I remember, in 1995, when I was in culinary school at the now-closed Norfolk campus of Johnson & Wales University and several other would-be chefs were talking about a new restaurant that opened.

Many of us would go on our own self-guided field trips; on several of these trips was the first time I met such local culinary luminaries as Monroe Duncan, Bobby Huber, Todd Jurich and Sydney Meers.

We met another who was in the process of making a name for himself, having been at such notable restaurants of the day, Big Tomato and Pasta e Pani. His name was Amarin Reelachart, and his restaurant was Eurasia.

The tiny spot in Loehmann’s Plaza was named after the creative mix-match of cuisines that Reelachart had experience in, including American regional, French, Italian, and Thai. Later the chef/owner moved to another Virginia Beach location closer to the Oceanfront.

Eurasia is still there, in Linkhorn Shoppes. The restaurant is no longer owned by Reelachart, and it has since doubled in size. The menu has expanded too, but one thing remains the same, it’s as delicious now as I remember it being almost 30 years ago.

THE EAT: BRAISED LAMB SHANK, $27

Lamb is one of my favorite meats.

It’s flavorful and rich and very versatile. Years ago lamb got a bad rap for being gamey, but what wasn’t appreciated or recognized was the grassy flavors that are unique to it. If you haven’t had lamb in a while, give it another try.

And you may want to start with the Lamb Shank at Eurasia.

Here the lamb is braised in a beautiful, complex mole – a Mexican amalgamation of chili peppers, spices, and more. It enrobes the meat, embracing the sauce essence and playing beautifully off the lamb’s flavor profile.

The long braise here also makes the lamb incredibly tender, literally coming off the shank with the slightest piercing of a fork’s tines.

Equally delicious was the side of Spinach rice stuffed with peas, topped with a sprinkling of salty cotija cheese and micro cilantro. All the components played perfectly together.

We started the meal with Black Truffle Flatbread, one of the best flatbreads I’ve had in memory.

The thin, baked dough was a crispy platform for a gorgeous fontina cheese mornay sauce, shaved black truffle, and nothing else. The nuttiness of the cheese and the earthiness of the truffles were a perfect match up. The dish was served atop a bed of arugula.

Another starter was Oysters Eurasia, Chef Brian Wegener’s amazing version of the classic Oysters Rockefeller. Here the shucked bivalves are stuffed with an addictive mix of bacon, cream cheese, parmesan and spinach, then sprinkled with panko crumbs before being broiled to bubbly perfection.

THE DRINK: LILLET IN THE RYE

Whiskey sours have long been a favorite cocktail of mine. I love the way the whiskey is brighter up with a fresh pop of citrus, making it one refreshing imbibe.

From all the creative cocktails at Eurasia, the Lillet in the Rye caught my attention. Here is a delicious rendition of the classic whiskey sour, with a wonderful blend of Knob Creek Rye, Lillet Blanc, Cointreau, simple syrup, and lemon juice.

The grassy heat of the rye was a beautiful platform for the drink, lifted with the sweetness of the Lillet, a lovely aperitif wine, and the orangey profile of the Cointreau. The simple syrup sweetened things up, and the lemon juice brought a delicious sourness to the party.

Eurasia Cafe is at 960 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach. Call 757-422-0184 or visit www.EurasiaVB.com

Patrick Evans-Hylton, [email protected]

PERRYTON, Texas (AP) — A tornado ripped through the Texas Panhandle town of Perryton on Thursday, killing three people, injuring dozens more and causing widespread damage as another in a series of fierce storms carved its way through Southern states.

The National Weather Service in Amarillo confirmed that a tornado hit the area Thursday afternoon. But there was no immediate word on its size or wind speeds, meteorologist Luigi Meccariello said.

Perryton Fire Chief Paul Dutcher told reporters that three people were killed in the storm.

He said at least one person was killed in a mobile home park that took a “direct hit” from a tornado. Dutcher said at least 30 trailers were damaged or destroyed. At 6 p.m., firefighters were rescuing people from the rubble.

First responders from surrounding areas and from Oklahoma descended on the town, which is home to more than 8,000 people and about 115 miles (185 kilometers) northeast of Amarillo, just south of the Oklahoma line.

Storm chaser Brian Emfinger told Fox Weather that he watched the twister move through a mobile home park, mangling trailers and uprooting trees.

