Arkansas Business articles from October 2006

Arkansas Business archives from October 2006

Mercy Health enters Arkansas; hospital operator brings competition for insurance.(Hospitals)
October 2, 2006... FOR MORE THAN A DECADE Sisters of Mercy Health System of St. Louis was happy with its relationship with Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield. The three hospitals Sisters of Mercy operated in Arkansas started a joint venture with ABCBS in the...

Providers of rural health care ask for help from Congress.(Hospitals)
October 2, 2006... FEDERAL LEGISLATION INTROduced last month would funnel more federal dollars to rural hospitals in the form of increased Medicare reimbursements, capital improvement loans and information technology grants. However, the Health Care Access...

Med center buyers look for investors; and hope for profits at Southwest Regional.(Hospitals)
October 2, 2006... THE PENDING SALE OF LITTLE Rock's struggling Southwest Regional Medical Center is part of a multibillion-dollar wave of health care mergers and acquisitions nationally. "So far into the third quarter, we've tracked $180 billion in health...

Links land.(Whispers)
October 2, 2006... Did you know one of the largest apartment' developers in Arkansas has a 100-acre project in the works for North Little Rock? Back in April, we told you about talk of Lindsey & Associates of Fayetteville pursuing a multifamily project, and...

Change of heart?(Whispers)
October 2, 2006... When last we brought it up, Warren Overton of Little Rock was scheduled for trial on federal bank fraud and kiting charges beginning Oct. 30. But now we see that there's a hearing scheduled in U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes' courtroom at...

Cross-country acquisition.(Ashley Bancstock Co. acquiring First Community Bank (Conway, Arkansas))(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Ashley Bancstock Co., the holding company for First National Bank of Crossett, has filed an application with the Arkansas State Bank Department to buy First Community Bank of Crawford County way up and over in Van Buren. And that's pretty...

Naming rights.(Little Rock city's nickname)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... We tried to get a leak of the final decision, but a spokesman for the city of Little Rock was tight-lipped about the outcome of its effort to find a new nickname for... well... let's just keep calling it Little Rock for now. But we did...

Great Scott.(Dawn Scott returning to KTHV-TV)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... As you know, former KTHV-TV, Channel 11 anchor Dawn Scott is returning to the market after leaving in 2002 for Seattle. KTHV General Manager Larry Audas said last week that even though the pregnant Scott and her husband are expected to...

Details please.(Whispers)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Perhaps you've heard talk of the Capitol Center in downtown Little Rock selling. The 45,000-SF office building at 303 W. Capitol Ave. changed hands in a $2.5 million transaction. The Niksefat Family Trust, led by Salim and Fouzieh...

More elbow room.(real estate deals)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... A 4.3-acre commercial property in west Little Rock rang up a $1.9 million deal. 14910 Cantrell LLC, led by Elizabeth Small, purchased the property on the east side of the Walgreen's at Highway 10 and Taylor Loop Road. The seller was...

Corrections.(Correction notice)
October 2, 2006... Ossama Al-Mefty, chairman of the neurosurgery department at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences at Little Rock, is eligible for a bonus, but it is not guaranteed. An article about the highest-paid state employees in the Oct. 25...

Just call us skeptical.(demand for gasoline raising its prices)(Editorial)
October 2, 2006... TRAVELING TO A WEDDING last weekend, we bought gas at Dardanelle for $2.04 a gallon for regular. Back home, gasoline was still going for $2.28 a gallon. During the week, gas prices dipped even further in the Arkansas River Valley region--some...

Look! Up in the air!(ivory billed woodpecker seen)(Editorial)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... REMEMBER THE IVORY-BILLED woodpecker? It put Arkansas on the ornithological map last year, but by the time the state put out a license plate with its likeness, the excitement created with the sighting of the long-thought-to-be-extinct bird had...

Disconnect.(Editor's Note)
October 2, 2006... THE REVELATION THAT HEWlett-Packard Co. officials were so upset over leaks to the media that they hired professionals to spy on directors and journalists has surprised me far less than the reaction to the revelation. "I'm still waiting for...

Retail resale.(Lilac LLC acquired Kmart Center )(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... The $2.8 million sale of a retail project in south Little Rock was followed by a string of transactions. Lilac LLC, led by Andy Collins, acquired the Kmart Center at 6221 Col. Glenn Road and adjoining property near the southwest corner of...

