Though a top Henrico administrator expressed frustration that the county was not notified about a recent toxic gas release into the community, records show county emergency officials were in fact made aware of the incident the day it happened. … CBS 6 submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to find out who knew what and when. On June 2, nearly two months after the fact, Henrico Deputy County Manager Steven Yob emailed DEQ saying he learned about the incident at a neighborhood meeting with Virginia Interfaith Power and Light. “I am disappointed that Henrico County did not receive any notification of this event. We should not hear of an incident of this magnitude at a neighborhood meeting,” Yob said in his email. However, emails obtained by CBS 6 showed the Henrico Fire Department actually did receive a notification on the very day of the incident from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM). The records showed Sterilization Services of Virginia reported the incident to VDEM, and VDEM forwarded the report to Henrico.

As Virginia was about to pull its local law enforcement from participating in federal immigration operations, Greene County Sheriff’s deputies were lining roads around Ruckersville alongside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. On June 23, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office joined ICE in their largest joint immigration enforcement operation to date, stopping dozens of vehicles and arresting 49 individuals, according to a statement provided days after the event by an ICE spokesperson. Seven days later, on July 1, a new state law went into effect that bans exactly that kind of local cooperation with ICE, attorneys who spoke with Charlottesville Tomorrow said. … The way the arrests were carried out in Greene County also reflected broader national trends. Data from the Deportation Data Project, a group of academics and lawyers who obtain federal records through Freedom of Information Act requests and litigation, shows arrests are increasingly taking place in communities instead of during ICE check-ins or at jails and prisons. The group also found that the number of noncitizens arrested without criminal convictions increased nearly ninefold compared with the last six months of 2024. ICE has not released the names of the individuals arrested in Greene County, nor has the agency answered Charlottesville Tomorrow’s questions about whether any of them had warrants, criminal convictions or charges.

The Commonwealth of Virginia employed more than 170,000 people across 212 agencies, colleges and universities, medical facilities, and other institutions in 2025. State employees provide services ranging from running university health systems to cleaning stadiums to policing roads and highways. Most are full-time employees, although some work part-time. In 2025, they represented more than $11 billion in total public expenditures. Overall, the median salary of public employees in calendar year 2025 was $61,000, according to the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO’s analysis of public salaries. … VCIJ compiled and analyzed public data from the Virginia Department of Accounts and state universities that handle payroll independently, including the University of Virginia, Old Dominion University, James Madison University, George Mason University, and others. VCIJ obtained the data through multiple public records requests.

Sherrone Moore’s former executive assistant is suing the University of Michigan, claiming the school violated the Freedom of Information Act by denying requests made on her behalf after the football coach was fired for having an inappropriate relationship with her. Paige Shiver and her attorneys filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in a Washtenaw County court seeking requested records and punitive damages.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an attempt by a conservative activist to obtain guardianship records in an effort to find ineligible voters in the presidential battleground state. The case has been wending its way through the courts for years and stems from attempts by conservatives to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in Wisconsin over President Donald Trump in 2020. … The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, which advocates for public access to documents but did not take a position on this case, said the court’s decision was “narrowly tailored and should not have a huge impact.” The council praised the court for clarifying the standard for deciding similar cases in the future, but that “it’s always disappointing when access to public information is curtailed.”

President Donald Trump promised that the Great American State Fair would be the beginning of “the most unforgettable birthday party any country has ever had.” The party on the National Mall hasn’t gone as hoped, with sparse crowds, weather emergencies and electrical hiccups. The planning behind the scenes for the big celebration didn’t fare well either, with a rushed – and at times, confusing – effort to bring together all the 50 states plus the District of Columbia and territories, according to documents NOTUS obtained through freedom of information requests with states involved. Organizers worked around the clock to showcase historic and cultural aspects of their state in booths set up on the National Mall. Montana brought a massive dinosaur rib cage and Iowa brought a butter cow, but in the end, only 40 of the 50 states officially signed up. The documents show even those that participated raised concerns about the exorbitant costs, unclear plans, insurance requirements and a lack of information throughout the process.