• Newport News Park – Newport News www.virginia.org/Listings/OutdoorsAndSports/ NewportNewsPark/

CITY and COUNTY ACCOLADES

• Waller Mill Park – Williamsburg www.williamsburgva.gov/index.aspx?page=477

CHESAPEAKE

Samples are not all inclusive.

WILDLIFE WATCHING

Gloucester County

• Huntington Beach – Newport News www.nnparks.com/parks_huntington.php • Bells Mill Park – Chesapeake www.virginia.org/Listings/OutdoorsAndSports/ BellsMillPark/ • Back Bay National National Wildlife Refuge – Virginia Beach www.fws.gov/refuge/back_bay/ • Grandview Nature Preserve – Hampton www.virginia.org/Listings/OutdoorsAndSports/ GrandviewNaturePreserve/ • Great Dismal Swamp Wildlife Refuge - Suffolk www.fws.gov/northeast/greatdismalswamp/ • Norfolk Botancial Garden – Norfolk www.norfolkbotanicalgarden.org • York River State Park – James City County www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/yor.shtml

Feature: Best of Hampton Roads

Wildlife conservation is one of the keys to healthy ecosystem maintenance between nature and cities. Take a break from the day and tune into the sounds of the outdoors! Many places, large or small are undiscovered jewels of visual delights and are never far away even from one’s own backyard!

24/7 Wall Street, a financial news website, named Chesapeake the “Sixth Best Run City in the Nation” in 2012. Also, the City was among 17 state and local governments recognized by the Public Technology Institute (PTI) for achieving impressive results through effective use of Web 2.0 technologies. Award winners were selected based on innovative use of Web 2.0 applications and social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. Gloucester County government once again shined brightly in the 2013 Sunny Awards given to state and local governments to recognize efforts in transparency and open government. This is the fourth year in a row the county has received national recognition. The Sunshine Review, a national nonprofit organization that focuses on government transparency, graded websites of states, cities, counties, and school districts using a 10-point transparency checklist.

Hampton

White House Local Innovation Champion of Change: Hampton City Manager Mary Bunting was one of 13 municipal innovators from across the nation who committed themselves to creating a more open and innovative government through entrepreneurship. She was honored at the White House in 2012. The program she and her staff initiated and continues to expand is a strong outreach to involve citizens in the formation of the budget by asking what services they most value.

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HEALTHCARE AWARDS • The Bon Secours Virginia Health System has been named to Modern Healthcare’s respected national listing of the Best Places to Work in Healthcare for 2012 and one of of only three health systems from Virginia to earn a spot on the fifth annual Modern Healthcare list. This is the first year Bon Secours Virginia, which is comprised of Bon Secours Richmond and Bon Secours Hampton Roads, was named to the list. • In 2012, Sentara Norfolk General Hospital was ranked for the 13th time in the U.S. News and World Report’s America’s Best Hospitals edition for its heart program. Sentara remains the only heart program in the region and only one of two hospitals in Virginia to be ranked by U.S. News & World Report. In fact, for the 13th year, Sentara Heart Hospital ranked among the nation’s best heart programs by the U.S. News & World Report’s 2012-13 Best Hospitals. Sentara Heart Hospital ranked 49th out of nearly 5,000 hospitals – the only hospital in Virginia to make the top 50. In addition, Cardiology and Heart Surgery services at Sentara Heart Hospital and Urology at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital rank among the top 50 programs in the nation in the 2012-13 America’s Best Hospitals ranking of U.S. News & World Report.  For more on Sentara Healthcare awards: www.sentara.com/Sentara-Healthcare/About/Pages/Awards-andRecognitions.aspx#.UOsVGeQ0V8E

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