The week in review
Gloomiest Albemarle budget news: The county projects a $1 million shortfall for this fiscal year and the next because of a fall in real estate assessments anticipated through 2013, the Daily Progress reports.
Less troubled by tightened revenue stream: City Council chips in $750,000 to buy 6.5-acre Davis Field to enlarge Northeast Park October 3, the Progress reports, and plans to contribute $400K to UVA's entrance corridor project at Ivy Road and Emmet Street.
Most damaged: Louisa County reports $80.6 million in damages from the August 23 earthquake, according to the AP.
Fourth hottest summer: UVA climatologist Jerry Stenger says this past June, July, and August were the fourth hottest on record for this region, WINA reports. Officially, it was very muggy as well.
Raciest school photo? Greene County School Superintendent David Jeck's bare-shouldered beach photo is removed from the school division's website after some parents complain, according to WINA.
Worst crash: Six people are injured in a head-on collision on Old Lynchburg Road October 3 around 10pm, and two adults are airlifted with life-threatening injuries. Speed may have been a factor, according to NBC29.
Worst house fire: An early Saturday morning blaze on Harris Road leaves eight people without a roof over their heads, NBC29 reports.
Worst news for Orange homeless: The Sheltering Arms homeless shelter says it plans to close at the end of October because of a lack of funds, the Orange County Review reports. The facility houses 25 people, including 12 children, and its staff is scrambling to find housing for them.
Worst night for gun threats: As police investigate a report of gunfire at Garrett Street at 11:22pm September 27, 12 minutes later, a victim shows up at UVA Medical Center ER with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, says he was walking when he was struck, and had no description of the shooter. That same evening at around 2:24am, a male UVA student reports being robbed by two black men, one of whom was wielding a gun in the 500-block of Rugby Road, according to releases.
Best temp work: Extras are being sought for Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, which will be shot in Richmond and Petersburg and pays $79.95 a day for up to 10 hours or more, which works out to almost $8 an hour.
Best example of the plight of the nonunion worker: See above.
Heaviest metal: Churches have been targeted in Roanoke and Franklin counties by copper crooks who swipe copper gutters and outdoors heating units, the AP reports. And in Staunton, two women allegedly were caught stealing $350 worth of scrap metal at 11am September 30 from a home construction site, according to the News Leader. Hilda A. Ireland, 24, and Cassandra L. Wanzer, 46, are charged with grand larceny, and are suspects in the theft of $100 worth of iron from Shenandoah Valley Railroad.
Longest distance ballooning: The city releases 100 balloons September 30 carrying student-written notes as part of Charlottesville's pre-250th birthday celebration. One day later, Lisa Ecker finds some of the balloons in the Western Poconos of Pennsylvania, about 250 miles away as the balloon flies, the DP reports.
Chilliest commemoration: Banned Books Week is marked by the Jefferson Madison Regional Library's central location September 30 with a list of books forbidden in libraries in this country, incluing The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath, and To Kill a Mockingbird. NBC29 has the story.
Worst omission in last week's Hook: An update on the story, "Confidentiality or censorship: Cav Daily slapped with conduct charges," that charges had been dropped against four of the Cav Daily 5, leaving only editor-in-chief Jason Ally to face the University Judiciary Committee, failed to make the print edition.