Author: Talk Business

Talk Business

Charlene Fite Running For State Representative, District 80

A Facebook announcement tells me that Charlene Fite of Alma is running for State Representative in District 80. This is a new district composed of the northern part of Crawford County (part of Van Buren, Cedarville) that runs through the national forest into Washington County (Cane Hill, Lincoln, and Prairie Grove).

Labor Board Pushing New Workplace Notice Rule

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has found itself in a new controversy as its latest rule finds favor with unions and frustration with business owners.

U.s. Gdp Up Just 1% In Second Quarter

Those determined to read only positive and uplifting economic news would be advised to avoid stories — including this one — about Friday’s (Aug. 26) second quarter revision of the U.S. gross domestic product.

Early On, Fourth District Holds Promise For A Gop Run-off

There is a real possibility that Republicans could see a run-off in the Fourth Congressional District if all the candidates and would-be candidates enter the race.

Rankin Sets Announcement Schedule For Monday

We told you earlier in the week that last year’s GOP nominee for the Fourth Congressional District, Beth Anne Rankin, would announce on Monday another bid.

A Helluva View And A Helluva Ride

Twenty years ago, a virtually unknown Governor from a small Southern state stood on the steps of an old state capitol and announced his candidacy for President.

Movie Reviews: Our Idiot Brother & 30 Minutes Or Less

On today’s KARZ-TV’s morning show, I reviewed "Our Idiot Brother" and "30 Minutes or Less".

Sisters Of Mercy To Invest $192 Million Or More In Arkansas

The St. Louis-based Sisters of Mercy plan to invest about $192 million into its St. Edward Mercy health care facilities in the Fort Smith region as part of a 10-year plan to invest $4.8 billion in its operations in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

Merger Could Add 50 Jobs In Searcy

A divestiture acquisition between two out-of-state firms could bring 50 new jobs to Searcy.

Sherwood Company To Hire 100

ABC Financial Services Inc., a billing management company focused primarily on the health and fitness industry, today announced plans to expand its Sherwood facility, hiring 100 new employees.

Drug Court Programs Severely Underfunded

A funding shortfall for drug courts could trip up changes approved in the previous Arkansas legislative session designed to keep non-violent offenders out of maximum security prison beds.

Tolbert Toon: Celebrities And The Wm3

My reader with a talent for political cartoons looks at the celebrity attention on the West Memphis Three and wonders if there are another three that have been forgotten.

If you can’t get enough of the WM3-mania, Scott Ellington, the prosecutor who cut the agreement with the WM3 last week, will appear tonight in Little Rock with all three attorneys for the WM3 and two of the big media advocates for their release – Mara Leveritt and Capi Peck. This certainly sounds like a pretty heavily weighted pro-"Free the WM3" panel to me, but what do I know.

The event – sponsored by the Clinton School of Public Service and the Arkansas Times – starts at 6:00 this evening at the Statehouse Convention Center.

I can’t make it on account of I don’t want to.

Lotto Management Faces Tough Questions From Legislative Committee

Lottery officials faced tough questions yesterday afternoon when they went before The Arkansas Lottery Commission Legislative Oversight Committee. Many of the questions came from Sen. Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe) who demonstrated why it is a smart idea to have an accountant or two in the state legislature.

Much of the discussion centered on the nearly $100,000 IRS penalty that the lottery has been assessed. The penalty resulted from a delay in submitting the required withholding on lottery prize payouts. Apparently, lottery officials had not been doing this daily and were not using the Electronic Federal Payment Posting System as they were required to do. Philip Miley, the lottery CFO who recently resigned, explained that he believed the penalty was an error and that he could get the issue resolved, therefore he did not tell lottery director Ernie Passailaigue about the problem until recently.

"I have a hard time believing there wasn’t that type of control in place that would have notified (Passailaigue) of a penalty and interest that large," said Dismang. "I am not saying he did not know, but I have a hard time believing there was not some type of communication within the departments of the organization."

Add this as just another strike in the many problems the lottery has had to face since its start-up a little over two years ago. Most readers will recall that when the lottery began there was much focus on the large salaries given to Passailaigue and the two officials he brought over from South Carolina with him. Part of the justification for this was that the money was worth it for the expertise the Arkansas lottery would receive by hiring them.

But one interesting note that I observed at that time was that the top financial officiers and accountants were hired after the bad press began regarding the high salaries. Philip Miley, a accountant with a lapsed CPA license, was hired in July 2009 as the controller for $79,092, which is a pretty low salary for the chief financial officier of a major multi-million dollar state agency. At the time, eleven other lottery officials had higher salaries than him. Miley even pointed to the salary level as part of his reason for leaving, saying it was not worth it for the amount he was making.

My point here is that you can tell a bit about the lottery’s priorities by where they choose to spend their money. Most the salary expense has been directed to those responsible for lottery operations and sales rather than on their accounting and financial management. Perhaps this is a result.

Video from the Arkansas Times. Additional information for this post came from reports from the Arkansas News Bureau and Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

Avery Elected New President Of Arkansas Young Repbulicans

The Arkansas Federation of Young Republicans (AFYR) met last weekend in Rogers and elected new officiers. Elizabeth Aymond, who had served as President for the last two years, passed the torch to Jack Avery of Fayetteville.

Bank Profits Up $7.9 Billion, Other Key Metrics Improve

Commercial banks and savings institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) reported an aggregate profit of $28.8 billion in the second quarter of 2011, a $7.9 billion improvement from the $20.9 billion in net income the industry reported in the second quarter of 2010.