Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, VA) articles from August 2005

Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, VA) archives from August 2005

Richmond, Va.-area may see $3-per-gallon gas soon.
August 31, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Aug. 31--Grim reports from the storm-battered Gulf Coast triggered a surge in oil and wholesale gasoline prices yesterday that could lift local retail prices above $3 a gallon in the next few days. In the wake of...

RIC passenger count soared in July.
August 31, 2005... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Aug. 31--Ridership reached a record high at Richmond International Airport in July as discount carrier AirTran Airways grabbed an 8 percent market share in its first full month of service. The airport's...

Applebee's, Caribou Coffee, cheeseburgers may arrive at airport.
August 31, 2005... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Aug. 31--Travelers at Richmond International Airport can expect to see new food and beverage and gift-shop options starting early next year. Several new eateries, including Applebee's, Caribou Coffee and...

Columbia Gas average bill to rise $10.50.
August 31, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Aug. 31--Columbia Gas of Virginia said a typical customer's bill will increase by $10.50 a month. The increase, filed with the State Corporation Commission for review, will be in effect until November. The...

Henrico-based unit starts Nasdaq's day.
August 31, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Aug. 31--James River Group Inc. has been a publicly traded firm for all of three weeks. But it wasn't till yesterday that the insurance company grabbed a little piece of the national business limelight. The...

Va. jobless rate fell in July.
August 31, 2005... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Aug. 31--Virginia's unemployment rate dropped to 3.5 percent in July -- the lowest for the month in four years -- as thousands of students who entered the job market in June either found work or stopped...

Workers over 50 welcome here.
August 31, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Aug. 31--If you're over 50, Richmond is one of the best places to work. Two employers here made the AARP's national list of the 50 Best Employers for Workers Over 50: Bon Secours Richmond Health System and...

Old pumps mean new woes for some Virginia gasoline dealers.
August 30, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Aug. 30--At Manakin Auto Center, they do business the old-fashioned way. It's one of the few places around town where attendants still insist on pumping gas for their customers. Regular gas prices at...

Rocketts Landing reservations take off.
August 30, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Aug. 30--The sales office doesn't open until the day after Labor Day. But hundreds of people have called about a planned community along the James River off Old Osborne Turnpike (state Route 5) near where the...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Consumer Watch column.
August 30, 2005... Byline: Iris Taylor Aug. 30--Disputing credit reports and getting them fixed may not be as easy as some say it is. When consumers receive their free credit report, they also receive a form to fill out and instructions on how to get...

Your credit report is crucial -- and you can get it free.
August 30, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Aug. 30--Where you live. What you do. Where you shop. How much you owe and where you do your banking. The month -- was it February? -- that you forgot about the utility bill and sent it in late. Tax liens,...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Bob Rayner column.
August 30, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Aug. 30--Tired of paying those high prices at the gas pump? Some long-term help may be on the way, from a less-than-beloved source. Strong economic growth in China, India and the United States is boosting...

Veterinarian eases horses' aches, pains.
August 30, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Aug. 30--Chip was uncooperative and irritable. "He was stiff and not easy to ride; he would get mad easily," said Cindy Kaschak. A farrier suggested that the quarter horse needed an adjustment -- not for...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., business briefs column.
August 29, 2005... Aug. 29--ENGINEERS Winifred Chisholm is an environmental scientist for Schnabel Engineering Inc. Jason Miller has been promoted to project hydrogeologist I at Joyce Engineering Inc. At Resource International: --Angelique...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Biz Buzz column.
August 29, 2005... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan Aug. 29--STAINED GLASS CREATIONS MOVES TO LARGER SPACE: Diane Fairburn started her stained-glass business the day after she graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University's art school in 1979. She never...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Trade Names column.
August 29, 2005... Byline: Andrew Price Aug. 29--Paul Menninger was renovating his home three years ago when he turned frustration with the process into a rapidly growing business. In need of granite countertops, Menninger said he was dismayed with...

