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

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

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Consumer Watch column.
July 31, 2005... Byline: Iris Taylor Jul. 31--Directory assistance. City and state, please? "What listing? Landline or wireless?" Landline or wireless? Is it really true that soon anybody -- including telemarketers -- will be able to get...

Helping to manage energy needs.
July 31, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Jul. 31--The cost of energy -- the price companies pay for electricity, fuel oil, coal and natural gas -- was once considered a cost of doing business. In these days of ballooning energy prices, it could be a...

A guidebook to selling a home on your own.
July 31, 2005... Byline: Matt Conte Jul. 31--Piper Nichole has written a book which may appeal to those inclined to do things the old-fashioned way: by themselves. "The For Sale By Owner Handbook" is a step-by-step manual for selling one's home...

Seminar seeks to help develop that 'I-can-do-it' business mind-set.
July 31, 2005... Byline: Alex Howard Jul. 31--As the job market shifts, people must be able to adapt to its changes. Jackie Mayfield, founder of Compro-Tax and a self-made millionaire, will conduct a seminar Thursday designed to help people who have...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Bob Rayner column.
July 31, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Jul. 31--FORBES' FLAME FOR FLAT-TAX REVOLUTION STILL BURNS HOT: When it comes to the federal tax code, Steve Forbes doesn't parse words. He calls it a "hideously complex beast." And he believes it's time to...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., technology notes column.
July 31, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jul. 31--Jonathan Koves' resume is one of those that makes the "keeper" pile every time. The 23-year-old recent James Madison University graduate is humble about his record, though. Humble about the...

Richmond, Va., airport expansion shifts baggage-claim area, rental-car counters.
July 30, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Jul. 30--If you've taken a wrong turn inside the airport terminal lately, don't be too hard on yourself. Lots of other people have lost their bearings. Take the baggage-claim area. For years, arriving passengers...

New book describes Virginia cattle industry.
July 30, 2005... Jul. 30--A new book, commissioned by the Virginia cattle and dairy industries, traces the story of Virginia cattle from Jamestown to the present. "Virginia's Cattle Story: The First Four Centuries" relates how cattle provided meat, milk...

Richmond, Va.-based coal firm Massey triples quarterly profits.
July 30, 2005... Jul. 30--In one of the hottest coal markets in many years, Massey Energy Co. nearly tripled its profit during the second quarter compared with a year ago. Massey reported net income of $37 million, or 44 cents per share. That is nearly...

Chaparral Steel splits from parent company.
July 30, 2005... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jul. 30--Chaparral Steel Co., which operates a plant in Dinwiddie County, completed a spinoff yesterday from its parent company, Texas Industries Inc. The spinoff to shareholders through a stock dividend...

New movie theater planned for downtown Richmond, Va.
July 30, 2005... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan Jul. 30--Downtown Richmond may be getting a movie theater complex. A New York development company that bought a city block a couple of months ago is planning a large-scale project for the site. ...

Capital One cuts at least 35 jobs.
July 29, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jul. 29--Capital One Financial Corp. is at it again. Richmond's largest non-government employer, a credit-card and consumer-finance company, continues to trim staff and outsource work to other companies. An...

Power record set once again in Virginia.
July 29, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Jul. 29--Dominion Virginia Power reported that it set another record for one-hour consumer demand Wednesday -- the fourth record within nine days. The peak of 18,897 megawatts of electricity was set between 4 and...

Virginia's jobless rate hits highest level in almost a year.
July 29, 2005... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jul. 29--Virginia's unemployment rate rose in June to its highest level in 11 months as more high school and college students started job hunting. The wave of young job-seekers helped increase the number...

Skies are getting friendlier as fares lower at Richmond, Va., airport.
July 29, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Jul. 29--About a month after it began flying out of Richmond, AirTran Airways seems to be living up to its billing as a force for lower fares. An informal survey shows that since the discount carrier started...

Insurance broker Hilb Rogal & Hobbs sees net income shrink.
July 28, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Jul. 28--Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Co. posted second-quarter net income of $15.8 million, or 44 cents per share, compared with $20.5 million, or 56 cents per share, a year before. The Richmond insurance and...

Soaring temperatures send Richmond, Va.-area residents to the malls.
July 28, 2005... Byline: Tyra M. Vaughn Jul. 28--Is it ever too hot to shop? The air-conditioned malls were crowded yesterday as the local temperature tickled 100, but experts say high temperatures do not deter shoppers from open-air malls, where...

