100 years ago
March 15, 1919
• Among hundreds of letters received yesterday at the office of Jack Walker, internal revenue tax collector, was one from a man who wanted to know if he would be permitted to pay his income tax with potato slips in lieu of cash. Many questions that would tax the patience of Job are asked the collector. A widow, whose husband had just died, wanted to know if he had paid his income tax, and if not if she would be required to pay it. A man sent a huge roll of postage stamps to settle his account with the collector, but as the government has a sufficient supply of stamps, they were returned with a request that coin of the realm be substituted.
50 years ago
March 15, 1969
• Shots were fired Friday at Thomas Shirley, manager of the Kroger store at 5800 R Street, as he and another Kroger manager walked across the parking lot at the store, the police reported. Shirley, who was robbed twice at the store last month, told the police that he and Pat Derning, manager of a new Kroger store in southwest Little Rock, were going to lunch about 2 p.m. when the shooting occurred. No one was hurt, the police said. Shirley told officers that the man and woman were in a car parked in the street near the store. He said he wrote down the car license number and then he and Derning left to eat. He said that as they left the parking lot, the man muttered something about the license number and then started firing a pistol at him. The man and the woman fled in the car.
25 years ago
March 15, 1994
BRYANT -- Saline County officials held two Alexander teen-agers Monday on felony charges after alleged assaults on two Bryant Junior High School administrators, including the principal, Friday afternoon. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Richard Garrett said Jesse Forrester, 17, allegedly struck Delton Kitchell, an assistant principal who asked the youths to leave the campus. Garrett said Principal Al Polsgrove came to Kitchell's aid, only to be struck by Jeff Hamrick, 17. Both men apparently suffered minor injuries in the attack, Garrett said. Forrester and Hamrick, each charged with one count of second-degree battery, are set for a bond hearing today in Saline County Circuit Court.
10 years ago
March 15, 2009
• Slathering multiple coats of a homemade honey barbecue sauce on eight golden brown chicken thighs, Kelly Wertz explained why competition sauces tend to be sweeter than those used at home. "You've got to impress tour judges with one bite, so you've got to have a highly flavored sauce," he said. Wertz wore a faded black apron with a team logo of a supine pig -- "4 Legs Up BBQ" -- one of 158 teams to convene in front of Little Rock's Clinton Presidential Center on Friday and Saturday. Teams including "Squeal of Fortune," "Smelly Butts," "Rib Rockets" and "Grillas" competed to share a $50,000 purse at the first Clinton Presidential Center Smoke on the Water USA Barbecue Championship. The original Smoke on the Water competition, which started in Pine Bluff in 2001, is now held every September in Hot Springs, organizer Ron Cates said Saturday. Cates explained that the 180 judges huddled beneath a white pavilion graded the four competition meats -- chicken, pork ribs, pork and beef brisket. They assigned two to nine points based on the tenderness, taste and appearance of the meats, according to the rules of the event's sponsor, the Kansas City Barbecue Society.
Metro on 03/15/2019