4BETTER OR WORSE- The week in review
Worst way to get a girlfriend: A 13-year-old girl disappears June 20 from the Downtown Mall, and police believe she's with Eleno M. Garcia, 29, a resident of the 600 block of Bolling Avenue, who is distantly related to the girl and may attempt to flee with her to El Salvador. In April, a 12-year-old Buford Middle School student was missing for two weeks before she was found with Jeremias Chagala-Mil, 31, in Chicago.
Longest gang-related sentence: Indio Martinez, 19, who has a history of being declared incompetent to stand trial, gets five years for his role in beating up two teens in 2006 who declined his offer to join the Bloods, and in the March 2, 2007, shooting of a teen at Blue Ridge Commons. According to the Daily Progress, most of Martinez's two felony malicious wounding convictions, conspiracy to maliciously wound, and gang recruitment charges are suspended, and the two years he's already served will count toward his sentence.
Most competent to stand trial? The Staunton teacher who wrote notes threatening to bomb her own school in February is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on seven counts in August following a psychiatric evaluation, NBC29 reports. Heidi Marie Dorn, 34, was a special education teacher at Shelburne Middle School. She's been fired, and the School Board is petitioning to have her teaching certificate revoked.
Biggest crime spree: Ruckersville retailers Crawford Saddlery, Boot'vil and Food Lion are robbed June 17 and approximately $900 is stolen by a white male driving a newer model white four-door GMC pickup with farm tags (they were covered up in the Food Lion hit). Brian Eugene Brubaker of Crimora is charged June 23 for those crimes, as well as for a June 21 Tractor Supply Company heist in Harrisonburg. A warrant is pending for an attempted robbery of Ladd Convenience Store in Augusta.
Most robberies involving a white pickup: A Fort Defiance gas station reports a drive-off by a white truck that filled up with nearly $100 in gas, according to WCAV. The Augusta County Sheriff's Office says a vehicle with the same description was used in a robbery at the Farm Bureau in Staunton, and the same suspect may be involved in a June 19 Greenberry's heist in Charlottesville– as well as a Cracker Barrel robbery earlier in June.
Most perplexing choice: The Farm Bureau in Staunton?
Most likely something in the water: The South Rivanna Water Treatment Center adds carbon to combat unpleasant-tasting algae that show up during warm weather, according to the Progress.
Most athletic high: Western Albemarle wins the Wachovia Cup for Group AA schools for the third time– for having the best overall record in 27 sports, WINA reports. The WAHS Warriors are 2007-08 state champions in boys indoor and outdoor track and boys tennis, and in field hockey.
Most profitable: Nonprofits in Charlottesville and Albemarle hold over $7 billion in assets, according to a Connect Network and Community Foundation Study.
Newest Virginia historic landmark: Clark Hall, built in 1932 to house UVA's Law School, joins the state's Landmarks Register.
Biggest screen: UVA's Board of Visitors okays a gigantic screen for Scott Stadium that will measure 32' by 57', three times the size of the current board, Brian McNeill reports in the DP. CBS Collegiate Sports Properties picks up the $2.4 million tab, and it should be installed in time for the fall 2009 kick-off.
Wine-i-est: Virginia grape production jumped 35 percent between 2001 and 2007, says the Virginia Farm Bureau, and vineyard acreage rose 41 percent during that same period.
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