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State AG chief addresses rice concerns Sunday, Sep 3, 2006 By Roby Brock Arkansas Agriculture Secretary and former Riceland Foods CEO Richard Bell testified before the Joint Agriculture Committee on Wednesday concerning recent lawsuits alleging that the U.S. rice crop was contaminated by a nonapproved strain known as LLRICE601. Bell told legislators that LLRICE601 is not "tainted, bad, or contaminated" and he added that there are no threats to human safety or the environment. Three lawsuits have been filed against rice researcher Bayer CropScience and Riceland Foods over the matter. New biodiesel plant to launch A new company, Arkansas SoyEnergy Group, has been formed to produce soybean-based alternative fuel. The new facility, which begins construction this month, will be located near DeWitt on U.S. 165 and will produce B100 biodiesel solely from soybean oil. Plans are to be in production by late 2007. Arkansas SoyEnergy will also build a crusher at its new plant, which will be capable of crushing soybeans on site for use in the plant. When initial construction is complete, the plant will produce 3 million gallons of biodiesel that is 100 percent soy-based. Future expansion could more than double the initial capacity, according to the company owners. NLR Bass Pro project aims for 2008 opening The deadline passed for an appeal of a federal judge's ruling in a case that had stopped construction of the Shoppes at North Hills, a North Little Rock shopping center development that will feature a Bass Pro Shop. Mall developer Bruce Burrow says that he is ready to move forward on the project and expects initial site work to begin in the next 60 days. He also expects that the Bass Pro Shop phase of the development will be completed by the spring of 2008. The full shopping center could open by the end of 2008, according to Burrow. Champion Parts buys rival Champion Parts, the small publicly traded auto parts re-manufacturer based in Hope, is buying one of its main rivals. Champion will acquire Los Angeles-based Tomco Inc. for $1.5 million in cash and $9.5 million in future payments. Acxiom alters earnings guidance Acxiom Corp. revised its financial forecast, saying its earnings could be reduced by six to seven cents during its current fiscal year. There were several factors contributing to the database giant's lowered expectations, one of which was its proxy fight with hostile takeover bidder ValueAct Capital. Acxiom says the proxy battle cost the company $1.2 million in unplanned expenses. Wal-Mart sales up, Dillard's drops Back-to-school sales had opposite effects on two Arkansas retailers. Wal-Mart's August sales were up, Dillard's were down. Wal-Mart saw its same store sales rise 2.7 percent and its overall sales rise 12.5 percent during the month. Worldwide sales for Wal-Mart topped $25.96 billion in August. Dillard's struggled slightly losing 2 percent in sales for the month compared to one year ago. Dillard's total sales fell to $557.3 million in August. J.B. Hunt elects new board member J.B. Hunt Transport Services elected Gary C. George to its board of directors. George, 56, is vice chairman and CEO of George's Inc., a private poultry company in Northwest Arkansas. He is also on the board of Legacy National Bank and the board of directors for the National Chicken Council. He replaces board member Thomas L. Hardeman, who passed away suddenly on Aug. 20. Southland rolls the dice Southland Park made its formal presentation to expand electronic gaming to the Arkansas Racing Commission last week. Southland President Barry Baldwin told commissioners that the addition of electronic gaming could more than double the weekly purses offered at the West Memphis dog track. Southland is proposing the addition of 900 video poker and video blackjack games to compete with nearby Tunica casinos. The commission is expected to review Southland's plan next month, in anticipation of a late-October opening of the newly renovated $40 million facility. Oaklawn Park officials say they will submit an application for electronic games within the next two months. Whirlpool layoffs take effect A voluntary layoff of 950 Whirlpool Corp. workers at the company's Fort Smith side-by-side refrigerator manufacturing plant took place on Friday. A Whirlpool spokesman, said the number of volunteers the company was asking for has been met. Employees whose positions have been eliminated and who haven't volunteered can take jobs elsewhere in the plant because enough workers chose a layoff option. Coughlin case leads to new legal action There is more fallout from the Tom Coughlin case. Rita Miles, who works in Wal-Mart's Labor Relations Department, filed a suit against her employer, claiming it violated the federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act by retaliating against Miles after she protested the alleged shredding of documents related to the Coughlin case by Wal-Mart. Miles, who has been with Wal-Mart since 1999, says in her suit that a company attorney instructed her and other members of her department during the company's investigation of Coughlin in May 2005 that all hard copies and electronic versions of documents relating to the case should be preserved. However, her department managers ordered Miles and others to shred all documents once they had been scanned into a company data base. Arkansas part of million dollar settlement Attorney General Mike Beebe's office has reached an agreement with the Schering-Plough Corp. to settle allegations over the marketing and distribution of the company's pharmaceutical products. Arkansas' direct share totals $933,459, with an additional $2,338,050 going to the federal government to reimburse Medicaid matching funds. Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia worked together on the $435 million national settlement, according to Beebe's office. The states alleged that Schering underpaid rebates for Medicaid programs and improperly marketed other prescription drugs. ------- 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. |
