Anyone bought litter for the hamster lately?  If not you may be in for a surprise at the checkout stand.  Apparently sawdust is a victim of the new homes slump.  No homes built = no lumber cut = no sawdust being made.  What do we use sawdust for you ask?  How about farmers, they use it for bedding for horses and chickens, particle-board makers, wineries use oak sawdust as a flavoring (who knew) and of course, auto-parts makers use it to mix with plastic polymers.  Last year is was $25 a ton and now can be over $100 a ton.http://www.deniseallen.com/  Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads.  This site is updated daily with new real estate listings, pictures and other information vital to your home search.Google deni... 03/12/2008

What a neat idea.  E.V. Wiiliams the contractor for the Battlefield Interchange construction is recycling the old road.  If you drive by you will see a mountain of stone.  The recycling effort saves about 120 truck trips a day and cuts down possible accidents by not having these slow moving trucks on the road.  The old concrete was broken up and the steel rebar removed.  The leftover stone will be mixed with cement and will form the bed of the new road.  It's a big project and the interstate there is being widened from six lanes to fourteen.  Work is scheduled to be completed in July or August 2009.http://www.geneallen.com/  Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads.  This site is updated daily with new real estate l... 03/05/2008

If you are a parent of a Hickory Middle School or Oscar Smith High School student you will be able to see your child's grade book on line.  This is a test project and will soon be available system wide.  As a parent, you can see skipped classes and grades on the internet.  Apparently Suffolk and Norfolk have similar programs.  Virginia Beach should start a program in 2009.http://www.deniseallen.com/  Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads.  This site is updated daily with new real estate listings, pictures and other information vital to your home search.Google denise allen 02/29/2008

Landlords since 2005 were required to have their apartments inspected before renting them.  That was good except there was no penalty if you didn't get them inspected.  Now the city has closed that loophole.  It is now a Class U misdemeanor which is similar to a code violation.  The fines could be as much as $2,500 but no jail time.  I think this will get the attention of landlords who failed to get the inspections in the past.http://www.geneallen.com/  Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads.  This site is updated daily with new real estate listings, pictures and other information vital to your home search.Google geneallen 02/27/2008

A Wal-Mart and Cracker Barrel will be coming to Edinburgh soon but only after the city agreed to pay $4.5 million in road improvements.  The developers of the Edinburgh West subdivision will kick in about $6.5 million themselves for the improvements.  The city is putting in the money to make the improvements it feels are needed to make the roads right.  The developer would have made the improvements needed but we all know they only do what is absolutely necessary.  Hurray for the city on this one.http://www.geneallen.com/  Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads.  This site is updated daily with new real estate listings, pictures and other information vital to your home search.Google geneallen 02/25/2008

I have seen a lot of wood in my time, mostly brown and some green (being in new construction you see that a lot) but I have yet to see BluWood.  Apparently it is wood that is processed with a chemical that not only turns it blue but protects the wood from rot, fungi decay and wood ingesting insects.  It also limits moisture absoption during the constrution process.  The BluWood eliminates much of the mold, shrinkage and warping that occurs as a house is being built.  I would think more consumers would be asking for this in the homes that are being built for them. http://www.deniseallen.com/  Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads.  This site is updated daily with new real estate listings, pictures and other inform... 02/25/2008

The new chief isn't in place yet but he will have a blue-print for the cities 2nd precinct in hand when he arrives.  The city manager hopes to begin interviewing candidates this month and have anew chief in March.  The problems in the 2ndprecinct could boil over to the political arena in May.  Some residents aren't happy with the way the council has handled problems in the 2nd precinct in the past.  http://www.deniseallen.com/  Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads.  This site is updated daily with new real estate listings, pictures and other information vital to your home search.Google deniseallen 02/20/2008

How is construction on the new Oscar Smith Middle School doing?  Well it's on schedule and about 20% complete.  The1,350 student middle school should be open for business in 2009.  The original middle school was opened in 1954 and now has 31 portable classrooms and 864 students.  To say it is overcrowded is an understatement.  The gym will be large enough to host city events.  There will be a football stadium and tennis courts.  Total cost:  a cool $52 million.http://www.deniseallen.com/  Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads.  This site is updated daily with new real estate listings, pictures and other information vital to your home search.Google deniseallen 02/18/2008

If you are looking for a new home and are worried about indoor air quality here are some things to look for.  Quality building materials, ventilation and the furnishings.  You can come and talk to my builder and he will explain the materials he puts in the house and how it affects your air quality.  How your exhaust fans in the kitchen and baths are exhausted also affects your air quality.  This has to do with the ventilation in the home.  Of course the builder can't help help with your furnishings but you will have a great time decorating these Graf Construction homes in Westchester Estates.http://www.deniseallen.com/  Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads.  This site is updated daily with new real estate listin... 02/13/2008

