NORFOLK Carmel Saucer loves her job. That's despite a lot of peering into kitchen crevices that most people would avoid, a few jokes about her name and that time she was locked in a walk-in freezer. "I like the variety," she said. "Every day it's something different."

HAMPTON Hampton University plans to open a new research center next year that will focus on skin disorders affecting blacks, Asians, Hispanics, Native Americans and other ethnic groups. The Skin of Color Research Institute will be located in a 20,000-square-foot research center under construction on campus.

By Damian Cristodero St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times Tampa, Fla. Christin Kolzig was trying to hold a conversation when son Carson climbed into her lap and whispered in her ear. "Can we do it now?" he asked.

NORFOLK Parents looking for child care in Norfolk will have two fewer options next year. Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters informed parents and employees Monday that its popular child care center will close June 12. And Old Dominion University's Child Development Center is discontinuing its program for babies.

For 20 years, he saw every Jewish holiday, big or small, as a convenient excuse for a drink - lots of drinks. "I had this knack of trying to make a celebration out of a lot of things nobody else did," said the Norfolk man. Yet as a Jew, the last thing he wanted to see himself as was an alcoholic.

NORFOLK Tendral Meytok Gurung clung quietly to the nurse's shoulder, her inky dark eyes trained on the Buddhist monk receding from her view as she was carried toward the operating table. It was those eyes that captured the heart of Lama Tenzin Choegyal months ago, when he saw them while trekking through a remote village in the upper Himalayas.

CHESAPEAKE Advocates for the disabled have been pushing for years to shut down state-run facilities such as the Southeastern Virginia Training Center so people can live in homelike settings instead of institutions. But parents of some of the 175 mentally disabled people who live there now are vowing to fight Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's proposal to close the facility by June 30.

RALEIGH, N.C.  A federal rating system for nursing homes has found that more than a quarter of those in North Carolina are much below average and 16 percent rated below average.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported that the rating system that begins Thursday showed 119 of the state's 419 nursing homes rated much below average and 68 rated below average.

RALEIGH, N.C.  North Carolina health officials are warning about food-borne illnesses that can spread during the holiday season after three outbreaks so far this year.

State Health Director Leah Devlin said more than a million people have illnesses caused by norovirus outbreaks each year. Food can spread the viruses while proper preparation can prevent them.

By Connie Sage Correspondent In two years, veterans in the Elizabeth City-Edenton region won't have to drive to Virginia Beach or Greenville to visit outpatient Veterans Affairs clinics. They'll have one of their own.