Convicted spammer appeals ruling.
July 28, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jul. 28--The nation's first convicted illegal spammer wears an ankle bracelet in Northern Virginia, confined to an apartment and allowed out a few hours a week to run errands. He could be tethered another year...

Work at Richmond, Va., airport unearth relics.
July 27, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Jul. 27--Construction workers at Richmond International Airport have been turning up bits and pieces of the airport's past, including two underground fuel tanks that may date back to the 1950s. The hidden...

A good vehicle for selling used cars.
July 27, 2005... Byline: Matt Conte Jul. 27--How far would you travel to find the car of your dreams? Twenty miles? Fifty? Last year, more than 40,000 CarMax Inc. customers traveled only the distance from their homes to their local CarMax stores for...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Consumer Watch column.
July 27, 2005... Byline: Iris Taylor Jul. 27--What's on some readers' minds this week? They want to know what to do about asbestos, where to get help preparing legal documents and how to dump a predatory credit card. A Petersburg reader found out...

Old foundry is hot again.
July 27, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jul. 27--If walls could talk, these would tell about beer, tobacco -- and stoves: Work, life and a piece of Richmond history. Southern Stove Works is stamped across one of three buildings that will be turned into...

Cloverleaf hanging on.
July 27, 2005... Byline: Julian Walker Jul. 27--Mehboob Fazlani is one of the holdouts. Cloverleaf Mall isn't empty yet -- 32 out of a possible 80 tenants remain in the Chesterfield County shopping center -- thanks in part to Fazlani's four stores....

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Bob Rayner column.
July 27, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Jul. 27--When it comes to the federal tax code, Steve Forbes doesn't parse words. He calls it a "hideously complex beast." And he believes it's time to slay the monster that restrains economic growth,...

Chip maker Infineon Technologies posts second consecutive quarterly loss.
July 27, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jul. 27--Ramp-up costs for a $1 billion expansion of its semiconductor plant in Henrico County contributed to a second-straight quarterly loss at Infineon Technologies AG. Munich-based Infineon, which has just...

Orange County man is named Virginia's farmer of the year.
July 26, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Jul. 26--GORDONSVILLE -- Wallace "Monk" Sanford III surely owns some contented cows. For one thing, Sanford is a nice guy. And for another, he runs one of the state's best dairy and beef farms. Sanford farms...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., business briefs column.
July 25, 2005... Jul. 25--ACCOUNTING: Deborah Greenawalt has joined Biegler & Associates as a senior staff accountant. BANKING, INVESTMENTS: Peter W. Strauss is a client manager analyst in middle market banking with Bank of America. CERTIFICATION ...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Biz Buzz column.
July 25, 2005... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan Jul. 25--SPORTS CLIPS FRANCHISEES SAY MEN ARE THEIR MVPS: Most guys don't like going to hair salons. The smell of perm solution or hair dye can make the hair on their necks stand up. "Men just feel very...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Chip Jones column.
July 25, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Jul. 25--Are you ready to start making cell-phone calls while you fly? You might have to wait awhile, after a congressional group recently hung up on the idea. According to USA Today, a House subcommittee...

Shifting businesses bring changes to Richmond, Va.-area retail district.
July 25, 2005... Byline: Tyra M. Vaughn Jul. 25--Pardon Carytown's dust -- it's under construction and making a few changes to its eclectic style. Strolling along Cary Street, shoppers will notice in the weeks and months ahead the changes the...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., American Trends column.
July 25, 2005... Byline: Gary Robertson Jul. 25--Mash-up. Something you do with potatoes? No, it's one of the latest innovations on the World Wide Web. It involves mashing together data and services of a number of different Web sites for new...

Airport ridership soars in Richmond, Va.
July 23, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Jul. 23--June was a hot month at Richmond International Airport in more ways than one. Boosted by affordable airfares, ridership increased to 258,416, an 11.7 percent increase from last June, and the airport's best...

Eastern Virginia Bankshares reports lower earnings.
July 23, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jul. 23--Tappahannock-based Eastern Virginia Bankshares reported second-quarter net income of $1.55 million, or 32 cents per share, compared with $1.82 million, or 37 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter. ...

