The week in review
Worst shopping frenzy: A female Wal-Mart shopper in Orange City, Florida, is trampled and knocked unconscious November 28 by a 6am sale crowd desperate for $29 DVD players.
Worst bowl choices: Before crushing Virginia Tech 35-21, UVA considers the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Iowa, but then gets invited for a second year to the Continental Tire Bowl December 27 in Charlotte.
Best protest: Militant seniors in their walkers and wheelchairs occupy the corner of Hillsdale and Greenbrier drives November 24 to object to the proposed Hillsdale Connector.
Worst exit: Christina Morris, 23– charged with child endangerment and marijuana possession and is being held without bond after allegedly leaving her four-year-old child home alone for an hour with pot and a loaded gun in the living room– says her 19-year-old nephew was supposed to watch the child while she ran an errand at work at 5am November 25, the Progress reports.
Worst bender: The former Gordonsville cop who disappeared for three days in October, Emerson Brown, is indicted November 24 for trading his .40 caliber Glock service pistol for cocaine, Reed Williams reports in the Progress.
Worst fall: A 57-year-old woman dies after leaning against a rotten railing and falling from her Antoinette Street deck November 29.
Best decision for message t-shirt wearers: A federal appeals court in Richmond rules that Albemarle County's dress code prohibiting students from wearing images of weapons– like then 6th-grader Alan Newsom's NRA t-shirt– is probably unconstitutional and bars the county from enforcing it December 1. Newsom and his family are suing the county.
Best sign Meadowcreek Parkway is as controversial as ever: Parkway opponents Mayor Maurice Cox and Councilor Kevin Lynch send out a press release denying the city is ready to transfer 9.2 acres of McIntire Park to VDOT. And at the December 1 council meeting, Chamber of Commerce president Tim Hulbert refers to "unfounded, back-channel threats of political retribution aimed at the council parkway majority" in Elizabeth Nelson's Daily Progress account of the meeting.
Best quote by Governor Mark Warner touting his tax reform package: "If being a low-tax state alone were the criteria for [economic] success, Alabama and Mississippi would be leading the nation right now," he tells the Washington Post.
Worst rabbit killing: A Culpeper man is sentenced to a month in jail for slaying the pet rabbit of an acquaintance in June. Thomas Jacob Fincham also must pay $500 in restitution and perform 50 hours of community service.
Worst warrant-less searches: Media General, parent company of the Daily Progress, threatens random searches of employees' purses, briefcases, and personal vehicles in its new employee handbook. Two Richmond labor unions have filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board.
Best sign adultery is still illegal in Virginia: Luray's town attorney, John Raymond Bushey Jr., is convicted of adultery October 23 and is appealing the case.
Worst defacement: John Callaghan tears the cover off an issue of The Advocate in a Williamsburg library because he doesn't like the photo of two bare-chested men about to kiss. Callaghan's library privileges are revoked for a month.
Best donation to CATEC: BMW of America gives the Charlottesville-Albemarle Technical Education Center a $40,000 BMW for future auto techs to learn on.
Best donation to U.S. soldiers: Crutchfield is shipping $18,500 worth of entertainment products to a rest and relaxation facility in Kuwait.
Worst soda: Turkey & Gravy pop, produced by Jones Soda in Seattle, sells out all 6,000 bottles in two hours.
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