100 years ago
Jan. 12, 1918
SEARCY -- Investigation has developed that the young man who is said to have admitted holding up the cashier of the Cotton Plant Bond and Trust Company of nearly $1,500, was Ben Crews, aged 20, who lives at Kensett in this county. Crews told officers at the time of his arrest that his name was Raymond Martin. He was arrested at McClelland, eight miles from Cotton Plant, Wednesday. Crews was employed in a mill near Kensett. He left home two days before the robbery. He has a wife and a seven-month-old baby. They will go to Cotton Plant tomorrow to attend the examining trial.
50 years ago
Jan. 12, 1968
• The North Little Rock Parks and Recreation Commission has expressed interest in selling 40 acres of Burns Park adjacent to Interstate 40 for a motel but a former Commission chairman said Thursday that they may not legally be able to dispose of the property. E. H. (Buz) Herrod, who was Commission chairman when the city acquired the park property from the federal government, recalled that there were reservations in the deeds that might prevent use of the property for anything other than recreational purposes.
25 years ago
Jan. 12, 1993
CASSCOE -- The repercussions of December's double slaying continue to roll over the residents of Casscoe on Monday as word spread that two local teens had been charged in the crime. "In a normal day out in the country, you feel safe," Dale Shelton, a former Arkansas County judge and resident of Casscoe, said. "That feeling has been shattered. First, there was the murders, and now two boys from families that are really well thought of have been charged with the murders. The whole thing is a terrible tragedy, especially for all of the families."
10 years ago
Jan. 12, 2008
• A 17-year-old who gunned down a popular Little Rock grocery store owner accepted a life sentence Friday with the "tiniest sliver of hope" that he won't die behind bars. At a seven-minute hearing in Pulaski County Circuit Court, Marco Balderas admitted to killing Ghazi "Jeff" Hammad during the July 17 robbery attempt at the southwest Little Rock store that Hammad owned with his wife. "When it's all said and done, he had 10 gunshot wounds," Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John Johnson told the judge, describing Hammad's killing.
Metro on 01/12/2018