Texas ruling favors
Walmart liquor sales
A federal judge in Texas has sided with Walmart Inc. in its legal battle with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission to sell liquor by the bottle.
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman's ruling, which came Tuesday, followed a five-day bench trial held in June and supported the Bentonville retailer's constitutional challenge in the state.
Walmart, which sells beer and wine in 668 Texas locations, wants to sell liquor in Texas, but licenses for retail sales were refused by the commission. The company argued that the state's package liquor-license restrictions -- one of which prohibits public corporations from obtaining any package-store permits -- represented unconstitutional discrimination.
Walmart sells beer or wine in 47 states and liquor in 31 states, according to court documents.
The Texas Package Store Association said Wednesday that it plans to appeal Pitman's ruling.
-- Robbie Neiswanger
LR Port OK'd to pay
$1.8M to add to rail
A project to build an additional mile of railroad track at the Port of Little Rock will cost $1.8 million.
The authority's board of directors approved a resolution Wednesday authorizing Bryan Day, the authority executive director, to sign a contract with McGeorge Contracting Co. of Pine Bluff, which submitted the lowest of five bids opened March 6.
A mix of proceeds from a $4.5 million bond issue and a $6.5 million federal grant will pay for the project, the first of three designed to make the port more competitive.
The spur will allow the port to store a unit train, which is a 60-car train carrying the same material, and also provide rail to a new wharf the port expects to begin building this summer at the slack-water harbor.
A third project will build a warehouse, office space and systems to allow cargo to be transferred between barges and rail cars.
-- Noel Oman
State index edges up
0.28, ends at 417.33
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, gained 0.28 to 417.33 Wednesday.
"U.S. equities sold off in afternoon trading and closed modestly lower following the anticipated announcement by the Federal Open Market Committee raising the federal funds target range," said Leon Lants, managing director at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock.
Total volume for the index was 23.4 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 03/22/2018