VIRGINIA BEACH Efforts to restore an 18th-century farmhouse located near City Hall hit a snag last month when a private investor withdrew a proposal to turn the city-owned property into a winery.

NORFOLK
The Eagle Cam is back on for the season at Norfolk Botanical Garden, the attraction announced Wednesday on its Facebook page.

NORFOLK About 30 Asian animals and exotic birds took up residence in a 5.5-acre expansion of the Virginia Zoo last April. And more than half a million people followed. The new animals in the Trail of the Tiger exhibit - along with old favorites on the winding zoo paths - stoked a record-breaking audience for Norfolk's 53-acre animal kingdom.

PORTSMOUTH It can sound a little like Whoville, standing in the Children's Museum of Virginia. There's the bowling alley-like sound of balls dropping in the Fantastic Motion Machine, and the constant air pressure whoosh of small rockets being launched nearby. On top of it all is the rhythm of makeshift bands banging out tin tunes on garbage cans and other unusual instruments.

NORFOLK
The Virginia Zoo's newest member is a caecilian.
The amphibian, which resembles a large, dark earthworm, was born Tuesday, according to a news release. It lacks limbs and swims like an eel. Its skin is smooth and its small eyes are covered by skin for protection. Caecilians have poor eyesight but a strong sense of smell.

NORFOLK

Norfolk Botanical Garden bald eagle enthusiasts will be able to watch the action at the nest next year with the help of three new cameras.

Perhaps even more of a tradition in Hampton Roads than tinsel and gingerbread are the holiday light displays glittering through the frosty winter nights.

NORFOLK The Norwegian tall ship HNoMS Statsraad Lehmkuhl arrived in Norfolk on Monday afternoon and will be open to the public for free tours today from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

PORTSMOUTH

The Pokey Smokey II had to stop its run at Portsmouth City Park after one of its wheels came off the track Saturday afternoon.

NORFOLK The atmosphere Tuesday in the Chrysler Museum Glass Studio was as sizzling as the molten glass itself. It was the day before the studio would open to the public, and a time for several dozen top patrons and others to witness a rare sight - a "blow" by one of the world's top glassblowers, a man who hardly ever makes glass in front of large groups.