The document summarizes several news stories from The Virginian-Pilot newspaper. The top story discusses Virginia Beach's plans to improve the confusing Laskin Road by removing parallel feeder lanes and transforming it into an eight-lane divided highway at a cost of $29.1 million. The second story outlines a lawsuit filed by Norfolk's former veterans liaison claiming he was fired for raising ethical questions about a federal job program for veterans. The third story reports on NFL Hall of Famer Bruce Smith's call for a racial disparity study on how Virginia Beach awards city contracts.

1. | Our 152nd year | 11.29.16 | PILOTONLINE.COM | $1 in Hampton RoadsTuesday
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By Stacy Parker
The Virginian-Pilot
VIRGINIA BEACH
Laskin Road, notorious for its
baffling feeder lanes, tops the
city’s list of next big road projects.
“They’re so confusing,” said Joe
Taylor, a Birdneck Acres resident
and owner of Taylor’s Do-It Center
on Laskin Road. “People just don’t
know what to do.”
Taylor has seen drivers do a U-
turn in his store’s parking lot to
line up for the traffic light rather
than venture from the feeder lane
onto the main road.
Removing the feeder lanes has
long been a goal of the city.
The Virginia Department of
Transportation has taken incre-
mental steps to prepare for the
improvements. Right of way ac-
quisitions and relocation of utili-
ties are nearly complete along the
busy corridor.
“Once we get the construction
money, it’s shovel ready,” said Phil-
lip Pullen, the city’s transportation
division manager.
This fall, the Public Works De-
partment submitted an application
with three projects for SMART
Scale, a state transportation
funding program, in hopes of land-
ingmillionsofdollars.LaskinRoad
was No. 1 for the city. If selected,
funding would be allocated begin-
ning in fiscal year 2018, and con-
struction could begin in 2021, ac-
cording to Paula Miller, VDOT
spokeswoman.
The City Council will provide
$14.1 million and is requesting
$15 million in state money for the
first phase of road improvements.
It includes transforming 2 miles
of Laskin Road through the Hill-
top area into an eight-lane divid-
Beachasksforcash
tofixLaskinheadache
City wants
state’shelp
withroad’s
feederlanes
From wire reports
COLUMBUS, OHIO
A Somali-born Ohio State
University student plowed
his car into a group of pedes-
trians on campus and then
got out and began stabbing
people with a butcher knife
Monday before he was shot
to death by a police officer.
Police said they are investi-
gating whether it was a ter-
rorist attack.
Eleven people were hurt,
one critically.
The attacker was identi-
fied as Abdul Razak Ali Ar-
tan. He was born in Somalia
and was a legal permanent
U.S. resident, according to
a U.S. official who wasn’t au-
thorized to discuss the case
and spoke on the condition of
anonymity. The FBI joined
the investigation.
The details emerged after
a morning of conflicting re-
ports and confusion, created
in part by a series of tweets
from the university warning
11 wounded
in car, knife
attack at
Ohio State
University
Norfolk’sformer
veteransliaisonfiles
suit,sayinghewas
firedforspeakingup
By Eric Hartley
The Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK
The city’s former military liaison says in a
new federal lawsuit that he was fired in retali-
ation for raising ethical questions about a fed-
eral program meant to help vet-
erans find jobs.
John Andrews, who left city
government in November 2014,
says he lost his job after point-
ing out a possible conflict of in-
terest: A man selling software
to help veterans transition to
new careers was married to a
U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs official overseeing sim-
ilar efforts.
In a complaint filed Wednes-
day in U.S. District Court, An-
drews requests reinstatement to his job, plus
unspecified damages, and asks the court to or-
der the city to institute policies to “eradicate the
VICKI CRONIS-NOHE | THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Virginia Beach’s Laskin Road is notorious for its parallel feeder lanes, which can often frustrate drivers and have contributed to the Hilltop area being
one of the city’s most congested. “They’re so confusing,” said Joe Taylor, who owns a shop off the street. “People just don’t know what to do.”
See LASKIN, PAGE 7
Monarchs accept
Bahamas invite
John Andrews,
hired as
Norfolk’s
first military
liaison in 2012,
left in 2014.
STEPHEN M. KATZ | THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
NFL Hall of Famer Bruce Smith says Beach Mayor
Will Sessoms “perhaps” fears the results of a
disparity study on who is awarded city contracts.
Smithsteps
upcallfor
disparity
study in
the Beach
By Alissa Skelton
The Virginian-Pilot
VIRGINIA BEACH
NFL Hall of Famer Bruce
Smith said it’s possible the
mayor won’t call for a racial
disparity study because he’s
scared of what he’d find.
Smith held a news confer-
ence Monday morning in a
parking lot overlooking the
Rudee Inlet at the south end
of the Oceanfront, a 10-acre
site owned by the city that he
has wanted to develop. About
30 people gathered to sup-
port him, some local black
activists, businessmen, a rep-
resentative for the Virgin-
ia Legislative Black Caucus
and Portsmouth Mayor Ken-
ny Wright.
Smith said he and a group
of businessmen, whom he
declined to name, would be
willing to pay half of the cost
of a racial disparity study
on how city contracts are
awarded.
“Mayor (Will) Sessoms re-
fused to initiate a science-
based study perhaps out of
fear of inequalities the study
would reveal,” Smith said.
Smith, a real estate de-
veloper and investor, first
raised concerns of racial in-
equality and cronyism last
week in a letter addressed
to Sessoms and sent to doz-
ens of legislators and offi-
cials in Virginia Beach and
around the state. In the letter,
Smith detailed roadblocks he
said he has faced as an Afri-
can American businessman
trying to develop properties
at the Oceanfront.
Sessoms, after reading the
letter, said the city is open to
African American develop-
ers and businesses and there
was no need for a study. Oth-
er council members could
still call for one, but so far
none have.
Smith on Monday took
See LAWSUIT, PAGE 7
Old Dominion to face
to-be-announced opponent
in the Popeyes Bahamas
Bowl on Dec. 23.
IN SPORTS
See SMITH, PAGE 7
Police identify
Somali-born
Muslim student as
suspect in assault
KEVIN STANKIEWICZ | THE LANTERN VIA AP
OSU student Abdul Razak Ali
Artan was shot dead by a
campus police officer.
See ATTACK, BACK PAGE
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