The buzz is growing that 2012 might be one of the worst mosquito years ever. The first batch of mosquitoes are hatching early - up to six weeks ahead of schedule - thanks to warmer weather and early spring rain.

CHESAPEAKE T.E. Jones knelt and grabbed the open box of drywall screws, printed with the words "Made in America" next to an image of a rippling Stars and Stripes. The homebuilder paid roughly $235 for the box - nearly $200 more than he would spend on a typical box of screws from China.

Scott Fitzgerald might have made a great wedding planner.
The lavish galas, extravagant excess and fabulous fortunes in "The Great Gatsby" - the novel he set in the Jazz Age in which the wealthy Gatsby woos his Daisy with money - rival the rich romp through flowers and crystal and china and silk that many brides strive to emulate while dreaming about their big day.

VIRGINIA BEACH Eileen Vernon gave one of the final tours to friends of her parents' home on Linkhorn Bay, remembering fondly sneaking out on the slate roof from her bedroom window, listening intently to her grandmother's tales of the Lindsley family farm, and admiring her father's meticulous upkeep of the two-story, brick Colonial home in Virginia Beach where she grew up.

NORFOLK
Mary Ann Fussell once had a mini-backyard without charm or purpose.
"It was totally useless," she said, thinking back 18 months to the sloping lawn and tiny aggregate patio in the petite space behind her East Beach house in Norfolk's Ocean View.
"You couldn't even put a table out here," she said.

AHOSKIE, N.C.
Pat and Lynette Brabble returned from church on a laid-back Sunday and flipped on Animal Planet's "River Monsters" on their 82-inch, high-definition TV.
Lynette fielded phone calls from her two grown daughters, a daily occurrence to check in and see how the family's doing.

IN 1988, LOUDOUN COUNTy residents George and Janice Tauser purchased a timeshare - a vacation property shared by several joint owners - for $6,500 at the Land of Canaan Vacation Resort in Davis, W.Va.

OWNING A home on the coast shouldn't be a lesson in dreams gone wrong.
For Wayne Higson, the coastal environment offered peace, serenity and a place to get away from it all - until corrosion, wind and water created a nightmare in vacation homeownership.

VIRGINIA BEACH The neighborhood children cheered as the goldfish in Roy Balaconis' pond proved their resilience and emerged from under a group of rocks after winter's end this year.

LEARN HOW COLONIAL growing methods can make today's vegetable gardens more productive. Wesley Greene, founder of Williamsburg's Colonial Garden on Duke of Gloucester Street, will present the program "Gardening Under Cover" at 5:30 p.m. tonight, April 24.