4BETTER OR WORSE- The week in review

Published online 8:00am Thursday Apr 17th, 2008
and in print issue #0716 dated Thursday Apr 17th, 2008

Biggest same-sex custody case: Two women joined in a 2000 civil union in Vermont– Lisa Miller and Janet Jenkins– face off in the Virginia Supreme Court April 17 over custody of their five-year-old daughter.

Biggest deal: Blockbuster offers more than $1 billion for Richmond-based Circuit City, and skeptics suggest Blockbuster is biting off more than it can chew.

Next biggest deal: UVA Medical Center agrees to pony up enough cash to get a 49 percent interest in the Culpeper Regional Hospital.

Biggest ground breaking: UVA Medical Center starts building the Emily Couric Cancer Center April 12, and sister Katie attends (see Photophile, page XX).

Latest Joe Chambers woes: The Buckingham County supervisor who was outed by the Daily Progress for not paying his property taxes for four years adds a DUI to his troubles April 7, the paper notes.

Latest abduction by a Greene County ex-boyfriend: Travis Lee Devault, 36, is charged with taking a Stanardsville woman from her home April 3 and driving around with her for about an hour, until she escapes.

Oddest abduction: A 20-year-old male UVA student reports being kidnapped and robbed April 12 near the intersection of Rugby Road and University Avenue and taken to Crozet by three assailants he's unable to describe.

Most people packing heat: Applications for concealed weapons permits shot up 60 percent in 2007, making nearly 44,000 folks armed and dangerous, according to WINA.

Most bloated: The area's housing supply sits at 3,673 compared to 3,100 last year at this time. Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors reports the number of sales in the first quarter of 2008 at 557– the lowest number since 2000. Number of sales in Albemarle drops 40 percent in the first quarter.

Most Jeffersonian: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia receives UVA's highest recognition for someone not affiliated with the school, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in law, presented jointly with the Thomas Jefferson Foundation April 11. Senator John W. Warner is awarded the medal in citizen leadership, and United Nations special envoy Gro Harlem Brundtland in architecture.

Best perk for city and county employees: City Hall closes April 14 in honor of TJ's 275th birthday April 13.

Worst hit for Albemarle property owners: The Board of Supervisors ups the tax rate from 68 cents per $100 assessed value to 71 cents to make up for slightly lower real estate assessments.

Worst girl-on-girl action: A woman is accused of stabbing another woman early April 10 in the 900 block of South First Street; the 25-year-old victim is taken to UVA Medical Center with non-life threatening wounds, WINA reports.

Oldest alleged cemetery vandals: Earl Junior McCraw, 24, Michael Francis Mills, 23, and Dawn Christine Johnson, 30, are arrested for trespassing April 12 in Maplewood Cemetery. Seven tombstones are vandalized, and Mills faces felony destruction of property charges as well.

Least successful "everyone lies in chat rooms" defense: Howard University soccer coach Joseph Okoh, who was arrested in Louisa when he drove from DC, allegedly to have sex with a teen purported to be 13, argues that he didn't necessarily know she was a 13-year-old, WCAV reports. The judge certifies the charges April 10.

Luckiest beneficiary of the Boss largesse: Bruce Springsteen donates four tickets to his April 30 show at the Jack to be auctioned online by Charity Folks, with the proceeds going to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank Network. The Food Bank also scored a $100,000 grant from the Fox network and "American Idol Gives Back."

Holiest roller: The late Reverend Jerry Falwell's Liberty University considers adding a roller coaster to its Lynchburg campus to provide more recreational opportunities for its students, according to WCAV.