100 years ago
March 11, 1919
MANSFIELD, March 10 -- The finest brick business block in the city was destroyed by fire when the general merchandise store of J. L. Presson & Co. and the grocery store of H. J. Riddling were burned at an early hour today. Both buildings belonged to Presson, whose loss is estimated at $30,000 on stock and $10,000 on buildings. Riddling's loss is $10,000. Each carried insurance for about 60 percent of the loss. Origin of the fire is not known. Flames were leaping out the roof when the fire was discovered, and nothing was saved from either store.
50 years ago
March 11, 1969
• Fire caused an estimated $90,000 in damages at 12:57 a.m. Monday to Rex's Minute Mart at 4423 West Twelfth. Firemen said the building was unoccupied at the time of the fire. No injuries were reported. Assistant Chief A. C. Aaron said firemen fought the blaze for 4 hours in 22-degree weather.
25 years ago
March 11, 1994
• A fire Thursday night at the Excelsior Hotel caused the evacuation of the Pinnacle Lounge but didn't disrupt the March of Dimes Arkansas Citizen of the Year Award Banquet in the Grand Ballroom, 17 floors below. Excelsior Hotel security notified the Little Rock Fire Department of a fire on the 17th floor around 8 p.m., said Linus Raines, the hotel's general manager. ... She said the fire apparently began when a faulty lighting fixture set a couple of mattresses on fire in the 17th floor's housekeeping section, near the service elevator landing. She said the fire was contained to that area. On arrival, firefighters communicating by radio said they noticed heavy smoke in the service elevator shaft. Minutes later a radio transmission cited a "strong fire" in the 17th-floor service elevator landing. Raines said about six people in the Pinnacle Lounge on the 19th floor were evacuated and walked down the stairs to the second-floor mezzanine because the hotel's elevators were restricted to firefighters.
10 years ago
March 11, 2009
• A Conway man accused of shooting a restaurant employee who was trying to intervene in a parking lot confrontation was pronounced fit for trial Tuesday after state doctors reported he tried to fake a mental illness. Pulaski County Circuit Judge Willard Proctor Jr. set a May 17 trial date for 28-year-old Perry Kennon, but it wasn't clear which of his two criminal cases would be tried first. ... He is accused of shooting Nigel Haskett, a McDonald's restaurant employee, when Haskett went to the rescue of Kennon's girlfriend, Jessica Canady, after Kennon assaulted her during an August confrontation at the North Rodney Parham Road restaurant. Canady told police she was meeting Kennon to get childcare money from him, but when an argument started, she tried to go into the restaurant and Kennon hit her, leading to Haskett's intervention, court records show. Kennon then pulled a gun from his sport utility vehicle and shot Haskett, police reported. .... During his psychological examination, Kennon claimed he regularly heard voices, but in eight tests, his results showed "probably malingering" in five tests and "definitely malingering" in another, the evaluation report states. "His profile on this measure is characteristic of people who are feigning a mental disorder and according to the test manual is rarely seen in clients responding truthfully," according to the evaluation.
Metro on 03/11/2019