2016 Photos of the Year. Feature Picture Story…

1st Place Feature Picture Story: Aileen Devlin, Daily Press– Tangier Island: An Island Paradise Threatened by Sea Level Rise. Located 12 miles into the Chesapeake Bay, Tangier Island is a culturally unique fishing community. Rapidly eroding shoreline and a rising seal level, due to climate change, puts the island at risk to be underwater within the next 50 years. If nothing is done, Virginia will lose its last inhabited island in the bay. Rudy Shores, left, waves to a passing boat while he works from his shanty in the evening of Wednesday, Aug. 10. Local watermen make a living crabbing for Chesapeake blue crab in the summer and oysters in the winter.

Colored crab pot buoys hang from a line outside of the mayor’s work shanty off Tangier Island. The island is a working watermen village which draws leagues of tourists ferried in from the mainland every summer for fresh, locally caught Chesapeake blue crab and laid-back lifestyle. Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016.

Town of Tangier Mayor James “Ooker” Eskridge holds out one of the larger Chesapeake blue crabs from his catch while working on his shanty on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016.

Derek Barbee, 11, left, looks at his brother Scott, 9, center, while Dakota Dunivan, 10, right, counts change for a customer while they sell hand-made items to tourists who visit Tangier Island on Wednesday, Aug. 10 2016.

Customers bustle in and out of the Daley & Son Grocery store of Tangier Island on Friday, Aug. 12, 2016. The island has one grocery store and if residents want a specialty item they must place an order to be brought in by ferry.

While crossing a wooden bridge a couple holds each other as they walk on a sunny day on Tangier Island. Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016.

Town manager Renee Tyler hangs up the phone after talking with a resident in office at the town hall. Tyler holds multiple responsibilities such as town maintenance, public concerns, collecting taxes and utilities, along with serving as a general liaison between the mayor and town council. Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016.

Everyday a group of local Tangier Island youths spend the last few hours of sunlight climbing and jumping off the wooden docks, swimming with the “water gulls” or jellyfish, hoping not to get stung. Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016.

Benjamin Patten-Dunivan, 11, come up for air while swimming with other children on Tangier island on Thursday, Aug. 11. At five o’clock everyday the local youths congregate at the ice cream restaurant and walk to the gas dock to jump from the pier before the sun goes down.

As the sun begins to set over the marshy waters Scott “Junior” Stier yells “you’re mean” as his friend ditches him on a moped on Wednesday night in Tangier. Aug. 10, 2016.

Local children hang out in an alley way with their motorized scooters as night falls on Tangier Island on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016.

2nd Place Feature Picture Story: Erica Yoon, Roanoke Times–Tonya Davison, 36, of Blackstone, Va., tries on her new reading glasses at Dr. David Armstrong’s office in Roanoke on Monday, Dec. 21, 2015. “I’ve never been able to see my own face in the mirror,” Davison said, who has low vision. Davison heard about Dr. Armstrong through a recommendation from another optometrist, Dr. Kingsley of Farmville. Davison wanted help with reading, depth perception and far sightedness.

Tonya Davison, 36, has two sets of glasses – one for reading and one for distance. Here Tonya tests her new reading glasses by reading a book from her favorite author, Stephen King, comfortably at Dr. David Armstrong’s office in Roanoke.

Tonya Davison, 36, eats some yogurt at he mom’s apartment in Keysville on Friday, Jan. 29, 2016. Since receiving her glasses, Davison can now do more activities independently and not stumble over her mom’s nine-year-old cat, Rachel. “I didn’t even know where Rachel the cat was laying on the floor. I would accidentally step on her. Now that I can see her, I haven’t stepped on her!” Davison said. “Now I can do things like regular people,” she said.

Tonya Davison, 36, sets out on her own with her new telescopic glasses to retrieve the mail at her mother’s apartment in Keysville, Va. on Friday, Jan. 29, 2016. “It has opened up a whole new world,” Davison said. Prior to receiving her new glasses, Davison’s mother, Brenda Williams, usually escorted her whenever she walked anywhere so she didn’t bump into anything or trip over uneven pavement. Now she can walk on her own comfortably.

Dr. David Armstrong of Roanoke shows off Tonya Davison’s new telescopic glasses on Monday, Dec. 21, 2015.

3rd Place Feature Picture Story: Kristen Zeis, Virginian-Pilot– ÒAll we have is a bag of clothes,Ó said Julissa Sosa. More than a month after Hurricane Matthew hit the Hampton Roads area, Julissa Sosa and her fianc Phillip Barada and their two children, Julian, 4, and Phillip Jr., 8, struggle to find their new normal following being barred from returning to their apartment after asbestos was found during clean up from the hurricane. The asbestos discovery displaced more than 70 families. Caption: Exhausted after a day of apartment hunting, Julissa Sosa, center, and Diamond Gilmore, right, take a moment to unwind in their hotel room. After being displaced from their Virginia Beach apartment complex due to asbestos, residents were left homeless and without their belongings. Although the apartment management company offered assistance with hotel expenses, time was running out and Sosa and Gilmore needed to find new places to live for their families.

After making a trip to Walmart for air beds, pillows and a small television, Phillip, Julissa, Julian and Phillip Jr., spend their first night in their new apartment. “This was a bad idea,” reflected Sosa after attempting to unpack a small bag of clothing and realizing that she didn’t have any clothes hangers. “I just feel so unprepared,” she said.

Julian Barada, 4, holds the door for his dad as they move what is left of their belongings into their new home late on Thursday, November 3, 2016. “I’ve worked so hard to provide the things I have for my family, I just want my couch,” said Barada. The family had recently saved money to buy a new couch that’s currently still sitting in their old apartment, along with all of their other belongings that they’ve been barred from returning to get.

Early in her apartment search, Diamond thought that she had found a place but after asking around about the area where the complex was located, she discovered that someone had been killed at the complex. Diamond uses help from public assistance to afford housing and it has been challenging for her to find a place that accepts the vouchers and that she feels is safe for her son.

Diamond Gilmore moves her and her 3-year old son’s belongings out of her hotel room and into Julissa and Phillip’s room on Wednesday, November 2, 2016. Although the apartment’s management company originally helped displaced families with hotel expenses, the time had run out and Diamond needed a place to stay.

After many days of scrambling to find housing, Julissa Sosa and her fianc, Phillip Barada, go over paperwork for their new apartment with a leasing agent at the complex. Finding an apartment that fit within their budget, had a good school zone, and that had immediate vacancy was a challenge for the family.

Diamond Gilmore, Julissa Sosa and her fianc, Phillip Barada, check a list of possible housing options during a day of apartment hunting on Tuesday, November 1, 2016. Originally, Sosa and Barada were trying to keep their two sons in the same schools, but they soon realized that with limited options, that wasn’t going to be possible. Gilmore, Sosa and Barada didn’t know each other prior to being displaced but have grown to become close friends.

More than 70 families were displaced after asbestos was discovered at Waypoint Lynnhaven in Virginia Beach, Va., in October 2016. In the weeks following, Waypoint residents have been faced with the difficulty of finding new places and have been told that they can only retrieve items from their apartments if they sign a waiver relinquishing rights to file a lawsuit.

HM Feature Picture Story: Jonathon Gruenke, Daily Press–Bradley Garner, center, and Frankie Garner stand beside their father, Jim Garner, while he lies in bed at Commonwealth Assisted Living in Hampton as Karen Garner responds to messages on her phone Thursday evening March 24, 2016. Jim died from Alzheimer’s April 2, 2016. Jim was diagnosed by the National Institute of Health in 2011 with “mild cognitive impairment,” the precursor to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The genetically pre-determined disease has devastated his family–his mother died of the disease at age 61, his older brother at 52.

Frankie Garner, center, sits on her porch as Karen Garner stands in front of their of house Tuesday evening April 26, 2016. Jim Garner died from Alzheimer’s April 2, 2016. Jim was diagnosed by the National Institute of Health in 2011 with “mild cognitive impairment,” the precursor to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The genetically pre-determined disease has devastated his family–his mother died of the disease at age 61, his older brother at 52.

Karen Garner eats dinner with Bradley and Frankie Tuesday evening April 26, 2016. Jim Garner died from Alzheimer’s April 2, 2016. Jim was diagnosed by the National Institute of Health in 2011 with “mild cognitive impairment,” the precursor to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The genetically pre-determined disease has devastated his family–his mother died of the disease at age 61, his older brother at 52.

Frankie Garner stares off into the distance as a slideshow of pictures of her father, Jim Garner, plays during a Celebration of Life service at the Mariners’ Museum Wednesday evening April 13, 2016. Jim died from Alzheimer’s April 2, 2016. Jim was diagnosed by the National Institute of Health in 2011 with “mild cognitive impairment,” the precursor to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The genetically pre-determined disease has devastated his family–his mother died of the disease at age 61, his older brother at 52.

Karen Garner, right, is comforted by family and friends during a Celebration of Life service for Jim Garner at the Mariners’ Museum Wednesday evening April 13, 2016. Jim died from Alzheimer’s April 2, 2016.

Bradley Garner hugs his father, Jim, as he lies in bed at Commonwealth Assisted Living in Hampton Thursday evening March 24, 2016. Jim died from Alzheimer’s April 2, 2016. Jim was diagnosed by the National Institute of Health in 2011 with “mild cognitive impairment,” the precursor to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The genetically pre-determined disease has devastated his family–his mother died of the disease at age 61, his older brother at 52.

Shelly Simonds plays guitar for Jim as he lies in bed at Commonwealth Assisted Living in Hampton Monday afternoon March 28, 2016. Jim died from Alzheimer’s April 2, 2016. Jim was diagnosed by the National Institute of Health in 2011 with “mild cognitive impairment,” the precursor to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The genetically pre-determined disease has devastated his family–his mother died of the disease at age 61, his older brother at 52.

Karen Garner comforts Jim as he lies in bed at Commonwealth Assisted Living in Hampton Saturday March 26, 2016. Jim died from Alzheimer’s April 2, 2016. Jim was diagnosed by the National Institute of Health in 2011 with “mild cognitive impairment,” the precursor to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The genetically pre-determined disease has devastated his family–his mother died of the disease at age 61, his older brother at 52.

HM Feature Picture Story: Nikki Fox, Daily News Record–Eric Oberg, of Verona, puts a corsage on his 2-year-old daughter, Alyssa, as they arrive to the annual Daddy Daughter Sweetheart Dance at the Cecil F. Gilkerson Community Activities Center Saturday night, Feb. 6, 2016.

Fathers leave with their daughters in tow at the end of the dance.

Eric Comer, of Rockingham County, slow dances with his daughters, Stella, left, 4, and Maggie, 6, during the last songs of the Daddy Daughter Sweetheart Dance.

Mike Love, of Harrisonburg, stands with his daughter, Aubrey, 4, as they get their photo taken by Danny McDonald, a 20-year-old Harrisonburg Parks and Recreation worker.