A group of artists brought their own healing method to survivors of the Virginia Beach mass shooting--in the form of needles and ink.

WHRO Reports

Healing Ink Provides A Different Kind Of Therapy Through Tattooing

The christening of the USS John F. Kennedy marks years of effort by local shipbuilders--and it's not quite finished.

A Day For Shipbuilders: The USS John F. Kennedy

All week we’ve been examining the use of seclusion and restraint in private Virginia schools that serve students with disabilities. As the state works on regulations to improve standards and documentation of these practices, some local groups have developed alternatives that are catching on here and in other states. WHRV’s Gina Gambony has more.

An Alternative To Seclusion And Restraint Was Born In Virginia--And It’s Spreading

This week - we’re looking into seclusion and restraint in private day schools for students with disabilities. For the past decade, Virginia’s Department of Education has been working on regulations for the practices. However, there isn’t an effort to standardize training for teachers and staff who use these methods. Megan Pauly reports.

Part 3: No State Standards, Limited Oversight Of Seclusion And Restraint Training For Virginia Teachers

Physical restraint is a long-used but often-debated method to contain aggressive behavior in students with disabilities. The topic is particularly controversial when the numbers of restraints are high.

Chesapeake School Reported Significant Jump In Restraints; School Attributes Majority To One Student

According to state data, Virginia private schools serving students with disabilities reported a total of about 10,000 student seclusions across two recent school years. Regulations for the use of seclusion and restraint in these schools took effect in 2015, while regulations for the use of the practices in public schools haven’t been formally approved yet

Richmond Private School Reported The Highest Number Of Seclusions. Staff Say They’re Not Sure When To Record Them.

When South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster ordered the evacuation of Beaufort County Monday ahead of Hurricane Dorian, the County Animal Shelter and the Hilton Head Humane Society were put in a pinch.

Beaufort County Animal Shelter and Hilton Head Humane Society Put in a Pinch Due to Evacuation Orders

The checklist for storm preparedness is second nature for longtime coastal residents. Non-perishable food, water, prescriptions… As WHRV’s Rebecca Feldhaus Adams reports, Virginia Beach officials decided to help residents cross one item off the list.

Storm Preparedness Checklist

Residents across Hampton Roads are preparing for Hurricane Dorian in various ways. Some on the oceanfront are taking it pretty easy. But, as WHRV’s Rebecca Feldhaus Adams reports, lifeguards are watching conditions closely.

Residents Across Hampton Roads Preparing for Hurricane Dorian

In an interesting legal maneuver, the City of Norfolk is suing Virginia with claims that the city's First Amendment rights are being violated. This is in an attempt to remove a confederate statue located downtown. Gina Gambony from WHRV Public Media spoke with UVA law professor Richard Schragger about exactly what this means. This story aired on NPR's All Things Considered newscast at 4:33 PM on Wednesday, August 22.

The City Of Norfolk Sues The Commonwealth

Naro Video is closing, but everyone involved wants the video collection to remain intact and available to the public. WHRV's Gina Gambony spoke with owner Tim Cooper, manager Patrick Taylor, treasurer Rob Coleman, and board member Skye Zentz.

