In a quiet stretch of the Shenandoah Valley, Bridgewater – a town of 6,600 – experiences crime rates well below the national average. In fact, in the past five years, the small community has reported no homicides, one abduction, two robberies, and six motor vehicle thefts, according to FBI data. Despite its low crime rate and small-town pace, Bridgewater is one of dozens of Virginia municipalities with a network of Flock surveillance cameras — the most widely used automatic license plate readers in the U.S. The town’s five cameras capture images of the license plates, makes and models, bumper stickers and dents of more than 60,000 vehicles every month. The collection of personal data and images traveled far beyond the borders of the small town: outside law enforcement agencies across the country accessed Bridgewater’s data 6.9 million times over 12 months through the Flock network, according to an analysis by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO.

Rockingham County school board member Matt Cross is running for re-election, but he still owes $9,200 in fines to the county for late campaign finance reports — and because he has not yet paid them, the electoral board is asking the Commonwealth’s Attorney to step in. Cross, however, said he still plans to appeal the fines to the Virginia Department of Elections. The Rockingham County Electoral Board voted to ask Commonwealth’s Attorney Marsha Garst to step in and enforce the collection of the fines. On Friday, the board will send a letter to Garst requesting her assistance. Lisa Gooden, the Director of Elections for the county, said that the board of elections has not had to do this “in recent memory” for any other candidate.

The University of Virginia has launched a second search for a new provost after its first shot came up short. Details regarding the first search for Baucom’s replacement have not been made public, and UVa spokeswoman Bethanie Glover would not say when it was called off when The Daily Progress inquired.