Stories by Lisa Hammersly

  • Nursing homes pile cash on court races

    Fort Smith nursing home operator Michael Morton and his companies have contributed $113,000 to candidates for the Arkansas Supreme Court -- more than 25 percen…

  • 6 tell their sides of UA unit woes

    Former University of Arkansas at Fayetteville fundraising division leaders Brad Choate and John Diamond told legislators Tuesday that the state s largest unive…

  • 2nd panel to look at UA unit

    A second joint legislative committee will take a shot Tuesday at identifying mistakes that led to millions in overspending by the University of Arkansas at Fay…

  • Inmate released in jail mix-up is arrested again

    FORT SMITH — Sebastian County sheriff’s deputies Monday arrested a jail inmate who was awaiting a transfer to state prison — four days after they mistakenly re…

  • 4 UA issues under review

    Washington County prosecutors are investigating four issues related to multimillion-dollar deficits in the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Division of U…

  • Panel puts off UA hearing

    The Arkansas Legislative Joint Auditing Committee has postponed until Dec. 13 a second round of hearings into overspending by the University of Arkansas at Fay…

  • FBI agent pokes into UA audit’s 4 concerns

    An FBI agent who specializes in financial matters has joined a Washington County prosecutor’s team that is investigating concerns that arose in an audit of the…

  • Leaders to seek more on UA audit

    Key legislators want to hear other views concerning a state audit report into deficit spending by the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville’s fundraising divi…

  • UA deficit audit nears finish

    Legislative auditors have completed much of the field work on a review of deficit finances at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville’s Division of Advancem…

  • As union votes, ABF-pact critics arise

    FORT SMITH — Teamsters union leaders are urging more than 7,000 of their members to approve a new, five-year contract with ABF Freight System Inc. in Fort Smit…

  • Marshals Museum draws bead on Fort Smith

    FORT SMITH — Like their counterparts in Bentonville, developers in this Old West-theme city on the Oklahoma state line are wagering millions in downtown redeve…

  • Union, trucker deal set for vote

    FORT SMITH — ABF Freight System Inc.’s tentative contract with the Teamsters — if approved by union members — “would allow us to restore the profitability of o…

  • Flights seen declining faster at smaller airports

    Though Arkansas’ two largest airports followed a national trend of declines in commercial airline flights during the past five years, they haven’t been hit as …

  • Manufacturing buying interest

    Three weeks after Doyle Fowler was elected mayor of McCrory in 2003, American Greetings Corp. made a dreaded announcement.

  • Arkansas Best reports loss

    FORT SMITH — After four months of ongoing contract negotiations aimed at reducing labor costs with the Teamsters union, Arkansas Best Corp. on Tuesday announce…

  • Business news in brief

    QUOTE OF THE DAY “Job additions and rising household wealth will continue to support housing demand.” Lawrence Yun, National Association of Realtors chief econ…

  • Duke’s earnings up 52% for 2012

    Top Wal-Mart executive Michael Duke saw his overall pay top $27.1 million in the past year, including $7.1 million in stock options exercised, according to the…

  • Florida firm planning jobs in Fort Smith

    A Florida-based hospital-management company announced Thursday that it will more than double its workers in Fort Smith to create a regional service center tha…

  • Gearhart, 2 in unit at UA go way back

    The chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville had close ties dating back decades with two employees at the center of a multimillion-dollar defic…

  • UA files: Hiring not all of deficit

    University of Arkansas at Fayetteville officials say the costs of hiring new staff members drove a $3.37 million budget deficit in the school’s fundraising div…

  • Legislative unit has lead UA-audit role

    The state’s Legislative Audit Division will take charge of a financial review into a $3.37 million budget deficit in the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville…

  • E-mails show Gearhart had audit in mind

    University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Chancellor G. David Gearhart threatened to call in auditors as early as Aug. 6 last year if he couldn’t get answers rega…

  • UA releases deficit report; unit slammed

    A University of Arkansas at Fayetteville report on its fundraising division’s $3.37 million deficit found “overwhelming” evidence of “lack of management oversi…

  • UA chief invites auditing by state

    The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville’s chancellor has called for independent audits by two state agencies into $3.37 million in overspending last year by…

  • Chaffee Crossing growth speeds up

    Chaffee Crossing, a 7,000-acre economic development site carved out of the now-closed Fort Chaffee army base, sold almost $3 million in property for commercial…

  • Trucker sees loss, removes its CFO

    USA Truck Inc. of Van Buren, which reported its largest quarterly loss ever in October, has fired its chief financial officer, according to a filing with the U…

  • Two rail studies planned for state

    Imagine high-speed passenger trains of the future zipping from Memphis to Little Rock to Texarkana at speeds up to 200 mph.

  • ABF, Teamsters at odds over costs

    After two opening days of labor-contract negotiations, ABF Freight System Inc. said late Wednesday that it seeks “dramatically lower” labor costs from its Inte…

  • ABF Freight, union to start contract talks

    Representatives from ABF Freight System Inc. of Fort Smith and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union are scheduled to sit down Tuesday in a hotel co…

  • Rheem to lay off 75 to 100

    Rheem Manufacturing Co. announced Thursday that it would lay off 75 to 100 hourly employees at the Fort Smith plant effective Jan. 11 as part of normal seasona…

  • Profit on poinsettias Lilliputian

    Charlotte Patterson enjoys selling poinsettias this time of year for Parks Brothers Farm near Van Buren.

  • Gun-maker moving to Fort Smith

    Playing the latest movie clips of British spy James Bond and his signature Walther PPK semiautomatic pistol, Arkansas and Fort Smith dignitaries on Thursday at…

  • Backers say mall will go up

    Backers of a planned 105-acre shopping mall in the growing Chaffee Crossing development in Barling say they’re not discouraged about a lawsuit contesting a Nov…

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