HAMPTON Hampton educator Jeffrey Weigel was named one of eight 2012 Virginia Lottery Super Teachers. He received the award during a surprise ceremony Thursday at Eaton Middle School where he teaches chemistry, physics and engineering, a lottery news release says.

If a long weekend hangin' with your best friend - man's best friend, to be precise - sounds like a blast, perhaps a trip to the Peninsula should be on your radar, as the Virginia Memorial Day Cluster All-Breed Dog Show returns to the Hampton Roads Convention Center from Friday through Monday.

HAMPTON Investigations have determined that a fire at Harpoon Larry's Oyster Bar early Wednesday morning was an arson.

HAMPTON U.S. Air Force Hospital Langley and its emergency room will be closed on Saturday for construction. Anyone in need of medical attention will have to go off base, a news release from Joint Base Langley-Eustis said. The facility will reopen on Sunday. The construction is part of a larger improvement project.

By Brock Vergakis HAMPTON New York Jets defensive lineman Kenrick Ellis pleaded guilty Monday to assault and battery stemming from a 2010 fight while attending college in Virginia. In a brief hearing in Hampton, Ellis entered an Alford plea, meaning he doesn't admit guilt but acknowledges prosecutors could prove the case against him.

HAMPTON A man wanted in connection with a homicide that occurred in March was extradited from Georgia and charged. Darren Maurice Johnson, 45, of Hampton was charged with murder, abduction and carjacking, a Hampton police news release said.

CHESAPEAKE Police believe a man who robbed the 7-Eleven this morning at 3445 Western Branch Blvd. also robbed another store in the city on Thursday and likely is responsible for robberies in several other Hampton Roads cities.

HAMPTON A 24-year-old man is in stable condition Thursday night after being shot near Darling Stadium.

HAMPTON No one was injured in an apartment fire this evening. Firefighters responded at about 5:30 p.m., to a call for a fire in the 400 block of West Pembroke Ave., Hampton Fire Department spokesman Anthony Chittum said. They arrived at the three-story building to find flames coming from all of the basement windows.

HAMPTON A 43-year-old man who was taken into custody shortly after a bank robbery this afternoon has been charged.