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Carnival, Norwegian cruise lines to boost Norfolk calls

Norfolk will soon see a major boost in cruising activity, with ‘s popular ship Carnival Freedom homeporting there in 2027 and ‘s Norwegian Pearl making 20 calls that same year.

Carnival Cruise announced the news on Wednesday while unveiling its 2027/2028 lineup. The 100,000-ton Carnival Freedom will reposition from Port Canaveral to in May 2027, establishing a new homeport. Carnival Freedom, a newer ship, will replace Carnival Sunshine for service in Norfolk. The Carnival Sunshine has been operating weekly, year-round sailings from Norfolk since February.

Cruise Norfolk, operated by Nauticus, said Carnival Freedom is “launching the most diverse and expansive cruise program ever offered from Norfolk.” Carnival Freedom will arrive in Norfolk on May 23, 2027. From there, its itineraries will include cruises to the Bahamas, Bermuda, Eastern Caribbean and Canada.

Carnival Freedom is a Conquest-class ship that offers a wide variety of dining venues, a WaterWorks waterpark and the RedFrog Pub. The boat can accommodate more than 3,000 guests.

Norfolk officials believe that the Carnival Freedom will bring renewed passenger enthusiasm and boost the region’s economy through increased spending at hotels, restaurants, attractions and local businesses.

“Carnival’s commitment to Norfolk brings more travel options for our passengers, draws visitors from across the East Coast, and strengthens our position as a key player in the cruise market,” Nauticus Executive Director Stephen E. Kirkland said in a news release. “This homeport expansion is a win for our city, our guests, and our economy.”

In other news, Norfolk’s Half Moone Cruise & Celebration Center, operated by Nauticus, also announced an expanded slate of cruise ship port calls from the world’s fourth-largest cruise company, Norwegian Cruise Line. In 2027, the 2,400-passenger Norwegian Pearl is scheduled to call on Norfolk each week from April to August, 20 visits in total. Nauticus says these visits will introduce approximately 49,000 additional cruise ship passengers to the Hampton Roads region.

Cruise Norfolk manages the in downtown Norfolk, welcoming more than 300,000 cruise passengers annually.

Wall Street edges higher as markets eye record week

Summary

  • S&P 500 and futures rose 0.1% early Friday
  • Dow futures flat as markets aim for another record week
  • surged on strong Q1 earnings before trimming gains
  • stock fell 2.5% after reporting lower revenue

NEW YORK (AP) — is coasting toward the finish of its latest record-setting week on Friday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and was on track to close out its sixth winning week in the last seven. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 129 points, or 0.3%, as of 1:01 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher.

All three hit all-time highs the day before, as did the small stocks in the Russell 2000 index, which finally surpassed its prior record set in 2021. Stocks have been rallying on expectations that the will continue to cut interest rates in order to give the economy a boost after it lowered them for the first time this year on Wednesday.

FedEx helped support the market after delivering stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It rose 3.2%, thanks in part to strength for its domestic package business.

Newmont rose 4.1% after the gold miner sold its investment in Canada’s Orla Mining for $439 million. It added to a stellar run, and Newmont’s stock has more than doubled so far this year as the price of gold has shot to records.

Gold has benefited from expectations for lower interest rates, along with worries about high inflation and the potential that mountains of debt for the U.S. and other governments could make their currencies worth less.

Lennar dropped 3.9% after the reported weaker revenue for its latest quarter than analysts expected, even though its profit topped forecasts. Executive Chairman Stuart Miller pointed to “the continued pressures of today’s ” and said Lennar had to offer additional incentives to entice customers to buy homes, which dragged down the average sales price.

Easier interest rates could give the struggling housing market a boost, and  have already come down in expectation of a rate-cutting campaign by the Fed.

Lower rates could also tamp down widespread criticism that the broad U.S. has become too expensive after prices rose so quickly. But expectations have grown so strong for coming cuts to rates that the stock market may be set for a sharp drop if the Fed does not cut as much as expected.

Fed officials did indicate earlier this week that more cuts to rates may be on the way this year and next. They’re hoping to give support to the job market, which has slowed and made it more difficult for U.S. workers to find new positions.

