It could take more than a month for federal regulators to decide whether to take action against Babcock & Wilcox for possible violations, officials said Friday.

At the height of the nationwide salmonella outbreak nearly a year ago, FBI agents raided two peanut plants and carried away boxes of evidence. FDA inspectors found roaches, mold and a leaky roof. Then, Congress revealed e-mails from the peanut company’s top executive that seemed to suggest the pursuit of profits over ensuring public safety.

A federal judge has turned down a request by the nation’s No. 2 cigarette-maker and others to immediately halt enforcement of new federal regulations on tobacco products.

Today federal regulators will meet with Babcock & Wilcox Company officials to discuss “apparent violations” surrounding an event at the company’s Mt. Athos facility in July.

Nearly 16 million people can’t find jobs even though the worst recession since the Great Depression has apparently ended.

Congress took further steps to right the staggering economy by expanding a popular tax credit for homebuyers and extending unemployment checks for the growing legions of people running out of benefits with few job prospects.

Virginia can’t get complacent when it comes to business and economic development, a state economic development leader said.

The most common deals under the government’s $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program, aimed at putting more fuel-efficient cars on the road, replaced old Ford or Chevrolet pickups with new ones that got only marginally better gas mileage, according to an analysis of new federal data by The Associated Press.

A plan to bring a university-level research facility for engineering to the Lynchburg area — without the university — takes a major step forward this week in Bedford County.

With the recession apparently over, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday held a key interest rate at a record low and again pledged to keep it there for an “extended period” to foster the fragile economic recovery.

When Bank of America closes its downtown Lynchburg branch next month, the building’s owners hope to quickly recruit a new banking tenant.

The company that bought the Barr Laboratories facility in Bedford County last year reported on Tuesday that its profits continue to rise.

A Maryland agency has given a key approval to a deal between two companies that hope to build an Areva-designed nuclear reactor.

For millions of Americans the rule is simple: If you don’t come to work, you don’t get paid.

Ford, the only Detroit automaker to dodge direct government aid and bankruptcy court, surprised investors with net income of nearly $1 billion in the third quarter and forecast a “solidly profitable” 2011.

SPRINGDALE, Ohio — Ice cream swooshes out of metal nozzles and swirls into 38,000 “party pails” per day here, one of many ways Kroger Co. is using its massive manufacturing capability to feed growing demand for low-priced store brands.

There’s something missing from the signs at First National Bank of Altavista.

Scott Burton has been named regional advertising director for The News & Advance in Lynchburg.

After spending more than a year in the red, Genworth Financial made profits in the third quarter.

Continued problems in the auto industry has claimed more jobs in the Tri-Cities region.

Dominion Virginia Power and its parent company, Dominion Resources Inc., have asked the State Corporation Commission for permission to sell up to $1.5 billion of the power company’s common stock to Dominion Resources.

The health care overhaul bill produced by House Democrats would impose an array of new taxes, fees and government mandates on major players in the health industry, including insurers, doctors and drugs and medical devices makers.

A possible early sign that a fragile economic recovery may be under way comes from MeadWestvaco Corp.’s report of a slight rise in the amount of bleached paperboard it sold in late summer.

The conference will be held at 1 p.m. on Nov. 6 at the NRC’s Region II offices in Atlanta.

Senators agreed Wednesday to extend a popular tax credit for first-time homebuyers and to offer a reduced credit to some repeat buyers.

An early progress report on President Barack Obama’s economic recovery plan overstates by thousands the number of jobs created or saved through the stimulus program, a mistake that White House officials promise will be corrected in future reports.

A decline in demand is not keeping R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. from raising the list price on its cigarette brands by 6 cents or 8 cents a pack for wholesale customers.

The jobless rate in the Lynchburg region dropped for the third month straight in September, Virginia Employment Commission statistics show.

Sales of new homes dropped unexpectedly last month as the effects of a temporary tax credit for first-time owners started to wane.

On the day after Christmas, nearly 200 people will lose their jobs at Archer Creek Foundry in Campbell County.