As tensions rose and the enemy in the Navyâs global Large Scale Exercise 2021 scenario kept poking at American forces, word came down from the fleet -- maybe even the Secretary of Defense -- that hostile forces had abandoned a port.
And that it was up to sailors from Little Creekâs Navy Expeditionary Combat Command to secure it and make it safe -- whether for landing supplies for forces farther inland, or humanitarian relief or as a base for the fleet, the scenario that more than 25,000 sailors and Marines across some 17 time zones are following didnât say.
Read more in this Sunday's Main News section
hanning Taylor unraveled a ball of chunky yarn, tendrils of black spilling onto the bed like a snake.
She stretched out the long strand and folded it into fluffy loops, pulling the single string of yarn through the loops to create a knot. She repeated the process â loop, pull, knot â weaving neat rows with her hands, no knitting needles needed.
As she stitched the beginnings of a blanket one recent Saturday morning, Taylor coaxed her 11-year-old to finish a slice of breakfast bagel and swallow her medications, kept in a pillbox.
Peytan had to take more than 20 of them.
She lounged on her momâs bed, keeping her company as she knitted.
âTake your pills, please,â Taylor said.
With each knot, the 34-year-old mom inches closer to her mission: a new kidney for her daughter.
Taylor sells her blankets to raise awareness about living kidney donation and Peytanâs rare illness, cystinosis. The disease can affect all parts of the body, including the eyes and kidneys. The funds will help with her care, medical bills and the familyâs living expenses during and after the transplant. Taylor doesnât have a specific financial goal in mind, but so far, sheâs raised about $10,000.
 Read more in the Sunday Break section
Hezekiah Walker became a student at Virginia Union University two years ago, but the Grammy-winning gospel singer took his collegiate experience to the next level by opening a gospel music center on the campus.
He will lead the Hezekiah Walker Center of Gospel Music at Virginia Union University in Richmond. Itâs being dubbed the first academic center focused on gospel music at a historically Black college or university where students can learn the cultural and business aspects of the genre and industry.
Read more in the Sunday Break section  Â
Jamestown High has won more than two dozen state championships since opening 24 years ago, but no athletic team in school history galvanized the Eaglesâ community like the 2016-17 Group 4A boys basketball state runner-up.
Electricity filled the air that season as the home stands were packed for every game and the gym was sold out for the three victories over rival and fellow state tournament participant Smithfield. Behind its brash coach and an undersized but fiercely competitive team, Jamestown won 27 games on its way to the state final.
The Eagles lost Diamontâe Brown, the âheart and soulâ of that team, Sunday night. Brown, 22, was shot and killed, the victim of a robbery in an apparent drug transaction according to a report filed in the Williamsburg-James City County General District Court.
Read more in this Sunday's Sports section
Peace, love and blowouts â thatâs the greeting emblazoned above the check-in area at Drybar in Virginia Beachâs Town Center.
Franchisee owner Christine Verfurth opened the first Drybar in Hampton Roads and in Southeastern Virginia at the end of July. She left an almost 20-year career in accounting when the wind began to blow her in another direction.
âWhen I lost both of my parents within two years, I knew I wanted to redefine my life and the impact I could create,â she said. âIt was just time for a change.â
Read more in this Sunday's Work & Money section
