100 years ago
Oct. 31, 1922
BENTONVILLE -- A couple of Wild West "bronco busters" who have been touring this section and furnishing entertainment at community fairs came to grief in Bentonville. The usual offer was made to ride any animal of any degree of wildness and a purse was made up among bystanders. A mule was unhitched from a wagon and one of the riders mounted, but the animal lost his footing on the street and the rider suffered a broken ankle and other painful injuries.
50 years ago
Oct. 31, 1972
• The lawsuit in which 17 Searcy sanitation workers are suing the Searcy city government will be heard this afternoon in federal District Court at Little Rock. ... The 17 plaintiffs were among 28 sanitation workers who were fired in September by the Searcy City Council. Their suit contends that the men were fired because they joined Local 1282 of the Laborers International Union and that the mass dismissals amounted to an abridgement of the constitutional rights to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.
25 years ago
Oct. 31, 1997
CAMDEN -- Ouachita County Prosecuting Attorney Tom Wynne told members of the 13th Judicial District Drug Task Force this week that it was wrong not to disclose the location of a temporary jail built to hold prisoners arrested in a massive drug roundup. ... For five days, drug task force officials refused to disclose the location of the jail. ... Almost 200 outstanding arrest warrants for suspected drug dealers in Calhoun, Columbia, Dallas, Ouachita and Union counties issued in the past 18 months accounted for the need for the jail. If the temporary jail did not exist, the suspects would have been sent to county jails, most of which are full, and they might have been released prematurely, officials said. About 100 people were arrested and housed at the temporary jail before it closed. They slept on cots in cells that held about 15 people. The facility had basic amenities, such as showers, but lacked other features, such as an exercise area. Magnolia Police Chief Robert Gorum said the location of the jail was not intended to be a secret but was kept confidential as a security measure.
10 years ago
Oct. 31, 2012
• The Little Rock Board of Directors will decide Monday whether to revoke a bid preference for local companies and whether to pass a different bid preference for companies that agree to hire employees from at-risk populations. ... The board also will hear the third reading of an ordinance proposed by Ward 2 City Director Ken Richardson that would offer bid preferences to companies that agree to hire "disconnected" adults and youths. They are defined as people between the ages of 16 and 24 who do not have significant work histories because of a lack of education or a felony history. The city is working on job training and skills programs for that population, according to a presentation last week from the city's Department of Community Programs.