Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, VA) articles from June 2006

Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, VA) archives from June 2006

Circuit City more than doubles dividend.
June 30, 2006... Jun. 30--Circuit City Stores Inc. has more than doubled its quarterly dividend and added $400 million to its program authorizing stock repurchases. The board at the Henrico County-based retailer increased the quarterly dividend to 4...

Southwest Va. horses found to have virus.
June 30, 2006... Jun. 30--Two cases of a highly infectious and incurable horse disease have been reported in Pulaski County, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said yesterday. Two horses that had been pastured together in the...

Insurance help offered on Web sites.
June 30, 2006... Byline: Greg Edwards Jun. 30--Those needing help to sort out the confusing issues surrounding health-insurance coverage can turn to Insure U Online, a new Web site of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The site --...

More top companies help domestic partners.
June 30, 2006... Byline: Bob Rayner Jun. 30--Big business earned high marks from an activist group that supports gay and lesbian rights. For the first time, a majority of Fortune 500 companies provide health-insurance benefits for the domestic...

A Richmond link to the Smart car.
June 29, 2006... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan Jun. 29--Richmond has a connection to the Smart car. Local auto dealer Haywood "Huddy" Hyman Jr. operated three Smart dealerships in Paris for a year when the two-seaters came out in late 1998. At the...

Medicare deadline Friday.
June 29, 2006... Byline: Betty Booker Jun. 29--People who signed up for a Medicare Advantage plan with drug coverage, plans that are similar to HMOs or PPOs, have until tomorrow to switch plans. Or they can switch out of the Medicare Advantage plan...

Advocates, legislators still push for limits on condemnation powers.
June 29, 2006... Jun. 29--Virginia property-rights advocates and state lawmakers who support their cause recommitted themselves yesterday to pass laws that limit government's condemnation powers. "We want to re-establish property rights to the status they...

James City firm to add 303 jobs.
June 28, 2006... Byline: Bill Geroux Jun. 28--A medical-supplies company in James City County plans a $7.9 million expansion that will create 303 new jobs, the company CEO announced yesterday. AVID Medical Inc., which packages kits of disposable...

Southside job-training facility dedicated.
June 28, 2006... Byline: Jamie C. Ruff Jun. 28--KEYSVILLE -- Southside officials gathered yesterday to celebrate the dedication of a work-force-training facility at Heartland Business Park. The 4,000-square-foot Heartland Technology & Training Center...

Airport boss gets 5 percent pay raise.
June 28, 2006... Byline: Chip Jones Jun. 28--With no public fanfare, the Capital Region Airport Commission raised the annual pay of Richmond's airport chief by 5.3 percent yesterday to $200,000. "Congratulations," commission chairman James B. Donati...

Virginia jobless rate hits 5-year low.
June 28, 2006... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jun. 28--Virginia's unemployment rate dropped to a five-year low in May, the Virginia Employment Commission said yesterday. The jobless rate was 2.9 percent in May, well below the national rate of 4.4...

Mathiasen: from sky to earth.
June 27, 2006... Byline: Chip Jones Jun. 27--He has helped lure two low-fare airlines here. He has headed a road-building and terminal-expansion project. Along the way, he has pleased his bosses on the Capital Region Airport Commission. So what does...

Henrico Doctors' plans expansion at Forest campus.
June 27, 2006... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jun. 27--Henrico Doctors' Hospital is planning a major expansion of its Forest campus that will add 96 private patient bedrooms and more parking. The hospital also will expand the emergency department on...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Biz Buzz column.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan Jun. 26--RESTAURATEUR PUTS MONEY IN THE BANK: Mo Roman owns three restaurants in the Fredericksburg area. When he moved to North Richmond a couple of years ago, he decided to look for the right spot to put...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Biz People column.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Linda Dunham Jun. 26--ADVERTISING: David Coston is vice president of consulting with RightMinds. ARCHITECTS: Jonathan Taylor has joined Commonwealth Architects as a senior project manager. He had been with McKinney and Co....

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Company News column.
June 26, 2006... Jun. 26--RELOCATIONS: Cravens and Noll has relocated its Chesterfield office to 9011 Arboretum Parkway, Suite 200. John Hancock Financial Network, Mid Atlantic Agency, has relocated to 3951 Westerre Parkway, Westerre I, Suite 400. ...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., executive profile column.
June 26, 2006... Jun. 26--DECISION MAKERS: Greta J. Harris. New position: vice president of Southeast region, Local Initiatives Support Corp., New York and Richmond Previous position: senior program director, Virginia Local Initiatives Support Corp....

