4BETTER OR WORSE- The week in review
Worst baby-killing trial: Robert Wayne Wyant, 33, is convicted of second-degree murder November 16 in the death of his girlfriend's eight-month-old daughter, Alexis Renee McFadyen, by shaking. Rob Seal reports in the Daily Progress that the baby had been in Wyant's care when she lapsed into a coma and died two days later on November 14, 2006. The jury recommends Wyant get seven years; he'll be sentenced January 29.
Worst parenting: A 23-month-old Madison toddler is allegedly thrown to the ground numerous times by his naked father November 15 and is hospitalized with three skull fractures, the DP reports. Jason E. Robinson, 23, of Culpeper, is charged with aggravated malicious wounding, driving under the influence of drugs, and felony eluding.
Most novel idea to come out of City Council: A tax rebate? Councilors Dave Norris and Julian Taliaferro unveil the bold proposal November 13, the day before the city announces a $6 million to $7 million surplus, the Progress' Seth Rosen reports.
Least inclined to public participation: When Charlottesville Tomorrow's Brian Wheeler shows up at the Hillsdale Drive Steering Committee meeting November 13, city development manager Angela Tucker tells him the meeting is not open to the public because the committee was chosen by Neighborhood Development Services, which apparently is not held to the same transparency standards as other government road project meetings. When Wheeler refuses to leave, the committee allows him stay. According to Wheeler on the Charlottesville Tomorrow blog, it's the first time he's been asked to leave a meeting about a public road.
Worst diss to Regal Seminole Square: The movie theater will be sacrificed for the new not-yet built Whole Foods in the latest Hillsdale Connector plan, the second theater in the road's path slated to bite the dust.
Brightest side to losing the Regal: The perennial waiting lines outside the ladies room suggest it could have used more bathrooms.
Biggest jail break: Alonzo Erwin Logan escapes from Dillwyn Correctional Center November 16 and is still on the lam at press time. Logan, 41, who was serving 44 years, left a note saying he was not going back.
Biggest heist: A woman's $24,000 log cabin kit is stolen from Drumheller Orchard near Lovingston, where it was being stored, according to Kate Harmon in the Progress. Maryland resident Terri Beck planned to retire to Nelson County, but in late September when she went to check on it, the house in a box was gone, and a witness says it had been picked up by men in a dump truck with Maryland tags who said they knew Beck.
Biggest speed trap: Ten Albemarle cops issue 127 tickets to 97 drivers on the U.S. 29/250 bypass November 14, according to a release. Eighty-one of the summons are for speeding, and the top speed recorded on radar is 84 mph.
Most hazardous crossing: An 80-year-old woman is hit in a crosswalk near Giant on Pantops November 18. Trisha Meijer Burer is taken to UVA Medical Center; the driver of the 1994 Volvo, Dona Martin Morris, is charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
Worst Mitch Van Yahres news: The longtime former delegate for the 57th District has lung cancer, Bob Gibson reports in the Progress.
Best place to gorge on cookies: The SNL Financial building on December 3 for an employee bake sale to raise money to buy DVDs for the troops in Iraq, in conjunction with Crutchfield's B.R.A.V.O. program– Bringing Relief and Video Overseas– that started in 2003 and will ship 200 MP3 players and up to 200 DVD players to soldiers.
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