100 years ago
Jan. 16, 1919
• It required the jury only 10 minutes to return a verdict of not guilty yesterday in the case against Houston Gean, former cashier of the Twin City bank of North Little Rock. Gean was charged with exhibiting a false check for $690 to A. J. Reap, bank examiner, on September 2, 1915, with the intent of deceiving the bank examiner. All the jurors shook hands with Mr. and Mrs. Gean, and Mrs. Gean's parents after the verdict.
50 years ago
Jan. 16, 1969
• State Senator Richard Earl Griffin of Crossett introduced a bill Wednesday to require the sterilization of persons with intelligence quotients (IQ) below 50 before they can obtain marriage licenses. Griffin claimed the support of state Welfare Commissioner Len E. Blaylock. Blaylock did not endorse the measure (SB 18) but he said Griffin was pinpointing a serious social problem. Griffin estimated that the state spent an average of $250,000 a person caring for mentally retarded persons during their lifetimes. The total cost is increasing geometrically because retarded persons intermarry and they tend to produce large numbers of children who also are retarded, Griffin said.
25 years ago
Jan. 16, 1994
• Fanciers of guns, knives, other weaponry and related hardware may have given the era of major gun shows a parting shot in Little Rock on Saturday. Hundreds shivered amid 20-degree temperatures, stood in long lines and paid $4 each to attend a gun show in the Hall of Industry on the state Fairgrounds. Inside the Great Southern Gun and Knife show, most hoped to browse, swap a shotgun or at least have a chance to win the new hunting rifle offered as a door prize. It was the enthusiasts' last chance locally at such a wide-open firearms sale before the Brady bill takes effect in March with a five-day waiting period for buying handguns, background checks and a higher licensing fee for gun dealers.
10 years ago
Jan. 16, 2009
• Little Rock police arrested a 20-year-old man Thursday on three counts of capital murder in a string of robbery-homicides that police said targeted Hispanics. In addition to the murder counts, Brandon Johnson of Little Rock also was charged with four counts each of aggravated robbery and theft, and a single count of first-degree battery. Police said a search warrant served Thursday afternoon on a residence tied to Johnson resulted in the discovery of the wallets of the last two murder victims, as well as a .380-caliber handgun believed to have been used in one or more of the homicides.
Metro on 01/16/2019