But Fed Chair Jerome Powell also warned Wednesday that the central bank is in a precarious position and may have to change course quickly. That’s because the economy is in an unusual situation where inflation is remaining stubbornly high at the same time that the job market is slowing. And President Donald ‘s tariffs are threatening to push inflation higher, at least temporarily.

The Fed is in charge of fixing both high inflation and a weak job market, but it has only one tool to do so. And helping one by moving interest rates often hurts the other in the short term.

Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, warns that the stock market could become shakier following its recent glide to records as “the economy slows, tariff impacts arrive piecemeal and political uncertainties continue.”

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.6% after the Bank of Japan said it will sell some of its massive trove of Japanese stock funds. It also held interest rates steady.

Chinese indexes finished mixed ahead of a phone call between Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping that the U.S. president said afterward was productive. The leaders of the world’s two largest economies agreed to meet at a regional summit to take place at the end of October in South Korea.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were relatively stable. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.13% from 4.11% late Thursday.

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This story has been corrected to show the S&P 500 is on track for its sixth winning week in the last seven, not its ninth in the last 10.

UPDATES: trading.

Trump, Xi discuss TikTok deal and easing US-China trade war

Summary

  • , in talks to finalize deal
  • Agreement could allow TikTok to keep operating in U.S.
  • Call may set stage for Trump-Xi in-person meeting
  • Trade tensions ease but , export controls unresolved

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump is talking with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday in a push to finalize a deal to allow the popular app TikTok to keep operating in the United States.

The call between the two leaders began around 8 a.m. Washington time, according to a White House official and China’s Xinhua News Agency.

The call may offer clues about whether the two leaders might meet in person to hash out a final agreement to end their trade war and provide clarity on where relations between the world’s two superpowers may be headed.

This would be the second call with Xi since Trump returned to the White House and launched sky-high tariffs on China, triggering back-and-forth trade restrictions that strained ties between the two largest economies. But Trump, a Republican, has expressed willingness to negotiate trade deals with Beijing, notably for the social video platform that faces a U.S. ban unless its Chinese parent company sells its controlling stake.

Another call for Trump and Xi over trade tensions

The two men also spoke in June to defuse tensions over China’s restrictions on the export of rare earth elements, used in everything from smartphones to fighter jets.

“I’m speaking with President Xi, as you know, on Friday, having to do with TikTok and also trade,” Trump said Thursday. “And we’re very close to deals on all of it.”

He said his relationship with China is “very good” but noted that Russia’s war in Ukraine could end if European countries put higher tariffs on China. Trump didn’t say if he planned to raise tariffs on Beijing over its purchase of Moscow’s oil, as he has done with India.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington on Thursday didn’t confirm any upcoming summit between the leaders, but spokesperson Liu Pengyu said “heads-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable role in providing strategic guidance for China-U.S. relations.”

Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Washington-based think tank Stimson Center, predicted a positive discussion.

“Both sides have strong desire for the leadership summit to happen, while the details lie in the trade deal and what can be achieved for both sides from the summit,” Sun said.

Efforts to finalize the TikTok deal

Following a U.S.-China trade meeting earlier this week in Madrid, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the sides reached a framework deal on TikTok’s ownership but Trump and Xi likely would finalize it Friday.

Trump, who has credited the app with helping him win another term, has extended a deadline several times for the app to be spun off from its Chinese parent company ByteDance. It is a requirement to allow TikTok to keep operating in the U.S. under a passed last year seeking to address data privacy and national security concerns.

Trump said TikTok “has tremendous value” and the U.S. “has that value in its hand because we’re the ones that have to approve it.”

U.S. officials have been concerned about ByteDance’s roots and ownership, pointing to laws in China that require Chinese companies to hand over data requested by the government. Another concern is the proprietary algorithm that populates what users see on TikTok.

Chinese officials said Monday that a consensus was reached on authorization of the “use of intellectual property rights,” including the algorithm, and that the two sides agreed on entrusting a partner with handling U.S. user data and content security.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the ranking Democrat on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, says TikTok’s data and algorithm must be “truly in American hands” to comply with the law.

