The week in review
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 rules October 16 that a videotape of accused murderer Joseph Michael Harris, 24, boasting of shooting Anthony Lorenzo "Bunny" Johnson, 22, can be shown to the jury, prompting the defense to plead for more time and the trial to be pushed back to November 26, Samantha Koon reports for the Daily Progress. Johnson's body was found at Darden Towe Park in February 2005 in a slaying that had been considered one of Albemarle's coldest cases until prison inmates came forward to finger Harris.
Biggest manhunt: Michael Nelson Currier, who is wanted on four felony counts and flees on foot when he's spotted by an Albemarle sheriff's deputy October 17, is arrested without incident late October 18 in a hotel in Farmville. Currier is charged with burglary, grand larceny, possession of a gun by a felon, and probation violation.
Worst stat: Virginia Keith, 79, becomes the 10th person to die in a crash on Albemarle roads this year. Keith was attempting to cross U.S. 250 at Tilman Road in Ivy and was broadsided by an eastbound F350 pickup, shutting down the road for hours at evening commute time. Police say speed and alcohol are not factors, and no charges are pending.
Worst hack: Southern Environmental Law Center says it's the victim of a major internal security breach in which confidential material was taken without authorization. The environmental group has reported the theft to the FBI.
Most DUIs: The high-on-PCP mom Santana Faulkner, 28, picks up additional jail time in Madison and Greene counties and will serve six months concurrently on those charges, the DP reports. Faulkner already was sentenced to one year and five months in Albemarle for driving high with a child in the car on a suspended license.
Most illegal tents: The Commonwealth Restaurant and Skybar on the Downtown Mall falls afoul of the Board of Architectural Review for its upstairs tent October 16 and is asked to defer its permit application, according to Charlottesville Tomorrow. Other restaurants with tents in violation of the city's new guidelines are Horse and Hound, Maya, and McGrady's, according to preservation planner Mary Joy Scala, who says Mono Loco's tent on Water Street is grandfathered in and can remain.
Most BAR rejections: That same night, Coran Capshaw's high-density mixed-use Plaza on West Main project on 2.12 acres between the Amtrak station and Hampton Inn is denied 4-2 a special use permit.
Best news for eastern Albemarle: The county teams with Martha Jefferson Hospital and adds an ambulance to the medical center on Pantops.
Saddest news from the Corner: The man who oversaw the 1990s revival of the UVA Corner District as well as the transformation of what had been known as Mincer's Pipe Shop from a tobacco-based place to the center of lively UVA merch died of cancer at the age of 77. Robert H. "Bob" Mincer, who had handed over the reins of Mincer's to his son, Mark, died on October 22.
Most restaurants: The Shops at Stonefield will contain far more than the restaurants already named. Also on the way: Black & Orange, Parallel 38, and Cyclone Anaya’s.
Closest Scrape: Stauntonian Presley W. Moore III, 46, receives recoverable injuries when a wing on the Genesis 2 glider he was attempting to fly clips the ground on takeoff in Nelson County October 20 according to a police release.
Most Earth-shaking: Charlottesville-based music writer/producer Andy Waldeck– whose first big project was called Earth to Andy– is revealed as the new bassist for Daughtry, the popular musician raised in Fluvanna. The big reveal comes at a concert in Dubai, according to Gulf News.