This one of those pictures that just makes you stop, makes you wonder, makes you want to ask, “Is that for real?” While we are not discounting the possibility that Council-member Adrian Fenty (D-Ward 4) may be the favored candidate in the much sought after 8-15 age-group, we are guessing that someone’s parents are taking next year’s mayoral race just a step too far. Hopefully she didn’t run into the hyper-active nine-year-old with the “Cropp for Mayor!” sandwich-board sign — that would have turned ugly.

Warner Declares State of Emergency in Virginia: Virginia Governor Mark Warner yesterday declared a statewide state of emergency in preparation for Tropical Storm Ophelia, currently 200 miles of the Atlantic coast yet expected to make landfall along North Carolina and Virginia on Wednesday or Thursday, reports WJLA. The announcement, which puts state agencies to work on preparations for possible flooding and other weather-related disasters, serves as testament to the high state of alert that exists in the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s destruction along the Gulf Coast, much of which was expected yet not quickly acted upon, critics contend.

Affordable Housing in District Falls: In what may well turn into a central issue in the 2006 mayoral race, the Post is reporting today that a new study by the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute has found that the number of affordable houses and apartments in the District dropped by 12,000 last year. Median rent jumped nine percent — from $734 to $799 — while median home values increased by 32 percent — $252,930 to $334,702. A taskforce working on the issue has proposed that more of the tax revenues from the housing boom should go towards the construction of 55,000 new mixed-income and mixed-race housing units over the next 15 years.

Local Publishing Firm Adopts Evacuees: In an instance of continuing local generosity following the Hurricane Katrina disaster, a Rockville-based publishing firm has adopted a family of evacuees, writes NBC 4. The firm, United Communications Group, adopted the Stander family of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, and has moved them into a condominium complex in Rockville. In related news, Fox 5 is reporting that some of the District’s 17,000 homeless residents have complained that they are receiving less attention than the 200 evacuees at the D.C. Armory, each of whom has gotten $100 in Metro vouchers, $350 debit cards from the Red Cross, and $50 cash.

Crime Increases in District: The District has long battled high incidences of violent crime, and while the first months of 2005 seemed to indicate a more peaceful year than before, that trend may be turning. The decreases in crime in the District that have been celebrated by police and government leaders during the year are slowing, according to the Common Denominator. Auto theft was fast on the rise in six of the city’s seven police districts during the month of August, as were robberies (13.6 percent), thefts (8 percent), and homicides (11.8 percent).

Briefly Noted: D.C. Inspector General to audit public school … Fairfax County bus drivers may strike … Catholic group calls for firing of four professors at Georgetown University … Sex professor at George Washington University dismissed … Rash of tire slashings plagues Falls Church … VCU freshman remains missing.

Picture above snapped by IntangibleArts.