Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced today a new regulation to protect clam and oyster production in seaside waters of the Eastern Shore.

A drug task force turned up marijuana plants and 10 weapons, including an illegal sawed-off shotgun, at an Eastern Shore day-care center last week, authorities said. Virginia State Police said yesterday that a resident of the private residence near Eastville, Deandre L. Dunton, 30, was arrested last week on two drug charges and a weapons charge.

One of the nation’s best and last almshouses for blacks is still standing on the Eastern Shore, and federal funding has been secured to restore the wooden building as a museum. The Barrier Islands Center Museum will operate the 29-foot-by-78-foot museum next to a mansion that served as a charity center for poor whites in the area. Executive Director Laura Vaughan said a Virginia Transportation Enhancement Funding grant worth $289,000 already has paid for a new slate roof and evaluations by an engineering firm to analyze foundation issues.

ATLANTIC—NASA has again scrubbed the launch of a rocket from Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Previous attempts to launch the rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility had been scrubbed every day since Monday because of bad weather. This time the launch was aborted with the countdown clock at just over two minutes because of a technical problem.

NASA will make another attempt to launch a satellite designed to detect hidden enemy weapons and inform U.S. troops of their location.

Military will stay free on Shore Bed-and-breakfast and boutique-inn owners on the Eastern Shore have declared May 14 as “Virginia’s Eastern Shore Salutes Our Troops Day.“ On that day, 21 B&Bs and inns are offering free one-night stays to active military personnel. Fifty winners will be selected. In addition to a free night, some B&Bs and inns are offering such extras as dinner for two, free massages and discounts for extended stays.

During winter months, many waterbirds head to Virginia to escape the cold weather that has blanketed their feeding grounds with snow and ice. These include such seasonal visitors as geese, swans, ducks and a few shorebird species as well as our backyard favorites, juncos and white-throated sparrows. The best place in the state to find migratory waterbirds is the Eastern Shore. A favorite winter destination of many Virginia birders is the 14,000-acre Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.

A Northern Virginia aerospace company won a $1.9 billion contract from NASA yesterday to fly cargo missions to the space station from a launch site on Virginia’s Wallops Island.

Three people were killed in highway crashes yesterday, Virginia State Police said.