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

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

Virginia increases cigarette excise tax by 10 cents a pack.
June 30, 2005... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jun. 30--Virginia's cigarette excise tax will increase tomorrow for the second time in a less than a year. After rising from 2.5 cents per pack to 20 cents per pack last September, the tax will increase to...

Two arrested in protest at Massey.
June 30, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Jun. 30--Police arrested two West Virginia activists for trespassing yesterday as they demonstrated at Massey Energy Co.'s offices in downtown Richmond. Hanna Thurman and Herb Elkins of Coal River Mountain Watch...

Protest set July 8.
June 30, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Jun. 30--Massey Energy Co., which was the focus of a demonstration here yesterday, will be the target of protest July 8 in Monroe Park. In conjunction with the G8 summit of nations in Scotland, activists have...

AAA's Web site fuels hunt for cheap gas prices.
June 30, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Jun. 30--AAA Mid-Atlantic has made a spiffy new Web site available to motorists to help them find cheap gasoline and budget their road trips. For example, according to the Web site, it takes $89.20 in regular...

Virginia's unemployment rate shows slight increase.
June 30, 2005... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jun. 30--Virginia's unemployment rate rose to 3.6 percent in May from 3.4 percent in April. The Virginia Employment Commission attributed the increase to college students looking for summer jobs and recent...

Fresh-cut segment is sold.
June 29, 2005... Byline: Tyra M. Vaughn Jun. 29--Performance Food Group Co. yesterday announced it has completed the sale of its packaged-produce unit to Chiquita Brands International Inc., a leading grower of bananas and fresh-cut fruit. The $855...

Ex-insurance executive sentenced.
June 29, 2005... Byline: Alan Cooper Jun. 29--The former president of Reciprocal of America was sentenced yesterday to 12 1/2 years in prison for insurance and mail fraud. Kenneth R. Patterson's role in the frauds contributed to the 2003 collapse of...

Getting hooked on economics.
June 28, 2005... Byline: Tyra M. Vaughn Jun. 28--Becky Shepherd has accepted a new title and is taking on a new role in her career and life. She is trading in her executive director title and replacing it with that of full-time daughter, wife, mother...

Medical firm consolidates warehouses.
June 28, 2005... Byline: Marilyn J. Shaw Jun. 28--Before, Owens & Minor Inc. needed to coordinate distribution of medical and surgical supplies locally from three disparate warehouses. But its new 114,000-square-foot facility in Hanover County...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., business briefs column.
June 27, 2005... Jun. 27--BANKING, INVESTMENTS --Christine Mills has joined the new mortgage division of River City Bank. --At Bank of Richmond: Matthew Caplice is a credit analyst. Bonnie Tibbs is a mortgage processor. Connie Gregory...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Company News column.
June 27, 2005... Jun. 27--MERGERS/EXPANSIONS: KitchenCrafters has opened a showroom in Lakeside Appliance, 9071 W. Broad St. CONTRACTS --Specialty Minerals Inc., a subsidiary of Minerals Technology Inc., has implemented STR Software's AventX UNIX...

Buckingham Branch Railroad grows in complicated business.
June 27, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Jun. 27--Passing Paramount's Kings Dominion, the short freight train slowly rocked from side to side -- at only 10 miles per hour. It was pulled by a 1,600-horsepower diesel engine built in 1950, long before some of...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Business Honors column.
June 27, 2005... Jun. 27--ROBIN YODER has received the Lane W. Adams Quality of Life Award from the American Cancer Society. She is the founder of The Hawthorne Cancer Resource Center. THE READ CENTER reports the following awards: --Diane Chaplin is...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., American Trends column.
June 27, 2005... Byline: Gary Robertson Jun. 27--The Romans had the Colosseum. We Americans have sports stadiums. The players have changed, but the demand for building venues for grand spectacles remains strong. The Christian Science Monitor...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Biz Buzz column.
June 27, 2005... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan Jun. 27--WEST CREEK HAS NEW DEVELOPMENT PARTNER: The mammoth West Creek office park in eastern Goochland County has a new partner. Local developer Thomas E. Pruitt and his family entities have joined forces...

Bank of America president of Virginia region to retire.
June 25, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jun. 25--G.S. "Sandy" Fitz-Hugh, after 43 years as a banker, is retiring as Bank of America Corp.'s president of Virginia. Pete Schleck, a commercial lending and investment banking executive for Virginia and...

