Last week, the Jacksonville City Council voted to clear the way for a lease agreement with a for-profit entity, such as Allegiance.
“This is an effort to maintain an acute-care hospital in the city of Jacksonville,” Mayor Tommy Swaim, who is also the chairman of the hospital’s board of directors, said on Monday.
The letter of agreement with Allegiance, a Shreveport-based firm, “does not keep another entity from making a proposal,” Swaim said.
Discussions have also been opened up with Baptist Health and St. Vincent Health, North Metro’s main competitors.
Also to be negotiated would be leasing of other assets, which includes everything used in hospital operations – from bed linens to furniture to medical equipment.
The hospital continues to confront financial challenges, with losses at more than $3 million. The hope is that Allegiance or another company would turn the hospital around while continuing essential healthcare services.
Currently, the building is leased to the hospital board of directors. If another company were to come in to operate the hospital, the arrangement would be a sublease from the board.
Part of the plan, ideally, is to be able to offer after-hours care at the hospital.
“An after-hours clinic is one of our negotiating points, one of our requests, but whether that would remain in the end” is not certain, Swaim said.
Keeping current staff is also a goal, if hospital operations change hands.
“We asked that they maintain as many of the staff as possible, if not all, if Allegiance comes in and operates the hospital,” Swaim said.
The mission of Allegiance Health Management is “to provide maximum assistance to rural and community healthcare facilities enabling them to prosper and succeed with their mission of providing for the diversified healthcare needs of their communities,” its Web site states.
This is accomplished via “ownership assistance, consulting and management services, and acquisition of services.”
According to its Web site, Allegiance has 31 facilities in eight states – Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas – that includes in Arkansas, eight counseling centers, three behavioral-health hospitals, a medical center and a specialty hospital.
The Allegiance corporate office did not respond to a request for further information about actual Arkansas locations.
North Metro’s financial difficulties stem from tough competition from two much larger hospitals within 10 miles – Baptist North in North Little Rock and St. Vincent North in Sherwood – and a low reimbursement rate to smaller hospitals for services provided to patients with government insurance (Medicaid, Medicare, and Tricare).
A large proportion of North Metro patients have government insurance.
Allegiance may be able to bring in services with a better reimbursement rate, such as long-term acute care, Swaim said.
From the fiscal year 2006 (ending June 30) to FY 2007, North Metro’s annual net loss increased from $804,000 to $3 million, according to an Arkansas Business report out this week.
For FY 2007, the hospital had a 3.45 percent negative return on total billed charges and $4.8 million loss in uncompensated care billed to insurers, out of a total $46.8 million billed.
The report is based on data from Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield provided by hospitals.
North Metro is not the only hospital in Arkansas that is struggling financially. The ones having the most difficulties are small and rurally based.
“It is just tough on small hospitals,” Swaim said.
In 2007, the hospital hired a new CEO, Scott Landrum, in hopes of improving the bottom line.
With his administration has come a new name for the hospital, a sharper public image and improvements to the facility and services.
How much difference all that has made in financial sustainability is not certain. Hospital administrators have been reluctant to publicize the latest information about profitability.
Landrum and the North Metro chief financial officer, Cal Brummund, are employees of the management firm Quorum Health Resources (QHR), contracted to perform management services.
With the possibility of hospital operations being taken over by Allegiance or another entity, the future relationship of QHR and the hospital is uncertain, Swaim said.
Leader staff writer
The board of directors of North Metro Medical Center has signed a letter of intent to begin negotiations with Allegiance Health Management about leasing the hospital building, which is owned by the city of Jacksonville. In effect, this means Allegiance would assume control of operations of the hospital. With that could come new services, and possible elimination of others.
Last week, the Jacksonville City Council voted to clear the way for a lease agreement with a for-profit entity, such as Allegiance.
“This is an effort to maintain an acute-care hospital in the city of Jacksonville,” Mayor Tommy Swaim, who is also the chairman of the hospital’s board of directors, said on Monday.
The letter of agreement with Allegiance, a Shreveport-based firm, “does not keep another entity from making a proposal,” Swaim said.
