The week in review
Hardest-fought terrain: The East side of McIntire Park. With a pedestrian bridge and the Meadowcreek Parkway bringing change, the golf-only terrain could be carved to include a botanical garden, soccer field, and skate park, according to Charlottesville Tomorrow.
Biggest speed trap: Charlottesville police stage a spontaneous enforcement operation on the U.S. 250 Bypass March 21, lining up on Meadowbrook Heights Road to swoop in on offenders and writing 252 tickets, the Newsplex reports.
Biggest alleged speeder: Junaid Muhammed Kazi, 27, of Lynchburg is clocked at 126mph on U.S. 29 in Amherst around 1:40am March 7, and is charged with reckless driving and driving under the influence, the Amherst New Era-Progress reports.
Biggest rejection: Nelson County supes rebuff property reassessments done by a Staunton company called Blue Ridge Mass Appraisal, and decide to stay with pre-bust 2008 assessments, the Nelson County Times reports.
Biggest blockage: An overturned tractor trailer on Burnley Station Road at 7:45am March 26 in a single-vehicle crash closes that road for seven hours, according to WINA.
Best news for encopresis sufferers: UVA Health System researchers unveil a website called UCanPoopToo.com to help children who suffer from fecal incontinence. An estimated two million children have the condition, and the subscription website is designed to work in conjunction with a doctor's treatment.
Biggest hail to the chief: Despite quitting as president, UVA English professor John Casteen, a British literature specialist, earns a still-presidential $487,000 annually, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Best news out of Richmond: The Senate passes a two-year $85 billion budget March 26.
Latest unfunded mandate: An amendment requiring the state or insurance companies to pay for those forced ultrasounds for women seeking abortions fails to pass the General Assembly.
Latest shift from state to county: State funding for secondary road maintenance in Albemarle has dropped from $5.1 million a year in 2004 to just over $300,000 for the next five years, Aaron Richardson reports in the Progress.
Worst collision: The driver of a passenger car dies in a crash with a construction dump truck around 1pm March 27 at Seminole Trail and Boulders Road, according to police. The name of the deceased was not released at press time.
Worst Buckingham flooding: Goochland woman Maureen Corle Poindexter, age 61, dies attempting to cross Grease Creek near Gladstone, NBC29 reports. She's discovered March 26 in her Ford F150 that had been missing since the night of March 24.
Most heroic: Chuck Worden, the man who saved nine-year-old Adrian Rowe from the Rockfish Run flood waters last April 16 in Waynesboro, receives the Carnegie Medal. According to Bob Stuart of the News Virginian, Worden didn't celebrate, and still feels remorse for the two lives he couldn't save: Adrian's mother, Tina Marie Allen, 41, and Lacy Elizabeth Taylor, 8.
Most dubious number two spot: Virginia has the second-most amount of toxic chemicals dumped into its waterways– 18 millions pounds, according to a report by Environment Virginia. The New River is the hottest toxic dumping ground, followed by the James and Shenandoah rivers.
Most shocking headline: "Washington County Fifth-Graders Arrested" comes from WINA about two boys, 10 and 12, in Bristol who came to school with a gun and allegedly a plan to attack staff and students.
Worst lunchroom fracas: Two teen girls are injured at Robert E. Lee High in Staunton when a 15-year-old boy flips a cafeteria table during an altercation, the News Leader reports. The girls, 14 and 15, are taken to the hospital, the younger with a possible concussion, and charges are pending against the boy.
Oddest trend: Cash Mob. A group of about 50 people, each with at least $20, swarm C'ville Arts, a Downtown Mall gallery, on March 24 to support a local small business, the Newsplex reports. The hour-long event puts $1,700 in the store's cash register, an amount that matches what the gallery typically grosses in two days.