More trade issues on the table

Top U.S. and Chinese officials have held four rounds of  between May and September, with another likely in the coming weeks. Both sides have paused sky-high tariffs and pulled back from harsh export controls, but many issues remain unresolved.

Trump in the call “will likely seek to make it appear that the United States has the upper hand in trade negotiations,” said Ali Wyne, senior research and advocacy adviser on U.S.-China issues at the International Crisis Group.

Xi “will likely seek to underscore China’s economic leverage and warn that continued progress in bilateral relations will hinge on an easing of U.S. tariffs, sanctions and export controls,” Wyne said.

No deals have been announced on tech export restrictions, Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural products or fentanyl. The has imposed additional 20% tariffs on Chinese goods linked to allegations that Beijing has failed to stem the flow to the U.S. of the chemicals used to make opioids.

Trump’s second-term trade war with Beijing has cost U.S. farmers one of their top markets. From January through July, American farm exports to China fell 53% compared with the same period last year. The damage was even greater in some commodities: U.S. sorghum sales to China, for instance, were down 97%.

Josh Gackle, chairman of the American Soybean Association, said he would be following the outcome of Friday’s call because China, the biggest foreign buyer of U.S. beans, has paused purchases for this year’s new crop.

“There’s still time. It’s encouraging that the two countries continue to talk,” Gackle said. “I think there’s frustration growing at the farmer level that they haven’t been able to reach a deal yet.”

Fairwinds Landing partner promotes COO and SVP

Portsmouth-based advanced engineering and company , a project developer, has promoted Jeremy Jeffreys to senior vice president and chief operating officer.

Jeffrey’s promotion from vice president of Fairlead Structures, a position he’d held since 2020, was effective Sept. 17, according to a news release. As COO, he will oversee operations across all business units.

“Jeremy’s proven leadership and extensive industry expertise make him perfectly qualified to guide Fairlead’s operations through its next phase of growth,” Fairlead President and CEO Fred Pasquine said in a statement. “His ability to scale operations while maintaining a strong commitment to quality, innovation and customer success has positioned Fairlead as a trusted partner to the U.S. and the industry.”

As vice president of Fairlead Structures, Jeffreys oversaw the company’s expansion into modular operations supporting the CVN-78 Ford-class aircraft carrier and Columbia-class submarine programs. Under his leadership, Fairlead delivered more than 4,000 tons of aircraft carrier units and submarine modules, contributing to the company’s fourfold increase in revenue over the past six years.

Jeffreys joined Fairlead in 2018 as waterfront operations director, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before that, he worked for ship repair yard General Dynamics NASSCO- for more than six years.

Adam R. Zydron has succeeded Jeffreys as vice president/general manager of structures. He most recently was manufacturing program manager at Newport News Shipbuilding.

Fairlead added CEO to Pasquine’s president title in July.

Fairlead provides mechanical, electrical and shipboard solutions to the Navy and defense partners. It has more than 400 employees and has facilities across six locations.

Fairlead, along with development company The Miller Group and Balicore Construction, formed Fairwinds Landing LLC to work on the 111-acre Fairwinds Landing project at Lambert’s Point Docks. Earlier this month, the withdrew $39.27 million in previously awarded federal funding for the Norfolk Offshore Wind Logistics Port, part of Fairwinds Landing.

Fairwinds Landing is designed to be a operations and logistics hub supporting the offshore wind, defense and transportation industries in Hampton Roads.

Ex-CEO pleads guilty to $200M bitcoin Ponzi scheme in federal court

SUMMARY:

  • CEO pled guilty Tuesday in federal court
  • Scheme defrauded at least 90,000 investors out of more than $200 million
  • He faces 40 years in prison at Feb. 3 sentencing

The CEO of a multilevel marketing and trading firm pleaded guilty Tuesday in Alexandria to federal wire and charges in a scheme that bilked at least 90,000 investors, including Virginians, out of more than $200 million, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia

Ramil Ventura Palafox owned and operated Praetorian Group International (PGI) and served as the company’s chairman and CEO. Palafox is a dual citizen of the United States and the Philippines who lives mostly in Las Vegas, according to court documents.