Discussions have also been opened up with Baptist Health and St. Vincent Health, North Metro’s main competitors.
Also to be negotiated would be leasing of other assets, which includes everything used in hospital operations – from bed linens to furniture to medical equipment.
The hospital continues to confront financial challenges, with losses at more than $3 million. The hope is that Allegiance or another company would turn the hospital around while continuing essential healthcare services.
Currently, the building is leased to the hospital board of directors. If another company were to come in to operate the hospital, the arrangement would be a sublease from the board.
Part of the plan, ideally, is to be able to offer after-hours care at the hospital.
“An after-hours clinic is one of our negotiating points, one of our requests, but whether that would remain in the end” is not certain, Swaim said.
Keeping current staff is also a goal, if hospital operations change hands.
“We asked that they maintain as many of the staff as possible, if not all, if Allegiance comes in and operates the hospital,” Swaim said.
The mission of Allegiance Health Management is “to provide maximum assistance to rural and community healthcare facilities enabling them to prosper and succeed with their mission of providing for the diversified healthcare needs of their communities,” its Web site states.
This is accomplished via “ownership assistance, consulting and management services, and acquisition of services.”
According to its Web site, Allegiance has 31 facilities in eight states – Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas – that includes in Arkansas, eight counseling centers, three behavioral-health hospitals, a medical center and a specialty hospital.
The Allegiance corporate office did not respond to a request for further information about actual Arkansas locations.
North Metro’s financial difficulties stem from tough competition from two much larger hospitals within 10 miles – Baptist North in North Little Rock and St. Vincent North in Sherwood – and a low reimbursement rate to smaller hospitals for services provided to patients with government insurance (Medicaid, Medicare, and Tricare).
A large proportion of North Metro patients have government insurance.
Allegiance may be able to bring in services with a better reimbursement rate, such as long-term acute care, Swaim said.
From the fiscal year 2006 (ending June 30) to FY 2007, North Metro’s annual net loss increased from $804,000 to $3 million, according to an Arkansas Business report out this week.
For FY 2007, the hospital had a 3.45 percent negative return on total billed charges and $4.8 million loss in uncompensated care billed to insurers, out of a total $46.8 million billed.
The report is based on data from Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield provided by hospitals.
North Metro is not the only hospital in Arkansas that is struggling financially. The ones having the most difficulties are small and rurally based.
“It is just tough on small hospitals,” Swaim said.
In 2007, the hospital hired a new CEO, Scott Landrum, in hopes of improving the bottom line.
With his administration has come a new name for the hospital, a sharper public image and improvements to the facility and services.
How much difference all that has made in financial sustainability is not certain. Hospital administrators have been reluctant to publicize the latest information about profitability.
Landrum and the North Metro chief financial officer, Cal Brummund, are employees of the management firm Quorum Health Resources (QHR), contracted to perform management services.
With the possibility of hospital operations being taken over by Allegiance or another entity, the future relationship of QHR and the hospital is uncertain, Swaim said.
SPORTS>>Shielding their quarterback focus this week for Jackrabbits
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Regrouping offensively is the focus this week for the Lonoke Jackrabbits when Southside Batesville visits James B. Abraham Stadium this Friday at 7 p.m. The Southerners have had their share of struggles since opening the season with a 34-29 win over Mountain View. They have since dropped four straight, and have been outscored 118-32 since the start of 2-4A Conference play two weeks ago.
One thing that can be said for Southside Batesville (1-4, 0-2) is it is starting its league campaign off against some of the toughest teams in Class 4A football. The Southerners took a 62-12 beating at the hands of perennial contender Stuttgart in Week 4, and didn’t fare much better last week in a 56-20 loss to Clinton. Friday will mark the second time in three weeksthat the Southerners have faced a top-five team.
“Every week in conference play, you have to be focused on that game,” Lonoke coach Jeff Jones said. “You have to stay focused on that game, and what you’re trying to accomplish, which is getting another win in conference.”
