Seven Hampton Roads homes built with tainted Chinese-made drywall will be the focus of the first federal trial involving the building material. The goal of the first trial, set to go forward in New Orleans on Jan. 25, will be to figure out how much it will cost to fix the homes.

The cost of local workers' health care will rise an average of 7.1 percent next year, according to a survey released last week by the Mercer consulting firm. That will amount to an average of $8,348 per employee, which is what both the employer and employee will pay for health coverage. The data for Virginia showed a 7.0 percent increase, to $8,881 per worker.

The Thanksgiving turkey, plus all the trimmings, will gobble fewer dollars this year than it did last year. The American Farm Bureau Federation estimates that the average tally for a traditional Thanksgiving meal for 10 people has fallen almost 4 percent, to $42.91 from $44.61 in 2008.

NORFOLK The Wall Street Journal and newspapers across the state, including The Virginian-Pilot, are battling in court over what has become the lucrative business of legal advertising.

VIRGINIA BEACH Bernard Madoff raised billions of dollars for his long-running Ponzi scheme from acquaintances in the New York City area and south Florida. Billions more poured in from an assortment of "feeder funds," including some at Fairfield Greenwich Group.

SHALLOTTE, N.C. L.M. Sandler & Sons Inc. arrived in this low-key hamlet between Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Wilmington, N.C., more than three years ago with ambitious plans. The Virginia Beach firm, owned by brothers Steve and Art Sandler, wanted to double the size of Shallotte with a 2,400-home, lush, Caribbean-style development.

NORFOLK Mediterranean Shipping Co., the second-largest shipping line in the world, has made Hampton Roads its "last out" and southern-most port of call on a revised service to the Middle and Far East, a port executive told a panel of state officials on Friday.

By Jaedda Armstrong About 100 employees of Verizon Communications in Hampton Roads could lose their jobs as part of the company's plans to cut 8,000 workers by the end of January, a union representative said.

By Jamesetta M. Walker The Virginian-Pilot VIRGINIA BEACH Popular women's clothier Beverly's Fine Fashions is hanging up its hat. "There comes a time when you have to make a tough decision," said Beverly Bates, owner of the boutique in the Hilltop North Shopping Center in Virginia Beach. "It's heartbreaking."

CHESAPEAKE On the verge of a three-week trial, a Chesapeake entrepreneur suddenly agreed Friday to pay $47 million to the state and hundreds of customers nationwide bilked by his company's computer-purchase scheme.