Genworth Financial seeks to raise brand awareness among target audience.
June 26, 2006... Byline: Bob Rayner Jun. 26--On a blustery spring evening in lower Manhattan, a commercial crane lifts a fluttering banner toward the cloudy sky. Thunder crackles in the distance. A few late-for-home workers scurry past, barely...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Consumer Watch column.
June 25, 2006... Byline: Iris Taylor Jun. 25--Want to know what life is like in the credit underworld? A disabled couple from Bristol said a collector threatened to take out a warrant and have them arrested even though they were only two months...

Priceless memories linger.
June 25, 2006... Byline: Aaron Kremer Jun. 25--Everything must go at The Downtown Club. Even Floyd Seldon, who up until two months ago greeted the few hundred members who still ate lunch at the top floor of the Riverfront Plaza's West Tower. ...

Extruding success.
June 25, 2006... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jun. 25--At Service Center Metals, everyone's happy when Elvis and The Boss are singing. The two big aluminum presses, named after rock 'n' roll stars by the company's owners, dominate the factory floor at...

Meadowville grows, stays techie.
June 25, 2006... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jun. 25--James G. Dunn liked several recommendations made by a research firm for the development of the Meadowville Technology Park. Except one -- changing the name. The name is set -- literally -- in a new...

A district court that's in high demand.
June 25, 2006... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jun. 25--The eyes of those who follow the world of high-tech patent-infringement cases are again focused back on the Old Dominion. This time the spotlight comes thanks to a lawsuit from Verizon Communications...

Trolley barn, bottling plant now converted into condominiums.
June 25, 2006... Byline: Linda Dunham Jun. 25--The pair of industrial oddballs needed a makeover. Investors and developers for years had ideas for the old trolley barn and the former bottling plant along the 1600 block of West Main Street. But...

Union OKs new contract with Alcoa.
June 24, 2006... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jun. 24--A union representing 9,000 Alcoa Inc. workers ratified a new labor contract with the company that preserves some benefits and assures wage increases. The four-year contract covers workers at 15...

Franklin firm to add jobs.
June 23, 2006... Byline: Rex Bowman Jun. 23--ROCKY MOUNT -- Franklin County's largest employer, window maker MW Manufacturers Inc., is expanding, adding 175 jobs as part of a $23 million effort to increase production. The company has been in town...

Indy Racing League laps up ethanol.
June 23, 2006... Byline: Greg Edwards Jun. 23--Indy Racing League officials have detected no bumps in the road during the first year of a transition to an ethanol racing fuel. "We've had zero problems since our first test at Phoenix," said Jeff...

Monday morning jams.
June 23, 2006... Jun. 23--Departing business travelers on Monday mornings often create the longest lines at airport screening areas, according to Transportation Security Administration officials. Here's a snapshot of some wait times between 5 a.m. and 8...

Regulation altered on home service.
June 22, 2006... Byline: Aaron Kremer Jun. 22--A change in how the state regulates companies that sell consumer-protection contracts on major appliances and heating/cooling systems could spur competition and lower consumer prices. Beginning July 1,...

U.S. outlook called positive.
June 22, 2006... Byline: Greg Edwards Jun. 22--The U.S. economy should continue doing well through 2007 absent a major disruption, the head of a national business economics group said here yesterday. "There is no recession around the corner," Stuart...

Delmarva to raise power rate.
June 22, 2006... Byline: Greg Edwards Jun. 22--Delmarva Power & Light got approval this week for an $11.5 million rate increase for its 23,500 customers on the Eastern Shore. The increase, approved by the State Corporation Commission, will raise the...

Passenger lauds JetBlue's service.
June 21, 2006... Byline: Chip Jones Jun. 21--A two-hour flight delay doesn't seem like the recipe for building good will with new customers. But JetBlue Airways pulled it off in Richmond this month. Shortly before boarding passengers on a flight...

Change at top for CarMax.
June 21, 2006... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jun. 21--Shareholders and employees of automotive retailer CarMax Inc. bid farewell to one leader and welcomed a new one. Austin Ligon, who co-founded the company in 1991 and helped build it into the...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Earnings column.
June 20, 2006... Jun. 20--FLAT-PANEL SALES AID CIRCUIT CITY: Citing sales of flat-panel TVs and digital music players, Circuit City Stores Inc. posted a fiscal first-quarter profit of $6.4 million, or 4 cents per share. That's up from a loss of $13.1...

