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Virginia’s Top Doctors 2025: Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

Dr. A. Omar Abubaker
VCU – Nelson Clinic

Dr. Vickas Agarwal
VCU Health – Adult Outpatient Pavilion
Richmond

Dr. George Deeb
VCU Dental Care Faculty Practice
Richmond

Dr. Shravan Renapurkar
VCU Health – Nelson Clinic
Richmond

Dr. David Roe
Greater Washington Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery
Fredericksburg

Dr. Robert A. Strauss
VCU Dental Care Specialty Practice
Richmond

Dr. Samuel Tack
VCU Health – Adult Outpatient Pavilion
Richmond

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Virginia’s Top Doctors 2025: Pediatric Neurology

Dr. James N. Brenton
UVA – Pediatric Neurology and Epilepsy Clinic
Charlottesville

Dr. Sarah Chagnon
Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters
Norfolk

Dr. Howard P. Goodkin
UVA Health – Pediatric Neurology and Epilepsy Clinic
Charlottesville

Dr. Amy D. Harper
Children’s Hospital of at VCU
Richmond

Dr. Ralph Northam
Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters
Norfolk

Dr. Crystal Proud
Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters
Norfolk

Dr. Anthony Staples
Carilion Children’s Pediatric Neurology

Dr. Ewa Way
Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU
Richmond

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NRV passenger rail on track for 2027

Sooner than initially anticipated, passengers will be able to ride to and from the New River Valley for the first time since 1979.

In late August 2024, the Virginia Authority approved a deal that would bring service to the region via Norfolk Southern’s main line from by 2027. Passengers would board and disembark at Cambria Yard in , says DJ Stadtler, executive director of the VPRA. There have been passenger rail depots in the Cambria area since 1856, and the station location being revitalized previously served passengers from 1906 to 1979.

The approved plan is projected to accelerate the timeline for passenger rail to Christiansburg by at least one year. Estimated to cost the state $444 million, the route is thought to be about $100 million less expensive than a previous proposal that would have used Norfolk Southern’s Virginian Line, according to the VPRA.

The new passenger segment will stretch for 33 rail miles from Roanoke’s Amtrak station to Cambria Yard, says VPRA Chief Operations Officer Michael McLaughlin. An additional 10 rail miles will extend to a maintenance station in Radford.

Stadtler expects construction to get underway in the first quarter of 2025.

“This is something that has been heavily desired for a long time,” he says, noting that there were once a dozen trains running to and from Christiansburg each day. Since passenger service ceased in 1979, those travelers have mostly depended on the congested Interstate 81.

“This agreement is proof of what’s possible when freight and passenger railroads work together,” says Norfolk Southern Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Mike McClellan in a statement.

Passenger rail to Christiansburg will be especially beneficial for area college students, says Ray Smoot, Salem District representative on the Commonwealth Transportation Board and co-chair of the New River Valley Passenger Rail Initiative, an advocacy organization backed by local governments and higher education. Many of the approximately 38,000 students at Virginia and 8,000 at Radford University hail from cities along the Northeast corridor and likely will find rail transportation to and from school an attractive option.

Smoot appreciates that Virginia has been forward looking in its investments in passenger rail. “The truth is that within the country, we will never be able to build enough highways to eliminate congestion,” he says, “so we have to look at additional alternatives.”

Micron to invest $2.17B in Manassas expansion

Semiconductor company will invest up to $2.17 billion to expand its facility, creating an expected 340 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Monday.

Micron will modernize the plant at 9600 Godwin Drive to produce dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips for automotive, , and markets, according to a news release from the governor’s office. Based in Idaho, the company has operated in Manassas for 22 years, and as of Dec. 10, it had 1,230 employees in Manassas.

“As the only U.S.-based manufacturer of memory, Micron is uniquely positioned to bring state-of-the-present memory manufacturing to the U.S., strengthening the country’s technology leadership and fostering advanced innovation,” Micron President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said in a statement.

The company is set to receive up to $275 million in federal funding to expand its Manassas manufacturing facility, U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced Dec. 10, and Micron will move its manufacturing of DRAM chips for automobiles from Taiwan to Virginia.

