A March 19 follow-up to a Whispers column item about the firing of CARTI’S highest-paid oncologist was the most-read story of the year on ArkansasBusiness.com.
The Whisper item itself, which was published just hours earlier, was a close second.
Written by Online Editor Lance Turner, “After Baltz Firing, CARTI Issues Statement” included a response from the nonprofit cancer treatment center’s CEO, Adam Head, and Medical Director Dr. Balan Nair about the termination of Dr. Brad Baltz.
The Whisper, “Baltz Fired, Standridge Laid Off at CARTI,” broke the news of Baltz’s termination and included comments by the doctor, who described his firing as a dispute with management over patient care.
Baltz, who was paid $2.3 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2016, was frustrated with the culture at CARTI and its board of directors and was concerned that the company would not be able to make its scheduled payments to bondholders who lent the money to build CARTI’s four-story Little Rock center — especially “if they can fire their No. 1 producer.”
The Whisper also reported that CARTI’s longtime public relations coordinator, Ron Standridge, had been laid off in December 2017.
A third story on Baltz, published in the Whispers column in April, also made the most-read list, coming in at No. 6. “Brad Baltz Sets Up new Office as CARTI Door Continues to Turn” reported that six of the doctor’s former support staffers were among 17 employees the cancer center laid off and that Baltz had leased space in the Doctors Building in Little Rock as a temporary location for follow-up visits and meetings with new patients.
Interest in the Baltz stories was most likely augmented by the many Arkansas Business stories chronicling CARTI’s financial struggles, which began before it opened its $88 million cancer center in west Little Rock in November 2015. CARTI has since made strides in improving its financial position, swinging to an operating profit before depreciation of $529,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30 from a loss the year before.
Lauren James’ Struggles
The legal troubles surrounding a fast-growing northwest Arkansas fashion brand were the subject of the third and fourth most-read stories online this year.
Written by Senior Editor Mark Friedman, they were “First Security Bank Sues Lauren James for Allegedly Defaulting on Loan” and “Lawsuits Challenge Fairy Tale Founding of Lauren James,” respectively.
The First Security story, published in June, reported that the Searcy bank had sued women’s clothing company Lauren James of Fayetteville and was seeking $338,720, the unpaid balance of a $400,000 business loan. The bank said it was entitled to take immediate possession of Lauren James’ collateral, which was valued at $1.35 million and used to secure the loan.
LJ Apparel LLC has since become the owner of what was Lauren James Enterprises Inc. and continues to fight a lawsuit brought by First Security accusing LJ Apparel of holding a sham foreclosure sale in August for Lauren James.
Friedman’s other story uncovered now-settled lawsuits that told a more complicated version of the company’s founding story. The company’s version is this: Lauren Stokes was pregnant and on doctor-ordered bed rest when she began drawing dress designs. After her son was born in 2013, her husband, Lance Stokes, suggested she leave her nursing career for fashion design.
Over four years, Lauren James Enterprises Inc. became a $13 million Southern women’s lifestyle line with national reach.
But a lawsuit filed in April 2014 by Lance Stokes’ former business partner, Chelsea McShane of Fayetteville, accused him of breach of fiduciary duty, saying he shared her clothing designs with his wife, who was also named as a defendant. Lance Stokes denied the allegations, and the case reached a confidential settlement in July 2016.
A second lawsuit by another Stokes business partner, Larry Ripaldi of Plano, Texas, was settled in April 2015.
Conway Jobs
News about jobs often draws eyeballs, and the fifth most-read story fits that bill.
Written by Sarah Campbell-Miller and published in July, “Kimberly-Clark Says It May Close Conway Plant” reported that the paper product manufacturer, headquartered in Irving, Texas, was considering closing its 50-year-old Conway mill as part of a global restructuring program.
Months went by as the company awaited approval of a multimillion-dollar incentive package from Wisconsin that would keep two plants open there but doom the one in Conway, affecting 350 jobs.
In December, Kimberly-Clark announced a deal with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker — defeated in his re-election bid in November — to preserve operations there. The Conway plant will close in phases over the next two years.
“Cogswell Motors Owner, Wife Found Dead,” written by Lance Turner in April, was the seventh most-read story. It reported that Keith B. Cogswell III, 55, and Leanna Cogswell, 39, were found dead from gunshot wounds in their homes.
Politics secured the No. 8 spot on the website’s most-read list.
Written by Editor Gwen Moritz and freelancer Graycen Colbert Bigger, “Pharmacists: New Reimbursement Rates for Drugs Unsustainable” reported on pharmacists telling lawmakers that new reimbursement rates for generic prescriptions imposed by the pharmacy benefit manager used by Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield and Ambetter were often less than the cost of the drugs.
They also said the PBM, Caremark/CVS, appeared to be getting paid more for some prescriptions than the pharmacy that filled them and could steer profitable patients into its own pharmacies or mail-order programs.
The Feb. 1 story was one of many on the role of PBMs. In March, relief for the pharmacists came in a new law requiring these middlemen of the health care industry to be licensed by the state.
White-collar crime, a mainstay of Arkansas Business reporting, also made the cut. “Insurance Agent Berry Bishop Accused of Fraud, Misuse of Premium,” written by Moritz, was the ninth most-read story.
Published in April, it reported on the suspension of prominent Arkadelphia insurance agent Berry Bishop’s license. He was accused of seven-figure bank fraud and conversion of premium to personal use. In December, Bishop pleaded guilty in federal court to defrauding the Bank of Prescott and Citizens Bank of Batesville out of more than $3.5 million.
The 10th most-read story, published in April, was by far the most lighthearted. Assistant Editor Kyle Massey’s “Many KATV Arrivals, and One Departure” announced the pregnancies of three newsroom pros at KATV, the birth of a weekend anchor’s first son and the departure of a reporter.
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