100 years ago
April 17, 1924
BATESVILLE -- The second trial of Mrs. W. J. Travis of Sulphur Rock, charged with the murder of Paella Chaney, 16-month-old son of Mr. and Mrs. H. T. Chaney, January 12, 1922 when Mrs. Travis fired five shots from a revolver at Mrs. Chaney in her home at Sulphur Rock killing the infant and seriously wounding the mother as she held her baby in her arms, started in Circuit Court here today. The trial occupied the entire day and the lawyers are arguing the case tonight. This case is the most important on at this term of court. It was tried last spring when jury found Mrs. Travis guilty of second degree murder and sentenced her to 15 years in penitentiary.
50 years ago
April 17, 1974
PINE BLUFF -- The City Council Monday night amended the city's 1974 budget to include an expenditure of $1,540 to help finance a study to determine if garbage might be burned as a substitute fuel at Arkansas Power and Light Company's proposed coal-fired White Bluff generating plant near Redfield. Jefferson County has committed, $600 to the study. Boilers at the plant will be able to burn 10 per cent solid waste in addition to coal, the regular fuel, according to AP and L's public affairs director, Charles L. Steele. The study, which would take six months and would cost about $20,000, would determine the feasibility of using the wastes as fuel.
25 years ago
April 17, 1999
The oldest active civil case in federal court in Little Rock -- an employment discrimination lawsuit against the former Missouri Pacific Railroad -- reached the end of the line 24 years after it was filed. Attorneys for the railroad employees and the railroad have received tentative approval of a proposed settlement. Black employees sued Missouri Pacific in June 1975, saying the railroad treated them less favorably than white employees. Under the settlement terms, the railroad would pay $880,000 to resolve the case. More than 60 percent, $565,000, of that amount covers the railroad employees' attorneys, who describe their costs over three decades as "enormous." The balance, $315,000, will go to 62 former or current railroad employees.
10 years ago
April 17, 2014
How people from different walks of life view the meaning of peace is the focus of an exhibit opening Friday at North Little Rock's William F. Laman Public Library. "A Peace of My Mind" is a collection of black-and white portraits and short biographies of 52 individuals -- among them a Holocaust survivor, a Somali refugee and an oil company executive -- with a summary of each person's thoughts on peace. The exhibit is free and runs through June 8 during regular hours at the Laman Library's second-floor Exhibit Hall, 2801 Orange St. The library will be closed Sunday for Easter.