When is the best time to come up with an ingenious idea? Apparently in the middle of the night. Around 3:30 one summer morning in 2007, Mark Di Vincenzo’s wife, Jayne, woke up and began scribbling down a book proposal for her husband. The idea was for a guide on the best time to buy this, do that and go there.

Mark Di Vincenzo talked to hundreds of experts while researching his book “Buy Ketchup In May and Fly At Noon.“ Among other things, he found out the best time of day to buy shoes, the best month to look for a job and the best day of the week to get a vasectomy. Here are some tips from the book:

Newport News has formally scrapped a proposed $300 million reservoir in King William County that drew opposition from environmentalists.

The term “opportunity cost” refers to benefits foregone, to the things that might have been. The price of a new pair of shoes might be $50; the opportunity cost is the purse the $50 could have bought instead. It is hard not to wonder about the opportunity cost to the citizens of Newport News imposed by the city’s ill-advised pursuit of a reservoir in King William. The city spent more than two decades and $55 million chasing its goal. At long last, after yet another setback, city officials wisely have decided to end the quest.

Newport News called an end yesterday to its two-decade effort to build a reservoir in King William County. Opponents had long considered the lake an affront to Indians and the environment. A memo from acting City Manager Neil A. Morgan recommended ending the project, and Mayor Joe S. Frank said yesterday afternoon that it is indeed dead.

Newport News Mayor Joe Frank said today the city’s two-decade-long effort to develop a reservoir in King William County is dead.

A former Newport News high school teacher and golf coach faces up to 75 years in prison after pleading guilty to sex charges involving a student.

Northrop Grumman Corp. has snared a $2.5 billion Navy contract to refuel and overhaul the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.

Word has spread that terrorism trials for Guantanamo Bay prisoners could take place in a new high-security courthouse in Newport News. This should give elected officials in Virginia another chance to demagogue the issue by declaring their adamant opposition to bringing terrorist suspects into the commonwealth. Why the state’s pols find it necessary to insult the professionalism and prowess of law-enforcement and security personnel by insisting terrorist prisoners be kept as far from Virginia as possible is a mystery. These would not be the first high-profile trials of dangerous suspects by a long stretch. An Alexandria court hosted 9/11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui for part of his journey through the justice system. Virginia courts processed the Beltway snipers—not to mention countless gang members whose associates could have mounted an assault on court buildings just as easily, if not more easily, than foreign jihadists.

A person familiar with the decision says the Atlantic 10 Conference plans to move its headquarters from Philadelphia to Newport News.

An illegal immigrant from Mexico has been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison for her role in a prostitution ring in Hampton Roads.

A Newport News man has been charged with attempted manslaughter after police said he pulled his girlfriend’s breathing tube out of her throat during an argument.

The Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control yesterday revoked the mixed beverage and wine and beer licenses of a Newport News night club, The Alley. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference had sent a busload of citizens to Richmond for a May 19 hearing at the ABC headquarters on whether to shut down the nightclub. Spokesmen suggested the club was being targeted because it caters to black customers.

The Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control today revoked the mixed beverage and wine and beer licenses of a Newport News night club, The Alley. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference had sent a busload of citizens to Richmond for a May 19 hearing at the ABC headquarters on whether to shut down the night club. Spokesmen suggested the club was being targeted because it caters to black customers.

A shipyard worker’s admission that he signed off on inspections he never completed has prompted Northrop Grumman Corp. and the Navy to launch an examination of welds on 13 vessels built or serviced in Newport News since 2005. The investigation was first reported by the Daily Press of Newport News and was confirmed by Northrop Grumman yesterday.