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Reports on the role of Arkansas Casino Corp. officer Robert W. Buchholz in running the campaign for an amendment on the November, 2000 general election ballot that would allow the corporation to operate six casinos in Arkansas. Role of the National Voters Outreach in collecting enough signatures for the ballot; Buchholz's career in law since his first meeting with securities dealer James C. Harris.

Presents a chart on hospitals and medical centers in Arkansas. Data on the rank of health facilities according to revenues; Statistics on the net income and loss of the hospitals; Number of full time employees; Occupancy rate and number of beds; Information on total assets and net income from service to patients.

Lists the highest-paid executives of publicly traded companies in Arkansas during 1999. Ranking of Wal-Stores Inc. executives; Executives with the biggest drop in compensation; Comparison between net income and pay; Pay for performance; Earnings of female executives.

Focuses on Mike Pickens and his job as commissioner of the Arkansas Insurance Department. Description of his performance as an insurance regulator; Criticism on his intervention in an Illinois appeals court case on behalf of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. which is accused of using inferior aftermarket parts in crash repairs.

Focuses on concerns regarding the operation and expansion of hospital-owned health maintenance organizations in Arkansas. Efforts to control costs; Possibility that they stifle competition; Amount they pay to doctors compared to the national average. INSET: The way Medicare and Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield Pay....

Reports on the Save Your Seat (SYS) Program, which promises priority seatings at the Alltel Arena in Little Rock, Arkansas. Amount of the highest and average investment in SYS; Allegations of breach of contract; List of companies buying suites at the sports facility. INSET: Statehouse also pressured by time, East says..

Reports on veteran judge for the Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission in Arizona, Eileen Harrison's federal lawsuit claiming that she was fired from her job for being `too fair to injured workers.' Individuals who allegedly orchestrated Harrison's dismissal; Reasons given by United States District Judge Howard F. Sachs for rejecting the commission's request for a summary judgment.

Reports on the impact of workers' compensation on the state of Arkansas. Reduction in workers' compensation premium since the passage of the Workers' Compensation Reform Act; Insurance carriers' interest on the Arkansas market following changes in the workers' compensation law; Increase in the number of businesses and workforce.

Reports on American Investors Life Insurance Co.'s alleged history of using politics to forestall being taken into receivership by Arkansas state regulators. Regulatory loopholes made into a capital law; Political good fortune for Bob E. Fewell's insurance enterprises; Running of a health insurance company without a license; Weathering of federal investigations.

Reports on the bailout of QCA Health Plan Inc. by the Saint Vincent Infirmary Medical Center and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Factors blamed for the losses posted by the three entities; Origin of QCA; Evaluation by state insurance regulators.

Reports on donations to the Razorback Foundation. Overview on the total amount donated by the late co-founder of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Bud Walton for the establishment of the Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas; Findings of the `Arkansas Business' computer analysis of the University of Arkansas Athletic Department's basketball season ticket database.

Ranks business construction projects in Arkansas by estimated value as of march 13, 2000. Includes Pine Bluff Arsenal; Saint Edward Mercy Medical Center; Little Rock National Airport.

Examines the United States Census Bureau's census data on the state of Arkansas. Undercount rate in Arkansas; Mail response rates; Net effect of under counting on public funds; Mistrust by Hispanics; Apathy among the state's financially comfortable.

Reports that the health maintenance organizations (HMO) and preferred provider organizations (PPO) in Arkansas are experiencing significant network growth in 1999. HMOs that adapted the open-market PPO concept; Increase in Arkansas membership for PPOs.

Focuses on the health insurance industry, particularly the managed care plans in Arkansas. Financial status of health maintenance organizations; Crisis faced by the health insurance industry; Role of banks in the insurance business; Entry of farmers into the insurance industry.

Reports on construction flaws in the Alltel Arena in Arkansas on October 12, 1999. Misplacement of reinforcing steel and flaws in pouring concrete; Major construction projects launched by Little Rock, Pulaski County and Hot Springs; VCC/Turner contract. INSET: Troubles appeared early at Alltel arena..

Reports on the oversight on the construction of upper raker beams at the Alltel Arena in Pulaski County, Arkansas as logged in the diary kept by an Anderson Engineering Consultants Inc. senior engineering technician. Questions on the pouring of concrete and placement of reinforcing steel; Firing of a contractor. INSETS: Mathis' diary warns of misplaced...;Attorneys `in a feeding...;Hogs not yet on hold at Alltel.;Method wasn't at fault...

