By MARK THIESSEN (Associated Press)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The cruise ship with about 1,000 passengers anchored off Nome, too big to squeeze into into the tundra city’s tiny port. Its well-heeled tourists had to shimmy into small boats for another ride to shore.

It was 2016, and at the time, the cruise ship Serenity was the largest vessel ever to sail through the Northwest Passage.

But as the Arctic sea ice relents under the pressures of global warming and opens shipping lanes across the top of the world, more tourists are venturing to Nome — a northwest Alaska destination known better for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and its 1898 gold rush than luxury travel.

The problem remains: There’s no place to park the big boats. While smaller cruise ships are able to dock, officials say that of the dozen arriving this year, half will anchor offshore.

That’s expected to change as a $600 million-plus expansion makes Nome, population 3,500, the nation’s first deep-water Arctic port. The expansion, expected to be operational by the end of the decade, will accommodate not just larger cruise ships of up to 4,000 passengers, but cargo ships to deliver additional goods for the 60 Alaska Native villages in the region, and military vessels to counter the presence of Russian and Chinese ships in the Arctic.

It’s a prospect that excites business owners and officials in Nome, but concerns others who worry about the impact of additional tourists and vessel traffic on the environment and animals Alaska Natives depend on for subsistence.

The expansion will “support our local economy and the local artists here, the Indigenous artists having access to the visitors and teaching and sharing our culture and our language and how we how we make our beautiful art,” said Alice Bioff, an Inupiaq resident of Nome.

Bioff was a tour guide who greeted the Serenity’s passengers when they arrived in 2016. One of the guests admired her cloth kuspuk, a traditional Alaska Native garment similar to a smock, and wanted to know if it was water resistant.

It wasn’t, but the interaction inspired Bioff to create her own line of waterproof jackets styled like kuspuks. She now sells to tourists and locals alike from her own Naataq Gear gift store, a retail spot in the post office building, where about 20 Alaska Native artists offer ivory carvings, beadwork or paintings through consignment.

Studies show that cruise ship passengers typically spend about $100 per day in Nome, city manager Glenn Steckman said.

With the expansion, he’s hoping guests on larger cruise ships will extend their stays to experience more of Nome and the tundra, to view wild musk ox, or to sip a drink at the 123-year-old Board of Trade Saloon.

Climate change is making this all possible.

Nome, founded after gold was discovered in 1898, has seen six of its 10 warmest winters on record just in this century. The Bering Strait shipping lanes have gotten only busier since 2009, going from 262 transits that year to 509 in 2022.

“We’re going to be the first deep-draft Arctic port but probably not going to be the last,” Nome Mayor John Handeland said.

The Bering Sea ice on average reaches Nome in late November or December, about two or three weeks later than it did 50 years ago, said Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

In 2019, mushers in the Iditarod, who normally drive their dog teams on the Bering Sea ice to the finish line in Nome, were forced onto the beach because of open water. The ice season will only get shorter, Thoman said.

The existing port causeway was completed in the mid-1980s. The expansion will be completed in three phases and effectively double its size. The first part of the project is funded by $250 million in federal infrastructure money with another $175 million from the Alaska Legislature. Field work is expected to begin next year.

Currently three ships can dock at once; the expanded dock will accommodate seven to 10.

Workers will dredge a new basin 40 feet (12.2 meters) deep, allowing large cruises ships, cargo vessels, and every U.S. military ship except aircraft carriers to dock, Port Director Joy Baker said.

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, an Alaska Republican, said the expanded port will become the centerpiece of U.S. strategic infrastructure in the Arctic. The military is building up resources in Alaska, placing fighter jets at bases in Anchorage and Fairbanks, establishing a new Army airborne division in Alaska, training soldiers for future cold-weather conflicts and has missile defense capabilities.

“The way you have a presence in the Arctic is to be able to have military assets and the infrastructure that supports those assets,” Sullivan said.

The northern seas near Alaska are getting more crowded. A U.S. Coast Guard patrol board encountered seven Chinese and Russian naval vessels cooperating in an exercise last year about 86 miles (138 kilometers) north of Alaska’s Kiska Island.

Coast guard vessels in 2021 also encountered Chinese ships 50 miles (80 km) off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg last yea r warned that Russia and China have pledged to cooperate in the Arctic, “a deepening strategic partnership that challenges our values and interests.”

Still, the prospect of Nome welcoming more tourists and a greater military presence bothers some residents. Austin Ahmasuk, an Inupiaq native, said the port’s original construction displaced an area traditionally used for subsistence hunting or fishing, and the expansion won’t help.

