The former CEO and owner of The Duncan Group was sentenced Thursday to more than five years in prison and ordered to pay $3.8 million in restitution after pleading guilty to fraud charges related to a Ponzi scheme.

A former St. Louis developer was sentenced Thursday to eight months work release and ordered to pay restitution of nearly $147,000 after pleading guilty to a fraud charge for diverting money from a $10 million loan intended to pay for the renovation of a downtown building into offices and condominiums.

Chief Executive Robert Fruend Jr. and his Regional Health Commission got the good news they were hoping for Thursday: a $25 million annual lifeline for local health-care clinics that serve the region’s neediest patients.

Gov. Jay Nixon’s statewide economic steering committee met for the first time Thursday in Jefferson City.

The Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Enterprise Holdings, has pledged $3 million to the National Urban League to support the organization’s Whitney M. Young Jr. Center for Urban Leadership.

Dover Motorsports Inc. said its Gateway International Raceway will not hold NASCAR races next year, casting doubt on the future of the Madison, Ill., race track. (DVD)

The St. Louis Business Journal has selected its 2010 Health Care Hero award winners.

Reliv International Inc. said its profit in the second quarter dropped to $206,000, about half of its profit of $410,000 a year ago.

A Buffalo, N.Y., man has pleaded guilty to a fraud scheme involving a St. Louis commercial finance company, the U.S. attorney’s office said Thursday.

James Bullard, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, warns in a new research paper that the central bank’s current policies are putting the U.S. economy at risk of becoming “enmeshed in a Japanese-style deflationary outcome.”

AT&T Inc. has named John Sondag president for Missouri. (T)

The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Clayton has been sold.

The Court of Justice of the European Union, Europe’s highest court, rejected Anheuser-Busch InBev’s appeal Thursday that the world’s largest brewer be allowed to register the Budweiser brand as its trademark in the European Union.

Pinnacle Entertainment lost $49.3 million in the second quarter, compared with a profit of $4.7 million a year earlier, despite an 8 percent increase in revenue driven by the opening of River City Casino in south St. Louis County.

Belden Inc. reported a profit of $19.7 million for the second quarter, compared with a loss of $4.9 million a year ago. (BDC)

Bunge Ltd. reported a second-quarter profit available to common shareholders of $1.8 billion, up from $293 million a year earlier, thanks to a $2.4 billion gain from the $3.5 billion sale of its Brazilian fertilizer business. (BG)

Covidien plc reported a profit of $364 million for its third quarter, up nearly 30 percent from $281 million in the prior-year quarter. (COV)

Civic leaders and tourism officials hope tonight's free Chuck Berry concert at Kiener Plaza will help boost St. Louis' chances of being picked to host the Democratic National Convention in September 2012.

Panera Bread Co. plans to hire 25,000 workers in the coming year, Chairman Ron Shaich told CNBC on Wednesday. (PNRA)

Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. said Thursday its second-quarter loss widened to $8.5 million from $6 million a year ago, as the make-your-own-stuffed-animal retailer was hurt by the shift of the Easter holiday. (BBW)