Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Army training command headquarters to relocate from Virginia to Texas

SUMMARY:

  • The U.S. ‘s Training and Doctrine Command () will move its headquarters from in to Austin, Texas, as part of a merger with the Army Futures Command to form the new Army Transformation and Training Command
  • The relocation follows a directive from Secretary of Defense aimed at consolidating functions, eliminating redundancies and reducing “wasteful” spending
  • Although the headquarters will move, it remains unclear how many personnel or functions will relocate
  • TRADOC leadership has emphasized that no final decisions have been made and that operations at Fort Eustis continue. More details are expected to be available in June

The Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) will soon move its headquarters from Fort Eustis in Newport News to Austin, Texas — but questions linger about how many military and civilian staff will be impacted and which of the command’s functions will relocate.

The move stems from a directive from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to transform and streamline the military and eliminate “wasteful spending.” In an April 30 memo from Hegseth to senior Pentagon leadership, he directed the Secretary of the Army to merge the Army Futures Command (AFC) in Austin with TRADOC as a way to “downsize, consolidate, or close redundant headquarters.”

On May 7, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George told the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee that the new, merged command — called the Army Transformation and Training Command — will be headquartered in Austin.

“Having a whole bunch of headquarters doesn’t make things go faster,” George said. “I would argue that, you know, streamlining that will help. … Right now, we have all these different functions that are trying to do similar things in two commands, and we need to combine those together.”

TRADOC, created on July 1, 1973, under Gen. William E. DePuy, supports the Army by training soldiers and support units. It oversees 32 Army schools organized under 10 Centers of Excellence, each focused on a separate area of expertise within the Army.

The Army states that these centers train more than 750,000 soldiers and service members annually.

In 2011, TRADOC moved its headquarters from ‘s Fort Monroe to Fort Eustis, after Fort Monroe ceased to be an Army post under the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission. TRADOC oversees the Center for Military History, the Center for Initial Military Training and the Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth.

TRADOC said in a news release last week that while it has been announced that the new command’s headquarters will be located in Austin, no decisions have been made regarding the relocation of specific functions or personnel. The command says, “Reports suggesting otherwise are speculative and not based on official decisions.”

Maj. Chris Robinson, a TRADOC spokesperson, says that the command is a large organization with more than 35,000 military and civilians worldwide. Of this, approximately 2,000 are based at Fort Eustis, and of those, about 800 personnel are tied to the headquarters component of TRADOC.

The command says TRADOC continues to operate at Fort Eustis.

“We know there are questions in the community, and we want to be clear — TRADOC isn’t going anywhere right now,” Gen. Gary M. Brito, its commanding general, said in a statement. “Our mission continues, our people remain essential, and we will share updates when decisions are made.”

Robinson said more information on the merger should become available in mid-June.

“In October, we will see a new command form, where a new commanding general will also take reins of both organizations,” he said in a statement.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, who represents the base in Congress, expressed concerns about the merger of the two commands.

“As the representative from Newport News, I will be seeking more information and clarification from the Army on how we can minimize the impact this will have on service members in ,” Scott said.

However, , a fellow Democrat, indicated that the impact of the merger on Newport News shouldn’t be too significant.

“Army leadership told me that despite the merger of TRADOC and Army Futures Command, TRADOC operations will remain at Fort Eustis with no significant change to personnel levels,” Kaine said. “This will provide continuity for servicemembers, their families, contractors and the Hampton Roads community. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I will continue to monitor the situation to make sure these assurances are upheld.”

Macy’s trims 2025 forecast amid cautious shoppers

SUMMARY:

  • Macy’s Q1 profit and sales slipped
  • More due to
  • Macy’s meets most performance expectations
  • CEO mentions diversifying product origin to offset tariffs

NEW YORK (AP) — Macy’s sales and profit slipped in its first quarter and the , citing more cautious customers and the impact that a trade war launched by the U.S., trimmed its profit forecast for 2025.

The New York retailer, however, topped most performance expectations for the first three months of the year and maintained its annual sales forecast.

Yet Macy’s CEO said that after seeing almost no price increases linked to tariffs in the first quarter, some “limited” price increases are appearing now, leading to the more cautious annual profit outlook.

“I think it’s important to understand that we are not just broadly increasing price,” Spring said in a conference call Wednesday. “We’re being incredibly surgical about the situation with tariffs.”