“The Port of Nome is development purely for the sake of development,” Ahmasuk said.

___

This story corrects that Sullivan is a senator, not a representative.

One man was killed following a shooting late Sunday morning in Suffolk.

Emergency responders received a call around 11 a.m. about a person who was shot inside a home in the 6200 block of Apple Street. When police arrived, they found a 72-year-old man with a single gunshot wound, according to a news release from the department. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

In the news release, Suffolk police said someone left the scene in a red truck. Police are working to identify a suspect, who they say knew the victim.

Police encouraged anyone with information to contact the Suffolk Police Department or leave an anonymous tip online at p3tips.com.

Cianna Morales, 757-957-1304, [email protected]

By LINDSEY BAHR (AP Film Writer)

DC and Warner Bros.’ long-in-the-works superhero movie “The Flash” opened to $55 million in its first three days in North American theaters, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

Though a fair amount of money by normal standards, a sizable jump from DC’s last release, the “Shazam!” sequel, and enough for a first place start, it’s also muted by superhero standards where $100 million debut weekends are almost commonplace.

It was a crowded weekend at the multiplex overall. In addition to “The Flash” there was the new Pixar family film “Elemental” and the horror-comedy “The Blackening.” The only big win was Wes Anderson’s starry “Asteroid City” which earned $720,000 from just six theaters and the distinction of having the highest per-theater average ($132,211) since the start of the pandemic.

“The Flash” faced more complications than marketplace conditions. It has been in the headlines often over the past year, not because of the movie itself but because of its star Ezra Miller’s off-screen troubles, including arrests, erratic behavior and accusations of misconduct. Miller has apologized and said they are seeking mental health treatment. They also bowed out of participating in the normal publicity circuit, except for the premiere.

The studio’s leadership remained bullish on releasing their $200 million movie, however, confident in its quality and importance to future DC Studios storylines. The movie introduces the multiverse, which allowed for the return of Michael Keaton’s Batman in a movie that also had Ben Affleck’s Batman.

Going into the weekend analysts expected “The Flash” to earn at least $70 million in its first three days, playing in 4,234 locations domestically. Now, it’s projected to net out with $64 million in its first four, including Monday’s Juneteenth holiday. Internationally, it made $75 million, giving it a $139 million global start.

“I think Warners did a fantastic job of dealing with the situation they had,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “It’s a very interesting case study of what can happen when the title character of a huge movie has these very public controversies. But it’s hard to reverse engineer it to know what effect it may have had.”

Another obstacle was that some of the main promotional outlets — late night talk shows — are still shut down as the Writers Strike continues. Also, with the knowledge that DC is undergoing a major reset, fans might have decided to move on and wait for that.

Critics were mixed but more positive than not, with a 67% on Rotten Tomatoes. AP’s Jocelyn Noveck wrote in her review that despite some “breezily clever and entertaining” moments, “the final act bogs down in what feels like an endless, generic CGI battle and a kitchen-sink resolution.”

Audiences polled for CinemaScore only gave the film a B, which has not historically been great news for word-of-mouth potential and longevity.

But there is a bit of a gap in the schedule before the next major blockbuster comes in “ Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” which opens on June 30. Next week’s biggest offering is the R-rated Jennifer Lawrence comedy “ No Hard Feelings ” and the nationwide expansion of “Asteroid City.”

Second place went to “Elemental” with an estimated $29.5 million from 4,035 locations in North America – a new low for Pixar’s three-day openings. Before, that title belonged to “The Good Dinosaur” and “Onward,” which both debuted to $39 million. “

“Elemental” was greeted positively by critics, with a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes, and audiences (A CinemaScore). AP’s Jake Coyle wrote that it’s “probably in the lower half” of the Pixar cannon but ”sincere and clever, with a splash of dazzle,” it, “comes closer to rekindling some of the old Pixar magic than some recent entries. ” Including $15 million from 17 international territories, “Elemental” launched to $44.5 million globally.

“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” was a very close third, in its third weekend, with $27.8 million. Sony is projecting that its domestic total will have reached $285 million through Monday.

It’s possible, Dergarabedian said, that Spider-Man’s formidable holding power — bolstered by reviews and word of mouth — ate into “Elemental’s” launch. Both are also rated PG.

“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” dropped a steep 67% in its second weekend, adding $20 million to take fourth place. “The Little Mermaid” settled into fifth place with $11.6 million in its fourth weekend.

