More than two years after approving collective bargaining for city employees, Portsmouth City Council has yet to pass a formal ordinance, leaving workers unable to negotiate over salaries and working conditions. 

Tiffany Stuart, president of the local fire and paramedics union, urged council to adopt an ordinance within 60 days to help address persistent staffing shortages and equipment failures. 

Industry safety guidelines recommend four firefighters per engine, but Portsmouth trucks regularly run with three. This understaffing led to a state safety violation after firefighters were injured in a 2024 residential fire.

Read more here: https://www.whro.org/local-government/2026-07-21/portsmouth-firefighters-union-pushes-for-collective-bargaining-citing-staffing-concerns

My band is playing Live at LauraLi’s! Free show. Come hang.

Hey everyone I just moved here a couple months ago and I'm looking for a group to play pickleball with. I play at a solid 4.0 but I'll play with anyone that is willing to let me join. Just like to get out there and have some fun!

It’s hard not to look. Digital screens on rows of slot machines, hundreds of them, are twice the size of iPads and three times as bright.

Shapes, cowboys, lemons and dragons pop in and out as the kaleidoscope of colors draws customers into a trance unbroken by the trill of dings and whistles.

A blackjack dealer shuffles a deck, a familiar crisp drumroll, before dealing cards onto the table. A gambler taps the felt to hit, then hits again and busts. The gaming floor at Rivers Casino in Portsmouth has a water hammer pulse.

Gambling is far from the only attraction. The casino has restaurants. It books comedians, bands and up-and-coming country music stars.

“We really made a concentrated effort to make this the entertainment capital of Hampton Roads,” General Manager Antonio Perez said.

The casino views itself as a competitor in the region’s hospitality industry, encompassing dining, sports, concerts and live performances.

“We know that there’s the Scope and there’s the amphitheater down at Virginia Beach,” Perez continued. “But we really want this to be the place where people could see really good nostalgic acts, up and coming and a diversity of acts, different types of comedians, and whatever it takes — to get people to come into the property and experience the property for the first time.”

The casino wants to compete against Hollywood blockbusters and even people’s cellphones for their attention, he said. Why go out to the movies when you can go inside a casino?

Click the link above to read more.

All four members of the School Board who quietly voted against the hiring of a new superintendent have now spoken up.

They were the minority of a 5-4 decision on Monday to appoint Doug Brubaker as the school district’s chief executive. Brubaker, who is leaving a five year-tenure with the Texarkana Independent School District in Texas, will be the Chesapeake school system’s first administrator who wasn’t already affiliated with the district.

During the meeting, School Board members Malia Huddle, Norman Pool, Amanda Quillin and Angela Swygert did not explain why they opposed hiring Brubaker. They all said, later, that they remained silent out of respect for him and his family.

“I intentionally chose not to make a statement during the meeting because I believed that moment belonged to Dr. Brubaker and his family,” Quillin said on social media. “I felt it was more appropriate to take time to thoughtfully explain my reasoning afterward.”

Huddle, Pool and Swygert said they would’ve preferred a superintendent with ties to the state or city. Quillin said she was not convinced Brubaker was the strongest choice.

Click the link above to read more.

Moving to Hampton roads soon. Curious about crossing the water in the morning. I'm thinking about living in Yorktown VA, and commuting to portsmouth area for work. I've been told to not live across "the bridge". Is Google accurate by putting time leaving early morning at a reasonable time? Should I be adding an unseen amount of time?

Thank you

Edit: Thank you, everyone. Seriously I expected maybe one or two responses but so many have been helpful. I'm excited to move to the area just based on this community alone.

New service connects uninsured adults in South Hampton Roads to free healthcare | WAVY.com

A clause in a proposed federal spending bill passed by a House appropriations committee could force Chesapeake Bay sanctuary oyster reefs to open for commercial harvesting after three years. 

Local environmental advocates, including leaders at the nonprofit Lynnhaven River Now, warn the policy would undermine millions of dollars in federal investments designed to rebuild wild oyster populations and clean local waterways. 

