By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
This is the last in a series of articles taking an in-depth look at the state Benchmark exams.
More than half of the juniors at Jacksonville High School cannot read or write at the appropriate grade level, according to recently released 2012 literacy exam scores. Across the state about one-third of the juniors are not working up to grade level.
The exams, once called the Rising Star exams, are given to juniors across the state in April to check their ability to read and write at the high school junior level. A score of proficient or advanced means the students is at or above grade level. Scores of basic or below basic show that a student is struggling at grade level.
Just 45 percent of the Jacksonville juniors scored proficient or better on the 2012 exam, which was an eight-point improvement from 2011. The state proficiency average is 68 percent.
Secondary students also take an end-of-course exam after they complete Algebra I, geometry and biology.
The Algebra I exam is considered a “high stakes” exam because students not scoring high enough on it must retake Algebra I. None of the other end-of-course exams have that “high stakes” tag.
Beebe, Cabot Middle School South and Carlisle eighth-graders all scored 100 percent on the 2012 version of the Algebra I end-of-course exam.
Jacksonville High School also had one of the lowest scores in central Arkansas on the biology end-of-course exam. Close to 90 percent of the students completing biology, didn’t score proficient or better on the end-of-course exam. The state average is just 43 percent proficient.
The test score information is provided by the Arkansas Research Center, which has been tracking benchmark proficiency since 2008.
LITERACY
The state proficiency average on the 11th-grade literacy test was 68 percent on the 2012 exam. Beebe, Carlisle, Cabot and Lonoke beat that average, while Sylvan Hills, North Pulaski and Jacksonville didn’t.
Beebe students scored 61 percent proficient in 2008 and moved up to 81 percent proficient on the 2012 exam. Beebe has beaten the state average the last five years.
Cabot juniors were at 66 percent proficient in 2008, topped off at 80 percent in 2011, and dipped to 78 percent in 2012, beating the state mark by 10 points. They have also beaten the state mark five years in a row.
Carlisle juniors were at 37 percent proficient in 2008 and climbed to 83 percent in 2012, 15 points better than the state mark. Lonoke moved from 47 percent in 2008 to 73 percent in 2012, beating the state average by five points.
At North Pulaski High, juniors were just 36 percent proficient in 2008, but moved up to 68 percent on the 2012 exam, even with the state average. Sylvan Hills juniors have moved from 45 percent proficient in 2008 to 66 percent in 2012, just two points shy of the state average.
Jacksonville High’s juniors literacy rate scores have gone up eight points from 2011 to 2012, but are still 21 points below the state average. Jacksonville students were 30 percent proficient in 2008, 37 percent in 2011 and 45 percent on the 2012 exam.
ALGEBRA I, 8TH GRADE
Most students take this high-stake test when they finish Algebra I in the eighth grade. If students don’t score high enough, they are required to take the course and the state test again in the ninth grade.
Cabot Middle School South eighth graders scored 100 percent proficient or better on the 2012 test and have been at 100 percent since 2008. Cabot Middle School North students were 98 percent proficient, down from 99 percent in 2011. The students scored 100 percent in 2009 and 2010. The state average is 95 percent proficient.
Lonoke eighth graders were 90 percent in 2008, but have been 100 percent ever since, including the 2012 exam. Beebe eighth graders were also 100 percent proficient on the 2012, moving up from 81 percent in 2008.
Carlisle students were 96 percent proficient in 2008, up to 100 percent in 2009, but then fell down to 71 percent on the 2012 exam, three points above the state average.
Eighth graders at Jackson-ville Middle School were 76 percent proficient in 2008 and moved up to 96 percent proficient in 2012, one point over the state average.
Sylvan Hills Middle School students started at 82 percent proficient in 2008, topped out at 97 percent in 2010 and fell back slightly to 94 percent in 2012, a point below the state mark. At Northwood Middle School, eighth graders were at 81 percent proficient in 2008, topped off at 93 percent the next year and were at 83 percent proficient on the 2012 exam, 12 points below the state average.
ALGEBRA I, 9TH GRADE
Ninth-graders taking the Algebra I exam usually weren’t ready to take the course in eighth grade or are retaking it because they didn’t score well enough in eighth grade. Across the state, 66 percent of ninth graders taking the course are proficient or advanced.
Beebe and Lonoke ninth- graders were the only ones in the area to be above the state average. Beebe students were 75 percent proficient in 2012, up from 39 percent in 2008, and beating the state mark by nine points.
Lonoke students were at 74 percent proficient in 2008 and topped off at 78 percent in 2012 before falling to 70 percent on the 2012 exams, but still four points better than the state mark.
Carlisle was 43 percent proficient in 2008; it fell sharply to 17 percent in 2011, then improved to 53 percent in 2012, below the state average by 13 points.
Cabot ninth-graders struggled on the algebra test, going from 59 percent proficient in 2008, falling to 50 percent in 2011, and dropping to 34 percent on the 2012 test, 22 points under the state mark.
Jacksonville ninth graders were a point better than Cabot at 35 percent proficient on the 2012 exam. Jacksonville students were 26 percent proficient in 2008 and topped out at 49 percent in 2010.
Sylvan Hills High School ninth-graders were at 48 percent proficient in 2008, topped off at 71 percent in 2010, then fell to 59 percent in 2012, seven points off the state average.
North Pulaski High School students went from 43 percent proficient in 2008 to 71 percent in 2010 and then fell to 50 percent proficient on the latest set of exams, 16 points below the state average.
GEOMETRY
The state proficiency average on the geometry end-of-course exam is 76 percent. Cabot and Beebe beat the average. Other area schools did not.
At Cabot, geometry students went from 75 percent proficient in 2008 to 80 percent on the 2012 exams, four points better than the state average. Beebe students were 72 percent proficient in 2008 and moved up to 78 percent in 2012, two points above the state mark.
Lonoke went from 47 percent proficient in 2008 to 73 percent in 2012, three points off the state average. Sylvan Hills went from 41 percent proficient in 2008 to 72 percent on the 2012 exam, four points under the state average. Carlisle was 55 percent proficient in 2008, up to 71 percent the next year and fell to 65 percent in 2012, 11 points off the state mark.
North Pulaski geometry students were at 38 percent in 2008, topped off at 67 percent in 2011 and then fell to 52 percent in 2012, 24 points below the state mark.
At Jacksonville High School, students have moved steadily from 26 percent proficient in 2008 to 46 percent in 2012, 30 points below the state average.
BIOLOGY
Across the state, just 43 percent of high school students scored proficient or better on the biology end-of-course exam. Carlisle, Beebe and Cabot surpassed the state average, but still had about 40 percent of the students not make the grade.
Carlisle was at 20 percent proficient in 2008, hit 65 percent in 2011 and 64 percent in 2012, 21 points better than the state average. Beebe High School students have gone from 39 percent proficient in 2008 to 59 percent on the 2012 exam, 16 points better than the state mark. Cabot went from 53 percent proficient in 2008 to 63 percent in 2009 before tapering off to 58 percent in 2012, beating the state mark by 15 points.
Lonoke biology students were 24 percent proficient in 2008, hit 42 percent in 2009, fell to 22 percent in 2011, and then up to 41 percent on the 2012 exams, just two points short of the state average. At North Pulaski, students were 23 percent proficient in 2008, topped off at 33 percent in 2011, and were 32 percent proficient in 2012, 11 points under the state mark. Sylvan Hills was 21 percent proficient in 2008, up to 26 percent the next year and 24 percent proficient on the 2012 exam, 19 points below the state average.
Jacksonville started at 13 percent proficient in 2008 and 11 percent in 2012, more than 30 points below the state mark.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
TOP STORY >> Record heat hurts dairies, fisheries and beef farmers
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
Lonoke County farmers this summer have seen fish die off in at least a dozen ponds, caused by abnormally hot weather this year, according to Extension Fisheries Specialist Anita Kelly, who works in Lonoke.
Warmer water can’t hold as much oxygen as cooler water, she said, and entire ponds of fish — usually bait fish in Lonoke County — can die overnight.
This appears to be one of the more dramatic effects of the extreme heat and drought farmers throughout Lonoke, Pulaski and White counties are facing.
Embroiled in the most severe drought since before the Great Depression, cattle ponds are dry and pastures are barren—so much so that Arkansas cattle producers sold 17,000 cows in a week, according to state Agriculture Department spokesman Zach Taylor.
Farmers can’t afford to haul water and feed grain and hay this early in the season.
In the short term, this may drive down beef prices, but the scarcity of beef will boost prices later. By one measure, 33 percent of the contiguous U.S. is in severe to extreme drought conditions, according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
And it’s not just the U.S. suffering in the heat. Globally, this was the fourth warmest June since 1880, and it marked the 328th consecutive month that the global temperature exceeded the 20th century average, according to NOAA.
The National Drought Mitigation Center has designated several central Arkansas counties “exceptional” drought condition counties, while the rest are merely “extreme.”
Martha Melkovitz, co-owner of the Keo Fish Farm, says she’s lost a couple of ponds this year and workers can’t seine (gather fish with large nets) in the day. “The water is too hot,” she said
Oxygen levels are hard to keep up in hot water Kelly said. Fish concentrate in deeper areas of the pond, which has less oxygen.
“We’ve seen several fish kills this spring and summer. In this weather, ponds can lose a quarter of an inch a day or about seven inches in a month, she said.
Some fish farmers use a paddle wheel or other kinds of aerators to oxygenate the ponds. Bait-fish farmers don’t necessarily have the aerators that catfish farmers do. Personally, I have seen (fish kills) in about 12 ponds, all around the area,” Kelly added.
Usually, the ponds are aerated by phytoplankton converting sunlight into oxygen, but on cloudy days, less oxygen is generated and both the plants and the fish compete for that oxygen at night, she said.
SWEATING ROW CROPS
The extreme heat is having a greater effect on Lonoke County farmers than the actual drought, according to Lonoke Extension Service Agent Jeff Welch.
That’s mostly because 97 percent or 98 percent of the county’s row crops are irrigated. So it’s the heat and not the drought that’s reducing yields. What the drought does do, however, is to require farmers to irrigate fields much more often, resulting in higher fuel and power costs to run the pumps.
Scattered showers and storms throughout the state have had little effect.
“We got a little bit of rain. where I was,” said Welch, but not enough to settle the dust.
“The heat, (especially) high nighttime temperatures in corn, soybeans, cotton and rice, hurt us when we have extreme temperatures between 101 and 105 degrees.
In an average year, corn usually has to irrigated every seven days, soybeans every 10 days, cotton every eight or nine days, but with real high temperatures, those rotations have to be shortened up a day or two,” Welch said.
REDUCED YIELD
“We’re going to have some reduced yield in corn and everything but rice,” he said.
Welch said the cost of irrigation fuel is “tremendously high,” and even with really good prices that will help eat up potential profits.
Farmers are pretty much done irrigating corn now, letting it dry down from about 45 percent moisture to 15 percent, Welch said. The harvesting will begin when the moisture gets to about 22 percent to 24 percent.
Unlike farmers in the Arkansas River Vally, there’s not much of a problem so far with blister beetles or grasshoppers.
Grasshoppers typically come from a ditch at the edge of a field, so farmers scouting their fields can catch the problem early and treat the edges of the fields with pesticides.
Lonoke is among the Arkansas counties declared agricultural disaster areas because of the anticipated reduced yields from heat and drought and many producers will be eligible for low-interest loans through the USDA.
DAIRY COWS STRESSED
The heat and drought have hurt dairy farmers, which are few in the area.
When Woody Bryant sold his dairy cows last month, it was because the demands of dairy farming made it tough for him to exercise his duties as an officer in the fledgling Lonoke-White Water System, but “it was excellent timing,” he said Friday.
Bryant, who is serving his last month on the Arkansas Dairy Stabilization Board, said the heat stresses the cows.
They eat less and produce less milk—as much as 30 percent less—and the pastures are dried up, leaving farmers to feed hay from this year’s meager harvest now instead of in November.
Dairy farmers will also have to feed more corn and because of the drought and heat, corn prices are climbing.
“Feed prices will go up before the price of milk catches up,” he said. The price will probably lag two or three months behind.
On Friday, the state sent out the last check for the dairy stabilization program and there’s little money left in the program.
BUSINESS HELP
The Small Business Administration has declared 70 Arkansas counties eligible for low interest loans to businesses hit hard in agricultural communities. Lonoke, White and Pulaski counties are among them.
Businesses can qualify for 4 percent loans and nonprofits can borrow money for 3 percent, according to a SBA press release this week.
Leader senior staff writer
Lonoke County farmers this summer have seen fish die off in at least a dozen ponds, caused by abnormally hot weather this year, according to Extension Fisheries Specialist Anita Kelly, who works in Lonoke.
Warmer water can’t hold as much oxygen as cooler water, she said, and entire ponds of fish — usually bait fish in Lonoke County — can die overnight.
This appears to be one of the more dramatic effects of the extreme heat and drought farmers throughout Lonoke, Pulaski and White counties are facing.
Embroiled in the most severe drought since before the Great Depression, cattle ponds are dry and pastures are barren—so much so that Arkansas cattle producers sold 17,000 cows in a week, according to state Agriculture Department spokesman Zach Taylor.
Farmers can’t afford to haul water and feed grain and hay this early in the season.
In the short term, this may drive down beef prices, but the scarcity of beef will boost prices later. By one measure, 33 percent of the contiguous U.S. is in severe to extreme drought conditions, according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
And it’s not just the U.S. suffering in the heat. Globally, this was the fourth warmest June since 1880, and it marked the 328th consecutive month that the global temperature exceeded the 20th century average, according to NOAA.
The National Drought Mitigation Center has designated several central Arkansas counties “exceptional” drought condition counties, while the rest are merely “extreme.”
Martha Melkovitz, co-owner of the Keo Fish Farm, says she’s lost a couple of ponds this year and workers can’t seine (gather fish with large nets) in the day. “The water is too hot,” she said
Oxygen levels are hard to keep up in hot water Kelly said. Fish concentrate in deeper areas of the pond, which has less oxygen.
“We’ve seen several fish kills this spring and summer. In this weather, ponds can lose a quarter of an inch a day or about seven inches in a month, she said.
Some fish farmers use a paddle wheel or other kinds of aerators to oxygenate the ponds. Bait-fish farmers don’t necessarily have the aerators that catfish farmers do. Personally, I have seen (fish kills) in about 12 ponds, all around the area,” Kelly added.
Usually, the ponds are aerated by phytoplankton converting sunlight into oxygen, but on cloudy days, less oxygen is generated and both the plants and the fish compete for that oxygen at night, she said.
SWEATING ROW CROPS
The extreme heat is having a greater effect on Lonoke County farmers than the actual drought, according to Lonoke Extension Service Agent Jeff Welch.
That’s mostly because 97 percent or 98 percent of the county’s row crops are irrigated. So it’s the heat and not the drought that’s reducing yields. What the drought does do, however, is to require farmers to irrigate fields much more often, resulting in higher fuel and power costs to run the pumps.
Scattered showers and storms throughout the state have had little effect.
“We got a little bit of rain. where I was,” said Welch, but not enough to settle the dust.
“The heat, (especially) high nighttime temperatures in corn, soybeans, cotton and rice, hurt us when we have extreme temperatures between 101 and 105 degrees.
In an average year, corn usually has to irrigated every seven days, soybeans every 10 days, cotton every eight or nine days, but with real high temperatures, those rotations have to be shortened up a day or two,” Welch said.
REDUCED YIELD
“We’re going to have some reduced yield in corn and everything but rice,” he said.
Welch said the cost of irrigation fuel is “tremendously high,” and even with really good prices that will help eat up potential profits.
Farmers are pretty much done irrigating corn now, letting it dry down from about 45 percent moisture to 15 percent, Welch said. The harvesting will begin when the moisture gets to about 22 percent to 24 percent.
Unlike farmers in the Arkansas River Vally, there’s not much of a problem so far with blister beetles or grasshoppers.
Grasshoppers typically come from a ditch at the edge of a field, so farmers scouting their fields can catch the problem early and treat the edges of the fields with pesticides.
Lonoke is among the Arkansas counties declared agricultural disaster areas because of the anticipated reduced yields from heat and drought and many producers will be eligible for low-interest loans through the USDA.
DAIRY COWS STRESSED
The heat and drought have hurt dairy farmers, which are few in the area.
When Woody Bryant sold his dairy cows last month, it was because the demands of dairy farming made it tough for him to exercise his duties as an officer in the fledgling Lonoke-White Water System, but “it was excellent timing,” he said Friday.
Bryant, who is serving his last month on the Arkansas Dairy Stabilization Board, said the heat stresses the cows.
They eat less and produce less milk—as much as 30 percent less—and the pastures are dried up, leaving farmers to feed hay from this year’s meager harvest now instead of in November.
Dairy farmers will also have to feed more corn and because of the drought and heat, corn prices are climbing.
“Feed prices will go up before the price of milk catches up,” he said. The price will probably lag two or three months behind.
On Friday, the state sent out the last check for the dairy stabilization program and there’s little money left in the program.
BUSINESS HELP
The Small Business Administration has declared 70 Arkansas counties eligible for low interest loans to businesses hit hard in agricultural communities. Lonoke, White and Pulaski counties are among them.
Businesses can qualify for 4 percent loans and nonprofits can borrow money for 3 percent, according to a SBA press release this week.
Friday, July 20, 2012
EDITORIAL >> Know when to fold them
It appears that at least one of two efforts to bring casinos to Arkansas will be on the November ballot.
A proposal by Texan Michael Wasserman to run seven casinos in Arkansas has fallen short of the needed signatures, but the plan brought by professional poker player Nancy Todd to run four casinos seems headed to the voters.
It seems that many of her collected signatures were under less-than-honorable pretenses.
At many of her petition drives, she had her motor home painted with slogans espousing voters to save poker in Arkansas. Poker is not at stake — a longstanding way of life is though.
The implications of the messages on her motor home are that people can’t play poker in Arkansas or won’t be able to without the formation of her four casinos.
First, poker has been played in the state about as long as sippin’ whiskey has been around. No one is threatening the guys’ or girls’ night out and the opportunity to chew the fat, smoke a stogie or two and lose or win a few bucks playing penny poker.
When was the last time a friendly neighborhood poker party was busted?
Todd wants to make money, lots of it, and she knows most of it won’t come from poker rooms in the casinos but from slot machines.
Even as popular as the World Series of Poker is and the game of Texas Hold ‘Em, there are casinos across the country closing poker rooms and replacing them with slot or video machines, which are less expense and bring in more money. In Laughlin, Nev., the River Palms and Edgewater casino have closed poker rooms in the past year. So has the Fitzgerald and the Silverton in Las Vegas.
Todd is no different than any other casino-want-to-be-magnate — it’s about the money, not poker.
Here’s an idea: Tell her no and then bring some chips and a pizza over Friday and let’s deal real friendly like — like we always have.
