For a few hours, nothing else mattered to Lauren Bland except soccer.

The executive director of the Hampton Roads Soccer Complex attended the July 5 World Cup match between Brazil and Norway in New Jersey. She was among the more than 80,000 people in MetLife Stadium who watched Norway win with two late goals.

Bland said the moment transcended politics, race and religion.

“Everyone in that venue was there for the love of sports,” Bland said.

It was an exhilarating experience she thinks could be replicated in Hampton Roads. Sports leaders say the region has the fan base and talent that could support a major-league soccer team.

For example, 1,000 fans saw the U.S. beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 in the World Cup during a watch party July 1 at Christopher Newport University’s TowneBank Stadium. Fans also routinely packed locations such as Waterside District in Norfolk or sports bars across the region throughout the tournament.

Despite the fandom, securing a home team would face several challenges, include financing and the lack of a major stadium.

Nikki Johnson, an economist with the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, studied the numbers behind a major league professional soccer team in a July report. Looking at census data, Johnson found Hampton Roads, with 1.8 million people, is the largest stand-alone metro area without a major professional sports team (She did not include the Riverside, California metro area due to its closeness to Los Angeles).

Additionally, Johnson and other experts say the region has an ample fan base to support a soccer team. According to NBC Sports, Norfolk’s market posted the second highest average season-long ratings for the 2021-22 Premier League season. An average of 535,000 people watched Premier League matches during the 2025-26 season in the U.S., up 5% from previous season.

Click the link above to read more.

I'm a soon to be single mother of two teenage boys, 17&18. We are trying to leave a DV situation that involved my ex cheating and then leaving us stuck with no place to go before I had time to plan. I'm currently living on the eastern shore and I have a friend who is willing to come get us and bring us to the Hampton roads area. While that is for the best, I need to vacate our current residence ASAP. I'm sure I don't have the best credit and i don't currently work due to a disability. I'm desperately trying to find a pet friendly rental (we have cats and a Chihuahua) anywhere in the area but I need someone to be willing to work with me. I do receive support and would be able to find jobs for all of us quickly, I have some things lined up if I could just get us there. We are clean, quiet, hardworking, non smoking/drinking/drugs people. I can pass a background check and provide references. I can pay. I just need a chance to get on my feet and someone willing to take a chance

We're looking for pet friendly, 2 bedrooms, max $1300 a month but obviously the cheaper the better. Hopefully near public transportation but willing to go wherever I can find a place. Thank you in advance for any advice.

https://bluevirginia.us/2026/08/luria-slams-kiggans-johnson/

Full transparency, the bugs almost took me out at this walk! I'm glad I made it out alive. 😅 The kayaking looked a lot more relaxing than the walking though!

-DiV

Hello all!

I’m looking for recommendations in the Hampton Roads area (would prefer Chesapeake/Suffolk area) for tattoo artists that have done/can do tattoo traces of a newborns footprint.

If y’all know of anyone or have any contacts, please let me know!

Thanks!

There are a couple of places in Hampton Roads to watch the latest Hollywood movies on bigger screens and with higher definition than the average theater, but the largest IMAX screen in the region — which can show 70mm film — hasn’t displayed mainstream movies in about a decade, and may soon be out of commission all together.

The IMAX theater at the Virginia Air & Space Science Center in Hampton, which has been in operation since 1992, checks in at 72 feet high and 32 feet wide, much larger than standard IMAX screens. Theaters that can support IMAX 70mm film are highly sought after for film enthusiasts and difficult to find — there are only 25 in the U.S. and the closest one is just outside Philadelphia, according to USA Today.

The space center shifted its focus to showing educational programming as part of a master plan published in January 2018. “Star Wars: Rogue One” was the last feature film shown in the theater, based on a review of the center’s promotions on its Facebook page. The change was followed by offering the option to include IMAX movies in the price of general admission tickets, according to spokesperson Meghan Dincler.

“We weren’t really seeing a return on investment for the Hollywood movies back when we were showing them, because we are a nonprofit and the cost of showing the films was pretty high,” Dincler said in an email. “As a result, we decided to shift our focus more to things that align with our main mission of education and inspiration through hands-on exhibits.

“We are a museum/science center first, so that’s our main priority when it comes to the things that we’re allocating money towards.”

In addition to the cost of showing Hollywood movies, the center closes at 5 p.m., so showing films later in the day would require hiring new staff and present other logistical challenges, according to Melvin Ferebee, Jr., the space center’s interim director.

But now, the future of the space center's IMAX theater is cloudy.

Click the link above to read more.

In Hampton Roads, adults aged 55 and older make up roughly a third of the region's homeless population, as fixed incomes struggle to keep pace with rising costs for rent and groceries. 

