Democratic candidate for Virginia’s 9th Congressional District Joy Powers filed a lawsuit against the Bedford County School Board, claiming it violated state law by not providing public notice in its closure of Stewartsville Elementary School, according to a Tuesday news release from Powers. … According to the lawsuit, filed in the Bedford County Circuit Court, the school board’s response to a Freedom of Information Act request confirmed that no records of any required newspaper notice exist. No notice was published, the release said, and the board introduced the closure plan, held a public hearing and voted to close Stewartsville all on the same day. “The issue is straightforward,” the filing states. “Virginia law required newspaper notice. That notice was never published. Without it, the board did not have the legal authority to act.”

Emails The Smithfield Times obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request indicate resistance from Smithfield’s Town Council to committing taxpayer funding toward developer Joseph Luter IV’s Grange at 10Main and disagreement over whether to build a new town hall at the 57-acre site at Route 10 and Main Street were among the factors that led to the proposed mixed-use subdivision’s demise after more than five years on the drawing board. Plans for the Grange had been in the works since 2020 when Luter and his late father, former Smithfield Foods Chairman Joseph Luter III, purchased and razed the former Little’s grocery store and dilapidated 1730s-era Pierceville homestead at the western edge of the town’s historic district. Since then, Smithfield’s Town Council has seen at least six conceptual plans for the Grange. In 2023, after encountering community pushback, including from the project’s would-be neighbors, Luter withdrew a 304-home concept and returned with a 267-home plan that was approved for mixed-use zoning in a 3-2 December vote that year. Luter returned in 2025 with multiple revised versions before settling on a 119-home concept that Smithfield’s Planning Commission voted 6-1 to endorse in June.

If Petula Burks doesn’t live in Richmond, why did she book a one-way flight here for a November deposition? That’s what lawyers for Connie Clay — who is suing city officials and ex-city spokesperson Burks for wrongful termination — want to know. In a Tuesday afternoon filing on behalf of Clay, attorney Sarah Robb contested Burks’ proof of travel costs for a scheduled Nov. 17 deposition. Richmond Circuit Court Judge Claire Cardwell previously ordered Clay to cover those costs after Clay’s legal team cancelled the deposition without permission. Jimmy Robinson Jr., an Ogletree Deakins attorney representing the city and Burks, alleges that Burks spent nearly $1,000 on flights, a hotel and an SUV rental to come to Richmond from Birmingham, Alabama. That’s because Burks “no longer resides in Richmond, and was required to travel back” for the proceedings, according to Robinson. But where Burks currently lives is not clear.

This year, the General Assembly did well to make some thoughtful changes that improve transparency. Senate Bill 699, for instance, requires public bodies to post meeting agendas on their official websites and prohibits final action on items not listed on an agenda prior to a meeting. And lawmakers did not pass House Bill 1029, which would have allowed a court to temporarily seal criminal complaints, which would have made the public less informed. However, lawmakers declined an important opportunity to rein in the costs of obtaining public documents from government bodies. Sen. Danica Roem, who worked as a journalist before seeking elected office, introduced Senate Bill 56 to create a predictable fee structure for fulfilling requests. Lawmakers should know that while it’s vital to have a law that makes documents accessible to the public, allowing officials to charge thousands of dollars to fill those requests effectively keeps them sealed from view. Establishing a framework to ensure reasonable fees for fulfilling requests would go a long way toward improving transparency. … On April 23, supporters of transparency will gather at WHRO in Norfolk for the Virginia Coalition for Open Government’s annual conference.