Monthly Archives: August 2023

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: Westside vs Brookland

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Brookland’s Sinquan Spratt (6) runs the ball against Westside during Friday night’s game. Spratt scored two touchdowns in the Bearcats’ 39-0 victory over the Warriors.

Big plays send Bearcats to 39-0 rout of Warriors

Delta Digital News Service

Friday, August 25, 2023

By Brayden Morse | Sports Editor

JONESBORO, Ark. – As the Brookland Bearcats dominated the Westside Warriors right from the get-go, with the help of explosive plays, they were able to shutout the Warriors 39-0.

On the Bearcats’ first drive of the game, sophomore quarterback #11 Hayden Elder scored a 70-yard rushing touchdown. The Warriors were then held to a three-and-out, resulting in Elder connecting with sophomore wide receiver #16 Garrett Mays on a 68-yard pass to put Brookland in the red zone.

Junior running back #28 Malachi Stinett rushed for an eight-yard touchdown to give the Bearcats a 12-0 lead along with their first two drives resulting in scores.

Westside’s head coach Bobby Engle had positive remarks despite the loss, along with wanting better awareness from his players.

“The stuff we saw tonight that went wrong, we can fix. We came out flat and stayed flat. Got our butts handed to us,” Engle said.

“The stuff we saw tonight that went wrong, we can fix. We came out flat and stayed flat. Got our butts handed to us.”

– Westside HS Head Coach Bobby Engle

With ticks remaining in the first quarter, junior wide receiver/running back #6 Sinquan Spratt improvised finding an open lane halfway across the field scoring a 68-yard rushing touchdown increasing Brookland’s lead to 18-0.

The Warriors offense unfolded in the first half, with multiple false start penalties and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that set them in poor field position.

“You cannot be undisciplined and get unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. I do not even know how many penalties we had, but we had way too many. We have to get that stuff fixed,” Engle said.

The Bearcat defense opened the second quarter by recovering a fumble straight at the 50-yard line to set the offense up with another opportunity to score. On the next drive, Elder scored his second touchdown of the game with a 10-yard rush on a read-option play to give Brookland a 24-0 lead.

Westside’s offensive struggles continued with back-to-back three-and-outs. While the Warriors struggled for points, the Bearcats scored two more touchdowns before halftime.

Spratt scored a 40-yard rushing touchdown, as well as contributing to the next drive with a 29-yard rush to put Brookland at Westside’s four-yard line. Elder then threw a four-yard passing touchdown to junior wide receiver #18 Barrett Cunningham, increasing the lead to 39-0 at halftime.

Brookland head coach Mark Hindsley has previously stated that a lot of the offense starts in the backfield, and that was evident in their performance.

There were a total of five touchdowns scored in the first half alone by the duo of Spratt and Elder, along with a touchdown run by Stinnett.

The second half was quiet with nobody scoring and lots of rushing plays to drain the clock out.

Hindsley’s offensive plan of run and play-action worked the entirety of the first half.

Engle plans to stick with the same offensive scheme despite the shutout.

“We do not change our system because it is what we run. We just have to do a better job executing,” he said.

In week two, Brookland will travel to Gosnell in a non-conference game, while Westside will travel to Hoxie in a non-conference game as they seek to avenge themselves in non-conference play.

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Brayden Morse

Brayden Morse is a multimedia journalism major in the School of Media and Journalism at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.

Note: Featured image courtesy of Terrance Armstard.

Paddlers place in National Senior Games

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Table tennis competitors bring home new friends, medals

Delta Digital News Service

Sunday, August 13, 2023

By Jacob Wicinski | Contributor

JONESBORO, Ark. – After nearly a week of competing, four local Jonesboro residents get to say they competed in a national competition, with three winning ribbons or medals in table tennis last month during the 2023 National Seniors Games.

The competition was held in Pittsburg, Pa., and featured competitors from all over the country.

Anthony “Tony” Tsui, a Bay High School teacher who competed in the events said just being able to meet new friends at the games was a highlight.

“We met a lot of new friends from different states,” Tsui said. “I saw a guy that inspired me to play in 2017. I recognized him and we got on the phone later on. Just meeting friends along the way, playing and practicing with them, was great.”

Fellow competitor Jianfeng “Jay” Xu, Ph.D., research professor at the Bioscience Institute at Arkansas State University, stated that his confidence only increased during the event.

