election coverage

CitizenDailyThe

W E A T H E RToday: Mostly sunny. Highs around 80. South winds 5 to 10 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 50s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

Vol. 158, No. 237©2012 The Daily Citizen

“ ”Somewhere, something incredible is

waiting to be known.

CARL SAGAN20th Century American astronomer and astrophysicist

Contact us: 3000 E. Race, Searcy, AR 72143, (Phone) 501-268-8621, (Fax) 501-268-6277

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2012 75¢

NATION & STATE, 2A OPINIONS, 4A LIFESTYLES, 5ACALENDAR/OBITUARIES, 6A SPORTS, 1B CLASSIFIEDS, 5B

I N D E X

TUESDAY WEATHER PERFECT FOR SWINGING

Before and after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld the Patient Protec-tion and Affordable Care Act — also known as Obamacare — incumbent State Sen. Jon-athan Dismang, R-Searcy, and his challenger State Rep. Tiffany Rogers, D-Stuttgart,

have different feelings toward the act and how Arkansas should go forward with im-plementation.

The state has until 2014 to implement health care ex-changes, which are organiza-tions that will be formed with the goal of creating an orga-nized and competitive mar-ket for individuals and small businesses with 100 employ-ees or less to purchase health

Candidates differ on health careBY KYLE TROUTMAN

[email protected]

Dismang, Rogers discuss Affordable Care Act, Medicaid expansion

Dismang Rogers

HIGGINSON — A wastewater fl ow meter between Higginson and Garner is causing some fi nancial con-cerns for the city of Higgin-son.

Mayor Ran-dall Homs-ley said the fl ow meter that Gar-ner’s waste-water passes through before entering the sewer pond is registering a low-

Readings concern

Higginson officials

BY MOLLY M. [email protected]

Higginson

Officials in the city of Hig-ginson think the waste water flow meter from the city of Garner is not working prop-erly, as the amount of water registering on the meter is not the same as the amount Higginson is having read on its meter. Higginson is having to bear the financial burden of filtering the water that Garner is using but is not paying for because of its flow meter.

Garner meter reads differently than Higginson’s

end of meter

Homsley

Two men pleaded guilty in White County Circuit Court Tuesday to felony charges in-volving theft.

In July, Jesse Rayburn alleg-edly stole telephone wire, val-ued at more than $3,000, from AT&T, which he sold to a lo-cal recycling company. He was charged with two counts of theft by receiving, class D felonies. The guilty plea led to a proba-tion revocation stemming from an earlier theft by receiving case, resulting in a third felony.

Rayburn was sentenced to 18 months for each felony, and his time will be served concurrently for one 18-month sentence

Tyler Schaefer pleaded guilty Tuesday to breaking and enter-ing, a Class D felony, and theft of property, a class A misde-meanor.

In February, Searcy police were called to investigate sus-picious activity, where Schaefer and another man were allegedly

Judge sentences 2 men in

theft cases

BY KYLE [email protected]

Guilty pleas

Jesse Rayburn: Pleaded guilty to two counts of theft by receiving and had his pro-bation revoked

Tyler Schaefer: Pleaded guilty to breaking and enter-ing and theft of property

Man sentenced to 18 months

in prison

Please see WASTEWATER | 2A

Associated PressLITTLE ROCK — Arkansas'

attorney general honored a slain Trumann police offi cer Tuesday, noting that instead of running and hiding after being shot in the face, the policeman protected his sergeant.

Jonathan Schmidt died April 12, 2011, after pulling over a car in his hometown. A videotape of the traffi c stop showed that a wanted man in the back seat shot Schmidt in the face when the offi cer tried to detain him, then shot again as the offi cer pleaded for his life.

"This is an amazing honor for our family to know that Jona-than is not forgotten," the offi -cer's widow Andrea told those attending the 2012 Outstand-ing Law Enforcement Offi cers of the Year Awards. Attor-ney General Dustin McDaniel awarded a special "valor trib-ute" to Schmidt and his family.

BY ANDREW DEMILLOAssociated Press

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas' fi nance offi ce said Tuesday that the state's revenues are ahead of last year's fi gures and are beating expectations, but offi -cials said they're worried about sales tax collections sliding for the third straight month.

The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration said the state's net available

revenues in September totaled $494.7 million, which is $31.9 million above last year and $29.9 million above forecast. The state's revenues for the fi s-cal year to date, which began July 1, total $1.2 billion and are ahead of forecast by $42.1 mil-lion.

The monthly fi gures were boosted primarily by individual income tax collections, which were $36.7 million above last

year's fi gures and $29.8 mil-lion above forecast. Individual income tax collections for the month totaled $275.5 million.

The gains offset another dip in sales tax collections, which totaled $177.8 million for the month. The collections were $1.2 million below last year and $7.2 million below forecast. It marked the third straight month that sales taxes came in lower than expected,

the department said."That is an area of concern

that we seem to have less spending, taxable spending, going on," said Richard Weiss, the department's director. "Who knows all the reasons for it? Clearly gas prices have been up more than they were same time last year and all that. Util-ity bills have been higher since

AG honors slain officer

for valor

Kyle Troutman/[email protected]

Ryder Brown, 2, of Searcy, plays on a swing at Berryhill Park Tuesday afternoon. Many kids were at the park enjoying the 70-degree weather.

Revenues rise despite slip in sales taxes

Please see OFFICER | 2APlease see REVENUES | 2A

Please see COURT | 3A

Please see HEALTH CARE | 2A

BISONS’ WIDE RECEIVERS PLAY KEY ROLE

Serving Searcy and White County, Ark., since 1854

Blocking is as crucial as catching in Harding’s offense, and the wideouts take that role seriously. — PAGE 1B

BALD KNOB GETS SMOKE DETECTOR GRANTThe Bald Knob Fire Department received a grant for 100 smoke detectors from a state commission. — PAGE 3A

TheDailyCitizen.com

A • Wednesday, October 3, 2012 The Daily Citizen

FROM PAGE ONE

McDaniel's offi ce not-ed Schmidt "could have very easily ran into the dark and took cover" but instead protected Sgt. Corey Overstreet, who had come to assist.

Jerry Lard, who was in the back seat of a car Schmidt had pulled over, was convicted of shooting the offi cer and sentenced to death. A videotape of the traffi c stop showed Schmidt telling Lard, "Please don't shoot me. Please don't shoot me again."

The offi cer's father,Donald, thanked policeoffi cers and the localprosecutor specifi callyfor putting Lard on trial.

Also at the ceremony,McDaniel recognizedCpl. David Passen of theVan Buren Police De-partment as offi cer of theyear. Passen was amongthe fi rst to respond aftera gunman entered theCrawford County Court-house on Sept. 13, 2011,and was struck by bul-let fragments and fl yingglass during a shootout.The gunman was latershot dead.

we've had such a hot sum-mer. That's the area of the most concern."

Revenue offi cials say they can't say how much the sales tax collections were affected by the annu-al back-to-school sales tax holiday in August. There is a one-month lag in sales tax collection data, so the September fi gures are the fi rst that would include the holiday.

Lawmakers last year approved the sales tax holiday. During that weekend, clothing items priced at less than $100 and clothing accessories or equipment less than

$50 are exempt from state and local sales taxes. School supplies are also exempt that weekend. State fi nance offi cials have estimated the holi-day costs the state about

$2.1 million a year.Gov. Mike Beebe said

he believed the latest re-port showed the state was on forecast.

The Daily Citizen corrects factual errors promptly and courteously. If you have a correction or clarifica-tion, please call Editor Jacob Brower at (501) 268-8621 or e-mail him at [email protected].

Corrections

REVENUES

CONTINUED FROM 1A

OFFICER

CONTINUED FROM 1A

insurance.Rogers supported a bill

in the 2011 session that would have set up state-run exchanges, but the bill never made it out of the House committee and to a vote because legisla-tors wanted to wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on the constitu-tionality of the Affordable Care Act.

“We lost the oppor-tunity in 2011 to set up exchanges that give Ar-kansas the authority,” Rogers said. “We passed an amendment through legislation to set up a partnership exchange, but we don’t have com-plete control because it’s an agreement with the federal government.”

Dismang said that since Arkansas opted for the partnership, it’s too late to go back.

“My end game is to get all the information on the table, since we’ve opted into the partnership pre-maturely,” he said.

Rogers said she advo-cated the original bill be-cause it would have set up state-run exchanges, and if the Affordable Care Act was struck down, the bill would have been null and void.

“We had nothing to lose in that deal,” she said.

Neither candidate is completely happy with the partnership, and the two also share separate opinions on the Medicaid expansion.

“I agree with Governor

Beebe that we need to go forward with the Med-icaid expansion,” Rog-ers said. “It’s a question of dollars and cents and a question of common sense. It would allow 250,000 Arkansans to get health insurance.”

Dismang said he has not taken a position on the expansion, as he’s waiting to get more infor-mation from the state’s Department of Human Services and hard num-bers.

“I’m waiting on the Medicaid numbers at the federal level and what that would mean for Ar-kansas if we opt for the expansion,” he said.

Both Dismang and Rogers said they would rather implement some-thing at the state level before allowing federal control.

“The No. 1 thing when looking at the expansion is to make sure it works for Arkansas and keep in mind the long-term im-pacts of the expansion,” Dismang said.

A sticking point with the expansion is the $400 million Medicaid short-fall expected in July of 2013. The increase is a re-sult of DHS not receiving as much of an increase in its budget as it requested for the coming year, and there was a drop in the federal government’s matching rate for the pro-gram.

“I think we have to take a look at the shortfall be-fore we start discussions about the expansion,”

Dismang said.Rogers said taking

the expansion will help with the shortfall be-cause it provides cover-age to 250,000 Arkan-sans, keeping them from avoiding the doctor and frequenting emergency rooms.

“People can go to the doctor by appointment and not frequent the emergency room just be-cause of a common cold,” she said. “People without insurance do this because they know they can’t be denied treatment in the emergency room.”

DHS has estimated that with the federal money coming in, Arkansas would see a net savings of $372 million over the expansion’s fi rst seven years when benefi ts such as state income taxes collected on the federal money and reduced un-compensated care are factored in.

