TOP STORY >> Skating rink owner faces felony charges

By SARAH CAMPBELL Leader staff writer Skateworld in Jacksonville will try to salvage its reputation after its owner was arrested last weekend for the second-degree assault of a 5-year-old girl. Robert Allen Borders, 47, of Lonoke, who owns the business but not the property, was arrested at 9:05 p.m. Dec. 30 after police responded to a report of an incident […]

TOP STORY >> Middle school welcomes Crawford

By JEFFREY SMITH Leader staff writer First District Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) toured Cabot Middle School North on Wednesday with state Sen. Eddie Joe Williams (R-Cabot). They discussed plans to hold roundtable discussions with school districts on ways to help struggling schools in the congressional district. Crawford said there is dissatisfaction with the No Child Left Behind Act, which is […]

TOP STORY >> LRAFB backs up traffic

By RICK KRON Leader staff writer It wasn’t the billboard moratorium that took up most of the Jacksonville City Council’s time Thursday night. It was all the complaints the council and city received Wednesday morning when the air base initiated a new security-check system and had traffic blocked, stopped and parked from the front gate, down Vandenberg Boulevard, up the […]

TOP STORY >> Air base gets set for new commander

 Col. Brian (Smokey) Robinson will soon assume command of the 19th Airlift Wing from Col. Mike Minihan at Little Rock Air Force Base. Robinson is executive officer to Gen. Raymond Johns Jr., commander of Air Mobility Command at Scott AFB, Ill. Minihan, who has been commander here since August 2010, will assume command of the 89th Airlift Wing at Joint […]

EDITORIAL >> Tamales for a new year

Like most American adults, my New Year’s resolution will be to eat lighter and move more. But as I have for years, I don’t make that resolution for about two weeks, which is about how long the New Year’s tamales last.  Josh, my youngest son, gave me a galvanized tamale pot for Christmas about 10 years ago. Inside was a […]

SPORTS >> Pressure lifts Cabot to win

By JASON KING Leader sportswriter Pressure and patience were the key ingredients in Cabot’s 52-32 victory over Greene County Tech at Panther Arena on Tuesday. The Panthers (9-0) finished their non conference schedule with a perfect record and made a statement to 7A-Central competitors with a stout defensive performance that kept the visiting Golden Eagles on the run to try […]

SPORTS >> Red Devils roughed up by Warrirors

By GRAHAM POWELL Leader Sportswriter The Jacksonville Red Devils went into Thursday night’s game against the two-time defending state champion Little Rock Hall Warriors knowing they had to be the aggressor. Unfortunately for the Red Devils, the Warriors were the more aggressive team from the start, and despite a late Jacksonville run in the third quarter, Hall managed to get […]

SPORTS >> Jackrabbits overcome mistakes, stay perfect

By RAY BENTON Leader Sports Editor The Jackrabbits had a 7-0 lead seemingly before you could blink, and it was pretty even from that point Tuesday at Lonoke High School. Lonoke went on to beat the Stuttgart Ricebirds 46-39 in a 4A-2 conference matchup. “We did what we talked about and that was holding home court for conference,” Lonoke coach […]

SPORTS >> Bears trudge by Monticello

By JASON KING Leader Sportswriter There were dunks-a-plenty, but the 46 total combined turnovers and 21 trips to the free-throw line drug out an ugly 53-40 victory for Sylvan Hills over Monticello at the Sylvan Hills High School gymnasium on Thursday. The Bears (9-3, 2-0) got an early boost from senior guard Archie Goodwin to help build a 9-2 lead, […]