Other days
100 YEARS AGO Jan. 26, 1918
FORT SMITH — The three-month old infant of C. Helms was saved from death today by the child’s six-year-old sister when the Helms’ home at Sunnyside was burned. The fire originated during the absence of the parents. The little girl carried the baby, suffering from pneumonia, to safety on a pillow, while a fouryear-old brother rescued a broom. Members of the family lost everything else except for the clothing they wore.
50 YEARS AGO Jan. 26, 1968
FORT SMITH — Former State Police Director Lynn A. Davis said here Thursday night he had been told “by those who know” that gamblers were getting ready to go back into business at Hot Springs. David spoke to about 60 persons attending a Sebastian Republican Central Committee meeting. He said gambling other than betting on the horses always flourished more during the racing season, which opens February 9 at Hot Springs Oaklawn Park. “I’ve been told by those who know that they’re getting ready to open up again, and I have no reason to doubt them,” Davis said.
25 YEARS AGO Jan. 26, 1993
The state Supreme Court on Monday ordered a new trial for an Arkansas death row inmate convicted of killing his wife, whose body was found floating in a lake in a cement-filled cooler. The court reversed the 1991 capital murder conviction of Herbert Fred Brenk, 53, saying evidence used by the prosecution was inconclusive. The case was sent back to Baxter County Circuit Court, the county where the murder occurred, for a new trial. Brenk had been sentenced to death by lethal injection. The actual trial was held in neighboring Boone County because of pretrial publicity.
10 YEARS AGO Jan. 26, 2008
One staff member lost his job for using inappropriate physical force and two others were fired for trying to protect him at the state’s largest youth residential treatment facility, officials said Friday. Details remained sketchy, but Todd Speight, the facility administrator at the Arkansas Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center near Alexander, said that on Jan. 19, about 8:30 p.m., a male staff member physically restrained a 17-year-old boy in a manner that “was completely inappropriate” in one of the dormitories. The original report attempted to conceal the nature of the scuffle, resulting in the firing of two additional staff members for misleading investigators, he said.