Winter frolic at Liberty snowballs into controversy
It’s no Falwell-sized scandal, but interim Liberty University President Jerry Prevo issued an apology Tuesday for a snowball fight that got out of hand on Sunday morning. “This past Sunday morning as I opened the curtains and looked outside, I saw a Liberty University campus covered in deep snow. Having lived in Alaska for the […]
BWXT names president, government operations
Lynchburg-based nuclear fuel supplier BWX Technologies Inc. (BWXT) announced Monday that it has hired Robert F. “Rob” Smith as president of government operations, a newly created position. Smith most recently served as vice president and general manager for Lockheed Martin’s radar and sensors systems market segment. In his new role, he will oversee BWXT’s U.S.-based […]
Liberty University sues state over tuition assistance cut for online students
Liberty University, the large, private nonprofit Christian school in Lynchburg, has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Ralph Northam and the director of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), alleging that amendments to the 2020 state budget “wrongly exclude Virginia students who access higher education through online content” from receiving the Virginia Tuition […]
BWXT to work with Department of Energy on microreactor development
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) selected Lynchburg-based nuclear fuel supplier BWX Technologies Inc. (BWXT) to lead a $106.6 million microreactor development project, the company announced Wednesday. BWXT will work with two DOE-funded national laboratories to design and develop a small nuclear reactor. The DOE will contribute $85.3 million to the project, and BWXT will […]
Jerry Falwell Jr. drops defamation lawsuit against Liberty University
Jerry Falwell Jr. has dropped his defamation lawsuit against Liberty University, saying in a statement Thursday that he has decided “to take a timeout” from the suit while keeping his options open. Falwell sued his former employer Oct. 28 in Lynchburg Circuit Court, claiming that the university made defamatory statements about him in the wake […]
These 16 Va. companies received $10M PPP loans
The U.S. Small Business Administration on Tuesday released additional information about all approved borrowers from its $659 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) small business relief program, this time including exact company names, loan amounts, addresses and other information. Previously, the government in early July had released an incomplete list of recipients, including only ranges of[...]
Georgia senator made controversial investment in Lynchburg’s BWX Technologies
U.S. Sen. David Perdue, one of Georgia’s two incumbent Republican senators who are facing a Jan. 5 election runoff that will determine the balance of power in the Senate, made profitable purchases of shares in Lynchburg-based nuclear fuel supplier BWX Technologies Inc. — the Navy’s sole nuclear fuel provider — just before Perdue took over […]
BWXT completes nuclear fuel line project, begins fuel production
A subsidiary of Lynchburg-based nuclear fuel supplier BWX Technologies Inc. (BWXT) announced Tuesday it has completed the TRISO (tristructural isotropic particle fuel) nuclear fuel line restart project for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and is producing the fuel at its Lynchburg facility. In June, DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory awarded BWXT Nuclear Operations Group Inc. […]
Liberty University finance probe issues call for whistleblowers
A firm conducting an investigation at Liberty University will use an encrypted website to allow anonymous whistleblower complaints focused on financial misconduct by “current or former members of university leadership,” the university announced Tuesday night. Chicago-based public accounting firm Baker Tilly US began its probe of the Lynchburg-based Christian university in early Septemb[...]
Liberty pays Falwell two years’ base salary in severance deal
Liberty University announced Tuesday that it has paid Jerry Falwell Jr., its embattled and controversial former president and chancellor, two years’ base salary as severance. Falwell resigned on Aug. 25 under a barrage of international media coverage of his alleged role in a sex scandal involving his wife’s admitted affair with a former pool attendant […]
Newsroom jobs eliminated at Free Lance-Star, News & Advance
Two more Virginia newspapers — The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg and The News & Advance in Lynchburg — have dismissed employees, following newsroom layoffs last week at three other publications owned by Lee Enterprises. Two editors, a page designer and two circulation clerks have been laid off at The News & Advance. Their jobs were […]
UPDATED: After back and forth, Falwell has resigned from Liberty
Updated 2:30 p.m., Aug. 25 Liberty University confirmed Tuesday afternoon that Jerry Falwell Jr. has resigned as president, chancellor and member of its board of directors. According to a news release, the embattled evangelical leader sent a letter of resignation late Monday to members of the Board of Trustees’ executive committee. The Board of Trustees […]