Townhouse transaction.(Woodward-Jon Properties LLC acquired Dovehill Townhouses from MPY Farmland LLC)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... A small multifamily project in North Little Rock rang up a $605,000 transaction. Woodward-Jon Properties LLC, led by David Falcon and William McCrary, bought Dovehill Townhouses at 1812 W. 44th St. The seller is MPY Farmland LLC, led by...

Water park buy.(Real Deals: A Look at Important Real Estate Transactions)
October 2, 2006... A commercial swimming hole in south Pulaski County drew a $260,000 sale. Leisure Now Inc., led by David Ratliff, purchased Willow Springs Water Park at 3901 Willow Springs Road from the namesake revocable trusts of Richard and Mary Mills....

Estates sale.(Eugene and Jamie Dejordy acquiring house from Eugene and Jamie Dejordy )(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... A 6,754-SF home in west Little Rock's Valley Falls Estates tipped the scales at $2.3 million. Eugene and Jamie Dejordy acquired the house from John and Timothy Olaimey. The deal is backed with a one-year loan of $2.3 million from...

Riverview manor.(Real Deals: A Look at Important Real Estate Transactions)
October 2, 2006... A 5,700-SF home in Little Rock's Riverview Point neighborhood is under new ownership after a $1.49 million deal. 5421 Hawthorne LLC, led by L. Walter Quinn III, bought the house from Gary Hendershott. The deal is financed with a...

Downs deal.(Real Deals: A Look at Important Real Estate Transactions)
October 2, 2006... A 5-acre residential spread in west Little Rock's Chenal Downs neighborhood sold for $1.2 million. Michael and Amber Prichard purchased the home from Southern Real Estate Group LLC, led by Russell Huckaby. The deal is funded with a...

River Ridge abode.(Real Deals: A Look at Important Real Estate Transactions)
October 2, 2006... A 3,300-SF home in Little Rock's River Ridge neighborhood changed hands in an $810,000 deal. Chuck and Anita Fiser acquired the house from the Thomas F. James Revocable Trust, the Frances M. James Revocable Trust, Judith J. Scherer and...

Chenal residence.(Real Deals: A Look at Important Real Estate Transactions)
October 2, 2006... A 5,300-SF home in west Little Rock's Chenal Valley neighborhood rang up a $732,000 sale. WI Properties LLC, led by Carol Witham, bought the house from Little Rock's Rector Phillips Morse Inc. The deal is financed with a one-year loan of...

Heights house.(Real Deals: A Look at Important Real Estate Transactions)
October 2, 2006... A 2,600-SF home in Little Rock's Forest Heights neighborhood drew a $600,000 transaction. Sonya Gunn purchased the house from Mary King and Jayme Dissly. The deal is funded with a pair of two-year loans totaling $700,000 from Regions Bank....

Wellington home.(Michael Hui acquired the house from Bateman & Kulm Professional Buildings PLLC)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... A 5,400-SF home in west Little Rock's Villages of Wellington neighborhood is under new ownership for $597,000. Michael Hui acquired the house from Bateman & Kulm Professional Buildings PLLC, led by Robert Bateman and Todd Kuhn. The...

Waste mortgage.(Real Deals: A Look at Important Real Estate Transactions)
October 2, 2006... The owner of a waste-hauling project in North Little Rock landed a $100 million financial package. Waste Corp. of Arkansas Inc. of Houston obtained the five-year loan from Comerica Bank of Detroit. The 3.4-acre development at 4005...

Land financing.(Real Deals: A Look at Important Real Estate Transactions)
October 2, 2006... Nearly 40 acres in west Little Rock is backed with a $7.7 million funding agreement. Remington Road Centre LLC and Colonel Glenn Centre LLC, both led by Leonard Boen, picked up the three-year loan from Pulaski Bank & Trust of Little Rock....

LR plant to benefit from Dassault deal.(TRANSPORTATION)
October 2, 2006... Dassault Aviation of Paris has signed a $1.1 billion deal to sell NetJets Europe 24 Falcon 7X jets, the company said. The order, the largest business jet order in European history, will be completed at Dassault Falcon Jet Corp.'s plant in...

Murphy Oil to pay $330m to settle spill lawsuit.(ENERGY)
October 2, 2006... Murphy Oil Corp. of El Dorado has agreed to a $330 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit to cover damages from an oil spill caused when storm surge from Hurricane Katrina knocked a storage tank off its base last year. About 1...

