4BETTER OR WORSE- The week in review
Worst disappearance: Buford Middle School student Lorena Sanchez-Toledo, 12, at press time has been missing since April 15 and is believed to be with Jeremias Chagala-Mil, 31, and to be in danger.
Latest Meadowcreek Parkway delay: At its April 21 meeting, City Council holds off blessing the 7-acre interchange at McIntire Road amid concerns about its size, and instead plans yet another work session in May or June.
Latest UVA security breach: The laptop of an unidentified UVA employee who was carrying around the names and Social Security numbers of more than 7,000 students, staff, and faculty is stolen, and the university sends out letters to notify the victims April 14, Brian McNeill reports in the Daily Progress.
Latest UVA secret society shenanigans: A group called Sons of Liberty pours tea down the chimney of a Range resident on April 13– TJ's birthday– and sends a letter calling him a "tyrant," the Cav Daily reports. An anonymous SoL member describes the antics as a "prank" because the group mistakenly thought the victim was trying to favor Jefferson Society members in the Range selection process. The nouveau group, which appeared in the past three to five years, will apologize.
Latest Buckingham elected official charged: School Board member Russell "Pete" Gowin is charged with assault after allegedly bumping into personnel director Thelma Llewellyn at the April 9 board meeting, according to another McNeill report. Property tax non-paying Supervisor Joe Chambers was arrested for driving under the influence April 7.
Latest I-64 shooter charges: Slade Woodson, 19, picks up two more felony counts for shooting into an occupied building and from a vehicle in Waynesboro in the aftermath of the March 27 rampage that shut down Interstate 64, bringing his total to 15 in Albemarle and four in Waynesboro.
Biggest bust of Browns: Four same-surnamed people– Kenneth Lee Brown, 43, Larry Allan Brown, 46, Michael Shane Brown, 41, and Steven Todd Brown, 39– are among eight central Virginians indicted on 12 counts of drug trafficking and wire fraud in Charlottesville federal court. Also charged are Deborah Denise Gentry, 40, Harold Edward Mills, 54, James Enoch Sandridge, 45, and Latisha Dawn Willis, 33. If convicted, Kenneth Brown faces up to life imprisonment and a $4 million fine, according to a U.S. attorney's office release.
Smarmiest: A thief steals $425 in cancer donations at a Mellow Mushroom benefit, fleeing after snatching an envelope with proceeds from a Relay for Life fundraiser from the hands of a student volunteer at 12:15am April 16. The man is described as middle aged, 6 feet tall, 200 pounds, wearing a blue sweatshirt and white baseball cap.
Battiest: A clerk at Oak Hill Food Mart on Country Green uses a baseball bat to fend off a gun-toting robber April 21.
Most shocking: Johnie Edwards Banks, 49, dies April 16 while painting a house on Nalle Street when his roller pole touches an electrical wire.
Most successful fundraising: Democratic 5th Congressional District challenger Tom Perriello out-raises incumbent Virgil Goode for the third consecutive quarter, according to a Perriello release, banking $340K in first quarter 2008.
Easiest breathing: The area now has an ambient air quality monitor at Albemarle High, courtesy the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. The monitor will test for ground level ozone (bad) and fine particles.
Best way to notify one-night stands about your STD: The Virginia Department of Health offers confidential disclosure services to help people notify their sex or needle-sharing partners that they've been exposed to HIV or sexually transmitted diseases and should be tested.
Best headline: "Plan 9 to get out of space" about the local music store leaving the Corner comes courtesy of the DP.
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