Other days

100 YEARS AGO

March 1, 1919

■ Two white boys, who said they are 15 years old, were arrested early yesterday morning by the police about three hours after they are alleged to have broken into the store of G.W. Mathis, 1610 Woodrow Street. One was sentenced to an indefinite term in the Reform School … and the other was held for questioning. The presence of the boys in the store was discovered by Mr. Mathis through an improvised burglar alarm, invented by the proprietor. … As soon as the alarm sounded, Mr. Mathis seized a shotgun and hurried to the store, while another member notified the police. … He said the boys started to run, and fired once at the fleeing youth. The shot evidently scared the other boy, and he came out of the store and also started to run. Mr. Mathis said he fired again.

50 YEARS AGO

March 1, 1969

CONWAY — Two state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission offices and a former agent, who raided a home in Faulkner County last November, have been found guilty of false imprisonment in a delayed decision in Municipal Court here. … They were tried last December on five counts growing out of the raid. Other charges of assault with a deadly weapon, disturbing the peace, and use of profane and abusive language were dismissed at this time. Each man was fined $100 and costs and given 30-day jail sentences on the false imprisonment conviction.

25 YEARS AGO

March 1, 1994

HAMBURG — There is no reason to grant a sanity hearing for a man sentenced to death more than 14 years ago, the state Supreme Court said Monday. Charles Laverne Singleton asked the Jefferson County Circuit Court for a hearing on his sanity and then appealed when the court said no. He was convicted Oct. 30, 1979, in the stabbing death June 1, 1979, of Mary Lou York at a grocery in Hamburg. In his petition, Singleton said the state has been administering anti-psychotic medication to him. Exhibits attached to the petition included several reports by prison physicians indicating that such medication had been administered from 1988 through 1992. One report said Singleton wanted to be taken off the medication because he was to see some federal doctors. The physician who wrote the report said Singleton wanted to appear crazy. Another report said Singleton asked when he could be taken off the medication and was told it should be continued. The report said Singleton was not exhibiting psychotic symptoms and was in remission. The Supreme Court said Singleton had not presented sufficient evidence that he was entitled to a hearing on his argument he has a right not to be executed while insane.

10 YEARS AGO

March 1, 2009

■ Fortunately, 13-year-old Esther Park listened to her school’s announcements Friday. Missing them might have cost the Joe T. Robinson Middle School seventh-grader an all-expenses-paid trip to the nation’s capital. On Saturday morning, Esther won the Arkansas Spelling Bee at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock a day after the reminder came over the announcements. For the third consecutive year, the Pulaski County spelling bee winner will compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. This year’s event is scheduled for May 26-28. While she “kind of freaked out” Friday, Esther’s demeanor remained unperturbed during the event’s 13 rounds as she coolly spelled “ostentatious,” “phenomenon,” “voila” and “fortuitous,” among others.