Other days

100 YEARS AGO April 3, 1921

■ The first drilling site to be made in the state by Dr. J. C. Branner, noted geologist, for the Arkansas Oil Corporation, as announced by B. C. Powell, a member of the corporation, is within a mile and one-half of the town of Rison, Cleveland county. Drilling apparatus is already upon the ground and operations will begin within the next 10 days, Mr. Powell said last night. While this is the first location to be made by Dr. Branner, other locations will be selected by him and other wells sunk.

50 YEARS AGO April 3, 1971

■ Addressing a legislature that had treated his program kindly, Governor Bumpers saluted the 68th General Assembly Friday for “standing up on substantive issues and substantive legislation in the face of overwhelming odds and in face of powerful lobbies.” “It is my prediction that history will be kind to you for your conduct,” Mr. Bumpers told the legislature. Mr. Bumpers addressed the Senate and the House of Representatives separately on what was probably the final day of this legislative session. Later in the day, both houses recessed to return in full session only if it is found that procedural errors have resulted in the invalidation of some appropriation bills.

25 YEARS AGO April 3, 1996

CONWAY — The yard of retired University of Central Arkansas art professor Gene Hatfield is anything but typical. It is covered with sculptures, some of which resemble human figures. “I like to think of my yard as a sculpture garden,” he said in a recent interview. Hatfield, 70, compares his yard to another collection of sculptures that covers several acres in Santa Fe, N.M. “I like to think I have a small version of that in my front yard,” he said. Hatfield’s sculptures have received recognition not only from the general public but the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program as well.

10 YEARS AGO April 3, 2011

■ A fire in a building on Shinall Mountain housing the transmitter for Little Rock radio station KUARFM 89.1 knocked the station off the air Saturday evening. A fire official said the blaze was suspicious. The fire didn’t require much effort to extinguish, but it generated a great amount of heat and heavily damaged the expensive transmitter the nonprofit station uses to broadcast its signal, said Little Rock Fire Department Capt. Jason Weaver. The value of the equipment was in the range of $500,000, Weaver said.