4BETTER or worse: The week in review
Worst week for baby deaths: The family of year-old Camora Latay Wicks raises money May 30 to pay for a $4,000 funeral to bury the baby, whose cause of death is undisclosed. Ramon Turley, 18, is charged with second-degree murder. And on May 21, an unresponsive one-year-old is airlifted from a foster home in the 5000-block of Jefferson Mill Road in Scottsville and pronounced dead at UVA Medical Center. Police are investigating that death, the Daily Progress reports.
Worst bus crash: Four people are dead and more injured on I-95 about 30 miles north of Richmond when a commercial tour bus overturns and lands on its roof early May 31.
Worst law enforcement rampage: Franklin County deputy Jonathan Agee, 32, is accused of fatally shooting his wife at a Roanoke Sheetz May 30 and wounding a state trooper who gave chase. Additional troopers surround and fire upon Agee, whose wounds are life threatening, WSLS reports.
Worst time to go shopping at Kohl's: The department store is closed for nearly three hours May 24 after an envelope containing a white powder is discovered in the parking lot. Haz-mat specialists determine the mysterious substance is not harmful.
Biggest ghost of highway projects past: Albemarle Supervisor Rodney Thomas wants to bring back the controversial U.S. 29 Western Bypass, which was defunded in 2002. Charlottesville Tomorrow has the story.
Biggest infectious disease outbreak: Three measles cases are reported here, and one of those is a student at the Charlottesville Waldorf School, according to health officials.
Biggest victory for climate change deniers: Four months after the conservative American Tradition Institute made a Freedom of Information Act request to UVA for all documents pertaining to work by climate scientist Michael Mann, a Prince William County judge gives the university an August 22 deadline to produce 9,000 documents. UVA prez Teresa Sullivan promises to use every exemption possible and a May 29 Washington Post Editorial Board opinion piece condemns the use of FOIA to go after scientists as "invasive fishing expeditions in search of a pretext to discredit them."
Most explosive: Two devices turn up May 21 in north 29 subdivisions: the first in the 1800 block of Charles Court in Hollymead and another in the 3400 block of Turnberry Circle in Forest Lakes. The Albemarle Fire Marshal's Office is investigating, according to a release.
Priciest truck: Charlottesville Fire Department wheels out its new, $1.9 million fire engine, dubbed "Tower 10," which has a 95-foot ladder and a black box– much like an airplane's– to document sky-high malfunctions, NBC29 reports.
Hottest trial: The case against alleged improper brush pile burner Alex Toomy gets heard May 31. But any verdict in the case– charged in the February 19 blaze that torched 609 acres– arrived too late for this issue. Story online and in print next week.
Latest in Mount Solon's Gomorrah: The 15-year-old boy who was shot in January by his 48-year-old lover's husband when he tried to break into their house (and subsequently had his leg amputated) is sentenced in a no-press-allowed hearing May 25, the News Leader reports.
Latest City Council candidate: Andrew Williams, who was unable to gather enough signatures to get on the ballot in 2009 and ran as a write-in candidate, announces he's giving it another shot May 29 and running as an independent.
Latest in Scottsville race: Christopher J. Dumler, 26, an attorney, wants the Democratic nomination to run for the seat vacated by Lindsay Dorrier on the Albemarle Board of Supervisors, Charlottesville Tomorrow reports.
Best teen scientists: Two Albemarle students kick derriere among the more than 1,500 entrants at the world's largest science research competition, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles. Western Albemarle senior Arun Dutta gets a third place and a special award, and Albemarle High sophomore Simanta "Sims" Gautam takes home a second-place award.
Best lacrosse team: UVA men take the national title May 30 in Baltimore, defeating Maryland 9-7.