MY READER REWARDS


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Welcome to your weekly Reader Rewards newsletter! So, 80F temperatures are maybe a sneek peak??  OK - yours truly here at Reader Rewards is going to go out on a limb and say that we've cleared the snow threat!!  If you missed the story on the record-breaking temps today - catch The Pilot's coverage with Gavin Stone right here. Beach days are right around the corner, yes??

Beach days will be a bit longer for dogs down at the Virginia Beach boardwalk this year!  Yes - longer hours to walk dogs down on the boardwalk are coming this summer.  You can catch the coverage from The Pilot's Stacy Parker right here.

While we're on the topic of warmer and sunnier days - how about the news out of Chesapeake concerning the new adventure park??  Zip lines, obstacle courses and more trails....what is not to like??  The Pilot's Trevor Metcalfe has the review for you right here.  For Chesapeake residents - MUCH closer than the park in Virginia Beach!

Looking for upcoming foodie events and other events to get out and about?  Never fear - as usual, The Pilot's Rekaya Gibson has you covered right here. A Rwandan party, fish fry/barbecue and plenty of beer/ale tasting.  Enjoy!


Contests, contests, contests! We have Target, Walmart & Wawa!

Enter to win a $50 gift card to one  Go to MyReaderRewards.com to win!





Last Week's Contest Winners

Amazon -                        Marilynn True

Visa Gift Card -             
Carolyn Podnar     

Home Depot -                 Ronald Pervere  



CONTESTS
 Shop Target online and in-store for everything from groceries and essentials to clothing and electronics. Choose contactless pickup or delivery today. Register at MyReaderRewards.com for a chance to win a $50 gift card!


 Shop Walmart.com today for Every Day Low Prices. Join Walmart+ for unlimited free delivery from your store & free shipping with no order minimum.  Sign up for a chance to win a $50 gift card at MyReaderRewards.com!

Fuel your day with Wawa, your all-day, everyday convenience store. Grab Built-To-Order® food and beverages, coffee, fuel services, and much more. Sign up for a chance to win a $50 gift card at MyReaderRewards.com!
EToTod
Meet Bentley! Bentley is this week's My Reader Rewards Pet of the Week! Bentlye is a 9 year-old Boston Terrier that was rescued by his PAWrent Donna Grantham in January 2021.  Bentley enjoys car rides, doggie treats and hanging out with his best friend: the mailmain! The Granthams are loyal Pilot subscribers that live in Chesapeake.  Check out our other furry friends in our new Pet Gallery. Want your pet featured? Email a picture of your pet to
Mark.quan@pilotonline.com. Please include your name along with your pet's name. Let's round up those pet pictures folks to further boost our gallery and to showcase!!!
EX
COMING SUNDAY:

For years, it wasn’t even legal in Virginia to begin the school year before Labor Day. Now, most of the school divisions in a region that depends on tourism are opting for an early start.

When the state measure sometimes known as the “King’s Dominion Law” - which required public school divisions to begin classes after the holiday unless they had a waiver- was repealed in 2019, most divisions didn’t leap immediately at the chance to change their calendars.

Now, virtually every school division on the Peninsula begins before Labor Day, as well as Virginia Beach. Norfolk was among the latest to make this decision for the upcoming school year, with board member Noelle Gabriel saying the shift gives students a chance to get acclimated to their classrooms so they will be “ready to hit the pavement” after the holiday. Poquson will join the trend next year as well.

Portsmouth and Chesapeake school divisions have voted against an early start for the upcoming year for different reasons.

Read more in the Sunday Main News section

Eleven Hampton Roads businesses are in hot water with the military, having been blacklisted by the Armed Forces Disciplinary Control Board for “unscrupulous” business practices.

A string of tobacco shops, car dealers and auto body shops and an Oceanfront bar are off limits to service members.

But what gets a business blacklisted by the military?

The Armed Forces Disciplinary Control Board is an investigative committee made up of members from each military branch, with community members acting as advisers, working to shield service members from illegal and unethical business practices.

Read more in the Sunday Main News section

Boo Williams estimates had Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) money existed for high school athletes when he coached Allen Iverson and Ronald Curry on his legendary AAU basketball teams of the 1990s, they would’ve made at least today’s equivalent of $250,000 to $300,000.

Williams would’ve been happy to see them, and others, receive that cash. With one caveat: No payments for high school athletes unless the Virginia High School League can effectively enforce the system for doing so and punish violators of its rules.

That concern that is foremost on Williams’ mind upon learning that the VHSL will allow athletes to profit from their name/image/likeness beginning in July.

The VHSL’s Executive Committee voted overwhelmingly last month to allow its athletes to profit from their NIL — following a similar ruling by the NCAA last year for college athletes.

Read more in the Sunday Main News section

On Feb. 5, after President Joe Biden ordered a Chinese balloon that had violated American airspace to be shot down, a Navy photographer took several extraordinary photographs of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 as it collected some of the debris off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

In one of the images, which has been widely reproduced since, three sailors wrestle what looks like an enormous garbage bag entangled with broken scaffolding into a small boat while a half-dozen of their colleagues stare watchfully into space; in another, the humans are relegated to the edges and the focus is on the balloon itself, an ominous, if waterlogged, mass of wrinkled white plastic.

Read more in the Sunday Break section

Among Newfoundland’s picturesque 280 municipalities is the intimate tarmac town of Gander, nestled on the northern shore of Gander Lake.

The town of about 10,000 has a deeply entrenched aviation culture that is so dear to its people that most of the streets are named after pilots. Gander was a strategic post for the Allies during WWII and, during peacetime, became an emergency refueling stop for transatlantic flights. Gander residents call those who were not born on the island “come from aways.”

That’s the backbone of the true story behind the Broadway hit “Come From Away,” which runs Wednesday through March 5 in Norfolk.

Read more in the Sunday Break section

Note To Readers:  A reminder that Parade magazine is now only found along with your e-edition of either The Virginian-Pilot or Daily Press each Sunday morning.  Print copies of Parade magazine ceased after the November 13th issue.


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