4BETTER OR WORSE: The week in review

Worst rash of child porn cases:  Brittney M. Demmer, 28, is indicted on 10 counts of possession, including videos of prepubescent children, the Daily Progress reports. Dustin Jame Lapradd, 23, a former UVA student, also is charged with 10 counts. And Greene County man Trenton Ray Morris, 26, is arrested October 2 and charged with 10 counts.

Worst embezzling case: Heather Eve Gallimore, 36, the woman charged with swindling the Greene County Youth Center, is sentenced October 2 to 12 months in jail and $24,000 in restitution  

Worst change of heart for victim's family: Darryl Andre Johnson was in court October 1 to be sentenced for the shooting death of Phillip E. Adams Jr. last October 22 at a party on the Corner. Instead, he asks for a new lawyer and to rescind his Alford plea to first-degree murder. Adams' family had traveled to be at the sentencing, and one upset member had to be escorted out of the courtroom. Tasha Kates has the story in the Progress. 

Lengthiest stabbing sentence: Lamont Jermaine Blakey gets 15 years October 1 after being found guilty of second degree murder for stabbing to death Joshua Lee Gibson, whom he believed was involved with his girlfriend, Kates reports. The killing took place September 30, 2008, at Friendship Court.

Most stimulated: UVA scores $38.7 million from federal stimulus funding– "so far–" according to a release that hints more is in the works. The money rolling in is going to 102 projects across the research spectrum, including medicine, astronomy, physics, engineering, education, and biology.  

Speaking of grants: The Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service is awarded $80,000 from Virginia to make sure the U.S. Census Bureau's address lists for the state accurately capture high-growth areas in the upcoming 2010 census, which affects representation in Congress, voting districts, and funding.

Latest 5th District Republican candidate: North Garden resident Michael McPadden, a Northwest Airlines captain, throws his cap into the race September 28, joining four other Republicans eager to challenge U.S. Representative Tom Perriello from Ivy in 2010. 

Latest armed robberies: A man is robbed on 15th Street late October 4 and the 7-Eleven on Ivy Road is hit a few hours later by a similarly described black male perp: short, early 20s, wearing dark baggy pants and sweatshirt pulled up over his mouth.  

Most controversial greenhouse gas theory: UVA professor emeritus William F. Ruddiman suggests that primitive farmers who burned forests and planted rice paddies spewed emissions into the atmosphere 5,000 years ago. The Washington Post has the story.

Worst place to have a nicotine fit: UVA Medical Center bans smoking outside on its property starting October 1. The hospital offers visitors "comfort kits" with tips on quitting smoking, word puzzles, and hard candy, according to the Progress. Patients may be given anti-smoking lozenges or prescribed a nicotine patch. Employees get a smoking cessation program called "Healthy Hoos," while unrepentant smokers must hit public streets. There are no fines with the ban, but security or police may be called on violators who refuse to put out their cigs.

Best note-burning: October 7 the Nelson County Historical Society torches the $275,000 mortgage it borrowed to purchase the 11-acre Oakland property in 2004, where it established a museum focused on rural life in Nelson County.  

Best pie: Lemon chiffon baked by Kathy Banner wins the first Charlottesville Pie Fest October 3 in Crozet.

Best 1959 Lincoln Continental project: Converting the gas guzzler owned by Neil Young into a fuel-efficient electric land yacht is the ambitious undertaking of Perrone Robotics, according to Brian McNeill in the DP.  

This original version of this article misspelled Michael McPadden's name. It has been corrected online.–ed

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