LITTLE ROCK — 100 YEARS AGO Sept. 4, 1908 SEARCY - The arrest of Dr. J. S. Stillwell, a wealthy professional and business man, and prominent churchman and Mason of Searcy, on a charge of arson, has produced a sensation which has only been surpassed in the history of the town by that which followed the exposure of the famous Lightle insurance fraud about four years ago. Following so closely after that sensational case, the arrest of Dr. Stillwell on a somewhat similar charge has aroused more interest than might otherwise have attached to the case.
50 YEARS AGO Sept. 4, 1958 VAN BUREN - A Negro boy said he walked out of integrated Van Buren High School today because white boys in his classes had threatened to beat him up after school. Freddy Bell, a junior, said he was hit on the leg by a stone as he entered the school this morning. He said two other Negro boys left the building during the morning and told him later that they were threatened by white classmates. Bell said tonight he didn't plan to return to the school tomorrow and that neither did seven othersof the 14 Negro boys and girls enrolled.
25 YEARS AGO Sept. 4, 1983
Any comment about Gov. Bill Clinton's promised but unannounced special legislative session - the one to propose a historic leap in public education - is so far the result of speculation based on mere hints and hearsay. People close to the governor insist, convincingly, that they really aren't sure what he will propose precisely. And they say they aren't sure because he isn't sure.
10 YEARS AGO Sept. 4, 1998
Arkansas leads the nation in the Hispanic population growth rate, new figures from the Census Bureau show. The state's Hispanic population has more than doubled since 1990 and has exceeded the 2005 projections the bureau issued two years ago. The 1990 census counted 19,878 Hispanics in Arkansas. The new estimate for 1997 shows 45,134 Hispanics, a 127.1 percent increase. But many researchers say that number may be low because of the sampling methods used by the Census Bureau and the difficulty of counting illegal aliens.
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 09/04/2008