VIRGINIA, Va.—It’s probably the last time that Timothy M. Kaine will step outside his house in the morning to find two dead deer and a turkey on his doorstep. But yesterday, the outgoing Virginia governor and his wife, first lady Anne Holton, stood outside the Executive Mansion in Richmond to preside over a Thanksgiving tradition that dates to the late 1600s—Virginia’s Indian tribes paying tribute to the governor.

Newport News’ King William reservoir project is coming to a halt after the Army Corps of Engineers suspended its permit. City Manager Randy Hildebrandt said the decision was prompted by a recent federal court ruling that said the Corps “acted arbitrarily and capriciously” when it issued a construction permit for the 13-billion-gallon reservoir in 2005.