Focuses on the Grand Prairie Area Demonstration Project's proposed irrigation system in Arkansas. Estimated cost of the project; Disputes arising from the United States Congress' decision to erase the project's 2000 budget; History of the project.

Reports that the combination of high demand and low supply in the construction labor market has driven up the cost of major construction projects and building prices in Arkansas. Industry-financed drive to train and recruit construction workers; Construction boom in Arkansas in the 1990s; Increase in construction pay for workers; Impact of the decline in trade unions and the changing workforce on construction worker apprenticeship programs.

Focuses on the investigation of the scam in the merger of Franklin American Life Insurance Co. and Old Southwest Life Insurance Co. Background information on the scam; Actions made by the Mississippi and Virginia insurance regulators on financial scam; Information on the assets of the two insurance companies before the merger.

Reports on the impact of the gambling amendment to the Arkansas Constitution that would give no similar licensing power to the Arkansas Gaming Commission compared to that granted to Nevada's gaming industry. Requirement for chief executive officers and dealers in the Nevada industry; Differences of Nevada, Mississippi and New Jersey gaming laws with that of Arkansas' regulations.

Reports the launching of health insurance products by Aetna Inc. to replace the health maintenance organization plans of Prudential Healthcare Inc. in Arkansas. Status of health insurance companies in the market; Competition with the Baptist Health Systems; Development of a Web site DOCFind to provide members with background on network providers.

Reports the effect of cutting the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 on hospitals in Arkansas. Imposition of sales tax increase; Problems of hospitals on Medicare/Medicaid cutbacks; Contentions between the Children's Health Insurance Program and ARKids First Program; Curtailment of the House on the full market basket update on Medicare.

Reports on the performance of life and health insurance companies in Arkansas in 1999. Brisk business in life policies and annuities enjoyed by life insurance companies; Success of variable annuities; Ranking by 1999 combined premiums in the state.

Reports on Arkansas regulators' claim that Jo Frances Jones, a receiver in a chancery court lawsuit filed in Camden, committed suicide due to pressure involving the bankruptcy case of Little Rock insurance agency, Hagan Agency. Excerpt from the suicide note penned by Jones; Background on bankruptcies filed by Hagan Agency owner Debbie Hagan-Sherwin, her husband and parents.

Reports the entry of insurance company Aetna U.S. Healthcare Inc. into the health maintenance organizations (HMO) market in Arkansas. Impact of Aetna expansion on the existing HMO market; Management of a preferred provider organization network; Acquisition of the Prudential HealthCare; Details of developments related to leading HMO.

Focuses on the impact of Medicaid on the economy of Arkansas. Increase in the amount of Medicaid money going to pharmacies, mental health providers, hospitals and other health facilities; Top food stamp redemption store chains.

Reports that Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. is preparing to ask for permission to sell long-distance telephone service in Arkansas. Anticipation of competition between Southwestern and Little Rock-based Alltel Corp. for bundled services; Industry experts' forecast that the United States Federal Communications Commission will grant approval of Southwestern Bell's earlier application to sell long distance in Texas.

Focuses on the lawyer population in Arkansas. Number of lawyers relative to the state's population; Percentage of lawyers licensed in the state but living elsewhere; Arkansas' ranking in terms of number of lawyers; Concentration of lawyer practices in the state.

Presents an update on Peabody Group's application for a lease that could give the firm the chance to buy a controlling share of Little Rock, Arkansas' Excelsior Hotel. Approval of the lease that would give BG Excelsior LP control and management responsibility over the convention center's conference center; Holdings of Peabody Group in the hotel business.

Focuses on Arkansas Department of Economic Development Executive Director Barbara Pardue's efforts to change the state's image into a source of skilled workers and natural wonder. Criticisms made against Pardue's style of governance; Initiatives launched as part of recasting the state's image; Help provided with tax incentives and infrastructure improvements.

Reports hospitals in Arkansas earned less or lost more in 1999. Factors blamed for the losses; Reduction in reimbursement; Challenge of converting to electronic records; Ability of smaller hospitals to survive the financial crunch.