Naro Expanded Video To Close, But Seeks Extended Life For The Collection

Gavin Grimm had another day in court facing off with the Gloucester County School Board Tuesday. The dispute began 5 years ago when Grimm, a transgender male, wasn’t allowed to use the male restroom at Gloucester High school. "We don't know what will happen. And so whatever happens, I will see this fight through. If it takes a month more or if it takes four more years, or it doesn't matter how long this takes." That's Gavin Grimm following Tuesday’s Summary Judgment Hearing in Norfolk. There was no judgment from the bench after both sides presented their arguments. The ruling regarding whether or not Grimm’s rights were violated by the School Board could come in a matter of days or weeks. Joshua Block, Grimm’s attorney from the ACLU, rejected the School Board's argument that restroom assignment should be based on biological gender, or else anyone could decide at a moment's notice to use whatever restroom they want. "Gavin had a diagnosis and he had a letter from his doctor saying, I'm treating this person for gender dysphoria. He should be allowed to use the boy's restroom. And so whether or not the school board agrees with the doctor's views or not, it's just not true that anyone can just say, I want to use this restroom. There are a lot of ways to “objectively” confirm that someone is indeed a transgender and using the restroom that matches their gender identity." The School Board's legal team presented testimony to dispute Grimm's doctors from endocrinologist Dr. Quintin Van Meter. Van Meter said being transgender is a social contagion, not a medical condition. Van Meter is the president of the American College of Pediatricians, a conservative advocacy group that endorses conversion therapy and has said that gender dysphoria will disappear if it's not reinforced. The School Board's lawyer, David Corrigan, offered no comment. As for Grimm, he's in good spirits as he waits for the outcome of Tuesday’s hearing. "I say that I leave with optimism and with a good feeling because I believe in what I'm doing, I believe in what I'm fighting for and regardless of what happens, it's a mission that I feel positively about. Just for the future of the conversation about Trans rights."

Gavin Grimm v Gloucester County School Board 7/23/19- No Ruling From Bench

Gavin Grimm, a transgender man, has been fighting Virginia’s Gloucester [glaw-ster] County School Board for nearly 5 years. Grimm and the Board face off in court again today. Gina Gambony of WHRV reports.

Gavin Grimm v Gloucester County School Board in Norfolk Court Today

WHRV's Gina Gambony interviews investigative journalist Christopher Ketcham, who just published his first book--This Land: How Cowboys, Capitalism, and Corruption are Ruining the American West. Find out more about the author here: https://www.christopherketcham.com Christopher Ketcham has written for dozens of publications, including Harper’s, National Geographic, and The New Republic. He has reported from the American West for more than a decade. This book is a product of those years in the last wild places. He currently lives in the Catskill Mountains of New York. From the publisher, Penguin Random House: “A big, bold book about public lands . . . The Desert Solitaire of our time.” – Outside The public lands of the western United States comprise some 450 million acres of grassland, steppe land, canyons, forests, and mountains. It’s an American commons, and it is under assault as never before. Journalist Christopher Ketcham has been documenting the confluence of commercial exploitation and governmental misconduct in this region for over a decade. His revelatory book takes the reader on a journey across these last wild places, to see how capitalism is killing our great commons. Ketcham begins in Utah, revealing the environmental destruction caused by unregulated public lands livestock grazing, and exposing rampant malfeasance in the federal land management agencies, who have been compromised by the profit-driven livestock and energy interests they are supposed to regulate. He then turns to the broad effects of those corrupt politics on wildlife. He tracks the Department of Interior’s failure to implement and enforce the Endangered Species Act–including its stark betrayal of protections for the grizzly bear and the sage grouse–and investigates the destructive behavior of U.S. Wildlife Services in their shocking mass slaughter of animals that threaten the livestock industry. Along the way, Ketcham talks with ecologists, biologists, botanists, former government employees, whistleblowers, grassroots environmentalists and other citizens who are fighting to protect the public domain for future generations. This Land is a colorful muckraking journey–part Edward Abbey, part Upton Sinclair–exposing the rot in American politics that is rapidly leading to the sell-out of our national heritage. The book ends with Ketcham’s vision of ecological restoration for the American West: freeing the trampled, denuded ecosystems from the effects of grazing, enforcing the laws already in place to defend biodiversity, allowing the native species of the West to recover under a fully implemented Endangered Species Act, and establishing vast stretches of public land where there will be no development at all, not even for recreation.

This Land: How Cowboys, Capitalism and Corruption are Ruining the American West by Christopher Ketcham

On July 1, Dominion Energy announced the construction of 2 test turbines--the first in federal waters--has begun in earnest. Dominion Energy Representatives and Virginia lawmakers helped break ground on the project at Camp Pendleton, as well as scientists who have researched the workings of offshore wind turbines for over a decade.

Scientists Celebrate Offshore Wind Turbine Construction

A collection of WHRO feature news including WHRO stories, interviews and in-depth reporting from Southeastern Virginia.

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