4BETTER OR WORSE- The week in review

Worst gunfight: Reports of shots fired in the 2200 block of Commonwealth Drive at 1pm February 26 lead to the arrest of Julian M. Pettiford, who is charged with three felony counts, including shooting into an occupied  building. 

Worst shooting: A man is injured when shots are fired early March 2 in a parking lot off Seminole Trail at Terry Dean's Dance Studio. A spokesperson for Dean releases a statement that the studio had been rented for a private party, and it will not be rented out for events in the future. 

Worst terror in Crozet: A mountain lion steals dog food bowls, tips trash cans, and tries to get into a house on St. George Avenue, according to a WCAV report. See News story, page XX.

Worst break: A water main breaks February 29 at the pump station in Crozet, and residents are asked to postpone laundry and car washing until March 3.

Worst break for Advance Mills residents: VDOT reconsiders constructing a temporary bridge that was supposed to be installed by April, citing budget shortfalls. Jeremy Borden has the story in the Progress.

Most beleaguered: One of Virginia's nine private cockfighting clubs, Woodridge, is in Albemarle. The Washington Post reports that the Virginia Gamefowl Breeders Association sent a list of the clubs to the attorney general, and the General Assembly weighs making such activities illegal.

Most growth: The Hispanic population in Virginia tripled between 1990 and 2006, according to UVA's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. Of the current 460,000 Hispanics, 60 percent are citizens whose wealth and education exceed the state's averages, and 40 percent are immigrants with less education and money.  

Latest rate increase: Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority is upping water rates 2.65 percent for city dwellers and 2.44 percent for Albemarle County residents to pay for the upcoming Ragged Mountain Reservoir expansion, subject of the cover story in last week's Hook. Flushing becomes even more expensive, with sewer rates going up over 10 percent. Charlottesville Tomorrow notes that the City's representatives to the RWSA board, city manager Gary O'Connell and public works director Judith Mueller, were not present at the meeting.

Tawdriest UVA sports story: Football player Mike Brown is charged with grand larceny for allegedly breaking into a parked car, stealing electronics, and trying to sell them on eBay.

Best hackers: UVA graduate student Karsten Nohl and his two research partners based in Germany recently broke the wireless security encryption that protects over a billion "smartcards" used as keycards for entry into high-security areas, and as mass-transit fare cards in cities such as London and Boston, among dozens of uses around the world. To prevent those with nefarious purposes from exploiting the security hole in the smartcard chips, Nohl has not publicly disclosed details. 

Best international incident: China reprimands Charlottesville City Council for voting to fly the Tibetan flag over City Hall March 10, the anniversary of China's invasion of the Dalai Lama's homeland in 1949. Henry Graff has the story for NBC29.

Biggest spammer: The X Lounge/Event Company sends thousands of emails to UVA staffers February 27, apparently mining the staff on-line directory, Waldo Jaquith reports in Cvillenews.com. 

Best blogger v. blogger: Cvillain.com's "Thor" defends the spam practice of X Lounge, which is a Cvillain advertiser, and in a Cvillain thread that had swollen to 183 comments at press time, Jaquith explains over and over why spamming is illegal.

Best sign hell is freezing over: Local writer/typewriter loyalist Barbara Rich starts a blog called "A Slice of Liberal Tongue on Wry."

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