Dismang said he’s wait-ing on information re-garding rules and regu-lations before deciding which direction to go.

“I don’t know enough about the parameters to guess if there will be sav-ings or if there will not be savings,” he said.

One thing Dismang is sure of is there should be more accountability on the part of patients, which is why he would support getting a federal waiver to implement a co-pay for Medicaid recipients.

“That sort of program will help discourage over-utilization of the system,”

he said.Dismang said in his

conversations with hos-pital personnel and phy-sicians, people are going to the doctor or the emer-gency room when they don’t need to, which cre-ates more cost.

“I think [implement-ing co-pays] is something DHS should consider, and it should be based on a sliding scale of income,” he said.

Rogers said she may support implement-ing a small co-pay for Medicaid recipients, but maintains that setting up exchanges would be a better option.

“Just having insur-ance available to people will take away the abuse of the emergency room,” she said. “A $5 co-pay may put more teeth in the game and more account-ability, but I can’t be cer-tain at this time.”

If Arkansas opts for the expansion, the federal government will pay for the fi rst three years. After that time, the state may pay up to 10 percent of the cost or opt out of the program.

Dismang and Rogers will face off on the Nov. 6 general election ballot. Senate District 28 en-compasses southeastern White County, including Searcy, Kensett, Higgin-son, Beebe, West Point, Griffi thville, Garner and McRae. The district also includes all of Prairie County and portions of Lonoke, Monroe and Ar-kansas counties.

HEALTH CARE

CONTINUED FROM 1A

er amount of water than pumps at the sewer pond are showing.

“They’ve always had infi ltration problems,” Homsley said. “The more we’re hav-ing to treat at the sew-er pond, the harder it is on our equip-ment.”

Homsley said that a c c o r d -ing to the pumps at the pond, there is 1 2 5 , 0 0 0 g a l l o n s of waste-water in 24 hours c o m i n g into the pond from G a r n e r . However, the fl ow meter only registered 39,000 gallons of waste-water in the same time period.

This is a concern for Higginson offi cials be-cause Garner only pays for the amount regis-tered on the fl ow meter.

“The meter is very inaccurate right now,” Homsley said. “The pumps are pumping more than what the fl ow meter is showing.”

Homsley said he could not give an estimate on just how much the pump is fi nancially affecting the city.

“You can’t break it down into average costs for the city because of

the use of electricity and equipment,” he said.

Garner Mayor Arnold Sewell said that to the best of his knowledge, there are no concerns with the pump.

“(Higginson) keeps telling us that our meter is r e a d i n g incorrect-ly,” Sewell s a i d . “ W e ’ v e had it c h e c k e d and (the p e o p l e w h o c h e c k e d it) said it was work-ing fi ne.”

S e w e l l said he did not want to com-ment fur-ther about the situa-tion.

H o m s -ley said the pro-

cessing of Garner’s wastewater is one of the reasons Higginson has had to acquire a USDA loan of $1.2 million in order to fi x the sand beds at the wastewater treat-ment facility.

“We’re having to re-habilitate the system to take care of both towns. Garner isn’t having to pay off any of that,” he said.

Homsley said he has spoken to Sewell about the problem and that Higginson offi cials want to meet with the Garner offi cials to see how the two cities can remedy the problem.

WASTEWATER

CONTINUED FROM 1A

“They’ve always had infiltration problems. The

more we’re having to treat at the sewer

pond, the harder it is on our

equipment. ... The pumps are pumping more than what the flow meter is

showing.”

Randall HomsleyMayor of Higginson

BY JEANNIE NUSSAssociated Press

LITTLE ROCK — The president of an organi-zation leading the fi ght against cramped cages for pregnant pigs said Tues-day he's seeking a spot on Tyson Food Inc.'s board of directors to put more pres-sure on the nation's sec-ond-largest pork proces-sor to abandon the crates.

Ending the use of so-called gestation crates has been a top priority for the Humane Society of the United States, which has helped convince compa-nies including McDon-

ald's, Burger King and Safeway to pledge to move away from buying pork from farms that use cages.

Wayne Pacelle, the ani-mal welfare organization's president and chief execu-tive offi cer, acknowledged he has a remote chance of being elected to Ty-son's board, but he said he would add a valuable per-spective to the Springdale, Ark.-based company if his campaign was successful.

"It's one thing to be on the outside and asking for animal welfare concerns to be elevated within in the company," Pacelle told

The Associated Press. "It's another thing to try to do it from the inside."

Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson said the com-pany is committed to hu-mane animal treatment and expects the same from farmers who supply it with chickens, hogs and cattle.

"We're not surprised Wayne Pacelle wants to sit on our board," Mickelson said in an email.

Mickelson added that the company is handling its nomination process ac-cording to the law and the company's bylaws. Vot-ing documents will go out

to shareholders, who can cast votes for the board of directors before or at the company's annual meet-ing, Mickelson said. Elec-tion results will then be reported at the meeting in February, Mickelson said. There are nine board members, he said.

The Humane Society of the United States owns stock in Tyson and dozens of other companies that use animal products so its representatives can attend shareholder meetings and submit proposals for im-proved animal welfare policies.

Humane Society president seeks seat on Tyson board

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CitizenDailyThe

W E A T H E RToday: Sunny. Patchy frost in the morning. Highs in the upper 50s. Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 30s. North winds 5 mph.


“ ”Only those who will risk going too

far can possibly find out how far one can go.

T.S. ELIOT20th Century Modernist author



I N D E X

LOCAL REAL ESTATE FALL OPEN HOUSE IS TODAYLook inside today’s edition for listings on homes that are part of this afternoon’s Fall Open House. — INSERT


BISONS FACE TECH IN HOMECOMING GAMEHarding played Arkansas Tech in a pivotal conference matchup Saturday in Searcy. — PAGE 1B

BHcHc

TheDailyCitizen.com

State Rep. Mark Biviano has called one of the claims on his District 46 opponent’s mailer a “blatant lie” regarding Bi-viano’s vote toward education.

According to Democrat Kyle Osborne’s mailers — which were paid for by the organiza-tion to elect Osborne — Bivia-

no has voted against funding for public education.

Biviano voted in favor of House Bill 1901, now known

as Act 1039, which increased the per-student funding to school districts to $6,144 for the 2011-12 school year, and then to $6,267 for the 2012-13 year.

“This was the bill that changed the formula to in-crease the K-12 public school

Funding claim irks BivianoBY MOLLY M. [email protected]

Biviano Osborne

Representative voted for Act 1039, against governor’s budget

Jacob Brower/[email protected]

Heather Gould, Harding senior graphic design major from Harvest, Ala., reacts as university President David Burks crowns her homecoming queen during halftime of the Bisons’ game against Arkansas Tech Saturday.

A White County woman died Saturday following a house fi re authorities believe may have been caused by a wood-burning fi replace.

Tiffany Weatherford, 38, was found dead at her home at 826 Swinging Bridge Road near Beebe when fi refi ghters re-sponded to a blaze around 2:30 a.m. White County Chief Deputy Jeremy Clark said Weatherford was found dead fi ve feet from the fi replace.

Clark said authorities have no reason to believe foul play was involved, but the incident is un-der investigation.

Weatherford was the only per-son in the home at the time of the

Woman dies in house

fire

BY JACOB [email protected]

Fatal fireVictim: Tiffany Weather-

ford, 38, BeebeLocation: 826 Swinging

Bridge Road near BeebeTime: 2:30 a.m. Satur-

day

Authorities suspect blaze

started at wood-burning fireplace

Arkansas legislators have been at odds about the state’s academic achievements, and while they may not agree on the state’s national rank-ing, District 28 State Sen-ate candidates do agree Ar-kansas has made strides in education and there’s still work to be done.

State Sen. J o n a t h a n Dismang, R-Searcy, and State Rep. Tif-fany Rogers, D-Stuttgart, both said Arkansas has improved its quality of education in recent years, but the state still needs to work harder

Senate candidates

evaluate education


Arkansas education

Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, and Tiffany Rogers, D-Stuttgart, say they believe more needs to be done to help teachers and students in the Arkansas, no matter what national studies say.

Dismang, Rogers agree more needs to be done

in K-12 classrooms

Dismang

Rogers

GOULD CROWNED HARDING HOMECOMING QUEEN

Please see EDUCATION | 3A

Kensett city offi cials are hoping to have four asbestos-contaminated buildings all cleaned up by the end of the year.

After securing $71,000 in grant money, Kensett offi cials accepted a bid from Goolsby General Contractors of Bly-theville to clean up the build-ings for $32,444.

The city received other bids from Control Environmen-tal Solutions of Russellville, for $37,547, and Excavating

Services of Little Rock, for $45,900. The Delta Regional Authority Board awarded a $66,000 Emergency Invest-ment to help remove the as-bestos.

Kensett Mayor Max McDon-ald said if the city does not use

Kensett city officials accept asbestos cleanup bid


Work to be complete within 60 days

Asbestos cleanup

What: Kensett officials ac-cepted a bid to clean up four asbestos-contaminated build-ings.

When: The cleanup should be completed within 60 days.

Please see FUNDING | 2A

Please see FIRE | 3A

Please see ASBESTOS | 2A


LITTLE ROCK — Former Ar-kansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says Republicans in the state should thank President Barack Obama for helping the GOP and putting the party on the verge of winning the state Legislature.

Huckabee headlined a Satur-day pre-election rally in down-town Little Rock for the state GOP and told Republicans that the Democratic president has helped attract more conserva-tives in Arkansas who are op-posed to the president's policies.

Republicans believe they will win control of the majority Dem-ocrat state House and Senate for the fi rst time since Reconstruc-tion in the Nov. 6 election.

Huckabee told reporters be-fore the rally that the national Democratic Party has become too extreme on issues such as abortion.

Huckabee now lives in Florida and hosts a show on Fox News.

