+10 Saying enough is enough, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, who has carried an A rating from the National Rifle Association, calls for lawmakers to pass what he calls "rational gun control" following the horrific school shooting in Newtown, Conn.
+3 Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli agrees with environmental groups that the current renewable energy law sucks and needs revision. This alone was enough to curb global warming, since the center of the earth suddenly froze over.
+2 Seafood lovers rejoice as Rappahannock Restaurant, from the guys who brought you Rappahannock River Oysters, opens downtown on East Grace Street. Other people heard rejoicing: creepy dudes who wear too much cologne and think oysters will help get them laid.
+1 Washington Redskins roll without their star quarterback, RGIII. Anything that increases the value of our summer preseason, we'll take.
-8 Catholic Bishop Walter Sullivan dies at 84. Richmond loses a moral conscience and spiritual leader who served here for 38 years.
-5 A Henrico sheriff's deputy is stopped and charged with drunken driving as well as intent to distribute cocaine. Also, McGruff the Crime Dog was last seen hastily packing up his meth lab and hitting the road in a RV.
+2 Gov. Bob McDonnell passes on adding $150 million to his budget to help build a new sports arena in Virginia Beach to accommodate an unidentified NBA team. A "Real Housewives of the Flying Squirrels" reality television pitch was also shot down.
-2 City officials tell a Richmond woman she needs to pay more than $15,000 for an outstanding utility bill. Responded the Idaho family with the massive tacky light house show synced to dub step: "What's the story here?"
+3 Richmond Symphony gets a grant for $500,000 from the Cabell Foundation. The only catch: they have to raise $500,000 first. In a bid to reach hipsters, the symphony will be offering its next release on splatter vinyl.
+3 Seibert's Towing announces its Toasted Tow program to transport drunks and their cars home during the holidays for a $50 fee. But they can't tow away the shame and embarrassment of blacking out during the office Christmas party and making a pass at the boss' husband.
-3 Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling ends his campaign for governor, expressing disappointment in the Virginia GOP and refusing to endorse fellow Republican candidate, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. Bro just ain't got a smooch for the Cooch.
+5 Thousands of holiday lights are turned on in downtown Richmond, drawing hordes of holiday revelers to the Grand Illumination. Many of them follow the holiday cheer into Shockoe Bottom for the Grand Intoxication.
+7 Floats, bands, balloons and bystanders turn out to Broad Street for the 29th annual Dominion Christmas Parade. No reindeer, either living or inflated, were harmed this year.
+3 NBC-12 reports on the fire department rescue of a construction worker who falls about 20 feet while working on an elevator shaft in Short Pump. He broke his leg going down, but otherwise says things are looking up.
-4 VCU women's volleyball coach James Finley says he was fired from his job at the university because he is openly gay. Apparently a sport involving lots of spandex and knee-high socks is just no place for a gay man.
+5 Richmond sees an influx of out-of-town family members and former residents here to celebrate Thanksgiving. For those visitors who couldn't wait to wake up to the smell of the cookie factory near the Boulevard, eat some Bill's Barbecue and watch Gene Cox on Channel 12, it was a sad, sad holiday.
-1 Some enthusiastic shoppers go all-out out for Black Friday deals, including setting up campsites at the Best Buy in Short Pump. We generally like to stay at the W when doing our overnight shopping in Short Pump, but hey, that's just us.
+2 Electricity kicks the holidays into gear, with local houses firing up for the popular tacky light tours. It's that time of the year when Dominion Virginia Power's Redneck Revenue Division sees all of its hard work pay off.
0 At the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas, the VCU men's basketball team beats Memphis but ultimately gets a reality check from Duke, which wins the tourney. On the upside, Shaka and Coach K get in some bro time down by the beach, sipping piña coladas from coconuts and discussing the pressures of being celebrities.
+1 A 12-foot Fraser fir arrives at Capitol Square, delivered by Mount Rogers Christmas Tree Farm in Whitetop for the Governor's Mansion. But before it gets decorated, it must undergo a trans-cambium ultrasound.
+3 Virginia tourism officials launch the Lincoln Movie Trail, a self-guided tour and website mixing history with filming and dining locations of Steven Spielberg's movie. Sadly left out is the Joseph Gordon-Levitt Topless Bar Crawl Down Route 420.
+4 The Richmond Tattoo Arts Festival marks its 20th anniversary, drawing the inked and their fans to a weekend at the convention center. One person conspicuously absent: that guy who got a Romney tattoo on his face.
-2 Holiday music floods local airwaves earlier this year — more than a week before Thanksgiving — with radio stations Big Oldies 107.3 and Lite 98 turning on their all-Christmas-music formats. Even the elves weren't ready.
+1 Hundreds of beer fans turn out to Hardywood Park Craft Brewery for the release of its award-winning Gingerbread Stout. Drink enough and your head feels like it got trampled by reindeer.
-1 Local unions mobilize to protest at a local Wal-Mart for starting Black Friday sales two hours earlier this year, complaining that it cuts deeper into workers' Thanksgiving time. In some families, this is considered a blessing.
