WHRO Reports: Recent Episodes
WHRO Public Media
A collection of WHRO feature news including WHRO stories, interviews and in-depth reporting from Southeastern Virginia.
The housing market seemed to be cooling late in 2023, but new data shows housing prices hitting all-time highs in Hampton Roads in May.
Democrat Missy Cotter Smasal will run against U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans’ in a tightly contested district.
WHRO talked to Gillian Pressman with YIMBY Hampton Roads about the region's housing shortage, what cities can do to help and what the heck a YIMBY really is.
A special session began Tuesday to fix the bipartisan legislation that came under fire shortly after it passed.
Cities are preparing for local elections this November. We're taking a look at why now, cities like Chesapeake, are trying to changing its system.
As cities prepare for local elections, a look back at how ward-based voting systems developed in Norfolk.
Tangier has lost two-thirds of its land mass since 1850 and climate change is making the problem worse. Local leaders are pushing for massive federal and state investment to ensure its survival.
New data highlights reception issues in Williamsburg. The city says it's limited in how it can fix the problem.
Members of Old Donation Episcopal Church wanted to make amends for the church’s role in slavery. They decided the scholarship in Rachal’s name was one way to do it.
The House passed a version of the annual defense bill with 19.5 percent raises for lower enlisted, while the Senate looks at other quality of life investments.
Though unenforced, it’s been illegal to read palms in the city of Norfolk for a century or more. Palm reader Samantha Weaver talks us through her craft, it's history in the city and why people really seek out readers.
WHRO caught up with one of the team’s climate scientists who’s stationed at Pituffik Space Force Base.
Following the 2022 Walmart shooting, Chesapeake Regional Medical Center decided it was time to build a trauma program.
The regional organization will use the money to boost local education about what can and can't be recycled.
Dozens of public commenters showed up to voice support and opposition for a ballot referendum that would've asked voters about shifting from an at-large voting system.
Ruth E. Carter spoke with WHRO about her Afrofuturist inspiration and how Hampton and Williamsburg influenced her career in costume design.
For the first time, National Guard from around the country are in Hampton Roads for the largest cyber exercise in the United States.
Business leaders and economic development officials say strong transit is key to attracting companies, while new development has cities like Chesapeake reexamining public transportation’s value.
Officials want the program to be a third option for people in need of mental health resources, connection to social services.
Chesapeake Regional Medical Center showed state officials progress on the region’s first psychiatric emergency room, which was partially funded with $3.7 million in state grants.
The project aims to collaborate with Black residents to tell an often unheard side of Williamsburg’s history.
Organizers hope the 13th annual event at Fort Monroe brings reflection, connection and healing to attendees.
Williamsburg Regional Library officials want to modernize the 50-year-old Williamsburg branch building.
Residents of the historically Black neighborhood in Suffolk have long pleaded for help addressing outdated drainage infrastructure.
Rutherford Whitfield first got behind the wheel in 1954 as a 16-year-old student driver.
Creators hope a historical tour through Phoebus using a free app can inspire and educate anyone interested in the southeastern Hampton neighborhood’s past.
Local officials gathered at Recycling and Disposal Solutions of Virginia for the grand opening of a new facility that extracts recyclables directly from bagged trash.
Norfolk's head of cruises says the unexpected visits will not delay the expansion of the city's cruise terminal, which is set to begin this summer.
Following a WHRO investigation, families of Latino and transgender students who faced violence at Norview High School say they’ve been contacted by federal investigators.
The lawsuit from conservative groups claims the Virginia Beach project would threaten whales. A federal judge ruled Dominion Energy does not need to stop constructing the project while the litigation continues.
Local researchers think home price and rent cost increases will be marginal, focused in tourist-heavy neighborhoods.
Virginia’s recently approved budget gives $3.75 million for the final phase of a decades-long cleanup effort at Money Point along the Elizabeth River.
Officials point to factors like warming ocean temperatures and the La Niña climate pattern that can spur storms.
Hampton is the last of the five cities needed to sign off on the sale before Portsmouth takes possession of the jail on July 1.
Lynnhaven River Now will study whether mussels are as effective as oysters at stabilizing eroding shoreline.
The Judeo-Christian Outreach Center’s overhaul has been in the works for years. It will help the center provide services to get people permanently housed.
Hunting with hounds is a long tradition in Virginia. But state officials say new rules are needed to address rising conflict with private property owners.
Starting in 2025, Virginia Breeze Bus Lines' new east-west bus route will connect Harrisonburg and Virginia Beach, with stops in Charlottesville, Richmond and Williamsburg.
Virginia Democrats say the Republican governor is catering to the far right wing of his party as other states move to restrict reproductive health care.
Virginia Beach will earmark 20% of its ticket tax revenue for funding local arts and culture efforts.
The first-of-its-kind find at Colonial Williamsburg uncovered artifacts from dining ware to gun hardware.
The turtle exhibit opened to the public in October but will have a grand opening on Saturday. It takes over an old sea lion habitat that’s been empty for decades.
WHRO chatted with Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine about the Senate Budget Committee hearing this week.
City Council's decision settles years of back-and-forth between the city and tribe over the future of the property, called Mattanock Town.
Preservation Virginia said the historic villages of Hobson and Oakland face threats from flooding and modern development.
The final allocation is nearly $50 million less than what was in the governor's original budget proposal. Norfolk officials say the drop in expected funding won't affect the timeline of the immediate phase of the floodwall.
State officials say stricter federal air pollution standards could tip more days from being considered good to moderate quality.
The city is planning to restore marsh habitat at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge that has been lost from years of erosion.
The new Regional Organizations Presidents’ Council thinks frank discussions and deliberate action can break regional inaction that’s plagued Hampton Roads.
Norfolk International Airport was one of five stops along the East Coast during NOAA’s Hurricane Awareness Tour this week.
The Middle Peninsula is often called the septic repair capital of the East Coast. A new pilot project in Gloucester could help.
Concerns about the cost and student performance in an independent Williamsburg school district have popped up as the city's gathered resident feedback.
Former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney spoke at the Norfolk Forum. A three-term member of the House of Representatives from Wyoming, Cheyney rose to the number-three leadership position—Chair of the House Republican Caucus--Until January sixth, 2021 happened. She voted for impeachment over January sixth…and was stripped of her party position, then lost a 20-22 primary race to a candidate supported by former President Trump. She served as Vice Chair of the January sixth committee.
The public university would be the first in Virginia to offer a full marine science program to undergraduate students.
After applying to the state twice for permission for open-heart procedures, Chesapeake Regional performed its first open heart surgery April 30.
Most states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, including Virginia, will not meet federal pollution standards by the EPA's 2025 deadline. But officials announced some progress this week.
The Eviction Defense Center aims to provide resources - from primers on the eviction process to scripts for court appearances - to the more than 100,000 Virginia households dealing with evictions annually.
A councilwoman's abstention meant a split vote and the denial of the bargaining request. City employees were already looking to force another vote after the defeat.
Millions of birds are making their way north to breeding grounds, including warblers, thrushes and red-winged blackbirds.
Several city council members have expressed worries about the expense of allowing Virginia Beach's firefighters to collectively bargain an employment contract. One member - a former fire chief - says it'll help ensure they get in line ahead of other priorities come budget time.
The money from the EPA is part of the Biden administration's efforts to tackle climate change. It'll be used to help low-income households access solar infrastructure.
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission this week voted down the petition filed in December by environmental and recreational fishing groups.
Oysterwoman Mary Hill is trying to keep the village of Hobson alive. This story is part of an NPR project documenting historical markers throughout the U.S.
With 12 rooms, the Dozoretz Hospice House of Hampton Roads in Virginia Beach puts only a small dent in the number of hospice beds needed in the region.
The Friends of the Great Dismal Swamp recently got a half-million dollar grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to implement planned improvements at the wildlife refuge.
Community members took part in a French-inspired “Climate Fresk” to learn about the science behind global climate change.
Residents had been pushing the city for nearly a year to preserve the 15 acres it owns as a park. And some questions remain.
Norfolk's mayor announcement was big on ambition and light on details, but included plans for a new 400-room hotel alongside high-rise apartments and condos.
Lawyers for former Newport News teacher Abby Zwerner say new information from a grand jury report indicting a former school administrator may give grounds for state and federal agencies to investigate Newport News schools.
The grand jury report released this week suggests additional investigation into school district officials. Newport News Commonwealth's Attorney Howard Gwynn says his office will follow the facts where they lead.
The grand jury report released this week suggests additional investigation into school district officials. Newport News Commonwealth's Attorney Howard Gwynn says his office will follow the facts where they lead.
A union representing city fire and EMS staff has requested the ability to collectively bargain a contract with the city, the first such request in Virginia Beach since public-sector bargaining was allowed by the state in 2021. The city must accept or reject the request by the end of May.
Virginia Beach is facing a request from the International Association of Fire Fighters to let fire and EMS staff jointly negotiate a contract with the city. The council is holding a special meeting to get resident input.
When Williamsburg officials introduced the idea of splitting the Williamsburg-James City County Public School System last year, they cited feedback from a resident survey as one of the main reasons to consider ending the nearly 70-year partnership.But the survey, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, doesn't ask residents if they want Williamsburg to be an independent school system.
Bloom Market is both a boutique and an economic development experiment. Small-scale local artisans will have a place to get some brick-and-mortar retail experience in the hope that they grow into their own locations.
Last year, the Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg Habitat chapter got a record 280 new homebuyer applications. Now, it's suspending the program until it can find more land to build on.
Suffolk’s tax rate isn't changing from $1.09 per $100 of assessed value — but new assessed property values went up by 5.4%.Residents’ real estate tax bills will go up because of the new assessment increase.
The whale, first spotted in 1989, suffered catastrophic damage to her spine, NOAA says. This kind of blunt force trauma is most consistent with a vessel strike. Vessel strikes are one of the leading causes of death for right whales.
The dead whale was found floating around 50 miles off the coast of Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. She was identified as Female #1950, first seen in 1989. She birthed a calf this past winter, which crews haven’t spotted yet.
The Coastal Virginia Conservancy recently finished the first phase of the cleanup project, which included replacing the polluted sediment with clean sand.
The study out of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science focuses on deeper waters, where the impacts of heat waves are lesser known.
The population of Downtown Norfolk has tripled since the last time the Downtown Norfolk Council wrote up a strategic plan nine years ago.
The Peninsula cities will join 23 others in Bloomberg Philanthropies' Sustainable Cities Program.
Norfolk's city manager wants to spend a combined $150 million to fully renovate the facilities, which were built in the early '70s.
Cities all over the U.S. have used city-funded trusts to invest in and incentivize the development of affordable housing.
The new tunnels were supposed to be available by the end of 2025. Now, the project is expected to take until mid-2027.
Carnival announced late Tuesday it would move its operations from Baltimore to Norfolk as crews continue cleanup efforts of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge.
The Hampton Roads Alliance is pushing local leaders to address the issue by considering more energy infrastructure.
The Elizabeth River Project wants people to report river otter sightings to collect data on their comeback.
For the second time since the project broke ground in 2019, contractors have told VDOT that unexpected field conditions mean it'll take longer to get done - until at least sometime in 2025.
For half a century, residents of Lambert’s Point and Southeast Newport News have complained about coal dust from nearby terminals. They say they can't keep waiting for officials to collect more data to show there's a problem.
The Williamsburg-James City County school board approved a $199 million budget increasing staff salaries by an average of 4.5%.Superintendent Olwen Herron proposed a 3% salary increase for all employees, but some board members and district staff said it didn’t go far enough.
A federal judge ordered Sentara executives to answer more questions about an ongoing case in which the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating whether Sentara Health Plans — formerly Optima Health — unfairly increased premiums and pocketed an extra $665 million in 2018 and 2019.
The raises follow several years of tuition freezes at public colleges supported by state funding.
The suit, filed by a coalition of conservative groups, argues that the offshore wind industry threatens endangered whales. Scientists say there's no evidence of that.
City Council will decide this week if an Oceanfront business can convert it's second story into hostel-like accommodations for international workers.
Part of Suffolk’s improvement plan for the congested Godwin Boulevard route includes redesigning where the four-lane road crosses the Suffolk Bypass just south of Sentara Obici Hospital. But just what is a diverging diamond interchange?WHRO asked Old Dominion engineering professor Mecit Cetin how they work.
Rosie’s Gaming Emporium in Hampton will expand to 24-hour, 7-days-a-week operation after a unanimous vote Wednesday night by Hampton City Council.Colonial Downs Group, the company that operates Rosie’s, applied to extend the gambling parlor’s hours after Rivers Casino in Portsmouth opened last year. That casino already runs 24/7.
Three years after Virginia lawmakers voted to adopt the standards, the state is rolling them out. Here's what that does -- and doesn't -- mean.
A new housing study highlights the need for affordable housing for lower incomes and the disappearance of the city's middle-income residents.
If Williamsburg and James City County decide to split their school district, Williamsburg test scores may drop. James City County students outperformed Williamsburg students in math, science and reading SOL tests according to the city's feasibility report, released this week.
The City of Williamsburg says a plan to split its school division from James City County wouldn’t happen until August 2028 at the earliest and cost $18.9 million in the first year. The report, released Monday, said accounting for staffing costs, utilities, materials and other services, there would still be a $2.4 million operating deficit during year one.
With Portsmouth's waste-to-energy plant closing soon, a lot more trash is headed to the Regional Landfill in Suffolk. Long-term, that could change too.
The $40 million in state funding originally passed by the House of Delegates has become a loan to the city of Newport News in the latest budget compromise.
Many smaller farms in places like Chesapeake are being absorbed into larger farming operations or bought up for development.
Lawmakers say the new legislation will simplify the process for officials to get abandoned and derelict vessels out of the water.
Suffolk’s Assistant Fire Chief David Harrell said the city responds to any locality that requests mutual aid where no formal agreement exists. In 2023 alone, the department sent or received mutual aid 462 times. The city formalized that process with other Hampton Roads by approving an ordinance this week at City Council that adds the last few localities to the official agreement: the city of Poquoson, and counties of Gloucester, Southampton and Surry.
WHRO recently joined one of the Virginia Aquarium's annual whale tours to learn more about the creatures' passage through the area.
Last week, WHRO joined one of the Virginia Aquarium's annual whale tours -- and it was a quite successful one.
Weeks after a controversial Alabama court case ruling prompted clinics in the state to stop providing treatment, fertility providers and their patients are concerned about what’s next.U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine’s Access to Family Building Act is currently making its way to committee in the Senate. If passed, it would guarantee patients the right to seek treatments like IVF — and give doctors the right to provide those services.
A dead humpback whale washed onto the beach at the Oceanfront Sunday, while another washed up at False Cape State Park on Monday. Boat strikes and entanglement in fishing gear are the most common causes of whale deaths.
WHRO's Laura Philion spoke with former prosecutor and legal scholar Laura Killinger of William & Mary Law School about the history of “no body” murder cases in Virginia.
The tribe is working to restore more than 70 acres of an ancestral village site called Mattanock Town.
This month in Hampton Roads and Virginia health news: A college happiness study at Old Dominion, the Nansemond Nation opens its health clinic in Portsmouth, Sentara joins a nationwide cancer screening study and much more.
The project would aim to improve living conditions for sailors assigned to ships undergoing maintenance at Newport News Shipbuilding, which the Navy has been trying to address after a rash of suicides.
City officials confirmed this week that the public will retain access to the 15 acres that remain in city ownership. But it's unclear what that will look like.
A study at Old Dominion University is looking at how to mitigate student stress on campus using meditation.
The number of residents over 65 is expected to grow dramatically in Virginia Beach, exacerbating an already serious need for affordable senior housing.
A reader wrote in asking how much longer the construction would take. Officials say it's right on schedule.
While many coastal cities like Norfolk plan seawall projects to protect against flooding, a team at Virginia Tech -- and a university in Scotland -- are studying how higher temperatures and sea level rise affect the walls long-term.
A New York investment firm will pay Dominion about $3 billion for a 50% non-controlling interest in the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.
The local Planning District Commission has been working on a plan to submit to the EPA. It is a look at local greenhouse gas emissions and how to cut them.
The clinic officially opened its 1,000-square-foot dental care expansion this week, adding two new dental exam chairs to its facility. It also added a new behavioral health room where telehealth services will be available to patients.
The new plan could accelerate ongoing efforts at the Port of Virginia to electrify equipment like forklifts and straddle carriers.
The plan, due to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by March 1, outlines a vision for how to cut climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions across the state's various sectors.
The city's current recycling contract ends in June. No matter which new one the city pursues, costs will “rise sharply."
Virginia Beach Del. Barry Knight lost his seat on the House of Delegates Appropriations Committee last week without explanation. He's a longtime state budget negotiator and the most senior Hampton Roads state delegate.
Hampton Roads boasts notable Black neighborhoods, historically Black universities, Green Book locations and even the site where the first Africans set foot on U.S. soil in 1619. What it doesn't have is a way to help visitors find them all - but that may change soon with a little help from the General Assembly.
Since Virginia took ownership the former U.S. Army base in 2011, its struggled with drawing private investment - in part because of issues with the Army-installed utilities.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is calling on state officials to invest in more oyster restoration for economic, resilience and ecological benefits.
Norfolk International is getting $6 million to replace its aging customs facility, the latest in a stream of federally funded improvements announced at the airport. The total cost of the customs facility is around $33 million, Airport Authority president Mark Perryman said.
Manteo residents like being miles from the mainland, but it does have downsides, like making it difficult to keep health care providers in the immediate area.A partnership between the town’s health care task force and the North Carolina Medical Society may offer a solution. They’re launching a preceptor, or training program, based in the Outer Banks. Doctors in the area partner with students pursuing an MD, Physician’s Assistant or Nurse Practitioner degree for mentorship, and help them build connections in the communities with an eye to attracting them back as fully fledged providers.
The Planning Commission will vote Wednesday whether to adopt the study into the city's overall comprehensive plan.
The tribe said the clinic will be a “one-stop shop” for tribal members, Medicaid patients and people without insurance.
Eighteen more first responders will help staff Station 11, still under construction. The new positions, funded by FEMA’s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program, will also help offset upcoming retirements.
The Virginia Beach City Council has said tackling housing accessibility is one of its top priorities.
