Other days
100 YEARS AGO July 7, 1919
CLARKSVILLE — A fire, supposed to have its origin from the defective wiring of the house, destroyed the home of S. S. Elliott Thursday night. The family knew nothing of the blaze until Lieutenant Johnson of Eberts Field, who was spending the night at Mayor Hannah’s home, entered the room and informed them. It is thought that the entire family would have been burned had they not been awakened. Lieutenant Johnson had to escape from the upstairs window, where he had awakened Miss Helen Elliott. He was unable to follow her down the stairs on account of the falling roof. Only $1,500 insurance was carried.
50 YEARS AGO July 7, 1969
TUCKER PRISON FARM — Gene L. McGahan, 22, of Nolandville, Texas, an inmate at Tucker Prison Farm, escaped on foot Sunday, prison authorities said. McGahan was serving 10 years on a conviction of forgery and uttering in Benton County.
25 YEARS AGO July 7, 1994
FORT SMITH — Doctors at St. Edward Mercy Medical Center listed state Rep. Jerry King in critical condition Wednesday as he recovered from injuries suffered June 29 in a one-vehicle traffic accident in Montgomery County. King, a Republican legislator from Greenwood in Sebastian County, is expected to undergo surgery this week for a broken arm and leg. He also is being treated for bruised lungs and other injuries. State police said King lost control of his 1991 Lexus about 11 p.m. June 29 on U.S. 270 about 10 miles from Pencil Bluff in Montgomery County. The crash threw him from the car after it hit a ditch and rolled. King is in his eighth term. He faces Ed Wilkinson, a Democrat from Greenwood, in the November general election.
10 YEARS AGO July 7, 2009
■ Little Rock has struggled for years to find a suitable location for a homeless day center where people can shower, do laundry or meet with social workers. After residents blocked attempts to buy buildings along Roosevelt Road for such a center, the city joined with North Little Rock to contract out services temporarily to River City Ministry, an organization north of the Arkansas River. Now, Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola says he has a seemingly perfect location in mind for a permanent center — a vacant Job Corps center off Interstate 30 that the federal government is willing to hand over for free. Built as a hotel, the eight-story building has a kitchen, plenty of office space and meeting rooms. But some of the same residents who thwarted past searches near their neighborhood are gearing up for another fight, hoping to again dissuade the capital city from looking further at the 2020 Vance St. location. “I want to be open-minded because I feel like being openminded is fair, but I just do not see a positive note in placing that center in our neighborhood,” said Carol Tabron, president of the Pettaway Park Neighborhood Association. “I think if there were a lot of positive notes about it, they wouldn’t put it in our neighborhood. They’d put it somewhere where they live.”