Here we help you connect more deeply with your community and/or waste time at work. All the stories from the past 7 days on AltDaily, for your enjoyment.

It would be routine for women in Virginia to learn their breast density whenever they get a mammogram under legislation moving through the General Assembly. That information would help women with dense breasts detect and get treatment for cancer.

With unchecked power to dismiss a case or press forward with it, prosecutors — not judges — get to decide who gets convicted and who doesn’t.

After many months of conversation, HRT has agreed to extend their GoPass365 to businesses with as few as three employees at a sensible price. Score one (big one!) for Norfolk’s small businesses!

A general rule: the more draconian a bill, the more it puts ideology ahead of common sense, the more likelihood it will pass.

Rep. Scott Rigell came up with four ways to try to reform Congress, but his ideas will do more harm than good. I offer alternative solutions.

Newt’s kiss, his kiss, is on Mitt’s lips.

Somebody’s got plans for the dandelion…

At least a half-dozen bills before the Virginia General Assembly are causing alarm among voting rights activists.

To paraphrase Samuel L. Jackson, “I’m tired of all these mother(loving) DJs arguing over who is a mother(loving) real DJ or not.” Hmm. Maybe that’s not exactly how he put it, but I think we all get the point.

Warm and fuzzies. Let the sky never be just blue again. Winter be damned forever. Gratitude and grace abound.

House Bill 91 would ban policies by public institutions of higher education that prohibit full-time faculty members with Virginia concealed handgun permits from packing heat.

In the interest of advancing the marijuana policy reform discussion, here are five of the most common arguments against legalizing marijuana and why they’re wrong.

If some Virginia lawmakers have their way, Virginians seeking social service benefits may have to submit to a mandatory drug test before receiving public assistance.

There are many places in the world where laws pertaining to health care and privacy rights treat women and men equally. The Commonwealth of Virginia does not seem to want to be one of them.

One of Hampton Roads’ brightest minds, Thom White of Work Program Architects, has donated his time to envisioning The Plot, a ‘community gathering place’ featuring an entertainment amphitheater, outdoor basketball court, a place for vendors, and very cool shipping container public art.

Norfolk/Virginia Beach is changing, both in real-life-livability, and perception. This is a step in the right direction, and I’m going to be happy to support this pilot program first hand on my next trip out of ORF in mid-February.

Let’s just get going and build this thing so I can actually spend my paycheck now rather then my social security later.

In all their glory.

Two measures before the General Assembly would repeal the requirement that girls be vaccinated against the cancer-causing human papillomavirus before entering the sixth grade.

The longer a budget fight drags on, the less appealing McDonnell becomes on the national stage, as his carefully crafted reputation for responsible governance erodes away.

Starting in December, anyone within walking distance of a Tide station will be able to journey all up and down the Eastern Seaboard by public transit, without need of a car, bus, or taxi, changing trains exactly once: at Harbor Park.

One of the few barriers that have kept these hordes from having their way have been strong daily newspapers like the Virginian-Pilot once was and is struggling mightily, against all odds, (and against their own corporate bosses) to still be.

“Public safety must be the primary factor in the ultimate determination as to whether to proceed with uranium mining.” – Gov. McDonnell

A man in a tough position, no doubt, but hiding a big secret: that he was still collecting bonuses upwards of a quarter million dollars on top of his $600k plus salary.

Now is not the time to close the doors. Now is the time to be open. If Norfolk wants to be a grown-up city, it needs to start treating its citizens like adults. Let it start here, with Waterside.

Spoiler alert: we’re all gonna die.

The Virginia General Assembly is now in session and considering bills that might protect your right to work, or deny you the right to be a parent.

HRT is planning on making real time bus data public. Now it’s up to 757 developers to come up with an app that makes this information useful to the public. Are you in?

Dr. Sabina shares her tips on how to get back on track with your healthy resolutions for 2012.

The question that I do not ask aloud, the question that I am trying to bury deep in my guts while surveying the stucco of my apartment ceiling – How are you married before me?

With Republicans controlling both the House and Senate, this could be an important year for gun rights supporters.

What makes me so optimistic about this project is the way that the private sector, citizens, and government have worked together to make it happen.

“Women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized” – Toronto Police officer. We politely–and quite sexily–disagree.

Its a horrible catch-22: being a teacher you’re not allowed to be depressed, but the emotional output required by the job makes you more likely to be depressed.