The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission plans to transform its existing lot to incorporate green and sustainable practices.
The menhaden reduction industry in the bay has been controversial for decades -- but the fight's recently gotten more heated. Now, science is at the center of the debate.
Parking lots cover a lot of land in Hampton Roads. Officials are starting to see them as an opportunity for resilience.
The Virginia Beach Police Department says it has identified the lone driver in last weekend's crash at the Oceanfront -- a 57-year-old man whose family members reported him missing. Recovery efforts took nearly a week because of poor weather conditions.
Despite previous tries at state-level office, the councilwoman says she doesn't expect to run for elected office again.
A Circuit Court ruling Monday says that a group challenging Virginia's removal from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative has standing to proceed with the case.
Old Dominion University’s Annual Economic Forecast includes good news on inflation, but worries persist around the federal budget and conflict in the Middle East.
Hampton Roads victims’ support groups say they’ve been slashing services for years. If they don’t receive state funding this session, there won’t be money to serve survivors.
The study is part of the same federal process Norfolk went through several years ago that ultimately led to its $2.6 billion floodwall project.
Democratic representatives from Virginia Beach say the change has citywide support and opposition is an effort to “thwart democracy.”
Lisa Darger has been on the job 6 weeks as Sentara's new director of sustainability. WHRO sat down with her to talk about her plans for the position.
Built and based in Hampton Roads, the Ford's cost overruns and technical delays have plagued the America's newest and biggest carrier.
Seven red light cameras will be installed this spring at accident-heavy intersections throughout Suffolk, joining a host of other cameras throughout the city.
The Elizabeth River Project is using a groundbreaking rolling conservation easement to ensure the land around its new headquarters is eventually surrendered to rising waters.
While Portsmouth is asking state lawmakers to help stop the purchase of 300 privately-owned acres at it's riverfront terminal, the Port says its not trying to buy the land - and has no idea where this came from.
Area health systems “strongly recommend” patients begin masking again at hospitals and clinics around Hampton Roads. Sentara, Bon Secours, Chesapeake Regional Medical Center, Eastern Virginia Medical School and Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters issued a joint statement asking patients and visitors to mask.The announcement comes on the heels of an uptick across the state in viruses like flu, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Several Latino students from Norfolk public schools and their families told WHRO they’re being targeted, robbed and attacked by their Black classmates. Their parents worry the schools aren't doing enough to protect them.
More than 1.3 million people rode the rails in Virginia last year – the highest ridership numbers since the state-supported service began in 2009.The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority says all four travel corridors – Newport News, Norfolk, Roanoke, and Richmond – saw double-digit percentage increases in ridership.
The tribe have said it needs to start construction soon on its long-awaited casino in order to open by the state-mandated deadline.
The new milestone is part of the port's larger goal to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.
Following an investigation by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO and ProPublica, Del. Delores McQuinn introduces bill for a commission to investigate the displacement of Black neighborhoods by Virginia’s public colleges and universities
Virginia Port Authority will give Suffolk $1 million toward the redesign of the intersection between Route 460 and the U.S. 58 bypass. The full project is estimated to cost $86 million.
Under changes proposed at the General Assembly, home buyers and renters in Virginia would get more information up front about a property's flooding risk and history.
The overhauled building includes the aquarium's popular river otter enclosure, new exhibits, outdoor play areas and a majorly expanded veterinarian care center. It reopens to the public on Jan. 14.
The Ford was supposed to be replaced by the USS Eisenhower in the fall — but that carrier was diverted to the Middle East in mid-October.The Ford’s deployment was on track to match the longest post-Vietnam stint at sea before Navy leadership made the call to send it home.
Hampton City Council denied a request from developers to convert unoccupied retail space into apartment homes.
Del. Mike Jones' ambitious bill would halt approvals of any new fossil fuel projects like power plants or pipelines.
Former Virginia Beach Fire Chief David Hutcheson won a special Virginia Beach City Council Tuesday election to represent the Kempsville area of the city, according to unofficial election results.
A new report from a state working group calls on state leaders to improve funding transparency and create a central resilience office.
After nearly four decades, Virginia State Police say they've found a culprit behind two of the infamous Colonial Parkway murders.Alan Wade Wilmer Sr. of Lancaster, Va. killed David Lee Knobling and Robin Margaret Edwards in 1987, the agency announced Monday.Wilmer, who died in 2017, is also linked to a July 1989 Hampton homicide.
Much like Virginia Beach's recent survey, Norfolk's asks residents about their interest in continued curbside recycling.
The plans now feature a single-phase build, starting with the casino itself, as the tribe races against the clock. But a part of the original plan has gone missing.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona visited a Portsmouth elementary school with Senator Tim Kaine and U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott to highlight new federal infrastructure dollars for Virginia schools.
Jay Jones spent two terms in the General Assembly and unsuccessfully challenged a previous AG for the Democratic nomination. Now, a big group of Democrats is starting a committee to push for Jones' 2025 run.
Employees at the Military Circle Costco voted to join the local Teamsters chapter. More than 200 workers are part of the new union.
More than half of the infrastructure in cities like Norfolk and New York is threatened by high rates of subsidence, according to the study.
The carrier could be back home by the middle of January, after an extended maiden voyage. The USS Gerald R. Ford could be back in Norfolk in a little more than two weeks. The U.S Sixth Fleet made the announcement Monday.
The Virginia Beach university has adopted climate-focused investment policies. Read more about Virginia universities using ESG at WHRO.org.
At the end of every year, cities and counties around Virginia put together their wish lists. But they’re not sending them to the North Pole - they’re sending them to Richmond.
With its luxurious waterfront neighborhoods, many Hampton Roads residents may think surely Virginia Beach has the region’s highest rents. But it was surpassed earlier this year.
With its luxurious waterfront neighborhoods, many Hampton Roads residents may think surely Virginia Beach has the region’s highest rents. But it was surpassed earlier this year.
Jacob Slocum died amid a culture on the USS Roosevelt that left dozens of sailors to leave the Navy over mental health concerns, as the Navy pressed to lower the number of suicides after high profile deaths in Norfolk.
Advocates are pushing Congress to take another look at helping young military families, who often struggle to pay for basic needs.
Virginia Wesleyan and the University of Virginia are among colleges turning to an investing framework known as ESG. Read more at WHRO.org.
Elizabeth Kostal has already done plenty of big things.She’s a doctor. She has a pilot’s license with an instrument rating, so she can fly at night with no landmarks to see by.Now, she's working on one of the biggest adventures in the world: Climbing Mt. Everest.
This story discusses sex trafficking and references child and adult sexual abuse. Please use discretion when reading and listening.
This week, the USS Eisenhower strike group destroyed more than a dozen missiles and drones in the Red Sea, part of a series of attacks since the war between Israel and Hamas began in October. The attacks make it increasingly less likely the two Norfolk-based carriers or the five other ships homeported in Hampton Roads will return quickly from the Middle East after the New Year.
The team recently got a $3 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Traffic through the Port of Virginia has exploded since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic. The cities who keep up the roads in and out of those facilities want more money to deal with heavier, more frequent trucks.
Two years after voters approved a bond referendum to fund 21 flood projects, here’s a look at where they stand.
The Virginia Aquarium ultimately admitted 56 turtle patients, and has since released 46 back into the ocean.
Virginia’s economy has recovered well from the Covid-19 pandemic, but that rebound hasn’t been evenly distributed across the state.
Williamsburg City Council unanimously voted to formalize an agreement with York County and James City County to build a regional sports complex.
Peter Vlaming was fired in 2018 for insubordination after refusing to use a transgender student’s preferred pronouns.
The state-funded shad recovery plan comes from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. The goal is to restore the species to historical levels.
Opponents say the brewery promotes a culture hostile to the LGBTQ community. Norfolk's City Council said the market can decide the brewery's fate.
Norfolk State University officials say they are proud of the men’s basketball team’s reaction Illinois State University fans calling them a racial slur at Dec. 9 game.
WHRO caught up with Mayor Donnie Tuck to hear about his experience at the major international event.
In front of a 500-strong audience Friday, Mayor Donnie Tuck focused on Hampton as a place “Where Innovations Begin.”“Our city is 413 years old — yet we continue to innovate,” he said.
A new study by William & Mary says about 20% of employment in the state can be tied back to the non-military maritime industry, primarily shipbuilding and ports activity based in Hampton Roads.
The adult female was one of a record number of eagles admitted for treatment this year at the Wildlife Center of Virginia.
The board has been mulling whether to build a new school or renovate the 112-year-old facility for several years. Now, it's picked a direction.
After a string of funding requests from festivals - including some that underperformed or never happened at all - the city council wants a more formal system for evaluating and awarding festival funding.
Second Sunday organizers were criticized by Jewish groups and the governor after canceling the menorah lighting. Now, the rabbi who proposed the ceremony is pivoting to a different, previously scheduled menorah lighting, saying this Hanukkah will be brighter than ever.
Sentara Health now owns the controlling interest in local urgent care provider Velocity. Sentara partnered with Velocity in 2017 when it turned seven of its urgent cares over to Velocity’s management and helped invest in 10 more. Its facilities range from Lightfoot to Virginia Beach.
The region’s visitors are here for pleasure, not business, says ODU Economist Vinod Agarwal.
The piece is designed to reflect the shifting shoreline at the Elizabeth River Project's new resilience lab.
Canada-based TC Energy can now start constructing its Virginia Reliability Project through Suffolk and Chesapeake.
WHRO host Doug Boynton and reporter Laura Philion talk about this month in Hampton Roads and Virginia health news.
Three development groups submitted pitches for a massive overhaul of the 97-acre Military Circle Mall site in 2021. Since then, a shifting economic climate has left the proposals unworkable.
Despite warming waters, low rainfall this year led to the least amount of deadly algae in the bay since monitoring began in 1985.
A lack of affordable housing is pushing younger workers to leave Hampton Roads for cities like Richmond and Charlotte. Old Dominion University is trying to figure out how to fix the problem.
Indian Residential Schools committed systemic abuse against indigenous tribes in the 19th and 20th centuries. But William and Mary’s colonial-era school may have been a sought-after experience for tribes, new research shows.
Local health officials have ramped up recruitment and retention efforts amid the ongoing national shortage.
One year ago, a Walmart shift manager carried a gun to the staff break room and began shooting coworkers. He killed six and injured several more before turning the gun on himself.The dead were Randy Blevins, 70; Fernando Chavez-Barron, 16; Tyneka Johnson, 22; Lorenzo Gamble, 43; Brian Pendleton, 38; and Kellie Pyle, 52.
Though the Greenbrier area Walmart is closing early and Gov. Youngkin has issued a flag order, not much else is scheduled for Nov. 22, the day a Walmart employee killed six people and himself last year. The city of Chesapeake said it isn’t sponsoring a vigil or event, only planning a social media post. A Walmart spokesperson said that store will close early at 5 p.m. to give employees private time to mark the day.
Residents of Virginia Beach’s District 1 can start casting ballots Nov. 29 to fill the district’s seat for the next year. The special election is scheduled for Jan. 9.
The new Interagency Regional Coordinators for Resilience are meant to create a model for how military communities can protect themselves from sea level rise.
Community objections over the far-right views of brewery spokespeople have now driven two neighborhood groups and the city's planning commission to object to Armed Forces Brewing Company's requests for permits it needs to operate. City Council will have the final say.
Deja Taylor, the mother of the 6-year-old Richneck Elementary shooter, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for lying about drug use to buy a gun, and for buying the weapon illegally. That gun was later taken by her first grader, who took it to school and shot his teacher in January.
The Commonwealth is the Southeast state that has taken the most action thus far, according to the new National Climate Assessment.
The Southeast, including Virginia, paved over more green space than any other region in the country in recent decades, according to this week's National Climate Assessment.
The sweeping new National Climate Assessment is the government’s most comprehensive report on how climate change is affecting the U.S., including a deep dive on the Southeast.
Abandoned or derelict vessels pose threats to water quality, navigation and the boating economy.
This year, Democratic candidates running in some of the most competitive races in the state — including Hampton Roads—leaned on union members as part of their political ground game of knocking on doors and distributing literature.
The project was a centerpiece of the region's hopes of becoming a hub for the fast-growing American wind power industry.
The race was too tight to call on Election Night, but as votes trickled in overnight, the gap between Republican Danny Diggs and Democratic incumbent Monty Mason has widened. Now, Diggs says he's the winner.
Opponents of the bond referendum said it grouped wants alongside needs in a $39.5 million bundle. With the "no" vote, the county will have to find other ways to fund a new fire station and improvements to parks and schools.
Republican Christie New Craig won Virginia Senate District 19 over Democrat candidate Myra Payne. The 19th district contains parts of Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, and was the seat of outgoing Senator John Cosgrove.
The Littlepage collection showcases the clothes of a colonial Virginian and graduate of William & Mary.
Virginia politicians highlighted the issues of abortion leading up to Election Day. Here's how that encouraged one voter in Virginia Beach to get to the polls.
The museum's new Wild Care Center will get visitors up close and personal with animals and the vets who treat them.
A Newport News Circuit Court judge ruled being shot by a student doesn't necessarily warrant a worker's compensation claim. Instead, former teacher Abby Zwerner can proceed with a $40 million lawsuit against Newport News Public Schools.
The money will be used to convert an existing marine terminal into an offshore wind logistics facility.
WHRO tagged along with dozens of third graders on the Elizabeth River Project’s Learning Barge.
A conversation with Deirdre Enright, who runs the Project for Informed Reform at UVA's School of Law. The project is looking at hundreds of cases linked to a former detective who's already been connected with at least ten wrongful convictions.
After Hampton officials didn’t seem to have a plan to house dozens of inmates when Hampton Roads Regional Jail closes next year, one now says the city’s found a path forward.Hampton Vice Mayor Jimmy Gray says the city is working out a deal to send Hampton’s prisoners to Western Tidewater Regional Jail in Suffolk.
Two agencies tasked with overseeing the state's medical marijuana program couldn't provide sales or revenue figures for the program's three-year history. This is raising questions from lawmakers. (This story was reported by Virginia Commonwealth University's Capital News Service)
Control of the General Assembly will come down to just a few critical suburban swing districts. Both parties are targeting a specific demographic to win them - white women.
A new study highlights the economic importance of an arts and culture sector devastated by the Covid19 pandemic.
Experts say neither party has a clear advantage in this year's elections. The outcome will have major ramifications for policies like abortion access.
The 97th House district in Virginia Beach has become this year's most expensive House race. Both major parties battling for control of the General Assembly which will likely come down to just one or two seats in each chamber.
Each week this month, WHRO’s Connor Worley explored the fascinating and spooky places in Hampton Roads. This week we head over to Norfolk’s Willoughby Spit to learn about its history and the ghosts that walk the beaches.
The iconic "founding fish" remain at zero percent, according to the latest State of the James report. The river overall has shown only marginal improvements since 2021.
Two of the 11 Virginians killed in the 1983 attack in Beirut, Lebanon were Hampton Roads natives.
Attorney General Jason Miyares called on Virginia law enforcement agencies to donate excess equipment to Israel to support the country in its war against Hamas. So far, the Virginia Beach Sheriffs Office are the only Hampton Roads agency to make a donation.
A dozen Democratic Senators signed onto a letter pushing for the Department of Labor to penalize not just those companies that employ children illegally, but those who hire them as subcontractors and benefit from that child labor.
Environmental advocacy group Oceana says more than 70% of the vessels navigating the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay exceeded the 10-knot speed limit between 2020 and 2022.
Each week this month, WHRO’s Connor Worley is going to a fascinating or spooky place in Hampton Roads. This week we head up to Williamsburg to step inside a haunted house with ties to the Declaration of Independence.
The suit argued the school board lacked the authority to delay adopting Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s model policies, which were finalized in July and went into effect in August.
An analysis of five major Oceanfront events held this year shows mixed results in terms of monetary payoff for the city. But officials say the events are worth more than just the dollars and cents.
The regional jail’s authority board voted unanimously to close the expensive and largely empty facility.
The new system captures methane and other greenhouse gases from the Regional Landfill in Suffolk and processes them into renewable natural gas.
City officials say Virginia Beach is running out of space in the developed northern half of the city to continue building big projects. They're looking to the south, which many worry endangers a decades-old policy meant to preserve the area's agricultural environment.
The High Performance Data Facility Hub will include building infrastructure to manage large amounts of data from national science research facilities.
The group behind a new map says it's meant to simplify zoning so average people can better grasp it. The group hopes officials and residents will use it to help address problems like housing affordability.
Citizen scientists will spread out across Hampton Roads to map flooding from the king tide.
The floodgates, part of the city's $2.6 billion floodwall project, have some local environmental groups concerned about pollution impacts.
Each week this month, WHRO’s Connor Worley is going to explore a fascinating or spooky place in Hampton Roads. This time we travel to Virginia Beach to explore the supernatural walls of the Ferry Plantation House.
Each week this month, WHRO’s Connor Worley is going to explore a fascinating or spooky place with historical ties to Hampton Roads. We’re headed south to False Cape State Park to learn about the abandoned Wash Woods Settlement.
The Suffolk school board delayed a vote on Oct. 12, 2023 on policies pertaining to transgender students that expand on model policies from the state. It highlights how school boards across Virginia are struggling to figure out the best legal way to implement the rules from Gov. Glenn Youngkin's administration.
Governor Glenn Youngkin unveiled the marker alongside state delegates and city leaders.“I do hope that Virginians and Americans, friends from around the world who are traveling, will stop and reach one stop at this marker, and they will fully take in what the Green Book meant and continues to mean,” Youngkin said.
Suffolk Superintendent John B. Gordon will recommend detailed policies about the treatment of transgender students based on models created by Gov. Glenn Youngkin's administration at the city's Oct. 12, 2023 school board meeting.
Political, social, and economic forces combined to drive white flight in the Hampton Roads region. The decisions made by Norfolk leadership in the past still reverberate today. WHRO’s Barry Graham examines the city’s equity in the modern day.
Norfolk city leaders faced a dilemma — the city had been the state’s most populous locality, a title it had relinquished to Virginia Beach. White residents were fleeing in droves. Many of the city’s power brokers saw cross-town bussing as the culprit. WHRO’s Barry Graham details how Norfolk city officials sounded the alarm.