Lonoke (4-1, 2-0) had an easy time last week in a 35-6 win at Bald Knob, despite a few woes at the offensive line. Senior quarterback Rollins Elam, who is known primarily as a pocket passer, was forced out on a number of occasions against the Bulldogs, though he tossed three touchdown passes.
“We’ve had some breakdowns in our pass protection,” Jones said. “It’s not been real consistent. We kind of fixed things last week when we got into the second quarter, but we’ve just not executed as consistently as we need to. We want to shore up that area and improve it.”
Jones said the plan is to provide a refresher course on blocking schemes during practice this week.
“We want to focus on a lot of the fundamentals,” Jones said. “Just doing drills and reps, and making sure that we’re all on the same page.”
One thing that has not been inconsistent for Lonoke the last two weeks has been its defense. The ’Rabbits held Heber Springs for an easy win in Week 4, and the secondary came up huge last week with five interceptions.
“We really feel like our defense has been improving,” Jones said. “The way they played last Friday night, swarming to the football. The secondary did a good job. We’ve seen a lot of improvement there.”
The Southerners, while not loaded with talent, do have looks that concern Jones.
“One thing they can do is run in the double wing, and if they get a big play and move downfield, they will turn around and jump into the spread,” Jones said. “You really have to be ready to adjust for things like that. It can cause you fits.”
Leader sportswriter
Regrouping offensively is the focus this week for the Lonoke Jackrabbits when Southside Batesville visits James B. Abraham Stadium this Friday at 7 p.m. The Southerners have had their share of struggles since opening the season with a 34-29 win over Mountain View. They have since dropped four straight, and have been outscored 118-32 since the start of 2-4A Conference play two weeks ago.
One thing that can be said for Southside Batesville (1-4, 0-2) is it is starting its league campaign off against some of the toughest teams in Class 4A football. The Southerners took a 62-12 beating at the hands of perennial contender Stuttgart in Week 4, and didn’t fare much better last week in a 56-20 loss to Clinton. Friday will mark the second time in three weeksthat the Southerners have faced a top-five team.
“Every week in conference play, you have to be focused on that game,” Lonoke coach Jeff Jones said. “You have to stay focused on that game, and what you’re trying to accomplish, which is getting another win in conference.”
Lonoke (4-1, 2-0) had an easy time last week in a 35-6 win at Bald Knob, despite a few woes at the offensive line. Senior quarterback Rollins Elam, who is known primarily as a pocket passer, was forced out on a number of occasions against the Bulldogs, though he tossed three touchdown passes.
“We’ve had some breakdowns in our pass protection,” Jones said. “It’s not been real consistent. We kind of fixed things last week when we got into the second quarter, but we’ve just not executed as consistently as we need to. We want to shore up that area and improve it.”
Jones said the plan is to provide a refresher course on blocking schemes during practice this week.
“We want to focus on a lot of the fundamentals,” Jones said. “Just doing drills and reps, and making sure that we’re all on the same page.”
One thing that has not been inconsistent for Lonoke the last two weeks has been its defense. The ’Rabbits held Heber Springs for an easy win in Week 4, and the secondary came up huge last week with five interceptions.
“We really feel like our defense has been improving,” Jones said. “The way they played last Friday night, swarming to the football. The secondary did a good job. We’ve seen a lot of improvement there.”
The Southerners, while not loaded with talent, do have looks that concern Jones.
“One thing they can do is run in the double wing, and if they get a big play and move downfield, they will turn around and jump into the spread,” Jones said. “You really have to be ready to adjust for things like that. It can cause you fits.”
SPORTS>>Long trip, athletic Crossett next up for Bears
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
Both teams are struggling to find an identity. Both are already trying to stay alive for a possible postseason berth.
Sylvan Hills will travel to Crossett on Friday night to take on an Eagle team that is still being molded by first-year head coach Todd Ledford.
“We’re a work in progress,” said Ledford, whose Eagles improved to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the 5A-Southeast with a notable 27-15 win over White Hall last Friday. “I’m trying to get them to do it my way and it’s taking me some time to do it.”
Ledford’s way is a balanced attack out of a one-back set and a disciplined read-and-react defense. It’s been tough to teach, he said, especially with a young defense, but he insists it’s getting better every week.
