The week in review

Harshest critics of contemporary UVA architecture: UVA architecture profs, 26 of whom take out a full-page ad in the Cav Daily September 6 to ask, "Why has the university commissioned so much mediocre architecture?" and "Is it desirable that a building built in 1990 be mistaken for one built in 1830?" (See Architecture column, page XX)

Most controversial graffiti: An FBI investigation determines that "G Wizard," "G Society," "G Bug," a spread-eagled woman, and breasts scrawled on the Beta Bridge August 29 were not racially motivated.

Biggest apology: The three unidentified UVA-student perps write an apology letter to President John Casteen, saying their "artistic expression" was misunderstood, the Cavalier Daily reports.

Latest Beta Bridge graffiti: The "Gettysburg Address." UVA art and architecture prof Sanda Iliescu spearheads a project to invite 271 volunteers to write the 271 words of the "Gettysburg Address" on the bridge September 14.

Biggest disaster (drill): The Charlottesville Albemarle Airport is the scene of a readiness drill from 6 to 10pm September 10, drawing 300 emergency workers and shutting down access to North Fork Research Park, Chris Greene Lake, and Baker Butler Elementary.

Biggest feuding-neighbors murder trial: Panama hat-wearing attorney Benjamin Dick defends John Ames, who is accused of killing his Caroline County neighbor after years of animosity.

Biggest Charlottesville murder-over-a-woman trial: Joel Salinas gets seven years for stabbing Candido Bello Rivera to death in June 2004 after a jury finds him guilty of second-degree murder.

Biggest Nelson County murder-over-a-woman trial: Dwayne Scott Wyland is acquitted of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Timothy Wayne Wilkerson.

Biggest trespassing case: Former House of Delegates candidate Rich Collins awaits a decision from his September 6 misdemeanor trial for passing out campaign leaflets in front of Whole Foods at Shopper's World.

Worst reason for a mistrial: Of 37 people called for jury duty September 12 for a sexual battery case in Greene County, 12 are no-shows, Kate Andrews reports in the Progress.

Most resistant to shelling out $33K to share a chopper: Waynesboro Police Chief Doug Davis balks at plans to share a helicopter with seven other jurisdictions, including Charlottesville and Albemarle. "I need cars. I don't need a helicopter," he tells the News Virginian.

Biggest drop  in gas prices: The "We Pump It" on Ivy Road goes from $3.50 a gallon following Katrina to $2.89 September 9.

Best appeal to NASCAR dads: Republican gubernatorial candidate Jerry Kilgore unveils Number 92, the "Kilgore for Governor" Chevrolet that Hermie Sadler will drive October 23 at the Martinsville Speedway.

Most contentious Board of Supervisors race: Greene County candidate Gary Lowe is slapped with three civil lawsuits by members of the Dogwood Valley neighborhood association, of which Lowe is president.

Longest investigation: According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Charlottesville resident Cynthia Cheryl Netherland is acquitted of a felony hit-and-run charge by a Hanover judge on September 12– nine and a half years after Jarmin "Willie" Wilson had his pelvis broken by a car that struck him and did not stop.

Best television debut of a local film: Sahar Before the Sun, the Lighthouse project of teens Sahar Adish, Joe Babarsky, Luke Tilghman, and Sanja Jovanovich, airs during September on the Independent Film Channel's Beyond Borders: Personal Stories From a Small Planet.

Best short film: On September 20, a Vinegar Hill audience will help decide which short is the best in the Manhattan Short Film Festival. (See Film Box, page XX.)

Largest public education fundraising campaign: Former UVA Rector Gordon Rainey accepts the task of raising $3 billion for UVA by 2012.

Best accounts from on the bus: DP reporter John Yellig and photographer Brady Wolfe board the Starlight Express and cover Oliver Kuttner and David New's journey to bring aid to Mississippi and storm victims back to Charlottesville.