Col. Brian (Smokey) Robinson, the new commander of the 19th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base, was asked by the base newspaper about his most memorable experience in the Air Force. “The jury is still out on that,” Robinson last week told the Combat Airlifter, the official newspaper of Little Rock Air Force Base. “I can’t pinpoint one […]

The Pulaski County Special School District’s financial future is more precarious than ever. It’s been placed in financial distress again, despite the state Education Department’s takeover last June, when it fired the school board and the superintendent and promised honest bookkeeping. The latest blow came on Monday, when the state Board of Education placed the district on life support once […]

By JOAN McCOY Leader staff writer An eighth-grade science teacher at Cabot Junior High North has been arrested on 11 counts of first-degree sexual assault and two counts of second-degree sexual assault. Stacy Stracener, 36, turned herself in to Cabot police Monday afternoon following an investigation that started Feb. 8 when school district officials called the police about allegations that […]

By JOHN HOFHEIMER Leader senior staff writer It could be “fatal” if Pulaski County Special School District unions don’t agree to an additional $7 million in fringe-benefit concessions beginning in the 2012-13 school year, Superintendent Jerry Guess testified Monday in a fiscal-distress hearing before the state Board of Education. Without such concessions, expenditures will exceed revenues by $13.3 million next […]

By JASON KING Leader sportswriter There was no love lost between Beebe and Greene County Tech as the Badgers fought their way to a 50-47 victory over the Eagles at Badger Sports Arena on Friday. The game was physical from the opening tip and only intensified as the capacity crowd gave the 5A-East Conference showdown a state-tournament feel. Technical fouls, […]

By JASON KING Leader sportswriter Jacksonville got a clean sweep of Searcy on Friday in White County. The Lady Red Devils stopped a two-game skid to win 64-52 while the boys had very little trouble in dispatching the Lions 64-22. The Lady Red Devils had lost to No. 2 Parkview and No. 5 Hall in its previous two games, but […]

By RAY BENTON Leader sports editor Spectators didn’t get the down-to-the-wire finish they expected when they arrived for the Lady Panthers’ revenge game against first-place North Little Rock, but they got a treat nonetheless. The Cabot ladies simply wore out the Charging Lady Wildcats on Friday at Panther Arena, winning 69-53, avenging an earlier five-point loss and moving into a […]

By GRAHAM POWELL Leader sportswriter Beebe and North Pulaski finished strong in the class 1A-5A state wrestling finals Saturday at the Jack Stephens Center on the UALR campus. The returning state champion Beebe Badgers were unable to repeat, but finished third overall with 260.0 points, 37.0 points behind winner Little Rock Christian. North Pulaski finished sixth overall with 115.5 points, […]

By GRAHAM POWELL Leader sportswriter The Cabot Panthers wrestling program has developed rapidly since it was established just a few years ago. After Saturday’s state finals concluded at UALR, Cabot’s program has continued to progress as the Panthers finished fifth overall in class 6A/7A, and left with a three-time state champion. As a freshman, Tyler Kurz won the state championship […]