Newport News Fire Department Selects First Communications Manager
Plus, overdose preparedness, city volunteer opportunities; JLab research award
The Newport News Fire Department appointed Kimberly D. Bracy as its inaugural communications manager, a newly established leadership position, according to a recent press release. Bracy most recently served as communications and media relations manager for the City of Newport News, where she was the city’s designated spokeswoman and led communications for major city initiatives, emergency response efforts, executive leadership, and public engagement campaigns.
Her responsibilities included media relations, crisis communications, executive messaging, strategic planning, and communications support for city leadership and emergency management operations. During her time with the City of Newport News, Bracy has helped lead communications initiatives recognized by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Hampton Roads Chapter, according to the release. In 2025, the city’s Communications Department earned six PRSA Merit Awards, with Bracy serving as communications lead for three of the recognized entries.
In her new role, Bracy will oversee the fire department’s strategic communications program, media relations, digital communications, public information, and community outreach, and will help build its newly formed Community Division. Bracy was quoted in the release as saying, “It is an incredible honor to become the first communications manager for the Newport News Fire Department. I look forward to working alongside Chief Wesley Rogers and the extraordinary men and women of NNFD to strengthen community partnerships, elevate fire and life safety education, and ensure our residents receive timely, accurate and meaningful information when they need it most.”
In other news:
Public Safety
Newport News Website Details Operation STOP Overdose Prevention Campaign The Newport News Office of Community Safety’s website outlines Operation STOP, a campaign encouraging residents in communities affected by the opioid crisis to recognize overdoses, carry naloxone, and use fentanyl test strips. According to the city, the effort emphasizes dignity, strength, and responsibility rather than fear-based messaging. The site states free naloxone is available by calling 757-594-7320, and free fentanyl test strips with usage instructions can be obtained through OperationStop.org. The page also directs residents to the Virginia Department of Health and the Community Services Board for prevention, support, and recovery services.
Community News
Newport News Website Lists Volunteer Opportunities for Residents The Newport News city website outlines Volunteer Opportunities, directing residents to the following areas for volunteering, including requirements and responsibilities for each:
Over 350 citizens serve on nearly 45 boards, commissions, and committees, providing technical, advisory, administrative, and judicial services, plus regional bodies covering health, transportation, education, and recreation.
Education
Jefferson Lab Awards 2025 Thesis Prize for Physics Research Jefferson Science Associates (JSA) awarded the 2025 JSA Thesis Prize, a top honor for graduate students in nuclear physics, at the 2026 Jefferson Lab Users Organization Annual Meeting in Newport News, VA. Tommaso Rainaldi received the prize and presented his research to attendees. Rainaldi earned his doctorate in theoretical physics at Old Dominion University in September 2025, working on hadronic structure research at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.
Jefferson Lab gives the prize each year to a doctoral student whose research connects to Jefferson Lab, based on the quality of the student’s writing, their contribution to the work, how much it impacts the field of physics, and how it helps science at Jefferson Lab or other experiments. The winner receives $2,500, a plaque, and paid travel to present at the lab’s Annual Users Group meeting. Rainaldi’s dissertation, titled “Unraveling Nonperturbative QCD with Transverse Momentum Hadronic Structures,” outlines a new method his team developed, called the Hadron Structure Oriented (HSO) approach, to better connect theoretical predictions with real experimental data on the inner structure of particles like protons. That data came from CEBAF, a facility more than 1,700 scientists worldwide use.
The JSA Initiatives Fund Program funded the award before ceasing operation when SURATech assumed the M&O contract on June 1, 2026; SURATech will continue several of its programs. Rainaldi, who also received a JSA graduate fellowship in 2023, has been a postdoctoral researcher at Stony Brook University since September 2025, where he is working on simulating theories like quantum chromodynamics using quantum computers.
NNPS TV Recaps Wax Museum, Fairs, Senior Chat Newport News Public Schools TV’s latest “This Just In” update (#857, July 27, 2026) covers the Saunders Career Wax Museum, the Heritage Senior Chat and Chew, and the Crittenden, Gildersleeve, and Hines College and Career Fairs.
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