Other days
100 YEARS AGO Sept. 12, 1918
PINE BLUFF– Mrs. J. R. Cromwell, 816 West Third avenue, had a narrow escape Tuesday when she was chased over the neighborhood by Dora Nauls, a negress. The negress was later arrested on a charge of lunacy, and in Municipal Court Wednesday was bound over to await the action of the county judge. The negress’ mind is said to have been failing for some months, and Tuesday she became obsessed with the hallucination that Joseph, Mrs. Cromwell’s little son, of whom the negress was very fond, was being abused by Mrs. Cromwell. The negress seized an ax and started after Mrs. Cromwell, saying that she was going to cut her to pieces.
50 YEARS AGO Sept. 12, 1968
In an unprecedented move, the state Election Commission Wednesday appealed to the ministers of the state — as a politically unbiased force — to select the pivotal third members of county election commissions. This was an official duty that the Commission itself, divided 6-3 along party lines, couldn’t get around to doing. The members asked the churchmen in each county to submit names by 10 a.m. Monday when the Commission reconvenes. Presumably, if the churchmen respond to the request, the Commission then will rubber stamp the nominations. The Commission members, in a rare show of unanimity, agreed to bind themselves ahead of time to the nominations. What will happen if the ministers decline to involve themselves in a political chore was unclear.
25 YEARS AGO Sept. 12, 1993
Rape victims have become pawns in a game of wills between a state board and some Arkansas medical providers. The Arkansas Crime Victims Reparations Board is reviewing the amount it pays for rape examinations because several Arkansas medical providers that perform most of the exams receive two to three times what hospitals and doctors in other states receive. But some of those providers warn that if the state cuts the amount it reimburses them for performing the exams, they will seek payment from the rape victims or pass the cost on to paying customers. “We can’t have the victim charged for collection of evidence,” said Margaret Matthew, director of volunteers and services for Rape Crisis in Little Rock. Rape convictions are almost impossible without the evidence collected during the examinations, Matthew said. She said victims would be less likely to go to the hospital to have the evidence collected if they had to pay all or part of the cost.
10 YEARS AGO Sept. 12, 2008
Central Arkansas Water rates will increase Jan. 1 unless Little Rock and North Little Rock oppose new rates in the next 90 days. Starting Monday, the two cities have 90 days for any last-minute challenges. But that’s unlikely, since both cities’ governing boards listened to the proposals this week without voicing any concerns. A public hearing on the new rates last week attracted three people, who Graham Rich, the utility’s executive director, said supported the increases.