Ash wood quarantined in 25 counties
The Arkansas Plant Board voted Thursday to impose a 120-day emergency quarantine on the movement of hardwood firewood as well as products containing ash tree wood, including nursery stock, green lumber with the bark attached, pulpwood, stumps, roots, branches, mulch and compost as it tries to slow the spread of the emerald ash borer.
The quarantine affects 25 Arkansas counties: Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Columbia, Dallas, Drew, Garland, Grant, Hempstead, Hot Spring, Howard, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lincoln, Little River, Miller, Montgomery, Nevada, Ouachita, Pike, Saline, Sevier and Union.
Items subject to the quarantine can be moved within the quarantine area but cannot be taken to nonquarantine areas in the state. The Plant Board will develop a permanent rule on moving wood products potentially infected with the emerald ash borer.
The emerald ash borer is an Asian beetle about a half-inch long whose larvae feed on ash trees. It was first detected in 2002 in Michigan. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has imposed restrictions on the shipment of items such as raw wood and wood products in 10 states and parts of 13 others.
Ash trees comprise about 2 percent of trees used by processors in Arkansas.
More information is available from the Plant Board by calling (501) 225-1598 or email [email protected].
-- Glen Chase
30-year mortgage rate rises to 4.12%
WASHINGTON -- Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates rose slightly this week but remained near their lows for the year.
Mortgage company Freddie Mac said Thursday that the nationwide average for a 30-year loan edged up to 4.12 percent from 4.1 percent last week, where it had stayed for three straight weeks.
The average for a 15-year mortgage, a popular choice for people who are refinancing, rose to 3.26 percent from 3.24 percent.
At 4.12 percent, the rate on a 30-year mortgage is down from 4.53 percent at the start of the year. Rates have fallen even though the Federal Reserve has been trimming its monthly bond purchases, which are intended to keep long-term borrowing rates low. The purchases are set to end next month.
To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., surveys lenders across the country between Monday and Wednesday each week. The average doesn't include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.
The average fee for a 30-year mortgage was unchanged from last week at 0.5 point. The fee for a 15-year mortgage also remained at 0.5 point.
-- The Associated Press
Pandora strikes BMG deal for song rights
Pandora Media Inc., the Internet radio service, reached a licensing agreement Thursday with rights management group BMG for songs of musicians ranging from Beyonce to Frank Sinatra.
Pandora and the music industry have been fighting over the cost of royalties and licensing for several years, and this deal "ensured a royalty structure that works better for both of us," Pandora Chief Financial Officer Mike Herring said at an investor conference hosted by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in New York on Thursday.
Last month, Pandora reached its first deal with a music agency in an agreement with Merlin, a rights agency representing more than 20,000 labels. Pandora said it would give Merlin access to data collected from the radio service's more than 75 million monthly active users.
Pandora gains the rights to BMG's catalogs of works from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and Broadcast Music Inc. In June, the U.S. Justice Department had said it would review decades-old agreements that govern songwriter royalties with those two groups.
BMG represents songwriters for popular musical acts including Beyonce, Jay Z and Sinatra as well as the rights of musicians such as Bruno Mars and John Legend. BMG is a subsidiary of Guetersloh, Germany-based media company Bertelsmann SE.
-- Bloomberg News