The changes bring the district in line with Gov. Glenn Youngkin's model policies. Previously, two parents had sued Virginia Beach to try to force the district to adopt the policies.
Local leaders met at a virtual roundtable held by the Sierra Club to give updates on their efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Chesapeake started studying high-capacity transit options – like express buses or even light rail – this summer. The study will be completed in late 2024.
In the 1950s, Norfolk began a series of redevelopment projects — presented as a way to revamp the city’s image. Instead, it quietly worked to segregate and suppress Norfolk’s Black residents. WHRO’s Connor Worley explains how the city’s attempt to preserve a white hierarchy ultimately prompted white flight in the coming decades.
The cities in Hampton Roads have experienced several demographic changes in the last several decades. Largest among them is the white flight out of Norfolk that took place from the 1960s to the 1990s. In the first segment of our four-part series on white flight in Hampton Roads, WHRO’s Connor Worley breaks down its characteristics.
Hampton Roads Transit is moving its downtown Portsmouth transfer hub on County Street to make room for the city’s demolition and reconstruction of a municipal parking garage.
The USS Gerald R. Ford has been in the Adriatic Sea near Italy since June and will now move to support Israel in a conflict-turned-war with the militant group, Hamas.
Rail maintenance machine manufacturer Plasser American opened a new facility in Chesapeake Thursday. The company aims to add 75 new jobs.
“There is no state in the country that would be harder hit by a government shutdown than Virginia. And there's no part of Virginia that would be harder hit by a government shutdown than Hampton Roads,” Warner said.The Senate voted 88-9 Saturday night to extend the old budget by 6 weeks. Warner said he wasn’t happy with that result — in part because it’s only a continuing resolution, meaning contractors will have to abide by last year’s spending levels.
Archaeologists and architects are preserving Jamestown’s iconic church tower and excavating a recently unearthed well as the rising James River threatens the historic land.
The Nation reached an agreement with TC Energy about its concerns on the Virginia Reliability Project.
HR McMaster is a retired Lt. General and former National Security Advisor to Donald Trump.
The local planning commission has $1 million from the EPA to start drafting plans to cut emissions that fuel climate change.
A lack of resources, staffing and subpeona power meant it was difficult for the commission tasked with investigating the Virginia Beach mass shooting to do so effectively.
The EPA's new Climate Pollution Reduction Grant, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, is meant to help states plan how to cut emissions.
Only 3% of Hampton Roads residents identified as Hispanic in 2000. Now, it’s double or triple that in most local cities.
The city could raise fees to support the program, eliminate curbside service or allow people to opt in and out.
A Dominion Energy pilot project is using sheep to help maintain six solar farms — demonstrating benefits for both the solar industry and farmers.
With the passage of the state budget three months late, the way has been paved for Medicaid to expand on December 1.
With the passage of the state budget three months late, the way has been paved for Medicaid to expand on December 1.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation says bay water quality has declined since they last tested.
As many as 2,000 could work at the twin facilities once they're both fully operational. One will be a massive 3.2 million square-foot facility filled with cutting-edge robotics, officials said.
The lawsuit alleges Virginia Beach City Public Schools is breaking state law by delaying adoption of the governor's new model policies.
The park is a quarter of a mile beyond Harbor Park and the Amtrak station, nestled between I-264 and Lyon Shipyard. The Elizabeth River Trail runs past before ending at Norfolk State University.The park has a native pollinator garden and a Little Free Library alongside the pantry. Foundation director Kindra Greene wants to add a bench and a rainwater collection system to help the garden be self-sustaining.
Researchers use the vessel to study everything from shipwrecks to underwater infrastructure. It's currently open for public tours at Nauticus.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday that Lyon Shipyard will expand its facilities in Norfolk, adding 134 jobs in vessel maintenance and repair.
Move represents a 38% increase to maximum allowable charges for towing a vehicle in Virginia Beach. That makes fees potentially significantly higher than neighboring Norfolk or Chesapeake.
The new state budget includes $14 million for the Old Dominion University-Eastern Virginia Medical School merger, on track to happen in January 2024.
The military once stored and shipped thousands of tons of munitions from the site that contaminated the area.
The aircraft carrier is operating off the eastern seaboard as it gets ready of a move to Japan
Vice President Kamala Harris visited Hampton University on Thursday to kick off her “Fight for our Freedoms” college tour.
Hampton council member Chris Bowman issued a formal apology at Wednesday’s council meeting. In a statement he read aloud, Bowman said he had learned valuable lessons and that he was receiving professional counseling.
Two apartment buildings on the edge of the redevelopment area are already nearing completion as the city breaks ground on a third.
The city says a “condensed timeline” meant city departments couldn’t ensure a planned October music festival would be put on safely.
The city says a “condensed timeline” meant city departments couldn’t ensure a planned October music festival would be put on safely.
The changes are in line with guidance from Gov. Glenn Youngkin that favors parental control of student identification.
The tribe told federal regulators that Canada-based TC Energy has treated it with "disdain or indifference" in discussions about the Virginia Reliability Project.
When I-664 was built in the late 1980’s, it cut off Southeast Newport News from the city’s civic center and its largest employer - Newport News Shipbuilding.
The lawsuit from the Virginia Attorney General's office was prompted by viral footage of Windsor police repeatedly pepper spraying an Army medic during a traffic stop.
The government will use the designations to help prioritize money and technical assistance for community resilience projects.
Officials say the proposed Grange at 10Main project, which would have built nearly 300 homes next to Smithfield's historic downtown, could come back in a new form.
A new pilot project is part of local leaders' larger vision for what they call the Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hub.
Local officials want to jump-start the green hydrogen business, focusing on helping big local industries transition to hydrogen from diesel fuel.
The head of the Mid-Atlantic Fleet Readiness Center Capt. Paul Choate was fired for loss of confidence in his ability to command.
Missy Cotter Smasel is a Navy veteran, just like freshman Congresswoman Jen Kiggans. But she says Kiggans has failed to focus on military veterans and their families on Capitol Hill.
The cities have struggled with spikes in violence since 2020. The state budget deal could give each city millions to hire coordinators for community violence reduction.
The deal includes raises for teachers and state employees, tax rebates for Virginia residents and more.
Most of Hampton Roads' core cities are shrinking. But just to the west, things are booming in the communities long known for cotton fields and peanut farms.
Aubrey Eaton went to the old Hardy Elementary School, as did much of his family. Now, Eaton is helping to build the new Hardy, where his daughter will start kindergarten next week.
Governor Roy Cooper's activation of state emergency operations will include the transport of fuel and aiding first responders.
Kids walked up to Richneck with parents and said hi to their classmates. It would be a typical first day — except for everyone's clear backpacks, the police cars and the reporters.
Residents in the Southeast community can pick produce for free straight from the source.
Lawrence Hultgren helped build Virginia Wesleyan’s philosophy department when he arrived a few years after the college started.
A late summer surge has increased COVID-19 hospitalization rates and hospital beds in use for COVID patients.
The Virginia Beach school board voted down the middle, with one abstention, on Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s model policies for trans students.
After hours of discussion, the council flagged those two as the biggest issues the city will face over the next two years during a retreat on Tuesday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its annual high tide flooding predictions.
In the wake of the shooting of a teacher by her 6-year-old student, Newport News teachers told the school board they were concerned about how district leaders seemed to dismiss discipline issues. Some say they're hoping a new superintendent - and longtime NNPS administrator - can change that.
Hundreds braved the sticky heat this weekend to spectate and dance at the annual Nansemond Pow Wow at Mattanock Town, Suffolk.
The city is the first in Virginia to use a funding mechanism called an environmental impact bond for its "Resilient Hampton" initiative.
The state will use the money for energy efficiency rebates for low and middle-income households. Visit WHRO.org for a complete guide to IRA opportunities in Virginia.
Virginia Beach is considering handing off the Virginia Aquarium to a private operator as Aquarium leaders say they need as much as $300 million for a major renovation and expansion.
Petitioners only got about a tenth of the 32,000 signatures they needed, but say they got their message across to those in power.
The IRA boosts a rooftop solar tax credit and keeps it stable for the next decade. Visit WHRO.org for a complete guide to IRA opportunities in Virginia.
Virginia Beach will continue using the district-based election system imposed by a court last year, after a judge ruled the city's previous system violated the Voting Rights Act.
The law signed one year ago opens up almost $400 billion in funding for clean energy projects — including in Virginia. Visit WHRO.org for a complete guide.
It’s the only major coastal area Redfin analyzed on the East Coast that's losing population.
Chesapeake Public Schools is preparing its latest iteration of a district facilities use policy that removes explicit mention of non-school affiliated groups. The school board will consider the change at its meeting Tuesday.
Listen as WHRO takes you inside the butterfly enclosure with brothers Mason, 3, and Silas, 6.
The new butterfly enclosure lets visitors get up close and personal with many species, including the endangered monarch.
Vice Mayor Jimmy Gray called Councilman Chris Bowman's conduct "unbecoming of a public official."
Marines from the 26th MEU trained to deploy on commercial shipping vessels, ahead of US decision on whether to allow the Marines on cargo ships traveling the Straits of Hormuz.
Residents have recently pushed back hard on development in Southern Chesapeake's rural areas. Now, City Council will vote Tuesday on a referendum that would ask if residents want to use more tax money to buy up rural land to limit development.
As the PACT Act approaches an August 9 deadline for veterans to receive additional benefits, the head of the VA says the agency is handling the added volume with more than 5 million veterans eligible.
Navy medical personnel will work alongside civilian providers at VCU Medical Center in Richmond to get hands on experience treating trauma cases while sharing battlefield practices with their civilian counterparts.
Seatack residents say their concerns about health and safety of the facility have been brushed off. Now, they're rallying to fight the project, the latest such battle over industrial development in neighborhoods across Hampton Roads.
More than 400 people have visited Hampton Roads emergency or urgent care centers this summer suffering from heat-related illness.
Virginia Beach Sheriff Ken Stolle will retire after 13 years in the job. City councilman and Chief Deputy Rocky Holcomb will serve as interim sheriff until the city holds a special election to replace Stolle.
Several projects for Hampton Roads are left hanging as the House and Senate clash over abortion policy.
Some cities - like Chesapeake or Virginia Beach - have virtually no neighborhoods where the average rent of a one-bedroom apartment is affordable. Others like Norfolk have many.
The tribe submitted a scaled-down development plan for its casino that it said was just the first phase. City leaders frustrated with the lack of progress asked them to withdraw it.
The two have operated a joint school district since 1955. But after Williamsburg publicly said in June it was looking at going solo, James City County voted this week to pull out of the joint operation.
Happening in August, it is an attempt to simulate what it would be like for the Navy to face threats from near-peer competitors.
Therapy dog Lucy came to visit patients and staff of the cardiac ward at Chesapeake Regional.
The team at William & Mary believes the birds' low reproduction rate is tied to overharvesting of menhaden, a key food source.
The new Virginia Security Corridor aims to "prevent encroachment on military missions," build climate resilience and conserve key natural habitats.
What started as a 3-hour seminar for first-time homebuyers from the Virginia Housing and Community Development Corporation has evolved into a 15-hour, week-long course. VHCDC's leader says people need that much to get the full scope of what it takes to buy a house.
The US plans to eventually sell Virginia Class Submarines to Australia, as part of a landmark security agreement.
After Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced that Armed Forces Brewing Co. would be moving its headquarters to Norfolk's Park Place, neighbors flagged what they say are misogynistic and anti-LGBTQ+ statements and social media posts from the company and its owners.
Anthem/Blue Cross Blue Shield and the largest group of OB-GYNs in Hampton Roads may terminate their agreement at the end of this month.
The Hampton Roads Sanitation District has released a new climate plan that assesses flood risk at its treatment plants, pipes and pump stations.
Current and former military members in Hampton Roads now have a new insurance option — associated with one of the biggest names in medicine.
Critics of the $2.6 billion project worry that in the face of climate change, Norfolk's money could be better spent addressing current flooding tied to rising sea levels.
Norfolk International Airport hosted two-dozen kids to let them experience an airport is all about, see how it works and learn about the many jobs behind the scenes that keep planes in the air.
To keep up with energy demands, Youngkin said he wants to position the state to get a modular nuclear reactor online in the next decade.
The William A. Hunton YMCA formed in 1875 to serve Norfolk's Black community in the wake of the Civil War. After generations of service and worries it would be displaced, a deal will keep it in St. Paul's.
The Army posts the worst numbers in a decade, after several reports try to get at the root cause.
Cost overruns threaten the Navy’s “once in a generation” shipyard modernization according to federal auditors.
The airport had 7% more travelers in the week surrounding Independence Day than it did last year. Airline officials tell us why.
The city will lease about 35 acres of the former Campostella Landfill to a D.C.-based solar company.
The Princess Anne branch of the Virginia Beach library system is adding surfboards and other equipment to its catalog.
Amid rising costs, the city will raise fines for residents who do things like overfill their trash bins or put out hazardous waste.
At a city council meeting this month, Hampton Mayor Donnie Tuck called any decision to move the carousel premature.
The historic parkway that links Jamestown and Yorktown hasn’t had a major repair since it opened in 1957.
HRSD bought 40 acres of the now-closed course for $30 million. But about 15 acres remain with the city.
A lack of rainfall this spring led to less pollution runoff — which in turn reduced the amount of deadly algae developing in the bay, scientists say.
The project in Chesterfield Heights was under construction for three years. Environmental officials around the state and country are looking to it as a potential model.
Nearly 250 families were relocated as part of a $58 million redevelopment effort. Construction is continuing but one new apartment building just opened, where more than a third of the units were reserved for returning Ridley residents.
Students started a chapter of the national nonprofit Citizens’ Climate Lobby last year and have been pushing for a carbon tax.
The Resilient Norfolk project, which includes a series of levees and tide gates, has been in the works for nearly a decade and will now move toward construction.
The city has run a joint school division with neighboring James City County since 1955. But its considering breaking away. (Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools is a member of HRETA, which owns WHRO's FCC license.)
The Christian Broadcasting Network, which Robertson founded, announced his death. No cause was immediately given.
The ERT foundation will use a $400,000 grant for the effort, which includes a new kayak launch.
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative funds a flood preparedness program that's given more than $25 million to the region.
The beleaguered mall was once a crown jewel of downtown. Now, the city's getting it at a fire sale price to control the future of MacArthur Center.
The federal government is changing the risk assessment methods it uses to determine flood insurance rates. The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission announced Monday its GetFloodFluent.org estimate tool is updated with the latest standards.
Capt. Michael Witherspoon took over the base at the height of COVID and left weeks after a tornado.
All seagrass is important for the ecosystem. But the shift reveals how climate change is already making its mark, VIMS says.
City employees, officials and residents gathered to remember the 12 victims of the 2019 mass shooting in Building 2 of the city's municipal center.
Glenn Youngkin joins the governors of Florida and Iowa in sending military assistance at the request of Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
New data analysis from the nonprofit Chesapeake Conservancy says the ground-mounted panels are mostly taking over agricultural land.
American tennis has low minority participation, but involvement in the sport among Black people has been growing in recent years. Here's a look at one group helping to get more young Black women on the courts in HR.
Players who look like Venus and Serena Williams have long been the exception, rather than the rule, in American tennis. Here's a look at one group helping to get more young Black women on the courts in Hampton Roads.
A long-time city employee shot and killed 11 other city workers and a Virginia Beach resident in a mass shooting on May 31, 2019. The city is marking the anniversary with a moment of silence Wednesday afternoon and a vigil in the evening.
There is some uncertainty due to El Niño, which usually suppresses Atlantic hurricane activity.
Chesapeake Regional Medical Center will no longer be considered in-network for those with Cigna health insurance unless the hospital and the insurance giant can come to an agreement.
TEAM LAMB is planning a 3-day Juneteenth festival. Hear CEO Israel Leader talk about plans for the event.
A month after the death of Captain Matt "Chevy" Chiaverotti, his colleagues are screening themselves for cancer.
The small building owned by the Catholic Diocese of Richmond is among the last standing buildings in what was Tidewater Gardens. Now, the city is preparing to spend more than 2.5 times the assessed value for the plot.
St. George Coptic Orthodox Church in Hampton estimates it’s the largest Egyptian Orthodox church in Hampton Roads. They held their annual festival this weekend.
Two people won all four rare bourbon bottles ABC held a lottery for - something the beverage control authority called "abnormal."
A new report from Old Dominion University's Dragas Center says Virginia Beach hotel revenue is up 40% higher than this time in 2019. It's followed closely by Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Suffolk.
Navy vows to take more action after multiple suicides among young sailors on board the USS George Washington during maintenance at Newport News and at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center in Norfolk.
The increase in deaths are attributed to speeding, distracted and unrestrained driving.
WHRO spoke with engineer Ross Brockwell, who will live in a Mars-simulated habitat in Houston.
A boat crashed into the underside of the Route 168 Bypass Bridge on Friday. Officials have closed one of the two lanes southbound over the bridge for repairs. It's not clear how long that will take - or how seriously tourist traffic will be impacted.
Molly Jones and Lexi Bradshaw are both juniors in Virginia Beach schools' Environmental Studies program. They're out on the Lafayette River to pick up microplastics ahead of Clean the Bay Day on June 3.
The case could have a big impact on a similar fight happening in Suffolk over a proposed logistics center that would stretch more than 500 acres. Neighbors there are suing the city council over the project's approval.
Problems with substandard housing prompting the Navy to look at new rules for base housing.
The move comes as the U.S. government lifts its national public health emergency that was in place throughout the pandemic.
The Chesapeake Bay Program's science committee concluded that officials need to change tactics in order to achieve water quality goals.
Site owners are seeking funding to turn the building into a museum to build on the legacy of the federation's philanthropic work.
The case, which centers around the controversial Port 460 Logistics Center, had been scheduled to move forward on Tuesday.
The national COVID emergency declaration expires this week, and with it a flexibility that kept people continuously on Medicaid.
Suffolk Circuit Court will hear citizens' appeal to the decision to rezone more than 500 acres along Route 460.
The teens are performing about things that matter to them — the state of their schools, their identities, isolation, struggles. And they have a place to get up on stage and express themselves.
The tornado hit Sunday night, carving a 4.5-mile swath through the northeast part of the city.
