An investigation that began a year ago with the overdose of an inmate at a Newport News correctional facility culminated Thursday in the arrest of 22 people in what federal officials call "a major heroin drug trafficking ring." Full Story »
Virginia showed a slight increase in the number of inmates statewide, but the prison populations of 20 other states fell in 2008, according to figures released yesterday by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Full Story »
Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell appointed Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling his administration's new jobs czar Thursday and made it a position in his cabinet. Full Story »
The York-Poquoson Sheriff's office is asking for help locating a Newport News man wanted in connection with a string of vehicle break-ins last month. Full Story »
— New students are being lost from college classrooms because they don't understand math or writing or science well enough to get into a credit-level course, and must repeat the entry course. That leads to frustration, which leads to drop-outs, and that's costing students and taxpayers nationwide, community college officials say. Full Story »
Although the bruises have faded, 16-year-old Kaleb Wilson still feels the sting of having his beaten, bloodied image plastered on YouTube after being attacked on a school bus Sept 23. Full Story »
If you want to tick people off, just tinker with their mascots. Full Story »
NEWPORT NEWS — Police departments want you to have a safe holiday season and are stepping up efforts to slow you down. Full Story »
The Newport News School Board revisited a plan to pare the cost of retirees' health and other benefits at its Dec. 8 work session. The board has already approved changes to such benefits, which are in addition to pensions, for anyone hired after July 1, 2009. Full Story »
A Williamsburg family was displaced Wednesday when an unattended pot on a stove set fire to the home's kitchen. Full Story »
Two Small Business Administration's Disaster Recovery Centers in Virginia serving residents and businesses affected by the November nor'easter will close today at the close of business. Full Story »
Consumer Credit Counseling Services will conduct a free money-management workshop Wednesday from 6 until 8 p.m. Full Story »
Peninsula-area foreclosure-related filings in November hit the highest point in more than a year, even while foreclosures are tapering off nationally. Full Story »
HAMPTON — Council members appointed Hampton's first female city manager Wednesday night when longtime employee Mary Bunting was voted into the top job at City Hall. Full Story »
HAMPTON — A developer has withdrawn her proposal for a rezoning that would have allowed the building of up to 128 residential units near Buckroe Beach. Full Story »
The Settlers Mill community knows a thing or two about children switching schools. Full Story »
— Williamsburg-James City County schools Superintendent Gary S. Mathews has applied for a job to lead a school system in Louisiana. According to a Sunday story in The Advocate newspaper in Baton Rouge, La., Mathews is one of four people who have applied for the superintendent's position in West Feliciana Parish, which is near Baton Rouge. Full Story »
RICHMOND — The family of a Virginia Tech student has filed a $43 million lawsuit, accusing the university of negligence in its response to a warning that their son was suicidal. Full Story »
HAMPTON — Penelope and Pierre waddled their way onto the stage of the Davis Middle auditorium, flippers flapping, to greet their seventh-grade audience. Full Story »
WOODBRIDGE — An upset student was arrested Tuesday after pointing a high-powered rifle at a teacher and firing two shots in a classroom at a Virginia community college, police said. No injuries were reported. Full Story »
Even with hard times assured for public schools and other state-supported ventures, Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's bid to end tax breaks to help balance an underfunded budget will get nowhere in a Republican-run House of Delegates, the top GOP budget-writer said Tuesday. Full Story »
After seven months at sea, Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeramy Wheaton came home to a wife who is due to give birth in just a few weeks. Full Story »
NEWPORT NEWS — A planning department study cautiously recommending five city elementary school campuses as possible sites for cell towers met with skepticism and outright opposition during the City Council work session on Tuesday. Full Story »
The Newport News Redevelopment and Housing Authority is looking to spend $659,087 to provide financial assistance and services to homeless people and city residents at risk of becoming homeless. Full Story »
By the end of June 2008, with $3million in surplus revenue, Williamsburg had experienced "the best year ever in terms of revenues over expenditures," City Manager Jack Tuttle said Monday. Full Story »
Jackass Penguins take a walk at Hakkeijima Sea Paradise in Japan. AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye
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