For the Week in Clark County History, we combed through bound copies of the Daily Siftings Herald to choose some front-page news from editions dating 10, 20 and 30 years ago.

10 years ago: 2013

Local firefighters rescued a camper who, while checking on his boat, slipped into the water near the confluence of the Ouachita and Caddo rivers, injuring his back in the process.

Accused of unprofessional conduct, two longtime Arkadelphia Police Department investigators stepped down from their post.

After hearing opposition from a downtown business owner, city directors approved a special events policy with the exception of a proposed $200 deposit.

Arkadelphia was one of two Arkansas cities competing in an online contest for free paint that could have been used to give the downtown area a facelift. The other city involved in the competition was Fort Smith.

A Clark County man was recovering in a Little Rock hospital after suffering a copperhead snakebite on his hand. The man told a reporter that the snake bit him when he moved a cross tie during a mowing job.

20 years ago: 2003

Two Clark County ladies recounted how their families’ Hawaii cruise was tainted when a pair of threatening notes was found on the ship. The FBI and Coast Guard were called to the cruise liner to investigate. Ultimately it was discovered that a 20-year-old California woman penned the notes because she didn’t want to be on the cruise with her family. Her notes threatened that, if the ship docked in a U.S. port, all 2,400 passengers and crew would die.

Clark County’s Quorum Court heard from one justice of the peace argue that there were sufficient funds to expand its overcrowded jail if reserve funds were used to spend $900,000 on the project.

30 years ago: 1993

Construction was underway on a raw water intake plant on DeGray Lake to serve the James Kimzey Regional Water District.

A brief article appearing at the bottom of the front page noted the arrest of three teenagers in connection with three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis.

Two headlines and a photo above the newspaper’s fold dealt with gang violence as leaders feared the national problem would impact communities like Arkadelphia.

Vandals prompted the nightly closures of day-use recreation areas and campgrounds at DeGray Lake.

After “several years” of compiling local history, the Clark County Historical Association successfully published an 857-page hardback titled “Clark County, Arkansas: Past and Present”.