Restoration projects over the past decade have created nearly 2,300 acres of oyster habitat across Virginia and Maryland tributaries.

Read more here: https://www.whro.org/environment/2026-07-17/congress-could-open-chesapeake-bay-oyster-sanctuaries-for-commercial-harvest

After decades and well over 100 cons and shows, I cannot express just how HORRIBLE this entire event was today. East Coast Card Shows showed themselves to be disorganized and scummy, and the Hampton Convention Center should feel ashamed that they didn't step in to fix or stop the show.

1) People who purchased VIP access were told as part of the price they would have early admission, with the highest tier being told they would have a separate entrance. Upon arrival, we were all put into one single line and told VIP didn't matter - we just had to wait.

2) By 10 a.m., the line stretched across the entire front of the building, entirely in the sun. Some of us experienced con goers were prepared. Most parents with children were not.

3) By 10:30, the line hasn't moved at all. Some employees start popping out of side doors to take GENERAL ADMISSION ticket holders in, while telling VIP ticket holders to continue waiting in the line, in the sun, to go through the main entrance.

4) Just before 11 a.m., over an hour into waiting outside, I watch the first kid pass out from the heat. The parents left before the other children passed out.

5) By 11:20, the line has stopped again. This time, we start to hear from the front of the line that the event was at capacity and they weren't allowing anyone else in. There were still thousands, most with VIP tickets, standing outside. The limited staff then locked the door.

6) 11:30, the doors are still locked. The line is now wrapped around two sides of the building. Tons of people start heading to their cars, many with varying stages of heat exhaustion. Doesn't matter though, because just as many people are still getting in line.

7) 1:00, and they have let a few more people in, but all of the items promised to VIP members as part of their ticket price - gone. The staff isn't even checking tickets at that point, and they are still selling tickets online, claiming the event is not sold out yet. People on Facebook start calling the organizers out.

8) Word gets out that there are TWO other conventions being held in the building, and that the organizers of Anime City vastly misrepresented how many tickets they sold to their event. People start using the doors that are entrances for the other events and then just walking into Anime City because no one is checking or scanning tickets. Doors get locked again.

9) At 2:00, the organizers finally take down online ticket sales. The line is still stretched across the entire building, with just a handful being let in at a time. Several people have passed out. The people who have made it inside are coming back out complaining about how the inside was almost as bad as the outside. People start going to the BITE con next door.

10) By 5 p.m., the Facebook page is absolutely destroying the reputation of the event organizers. Finally, the organizers remove the Facebook page for the Hamptpn event AND the Facebook page for their business. They delete and then turn off all comments on their Instagram.

11) The event ended at 6 p.m. with people still in line.

It was the Fyre Festival event of the summer.

EDIT: At this time, the event organizers have blocked and deleted any contact on social media for anyone who has complained. Numerous banks are issuing chargebacks. The email for the organization is bouncing back emails.

Hi r/HamptonRoads,

I am an M.A. candidate in the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at The George Washington University. For my Master’s thesis, I am conducting research on the impact of the inclusion of 20th-Century genocides other than the Holocaust (such as the Armenian, Bosnian, and Cambodian) in the Virginia state world history curriculum on students’ experiences and understanding of genocide and human rights as adults. 

Eligible participants in this survey are

• People who are over the age of 18 
• And were in the 10th grade in either the 2022-2023 or 2023-2024 academic years
• And attended a Virginia public school for the entirety of their 10th-grade year 
• And took a world history class during that year

If all of these attributes apply to you, you are invited to take this survey. This survey will take approximately 3-5 minutes to complete. You will be asked to recall your experiences in your 10th-grade world history class. The questions pertain to the extent to which you learned about 20th-century genocides, the methods used to teach you about them, your experience with this curriculum, and how it has impacted your current understanding of genocide and human rights as an adult. 

