Other days
100 YEARS AGO March 26, 1917 Final arrangements have been made for the convention of the Arkansas Division of the League to Enforce Peace, which opens in Little Rock this afternoon and concludes tonight with an address by William Howard Taft, former president of the United States, and president of the National League. Hundreds of visitors are expected to attend the convention, which will be held in the Municipal Auditorium. Former President Taft will arrive at 7:30 tonight from Memphis and he is scheduled to begin his address at the Municipal Auditorium at 8 o’clock.
50 YEARS AGO March 26, 1967 HOT SPRINGS — The deadline Municipal Judge Earl Mazander had set for the State Police to return gambling equipment confiscated in raids on private clubs here passed at midnight Friday without anything happening. However, the judge said Saturday that his order for the return of all the slot machines and other gambling equipment to Hot Springs still stood. He didn’t elaborate on his threat to “take whatever action is necessary” to get it turned over to the city police.
25 YEARS AGO March 26, 1992 WHITE HALL — About 400 to 500 people were involved Wednesday in the largest chemical emergency drill at the Pine Bluff Arsenal since 1989. During the drill, the fictitious Harold McKinney (arsenal employee Tommy Spivey) found a rocket (in reality, a dud) in his yard. Drill procedure called for the M55 projectile, full of lethal nerve agent VX, to have been fired from the arsenal after a simulated freak accident about 8 a.m. About 800 people were involved in the 1989 simulated chemical emergency for four days and three nights, according to Dewey Spencer, arsenal spokesman.
10 YEARS AGO March 26, 2007 BENTON — The chairman of the Benton Parks and Recreation Commission was happy to hear that the appraised value of a proposed city park site came in higher than its negotiated purchase price, but at least one City Council member believes the public needs more information about the lay of the land. Early voting begins today on a tax plan to pay for the project. Tom M. Ferstl of Affiliated Real Estate Appraisers of Arkansas appraised the 218-acre tract on the west bank of the Saline River at $3.2 million, or roughly $700,000 above what the city is prepared to pay for the property.