The City of Newport News, Va., faced a surge of more than 3,000 annual public records requests, which strained limited staff and exposed inconsistent practices across departments. The city responded by establishing a centralized, citywide Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) protocol that required all requests to flow through Granicus’ Records Request Management (GovQA) platform. This approach unified intake, tracking and fulfillment, enforced consistent processes, and strengthened compliance. As a result, Newport News earned national recognition for its award-winning efforts to build trust and transparency, setting the bar for advancing open government. … “Newport News’ goal was to implement digital solutions and best practices to increase the city’s accountability and transparency to its constituents, improve the public’s knowledge of the city’s activities and operations, modernize the city’s response to data needs identified by the public, and foster civic engagement,” explained LaDonna Seely, FOIA coordinator for Newport News.

Two members of the Franklin County Board of Supervisors plus the county administrator have been officially cleared of any wrongdoing following an anonymous formal complaint filed last month. Lynchburg Commonwealth’s Attorney Bethany Harrison reviewed the multiple allegations in the complaint, and after a month of investigation said she could find no reason to pursue a criminal violation. “Since I do not have sufficient evidence before me that the BOS voted or took action in violation of FOIA nor do I have sufficient evidence of the county administrator having committed a criminal offense, I cannot pursue a criminal violation of a statute against the listed parties,” Harrison said in an email.

Paulette Dean, the executive director of the Danville Area Humane Society, pleaded guilty — as part of a written agreement — to a misdemeanor charge of falsifying records Friday morning in Danville Circuit Court. The offense — false entries or destruction of records by officers — stems from a series of events that led Danville Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Newman to seek to revoke Dean’s appointment as humane investigator, a court-appointed position not directly associated with the humane society. … Court documents stated Dean told police she created the last five years of quarterly reports over a two-day period spanning May 31 and June 1. Under state code, a humane investigator must submit quarterly reports, and in this case, those were supposed to go to the Danville Police Department. Dean said she was told more than a decade ago that she didn’t need to submit the documents.

MyPillow founder Mike Lindell has long denied Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 presidential election. Now, he’s refusing to accept his own election loss in the GOP primary for governor of Minnesota. The Minnesota Supreme Court on Saturday rejected Lindell’s bid for a full recount of his Aug. 11 loss to state House Speaker Lisa Demuth after she won the Republican primary by 45,000 votes. … Lindell told NBC News in a phone call Saturday evening that he plans to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. He said that his team is also requesting election data from all 87 counties through the Freedom of Information Act in order to pursue an independent investigation.