Welcome to October, and welcome to a look back on a new decade! This month, we’ll be turning back our calendars to October of 2003. This is a fun era for me to look back on, because I was employed as a full-time reporter then — but it’s hard to believe that our staff was working on these articles 20 years ago!
There is a lot of news and sports to review this week, so we’ll get right to it. Here’s what was newsworthy in Pulaski County this week 20 years ago, from the pages of the October 2003 Commonwealth Journal.
Former Commonwealth’s Attorney Benny Ham Dies
Tim Ham, the assistant principal at Somerset High, remembers clearly a school project he carried out in middle school on his father, who was then the Commonwealth’s Attorney. “I remember doing a project on my dad’s career, and I asked him if it felt good when he sent someone to jail,” Tim Ham recalls. His father, Benny, got a very serious look on his face. “He said, ‘no, I don’t feel happy … I feel very sad,’” Tim said. … It is that type of compassion that made Benny Ham one of the area’s most beloved attorneys. The former Commonwealth’s Attorney died Wednesday after a lengthy bout with diabetes. He was 58. … Benny’s daughter, Susan — an attorney herself — said her father was always her hero. “I wanted to be just like him,” Susan said yesterday. “And I’m fortunate that I wound up being his law partner. He taught me a lot about what being a lawyer is all about — helping people. He would talk to people who came into our office whether they had a dime in their pocket or not,” Susan added.
Catrons Proceed with Lawsuit
As two men convicted for the murder of Sheriff Sam Catron begin life prison sentences and an accused co-conspirator awaits his trial, the Catron family is proceeding with…
Read the full article here