“I had seen the tornado do some pretty serious destruction to the industrial part of town,” he said. “Unfortunately, just west of there, there is just mobile home, after mobile home, after mobile home that is completely destroyed. There is significant damage.”

Nearly 50,000 customers were without electricity in Texas and Oklahoma, according to the poweroutage.us website.

Ochiltree General Hospital in Perryton on Facebook said “Walking/wounded please go to the clinic. All others to the hospital ER.”

The hospital also said an American Red Cross shelter had been set up at the Ochiltree County Expo Center.

“We got slammed” by patients, said Kelly Judice, the hospital’s interim CEO.

“We have seen somewhere between 50 and 100 patients,” Judice said, including about 10 in critical condition who were transferred to other hospitals.

Patients had minor to major trauma, ranging from “head injuries to collapsed lungs, lacerations, broken bones,” she said.

Chris Samples of local radio station KXDJ-FM said the station was running on auxiliary power.

“The whole city is out of power,” he said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday he had directed the state Division of Emergency Management to help with everything from traffic control to restoring water and other utilities, if needed.

By evening, the weather front was moving southeast across Oklahoma. The weather service said a second round of storms would continue to move through that state and parts of Texas through the evening while the risk of severe weather, including tornados, remained for the metropolitan Oklahoma City area.

Elsewhere in Texas and other Southern states stretching to Florida, heat advisories were in effect Thursday and were forecast into the Juneteenth holiday weekend with temperatures reaching toward 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). It was expected to feel as hot as 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius).

The storm system also brought hail and possible tornados to northwestern Ohio.

A barn was smashed and trees toppled in Sandusky County, Ohio, and power lines were downed in northern Toledo, leaving thousands without power. The weather service reported “a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado” over Bellevue and storms showing “signs of rotation” in other areas.

It was the second day in a row that powerful storms struck the U.S. On Wednesday, strong winds toppled trees, damaged buildings and blew cars off a highway from the eastern part of Texas to Georgia.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden highlighted progress in chipping away at so-called junk fees as a “win for consumers” Thursday, as he met at the White House with executives from Live Nation, Airbnb and other companies that have taken steps to embrace more transparent pricing.

Biden prioritized the effort to combat surprise or undisclosed fees in his State of the Union address and has called for legislation, regulation and private sector action to end them. The president, at Thursday’s event, praised actions by companies that have eliminated or plan to eliminate those surprise fees.

The consumer advocacy push is part of Biden’s pitch to voters ahead of his 2024 reelection bid that government can help improve their lives in big and small ways.

At the White House, Live Nation, which is based in Beverly Hills, California, announced that it will provide customers with upfront all-in pricing — meaning the actual purchase price including service charges and any other fees — for its owned venues by September and that Ticketmaster will give consumers the option to view all-in pricing up front for other venues on the live-entertainment tickets platform. SeatGeek, based in New York, will also unveil features to make it easier to browse for tickets with the true cost displayed.

San Francisco-based Airbnb rolled out its all-in pricing tool in December, after Biden first called on companies to stop hiding fees.

“These are just the latest private sector leaders who are responding to my call to action,” Biden said, saying junk fees “can add hundreds of dollars a month and make it harder for families to pay their bills.”

“I’m asking their competitors to follow suit and adopt an all-in pricing as well,” Biden said. “These actions matter and it’s inspiring companies to change their practices.”

National Economic Council director Lael Brainard said in a statement that the president “has been working to lower costs for hardworking families by bringing down inflation, capping insulin prices for seniors, and eliminating hidden junk fees.”

“More companies are heeding the President’s call so that Americans know what they’re paying for up front and can save money as a result.”

By DANICA KIRKA and SYLVIA HUI (Associated Press)

LONDON (AP) — A committee of U.K. lawmakers harshly rebuked former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Thursday, saying he lied to Parliament about lockdown-flouting parties and was complicit in a campaign to intimidate those investigating his conduct during the coronavirus pandemic.

The House of Commons Privileges Committee found Johnson’s actions were such a flagrant violation of the rules that they warranted a 90-day suspension from Parliament, where he still served after stepping down as prime minister last year. The committee’s sanction would have been more than enough to trigger a by-election that could have cost Johnson his seat in Parliament, but he avoided that ignominy by resigning last week after the committee gave him advance notice of its findings.

