Other days

100 YEARS AGO

Aug. 15, 1920

SPRINGDALE — Work on the improved highway east from Springdale to Spring Valley is moving forward, although in some places the work is being delayed on account of the contractors being unable to secure cement. The portion of the road from the corporation line to the Becker farm, has been graveled, and being dragged and rolled.

50 YEARS AGO

Aug. 15, 1970

■ Heartsill Ragon, chairman of state Oil and Gas Commision, said Friday that it was “common knowledge” that a shortage in natural gas reserve existed in Arkansas. Ragon made the statement after a reporter asked him about charges made by Richard Earl Griffin, a Democratic candidate for attorney general, that Arkansas Louisiana Gas Company and its Board chairman, W.R. (Witt) Stephens, had attempted to “create an illusion of natural gas shortages” to obtain “an undeserved rate increase.”

25 YEARS AGO

Aug. 15, 1995

ROGERS — Kendrick Fincher, 13, of Rogers remained in critical condition Monday at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, suffering from heat-related injuries affecting all of his vital organs, a hospital spokesman said. After the first day of junior high school football practice Aug. 7, Kendrick was hospitalized after his father found the Elmwood Junior High School eighth-grader [nauseous] and with his eyes rolling back in his head. The boy’s body temperature was extremely high and he apparently was dehydrated. The boy’s friends told his father, Mike Fincher, that Kendrick had asked for water during practice but was told to wait until a scheduled water break. Elmwood Coach Mike Fox said Aug. 8 that he allows players to get drinks whenever they want.

10 YEARS AGO

Aug. 15, 2010

■ Stamps Mayor Ian Ouei is happy to see the defunct Red River Aluminum plant, which had become an environmental hazard and eyesore in his town, cleaned up and nearly ready for reuse. “It looks like someone went through there with a vacuum cleaner,” he said. “It looks a whole lot better.” In a presentation before the Stamps City Council, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality reported last week that cleanup work should be done by the end of the month at the 120-acre site. Red River Aluminum was one of two major cleanups the environmental oversight agency undertook this year using money from the state’s $12.7 million Remedial Action Trust Fund. The money is generated from fines for environmental infractions, said Ryan Benefield, deputy director of the department.