News in Brief

Knight sells 142,000

shares of USA Truck

Knight Transportation Inc. sold 142,000 shares of USA Truck Inc. over the past few days, reducing its holdings in its trucking rival to 10 percent.

According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Knight sold the shares between Thursday and Monday. Knight still holds 1,051,117 shares of USA Truck.

The value of the shares sold is about $2.6 million. USA Truck shares rose 58 cents, or 3.2 percent, to close Monday at $18.69. Shares have traded between $5.28 and $19.57 over the past year.

Knight made public a hostile bid for USA Truck in September but has since entered into a standstill agreement that prevents it from adding more USA Truck shares or engaging in other takeover-related opportunities through September.

In May, the two largest shareholders in USA Truck formed United Shareholders for the Benefit of USAK, an entity controlling 28 percent of the company's stock valued at the time at more than $37 million.

Last week, USA Truck reported a net income of $722,000 for its second quarter, its first quarterly profit in three years.

-- John Magsam

Kansas plan revamps

dog track into casino

Downstream Casino Resort in northeast Oklahoma is working with the owner of the Las Vegas Treasure Island Hotel and Casino to open a former dog track in southeast Kansas as a casino.

The partners will submit a request with the Kansas Lottery Commission for one casino license for the southeast Kansas zone. A recent amendment to Kansas law reduced the minimum investment in a casino from $225 million to $50 million and chopped the casino license fee from $25 million to $5.5 million.

The Camptown dog track in Frontenac, Kan., has been closed since the mid-1990s. If permits are granted, it will reopen as a state-owned, privately managed upscale casino, according to a release Monday. Dog racing will not be part of the new project.

In Arkansas, betting is allowed on greyhound races at Southland Park in West Memphis and thoroughbred races at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs. State law allows gambling on electronic devices at the racetracks.

-- John Magsam

Arkansas Index up

3.25; truckers gain

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, gained 3.25 to 347.93 on Monday.

"The major indexes advanced after Portugal reduced fears of a debt crisis by bailing out its largest bank," said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock.

Trucking issues were strong with P.A.M. Transportation gaining 7.3 percent. USA Truck saw a 3.2 percent rise, Williams said.

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 08/05/2014

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