A proposal by Texan Michael Wasserman to run seven casinos in Arkansas has fallen short of the needed signatures, but the plan brought by professional poker player Nancy Todd to run four casinos seems headed to the voters.
It seems that many of her collected signatures were under less-than-honorable pretenses.
At many of her petition drives, she had her motor home painted with slogans espousing voters to save poker in Arkansas. Poker is not at stake — a longstanding way of life is though.
The implications of the messages on her motor home are that people can’t play poker in Arkansas or won’t be able to without the formation of her four casinos.
First, poker has been played in the state about as long as sippin’ whiskey has been around. No one is threatening the guys’ or girls’ night out and the opportunity to chew the fat, smoke a stogie or two and lose or win a few bucks playing penny poker.
When was the last time a friendly neighborhood poker party was busted?
Todd wants to make money, lots of it, and she knows most of it won’t come from poker rooms in the casinos but from slot machines.
Even as popular as the World Series of Poker is and the game of Texas Hold ‘Em, there are casinos across the country closing poker rooms and replacing them with slot or video machines, which are less expense and bring in more money. In Laughlin, Nev., the River Palms and Edgewater casino have closed poker rooms in the past year. So has the Fitzgerald and the Silverton in Las Vegas.
Todd is no different than any other casino-want-to-be-magnate — it’s about the money, not poker.
Here’s an idea: Tell her no and then bring some chips and a pizza over Friday and let’s deal real friendly like — like we always have.
EDITORIAL >> Fire report unsettling
The circumstances involving the deaths of a pregnant mother and her four children in a Jacksonville apartment remain as mysterious as they were back in March. That was when firefighters responded to call from a neighbor who smelled smoke. Firefighters arrived, knocked on the door and decided everything must be fine since no one was responding.
Firefighters were called back to the apartment a few hours later when the bodies were discovered by maintenance workers.
The cause of the fire is said to be an unattended stove, where Marilyn Beavers may have been making snacks for her children. Apparently the family fell asleep with the stove on and were killed a few hours later from smoke inhalation.
The evidence seems to show that the smoke alarm in the public housing complex may have failed to go off either because it had been tampered with or because it had long expired and should have been replaced much earlier.
That was the day the Jacksonville Fire Department responded to two fire calls only a couple of miles apart, one at Northeastern Avenue on the edge of the Foxwood subdivision near Hwy. 67/167 and the other at Max Howell Place, which houses low-income families.
The first fire at Foxwood restarted early in the morning on March 22, only hours after firefighters had thought they had succeeded in extinguishing the blaze.
Fortunately, no one was at home, but the smoke from that blaze may have confused firefighters when they answered a call at Max Howell after a resident reported smelling smoke.
Firefighters may have thought that the resident smelled the smoke from Foxwood, when in fact Beavers and her children were overcome by smoke only hours earlier.
A report by the state fire marshal concluded the family died before firefighters arrived. But what if the smoke detector had worked and alerted neighbors and the fire department?
The Jacksonville Housing Authority, which runs the complex, will not discuss the deaths with the media, apparently fearing a lawsuit by Beavers’ family.
Without putting blame on anyone, you have to ask if the housing authority should have inspected the apartment more often. Did someone cut or pull the wires before or after the fire? Was the smoke detector disabled so adults could smoke?
The mysterious circumstances surrounding this tragedy deserve a thorough investigation. The mayor does have the state investigating the fire department’s actions.
The housing authority remains silent, but the public has a right to know what happened that night and if lives would have been saved if the JHA, the city or even the neighbors had been more diligent in protecting the residents.
Firefighters were called back to the apartment a few hours later when the bodies were discovered by maintenance workers.
The cause of the fire is said to be an unattended stove, where Marilyn Beavers may have been making snacks for her children. Apparently the family fell asleep with the stove on and were killed a few hours later from smoke inhalation.
The evidence seems to show that the smoke alarm in the public housing complex may have failed to go off either because it had been tampered with or because it had long expired and should have been replaced much earlier.
That was the day the Jacksonville Fire Department responded to two fire calls only a couple of miles apart, one at Northeastern Avenue on the edge of the Foxwood subdivision near Hwy. 67/167 and the other at Max Howell Place, which houses low-income families.
The first fire at Foxwood restarted early in the morning on March 22, only hours after firefighters had thought they had succeeded in extinguishing the blaze.
Fortunately, no one was at home, but the smoke from that blaze may have confused firefighters when they answered a call at Max Howell after a resident reported smelling smoke.
Firefighters may have thought that the resident smelled the smoke from Foxwood, when in fact Beavers and her children were overcome by smoke only hours earlier.
A report by the state fire marshal concluded the family died before firefighters arrived. But what if the smoke detector had worked and alerted neighbors and the fire department?
The Jacksonville Housing Authority, which runs the complex, will not discuss the deaths with the media, apparently fearing a lawsuit by Beavers’ family.
Without putting blame on anyone, you have to ask if the housing authority should have inspected the apartment more often. Did someone cut or pull the wires before or after the fire? Was the smoke detector disabled so adults could smoke?
The mysterious circumstances surrounding this tragedy deserve a thorough investigation. The mayor does have the state investigating the fire department’s actions.
The housing authority remains silent, but the public has a right to know what happened that night and if lives would have been saved if the JHA, the city or even the neighbors had been more diligent in protecting the residents.
TOP STORY >> Confusion continues over alarm
By SARAH CAMPBELL
Leader staff writer
The Jacksonville Housing Authority claims the smoke detector at the apartment where a family of five was found dead had been inspected seven times in the past year and it was found to be working on those occasions.
Marilyn Beavers, 30, and her four children — Dequan Singleton, 10, Sydni Singleton, 9, Haylee Beavers, 6, and Emily Beavers, 4 — died in their home at 3A S. Simmons Drive on March 22 from smoke inhalation.
According to an extensive report released to The Leader in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, “unattended cooking” caused the fire and the deaths were accidental. A pot with burned residue was found on the stove and the burner was still on when the victims were found.
Funderland Singleton, the fiancé of the mother and father of her children, said he is pursuing a lawsuit against the city and the JHA.
William M. Griffin III with Friday, Eldridge and Clark law firm of Little Rock, the attorney for the JHA, which oversees the low-income housing complex, provided work orders from Jan. 26 and six others from 2011. The documents indicate that the detector was checked and it was working when main tenance men came to the home to make several repairs requested by Marilyn Beavers.
The alarm should have been replaced in 2003, according to a warning on the device. According to the report, the wires were cut, and it didn’t have a backup battery.
The JHA maintenance workers told police the smoke alarm was sounding when they went inside the apartment, but it “failed to operate,” according to the report.
Griffin wrote in an e-mail to The Leader, “We have not seen the detector or base since the fire. It is our understanding that after the fire, the base and electrical box for the detector were cut out of the ceiling by the police. Hence, the wires were cut in order to take evidence.”
But, according to the report, the device was found on the floor just inside the doorway of a bedroom. The reports state that exposed wires were protruding from the back and there was an electrical socket with wires on the ceiling in the hallway.
The device was warped by heat. But the report states that the wires had been cut rather than melted, and the items were on the floor early in the fire.
According to the report, JHA executive director Phil Nix contacted the police department on March 23, the day after the tragedy, to ask when the JHA could send its private investigators into the home.
Singleton also hired a private investigator to find out what happened to his family.
Nix declined to be interviewed and, in an e-mail to The Leader, said he had no comment.
City officials have been advised by the city attorney not to discuss the incident. Administrator Jim Durham said the JHA is more closely related to the federal government.
The city approves appointments to its board but doesn’t have access to its funds.
The board meets at 7:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month at the Max Howell Place administrative office. But this month’s meeting was postponed because several members were out of town, according to the JHA office.
The next meeting will be at 5 p.m. Thursday.
The fire department first arrived at the apartment at 5:50 a.m. after a neighbor reported smelling smoke. The time of death for the five victims was between 2:21 and 5:46 a.m.
The firefighters left when they found no sign of a fire. But they didn’t go inside apartment 3A. They assumed the odor was from another fire across the highway. Maintenance workers found the bodies around 7 a.m.
The fire had gone out by the time firefighters arrived for a second time at 7:30 a.m.
According to the report, Marilyn Beavers might have tried to put out the blaze because her arms were burned.
An internal investigation into the incident is underway.
Leader staff writer
The Jacksonville Housing Authority claims the smoke detector at the apartment where a family of five was found dead had been inspected seven times in the past year and it was found to be working on those occasions.
Marilyn Beavers, 30, and her four children — Dequan Singleton, 10, Sydni Singleton, 9, Haylee Beavers, 6, and Emily Beavers, 4 — died in their home at 3A S. Simmons Drive on March 22 from smoke inhalation.
According to an extensive report released to The Leader in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, “unattended cooking” caused the fire and the deaths were accidental. A pot with burned residue was found on the stove and the burner was still on when the victims were found.
Funderland Singleton, the fiancé of the mother and father of her children, said he is pursuing a lawsuit against the city and the JHA.
William M. Griffin III with Friday, Eldridge and Clark law firm of Little Rock, the attorney for the JHA, which oversees the low-income housing complex, provided work orders from Jan. 26 and six others from 2011. The documents indicate that the detector was checked and it was working when main tenance men came to the home to make several repairs requested by Marilyn Beavers.
The alarm should have been replaced in 2003, according to a warning on the device. According to the report, the wires were cut, and it didn’t have a backup battery.
The JHA maintenance workers told police the smoke alarm was sounding when they went inside the apartment, but it “failed to operate,” according to the report.
Griffin wrote in an e-mail to The Leader, “We have not seen the detector or base since the fire. It is our understanding that after the fire, the base and electrical box for the detector were cut out of the ceiling by the police. Hence, the wires were cut in order to take evidence.”
But, according to the report, the device was found on the floor just inside the doorway of a bedroom. The reports state that exposed wires were protruding from the back and there was an electrical socket with wires on the ceiling in the hallway.
The device was warped by heat. But the report states that the wires had been cut rather than melted, and the items were on the floor early in the fire.
According to the report, JHA executive director Phil Nix contacted the police department on March 23, the day after the tragedy, to ask when the JHA could send its private investigators into the home.
Singleton also hired a private investigator to find out what happened to his family.
Nix declined to be interviewed and, in an e-mail to The Leader, said he had no comment.
City officials have been advised by the city attorney not to discuss the incident. Administrator Jim Durham said the JHA is more closely related to the federal government.
The city approves appointments to its board but doesn’t have access to its funds.
The board meets at 7:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month at the Max Howell Place administrative office. But this month’s meeting was postponed because several members were out of town, according to the JHA office.
The next meeting will be at 5 p.m. Thursday.
The fire department first arrived at the apartment at 5:50 a.m. after a neighbor reported smelling smoke. The time of death for the five victims was between 2:21 and 5:46 a.m.
The firefighters left when they found no sign of a fire. But they didn’t go inside apartment 3A. They assumed the odor was from another fire across the highway. Maintenance workers found the bodies around 7 a.m.
The fire had gone out by the time firefighters arrived for a second time at 7:30 a.m.
According to the report, Marilyn Beavers might have tried to put out the blaze because her arms were burned.
An internal investigation into the incident is underway.
TOP STORY >> PCSSD scores still behind
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
This is the fourth in a series of articles taking an in-depth look at Benchmark scores across the region.
Seventy-five percent or more of middle school students across the state are reading, writing and understanding math at or above grade level, according to the 2012 Benchmark scores.
But in Jacksonville, only half the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders are on grade level in literacy and math, 25 points below the state average. Eighth-graders in Jacksonville scored a whopping 37 points below the state average on the math exam.
In Sherwood, students were falling about 10 points below the state marks.
Cabot, however, consistently bested the state marks in literacy and math in sixth, seventh and eighth grades.
Beebe and Lonoke students also beat the state average test scores most of the time.
But in the Pulaski County Special School District it was a different story — 40 to 60 percent of the students cannot read, write or perform math problems at grade level.
Among the area middle schools, Sylvan Hills and Northwood were able to top the state average only once in the last five years.
By federal law, all students are supposed to be proficient or advanced at their grade level by the end of the 2014 school year.
Arkansas has recently received a waiver from the federal requirements, but will still give the annual benchmark exams for the next two years and use them to grade student, teacher and school performances.
Benchmark tests are given in April in third through eighth grade in literacy and math. Fifth- and seventh-graders also take a benchmark test in science, but it is not used to determine how well a school is doing.
At the high school level, the required testing includes end-of-course exams in algebra, geometry, biology and literacy.
The following test scores are provided by the Arkansas Research Center, which has tracked Benchmark scores since 2008.
JACKSONVILLE
In 2008 and 2009, the Jacksonville Middle School, part of the Pulaski County Special School District, was divided into a boys and a girls campus. While neither did well against the state average, the girls for the most part, out performed the boys.
In 2010, the campuses were combined, but scores haven’t gotten much better.
At the boys campus in 2008, 30 percent of the sixth-graders were proficient in 2008 and the girls had a 49 percent rate. The combined campus in 2012 was 50 percent, meaning half the students were not reading or writing at grade level. The 50 percent score was 25 points below the state average.
In sixth-grade math, the boys were at 49 percent in 2008 and the girls were at 40 percent. At the combined campus, students scored 48 percent proficient, 28 points below the state average, meaning more than half the students were not functioning on their grade level.
In seventh grade, only 39 percent of the boys were proficient in literacy in 2008 and that fell to just 23 percent in 2009. Among the girls, 41 percent were proficient in 2008 and 59 percent a year later. At the combined campus, 59 percent scored proficient or advanced on the 2012 literacy exam, 21 points under the state average.
In math, the seventh-grade boys were 44 percent proficient in 2008 and the girls were at 34 percent. At the combined campus, in 2012, 58 percent of the students scored proficient or better, 20 points below state averages.
In 2008, 44 percent of eighth-grade boys were proficient in literacy and that went up to 56 percent in 2009. The girls were 60 percent proficient in 2008 and up to 65 percent in 2009. But the combined campus 2012 scores showed only 54 percent were proficient, 27 points under the state mark.
In math, the eight-grade boys were 42 percent proficient in 2008 and the girls were just 21 percent proficient. At the combined campus in 2012, just 43 percent of the students were proficient, a staggering 37 percent below the state average.
SYLVAN HILLS
Also in PCSSD, Sylvan Hills Middle School sixth-graders were 53 percent proficient in 2008 in literacy and moved up to 70 percent in 2012, but still five points under the state mark. In math, students were 53 percent proficient in 2008, jumped up to 69 percent the next year and were at 69 percent on the 2012 exams too, seven points under the state average.
Seventh-graders were 51 percent proficient in literacy in 2008 and jumped to 88 percent in 2012, beating the state mark by eight points. This is the only time in the past five years that any grade level at Sylvan Hills beat the state averages. In math, students were 41 percent proficient in 2008 and 73 percent in 2012, five points under the state mark.
Eight-graders, in literacy, scored 62 percent proficient in 2008, topped out at 75 percent in 2011 and then at 70 percent in 2012, 11 points off of the state averages. In math, students went from 41 percent proficient in 2008 to 57 percent in 2012, 13 points under the state average.
NORTHWOOD
At North Middle School, a PCSSD school, sixth-graders were 58 percent proficient in 2008 in literacy and ended up 69 percent proficient in 2012, six points off the state mark. In math, students were 72 percent proficient in 2008, topped out the next year at 77 percent and were 71 percent proficient on the 2012 exam, five points under the state average.
Seventh-graders, in literacy, were 56 percent proficient in 2008 and moved up to 78 percent in 2012, two points shy of the state mark. In math, students went from 54 percent in 2008 to 75 percent in 2012, three points under the state mark.
In eighth grade, students were 61 percent proficient in literacy in 2008, hit 78 percent in 2010 and finished at 74 percent in 2012, seven points under the state mark. In math, students were 45 percent in 2008, up to 63 percent the next year, but at 59 percent on the 2012 exams, 11 points under the state average.
Eighth-graders did beat the state average twice in the past five years in literacy and once in math.
LIGHTHOUSE
The Lighthouse Charter School in Jacksonville has only had sixth- and seventh-graders for two years and eighth-graders just for one, but here is the data for those years. Its scores are better than those surrounding PCSSD schools, but not as high as Cabot’s.
At the sixth-grade level, students were 54 percent proficient in literacy in 2011 and 77 percent in 2012, two points better than the state average. In math, students fell from 78 percent in 2011 to 70 percent in 2012, six points below the state mark.
In seventh-grade, students went from 53 percent proficient in literacy in 2011 to 78 percent in 2012, two points under the state mark. In math, students dropped from 85 percent proficient in 2011 to 57 percent in 2012, 21 points under the state mark.
Eighth-graders scored 69 percent proficient in 2012, 12 points below the state mark. In math, the students were 52 percent proficient in math, 18 points below the state mark.
LISA ACADEMY
Lisa Academy is a charter school with campuses in Sherwood and has been in operation for four years.
Its sixth-graders went from 73 percent proficient in literacy in 2009 to 84 percent in 2012, nine points better than the state average. In math, students fell from 87 percent in 2009 to 80 percent in 2012, but still four points better than the state average.
Seventh-graders went from 72 percent proficient in 2009 in literacy to 95 percent in 2012, one of the best scores in the state and 15 points over the state average. In math, students went from 81 percent in 2009 to 91 percent in 2012, 13 percent over the state mark.
Among eighth-graders, 84 percent were proficient in literacy in 2009 and 90 percent did the same in 2012, nine points over the state average. In math, students went from 58 percent proficient in 2009 to 81 percent in 2012, 11 points better than the state mark.
CABOT
Cabot students beat the state average in sixth, seventh and eighth grade in math and literacy every year over the past five years.
At Cabot Middle School North, sixth-graders, in literacy, were 75 percent proficient in 2008, 86 percent in 2011 and down to 84 percent in 2012, but still nine points above the state average. In math, students were 81 percent proficient in 2008, topped off at 88 percent in 2011 and were 84 percent proficient in 2012, eight points above the state mark.
Seventh-graders at Cabot Junior High North scored 64 percent proficient in 2008 in literacy and 87 percent in 2012, beating the state mark by seven points. In math, students went from 73 percent proficient in 2008 to 85 percent in 2012, seven points better than the state mark.
Eighth-graders were 78 percent proficient in literary in 2008, topped out at 89 percent in 2010 and were 87 percent in 2012, six points better than the state mark. In math, students went from 65 percent in 2008 to 84 percent in 2012, 14 points over the state average.
At Cabot Middle School South, sixth-grade students were 79 percent proficient in literacy in 2008 and 88 percent in 2012, 13 points better than the state mark. In math, students were consistent, scoring 87 percent in 2008, topping off at 88 percent the next year and scoring 87 percent in 2012, 11 points over the state average.
Seventh-grade students at Cabot Junior High South were 68 percent proficient in 2008 in literacy and 84 percent in 2012, four points above the state mark. In math, students were 76 proficient in 2008 and 84 percent in 2012, beating the state mark by six points.
