Parks and recreation

Main articles: List of parks in Newport News, Virginia and Newport News Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism

Fort Fun in Huntington Park

Newport News Parks is responsible for the maintenance of 32 city parks. The smallest is less than half an acre (2,000 m²). The largest, Newport News Park, is 8,065 acres (32.64 km²), the second-largest city park in the United States. They are scattered throughout the city, from Endview Plantation in the northern end of the city to King-Lincoln Park in the southern end near the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel. The parks offer services to visitors, ranging from traditional park services like camping and fishing to activities like archery and disc golf.^[73]
Newport News Park is in the northern part of the city. The city's golf course lies in the park along with camping and outdoor activities. There are over 30 miles (48 km) of trails in the Newport News Park complex. It has a 5.3 miles (8.5 km) multi-use bike path. The park offers bicycle and helmet rental, and requires helmet use by children under 14. Newport News Park offers an archery range, disc golf course, and an "aeromodel flying field" for remote-controlled aircraft, complete with a 400 ft (120 m) runway.^[74]
The city supplies two public boat ramps for its citizens: Denbigh Park Boat Ramp and Hilton Pier/Ravine.
Denbigh Park allows access into the Warwick River, a tributary of the James River. Denbigh Park also offers a small fishing pier. Hilton Pier offers a small beach in addition to a ravine. Croaker and trout are the fish primarily caught during the summer months and the pier is accessible to visitors in wheelchairs.^[75][76]

Media

Newport News's daily newspaper is the Daily Press. Other papers include the Port Folio Weekly, the New Journal and Guide, the Hampton Roads Business Journal, and the James River Journal.
Christopher Newport University publishes its own newspaper, The Captain's Log.^[77] Hampton Roads Magazine serves as a bi-monthly regional magazine for Newport News and the Hampton Roads area.^[78] Hampton Roads Times serves as an online magazine for all the Hampton Roads cities and counties. Newport News is served by a variety of radio stations on the AM and FM dials, with towers located around the Hampton Roads area.^[79]
Newport News is also served by several television stations. The Hampton Roads designated market area (DMA) is the 43rd largest in the U.S. with 712,790 homes (0.64% of the total U.S.).^[80] The major network television affiliates are WTKR-TV 3 (CBS), WAVY 10 (NBC), WVEC-TV 13 (ABC), WGNT 27 (CW), WTVZ 33 (MyNetworkTV), WVBT 43 (Fox), and WPXV 49 (ION Television). The Public Broadcasting Service station is WHRO-TV 15. Newport News residents also can receive independent stations, such as WSKY broadcasting on channel 4 from the Outer Banks of North Carolina and WGBS-LD broadcasting on channel 11 from Hampton.^{[citation needed]}

Government

Federal Building and Main Post Office, West Ave.

Newport News is an independent city with services that counties and cities in Virginia provide, such as a sheriff, social services, and a court system.
Newport News operates under a council-manager form of government, which consists of a city council with representatives from three districts serving in a legislative and oversight capacity, as well as a popularly elected, at-large mayor. The city manager serves as head of the executive branch and supervises all city departments and executing policies adopted by the council. Citizens in the three wards elect two council representatives each to serve a four-year term. The city council meets at City Hall twice a month and, as of July 2010, consisted of Mayor McKinley L. Price, Vice Mayor Madeline McMillan, Herbert H. Bateman Jr., Sharon P. Scott, Dr. Patricia "Pat" Woodbury, Tina L. Vick, and Joseph C. Whitaker.^[81] The city manager is James M. Bourey. For the first time in the history of Newport News there is a female majority on the city council.^{[citation needed]}
Newport News has a federal courthouse for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. A new courthouse will be constructed in the future.^[82] Additionally, Newport News has its own General District and Circuit Courts which convene downtown.^[83] The city is in the Virginia's 1st congressional district, served by U.S. Representative Rob Wittman and in the Virginia's 3rd congressional district, served by U.S. Representative Robert C. Scott.

