4BETTER OR WORSE- The week in review

Biggest news: President Barack Obama descends upon Charlottesville October 29 for an appearance in support of Congressman Tom Perriello.

Biggest crowd: The Secret Service estimates 9,000 at the Pavilion with another 3,000 overflow.

Least impressed: The Jefferson Area Tea Party urges adherents to "skip the frenzied, transparent Presidential 'Hail Mary'" and attend an already scheduled forum on national issues.

Biggest unknown: At presstime, whether Obama's visit had any impact on voters as far as reelecting Perriello–- or somehow benefiting Republican state Senator Robert Hurt.

Biggest winners: TV and radio stations should see a hefty boost to the bottom line with all those darn political ads. 

Most unusual lawsuit: Candidate Hurt files suit against the League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club for a TV ad he claims defames him by calling his vote on a uranium mining study "a shocking conflict of interest," Brian McNeill reports in the Daily Progress. The suit seeks $740K compensatory and $350K punitive damages. The League of Conservation Voters stands by the ad, according to a spokeswoman.

Biggest flop: Indoor pools at Charlottesville's swanky new Smith Aquatic and Fitness Center, open in September, close October 28-29 because of a mechanical failure.

Biggest change of heart: Dentist George Tisdelle withdraws the appeal October 21 of his misdemeanor sexual battery conviction for groping an employee. Tisdelle has a 90-day suspended sentence.

Biggest "duh:" In the search for a new Albemarle police chief to succeed John Miller, who retired the end of September, two Supes said personal integrity was an important quality they'd be looking for in a new chief, and stress that's no reflection on past chiefs, Ted Strong reports in the Progress.

Newest CEO: Lawrence Kochard is named head of the UVIMCO–- the University of Virginia Investment Management Company–- succeeding Christopher Brightman, who was in charge of the university's endowment when it lost over $1 billion and who abruptly resigned earlier this year.

Saddest radio loss: Former WINA Charlottesville Live host Nancy King dies October 31 from cancer complications at age 59. More recently, King worked with the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities to produce programs for NPR.

Latest trouble for convicted rapist: Jeffrey Theodore Kitze, 49, is charged with misdemeanor stalking of a local woman three weeks after three women testified they were creeped out by the behavior of the man who was convicted of beating and raping a UVA law student in 1989–- the day after his own sister graduated from law school.

Most glowing report: Dominion Virginia Power is trying to find the source of low-level of radioactivity in groundwater at the North Anna nuclear power station and claims the elevated levels do not pose a health hazard.

Most distracted: Albemarle school bus driver James Stovall is cited for failure to control his vehicle when the bus carrying approximately 60 students from Woodbrook Elementary rolls backward on U.S. 29 on the way home October 29. Stovall, according to a release, was talking to students on the bus, but doesn't say what the little scamps had been doing. No one was injured.

Most dramatic: A box of props for The Bog of Cats at UVA's Helms Theatre bursts into flames the morning of October 27 when an electronic cigar shorts and smolders. The fire is put out with a fire extinguisher, and the show goes on that evening.

Best reason to stay current with Vanity Fair: The October issue's 100 members of the New Establishment lists architect William McDonough as #84– calling him a "role model" for sustainability, right between designer Marc Jacobs and #85, geneticist Craig Venter who's trying to engineer algae to produce fuel.

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