The release of the Commons committee’s scathing 77-page report Thursday touched off an angry exchange of recriminations. Johnson repeated his claim that the panel was a “kangaroo court” bent on ousting him from Parliament. The committee said the defense he had provided was an after-the-fact justification and “no more than an artifice.”

The report and reaction to it highlight the battle over Johnson’s legacy as Britain prepares for elections that could radically alter social and economic policy in a nation struggling to overcome a cost-of-living crisis and complaints about government services ranging from healthcare to law enforcement.

The Conservative Party, which has governed the U.K. since 2010, lags far behind the more liberal Labour Party in public opinion polls.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has desperately tried to shift attention a way from Johnson since he took office in October, promising to cut inflation, control immigration and reduce government debt ahead of an election that must occur by December 2024. But Johnson looms in the background, still revered by many Conservatives for winning an overwhelming victory in December 2019 and then delivering Britain’s exit from the European Union.

Attention will remain on Johnson for now because the full House of Commons must debate the committee’s report, providing another opportunity for the former prime minister’s backers and detractors to do battle. After the debate, lawmakers will vote on whether to uphold the panel’s findings and recommended sanctions.

British news organizations first revealed that members of Johnson’s staff held a series of parties in 2020 and 2021 when such gatherings were prohibited by pandemic restrictions. The “partygate” scandal angered the public, distracted lawmakers and was at the center of Thursday’s report.

Johnson initially denied that any parties took place, then repeatedly assured lawmakers that pandemic rules and guidance were followed at all times.

The committee, which took testimony from Johnson and senior members of his government during its 14-month investigation, concluded that those assurances were misleading and that Johnson failed to correct the record when asked to do so. This amounted to a “serious contempt” of Parliament, the panel found.

“The contempt was all the more serious because it was committed by the prime minister, the most senior member of the government,” the committee said. “There is no precedent for a prime minister having been found to have deliberately misled the House. He misled the House on an issue of the greatest importance to the House and to the public, and did so repeatedly.”

Johnson and his wife, Carrie, were fined by the Metropolitan Police last year for breaching COVID-19 laws at a birthday party for Johnson in June 2020 at his Downing Street residence and office. He was forced to step down as prime minister in September after dozens of ministers resigned from his government following a series of scandals, including partygate.

He has sought to salvage his political career by attacking the privileges committee and its members, saying their investigation was unfair and undemocratic. A majority of the panel’s seven members are fellow Conservatives.

Johnson characterized the committee’s findings as “a load of complete tripe” and said the report was a “charade” designed to justify his opponents’ efforts to oust him.

“This is a dreadful day for MPs and for democracy,” Johnson said in a statement tinged with fury. “This decision means that no MP is free from vendetta, or expulsion on trumped up charges by a tiny minority who want to see him or her gone from the Commons.”

Had he not resigned, a suspension of 10 days or more would have allowed Johnson’s constituents to circulate a recall petition to oust him from the House of Commons. The committee found that Johnson’s misleading statements warranted a suspension long enough to trigger such a recall petition.

But it added that his efforts to impugn the committee’s reputation and undermine the democratic processes of the legislative chamber and his complicity in a public campaign to intimidate the committee amounted to further contempt of Parliament that warranted a suspension of 90 days.

Since Johnson already resigned, the panel recommended not granting him the parliamentary pass traditionally given to former members.

If they are endorsed by the full House of Commons, the committee’s proposed sanctions would not bar Johnson from seeking office in the future. But his reaction to the findings, together with his attacks on fellow Conservatives, might make a political comeback impossible, said Steven Fielding, emeritus professor of politics at the University of Nottingham.

“He likes to kind of implicitly compare himself to (wartime leader Winston) Churchill, who had all kinds of disasters in his political career and yet came back in the most unlikely circumstances,″ Fielding said. “But I don’t think he’s a Churchill in that respect.”

Revelations of the booze-fueled partygate gatherings, which took place at a time when millions were prohibited from seeing loved ones or even attending family funerals, angered many Britons and added to a string of ethics scandals that spelled Johnson’s downfall.

Johnson acknowledged misleading lawmakers when he assured them that no rules had been broken, but he insisted he didn’t do so deliberately.

