Other days

100 YEARS AGO May 5, 1913

In furtherance of a definite policy of accident preventing and conserving the public safety, the Little Rock Railway and Electric Company has inaugurated a contest among the motormen and conductors to be decided June 1. Every motorman and conductor in the company’s service may enter the contest by submitting an original composition on “How Best to Avoid Accidents.” The writer of the best paper will be awarded the first prize of $10 in gold.

50 YEARS AGO May 5, 1963 NEW YORK - Sen J. William Fulbright, of Arkansas, said last night that landing a man on the moon may be a “glamorous scientific feat” but that it would have little appeal to the uncommitted peoples of the world who bear the burdens of hunger, disease and poverty. Fulbright, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, “It is strange to me that in a world which bears an intolerable burden of hunger, disease, poverty and animosity among its peoples, we should devote the best minds of both the western and Communist world to achieve a landing on the moon where, to my knowledge, no solutions to our problems await us.” 25 YEARS AGOMay 5, 1988 BENTON - Don Massarelli, a Bauxite High School coach, did not deliberately or recklessly injure two students when he paddled them, Benton Municipal Judge Pete Lancaster ruled Wednesday. Lancaster dismissed misdemeanor battery charges filed against Massarelli by parents of two boys. “We’ll see you in federal court,” Gary Shelnutt, parent of one of the boys declared when Lancaster issued his ruling. Massarelli was charged March 29 with third-degree battery. He paddled eight boys the previous week, all for misbehaving in a class under a substitute teacher.

10 YEARS AGO May 5, 2003 CONWAY - Conway has hired an investigator from Northwest Arkansas to conduct an internal investigation of the city’s Police Department, the city’s human resources director said last week. The director, Lynda Thomas Yeager, would not provide any details. “None of this information is public unless something happens that would cause a suspension or termination,” Yeager said. “We won’t say how much it costs … because it won’t do any good to upset [city] residents.” The department usually conducts its own investigation. Yeager would not say what warranted hiring an outside investigator.