James River Bus Lines manages organized chaos.
August 29, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Aug. 29--Things didn't seem to be running smoothly. More than 1,400 adolescent athletes were about an hour behind their scheduled arrival for a party at Have A Nice Day Cafe in Richmond's Shockoe Bottom. ...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Company News column.
August 29, 2005... Aug. 29--NEW BUSINESS/OPENINGS: 2D9 will provide time-management, paper and digital file management and space-planning services for commercial and residential customers. The Web site is www.2d9.net. NAME CHANGE: American Express Financial...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Business Honors column.
August 29, 2005... Byline: Michelle Diehl Aug. 29--FRANCES M. WAGNER received the International Builders Exchange Executives Management Award. She is with the Builders' Exchange Association of Virginia. LORI COWAN has been named Rehabilitation...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., American Trends column.
August 29, 2005... Byline: Gary Robertson Aug. 29--Don't have time to read a book but don't want to be unread? Amazon.com may have an answer. The online company, which began as a book superstore and now sells more than 30 product lines, is trying...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Jeffrey Kelley column.
August 28, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Aug. 28--With her father dead, Henrietta Hen of Africa's Cote d'Ivoire needed to quickly transfer his $4.5 million to an American bank account, and I would be her trustworthy point man. Hen's proposition came...

Tech camp grads shine: 16 disadvantaged students pick up valuable training.
August 27, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Aug. 27--Loosening the crowd with a few laughs, Andrew Blocher's computer slide show began with a disclaimer: "I am in no way trying to encourage occult practices." He followed it up with a five-minute...

Virginia advocates, farmers ask Congress to reconsider food stamp cuts.
August 26, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Aug. 26--Advocates for the poor and small farmers want Congress to spare the Food Stamp Program as it cuts $3.2 billion from agriculture programs in the federal budget. Needed cuts should come from commodity...

Richmond, Va., ad agency will bring the MoonPie to the masses.
August 26, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Aug. 26--Y'all probably know right much about the MoonPie. It's sweet. It's chewy. It's got a heart of marshmallow. It's pretty near heaven when you wash it down with an ice-cold RC Cola. So when you're making...

Back-to-school means bliss for retailers.
August 26, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Aug. 26--If the "Back to School Supplies" sign above the door at Ben Franklin Crafts doesn't speak loudly enough, then maybe the 4-foot-tall rack inside the Patterson Avenue store does. "Back to School Lists,"...

Bank of Virginia approves stock split.
August 25, 2005... Aug. 25--Bank of Virginia has approved a 2-for-1 split of the company's common stock payable Sept. 13 to shareholders of record Sept. 6. After the split, there will be 1,525,366 shares of common stock outstanding. The...

Insmed's drug fight continues.
August 24, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Aug. 24--With costs mounting and litigation continuing, Insmed Inc.'s fight to get its drug approved is showing no signs of slowing. The Henrico County-based biotechnology firm this month asked the Food and...

Coal-import terminals planned.
August 24, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Aug. 24--Saying someone was "carrying coals to Newcastle," a city near English coal mines, was a once-common way to call someone foolish. Now, energy companies, including some in Virginia, are readying to do...

The 'godfather' of Kevlar.
August 23, 2005... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Aug. 23--A chain of letters and numbers scribbled on a board in Vlodek Gabara's office contains the code for a miracle material credited with saving thousands of lives. "That is the chemical formula for...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Company News column.
August 22, 2005... Aug. 22--NEW BUSINESS/OPENINGS: Elise Wetzel has opened iSold It, an eBay selling service, at 7225 Bell Creek Road, Suite 244 in Mechanicsville. NAME CHANGE: --ESI Connections has changed its name to HomeAgain. --Jefferson Davis...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Chip Jones column.
August 22, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Aug. 22--COMMUNICATIONS FAILURE PUTS BRAKES ON COMMUTE: What do CSX Corp. and Paul Newman have in common? As the prison boss (played by Strother Martin) told Newman in "Cool Hand Luke," the film classic about life...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., American Trends column.
August 22, 2005... Byline: Gary Robertson Aug. 22--GOD'S GREEN ACRES MORE EXPENSIVE AS FARM LAND: Putting cows out to pasture has become a lot more expensive. The cows aren't the problem -- it's the pasture. The cost of farm land has risen to...

Setting the camera to auto focus.
August 20, 2005... Byline: Tyra M. Vaughn Aug. 20--By the end of November, Mark Mitchell, studio manager of Dementi Studio, and his staff might consider themselves experts on auto parts. By then they will have photographed nearly 20,000 of them. ...

