Other days

100 YEARS AGO

April 26, 1924

CHIDESTER — The state Health Department has reported that a cat, which bit Isaac Knight, had hydrophobia. The cat attacked Mr. Knight and bit and clawed him severely on the legs. The head of the cat was sent to the Health Department for examination. There is an epidemic of hydrophobia among the cats and dogs of this community. Mr. Knight is the fourth person receiving treatment after being bitten by rabid animals. … Many cats and dogs are being killed.

50 YEARS AGO

April 26, 1974

■ At least a dozen people are being investigated in Pulaski County in a widening case of suspected fraud in the obtaining of federal food stamps and selling them for cash, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jimmy D. Patton said Thursday. … Patton has charged two persons in Circuit Court with false pretense and named one of them, Mrs. Gloria Dean Enoch, also known by the surname Smith, as one of the promoters of the alleged scheme. … Eight food stamp recipients, each of whom had applied at least twice under different names and obtained $262 worth of stamp in most instances, said they had turned the stamps over to Mrs. Enoch, who had cashed them and paid each recipient $80, Patton said.

25 YEARS AGO

April 26, 1999

BATESVILLE — Independence County Sheriff Ron Webb is continuing to work after a federal jury convicted him of violating the civil rights of a Newark woman. Webb, 51, was convicted April 13 in Little Rock of soliciting sex and sexually assaulting a woman July 30, 1997, at his office while acting in his capacity as sheriff. In the same trial, he was found innocent of a second charge of the same offense against the same woman on June 18, 1997. Webb has so far said he will not resign from office. Webb did not return a reporter’s phone calls last week. However, one of Webb’s friends said Wednesday that once the sheriff is sentenced he might change his decision to keep his job.

10 YEARS AGO

April 26, 2014

■ Big River Steel, which plans to build a steel mill near Osceola, had its air permit approved Friday, allowing construction on the $1.1 billion plant to begin as soon as two months from now. The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission approved the permit, upholding a ruling by Administrative Law Judge Charles Moulton, who affirmed the air permit in a 69-page decision March 20. Moulton’s decision required approval from the commission. The plant still awaits approval from its foreign lenders, which John Correnti, chief executive officer of Big River Steel, expects to happen in June. Construction on the plant could begin in late June or early July if financing is approved, said Correnti, who attended the meeting.