It is now clear that ending discrimination against GLBT Virginians is a mainstream objective. Those who continue to obstruct progress are on the wrong side of the issue politically and on the wrong side of history.

Virginia Democratic leaders are speaking out against Republican legislation that they said seeks to make abortion illegal and even might restrict access to some forms of legal birth control.

“Neutrality and objective distance are places I’ve never been able to find.” –Saviano, Gomorrah.

“A start-up company is a dream turned into a tangible action to create a specific lifestyle for that visionary.” – Byron Morgan, CEO of Vinylmint

The dashboard will track projects through design, contracting, and construction, breaking each phase down by percentage completed and providing estimated dates of completion and pictures of the initial renderings of the projects.

A list of the best Twitterers #HRVA has to offer, in Twitterific poem form.

“We look like the Beverly Hillbillies,” said Cindy Lewis at one point. To drivers passing by we might have looked like gypsies, or a low budget circus on bikes.

Tonight 270 men, 30 women, and 18 children will find their way out of the cold drizzly rain to a roof over their head, a comfortable bed, and a relatively tasty meal, all thanks to The Union Mission.

AltDaily is a lighthouse in Norfolk’s sea of journalism, and a major seaport without a lighthouse is very dangerous proposition.

Neko Case, Cannonball City, a 2012 resolution worth keeping, the best of last week, and what to expect this week on AltDaily.

It’s a website and app that helps you look up everything from assessed value to code enforcement cases. Welcome to the golden age of property stalking in Norfolk.

I have a vision for this city. When I ride my bike through Norfolk I see it in two dimensions: where it is now, and where I believe it can be in the next couple of years.

“With smartphone and tablet computer sales growing exponentially, we will all see huge growth in health care related applications in the next 24 months,” Krugh said.

AltDaily honestly gave me hope. I was stuck in a city I had deemed “crappy” all because I wanted nothing but to live in NYC, and Virginia Beach has “nothing to do” other than hit up the block and/or shore drive bars; everyone I know lives with their parents.

Our Tweeterific coverage of the opening of Virginia’s first light rail system, plus some of #HRVA’s take.

4. Let your city turn your tree into mulch.
7. Remove all the branches. Sharpen the base. Impale as you see fit.

In today’s If You Read the Paper.

We want you to dance with us, laugh and have a drink with us, because being afraid of homos is SO last century.

“In my work with the Red Cross, I found that being able to help others after they have lost everything is a life-changing experience.” – Susan Drees, Red Cross volunteer

A fairly cracked out video Hannah and Jesse made talking all crazy about what they like about Hampton Roads.

October was Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Which makes November the perfect month to keep the issue alive.

Plus Cooch, Sessoms’ absurd response to a tent city at the Beach, and more in Jay Ford’s powerful If You Read the Paper.

You’re maybe wondering why I traveled to South Africa in the first place. The answer is simple: to escape Christmas music.

“The idea is to test the market to see if that’s a market we’re missing during the holiday season,” said Ray Amoruso of HRT. “If there is success identifying a market we can see about going out to the Oceanfront as well.”

“Without donations, some of these kids don’t even have a Christmas…” – Heidi Watkins, AIDS Fund

Occupy Norfolk is gathering today to protest the Senate’s authorization of Bill 1867, the National Defense Authorization Act. Where the movement goes from here is anyone’s guess.

“With multiple adjacent cities in the Hampton Roads area, there are opportunities for cities to share services and avoid the costs of providing those services separately,” said Wick Moorman, CEO of Norfolk Southern.

When you get behind the wheel of a car you are arming yourself with a potentially lethal weapon. If you kill someone with that weapon, you should be held responsible. “I didn’t mean to do it,” just doesn’t cut it.

These flying robots might revolutionize everything from war to disaster relief to filmmaking. Read on and be amazed.

Great software is born from the kind of creative lightning-in-a-bottle that only programmers can produce and execute. Challenged to create a product in 36 hours, developers become a bit like Dr. Frankenstein hunched over his operating table, complete with “It’s alive!” moments, as some esoteric line of code begins to run.

Cuccinelli plays paintball, runs for Governor, possibly has triskaidekaphobia and more in today’s paper.

If schools don’t address sexuality and AIDS in the place where young people spend the majority of their day, how can we expect teens to make wise decisions?

Local graffiti artist/vandal sparks discussion among the AltDaily faithful over whether or not a
‘SMOKE WEED EVERY DAY’ stencil found on Hague Bridge is art, vandalism, or both.

