Toby Manthey
Stories by Toby
Deal puts utility’s Turk unit in clear
posted: 12/23/2011 3:51 a.m. Comments 2
Southwestern Electric Power Co. and environmental groups have settled their legal dispute over the $2.1 billion John W. Turk Jr. coal-fired power plant under construction near Texarkana.
State jobless rate 8% in November
posted: 12/21/2011 3:36 a.m. Discuss
Arkansas’ unemployment rate in November fell to 8 percent from 8.2 percent in October, a report from the state said Tuesday.
Expert: Things not so terrible
posted: 12/20/2011 4:41 a.m. Discuss
The U.S. economy is faring better than many people think by key measures such as personal spending and business investment, a nationally recognized economic forecaster said Monday.
Only 27 join Entergy choice-metering plan
posted: 12/17/2011 3:38 a.m. Discuss
Just 27 of Entergy Arkansas’ more than 580,000 residential customers have joined a billing program offering them a chance to save on their electricity bills by using power in times of low demand.
140 set to lose jobs in Bosch closure
posted: 12/16/2011 3:43 a.m. Discuss
One hundred and forty workers will lose their jobs by the end of 2012 as the Bosch Security Systems plant in Morrilton closes.
Texas pair buy Candy Bouquet
posted: 12/13/2011 4:33 a.m. Discuss
Little Rock-based Candy Bouquet International, which has home-based and storefront franchises worldwide, has been bought by a Houston couple who hope to put the chain back on a path of growth.
Home sales in state slow after big gains
posted: 12/06/2011 5:05 a.m. Discuss
Home sales in Arkansas slowed considerably in October after three consecutive months of double-digit gains compared with a year earlier, a report from the Arkansas Realtors Association on Monday showed.
Dial-up going, going, not gone
posted: 12/04/2011 3:53 a.m. Discuss
At 77, Bobbie Bailey says she’s “old-fashioned” when it comes to communication technology, but she lost patience with her dial-up Internet service.
State jobless rate recedes to 8.2%
posted: 11/23/2011 3:51 a.m. Comments 4
While a dip in Arkansas’ unemployment rate hints at a turnaround, the state’s job market continues to be weaker than even a year ago.
Malvern call center is hiring hundreds
posted: 11/18/2011 3:06 a.m. Discuss
Several hundred people are being hired for a call center in Malvern for Tampa, Fla.-based Sykes Enterprises.
Dillard’s profit soars, but shares dip
posted: 11/12/2011 4:12 a.m. Discuss
Shares of Dillard’s Inc. sank 13 percent Friday even as the company reported record third-quarter earnings.
Firms behind on taxes fall 17%
posted: 11/10/2011 4:01 a.m. Discuss
About 1,630 businesses are delinquent in paying their Pulaski County personal property taxes, down 17 percent from a year ago and 27 percent from two years ago.
Windstream profit falls 16 percent
posted: 11/05/2011 4:08 a.m. Discuss
Windstream Corp. on Friday said third-quarter profit fell 16 percent from a year earlier to $71.5 million due to mergers, fiber-optic projects and other expenses.
Readers of daily increase in audit
posted: 11/02/2011 3:48 a.m. Discuss
Paid circulation of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette increased in the six-month period ending Sept. 30, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
4 state firms get waiver for insurance
posted: 10/30/2011 4:18 a.m. Discuss
Four Arkansas companies, including retailer Dillard’s Inc. and poultry products company O.K. Industries Inc., are among about 1,600 businesses nationwide granted a waiver allowing them until 2014 to keep low annual limits on what they’ll pay for a worker’s health insurance claims.
Acxiom reports falloff in profit
posted: 10/27/2011 4:03 a.m. Discuss
Acxiom Corp. on Wednesday reported quarterly results that beat analysts’ expectations even as profit slid more than 7 percent to $12.3 million compared with a year earlier.
State jobless rate steady at 8.3%
posted: 10/22/2011 3:43 a.m. Discuss
Arkansas’ unemployment rate was unchanged in September at 8.3 percent, but weak job growth continues to concern economists.
