News in brief

Big River granted mill-suit extension

Big River Steel, which plans to build a $1.3 billion steel mill near Osceola, has 28 more days to respond to a complaint filed by two nearby Nucor Corp. steel mills, U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes ruled Wednesday.

The lawsuit is being contested in the Jonesboro division of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

Nucor Steel-Arkansas and Nucor Yamato Steel Co., which filed the lawsuit in August seeking to stop construction of Big River's plant, opposed the extension. They argued that construction on Big River's steel mill is ongoing and "with each passing day more resources are poured into the construction of the facility," Holmes said in his order.

But Holmes determined that there would be no harm to Nucor if the extension was granted.

The plant is expected to employ about 525 workers when it opens in 2016, with an average income of $75,000 a year when potential bonuses are included. About 2,000 workers would be hired to build the plant.

-- David Smith

AT&T donates $35,000 for 2 groups in state

AT&T has donated $35,000 to the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub and the EAST Initiative, the two organizations said Wednesday.

The Innovation Hub, which promotes entrepreneurship, will work with the EAST Initiative to use the money to expand their missions to encourage entrepreneurship, especially in technology, the news release said.

The EAST Initiative uses an education model to help students identify community problems using technology, such as cameras and computers, said Blake Welch, spokesman for the organization.

He said the AT&T donation will be used to purchase Macintosh computers, Arduino microcontrollers for computer coding, and photo and video equipment.

-- Jessica Seaman

9 gain, but 0.68 drop seen on state index

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 0.68 to 351.72 Wednesday.

"U.S. stocks reversed early morning losses and moved higher on Wednesday as investors shook [off] continuing concerns around the timing of the Federal Reserve rate hikes," said John Blackwell, managing director of equity trading at Stephens Inc. "The Arkansas Index was slightly lower as 9 stocks advanced and 8 stocks declined."

Acxiom Corp. shares gained 2 percent to end at $18.64 in light trading.

PAM Transportation Services Inc. shares rose almost 2.2 percent to close at $37.96 in light trading.

Deltic Timber Corp. shares fell 1.3 percent to finish at $65.20 in average trading volume.

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 09/11/2014

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