100 years ago
Feb. 23, 1919
FAYETTEVILLE -- Clifford A. Hoeppner, who was a student of University of Arkansas in 1917, now with a balloon company ... has been awarded the Croix de Guerre for conspicuous gallantry in action. Mr. Hoeppner passed through many exciting experiences, and on one occasion, while in an observation balloon, in Verdun, was attacked by enemy airplanes. His balloon was set on fire by exploding shells. He escaped by jumping from his balloon with his parachute. While in midair he was fired upon by the enemy planes, but escaped injury and landed safely behind allied lines.
50 years ago
Feb. 23, 1969
TEXARKANA -- One of four men wanted in connection with an armed robbery and slaying at a Covington, La., trailer camp Wednesday was arrested here Friday night at a taxi cab office. William Club, 41, of the Arkansas side of Texarkana was arrested a few minutes after he left the Bowie County sheriff's office, where he reported some merchandise had been stolen. ... After the arrest, city and county officials raided a local motel. ... Officers said they recovered eight shotguns and some stolen merchandise from one of the motel rooms and a house adjacent to the motel.
25 years ago
Feb. 23, 1994
• The state Board of Dental Examiners suspended the licenses of two Arkansas dentists after finding professional incompetence in one case and billing for services never performed in the other. The board suspended Dr. Don A. Closson of Rogers for six months for three counts of incompetence involving patient care. He can regain his license after he completes additional course work at the University of Tennessee Dental School. Dr. Eldin C. Jewell of Little Rock, the son of dentist and state Senate President Pro Tempore Jerry Jewell, had his license suspended for two years for billing insurance companies for work he never did. The board also fined Jewell $1,000 for each of five counts against him.
10 years ago
Feb. 23, 2009
ARKANSAS CITY -- Ghost hunter May Duvall stood near the jury box of the old Desha County Courthouse and began peppering the spirits with questions. ... Duvall, an investigator with the Spirit Seekers Paranormal Investigation Research & Intervention Team, was one of more than a half-dozen team members at the courthouse Saturday night and Sunday morning. The group wired the 106-year-old courthouse, a nearby church and an old jail with audio and video recorders, electromagnetic field meters and other gadgets seeking proof of spiritual activity. For years, locals who work at the courthouse have claimed it's haunted by a ghost they nicknamed Willard. County Judge Mark McElroy said courthouse staff members have reported spiritual activity unexplainable by human logic. According to local lore in this 531-population town near the Mississippi River, a man who lost money gambling burned a string of hotels. He was convicted and ordered hanged on the courthouse steps in the early 1900s. Shortly before his death, he declared his innocence and cursed the clock atop the courthouse, saying it would never work properly again. Some say the clock stopped immediately after the man died.
Metro on 02/23/2019