NORFOLK A federal judge today denied a move by Steve and Art Sandler to have a $21 million lawsuit against them thrown out of court. U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar also ordered the Sandlers and their company, L.M. Sandler & Sons Inc., to open up all their financial records for review by the insurance company suing them.

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has issued permit approval to the Virginia Port Authority and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Craney Island Eastward Expansion project, Gov. Bob McDonnell announced today.

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A bald eaglet has hatched in the nest at Norfolk Botanical Garden.

Amy Dagnall, public relations manager, said that around 1:10 p.m. today, people noticed the egg was hatched and open.

The egg was laid Jan. 31, and the bird is on target for the typical 35- to 39-day incubation period, Dagnall said. Two other eggs, laid Feb. 3 and Feb. 6, remain in the nest, she said.

NORFOLK Two cars were destroyed and one was damaged this morning during a fire in a parking garage near Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

NORFOLK Oceans are becoming more acidic, which poses another threat in Virginia to oysters, clams and crabs as well as to water quality and coastal ecosystems, a panel of scientists and environmentalists warned Wednesday.

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A 19-year-old man wanted in connection with a fatal shooting in September 2009 was taken into custody Wednesday in Virginia Beach.

Ryan Nelson Johns was being held in the Norfolk City Jail on charges including murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and robbery, said Chris Amos, Norfolk police spokesman.

NORFOLK The prospect of cutting 410 school jobs brought out tears, outrage and a crowd of more than 400 Wednesday at the School Board's public hearing on the proposed budget.

Aboard an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Gulf, a former Navy pilot was given a pair of honorary naval astronaut wings Wednesday.

NORFOLK This morning, it will be only a few shovelfuls of dirt, turned over on one corner of a parking lot along 43rd Street near Old Dominion University. But the groundbreaking on a 51-unit townhouse complex at the edge of Lamberts Point could be the start of something much bigger, university officials and community leaders say.

NORFOLK Harris Teeter has begun construction of its new store in the Ghent neighborhood, where it will more than double the size of its existing supermarket. Harris Teeter has demolished the adjacent retail strip next to its store at 1300 Colonial Ave., where its new 52,000-square-foot store will stand. It has projected an early 2011 opening but given no specific date.