State specialty crops to get $290,000
Arkansas will receive about $290,000 in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for specialty crops.
The money is part of $62.5 million that the USDA is giving to state departments of agriculture across the country.
"Specialty crops are an important part of the landscape in Arkansas and across the U.S.," said Wes Ward, Arkansas' agriculture secretary. "We appreciate the opportunity to receive grant funds ... to keep this crop sector viable and accessible to the marketplace."
Specialty crops include some fruits, vegetables, tree nuts and horticulture. The University of Arkansas System's Agriculture Division will receive some of the grant money to assist breeding efforts for peaches and nectarines, and the University of Arkansas Department of Food Science will use its grant money to develop edamame snacks and get them to grocery stores.
The Arkansas Agriculture Department, Raising Arkansas and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff also received some of the grant money.
-- Claire Williams
N.M. judge tells FastBucks: Pay $32M
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- A New Mexico judge Wednesday ordered a payday loan company that operates online and in five states to pay more than $32 million in restitution to customers for unfair and unconscionable business practices.
The state attorney general's office announced Judge Francis Mathew's judgment against FastBucks in a case that was first brought by prosecutors nearly a decade ago.
Attorney General Hector Balderas said the judgment represents "a great step toward eliminating predatory business practices that prey on New Mexico families."
Balderas also said it will take time to work through the legal process to get customers what they're owed.
FastBucks did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
The state sued FastBucks in 2009, accusing the company of taking advantage of payday loan regulations. Legislative changes were adopted in 2007, but prosecutors said the company fashioned loans to circumvent the regulations and steer borrowers into loans with higher interest rates.
A state district judge in 2012 ordered FastBucks to pay restitution and be permanently barred from making loans that didn't conform to New Mexico's consumer protection laws. Just months later, the Texas-based company filed for bankruptcy protection.
-- The Associated Press
GM to lay off 2,000 workers in 2 states
General Motors Co. said it will lay off 2,000 workers at two plants in Ohio and Michigan as U.S. sales of its Chevrolet Camaro sports car and Chevy Cruze compact have slumped this year.
The automaker said it's eliminating the third shift at a factory in Lansing, Mich., that makes the Camaro and another in Lordstown, Ohio, where GM builds the Cruze. GM is treating the layoffs as permanent, but some workers may be able to transfer to openings at other plants, spokesman Tom Wickham said in a phone interview.
Consumers in the U.S. have been buying more sport utility vehicles, shunning small cars like the Cruze. Sales of the car fell 20 percent this year through October as the Detroit-based automaker has sold fewer to rental fleets. Camaro sales fell 9 percent as sports cars have become less popular. The Lansing plant that builds the Camaro also makes the Cadillac ATS and CTS sedans, but those assembly lines will be minimally affected.
GM also said it will invest $900 million in three plants, including the Lansing factory. That investment will not add any new jobs, Wickham said.
-- Bloomberg News
Beverly Hills voters reject condo tower
A costly battle over development in Beverly Hills, Calif., ended with voters rejecting a hotel owner's proposal to combine two planned condominium towers into a single building that would have loomed over the wealthy Southern California enclave.
With 44 percent in support and 56 percent against, Beverly Hills voters rejected plans by Beny Alagem, who owns the Beverly Hilton and is building an adjacent 170-room Waldorf Astoria, to develop a single 26-story tower next to the hotels, instead of eight- and 18-story buildings that were approved by the City Council and a voter referendum in 2008.
The campaign over the towers was the most expensive in the history of the city of 35,000. Alagem and his businesses spent $6.8 million as of Oct. 22, while opponents led by Dalian Wanda Group Co. spent $900,000, according to filings with the city clerk. In all, the spending on the measure came to more than $350 per registered voter in Beverly Hills.
Wanda -- a Chinese development and entertainment company headed by Wang Jianlin, the world's 19th-richest person, with a net worth of $32.1 billion -- is proposing two towers across the street from Alagem's project. Wanda has said its opposition to Alagem's ballot measure is part of a "broader communitywide effort" to make Alagem submit to the same review process as other builders.
-- Bloomberg News
1st-half profit falls at U.K.'s Burberry
U.K. luxury-goods-maker Burberry Group PLC reported a drop in first-half profit that met analysts' estimates, failing to match rivals that reported better-than-expected results.
Adjusted pretax profit fell 4 percent to $182 million in the six months through September, the London-based company said Wednesday. Analysts expected $180 million. The drop was 24 percent excluding currency shifts.
The numbers contrast with those of LVMH, Kering SA and Hermes International SCA, which all beat estimates in their latest reporting periods. The British trench-coat maker is grappling with ebbing demand in key luxury hubs such as Hong Kong, though like its peers has seen some improvement in recent months. Sales in the Asia Pacific region rose by mid-single digits in the second quarter, but were still negative in the first half.
"Burberry didn't make an emphatic regional call around markets such as Greater China, where most brands are flagging a pickup in growth," said John Guy, an analyst at MainFirst Bank AG. "Sales growth in mainland China appears to be softer relative to peers."
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 11/10/2016