Jacksonville says goodbye
to Mayor Tommy Swaim
Story by
RICK KRON
Photos by
DAVID SCOLLI
Hundreds of people from around the state gathered Thursday night to see Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim and his wife Judy off into retirement.
The event, sponsored by the chamber of commerce, was at the Jacksonville Community Center, which was one of the first major building projects tackled by the mayor 15 years ago and still considered one of Jacksonville’s jewels.
The evening of food, fun, hellos and goodbyes included speeches from old bosses, local politicians and even the vice mayor from Fort Smith, a hilarious videotape of Swaim looking for work at Walmart, Wendy’s, Little Caesar’s and other areas about town after he retires on Tuesday, and the presentation of a fishing boat, motor and trailer for the mayor to enjoy during his retirement.
Banker Larry Wilson—who was on the city council with Swaim before he became mayor and stayed on the council for about 15 years afterward—told the crowd that when Swaim took over the mayor’s office, the city “was in dire financial straits.”
“Let me you tell you, every payday around here was exciting,” Wilson said.
“And a new evil entered in the name of Vertac. Tommy thought he could have it licked in two years. He missed,” Wilson said, laughing.
It took Swaim and the city 12 years to clean up the Superfund site that put Jacksonville on the national stage in a negative light.
Activist Ralph Nader came to town to stir up everyone into “a lather with misinformation.”
“We even had misguided citizens march on the governor’s mansion carrying a casket and implying we were killing people,” Wilson said. “It was a very difficult time. But Tommy remained steadfast and went toe-to-toe with state and federal agencies to get the cleanup done in a safe and complete manner.”
Wilson said the key to the mayor’s success is his leadership skills. “His greatest attribute is the example he sets for other employees. He is usually the first one in the office, hardly takes a lunch and then its usually just a candy bar at his desk, took very few days off and hardly went on vacation. He wanted to be a good steward for the city,” Wilson said.
Wilson said the city is completely opposite from what it was when Swaim first took office.
“Many cities in the state are now suffering financially, and we are in great shape. Thanks to the mayor,” he said, adding, “Enjoy your retirement, but when you get tired, we’ll find you a job back here.”
Realtor Doug Wilkinson, the mayor’s boss before he got into politics, said he remembered back in the late 1970s that he and Swaim would be sitting around griping about the city’s problems and wondering what could be done. That’s when Swaim decided to run for the city council and then for mayor.
“I was losing my best salesman, and I had mixed emotions when he decided to run for mayor, but the city needed him more than I did. So I was the first to jump on his bandwagon,” Wilkinson said.
Alderman Bob Stroud said Swaim was not a politician, but a technician. “A technician,” Stroud said, “is a person skilled in the technique of an art or work—and Tommy was skilled in using the office of the mayor to make this city better for you and me.”
Don Zimmerman, executive director of the Arkansas Municipal League, gave the crowd an example of how much Swaim loved Jacksonville.
“He could have been president of the National League of Cities. We wanted him to be, but he opted not to run. He said, ‘I don’t want to be away from Jacksonville that much,’” Zimmerman recalled. “That’s how much he loves this city and this state.”
Mike Gaskill, mayor of Paragould and a good friend of Swaim, read letters of support and congratulations from Rep. Vic Snyder, Sen. Mark Pryor and Gov. Mike Beebe.
George Sturgill of Lockheed-Martin came all the way from Washington to present the mayor with a model of a C-130J.
The air base has more than 20 of the new cargo planes and more are coming.
Other speakers included Alder-man Kenny Elliott, Fort Smith Vice Mayor Gary Campbell, former North Little Rock Aldermen Martin Gibson and Phillip Carlisle.
What caught the mayor speechless was when his son Shane got up and told his dad that a group of businesses had a surprise for him behind the stage. When the stage curtain opened, there stood a 14-foot fishing boat loaded with the mayor’s granddaughter, a great-granddaughter, a motor and trailer.
“Being a mayor has been a blessing to me and my family,” Swaim told the appreciative audience. “Your friendship means so much to me.”
He said if he had a chance to do it again, he wouldn’t change anything. “If I did, I might have missed each and every one of you, and I wouldn’t want that.”
Friday, June 26, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
TOP STORY >> Area farmers fear drought after deluge
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Just a month ago, fields and ponds were flooded and Lonoke County farmers wondered if they’d ever get the rest of their crop in.
Now, after a dry week in the upper 90s, some wells already are sucking water out of the aquifer and they’re teetering on the brink of drought, according to Jeff Welch, Lonoke County‘s chief extension agent.
“We’re at 98 degrees (for several days) and no rain and we really dry out in about five days. The topsoil dries the out, but if the seed had absorbed moisture, it will swell, germinate and die in the heat and drought,” Welch said.
“At this point we’re 100 percent planted on soybeans, although we got very late start,” he said. “We expect yield reduction in rice, soybeans and cotton. Most of the corn was planted on time and we’re irrigating corn as fast as we can to make sure that we maintain yield protection.
“Crops with shallow roots easily succumb to drought and heat. Other crops may be in full irrigation soon,” he added.
On the positive side of the ledger, fuel prices dropped from last year. “Our costs are somewhat minimized by the cost of fuel,” he said, “and fertilizer prices have declined. That presents a potential to capture profits.”
Lonoke County farmers have about 3,200 acres in cotton, just more than one-third the acres planted in cotton last year.
Corn acreage this year is about 20,000 acres, up from 17,000 acres in 2008.
Farmers have planted about 88,000 acres of rice this year, but much of it was planted late, which will result in a decreased yield per acre, Welch said.
Farmers have about 124,000 acres of soybeans in the ground, about what they had last year, but because flooding kept them from planting at the best time, the yield should decline some.
“Prices have held up. For soybeans, corn and rice, we have acceptable prices,” he said. Cotton is dismal, so the Pettus gin is closed, leaving only the “New” gin at Coy.
Leader senior staff writer
Just a month ago, fields and ponds were flooded and Lonoke County farmers wondered if they’d ever get the rest of their crop in.
Now, after a dry week in the upper 90s, some wells already are sucking water out of the aquifer and they’re teetering on the brink of drought, according to Jeff Welch, Lonoke County‘s chief extension agent.
“We’re at 98 degrees (for several days) and no rain and we really dry out in about five days. The topsoil dries the out, but if the seed had absorbed moisture, it will swell, germinate and die in the heat and drought,” Welch said.
“At this point we’re 100 percent planted on soybeans, although we got very late start,” he said. “We expect yield reduction in rice, soybeans and cotton. Most of the corn was planted on time and we’re irrigating corn as fast as we can to make sure that we maintain yield protection.
“Crops with shallow roots easily succumb to drought and heat. Other crops may be in full irrigation soon,” he added.
On the positive side of the ledger, fuel prices dropped from last year. “Our costs are somewhat minimized by the cost of fuel,” he said, “and fertilizer prices have declined. That presents a potential to capture profits.”
Lonoke County farmers have about 3,200 acres in cotton, just more than one-third the acres planted in cotton last year.
Corn acreage this year is about 20,000 acres, up from 17,000 acres in 2008.
Farmers have planted about 88,000 acres of rice this year, but much of it was planted late, which will result in a decreased yield per acre, Welch said.
Farmers have about 124,000 acres of soybeans in the ground, about what they had last year, but because flooding kept them from planting at the best time, the yield should decline some.
“Prices have held up. For soybeans, corn and rice, we have acceptable prices,” he said. Cotton is dismal, so the Pettus gin is closed, leaving only the “New” gin at Coy.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
EDITORIAL >> Blanche puts people first?
Arkansas’ senior senator, Blanche Lincoln, is an important and perhaps even critical player in the drive to repair the nation’s clumsy and extravagant health-care system and to guarantee care for everyone. We tend to think that it is a good thing for us and the country that she has such a role, but sometimes we have had misgivings.
At times in the past few months, her remarks about health reform have conveyed a trifle too much deference to the health industry, including the insurance companies.
Like all the other senators on the Finance Committee, she receives huge contributions from the medical and insurance industries, more than $500,000 in the current election cycle (she is up for re-election next year if you hadn’t heard).
You worried that she might put their interests ahead of the consuming public that is served so poorly by the current system.
She had abiding concerns about setting up a public insurance option that would compete with Aetna, Blue Cross, United and the few other insurers. The government plan, she feared, might drive costs down so much that the companies couldn’t compete and make a profit.
But then the good senator Lincoln resurfaces. Yesterday, the senator’s Web site carried a statement of the principles that guide her in the Finance Committee’s work on a comprehensive health-care plan. She said she would accept nothing less than a plan that gives every Arkansan, every person in the United States, access to affordable and high-quality health care.
She said she was evaluating the options that will achieve that, including a public insurance plan and nonprofit cooperatives, the government-sponsored nonprofits that she and a few others, principally Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, were touting last week as a way to avoid more direct government involvement in health care.
No one knows what these cooperatives would look like, how much capital they would need from Washington and how they would differ from Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which already has three-fourths of the private market in Arkansas, or from the self-insurance plans that Arkansas and a number of other states operate. (Blue Cross no longer calls its state companies cooperatives but not-for-profit mutual insurance corporations.)
We take Senator Lincoln at her word. She will demand that everyone be covered at a price they can afford, that medical costs will be reined in, that people with pre-existing conditions will not be denied coverage as all the private plans do now for those seeking individual coverage and that people will be assured coverage when they are between jobs.
We do not grasp how that can be achieved without a public plan that carries the might to demand discounts and lower prices from providers and force the oligopoly of private carriers to compete. We are satisfied that if Lincoln does not find the competition compelling she will support the public plan, too.
People are her first priority in this historic effort, she said Monday. We take that to mean that despite its bundles of campaign money the insurance industry isn’t. That is good enough for us.
At times in the past few months, her remarks about health reform have conveyed a trifle too much deference to the health industry, including the insurance companies.
Like all the other senators on the Finance Committee, she receives huge contributions from the medical and insurance industries, more than $500,000 in the current election cycle (she is up for re-election next year if you hadn’t heard).
You worried that she might put their interests ahead of the consuming public that is served so poorly by the current system.
She had abiding concerns about setting up a public insurance option that would compete with Aetna, Blue Cross, United and the few other insurers. The government plan, she feared, might drive costs down so much that the companies couldn’t compete and make a profit.
But then the good senator Lincoln resurfaces. Yesterday, the senator’s Web site carried a statement of the principles that guide her in the Finance Committee’s work on a comprehensive health-care plan. She said she would accept nothing less than a plan that gives every Arkansan, every person in the United States, access to affordable and high-quality health care.
She said she was evaluating the options that will achieve that, including a public insurance plan and nonprofit cooperatives, the government-sponsored nonprofits that she and a few others, principally Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, were touting last week as a way to avoid more direct government involvement in health care.
No one knows what these cooperatives would look like, how much capital they would need from Washington and how they would differ from Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which already has three-fourths of the private market in Arkansas, or from the self-insurance plans that Arkansas and a number of other states operate. (Blue Cross no longer calls its state companies cooperatives but not-for-profit mutual insurance corporations.)
We take Senator Lincoln at her word. She will demand that everyone be covered at a price they can afford, that medical costs will be reined in, that people with pre-existing conditions will not be denied coverage as all the private plans do now for those seeking individual coverage and that people will be assured coverage when they are between jobs.
We do not grasp how that can be achieved without a public plan that carries the might to demand discounts and lower prices from providers and force the oligopoly of private carriers to compete. We are satisfied that if Lincoln does not find the competition compelling she will support the public plan, too.
People are her first priority in this historic effort, she said Monday. We take that to mean that despite its bundles of campaign money the insurance industry isn’t. That is good enough for us.
EDITORIAL >> PCSSD puts students last
Pulaski County Special School District’s board members narrowly voted last week to appropriate $1 million in federal stimulus funds for a new Jacksonville middle school.
Although the money is just a fraction of the cost of a new school, it is an important step toward building the first school in Jacksonville in 35 years. But it’s not clear if there will be money available to build the new middle school. What stands there now is dilapidated and polluted with asbestos. (See picture above.)
It’s a shocking site: No children should have been exposed to such hazardous materials. The school district should have torn down the school decades ago, but then the board has never shown much concern for the needs of Jacksonville-area children.
But apart from the largely symbolic gesture of allocating $1 million, or less than one-tenth needed for the project, the board missed an opportunity at its emergency meeting Friday to declare its support for quality education in Jacksonville. Instead, the board chose to reprimand city residents and The Leader for their efforts to give students better educational opportunities and better facilities.
The board’s lack of purpose was never more evident than at Friday’s meeting. Not once did the board mention the students of Jacksonville. Board members instead complained about being “pushed around” by residents and this newspaper. Board member Charlie Wood was for building a new middle school until he was against it because he didn’t want to be pushed around, he said.
This is the same board that chased off deputy superintendent Beverly Ruthven, an excellent educator and administrator, in favor of mediocrity and grandstanding.
PCSSD has treated Jacksonville like a third-rate city by ignoring the community’s school problems for too long. In a letter of reprimand sent in April to PCSSD board members, the director of the Arkansas School Boards Association questioned the board’s lack of professionalism and competence.
The letter warned the board to straighten up its act and pointed out that it was because of its reckless behavior that a bill was introduced in the last session of the legislature to allow the recall of incompetent school board members who sit on the PCSSD board. This is the same board that let financial shenanigans and outright thievery run unchecked for too long.
Many school district administrators, most notably middle school principals Mike Nellums and Kim Forrest, have criticized the board’s decision to combine the former Jacksonville boys and girls middle schools. Both principals have conveniently been moved out of Jacksonville. Like Iran’s ayatollahs, the district does not tolerate dissent.
The debate over the board’s middle school consolidation plan has been heated. It is a plan that calls for the use of trailers to alleviate overcrowding classrooms, something the board did not tell the community about until just a couple of weeks ago.
Jacksonville’s board member, Bill Vasquez, who supported combining both schools, does not respond to questions about the PCSSD’s plans for Jacksonville. He apparently feels he does not have to answer to Jacksonville residents and has all but disappeared.
The students suffer when school board members no longer want to communicate with their communities. Board members should be scrutinized because their decisions are executed with taxpayer money. More importantly, education policy affects communities on many levels.
Cabot has far surpassed Jacksonville in terms of educational quality. Airmen from Little Rock Air Force Base are flocking to Cabot because the schools are better there.
PCSSD could learn some valuable lessons from Cabot schools. School board meetings there operate professionally. Board members are well-spoken and topics often include funding new schools every couple of years. Instead of crowded classrooms, Cabot schools are focused on building state-of-the-art facilities for their students.
Petty issues that constantly plague PCSSD are never a problem at the Cabot board meetings. By comparison, the PCSSD board seems amateurish.
Jacksonville should appreciate that Cabot has helped to meet the educational needs of Air Force families living in Cabot, although children enrolled at Arnold Drive Elementary on the base attend a substandard school, despite promises by the PCSSD board that improvements will be made.
Teachers should take their civics classes to PCSSD board meetings to see for themselves what happens when democracy fails us. Civics students might do a better job running the district than those board members, who didn’t learn much when they were in school.
Although the money is just a fraction of the cost of a new school, it is an important step toward building the first school in Jacksonville in 35 years. But it’s not clear if there will be money available to build the new middle school. What stands there now is dilapidated and polluted with asbestos. (See picture above.)
It’s a shocking site: No children should have been exposed to such hazardous materials. The school district should have torn down the school decades ago, but then the board has never shown much concern for the needs of Jacksonville-area children.
But apart from the largely symbolic gesture of allocating $1 million, or less than one-tenth needed for the project, the board missed an opportunity at its emergency meeting Friday to declare its support for quality education in Jacksonville. Instead, the board chose to reprimand city residents and The Leader for their efforts to give students better educational opportunities and better facilities.
The board’s lack of purpose was never more evident than at Friday’s meeting. Not once did the board mention the students of Jacksonville. Board members instead complained about being “pushed around” by residents and this newspaper. Board member Charlie Wood was for building a new middle school until he was against it because he didn’t want to be pushed around, he said.
This is the same board that chased off deputy superintendent Beverly Ruthven, an excellent educator and administrator, in favor of mediocrity and grandstanding.
PCSSD has treated Jacksonville like a third-rate city by ignoring the community’s school problems for too long. In a letter of reprimand sent in April to PCSSD board members, the director of the Arkansas School Boards Association questioned the board’s lack of professionalism and competence.
The letter warned the board to straighten up its act and pointed out that it was because of its reckless behavior that a bill was introduced in the last session of the legislature to allow the recall of incompetent school board members who sit on the PCSSD board. This is the same board that let financial shenanigans and outright thievery run unchecked for too long.
Many school district administrators, most notably middle school principals Mike Nellums and Kim Forrest, have criticized the board’s decision to combine the former Jacksonville boys and girls middle schools. Both principals have conveniently been moved out of Jacksonville. Like Iran’s ayatollahs, the district does not tolerate dissent.
The debate over the board’s middle school consolidation plan has been heated. It is a plan that calls for the use of trailers to alleviate overcrowding classrooms, something the board did not tell the community about until just a couple of weeks ago.
Jacksonville’s board member, Bill Vasquez, who supported combining both schools, does not respond to questions about the PCSSD’s plans for Jacksonville. He apparently feels he does not have to answer to Jacksonville residents and has all but disappeared.
The students suffer when school board members no longer want to communicate with their communities. Board members should be scrutinized because their decisions are executed with taxpayer money. More importantly, education policy affects communities on many levels.
Cabot has far surpassed Jacksonville in terms of educational quality. Airmen from Little Rock Air Force Base are flocking to Cabot because the schools are better there.
PCSSD could learn some valuable lessons from Cabot schools. School board meetings there operate professionally. Board members are well-spoken and topics often include funding new schools every couple of years. Instead of crowded classrooms, Cabot schools are focused on building state-of-the-art facilities for their students.
Petty issues that constantly plague PCSSD are never a problem at the Cabot board meetings. By comparison, the PCSSD board seems amateurish.
Jacksonville should appreciate that Cabot has helped to meet the educational needs of Air Force families living in Cabot, although children enrolled at Arnold Drive Elementary on the base attend a substandard school, despite promises by the PCSSD board that improvements will be made.
Teachers should take their civics classes to PCSSD board meetings to see for themselves what happens when democracy fails us. Civics students might do a better job running the district than those board members, who didn’t learn much when they were in school.
TOP STORY >> Wounded soldier has surgery
By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader executive editor
Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula of Jacksonville, who was shot three times earlier this month as he stood outside a military recruiting station in Little Rock, underwent surgery Tuesday morning to remove shrapnel from his back.
He had the operation at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center in Little Rock, said his mother, Sonja Ezeagwula.
