Other days

100 YEARS AGO Oct. 5, 1917

NEWPORT — Chess Kelley, who was charged with killing Herman Harmon, a young automobile mechanic in a resort on River front June 8 last, was found guilty of first degree murder by the jury late this afternoon. The jury returned the verdict without recommendation as to punishment, which, under the law, makes the death penalty mandatory. Sentence probably will be pronounced tomorrow. 50 YEARS AGO

Oct. 5, 1967

HOT SPRINGS — Three persons were arrested and charged with possession of gambling equipment here Tuesday after State Police seized more than 100 slot machines in raids on two buildings identified by State Police Director Lynn A. Davis as slot machine repair shops. Davis estimated the value of the machines at between $150,000 and $250,000 and said 18 of them were among those “supposedly destroyed” after State Police raids August 17 at the Bridge Street, Ohio, Citizens and White Front Clubs.

25 YEARS AGO

Oct. 5, 1992

Treat mentally ill people with respect and help them develop the abilities they have, and they will respond well, the medical director of the GAIN program said. GAIN, which stands for Greater Assistance to those In Need, was set up two years ago by the state Department of Human Services’ Division of Mental Health. Patients who once might have been hospitalized or shut away from society “are now going to school, working, and living with their families, getting married, and having much higher-quality lives, Dr. David Wait, GAIN medical director, said.

10 YEARS AGO

Oct. 5, 2007

The organization hoping to stop unmarried couples from adopting or becoming foster parents in Arkansas got the go ahead Thursday to start a petition drive to earn a spot on next year’s general election ballot. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel certified the Family Council’s proposed initiated act, clearing the way for the conservative organization to begin collecting signatures. If enough have been gathered by summer, the proposal will qualify for the ballot in the Nov. 4, 2008, election. Jerry Cox, president of the Little Rock based group, said the petition drive probably won’t start in earnest until January but that he’ll begin immediately organizing the group’s statewide network of supporters.