The week in review
Best job security: UVA President John Casteen will keep his job through 2011, and CEO Leonard Sandridge will remain top administrator until June 2009, Bob Gibson reports in the Daily Progress.
Biggest foreshadowing: In a move that smells like Charter status, the UVA Board of Visitors considers a proposal to raise tuition 10 percent a year for the next five years, up from $5,243 to $8,389 in 2009-2010.
Best Rick Turner quote: When the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity announces it's leaving the Black Fraternal Council for the Inter-Fraternity Council, the Dean of African-American Affairs says, "Martin Luther King, Jr. was an Alpha, and he would roll over in his grave if he knew that these young men made this move," reports the Cavalier Daily.
Next-best Rick Turner quotes: At his State of the African-American Affairs speech in the Rotunda February 2, Turner says Charlottesville school Superintendent Scottie Griffin "is being dragged through the mud because she's black and female," and that "I don't think white people in Charlottesville will do anything for black folks," according to Kate Andrews in the Progress.
Latest in the Ivy v. Faulconer saga: The construction company appeals the Albemarle Board of Supervisors' denial of its site plan for a heavy equipment yard to Albemarle Circuit Court, claiming the BOS exceeded its authority by hinging its approval on the adequacy of public roads, primarily Morgantown Road.
Best trailer park story: Habitat for Humanity purchases the Sunrise Trailer Court on Carlton Avenue for $1 million, and plans for all the residents to stay while it builds a mixed-use development that includes affordable housing, John Yellig reports in the Progress.
Harshest employment story: General Shale announces it will close its Somerset plant, which employs 50 to 70, after the company loses its bid to open a mine near a residential area in Barboursville, according to Olympia Meola in the Progress.
Worst news for panhandlers: A Rob Bell bill passes committee prohibiting begging for money in roadways– unless you're a firefighter with a boot, in which case you can get a permit to accost drivers with impunity.
Worst news for underage drinkers: More Bell bills target minors who consume alcohol and those who buy it for them, eliminating the "keg party exemption."
Worst news for parents who don't think it's the government's job to tell them whether their child can have a glass of wine with dinner at home: Under Bell's zero tolerance bill, mom and dad could lose their driver's license for a year.
Best sign local police officers have lost it: Members of the Albemarle and Charlottesville police departments, including Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo, take the Polar Plunge into the Atlantic Ocean in Virginia Beach February 5 to raise money for the Special Olympics, according to a Liesel Nowak report in the Progress.
Best name for a tumor: "Frank," the name of the grapefruit-sized tumor in nine-year-old David Dingman-Grover's brain that is removed in Los Angeles February 2 after his Sterling, Virginia, parents raise money for the surgery by selling "Frank Must Die" bumper stickers on eBay.
Most eye-catching press release: "Surprise your Valentine with a manatee," urges the Save the Manatee Club.
Most idiotic bill with staying power: The droopy drawers bill that would fine kids whose low-riding pants expose their underwear passes a House of Delegate's voice vote February 7.
Best news for flagging seniors: Medicare's new prescription program covers Viagra.
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