News in brief

$240,059 put in pot of Turner bankruptcy

A federal bankruptcy judge has ordered North Little Rock-based Oakley Grain to turn over about $240,000 to the trustee in the Turner Grain bankruptcy case.

Oakley received the money for handling grain for Turner Grain Merchandising Inc., a defunct dealer based in Brinkley. Oakley, a commodity trader and shipper, asked the court last year to decide which party in the Turner bankruptcy case had the best claim to a total of $513,463. Oakley later revised the total disputed amount to $368,334, saying the higher figure was incorrect.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Phyllis M. Jones approved a partial settlement of the dispute last week. She ordered $240,059 turned over to Richard Cox of Hot Springs, the trustee in the case charged with liquidating Turner Grain's assets.

Jones ordered that the remaining $128,275 remain under the court's control until ownership could be determined. Ivory Rice LLC of Brinkley and Helena National Bank, a creditor of Ivory Rice, have claims on that money.

Turner filed for bankruptcy in October 2014.

-- Scott Morris

12 big-rig drivers named to road team

Twelve drivers from six trucking companies were named to the 2015-16 Arkansas Road Team last week, according to the Arkansas Trucking Association.

The drivers will represent the industry at events around the state, educating the public on driving safely near large commercial vehicles. The Arkansas Road Team was formed from part of $368,000 in grants awarded to the Arkansas Trucking Association to hire a full-time safety director and create programs promoting safety.

The 12 drivers are Tom Miller and April Coolidge of USA Truck; Danny Fuller of Con-way Freight; Loren Hatfield, Arthur "Otto" Schmeckenbecher and Walter J. Stanley of ABF Freight; Robert Kelley, Gary Mars and Gary Jaworski of Wal-Mart Transportation; Larry Rhein and Mark Rook of FedEx Freight; and Jerry Whittenburg of Stallion Transportation Group.

-- Robbie Neiswanger

Index surges 7.95 as all 18 issues gain

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, jumped 7.95 to 324.35 Monday.

All 18 stocks gained ground.

Bear State Financial climbed 9.9 percent on heavy volume.

Windstream rose 5.8 percent in light trading.

The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.

Business on 10/06/2015

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