Page 11 - ATR 5 2012 web 2

NEwS IN brIEf

Gop SwEEpS CoNGrESS projects are repaid. CoNSTrUCTIoN kICk
For the first time since recon- “Today’s positive vote is evidence The Census Bureau reported that
struction, Arkansans has Republican that Arkansans believe in the impor- new housing starts jumped 15 percent
majorities in both chambers of the state tance of good roads, and that they are from August to an 872,000 annualized
legislature and elected Republicans from willing to invest in themselves and rate in September, the highest since July
all four of its congressional districts. the future of our state,” said Madison 2008. Starts were up in every region
Three of the GOP congressional Murphy, chairman of the Arkansas but the Northeast (the only downside
candidates were incumbents. In the Highway Commission. to the whole report). Compared with
1 Congressional District, where Rick Projects funded by the tax will September 2011, starts were up 34.8
st
Crawford won reelection, three cam- include widening Interstate 540 to percent. Year-to-date compared with
paign managers circulated through six lanes between Fayetteville and the same period last year, starts were
Democrat Scott Ellington’s camp. In the Bentonville, while doing the same on up 26.7 percent. Single-family hous-
nd
2 Congressional District, Tim Griffin Interstate 40 between Conway and ing starts, which are a subset of overall
was reelected as Democratic opponent Little Rock. starts, surged 11 percent in September
Herb Rule’s efforts were hampered by The plan also calls for additional to 603,000.
rd
a DWI arrest. The 3 Congressional four-lane work in northeast Arkansas
District’s Democratic candidate, Ken to connect Jonesboro and Paragould to SHIpmENTS Up SlIGHTly
Aden, dropped out of the race in June U.S. 67/167 and Interstate 55. Also bucking sentiments that the
after reports surfaced that he had lied economy is sliding, the amount of
about his military record, easing the rETaIl lookING Up goods shipped by truck inched up in
path to victory for Steve Womack. Despite dire predictions in some September. The American Trucking
In the 4 Congressional District, economic corners, retail sales made Associations’ index of truck shipments
th
the state’s largest geographically, a comeback in September, according by weight climbed a seasonally adjusted
Republican Tom Cotton, a veteran to a report by the American Trucking 0.4 percent from the previous month, as
and management consultant from Associations. The good news could ben- consumers stepped up their shopping.
Dardanelle, won an easy victory over efit trucking companies in the fourth However, shipments are at the same
Democrat Gene Jeffress, a state senator. quarter. level as they were in January, reflecting
The state’s lone Democratic con- Total retail sales jumped 1.1 per- an economy that hasn’t gained momen-
gressman, Mike Ross of Prescott, cent during the one-month period with tum this year.
announced his retirement last year, almost all major sectors seeing gains. Also, shipment indexes by weight
creating the only open seat this election Electronic stores surged 4.5 percent do not factor value, which has rel-
cycle. (the largest increase), mainly due to evance since manufactured products are
the release of the new Apple iPhone 5 increasingly lighter in weight but higher
arkaNSaNS approvE Tax selling millions in the latter half of the in value.
INCrEaSE for roadS month.
Also on the ballot was a measure Department stores were down 0.2 HUrrICaNE HoS rElIEf
for a half-cent sales tax increase to fund percent, the only major retail chan- Trucks carrying emergency-related
$1.8 billion in highway improvements, nel to experience a loss. Additionally, materials to and in states affected
increasing the tax rate to 6.5 percent August sales were revised noticeably by Hurricane Sandy are exempt from
from 6 percent, beginning July 1. The upwards. Compared with September the federal hours-of-service rules,
tax will remain in place up to 10 years - 2011, sales were up 5.4 percent, surpass-
or until the bonds issued to pay for the ing August’s 5 percent rise. 

arkansas truCking rePort | issue 5 2012 11