SPORTS>>Jacksonville falls to Van Buren, Greenland

By JASON KINGLeader sportswriterJacksonville’s season has become a one of missed opportunities and close losses. Friday and Saturday were no exceptions for the Red Devils, as they lost Friday to Van Buren 4-3, and dropped a Saturday contest on the road to Greenland 5-4.The Devils built a 3-0 lead against Van Buren in the top of the first inning, and […]

SPORTS>>Beebe ladies keep winning

By JASON KINGLeader sportswriterThe amazing season for the Beebe Lady Badgers continued on Friday with a conference doubleheader sweep over Greene County Tech. The Lady Badgers handled their hosts rather easily in both contests, taking the win in game one 8-1 before shutting out the Lady Eagles in game two 4-0.Ace pitcher Callie Mahoney had her typical day at the […]

SPORTS>>Bears take home pair of wins

By JASON KINGLeader sportswriterThe long trip to West Memphis did little to stop Sylvan Hills’ momentum in 6A-East Conference play. The Bears swept the Blue Devils 11-7 and 4-3 Monday night in a league double- header in West Memphis.Four different players took to the mound in the two games for Sylvan Hills, with Ace Tony Pavan taking the win in […]

TOP STORY >>Self gets advanced mobility command

By HEATHER HARTSELLLeader staff writerBrig. Gen. Kip Self, commander of Little Rock Air Force Base, who’s leaving Jacksonville in June for a new command in New Jersey, is succeding a general who himself was a commander at LRAFB.Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley announced Self will become commander of the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center, Air Mobility […]

TOP STORY >>Governor entrusts top bills to Glover

By JOHN HOFHEIMERLeader senior staff reporterGov. Mike Beebe entrusted the fate of two of his most important pieces of legislation to state Sen. Bobby Glo-ver, D-Carlisle, and as the end of the biennial session draws near, Glover did not disappoint his old friend. “What I’m most proud of was taking the sales tax off food,” said Glover, the Carlisle Democrat […]

TOP STORY >>Sherwood council allows mayor to hire consultant

By RICK KRONLeader staff writerThe sellers of the North Hills Country Club have told Alderman Becki Vassar that they plan to turn off the water May 1.Al Harkin, with Arkansas National Bank, has told Linda Nickle, from the city’s economic development office that the sale of the golf course will close April 14.Attorney Tim Grooms, who specializes in land acquisitions […]

TOP STORY >>Phone records trace conspiracy

By JOHN HOFHEIMERLeader staff writerDeputy Prosecutor Noreen Smith painstakingly led the custodians of records from Alltel, AT&T landlines and Cingular telephone companies through long lists of call records from early September 2004 on Tuesday, in preparation for pressing the case that former Lonoke Police Chief Jay Campbell and two bail bondsmen conspired to manufacture methamphetamine.Campbell, Bobby Junior Cox and Larry […]

FROM THE PUBLISHER >> You cannot judge a book

The cover of Elizabeth Jacoway’s book on the Central High School integration crisis reproduces one of the most famous photos of the civil rights era. Taken by Arkansas Democrat photographer Will Counts (who should have won the Pulitzer Prize, along with the Gazette’s Pulitzers that were awarded for news coverage and editorial writing), it shows Elizabeth Eckford, one of the […]

EDITORIALS>>Legal attorneys

In a heartening show of bipartisanship the U. S. House of Representatives voted Monday to repeal a phantom clause in the USA Patriot Act that allowed the president to appoint U.S. attorneys indefinitely without their being reviewed by the Senate if he made the appointments while the Senate was in recess. That means that the eastern district of Arkansas should […]

EDITORIALS>>Mercy killing

Count as one of the ample good deeds by the Arkansas House of Representatives this session the mercy killing of a bill that would make it illegal for gay and lesbian people to rear children in Arkansas, specifically by adoption or foster care.Euthanasia is a good word for what the Judiciary Committee of the House did yesterday to SB 959, […]