Ezeagwula went home from the hospital Tuesday afternoon.
There are still as many as 50 pieces of shrapnel in her son’s back, she said.
Ezeagwula, who graduated from Jacksonville High School last year, has shrapnel all over his body, and often the pain medication doesn’t lessen the hurt.
He has shrapnel in his lung, his neck and down his back.
“He’s in a whole of pain,” his mother said after the surgery. “He’s in more pain than he was at first. He has to lie on his stomach and face.”
She said a nurse changes his dressing once a day and his mother changes it at night.
Ezeagwula, 18, and Pvt. William Long, 23, were standing outside the Army-Navy recruiting station on Rodney Parham Road on June 1, when Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, 24, drove up in a black pickup truck carrying a Chinese semiautomatic rifle and started firing.
Long died from a single bullet.
He and Long had worked there only for a week as temporary recruiters before they were supposed to head out for their next assignment.
Ezeagwula told The Leader that he played dead during the ordeal until the alleged shooter, aka Carlos Leon Bledsoe, drove away.
After Muhammad drove off, the Jackson-ville teenager started crawling back toward the recruiting office.
As he lay wounded, he called his mother on his cell phone to tell her he was all right, but she didn’t answer.
As they put Ezeagwula in an ambulance, a sergeant called the private’s mother to tell her he’d been shot.
He doesn’t remember some of the details of the shooting. But his mother says that when Muhammad reached for his rifle, her son thought it was a prank.
He put a large pillow behind his back during a press conference on June 9 at the Armed Forces Recruiting Station on Main Street in Jacksonville.
Ezeagwula, a heavy-machine operator, is thankful that the military has given him a career and he wants to continue to serve.
He hopes to become a drill sergeant one day, he said.
Long was buried June 8 at the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery at 1501 W. Maryland Ave. at the edge of Sherwood.
Ezeagwula did not feel well enough to attend Long’s funeral.
Leader executive editor
Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula of Jacksonville, who was shot three times earlier this month as he stood outside a military recruiting station in Little Rock, underwent surgery Tuesday morning to remove shrapnel from his back.
He had the operation at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center in Little Rock, said his mother, Sonja Ezeagwula.
Ezeagwula went home from the hospital Tuesday afternoon.
There are still as many as 50 pieces of shrapnel in her son’s back, she said.
Ezeagwula, who graduated from Jacksonville High School last year, has shrapnel all over his body, and often the pain medication doesn’t lessen the hurt.
He has shrapnel in his lung, his neck and down his back.
“He’s in a whole of pain,” his mother said after the surgery. “He’s in more pain than he was at first. He has to lie on his stomach and face.”
She said a nurse changes his dressing once a day and his mother changes it at night.
Ezeagwula, 18, and Pvt. William Long, 23, were standing outside the Army-Navy recruiting station on Rodney Parham Road on June 1, when Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, 24, drove up in a black pickup truck carrying a Chinese semiautomatic rifle and started firing.
Long died from a single bullet.
He and Long had worked there only for a week as temporary recruiters before they were supposed to head out for their next assignment.
Ezeagwula told The Leader that he played dead during the ordeal until the alleged shooter, aka Carlos Leon Bledsoe, drove away.
After Muhammad drove off, the Jackson-ville teenager started crawling back toward the recruiting office.
As he lay wounded, he called his mother on his cell phone to tell her he was all right, but she didn’t answer.
As they put Ezeagwula in an ambulance, a sergeant called the private’s mother to tell her he’d been shot.
He doesn’t remember some of the details of the shooting. But his mother says that when Muhammad reached for his rifle, her son thought it was a prank.
He put a large pillow behind his back during a press conference on June 9 at the Armed Forces Recruiting Station on Main Street in Jacksonville.
Ezeagwula, a heavy-machine operator, is thankful that the military has given him a career and he wants to continue to serve.
He hopes to become a drill sergeant one day, he said.
Long was buried June 8 at the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery at 1501 W. Maryland Ave. at the edge of Sherwood.
Ezeagwula did not feel well enough to attend Long’s funeral.
TOP STORY >> Mom honors late son’s memory
By JULIA HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
State Trooper Tim Ghoshon’s vow to ticket his mother, Addie Gibson, for not wearing her seat belt inspired one of the ads Arkansas State Police are running to remind motorists to buckle up.
State Police officials last week unveiled a series of television spots they’re running in advance of the state’s new primary seat belt law, which takes effect at the end of the month.
Under current law, not wearing a seat belt is a secondary violation, meaning motorists could not be pulled over for that offense but could be ticketed if they were stopped for some other reason.
In one of the spots, Gibson portrays a driver pulled over by her son, a state trooper.
“If I would give my own mother a ticket, I wouldn’t think twice about giving you one,” the trooper in the ad says.
Gibson, a 49-year resident of Jacksonville, said the TV commercial was inspired partly by a story she used to tell about her son, who died from leukemia in 2005 at the age of 40 after serving in law enforcement for 13 years.
Gibson said Ghoshon had twice warned her about not wearing her seat belt when driving to his house.
The third time, he told her, “Mom, you have been told to wear your seat belt. If I catch you out somewhere without your seat belt on, I’m going to write you a ticket,” Gibson recalled.
“And he was serious, he was not smiling,” she explained, “because, if he was in law enforcement, he was expecting for his family to do the law first and then spread it out. He was really expecting for the family to do what they were supposed to do.”
“One of the troopers from the Arkansas State Police headquarters called me because he was at Tim’s funeral and heard me tell the story. Because they’re getting ready to enforce the seat-belt law, he said, ‘Well hey, why don’t I just get her and we can do a commercial?’,” Gibson said.
She agreed to do the commercial as a way to memorialize her son and also let people know that the seat-belt law will change.
Gibson, who is chairwoman of the Concerned Citizens of Jacksonville, is always trying to make people’s lives better.
The Concerned Citizens of Jacksonville is a multi-purpose organization doing whatever they can to assist the Jacksonville community, she said.
The group regularly maintains Johnson Cemetery on Military Road. “We always try to make sure it’s cleaned up,” Gibson said.
On her own, Gibson speaks to the elderly about the local health services available to them. “I have a lady that I take to the doctor free of charge,” Gibson said.
Gibson is also an active member of Keep Jacksonville Beautiful and the Jacksonville Housing Authority.
Considering her humanitarian record, it’s no wonder she was willing to lend her image to the seat-belt campaign.
The spot in which she stars is among several others the State Police are airing around the state, dubbing the new restrictions as a “law you can live with.”
Col. Winford Phillips, director of Arkansas State Police, said he hopes to educate motorists about the new law with the ads. But State Police officials also said that there would not be any “grace period” where drivers would be given warnings instead of tickets.
“If you’re stopped for some other violation or you’re seen not wearing your seat belt, there will be some sort of enforcement action taken,” said Maj. Ed Wolfe, highway patrol commander for the state’s eastern region.
Phillips said he didn’t expect the department would see a spike in tickets issued for seat-belt violations and said police weren’t looking at it as a new way to make money.
“The reason for this law is not to generate revenue or to write tickets,” Phillips said. “It’s to have the law enforced and followed by the citizens of the state.”
Civil rights groups remain wary of the new law, warning that it could open the door to harassment of minority drivers by police.
Dale Charles, head of the Arkansas NAACP, said he expected to see an increase in the number of black and Hispanic drivers pulled over around the state because of the new law.
“We still feel this is the worst law that’s been passed with no data collection, no system set up to monitor the overzealous use of the process when it relates to African Americans,” Charles said.
Sen. Hank Wilkins IV, who sponsored the seat-belt law, defended the measure and said that not everyone from the NAACP opposed it.
Wilkins also noted that he backed a companion bill requiring the state to set up a hotline for callers to report complaints of racial profiling.
Gibson says that, regardless of color issues, “the law is a great idea” and that those breaking the law should be punished. Now, “whoever gets into [her] car, the car does not move until everybody has their seat belt on.”
And she thinks that her son would be pleased about the changes. If he were alive, “he’d be enforcing the law even more because it’s becoming law.
“Even before the seat-belt law came or even thought about being a law, he was telling us, ‘Once you get in your car and sit down, the first thing you do is grab your seat belt and put it on.’ That was his thing.”
Leader staff writer
State Trooper Tim Ghoshon’s vow to ticket his mother, Addie Gibson, for not wearing her seat belt inspired one of the ads Arkansas State Police are running to remind motorists to buckle up.
State Police officials last week unveiled a series of television spots they’re running in advance of the state’s new primary seat belt law, which takes effect at the end of the month.
Under current law, not wearing a seat belt is a secondary violation, meaning motorists could not be pulled over for that offense but could be ticketed if they were stopped for some other reason.
In one of the spots, Gibson portrays a driver pulled over by her son, a state trooper.
“If I would give my own mother a ticket, I wouldn’t think twice about giving you one,” the trooper in the ad says.
Gibson, a 49-year resident of Jacksonville, said the TV commercial was inspired partly by a story she used to tell about her son, who died from leukemia in 2005 at the age of 40 after serving in law enforcement for 13 years.
Gibson said Ghoshon had twice warned her about not wearing her seat belt when driving to his house.
The third time, he told her, “Mom, you have been told to wear your seat belt. If I catch you out somewhere without your seat belt on, I’m going to write you a ticket,” Gibson recalled.
“And he was serious, he was not smiling,” she explained, “because, if he was in law enforcement, he was expecting for his family to do the law first and then spread it out. He was really expecting for the family to do what they were supposed to do.”
“One of the troopers from the Arkansas State Police headquarters called me because he was at Tim’s funeral and heard me tell the story. Because they’re getting ready to enforce the seat-belt law, he said, ‘Well hey, why don’t I just get her and we can do a commercial?’,” Gibson said.
She agreed to do the commercial as a way to memorialize her son and also let people know that the seat-belt law will change.
Gibson, who is chairwoman of the Concerned Citizens of Jacksonville, is always trying to make people’s lives better.
The Concerned Citizens of Jacksonville is a multi-purpose organization doing whatever they can to assist the Jacksonville community, she said.
The group regularly maintains Johnson Cemetery on Military Road. “We always try to make sure it’s cleaned up,” Gibson said.
On her own, Gibson speaks to the elderly about the local health services available to them. “I have a lady that I take to the doctor free of charge,” Gibson said.
Gibson is also an active member of Keep Jacksonville Beautiful and the Jacksonville Housing Authority.
Considering her humanitarian record, it’s no wonder she was willing to lend her image to the seat-belt campaign.
The spot in which she stars is among several others the State Police are airing around the state, dubbing the new restrictions as a “law you can live with.”
Col. Winford Phillips, director of Arkansas State Police, said he hopes to educate motorists about the new law with the ads. But State Police officials also said that there would not be any “grace period” where drivers would be given warnings instead of tickets.
“If you’re stopped for some other violation or you’re seen not wearing your seat belt, there will be some sort of enforcement action taken,” said Maj. Ed Wolfe, highway patrol commander for the state’s eastern region.
Phillips said he didn’t expect the department would see a spike in tickets issued for seat-belt violations and said police weren’t looking at it as a new way to make money.
“The reason for this law is not to generate revenue or to write tickets,” Phillips said. “It’s to have the law enforced and followed by the citizens of the state.”
Civil rights groups remain wary of the new law, warning that it could open the door to harassment of minority drivers by police.
Dale Charles, head of the Arkansas NAACP, said he expected to see an increase in the number of black and Hispanic drivers pulled over around the state because of the new law.
“We still feel this is the worst law that’s been passed with no data collection, no system set up to monitor the overzealous use of the process when it relates to African Americans,” Charles said.
Sen. Hank Wilkins IV, who sponsored the seat-belt law, defended the measure and said that not everyone from the NAACP opposed it.
Wilkins also noted that he backed a companion bill requiring the state to set up a hotline for callers to report complaints of racial profiling.
Gibson says that, regardless of color issues, “the law is a great idea” and that those breaking the law should be punished. Now, “whoever gets into [her] car, the car does not move until everybody has their seat belt on.”
And she thinks that her son would be pleased about the changes. If he were alive, “he’d be enforcing the law even more because it’s becoming law.
“Even before the seat-belt law came or even thought about being a law, he was telling us, ‘Once you get in your car and sit down, the first thing you do is grab your seat belt and put it on.’ That was his thing.”
TOP STORY >> Flood to swelter
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
In a matter of a few weeks, central Arkansas went from a whole lot of rain to nary a drop and from spring temperatures to triple-digit heat indices.
In May, the area received 13.06 inches of rain, 259 percent more than normal. But through Tuesday, June’s rain total was just 0.96 of an inch, less than a third of the nearly three inches the area normally gets in June.
As this hot spell began on June 16, ground water and green vegetation helped hold down readings a few degrees. However, with the ground slowly drying out, temperatures eventually edged upward.
But the heat indices have been over 100 degrees since last Wednesday.
On Monday, much of the state was in the upper 90s to around 100 degrees. Heat index values reached 107 degrees at Little Rock, 106 degrees at Hot Springs and 105 degrees at Russellville (Pope County). Elsewhere, values were generally between 100 and 105 degrees.
By mid-day Tuesday the heat index value in the local area was between 108 to 110 degrees.
As June comes to a close, the National Weather Service says there are signs of at least some relief. A high will wobble into the southern Plains and a clockwise flow around the high will drive weak cold fronts into Arkansas from the north.
FRONT ARRIVING
A front coming in midweek should trigger isolated thunderstorms during the afternoon/evening hours, and will be followed by slightly cooler air Thursday and Friday. It appears another front will head into the region Sunday.
Some severe weather may accompany these fronts. The probability of strong to damaging winds tends to increase as temperatures go up, according to the weather service. There is more potential for rapid cooling as precipitation forms, giving storm downdrafts more strength.
While the heat is not expected to end, and rain is not expected to be widespread, the fronts will help break the monotony of an otherwise stagnant pattern, weather officials say.
While it is hot, people need to be careful, said Ed Barham of the state Health Department. Day after day of heat could take its toll, especially on those who work outdoors or are away from an air-conditioned environment, Barham said.
On average, there are 400 heat-related deaths a year in the country The 1995 heat wave in the Midwest contributed to 716 heat-related deaths.
The heat wave of 1980 was an especially hard one for Arkansas, when 153 heat-related deaths occurred. Since then, heat has caused the deaths of 235 Arkansans. Last year, seven Arkansans died from the extreme hot weather, Barham said.
EVERYONE AT RISK
Dr. Richard Nugent, medical leader, southeastern health region, said, “While the elderly, people with health problems, and very young children are the most vulnerable, heat can affect anyone—even strong, healthy athletes.
“Our bodies are cooled primarily by losing heat through skin and perspiration. Problems occur when we are unable to shed excess heat. When our heat gain exceeds the amount we can get rid of, our temperature begins to rise, and heat-related illness may develop,” Nugent said.
The human body has an internal thermostat that is designed to help maintain proper body temperatures. However, sometimes extreme heat can cause the body thermostat to malfunction, which can result in one or more of the following conditions:
Heat rash is a skin irritation caused by excessive sweating during hot, humid weather. It can occur at any age but is most common in young children. Although heat rash occurs because of exposure to extreme heat, treating heat rash is simple and usually does not require medical assistance. Other heat-related problems can be much more severe.
Heat cramps usually affect people who sweat heavily during strenuous activity. This sweating depletes the body’s salt, magnesium and water. The low salt and magnesium levels in the muscles may be the cause of heat cramps. Heat cramps may also be a symptom of heat exhaustion.
Heat exhaustion is a milder form of heat-related illness that can develop in exposure to high temperatures and inadequate or unbalanced replacement of fluids. It is the body’s response to an excessive loss of the water and salt contained in sweat. Those most prone to heat exhaustion are elderly people, people with high blood pressure and people working or exercising in a hot environment.
Heat stroke occurs when the body is unable to regulate its temperature. The body’s temperature rises rapidly, the sweating mechanism fails and the body is unable to cool down. Body temperature may rise to 106°F or higher within 10 to 15 minutes. Heat stroke can cause death or permanent disability if emergency treatment is not provided.
Most heat-related deaths occur when high temperatures overcome the body’s natural ability to cope with heat. The elderly, very young children and persons with chronic medical conditions (especially cardiovascular disease) are at the highest risk.
Elderly people should avoid staying shut-up indoors during heat waves without using air conditioning. More than half of the 700 heat-related deaths in the 1995 Chicago heat wave could have been prevented with an air conditioner in the home, according to a published study.
Experts say fans are apparently not effective against heat illness during intense heat waves. If you cannot afford an air conditioner for your home, spend more time in other air-conditioned environments. Access to air conditioning for even a few hours a day is protective.
Those who work, exercise or participate in strenuous activity, such as sports or gardening for an hour or more during intense heat may lose or sweat up to two quarts of water.
TAKE PRECAUTIONS
If you must pursue intense activity during hot weather, follow these safety tips:
Drink plenty of water; fluid replacement is crucial to avoid heat risks. Drink more water than usual before exercising or working in the heat. (If you are elderly or taking medication, ask your doctor about fluid intake recommendations.)
Schedule your strenuous activity during the coolest time of the day.
Monitor how you feel. If you have difficulty maintaining your regular pace, slow it down.
If you know someone who may be at risk for heat-related problems, check on them frequently.
Also do not forget about pets.
Never leave your pet in the car. Though it may seem cool outside, the sun can increase the temperature inside your car to 120 degrees in a matter of minutes even with the windows rolled down. If you need to run some errands, leave the furry ones at home.
Water, water everywhere. Whether you’re indoors or out, both you and your pet need access to lots of fresh water during the summer, so check the pet’s water bowl several times a day to be sure it’s full.
If you and your furry friend venture forth for the afternoon, bring plenty of water for both of you.
Hot weather may tempt your pet to drink from puddles in the street, which can contain antifreeze and other chemicals.
Antifreeze has a sweet taste that animals like, but it’s extremely toxic. When you’re walking your pet, make sure it doesn’t sneak a drink from the street.
Be cautious on humid days. Humidity interferes with animals’ ability to rid themselves of excess body heat. When we overheat we sweat, and when the sweat dries, it takes excess heat with it. Our four-legged friends only perspire around their paws, which is not enough to cool the body.
To rid themselves of excess heat, animals pant. Air moves through the nasal passages, which picks up excess heat from the body. As it is expelled through the mouth, the extra heat leaves along with it. Although this is a very efficient way to control body heat, it is severely limited in areas of high humidity or when the animal is in close quarters.
Bring them inside. Animals shouldn’t be left outside unsupervised on long, hot days, even in the shade. Shade can move throughout the afternoon, and pets can become ill quickly if they overheat, so keep them inside as much as possible. If you must leave your pet in the backyard, keep a close eye on it and bring it in when you can.
