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Mars nears EU approval for $36B Kellanova deal

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – McLean-based candy and snacks giant ‘ $36 billion bid to acquire Pringles and Pop-Tarts maker is set to clear a major hurdle by winning unconditional antitrust approval, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The deal, among the biggest in the sector, would bring under one roof brands ranging from M&Ms, Snickers and Whiskas cat food to Pringles crisps, Pop-Tarts and Kellogg’s cereals. It has already secured a green light without any conditions from U.S. authorities.

The European Commission, which warned in June that the deal could lead to price hikes and may boost Mars’ negotiating power with retailers, has subsequently found insufficient grounds to demand concessions, the sources said.

The Commission, the EU’s competition enforcer, declined to comment, as did Mars and Kellanova. An EU decision on the deal is due by Dec. 19.

A combined Mars and Kellanova would account for roughly 12% of the U.S. snacking and candy industry, according to market share data from NielsenIQ.

The deal was expected to close in August, prior to the European Commission’s launch of a 90-day investigation in June.

“Preliminary investigation indicates that, by enlarging its product portfolio with the addition of Kellanova’s very popular brands, Mars could increase its bargaining power vis-à-vis retailers,” the European Commission said in its June statement. “As a result, Mars could be in a position to use this increased leverage to, for example, extract higher prices during negotiations, which in turn would lead to higher prices for consumers.”

In the same week, though, the U.S. cleared the deal following an antitrust review.

Mars, which produces M&M’s, Snickers and Twix, announced the all-cash deal in August 2024, which would bring Cheez-It, Pop-Tarts, Pringles, Eggo and other food products under Mars’ ownership. The publicly owned Kellanova was created in October 2023 when Kellogg split into two companies, with WK Kellogg Co. producing breakfast cereals and Kellanova its snack brands.

Mars is Virginia’s largest privately held company and the fourth-largest in the United States. In recent years, it has made acquisitions in pet care and candy sectors in an effort to double its sales by 2033.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Joe Bavier)

Virginia Business Deputy Editor Kate Andrews contributed to this story.

New York AG Letitia James charged with mortgage fraud over Norfolk home

Summary

  • Trump urged to pursue case against political adversaries
  • Charges tied to 2020 , Virginia home purchase
  • James calls “political retribution”

WASHINGTON (AP) —   was indicted Thursday on mortgage fraud charges in connection with a home purchase in Norfolk in 2020. It’s a case that President Donald Trump urged his Justice Department to bring after he vowed retribution on his biggest political enemies.

James, a who infuriated Trump after his first term with a lawsuit alleging that he built his business empire on lies about his wealth, was charged with bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution in connection with a home purchase in Norfolk in 2020.

The top federal prosecutor for eastern Virginia, a former Trump aide, personally presented the case to the grand jury weeks after she was thrust into the role amid the administration’s pressure to deliver charges.

The indictment, two weeks after a separate criminal case charging former FBI Director James Comey with lying to Congress, is the latest indication of the ‘s norm-busting determination to use the law enforcement powers of the Justice Department to pursue the president’s political foes and public figures who once investigated him.

In a lengthy statement, James decried the indictment as “nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.”

“These charges are baseless, and the president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost. The president’s actions are a grave violation of our Constitutional order and have drawn sharp criticism from members of both parties,” she added.

Both the Comey and James cases followed a strikingly unconventional path toward indictment. The Trump administration last month pushed out Erik Siebert, the veteran prosecutor who had overseen both investigations for months and had resisted pressure to file charges, and replaced him with Lindsey Halligan, a White House aide who has worked as lawyer for Trump but has never previously served as a federal prosecutor.

Halligan presented the James case to the grand jury herself, as she did in the case against Comey, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

James called the decision to fire Siebert and replace him with a prosecutor who is “blindly loyal” to the president as “antithetical to the bedrock principles of our country,” and she said she stood by her investigation of Trump and his company as having been “based on the facts and evidence — not .”

Abbe Lowell, James’ lawyer and a prominent attorney representing multiple Trump targets, said James “flatly and forcefully denies these charges.” James is scheduled to make an initial appearance in the federal court in Norfolk on Oct. 24.

