Demon rum and other alcoholic beverages have been legal for 75 years now. But with the diamond anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition last week, echoes of the era remain.

Shawne Alston took the first Phoebus handoff before snow started to fall in Lane Stadium. The first drive was supposed to be a statement. “You can’t stop the run,“ he said. “You can’t stop us.“
SLIDESHOW: Dinwiddie vs. Phoebus

Anastasia Johnson shared a chair with her best friend, Chalise Lewis, and got the VIP view of classic cars, riders on horseback, and a yellow dancing dragon carried by nine helpers in yesterday’s Christmas Parade in downtown Richmond.

How much of your money will local government spend during the next budget cycle, and on what? If you’re not there to influence their thinking, who is? The watchdogs - or gadflies - depending on which side of the table you’re on.
Gadflys:

Up and down the Virginia Tech sideline, players hopped around wearing crisp, white ACC champions T-shirts over their grass-stained uniforms. Tight end Greg Boone chucked the ball into the Tech cheering section when the clock hit zeroes.

Virginia Commonwealth University basketball coach Anthony Grant expects his youthful team to learn a variety of things this season, one of which is not to enjoy prosperity.

Huguenot led 35-16 at the half and went on to trounce James River 81-46 in the season-opening game for Huguenot. Corey Sheppard had a double-double for Huguenot with 10 points and 10 rebounds. James River slipped to 1-1. SLIDESHOW: Hugenot vs. James River

It has been 13 years since Jennifer Evans disappeared.  Richmond Times-Dispatch writer Bill Geroux has spent years covering the search, arrests, trials and appeals. His five-part series concludes today with a jailhouse interview with Dustin Turner.

PART 3: Detectives in Virginia Beach investigating Jennifer Evans’ disappearance soon turned their suspicions to two young men training to become Navy SEALs. The trainees, Dustin A. Turner and Billy Joe Brown, were an odd pair of best friends on their way to becoming members of the Navy’s elite commando force. SLIDESHOW

Family and friends gathered this morning at the Landmark Theater in Richmond to say their goodbyes as the 276th Engineer Battalion of the Virginia National Guard departed for Camp Shelby, Miss. The battalion will deploy to Afghanistan in late January. “I assure you, that while difficult and challenging, the mission you are going to be a part of in Afghanistan is critically important and the Afghan people appreciate it,“ Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said to the crowd.

The photo on the missing-children Web site shows what Jamal Abdul’Faruq looked like at 7 and what he might look like now, 18 years later at age 25. Caramel-colored skin, a wide smile and eyes still bright like they were in April 1990, the year he and his 8-year-old brother, Basil, disappeared in South Richmond.
SLIDESHOW: When children disappear

On late-autumn days, this tiny Chesapeake Bay island normally buzzes with workboat engines and the shouts of Tangier watermen in their Elizabethan dialect. No more. The docks and crab shanties on stilts lining the harbor are empty.
SLIDESHOW: Fishing regulations impact residents of Tangier Island

Despite losing 12 starters from last season, the Hokies are in familiar territory, playing in the conference title game for the third time in four seasons.

SLIDESHOWS: Games scenes | More action

Just in case the ball didn’t come loose, Dinwiddie defensive tackle Corey Marshall tried to stay in position to wrap up the Liberty-Bealeton running back. But he was focused on the football in Shaheem Jones’ hand.
SLIDESHOW: Dinwiddie advances to state title game

It’s Thanksgiving. Most likely, you’re knocking back a few cups of coffee, reading the paper and procrastinating as long as you can before you have to pop the bird in the oven.  If you’re anything like me, toiling away all day to produce a homemade meal simply isn’t your thing.