4BETTER OR WORSE- The week in review

Worst week for motorcycle fatalities: Nine-year-old Robert Darwin Pormer is a passenger on his dad's motorcycle when a pickup truck allegedly pulls out in front of the bike October 9. Winemaker Dan Neumeister, 31, is returning to work October 4 on his Suzuki on Earlysville Road when allegedly drunk driver William T. Thompson veers into him. Both Pormer and Neumeister die at the scene.

Newest Charlottesville School Board member: Clark Elementary parent Guian McKee is appointed October 11 to finish the term of resigning-member Alvin Edwards, and starts November 1.

Latest WTJU upheaval: General manager Burr Beard resigns October 5, citing family concerns. This follows this summer's uproar when he tried to implement a playlist and boost the station's listenership.

Latest disappearance of a young woman: Samantha Ann Clarke, 19, hasn't been seen since September 13, when she left her Orange home for the evening and never returned.

Closest call: A nine-year-old boy who inadvertently walks into traffic is hit by a car at 5:15pm October 8 on Rose Hill Drive near Burley Middle School and suffers scrapes and bruises. No charges filed.

Waffliest: Jeff Clark, the 5th District independent candidate, threatens for the second time to withdraw from the race, this time if he's not included in upcoming debates between Tom Perriello and Robert Hurt, Brian McNeill reports in the Progress. In August, Clark said he'd drop out of the race if whoever leaked his bankruptcy would come forward. Jefferson Area Tea Party Chair Carole Thorpe writes Clark, reminding him  of previous statements that he would drop out of the race if it appeared he had no chance of winning.

Biggest exposure: A Piedmont Virginia Community College student tests positive for TB, and health officials say 236 people could have been exposed.  

Biggest apple-induced traffic jam: An apple festival on Carter's Mountain backs traffic up on Interstate 64 and Route 20 October 9.

Lightest slap on the wrist: Bruse Eugene Johnson gets a suspended three-year sentence and $5,736 restitution to a pawnshop after hocking university equipment from Clemons Library when he worked there, according to Tasha Kates in the Progress. Johnson pleaded guilty in June, has no previous record and Judge Cheryl Higgins calls his acts a mistake and an aberration. 

Worst thing to do when there's a bee in the car: Try to swat it while driving. Orange resident Claudette Egry allegedly yanks the steering wheel slams into oncoming traffic October 6 on U.S. 250 in Fluvanna in a bee-induced panic, sending herself and two other drivers to the hospital. Egry is charged with reckless driving; the Virginia State Patrol recommends rolling down the window when confronted with an uninvited insect.

Most embarrassing robbery: Three men rob a 16-year-old boy on a trail between Greenbrier and Peyton Drive October 4. Police find two of the suspects at the Shell station on Greenbrier, along with the Halloween mask one of them wore and the cellphone of the third man, who arranges to pick up his phone at the Super 8 Motel, not realizing the police have it. Charged with armed robbery are Frederick A. Thomas, 22; Durod C. Ayers, 22, and V. Djamessi Koffi, also 22. Most of the stolen belongings were recovered.

Most surprising local to make the front page of the Washington Post: Chanel the Chihuahua snuggles into the sweater of Lori Brown in an October 6, top-of-the-fold photo.

Most surprising local to spark a letter to the editor in the Post: Chanel the Chihuahua causes a reader to question the gravitas of putting her on the cover, adding the temperature the day the photo was shot was 50 degrees and not really that cold.

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