A runoff it is

Wesley to face Brown for Ward 1 seat in Maumelle; Upcoming events; High school football playoffs begin; Health news plus sports and headlines

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The Headlines

• Meetings: The Maumelle City Council will meet next Monday night at City Hall. The North Little Rock School Board will have a special call meeting at 5:30 p.m. tonight. The Maumelle Public Facilities Board meeting has also been rescheduled and will now be next Tuesday, Nov. 19 in the Map Room at City Hall. The meeting is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m.

• Events: The White Oak Bayou Wetlands Conservancy will have a tree replanting on Saturday, Nov, 23 at Burns Park to help replace the trees lost from last year's tornado. The event had been postponed from last week due to inclement weather. For more information, or to register as a volunteer, go to www.whiteoakbayou.com. For more events, keep scrolling.

A runoff it is

The Pulaski County Election Commission met Wednesday night and approved the provisional ballots from last week’s general election.

Most importantly, for Maumelle at least, is there that will be a runoff in the Ward 1, Post. 1 race between Lj Wesley and Barry Brown,

Wesley, led the three-way race with 1,172 total votes, or 42.29 percent of the vote, while Brown, garnered 683 votes, or 24.64 percent, Wesley had to win with at least 40 percent of the vote, while also defeating the second place finisher by at least 20 percent.

Barry Brown and LJ Wesley

Wesley didn’t get that done as the margin of victory was 17.65. Third place finisher Michael Chastain received 591 votes or 21;3 percent.

In Election Night returns, Wesley got 1,153 votes out of 2,410 ballots cast to claim 42.19 percent of the vote.

Brown and Chastain almost split the remainder with Brown getting 672 votes, or 24.59 percent, and Chastain getting 585 votes or 21.40.

Election results

• Barry Brown: 683 24.64% 

• L J Wesley 1,172 42.28%

• Michael Chastain 591 21.32%

• Total Votes Cast 2,446 88.24%

• Contest Totals 2,772 100.00%

There ended up being 36 absentee ballots counted with Wesley getting 19 votes there, while Brown got 11 and Chastain finished with six. The race saw 326 undervotes across the four precincts that decided the race, or more than enough to have had a decisive winner.

Undervotes also matter because they can change the dynamics in a runoff with the 40/20 to win.

And while this math doesn’t matter, it is interesting to note that just counting actual votes for the candidates, Wesley won the race with 47.91 percent while Brown got 27.92 percent of the vote, for the margin to be 19.99 and still not over the 20 percent threshold.

Early voting will begin Monday, Nov. 26 with the runoff election being held Tuesday, Dec. 3. You will note that early voting is the same week as Thanksgiving this year and polling locations, and voting days to work around the holiday are still being finalized.

If the past is precedent, there won't be early voting on Thursday and Friday that week, with local early voting on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday at, guessing, the Jess Odom Community Center and maybe the Hampton Inn with Monday also being a day for early voting but only at the Election Commission building in downtown Little Rock.

Precinct by precinct voting follows. The key to the numbers is: TOTAL VOTE % Election Day Early Vote Absentee Provisional

Precinct 5

• Barry Brown 483 26.61% 71 408 4 0

• L J Wesley 718 39.56% 133 575 10 0

• Michael Chastain 407 22.42% 62 342 3 0

• Total Votes Cast 1,608 88.60% 266 1,325 17 0

• Contest Totals 1,815 100.00% 290 1,507 18 0

Precinct 8

• Barry Brown 127 19.97% 24 98 5 0

• L J Wesley 318 50.00% 39 271 8 0

• Michael Chastain 121 19.03% 19 100 2 0

• Total Votes Cast 566 88.99% 82 469 15 0

• Contest Totals 636 100.00% 86 534 16 0

Precinct 9

• Barry Brown 32 18.18% 7 25 0 0

• L J Wesley 83 47.16% 10 72 1 0

• Michael Chastain 43 24.43% 8 35 0 0

• Total Votes Cast 158 89.77% 25 132 1 0

• Contest Totals 176 100.00% 29 145 2 0

Precinct 10

• Barry Brown 41 28.28% 9 30 2 0

• L J Wesley 53 36.55% 10 43 0 0

• Michael Chastain 20 13.79% 3 16 1 0

• Total Votes Cast 114 78.62% 22 89 3 0

• Contest Totals 145 100.00% 28 114 3 0

Click here for the Canvass results

Upcoming events

It is going to be a busy week North of the River with an abundance of things to do.