State law says when cities are raising taxes, the public must have a chance at a hearing. It also says that hearing has to be advertised in a very specific way 30 days in advance. That didn't happen, so a second public hearing is set to be scheduled.
The Industrial Waterfront Study will evaluate how best to use land for a balance of economic development and environmental conservation.
The Hall of Fame says the Portsmouth native was crucial to crafting the Virginia Beach area sound that "took over the airwaves" starting in the late ‘90s.
Virginia Tech researchers used satellite data to precisely map out subsidence rates across Atlantic coastal areas.
Rip Verkerke, a labor law expert from UVA's law school, says Virginia's Worker's Compensation system is uniquely restrictive. That means lawsuits from victims of two high-profile workplace shootings - at a school in Newport News and a Walmart in Chesapeake - will be an uphill battle.
The EF-3 that ripped through a Beach neighborhood Sunday night caused damage to over 100 structures -- but no reported injuries.
Sen. Tim Kaine acknowledges concentrating on building new facilities won't solve the whole problem.
“With the exception of potential impacts on climate change," regulators wrote, staff "concludes that impacts would be reduced to less than significant levels.”
Offensive lineman Nick Saldiveri was the first player to hear his name called to start Day 3.
Despite weather delays and cancellations, an estimated 30,000 people came to the third Something in the Water festival -- the second held in organizer Pharrell Williams' hometown of Virginia Beach.
Tenn. Rep. Justin Pearson told the congregation at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Virginia Beach that he sees the start of a national movement.
After Brown v. Board of Education, Norfolk refused to integrate its schools. City leaders went so far as to close the white schools in 1958 rather than let 17 Black students through their doors. Now, the Norfolk 17 story is etched in glass and stone.
Three defendants in Newport News teacher Abby Zwerner's lawsuit have filed a motion to dismiss, saying Zwerner is covered by worker's comp laws.
The Suffolk City School Board appealed a lower court's ruling that it violated Virginia's Freedom of Information laws.
Less than usual precipitation and extremely dry soil are indicators a drought could be coming.
Black leaders say what happened at Greekfest in 1989 "broke trust" between Black visitors and Virginia Beach. Pharrell's festival was meant to help repair that trust.
City Council's vote allows city officials to sign an agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers. It follows more than a month of back and forth over various concerns.
The agreement with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission is not enforceable by the state.
The program will bring hypertension prescriptions directly to patients on Tangier Island and elsewhere.
Eleven local independent bookstores, or indies, are participating to spread the word about what they bring to Hampton Roads.
Eleven local independent bookstores, or indies, are participating to spread the word about what they bring to Hampton Roads.
A group of Norfolk citizens is pushing for its city council to slash tax rates to keep bills the same or majorly reprioritize city spending to aid those neighborhoods contributing to rising revenues.
Plaintiffs accused the federal agency of violating the Clean Water Act by letting Pennsylvania fall too short of pollution reduction targets.
The store, which has been remodeled and includes a small outdoor memorial, opened its doors for the first time since November 22.
Deputy Chief Orrin Gallop will fill Talbot’s shoes while Hampton searches for a permanent chief.
The digital tool looks at the issue specifically in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, including Hampton Roads.
The Western Tidewater Free Clinic will add two more dental chairs and 1,000 square feet of space to meet growing demand.
Rebecca Fass of the Riverside neighborhood is hard at work before opening her home's doors for the 90th annual event.
Master Sgt. Zachary Cooper given the highest flying award for 2019 battle in Helmand Province Afghanistan.
A new report from the Chesapeake Bay Program outlines how warming fueled by climate change affects marine life, human recreation and the program's own pollution efforts.
Norfolk and Newport News got a combined $60 million from the federal government for redevelopment of public housing in 2019. But the pandemic has made construction costs balloon.
Danaesha Martin says a deputy forced her to take her underwear off after asking for a sanitary pad at Portsmouth City Jail in 2022. Martin's lawyer says there is no security reason to ask inmates to expose themselves.
The Virginia Beach Police Department will use the same poles to install cameras and public address horns.
The dashboard details gun violence across the seven cities and its relationship to poverty rates and incarceration.
Nonprofit officials hope that by teaching about bay-related issues, they can foster more environmental advocates.
VLPP says it’ll wait for the FDA’s guidance before it stops providing mifepristone. The Department of Justice appealed on behalf of the FDA Monday afternoon, asking Fifth Circuit Court judges to stay the Texas order until the appeal is decided.
Local officials now want to ask the federal government for further study to add flood barriers to communities on the city's Southside.
In the past two decades, compared to the two prior, the number of billion-dollar disasters in the state rose by 139%.
Human bones were found at the site of the First Baptist Church in early 2021. Now, two years later, the DNA analysis is back – and tells a story.
Human bones were found at the site of the First Baptist Church in early 2021. Now, two years later, the DNA analysis is back – and tells a story.
Norfolk's incoming police chief wasn't one of the finalists for the job - he was interviewing them as part of the search committee. Now, the Norfolk branch of the NAACP says the hiring process was the result of "covert back door practices."
Rear Admiral Eric Ver Hage says he reached out to the Army after four deaths at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintaince Center in December. He spoke during a panel at the Sea Air Space Conference in Washington.
Hampton Police Chief Mark Talbot will be Norfolk's next top cop. But he didn't initially apply. In fact, he was one of the ones interviewing Norfolk's finalists for the job just a few weeks ago.
City Council voted unanimously to use the school buses to move festival goers from the Amphitheater to the Oceanfront. Council will also allocate $350,000 to pay bus drivers -- a cost that will be reimbursed by festival organizers.
Five small businesses will pilot their ideas to better flood insurance in Hampton Roads.
Walmart said the Supercenter off Volvo Parkway will reopen to the public on April 19. It underwent an extensive renovation after November's mass shooting left 7 dead.
The Medical Examiner determined cause of death for the sailor found dead Monday at the Newport News shipbuilding facility.
The Medical Examiner determined cause of death for the sailor found dead Monday at the Newport News shipbuilding facility.
Mike Goldsmith started with Norfolk Police in 1989, and was chief between 2012 and 2016. Since then he'd been overseeing public safety and other departments as an assistant city manager. He stepped in as interim police chief after last year's abrupt departure of former chief Larry Boone.
Zack Kuntz and Nick Saldiveri were the popular attractions at the Monarchs’ Pro Day this month.
Harvion Simpkins was charged with second-degree murder after his two-year-old victim died of her wounds.
The 5/31 Memorial Committee chose Dills Architects, who partnered with New York-based firm SWA.
Devon Jeffrey Faehnrich joined the Navy in 2021, right after leaving high school in Westminster, Colorado.
TC Energy wants to replace and widen about 49 miles of existing pipeline that runs through Suffolk and Chesapeake.
An exhibit at Portsmouth's Colored Community Library Museum is resurfacing stories about the role of baseball in the Black community before integration. One of those players, Sam Allen, tells WHRO what it was like.
The Navy is investigating the death of a sailor at the Newport News Shipbuilding facility Monday.
It all came about after officials started looking at the Historic Jamestowne logo in a new light.
Norfolk is getting $1.6 million in federal money to help reconnect the communities east of downtown which were divided by the construction of I-264 in the 1960's.
Norfolk is getting $1.6 million in federal money to help reconnect the communities east of downtown which were divided by the construction of I-264 in the 1960's.
Norfolk is getting $1.6 million in federal money to help reconnect the communities east of downtown which were divided by the construction of I-264 in the 1960's.
Two years after her death, Deshayla Harris' family filed suit against the city of Virginia Beach over her shooting.
The Monarchs have two draftable prospects in tight end Zack Kuntz and offensive lineman Nick Saldiveri.
City Council's decision on the federal agreement was postponed after residents of historically Black communities on the Southside said they've been excluded from discussions on the project.
Candida Auris cases have sprouted in Virginia over the last decade. There are currently 40 cases in the state.
Miliary parents say they are being squeezed by the lack of availability and high cost of child care.
The agency is finalizing plans to build a new Atlantic Marine Operations Center in Rhode Island.
Anyone, including tribes, educators or community groups, can apply to receive a sensor that measures pollutants in the air.
Abby Zwerner was shot by one of her first graders on January 6. She plans to sue the school district after administrators' alleged inaction.
The joint announcement from Sentara, Chesapeake Regional, Riverside, CHKD and Bon Secours comes three years after the pandemic began.
A Q&A with Ted Henifin of Hampton, who was appointed by the DOJ last year to oversee an overhaul of the Mississippi water system.
The Lefcoe Leadership class in Portsmouth wanted to give teachers a new, functional space.
People will be able to view the proposed extension, potential new stations and the project's feasibility.
Town leaders in Edenton, N.C unanimously agreed this week to move a Confederate monument, potentially ending a lawsuit from a coalition of groups that wanted to protect the structure.
The event returns to Virginia Beach for the first time since 2019. Organizer Pharrell Williams is bringing hip-hop heavyweights, chart toppers and pop darlings to the oceanfront festival.
Officials announced this week they are teaming up to help prepare vulnerable Virginia communities for climate change.
The revised policy approved March 8 says a person can't be oppressed based on their skin color, sexual orientation or religion and "there is no systemic racism or bigotry perpetuated by the United States or any government entity.”
Governor Glenn Youngkin gave out $12 million in housing programs, with $2.5 million going to Hampton Roads.
Terry Jenkins has spent the last few years organizing the nonprofit board raising money to build a hospice house in Virginia Beach. Now in hospice herself, she’s still focused on expanding hospice capacity in Hampton Roads.
Residents would be able to voluntarily turn over guns — no questions asked — and receive a gift card or cash in return.
Strawberries and other crops started growing early after a warm February. Now they need to survive upcoming frost.
The 59-foot-tall rocket will carry two satellites designed to capture high-resolution images of Earth.
The conference hopes the tournament will raise awareness to its esports athletic programs and its schools’ STEM majors.
The new machine has never been used on people and "represents a paradigm shift in the field," according to the institute.
The program stopped taking new requests for assistance in February to clear a 200-case backlog -- but it will start accepting new applications, with new guidelines, in April.
Commonwealth's Attorney Howard Gwynn first made the statement in an interview with NBC News.
Residents can expect both the depth and frequency of flooding to accelerate dramatically unless the city adapts, the institute says.
This year, the MEAC tournament will include an e-sports competition running at the same time as the basketball headliners.
Navy looking for ways to tackle mental health in the wake of several suicides, including in Hampton Roads.
The new partnership with EVMS hopes to get people outdoors and connect them with mental health resources.
24-year-old Jemarr Mosley Jr. has been a sworn officer with the department since 2021. He was relieved of his law enforcement authority and is on administrative duty, according to the department.
The change is part of the $30 million federally funded redevelopment of the St. Paul’s and Tidewater Gardens area.
The group of local students and historians is working to document the enslaved people who were shipped from Norfolk during its long-overlooked role in the domestic slave trade.
Expanding Medicaid eligibility will allow 600,000 more North Carolinians to access government subsidized health insurance.
The has created understaffed games and extra workloads for referees across different sports and multiple age levels.
The Museum of Chincoteague Island wants the public’s help to buy what’s left of the Beebe Ranch.
VMRC's recent decision to extend the state's oyster season means the harvest will hit numbers not seen since the 1980s.
Avangrid Renewables wants to run transmission cables from the farm through the neighborhood.
Much like the president he served under more than a decade ago, current President Joe Biden was in Virginia Beach Feb. 28 highlighting the benefits of the Affordable Care Act at a time he says Republicans are pushing for policies that would increase health care costs for Americans.
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced $1.6 million for the Norfolk project this week as part of a new federal program.
The law, which still needs a signature from Gov. Youngkin, will give up to $1,500 to those who donate enough shells.
Virginia Beach council member Barbara Henley says that funding model could be used to pay for affordable housing.
New research shows the Portsmouth historically Black high school's roots go back to 1878.
A bill that could expand fiber-optic coverage in rural Virginia now heads to Governor Youngkin for a signature.
Virginia Beach's vice mayor said the rules will help hotels become pet-friendly if they want.
Governor Glenn Youngkin and students from across the Commonwealth talked about Fort Monroe's role in the Civil War.
The Virginia Senate voted unanimously to confirm the Chincoteague pony's new designation. The pony joins the Northern cardinal and Virginia big-eared bat as state symbols.
The community health care centers are aimed at underserved communities and health care inequities.
The partnership between the two school systems is a portion of the $10 million Virginia received as part of a federal bipartisan act to provide mental health services to students.
WHRO's Another View spoke with Edenton, N.C. residents about the town's ongoing conversation about whether or not to move the Confederate monument at the town's waterfront.
The whale died from blunt force trauma from a collision with a boat, according to the necropsy conducted on the beach.
The new 3D printing lab allows HELP Inc. to bring down the costs for patients by up to 90%.
Biologists from NOAA and the Stranding Response team at the aquarium necropsied the whale to find out why it died.
Residents are concerned after two whales wash up near Lesner Bridge and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
The Uvalde Foundation for Kids instead plans to send the money directly to Newport News teacher Abby Zwerner, who was shot by her 6-year-old student.
"Wading Between Two Titans" comes from the University of Virginia’s Repair Lab, which focuses on climate change and environmental justice.
The 18th-century school for free and enslaved Black children will be incorporated into Colonial Williamsburg.
Community organizers warn that thousands will be affected when the final issuance hits February 16.
Tim Kaine introduced legislation with a bipartisan coalition to repeal authorizations of military force from the Gulf and Iraq wars.
More than 300 enslaved children were taught at the Bray school on the William & Mary campus in the 1700s. This historic building is moving and will be restored.
University of North Carolina School of Law Professor Maxine Eichner spoke with WHRO on lawmakers' plans following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The county partnered with the Virginia-based Green Infrastructure Center to do the new mapping and analysis.
Representative Bobby Scott will bring Wayne Lynch, whose son Donovan was a victim of police brutality, to the address as part of the Congressional Black Caucus.
In a letter alerting the Newport News School Board to intended legal action, Abby Zwerner's attorney makes alarming new claims.
The Norfolk District says the problem is a lack of sand needed to bolster the island's perimeter.
Metronet is offering speeds up to two gigabits per second for residences, and up to 10 for businesses.
The latest in WHRO's series about housing affordability produced with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Recent changes to the National Flood Insurance Program are affecting Hampton Roads.
Authorities have confirmed that another sailor stationed on the U.S.S. George Washington, Seaman Lucian Woods, has died by suicide. He was the fifth sailor stationed aboard the Washington to do so in the last 13 months.
The Virginia Beach Police Department says Craig Byl likely died from gunfire by police after a firefight on Monday.
Mathews County is converting a former church into an arts center for the community – and the building’s old steeple has found a new home.
The family of 70-year-old victim Randall Blevins is suing the company and the estate of the shooter.
Citizens swap horror stories in a growing Facebook group, inundate city leaders with messages and trade tips on how to look for and correct errors.
House of Delegates and Senate lawmakers both sponsored bills to enshrine abortion access in Virginia's constitution.
A new legislative funding proposal would allocate $100 million to relocate the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center.
Rivers Casino opened on Jan. 23 with a ribbon cutting ceremony. It's the first permanent casino to open in the state.
New weekly case averages, hospital occupancies and high COVID level area numbers have all decreased in the last two weeks.
Delegates want to address the teacher shortage by bringing back educators with the most experience - retirees.
The family says the mother's handgun, which was legally purchased, was secured. They did not say how the child accessed it.
Over the weekend, dozens of volunteers planted more than 60 native trees at a spot that was identified as one of the most vulnerable to extreme heat.
Sen. Tim Kaine and Rep. Bobby Scott visited Naval Station Norfolk Tuesday to discuss mental health care access for service members.
The state grant comes at the same time that a group of residents are seeking to stop the proposed development in southern Chesapeake.
The move comes after years of legal battles over what to do with the substance, and is required by legislation. The process will take several years.
Hampton University is among several HBCUs awarded funds by the U.S. Department of Education to enhance their responses to threats and acts of on-campus violence.
Two Virginia Beach naval pilots appeared on a History Channel series about UAPs — or UFOs as most people call them.
Officials say technological and economic changes in waste management have made it more difficult for localities to meet state recycling requirements.
Hampton City Schools' Superintendent Jeffery O. Smith announced his retirement on January 12, naming July 1 as his final day. Smith served as superintendent for eight years.
Governor Glenn Youngkin reiterated his goals for violent crime prevention in his speech Wednesday night. WHRO's Laura Philion has the details.
The new partnership with the Colonial Soil and Water Conservation District will offer up to $30,000 each to 10 home or business owners looking to install natural-based shore protection.
The city says it paid out more than $5 million to six employees injured in the 2019 shooting and a total of $1.5 million to victims' families.
Democrat Aaron Rouse declared victory late Tuesday night in the special Senate race against Republican Kevin Adams. WHRO's Laura Philion has the details.
At stake is the Virginia Senate's 7th District. It's up for grabs after Republican Jen Kiggans unseated Congresswoman Elaine Luria in November.
It's the conclusion to a years-long battle for approval that included legal infighting up to the state Supreme Court.
The Democrats will keep a majority in the state senate whether they win or lose Tuesday's special election for the 7th District. But if they can't take the seat, it would take just one Democrat breaking with the party to approve new abortion restrictions.
Newport News Police have declined to provide many details about the 6-year-old student who shot and critically injured a teacher Friday afternoon.
Former Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax said on Twitter that he is representing families of several victims of the Virginia Beach Municipal Center shooting. This comes the same week that Delegate Kelly Convirs-Fowler announced she was given a laptop allegedly belonging to the shooter.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation makes the biennial grade based on indicators like water clarity and nutrient pollution.
Hampton Roads received $27 million in new funding from the state to bolster flood infrastructure and resilience.
The Rural Chesapeake Preservation Committee will have to gather more than 32,000 signatures to get a referendum on November’s ballot.
The funding comes at the same time that tensions are flaring over industrial development expanding into historically agricultural areas.
Two new Portsmouth council members were sworn in Tuesday morning. Minutes later, Tonya Chapman became the third city manager fired or forced out since late 2020.
Opponents say they worry about stress on local infrastructure, impacts to the environment and more — while developers say they're helping the Port of Virginia to continue growing.
The price for a trip between Norfolk and Portsmouth will go up between 8 and 11 percent in 2023.