Huckabee: GOP on verge

of taking legislature

The Daily Citizen Sunday, October 28, 2012 • Page 3A

LOCAL

Molly M. Fleming/[email protected]

Dogs gather for Barkin’ in the Park

Sadie, the mummy, sits patiently on a picnic table

in Spring Park with her owner, Jordan Honeycutt,

during the sixth annual Barkin’ in the Park on

Saturday morning. Sadie was joined by her friend

Spot and other owner, Zach. The event was

hosted by the Humane Society of Searcy and

featured dog contests, veterinarian consulta-

tions, free nail trimming, and other activities for dogs and owners. The

Honeycutts are Harding University students from

Dallas.

when it comes to teachers and students.

Rogers said Arkansas’ No. 5 national education ranking in the Education Week Quality Counts 2012 survey is a testament to how far Arkansas schools have come in recent years. The survey gave Arkansas a B- overall (81.6 percent), which is good for fi fth place in percentage rankings behind Maryland, Mas-sachusetts, New York and Virginia. The K-12 achieve-ment portion of the same study ranks Arkansas 34th with a D.

Other categories includ-ed in the study are: Chance for success (C, 44th), the teaching profession (B+, second), school fi nance (C, 27th), and standards, as-sessments and accountabil-ity (A, sixth).

A separate study by the American Legislative Ex-change Council has Ar-kansas ranked 45th in the nation, basing its rankings in data from national test scores, state education pol-icy, charter school regula-tion and other benchmarks.

Rogers said she disagrees with Republicans’ attitude toward Arkansas educa-tion.

“It’s a slap in the face to parents, teachers and stu-dents when we have made accomplishments and been successful,” she said. “[It’s not productive] for the other party to downgrade education in Arkansas and I think they’re in denial about the progress we’ve made over the past 10 years.”

Dismang replied to Rog-ers’ assessment by point-ing to his family’s history in teaching.

“My mother was a kin-dergarden teacher, my dad was an intermediate school principal and my wife was a teacher in the Searcy public school system, so I come from a family of teachers,” he said. “There is no state-ment I have ever made that has downgraded education in Arkansas.”

Dismang said he doesn’t put too much stock into the national studies, preferring

to look at how the individ-ual schools are doing them-selves.

“Remediation rates are too high and we have to look at grade infl ation be-cause it’s not fair to stu-dents for that to exist,” he said. “I’ve asked for a study to determine what quali-fi es as grade infl ation, but I haven’t gotten an answer yet from the Department of Education.”

Dismang said he looks at the progress of schools in White County when de-termining what should be done on the state level.

“White County schools have set an example for the rest of the state,” he said. “Beebe has implemented a more intense education program to bring young kids up to par, and Searcy and Bald Knob have been recognized nationally for their achievements, so what we do in White County can be a benchmark and some-thing to replicate through-out the state.”

Rogers said she hopes to bring programs to Arkan-sas that will help teachers improve that K-12 ranking, starting with establishing the Master Teacher pro-gram, which has been im-plemented in Georgia.

“It’s a method of re-warding teachers through student achievement and it helps younger teachers who are sometimes lost for the fi rst couple years,” she said. “New teachers would have a mentor and experi-enced educator, and that will help retain [new teach-ers].”

Rogers said the program would reward teachers based on student achieve-ments, but does not know what those rewards will be.

“The program doesn’t say specifi cally, but rewarding money is probably part of the plan,” she said.

Rogers said one thing that has helped Arkansas schools is the implementa-tion of the common core standards, a national cur-riculum to which all schools adhere, teaching the same curriculum across the board.

“Common Core gives a

better idea of how students are doing because the test-ing is all the same,” Rogers said. “And, if for some rea-son a student has to move, they will still be on the same curriculum.”

Dismang and Rogers agree more needs to be done to help teachers with their health insurance.

“We need to make sure pay, the retirement system and health insurance costs will help us hire qualifi ed teachers,” Dismang said.

Rogers said teachers’ health insurance costs have been on the rise and she has joined an ad-hoc com-mittee to evaluate how the state can lower costs.

“We need to see what we can do to close the gap between the average state employee’s insurance and teachers’ insurance,” she said. “I’m sure it relates to the cost of health care and number of claims as to why co-pays and premiums have gone up.”

Dismang and Rogers will face off on the Nov. 6 general election ballot. Senate District 28 encom-passes southeastern White County, including Searcy, Kensett, Higginson, Beebe, West Point, Griffi thville, Garner and McRae. The district also includes all of Prairie County and por-tions of Lonoke, Monroe, Arkansas and Woodruff counties.

EDUCATION

CONTINUED FROM 1A

fi re. Her body has been taken to the Arkansas

State Crime Lab for au-topsy and Beebe fi refi ght-ers have contacted the state fi re marshal’s offi ce.

The McRae, Antioch and El Paso fi re depart-ments also responded to the fi re.

FIRE

CONTINUED FROM 1A

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On November 6th you will have the chance to vote for the A&P Tax. Th e tax will be a 3% tax on all gross receipts of hotels and motels within the City of Searcy. It will also be a 1% tax on all gross receipts from the sale of prepared food and beverages sold within the City of Searcy by restaurants and other similar types of businesses which sells prepared food.

Th e A&P Tax is not a tax on food but only prepared food such as food items prepared by restaurants, drive-in restaurants, carry-out restaurants, concession stands, convenience stores and delicatessens or similar businesses.

IT IS NOT A TAX ON YOUR GROCERIES.Th e A&P Tax is only on prepared foods.

Th e A&P Tax will be for the development, construction and maintenance of the Searcy City Parks. Th e tax will be administered as a Special Fund to be disbursed for these needs by the Mayor upon approval by your elected city council members.

Th is tax does not have a sunset provision so the Searcy Parks System will know and can count on such funds to be available for the development of the city park system for years to come. Th is tax will benefi t our entire community and will provide something our children and their children can use and enjoy for years to come.

Th e A&P Tax can be used to make improvements to the entire Searcy City Park system including the Pioneer Village, Lightle Center Smyrna Church, the Rialto Th eater, the Farmer’s Market and the various youth and adult sports complexes.

It can be used to acquire new property for park development. Th e last time the City of Searcy added any new land to the park system for residential parks like Yancey Park was in 1978.

Th e tax can be used to expand the facilities at the youth sports complex and recreational facilities. Th at facility has been the cornerstone of the youth sports programs. Th is will allow the sports complex to host tournaments to bring visitors to Searcy and promote our city.

It could be used to construct restrooms and facilities at the soccer complex as well as similar facilities at the peewee football area along with concessions and a press box.

Th e tax could also be used to complete the bike and walking trail around Searcy and to even extend the trail to Riverside Park. It could also be used to construct splash pads at both Berryhill and Yancey Parks.

Our parks need to be handicap accessible as Special needs playgrounds. Th ese are required and such improvements can be constructed with this tax. Always needed is additional parking areas at the various sports complexes.

Th e tax could also be used to address drainage problems at the soccer complex as well as improving the soccer complex fi elds. Th e adult soft ball fi eld lights could be updated as well as improvements for the basketball and tennis courts.

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W E A T H E RToday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 70s. North winds 5 to 10 mph. Tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 40s. East winds 5 mph.


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I N D E X

State Senate District 28 grew in land mass after redistricting

last year, and incumbent Jona-than Dismang, R-Searcy, and challenger Tiffany Rogers, D-Stuttgart, are looking at ways

to represent the new areas.Each candidate said one of

the best ways to represent Dis-trict 28 is by aiming for a seat on the Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee.

“Because of this district’s lay-out, that’s the most important

Candidates: Ag panel crucial


Dismang, Rogers discuss challenges,

opportunities presented by new Senate district

RogersDismang

In the fi nal local race before the November general election, Russ Durham earned a seat on the Bradford School Board Tues-day.

Durham defeated Joshua Nel-son 66.9 percent (95 votes) to 33.1 percent (47 votes). Durham replaces longtime board mem-ber Leland Wells, who chose not to seek re-election.

Durham came two votes shy of winning the general election

Durham earns

Bradford seat

BY JACOB [email protected]

Pilots at the Searcy Airport took a lot of fi rst-time fl iers up in the air Tuesday.

Fifth-graders in Searcy took part in the Young Eagles Airport Day, in it’s ninth year, learning about aircraft in what Airport Manager Donnie Love hopes will spur interest in aviation.

“We think fi fth grade is old enough to have an interest in the future, but also young enough to have a little bit of fun,” he said. “A lot of kids are get-ting fi rst-time experience here and would never get this opportunity if not for this event.”

Southwest Middle School students Shelbe Edwards, Addison Butler and Hailey Gutierrez, all 10 years old, said they had never been on an air-plane before.

“We’re all really excited because we’ve never been on a plane,” Butler said while the girls were waiting to fl y.

When asked if the day’s events have made them consider aviation when they get older, Gutierrez said, “Maybe, but I plan to be a doctor.”

Each of the girls also got to use a grounded hang-glider, where the girls were strapped in to a harness and hung off the ground to simulate hang-gliding.

“It was fun and not really scary,” Butler said.

“It probably would have been scary if we were actually in the air,” Ed-

wards added.Since the Young Eagles Airport

Day began, pilots in Searcy have fl own over 2,900 students, and Love said he hopes to keep the program going for at least 10 more years. Ed-wards, Butler and Gutierrez all said given the chance, they would love to come back to Young Eagles Airport Day again.

Along with the hang-gliding simu-

lator and the airplane rides, displays of bulldog helicopters and other air-craft were on hand.

With more than 2,900 kids having fl own in the Young Eagles program over the past nine years, Love said there is at least one person who has grown up and pursued aviation.

“John Moore came to this event

YOUNG EAGLES HIT THE SKIES



Joey Stroue, 10, left, enjoys a ride on an twin-engine Seneca 2 airplane and jokes with classmates Asher Blake, 10, middle, and Juan Ruiz, 11. More than 300 children got to fly around Searcy Tuesday by participating in the Young Eagles Airport Day. Stroue and Ruiz were first-time fliers, while Blake said he had been on an airplane once before.

Searcy fifth-graders get a taste of the pilot’s life


Sara Cooper, teacher at Southwest Middle School, hands a release form to one of her fifth-grade students before the kids were flown around Searcy during the Young Eagles Airport Day at the Searcy Airport Tuesday after-noon.

