The week in review
Hottest story: High winds on February 19 fan flames throughout the state that threaten homes in Ivy and White Hall, and burn one down in Louisa.
Latest city councilor to not seek reelection: Holly Edwards calls it quits after one term, and joins two-termer David Brown, who has already announced he won't run again. No word yet from Satyendra Huja, the third councilor up for reelection this year.
Latest McIntire Park lawsuit, part 1: The Coalition to Preserve McIntire files suit to stop the Charlottesville end of the Meadowcreek Parkway, WCAV reports.
Latest McIntire Park lawsuit, part 2: Local fitness clubs continue their litigation to block the YMCA's plans for a 77,000-square-foot facility in the park, contending for-profits like ACAC and Gold's Gym were not allowed to bid on the center, which Charlottesville is leasing to the Y for $1 a year. A case against Albemarle has already been thrown out by Judge Cheryl Higgins, and she'll hear the city case April 1. Charlottesville Tomorrow has the story.
Latest Blue Ridge Parkway shooter delay: Ralph Leon Jackson, 57, has his court date pushed back again as federal prosectors decide whether to seek the death penalty for the April slaying of Tim Davis and wounding of Christina Floyd, according to NBC29.
Least daunted by the Rutherford Institute: The Downtown Business Association is working on a plan to install security cameras on the Mall linked to police after City Council declined to pay for such a system three years ago and the civil liberties organization's John Whitehead expressed concerns about Big Brother on the mall, NBC29 reports.
Newest city middle school: The Charlottesville School Board picks Buford February 17 to house grades 6-8, and the other contender, Walker, will become an early learning center, Brandon Shulleeta reports in the Progress. The board also approves a $68.5 million operating budget and raises for teachers and staff that will average 2.4 percent.
Most disappointed: The Jefferson Area Tea Party expresses its displeasure February 18 with 5th District Congressman Robert Hurt's vote to fund the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter alternate engine, which the tea party calls a "boondoggle" and "pork barrel politics."
Biggest whew: An overturned canoe is recovered from the Rivanna River February 15, and no victims are found.
Biggest Jefferson discovery: Researchers find 74 volumes belonging to the master of Monticello at Washington University in Saint Louis, where they've been since the 1880s, when his granddaughter donated them, Bryan McKenzie reports in the DP.
Oddest press release: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas delivers the keynote address at the banquet for the Federalist Society Student Symposium, the nation's largest gathering of conservative legal scholars and students, February 26 at the Boar's Head Inn. The public may get an overflow ticket to the soldout event, but media is not invited. Other non-Thomas events at UVA Law School are open to the public.
Best ham radio: The Albemarle Amateur Radio Club is voted club of the year and will be honored in May at the "Academy Awards" of short-wave radio, the Dayton Hamvention.
Best in breed: Gulliver, a Greene County Leonberger, a not widely known type of large, German-bred working dog, wins at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show, the first of his breed to do so. Gulliver resides with Nancy and Harry Austin, and works on Tuesdays at the Kluge Children's Rehabilitation Center, NBC29 reports.
Best press on flash seminars: The Washington Post carries a story February 21 about UVA student Laura Nelson and her popular homage to the joy of learning without grades or credit.
Most attention-grabbing fundraiser: Bras for a Cause, sponsored by the Blue Ridge chapter of the Women's Council of Realtors, seeks men to don breast-supporting undergarments to raise money for the Positive Image Boutique at UVA Health Systems. Sharon Fitzgerald has the story in the Progress, and the event will be held April 1.
Corrections: The above story has been modified to reflect the following corrections: Gulliver resides in Greene, not Albemarle, and Progress reporter's last name is Fitzgerald, not Fitgerald.