Governor Abigail Spanberger today issued Executive Directive 6 to strengthen the Commonwealth’s cybersecurity and address the risks posed by the rapid development of artificial intelligence. As part of the directive, Governor Spanberger instructed the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security to develop a Commonwealth-wide plan to prevent and respond to cyberattacks and strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure Virginians rely on. The Governor also ordered the establishment of a Cyber Consortium to improve coordination with public safety leaders, emergency management personnel, state agencies, universities and higher education institutions, and private sector partners across the Commonwealth. … “Despite federal inaction, the Commonwealth will continue to address the very serious concerns Virginians have about the development of this technology. We’ve already seen how real it is,” said Governor Abigail Spanberger. “AI is rapidly reshaping the cyber landscape — evidenced by Anthropic AI agents taking improper actions on government websites across the country, including submitting fake Freedom of Information Act requests on a Virginia Department of Education website. While it is our understanding that no sensitive information was accessed, that makes me no less concerned about the future risks that lie ahead.”

A group of James City County taxpayers sued to stop work on the county’s proposed government center until a voter referendum is held. Attorney Christopher M. Woodfin, representing the six plaintiffs, said he filed a motion for an emergency injunction against work on the center with the Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court Wednesday. … The attorney added some drama to the board of supervisors’ meeting Wednesday afternoon, sending a process server to show up at the start of the meeting to serve notices with the five supervisors and County Administrator Scott Stevens. Woodfin then signed up to speak during the public comment period, when he announced to the room that he had filed the injunction request.

Arlington County police released footage today (Friday) of the fatal officer-involved shooting that took place on Columbia Pike in May. Videos from officers’ body-worn cameras, released at a press conference this afternoon following repeated orders from the Arlington County Board, depict the hours-long standoff, confrontation and shooting death of 33-year-old Shawn Valn inside a 7-Eleven convenience store on the evening of May 8. … ACPD does not generally release body-work camera videos of critical incidents. It has, however, in recent years released video of some incidents that garnered significant public interest, including a fatal house explosion in December 2023. “The video and incident facts shared today are part of our commitment to transparency, accountability and communication with the Arlington community,” ACPD said in a press release. The department said it is drafting a policy that will guide how to handle the release of footage on officer-involved shootings in the future.

“The accuracy of this document is under review.” That’s what Mayor Danny Avula said about a confidential memo in which the director of City Hall’s Office of Sustainability allegedly disclosed a “potential conflict of interests” with one of her employees to senior officials. The employee — Andre Eanes — simultaneously worked for both the city’s sustainability office and a solar company while the sustainability office was negotiating a solar power purchasing agreement with that company, The Times-Dispatch reported earlier this month. Questions on that dual relationship prompted Mayor Danny Avula to put the deal on hold and launch an investigation. Now, officials have released a trove of documents on the project in response to a public records request from The Times-Dispatch. Those records indicate that city policies on outside employment disclosure were not followed.

In the recent past, members of UVA’s faculty have criticized attempts to obtain course syllabi and materials through Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) requests as harassment and infringements on their academic freedom. Such whining is absurd on its face. At a public university, every citizen and parent paying tuition has a right to know what the students and their children are being taught at such an institution. Moreover, this vocal opposition raises the following serious question: what are these faculty members trying to hide? … And how do open records fit in, according to the provost’s office? In the harassment toolkit. The provost’s page for faculty “being targeted” walks through blocking harassers, filtering abusive email, getting posts taken down, and scrubbing personal information from the internet. Right there alongside that advice is a section on the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). It specifically tells faculty to forward any FOIA request to University Counsel immediately. It also notes that in almost all cases, the people whose records are requested get to review the FOIA draft response before the requester ever sees it.

President Donald Trump’s administration is withholding records documenting the scope of his influence over management of the Kennedy Center, according to attorneys for a Democratic lawmaker challenging the Republican president’s plan to close the performing arts center for renovations. A list of records in the Kennedy Center’s possession suggests that Trump has been in “near-constant contact” with the center’s management, either directly or through intermediaries, plaintiffs’ lawyers said in a court filing on Sunday. Attorneys for Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, are seeking a court order for the administration to turn over documents, emails and text messages that it has withheld based on its claims that they contain privileged presidential communications.