4BETTER OR WORSE- The week in review
Most School Board resignations: Albemarle's at-large member Brian Wheeler quits August 5 after six years on the board, citing the desire to spend more time with his family and as a journalist for Charlottesville Tomorrow. His term runs through 2011. The Reverend Alvin Edwards, a former mayor, books out on the Charlottesville School Board that same day, citing personal reasons. He'd served on the board since 2005, and had missed 17 sessions while on sabbatical, according to Rachana Dixit in the Daily Progress. His resignation becomes effective October 31.
Most rabid: Local health officials say the number of rabid animals between January and July has jumped from 9 a year ago to 15 this year. Raccoons, skunks and foxes are the wild animals most likely to be infected, and cats are the pets most likely to have the disease.
Best case for not using a gun during a robbery: On July 27, two men are sentenced for robberies. Pierre Gerard Augustine gets an active sentence of six years for one armed robbery that netted him $136, according to the DP. On the other hand, non-gun wielding Ricky Allen Corbin Jr., who broke into multiple vehicles and stole money in western Albemarle last year, racking up 11 credit card theft charges, 12 grand larceny, and one felony property damage charge, is sentenced to a total of 124 years with all suspended except three years. (But he owes $4,980 in restitution.)
Best case for white-collar crime: Former Glenmore Country Club president Mike Comer, who pleaded guilty to embezzling $465,000 from the community association August 3, gets an 18-month active jail sentence. And the money has been paid back.
Best news for Greene/worst hit to Albemarle: Walmart prepares to open beside Lowe's in Greene County, both of which are more convenient for Greene residents, albeit sale-tax-revenue-draining from Albemarle.
Most pastor-ific: According to a photo-laden feature in the Progress, Billy Graham's daughter, Ruth, follows in her father's footsteps by getting ordained. It happened August 1 at University Baptist Church. With her is her husband, who, it turns out is none other than former pastor and counselor Greg Briehl, who she married in 2009 around the time of his convictions of two counts of unlawfully filming unsuspecting teen girls in his bathroom in 2006. He also got convicted of one count of child porn possession in 2009.
Perviest: Former Greene resident Gary Lee Rimmer, 55, pleads guilty July 30 to one count each of child porn possession and distribution. In 2006, Rimmer, pretending to be 20, started an online relationship with a 13-year-old girl in Florida, and mailed her a vibrator, lubricant, and a doll, and he emailed her photos of a penis not his own. The victim in Florida sent him photos of herself and his gifts, according to a U.S. Attorney's office release.
Least successful plan for Kmart shopper: Mary Caroline McDonell, 37, is arrested August 6 for felony child endangerment after police receive a call at 2:06pm reporting an infant locked in a car with the air conditioning running in the Kmart parking lot, according to the DP. The child is removed from the car at 2:22pm, and McDonell, the child's mother, returns to the car at 2:30pm.
Biggest farewell to 20th-century technology: UVA jettisons 3,850 landline phones in dorms in acknowledgment of the prevalence of cellphone use among students.
Biggest oops for President Obama: A local woman appearing at a July 19 Rose Garden photo op with the President as a victim of unemployment has a conviction for prescription drug fraud. Leslie Ann Macko's dismissal from ACAC had nothing to do with her conviction, reports Bryan McKenzie in the Progress.
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