VCOG would like to thank everyone who helped make Access 25 a success. Thanks to our speakers and panelists, who took time out of their packed schedules to share their insight and expertise with our audience. We heard about recent FOIA court cases, transparency in animal testing at public universities, using AI to build civic engagement tools and the treasures you might find at your local clerk of court’s office. We also talked about getting information on solar project proposals and data center developments, and we got an update on the rollout of a new website, State Navigate, that promises to be all-things-state-legislature for every state! Congratulations to our annual FOI award winners, and a special shout-out to the staff at Court Square Theater, who went above and beyond to ensure things ran smoothly. Finally, we thank our generous corporate sponsors and individual donors, without whom none of this would be possible.

Seven months after calling the 128 physicians and faculty members who penned a letter of no confidence in University of Virginia Health System leadership a handful of “dissatisfied” employees, UVa President Jim Ryan has apologized. What’s changed in the seven months since Ryan dismissed the concerns of his own employees: UVa paid a prestigious law firm $4 million to investigate the allegations against UVa Health CEO Dr. Craig Kent; that law firm presented what’s been described as a “damning” report to the university’s governing Board of Visitors; and Kent promptly resigned. What’s not changed: Ryan and other university officials see no reason for “corrective action,” despite the law firm’s report being described as “damning” by at least one person who read it. In late September, UVa hired the Washington, D.C.-based Williams & Connolly, one of the world’s premier litigation firms, to investigate the allegations against Kent and Kibbe and share its findings with the Board of Visitors — and no one else.

With the first deadline to finalize the city’s budget only a month away, City Council’s proposed amendments still had not been published and the mayoral administration was still struggling to answer the body’s questions as of Monday afternoon. Kenya Gibson, who represents the 3rd District, on Monday told her peers that she had recommended at least two alterations before the April 9 deadline for submitting budget amendments to the city attorney’s office. But none of Gibson’s amendments nor the amendments of any of her colleagues were available to the public — or even to each other — by the time of Monday afternoon’s meeting, which meant the councilmembers and public were unable to read or talk about them during their second of four scheduled budget sessions.

A nonprofit organization filed suit against the Trump administration on Monday, alleging its decision to stop posting budget documents in late March violates federal law. Protect Democracy Project’s case is the second lawsuit challenging the Office of Management and Budget’s choice to pull down a webpage with apportionment information that detailed when and how the administration was spending money appropriated by Congress.

A new study in the Journal of Civic Information shows that summaries of local government meetings by citizen Documenters are easier to read than official meeting minutes and more likely to include helpful links and additional context. The author, Nina Kelly from Wayne State University, concludes that while not a substitute for paid professional journalists, the Documenters program offers an important role in filling the gap left by disappearing newspapers.