Struggling Internet company AOL plans to shed up to 2,500 jobs—more than a third of its work force—as it prepares to separate from Time Warner and finally sever their ill-fated marriage. Major job cuts had been expected and seemed certain after Time Warner said last week that AOL would take $200 million in charges for severance and other restructuring-related costs. But the magnitude was not known until yesterday.

Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. aluminum producer, will cut 250 jobs at a plant in Hampton because of falling parts orders for industrial gas turbines. The reductions represent about 24 percent of the 1,060 workers employed at the Alcoa Howmet plant, which is part of the company’s power and propulsion division, spokeswoman Jean Moorman said.

The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on residential properties in Virginia stood at 7.7 percent at the end of the third quarter, up from 6.9 percent in the previous quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Nationally, the delinquency rate for mortgage loans was 9.94 percent, up from 8.86 percent in the second quarter.

Stocks tumble on signs of subdued recovery NEW YORK Signs of a subdued economic recovery sent investors out of stocks yesterday and in search of safer assets like the dollar. Major indexes tumbled about 1 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which lost 94 points but ended well off its low. Energy and material stocks logged some of the biggest losses as a jump in the dollar sent commodity prices tumbling. Meanwhile, an analyst’s downgrade of the chip industry pulled technology shares lower.

The end is near for LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin R. Huennekens approved the Henrico County-based title insurer’s plan yesterday to dissolve itself, pay creditors and set up trust committees to wind down the estate. “Not everyone is happy but this is the happiest plan we could have,“ Huennekens said after a daylong hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond.

Tech, housing numbers cited as stocks drop NEW YORK Disappointing forecasts from technology companies and an unexpected drop in home construction added to worries about the economy and sent stocks modestly lower. The drop yesterday came a day after major stock indicators closed at 13-month highs. The Dow fell 11.11, or 0.1 percent, to 10,426.31, after sliding as much as 77 points in morning trading.

Virginia’s agricultural exports to Cuba are expected to be up by more than 10 percent this year, even as overall U.S. food exports to the communist country decline, state officials said.

Richmond Metropolitan Habitat for Humanity has created the first community land trust in Virginia, which the nonprofit hails as a landmark moment in the history of affordable housing in the state. The local chapter has placed a parcel of land for 19 homes off Springs Road in South Richmond into the trust. In a community land trust, a buyer purchases only the house—not the land—keeping costs down.

After 22 years, Spinnaker’s Restaurant in the Chesterfield Towne Center has closed. The eatery officially shuttered Sunday after an issue with The Macerich Co., the California-based company that owns regional malls. Gregg Gregory, the owner of the local Spinnaker’s, said his lease was supposed to end next month, but the company told him last week that it was time to go.

Costco customers may have to look elsewhere for Coca-Cola products now that the retailer has stopped carrying them because the pair are fighting over prices. The public squabble between one of the nation’s largest wholesale club operators and the world’s largest soft-drink maker is likely to fizzle quickly. But it reveals real tensions as retailers and product makers square off on prices.

The Virginia Retirement System has selected Genworth Financial Inc. as its choice to offer long-term-care insurance as a fringe benefit to its more than 600,000 members, retirees and beneficiaries. The coverage will be offered through a group insurance policy, under the Commonwealth of Virginia Voluntary Group Long Term Care Insurance Program.

Central Virginia Bankshares Inc. reported a third-quarter net loss of $1.05 million, or a loss of 46 cents per share, compared with a loss of $16.89 million, or $6.56 per share, in the year-earlier quarter. Core earnings, or net income after adjustments related to investment losses in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and a special assessment, were $571,368 compared with $942,656 in the year-earlier quarter.

Chester-based Southside Oil LLC has bought 172 Exxon retail gasoline stations, mainly in Maryland, more than doubling the company’s retail operations. The privately held company did not disclose the terms of the sale. Southside Oil is a wholesale gasoline distribution company owned by Steven and Linda Uphoff. The Uphoffs also operate 42 Uppy’s Convenience Stores Inc. locations in Virginia. They own the property where 67 other BP and ExxonMobil gas stations are, but they don’t operate those stations.

A new, multimillion-dollar tax loophole is leading some firms to start labeling their tobacco for roll-your-own cigarettes as pipe tobacco. New tobacco taxes, meant to finance an expansion of children’s health insurance, boosted the levy on tobacco for roll-your-own cigarettes from $1.10 a pound to $24.78 a pound. But the tiny, fading market of pipe smokers managed to get by with a federal tax of $2.83 a pound.

Massey Energy Co. has bought additional coal reserves from the bankrupt Appalachian Fuels LLC and its affiliates. The metallurgical and steam coal reserves, bought for about $6 million, consist of about 15 million tons of highvolatile coal located in Barbour County, W.Va. Richmond-based Massey also acquired permits which will eventually be necessary for production on the property.