Peace can be hard to come by in the hardscrabble East End of Newport News.
Prosperity is even more elusive, so some pursue it on the streets.
On Saturday afternoon, a couple of blocks south on Jefferson, a group of young men stood in front of a row of dilapidated stores. A young man in a pickup truck pulled up. He leaned over into the passenger's seat, toward the men on the sidewalk. A quick exchange was made, and the truck sped off. People who live here say that type of thing happens all too often.