05/02/02

4 Better or Worse

The week in review

Worst headline in a national story with a Charlottesville connection: "Child-killer fights neighborhood publicity" appears in the April 28 Washington Post, detailing Glenn Barker's efforts to dispel his neighbors' fears with his own flyers after authorities distributed notices that Barker was convicted in 1983 of killing a 12-year-old girl in Charlottesville.

Best last-minute entry to the 5th District congressional race: City Councilor Meredith Richards tosses her hat into the ring to challenge Republican incumbent Virgil Goode.

Worst aspect of being a public figure: County supervisor David Bowerman is reported missing from eight supervisors' meetings because of a problem with painkillers following knee surgery last August, reports Peter Savodnik in the Daily Progress.

Worst testimony by a mother in her son's rape trial: Patricia Wilson says her son, Michael Bryan Plum, was a loving father "when he wasn't drunk or on drugs." Plum was sentenced on April 22 to 65 years in prison for raping a UVA student under Beta Bridge and sodomizing a woman in Tonsler Park with a metal tire tool. Wilson also testified that her son once beat her and knocked over his grandmother not long after her hip replacement surgery, according to a report by Adrienne Schwisow in the Progress.

Best innovative advertising by a local author: An ad for Janis Jaquith's Birdseed Cookies appears on A Word a Day, a daily email service for linguaphiles that claims 500,000 subscribers.

Worst news for commercial real estate property values: No one bids the minimum $1.1 million at the Planet Fun auction that was over in one minute, according to Commercial Real Estate Update. The Berkmar Drive property is assessed by the County at $2.3 million.

Best news for the nursing shortage: A record number of students are applying to UVA's nursing school, reports the Cavalier Daily.

Worst escapade by a UVA student: Jay Scott Douglas is charged with abduction and assault April 25 after locking his girlfriend in his room at Chi Phi fraternity for more than two hours.

Best name change at UVA: Political guru Larry Sabato's Center for Governmental Studies will become the Center for Politics because "politics is a good thing," according to a UVA release.

Best name change at UVA involving a preposition: The University Press of Virginia changes its name to the University of Virginia Press to reflect its close relationship to UVA more accurately, says UVA president John Casteen.

Worst headline in the Daily Progress: "Discrimination worst at UVA law school, report says" misleads readers into thinking the story is about discrimination against blacks, rather than so-called reverse discrimination against white applicants.

Best address of a suspect in local robberies: Roderick Vance Brown of Broomley Road near Farmington and Flordon is arrested for robbing the Wood Grill and is suspected of robbing Ben & Jerry's, Lindt Chocolate Shop, and Barnes & Noble, reports Reed Williams in the Progress.

Worst reason to have to buy a house: Quarles Petroleum in Culpeper has to purchase a house and have it torn down after one of its drivers-- who was charged with drunken driving-- pumped over 500 gallons of heating oil into the basement last Thanksgiving.

Best showing by a local a female writer in National Geographic: Writer Jennifer Ackerman joins local male photographers and writers who contribute to the venerable monthly with her report in the May issue on keeping the food supply safe.

Worst news for Buckingham County residents: Tax assessments are up by nearly 19 percent since the last assessment, with some shooting up a whopping 50 percent, reports the Progress.

#

>> Back to The HooK front page