News on the Wire

Arkansas a leader in tax incentive evaluation

Arkansas is one of 13 states “Leading the way” on the evaluation of tax incentives for economic development, according to a recent report from the Pew Center on the States….

The Compass Report: Feb.-March Numbers by the Wire

Sales tax collections — to include hospitality taxes —home sales activity and enplanement figures in the area are positive, but high jobless numbers continue to place downward pressure on the…

Ordinance gives teeth to Washington County cleanup efforts

A new ordinance passed Thursday night (April 12) gives a bit more bite to Washington County’s ability to require its residents clean up properties deemed “unsightly or unsanitary.” The Washington…

Bank of the Ozarks earns $18 million in first quarter

Bank of the Ozarks, Inc. posted a strong first quarter profit of $18 million and company officials reported new lending activity that would provide “excellent prospects for growth” in the…

OG&E plans ‘Smart Meter’ town hall meeting

The option to opt-out of OG&E’s new Smart Meter installations is not an option at all. OG&E plans to have all the Smart Meters installed across its entire coverage area…

Legislative committee reviews NWACC salaries

Several members of the Higher Education Subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council met Thursday in Little Rock with officials from NorthWest Arkansas Community College to discuss recent raises given to…

J.B. Hunt posts record quarterly earnings

Record quarterly earnings are becoming a common theme with Lowell-based J.B. Hunt Transport Services. The large “multi-modal” transportation company posted record net income of $67.7 million during the first quarter,…

State agencies meet in NWA, talk jobs (corrected)

For the first time the leaders of three prominent state agencies left the confines of Little Rock to meet in Northwest Arkansas. Thursday (April 12), the Economic Development, Highway and…

March airline traffic up at Fort Smith, XNA

Enplanements during the first quarter of 2012 are up 9.66% at the Fort Smith Regional Airport and down just 0.48% at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA). March enplanements at…

Litigation continues to hinder foreclosure filings

Foreclosures in Arkansas remain few and far between during the first three months of this year. affecting 1,107 Arkansas homeowners according to Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac. The number of statewide filings against…

Van Buren A&P talks numbers, seminar

An increase in tax receipts and a Van Buren/Fort Smith joint educational seminar for state-elected officials on the importance of regional tourism highlighted the Wednesday (April 11) meeting of the…

Metropolitan nears end of federal agreement

Metropolitan National Bank reported a first quarter 2012 loss of $1.04 million, while making enough progress with regulators to warrant a change in supervisory authority. The Little Rock-based bank —…

NWA job numbers improve in February

The Northwest Arkansas metro jobless rate rose to 6.4% during February, but is below the 6.7% posted in February 2011, but with a sharp increase in the number of employed…

Fort Smith area jobless rate reaches 9.1%

There is no good news in the February jobless report for the Fort Smith region, with unemployment during the month rising to 9.1%, up from 8.9% during January and the…

Lavaca slackwater harbor study ongoing

While the Army Corps of Engineers and the Regional Intermodal Transportation Authority (RITA) are both encouraged by the future of the Lavaca Slackwater Harbor Project, the project could still be…

A place to stay

Hundreds of abused or neglected children in Arkansas can’t find immediate shelter when the state steps in. Children sleep in caseworkers’ offices when there is no room in foster homes…

Beebe briefs media on China trip

Gov. Mike Beebe (D) said he thinks progress is being made on resolving issues important to Arkansas companies doing business in China and in convincing job prospects to come to…

Petrino fired as Razorback football coach

Just a few minutes after the news hit that Bobby Petrino was fired as the head football coach at the University of Arkansas, the modern incarnation of the 1970s-1980s rock…

New Chaffee Crossing land deals top $2.4 million

The Real Estate Review Committee (RERC) of the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority (FCRA) accepted four land sale offers totaling approximately $2.4 million on Tuesday (April 10) at a special meeting….

Fort Smith board hears about sports complex move

The City of Fort Smith Board of Directors are considering a proposal to move the River Valley Sports Complex, a facility consisting of eight new softball fields, away from Chaffee…