Other days

100 YEARS AGO March 9, 1920

FORT SMITH — Fire caused a damage ranging from $10,000 to $12,000 today when a big building that was a unit of the former Fort Smith Compress Company’s plant was destroyed. It contained approximately 600 tons of hay. The fire spread to another large storage building containing 600 bales of lint cotton, but firemen saved the structure. Seven tank cars containing gasoline stood on a nearby side track without igniting.

50 YEARS AGO March 9, 1970

■ A fire about 1:15 p.m. Sunday at the residence of George Morgan Jr. of 1125 Healey Street, North Little Rock, caused about $2,000 damage to the building and contents, the Fire Department reported. The fire was caused when gasoline was ignited by a kitchen stove as Morgan was using the fuel to loosen glue under tile on the floor, firemen said. No injuries were reported and Morgan and a neighbor extinguished the fire before firemen arrived.

25 YEARS AGO March 9, 1995

BEEBE — Thirty Beebe school teachers called in sick Wednesday while others on campus donned maroon ribbons to protest the Beebe School Board’s decision to push longtime Superintendent Floyd Marshall out of office. Even more teachers may be “feeling ill” today, according to one teacher. In a 3-2 vote during a special meeting Tuesday, the board decided to negotiate with Wynne Assistant Superintendent Keith Williams rather than Marshall for the superintendent’s job. Many of the 150 to 200 citizens attending the meeting reportedly booed and shouted at board members.

10 YEARS AGO March 9, 2010

■ The Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System mailed notices on Monday to seven elected county or city officials it determined had improperly received retirement benefits without vacating their offices, an attorney for the retirement system said. System Director Gail Stone made a final determination Friday that each of the officials had failed to meet a requirement that they “terminate” employment before receiving retirement benefits, attorney Jay Wills said. The notices inform the officials that their retirement benefits will be cut off and that they must pay back the benefits they already have received, Wills said. Each official owes the system tens of thousands of dollars, and some owe amounts “considerably higher,” Wills said. The officials can appeal Stone’s decision to the system’s board of trustees and then to circuit court, Wills said.