Today

The Mayor’s Holiday Tree Lighting will be held in North Little Rock at the Argenta Plaza downtown. The event is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.. or pitch black due to the cursed time change, but it should at least make the lights look pretty. ATtendees are encouraged to bring non-perishable food that will be collected by the Girl Scouts, Troop 6115, the North Little Rock Kiwanis Club and the First Assembly of God church in North Little Rock. For more, see the flyer below.

Today through Sunday

Tonight is the opening night for “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” a production of the North Little Rock High School drama department. Shows run through Sunday with nightly shows at 7 p.m. tonight, Friday and Saturday with a 3 p.m. matinee on Sunday. To buy tickets, click here. Editor’s Note: I also have two tickets for the Sunday matinee because I support the arts but I won’t be able to make it. First person who asks, I’ll send them to.

Friday

A renaming ceremony will be held at Seventh Street Elementary in North Little Rock at 10 a.m. on Friday. The school will be renamed the, “North Little Rock 6 Academy of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences” in honor of the six students who integrated North Little Rock High School in 1957. Three of the six – Richard Lindsey, Gerald Persons, and Harold Smith – are expected to attend and the school is at 1200 Bishop Lindsey Avenue.

Now through the leaves get sucked up

North Little Rock leaf collection, as promised, has begun, and for more details check out the flier above.

Now through Dec. 13

The Methodist Family Health Christmas site is open and one of the best ways to help those in need this holiday season. I promise giving will make you feel great. For more, click the graphic above.

Sports

Friday Night (Playoff) Lights: Maumelle hosts Greenbrier, CAC travels to Warren

Robinson 37, Maumelle 15

• Last week: Maumelle finished as conference runners-up after losing to Robinson last Thursday, 37-15. The mercy rule was on after Robsononsin jumped out to a 37-0 lead in the third quarter before the Hornets added two touchdowns late to make the score more respectable. Maumelle actually outgained Robinson in total offensive yards, 339 to 282 but, scoreboard, you know. 

• This week: Maumelle hosts Greenbrier in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs. The Hornets are the No. 2 seed, while Greenbrier is the No. 3 seed from the West after returning to 5A this season, after previously being a 6A school. Greenbrier's best player is Enoch Assan, a junior running back with nearly 2,000 yards rushing and 22 touchdowns. Hootens.com has Greenbrier favored. Both teams have played and beaten Vilonia, with Maumelle winning 32-21, while Greenbrier won, 21-0. The winner of this game would face the winner of Wynne-Little Rock Parkview next week.

• Records: Maumelle - 7-3; Greenbrier - 7-3:

Playoff picture

• Texarkana at Valley View

• Searcy at Morrilton

• Wynne at LR Parkview

• Greenbrier at Maumelle

• Vilonia at Joe T. Robinson

• Nettleton at Hot Springs Lakeside

• Beebe at Farmington

• Camden Fairview at Harding Academy

Maumelle schedule

• Aug. 31`: ... Maumelle 36, Sylvan Hills 0

• Sept. 6 … Parkview 51, Maumelle 6

• Sept. 13 … Maumelle 32, Vilonia 21

• Sept. 20 … Bye week

• Sept. 27 ... Beebe 22, Maumelle 0

• Oct. 4 ...Maumelle 21, Pine Bluff 18

• Oct 10 … Maumelle 50, Watson Chapel 12

• Oct. 18 ... Maumelle 17, Jacksonville 0

• Oct. 25 … Maumelle 55, White Hall 0

• Nov. 1 ... Maumelle 24, Searcy 23 - OT

• Nov. 7 … Robinson 37, Maumelle 15

• Friday, Nov. 15 … First round of playoffs - Greenbrier at Maumelle

Playoff bracket

For the online roster, click here.

