News in brief

Dicamba comment deadline is today

The state Plant Board has received more than 400 comments from the public on its proposed rules for dicamba usage next crop season, with the 30-day comment period ending today.

As of 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, shortly before the state closed for the long Thanksgiving weekend, the board had received 449 comments, according to the state Department of Agriculture, the board's umbrella agency. The comment period ends at 5 p.m. today. Comments can be submitted online via the department's website.

The board has proposed a May 25 cutoff on dicamba's in-crop use next year, the same date set for use this year. Still, the board received 208 complaints of damage to crops and other vegetation not tolerant of the herbicide.

A public hearing on the May 25 cutoff, and other proposed restrictions, has been scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Dec. 11 at the Embassy Suites hotel in west Little Rock. Some 250 people have attended each of the public hearings held in a ballroom at the hotel when the board was considering dicamba rules for the 2018 and 2019 crop seasons.

The Plant Board received 2,647 comments as part of its discussion of 2019 dicamba rules.

-- Stephen Steed

Apartments in LR fetch $45.5M in sale

The Ridge at Chenal Valley, an apartment complex in west Little Rock, has changed ownership in a $45.5 million transaction.

Chenal Valley Partners LLC acquired the 312-unit complex at 5400 Chenonceau Blvd. from MAA Arkansas REIT LLC on Oct. 28, according to online records maintained by the Pulaski County assessor's office.

Chenal Valley Partners is headed by Frederic A. Scarola, co-founder and principal of Covenent Capital Group, a Nashville, Tenn.-based investment management company that focuses on acquiring and renovating apartment communities in major southeastern and mid-Atlantic markets.

The seller is led by Leslie B.C. Wolfgang, senior vice president, chief ethics and compliance officer and corporate secretary at MAA, a real-estate investment trust. An S&P 500 company based in Germantown, Tenn., MAA has ownership interest in 102,629 apartment units in 17 states and the District of Columbia, as of Sept. 30.

The Ridge at Chenal Valley was built in 2012 after MAA acquired the 26-acre site from Deltic Timber Corp. for $2.6 million.

-- Noel Oman

State index drops 4.27; 11 stocks fall

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 4.27 Friday to close at 468.52.

Eleven index stocks fell. Murphy Oil shares fell 3.2%. Shares of USA Truck rose 2.4%.

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

Business on 11/30/2019

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