Eight-graders were at 81 percent proficient in literacy in 2008, hit 89 percent in 2010, then fell to 86 percent in 2012, but still beat the state mark by five points. In math, students were 72 percent proficient in 2008 and 79 percent in 2012, nine points better than the state mark.
BEEBE
Sixth-graders in Beebe scored 67 proficient in literacy in 2008 and 77 percent in 2012, two points better than the state average. In math, students were 77 percent in 2008, topped off at 86 percent in 2009 and were 78 percent proficient in 2012, two points over the state average.
Seventh-graders were at 71 percent proficient in 2008 in literacy and 82 percent proficient in 2012, beating the state mark by two points. In math, students were also 71 percent proficient in 2008 and 82 percent in 2012, four points better than the state mark.
In eighth-grade, students were 79 percent proficient in 2008 and 82 percent in 2012, a point better than the state mark. In math, students went from 63 percent proficient in 2008 to 78 percent in 2012, eight points above the state average.
LONOKE
Sixth-graders in Lonoke went from 51 percent in 2008 in literacy to 76 percent in 2012, a point better than the state average. In math, students went from 75 percent proficient to 82 percent in 2009 and 2011 to 78 percent in 2012, two points better than the state.
Seventh-graders went from 59 percent proficient in literacy in 2008 to 85 percent in 2012, five points better than the state. In math, students were 75 percent proficient in 2008 and 83 percent in 2012, five points better than the state average.
In the eighth grade, students went from 68 percent proficient in literacy in 2008 to 83 percent in 2012, two points above the state average. In math, students went from 60 percent proficient in 2008 to 84 percent in 2012, 14 points better than the state mark.
Leader staff writer
This is the fourth in a series of articles taking an in-depth look at Benchmark scores across the region.
Seventy-five percent or more of middle school students across the state are reading, writing and understanding math at or above grade level, according to the 2012 Benchmark scores.
But in Jacksonville, only half the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders are on grade level in literacy and math, 25 points below the state average. Eighth-graders in Jacksonville scored a whopping 37 points below the state average on the math exam.
In Sherwood, students were falling about 10 points below the state marks.
Cabot, however, consistently bested the state marks in literacy and math in sixth, seventh and eighth grades.
Beebe and Lonoke students also beat the state average test scores most of the time.
But in the Pulaski County Special School District it was a different story — 40 to 60 percent of the students cannot read, write or perform math problems at grade level.
Among the area middle schools, Sylvan Hills and Northwood were able to top the state average only once in the last five years.
By federal law, all students are supposed to be proficient or advanced at their grade level by the end of the 2014 school year.
Arkansas has recently received a waiver from the federal requirements, but will still give the annual benchmark exams for the next two years and use them to grade student, teacher and school performances.
Benchmark tests are given in April in third through eighth grade in literacy and math. Fifth- and seventh-graders also take a benchmark test in science, but it is not used to determine how well a school is doing.
At the high school level, the required testing includes end-of-course exams in algebra, geometry, biology and literacy.
The following test scores are provided by the Arkansas Research Center, which has tracked Benchmark scores since 2008.
JACKSONVILLE
In 2008 and 2009, the Jacksonville Middle School, part of the Pulaski County Special School District, was divided into a boys and a girls campus. While neither did well against the state average, the girls for the most part, out performed the boys.
In 2010, the campuses were combined, but scores haven’t gotten much better.
At the boys campus in 2008, 30 percent of the sixth-graders were proficient in 2008 and the girls had a 49 percent rate. The combined campus in 2012 was 50 percent, meaning half the students were not reading or writing at grade level. The 50 percent score was 25 points below the state average.
In sixth-grade math, the boys were at 49 percent in 2008 and the girls were at 40 percent. At the combined campus, students scored 48 percent proficient, 28 points below the state average, meaning more than half the students were not functioning on their grade level.
In seventh grade, only 39 percent of the boys were proficient in literacy in 2008 and that fell to just 23 percent in 2009. Among the girls, 41 percent were proficient in 2008 and 59 percent a year later. At the combined campus, 59 percent scored proficient or advanced on the 2012 literacy exam, 21 points under the state average.
In math, the seventh-grade boys were 44 percent proficient in 2008 and the girls were at 34 percent. At the combined campus, in 2012, 58 percent of the students scored proficient or better, 20 points below state averages.
In 2008, 44 percent of eighth-grade boys were proficient in literacy and that went up to 56 percent in 2009. The girls were 60 percent proficient in 2008 and up to 65 percent in 2009. But the combined campus 2012 scores showed only 54 percent were proficient, 27 points under the state mark.
In math, the eight-grade boys were 42 percent proficient in 2008 and the girls were just 21 percent proficient. At the combined campus in 2012, just 43 percent of the students were proficient, a staggering 37 percent below the state average.
SYLVAN HILLS
Also in PCSSD, Sylvan Hills Middle School sixth-graders were 53 percent proficient in 2008 in literacy and moved up to 70 percent in 2012, but still five points under the state mark. In math, students were 53 percent proficient in 2008, jumped up to 69 percent the next year and were at 69 percent on the 2012 exams too, seven points under the state average.
Seventh-graders were 51 percent proficient in literacy in 2008 and jumped to 88 percent in 2012, beating the state mark by eight points. This is the only time in the past five years that any grade level at Sylvan Hills beat the state averages. In math, students were 41 percent proficient in 2008 and 73 percent in 2012, five points under the state mark.
Eight-graders, in literacy, scored 62 percent proficient in 2008, topped out at 75 percent in 2011 and then at 70 percent in 2012, 11 points off of the state averages. In math, students went from 41 percent proficient in 2008 to 57 percent in 2012, 13 points under the state average.
NORTHWOOD
At North Middle School, a PCSSD school, sixth-graders were 58 percent proficient in 2008 in literacy and ended up 69 percent proficient in 2012, six points off the state mark. In math, students were 72 percent proficient in 2008, topped out the next year at 77 percent and were 71 percent proficient on the 2012 exam, five points under the state average.
Seventh-graders, in literacy, were 56 percent proficient in 2008 and moved up to 78 percent in 2012, two points shy of the state mark. In math, students went from 54 percent in 2008 to 75 percent in 2012, three points under the state mark.
In eighth grade, students were 61 percent proficient in literacy in 2008, hit 78 percent in 2010 and finished at 74 percent in 2012, seven points under the state mark. In math, students were 45 percent in 2008, up to 63 percent the next year, but at 59 percent on the 2012 exams, 11 points under the state average.
Eighth-graders did beat the state average twice in the past five years in literacy and once in math.
LIGHTHOUSE
The Lighthouse Charter School in Jacksonville has only had sixth- and seventh-graders for two years and eighth-graders just for one, but here is the data for those years. Its scores are better than those surrounding PCSSD schools, but not as high as Cabot’s.
At the sixth-grade level, students were 54 percent proficient in literacy in 2011 and 77 percent in 2012, two points better than the state average. In math, students fell from 78 percent in 2011 to 70 percent in 2012, six points below the state mark.
In seventh-grade, students went from 53 percent proficient in literacy in 2011 to 78 percent in 2012, two points under the state mark. In math, students dropped from 85 percent proficient in 2011 to 57 percent in 2012, 21 points under the state mark.
Eighth-graders scored 69 percent proficient in 2012, 12 points below the state mark. In math, the students were 52 percent proficient in math, 18 points below the state mark.
LISA ACADEMY
Lisa Academy is a charter school with campuses in Sherwood and has been in operation for four years.
Its sixth-graders went from 73 percent proficient in literacy in 2009 to 84 percent in 2012, nine points better than the state average. In math, students fell from 87 percent in 2009 to 80 percent in 2012, but still four points better than the state average.
Seventh-graders went from 72 percent proficient in 2009 in literacy to 95 percent in 2012, one of the best scores in the state and 15 points over the state average. In math, students went from 81 percent in 2009 to 91 percent in 2012, 13 percent over the state mark.
Among eighth-graders, 84 percent were proficient in literacy in 2009 and 90 percent did the same in 2012, nine points over the state average. In math, students went from 58 percent proficient in 2009 to 81 percent in 2012, 11 points better than the state mark.
CABOT
Cabot students beat the state average in sixth, seventh and eighth grade in math and literacy every year over the past five years.
At Cabot Middle School North, sixth-graders, in literacy, were 75 percent proficient in 2008, 86 percent in 2011 and down to 84 percent in 2012, but still nine points above the state average. In math, students were 81 percent proficient in 2008, topped off at 88 percent in 2011 and were 84 percent proficient in 2012, eight points above the state mark.
Seventh-graders at Cabot Junior High North scored 64 percent proficient in 2008 in literacy and 87 percent in 2012, beating the state mark by seven points. In math, students went from 73 percent proficient in 2008 to 85 percent in 2012, seven points better than the state mark.
Eighth-graders were 78 percent proficient in literary in 2008, topped out at 89 percent in 2010 and were 87 percent in 2012, six points better than the state mark. In math, students went from 65 percent in 2008 to 84 percent in 2012, 14 points over the state average.
At Cabot Middle School South, sixth-grade students were 79 percent proficient in literacy in 2008 and 88 percent in 2012, 13 points better than the state mark. In math, students were consistent, scoring 87 percent in 2008, topping off at 88 percent the next year and scoring 87 percent in 2012, 11 points over the state average.
Seventh-grade students at Cabot Junior High South were 68 percent proficient in 2008 in literacy and 84 percent in 2012, four points above the state mark. In math, students were 76 proficient in 2008 and 84 percent in 2012, beating the state mark by six points.
Eight-graders were at 81 percent proficient in literacy in 2008, hit 89 percent in 2010, then fell to 86 percent in 2012, but still beat the state mark by five points. In math, students were 72 percent proficient in 2008 and 79 percent in 2012, nine points better than the state mark.
BEEBE
Sixth-graders in Beebe scored 67 proficient in literacy in 2008 and 77 percent in 2012, two points better than the state average. In math, students were 77 percent in 2008, topped off at 86 percent in 2009 and were 78 percent proficient in 2012, two points over the state average.
Seventh-graders were at 71 percent proficient in 2008 in literacy and 82 percent proficient in 2012, beating the state mark by two points. In math, students were also 71 percent proficient in 2008 and 82 percent in 2012, four points better than the state mark.
In eighth-grade, students were 79 percent proficient in 2008 and 82 percent in 2012, a point better than the state mark. In math, students went from 63 percent proficient in 2008 to 78 percent in 2012, eight points above the state average.
LONOKE
Sixth-graders in Lonoke went from 51 percent in 2008 in literacy to 76 percent in 2012, a point better than the state average. In math, students went from 75 percent proficient to 82 percent in 2009 and 2011 to 78 percent in 2012, two points better than the state.
Seventh-graders went from 59 percent proficient in literacy in 2008 to 85 percent in 2012, five points better than the state. In math, students were 75 percent proficient in 2008 and 83 percent in 2012, five points better than the state average.
In the eighth grade, students went from 68 percent proficient in literacy in 2008 to 83 percent in 2012, two points above the state average. In math, students went from 60 percent proficient in 2008 to 84 percent in 2012, 14 points better than the state mark.
TOP STORY >> Long FDA probe led to raid at firm selling fake cures
By STEPHEN STEED
Special to The Leader
Agents with the Food and Drug Administration worked undercover for 21 months before staging a raid that may be the death knell for a company already saddled with a $2.5 million judgment for fraud, negligence and misrepresentation for its claims that it cures cancer through laser treatments.
Lase Med, Inc. operated in Jacksonville for a few years before relocating to Broken Arrow, Okla., and, later, to nearby Owasso, where FDA agents on July 11 seized several boxes of patients’ records, employee payroll records, medical equipment, promotional materials, images off computers, various solutions and injectable ointments used in its practice, and $7,800 in cash from an office safe.
The FDA, in its application for a search warrant, said the agency suspected Lase Med Inc., and its owner-operator, Marie Antonella Carpenter, of wire fraud, causing a drug to be “misbranded” and a medical device to be “adulterated,” and failing to register as a drug-manufacturing establishment.
“Carpenter is preying on patients and giving false hope to those who are seeking treatment options for their disease,” wrote Agent Jeremy Bain of the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations. “In turn, she charges fees for the treatments that are not covered by insurance. She utilizes interstate communications, via e-mail and telephone calls, to induce prospective clients to participate in her scheme.”
Lase Med and Carpenter lost a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Little Rock in July 2011. The jury awarded Therese Westphal of Tarzana, Calif., $2.5 million in punitive and compensatory damages. However, Westphal, whose breast cancer returned after spending $6,250 for seven days of treatment at Lase Med’s clinic in Jacksonville, hasn’t been able to collect any part of the judgment.
The FDA is continuing its investigation. In the end, the agency can refer the case to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma for criminal charges or seek civil penalties against Lase Med through the FDA administrative division.
Carpenter didn’t return a reporter’s phone calls seeking comment, but she has written about the raid on a Lase Med website, blog and other Internet sites friendly to Lase Med. Her blog post a day after the raid referred to FDA agents as “government thugs.” Carpenter has shown similar disdain for other Lase Med critics, including former patients, calling them shills for the medical industry.
The raid essentially puts Lase Med out of business, because so much equipment and office records were seized, Carpenter wrote. “Dr. Carpenter has been rendered bereft and unable to make a living now, all because she offers an effective treatment for cancer which does not involve deadly poisons and cancer-causing radiation,” her blog stated.
The FDA said in the filing that it began an undercover investigation October 12, 2010, after a Lase Med patient complained that his treatments for throat cancer were a failure. Working undercover, agents posed as relatives of a fictitious cancer patient, “Mary Hart,” and sought information packets from Lase Med, in Broken Arrow at the time. The packet included an information sheet that stated, “We at Lase Med have been successfully treating patients since the inset (sic) of this millennium and continue to send our patients home, free of cancer.”
The FDA said Carpenter mixes saline solution and Black Walnut Green-Hull extract to “form a product the Lase Med website calls OxyM,” which is applied to cancer patients topically or by injection, and then uses a laser to heat the cancerous area to a temperature high enough to kill the tumor. The FDA said in its search-warrant application that “OxyM” is not FDA-approved, contrary to Carpenter’s claims. The FDA also has never approved the use of lasers for cancer treatments, contrary to Carpenter’s claims, Bain wrote.
By mixing the saline and extract to form OxyM, Baine said, Lase Med was manufacturing a drug but had not registered with the FDA as a drug manufacturer, as required by law.
During an undercover visit at Lase Med’s facilities, the FDA wrote, an agent was told by Carpenter, “Every patient that leaves here has got a dead tumor. It cannot survive. The way I do everything, there is nothing left alive, nothing at all.” The FDA said Carpenter also advises her patients to not consult other physicians or oncologists while, or after, receiving Lase Med treatments.
When the undercover agents questioned Carpenter about her education and background, Carpenter “claimed to be a physicist, not a physician or medical doctor,” according to the search-warrant application.
The FDA said Carpenter also told the agents that if the fictitious patient, “Mary Hart,” suffered any discomfort, lidocaine would be provided. The FDA said lidocaine, an anesthetic, can be purchased, dispensed and possessed only by a licensed and registered medical practitioner, and that Carpenter was illegally providing patients with the drug.
Bob Babecka, of Powder Springs, Ga., whose wife, Cyndi, received Lase Med treatment in 2008, said Friday he was happy to hear of the FDA’s action against Lase Med but lamented that it took so long. “I hope it keeps her (Carpenter) from hurting other people, at least for a while,” Babecka said.
Cyndi Babecka received a few days’ worth of Lase Med treatment and then was told all the cancer was gone, Bob Babecka testified last year in the civil lawsuit against Lase Med. The cancer returned less than a year later, even breaking through the skin. Cyndi Babecka was encouraged by Carpenter not to seek treatment from oncologists. She died in May 2010.
Special to The Leader
Agents with the Food and Drug Administration worked undercover for 21 months before staging a raid that may be the death knell for a company already saddled with a $2.5 million judgment for fraud, negligence and misrepresentation for its claims that it cures cancer through laser treatments.
Lase Med, Inc. operated in Jacksonville for a few years before relocating to Broken Arrow, Okla., and, later, to nearby Owasso, where FDA agents on July 11 seized several boxes of patients’ records, employee payroll records, medical equipment, promotional materials, images off computers, various solutions and injectable ointments used in its practice, and $7,800 in cash from an office safe.
The FDA, in its application for a search warrant, said the agency suspected Lase Med Inc., and its owner-operator, Marie Antonella Carpenter, of wire fraud, causing a drug to be “misbranded” and a medical device to be “adulterated,” and failing to register as a drug-manufacturing establishment.
“Carpenter is preying on patients and giving false hope to those who are seeking treatment options for their disease,” wrote Agent Jeremy Bain of the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations. “In turn, she charges fees for the treatments that are not covered by insurance. She utilizes interstate communications, via e-mail and telephone calls, to induce prospective clients to participate in her scheme.”
Lase Med and Carpenter lost a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Little Rock in July 2011. The jury awarded Therese Westphal of Tarzana, Calif., $2.5 million in punitive and compensatory damages. However, Westphal, whose breast cancer returned after spending $6,250 for seven days of treatment at Lase Med’s clinic in Jacksonville, hasn’t been able to collect any part of the judgment.
The FDA is continuing its investigation. In the end, the agency can refer the case to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma for criminal charges or seek civil penalties against Lase Med through the FDA administrative division.
Carpenter didn’t return a reporter’s phone calls seeking comment, but she has written about the raid on a Lase Med website, blog and other Internet sites friendly to Lase Med. Her blog post a day after the raid referred to FDA agents as “government thugs.” Carpenter has shown similar disdain for other Lase Med critics, including former patients, calling them shills for the medical industry.
The raid essentially puts Lase Med out of business, because so much equipment and office records were seized, Carpenter wrote. “Dr. Carpenter has been rendered bereft and unable to make a living now, all because she offers an effective treatment for cancer which does not involve deadly poisons and cancer-causing radiation,” her blog stated.
The FDA said in the filing that it began an undercover investigation October 12, 2010, after a Lase Med patient complained that his treatments for throat cancer were a failure. Working undercover, agents posed as relatives of a fictitious cancer patient, “Mary Hart,” and sought information packets from Lase Med, in Broken Arrow at the time. The packet included an information sheet that stated, “We at Lase Med have been successfully treating patients since the inset (sic) of this millennium and continue to send our patients home, free of cancer.”
The FDA said Carpenter mixes saline solution and Black Walnut Green-Hull extract to “form a product the Lase Med website calls OxyM,” which is applied to cancer patients topically or by injection, and then uses a laser to heat the cancerous area to a temperature high enough to kill the tumor. The FDA said in its search-warrant application that “OxyM” is not FDA-approved, contrary to Carpenter’s claims. The FDA also has never approved the use of lasers for cancer treatments, contrary to Carpenter’s claims, Bain wrote.
