Other days

100 YEARS AGO

Dec. 8, 1921

PINE BLUFF — The home of Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Wooten … was destroyed by fire last night about 11 o’clock, and the occupants were awakened in time to flee in their night clothing. The origin of the fire is not known. The total loss is estimated at $2,000. The house was owned by Fred Bluerock, and insured. Mr. Wooten had $25 in currency in the house at the time. It was found this morning in a silk handbag under a mass of papers and books.

50 YEARS AGO

Dec. 8, 1971

■ The issue of dangerous toys was raised Tuesday by Fred Cowan, 26, the organizer and only employee of Arkansas Consumer Research, a nonprofit independent research agency that was formed with the help of the Arkansas Ecology Center in October. It has been independent since December 1, dependent on donations for support. From November 11 to 27, Cowan, aided by volunteers, visited 52 Little Rock stores that sell significant numbers of toys. In each one, the researchers found from 10 to 75 toys whose safety was suspect.

25 YEARS AGO

Dec. 8, 1996

■ An angry crowd threw bottles and shouted obscenities at police in east Little Rock late Saturday night after a shooting that left one man dead. Police released few details about the shooting at 1224 Geyer St., at the corner of 13th Street. Lt. John Hutchinson, a spokesman for the Little Rock Police Department, said officers responded to a disturbance call at the Geyer street address. The incident turned into a “hostage situation,” with a man holding a woman at gunpoint, Hutchinson said. The man was killed during the incident, police said. “Officers were involved in the shooting, but weren’t injured,” Hutchinson said. He did not say whether officers fired the fatal shot. Around 11:15 p.m., about 25 police officers faced a crowd of about 100 people, including friends and family of the dead man.

10 YEARS AGO

Dec. 8, 2011

ARKADELPHIA — A Clark County Circuit judge sentenced an Arkadelphia woman to 31 years in prison Friday after she pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse. Kayla Nelson, 28, was convicted in the death of Dominic Whitaker, 27, her boyfriend at the time and the father of her two daughters. Nelson was sentenced to 25 years in prison for first-degree murder and 6 years in prison for the abuse of a corpse charge. According to police records, Whitaker was reported missing by family members shortly after July 4, 2010. On July 15, 2010, a property owner in Dallas County found skeletal remains that were later identified as Whitaker’s by the state Crime Laboratory. During the investigation, officers said they determined that Nelson had shot Whitaker twice in the back while her children were present, then burned his body and dumped it near her home. Nelson pleaded guilty to the charges in October, according to court records.