4BETTER OR WORSE- The week in review

Published
and in print issue #0826 dated Thursday Jul 2nd, 2009

Most feverish: Two UVA Medical Center employees have H1N1– swine flu– bringing the local number of confirmed cases to four.

Closest call: UVA student Jamie Jiao, 20, sits in the front car of the Metro train that slams into another train June 22, killing nine people, and ends up on the roof of the bottom car, according to the Washington Post.

Worst pedestrian death: Theodore Timothy Snow II is struck June 23 by an RV while crossing Interstate 64 near the Route 20 exit. No charges will be filed.

Worst biking accident: An SUV on Four Seasons Drive hits a 14-year-old boy June 24. The boy suffers a possible broken leg, according to the Daily Progress, and will be charged with failing to stop when entering a highway from a private road.

Worst biker accident: Two Harley Davidsons collide head-on June 28 in western Augusta County, killing both drivers when eastbound Michael Keith Neve, 51, of Midlothian, crosses the center line and hits Delbert "Buzzy" Walton Redman Jr., 53, of Troy, the News Virginian reports.

Oldest alleged assailant: Charles Clifton Peyton, 92, is arrested for assault and battery June 28.

Most fatalities: Three women die in Louisa County over the weekend– Temera McGrath, 37, of Mineral crashes into a tree June 26 around 6:50pm, a woman whose name has not been released crashes her car around 1am June 27, and Sandra Anderson, 47, of Troy slams her motorcycle into an SUV at 4:39pm June 27, according to the DP.

Most similar sentences: Both I-64 shooter Slade Woodson and master swindler Bernie Madoff get 150-year jail terms (though Woodson gets 135 years suspended for his one night of shooting up the interstate.) Madoff, 71, gets the dubious distinction of running the largest Ponzi scheme ever and a life sentence.

First hat tosser: Bradley Rees, 31, from Bedford announces plans June 25 to seek the Republican nomination to challenge to U.S. Representative Tom Perriello for the 5th District Congressional seat previously held by Virgil Goode.

Latest Parkway twist: On June 26, Judge Jay Swett tosses the claim that construction of the Meadowcreek Parkway is illegal, according to Bryan McKenzie in the Progress.

Latest addition to the pantheon of local festivals: The first Charlottesville Pie Fest is scheduled for October 3, joining festivals dedicated to film, books, photography, and vegetarians, Rachana Dixit reports in the DP.

Best tippers? Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority officials pay $247 in gratuities on a $1,376 tab for 20 people at the Ivy Inn restaurant, Brandon Shulleeta reports in the Progress. That works out to almost 18 percent, and even more if the tip was based on a pre-tax total.

Biggest plagiarism scandal: Virginia Quarterly Review's Waldo Jaquith calls out Wired editor Chris Anderson for the similarity of text in Anderson's new book, Free: The Future of a Radical Price, and Wikipedia. Anderson says the lack of attribution was a mistake.

Cruelest false alarm: The Louisa County Sheriff's Office finds more than 200 marijuana plants in the basement of a home with a malfunctioning smoke alarm, NBC29 reports. Police officers rave about the sophistication of the horticultural operation, which they value at $633,000. The victim– er, suspect– faces indictment July 13 in Lousia Circuit Court.

Cheapest hit contract: Stuarts Draft resident Thomas J. Laguardia Sr., 57, hires an undercover cop to bump off his ex and her boyfriend for $750, then negotiates the job down to $40o, according to testimony from Sergeant Josh Sholesto in the Augusta Sheriff's Office at a June 25 preliminary hearing in Staunton, the News Virginian reports. Laguardia is charged with two counts each of soliciting capital murder and attempting capital murder.