State set to boost insured figures
posted: 10/14/2011 3:40 a.m. Discuss
Organizers of a federally funded program in Arkansas that offers health insurance to people with pre-existing conditions are stepping up efforts to combat low enrollment.
Firm plans $50 million coal project
posted: 10/12/2011 1:27 a.m. Comment 1
A Canadian company says it is planning to invest $50 million in a coal-mining project in Arkansas.
Defunct business requests auction
posted: 10/11/2011 5:46 a.m. Comment 1
The trustee for Yarnell’s Ice Cream Co., which filed for bankruptcy protection in August, is asking for court approval to auction off the company’s real estate and personal property Nov. 30.
Agency presses for insurance pool
posted: 10/08/2011 4:01 a.m. Discuss
Short on time and money, the Arkansas Insurance Department and a volunteer steering committee seek to salvage their efforts to plan for a health-insurance exchange designed and run by the state, instead of leaving the job to the U.S. government. The department has $92,000 left of $1 million for planning awarded by the U.S. Department Health and Human Services in 2010. That is enough to pay for three employees and overhead dedicated to the exchange until January, said Cynthia Crone, planning manager for the exchange.
Home sales rise 20% in state
posted: 09/30/2011 4:12 a.m. Discuss
Almost 20 percent more homes were sold in Arkansas in August compared with a year earlier, the Arkansas Realtors Association said Thursday.
Premiums up 9% to insure families
posted: 09/28/2011 4:55 a.m. Comments 3
Premiums for family health insurance through employers rose 9 percent this year compared with last, according to a report Tuesday from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
Health law reels in grant for state
posted: 09/21/2011 4:08 a.m. Discuss
The Arkansas Insurance Department has been awarded almost $3.9 million from the U.S. government to help prevent “unreasonable” increases in health insurance rates, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday.
Private DNA lab to open in LR
posted: 09/18/2011 4:21 a.m. Discuss
A private DNA testing laboratory in Little Rock plans to help make a dent in the backlog at government crime laboratories nationwide starting this fall.
State jobless rate creeps up to 8.3%
posted: 09/17/2011 4:15 a.m. Discuss
Arkansas’ unemployment rate climbed to 8.3 percent in August from 8.2 percent in July, continuing a trajectory that’s sent the state’s rate ever closer to the nation’s.
700 lose jobs in Crossett
posted: 09/10/2011 4:06 a.m. Comments 4
About 700 employees will lose their jobs Nov. 7 when Georgia-Pacific shuts down its plywood and lumber operations in Crossett, the company announced Friday.
Retailers post August gains
posted: 09/02/2011 4:18 a.m. Discuss
The nation’s retailers recorded mostly positive results in August, despite the disruptions caused by Hurricane Irene and the distraction of wild fluctuations in the stock markets.
Home sales increase in Arkansas in July
posted: 08/31/2011 5:41 a.m. Discuss
Nearly 20 percent more homes were sold in Arkansas in July compared with a year earlier, the Arkansas Realtors Association said in a report Tuesday. But experts aren’t ready to say the market is recovering.
Income loss to flood at $335 million
posted: 08/30/2011 4:34 a.m. Discuss
Farmers will lose about $335 million in net income because of flooding this spring, according to a study released Monday by the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.
System lays out hospital growth
posted: 08/27/2011 4:12 a.m. Discuss
St. Edward Mercy Health System in Fort Smith plans to invest more than $192 million in buildings and equipment in the next seven years, hospital officials said Friday.
CARTI to build cancer center
posted: 08/25/2011 5:02 a.m. Discuss
CARTI, the largest radiation-therapy provider in Arkansas, said Wednesday that it’s buying some assets of Little Rock Hematology Oncology and will build a center in Little Rock to provide comprehensive services for cancer patients.
Acxiom slump pinned on fear
posted: 08/24/2011 4:11 a.m. Discuss
Shares of Little Rock-based Acxiom Corp. started out this week on a sour note, falling Monday to $8.94, the lowest they’ve been since the fall of 2009.