The company is diversifying the origin of its products as well, and will pull items when the math doesn’t work, he said.

About 20% of Macy’s products came from China at the end of its last fiscal year. Private brands sourced approximately 27% from China, down from 32% last year.

“With the recent announcement of these tariffs, we’ve renegotiated orders with suppliers,” Spring said. “We’ve canceled or delayed orders where the value proposition is just not where it needs to be.”

Shares rose 1% Wednesday.

Sales at Macy’s, which also owns upscale Bloomingdale’s and the Bluemercury cosmetics chain, dropped to $4.79 billion, from $5 billion a year earlier. That’s better than the $4.42 billion that analysts polled by FactSet expected.

Comparable sales, which include those online, dipped 2%. There was comparable store sales growth at Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury.

Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said it wasn’t a bad quarter for Macy’s, particularly as the retailer closes underperforming locations.

Macy’s said previously that it would close 66 stores, mostly in the first quarter.

“The 2.0% dip in comparable sales is below market growth but is not entirely unexpected,” Saunders wrote. “It is also, barring the robust holiday quarter, a somewhat better performance than Macy’s delivered across most of the last fiscal year.”

For the period ended May 3, Macy’s earned $38 million, or 13 cents per share. That compares with $62 million, or 22 cents per share, a year ago.

Stripping out one time charges, earnings were 16 cents per share, which topped Wall Street’s estimate by a penny.

The company stuck by its 2025 sales forecast which ranged from $21 billion to $21.4 billion. But it now expects full-year adjusted earnings between $1.60 and $2 per share. Its prior forecast was for an adjusted profit of $2.05 to $2.25 per share.

Industry analysts had been projecting full-year sales of $21.03 billion and an adjusted per-share profit of $1.91.

Macy’s and other retailers are wrestling with uncertainty about tariffs which are making it difficult to plan. The same goes for many American consumers who have are growing increasingly uncomfortable about the U.S. economy and watching their spending.

American Eagle Outfitters withdrew its annual financial outlook earlier this month citing “macro uncertainty” and said it would write down $75 million in spring and summer merchandise.

Ross Stores withdrew its forecast last week.

Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, got a public scolding from President Donald Trump this month after it said that it has already raised prices on some items and would have to do so again this summer. Trump told the retail giant that it should “eat” the additional costs.

Target’s sales fell more than expected in the first quarter and it warned they will continue to flag this year.

Home Depot, too, said that it will eat some of the costs but that some goods heavily impacted by the trade war will no longer be on shelves.

Trump’s threatened 145% import taxes on Chinese goods were reduced to 30% in a deal announced May 12, with some of the higher tariffs on pause for 90 days. Trump on Friday threatened a 50% tax on all imports from the European Union as well as a 25% tariff on smartphones unless they’re made in America.

On Sunday, however, Trump said that the U.S. will delay implementation of a 50% tariff on goods from the EU until July 9 to negotiate.

Spring, Macy’s CEO, said there has been some success with vendors on lowering prices, but the department store is absorbing some costs as well.

“We’re making selective price increase in selective brands, selective categories, because we believe the value equation for the customer is still very relevant,” Spring said. “So some of the impact on our gross margin this year is going to be around the tariffs, but we’re also investing in getting market share because we really do believe as we get into the back half of the year, that price value dimension is going to be very critical.”

Wall Street drifts as the countdown ticks toward Nvidia’s earnings report

SUMMARY:

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting on Wednesday, a day after leaping back within a few good days’ worth of gains from their all-time high.

The S&P 500 was down 0.1% in afternoon trading after flipping from an early, modest gain. It’s still within 4% of its record after charging higher amid hopes that the worst of the turmoil caused by President Donald Trump’s trade war may have passed. It had been roughly 20% below the mark last month.

The Industrial Average was down 94 points, or 0.2%, as of 1:28 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was mostly unchanged.

The next big test for Wall Street will come after trading ends for the day, when market heavyweight Nvidia will report its latest results. Expectations are high for the bellwether of the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology. So are worries that its stock price may have run too high, even after it has largely stalled this year.

Nvidia edged up by 0.7%.

Macy’s swung between gains and losses through the morning after reporting milder drops in revenue and profit than analysts expected for the latest quarter. The retailer also maintained its forecast for revenue this year, but it cut its profit forecast in part because of tariffs and some moderation of spending by consumers.

Its stock was most recently up 1.3%.