In March, he told the committee he “honestly believed” the gatherings he attended, including a send-off for a staff member and his own surprise birthday party, were “lawful work gatherings” intended to boost morale among overworked staff members coping with a deadly pandemic.

Sunak was Johnson’s treasury secretary during the pandemic and among dozens of people fined for attending a series of office parties and “wine time Fridays” in 2020 and 2021 across government buildings.

The COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, a group representing relatives of people who died in the pandemic, said the committee’s report was a painful reminder that while they were saying goodbye to loved ones on Zoom, their country’s leader at the time was holding parties.

David Garfinkel, a spokesperson for the group, said Johnson should be barred from holding office again.

“Johnson has shown no remorse,” Garfinkel said in a statement. “Instead he lied to our faces when he told us that he’d done ‘all he could’ to protect our loved ones. He lied again when he said the rules hadn’t been broken in Number 10, and he’s lied ever since when he’s denied it again and again.”

By FRANK BAJAK (AP Technology Writer)

The Department of Energy and several other federal agencies were compromised in a Russian cyber-extortion gang’s global hack of a file-transfer program popular with corporations and governments, but the impact was not expected to be great, Homeland Security officials said Thursday.

Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told reporters that unlike the meticulous, stealthy SolarWinds hacking campaign attributed to state-backed Russian intelligence agents that was months in the making, this campaign was short, opportunistic and caught quickly.

“Based on discussions we have had with industry partners … these intrusions are not being leveraged to gain broader access, to gain persistence into targeted systems, or to steal specific high value information— in sum, as we understand it, this attack is largely an opportunistic one,” Easterly said.

“Although we are very concerned about this campaign and working on it with urgency, this is not a campaign like SolarWinds that presents a systemic risk to our national security or our nation’s networks,” she added.

A senior CISA official said neither the U.S. military nor intelligence community was affected. Energy Department spokesperson Chad Smith said two agency entities were compromised but did not provide more detail.

Known victims to date include Louisiana’s Office of Motor Vehicles, Oregon’s Department of Transportation, the Nova Scotia provincial government, British Airways, the British Broadcasting Company and the U.K. drugstore chain Boots.

Louisiana officials said Thursday that people with a driver’s license or vehicle registration in the state likely had their personal information exposed. That included their name, address, Social Security number and birthdate. They encouraged Louisiana residents to freeze their credit to guard against identity theft.

The Oregon Department of Transportation confirmed Thursday that the attack compromised the files of about 3.5 million identity cards or driver’s licenses issued by the state.

The Cl0p ransomware syndicate behind the hack announced last week on its dark web site that its victims, who it suggested numbered in the hundreds, had until Wednesday to get in touch to negotiate a ransom or risk having sensitive stolen data dumped online.

The gang, among the world’s most prolific cybercrime syndicates, also claimed it would delete any data stolen from governments, cities and police departments.

The senior CISA official told reporters a “small number” of federal agencies were hit — declining to name them — and said “this is not a widespread campaign affecting a large number of federal agencies.” The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the breach, said no federal agencies had received extortion demands and no data from an affected federal agency had been leaked online by Cl0p.

U.S. officials “have no evidence to suggest coordination between Cl0p and the Russian government,” the official said.

The exploited program, MOVEit, is widely used by businesses to securely share files. The parent company of its U.S. maker, Progress Software, alerted customers to the breach on May 31 and issued a patch. But cybersecurity researchers say scores if not hundreds of companies could by then have had sensitive data quietly exfiltrated.

“At this point, we are seeing industry estimates of several hundred of victims across the country,” the senior CISA official said.

The cybersecurity firm SecurityScorecard says it detected 2,500 vulnerable MOVEit servers across 790 organizations, including 200 government agencies. It said it was not able to break down those agencies by country.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in the Treasury Department uses MOVEit, according to federal contracting data. Spokeswoman Stephanie Collins said the agency was aware of the hack and has been monitoring the situation closely. She said it was “conducting detailed forensic analysis of system activity and has not found any indications of a breach of sensitive information.”

The hackers were actively scanning for targets, penetrating them and stealing data at least as far back as March 29, said SecurityScorecard threat analyst Jared Smith.

This is far from the first time Cl0p has breached a file-transfer program to gain access to data it could then use to extort companies. Other instances include GoAnywhere servers in early 2023 and Accellion File Transfer Application devices in 2020 and 2021.