Political strategist Karl Rove will continue the 2012-13 American Studies Institute Distinguished Lecture Series Tuesday at Harding Uni-versity.

Rove was behind for-mer President George W. Bush’s suc-cessful 2000 and 2004 c a m p a i g n s and served as the president’s senior adviser from 2000-07, and as deputy chief of staff from 2004-07. He is the author of the best-selling book, “Courage and Conse-quence: My Life as a Conserva-tive in the Fight,” and he writes a weekly op-ed for the Wall Street Journal.

HU continues Lecture Series with political

strategistEvent is free, open

to the public

Lecture

Who: Harding UniversityWhat: Will host political

strategist Karl RoveWhen: Tuesday, 7 p.m.Where: Benson Auditorium

Rove

Please see LECTURE | 3APlease see FLIGHT | 2A

Please see AG | 2A

SEARCY HOSTS TOWN HALL EVENT THURSDAYMayor David Morris will host two town hall meetings this month, with the first scheduled for Thursday. — PAGE 3A


RAIDERS AIM TO UPSET CROSSTOWN RIVALSRiverview can move to .500 in conference with a win against the undefeated Wildcats Friday. — PAGE 1B

TheDailyCitizen.com

Bradford School Board

Russ Durham defeated Joshua Nelson 66.9 percent (95 votes) to 33.1 percent (47 votes) for a seat on the Bradford School Board. Durham replaces longtime board member Leland Wells, who chose not to seek re-election.

Please see DURHAM | 2A

committee to sit on,” Dis-mang said.

The committee deals predominantly with ag-riculture and energy is-sues, which are two of the biggest concerns with the plethora of farmland and natural gas companies in District 28.

Rogers said the Ag-riculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee will be her fi rst choice if elected, and she will be involved even if she does not earn a seat.

“It’s important to be on the committee for vot-ing rights, but you can still be involved even if you can’t vote,” she said. “Over the last four years, the [House] agriculture committee thought I was a member because I was at the meetings so often.”

Rogers said her reasons for trying to get on the committee are self-evi-dent, as District 28 is big on farms and energy.

“There’s lots of agricul-ture up here, more cattle farms and even rowed crops, so we do have a lot of the same things in common,” she said. “We also have the Fayetteville Shale Play and can capi-talize on natural resources we have, whether they are bio-mass products or nat-ural gas.’

Getting on the commit-tee is a big concern for the candidates, as both say jobs and the economy are pressing on the minds of

people in District 28.“In general, people are

concerned about jobs,” Dismang said. “I will make sure to do what I can to protect jobs fi rst, and also create jobs in the district.”

Rogers said the econo-my is what she hears from constituents as the biggest concern, especially for the elderly.

“We have lots of senior citizens who are fearful because they’ve worked their entire lives and wor-ry about the cost of living and making ends meet,” she said.

While landing a spot on the committee is a goal of each candidate, both say an even more impor-tant role in the Senate will be to be accessible at all times, which is why both Dismang and Rog-ers make their cell phone numbers available to the public.

“The number is on my campaign site and people can call me directly with-out going through a sec-retary or a third party,” Dismang said.

During Senate sessions, Dismang said he gets about 500 contacts per week, and his phone plays a big role in hearing his constituents’ interests.

“Email is the most used form of communication, and Facebook users are increasing,” he said. “You have to be involved, will-ing to listen and be totally accessible in a district this large.”

Rogers said she also works to make herself ac-cessible through multiple forms of media, and the feedback is not always positive.

“I list my cell phone number on all my mailers and people have been call-ing me,” she said. “Most are not happy and leave ugly messages, and I re-turn all their calls because I want to set the record straight.”

One opportunity both candidates hope to take during the session is Chamber of Commerce meetings, where they will provide legislative up-dates each week.

“We held weekly legis-lative updates [in Searcy] during the session, and I would like to do that in Stuttgart as well,” Dismang said. “The fre-quency would depend on what they wanted to do, but ideally, I would go to Searcy and Stuttgart once per week.”

“I’ve had legislative briefi ngs once or twice during the session at the Chamber in Stuttgart,” Rogers said. “Those are important, and if people want me to do that, I will certainly do it.”

Rogers said she did weekly legislative updates

via radio in Stuttgart dur-ing her time in the House.

Dismang said he also hopes to open an offi ce in Stuttgart to take in con-cerns of constituents in the area.

“I want to open an offi ce in Stuttgart with an open-door policy,” he said.

Rogers said she does not think opening a per-manent offi ce in Searcy would be monetarily fea-sible, but said there are many other ways to make sure constituents’ con-cerns are considered.

“I would always make myself accessible by at-tending events I’m invited to and meeting people,” she said. “There are plen-ty of public space to meet people and make sure my constituents are heard.”

Dismang and Rogers will face off on the Nov. 6 general election ballot. Senate District 28 en-compasses southeastern White County, including Searcy, Kensett, Higgin-son, Beebe, West Point, Griffi thville, Garner and McRae. The district also includes all of Prairie County and portions of Lonoke, Monroe and Ar-kansas counties.

Page 2A • Wednesday, October 10, 2012 The Daily Citizen

FROM PAGE ONE

The Daily Citizen corrects factual errors promptly and courteously. If you have a correction or clarifica-tion, please call Editor Jacob Brower at (501) 268-8621 or e-mail him at [email protected].

Corrections

AG

CONTINUED FROM 1A

and now he’s a co-pilot for Harding University Aviation,” Love said. “He was one of the fortunate few interested in aviation and pursued it. Now, he’s a commercial pilot.”

Love said there were 10 airplanes fl ying stu-dents Tuesday, with 500 gallons of fuel provided by Eastern Aviation Fu-els, a cost of $2,955 at today’s fuels prices.

The Searcy Fire De-partment, Searcy Police Department and White County Sheriff were also on hand to educate kids about safety.

“The Fire Department gave a seminar about fi re safety and all the kids were very attentive and asked a lot of questions,” Love said.

The Young Eagles pro-gram is put on by the Ex-

perimental Aviation As-sociation, which assureseach fl ight is in par withFederal Aviation Admin-istration guidelines. Theprogram, which began in1992, gives kids ages 8-17the opportunity to fl y in ageneral aviation airplanefree of charge. Since1992, the program hasgiven more than 1.6 mil-lion rides to kids acrossthe world.

FLIGHT

CONTINUED FROM 1AYoung Eagles

Airport Day

What: More than 300 Searcy fifth grad-ers learned about avi-ation and were flown around Searcy.

When: Tuesday morning and after-noon


LITTLE ROCK — Arkan-sas Gov. Mike Beebe called the racially charged writ-ings of three Republican House candidates "embar-rassing" on Tuesday but said he didn't believe they refl ected the views of the state or the GOP.

The Democratic gover-nor condemned the writ-ings by House candidate Charlie Fuqua, state Rep. Jon Hubbard and Rep. Loy Mauch but didn't call for them to withdraw from their respective races. All have come under fi re from leaders of both parties in recent days.

Hubbard called slavery a "blessing in disguise" in a 2009 book and wrote that African-Americans

were better off than they would have been had they not been captured and shipped to the United States. Fuqua advocated the deportation of all Mus-lims in a 2011 self-pub-lished book, and Mauch called Abraham Lincoln a war criminal in one of a series of letters to a news-paper dating back several years.

"It's pretty embarrass-ing, it's pretty sad," Beebe told reporters at the state Capitol on Tuesday morn-ing. "But, you know, you can't blame a whole state for activities or comments from a few because there's been a lot of comments by Republicans and Demo-crats that we wish had never been made and that embarrass us all or detract

from how we're viewed by other folks."

Fuqua, Hubbard and Mauch did not return calls or emails Tuesday morn-ing. Beebe said he hoped voters wouldn't reward the three in the November election.

"I would hope the peo-ple in the rest of the coun-try wouldn't think that Hubbard or those other people represent what Ar-kansas really is, because they don't," Beebe said.

Republicans have dis-tanced themselves from the writings, and the state party said Monday that it would not contribute any more money to their cam-paigns. GOP Congress-man Tim Griffi n has asked the three to donate money he contributed to charity.

The comments have re-ceived attention as Repub-licans aim to win control of the state Legislature for the fi rst time since Re-construction. GOP lead-ers are confi dent of the party's chances and said they don't believe the writ-ings will hurt their efforts to win control of the state House and Senate.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, a Democrat and the only announced candidate for the 2014 governor's race, called the remarks "appalling" in a speech to a Jonesboro group and applauded GOP leaders for distanc-ing themselves from the three candidates. McDan-iel served in the House in the seat that Hubbard now holds.

outright in September. In the general election, Dur-ham received 58 votes (49.57 percent), Nelson received 32 votes (27.35 percent) and Amanda Cowell received 27 votes (23.08 percent.)

In a rarity, the runoff actually drew more voters than the general election.

There were 142 votes cast in the runoff, compared to 117 in the general election.

“I’m glad we had a big turnout in the runoff,” Durham said. “I’d like to thank everyone who vot-ed. We had a better turn-out this time and I appre-ciate everyone who took the time to vote for me and my opponent.”

Leslie Bellamy, White

County election coordi-nator, said that runoffs drawing more voters than general elections are a rare occurrence.

“I’ve seen it before, but it’s been years,” she said. “Maybe with us nearing the (November) general election, voting is more prevalent on everyone’s minds. Sometimes that makes the difference, but

it is rare.”Durham said one of his

main priorities will be to add more advanced classes.

“We have pretty good academics, but I’d like to get the bar raised and challenge the kids more,” he said. “We have some smart kids at the school.”

Attempts to reach Nel-son for comment were unsuccessful.

DURHAM

CONTINUED FROM 1A

Beebe: Writings by House hopefuls ‘sad’

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W E A T H E RToday: Sunny. Rain likely. Highs in the lower 80s. South winds 10 to 15 mph.Tonight: Mostly cloudy. Rain likely. Lows in the upper 40s. West winds 10 to 15 mph.


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I N D E X

TheDailyCitizen.com

KARL ROVE SPEAKS AT HARDING

The District 28 State Sen-ate candidates are looking at different ways to lower Ar-kansans’ tax burden.