State’s jobless rate edges up to 8.2%
posted: 08/20/2011 4:24 a.m. Discuss
Arkansas’ unemployment rate in July rose to 8.2 percent, one-tenth of a percentage point up from June for the third-straight monthly increase.
Drug savings ahead as more turn generic
posted: 08/07/2011 4:12 a.m. Discuss
Arrival dates Dozens of best-selling drugs are expected to have generic competitors in the next few years. Here are the 20 topselling drugs going generic through the second quarter of 2018, listed by the expected arrival of a generic equivalent.
LR firm will join top 500 with buy
posted: 08/02/2011 6:19 a.m. Discuss
Little Rock-based Windstream Corp. said Monday that it intends to buy a Fairport, N.Y.-based telecommunications company in a $2.3 billion deal.
Ex-Microsoft vet Acxiom’s new chief
posted: 07/28/2011 4:53 a.m. Discuss
Little Rock-based Acxiom Corp. announced Wednesday that it has tapped a 43-year-old former Microsoft executive for its top position.
Catfish in state cut 48% July 1
posted: 07/26/2011 4:06 a.m. Discuss
Arkansas’ commercial inventory of food-size catfish on July 1 was half of what it had been a year earlier, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data released Monday.
Joblessness in state ratchets up to 8.1%
posted: 07/23/2011 4:44 a.m. Discuss
Arkansas’ unemployment rate in June rose to its highest level in 24 years, and the number of unemployed people statewide reached the highest level since at least 1976.
Doing business in China takes tenacity, 160 told
posted: 07/22/2011 4:25 a.m. Discuss
Employee recruitment and retention are the biggest challenges that major U.S. companies face in China, according to an executive with a group that helps U.S. firms in the Asian nation.
Suit says Yarnell’s violated labor law
posted: 07/20/2011 3:53 a.m. Comment 1
A former employee is suing Searcy-based Yarnell’s Ice Cream Co. in U.S. District Court, alleging that the company violated federal law by not giving advance notice of the plant’s closing.
State is 27th in ‘green’ careers
posted: 07/13/2011 4:04 a.m. Discuss
Arkansas last year ranked 27th among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., for total jobs that produce products or services with an environmental benefit, a study says.
Retailers report a jumping June
posted: 07/08/2011 4:24 a.m. Discuss
Retailers reported robust June sales Thursday, mostly exceeding analysts’ expectations and the companies’ own forecasts as the summer shopping season rebounded from a slow start in May.
Card-skimming suspected in ATM withdrawal spree
posted: 07/01/2011 4:35 a.m. Comments 2
Almost 50 cases likely involving debit-card “skimming” have been reported to the Conway Police Department in the past three days, a detective said Thursday.
Baptist Health to build new site
posted: 06/22/2011 5:42 a.m. Discuss
Baptist Health says it plans to provide clinical services on 22 acres that it’s buying in west Little Rock, making it the third major health-care system in the past 18 months to announce expansion plans in that part of town.
LR pipe factory has 600 workers
posted: 06/21/2011 4:27 a.m. Discuss
Welspun Corp. Ltd. said Monday that it has completed a $30 million expansion and now has more than 600 workers at its plant at the Port of Little Rock.
State unemployment climbs as hiring slows
posted: 06/18/2011 4:40 a.m. Discuss
Arkansas’ employment report for May shows that year-over-year jobs growth has been slowing every month since February.
Retailer, lawyers, hospital link up
posted: 06/17/2011 4:40 a.m. Discuss
Wal-Mart and several lawyer groups have formed a partnership with Arkansas Children’s Hospital to provide free help for patients with health problems that can be improved through legal means.
Paper’s website adding databases
posted: 06/16/2011 5:53 a.m. Discuss
Arkansas Online, the website of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, today is launching a directory of searchable databases of public information, including bookings into the Pulaski County jail and salaries of many government workers.
Windstream stretches into the future
posted: 06/12/2011 4:29 a.m. Comment 1
Windstream Corp. sees the next two years as crucial for expanding its fiber-optic cable network to bolster its place in serving the evolving wireless industry.