The Associated Press emailed Cl0p on Thursday asking what government agencies it had hacked. It did not receive a response, but the gang posted a new message on its dark web leak site saying: “We got a lot of emails about government data, we don’t have it we have completely deleted this information we are only interested in business.”

Cybersecurity experts say the Cl0p criminals are not to be trusted to keep their word. Allan Liska of the firm Recorded Future has said he is aware of at least three cases in which data stolen by ransomware crooks appeared on the dark web six to 10 months after victims paid ransoms.

—

AP reporters Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Nomaan Merchant and Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed to this report.

By MEG KINNARD (Associated Press)

With roughly a year and a half until the 2024 presidential contest, the field of candidates is largely set.

Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have dominated the early Republican race as the other candidates look for an opening to take them on. President Joe Biden faces a couple of Democratic challengers but is expected to secure his party’s nomination.

Here’s a look at the candidates competing for the Republican and Democratic nominations:

REPUBLICAN PRIMARY FIELD

DONALD TRUMP

The former president announced his third campaign for the White House on Nov. 15 at his Mar-a-Lago resort, forcing the party to again decide whether to embrace a candidate whose refusal to accept defeat in 2020 sparked the U.S. Capitol attack and still dominates his speeches.

The GOP front-runner remains hugely popular in the Republican Party, despite making history as the first president to be impeached twice and inciting the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. Referring to himself as America’s “most pro-life president,” Trump’s three nominations of conservative judges to the Supreme Court paved the way for the reversal of Roe v. Wade, which had legalized abortion nationwide for nearly 50 years. Sweeping criminal justice reforms he signed into law in 2019 eased mandatory minimum sentences and gave judges more discretion in sentencing.

In March, Trump became the first former U.S. president to be criminally charged, facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of a hush money scheme. He is now under indictment on dozens of charges related to alleged mishandling and retention of classified documents.

RON DESANTIS

The Florida governor officially launched his 2024 presidential campaign on May 24 in a glitch-marred Twitter announcement, casting himself as Trump’s only legitimate Republican rival.

Heralding his state as a place “where woke goes to die,” DeSantis has framed his campaign around a desire to bring the conservative policies he championed in Florida to the national stage. He has made a name for himself battling with Disney over the entertainment giant’s opposition to a bill dubbed by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which bans instruction or classroom discussion of LGBTQ issues in Florida public schools for all grades.

Under his governorship, the state has also banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and blocked public colleges from using federal or state funding on diversity programs

MIKE PENCE

The former vice president opened his White House bid on June 7 in Iowa with forceful criticism of Trump, accusing his onetime boss of abandoning conservative principles and arguing Trump’s Jan. 6 action and inaction amounted to a dereliction of duty.

While lauding the accomplishments of the “Trump-Pence administration,” Pence has said Trump endangered the vice president’s family and the lives of everyone at the U.S. Capitol by falsely insisting that Pence had the power to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

He faces an uphill battle in a party in which Trump remains the most dominant figure.

TIM SCOTT

The South Carolina senator launched his campaign May 22 in his hometown of North Charleston with what he’s casting as an optimistic and compassionate message that can serve as a contrast with the rest of the field.

The Senate’s sole Black Republican, Scott has rejected the notion that the country is inherently racist and repudiated the teaching of critical race theory. He has said his party and the country are at a crossroads and must choose between “victimhood or victory.”

NIKKI HALEY

The former United Nations ambassador and South Carolina governor became the first major GOP challenger to Trump when she kicked off her campaign on Feb. 15 in Charleston. She is the only woman in the GOP field.

The former Trump Cabinet official once said she wouldn’t challenge her former boss for the White House in 2024. But she changed her mind, citing the country’s economic troubles and the need for “generational change,” a nod to the 77-year-old Trump’s age.

VIVEK RAMASWAMY

The wealthy biotech entrepreneur and author of “Woke, Inc.” kicked off his presidential campaign on Feb. 21 with a video and op-ed.

The son of Indian immigrants, he has gained stature in conservative circles for his criticism of the environmental, social and corporate governance movement that aims to promote socially responsible investing. He has largely self-funded his campaign so far.

CHRIS CHRISTIE

The former two-term New Jersey governor went after Trump when announcing his presidential campaign on June 6 in New Hampshire, calling the former president a “lonely, self-consumed, self-serving mirror hog” and arguing that he’s the only one who can stop him.

