Dicamba exemption
signed for 6 farmers
A judge's order exempting six Arkansas farmers from the state's ban on using dicamba in crops this season took effect Tuesday, although the decision can still be appealed.
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox's order, which he signed Tuesday, applies only to six Arkansas farmers who had challenged the state's April 16-Oct. 31 cutoff on spraying the herbicide on dicamba-tolerant cotton and soybeans this summer.
The six farmers initially challenged the board's dicamba ban through a legal process called a "petition for rule-making" and asked for a May 25 cutoff date as a compromise. They sued in November after the board rejected their petition.
Fox dismissed the lawsuit Friday without getting into its merits because the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled in January that the state's 1874 constitution says the state cannot be made a defendant in its own courts. However, Fox also said the ruling had violated the farmers' "procedural and substantive" rights to due process, or specifically the right to appeal the Plant Board's ban.
Fox declared the April 16-Oct. 31 cutoff moot for those six farmers because their lawsuit wasn't a class action.
-- Stephen Steed
Walmart global cash
transfers almost set
Walmart Inc. is working with MoneyGram International to begin offering an international money transfer service called Walmart2World.
The global service, which will be available in the retailer's 4,700 U.S. stores later this month and through the Walmart app, builds on a domestic program the company introduced about four years ago called Walmart2Walmart. The service allows customers to transfer money between Walmart stores and was designed for individuals who do not use banks or have access to them.
Walmart's new global transfer service will give customers an opportunity to send money to people in more than 200 countries. Individuals using Walmart2World will be charged $4 to send up to $50, $8 to send $51-$1,000, and $16 for $1,001-$2,500.
Transferred funds will be delivered in 10 minutes or less.
-- Robbie Neiswanger
State index up 5.13,
ending day at 398.25
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, gained 5.13 to 398.25 Tuesday.
"Investors moved back into the market Tuesday, pushing stocks higher on a rally in technology stocks and the upbeat outlook for the coming corporate earnings season," said Chris Harkins, managing director with Raymond James & Associates in Little Rock.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 04/04/2018