Just in time for prom and graduation, hundreds of teenagers have asked Virginia Beach officials to crack down on drunken driving. They did it partly on a dare. Everyone, the police chief included, knows that telling teenagers they can't do something makes them more determined.

Howard Everton is the kind of businessman our elected leaders say they want to encourage. He owns a small, high-tech company, a plastics fabricator that's been in Norfolk for 71 years. He makes equipment for hospitals. He has 17 full-time employees. His company pays nearly $13,000 a year in city taxes.

In the palpable anger over transportation problems across Hampton Roads, and even with the lack of unity among the region's cities, I see reason for hope. Not in abolishing the ridiculous tunnel tolls, unfortunately. But in a model exhibited by Suffolk, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach as they figure out ways to make our region more bike friendly.

When Democrat John F. Kennedy was elected president in 1960, actor John Wayne, a conservative Republican, was asked his opinion. "I didn't vote for him," Wayne said, "but he's my president, and I hope he does a good job."

I love this time of year. I love the daffodils and cherry blossoms, the osprey's return, the ability to sit outside in the sun. Spring means renewal. It brings hope. And it comes with passion, camaraderie and silliness, courtesy of March Madness.

A hundred young men and boys have shown up on this Friday night for three or four hours of basketball, and the gym smells like it. Twenty guys at a time are running up and down the courts, dribbling, passing, yelling, blocking, laughing, jumping. Swishing.

"A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches." I've heard Proverbs 22:1 all my life. My dad used to tell my brothers and me that he didn't have a lot of money to pass along as inheritance, but he was doing everything in his power to leave us a good name.

Steve Mobley was 5 when his father was killed. He doesn't remember much about his dad. He recalls the memorial services growing up. He heard over and over that Jimmy Wayne Mobley, Virginia Beach's police officer of the year in 1977, died a hero.

I'm trying hard to look on the bright side. I really am.

Virginia Beach is reconfiguring the heart of Kempsville, moving and widening Princess Anne Road to relieve congestion. There's no question of the need. A more navigable interchange with Witchduck and Kempsville roads has been the city's and state's goal for 20 years.