New draft legislation would create a Chesapeake Bay National Recreation Area – including Fort Monroe as the southern anchor site.
"It's all about creating units,” said Williamsburg city manager Andrew Trivette. “And whichever one of those mechanisms gets us there the fastest is what we're going to focus on.”
“The gallery is a way to interactively learn about some of those challenges that the earth faces and then what action you can take to help mitigate those threats,” said museum education director Rachel Riesbeck.
For the third year, law enforcement officers from northeastern North Carolina descend on a Chesapeake Target to shop for local kids.
The bill, championed by the late Congressman Donald McEachin, now goes to President Biden for signing.
Gov. Glen Youngkin is proposing tens of millions to get more nurses trained. But economists say it's going to take more than that to fill the gaps.
Warner referenced a Virginia Beach case where an alert was issued for a missing woman hours before her body was found.
ODU economist Bob McNab explains what's happening with lawyers' salaries as the workforce overall is seeing wage increases.
The governor's budget amendment would go toward a new fund, instead of an existing flood preparedness program funded by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
The sanitation district bought the land from the city for $30 million. It plans to expand its sewage-to-drinking-water project.
Discussions about a merger have gone on for years and were contentious at times. The governor's recent proposal would give $10 million for the effort.
Dominion Energy applied under the State Corporation Commission last year. It’s been a long process since then.
The authority, which manages the regional landfill, will launch the new service Jan. 1.
Donovon Lynch's family says his memory has been vindicated after he was shot and killed by a Virginia Beach Police officer in March 2021. Virginia Beach now says the shooting never should have happened.
The department said the plan is meant to provide a formal framework to incorporate lawmakers’ resilience priorities into transportation decisions.
The funding's part of Gov. Youngkin's crime-fighting initiative called Operation Bold Blue Line.
In an effort to help build wealth in the Black community, investment app Stackwell and Hampton University have partnered to give every freshman student an investment account and a little seed money to jumpstart earnings.
The Lynnhaven River Basin Ecosystem Restoration Project has been in the making for over two decades. The Army Corps will hold a community meeting about it on Monday.
The bill from Republican Marie March states that life begins at conception and says a fetus should have rights equal to any person under the Constitution.
The collaboration recently won a $5 million grant from a National Science Foundation program to help coastal communities protect their resources.
In a first for the Commonwealth of Virginia, one district's schools have all been given Purple Star status for their commitment to military families.
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission chose not to place proposed limits on harvesting menhaden, the latest chapter in a decades-long political fight.
The applicant has withdrawn the request to meet in a district school, says Chesapeake's superintendent.
VBPD released bodycam and dashcam footage of a December 1 confrontation between an unnamed officer and 28-year-old Deshawn Whitaker, which ended in Whitaker's death.
While many localities around Virginia have taken down Confederate statues in recent years, one Middle Peninsula county is looking to further protect its own.
The effort's part of the nursing department's curriculum this year as they work to mitigate health care's outsized impact on the environment.
It started with a flyer from The Satanic Temple. Disclaimer: Chesapeake Public Schools is a stakeholder in HRETA, which holds the license for WHRO stations.
Employee Donya Prioleau alleges in the new lawsuit that Walmart knew shooter Andre Bing had a history of disturbing behavior.
The aquarium's Stranding Response Team has dealt with more than 300 injured or dead sea turtles in 2022.
Six were killed when an overnight supervisor opened fire in the Chesapeake Walmart before Thanksgiving. Hundreds attended the candlelight vigil Monday night.
The Virginia Department of Education has awarded 9 universities statewide with grants to fund teacher apprenticeship programs with local school districts.
With a new grant from the National Park Service, the Fort Monroe Authority plans to prepare Building 14 for residential use once again.
Native Hawaiians Nainoa Thompson and Lehua Kamalu are spreading their knowledge and associated environmental values under a new scholarship residency.
The Coastal Virginia Commerce Park project, which city leaders call a potential "mega-site," has prompted concerns among many residents.
Virginia Beach City Council heard public input on the general terms of a proposed $500,000 sponsorship of Something in the Water.
Carnival has partnered with the city to double the number of outgoing cruises in the 2023 season. The city hopes to bring in over 200,000 passengers and over $16,000,000.
The growing attention on school board races reflects a changing political landscape with greater emphasis on local seats of power, an expert tells WHRO.
Voters told WHRO at the polls in Portsmouth that they're fed up with controversy in the city. Here's how council squabbles and a revolving door in city leadership led to two councilmen losing their seats.
Despite their long presence in the area, few people in New Road owned their homes. Ruth and Ava Wise set out to change that in the 1990s.
With her election to the U.S. House of Representatives, political parties must find a replacement for state Sen. Jen Kiggans. Two candidates have been identified for a special election.
Residents of the surrounding majority-Black neighborhood in Wythe had voiced concerns for months over the project, which will be built on land once home to a historic school.
A majority of those who won school board elections this week are backed by Republicans who say they want to elevate parent voices in school decisions.
Republican state Sen. Jen Kiggans beat Democratic incumbent Elaine Luria to represent parts of eastern Virginia in Congress.
The Cheroenhaka Nottoway Tribe held its annual Corn Harvest Powwow this weekend in Courtland, where the tribe is headquartered. The tribe operates a nonprofit entity and the powwow is the main fundraiser. This year, the tribe plans to put proceeds toward a cultural center.
SPSA, which manages the region’s waste, proposed a new program that would allow residents to safely get rid of old electronics.
Virginia Beach's 2nd congressional district race between U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria and state Sen. Jen Kiggans is considered one of the most competitive in the country.
An impassioned group of residents in the Wythe neighborhood is pushing back against the proposal for land that was home to the Virginia School for the Deaf, Blind and Multi-Disabled.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin said the new partnership would initially target communities like Hampton, Portsmouth and Petersburg.
Some are having to find alternatives to treat ADHD as prescriptions become harder to fill for stimulants like Adderall. (This story is courtesy of Virginia Commonwealth University's Capital News Service)
WHRO spoke with pediatrician Dr. Douglas Mitchell of CHKD Medical Group about what parents should know.
Residents have filed suit against the Suffolk City Council to stop the construction of a 540-acre warehouse development.
To maintain its "vibe," Virginia Beach's future task force on state marijuana laws may want to be involved with lawmakers crafting the rules for sales, one state official told city leaders.
Virginia Beach native Pharrell Williams made the announcement at his Mighty Dream Forum in Norfolk Wednesday.
The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission wrote that the region relies on flood preparedness funding via the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
Hampton Roads officials told Amazon in 2018 they would create a new bus system if the company built its new headquarters in the region.
Volunteers with "Catch the King" will fan out across coastal Virginia to measure flooding that comes with the highest predicted tide of the year.
The Hampton History Museum has hosted the tours for almost a decade, dramatizing darker episodes in the city’s past.
The Garden Club of Norfolk will help build the garden and "ecological greenway" at West Ghent's Jeff Robertson Park.
Virginia historian D’Anne Graham has researched the state’s centuries-old relationship with midwifery, including early accusations of witchcraft.
Conservation group Ducks Unlimited gifted nearly 500 acres of Suffolk swampland to the Nansemond Indian Nation; the tribe plans to use it for environmental education.
The call center - which connects people to various programs meant to help them avoid eviction and keep their lights on - fielded more than 7,000 calls last month. With pandemic-era aid coming to an end and winter looming, that number will likely climb even higher.
A Norfolk church was built on a graveyard. Now, its congregants want to know who was buried there.
After a lengthy court fight, a court redrew voting districts in Virginia Beach, changing where and who residents vote for.
The 16-member group will make proposals for regulation and gather public opinion about marijuana use in the city.
Newport News broke ground this week for Phase 2 of a project to redevelop low-income housing community Ridley Place in the city’s Southeast district.
The nonprofit Teens With a Purpose transformed a vacant lot into the garden a few years ago. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is now helping them plant a rain garden to absorb excess water.
Democratic Congresswoman Elaine Luria and Republican challenger Jen Kiggans met to debate for the first - and maybe only - time during this campaign. Luria jabbed her opponent over her stances on abortion and recognizing President Joe Biden's 2020 election win.
WHRO spoke with patients and providers about what it’s like to deal with the condition, which officials estimate affects up to a third of COVID-19 patients.
The nonprofit Teens With a Purpose began the project several years ago. They're now taking on a new rain garden.
The department is already down 30% of its staff. New projections show it could lose 77 more officers if they can't boost recruitment.
The nonprofit says in the new report that Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania are not fully on track to achieve their goals under a 2010 agreement.
The Barrier Islands Gose is one of four beers the nonprofit Nature Conservancy launched over the weekend for what they call the OktoberForest Virginia Collection.
The Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve has been a testing ground for students interning through ODU and the Hampton Roads Workforce Council.
The carrier will train with more than a dozen ships from eight different foreign countries on air defense, anti-submarine warfare, mine countermeasures, and amphibious operations.
The money through the Community Flood Preparedness Fund comes from the state's participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, from which Gov. Youngkin has vowed to withdraw.
On paper the Navy met its retention goal last year. But whether the military is keeping people with the skills it needs is a bigger question mark.
In Hampton Roads, the latest highly pathogenic strain of the bird flu is mainly killing geese so far.
Sailors who leave the Navy can wait months for proof they served, which can hold up jobs and benefits.
Several high-profile shootings across the city and a climbing murder rate have ramped up public pressure for officials to address gun violence. As some city leaders talk tough and aim to crack down, it's caused some friction among elected officials.
The freshwater jellies have been appearing more frequently at the storied Crim Dell on campus.
The dancers left their home country of Ukraine right before Russia invaded, and haven't been back since. Now they're touring the U.S.
Elizabeth River Crossings is expanding eligibility for toll rebates under a new agreement with the Virginia Department of Transportation.
While school systems in Hampton Roads wrestle with book censorship issues, local library systems will highlight other controversial works that during Banned Books Week.
Researchers with William & Mary and the Nature Conservancy are studying how the Virginia Beach project could impact whimbrels coming to and from the Eastern Shore.
AskHRGreen is accepting applications until October 7 for a sign design to promote smart recycling. The winner will get $2,500 for the piece.
The nonprofit worked on the nearly 17,000-square-foot, $3.5 million facility in Franklin for almost two years.
University researchers released a report that estimates exactly how much coastal Virginia could lose in today's dollars.
Norfolk officials have talked for months about clamping down on bars and nightclubs as a way to address gun violence, following a couple of high-profile shootings.
The vessel is a 353-foot survey ship. It's namesake, who wrote the first textbook of modern oceanography, left the Union Navy for the Confederacy.
Norfolk's City Council will consider new rules for establishments that serve alcohol at it's meeting Tuesday. But those involved with the city's nightlife say this won't make things safer - and will only hurt businesses and entertainers.
Sentara said the manometry system used to diagnose gastrointestinal issues at its Williamsburg hospital may have compromised certain information.
Residents around Knitting Mill Creek had started to complain of dead wildlife and a bad odor before the city discovered the discharge from Mack’s Barge.
The VA inspector general’s office cited inadequate training, equipment and oversight for the failures.
Virginia Beach is putting a million dollars into a nonprofit’s plan to build 38 new affordable apartments. That's only a small fraction of how much affordable housing the city actually needs.WHRO wants to hear your stories about paying for or finding housing, Visit whro.org/housing to see how you can be a part of our reporting.
The state gave Virginia Tech half a million dollars this year to study what it would take to move its extension center from valuable property on Diamond Springs Road and set up elsewhere in the city.
Virginia Beach’s Judeo-Christian Outreach Center is close to making its $14 million goal to build 38 affordable apartment units and rebuild its aging Oceanfront campus.
Before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned abortion rights, military women said they faced restricted access to abortion and pressure to avoid unplanned pregnancies that interfered with the mission.
Residents of both neighborhoods have long said the dust wafting from nearby coal terminals causes health issues.
The show of support comes after Gov. Glenn Youngkin's administration announced its intent to pull out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
The $310,000 for Cedar Island comes by way of the infrastructure law passed by Congress last year.
The group wrote a letter to the administration requesting a new position under the DOD, which they call the Interagency Coordinator for Regional Resilience.
There are many problems with the current flood insurance system. RISE Resilience Innovations will focus on the topic for its latest funding round. WHRO chats with director Paul Robinson.
The Hampton research center is behind many aspects of the upcoming launch. Part 4: Meet an engineer who works on the Orion Launch Abort System that would send astronauts to Earth in case of emergency.
An interview with Virginia's student loan ombudsman, Scott Kemp, on how the federal student loan relief plan impacts borrowers.
The Hampton research center is behind many aspects of the upcoming launch. Part 3: Meet Jennifer Inman, whose team uses advanced sensors to ensure crew is safe.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced DroneUp is spending $7 million on the revamped facility on Newtown Road, which should lead to about 500 jobs.
The legal team plays a central role in handling subpoenas. The deadline for applicants expired last month.
A Gloucester County official discusses how a new coastal forests study helps inform local decisions.
The Hampton research center is behind many aspects of the upcoming launch. Part 2: Meet an aerodynamics lead who helped test the Space Launch System rocket.
Officials have been desperately trying to recruit and retain officers for the seriously understaffed police force. They say this will help.
The report focused on Virginia's Peninsula including Williamsburg, York and Gloucester counties and Poquoson.
A federal judge reinstated a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy in North Carolina, which could force residents seeking the often time-sensitive care into Virginia.
The Hampton research center is behind many aspects of the upcoming rocket launch. Part 1: Meet a space architect who helped design the mission.
Starting next month, the county will only accept clean cardboard and aluminum or steel cans. The change is in response to rising costs.
The contract is one part of a multiyear effort to ready the harbor to receive some of the biggest cargo ships in the world.
The sport allowed people to cope with pandemic stress and have socially distanced fun together.
The Community Eligibility Provision provides free breakfasts and lunches to students at eligible schools.
The state previously rejected the hospital’s bid for a certificate of public need, but the Virginia Supreme Court said it deserved another look.
Residential customers can expect to start paying more on their monthly bill for the project starting next month.
Violent crimes by young people in Portsmouth jumped dramatically during the pandemic. A Harvard researcher is trying to figure out why - and how to stop the violence.
Virginia Beach got the resilience grant from FEMA for the project, which is among the first to get underway under the city's bond referendum on flood protection.
The Town of Windsor found itself in the middle of a firestorm last year over video showing two police officers repeatedly pepper spraying an U.S. Army lieutenant during a traffic stop. A special prosecutor reviewing the incident won't recommend state charges against the officers.
NOAA's latest annual outlook warns the "sunny day flooding" will only increase in coming years across the country.
More than a dozen public figures and LGBTQ advocacy groups want the state Supreme Court to uphold a decision that says requiring teachers to use a student’s preferred pronoun is not in violation of their rights. A note of transparency: West Point Public Schools is a member of the Hampton Roads Education Telecommunications Association, or HRETA, which holds WHRO’s license.
Designers held a two-week long survey in Norfolk to standardize sizes and improve the fit for female sailors.
Average annual high daily temperatures in much of Hampton Roads could reach about 78 degrees Fahrenheit toward the end of the century, according to newly released projections.
The Fourth Circuit said the case about whether the at-large system dilutes the minority vote is moot because of a new Virginia law.
Avelo Airlines will launch at the airport this October with two nonstop flights to Florida.
Family company Flyaway Geese first came to the region to keep birds away from the HRBT expansion. They soon got more clients.
The district broke ground Thursday on the first full-scale facility for its Sustainable Water Initiative for Tomorrow, known as SWIFT.
It's the latest Virginia locality to confirm the presence of the invasive beetle, which kills ash trees within years.
The project is meant to help combat erosion and sea level rise that plague the base along the York River.
Virginia has been number one in the nation for the past two years. This year, North Carolina takes the crown from it's northern neighbor.
Local veterans formed a nonprofit for a memorial in Huntington Park. They hope to build similar monuments for casualties of Afghanistan and other modern wars.
Shored Up got a nearly $10,000 grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust to do the free oyster paddles this summer and a public Shellabration later this year.
This weekend, veterans honored Newport News native Marie Moss for her service as one of the “Hello Girls,” a group of telephone operators who aided Allied forces in WWI.
Producer Lisa Godley talks with Hampton Roads entrepreneurs about the highs and lows of launching a business.
The groups say Omega Protein’s business has led to the decline of striped bass. The Reedville-based company says the move would be a “death knell.”
More than two dozen cameras that flag license plates tied to crimes or missing persons cases will soon dot Suffolk's entry points and high-traffic areas.
The new Mileage Choice Program lets fuel-efficient, hybrid and electric vehicle owners pay their highway use fee per mile instead of in a lump sum.
The city council was set to vote this week on the 5 cent tax, but opted to push it back to September. Council Member Barbara Henley says she wants input from as many people as possible before they vote.
Part 2: A national nonprofit launches its latest local solar and electric vehicle charger co-op.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas suggested the court revisit decisions like same-sex marriage. A William & Mary law professor explains why that might happen
According to a government report, “multiple failures” at facility delayed the diagnosis. The patient has a 30% chance of survival.
Part 1: A central Virginia nonprofit that helps boost access to solar energy recently expanded to Hampton Roads.
The City Council approved the project at the Cuffee Community Center as a budget amendment using $9 million recently given by the state.
A new historical marker commemorates the United Order of Tents, an aid society for Black women founded in Norfolk that traces its roots to the Underground Railroad.
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission decided Tuesday on the changes, which include shortening the crabbing season.
In a city that's struggled with housing affordability, the move further decreases affordable housing stock despite city requirements meant to boost affordability.
The decision does not change abortion law in Virginia, but protestors say they fear restrictions are coming.
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade case, clearing the way for states to make their own laws about the procedure. It is currently still legal in Virginia and North Carolina.
The $30 million project will include several new buildings as well as a revamped "parking garden."
WHRO spoke with Justin Mason of the ODU planetarium on what you should know about the astronomical event.
The 19th-century anchor was taken from the museum in September. Last week it was found buried in someone's backyard, officials say.
Louis Jones had served on the council for more than 35 years and was campaigning for a ninth term.
The Outer Banks Hospital broke ground this week on the 15,000-square-foot cancer center in Nags Head.
A month ago the city put out a request for law firms to advise the citizen review board. There aren’t any bidders yet, so the city has extended its deadline.