“We are deeply concerned that this case is driven by President Trump’s desire for revenge,” Lowell said in a statement. “When a President can publicly direct charges to be filed against someone — when it was reported that career attorneys concluded none were warranted — it marks a serious attack on the rule of law. We will fight these charges in every process allowed in the law.”

James, 66, has been New York’s attorney general since 2019 after becoming the first Black woman to be elected to statewide office. She cruised to reelection in 2022 after abandoning a short-lived run for governor.

The indictment pertains to James’ purchase of a modest house in Norfolk, where she has family. During the sale, she signed a standard document called a “second home rider” in which she agreed to keep the property primarily for her “personal use and enjoyment for at least one year,” unless the lender agreed otherwise.

Rather than using the home as a second residence, the indictment alleges, James rented it out to a family of three. According to the indictment, the misrepresentation allowed James to obtain favorable loan terms not available for investment properties.

In a post on X shortly after the indictment was handed up, Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote, “One tier of justice for all Americans.”

“No one is above the law,” Halligan, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said in a statement. “The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust. The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served.”

Trump has been advocating charging James for months, posting on social media without citing any evidence that she’s “guilty as hell” and telling reporters at the White House, “It looks to me like she’s really guilty of something, but I really don’t know.”

The Justice Department has also been investigating mortgage-related allegations against Board member Lisa Cook, using the probe to demand her ouster, and Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., whose lawyer called the allegations against him “transparently false, stale, and long debunked.”

But James is a particularly personal target. As attorney general, she sued the president and his administration dozens of times. Last year, she won a staggering judgment against Trump and his companies in a lawsuit alleging he defrauded banks by overstating the value of his real estate holdings on financial statements.

An appeals court overturned the fine, which had ballooned to more than $500 million with interest, but upheld a lower court’s finding that Trump had committed fraud.

The indictment comes a day after Comey made his first court appearance in his case, accusing him of lying to Congress in 2020. Comey’s lawyer told the judge that the defense plans to push to have the case dismissed ahead of trial, arguing that it is a vindictive prosecution brought at the direction of the president.

Candidates in Virginia governor’s debate clash over shutdown and violent rhetoric

Summary

  • Spanberger and Earle-Sears face off in Virginia governor’s race
  • Debate featured fiery exchanges and sharp interruptions
  • Key issues: violent rhetoric, shutdown, transgender rights
  • Economy received little attention during debate

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia gubernatorial candidates   and   faced off Thursday for the first and only time on the debate stage in a fiery affair that was combative from the very first answer.

Earle-Sears, perceived by operatives in both parties to be trailing, went on the offensive throughout the hourlong clash, interrupting almost every one of Spanberger’s answers and referring to the congresswoman only by her first name.

Spanberger, who largely avoided addressing her Republican opponent directly, set a more sterile and bipartisan tone. The personal clashes overshadowed the policy fights at times, which focused on violent rhetoric, the federal shutdown and transgender children. The economy was an afterthought.

Here are some takeaways from the debate at :

A contrast in styles

Perhaps even more than policy differences, the candidates’ personal styles shaped the debate.

Earle-Sears, with her only chance to confront Spanberger before Election Day, was far more aggressive. She repeatedly turned toward Spanberger and interrupted her answers, despite being admonished by the moderators.

The approach put the Democrat on the defensive after months of running the race largely on her own terms as the perceived frontrunner.

Spanberger, while she criticized her opponent at times, faced forward throughout, avoided eye contact and only rarely addressed Earle-Sears directly. She did not speak during Earle-Sears’ answers, even when her opponent asked direct questions, resulting in moments of awkward silence.

Earle-Sears told Spanberger she was a liar, said she “should have stayed in Congress” and questioned her courage.

“Don’t lie like that, Abigail!” she shouted at one point.

The interruptions lasted up until the very final moments, when the moderators cut off the microphones.

A scandal at the outset

A scandal shaped the very beginning of the debate, although it was not a scandal directly involving either candidate onstage.

Instead, it was the Democratic nominee for attorney general, Jay Jones. He has been heavily criticized in recent days following last week’s publication of text messages from 2022 in which he suggested that Virginia’s former Republican House speaker get “two bullets in the head.”

Earle-Sears, along with , has demanded that Jones quit his race. Over and over again Thursday night, the Republican pushed Spanberger to do the same.