By 2007, IndyCars will run on pure ethyl alcohol, a cleaner fuel.
June 25, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Jun. 25--An Indianapolis-style race car runs 230 miles per hour and weighs half what a NASCAR racer weighs. An IndyCar can circle the three-quarter-mile oval at Richmond International Raceway in less than 16 seconds....

AirTran Airlines offers service again out of Richmond, Va.
June 24, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Jun. 24--Vickie Hickman thought it worthwhile to drive 2 1/2 hours from Lexington to Richmond to ride an airplane. "My total flight was $187 round-trip," Hickman said of her flight to Atlanta on AirTran Airways,...

Richmond, Va., credit union opens new branch.
June 24, 2005... Jun. 24--Richmond Federal Credit Union has opened its third branch in the Richmond area at 1200 New York Ave., at -- Brook Road near Interstate 295. The branch opened June 6. The grand opening celebration is -- July 9. Light refreshments...

Racy Hardee's television ad will not air in Virginia.
June 24, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jun. 24--To the dismay of Virginia's young male population, Paris Hilton's racy hamburger commercial will not be aired in the commonwealth. It's too hot for TV here, says regional Hardee's Food Systems Inc....

Heat issues hinder N.Va. train line.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Jun. 23--The heat is on CSX Corp. -- again. This week, the head of the Virginia Railway Express pleaded for relief from operating mix-ups and heat-related procedures that have created logjams for passengers and...

Virginia utility files SEC registration statement for $3 billion.
June 23, 2005... Jun. 23--Dominion Resources Inc. filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday for $3 billion in various kinds of securities. The company said the amount included in the filing is sufficient to...

Henrico County, Va., apartments will become condos.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jun. 23--The Ashley Terrace apartments in northern Henrico County will be converted into condominiums. Tenants were notified this week. They will be given first dibs to buy the units. Prices will be from...

Anthem Blue Cross, Shield to offer PPOs to Virginia Medicare recipients.
June 23, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Jun. 23--In August, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield will begin offering comprehensive health-insurance policies in Virginia for Medicare recipients. Anthem Medicare Preferred will make three types of preferred...

Richmond, Va., packaging company files registration statement with SEC.
June 23, 2005... Jun. 23--Richmond-based Chesapeake Corp. said it filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for $300 million in securities. The packaging company said it plans to use the proceeds from any offering for...

See the world by cell phone.
June 21, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jun. 21--William Coffman watched the replay as Greg Biffle spun his tires after winning Sunday's NASCAR race. The Staunton resident was upset that Kasey Kahne didn't win but was nonetheless amazed as he watched...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Bob Rayner column.
June 21, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Jun. 21--The state of Virginia is hauling in the cash, courtesy of its taxpayers. Virginia's take from taxpayers grew at the fifth-fastest rate in the country during the first quarter of this year. The Old...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., technology testdrive column.
June 21, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jun. 21--Out to lunch yesterday at Stool Pigeons Coop and Grill, I posed the question to Chuck, our server: Would you ever use television on a cell phone? "Probably not," he said. "I don't even watch TV at...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., business briefs column.
June 20, 2005... Jun. 20--ARCHITECTS Blair Guncheon has joined the Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects as executive assistant. She had been with the Virginia Foundation for Women. At Commonwealth Architects: --Miriam Regan...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Consumer Watch column.
June 20, 2005... Byline: Iris Taylor Jun. 20--So, you think the USA Patriot Act has nothing to do with you because you're not a terrorist, don't know one and haven't wired any money to the "Axis of Evil" lately? Think again. Your bank is now the...

Richmond, Va.-area business market signs up for internet phone service.
June 20, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jun. 20--When Gordy Fox opens his $1.1 million health-care supply sales and service facility in Mecklenburg County this fall, traditional phone service won't be included in the cost. In fact, it won't be...

For local company, Baby Jogger made 3.
June 20, 2005... Jun. 20--The founders of Dynamic Brands Inc. started out with ambitions of reviving a venerable golf-products brand. Eight years later, they've got a company that's grown faster than they'd hoped, with three different brands. In...

'Sports cars' for babies.
June 20, 2005... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jun. 20--Long before they were the top executives of the Baby Jogger Co., David Boardman and Leighton Klevana were happy customers. Boardman and his wife purchased one of the high-performance strollers...