By mixing the saline and extract to form OxyM, Baine said, Lase Med was manufacturing a drug but had not registered with the FDA as a drug manufacturer, as required by law.
During an undercover visit at Lase Med’s facilities, the FDA wrote, an agent was told by Carpenter, “Every patient that leaves here has got a dead tumor. It cannot survive. The way I do everything, there is nothing left alive, nothing at all.” The FDA said Carpenter also advises her patients to not consult other physicians or oncologists while, or after, receiving Lase Med treatments.
When the undercover agents questioned Carpenter about her education and background, Carpenter “claimed to be a physicist, not a physician or medical doctor,” according to the search-warrant application.
The FDA said Carpenter also told the agents that if the fictitious patient, “Mary Hart,” suffered any discomfort, lidocaine would be provided. The FDA said lidocaine, an anesthetic, can be purchased, dispensed and possessed only by a licensed and registered medical practitioner, and that Carpenter was illegally providing patients with the drug.
Bob Babecka, of Powder Springs, Ga., whose wife, Cyndi, received Lase Med treatment in 2008, said Friday he was happy to hear of the FDA’s action against Lase Med but lamented that it took so long. “I hope it keeps her (Carpenter) from hurting other people, at least for a while,” Babecka said.
Cyndi Babecka received a few days’ worth of Lase Med treatment and then was told all the cancer was gone, Bob Babecka testified last year in the civil lawsuit against Lase Med. The cancer returned less than a year later, even breaking through the skin. Cyndi Babecka was encouraged by Carpenter not to seek treatment from oncologists. She died in May 2010.
SPORTS STORY >> Chevy Boys shut down by Benton
By RAY BENTON
The Gwatney Chevrolet Senior American Legion team suffered a regular-season ending loss to Benton on Tuesday at Dupree Park in Jacksonville. The SportsShop team never trailed after building a 5-0 lead in five innings. Jacksonville rallied for four in the bottom of the sixth, but that’s all it could muster as the visiting team went on to win 7-4.
“We just didn’t hit the ball,” Jacksonville coach Bob Hickingbotham said. “Our pitching was OK. We threw three different pitchers. Jared Wilson struggled a little bit in the first inning, but after that we threw the ball pretty well. It was our hitting that let us down.”
Benton scored three runs in the top of the first. Wilson didn’t give up another run through his three innings of work. Kenny Cummings pitched the next two innings. He held Benton scoreless in the fourth, and gave up two runs on a hit and an error in the fifth. Xavier Brown pitched the final two innings, also giving up two runs on just one hit, but he walked two to help Benton add to its lead.
“We put five on base with walks and hit batters,” Hickingbotham said. “That helped them out, but we didn’t give up many base hits.”
Each team got just four base hits.
All four of Jacksonville’s runs came with two outs in the sixth inning to cut a 5-0 deficit to 5-4. After Benton scored two in the top of the seventh, Jacksonville went down in order in the bottom of the seventh to end the game.
Alex Tucker got two of Gwatney’s four hits to lead all players in the game.
Leader sports editor
The Gwatney Chevrolet Senior American Legion team suffered a regular-season ending loss to Benton on Tuesday at Dupree Park in Jacksonville. The SportsShop team never trailed after building a 5-0 lead in five innings. Jacksonville rallied for four in the bottom of the sixth, but that’s all it could muster as the visiting team went on to win 7-4.
“We just didn’t hit the ball,” Jacksonville coach Bob Hickingbotham said. “Our pitching was OK. We threw three different pitchers. Jared Wilson struggled a little bit in the first inning, but after that we threw the ball pretty well. It was our hitting that let us down.”
Benton scored three runs in the top of the first. Wilson didn’t give up another run through his three innings of work. Kenny Cummings pitched the next two innings. He held Benton scoreless in the fourth, and gave up two runs on a hit and an error in the fifth. Xavier Brown pitched the final two innings, also giving up two runs on just one hit, but he walked two to help Benton add to its lead.
“We put five on base with walks and hit batters,” Hickingbotham said. “That helped them out, but we didn’t give up many base hits.”
Each team got just four base hits.
All four of Jacksonville’s runs came with two outs in the sixth inning to cut a 5-0 deficit to 5-4. After Benton scored two in the top of the seventh, Jacksonville went down in order in the bottom of the seventh to end the game.
Alex Tucker got two of Gwatney’s four hits to lead all players in the game.
SPORTS STORY >> Centennial holds off Gwatney
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
It took five and a half hours to complete one baseball game. Cabot and Jacksonville met at 7 p.m. Thursday at Burns Park in North Little Rock for a first-round matchup in the Zone 3 Senior American Legion tournament. After an hour and 45-minute delay for lightning in the middle of the second inning, they finally finished at 12:30 a.m. Friday with Cabot coming out on top 12-10, thanks largely to numerous base running blunders by Jacksonville that blew prime scoring opportunities.
Jacksonville also committed six errors on defense to give up eight unearned runs. Cabot wasn’t pristine either. The Centennial Bank Panthers committed four errors and gave up five unearned runs.
The Gwatney Chevrolet squad battled back from an 8-3 deficit to take a 9-8 lead in the sixth inning.
The Chevy Boys put their first two batters on base in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings and got just one run because of base running mistakes.
Meanwhile Cabot scored the final four runs of the game on three hits, three Gwatney errors, three walks and a hit batter.
With one out in the top of the seventh, Just Goff reached base on a throwing error by Gwatney third baseman Chris McClendon. Dustin Morris then doubled to left-centerfield to score Goff. Cole Thomas flew out to center, but an error by shortstop Kenny Cummings allowed Morris to score and give Cabot a 10-9 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, McClendon singled toright field to lead off the inning. Jared Wilson then bunted for a singled down the third baseline. Catcher Greg Jones struck out by fouling off three bunt attempts. Austin Allen reached on an error by Dustin Morris at shortstop that loaded the bases. Cummings then popped up to second base for the second out. Alex Tucker singled to centerfield to score McClendon. Wilson stopped at third, but Allen didn’t stop at second and got caught on the base paths for the third out of the inning.
In the eighth, Gwatney’s Jamie McCranie took the mound in relief of starter Jesse Harbin. He struck out Tristan Bulice and Casey Vaughan to start the inning, but Tyler Carter and Dustin Morris singled to make it 11-9.
Jacksonville again got its first two batters on base when Ryan Mallison and Xavier Brown drew walks from reliever Cole Thomas. McCranie then hit a hard line drive to left field where Scott Burnett made the catch and doubled up Mallison, who failed to wait and see if the catch was made before trying to score on the hit. McClendon then hit an infield single to shortstop to put runners on the corners with two outs. Wilson then went rogue and tried to reach on an uncalled bunt, but was thrown out for the third out of the inning.
Cabot (17-13) added aonther run without a hit in the top of the ninth. Scott Burnett reached on a one-out error by Mallison at second base. McCranie then hit Bryson Morris and walked Bulice to load the bases. Vaughan, who McCranie had struck out in his last bat, then called three timeouts on two pitches before Jacksonville coach Bob Hickingbotham brought Brown to the mound. He walked Vaughan to drive in the final run of the game.
Jacksonville got another rally going in the ninth when the eight and nine hitters reached base to start it off. Jones walked and Derek St. Clair checked in to run for the Gwatney catcher. Allen singled with a hard line drive off closing pitcher Ryan Logan’s leg to put runners at first and second. With Cummings at the plate, a breaking ball got by catcher Tristan Bulice, but stopped right behind him. St. Clair held at second, but Allen again lost sight of his fellow base runners and charged into second base, forcing St. Clair to try to get to third where Bulice easily threw him out. Cummings then struck out and Tucker grounded out to first base to end the game.
Cabot got on the board first in the top of the second inning, scoring three runs on four base hits and one error. Goff, Dustin Morris, Wilkie and Burnett each got base hits to account for the three earned runs. Jacksonville made it 3-2 with two earned runs on two hits, a walk and sacrifice by Jones. Gwatney tied it in the third when Cummings beat out an infield single, stole second base, reached third on a balk by starting pitcher Kyle Kaufman, and scored on a sacrifice grounder by Tucker.
Cabot scored five in the top of the fourth for an 8-3 lead. Thomas led off with a single but was thrown out on a 5-4 fielder’s choice by Wilkie, that also saw an error by Brown on his relay throw to first. Cummings then fumbled a double-play ground ball off Burnett’s bat that left everyone safe.
Bryson Morris then hit a grounder to second base. Brown made the play, but McRanie dropped the ball at first, leaving the bases loaded. Bulice then walked to drive in a run, Vaughan singled to drive in another RBI. Carter hit a sacrifice grounder to second base for the third running of the inning and Goff hit a hard shot to right field that burned Tucker and bounced over the fence for a two-RBI ground-rule double.
Jacksonville then scored the next six runs of the game, starting with one in the bottom of the fourth. Mclendon walked with one out, Wilson reached on an error at second base and Jones singled to left to score McClendon. Jacksonville got three base hits with no outs in the fifth to score two runs. Tucker singled, Harbin doubled to left and Brown singled. Cabot then turned a 6-4-3 double play and Wilson grounded out to second to end the rally as quickly as it started.
Jacksonville’s brief lead came after a three-run sixth. Jones walked to start things off. Allen bunted back to the pitcher, but Thomas’ throw to second base was high. Cummings bunted the runners into scoring position. Tucker was hit to load the bases. Harbin singled to drive in one run, but two runs scored on an error by Dustin Morris. Brown hit a grounder to second base that got Tucker thrown out at second. It Allen scored on the sacrifice, but Tucker also scored when Morris’ throw to first was off the mark.
As a result of the win, Cabot faced North Little Rock at 8 p.m. last night. Jacksonville will play at 4 p.m. today against the loser of Friday’s Sylvan Hills versus Russellville matchup.
Leader sports editor
It took five and a half hours to complete one baseball game. Cabot and Jacksonville met at 7 p.m. Thursday at Burns Park in North Little Rock for a first-round matchup in the Zone 3 Senior American Legion tournament. After an hour and 45-minute delay for lightning in the middle of the second inning, they finally finished at 12:30 a.m. Friday with Cabot coming out on top 12-10, thanks largely to numerous base running blunders by Jacksonville that blew prime scoring opportunities.
Jacksonville also committed six errors on defense to give up eight unearned runs. Cabot wasn’t pristine either. The Centennial Bank Panthers committed four errors and gave up five unearned runs.
The Gwatney Chevrolet squad battled back from an 8-3 deficit to take a 9-8 lead in the sixth inning.
The Chevy Boys put their first two batters on base in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings and got just one run because of base running mistakes.
Meanwhile Cabot scored the final four runs of the game on three hits, three Gwatney errors, three walks and a hit batter.
With one out in the top of the seventh, Just Goff reached base on a throwing error by Gwatney third baseman Chris McClendon. Dustin Morris then doubled to left-centerfield to score Goff. Cole Thomas flew out to center, but an error by shortstop Kenny Cummings allowed Morris to score and give Cabot a 10-9 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, McClendon singled toright field to lead off the inning. Jared Wilson then bunted for a singled down the third baseline. Catcher Greg Jones struck out by fouling off three bunt attempts. Austin Allen reached on an error by Dustin Morris at shortstop that loaded the bases. Cummings then popped up to second base for the second out. Alex Tucker singled to centerfield to score McClendon. Wilson stopped at third, but Allen didn’t stop at second and got caught on the base paths for the third out of the inning.
In the eighth, Gwatney’s Jamie McCranie took the mound in relief of starter Jesse Harbin. He struck out Tristan Bulice and Casey Vaughan to start the inning, but Tyler Carter and Dustin Morris singled to make it 11-9.
Jacksonville again got its first two batters on base when Ryan Mallison and Xavier Brown drew walks from reliever Cole Thomas. McCranie then hit a hard line drive to left field where Scott Burnett made the catch and doubled up Mallison, who failed to wait and see if the catch was made before trying to score on the hit. McClendon then hit an infield single to shortstop to put runners on the corners with two outs. Wilson then went rogue and tried to reach on an uncalled bunt, but was thrown out for the third out of the inning.
Cabot (17-13) added aonther run without a hit in the top of the ninth. Scott Burnett reached on a one-out error by Mallison at second base. McCranie then hit Bryson Morris and walked Bulice to load the bases. Vaughan, who McCranie had struck out in his last bat, then called three timeouts on two pitches before Jacksonville coach Bob Hickingbotham brought Brown to the mound. He walked Vaughan to drive in the final run of the game.
Jacksonville got another rally going in the ninth when the eight and nine hitters reached base to start it off. Jones walked and Derek St. Clair checked in to run for the Gwatney catcher. Allen singled with a hard line drive off closing pitcher Ryan Logan’s leg to put runners at first and second. With Cummings at the plate, a breaking ball got by catcher Tristan Bulice, but stopped right behind him. St. Clair held at second, but Allen again lost sight of his fellow base runners and charged into second base, forcing St. Clair to try to get to third where Bulice easily threw him out. Cummings then struck out and Tucker grounded out to first base to end the game.
Cabot got on the board first in the top of the second inning, scoring three runs on four base hits and one error. Goff, Dustin Morris, Wilkie and Burnett each got base hits to account for the three earned runs. Jacksonville made it 3-2 with two earned runs on two hits, a walk and sacrifice by Jones. Gwatney tied it in the third when Cummings beat out an infield single, stole second base, reached third on a balk by starting pitcher Kyle Kaufman, and scored on a sacrifice grounder by Tucker.
Cabot scored five in the top of the fourth for an 8-3 lead. Thomas led off with a single but was thrown out on a 5-4 fielder’s choice by Wilkie, that also saw an error by Brown on his relay throw to first. Cummings then fumbled a double-play ground ball off Burnett’s bat that left everyone safe.
Bryson Morris then hit a grounder to second base. Brown made the play, but McRanie dropped the ball at first, leaving the bases loaded. Bulice then walked to drive in a run, Vaughan singled to drive in another RBI. Carter hit a sacrifice grounder to second base for the third running of the inning and Goff hit a hard shot to right field that burned Tucker and bounced over the fence for a two-RBI ground-rule double.
Jacksonville then scored the next six runs of the game, starting with one in the bottom of the fourth. Mclendon walked with one out, Wilson reached on an error at second base and Jones singled to left to score McClendon. Jacksonville got three base hits with no outs in the fifth to score two runs. Tucker singled, Harbin doubled to left and Brown singled. Cabot then turned a 6-4-3 double play and Wilson grounded out to second to end the rally as quickly as it started.
Jacksonville’s brief lead came after a three-run sixth. Jones walked to start things off. Allen bunted back to the pitcher, but Thomas’ throw to second base was high. Cummings bunted the runners into scoring position. Tucker was hit to load the bases. Harbin singled to drive in one run, but two runs scored on an error by Dustin Morris. Brown hit a grounder to second base that got Tucker thrown out at second. It Allen scored on the sacrifice, but Tucker also scored when Morris’ throw to first was off the mark.
As a result of the win, Cabot faced North Little Rock at 8 p.m. last night. Jacksonville will play at 4 p.m. today against the loser of Friday’s Sylvan Hills versus Russellville matchup.
SPORTS STORY >> Seventh inning rally lifts Panthers
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Centennial Bank Panthers got a wild win over Little Rock Blue on Tuesday at Central High in Little Rock. Cabot trailed 15-8 after six innings, but rallied for a 17-15 victory.
Justin Goff had a monster game at the plate. He went 4 for 4 with a home run, a double, two singles and five RBIs. Tyler Carter and Ryan Logan also got three hits each as the Panthers piled up 17 base hits.
The Panthers got seven back in the seventh inning to make it 15-15. Goff, who didn’t make an out the entire game, walked to start the rally. Dustin Morris also walked and Cole Thomas singled for an RBI. Kyle Kaufman reached on an error at second base that also scored a run. Ryan Logan and Bryson Morris flew out, but back-to-back doubles by Grant Bell and Casey Vaughan and singled by Tyler Carter and Goff competed the rally.
Cabot won the game with two in the ninth. Carter and Goff got one-out singles to start the rally. Dustin Morris walked and Thomas reached on an error at shortstop that also scored Carter from third. On Kaufman’s at bat, Goff scored on wild pitch to set the final margin.
Goff hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning to pull Cabot close after a big LR Blue rally. Burnett had doubled and Thomas singled to set the stage for Goff’s shot.
The Panthers led briefly with three runs in the top of the second inning. Carter singled and Goff doubled to drive him home. A sacrifice by Thomas scored Goff. Wilkie and Bryson Morris walked and Bulice singled to drive in the third run of the inning.
Little Rock Blue scored three in the bottom of the second, but Cabot got the lead back with a run in the top of the third. Vaughan doubled and Goff drove him home to make it 4-3 Cabot.
Blue then scored six in the bottom of the third to make it 9-4, but Cabot’s four in the fourth made it 9-8.
Blue added three more in the fifth and three in the sixth to take the big lead.
Leader sports editor
The Centennial Bank Panthers got a wild win over Little Rock Blue on Tuesday at Central High in Little Rock. Cabot trailed 15-8 after six innings, but rallied for a 17-15 victory.
Justin Goff had a monster game at the plate. He went 4 for 4 with a home run, a double, two singles and five RBIs. Tyler Carter and Ryan Logan also got three hits each as the Panthers piled up 17 base hits.
The Panthers got seven back in the seventh inning to make it 15-15. Goff, who didn’t make an out the entire game, walked to start the rally. Dustin Morris also walked and Cole Thomas singled for an RBI. Kyle Kaufman reached on an error at second base that also scored a run. Ryan Logan and Bryson Morris flew out, but back-to-back doubles by Grant Bell and Casey Vaughan and singled by Tyler Carter and Goff competed the rally.
Cabot won the game with two in the ninth. Carter and Goff got one-out singles to start the rally. Dustin Morris walked and Thomas reached on an error at shortstop that also scored Carter from third. On Kaufman’s at bat, Goff scored on wild pitch to set the final margin.
Goff hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning to pull Cabot close after a big LR Blue rally. Burnett had doubled and Thomas singled to set the stage for Goff’s shot.
The Panthers led briefly with three runs in the top of the second inning. Carter singled and Goff doubled to drive him home. A sacrifice by Thomas scored Goff. Wilkie and Bryson Morris walked and Bulice singled to drive in the third run of the inning.
Little Rock Blue scored three in the bottom of the second, but Cabot got the lead back with a run in the top of the third. Vaughan doubled and Goff drove him home to make it 4-3 Cabot.
Blue then scored six in the bottom of the third to make it 9-4, but Cabot’s four in the fourth made it 9-8.
Blue added three more in the fifth and three in the sixth to take the big lead.
SPORTS STORY >> Cabot, Lonoke settling QB spot
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
A battle for the starting quarterback position has been one of the primary themes for both Cabot and Lonoke through a busy summer of team camps and 7-on-7 football as the start of official fall practice closes in at the end of this month.