For Sylvan Hills, it’s also been a matter of developing some consistency, especially on the offensive side. Last week against Mills, the Bears bounced back after an ugly performance in a Week 4 loss to White Hall that had head coach Jim Withrow scratching his head.
The Bears used a long fourth-quarter drive and the constant pounding of running backs Lawrence Hodges and Juliean Broner to beat Mills 27-8. Hodges ran for 133 yards, while Broner added 106. Quarterback Jordan Spears chipped in 55 on the ground.
“We developed some confidence on the ground last week,” said Withrow after his Bears snapped a 3-game slide to improve to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in conference.
“We kind of found a formula last week, did some more stuff with Spears under center. It worked out well with split backs. It takes some heat off of Jordan trying to throw the ball.”
Spears completed only one pass last week, though it was a huge one to Ahmad Scott. Withrow said Spears put several passes right on the money but had a couple of them dropped.
“We know we’re going to throw the ball more down the stretch,” Withrow said. “We still have the shotgun if we need it. The problem with playing teams like North Little Rock and Cabot is you can’t really settle into what you want to do. You kind of have to settle into what they want to do.
“But we want to get a closer balance. Ahmad and Taylor Clark have both done a good job for us at receiver.”
Whatever formula Sylvan Hills settles on this Friday, a win is critical, even this early into the conference season. With Beebe and Monticello figuring to battle it out for the top two spots in the league, there will be a spirited fight for the final two postseason slots. Crossett’s win over White Hall, a team which beat the Bears, would seem to give them the upper hand, but that would be erased if Sylvan Hills takes care of business Friday night.
“We’re treating it like a game we have to have,” Withrow said. “It’s kind of like everybody in the conference can beat everybody else.”
The Bears will focus on stopping running back Anthony Phillips, who rushed for 113 yards and also returned a kickoff for a touchdown against White Hall. But the Eagles are multi-faceted, with four good receivers and a solid quarterback in Derek Johnson. Ledford maintains that none of his players will “knock your eyes out to look at them.”
“We don’t have any big-play guys,” he said. “We have four guys who are crisp route runners. And Phillips can run, but his main thing is, he has real good vision.”
Giving up big plays hasn’t been much of an issue with Sylvan Hills all season, which has relied largely on its defense to keep it in games.
“The defense has done a good job,” Withrow said. “We’ve mostly kept the ball in front of us and we’ll need to do that on Friday.”
Ledford said that his defense should have its hands full against the Bears.
“Their quarterback can spin the ball pretty well, or they’ll line up and run over you,” he said. “They’ll get in the Veer and hammer away or they’ll be (in a no-back set). On defense, they’re out there trying to create mistakes and they’re all over the field.”
The Bears will have the luxury of a full roster on Friday night with the return of senior safety Casey Cerrato. Lineman Jacob Denson is slightly injured but is expected to play.
Linebacker Michael Robinson, who missed the first three games with injury, played nearly the entire game against Mills, allowing Hodges to remain fresh for his 25 carries.
“We got Lawrence in on offense for the full game,” Withrow said. “It’s amazing what happens when you have your gun full of bullets.”
Leader sports editor
Both teams are struggling to find an identity. Both are already trying to stay alive for a possible postseason berth.
Sylvan Hills will travel to Crossett on Friday night to take on an Eagle team that is still being molded by first-year head coach Todd Ledford.
“We’re a work in progress,” said Ledford, whose Eagles improved to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the 5A-Southeast with a notable 27-15 win over White Hall last Friday. “I’m trying to get them to do it my way and it’s taking me some time to do it.”
Ledford’s way is a balanced attack out of a one-back set and a disciplined read-and-react defense. It’s been tough to teach, he said, especially with a young defense, but he insists it’s getting better every week.
For Sylvan Hills, it’s also been a matter of developing some consistency, especially on the offensive side. Last week against Mills, the Bears bounced back after an ugly performance in a Week 4 loss to White Hall that had head coach Jim Withrow scratching his head.
