TOP STORY >> Thousands left without power after wind, rain

By JOHN HOFHEMERLeader senior staff writerNo injuries or deaths were reported from a dark, dangerous-looking storm front that moved across the area Friday afternoon, but trees were uprooted, limbs strewn about and power was out to thousands.Locally, 7,000-8,000 people were without power in the Ward area after a First Electric transmission structure was damaged, according to Neal Frizzell, a cooperative […]

TOP STORY >> Revenues still going to cities at good clip

By RICK KRONLeader staff writerEven though Cabot has seen its city and county tax collections go up and down, its revenues are still running about $80,000 above last year’s totals.Sherwood is also up for the year because of the tax collections coming from Walmart, which opened last June.Jacksonville’s city tax collections are down through May about $87,000 for the year, […]

TOP STORY >> Produce stand rejected by city

By JONATHAN FELDMANLeader staff writerSam Adams, 79, is in poor health. He suffered a stroke this year and is now in a wheelchair. His son Doug’s teenaged granddaughter was murdered in Jacksonville last August during what police described as a carjacking gone wrong. His home burned down in January. Doug owned the Jacksonville Fitness Center before the city decided to […]

TOP STORY >> Storms slam area

By JEFFREY SMITHLeader staff writerThe storm came suddenly, as it usually does in Arkansas.Many residents along Ballard Road just north of Cabot on Hwy. 5 were surprised by the power of Friday afternoon’s storm. The forceful winds — some at tornado strength — toppled giant pines and oaks onto roads, homes and a car. Neighbors came out with chainsaws and […]

EDITORIAL >> The killers among us

Four obscure men whose lives and ideologies could hardly be matched in greater contrast have earned the nation’s horrified attention in a space of weeks by murdering people who had done them no harm and then claiming their deeds as acts of righteousness. Each murder was an individual act, and no fact that has come to light links any two […]

SPORTS >> Benton makes it two straight

By JASON KINGLeader sportswriterColby Benton just concluded a pretty good week of golf.The Cabot sophomore followed his Bruce Jenkins Memorial victory on Wednesday with the Burns Park Junior Stroke Play championship on Friday to move up near the top of the player of the year points standings.Benton shot a three-under 68 on Thursday to surge to a five-stroke lead over […]

SPORTS >> Eller outduels Nicholson as Bruins survive

By KELLY FENTONLeader sports editorThe way Nathan Eller was pitching on Tuesday night, the very last thing Cabot needed to do was extend Sylvan Hills Optimist Club any charity. But extend it Cabot Centennial Bank did in the form of five errors — four in one inning — and by popping into a game-ending double play on a safety squeeze […]

SPORTS >> Chevy Boys’ miscues too much to overcome

By JASON KINGLeader sportswriterErrors proved costly for Gwatney Chevrolet on Thursday. Sylvan Hills cashed in on four unearned runs on its way to a 6-3 win over the Chevy Boys at Dupree Park in an American Legion junior-senior twin bill. Hunter Miller got the win for the Bruins (7-3) with a complete game, five-hit performance on the mound.Mike Harmon also […]

SPORTS >> Tolliver taken in fifth round

By KELLY FENTONLeader sports editorDepending on how negotiations go over the next few days, the next phase of young Ashur Tolliver’s baseball career could begin as early as next week. Tolliver, the fireballing lefthander out of Sylvan Hills, was drafted in the fifth round on Wednesday by the Baltimore Orioles.“People were asking me, ‘Who do you want to get drafted […]