Christie, a 2016 presidential candidate and former Trump adviser, has said that others may be afraid to challenge the former president, but he has no such qualms. “The reason I’m going after Trump is twofold,” Christie said. “One, he deserves it. And two, it’s the way to win.”

ASA HUTCHINSON

The former two-term Arkansas governor launched his presidential campaign on April 26 in Bentonville, pledging to “bring out the best of America” and to reform federal law enforcement agencies.

He announced his campaign shortly after Trump was indicted by a grand jury in New York and has called for the former president to drop out of the race, saying, “The office is more important than any individual person.”

DOUG BURGUM

The two-term North Dakota governor announced his candidacy on June 7 in Fargo. A former computer software entrepreneur, he is known to few outside his home state but portrays himself as a commonsense, rural-state conservative experienced in energy policy.

LARRY ELDER

The conservative talk radio host announced his campaign on April 20 on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” He made his first bid for public office in 2021 in a failed effort to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a recall election.

FRANCIS SUAREZ

The Miami mayor announced his presidential bid on June 15 on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Suarez, a two-term mayor first elected in 2017, is also president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He is the only Hispanic candidate in the race.

DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY FIELD

JOE BIDEN

President Joe Biden formally announced his reelection campaign on April 25 in a video, asking voters for time to “finish this job.”

Biden, the oldest president in America history, would be 86 at the end of a second term, and his age has prompted some of his critics to question whether he can serve effectively. A notable swath of Democratic voters has indicated they would prefer he not run, though he is expected to easily win the Democratic nomination.

Biden, who has vowed to “restore the soul of America,” plans to run on his record. He spent his first two years as president combating the coronavirus pandemic and pushing through major bills such as the bipartisan infrastructure package and legislation to promote high-tech manufacturing and climate measures.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.

The bestselling author and environmental lawyer launched a long-shot bid to challenge Biden on April 19 in Boston.

A nephew of President John F. Kennedy and son of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, he has emerged as one of the leading voices of the anti-vaccine movement, with public health experts and even members of his own family describing his work as misleading and dangerous. He has also been linked to far-right figures in recent years.

MARIANNE WILLIAMSON

Self-help author Marianne Williamson entered the Democratic primary on March 4 in Washington, calling for “a vision of justice and love that is so powerful that it will override the forces of hatred and injustice and fear.”

During her unsuccessful 2020 presidential campaign, she proposed the creation of a Department of Peace and argued the federal government should pay large financial reparations to Black Americans as atonement for centuries of slavery and discrimination.

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP

Every year during the holiday season, thoughts turn to those who are without — especially those who are hungry in our communities. Generosity abounds, and it is beautiful to see so many people eager to assist the less fortunate.

But food insecurity doesn’t recognize a calendar. Those who cannot afford to feed themselves and their children still depend on local organizations — foodbanks, soup kitchens — for help, even when the weather is warm and the public isn’t thinking about family meals or festive dinners.

Those organizations can use our help today, and the need is urgent. Though times are tough for many, area residents with the means to give are encouraged to do so, knowing their kindness can make a substantial difference at a challenging moment.

For most people, hunger is a temporary condition, a distraction or an inconvenience. Skip a meal and the stomach growls in protest, but it will be sated soon enough with a snack or a sandwich. It’s nothing to worry about.

For others in Hampton Roads, however, the gnaw of hunger is a debilitating, unrelenting affliction. It steadily eats away at body and mind, leading to desperation and depression. A meal, when it comes, is a treasure.

Nearly every community wrestles with the issue of hunger, and nearly every community has organizations working to assist those who cannot afford to put food on their table. Some people need occasional help, others more frequently, and these groups do what they can with what they have to satisfy the need for as many in need as possible.

Demand for that help exploded in 2020 when COVID-19 swept across the country. In short order, millions found themselves out of work, plunged into poverty by the inescapable effects of a global health crisis. Who can forget the snaking lines of cars at food distribution sites or the tears of relief shed by recipients, knowing they and their families would have what they needed to endure.

Something special happened in that crucible of crisis: As the number of people needing food assistance soared, so did donations of assistance from those in more advantageous economic positions. Calls went out from local food banks for donations and donations they received.