The city has hired Freebee, a Florida-based company, to provide the service, starting Friday. The city hopes to cut down on congestion
Norfolk was among the Virginia cities that closed their schools rather than integrate them after Brown V. Board of Education struck down racial segregation in education. That story and others will be told via a new public art instillation.
Onancock officials chat about going through the Resilience Adaptation Feasibility Tool created by ODU, UVA and William & Mary.
The city has surplus property in King William left over from a canceled reservoir project
The Resilience Adaptation Feasibility Tool is a process led jointly by Old Dominion University, William & Mary and the University of Virginia.
Parents are getting desperate as baby formula shortages are worsening across the nation. One mom has found a way to ease the pressure for some in South Hampton Roads.
Hampton Roads is home to more than 40,000 Filipinos; around 5,000 now live in Norfolk. A couple hundred gathered in Lafayette Park to celebrate the liberation of the Philippines from Spain more than 120 years ago.
Last year, Virginia Beach, like localities across the country, got funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help communities hit hardest by the pandemic. City officials say they’re taking time to make lasting change.
Building Resilient Solutions received a grant from Norfolk nonprofit RISE to study which building materials best withstand rising waters.
The Virginia Attorney General's office is teaming with the state's bar and veterans services department to provide estate planning services for vets. It will take place at Virginia Peninsula Community College
People in mental health crises often end up in hospital emergency rooms for hours - or sometimes days - waiting for mental health treatment. Riverside officials say the new facility aims to get people straight to the treatment they need as soon as they need it.
Deputies shot the unarmed Black man during an attempted arrest last year. The family filed a civil rights suit over the death.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation will send thousands of volunteers around Virginia on Saturday to pick up debris in the bay watershed.
WHRO talked to Don Scott, a Portsmouth attorney and delegate, about his goals and strategy now that he's the Minority Leader in the House of Delegates.
Scientists have worked in recent decades to restore the type of seagrass, which was wiped out nearly a century ago.
The city already developed pilot projects in the Newmarket Creek watershed and is now seeking input for downtown, Buckroe and Phoebus.
It’s the third year Virginia Beach crews have painted something on the side of Mount Trashmore in memory of the victims of the 2019 mass shooting at the municipal center.
The city is already factoring the groups' concerns into the roadway design, said David Jarman with the public works department.
The planned extension, a second route out of Sandbridge, cuts through the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
Residents of nearby neighborhoods say they worry about long-term health impacts from the lingering chemicals.
Sailors on the USS George Washington say a long maintenance process compounded with the pandemic and everyday military expectations could have contributed to the five suicides that happened on the ship in the last year.
Suffolk Mayor Mike Duman says despite rapid growth in the city, demographic shifts have guided city spending.
Virginia and Maryland officials released the results this week from their annual winter survey of the crab population.
The nonprofit hopes the eco-friendly headquarters, complete with a public park, will serve as a national example of how to live alongside rising waters.
The district's COVID-19 wastewater surveillance program has been going on since early March 2020. Recently they've added a way to test for specific variants.
A Norfolk reporter revealed last year that the investment arm of Norfolk's housing authority is spending hundreds of millions on building housing - but virtually none of it is happening in Norfolk.
Last month was the most expensive in history to buy a home in Hampton Roads. But experts say things may be loosening up.
Seven endangered Kemp's ridley turtles have arrived at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center since April.
It’s the first time in several years that we’ve seen such strong tidal flooding last this long, according to Jeff Orrock of the National Weather Service in Wakefield.
Following a directive from the program's leadership last year, the partnership has released a set of specific actions it wants to take.
The Navy has launched multiple investigations and moved more than 200 people off the USS George Washington after seven deaths among its crew in 12 months.
The Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation on Wednesday launched a "Save Jamestown" campaign after being listed as one of America's most endangered historic places.
Health disparities, environmental issues and lingering racial discrepancies are some of the things CNU senior Brandon Davis dug into while reaching outside of the university's bubble.
On the Virginia Peninsula, some of the communities rated among the healthiest in Virginia border those that lag behind. The difference isn't just medical - it's economic too.
A crowd gathered in front of Norfolk's federal courthouse Tuesday in response to the threat to Roe v. Wade, the landmark court case that protects the right to abortion.
Several employees at a store on Oyster Point Road announced they would organize in a letter to company CEO Howard Schultz. They spoke to WHRO about their reasons.
A $7 million new heat evaporation system will process up to 60,000 gallons of leachate per day.
Ryan Paris, radon expert with the Va. Department of Health, has known about the issue for years. But he says there's nothing particularly alarming in the new data. See April 26's episode for Part 1.
An explosion in real estate values means that, even in cities that are maintaining or dropping their tax rates, the majority of homeowners will be paying a decent bit more come tax time.
Virginia Beach might pass a law to restrict fishing in one of its parks. A local club wants the city to pump the brakes so it can review it.
A company known for credit reporting and consumer finance studies turned it attention to slayings. Norfolk placed ahead of Detroit, MI., in the rating that factored both recent homicides and homicide growth since 2020.
Those face masks can finally come off if you’re riding the Tide, taking the bus or simply walking through local public transit terminals.
A national climate action organization held an event at The Hague in Norfolk Tuesday highlighting the threats flooding poses to local churches, mosques and synagogues.
The ship — owned by the same company as the ship that blocked the Suez Canal last year — had run aground in mid-March.
The Living River Trust started the project in the fall and plans to complete it later this summer.
In order to guard ash trees against the deadly and invasive emerald ash borer, the Virginia Department of Forestry is launching an insecticide cost-share program for landowners.
One group is working hard to keep the bonds made in the public housing community as Newport News moves to redevelop.
Climate scientist Jeremy Hoffman found that, within a single city, one neighborhood may be 20 degrees hotter in the summer than another nearby neighborhood. The reasons aren't random.
Amid growing demand within just a few years of the academy's launch, the nonprofit is building more at Paradise Creek Nature Park.
The Jericho Lane Trailhead Enhancement Project is meant to be a "new gateway to the refuge."
Mayor Kenny Alexander said he's been talking with the city's manager for months about both short- and long-term initiatives to tamp down crime. The police chief's retirement comes amid a series of high-profile fatal shootings.
Local artists created portraits of Donovon Lynch and Deshayla Harris, who were killed in shootings on a violent spring night last year.
Women from 14 states and four other nations are assembled at the Women-in-Fire Training Exchange this month at The Nature Conservancy's Piney Grove Preserve in Wakefield.
The city is asking residents to share their experiences with police, crime and discrimination. The plan is to use the responses to inform Newport News' response to chronic gun violence.
The city is asking residents to share their experiences with police, crime and discrimination. The plan is to use the responses to inform Newport News' response to chronic gun violence.
The parents of the two killed at the Oceanfront gather with activists and community leaders to mark the somber anniversary.
The Virginia Reliability Project would replace nearly 50 miles of existing pipeline including through Suffolk and Chesapeake.
The agribusiness company will invest $59 million in facility upgrades and soybean production.
The ceremony this week honored pioneers Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson.
A new consortium of six public school systems are getting funding from the Chesapeake Bay Trust to develop environmental curriculum.
One of the oldest shopping malls in the United States is closing. Locals remember hanging out and making friends at this unlikely Virginia Beach landmark.
Every Campus a Refuge is a national program that's called on colleges across the country to host one refugee family. ODU is the first public university and first campus in Virginia to heed the call.
The Veterans Administration cites flooding and difficult access as reasons to relocate its Hampton facility.
Regional leaders gathered at Old Dominion University last week to talk about sea level rise and how it impacts the people of the Hampton Roads.
Stanley, Roberta, Irene and Jenny B. were previously used for breeding at a facility in western Virginia.
Police say a shortage of mental health staff and facilities, plus legal delays, strain department resources.
Nearly 90 years ago, the Lafayette River was so polluted that it was closed to commercial fishing. But after years of work from environmental groups, oyster populations are booming, which is helping to clean up the river and bring back marine life.
Multiple state reports have flagged problems with Virginia’s language accessibility. The issue reached new heights during the Covid-19 pandemic. Little has been done.
WHRO's Ryan Murphy spoke with Steve Hanson, a vice provost at the College of William and Mary and an expert in Russian history and politics, about what's happening in Ukraine, how we got here and what he thinks will come next.
Hundreds of families are moving out of public housing as Norfolk redevelops near downtown. But those leaving with Housing Choice Vouchers - more commonly known as Section 8 - have faced difficulty finding private landlords to rent from.
Virginia Beach denied a permit for Checkered Flag to expand its dealership onto a forested area in the neighborhood that was hit hard by Hurricane Matthew.
Cory Bigsby initially agreed to talk to police without an attorney. He finally asked for one after 14 hours of questioning and a polygraph test. Hampton's police chief says his request was not honored.
Jilted lovers looking for a little symbolic revenge need look no further than The Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center. They'll name a baitfish or rat after your ex and then feed it to the sharks or crocodiles for your...ahem...enjoyment.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness and Virginia Beach Community Development Corporation will build a regional headquarters as part of the complex to provide services to the residents.
The former director of waterworks for Newport News filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming he was wrongfully terminated because of his age and his identity as a Hispanic man.
National blood supplies are at their lowest level in a decade, after donations dropped off when the pandemic started nearly two years ago. One local doctor explains what's happened, how hospitals are coping and what they need now.
In the first weeks after Gov. Glenn Youngkin's executive order lifting mask mandates goes into effect Hampton Roads teachers do their jobs in an uncertain situation.
Robert Packer was identified to the FBI shortly after the riot at the U.S. Capitol last January by someone who recognized him as a regular at a convenience store near Newport News.
The local school boards want to stop Gov. Glenn Youngkin's executive order, which allows parents to opt students out of local mask mandates. They say it violates state law and the Constitution of Virginia.
The two southside school boards weighed in on masking policy Thursday. Norfolk and Portsmouth schools voted to keep the mandate.
The fiber ring will connect Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach to superfast undersea internet cables that arrived in Virginia Beach a few years ago.
The Virginia Beach Development Authority hasn't balanced its books to determine the funds available to it since January 2021. The city auditor said it's in danger of overcommitting money for development projects.
Norfolk's said its downtown needs more defenses against sea level rise for years. Now, the money's flowing in to make a massive seawall project happen.
Thirteen parents from Chesapeake are appealing to the state Supreme Court, arguing the new governor's order would override state law about Covid-19 mitigation strategies in public schools.
Several cities are pushing the Virginia General Assembly to allow state funding to provide maintenance for historic Black cemeteries plagued by years of neglect.
Officers used fake documents that looked like they were from the state’s crime lab while interrogating suspects. At least once, a forged document was used as evidence at trial.
Officers used fake documents that looked like they were from the state’s crime lab while interrogating suspects. At least once, a forged document was used as evidence at trial.
Mental health professionals are struggling to keep up as mental health needs for children grow dramatically.
With the pandemic still dragging on, students are struggling with mental health, according to surveys done by the state last year.
Eight months after body camera footage of Windsor Police officers pepper spraying and beating a Black and Latino Army lieutenant during a traffic stop went viral, Attorney General Mark Herring has filed suit saying the department disproportionately pulls over Black drivers.
The company behind the new construction technique says labor, materials and long-term utilities costs are all cheaper for 3D-printed homes. The Williamsburg home is only the second 3D-printed house in the state.
Chris Snead, a former budget director for the city and council member, will be sworn in Friday, Dec. 17.
Del. Jay Jones just won his third term for his seat in the 89th House District in November. Now, he says he's resigning because he's expecting his first child. But he's also teasing a potential run for higher office.
Virginia’s new Community Flood Preparedness Fund, passed earlier this year by the General Assembly, planned to use money from RGGI to pay for projects meant to protect the state from the impacts of sea level rise.
Norfolk and Tidewater Community College had big plans for the defunct Greyhound station near downtown. But after years struggling to pull the project together, it finally fell through late last year. Now, Norfolk wants to reignite developer interest in the site.
George Minns was a major figure in pushing for both city resources for the historically-Black Seatack neighborhood and racial justice throughout the city of Virginia Beach. The City Council will consider road signs to honor the late civil rights leader's legacy.
The Department of Veterans Affairs predicted the surge would be caused by increased claims from Agent Orange
Donovon Lynch, the 25-year-old cousin of musician Pharrell Williams, was killed by police in March. After a grand jury decided the officer won't face criminal charges, Lynch's family is once again calling for federal investigation of the case.
The lawsuit, filed in January 2020 by public housing residents and advocacy groups, alleged the city and housing authority were worsening Norfolk's racial segregation and failing to provide adequate housing to those being moved out.
The Boomer Family Tree Farm will open this December after nearly 8 years in the making. The grand opening coincides with a global shortage of real and artificial Christmas trees.
New changes to the state's toll relief program for the Downtown and Midtown tunnels expand both the number of people eligible and the amount those people can get back.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is reevaluating how it handles claims of exposure to toxic materials. It hopes to expand benefits and speed up the process. Will it work?
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation was started to honor the life of firefighter Stephen Siller who died saving others on September 11, 2001. The organization’s work now includes helping the families of military and first responders who have died while serving.
Most buyouts in Newport News are around the Salters Creek area. Many residents aren't happy about it.
Most buyouts in Newport News are around the Salters Creek area. Many residents aren't happy about it.
Last week, it looked like Virginia Republicans won enough seats to take back a majority in the House of Delegates. But a pair of Hampton Roads races are close enough to trigger recounts. The results could decide the balance of power for the next two years.
After a banner year for marijuana legalization in Virginia under Democrats, Republicans are set to retake control of the House of Delegates. Marijuana advocates worry that may undermine legalization efforts.
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission is allowing a large hotel development to push forward without review of impact to the wetlands.
Parents and school board members in Virginia Beach and Isle of Wight County joined others across the country calling for certain reading materials dealing with race or sexuality to be removed.
Hampton Roads will become the home of the U.S.’s first offshore wind turbine blade manufacturing facility, making the region a critical part of a nascent industry expected to be worth more than $100 billion over the next decade.
Finale Norton is the latest Democrat to attempt to unseat the Eastern Shore’s Rob Bloxom, who has represented the 100th District since 2014.
Daphne Fulson from Portlock Primary School won the honor. She talked about the challenges teachers face with WHRO.
A group of Black community and business leaders told Norfolk's City Council that the city fails to treat minority-owned businesses fairly. Council members agree something needs to change.
The Department of Veterans Affairs expects its backlog of disability claims to rise more than 25% to 260,000 claims this month as thousands of new veterans become eligible for benefits.
In addition to the possibility of water entering the engine, mechanics say salt water can cause rust and corrosion in a vehicle.
Pharrell's letter to the city cited "toxic energy." Fans say they immediately recognized that as a shot at racism in the city.
Landlord accused of racism and sexism faces an $8 million lawsuit from the state for discriminatory housing practices.
An odd ongoing feud in one Virginia Beach culdesac escalated into targeted racist harassment this summer. Now neighbors are pushing back.
In partnership with Old Dominion University Department of World Languages and Cultures and the university’s Hispanic Latino Employee Association., WHRO is exploring what it means to be Latino in Hampton Roads.
Chesapeake's city council opened the door to a new facility that will turn cannabidiol, or CBD, into a variety of products.
Voters will select Treasurers and Commissioners of the Revenue for counties and cities across Hampton Roads. What do those elected officials do?
It's not just covid-19 patients driving the surge in emergency rooms and intensive care units.
An anonymous group claims signs were ignored that show a motive for the 2019 Virginia Beach Municipal Center shooting.
A new exhibit at William & Mary's Muscarelle Museum examines the impact of the September 11th attacks through the lens of architecture.
After three years as a food desert, Norfolk's Berkley neighborhood welcomes a locally-owned supermarket.
A year ago, Norfolk and Virginia Beach saw marchers pushing for police reform. Today, local governments are still talking about implementing civilian oversight of police.
The effort, which received $5 million from the Virginia General Assembly and $4 million from Sentara Healthcare, is aimed at addressing health inequities in the region.
Police departments across the state are facing mass job vacancies. Here's how Hampton Roads' departments are trying to get - and keep - officers.
Dr. Laura Sass, a Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist at The Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters, said the health system is reporting 40 to 60 new positive cases of COVID-19 in children each day since the end of July.
The Department of Defense isn't sharing vaccination data by locality. That makes military-heavy areas like Hampton Roads look like they're lagging far behind in vaccination rates when they may not be.
Before moving to the United States in 2019, William & Mary Law student Sarina Faizy advocated for women's rights and served as the youngest member of a provincial council in her native Afghanistan.
The Tide light rail system turns 10 years old this week. Now, Hampton Roads transit is exploring what would be the line's first expansion.
As COVID cases rise with the emergence of the more contagious delta variant, some Hampton Roads businesses are updating their health and safety policies.
Arthur "Art" Matsu, a football star and 1927 graduate of William & Mary, is being honored with one of five highway markers highlighting the contributions of Asian American and Pacific Islanders in Virginia.
Like most hospitals, Sentara's Norfolk General Hospital isn't following a new rule to share clear pricing for procedures and treatment.
Three companies have submitted proposals to overhaul Norfolk's Military Circle area. Two of those pitches would include major arena projects.
Masks will now be required in all city buildings and the courthouse, regardless of vaccination status. The move comes as Norfolk lags behind the region in vaccination rates.
"Freedom Starts Here" Hampton Roads First Black-Owned Brewery Wants To Be Known For More Than Just Their Beer
After a year away, Mal's Movies are back at The Naro theater in Norfolk this summer. WHRV's Jonah Grinkewitz caught up with longtime movie critic Mal Vincent about his picks up for the classic movie series. They include a tribute to an overlooked Hampton Roads movie star.
The Portsmouth City Council votes this week to call for toll relief from state's General Assembly. But vice mayor expresses frustration, says the measure is symbolic.
Virginia Beach now says that Donovan Lynch, who was fatally shot by a police officer at the Oceanfront in March, was pointing a gun at the officer. The allegation comes in response to a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit filed by Lynch’s father against the city and the officer, Solomon D. Simmons.
Six members of Team USA either hail from Hampton Roads or spent their college years here. That makes up about 1% of the 600-plus American competitors in this year's summer games.
In Virginia’s Eastern region, there are nearly 80 percent more COVID patients in the hospital today than the start of July.