Waiting for the right time?
June 20, 2005... Jun. 20--Ever dream of owning that cottage in the mountains, cabin by the lake or beach house on the Outer Banks? Here's a piece of advice from James H. Boykin, former chairman of the real estate and land development program at Virginia...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Bob Rayner column.
June 19, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Jun. 19--MARKETERS MUST KNOW, RESPECT SAVVY CONSUMERS: Ann Clurman, a senior partner at Yankelovich Partners Inc., one of the country's premier market-research firms. "I think it's more than just there's a lot of...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Consumer Watch column.
June 19, 2005... Byline: Iris Taylor Jun. 19--How do you keep your customers out of competitors' stores? By finding out what they want and giving it to them. Take it from some food-industry experts: --Put up a suggestion box and make the changes....

State entrepreneurs receive honors.
June 18, 2005... Byline: Tyra M. Vaughn Jun. 18--The founders of Service Center Metals in Prince George County know what it means to sacrifice. R. Scott Kelley, Lloyd S. "Chip" Dollins and R. Randolph Weis of Prince George County went nearly 17...

Reactor case will consider harm to bass.
June 18, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Jun. 18--Striped bass at Lake Anna will get their day in court -- so to speak. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission judges have ruled that opponents of new nuclear reactors at the lake may argue that reactor...

USDA administrator says agency will not extend deadline for tobacco buyout.
June 18, 2005... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jun. 18--A U.S. Department of Agriculture administrator said yesterday that the federal agency will not extend the deadline to sign up for 2005 tobacco-quota buyout payments. The agency made that...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., business briefs column.
June 17, 2005... Jun. 17--The Virginia Farm Service Agency said it had received 42,341 applications for the buyout by yesterday -- more than 90 percent of 46,936 in the state who are eligible. Owners of tobacco quota before Oct. 22, 2004, and farmers who...

Virginia gets tough on payday lenders.
June 17, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jun. 17--Virginia is cracking down on payday lenders and shoring up consumer protections. Payday lenders make short-term loans at triple-digit interest rates, advancing money against borrowers' next paychecks....

Class-action suit is filed against utility in clerk's gas-price mistake.
June 17, 2005... Byline: Alan Cooper Jun. 17--Two consumers have filed a class-action lawsuit over a mistake by a Dominion Transmission Inc. clerk that federal officials said cost the natural gas market $200 million to $1 billion. The Richmond-based...

Housing industry poised to set records.
June 16, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jun. 16--The housing market was supposed to be good this year. But not this good, according to housing and mortgage finance experts. Housing starts, sales and prices have exceeded expectations, said David...

State loans to aid small businesses.
June 16, 2005... Byline: Rex Bowman Jun. 16--Gov. Mark R. Warner's office yesterday announced the approval of more than $1.1 million in loans to help small Virginia businesses, including a mandolin maker in rural Dickenson County. Hill Mandolins...

AMF, Italian firm merging.
June 15, 2005... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jun. 15--AMF Bowling Worldwide Inc. is merging its bowling-products business with an Italian company in a deal that is likely to create jobs in the Richmond area. The Mechanicsville-based company announced...

HRH unit settles lawsuit.
June 15, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Jun. 15--A Boston unit of Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Co. has settled a civil lawsuit in Massachusetts charging that it accepted fees that violated state contracting rules and used inside information to help a company win...

IBM will help Richmond city government enhance data storage.
June 14, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jun. 14--International Business Machines Corp. said yesterday that it has joined with Richmond's information-technology department in an effort to pump more productivity out of the city's data-storage networks. ...

Survey finds Richmond-area job prospects declining slightly in third quarter.
June 14, 2005... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jun. 14--Job prospects in the Richmond area are likely to be weaker in the third quarter compared with earlier this year, according to one survey of local employers. Only 13 percent of the public and...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., business briefs column.
June 13, 2005... Jun. 13--ACCOUNTING: Ann H. Murphy is a senior accountant with Piascik & Associates. BANKING, INVESTMENTS --Susan Lawton is a vice president in the administrative support services area of SunTrust Bank, Mid-Atlantic. She will...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Company News column.
June 13, 2005... Jun. 13--NEW BUSINESS/OPENINGS --Jake Pasternak has founded PlexEcon to teach children about personal finance. The Web site is www.plexecon.com. --Fastenal Co., a full-line distributor of industrial and construction supplies, has...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Biz Buzz column.
June 13, 2005... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan Jun. 13--CAR POOL TRIES SELF-SERVE CONCEPT: For more than two decades, Car Pool has operated full-service car washes in the Richmond area, with employees cleaning the inside and outside of the vehicles. ...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Chip Jones column.
June 13, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Jun. 13--GEORGIA ON LOCAL TRAVELERS' MINDS: AirTran Airways appears to be on track for starting service in Richmond in less than two weeks. Airline and airport officials said recently that advanced bookings to...