“Abigail, what if he said it about your three children? Is that when you would say it’s time to get out of the race?” Earle-Sears asked. She later added, “She has no courage.”

Facing repeated questions from the moderators and her opponent, the Democratic congresswoman declined to say whether Jones should leave the race, saying it’s up to voters to make their own decision.

“I have denounced political violence, political rhetoric, no matter who is leading the charge,” Spanberger responded, pointing to violent rhetoric from Trump that Earle-Sears declined to denounce.

“You routinely refer to me as your enemy. I’m not your enemy. You are not my enemy. We are political opponents,” Spanberger said.

The shutdown

The showdown over the shutdown flared Thursday night.

Underway for more than a week, the federal shutdown is especially prevalent in Virginia, home to roughly 315,000 federal workers. Even before much of the federal government closed its doors last week, many Virginians were already affected by Trump’s spring push to slash federal jobs and his ongoing threats to impose more mass firings.

Earle-Sears, a vocal Trump supporter, declined to criticize Trump or call on him to stop firing federal workers when asked directly by the moderators.

Instead, she blamed Democrats for the mess and called on Spanberger to push Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both Democrats, to vote in favor of a spending bill that would end the impasse with the Republican-controlled Congress.

Spanberger responded, “I would encourage everyone, our Democratic senators, our Democratic House members, our Republican House members, to work and come back to the table.”

Culture wars vs. wallets

Many voters say they’re most concerned about the economy, but some of the most pointed moments of the debate were on cultural issues.

In particular, Earle-Sears pressed Spanberger on whether she would keep transgender youths out of high school sports and bathrooms.

The Republican lieutenant governor has flooded the airwaves with ads focused on the cultural divide that helped Trump win the presidency last fall, casting Spanberger as unwilling to protect Virginia’s children from sexual predators.

“My answer is that each local community decision should be made between parents and educators and teachers in each community,” Spanberger said, pointing to her background in enforcement and role as a mother.

“Nothing is more important to me than the safety of all children,” she said.

Spanberger declined to say whether she would rescind the measure signed by Republican that would require students to go only to the restrooms of their birth gender.

That did not satisfy Earle-Sears, who pressed Spanberger on what she would say if her own children were forced to undress in a bathroom with biological males. The Republican also implied that transgender students are a safety threat when asked.

“We know that biological men are larger in strength than women,” she said. “This is biology.”

Spanberger then sought to put Earle-Sears on the defensive, noting that the Republican opposes abortion rights and wants to outlaw gay marriage — something Earle-Sears didn’t object to.

“My opponent has previously said that she doesn’t think that gay couples have the right to marry,” Spanberger said.

“That’s not discrimination,” Earle-Sears interrupted.

History in the making

Two women stood on the debate stage as the Democratic and Republican nominees for the first time in state history, a reminder that Virginia is poised to elect its first female governor, no matter who wins on Nov. 4.

Spanberger, 46, is a mother of three school-age children. She has represented a congressional district in northern Virginia since 2019. She is a former CIA case officer.

In one of the few warm exchanges of the night, Earle-Sears pointed to Spanberger’s role as a mother when asked what qualities she likes about her opponent.

“I believe she is a devoted mom. I truly believe that,” Earle-Sears said. “And I do believe that she cares.”

Earle-Sears, a Marine veteran, may be better known statewide, having served as lieutenant governor for the last four years. A native of Jamaica, the 61-year-old mother of two, is the first Black woman elected to statewide office in Virginia.

Spanberger complimented parts of her record.

“I admire her faith,” Spanberger said, “and her service to this country.”

EDITS: Changes Spanberger’s title at CIA.

Noblis names new CTO

Reston-based not-for-profit announced Wednesday that it has named advanced research and national security expert William “Bill” Streilein as .

Streilein succeeds Chris Barnett, who has transitioned to a new role as chief experience officer.

“I’m honored to join an organization that places ethics and public benefit at the core of its technological innovation,” Streilein said in a statement. “In today’s rapidly evolving landscape, the responsibility to develop science and technology solutions that genuinely enhance lives, transform critical missions and protect our nation has never been greater.”

