4BETTER OR WORSE- The week in review

Published online 8:00am Thursday Sep 28th, 2006
and in print issue #0539 dated Thursday Sep 28th, 2006

Biggest political gaffe not involving George Allen: Fifth District Congressional candidate Al Weed issues an apology to Mitchell Wade-illegal-campaign-contributions associate Richard Berglund, who was convicted of a misdemeanor, not a felony, as Weed's ad lambasting Representative Virgil Goode states.

Biggest attack within an apology: Weed's mea culpa reads, "I have admitted my mistake. When will Mr. Goode own up to his?" referring to Goode securing federal funds for a Wade-owned MZM facility in Martinsville.

Latest in the cop corruption saga: Former Charlottesville police officer Roy Fitzgerald is sentenced September 20 to up to three months behind bars for lying to investigators about his partner's sex act with a blindfolded underage girl, Liesel Nowak reports in the Daily Progress. His former partner, Charles Saunders, is sentenced to three months September 22, and former Max nightclub/escort service owner Charles M. Phillips, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery, gets probation.

Priciest legal bill for taxpayers: The Nelson County Board of Supervisors will pay nearly $79,000 in legal fees run up by Supe Tommy Harvey, who was cleared of conflict of interest in a case involving a special permit for his son's stump grinding business, according to Justin Faulconer in the DP.

Third-best value: UVA makes yet another list, Kiplinger's 50 Best Values in Public Colleges, where it follows the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Florida. William & Mary comes in at number 4.

Thirteenth-best business school: Darden edges past number 14 Harvard in the Wall Street Journal Harris B-School rankings.

Best endorsement of UVA– and beer: Actress/alum Melissa Sagemiller, who currently stars in The Guardian with Ashton Kuchner and Kevin Costner, tells Esquire that in her junior year in high school, when her parents said they were moving to Japan, she replied, "Actually, I'm going to the University of Virginia to drink beer."

Worst outbreaks: UVA hosts a case of mumps, E. coli, and a fatal case of meningitis in September.

Biggest fundraisers: Bestselling authors Stephen King and John Grisham rake in more than $125,000 for Senate candidate Jim Webb at a sold-out reading September 24 at the Paramount. (See Photophile, page XX.)

Least ecstatic: Customers of Hung Ngoc Nguyen, who is arrested September 20 with 1,000 tabs of ecstasy with a value of $25,000, according to police.

Biggest barn burning: Farm equipment valued at more than $50,000 goes up in flames September 21 off Plank Road in southern Albemarle.

Best attempt to thwart burgeoning Bambi populations: A new law makes feeding deer illegal between September 1 and January 6– although planting crops and providing tasty landscaping are still allowed.

Worst riding lawnmower accident: Three-year-old Myra Mackenzie Barco-Calderon becomes trapped under her father's mower September 19, the Culpeper Star Exponent reports. UVA surgeons successfully re-attach her four severed fingers.

Best news for pill poppers: Wal-Mart slashes the price of 291 generic drugs to $4 a prescription September 22 in the Tampa Bay area of Florida and plans to expand the program to the rest of the country later next year.

Best gig for a CHS alum: Caroline Buckman, class of '92, will be playing viola for musical guest Gnarls Barkley on the September 30 season opener of Saturday Night Live.

Best ship-board get: South Africa's renowned Bishop Desmond Tutu will visit UVA's newest nautical learning center, the cruise ship-based Semester at Sea, this spring.