100 years ago
Feb. 28, 1921
• Attorney General Utley has begun an effort to clear up the title to Cummins state farm, purchased from the late Edmond Urquhart in 1902. It is tilled by negro convicts exclusively. Although it has been in the possession of the state for 19 years and the purchase price, with the exception of about $10,000 has been paid, no deed ever has been given the state. Difficulty arose over an alleged clerical error in the original contract which described some 170 acres which were not included in the tract owned by the Urquharts.
50 years ago
Feb. 28, 1971
• House District 18 has two counties, Jackson and Woodruff, and two representatives, Albert (Tom) Collier and Paul K. Holmes. Collier and Holmes both live at Newport. However, if both hope to remain in the legislature after redistricting, one is going to have to move. Similarly, every one of the five members of the Eighteenth Senatorial District, made up of Pulaski and Lonoke Counties, lives at Little Rock. That will change. Attorney General R. Thornton, who is ex officio secretary of the three-member state Board of Appointment, says the Board would like to avoid pitting incumbents against one another in a redistricted state but this will be impossible.
25 years ago
Feb. 28, 1996
BENTONVILLE -- Bentonville has joined the stampede to stake out ground around the new Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport. Although the $105 million airport under development near Highfill in rural Benton County isn't due to open for two years, nearby cities are moving to extend their borders toward the site. The smaller towns of Centerton, Cave Springs and Highfill have floated proposals recently to annex land around the airport, taking advantage of the development and property-tax revenue the airport would be expected to bring.
10 years ago
Feb. 28, 2011
• An Arkansas bridge of the same design as a bridge that collapsed four years ago in Minnesota and that has been posted with lower weight limits until it can be replaced doesn't have the problems that led to the 2007 tragedy, according to the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. Last Monday, the weight limit on the U.S. 63 bridge over the Black River in Lawrence County was posted at 33 tons for fiveaxle trucks. The weight limit on unposted bridges is 40 tons, but an evaluation team from the Highway Department recommended the new posted limit based on an engineering analysis of the structure and an on-site investigation.