100 years ago
Dec. 28, 1918
• George Thornburgh, widely known throughout Arkansas, was yesterday elected superintendent of the Arkansas School for the Blind by the Board of Control to succeed John H. Hineman, who resigned to accept the superintendency of the North Little Rock public schools. Mr. Thornburgh was not an applicant for the position. He will enter upon the discharge of his duties on January 1.
50 years ago
Dec. 28, 1968
• Hospital officials and physicians issued a statement Friday discouraging the visiting of hospital patients until the threat of an influenza epidemic is past. At the same time, an official of the Pulaski County Medical Society said that although there have been no proven cases of the much-publicized Hong Kong flu, influenza is evident in the county. ... Memorial Hospital Director Norman L. Roberts Jr. speaking for the Greater Little Rock Hospital Council said that hospitals would begin strict enforcement of visiting regulations and that visiting would be discouraged except by members of the patients' immediate family and then only when necessary.
25 years ago
Dec. 28, 1993
HOT SPRINGS -- Hundreds of Hot Springs residents and supporters of President Clinton caught a glimpse of the first family Monday before he headed to his mother's home for a holiday visit. Clinton's expected overnight stay at Virginia Kelley's home was to be the president's first since he took office in January. The homecoming welcome at the Hot Springs Municipal Airport was filled with cheers and Arkansas Razorback "hog calls." Signs advised Clinton "Your true friends love you and believe in you." About 75 "Friends of Bill" were positioned to shake the native son's hand soon after his plane landed at 5:25 p.m. First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, their daughter, Chelsea, and Kelley also waved to the spectators.
10 years ago
Dec. 28, 2008
WEST MEMPHIS -- All Willie Joe Harris had was his heart. It maintained the faith he learned at an early age while working in the Osceola cotton fields with his father, helping him through the trauma of a year in Vietnam. Now, 41 years later, Harris' heart, worn down by his life after the war, has led him yet again. After he applied for retirement benefits after triple heart bypass surgery in February 2007, officials found documentation that Harris, now 63 and living in West Memphis, was eligible to receive the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star, two of the best known military awards. A letter of recommendation for the honors from then-President Johnson had been kept in Harris' military medical file -- rather than his personnel file -- since 1967. Unknown to Harris, the Army stored the file in a Veterans Administration office in St. Louis for nearly a half-century. ... Earlier this month, Harris received his military awards in a ceremony in West Memphis.
Metro on 12/28/2018