DECEMBER
28, 2005
IN SHORT:
Jacksonville lawyer, a rising star in the Democratic Party serving
his second term as a state representative, says he thinks he'll
have the 51 votes he needs to be the next speaker of the House.
[FULL
TEXT]
Christmas
celebrated with jobs, loved ones
IN
SHORT:
Somebody is always on call at the animal shelter or working at the
Waffle House so others can celebrate. [FULL
TEXT]
Home
invasion nightmare
IN SHORT:
Two intruders in ski masks menace residents in their Cabot home
a couple of days before Christmas, shooting a man in the shoulder
before fleeing on foot. [FULL
TEXT]
New
start for Cabot utility as '06 nears
IN SHORT:
The city council approves just enough to meet its Jan. 1 takeover
deadline. [FULL
TEXT]
He
says heŐs shy, he speaks like an intellectual, he acts like a driven
force, and those who know him say heŐs all of those things. Airic
Hughes, a senior guard for the Jacksonville basketball team, hasnŐt
seen much of the spotlight early in his career at JHS, but has made
the most of his senior season. [FULL
TEXT]
Red
Devils put away Hughes in first round
IN SHORT:
Jacksonville used a fourth-quarter flurry to bury the pesky Class
AA Blue Devils Tuesday night at JHS. [FULL
TEXT]
Just
off Hwy. 31 in Lonoke County, on Bethlehem Road, is a four-mile
community-wide project that displays the story of the birth of Jesus
for motorists driving by. The displays are illuminated every evening
from 5:30 to 10 p.m. until New YearŐs Eve. For the past 19 years,
nearly all the residents along Bethlehem Road have put up life-size
Biblical figures and signs with Bible verses, made out of painted
plywood in their yards. [FULL
TEXT]
DECEMBER
21, 2005
Legislators
frustrated by Lake View
IN SHORT:
A special session on education may well be necessary but doesn't
have to be hurried, Gov. Mike Huckabee said Tuesday. After the state
Supreme Court declared school funding unconstitutional a week ago,
Huckabee initially said a special session might not be needed to
address concerns raised in the decision. [FULL
TEXT]
Defense bill gets approval in House
IN SHORT:
After
a long and heated battle Sunday night, members of the House of Representatives
passed 308-106 the 2006 defense spending bill that would also open
Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration, but
Cong. Vic Snyder, D-Ark., who opposed the drilling, cautions Arkansans
that the real vote was much tighter.
[FULL
TEXT]
City
council butts heads over budget suggestions
IN SHORT:
Following
a firestorm of words with Mayor Donald Ward Monday night, the Beebe
City Council tabled a vote on the $2.7 million 2006 city budget
until a full council is present.
[FULL
TEXT]
Residents
dispute new development
IN SHORT:
Residents of Sun Terrace, across the street from Wal-Mart Supercenter
in Cabot, who several years ago successfully fought rezoning on
the corner of Rockwood and Hwy. 89 at the entrance to their subdivision,
are doing battle with the council again to stop a commercial development
just one house down from that corner.
[FULL
TEXT]
C-130Js
pass tough test in cold Alaskan climate
IN SHORT:
Two C-130J cargo aircraft from Little Rock Air Force Base have been
proven ready for war in all types of weather after finishing two
weeks of cold-weather evaluations at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska,
that ended Dec. 14.
[FULL
TEXT]
A
Coca-Cola Christmas in Lonoke
IN SHORT:
It's
always time for Coca-Cola and Christmas at the home of Don and Wanda
Cook at 1381 N. Johnson Road in Lonoke. "I would go to flea markets
looking for jewelry, and 13 years ago I bought a couple of Coca-Cola
pieces because they were so cheerful with the red and white," Wanda
Cook said. [FULL
TEXT]
Lonoke
senior guard Libby Gay drives down the court while Cabot sophomore
Lauren Walker defends Friday night during the Lady Jackrabbits'
52-49 double-overtime victory.
Lonoke upsets Lady Panthers
IN SHORT:
Few people expected the Lady Jackrabbits to leave the Cabot gym
with their unbeaten record still in- tact, nor did they expect the
double-overtime war it took in order for them to actually do it.
The Lonoke girls proved all doubters wrong Friday night, edging
out the Lady Panthers 52-49 in one of the most exciting games of
the early season. The win improves the Lady ÔRabbits record to 11-0
on the season, and establishes them as a serious force heading into
the heart of their 6AAA-conference schedule.
[FULL
TEXT]
Cabot
tops Jackrabbits to remain undefeated
IN SHORT: Cabot
managed to keep its unbeaten streak alive Friday night at the Panther
gymnasium by beating Lonoke 43-40. But they didn't do it without
a serious fight from the Jackrabbits.
[FULL
TEXT]
DECEMBER
14, 2005
Leon
Hill, right, and Charlotte Hill prepare to vote Tuesday on bond
issues and a local sales tax. Election judge Lillie Gatewood helps
them at the Lonoke Depot.
Voters
split on bonds
IN SHORT:
Like voters statewide, area residents rejected by a wide margin
Ballot Question 1 on Tuesday, which would have given authority to
the state's Highway Commission to finance interstate maintenance
through bond sales. [FULL
TEXT]
Sherwood aldermen get terms extended
IN SHORT:
Voters
in Sherwood on Tuesday approved extending the terms of aldermen
from two years to staggered four years by a vote of 682 to 584.