At the end of the survey, you will be asked if you would like to participate in an interview to elaborate on this topic. Participation in the interview is entirely voluntary, will not affect whether the data from the survey will be used in the study, and will have no impact on any aspect of your future relations with the George Washington University (GW).

The anticipated findings from this research will contribute to the current body of research surrounding best practices in genocide education and improve scholarly understanding of how genocide education impacts understanding of genocide and human rights as a whole. This research seeks to contribute to the broader goals of genocide prevention and human rights promotion. 

https://qualtricsxmywn8r98s4.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2sq8gb2G0SmEhkG

Well that was a mess. Did you cosplay? Interested in a Cosplay Community?

Been cultivating this community for a while, I think I’d like to spread the word a little more.

We have local events posted so everyone is on the same page in 757 events. Because honestly not everyone gets the same word in.

If you’re interested, come join! We have a vibe check, so kindly do that before we let you in.

Thank you for reading! :)

Discord Server (https://discord.gg/RwAjb86Ckz)

Okay technically it does, but only made-for-IMAX documentaries. I would love to see The Odyssey on their 70x50ft screen. I guess once upon a time they had a 70mm projector but that's long gone. Would have been perfect to watch this film on, and it would no doubt draw in tons of revenue for the museum. Instead you have to drive 5 and a half hours up to Philly for the closest 70mm showing. Or you could drive only 3 and a half hours to the Airbus IMAX or the Lockheed Martin IMAX to see it in non-70mm Laser 1.43

I (23F) am planning on moving to Williamsburg sometime in 2027. Currently living in my Canadian hometown in Ontario until my K-1 fiance visa gets approved – I am looking forward to the end results of this long process.

My fiance has been working full time at the same store in Williamsburg for the past 12 years, and while my capacity to work is relatively limited due to invisible disabilities that I have, he is quite confident that he'll be able to help me get hired at the store for flexible, short part-time shifts (obviously after I obtain my work permit.)

However, it's still going to be quite tough for me to sit at home by myself for several hours on the days he works – that's why I'm hoping to start creating local and/or nearby friendships ahead of time, in order to establish rapport with people I could potentially spend time in person with once I get moved over there.

I'm diagnosed with autism, ADHD and some other mental health problems. If you want more specific details about what this entails, you are more than welcome to message me privately – but just to briefly be upfront: I have an extremely short attention span (which means I can only go out of the house or focus on one activity for a very limited amount of time), and still struggle at times with moments of emotional instability.

With all of that out of the way, my hobbies and interests include: nail art, scrapbooking, creative journaling, paper crafts (lots of different types of arts and crafts), as well as baking, pop music, and basically anything involving cats. There are currently 6 cats in my childhood home. I don't usually mind being around dogs, but they can be a bit overwhelming sometimes and I wouldn't personally own one.

Also, I do not drive or have a car, and due to intense anxiety I don't really plan on getting my license at any point in the future. So for that reason, it would be even better if you also happen to drive/have a vehicle (although I won't exclude anyone who doesn't.)

I'm open to anyone living in Williamsburg, Newport News, Yorktown or Hampton areas. Even if you're much older, I honestly won't mind that at all if we have common interests of any kind. If you're interested in chatting, connecting and getting to know each other, please feel free to comment or message me. Thanks for reading.

PS: Please be aware that this post is NOT an invitation to question, debate, challenge or comment on my decision to move from Canada to the US. My fiance and I have weighed all of the pros and cons of our options, factored in our personal circumstances, etc. I have also done extensive research to get an idea of what our living expenses would be for rent, utilities, groceries, gas in the car, meds, doctor's visits, etc and how all of that would work into our combined monthly income (while having the help of my fiance's work friend as our roommate). Plus, I have done hours upon hours of in-depth research, utilitized services from an immigration attorney, and continue to stay up to date on the latest immigration-related news. So I'm definitely not going into this whole situation blindly. I would greatly appreciate your understanding and to refrain from derailing the intended topic of this post.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I'm 23F so I will add that to the beginning of the first paragraph