Tidewater Talk

This week on Tidewater Talk, we sat down with Al Harris, founder and executive director of the COOL Foundation — short for Counted Out and Overlooked. Al shared his powerful journey from being incarcerated at 16 and spending 21 years in prison to coming home and building a mentorship nonprofit rooted right here in Hampton Roads. We talked about how COOL’s six-week H.E.A.R.T. program, Healing, Authenticity, Respect, and Transformation, helps young people process trauma, feel seen, and build the tools to change their own lives. Al spoke candidly about why so many kids act out when they feel unheard, and why real mentorship has to go beyond talking at young people and start with actually listening to them.

We also got into Al’s perspective on reentry, prison, family, and the way trauma can shape both kids and adults when it goes unaddressed. He shared why community support, patience, and humility mattered so much in his own transition, and why parents, teachers, coaches, and neighbors need to pay closer attention to the young people around them, especially the ones who seem overlooked. Before wrapping up, Al pointed listeners toward the Safe Haven Empowerment Center in Newport News as a local resource for youth development, and gave us a food tip for Sunday’s Kitchen on Jefferson Avenue. We also closed out the episode with a quick look at the local forecast and a few upcoming community events around Tidewater.

This week on Tidewater Talk, local news, strange stories, and neighborhood moments that make Coastal Virginia such a fun place to cover. We talked about the Norfolk power outage that left thousands without electricity after a raccoon triggered a Dominion substation shutdown, and we also shared a genuinely heartwarming roadside story about a driver who pulled over just to help with what looked like a tire problem. We also got into Halloween week news, including local trick-or-treating age and time limits in Chesapeake and Newport News, and took a look at the week’s weather, which is shaping up to be mild and dry heading into the weekend and Halloween festivities.

For our Strange and Odd of Tidewater, we revisited the story of the Norwegian Lady on the Virginia Beach Boardwalk, the bronze memorial tied to an 1891 shipwreck and a long connection between Virginia Beach and Moss, Norway. We also highlighted the OV Seahags, a spirited Ocean View broom-dancing group inspired by a German witch-dance tradition and known for showing up at nonprofit fundraisers in full costume. To wrap things up, we shared this week’s “Where in Tidewater?” clue centered on a historic Norfolk landmark, plus a few seasonal tips including Hunt Club Farm’s final Festival of Fear weekend, The Shack’s Halloween parties, and Nauticus’s haunted downtown Norfolk walking tours.

This week on Tidewater Talk, we had Morgan Schottelkorb from Dominion Care for a timely conversation during National Disability Employment Awareness Month. We talked about the work Dominion Care is doing across Virginia to support children, teens, and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including ABA services, a private day school in the Tidewater area, and adult waiver-based supports focused on community engagement, job coaching, and independent living. Morgan shared great perspective on how hard it can be for families to find resources, why asking questions matters, and how valuable it is to connect with other families and the broader support community.

We also heard about Dominion Care’s upcoming Shine Together talent show, which will create an inclusive space next spring for individuals with disabilities to share their talents with the community. On the local side, we swapped a few Tidewater favorites, from the Virginia Aquarium to Zeke’s poke bowls, and wrapped up with some seasonal happenings around the region. If you want to learn more about Dominion Care and the services Morgan described, visit dominion.care.

This week on Tidewater Talk, we sat down with Virginia Beach insurance agent Leslie Schofield to talk about her roots in Coastal Virginia, her family, and the work she’s doing across Hampton Roads. Leslie shared her journey from growing up in Portsmouth to building Tri State MediHealth Solutions and Ashes to Assets Insurance Agency, where she helps families navigate Medicare, life insurance, retirement planning, and veterans’ coverage questions. We also talked about Kiwanis, her passion for serving children in the community, and her perspective on helping people long before they ever need to make an insurance decision.

We also dug into annual Medicare enrollment, what veterans should know about SGLI and VGLI, and why this season can feel overwhelming for people approaching 65 or reviewing their current plans. Beyond insurance, Leslie shared details about One Matters, a nonprofit working to create affordable housing solutions for veterans across Hampton Roads, including shared housing and larger long-term housing projects. We wrapped up with a quick local weather update, a new round of our “Where in Tidewater” clue, and Tidewater tips featuring the Bee and the Biscuit, the Virginia Fall Wine Festival at Town Point Park, the Poquoson Seafood Festival, and fall fun at Hunt Club Farm.

This week on Tightwater Talk, Brodie and Co catch up on everything from new hobbies to big local news around Coastal Virginia. We look back at our conversation with Molly Allaire from Joy Farm, talk about the recent nor’easter and the unusual salt-related power outages it may have caused, and react to the city’s plan to turn the longtime Dairy Queen on 17th Street into a police substation. We also share a few thoughts on how these local projects take shape and what they mean for the community.

In our Strange and Odd of Tidewater segment, we dig into the story of Willoughby Spit and the legendary 1667 “Harry Cain” storm that may have helped shape it, plus the fascinating origins of the word “hurricane.” We also run through the latest weather, including a cooler and more comfortable forecast for the week ahead, highlight our latest “Where or What in Tidewater” mystery featuring Norfolk’s waterfront pagoda, and wrap up with Tidewater Tips for the weekend, including Hunt Club Farm’s haunted attractions, an improvised ghost story show at Push Comedy Theater, Suffolk Peanut Fest, and a hoedown at the Virginia Beach Farmers Market.

