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Richmond Region Tourism names inaugural chief growth officer

Richmond Region has named Vice President of Sales Jerrine Lee its first , as it rolls out a new plan to boost tourism.

In her new role, Lee will lead the departments that drive visitors, marketing, sales and visitor experience. She will use data and insights to help increase visitors to the region. In 2025, she was recognized as a Virginia Black Business Leaders Award winner.

“Jerrine is a dynamic and collaborative leader, and I’m excited she is taking on this new role for the organization,” said President and CEO Katherine O’Donnell.

The tourism group said the change is tied to a new strategic plan focused on boosting sales and marketing, supporting new tourism projects and strengthening community relationships. Richmond Region Tourism plans to unveil the plan May 1.

Lee has been with the organization since 2016. Other roles she’s assumed include convention and sports services manager, sports development manager, director of sports development and vice president of sports.

“The Richmond region is a one-of-a-kind destination with incredible assets and facilities, and exciting upcoming developments,” said Lee in a statement. “I look forward to building on our strengths and working alongside our all-star team and partners to grow tourism’s impact on our economy and community.”

Richmond Region Tourism also announced last week that it promoted three other employees as part of the realignment:

  • Mike Kerr, director of finance, was named director of finance administration and now oversees IT support, personnel administration and compliance in addition to finance.
  • Grantland Steele, an administrative coordinator, was promoted to manager of executive and board operations, overseeing board governance, executive support, office management and special projects.
  • Morgan Kenley, a sports and events specialist, was promoted to sports events manager and will work with jurisdiction liaisons to support events brought to the region.

Richmond Region Tourism traces its roots to the Richmond Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau, a nonprofit that has been tax-exempt since 1989 and rebranded in 2013. The organization markets the region to convention, meeting, sports tournament and group tour planners, as well as leisure visitors, on behalf of seven localities: Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico and New Kent counties; the cities of Richmond and and the town of .

The organization says monthly hotel occupancy and room demand in the region continue to outpace state and national trends. In 2024, the Richmond region hosted 18.3 million visitors who spent $3.9 billion.

Packaging Corp. of America to lay off 110 tied to Richmond facility

The Illinois-based , the third-largest producer of in the United States, plans to close a converting operation, leaving 110 employees out of work, a notice to the state dated March 31 reported.

Employees are slated to lose their jobs the first week of June, according to a letter sent by Mark J. Romaniuk, deputy general counsel at Packaging Corp. of America, or PCA, in compliance with the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.

“This was a difficult business decision; it is in no way a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our valued employees,” Romaniuk wrote.

Hourly production and maintenance employees are represented by the United Steelworkers Local 8-699, according to the notice.

A few of the facility’s employees may be asked to stay beyond early June, but they too will lose their jobs by the end of the month.

The letter noted six PCA employees work at a satellite warehouse at 2903 Walmsley Blvd. in North Chesterfield. “PCA intends to continue operating the warehouse and will engage in discussions with the USW regarding ongoing staffing of the facility,” the notice stated.

“PCA will offer support to all affected employees, including coordinating with the union representing Richmond employees and working with state and local government officials to provide dislocated worker assistance,” a PCA spokesperson wrote in a statement. “We will also assist those interested in transferring to another PCA location with available positions.”

In December 2025, PCA announced plans to shut down the No. 2 paper machine and kraft pulping facilities at a Washington containerboard mill. About 200 jobs were cut, according to news reports. In October 2025, news outlets reported PCA planned to shutter a corrugated packaging plant in Salisbury, North Carolina, with 108 employees losing their jobs, and another in Allentown, Pennsylvania, affecting 60 employees.

On Sept. 2, 2025, PCA completed the purchase of Ohio-based Greif’s containerboard business for $1.8 billion. Greif is an industrial packaging products and services company. Early in 2026, PCA announced a $70-per-ton price increase for containerboard that was to go into effect March 1, according to news reports.

According to its website, PCA has approximately 15,400 employees, with operations primarily in the United States. The company reported 2025 net income of $774 million, down from $805 million in 2024.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a statement from a PCA spokesperson and to correct the location of the facility. 