The citizen/cyclists of Bike Norfolk are fighting for you, and change is coming.

CYBER MONDAY ALL OVER YO FACE! Local news, digestible and fun, just for you. Also suitable for framing.

The job I was coveting was Delgaudio’s chief of staff, whose only rewarding task is writing suggestive idioms using ram, such as “dangerously close to ramming their perversity into law” and “ram through their entire perverted vision for a homosexual America.”

To the truck drivers, sanitation workers, the back of the house, custodial staff at our schools, single parents, military spouses and more… We thank you.

A black hole has been created in local history today as the tombstone of the Boathouse is in the process of being bulldozed, leaving no evidence that the 90′s antiestablishmentarianismesque zeitgeist slouched it’s way through town.

Norfolk is home to me now. When I leave for business or pleasure, I get that comforting tingle when I see the downtown skyline on the horizon. The kind of feeling you get when you think of your favorite blanket as a kid or your first real kiss. In that moment things just feel right.

The bill passed next year will cover spending from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2014. During this time, the language in the budget has the force of law, so even sections that don’t appropriate money can have a major impact on public policy.

Plus some trifling/awesome animal videos because it’s the weekend and we just don’t know anymore.

If new taxes seem unfeasible ideologically, it’s because the billionaires among us have spent more on propaganda to convince us of it than they’ll ever pay in progressive taxation.

His name is Marcus Anthony Calabrese. Get to know him a little bit here.

Occupy Norfolk, in temporary exile, continues onward. We are energized and stronger and more united than ever. We are highly active and reactive. We are receiving increased local, regional, national and international support.

We can love Penn State and still realize the Program isn’t as important as a child’s innocence.

With a Republican-controlled state government–from the Governor to state house to Le Cooch–get ready to learn what “family values” really means.

In what felt like the blink of an eye three people were arrested. Rex Bonney: “We thought the Bill of Rights was our permit.”

City leaders made the decision not to re-issue the camping permit for several reasons…

How the Northam race was won; Virginia Beach should be excited about John Moss; Beware Bill Bolling; Someone *please* challenge Barclay Winn; Norfolk whiffs on Occupy Norfolk; and more.

The Virginia Tea Party Alliance is doing nothing to help, and continues to hinder, the cause of Virginia Republicans. Strategies that have been successful in other areas are proving fruitless in Virginia and nothing in the way of change is on the horizon.

Click this and enter your address or personal information to find out.

This election–recently marred by anti-Northam propaganda including images of aborted fetuses and vile homophobia–is undeniably *important* to Virginia and Hampton Roads.

Light Rail Now asked the candidates, Dennis Free, John Moss, and Prescott Sherrod, about their views on transportation in and around VB, and about the light rail in particular. Here’s what each of the candidates had to say.

An interview with Dr. David Dorbad MD, FAAP of Renaissance Pediatrics. Plus, monthly events for the local LGBT community.

OP-ED: Ralph Northam is Right for the 6th District

There’s something profoundly askew in the American perception of transportation safety, an unthinking acceptance of the risks of driving, and a blindness to the accumulation of deaths that result from our car-centric policies.

Bob McDonnell is chief executive of the state whose demonstrably anti-gay climate I’ve just described. And more in John McManus’ If You Read the Paper.

If you haven’t had a good long conversation about Occupy yet, listen in on this one. It’s not easy to find solutions, even when most agree there’s a problem.

The writing is on the wall; Gov. Bob also confused about Occupy Wall St.; Here comes Romney!; and Cooch makes news, for a change. In today’s If You Read the Paper with Jay Ford.

Mark my words: 3D printers are going to be the next big thing. They will be in every classroom, every home and office, and be as commonplace as a TV screen. Plus Exoplanets of the Week!

The editorial board does not appear to take electability into consideration, so an endorsement doesn’t mean the candidate will win, just that the paper thinks s/he is the best person and should win.

The goal of the Occupy movement, as I see it, would be devising a system to encourage right behavior, where there’s no disincentive to do good. Where fair is fair and foul is foul.

Will Obama lead us into yet another war in hopes of saving his Presidency? It has been done many times in the past and in most cases has worked.

Confession number 5: Sometimes I feel like it is us (the neighborhood) versus them (the transient students), and they have cash and iPods.

If you take away one message from my column today let it be the phrase “complete streets.”