Wow, 2007 seemed to fly by. I hope everyone had a prosperous and pleasant year.  Did you get a chance to visit Homearama at Edinburgh Meadows?  It was the most attended Homearama in 25 years!  All of the homes were just magnificant!  You can visit my two Homearama listings The Crown Jewel and The Majestic at the TBA website www.tbaonline.org and follow the Homearama link to view the videos.I'll bet you didn't know 2007 Home Sales were the fifth best in history? Right now, 2008 really is a great time to buy with low interest rates and an abundant selection of homes on the market with many at reduced prices.Are you thinking about buying or selling a home.  Just give me a call. 02/13/2008

A local environmental group, The Elizabeth River Project, was awarded $1.2 million dollars recently for clean up projects.  The federal grant was the largest the group has received and one of the few granted this year.  Most of the money will be spent along a stretch of river in Chesapeake known as Money Point.  This peninsula was once the home of factories that produced fertilizers, chemicals and creosote.  The EPA dollars will be used to help alleviate a creosote hot-spot that is one of the worst in in the world.  The group will construct 2 acres of tidal wetlands, 4 acres of wetlands and another 4 acres of clean bottom habitat.  It won't entirely clean the area but will go a long way.  Remember, what is good for the river is good for the bay. http://www.geneallen.com/  Come and see A... 02/06/2008

The sagging housing market has snagged another victim.  Belharbour Station at SoNo need an extra year to complete the first part of the project.  They may even need longer if the market doesn't improve soon.  The city is looking at putting $36 million dollars of infrastructure into the project.  The improvements include parks, streets and water mains.  The money will be paid with bonds and backed by the tax money generated from the Belharbour development.  Let us hope the market starts to take off and get this project off the ground. http://www.geneallen.com/  Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads.  This site is updated daily with new real estate listings, pictures and other information vital to your home search.... 01/30/2008

The police chief job has at least 45 candidates.  That's quite a bit but city manager, William Harrell, thinks that competition will make for a better outcome.  There have been meetings with local groups such as the Fraternal Order of Police, the NAACP, The Public Safety Alliance as well city prosecutors and judges.  With all this input and all these candidates we all hope that Chesapeake will come up nothing but the best for important public safety position. http://www.geneallen.com/  Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads.  This site is updated daily with new real estate listings, pictures and other information vital to your home search.Google gene allen 01/23/2008

If you are a teacher and earned your national certification and were expecting money from the state, don't spend it yet.  The state is is only giving $4,311.74 out of $5,000 and $2,155.57 out of $2,500.  The reason for the shortfall is that more teachers earned National Board Certification than the state budgeted.  Virginia Beach has the same problem but they ponied up the money to pay the teachers the shortfall.  Lets hope the state does better budgeting next year. http://www.deniseallen.com/  Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads.  This site is updated daily with new real estate listings, pictures and other information vital to your home search.Google denise allen 01/21/2008

Greenbrier Church has a skate park for the youngsters complete with rails, ramps, half pipes what-ever pipes.  The one thing they forgot was to get was an approval from the city to build one.  Go figure you would need something like that for private property.  Hopefully the city won't see it as competition for theirs which is only about a mile away.  The cost to build the small park on church property was about $20,000.  The city will vote on the matter in February. http://www.geneallen.com/  Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads.  This site is updated daily with new real estate listings, pictures and other information vital to your home search.Google gene allen 01/20/2008

If a local company has its way, the area of Edinburgh could have as many as 200 hotel rooms.  Hotel chains such as Hilton, Marriott and Holiday Inn have expressed an interest.  The company has asked the city to rezone 7 acres and if rezoned, the first hotel could be open sometime in 2009.   http://www.geneallen.com/  Come and see ALL the Homes for Sale in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, as well as the rest of Hampton Roads.  This site is updated daily with new real estate listings, pictures and other information vital to your home search.Google gene allen 01/12/2008

Chesapeake's city manager William Harrell is surrounding himself with people who have his values of responsiveness, creativity and accountability.  With that in mind, he has a new economic development director and deputy city manager.  He has hired the city's first chief information officer and housing coordinator.  He hired a management analyst that was Richmond's public works director.  Hopefully the new hires will tighten the city budget and solve difficult problems with new ideas.  One of the last hires and certainly a difficult decision will be the police chief.  Let's hope the manager is successful in his hiring. 12/20/2007

The on again off again biodiesel plant in Chesapeake appears to be off permanently.  The developers are being sued by some investors who have not had their deposits returned.  Thanks goodness Chesapeake did not put any city money in the pot.  All they have is time and energy involved.  Maybe next time it will work out.  12/19/2007

Tiki Jr. is a green sea turtle from the Caribbean, and Dr. John Sangenario is from Suffolk and they recently met in Virginia Beach.  The Dr. examined Tiki Jr., did an ultra sound and determined that she did in fact, have eggs inside her.  Tiki Jr. was tangled in some line from a welk pot off Croatan and was rescued by our own aquarium.  Once she recovers from some minor wounds, she will be on her way. 12/09/2007

There is something you don't hear everyday.  COX cable, the local cable provider for Chesapeake and Virginia Beach is keeping its basic rates the same for the year.  This is something they have not done in the past.  It seems the competition from Verizon is starting to work.  Of course all the other costs for COX are going up but we never pay attention to that.  12/05/2007