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With Election Day only a week away, UVA professor and political pundit Larry Sabato made his much-anticipated predictions for the midterm elections on his Crystal Ball website. read full story

No one could ever accuse Mark Haskins of not being persistent. At a October 26 Board of Zoning Appeals meeting, the Little High Neighborhood Association prez was at it again, arguing that Region Ten's Mews project off of Little High Street, a 40-unit affordable housing project for Region Ten clients and others with disabilities, should be open to public scrutiny read full story

There's no dispute that Azlee Keller Hickman was murdered in a Carlton Avenue mobile home in March 2003. But despite witnesses testifying that they saw William Franklin "Billy" Marshall assault her the night she died, prosecutors have been unable to pin her death on anyone. read full story

On October 27, Senator George Allen got the political world talking with a press release excerpting particularly graphic passages of the novels authored by his Democratic opponent Jim Webb. read full story

Though word seems to be spreading that there's a stricter leash law in Charlottesville's near future, that's actually not the case, says Holly Hatcher, whose dog was attacked by an off-leash pit bull in February 2005. read full story

The track list for the new two-disc Dave Matthews Band ââ?¬Å?Greatest Hitsââ?¬Â CD, entitled The Best of Whatââ?¬â?¢s Around ââ?¬â?? read full story

Book of Revelations, UVA med center gets off probation, Huja: still shaping the city? FROM THE NEWSROOM OF THE HOOK NEWSPAPER ON THE DOWNTOWN MALL IN CHARLOTTESVILLE VIRGINIA, THIS IS THE HOOKCAST FOR THE WEEK OF... Thursday, October 26, 2006. ON THIS WEEK'S COVER: Book of Revelations This week's Hook is 100 pages long– thanks to a big array of stories about the Virginia Film Festival. We interview famed actor Robert Duvall who tells the Hook about his worst cinematic experience. read full story

Could a Hollywood actor win the Virginia senate race for Jim Webb? That's what some are wondering now that a pair of ads featuring actor and Parkinson's disease sufferer Michael J. read full story

An unconfirmed report suggests that, in addition to suffering torso wounds, manhunt target Elvis Gene Shifflett received at least one wound to the face, according to an Albemarle County man who was monitoring emergency scanner conversations shortly after the Shifflett shooting. "A man spoke of a 'major exit wound to the face' and used the word 'mandible,'" says the listener, who was tuned to the scanner arou read full story

The ESPN camera zoomed in on a screaming, orange-haired gonzo UVA fan leaning on a railing, and the announcer wisecracked that the fan would probably be heading to the Itzhak Perlman concert after the football game. read full story

Bodies will be rocked, and sexy will be brought back on March 18, 2007, when one of the world's biggest pop stars brings his disco ball-busting show to John Paul Jones Arena. read full story

Two weeks ago, the Hook dutifully reported on the discovery of an unknown Robert Frost poem by a UVA grad student (Eureka!: Grad student hits literary gold, October 5, 2006), as did over 100 newspapers and radio programs around the world in the followng days, including the Washington Post, The New York Times, NPR read full story

Usually October surprises are reserved for political campaigns and Major League baseball, but the Virginia Film Festival unveiled a surprise of its own this morning when it announced that Evan Almighty director and UVA alum Tom Shadyac will host a screening at Newcomb Hall of Bruce Almighty and a sneak peek at its locally shot sequel on Saturday, October 28, at 10pm. Shadyac– whose previous credits in read full story

There's good news for 21 aggrieved local drivers who'd been overcharged by Lethal Wrecker: the checks are in the mail. Though Lethal's Richmond-based attorney William Tiller had hinted in court in July that his client might not have the $1,100 to pay back the plaintiffs, that didn't end up to be the case. read full story

It was an assembly like no other for Burnley-Moran elementary school principal Daphne Keiser, who says receiving the $25,000 National Educator Award yesterday from the Milken Family Foundation was a "total surprise." The California-based nonprofit handpicks just 100 educators around the country each year to receive the award– Keiser (left, with superintendent Rosa Atkins) was one of two Virginia recipients. read full story

Charlottesville in Wikipedia, Allen aides block new 'Macaca,' and Friends mourn UVA student ON THIS WEEK'S COVER: Wiki-ville: How the world sees Charlottesville Wikipedia is the online encyclopedia that grows daily by thousands of articles. And some of those are about the great institutions and people in Charlottesville. And check out the clever way you can add yourself to this encyclopedia– for a while anyway. ALSO IN THIS WEEK'S ISSUE: Need to impede: Allen aides block the new "Macaca" The campaign stop at CHO airport was going swimmingly. read full story

According to an online Washington Post dispatch, former Virginia governor Mark Warner, long seen as a frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008, will announce today that he will not run for president at an 11am press conference at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. read full story

Those who missed their shot at fame and glory when the big budget Evan Almighty was shooting in Crozet earlier this year have a second chance at silver screen immortality. Disconnected, a new independent film that begins shooting in and around Staunton October 24, is seeking extras. read full story

Despite an abrupt retirement after pleading guilty to lying to federal prosecutors about ââ?¬Å?the activities of a known drug dealerââ?¬Â and accepting a plea agreement that requires him to submit himself for drug testing, the murky July retirement of UVA's loudest Dean got the softball treatment on local radio today. Former Dean of African-American affairs M. read full story