Several other retailers also delivered better-than-expected results for the latest quarter in the morning. Abercrombie & Fitch soared 16.5% after its profit and revenue both topped analysts’ expectations. CEO Fran Horowitz credited broad-based growth across its business around the world, and strength for its Hollister brand offset weakness for its Abercrombie brand.

Dick’s Sporting Goods added 2.1% after it likewise topped analysts’ expectations for the latest quarter, and it stood by its financial forecasts it earlier gave for the full year.

On the losing end of Wall Street was Okta, which fell 13.7% even though the identity and access management company reported better results for the latest quarter than Wall Street expected. Analysts called it a solid performance, but investors may have been looking for even more after its stock came into the day up nearly 60% for the year so far.

Video-game retailer GameStop fell 7.2% after saying it had bought 4,710 bitcoin, which is worth more than $510 million at its current price. The company said in late March that it could begin buying bitcoin to store some of the cash in its treasury.

Later Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will release the minutes from its meeting earlier this month, when it left its benchmark lending rate alone for the third straight time. Officials for the U.S. central bank cited an increased risk of higher unemployment and inflation for the U.S. economy, in part due to Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were modestly lower across much of Europe and Asia.

South Korea was an exception, where the Kospi jumped 1.3% thanks in part to gains for Samsung Electronics and other companies.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.48% from 4.43% late Tuesday.

Sharp swings in the bond market last week rattled investors after Treasury yields jumped in part on worries about the U.S. government’s rapidly rising debt levels. Such worries have also hit Japan, where a Wednesday auction of 40-year Japanese government bonds drew less interest from potential buyers than it’s seen since since July.

After years of pumping money into the economy through hefty bond purchases, Japan’s central bank has been gradually cutting back, undermining demand at a time when other institutional investors also have been buying fewer Japanese government bonds.

___

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Leidos acquires Chantilly AI tech biz for $300M

Reston-based federal contractor announced Wednesday it has acquired , a -based company that builds -powered cybersecurity tools for defense customers, for $300 million.

This is Leidos’ first in more than two years and its first since Thomas A. Bell became the Fortune 500 defense, aerospace and IT firm’s CEO.

“Kudu’s ability to generate new cyber capabilities with AI perfectly complements our strategy to rapidly grow differentiated offensive cyber technology capabilities,” Bell said in a statement. “This acquisition underlines Leidos’s commitment to continue to build smarter full-spectrum cyber capabilities, so that the U.S. and its allies dominate the cyber warfighting domain.”

The all-cash purchase closed May 23, Leidos said in its announcement.

Kudu Dynamics was founded in 2013 and has worked with the Department of Defense, focusing on automated targeting, scalable hardware reverse and generation of nonkinetic effects, which allow forces to disrupt adversaries with cyberattacks or other means that minimize casualties.

“We’re excited to deliver the next level of capabilities to our customers as we bring together the highly innovative cyber professionals and disruptive technologies of Kudu with the scale, resources and experience of Leidos,” said Kudu Dynamics founder and CEO Mike Frantzen. “In Leidos, we’ve found a partner who shares our ethic of purposeful innovation in support of our nation’s most critical missions.”

Frantzen will continue to lead Kudu’s 170-employee team as a wholly owned subsidiary in Leidos’ national security sector, a Leidos spokesperson said Wednesday.

The acquisition comes as Leidos has focused more attention on artificial intelligence, including appointing its first chief AI officer, Ron Keesing, in July 2024.

Leidos has 47,000 employees worldwide, and in the fiscal year that ended Jan. 3, it reported $16.7 billion in revenue. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security struck a costly blow against the federal contractor, terminating a $2.4 billion IT and cybersecurity contract awarded last year, known as the Agile Cybersecurity Technical Security (ACTS) contract.

Pratt & Whitney machinists end 3-week strike after approving a new contract

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — About 3,000 machinists at jet engine-maker Pratt & Whitney in Connecticut approved a new four-year contract Tuesday, ending a three-week strike over wages, job security and other issues.

Union members were expected to return to work Wednesday after 74% of them voted in favor of the new deal, according to locals 1746 and 700 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of Arlington, Virginia-based RTX Corp., makes engines for commercial and jets, including the GTF line for Airbus commercial jets and the F135 for the military’s F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft fleet.