Law firm's demand was key to downtown Richmond mixed-use project.
June 13, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jun. 13--If it weren't for Troutman Sanders, Riverside on the James might not have happened. Riverside on the James, with office, residential and retail space, is almost finished. The 15-story office...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Bob Rayner column.
June 13, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Jun. 13--HEARING THE WHIFF OF DOOM? WATCH FOR THE SWEET SPOT: Anyone who has played even a little baseball remembers that moment -- all too rare for me -- when bat meets ball and you know you've connected with the...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., American Trends column.
June 13, 2005... Byline: Gary Robertson Jun. 13--ETHNIC RESTAURANT CHAINS ARE LEADING A NEW WAVE: Eat out, eat often, eat ethnic. The fact that Americans are eating out more often than ever is hardly a secret. But what's new is that ethnic...

Area contractors are backing affordable housing blitz.
June 12, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jun. 12--The toilet overflowed. The landlord refused to fix a hole in a door from a bullet. Plus, Leticia Mosby was tired of the high-speed police chases near her apartment complex in South Richmond. "It...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Consumer Watch column.
June 12, 2005... Byline: Iris Taylor Jun. 12--IDENTITY THEFT ABOUT MORE THAN JUST YOU: As a consumer, you can take every known precaution to protect yourself from identity theft. But what recourse do you have if your private data get leaked or...

Executive raises more in line with profit growth at Richmond-area companies.
June 12, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Jun. 12--Top corporate executives are seeing their paychecks expand faster than those of average workers, but the raises have become more closely linked to performance, according to an analysis by the Richmond...

Out-of-town CEOs earned more than Richmond-based executives.
June 12, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Jun. 12--The CEOs of Richmond's biggest private-sector employers -- all companies based outside of the area -- tended to earn much bigger paychecks than local chief executives. Three of the out-of-town CEOs earned...

All but nine of 165 high-rise condo units reserved within days.
June 11, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jun. 11--Hoping to land a condo next to the James? Good luck. As of late yesterday, all but nine of 165 units in Vistas on the James had been reserved. And 400 people are in line for those nine units. ...

SouthTrust changes to Wachovia.
June 11, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jun. 11--SouthTrusts are changing into Wachovias. Nearly 600 SouthTrust signs in Virginia will be changed this weekend, marking the conversion. Also this weekend, 15 branches will be closed in the state. The...

Reston, Va.-based bank to acquire Charlottesville-area financial institution.
June 11, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jun. 11--Reston-based Millennium Bankshares Corp. plans to buy Albemarle First Bank in a transaction valued at $29 million. Albemarle First Bank, with $125 million in total assets, has three branches in the...

Mechanicsville, Va., offers common stock to shareholders of record.
June 10, 2005... Jun. 10--River City Bank in Mechanicsville is offering 310,000 shares of common stock to shareholders of record as of May 24. It is also making a public offering of 310,000 shares of common stock. Present shareholders can buy one share...

Capital One reveals cuts in San Diego.
June 9, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jun. 9--Capital One Financial Corp., Richmond's largest non-government employer, is cutting deeper into its ranks. It is closing a San Diego location and moving those operations to a facility in Plano, Texas, the...

Ferraro says women have a ways to go.
June 9, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jun. 9--A woman in the Oval Office? Geraldine Ferraro, who made history as the first female vice presidential candidate, sees the possibility in 2008. Her pick/hope, naturally, is Hillary Clinton. "She's...

RoomStore emerges from bankruptcy.
June 9, 2005... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan Jun. 9--The RoomStore Inc. has emerged from federal bankruptcy court protection as an independent company. The Richmond-based retailer, which had been a division of former home furnishings giant...

Comcast created tax break.
June 8, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jun. 8--A bit Com-fused with your lower cable bill this month? Blaming a billing error, Comcast Corp. inadvertently axed the tax on many of its Richmond-area customers' cable bills in the last round of...