Arvest buys Kansas Bank.(BANKING & FINANCE)
October 2, 2006... Bentonville-based Arvest Bank Group Inc. said it had an agreement to purchase Caney Valley Bancshares Inc. in Caney, Kan. CVB is a holding company that operates Caney Valley National Bank, which had one office and $43 million in assets as...

Tyson to Pay $1.5 million for alleged discrimination.(AGRICULTURE BUSINESS)
October 2, 2006... In the wake of an investigation by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale will pay $1.5 million to about 2,500 women and minorities that it did not hire. The world's largest meat processor also...

Acxiom board nominees elected by solid majority.(TECHNOLOGY & COMPUTERS)
October 2, 2006... Acxiom Corp.'s slate of four directors, including chairman and company leader Charles Morgan, was re-elected to the company board by a resounding majority at the company's annual shareholders' meeting held in New York City last week. In...

North Little Rock approves IPTV deal.(TECHNOLOGY & COMPUTERS)
October 2, 2006... AT&T Arkansas is cleared to begin work on launching video service in North Little Rock as city leaders unanimously agreed last week to terms with the telecom giant to roll out its Internet Protocol Television service. The North Little Rock...

LaBarge gets $8 million in Raytheon contracts.(MANUFACTURING)
October 2, 2006... LaBarge Inc. of St. Louis has received $8 million in contracts from Raytheon Missile Systems to provide complex cable assemblies and an integrated firing unit assembly for the tactical Tomahawk cruise missile. Production on the contracts...

Shell Oil president to speak at LR chamber luncheon.(OIL)
October 2, 2006... John Hofmeister, president of Shell Oil Co., will be the featured speaker at the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce's Fortune 500 Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 3 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Little Rock. Hofmeister also has held key...

UAMS use of technology recognized as 'Most Wired.(HEALTH CARE)
October 2, 2006... The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Medical Center, for the fifth time in eight years, has been named one of the "100 Most Wired Hospitals and Health Systems" for its use of technology by Hospitals & Health Networks magazine, a...

Jury awards broker $480,000 in Dixie trial.(NW Journal: A Look at News From Northwest Arkansas)
October 2, 2006... A jury awarded Jenny Talley, a former broker for Dixie Real Estate of Fayetteville, more than $480,000 on Sept. 8. The 11-day trial tackled a suit that Talley filed with the Washington County Circuit Court in January 2005 against her former...

Hearty sailors, appetites win.(Beaver Lake Sailing Club's ninth Annual NEBCO Regatta )(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... About 175 people attended the Beaver Lake Sailing Club's ninth Annual NEBCO Regatta on Sept. 16 at the club's private marina in Garfield. The annual sailboat race and feast benefits the Northeast Benton County Volunteer Fire Department. ...

Crye-Leike Realtors expanding into area.(NW Journal: A Look at News From Northwest Arkansas)
October 2, 2006... Crye-Leike Realtors, the nation's sixth-largest real estate company, plans to open a branch office ira Rogers in October. The Memphis-based company attained sales of $5.6 billion with 34,039 closed transactions company-wide in 2005,...

Acxiom Corp. Company Leader Charles D. Morgan has adopted a prearranged stock trading plan to sell a portion of his company stock over a 10-month period to pay off personal debt.(Business Briefs)
October 2, 2006... Acxiom Corp. Company Leader Charles D. Morgan has adopted a prearranged stock trading plan to sell a portion of his company stock over a 10-month period to pay off personal debt. Under Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Morgan...

Cingular Wireless.(Business Briefs)
October 2, 2006... Cingular Wireless has launched it 3G (third generation) high-speed wireless broadband service, BroadbandConnect, in central Arkansas. Cingular's service allows customers to access e-mail, browse the Internet and watch video clips at speeds...

William E. "Bill" Clark, CEO of CDI Contractors LLC, is the 2007 chairman of the Donald W. Reynolds Governor's Cup, "Arkansas's premier statewide business plan competition," according to Sam Walls III, president of the Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation.(Business Briefs)
October 2, 2006... William E. "Bill" Clark, CEO of CDI Contractors LLC, is the 2007 chairman of the Donald W. Reynolds Governor's Cup, "Arkansas's premier statewide business plan competition," according to Sam Walls III, president of the Arkansas Economic...

Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies Inc.(Business Briefs)
October 2, 2006... Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies Inc. said full startup of its new Springdale South manufacturing facility has been delayed until Nov. i because of defective machinery supplied by two vendors. The company expects the delay to hurt...

Southern Property Corp.(Business Briefs)
October 2, 2006... John French has been named president of Southern Property Corp., an affiliate of Southern Bancorp of Arkadelphia. French has been in the banking industry for 20 years, most recently as president of Regions Bank in Arkadelphia. He also serves as...

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.(Business Briefs)
October 2, 2006... Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s board of directors has adopted a majority vote standard for its board, which will apply to all elections of directors. Previously, directors were elected by a plurality vote, in which candidates receiving the most votes...

Murphy Oil Corp. ranks No. 78 on Fortune's 2006 list of the 100 Fastest-Growing Companies.(Business Briefs)
October 2, 2006... Murphy Oil Corp. ranks No. 78 on Fortune's 2006 list of the 100 Fastest-Growing Companies. The El Dorado company saw profits rise 77 percent and revenue grow 44 percent with a stock return of 30 percent on average annually over the past three...

Retirement Advisors of Arkansas.(holding grand opening of its offices)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Retirement Advisors of Arkansas will hold a grand opening of its new 2,000-SF offices at 301 Natural Resources Drive, No. 202, on Oct. 5. RAA is an Arkansas-based corporation that specializes in wealth accumulation strategies with an emphasis...

Regions Bank.(Business Briefs)
October 2, 2006... Regions Bank of Birmingham, Ala., has launched DeskTop Deposit, a product that allows business customers to deposit checks electronically from their places of business. Customers can submit their checks to their Regions Bank account using a...

XTO Energy has donated $50,000 to Ducks Unlimited for waterfowl habitat improvement in Arkansas.(Business Briefs)
October 2, 2006... XTO Energy has donated $50,000 to Ducks Unlimited for waterfowl habitat improvement in Arkansas. With the gift, wetlands restoration on public lands, similar to that completed at Frog Bayou Wildlife Management Area in Crawford County, will be...

Arkansas Western Gas Co. of Fayetteville, which has 150,000 customers in north Arkansas, is seeking a $13.1 million increase in its base rate.(Business Briefs)
October 2, 2006... Arkansas Western Gas Co. of Fayetteville, which has 150,000 customers in north Arkansas, is seeking a $13.1 million increase in its base rate. If the state Public Service Commission approves it, residential bills would go up by 8.3 percent a...

Entergy Corp. of New Orleans was honored as Best in Class for its approach to climate change in a report by the Carbon Disclosure Project, a coalition of global investors with more than $31.5 trillion in assets.(Business Briefs)
October 2, 2006... Entergy Corp. of New Orleans was honored as Best in Class for its approach to climate change in a report by the Carbon Disclosure Project, a coalition of global investors with more than $31.5 trillion in assets. Entergy was included in the...

A Tyson Foods Inc. marketing campaign has earned a multicultural advertising award from the American Advertising Federation.(Business Briefs)
October 2, 2006... A Tyson Foods Inc. marketing campaign has earned a multicultural advertising award from the American Advertising Federation. Three "Powered by Tyson" television commercials developed by Tyson's African-American marketing agency, E. Morris...

AHA annual meeting begins Wednesday.(Hospital Notes)
October 2, 2006... The Arkansas Hospital Association's 76th annual meeting and trade show will be held Wednesday at The Peabody Little Rock and the Statehouse Convention Center. The meeting offers the opportunity for hospital executive teams, managers and...

Children's, UAMS host lecture on Tuesday.(Hospital Notes)
October 2, 2006... Dr. Jack Shonkoff is the lecturer at this year's L. Lynn Harris Memorial Lecture hosted by the Department of Pediatrics of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the staff and board of Arkansas Children's Hospital Shonkoff will...

UAMS Biochemist enters Mprize competition.(Hospital Notes)
October 2, 2006... Dr. Craig A. Cooney, an epigenetics expert at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, is entering the competition to win the Methuselah Mouse Prize (Mprize). The Mprize, a scientific research prize aimed at encouraging scientists...

