50 Years Ago
From the Herald and Democrat in 1971
Commissioner of Labor Arthur Hays reminded Arkansas employers that the state minimum wage rate increased on Jan. 1, 1971. As provided in Act 25 of 1969, the hourly rate rises to $1.20 from its 1970 level of $1.10.
From January through November 1970, the Department's Wage and Hour Investigators found 190 instances of minimum wage violations while making almost 5,000 routine inspections. Commissioner Hays stated that he considers this to be evidence that Arkansas employers are attempting to comply with the Law by paying the legal minimum wage. (Only employers with five or more employees were subject to the Law.)
The investigators computed a total of $43,674.95 in wages due under the Arkansas Minimum Wage Law; at the end of November, employers had voluntarily paid $23,591.04 of the restitution due employees and the Department of Labor had initiated several legal actions in an attempt to collect all wages due under the Law.
25 Years Ago
From the Herald-Leader in 1996
Girls
It was a great night for royalty and a really bad night for Senators at Siloam Springs Homecoming girls' basketball game on Friday night. The Lady Painters crushed the Pulaski Robinson lady Senators 53-18.
Robinson managed to grab the tip, but that was the highlight of the night for the Lady Senators. They turned the ball over to Siloam Springs on each of their first three possessions.
Siloam capitalized on the turnovers to go up 14-5 at the end of the first quarter. That was the start, as the Lady Panthers at least doubled Robinson's score in each quarter.
A 10-0 and 11-0 run by Siloam Springs gave them an insurmountable 31-10 lead at the half.
The lead continued to build for Siloam Springs throughout the second half. By the end of the third quarter the Lady Panthers had a 44-16 lead.
Junior varsity players took over for the fourth quarter, but the lead still grew. Two points was all the Lady Senators could manage against the Lady Panthers' defense as Siloam pulled to the final 35 point margin.
Homecoming royalty Seritha Mahoney and Libby Castleman led the Lady Panthers in scoring with eight points apiece. Jennifer Stracke was on both courts, also, and she joined Jessica Collins with six points each for Siloam.
Boys
The Panthers hit a home run for homecoming by knocking off fifth ranked Pulaski Robinson 66-56 on Friday night.
"It was a great game," said Panthers head coach Dale Akins. "We had our hands full, but the kids played really well."
The homecoming crowd saw a thriller for half the price of a movie.
10 Years Ago
From the Herald-Leader in 2011
This wasn't the first time Allie Wade was asked to step up her basketball game.
The previous season Wade was a junior and playing a key role for the Lady Panthers as the first option off the bench for coach Debbie Sharp when she suddenly found herself thrust into the starting lineup when Anna Markovich went down with an ACL injury.
Wade finished as an All-Conference honorable mention player and returning for her senior year along with three All-State players, expectations were once again high for the Lady Panthers heading into the season.
Adversity had crashed into the Lady Panthers like tsunami so far that year -- even before the season started and then with All-State guard Shelbi Honeycutt being lost for the year with injuries to her feet.
But you'd never know it by seeing the ever-present smile on the face of Wade.
"You'll always see me smiling," said Wade, a 6-foot forward. "When it gets hard I just think, you know, God gave me the ability to play this game. I have the chance to push myself to be better. I'm always looking for how I can push myself to be better."
When news of Honeycutt being lost for the year broke before the Lady Panthers (9-4, 1-0) opened up the conference season at Greenbrier, Wade recommitted herself to leading her teammates along with senior All-State guard Laken Grigg -- the only two players left from the previous year's roster with heavy varsity experience.
"I realize that I am a senior leader," Wade said. "I need to step my game up, and I can't have any regrets. I need to give it my all and set my eyes on the prize, which is the state championship.
Wade can play inside and outside for the Lady Panthers. She's a threat in the post and on the perimeter.
"Her versatility is good in that she's a pretty strong player in the post area and she's got range as well," Sharp said. "We'd like to capitalize on both of those. I like to see her almost demand the ball in the post area first and then go from there."
Through 13 games in 2010-11, Wade was averaging 9.9 points and 7 rebounds per contest for the Lady Panthers.
The Lady Panthers also liked to use Wade's size and versatility to their advantage on defense.