“At the beginning when I found the tournament sheet, I thought that there was no way for me to beat them,” Xu said. “But I thought that we had a chance to beat them when we played in doubles. We still had a chance to beat those [at a higher level].”

Guolei “Jason” Zhou, Ph.D., a professor of cell biology at A-State, said that the chemistry between the four teammates gave them an edge.

“We felt we had a chance as have we played and practiced together, so we felt we had some existing chemistry,” Zhou said. “In some cases, most people find a partner on the same day of the tournament.”

Yanhua “Jennifer” Xie, Ph.D., associate professor of biomedical and anatomical sciences at the New York Institute of Technology at A-State, would win gold as a women’s doubles champion. She would also add on a silver and bronze medal competing in singles and another doubles competition paired with Zhou.

On what it was like winning gold, Xie recalled feeling intimidated however, she had confidence in her own game.

“The entire stadium heard me,” Xie stated. “One of the players in the doubles we were playing against was the champion of the women’s singles. We felt a little bit intimidated, but eventually we won.”

The four intend to compete in the games moving forward, with Tsui explicitly wanting to see newfound friends again.

“To see people coming back and to meet old friends, I hope we can do that again down the road,” he said. “I think in 2025, in Iowa, we will make plans to go.”

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NOTE: Featured Photo – From left: Anthony “Tony” Tsui, Yanhua “Jennifer” Xie, Guolei “Jason” Zhou and Jianfeng “Jay” Xu display awards they received while competing in table tennis during the National Senior Games last month. 

Jacob Wicinski 

Jacob Wicinski is a 2021 graduate of Florida State University with a bachelor’s in communication and is currently seeking a masters of science in mass communication with a specialization in journalism at Arkansas State University.

VIDEO: National Loving Day

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Interracial couples celebrate freedom on national holiday

Delta Digital News Service

June 12, 2021

By Rangsiya Faihin | Staff Photographer

JONESBORO, Ark. – Every June 12th is the anniversary of national ‘Loving Day’. The day recognizes the interracial relationship of Mildred, a woman of black and Native American ancestry and Richard Loving, a white man who were arrested due to violating the Racial Integrity Act of 1924. However, in 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to ban interracial marriages.

Every June 12th is the anniversary of national ‘Loving Day’. The day recognizes the interracial relationship of Mildred, a woman of black and Native American ancestry and Richard Loving, a white man who were arrested due to violating the Racial Integrity Act of 1924. However, in 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to ban interracial marriages.

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Rangsiya Faihin

Rangsiya Faihin is an engineering senior at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. She can be reached at: rangsiya.faihin@smail.astate.edu

NOTE: Featured photo by Lareised Leneseur on Unsplash

PHOTO: Red Wolves defeat Rangers, 4-0 during exhibition match

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A-State Women’s Soccer vs Northwest Mississippi Community College

Delta Digital News Service

August 11, 2023

By Atsuki Ohbuchi 純暉 | Staff Photographer

JONESBORO, Ark. – Head Coach Brian Dooley and the Red Wolves defeated Northwest Mississippi Community College Rangers 4-0 during an exhibition match at A-State Soccer Park in Jonesboro, Ark., Friday, Aug. 11, 2023. The team will head to Fayetteville next Thursday for their regular season opener against the Razorbacks.

A-State forward Emma Riley (6) battles Raegan Tucker (20) of Northwest Mississippi Community College during an exhibition match at A-State Soccer Park in Jonesboro, Ark., Friday, Aug. 11, 2023. The Red Wolves defeated the Rangers 4-0. Head Coach Brian Dooley and the team will head to Fayetteville next Thursday for their regular season opener against the Razorbacks. Photos by Atsuki Ohbuchi

Photo Gallery

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Atsuki Ohbuchi | 純暉

Atsuki Ohbuchi | 純暉 is a junior in the Neil Griffin College of Business at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. He can be reached at: atsuki.ohbuchi@smail.astate.edu

Arkansas Paws In Prison provides furry friends to inmates

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Arkansas Dept. of Corrections program delivers experience for prisoners to develop behavioral change and personal growth

Delta Digital News Service

August 8, 2023

By Avery Jones | Editor

JONESBORO, Ark. – Michelle Hill of Michelle Hill Dog Training Academy is a local certified professional dog trainer that has been volunteering for a program called Paws in Prison since 2021. Arkansas Paws in Prison is a nonprofit program started by the Arkansas Department of Corrections to rehabilitate inmates while also training dogs for adoption.

