Attorney Mars joins Friday law practice
Thomas Mars has joined Friday, Eldredge & Clark LLP, the law firm announced this week.
Mars will work in the firm’s Little Rock office where his practice will include litigation, crisis management, business counseling and government relations, according to the news release.
Previously in his career, Mars worked for Gov. Asa Hutchinson when Hutchinson was a U.S. attorney; for Hillary Clinton at a Little Rock law firm; and for Mike Huckabee as a personal lawyer and as director of the Arkansas State Police.
From 2002 to 2013, Mars worked at Wal-Mart in various positions, including as executive vice president and chief administrative officer of Wal-Mart U.S. He most recently was a partner at a law firm in Atlanta.
— Jessica Seaman
Steel plant's rival loses permit appeal
The Arkansas Court of Appeals on Wednesday denied an appeal by Nucor Corp. opposing the air permit of a competing steel plant being built in Mississippi County.
In a 25-page decision, the court upheld an air permit issued by the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission for Big River Steel LLC, which is building a $1.3 billion plant near Osceola. Nucor owns two steel mills near Blytheville about 20 miles from Big River Steel.
The commission issued an air permit for Big River Steel last year. Nucor's petition to the commission cited about 30 alleged errors that were made in the permitting process, Judge Kenneth Hixson said in his opinion. In the end, the court recognized the commission's experience in issuing air permits and upheld its ruling.
The Big River Steel plant should be completed in April.
-- David Smith
Index follows market lower, sheds 1.62
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 1.62 to 315.94 Wednesday.
"U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday with no clear catalyst behind the drop as technology and health care shares led the way lower," said John Blackwell, senior vice president and managing director of equity trading at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock.
USA Truck climbed 5.9 percent in average trading.
Murphy Oil lost 2.9 percent in active trading and hit another 52-week low.
Bank of the Ozarks fell 2.7 percent on more than double its normal volume.
Total volume of the index was 29.4 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 12/10/2015