Cabot 44, North Little Rock 3

• Last week: Cabot held North Little Rock to a single field goal as the Panthers won 44-3 and the game had the common theme of the 'Cats struggling on offense.

• This week: North Little Rock didn't win a game this season, joining Rogers Heritage as one of two winless teams in 7A, and neither team made the playoffs.

Record: North Little Rock - 0-10, 0-7

Playoff picture 

• Bryant and Conway have byes from the 7A-Central

• Fayetteville  and Bentonville have byes from the 7A-West

• Cabot is at Springdale

• Springdale Har-Ber is at Pulaski Academy

• Bentonville West is at Little Rock Christian

• Little Rock Southwest is at Rogers

North Little Rock schedule

• Aug. 31... Rogers 43, North Little Rock 0

• Sept. 6 … Bye

• Sept. 13 ... Benton 42, North Little Rock 13

• Sept. 20 ... Catholic 27, North Little Rock 17

• Sept. 27 ... Pulaski Academy 47, North Little Rock 0

• Oct. 4 ... Conway 63, North Little Rock 7

• Oct. 11 ... Little Rock Southwest 38, North Little Rock 21

• Oct. 18 ... Little Rock Christian 42, North Little Rock 15

• Oct. 25 ...Little Rock Central 27, North Little Rock 21

• Nov. 1 ... Bryant 63, North Little Rock 7

• Nov. 8 ... Cabot 44, North Little Rock 3

For the online North Little Rock roster, click here.

Forrest City 36, CAC 14

• Last week: CAC ends the regular season as the No.5 seed from the 4A-2 and the Mustangs reward is a trip to perennial state championship contender Warren. Gulp and double gulp. The Mustangs ended as the No. 5 after losing to Forrest City last Friday. 

• This week: Warren, coached by Bo Hembree, has won four state titles, and probably a couple more as state championship game officiating has been spotty at best over the years, but mostly thinking of the Nashville-Warren game in 2006 and before this crop of high school students were born, because that's what happens when you're old. Warren beat CAC in the third round that 2006 season as well. The winner of this game will get the winner of Nashville and Pocahontas. Best case scenario for the Mustangs, no injuries, so nobody misses any basketball, and that things don't get too out of hand.

Records: CAC - 3-7; Warren - 8-2

Playoff picture

• Dardanelle and Mills have byes

• Prairie Grove at Lonoke

• Ozark at Arkadelphia

• Gentry at DeWitt

• Harmony Grive at Southside

• Blytheville at Heber Springs

• Forrest City at Monticello

• Hamburg at Gravette

• Gosnell at Clinton

• CAC at Warren

• Pocahontas at Nashville

• Helena at Elkins

• Green Forest at Mena

• Pottsville at Malvern

• Ashdown at Highland

CAC schedule

• Aug. 31 … DeWitt 31, CAC 7

• Sept. 6… Stuttgart 41, CAC 7

• Sept. 13 ... vs. Harding Academy 53, CAC 20

• Sept. 20 … Bye

• Sept. 27 ... Heber Springs 31, CAC 29

• Oct. 4 ... CAC 42, Riverview 14

• Oct. 11 ... CAC 35,  Little Rock Hall 28

• Oct. 18 ... Lonoke 39, CAC 0

• Oct. 25 ... CAC 49, Bald Knob 14

• Nov. 1 ... Mills 49, CAC 7

• Nov. 8 ... Forrest City 36, CAC 14

• Friday, Nov. 15 … First round of playoffs at Warren

Playoff bracket

All games kickoff at 7 p.m. unless noted

Rankings from hootens.com

Saturday's SEC schedule

• Texas (8-1, 4-1 SEC) at Arkansas (5-4, 3-3 SEC): 11 a.m.  • ABC; SiriusXM: 137/190 – 380

  Preview: https://www.secsports.com/scores/football?start_date=2023-08-25&end_date=2024-01-08

• Louisiana-Monroe (5-4) at Auburn (3-6, 1-5 SEC): 11:45 a.m. • SEC Network; SiriusXM: 374
  Murray State (1-9) at Kentucky (3-6, 1-6 SEC): 12:30 p.m.  • SEC+ / ESPN+; SiriusXM: 111/202

