NORFOLK A judge convicted shipwrecked sailor Michael Calabrese of misdemeanor trespassing Monday for returning to an Ocean View shelter after he was kicked out.

VIRGINIA BEACH

One of two parking enforcement workers accused of stealing coins collected from parking meters pleaded guilty in Circuit Court on Monday. Christopher Miles Williams, 33, pleaded guilty to embezzlement, conspiracy to commit grand larceny and failure to appear and is scheduled to be sentenced May 8.

RALEIGH, N.C.

Scores of county election board members want Republican legislative leaders to appropriate more money so the North Carolina State Board of Elections can tap into several times the amount for things such as more early voting sites and voting machine maintenance.

NORFOLK Authorities found what appeared to be chemicals for making methamphetamine in a residence off Chesapeake Boulevard, a fire official said Monday. The house is in the 1200 block of Strand St. Investigators closed the road while they assessed the chemicals, Battalion Chief Harry Worley said.

By Julie Watson SAN DIEGO A federal judge for the first time in U.S. history heard arguments Monday in a case that could determine whether animals enjoy the same constitutional protection against slavery as human beings.

OCRACOKE, N.C.

Two ferry departures on the Cedar Island-Ocracoke route will be skipped Wednesday.

WASHINGTON

The U.S. House has approved a bill that would expand Corolla’s wild horse herd to help maintain the herd’s genetic viability.

NORFOLK

Thousands of people turned out Monday to say goodbye to attorney and philanthropist Peter G. Decker Jr. in a sendoff more befitting a head of state than a private citizen.

Several thousand people jammed into the Norfolk Waterside Marriott convention center for a memorial service that briefly snarled downtown traffic and attracted most of the city’s political elite.

RICHMOND

The lawsuit by four Republican presidential candidates challenging Virginia's ballot access law is now dead.

A federal judge in Richmond granted Newt Gingrich's request to drop him from the case Monday. Gingrich was the last remaining plaintiff after the judge previously granted requests to drop Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman from the case.

VIRGINIA BEACH The Virginia Beach Department of Public Health is inspecting a motel where police confiscated two drug-related objects a family reported finding in different rooms over the weekend.