The Leader

High hopes for Hopson
“I am an agent for change,” Charles Hopson said when he came from Portland, Ore., to interview for the PCSSD superintendent’s job in February, and since his hire, he’s done nothing to dissuade us. [FULL TEXT]

Hire a good lawyer
Everyone stands equal before the law, as we all know, but if you can hire an expensive attorney you stand a little taller. [FULL TEXT]

Good food for kids
It was one small blip on the national news, one giant blip in the career of Blanche Lincoln — or maybe not. It was the Senate’s passing the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, the chief sponsor of which was Sen. Lincoln, who is in a steeply uphill climb for re-election. [FULL TEXT]

Revenues on the rise
If you can disregard 106-degree temperatures, there are some blessings to living in Arkansas in the sweltering summer of 2010. Here is one: Our state government is in better shape, by far, than almost any other state in the nation.[FULL TEXT]

J’Accuse: Smearing
of general
Air Force Gen. John D. Lavelle, who died more than 30 years ago, after he was falsely accused of insubordination, is a four-star general again. [FULL TEXT]

Petraeus salutes
camp liberators
It was 65 years ago Monday that Beryl Wolfson helped liberate the Dachau concentration camp in southeastern Germany.
[FULL TEXT]

Marker recalls fire at Twist
There's finally a marker honoring B.B. King in Twist in Cross County, where the great blues singer escaped from a fire at nightclub with his guitar and named it Lucille.
[FULL TEXT]

Justice Jim fought tough final battle
Arkansas bloggers were the first with the news of Justice Jim Johnson’s suicide over the weekend. The local TV news on Sunday ignored his passing, probably because no one in the newsroom knew who he was. [FULL TEXT]

Cabot man in raid
on POW camp in 1970
Mst. Sgt. Paul Poole, who helped to liberate Americans from a Vietnamese prison camp, died last week. [FULL TEXT]

Trial could get Muhammad
his death wish
Last June, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad killed a soldier from Conway and injured another soldier from Jacksonville in front of a recruiting station in Little Rock.
[FULL TEXT]

What a little girl asked
from Santa
When my friend Jack Sallee was with the Jaycees in Fayetteville, they'd put an ad in the paper at Christmastime, saying that for $2 you could have Santa come to your place.
[FULL TEXT]

Tuskegee legend
at holiday reception
A tall elderly man stood in a far corner in a large banquet room at Little Rock Air Force Base on Sunday afternoon during the holiday reception hosted by the wing commanders.
[FULL TEXT]

Gas shut off
as hospital bills pile up
A couple in Beebe have been without heat for several months after the natural-gas company took out their meter because they were not paying their bills.
[FULL TEXT]

Huckabee our worst governor?
Who is Arkansas’ worst governor? Is it Orval Faubus, who defied federal authorities i in 1957, when he wouldn’t allow nine black students to attend Central High School in Little Rock? He brought shame and ridicule on the whole state, but at least no one was killed. Or is Mike Huckabee our worst governor ever?
[FULL TEXT]

Department responds to fires
IN SHORT: A thunderstorm that rolled through Pulaski and Lonoke counties Tuesday afternoon averaged about 100 lightning strikes every four minutes and started at least two house fires. [FULL TEXT]

Panthers try to line it up
IN SHORT: Cabot is pretty sure who its quarterback is going to be.[FULL TEXT]

Quarterbacks dueling at Lonoke
IN SHORT: A shorter practice at Lonoke on Tuesday did not make for less activity.[FULL TEXT]

Limited supply of experience prime concern for Bears coach
IN SHORT: Sylvan Hills’ tradition in athletics is pretty widely known.[FULL TEXT]

Running back not a worry for Devils
IN SHORT: Jacksonville’s second week of August practice has exceeded new coach Rick Russell’s expectations.[FULL TEXT]

Summertime still beckons despite heat
IN SHORT:“Oh, it’s not that hot out there — you’re just being a teeny baby.” [FULL TEXT]

Photos available

Department responds to fires IN SHORT: A thunderstorm that rolled through Pulaski and Lonoke counties Tuesday afternoon averaged about 100 lightning strikes every four minutes and started at least two house fires. [FULL TEXT]

Panthers try to line it up IN SHORT: Cabot is pretty sure who its quarterback is going to be.[FULL TEXT]

Quarterbacks dueling at Lonoke IN SHORT: A shorter practice at Lonoke on Tuesday did not make for less activity.[FULL TEXT]

Limited supply of experience prime concern for Bears coach IN SHORT: Sylvan Hills’ tradition in athletics is pretty widely known.[FULL TEXT]

Running back not a worry for Devils IN SHORT: Jacksonville’s second week of August practice has exceeded new coach Rick Russell’s expectations.[FULL TEXT]

Summertime still beckons despite heat IN SHORT:“Oh, it’s not that hot out there — you’re just being a teeny baby.” [FULL TEXT]