Coinbase gets conditional US approval for trust charter, Bloomberg News reports

April 2 (Reuters) – has received conditional approval from banking regulators for a national trust company charter, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, in a move that could boost the biggest U.S. ‘s appeal among large institutional investors.

Full approval from the would let Coinbase operate as a .

, the company’s vice president of product management, told Bloomberg in an interview that a complete nod could also help the firm offer new products such as and allow it to issue .

“The ability to have a federal framework for our custody business is important,” Tusar told Bloomberg. “This is about us growing our reach and being able to conduct new business that we may not have been able to before.”

Coinbase did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The U.S. has been taking a more crypto-friendly approach since the re-election of , with regulators easing prior curbs and dialing back enforcement actions.

Earlier this year, also received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust bank charter.

(Reporting by Utkarsh Shetti in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)

 

Trump fires Pam Bondi as US attorney general, White House official says

Summary:
  • Trump removes as U.S. attorney general
  • Bondi criticized for handling Epstein sex trafficking files
  • Bondi faced backlash from Trump allies and lawmakers

(WASHINGTON, April 2 (Reuters) – U.S. President removed Attorney General Pam Bondi from her post on Thursday, a White House official said, following mounting frustration with her performance, including her handling of investigative files related to the late financier and sex offender .

Trump had also reportedly grown frustrated that Bondi was not moving quickly enough to prosecute critics and adversaries who he wanted to face criminal charges.

During her tenure as the top U.S. law enforcement official, Bondi was a combative champion of Trump’s agenda and dismantled the ‘s longstanding tradition of independence from the White House in its investigations.

But it was repeated criticism over the , including from Trump allies and some Republican lawmakers, that came to dominate her tenure. Bondi was accused of covering up or mismanaging the release of records on the DOJ’s sex trafficking investigations into Epstein, a financier who cultivated ties with an array of wealthy and powerful figures.

The issue created political headaches for Trump and drew renewed scrutiny of his past friendship with Epstein, which he has said ended decades ago.

Her ouster could lead to a shake-up in strategy at the Justice Department and potentially a renewed push to deploy the U.S. legal system against Trump’s targets.

Bondi is the second senior Trump official to be ousted recently. Trump removed Homeland Security Secretary on March 5 following criticism of her management of the agency and Trump’s immigration agenda.

Bondi, a former Republican state attorney general in Florida, said she worked on restoring the Justice Department’s focus on violent crime and rebuilding trust with Trump’s supporters after federal prosecutors twice criminally charged Trump during his years out of power.

Bondi also faced criticism over the removal of dozens of career prosecutors who worked on investigations disfavored by Trump, with critics accusing her of abandoning the DOJ’s traditional focus on even-handed justice.

Bondi defended the rollout of the Epstein files, saying the Trump administration had been more transparent on the issue than previous presidents and that DOJ lawyers worked on a compressed timeline to review reams of material.

During a combative hearing before a House of Representatives panel in January, Bondi responded to criticism with political attacks directed at lawmakers. She refused to apologize or look at Epstein victims and their relatives who attended the proceedings.

Bondi early last year played into fevered speculation about the Epstein files, saying a client list was on her desk for review. But after an initial release included material that had largely already been public, the DOJ and declared in July that the case was closed and that no further disclosures were warranted.

The move prompted an eruption of criticism and eventually a bipartisan law passed in November requiring the Justice Department to release nearly all of its files.

The release of roughly 3 million pages of records still did not quell the controversy, as lawmakers criticized redactions in the files and the disclosure of the identities of some Epstein victims.

The Republican-led voted to subpoena Bondi and she was set to testify on April 14.

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya, Doina Chiacu; Editing by Michelle Nichols)

 

Virginians spend nearly $575M in February sports wagers

Virginians bet about $574.6 million on sports in February, winning a total of $517.53 million, according to data released Wednesday. That’s about 3.2% higher than the $556.84 million they wagered in February 2025.

About $571.56 million of February’s gross sports revenues came from mobile operators, with the remaining roughly $3.04 million coming from casino retail activity. Virginia currently has three permanent : the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol, Rivers Casino Portsmouth and Caesars Virginia in Danville.

