On April 25th, 2026, The Lookout published an item entitled “Sapporo says sayonara to Stone, Stone says sayonara to Richmond.” It details the recently announced sale of the Stone brand to Duvel USA’s Firestone Walker, how Richmond (and to some extent Virginia) threw taxpayer money at the Southern California firm in hopes of spurring tourism and development around the East End brewery that never materialized.
I reported (emphasis added):
Of additional note, Stone’s Richmond workforce attempted to unionize with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters last year, ultimately losing the election after bosses at the parent company spent $100,000 on “persuaders” to swing the vote. For VinePair, I covered that drive, which garnered support from former 1st District councilmember Andreas Addison. At the time, I reached out to longtime 7th District councilmember Cynthia Newbille to inquire whether she supported the drive and had any comment about the union-busting, given she was in office when City Council approved the eight-figure bond offering for Stone’s brewery, and it operates in her district. She did not respond.
This Lookout post was published April 25th, 2026 in reference to reporting I did in September 2024 for VinePair. For clarity, I’ve backdated this item to that date.
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This has been The Cynthia Newbille “No Comment” Corner, a new recurring feature highlighting the press availability—or lack thereof—of the 7th District’s longtime councilmember. If you come across a “no response” or a “no comment” from Newbille or her office in a media report, please submit it for consideration to The Lookout. All submissions anonymous!