Incumbent Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, said his goal is to decrease the num-ber of income tax brackets in Arkansas, provided the bud-

get allows it.“As a tax accountant, I think

restructuring the brackets to eliminate several of the inside

brackets and simplify the pro-cess would be good,” he said.

Dismang said he can’t make any fi rm promises until after the budgeting process is com-plete.

“The problem has been fi nd-ing the cost to the state and what the elimination of brack-

Dismang, Rogers talk taxes


Incumbent wants to consolidate tax brackets, challenger cites grocery tax elimination as priority

Dismang RogersPlease see TAXES | 2A

Incumbent JP in

3-way race

Quorum CourtWhere: Bald Knob, Russell,

community of WordenIncumbent: Kennenth Hor-

ton, I-Bald KnobChallengers: Lesli Chest-

nut, R-Bald Knob; and David Freppon, D-Bald Knob

Former Democratic

justice runs for re-election as independent

Justice of the Peace Kenneth Horton, I-Bald Knob, is fac-ing challenges from both the D e m o c r a t i c and Republi-can parties in his re-election bid.

Horton is being chal-lenged by Re-publican Lesli Chestnut and Democrat Da-vid Freppon, both of Bald Knob.

The district encompasses Bald Knob, Russell, and the communi-ty of Worden.

B e s i d e s Horton, Frep-pon is the only candidate with e x p e r i e n c e as an elected offi cial, but Chestnut in not without leadership ex-perience.

F r e p p o n


Horton

Chestnut

Freppon

Please see RACE | 3A

Jeff Montgomery/Special to The Daily Citizen

Republican political consultant Karl Rove speaks to a crowd at Harding University Tues-day night. Rove spoke as part of the university’s Distinguished Lecture Series.

Robert E. Elliott Foundation

What: Hosting its annual fundraising dinner

When: Friday at 7 p.m.Where: Searcy Country

Club

Per the wishes of the late Rob-ert E. Elliott, the Elliott Foun-dation is continuing its work on fi ghting depression and suicide.

The foundation is hosting its annual fundraising dinner Friday at 7 p.m. at the Searcy Country Club, hoping to raise $10,000 for depression and sui-cide education. “The dinner is an opportunity for us to share the things we’ve worked on in the past, share our goals for the fu-ture and tell how people’s dona-tions are being used,” said Alana Pinchback, executive director of the Robert E. Elliott Foundation.

Marilyn Elliott, widow of Rob-ert Elliott, said she is glad to be

Foundation fundraiser

set for Friday


LITTLE ROCK — The U.S. De-partment of Defense says the re-mains of a missing Air Force cap-tain from Arkansas have been identifi ed and will be buried as part of a group with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

The department says the re-mains of Capt. Virgil Meroney III of Fayetteville will be buried with those of Air Force Col. Wen-dell Keller of Fargo, N.D. A date

Remains ofAir Force vet

identifiedAssociated Press

EL DORADO — Murphy Oil is splitting in two in order to bet-ter focus on the separate tasks of exploration and production, and the sale of gasoline and other goods through its retail locations.

Murphy Oil will continue to explore for and produce oil in the U.S., Canada and Malaysia. The company will continue its exploration program and off-shore development projects,

while also growing its North America onshore businesses.

Murphy USA will become a separate company focused on selling fuels. Murphy USA op-erates retail gasoline stations in 23 states. Murphy USA will also operate seven fuel distribution terminals and ethanol produc-tion facilities in North Dakota and Texas. Murphy is extending a trend in the U.S. oil industry. ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil Corp. have executed similar

splits in recent years.Exploring for oil is a high-risk

business that can also offer high rewards when companies suc-ceed in fi nding oil and oil prices rise. Refi ning oil into fuels and selling them does not usually carry the same risks or rewards. Murphy’s only refi nery, located in the United Kingdom, will stay with Murphy Oil company, but the company is still trying to sell it so it can focus exclusively on exploration and production.

Shares of Murphy Oil Corp., based in El Dorado, Ark., rose $4.25, or 7.2 percent, to $63.25in morning trading after trading as high as $63.42 earlier in thesession. They are near their 52-week high of $65.60 set in lateFebruary. They traded as low as$43.29 in late June.

Murphy announced a special dividend of $2.50 for a total of$500 million and a stock buy-back program covering $1 bil-lion in common shares.

Murphy to split off its retail division to better focusAssociated Press

Please see FOUNDATION | 3A

Money from annual dinner

to go to education programs

Please see REMAINS | 2A

WHITE COUNTY EARLY VOTING BEGINS MONDAYOn Monday, White Countians can take to the polls in early voting for the November election. — PAGE 3A

SEARCY PREPS FOR JONESBORO RIVALRYThe Lions are getting ready to take on Jonesboro Friday in a pivotal conference matchup. — PAGE 1B

for the ceremony was not announced. Meroney and Keller were part of a crew

of an F-4D Phantom II aircraft that disappeared following a mission on March 1, 1969, in Laos.

The department says the remains were found during a 17-year investi-gation of the area that ran

from 1994 until 2011 andthat they were identifi edwith military ID cards anddental records.

ets would mean to general revenue,” he said.

Arkansas has six tax brackets ranging from those who earn $0 a year to $31,000 a year, with rates in each bracket climbing from 1 percent to 7 percent.

Dismang said if the budget allows, he would like to consolidate some of the lower brackets, simpli-fying the system and low-ering the overall effective tax rate for everyone be-cause there would be less brackets compounding on higher-income earners.

“Eliminating three brackets would be feasible and realistic, but it takes a considerable amount of planning to do that,” he said.

“We’ll have to go through the budget pro-cess and see what’s com-ing down the pipe before giving any tax cuts, and it’s very possible we won’t give any because of the Medicaid shortfall.”

Dismang’s challenger, State Rep. Tiffany Rogers,

D-Stuttgart, said she has yet to hear about her op-ponent’s plan and would not comment until review-ing it.

“The Republican plan is to eliminate the in-come tax completely, and if Jonathan is proposing something different, it’s the fi rst I’ve heard of it,” Rogers said. “I can’t make a snap decision without researching the impact it would have.”

Rogers’ reference to the Republican plan comes from the Arkansas GOP platform, which states the party wishes to “Replace the state income tax with a more equitable method of taxation.”

Rogers charges that if the Republican plan is to eliminate income taxes, it would have to be coupled with the raising of sales tax rates to avoid revenue losses.

“It sounds good, but in reality, they would have to increase the state sales tax to about 9 percent to cover the cost of eliminating the income tax, and that’s be-fore you add county and

city sales taxes,” she said.Dismang said he thinks

no legislation calling for a sales tax increase would pass, pointing to the a 2011 House bill that purported to eliminate a lower severance tax rate for “high-cost gas wells,” which died in committee.

“I think that’s indicative of what would happen if someone tries to raise the sales tax through the legis-lative body,” he said.

“The House never voted on or brought to a vote a bill that would have raised the severance tax, so I think he’s grasping there for bringing that up,” Rog-ers said.

While Rogers said she is unsure how consolidat-ing tax brackets would work, she is sure she will keep pushing Gov. Mike Beebe’s plan to continue lowering the grocery tax.

“It’s been a priority of Gov. Beebe since he was elected to get rid of the grocery tax and I want to see that through to com-pletion,” she said.

When Beebe took offi ce, the grocery tax was 6 per-

cent. It is currently at 1.5percent.

“It’s a priority for usbecause the grocery taxaffects everyone and anyrelief we can provide ishelpful,” Rogers said. “Wewon’t do it irresponsiblyand if the climate is rightand it’s forecasted we willbe able to, we will, andthat’s what we anticipate.”

Dismang said he hassupported the grocery taxlegislation in the past, butwill have to reassess fur-ther cuts after the budgetcomes out this fall.

“Until I look at the bud-get and constraints, I can’tsay with any certaintywhat I would do or notdo,” he said.

Dismang and Rogerswill face off on the Nov.6 general election ballot.Senate District 28 en-compasses southeasternWhite County, includingSearcy, Kensett, Higgin-son, Beebe, West Point,Griffi thville, Garner andMcRae. The district alsoincludes all of PrairieCounty and portions ofLonoke, Monroe and Ar-kansas counties.

Page 2A • Wednesday, October 17, 2012 The Daily Citizen

FROM PAGE ONE


Searcy firefighters control fire near ATMBarry Daniel of the Searcy Fire Department puts out a small fire next to the Simmons First Security Bank ATM on Poplar Street Tuesday afternoon. Firefighters said the blaze was likely caused by a burning cigarettebutt thrown in the mulch near the ATM.

TAXES

CONTINUED FROM 1A

REMAINS

CONTINUED FROM 1A

High humidity and an approaching cold front could combine to generate severe weather in parts of Arkansas on Wednesday.

The Storm Prediction Center says there is a 30 percent chance for se-vere storms in the area between Little Rock and Memphis, Tenn., as a cold front slices through humid air. Severe storms are also possible to a less-er degree into the lower Ohio Valley and the Mis-souri Bootheel.

Forecasters say wind shear within the atmo-sphere, where winds move in different di-rections at different heights, could interact with the moist air and lead to the development of supercells from parts of the Ozark Plateau to the mid-Mississippi Valley. Later Wednes-day, a squall line could generate high winds and hail.

Severe storms possible to hit Arkansas today

Associated Press

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Poll: Biviano leads House raceIncumbent holds 16-point advantage over challenger Osborne

A recent poll of Arkansas House District 46 registered voters shows that incumbent State Rep. Mark Biviano, R-Searcy, holds a 16 percent lead less than three weeks before election day.

Of those polled, 50 percent said that will vote for Biviano, while 34 percent said they favor his


Kolton Thomas (right) and Matthew McEuen, both students at Harding University, provide musical entertainment at the 19th annual Barbara Montgomery Memorial Luncheon on Friday.

Anna Overbay (left), event spe-cialist at White County Medical Center, hugs breast cancer survivor Rhonda Corssen during the 19th annual Barbara Mont-gomery Memorial Luncheon at the WCMC Friday afternoon. More than 120 people attended the lun-cheon.


