By RAY BENTON Leader sports editor The Lonoke Jackrabbits dropped their first conference game of the season and dropped to second place Monday with a heartbreaking, 7-6, extra-inning loss to Central Arkansas Christian at the Lonoke Ballpark. The Mustangs scored twice in the top of the eighth on two Lonoke errors. Casey Martin took the mound in the eighth and […]
SPORTS STORY >> Jacksonville softball wins three in a row
By RAY BENTON Leader sports editor The Lady Red Devil softball team lost its opening game of the Beebe/Cabot Invitational 11-0 to Cabot on Saturday, but have since reeled off three-straight wins, including an exciting finish to a 1-0 victory over Searcy at Dupree Park on Monday. Against Searcy, the two teams were tied 0-0 when Jacksonville came to bat […]
SPORTS STORY >> Power can’t lift Cabot to first place
By RAY BENTON Leader sports editor The Lady Panther softball team continued to hit for power in the annual Beebe/Cabot Invitational on Saturday, but a lack of timely hits and three errors in the field cost it the tournament championship. Cabot pounded out five home runs in three games on Saturday. But the Lady Panthers lost the championship game 7-6 […]
SPORTS STORY >> Sprinters lead CHS to second track win
By RAY BENTON Leader sports editor The Panther track team got its second win of the season on Friday, taking first place in the Lake Hamilton Invitational by a wide margin over the rest of the 20-team field. The Panthers rallied 94 points to second-place Conway’s 69. Lake Hamilton was third with 68 while Bryant and Vilonia rounded out the […]
SPORTS STORY >> Bears triumph over NLR
By RAY BENTON Leader sports editor 5A-Central leader Sylvan Hills had last week off from conference play, and replaced its regularly scheduled doubleheader against North Pulaski with a pair of wins over 7A-East teams. On Friday, the Bears hammered out a 13-3 win over Little Rock Central before beating North Little Rock 1-0 in nine innings on Saturday at Sherwood […]
TOP STORY >> Feuding cities in hip-hop sendup
By RICK KRON Leader staff writer “Sherwood’s hot, Sher-wood’s hot. Jacksonville can go ahead and hate, hate,” goes a line in a parody produced by a Little Rock group that promotes Sherwood, but slams Jacksonville too. Sherwood Mayor Virginia Young, who is in the video, said it was a community project for Leadership Greater Little Rock. “They came in last […]
TOP STORY >> Report card grades schools
By RICK KRON Leader staff writer Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of articles examining the state-issued report cards on area schools. As bad as the state report cards were last year for Jacksonville-based schools, the report released Friday shows an even grimmer picture. Four schools fell by a letter grade; four stayed the same and only […]
TOP STORY >> Strawberry Festival
By JEFFREY SMITH Leader staff writer The 14th annual Cabot Strawberry Festival has moved downtown this year with more space to grow. The event presented by the Junior Auxiliary of Cabot will be held on Friday and Saturday. Admission is free. The Strawberry Festival was moved from the Veterans Park Community Center to downtown due to the $5.2 million expansion […]
TOP STORY >> Joint forces gather here for exercise
By JOHN HOFHEIMER Leader senior staff writer In a wide-ranging interview Friday, Col. Charles E. Brown Jr., commander of the 19th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base, discussed a pilot program on curbing violence, encouraged the business community to hire veterans, discussed the current joint forces exercise with foreign partners and announced the first-ever Arkansas Military Expo and […]