News in brief

Turner Grain faces 2nd no-payment suit

Four farms have sued Turner Grain Merchandising of Brinkley and other businesses for the return of rice valued at more than $300,000.

Hardke Farms, Isbell Farms, K&K Farms and Schafer Farms said they have not been paid for rice delivered to the defendants, according to an Aug. 22 filing in Lonoke County Circuit Court.

The lawsuit is the second filed against Turner Grain and affiliated firms and individuals. On Aug. 18, eight farmers filed a complaint in Lee County Circuit Court seeking unspecified damages from Turner Grain.

Also named in the Lonoke County suit is Turner Commodities of Dumas, which was removed Thursday from an order issued by Lee County Circuit Judge Richard Proctor on Aug. 20 that froze the assets of the company.

The Lonoke County suit includes several defendants not included in the earlier court action. KBX Inc. of Benton is listed as a "customer" of K&K Farms.

The accusations included in the suit include breach of contract, fraud, theft by deception, violation of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and conspiracy. The plaintiffs seek a jury trial.

-- Jack Weatherly

FDIC ends sanction of First State Bank

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. terminated its sanction against First State Bank of Lonoke on June 30, the regulator said Friday.

The FDIC had sanctioned First State in July 2011 in connection with a $7.7 million loan made to a trust related to Kevin Lewis, the Little Rock lawyer whose theft of about $47 million led to the failure of First Southern Bank in Batesville in 2010.

Lewis' collateral for the loan was stock in First Southern Bank, which became worthless after the Batesville bank closed. First State Bank, which had about $265 million in assets and seven offices at the time, lost almost $5 million in 2010 but made a small profit in 2011.

First State Bank now has about $255 million in assets, six offices and has earned about $385,000 through the first six months of this year.

-- David Smith

Arkansas Index falls 0.23; 9 stocks dip

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, slipped 0.23 to 353.53 Friday.

Nine stocks declined and eight advanced.

Murphy Oil gained 2.2 percent on average volume.

America's Car-Mart lost 1.1 percent in heavy trading.

For the week, 10 stocks were up and seven lost ground.

USA Truck added 3.8 percent for the week.

Bear State Financial fell 4.9 percent for the week.

Total volume of the index was 23.9 million shares. The average daily volume for the week was 16.2 million shares.

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 08/30/2014

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