Streilein joined Noblis in September from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory, where he provided strategic guidance on the adoption of artificial intelligence, focusing on biotechnology missions. According to his LinkedIn profile, Streilein worked at MIT for 27 years and held numerous roles.

He served as the inaugural for the Department of Defense’s Chief Digital and AI Office, where he advised and guided its work on data, analytics and AI adoption. According to his LinkedIn profile, he held this position from February 2022 to January 2025.

“Welcoming Dr. Streilein as our CTO delivers enhanced technical leadership needed to scale existing and new capabilities for our customer missions,” Noblis President and CEO Mile Corrigan said in a statement. “Noblis stands on a robust technical foundation with a strong legacy of innovation and Dr. Streilein’s renowned expertise in cognitive and neural systems, artificial intelligence and laboratory management expertise will enhance our dynamic teams in delivering significant value for our customers and the public good.”

Streilein has a doctorate in cognitive and neural systems from Boston University, a master’s degree in electronic and computer music from the University of Miami and a bachelor’s in mathematics from Austin College.

Noblis is a not-for-profit corporation that delivers technical and advisory strategies and solutions to federal government clients. It spun off from Mitre’s Center for Advanced Aviation System Development in 1996. Today, it has about 2,200 employees. According to ProPublica, Noblis earned $621 million in revenue in fiscal 2024, up from $536 million in 2023.

Stocks dip as S&P 500 eases from record high

Summary

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is taking a pause on Thursday as U.S. stocks and even the price of gold pull back from record highs following their torrid runs.

The S&P 500 fell 0.4%, coming off its latest all-time high and its eighth gain in the last nine days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 278 points, or 0.4%, as of 2:19 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite lost 0.4%.

Gold also fell following its stellar rally this year, while Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. They’re taking a moment following big runs driven in large part by expectations that the will cut interest rates to support the economy.

Financial markets have been so relentless, including a roughly 35% leap for the S&P 500 since a low in April, that worries are rising that stock prices may have shot too high and become too expensive. Concerns are particularly strong about the frenzy lifting stocks related to artificial-intelligence technology.

sank 5.5% for one of the market’s bigger losses, but that only trimmed its surge since talking up its AI growth opportunities earlier in the week. It’s still up 10% for the week so far.

Tesla was one of the heaviest weights on the market after falling 1.6%. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a preliminary evaluation of its “Full Self-Driving” system due to safety concerns.

Those losses helped offset a 5.2% ascent for Delta Air Lines, which reported a stronger profit for the summer than analysts expected.

Delta also gave a forecast for profit over the full year that topped analysts’ estimates. Its president, Glen Hauenstein, highlighted a broad-based acceleration in sales trends over the last six weeks, including for business travel domestically.

Such reports from companies are taking on more significance, offering windows into the strength of the economy. That’s because the U.S. government’s shutdown is delaying reports that would clearly show how the overall economy is doing. This is the second week where the U.S. government has not published its update on unemployment claims, for example, a report that usually guides Wall Street’s trading each Thursday.

PepsiCo rose 3.5% after it delivered a better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, saying momentum improved for its drinks business in North America. Delivering bigger profits is one of two ways that companies can make their stock prices look less expensive following their big rallies. The other is if their stock prices fall.

Akero Therapeutics leaped 16.5% after Novo Nordisk, the Danish maker of weight-loss drug Wegovy, said it would buy the South San Francisco-based drug developer. The price tag could reach $5.2 billion if Akero’s lead product candidate wins federal regulatory approval.

MP Materials, a company that mines and processes rare earths in California, rose 3.6% after China announced curbs on its exports of the materials, which are critical for the making of everything from consumer electronics to jet engines.

Costco Wholesale climbed 2.2% after the retailer said its revenue rose 8% in September from a year earlier.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe after Italy’s Ferrari tumbled 15.4% following the release of financial forecasts that some analysts said were below their expectations.

Stocks in Shanghai leaped 1.3% after trading resumed there following a holiday.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.8% for another one of the world’s bigger moves. Technology giant SoftBank Group surged 11.4% after it announced a $5.4 billion deal to acquire the robotics unit of Swiss engineering firm ABB.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.15% from 4.13% late Wednesday.

30-year US mortgage rate falls to 6.3% lowest in a year

Summary

The average rate on a 30-year U.S. edged lower this week, returning to its lowest level in about a year.