Circuit City approves rules on directors.
August 19, 2005... Aug. 19--The board of Circuit City Stores Inc. has amended corporate governance guidelines regarding election of directors. Any director who gets a "withhold" vote from a majority of outstanding shares at an uncontested election of...

New name, logo for nonprofit debt agency.
August 19, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Aug. 19--Remember the old Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Virginia? It's been through a series of transformations. This week, the Richmond-based nonprofit agency became ClearPoint Financial Solutions Inc....

Performance Food gives results of offer.
August 19, 2005... Aug. 19--More than 10 million shares of Performance Food Group Co. common stock were tendered in a modified "Dutch auction" offer by the company to buy back shares. The Richmond-based marketer and distributor of food and food-related...

Tobacco panel OKs aid grants.
August 19, 2005... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Aug. 19--Virginia's tobacco commission yesterday approved about $38 million in grants to assist tobacco-growing communities, with much of the money targeted at technology and construction and utilities...

Gasoline breaking records, wallets.
August 19, 2005... Aug. 19--Gasoline prices set records again yesterday, with the national average price for regular unleaded gasoline hitting $2.59 per gallon, compared with $1.87 for the same date last year. The cost, in terms of today's dollars, broke...

SCC questions merger plan.
August 19, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Aug. 19--State utility regulators worry that a proposed merger between Verizon Communications Inc. and MCI Inc. may be the wrong connection for Virginia. The State Corporation Commission staff says it is not sure...

Colonial Heights, Va., fiber company acquires maker of polyester yarns.
August 18, 2005... Aug. 18--Performance Fibers Holdings Inc., a former business unit of Honeywell International Inc., has acquired another fiber manufacturer. The Colonial Heights company said yesterday that it has bought the North American business of...

Global economy players impart wisdom to students.
August 18, 2005... Byline: Tyra M. Vaughn Aug. 18--Anyone interested in owning a company should know something about international business, professor Van R. Woods says. "We're becoming a global economy," the international marketing professor at...

Agricultural program recognizes couple for preserving soil, water and wildlife.
August 18, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Aug. 18--A dozen years ago, George and Lynne Iverson gave up their home on Washington's Embassy Row for a centuries-old farm in King and Queen County. Since then they have put untold time and effort into...

Amtrak, commuter services better after emergency meeting.
August 17, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Aug. 17--Amtrak and commuter rail service in Northern Virginia, plagued by slowdowns since the weekend, started improving yesterday after an emergency meeting between rail officials. "You need to keep freight...

Two credit unions plan to merge.
August 17, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Aug. 17--Mergers often mean megabucks, displaced workers and big bonuses for the corporate executives. Not in this case. Richmond Federal Credit Union and Partners Federal Credit Union in Richmond are...

Gas-guzzling SUVs, trucks sell well.
August 17, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Aug. 17--Rising gasoline prices have not curbed the American public's appetite for gas-guzzling vehicles. Big pickup trucks and sports utility vehicles sold like crazy during June and July as motorists were...

Charlottesville, Va., native leads national media conglomerate.
August 16, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Aug. 16--Marshall Morton ran a little business when he was 12 -- delivering about 70 copies of the Richmond Times-Dispatch around his Charlottesville neighborhood. He used his bicycle to pull a lawn cart stacked...

Long trip north for Amtrak riders.
August 16, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Aug. 16--A series of events bedeviled passengers on Amtrak and the Virginia Railway Express from Saturday through yesterday, leading to at least 15 delayed Amtrak trains and possible slowdowns through midweek. The...

Biotechnology firms race for FDA approval on rival growth-stimulating drugs.
August 16, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Aug. 16--It's a race to the finish for two biotechnology companies that have developed a drug to help short people. One is in Henrico County. The other is in Brisbane, Calif. Both are seeking approval from the...

