NEW YORK (AP) _ Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers were hauled into jail Thursday and charged with lying to investors about the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, perhaps signaling the start of a wave of prosecutions arising from the housing meltdown.

Two local schools have put on hold the selection of a company to bring a new wireless Internet service to Lynchburg.

Joan Peaslee, a top-selling agent at Prudential Slater James River, had never dealt with a short sale — until this year.

TAMPA - Jim Parish gets envious looks from drivers when his modified plug-in Toyota Prius cruises down the highway.

WASHINGTON - Estela Roberts and her family have always hoped they would be compensated one day for their property in Cuba seized after that country’s 1959 revolution.

TAMPA — Mike Wyckoff is an unlikely proponent of something Florida politicians and environmentalists have been trying to prevent for decades: The exploration and production of oil and natural gas in the waters off Florida’s Gulf Coast.

ROCKY KNOB — Either the mountains are getting harder, or the people who spend vacation time in them are getting softer.

State government is also choking on the rising prices at the pump.

Guitar in hand and accompanied by a two-woman audience, the troubadour on the canvas sings on, unaware of his value within the world of art collectors.

Economic development officials in Lynchburg have identified four sites in the city for a study of potential retail and restaurant locations.

NEW YORK (AP)—Stocks advanced for a second session Friday after government readings on inflation and a decline in oil prices helped contain some worries about the effect of rising prices on strapped consumers. The Dow Jones industrial average rose but was well off its highs of the day.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Retail sales jumped by the largest amount in six months in May as 57 million economic stimulus payments helped offset the headwinds buffeting consumers.

DANVILLE - A Canadian technology firm will open a joint facility in Danville and Pittsylvania County that will eventually make all IDs and driver’s licenses for the Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said Wednesday in a news release.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Saved by Senate Republicans, big oil companies dodged an attempt Tuesday to slap them with a windfall profits tax and take away billions of dollars in tax breaks in response to the record gasoline prices that have the nation fuming.

Recession-proof businesses — and jobs — do exist.

Just inside the front door of Goody’s Family Clothing store, the largest retailer in Candlers Station shopping center, Monday afternoon was a sign reading “Now Hiring.”

If Lee Cobb were Obi Wan Kenobi, Bryan David would consider himself Luke Skywalker. David said he learned a lot of lessons from Cobb — a force in the region’s economic development since 1982 — when David was the Amherst County administrator for five years.

An interior design firm that helped Bluffwalk Center in downtown Lynchburg is suing the hotel project’s developers.

Four years ago when Middleburg, Va., landowner Zohar Ben-Dov learned that his neighbors planned to sell their lush rolling land, he was concerned that a new owner might come in and spoil the pristine views surrounding Kinross, his 587-acre horse farm. The solution? Buy the 150 acres that were for sale.

The effort to build Areva’s new nuclear reactor design in the United States took a small step forward this week.

Verizon Wireless could soon offer its wireless phone service in Lynchburg, issue local phone numbers, and let its customers use more data services locally, thanks to a bid to buy Alltel.

The tentative sale of The Plaza has officially been called off, according to Liberty University officials.

The price of natural gas zipped upward about 18 percent at the end of May, though the price usually drops in the summer.

A shake-up at the top echelons of Wachovia Corp., which led to Ken Thompson’s departure yesterday as chief executive, has a Richmond connection.

Anthony Inturrisi stands in his stopped-in-its tracks subdivision in Forest and sees what might have been — more than two dozen expansive homes on lovely lots, all on streets named for his grandkids.

The comfort word in business circles recently has been “insulated,” meaning that certain sectors are not experiencing the economic slowdown that is reflected in job losses and fewer factory orders.

NEW YORK (AP)—Wall Street is pointing to a higher open Friday after strong results from Dell Inc. and ahead of data expected to show personal spending rose in April.

High-ranking financial leaders from around the world will convene this fall at the University of Virginia to address issues arising in the rapidly evolving global marketplace.

RICHMOND — Appalachian Power Co. won’t be able to recover construction costs for a new coal-fired power plant in West Virginia from its Virginia customers.

A local employment fair Tuesday will aim to link military veterans to employers who could use their skills.