The program partners with dog shelters to bring in untrained dogs for the inmates to train with the mentorship of a professional trainer. The inmates get work experience, and the dogs have a better chance of getting adopted after they’re trained.

“We have a large overpopulation problem in Arkansas for unwanted dogs…what better to do than pair them up with people that have nothing but time?” said Victoria Schilden, the director of the program. “It saves the dogs’ lives, it gives the inmates a skill that they can walk out the door with and get a job right off the bat where typically it doesn’t matter if you check that box, ‘convicted felon.’”

Schilden also explained that the program provides them with a sense of normalcy, teaches compassion and unconditional love, helps them to maintain good behavior and gives them an incentive to be a different person than they had been.

Hill has been a dog trainer for 16 years. The director reached out to her personally and asked Hill if she would been interested in volunteering. Hill had done some research on the program and was eager to be involved.

“Not only are the dogs getting a second chance, but the inmate trainers are getting a second chance, too,” Hill said.

She works for the program 2 days per week. She’s at the McPherson Women’s Prison in Newport on Tuesdays and Tucker Unit for men and Maximum Security Unit on Thursdays.

The trainers pilot an apprenticeship program through the Department of Labor. Hill teaches the inmates different ways to train dogs and what they would need to know to pass a dog training certification exam in the outside world.

Hill creates a lesson plan for each class. She sometimes brings her dog to demonstrate what she wants the inmates to do with the dogs and after they watch her, they copy the action. The dogs are typically in the units for 8 weeks of training; this can vary depending on the needs of the adopter or the shelter.

The dogs learn basic obedience like sitting, leash and crate training, as well as tricks such as rolling over, spinning and even flipping light switches and retrieving TV remotes.

At the end of the training, the dogs complete a final exam to show that they’re trained. The trainers use the American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen Ready program which terminates in a test that evaluates whether the dog has learned all the skills the program teaches.

The trainers teach all the skills the dog would need to pass the test and then do a mock test. After the dog is adopted, the owners can contact the trainer to have the dog officially certified.

Not only does being trained increase the dogs’ chances of getting adopted, but it also helps them to stay in their homes. According to Schilden, untrained dogs are often returned to the shelter by their owners because of their behavior. Some dogs from this program even go on to be service dogs.

“They’re far less likely to be returned for behavioral issues because they’ve got that socialization and the basic obedience training,” Schilden said. “Sometimes the dogs end up right back where they came from after the family gets them home and they start chewing things up or they’re not potty-trained, so we try to mitigate that and make sure that it’s a successful adoption and that the dogs stay with the person who adopts them.”

According to Hill, almost every single dog has been adopted by graduation because of this program. Schilden said that more than 2,200 dogs have been adopted in this program’s duration. Additionally, many inmates have gone on to become dog trainers; one former inmate now works for the program as well.

Hill is a “positive reinforcement” trainer, which means she doesn’t believe in using pain or fear as a training method. She’s certified under the Certification Counsel of Professional Dog Trainers, so she has to take continuing education classes and build up to a certain amount of credits every three years.

However, not every dog trainer is certified, and nobody has to be certified to become a dog trainer, so the field isn’t regulated. As a result, it’s very common for dogs to be mistreated during training, according to Hill.

“Everything that I do is focused on building the physical, mental, social, and emotional aspect of the dog, so being able to impart those skills and that knowledge onto someone else that can later on build that same mindset and mentality in the dog training industry is a very important thing for me,” Hill said.

The Paws in Prison program was originally started by a group of women, some from the DOC and some interested in inmate rehabilitation. They were inspired by a similar program in Missouri called Puppies for Parole. They appealed to the governor and the director of the DOC to initiate it.

Schilden has been with the program for 7 years. She originally started as a volunteer for a capstone project while she was getting her master’s degree from the Clinton School of Public Service. She now works full-time as the director of the program and the program coordinator for the DOC.

The program currently operates in seven correctional facilities: McPherson Women’s Unit in Newport, Hawkins Women’s Unit in Wrightsville, Randall L. Williams in Pine Bluff, Ouachita River Unit in Malvern, North central Unit in Calico Rock, Tucker Unit and Maximum Security Unit.

