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Monday, October 28, 2013
State and Local Stories
The line of communication between the administration and the Board of Visitors at the University of Virginia is not always clear — as demonstrated by last year’s attempted firing of President Teresa A. Sullivan — but the board is working to change that. The Special Committee on Governance and Engagement was formed this year to come up with a “best practices” list to help the board — made up of gubernatorial appointees — and the administration — led by the university president — to collaborate better.
Daily Progress
The Portsmouth City Council, steaming over not being included in a significant city matter this week, has called a closed meeting to address what three members describe as Mayor Kenny Wright's repeated failure to include them in city business. Discontent with Wright's communication style has been brewing among the council since he took office in November 2010. But council members said the tipping point came Wednesday when the mayor and city manager met with Virginia Department of Transportation officials to resolve tunnel closure issues without telling, or involving, them.
Virginian-Pilot
The Hampton Sheriff's Office says a list of all incoming phone calls to its records division on Oct. 9 show no calls from the Newport News Sheriff's Office — as a dispute continues over the accidental release of a Hampton murder defendant earlier this month. On Tuesday, the Daily Press asked for call logs from the Newport News Sheriff's Office and to Hampton Sheriff's Office records division. An examination of those calls, Rich said, showed that none came from the Newport News Sheriff's Office. "We wanted to make sure we didn't get the call," he said. "So I asked, 'How can we validate this?' … And I'll be honest with you, it made me feel a lot better. It gave me validation that what I said was correct." A week ago, Newport News’ Sheriff Gabe Morgan provided the Daily Press a copy of a screen shot of the Newport News Jail Management System that Morgan says is time-stamped and impossible to doctor. "NO CHARGES IN HAMPTON NO PENDING PER HAMPTON RECORDS DEPT," Newport News Sheriff's Deputy Robert Allen wrote in the memo line. Morgan said a state and national fugitive database was also checked. The log lists a "clear date" of 4:16 p.m. on Oct. 9.
Daily Press
When the U.S. Supreme Court hears the case of the Town of Greece, N.Y. v. Susan Galloway on Nov. 6, Hashmel Turner will be watching—and praying—from the spectators’ side. But it was not that long ago that he could have been a more active participant in a similar case, bearing the name of Hashmel C. Turner Jr. v. the City Council of the City of Fredericksburg. Turner v. Fredericksburg, like Greece v. Galloway, involved prayer at City Council meetings. But unlike Greece v. Galloway, when it was appealed to the nation’s highest court, it was declined.
Free Lance-Star
Some of the county's juiciest stories might very well be buried in chancery court archives from hundreds of years ago. "Divorces are my favorite," said Sarah Nerney, senior local records archivist for the Library of Virginia. "Sometimes they're just hilarious. … Just like today, it's he said/she said all day long." Nerney, who spoke this week at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center, teaches people how to access and use the library's chancery court records to find history. Often, she said, those records include some intriguing tidbits relating to the county's history in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
Herald Courier
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