Education

The David Student Union at Christopher Newport University

The main provider of primary and secondary education in the city is Newport News Public Schools. The school system includes many elementary schools, six middle schools, and the high schools, Denbigh High School, Heritage High School, Menchville High School, Warwick High School and Woodside High School. All middle, high schools, and elementary schools are fully accredited. Dutrow Elementary is an example of an elementary school that offers a Talented And Gifted program for fifth graders, or rising sixth graders. Crittenden Middle School offers a STEM magnet program to students throughout the district, preparing them for careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Warwick High School is widely known for its IB program to prepare students at all grade levels for college course levels of thinking.^[84]
Several private schools are located in the area, including Denbigh Baptist Christian School, Hampton Roads Academy, Peninsula Catholic High School, Trinity Lutheran School, and Warwick River Christian School.^{[citation needed]}
The city contains Christopher Newport University, a public university. Other nearby public universities include Old Dominion University, Norfolk State University and The College of William and Mary. Hampton University, a private university, also sits a few miles from the city limits. Newport News Shipbuilding operates The Apprentice School, a vocational school teaching various shipyard and related trades.^{[citation needed]}
Thomas Nelson Community College serves as the community college. Located in neighboring Hampton and in nearby Williamsburg, Thomas Nelson offers college and career training programs. Most institutions in the Hampton Roads areas are home to a variety of students but commuter students make up a large portion.^{[85][86][87][88][89][90]}

Infrastructure

Transportation

See also: Newport News (Amtrak station)

A C&O coaling tower can be seen behind the locomotive.

James River Bridge, viewed from Huntington Park Beach

Newport News has an elaborate transportation network, including interstate and state highways, bridges and a bridge-tunnel, freight and passenger railroad service, local transit bus and intercity bus service, and a commercial airport. There are miles of waterfront docks and port facilities.^{[citation needed]}
Newport News is served by three airports. Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport, in Newport News; Norfolk International Airport, in Norfolk; and Richmond International Airport all of which cater to passengers from Hampton Roads.
The primary airport for the Virginia Peninsula is the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport. As of 2011, it was experiencing a 5th year of record, double-digit growth, making it one of the fastest growing airports in the country. In January 2006, the airport reported having served 1,058,839 passengers. On February 4, 2010, the airport announced a new airline, Frontier Airlines, with direct flights to Denver, Colorado. It is also undergoing a $23 million expansion project. In 2012, Newport News became home to its own airline, PeoplExpress, which launched with headquarters at the Newport News/Williamsburg airport. Its inaugural first flights took place June 30, 2014 and now includes more than seven destinations. (IATA: PHF, ICAO: KPHF, FAA LID: PHF),^[91]
Norfolk International Airport (IATA: ORF, ICAO: KORF, FAA LID: ORF) also serves the region. The airport is near the Chesapeake Bay, along the city limits of Norfolk and Virginia Beach.^[92] Seven airlines provide nonstop services to 25 destinations. ORF had 3,703,664 passengers take off or land at its facility and 68,778,934 pounds of cargo were processed through its facilities.^[93] The Chesapeake Regional Airport provides general aviation services and is on the other side of the Hampton Roads Harbor.^[94]
Amtrak serves the city with four trains a day.^[95] The line runs west along the Virginia Peninsula to Richmond and points beyond. Connecting buses are available to Norfolk and Virginia Beach. A high-speed rail connection at Richmond to the Northeast Corridor and the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor is under study.^[96][97]

HRT Bus on US Route 258

Intercity bus service is provided by Greyhound Lines (Carolina Trailways). The bus station is on Warwick Boulevard in the Denbigh area.^[98] Transportation in the city, as well as with other major cities of Hampton Roads is served by a regional bus service, Hampton Roads Transit.^[99] A connecting service for local routes serving Williamsburg, James City County, and upper York County is operated by Williamsburg Area Transit Authority at Lee Hall.^[100]

Utilities

Skiffe's Creek Reservoir of the Newport News Waterworks, located at border of James City County and the City

The Newport News Waterworks was begun as a project of Collis P. Huntington as part of the development of the lower peninsula with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, the coal piers on the harbor of Hampton Roads, and massive shipyard which were the major sources of industrial growth which helped found Newport News as a new independent city in 1896. It included initially an impoundment of the Warwick River in western Warwick County. Later expansions included more reservoirs, including one at Skiffe's Creek and another at Walker's Dam on the Chickahominy River.^{[citation needed]}
A regional water provider, in modern times it is owned and operated by the City of Newport News, and serves over 400,000 people in the cities of Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson, and portions of York County and James City County.^[101]
The city provides wastewater services for residents and transports wastewater to the regional Hampton Roads Sanitation District treatment plants.^[102]