The union said the new contract, which runs to May 2029, guarantees continued operations at the company’s East Hartford and Middletown plants through 2029. It also includes a 6% wage increase the first year, followed by raises of 3.5% in 2026 and 3% in both 2027 and 2028. Retirement benefits also were improved, the union said.

“This agreement includes real gains for our members and proves what we can accomplish when we stick together,” Wayne McCarthy, president of Local 700, said in a statement.

The company said in a statement that the contract “recognizes the skill and dedication of our workforce by keeping them among the highest compensated in their field, while ensuring the company is well-positioned for the future.”

Union members began picketing in East Hartford and Middletown on May 5, after about 77% of union members voted to approve their first strike since 2001.

Fusion power plant seeks zoning permit in Chesterfield

SUMMARY:

  • Commonwealth Fusion Systems has applied for a conditional use permit to build a 400-megawatt fusion plant in County.
  • Facility expected to be world’s first grid-scale commercial fusion
  • Construction planned for late 2020s; operations expected to start in early 2030s.

Commonwealth Fusion Systems has filed an application with for a permit to build the world’s first grid-scale commercial fusion plant in the county.

The Massachusetts-based fusion company announced plans to build the 400-megawatt fusion facility, dubbed ARC, in December 2024. The power plant would likely cost more than $2.5 billion, according to Chesterfield’s economic development director, Garrett Hart.

The project would be located at 1201 Battery Brooke Parkway in the James River Industrial Center, a site owned by Dominion Energy. has signed an option-to-lease agreement for the site, according to spokesperson Christine Dunn.

CFS filed an application with the county on May 21 for a conditional use permit for the approximately 94-acre site. The case does not yet have a scheduled public hearing date with the county planning commission.

CFS expects the plant to produce up to 400 megawatts of carbon-free energy, enough to power large industrial projects or about 150,000 homes. The company expects to sell ARC-generated power to large industrial/commercial customers through purchase power agreements, according to a county document.

CFS plans to begin construction in the late 2020s and start operations in the early 2030s. ARC is designed to run for 20 years or more, said in December 2024.

Spun out of MIT in 2018, CFS is one of more than 40 companies currently pursuing fusion technologies and says it is the largest private fusion company in the world. It has raised more than $2 billion in capital from high-profile investors including Google, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Tiger Global Management, Khosla Ventures and Lowercarbon Capital. CFS’ Series B2 round has raised more than $1 billion and is now targeting between $1 billion and $1.5 billion, Axios Pro reported in mid-May.

The company is building a fusion demonstration machine, nicknamed SPARC, at its headquarters in Devens, Massachusetts. CFS began assembling the machine’s tokamak — a fusion device that uses electromagnets to create the right conditions for — in March. SPARC will begin commissioning in 2025 and start operations in 2026, according to CFS’ application.

ARC will use magnetic fields for the fusion process. In the process, two forms of hydrogen — deuterium and tritium — fuse, creating helium and releasing neutrons. A “molten salt liquid ‘blanket’ surrounding the plasma will capture the energy of the neutrons in the form of heat,” according to CFS’ zoning application. The molten salt then circulates through heat exchangers — systems that transfer heat between fluids — to produce steam, which turns a turbine connected to an generator.

Serco completes $327M acquisition of NG division

Herndon and management contractor announced Tuesday that it has completed its $327 million of ‘s mission training and satellite ground network communications software business, also known as .

MT&S provides the U.S. with advanced mission training services, as well as software that makes satellite ground networks more efficient. It supports programs for the , Space Force, Air Force, Navy, Combatant Commands and international partners. It generates $300 million in annual revenues.

Serco said the acquisition, first announced in January, will enhance its presence in North America, bringing nearly 1,000 Northrop Grumman employees and expanding its business to over $2 billion in annual revenue. The company expects the additional expertise in digital , software development, satellite ground communications software and training and mission simulation to allow it to expand the services it offers.

“We are honored to welcome the Northrop Grumman MT&S team to Serco,” Serco CEO Tom Watson said in a statement. “The integration of our existing and new capabilities in live and virtual training, and space markets, positions Serco to compete for larger and more complex projects. We have complete confidence that Serco is now further aligned to support the U.S. military’s mission to enhance warfighter readiness.”

Headquartered in , Serco says it has approximately 10,000 employees. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of United Kingdom-based Serco Group, which has more than 50,000 employees in more than 20 countries. Serco Group reported 4.787 billion pounds — nearly $6.5 billion — in 2024 revenue.

