• Oil prices finished higher at press time, buoyed by talk of an extension for a deal to cut output, a bigger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude supplies, and concerns about production as a potential hurricane approaches the Gulf of Mexico. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, November West Texas Intermediate crude rose 81 cents, or 1.6 percent, to settle at $50.79 a barrel, following three session declines in a row. December Brent crud, the global oil benchmark, rose $1.20, or 2.2 percent, to end at $57 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange.
• The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will hold a public hearing in Tomah, Wis., on possible changes to a permit issued in May allowing Meteor Timber to fill 16.25 acres of wetlands for its proposed $65 million processing and loading facility, according to the Winona Daily News. According to the official notice, Meteor has requested the DNR modify the permit to reflect “current construction and design specifications” in satisfaction of conditions attached to the permit.
• A campaign to overturn the Winona, Minn., ban on industrial sand mining will continue on to pretrial after a decision wasn’t made in court. Third Judicial District Judge Mary Leahy heard arguments from both Winona County’s legal representatives and lawyers for the two groups involved in the suit to overturn the ban. Both the county and the plaintiffs had requested summary judgments at the motion hearing, essentially that the ban be upheld or the ban be declared invalid respectively, but both groups will be returning to court on at 9 a.m. Oct. 17 for a pretrial before Judicial Officer Carmaine Sturino.