Project envisions rise of specialty crops in Arkansas Delta, River Valley
A worsening climate in California for vegetable and fruit crops is creating an opportunity for farmers in the Arkansas Delta and the Arkansas River Valley, a c…
Stories by Stephen Steed
-
![]()
-
Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame to welcome 6 new members
The Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame increases its ranks by six members today with inductees instrumental in timber, water conservation, cattle, aviation, com…
-
![]()
Rice-case punitive award set at $6M
A Lonoke County jury on Wednesday awarded $6 million in punitive damages to a group of farmers embroiled in the 2014 collapse of Turner Grain Merchandising Inc…
-
Rice-sale loss is put at $5.9M by jurors in Lonoke County
A Lonoke County jury on Tuesday said a group of farmers lost $5.9 million in rice sales in 2014 and assigned nearly all the blame to the late Jason Coleman, a …
-
![]()
Arkansas Supreme Court reverses ruling for hospital workers
A wage dispute between BHC Pinnacle Pointe Hospital and some of its employees belongs in arbitration, not in court, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday i…
-
![]()
Arkansas grain dealer's margins 'razor thin,' accountant testifies at trial
For a company with annual revenue in the hundreds of millions of dollars, Turner Grain Merchandising Inc. kept lousy books and was undercapitalized, a certifie…
-
![]()
Former Arkansas grain dealer testifies in farmers' missed-payment suit
Dale Bartlett, a co-founder of the defunct Turner Grain Merchandising Inc., testified Wednesday that his company had no ties to a major rice exporter beyond da…
-
![]()
Rice-sale accounts laid out at trial tied to Arkansas grain dealer that went bankrupt
A grain broker paid nearly $5.5 million for rice linked to a group of Lonoke County farmers in the final weeks of Turner Grain Merchandising Inc., a Brinkley g…
-
![]()
Arkansas farmer describes loss of '13 rice sale
Nearly 311,000 bushels of rice constituted 80% of a farm family's 2013 crop for which they never got paid, a farmer testified Tuesday in a trial related to th…
-
Mistrial is denied in grain lawsuit
Lonoke County Circuit Judge Sandy Huckabee on Friday denied motions to declare a mistrial in a lawsuit stemming from the 2014 collapse of Turner Grain Merchand…
-
At grain trial, '14 loss put at $5.5M
A forensic accountant testified Thursday that a group of Lonoke County farmers lost $5,491,888 in 2014 with the closing of a Brinkley grain dealer.
-
Tweet a bit racy, leads to state post exit
Robert Campbell, a member of the state Plant Board since 2015, resigned Tuesday because of a social-media post he placed on Twitter earlier in the day.
-
![]()
Sides lay out their cases at trial tied to 2014 collapse of Arkansas grain company
A bad business plan, coupled with a scheme of a grain dealer, led to the 2014 collapse of Turner Grain Merchandising and caused a group of Lonoke County rice f…
-
Grain trial jury selection to start today
Jury selection is scheduled to begin today in Lonoke County Circuit Court as scheduled, after a judge's decision Thursday to not sanction attorneys for either …
-
![]()
Murphy USA logs profits in 4Q, year
Murphy USA on Wednesday reported a fourth-quarter profit of $47.6 million, or $1.54 per share.
-
![]()
Testimony in trial tied to 2014 collapse of Arkansas grain company called false
The state Department of Agriculture has become embroiled in a looming trial related to the 2014 collapse of a Brinkley grain company, with the department's att…
-
![]()
Gaines named Democrat-Gazette's next managing editor
Eliza Gaines will be the next managing editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, succeeding David Bailey, who is retiring effective March 16.
-
![]()
Democrat-Gazette ending weekday delivery; last papers to go on porches today
Home delivery of the Monday-Saturday editions of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette ends today, as the newspaper completes its transition to a digital replica.
-
Attorneys at odds over judge's Arkansas Plant Board ruling
A stalemate between attorneys for Bayer and the attorney general's office has delayed the state Plant Board's appeal of a circuit court's ruling against how th…
-
![]()
Dicamba urgency points up Plant Board absences
Robert Campbell, a state Plant Board member recently reappointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to represent the livestock industry, missed six of the board's 12 meeti…
-
![]()
No jail for farmer in dicamba misuse
A southeast Missouri farmer will face no jail time, but his farming entity must pay $200,000 as part of a plea deal in a case in which he originally faced 49 c…
-
![]()
'19 a rock-solid year for Arkansas stocks
The Arkansas Index in 2019 had its best overall performance in several years, with 11 of the index stocks posting gains.
-
![]()
State Plant Board votes to appeal ruling
The state Plant Board voted 13-0 Monday, after less than 30 minutes of discussion, to appeal a circuit court ruling that part of its composition is illegal.
-
![]()
Decision a trial for Arkansas Plant Board
The state Plant Board today will discuss a circuit judge's recent decision that the board's composition, in part, is illegal.