Sail250 to bring 60 ships to Norfolk for America’s big birthday

SUMMARY:

  • Virginia, celebrating America’s 250th anniversary, will take place for 10 days, starting June 12, 2026
  • will be the primary host city, with 11 Virginia cities participating
  • Planned since 2019, Sail250 is expected to draw more than 3 million visitors to the state, with an expected $150 million in tourism impact

Gov. Glenn Youngkin last week kicked off the one-year countdown to Sail250 — an enormous maritime festival that’s expected to draw more than 3 million visitors to Virginia and generate at least $150 million in tourism revenue.

The event, which celebrates the nation’s 2026 250th anniversary — or semiquincentennial — will see more than 60 tall ships and vessels from 20 countries pass through various harbor cities in Virginia for 10 days, starting June 12, eventually docking in Norfolk. About 10,000 people will collectively crew the vessels, according to Norfolk Mayor .

Youngkin was joined by several Roads mayors Friday afternoon at the American Rover ship, which was docked at Norfolk’s Waterside marina, to announce the planned festivities. Ships blared their horns at the end of the ceremony as a way of kicking off the countdown.

The American Rover docked at Waterside in Norfolk for the event kicking off the countdown to Sail250 Virginia. Photo by Josh Janney
The American Rover docked at Waterside in Norfolk for the event kicking off the countdown to Sail250 Virginia. Photo by Josh Janney

Youngkin spoke of the integral role Virginians played in the United States’ journey to independence, highlighting Thomas Jefferson’s role in drafting the Declaration of Independence and Hanover County native Patrick Henry’s declaration to the Second Virginia Convention, “Give me liberty or give me death.”

“America was really founded by Virginians,” Youngkin said. “This story is one that we have to remind ourselves is part of not just our national narrative, but Virginia’s. And therefore, could it be any more appropriate for us to come together this time next year and welcome 60 vessels from 20 countries?”

Norfolk will be one of several cities across the country expected to host the Sail250 American international fleet, along with New Orleans, Baltimore, New York and Boston.

Norfolk’s planned activities for the event include a boat parade, concerts and fireworks. The event will coincide with the city’s Juneteenth celebrations. Karen Scherberger, president and CEO of Sail250 Virginia, said that the event will be “one of the largest and most historic maritime configurations in Virginia history.

The sail route for the Sail250 Virginia boat parade, slated for June 19, 2026. Image Courtesy Sail250 Virginia
The sail route for the Sail250 Virginia boat parade, slated for June 19, 2026. Image Courtesy Sail250 Virginia

“And more than just a spectacle, Sail250 Virginia honors our naval heritage, promotes international goodwill, and brings millions in economic activity, thousands of international visitors and unforgettable experiences to families across the commonwealth,” she said. “Norfolk has always been a proud maritime city, the home of the largest naval base in the world, and with Sail250 Virginia, we reaffirm our identity, not only as a harbor of history but as a global port of goodwill and celebration.”

Scherberger said the event has been planned since 2019 and has involved the work of hundreds of people from numerous organizations and cities in the area.

She described the event as an “enormous undertaking” but said that it should generate at least $150 million in visitor spending over 10 days in 11 Virginia cities. Other Virginia cities participating in the celebration include , , Chesapeake, Hampton, Onancock, Portsmouth, Richmond, Smithfield/, and Yorktown.

Richmond issues boil-water advisory after plant issue

SUMMARY:

  • Richmond issues boil- advisory due to operational issue at .
  • Some plant filters clogged, affecting water quality.
  • Second plant issue this year; in January, 230,000 residents lacked drinkable water for nearly a week.
  • City urging residents to boil tap water before using.

UPDATE: Richmond lifted its boil-water advisory on May 29.

RICHMOND (AP) — Officials issued a boil-water advisory Tuesday in parts of Virginia’s capital city, leaving many residents without drinkable tap water following an operational issue at the city’s water treatment plant for the second time this year.

Richmond officials said that the city’s water treatment plant experienced an operational hiccup that clogged some of the plant’s filters. In the morning, the water system had been restored to full production, but reclogged roughly an hour later.

Large swaths of the city, spanning Richmond’s West End to downtown by the Capitol, and its northern neighborhoods, were under the advisory, and as of Tuesday evening, some neighborhoods south of the James River were added to the boil-water advisory, including Manchester, Hillside Court, Bellemeade and the Jeff Davis corridor to the city’s southeastern border.

