100 YEARS AGO April 20, 1913
RUSSELLVILLE - The present Pope county Grand Jury in making its usual report on county buildings will doubtless report favorably upon the security of the new county jail, as they have had a personal test of the fastness thereof. Their incarceration was of about 15 minutes’ duration with the regular prisoners acting as turnkeys, and the price of release was 10 cents a head, which went into the prisoners’ tobacco fund. Some of the jurors regarded the whole affair as a joke, and paid the 10 cents cheerfully and as cheerfully admitted that it was “one on them.” Others refused to see the point of the joke and were inclined to be bellicose, but the jubilant prisoners were on the outside and determined and turned a deaf ear to all entreaties that were not accompanied by the cash.
50 YEARS AGO April 20, 1963
Gov. Faubus and the State Police Commission took a step yesterday which apparently made a special session of the legislature a virtual necessity. In an afternoon closed session, the governor and five commissioners decided to restore cutbacks in police operations, which will run the division out of funds by late November. Faubus would not say he planned to call the special session, but he did say “We will just have to find some money somewhere.” A state fiscal agent said that even to borrow funds now for the police a special session would be necessary.
25 YEARS AGO April 20, 1988
EL DORADO - Two of the city’s municipal water tanks have been contaminated with PCB-tainted paint, Glenn Holmes, general manager for the El Dorado water utility, said Tuesday. Holmes said both of the tanks have been sandblasted to remove the Koppers Co. brand paint. Polychlorinated biphenyls are known carcinogens once widely used as insulating fluids in electric transformers.
10 YEARS AGO April 20, 2003
SPRINGDALE - Penny wise employees seeking health care will someday compare prices for doctor’s visits and medical procedures the same way they’d shop for a car or house. And it could be soon. After making headway in other regions of the country, health insurance vendors are turning their sights on Arkansas to market consumer-driven health plans. Analysts estimate that, nationally, between 500,000 and 1 million employees participate in consumer-driven health plans.
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 04/20/2013