In terms of state incentives, the Virginia Partnership worked with the City of Manassas and the General Assembly’s Major Employment and Investment Project Approval Commission to secure the project. Micron will be eligible to receive an MEI Commission-approved special appropriation of up to $70 million, based on the more than $2.1 billion investment and 340 new jobs, subject to approval by the General Assembly.

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the state repackaged a $70 million economic development incentive package awarded to Micron in 2018 to provide $46 million in unspent financial incentives for the expansion of the Manassas plant.

“Micron’s investments in domestic manufacturing capabilities, supported by the bipartisan CHIPS Act and the incentives offered by the Commonwealth of Virginia and the City of Manassas, will help drive economic growth and ensure that the U.S. remains at the forefront of technological advancements,” Mehrotra said in a statement.

VEDP will support Micron through the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program. Created by VEDP in collaboration with the Virginia Community College System, the program provides free customizable workforce recruitment and training services to qualified new and expanding companies.

“Micron  Technology’s historic $2.17 billion investment in Manassas reinforces Virginia’s position as a leader in advanced semiconductor manufacturing,” Youngkin said in a statement. “For more than two decades, Micron has demonstrated that Virginia’s skilled workforce, strategic location and pro-business climate create an ideal environment for innovation.”

With a presence in 18 countries, Micron has 11 manufacturing sites, 13 customer labs and 21 design center locations. The company has more than 50,000 employees.

The U.S. Department of Commerce awarded Micron up to $6.165 billion in direct funding to expand DRAM production in Idaho and New York, creating approximately 20,000 jobs and helping the U.S. grow its share of advanced memory manufacturing from less than 2% now to about 10% by 2035, according to the Biden administration.

Micron reported fiscal 2024 revenue of $25.11 billion, up from $15.54 billion in fiscal 2023.

U.S. Army awards RTX’s Raytheon $946M contract modification

The has awarded , a subsidiary of Fortune 500 and , a contract modification worth about $946.47 million for production hardware, software and services related to the Patriot system, the U.S. Department of announced Monday.

The , located at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, will manage the contract and will award $463.76 million from the fiscal year 2025 Foreign Military Sales Fund from the Romanian government at the time of the award.

The work will be performed at the company’s Andover, Massachusetts, facility and should be completed by the end of 2029.

In October 2023, the U.S. Army awarded Raytheon a $156.2 million fixed-price incentive contract to provide spares, components and ground support equipment for the Patriot missile defense system to the Romanian government. In March of that year, Raytheon won a potential $1.2 billion foreign military sales contract from the U.S. Army to provide Switzerland with the Patriot.

are used for air defense in 19 countries including Germany and Ukraine.

In December, the Department of Defense announced the U.S. Navy had awarded Raytheon a contract worth up to $903.9 million, if all options are exercised, to provide support for a sensor system.

With more than 185,000 employees globally, RTX reported $68.9 billion in sales in 2023. Raytheon is also based in Arlington.

Thalhimer subsidiary purchases Dabney Center for $75M

Thalhimer Realty Partners, a subsidiary, has purchased Dabney Center, a 56-acre in , for $75.3 million, the company announced Monday.

The complex, which includes 14 buildings and encompasses more than 642,000 square feet, was purchased from Brandywine Realty Trust of Philadelphia. Atlantic Union Bank provided financing for the . Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer will lease and manage the .

“This is the center of everything that’s ,” said Evan Magrill, an executive vice president with Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer. “It’s where interstate[s] 64 and 95 cross. It’s where our Downtown Expressway … starts. … It really is the central point of all of Richmond.”

Zoned for light and general use, Dabney Center is 99% leased. One 3,350-square-foot space remains available for lease at the center. The industrial park’s 40 tenants, which include Fireside Hearth and Home, and Ferguson HVAC Supply, have a variety of facilities there such as a building supply showroom, a distribution center and a bioanalytical lab.

 , which has its headquarters in Richmond, has a portfolio of commercial and multifamily assets throughout the Southeastern U.S. valued at more than $1 billion. It is also the sole principal developing Richmond’s $2.44 billion , a mixed-use project being developed around CarMax Park, a new baseball stadium under construction for the Richmond Flying Squirrels.