Lawyer's high-tech split.
June 20, 2006... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jun. 20--Rod Satterwhite is a technological guinea pig. "We'll give him a new PC with a new set of software on it, he'll start doing his work on it and then it'll break," said Joe Cipolla, chief information...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Biz Buzz column.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan Jun. 19--MACY'S ARRIVAL EXPECTED BY SEPTEMBER: Changes are under way at local Hecht's department stores to convert them to Macy's stores in early September. The name and merchandise changes, among other...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., American Trends column.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Gary Robertson Jun. 19--U.S. DRIVERS MOVE TOWARD MICRO-MOBILES: Itsy bitsy, teeny weeny. Not a bikini. We're talking Smart Cars. Those are the egg-shaped European cars that get 60 to 70 miles to the gallon. They're...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Consumer Watch column.
June 18, 2006... Byline: Iris Taylor Jun. 18--PROS, CONS OF SHORT-TERM INSURANCE: Thinking about buying a short-term health insurance policy? It might be a good option if you are, say, a new college grad kicking back for a few months until your new...

In high gear, CarMax chief bows out.
June 18, 2006... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan Jun. 18--Austin Ligon worked as a cowboy for a year. He did so in the mid-1970s while taking a break from graduate school in economics at the University of Texas. "I grew up in the suburbs, and every...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Minding Your Business column.
June 18, 2006... Byline: Iris Taylor Jun. 18--NO FIRM TOO SMALL FOR FEDERAL CONTRACTS: Ready to do some contract work for the federal government? Even if you're a solo practitioner, your business is not too small. Follow these instructions and...

Ties and cologne too tame? Seems you can buy a thrill.
June 17, 2006... Byline: Aaron Kremer Jun. 17--This Father's Day, dad may not need another gift certificate -- the gift that says, "I want to give you cash, but I know I shouldn't do that." And even if he needs money for groceries and gas, he probably...

Four city groups to merge.
June 17, 2006... Byline: Will Jones Jun. 17--A merger of four nonprofit groups focused on energizing downtown Richmond is on track for July 1 under the temporary name Renaissance Partners. By a voice vote yesterday, the board of directors of Richmond...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Bob Rayner column.
June 17, 2006... Byline: Bob Rayner Jun. 17--DEFICIT'S DROP NO SURPRISE: With all the news breaking in the past week, it was easy to miss the latest reports about the much-feared federal budget deficit: It continues to shrink. The deficit for the...

Tech workers making switch.
June 17, 2006... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jun. 17--Two-thirds of Virginia government's information-technology workers have accepted jobs with a division of Northrop Grumman Corp., the company that will help the state modernize its IT systems. More...

DuPont refutes claims, tests water.
June 16, 2006... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jun. 16--DuPont said yesterday that it is working with the state to test discolored water in a stream at a Chesterfield County plant. The company also said it categorically disputes allegations by a labor...

Working OT to land a job.
June 16, 2006... Jun. 16--Walter Stephens mailed out nearly two dozen resumes and had only one interview with Waste Management Inc. to show for his effort. The interview wasn't even face to face. Stephens, a 23-year-old May graduate of Virginia...

Creative Change Center ponders change.
June 16, 2006... Byline: Bob Rayner Jun. 16--The Creative Change Center is pondering some big changes. That might include a new building, dramatically expanded services and -- in the most dramatic switch -- renting space to nonprofit groups, small...

Activists organize to pressure Smithfield Foods.
June 16, 2006... Byline: Greg Edwards Jun. 16--Civil rights, union and religious leaders have organized locally to pressure Smithfield Foods Inc. to correct alleged worker abuses at a subsidiary's Tar Heel, N.C., pork plant. Activists will visit...

SEC probing Universal subsidiary.
June 16, 2006... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jun. 16--The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating a Universal Corp. subsidiary for possible violations of a federal law, the company said. In March, the Richmond-based company said its own...

Race-car pros to teach driving skills to teens.
June 15, 2006... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jun. 15--Every 15 seconds, a driver 15 to 20 years old is involved in a car crash. Automobile accidents are the No. 1 killer of teenagers in the United States. Former race-car driver Jeff Payne is trying...

