Mold Remediation in Virginia Beach, VA

What to know about the two candidates on ballot for November 5.

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VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A position sometimes forgotten as a constitutional office, and on November 5, Virginia Beach voters will have to pick between a familiar face and a new one to lead the Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office (VBSO).

The VBSO is responsible for the logistics and operation of the Virginia Beach Correctional Center, including the safety and custody of those inside it. It also oversees the Virginia Beach court system, including serving civil documents received from the courts, transporting juvenile and adult offenders to and from court, as well as other state correctional facilities.

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Rocky Holcomb

Holcomb, a member of the VBSO for more than 30 years, is running in his first election cycle for the position, and is looking to hold the seat he currently serves.

“We’ve implemented some good things since I’ve been sworn in, and I’ve got a lot more work to do," said Holcomb.

In 2023, longtime Virginia Beach Sheriff Ken Stolle retired after 13 years with the Office and passed the torch to Holcomb, the then-Chief Deputy at the time.

In 2021, Holcomb was unanimously selected to serve as a city council member to represent the city's Kempsville District. In 2022, he won a special election to hold that city council seat.

Holcomb is the first Sheriff in Virginia Beach to rise through the ranks, beginning his law enforcement career as a deputy sheriff recruit.

Holcomb has also previously served in the Virginia General Assembly between 2017 and 2019.

This year he is running to remain at the top of the Sheriff's Office, on a platform of ensuring incarcerated Virginians can properly reacclimate to normal life upon their release.

“We understand that 85% of our offenders are going back into the community, so we need to give them a soft landing when they go back to go back into the community," said Holcomb. "A lot of folks here get a GED, life skills where they learn how to interview, communicate, control their anger and substance abuse. That 'Road to Hope' is covering a lot of those things."

Dibelardino is a small business owner, behind the X-IT Emergency Escape Ladder System.

In contrast to Holcomb, Dibelardino has not previously served time as a law enforcement officer. He told 13News Now he was involved in the process of becoming a deputy in 2022.

"I was hired to become a deputy sheriff in July of 2022, and then a few days after I received a hire packet after passing the requirements and tests, I was told they had to withdraw my hire but I was told I could reapply after six months," Dibelardino said. "Turns out, judges didn't want me in the sheriff's office because I was a whistleblower."

A spokesperson for the Sheriff's Office said in response they do not have a record of an individual with his name either making it through or attending training to become a deputy with the VBSO.

Dibelardino has recently filed a petition in Virginia Beach courts, alleging corruption with the city's judicial system. Dibelardino admits to being arrested twice, including one instance this summer when he was charged with misdemeanor trespassing for protesting his allegations outside a courthouse.

He is running to improve "lawfulness" in the courts and jail.

“Help ensure those courts run lawfully, they’re not. To make sure jail is run in interest of community, they’re not.”

In response, Sheriff Holcomb ended with, "I will stack resume against anybody that wants to stack resumes. I think they speak for themselves."

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — After a life-altering pair of glasses was stolen from a deaf teenager in Virginia Beach, the community is rallying behind him.

During a trip to Walmart, 15-year-old Maxx Rogers' backpack was stolen with the $2,000 glasses inside. He said he had only had them for a week.

Maxx's mother, Katie Beth Steele, said he was born deaf and uses sign language to communicate, which she said can take up a lot of energy.

“There are times when you’re not looking, when your back is to someone, you have to get up and go in front of that person,” said Steele.

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But then, Rogers saw an influencer on social media using a new special pair of glasses made for hearing impaired people and ordered a pair from the company Hearview.

By using his phone, the words people are saying around him are translated and put on the lens of the glasses so he can read them.

Maxx said the glasses have drastically changed his life by making it much easier for him to communicate with family and friends.

“They really help me understand what people were saying," said Maxx.

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Prior to getting the glasses, his mom said, “Maxx would sometimes hermit himself in his room because it’s easier to be alone rather than being in a hearing group where people are talking over him and he just gives up. It’s too much energy."

When Maxx's backpack with his glasses were stolen, Steele posted a heartfelt video on Instagram asking for the glasses to be returned. She shared how the glasses empowered her son to feel like part of a group.

“I hope this person sees this video and understands. They didn’t just take a pair of readers,” said Steele.

Steele emphasized the impact the glasses have had on her son's life, saying, “These glasses have changed our lives… It wasn’t just a pair of glasses, it was a miracle for us and that’s been so hard for us for 15 years."

As word spread online, there was an immediate outpouring from the community. People started donating money to a GoFundMe fundraiser to get him a new pair, then the company offered to send him another pair.

Now, the money being raised through the GoFundMe has a new mission.

“Now, we’ve already raised enough money to give two pairs of glasses to children that are deaf, but that’s going to be amazing. We are now hungry and excited to supply them for more children,” said Steele.

As they wait for Rogers’ new pair of glasses, they're turning the tragedy of losing them into an effort to help other deaf children in the community.

More stories from News 3 Investigates

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VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Voting early seems quite popular in Virginia Beach this year.

The Director of Elections for the City of Virginia Beach reports record numbers.

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On Tuesday morning, Christine Lewis said, “We’ve had 28,000 vote in person, 20,000 by mail, so about 48,000 have early voted so far.”

She added, “The numbers we’re seeing now are greater than 2020. We had 1,800 voters yesterday and that was the biggest number we’ve ever had.”

