Editor’s note: This is the fourth of six installments of our Year in Review 2018, where we will look at the good and bad news of 2018, two months at a time. The date listed is the date of the edition in which the story ran.

 

July 19 — Virginia Gold, a startup company that makes coffee from peanuts, won the 757Pitch competition, held at the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts and presented by Old Dominion University, StartWheel and other sponsors.

 

July 27 — The Suffolk Police Department, Department of Fire & Rescue and Sheriff’s Office participated in an active shooter drill at King’s Fork High School. It helped them implement new training ideas and learn to work together with other law enforcement agencies.

 

July 28 — The Suffolk Police Department joined the Lip Sync Challenge social media craze and did a few takes with a large group of citizens at Bennett’s Creek Park during a TGIF concert.

 

Aug. 2 — A group of skydivers broke one state record in formation skydiving and set another during a weekend of freefalling at Skydive Suffolk.

 

Aug. 3 — A group of 27 graduates of the Suffolk Public Schools’ summer school program celebrated their commencement after a summer of hard work.

 

Aug. 4 — The long-awaited Lip Sync Challenge video from the Suffolk Police Department was released to an enthusiastic reception from the community. Featuring Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It” and Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family,” the video amassed 2,800 shares, 349 comments and 46,000 views in four hours.

 

Aug. 5 — Actor James Maslow shot scenes for his upcoming movie “Wolf Hound” at Suffolk Executive Airport.

 

Aug. 8 — Thousands of Suffolk residents participated in National Night Out festivities.

 

Aug. 17 — A 47-year-old man was shot in front of an East Washington Street barbershop, reportedly after arguing with another man over whether actress Halle Berry should play recently deceased singer Aretha Franklin in a movie. Michael Jermell Hatton, 44, was arrested in connection with the crime.

 

Aug. 17 — Karla Jean Smith was named the First Citizen of Suffolk for 2018 by the Suffolk and North Suffolk Rotary Clubs. Smith is a founding member of Suffolk River Heritage and the Nansemond River Preservation Alliance.

 

Aug. 19 — All but two Suffolk Public Schools were announced as fully accredited for the upcoming year. Mack Benn Jr. and Booker T. Washington Elementary schools were accredited with conditions.

 

Aug. 21 — The Nansemond Indian Tribe held its 30th annual powwow, and the first since it received federal recognition back in January.

 

Aug. 21 — Oakland Elementary School art teacher Jodie Linkous died in a car crash in Prince George County.

 

Aug. 26 — The Virginia Department of Transportation celebrated its Hampton Roads Division headquarters move to North Suffolk with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

 

Aug. 28 — Eugene “Gene” Denison died at age 88. He was a former Suffolk entrepreneur who also worked for the Suffolk News-Herald in his later years.

 

Aug. 30 — Rhonda Duman Jones died after a brief battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She was a former principal in Suffolk Public schools known in her later years for her volunteer work with many local organizations, especially the Suffolk Humane Society and Suffolk Education Foundation.