There was no shortage of national news for people to read this year: the federal budget, or the One Big Beautiful Bill, the longest-ever government shutdown and how tariffs work (and when they actually start).
And that’s not even touching on fun topics like why you can’t stop watching Netflix’s “Kpop Demon Hunters” even though you’re an adult, or finally figuring out what animal a Labubu is supposed to be.
Some of those topics crossed into WHRO’s local news coverage and were among our most-read stories of 2025.
Relive the year with the stories below:
This year was a year of unexpected reroutes for ships homeported in Hampton Roads, and this one was one of the largest local groups to head to Latin America when the Trump Administration began its ongoing drug interdiction missions near Venezuela.
This group includes 4,500 sailors and Marines from Norfolk and North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune and remains in the Caribbean Sea.
Virginia Beach small business owner Coleman Ferguson had a vision for a 20,000-seat arena in the city, and he wasn’t going to let details like funding get in the way.
Ferguson had a plan to get locals to buy into an arena, had artificial intelligence write and create renderings of a future building and claimed he was in touch with major development companies, like those who helped build the Dallas Cowboys’ At&T Stadium.
Since he made his idea public, he’s updated his website with formal SEC filings, investor education information, and a way for people to actually buy those shares to help fund a Virginia Beach arena.
3. More Filipino cruise ship workers detained, deported from Norfolk-based Carnival Sunshine
Concern about unlawful deportations rose in the United States this year, and several Filipino cruise line workers in Norfolk became examples of why.
Over the summer, almost 30 total workers from the Carnival cruise line’s Sunshine ship were detained and then deported.
An advocacy group said the workers held valid visas and were not charged with any crimes. Still, the workers’ visas were revoked and banned from returning to the U.S. for 10 years.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents made 4,264 arrests in Virginia in the first seven months of 2025, nearly three times the number for the entire previous year, according to an analysis by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO. Not every ICE arrest leads to deportation.
4. Stone crabs documented in Virginia waters for the first time
Inside the Virginia Institute of Marine Science’s Seawater Research Lab are Virginia’s first four officially documented stone crabs.
Stone crabs have strong, bulky claws and a muddier appearance than their blue counterparts and prefer a warm climate. They are typically found in coastal and offshore waters from South America to North Carolina.
VIMS is doing more research on the group and caution you shouldn’t try to catch them, unless you’re a licensed crabber or homeowner with a dock.
5. Controversial military-themed brewery shuts its doors after a year in Norfolk, citing “woke mob”
It’s a long story why Armed Forces Brewing CEO Alan Beal blamed a “woke mob” for ending his business (see below) but legal records showing some other factors that might have led the controversial business to shutter.
It was losing money for several years, and backlash from residents didn’t make a relocation from Maryland to Norfolk easy.
Armed Forces said it would relocate. Its website doesn’t list a physical location.
6. After “local woke mob” blamed for brewery closure, some Norfolk residents embrace the label
Before Armed Forces Brewing closed, the “local woke mob” that CEO Alan Beal blamed for the company’s failure happened.
Armed Forces faced an uphill battle from neighbors. One of the company’s co-owners, Robert O’Neill had a long list of offensive behaviors.
Residents took a victory lap after being credited with the closure.
It started with DIY pins, then candles and stickers.
“I think that so many people can find humor in this, and can find, not like ‘the little guys won’ but in some way, we did it. We didn't support them, and so they left,” Norfolk resident Beth Dryer said.
7. The latest aircraft carrier is expected to miss its July delivery date
The next Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, the USS John F. Kennedy, is almost done, but the final steps have prolonged its finish date even longer (it was supposed to be complete in 2022).
As WHRO’s Steve Walsh reports, supply chain issues and the availability of trained workers contributed to the delay.
It’s not cheap to wait on an aircraft carrier – the federal General Accounting Office estimates the Kennedy’s delay accounted for half of the $480 million cost increase in the carrier program in 2023.
8. New artifacts on Hatteras point to the real fate of the Lost Colony
This story details one of the reasons Scott Dawson, president of the Croatoan Archaelogist Society, believes the Lost Colony of Roanoke was never lost.
Archaeologists found “buckets” of hammer scale on Hatteras Island this year, suggesting the Lost Colony of Roanoke may have been living alongside the Croatoan Native American tribe.
“This is showing a presence of the English working metal and living in the Indian Village for decades,” he said. “We're finding this whole metalworking workshop on the site and natives didn't do that.”
9. A message sent to all Hampton Roads VA employees targets DEI programs
On the heels of the federal government making moves to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, WHRO Military & Veterans reporter Steve Walsh confirmed it was happening locally.
In the January 2025 email, then-Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Todd Hunter encouraged VA employees to “turn in” their colleagues whose jobs were reclassified as DEI positions after the November 2024 presidential election.
10. Jamestown archaeologists hope ancient DNA can solve a gravesite mystery within historic church
This year, archaeologists at Jamestown had a “Maury Povich moment” when they realized through DNA science that remains they thought belonged to colonial-era Gov. George Yeardley weren’t him.
It took years, but researchers are using what they learned to refine the tools and processes they use to keep looking for the identity of the remains they found inside the Memorial Church at the James Fort.