The average long-term mortgage rate slipped to 6.3% from 6.34% last week, mortgage buyer said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.32%.

The modest drop brings the average rate back to where it was two weeks ago, after a string of declines brought down home loan borrowing costs to their lowest level since early October 2024.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners their home loans, also eased this week. The average rate dropped to 5.53% from 5.55% last week. A year ago, it was 5.41%, Freddie Mac said.

“Despite the decline, rates continue to hover within a narrow band they’ve maintained since mid-September, as markets remain in a holding pattern amid fiscal and monetary uncertainty, including the ongoing ,” said Anthony Smith, senior economist at Realtor.com.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the ‘s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation. They generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.

The 10-year yield was at 4.13% at midday Thursday, up from around 4.09% the same time last week. The yield has been trending higher since it slid to around 4.02% on Sept. 11.

In late July, mortgage rates started declining in the lead-up to the Federal Reserve’s widely anticipated decision last month to cut its main interest rate for the first time in a year amid growing concern over the U.S. job market.

However, Fed Chair Jerome Powell has since signaled a cautious approach to future interest rate cuts. That’s in sharp contrast with other members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee, particularly those who were appointed by , who are pushing for faster cuts.

Even if the Fed opts to cut its short-term rate further that doesn’t necessarily mean mortgage rates will keep declining. Last fall, after the Fed cut its rate for the first time in more than four years, mortgage rates marched higher, eventually reaching just above 7% in January this year.

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage has stayed above 6% since September 2022, the year mortgage rates began climbing from historic lows. The has been in a slump ever since.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes sank last year to their lowest level in nearly 30 years. So far this year, sales are running below where they were at this time in 2024.

Still, the recent decline in mortgage rates could set the stage for a modest lift in sales in coming weeks, going by recent data on contract signings.

The National Association of Realtors’ seasonally adjusted index of pending U.S. home sales rose 4% in August from the previous month and 3.8% from the same month last year. There’s usually a month or two lag between a contract signing and when the sale is finalized, which makes pending home sales a bellwether for future completed home sales.

Meanwhile, many homeowners who bought in recent years after rates climbed well above 6% have moved to refinance their existing loan to a lower rate.

Mortgage applications, which include loans to buy a home or refinance an existing mortgage, fell 4.7% last week from a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. But applications for mortgage refinance loans made up 53.3% of all applications.

More prospective homebuyers are also applying for an adjustable-rate mortgage. Such loans, which typically offer lower initial interest rates than traditional 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages, accounted for 9.5% of all mortgage applications last week.

Mortgage rates will have to drop below 6% to make refinancing an attractive option to a broader swath of homeowners, however. That’s because about 80% of U.S. homes with a mortgage have a rate below 6% and 53% have a rate below 4%, according to Realtor.com.

Economists generally forecast the average rate on a 30-year mortgage to remain near the mid-6% range this year.

AstraZeneca to invest $4.5B in Albemarle manufacturing plants

Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday that global pharmaceutical manufacturer and biotech company will invest $4.5 billion to establish two new facilities in , with plans to create 600 jobs.

According to the governor’s office, the project, which the governor previously announced without many details in July, includes a new drug substance manufacturing facility focused on chronic diseases and a facility dedicated to antibody-drug conjugates focused on therapies for oncology indications. The project will be located at the Rivanna Futures Site located in the northern portion of the county.

The jobs created for the site include engineers, scientists and process facilitators. The $4.5 billion is part of AstraZeneca’s plan to invest $50 billion in the United States by 2030.  In August, a state official confirmed to Virginia Business that the company was eyeing Albemarle for a manufacturing project, but did not provide more specifics.

Youngkin said AstraZeneca’ investment in Albemarle is “the largest single manufacturing investment in the company’s history,” and described the move as “a game-changer” for American drug manufacturing.

“The investment is set to create 600 high-paying jobs in Albemarle County, strengthening America’s ability to produce life-saving medicines right here in Virginia,” Youngkin said in a statement. “It took just 33 days from our first conversation to partnering on this project — that’s moving at Virginia speed. “

Once completed, the manufacturing site will produce produce pharmaceutical substances for AstraZeneca’s weight management and metabolic portfolio, including oral GLP-1, baxdrostat, oral PCSK9 and combination small molecule products.