They currently partner with five dog shelters: Care for Animals in Little Rock, Last Chance Arkansas in Little Rock, Adopt-A-Stray Rescue in Alexander, Stone County Humane Society in Mountain View, and Humane Society of Independence County in Batesville.

They also work with two other dog trainers besides Michelle Hill. Tracy Owen is a former inmate who went on to become a successful dog trainer due to the program and now works alongside them. Sandy Olivera is another volunteer who has been training dogs for over 20 years.

“It’s such a privilege to…see not only what it does for these animals and our rescue partners, but what it does for these inmates,” Schilden said. “I’ve seen this program truly change lives and change somebody from a hardened criminal into somebody who gets down on the floor and makes baby-talk with little puppies.”

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Avery Jones

Avery Jones is a sophomore in the Department of English and Philosophy at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. She can be reached at: avery.jones@smail.astate.edu

Author Monica Potts Book holds book signing for first novel

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Memoir explores challenges of rural life

Delta Digital News Service

By Avery Jones | Editor

July 1, 2023

JONESBORO, Ark. – Monica Potts was recently hosted at The Parsonage restaurant in downtown Jonesboro for a discussion and signing of her new book, “The Forgotten Girls”. The event was put together by Verb Bookstore on Saturday, July 1 at 6:30-8 p.m.

Potts is a senior political reporter for the website FiveThirtyEight and has also been published in The New York Times and The Atlantic among others. The book was published in April of this year and is Potts’s first novel.

It’s a memoir about her childhood in Clinton, Arkansas that discusses the obstacles that women in rural communities face. Potts addresses poverty, religion, drug addiction, early motherhood, abuse, mental health, and lack of education.

Potts’s interest in the subject started when she heard of these studies that showed middle-aged white women in rural communities were starting to die earlier due to “deaths of despair”–deaths caused by drug addiction and suicide. 

Potts explores how these deaths are linked to the obstacles these women face in their communities, including the fact that many of these women only had high school degrees or less. It was shown in these studies that highly educated women generally live longer.

She saw these obstacles in her own community. Potts mainly writes about the life of her former best friend Darci, who unlike Potts, chose to stay in Clinton for all of her life and ended up struggling with drug addiction, early motherhood, poverty, and abuse.

When Sari Harlow, the owner of Verb and host of the event, asked the room who had cried while reading the book and how much of the issues in the book they had seen in their own lives and community, several hands went up. 

“Those first couple chapters were painful,” Harlow said. “I told Monica before I had to put it down and just process for a while and then come back to it because it really hits close to home.”

Potts herself had a similar experience writing the book. She said that she would often take a break to drive around in the mountains for a while to gather her thoughts. However, she also felt like it was a necessary process to endure.

She moved back to Clinton in 2018. She was working on her book by that point, and she stated that this was part of her reason for moving back, but she also had a lot of unresolved feelings about her hometown.

Despite the issues that are explored in her book, Clinton will always be home for Potts. However, it also sometimes feels like living in a fishbowl to her because everyone knows everyone. She misses city life sometimes.

“I actually felt in some ways more isolated than in the city,” Potts said.

When she moved away from Clinton to go to college, however, she sometimes felt guilty that she didn’t stay in touch with people from home, including Darci. She also felt like she had opportunities that many others couldn’t take advantage of.

Potts attended Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and chose anthropology as her major even though she knew she didn’t want to be an anthropologist. However, she wanted the flexibility that comes with a liberal arts degree.

Additionally, as a first-generation college student, she believes that a liberal arts style education is more supportive than that of a state school, where it’s easier to get lost and feel adrift when one is trying to figure out the unfamiliar system.

Going into college, Potts didn’t realize the vast amount of career options that existed. For her, the importance of college was discovering what she was able to do and learning skills that would translate to several careers.

“I just can’t imagine a life without having had that,” Potts said. “It was just about having a different kind of life experience for myself…”

It’s difficult to name an ultimate solution for the kind of systemic and cyclical issues that people in rural communities face, but Potts believes that more opportunities for young people is vital to their growth.

“Figuring out who you are and who you’re going to be is a really hard job. It’s just an incredibly time-consuming endeavor, and I think teenagers have a really hard time…” Potts said. “…I think that the more grace and the more opportunities we can give young people to figure that out with as much support and kindness as we can, the better off they’re going to be.”