Virginia Beach restaurant owner Charles Thain has a message for his customers: “Service industry employees are not here for you to treat like garbage.”
Want to buy some state secrets? Anyone with some money and an internet connection could buy a trove of internal information from the Virginia National Guard’s reserve force today.
Hampton Roads should expect about 9 to 14 days of high tide-flooding over the next year as sea levels continue to rise, according to a recent report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Drive down Elbow Road at night, and you’ll probably understand why Virginia Beach and Chesapeake have big plans to redesign the mostly rural thoroughfare connecting the cities.
The Virginia Zoo is fully open this summer, and tonight they'll welcome Hampton Roads natives The Last Bison for an outdoor concert.
Private Henry Ellis died at Koto-ri in 1950 during the Korean conflict. The U.S. Defense Department has now identified his remains and told his story to his family.
The assisted living facility that housed Ashley Cerasole when she died received a new state violation for a resident's behavior. But COVID-19 has delayed authorities from taking the next steps.
The assisted living facility that housed Ashley Cerasole when she died received a new state violation for a resident's behavior. But COVID-19 has delayed authorities from taking the next steps.
The federal government will start reviewing a plan to build about 200 more turbines off Virginia’s coast — enough to power 660,000 homes.
Cary Adult Home, the facility where Ashley Cerasole lived, lost its license in late December. Its provisional license runs out next week. What happens next?
The 1950s-era Blue Star Diner, located on Warwick Boulevard in Newport News, is up for sale for only the second time in its history.
Howie, a 5-year-old Clumber Spaniel, took home best in his breed for the second year in a row at the 2021 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
WHRV's Hannah Schuster talks with The Virginian-Pilot reporter Gary Harki about his stories exposing sexual harassment claims against acclaimed author and former ODU professor Blake Bailey.
Residents of Virginia Beach may face a pivotal question on their ballots this year — one that could determine the city’s long-term response to flooding and sea level rise.
A nationwide eviction moratorium by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will expire June 30. So will a state policy requiring that landlords help renters apply for rental assistance and barring evictions unless a tenant refuses to cooperate with the application.
After two years of construction, Woodstock Park in Virginia Beach reopened with a skate park that sits atop a 5.2-million-gallon wet weather storage tank.
Berkley Supermarket will move into the former Farm Fresh location on 201 E. Berkley Avenue in Norfolk. When the store closed in 2018, it created a food desert.
Virginia Beach officials say this program kept 97% of participants from coming back ito jail after leaving. The state sheriffs' association wants to expand it across Virginia.
Norfolk, Newport News and Hampton have some of the highest eviction rates in the country, according to Princeton University's Eviction Lab.
As a Virginia Beach city employee, Mary Louise Gayle helped preserve space in the river for new oyster reefs. She knew the oysters improve water quality by together filtering millions of gallons of water a day.
That’s why it was fitting when about 50 family members and friends recently boarded boats to see a new acre-wide oyster reef in the Lynnhaven named after her.
Virginia Beach is one of five localities which will lead the state in putting the Marcus Alert system into practice. But it might face challenges.
Many Norfolk employees are calling for higher wages and better benefits, and they want to form a union to bolster their demands.
Several Hampton Roads cities have higher average rates of poverty, unemployment and housing insecurity than Virginia on average.
Several Hampton Roads cities have higher average rates of poverty, unemployment and housing insecurity than Virginia on average.
The lines at gas stations in Hampton Roads are dying down after the Colonial Pipeline resumed service on Wednesday
WHRV's Jonah Grinkewitz reports on a free and unique concert experience coming to Hampton Roads this week as part of the the Virginia Arts Festival.
A recent court ruling striking down a national eviction moratorium could put pressure on Virginia officials to dole out hundreds of millions of dollars in rental assistance.
‘It Would Mean Everything:’ Hampton Roads Venues And Promoters Hoping For Relief Through The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant
The marquees at Portsmouth schools have gotten a little more bold lately as they try to recapture the friendly rivalries lost to the pandemic.
As COVID-19 cases shatter daily records in India and the virus kills more than 3,000 people a day, Hampton Roads residents of Indian descent say they’re anxiously hoping relatives and friends can survive the outbreak.
President Biden visited Hampton Roads Monday to promote a legislative package that includes free universal prekindergarden and community college.
Thousands of military personnel from Hampton Roads took part in the war in Afghanistan since the early 2000s. WHRO wants to hear stories from the veterans and families.
If you keep your eyes and ears open, you’ll likely see creative activity going on around Hampton Roads. WHRV'S Gina Gambony shares an episode from her “Reporter’s Notebook," where she meets artist Brodrick Antoine and barber Antonio Morales at Colleywood Cuts Barbershop on Colley Avenue.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is ramping up efforts around Hampton Roads to vaccinate people who face barriers to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
COVID-19 has hit familes hard across Virginia, but it might take years to understand how badly children will be affected over the course of their lives.
Here’s What We Know About The Fatal Shooting Of A Black Man By An Elizabeth City Deputy
Researchers at Old Dominion University hope to use plastic buoys in the Arctic Ocean to help teach Hampton Roads students about climate change.
More Virginians could receive discounts soon on flood insurance as part of an expansion of a little-known federal program.
A Representative of the NAACP says 460 has been a place of harassment for Black students for years.
As Norfolk continues its massive multi-year redevelopment of the Tidewater Gardens public housing complex, officials continue to applaud People First. But housing advocates and some current and former residents say the city’s rhetoric is disingenuous and exaggerates the true impact of People First.
A Virginia Beach police officer didn't turn on his body camera before fatally shooting 25-year-old Donovon Lynch in a weekend Oceanfront shooting.
Body cameras were one of the ways a 2015 presidential task force said could strengthen trust between police and citizens.
George Mason University criminology professor Laurie Robinson co-chaired that task force and reviewed police tactics and equipment, including body cameras.
Virginia Beach police have asked the State Police to take over the investigation of an officer who fatally shot a 25-year-old man at the Oceanfront last week. The officer shot Donovon Lynch, who is Black, after police responded to two shootings in the area Friday night.
Two people died in an Oceanfront shooting. One was shot by a Virginia Beach police officer, whose body camera wasn't on during the incident.
Gov. Ralph Northam on Tuesday ordered all state agencies and public universities and colleges to stop using single-use plastics in hopes of reducing solid waste statewide.
As the city of Norfolk redevelops the Tidewater Gardens public housing complex, residents say their living conditions are worsening.
Norfolk State University's men basketball team has now entered the NCAA “bubble” in Indianapolis where everyone had to quarantine in hotel rooms and get tested before their first practice Sunday.
An effort at William and Mary to uncover details about the lives of the enslaved. WHRV's Paul Bibeau interviews the director.
"We Use Our Art To Advocate" Governors School Students Win Award For Documentary on Reparations
Jessica Whitehead will lead Old Dominion University's research into ways to deal with sea level rise and worsening flooding caused by climate change.
Many segregationists are still revered as heroes or a part of some shared heritage, even 150 years after the first tributes appeared in Virginia. A bitter legacy for others, they evoke painful memories. In the wake of renewed calls for social justice, many such tributes are being removed.
Most Civil War monuments honor Confederates who fought to preserve slavery. But a few of those former soldiers went on to help some African Americans after the war. Now, people are taking a closer look at their legacies.
Quentin Kidd, dean at Christopher Newport University, remembers a near-miss that almost killed him 45 minutes before Operation Desert Storm ended.
Many Virginians are significantly underpaying for flood insurance. That could soon change as sea levels keep rising and flooding becomes more severe.
A lawsuit challenging Norfolk’s massive plan to redevelop the St. Paul’s public housing neighborhood continues to move through the legal process with no set trial date and any settlement possibly months away.
An enigmatic civil rights figure claimed to have formed a secret society in 1842 to help enslaved people in Princess Anne County. Now, WHRO needs your help to uncover the details.
Finding Opportunity During A Pandemic: Two Hampton Roads Residents Take A New Path After Job Loss
With demand for vaccines outpacing supply, Virginians are crossing state lines to receive shots.
With demand for vaccines outpacing supply, Virginians are crossing state lines to receive shots.
Jerry Hendrix, author of To Provide And Maintain A Navy, talks about the need for more naval power.
During a “state of the department” address Friday, Portsmouth’s interim police chief failed to address criticism of law enforcement’s handling of a June 2020 protest that led to the ousting of a former police chief.
Bon Secours announced Tuesday that it’s cutting some operations at the DePaul Medical Center in Norfolk.
Norfolk’s public school campuses will continue to feature armed law enforcement officers, despite concerns that school resource officers are unnecessary and create fear among Black and brown students.
Drivers around Hampton Roads have to put up with a lot. Traffic and flooding, obviously. Birds flying around bridges. And what about those green highway signs that are fading?
Grim details have emerged in the death of Navy Seal Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar that may determine how long Navy Seal Chief Special Operator Tony DeDolph spends in prison for Melgar's death.
A night out in Mali and a crude prank turned into a crime and a coverup. Now a SEAL operator pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter and other charges.
As many Virginians struggle to make rent amid the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, state lawmakers will consider more legislation during their latest session to help people keep their homes.
Body cameras for police officers came up this week came up this week when Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate updated City Council about the handcuffing of a Black man at a crowded Lynnhaven Mall the weekend before Christmas.
Local aquatic health scientists are expressing their disappointment over a recent sewage spill in Newport News that forced the Hampton Roads Sanitation District to divert raw wastewater into the James River.
The poor rating accounts for pollution levels and the health of fisheries and habitats around the bay watershed. Although water quality is modestly improving and oysters are rebounding, other fisheries are suffering and the report found that bay-adjacent states must do more to restore the nation’s largest estuary.
As 2020 comes to an end, WHRO Public Media spoke with Eastern Virginia residents about how they’ve managed a year like no other. COVID-19 has now taken 320,000 lives nationwide, including about 4,700 in Virginia, and it’s changed many more.
In Virginia Beach, emergency responders are considered health care workers. They are among the first group of people to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
The first shipment of the Pfizer Coronavirus vaccine is being distributed across Virginia. The Moderna vaccine was approved over the weekend, and the first shipment was sent out Sunday. More than 370,000 doses of these vaccines are expected in the commonwealth by the end of the year. WHRV’s Gina Gambony spoke with Virginia State Health Commissioner, Dr. Norman Oliver, about the plan for disbursement.
Drivers who spend a lot of time crossing bridges around Hampton Roads probably see a sad sight -- lots of dead birds.
COVID-19 has caused cancellations and severe restrictions on athletic competitions this year. For Bill and Patricia Richard, it's also isolated them from their children and grandchildren, and from the RV trips they usually take out of state.
The couple was undeterred. They spent months training and eventually put together a kind of homemade triathalon event they completed in their neighborhood, with only each other to cheer themselves on.
A Navy sailor received more than two years confinement in a brig for a series of crimes involving his relationship with a Russian woman. A complicated story unfolded in a military courtroom Tuesday.
A forecast that uses Facebook data estimates that within two weeks, most Hampton Roads localities will see a 6-10% rise in COVID-19 cases.
Affordable housing in Virginia is among the most vulnerable in the country to flooding and sea level rise, according to a new national study by the nonprofit Climate Central.
After an 8-hour meeting Thursday, Virginia’s Air Pollution Control Board approved a plan to build a natural gas power plant at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, despite strong opposition from environmentalists and Black rights leaders.
After an 8-hour meeting Thursday, Virginia’s Air Pollution Control Board approved a plan to build a natural gas power plant at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, despite strong opposition from environmentalists and Black rights leaders.
The city of Hampton will borrow $12 million from private investors to help fund efforts to reduce flooding and water pollution.
The Navy seeks a permit from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to construct and operate the combined heat and power plant at the shipyard in Portsmouth. Environmentalists have concerns.
Archaeologists found evidence of human graves at the First Baptist Church site in Williamsburg. What comes next will be up to descendants of past congregation members.
Andria McClellan launched a political action committee over the summer to explore a run for the position.
Kim Jemaine is the Virginia director for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. She joined WHRV’s Sam Turken to discuss how Joe Biden could impact Virginia’s environment and efforts to address global warming.
The hardest part of writing her story was cutting parts she really liked. But like any good writer, Ariadne "Aria" Stephens knew she had to make some tough calls.
After a year of playing the madeup game "Flare, Shadow and Floof" on the playground, Aria had far too many adventures to fit into the writing assignment for the WHRO Young Storytellers Contest. So she had to make cuts -- including a part in which the queen dragon gives three good dragon eggs to the main characters Flare, Shadow and Floof. Aria says she may include that in follow up work.
For Jack Vander Burg, writing has to contend with other pandemic pastimes like playing video games and riding his exercise bike. He's eager to start back to work on a fantasy story he's been working on. But he took time off to write prose about climate change. And it won him a prize.
The 11-year-old sixth-grader has been dancing since she was three years old. Now she has a new accolade to add to her list: Winner of the WHRO Young Storytellers Contest.
The federal government has a program that helps reduce flood insurance rates. Some Hampton Roads cities aren't taking full advantage of it.
Portsmouth Del. Steve Heretick was an early proponent of fully legalizing marijuana in Virginia.
Long-term care facilities and retirement communities have been waging a battle over the past 8 months to keep elderly residents safe from the pandemic. This has meant isolation. As WHRV’s Gina Gambony reports, extended solitude has its consequences.
The Virginia Supreme Court is expected to soon rule on a lawsuit oyster farmers filed against the city of Suffolk and the Hampton Roads Sanitation District. The case highlights water pollution problems in the Nansemond River.
More information from WHRV reporter Mechelle Hankerson Portsmouth's firing of police chief Angela Greene.
Sen. Louise Lucas' charges related to a protest at the city's Confederate were dropped.
Supporters of Portsmouth Chief Angela Greene gathered at City Hall this morning where she was fired.
Housing advocates say tenants across Virginia are struggling to make rent amid the coronavirus pandemic. Virginia lawmakers added another layer of eviction protections during their recent 12-week special session.
Steady rainfall inundated parts of Eastern Virginia Thursday, turning some neighborhoods into lakes and leaving roads impassable and drivers stranded.
Why did so many Black women vote for Joe Biden? One local political analyst shares her thoughts.
Norfolk Del. Joe Lindsey will leave his legislative position to become a general district court judge.
Rep. Elaine Luria trailed Scott Taylor by double digit points throughout Tuesday night thanks to his lead among votes cast on Election Day. She overtook him early Wednesday morning once absentee and early votes were counted.
Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria came from behind to win a contentious Southeast Virginia congressional race Wednesday, fending off a bid from Republican Scott Taylor to take back his old house seat in the historically conservative-leaning district.
WHRV's Jonah Grinkewitz talks to voters in Norfolk and Portsmouth about the casino gaming referendum.
Portsmouth voters will pick some local leaders this Election Day following a chaotic summer in the city.
How police departments in Hampton Roads justified their Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles is not how they actually used them - when they used them at all.
Hampton residents can receive funding for efforts to help mitigate flooding and water pollution.
Residents revived a summertime effort to recall Sen. Louise Lucas after she was charged for her alleged involvement with damage to the city's Confederate monument.
Officials with the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority say they’ll issue relocation notices early next week to 45 households in the Tidewater Gardens public housing complex. Another 22 residents will receive the orders in December.
October is “Meet the Blind” month. Technological resources for blind people are similar to resources for sighted people... they exist, but money is one barrier to accessing them. WHRV’s Gina Gambony reports.
Governor Ralph Northam’s administration has released a framework to respond to sea level rise, nuisance flooding and more intense rainstorms that increasingly threaten Virginia coastal communities as climate change accelerates.
More people will choose to vote from outside polling places this year, meaning voters who relied on special equipment to vote have to find a way to cast their ballot.
James City County will save residents a combined $100,000 in flood insurance costs annually thanks to its efforts to mitigate flood risk.
Environmentalists are raising concerns about a plan to build a new natural gas-fired power plant at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, saying the project could increase air and water pollution.
Two years after reports showed Scott Taylor’s 2018 congressional campaign committed fraud to help him win the race, the campaign remains under investigation — threatening his chances of taking back the seat this year.
The WHRO news team wanted to know how the pandemic had transformed the lives of middle school, high school and college students across Hampton Roads. So we asked them to document their lives for us.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner and Army veteran Daniel Gade are running for one of Virginia's U.S. Senate seats. They debated at Norfolk State University.
The now defunct data group Cambridge Analytica targeted more than 300,000 Black voters in Virginia. It was an alleged attempt to discourage them from voting in the 2016 election, according to a report by a British news organization.
For a few more weeks, Colonial Williamsburg archaeological staff will look for the brick foundation of the historic First Baptist Church.
Decent, affordable housing around the Eastern Shore is scarce. On a peninsula with limited water resources and sea level rising, building options are limited. So last week, residents held a virtual housing summit to discuss the challenges the area faces.
Voting in Virginia this year looks vastly different compared with previous elections. Amid the coronavirus pandemic and concerns about U.S. Postal Service delays, Virginia lawmakers have made major changes to the state's voting process.
If you decide to vote in person, bring your unused mail-in ballot to the polling place. An election official will void it.
Bruce Vogt's oyster farm is in danger. Polluted stormwater and runoff have fueled algae blooms across Hampton Roads this summer — including in the York River. Algae can be deadly to sea life.
Waters around Norfolk's beaches have already suffered from fecal pollution that have prompted more than five swimming advisories throughout the summer. More recently, algae have been blooming around Hampton Roads rivers.
Isle of Wight is headed toward a $1.8 million shortfall and subsequent furloughs if the General Assembly doesn't keep education funding steady.
One psychologist who works with veterans says preventing suicide might mean removing firearms from their possession.
Portsmouth's city manager resigned Tuesday amid continuing fallout over the city's response to the vandalism of a Confederate monument earlier this year. Lydia Pettis Patton's resignation comes days after she placed Police Chief Angela Greene on paid leave.
The Virginia Commission on African American History Education suggested policy and content changes to tell a more complete and accurate history of Black Americans.
After causing serious injury to one man and the impetus for criminal charges against several prominent Black community leaders, Portsmouth's Confederate monument began to come down Wednesday morning.
State officials say staff shortages caused by a budget shortfall amid the coronavirus pandemic are making it harder for agencies to respond to sea level rise and other climate change-related issues.
A Senate committee decided Wednesday to delay a vote on the legislation until next year after landlords expressed concerns about it.
