Arkansas’ two racing and gambling venues, Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs and Southland Park in West Memphis, contributed almost $900 million to the state’s economy in 2012, or so a new study concludes.

While the state’s two gambling venues are predicting green pastures and growth, the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery is resigned to a second consecutive decline in annual revenue.

Crain Media Team of Sherwood has launched a new sports-centric station for its Searcy market. KRZS-AM, 1300, “The Champion,” began broadcasting in mid-May, according to Mike Horne, Crain’s general manager.

Halifax, a newspaper chain in which Little Rock financier Warren Stephens is a major investor, announced last month a deal to buy the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester, Massachusetts, from John Henry, owner of the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Globe.

Fort Smith’s Southwest Times Record is the latest Stephens Media-owned publication to experience layoffs due to budget cuts.

Since Producers began in Stuttgart, it’s expanded to 11 locations throughout eastern Arkansas and western Mississippi. It manufactures milled rice, parboiled rice, brown rice, instant rice and rice flour.

Convenience stores still top the list of the state’s largest private companies in the energy sector, with one more added this year. This year, Flash Market Inc. of West Memphis, a convenience store chain and fuel retailer, remained at the top of the list.

Acxiom Corp. announced earlier this month that it had purchased LiveRamp, a tech company that started in 2011 in San Francisco. At $310 million, it’s a huge purchase for the Little Rock data miner, which had revenue just shy of $1.1 billion in the fiscal year that ended March 31.

According to a news release, recipients were the central Arkansas division of Arvest Bank of Fayetteville, Bud Anderson Heating & Cooling Inc. of Lowell, Main Street Service Center of Harrison and Window Mart of Royal.

Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods of Little Rock has hired Mark Raines as its new vice president of public relations.

The salary for Inuvo Inc. CEO Richard Howe fell in 2013, but his total compensation rose.

Conway officials say the $30 million airport project will bring economic development to the city by attracting corporate customers, and it will solve serious safety issues present at the current site.

KMJX-FM, 105.1 “The Wolf” has taken the top spot in winter 2014’s radio ratings, usurping longtime leader KSSN-FM, 95.7, in a dramatic ratings shift.

The Environmental Protection Agency last week announced that it was fining publicly traded Clean Harbors LLC of Norwell, Massachusetts, $581,236 for several violations discovered at a facility in El Dorado.

Acxiom Corp. of Little Rock posts a loss of $29.2 million for its final quarter of fiscal 2014. The data services firm also announced the acquisition of LiveRamp, a digital marketing service, for $310 million.

Talk radio, long a bastion of charismatic, conservative show hosts, may be reaching a turning point as ratings fall and audiences change.

Windstream Holdings Inc. of Little Rock on Thursday reported a 69 percent decline in first-quarter profit and 2 percent drop in revenue.

Murphy USA Inc., the retail gas station spinoff of Murphy Oil Corp. of El Dorado, holds its first shareholders’ meeting and announces a $50 million share repurchase program. Also, CEO Andrew Clyde details some of the fuel retailer’s strategy for the coming year, noting that the company is in a highly competitive and volatile market.

The last two Cranfords at Little Rock’s Cranford Robinson Johnson Woods are reportedly out, with one having resigned yesterday, and the other “expected” to resign soon.

Murphy USA Inc. of El Dorado had income of $9.6 million for its first quarter of 2014, down from $22 million in the same quarter of 2013.