Palafox, 60, is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 3, 2026. He faces up to 40 years in prison and has agreed to pay restitution of about $62.7 million, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

From December 2019 to October 2021, investors pumped more than $201 million into PGI, including more than $30 million in currency and at least 8,198 bitcoin worth more than $171 million. Investors suffered losses totaling at least $62.69 million.

Palafox coaxed investors to give PGI money to be used for bitcoin trading by promising daily returns of between 0.5% and 3%. However, the company was not trading at a scale capable of making those returns, according to court documents. Palafox paid investors back with other investors’ money to create the illusion that their investments had been successful. Investors were also promised payments for recruiting additional investors.

PGI held in-person events across the nation and internationally to persuade individuals to give the company money, according to court documents. One Las Vegas event featured a cannon that shot money into the air. Palafox spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a promotional event in Dubai where PGI promoters were entertained on a luxury yacht and with a desert safari.

Events were held in Alexandria and , court documents stated. Palafox was not present at those, but representatives and promoters of PGI presented promotional materials prepared by Palafox.

“Multiple investors were fraudulently induced by Palafox to travel from Virginia to Nevada to give him their investments in person,” the documents stated.

Palafox created a PGI website where investors could see their purported investment performance. Palafox caused the portal to consistently misrepresent that the investments were gaining value from 2020 through 2021.

The wire fraud charge is related to a transmission of more than $200,000 from an investor’s bank account to an account belonging to Palafox in 2021 that used servers located in Virginia.

Palafox spent millions of investors’ money to support the illusion of PGI’s profitability and to cover personal expenses, court documents stated. He spent about $3 million on 20 luxury vehicles, about $329,000 on penthouse suites at a luxury hotel chain and $3 million on clothing, watches, jewlry and home furnishings. He purchased four homes in Las Vegas and Los Angeles worth more than $6 million and  gave $800,00 and 100 bitcoin, then valued at about $3.3 million, to a family member.

An attorney for Palafox declined to comment Thursday night.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jack Morgan and Zoe Bedell appeared at the plea agreement hearing Tuesday in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria.

In April, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against Palafox in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia alleging that Palafox violated the antifraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws through his scheme at PGI. The following month, U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema ordered that discovery in a civil action be stayed pending the resolution of the criminal prosecution.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated. 

Stanley Martin Homes to acquire North Carolina homebuilder

Stanley Martin Homes has entered into an agreement to acquire North Carolina-based ‘ assets and operations, the announced Wednesday.

The transaction is expected to close later this month. Financial details were not disclosed.

Based in Greensboro, North Carolina, Windsor Homes controls about 2,100 lots across the state’s Triad region, which includes Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point and Burlington, and in the coastal region around Wilmington.

Founded in 2001, Windsor Homes has built more than 4,000 homes. It has 270 homes under construction.

“Over the past 20-plus years, we’ve built a company rooted in building quality homes that meet the needs of individuals and families,” Windsor Homes President Tom Hall said in a statement. “Joining marks a new chapter for our team — one filled with opportunity, growth and shared success.”

The will increase the number of lots that Stanley Martin controls by approximately 25% in North Carolina and add 32 communities to its portfolio.

“This acquisition is a strategic step in our continued expansion across the Southeast,” Stanley Martin President Steve Alloy said in a statement. “We were immediately impressed by the leadership team at Windsor Homes, their commitment to quality and their alignment with our values and culture.”

Founded in 1966, Stanley Martin Homes has built more than 40,000 homes and operates in 15 metropolitan areas and seven states: Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia. Stanley Martin is a subsidiary of Daiwa House Group, a , construction and development company headquartered in Japan.

