HAMPTON ROADS, Va. — News 3 is highlighting our investigative team's work that created an impact in our community this year.
From holding government agencies accountable, to confronting health care providers with a history of dangerous practices; we're asking school leaders tough questions about safety and security, and shining a light on the justice system.
The News 3 Investigative Team is committed to being a voice for the most vulnerable in our community and standing up for you.
Here are some of the News 3 Investigative Team's projects that sparked change or raised awareness across Hampton Roads this year:
Recovery & resiliency: Abby Zwerner reflects on year since she was shot by student at Richneck Elem.
On January 6, 2023, a 6-year-old boy shot his teacher, Abby Zwerner, in a Newport News classroom.
One year after that horrifying ordeal, Zwerner opened up to News 3 investigator Jessica Larche about her trauma and challenges moving forward.
Zwerner said the bullet barreled through her hand, pierced her chest, and caused her lung to collapse. She said bullet fragments are still inside of her body.
Jessica asked Zwerner, “When you became a teacher, did it ever cross your mind that a student would do this to you?”
“It’s surreal," Zwerner said, shaking her head. "It’s not normal.”
Her investigation dives into the $40 million lawsuit filed by Zwerner, which alleges the school’s former assistant principal ignored several warnings that the shooter — who the lawsuit says had violently attacked students at the school and tried to choke a teacher — had a weapon the day of the shooting. It also outlines the actions law enforcement and the school district have taken since the incident, along with Zwerner's reaction to the events that have unfolded.
A Newport News judge ruled last year Zwerner's $40 million lawsuit can move forward. It is set to go to trial in 2025.
News 3 helps Virginia Beach man get $3,000 in unclaimed property; here's how to get what's owed to you
The Department of Treasury in Virginia reports there is just over $2 billion in unclaimed property owed to people across the state.
David Oswald emailed the News 3 Investigative Team after seeing our report in February about unclaimed money he and his sister were owed after their dad died in 2001.
They tried to obtain the money years ago but had trouble. That's when News 3 investigator Margaret Kavanagh stepped in.
Her investigation reveals how the state handles unclaimed property money, and how her inquiries to the state sparked changed for Oswald.
Oswald and his sister were eventually sent a check for over $3,000.
1 Virginia Beach home has flooded 52 times. What's being done to help homes that repeatedly flood?
News 3 investigator Brendan Ponton spoke with a local couple whose home in Norfolk's Colonial Place sits six feet above ground, thanks to a FEMA program that helped raise it in 2008.
It was a measure Deborah Miller and her husband Gary Chiaverotti took after Hurricane Isabel brought water up to their porch in 2003.
"[The FEMA representative] asked out of the people with flood insurance how many have ever filed a flood claim of $10,000 or more?" Miller said. "I raised my hand."
His investigation reviews solutions to combat repeat flooding, which data from FEMA shows more and more homes are experiencing.
Data from the National Flood Insurance Program shows a home in Virginia Beach has flooded 52 times, which over the years has cost more than $780,000 to fix.
His investigation, along with investigative producer Brianna Lanham, also shines a light on the amount of money that goes into cleaning up a flood-prone home and how experts are pushing for more solutions from lawmakers.
Under-staffed, under-inspected Virginia nursing homes might be putting patients at risk: Reports
Debbie Scanlon said she was horrified by the state of her sister’s nursing home. She said there were cockroaches, gnats and dirty conditions.
Her sister was at the location for three weeks and did not receive a shower the entire time.
“They told me my sister took a bad fall and she has blood coming from her ear,” said Scanlon. "They think she only needs one or two stitches. Her ear was severed in half. It took 75 stitches to close."
Nearly a third of the nation’s 15,000 nursing homes are behind on annual inspections, and one in nine has not received an annual inspection in two years or more, according to a 2023 report released from the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging – called "Uninspected and Neglected."
News 3 investigator Margaret Kavanagh and investigative producer Brianna Lanham's investigation shows how advocates are working to staff nursing home facilities, along with the agencies that inspect them. It also reveals how Virginia fares when it comes to nursing home staffing needs and complaints compared to other states across the country.
Board revokes Chesapeake dentist's license for 'dangerous' care after lifting previous revocation
News 3 investigator Jessica Larché confronted dentist Derrick Broadaway on May 17 in Henrico just moments after the Virginia Board of Dentistry voted to revoke his license to practice dentistry in Virginia.
The revocation marked the second time the board had taken the rare action against Broadaway after voting to lift his 2014 revocation in 2019. This, despite public records documenting what the board characterized as the dentist's history of “negligent and dangerous patient care”— a history Jessica began exposing and investigating 12 years ago.
“What do you have to say to your patients who’ve had pain?” Jessica asked Broadaway following the board’s vote to revoke his license on May 17.
He responded, “No one’s had any pain." However, his former patients told Jessica differently.
