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Lake View ruling comes down Sunday, Dec 18, 2005 By Roby Brock In a 4-2 decision, the Arkansas Supreme Court has ruled in the reopened Lake View case. In a nutshell, legislators and the governor have been given a one-year extension to improve on their remedies for the state's public schools. The court ruled that the state's public schools still suffer from a "constitutional infirmity" and that remaining problems must be fixed by Dec. 1, 2006. The justices did not order specific funding levels, but said a $5,400-per-student appropriation approved by legislators in the 2005 session was not adequate. The court also said money dedicated to fix crumbling school buildings was "grossly underfunded." Gov. Mike Huckabee will have to call a special session to make additional improvements as the General Assembly is not set to reconvene until January 2007, one month after the Supreme Court's new deadline to comply. The governor indicated he is in no rush to call a session until consensus solutions are presented. Ballot questions fail A special election to issue highway and higher education bonds failed. Question No. 1 would have given highway commissioners permission to take on $575 million in debt for road repairs in perpetuity, while question No. 2 would have given state colleges $250 million for infrastructure improvements. Question No. 1 lost by a 60-40 margin. Question No. 2 was rejected by voters by less than 1,000 votes statewide. Beverly-Fillmore deal appears final San Francisco-based Fillmore Capital Partners will be BEI's new owner. That is, unless the shareholders say otherwise in an upcoming shareholders' meeting or unless an unsolicited bidder makes a late, but better offer for the Fort Smith eldercare services provider formerly known as Beverly Enterprises. Earlier this week, a midnight deadline passed with no new activity leaving Fillmore as the bid winner in the months-long "Sell Beverly" sweepstakes. Will the new buyer keep Beverly's headquarters in Fort Smith? According to Beverly officials, Fillmore principals tell BEI management they have not yet decided. The final bid from Fillmore came in at $12.50 per share, approximately $1.8 billion, after initial suitor North American Senior Care withdrew its commitment to buy Beverly for $13 per share. The company will be private following its sale. A special shareholders meeting to approve the sale to Fillmore will likely be set around the end of January and if all goes smoothly, the transaction could close by late February. Whirlpool layoffs confirmed By next October, Whirlpool will layoff about 730 workers at its Fort Smith plant as it moves part of its operations to Mexico. The Fort Smith Whirlpool plant currently employs about 4,600 workers, producing side-by-side refrigerator/freezer models, counter-depth refrigerators and trash compactors, as well as icemaker components. Arkansas unemployment dips Arkansas' jobless rate fell one-tenth of a percent in November to 4.8 percent. One year ago, the state's unemployment rate was 5.6 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate held steady at 5 percent. Labor force statistics show that eight of the 11 major sectors posted increases. The trade and transportation sector, which saw the largest gains, increased by 2,500 workers for the month. Hospitality jobs experienced a seasonal decline of 1,300. Construction and manufacturing employment both dropped in November. Where's the beef? Japan will end its two-year ban on U.S. and Canadian beef imports, a move that could put American steaks back on Japanese plates by year's end and boost Tyson Foods' bottom line in the long run. Trade will resume with a host of new rules for North American beef. Japan will only import meat from cows younger than 21 months because no cases of mad cow disease have ever been found in cows that age. U.S. inspectors must also follow strict guidelines, including removal of dangerous cow material such as brains and spinal cords. Tyson Foods' officials were encouraged, but cautious. They warned that the U.S. beef industry will have a difficult winter as it struggles with challenging market conditions, such as a short supply of market-ready cattle, low plant capacity utilization and a seasonal slowdown in beef demand along with extremely cold weather. Safe foods a safe bet for growth Safe Foods Corp., the food safety company based in North Little Rock and founded by research initiated at UAMS, announced a significant restructuring of the company this week. Mark Hill was named president of Safe Foods North America, which will cover U.S. and Canadian sales territory. Rush Deacon was named president of Safe Foods International, the division that will target all other markets throughout the world. The biotech firm expects to double in size over the next year as it ramps up for new business in major markets. Company leaders predicted its sales and work force would double in 2006, adding nearly 100 high-tech jobs to the Arkansas economy. New investment Houston-based Southwestern Energy Co. announced Wednesday that it plans to invest nearly $400 million in the Fayetteville Shale play, part of the giant Arkoma Basin in western Arkansas that is seeing a natural gas drilling outbreak. The former Fayetteville natural gas producer, which left Arkansas for Houston in 2001, said its 2006 capital investment program will come in at $830.1 million, an increase of 66 percent over the $500 million forecasted for fiscal 2005. Raising the minimum wage effort launches Give Arkansas A Rai$e Now (GARN), a coalition of more than two dozen faith, community and nonprofit groups, has submitted the ballot title for a proposed constitutional amendment to raise the state minimum wage by $1 an hour. The group will submit a measure to the attorney general for a ballot proposal aimed at getting it placed on the Nov. 7, 2006, general election ballot. Under the proposal, the state minimum wage would increase from $5.15 an hour to $6.15 an hour and then be adjusted for inflation every year. Verizon on the horizon Verizon Wireless launched service in Pulaski County on Thursday. The wireless giant opened three retail outlets and plans for more. In 2005 and 2006, Verizon says it will invest up to $200 million to build 175 cell sites in Central Arkansas, with 107 of those cell sites complete by the end of this year. Company officials say they plan to expand coverage as they build their wireless infrastructure over the next several years. Designation deemed Craighead and Greene counties, home of the burgeoning communities of Jonesboro and Paragould, have been designated a Combined Statistical Area, according to U.S. Rep. Marion Berry's office. The Combined Statistical Area will have a population of 125,166, which includes 86,191 in Craighead County and 38,975 in Greene County. The designation, bestowed by the Office of Management and Budget, should help the cities secure more federal funding for economic development projects and could make the region more attractive to prospective businesses. Touchdown, Arkansas! Fayetteville has been selected for an expansion team by the National Indoor Football League (NIFL). The team will be called the Arkansas Stars and will play its first season from March through June of next year at the Randal Tyson Track Center. Weyerhaeuser to close, sell Little Rock plants On Friday, Weyerhaeuser announced plans to close or sell containerboard, packaging, bag and papermaking operations in eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, including a packaging plant in Little Rock. At least 1,000 workers will lose their jobs in the cutbacks. Additional plants to be shut down in the next few months, according to the statement, include corrugated packaging operations in Ohio, New York, and North Carolina; corrugated sheet feeder plants in Tennessee and Texas; and a retail paper bag plant in Kansas City, Mo. Weyerhaeuser also is putting up for sale three corrugated sheet plants in Little Rock, Memphis, and Shreveport and a specialty packaging plant in Valley View, Ohio. ------- Roby Brock, a freelance journalist based in Little Rock, writes weekly for the Arkansas News Bureau. His weekly television program airs at 10 p.m. Sundays in Central and Northwest Arkansas. His e-mail address is roby@talkbusiness.net; his Web site address is www.talkbusiness.net. |