US mortgage rates fall as Fed cuts interest rates

SUMMARY:

  • Average 30-year mortgage rate dips to 6.26% from 6.35%
  • 15-year fixed mortgage rate also fell to 5.41%
  • Fed delivers first 2025 rate cut, signals two more ahead
  • Mortgage applications jumped nearly 30% last week
  • surged, making up 60% of applications
  • Adjustable-rate mortgage demand hits highest share since 2008

 

The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage fell again this week, echoing a decline in long-term U.S. Treasury bond yields ahead of the ‘s first rate cut this year.

The rate eased to 6.26% from 6.35% last week, mortgage buyer said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.09%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also fell. The average rate slipped to 5.41% from 5.5% last week. A year ago, it was 5.15%, Freddie Mac said.

are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation.

Rates generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans. The yield was at 4.12% in midday trading Thursday, up from 4.06% late Wednesday.

Mortgage rates have been mostly declining since late July amid expectations that Fed would cut rates for the first time since last year. As expected, the central bank delivered a quarter-point cut Wednesday and projected it would lower its benchmark rate twice more this year, reflecting growing concern over the U.S. job market.

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage is now at its lowest level since Oct. 3, when it was 6.12%.

The late-summer slide in mortgage rates has been a welcome trend for the market, which has been in a slump since 2022, when mortgage rates began climbing from historic lows. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes sank last year to their lowest level in nearly 30 years and have remained sluggish so far this year as the average rate on a 30-year mortgage has mostly hovered above 6.5%.

“Mortgage rates have eased into the low 6% range, a shift that should support a modest pickup in home sales in the coming months,” said Jiayi Xu, senior economist with Realtor.com. “However, the broader impact will remain limited, as 81% of homeowners still hold mortgages below 6%, reducing incentives to sell or move.”

Still, the pullback in mortgage rates has led to a surge in homeowners who bought in recent years after rates climbed above 6% to refinance now to a lower rate.

Mortgage applications, which include loans to buy a home or refinance an existing mortgage, jumped nearly 30% last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Applications for mortgage refinancing loans made up nearly 60% of all applications last week.

Demand for , or ARMs, is also up sharply. Applications for ARMs accounted for about 13% of all loan applications. That’s the biggest share since 2008, in the aftermath of the 2000s housing bust.

The Fed’s rate cut makes ARMs more attractive, as the rates on those loans closely follow the central bank’s action on short-term , said Bill Banfield, chief business officer at mortgage lender Rocket Cos.

“For consumers, it’s another signal that the cost of borrowing is gradually moving lower,” Banfield said.

FTC, states sue Ticketmaster, saying it forces fans to pay more for concerts and events

Summary

  • FTC and state attorneys general, including Virginia, sue and
  • Lawsuit alleges deceptive fees and false ticket-buying limits
  • Brokers use fake accounts to buy and resell tickets at markup
  • Ticketmaster controls 80% of U.S. major concert ticketing
  • Case follows backlash over ‘s Eras Tour sales

The Federal Trade Commission and a bipartisan group of state attorneys general sued Ticketmaster and its parent company Thursday, saying they are forcing consumers to pay more to see live events through a variety of illegal tactics.

Virginia is one of the seven states joining the lawsuit, according to state ‘ office.

The FTC said Live Nation and its subsidiary, Ticketmaster, have deceived artists and consumers by advertising lower ticket prices than what consumers must pay and falsely claiming to impose strict limits on the number of tickets consumers can buy for an event.

In reality, the FTC said, Ticketmaster coordinates with ticket brokers who bypass those ticket limits. The FTC said brokers use fake accounts to buy up millions of dollars worth of tickets and then sell them at a substantial markup on Ticketmaster’s platform. Ticketmaster benefits from the additional fees it collects from those sales, the FTC said.

“Virginians deserve access to tickets at reasonable prices,” Miyares said in a statement. “All too often, however, those tickets are snatched up by bots and brokers for resale, forcing Virginians to pay substantially higher prices for the entertainment they love. Ticketmaster should be preventing this conduct, not enabling it by turning a blind eye to brokers’ illegal ticket harvesting and reselling the tickets for even more profit. Virginia consumers deserve a chance to purchase tickets at prices that are not illegally inflated.”

The Associated Press left messages seeking comment Thursday with Beverly Hills, California-based Live Nation Entertainment.