Here’s NVAR’s prediction for 2025 NoVa housing market

The Northern Virginia market will continue to strengthen in 2025, with moderate price increases and increased market activity, according to the ‘ 2025 regional forecast, produced with ‘s Center for Regional Analysis.

Examining the past year, Terry Clower, director of the Center for Regional Analysis and Northern Virginia chair and professor in George Mason’s Schar School of Policy and Government, said during an panel on Dec. 17, “The story of 2024 is going to be the market acclimating itself back to a more normal, [with] longer-term interest rates that are in that 6% band.”

NVAR’s predictions for the new year align with the National Association of Realtors, which believes that the worst of the housing shortage is ending as mortgage rates are stabilizing and job additions are continuing.

In 2025, most local markets within Northern Virginia will have more moderate price gains than in 2024, closer to 3%, NVAR and -CRA predict, although tight markets like single-family homes inside the Beltway will see higher price increase rates.

Sales activity will increase and the region’s inventory will improve modestly, according to the forecast. Most market segments will have more homes for as buyers looking to move up in their housing will re-enter the market.

Stable mortgage rates will support higher sales levels, and the market will acclimate to higher but more historically normal mortgage rates, according to the forecast.

Some yet-to-be-determined factors could affect the region, such as President-elect Donald Trump and his incoming administration’s stated plans to cut the federal workforce and require federal workers to return to office full-time, but the timing and scale of changes weren’t yet clear at the time of the forecast’s release.

NVAR’s forecast includes predictions for the city of Alexandria and the counties of Fairfax, Arlington, Prince William, Loudoun and Stafford.

In 2025, NVAR expects single-family home prices to rise 1.5% in Fairfax County. Single-family housing unit sales will increase 5.7% in 2025 compared with 2024, reversing the several-year trend of tightening inventories, according to the forecast.

Townhomes inventory will increase 6%. Strong demand for townhomes will likely continue into 2025, with the number of sales rising 2.9% and prices rising 3.9% compared with 2024.

The strong demand for townhomes is largely because in recent years, they’ve been relatively affordable compared with single-family homes.

As single-family homes become more expensive, and condo fees continue to rise, townhomes “become a sweet spot,” especially because they also often offer yards or outdoor spaces that condos don’t, NVAR’s 2024 president, Thai Hung Nguyen with Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate Premier, said during the Dec. 17 panel.

Condo prices will increase 3.5% from 2024, slightly slowing from the price increases seen in recent years. Inventory will increase 3.6% from 2024 to 2025 as demand for condos starts waning, according to the forecast.

The county’s single-family inventory will increase 1.8% from 2024 to 2025, according to the forecast. Total single-family home sales will decrease 6.5% compared with 2024, which represents only a difference of 4 units a month in the Arlington market.

NVAR forecasts demand for single-family homes will push prices up 5.3% in 2025, despite a slight inventory buildup and a decline in sales.

Because of the lack of available single-family homes, strong demand for townhomes in the county will push prices up 8.7% from 2024. NVAR predicts inventory will increase 4.3%, which represents an average increase of 1 unit at month’s end.

Condos in Arlington saw strong price increases in 2024, but affordability issues and potentially higher maintenance fees will soften price increases to 1.6% in 2025, according to the forecast. Condo sales will effectively remain flat as demand slightly softens. Arlington will have a small increase in inventory, averaging about 3.6% from 2024.

Alexandria

The median price of single-family homes in Alexandria will jump 9.9% in 2025, due at least somewhat to return-to-office policies. NVAR predicts the number of sales will shrink more, with just 285 sales in 2025, down 4.7% from 2024.

Prices in the city’s townhome market will increase 3.9% from 2024. Inventory will increase year-over-year an average of 5.2% because of price increases for potential sellers and buyers acclimating to higher mortgage rates.

According to the forecast, Alexandria condo prices will rise 1.5% in 2025, with slightly higher inventory and flattening unit sales.

In 2025, Prince William County will remain an attractive market for single-family homes, according to NVAR, with prices rising 3.5% but remaining relatively affordable compared with other markets in the region. The tight inventory will effectively remain the same, and total sales will drop by 35 units — 1% — from 2024 to 2025.

