The stores and restaurants are great, but something has to be done about the roads. That was the consensus of about 100 area residents who weighed in on existing conditions at Hilltop at a public meeting Jan. 26. It was the first of three planned public meetings designed to establish a plan for Hilltop, which is one of eight “strategic growth areas” designated by the city.

VIRGINIA BEACH   Kathy Harrison heard about the children in Afghanistan who were using two sticks and a plastic bag as a makeshift kite. She also learned they had no school. “That sealed it for me,” Harrison said. “I had to do something.” She decided on a care package. Of kites.

VIRGINIA BEACH

Tyler Carmack’s patients may be nibbling on doughnuts or hamburgers when she shows up. It’s a special treat after living a long life and suffering from illness.

VIRGINIA BEACH

Brian Hawkins can look at a piece of wood and envision the beautiful handcrafted guitar he can turn it into. “I don’t think I’d be as excited if I was making furniture,” Hawkins said. “This way people have something they can sit down with and make music with.”

VIRGINIA BEACH Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints searched eight years for land to build a new church. “It’s really hard to find a lot four to five acres in Virginia Beach or Norfolk,” said Robert G. Lambourne, stake president. “We finally found this one in December 2009. We considered it to be our Christmas present.”

VIRGINIA BEACH

The creation of a 20-foot-long, ceiling-to-floor mural on display in the dining room of the Side Street Cantina began with a blank, snowy white canvas. Then Alex Burdett, Brian Mitchell, Matt Jackson and Schuyler Beecroft, part of the next generation of young artists raised in Virginia Beach’s surf and skateboard culture, began breathing layers of whimsical life into it.

VIRGINIA BEACH For Heidi Doyle, a business trip to Denver brought home the importance of buying locally. “I wanted to bring back authentic souvenirs from Colorado but couldn’t,” said the Bayside resident, explaining that her choices were mass produced elsewhere.

Despite a sluggish economy that continues to pose difficulties for entrepreneurs, thousands – although fewer in each of the past several years – still take out new business licenses in Virginia Beach.

That included 4,243 in 2010, according to the Commissioner of the Revenue’s office, down 22 percent from four years earlier.

By Danielle N. Coley

As its name implies, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network connects people not only across the nation, but here in Virginia Beach. Two upcoming events will bring together even more people who are facing one of the most lethal cancers.

Kempsville resident Margie Sullivan, a five-year survivor, co-founded a support group and eventually connected with the action network.

LYNNHAVEN

Cotton is very soft, doesn’t smell, and has no sound, observed 7-year-old Bella Bryson.

“I didn’t even know seeds came in cotton,” she said.

Bella and her fellow Windsor Woods Elementary School second-graders recently harvested gobs of cotton, which sprouted from seeds they planted in the spring when they were first-graders.