Teachers at nine Henrico public schools may be eligible to receive $5,000 performance-pay bonuses, as part of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell's "Opportunity to learn" education initiative, which he officially launched today.

The initiative offers 57 school districts in Virginia the opportunity to provide the incentives to new or current teachers at schools within their districts that are hard to staff. > Read more.

Religious and social conservatives are squaring off with gay rights advocates over a proposed state-agency rule that would prohibit adoption agencies in Virginia from discriminating against prospective parents on the basis of sexual orientation.

The regulation under consideration by the Virginia Board of Social Services would apply anti-discrimination laws to adoption policies, preventing faith-based adoption agencies from discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered couples. > Read more.

In the late 1970s, there was nothing in the corporate world of Henrico County – or Greater Richmond – quite like what the mind of Sidney Gunst envisioned. Only a few years removed from college, Gunst was dreaming big.

“I had the idea that more was better,” he recalled.

Gunst’s thoughts became clearer as he traveled the country to observe office complexes, selecting pieces of what he saw elsewhere to help hone his vision for Henrico’s Far West End. He envisioned a corporate setting in which employees could feel comfortable amid lush, well-maintained surroundings; enjoy concerts, fitness trails and a library; and generally be surrounded by other like-minded people in a true community setting. > Read more.

If only for a few hours, cancer was vanquished by laughter the evening of April 2.

But vanquished it was at the American Legion hall in Varina, as a bevy of 13 male beauties competed to raise funds for the American Cancer Society -- and honor the memory of the late Shelby Layne Bowery.

Flaunting names like “Scarlett,” “Jezzabelle,” “Showgirl Pearl,” and “Waynonna Juggs,” contestants sashayed down the aisle, bumping and grinding to various musical themes -- and stopping at nothing to coax another dollar in tips out of onlookers. > Read more.

GE officials announced today that the company will open an information security technology center in Innsbrook that ultimately will employ about 200 people. Jobs are expected to focus on cyber security, network design, architecture, data management and application development. > Read more.