Virginia State Police conducted dramatic raids Friday at the Mecklenburg County Public Schools division central office in Boydton and homes of MCPS Assistant Superintendent Christy Peffer and Finance Director Amber Barbour as part of a probe of possible school financial irregularities, according to a source with knowledge of the search. The coordinated operation saw several State Police vehicles, a police box truck, and a semi-truck spend much of the day at Peffer’s residence on Beech Creek Road in Nelson, where officers were observed removing multiple boxes from a shed on the property. Authorities have not released specifics about what was being sought or removed during the searches. However, a person with direct knowledge of the raids, who was not authorized to speak publicly, indicated that the action by State Police stemmed from a review of possible irregularities involving school finances. The source did not know the exact focus of the investigators’ search. As the law enforcement presence continued at Peffer’s property, the Mecklenburg County School Board called a special closed session meeting for 6 p.m. on Friday night. The notice for the meeting did not specify the topic to be discussed, but it is known that both Peffer and Barbour were subsequently placed on administrative leave following the session.

Nottoway Supervisors are indeed at liberty to divulge information marked “confidential attorney client privilege,” but such a release must be approved by the full Board. That’s the assessment of Board Chairman Bill Collins, who Thursday night addressed a recent ‘leak’ of such information to the Courier-Record. “Our attorney said, ‘You all can do it, but you all have to do it together. And so what happened is that we lost the opportunity for a discussion in closed session about whether or not we’re ready.” Collins said that if such a meeting had been held, “I was going to push that night for us to go ahead and do (release) it.” Collins was referring to a letter from County Attorney Gary Elder advising the Board against setting a spending limit on new courthouse construction and also against issuing an RFP (Request for Proposals) and possibly abandoning a PPEA (Public Private Educational and Infrastructure Act) agreement with English Construction and Moseley Architects.

A frustrated Mark Krudys on Thursday said that Mayor Danny Avula “must be accessible to his citizens more than just on Election Day.” After Krudys — a Richmond attorney representing dozens of Yemeni American convenience store owners — sent a letter to city officials objecting to the mass closure of his clients’ businesses, Avula abruptly canceled a planned meeting with the shop owners, according to emails obtained by The Times-Dispatch. … City Hall has not responded to questions regarding the allegations laid out in Krudys’ letter, including whether other businesses have been permitted to open while code violations are corrected.

ON MARCH 2, the town of Carroll, New Hampshire, population 820, received a $122,515 wire transfer from the Department of Homeland Security, making it among the first wave of local governments reaping the financial benefits of the Trump administration’s efforts to build out a network of local officers assisting in federal immigration enforcement. Four months before the payment, the town had signed up as part of DHS’s “Task Force Model,” which is part of the department’s so-called 287(g) program. By signing up, Caroll’s police department essentially pledged that its officers would aid in federal immigration enforcement at the direction of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. All four of the town’s full-time police officers—a chief, his lieutenant, and two patrol officers—signed up as task force officers. In return, DHS pledged to cover the costs incurred by their services, including salaries. Records suggest that this agreement is not unique.