LITTLE ROCK — Corrections offi cers found a sharpened metal shank hidden in the prison cell of a man who shot two soldiers outside an Arkan-sas military recruiting station three years ago, a prison sys-

tem offi cial said Friday.Offi cers found the makeshift

weapon in Abdulhakim Mu-hammad’s mattress during a routine search in April, Arkan-sas Department of Correction spokeswoman Shea Wilson told The Associated Press.

“It looks like it had been

sharpened at one end and ap-peared to be stainless steel,” Wilson said. She said the piece of metal was about 12 inches long and a half-inch wide, and that it had been stripped from his cell door, which has since been fi xed.

Muhammad, 27, also failed

to obey orders and used threat-ening language toward an offi -cer, Wilson said.

He was placed in isolationfor 30 days and wasn’t allowedto have visitors, use the phoneor buy anything from the pris-on commissary for 60 days, shesaid.

Shank found in cell of man who shot soldiersBY JEANNIE NUSS

Associated Press

Biviano OsbornePlease see POLL | 2A

Three of four local candidates for seats in the state legislature say they will vote to repeal the state trucker tax exemption if elected, while State Rep. Mark Biviano plans to keep the ex-emption in place.

State Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, and his opponent Rep. Tiffany Rogers, D-Stuttgart — as well as Biviano’s opponent, Kyle Osborne, D-Searcy — said they would vote for repeal of the exemption if it is brought to an-other vote.

In 2011, a procedural mea-sure was brought up that would have made it possible to repeal the exemption, but after passing through the House, it was shot down in the Senate by a 21-12

Candidates split on

trucker tax exemption


Biviano opposes; Dismang, Rogers, Osborne support

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas’ top anti-drug offi cial and the state Chamber of Commerce joined pharmacists and law en-forcement agencies Friday to announce their opposition to a measure on the November bal-lot that would legalize medical marijuana.

State Drug Director Fran Fle-ner said she and the groups planned to speak out against the measure that, if passed, would make Arkansas the fi rst southern state to legalize medical marijua-na. The proposal would allow pa-tients with qualifying conditions to buy marijuana from nonprofi t dispensaries with a doctor’s recommendation. “While our group’s vision of compassion does not include smoked mari-juana as a medicine, it does in-clude elements that we consider equally important measures of compassion,” Flener said.

Director, chamber oppose

measureBY ANDREW DEMILLO

Associated Press

Please see EXEMPTION | 2A

HARDING LYCEUM SERIES CONTINUES NOV. 1A basset horn trio will continue Harding’s Lyceum Series Nov. 1 in the Reynolds Recital Hall on campus. — PAGE 3A

WEEK 8 OF FOOTBALL SEASON IN THE BOOKSTurn to the sports section for recaps of all six White County teams’ Friday night games. — PAGE 1B

A L B U Q U E R Q U E , N.M. — The country’s largest organic pea-nut processing plant is scrubbing its facili-ties top to bottom and hopes to get back in production soon after a massive recall of scores of products linked to a salmonella outbreak.

The recall has af-fected peanut but-ter and nut products sold at major retailers around the country, raising concerns about the long-term impact on the industry — espe-

cially in products grown and processed in the fl at, dusty eastern New Mexi-co town of Portales.

The region is home to the prized Valencia pea-nut, which represents just a small percentage of the nation’s massive peanut crop, but is favored for natural and organic pea-nut butter products be-cause of its sweet fl avor.

This year’s crop is ex-ceptional, growers say, and the town is set this weekend to celebrate at its 39th annual peanut festival. But the festivities are likely to be overshad-

owed by anxiety as the crop is piling up in drying trailers while the Sunland Inc. facility linked to the outbreak remains shut-tered for a top-to-bottom scrubbing.

“We are very con-cerned about it,” said Wayne Baker, a retired peanut farmer and chair of the New Mexico Pea-nut Growers Association. “The harvest is going on as normal and Sunland is receiving peanuts, but we have got to get the FDA to approve some changes and get going.”

Sunland, which oper-

ates the country’s largestUSDA certifi ed organicpeanut processing plant,fi rst closed its peanut but-ter plant late last monthwhen the Food and DrugAdministration and theCenters for Disease Con-trol and Prevention linkeda salmonella outbreak topeanut butter that it pro-duced for Trader Joe’s. Itsroasting and processingfacilities were also closedand the recall expandedthis month to includemore than 300 peanutand other nut productsafter the FDA found sal-monella at the plant.

New Mexico peanut capital at heart of recallAssociated Press

Page 2A • Saturday, October 20, 2012 The Daily Citizen

FROM PAGE ONE

I-40, I-630 lanes to close for work

LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas Highway and Transportation De-partment says portions of Interstates 630 in Little Rock and I-40 in West Memphis will be closed next week.

The department said Friday that the inside and center lanes of I-630 will be shut down Monday starting at 9 p.m. for in-stallation of beams for a bridge over the interstate at Baptist Health Medical Center. All lanes will be closed periodically during the night for the installa-tion and are to reopen at 5 a.m. Tuesday.

The department also says the outside west-bound lane of Interstate 40 will be closed in the area of Southland Park for pavement patching. The lane will be closed from 7 p.m. Sunday until Thursday to allow the con-crete to cure.

Wife of convicted doctor appeals surrender order

LITTLE ROCK (AP) — A woman convicted of con-spiracy in a bombing that nearly killed the head of the Arkansas State Medi-cal Board is appealing her order to surrender to U.S. marshals to begin serving her one year sentence.

An attorney for San-geeta Mann filed the mo-tion Friday in U.S. District Court in Little Rock — a day after a judge ordered that she surrender on Dec. 3.

The order came after the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Mann’s conviction in July.

The motion says Mann should surrender in Janu-ary at a prison chosen by the Bureau of Prisons.

Prosecutors say Mann hid documents as authori-ties investigated her hus-band, Randeep Mann, in the 2009 bombing at the home of Dr. Trent Pierce.

Randeep Mann was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Student accused of bringing knives to Arkansas school

MARION (AP) — Au-thorities in northeast Arkansas say a 14-year-old student was arrested after he allegedly brought knives to Marion Junior High School.

Marion Police Assistant Chief Gerald Martin said Friday that the teen was apprehended Thursday after a school resource officer found out the stu-dent was in the cafeteria armed with a knife.

Martin says no one was hurt.

Authorities say the teen was wearing a black trench coat, had three kitchen knives and a piece of paper with draw-ings on it.

Martin says the teen was arrested on charges of aggravated assault and possession of a pro-hibited weapon on school property.

The teen’s name hasn’t been released because of his age. Martin says he’s scheduled to have a court hearing on Monday in Crittenden County Juve-nile Court.

State Fair sets attendance record

LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas State Fair of-ficials say clear skies and cool temperatures helped lead to a record-setting attendance day at the fair — although overall atten-dance is down.

General Manager Ralph Shoptaw says the 35,648 set a Thursday atten-dance record for the fair — breaking the record of 32,115 set last year.

The single day atten-dance record of 88,769 was set last Saturday — a day after cold tem-peratures and rain held attendance to fewer than 12,000.

Overall attendance was 241,420 going into Friday’s seventh day of the fair — compared to 276,614 after seven dates in 2011. The fair runs through Sunday.

News in brief

vote. There were 24 votes needed to have the mea-sure passed.

Biviano voted against the repeal in the House last year, and said he plans to do so again if a repeal measure is brought up in the future.

“I believe we need to support the trucking in-dustry and, given the economic conditions, anything we can do to support the industry through incentives, we should be doing,” he said.

Biviano said if the ex-emption stays on the books, he believes it would promote the indus-try in Arkansas.

“I believe the return will be greater than the actual cost,” he said. “I will vote the same way if it comes up again in the next ses-sion.”

The tax break went into effect on July 1, and the House tried to put off im-position of the tax break until July 1, 2013, which would give legislators an-other crack at the bill in the regular session that starts in January.

However, that measure

did not get the support it needed in the Senate.

Dismang said he voted against the measure be-cause it did not qualify as a fi scal matter.

It was proposed during the 2011 fi scal session.

“I think it will be brought up again and I will vote for its repeal,” he said. “That’s something I’ve committed to with the highway department, but there also may be another proposition to get the de-partment that money that may be considered.”

The trucker tax exemp-tion repeal, which would have done away with a tax break for commercial truck sales, results in a $4 million annual loss for the highway department, $3 million for state highways and $1 million for county and city roads.

The tax reduction on

commercial vehicles was meant to help the indus-try offset a proposed die-sel fuel tax increase for road repairs.

The trucking lobby dropped its support of the diesel tax hike, but the ve-hicle tax cut stayed on the books.

“It’s unfortunate be-cause that’s the agree-ment that was made with the truckers association, and shortly after the ses-sion, they withdrew their support,” Rogers said. “The truckers came out for repeal of the exemp-

tion and we didn’t get it repealed because of the politics that were played.”

Rogers said she hopes for a repeal to come up in the next session.

“I think it should be re-pealed and I would vote for that,” she said. “I think since the truckers sup-ported it last year, they will support it this year.”

Osborne said he will vote for the repeal to re-place lost revenue.

“The state lost revenue and I’d like to put that back in place like it was before,” he said.

Biviano and Osborne will face off on the Nov. 6 general election ballot. House District 46 encom-passes the cities of Searcy and Kensett.

Dismang and Rogers will also face off on the Nov. 6 general election ballot. Senate District 28 encompasses southeast-ern White County, in-

cluding Searcy, Kensett, Higginson, Beebe, West Point, Griffi thville, Gar-ner and McRae.

The district also in-cludes all of Prairie County and portions of Lonoke, Monroe and Ar-kansas counties.

Early voting begins 8 a.m. Monday at the White County Courthouse.

opponent, Searcy Police Chief Kyle Osborne, D-Searcy. Sixteen percent of respondents said they are undecided.

The poll was conducted at The Daily Citizen’s of-fi ce Monday and Thurs-day nights with the help of eight local residents hired by the newspaper. The poll consisted of 472

successful telephone in-terviews, resulting in a 4.45 percent margin of error, meaning that poll results could be 2-1⁄4 per-centage points higher or lower than reported.