• Mercer (9-1) at Alabama (7-2, 4-2 SEC): 1 p.m. • SEC+ / ESPN+; SiriusXM: 119/191

  LSU (6-2, 3-2 SEC) at Florida (4-5, 2-4 SEC): 2:30 p.m.  • ABC; SiriusXM: 81 - 137/190

• Missouri (7-2, 3-2 SEC) at South Carolina (6-3, 4-3 SEC): 3:15 p.m.  • SEC Network; SiriusXM: 374 - 162/192

• Tennessee (8-1, 4-1 SEC) at Georgia (7-2, 5-2 SEC): 6:30 p.m.  • ABC; SiriusXM: 82 – 84

• New Mexico State (2-7 at Texas A&M (7-2, 5-1 SEC): 6:45 p.m. • SEC Network; SiriusXM: 137/190

• Open: Ole Miss (8-2, 4-2 SEC); Mississippi State (2-8, 0-6 SEC); Oklahoma (5-5, 1-5 SEC); Vanderbilt (6-4, 3-3 SEC).

Other games on TV.

Pandemic deaths remain unchanged

The state Department of Health updated the state’s dashboard this week, but still shows 409 for the year. The virus has now killed 14,053 Arkansans since the pandemic began four years ago. That would mean the pandemic death toll has now passed Marion’s 13,635 people, the state’s 29th largest city.

Covid toolkit

There’s now a one-stop shop to learn about vaccination sites and other Covid related information. Click here to learn more.

If you don’t want to get sick and die, there’s some things you can do:

• Get vaccinated

• Get boosted

• Wear a mask

• Avoid crowds

Health news

Older Americans living alone often rely on neighbors or others willing to help

By Judith Graham / KFF

Donald Hammen, 80, and his longtime next-door neighbor in south Minneapolis, Julie McMahon, have an understanding. Every morning, she checks to see whether he’s raised the blinds in his dining room window. If not, she’ll call Hammen or let herself into his house to see what’s going on.

Should McMahon find Hammen in a bad way, she plans to contact his sister-in-law, who lives in a suburb of Des Moines. That’s his closest relative. Hammen never married or had children, and his younger brother died in 2022.

Although Hammen lives alone, a web of relationships binds him to his city and his community — neighbors, friends, former co-workers, fellow volunteers with an advocacy group for seniors, and fellow members of a group of solo agers. McMahon is an emergency contact, as is a former co-worker. When Hammen was hit by a car in February 2019, another neighbor did his laundry. A friend came over to keep him company. Other people went on walks with Hammen as he got back on his feet.

Those connections are certainly sustaining. Yet Hammen has no idea who might care for him should he become unable to care for himself.

“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it,” he told me.

These are fundamental questions for older adults who live alone: Who will be there for them, for matters large and small? Who will help them navigate the ever more complex health care system and advocate on their behalf? Who will take out the garbage if it becomes too difficult to carry? Who will shovel the snow if a winter storm blows through?

American society rests on an assumption that families take care of their own. But 15 million Americans 50 and older didn’t have any close family — spouses, partners, or children — in 2015, the latest year for which reliable estimates are available. Most lived alone. By 2060, that number is expected to swell to 21 million.

Beyond that, millions of seniors living on their own aren’t geographically close to adult children or other family members. Or they have difficult, strained relationships that keep them from asking for support.

These older adults must seek assistance from other quarters when they need it. Often they turn to neighbors, friends, church members, or community groups — or paid help, if they can afford it.

And often, they simply go without, leaving them vulnerable to isolation, depression, and deteriorating health.

When seniors living alone have no close family, can nonfamily helpers be an adequate substitute? This hasn’t been well studied.

“We’re just beginning to do a better job of understanding that people have a multiplicity of connections outside their families that are essential to their well-being,” said Sarah Patterson, a demographer and sociologist at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan.

The takeaway from a noteworthy study published by researchers at Emory University, Johns Hopkins University, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai was this: Many seniors adapt to living solo by weaving together local social networks of friends, neighbors, nieces and nephews, and siblings (if they’re available) to support their independence.

Still, finding reliable local connections isn’t always easy. And nonfamily helpers may not be willing or able to provide consistent, intense hands-on care if that becomes necessary.

