Farm Bureau applauds revival of State Fair
The new owners of the State Fair of Virginia plan to put on the annual exhibition as scheduled four months from now.
That’s good news for anyone who supports Virginia agriculture and the history and heritage the fair represents, according to Wayne Pryor, president of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation.
Universal Fairs LLC of Tennessee bought the fair at auction on May 22 for $5.67 million including fees and commissions. The previous nonprofit owner of the Caroline County facility filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in March. Read more
Virginia to mark June as Dairy Month
Gov. Bob McDonnell has proclaimed June as Dairy Month in Virginia.
“Milk consistently ranks as one of the top commodities in Virginia,” said McDonnell. “In 2010 it was number three.” (Rankings for all commodities for 2011 are not in yet.) “The state’s largest industry is agriculture,” the Governor added, “and in 2010, fluid milk yielded $332 million in cash receipts. That’s a lot of milk, and that figure doesn’t include cheese, ice cream, milk powder, butter or other dairy products.” Read more
Chamber announces grads of leadership program
The Greater Augusta Regional Chamber of Commerce announces the graduates of their 2011-2012 Leadership Greater Augusta program, with seven individuals successfully completing nine months of community awareness and leadership skills training.
The following are this year’s LGA graduates: Jeffrey Burgener – Nibco; Jay Crawford – Greater Augusta Regional Chamber of Commerce; Christina Dovel – Hollister; Allison Fink – DuPont Community Credit Union; Brad Hewitt – Farm Credit; Mark Lotts – Staunton Nissan; and Annette Williams – Blue Ridge Community College. Read more
AAA: Gas prices continue welcome slide heading into Memorial Day
Gas prices continued to retreat for the sixth straight week, pulling back from an early-April peak of $3.94 nationally, just in time for the upcoming Memorial Day holiday weekend.
The national average price of regular grade gasoline fell to $3.71 a gallon on Friday, down 2 cents from last week, 19 cents lower than month-ago prices and 22 cents lower than year-ago prices. Prices at the pump remain 40 cents below the all-time record of $4.11 set in summer 2008.
Crude oil closed lower for 10 of the last 11 trading sessions through Wednesday, to settle at $92.81 per barrel, the commodity’s lowest settlement in more than six months (November 2, 2011). A strengthened U.S. dollar has been a factor in keeping pressure on oil. Read more
JMU gets $600K grant to aid Iraqi university business programs
A pair of Iraqi universities will get help from James Madison University to gain accreditation for their business programs.
The Center for International Stabilization and Recovery and the College of Business at JMU have received a $629,513 grant to provide information and guidance through the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The work will take place at Salahaddin University in Erbil, and at Al Mustansiriyah University in Baghdad. Read more
Farm Bureau: Farmers cleaning up farms, raking in dough
Spring is planting season, but some farmers are harvesting profits from old junk that’s been lying around their buildings and fields, sometimes for decades.
They’re selling scrap metal to recycling businesses and earning cash while cleaning up their farms.
“We’ve just got so much metal lying around,” said Dennis Baker, a Shenandoah County corn grower. “It’s been accumulating for years and years, and every day you find something that’s got to be thrown away. Right now, with the price of metal, it just pays a little extra income from the farm.” Read more
AG announces settlement with Skechers
Today, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli announced that Virginia has joined 43 other states, the District of Columbia, and the Federal Trade Commission in settling causes of action against Skechers USA, Inc., arising from its unsupported advertising claims regarding the health benefits of its Shape-Ups, Tone-Ups, and Skechers Resistance Runner athletic shoes.
The lawsuits filed by the attorneys general allege that Skechers made health-related claims in the marketing, packaging, advertising, offering, and selling of its line of rocker-bottom shoe products that were not adequately proven. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that Skechers claimed that these shoes caused weight loss, improved circulation, reduced cellulite, and firmed, toned, or strengthened thigh, buttock, and back muscles. Under the settlement, Skechers is prohibited from making these claims unless it has adequate proof to do so. It has also agreed to pay up to $40 million in consumer refunds and an additional $5 million to the states. Virginia will receive approximately $115,000, which will be deposited into a fund for future consumer protection enforcement. Read more