For the Jackrabbits, juniors Grant Dewey and Nick Watson have both shown promise as potential leaders for head coach Doug Bost’s spread offense, while a pair of Cabot juniors, Kason Kimbrell and Grant Bell, have shared time leading the Panthers’ offense this summer.
Those battles played out side by side and in a couple of instances on the same side of the field Wednesday as Cabot hosted Little Rock Catholic and Hazen along with the Jackrabbits in weekly 7-on-7 league play at Panther Stadium.
The Panthers are looking to replace graduated quarterback Zac Craig while the Jackrabbits are starting from scratch after moving former quarterback D.J. Burton back to his original receiver position.
“They’re battling it out for the quarterback spot,” Bost said. “We moved D.J. out to receiver – probably more of a natural position for him, and he’s bought into it, doing a heck of a job. That’s where he started as a sophomore. The quarterbacks have been rotating all summer and giving us some good looks.”
Dewey was a backup to Burton last season while Watson was a receiver asa sophomore. Another potential quarterback moved out of the area before the start of summer and left a vacancy, prompting Bost to move Watson over just as he did with Burton a year ago.
“He can go play either one for us,” Bost said of Watson. “They’ve hit the playbook – we’ve got some new passing concepts this year, and they know their progression and where their reads are, so we’re real pleased with where they are right now.”
The receiver corps also looked crisp for Lonoke on Wednesday, particularly incoming senior Reid McKenzie, who has started to use his size advantage over most opponents to pull down the higher offerings from Dewey and Watson. Blake Gooden looked good on both sides of the ball, pulling in a number of passes on offense with a number of nice breakups and a couple of interceptions on defense.
“The kids have been working hard,” Bost said. “Lifting weights three days a week, running three days a week – we’ve been to three seven-on-seven tournaments, we’ve been to two team camps, and we’ll finish up one tomorrow night. So, it’s been a busy summer, and we’re looking forward to getting started here on the 30th.”
Cabot has traditionally used 7-on-7 primarily for defensive purposes, but the Panthers’ passing game held its own with Catholic and Lonoke on Wednesday.
Still, head coach Mike Malham and staff had their eyes on the secondary. There were a few long passes that got by the defense, and some of the in routes by opponents resulted in significant gains, but in typical Cabot fashion, the defense tightened up as opposing offenses got closer to the goal line.
It’s been a good summer so far for junior Jordan Burke, who started in the secondary a year ago as a sophomore, while sophomore Jacob Ferguson and move-in Spencer Gilcrest could earn starting positions this fall with their efforts throughout June and July.
“With those coming back, plus the new kids we’re looking at, I’m looking for our secondary to look a lot better,” Malham said. “And that’s a big key to playing good defense. We can teach good technique to those linemen, but when you’ve got people working in open spaces, sometimes it just gets down to who’s the better athlete.”
The offense worked fairly consistent through the four scrimmages on Wednesday. There were some dropped passes and isolated misreads, but overall, both Kimbrell and Bell looked in control of the offense. That could mean an improved passing game for the Panthers this year, but as always, Malham will be counting on the running game in most situations.
“We spend as much time throwing as we do running,” Malham said. “But the success rate percentage-wise seems to be that we complete more handoffs than we do passes.”
Last year’s disappointing 3-7 record ended the Panthers’ season without a spot in the 7A playoffs for the first time in five years, but with more experience and improved depth on defense returning in 2012, Malham said he is hoping for a much better outcome as they return to the 7A/6A East Conference.
“We’ve got a lot done,” Malham said. “With the kids coming back, I think we’ve made a lot of progress – it looks a lot better than it did last year. Offensively, of course, we’re getting to work on our throwing game right now, which we always install. We’ve got some kids who run well, and at times catch the ball well. Overall, I think it’s been a successful summer, and a week from Monday, we start getting ready for the real thing.”
Leader sportswriter
A battle for the starting quarterback position has been one of the primary themes for both Cabot and Lonoke through a busy summer of team camps and 7-on-7 football as the start of official fall practice closes in at the end of this month.
For the Jackrabbits, juniors Grant Dewey and Nick Watson have both shown promise as potential leaders for head coach Doug Bost’s spread offense, while a pair of Cabot juniors, Kason Kimbrell and Grant Bell, have shared time leading the Panthers’ offense this summer.
Those battles played out side by side and in a couple of instances on the same side of the field Wednesday as Cabot hosted Little Rock Catholic and Hazen along with the Jackrabbits in weekly 7-on-7 league play at Panther Stadium.
The Panthers are looking to replace graduated quarterback Zac Craig while the Jackrabbits are starting from scratch after moving former quarterback D.J. Burton back to his original receiver position.
“They’re battling it out for the quarterback spot,” Bost said. “We moved D.J. out to receiver – probably more of a natural position for him, and he’s bought into it, doing a heck of a job. That’s where he started as a sophomore. The quarterbacks have been rotating all summer and giving us some good looks.”
Dewey was a backup to Burton last season while Watson was a receiver asa sophomore. Another potential quarterback moved out of the area before the start of summer and left a vacancy, prompting Bost to move Watson over just as he did with Burton a year ago.
“He can go play either one for us,” Bost said of Watson. “They’ve hit the playbook – we’ve got some new passing concepts this year, and they know their progression and where their reads are, so we’re real pleased with where they are right now.”
The receiver corps also looked crisp for Lonoke on Wednesday, particularly incoming senior Reid McKenzie, who has started to use his size advantage over most opponents to pull down the higher offerings from Dewey and Watson. Blake Gooden looked good on both sides of the ball, pulling in a number of passes on offense with a number of nice breakups and a couple of interceptions on defense.
“The kids have been working hard,” Bost said. “Lifting weights three days a week, running three days a week – we’ve been to three seven-on-seven tournaments, we’ve been to two team camps, and we’ll finish up one tomorrow night. So, it’s been a busy summer, and we’re looking forward to getting started here on the 30th.”
Cabot has traditionally used 7-on-7 primarily for defensive purposes, but the Panthers’ passing game held its own with Catholic and Lonoke on Wednesday.
Still, head coach Mike Malham and staff had their eyes on the secondary. There were a few long passes that got by the defense, and some of the in routes by opponents resulted in significant gains, but in typical Cabot fashion, the defense tightened up as opposing offenses got closer to the goal line.
It’s been a good summer so far for junior Jordan Burke, who started in the secondary a year ago as a sophomore, while sophomore Jacob Ferguson and move-in Spencer Gilcrest could earn starting positions this fall with their efforts throughout June and July.
“With those coming back, plus the new kids we’re looking at, I’m looking for our secondary to look a lot better,” Malham said. “And that’s a big key to playing good defense. We can teach good technique to those linemen, but when you’ve got people working in open spaces, sometimes it just gets down to who’s the better athlete.”
The offense worked fairly consistent through the four scrimmages on Wednesday. There were some dropped passes and isolated misreads, but overall, both Kimbrell and Bell looked in control of the offense. That could mean an improved passing game for the Panthers this year, but as always, Malham will be counting on the running game in most situations.
“We spend as much time throwing as we do running,” Malham said. “But the success rate percentage-wise seems to be that we complete more handoffs than we do passes.”
Last year’s disappointing 3-7 record ended the Panthers’ season without a spot in the 7A playoffs for the first time in five years, but with more experience and improved depth on defense returning in 2012, Malham said he is hoping for a much better outcome as they return to the 7A/6A East Conference.
“We’ve got a lot done,” Malham said. “With the kids coming back, I think we’ve made a lot of progress – it looks a lot better than it did last year. Offensively, of course, we’re getting to work on our throwing game right now, which we always install. We’ve got some kids who run well, and at times catch the ball well. Overall, I think it’s been a successful summer, and a week from Monday, we start getting ready for the real thing.”
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
TOP STORY>>Black caucus feuding
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
The president of the Arkansas Democratic Black Caucus has prevented its secretary from providing meeting minutes to members since March and with her cohorts — Jacksonville lightning rod Rizelle Aaron chief among them — effectively barred her from running for reelection at its convention Saturday.
As chairman of the nominating committee, for three hours Aaron ran the meeting and gaveled away dissent over his decision that secretary Kristina Gulley was ineligible to run for reelection.
“They are in cahoots,” Gulley said of Aaron and the president, Kasey Summerville. “What he did on Saturday — he’s not a true Democrat.”
Gulley said Tuesday afternoon that she was filing a grievance with the Democratic Party of Arkansas.
Aaron said he followed Robert’s Rules of Order and that he was appointed election committee chairman by the executive committee. He denied that he was in cahoots with Summerville and said any e-mails, phone calls or text messages between them were caucus business — to which Gulley might respond, “That’s the problem.”
MESSAGES NOT RETURNED
Both a phone call and an e-mail to Summerville on Tuesday afternoon went unanswered.
The nominating committee ruled that Gulley was not eligible for reelection to her position because she had not paid her dues in time. Gulley, who had with her what appeared to be a proper Arkansas Democratic Black Caucus receipt for those dues, dated Feb. 11, 2012, said that the minutes would also reflect that she had paid her dues on time.
Aaron, who was running the meeting, told her it was too late, that she had been disqualified.
“On an issue like this, if there is any question at all, you should allow it,” civil rights attorney and state Rep. John Walker said. “Over the years, this is the way we’ve been denied as a people. I want to have actual fairness and the appearance of fairness,” Walker added.
Aaron then said that “for the sake of the organization” that he would allow her on the ballot if two-thirds of eligible voters overruled him, claiming that was according to Roberts’ Rules of Order.
FISCAL TRANSPARENCY
Gulley and the president, Summerville, have become estranged over the way finances are handled and over what Gulley describes as Summerville’s coverup attempts to censor or edit minutes from the monthly meetings.
Her troubles with Sum-merville began in November when treasurer Judy Green submitted her resignation, according to Gulley. At Green’s request — and apparently to Summerville’s consternation — she emailed a copy of the resignation letter to all members for whom she had an e-mail address, Gulley said.
She added that Summerville has refused to give her an updated membership roster.
Green’s resignation letter called the group’s fiscal practices into question, and Gulley says Summerville is trying to prevent caucus members from hearing problems such as the allegedly lost checkbook and two-signature checks signed only by the president and without documentation for purchases or expenses.
Gulley said forwarding that letter to membership was the beginning of her troubles with Summerville, who is also the Clark County assessor.
MISSING CHECKBOOK
Green’s Nov. 12 resignation letter said that Summerville wouldn’t or couldn’t provide her with the group’s checkbook so that she could reconcile the books.
It was around that time that she also discovered that at least one official was using a caucus credit card, about which she had no knowledge.
“If there is ever an audit by IRS or the (Democratic Party of Arkansas), I do not want to be held accountable for keeping accurate records when checks and credit cards are being used and I have no receipts to document the expenses,” wrote Green, an accountant of 40 years.
“The president has done the treasurer’s reports each month, because she has information that I don’t have,” Green added.
“The treasurer’s only responsibility should be to write checks for bills and other expenses of the organization; receive monies from the secretary after the secretary records the income; keep accurate records of all income and expenses; and make monthly reports to the body,” Green wrote.
AUDIT REQUEST
In May, the black caucus membership voted to ask the Democratic Party of Arkansas for an audit of its books, according to Gulley. She said she didn’t believe that Summerville had made that request to the party.
“I believe the only thing before us is a grievance by Kristina Gulley because (the president won’t give her) the (current) membership roster,” according to Candace Martin, communications director for the Democratic Party of Arkansas.
Both Martin and Demo-cratic chairman Will Bond said they weren’t aware of any audit request from the Black Caucus.
SHOWDOWN
The Leader was the only news organization at the meeting, conducted at the state Capitol on Saturday and attended on a tip that Aaron — who is a candidate for the Jacksonville City Council — would be reprimanded by people who believe he is ambitious, self-aggrandizing and manipulative and using the NAACP and the Black Caucus to his own ends.
“I hope that I’m ambitious,” said Aaron on Tuesday, “but not manipulative.”
Aaron holds no elected position in government or in the caucus. His opponents feared that he would run the five-hour meeting with an iron fist.
Before the meeting, the critics worried that Aaron would overrule Walker’s contention that Gulley be allowed on the ballot and other decisions made as chairman of the nominating committee.
Aaron complained that the Jacksonville NAACP, of which he is legal-redress chairman, has been improperly excluded from decisions regarding the Pulaski County Special School District.
And that was before he won the first vice presidency over incumbent Reginald Fields, who is serving in Afghanistan.
Aaron said his nomination from the floor by Darrell Stephens came as a surprise. Stephens himself was nominated from the floor and beat current second vice president Erma Poindexter.
In the other races, Sum-merville beat Diane Curry.
With Gulley was declared ineligible to run, Pat Banks won the position of secretary without opposition, Lynette Vinson won assistant secretary, and Sharl Hill beat Janice Roberts for treasurer.
Leader senior staff writer
The president of the Arkansas Democratic Black Caucus has prevented its secretary from providing meeting minutes to members since March and with her cohorts — Jacksonville lightning rod Rizelle Aaron chief among them — effectively barred her from running for reelection at its convention Saturday.
As chairman of the nominating committee, for three hours Aaron ran the meeting and gaveled away dissent over his decision that secretary Kristina Gulley was ineligible to run for reelection.
“They are in cahoots,” Gulley said of Aaron and the president, Kasey Summerville. “What he did on Saturday — he’s not a true Democrat.”
Gulley said Tuesday afternoon that she was filing a grievance with the Democratic Party of Arkansas.
Aaron said he followed Robert’s Rules of Order and that he was appointed election committee chairman by the executive committee. He denied that he was in cahoots with Summerville and said any e-mails, phone calls or text messages between them were caucus business — to which Gulley might respond, “That’s the problem.”
MESSAGES NOT RETURNED
Both a phone call and an e-mail to Summerville on Tuesday afternoon went unanswered.
The nominating committee ruled that Gulley was not eligible for reelection to her position because she had not paid her dues in time. Gulley, who had with her what appeared to be a proper Arkansas Democratic Black Caucus receipt for those dues, dated Feb. 11, 2012, said that the minutes would also reflect that she had paid her dues on time.
Aaron, who was running the meeting, told her it was too late, that she had been disqualified.
“On an issue like this, if there is any question at all, you should allow it,” civil rights attorney and state Rep. John Walker said. “Over the years, this is the way we’ve been denied as a people. I want to have actual fairness and the appearance of fairness,” Walker added.
Aaron then said that “for the sake of the organization” that he would allow her on the ballot if two-thirds of eligible voters overruled him, claiming that was according to Roberts’ Rules of Order.
FISCAL TRANSPARENCY
Gulley and the president, Summerville, have become estranged over the way finances are handled and over what Gulley describes as Summerville’s coverup attempts to censor or edit minutes from the monthly meetings.
Her troubles with Sum-merville began in November when treasurer Judy Green submitted her resignation, according to Gulley. At Green’s request — and apparently to Summerville’s consternation — she emailed a copy of the resignation letter to all members for whom she had an e-mail address, Gulley said.
She added that Summerville has refused to give her an updated membership roster.
Green’s resignation letter called the group’s fiscal practices into question, and Gulley says Summerville is trying to prevent caucus members from hearing problems such as the allegedly lost checkbook and two-signature checks signed only by the president and without documentation for purchases or expenses.
Gulley said forwarding that letter to membership was the beginning of her troubles with Summerville, who is also the Clark County assessor.
MISSING CHECKBOOK
Green’s Nov. 12 resignation letter said that Summerville wouldn’t or couldn’t provide her with the group’s checkbook so that she could reconcile the books.
It was around that time that she also discovered that at least one official was using a caucus credit card, about which she had no knowledge.
“If there is ever an audit by IRS or the (Democratic Party of Arkansas), I do not want to be held accountable for keeping accurate records when checks and credit cards are being used and I have no receipts to document the expenses,” wrote Green, an accountant of 40 years.
“The president has done the treasurer’s reports each month, because she has information that I don’t have,” Green added.
“The treasurer’s only responsibility should be to write checks for bills and other expenses of the organization; receive monies from the secretary after the secretary records the income; keep accurate records of all income and expenses; and make monthly reports to the body,” Green wrote.
AUDIT REQUEST
In May, the black caucus membership voted to ask the Democratic Party of Arkansas for an audit of its books, according to Gulley. She said she didn’t believe that Summerville had made that request to the party.
“I believe the only thing before us is a grievance by Kristina Gulley because (the president won’t give her) the (current) membership roster,” according to Candace Martin, communications director for the Democratic Party of Arkansas.
Both Martin and Demo-cratic chairman Will Bond said they weren’t aware of any audit request from the Black Caucus.
SHOWDOWN
The Leader was the only news organization at the meeting, conducted at the state Capitol on Saturday and attended on a tip that Aaron — who is a candidate for the Jacksonville City Council — would be reprimanded by people who believe he is ambitious, self-aggrandizing and manipulative and using the NAACP and the Black Caucus to his own ends.
“I hope that I’m ambitious,” said Aaron on Tuesday, “but not manipulative.”
Aaron holds no elected position in government or in the caucus. His opponents feared that he would run the five-hour meeting with an iron fist.
Before the meeting, the critics worried that Aaron would overrule Walker’s contention that Gulley be allowed on the ballot and other decisions made as chairman of the nominating committee.
Aaron complained that the Jacksonville NAACP, of which he is legal-redress chairman, has been improperly excluded from decisions regarding the Pulaski County Special School District.
And that was before he won the first vice presidency over incumbent Reginald Fields, who is serving in Afghanistan.
Aaron said his nomination from the floor by Darrell Stephens came as a surprise. Stephens himself was nominated from the floor and beat current second vice president Erma Poindexter.
In the other races, Sum-merville beat Diane Curry.
With Gulley was declared ineligible to run, Pat Banks won the position of secretary without opposition, Lynette Vinson won assistant secretary, and Sharl Hill beat Janice Roberts for treasurer.
SPORTS STORY>>Football has become too important
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
College football has become one of the biggest idols in America. There are fans in every sport whose loyalty goes beyond reason. But in college football, there is a systematic willingness among fans to delude themselves concerning their favorite team, or rationalize wrong into not so wrong, like in no other sport. Another way of putting it is there is rampant hypocrisy among college football fans.
This epidemic has never been on display more so than in recent months at State College, Pa. That’s where Penn State University is and that’s where former Nittany Lions’ defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky raped at least one, but probably several, little boys, and where several people in authority knew about it, could have stepped in decades ago and put a stop to it, but chose not to.
A quick glance at the blog comments that follow news website stories on the case reveal a proper, nationwide moral disdain for Sandusky’s behavior, and the behavior of the people who aided his actions with their silence. Specifically, people around the country have turned on Penn State head coach Joe Paterno, who up until this scandal broke and it became clear he was involved in keeping Sandusky’s crimes under wraps, had an iconic image as the shining star that exemplified everything that is right about amateur athletics.
