100 YEARS AGO May 21, 1913
Mistaking a can of gasoline for a can of water, an employee of the Y.M.C.A. yesterday added a spectacular finish to a small fire which was blazing merrily in a pile of trash in the basement of the institution. He threw the gasoline onto blaze and narrowly escaped serious injury when the highly inflammable liquid exploded. The sudden flash of the burning oil, however, attracted the attention of passersby, and incidentally served to call the assistance of the Fire Department.
50 YEARS AGO May 21, 1963
The Little Rock Waterworks Commission agreed today to engage a landscape architect to prepare prospective drawings which would show how a giant water storage tank could be concealed in the 3200 block of Ozark Avenue. Frank Lyon, a water commissioner, met in City Hall with Phil Back, representing a group of property owners who object to the tank, and with other officials in an effort to resolve the dispute.
25 YEARS AGO May 21, 1988
Lawmakers found little solace Friday in explanations for why nearly twice as many employees as predicted had taken advantage of early retirement incentives that have apparently ended up costing the state instead of creating savings. “This program was a terrible mistake. The estimates were in great error …It’s absolutely disastrous financially and it has been terrible drain on talent,” Sen. Eugene “Bud” Canada of Hot Springs said of three early retirement laws passed in the 1987 regular legislative session. A total of 1,304 employees of state agencies, county government and public school systems took advantage of the early retirement incentives that lawmakers had been told would take no more than 700 employees off public payrolls.
10 YEARS AGO May 21, 2003
Sunday bus routes in Little Rock are again in a precarious position for the second half of the year. The Central Arkansas Transit Authority will only get half of a $50,000 state appropriation this year that had been earmarked to keep Sunday buses running from July through December, officials said Tuesday. Without the full amount this year - the rest would be for next year- the approximately 1,000 riders who use Sunday bus service likely will be back looking for transportation by fall if new money isn’t found. “Really, this problem is not solved,” said CATA Finance Director Wanda Chastain.
Arkansas, Pages 14 on 05/21/2013