Powered by activism.
June 8, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Jun. 8--Jerry Rosenthal grew up comfortably in Richmond, where family discussions about geography, history and politics foreshadowed his future as a community activist and nuclear-power critic. Rosenthal's family...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Biz Buzz column.
June 6, 2005... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan Jun. 6--SOAK! BACK TO CARYTOWN: Soak!, the trendy bath and beauty boutique that got its start in Carytown in 1998 but left there a year ago, is returning. "Carytown is where we got started and where our core...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Company News column.
June 6, 2005... Jun. 6--NEW BUSINESS/OPENINGS --TSC Corp., a computer service and support company, has opened an office in Richmond. The Web site is www.TSCcorponline.com. --Ted Lansing Corp. has changed its name to Lansing Building Products. ...

The Links will become condos.
June 6, 2005... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan Jun. 6--The Links apartment complex in northern Henrico County is going condo. The conversion plan would be the largest apartment-to-condo project in the Richmond area, local real estate experts say. ...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Chip Jones column.
June 6, 2005... Byline: Chip Jones Jun. 6--Discount fares just one bargain anticipated at RIC: It could be a year for bargains in and around Richmond International Airport. That was the word last week from Jon Mathiasen, the airport's president and...

Cast your ears on this.
June 6, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jun. 6--From his family's two-story home in Wyndham, James Burchfield and his two pals broadcast their radio show around the world. And they don't need an antenna the size of a skyscraper. Their May 25 show...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Bob Rayner column.
June 6, 2005... Byline: Bob Rayner Jun. 6--Sitting beneath the marble gaze of the Jefferson Hotel's namesake, Liz Ann Sonders floated a couple of tantalizing prospects. A simpler federal tax code, for instance. And an end to the Federal...

Retail university students work toward degrees.
June 6, 2005... Jun. 6--The central Virginia retail community is continuing efforts to enhance careers in retailing and to provide a skilled work force. The Retail Merchants Association of Greater Richmond announced last spring the establishment of the...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., American Trends column.
June 6, 2005... Byline: Gary Robertson Jun. 6--NO MATTER THE CLIMATE, CONSULTANT ALWAYS HAS JOB: In a world where job titles change in the blink of a downturn, there is one job title that might be perpetual. That would be the title of "consultant."...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Associations column.
June 6, 2005... Jun. 6--OFFICERS RECENTLY ELECTED at local associations: --Insurance Women of Richmond: president, Marcia Barber with Alpha Insurance; first vice president, Bonnie Warren with Agents Insurance Market; second vice president, Katherine E....

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., business briefs column.
June 6, 2005... Jun. 6--ADVERTISING At Play: --Rachel Brozenske is a creative coach. --Patty Devlin is a junior creative coach. --Monica Loving is controller. BANKING, INVESTMENTS At SunTrust Bank, Central Virginia: --Alan C....

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Business Honors column.
June 6, 2005... Jun. 6--SALLIE S. COOK received the Distinguished Leadership award from the Virginians Improving Patient Care and Safety. She is the chief medical officer of the Virginia Health Quality Center. RON DORTCH has received the Master Networker...

More condos in works.
June 5, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jun. 5--Demand for condominiums overlooking the James River in downtown Richmond was so strong that a new complex is about to rise. Joyner Fine Properties will take reservations for units in Vistas on the James...

CapTech can sell label software to military.
June 4, 2005... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jun. 4--With its new software, CapTech Ventures Inc. has been knocking on the door of the Defense Department. This week, it got its foot inside. The company received permission from the government to sell...

Poultry cooperative stays solid as industry changes.
June 4, 2005... Byline: Calvin R. Trice Jun. 4--HARRISONBURG, Va. -- A strong local job market and continued consumer demand have buffered the Shenandoah Valley poultry industry from changes that cost the region hundreds of jobs last year. At this...

Happy campers.
June 4, 2005... Byline: Carol Hazard Jun. 4--Dr. Paul Roberto called his wife after work on a Friday and told her he couldn't come home that night. "I couldn't sit at home that weekend worrying that someone else might come along and get the lot."...

Power at market prices looms.
June 3, 2005... Byline: Greg Edwards Jun. 3--Hazel Hall is facing something most Virginians will have to face within a few years -- market prices for electricity. Hall doesn't like what she sees and is trying to do something about it. The...