100 years ago
Oct. 21, 1921
RUSSELLVILLE -- The examining trial of Will Chronister and Joe Tarkington, held as suspects in connection with the robbery of Mrs. Scarborough at Gravel Hill of $540 in cash Sunday night, was called this afternoon and continued until Monday because of the absence of important state witnesses. Tarkington was immediately arrested in connection with the robbery of the Bank of Bauxite last August and was taken to Benton on the four o'clock train, following a clue which caused them to believe Tarkington might be one of the two unmasked bandits who secured $8,000 in the daring daylight robbery of the Bauxite Bank.
50 years ago
Oct. 21, 1971
• George W. English, 51, of Southbend, Ind., who was accused of trying to bribe Prosecuting Attorney Jim Guy Tucker, was fined $250 and received a six-month suspended jail sentence Wednesday in Municipal Court. Tucker said in August that English came to his office in July and asked how much it would cost to operate a "numbers racket" in Little Rock. Tucker said he permitted English to discuss amounts of money to determine whether English was offering him a payment to permit English to engage in activities without fear of prosecution. English returned later and engaged Tucker in a similar conversation, but this one was taped in Tucker's office. On a third occasion, Tucker sent for the police and had English arrested.
25 years ago
Oct. 21, 1996
• The Benton County Dive Team recovered five more bones from Beaver Lake, where a wrapped body floated to the surface last week, Benton County Sheriff Andy Lee said Sunday. One of the bones appeared to be from a human arm, and another might be a foot bone, Lee said. All five, found Friday, were sent to the anthropology department at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville for analysis and identification. "First, we have to determine if they are human (bones)," he said. "If they are human, I hope they came off the body we already found. Otherwise, we may be looking at more than one body."
10 years ago
Oct. 21, 2011
• Fire investigators said they aren't sure what sparked an industrial fire that burned 4,000 gallons of chemicals and caused a shutdown of a main thoroughfare in North Little Rock for much of Thursday morning. Assistant Fire Chief Steve Smith said North Little Rock firefighters got the first call to a warehouse behind the Onyx Laboratories plant at 9600 Rowlett Drive at 9:11 a.m. When they arrived, smoke was pouring from the building, which housed several chemicals, including four 1,000-gallon containers of acetone, the active ingredient in nail-polish removers. Two of the 1,000-gallon containers were burned to the floor, Smith said, but crews used foam to extinguish fires that started on the tops of the other two containers. After the chemicals were neutralized, the fire continued in parts of the structure and wasn't completely extinguished until about 2 p.m., Smith said.