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100 YEARS AGO Dec. 27, 1913 TEXARKANA - Joe Gazzola, a grocer, who weighs more than 200 pounds, made a record “getaway” several nights ago when confronted by armed highwaymen. Instead of giving up his money he left his team and ran down the street calling for help at every jump. After pursuing him about three blocks, the highwaymen gave up the chase and disappeared into the alley.

50 YEARS AGO Dec. 27, 1963

“We can’t just pay it.” Mayor Laman had this comment today concerning a “dun” from the federal government for payment of $33,241, the obligation dating from 1946 when city officials were contemplating building a war memorial recreation center. The city applied to the Federal Works Agency, Bureau of Community Facilities for $39,366 to provide for advanced planning for the project, which was to include an auditorium, swimming pools, community building, bath houses, playgrounds, etc. The project was abandoned when the city was given the opportunity of purchasing 867 acres of land (now known as Burns Park), formerly part of camp Robinson, from the farm credit association of the U.S. War Surplus Corporation for $20,000.

25 YEARS AGO Dec. 27, 1988 HOT SPRINGS - It is, according to the management of Oaklawn Park, a matter of survival. With competition boxing it in on every side and with a tax structure in Arkansas that gives its out-of-state challengers a built-in government sponsored advantage, Oaklawn Park is falling behind as it enters the final turn and heads for the stretch. And if the Arkansas General Assembly doesn’t go to the whip, Oaklawn general manager Eric Jackson insists, the once-powerful Spa City winner will finish out of the money for good. To battle the decline, Oaklawn is asking Arkansas lawmakers to get behind its three-pronged package slated for the upcoming session of the Legislature.

10 YEARS AGO Dec. 27, 2003

A Morrilton-based company that mines gravel and sand from the White River sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this week, asking it to drop a ban on springtime dredging. The Corps prohibits dredging of the river from March 1 through May 31 to protect the spawning grounds of paddlefish and other species. In its lawsuit, which it filed in federal court on Wednesday, Mobley Construction claims the ban, which is a special condition of the company’s dredging permit, is arbitrary and lacks scientific grounds.

Arkansas, Pages 12 on 12/27/2013

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