A deeper look at Penn State sports blogs reveals that many, if not most, Nittany Lion fans are not yet willing to believe Paterno did anything wrong.
Even this horrible case is not enough to convince most of the people posting on those sites that Paterno is to blame for anything. Rationalizations range from the evidence-contradicted belief that he knew nothing about it, to the desperate argument that poor ole Joe had already begun to lose his mental capacities in 1998 at age 72, and just didn’t understand what was going on, even though he continued to lead a highly successful football team for another 14 years.
For anyone interested, one site with plenty of examples of this can be found at http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=157&f=1395.
There are things about the State College culture that lend itself to this kind of delusion. It’s an isolated town, tucked away, three or four hours from several major cities in all directions, and therefore from major media scrutiny. It’s a small town where a big-time football program with that kind of success for that long can begin to wield a lot of power. Paterno was the head coach there for 46 years and was a true, living icon in that community. It probably is worse there than in most other places. But it’s almost as bad at every college with a major football program.
What makes college football an ironic target for this kind of idolatry is the wholesome, value-laden, love-of-my-university talk college fans love to blandish about.
The truth is, most fans care about the group of 18-to-22-year-olds who wear their favorite team’s shirt winning more than they care about member representatives of their beloved university behaving morally.
Examples can be cited at all the major universities. Let a Razorback rival get caught in a scandal and watch the accusers decked in cardinal and white come out in droves. Then watch as those same people rationalize why Bobby Petrino should have been allowed to keep his job.
The Petrino scandal pales in comparison to Paterno helping cover up child sex abuse, and indeed most Razorback fans, like most around the country, would not be so willing to support Petrino if his crimes were that bad, but at every institution we see fans who are willing to trade away some amount of personal conviction for the joy of winning.
One of the trends that remains a constant is the forgiving attitudes that consume football fans when a star player commits a crime.
These are the people who support throwing drug dealers under the jail, that is until the drug dealer ends up being the starting defensive end. Then football fans become the biggest bleeding hearts in the world.
In retrospect, Arkansas Razorbacks fans should be even more appreciative that Jeff Long fired Petrino after his infidelity scandal and subsequent attempted cover up. He could have kept Petrino with the excuse many fans were using–the same one many Penn State fans are using–that it’s not an NCAA rules infraction. He didn’t, and that’s a step in the right direction for college football. John L. Smith, the new Razorback football coach, may not win as much as Petrino was expected to this year, but hopefully the calls to fire Jeff Long, which are already being threatened, won’t be shouted.
Long did the right thing regardless of Razorback wins and losses. Hog fans should be happy that their representative did the right thing.
Besides, since many of them sacrifice their Sunday morning services to join 70,000 worshipers at the altar of athletic triumph on Saturday night, at least it will be for an honorable institution.
Leader sports editor
College football has become one of the biggest idols in America. There are fans in every sport whose loyalty goes beyond reason. But in college football, there is a systematic willingness among fans to delude themselves concerning their favorite team, or rationalize wrong into not so wrong, like in no other sport. Another way of putting it is there is rampant hypocrisy among college football fans.
This epidemic has never been on display more so than in recent months at State College, Pa. That’s where Penn State University is and that’s where former Nittany Lions’ defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky raped at least one, but probably several, little boys, and where several people in authority knew about it, could have stepped in decades ago and put a stop to it, but chose not to.
A quick glance at the blog comments that follow news website stories on the case reveal a proper, nationwide moral disdain for Sandusky’s behavior, and the behavior of the people who aided his actions with their silence. Specifically, people around the country have turned on Penn State head coach Joe Paterno, who up until this scandal broke and it became clear he was involved in keeping Sandusky’s crimes under wraps, had an iconic image as the shining star that exemplified everything that is right about amateur athletics.
A deeper look at Penn State sports blogs reveals that many, if not most, Nittany Lion fans are not yet willing to believe Paterno did anything wrong.
Even this horrible case is not enough to convince most of the people posting on those sites that Paterno is to blame for anything. Rationalizations range from the evidence-contradicted belief that he knew nothing about it, to the desperate argument that poor ole Joe had already begun to lose his mental capacities in 1998 at age 72, and just didn’t understand what was going on, even though he continued to lead a highly successful football team for another 14 years.
For anyone interested, one site with plenty of examples of this can be found at http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=157&f=1395.
There are things about the State College culture that lend itself to this kind of delusion. It’s an isolated town, tucked away, three or four hours from several major cities in all directions, and therefore from major media scrutiny. It’s a small town where a big-time football program with that kind of success for that long can begin to wield a lot of power. Paterno was the head coach there for 46 years and was a true, living icon in that community. It probably is worse there than in most other places. But it’s almost as bad at every college with a major football program.
What makes college football an ironic target for this kind of idolatry is the wholesome, value-laden, love-of-my-university talk college fans love to blandish about.
The truth is, most fans care about the group of 18-to-22-year-olds who wear their favorite team’s shirt winning more than they care about member representatives of their beloved university behaving morally.
Examples can be cited at all the major universities. Let a Razorback rival get caught in a scandal and watch the accusers decked in cardinal and white come out in droves. Then watch as those same people rationalize why Bobby Petrino should have been allowed to keep his job.
The Petrino scandal pales in comparison to Paterno helping cover up child sex abuse, and indeed most Razorback fans, like most around the country, would not be so willing to support Petrino if his crimes were that bad, but at every institution we see fans who are willing to trade away some amount of personal conviction for the joy of winning.
One of the trends that remains a constant is the forgiving attitudes that consume football fans when a star player commits a crime.
These are the people who support throwing drug dealers under the jail, that is until the drug dealer ends up being the starting defensive end. Then football fans become the biggest bleeding hearts in the world.
In retrospect, Arkansas Razorbacks fans should be even more appreciative that Jeff Long fired Petrino after his infidelity scandal and subsequent attempted cover up. He could have kept Petrino with the excuse many fans were using–the same one many Penn State fans are using–that it’s not an NCAA rules infraction. He didn’t, and that’s a step in the right direction for college football. John L. Smith, the new Razorback football coach, may not win as much as Petrino was expected to this year, but hopefully the calls to fire Jeff Long, which are already being threatened, won’t be shouted.
Long did the right thing regardless of Razorback wins and losses. Hog fans should be happy that their representative did the right thing.
Besides, since many of them sacrifice their Sunday morning services to join 70,000 worshipers at the altar of athletic triumph on Saturday night, at least it will be for an honorable institution.
SPORTS STORY>>Sharks stay undefeated
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The Sherwood Sharks ensured their advantage again at this weekend’s Meet of Champs with a dominating victory over Cabot at the Harmon Recreation Center in Sherwood on Saturday.
The Sharks, who will be going for their ninth-consecutive Central Arkansas Swim League title this Saturday, already had a majority of swimmers qualified for the Meet of Champs, and added several more to that list by outscoring their closest rival 1,046.5 to 379.5.
In the boys 6-under division, Sherwood’s Michael Potts dominated the gold division by winning all four events. He was ensured a win in the freestyle event as the only competitor in the gold division with a finals time of 21.91. Sharks teammate Kaden Patterson won the bronze division over Cabot’s Connor Hayre and Sherwood’s Caleb Harper. Potts was also the only competitor in the backstroke gold division while Grant Goodnightsecured five points for the Piranhas with a win in the silver division with a time of 35.31. Shark swimmers swept the points in the bronze division, led by Patterson’s silver-qualifying time of 37.13.
Potts still did not have any competition in the gold breaststroke, but he broke the Harmon pool record in the event with a time of 25.22, surpassing Thomas Heye’s 2005 time of 26.97. Goodnight once again won in the bronze division with a time of 41.41 over teammate Salmi Hutch.
Potts finished his clean sweep, and was once again the only gold-level swimmer in the butterfly event with a time of 30.69. Fellow Shark Kaden Patterson won the bronze event with a time of 42.60.
In the girls 6-under group, Sherwood’s Madelynn Morrow dominated the gold division by winning three events, including the freestyle event with a time of 21.00 over teammate Lorien McCulloch.
Cabot’s Emmalee Crow won the silver division and qualified for gold competition with a time of 25.09. Piranhas teammate Grace Esteban won the bronze event and also qualified for gold with a time of 25.00.
McCulloch prevented Morrow from capturing a clean sweep by winning the gold backstroke event with a time of 25.10 to Morrow’s second-place time of 25.44. Crow once again won the silver division and improved to gold time with a 28.25 while Sherwood’s Skylee Hartley won the bronze event.
Morrow was the only competitor in the gold breaststroke event with a time of 30.50 while Cabot’s Kendal LeQuieu won the silver event with a time of 45.69. Crow made gold for her third-straight stroke by winning the bronze event with a time of 31.72.
Morrow won the gold butterfly event with a time of 25.50 over McCulloch and LeQuieu and teammate Olivia Dunn won the silver event with a time of 39.35. Miya Lamont made it a clean sweep for Sherwood swimmers by winning the bronze event with a time of 40.69.
The boys 7-8 age group was all about Dillon Wood, as the young Sherwood swimmer dominated in four of the five gold events for the bracket. Wood won the freestyle event with a time of 17.15 while Cabot’s J.J. Hayre won the silver event with a time of 20.72. Dylan Harper won the bronze event for the Sharks with a time of 22.60.
Wood also won the backstroke event with a time of 20.25, but it was a close call as teammate Blane Godbee was right behind him with a 20.28. Shark swimmer Jake Hale won the silver event with a time of 23.65. Andrew Deese completed the sweep for Sherwood in the backstroke by winning the bronze division with a time of 25.28.
In the breaststroke event, Wood finished with a more comfortable cushion over Godbee with a time of 22.87 to Godbee’s 23.59, while teammate Joshua Robinson took the silver event with a time of 29.66. Sherwood once again swept all three divisions as James Cureton took first place in the bronze event with a time of 36.27.
Wood made it four straight wins with a dominating time in the gold butterfly event. Wood finished the event in 18.77, with second-place Godbee well behind him with a 23.13. Hayre took the silver event for Cabot with a time of 25.50 while Eric Watkins claimed the bronze event for the Sharks with a time of 28.87 to qualify for silver.
Wood did not compete in the individual-medley event, leaving Godbee to take top time in the gold event with a 1:48.85. Hale won the silver event and qualified for gold with a time of 1:57.06. There was more disparity in the girls 7-8 bracket, though the top spots all went to Sherwood swimmers. Alyssa Riley won the gold butterfly event with a time of 17.72 while Michaela Wood won the silver event with a time of 21.43. Peyton Stafford won the bronze event with a time of 21.97.
Pierson Richart won the gold backstroke event with a time of 21.37 while teammates Michele Potts and Stafford won the silver and bronze events respectively. Richart also won the gold division for the breaststroke with a time of 23.91, and Wood was tops again the silver division with a time of 29.94. Emma Turner completed the sweep for Sherwood with a time of 29.21 in the bronze event, good enough to move up to silver.
Morrow and Riley finished in a dead heat to lead the way in the gold division of the butterfly event with a time of 20.94. Sherwood swimmers also won the silver and bronze events with Faith Wallace scoring a 27.57 in silver and Jessica Sanders with a 28.87 in bronze, improving to silver.
Riley won the gold IM with a time of 1:45.34 while Wood won the silver event with a time of 2:05.41. Potts won the bronze event with a time of 1:49.50, qualifying her to compete in the gold division.
Joseph Potts also came close to sweeping all of the gold events in the boys 9-10 age group by winning the freestyle, backstroke, butterfly and IM events. He broke his own record at Harmon pool in the gold butterfly event with a time of 33.37. Potts did not compete in the breaststroke, but teammate Nicholas Heye secured the top spot for the Sharks in the gold event with a time of 44.19 while Philip Stanley won the silver event and Aiden made it another Sharks sweep with a win the bronze division.
The Piranhas made up ground in the girls 9-10 age bracket and even swept the IM events with Rachel Montanaro winning the gold-level medley with a time of 1:27.65. Jessica Bongfeldt won the silver event for Cabot and Olivia Atkinson completed the sweep with a win in the bronze division. Atkinson’s time of 1:50.65 improved her to silver.
Anna Jaworski helped the Sharks with gold-level wins in the freestyle and backstroke events, while Montanaro won the gold-division breaststroke for Cabot. Dena Hallum took the silver event for the sharks while teammate Kayla White improved to gold with a bronze-winning time of 46.19.
Charlotte Ball won the gold-division butterfly event for Cabot while Sherwood swimmers Maycee Broadway and Madison Curl won the silver and bronze events.
Brendan Daugherty and Jeff Oakley dominated the boys 11-12 age bracket for Sherwood as Daugherty took the top spots in four gold events while Oakley won bronze in three events and silver in the breaststroke.
Teammate Ian Heye won the gold backstroke event while Daugherty won the gold-division freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly and IM.
Camryn Jenkins won the girls’ 11-12 freestyle event in the gold division while Cabot’s Melanie Abbott won the silver division. Jordan Godbee claimed the bronze event for the Sharks.
Brianna Hanley won the gold backstroke event, and teammates Regan Riley and Godbee claimed the silver and bronze events. Shea Copland took first place in the gold breaststroke event for Sherwood during a sweep of the event that included a silver win for Brianna Ushery and a bronze victory for Katie Richardson. Hanley also won the gold division butterfly event while Cabot’s Rachel Sweeney won the gold IM.
The Shark duo of Josh Hale and Jayson Simmons led the way in the boys 13-14 age bracket as Hale won the gold events in the freestyle, breaststroke and butterfly while Simmons was tops for the gold division in the backstroke and IM. Other top performances in the 13-14 group included Sherwood’s Matthew Stinnett and Cabot’s Ben Cameron.
Sherwood’s Erin Wood-ward and Cabot’s Catyee Wright battled for gold supremacy in the girls 13-14 bracket with Woodard taking first place in the backstroke, butterfly and IM while Wright won the freestyle and breaststroke events. Avery Godbee won the silver events in the backstroke and butterfly for Sherwood, and took the bronze-division IM event. Teammate Izzy Franks won the bronze backstroke and silver IM.
The 15-18 age bracket proved to be the most competitive on the boys side with Quanderrius Doss winning the gold-division backstroke for Sherwood while teammate Ian Kerr won the silver event and Cabot’s Blake Thomas taking the bronze division. Sherwood’s Austin Clay won the gold backstroke, with fellow Shark Chris Croson winning silver and Piranha Dylan Speir winning the bronze event. Cabot’s John Santiago won the gold breaststroke and IM events, and teammate Brent Brockel won the gold butterfly event. Kyle Beckley helped the Piranhas out some more by taking bronze-division wins in the breaststroke and IM.
The Piranhas made up ground in the girls 15-18 age group with Emily Grigsby taking gold-division wins in freestyle, backstroke, butterfly and IM. Teammate Riley Young took the only other gold victory in the breaststroke with a Harmon-Pool record time of 36.84. Top performances for Sherwood in the 15-18 bracket included Daniela Filippi and Holly Joseph.
The CASL season comes to a close Saturday at the UALR Donaghey Student Center with the Meet of Champs with competitors from all eight teams participating.
Leader sportswriter
The Sherwood Sharks ensured their advantage again at this weekend’s Meet of Champs with a dominating victory over Cabot at the Harmon Recreation Center in Sherwood on Saturday.
The Sharks, who will be going for their ninth-consecutive Central Arkansas Swim League title this Saturday, already had a majority of swimmers qualified for the Meet of Champs, and added several more to that list by outscoring their closest rival 1,046.5 to 379.5.
In the boys 6-under division, Sherwood’s Michael Potts dominated the gold division by winning all four events. He was ensured a win in the freestyle event as the only competitor in the gold division with a finals time of 21.91. Sharks teammate Kaden Patterson won the bronze division over Cabot’s Connor Hayre and Sherwood’s Caleb Harper. Potts was also the only competitor in the backstroke gold division while Grant Goodnightsecured five points for the Piranhas with a win in the silver division with a time of 35.31. Shark swimmers swept the points in the bronze division, led by Patterson’s silver-qualifying time of 37.13.
Potts still did not have any competition in the gold breaststroke, but he broke the Harmon pool record in the event with a time of 25.22, surpassing Thomas Heye’s 2005 time of 26.97. Goodnight once again won in the bronze division with a time of 41.41 over teammate Salmi Hutch.
Potts finished his clean sweep, and was once again the only gold-level swimmer in the butterfly event with a time of 30.69. Fellow Shark Kaden Patterson won the bronze event with a time of 42.60.
In the girls 6-under group, Sherwood’s Madelynn Morrow dominated the gold division by winning three events, including the freestyle event with a time of 21.00 over teammate Lorien McCulloch.
Cabot’s Emmalee Crow won the silver division and qualified for gold competition with a time of 25.09. Piranhas teammate Grace Esteban won the bronze event and also qualified for gold with a time of 25.00.
McCulloch prevented Morrow from capturing a clean sweep by winning the gold backstroke event with a time of 25.10 to Morrow’s second-place time of 25.44. Crow once again won the silver division and improved to gold time with a 28.25 while Sherwood’s Skylee Hartley won the bronze event.
Morrow was the only competitor in the gold breaststroke event with a time of 30.50 while Cabot’s Kendal LeQuieu won the silver event with a time of 45.69. Crow made gold for her third-straight stroke by winning the bronze event with a time of 31.72.
Morrow won the gold butterfly event with a time of 25.50 over McCulloch and LeQuieu and teammate Olivia Dunn won the silver event with a time of 39.35. Miya Lamont made it a clean sweep for Sherwood swimmers by winning the bronze event with a time of 40.69.
The boys 7-8 age group was all about Dillon Wood, as the young Sherwood swimmer dominated in four of the five gold events for the bracket. Wood won the freestyle event with a time of 17.15 while Cabot’s J.J. Hayre won the silver event with a time of 20.72. Dylan Harper won the bronze event for the Sharks with a time of 22.60.
Wood also won the backstroke event with a time of 20.25, but it was a close call as teammate Blane Godbee was right behind him with a 20.28. Shark swimmer Jake Hale won the silver event with a time of 23.65. Andrew Deese completed the sweep for Sherwood in the backstroke by winning the bronze division with a time of 25.28.
In the breaststroke event, Wood finished with a more comfortable cushion over Godbee with a time of 22.87 to Godbee’s 23.59, while teammate Joshua Robinson took the silver event with a time of 29.66. Sherwood once again swept all three divisions as James Cureton took first place in the bronze event with a time of 36.27.
Wood made it four straight wins with a dominating time in the gold butterfly event. Wood finished the event in 18.77, with second-place Godbee well behind him with a 23.13. Hayre took the silver event for Cabot with a time of 25.50 while Eric Watkins claimed the bronze event for the Sharks with a time of 28.87 to qualify for silver.