Union Bankshares reports higher second-quarter income.
July 23, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jul. 23--Union Bankshares reported second-quarter net income of $6.6 million, up 45 percent from the same quarter in 2004. Earnings per share increased to 75 cents from 53 cents over the same period. For the...

Low rent: Best found in weather section?
July 23, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jul. 23--One hundred, 98, 75, 92, 89. Those temperatures are forecast for Monday through Friday. The 75 is the Wednesday low; the other numbers are respective daily highs. At Stuart Court Apartments LLC,...

Southside Plaza in Richmond, Va., to regain grocery store next month.
July 22, 2005... Byline: David Ress Jul. 22--A swath of South Richmond that's been without a supermarket for more than a year will soon get a new place to shop for groceries. Farmer's Foods plans to open a store next month at Southside Plaza, at...

Circuit City takes 'Grand Theft' game off shelves.
July 22, 2005... Byline: Matt Conte Jul. 22--Circuit City has joined Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target in removing the video game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" from store shelves. The game industry changed the game's rating Wednesday because consumers...

Cingular service irks customers.
July 22, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jul. 22--For about a week, Blair Just's phone may as well have been a paperweight. His Cingular Wireless service has since returned, but for a while, all it could do was capture voice mail. To get those...

Public hearing set on natural gas rates.
July 22, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Jul. 22--The State Corporation Commission has set a public hearing for Jan. 24 on Virginia Natural Gas Inc.'s proposals for either a performance-based rate plan or a general rate increase. VNG asked the...

Richmond, Va.-based personal-care product maker will expand operations.
July 22, 2005... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jul. 22--A company that makes personal-care products for correctional facilities is expanding its Richmond operations. Securitas Inc. said it will expand into a building next door to its Summit Avenue...

Richmond, Va., surgical supplier posts 4 percent hike in second-quarter income.
July 22, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Jul. 22--Owens & Minor Inc. reported a 4 percent increase in second-quarter net income to $16.0 million, or 40 cents per share, compared to $15.3 million, or 39 cents per share, a year earlier. The Richmond medical...

Earnings of Richmond, Va.-based trucking company rise 38 percent.
July 22, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Jul. 22--Overnite Corp.'s earnings rose nearly 38 percent in the second quarter. The Richmond-based trucking company, which is set to become part of United Parcel Service Inc. soon, -- posted a profit of -- $23.1...

Albemarle announces higher profits.
July 21, 2005... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jul. 21--Albemarle Corp.'s profit rose in the second quarter on stronger returns from each of its business segments. The Richmond-based specialty chemicals company said profit rose to $32.1 million, or 67...

Capital One profit surges.
July 21, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jul. 21--Capital One Financial Corp. reported second-quarter earnings yesterday of $531.1 million, or $2.03 per share, compared with $407.4 million, or $1.65 per share, for the year-earlier period. "Capital One's...

Marines thank DuPont workers in Richmond, Va.
July 21, 2005... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jul. 21--The Marines landed yesterday at DuPont's Richmond Spruance plant. No prisoners were taken, though, as the airborne unit just wanted to thank DuPont employees. At 9 a.m., a helicopter carrying...

New York firm planning complex to house retail, office, hotel and condos.
July 21, 2005... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan Jul. 21--Richmond's skyline may be changing again. A New York development company plans to build a skyscraper along the south side of East Main Street mostly between Fifth and Sixth streets downtown. ...

LandAmerica to pay to settle allegations.
July 21, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jul. 21--LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. of Richmond will pay $4.5 million to settle charges in California of kickbacks paid to real estate developers. The agreement with the California insurance commissioner is...

Martin to create AOL ads.
July 20, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Jul. 20--You've got new business! If you're The Martin Agency, that is. Richmond's largest advertising shop just got some good news: It's one of three firms that AOL picked to handle a $50 million national...

$1 million grant helps library grow.
July 20, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Jul. 20--Trucking magnate J. Harwood Cochrane, a well-known friend of art, is a book lover, too. Cochrane said yesterday that he has donated nearly $1 million for the expansion of the Rockville branch of the...

'No typical day' for Charlottesville, Va., aircraft cleaner.
July 19, 2005... Byline: Iris Taylor Jul. 19--Chris Riggle, co-owner of Aircraft Cleaning in Charlottesville, got a late-night call from a business jet owner who flew into the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport last month. The man wanted his aircraft...

