Other days
100 YEARS AGO May 15, 1917
Governor Brough has issued a proclamation revoking the sentence of the court-martial in which L. D. Hickey, captain of the Jonesboro company, Arkansas National Guard, was dishonorably discharged in 1912. The affair grew out of an escapade of the company at Fordyce when en route to Alexandria, La., for the summer encampment. While at Fordyce some of the guardsmen “shot up” the negro quarter of the town.
50 YEARS AGO May 15, 1967
Most of Arkansas was under tornado alerts Sunday as heavy rains and high wind swept into the state on the heels of a cold front. The United States Weather Bureau said that tornadoes touched down near Holly Grove, Rison and Gould but that no damage was reported. Flash flooding was reported in the Pocahontas and Corning areas, where some 10 inches of rain fell Saturday and Sunday. The Weather Bureau said the flooding would continue through today.
25 YEARS AGO May 15, 1992
An inmate whose death sentence was commuted in 1970 by Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller should be denied executive clemency, the state Board of Parole and Community Rehabilitation voted Thursday. John Henry Sheppard, 48, of El Dorado was convicted July 1, 1964, of first-degree murder and rape in the slaying of Annie Yocum Willett, 69, of Lisbon (Union County). Department of Correction spokesman David White said Sheppard is among the 10 inmates who have served the most time in the state’s prison system. He is housed at the Cummins Unit.
10 YEARS AGO May 15, 2007
An unpaid bank loan of $35,000 and other financial woes are putting the tiny Imboden Area Charter School, which primarily serves economically disadvantaged and special education pupils, in jeopardy of losing its state charter. While acknowledging the school’s successes with a difficult-to-educate group of children, the state Board of Education voted unanimously Monday to place the 62-student school in northeast Arkansas on notice that it intends to revoke its charter because of the debt and deficit spending. The school, once notified in writing of its violations, can request a public hearing to respond to the charges. That hearing must take place within 45 days of the request. The Education Board has the authority to modify, place on probation, revoke or not renew the charter of a charter school at any time the board deems necessary.