Hospital costs a big part of health care expenditures.(Hospital Notes)
October 2, 2006... In 2004, the United States spent $1.9 trillion, or 16 percent of its gross domestic product, on health care. This averages out to about $6,280 for each man, woman and child. Hospital costs that year totaled $790 billion, according to a recent...

Health insurance twice inflation rate.(Hospital Notes)
October 2, 2006... Although it's the smallest increase in health insurance premiums since 1999, this year's 7.7 percent increase is still more than twice the rate of inflation, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health care research organization that...

Baptist again tops $1 billion in patient revenue.(Last Overview)
October 2, 2006... FOR THE SECOND CONSECUtive year, Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock was the only hospital in Arkansas to break the $1 billion mark for patient revenue. The 665-bed hospital also reported an income of $12.7 million for its fiscal...

Largest hospitals & medical centers.(Hospitals)(Table)
October 2, 2006... Largest Hospitals & Medical Centers Ranked by revenue according to most recent Medicare cost report available to Arkansas Business Patient Revenue Hospital Return on Net...

Saline Memorial grows with suburbs.(HOSPITALS)(facilities of Fiscal Health of Saline Memorial)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... THE FISCAL HEALTH OF SALINE MEMORIAL Hospital in Benton continues to mirror the increased number of rooftops in its service area. The 167-bed facility recorded net income of $1.6 million in 2003, almost $1.8 million in 2004 and $1,8 million...

Imagine-A Restaurant.(New Businesses: A Listing of Business Start-Ups in Arkansas)
October 2, 2006... Owner: Adam Rosenblum Address: 11525 Cantrell Road, Suite 917, Little Rock 72212 Phone: (501) 801-5530 Fax: (501) 801-5533 Hours: Brunch: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Sun. Lunch: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat. Dinner: 5-10:30 p.m....

LAF Productions Inc.(New Business: A Listing of Business Start-Ups in Arkansas)
October 2, 2006... Owner: Larry Freeman Address: 11214 Mesa Drive, Little Rock 72211 Phone: (877) LAF-LAST (523-5278) Fax: (866) 210-4437 Hours: N/A Startup: January 2006 E-mail: larryfreeman@LAFproductions.com Web site:...

Calendar.(Calendar)
October 2, 2006... OCTOBER * 4--Basic Supervisor Training Time: 8 a.m.-4:30 a.m Location: Bank of the Ozarks Building, 5401 Rogers Ave.. Fort Smith Fee: $125 For more information, call (479) 783-8200 * 5--Harding University Fall Career...

Hendrix College.(EDUCATION)(new appointments)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Kurt Boggan and Randy Wilbourn of Little Rock; Theodore Bunting Jr. of Mississippi; and R. Paul Craig of Chandler, Ariz., joined the board of trustees of Hendrix College at Conway. Boggan is senior pastor at Highland Valley United Methodist...

Mary Cantrell received the Outstanding Standardized Patient Educator Award from the Association of Standardized Patient Educators.(EDUCATION)
October 2, 2006... Mary Cantrell received the Outstanding Standardized Patient Educator Award from the Association of Standardized Patient Educators. Cantrell is the director of the Center for Clinical Skills Education at the University of Arkansas for Medical...

Ouachita Baptist University.(EDUCATION)
October 2, 2006... Nancy Hardman has been named to the Edna and Freda Linn Chair of Communication Sciences and PreMedical Studies for Ouachita Baptist University (OBU) at Arkadelphia. Hardman was associate professor of communication sciences and disorders at OBU....

Ann Robinson has been awarded the Service Award for 2006 by the National Association of Gifted Children.(EDUCATION)
October 2, 2006... Ann Robinson has been awarded the Service Award for 2006 by the National Association of Gifted Children. Robinson is the director of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's Center for Gifted Education.

Fred Harper has joined Garver Engineers in the transportation engineering group.(ENGINEERING)
October 2, 2006... Fred Harper has joined Garver Engineers in the transportation engineering group. John Harvey and Jared Tumilson have joined Garver's electrical engineering group. Luke Miller has joined the structural engineering group.

Kim Pruitt has joined Twin City Bank in Little Rock as vice president of business development.(FINANCIAL SERVICES)
October 2, 2006... Kim Pruitt has joined Twin City Bank in Little Rock as vice president of business development. Pruitt previously served as the vice president of economic development for the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Arvest Bank.(FINANCIAL SERVICES)
October 2, 2006... Amy Glover Bryant has joined Arvest Bank as marketing officer. Bryant previously was the principal of Glover Bryant Communications in Little Rock.