Ticketmaster controls 80% or more of major U.S. concert venues’ primary ticketing, according to the FTC. Consumers spent more than $82.6 billion buying tickets from Ticketmaster between 2019 and 2024, the agency added.

“American live entertainment is the best in the world and should be accessible to all of us. It should not cost an arm and a leg to take the family to a baseball game or attend your favorite musician’s show,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a statement.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Joining the lawsuit were the attorneys general of Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia.

Ticketmaster has been in lawmakers’ sights since 2022, when it spectacularly botched ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. The company’s site was overwhelmed by fans and attacks from brokers’ bots, which were scooping up tickets to sell on secondary sites. Senators grilled Live Nation in a 2023 hearing.

But reform in the industry has been slow. The Biden administration took action with a ban on junk fees, requiring Ticketmaster to display the full price of a ticket as soon as consumers begin shopping. That rule went into effect in May.

President Donald has also taken aim at the industry. In March, with Kid Rock by his side in the Oval Office, Trump signed an executive order directing U.S. officials to ensure ticket resellers are complying with Internal Revenue Service rules. The order also directed the FTC to “take enforcement action to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct in the secondary ticketing market.”

In August, the FTC sued Maryland-based ticket broker Key Investment Group, alleging it has used thousands of fictitious Ticketmaster accounts and other methods to buy tickets for events, including Swift’s tour.

Virginia Business Deputy Editor Kate Andrews contributed to this story.

Democrats tie $6B Nexstar-Tegna deal to Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension

SUMMARY:

  • Following remarks about the and Charlie Kirk’s assassination, ‘s show has been “indefinitely suspended”
  • Democratic lawmakers say – was reason for Nexstar’s pulling of Kimmel’s show from its stations
  • chair applauded Nexstar’s move, which led to ABC and parent ‘s decision to suspend

Congressional Democrats, including U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, are tying ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel’s indefinite suspension on Wednesday to the $6.2 billion Nexstar-Tegna acquisition, which must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission.

The veteran late-night comic made several remarks on Monday and Tuesday about the reaction to conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination, including saying that “many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on” the fatal shooting. He said Trump’s political supporters were trying to characterize the man charged in the attack “as anything other than one of them.”

ABC, which has aired “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” since 2003, moved swiftly after Nexstar Communications Group said it would pull the show starting Wednesday. Kimmel’s comments about Kirk’s death were “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse,” said Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s division.

Nexstar operates 28 ABC affiliates and is seeking to acquire -based Tegna, a $6.2 billion deal that the FCC must approve for it to move forward.

In an appearance on CNBC Thursday, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr cheered the moves by Nexstar and Sinclair, which also agreed to pull the show from its channels. On Wednesday he called Kimmel’s comments “truly sick” and said his agency has a strong case for holding Kimmel, ABC and network parent Walt Disney Co. accountable for spreading misinformation.

While the FCC does not have power over the television networks, it does have the authority to suspend the licenses of their individual stations in local markets.

President Donald Trump chimed in on the site Truth Social, writing, “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done.” He previously cheered CBS’ decision to cancel Stephen Colbert’s late-night show, which the network said was for “financial reasons,” but has been subject to speculation connected to Paramount’s deal with Skydance, which was approved by the FCC shortly after Colbert’s cancellation.

Both Colbert and Kimmel have frequently criticized Trump and his administration, as has NBC host Seth Meyers.

“I absolutely love that Colbert got fired,” Trump said in July. “His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next.”

Virginia’s junior Democratic senator, Kaine posted on X on Thursday, “Trump and his friends talk a big game about free speech. But in reality, they only support their own freedom to say things they want or agree with.

“I’m disappointed to see Nexstar, ABC, and Disney execs kowtow to a vindictive administration instead of doing what’s right.”

“This appears to be driven by the network of stations who are part of that ABC network,” U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said Thursday in a media availability, noting that he had not watched the relevant televised clips of the Kimmel show. “I fear this could be a very dangerous path.”

