BUSINESS BRIEFS

VIRGINIA

State OKs gas utility's conservation program

Virginia Natural Gas has won state approval for a conservation plan designed to encourage consumers to reduce gas usage.

The State Corporation Commission approved the plan this week. It includes a program to educate customers on the benefits of conservation and incentives to buy high-efficiency natural-gas furnaces and water heaters.

It is the first plan submitted to the SCC under a new state law that allows gas utilities to encourage consumers to reduce consumption, while protecting the utilities' income.

The commission said Virginia Natural Gas customers will pay more for nongas service under the plan, but those who reduce consumption will save money on gas service.

Danville tire plant's workers face furloughs

Most workers at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.'s Danville plant will face three one-week furloughs early next year.

Goodyear spokeswoman Jo Andrews said this week that affected workers will be out of work Jan. 10-17, Jan. 31-Feb. 7 and Feb. 21-28. The plant employs 2,400 workers.

Andrews said the partial shutdown of the trucking side of the plant is due to the weak economy.

Operations in the smaller aircraft side of the plant will not be affected.

Partnership may mine Pittsylvania uranium

A Virginia company that wants to mine uranium from a deposit in Pittsylvania County plans to partner with a Canadian company for the project.

Virginia Uranium Inc. has announced a merger plan with Santoy Resources of British Columbia, Canada. If completed, it would provide more money and expertise to help mine one of the world's largest deposits of the radioactive ore, worth an estimated $10 billion.

Walter Coles Sr., whose family farm sits atop the uranium deposit, said the partnership is a way to raise money for the long-term future of the project.

Virginia officials are weighing whether to overturn a 25-year-old ban on uranium mining.

Landmark sues Cox over Auto Trader distribution

Landmark Media Enterprises LLC sued a Cox Enterprises Inc. unit for allegedly violating an agreement to distribute publications featuring advertisements offering cars for sale.

Landmark, the Norfolk-based owner of the Virginian-Pilot newspaper, filed suit this week in state court in Delaware, asking a judge to block Cox executives from halting distribution of the Auto Trader publications at more than 40,000 outlets.

Landmark and Atlanta-based Cox formed a joint venture in 1991 to start distributing the Auto Trader publications at gas stations and convenience stores. The publications feature classified car-sale advertising.

The closely held companies ended the venture in 2006, with Cox taking 341 automotive titles and Landmark retaining others.

The partners agreed to continue distributing the publications at 83,000 outlets nationwide, according to the letter to Delaware Chancery Judge William B. Chandler III.

Landmark's lawyers did not say why Cox officials were seeking to end distribution at about half the outlets.

THE NATION

Wal-Mart to pay to settle worker lawsuits

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it will pay as much as $640 million to settle dozens of wage-and-hour class-action lawsuits across the United States that accused the world's largest retailer of cheating hourly workers and forcing them to work through breaks and off the clock.

Wal-Mart has faced numerous accusations in recent years that it has engaged in illegal wage practices, such as shortchanging workers on overtime pay and not allowing them to take lunch breaks.

"Many of these lawsuits were filed years ago, and the allegations are not representative of the company we are today," Tom Mars, the company's executive vice president and general counsel, said in a statement.

The cases being settled, 63 in all, involved thousands of current and former Wal-Mart employees and were brought by different groups of lawyers in dozens of states.

The discount retailer, which has more than 1.4 million employees, said the amount it pays will depend on how many claims are submitted by eligible workers and could range from $352 million to $640 million.

FedEx to keep sites open today for pickups

ATLANTA -- Severe weather across the U.S. has caused a delivery backlog at FedEx Corp., so it will keep all of its domestic sorting stations open for four hours today to allow customers to pick up packages.

Bigger rival UPS Inc. plans to maintain its tradition of giving all U.S. employees the holiday off, spokesman Norman Black said.

The U.S. Postal Service normally makes Express, or overnight, deliveries on Christmas and will have tens of thousands of people working today because of the backlog from the weather, spokeswoman Sue Brennan said.

FedEx said it will keep all 665 of its Express service stations open from 8 a.m. to noon today to allow customers to pick up packages. They should call or check the FedEx Web site first to ensure the package is there.

Digital transition could miss some TV viewers

WASHINGTON -- Nearly a fifth of the nation's full-power television stations will no longer reach at least 2 percent of viewers now covered by their existing analog signals after they switch to digital broadcasts in February, federal regulators say.

The Federal Communications Commission report comes amid mounting concerns that some consumers who rely on analog-only television sets could lose some or all over-the-air broadcast channels after the Feb. 17 digital transition, even if they have purchased and hooked up digital converter boxes.

Many television stations will make antenna and transmitter changes that will shift their broadcast footprints. Some viewers will lose signals because digital broadcasts either come in clear or not at all, so those on the fringes who get fuzzy analog signals could lose that reception entirely after the transition. -- From Staff and Wire Reports