Casino development continues in the commonwealth. Construction on the $750 million Norfolk casino began in February 2025. In Petersburg, the $1.4 billion Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia held a groundbreaking in March 2025. Norfolk opened the temporary Interim Gaming Hall in November 2025, while Cordish Cos. opened its temporary casino in Petersburg in January.

In February, the state’s casinos reported a total of $95.2 million in adjusted gaming revenues.

The licensed operators included in February’s sports revenue reporting were:

  • Betfair Interactive US (FanDuel) in partnership with the Washington Commanders
  • Crown Virginia Gaming (Draft Kings)
  • BetMGM
  • Rivers Portsmouth Gaming (Rivers Casino Portsmouth)
  • Caesars Virginia
  • Bally’s Interactive
  • Penn Sports Interactive
  • Colonial Downs Group
  • HR Bristol
  • Hillside (Virginia)
  • PlayLive Virginia
  • Sporttrade Virginia

Virginia places a 15% tax on activity based on each permit holder’s adjusted gross revenue (total wagers minus total winnings and other authorized deductions). With 10 operators reporting net positive AGR for February, state taxes for the month totaled about $9.3 million.

Of that, 97.5% — about $9.07 million — will be deposited in the state’s general fund. The remaining $232,599 will go to the Problem Treatment and Support Fund Allocation, which the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services administers.

DoD awards $970M blanket purchase agreement to Carahsoft, Broadcom

The Defense Information Systems Agency, an IT support agency within the U.S. , has awarded -based , an IT services and consulting provider, and California-based software and semiconductor producer a five-year, $970 million to streamline and consolidate software contracts.

The DoD’s blanket purchase agreement for Broadcom’s , a provider of and , is held by Carahsoft, an authorized Broadcom distributor, according to an announcement the companies made March 24.

The agreement provides uniform pricing and cost transparency for private cloud infrastructure, security and other Broadcom tools for multiple DoD agencies, including DISA, the and the .

Additionally, the agreement streamlines acquisition for the VMware Cloud Foundation, or VCF, platform, “reducing costs and consolidating procurement for private cloud infrastructure, tactical edge operations, zero trust security and modern application development under a single, unified contract,” the release says.

The VCF platform is a unified private cloud system that combines “the agility and scalability of the public cloud with the security, performance, architectural control and the total cost of ownership benefits of an on-premises environment,” according to the release.

The agreement with Carahsoft and Broadcom also provides government agencies with access to professional services and technical training platforms to help accelerate the deployment of VMware software. It also makes building and maintaining Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs) for Broadcom offerings a priority. These are designed to simplify implementation of the VCF platform for federal agencies within the DoD.

Adopting the VCF platform lowers the cost of ownership compared to three-tier infrastructure, which organizes applications into three computing tiers, and native public cloud, an approach to building applications using cloud technologies, primarily by reducing hardware, facilities, and IT payroll expenses, according to an analysis by the VCF Cloud Economics team.

“This agreement underscores Carahsoft’s and our reseller partners’ commitment to delivering secure, scalable and cost-effective solutions to government agencies,” Chris Hiebert, sales director for the VMware team at Carahsoft, said in the release.

DOE awards $1.8B contract to LLC to manage Jefferson Lab

The U.S. on Tuesday announced it has awarded a $1.83 billion contract to operate the , keeping the -based lab’s longtime operator involved while also adding new academic and corporate partners, including Virginia Tech.

The contract was awarded to SURATech, a limited liability company that includes the Southeastern Universities Association, which currently runs the Newport News-based lab through its limited liability company Jefferson Science Associates. The LLC also includes Virginia Tech and four major subcontractors, Honeywell International, Longenecker and Associates, Akima Support Operations and AtkinsRéalis.

SURATech will assume operations June 1, following a two-month transition period that began Wednesday. The initial contract runs for five years, through May 31, 2031, and the contract also includes performance incentives that would allow the DOE to extend the contract by up to 15 additional years.

The new contract follows a year of uncertainty. In February 2025, the U.S. Department of Energy canceled its search for a new operator for the facility, commonly known as , saying the process did not align with the priorities of ‘s administration.

