Other days

100 YEARS AGO July 5, 1918

FORT SMITH — Luther Gregory, aged 21, Class-1 registrant, who was to have reported to Camp Pike for military service tomorrow, was shot and instantly killed last night by Cons Wilson, a well known resident, after Wilson had been shot and seriously wounded in the mouth by Gregory. Gregory was wanted by the authorities on a charge of assault and battery on Max Jenkins, a former patrolman, and with carrying a pistol. Wilson attempted to arrest Gregory and the latter pulled a pistol and shot Wilson in the mouth.

50 YEARS AGO

July 5, 1968

SPRINGDALE — Governor Rockefeller Thursday called on Arkansas “to offer their prayers to the troops in Vietnam on this national holiday.” The governor and Mrs. Rockefeller led the annual Rodeo of the Ozarks parade here to begin the final day of rodeo activities in the four-day event. “I don’t think just because people say the country is going to hell, that it is necessarily so,” Mr. Rockefeller said. “I think we have a great country.” He refused to make any “political” speeches at any of his stops Thursday.

25 YEARS AGO

July 5, 1993

Thousands of Arkansans abandoned the hot city and headed for the lakes Sunday to celebrate Independence Day. The celebration of the nation’s 217th birthday made for a long holiday weekend, since the Fourth fell on a Sunday this year. For many Arkansans, the celebration began Saturday, when a number of Arkansas communities scheduled their Fourth of July picnics. Sunday, Arkansas lakes were the place to be. Ted Woodson, park ranger at DeGray Lake near Arkadelphia, was preparing for 150,000 weekend visitors.

10 YEARS AGO

July 5, 2008

North Little Rock’s oldest fire station is at risk of closure when the Fire Department opens another station within the next two years on the city’s fast-developing east end. The Park Hill Historic District’s Station No. 5, built in 1938 to house a volunteer fire department, is the city’s north-end rescue unit and the first responder to fire calls for area residences and the business district that stretches along John F. Kennedy Boulevard. The city has purchased 2.26 acres just west of the U.S. 165 juncture with Arkansas 391 where the department plans its 11th station, though city officials emphasize they have no money to build it at this time.