Potts said that the benefit of writing her book as a memoir was to connect Darci back to herself and encapsulate the whole life of someone. As for solutions to the issues that Darci and people like her face, Potts thinks that any solution couldn’t be finite or discrete; it’s a never-ending problem that can’t just be “fixed,” but instead must be addressed at a systemic level.

When asked about advice for adults that want to “escape” their small towns, Potts said that one probably has a bigger network than one believes. That person should reach out to anyone they’ve connected to in the past that might have resources or know about resources to help.

After the discussion, Potts signed books for those who had brought their own or those who were buying. Verb Bookstore had set up a table displaying copies of Potts’s book available for purchase, as well as books by other Arkansas authors and some currently popular picks.

“When we heard about her book and that she was an Arkansas author, we felt like we really needed to bring her viewpoint here to Jonesboro,” Harlow said. “It was definitely one that resonated with me personally…so I felt it was important to make those connections.”

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Avery Jones

Avery Jones is a sophomore in the Department of English and Philosophy at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. She can be reached at: avery.jones@smail.astate.edu

Bikers show up for 3rd annual Ride Against Trafficking

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Bikers show up to show support

Delta Digital News Service

June 3, 2023

By Avery Jones | Editor

JONESBORO, Ark. – On Saturday, June 3, Hope Found NEA, a nonprofit organization located in Jonesboro fighting human trafficking, hosted the 3rd annual Ride Against Trafficking. Participants arrived at 9 a.m. to register at Central Baptist Church and rode out at around 10 a.m.

The event is a fundraiser in which cyclists complete a dice run and enjoy a free meal afterwards. For the run, each individual or group roll dice at each stop and adding up the results at the end to see who has the highest total. The group with the highest wins $100, while the lowest wins $50.

According to the organizer of the event and the founder of Hope Found, Megan Brown, the money will go toward programs to raise awareness in the community about human trafficking and services for victims. She thought a motorcycle ride would also be a good way to raise awareness.

“There wasn’t a lot of bike rides that I knew of in this area, but especially those that were focusing on this issue,” she said. “With bikers being on the road constantly, it was a good way to be able to get them educated on what signs and red flags of a trafficking situation may look like.”

Brown stated that she chose the church as a meeting place because it has a pavilion for shade, and it’s a central location that’s easy to get onto and off the route from. They have chosen a different place each year for the event so far.

There was a large crowd at the event. Along with several bikers, there were many volunteers and workers at the registration stand, selling t-shirts, and providing drinks. Brown stated that she expected a bigger crowd than last year’s event. 

Nearly 30 bikers participated last year; she expected about 50 to come this year. Twenty-two bikers pre-registered, with several more registering the day of the event. There were individuals, large groups, and even adults with kids.

A retired Pocahontas husband and wife duo that go by the road names Twisted and Hugs respectively were present representing their NEA chapter of Warriors Empowering Children, a nonprofit organization of bikers who support and protect children that have been through abuse. 

If the child is old enough, the group teaches them to ride, while also boosting their confidence. Members of the organization guard the children to make them feel safer, and escort them to school if need be. If the child has to go to court to testify against their abuser, the bikers will escort them to court. Each child receives a vest that proclaims, “I Am A Warrior” on the back.

“We’re all about bringing kids out of the darkness,” Twisted said.

Adam Farmer, an instructor with the Jonesboro Grappling Association, was there with Rachel Thieme. Thieme is a photographer and also works at St. Bernards.

“Megan reached out to us a while back last year to see if we would be interested in sponsoring [the event], and we discussed women’s self-defense, women’s safety, and we believe in the cause, so we decided to sponsor it,” Farmer said.

Both Farmer and Thieme are Jonesboro natives. Farmer has been riding for seventeen years.

There were a few people for whom it was their first time at the event. Jeff McDonald is a software engineer. He’s been riding for ten to fifteen years. 

He was there to “raise awareness,” and stated he’s also “learning more about [Hope Found] from the event.”

According to Brown, the ride was slated to last between 2 to 2 and half hours. Their first stop was Lorado Grocery and Grill. Afterwards, the bikers kept going north on Highway 141 into Lafe.

Their second stop was Jordan’s Quick Stop in Oak Grove before going to Paragould. Their third stop was another Jordan’s in Lake City before heading back to the church to finish the run.

Riders were provided with a free lunch, courtesy of Smokes Up BBQ. 

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Avery Jones 

Avery Jones is a sophomore in the Department of English and Philosophy at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. She can be reached at: avery.jones@smail.astate.edu