Construction on St. Mary's Hospital begins.
August 16, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Aug. 16--St. Mary's Hospital is moving on up -- by three stories. Construction has started at the Bon Secours facility on Monument Avenue that will add three floors to its South Tower and create space for 76...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., business briefs column.
August 15, 2005... Aug. 15--ADVERTISING: Eric Zirkle has joined The King Agency as senior graphic designer. AGRIBUSINESS: Jody Lomenzo is director of marketing-advertising and creative services at Southern States Cooperative Inc. ARCHITECTS Eric...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Biz Buzz column.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan Aug. 15--MORE SPACIOUS TOYOTA DEALERSHIP OPENS TODAY: Rod McGeorge knew for years that his Toyota dealership on West Broad Street needed more space. Customer parking was cramped. His new-car inventory didn't...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Company News column.
August 15, 2005... Aug. 15--NEW BUSINESS/OPENINGS: Dr. Jill Ryland has opened Pediatric Partnership at 100 Concourse Boulevard, Suite 111, in Glen Allen. CONTRACTS David Bailey Associates has signed on the Virginia Coalition for the Homeless. ...

Agencies offer wealth of conservation guides.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Aug. 15--With heating costs on the rise, it might be time to consider installing a more efficient furnace and to reduce heat leaking from your home or apartment. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Energy...

Richmond, Va., homeowners save on energy costs by weatherizing.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Aug. 15--Sylvia Nicholson Harris is happy with the weatherization work she had done on her home near the Richmond Raceway Complex last January. With the addition of insulation and window caulking, she saved $50...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Business Honors column.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Michelle Diehl Aug. 15--LEWIS B. BUFORD is Sterling Performer for BB&T Corp. RICH FENLOCK has been named National Salesman of the Year by Fypon Ltd. To see more of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, or to subscribe to the...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Chip Jones column.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Aug. 15--Are you a Type A personality who elbows your way to the front of the line at Ukrop's or keeps your SUV in the passing lane all the way to the beach? Then Richmond International Airport might be the place...

Virginia universities see an increase in part-time students seeking MBAs.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Alex Howard Aug. 15--Applications to full-time MBA programs in the United States are down again this year. But Virginia's part-time programs for a master's in business administration have enjoyed a rise in applications...

'The language of business'.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Alex Howard Aug. 15--As a working professional and a mother, Jeanne Laughlin couldn't make the multi-year commitment to earn an MBA degree. But she wanted to learn more about business. So a friend suggested she enroll in...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Start-Up Spotlight column.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Tyra M. Vaughn Aug. 15--Two days before her wedding, Helen Campbell isn't preoccupied with wedding plans -- she's busy working. Instead of making final wedding preparations, she's answering the phones, assisting ...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Minding Your Business column.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Iris Taylor Aug. 15--Are you thinking seriously of investing in a franchise? Better know the reasons why franchisees fail so it won't happen to you. Here are eight, from franchise experts Darrell Johnson, president of...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., tech notes column.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Aug. 15--Need to kill a few hundred hours? Get googly-eyed over Google Maps. A Richmond-based Web-design company sure has. PharrOut LLC put RichmondCrime.org online last month, taking a hint from...

Helping staff tech jobs is their gig, UDig.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Aug. 15--With their client running a few minutes late, Jason Williams and Andy Frank strike up a short conversation about another customer. The subject arises about a job candidate who Williams thought had...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., American Trends column.
August 15, 2005... Byline: Gary Robertson Aug. 15--With the price of oil rising as high as the space shuttle, and the passage of a new energy bill by Congress, many Americans are thinking harder about how to save on their energy costs. Hybrid automobiles...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Consumer Watch column.
August 14, 2005... Byline: Iris Taylor Aug. 14--Can somebody who gets hold of a consumer's bank routing and checking account numbers use them to fraudulently pilfer money from that person's account? Yes, if they're a con artist and if there are...

What will $X buy?
August 14, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Aug. 14--I don't own a home. But in a few years, I'll probably start looking. So what could I expect to find? What kind of house can you get in the Richmond area for $100,000? How about if you're in...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Bob Rayner column.
August 14, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Aug. 14--Once in a while around here, you'll step through a door and suddenly wonder: Am I still in Richmond? This phenomenon seems to strike most frequently in places like Shockoe Bottom, where the oldest part of...

Travel agents hit turbulence.
August 13, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Aug. 13--An urgent phone call came from Scotland yesterday. A Richmond couple was having a fine time and was ready to fly over to Ireland -- a jaunt that would take them through London's Heathrow Airport. ...