“The Blackening” was the other big release this weekend – a bit of counterprogramming to the bigger branded releases with an original horror-comedy about a group of friends, who are Black, who get together for a weekend away and find themselves on the run from a killer. Lionsgate and MRC acquired the $5 million movie from director Tim Story after it debuted to positive reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival. Released in 1,775 theaters, “The Blackening” made an estimated $6 million.

“This is a fantastic weekend for movie theaters because there’s a depth and breadth of content that is amazing, but that means they’re sharing the wealth,” said Dergarabedian. “The collective box office was incredibly strong. But it’s creating a very competitive environment.”

“Asteroid City” was an undeniable bright spot in limited release. Focus Features set up “Asteroid City” pop-up experiences at theaters in New York and Los Angeles to help draw audiences.

“Wes Anderson is the pinnacle of specialty film. He’s the Marvel,” said Lisa Bunnell, Focus’ president of distribution. “This is a great shot in the arm for art theaters.”

Next week, “Asteroid City” jumps from 6 to about 1,500 theaters.

“After COVID, we’re trying to do things that are out of the box,” Bunnell added. “We feel like to get specialty films back on track again, you sort of need a new playbook.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “The Flash,” $55 million.

2. “Elemental,” $29.5 million.

3. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” $27.8 million.

4. “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” $20 million.

5. “The Little Mermaid,” $11.6 million.

6. “The Blackening,” $6 million.

7. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” $5 million.

8. “The Boogeyman,” $3.8 million.

9. “Fast X,” $2 million.

10. “Adipurush,” $1.6 million.

—-

Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr: www.twitter.com/ldbahr.

Chesapeake Regional Airport recently hosted an opportunity for local aviation enthusiasts to experience flight aboard a vintage 5-AT-B Ford Trimotor airplane. The Trimotor dubbed the “City of Port Clinton” is owned by the Liberty Aviation Museum in Ohio and leased by the Experimental Aviation Association.

Members of Chapter 339 of the EAA, a group of local aviation devotees, aircraft builders, and pilots, served as volunteers for the special event called “Fly the Ford.”

“Our local chapter is volunteering to help with the manpower to make the event happen, but it is actually a coordinated effort with the airport authority, the EAA, and a couple of the other businesses at the airport,” said Chris Ryan, president of local Chapter 339 of the EAA.

Of the 199 Ford Trimotor aircraft that were built by Ford Motor Company and the Stout Metal Airplane Company from 1926 until 1933, less than two dozen still exist. Only about six are currently air-worthy.

“Our mission is to raise funds to keep the plane flying as well as to let people see the history of the airplane,” said Glenn Johnson, vice president of the local EAA chapter. “This plane was built in 1928 and started passenger service in 1929. It was considered, back then, a luxury airliner.”

The Ford Trimotor had a wingspan of 78 feet and three Pratt & Whitney radial engines. Each engine produces 450 hp. This aircraft had a cruising speed of 90 miles per hour and a range of slightly less than 600 miles. The cost per unit (USD 1933) was $50,000.

“I’m very impressed with the plane. It is almost 100 years old,” Johnson said. “This was a work of art. For the time, it was a very advanced airplane.”

Designed for the civil aviation market, the Ford Trimotor played a huge role in persuading the American public that travel by air was safe. The aircraft was noisy but reliable in transporting passengers. The Trimotor proved to be among the most influential aircraft in American airline history.

“The corrugated skin was used to strengthen the wing and the fuselage without having to add more structure to the aircraft,” said EAA volunteer Ken Knutson. “It’s less weight to add a little bit more skin because of the corrugation than using steel to build up the structure. It’s much lighter to add aluminum than it is to add steel.”

When the Great Depression struck, Ford Motor Company and Stout Metal Airplane Company stopped producing aircraft (in 1933) and Ford Motor Company concentrated its focus on manufacturing automobiles.

Ashley Messenger volunteers as a pilot for the Experimental Aircraft Association. The Ford Trimotor he flies is owned by the Liberty Aviation Museum in Port Clinton, Ohio. It is leased and toured by the Experimental Aircraft Association.

“It’s a pretty amazing leap in technology. You look at this aircraft and you see some throwbacks to the earlier 1910s, the Wright era, with the exposed [control] cables,” said Messenger. “And you see the aluminum construction. That was state-of-the-art at that point.”

