The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas said Monday that it has awarded more than $1.1 million in Affordable Housing Program grants to create or rehabilitate 163 housing units in Arkansas.
The grants include $500,000 for 75 rental units in Fort Smith, $105,000 for 15 ownership units in Harrison, $35,000 for five ownership units in Hot Springs, $70,000 for 10 ownership units in Little Rock, $336,000 for 48 rental units in North Little Rock and $69,000 for 10 ownership units in Russellville.
Overall, the bank has awarded $7.6 million in grants to 30 projects in its five-state district of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas.
The bank returns 10 percent of its profits in the form of Affordable Housing Program grants each year.
6 cities, county get development funds
Six Arkansas cities and one county received Community Development Block Grants ranging from $187,000 to $220,000 for projects including a homeless shelter, youth center and drainage improvements, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Monday.
The funds, totaling nearly $1.4 million, originate from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and will be administered by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission's grants division.
Recipients included Amagon, Danville, Eureka Springs, McCrory, Paragould, Waldron and Monroe County. To be eligible for Community Development Block Grant funds, communities must have a population of less than 50,000 and a majority of households earning low to moderate incomes.
Adobe adopts generous new-child policy
NEW YORK -- Adobe is the latest tech company to extend its paid parental leave policy after Netflix said it would offer corporate employees up to a year of paid leave to care for new babies.
Adobe Systems Inc. said Monday that it will offer parents who are the primary caregivers 16 weeks of paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child. That's in addition to 10 weeks of paid medical leave after childbirth, so a new mother could take a total of 26 weeks off.
Nonprimary caregivers will receive four weeks with full pay.
Adobe will also cover up to 4 weeks of family leave to care for a sick family member.
The new policy applies to Adobe's 6,000 U.S. employees and is effective Nov. 1.
CVS settles painkiller case for $450,000
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- CVS Health will pay the government $450,000 to settle allegations that several Rhode Island pharmacy locations filled a number of forged and invalid painkiller prescriptions.
U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha announced the agreement Monday.
The announcement of the fine caps a two-year investigation by Neronha's office and the Drug Enforcement Administration's Office of Diversion Control into Woonsocket, R.I.-based CVS' retail pharmacy locations. The government alleges that these locations were filling prescriptions for various controlled substances with high potential for abuse.
The government says the locations filled a number of forged prescriptions with invalid DEA numbers and multiple prescriptions written by nurse practitioners for the opioid painkiller hydrocodone.
Under the Controlled Substances Act, such painkillers can only be prescribed by a physician.
CVS has denied wrongdoing.
Alibaba to buy stake in retailer for $4.6B
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. will spend $4.6 billion for a stake in Suning Commerce Group Ltd. as China's biggest e-commerce operator adds a network of electronics stores in its biggest deal ever.
Alibaba will buy a 19.99 percent stake in Suning, which in turn will spend as much as $2.25 billion for shares in the e-commerce company, according to a Business Wire statement Monday. The companies will partner in logistics and online sales to target deliveries as fast as two hours.
Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma is beefing up his retail presence after a 24 percent drop in the company's market value this year, bolstering the appeal of e-commerce operations facing slowing growth in China. Adding Suning to a partnership with department store operator Intime Retail Group Co. helps Alibaba compete with JD.com Inc., which specializes in selling electronics and has surged in New York trading this year.
-- Bloomberg News
Low milk prices boost Dean Foods profit
Dean Foods Co., the largest U.S. dairy processor, posted better-than-expected second-quarter earnings as it benefited from the global plunge in raw-milk prices.
Earnings excluding one-time items were 33 cents per share, Dallas-based Dean said in a statement Monday, compared with the 26-cent average of 11 analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
The company also forecast third-quarter earnings of 17 cents to 27 cents a share, the midpoint of which was higher that the 21-cent average estimate.
Farmers around the world have expanded milk production after dairy prices rose to a record last year. The increase in supply has pushed global dairy prices to their lowest since 2009. That's good news for Dean, which buys milk to make products such as yogurt and cheese. It said Class I Mover, a measure of raw-milk costs, was on average 33 percent less in the quarter compared with a year earlier.
Net income was 28 cents per share in the second quarter, compared with a year-earlier loss of 1 cent. Sales dropped 16 percent to $2.01 billion, trailing the $2.07 billion average estimate.
The shares fell 52 cents, or 2.9 percent, to close Monday at $17.21.
The company said late Friday that Chairman Tom Davis resigned with immediate effect, without giving further details.
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 08/11/2015