The polling sample, methodology and ques-tions were compiled with the help of Tom How-ard, Harding University distinguished professor emeritus of political sci-

ence. People polled were asked the following ques-tions: “Barring any un-foreseen circumstance, will you defi nitely vote in the Nov. 6 general elec-tion?” and “If the election were held today, which of these Arkansas House District 46 candidates would receive your vote?” The candidates’ names and party affi liations were then read aloud as they

appear on the ballot — Biviano’s fi rst, Osborne’s second. People who an-swered “no” on the fi rst question were not asked the second question and the interview was not considered successful.

Biviano said he is pleased with how the numbers look as his cam-paign enters the home stretch.

“I’m optimistic and ap-

preciate the support I’m getting in the communi-ty,” he said. “We’re going to continue focusing on the issues that are impor-tant to people in the dis-trict and the state in the next two weeks.”

Osborne said he will focus on gathering addi-tional support in the com-ing days.

“I’m surprised my numbers came back that

low,” he said. “I thought itwould be a lot closer thanthat. I just have to get outthere and work harder,knock a lot more doors.”

Biviano and Osbornewill appear on the Nov.6 general election ballot.District 46 encompassesthe cities of Searcy andKensett. Early voting be-gins 8 a.m. Monday atthe White County Court-house.

POLL

CONTINUED FROM 1A

EXEMPTION

CONTINUED FROM 1A

DALLAS — The man who provides the voice for Big Tex, the giant cowboy at the State Fair of Texas, was greeting people with his usual “Howdy, folks!” in a slow drawl Friday when someone rushed into his trailer to tell him the towering fair icon was on fi re.

“It moved quickly,” Bill Bragg said of the fi re that engulfed the 52-foot-tall structure, leaving not much more than its charred metal frame behind. “It was a quick end.”

This year’s fair was supposed to be a cel-ebration for Big Tex, marking his 60th birthday. Instead, the beloved cowboy was hauled from the grounds on a fl atbed truck two days before the end of the fair in a procession resembling a funeral.

“It’s sad to see this happen, but it’s lucky no one was injured or killed,” said Mike Blucher of Dallas, who was at the fair with his wife, Linda.

The fi re brought a temporary end to a piece of Texas culture.

The cowboy with the 75-gallon hat and

50-pound belt buckle al-ways was easy to spot and served as a popular meet-ing place for people com-ing to the fair or attending the annual Texas-Oklaho-ma football game at the nearby Cotton Bowl. But all that remained by noon Friday were hands and shirt leaves on a burned skeleton.

“Big Tex is a symbol of everything the state fair stands for,” fair spokes-woman Sue Gooding said. “Big Tex is where my par-ents told me, ‘If you get lost, meet at Big Tex.’”

Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Joel Lavender said Friday afternoon that the cause of the blaze had not been determined.

Some dispatchers tooka playful approach to re-porting the blaze. “Got arather tall cowboy withall his clothes burned off,”one said. “Howdy, folks,it’s hot,” another said.

Fair offi cials and cityleaders quickly calledfor the return of Big Tex,vowing to rebuild thestructure. Dallas MayorMike Rawlings tweetedthat the cowboy wouldbecome “bigger and bet-ter for the 21st Century.”

Big Tex’s hands, bootsand face were made ofFiberglas, Gooding said.The clothing that burnedhad been provided lastyear by a Fort Worth com-pany, she said.

Gooding speculatedthat the fi re could havestarted in mechanical workings at the base ofthe structure and that themetal skeleton “served asa chimney.”

The skeleton will beevaluated, and a new onewill be built if necessary,she said.

Stanley Hill, who su-pervises a food stand thathas been located near thestructure for 18 years, saidhe noticed smoke comingfrom Big Tex’s neck area.That quickly turned intoa blaze that engulfed thestructure’s fabric cover-ing.

“Once it started burn-ing, it was gone,” Hill said.

Fire destroys Texas’ fair icon Big TexBY DANNY ROBBINS

Associated Press

AP Photo

Dallas firefighters put out the last hot spots after Big Tex caught fire at the State Fair of Texas, in Fair Park on Friday in Dallas.

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WALT DISNEY’S

BRAVEPG

State Rep. Mark Biviano, R-Searcy has been reelect-ed to the state’s House of Representatives where he will represent District 46 after

Searcians deny prepared food,

hotel tax

CitizenDailyThe

W E A T H E RToday: Sunny. Highs in the lower 60s. North winds 10 to 15 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 30s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.


“ ”Government of the people,

by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN American President, 1809-1865


Wednesday, november 7, 2012 75¢


Biviano reelected to House

3 counties reported in Senate race

COUNTING GOES INTO NIGHT


I N D E X

TheDailyCitizen.com

BIVIANO

ARKANSAS HOUSE DISTRICT 46

Final unofficial election results.Source: White County Election Commission

Mark Biviano, R-Searcy61 percent

Kyle Osborne, D-Searcy39 percent

Griffin wins re-election in central ArkansasLITTLE ROCK — Republican

U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin has defeated Democratic challeng-er Herb Rule to win a second term in central Arkansas' 2nd Congressional District.

Griffin of Little Rock held onto the seat in Tuesday's elec-tion, running on a platform of

smaller government.A former U.S. attorney for

the Eastern District of Arkansas, Griffin was appointed to that position by President George W. Bush as part of a sweep by the administration to unseat a number of federal prosecutors.

Griffin had worked under

Bush adviser Karl Rove as dep-uty director of political affairs in the White House.

Griffin built upon the base he developed when he won the seat two years ago after Democratic U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder opted not to run for re-election.

Voters shoot down

A&P tax

Searcy voters chose to deny the advertising and promotion (A&P) tax which would have raised money from restaurant and hotel revenue to allo-cate money for Searcy parks and recreation.

Fifty-seven percent of voters were opposed to the tax and 43 percent voted for the A&P tax.

Ernie Blount, chair-man of the Independent Tea Party of White County, actively opposed the A&P tax. He said he was pleased with the outcome.

"It wasn't about the penny," Blount said. "It was about taking more money from workers' wal-lets to furnish non-essen-tial services."

Blount said there were no potential changes to the tax which would cause him to support it at this time.

Alderman Don Raney proposed the tax in July. He said he felt strongly about the tax and was dis-appointed the majority of voters did not support it.

"I'm sorry that it didn't pass," Raney said. "I want-ed it to, but the people have spoken and that's all you can say."

If it had passed, the A&P tax would have col-lected 1 percent from gross receipts on prepared foods and 3 percent from gross receipts on hotels and motels to be used for Searcy parks and recre-ation special projects.

The tax would have gone into effect July 1, 2013, and it did not have a sunset.

It was a long election night for State Senate District 28 candidates, as a winner in the race had not been determined because three counties had yet to tally its votes.

Incumbent State Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, and challeng-er and State Rep. Tiffany Rogers, D-Stuttgart, will have to wait to hear results, as Prairie County, Lonoke County and Monroe County had not been able to tabulate all votes. All precincts in White County, Arkansas County and Woodruff County had reported by 10:45 p.m.

Counting only White, Arkansas and Woodruff Counties, Dismang

leads the race, garner-ing 11,345 votes (60 percent) to Rogers' 7,523 votes (40 Percent).

Dismang won White County by a count of 9,393 votes (72 percent) to Rogers' 3,641 votes (28 per-cent).

Rogers won Arkansas County by a count of 3,585 votes (67 percent) to Dismang's 1,904 votes (33 percent).

DISMANG

Obama wins second term

— PAGE 3A

BY HARRISON [email protected]



Please see A&P | 3A Please see SENATE | 3A

From left, Searcy alderman candidate Robert Allen, Searcy Mayor David Morris, Sen. Jonathan Dismang's father-in-law David Staggs, Dismang, and Letain DeVore visit outside the polling site at West Race Baptist Church. Morris vis-ited with the group of his way to cast a ballot Tuesday afternoon. Jacob Brower/[email protected]

ROGERS

GRIFFIN

Please see BIVIANO | 2A

State House of RepresentativesDistrict 45n Jeremy Gillam, R 83%n Travis Mason, G 17%District 46n Mark Biviano, R 61%n Kyle Osborne, D 39%

Searcy A&P tax n For 43%n Against 57%

Searcy City CouncilWard 2, Position 2n Robert Allen 38%n Steve Sterling 62%Ward 4, Position 2n Mike Chalenburg 56%n Shannon Derrick 44%

Quorum CourtDistrict 5n Jimmy L. House, D 57%n Sam Hailey, R 43%District 7*n Lesli Chestnut, R 20%n David W. Freppon, D 40%n Kenneth Horton, I 39%District 8n Layne "Boss" Vaughn, D 57%n Greg Niblock, R 43%

Kensett City CouncilWard 3, Position 1n Clarence Chatmon, D 62%n Jasper Jones, I 39%

Judsonia City CouncilWard 3, Position 2n Scott Gillham, I 63%n Phillip Hambrick, I 37%

Bald Knob City CouncilWard 3, Position 2n Roger Pearrow, I 47%n Larry Usrey, I 53%

Higginson City CouncilWard 2, Position 1*n Nora Beth Reynolds, I 49%n Nancy E. Phipps. I 31% n Juanita Pope, I 20% Ward 3, Position 1*n Craig D. Spencer, I 21%n Jan Mullen, I 43%n Glen L. Swanson, I 36% Ward 3, Position 2*n Dennis Usery, I 43%n David Mullen, I 30%n Glenda Crawford, I 27%

Pangburn City CouncilWard 1, Position 2n Audie Treadwell, I 34%n Ben Langley, I 66%

Beebe City CouncilWard 1, Position 1n David Pruitt 46%n Harold Welch 54%Ward 2, Position 2n Tracy Lightfoot 66%n Michael Travis Weeks 34%Ward 3, Position 2n Leslie E. Cossey 46%n Dale Bass 54%

Russell City CouncilPosition 3n Calvin E. Klotz 52%n Glenn Pyle 48%

McRae City CouncilWard 2, Position 1n Lena Rohrscheib 41%n Scott Jones 59%Ward 2, Position 2n Lela Strange 49%n Bobby Crisco 51%

Bradford City CouncilWard 3, Position 1n Doyle A. Middleton, I 33%n Wesley Burrus, I 67%

Bald Knob sales taxFor 38%Against 62%

Pangburn sales tax For 50.21%Against 49.79%

McRae sales taxFor 60%Against 40%

Beebe Fire District issue 1For 60%Against 40%

Beebe Fire District issue 2For 52%Against 48%

Big Creek Constablen Jimmie Altom, R 74% n Nathan James, D 26%

Dogwood Constable*n Duane Whited, R 35%n Sharon Jackson, D 43%n Randall Homsley, I 22%

*Race headed to runoff.