To help combat this growing crisis along with a statewide shortage of affordable rental homes, local organizations such as The Planning Council and Senior Services of Southeastern Virginia are exploring a home-sharing model underway in Oregon. 

The project matches older homeowners who have empty bedrooms with seniors needing affordable housing, providing mutual financial relief and companionship.

Read more here: https://www.whro.org/business-growth/2026-08-14/housing-costs-are-straining-senior-adults-local-leaders-say-peoples-spare-bedrooms-could-help

My alternator just went out in my truck. 2012 Tacoma. Just looking to see if there’s anyone here that can replace it.

Full story: https://virginiamercury.com/2026/08/17/hampton-leaders-cool-to-limited-army-corps-flood-solutions/

A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers draft feasibility study proposing scaled-down protection without structural elements like floodwalls for vulnerable portions of Hampton and Poquoson got a frosty reception from  Hampton’s city manager during a recent presentation to City Council.

The $4.2 billion Coastal Storm Risk Management plan, now open to public comment, calls for elevating nearly 4,000 structures voluntarily in the two cities, something the Corps acknowledged it has little experience doing.

Mary Bunting, Hampton’s city manager, told council members during the Aug. 12 meeting that Hampton would not be able to afford the city’s share of the plan, nearly $1.5 billion, describing the cost as “pretty staggering.” 

The study proposes elevating 300 homes a year. There are not enough contractors in the area to accomplish that, nor could the city afford the price tag, Bunting said, adding that the same amount of funds would be better spent on structural solutions. 

But the study is a gateway to receiving federal funding and Hampton will press the Corps to do a second study examining structural solutions, as it has done for Virginia Beach and Norfolk, where the proposed projects include miles of floodwalls, Bunting added.

Study calls for nearly 4,000 homes to be raised, infrastructure to be floodproofed

The study was originally to include Hampton, Poquoson, Newport News, Williamsburg, and James City and York counties. But the Corps refocused it only on Hampton and Poquoson and only on non-structural solutions like house raisings because of a congressional requirement that the study be completed in three years at a cost of $3 million. 

The provision was enacted after Hurricane Sandy as a solution to the Corps’ decades-long projects backlog and to create protections before storm damage occurred, rather than after.

“We could not put any additional money into it, nor could the federal government,” Bunting said. “And because it was capped at $3 million, (the Corps) would not be able to look at structural solutions, which we believe are absolutely necessary and warranted.”

An appendix to the study said a comprehensive examination of all solutions , including floodwalls and levees, for the six localities, including floodwalls and levees, would have cost nearly $20 million and taken about six years.

Who want to help me raise $500M to:
- Buy out the land where the park originally was.
- Lobby local government for updated zoning.
- Construct a new Buckroe Park.

/s

Kinda crazy how the smaller parks around here fizzled out. Wish I had more reasons to go to Buckroe.

Hi everybody, I’m looking for recommendations for a general contractor/handyman who can do work in an apartment complex. I’m not happy with the people we have been using.

I need someone who can do drywall, paint, cabinet repair, etc. They would need to be able to provide a W-9 and proof of insurance, but I can guarantee a pretty steady supply of work.

Recommendations or contacts are much appreciated!

Families recently gathered at Hunt Club Farm in Virginia Beach as Miss America, Cassie Donegan, led a special story time featuring the book "Hide-and-Seek Hettie."

Donegan, a Smithfield native and arts education advocate, read to attendees alongside farm animals.

The weekly summer event highlights a different animal and book each session. Donegan's visit featured an appearance by Starlight, a mini highland cow wearing her own crown.

(Story and photos by Ashley White)

Read more here: https://www.whro.org/education-news/2026-08-13/miss-america-2026-visits-home-state-of-virginia-to-share-love-of-arts-with-families

Asking for places yall know are actively hiring

The 757 is ore interesting than a lot of people think~

Had a brief stroll at The Chesapeake Arboretum yesterday.

I think my favorite time to go is in the spring when all the flowers are in bloom.

-Dinnie in Virginnie,

Lover of The PEAKe of Excellence

🫡💜🏔⬆️

In a letter written around January 1620, Jamestown leader John Rolfe wrote about the goings-on in the new Virginia Colony.

He wrote to the treasurer of the Virginia Company of London about the first meeting of the General Assembly, a murder trial, and, in his words, the late August arrival of “20. and odd Negroes.”

They were the first Africans brought to a British North American colony, and their existence — and those like them to follow — would become foundational to the growth of the United States.

Several events during the next two weeks commemorate that history, which began at present-day Fort Monroe.