Leader staff writer
In a matter of a few weeks, central Arkansas went from a whole lot of rain to nary a drop and from spring temperatures to triple-digit heat indices.
In May, the area received 13.06 inches of rain, 259 percent more than normal. But through Tuesday, June’s rain total was just 0.96 of an inch, less than a third of the nearly three inches the area normally gets in June.
As this hot spell began on June 16, ground water and green vegetation helped hold down readings a few degrees. However, with the ground slowly drying out, temperatures eventually edged upward.
But the heat indices have been over 100 degrees since last Wednesday.
On Monday, much of the state was in the upper 90s to around 100 degrees. Heat index values reached 107 degrees at Little Rock, 106 degrees at Hot Springs and 105 degrees at Russellville (Pope County). Elsewhere, values were generally between 100 and 105 degrees.
By mid-day Tuesday the heat index value in the local area was between 108 to 110 degrees.
As June comes to a close, the National Weather Service says there are signs of at least some relief. A high will wobble into the southern Plains and a clockwise flow around the high will drive weak cold fronts into Arkansas from the north.
FRONT ARRIVING
A front coming in midweek should trigger isolated thunderstorms during the afternoon/evening hours, and will be followed by slightly cooler air Thursday and Friday. It appears another front will head into the region Sunday.
Some severe weather may accompany these fronts. The probability of strong to damaging winds tends to increase as temperatures go up, according to the weather service. There is more potential for rapid cooling as precipitation forms, giving storm downdrafts more strength.
While the heat is not expected to end, and rain is not expected to be widespread, the fronts will help break the monotony of an otherwise stagnant pattern, weather officials say.
While it is hot, people need to be careful, said Ed Barham of the state Health Department. Day after day of heat could take its toll, especially on those who work outdoors or are away from an air-conditioned environment, Barham said.
On average, there are 400 heat-related deaths a year in the country The 1995 heat wave in the Midwest contributed to 716 heat-related deaths.
The heat wave of 1980 was an especially hard one for Arkansas, when 153 heat-related deaths occurred. Since then, heat has caused the deaths of 235 Arkansans. Last year, seven Arkansans died from the extreme hot weather, Barham said.
EVERYONE AT RISK
Dr. Richard Nugent, medical leader, southeastern health region, said, “While the elderly, people with health problems, and very young children are the most vulnerable, heat can affect anyone—even strong, healthy athletes.
“Our bodies are cooled primarily by losing heat through skin and perspiration. Problems occur when we are unable to shed excess heat. When our heat gain exceeds the amount we can get rid of, our temperature begins to rise, and heat-related illness may develop,” Nugent said.
The human body has an internal thermostat that is designed to help maintain proper body temperatures. However, sometimes extreme heat can cause the body thermostat to malfunction, which can result in one or more of the following conditions:
Heat rash is a skin irritation caused by excessive sweating during hot, humid weather. It can occur at any age but is most common in young children. Although heat rash occurs because of exposure to extreme heat, treating heat rash is simple and usually does not require medical assistance. Other heat-related problems can be much more severe.
Heat cramps usually affect people who sweat heavily during strenuous activity. This sweating depletes the body’s salt, magnesium and water. The low salt and magnesium levels in the muscles may be the cause of heat cramps. Heat cramps may also be a symptom of heat exhaustion.
Heat exhaustion is a milder form of heat-related illness that can develop in exposure to high temperatures and inadequate or unbalanced replacement of fluids. It is the body’s response to an excessive loss of the water and salt contained in sweat. Those most prone to heat exhaustion are elderly people, people with high blood pressure and people working or exercising in a hot environment.
Heat stroke occurs when the body is unable to regulate its temperature. The body’s temperature rises rapidly, the sweating mechanism fails and the body is unable to cool down. Body temperature may rise to 106°F or higher within 10 to 15 minutes. Heat stroke can cause death or permanent disability if emergency treatment is not provided.
Most heat-related deaths occur when high temperatures overcome the body’s natural ability to cope with heat. The elderly, very young children and persons with chronic medical conditions (especially cardiovascular disease) are at the highest risk.
Elderly people should avoid staying shut-up indoors during heat waves without using air conditioning. More than half of the 700 heat-related deaths in the 1995 Chicago heat wave could have been prevented with an air conditioner in the home, according to a published study.
Experts say fans are apparently not effective against heat illness during intense heat waves. If you cannot afford an air conditioner for your home, spend more time in other air-conditioned environments. Access to air conditioning for even a few hours a day is protective.
Those who work, exercise or participate in strenuous activity, such as sports or gardening for an hour or more during intense heat may lose or sweat up to two quarts of water.
TAKE PRECAUTIONS
If you must pursue intense activity during hot weather, follow these safety tips:
Drink plenty of water; fluid replacement is crucial to avoid heat risks. Drink more water than usual before exercising or working in the heat. (If you are elderly or taking medication, ask your doctor about fluid intake recommendations.)
Schedule your strenuous activity during the coolest time of the day.
Monitor how you feel. If you have difficulty maintaining your regular pace, slow it down.
If you know someone who may be at risk for heat-related problems, check on them frequently.
Also do not forget about pets.
Never leave your pet in the car. Though it may seem cool outside, the sun can increase the temperature inside your car to 120 degrees in a matter of minutes even with the windows rolled down. If you need to run some errands, leave the furry ones at home.
Water, water everywhere. Whether you’re indoors or out, both you and your pet need access to lots of fresh water during the summer, so check the pet’s water bowl several times a day to be sure it’s full.
If you and your furry friend venture forth for the afternoon, bring plenty of water for both of you.
Hot weather may tempt your pet to drink from puddles in the street, which can contain antifreeze and other chemicals.
Antifreeze has a sweet taste that animals like, but it’s extremely toxic. When you’re walking your pet, make sure it doesn’t sneak a drink from the street.
Be cautious on humid days. Humidity interferes with animals’ ability to rid themselves of excess body heat. When we overheat we sweat, and when the sweat dries, it takes excess heat with it. Our four-legged friends only perspire around their paws, which is not enough to cool the body.
To rid themselves of excess heat, animals pant. Air moves through the nasal passages, which picks up excess heat from the body. As it is expelled through the mouth, the extra heat leaves along with it. Although this is a very efficient way to control body heat, it is severely limited in areas of high humidity or when the animal is in close quarters.
Bring them inside. Animals shouldn’t be left outside unsupervised on long, hot days, even in the shade. Shade can move throughout the afternoon, and pets can become ill quickly if they overheat, so keep them inside as much as possible. If you must leave your pet in the backyard, keep a close eye on it and bring it in when you can.
SPORTS >> Junior Optimist cashes in to post Legion victory
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Sylvan Hills gave itself plenty of opportunities with eight hits, and Cabot’s pitching helped the Bruins along with nine walks, all of which came in the final three innings.
The junior Optimist Bruins made the most of those gifts on their way to a run-ruled 9-1 win in five innings over Centennial Bank on Monday afternoon at Kevin McReynolds Field.
Blake Hannon took the win for Sylvan Hills with a complete-game effort at the mound. Hannon gave up a walk and allowed two hits. He also fanned four along the way.
Cabot starting pitcher Taylor Barnhill kept the Bruins at bay in the first two innings, but the bottom of the third was a sign of things to come. Sylvan Hills took a 2-1 lead after three, and added three more scores in each of the final two frames.
Chad Wisely relieved Barnhill in the bottom of the fourth, while Weston Conard closed for Centennial Bank in the fifth.
It was bases on balls that closed the deal for the Bruins in the bottom of the fifth, although Austin Spears led off the inning with a solo home run over the left centerfield wall to give Sylvan Hills a 7-1 lead.
Justin Cook followed with a single but was picked off second by Conard. The next five Bruins batters walked, though, to secure the final two runs needed to push the game past the eight-after-five run rule.
Centennial Bank’s only score came in the top of the third inning. Tyler Cole led off the inning with a walk, and Zach Uhiren plated him two batters later with a double to left field.
Sylvan Hills leadoff Cain Cormier singled, and an outfield error allowed him to reach third. A passed ball scored Cormier to tie the game. Trey Sims walked, and scored on a double down the third base line by Lance Hunter to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead after three.
The Bruins’ lead quickly grew in the fourth when Hunter smashed a triple that bounced off the left centerfield wall to drive in three runs after Michael Lock had singled and Cormier and Sims had walked to load the bases.
It was 8-1 after Hunter scored on a passed ball.
Hunter was 2 of 3 for Sylvan Hills with a triple, double, and four RBI. Spears was 2 of 3 with a home run, and Cormier was 1 of 2 with two walks, good for a RBI and two scores. Sims was 1 of 1, but reached three other times on walks, all of which ended up as scores.
Leader sportswriter
Sylvan Hills gave itself plenty of opportunities with eight hits, and Cabot’s pitching helped the Bruins along with nine walks, all of which came in the final three innings.
The junior Optimist Bruins made the most of those gifts on their way to a run-ruled 9-1 win in five innings over Centennial Bank on Monday afternoon at Kevin McReynolds Field.
Blake Hannon took the win for Sylvan Hills with a complete-game effort at the mound. Hannon gave up a walk and allowed two hits. He also fanned four along the way.
Cabot starting pitcher Taylor Barnhill kept the Bruins at bay in the first two innings, but the bottom of the third was a sign of things to come. Sylvan Hills took a 2-1 lead after three, and added three more scores in each of the final two frames.
Chad Wisely relieved Barnhill in the bottom of the fourth, while Weston Conard closed for Centennial Bank in the fifth.
It was bases on balls that closed the deal for the Bruins in the bottom of the fifth, although Austin Spears led off the inning with a solo home run over the left centerfield wall to give Sylvan Hills a 7-1 lead.
Justin Cook followed with a single but was picked off second by Conard. The next five Bruins batters walked, though, to secure the final two runs needed to push the game past the eight-after-five run rule.
Centennial Bank’s only score came in the top of the third inning. Tyler Cole led off the inning with a walk, and Zach Uhiren plated him two batters later with a double to left field.
Sylvan Hills leadoff Cain Cormier singled, and an outfield error allowed him to reach third. A passed ball scored Cormier to tie the game. Trey Sims walked, and scored on a double down the third base line by Lance Hunter to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead after three.
The Bruins’ lead quickly grew in the fourth when Hunter smashed a triple that bounced off the left centerfield wall to drive in three runs after Michael Lock had singled and Cormier and Sims had walked to load the bases.
It was 8-1 after Hunter scored on a passed ball.
Hunter was 2 of 3 for Sylvan Hills with a triple, double, and four RBI. Spears was 2 of 3 with a home run, and Cormier was 1 of 2 with two walks, good for a RBI and two scores. Sims was 1 of 1, but reached three other times on walks, all of which ended up as scores.
SPORTS >> 2009 Hogs provide a lot of fond memories
By NATE ALLEN
Nate Allen Media Services
FAYETTEVILLE — Though all eight qualifying SEC teams advanced into the 2009 NCAA Regional postseason anyway, the supposedly irrelevant league tournament seldom has seemed more relevant.
At least, to the two SEC teams which reached the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
Eschewing the conventional wisdom that the SEC regular season champ would be better off losing early in the league tournament to refresh for NCAA Regionals, the LSU Tigers won it all in Hoover. They have been winning ever since.
They swept their Regional and Super Regional in Baton Rouge and swept their four-team College World Series bracket in Omaha to reach the national championship series against Texas.
Texas is the unbeaten winner of the other CWS four-team bracket.
The Arkansas Razorbacks, the SEC’s other College World Series team, likely owe their Omaha trip to the SEC Tournament.
Without their 2-2 SEC Tournament showing it’s hard to imagine the Hogs catching fire like they did in the postseason.
Starting with a nine-run eighth-inning to overcome first-round foe Washington State, 10-3, the Razorbacks won the Norman Regional, including two wins over favored host Oklahoma.
They then swept favored Florida State in the Super Regional in Tallahassee before stunning favored Cal State-Fullerton, 10-6, at the CWS. They followed all that by winning a thrilling 4-3, 12-inning epic against Virginia.
Who knows? Perhaps if not bracketed with LSU, which was simply better than these Hogs, Arkansas might be the team this week playing LSU for the national championship.
Texas is awfully good, but those were awfully good Cal State-Fullerton and Virginia teams the Hogs beat in Omaha.
The Arkansas team that embarrassed itself in being swept at home in its final regular-season series against Ole Miss — the last two losses were 9-3 and 16-3 surrenders — was not the same inspired team that stormed out of Hoover.
Arkansas did lose its last SEC Tournament game 11-1 to Vanderbilt. However, in that game, as in the 14-5 elimination game with LSU last Friday in the bracket final, Arkansas ran out of pitching, not moxie.
Those 8-5 and 10-7 victories over SEC East champion Florida in Hoover and an exquisitely played 10-inning 2-1 loss to Georgia, restored confidence in Hog futures.
Coach Dave Van Horn made the move in Hoover that saved the season. For it was opening the SEC Tournament that Van Horn decided the best way to replace shortstop Scott Lyons, injured during the Ole Miss series, was to move senior second baseman Ben Tschepikow to shortstop and install freshman reserve Bo Bigham at second.
Both parts of the revised tandem made the All-SEC Tournament team and starred when Tschepikow fractured his ring finger after being struck by a Virginia pitch.
These 41-24 Hogs will be remembered for sweeping the Regional in Norman, sweeping the Super Regional in Tallahassee and becoming Van Horn’s first of four teams (two at Nebraska and his 2004 Hogs) to win games at the College World Series.
None of those memories, however, would have been possible without that supposedly irrelevant conference tournament in Hoover.
Nate Allen Media Services
FAYETTEVILLE — Though all eight qualifying SEC teams advanced into the 2009 NCAA Regional postseason anyway, the supposedly irrelevant league tournament seldom has seemed more relevant.
At least, to the two SEC teams which reached the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
Eschewing the conventional wisdom that the SEC regular season champ would be better off losing early in the league tournament to refresh for NCAA Regionals, the LSU Tigers won it all in Hoover. They have been winning ever since.
They swept their Regional and Super Regional in Baton Rouge and swept their four-team College World Series bracket in Omaha to reach the national championship series against Texas.
Texas is the unbeaten winner of the other CWS four-team bracket.
The Arkansas Razorbacks, the SEC’s other College World Series team, likely owe their Omaha trip to the SEC Tournament.
Without their 2-2 SEC Tournament showing it’s hard to imagine the Hogs catching fire like they did in the postseason.
Starting with a nine-run eighth-inning to overcome first-round foe Washington State, 10-3, the Razorbacks won the Norman Regional, including two wins over favored host Oklahoma.
They then swept favored Florida State in the Super Regional in Tallahassee before stunning favored Cal State-Fullerton, 10-6, at the CWS. They followed all that by winning a thrilling 4-3, 12-inning epic against Virginia.
Who knows? Perhaps if not bracketed with LSU, which was simply better than these Hogs, Arkansas might be the team this week playing LSU for the national championship.
Texas is awfully good, but those were awfully good Cal State-Fullerton and Virginia teams the Hogs beat in Omaha.
The Arkansas team that embarrassed itself in being swept at home in its final regular-season series against Ole Miss — the last two losses were 9-3 and 16-3 surrenders — was not the same inspired team that stormed out of Hoover.
Arkansas did lose its last SEC Tournament game 11-1 to Vanderbilt. However, in that game, as in the 14-5 elimination game with LSU last Friday in the bracket final, Arkansas ran out of pitching, not moxie.
Those 8-5 and 10-7 victories over SEC East champion Florida in Hoover and an exquisitely played 10-inning 2-1 loss to Georgia, restored confidence in Hog futures.
Coach Dave Van Horn made the move in Hoover that saved the season. For it was opening the SEC Tournament that Van Horn decided the best way to replace shortstop Scott Lyons, injured during the Ole Miss series, was to move senior second baseman Ben Tschepikow to shortstop and install freshman reserve Bo Bigham at second.
Both parts of the revised tandem made the All-SEC Tournament team and starred when Tschepikow fractured his ring finger after being struck by a Virginia pitch.
These 41-24 Hogs will be remembered for sweeping the Regional in Norman, sweeping the Super Regional in Tallahassee and becoming Van Horn’s first of four teams (two at Nebraska and his 2004 Hogs) to win games at the College World Series.
None of those memories, however, would have been possible without that supposedly irrelevant conference tournament in Hoover.
SPORTS >> Cabot Legion seniors finally starting to put it all together
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
I hadn’t intended to put any pressure on Jay Darr or jinx his team when I offered the opinion a few weeks back that Cabot Centennial Bank appeared to be a fully-loaded club capable of doing some pretty good things this summer.
He laughed, shook his head and reluctantly agreed that, yes, this senior Legion club had plenty of firepower and was stocked with starting pitching. But he also said at the time that his bunch had developed an early feast-or-famine tendency when it came to scoring runs.
And that was true. Cabot, which at the time was coming off a semifinal appearance in the prestigious Fat City Tournament in Nettleton, was 4-2 and had scored three runs twice, four runs once and 12 and 14 on two other occasions.
The evening I spoke to Darr, Cabot would score only three runs against a tough Nathan Eller of Sylvan Hills in a 4-3 loss. That was the first of four consecutive losses for Centennial Bank, a streak during which the offense functioned just fine while the defense collapsed.
It reached a head last Friday in a loss to Sheridan’s junior team in the first game at the Wood Bat Classic in Sheridan. It appears that may have been the wake-up call. Cabot hasn’t lost since, outscoring its next four opponents 36-7 to winits second straight Wood Bat crown.
Centennial Bank ran its winning streak to five on Monday night with a 16-10 win over Sylvan Hills.
It’s good to see Darr’s club playing up to its potential. The Cabot high school team, comprised of mostly these same players, underachieved at times in the spring before putting it together for a run to the state semifinals.
Darr said one through seven in his lineup was solid and there’s no question about that. Joe and Powell Bryant, two speedsters who struggled offensively at times in the spring, are both over .300. Matt Turner has been an RBI machine, leading the team with 18. Once Ben Wainwright gets going, which he’s sure to do, Centennial Bank will have a six-hole hitter second to none.
Wainwright is scuffling along at just .214, but this is a guy who belted six home runs for the Panthers and is a consistent masher.
Andrew Reynolds has developed into a solid two-hole hitter and Ty Steele leads the team in on-base percentage and is second with 18 runs.