This week on Tidewater Talk, we sit down with our neighbor Mollie Alaire of Choose Joy Farm in Lanexa, out by the Chickahominy. Mollie was born at the old Williamsburg hospital, and her great-grandpa bought the family's 68 acres in 1901. The family grew watermelons and corn until 2008, when Mollie got a goat to make goat milk soap for her brothers' eczema.

Now the farm keeps pygmy goats, Nigerian dwarfs, LaManchas, pigs, silkie chickens, and 15 year old ducks, and Mollie teaches soap making, milking, and goat care to students from 3 to 89. We hear about goat snuggling, piglet yoga, goats launching off a chicken tractor onto the barn roof, and Damiana, the 14 year old LaMancha who runs the whole yard circus.

Co tells us what the nor'easter did to the Boardwalk, and we look at a warm week before weekend showers.

Plus Mollie's picks: mango cheesecake at Colattao on Independence Boulevard and a pistachio cream latte at Elite Coffee in Norge. Also the free U.S. Marine Band concert at the Sandler Center, Zoovies at the Virginia Zoo, the last weekend of Ghent Restaurant Week, and the Tour de ORF bike ride.

We reveal last week's Where in Tidewater, the Old Cape Henry Lighthouse, and give you three new clues for a historic stage on Church Street in Norfolk. Send your guess to [email protected].

If you're in Coastal Virginia, this is your weekly mix of neighbors, local lore, weather, and where to go next.

This week on Tidewater Talk, the rain finally shows up and we have plenty to talk about while it does. The Navy is handing every junior sailor barracks in Hampton Roads to a private company in a $1.7 billion deal, including a new 17 story tower in Newport News where Huntington Hall stands today, and Brodie has some opinions about that building. VDOT breaks ground on the Norfolk segment of the Hampton Roads Express Lanes, seven more miles of I-64 and 21 bridges, so we get into whether express lanes actually work. There is also an algae bloom called the mahogany tide moving through the lower Chesapeake, and yes, somebody named it Marge.

Strange and Odd goes way down this week, to the 35 million year old asteroid crater buried under the lower Bay near Cape Charles, and the ancient brine that makes deep wells in Newport News and Poquoson unusable.

Co has the forecast, and it is a busy one: a coastal flood warning, wind gusts up to 50, and eight to 12 foot surf before things calm down for a cooler weekend.

We reveal the Where in Tidewater answer (the concrete ships at Kiptopeke) and give you three new clues for a place in Virginia Beach you can climb. Send your guess to [email protected].

Plus your weekend: the 52nd Neptune Festival, Ghent Restaurant Week, Farm Aid at the amphitheater, and Pirate Night at VA Vintage.

If you're in Coastal Virginia, this is your weekly mix of news, local lore, weather, and where to go next.

This week on Tidewater Talk, we look at drought concerns in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads Transit reaching 10 million riders, and the history of Virginia Beach’s iconic Cavalier Hotel.

We also have the local forecast, surf and tropical updates, and another “Where in Tidewater?” challenge near Kiptopeke State Park. Plus, we share weekend picks including Fall Fest at Mount Trashmore, Come From Away at the Wells Theatre, Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve, the Oceana Air Show, and the Old Beach Farmers Market.

This week on Tidewater Talk, we caught up on a little local life and a lot of Coastal Virginia news. We talked about the Wells Theatre reopening quickly after flooding, the Great Bridge in Chesapeake getting stuck open again in the heat, and one of my favorite local history stories yet: Portsmouth’s Richard Dale, who was captured by the British five times and escaped all five. We also revealed last week’s “Where in Tidewater” answer, Fort Monroe, and shared why it’s such a powerful place in regional and national history, from Edgar Allan Poe to its role as "Freedom’s Fortress."

We also highlighted an important Virginia Beach safety reminder that stormwater ponds, ditches, drains, and channels are not safe play areas, especially during and after rain, and shared the city’s reporting line for concerns. On top of that, we ran through the week’s weather outlook, previewed a few upcoming local events like Tidewater Horror Con, the Neptune Fall Wine Festival, and several 9/11 memorial events around Hampton Roads, and wrapped with a new “Where in Tidewater” mystery pointing listeners toward a vanished coastal community at the southern tip of Virginia Beach.

This week on Tidewater Talk, we caught up on a little local news and a lot of Coastal Virginia life. We talked about a strange case involving red-light tickets in Virginia Beach tied to a car that had already been sold, then shifted into a health update after the Virginia Department of Health confirmed human cases of West Nile virus in Virginia Beach. We also shared practical mosquito precautions, compared notes on recent summer illnesses, and, as always, mixed in a few very real and very funny personal stories along the way.

We also dug into one of Tidewater’s more memorable local quirks: Norfolk’s iconic mermaids. I shared how the whole public art tradition actually grew out of Chicago’s famous cow parade before becoming a lasting symbol of Norfolk, complete with an official mermaid trail. We wrapped with a weather update featuring dangerous heat, storm chances later in the week, this week’s location riddle centered on Fort Monroe, and a roundup of Labor Day weekend events including concerts, fireworks, the Super Girl Surf Festival, a local car show, and Norfolk’s upcoming Neighborhood Expo and Uplift Awards.