100 years ago
Aug. 27, 1918
PINE BLUFF-- Ferd Havis, aged 75, one of the best known negroes of the South, died at his home on West Barraque street Sunday morning. In the Brooks-Baxter war he commanded a large body of Republican troops. Col. Havis was born a slave and came to Pine Bluff in 1856. During the reconstruction period he served one term as county assessor, was a member of the legislature and was circuit clerk and a member of the Sixth congressional district to the Republican national convention for the last 24 years from Arkansas. He was international grand master of the U.B.F.T. of S.M.T. , which he organized at Pine Bluff in 1871.
50 years ago
Aug. 27, 1968
• An employee's leisure time on business away from home is not part of his job, the state Workmen's Compensation Commission said Monday. The two-to-one ruling was against the claim of Mrs. Mavis D. Wilson of North Little Rock. Her husband, Harold G. Wilson, an organizer for the United Auto Workers union, was found dead in a swimming pool August 22, 1967, at a Pocahontas motel. She applied for the statutory $14,500 death award, saying that his death arose out of and in the course of his employment. Wilson had gone to Pocahontas to organize the employees of the Cinch Manufacturing Company. The Commission majority said that although the cause of death had not been established at a hearing, the evidence was that Wilson was clad in swim trunks and died in or around the pool. The body was found in the pool. Chairman Mark O. Woolsey and member O.W. Holmes said they were satisfied that Wilson's death was not connected with his employment.
25 years ago
Aug. 27, 1993
• The state attorney general's office has sued its former chief executive, Steve Clark, to recover nearly $18,500 in allegedly unauthorized entertainment expenses that auditors said he charged on his state-issued credit card. The lawsuit, filed Aug. 20 by Assistant Attorney General Angela S. Jegley, said Clark has been notified of the situation by mail but has refused to concede that he owes the money, much less repay it. A Pulaski County Circuit Court jury convicted Clark on Nov. 1, 1990, of theft by deception. He resigned as attorney general four days later after nearly 12 years in the position.
10 years ago
Aug. 27, 2008
• Advanced Placement classes in Arkansas high schools attracted more students in 2007-08 than in past years, and more students earned scores of "qualified" or better on the accompanying year-end exams. Students earned scores of 3, 4, or 5 on almost 30 percent of the 29,339 tests given in the Advanced Placement program, which provides high school students with college course work.
Metro on 08/27/2018