100 years ago
Aug. 19, 1919
BENTONVILLE -- Arguments in the suits brought to prevent building of roads in Benton county under the special road acts of the last legislature ended Saturday night and Chancellor Ben F. Macmahan took the matter under advisement for the fall term of Chancery Court. The arguments lasted three days and several attorneys were heard on both sides. The bids submitted for building the road were rejected and the commissioners are considering building the road by the cost-plus plan.
50 years ago
Aug. 19, 1969
• Arkansas's population growth rate in 1968 failed to keep up with the increase in crime during the same period, according to the latest edition of the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports. Arkansas shared that condition with the rest of the nation. In 1968, Arkansas's population jumped from 1,968,000 to an estimated 2,012,000, a rise of about 2.2 percent, but the number of serious crimes during that period rose from 19,850 to 24,914, an increase of about 24 percent. The FBI concluded that for every 100,000 persons in Arkansas in 1968, 1,238.3 crimes were committed. Little Rock Police Chief R.E. Brians supplied some figures from his own department to narrow down the FBI statistics and also commented on them. Brians cited the Department's clearing rate, that is the percentage of crimes conditionally cleared by the arrest of one or more persons, as being higher than the national average in almost all categories. "This shows," said Brians, "that we are doing a good job of arresting offenders, but we still haven't been able to prevent crime."
25 years ago
Aug. 19, 1994
FORT SMITH -- Arkansas Best Corp., the parent company of the state's largest unionized trucking company, has agreed to purchase three Illinois-based transportation companies for $60 million in cash. The acquisition of Clipper Exxpress Co., a Lemont, Ill., intermodal marketing and freight logistics company, and two affiliated companies gives Arkansas Best a strong foothold in the rail transportation market. Arkansas Best President and Chief Executive Officer Robert A. Young III said the acquisition, which is subject to federal approval and certain closing audit adjustments, provides the company with a strong entry into the fast-growing intermodal market.
10 years ago
Aug. 19, 2009
• The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department has finally figured out what to do with a nondescript duplex along Interstate 630 that the agency has owned for more than 35 years. The property now will remain part of the department, which will set aside the land as part of the green space along the I-630 corridor, a move welcomed by the Briarwood Area Neighborhood Association. The neighborhood has clashed over the years with department personnel. The Briarwood neighborhood is bordered on the south by I-630. "Upon further evaluation it has been determined that it would be in the best interest of the department to retain the property," the commission said in an order signed May 20, noting the property was adjacent to the green space. A combination of the price, previous friction with the neighborhood and the green space issue all went into the decision.
Metro on 08/19/2019