Hampton Roads

A decade ago Baltimore was booming with cargo bound for major construction projects in the Middle East. Today the port will be working in a much more competitive environment to convince shippers that Baltimore still has what it takes to handle such specialized cargo skillfully and economically.The key could be how well the Maryland Port Administration and other interested parties market the port to the shippers who will besending goods for the massive job of repairing the damage done by the war in the Persian Gulf.

HAMPTON, Va. -- Since the summer, Patricia Bishop and her four hoofed companions have known only the solitude of the breeze and murmur coming off the waters of Hampton Roads. "It's me, the horses and my country music," said Bishop, Hampton University's stable manager. Starting this month, the waterfront stable will get more frequent visits when a small group of students begins to learn the basics of horsemanship as part of a new course being offered at the university. The Western Equestrian class will teach students horse riding for recreation and will include learning about proper care, handling and feeding of horses.

KIPTOPEKE, VA. -- The crimson light of a Chesapeake Bay sunset bathes Gary C. Byler's study, filtering through a wall of glass into the airy family room and kitchen of the sprawling home where he moved with his wife and four young children a couple of years ago. Settled in a secluded 4-acre site on high sand dunes near the southernmost tip of the Delmarva Peninsula, the Bylers live a few steps from one of the bay's most pristine beaches, a...

If state officials want to take a giant step toward restoring the Port of Baltimore to its previous popularity with steamship lines, they should give top priority to improving the safety and reliability of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. The vast potential of this waterway shortcut is being lost.The C&D can save a vessel over 100 miles and numerous hours of travel time. For ships bound for New York, it saves them from making the long, 150-mile trip back down the Chesapeake Bay, the turn out to the Atlantic and then another turn to head north toward New York.

The Baltimore Skipjacks, who begin a two-game trip tonight in Troy, N.Y., against the Capital District Islanders, have sent defenseman Rob Mendel and goaltender Olaf Kolzig to the Hampton Roads Admirals of the East Coast Hockey League.Mendel, who had five assists in 24 games with the Skipjacks, will join the Admirals for three weekend games, then return to Baltimore, said Skipjacks coach Rob Laird. Mendel was sent to Hampton Roads because the Admirals' back line is thin after several injuries.

Ships serving a corsortium of three foreign ship lines will not be coming to Baltimore but will call at Virginia's Port of Hampton Roads instead.The Tricon consortium would have brought to Baltimore a significant amount of business and a major boost in image. Losing it will probably mean some cargo that had been moving through Baltimore will be diverted elsewhere, according to one maritime businessman.It also apparently --es the state's hopes of luring a ship line to Baltimore with the new Seagirt Marine Terminal.

Having been confined to my bed in this building since the 9th instant, in consequence of a wound received in the action of the previous day, I have not had it in my power at an earlier date to prepare the official report, which I now have the honor to submit, of the proceedings on the 8th an. 9th [March 1862] instant of the James River squadron, under my command, composed of the following-named vessels: Steamer Virginia, flagship, ten guns; steamer Patrick Henry, Commander John R. Tucker, twelve guns; steamer Jamestown, Lieut.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The Thanksgiving party at Pho 79, a Vietnamese noodle shop, crackled with the laughter of family and friends who sat drinking and sipping pho - Vietnam's signature minty, beef noodle soup. The reverie ended when an argument between two men in the parking lot led to gunfire and the death of a 26-year-old man. When Virginia Beach police officers arrived, they encountered the confusing din of an unfamiliar language inside the restaurant. Officers struggled to understand witnesses' accounts told in Vietnamese or broken English.

The Hampton Roads communities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Williamsburg may not be the first thing that comes to mind at the mention of an annual international arts festival in the Old South. For more than three decades, the Spoleto Festival USA held in Charleston, S.C., has taken up a lot of the spotlight, but another enterprise has steadily gained attention and admiration over the past 13 years — the Virginia Arts Festival. It's no wonder that nearly 25 percent of the attendance at this enterprise comes from beyond the Hampton Roads area.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. - APM Terminals, a sister company of the Maersk Sealand shipping line, said yesterday that it will spend more than $450 million to build a 300-acre container terminal in Hampton Roads that could increase by 50 percent the port of Hampton Roads' capacity to handle shipments. Gov. Mark R. Warner, speaking to business and government leaders at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal against the backdrop of the McKinney-Maersk container ship, said the investment is the single biggest private investment in Hampton Roads' history and one of the largest ever in Virginia.