Other days

100 YEARS AGO July 23, 1922

■ At strike headquarters yesterday, it was learned that the Missouri Pacific has offered an increase in pay to electrical workers on the Arkansas division if they will return to work. The report was verified by an official of the railroad. According to the Publicity Committee of the strikers, there are ten men in this department in the Arkansas division, and all refused to return to work until the strike is settled. Local members of the maintenance of way union yesterday said that the policy of its members here will be decided by the union leaders in the East.

50 YEARS AGO July 23, 1972

■ The prices of certain kinds of meat at Safeway, Kmart, Weingarten or Kroger stores in the Little Rock area have gone up since last month. The prices of some cuts were scaled up as much as 20 cents a pound in slightly more than six weeks, a survey of mean prices during the period showed. … On most meat products, the prices of the four chains are very similar. One quarter pork loin, for example, was listed at 89 cents a pound Friday at a Kroger store, 89 cents a pound Monday at a Weingarten store, 89 cents a pound at a Safeway store, and 88 cents a pound July 13 at a Kmart store.

25 YEARS AGO July 23, 1997

■ Men in a stolen Chevrolet Suburban opened fire with semiautomatic assault rifles at a Little Rock police officer about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, but neither the officer nor his car was hit, police said. Kenny Brown, a seven-year police veteran, said he was trying to pull the Suburban over at Eighth and Abigail streets when at least two men rose from the rear of the vehicle and opened fire through its lowered rear window. “They fired 10 to 15 rounds,” Brown said Tuesday night. “I ducked behind the dash and was not hit.” Brown did not shoot back because both the Suburban and his patrol car were moving, police said. Police Department regulations strictly forbid firing from a moving vehicle. … Little Rock police held four men for questioning Tuesday night.

10 YEARS AGO July 23, 2012

FORT SMITH — A Fort Smith hospital has begun requiring nonemergency patients to pay $150 if they insist on being treated in the emergency room rather than accepting the hospital’s referral elsewhere for medical treatment. Federal law requires hospitals to screen all patients who come to their emergency rooms, regardless of their medical conditions. On July 16, Mercy Fort Smith began giving nonemergency patients in its emergency room two options: pay what it calls a $150 “deposit” to obtain treatment or take a referral to another hospital or clinic, spokesman Laura Keep said Wednesday morning. “This is something that’s been done across the country to make emergency departments more efficient for patients in need of emergency care,” the hospital wrote Tuesday in an explanation of the policy change that took effect the day before.