100 years ago
Oct. 23, 1918
FORT SMITH -- At least two persons were killed, a score, 14 of whom are in hospitals, were injured and between $500,000 and $700,000 damage was caused by fire that destroyed the Fort Smith Commission Company, the Finest Coffee Company and the W. J. Echols Wholesale Grocer Company and damaged the candy factory of J. W. and Robert Meek this afternoon. C. V. Riley, general manager of the commission company, and Thomas F. Morrison, confidential man for the same company, are missing, and hope has been abandoned that they escaped.
50 years ago
Oct. 23, 1968
FORT SMITH -- The plaintiff in a $500,000 civil rights suit testified Tuesday that Springdale officials named in the suit conspired to violate his rights by causing him embarrassment, humiliation and loss of business. Gene Davis, 44, a Springdale contractor, filed the suit, trial of which was in its second day in federal District Court at Fort Smith. Named in the suit are Mayor Park Phillips, City Attorney John Lisle, Police Chief Wayne Hyden, Police Lt. Jack Grasinger, Police Sgt. Stanley Mack and Patrolman Carl Martens. Davis testified that he was arrested once when he was about to drink a beer while sitting in his car. He said a patrolman arrested him before he could even get the beer to his mouth. Davis said he was charged with drinking in public.
25 years ago
Oct. 23, 1993
MALVERN -- Information provided by State Hospital officials led to the arrest of Eric Randall Nance, 33, of Malvern in the Oct. 11 murder of a local teen-ager, according to an affidavit officials filed Friday. Prosecutors charged Nance on Friday with capital murder in the death of Julie Diane Heath, 18, who had been missing since Oct. 11. Prosecuting Attorney Dan Harmon of Benton said Nance voluntarily committed himself to the State Hospital in Little Rock on Oct. 15. When Nance began demanding to be released Wednesday, concerned hospital workers notified the hospital director because they felt Nance was depressed because of "some incident" he was involved in. Harmon said the director, Bobby Hankins, contacted the Arkansas State Police. With Nance's name, state police helping in the Heath murder investigation began finding evidence that linked Nance to the crime, according to the affidavit.
10 years ago
Oct. 23, 2008
TEXARKANA -- After listening to testimony that Tony Alamo has ordered beatings, taken young girls as wives and controls what an FBI agent described as a "vast," tightly controlled organization, a federal judge Wednesday ordered the evangelist held without bail pending his trial on sex charges, saying he wanted to "assure the safety of the community" and make sure Alamo doesn't flee. The order by U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Bryant came after a hearing on whether Alamo should be released while he awaits trial on charges that he transported a minor across state lines for illegal sexual purposes. Defense attorneys said the 74-year-old preacher, who suffers from congestive heart failure and diabetes, would pose little threat if he was released, noting that he had complied with the conditions of his supervision after spending four years in prison for federal income tax evasion.
Metro on 10/23/2018