Other days
100 YEARS AGO Sept. 23, 1921
NEWPORT — Dennis Richards, of Algoa, is at the point of death at the home of relatives in Algoa, following an attempt by an unidentified person to take his life by blowing up with dynamite the building in which he was sleeping. Young Richards, who is 27, and unmarried, was sleeping in the rear of his father’s general merchandise store at Algoa. The store, a framed building about 26 feet long, is divided into two rooms by a partition and Richards lived in the rear room. Sheriff Hays was called to the scene of the explosion early this morning and arrested Tom Rogers, Bert Best, and Ben Fore… About 10:30 o’clock, Richards said, he was awakened by a noise like the striking of matches. Before he was sufficiently awake to get out of the bed, an explosion occurred. He was blown several feet from where he was lying and sustained internal injuries that may cause his death. It was said that Richards was to be a witness in a case in Circuit Court against Tom Rogers, charged with dynamiting fish.
50 YEARS AGO Sept. 23, 1971
■ A Circuit Court trial has been scheduled February 2, 1972, of a $35,000 malpractice suit against Dr. Melvin Belknap of North Little Rock and the insurer of Memorial Hospital of North Little Rock in the death of a hospital patient, Mrs. Esther Horton, 83, on March 8, 1970. The suit alleged that Mrs. Horton, who was admitted to the hospital March 1, 1970 for treatment of arteriosclerosis, fell from her bed on several occasions and that her daughter offered to hire a private nurse. Mrs. Lynch said she was told that no nurse was necessary, and after Mrs. Horton fell again, a “fishnet” caused Mrs. Horton pain, mental anguish, and shock, causing her death, the suit alleged.
25 YEARS AGO Sept. 23, 1996
FAYETTEVILLE — Grease is the word among restaurant thieves in Northwest Arkansas. From chicken feed to cosmetics, the used cooking oil area restaurants collect can be worth millions to recyclers. But authorities say five Missouri men are out of the frying pan and into the fire after they were allegedly caught stealing used restaurant grease from bins behind several Northwest Arkansas eating establishments. The five — two from Springfield, Mo., and three from Joplin, Mo. — have been charged with felony theft of property.
10 YEARS AGO Sept. 23, 2011
■ As soon as the firetrucks left Roy Henderson’s West 14th Street home Thursday morning, a U-Haul truck arrived. Henderson, 42, said he’s tired of being victimized in his downtown Little Rock neighborhood, and after someone broke into his cellar and set his house ablaze late Thursday morning, Henderson decided to pack up and move out. About 9:40 a.m. Thursday, someone kicked through a boarded-up window of his 3405 W. 14th St. basement, threw some “kind of accelerant” on a wooden shelf and ignited a fire that investigators say was arson.