Six Democratic House leaders, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, issued a statement calling for Carr to resign, accusing him of engaging “in the corrupt abuse of power. He has disgraced the office he holds by bullying ABC, the employer of Jimmy Kimmel, and forcing the company to bend the knee to the Trump administration.”

Both Disney and Nexstar have FCC business ahead of them. Disney is seeking regulatory approval for ESPN’s acquisition of the NFL Network, along with Nexstar’s Tegna deal.

The transaction, if approved, will bring together two major players in U.S. television and the country’s local news landscape. Nexstar oversees more than 200 owned and partner stations in 116 markets nationwide today and also runs networks like The CW and NewsNation. Meanwhile, Tegna, which was formed in 2015 when Gannett Co. spun off its broadcasting and digital business, owns 64 television news stations across 51 markets.

“The initiatives being pursued by the Trump administration offer local broadcasters the opportunity to expand reach, level the playing field, and compete more effectively with the Big Tech and legacy Big Media companies that have unchecked reach and vast financial resources,” Nexstar Chairman and CEO Perry Sook said in a statement in August. “We believe Tegna represents the best option for Nexstar to act on this opportunity.”

FCC Chair Carr has long advocated for loosening industry restrictions. On Aug. 7, the FCC announced that it would be repealing 98 broadcast rules and requirements that it identified as “obsolete, outdated, or unnecessary.”

Some of those rules date back nearly 50 years, the FCC said, and apply to “old technology that is no longer used.” Carr maintained that such provisions no longer serve public interest.

In late July, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit also vacated the FCC’s “top four” rule, which has long prohibited ownership of more than one of the top four stations in a single market. The ruling is still subject to a monthslong assessment by the FCC, but could significantly clear the way for future mergers in the industry.

In company earnings calls held in early August, before Tegna and Nexstar publicly confirmed merger talks, both Tegna CEO Michael Steib and Nexstar’s Sook pointed directly to this ruling, and applauded Carr’s deregulation agenda as a whole.

“We believe that deregulation is necessary, important and coming,” Steib said in Tegna’s Aug. 7 call, noting that local broadcasters are “up against big tech competitors who have absolutely no encumbrances in how they compete.”

Tegna and Nexstar did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Pharma packaging plant closing in Mecklenburg

Nipro PharmaPackaging, a division of Nipro Corp. Japan, plans to shutter its location in , just outside the town limits of , by October, according to a town official.

About 30 employees will lose their jobs, Town Manager C.F. “Dusty” Forbes said.

Forbes learned of the plant’s closure in early September, a few days after he was told Butler Human Services Furniture planned to shut down its Chase City operations, leaving 51 employees out of work.

“We’re looking at around 80-plus jobs that are going to disappear in our community of about 2,100 people,” Forbes said. “So, that’s a big hit for us.”

A spokesperson for did not respond to a request for comment.

Before the July Fourth holiday, according to Forbes, Nipro PharmaPackaging took an extended maintenance break due to lack of business. He estimated the company had about 50 employees working at the Virginia facility at that time.

Workers at the plant make vials for medicinal products, according to the Nipro PharmaPackaging website.

“[Companies] had stockpiled so many vials … and [Nipro] just didn’t have the orders,” Forbes said. “They said [they were] going to take an extended maintenance hoping that the orders would return, and [they would] be able to continue with work and production.”

Around the beginning of August, Nipro PharmaPackaging called about 30 employees back to work, according to Forbes. Now, he expects those workers will soon be job hunting.

“They won’t have anywhere else to go because there’s no other plant nearby,” Forbes said.

Forbes isn’t optimistic about the chances of another large manufacturer moving into Chase City.

“That’s just not the nature of things these days,” Forbes said. “But if we could get a couple smaller companies to come in, maybe that employed 20 to 25, that would be something that we would really like to shoot for.”

On Thursday, the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement, also known as Virginia Works, reported that 3,509 initial unemployment insurance weekly claims were filed
during the week ending Sept. 13. That was a 35.5% increase over the previous week and a 62% increase over a comparable week last year. There were 19,390 continued claims during the week ending Sept. 13. That was a 0.4% decrease from the previous week and a 31% increase over a comparable week last year.