4BETTER OR WORSE- The week in review

Published online 9:00am Thursday Mar 8th, 2007
and in print issue #0610 dated Thursday Mar 8th, 2007

Latest contenders for the November elections: Scottsville businessman Denny King, who ran unsuccessfully for Albemarle School Board in 2003, announces his intent to elbow out two-term Supervisor Lindsay Dorrier, who plans to seek re-election. And Charlottesville attorney Jennifer McKeever kicks off a run March 6 for one of three seats up for grabs on City Council.

Best news for Jefferson School: Charlottesville announces the Jefferson School General Partnership and the appointment of 12 members, including City Councilors Kendra Hamilton and Julian Taliaferro, former mayor Bitsy Waters, and attorney Steve Blaine, who will lead the fundraising and chart the course of preservation for the historic school.

Best news for Hampton University: The journalism school of the student newspaper-confiscating college wins re-accreditation by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Media following staff resignations and interference by the university administration.

Gustiest: March 5 winds cause at least six brush fires and down lines on Earlysville and Georgetown roads.

Worst fire: Two young men are killed in a Farmville house fire early March 3: Byron Jamerson, 21, a 2003 Albemarle High graduate, and Ed Cunningham, a Longwood University senior from Appomattox.

Worst weekend shooting: March 2 gunfire on Prospect Avenue leaves a 17-year-old boy wounded and police looking for a dark-colored SUV.

Worst herpes results: Six Virginia horses have tested positive for equine herpes virus, but, so far, the malady hasn't turned up in Albemarle.

Best trip to the dentist: More than 30 local dentists have signed up to provide care to low-income adults through the Community Dental Program, an alliance between the Charlottesville Albemarle Dental Society, Monticello Area Community Action Agency, and the Charlottesville Free Clinic, the latter having received a generous grant from a W. Alton Jones offshoot, the Blue Moon Fund.

Latest Keith Woodard acquisition: The owner of three buildings on the Downtown Mall since 2003 who's clashed with the Board of Architectural Review (which likes 9-story buildings until someone attempts to put one on the Mall) has acquired McIntire Business Park at the corner of McIntire Road and Harris Street for $10 million, according to a Brian McNeill story in the Daily Progress.

Best buddies of the Charlottesville High Orchestra: Dave Matthews Band, John Grisham, and Boyd Tinsley dig deep to help the orchestra raise $320,000 to play at the prestigious Heritage Music Festival in London, as do many other less well-heeled citizens, Matt Deegan reports in the DP. The high school band is within $30,000 of its goal.

Second-best seed for the ACC tourney: Virginia trails UNC to take the number-two spot in Tampa and play the winner of the Duke-NC State game March 9.

Best news for high-def TV owners: Comcast adds nine HD channels for digital cable subscribers March 6, including local stations WVIR, WAHU, and WVAW.

Most like September 2001: The Dow Jones industrial average nosedives February 27, dropping 416.02 points in one day, the largest loss since 9/11.

Longest deliberations: A jury takes 10 days to find VP Dick Cheney's former chief of staff Scooter Libby guilty of obstruction, perjury, and lying to the FBI.

Most miffed donor: William & Mary loses a $12 million pledge because the state-sponsored school removed cross from the Wren Chapel, and the peeved pledger didn't like it one little bit.