Virginia lawmakers propose legislation to restrict eminent-domain powers.
July 19, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Jul. 19--Republicans in the Virginia House of Delegates abhor a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on government-condemnation powers as much as their colleagues running for statewide office. At a news conference in...

Radio refugees/Trio gets its bearings after jumping ship at WRVA.
July 19, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Jul. 19--Five years ago, as personnel changes roiled the airwaves at Richmond's most popular AM radio station, three of its top people jumped ship. The former executives from WRVA decided to stick with what they...

Virginia construction workers press on despite the heat.
July 19, 2005... Byline: Matt Conte Jul. 19--John Croft sits down on the shoulder of Salisbury Road in Midlothian and gets ready to eat lunch. The heat index is over 100 degrees. He has been hard at work since about 6:30 a.m. in almost unbearable...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Minding Your Business column.
July 19, 2005... Byline: Iris Taylor Jul. 19--Your company is owed money by other businesses. It needs that money. It's time to get on the telephone and make some collection calls. First, though, here are some things you need to know and do, said...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., business briefs column.
July 18, 2005... Jul. 18--BANKING, INVESTMENTS --Roman Pickering is a financial consultant with Charles Schwab & Co. He had been with the office in Indianapolis. --New officers for the Virginia Credit Union are: chairman, Jerald F. Moore; vice...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Biz Buzz column.
July 18, 2005... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan Jul. 18--GROWERS EXCHANGE LEAVES CARYTOWN AFTER 20 YEARS: The Growers Exchange, a small plant shop, has been in Carytown since 1985. But increasing competition has forced the shop's owner to close the store at...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Chip Jones column.
July 18, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Jul. 18--A day after the London terrorist bombings, I happened to ride an Amtrak train from Richmond to Washington's Union Station. I was struck by the calm riders and railroad employees, despite the alarming news...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Start-Up Spotlight column.
July 18, 2005... Byline: Tyra M. Vaughn Jul. 18--For Allen Jackson, what started as a childhood hobby of collecting and refinishing antiques grew into an adulthood obsession. As a child, "I fell in love with the transformation of turning something...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., American Trends column.
July 18, 2005... Byline: Gary Robertson Jul. 18--Between now and mid-century, America's population is projected to climb by more than 40 percent, from 295 million to 420 million. And with all those additional people, demographers are predicting some...

Area auto sales rebound.
July 18, 2005... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jul. 18--Automobile sales are as hot as the weather in the Richmond area this summer as customers have responded to new discounts offered by major U.S. auto manufacturers. Buyers flocked to dealerships in...

Credit union adheres to its mission.
July 18, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jul. 18--Most bankers court wealthy people. Not many would be interested in getting business from people who work at Burger King or McDonald's. But Byron E. Howlett Sr. is. "Look," he tells fast-food...

Rocketts Landing launch set.
July 18, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jul. 18--What is 1 mile long and two blocks deep next to the James River? Nothing much. But that will soon change. Work will start in the next week or so on Rocketts Landing, a riverfront village off Old...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Jeffrey Kelley column.
July 18, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jul. 18--"I work so long that I'm a-losin' track," Bruce Springsteen once sang, "waitin', waitin' on the big payback." Biotech companies know the feeling of trying to bring a product to market and grab...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Bob Rayner column.
July 18, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Jul. 18--Last week, The New York Times ran a story that was both illuminating and, I suspect, unintentionally amusing. The venerable newspaper reported that federal tax revenue is growing at a blistering 15 percent...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Consumer Watch column.
July 17, 2005... Byline: Iris Taylor Jul. 17--Coming soon to your bill box, higher minimum payments on credit cards. Watch out, consumers. This could wreck your budget. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in Washington confirmed it:...

Richmond International is dismantling its obsolete air-traffic-control site.
July 16, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Jul. 16--A prominent piece of Richmond airport history is biting the dust. Richmond International Airport's original air-traffic-control tower -- which dates to the founding of Byrd Field in 1950 -- is being taken...

Dominion Retail to sell power to up to 15,000 customers.
July 16, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Jul. 16--Dominion Retail Inc., a subsidiary of Richmond-based Dominion Resources Inc., has made an offer to sell electricity to residential customers of Massachusetts Electric. The offer marks the first time in...

