NEWS IN BRIEF

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Retailer settles suit over listeria deaths

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has agreed to settle a lawsuit with 23 families whose relatives died during a 2011 cantaloupe listeria outbreak that was traced to a farm in the Rocky Ford growing area of Colorado. The outbreak was attributed to 33 deaths and one miscarriage.

"We are pleased with the resolution, which was in everyone's best interest," said Wal-Mart spokesman Randy Hargrove. Once the retailer was made aware of the outbreak, it immediately began working with suppliers to remove cantaloupes harvested from that region, he said.

Some of the plaintiffs alleged that Wal-Mart did not react fast enough. After the outbreak, the retailer sued the companies that inspected and delivered the cantaloupes. The status of those legal actions was not immediately known.

Nearly 150 people across the country were confirmed to have strains of listeria bacteria that matched bacteria found on the Colorado melons. A Seattle law firm filed lawsuits on behalf of 44 families, representing 28 who died and 17 who were sickened. Medical expenses from those cases total more than $12 million, the firm said.

-- Cyd King

Dean named for new osteopathic college

Dr. Kenneth A. Heiles has been named dean of the planned Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine and Arkansas Colleges of Health Education in Fort Smith.

Heiles was hired from Lincoln Memorial University-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine in Tennessee, where he was associate dean of graduate medical education. In April, Kyle Parker was named president and chief executive officer of the proposed $58 million school, which could open sooner than the initial target of fall 2017. Parker had been conducting a nationwide search for a dean.

Heiles, a 1984 graduate of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, has previously been a member of the full-time clinical faculty at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Area Health Education Center in Pine Bluff.

-- Chris Bahn

Arkansas Index dips in heavy-trading day

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 5.18 to 335.18 Wednesday.

"U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday, a day after closing at record highs after the [Producer Price Index] came in above expectations," said John Blackwell, senior vice president and managing director of equity trading at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock.

Home BancShares fell 4.6 percent in heavy trading, and Deltic Timber and Murphy USA each lost more than 3 percent.

Windstream reached a 52-week high during the session and gained 1.6 percent.

Total volume of the index was 20.8 million shares.

The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.

Business on 05/15/2014