RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s 2008 peach crop is expected to make growers forget all about last year’s freeze-damaged season. 

When Roberta Winston attended her mother’s viewing, a video slideshow tribute documented her mother’s life with pictures.

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Wachovia Corp. said today it lost $8.86 billion in the second quarter, slashed its dividend and announced 6,350 job cuts after losses tied to mortgages soared.

American National Bank & Trust Company has announced the promotion of three executives to newly created operating positions.

NEW YORK (AP)—Wall Street fluctuated Monday as investors worried about earnings at drug makers Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp., and oil prices moved higher.

Movie theaters in Lynchburg are slated to get a new competitor next year, as Regal Entertainment opens the first new theater here in 17 years.
Regal will operate the 56,000- square-foot movieplex in River Ridge mall, in the location of the Value City store that closed last month.

NEW YORK (AP) - Oil prices tumbled below $130 a barrel for the first time in more than a month Thursday, as crude’s dramatic slide entered a third day accompanied by a sharp sell-off in natural gas.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ For years, mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tenaciously worked to nurture, and then protect, their financial empires by invoking the political sacred cow of homeownership and fielding an army of lobbyists, power brokers and political contributors.

The failure of one California-based bank and troubles in other large banks cast a shadow on the banking industry early this week.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer prices shot up in June at the fastest pace in 26 years with two-thirds of the surge blamed on soaring energy prices.

Struggles in the national housing market began to hit home in the Lynchburg area during the first half of 2008.

The maker of the King of Beers has agreed to go to work for the Belgian brewer InBev. 

Virginia is becoming a more popular stop for wine lovers, with wineries playing an increasingly important role in the Commonwealth’s tourism industry.
Frank Britt is trying to make sure that trend continues.
The Lynchburg man teamed up with a graphic design firm in Virginia Beach to launch a lifestyle magazine that promotes wine made in Virginia.

To see people doing something about gas prices these days, it’s only necessary to be at the Lynchburg train station at 6 a.m.

NEW YORK (AP)—Oil prices spiked to a new record above $147 a barrel Friday, as rising hostilities between the West and Iran and the potential for attacks on Nigerian oil facilities gave investors reason to rush back into the energy markets.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The nation’s top economic officials urged Congress on Thursday to give them new regulatory tools to better protect the country from economic and financial havoc if a major Wall Street firm were to fail.

Lynchburg’s Industrial Development Authority on Thursday agreed to spend up to $1 million supporting the local expansion of Areva.

NEW YORK (AP)—Steve & Barry’s LLC, once a growing force in low-priced fashion retailing, said Wednesday that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the latest merchant to succumb to a harsh consumer spending climate.

NEW YORK (AP) _ U.S. stocks headed for a moderately higher open Thursday as investors awaited a weekly government report on unemployment claims and reports from retailers on their June sales.

Amid the hype around Apple Inc.’s new iPhone going on sale Friday, the company is launching an online software store.

One thing about NASCAR: It always delivers the unexpected.

NEW YORK (AP)—Stocks headed for a narrowly mixed open Wednesday as rebounding oil prices drained away the momentum from Wall Street’s big Tuesday rally.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Federal Reserve will issue new rules next week aimed at protecting future homebuyers from dubious lending practices, its most sweeping response to a housing crisis that has propelled foreclosures to record highs.

NEW YORK (AP)—Stocks are down in early trading, with investors still jittery about the nation’s ailing banking system.

Microsoft Corp. threw its weight behind investor Carl Icahn’s effort to dump Yahoo Inc.’s board on Monday.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting in Lynchburg on July 24 to discuss Areva NP’s safety record.

About 120 years ago, a Lynchburg man sent a letter to retailers in the shoe business to tell them about a new company called Craddock, Terry Shoes.

Lynchburg’s talk radio station WLNI (105.9 FM) now belongs to a Washington, D.C.-based media company connected to the Washington Redskins.

Erika Thompson remembers the thrill of her first BlackBerry. She was so smitten that she slept with it turned on and next to her bed. Missing an overnight e-mail was apparently too much to bear. “And every time it would vibrate, I’d probably look at it,” she says.

The future of Circuit City Stores Inc. is again in limbo a day after an interested buyer backed out. Stock of the consumer electronics retailer dropped to $2.32, the lowest it has been since November 1990.