-
![]()
Decision on plant panel hits state law
A portion of the state law that allows various agriculture groups to name representatives to the state Plant Board is unconstitutional, Pulaski County Circuit …
-
![]()
Luxury apartment project near start on North Little Rock riverside
A real estate investment and development group said Wednesday that it will spend some $20 million in the first phase of developing 41 acres of riverfront prope…
-
![]()
Arkansas Plant Board sets May 25 dicamba cutoff
The state Plant Board on Wednesday adopted a May 25 cutoff for farmers to spray dicamba next year but ditched two record-keeping proposals that critics said wo…
-
![]()
Dicamba rules of usage focus of Little Rock meeting
The state Plant Board expects another big crowd Wednesday when it meets at a Little Rock hotel to hash out rules for the use of dicamba next crop season.
-
Farmer cleared in dicamba harm
The state Plant Board on Friday cleared a Marked Tree farmer of four counts of violating Arkansas pesticide law, but testimony during a three-hour hearing led …
-
![]()
10,000 farm acres in Arkansas to run on solar
A Carlisle farmer flipped the switch Thursday on a nearly 3-megawatt solar farm that he says will provide 90% of the energy needs for the 10,000 acres he tends…
-
Lender: Owners of hotel default
The owners of the Frederica Hotel in Little Rock defaulted on a $4.6 million loan they took out in December 2017 to buy the property, the lender said in a laws…
-
![]()
Tax debts led to downtown Little Rock hotel's closing
The closing of the Hotel Frederica in Little Rock stemmed from the nonpayment of nearly $50,000 in state sales taxes, but the landmark hotel also had other tax…
-
![]()
Bids offered for historic downtown Little Rock hotel shuttered weeks ago for failure to pay sales taxes
The owners of the Hotel Frederica in downtown Little Rock are considering several offers to purchase the landmark property, which was closed about two months a…
-
![]()
Hot Springs hotel fetches $16 million at foreclosure sale
The Hotel Hot Springs & Spa was sold at a foreclosure auction on Wednesday for $16 million to SBN V AR Hospitality LLC.
-
![]()
Stores planned at 16 ex-Fred's sites
Residents of 16 Arkansas towns that lost their Fred's discount stores this year will see those buildings reopened next year, but what will replace them remains…
-
![]()
Pesticide fines set for state farmers
The state Plant Board on Thursday levied fines of nearly $39,000 against 24 farmers for violating pesticide laws, mainly those related to dicamba use.
-
Convicted ex-grain dealer to appeal
A Little Rock attorney on Tuesday filed a notice of appeal to contest the felony hot-check conviction Saturday of a former owner of bankrupt Turner Grain Merch…
-
Paper's revival remains on hold
Seven weeks have passed since a broadcasters group bought the Stuttgart Daily Leader, but the town has yet to see a printed edition of a newspaper that had bee…
-
![]()
Murphy USA profit climbs to $69.2M, beats 3Q forecasts
Murphy USA Inc., based in El Dorado, on Wednesday reported a profit of $69.2 million for the third quarter, up from the $45 million profit for the same quarter…
-
USDA rule offers clarity for hemp program, Arkansans say
An interim rule on the nation's fledgling hemp-growing industry released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture gives considerably more guidance, Arkans…
-
![]()
Farmer's dicamba use fines: $105,000
The state Plant Board on Wednesday levied $105,000 in fines against a Missouri farmer for violating Arkansas herbicide law, including spraying dicamba last yea…
-
![]()
Firm to add 1,200 jobs in Conway
DXC Technology announced Tuesday that it will expand its workforce in Conway from about 450 employees to 1,650 over the next three years.
-
Farmer disputes dicamba charges
The boardroom of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture will feel more like a courtroom today as a farmer challenges dicamba complaints filed against him in 20…
-
Health system cuts 28 jobs in state
Catholic Health Initiatives has eliminated 28 jobs in Arkansas, nine of them unfilled positions, in a cost-cutting move linked to the merger earlier this year …
-
Sale of element plant is finalized
U.S. Vanadium said Monday that it has closed on its purchase of a vanadium-processing plant near Hot Springs and plans an investment of some $8.5 million over …
-
State hall of fame announces 4 business leaders for honor
Four Arkansans instrumental in real estate, publishing, construction and banking will be inducted into the 22nd class of the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame Feb…
-
Arkansas paper mill unit's closure costs 79 jobs
Domtar, a paper manufacturer, permanently and immediately shut down a paper machine Thursday at its mill in Ashdown, resulting in 79 workers losing their jobs …
-
![]()
U.S. Steel to pay $700M for stake in Big River mill
U.S. Steel Corp., based in Pittsburgh, will pay $700 million to take 49.9% ownership of Big River Steel, which was built near the Mississippi River, just south…
-
![]()
Longtime owners sell northeast Arkansas newspaper to firm in Kentucky
The Times Dispatch of Walnut Ridge, a weekly newspaper owned by the local Bland family since 1921, is being sold to Paxton Media Group, its publisher said Thur…
-
![]()
Visitors' dollars increase in state; 2018’s $7.3B up 4.4% from 2017
Arkansas "visitors," including those who live here, spent $7.3 billion last year, a 4.4% increase from 2017, according to an annual economic impact report from…
