LITTLE ROCK — 100 YEARS AGO Dec. 7, 1912 JONESBORO - Because they had refused to work on the streets of Jonesboro, four city prisoners were today chained to telephone posts along the main streets. The prisoners still refused to work, and Mayor Burress today went to Wilson and made arrangements to have the prisoners sent to a convict camp to work out their fines.

50 YEARS AGO Dec. 7, 1962

State Sen. Max Howell of Little Rock said he and the other two Pulaski County senator-hosts could end up serving chicken at Sunday’s biennial duck dinner for the Senate because of the low limit for ducks this year.For many legislative sessions the Pulaski County senators have played hosts to their 32 colleagues at a pre-Christmas duck dinner. Friends have always kept the senators supplied with ducks, but never has the limit been as low as it has this year.

25 YEARS AGO Dec. 7, 1987 HOT SPRINGS - George Plimpton spent Saturday evening here but wasn’t doing his modern-day Walter Mitty act. Plimpton came to Hot Springs as the featuredspeaker for the Associated Builders and Contractors of Arkansas Convention Banquet. Known for doing things the rest of us dream about, he was greeted in a way he never dreamed of. The audience, in a loud chorus, called the Hogs. Plimpton was surprised by the welcome. “That’s the most frightening thing. What was that? I hope it was a cheer.” And the audience was pleased with Plimpton. He explained why he started practicing “participatory journalism,” in which the writer gets as close to his subject as possible.

10 YEARS AGO Dec. 7, 2002 SPRINGDALE - The state Department of Health has identified more than 10,000 Arkansans who would be eligible for the first round of smallpox inoculations if a three-tiered vaccination plan goes into effect. The department will submit plans Monday to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlining the state’s vaccination procedure. The plan, called a pre-event plan, would be implemented before any smallpox cases have been reported if national officials feel there’s an imminent threat from the virus as a weapon by terrorists.

Arkansas, Pages 15 on 12/07/2012