An abandoned power plant that once provided electricity for Richmond's trolley cars will become home to a restaurant with views of the James River as part of the ongoing Rocketts Landing development.

I once worked in an office at Christmastime where, without warning or announcement, baked goods started appearing on my desk.

One day there was an individual-sized pound cake resting on my mouse pad. The next day, frosted snowmen cookies sprawled happily on my desk calendar. Fudge, brownies, cookies, holiday coffee mugs filled with M&Ms … the treats kept arriving and I kept shoveling them down. And I never paused to ask why I was the recipient of so much sugary goodness.

President-elect Barack Obama continues to demonstrate a knack for communication that we haven’t seen since Ronald Reagan, whom many called “The Great Communicator.”

Last week, Obama encouraged Americans to spend some time over the holidays talking about how to fix the nation’s health care system and to share their ideas with his administration.

The Greater Richmond Partnership is re-evaluating its mission in light of the downturn in the national and global economies.

A few weeks ago the CEOs of the big three U.S. automakers gave a clinic in how to bungle communications during times of crisis. Their arrival in Washington D.C. by private jet to ask Congress for financial assistance spoke much more loudly than their empty words about the importance of the auto industry’s health to the nation’s economy.

Those three CEOs and others like them could learn something from the next CEO of the United States. Whether or not you agree with Barack Obama’s politics, you have to give him credit for understanding the power of combining words with actions.

In the best of times, actions speak louder than words. In difficult times, actions practically scream. Just ask the CEOs of the big three American automakers.

Last week, while asking Congress for government bailouts, the trio received tongue lashings by finger-wagging legislators who couldn’t understand the request in light of the fact that each of the CEOs traveled by private jet to Washington D.C. Not only had the executives failed to foresee what one congressman called a “delicious irony,” but they offered no apology or explanation when it was brought to their attention.

If you are annoyed by people who begin declarative statements with “At the end of the day,” you are not alone. Oxford University, which publishes the Oxford English Dictionary, puts the phrase at the top of its list of most irritating expressions.

Researchers at Oxford use a huge database to monitor the use of words and phrases in books, periodicals, in broadcast media and online so they know what to include in the dictionary. Along with new useful words, however, the database also identifies words and phrases that are overused, abused and just plain annoying.

After a nearly two-year grueling campaign, Americans finally chose a new president. Now the real work begins.

The winner of the election has a list of daunting tasks ahead of him: an economy on life support, an unpopular and expensive war, our largest generation aging with a health-care system ill-prepared to care for it and a nation that seems more politically divided than ever.

RICHMOND, Va. – Media General (NYSE: MEG) announced today that it has purchased Richmond.com, an award winning local news and entertainment portal, from TWG Portals, LLC of Richmond. Terms were not disclosed.

Richmond.com has approximately 2.7 million monthly page views and partnerships with a number of Richmond area businesses and organizations. This includes the Retail Merchants Association, Central Virginia Regional Multiple Listing Service, Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Richmond Partnership of Virginia and the Richmond Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau. The Web site currently has more than 120,000 unique visitors per month who use its local search, tools and content to seek, explore and find all things Richmond. According to Scarborough Research, Richmond.com has an 8.8 percent share of the Richmond online audience.

It could become a sign of the times -- HHHunt has suspended its plans to build Branner Station on 1,614 acres southeast of Chester. Just approved last year, Branner Station called for 2,449 single-family homes, 1,331 condos and townhouses, 908 apartments, 300 assisted living units and 470,000 square feet of office and retail development.