Other days

100 YEARS AGO

Feb. 16, 1922

BENTONVILLE — Spelling matches in connection with pie suppers, box suppers or candy sales are a source of revenue for many School Improvement Associations in the rural school districts of Benton county. The Vaughan School Improvement Association has advertised a spelling match this week with a notice that all refusing to spell will be fined.

50 YEARS AGO

Feb. 16, 1972

■ An Arkansas chapter of The Gerontological Society, a national organization for researchers, educators and professionals in the field of aging, was formed Tuesday at Little Rock. The Gerontological Society seeks to promote the study of aging in the biological and social sciences, to stimulate communications among professionals to broaden education in the study of aging and to set high professional standards. Dr. Ruth Boyer of the Graduate School of Social Studies is the temporary chairman.

25 YEARS AGO

Feb. 16, 1997

■ Arkansas has been granted $427,000 from the federal Office for Victims of Crime, officials said. A news release from the state’s two U.S. attorneys, Paula Casey of Little Rock in the Eastern District and P.K. Holmes of Fort Smith for the Western District, announced the grant Monday. The money comes from the Crime Victims Fund, set up by the Victims of Crime Act of 1984. The fund consists of fines and penalties assessed against convicted federal criminals and collected by U.S. attorneys around the country, as well as by the courts. The money received by the state can be used to pay claims for medical costs, lost wages, mental-health counseling, funeral expenses and other costs resulting from violent crimes, the release said. The state attorney general’s office oversees the program at the state level.

10 YEARS AGO

Feb. 16, 2012

■ A North Little Rock man told Little Rock investigators that he chased off two attackers with a baseball bat during an attempted robbery Monday night. Travis Branham, 26, was sitting in his car outside the Faded Rose restaurant at 1619 Rebsamen Park Road with his wife, Ashlee, and their child, when two unidentified men approached the car. According to the report, the men accused Branham of selling drugs and demanded Branham hand over the cash. The two men started punching Branham while his wife grabbed their son and ran into the restaurant. Branham grabbed the bat out of the car and the two would-be robbers ran off without money.