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By Gary Edwards Like a fresh dusting of snow, Virginia’s 85-77 overtime win over Texas Tech in the NCAA national championship game has given college basketball a much needed cleansing. But while the Cavaliers’ redemptive victory can change the landscape for a while, make no mistake the soot and dirt still lay beneath the surface. Barely a year ago, UVA coach Tony Bennett left his heart in Charlotte as UMBC became the first 16 seed to upset an overall number one seed in the NCAA Tournament. So this year’s title run had to be especially satisfying not only to Cavalier fans, but also to anyone who values what is supposedly good and right about college athletics. Because it seems young Mr. Bennett and his Cavaliers do try to do things the right way. Not only do they roll up their coll...

College Sports and Money By: Gary Edwards I don’t want to talk about the FBI’s investigation into college basketball. Everyone seems to be so surprised and shocked about $100,000 payments to recruits, but impermissible benefits to five-star recruits have been going on since our universities decided to dance with the revenue producing devil. Did you know the United States is the only country in the world that sponsors big-time sports at its institutions of higher learning? Perhaps the rest of the world understands it is like mixing oil and water; you can try to do it but it doesn’t work very well. College presidents, please spare me the mock indignation. You and your institutions sold your souls long ago to the television networks and shoe companies. You decided to take...

Proving there’s “no place like home for the holidays,” Lori Boone and her daughter, Kiana, moved into their new Habitat for Humanity of South Hampton Roads (Habitat SHR) house on Christmas Eve 2018. The new home on Lake Kennedy Drive in Suffolk is the last in a nine-home cluster built through Habitat SHR over the past three years. “It’s always special when a new Habitat family takes ownership, but it was extra special to have it happen on Christmas Eve,” said Frank Hruska, the Executive Director of Habitat SHR. “We are so grateful to our many community partners and volunteers who made the Boone home on Lake Kennedy Drive a reality before the end of the year.” Lori and Kiana had lived with Lori’s mother in a two-bedroom house in Suffolk.  Lori has worked for the past 18 years ...

by Jeff S. Howell, Jr., Esq. Why Pharrell Williams’ home grown “Atlantic Park” development is the right move for the Dome Site On January 15, 2019, the Virginia Beach City Council approved a terms sheet for a project widely known as “The Wave”; a $329 million development that will occupy the long vacant Dome site at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. The visionaries behind this project are led by none other than Virginia Beach’s own Pharrell Williams. So far the details of the project have been unfairly marred in controversy flowing from the ever-present riptide of local politics. Nevertheless, the published renderings promise something truly special: a mixed-use development supporting office and retail spaces, restaurants, and, of course, the signature wave pool so many of the ...

They said it all over town for almost 50 years – in Portsmouth, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Newport News and Hampton. Shipyard workers, bank presidents, high school students, store clerks, folks in military and first responders’ uniforms, doctors, lawyers, teachers – men and women, young and old, all over Hampton Roads for almost 50 years said, “I’m going to go see Freddie” – and every single one of them knew EXACTLY what they meant. They were going to see Freddie Aron at Roger’s Men’s Clothing Store in Portsmouth, Virginia,and it was likely to be the highlight of their day. Named Rogers by Freddie’s father Max in 1949, “Roger” meant “OK, all is good” from those who served in the military during World War II. This amazing men’s clothing store, from a MBA business school persp...

Virginia Women’s Monument Unveiling Newly Completed Granite Plaza and Revealing Names on Wall of Honor Fundraising campaign enters final phase for remaining eight statues Richmond, VA - The Virginia Capitol Foundation announced that the granite plaza foundation for Voices from the Garden: The Virginia Women’s Monument is completed and soon will be open for viewing by the public. In addition, the 230 Virginia women whose names are inscribed on the monument’s glass Wall of Honor were revealed*. Announcements were made at a special event at the monument’s location on Capitol Square. Attendees included elected officials, members of the Women’s Monument Commission, corporate executives, major donors and other key stakeholders. The Virginia Women’s Monument is the nation’s first monument...

Why is Virginia Beach among Nation’s Best Large Cities to Live in? The answer could be our thriving local business community   On July 23, 2018, Virginia Beach was given a figurative silver medal by WalletHub, who placed it as number two on the list of Best Large Cities to live in, behind only Seattle.  Our strongest distinction from our competition was affordability.  But what makes a large city affordable? In determining a city’s affordability, WalletHub’s methodology assigned the greatest weight to its cost of living, that is: the expenses residents can expect to incur when meeting their basic needs in the region. To put it simply, in a city with a low cost of living each dollar we earn goes further.  One reason for this is the availability of alternatives when the cost of a c...