4Better Or Worse
The week in review
Published on May 23rd, 2013
0 comments Worst trend, part 1: Nine people overdose on heroin in Culpeper and Spotsylvania last week, and two die, according to a release. Worst trend, part 2: Virginia's suicide rate is the highest in 13...
The week in review
Published on May 15th, 2013
0 comments Closest tie to Boston Marathon bomber: The body of Tamerlan Tsarnaev was refused burial space all over the northeast. He's quietly buried in a Doswell cemetery in in Caroline County, and outrage...
The week in review
Published on May 8th, 2013
0 comments Best sign racism is alive and lurking: Some miscreant paints a racial slur and crude pornographic image on Beta Bridge May 1 that's condemned by UVA President Teresa Sullivan, the Student Council,...
The week in review
Published on May 1st, 2013
1 comments Worst carjacking: Three men approach the driver of a yellow Nissan Xterra on Longwood Drive around 9:30pm April 25, rob the driver, and one of the suspects pulls a gun, NBC29 reports. When the...
The week in review
Published on Apr 24th, 2013
3 comments Latest tuition increase at a best-value university: UVA ups its in-state tuition and fees 3.8 percent to $12,458 a year, making a year there around $26,000. Out-of state students get hit with a 4.8...
The week in review
Published on Apr 17th, 2013
4 comments Latest Albemarle traffic fatalities: An 88-year-woman driving a 2002 Buick LeSabre plows into the median and a tree on U.S. 29 south of Hollymead Town Center April 10, killing her 87-year-old...
The week in review
Published on Apr 11th, 2013
0 comments Biggest margin: Democrat Jason Vandever wins the special election for Charlottesville treasurer April 2 by 75 percent with 1,280 votes to independent opponent John Pfaltz's 397 votes. Biggest...
The week in review
Published on Apr 3rd, 2013
1 comments Worst first: Albemarle has its first traffic fatality March 27 followed by two more two days later (see related story page 10). In 2012, 12 people died on county roads. Worst week for fatal crashes:...
The week in review
Published on Mar 27th, 2013
1 comments Worst trend: Charlottesville becomes the wild West again with another incident of gunfire on a weekend night at a crowded venue. The latest bullets erupt March 22 at the Buffalo Wild Wings parking...
The week in review
Published on Mar 21st, 2013
0 comments Latest slam on the BoV's June debacle: The American Association of University Professors releases a report on Rector Helen Dragas' firing of President Teresa Sullivan and calls it a "crude...
The week in review
Published on Mar 13th, 2013
1 comments Worst missing girl case: Jennifer Carolina Romero, 16, at first was believed to be a runaway when she disappeared from her Weyers Cave home March 2. Police now think that through social media, the...
The week in review
Published on Mar 6th, 2013
0 comments Biggest predicted snowfall: We've been duped before this winter, but the National Weather Service calls for 8-14 inches of snow– up from 4 to 8 inches– starting Tuesday evening, March 5,...
The week in review
Published on Feb 28th, 2013
0 comments Best/worst news for transportation in Virginia: The General Assembly passes a bill to address the Commonwealth's crumbling infrastructure that shifts the gas tax from the pump to wholesale, ups the...
The week in review
Published on Feb 21st, 2013
0 comments Most candidates: Kristin Szakos announces she'll seek a second term on City Council February 14. Dem precinct chair Jonathan Stevens says he'll run for Charlottesville commissioner of revenue. Former...
The week in review
Published on Feb 14th, 2013
0 comments Most eagerly awaited fugitive: Former restaurateur Jim Baldi, pictured, returned to town February 5 after waiving extradition, according to San Francisco public defender Mark Jacobs. Now housed in...
The week in review
Published on Feb 6th, 2013
1 comments Latest in the Daniel Harmon-Wright saga: The former Culpeper cop who blasted unarmed Patricia Cook, 54, a year ago is found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and two other felonies January 29. A jury...
The week in review
Published on Jan 30th, 2013
9 comments Worst exercise of Second Amendment rights: A man walks into Kroger on Emmet Street with a loaded AR-15 semi-automatic rifle January 27. Worst idea for a hoax: University of Virginia at Wise student...
The week in review
Published on Jan 23rd, 2013
0 comments Biggest bust: The six-to-10-inch snowfall predicted for January 17 that had Albemarle schools closing for the day despite no stickage. Biggest Culpeper trial: Former police officer Daniel Harmon-...
The week in review
Published on Jan 17th, 2013
0 comments Best connecting the dots: The common thread for controversial UVA Rector Helen Dragas' top supporters– Governor Bob McDonnell,  U.S. Senator Mark Warner, and former governor/U.S. Senator...
The week in review
Published on Jan 9th, 2013
2 comments Newest BoV member: Governor Bob McDonnell appoints prominent UVA/McDonnell donor Bill Goodwin to the Board of Visitors. Goodwin has served on the BoV before, and this fall, in an advisory position,...
The week in review
Published on Jan 2nd, 2013
0 comments Worst rumor: That something will happen at Albemarle High on the Mayan Doomsday December 21– one week after the horrific massacre of first graders in Newtown, Connecticut. Albemarle police...
The week in review
Published on Dec 18th, 2012
1 comments Latest abduction: Mark L. Weiner, 52, of Barboursville, is charged after allegedly giving a ride from Charlottesville to Pantops to an adult female early December 13 and taking her against her...
The week in review
Published on Dec 11th, 2012
0 comments Worst flu outbreak: St. Anne's-Belfield cancels upper school classes December 7 with more than 80 students and staff stricken. Jack Jouett Middle School reports a similar number of absences, reports...
The week in review
Published on Dec 4th, 2012
4 comments Biggest search for missing teen: Nearly 100 people turn out December 1 to look for 19-year-old DaShad "Sage" Smith, who was supposed to meet a friend November 20 at the Amtrak station on West Main,...
The week in review
Published on Nov 27th, 2012
1 comments Most disturbing discovery: A motorist reports an unresponsive man in a parked car at the eastbound I-64 rest area near Ivy/Crozet around 8:30am November 26. Virginia State Police determine the man...
The week in review
Published on Nov 20th, 2012
0 comments Most disruptive: Occupiers interrupt City Council November 18 following the public comment portion of the meeting, and police escort two of them out, the first time anyone's been ejected in at...
The week in review
Published on Nov 13th, 2012
0 comments Most schizophrenic: In June, UVA's Board of Visitors fires President Teresa Sullivan. At its November 9 meeting, the BoV unanimously votes to extend Sullivan's contract another year to 2016, with the...
The week in review
Published on Nov 6th, 2012
1 comments Most disturbing wanted poster: Albemarle police send out photos of two girls November 5 seeking to identify them because they were believed to be victims of assault. The children are identified and...
The week in review
Published on Oct 31st, 2012
1 comments Bigger than the 2012 election: Hurricane Sandy puts politicking on hold and has the Eastern Seaboard braced for a perfect (Franken)storm, the behavior of which meteorologists call "unprecedented."...
The week in review
Published on Oct 23rd, 2012
0 comments Biggest bombshell: Albemarle Supervisor Christopher Dumler, who represents the Scottsville district, is arrested for forcible sodomy October 18. Biggest bombshell in court: Judge Cheryl Higgins...