The competition had begun in February 2024 under President Joe Biden, with requests for proposals issued in July 2024. The department had initially planned to award the contract in early March 2025, ahead of the existing contract’s May expiration.

In canceling the solicitation, DOE said “key elements” of the proposal did not reflect priorities outlined in executive orders issued by Trump, without specifying which ones. Since taking office last year, Trump has issued hundreds of executive orders, including measures rolling back initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion and renewable energy.

In March 2025, Energy Secretary Chris Wright approved a 12-month extension of the contract for Jefferson Science Associates to continue operating the lab. A new competition was launched in July 2025.

In August 2025, lab director Jens Dilling confirmed that he sought a 7% voluntary workforce reduction.

Jefferson Lab is a federally funded research and development center focused on nuclear physics and accelerator science. The lab occupies a 169-acre federal site in Newport News and employs about 759 people, with an annual budget of approximately $238 million.

and Jefferson Lab  did not immediately return requests for comment. The DOE declined to comment, saying “Beyond information already made public, the Department of Energy is unable to provide additional details at this time due to business‑sensitive considerations.”

Virginia Tech did not answer numerous questions about how the lab may change under the new contract, but instead provided a statement from President Tim Sands.

“Virginia Tech is extremely proud to be a partner in the leadership of one of the nation’s premier research facilities,” said Sands. “As part of SURATech, we’re ready to support Jefferson Lab’s mission and push the boundaries of discovery in ways that benefit the commonwealth, nation and world. The evolution to a multi-purpose National Laboratory, including the new High Performance Data Facility, will deliver breakthrough science and technology, advance job creation and education and bring exciting new opportunities for our faculty and students. We look forward to sharing additional information about Virginia Tech’s role in the near future.”

Wall St drops over 1% after Trump’s comments dent Iran resolution hopes

Summary:
  • Wall Street indexes fall over 1%
  • Trump signals intensified military operations on
  • futures rise 7.9% to $109.12 per barrel

April 2 (Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes tumbled on Thursday, in the last session of a holiday-truncated week, after President Donald Trump signaled more aggressive attacks on Iran, dampening expectations for a swift end to the Middle East conflict.

During a primetime address on Wednesday, Trump said military operations would be intensified in the next two to three weeks, in a sharp reversal from his earlier comments that the U.S. will be “out of Iran pretty quickly”.

“The problem is that we didn’t learn anything new. We’re back in a place where we know less, not more, about how we find an off ramp to this war,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at .

surged about 7%, taking Brent crude futures to $108 per barrel. Energy stocks in the U.S. climbed, with and up over 2% each. The S&P 500 energy index added 2.4%.

The spike pressured airlines. , Delta Airlines and American Airlines lost between 4% and 6%.

Separately, private credit jitters resurfaced after Blue Owl capped the amount investors can withdraw from two of its retail-focused funds, sending its shares down 8%.

Other asset managers also fell with Apollo Global, Blackstone and Ares Management down between 3.5% and 4.3%. Financial shares shed 1.1%.

Technology stocks slid 1.8%, with Micron, Lam and Sandisk down over 3% each.

At 09:50 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 565.37 points, or 1.21%, to 46,000.37, the S&P 500 lost 79.70 points, or 1.21%, to 6,495.60 and the lost 367.70 points, or 1.68%, to 21,473.24.

The Russell 2000 index fell 1.3%. Wall Street’s fear gauge, the CBOE VIX index rose to 26.79 points after falling to an over one-week low on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, market expectations that an end to the war was near lifted sentiment. Wall Street’s three indexes were on track for their biggest weekly rise in four months, and the first week of gains in six.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq logged their biggest monthly losses in a year in March, and Brent crude prices marked their strongest monthly performance on record.

Money market participants are no longer pricing in any easing from the Federal Reserve, per CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, as energy-driven inflationary concerns have clouded the central bank’s monetary policy outlook. They were anticipating two cuts before the conflict.

Friday’s nonfarm payroll numbers will be in the spotlight after weekly jobless claims fell last week, but U.S. markets will remain closed for the Good Friday holiday.

Investor will also focus on developments around Elon Musk’s , which confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering on Wednesday, and is expected to target a $1.75 trillion valuation.

