http://hamptonroads.com/taxonomy/term/143 Category: Community News en-us Copyright 2012 PilotOnline.com / HamptonRoads.com. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:44:51 -0500 VIRGINIA BEACH A barren lot at the entrance to the Laskin Road Gateway project will soon be fertile ground for a public park. http://hamptonroads.com/2012/02/park-bridge-add-walking-space-laskin-gateway Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:16:35 -0500 EDITOR'S NOTE: Mike Hixenbaugh covers city government for The Virginian-Pilot. This piece was one of his "Above Board" columns published in the Beacon section of The Pilot. Ask most members of the City Council and the mayor if they want to raise property taxes this year, and you’re likely to hear variations of the same answer: “Of course not.” http://hamptonroads.com/2012/02/va-beach-councilman-proposes-pledge-against-tax-fee-hikes Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:54:02 -0500 The "Today" show, "World News with Diane Sawyer," the Princess Anne High School faculty - everybody wants a piece of Huff the Great Dane and Jonathan Friedman, the local man who won $1 million with his Doritos commercial during the Super Bowl. http://hamptonroads.com/2012/02/va-beach-man-wins-1m-super-bowl-doritos-ad Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:54:06 -0500 When Harriet King - or Ms. Harriet as she is known to most of her McDonald’s customers - sees her regulars pull into the College Drive parking lot, she immediately sets about preparing their orders. http://hamptonroads.com/2012/02/college-drive-mcdonalds-its-good-be-harriet-king Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:09:05 -0500 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.” http://hamptonroads.com/2012/02/va-beach-woodcrafter-creates-oneofakind-guitars Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:57:59 -0500 Without his companion and business partner, Keith Large said, keeping the Oasis Cafe going just became too difficult. On Jan. 27, less than four months after losing Richard Grether Jr. to lung cancer, Large closed the downtown breakfast and lunch restaurant. A few days later, the landlord locked the business. http://hamptonroads.com/2012/02/after-coowners-death-oasis-cafe-closes-its-doors Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 PORTLOCK Inside Fire Station 2, clumps of hair piled on the floor as firefighter Heather Callahan ran a pair of clippers across her husband's head. "It's just hair!" someone in the crowd of newly bald firefighters yelled at the couple. Callahan smiled. http://hamptonroads.com/2012/02/chesapeake-firefighters-get-shaved-baldathon Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:14:11 -0500 The dish Bandejita El Desorden The cost $9.50 (menu items for dine-in are discounted 15 percent Monday through Friday, 2:30-5:30 p.m.) The eatery El Desorden Columbian Cuisine, 665 Newtown Road, 497-4141, www.eldesordenva.com Why I liked it El Desorden, located near Newtown and Baker roads, bills itself as 100 percent Columbian. Our server was helpful and hospitable. http://hamptonroads.com/2012/02/cheap-eats-bandejita-el-desorden-plentiful-priced-right Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 In recognition of Black History Month, Portsmouth museums recently hosted programs honoring black heritage in the city. Part of that history includes Portsmouth’s role in the Underground Railroad, a network of safe places from the South to the North that runaway slaves used to escape to freedom. http://hamptonroads.com/2012/02/portsmouth-had-stopovers-road-freedom Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:12:36 -0500 VIRGINIA BEACH Tim Solanic took a walk along a stretch of Shore Drive recently and received a whole new view. “I had never really seen the south side of Lake Joyce,” he said. “Kind of forgot that it crossed under the road here.” http://hamptonroads.com/2012/02/shore-drive-walkway-aims-improve-safety Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:27:25 -0500