Henry Ford backed the Ford Trimotor airliner with all the integrity of the Ford Motor Company. If Ford Motor Company was going to engage in “this flying thing,” then Henry Ford was determined to do it right.

“Ford built the Trimotor as a passenger airliner and intended it to actually make money hauling passengers. It came close,” said Messenger. “In 1928, it would have cost you $50,000 to buy this aircraft. Today, that would be a bargain.

“You had to be serious about it. The airliner was first sold to Transcontinental Air Transport which was the forerunner of TWA. Their vision was coast to coast service.”

Messenger flies a variety of vintage aircraft, including two Ford Trimotors, a B-25 bomber, and two antique biplanes for the EAA.

“All these old machines have a personality. Everything on the airplane is mechanical. Each [vintage] aircraft has quirks that you learn to live with,” he said. “Pilots talk about airplanes. There are airplanes that are easy to fly. There are airplanes that are hard to fly. The ones that are hard to fly just don’t give up their secrets gradually. You have to earn their respect. Once you do, you’re friends for life.”

The Ford Trimotor is not fuel efficient at all. It holds 345 gallons of fuel and burns it at a rate of 60 gallons an hour. Depending on conditions, the plane can travel an average of 80 to 90 miles in an hour.

“Nobody comes off this airplane with a frown. It’s a wonderful experience even for people who have not been in an airplane before,” said Messenger. “I’ve taken many people for their first airplane ride in the Ford Trimotor. They beam from ear to ear when they get out at the airport.”

Chesapeake resident Chip Mardis is a local aviation enthusiast whose father was a commercial airline pilot with Pennsylvania Central, Capital, and United Air Lines. Mardis brought his father’s airline hats, pilot’s log, and Army Air Corps photo aboard the Ford Trimotor for a Friday afternoon flight.

“I’m a huge aviation nut. It’s my first love. I really wanted to have an opportunity to fly in a plane my dad always wanted to fly but never had a chance to,” said Mardis. “The EAA is just an incredible organization. They do things first class. It’s an incredible investment in time and dollars for all these volunteer groups.”

A man was shot and killed Saturday night in Newport News.

Police received alerts about shots fired about 11:40 p.m. and responded to the 400 block of Chalice Court, where they found a man outside with at least one gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at 11:52 p.m., according to a news release from police.

Detectives and a forensics team were on the scene early Sunday morning. The investigation is ongoing.

Police encouraged anyone with information to contact 757-247-2500 or leave a tip anonymously at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP or at p3tips.com.

Cianna Morales, 757-957-1304, [email protected]

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — On his first day as attorney general, Merrick Garland pledged a return to what he called the “norms” of the Justice Department and said he would work to eliminate the perception of political interference. But in the two years since he took office, the former federal judge has found himself in the middle of a political firestorm of historic proportions.

The case against Donald Trump — the first former president to face federal criminal charges — brought a crush of protesters to the Miami courthouse last week, as well as a torrent of social media broadsides from Trump and an onslaught of criticism from Republicans.

The decision to charge Trump, who is running for president again, is perhaps the most consequential in the history of the Justice Department. The ultimate call on that came from Garland, whose demeanor leans to the mild.

Even the day when prosecutors informed Trump about the charges was outwardly quiet in the halls of the stately Justice Department headquarters. That stillness carried into the night amid the furor unleashed when the former president broke the news on his social media platform.

It was hardly the first time that Garland had kept a poker face while under a high-profile glare. He had stayed mum when his nomination for the Supreme Court by President Barack Obama in 2016 languished long enough to break a century-old record before it expired.

Garland spent two decades as a judge, and that experience seemed to come through in his folded hands and stoic expression when he made his public comments on Wednesday about the charges against Trump. The attorney general stressed that he had followed the rules and regulations for special counsels and he punctuated each word as he defended investigator Jack Smith as a “veteran career prosecutor.”

“We live in a democracy. These kind of matters are adjudicated through the judicial system,” Garland said as he took about three minutes worth of questions from two of the gathered reporters at the start of a meeting with U.S. attorneys on violent crime.

That repeated mantra of commitment to the rule of law has not soothed Republicans who are standing by the indicted former president and reframing the charges as an unfair political persecution.

Those close to Garland say he has long had a careful, thoughtful presence and does what is needed, with few outward displays of emption. Still, this moment is likely not an easy one, said friend Robert Post, a professor at Yale Law School who first got to know Garland when they served as clerks together in the late 1970s.