All of that provides a potent nucleus, even if you exclude the lineup’s lynch pins — Sam Bates, back from Crowder College and bigger than ever, and All Star outfielder Drew Burks. These guys rarely get cheated and almost always hit it solid. Bates is hitting .467 with 15 RBI and 20 runs, meaning he has had a hand in 35 of Cabot’s 118 runs this season.
The pitching is deep. The question becomes, Is it deep enough to survive the state tournament grind come early August. The trio of Cole Nicholson, Tyler Erickson and Andrew Reynolds gives Darr a reliable, often dominant starting staff.
In particular, the young Nicholson — only a junior-to-be — has been fierce on opposing batters. He struck out 13 batters in his only loss of the season and opponents are hitting just .165 against him. His ERA has dipped to 1.33. Most impressive is his 34-6 strikeouts-to-walks ratio.
Reynolds is 2-0 with a 2.88 ERA. Only Erickson has struggled at times among the three regular starters.
It gets a little thin beyond those three, though Josh Brown and C.J. Jacoby are capable of good things. Brown has won three games and gone the distance twice.
The defense can be spectacular and shoddy. It cost them games against Sylvan Hills and Little Rock Blue.
And here’s a stat that can’t make Darr too happy: Of the 74 runs Cabot pitching has surrendered thus far, 22 of them are unearned.
The team has gone from 4-6 to 9-6 over a four-day span and has played without Burks in three of those games. Burks is in Fayetteville for the All-Star baseball game.
Shore up the defense, get Wainwright going at the plate and Erickson on the mound, find a fourth starter and this team might well live up to its potential come early August.
Leader sports editor
I hadn’t intended to put any pressure on Jay Darr or jinx his team when I offered the opinion a few weeks back that Cabot Centennial Bank appeared to be a fully-loaded club capable of doing some pretty good things this summer.
He laughed, shook his head and reluctantly agreed that, yes, this senior Legion club had plenty of firepower and was stocked with starting pitching. But he also said at the time that his bunch had developed an early feast-or-famine tendency when it came to scoring runs.
And that was true. Cabot, which at the time was coming off a semifinal appearance in the prestigious Fat City Tournament in Nettleton, was 4-2 and had scored three runs twice, four runs once and 12 and 14 on two other occasions.
The evening I spoke to Darr, Cabot would score only three runs against a tough Nathan Eller of Sylvan Hills in a 4-3 loss. That was the first of four consecutive losses for Centennial Bank, a streak during which the offense functioned just fine while the defense collapsed.
It reached a head last Friday in a loss to Sheridan’s junior team in the first game at the Wood Bat Classic in Sheridan. It appears that may have been the wake-up call. Cabot hasn’t lost since, outscoring its next four opponents 36-7 to winits second straight Wood Bat crown.
Centennial Bank ran its winning streak to five on Monday night with a 16-10 win over Sylvan Hills.
It’s good to see Darr’s club playing up to its potential. The Cabot high school team, comprised of mostly these same players, underachieved at times in the spring before putting it together for a run to the state semifinals.
Darr said one through seven in his lineup was solid and there’s no question about that. Joe and Powell Bryant, two speedsters who struggled offensively at times in the spring, are both over .300. Matt Turner has been an RBI machine, leading the team with 18. Once Ben Wainwright gets going, which he’s sure to do, Centennial Bank will have a six-hole hitter second to none.
Wainwright is scuffling along at just .214, but this is a guy who belted six home runs for the Panthers and is a consistent masher.
Andrew Reynolds has developed into a solid two-hole hitter and Ty Steele leads the team in on-base percentage and is second with 18 runs.
All of that provides a potent nucleus, even if you exclude the lineup’s lynch pins — Sam Bates, back from Crowder College and bigger than ever, and All Star outfielder Drew Burks. These guys rarely get cheated and almost always hit it solid. Bates is hitting .467 with 15 RBI and 20 runs, meaning he has had a hand in 35 of Cabot’s 118 runs this season.
The pitching is deep. The question becomes, Is it deep enough to survive the state tournament grind come early August. The trio of Cole Nicholson, Tyler Erickson and Andrew Reynolds gives Darr a reliable, often dominant starting staff.
In particular, the young Nicholson — only a junior-to-be — has been fierce on opposing batters. He struck out 13 batters in his only loss of the season and opponents are hitting just .165 against him. His ERA has dipped to 1.33. Most impressive is his 34-6 strikeouts-to-walks ratio.
Reynolds is 2-0 with a 2.88 ERA. Only Erickson has struggled at times among the three regular starters.
It gets a little thin beyond those three, though Josh Brown and C.J. Jacoby are capable of good things. Brown has won three games and gone the distance twice.
The defense can be spectacular and shoddy. It cost them games against Sylvan Hills and Little Rock Blue.
And here’s a stat that can’t make Darr too happy: Of the 74 runs Cabot pitching has surrendered thus far, 22 of them are unearned.
The team has gone from 4-6 to 9-6 over a four-day span and has played without Burks in three of those games. Burks is in Fayetteville for the All-Star baseball game.
Shore up the defense, get Wainwright going at the plate and Erickson on the mound, find a fourth starter and this team might well live up to its potential come early August.
SPORTS >> Area athletes move on to Joplin meet
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
Alycia Shaw may be only 6 years old, but her long jump of 9 feet, 4 inches is currently the best jump in the state this year among 7- and 8-year-olds.
Shaw is one of 17 area athletes who qualified last weekend for the AAU national qualifying meet in Joplin next month.
The meet in Joplin will be followed by the AAU nationals later this summer in Iowa.
Shaw jumped 7-11.50 at the Arkansas District Qualifier at Scott Field in Little Rock last Friday and Saturday. That mark led the Primary division.
Khaila Jones of Searcy qualified for four events at Joplin — all with the best marks at the district meet. Jones, a Sub Youth athlete, posted the best times in the 100 and 200 meters and the best jumps in the long jump and the triple jump.
Jacksonville’s Daijah Harris posted best times in the Sub Bantam 100 and 200 and the second best mark in the long jump to qualify for Joplin.
Deja Hale and Tatiana Washington also qualified for three events. Hale will compete in the Sub Youth division in the 100, 200 and long jump, while Washington qualified in the Youth division in the 100, 200 and long jump.
Alayah Stirgus and Lakaia Massey each reached the regional in the Bantam division and will compete in the 100, 200 and long jump.
Nikia Williams, Mya Graham and Amber Lockhart qualified in the 100 and 200 Sub Midget division, while Taylor Palmer advanced in the Sub Youth 100 and 200. Graham will also compete in the long jump. Also in the Sub Midget division, Kiarra
Harris qualified in the long jump and the shot put.
Taylor Person posted the best time among qualifiers in the Midget division of the 1,500-meter walk race and was second in the shot put. Nykeya Mosby, also in the Midget division, qualified in the long jump and the 1,500-meter walk race. Jasmine Owens also reached Joplin the 1500-meter walk race in the Midget division. In that same division, Kiarra Harris, Lockhart, Williams and Makala Clayton qualified for the 4x100 relay.
Ebony Cox qualified earlier this month in the Intermediate 200 meters.
At Joplin, all 17 athletes will be attempting to qualify for the AAU Junior Olympic Games at Drake University in Des Moines in August.
Khaila Jones, sister of current University of Arkansas long jumper Whitney Jones, is the current long jump national champion in the Midget division.
The athletes will be at Burger King in Jacksonville this Friday and Saturday raising money for the trip to Des Moines.
Leader sports editor
Alycia Shaw may be only 6 years old, but her long jump of 9 feet, 4 inches is currently the best jump in the state this year among 7- and 8-year-olds.
Shaw is one of 17 area athletes who qualified last weekend for the AAU national qualifying meet in Joplin next month.
The meet in Joplin will be followed by the AAU nationals later this summer in Iowa.
Shaw jumped 7-11.50 at the Arkansas District Qualifier at Scott Field in Little Rock last Friday and Saturday. That mark led the Primary division.
Khaila Jones of Searcy qualified for four events at Joplin — all with the best marks at the district meet. Jones, a Sub Youth athlete, posted the best times in the 100 and 200 meters and the best jumps in the long jump and the triple jump.
Jacksonville’s Daijah Harris posted best times in the Sub Bantam 100 and 200 and the second best mark in the long jump to qualify for Joplin.
Deja Hale and Tatiana Washington also qualified for three events. Hale will compete in the Sub Youth division in the 100, 200 and long jump, while Washington qualified in the Youth division in the 100, 200 and long jump.
Alayah Stirgus and Lakaia Massey each reached the regional in the Bantam division and will compete in the 100, 200 and long jump.
Nikia Williams, Mya Graham and Amber Lockhart qualified in the 100 and 200 Sub Midget division, while Taylor Palmer advanced in the Sub Youth 100 and 200. Graham will also compete in the long jump. Also in the Sub Midget division, Kiarra
Harris qualified in the long jump and the shot put.
Taylor Person posted the best time among qualifiers in the Midget division of the 1,500-meter walk race and was second in the shot put. Nykeya Mosby, also in the Midget division, qualified in the long jump and the 1,500-meter walk race. Jasmine Owens also reached Joplin the 1500-meter walk race in the Midget division. In that same division, Kiarra Harris, Lockhart, Williams and Makala Clayton qualified for the 4x100 relay.
Ebony Cox qualified earlier this month in the Intermediate 200 meters.
At Joplin, all 17 athletes will be attempting to qualify for the AAU Junior Olympic Games at Drake University in Des Moines in August.
Khaila Jones, sister of current University of Arkansas long jumper Whitney Jones, is the current long jump national champion in the Midget division.
The athletes will be at Burger King in Jacksonville this Friday and Saturday raising money for the trip to Des Moines.
SPORTS >> Centennial Bank repeats at Classic
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Cabot Centennial Bank has found something to break up the monotony of the long summer baseball season — adversity.
It began with a 7-6 loss to Sheridan junior in the first round of the annual Sheridan Wood Bat Classic when Cabot was faced with a depleted pitching staff, and continued on Sunday when head coach Jay Darr had to sit out the tourney championship due to the Arkansas Activities Association’s athletic dead period.
Through all of that, Cabot (8-6) found a way to win its final four games, including a 4-1 victory over Gurdon in the championship game, on the way to capturing its second consecutive crown at the Wood Bat Classic. Centennial Bank benefited from complete game performances by Cole Nicholson, Josh Brown, Andrew Reynolds and Tyler Erickson from Friday through Sunday, and a heads-up job of substitute coaching on Sunday by Cabot junior assistant coach Chris Gross, who didn’t even know he’d be taking over head coaching duties until late Friday.
“Chris did an excellent job of leading them,” said Darr, “He’s been an assistant with the junior team, which means he hasn’t worked with the senior bunch hardly at all. It was a team effort all the way. Our pitching and offense were clicking.”
The dead period prohibits contact between any coach connected to a high school in the state and their athletes for two weeks.
Because Darr volunteer coaches for the Cabot High School Panthers baseball team under Jay Fitch, the AAA said he was subject to the rule. The dead period also affects junior legion coach Andy Runyan, who also teaches and coaches two sports at CHS.
If all that weren’t enough, Cabot on Sunday didn’t have Drew Burks and his .389 average for either of its games. Burks played Thursday through Saturday, but reported to Fayetteville on Sunday to take part in High School All-Star week, where he will play for the East All Stars in the East-West baseball game at Baum Field on Wednesday.
An 11-4 win over Sylvan Hills early Sunday put Centennial Bank in the championship game, where they took on a stout Gurdon team. Gurdon had knocked off zone dominators North Little Rock in the semis.
Erickson got the nod to throw the title game, and came through with a complete-game, five-hit performance. Ty Steele led the way offensively, going 3 of 3 at the plate. Sam Bates, Matt Turner and Joe Bryant all recorded RBIs for Centennial Bank.
Cabot outscored its opponents 42-13 through five games at the Wood Bat Classic.
“The guys were going through the summer league motions. We just weren’t playing as a team,” said Darr. “I challenged them after we lost on Friday. I told them that we could be a sound team, but we weren’t living up to our potential. They responded.
Our pitchers shut down their opponents, and everyone stepped up to the plate and hit well.”
The rebound began with Cabot’s second game of the tourney in a 4-1 win over Pine Bluff/White Hall. Cole Nicholson went seven innings and allowed only four hits, and Burks provided the offensive punch with a 3-of-4 performance, which included a home run. Joe Bryant went 2 of 4 with a double, an RBI and a run. Bates was also 2 of 4 with a run.
Cabot hammered Hot Springs 17-1 on Saturday behind Sam Bates’ two doubles and three RBI. Joe Bryant was 2 of 3 with a double and an RBI, while Turner was 2 of 2 with two RBI and two runs.
Brown went the distance in the run-ruled contest, allowing only three hits through five innings.
A nine-run fourth inning propelled Centennial Bank over Sylvan Hills in the semifinal matchup on Sunday. Reynolds got the win after giving up five hits and three earned runs, while striking out seven.
Matt Turner led the offense with a 3-of-5 showing, driving in four. Joe Bryant was 3 of 5 with a double and two runs, while twin brother Powell Bryant was 2 of 4 with an RBI.
Darr said he hopes the prestigious crown will give his up-and-down club some momentum for the rest of the summer.
“I think now that they see what we can do and what we are capable of accomplishing, anything else will seem like a failure,” said Darr. “This team has a lot of pride, and I think that will continue for the rest of the year.”
SYLVAN HILLS
A solid start to the Sheridan Wood Bat Classic ended in disappointment for Sylvan Hills over the weekend.
The Optimist Bruins seniors handily beat Stuttgart 8-0 in the first round on Thursday and held on to beat a stubborn Benton team 4-3 on Friday, but fell 10-2 to Maumelle and 11-4 to Cabot in their final two matchups at the annual tourney. Sylvan Hills is 10-6 on the season.
“Anytime you get to use wood bats, it’s a good experience,” said longtime Bruins coach Mike Bromley. “You find out what kind of swing you have with a wood bat. You can get away with a lot of stuff with a metal bat that you can’t with wood. Plus, I think the kids enjoy using the wood bats.”
Jordan Spears led the way against Stuttgart with a two-run home run. Korey Arnold earned the win at the mound, and also contributed offensively with two hits. Casey Cerrato had a hit and also reached two other times on walks, and Gino Jameson finished with a double.
Nathan Eller threw a strong game against Benton on Friday, allowing only three hits. Those hits all came late, and Benton rallied in the seventh inning after the Bruins claimed a 4-0 lead early.
Sylvan Hills got all four of its runs in the top of the second, and held Benton scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning. The Bruins gave up one run in the fifth, and two more in the seventh before closing the deal.
After falling to Maumelle on Saturday, the Bruins gave up nine runs on just three hits in the fourth inning in a loss to Cabot in the semis on Sunday.
“We’ve got to start making the routine plays,” said Bromley. “If you’re making the routine plays, you give yourself a chance to win. If you can’t, you’re in trouble. We’ve been kind of up and down so far. Some games we play pretty good, other games we don’t do very well.”
Leader sportswriter
Cabot Centennial Bank has found something to break up the monotony of the long summer baseball season — adversity.
It began with a 7-6 loss to Sheridan junior in the first round of the annual Sheridan Wood Bat Classic when Cabot was faced with a depleted pitching staff, and continued on Sunday when head coach Jay Darr had to sit out the tourney championship due to the Arkansas Activities Association’s athletic dead period.
Through all of that, Cabot (8-6) found a way to win its final four games, including a 4-1 victory over Gurdon in the championship game, on the way to capturing its second consecutive crown at the Wood Bat Classic. Centennial Bank benefited from complete game performances by Cole Nicholson, Josh Brown, Andrew Reynolds and Tyler Erickson from Friday through Sunday, and a heads-up job of substitute coaching on Sunday by Cabot junior assistant coach Chris Gross, who didn’t even know he’d be taking over head coaching duties until late Friday.
“Chris did an excellent job of leading them,” said Darr, “He’s been an assistant with the junior team, which means he hasn’t worked with the senior bunch hardly at all. It was a team effort all the way. Our pitching and offense were clicking.”
The dead period prohibits contact between any coach connected to a high school in the state and their athletes for two weeks.
Because Darr volunteer coaches for the Cabot High School Panthers baseball team under Jay Fitch, the AAA said he was subject to the rule. The dead period also affects junior legion coach Andy Runyan, who also teaches and coaches two sports at CHS.
If all that weren’t enough, Cabot on Sunday didn’t have Drew Burks and his .389 average for either of its games. Burks played Thursday through Saturday, but reported to Fayetteville on Sunday to take part in High School All-Star week, where he will play for the East All Stars in the East-West baseball game at Baum Field on Wednesday.
An 11-4 win over Sylvan Hills early Sunday put Centennial Bank in the championship game, where they took on a stout Gurdon team. Gurdon had knocked off zone dominators North Little Rock in the semis.
Erickson got the nod to throw the title game, and came through with a complete-game, five-hit performance. Ty Steele led the way offensively, going 3 of 3 at the plate. Sam Bates, Matt Turner and Joe Bryant all recorded RBIs for Centennial Bank.
Cabot outscored its opponents 42-13 through five games at the Wood Bat Classic.
“The guys were going through the summer league motions. We just weren’t playing as a team,” said Darr. “I challenged them after we lost on Friday. I told them that we could be a sound team, but we weren’t living up to our potential. They responded.
Our pitchers shut down their opponents, and everyone stepped up to the plate and hit well.”
The rebound began with Cabot’s second game of the tourney in a 4-1 win over Pine Bluff/White Hall. Cole Nicholson went seven innings and allowed only four hits, and Burks provided the offensive punch with a 3-of-4 performance, which included a home run. Joe Bryant went 2 of 4 with a double, an RBI and a run. Bates was also 2 of 4 with a run.
Cabot hammered Hot Springs 17-1 on Saturday behind Sam Bates’ two doubles and three RBI. Joe Bryant was 2 of 3 with a double and an RBI, while Turner was 2 of 2 with two RBI and two runs.
Brown went the distance in the run-ruled contest, allowing only three hits through five innings.
A nine-run fourth inning propelled Centennial Bank over Sylvan Hills in the semifinal matchup on Sunday. Reynolds got the win after giving up five hits and three earned runs, while striking out seven.
Matt Turner led the offense with a 3-of-5 showing, driving in four. Joe Bryant was 3 of 5 with a double and two runs, while twin brother Powell Bryant was 2 of 4 with an RBI.
Darr said he hopes the prestigious crown will give his up-and-down club some momentum for the rest of the summer.
“I think now that they see what we can do and what we are capable of accomplishing, anything else will seem like a failure,” said Darr. “This team has a lot of pride, and I think that will continue for the rest of the year.”
SYLVAN HILLS
A solid start to the Sheridan Wood Bat Classic ended in disappointment for Sylvan Hills over the weekend.
