100 years ago
Dec. 18, 1918
SILOAM SPRINGS -- After a heated preliminary hearing, R.H. Kirk, a resident of Siloam Springs, was held to the United States Grand Jury under $2,000 bond by Commissioner J.A. Petty today on a charge of operating an illicit still in his back yard. Kirk alleged the contrivance, which consisted of a boiler and two wooden barrels, connected by steam pipes, was used to cook feed for his hogs. The government charged that the amount of feed Kirk had purchased recently was far in excess of the requirements for his three shoats which the prosecution contends is all the stock he has.
50 years ago
Dec. 18, 1968
MARSHALL -- The Christmas lights and holiday window displays that decorated the Searcy County Courthouse square here eight days ago are now reduced to ashes and the course of Christmas has been altered for the 1,100 residents of this small North Arkansas town. On the night of December 10 a fire destroyed most of the north side of the square here and caused more than $700,000 damage. When the smoke cleared 14 hours later, the residents of Marshall had few places to shop for Christmas gifts and many persons were temporarily out of work, with no money to buy Christmas presents. ... Mrs. C.F. Lay, 73, who along with her husband, 72, and son owned a department store, real estate office, two warehouses and a feed store, all destroyed by the fire, has no doubt that she and her family will rebuild their stores and continue as before. "When you get to be our age, you can't just give up. We'll just build back and start over," she said.
25 years ago
Dec. 18, 1993
• Scharmel Burnett's capital murder trial in the shooting death of her husband ended Friday in a hung jury. Pulaski County Circuit Judge John Langston told attorneys to meet with his case coordinator Tuesday to schedule a new trial. Prosecutors said Burnett killed her husband, Little Rock businessman Johnny Burnett, 45. But defense attorneys said police failed to investigate fully more likely suspects, and they suggested a key prosecution witness was among them. The jury of seven women and five men deliberated four hours and 10 minutes, from 2:30 p.m. until 6:40 p.m., before declaring for the third time they were hopelessly deadlocked.
10 years ago
Dec. 18, 2008
• The Old Mill survived a scorching fire Tuesday night far better than the city of Atlanta did in the movie that made the North Little Rock landmark locally famous. Flames at the historic site in the Lakewood neighborhood damaged the wooden roof, leaving the rest mostly untouched. Investigators said Wednesday that they believe the fire was arson -- one that left few clues about a motive or suspects. News of the damage provoked an emotional response, even though the roof itself was not original to the Old Mill. "This is the best-known landmark in the city of North Little Rock," Sandra Taylor-Smith, director of the city's history commission, said. "Someone in this world has an evil, evil heart to want to do this."
Metro on 12/18/2018