“I’m sure he is saddened by the spectacle of a former president being indicted for the kinds of crimes that we see Trump indicted for,” Post said. “He’s the least partisan person that I know. He cares about the law first and foremost.”

Smith’s appointment as special counsel after Trump announced his 2024 presidential campaign was another effort to uphold Justice Department norms and the principle that the agency follows the facts and the law, not politics, said Anthony Coley, who previously served as Garland’s chief spokesman at the department.

“For the attorney general, the rule of law is not just some lawyer’s turn of phrase. For him, the rule of law is foundational element of our democracy,” he said.

It was Smith, a former war crimes prosecutor, who stood up alone behind a podium the day after the Trump charges became public to declare: “We have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone.”

That appearance also carried visual cues to the separation between Garland and Smith.

Smith did not speak from the neoclassical headquarters where Garland works, but held his news conference in the sleek building across town where he has been working. The special counsel attended the arraignment where Trump pleaded not guilty to illegally hoarding classified documents. Smith sat in the front row behind his team of prosecutors.

He is empowered to decide whether any charges should be brought, though Garland retains ultimate oversight of his work.

Trump announced on June 8 that he had been indicted, and according to the White House, Biden learned of the 37 felony counts against the former president through news coverage. Biden was asked the next day whether he had talked to Garland about the case. “I have not spoken to him at all,” Biden told reporters. “I’m not going to speak to him.”

Garland was confirmed by the Senate in March 2021 on a bipartisan vote, with both Democrats and Republicans saying he had the right record and temperament for the moment. He was a federal appeals court judge for more than two decades after a stint in the Justice Department where he earned a reputation for meticulous preparation in the prosecution of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.

Garland’s handling of the release of another special counsel investigation was similarly low key. The review of the origins of the FBI’s investigation of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, carried out by special counsel John Durham, originally started under Trump. When it was completed under Garland, the report was released with few redactions.

Trump’s last attorney general, Bill Barr, took a far different approach with the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference and Trump’s campaign. Barr released his own memo on the report and later held a news conference largely favorable to Trump before making the report public. The episode came during tumultuous years as Trump insisted that his attorney general and entire Justice Department be loyal to him personally, undermining its reputation for political independence.

Garland still will have to contend with more special counsel findings to come. Smith is investigating Trump’s role involving the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and efforts to undo the 2020 election he lost to Biden.

Garland named a special counsel to investigate the presence of classified documents found at Biden’s Delaware home and former Washington office that are from his time as vice president.

In announcing that move, Garland used phrasing identical to the Smith appointment, words that he used again in his brief comments after the indictment: “independence and accountability.”

Six weeks after our church received a bomb threat early on the morning of May 4th, the first word that comes to mind for me is this: gratitude. The outpouring of words of support that we received were so encouraging. Letters and emails and text messages from friends and faith leaders alike reminded us that we were doing such good and vital work in our community, and so many people pledged to pray for us. Dozens of churches locally, across the state and even across the world reached out with words of affirmation; if I were to list them all here, I would use up my entire word count for this article.

John Donne was right when he said, “no man is an island,” and the same should be said for communities of faith. We are beyond grateful for your prayers and thoughts and words of encouragement.

The person who phoned in the bomb threat accompanied it with a slew of anti-gay rhetoric. This was not surprising to us, given our open and affirming stance and our tendency to hang a rainbow banner out front to signal our welcome for all. That doesn’t mean the threat didn’t hurt or rattle our sensibilities, however. Rather than meeting for worship the following Sunday after the bomb threat, we gathered at a park and had a big picnic together. It felt more like a party, to be honest. We had a huge crowd and more food than we could have imagined. Children played on the playground and threw frisbees while adults talked and made new friends. We had a family of five join our congregation as members that morning, and another young couple told me, “We are now certain that this is the place that God is calling us to join.”

For me, the picnic represented a beautiful display of welcome and celebration of life that stood in stark contrast to the threat we had just received. It just felt good to be together, to be family and have fun and to welcome new people into our community.

When my thoughts linger on the threat, however, the secondary emotions I feel are anger and sadness. Anger at the senseless act that caused anxiety and fear, and sadness at the fact that this person thought there was no better way to deal with ideological and theological disagreements with our church. To me, this feels tragically symptomatic of where we are at as a country, with very low levels of trust between people who disagree politically and ideologically. As best as I can tell, this country was founded on the notion that each and every person has a right to gather in a community of worship that aligns with their beliefs and values. All people deserve to be able to gather for worship, or in schools, or in community groups and Fourth of July celebrations without fear of violence. All people deserve to feel safe. This is foundational to our democratic principles in this country. We have to be able to disagree peacefully and find ways to listen across party lines in order to have true dialogue. We have to remember that we are all in this together, and that our diversity is actually a good and beautiful thing. This is essential in faith communities, too, and we try so hard to model our unity in diversity in our own congregation.

