| Jenny Rolon bought a run-down mobile home at Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport four years ago, quickly turning it into a nice place. She paid $5,000 for the trailer, but says she dished out another $25,000 on renovations â a new kitchen and bathroom; all new floors, windows and lighting; and lots of bright white paint. âItâs not my trailer,â Rolon said. âItâs my home.â After moving from Puerto Rico in 2018, the 51-year-old is among the many residents who planned to stay for years at the Patrick Henry Mobile Home Park. Tenants say the trailer park is comfortable with abundant shade and conveniently located near major commercial areas. Itâs a community, they say, where thereâs little crime, children play freely and neighbors help each other out. But an eviction notice posted on the parkâs mailbox stand two weeks ago blindsided many of the 79 tenants. The original sign said they must âvacate the propertyâ by Aug. 31, though that was later moved to Nov. 5 because of legal requirements. Read more in the Sunday Main News section
Miya Mitchell-Bray decided during the groundswell social justice movement of 2020 that it was time to be the change she wanted to see in her community. Donning a Chesapeake Police Department uniform and badge, Mitchell-Bray recently completed her first year as an officer patrolling the streets of the city she calls home. As a 31-year-old Black woman, she said current negative public perceptions of police encouraged her to become an officer. âWith everything going on today in law enforcement, I felt the time was now to join the police department and be the change that I want to see,â Mitchell-Bray said. Across Hampton Roads, police departments are facing double-digit staffing shortages after the coronavirus pandemic saw many workers reconsider careers and the social justice movement placed greater scrutiny on law enforcement. But Chesapeake is among those that have had success recruiting new officers. Between July 2021 and April 2022, the Chesapeake Police Department hired 41 officers â 37 of whom were new officers and four lateral transfers from neighboring departments. The departmentâs number of new hires is second in the region only to the Virginia Beach Police Department, which hired 86 officers between July and February. Read more in the Sunday Main News section Norfolk City Council members clashed with the cityâs housing authority last week over the authorityâs little-known for-profit entity that has financed dozens of projects in low-income communities across the country but none in Norfolk in more than a decade. Council members requested the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority publicly answer questions about the company, Hampton Roads Ventures, following recent reporting by The Virginia Mercury, a nonprofit online news organization. During a tense meeting, NRHA officials gave mixed signals about whether the housing authorityâs actions amounted to misconduct. They also provided conflicting information about Hampton Roads Venturesâ dealings and finances. Several council members chastised the housing authority officials for what they considered a lack of transparency while Mayor Kenny Alexander threatened to direct Hampton Roads Venturesâ future profits to the city government. Read more in the Sunday Main News section May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and a great time to celebrate the diverse cultures of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States, including citizens from the Hawaiian islands to French Polynesia. It also commemorates the first Japanese immigrant to settle in the U.S. in May 1843 and the anniversary of the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in May 1869, a six-year project in which Chinese immigrants were crucial to its construction. Itâs also a great time to explore those experiences through food. Binchmark, Binchmark Stream and the Asian American Alliance based in Virginia Beach have created a list of Hampton Roads restaurants celebrating the month. Dine out through May 31. Details: tinyurl.com/HRAsianfood. Read more in the Sunday Break section
Itâs midday on a Tuesday and Iâm Florida bound, white-knuckling along I-95 North with a full tank of gas but running low on luck. Iâve spent gallons of good traffic karma breezing through the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel gridlock. I sped right past Fort Eustis and Fredericksburg, too, my little red ragtop bullied along the way by monster rigs and SUVs. Now an ominous row of red taillights twinkles ahead. But if I can make it to Lorton on time, no more white knuckles for me. Iâll sleep all night and wake up in sunny Florida. Iâve got a ticket on Amtrakâs Auto Train. I frequently ride the rails between Norfolkâs Harbor Park and Washington, D.C., a smooth, hassle-free glide that can cost as little as $18 â and from Newport News, even less. But what Iâm about to do is different. The nonstop, overnight route from Lorton, Virginia, to Sanford, Florida, near Orlando, was launched in 1983. Today, Auto Trains depart at 5 p.m. daily from both directions, carrying up to 325 vehicles, more than 300 coach customers and 175 sleeper rooms. Last call for loading a vehicle is 3 p.m. Trains leave at 5, and should arrive at 10 the next morning.
Read more in the Sunday Break section
Help wanted: accountants, zookeepers, blackjack dealers and more. If youâre looking for work, job opportunities are in abundance in Hampton Roads. The Hampton Roads Workforce Council reported 33,426 newly posted job listings in the region between April 4 and May 3. That includes 8,686 in Virginia Beach, 7,466 in Norfolk, 4,399 in Chesapeake, 3,529 in Newport News and 2,377 in Hampton. The data showed the industries with the highest number of openings include health care and social assistance, administrative support, waste management, remediation services and retail trade. Hampton Roads Workforce Council President and CEO Shawn Avery said that while the Hampton Roads job market is still very tight, they are starting to see increases in the number of people coming back into the workforce or looking for other career opportunities. Read more in the Sunday Work & Money section Larry McBride defies the conventional wisdom that a stable upbringing and formal education are the pathways to success. McBride blazed his path to multiple 1/4-mile world records on a Top Fuel motorcycle with common sense, hard work, talent and (his brotherâs) genius. McBride, a 63-year-old Poquoson native known to the racing world as âSpiderman,â said heâll attempt this week to break his 1/4-mile world record of 5.50 seconds (265 mph), set more than two years ago on his four-cylinder Top Fuel bike. The occasion is the NHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park and a series of match races against rising star Dave Vantine. It marks his return to his âhome trackâ for the first time in more than a decade and will be his first NHRA event in more than 20 years. Read more in the Sunday Sports section
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