The effort was helped by the temporary expansion of federal assistance programs, which sought to accommodate the swell of demand for help. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that enrollment in Virginia’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ballooned from 330,000 in March 2020 to 470,000 this year, when Washington formally ended the public health emergency and contracted the programs providing temporary relief.

While conditions have brightened considerably since the darkest days of the pandemic, there remains a large population in Virginia still struggling to get by — atop those who needed help before COVID and still do now that the virus has receded.

The Virginia Peninsula Foodbank reported this week that requests for help in the first quarter of this year is 27% greater than the same period of 2022. The organization offered this information while encouraging donations at a food drive on Saturday evening at the Lionsbridge Football Club soccer match at TowneBank Stadium in Newport News. (For more information, visit lionsbridgefc.com.)

Both the Peninsula group and its sibling across the water, the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore, are working tirelessly to provide for Hampton Roads who are hungry. Both urge families in need of assistance to contact them about receiving it as promptly as possible.

But as these are donation-driven groups, largely staffed by volunteers, our local food banks need some help of their own. While they may be flush with donations come Thanksgiving and Christmas, the middle of June is far less fertile ground for harvesting the resources they need for their important work.

If you have the means, please visit hrfoodbank.org or foodbankonline.org (or both!) to learn how even a modest regular donation can make an enormous difference for our Hampton Roads neighbors.

By AARON BEARD (AP Sports Writer)

An annual study reviewing diversity hiring for Major League Baseball reported a record low of Black players on opening day rosters for the second straight year.

Thursday’s report card from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at Central Florida issued an overall grade of C-plus, with a B for racial hiring and a C for gender hiring. The report examined a range of positions at MLB’s headquarters and within franchises using data collected by the league from March shortly before the start of the 2023 season.

Those grades were similar to the previous year, when the league had a B-minus overall, a B for race and a C-plus for gender.

But the study found Black players represented just 6.2% of players on opening day rosters, down from last year’s previous record low of 7.2%. Both figures are the lowest recorded in the study since it began in 1991, when 18% of MLB players were Black.

TIDES director and lead study author Richard Lapchick noted the decline comes despite MLB’s implementation of numerous programs to increase Black youth participation in the U.S. that could ultimately move the numbers down the line.

“I think the trend might continue another year or two until all the programs they’ve put in place have that type of impact,” Lapchick said in an interview with The Associated Press.

“It’s hard to say. I think eventually it’s going to turn around in the direction that baseball wants. Will it ever get back to where it was? I’d be surprised if it does.”

Billy Bean, MLB’s senior vice president of diversity, equity & inclusion, said in a statement that addressing the issue is a priority — and not a fleeting one.

“We have extensive programs through all stages of player development to increase Black participation in baseball,” Bean said. “We are encouraged by the progress being made at various levels of the pipeline. Diversity remains a top priority for our entire industry and we are committed to this as a long-term effort.”

The study’s findings come after last year’s World Series marked the first time there were no U.S.-born Black players since 1950, shortly after Jackie Robinson broke the MLB color barrier.

“I think that if it’s possible that the player number is going to be reversed, then it’s going to happen because of the efforts (MLB is) putting into it,” Lapchick said. “But there are other factors at play. If you’re a 13-year-old Black kid growing up and you look at Black role models in other sports and in baseball, you’ve got to believe your best chance is not in baseball.”

Still, there are indications of potential improvement.

Four of the first five players picked in last summer’s amateur draft were Black for the first time ever. Those four, and more than 300 MLB players, had participated in diversity initiatives such as the MLB Youth Academy, DREAM Series and the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program.

MLB also has pledged $150 million in a 10-year partnership with the Players Alliance. That nonprofit organization of current and former players works to increase Black involvement at all levels.

The study awarded MLB with an A-plus for diversity initiatives, and not all are focused solely on players. It referenced the newly created MLB University program, a 10-month career-development course to prepare diverse candidates for front office or on-field roles. The study also highlighted the Diversity Pipeline Program to grow the pool of qualified women and others for operations and on-field roles.

Another example: the league has conducted in-person and virtual recruiting efforts with students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) as outreach for summer internships, the study reported.

It’s all part of what Lapchick described as baseball “putting out a maximum effort” in diversity efforts.

TIDES issues annual report cards on racial- and gender-hiring practices in professional leagues and for college sports. Thursday’s MLB release is the first of the 2023 season reports.

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Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports