PORTSMOUTH — Tidewater Community College has launched what it calls Virginia’s first sponsored state-registered apprenticeship programs, designed to make it easier for employers to offer apprenticeships and for students to learn on the job in high-demand fields.
The college is “the first and only institution in Virginia to receive this designation,” President Marcia Conston said at a Feb. 19 news conference at TCC’s Portsmouth campus. She added that TCC is “one of a few across the United States that is actively serving as a registered apprenticeship consortium.”
The Tidewater Registered Apprenticeship Consortium, Conston said, is intended to help address workforce shortages in the region and target fields, including health care, advanced manufacturing, information technology, maritime, hospitality, and skilled trades. The program applies across all of TCC.
“Our employer partners are, in turn, opening their doors to apprentices, and we here at TCC are providing the resources needed to remove financial and other barriers many of our students face every day, such as transportation and child care and food insecurity,” she said.
In an interview after the event, Conston said the sponsorship model shifts much of the administrative burden away from employers. It also involves curricula co-designed by TCC and participating businesses.
“Students are able to take classes while they also learn on the job,” she said.
Christopher Fairbanks teaches the engineering, maritime and skilled trades pathway on Feb. 19 at Tidewater Community College’s Portsmouth campus. (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot)
U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Newport News, said registered apprenticeships help workers build in-demand skills while earning wages and gaining credentials: “Registered apprenticeships are among the best tools we have to make that happen.”
Scott told attendees that nationally, “90% of apprentices are employed upon completion and earn an average wage starting at about $80,000 a year.”
Employers said the sponsorship model can help close persistent gaps in skilled trades.
“These are not fallback jobs,” said Victoria Frerichs, talent acquisition manager at defense contractor Fairlead, one of five employers that signed on to the consortium. “These are highly technical positions. They are safety critical. They are mission essential.”
The Hampton Roads Workforce Council presented a $700,000 check during the event. In an interview afterward, Caitlin Dawson, TCC’s director of apprenticeship programs, said the money “will be used to offset the tuition cost to make it more affordable for our partners.”
Dawson said apprentices work with dedicated mentors and receive wage increases as they hit milestones in their training. She also said employers typically cover education costs for apprentices.
“Most of the time, the companies pay for your education whenever you are in the program,” Dawson said.
Loren Rajhel practices her tig welding on Feb. 19 at Tidewater Community College’s welding lab in Portsmouth. (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot)
The college expects to grow the program to 500 apprentices within two years, Dawson said. “Right now we have, in all of our programs, 200 apprentices registered for the spring.”
The other companies signed on to the consortium are restaurant The General Public, Harbor’s Edge senior living community, shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls and Hampton Roads Communication Technologies, Dawson said.
Nicole Overley, commissioner of Virginia Works, the state’s workforce development agency, described apprenticeship as a structured combination of classroom learning and on-the-job training with pay increases and a credential.
“Take what someone needs to learn in the classroom, combine it with what they need to learn on a job, do it in a structured and measurable way, pay them a living wage while they learn, and reward their progress with increasing pay and a credential in the end,” Overley said.
Student Ian Kinsey, a machining apprentice, said apprenticeships link classroom instruction to real work: “Every class can connect to something I’m doing at work, which makes learning feel real and practical.”
TCC’s welding lab has 10 tig welding machines that students learn hands on. As seen Thursday, February 19, 2026. (Stephen M. Katz / The Virginian-Pilot)
Rankings reflect sales for the week ended Feb. 21, which were reported on a confidential basis by vendors offering a wide range of general interest titles.
Every week, thousands of diverse selling locations report their actual sales on hundreds of thousands of individual titles. The panel of reporting retailers is comprehensive and reflects sales in stores of all sizes and demographics across the United States.
An asterisk (*) indicates that a book’s sales were barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A (b) indicates that some bookstores reported receiving bulk orders.
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FICTION
1. THE CORRESPONDENT, by Virginia Evans. (Crown) Letters from someone she used to know push Sybil Van Antwerp toward revisiting her past and finding a way to forgive.
LAST WEEK: 1
WEEKS ON LIST: 17
2. THE ASTRAL LIBRARY, by Kate Quinn. (Morrow) A hidden door at the Boston Public Library leads to a secret library where new worlds and potential danger come to life.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
3. CROSS & SAMPSON, by James Patterson and Brian Sitts. (Little, Brown) The 35th book in the Alex Cross series. Detectives Sampson and Cross track crimes over long distances.
LAST WEEK: 3
WEEKS ON LIST: 2
4. THE HARD LINE, by Mark Greaney. (Berkley) The 15th book in the Gray Man series. As he tries to stop hit squads, Court Gentry becomes the target of an assassin known as Whetstone.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
5. AGNES AUBERT’S MYSTICAL CAT SHELTER, by Heather Fawcett. (Del Rey) When their businesses are imperiled, the manager of a cat rescue and an infamous magician team up.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
6. OPERATION BOUNCE HOUSE, by Matt Dinniman. (Ace) A colonist named Oliver must defend his planet, New Sonora, against war machines from Earth operated by gamers who paid for the privilege.
LAST WEEK: 2
WEEKS ON LIST: 2
7. ALCHEMISED, by SenLinYu. (Del Rey) After the war, an imprisoned alchemist is sent to a necromancer to recover her lost memories.
LAST WEEK: 6
WEEKS ON LIST: 22
8. THE WIDOW, by John Grisham. (Doubleday) When Simon Latch, a lawyer in rural Virginia, is accused of murder, he goes in search of the real killer.
LAST WEEK: 13
WEEKS ON LIST: 18
9. CARL’S DOOMSDAY SCENARIO, by Matt Dinniman. (Ace) The second book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. Carl and Donut confront an ancient spell and heightened dangers.
LAST WEEK: 11
WEEKS ON LIST: 6
10. THE DEVIL’S BIBLE, by Steve Berry. (Grand Central) The 20th book in the Cotton Malone series. An 800-year-old book is at the center of a complicated international situation.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
11. CROWN OF WAR AND SHADOW, by J.R. Ward. (Bramble) An outcast makes a deal with a mercenary to help cross the Badlands to return the queen’s crown.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
12. WORSE THAN A LIE, by Ben Crump. (Bantam) In 2008, lawyer Beau Lee Cooper takes on a case involving a Black former police officer who was shot during a traffic stop.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
13. MY HUSBAND’S WIFE, by Alice Feeney. (Pine & Cedar) In an old house in a seaside town, things may not be what they appear to be.
LAST WEEK: 12
WEEKS ON LIST: 4
14. IT’S NOT HER, by Mary Kubica. (Park Row) Courtney Gray’s vacation is interrupted by two murders and a disappearance of relatives that bring up secrets involving her family and the town.
LAST WEEK: 9
WEEKS ON LIST: 3
15. THE NIGHT PRINCE, by Lauren Palphreyman. (Bloom) The second book in the Wolf King series. The Kingdom of Wolves and the Kingdom of Men both come under threat.
LAST WEEK: 4
WEEKS ON LIST: 2
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NONFICTION
Jon Meacham’s new collection joins the nonfiction list at No. 3. (Courtesy/Random House)
1. STRIPPED DOWN, by Bunnie Xo. (Dey Street) The host of the “Dumb Blonde Podcast” tells how redemption was an important part of her journey toward reaching her goals.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
2. NOBODY’S GIRL, by Virginia Roberts Giuffre. (Knopf) The late activist and advocate for sex-trafficking survivors describes her time with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
LAST WEEK: 1
WEEKS ON LIST: 18
3. AMERICAN STRUGGLE, by Jon Meacham. (Random House) The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer examines national divisions and debates over the past four centuries.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
4. MANUFACTURING DELUSION, by Buck Sexton. (Sentinel) A conservative radio host and former CIA analyst argues that mass delusion has begun to take hold in America.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
5. THE LOOK, by Michelle Obama with Meredith Koop. (Crown) A celebration of the former first lady’s evolution in style, featuring more than 200 photographs.
LAST WEEK: 7
WEEKS ON LIST: 13
6. THE GREATEST SENTENCE EVER WRITTEN, by Walter Isaacson. (Simon & Schuster) The historian and biographer examines the concepts of a statement found in the Declaration of Independence.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 10
7. THE ANXIOUS GENERATION, by Jonathan Haidt. (Penguin Press) A co-author of “The Coddling of the American Mind” looks at the mental health effects of a phone-based life on children.
LAST WEEK: 5
WEEKS ON LIST: 96
8. A HYMN TO LIFE, by Gisèle Pelicot with Judith Perrignon. (Penguin Press) Pelicot recounts her legal fight against her husband and dozens of other men on the grounds of sexual assault; translated by Natasha Lehrer and Ruth Diver.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
9. THE INVISIBLE COUP, by Peter Schweizer. (Harper) The author of “Blood Money” puts forward his argument that mass migration is a political weapon.
LAST WEEK: 2
WEEKS ON LIST: 5
10. STRANGERS, by Belle Burden. (Dial) Burden retraces her marriage of 20 years in search of clues to help shape her understanding about its demise and to find a way forward.
LAST WEEK: 4
WEEKS ON LIST: 5
11. HOW TO TEST NEGATIVE FOR STUPID, by John Kennedy. (Broadside) The Republican senator from Louisiana shares stories about politics in Washington, D.C., and in his home state.
LAST WEEK: 3
WEEKS ON LIST: 20
12. BLACK AF HISTORY, by Michael Harriot. (Dey Street) A columnist at TheGrio.com articulates moments in American history that put the perspectives and experiences of Black Americans at the center.
LAST WEEK: 6
WEEKS ON LIST: 29
13. 1929, by Andrew Ross Sorkin. (Viking) The New York Times journalist and CNBC host looks at the fight between Washington and Wall Street that fueled a historic crash of the stock market.
LAST WEEK: 8
WEEKS ON LIST: 19
14. DEVOUT, by David Archuleta. (Gallery) The “American Idol” finalist and international pop star depicts struggles he had as a closeted Mormon teenager.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 1
15. EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS, by John Green. (Crash Course) The author of “The Anthropocene Reviewed” chronicles the fight against the deadly infectious disease tuberculosis.
LAST WEEK: —
WEEKS ON LIST: 32
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The New York Times bestsellers are compiled and archived by the bestseller lists desk of The New York Times news department and are separate from the culture, advertising and business sides of The New York Times Co. More information on rankings and methodology: nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/methodology.
Christopher Newport dominated the fourth quarter Friday in Lexington for a 74-62 victory over Gettysburg in the first round of the NCAA Division III women’s championship tournament.
The Captains (24-4), ranked 14th in the coaches’ poll and making their 10th straight NCAA appearance, outscored the Bullets 23-13 in the fourth quarter to advance to a round-of-32 game at 8 p.m. Saturday against homestanding Washington and Lee (29-0), the nation’s No. 3 team.
Mia Wilson scored 17 points, Madison McKenzie 16, Sarah Pritz 13, Hailey Kellogg 10 and McKenna Snively 10 for CNU. Snively had three assists and three steals.
CNU began the fourth quarter on an 11-2 run for a 62-51 edge with 6:40 remaining and wasn’t threatened. Gettysburg finished 21-7.
W&L romped past St. Mary’s of Maryland 73-44, leading 27-6 after one quarter and 48-15 at the half. Generals senior Mary Schleusner, Division III’s all-time leading rebounder, had 22 points and 13 rebounds.
Besides CNU and W&L, the other NCAA Division III qualifiers from Virginia lost. Randolph-Macon lost 60-45 to Otterbein, Shenandoah dropped a 90-45 game to No. 24 Trine, and Southern Virginia fell 82-47 to No. 8 Denison,
ACC
No. 19 North Carolina 85, Virginia Tech 68: Lanie Grant scored a career-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, Nyla Harris had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and third-seeded UNC won an Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal in Duluth, Georgia.
UNC (26-6) plays second-seeded Louisville in the semifinals Saturday.
Grant hit 4 of 7 from 3-point range and Harris made 8 of 11 from the field. Elina Aarnisalo totaled 18 points, six assists and five rebounds for UNC.
Harris made a layup that gave the Tar Heels the lead for good and sparked an 11-2 run that made it 30-22 with 4:33 left in the second quarter.
Carleigh Wenzel made 14 of 15 from the free-throw line and finished with 26 points for sixth-seeded Virginia Tech (23-9) but was 6 of 17 from the field, 0 of 6 from 3-point range. The Hokies still are considered an almost-certain NCAA at-large team.
No. 12 Louisville 87, Syracuse 61: Six Cardinals scored at least 11 points as Louisville (26-6) dominated the Orange (23-8).
Tajianna Roberts scored 17 points, Reyna Scott had 15, and Mackenly Randolph, daughter of former NBA player Zach Randolph, had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Syracuse’s Uche Izoje had 22 points and nine rebounds.
Notre Dame 81, NC State 63: Hannah Hidalgo scored 25 points, Iyana Moore added 20 points, nine rebounds and three steals, and No. 5 seed Notre Dame beat the fourth-seeded Wolfpack. Notre Dame (22-9), which has won seven in a row and nine of 10, plays top-seeded Duke in the semifinals Saturday.
Hidalgo, who also had five rebounds and five assists, has scored at least 25 points in six consecutive games. Cassandre Prosper scored 13 points for the Irish.
NC State (20-10) had its three-game win streak snapped. Khamil Pierre had 17 points and 14 rebounds — her 21st double-double this season — for the Wolfpack.
No. 13 Duke 60, Clemson 46: Toby Fournier had 17 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, Delaney Thomas added 14 points, and top-seeded Duke (22-8) won a quarterfinal.
The Blue Devils stunned Clemson (21-11) in the first half, forcing 11 turnovers and four shot-clock violations. The Blue Devils responded on offense, going 5 of 9 beyond the 3-point arc and 14 of 30 from the field against the same team that upset them 53-51 less than two weeks ago.
Atlantic 10
George Mason 87, Dayton 85, OT: Louis Volker’s buzzer-beating overtime layup lifted the second-seeded Patriots (22-8) over the seventh-seeded Flyers (17-14) in an Atlantic 10 quarterfinal at Henrico Sports & Events Center. George Mason will face Richmond in a semifinal at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Hampton High alumna Kennedy Harris scored 22 points and Zahirah Walton had 20 points and seven rebounds. Both were first-team All-A-10 picks for the defending champion Patriots.
Fatima Ibrahim led Dayton with 18 points and nine rebounds.
Richmond 70, La Salle 51: The third-seeded Spiders (26-6) led the Explorers (18-13) throughout the game. Maggie Doogan had 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists, and Ally Sweeney added 12 points and six rebounds.
UR is an NCAA at-large candidate even if doesn’t win the tournament, whose first semifinal (at 11 a.m. Saturday) is top-seeded Rhode Island versus Davidson.
Southeastern Conference
No. 3 South Carolina 87, No. 17 Kentucky 64: Joyce Edwards scored 21 points, and Madina Okot added 12 points and 13 rebounds for the top-seeded Gamecocks in the first quarterfinal in Greenville, South Carolina.
South Carolina (30-2) began its quest for a fourth straight SEC Tournament title and 10th in the past 12 seasons under coach Dawn Staley, shooting 53% from the field.
No. 6 LSU 112, No. 7 Oklahoma 78: MiLaysia Fulwiley had 22 points and eight assists, Flau’jae Johnson scored 16 of her 21 points in the second half, and LSU had the second-highest point total in SEC Tournament history, behind only Tennessee’s 118 in 1980.
Mikaylah Williams scored 14 points and Jada Richard had 13 for the Tigers (27-4), who held the Sooners (24-7) to 36% shooting.
No. 4 Texas 83, Alabama 60: Jordan Lee scored 16 points, Madison Booker contributed 11 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in limited action, and Texas (29-3) rolled into the semifinals with a victory over Alabama (23-10), the only non-Top 25 team to reach the SEC quarterfinals.
Texas will take a six-game winning streak into its semifinal against No. 24 Mississippi.
No. 24 Mississippi 89, No. 5 Vanderbilt 78: Former Virginia Cavalier Latasha Lattimore scored 28 points and Cotie McMahon had 27 for Ole Miss, which built a 32-point third-quarter lead and held on late.
Tianna Thompson added 16 points for the Rebels (23-10), who jumped to a 23-2 lead during their second win this season over Commodores (27-4).
Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes, who averaged more than 30 points per game in conference play this season, missed her first 12 shots — including five 3s — but still finished with 24 points.
Big 12
No. 10 TCU 63, Brigham Young 46: The Horned Frogs advanced to the Big 12 semifinals in Kansas City, Missouri. TCU shot 37% from the field and had 14 turnovers, but TCU recorded nine blocks and eight steals.
Marta Suarez (17) and Taylor Bigby (13) combined for 30 points. Olivia Miles added 10 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to set a TCU single-season assist record (209).
Big Ten
No. 2 UCLA 78, Washington 60: Big Ten Player of the Year Lauren Betts had 26 points and eight rebounds, and Kiki Rice added 18 points and six assists in a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal in Indianapolis.
The Bruins (29-1) won their 23rd consecutive game, matching last season’s mark for the longest winning streak in school history. They will face Ohio State on Saturday.
No. 8 Michigan 80, Oregon 58: Syla Swords scored 17 points and Olivia Olson had 16 for the Wolverines (25-5), who will face No. 9 Iowa in Saturday’s semifinals.
Katie Fiso scored 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting and Ehis Etute had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Ducks (22-12).
No. 9 Iowa 64, Illinois 58: Ava Heiden scored 16 points and Hannah Stuelke finished with 13 points and five rebounds despite playing with an injured right elbow, leading Iowa to the semifinals. The Hawkeyes (25-5) have won seven straight and need two more wins to capture their fifth conference tourney crown in eight years.
Jasmine Brown-Haggard finished with 22 points for Illinois.
