Other days

100 YEARS AGO Dec. 20, 1913 FORT SMITH - Fort Smith liquor dealers today published their petitions asking that licensed saloons be permitted in this city. The Executive Committee of the liquor dealers announced the petitions bear 7,882 names. They assert that from their investigation 4,500 will constitute a majority of white adult population, as specified in the Going act. The local petitions are the first to be published in the state.

50 YEARS AGO Dec. 20, 1963

“Distance lends enchantment,” according to Mrs.Cass Gentry, manager of Little Rock’s 17-story Tower Building. For the fourth consecutive year, she has worked out an arrangement to form a gigantic 10-story-high cross which (hopefully) will gleam nightly during the holiday season on the north side of the building. The trick is to form and maintain the pattern by an elaborate system of lighted and darkened windows across the north face of the building. The result is a beautiful symbol, reminding Little Rockians and people “from all over” who are passing through that Christmas is a religious holiday, a sentiment sometimes lost in the bustling, huckstering commercial atmosphere.

25 YEARS AGO Dec. 20, 1988

The Rev. Hezekiah Stewart Jr. always knew Arkansans weren’t short on sharing, and now he says they’ve proved it. Stewart, a group of nonprofit organizations and several corporate donors are sponsors of a massive food giveaway that begins today. The effort will see that thousands of the state’s needy will have something to eat this Christmas. Stewart, who is founder and director of the Watershed Human and Community Development Agency, said public and private donors make up the new “Christmas Coalition,” a group that has piloted the drive to feed the hungry, clothe the needy and bring smiles to children with a few new toys.

10 YEARS AGO Dec. 20, 2003

Gov. Mike Huckabee won the first battle Friday in his quest for school-district consolidation as the Senate passed his plan 21-14. Senate Bill 28 by Sen. Jim Argue, D-Little Rock, now goes to the House, where it faces a tougher challenge. “This is a significant step forward, but we still have a lot of work to do,” Argue told reporters. “I think we are making progress [in the House]. I am optimistic, but I certainly don’t have the votes today.”