The city posted an interactive map of the impacted area just before 5 p.m., and meanwhile, Richmond City Council canceled its Tuesday night meeting without an explanation.

In a news release, officials said all residents were asked to conserve water. Residents in the impacted area were told to boil tap water before drinking it, and to use bottled water for brushing teeth, washing fruits and vegetables, and making juices or fountain soft drinks.

People were also advised to not drink from water fountains in parks, public or private buildings that receive water from the city’s public utilities department.

said the state’s Office of Drinking Water is “actively investigating” the water situation in Richmond in a Tuesday afternoon tweet. “I know this is challenging for everyone following this winter’s problem. We’re told by Richmond officials that they are working diligently to resolve these issues,” the governor wrote, adding that the state is providing technical support.

Richmond Mayor Danny Avula said he would determine the acute cause of the clogging.

“There’s ongoing work that needs to be done,” Avula said, adding, “And so after we get out of this recovery phase, then our eyes will turn towards what’s the prevention-focused work that we need to be doing to ensure that this doesn’t happen.”

He said during a Tuesday afternoon news conference that restaurants, hospitals and offices are allowed to remain open in the impacted area as long as they follow the boil-water advisory. Avula said he didn’t know if city hospitals, which include Bon Secours Retreat Hospital and VCU Medical Center in the affected part of the city, were bringing in tankers of fresh water, as they did in January. He said the school system is discussing whether to have classes Wednesday.

Scott Morris, the city’s director of public utilities and formerly the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s director of water, said during the news conference that once water in the affected tank is at full water pressure, a sample will be sent to the health department for testing. Sixteen hours after an initial clean test, a second sample will be sent to the health department, and if that comes back clean, the boil-water advisory will be lifted.

In response to questions about why some city residents who signed up for text message alerts for emergency notifications did not receive them following Tuesday’s water issue, Avula said the city would investigate.

The boil-water advisory follows a nearly weeklong period in January when approximately 230,000 Richmond residents were without drinkable tap water after a failure caused a malfunction at the water treatment facility.

In April, the Virginia Department of Health released a report saying the crisis was avoidable, pointing to city officials’ poor emergency planning and faulty maintenance practices.

Henrico County announced Tuesday afternoon that it had temporarily disconnected from the city’s water system, which ordinarily supplies water to parts of the county. According to the 1:30 p.m. announcement, the county’s water is safe and water pressure remained normal throughout the county.

Hanover County, another Richmond water customer, has also been impacted, and Henrico said it has been working closely with Hanover, which issued a statement saying that it is not under a boil-water advisory at this time. “As a precaution, we are asking residents to conserve water until further notice by turning off automatic irrigation systems,” Hanover said.

According to Henrico, it has staff on site at the city’s water treatment plant, and the county became aware of the problems at the plant at about 12:27 a.m. Tuesday.

, another customer, said that it stopped taking water from the city at about 2 a.m. Tuesday after the city’s public utilities department requested that the county reduce its take of the water from three entry points. said in a post Tuesday that its water is safe to consume, and its distribution system “has continued to operate as designed through this incident.”

Virginia Business Deputy Editor Kate Andrews contributed to this story. 

Clark Nexsen acquired by Maryland firm

Virginia Beach firm has been acquired by Maryland-based , architecture and related services company Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson.

‘s of Clark Nexsen closed on May 9. The company announced the merger May 21 and did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction.

Clark Nexsen’s approximately 325 employees will join JMT’s roughly 2,450-person workforce to form a firm with more than 2,750 employees. JMT is 100% employee-owned.

“The current structure of Clark Nexsen will continue as we build and strengthen both the JMT and Clark Nexsen brands to our clients and partners over the coming months,” JMT Chief Marketing Officer Eric Madden wrote in an email.

Clark Nexsen will help strengthen JMT’s capabilities in architecture and facilities engineering and in the transportation sector. Both companies serve the education and federal market sectors.

“Combining with JMT is transformative for all of us,” Clark Nexsen President Terri Hall said in a statement. “We will continue to build on more than a century of achievements, add new geographies and areas of expertise and provide our employees with many new avenues for professional growth. This is truly an exciting time.”

Founded in 1920, Clark Nexsen has nine offices across the Southeast. A notable project the firm worked on is a monument honoring the World War II predecessors of the Navy SEALS and special boat crews, unveiled in Normandy, France, in 2024.