Those numbers are for Virginia Beach; however, the Commonwealth is seeing less early voting overall, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. It reports that at this time, about 1.1 million residents have voted early, compared to more than 1.4 million this time in 2020.

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Despite somewhat high numbers in Virginia Beach, residents report that lines are moving. Some say it took them about a half an hour.

There is also curbside voting available at the Municipal Center on Princess Anne Road for those 65 and older or those with a disability.

Early voting is taking place at Building 14 ( 2449 Princess Anne Road) Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.; however, it will also be open on Saturday, October 26 and November 2.

On Oct. 26, five satellite voting locations will open for early voting:

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Votes may be cast between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Oct. 26 through Nov. 2, at the listed locations in addition to the Voter Registrar’s Office. Early voting is not available on Sundays at any of the listed locations or the Voter Registrar’s Office.

Please note: the Registrar’s Office is not a voting location on Election Day.

Virginia also has same-day registration. Beginning with the 2022 General Election, the General Assembly approved legislation that provides the ability to register at any time, up to and including Election Day. For more information on that, click here.

To prepare and help save time at the booth, Virginia Beach residents can also find sample ballots.

As of October 2024, the average solar panel system costs $2.87/W including installation in Virginia Beach, VA. For a 5 kW installation, this comes out to about $14,362 before incentives, though prices range from $12,208 to $16,516. After the federal tax credit, the average price drops by 30%.

You'll probably pay even less than what we show here. It doesn't include the federal ITC or Virginia Beach, VA state incentives, which will lower this price by at least a few thousand dollars.

It may seem obvious but larger solar panel systems cost more money. We use cost per watt ($/W) so you can easily compare quotes, controlling for slight variations in system size.

While a 5 kW system will only cost you $14,362 in Virginia Beach, VA, doubling the system size effectively doubles the price, so you'll pay about twice that for a 10 kW system. The higher the price tag, though, the more you'll get back as a credit towards your federal tax bill.

Average solar cost by system size in Virginia Beach, VA

If you can't shell out $14,362 in cash to pay for solar, don't sweat it. You can choose to finance your system with a loan instead. Some companies even offer $0-down loans so you can start saving on day one if your loan payments are less than your current electric bills. Just keep in mind that your long-term savings will be lower with a loan due to interest rates.

The numbers we're showing are averages. The price you'll pay for solar depends on many factors unique to you and your home:

If you're looking for solar companies in VA, here are some popular suggestions:

Solar is a major purchase, but you can get the price tag to come down a bit by being an educated shopper. Taking advantage of incentives and rebates and shopping around for quotes can bring down your cost of solar in Virginia Beach, VA.

As long as your federal tax bill is high enough, you can take advantage of the federal tax credit in Virginia Beach, VA. This incentive allows you to apply 30% of your solar installation and equipment costs toward your federal tax bill. If the amount exceeds your tax bill, you can roll over the remaining credit to the following year. Many states also offer great local incentives and rebates.

Comparing multiple solar quotes can save you money through competition and transparency. Each additional quote you receive for solar will help you find the right solar panel system at the right price.

This is where EnergySage can help. With funding from the Department of Energy’s SunShot Prize, EnergySage opened the country’s first (and now the largest) marketplace for home solar panel installations. We gather custom solar quotes from local installers on your behalf and put them in an easy-to-compare format. When you compare quotes for solar panels on the EnergySage Marketplace, you can expect to see prices up to 20% lower than if you work with a single solar company.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Tomorrow afternoon begins the 50th annual Virginia Beach Neptune Festival and with Helene bringing in a threat of severe weather, the City of Virginia Beach is keeping a close eye on the boardwalk.

"Any type of large storm like that it's always going to be a rain event and a wind event for us," Andrew Booden with Virginia Beach Emergency Management, said.

Booden said he'll be down at the Oceanfront on Friday to monitor conditions and ensure everyone stays safe from possible severe weather while enjoying the festival.

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He will not be alone and will be taking a new mobile weather monitoring system the city recently purchased.

"If you look at him he's got all these different parts, he's able to read wind direction, how fast the winds coming in," Booden said.

Booden is describing a Perry Weather system that has been named Periwinkle, by students in the city.

The device was purchased after a tornado hit Virginia Beach a few miles from the Something In The Water music festival back in 2023.

Now when it comes to large outdoor events and festivals the city will utilize the device to tell what weather conditions are in a specific part of the city.

Watch: Neptune Festival Boardwalk Weekend is back!

It was most recently used during the city's 4th of July firework display to detect lightning, pushing the show up by 10 minutes.

"Then this weekend, tomorrow I'll be setting up Perry down at the Neptune Festival down at the boardwalk," Booden said. "That's going to be a big one because we're supposed to have fowl weather tomorrow between 3 pm and 5 pm I just got the forecast from Perry.

Kit Chope, with the Neptune Festival, said the tents are up, the sand sculptures are solid, and this weekend is on rain or shine.

"If we have some kind of severe weather and I call that certainly lightening, damaging or severe winds, tornadic activity, we have a boardwalk announcement system all along the boardwalk where we can immediately make announcements for folks to evacuate the boardwalk," Chope said.

Watch: Neptune Festival Celebrates 50 years

Chope said if there is any severe weather that will impact the festival there will be updates on the event's social media.