In the Heath of the Moment

Shortly after her husband, Stan, was named head basketball coach at the University of Arkansas, Ramona Webb Heath was involved in a somewhat heated exchange with security personnel at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport.

XNA director Kelly Johnson confirmed that the April incident took place at the screening checkpoint area inside the airport. Allegedly, Ramona Heath continued to set off the alarm as she tried to walk through the screener and was taken aside. She became upset and accused the security of singling her out because she is black.

One report was that it was her shoe buckle that kept setting off the alarm.

Security at airports nationwide has been tighter since September 11.

Ironically, Heath’s husband replaced Nolan Richardson at the helm of the UA hoops program. Richardson had labeled Northwest Arkansas as “not conducive” for blacks. Heath, who is also black, was hired March 28, shortly after Richardson’s boisterous departure.

Johnson downplayed the incident, saying, “There was a little miscommunication. Some people got a little upset. We investigated it, and we’ve put it to bed.

“We get complaints from time to time. When you have almost a million people a year go through your airport, you’re going to have incidents. But, it’s really a non-issue.”