Discolored water found at DuPont.
June 15, 2006... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jun. 15--An inspector for the state Department of Environmental Quality found a creek with discolored water at a DuPont site in Chesterfield County. The DEQ has not confirmed a pollution discharge from the...

Genworth celebrates centenarians.
June 15, 2006... Byline: Bob Rayner Jun. 15--Genworth Financial Inc. is relying on some of the planet's most experienced people to share its message with the rest of the country. These are folks who've seen a lot of life. The Richmond insurance and...

Ukrop's share slips further.
June 15, 2006... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan Jun. 15--Kroger and nontraditional grocers such as CVS and Walgreens continued last year to eat away at the market share of Ukrop's Super Markets Inc. Ukrop's, long the area's dominant supermarket chain,...

Hudson News attracts attention at airport.
June 14, 2006... Byline: Chip Jones Jun. 14--The new Hudson News store at Richmond's airport stocks a wide variety of homegrown goods, from hand-painted glasses from the Eastern Shore to coffee beans roasted in Roanoke. But what caught the eye of...

Insmed facing another lawsuit.
June 14, 2006... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jun. 14--Days after a California judge dismissed an unfair-business-practices lawsuit against Insmed Inc., the local biopharmaceutical company's corporate rival filed a similar complaint in a Richmond federal...

Dominion company is seeking nuclear permit for North Anna site.
June 14, 2006... Byline: Greg Edwards Jun. 14--A Dominion Virginia Power sister company can study a site at Lake Anna for a new nuclear reactor, the State Corporation Commission has ruled. The commission, however, has put conditions on the study's...

December: Verizon to be a player in Henrico cable.
June 14, 2006... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jun. 14--Residents in parts of western Henrico County will have the option to buy cable television service from Verizon Virginia Inc. by the end of the year. The county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously...

Historical architect sees future in the past.
June 13, 2006... Byline: Carol Hazard Jun. 13--J.Murray Howard commutes daily from his home in Charlottesville to his job in Shockoe Slip. He listens to National Public Radio both ways. "I am intrigued with the culture," said Howard, the newest...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., business briefs column.
June 13, 2006... Jun. 13--WILL HOMESTEAD CHANGE HANDS? The Homestead resort in Hot Springs and seven other Virginia country clubs, including Stonehenge Golf and Country Club in Chesterfield County and Greenbrier Country Club in Chesapeake, could change hands....

Employment levels stable in region.
June 13, 2006... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jun. 13--Most Richmond-area employers plan to maintain current employment levels from July to September, a new survey says. The third-quarter outlook for the local job market has improved from earlier this...

Homeowner policy deductibles for storms will rise.
June 13, 2006... Byline: Greg Edwards Jun. 13--Some Virginians may pay more than twice as much out-of-pocket to repair hurricane or wind damage to their homes as insurers increase policy deductibles to cut their financial risks. And with hurricane...

Verizon ventures into TV services.
June 13, 2006... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jun. 13--Verizon Virginia Inc. wants to take the next step in its quest to offer television services to some Henrico County residents. The telecommunications company has been in negotiations with Henrico since...

Richmond, Va.-area petroleum-additive maker overcomes tough times.
June 12, 2006... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jun. 12--There's nothing like tough times to sharpen a business team. That's how Thomas E. "Teddy" Gottwald, chief executive officer of NewMarket Corp., described the company's moxie at its annual...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., business briefs column.
June 12, 2006... Jun. 12--CONSULTING: At McKinney & Co.: --Stuart W. Groseclose is a civil engineer. --Stephen J. Bortowski is a project architect. GOVERNMENT: Amy E. George is an associate planner with the Richmond Regional Planning District...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Biz Buzz column.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan Jun. 12--MUSICAL RIVALS ASSEMBLE ENSEMBLE: Williams and Chris Stanley often met to talk about the music industry. But a breakfast meeting about a year ago changed their business lives. They both asked the...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., executive profile column.
June 12, 2006... Jun. 12--CLAYMAN EDWARDS: --New position: president, Hohner Inc. --Previous position: chief financial officer and vice president of operations, Design Master Associates Inc. --Birthplace: Newport News --Education: bachelor's...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Business Honors column.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Michelle Diehl Jun. 12--Butch Roller and Clay Chaney have been named Master Agents by the Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Services. Roller is with the Henrico County office in Sandston. Chaney is with the Henrico County office...

