Other days
100 YEARS AGO
May 25, 1923
EL DORADO- When a fire started in the motion picture operator’s room at the Majestic theater tonight panic in the audience was averted by Musical Director L.J. Valle ordering the orchestra to play “The Star-Spangled Banner.” At the sound of the national anthem, the audience automatically rose to its feet and request was then made that it quietly leave the theater, which was done without haste or excitement. The fire burned fiercely but was confined to the operator’s room because of its fire-proof construction. The picture showing was “The Fast Mail” and it is a striking coincidence that this was was the film attraction when the theater burned some months ago. It then was known as the Rex theater, the name being changed when the present Majestic was completed at a cost of $60,000.
50 YEARS AGO
May 25, 1973
■ The Ozarks Regional Commission met Thursday at Little Rock and voted to transfer a maximum of $302,878 in excess funds to the Ozark Regional Commission, Inc., a private, nonprofit corporation that will succeed Ozarka if Congress fails to extend Ozarka for another year. The legislation that created the Ozarka is scheduled to expire June 30. A bill that would extend its life is in a congressional conference committee. The Ozarka disburses federal grants and contracts for economic development in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Louisiana.
25 YEARS AGO
May 25, 1998
CONWAY — In 1990, several black residents protested that citywide elections of aldermen made it nearly impossible to elect a black to the City Council. Eight years later, Shelia Whitmore, 35, has won the Democratic primary for an at-large seat on the City Council and will likely become the first black alderman in Conway. All that stands between Whitmore and the seat is the possibility of a write-in candidate. There are no Republican candidates in the race.
10 YEARS AGO
May 25, 2013
■ An ordinance before the Little Rock Board of Directors on Tuesday proposes to increase the mayor’s salary by almost $20,000, matching the city manager’s salary. The proposal sent to city directors in their meeting booklets Friday would raise the mayor’s salary from $160,000 to $179,208 — the current salary of City Manager Bruce Moore. The board has discussed the possibility of a raise for the past few weeks because of an Arkansas statute that requires the mayor’s salary to be comparable with the pay of other city executives with similar responsibilities.