Jim Homan has joined Elk Horn Bank of Malvern as president.(FINANCIAL SERVICES)
October 2, 2006... Jim Homan has joined Elk Horn Bank of Malvern as president. Stacey Blackard has been promoted to vice president, retail sales manager and customer service supervisor at the main Arkadelphia location of Elk Horn Bank. Shanna Stuckey has been...

Metropolitan Investment Professionals.(FINANCIAL SERVICES)
October 2, 2006... Jason Pedigo has joined Metropolitan Investment Professionals of Little Rock as a financial consultant. Pedigo previously was a financial adviser in Jonesboro.

Metropolitan National Bank.(FINANCIAL SERVICES)
October 2, 2006... Josh Mascaro has been promoted to vice president and retail regional manager for Metropolitan National Bank of Little Rock.

Richard C. Johnson of Johnson Investment Group in Russellville.(FINANCIAL SERVICES)
October 2, 2006... Richard C. Johnson of Johnson Investment Group in Russellville has been recognized as Equities Adviser of the Year and Private Equities Adviser of the Year by First Allied Securities.

Regions Bank.(FINANCIAL SERVICES)
October 2, 2006... Wes Williams and Richard Lamb have been named vice presidents of commercial lending of Regions Bank in Russellville.

Stock summary.
October 2, 2006... STOCK SUMMARY Arkansas Public 09/28/06 Weekly YTD Company Stocks Close Change Change Acxiom Corp. (ACXM) 24.83 -2.36% 10.76% A.E.R.T. (AERTA) 2.24 ...

What report?(Outtakes: An Inside Look Into Arkansas Media)
October 2, 2006... Big media ownership is no stranger to this market. All of our "big four" news stations in central Arkansas are owned by large conglomerates, as are all but one of our big commercial radio stations. According to a report done by the Federal...

Pecan and grinnin'.(Outtakes: An Inside Look Into Arkansas Media)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... We don't know if food fanatic and multimedia queen Rachael Ray's visit to Arkansas last year to film segments for her "Tasty Travels" show had any influence on the decision or not, but the perky television personality is giving props to yet...

She'll manage.(Outtakes: An Inside Look Into Arkansas Media)
October 2, 2006... We have a new order of sorts in the Arkansas Business hierarchy as Jan Cottingham joined Arkansas Business Publishing Group as managing editor of Arkansas Business and editor of business special publications. You might know the name from...

Drillers, regulators say water in Shale will be monitored: extracting natural gas from rock requires millions of gallons.
October 9, 2006... WITHOUT WATER AND A LOT OF IT, THE big-money energy companies that have descended on a natural gas formation in north-central Arkansas might as well pack it up and go home. Roughly a million gallons of water are needed before a whiff of gas...

Universal coverage coming? Costs will force Congress to touch hot potato, observers say.(INSURANCE)
October 9, 2006... NOT SINCE BILL AND Hillary met Harry and Louise has comprehensive health insurance reform been on the front-burner of American politics. But several observers say that's about to change. In August, for example, conservative economist...

Med-mal premiums stabilize in 2006.(INSURANCE)
October 9, 2006... ABOUT THREE months ago Dr. John Wilson started practicing in Helena again. The Little Rock orthopedic surgeon, who had driven to Helena at least once a week for 21 years, stopped making the trip in 2001 after he was sued three times for...

Troubled water.(Whispers)
October 9, 2006... Here's a behind-the-scenes report on the action in the water war on Lake Maumelle: It seems a peace negotiator has entered the fray between Central Arkansas Water and upscale homebuilder Rick Ferguson. Playing the role of Philip Habib...

Majestic closure?(Whispers)(Majestic Hotel will shut down its operations)(Brief article)
October 9, 2006... The details are sketchy at this point, but Hot Springs City Manager Kent Myers confirmed that the century-old Majestic Hotel will shut down operations later this month. "Negotiations for a change of ownership are ongoing," Myers said. And...

Capeo part due.(Whispers)(Brief article)
October 9, 2006... Brian and Eric Isaac, owners of Ristorante Capeo in downtown North Little Rock, are negotiating to open a second restaurant with a new concept on North Little Rock's Main Street. The Isaac brothers are currently talking to Silver City LLC,...