News in brief

Truckers' 'tonnage'

down 4.3% in June

The amount of weight that trucks hauled in June fell by about 4.3 percent from May, when trucks hauled about 6.9 percent more than in the previous month, according to an American Trucking Associations index.

That amounts to about 277,000 tons in June, down from 289,400 tons in May.

The weight, called "tonnage," is one of several metrics to determine the health of shipping freight markets, which analysts say seem to be strengthening.

Despite the drop from May, the tonnage in June was up about 1.3 percent from last year. In May, the tonnage increased about 5.2 percent compared with May 2016.

"June's slide does not change my belief that we will continue to see moderate, albeit at times choppy, growth in truck tonnage as the year continues," American Trucking Associations chief economist Bob Costello said in a news release.

-- Dalton LaFerney

Mad cow disease

case called atypical

An atypical case of mad cow disease was found Tuesday in Alabama at a state livestock market, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Authorities reportedly found the 11-year-old cow exhibiting clinical signs of the disease before it went to slaughter.

"The animal never entered slaughter channels and at no time presented a risk to the food supply, or to human health in the United States," according to a news release.

This is the fifth reported case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the U.S. The previous three reported cases also were considered atypical, or L-type, different from the classic form, H-type, contracted by eating contaminated protein from infected cattle.

The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Alabama veterinary officials are gathering further information on Tuesday's case.

-- Nathan Owens

Index climbs 2.57,

finishes at 344.30

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 2.57 to 344.30 Wednesday.

"Equities rallied as companies continue to report earnings for the second quarter with the Nasdaq composite index closing higher for the ninth straight day accompanied by closing highs for the Nasdaq, S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones industrial average," said Leon Lants, managing director at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock.

Total volume for the index was 17.8 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 07/20/2017

Upcoming Events