Townhome prices will increase 4% as families continue to seek more affordable housing. “The key market factor is being outside the core, but still a reasonable commute — reasonable by Northern Virginia standards,” according to NVAR’s forecast. Year-over-year inventory will increase 5% on average, following several years of declining inventory.

The forecast predicts condo prices will increase 6.2%, and year-over-year sales and the average year-over-year month-end inventory will increase 6%.

Loudoun County

Single-family home price increases will continue into 2025 in Loudoun County, with a 5.5% increase in 2025. Strong demand will push the number of sales up 4% from 2024 and will decrease month-end inventory by 1% on average, according to the forecast.

Townhome prices will rise 3.8% to a median of $710,936 due to strong demand. NVAR predicts inventory will drop 3%, with unit sales increasing 1% from 2024.

Loudoun condo prices, too, will rise, increasing 8.1% over 2025. Inventory will stay nearly flat while condo sales increase 2%, equating to about 20 more sales in 2025.

Stafford County

Single-family homes in the county will increase 4.5%, slowing modestly from the price gains of recent years. Home sales will rise 2.2% to 1,495 units in 2025, with a 2.5% increase in average month-end inventories, according to the forecast.

NVAR predicts Stafford townhome price increases will remain strong, increasing 3.5% in 2025, with unit sales increasing 1.9% and inventory rising 3.7%.

Condo prices will increase 3.9%, according to the forecast, but Stafford’s condo market is young, and only 89 units will sell in 2025.

In sum, “it’s going to be an improving market,” Clower said. “There’s going to be some modest increases in inventory overall. There will be, therefore, more sales, because whatever is on the market is going to sell — that dynamic hasn’t changed. …

“We will see some price escalation,” he said, but it will be constrained by mortgage rates and affordability issues.

Food City to pay $8.4M to settle opioids-related allegations

Abingdon-based K-VA-T Food Stores, operator of the chain, has agreed to pay more than $8.4 million to the federal government to settle allegations under the False Claims Act (FCA) related to dispensing and other controlled substances.

The U.S. announced the agreement with K-VA-T Food Stores Monday,

In a statement, K-VA-T Food Stores noted that “the allegations focused primarily on circumstances from more than a decade ago. K-VA-T has continually disputed the validity of these allegations, and the agreement clearly states there is no admission of liability by K-VA-T. This case is another example of the many cases nationwide brought against manufacturers, distributors and retailers of products.”

In October 2020, the entity K-VA-T Litigation Partnership filed a FCA qui tam action, which allows individuals or entities to sue wrongdoers over fraud against federal programs, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, alleging Food City dispensed controlled substances in Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia that were medically unnecessary.

From January 2011 to December 2018, 24 Food City pharmacies, the government alleged, dispensed opioids and other controlled substances that were medically unnecessary, lacked a legitimate medical purpose and/or were not dispensed “pursuant to valid prescriptions.” Food City also, the government stated, submitted claims for payment for these drugs to federal care programs like Medicare.

Baron & Budd, a Texas-based law firm, issued a press release Monday stating the whistleblower in the case is a former Food City employee who regularly reported his concerns to management.

The initial 2020 lawsuit notes that Food City No. 821 in Bristol, Virginia, at one time received enough opioids for 25 pills per year for each of the 13,231 men, women and children who lived within five miles of the pharmacy.

“When pharmacies fill prescriptions for opioids and other powerful controlled substances without regard to their legitimacy or medical necessity, it significantly contributes to the opioid epidemic, causing great harm to our citizens and communities,” said Francis M. Hamilton III, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, in a news release.

Of the $8.48 million owed to the government, more than $4.2 million is restitution. K-VA-T Litigation Partnership will receive more than $1.5 million. Food City will also pay an additional $78,621 to the states of Virginia and Kentucky for claims paid to Food City by state Medicaid programs.

The resolution was coordinated by the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Eastern District of Tennessee, with assistance from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the Criminal Investigative Service.

In July, the Justice Department announced a $409 million settlement with to settle the government’s allegations under the FCA and Controlled Substances Act for dispensing “at least hundreds of thousands” of unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances.

K-VA-T Food Stores operates 158 retail outlets throughout Southeast Kentucky, Southwest Virginia, East Tennessee, North Georgia and Alabama.