Other days

100 YEARS AGO Feb. 17, 1918

Efforts made by an unidentified person yesterday to clear the mystery connected with the hold-up of a joyriding party on the Twelfth street pike Monday night and the assault upon a girl member of the party have deepened the mystery. The efforts took the form of an anonymous letter which purports to be a confession of the man who committed the crime. The letter was received last night by the Gazette. It is written in ink on coarse paper and in a bold and sprawling hand. 50 YEARS AGO

Feb. 17, 1968

As politically unsound as it is to propose a tax increase in an election year, Governor Rockefeller said Friday, he will do just that in May if more revenue is needed to balance the state budget. A tax increase proposal would be a last resort to be submitted only after an extensive study of revenues, Mr. Rockefeller added. If it is determined that such an increase is necessary, he said, he favored raising the state income taxes. The governor said he opposed raising the state sales tax from 3 to 4 percent.

25 YEARS AGO

Feb. 17, 1993

Three police officers were involved in two shootings Tuesday night — one in Jacksonville that proved fatal, and another by a Little Rock officer who chased a man to North Little Rock. The fatal shooting occurred after Jacksonville police were called to a domestic disturbance about 7 p.m. at a mobile home at 1619 Pinion Lane in the northeast part of that city. “Upon arrival, officers were confronted with a suspect with two shotguns and two handguns,” Sgt. J.J. Martin said. Martin said that two officers ordered the man to drop the weapons. When he refused, the officers fired. 10 YEARS AGO

Feb. 17, 2008 PINE BLUFF — Vonnie Moore Shabazz’s days of freedom probably are done for good, but the 46-year-old, through his leadership in a prison reentry program, is preparing other prison inmates for second chances. A former University of Nebraska football player from Monticello, Shabazz likely will spend the rest of his life in prison after nearly two decades of crime and drugs netted him a life sentence as a habitual offender. The only way he’ll get past the fence is if some governor, some day, decides to set him free. But Shabazz has found a purpose.