NEWS IN BRIEF Turner Grain suit set for trial in ’18

A circuit judge in Lonoke County has set a July 2018 trial date for a lawsuit brought by rice farmers against officials and related entities of the bankrupt Turner Grain Merchandising Inc.

The trial had been set for 18 days this month but was postponed by Circuit Judge Sandy Huckabee as both sides continued to wrestle with the other’s motions to provide various documents and records related to the case.

The farmers weren’t paid for some $6 million in grain in the months leading up to the Brinkley company’s closure in August 2014. They’re seeking payment, plus unspecified punitive damages. Besides Turner Grain, defendants include KBX Inc., a grain dealer in Benton.

The new schedule has the trial starting July 9, 2018, and ending Aug. 3, 2018.

Federal regulators closed Turner Grain after they found no grain in bins despite grain certificates saying otherwise. Two months later, Turner Grain Merchandising Inc. filed for bankruptcy, listing $23.8 million in debts and $13.8 million in assets. The debts later were amended to $47 million.