Stories by I.C. Murrell

Covid shots going to high schools Mason Summers was among the first Watson Chapel High School students to be vaccinated against covid-19 on campus Thursday, not that he was eager for it. "I didn't want to take it all at first, to be ... May 7, 2021

Schools ease up on grad events High schools in Jefferson County are planning for graduation ceremonies less restrictive than those that were held just a few months into the coronavirus pandemic last year. The Dollarway School Dist... May 6, 2021

Man says innocent in shooting at casino One of two men who surrendered to police during an investigation into a March 11 shooting at Saracen Casino Resort pleaded innocent Wednesday to five counts of second-degree unlawful discharge of a fi... May 6, 2021

UAM athletics head leaves for South Dakota spot MONTICELLO -- Padraic McMeel has stepped down as athletic director at the University of Arkansas at Monticello to take the same position at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, S.D. McMeel will... May 6, 2021

UAPB gunfire suspect posts bond, is released A man charged with first-degree battery in a Thursday night altercation at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff has been released on $10,000 secured bond. A Jefferson County District Court judge ... May 5, 2021

School chief's top aide is hired The Watson Chapel district board acted on current Superintendent Jerry Guess' recommendation to hire Woodlawn Elementary School Principal LaDonna Spain as the first assistant superintendent under Andr... May 5, 2021

Commercial's former publisher dies at 94 Edmond Freeman, former publisher of The Pine Bluff Commercial, died Monday morning at the age of 94. A Naval Academy graduate, he worked in the family business of publishing The Commercial and held t... May 4, 2021

Commercial’s former publisher dies at 94 Edmond Freeman, former publisher of The Pine Bluff Commercial, died Monday morning at the age of 94. A Naval Academy graduate, he worked in the family business of publishing The Commercial and held t... May 3, 2021

UAPB title quest comes up short JACKSON, Miss. — Alabama A&M Coach Connell Maynor was right. The Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game did come down to who had the ball last, so to speak. The University of Arkansas... May 2, 2021

Golden Lions hunt for title win A year ago in April, Doc Gamble’s “interim” label was removed from his title as head coach of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Golden Lions. “The day I was named interim head coach [two month... May 1, 2021

Once underdogs, UAPB gears for title game When Jeremy Brown finished his redshirt season at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, the Golden Lions hardly had nowhere to go but up. One of three remaining players who endured a 1-10 season ... April 30, 2021

Digital learning program gets approval from school board A digital learning program received the green light from White Hall school board members during a special meeting Wednesday night. Virtual Arkansas serves kindergarten through 12th-grade students and... April 30, 2021

Lions roared back for 2012 title Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series looking back at the 2012 University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Golden Lions, the only football team in school history to win an outright conferenc... April 29, 2021

PB men jailed as shooting suspects Three men are jailed in Jefferson County after a shooting Monday in Altheimer. Jefferson County Circuit Judge John Kearney found probable cause to hold Jamarea Wainwright, 23, Kamarea Wainwright, 19,... April 29, 2021

Convention Center director talks up facility's potential Drawing events to the Pine Bluff Convention Center is no easy task these days, but three events coming to the facility this summer speak to the relevance of the 45-year-old venue. "It's a challenge,"... April 29, 2021

Lions' foes for title bring own offense All Connell Maynor needed was three years. He pledged in that time he would have the Alabama A&M Bulldogs competing for a Southwestern Athletic Conference championship. A Huntsville broadcaster r... April 29, 2021

’11 something special as Lions kept winning Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series looking back at the 2012 University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Golden Lions, the only football team in school history to win an outright conference... April 28, 2021

Convention Center, hotel redo examined Pine Bluff Advertising & Promotion Commission officials aired concerns Monday about the feasibility of additional renovations to the city’s 45-year-old Convention Center and improvements of the at... April 27, 2021

Lions look to erase bad memories The Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game will be played in a venue first-year University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Coach Doc Gamble remembers all too well. That venue is not Louis Crews... April 27, 2021

Sportsboard BASEBALL SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE Western Division standings: Grambling State 8-4 conference, 13-18 overall; Prairie View A&M 9-6, 9-14; Southern 9-9, 11-24; Texas Southern 9-9, 10-27; U... April 27, 2021

UAPB students mull over Chauvin verdict University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff students varied in their reactions to the guilty verdict against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd. Most of the student... April 24, 2021

Lady Lion recruits include 3 transfers Three college transfers are among Dawn Brown's recruiting class for the 2021-22 women's basketball season at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Former University of Tennessee at Martin guard S... April 23, 2021

Game IQ nets Thigpen picks The statistics tell the story of the impact Jalon Thigpen made in 2019 -- 64 tackles, 3.5 of them for losses, seven pass breakups and one interception. To Thigpen, the impact wasn't enough. "I don't... April 23, 2021

Game’s off for UAPB football Covid-19 cases within Texas Southern’s football program have led to the cancellation of Saturday’s regular season finale at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. That gives UAPB extra time to pre... April 22, 2021

Mayor gives thoughts on ex-Quapaw leader The mayor of Pine Bluff weighed in on an 11-count indictment against the man who led efforts to establish Saracen Casino Resort in her city. Shirley Washington said she had "mixed feelings" after lea... April 22, 2021

Former Zebra has 12 points in loss One day after knocking out the 2019 national championship team, Kaleb Higgins and Holmes Community College of Mississippi ran into the buzzsaw that is the second-seeded team in the National Junior Col... April 22, 2021

