Published July 24, 2003, in issue #0229 of The Hook

Best decision for wannabe Target shoppers: The Albemarle Board of Supervisors on July 16 approves 5 to 1 rezoning the portion of Hollymead Town Center that will house the popular retailer and a Giant.

Best Heisman Trophy campaign: UVA officially launches a push for quarterback Matt Schaub, including a Schaub4Heisman.com website.

Best false alarm: Police searched for a five-year-old boy reported missing July 17. The child is returned by a relative who'd taken him out to eat and run errands, according to the Daily Progress.

Best 20-minute car chase: Charlottesville police follow Steven Nagy's stolen '85 Subaru wagon "all over the city" July 15 before losing it on a dirt road. In a Reed Williams' Progress article, Nagy expresses disbelief the police couldn't recover his car, while police suggest that if Nagy hadn't left his keys in the car, it wouldn't have been stolen.

Worst driving: An 86-year-old man plows into a farmers market in Santa Monica, California, July 16, killing 10 people and injuring 50. His excuse is that he hit the gas pedal instead of the brake, although witnesses claim he was traveling at 60 mph before he reached the market.

Best endorsement of Charlottesville's new zoning ordinance: The Chamber of Commerce offers "general support" for the plan, and puts in a plug for the proposed Meadowcreek Parkway in a letter to city councilors.

Best carbonated arrivals: A double whammy of Southern sugar water: Pepsi, (following Coke a year ago) launches a vanilla product, and Cheerwine expands its presence in the Valley.

Worst impending gridlock: Planned repairs mean that today's de facto Meadowcreek Parkway, Park Street, will lose its bridge over the bypass shortly after August 1, according to a City release.

Best silver lining: Closed since March 10, the Locust bridge will reopen at the end of July, according to the same City release.

Worst porn case: The conviction of an Ohio man for writing stories about torturing children is reversed on appeal. Robert O'Neil, head of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, tells the AP that he was startled by the notion that "what are essentially thoughts or one's tortured imagination could become the basis for prosecution."

Best brouhaha: Frequent lone dissenter Rob Schilling votes against City's stand against the Patriot Act Monday, July 21.

Best reason to risk blindness: Reuters reports that frequent masturbation during the 20s reduces risk of the prostate cancer later in life, according to an Australian study.

Best departments at UVA Medical Center: U.S. News & World Report picks hormone disorders; urology; ear, nose and throat; cancer; gynecology; orthopedics; respiratory disorders; digestive disorders; neurology and neurosurgery; and kidney disease as among the top 50 in the United States.

Worst revelations about President Harry Truman: A previously undiscovered diary reveals anti-Semitic remarks.

Best quarter for Media General: The owner of the Progress exceeds projected earnings of 72 cents a share, bringing in 75 cents a share for a profit of $17.5 million in the second quarter, thanks to increased advertising in June.

Best job? Over 70 people apply for the Scottsville town administrator position, with Barry Clark from the Albemarle County finance department snaring the position.

Best Pat Robertson antics of the week: The Virginia Beach religious broadcaster urges the faithful to pray for the removal of three Supreme Court justices in the wake of the high court's ruling that sodomy laws are unconstitutional.

Best additional reason for Pat Robertson to pray: The trial of sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad has been moved to Virginia Beach.

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