4Better Or Worse
The week in review
Published on Oct 9th, 2003
0 comments Worst week for Rush Limbaugh: The conservative talk radio host resigns October 1 from an ESPN pre-game show after commenting that Philadelphia Eagles' quarterback Donovan McNabb isn't that good, and...
The week in review
Published on Oct 2nd, 2003
0 comments Worst leak for the Bush administration: The Justice Department is investigating the outing of a CIA agent whose husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, contradicted the President's State of the...
The week in review
Published on Sep 25th, 2003
0 comments Worst words for millions still in the dark: "This is absolutely the worst storm ever we've ever experienced"– a statement echoed by power companies in Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, and...
The week in review
Published on Sep 18th, 2003
0 comments Worst weather forecast: Hurricane Isabel Best chad-related twist: A federal appeals court rules punch-card ballots in six California counties are unacceptable, potentially delaying the October 7...
The week in review
Published on Sep 11th, 2003
0 comments Worst sticker shock for taxpayers: President George W. Bush asks Congress for $87 billion to pay for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Worst addition to U.S. 29 north: Another stoplight, just a hop,...
The week in review
Published on Sep 4th, 2003
0 comments Best indication the gods must be crazy: An August 28 gale brings down the big tent at the perennially weather-plagued Albemarle County Fair, trapping dozens and closing the event on Friday. Best...
The week in review
Published on Aug 28th, 2003
0 comments Best public university: UVA ties with the University of California at Berkeley for the number one position in this year's U.S. News & World Report rankings. 21st best university overall: UVA and...
The week in review
Published on Aug 21st, 2003
0 comments Worst blackout: A power outage shuts down New York, Toronto, Cleveland, and points in between August 14, the worst in U.S. (and Canadian) history. Worst worm: Blaster wreaks havoc in 500,000...
The week in review
Published on Aug 14th, 2003
0 comments Worst dog abuse: Binding the front paws of a boxer and dumping her off a 27-foot Albemarle County bridge. Despite her two broken legs and head injuries, the dog is doing well. [See story, page 6.]...
The week in review
Published on Jul 31st, 2003
0 comments Best American in Paris story: Lance Armstrong wins the Tour de France for the fifth time in a row. Worst week for Saddam Hussein: U.S. forces kill his sons, Uday and Qusay, July 22, and capture a...
The week in review
Published on Jul 24th, 2003
0 comments 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...
The week in review
Published on Jul 17th, 2003
0 comments Best boost to the reward for the serial rapist: Charlottesville, Albemarle , and UVA each have kicked in $5,000, upping the reward for the arrest and conviction of the man suspected in at least six...
The week in review
Published on Jul 10th, 2003
0 comments Worst 4th of July casualty: Alexandria resident Matthew John Kelleher, 23, drowns in the Rivanna River when he's swept over the Woolen Mills dam. He's found July 6 about a mile downstream near the...
The week in review
Published on Jul 3rd, 2003
0 comments Best decision for consenting adults: The Supreme Court on June 26 overturns a Texas law banning sodomy– a decision that extends to Virginia's sodomy laws. Best news for borrowers: The Federal...
The week in review
Published on Jun 26th, 2003
0 comments Published June 26, 2003, in issue #0225 of The Hook Best Supreme Court decision for UVA admissions: The court rules that colleges and universities can consider race to achieve diversity. UVA says it...
The week in review
Published on Jun 19th, 2003
0 comments Worst arsonist: Lyle M. Wagner allegedly sets his Wayland Drive house in Crozet on fire June 10 and then tells the fire marshal he did it. The house is completely destroyed, and Wagner is charged...
The week in review
Published on Jun 12th, 2003
0 comments Worst hate crime: Former Albemarle deputy Stephen Shiflett's March 13 alleged allegation. If he really concocted a fake shooting by an imaginary African American, he may join South Carolinian child-...
The week in review
Published on Jun 5th, 2003
0 comments Best catch by a rookie: Twenty-one-year-old cop Jeff Postell nabs Eric Robert Rudolph, a suspect in the 1996 Olympic bombings and subject of a massive manhunt in the mountains of North Carolina, as...
The week in review
Published on May 29th, 2003
0 comments Best reason for Cavaliers to celebrate: UVA wins the NCAA lacrosse championship May 26. Worst reason: State funding continues to drop at Virginia's flagship university, reaching a new low of 8.1...
The week in review
Published on May 22nd, 2003
0 comments Worst weather for a graduation: UVA's Class of 2003 gets soaked May 18. Best example of Democrats on the run: 50 from the Texas legislature hightail it across the border to prevent a quorum and thus...
The week in review
Published on May 15th, 2003
0 comments Worst local weather: A vicious thunderstorm and unconfirmed tornadotear through Central Virginia May 9, killing James R. Ward when a tree falls on his Buckingham County home. Worst episode of girls...
The week in review
Published on May 8th, 2003
0 comments Worst jolt: Charlottesville rocks through a Fluvanna-based 3.9 earthquake at 12:32pm on May 5. Worst spring weather: Scores of tornadoes rip a 400-mile swath through Kansas, Missouri, and Tennessee...
The week in review
Published on May 1st, 2003
0 comments Best addition to UVA coffers: Carl and Hunter Smith donate $23.5 million to UVA for a new performing arts center and marching band. Worst casualty of the Smiths' largesse: The UVA Pep Band, which is...
The week in review
Published on Apr 24th, 2003
0 comments Worst looting: First the theft of priceless artifacts in Baghdad's National Museum of Antiquities and then the burning of the National Library leave Iraq's cultural heritage decimated. Best response...
The week in review
Published on Apr 17th, 2003
0 comments Worst week for Iraqi sculptors: Statues of Saddam Hussein come tumbling down. Best week for American armed forces: Major combat in Iraq is essentially over. Worst date for procrastinators: April 15,...
The week in review
Published on Apr 10th, 2003
0 comments Worst addition to network news: The daily tally of American and British dead, missing, and prisoners of war. Worst omission to network news: The number of Iraqi dead, missing, and prisoners. Most...
The week in review
Published on Apr 3rd, 2003
0 comments Worst Iraq analysis: The war could take much longer than anticipated, according to Lt. Gen. William Wallace, the Army's senior ground commander in Iraq. Worst gaffe by a war correspondent: Peter...
The week in review
Published on Mar 27th, 2003
0 comments Best reason for non-stop television watching: The United States begins its war on Iraq March 19. Worst potential disaster to consider, as if war and terrorism aren't enough: March 25 is Tornado...
The week in review
Published on Mar 20th, 2003
0 comments Worst St. Pat's Day: President George Bush gives Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave Iraq before the U.S. attacks at "a time of our choosing." Next worst threat besides imminent war and terrorist...
The week in review
Published on Mar 13th, 2003
0 comments Worst ender to a bender: Escort service owner Paulus Irving Perkins is found guilty March 5 of rape, sodomy, and abduction of a 19-year-old woman. During the trial in Lovingston, Paulus admits...