By Greg Goldfarb
Correspondent
PORTSMOUTH
Late afternoon shadows fall easy on the Pizza Box, as hungry customers casually stroll into the new Port Norfolk eatery.
Inside, the warm air smells sweet, as owner Tony Diotallevi pulls pizza after pizza from a 525 degree oven.
The Brooklyn native couldn’t be more pleased.

PORTSMOUTH
In downtown Portsmouth, High Street is like the weather: Give it time, and it’ll change.
The latest turnover brings a replacement restaurant, a new home-decor consignment shop and the return of a former bath-and-beauty retailer. A few stores have closed; another changed hands.

 A new indoor baseball training facility on the campus of Churchland High School may be the last hurrah of a nearly 30-year effort to honor the memory of scholar-athlete and alum Steve Williams. “This is pretty much going to utilize the total amount that’s left in the foundation,” said Williams’ father, Robert T. Williams, of the gift.

PORTSMOUTH
Blame it on the babies - or the lack thereof - because Portsmouth's population is shrinking.
Residents are leaving town faster than they are being replaced, according to new estimates by the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center. The city's 2008 population is estimated at 97,599 - roughly 2,500 fewer people than lived in Portsmouth in 2000.

 
He was a slave, born on South Street and owned by a Confederate Army officer.
But humble beginnings didn't stop Jeffrey Wilson from becoming the first black newspaper columnist in Portsmouth.
On August 19, 1924, Wilson's byline first appeared in the Portsmouth Star on a column that documented events and milestones of the city's black community.

Was the Bruin's recent successful football season powered by pasta?
Credit the Western Branch High School varsity football team's respectable 8-3 showing to good leadership at the hands of coach Scott Johnson and his staff, motivated athletes, and dedicated fan support.

By Christy Barritt Correspondent In the past year, Bill Howell has lifted eight tons of food. Howell is a volunteer at The Up Center at 1805 Airline Blvd. and he oversees the nonprofit's food pantry.

Almost 30 years have passed since Mike Knepler and I were new-hires on The Ledger-Star. He was fresh from a reporting job in New England. I was approaching what was then considered "middle age" after a long career in Raleigh.

Like many others in the city these days, Linda is struggling to make ends meet. Linda, 64, who requested her last name not be used, lives with her mother, son and grandson in Cottage Place. Sometimes, grocery money runs out too soon, and Linda's family needs a little help.

It may not be Hollywood, but thanks to talent agent Karen Whitlow-Jones, Portsmouth now has a reputation for providing quality actors for the big and small screens. Until recently, Whitlow-Jones, 42, a former actor and model, ran Atlantic Talent Agency from an office in her West Park View home.