The Optimist Bruins seniors handily beat Stuttgart 8-0 in the first round on Thursday and held on to beat a stubborn Benton team 4-3 on Friday, but fell 10-2 to Maumelle and 11-4 to Cabot in their final two matchups at the annual tourney. Sylvan Hills is 10-6 on the season.
“Anytime you get to use wood bats, it’s a good experience,” said longtime Bruins coach Mike Bromley. “You find out what kind of swing you have with a wood bat. You can get away with a lot of stuff with a metal bat that you can’t with wood. Plus, I think the kids enjoy using the wood bats.”
Jordan Spears led the way against Stuttgart with a two-run home run. Korey Arnold earned the win at the mound, and also contributed offensively with two hits. Casey Cerrato had a hit and also reached two other times on walks, and Gino Jameson finished with a double.
Nathan Eller threw a strong game against Benton on Friday, allowing only three hits. Those hits all came late, and Benton rallied in the seventh inning after the Bruins claimed a 4-0 lead early.
Sylvan Hills got all four of its runs in the top of the second, and held Benton scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning. The Bruins gave up one run in the fifth, and two more in the seventh before closing the deal.
After falling to Maumelle on Saturday, the Bruins gave up nine runs on just three hits in the fourth inning in a loss to Cabot in the semis on Sunday.
“We’ve got to start making the routine plays,” said Bromley. “If you’re making the routine plays, you give yourself a chance to win. If you can’t, you’re in trouble. We’ve been kind of up and down so far. Some games we play pretty good, other games we don’t do very well.”
Monday, June 22, 2009
TOP STORY >> Base Housing back on track
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Privatization of Little Rock Air Force Base housing — the slow-motion train wreck presided over by the Carabetta organization until American Eagle Communities derailed in May 2007 — is back on track and picking up steam.
This time the military housing team of Hunt-Pinnacle LLC is at the throttle of a new, streamlined project known as The Landings at Little Rock AFB, with new tenants set to move into new homes.
The overseers at the base say the construction and remodeling of 1,000 base housing units is well organized and well managed. No one ever said that about the Carabetta effort.
Seven months after the Hunt-Pinnacle team signed to take over Carabetta’s failed American Eagle Communities’ contract, the first residents are moving into 10 recently completed houses, according to Joanne Carlon, the capital-asset manager hired by the Air Force to ensure that the project proceeds according to schedule.
Those were homes Carabetta started but couldn’t finish.
In 2003, American Eagle Communities won an Air Force privatization contract to demolish about 500 homes, build 468 new housing units and remodel 732.
But by May 2007, when the bankers pulled the plug on the project, only 25 homes had been completed, another 25 started and perhaps 50 concrete slabs poured.
Three years into the project, American Eagle was two years behind.
Hunt-Pinnacle engineers decided that only 10 of the partially built homes could be completed.The rest and the 50 barren concrete slabs that had been poured all have been or are being bulldozed.
The reduced scope of the project that Hunt-Pinnacle signed on for was 166 new homes and 834 remodeled units, most of them duplexes.
While it took Carabetta four years to build 25 homes, Hunt-Pinnacle has an “end date” of March 2012 for everything.
Carlon makes sure Hunt-Pinnacle complies with five cartons of closing documents stacked just outside her office door.
“I don’t have near the concerns I had for (Carabetta’s) American Eagle disaster,” according to Bill Panhorst, residential construction manager for the Air Force Center for Engineering Excellence at Brooks Air Force Base in Texas.
Panhorst said he tried to notify American Eagle of its own problems during its ill-fated venture into military housing privatization and later tried to bring the problems to the attention of the Air Force engineers.
Panhorst, who has 30 years experience in construction, says he helps resolve problems between the Air Force and the contractor.
“I make sure they are doing what they’re paid for,” Panhorst said.
He said Hunt-Pinnacle’s good reputation preceded them.
“They know how to manage construction sites, move construction along. They’ve already paid one-half of their performance bonds. American Eagle just piece-mealed it together.”
The new construction is single-family homes intended for senior officers.
The remodeled units won’t include any changes to the footprint—no additions or changes—but will be completely refreshed inside and out.
On Iowa Circle Wednesday, cartons of exterior siding were stacked outside homes up and down the street. They will be re-roofed and get new soffits and gutters.
Inside, washer-drier hookups—airmen must furnish their own units—will be moved out of the kitchen.
The kitchens will receive all new cabinets, flooring, stoves, refrigerators, dishwashers and sinks.
Also on the design check list for minor renovation is replacement of faucets, sinks and garbage disposals, new countertops, new interior doors, new light fixtures, new vanity cabinet, countertops and lavatories, new medicine cabinets and mirrors, painting all walls, replacing flooring dropout, new duct work and R-30 insulation in the ceiling, according to Panhorst.
The remodeling projects are split into 12 phases at Lakeview Estates, Ridgecrest Estates and Lower Meadow Wood Estates. Each phase is its own geographic area or neighborhood. Residents have to be moved from each area to another when Hunt-Pinnacle gets down to business, Carlon said.
“We’re right in the middle of inspecting the 10 homes into which noncommissioned officers will move in June,” said Mary Holliday-Sopko, who serves as the property manager for the Landings.
Everything’s going smoothly and according to plan, she said.
A ribbon cutting for those homes is slated for June 30.
Holliday-Sopko lived in one of the units—recently demolished—as a child. She said her father retired from the Air Force at LRAFB.
“We’re in the middle of phase one — 60 homes — (and will be moving) families in during July and we’ll stay on schedule after that,” she said.
“The residents have been very patient awaiting new or remodeled units,” she said. “We’re slowly gaining the trust of the residents.”
“Hunt-Pinnacle has worked together and with the government arm,” she said. “We’re a great team.”
Leader senior staff writer
Privatization of Little Rock Air Force Base housing — the slow-motion train wreck presided over by the Carabetta organization until American Eagle Communities derailed in May 2007 — is back on track and picking up steam.
This time the military housing team of Hunt-Pinnacle LLC is at the throttle of a new, streamlined project known as The Landings at Little Rock AFB, with new tenants set to move into new homes.
The overseers at the base say the construction and remodeling of 1,000 base housing units is well organized and well managed. No one ever said that about the Carabetta effort.
Seven months after the Hunt-Pinnacle team signed to take over Carabetta’s failed American Eagle Communities’ contract, the first residents are moving into 10 recently completed houses, according to Joanne Carlon, the capital-asset manager hired by the Air Force to ensure that the project proceeds according to schedule.
Those were homes Carabetta started but couldn’t finish.
In 2003, American Eagle Communities won an Air Force privatization contract to demolish about 500 homes, build 468 new housing units and remodel 732.
But by May 2007, when the bankers pulled the plug on the project, only 25 homes had been completed, another 25 started and perhaps 50 concrete slabs poured.
Three years into the project, American Eagle was two years behind.
Hunt-Pinnacle engineers decided that only 10 of the partially built homes could be completed.The rest and the 50 barren concrete slabs that had been poured all have been or are being bulldozed.
The reduced scope of the project that Hunt-Pinnacle signed on for was 166 new homes and 834 remodeled units, most of them duplexes.
While it took Carabetta four years to build 25 homes, Hunt-Pinnacle has an “end date” of March 2012 for everything.
Carlon makes sure Hunt-Pinnacle complies with five cartons of closing documents stacked just outside her office door.
“I don’t have near the concerns I had for (Carabetta’s) American Eagle disaster,” according to Bill Panhorst, residential construction manager for the Air Force Center for Engineering Excellence at Brooks Air Force Base in Texas.
Panhorst said he tried to notify American Eagle of its own problems during its ill-fated venture into military housing privatization and later tried to bring the problems to the attention of the Air Force engineers.
Panhorst, who has 30 years experience in construction, says he helps resolve problems between the Air Force and the contractor.
“I make sure they are doing what they’re paid for,” Panhorst said.
He said Hunt-Pinnacle’s good reputation preceded them.
“They know how to manage construction sites, move construction along. They’ve already paid one-half of their performance bonds. American Eagle just piece-mealed it together.”
The new construction is single-family homes intended for senior officers.
The remodeled units won’t include any changes to the footprint—no additions or changes—but will be completely refreshed inside and out.
On Iowa Circle Wednesday, cartons of exterior siding were stacked outside homes up and down the street. They will be re-roofed and get new soffits and gutters.
Inside, washer-drier hookups—airmen must furnish their own units—will be moved out of the kitchen.
The kitchens will receive all new cabinets, flooring, stoves, refrigerators, dishwashers and sinks.
Also on the design check list for minor renovation is replacement of faucets, sinks and garbage disposals, new countertops, new interior doors, new light fixtures, new vanity cabinet, countertops and lavatories, new medicine cabinets and mirrors, painting all walls, replacing flooring dropout, new duct work and R-30 insulation in the ceiling, according to Panhorst.
The remodeling projects are split into 12 phases at Lakeview Estates, Ridgecrest Estates and Lower Meadow Wood Estates. Each phase is its own geographic area or neighborhood. Residents have to be moved from each area to another when Hunt-Pinnacle gets down to business, Carlon said.
“We’re right in the middle of inspecting the 10 homes into which noncommissioned officers will move in June,” said Mary Holliday-Sopko, who serves as the property manager for the Landings.
Everything’s going smoothly and according to plan, she said.
A ribbon cutting for those homes is slated for June 30.
Holliday-Sopko lived in one of the units—recently demolished—as a child. She said her father retired from the Air Force at LRAFB.
“We’re in the middle of phase one — 60 homes — (and will be moving) families in during July and we’ll stay on schedule after that,” she said.
“The residents have been very patient awaiting new or remodeled units,” she said. “We’re slowly gaining the trust of the residents.”
“Hunt-Pinnacle has worked together and with the government arm,” she said. “We’re a great team.”
Friday, June 19, 2009
TOP STORY >> Pope installs commander from LRAFB
By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader editor-in-chief
“Look over your shoulder now and then to be sure someone’s following you.”
—Henry Gilmer
Col. John McDonald, the top commander at Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina who had once been a squadron commander here, lost the confidence of his superiors and was dismissed from his post a week ago Friday, apparently for showing poor leadership.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz, also previously assigned to Little Rock Air Force Base, signed off on the firing.
The Air Force didn’t have to look far for a replacement: Col. James C. Johnson, who until last weekend was vice commander of the 19th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base, was named commander of the 43rd Airlift Wing at Pope AFB.
Johnson moved into his new post on Monday morning. The change of command happened so quickly — the Air Force does move fast — there was no time for a ceremony, where military leaders and local dignitaries watch parades and a display of colorful flags, listen to military music and wish the new commander all the best.
Johnson missed out on that ceremony this time, but he will lead some 5,000 men and women at Pope. His job includes command of a sprawling complex, where the Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps, the 82nd Airborne Division and the U.S. Special Forces Command are ready to deploy at a moment’s notice.
The C-130s at Pope provide tactical airlift for those forces, although the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission has assigned Pope’s active-duty C-130s to LRAFB. A reserve wing at Pope still has 16 C-130s available for combat duty.
Johnson’s new duties at Pope also include air mobility and airdrop testing, joint-force training and supporting the 440th Airlift Wing, Combat Control School, 21st and 24th Special Tactics squadrons and 18th Air Support Operations Group.
It’s a huge responsibility, but Johnson is a natural leader: He’s smart but unpretentious, looks you straight in the eye and knows how to get the job done.
The job may have been too much for McDonald: There’s buzz on the Internet that he abused his position of power and lost the respect of those he commanded.
McDonald “was removed for cause,” according to a terse Air Force statement. That means he was dismissed for job-related improprieties.
Maj. Gen. Winfield W. “Skip” Scott III, his commanding officer at the 18th Air Force at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, decided McDonald’s “actions rendered him ineffective as the 43rd Airlift Wing commander,” according to the statement. The general is in charge of Pope AFB and Little Rock AFB.
McDonald will get a desk job as an assistant to Gen. Scott and will probably retire soon. The Air Force isn’t saying much else about McDonald’s dismissal.
McDonald also has ties to Little Rock Air Force Base. He was director of operations of the 50th Airlift Squadron and commander of the 61st Airlift Squadron from 1998-2000.
You don’t often hear about commanders who are dismissed for poor leadership, but it does happen once in a while, and apparently those serving under McDonald were fed up with him.
According to a blogger named Nathan Hale, when McDonald was assigned to Kuwait to oversee cargo operations into Iraq, his subordinates thought there was “something wrong” with him, pointing to “his rigid discipline and inflexible personality.”
“They paint a picture of a commander who often ran roughshod over his troops, ignored his own directives, and punished subordinates for petty infractions,” Hale wrote.
McDonald was demanding — he forced airmen to spend up to 12 hours out in the desert heat — and wouldn’t let them eat in a cafeteria for Army personnel, where the food was considered better than what the Air Force contractor had to offer.
McDonald, you guessed it, ate at the Army chow hall.
But that was a while back, so McDonald may have stumbled more recently — seriously enough so that his commanding general and the Air Force chief decided they’d seen enough.
Leader editor-in-chief
“Look over your shoulder now and then to be sure someone’s following you.”
—Henry Gilmer
Col. John McDonald, the top commander at Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina who had once been a squadron commander here, lost the confidence of his superiors and was dismissed from his post a week ago Friday, apparently for showing poor leadership.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz, also previously assigned to Little Rock Air Force Base, signed off on the firing.
The Air Force didn’t have to look far for a replacement: Col. James C. Johnson, who until last weekend was vice commander of the 19th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base, was named commander of the 43rd Airlift Wing at Pope AFB.
Johnson moved into his new post on Monday morning. The change of command happened so quickly — the Air Force does move fast — there was no time for a ceremony, where military leaders and local dignitaries watch parades and a display of colorful flags, listen to military music and wish the new commander all the best.
Johnson missed out on that ceremony this time, but he will lead some 5,000 men and women at Pope. His job includes command of a sprawling complex, where the Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps, the 82nd Airborne Division and the U.S. Special Forces Command are ready to deploy at a moment’s notice.
The C-130s at Pope provide tactical airlift for those forces, although the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission has assigned Pope’s active-duty C-130s to LRAFB. A reserve wing at Pope still has 16 C-130s available for combat duty.
Johnson’s new duties at Pope also include air mobility and airdrop testing, joint-force training and supporting the 440th Airlift Wing, Combat Control School, 21st and 24th Special Tactics squadrons and 18th Air Support Operations Group.
It’s a huge responsibility, but Johnson is a natural leader: He’s smart but unpretentious, looks you straight in the eye and knows how to get the job done.
The job may have been too much for McDonald: There’s buzz on the Internet that he abused his position of power and lost the respect of those he commanded.
McDonald “was removed for cause,” according to a terse Air Force statement. That means he was dismissed for job-related improprieties.
Maj. Gen. Winfield W. “Skip” Scott III, his commanding officer at the 18th Air Force at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, decided McDonald’s “actions rendered him ineffective as the 43rd Airlift Wing commander,” according to the statement. The general is in charge of Pope AFB and Little Rock AFB.
McDonald will get a desk job as an assistant to Gen. Scott and will probably retire soon. The Air Force isn’t saying much else about McDonald’s dismissal.
McDonald also has ties to Little Rock Air Force Base. He was director of operations of the 50th Airlift Squadron and commander of the 61st Airlift Squadron from 1998-2000.
You don’t often hear about commanders who are dismissed for poor leadership, but it does happen once in a while, and apparently those serving under McDonald were fed up with him.
According to a blogger named Nathan Hale, when McDonald was assigned to Kuwait to oversee cargo operations into Iraq, his subordinates thought there was “something wrong” with him, pointing to “his rigid discipline and inflexible personality.”
“They paint a picture of a commander who often ran roughshod over his troops, ignored his own directives, and punished subordinates for petty infractions,” Hale wrote.
McDonald was demanding — he forced airmen to spend up to 12 hours out in the desert heat — and wouldn’t let them eat in a cafeteria for Army personnel, where the food was considered better than what the Air Force contractor had to offer.
McDonald, you guessed it, ate at the Army chow hall.
But that was a while back, so McDonald may have stumbled more recently — seriously enough so that his commanding general and the Air Force chief decided they’d seen enough.
TOP STORY >> Sheriff nets 58 pounds of marijuana
Six Beebe residents were arrested this week after undercover narcotic officers delivered to their homes 58 pounds of marijuana that had been intercepted in Conway.
White County sheriff’s detectives received information from the Conway Police Department on Wednesday that the marijuana was supposed to be delivered to three different addresses in Beebe.
The marijuana was taken to the sheriff’s department before White County deputies — with the assistance of the Beebe Police Department, Searcy Police Department and Central Arkansas Drug Task Force — delivered it and also served search warrants.
Amy Lindsey, 22, and Dewayne Lockhart, 22, were arrested at 604 Arkansas St. and charged with conspiracy to deliver marijuana.
Bonds were set at $25,000 and $50,000 respectively.
Larry Green, 41, and Vicky Brown, 33, were arrested at 104 Fox St. and charged with conspiracy to deliver marijuana. Bonds were set at $50,000.
Tosha Baskin, 29, and her husband Marcellus Baskin, 33, were arrested at 119 E. Church St.
Tosha Baskin was charged with conspiracy to deliver marijuana. Bond was set at $50,000.
Marcellus Baskin, a parolee, was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. He is being held under a $50,000 bond and a parole hold.
White County Sheriff Ricky Shourd called the cooperation among the various law enforcement agencies involved “an excellent case of different agencies working together to take drugs and criminals off the street.”
White County sheriff’s detectives received information from the Conway Police Department on Wednesday that the marijuana was supposed to be delivered to three different addresses in Beebe.
The marijuana was taken to the sheriff’s department before White County deputies — with the assistance of the Beebe Police Department, Searcy Police Department and Central Arkansas Drug Task Force — delivered it and also served search warrants.
Amy Lindsey, 22, and Dewayne Lockhart, 22, were arrested at 604 Arkansas St. and charged with conspiracy to deliver marijuana.
Bonds were set at $25,000 and $50,000 respectively.
Larry Green, 41, and Vicky Brown, 33, were arrested at 104 Fox St. and charged with conspiracy to deliver marijuana. Bonds were set at $50,000.
Tosha Baskin, 29, and her husband Marcellus Baskin, 33, were arrested at 119 E. Church St.
Tosha Baskin was charged with conspiracy to deliver marijuana. Bond was set at $50,000.
Marcellus Baskin, a parolee, was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. He is being held under a $50,000 bond and a parole hold.
White County Sheriff Ricky Shourd called the cooperation among the various law enforcement agencies involved “an excellent case of different agencies working together to take drugs and criminals off the street.”
