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.

Appalachian Power Company wants to launch a program allowing customers to support the use of renewable energy through a voluntary monthly fee.

The jobless rate in May was up from last year in the Lynchburg area, but it could have had a lot to do with timing.

TAMPA — Another measure of success for the surging Tampa Bay Rays: Dunkin’ Donuts says it has given away more free doughnuts during the first half of this baseball season than in all of 2007.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s unemployment rate went up one-half of a percentage point to 3.8 percent in May.

DALLAS (AP) - Blockbuster Inc. is withdrawing its proposal to buy Circuit City Stores Inc., the big-box electronics retailer whose sales have tumbled this year.

NEW YORK (AP) _ Each week, Ira Cooper opens a letter from another supplier with the same message as the last: We’re raising our prices, effective immediately. We can’t tell you how long the new prices will last.

Columbia Gas of Virginia, which provides natural gas to customers in the Lynchburg area, increased its purchased natural gas cost rate Monday.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will not fine Areva NP for a violation earlier this year when Areva shipped equipment to Tennessee carrying a radioactive “hot spot” exceeding regulatory limits.

David Evans of Evington is willing — actually anxious — to give up his Toyota Prius hybrid that gets great gas mileage. But only once he can get a car that runs on air.

The plan to close the Campbell County landfill on July 1 and switch to a regional trash operation stinks to one local trash collector. Ray Roakes will have an extra 20-mile round trip every time his company Rustburg Trash Removal hauls off garbage.

Dominion Virginia Power customers could see their bills go up by around 18 percent after July 1, according to the State Corporation Commission.

The next time you go shopping, the cameras in the ceiling may be watching for a lot more than shoplifters. They could be helping track your every step through the store and find out why you’re buying that pasta sauce, that Barbie doll or that case of beer.

NEW YORK (AP)—Stocks slid again Friday after their sharp dive in the previous session, with investors anxious about a new oil price record and dubious that personal income and spending will remain resilient.

The Apple Market convenience store signs common in Central Virginia will soon be raised in Kentucky as well.

BRANDON, Fla. - Who knew that kiddie flag football could become big business?

C.B. Fleet’s ability to continue selling cosmetics overseas hinges on a document that no one in the state currently has specific legal permission to sign.

As Danville and Pittsylvania County make front-page stories in national media outlets, city and county officials point out a beneficial correlation between positive media coverage and economic growth.

Linda Ledesma needed a little extra money to help pay the rising costs of living in Florida.

In early America, the undisputed beverage of choice was hard apple cider - even more so than water.

NEW YORK (AP)—U.S. stocks headed for a lower opening Tuesday, as investors winced at rising oil prices and a UPS Inc. profit warning ahead of the Federal Reserve’s rate-setting meeting.

The Faery Godmother is one of those stores where you can get a magic wand, a leather renaissance helmet, a Peruvian flute and a Bridezilla voodoo doll.

The Lynchburg area is getting more exposure from a mobile Internet technology that allows users to surf the Web essentially anywhere they get a cell phone signal.

Virginia Aviation plans to drop a lawsuit against the city of Lynchburg if City Council members tonight approve two new lease agreements for the Lynchburg Regional Airport.

Smith Mountain Lake’s restaurants, stores and amusement owners say a new brand and TV advertising brought them more traffic than usual for the season’s first big weekend over Memorial Day.

Officials at Virginia’s Region 2000 partnership are keeping an eye on where high-speed Internet access is available.

The State Corporation Commission wants to require quarterly service quality reports from Verizon and other local phone companies.