Lists the fastest growing companies in Arkansas as ranked by average annual revenue growth in 1999. Includes Communications Management Specialists; VSM Delivery Co.; FoxCor Inc.

Reports on the impact of losses of health maintenance organizations (HMO) in Arkansas on middle-aged people and the uninsured. Healthsource Arkansas Inc.'s start of withdrawal from the state on September 30, 1999; Increase of losses by QualChoice; Arkansas Medical Society's implementation of the Benefit Arkansas program.

Focuses on the number of tourists visiting Bull Shoals and the Greers Ferry Lake in Arkansas in 1999, according to the count made by the Little Rock district of Army Corps of Engineers. Skepticism over the numbers presented by the Corps; Questions on the Corps' use of the visitor software called Visitation Estimation Reporting System.

Reports on the financial performance of largest business enterprises in Arkansas in 1999. Employment rate; Performance of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Tyson Foods Inc.

Reports on the financial performance of Red Lobster Restaurant and Outback Steakhouse Grill in Arkansas in 1999. Average revenue per seat; Gross receipts of the restaurants.

Focuses on the largest advertising agencies in Arkansas, ranked by number of employees. Includes Stone & Ward Inc., Healthcott Associates, and Combs & Co.; Capitalized billings; Five major clients; Specialties.

Reports that Arkansas' State Insurance Commissioner Mike Pickens and insurance agent Harold Campbell is planning to contest a court decision which awards the remaining assets of bankrupt The Hagan Agency to the First National Bank. Implication of the court decision for the state law governing premium money collected from policyholders; Background of the case.

Reports on the biggest contributors to the University of Arkansas Razorback Foundation. Prevalence of contributors coming from Benton and Washington Counties; Significant statistics shown by the UA Athletic Department ticket season database analysis; Names of the top contributors.

Reports on business-related developments in Arkansas, for the week of January 31 to February 6, 2000. Includes the report on the earnings of Acxiom Corp.; Relocation of the headquarters of the Arkansas Trucking Association; Endowment received by the University of Arkansas from Entergy Corp.

Reports that government employees in the fields of sports and medicine are the best paid in Arkansas. Comparison of the compensation levels of cabinet members and their lieutenants; Highest paid individuals in the payroll of the Arkansas state government.

Reports on retired insurance executive Harold Campbell's purchase of Hagan Agency, Arkansas's second largest property and casualty insurance company. Terms of the deal; Changes in Hagan's management after its acquisition; Campbell's comments on the deal and his return from retirement.

Looks at the transportation system in Arkansas. Significance of J. Fred Patton in constructing a turnpike that was intended to become Interstate 49; Role of the rivers as the main thoroughfares in Arkansas; Development of the air transport in the state; Discussion over the formation of a multi-modal transportation system, linking trucks, trains, air and water.

Reports on the retailing of insurance by Ramsey Krug Farrell and Lensing at all four Sam's Clubs outlets in Arkansas. Availability of bulk discounts on insurance; Use of Internet-based marketing system called GROUPadvantage; Insurance coverage for members of a defined group that offers better than average risks compared to other groups of individuals.

Reports that Arkansas state regulators have suspended all four of the licenses held by chief executive officer Debbie Hagan-Sherwin of property and casualty agency Hagan Agency. Licenses suspended by the state Insurance Commissioner; Investigation of the Little Rock-based agency's financial problems; Harold Campbell's lawsuit against the agency.

Reports on the relocation of the Immanuel Baptist Church to another location in Little Rock, Arkansas. Bidding won for 19.4 acres of state land north of the Kroger Food Store on Shackleford Road; Downtown ministry; Graves of paupers and state mental patients.

Focuses on the plan by Little Rock, Arkansas insurance executive Debbie Hagan-Sherwin to sell the Hagan Agency to an out-of-state buyer. Attempt by bank to turn control of the agency's books over to a court-appointed receiver; Lawsuit with First National Bank over bank's unpaid loan to the agency.

Offers advice to United States baby boomers on how to manage windfalls from inherited savings accounts and investments. Spending fund money; Investments to take.

Focuses on the scarcity of investors raising venture capital to support small business investment companies in Arkansas according to study findings. Failure of traditional lenders in the state to finance companies that could help improve the state's economy; Strategies to encourage venture capital in the state.