Richmond architect's far-out structure honored.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Carol Hazard Jun. 12--Some call it the flying saucer. Others, more appropriately, say the office building looks like a mushroom. How about a stage set for "The Jetsons?" It was built in 1965, a few years after the futuristic...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., American Trends column.
June 12, 2006... Byline: Gary Robertson Jun. 12--HOW HIGH WILL THEY GO? NOBODY KNOWS: Up, up, up. That's not the stock market, of course, at least not lately. It's the new wave of skyscrapers that are rising around the world. Skyscrapers have...

Offshore drilling: Energy vs. ecology.
June 11, 2006... Byline: Greg Edwards Jun. 11--VIRGINIA BEACH Those attending a meeting at the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Center last week on offshore oil and gas drilling got a healthy dose of perspective even before the discussion began. Walking...

Bernanke needs to show he's enemy of inflation.
June 11, 2006... Jun. 11--After a few mildly muddled moments, Ben Bernanke morphed into a tough guy last week. The Federal Reserve chairman, now in his fifth month on the job, announced his top priority with a crystal clarity not always associated with...

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va., Consumer Watch column.
June 11, 2006... Byline: Iris Taylor Jun. 11--Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Mark W. Everson has taken a tough stance against dishonest credit-counseling firms. The federal agency has revoked the tax-exempt status of 41 credit-counseling firms...

Debt-management plan didn't pan out for senior.
June 11, 2006... Byline: Iris Taylor Jun. 11--Mary Meinert of Waynesboro, a disabled elderly woman, says she got ripped off by a Texas company that sells debt-management plans. She owed about $10,000 to credit-card companies in 2001. One day, she saw...

Firm brings Web shopping under one roof.
June 11, 2006... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jun. 11--Susan Steadman ran out of copy paper last week. And she realized she could use some more doggone ink cartridges. Steadman, office coordinator at her husband's Richmond dental practice, had recently...

Outer Banks wildlife center will open Friday.
June 11, 2006... Byline: Aaron Kremer Jun. 11--Beach-bound vacationers will have a new destination to check out this summer, if they can leave the shovel and pail in the car. The Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education in Corolla, N.C., opens...

Va. Tech team energized.
June 10, 2006... Byline: Greg Edwards Jun. 10--A team of Virginia Tech engineering students has won the second year of a competition sponsored by the government and industry to develop fuel-efficient and low-emission vehicles. The Tech Hybrid...

The T-D taps new executive.
June 10, 2006... Byline: Bob Rayner Jun. 10--A veteran executive and native Richmonder has been named director of human resources for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Ronald L. Carey Jr. has spent more than a decade working in human resources and sales....

Va. teen smokers edge up.
June 10, 2006... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jun. 10--Smoking rates among Virginia high school students rose slightly from 2003 to 2005 after dropping in the previous two years. In 2005, almost 22 percent of Virginia high school students said they...

Toll road for Web firms?
June 10, 2006... Byline: Jeffrey Kelley Jun. 10--What if networks within the Internet looked like highways around downtown Richmond -- a toll road for Web companies that pay for access and a free interstate for those that do not? Internet service...

Cell-phone lots may catch on at the airport.
June 9, 2006... Byline: Chip Jones Jun. 9--Airplanes aren't the only things circling airports these days. Cars do it, too. But if you orbit the airport grounds, officials say, it's a waste of fuel and can tie up traffic. A possible solution is...

Salvage yard wins condemnation case.
June 9, 2006... Byline: Greg Edwards Jun. 9--The Virginia Supreme Court has upheld a junkyard owner's circuit-court victory over the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, which had tried to take the business through condemnation. Opinions...

Luna CEO to ring open Nasdaq trading today.
June 9, 2006... Jun. 9--Kent Murphy, chief executive of Roanoke-based Luna Innovations Inc., will ring the Nasdaq stock market opening bell today at 9 a.m. The honor is in celebration of the company's recent initial public offering. The IPO was...

Auction set for Downtown Club.
June 8, 2006... Byline: Gregory J. Gilligan Jun. 8--The defunct Downtown Club of Richmond is auctioning off its furniture, fixtures, equipment and other items in an effort to repay creditors. The auction will be held June 24. "Hopefully some...

Owens and Minor moves to new home.
June 8, 2006... Byline: John Reid Blackwell Jun. 8--Owens and Minor Inc.'s first home in 1882 was a drugstore on East Main Street in downtown Richmond. Yesterday, the company -- now a Fortune 500 medical- and surgical-supply firm -- officially...