TOP STORY >> In Lonoke, a lifetime of baseball

By JOHN HOFHEIMERLeader senior staff writerRoy Don Lewis has had a 40-year love affair with ball playin’. It may be in his DNA. He played and coached into middle age. Now, he runs the program and the ballpark at Lonoke. He married a ballplayer and both of his children play ball. And he wears his heart on his arm — […]

TOP STORY >> Runoff held on Tuesday

By RICK KRONLeader staff writerTuesday’s vote will decide who will lead Jacksonville for the next 18 months — either Alderman Gary Fletcher or Alderman Kenny Elliott.“We are both good men,” Fletcher said, “but we do have two different personalities and two different styles.” Fletcher, in his last interview before the runoff, wants residents to focus on the issues. “We’ve got […]

EDITORIAL >> Has anybody seen Vasquez?

The Pulaski County Special School District, with the complicity of board member Bill Vasquez of Jacksonville, has permanently closed Jacksonville Middle School for Girls and, starting in August, will send its students to what will be the city’s only middle school. It’s a sad loss for the city’s struggling education system. Girls’ school principal Kim Forrest, who was scheduled to […]

EDITORIAL >> Jacksonville picks mayor on Tuesday

Jacksonville voters on Tuesday will choose a new mayor for the first time in nearly 23 years. There’s a great deal of anticipation about the outcome of this important contest as two longtime aldermen, Gary Fletcher and Kenny Elliott, head for the finish line.They were the top vote-getters in the May 12 special election — Fletcher with 952 votes, and […]

SPORTS >> Senior Bruins rally to beat Gwatney

By JASON KINGLeader sportswriterA junior-senior legion sweep was not meant to be for Gwatney Chevrolet on Wednesday at Kevin McReynolds Field. The junior Chevy Boys pulled off a win under bizarre circumstances to start the evening, and their senior counterparts appeared to be well on their way to a win with a 4-1 lead through three innings. But the Optimist […]

SPORTS >> Rationalizations and shortcuts not answer for Daly

By KELLY FENTONLeader sports editorI’ve written this column before. In fact, this must be about the 10th incarnation of it.It is just the latest stop in the ongoing saga known as The John Daly Re-resurrection Tour.When we last stumbled across the immensely talented, immensely troubled Arkansas native, Daly was passed out outside a Hooter’s restaurant in North Carolina. That seems […]

SPORTS >> Celsor upholds Searcy tradition at heptathlon

By JASON KINGLeader sportswriterThe changing of the guard officially took place at the finish line of the 800 meters race on Thursday afternoon.That’s where Searcy’s Kristen Celsor wrapped up the heptathlon, avenging last year’s second-place finish to defending champion Jasmine Ellis. In the process, the Lady Lion junior emerged from the shadow of former teammate Whitney Jones, winner of the […]