4BETTER OR WORSE- The week in review
Best paycheck surprise: Albemarle supes vote November 11 to give county employees, who haven't seen a raise in three years, a one-time $350 bonus.
Best foreclosure averted: Sweely Estate Winery in Madison renegotiates its loan, according to the Madison County Eagle.
Latest Oliver Kuttner news: The developer of the Edison2, the $5-million winner of the Progressive Automotive X Prize that made national news in September, is unloading his Lynchburg properties–- 30 of them– to finish other buildings he owns there, the News and Advance reports. Also, the officer who arrested Kuttner in Lynchburg October 12 for an expired registration and obstruction of justice has been cleared of any wrongdoing, something that Kuttner had alleged.
Latest armed robbery of a UVA student: November 10 in front of the student's Eagle's Landing apartment. The gun-toting suspect, who took the victim's wallet, is described as a black male, 18 to 30 years old, wearing a dark jacket and blue jeans.
Latest forcible fondling of a UVA student: A woman walking on Wertland Street around 3am November 14 reports a man came up behind her, put his hand up her skirt and then fled when she screamed and kicked. The suspect is described as a white male between 20 and 30, wearing dark pants and a black North Face jacket.
Worst time to call in a bomb threat: At 2pm, when the school day is mostly over, which is what happened November 9 at CHS. Evacuated students are not allowed back in the building to collect purses and backpacks until after the building is cleared at 5:20pm.
Worst grandma: Louisa's Laura Jewell enters an Alford plea on charges of felony child abuse and neglect and malicious wounding November 9 after her eight-year-old granddaughter flees her house July 8, bruised and bloodied and wearing a soiled diaper. Jewell will be sentenced February 23.
Second worst grandparents: Augusta residents Arthur and Marcia Warren are charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor for making their nine-year-old grandson sleep in the shed as a disciplinary measure when he visited them, and his parents are charged as well because they knew about it, the News Virginian reports.
Worst places to look for a date: School janitor David Snow, 55, is arrested November 15 for taking indecent liberties with a minor that he allegedly met at the Greene County Technical Education Center where he works, although the incident occurred off school grounds, says the Greene Sheriff's Office. And Canadian Alan J. Sauve, 46, is arrested in Michigan November 13 thinking he was going to have a date with a 14-year-old Louisa girl he met on the Internet.
Most like Andy Griffith: A former Albemarle school resource officer allows a carload of juveniles to empty bottles that contained alcohol and toss marijuana in a storm drain rather than bust them on a traffic stop, according to Tasha Kates in the Progress.
Harshest reminder this isn't Mayberry: The officer, Carlos Turner, is fired for allegedly lying about letting the kids dispose of the pot, and is in court November 12 trying to hang onto unemployment benefits the state says he shouldn't have because was dismissed for misconduct.
Most shocking statistic: Charlottesville's infant mortality rate at 10.6 deaths per 1,000 live births is higher than the state average of 7.3 and Albemarle's 6.2 deaths during a study period of 2004-2008, Sharon Fitzgerald reports in the DP.
Biggest buzz kill: Some state lawmakers are looking at banning synthetic pot, which goes by names like Spice and K2, that is legally available online and in convenience stores now.
Best pie: Crozet Pizza represents Virginia on USA Today's list of 51 best pizza parlors in the country.
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