“With our $4.5 billion investment in Virginia, the largest in AstraZeneca’s history, we are not only building a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, but also driving life sciences innovation and economic growth,” said AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot in a statement.

The company previously said the Virginia site is expected to be operational by 2030.

Headquartered in Cambridge, England, AstraZeneca focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of prescription medicines in oncology, rare diseases and biopharmaceuticals, including cardiovascular, renal, metabolism, respiratory and immunology.

AstraZeneca’s largest market is the U.S., with the country being home to 19 R&D, manufacturing and commercial sites. The company employs about 90,000 workers worldwide, including more than 18,000 in the United States. It reported 2024 revenue of $54.073 billion.

Sentara to lay off 220, including 127 in Virginia

SUMMARY:

  • will soon lay off 220 employees, including 127 in Virginia
  • tied to Sentara ending Medicare Advantage plans in 2026 across Virginia, North Carolina and Florida
  • Sentara cites financial pressures and regulatory changes for the cuts

Sentara Health will lay off 220 employees — including 127 in Virginia — as part of a restructuring tied to its decision to drop some Medicare Advantage plans.

The Hampton Roads-based health system notified Virginia state government of the within the commonwealth in an Oct. 3 letter sent in compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. The letter says the layoffs will begin on Dec. 5 and be completed by April 10, 2026.

Sentara says that starting in January 2026, its insurance division, , will no longer offer non-Dual Medicare Advantage, Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug HMO or Chronic Condition Special Needs plans in Virginia, North Carolina and Florida. Coverage for these plans through Sentara Medicare will end Dec. 31.

The removal of these plans will impact 28,961 insurance members statewide. Sentara sent a letter this week to those affected, informing them of the change. During the annual enrollment period beginning Oct. 15, members will be required to switch to another insurer.

“These products are no longer financially sustainable in the current environment,” said Sentara spokesperson Dale Gauding in a statement. “Industry-wide headwinds and market dynamics, including reimbursement trends and regulatory changes, are leading many insurers to reassess their participation in Medicare Advantage.”

He said the decision followed an extensive review and that periodic review of programs and services “aligns with our commitment to operational excellence, financial stability and mission-focused work.”

The changes don’t impact Sentara’s dual eligible special-needs plan, employer, individual and family plans and Medicaid lines of business. The change also won’t affect the insurance plans accepted by Sentara Health hospitals and medical professionals.

Sentara Health Plans President Colin Drozdowski, who is also an executive vice president at Sentara Health, said the health system last week notified employees it was reducing its workforce by approximately 220.

“While approximately 400 positions were identified, by not filling 180 open/vacant positions we were able to limit the impact,” he said in a statement. “The majority of the positions are within Sentara Health Plans, with the remaining being corporate shared services positions that primarily support health plan operations.”

Drozdowski said the layoffs align the company’s staffing with Sentara Health Plans’ membership levels and operational needs, as well as the discontinuation of non-dual Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans.

“These decisions are not made lightly, and our focus remains on communicating directly with our colleagues and supporting them through this transition,” he said. “Impacted employees will receive at least 60 days’ notice, and Sentara is committed to supporting them with career transition services, severance benefits and opportunities to apply for other roles within the organization.”

According to Sentara, the position cuts span multiple levels, with approximately one-third impacting those in leadership positions. Roughly two-thirds of the roles are in Virginia, a third are in Florida and the remainder are remote positions across several other states. Still, the positions are less than 0.7% of Sentara’s total workforce of more than 34,000 employees.

Sentara spokesperson Mike Kafka said in an email that the final number of impacted employees is yet to be determined as Sentara works to find impacted team members another role within the health system.

A not-for-profit health system, Sentara operates 11 hospitals in Virginia and one in northeastern North Carolina. The Sentara Health Plans insurance division has more than 1 million members in Virginia and Florida.

What to watch for in the Virginia governor’s race debate between Spanberger and Earle-Sears

Summary

  • Spanberger and Earle-Sears meet in Virginia
  • Debate held at Thursday night
  • Race seen as a national bellwether under Trump’s 2nd term
  • Candidates expected to clash over Washington’s turmoil

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) —   and   are slated to debate their competing visions for Virginia on Thursday in the state’s gubernatorial race. And each woman arguably has the same goal: to blame her opponent for backing the chaos in Washington.

