Preliminary test results indicate that a 22-year-old Portsmouth woman who died in April did not have an illness that has been associated with eating contaminated beef, a U.S. Department of Agriculture official said this week.

William Lam owes his life to his daughter's hunch. Last fall, the 76-year-old security guard was feeling poorly. A diabetic, he had a lot of tests done, but his daughter suggested that he have just one more: a colonoscopy. The colonoscopy revealed bad news: a cancerous tumor "about the size of a half-dollar," he said.

SUFFOLK The morning after the tornado, the people who work at Sentara Obici Hospital were grateful both for what didn’t happen and what did. Grateful that the hospital was largely spared so that they could treat those who weren’t.

VIRGINIA BEACH Before you can put together the world's biggest puzzle, you first have to find someone willing to make the pieces. And that can be a real head-scratcher, especially when the puzzle needs to measure 60,000 square feet. Pam Clendenen called lots of companies all over the country. Some didn't call back. Some didn't understand what she was asking for. You want what for what?

VIRGINIA BEACH Mary Ann Dockter was sure it had to be a typo. She had an epidural done for back pain in April 2006. A couple of weeks later, she got a bill from Sentara Healthcare for $753.95. She figured that once it was processed by Cigna, her health insurance carrier, she’d be on the hook for 20 percent of that and expected to pay $150 or so.

NORFOLK Calling infant mortality one of the state's biggest weaknesses, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine kicked off a regional forum Friday to find solutions to move Virginia up from the basement. He said a state with the fifth-highest median income in the nation should not have an infant mortality rate that ranks 32nd in the country, a level that has stagnated during the past decade.

In 2004, Dr. Enrique Tomeu abruptly closed his Virginia Beach obstetrics practice and left the area after being sued repeatedly for allegedly injuring babies during delivery. His departure prompted an account in The Virginian-Pilot examining how doctors accused of malpractice are able to move and keep practicing, leaving no easily accessible record of their history behind.

  Cancer patients who have lost their hair will stay a little warmer this spring, thanks to students at the Center for Effective Learning. The students spent weeks learning to sew in a Teen Living class. When they had finished their assigned projects, about a half-dozen volunteered to produce "chemo caps" for people dealing with the aftereffects of chemotherapy.

NORFOLK The developer of the Fort Norfolk Plaza medical office project has signed an investment agreement with an Indianapolis-based group that specializes in health care. Dr. Keith Newby said Tuesday that construction will start in early summer.

NORFOLK Tyrone Trotman thought of himself as a healthy person. He walked and ran regularly. Ate right. Didn't have a family history filled with major illnesses. But, at the urging of his wife, Trotman began scheduling check-ups with a physician every six months. Those appointments probably saved his life.