Performance Food Group to buy own shares.
August 13, 2005... Aug. 13--Performance Food Group Co. expects to buy 10.2 million shares of its stock as part of a modified Dutch auction. The Richmond-based food-service company plans to pay $29.75 per share for the stock, spending roughly $304 million....

Richmond, Va., petroleum dealer predicts gas will hit $3 a gallon within a year.
August 13, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Aug. 13--Would $3 per gallon thin out the crowded roads? One of the more knowledgeable petroleum dealers in the city has gazed into the future and suggests that gasoline has an even chance of hitting that mark within...

Promoting a partnership.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Aug. 12--After surviving a near-death experience this spring, the Greater Richmond Partnership is flexing its muscles -- and trying to build some immunity against future attacks. The region's lead economic...

Ginseng export restrictions toughened.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Aug. 12--Tony Ogden has tended a country store in Amherst County for 47 years. And for 47 years he has bought wild ginseng from hunters who comb the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains to dig the medicinal root. ...

Chesapeake Corp. reports loss, will restate some results.
August 12, 2005... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Aug. 12--Chesapeake Corp. reported a second-quarter loss yesterday and said it will restate financial results for 2004 and the first quarter of 2005 to correct accounting errors. The Richmond-based...

Virginia Business Bank raises $15.6M for startup.
August 11, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Aug. 11--Virginia Business Bank, a bank being organized to meet the lending and service needs of small and midsize businesses in central Virginia, has $15.6 million in commitments in startup capital. This goal...

1930s murder case revisited.
August 11, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Aug. 11--No one is sure how Wise County school teacher Edith Maxwell killed her father. The weapon used to dispatch coal-miner Trigg Maxwell was never found. But the speculation included a high-heeled shoe, an...

Worker fund gives $3 million.
August 11, 2005... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Aug. 11--The nation's largest tobacco company has no shortage of requests for money. This year, Richmond-based Philip Morris USA received more than 170 applications from central Virginia nonprofit...

Study will gauge the quality of the area's work force.
August 11, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Aug. 11--Break out the mirror and see how we're working. A couple of Richmond's leading business groups teamed up with two local community colleges to sponsor an in-depth study of the area's work force, the first...

Median-priced home likely to elude Richmond, Va.-area nurses, teachers.
August 10, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Aug. 10--If you're a nurse, teacher, firefighter or police officer in the Richmond area, buying a house will be difficult. You could afford to rent a two-bedroom house or apartment. But a median-priced home...

Mortgage firm Saxon Capital Inc. posts quarterly net income of $19.4 million.
August 10, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Aug. 10--Saxon Capital Inc., a Richmond mortgage company, reported second-quarter net income of $19.4 million, or 38 cents per share, compared with $17.4 million, or 56 cents per share a year ago, when the company had...

Retailing future is written on the weblog.
August 10, 2005... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Aug. 10--If you're trying to do a better job advertising your business and you don't know what a weblog is, you're probably falling behind the curve. Then again, you might be forgiven if "weblog" isn't in...

Searching for IT talent.
August 9, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Aug. 9--Human advertisements for J. Crew's fall clothing line sit in a small office cafeteria just after 7 a.m., munching bagels and sipping coffee. If these well-dressed young men and women aren't just out of...

UR blankets campus with Wi-Fi.
August 9, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Aug. 9--The Spiders have spun a wireless Web. The University of Richmond is getting tuned up this week with wireless high-speed Internet, or Wi-Fi. It will give faculty members and the school's roughly 3,000...

A globetrotter with charm.
August 9, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Aug. 9--When AirTran Airways started recruiting workers in Richmond this spring, Qian Richardson sprang into action. The Beijing native had no previous airline experience, but she had circled the world many times...

Extended-stay hotels planned.
August 9, 2005... Byline: Alex Howard Aug. 9--Six Value Place hotel-apartment hybrid properties are planned for the Richmond area during the next couple of years. Construction should begin on the first of the six sites this winter, said Carolyn...

Growing but unchanged.
August 9, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Aug. 9--Westminster Canterbury Richmond is about to double in size. The retirement community will open a $153 million expansion. The first tenants move in next month. Some will go into an apartment...