Wood did not compete in the individual-medley event, leaving Godbee to take top time in the gold event with a 1:48.85. Hale won the silver event and qualified for gold with a time of 1:57.06. There was more disparity in the girls 7-8 bracket, though the top spots all went to Sherwood swimmers. Alyssa Riley won the gold butterfly event with a time of 17.72 while Michaela Wood won the silver event with a time of 21.43. Peyton Stafford won the bronze event with a time of 21.97.
Pierson Richart won the gold backstroke event with a time of 21.37 while teammates Michele Potts and Stafford won the silver and bronze events respectively. Richart also won the gold division for the breaststroke with a time of 23.91, and Wood was tops again the silver division with a time of 29.94. Emma Turner completed the sweep for Sherwood with a time of 29.21 in the bronze event, good enough to move up to silver.
Morrow and Riley finished in a dead heat to lead the way in the gold division of the butterfly event with a time of 20.94. Sherwood swimmers also won the silver and bronze events with Faith Wallace scoring a 27.57 in silver and Jessica Sanders with a 28.87 in bronze, improving to silver.
Riley won the gold IM with a time of 1:45.34 while Wood won the silver event with a time of 2:05.41. Potts won the bronze event with a time of 1:49.50, qualifying her to compete in the gold division.
Joseph Potts also came close to sweeping all of the gold events in the boys 9-10 age group by winning the freestyle, backstroke, butterfly and IM events. He broke his own record at Harmon pool in the gold butterfly event with a time of 33.37. Potts did not compete in the breaststroke, but teammate Nicholas Heye secured the top spot for the Sharks in the gold event with a time of 44.19 while Philip Stanley won the silver event and Aiden made it another Sharks sweep with a win the bronze division.
The Piranhas made up ground in the girls 9-10 age bracket and even swept the IM events with Rachel Montanaro winning the gold-level medley with a time of 1:27.65. Jessica Bongfeldt won the silver event for Cabot and Olivia Atkinson completed the sweep with a win in the bronze division. Atkinson’s time of 1:50.65 improved her to silver.
Anna Jaworski helped the Sharks with gold-level wins in the freestyle and backstroke events, while Montanaro won the gold-division breaststroke for Cabot. Dena Hallum took the silver event for the sharks while teammate Kayla White improved to gold with a bronze-winning time of 46.19.
Charlotte Ball won the gold-division butterfly event for Cabot while Sherwood swimmers Maycee Broadway and Madison Curl won the silver and bronze events.
Brendan Daugherty and Jeff Oakley dominated the boys 11-12 age bracket for Sherwood as Daugherty took the top spots in four gold events while Oakley won bronze in three events and silver in the breaststroke.
Teammate Ian Heye won the gold backstroke event while Daugherty won the gold-division freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly and IM.
Camryn Jenkins won the girls’ 11-12 freestyle event in the gold division while Cabot’s Melanie Abbott won the silver division. Jordan Godbee claimed the bronze event for the Sharks.
Brianna Hanley won the gold backstroke event, and teammates Regan Riley and Godbee claimed the silver and bronze events. Shea Copland took first place in the gold breaststroke event for Sherwood during a sweep of the event that included a silver win for Brianna Ushery and a bronze victory for Katie Richardson. Hanley also won the gold division butterfly event while Cabot’s Rachel Sweeney won the gold IM.
The Shark duo of Josh Hale and Jayson Simmons led the way in the boys 13-14 age bracket as Hale won the gold events in the freestyle, breaststroke and butterfly while Simmons was tops for the gold division in the backstroke and IM. Other top performances in the 13-14 group included Sherwood’s Matthew Stinnett and Cabot’s Ben Cameron.
Sherwood’s Erin Wood-ward and Cabot’s Catyee Wright battled for gold supremacy in the girls 13-14 bracket with Woodard taking first place in the backstroke, butterfly and IM while Wright won the freestyle and breaststroke events. Avery Godbee won the silver events in the backstroke and butterfly for Sherwood, and took the bronze-division IM event. Teammate Izzy Franks won the bronze backstroke and silver IM.
The 15-18 age bracket proved to be the most competitive on the boys side with Quanderrius Doss winning the gold-division backstroke for Sherwood while teammate Ian Kerr won the silver event and Cabot’s Blake Thomas taking the bronze division. Sherwood’s Austin Clay won the gold backstroke, with fellow Shark Chris Croson winning silver and Piranha Dylan Speir winning the bronze event. Cabot’s John Santiago won the gold breaststroke and IM events, and teammate Brent Brockel won the gold butterfly event. Kyle Beckley helped the Piranhas out some more by taking bronze-division wins in the breaststroke and IM.
The Piranhas made up ground in the girls 15-18 age group with Emily Grigsby taking gold-division wins in freestyle, backstroke, butterfly and IM. Teammate Riley Young took the only other gold victory in the breaststroke with a Harmon-Pool record time of 36.84. Top performances for Sherwood in the 15-18 bracket included Daniela Filippi and Holly Joseph.
The CASL season comes to a close Saturday at the UALR Donaghey Student Center with the Meet of Champs with competitors from all eight teams participating.
SPORTS STORY>>Lonoke still alive in class AA state
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
BRYANT – After beating Lake Hamilton 9-2 in the opening round of the 2012 Arkansas American Legion AA state tournament on Friday, Lonoke’s Remington Bullets fell 6-2 to Hot Springs Lakeside on Saturday.
Facing elimination on Sunday, Lonoke came from behind to beat Harrison 8-6 at Bishop Park to stay alive in the tournament.
On Saturday, Lonoke struggled both in the field and at the plate as Lakeside led 6-0 after four innings of play. Lakeside put the game out of the reach in the fourth, scoring four runs in the inning. Lonoke tried to rally in the fifth, but could onlymanage two runs to set the final margin.
“We really just had a bad all-around game,” said Lonoke coach Steve Moore about the loss to Lakeside. “We didn’t hit the ball well. We got some runners on base in key positions and had opportunities to score runs, but we didn’t.”
Logan Derosier got the win for Lakeside with 12 strikeouts and three walks in the complete game effort. Catcher Deric Herring led Lonoke at the plate, going 2 for 4 with a RBI.
In the elimination game against Harrison, Lonoke scored a run in the first and second inning to take a 2-0 lead. Chris Hart started on the hill for the Bullets and held Harrison scoreless through the first four innings. But in the top of the fifth, Harrison scored six runs to grab its first lead of the day. Hart gave up four of those runs on six hits.
“Chris Hart pitched a great ball game up until that fifth inning,” Moore said. “I think he got a little tired by that inning. He wasn’t at our game Saturday. He played quarterback in a seven-on-seven tournament Saturday and turned around and pitched Sunday. So, I think by the fifth inning he was a little worn down.”
Lane Moore came in to relieve Guy Halbert later in the inning after Harrison scored its final two runs. In the bottom of the fifth, Lonoke matched Harrison’s run total with six runs of its own to grab the lead for good.
Herring, Halbert and Moore all singled to left field to start the inning, and with the bases loaded, Hart hit a line drive double to left field. Herring and Halbert scored on the play to cut Harrison’s lead to two.
The next at bat, Madison James hit a base-clearing triple to right field to tie the score at six.
Christian James walked one batter later, and Reid McKenzie drove in Madison James on a ground ball to shortstop. With two outs in the inning, Christian James scored on a RBI-double to left field from leadoff hitter Shane Pepper to make the score 8-6.
Moore picked up the win for Lonoke with three strikeouts and no walks in two and one-third innings of work.
Moore led Lonoke at the plate as well, going 3 for 4 with a RBI. Hart and Pepper each went 2 for 4 with two RBIs, while Herring, Halbert, and the James brothers each had a hit.
Lonoke will continue its pursuit of the AA state championship Friday against Hot Springs Village. The elimination game will start at 4:30 p.m. at the Bryant High School field.
Leader sportswriter
BRYANT – After beating Lake Hamilton 9-2 in the opening round of the 2012 Arkansas American Legion AA state tournament on Friday, Lonoke’s Remington Bullets fell 6-2 to Hot Springs Lakeside on Saturday.
Facing elimination on Sunday, Lonoke came from behind to beat Harrison 8-6 at Bishop Park to stay alive in the tournament.
On Saturday, Lonoke struggled both in the field and at the plate as Lakeside led 6-0 after four innings of play. Lakeside put the game out of the reach in the fourth, scoring four runs in the inning. Lonoke tried to rally in the fifth, but could onlymanage two runs to set the final margin.
“We really just had a bad all-around game,” said Lonoke coach Steve Moore about the loss to Lakeside. “We didn’t hit the ball well. We got some runners on base in key positions and had opportunities to score runs, but we didn’t.”
Logan Derosier got the win for Lakeside with 12 strikeouts and three walks in the complete game effort. Catcher Deric Herring led Lonoke at the plate, going 2 for 4 with a RBI.
In the elimination game against Harrison, Lonoke scored a run in the first and second inning to take a 2-0 lead. Chris Hart started on the hill for the Bullets and held Harrison scoreless through the first four innings. But in the top of the fifth, Harrison scored six runs to grab its first lead of the day. Hart gave up four of those runs on six hits.
“Chris Hart pitched a great ball game up until that fifth inning,” Moore said. “I think he got a little tired by that inning. He wasn’t at our game Saturday. He played quarterback in a seven-on-seven tournament Saturday and turned around and pitched Sunday. So, I think by the fifth inning he was a little worn down.”
Lane Moore came in to relieve Guy Halbert later in the inning after Harrison scored its final two runs. In the bottom of the fifth, Lonoke matched Harrison’s run total with six runs of its own to grab the lead for good.
Herring, Halbert and Moore all singled to left field to start the inning, and with the bases loaded, Hart hit a line drive double to left field. Herring and Halbert scored on the play to cut Harrison’s lead to two.
The next at bat, Madison James hit a base-clearing triple to right field to tie the score at six.
Christian James walked one batter later, and Reid McKenzie drove in Madison James on a ground ball to shortstop. With two outs in the inning, Christian James scored on a RBI-double to left field from leadoff hitter Shane Pepper to make the score 8-6.
Moore picked up the win for Lonoke with three strikeouts and no walks in two and one-third innings of work.
Moore led Lonoke at the plate as well, going 3 for 4 with a RBI. Hart and Pepper each went 2 for 4 with two RBIs, while Herring, Halbert, and the James brothers each had a hit.
Lonoke will continue its pursuit of the AA state championship Friday against Hot Springs Village. The elimination game will start at 4:30 p.m. at the Bryant High School field.
SPORTS STORY>>Centennial team had great year
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Bad luck and fielding mistakes spelled an early exit for the Cabot-Centennial Bank Junior American Legion team from the state tournament in Sheridan. After cruising through most of the Zone 3 tournament, the Panthers lost two straight at state, blowing a late lead and falling 6-5 to Paragould late Friday night, then losing 6-2 to Sheridan on Saturday.
Just before the tournament began, starter and leading hitter Riley Knudsen’s season ended with a mononucleosis diagnosis. Starting outfield Dylan Bowers rolled hisankle in the first inning against Paragould, and starting first baseman Coleman McAtee broke his arm in a collision at first base in the first inning against Sheridan.
“It was just one of those tournaments where if anything could go wrong, it did,” Cabot coach Chris Gross said. “We lost some key players and then we had key players making lots of mistakes. We made way too many errors to win games at the state-tournament level.”
Cabot led 5-0 after three-and-a-half innings against Paragould. Starting pitcher Adam Hicks went six innings, giving up just three earned runs, struck out eight and walked zero. Cabot out-hit Paragould 10-8, but three errors aided the Glen-Sain team’s comeback.
Gavin Tillery threw a one-hitter on Saturday against Sheridan, but walks and errors led to five unearned runs for the host team.
Despite the rough state tournament, Cabot closed the season winning 13 of its last 14 games, going from 13-12 to 26-13 heading into the tournament. The Panthers finished the season with a record of 26-15, with the 26 wins breaking the team’s previous season-win record of 23.
“Overall we had a great year,” Gross said. “We won 26 games for a team record. We started the season poorly. We couldn’t hit the ball at all, and they really turned that around. We had some guys really step up big for us offensively.”
“I don’t have all the totals added up yet, but Riley broke out base hits record and I think our doubles record,” Gross said. “Tristan Bulice broke the home run record. He broke his own record. Last year he hit four, this year he hit five for us. I’m pretty sure there are some other records this team broke.”
Naming a most-improved player was difficult for Gross, but he finally settled on Austin Null.
“From last year to this year it’s Austin,” Gross said. “I’d have trouble singling anyone out for improvement over the course of this season, but from last year to this year, Austin has made a big strides.”
While Gross wouldn’t name a most-improved, he did have a reliable catcher at the end of the season in Dalten Hurst. Bulice also catches, but the original plan was to only certify Bulice as a senior player. He ended up double certifying, but Hurst was still handling most of the duties behind the plate by the end of the year because Bulice was starting for both Cabot teams.
“Dalten got 100 percent better,” Gross said. “He was terrible at the beginning of the season because he hadn’t played this level much. He just worked at it and got better.”
Only one player off the 2012 Centennial Junior team surpasses the junior-level age limit next season.
“I’m really excited about what this team has the potential to do next year,” Gross said. Tillery really came on strong pitching for us. Next year will be the big tell for him. He’s long and left-handed. If his velocity comes up he’ll have some people looking closely at him. Hicks holds our ERA record and we’ll have him back. Lee Sullivan might have been out No. 1 pitcher this year if he hadn’t got hurt early on. So we should be strong pitching and hitting next year.”
Leader sports editor
Bad luck and fielding mistakes spelled an early exit for the Cabot-Centennial Bank Junior American Legion team from the state tournament in Sheridan. After cruising through most of the Zone 3 tournament, the Panthers lost two straight at state, blowing a late lead and falling 6-5 to Paragould late Friday night, then losing 6-2 to Sheridan on Saturday.
Just before the tournament began, starter and leading hitter Riley Knudsen’s season ended with a mononucleosis diagnosis. Starting outfield Dylan Bowers rolled hisankle in the first inning against Paragould, and starting first baseman Coleman McAtee broke his arm in a collision at first base in the first inning against Sheridan.
“It was just one of those tournaments where if anything could go wrong, it did,” Cabot coach Chris Gross said. “We lost some key players and then we had key players making lots of mistakes. We made way too many errors to win games at the state-tournament level.”
Cabot led 5-0 after three-and-a-half innings against Paragould. Starting pitcher Adam Hicks went six innings, giving up just three earned runs, struck out eight and walked zero. Cabot out-hit Paragould 10-8, but three errors aided the Glen-Sain team’s comeback.
Gavin Tillery threw a one-hitter on Saturday against Sheridan, but walks and errors led to five unearned runs for the host team.
Despite the rough state tournament, Cabot closed the season winning 13 of its last 14 games, going from 13-12 to 26-13 heading into the tournament. The Panthers finished the season with a record of 26-15, with the 26 wins breaking the team’s previous season-win record of 23.
“Overall we had a great year,” Gross said. “We won 26 games for a team record. We started the season poorly. We couldn’t hit the ball at all, and they really turned that around. We had some guys really step up big for us offensively.”
“I don’t have all the totals added up yet, but Riley broke out base hits record and I think our doubles record,” Gross said. “Tristan Bulice broke the home run record. He broke his own record. Last year he hit four, this year he hit five for us. I’m pretty sure there are some other records this team broke.”
Naming a most-improved player was difficult for Gross, but he finally settled on Austin Null.
“From last year to this year it’s Austin,” Gross said. “I’d have trouble singling anyone out for improvement over the course of this season, but from last year to this year, Austin has made a big strides.”
While Gross wouldn’t name a most-improved, he did have a reliable catcher at the end of the season in Dalten Hurst. Bulice also catches, but the original plan was to only certify Bulice as a senior player. He ended up double certifying, but Hurst was still handling most of the duties behind the plate by the end of the year because Bulice was starting for both Cabot teams.
“Dalten got 100 percent better,” Gross said. “He was terrible at the beginning of the season because he hadn’t played this level much. He just worked at it and got better.”
Only one player off the 2012 Centennial Junior team surpasses the junior-level age limit next season.
“I’m really excited about what this team has the potential to do next year,” Gross said. Tillery really came on strong pitching for us. Next year will be the big tell for him. He’s long and left-handed. If his velocity comes up he’ll have some people looking closely at him. Hicks holds our ERA record and we’ll have him back. Lee Sullivan might have been out No. 1 pitcher this year if he hadn’t got hurt early on. So we should be strong pitching and hitting next year.”
SPORTS STORY>>Jacksonville ousted after tough losses
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
SHERIDAN – Jackson-ville’s junior American Legion team was ousted from the state tournament on Sunday with a 13-1 loss to tournament host Sheridan. It was the second blowout loss for the Gwatney squad since winning its opening-round game 16-12 over Genoa Central. On Saturday, Gwatney lost 14-1 to Zone 4’s top seeded Texarkana.
All three Zone 4 teams made it to the semifinals. Genoa Central faced Jonesboro Fat City on Monday while Sheridan faced Texarkana.
Fat City and Texarkana played for the state championship Tuesday night in Sheridan.
Jacksonville simply ran out of pitching. Gwatney’s No. 1 starter in the pitching rotation, Derek St. Clair, has been nursing a sore arm for the past several games and his time on the mound has been limited. He made an appearance in the second inning against Sheridan, but left with arm trouble after facing just six batters.
Blake Perry and James Tucker handled most of the work, but weren’t able to hold off the strong hitting Zone 4 teams.
Several fielding errors compounded the problem and Gwatney found itself in deep holes early in both state-tournament losses.
Sheridan held a 10-0 lead in the middle of the secondinning before Gwatney scored its only run of the game in the bottom of the same inning. Justin Abbott singled to left field and advanced to third on an errant pickoff throw from the mound. Greg Jones then hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield that scored Abbott.
Abbott’s base hit was the first of just two for Gwatney in the game.
Sheridan’s first three batters got base hits without hitting the ball out of the infield. Tucker got the next two batters out the Sheridan’s lead was only 1-0 with two runners on base. But six-hole hitter Lathan Wylie finally made solid contact, a line drive, RBI double to right-centerfield for a 3-1, and the floodgates were open.
Another single scored another run and a walk left runners on first and second. Nine-hole hitter Keaton Ramsay then singled to shallow right field that should have just left the bases loaded, but an error fielding the ball on the hop allowed one run to score, and an error fielding the throw to the infield allowed another.
In the second inning, an error with one out kickstarted Sheridan’s rally that gave them a 10-0 lead. An infield single scored one run and a walk put two runners on base.
After a strikeout, a passed ball made it 2-0 and a two-RBI hit to right field gave Sheridan the 10-run lead, prompting coach David St. Clair to bring Derek St. Clair to the mound.
He fanned the first batter he faced to get out of the jam. He gave up one hit, no runs and struck out two more in the third inning. In the fourth, John Strange drove a single to centerfield on the first pitch and St. Clair immediately signaled to the dugout that his arm was hurt.
