QUOTE OF THE DAY “We’re witnessing the start of a new geopolitical and economic Cold War, and I think it will take at least two to three years to establish some sort of equilibrium.” Mircea Geoana, a Romanian government representative, on Russia’s annexation of Crimea Article, 1D
New director appointed for UA division
Betsy Garrison was appointed Monday as director for the School of Human Environmental Sciences at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
She was appointed by Mike Vayda, dean of Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. Her appointment to the position is effective July 1.
Garrison has been associate dean and professor at Louisiana State University’s College of Agriculture since 2005. She also has worked in administration for 16 years, conducted research in several areas of behavioral science and taught at all levels. She earned her doctorate in family environment from Iowa State University in 1990.
“I am very excited to have Dr. Garrison join our team and lead our School of Human Environmental Sciences,” Vayda said in the release. “This is such a key position for our college, focusing on human development and family sciences, nutrition and healthy well-being, hospitality and apparel studies,” Vayda said. “We’re ready for Betsy to come on board and get started.”2 meat-producer groups approve merger
The North American Meat Association’s board of directors approved a bid Friday to merge its company with the American Meat Institute.
The consolidation effort is a move to create unity within the meat sector and to better represent all meat producers.
Talks of the merger began in September.
“NAMA’s vote is welcome news. A merger of our two groups is the right decision at the right time and it will serve our industry well,” institute Chairman Greg Benedict said in a release.
The institute’s members will vote on the merger in April.
If approved, the merger will be effective January 1, 2015, said spokesman Eric Mittenthal.
“The NAMA Board feels strongly that the members will be best served by this merger. We’re excited to have this opportunity to form a new industry organization,” association Co-President Tony Gahn Jr. said in a release.
Currently, the institute represents nearly 1,000 businesses in poultry and red meat processing, which represents 95 percent of the red meat and 70 percent of turkey produced in the U.S. The association represents more than 600 companies, which includes meat packers and processors, suppliers and affiliate members.
In 2012, the National Meat Association and the North American Meat Processors Association combined to create the North American Meat Association.
- Tina Parker
Full House Resorts to buy Tunica casino
TUNICA - Las Vegas-based Full House Resorts has agreed to buy Fitzgerald’s casino in Tunica from Majestic Star Casino LLC.
The purchase price is $62 million, exclusive of working capital and other adjustments, fees and expenses as of the closing date. The agreement is subject to Full House obtaining financing for the acquisition within 90 days of its execution, obtaining regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
Full House said in a news release that it expects to close the deal during the third quarter of 2014.
The Fitz Casino has 38,000 square feet of gambling space with 1,100 slot and video poker machines and 20 table games. The Mississippi property includes a 506-room hotel and an 8,100-square-foot multipurpose event center.
New Georgia Vidalia onion rules tossed
ATLANTA - Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black overstepped his authority when he changed rules last year to allow him to determine when the Vidalia sweet onion crop can be harvested and shipped, a judge ruled.
Judge Cynthia Wright of the Superior Court of Fulton County ruled state law gives Black the authority to determine packing rules, but not decide when the onions can be shipped.
Delbert Bland, owner of Bland Farms, sued Black and his department, arguing state law did not give him the authority to establish shipping dates for the Vidalia onion.
In a statement, Bland said the ruling means “Mother Nature will decide when our Vidalia Sweet Onions are ready to ship, not an arbitrary date on the calendar.”
To combat fears that Vidalia onions were not as sweet as they should be and to address other quality concerns about premature harvesting, Black in August mandated the last week of April as the earliest the onion may be harvested and packed.
Kenya wind project raises $870 million
Kenya’s largest wind-power project Lake Turkana Wind Power Ltd. raised $870 million from a dozen investors in a record financing for the technology in Africa.
An agreement has been signed for the delayed 300-megawatt development led by London-based Aldwych International Ltd., Harith General Partners Pty Ltd. said Monday in a statement. Harith is the manager of the Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund that holds a majority stake in Aldwych.
The project on the shores of Lake Turkana, first unveiled in 2009, will meet as much as 17 percent of Kenya’s power needs when completed in 2017, according to a German development bank involved in the development.
Namibia sparkles over marine diamonds
Namibia’s marine diamonds can sell for at least triple the price of gems from neighboring Botswana and as much as 14 times those from Zimbabwe, the country’s Diamonds Commissioner Kennedy Hamutenya said Monday.
The “pure carbon, spotless” stones mined from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean are selling for an average of $450 to $700 per carat, Hamutenya said. That compares with about $150 per carat for diamonds from Botswana, less than $100 for Angolan gems and below $50 for those from Zimbabwe, he said.
“Namibia’s diamonds fetch the highest prices because they are of high quality, pure carbon, spotless and they don’t disintegrate,” Hamutenya said.
Namibia’s Atlantic coastal area holds an estimated 80 million carats of gems, the world’s richest marine diamond deposits, which were carried to the sea by the Orange River and could be mined beyond 2050, Hamutenya said. Namdeb Diamond Corp., which is jointly owned by the Namibian government and Anglo American PLC’s De Beers, produced 1.76 million carats in 2013, up 6 percent from 2012 output.
- Bloomberg News
Business, Pages 24 on 03/25/2014