The city, following Jacksonville's lead, which voted in four-year
terms last year, has four wards with two positions each.
[FULL
TEXT]
PCSSD
votes to trim costs; Adkins to be Pre-K school
IN SHORT:
Homer
Adkins Elementary School in Jacksonville will be closed at the end
of this school year and reopened as a pre-kindergarten school, the
Pulaski County Special School District Board voted 4-3 Tues-day
night after more than two months of intrigue, anxiety and community
meetings over which small elementary school would be closed or reconfigured
to help alleviate the district's dire financial straits.
[FULL
TEXT]
Hospitality
tax passes in Lonoke
IN SHORT:
Lonoke voters approved a 2-cent hospitality tax on Tuesday, dedicated
to improving and expanding city parks, by a vote of 176 to 137.
That should raise about $100,000 a year for city parks and free
money for other uses.
[FULL
TEXT]
463rd:
Inside look at war on terror
IN SHORT:
Besides being a schoolhouse for all things related to the C-130
cargo plane, Little Rock Air Force Base houses the 463rd Airlift
Group, which transports "beans and bullets" as well as troops, all
over the world.
[FULL
TEXT]
Cabot
police kick off new alert program
IN SHORT:
A program created almost 10 years ago in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,
to help find missing Alzheimer's patients and children is now available
to law- enforcement agencies all over the country, and the Cabot
Police Department is one of the first in the area to use it.
[FULL
TEXT]
Video
with class
IN SHORT:
Cabot
High School students learn the art of broadcasting Cabot High School
recently premiered the television program CHTV (Cabot High School
Television) created by the school's radio and television-broadcasting
students. [FULL
TEXT]
Cabot
forward Josh Whatley drives around Conway's Xavier Tyus during the
Panthers' 52-37 victory over the Wampus Cats Friday night.
Cabot handles Wampus Cats
IN SHORT:
The Cabot Panthers controlled every aspect of its their game Friday
night against Conway but one, and one wasn't enough for the Wampus
Cats as Cabot cruised to a 52-37 victory and kept its record un-blemished
after eight games.
[FULL
TEXT]
Red
Devils fall short in Cyclone title game
IN SHORT: The
Jacksonville Red Devils won the second-place trophy Saturday at
the Russellville tournament, but if it were up to head coach Vic
Joyner, they wouldn't have accepted it.
[FULL
TEXT]
DECEMBER
7, 2005
Lt.Gen.
Dennis Larsen(left) speaks to officers and airmen after the fifth
C-130J arrives at Little Rock Air Force Base on Tuesday. At right
is Brig. Gen. Kip Self, commander of the 314th Airlift Wing at the
air base.
Fifth
C-130J arrives at air base
IN SHORT:
Lt. Gen. Dennis Larsen, vice commander of the Air Education and
Training Command, piloted a new C-130J to Little Rock Air Force
Base Tuesday from the Lockheed Martin plant in Marietta, Ga. The
plane is the air base's fifth active-duty C-130J, aircraft No. 3147.
[FULL
TEXT]
Budget in Cabot shaping up for '06
IN SHORT:
As
Cabot Police Chief Jackie Davis sat down at a conference table at
city hall Monday evening to begin justifying the budget he had submitted
for council approval, Alderman Eddie Cook leaned forward in his
seat and proclaimed a loud "no."
[FULL
TEXT]
Districts
could be changing borders
IN SHORT:
Even
as contractors launch a quarter-million-dollar feasibility study
that could result in the reconfiguration of Pulaski County's three
school districts, some residents of both Jacksonville and Sherwood
each would like to have their own stand-alone district..
[FULL
TEXT]
Parents
say keep school
IN SHORT:
Warren Dupree Elementary School has one of the highest literacy
and math proficiency rates among district schools, patrons told
Pulaski County Special School District administrators and board
members Tuesday night.
[FULL
TEXT]
'I'm
not a racist,' teacher responds
IN SHORT:
The Homer Adkins Elementary teacher accused of making inappropriate
racial and religious comments to her students may still be in the
classroom, but she's not yet out of the woods.
[FULL
TEXT]
Lonoke
tax would go to city parks
IN SHORT:
No organized opposition has materialized to a two-cent hamburger
tax proposal that Lonoke voters will see when they go to the polls
Tuesday, according to Mayor Tom Privett.
[FULL
TEXT]
Christmas
on Main Street
IN SHORT:
Cabot,
Beebe and Ward hold weekend parades Crowds surely got into the holiday
spirit over the weekend as area communities held Christmas pa-rades
Saturday and Sunday. Organizers of each were happy with the crowds,
number of entrants and overall atmosphere. [FULL
TEXT]
Lonoke
point guard Libby Gay eyes the basket during the Lady Rabbits' 33-32
win over Mountain View in the championship game of the Bank Classic
at Searcy High School.
Lady Rabbits win Bank
IN SHORT:
At 8 p.m. Saturday evening, the Lonoke girls basketball team may
have felt more like it just completed a Greco Roman wrestling tournament
rather than a basketball tournament. Either way, the Lady Rabbits
took home the championship trophy from the Bank Classic at Searcy
High School with a 33-32 victory over Mountain View in the title
game.
[FULL
TEXT]
Raiders
top Bison to win Medallion
IN SHORT: Riverview
controlled Saturday night's encounter with Carlisle in Newport,
and as a result brought home the championship trophy from the Medallion
Classic with a 64-48 victory.
[FULL
TEXT]