If you and I disagree about something, let’s go get a cup of coffee and talk about it. We can even meet at Williamsburg Alewerks and hash it out over a couple of pints. I’d be glad to share why I believe what I believe and why being a fully inclusive church is so important to us. And I’d be glad to listen to your point of view as well. I would love nothing more. But please don’t attack us. We are simply doing our best to live out our values and our faith in a God who welcomes all. If someone is offended by our perspective, there are dozens of other churches they can attend.

Aside from tightening up some of our security measures at our church, most of us have moved on from the immediacy of the threat by now. A whole host of people, however, have asked how they can support us, aside from offering prayers. I’ve been thinking carefully about this, and this is the best I can suggest if you’d like to help in a tangible way: take some time to think about where you or your own faith community are at in terms of LGBTQ+ inclusion and acceptance. Then find a way to take a step forward to deepen your own understanding, wherever you are at. Good biblical scholarship has existed for decades that supports full inclusion of LGBTQ+ siblings in communities of faith, but we’ve just largely chosen to ignore it. There are a whole host of books out there that will help explain why traditional interpretations of Scripture and sexuality need to be reconsidered: we just finished a series on Colby Martin’s “UnClobber” at our church and found it tremendously helpful and accessible. Matthew Vines has a delightful and short book called “God and the Gay Christian.” “Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians” by Austen Hartke is also well worth your time.

These are just the tip of the iceberg. As I think about our recent experience as a church, as well as the ongoing challenges and even dangers of being out as an LGBTQ+ person in our country today, taking one intentional step to learn more and deepen your own understanding would mean the world to us.

To everyone who has reached out to offer words of encouragement and prayers of support these past few weeks: we are beyond grateful. We love being rooted in Williamsburg, and we feel so blessed to be a part of this amazing community. Thank you!

The Rev. Dr. Art Wright is the senior pastor of Williamsburg Baptist Church.

Way to go

Re “Chesapeake City Treasurer retiring at end of month amidst transfer of some duties to city” (June 13): With the recent announcement of the retirement of Barbara Carraway as the longtime treasurer for the city of Chesapeake, I am writing to recognize Carraway’s major contributions in establishing an investment pool that is today widely used by local governments across Virginia.

Ten years ago, the Virginia Municipal League and the Virginia Association of Counties convened a working committee of local treasurers and investment officers to develop a high quality, professionally managed investment pool to generate additional revenues for local governments and help reduce burdens on taxpayers. The result was the Virginia Investment Pool, known as VIP.

Carraway was a leader in this effort. At her urging, the Chesapeake City Council voted to become VIP’s first member. Subsequently, Carraway was elected VIP’s first chairman of the Board of Trustees and has served on the board ever since.

VIP offered the first fixed income investment pool owned and governed exclusively by Virginia localities. The program has grown through the years, and today has more than $2.5 billion in assets.

Local governments and taxpayers across Virginia owe a debt of gratitude to Carraway and the city of Chesapeake for the key role they played in establishing VIP. On behalf of our 170 participating local governments and authorities, we wish Carraway all the best in the years ahead.

Fred W. Parker, chairman, Virginia Investment Pool, Abingdon

Work zones

Re “Suffolk rolling out new traffic cameras near schools, work zones” (May 9): Over the past year, the construction on U.S. 58, the Holland Road widening project, has been an issue of growing concern with no easy solution. I am a resident of the Holland area of the city, and I am truly pleased to see this city push for this initiative. Many individuals do not understand the severity of stopping people from speeding through this highly congested area; however, the residents of the area such as me witness on average three to four car accidents daily.

The article indicated that the civil penalties would pay for the rollout and will go toward financing roadway improvements. The article noted that the city plans to have two work-zone cameras on U.S. 58. Based on the high traffic zone and the significant number of car accidents that occur on this highway, it would create a safer environment for the residents and drivers in our city.

Overall, this is an amazing initiative that the city has put in place to attempt to serve a dual purpose. Hopefully, it will prompt drivers to slow down and serve as a warning to those who do not.