-1 Election Day comes and goes, with some people noticing that "E pluribus unum" is misspelled on many "I Voted" stickers. So, more than $2 billion spent on a presidential campaign and no one can afford a dictionary?
0 In the Senate race between Tim Kaine and George Allen, Gawker reports that Virginians register more than 6,000 write-in votes to Hank the Cat. There goes our chance at a chicken in every pot and some nip before every nap.
+6 Richmond gets an official screening of the "Lincoln" movie, preceded by several long speeches by local officials including Gov. Bob McDonnell. They clearly haven't heard of the Gettsyburg Address.
+4 More than 4,000 runners take part in the Anthem Richmond Marathon, which is won by Kipkoech Ruto, a 23-year-old from Kenya. And then he ran home. +4
+1 RVA Magazine acquires GayRVA.com. So many skinny jeans under one roof.
+5 Richmonders set their clocks back as daylight saving time comes to an end. In related news, the microwave in our break room finally displays the correct time again.
+4 The Urbanna Oyster Festival draws Richmonders eastward in droves. You haven't lived until you've seen a pearl-spitting contest.
-2 In the stretch to Election Day, voters take a final blast of campaign ads, phone calls and candidate visits from politicians. After Tuesday, it's back to being ignored.
-3 The Times-Dispatch reports that state police and law-enforcement agencies of Henrico, Hanover and Chesterfield counties have estimated their security costs for presidential campaign visits at more than $219,000. Which begs the question: Will speeding tickets now count as campaign contributions?
0 We go to press not knowing who will become the next president of the United States. But one thing is certain: In four years, Bill's Barbecue will still be closed.
+6 President Obama holds a campaign rally at Byrd Park, where an estimated 15,000 people wait for hours to see him. Meanwhile, undecided voters were face down in a pile of their own drool, wondering what to eat for lunch.
-6 But a few days later, opponent Mitt Romney's plans for a rally at the University of Richmond's Robin Center are dashed by megastorm Sandy. Fortunately, thousands of empty chairs still show up in full force.
+4 Haunting the streets from Byrd Park to Carytown, around a thousand Richmonders dress as the undead for the annual Richmond Zombie Walk. If anyone found an overripe left eyeball around Belmont Avenue, hit us up on Facebook.
-7 Buying generators from the backs of trucks and stocking up on toilet paper, Richmond prepares to hunker down for the much-hyped Frankenstorm. Style Weekly's exclusive SuperHDStormPredictor gives your bowl of Halloween candy a 10 percent chance of lasting till Wednesday night.
+2 Richmond enters its final full week of political door knockers, campaign mailers and television ads in the run-up to Election Day. For once Richmonders were praying for a power outage.
+2 The Washington Redskins settle on a site for summer training camp behind the Science Museum of Virginia, with the city announcing the main sponsor as Bon Secours. Is anyone else finally starting to believe there are secret plans to clone Robert Griffin III? Connect the dots, people!
+7 Rescued after a three-day search, Richmond veterinarian Jason Hiser is one of two Virginia hikers returning home safely after getting lost in Glacier National Park during stark wintry conditions. Was there a third hiker? The men would only say, "He was temporarily in our bellies but forever in our hearts."
+1 Financial adviser John Maloney, a former associate editor at Style Weekly, files to run for the House of Delegates as an independent against incumbent G. Manoli Loupassi. Damn liberal media always getting in the way of Republicans.
+5 About a thousand people turn out for HandsOn Day, a rallying cry for volunteers to tackle projects across Richmond — which is followed by a party at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery. Because nothing makes you forget about banging your thumb with a hammer like a nice pumpkin ale.
+5 Ax-throwing, log-tossing and whisky tasting highlight the Central Virginia Highland Games and Celtic Festival. Thankfully it was a mild weekend, 'cause you know the old Scottish proverb: When the wind's a-blowin', kilts be a-flowin'.
+9 Legendary performers Ralph Stanley, Rosanne Cash and Fred Wesley are among the musicians who draw an estimated 200,000 people to a sunny weekend at the annual Richmond Folk Festival. Excluded for yet another year is that lady who plays the dulcimer in Carytown.
+5 Richmond's version of the Tony Awards draws the performing arts community and local celebrities to a rollicking night of awards from theater critics, with "Spring Awakening" and "The Rocky Horror Show" emerging as big winners. Everyone's liver deserves a standing ovation.
-2 As Richmond.com reports, longtime Main Street watering hole and sports pub Mulligan's Bar and Grill closes for good, citing financial challenges and a strict landlord. But what did the wings ever do to deserve this? Won't someone think of the wings?
+3 Halloween season kicks into high gear with the Creepy Hollow Hayride, Ashland Berry Farm's Terror on the Farm and Kings Dominion's Halloween Haunt. But this year's scariest attraction turns out to be the VCU Police Ride-Along.
+1 Jumping into the two-man race for Richmond mayor, self-described City Council gadfly Silver Persinger announces his write-in campaign. Mayor Dwight Jones immediately issues a ban on pencils.