TOP STORY >> Austin painter’s work makes the regional stage
By JULIA HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
Austin-based artist Karlyn Holloway has earned a spot in a regional exhibit that will allow her work to be seen by visitors from across the region.
This accomplishment comes on the heels of recognition she’s received in Arkansas including from Gov. Mike Beebe.
Holloway’s work is on display through August in the Watercolor-USA exhibit at the Springfield Art Museum in Springfield, Mo.
Her painting, “More Than Meets the Eye,” was one of about 150 watercolor paintings chosen for the exhibit from a pool of more than 650 entries.
She is a 16-year resident of Austin. Although “there aren’t a whole lot of artists around in this little area,” she said that she “had good response” to her work.
She is best known for her paintings of flowers. She said her works are not so much about their particular subject, but rather on the “spiritual journey” that she has undertaken through the artistic process.
Some of her most noted works are of duotone flowers made from blacks and browns and void of color.
Holloway said she began drawing as a child, and didn’t pursue art seriously until she enrolled at Arkansas State University at
Beebe where she earned her associate’s degree in art.
She later continued her formal art education at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.
She is a member of the Arkansas League of Artists, Mid-Southern Watercolorists and the Conway League of Artists.
Although Holloway has been painting professionally for only nine years, she has already garnered considerable success.
Her work was previously shown at the Springfield Art Museum in a regional exhibit and one of her paintings was included in the 2007 annual governor’s calendar. Another painting was recently selected to hang in the Governor’s Mansion from October through December.
Her work will also be shown at the Mid-Southern Watercolorists show this spring.
Though she focuses primarily on watercolor paintings of flowers, she also paints portraits and uses other mediums, such as oil, graphite, charcoal and pastel.
One of her oil paintings, “In His Hands,” was chosen last year as one of the top-10 pieces at Fellowship Bible Church’s annual art show in Little Rock.
More of her oil paintings will be on display at the Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs on Central Avenue through August. The opening night reception will be held at the gallery from 5-9 p.m. on Aug. 7.
Despite Holloway’s great success recently with exhibits, she said she is “also very focused on having paintings bought.” Those interested in her work can email her at k_holloway43@hotmail.com.
Leader staff writer
Austin-based artist Karlyn Holloway has earned a spot in a regional exhibit that will allow her work to be seen by visitors from across the region.
This accomplishment comes on the heels of recognition she’s received in Arkansas including from Gov. Mike Beebe.
Holloway’s work is on display through August in the Watercolor-USA exhibit at the Springfield Art Museum in Springfield, Mo.
Her painting, “More Than Meets the Eye,” was one of about 150 watercolor paintings chosen for the exhibit from a pool of more than 650 entries.
She is a 16-year resident of Austin. Although “there aren’t a whole lot of artists around in this little area,” she said that she “had good response” to her work.
She is best known for her paintings of flowers. She said her works are not so much about their particular subject, but rather on the “spiritual journey” that she has undertaken through the artistic process.
Some of her most noted works are of duotone flowers made from blacks and browns and void of color.
Holloway said she began drawing as a child, and didn’t pursue art seriously until she enrolled at Arkansas State University at
Beebe where she earned her associate’s degree in art.
She later continued her formal art education at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.
She is a member of the Arkansas League of Artists, Mid-Southern Watercolorists and the Conway League of Artists.
Although Holloway has been painting professionally for only nine years, she has already garnered considerable success.
Her work was previously shown at the Springfield Art Museum in a regional exhibit and one of her paintings was included in the 2007 annual governor’s calendar. Another painting was recently selected to hang in the Governor’s Mansion from October through December.
Her work will also be shown at the Mid-Southern Watercolorists show this spring.
Though she focuses primarily on watercolor paintings of flowers, she also paints portraits and uses other mediums, such as oil, graphite, charcoal and pastel.
One of her oil paintings, “In His Hands,” was chosen last year as one of the top-10 pieces at Fellowship Bible Church’s annual art show in Little Rock.
More of her oil paintings will be on display at the Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs on Central Avenue through August. The opening night reception will be held at the gallery from 5-9 p.m. on Aug. 7.
Despite Holloway’s great success recently with exhibits, she said she is “also very focused on having paintings bought.” Those interested in her work can email her at k_holloway43@hotmail.com.
TOP STORY >> District changes mind
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
The Pulaski County Special School District Board voted 3 to 2 Friday to adjust its stimulus plan to provide $1 million for architectural designs for a new Jacksonville Middle School.
Jacksonville board member Bill Vasquez made the motion during an emergency meeting to amend the district’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act plan to include the design money.
McAlmont board member Gwen Williams seconded the motion and board President Tim Clark of Maumelle furnished the third and decisive vote.
The vote moves the building plan up on the district’s priority list.
0Charlie Wood first brought up the idea of designing a Jacksonville Middle School about 10 days ago. But he complained, “I’ve been supporting and pushing (for it), and now I’m about to change my mind. The World Class Education (Organization) and
The Leader have been trying to pressure board members,” he complained.
“It doesn’t work. I’ve been turned. Nobody’s going to pressure me,” Wood insisted.
Williams added her complaints. “I’ll not be pressured by the World Class (Organization) or The Leader. If it happens again, I’m going to come out fighting,” she promised.
Williams said she was tired of Jacksonville always asking for something —its own district, exemption from paying part of the recently issued $81 million second-lien bond, and fixed boundaries for its own long-desired district.
In the end though, she voted for amending the district’s stimulus plan.
Jacksonville Mayor-elect Gary Fletcher had met earlier in the day with Clark, promising to work together. He tried to soothe ruffled feathers on the board.
Board member Mildred Tatum said the meeting was improperly called as an emergency meeting. She said she didn’t see the rush.
She also prevented Vasquez from amending his own motion to al-low the funds also to be used to design a new elementary school to replace Arnold Drive Elementary School on Little Rock Air Force Base and nearby Tolleson Elementary School.
Jacksonville Middle School has been in need of replacement for a decade or two. Vasquez was asked why there suddenly was an emergency meeting to pay for plans.
Interim Superintendent Rob McGill said that the stimulus plan needed to be amended and turned into Gov. Mike Beebe’s office by Monday or Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, Daniel Gray, vice president of the Jacksonville World Class Education Organization, suggested the sudden urgency to locate a site to build a new school may mean that the board realizes it has been caught red-handed showing favoritism for Maumelle at the expense of other zones, particularly Jacksonville.
The district built a new middle school in Maumelle recently. It is building a new high school in Maumelle with the aid of $81 million in second-lien bonds.
On Tuesday, the board jettisoned the proposed Robinson Middle School media center in favor of adding an eight-classroom wing at Maumelle’s Pine Forest Elementary School where Clark’s children went and where McGill served as principal until hired to be the acting superintendent.
“How blatant can this school board be with its favoring of one zone over another?” Gray asked. “They wait until they know (Robin-son area board member Shana Chaplin) has a conflict and call a special meeting. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and (Maumelle gets) $5 million in additions and we get five portables (at Jacksonville middle school).”
The board previously had committed to replacing Arnold Drive Elementary School at the request of former base commander Gen. Rowayne Schatz.
Leader senior staff writer
The Pulaski County Special School District Board voted 3 to 2 Friday to adjust its stimulus plan to provide $1 million for architectural designs for a new Jacksonville Middle School.
Jacksonville board member Bill Vasquez made the motion during an emergency meeting to amend the district’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act plan to include the design money.
McAlmont board member Gwen Williams seconded the motion and board President Tim Clark of Maumelle furnished the third and decisive vote.
The vote moves the building plan up on the district’s priority list.
0Charlie Wood first brought up the idea of designing a Jacksonville Middle School about 10 days ago. But he complained, “I’ve been supporting and pushing (for it), and now I’m about to change my mind. The World Class Education (Organization) and
The Leader have been trying to pressure board members,” he complained.
“It doesn’t work. I’ve been turned. Nobody’s going to pressure me,” Wood insisted.
Williams added her complaints. “I’ll not be pressured by the World Class (Organization) or The Leader. If it happens again, I’m going to come out fighting,” she promised.
Williams said she was tired of Jacksonville always asking for something —its own district, exemption from paying part of the recently issued $81 million second-lien bond, and fixed boundaries for its own long-desired district.
In the end though, she voted for amending the district’s stimulus plan.
Jacksonville Mayor-elect Gary Fletcher had met earlier in the day with Clark, promising to work together. He tried to soothe ruffled feathers on the board.
Board member Mildred Tatum said the meeting was improperly called as an emergency meeting. She said she didn’t see the rush.
She also prevented Vasquez from amending his own motion to al-low the funds also to be used to design a new elementary school to replace Arnold Drive Elementary School on Little Rock Air Force Base and nearby Tolleson Elementary School.
Jacksonville Middle School has been in need of replacement for a decade or two. Vasquez was asked why there suddenly was an emergency meeting to pay for plans.
Interim Superintendent Rob McGill said that the stimulus plan needed to be amended and turned into Gov. Mike Beebe’s office by Monday or Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, Daniel Gray, vice president of the Jacksonville World Class Education Organization, suggested the sudden urgency to locate a site to build a new school may mean that the board realizes it has been caught red-handed showing favoritism for Maumelle at the expense of other zones, particularly Jacksonville.
The district built a new middle school in Maumelle recently. It is building a new high school in Maumelle with the aid of $81 million in second-lien bonds.
On Tuesday, the board jettisoned the proposed Robinson Middle School media center in favor of adding an eight-classroom wing at Maumelle’s Pine Forest Elementary School where Clark’s children went and where McGill served as principal until hired to be the acting superintendent.
“How blatant can this school board be with its favoring of one zone over another?” Gray asked. “They wait until they know (Robin-son area board member Shana Chaplin) has a conflict and call a special meeting. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and (Maumelle gets) $5 million in additions and we get five portables (at Jacksonville middle school).”
The board previously had committed to replacing Arnold Drive Elementary School at the request of former base commander Gen. Rowayne Schatz.
EDITORIAL >> UCA gets new start
Dr. Allen C. Meadors, the new president of the University of Central Arkansas, enjoys the best of jobs and the worst of jobs.
After 10 months of relentless revelations about the blunders and deceits of the previous president, Lu Hardin, how can Meadors not look good? It is like following a football coach who had three successive 0-12 seasons.
But he undertakes a job where his activities will be under unprecedented scrutiny, thanks again to Hardin. The media, government regulators, lawmakers and auditors learned the need to prowl through the contracts and receipts of the university to see why and how the administrator did business. In Hardin’s case, wherever they looked there was evidence of self-dealing and political back-scratching. It will be a while before that scrutiny subsides.
There also is the little matter of running an institution that is virtually bankrupt. The school has been running a deficit, which it must not do, and the president has few options for improving the receipts side of the ledger. He and his board can raise tuition and fees, but that has been overdone already. That leaves cutting expenses, and the interim president, Tommy Courtway, has been taking those steps, some hard but some easy, like canceling the contract for Hardin’s secret flak, whose job was to talk Hardin up with the media and get him good publicity, all on the taxpayers’ tab. The faculty has not had a raise in two years and morale is low and expectations high.
But Allen Meadors looks like a superb choice. He is an academician, not a politician, and he has taught and administered a large institution. When it hired Hardin nearly seven years ago, the board of trustees caved in to political pressures. Gov. Mike Huckabee wanted his friend and political ally, a former state senator who was ambitious for higher office, installed in the job, and Hardin resumed the political career that had been short-circuited by his defeat in the U. S. Senate race in 1996, but operating from the academe instead of the legislature. He ran the university like a canny politician would, cultivating his image, seeking and passing out favors and rewarding friends and supporters. He wanted the school to be the second largest institution, behind the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and have more a prestigious athletic program, so he manipulated enrollment and the accounting ledger to get them done. He laundered taxpayer funds into a private account to get around the ceiling on what he could pay a head football coach.
The new president knows that he will be scrutinized closely, and he welcomed it. He said Friday that he expected everything to be transparent and open and that when he made mistakes he would admit them. We remember how Hardin’s demise came. He worked out an illegal $300,000 bonus for himself with the trustees, hid it from the public (he flatly lied when reporters asked about the rumor), and then affixed the names of three subordinates to a memo that he wrote justifying his bonus.
Meadors takes the job with high praise from the trustees and to the great relief of students, faculty and alumni of the school.
The long ordeal seems to be over.
Lofty expectations are not bad, difficult as they are to live up to. But it is worth remembering that only a year ago Lu Hardin was enjoying regular plaudits from the UCA board, political leaders and the media. The Arkansas Democrat Gazette editorial page wondered why other institutions were not following the fantastic leadership of the president of the University of Central Arkansas. Sic transit gloria mundi.
After 10 months of relentless revelations about the blunders and deceits of the previous president, Lu Hardin, how can Meadors not look good? It is like following a football coach who had three successive 0-12 seasons.
But he undertakes a job where his activities will be under unprecedented scrutiny, thanks again to Hardin. The media, government regulators, lawmakers and auditors learned the need to prowl through the contracts and receipts of the university to see why and how the administrator did business. In Hardin’s case, wherever they looked there was evidence of self-dealing and political back-scratching. It will be a while before that scrutiny subsides.
There also is the little matter of running an institution that is virtually bankrupt. The school has been running a deficit, which it must not do, and the president has few options for improving the receipts side of the ledger. He and his board can raise tuition and fees, but that has been overdone already. That leaves cutting expenses, and the interim president, Tommy Courtway, has been taking those steps, some hard but some easy, like canceling the contract for Hardin’s secret flak, whose job was to talk Hardin up with the media and get him good publicity, all on the taxpayers’ tab. The faculty has not had a raise in two years and morale is low and expectations high.
But Allen Meadors looks like a superb choice. He is an academician, not a politician, and he has taught and administered a large institution. When it hired Hardin nearly seven years ago, the board of trustees caved in to political pressures. Gov. Mike Huckabee wanted his friend and political ally, a former state senator who was ambitious for higher office, installed in the job, and Hardin resumed the political career that had been short-circuited by his defeat in the U. S. Senate race in 1996, but operating from the academe instead of the legislature. He ran the university like a canny politician would, cultivating his image, seeking and passing out favors and rewarding friends and supporters. He wanted the school to be the second largest institution, behind the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and have more a prestigious athletic program, so he manipulated enrollment and the accounting ledger to get them done. He laundered taxpayer funds into a private account to get around the ceiling on what he could pay a head football coach.
The new president knows that he will be scrutinized closely, and he welcomed it. He said Friday that he expected everything to be transparent and open and that when he made mistakes he would admit them. We remember how Hardin’s demise came. He worked out an illegal $300,000 bonus for himself with the trustees, hid it from the public (he flatly lied when reporters asked about the rumor), and then affixed the names of three subordinates to a memo that he wrote justifying his bonus.
Meadors takes the job with high praise from the trustees and to the great relief of students, faculty and alumni of the school.
The long ordeal seems to be over.
Lofty expectations are not bad, difficult as they are to live up to. But it is worth remembering that only a year ago Lu Hardin was enjoying regular plaudits from the UCA board, political leaders and the media. The Arkansas Democrat Gazette editorial page wondered why other institutions were not following the fantastic leadership of the president of the University of Central Arkansas. Sic transit gloria mundi.
SPORTS >> Piranhas pick up 2 early wins
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The Central Arkansas Swim League kicked off another summer of competitive swimming with three meets on June 6.
Otter Creek hosted Cabot and YMCA on the opening weekend, while Sherwood hosted Bryant and Lakewood hosted Maumelle and Lonoke.
The Cabot Piranhas won their first meet of the summer, collecting 510 points to Otter Creek’s 332 and 49 for YMCA. Cabot won the following weekend at a meet it hosted against Lakewood and Lonoke. The Piranhas had 618 points, while the Waves had 260 points and the Sharkrockets finished with 145 points.
The Sherwood Sharks, who are going for an unprecedented sixth straight CASL title, handily beat the Baracudas 701 to 435. Sherwood hosted Otter Creek and YMCA on June 13, and took the win with 873.5 points.
Maumelle captured the win at the Lakewood meet with 618 points, while the host Waves finished with 260 points. Lonoke was third with 123 points.
Winners are listed on 3B
Leader sportswriter
The Central Arkansas Swim League kicked off another summer of competitive swimming with three meets on June 6.
Otter Creek hosted Cabot and YMCA on the opening weekend, while Sherwood hosted Bryant and Lakewood hosted Maumelle and Lonoke.
The Cabot Piranhas won their first meet of the summer, collecting 510 points to Otter Creek’s 332 and 49 for YMCA. Cabot won the following weekend at a meet it hosted against Lakewood and Lonoke. The Piranhas had 618 points, while the Waves had 260 points and the Sharkrockets finished with 145 points.
The Sherwood Sharks, who are going for an unprecedented sixth straight CASL title, handily beat the Baracudas 701 to 435. Sherwood hosted Otter Creek and YMCA on June 13, and took the win with 873.5 points.
Maumelle captured the win at the Lakewood meet with 618 points, while the host Waves finished with 260 points. Lonoke was third with 123 points.
Winners are listed on 3B
SPORTS >> Centennial has easy time of it in 12-4 win
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Centennial Bank put Morrilton out of its misery early with a run-ruled 12-4 win through five innings on Thursday night at Brian Wade Conrade Memorial Baseball Field.
Morrilton struggled both offensively and defensively, but avoided a shutout with a four-run flurry in the top of the third inning. The rest was all Cabot.
Cabot (6-9-2) wasted no time taking the advantage in the opening frame of the junior American Legion matchup, sending Morrilton three up and three down in the top of the first before putting up three in the bottom half.
Leadoff batter Zach Uhiren singled, stole second and scored when Brandon Surdam singled him in. Surdam then scored on a groundout by Justin Goff.
Tyler Carter drew a walk and was driven in on a single by Spencer Roberg.
Singles by Josh Graham and Bryson Morris made it 4-0 in the second. Uhiren reached on an error, and one out later, Tyler Carter got the biggest hit of the night for Centennial Bank with a ground-rule double that scored Uhiren and Surdam to make it 6-0.
Tyler Cole followed with a single to left that scored Carter for the final run of the frame, but Cabot picked right back up an inning later.
James McRainey got things started for Centennial Bank in the bottom of the third when he took first base after getting hit by a pitch. Graham reached on an error to advance McRainey. Morris doubled down the third base line to score McRainey, and Graham came in on a single to left by Uhiren. Surdam grounded out to second to bring in Uhiren and extend the lead to 11-0.
Centennial Bank was set up for a four-inning win before Morrilton’s last gasp in the top of the fourth extended the lopsided affair for one more inning. Morrilton took advantage of two walks, as well as an error and a single to close the gap to 11-4.