The Gwatney Junior squad finished the season with a record of 18-9. Most of the lineup, including all the starting pitching rotation, returns to the junior level next season.
Leader sports editor
SHERIDAN – Jackson-ville’s junior American Legion team was ousted from the state tournament on Sunday with a 13-1 loss to tournament host Sheridan. It was the second blowout loss for the Gwatney squad since winning its opening-round game 16-12 over Genoa Central. On Saturday, Gwatney lost 14-1 to Zone 4’s top seeded Texarkana.
All three Zone 4 teams made it to the semifinals. Genoa Central faced Jonesboro Fat City on Monday while Sheridan faced Texarkana.
Fat City and Texarkana played for the state championship Tuesday night in Sheridan.
Jacksonville simply ran out of pitching. Gwatney’s No. 1 starter in the pitching rotation, Derek St. Clair, has been nursing a sore arm for the past several games and his time on the mound has been limited. He made an appearance in the second inning against Sheridan, but left with arm trouble after facing just six batters.
Blake Perry and James Tucker handled most of the work, but weren’t able to hold off the strong hitting Zone 4 teams.
Several fielding errors compounded the problem and Gwatney found itself in deep holes early in both state-tournament losses.
Sheridan held a 10-0 lead in the middle of the secondinning before Gwatney scored its only run of the game in the bottom of the same inning. Justin Abbott singled to left field and advanced to third on an errant pickoff throw from the mound. Greg Jones then hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield that scored Abbott.
Abbott’s base hit was the first of just two for Gwatney in the game.
Sheridan’s first three batters got base hits without hitting the ball out of the infield. Tucker got the next two batters out the Sheridan’s lead was only 1-0 with two runners on base. But six-hole hitter Lathan Wylie finally made solid contact, a line drive, RBI double to right-centerfield for a 3-1, and the floodgates were open.
Another single scored another run and a walk left runners on first and second. Nine-hole hitter Keaton Ramsay then singled to shallow right field that should have just left the bases loaded, but an error fielding the ball on the hop allowed one run to score, and an error fielding the throw to the infield allowed another.
In the second inning, an error with one out kickstarted Sheridan’s rally that gave them a 10-0 lead. An infield single scored one run and a walk put two runners on base.
After a strikeout, a passed ball made it 2-0 and a two-RBI hit to right field gave Sheridan the 10-run lead, prompting coach David St. Clair to bring Derek St. Clair to the mound.
He fanned the first batter he faced to get out of the jam. He gave up one hit, no runs and struck out two more in the third inning. In the fourth, John Strange drove a single to centerfield on the first pitch and St. Clair immediately signaled to the dugout that his arm was hurt.
The Gwatney Junior squad finished the season with a record of 18-9. Most of the lineup, including all the starting pitching rotation, returns to the junior level next season.
EDITORIAL>>She covers water front
Woody Bryant, the project manager for the Lonoke- White Water Project, made a point of acknowledging everyone involved with the $57 million project during the groundbreaking ceremony in Ward on Friday morning.
Later, as the dignitaries donned hardhats and dug into a row of turned earth beside the Ward Chamber of Commerce building for a groundbreaking ceremony, Terry House, the manager of Grand Prairie Bayou Two, the water association that sued to get control of the project away from its original owners, joked that Bryant should have acknowledged me because I’ve been with the project as long as anyone.
Frankly, I’ve been with it longer.
I have covered the Lonoke-White Project since it was nothing but a scowl on the faces of the North Little Rock Water Commission and a gleam in the eye of Greg Smith, the manager of Community Water Systems in Greers Ferry, which got the project started.
Back then, 18 years ago, North Little Rock was growing weary of Little Rock refusing to sell them water for the subdivisions that developed on the outskirts of the city and were eyeing Cove Creek on Greers Ferry Lake.
Water officials talked about building an intake facility at Cove Creek and laying a waterline all the way back to North Little Rock that would supply them. And they could pick up customers along the way to help pay for it all.
They were still talking when Smith announced a similar plan was under way. CWS would build a project for Lonoke and White counties just like it was building for Faulkner and Cleveland counties. People in all four counties needed the water, in some cases desperately needed it. CWS could supply that need and by adding customers, it could keep its customers’ rates low.
That was how Smith explained it to me when I asked, “What’s in it for CWS?”
It wasn’t long before the rumblings of discontent started among the members of the Lonoke-White Project. The water was going to cost more than they wanted to pay and they didn’t like that they would have only one vote on the CWS board.
The timeline has become blurred over the years. I can’t remember dates only thereabouts. But I do recall that it was early on that Smith talked to the Cabot City Council when Joe Allman was mayor and the Ward City Council when Butch Phillips was mayor saying the grant money they hoped to have to start the project wasn’t available.
Like the water in their wells, the grant money was drying up.
About that time, maybe 14 years ago, Beebe pulled out, taking with it the only reason the project was called Lonoke White since Beebe was the only White County city involved.
Given the option of paying more for Greers Ferry water or sticking with their wells that showed no signs of decline, Beebe voters went with the wells.
That was a big loss for the project. Beebe was the largest city with an average income low enough to make the project eligible for grants if they became available.
In the meantime, the Faulkner-Cleveland Project was completed and Cabot dug wells to supply residents. Cabot still saw surface water as its best option for a longterm source of water but CWS insisted the new wells must be closed after lake water was available, sooner even than the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, which regulates municipal wells, said they must be.
But on the horizon was a new alliance that would offer a better deal. North Little Rock and Little Rock were no longer at odds over water. They were becoming one. It literally took an act of Congress, but together the two water departments became Central Arkansas Water, and they were looking for customers outside Pulaski County.
The water was cheaper than from CWS and Cabot pulled out of the Lonoke-White Project. That act set off a desperate chain reaction. Without Cabot, CWS found new members but still needed to increase rates of customers of the Faulkner-Cleveland Project to help pay for Lonoke-White. Faulkner-Cleveland customers understandably balked, and the project came to a dead stop even though ANRC stood ready to loan construction money.
Eventually, Grand Prairie Bayou Two, which came in after Cabot pulled out, filed suit to get control of the project for the newly formed Lonoke-White Public Water Authority.
They won and all the members benefited. They owned it, but there was no money for construction.
There was hope for a time after Barack Obama became president and economic stimulus money became available for shovel-ready projects. The Lonoke- White Project met that requirement because it had made it all the way through the bidding process years before.
That hope ended when it became clear that the federal government was not giving or lending money stimulus money for any water project where the need was not immediate. And over the years, as the project floundered, the members found other sources. They needed the water for the future but not now.
By that time, Beebe was back., The other members are Jacksonville, Ward, Austin, Furlow, North Pulaski, Vilonia and Grand Prairie/Bayou Two.
Cut to Friday morning and the celebration over funding. The governor was there because the state is contributing a loan of almost $31 million to build the project. The Congressional delegation was there because the fed is contributing a loan of almost $26 million. And I was there because it’s my job and because I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.
I never think of the Lonoke-White Project without remembering that little engine that could. And I was happy for everyone involved even though my name wasn’t called during the acknowledgements.
—Joan McCoy
Later, as the dignitaries donned hardhats and dug into a row of turned earth beside the Ward Chamber of Commerce building for a groundbreaking ceremony, Terry House, the manager of Grand Prairie Bayou Two, the water association that sued to get control of the project away from its original owners, joked that Bryant should have acknowledged me because I’ve been with the project as long as anyone.
Frankly, I’ve been with it longer.
I have covered the Lonoke-White Project since it was nothing but a scowl on the faces of the North Little Rock Water Commission and a gleam in the eye of Greg Smith, the manager of Community Water Systems in Greers Ferry, which got the project started.
Back then, 18 years ago, North Little Rock was growing weary of Little Rock refusing to sell them water for the subdivisions that developed on the outskirts of the city and were eyeing Cove Creek on Greers Ferry Lake.
Water officials talked about building an intake facility at Cove Creek and laying a waterline all the way back to North Little Rock that would supply them. And they could pick up customers along the way to help pay for it all.
They were still talking when Smith announced a similar plan was under way. CWS would build a project for Lonoke and White counties just like it was building for Faulkner and Cleveland counties. People in all four counties needed the water, in some cases desperately needed it. CWS could supply that need and by adding customers, it could keep its customers’ rates low.
That was how Smith explained it to me when I asked, “What’s in it for CWS?”
It wasn’t long before the rumblings of discontent started among the members of the Lonoke-White Project. The water was going to cost more than they wanted to pay and they didn’t like that they would have only one vote on the CWS board.
The timeline has become blurred over the years. I can’t remember dates only thereabouts. But I do recall that it was early on that Smith talked to the Cabot City Council when Joe Allman was mayor and the Ward City Council when Butch Phillips was mayor saying the grant money they hoped to have to start the project wasn’t available.
Like the water in their wells, the grant money was drying up.
About that time, maybe 14 years ago, Beebe pulled out, taking with it the only reason the project was called Lonoke White since Beebe was the only White County city involved.
Given the option of paying more for Greers Ferry water or sticking with their wells that showed no signs of decline, Beebe voters went with the wells.
That was a big loss for the project. Beebe was the largest city with an average income low enough to make the project eligible for grants if they became available.
In the meantime, the Faulkner-Cleveland Project was completed and Cabot dug wells to supply residents. Cabot still saw surface water as its best option for a longterm source of water but CWS insisted the new wells must be closed after lake water was available, sooner even than the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, which regulates municipal wells, said they must be.
But on the horizon was a new alliance that would offer a better deal. North Little Rock and Little Rock were no longer at odds over water. They were becoming one. It literally took an act of Congress, but together the two water departments became Central Arkansas Water, and they were looking for customers outside Pulaski County.
The water was cheaper than from CWS and Cabot pulled out of the Lonoke-White Project. That act set off a desperate chain reaction. Without Cabot, CWS found new members but still needed to increase rates of customers of the Faulkner-Cleveland Project to help pay for Lonoke-White. Faulkner-Cleveland customers understandably balked, and the project came to a dead stop even though ANRC stood ready to loan construction money.
Eventually, Grand Prairie Bayou Two, which came in after Cabot pulled out, filed suit to get control of the project for the newly formed Lonoke-White Public Water Authority.
They won and all the members benefited. They owned it, but there was no money for construction.
There was hope for a time after Barack Obama became president and economic stimulus money became available for shovel-ready projects. The Lonoke- White Project met that requirement because it had made it all the way through the bidding process years before.
That hope ended when it became clear that the federal government was not giving or lending money stimulus money for any water project where the need was not immediate. And over the years, as the project floundered, the members found other sources. They needed the water for the future but not now.
By that time, Beebe was back., The other members are Jacksonville, Ward, Austin, Furlow, North Pulaski, Vilonia and Grand Prairie/Bayou Two.
Cut to Friday morning and the celebration over funding. The governor was there because the state is contributing a loan of almost $31 million to build the project. The Congressional delegation was there because the fed is contributing a loan of almost $26 million. And I was there because it’s my job and because I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.
I never think of the Lonoke-White Project without remembering that little engine that could. And I was happy for everyone involved even though my name wasn’t called during the acknowledgements.
—Joan McCoy
TOP STORY>>Bain invested in LR ‘medical-waste’ firm
By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader executive editor
If you’re wondering why Mitt Romney is distancing himself from the investment company he founded, it’s not just because he bought businesses that cost thousands of American jobs after factories closed down and work was outsourced to China and other countries.
You’ve heard all that during the Republican primaries and now from the Obama campaign. What you probably don’t know is that Bain and Company, the investment firm Romney founded and owned until 2002, was the majority owner of a Little Rock-based medical-waste disposal company called Stericycle.
Stericycle not only disposes of medical equipment, body parts, blood, syringes, gowns and gloves, but it also picks up fetuses from abortion clinics, including one in Little Rock and elsewhere.
According to Stericycle’s website, “We’ve got your office covered with a service that goes well beyond the pickup (sic) of a box.”
Stericycle, which is still active in Arkansas, operates facilities in Benton and elsewhere, which are monitored by the Department of Environmental Quality, formerly Pollution Control and Ecology. An ADEQ spokesperson told us Stericyle “transports medical waste from its Arkansas facilities to disposal/incineration facilities in other states.” Boxes are sealed and trucked to disposal sites, including Texas, where Stericycle was fined for illegally dumping fetuses.
Abortion opponents have posted several videos on You Tube showing Stericycle’s trucks speeding down I-30 toward the company’s plant in Benton. Another website lists locations where Stericycle does business in Arkansas. (See stopstericycle.com. Some of the pictures are disturbing.)
Sure, Romney says he wasn’t actively involved in Bain after he left to manage the Winter Olympics in Utah in 1999. But he was Bain’s sole stockholder and was listed as its chief executive until 2002.
Romney was still pro-choice back then and ran for Massachusetts governor as a progressive. He thought climate change was man-made, and he supported cap and trade to reduce pollution. He pushed through health-insurance mandates (Romneycare) while he was governor.
Running for president in 2008, Romney changed his mind on those issues as he did on abortion.
Romney loves outsourcing. This year’s U.S. Olympics uniforms were made in China, but Mitt pioneered this practice for the 2002 Winter Olympics. He had the uniforms made in Burma, another authoritarian state. It’s a subject he’d rather not talk about.
In any case, Stericycle was not the kind of business the presidential nominee of a pro-life party should have been involved with, even if, as Romney claims, he was only drawing a (six-figure) salary and deferred compensation from Bain without actively managing the firm.
A little background about Stericycle:
Dr. James Sharp started the company with a group of investors in Little Rock in February 1990. Sharp got the idea for the company when he was still in school in the 1980s and noticed how difficult it was to get rid of medical waste without violating environmental rules.
He presented a business plan to investors, who in a few years helped make Stericycle the largest medical-waste disposal company in the nation.
According to an article by David Corn in Mother Jones (“Romney invested in medical-waste firm that disposed of aborted fetuses, government documents show”), Stericycle at first irradiated its waste and then used radio waves before burning or burying the waste.
The company grew more dramatically when sharpies at Bain and Company took note of Stericycle in 2000 and saw its full potential. Romney was away organizing the Winter Olympics, but he was still listed as Bain’s CEO and sole stockholder.
In papers filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Romney said he still attended board meetings, which proved he was a resident of Massachusetts, where Bain was based, thus making him eligible to run for governor.
Corn says Bain had made a smart bet on Stericycle, almost doubling its $75 million investment. Much of that money went into Romney’s pockets. (Should he give the money to charity, perhaps to children’s hospitals in the poverty-stricken Delta?)
Romney should release the minutes of Bain’s board meetings to clarify his involvement with Stericycle.
How often did he attend meetings? How much was he paid? How much money did he take out of the company?
We would know if he re-leased his tax returns for the last 20 years, which would also shed light on those mysterious foreign bank accounts, including a rumored $100 million IRA.
Rick Santorum called Rom-ney “the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama.” The former presidential candidate urged primary voters to “pick any other Republican in the country” than Romney, calling him “uniquely disqualified.”
There’s no telling what else Santorum would have said if he’d known about Stericycle during the primaries.
Leader executive editor
If you’re wondering why Mitt Romney is distancing himself from the investment company he founded, it’s not just because he bought businesses that cost thousands of American jobs after factories closed down and work was outsourced to China and other countries.
You’ve heard all that during the Republican primaries and now from the Obama campaign. What you probably don’t know is that Bain and Company, the investment firm Romney founded and owned until 2002, was the majority owner of a Little Rock-based medical-waste disposal company called Stericycle.
Stericycle not only disposes of medical equipment, body parts, blood, syringes, gowns and gloves, but it also picks up fetuses from abortion clinics, including one in Little Rock and elsewhere.
According to Stericycle’s website, “We’ve got your office covered with a service that goes well beyond the pickup (sic) of a box.”
Stericycle, which is still active in Arkansas, operates facilities in Benton and elsewhere, which are monitored by the Department of Environmental Quality, formerly Pollution Control and Ecology. An ADEQ spokesperson told us Stericyle “transports medical waste from its Arkansas facilities to disposal/incineration facilities in other states.” Boxes are sealed and trucked to disposal sites, including Texas, where Stericycle was fined for illegally dumping fetuses.
Abortion opponents have posted several videos on You Tube showing Stericycle’s trucks speeding down I-30 toward the company’s plant in Benton. Another website lists locations where Stericycle does business in Arkansas. (See stopstericycle.com. Some of the pictures are disturbing.)
Sure, Romney says he wasn’t actively involved in Bain after he left to manage the Winter Olympics in Utah in 1999. But he was Bain’s sole stockholder and was listed as its chief executive until 2002.
Romney was still pro-choice back then and ran for Massachusetts governor as a progressive. He thought climate change was man-made, and he supported cap and trade to reduce pollution. He pushed through health-insurance mandates (Romneycare) while he was governor.
Running for president in 2008, Romney changed his mind on those issues as he did on abortion.
Romney loves outsourcing. This year’s U.S. Olympics uniforms were made in China, but Mitt pioneered this practice for the 2002 Winter Olympics. He had the uniforms made in Burma, another authoritarian state. It’s a subject he’d rather not talk about.
In any case, Stericycle was not the kind of business the presidential nominee of a pro-life party should have been involved with, even if, as Romney claims, he was only drawing a (six-figure) salary and deferred compensation from Bain without actively managing the firm.
A little background about Stericycle:
Dr. James Sharp started the company with a group of investors in Little Rock in February 1990. Sharp got the idea for the company when he was still in school in the 1980s and noticed how difficult it was to get rid of medical waste without violating environmental rules.
He presented a business plan to investors, who in a few years helped make Stericycle the largest medical-waste disposal company in the nation.
According to an article by David Corn in Mother Jones (“Romney invested in medical-waste firm that disposed of aborted fetuses, government documents show”), Stericycle at first irradiated its waste and then used radio waves before burning or burying the waste.
The company grew more dramatically when sharpies at Bain and Company took note of Stericycle in 2000 and saw its full potential. Romney was away organizing the Winter Olympics, but he was still listed as Bain’s CEO and sole stockholder.
In papers filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Romney said he still attended board meetings, which proved he was a resident of Massachusetts, where Bain was based, thus making him eligible to run for governor.
Corn says Bain had made a smart bet on Stericycle, almost doubling its $75 million investment. Much of that money went into Romney’s pockets. (Should he give the money to charity, perhaps to children’s hospitals in the poverty-stricken Delta?)
Romney should release the minutes of Bain’s board meetings to clarify his involvement with Stericycle.
How often did he attend meetings? How much was he paid? How much money did he take out of the company?
We would know if he re-leased his tax returns for the last 20 years, which would also shed light on those mysterious foreign bank accounts, including a rumored $100 million IRA.
Rick Santorum called Rom-ney “the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama.” The former presidential candidate urged primary voters to “pick any other Republican in the country” than Romney, calling him “uniquely disqualified.”
There’s no telling what else Santorum would have said if he’d known about Stericycle during the primaries.
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