UAPB's regular-season football finale canceled; Texas Southern reports covid cases Covid-19 cases within Texas Southern’s football program have led to the cancellation of Saturday’s regular season finale at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. UAPB (4-0 overall and 4-0 in the ... April 21, 2021

SWAC chooses Jackson, Miss., for championship game between UAPB, Alabama A&M Pine Bluff is no longer in the running to host the Southwestern Athletic Conference 2021 football championship game after the conference decided Wednesday to move the game to Jackson, Miss. “We’ve ma... April 21, 2021

PB's Higgins helps team advance Pine Bluff High School graduate Kaleb Higgins stepped up in the clutch on the national stage. Higgins hit four free throws in the final 23 seconds to give Holmes Community College of Mississippi much... April 21, 2021

Some fog lifts on site of SWAC title game If both the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and Alabama A&M win their regular-season finales on Saturday, the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s tiebreaker procedure may not take as long as s... April 21, 2021

UAPB football revels in revival Nearly five years ago, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff football team finished a 1-10 season. The next year, the Golden Lions posted the first of back-to-back 2-9 records, and Coach Monte Col... April 20, 2021

Still unbeaten, UAPB wraps up division title A football season that remains perfect won't go without at least one interesting finish. The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff held a 12-point lead with 12:14 remaining and avoided a collapse at t... April 18, 2021

Golden Lions going for West title History, so far, is unfolding in the present at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. More than eight years have passed since the Golden Lions football program last won a Southwestern Athletic Co... April 17, 2021

Release sought for homicide suspect Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Hunter on Friday asked a district court to release a suspect in a Wednesday night homicide outside White Hall from the Jefferson County jail, pending further... April 17, 2021

In teen's death, mom facing murder charge A Pine Bluff woman was arrested on suspicion of killing her 15-year-old son at their residence March 27 and was charged Friday with first-degree murder in Jefferson County District Court. Gwendolyn S... April 17, 2021

White rolls to 23-14 victory in UAM spring game The University of Arkansas at Monticello football team hosted the 2021 spring game at Willis "Convoy" Leslie Cotton Boll Stadium on Thursday with the White Team defeating the Black Team 23-14. The Wee... April 17, 2021

Arrests, seizures part of drag racing patrol Multiple law enforcement agencies serving Pine Bluff arrested 10 people during an operation to stop illegal street racing throughout the area Sunday. Pine Bluff police Thursday reported more than 90 ... April 16, 2021

Officers arrest man in slaying A 61-year-old man is facing a first-degree murder charge after a homicide near White Hall that the Jefferson County sheriff's office says is still under investigation. The office said deputies were d... April 16, 2021

Former Zebra, Mississippi team eye national title Two years ago, Kaleb Higgins played his last game at Pine Bluff High School in the semifinal round of the 5A state tournament. The Zebras had just lost to Lake Hamilton by three points. "Forty-five m... April 16, 2021

UAPB coach search ongoing Interim University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Athletic Director Chris Robinson said he was limited in what he could share about the ongoing search for a new men's basketball coach. UAPB is looking for... April 16, 2021

Offensive line playing major role for Lions At 6-feet-5 and 305 pounds, Noah Hayes stands slightly taller than the rest of University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff offensive line. The redshirt sophomore has worked his way to the starting lineup wi... April 15, 2021

Cornerback heads to college; big things ahead, coach says Coach Bobby Bolding set his hopes high on White Hall cornerback Jacobrien Eichelberger for his college future. "I expect him to be a Division I cornerback when he leaves Mississippi Delta," Bolding s... April 15, 2021

Efforts persist as 1 vaccine halted Ernestine Braswell heard the bad news about the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine on television. "That's about all I do, watch the news and the shoot-'em-ups," the 84-year-old retired teacher... April 14, 2021

Digital learning plan approved by board Board members approved an all-synchronous digital learning plan for the White Hall School District during Tuesday night's monthly meeting. The district will submit the plan to the Arkansas Department... April 14, 2021

Incoming superintendent attends meeting; masks still mandatory Incoming Watson Chapel schools Superintendent Andrew Curry attended the district's board meeting for the first time since he was hired last month to replace Jerry Guess. Curry, currently the Ozark Mo... April 13, 2021

Patricide suspect given $100,000 bond at hearing A $100,000 secured bond has been set for a man charged with second-degree murder of his father at a residence west of the Pine Bluff city limits. Ryan T. Lawrence, 19, appeared before Jefferson Count... April 13, 2021

New court dates set for 2 suspects New court dates have been set for a man accused of killing a Pine Bluff police detective last October and for a 15-year-old charged with shooting a classmate to death during school at Watson Chapel Ju... April 13, 2021

Golden Lions rest up as stretch run looms The vision Doc Gamble laid out for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff football team is going to plan, so far. "We plan to win, and that's what the vision is, in addition to graduating guys and ... April 9, 2021

Greenberg remembered Paul Greenberg irritated readers who opposed his views on civil rights as an editorial page editor at the Pine Bluff Commercial, according to one of his colleagues. "He fell out of favor because he s... April 8, 2021

School-safety steps taken in area districts Long before an on-campus shooting claimed the life of a Watson Chapel Junior High School student, the White Hall School District took additional measures to upgrade its security with the hope that a s... April 8, 2021