Centennial Bank needed only one more run in the bottom of the fourth, and got it with a single by Graham that scored Cole.
Daniel Fox earned the win for Cabot. Fox kept Morrilton scoreless through three innings.
Uhiren was 2 of 2 with two RBI and three runs to lead Centennial Bank. Graham was 2 of 2 with a RBI and two runs, while Morris was 2 of 2 with a double and an RBI.
Leader sportswriter
Centennial Bank put Morrilton out of its misery early with a run-ruled 12-4 win through five innings on Thursday night at Brian Wade Conrade Memorial Baseball Field.
Morrilton struggled both offensively and defensively, but avoided a shutout with a four-run flurry in the top of the third inning. The rest was all Cabot.
Cabot (6-9-2) wasted no time taking the advantage in the opening frame of the junior American Legion matchup, sending Morrilton three up and three down in the top of the first before putting up three in the bottom half.
Leadoff batter Zach Uhiren singled, stole second and scored when Brandon Surdam singled him in. Surdam then scored on a groundout by Justin Goff.
Tyler Carter drew a walk and was driven in on a single by Spencer Roberg.
Singles by Josh Graham and Bryson Morris made it 4-0 in the second. Uhiren reached on an error, and one out later, Tyler Carter got the biggest hit of the night for Centennial Bank with a ground-rule double that scored Uhiren and Surdam to make it 6-0.
Tyler Cole followed with a single to left that scored Carter for the final run of the frame, but Cabot picked right back up an inning later.
James McRainey got things started for Centennial Bank in the bottom of the third when he took first base after getting hit by a pitch. Graham reached on an error to advance McRainey. Morris doubled down the third base line to score McRainey, and Graham came in on a single to left by Uhiren. Surdam grounded out to second to bring in Uhiren and extend the lead to 11-0.
Centennial Bank was set up for a four-inning win before Morrilton’s last gasp in the top of the fourth extended the lopsided affair for one more inning. Morrilton took advantage of two walks, as well as an error and a single to close the gap to 11-4.
Centennial Bank needed only one more run in the bottom of the fourth, and got it with a single by Graham that scored Cole.
Daniel Fox earned the win for Cabot. Fox kept Morrilton scoreless through three innings.
Uhiren was 2 of 2 with two RBI and three runs to lead Centennial Bank. Graham was 2 of 2 with a RBI and two runs, while Morris was 2 of 2 with a double and an RBI.
SPORTS >> Zimmerman hangs on for match play crown
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
Call it the Zimmerman Slam if you want.
Sylvan Hills’ Nick Zimmerman currently owns both the junior match play and stroke play titles after holding on for a 2-and-1 win over Conway’s Ethan King on Thursday morning at the ASGA Junior Match Play Championship at Foxwood Country Club.
“It was my home course and I was hitting it good enough,” Zimmerman said of his chances of winning the 64-player field when it started on Monday. “My short game is really what won me the tournament.”
The Sylvan Hills alum dropped in a clinching 15-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole after King had staged a furious comeback and closed a 4-down deficit to a mere 1-down with two holes to play.
Zimmerman adds Thursday’s match play championship to his ASGA stroke play crown from last July, when he cruised to a 12-shot victory at Pine Bluff.
It’s as close as Zimmerman can come to a slam in the two events as he turns 18 on Wednesday and will be too old to defend his stroke play championship next month.
Along about the 10th hole on Thursday, that Zimmerman Slam was beginning to look like a slam dunk. After falling one down to King, who will be a senior at Conway High School, Zimmerman won holes 6 through 10 to take a commanding 4-up lead heading into the 11th hole. But Zimmerman left the door open for King when he missed a six-foot putt that would have increased his lead to 5-up with just seven holes remaining.
King burst through the door by making par on the 12th hole, which was good enough to narrow the lead to 3 after Zimmerman plunked his second shot into the lake.
“I think that second shot on 12 is what let him back into it,” Zimmerman said. “I had a terrible lie.”
Zimmerman made a good chip on 13 to draw a halve on the hole and maintain his 3-up lead, but King stuck it stiff on the par-3 14th and Zimmerman conceded the birdie putt to drop to a 2-up lead.
Things got even dicier when Zimmerman hooked his approach out of bounds on 15 and the once-comfortable lead was down to a precarious one hole, still with three to play.
It appeared Zimmerman had steered the ship back on course when he hit a good drive on 16, then knocked his approach to four feet. King, meanwhile, was forced to hit a knockdown shot from under the trees and came up short of the green.
But King made a nice up and down for par and Zimmerman ran his birdie putt well past the hole and faced a five-foot comeback to try to hold on to his 1-up lead.
“I thought I’d hit (the birdie putt) soft enough not to have a comebacker, but it just kept going,” Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman curled the comeback putt into the left edge to maintain a 1-up lead as the two players headed to the 17th tee.
“I knew he was closing the gap big time,” Zimmerman said. “The only thought that kept going through my head was that I was still up with two holes to go so it was my tournament to win. Ethan played really good, though. He never gave up.”
King striped his drive on 17, while Zimmerman sprayed a wild shot beyond the trees lining the right side of the fairway. The ball missed the trees and ended up in the 16th fairway, leaving him about 100 yards over a tall stand of trees. Zimmerman’s approach hit the bank to the right of the green and released onto the front edge about 15 feet below the hole.
“It was a basic 56 (degree wedge),” Zimmerman said of the shot. “The trees didn’t bother me at all. I just hit a good shot, I guess.”
King followed with an approach right at the flag, but it released up the hill and left him about 20 feet for birdie. His putt came up short, leaving Zimmerman with a putt for the win. It was on line the whole way, then died into the front of the cup.
“That putt was dead straight,” he said. “You couldn’t have asked for an easier shot.”
Zimmerman, who led after two holes on Thursday, trailed only twice in the match after making bogeys on 3 and 4. He drew even when King bogeyed the par-3 6th and took the lead for good on 8. His drive on the 307-yard par four finished right of the green about 20 yards from the flag and his wedge stopped five feet from the cup. He made the birdie, then birdied 8 to go 2-up. That was the second of five straight winning holes for Zimmerman, who surged to a 4-up lead when King bogeyed No. 10.
After opening with an 8-and-7 win in the first round, Zimmerman survived several narrow matches along the way to the title, including a 1-up win over Cabot’s Hunter Smith in the quarterfinals and a 3-and-2 win over Drew Comer in the semis, when he chipped in twice on the front nine.
Cabot’s Colby Benton came up short in his bid to win a third straight junior tournament. Benton won the Bruce Jenkins Memorial and the Burns Park Stroke Play last week. Benton, whose brother Nicklaus won this event the past two years, fell 2-and-1 to Lance Hulce in the semifinals on Wednesday.
Zimmerman will play golf at UALR next year.
ASGA executive director Jay Fox announced at the trophy presentation ceremony that Foxwood, which has hosted the event the past three years, will continue hosting it for at least the next two summers.
SPORTS >> Optimist Club survives scare
By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
North Little Rock did everything it could to give the game to Sylvan Hills Optimist Club but the senior Bruins still made it a tense affair.
Nathan Eller came on in the seventh inning with the tying run at the plate and no one out and promptly set down the three batters he faced as the Bruins held on for an 8-6 win over the Colts on Tuesday evening at Kevin McReynolds Field in Sherwood.
North Little Rock pitching issued seven walks and hit five Bruins and the Colt defense pitched in with five errors but Sylvan Hills could turn all of that into just eight runs after managing only five hits.
Three of those belonged to Hunter Miller, who struggled on the mound but not at the plate. Miller scored twice and drove in another with two singles and a triple. Miller entered the game in the third inning and allowed seven hits and five earned runs in pitching into the seventh. He struck out five and walked three.
North Little Rock took the early lead on a Clark Sims double leading off the game and a throwing error on Sylvan Hills catcher Tyler Van Schoyck. But it was the last error by the Bruins, who took advantage of a throwing error by the Colts catcher to tie the game at 1 in the bottom of the first.
Casey Cerrato put the Bruins in front with an RBI single in the second. On the play, Ryan Dillon came all the way around from first on an error on the left fielder as Optimist Club took a 3-1 lead.
Jordan Spears pitched two scoreless innings for the Bruins but Miller came on in relief to start the third, allowing a two-run homer by Zack Ketchum that knotted the score at 3. Sylvan Hills left the bases loaded in the bottom half and North Little Rock took its last lead of the game with a pair of singles in the fourth.
Dillon and Van Schoyck walked in the Sylvan Hills half of the inning. After Dillon scored on a wild pitch to tie it, Miller gave the Bruins the lead with a triple down the right field line. Miller came all the way around to score on the play on a throwing error on the relay as Sylvan Hills led 6-4.
Miller set down six of the next seven Colts and Sylvan Hills added some insurance in the sixth, again aided by North Little Rock miscues. Cerrato reached on an error but was thrown out trying to get to third on Miller’s looping single. Gino Jameson reached on a throwing error by the Colts’ pitcher, allowing Miller to score. Eller singled in Jameson to make it 8-4.
But the Colts were far from through. A double, a walk and a double scored two and made it 8-6 with no one out. Enter Eller, who got a ground out, a strike out and a fly out to end it.
Spears struck out four and allowed two hits and one unearned run in his two innings.
Sylvan Hills plays in the Sheridan Wood Bat Classic through this weekend.
OPTIMIST CLUB JR 10,
NORTH LITTLE ROCK 9
The junior Colts’ seven-run third inning didn’t deflate the Bruins, who rallied back, then got a game-winning two-run single from Blake Rasdon as Sylvan Hills prevailed.
Sylvan Hills knotted the game 8-8 with a five-run fourth inning, but fell behind again when the Colts got a two-out double and a bloop single to reclaim a 9-8 lead in the fifth and final inning.
But with one out in the bottom half, Cain Cormier singled and James Pepin and Brian Chastain drew walks. Rasdon then lined a single to left center for the winner. Rasdon led the way with a 2-of-3 performance, scoring three times and driving in two.
Sylvan Hills broke out on top with a pair of walks and RBI singles by Greg Atchison and Zach Russenberger in the second. But starter Blake Hannon never made it out of the third inning, which began harmlessly enough with a strikeout. But a passed ball allowed the batter to reach first, and three singles and a fielder’s choice put the Colts up 3-2.
Hannon surrendered three more singles and two more walks as four more Colt runs came across. Austin Spears came in with the bases loaded and one out and got a pop up and a ground out to escape further damage.
The Bruins got one run back on Rasdon’s single and Spears’ RBI double in the third, but North Little Rock scored another run in the fourth to go up 8-3.
A walk, a Russenberger single, a hit batter and Trey Sims’ ground out scored a run and a Colts’ error allowed Russenberger to score to start the Bruins’ five-run fourth. Chastain walked and Rasdon reached on a throwing error that brought home two more runs to make it 8-7. Justin Cook tied it up with an RBI single.
Spears got the win, going the final 2 2/3 innings. He allowed four hits and two earned runs. Spears had a pair of hits and an RBI and Russenberger added two singles. Sylvan Hills returns to action Monday when it hosts Cabot.
Leader sports editor
North Little Rock did everything it could to give the game to Sylvan Hills Optimist Club but the senior Bruins still made it a tense affair.
Nathan Eller came on in the seventh inning with the tying run at the plate and no one out and promptly set down the three batters he faced as the Bruins held on for an 8-6 win over the Colts on Tuesday evening at Kevin McReynolds Field in Sherwood.
North Little Rock pitching issued seven walks and hit five Bruins and the Colt defense pitched in with five errors but Sylvan Hills could turn all of that into just eight runs after managing only five hits.
Three of those belonged to Hunter Miller, who struggled on the mound but not at the plate. Miller scored twice and drove in another with two singles and a triple. Miller entered the game in the third inning and allowed seven hits and five earned runs in pitching into the seventh. He struck out five and walked three.
North Little Rock took the early lead on a Clark Sims double leading off the game and a throwing error on Sylvan Hills catcher Tyler Van Schoyck. But it was the last error by the Bruins, who took advantage of a throwing error by the Colts catcher to tie the game at 1 in the bottom of the first.
Casey Cerrato put the Bruins in front with an RBI single in the second. On the play, Ryan Dillon came all the way around from first on an error on the left fielder as Optimist Club took a 3-1 lead.
Jordan Spears pitched two scoreless innings for the Bruins but Miller came on in relief to start the third, allowing a two-run homer by Zack Ketchum that knotted the score at 3. Sylvan Hills left the bases loaded in the bottom half and North Little Rock took its last lead of the game with a pair of singles in the fourth.
Dillon and Van Schoyck walked in the Sylvan Hills half of the inning. After Dillon scored on a wild pitch to tie it, Miller gave the Bruins the lead with a triple down the right field line. Miller came all the way around to score on the play on a throwing error on the relay as Sylvan Hills led 6-4.
Miller set down six of the next seven Colts and Sylvan Hills added some insurance in the sixth, again aided by North Little Rock miscues. Cerrato reached on an error but was thrown out trying to get to third on Miller’s looping single. Gino Jameson reached on a throwing error by the Colts’ pitcher, allowing Miller to score. Eller singled in Jameson to make it 8-4.
But the Colts were far from through. A double, a walk and a double scored two and made it 8-6 with no one out. Enter Eller, who got a ground out, a strike out and a fly out to end it.
Spears struck out four and allowed two hits and one unearned run in his two innings.
Sylvan Hills plays in the Sheridan Wood Bat Classic through this weekend.
OPTIMIST CLUB JR 10,
NORTH LITTLE ROCK 9
The junior Colts’ seven-run third inning didn’t deflate the Bruins, who rallied back, then got a game-winning two-run single from Blake Rasdon as Sylvan Hills prevailed.
Sylvan Hills knotted the game 8-8 with a five-run fourth inning, but fell behind again when the Colts got a two-out double and a bloop single to reclaim a 9-8 lead in the fifth and final inning.
But with one out in the bottom half, Cain Cormier singled and James Pepin and Brian Chastain drew walks. Rasdon then lined a single to left center for the winner. Rasdon led the way with a 2-of-3 performance, scoring three times and driving in two.
Sylvan Hills broke out on top with a pair of walks and RBI singles by Greg Atchison and Zach Russenberger in the second. But starter Blake Hannon never made it out of the third inning, which began harmlessly enough with a strikeout. But a passed ball allowed the batter to reach first, and three singles and a fielder’s choice put the Colts up 3-2.
Hannon surrendered three more singles and two more walks as four more Colt runs came across. Austin Spears came in with the bases loaded and one out and got a pop up and a ground out to escape further damage.
The Bruins got one run back on Rasdon’s single and Spears’ RBI double in the third, but North Little Rock scored another run in the fourth to go up 8-3.
A walk, a Russenberger single, a hit batter and Trey Sims’ ground out scored a run and a Colts’ error allowed Russenberger to score to start the Bruins’ five-run fourth. Chastain walked and Rasdon reached on a throwing error that brought home two more runs to make it 8-7. Justin Cook tied it up with an RBI single.
Spears got the win, going the final 2 2/3 innings. He allowed four hits and two earned runs. Spears had a pair of hits and an RBI and Russenberger added two singles. Sylvan Hills returns to action Monday when it hosts Cabot.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
TOP STORY >> PCSSD is hurt by departures
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Pulaski County Special School District’s deputy superintendent Bever-ly Ruthven, apparently fed up with a quarrelsome school board, has handed in her two-week notice according to two board members.
Ruthven said simply, “I’ve done all I can do for Pulaski County Special School District. Now I’m looking for other opportunities.
“I’m very proud of the school district and its accomplishments,” she said Tuesday afternoon. “Student achievement has gone up.”
Ruthven, 55, worked for the district for 22 years, starting as a teacher and working her way up to deputy superintendent and acting superintendent.
“It’s a great, great loss,” board member Danny Gililland said Tuesday. “She was very knowledgeable, a dedicated, hard worker for the children. It is a sad day and a great loss to have her gone.”
Asked if she’d be interested in the superintendent’s job with the proposed Jacksonville/north Pulaski County school district, she said, “I have always had a soft spot for Jacksonville.”
Gililland said he feared that the district could lose many talented educators frustrated with the board upon which he sits.
“When (North Pulaski High School principal) Tracy Allen resigned to go to North Little Rock, I said I was fearful it would be one of the first of many resignations to come,” Gililland said. Now with Ruthven’s resignation and the earlier-than-anticipated retirement of several other employees, Gililland said many were “leaving because of turmoil on the board.”
Gililland said he thought that Ruthven didn’t feel that she had support from the board as a whole and the district to do the job she wanted to do.
Ruthven, who was passed over for the position of interim superintendent for elementary school principal Rob McGill when the board forced James Sharpe to retire earlier this year, has been the district’s guiding hand as it implemented new programs and procedures to help lift PCSSD and its schools from the academic doldrums.
She has been the driving force behind the new Jacksonville Star Academy program, designed to keep marginal, at-risk students from dropping out of school before graduation.
Gililland said he believes the final straw may have come when board member Charlie Wood told a state Department of Education official that the board and district didn’t have to follow state guidelines and requirements, challenging and chastising her during a meeting.
Asked if Ruthven would be a good candidate for an eventual Jacksonville/north Pulaski County district, Gililland said. “She’d be a good candidate for anybody in education — Jacksonville, the state Education Department or another district.”
In the second special meeting in a week, the PCSSD board reversed itself and hired Gary Miller and Arkansas Educational Consultants to be the lead negotiator in contract talks with the Pulaski Association of Classroom Teachers.
The board agreed to pay Miller $12,500 or more to negotiate a contract that Debbie Coley, director of Human Resources was negotiating for free.
Colie and PACT had reached an impasse, but she can only negotiate what the members of the board authorize.
If they don’t change their authorization, Miller also will be locked in an impasse with PACT. If they do change the authorization, then perhaps Colie could have reached an agreement without him.
The board approved the hiring of staff for the summer school, which will be held at Jacksonville High School, and the transition camp.
The board voted to remove a $5.5 million Robinson media center from stimulus funding and directed $3.2 million of it to expand Pine Forest, the Maumelle elementary school from which interim Superintendent Rob McGill and where board president Tim Clark had at least one child enrolled.
The board approved a pro forma proposed 2010-2011 budget that showed no addition to the 40.7 millage rate. This is not the real budget of either the 2009-2010 school year or the 2010-2011 school year, but it was approved in accordance with state law.
Leader senior staff writer
Pulaski County Special School District’s deputy superintendent Bever-ly Ruthven, apparently fed up with a quarrelsome school board, has handed in her two-week notice according to two board members.
