Sunday

sports: Spain's Carlos Sastre won the doping-scarred Tour de France, finishing seven seconds behind Australian Cadel Evans in the final stage for a 58-second overall victory.

Monday

PROPERTY TAXES: The Richmond County school board approved a property tax increase designed to help cover a more than $13 million shortfall in its budget. It will raise taxes by $18.78 on a $100,000 home in 2009.

DEFICIT: The federal government's budget deficit will surge past a half-trillion dollars next year. Both presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain blamed the Bush administration's spending, but neither offered a specific plan to address the problem.

IRAQ: Four suicide bombers believed to be women struck a Shiite pilgrimage in Baghdad and a Kurdish protest rally in northern Iraq, killing at least 57 people and wounding nearly 300 in one of this year's deadliest attacks, police said.

Tuesday

SENATOR INDICTED: Sen. Ted Stevens, the nation's longest-serving Republican senator and a major figure in Alaska politics since before statehood, was indicted on seven felony counts that accuse him of concealing more than a quarter-million dollars in house renovations and gifts from a powerful oil contractor that lobbied him for government aid.

HOUSE APOLOGY: The House voted to apologize to black Americans for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow segregation laws.

BRAVE TRADED: The Los Angeles Angels acquired first baseman Mark Teixeira from the Atlanta Braves. The deal came two days before baseball's deadline for making trades without waivers.

Wednesday

RICHMOND COUNTY: A 12-year-old boy was sentenced to 81/2 years for fatally shooting a 65-year-old man during a home invasion in March. Coreon A. Jackson admitted his crime on the witness stand.

FOOD SAFETY: The salmonella strain linked to a nationwide outbreak has been found in irrigation water and in a sample from a batch of serrano peppers at a Mexican farm, federal health officials said, with one calling it a "smoking gun."

PRODUCT SAFETY: Alarmed by a year of recalls targeting millions of tainted toys, the House voted to ban lead and other dangerous chemicals from items such as jewelry and rubber ducks that could end up in children's mouths. The legislation also toughens rules for testing children's products and take steps to give more muscle to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Thursday

CREDIT: A new law now in effect allows Georgians to freeze access to their credit reports with three credit reporting agencies.

RICHMOND COUNTY: The Augusta Housing Authority held two meetings to reveal plans for a new public housing development to replace Underwood Homes.

BUSINESS: Exxon Mobil reported quarterly earnings of $11.68 billion, the biggest profit from operations ever by a U.S. corporation.

LYNX: The Augusta Lynx introduced their new coach, John Marks, a 14-year ECHL coaching veteran.

Friday

BURKE COUNTY: Deputies in Richmond and Burke counties searched for an Augusta man after finding 11 of his children living in a home without electricity or running water. Police made the discovery on Spring Hill Church Road in rural Burke County while looking for suspects in the theft of a chain saw, according to Burke County sheriff's Capt. Frankie Parker.

EDUCATION: Richmond County Superintendent Dana Bedden "reached or made substantial progress" on the goals set by the school board, earning him a $15,000 bonus. His contract stipulates that he can earn $5,000 for each of three goals established by the board. With the performance pay, his contract is worth about $230,000.

ECONOMY: Stores, factories and other businesses large and small showed workers the door last month, sending unemployment to its highest rate in four years and adding to the evidence an economic recovery remains far off. Employers clamped down on hiring and cut 51,000 jobs in July, the Labor Department said.