The Bears used a long fourth-quarter drive and the constant pounding of running backs Lawrence Hodges and Juliean Broner to beat Mills 27-8. Hodges ran for 133 yards, while Broner added 106. Quarterback Jordan Spears chipped in 55 on the ground.
“We developed some confidence on the ground last week,” said Withrow after his Bears snapped a 3-game slide to improve to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in conference.
“We kind of found a formula last week, did some more stuff with Spears under center. It worked out well with split backs. It takes some heat off of Jordan trying to throw the ball.”
Spears completed only one pass last week, though it was a huge one to Ahmad Scott. Withrow said Spears put several passes right on the money but had a couple of them dropped.
“We know we’re going to throw the ball more down the stretch,” Withrow said. “We still have the shotgun if we need it. The problem with playing teams like North Little Rock and Cabot is you can’t really settle into what you want to do. You kind of have to settle into what they want to do.
“But we want to get a closer balance. Ahmad and Taylor Clark have both done a good job for us at receiver.”
Whatever formula Sylvan Hills settles on this Friday, a win is critical, even this early into the conference season. With Beebe and Monticello figuring to battle it out for the top two spots in the league, there will be a spirited fight for the final two postseason slots. Crossett’s win over White Hall, a team which beat the Bears, would seem to give them the upper hand, but that would be erased if Sylvan Hills takes care of business Friday night.
“We’re treating it like a game we have to have,” Withrow said. “It’s kind of like everybody in the conference can beat everybody else.”
The Bears will focus on stopping running back Anthony Phillips, who rushed for 113 yards and also returned a kickoff for a touchdown against White Hall. But the Eagles are multi-faceted, with four good receivers and a solid quarterback in Derek Johnson. Ledford maintains that none of his players will “knock your eyes out to look at them.”
“We don’t have any big-play guys,” he said. “We have four guys who are crisp route runners. And Phillips can run, but his main thing is, he has real good vision.”
Giving up big plays hasn’t been much of an issue with Sylvan Hills all season, which has relied largely on its defense to keep it in games.
“The defense has done a good job,” Withrow said. “We’ve mostly kept the ball in front of us and we’ll need to do that on Friday.”
Ledford said that his defense should have its hands full against the Bears.
“Their quarterback can spin the ball pretty well, or they’ll line up and run over you,” he said. “They’ll get in the Veer and hammer away or they’ll be (in a no-back set). On defense, they’re out there trying to create mistakes and they’re all over the field.”
The Bears will have the luxury of a full roster on Friday night with the return of senior safety Casey Cerrato. Lineman Jacob Denson is slightly injured but is expected to play.
Linebacker Michael Robinson, who missed the first three games with injury, played nearly the entire game against Mills, allowing Hodges to remain fresh for his 25 carries.
“We got Lawrence in on offense for the full game,” Withrow said. “It’s amazing what happens when you have your gun full of bullets.”
SPORTS>> Falcons host big Bulldogs
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Gaining respect can sometimes be just as vital as picking up a win.
Last week’s 40-13 loss to powerhouse Beebe may not look all that impressive at first glance for coach Tony Bohannon’s North Pulaski Falcons, but they hung tough with the sixth-ranked team in the state for three quarters until the Badgers pulled it out going away.
“Don’t ever quit, that’s what I always go by,” said Falcon head coach Tony Bohannon, whose Falcons dropped their fourth straight to fall to 1-4, 0-2 in the 5A-Southeast. “The bottom line is, the kids saw they could compete with Beebe. That’s a plus for us. In this conference, anybody can beat anyone. A lot of us are in the same boat as far as injuries go – one or two people hurt can really hurt you. We’re still plugging, still working hard. We’re going to fight it until the end – don’t give up until they make you.”
The Falcons will host White Hall this week. The Bulldogs (3-2, 1-1) have had mixed results so far this season. They opened their 5A-Southeast Conference schedule with a surprising win over Sylvan Hills only to suffer a disappointing 27-15 loss to Crossett last Friday.
