TOP STORY > >Realignment to bring new wing to base

By HEATHER HARTSELLLeader staff writerOne of the oldest organizations in the Air Force will soon call Little Rock Air Force Base home when the 19th Airlift Wing is reactivated Oct. 1, switching the base from an Air Education and Training Command to an Air Mobility Command.Previously known as the 19th Air Refueling Group, stationed at Robins AFB, Georgia, the group […]

TOP STORY > >Mass transit makes pitch to the masses

By JOHN HOFHEIMERLeader senior staff writerClaire Lehney walks about two blocks most weekdays to catch the 7 a.m. bus from Gravel Ridge to the state Capitol office complex, where she works. With gasoline prices hovering near historic highs for Arkansas and the rest of the continental United States, more people are, like Lehney, taking the bus.Those who do are pleasantly […]

TOP STORY > >Candidates in showdown

By RICK KRONLeader staff writerJacksonville may get its own school district, but it won’t get the Adkins Pre-K center, said Gwen Williams, the Zone 7 Pulaski County Special School District Board incumbent during a Monday evening debate with her challenger, Alderman Reedie Ray.“That’s my baby,” she said, explaining that when the district tried to close it she fought for it […]

TOP STORY > >Candidates in showdown

By RICK KRONLeader staff writerJacksonville may get its own school district, but it won’t get the Adkins Pre-K center, said Gwen Williams, the Zone 7 Pulaski County Special School District Board incumbent during a Monday evening debate with her challenger, Alderman Reedie Ray.“That’s my baby,” she said, explaining that when the district tried to close it she fought for it […]

TOP STORY > >Ebay sellers from Cabot found guilty

By JOAN McCOYLeader staff writerCabot business owners arrested almost two years ago for taking payment for scooters sold over the Internet but not delivered to customers were found guilty Tuesday in Lonoke Circuit Court on six felony charges of theft of property. Special Judge John Cole said the evidence from the prosecutor showed that Eddie and Connie Williams, owners of […]

TOP STORY > >Voters pick candidates for school board seats

By JOAN MCCOY Leader staff writerSchool board elections are Tuesday, but those who want to cast their ballots early for races in Lonoke County may do so at the courthouse in Lonoke. Anyone who wants to vote at all in the race for Beebe School Board will have to cast an early ballot or an absentee ballot at the White […]

TOP STORY > >PCSSD lets Jacksonville go

By JOHN HOFHEIMERLeader senior staff writerCheers erupted from supporters of a stand-alone Jacksonville school district Tuesday night in the Pulaski County Special School District boardroom as the board unanimously approved a resolution favoring creation of such a district. State Rep. Will Bond spoke in favor of the resolution, and Donald Stewart, author of a financial study that said both districts […]

EDITORIAL >>A lot in common: Palin and Huck

The more we find out about Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, John McCain’s running mate, the more comfortable we are with her. With every disclosure she sounds more and more like our own governor for 10 years, Mike Huckabee, who got passed over for the vice presidential nomination despite his having five times her executive experience.First, there is the rare […]