Virginia is one of two states choosing governors this November, and its election is often seen as a bellwether for the party in power across the Potomac River ahead of midterm elections next year.

Washington are especially relevant this year in Virginia, as President Donald Trump’s cuts to the federal workforce and Congress’ current  have an outsize impact in a state filled with federal employees and military personnel.

Thursday will be Spanberger and Earle-Sears’ first face-to-face debate after months of criticizing each other from afar.

Virginia has elected leaders from both parties in recent years. In 2021, Republican Glenn Youngkin beat former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe in the governor’s race. State Democrats narrowly regained complete control of the legislature in the 2023 election.

Here’s what to watch for during the debate at State University:

A race in Trump’s shadow

Trump is not on the Virginia ballot next month. But the Republican president is expected to play a central role in the debate.

Spanberger often mentions Trump and Earle-Sears in the same breath. Just last week, Spanberger’s campaign put out a news release arguing Earle-Sears doesn’t “take the economic consequences of Trump’s firings on Virginia seriously.”

Earle-Sears and other Republicans, however, tend to do-si-do around Trump’s name. They want to reap the benefits of his popularity among Republicans without invoking the ire of Virginians who dislike him.

Earle-Sears has spoken favorably of the president and invited him to the state to campaign on her behalf. She also has refused to condemn his cuts to the federal workforce earlier this year. Given the opportunity, she declined in a televised interview to tell Trump not to fire any more as part of the shutdown.

Trump has not directly endorsed Earle-Sears in the race. Although he visited Virginia twice last week, he ignored the Republican candidate for governor.

The shutdown

The showdown over the shutdown is likely to continue into and beyond Thursday night.

It’s been nine days since Congress failed to pass a funding extension, and Democrats and Republicans are casting blame on their rivals — even in a state-level race.

On Thursday, Spanberger will have the opportunity to paint Earle-Sears as a candidate unable to push back against Trump. Already, the Democrat has pointed out that the Republican president’s threats of imposing mass firings would distinctly impact Virginia, where at least about 315,000 federal workers reside.

Earle-Sears likely will look to tie her Democratic opponent to the federal shutdown after Congress failed to fund the government. Democrats, who have consistently voted against a short-term spending measure, have said they will only vote in support if Congress extends  subsidies set to expire at the end of the year.

Earle-Sears has repeatedly publicly demanded that her opponent tell Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both Democrats, to vote in favor of the spending bill.

Culture wars vs. wallets

One key to the debate will be what the candidates hope to be talking about.

Earle-Sears wants to keep transgender youths out of high school sports and bathrooms. Spanberger would rather talk about keeping Virginia affordable.

Earle-Sears has campaigned heavily for stronger laws involving transgender girls in Virginia’s public educational systems, flooding the airwaves with ads focused on the cultural divide that helped Trump win the presidency last fall.

Spanberger has mainly led with kitchen table issues — jobs, the cost of living, health care prices.

Each candidate has addressed her opponent’s cause with some hesitancy. Earle-Sears has said maintaining the Youngkin administration’s business successes is vital to her, though she does not criticize Trump’s role in cutting jobs across the state.

Spanberger has said she supports all children, but she stopped short of highlighting her support for trans kids specifically.

Questions each candidate could field

Both candidates could be called upon to defend themselves against criticism that has surfaced during the race.

Earle-Sears’ campaign has had to field questions after Youngkin unsuccessfully asked Republican John Reid to drop out of the lieutenant governor’s race in connection to a social media account with explicit photos.

But Reid isn’t the only candidate the Republican governor has called on to exit the race. Last week, The National Review published a report revealing that Jay Jones, the Democratic candidate for attorney general, in 2022 sent text messages suggesting the former Republican House speaker get “two bullets to the head.”

Republicans across the U.S., including Trump and Earle-Sears, demanded that Jones drop out for his use of such violent rhetoric. Spanberger condemned the text messages but has stopped short of asking for his departure despite growing pressure to do so. Jones has apologized.

