The auction of The Pines shopping mall in Pine Bluff, which was scheduled for noon today, has been canceled after the mall's owners paid a $28,788 judgment against them.
The mall's owners paid about $18,000, plus $2,710 in interest and about $7,300 in attorney's fees, to Carrington Electric Co., according to a filing last week by John Talbot, the firm's attorney.
The company sued the mall owners -- James Vu, John Vu, and Judy Vu -- for failing to pay for lighting and electrical work on the mall's parking lot in 2016. After the three defendants failed to appear for hearings to contest the lawsuit, Circuit Judge Robert Wyatt Jr. in February ruled that the three were in default and issued a foreclosure decree. With the judgment going unpaid for several weeks, Circuit Clerk Lafayette Woods Sr. on April 9 set an auction date.
The Pines opened in 1986, with 700,000 square feet of space to some 110 retailers. J.C. Penney and Dillard's still anchor the mall. Penney's, however, announced last month that it will close its store in The Pines on July 5. The Dillard's store became a Dillard's Clearance outlet earlier this month.
-- Stephen Steed
Poultry producers rip ethanol increase
Chicken industry officials on Monday protested a proposed regulatory change that will allow gasoline to be blended with higher amounts of ethanol, which the industry fears could drive up feed costs, resulting in pricier products.
"As corn users, our industry faces potential impact by changes in biofuels policy such as modifying the volatility requirements for E15 fuel blends," Mike Brown, president of the National Chicken Council, said in comments filed Monday against the ethanol proposal.
Expansion of corn use under the new system will lead to "price and supply volatility in the corn market," Brown said, affecting poultry and livestock feeders and the broiler industry.
The Environmental Protection Agency in March filed proposed regulatory changes to allow gasoline blended with up to 15% ethanol, or E15.
-- Nathan Owens
State index off 4.43; ends day at 421.51
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 4.43 to 421.51 Monday.
Eight stocks fell and six rose.
USA Truck shares tumbled 6 percent in heavy trading.
"U.S. stocks moved slightly higher on Monday, encouraging to investors that the bull market has longer to run, after consumer spending rose in March along with subdued inflation data," said Chris Harkins, managing director with Raymond James & Associates in Little Rock.
Total volume for the index was 17 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 04/30/2019