The Bulldogs will bring an offense that can be potent. Coach Mike Vaughn’s multiple look is led by junior quarterback Caleb Akers and senior running back J.J. Martin. Akers gained valuableexperience last year as a sophomore, and Martin put up solid numbers in his 2007 campaign with over 1,000 yards rushing for the Bulldogs.
Bohannon will prepare his team for White Hall the same way he plans on preparing for most of the Falcons’ Southeast opponents this year, with an eye on limiting its ground attack.
“They have some big linemen and some fast backs,” Bohannon said. “They have a slot, kind of a wing-T look, but they can also spread it out. They’re pretty athletic. We’re going to have to concentrate on stopping the run.”
There was buzz early on about the potential strength of the North Pulaski offensive line – a buzz that came with a warning from Bohannon because of depth problems. That warning proved prescient when three-year starting senior guard Dillon
Sheffield went down with a broke rib after the Falcons’ season-opening win over Searcy.
Sheffield has been out ever since, leaving prospective tight end Zach Barnes stuck at the line filling in for Sheffield. There is a chance Sheffield could return this week, which could give the Falcons more options on offense than they have in recent weeks.
While production on both offense and defense improved for North Pulaski last week, the special teams gave up two scores.
There were also some issues with penalties that the head Falcon could have done without.
“That’s the mental part of it,” Bohannon said. “You can’t have those kind of breakdowns. One example is we stopped them on third and seven, and then we had an unsportsmanlike penalty, and they kept the ball and ended up driving down and scoring on us. I was proud of our kids. They played hard. We just want to eliminate all those mistakes.”
“If you take away those two scores we gave up on special teams, and those mental letdowns, you’re looking at a whole different ball game,” he added.
A win for North Pulaski this week could mean more than just ending a four-game skid.
While Beebe and Monticello look to run away with the first two conference seeds at this point, a genuine dogfight could develop for the final two playoff spots. Everyone else has lost at least one league game in the first two weeks, leaving the Falcons very much alive to capture their first-ever playoff berth.
Leader sportswriter
Gaining respect can sometimes be just as vital as picking up a win.
Last week’s 40-13 loss to powerhouse Beebe may not look all that impressive at first glance for coach Tony Bohannon’s North Pulaski Falcons, but they hung tough with the sixth-ranked team in the state for three quarters until the Badgers pulled it out going away.
“Don’t ever quit, that’s what I always go by,” said Falcon head coach Tony Bohannon, whose Falcons dropped their fourth straight to fall to 1-4, 0-2 in the 5A-Southeast. “The bottom line is, the kids saw they could compete with Beebe. That’s a plus for us. In this conference, anybody can beat anyone. A lot of us are in the same boat as far as injuries go – one or two people hurt can really hurt you. We’re still plugging, still working hard. We’re going to fight it until the end – don’t give up until they make you.”
The Falcons will host White Hall this week. The Bulldogs (3-2, 1-1) have had mixed results so far this season. They opened their 5A-Southeast Conference schedule with a surprising win over Sylvan Hills only to suffer a disappointing 27-15 loss to Crossett last Friday.
The Bulldogs will bring an offense that can be potent. Coach Mike Vaughn’s multiple look is led by junior quarterback Caleb Akers and senior running back J.J. Martin. Akers gained valuableexperience last year as a sophomore, and Martin put up solid numbers in his 2007 campaign with over 1,000 yards rushing for the Bulldogs.
Bohannon will prepare his team for White Hall the same way he plans on preparing for most of the Falcons’ Southeast opponents this year, with an eye on limiting its ground attack.
“They have some big linemen and some fast backs,” Bohannon said. “They have a slot, kind of a wing-T look, but they can also spread it out. They’re pretty athletic. We’re going to have to concentrate on stopping the run.”
There was buzz early on about the potential strength of the North Pulaski offensive line – a buzz that came with a warning from Bohannon because of depth problems. That warning proved prescient when three-year starting senior guard Dillon
Sheffield went down with a broke rib after the Falcons’ season-opening win over Searcy.
Sheffield has been out ever since, leaving prospective tight end Zach Barnes stuck at the line filling in for Sheffield. There is a chance Sheffield could return this week, which could give the Falcons more options on offense than they have in recent weeks.
