100 years ago
March 23, 1917
• Beginning April 1, John H. Page, commissioner of mines, manufactures and agriculture, said yesterday that he will start a practical co-operation with the United States Department of Agriculture for the enforcement of the pure food and drug act. The act was passed in 1907 in Arkansas, in line with the government act, but no provision was made for its enforcement. Mr. Page said that he would use the feed and fertilizer inspectors operating under his bureau as ex-officio inspectors for the act. They will co-operate with the Bureau of Chemistry at Washington, and violators of the act will be prosecuted under federal laws.
50 years ago
March 23, 1967
PINE BLUFF -- Mrs. Winthrop Rockefeller, wife of the governor, told Republican women here Wednesday that she would start sending letters to them explaining legislation in laymen's terms. Speaking before some 100 representatives from five Southeast Arkansas counties, Mrs. Rockefeller said she was planning to send the letters out twice a month. She also suggested that all Republican women contact their legislators, regardless of party, to make known any dissension or wishes from their areas "because a little harassment sometimes helped."
25 years ago
March 23, 1992
BLYTHEVILLE -- He was born at St. Bernard's Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. Now he holds the top spots on both the hardback and paperback best-seller lists of The New York Times. Who is that, you say? John Grisham. In Blytheville last week for a signing of his recently released novel, "The Pelican Brief," Grisham took time to talk with everyone who stopped by. The crowd was unusually large. "I'm kin to all of them," he said with a laugh. He signed books for more than four hours.
10 years ago
March 23, 2007
• Although probation officers said it might not be permissible and prosecutors promised to appeal, a federal judge sentenced former Newport Alderman Pinkey McFarlin on Thursday to three years' probation, to be served at a halfway house. McFarlin, 56, pleaded guilty in November to a single charge of conspiring to distribute crack cocaine in exchange for prosecutors dropping 26 other charges for which he was on trial. At the time, the prosecution and the defense had rested, and jurors were preparing to hear closing arguments.
Metro on 03/23/2017