Jade Watkins, Suffolk

Goodbye

Re “Timothy Francis McGlone” (Obituaries, June 11): I was saddened to read the report of the death of former Virginian-Pilot reporter Tim McGlone. McGlone and I met in the 1990s when he covered the courts and I served as an assistant city attorney in Virginia Beach. Our friendship developed, as so many solid relationships do, when we learned early on that we could trust each other’s word. He was a good reporter and a good man.

To my great regret, McGlone and I lost contact soon after he moved to Wisconsin several years ago to be with his family. I’m now left with the sad knowledge that I could have — should have — done more to keep in touch with him. This news is a harsh reminder that we all need to keep our friendships alive and active; that if we have something to say, we should say it now. Don’t ever put yourself in a position to have to say, “Thank you,” “I apologize” or “I love you” to a tombstone.

Rest well, my brother.

Steve Emmert, Virginia Beach 

Thank you

Re “RGGI repealed: Virginia set to leave regional carbon emissions reduction program” (Your Views, June 7): First, thank you Air Pollution Control Board for getting us out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, that was nothing more than a useless tax that we do not need.

Second, it’s time for the liberals to stop complaining about what they want and cannot have; they have this stupid idea that if enough money is spent, a certain problem just goes away. Climate change, in my opinion, is just some stupid idea that liberals thought of with the idea that humans can control the weather, as if there is some knob in the sky that lets a human control what the weather does.

The “climate” changes; we have four seasons every year, and only God controls that. If money grew on trees, we would all have enough. If anyone on the left actually read what the RGGI really was, it was just another way to tax us and we really don’t need anymore taxes.

I don’t understand why liberals want more taxes to begin with; any money that we earn and get in our paychecks is ours, not the government’s. The government works for us, not the other way around.

Mike Niehaus, Portsmouth

The Norfolk Tides could have delighted a sellout crowd of 12,164 on a Saturday night of fireworks by clinching a berth in the International League championship series, but the Worcester Red Sox didn’t let it happen.

Boston’s top farm club defeated the Tides 8-6 and 5-2 in seven-inning contests, leaving Norfolk’s IL lead at six games. The second-place St. Paul Saints lost 12-1 at Louisville, so the Tides’ magic number — the combination of Norfolk wins and St. Paul losses — to clinch the IL first-half title enters Sunday at 2.

The Tides (45-22) will close their homestand at 1:05 p.m. Sunday with a Father’s Day rematch against the Red Sox (34-34). If Norfolk wins and St. Paul loses, the Tides will take their first playoff berth since 2015 and will have the home-field advantage in the best-of-three championship series against a team to be named — likely the second-half champion.

In Game 1, Worcester’s Brian Dalbec was 3 for 4 with three runs. The Red Sox scored in four consecutive innings, capped by Dalbec’s homer in the top of the fifth, to go ahead 5-0 off Norfolk starter Drew Rom. The Tides cut the deficit to 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth with Maverick Handley scoring on a Colton Cowser groundout and Ben DeLuzio coming home on a Connor Norby doubled.

In the sixth, the Tides pulled even. Robbie Glendinning hit a two-run double to center, then scored on Cowser’s infield single.

But the Red Sox answered in the seventh off reliever Ryan Watson (3-3) with a go-ahead solo homer by Enmanuel Valdez and a two-run shot by Ronaldo Hernandez.

The Tides’ Heston Kjerstad belted a home run in the seventh, but Ryan Sherriff still earned a save.

GONE! @hestonkjerstad launches his third career Triple-A home run!#RisingTide pic.twitter.com/AehCXww95d

— Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) June 17, 2023

Game 2’s biggest blow, by far, was Emmanuel Valdez’s grand slam off Chris Vallimont (2-4) in the third inning. That gave Worcester a 4-1 advantage over the Tides, who were playing in the nightcap as the Norfolk Squeezers in honor of the orange drink.

Norfolk’s runs came on homers by Norby in the first and Lewin Diaz in the fourth, both off starter Brandon Walter.

.@LewinDiaz4 goes yard left of the batter’s eye, his 12th homer of the season!#RisingTide pic.twitter.com/HRyG72GIHB

— Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) June 18, 2023

Brendan Nail (2-0) and Andrew Politi, who gained his fifth save, combined for 2 2/3 innings of shutout relief.Before the doubleheader, the Baltimore Orioles recalled Spenser Watkins from the Tides and optioned Reed Garrett to Norfolk. Both are right-handed pitchers.

Matt Carter and DJ Valente captured Modified Division 50-lap victories Saturday night at Langley Speedway in Hampton.

