Other days

100 YEARS AGO

October 5, 1923

■ To the Editor of the Gazette: I want to express our appreciation of the attention which the Gazette has given to the development of better agriculture in Arkansas. I feel that without the help of a great state newspaper like the Gazette the agricultural workers of Arkansas would be very seriously handicapped. As a recent example of the benefit of your publicity, I want to mention the fight against leaf worms. By reading the articles in the Gazette we were aware of the danger of a serious infestation of the worn. When we first got word that the worms were appearing in great numbers in our Botton land representatives of our bank made a personal examination of the field.

50 YEARS AGO

October 5, 1973

JONESBORO — Frank Lady, a lawyer and active member of the Jonesboro Concerned Citizens Committee, said he has asked the state attorney general if a seminar for prosecutors and state officials could be set up to discuss the recent Supreme Court decision on pornography as it applies to existing Arkansas laws. Lady said such a seminar was held recently in Mississippi. He said he had received information from the Mississippi attorney general. Lady said he thought such a seminar should include prosecutors, lawyers, chiefs of police, law enforcement officers and legislators. According to Lady, changes could be made in laws to strengthen them in areas of pornography.

25 YEARS AGO

October 5, 1998

State Sen. Jodie Mahony, D-El Dorado, says his “Chuck E. Cheese law” was not intended to legalize video poker and slotmachine-like video games. Mahony said the Legislature may need to revise the law. “We might have to undo it,” he said of Act 740 of 1995, which allows coin-operated machines to award prize receipts as long as they do not exceed 10 times the cost to play or $5, whichever is less. The law also permits players to accumulate winnings, but restricts cumulative redemption to $50 or less. Owners of adult video arcades, which pay winning players with gift certificates and merchandise, say their games are within the law. Although the machines have been in Arkansas for several years, their popularity increased earlier this year as video arcades set up shop in the state after the Texas attorney general determined them to be illegal in his state.

10 YEARS AGO

October 5, 2013

CONWAY — Carved from a dying red oak tree at the University of Central Arkansas, a war-memorial ring is among the offerings in this year’s Conway ArtsFest. Titled The Ring of Peace, the sculpture rests outside a conference room on the first floor of Wingo Hall, the school’s administration building. Outside the building stands a life-size sculpture of a black bear carved from the same tree, one of 46 such trees planted years ago in memory of the 46 UCA alumni killed during World War II. Both sculptures were dedicated Wednesday and, along with other artworks at UCA and elsewhere in Conway, are getting special attention this week during the annual festival, which ends this evening. “We hope the Bear Memorial and Ring of Peace will remind visitors that art can serve many functions, including the solemn remembrance of fallen UCA alumni in World War II,” said Gayle Seymour, an art professor and associate dean of the university’s College of Fine Arts and Communication who has worked with the festival since it began four years ago.