100 years ago
April 15, 1921
• With the promise of the board of governors of the Board of Commerce that the material in Liberty Hall, valued at $1,400, will be donated for the building of a new city auditorium in the City park, the plans for a suitable civic center seem well launched, Mayor Brickhouse said last night at the close of a conference with the Board of Governors. Plans for an auditorium do not include razing of the building in the City park, Mayor Brickhouse said, as the old arsenal has a historical value, and must be preserved.
50 years ago
April 15, 1971
• State Representative B. D. (Doug) Brandon of Little Rock said Wednesday that state funds would be available in the next biennium for construction of a vocational-technical school in Pulaski County. Brandon said the General Assembly had allocated funds in the Revenue Stabilization Act for construction of two schools and there was an understanding, that one of them would be in Pulaski County. However, Education Commissioner A. W. (Arch) Ford said later Wednesday that the state Board of Education, which selects the sites for vo-tech schools, had made no decision on the locations.
25 years ago
April 15, 1996
• Little Rock Mayor Jim Dailey and police officials took an hourlong tour Sunday of Cumberland Street to inspect the damage from fires believed to have been set by gang members and to ease tensions after confrontations between residents and police. "We're going to be working this neighborhood pretty hard ... to avert this in the future," Dailey said at a news conference at 20th and Cumberland streets, referring to the Saturday night violence that erupted after the arrest of two men. "What happened last night was really reprehensible," Dailey said after he arrived at 11 a.m.
10 years ago
April 15, 2011
• At least four Arkansas school districts, including the large districts of Cabot and Bentonville, received from a test vendor the wrong materials to prepare kindergartners for this month's Iowa Test of Basic Skills. As a result, Arkansas Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell must decide whether the reading comprehension section of the nationally standardized test will be scored, Seth Blomeley, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, said Thursday. The state is in the first year of a seven-year, $63 million contract with Questar Assessment Inc. of Apple Valley, Minn., to conduct the statewide testing program, including the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in grades Kindergarten through nine.