100 years ago
May 21, 1919
• Fred Dawson, aged shoemaker, ...was struck on the head late last night by an unidentified white man, whose intentions were, according to the police, to rob Dawson. He was not seriously injured and declined medical aid. He told police that the stranger entered the shop yesterday afternoon and after having some work done, tendered him a check for $5.75, which he cashed. He said that the stranger then left, but came back after supper, presenting another check for $10. Dawson told him he had no money with which to cash the check, but the stranger did not leave. Dawson talked with him and about 10 o'clock, when Dawson opened a trunk in the shop, the stranger leaped upon him. Dawson put up a good fight until his assailant struck him with a blunt instrument, knocking him to the floor. The assailant became frightened and fled.
50 years ago
May 21, 1969
CLARKSVILLE -- Three men will receive honorary degrees at the 135th commencement at College of the Ozarks here June 1. Rev. James R. Struthers, pastor of First Presbyterian Church at Stillwater, Okla., will receive an honorary doctor of divinity degree and will deliver the baccalaureate address. Two members of the College's Board of Trustees, William H. Irvine of Englewood, N.J., and John R. Wallace of Miami, Okla., will receive honorary doctor of laws degrees. Irvine is legal counsel for the Board of National Missions of the United Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. He has been a C of O Trustee for nine years. Wallace is a partner in the Oklahoma law firm of Wallace and Owens. He is a former chairman of the College's Board of Trustees. Dr. M. H. Russell, president of Henderson State College at Arkadelphia, will be the commencement speaker.
25 years ago
May 21, 1994
• Two men robbed a Little Rock accountant at gunpoint Thursday morning at a downtown business and escaped with about $350, police said. Linda Stanley, 49, an accountant for Sunbelt Convention and Exhibit Services Inc. at 510 McLean Drive, told police two men entered her office about 10:20 a.m. Thursday and asked her to make change for a $5 bill. Stanley told police she gave the men the change, and they left the office. About five minutes later, they returned and again asked for change for a $5 bill. Police said one of the men then stuck a small-caliber handgun in Stanley's side and told her not to scream. Stanley told police she stepped back, and the men took a metal cash box and left the building.
10 years ago
May 21, 2009
CONWAY -- Minutes before Kris Allen became the newest "American Idol," a producer for the Fox television show instructed a crowd in downtown Conway to cheer for their neighbor, fellow churchgoer and friend. He needn't have. When Ryan Seacrest, host of the long-running television talent show, announced Wednesday night that Allen had won the competition, the estimated 2,000 sign-waving supporters in the city's Simon Park screamed, jumped and embraced in celebration and fireworks filled the downtown sky. They drove away just as noisily, happily honking horns and deliriously hooting out of car windows. Simultaneously, 500 or so American Idol fans in the lobby of the Peabody Little Rock hotel leapt to their feet, screaming, cheering, clapping, hugging and high-fiving. And as Allen began to sing the last song of the night, his fans back home burst into cheers again.
Metro on 05/21/2019