Ruthven said simply, “I’ve done all I can do for Pulaski County Special School District. Now I’m looking for other opportunities.
“I’m very proud of the school district and its accomplishments,” she said Tuesday afternoon. “Student achievement has gone up.”
Ruthven, 55, worked for the district for 22 years, starting as a teacher and working her way up to deputy superintendent and acting superintendent.
“It’s a great, great loss,” board member Danny Gililland said Tuesday. “She was very knowledgeable, a dedicated, hard worker for the children. It is a sad day and a great loss to have her gone.”
Asked if she’d be interested in the superintendent’s job with the proposed Jacksonville/north Pulaski County school district, she said, “I have always had a soft spot for Jacksonville.”
Gililland said he feared that the district could lose many talented educators frustrated with the board upon which he sits.
“When (North Pulaski High School principal) Tracy Allen resigned to go to North Little Rock, I said I was fearful it would be one of the first of many resignations to come,” Gililland said. Now with Ruthven’s resignation and the earlier-than-anticipated retirement of several other employees, Gililland said many were “leaving because of turmoil on the board.”
Gililland said he thought that Ruthven didn’t feel that she had support from the board as a whole and the district to do the job she wanted to do.
Ruthven, who was passed over for the position of interim superintendent for elementary school principal Rob McGill when the board forced James Sharpe to retire earlier this year, has been the district’s guiding hand as it implemented new programs and procedures to help lift PCSSD and its schools from the academic doldrums.
She has been the driving force behind the new Jacksonville Star Academy program, designed to keep marginal, at-risk students from dropping out of school before graduation.
Gililland said he believes the final straw may have come when board member Charlie Wood told a state Department of Education official that the board and district didn’t have to follow state guidelines and requirements, challenging and chastising her during a meeting.
Asked if Ruthven would be a good candidate for an eventual Jacksonville/north Pulaski County district, Gililland said. “She’d be a good candidate for anybody in education — Jacksonville, the state Education Department or another district.”
In the second special meeting in a week, the PCSSD board reversed itself and hired Gary Miller and Arkansas Educational Consultants to be the lead negotiator in contract talks with the Pulaski Association of Classroom Teachers.
The board agreed to pay Miller $12,500 or more to negotiate a contract that Debbie Coley, director of Human Resources was negotiating for free.
Colie and PACT had reached an impasse, but she can only negotiate what the members of the board authorize.
If they don’t change their authorization, Miller also will be locked in an impasse with PACT. If they do change the authorization, then perhaps Colie could have reached an agreement without him.
The board approved the hiring of staff for the summer school, which will be held at Jacksonville High School, and the transition camp.
The board voted to remove a $5.5 million Robinson media center from stimulus funding and directed $3.2 million of it to expand Pine Forest, the Maumelle elementary school from which interim Superintendent Rob McGill and where board president Tim Clark had at least one child enrolled.
The board approved a pro forma proposed 2010-2011 budget that showed no addition to the 40.7 millage rate. This is not the real budget of either the 2009-2010 school year or the 2010-2011 school year, but it was approved in accordance with state law.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
EDITORIAL >> Lottery chief a big gamble
Did the state Lottery Commission swing a good deal for the taxpayers when it hired Ernie Passailaigue away from the South Carolina Lottery for a cool $324,000 a year plus perquisites? The commissioners were proud of themselves, and a legislative oversight committee put its stamp on the deal.
Still, there were querulous sorts who wondered why the state would hire a fellow to run a lottery at a salary five times that of the governor and for much more than people earn for running government programs many times bigger, more complicated and more important than the lottery, which may bring in as much as $100 million a year for scholarships. That is less than the cigarette tax produces.
The huge salary — huge by government pay standards — would be a terrible reflection of priorities unless there is something peculiar about the lottery that demands a premium for the man in charge. One defense over the weekend was that $324,000 for a man who will run an operation that will bring in $100 million a year is chickenfeed. But the director of the state Finance and Administration Department supervises the collection and distribution of some $7 billion in revenue for vital state services like education, colleges, prisons, highways and health and social services. Richard Weiss doesn’t get anything like $324,000, and he’s been doing this work very well for two decades.
Forty-two other state lotteries, including South Carolina’s, got up and running without the special expertise that Arkansas felt it had to have. It is not rocket science. Nearly all the expertise is exercised by the giant lottery vendors. Passailaigue will not himself develop the menu of gambling products. He will put out requests for proposals for a company to produce the instant lottery, or scratch-off, tickets and maybe another for an online lottery system, just like he did in South Carolina and the lottery directors did in the other states.
Scientific Games Corp. almost surely will get one of the contracts, for that matter maybe contracts for all the gambling products. It has contracts to print scratch-off tickets in 34 of the 42 lottery states. Gtech Holdings may get in on the business. It has 26 of the state contracts to operate computer programs for games like Pick 6 and Powerball. There are a few small gambling vendors but they rarely get in on the business, often because state lottery laws or the bid specifications freeze them out. Scientific Games and/or Gtech Holdings will run the Arkansas lottery.
It may be important to scrutinize the process closely to be sure that bribery and bid-rigging do not occur. Lotteries are famous for that. Maybe Passailaigue is a good one to have in charge of that. He has had some experience with it. In September 2001 as South Carolina was about to award contracts for the games, memos passed back and forth between Scientific Games and its exponents.
“We have both sides of the business in South Carolina at our feet,” an associate of a South Carolina lottery lobbyist wrote the CEO of Scientific Games, according to court records. “We must continue to be covertly aggressive in our approach.”
He suggested that the CEO throw a fundraiser for the South Carolina governor in New York and make a payment to the lottery campaign organization in South Carolina. Two days after Scientific Games won the contract from Passailaigue and his lottery commission to provide scratch-off tickets and three weeks before winning the other major contract to provide online games, the CEO sent a check for $35,000 to South Carolinians for an Effective Lottery. Then he threw a fundraiser in New York for Gov. Jim Hodges’ unsuccessful 2002 re-election campaign. He raised $50,000, much of it from the gaming company’s officials.
With firsthand knowledge of that sort of thing, maybe Passailaigue can save Arkansas from any such embarrassment. Would it be worth $324,000? You be the judge.
Still, there were querulous sorts who wondered why the state would hire a fellow to run a lottery at a salary five times that of the governor and for much more than people earn for running government programs many times bigger, more complicated and more important than the lottery, which may bring in as much as $100 million a year for scholarships. That is less than the cigarette tax produces.
The huge salary — huge by government pay standards — would be a terrible reflection of priorities unless there is something peculiar about the lottery that demands a premium for the man in charge. One defense over the weekend was that $324,000 for a man who will run an operation that will bring in $100 million a year is chickenfeed. But the director of the state Finance and Administration Department supervises the collection and distribution of some $7 billion in revenue for vital state services like education, colleges, prisons, highways and health and social services. Richard Weiss doesn’t get anything like $324,000, and he’s been doing this work very well for two decades.
Forty-two other state lotteries, including South Carolina’s, got up and running without the special expertise that Arkansas felt it had to have. It is not rocket science. Nearly all the expertise is exercised by the giant lottery vendors. Passailaigue will not himself develop the menu of gambling products. He will put out requests for proposals for a company to produce the instant lottery, or scratch-off, tickets and maybe another for an online lottery system, just like he did in South Carolina and the lottery directors did in the other states.
Scientific Games Corp. almost surely will get one of the contracts, for that matter maybe contracts for all the gambling products. It has contracts to print scratch-off tickets in 34 of the 42 lottery states. Gtech Holdings may get in on the business. It has 26 of the state contracts to operate computer programs for games like Pick 6 and Powerball. There are a few small gambling vendors but they rarely get in on the business, often because state lottery laws or the bid specifications freeze them out. Scientific Games and/or Gtech Holdings will run the Arkansas lottery.
It may be important to scrutinize the process closely to be sure that bribery and bid-rigging do not occur. Lotteries are famous for that. Maybe Passailaigue is a good one to have in charge of that. He has had some experience with it. In September 2001 as South Carolina was about to award contracts for the games, memos passed back and forth between Scientific Games and its exponents.
“We have both sides of the business in South Carolina at our feet,” an associate of a South Carolina lottery lobbyist wrote the CEO of Scientific Games, according to court records. “We must continue to be covertly aggressive in our approach.”
He suggested that the CEO throw a fundraiser for the South Carolina governor in New York and make a payment to the lottery campaign organization in South Carolina. Two days after Scientific Games won the contract from Passailaigue and his lottery commission to provide scratch-off tickets and three weeks before winning the other major contract to provide online games, the CEO sent a check for $35,000 to South Carolinians for an Effective Lottery. Then he threw a fundraiser in New York for Gov. Jim Hodges’ unsuccessful 2002 re-election campaign. He raised $50,000, much of it from the gaming company’s officials.
With firsthand knowledge of that sort of thing, maybe Passailaigue can save Arkansas from any such embarrassment. Would it be worth $324,000? You be the judge.
TOP STORY >> Ex-legislator to run for Senate
Former State Rep. Sandra Prater of Jacksonville is seeking the Dist. 29 Senate seat held by Sen. John Paul Capps (D-Searcy).
Capps can’t run again because of term limits.
Prater will run as a Democrat. Rep. Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe) will run as a Republican.
Dist. 29 consists of parts of Faulkner, Pulaski and White counties.
Prater served three terms in the House for Dist. 42, which includes parts of Pulaski and Faulkner counties
“I believe my six years as a member of the House of Representatives, representing Faulkner and Pulaski counties, and as a former member of the quorum court gives me the insight and experience to serve in the Senate. In addition with my nursing background, I know how important it is to work on issues that deal with our children, senior adults and health care,” Prater said.
While in the House, she served on the Public Health, Welfare and Labor, the Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development committees and as chair of the Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Permanent Subcommittee. She was also a member of the Joint Performance Review and the Legislative Joint Auditing Committees.
“I want to continue my legislative efforts to bring opportunities for good health care to the people of Arkansas. Good health care should not be a luxury but a right,” Prater said.
While in the House, Prater was successful in getting legislation passed to have automatic external defibrillators in schools, increased long term and home health care for seniors, additional training for Alzheimer’s, vision screening for children and mandatory reporting of drug and alcohol tests for truck drivers. She also worked to increase funding for school nurses and autism awareness.
In 2007 Prater was named legislator of the year by the AARP and the Physical Therapy Association, advocate of the year by the Advanced Practice Nurses Council and nurse of the year by the Arkansas Nurses Association.
She also received the Champion for Children Award from the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.
Prater and her husband, Kenneth, have two children, Kyle and Whitney. They are members of Zion Hill Baptist Church.
Capps can’t run again because of term limits.
Prater will run as a Democrat. Rep. Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe) will run as a Republican.
Dist. 29 consists of parts of Faulkner, Pulaski and White counties.
Prater served three terms in the House for Dist. 42, which includes parts of Pulaski and Faulkner counties
“I believe my six years as a member of the House of Representatives, representing Faulkner and Pulaski counties, and as a former member of the quorum court gives me the insight and experience to serve in the Senate. In addition with my nursing background, I know how important it is to work on issues that deal with our children, senior adults and health care,” Prater said.
While in the House, she served on the Public Health, Welfare and Labor, the Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development committees and as chair of the Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Permanent Subcommittee. She was also a member of the Joint Performance Review and the Legislative Joint Auditing Committees.
“I want to continue my legislative efforts to bring opportunities for good health care to the people of Arkansas. Good health care should not be a luxury but a right,” Prater said.
While in the House, Prater was successful in getting legislation passed to have automatic external defibrillators in schools, increased long term and home health care for seniors, additional training for Alzheimer’s, vision screening for children and mandatory reporting of drug and alcohol tests for truck drivers. She also worked to increase funding for school nurses and autism awareness.
In 2007 Prater was named legislator of the year by the AARP and the Physical Therapy Association, advocate of the year by the Advanced Practice Nurses Council and nurse of the year by the Arkansas Nurses Association.
She also received the Champion for Children Award from the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.
Prater and her husband, Kenneth, have two children, Kyle and Whitney. They are members of Zion Hill Baptist Church.
TOP STORY >> Brother tells of shooting at D.C. museum
By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader editor-in-chief
School groups and other tourists are back at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
They line up for tickets early in the morning, hoping to get inside before the crowds get bigger. The museum is the second most popular tourist destination after the Smithsonian Institution.
The Holocaust Museum was closed for a day and a half last week after an 88-year-old Holocaust denier killed a security guard just inside the museum entrance.
My brother Steve, who works at the museum with Holocaust scholars, called around noon last Wednesday.
I thought he was calling about our mother, who lives in Miami and who hadn’t been feeling well. She is a Holocaust survivor, by way of Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen (where Anne Frank died).
“There’s been a shooting at the museum,” Steve said. “We don’t know what’s going on.”
He had just gotten off an elevator on the fifth floor when he thought he’d heard gunshots not far away.
“What was that?” he asked the people who’d been in the elevator.
“There must be some construction going on,” somebody said.
“I guess I’m just being paranoid,” Steve said.
But he was right: He had heard several gunshots down below.
Although he was on the fifth floor, the entrance is just 20 yards from the elevator shaft.
The staff was told to get into an office and stay there. Several Holocaust scholars visiting the museum also locked themselves into a room.
When my brother called, there was still nothing about the shooting on TV, but a little while later a picture of the shooter emerged: A loser named James von Brunn, a lifelong Nazi sympathizer and Holocaust denier, had double parked outside the museum and walked in with a .22-caliber rifle by his side.
Stephen Tyrone Johns, 39, a black security guard who stood near the front door, helped the elderly man get inside.
Von Brunn shot him in the chest. Johns fell to the floor, fatally wounded. He died a couple of hours later.
Two security guards fired at von Brunn. One shot him in the face. Several black paramedics rushed the white supremacist and anti-Semite to the nearest hospital, where he’s probably being treated by doctors and nurses of an inferior race as far as von Brunn is concerned.
There’s no telling how the black guards and inmates will treat von Brunn in prison.
He’s so old, he’s not even a neo-Nazi. He’s just an old Nazi.
My brother and I have talked about the shooting several times since the ordeal. Because he works at the museum, Steve has seen documents that include the names of our parents and their families who were transported from the ghettoes in Hungary to the death camps around Europe. Although von Brunn may not know it, the Nazis kept meticulous records.
How could the Holocaust have happened? Hitler and his henchmen needed just a few thousand von Brunns to carry out the killings. Brunn would have been a young S.S. officer and a willing executioner if his parents hadn’t immigrated to the U.S.
Von Brunn served in the U.S. Navy during the Second World War. But he says he fought on the wrong side. He would have gladly died for old Adolf, his hero.
Instead, he’s lived a long, useless life, drifting from town to town, accomplishing nothing despite his intelligence and old age.
Steve says the museum guards are wearing black tape over their badges as a sign of mourning. Officer Johns will be buried on Friday.
The Holocaust scholars who were at the museum during the shooting quickly collected $800 to help Johns’ family. Others from around the world have also made donations.
You can give to the Stephen Tyrone Johns Memorial Fund by sending a check to USHMM Officer Johns Family Fund, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024.
You can also make a gift by calling toll free 877-91-USHMM (877-918-7466) from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time, or go to the Holocaust Museum Web site by Googling Stephen Tyrone Johns Memorial Fund.
As long as there are von Brunns in this world, they will remind us of the horrors of the Holocaust even as they try to deny it.
They’ll do it again, if we let them.
Leader editor-in-chief
School groups and other tourists are back at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
They line up for tickets early in the morning, hoping to get inside before the crowds get bigger. The museum is the second most popular tourist destination after the Smithsonian Institution.
The Holocaust Museum was closed for a day and a half last week after an 88-year-old Holocaust denier killed a security guard just inside the museum entrance.
My brother Steve, who works at the museum with Holocaust scholars, called around noon last Wednesday.
I thought he was calling about our mother, who lives in Miami and who hadn’t been feeling well. She is a Holocaust survivor, by way of Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen (where Anne Frank died).
“There’s been a shooting at the museum,” Steve said. “We don’t know what’s going on.”
He had just gotten off an elevator on the fifth floor when he thought he’d heard gunshots not far away.
“What was that?” he asked the people who’d been in the elevator.
“There must be some construction going on,” somebody said.
“I guess I’m just being paranoid,” Steve said.
But he was right: He had heard several gunshots down below.
Although he was on the fifth floor, the entrance is just 20 yards from the elevator shaft.
The staff was told to get into an office and stay there. Several Holocaust scholars visiting the museum also locked themselves into a room.
When my brother called, there was still nothing about the shooting on TV, but a little while later a picture of the shooter emerged: A loser named James von Brunn, a lifelong Nazi sympathizer and Holocaust denier, had double parked outside the museum and walked in with a .22-caliber rifle by his side.
Stephen Tyrone Johns, 39, a black security guard who stood near the front door, helped the elderly man get inside.
Von Brunn shot him in the chest. Johns fell to the floor, fatally wounded. He died a couple of hours later.
Two security guards fired at von Brunn. One shot him in the face. Several black paramedics rushed the white supremacist and anti-Semite to the nearest hospital, where he’s probably being treated by doctors and nurses of an inferior race as far as von Brunn is concerned.
There’s no telling how the black guards and inmates will treat von Brunn in prison.
He’s so old, he’s not even a neo-Nazi. He’s just an old Nazi.
My brother and I have talked about the shooting several times since the ordeal. Because he works at the museum, Steve has seen documents that include the names of our parents and their families who were transported from the ghettoes in Hungary to the death camps around Europe. Although von Brunn may not know it, the Nazis kept meticulous records.
How could the Holocaust have happened? Hitler and his henchmen needed just a few thousand von Brunns to carry out the killings. Brunn would have been a young S.S. officer and a willing executioner if his parents hadn’t immigrated to the U.S.
Von Brunn served in the U.S. Navy during the Second World War. But he says he fought on the wrong side. He would have gladly died for old Adolf, his hero.
Instead, he’s lived a long, useless life, drifting from town to town, accomplishing nothing despite his intelligence and old age.
Steve says the museum guards are wearing black tape over their badges as a sign of mourning. Officer Johns will be buried on Friday.
The Holocaust scholars who were at the museum during the shooting quickly collected $800 to help Johns’ family. Others from around the world have also made donations.
You can give to the Stephen Tyrone Johns Memorial Fund by sending a check to USHMM Officer Johns Family Fund, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024.
You can also make a gift by calling toll free 877-91-USHMM (877-918-7466) from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time, or go to the Holocaust Museum Web site by Googling Stephen Tyrone Johns Memorial Fund.
As long as there are von Brunns in this world, they will remind us of the horrors of the Holocaust even as they try to deny it.
They’ll do it again, if we let them.
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