NEWS IN BRIEF

— Suit against Murphy,

others dismissed

A lawsuit that accused Murphy Oil Corp. of El Dorado and about 100 other oil and gas companies for causing Hurricane Katrina in 2005 has been dismissed from federal court in the Southern District of Mississippi.

The case, Comer vs. Murphy Oil, was filed in 2005 and dismissed Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. He dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it can’t be refiled.

The suit accused Murphy and other companies of causing global warming and therefore causing Katrina.

Guirola ruled that global warming is a political question that should be left to the legislative branch and the regulators. He also said there was not enough factual evidence provided to prove claims that the energy companies caused global warning.

“The Court finds that the plaintiffs do not have standing to assert their claims, because their alleged injuries are not fairly traceable to the defendants’ conduct,” Guirola wrote in his order.

Wal-Mart set to pay $2.1 million penalty

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has agreed to pay a $2.1 million penalty for charging California customers at prices higher than those posted, in violation of a 2008 judgment ordering the retail chain to stop, state Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced Wednesday.

The agreement came after an investigation that began in November 2010 found that Wal-Mart stores in 11 counties made checkout scanning errors that left customers paying more than listed prices.

The investigation was a follow-up to the 2008 judgment, where 164 stores in 30 counties were found to have overcharged customers.

Wal-Mart agreed at the time to knock $3 off the lowest listed price of an item for any customer who was overcharged. If the item cost less than $3, the item would be free. That program has now been extended to November 2013.

California Wal-Mart’s will be required to post signs describing the policy in English and Spanish at every checkout counter.

A Wal-Mart representative said the Bentonvillebased company is committed to accurate prices at the checkout counter.

Arkansas Index falls;

P.A.M. price climbs

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 1.15 to 233.11 Thursday.

P.A.M. Transportation Services jumped 9.7 percent on five times its normal volume.

P.A.M. said earlier this week that it will issue a special $1 a share dividend next month. The stock has jumped 18 percent since Tuesday.

Murphy Oil sank 3.4 percent in heavy trading.

The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.

Business, Pages 29 on 03/23/2012

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