In the first of the features, Carter continued to make the division his personal playpen, beating Brad Adams by 535-thousandths of a second to cap a race that took almost 39 minutes. Peyton Ferree took third, 1.212 seconds behind the leader, in a race with 14 competitors. It was Carter’s sixth victory of the season.

But in the nightcap, helped by the inversion of positions from the first race, Valente outpaced him by 635-thousandths of a second to become the only person besides Carter and former Langley Late Model king Brenden “Butterbean” Queen to win a Modified race this year.

Valente, who placed eighth in Saturday’s opener, posted his victory in just more than 14 minutes and 40 seconds. Chris Roberts placed a distant third, 5.704 seconds off the lead.

In other divisions:

Virginia Racers: Ayden Millette finished 50 laps in about 16 minutes and 45 seconds to cruise to a 5.923-second triumph over runner-up Ryley Music, who also was fourth in a Modified race. It was Millette’s second triumph of 2023.

Donovan Edwards was third among the 14 drivers, less than a second behind Music. Points leader Cody Bryant placed fourth.

Super Street: Sammy Gaita prevailed over 40 laps and more than 26 minutes, finishing 0.705 of a second faster than second-place Gordon Weeks III for his first victory of the season. Dale Nichols earned third in the field of 14, 1.580 seconds behind Gaita.

Gaita, who began the night fifth in points, closed the gap on first-place Weeks and second-place Nichols.

Legends: Tommy Jackson surged to a relatively comfortable 25-lap victory, finishing 1.729 seconds ahead of runner-up Trey Williams in a clash that took just more than 7 1/2 minutes. Devon Courtney placed third, just 0.212 of a second behind Williams in the 13-driver field, eight of whom finished on the lead lap.

Jackson has won three of four races this year and heads the standings.

Pro Six: Travis Wall stayed unbeaten in the division this season with his fourth victory, winning a 25-lap race with just five competitors. In just more than 7 1/2 minutes, he beat runner-up Atley Wiese by 1.377 seconds.

Bandolero: Brian Rundstrom Jr. registered his fourth victory of the season in as many tries, winning a 15-lap race with 11 drivers that took more than 12 minutes.

He edged Tristan Burnelli by 670-thousandths of a second, with Bryson Nichols third, 1.165 seconds off the lead.

Enduro: Charlie Bryant earned a 30-lap victory to close the night, while Chris Kane was second and Alex Floroff third.

It was Bryant’s second triumph of the year, and he moved well ahead of his son Cody in the standings. Cody, who shared the standings lead with his father entering the night, exited after 22 laps and placed 18th in the field of 19.

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Saturday night’s leaders in Hampton, with car numbers in parentheses.

Modified 50 #1: (14 starters); 1. (78) Matt Carter; 2. (3) Brad Adams; 3. (23) Peyton Ferree; 4. (47) Ryley Music; 5. (51) Mark Wertz.

Modified 50 #2: (13 starters); 1. (18) DJ Valente; 2. (78) Matt Carter; 3. (11) Chris Roberts; 4. (8) Mike Rudy; 5. (3) Brad Adams.

Virginia Racers 50: (14 starters); 1. (9) Ayden Millette; 2. (47) Ryley Music; 3. (26) Donovan Edwards; 4. (08) Cody Bryant; 5. (38) Andrew Condrey.

Super Street 40: (14 starters); 1. (21) Sammy Gaita; 2. (20) Gordon Weeks III; 3. (8) Dale Nichols; 4. (44) Colby Vance; 5. (30) Jonathan White.

Pro Six 25: (5 starters); 1. (44) Travis Wall; 2. (78) Atley Wiese; 3. (67) Chris Bechtel; 4. (08) Joe Shannon; 5. (48) Nick Lamarche.

Legends 25: (13 starters); 1. (87) Tommy Jackson; 2. (3) Trey Williams; 3. (17) Devon Courtney; 4. (5b) Charlie Beals; 5. (11) Cody Carlton.

Bandolero 15: (11 starters); 1. (88) Brian Rundstrom Jr.; 2. (18) Tristan Burnelli; 3. (80) Bryson Nichols; 4. (21) Sarah Whitesell; 5. (99) Ryleigh Rondeau.

Enduro 30: (19 starters); 1. (88) Charlie Bryant; 2. (48) Chris Kane; 3. (17) Alex Floroff; 4. (05) Stephen Flinn; 5. (3) Mikey Chinn.