Other days
100 YEARS AGO Aug. 17, 1916
A record price was paid for the first bale of cotton presented by W. E. Gimmette of Owen township, 12 miles west of Little Rock, when the bale was sold at auction for $221.40 at the Little Rock Cotton Exchange at 11 o’clock yesterday morning to August Probst, superintendent of the exchange, who auctioned the bale, says the price probably will be the record for the state this year. It is the highest price paid in Little Rock for a first bale in many years.
50 YEARS AGO Aug. 17, 1966
A number of persons in Little Rock reported seeing unidentified flying objects Tuesday night, following similar reports from Fort Smith, Pine Bluff and Paragould Monday night and before dawn Tuesday. Assistant Fire Chief W. L. Sparks said the object he saw resembled a red ball of light. Other firemen who saw it said its color changed from red to green to white. The Police Department got more than 50 calls over the course of several hours about the objects and at least one policeman also reported sighting an unidentified flying object.
25 YEARS AGO Aug. 17, 1991
Americans need to change their attitude about littering if they want to maintain a livable country, U.S. Sen. Dale Bumpers, D-Ark., said Friday. “We have had a cavalier and negligent and sort of reckless attitude,” Bumpers said. The senator spoke Friday at Julius Breckling Riverfront Park in Little Rock at a ceremony where he was selected as honorary chairman of the 1991 Great Arkansas Cleanup. The event is held annually the Saturday after Labor Day, which is Sept. 7 this year. Volunteers pick up trash in federal, state and local parks and along shorelines and roadways.
10 YEARS AGO Aug. 17, 2006
North Little Rock electric ratepayers would give a little extra to help low-income customers pay a significant increase expected on everyone’s electric bills under a tentative plan by the city-owned utility. Pending City Council approval, the Low Income Residential Assistance Program would be voluntary although the program would automatically start adding up to $6 yearly for all customers as early as October. Residents would have to tell the city if they didn’t want to participate. Mayor Patrick Hays will submit legislation asking aldermen to authorize the program at its Aug. 28 meeting, he said.