A September morning in Hampton Roads – sunrise: 6:46, partly cloudy with an expected high of 80 degrees. A nice day. Large swells associated with a hurricane far out at sea appear at the Oceanfront.
Eastbound traffic at the Downtown Tunnel begins to pick up after an all-night lane closure.
Norfolk libraries have scheduled “Meet Arthur,” a children’s story hour about that lovable aardvark who always seems to say the right thing. At the same time the Newport News Barnes & Noble expects young visitors for “A Mouse in the House” story session.
The Virginia Marine Science Museum is showing “Reptiles: The Beautiful and the Deadly.”
An Olde Towne historic lantern tour is planned for this evening. So is “Back in the Saddle Again,” a concert by Aerosmith at Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater.
A teacher in world geography and history at Lansdown High is planning a writing assignment on crabs in the Chesapeake Bay.
A Brittany spaniel named Bogie in the North End and a reddish-brown mutt named Zoe in Kempsville have gone missing.
A large photograph showing NC Highway 12 being relocated at Hatteras Island appears in the newspaper. Also in North Carolina, Elizabeth Dole has scheduled a press conference in Salisbury to announce her candidacy for the Senate.
Closer to home, Virginia Beach is planning to replenish sand at Ocean Park and Aeries on the Bay from sand dredged from Lynnhaven Bay. The opening date for a Wal-Mart next to Chesapeake Square Mall has been postponed.
Volunteers are needed in many places, including Lake Taylor Hospital and the South Hampton Roads YWCA. Volunteer music performers are sought by The Ballentine, an assisted living facility in Norfolk. Meals-on- Wheels in Chesapeake needs people to deliver prepared food to homebound elderly persons.
Maersk plans to announce that it will be opening a major container port on the Portsmouth waterfront. Blockbuster says it will reduce the number of VHS tapes it rents in order to stock shelves with more popular DVDs.
A Dilbert cartoon shows a hapless worker boasting he is going to a special cubicle where he’s bound to be promoted – but there isn’t any such cubicle. “The first round of layoffs is always the cruelest,” one of the regulars says.
On the classified pages, Norfolk announces several surplus cars are being auctioned, along with “many more items too numerous to mention.” In items wanted, a man advertises for a 410 double barrel shotgun he wants to buy for his grandchild.
In sports, Isaiah Hunter, a 6-foot-4 point guard for Independence High in Charlotte, plans to announce that he will commit to playing for Old Dominion. The U.S. Open Billiards Championship resumes at the Chesapeake Convention Center. Several local high school field hockey games are scheduled.
Also in sports, a controversy over whether Redskins coach Marty Schottenheimer will play quarterback Jeff George or Tony Banks after having pulled George during Sunday’s 30-3 loss to San Diego.
And speculation over whether the legendary Michael Jordan, who was “99.9 percent” certain he’d never play another NBA game, will make a second comeback at 38 by signing with the Washington Wizards. A full day of baseball is scheduled as teams move towards clinching playoff berths.
At 8:35 a.m., drive time, commuters tuning in to WHRO hear Dwight Davis on “Morning Classics” segue out of the news into a light classical piece. On WHRV, “Morning Edition” takes us through the top stories of the day. Pop stations weigh in with hot singles, including Alicia Keys’ smoky “Fallin.’ ”
It’s 8:46 a.m., Sept. 11, 2001.
Now 8:46:26.
And our lives change forever.