Portsmouth police have charged State Sen. Louise Lucas and multiple NAACP members with conspiring to damage a Confederate monument during a June protest that left a man critically injured and the monument toppled.
Military veterans looking for new careers will be able to connect with 60 companies at a virtual career fair on Thursday.
Virginia education funding falls largely to localities, some of which may struggle to generate enough money to pay for everything schools need.
Would the residents of Bertie County have been safer during Hurricane Isaias if there were more affordable housing options?
Suffolk officials still don't know how much damage the tornado and Tropical Storm Isaias caused across the city.
Local and state election officials say absentee ballot application forms sent to millions of Virginians last week are legitimate and not part of any effort to fraud voters.
Virginia lawmakers plan to introduce multiple bills at their next session to help struggling tenants keep their homes amid the coronavirus crisis.
The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday ordered another temporary eviction moratorium as tens of thousands of people struggle to pay rent amid the coronavirus crisis.
School districts across Hampton Roads are deciding how to begin the 2020-21 school year amid the coronavirus pandemic. Although school officials say they want children to be in class to begin the year, most are opting for a full virtual start.
According to the World Health Organization, it's important that number is 10% or less. This shows that policies like social distancing are working.
As districts make decisions on what the beginning of the school year will be like, officials and parents have to consider the best way to get services to students in special programs while keeping them safe.
World climate researchers say the Earth is warming at a faster rate than anticipated. The effects could be serious in Virginia.
The Commonwealth has a new rent relief program that's meant to help people avoid evictions. But housing advocates say the rollout of the initiative has been rough.
A new online tool aims to show Hampton Roads residents that buying flood insurance is cost-effective as sea level rise continues across the region.
The FCC has reassigned frequencies to television stations across the country. Several stations in Hampton Roads have been part of the switch, including WHRO TV-15.
WHRV's Gina Gambony reports that the reason for the change was to open up space in the spectrum for wireless services.
The first weekend of Phase 3 in Virginia is a holiday - the Fourth of July. And while it's typically a big day for live music, don't expect bands to be moving inside for shows just yet.
A new measure that will fund efforts to adapt to sea level rise went into effect Wednesday.
Gov. Ralph Northam said he is still finalizing details of police reform he'll suggest during a special legislative session later this summer.
COVID-19 is extending deployments and bringing challenges to military families who are already facing hardship.
A Hampton Roads environmental non-profit hopes to showcase eco-friendly ways of responding to sea level rise as it moves its headquarters to a floodplain in Norfolk.
A Hampton Roads environmental non-profit hopes to showcase eco-friendly ways of responding to sea level rise as it moves its headquarters to a floodplain in Norfolk.
Tidewater Community College will open with a full schedule of classes for the fall semester and a steep enrollment decline.
Landlords could soon start evicting tenants who can't afford rent amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Southeast Newport News, like many majority black communities, is still impacted by decades of formal and informal housing policy and practice that kept black people separate from white people.
Behind the Virginia Beach Confederate Monument is the story of a hard-fought election... and an unsolved murder
Behind the Virginia Beach Confederate Monument is the story of a hard-fought election... and an unsolved murder
Hampton Roads is a hotbed of espionage. But what are secret agents doing if they can't even leave the house?
Hampton Roads is a hotbed of espionage. But what are secret agents doing if they can't even leave the house?
Hampton Roads is a hotbed of espionage. But what are secret agents doing if they can't even leave the house?
A prominent black family in Virginia Beach wants to reopen an investigation into the death of one of their own 45 years after it happened.
There have been 26 police officer-involved fatal shootings in Hampton Roads since 2015. Sixty-nine percent of those have involved black people, who only make up about 30% of the region's population.
Joan Wilkening owns and runs Mrs. Pinkadot, a shabby-chic home décor shop in Norfolk's Ghent neighborhood. WHRO reported in March that closing was not exactly easy for her. She was concerned then about keeping the store afloat. She's excited to reopen, but has new worries.
Housing advocates say a Virginia policy is allowing people who live in hotels and motels to become homeless as they remain laid off amid the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 100 people marched across parts of Norfolk Tuesday night, protesting police brutality, racism and the killing of black Americans including George Floyd in Minnesota.
More than 100 residents gathered at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center Sunday to mark the one-year anniversary of the mass shooting that killed 12 people and injured four more plus a police officer.
Christopher Rapp was killed in the shooting. He was 54.
A Virginia Beach native, Rapp was an engineer in the city's public works department. He also played the bagpipes in the band, Tidewater Pipes and Drums.
Virginia Beach will have a virtual memorial to honor those killed and injured in the Municipal Center Shooting
Marking one year since a mass shooting is no easy feat during a stay-at-home order. Virginia Beach is using a virtual event and forget-me-nots to honor the 17 victims.
When Kate Nixon lost her life on May 31, 2019, she left behind a husband and three young daughters. WHRV's Gina Gambony spoke with them about how they remember Kate a year later.
Tara Welch Gallagher was a 39-year-old engineer for Virginia Beach Public Works when she was killed in the shooting.
Virginia's moratorium on all non-emergency court proceedings ended Monday, meaning judges can begin hearing eviction cases against tenants who are struggling to pay rent due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Businesses and restaurants across much of Virginia can partially reopen Friday. Governor Ralph Northam has begun the state's first phase of slowly lifting restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic. Virginia's Legislative Black Caucus says the state should wait longer for the outbreak to subside before easing restrictions.
Finding a place to get tested for COVID-19 isn't hard, but the testing experience can take a long time.
State health officials have said it's because of meat processing plants, which employ large numbers of Latinos.
After nearly two months of struggling to turn profits or closing altogether, many Hampton Roads businesses can begin resuming some operations Friday.
As the coronavirus outbreak continues to ravage the economy, some Hampton Roads cities are cutting funding for resilience and flood mitigation projects.
Research scientist Neel Krishna of ReAlta explains how the immune system leads to death in some COVID-19 cases, and how he and his colleagues are working on a medication to treat it. Professor Kurt Williamson talks about viruses and their importance on the planet.
Some Hampton Road cities are seeing dramatic increases in residential garbage and recycling as most people stay home amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The City of Virginia Beach is planning a number of events to mark one year since a mass shooting.
Efforts to address sea level rise are still happening amid the coronavirus outbreak. One company wants to make home elevation a more viable solution to the rising seas in Hampton Roads.
Virginians living in hotels or motels for more than 90 consecutive days are still exempt from evictions, thanks to an extended emergency moratorium on eviction cases.
WHRV's Jonah Grinkewitz is checking in with local artists during the coronavirus pandemic.
This week, he talked to Tom Kearns of the Virginia Beach band Travelers. They recorded a cover of Matchbox Twenty's “How Far We've Come,” earlier this month.
While the coronavirus outbreak continues to keep hundreds of thousands of Hampton Roads residents at home, yellow police tape is still in use. Police departments across the region say some types of crime, like home break-ins, are down. But gun violence continues.
Every week, about 10 volunteers and community leaders meet at Burning Bush Worship Center in Norfolk where they prepare and bag groceries and meals for more than 600 people -- many living in a food desert.
Employees at Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center and Norfolk General Hospital reported concerns to the state in March. They have been resolved, according to the state labor office.
Staff at Sentara Obici Hospital in Suffolk celebrated sending home the first patient treated for COVID-19 in the intensive care unit.
Brenda Andrews, the Norfolk-based paper's publisher and owner, has halted print operations indefinitely. In an interview, she attributed the suspension to ad placement cancellations in print editions and the closure of distribution locations — mostly small businesses and churches — amid the outbreak.
Recent headlines have detailed the celebrities who have died from COVID-19. But there are names you've never heard of who had more impact on people here in Hampton Roads.
Virginia-bound migrant workers from Mexico and Latin America say they are uncertain about the health protections they will have once they start working later in the spring. Others are unsure if they will harvest crops at all.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to hurt people's finances, residents living in hotels or motels are increasingly at risk of becoming homeless. Many of them have been laid off, but room payments are still due.
Health care officials aren't sure how much treatment of COVID-19 could cost an average patient.
Anthony Lawson moved to Newport News to work at Busch Gardens, something he's been wanting to do for years. The year of the coronavirus pandemic was not good timing--but who knew? After working two shifts, it's not clear if he's eligible for unemployment in Virginia.
Local music writer and photographer Jeff Hewitt died in a moped crash on Colley Avenue in late February. WHRV's Jonah Grinkewitz has this remembrance of him through the artists he impacted in the Hampton Roads community.
Amid the coronavirus epidemic, people who live in hotels for at least 90 consecutive days cannot be forced out if they are no longer able to pay for a room.
Talking with Riverside Medical Group's Infectious Disease Specialist, Dr. Rebekah Sensenig.
The EPA is giving leniency to industries who don't comply with some regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is worried about lack of enforcement.
It has been just over a week since Governor Ralph Northam ordered all restaurants to close except for takeout and delivery to limit the spread of the virus. Many workers have since lost their jobs and are unsure of what to do next. Some Norfolk restaurants are trying to help by giving out free meals to food industry workers and anyone else in need.
WHRV's Jonah Grinkewitz reports on the effect coronavirus is having on funeral services in Hampton Roads.
Coronavirus has created fear and anxiety throughout the world. We asked our audience to share what keeps them going right now. Learn how to share your story on our Facebook Page.
Originally aired March 16, 2020. People can seek COVID-19 testing at three Sentara locations until the health system runs out of tests.
Virginia man dies of COVID-19; Virginia health leaders looking at possible "community spread" of coronavirus on the Peninsula; "Something in the Water" cancellation disappoints businesses; Skye Zentz of Norfolk shares what makes her happy
The number of COVID-19 cases in Virginia increased from 17 cases yesterday to 30 cases today. WHRV's Gina Gambony spoke with Dr. Laurie Forlano from the Virginia Department of Health about this means looking forward. Find a full transcript of the conversation on WHRO.ORG.
Old Dominion University economist, Professor Robert McNab, discusses how anxiety is fueling the current economic climate.
Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency because of COVID-19, a disease caused by coronavirus.
A Virginia Beach husband and wife have tested positive for the coronavirus, the first cases in Hampton Roads. They bring the statewide total of cases to eight.
WHRO Public Media hosted the 13th Annual Virginia Media Spelling Bee, and we have the winner. Twelve-year-old Andrew Hoehn walked away with the first place trophy--and now he's headed to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
There was a steady stream of people casting ballots at polling places in Suffolk Tuesday. Many voters were split on who should be president.
Charlie Stanton is the Chair of the Norfolk City Democratic Committee. He joined WHRV News bright and early on Super Tuesday to speak about ballot changes, Republican voters, and his hopes for the party.
Bernie Sanders stopped in Virginia Beach Saturday for a campaign event at Virginia Wesleyan University.
Some students at Norfolk State University said they weren't sure who Mayor Mike Bloomberg was. Others said they supported Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary.
As part of Black History Month, two of the first black students to integrate Norfolk's public schools reflected on their experiences of school desegregation and the impact it's had on their lives.
Katherine Johnson was an African American mathematician at NASA who made key contributions to some of the U.S.'s most notable space missions. She's died at the age of 101.
A small, determined group in Petersburg are working to preserve the story of the Tuskegee Airmen. VPM's Charles Fishburne reports.
After years of disagreements, the Newport News City Council and School Board decided what to do about Huntington Middle School.
A group of artists brought their own healing method to survivors of the Virginia Beach mass shooting--in the form of needles and ink.
The christening of the USS John F. Kennedy marks years of effort by local shipbuilders--and it's not quite finished.
All week we've been examining the use of seclusion and restraint in private Virginia schools that serve students with disabilities. As the state works on regulations to improve standards and documentation of these practices, some local groups have developed alternatives that are catching on here and in other states. WHRV's Gina Gambony has more.
This week - we're looking into seclusion and restraint in private day schools for students with disabilities. For the past decade, Virginia's Department of Education has been working on regulations for the practices. However, there isn't an effort to standardize training for teachers and staff who use these methods. Megan Pauly reports.
Physical restraint is a long-used but often-debated method to contain aggressive behavior in students with disabilities.
The topic is particularly controversial when the numbers of restraints are high.
According to state data, Virginia private schools serving students with disabilities reported a total of about 10,000 student seclusions across two recent school years. Regulations for the use of seclusion and restraint in these schools took effect in 2015, while regulations for the use of the practices in public schools haven't been formally approved yet
When South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster ordered the evacuation of Beaufort County Monday ahead of Hurricane Dorian, the County Animal Shelter and the Hilton Head Humane Society were put in a pinch.
The checklist for storm preparedness is second nature for longtime coastal residents. Non-perishable food, water, prescriptions… As WHRV's Rebecca Feldhaus Adams reports, Virginia Beach officials decided to help residents cross one item off the list.
Residents across Hampton Roads are preparing for Hurricane Dorian in various ways. Some on the oceanfront are taking it pretty easy. But, as WHRV's Rebecca Feldhaus Adams reports, lifeguards are watching conditions closely.
In an interesting legal maneuver, the City of Norfolk is suing Virginia with claims that the city's First Amendment rights are being violated. This is in an attempt to remove a confederate statue located downtown. Gina Gambony from WHRV Public Media spoke with UVA law professor Richard Schragger about exactly what this means. This story aired on NPR's All Things Considered newscast at 4:33 PM on Wednesday, August 22.
Naro Video is closing, but everyone involved wants the video collection to remain intact and available to the public. WHRV's Gina Gambony spoke with owner Tim Cooper, manager Patrick Taylor, treasurer Rob Coleman, and board member Skye Zentz.
Gavin Grimm had another day in court facing off with the Gloucester County School Board Tuesday. The dispute began 5 years ago when Grimm, a transgender male, wasn't allowed to use the male restroom at Gloucester High school.
"We don't know what will happen. And so whatever happens, I will see this fight through. If it takes a month more or if it takes four more years, or it doesn't matter how long this takes."
That's Gavin Grimm following Tuesday's Summary Judgment Hearing in Norfolk. There was no judgment from the bench after both sides presented their arguments. The ruling regarding whether or not Grimm's rights were violated by the School Board could come in a matter of days or weeks. Joshua Block, Grimm's attorney from the ACLU, rejected the School Board's argument that restroom assignment should be based on biological gender, or else anyone could decide at a moment's notice to use whatever restroom they want. "Gavin had a diagnosis and he had a letter from his doctor saying, I'm treating this person for gender dysphoria. He should be allowed to use the boy's restroom. And so whether or not the school board agrees with the doctor's views or not, it's just not true that anyone can just say, I want to use this restroom. There are a lot of ways to “objectively” confirm that someone is indeed a transgender and using the restroom that matches their gender identity."
The School Board's legal team presented testimony to dispute Grimm's doctors from endocrinologist Dr. Quintin Van Meter. Van Meter said being transgender is a social contagion, not a medical condition. Van Meter is the president of the American College of Pediatricians, a conservative advocacy group that endorses conversion therapy and has said that gender dysphoria will disappear if it's not reinforced.
The School Board's lawyer, David Corrigan, offered no comment.
As for Grimm, he's in good spirits as he waits for the outcome of Tuesday's hearing.
"I say that I leave with optimism and with a good feeling because I believe in what I'm doing, I believe in what I'm fighting for and regardless of what happens, it's a mission that I feel positively about. Just for the future of the conversation about Trans rights."
Gavin Grimm, a transgender man, has been fighting Virginia's Gloucester [glaw-ster] County School Board for nearly 5 years. Grimm and the Board face off in court again today. Gina Gambony of WHRV reports.
WHRV's Gina Gambony interviews investigative journalist Christopher Ketcham, who just published his first book--This Land: How Cowboys, Capitalism, and Corruption are Ruining the American West.
Find out more about the author here: https://www.christopherketcham.com
Christopher Ketcham has written for dozens of publications, including Harper's, National Geographic, and The New Republic. He has reported from the American West for more than a decade. This book is a product of those years in the last wild places. He currently lives in the Catskill Mountains of New York.
From the publisher, Penguin Random House:
“A big, bold book about public lands . . . The Desert Solitaire of our time.” – Outside
The public lands of the western United States comprise some 450 million acres of grassland, steppe land, canyons, forests, and mountains. It's an American commons, and it is under assault as never before.
Journalist Christopher Ketcham has been documenting the confluence of commercial exploitation and governmental misconduct in this region for over a decade. His revelatory book takes the reader on a journey across these last wild places, to see how capitalism is killing our great commons. Ketcham begins in Utah, revealing the environmental destruction caused by unregulated public lands livestock grazing, and exposing rampant malfeasance in the federal land management agencies, who have been compromised by the profit-driven livestock and energy interests they are supposed to regulate. He then turns to the broad effects of those corrupt politics on wildlife. He tracks the Department of Interior's failure to implement and enforce the Endangered Species Act–including its stark betrayal of protections for the grizzly bear and the sage grouse–and investigates the destructive behavior of U.S. Wildlife Services in their shocking mass slaughter of animals that threaten the livestock industry. Along the way, Ketcham talks with ecologists, biologists, botanists, former government employees, whistleblowers, grassroots environmentalists and other citizens who are fighting to protect the public domain for future generations.
This Land is a colorful muckraking journey–part Edward Abbey, part Upton Sinclair–exposing the rot in American politics that is rapidly leading to the sell-out of our national heritage. The book ends with Ketcham's vision of ecological restoration for the American West: freeing the trampled, denuded ecosystems from the effects of grazing, enforcing the laws already in place to defend biodiversity, allowing the native species of the West to recover under a fully implemented Endangered Species Act, and establishing vast stretches of public land where there will be no development at all, not even for recreation.
On July 1, Dominion Energy announced the construction of 2 test turbines--the first in federal waters--has begun in earnest. Dominion Energy Representatives and Virginia lawmakers helped break ground on the project at Camp Pendleton, as well as scientists who have researched the workings of offshore wind turbines for over a decade.
The first wind turbines in federal waters are officially under construction. Governor Ralph Northam believes Virginia is situated to be the epicenter of wind energy on the east coast.
A week after the mass shooting in a Virginia Beach municipal building, Virginia Democrats are trying to bring gun legislation back to the table. Memorials and vigils for victims continue, but a rally Friday night was directed at Virginia's General Assembly. Gina Gambony of NPR member station WHRV reports.