Delta efficiency push has travelers racing to make flights.
July 16, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Jul. 16--Garland Pollard was rushing to make a Delta Air Lines connection in Atlanta when he noticed he wasn't the only one in a hurry. "There were a ton of people running down the long concourse trying to make...

Estes Express expands out West.
July 15, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Jul. 15--Estes Express Lines is now a national trucking power. The Richmond-based freight carrier announced yesterday that it has acquired Los Angeles-based G.I. Trucking. The deal adds 13 states to Estes' coverage...

Hanover, Va., disabled get jobs and sense of self-worth.
July 15, 2005... Byline: Tyra M. Vaughn Jul. 15--The conveyor belt rotates round and round, nearly five times a minute. Carrie Suttles, 32, a material handler at Hanover Recycling, works quickly and diligently sorting through the tons of paper that...

Firm hopes drug brings big payoff.
July 14, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jul. 14--Like most biotechnology companies, Insmed Inc.'s path to becoming successful isn't a walk in the park. "This is the typical biotech story," said Philip J. Young, chief business officer and executive...

JetBlue reaffirms interest.
July 13, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Jul. 13--Discount carrier JetBlue Airways still has Richmond on its radar. An airline official confirmed yesterday that the low-fare carrier known for its 36-channel satellite televisions and leather seats is...

Media General profit edges up.
July 13, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Jul. 13--Media General Inc. reported second-quarter net income of $19 million, or 80 cents per share, compared with $18.5 million, or 78 cents per share a year before. Revenue increased almost 3.9 percent to $233.7...

Coping with Sarbanes-Oxley.
July 13, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jul. 13--Boiling the ocean. "The sun has tried, has not succeeded for millions of years, so how do you think you're going to do it?" asked Don Murtaugh, a senior management consultant at Core Consulting in...

Passion serves as the root of Buckingham, Va.-based interior landscaping firm.
July 12, 2005... Byline: Linda Dunham Jul. 12--You could say that the idea for Buckingham Greenery Inc. sprouted from a Kentia palm Connie Hom bought to fill a space in her apartment in New York. What began as a palm tree grew into a company. ...

How to turn blight into viability.
July 12, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jul. 12--What happens if you throw money at something the right way? You spread it on thick. You make improvements not to a house, but to entire neighborhood blocks that have fallen on tough times. You...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Biz Buzz column.
July 11, 2005... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan Jul. 11--THIS END UP'S NAME, PRODUCTS REINCARNATED: This End Up, the Richmond-based chain that pioneered crate-style furniture, went belly-up five years ago and closed all its stores and warehouses. But the...

A local entrepreneur hopes his conic, fluid-free charcoal product will sizzle.
July 11, 2005... Byline: Matt Conte Jul. 11--Playing with fire is a risk that just may pay off for a Richmond-area inventor and entrepreneur. Michael Stephens of western Henrico County, who introduced bumper-bowling to the world, has come up with a...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Consumer Watch column.
July 11, 2005... Byline: Iris Taylor Jul. 11--The Atlantic storms are churning to life in the Caribbean, Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. Tropical Storm Cindy swirled into Louisiana last week, and Dennis is on track to affect Florida's Gulf Coast....

High Street, high hopes.
July 11, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jul. 11--PETERSBURG -- "Bullish." It seems to be one of Robin Miller's favorite words. The Richmond real estate developer has been twice quoted in The Times-Dispatch as saying the word -- referring to his...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Chip Jones column.
July 11, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Jul. 11--Marsha Marks' career as a flight attendant got off to a bumpy start. She was 27 years old and had just left a job as a recruiter for a dog food company. Worse yet, her fiance had left her for a...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Bob Rayner column.
July 11, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Jul. 11--For most folks, M&A might as well stand for mystifying and arcane, a province of high finance that surpasses all understanding. In reality, the mergers and acquisitions business is one of the feedstocks...

Midlothian, Va.-based computer maker, Best Buy forge deal.
July 9, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jul. 9--Randy Copeland shot a 94 on a Texas golf course yesterday with some new friends at Best Buy Co. Inc. His company, Velocity Micro Inc., just scored a major deal with the retail giant. The...

Protesters in Richmond, Va., target Massey Energy over mining practices.
July 9, 2005... Jul. 9--A four-hour demonstration in downtown Richmond against "mountain-top removal" strip mining, held in sympathy with protests at the G-8 meeting in Scotland, ended without incident yesterday. For a while, it appeared it might not...