While production on both offense and defense improved for North Pulaski last week, the special teams gave up two scores.
There were also some issues with penalties that the head Falcon could have done without.
“That’s the mental part of it,” Bohannon said. “You can’t have those kind of breakdowns. One example is we stopped them on third and seven, and then we had an unsportsmanlike penalty, and they kept the ball and ended up driving down and scoring on us. I was proud of our kids. They played hard. We just want to eliminate all those mistakes.”
“If you take away those two scores we gave up on special teams, and those mental letdowns, you’re looking at a whole different ball game,” he added.
A win for North Pulaski this week could mean more than just ending a four-game skid.
While Beebe and Monticello look to run away with the first two conference seeds at this point, a genuine dogfight could develop for the final two playoff spots. Everyone else has lost at least one league game in the first two weeks, leaving the Falcons very much alive to capture their first-ever playoff berth.
SPORTS>> Red Devils getting back to basics
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
Jacksonville travels to Little Rock this Friday night to take on a team that has lost four straight, and has been outscored 140-8 in the process. But there’s no reason to think the Red Devils will be looking past 1-4 Little Rock Hall after their own up-and-down start to the 2008 season. Kickoff at Scott Field is set for 7 p.m.
It’s been a strange early road for the Red Devils, who opened with a loss to 7A powerhouse Cabot but rebounded with an impressive road win at Vilonia. That was followed by a stunning loss to struggling Little Rock Mills. Jacksonville was impressive in the conference-openingwin over Mountain Home, but struggled on both sides of the ball in a 31-13 home loss to Jonesboro last Friday.
So, no, given the topsy-turvy nature of the young Red Devils’ young season, overconfidence should not be an issue.
“We saw (Hall) a couple of weeks ago and they have some kids that catch your eye,” said Jacksonville head coach Mark Whatley.
“Their tailback runs well and their athleticism is always a concern. They’re not going to try to trick you. They’re just going to line up and try to do what you do better than you.”
So far, the Warriors have rarely succeeded in that effort, other than in a season-opening 38-6 romp past Little Rock McClellan.
It’s been all downhill from that point on. Their only touchdown in that span came in a 47-6 loss to Cabot, and they have suffered a 6-0 loss to Mills, a 50-0 trouncing by West Memphis and last week’s 37-2 loss to Mountain Home.
It would seem, then, that if Jacksonville can take care of its side of things, it should be in pretty good shape on Friday night. It might provide the perfect opportunity for the Red Devils to re-focus their efforts on what Whatley identified as critical after last week’s loss: Getting back to basics.
“Plays that we had finally started making, we didn’t make them (against Jonesboro),” Whatley said. “That’s on both sides of the football. There were five or six plays that they made and we didn’t that made the difference in the game.
“We were flat coming out of halftime. In the past, we’ve had a spark.”
The Red Devils briefly led the Hurricane after a 15-play first-quarter drive put them up 7-3. But ball control from there on out would belong to Jonesboro, which held on to the ball for nearly 30 of the 48 minutes. Whatley blamed much of that on an ineffective offense, which included a slew of dropped passes and spotty pass protection for sophomore quarterback Logan Perry. Perry completed 19 of 33 passes for 193 yards, but had a pair of interceptions.
Wide receiver Demetris Harris turned in another sterling performance, catching six passes for the second straight game. Stan Appleby and Terrell Brown caught four each. But overall, the offense wasn’t very consistent.
“The spacing wasn’t very good on our routes and the way we matched up, it was hard to run inside the tackles,” Whatley said. “We could have been a heck of a lot better.”
Speedy tailback Patrick Geans got only eight carries in the contest, netting only 22 yards. Perry was under constant pressure the entire night, suffering three sacks for significant loss.
Whatley mostly blamed the offense for the defensive woes on Friday. The Red Devil defense, on the field for all but 18 minutes, surrendered 426 yards and 24 first downs against the multi-faceted Jonesboro attack. But Whatley saw some good things and gave much of the credit to Jonesboro’s execution.
