The week in review
Biggest line: Paramount members brave 90-degree plus temperatures to buy their Yo-Yo Ma tickets July 26.
Most anticipated forecast: The weather for July 27, 29 and 30– the dates the Charlottesville Pavilion debuts with Tiny Universe, Fridays After 5, and Loretta Lynn, but without the full canopy that was ripped to shreds July 13.
Closest race: Latest polls show Democratic Lt. Governor Tim Kaine and Republican Jerry Kilgore neck and neck in the governor's race.
Most popular: The same Mason-Dixon Virginia poll that shows Kaine ahead by one point says Governor Mark Warner could whup Senator George Allen if the Senate election were held today, Bob Gibson reports in the Daily Progress. Warner has shown no indication he's considering a Senate run, and both his and Allen's names have been bandied about as potential 2008 presidential candidates, an idea to which Virginians are cool, according to the poll.
Best candidate: Former Charlottesville superintendent Scottie Jo Griffin tells the Fall River, Massachusetts, school board, where she's one of five finalists for a job, that she's "one of the best candidates you'll ever encounter," according to the Herald News and cvillenews.com.
Latest gig for Cole Hendrix: The former Charlottesville city manager signs on for that position in Orange after taking it on an interim basis, according to DP reporter Kate Andrews.
Latest on the Hillsdale Connector: The Commonwealth Transportation Board approves a route from Greenbrier Drive through Seminole Square Shopping Center and the long-empty Terrace Theater to hook up with Hydraulic Road.
Worst news for the Terrace Theater: It's toast.
Best response to School Board approval of drug-sniffing dogs roaming the halls of Charlottesville High and Buford Middle schools performing random searches: "I personally don't want to live in a city where they close down the high school for an hour to check the classrooms with dogs," says newest board member Louis Bograd, according to a James Fernald article in the Progress.
Longest sentence: Edison P. Crawford gets 15 years for growing pot valued at $66,400 in Shenandoah National Park, Liesel Nowak reports in the Progress. His attorney, John Zwerling, who also represents UVA stabber Andrew Alston, calls the sentence handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Norman Moon July 22 "cruel" and plans to appeal.
Worst Scouting disaster: Four Scout leaders from Alaska are killed July 25 when the tent they are raising touches an electrical line at the 2005 National Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill.
Biggest state windfall: More than $544 million lands in the black for fiscal year 2005, thanks to unanticipated economic growth– and that tax increase.
Most frenzied speculation: Who President Bush would name to succeed Sandra Day O'Connor reaches a peak right before his July 19 announcement that John G. Roberts Jr., District of Columbia U.S. Court of Appeals judge, is his choice.
Best national plug for the Shenandoah Valley: ESPN's Sportscenter broadcasts from Staunton July 22 as part of its "50 States 50 Days" tour.
Worst national plug for the Shenandoah Valley: The broadcast was at a foosball tournament.
Best Emmy nomination: Former Hook freelancer Tayloe Emery's "One" commercial is a contender for outstanding commercial.
Biggest fashion contretemps: Nationally, whether flip-flops are appropriate for the White House is hotly debated following the Northwestern women's lacrosse team's visit. Locally, General District Judge Roger Morton is sending home Madison and Culpeper defendants and jurors who come to court dressed like they're going to the beach, Andrews reports in the Progress.
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