The debate comes as threats of political violence have escalated across the country following the shooting deaths of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and former Minnesota Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband.

Virginia is No. 4 in student loan debt

Summary:

RICHMOND, Va. — Changes in student loan repayment plans have coincided with the , which could leave Virginia borrowers in limbo.

The Department of Education announced plans to send home 87% of its employees, including around 85% of Federal Student Aid employees, during the shutdown, according to its posted contingency plan. This comes after a promise in March to reduce staff by nearly around 50%.

Federal student loans will be disbursed despite the shutdown. Borrowers will still be expected to make payments on outstanding student debt.

The U.S. government has attempted to find remedies in response to the steady rise of student loan debt, but has been largely unsuccessful, according to Alan Collinge, founder of Student Loan Justice.

“None of those plans are at all trustworthy,” Collinge said. “My best estimate is that well over 90% of all borrowers in past programs have been disqualified out of those plans before getting the promised forgiveness.”

Former President Joe Biden introduced the Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, plan to help combat student loan debt.

The program relied on an income-driven repayment plan that could have seen people’s debt gone in as few as 10 years. The Biden administration estimated that more than 20 million people could benefit and encouraged people to apply.

Repayment plans were overhauled under ‘s budget reconciliation bill. This includes the SAVE plan being axed entirely by 2028 at the latest, according to the National Consumer Law Center.

Interest charges restarted for people enrolled in SAVE as of Aug. 1, which means the loans will collect interest while borrowers search for a new plan.

Virginia is one of the leading states in student loan debt, according to federal data. In Virginia, 55% of college graduates have student loan debt, and the average debt exceeds $40,000.

Student loan debt sits at $1.8 trillion nationwide in 2025, according to the Federal Reserve. The federal student loan debt in Virginia totals $44.9 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

For comparison, Virginia’s federal student loan debt is 1.5 times higher than the state’s annual education budget, which includes K-12, and administrative support spending, according to the state budget. The loan amounts could rise as tuition increases.

Annual interest accrued from Virginia borrowers totals $2.8 billion, according to the grassroots organization Student Loan Justice, which was founded in 2005.

In some states, the amount of interest taken from student loans rivals earnings from major industries, according to Collinge. Virginia’s combined soybean, chicken, pork and tobacco exports compete with the annual interest from these loans, he said.

In-state students have seen tuition costs rise in recent years, with the average of a 2% increase from 2024-2025. Some Virginia colleges and universities like Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia State University have seen an over 4% increase in tuition and fees in that time.

This uncertainty and the rise of loan interest rates affects financial stability and career choices, according to Amy Pridemore, executive director for the VCU Financial Success Center.

People now wait longer to start families and are unable to buy homes and cars, Pridemore said. Student loan debts take precedent over other debts like mortgages, which halts the ability to make major purchases that build assets and wealth over time.

“That means that money is not being sent elsewhere in the economy,” Pridemore said. “They might not have as much discretionary spending because there’s so much of their disposable income that is going to pay down these student loans instead.”

Student loan debt is one of the only forms of debt that cannot be cleared when someone files for bankruptcy. It is relatively easy to pile on the debt when in higher education because so few people are unaware of the implications of the loans they take on, according to Pridemore.

“Even if you got rid of all of your other debt, student loans will live with you forever until they’re paid off,” Pridemore said.

There are more borrowers over the age of 35 in Virginia, but they borrowed less money per person, according to the Department of Education. People over 35 owe $29 billion, nearly double the amount compared to people under 35 who owe nearly $16 billion.

Student loan debt affects people in a variety of professions. Even perceived high-paying careers like doctors struggle to repay the accumulated debt, according to Michael York, a registered nurse in Richmond. Student loan companies monopolize higher education, and many have little choice but to deal with it, he said.

“I don’t fault people for having to take student loans,” York said. “I just wish it wasn’t like for-profit companies that are giving out student loans and making money off people who are trying to further their education.”

The Trump administration has also been accused of taking borrowers’ tax refunds with no required notice to offset the student loans, according to Democratic Maryland lawmaker U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin. This comes after the administration announced in April that it would resume collection activity after a half-decade pause due to COVID-19.

Capital News Service is a program of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Robertson School of Communication. Students in the program provide state government coverage for a variety of media outlets in Virginia.