100 years ago
May 17, 1918
HARRISON -- On May 4, 1918, the secretary of agriculture executed a co-operative agreement with the State Highway Commission of Arkansas for the survey, construction and maintenance of the Ozark road in Pope and Newton counties, which extends approximately 40 miles through the central division of the Ozark National Forest. An allotment of federal funds of $42,656 is available for this work, which, added to the $20,000 made available by the state, makes a total amount of $62,656.
50 years ago
May 17, 1968
JONESBORO -- Jerry Hansen, 22, a rice farmer, married Beverly Davis five months ago. They lived in a house trailer behind the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Sherol Davis in Nettleton. At 9:40 p.m. Wednesday, a twisting tornado picked up their trailer and whirled it into two oak trees in their front yard on Front street. When the roaring had passed, there was only pouring rain and cries of pain from the darkness of the area. Beverly's father peered from the house into the rain. "I came running out of the house and saw the trailer pretzeled around two oak trees," Davis said. Davis ran back into the house for a flashlight "and when I got back I saw to my complete horror my daughter was wrapped in her white bed linens and jammed against one of the trees."
25 years ago
May 17, 1993
• Although millions of dollars have been spent upgrading Arkansas' county jails since 1985, nearly one-third of them still violate state standards. And eight more jails, even though some are relatively new, hover on the brink of violating standards because of overcrowding. State officials said this week that the situation is still better than it was three years ago, when nearly half of the 73 county jails then operating in Arkansas were in noncompliance.
10 years ago
May 17, 2008
HARTMAN -- A Johnson County 12-year-old now holds the undesirable distinction of being one of the youngest Arkansans to face a charge of driving while under the influence. The trouble began when the boy had a 10-year-old friend sleep over at his home on May 4, Johnson County Sheriff Jimmy Dorney said. After the parents went to sleep, the boys found some of the adults' beer and "got liquored up," Dorney said. The pair then stole the keys to the 12-year-old's stepfather's company-owned pickup, Dorney said, and set out to find a girl they had met at a rodeo.
Metro on 05/17/2018