Globalstar’s shares jumped 10% after a report said Amazon is in talks to buy the low-earth-orbit communication satellites company.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 3.84-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 4.47-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq..

The S&P 500 posted 3 new 52-week highs and 12 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 13 new highs and 91 new lows.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian, Purvi Agarwal and Twesha Dikshit in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Shinjini Ganguli)

 

US crude jumps more than 11%, Brent nearly 8% after Trump vows more attacks on Iran

Summary:

U.S. settled more than 11% higher and Brent soared nearly 8% on Thursday in volatile trading, as traders worried about prolonged disruptions to oil supply the day after said the United States would continue attacks on .

closed $7.87, or 7.78%, higher at $109.03 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose $11.42, or 11.41%, at $111.54 per barrel, settling at their biggest absolute price rise since 2020.

Both benchmarks remained below highs near $120 a barrel touched earlier in the conflict.

Trump said military operations would be intensified, but did not specify a timeline for ending hostilities. He gave no details on any steps that could lead to a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz

“We’re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” Trump said. “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.”

Iran is drafting a protocol with Oman to monitor traffic in the strait, an Iranian foreign ministry official said, after a Bloomberg report.

Iran has effectively shut down the narrow waterway through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas is shipped, in retaliation for U.S.-Israeli ​strikes that began on February 28. Reopening it has become a priority for governments around the world as energy prices soar.

“The real question on traders’ minds is that if Iran’s oil infrastructure is possibly now at risk, and with more damage in the area now very likely, even if left intact the restart of oil flows in the region (is) now looking to be delayed further,” said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial.

WTI, which typically trades below Brent, was pricing nearly $3 over Brent as the U.S. contract was trading for May deliveries, while the Brent contract was trading for June deliveries. WTI’s premium over the global benchmark was the highest in a year.

“Market’s expectation is that if (the) Strait of Hormuz opens up in (a) couple of weeks this risk premium will immediately go down,” said John Kilduff, Partner at Again Capital.

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Lorie Logan said on Thursday that a swift war resolution may mean economic impact could be pretty moderate, adding that the economic outlook was uncertain due to the crisis. The United States has some buffers to impacts from the war, Logan said.

Brent crude prices could average $95 a barrel in the base case and $130 a barrel in the bull case in the second half of the year, Citi said, while oil prices could climb to between $120 and $130 a barrel in the near-term, JP Morgan said. Prices could rise above $150 if the Strait remains closed into the middle of May, JP Morgan added.

U.S. oil rigs, an indicator of future output, rose by two to 411 this week, energy services firm Baker Hughes said. An increase in prices for oil to be delivered in future months has producers considering adding more rigs, but they have cautioned that they would like to see the higher prices hold for longer to do so.

Front-month WTI traded at its largest-ever premium over the second-month and seventh-month contract on Thursday.

TALKS ON REOPENING HORMUZ

Britain is hosting a virtual meeting of around 40 countries to discuss options for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The United States is not due to attend.

, meanwhile, is likely to weigh a further oil output increase on Sunday, sources said. This would position members to add more barrels should the Strait of Hormuz reopen but is not likely to meaningfully increase supply before then.

In , Ukraine’s strikes on port infrastructure, pipelines and refineries have reduced export capability by 1 million barrels per day, or a fifth of total capacity, sources say, enough to set the stage for imminent production cuts.

The head of the International Energy Agency also said that supply disruptions would start to affect Europe’s economy in April, after the region had previously been shielded by cargoes contracted before the start of the war.

(Additional reporting by Colleen Howe and Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Stephen Coates, Mark Potter, Will Dunham, Louise Heavens and David Gregorio)

Wall St opens lower after Trump’s comments dent Iran resolution hopes

April 2 (Reuters) – ‘s main indexes opened lower on Thursday, in the last session of a holiday-truncated week, after signaled more aggressive attacks on , dampening expectations for a swift end to the Middle East conflict.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 96.4 points, or 0.21%, at the open to 46,469.36. The S&P 500 fell 62.7 points, or 0.95%, at the open to 6,512.61​, while the dropped 368.4 points, or 1.69%, to 21,472.523 at the opening bell.

 

(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)