| The Virginia Department of Education is now working on a final draft of its model policies that requires schools to notify parents if any instructional materials contain sexually explicit content. Schools will then have to adopt their own policies consistent with the stateâs by the new year. Supporters of the bill that mandated schools adopt these policies have said that it is a step toward ensuring parental rights in their childrenâs education. However, some critics argue that it is overbroad and could limit the schoolâs ability to use materials that present diverse perspectives. Read more in the Sunday Main News section
Air Force Sgt. Jerred Lute made the trek from Hampton to Norfolk Saturday morning for Operation Homefrontâs drive-thru school supply giveaway with three of his four children in tow. In the back seat was his 11-year-old daughter, Makenna, who pointed out a teal green backpack she wanted from the pile on the curb. âGoing back to school with four kids is an expensive thing under ordinary circumstances. We need four sets of everything,â Lute said with a chuckle. As surging inflation squeezes family budgets, local organizations are preparing to offer a helping hand â and free school supplies â to Hampton Roads families burdened by back-to-school expenses. Read more in the Sunday Main news section Business owners are pushing back against a city plan to review conditional use permits and justify their benefit to downtown in the wake of several shootings.
Read more in the Sunday Main News section Danny Bradbury, who owns a car repair shop in a Hampton industrial park, recently got a call from a city business development manager. She asked him if he needed help moving, he said. Bradbury has been in his spot for a couple years. He didnât have plans to go anywhere. âI didnât know I was moving,â he replied. Unfortunately, it wasnât a prank call. Bradbury learned his landlord had received notice that his business was in violation of the propertyâs zoning, but Bradbury didnât get it because the landlord was on vacation. Itâs been a chaotic summer for businesses in the Wythe Creek Commerce Park. Bradbury and other business owners have become embroiled in a city probe for zoning violations at the park. What started out as one business ownerâs zoning battle with the city has mushroomed and put targets on several neighboring businesses. And now at least four of them must relocate by as early as Saturday, dramatically change their business offerings or appeal the violations. Read more in the Sunday Main News section
David and Claire Benjack never doubted that if they converted their back deck into a covered stage and invited bands to play, people would come. They felt confident that outdoor music fans would drive to their 580-acre cattle farm not far from the International Paper Co. â and not just people from around Franklin but other parts of Hampton Roads, Richmond and Petersburg, too. They imagined spoiling musicians with homemade lunches and cookies before setting them up on an elevated, 2,200-square-foot stage made of walnut-colored hardwood, nestled amidst River Road Farmâs fields, woods, and flower and vegetable gardens. Today, David and Claireâs version of âField of Dreamsâ has become a reality. Read more in the Sunday Break section Amazon opened a new facility in Chesapeake and with it comes 1,000 full-time and part-time jobs. The 640,000-square-foot processing center at 5045 Portsmouth Blvd. opened on July 27 for its first full day of operation, the e-commerce giant announced. The inbound cross-dock fulfillment center is the first of its kind in Virginia. At the new center, workers consolidate vendor products and then ship them to fulfillment centers within the distribution network. Hampton Roads Alliance CEO Doug Smith said in a news release that Amazon has quickly become one of the largest and most engaged employers in Hampton Roads. Read more in the Sunday Work & Money section
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