“I thought our defense covered (the Hurricane receivers) up,” he said. “We’d be there and we’d have a couple of guys around their receiver, but their quarterback did a great job of sticking the ball in there. They were a tough team to defend. They stretch you pretty good and put pressure on the corner. And they had a running back that ran north and south, which is perfect for the Spread running game.”
The next two weeks are critical ones for Jacksonville, with Hall and Searcy figuring to be the easiest games left on the schedule.
After that, it’s resurgent Parkview, West Memphis and Marion — all tough games.
Leader sports editor
Jacksonville travels to Little Rock this Friday night to take on a team that has lost four straight, and has been outscored 140-8 in the process. But there’s no reason to think the Red Devils will be looking past 1-4 Little Rock Hall after their own up-and-down start to the 2008 season. Kickoff at Scott Field is set for 7 p.m.
It’s been a strange early road for the Red Devils, who opened with a loss to 7A powerhouse Cabot but rebounded with an impressive road win at Vilonia. That was followed by a stunning loss to struggling Little Rock Mills. Jacksonville was impressive in the conference-openingwin over Mountain Home, but struggled on both sides of the ball in a 31-13 home loss to Jonesboro last Friday.
So, no, given the topsy-turvy nature of the young Red Devils’ young season, overconfidence should not be an issue.
“We saw (Hall) a couple of weeks ago and they have some kids that catch your eye,” said Jacksonville head coach Mark Whatley.
“Their tailback runs well and their athleticism is always a concern. They’re not going to try to trick you. They’re just going to line up and try to do what you do better than you.”
So far, the Warriors have rarely succeeded in that effort, other than in a season-opening 38-6 romp past Little Rock McClellan.
It’s been all downhill from that point on. Their only touchdown in that span came in a 47-6 loss to Cabot, and they have suffered a 6-0 loss to Mills, a 50-0 trouncing by West Memphis and last week’s 37-2 loss to Mountain Home.
It would seem, then, that if Jacksonville can take care of its side of things, it should be in pretty good shape on Friday night. It might provide the perfect opportunity for the Red Devils to re-focus their efforts on what Whatley identified as critical after last week’s loss: Getting back to basics.
“Plays that we had finally started making, we didn’t make them (against Jonesboro),” Whatley said. “That’s on both sides of the football. There were five or six plays that they made and we didn’t that made the difference in the game.
“We were flat coming out of halftime. In the past, we’ve had a spark.”
The Red Devils briefly led the Hurricane after a 15-play first-quarter drive put them up 7-3. But ball control from there on out would belong to Jonesboro, which held on to the ball for nearly 30 of the 48 minutes. Whatley blamed much of that on an ineffective offense, which included a slew of dropped passes and spotty pass protection for sophomore quarterback Logan Perry. Perry completed 19 of 33 passes for 193 yards, but had a pair of interceptions.
Wide receiver Demetris Harris turned in another sterling performance, catching six passes for the second straight game. Stan Appleby and Terrell Brown caught four each. But overall, the offense wasn’t very consistent.
“The spacing wasn’t very good on our routes and the way we matched up, it was hard to run inside the tackles,” Whatley said. “We could have been a heck of a lot better.”
Speedy tailback Patrick Geans got only eight carries in the contest, netting only 22 yards. Perry was under constant pressure the entire night, suffering three sacks for significant loss.
Whatley mostly blamed the offense for the defensive woes on Friday. The Red Devil defense, on the field for all but 18 minutes, surrendered 426 yards and 24 first downs against the multi-faceted Jonesboro attack. But Whatley saw some good things and gave much of the credit to Jonesboro’s execution.
“I thought our defense covered (the Hurricane receivers) up,” he said. “We’d be there and we’d have a couple of guys around their receiver, but their quarterback did a great job of sticking the ball in there. They were a tough team to defend. They stretch you pretty good and put pressure on the corner. And they had a running back that ran north and south, which is perfect for the Spread running game.”
The next two weeks are critical ones for Jacksonville, with Hall and Searcy figuring to be the easiest games left on the schedule.
After that, it’s resurgent Parkview, West Memphis and Marion — all tough games.
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