When AARP surveyed people it calls “solo agers” in 2022, only 25% said they could count on someone to help them cook, clean, get groceries, or perform other household tasks if needed. Just 38% said they knew someone who could help manage ongoing care needs. (AARP defined solo agers as people 50 and older who aren’t married, don’t have living children, and live alone.)

Linda Camp, 73, a former administrator with the city of St. Paul, Minnesota, who never married or had children, has written several reports for the Citizens League in St. Paul about growing old alone. Yet she was still surprised by how much help she required this summer when she had cataract surgery on both eyes.

A former co-worker accompanied Camp to the surgery center twice and waited there until the procedures were finished. A relatively new friend took her to a follow-up appointment. An 81-year-old downstairs neighbor agreed to come up if Camp needed something. Other friends and neighbors also chipped in.

Camp was fortunate — she has a sizable network of former co-workers, neighbors, and friends. “What I tell people when I talk about solos is all kinds of connections have value,” she said.

Michelle Wallace, 75, a former technology project manager, lives alone in a single-family home in Broomfield, Colorado. She has worked hard to assemble a local network of support. Wallace has been divorced for nearly three decades and doesn’t have children. Though she has two sisters and a brother, they live far away.

Wallace describes herself as happily unpartnered. “Coupling isn’t for me,” she told me when we first talked. “I need my space and my privacy too much.”

Instead, she’s cultivated relationships with several people she met through local groups for solo agers. Many have become her close friends. Two of them, both in their 70s, are “like sisters,” Wallace said. Another, who lives just a few blocks away, has agreed to become a “we’ll help each other out when needed” partner.

“In our 70s, solo agers are looking for support systems. And the scariest thing is not having friends close by,” Wallace told me. “It’s the local network that’s really important.”

Gardner Stern (right) lives alone in a Chicago condominium complex. He never planned for hiscare needs in older age. He just figured things would work out, one way or another. Joy Loverde(left), an elder-care specialist, lives in the same building and is Stern’s “tell it like it is” friend.Loverde helped Stern decide to give up driving and persuaded him to have a walk-in showerwith a bench installed in his bathroom. (Joy Loverde)

Gardner Stern, 96, who lives alone on the 24th floor of the Carl Sandburg Village condominium complex just north of downtown Chicago, has been far less deliberate. He never planned for his care needs in older age. He just figured things would work out.

They have, but not as Stern predicted.

The person who helps him the most is his third wife, Jobie Stern, 75. The couple went through an acrimonious divorce in 1985, but now she goes to all his doctor appointments, takes him grocery shopping, drives him to physical therapy twice a week and stops in every afternoon to chat for about an hour.

She’s also Gardner’s neighbor — she lives 10 floors above him in the same building.

Why does she do it? “I guess because I moved into the building and he’s very old and he’s a really good guy and we have a child together,” she told me. “I get happiness knowing he’s doing as well as possible.”

Over many years, she said, she and Gardner have put their differences aside.

“Never would I have expected this of Jobie,” Gardner told me. “I guess time heals all wounds.”

Gardner’s other main local connections are Joy Loverde, 72, an author of elder-care books, and her 79-year-old husband, who live on the 28th floor. Gardner calls Loverde his “tell it like it is” friend — the one who helped him decide it was time to stop driving, the one who persuaded him to have a walk-in shower with a bench installed in his bathroom, the one who plays Scrabble with him every week and offers practical advice whenever he has a problem.

“I think I would be in an assisted living facility without her,” Gardner said.

There’s also family: four children, all based in Los Angeles, eight grandchildren, mostly in L.A., and nine great-grandchildren. Gardner sees most of this extended clan about once a year and speaks to them often, but he can’t depend on them for his day-to-day needs.

For that, Loverde and Jobie are an elevator ride away. “I’ve got these wonderful people who are monitoring my existence, and a big-screen TV, and a freezer full of good frozen dinners,” Gardner said. “It’s all that I need.”

As I explore the lives of older adults living alone in the next several months, I’m eager to hear from people who are in this situation. If you’d like to share your stories, please send them to khn.navigatingaging@gmail.com.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.