ELECTION RESULTSAs of 10:45 p.m. Tuesday

Cotton defeats Jeffress to win state

US House seat LITTLE ROCK —

Republican Tom Cotton won a southern Arkansas congressional seat in Tuesday's election after defeating Democrat Gene Jeffress, setting the GOP up for a sweep of the state's four House districts.

The former manage-ment consultant and Army veteran defeated Jeffress, a state senator

from Louann, in the race for the 4th District. He suc-ceeds retiring Democratic Congressman Mike Ross.

"All around Arkansas we see conservatives winning up and down the ballot and it just goes to show that Arkansas is at root a con-servative state that wants less government and lower taxes and more liberty," Cotton told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

BY JEANNIE NUSSThe Associated Press

Please see COTTON | 3A

The Daily Citizen Wednesday, November 7, 2012 • Page 3A

Obama powers to re-election over Romney

From Page one

Jennifer Curry of Searcy was the first person to receive her flu shot on Tuesday during the Vote and Vacs event offered by the White County Health Department at West Race Baptist Church in Searcy. Health department nurse Suzanne Smith gives her flu vaccination. Molly M. Fleming/[email protected]

Voters get flu shots at poll

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe signs in to vote on Tuesday morning as election worker Karen Davis checks his name on the registry. Beebe cast his ballot at West Race Baptist Church in Searcy. He said his vote in the presidential race was for Barack Obama. Molly M. Fleming/[email protected]

Governor casts ballot in Searcy

W A S H I N G T O N — President Barack Obama won re-election Tuesday night despite a fierce chal-lenge from Republican M i t t R o m n e y , prevailing in the face of a weak econo-my and high unemploy-ment that encumbered his first term and crimped the middle class dreams of millions.

"This happened because of you. Thank you" Obama tweeted to supporters as he secured four more years in the White House.

The president sealed his victory in Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire and Colorado, four of the nine battleground states where the two rivals and their allies spent nearly $1 bil-lion on dueling television commercials.

Ultimately, the result of the brawl of an election campaign appeared likely to be the political status quo. Democrats won two more years of control of the Senate, and Republicans were on track to do like-wise in the House.

Romney was in Massachusetts, his long and grueling bid for the presidency at an unsuc-cessful end.

The two rivals were close in the popular vote.

Romney had 45.2 mil-lion votes, or 49 percent. Obama had 45 million,

also 49 percent, with 65 percent of precincts tal-lied.

But Obama's laser-like focus on battleground states gave him the major-ity in the electoral vote, where it mattered most. He had 284, or 14 more than needed for victory. Romney had 200.

Yet to be settled were battlegrounds in Florida, Virginia and Nevada.

The election emerged as a choice between two very different visions of gov-ernment - whether it occu-pies a major, front-row place in American lives or is in the background as a less-obtrusive facilitator for private enterprise and entrepreneurship.

The economy was rated the top issue by about 60 percent of voters surveyed as they left their polling places. But more said for-mer President George W. Bush bore responsibility for current circumstanc-es than Obama did after nearly four years in office.

About 4 in 10 said the economy is on the mend, but more than that said it was stagnant or get-ting worse more than four years after the near-col-lapse of 2008. The sur-vey was conducted for The Associated Press and a group of television net-works.

Democrats got off to a quick start in their bid to renew their Senate majority, captur-ing seats in Indiana and Massachusetts now in Republican hands.

A similar A&P tax was passed by the city council in 2009, then overturned in a special vote a few months later. That tax gen-erated nearly $460,000 in five months in 2010.

This year's proposed tax was forecasted to bring in

$971,392.68 in one year, based on five months of 2009 A&P revenues.

Raney said he did not have any plans to pro-pose the tax again, but he wouldn't rule it out.

"I really just can't say," Raney said. "It's been defeated twice. I wouldn't

think, but I can't say its totally gone."

This year's A&P tax differed from the 2009 edition in that the funds would have been man-aged by city officials

rather than an A&P commission. Also, this year's A&P tax was first voted on in the gener-al election rather than being passed by the city council.

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A&PCONTINUED FROM 1A

Cotton, 35, had been widely favored to win the seat after racking up endorsements during his primary bid from national Republican leaders such as Sen. John McCain of Arizona and conservative groups such as the Club for Growth. Jeffress, who didn't have a website until after he won his party's nomination this summer, trailed Cotton in fundrais-ing and organization.

Republicans had iden-tified Ross' seat as a top target after he announced that he wouldn't seek re-election last year. Arkansas lawmakers redrew the boundaries of the dis-trict to include tradition-ally Republican counties in northwestern Arkansas.

"This district is used to sending Democrats to Washington. Now, we will send a Republican," Cotton said to applause from sup-porters at a rally Tuesday night.

Cotton, who served in

Iraq and Afghanistan, ran partly on a pledge to push for a repeal of the federal health care law and said he wanted to replace it with new reforms. Jeffress said he didn't know if he would have voted for the overhaul, but said he was opposed to its repeal. Jeffress didn't immediately return a phone message left Tuesday night.

Cotton has called for cutting the nation's spend-ing and reforming the fed-eral income tax code. He also has said he would have voted against the deal to raise the nation's borrow-ing limit last year, and that he supports a constitution-al amendment requiring a balanced federal budget.

"From what I've read and seen, he's a man who will make some changes," said Mike Harris, who vot-ed for Cotton on Tuesday in Pine Bluff. "That's what we need up there. We need some congressmen who will try something differ-ent."

COTTONCONTINUED FROM 1A

Rogers also won Woodruff County by a count of 297 votes (86 percent) to Dismang's 48 votes (14 percent).

White County Election Commission Chairman Winston Collier said White County had its results in at 9:52 p.m., a grand feat considering ballot problems and a high voter turnout.

"That's not bad for the second-largest land mass county in the

state," he said. "In spite of how late the press said we would have results, our poll workers really stepped up and White County votes were count-ed earlier than in prior races."

More then 25,000 voters cast bal-lots in White County, which Collier said was more than the commission expected.

"We are appreciative of the poll workers, the clerk's office and the election coordinators who worked

hard to make this a smooth election with a high turnout and no prob-lems," he said.

Senate District 28 encom-passes southeastern White County, including Searcy, Kensett, Higginson, Beebe, West Point, Griffithville, Garner and McRae. The district also includes all of Prairie County and portions of Lonoke, Monroe, Arkansas and Woodruff counties.

SENATECONTINUED FROM 1A

Serving Searcy andWhite County since 1854

Beebe to pardon 7

LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Mike Beebe has announced his intent to grant pardons to seven people convicted of vari-ous crimes.

A news release from the governor's office says each of the seven have completed jail time and all parole and probation requirements and have paid their fines.

Among the seven is Mickel Warren of Searcy for forgery, burglary and theft.

Beebe also denied clemency requests of 53 others.

There is a 30-day waiting period for public comment on the pardons before final action.

Ill. man accused of killing 8 guilty in 2nd trialMORRISON, Ill. — An Illinois

man accused of killing eight people from two states in 2008 was found guilty Tuesday in the death of a 93-year-old man.

Jurors deliberated for less than three hours in Whiteside County Court before finding Nicholas Sheley guilty of murder in the June 2008 death of Russell Reed at Reed's home in northern Illinois, The (Sterling) Daily Gazette reported (http://bit.ly/RH0nuw ).

It was Sheley's second trial. The 33-year-old man from Sterling already has been convicted of murder and is serving a life sentence for the killing of a Galesburg man in 2008. Sheley also still faces trials in the oth-er six killings. He could be sentenced to another life term without possibil-ity for parole at his Jan. 16 sentencing in Reed's death.

During closing arguments Tuesday, prosecutors recounted tes-

timony about fingerprints linking Sheley to the crime scene and told jurors that Sheley brutally beat Reed in his quest for money to buy crack cocaine.

"Each of those injuries to Mr. Reed's face, neck and chest could have been fatal all by themself," Assistant Attorney General Michael Atterberry said.

Sheley's attorney, Jeremy Karlin, tried to cast doubt on the motives of some witnesses who testified against Sheley, saying many were criminals or suspects in other crimes them-selves who would say anything to win favor with prosecutors. Karlin also argued that testimony about a 2009 letter in which Sheley said he planned to confess was written to cover up for his brother. Joshua Sheley was later acquitted of any role in Reed's death.

"This is not an honest admission of guilt," Karlin said.

The trial was a major test of

Illinois' experiment with cameras in the courtroom. The Illinois Supreme Court announced in January that it would allow courtroom cameras for the first time in the state under a pilot program. Sheley's is the highest-profile trial to allow them to date.

The families of Russell Reed, Ronald Randall — the Galesburg man Sheley was convicted of killing — and Brock Branson, another man Sheley is accused of killing, were in the crowded courtroom Tuesday.

Prosecutors said Sheley killed Reed in his home in Sterling about 115 miles west of Chicago on June 23, 2008, and stole his car. Reed's body was found in the car's trunk three days later.

Sheley did not testify during the trial or his previous one involving Randall's murder.

Investigators allege that Reed was the first person Sheley killed in the spree.

Cheryl Evans, left, White County Clerk-elect, assists Clerk Marquita Teague at the clerk's office Tuesday afternoon. Evans has been at the clerk's office this week in preparation for her term, which begins in January. Jacob Brower/[email protected]

Hard at work

OBAMA

BY DAVID ESPOThe Associated Press

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