QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We continue to strongly maintain the good faith of Don Nunzio Scarano and his absolute certainty that the money came from legitimate donations.” Silverio Sica, Monsignor Nunzio Scarano’s lawyer Article, 1D
Fort Smith area’s outlook rises in survey
Consumer sentiment rose modestly in Fort Smith in the fourth quarter of 2013, showing an improvement in optimism compared with the third quarter and significantly higher than the same period in 2012.
The Index of Consumer Sentiment for the Fort Smith Metropolitan Statistical Area was 61.5, up 3.5 percent compared with the previous quarter and up 17.5 percent from 52.2 for the fourth quarter of 2012. The report was released last week by the Center for Business Research and Economic Development at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.
Another component of the survey, the Index for Consumer Expectations, measures feelings about economic conditions in the future and was at 64.9 for the region, up 19.3 percent from last quarter.
In the report summary, Kermit Kuehn, director of the center, said there is evidence that consumers expect the overall economy to improve this year and that the region’s economic news supports this view.
The statistical area includes Sebastian, Crawford and Franklin counties, and Le Flore and Sequoyah counties in Oklahoma. The report is sponsored by Arvest Bank.
YRC, Teamsters reach tentative deal
A tentative deal between YRC Worldwide and the Teamsters has been reached.
Approval of the contract by YRC’s Teamster employees would extend their current collective bargaining agreement until March 2019. Local union officials were reviewing the changes Tuesday as part of the Teamsters’ “two person” meetings.
If approved by the local committees, the contract would be sent to YRC’s union membership for a vote. A previous proposal suggested by the company, but not approved by union representatives, was voted down Jan. 9.
YRC CEO James Welch has said renegotiating the contract is critical to his company refinancing or paying down $1.4 billion in debt.
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa, who is also co-chairman of the National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee, said the revised proposal will protect “the jobs of our members at YRC and its regional companies.”
YRC recently completed negotiations with UPS Freight and reached a new five-year agreement in October with ABF Freight Systems Inc., a subsidiary of Fort Smith based Arkansas Best.
Sabin to direct business accelerator
State Rep. Warwick Sabin, D-Little Rock, will lead a new business accelerator program in central Arkansas, Innovate Arkansas announced Tuesday.
Sabin, executive director of the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub, will direct the ARK Challenge program as it expands to the region from Northwest Arkansas, according to a news release.
The ARK Challenge is a 14-week business acceleration program that invites teams from all over the world to participate, Sabin said.
The program, which has been held in Fayetteville the past two years, gives 12 to 15 accepted teams seed funding to participate, he said.
During the program, teams are mentored as they develop their business plans, and the winner receives a cash prize, Sabin said.
Sabin will start in his new role next month. He will organize the program’s expansion to central Arkansas, the recruitment of teams and the logistics of the program when it begins in August.
The boot camp is funded by the federal Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge grant, according to a news release.
The Arkansas Economic Development Commission will give $300,000 for operating costs, and Innovate Arkansas plans to contribute $800,000 raised through private investors, according to the news release.
Ex-manager gets probation in BP spill
NEW ORLEANS - A former Halliburton manager was sentenced Tuesday to one year of probation for destroying evidence in the aftermath of BP’s 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Anthony Badalamenti of Katy, Texas, had faced a maximum of one year in prison at his sentencing by U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey. Badalamenti pleaded guilty in October to one misdemeanor count of destruction of evidence.
The 62-year-old also has to perform 100 hours of community service and pay a $1,000 fine.
Badalamenti was the cementing technology director for Halliburton Energy Services Inc., BP’s cement contractor on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. Prosecutors said he instructed two Halliburton employees to delete data during a post-spill review of the cement job on BP’s blown-out Macondo well.
Badalamenti apologized to his family and friends for causing them “undue stress.”
Halliburton cut a deal with the Justice Department and pleaded guilty in September to a misdemeanor charge related to Badalamenti’s conduct. The company agreed to pay a $200,000 fine and make a $55 million contribution to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Judge won’t toss U.S. suit on MF Global
Jon Corzine lost his bid for dismissal of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trade Commission’s lawsuit over the 2011 collapse of MF Global Holdings Ltd.
The requests of Corzine and former MF Global Assistant Treasurer Edith O’Brien to throw out the case are “without merit,” U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero said in a ruling filed Friday in Manhattan federal court.
The agency purported in its complaint that the executives violated the Commodity Exchange Act by reportedly illegally transferring funds from customer accounts. Marrero said it was too soon in the case to rule on whether the Commodity Futures Trade Commission can prove its claims.
MF Global, once touted by its senior officers and directors as having strong internal controls and liquidity levels, collapsed and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2011 after making bad bets on European sovereign debt and getting margin calls.
In November, the company’s brokerage unit was fined $100 million and forced to admit to allegations in a lawsuit by the commission over customer losses sustained in its failure.
Business, Pages 24 on 01/22/2014