About 85 employees at Genworth Financial Inc.‘s corporate offices in Henrico County were told Tuesday that their positions are being eliminated. The insurance giant is shifting some of its back-office functions in its annuity business to Lynchburg as part of Genworth’s ongoing review of its operations, spokesman Al Orendorff said. About 40 of the jobs will be transferred to Lynchburg, where the company is expanding its call center operations. Those employees will have the option of moving.

The Environmental Protection Agency has given Virginia $80.2 million in federal stimulus money for wastewater treatment improvements. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine accepted the money yesterday. It will be used to create jobs, improve aging water infrastructure, and protect human health and the environment. A news release says projects include work to eliminate sewage discharges from combined sewage overflow systems in Lynchburg and Richmond.

An “advanced fee investment opportunity” offered by a Lynchburg man was a $400,000 scam that fueled his gambling habit, federal prosecutors said. Jeffery Thomas Tuggle, 45, pleaded guilty Thursday after waiving his right to indictment to two counts of tax fraud, one count of wire fraud and one count of failing to file a tax return in U.S. District Court in Lynchburg, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

LYNCHBURG—A covertly taped meeting between a Lynchburg police detective, the city manager and the police chief has become the subject of a $500,000 lawsuit. Detective John Romano filed the suit against the city of Lynchburg, City Manager Kimball Payne and Police Chief Parks Snead on Tuesday, claiming he was harassed and intimidated after publicly criticizing the city manager during a City Council meeting in March.

Ninety-degree weather may not be optimal for skiing, snowboarding or tubing, but that didn’t stop the crowd gathered at Liberty University for its new Snowflex center’s first day of operation. Liberty hosted its first event for the newly formed alumni chapter, named the “245” chapter for the first three digits of Lynchburg-area ZIP codes.

August wouldn’t come to mind as the right time of year for skiing, unless you were headed to South America. But a year-round ski facility called the Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre is scheduled to open at Liberty University on Aug. 29. Its slopes will be layered with a synthetic material that simulates snow for skiing, boarding and tubing.

During his 18 years as Lynchburg city attorney, William Mervin Phillips was especially proud of his role in protecting the voting strength of the city’s minorities when parts of Bedford and Campbell counties were annexed in 1976. “Dad always was a vigorous proponent of civil rights,“ said his son, William E. Phillips of Lynchburg. “He was proud of everybody sitting together and working out a method of electing city council that worked well and complied with the requirements of the Justice Department.“

In Lynchburg, a mosquito is a nuisance, said city native Col. Donald “Gray” Heppner Jr. “In Kenya, it’s a potential death sentence,“ he said. One of the world’s most devastating diseases could be on the verge of eradication—and Heppner is on the front lines. Last week, Heppner was awarded the 2009 World Service Medal from Kiwanis International for his chief role in developing a promising vaccine against malaria.

GRETNA Inside the big white farmhouse, 6-year-old Timmy Fuhrmann squirms on the carpet as his mom teaches him phonics. “Ned, Ted, red . . . “ he recites from the chalkboard, following his mother’s lead. When it’s his sister’s turn, Timmy glances out the window. “The tractor,“ a red sitting lawn mower, sits idle in the driveway. Up the hill, his older brothers and sisters are clearing dead tree branches from the cow pasture, and piling them up for a bonfire.

LYNCHBURG—Whatever other factors combine to make this year’s batteau trip down the James River unique, organizers and participants agree on one thing—this year’s should be a fast ride. Given heavy recent rains, the water levels of the James have risen enough to excite and, in some cases, concern those involved. The James River Batteau Festival started yesterday with 19 batteaux, according to Chairman Buddy High.

For the second year in a row, downtown Lynchburg will not float its own festivities today when the James River Batteau Festival launches from the city. For about 20 years, Lynchburg held a carnival-like “Festival by the James” to coincide with the launch of the bateaux for their eight-day journey from Lynchburg to Richmond. Last year, bateau festival participants and many spectators were surprised that Lynchburg didn’t have its own festival.

Brandon Inge appreciates the compliments regarding his versatility as a baseball player. But he would rather you save them for five or 10 years.

Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest plantation retreat has unveiled its $6 million, 20-year architectural restoration to the third president’s original vision as a private place to read, think and spend time with his grandchildren after he retired. The octagon-shaped neoclasssical home painstakingly designed by Jefferson had been converted to a typical farmhouse some years after Jefferson’s grandson sold it in 1828. Now visitors can view it as Jefferson did when he began his sojourns there 200 years ago, after the end of his two-term presidency, visits that would continue until 1823.

A Lynchburg man has been arrested and charged with injuring his 3-week-old daughter, police said. James Francis Withers, 25, of Wheeler Road has been charged with aggravated malicious wounding and felony child neglect relating to the injuries that his daughter suffered on May 1, said Capt. L.T. Guthrie of the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office.

James Cabaniss didn’t have time to do the math. If this had been some theoretical problem on a pilot’s exam, he could have calculated the size of a certain cow pasture, the height of a line of trees that bordered it, the speed and altitude of the small airplane he was flying, and the odds of his landing in that field successfully. Real-life pilot decisions, however, need to be arrived at much more quickly and intuitively.