Her investigation outlines the frustration and health issues some of Broadaway's former patients had after receiving dental care from him. She also explains how state medical boards have a history of allowing some doctors with troubling pasts the ability to keep their licenses, and shares how you can look up disciplinary records for licensed medical professionals in Virginia.
Major shake-up at Hampton VA after years of complaints from patients and doctors
News 3 investigator Margaret Kavanagh received numerous complaints related to staffing shortages, denials of care, safety, unsanitary exam rooms and whistleblower retaliation from patients and providers at the Hampton Veterans Affairs (VA).
It's an issue the News 3 Investigative Team has been reviewing for years.
In 2022, an Inspector General report found that multiple failures delayed a patient from being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Last year, another report found communication and logistical failures delayed a veteran from getting care for lung cancer.
And this year, Margaret exposed how veterans were getting their chiropractic care suddenly denied or canceled.
Following her investigations, Hampton VA Medical Center Director Dr. Taquisa Simmons was reassigned, and lawmakers said the Chief of Staff and Chief of Surgery would also be replaced.
‘How do we prevent this?’ Suffolk school board members talk safety, transparency after intruder incident
After a man trapped students inside a Suffolk elementary school bathroom, News 3’s questions about safety were met with criticism from the superintendent.
News 3 obtained video surveillance of the incident after News 3 investigative producer Brianna Lanham submitted a Freedom of Information Act request.
After being met with silence from school officials for weeks, News 3 investigator Jessica Larche sat down with two Suffolk school board members who say they wanted to voice their concerns on how the situation was being handled by the district.
“Why would we not be transparent [about improving safety]?” said Dr. Brittingham, elected to represent the Holy Neck Borough of the Suffolk Public Schools division, in response to the superintendent’s refusal to publicly address questions about safety for weeks following the intruder incident.
News 3's investigation revealed that not only were media inquiries met with silence from district leaders, but school board members said they were also left in the dark.
“We received two emails about the situation,” said Dr. Brittingham. “We received an email when the lockdown happened, and we received an email when the lockdown was completed. And that was all the communication.”
She continued, “Until you aired the video, I had not seen anything.”
News 3's investigation also revealed challenges school districts face regarding security staffing and other safety measures.
Have you gotten a speeding ticket in Eastville? A public interest law firm wants to hear from you
You don’t want to speed if you’re driving through the Eastern Shore, especially in the town of Eastville.
Law enforcement in the small town write thousands of traffic citations for speeding each year.
After News 3 investigator Margaret Kavanagh first reported on this last December, a nonprofit law firm, Institute for Justice, began investigating the town on its own.
The News 3 Investigative Team's reporting revealed a startling number of speeding citations issued to drivers in Eastville, along with data that showed high revenue generated from the town.
Critics describe what’s going on as policing for profit.
“When you have this legitimate interest in public safety merging with the financial incentive to generate revenue, it simply creates a perverse incentive for law enforcement,” said John Wrench, an Institute for Justice attorney.
In April, Eastville's former Chief of Police, Rob Stubbs, was fired for unknown reasons.
During our investigation, Stubbs denied that the city was policing for profit, saying they were just following state law and only stopping vehicles going over 10 mph over the posted speed limit.
This Virginia Beach family has been swatted three times in the last year and they don't know why
Our investigative team looked into a troubling practice called “swatting,” which the FBI says “involves calling 9-1-1 and faking an emergency that draws a response from law enforcement—usually a SWAT team."
We spoke to the Farlow family in Virginia Beach who said their home was swatted three times in one year. In one instance, a caller told police the family’s mother was hurt and the father was armed with a rifle.
The family’s daughter, Tristin, said she got a call from authorities telling her to come out of the house.
She said she was told to come out with her hands up. Tristin said there was a police dog and officers with their guns drawn standing behind cars outside the home.
“She opens the door up to a hornet’s nest," said her father Bryon Farlow. "They had lights set up, had the street blocked off."
Our investigation raised awareness about how those behind swatting weaponize law enforcement resources against others.
It also highlighted the consequences of swatting. The FBI says when law enforcement resources are used to respond to a fictitious situation, it prevents them from helping in real emergencies.
Portsmouth man is 'on the right path' after lifelong robbery sentence is amended
Ronald Davis was a high school student in Portsmouth in the late 1990s when he was sent to prison for committing a string of armed robberies at businesses across Hampton Roads.
While his crimes did not result in injury or death, his sentences across several cities totaled 80 years. His release date was set for August 2068. He would have been 98 years old.
Davis called his crimes “extremely wrong” and said “I deserved to be punished,” and “I apologize from the bottom of my heart,” before adding “I didn’t deserve to die in prison for the crimes that I committed.”
News 3 investigator Jessica Larche's investigation shines a light on the justice system and how her pursuit for answers helped inspire a pardon for Davis from the sitting governor. It also outlines how Davis is doing following his release and using his second chance to better himself and improve upon his relationships.
