Other days

100 YEARS AGO

April 8, 1917

JONESBORO — A heavy downpour of rain failed to dampen the enthusiasm of 1,000 people here this afternoon, when an immense United States flag was raised to the top of a 90-foot flag pole on Court Square. The Jonesboro Concert band played “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the flag unfolded to the breeze, and a few minutes later broke into the stirring strains of “Dixie.”

50 YEARS AGO

April 8, 1967

State Representative Charles D. Matthews of North Little Rock said Friday that he would ask Governor Rockefeller to place the establishment of a state crime commission on the agenda if the governor calls a special session of the legislature next year. Matthews returned Friday from Austin, Tex., where he had testified against a bill pending in the Texas legislature that would allow pari-mutuel betting in Texas on a local option basis. He was quoted as telling a committee of the Texas House of Representatives, which is considering the bill, that legalizing pari-mutuel betting “will cause a serious law enforcement problem.”

25 YEARS AGO

April 8, 1992

FAYETTEVILLE — The chairman of the University of Arkansas’ journalism department has stepped down at a time when an independent accreditation organization has found deficiencies in the department. The department will know in May whether its accreditation is in jeopardy, Bernard Madison, dean of the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, said Tuesday. Louise Montgomery asked to be relieved of her duties as department chairman, Madison said. Montgomery will stay with the department as a faculty member, he said.

10 YEARS AGO

April 8, 2007

Researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences have identified 17 genes that can help detect which patients have an aggressive and deadly form of myeloma, a plasma cell cancer. The discovery will allow doctors to more accurately determine which patients won’t respond to standard treatment, said John Shaughnessy, director of basic sciences of UAMS’ Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy. But, more important, it holds promise for development of new medications targeting those genes. The UAMS team’s findings appeared in the March issue of Blood, the scientific journal of the American Society of Hematology. The research was paid for by the National Institutes of Health and private philanthropic funding.