Published February 20, 2003, in issue #0207 of The Hook

Worst snowstorm: Seven inches (although it seems like more) blanket Charlottesville, the worst since two feet fell in 1996.

Best opportunity to skip class: UVA cancels classes for the first time since 1996.

Worst deja-vu, part 1: The woman who was attacked February 3 on her Camelia Drive porch is assaulted by the same man inside her house on February 12.

Worst deja-vu, part 2: A Louisa man is run over by his girlfriend in her SUV February 12, even as a Texas jury deliberates before sentencing dentist Clara Harris to 20 years in prison for mowing down her cheating husband with her Mercedes.

Worst legislation for owners of vicious pit bulls: Del. Rob Bell's bill that sinks some teeth into prohibiting dog fighting passes the Senate and awaits Gov. Mark Warner's signature.

Best legislative news for Planned Parenthood: A Senate committee narrowly defeats a bill requiring upgrades that would have closed all but one of Virginia's 19 abortion clinics.

Worst news for teens in trouble with adamant antiabortion parents: The same Education and Health committee narrowly approves a bill calling for parental consent for teenagers seeking abortions, a bill that has already passed the House of Delegates.

Best news for teens who don't want their parents to know they've got scabies: The Education and Health Senate committee rejects a bill that would have required parental notification of teens seeking a pregnancy test or treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.

Worst waste of time in the General Assembly (besides specialty license plates): The House of Delegates and Senate Education and Health committee pass a bill banning "partial birth infanticide," which prohibits doctors from killing infants during birth. Isn't that already illegal?

Best specialty license plate for putting two civil liberties organizations-- the ACLU and the Rutherford Institute-- on opposite sides: The "Choose Life" plate has the former calling it unconstitutional, while the latter calls it "constitutionally sound."

Best sound bite from the sponsor of the "Choose Life" plate: Del. Richard Black suggests "Choose Death" to those who want a pro-choice plate.

Worst news for gun-toters planning a night out at Golden Corral: A Senate committee lets a bill die that would have allowed concealed weapons in restaurants where alcohol constitutes 30 percent or less of total sales.

Best source for everything you've always wanted to know about cockfighting: George Loper's website, www.loper.org.

Best sign there is no free lunch: Virginia prisons cut back to two meals on weekends, serving brunch instead of breakfast and lunch, which leaves some inmates complaining.

Worst break for Darrell Rice, the accused murderer of two Shenandoah National Park hikers: Inmates do not have a constitutional right to have guitars, keyboards, or other electronic instruments in federal prison, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rules, rejecting Rice's challenge to allow him to play guitar in Cumberland, Maryland, where he's now incarcerated awaiting trial, the Washington Post reports.

Worst potential traffic bottleneck for 2003: The Locust Avenue Bridge will close to all traffic March 3 for four to five months. Repairs at times will also close lanes of the Route 250 Bypass.

Next worst potential bottleneck: And then the Park Street Bridge will be closed.

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