State and Local Stories
Six months ago the high-profile mystery of what happened to Fairfax County firefighter Nicole Mittendorff publicly came to an end when her body was discovered in Shenandoah National Park and her death was ruled a suicide. But Mittendorff’s mother said this week that she has been unable to truly put her daughter to rest because authorities have yet to provide a complete account of her death and the days leading up to it. Corinne Geller, a state police spokeswoman, said it is the Virginia State Police’s standard policy not to release investigative files, even though state law gives the agency the discretion to do so. Geller said releasing investigative reports could make members of the public reluctant to provide assistance to police. She also said such files usually contain personal information and sensitive reports from other agencies. Geller said the agency would consider meeting with Clardy to discuss its findings.
Washington Post
Two empty council seats, the city’s charter and one of the council’s own rules of procedures didn’t stop four Petersburg City Council members from pushing through a vote to hire turnaround specialists that supporters see as an answer to the city’s financial woes. Council members voted 4-1 Thursday to hire the Washington-based Robert Bobb Group as the city continues to face mounting lawsuits and legal threats over unpaid bills. But the vote appeared to go against two rules, one in the city’s charter and another in the council’s rules of procedure. Thursday’s special meeting was scheduled on Wednesday, a day after the City Council deadlocked over whether to hire the specialists. Petersburg’s charter prohibits a vote from being reconsidered at any special meeting unless there is “(as) large a number of members as were present when such vote was taken.” In addition, one of the council’s rules of procedure states that no vote will be reconsidered at any special meeting except “upon the affirmative vote of all members elected to the council.” That same rule also states: “No question decided by the council shall be again brought forward at any subsequent meeting during the period of 30 days thence ensuing, unless there be a motion to reconsider it before the council adjourns.”
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Barely 100 days into a new mayor’s term, most of those in the top ranks of Norfolk’s city government have announced their departures. But council members said they have no reason to think there’s any connection.
Virginian-Pilot
National Stories
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte called on the State Department’s inspector general Thursday to investigate why the agency hired a pair of lawyers from Williams and Connolly, the law firm representing Hillary Clinton, to handle Freedom of Information Act requests for her emails. Catherine Duval and Austin Evers, the two lawyers, had no prior experience handling FOIA requests or classified document productions, the Virginia Republican said. Documents first given to Congress and later made public by the FBI this week suggest several witnesses told investigators that high-level agency officials attempted to influence the FOIA review process.
Washington Examiner
Government lawyers on Thursday said they would prosecute a former National Security Agency contractor accused of stealing classified information under an espionage law, a move carrying far more severe penalties than previously announced charges. Harold Thomas Martin spent over two decades pilfering classified information from multiple government agencies, federal prosecutors said in a new filing made in a U.S. District Court in Baltimore. They expected to bring charges that included violations of the Espionage Act, the filing said. The amount of stolen data is estimated to be at least fifty terabytes, enough to fill dozens of hard drives, prosecutors said, adding that the alleged criminal conduct “is breathtaking in its longevity and scale.” Some officials have said the trove may amount to the largest heist of classified government information in history.
Reuters
A press freedom group on Thursday urged prosecutors in two states to drop charges against three documentary filmmakers who were arrested while filming activists as they sought to shut down major oil pipelines from Canada to the United States. The Committee to Protect Journalists said Lindsey Grayzel, Carl Davis and Deia Schlosberg were acting as journalists, not protesters, when they were taken into custody at pipeline sites in Washington state and North Dakota, and were protected by free speech rights. “Recording civil disobedience and arrests is news-gathering, not conspiracy,” Robert Mahoney, deputy executive director of the committee, said in a written statement.
Reuters
A lawsuit argued in Montpelier on Tuesday will decide whether a key part of Vermont’s health care reform efforts is subject to the state’s public records law. Vermont Information Technology Leaders is technically a private nonprofit organization. It’s better known by its acronym, VITL, and it’s the organization that’s responsible for developing the Vermont Health Information Exchange. That’s a system that is designed to allow different doctors with different electronic medical records software to easily share information about patients. And VITL built that system with guidance from the Legislature and millions of dollars from taxpayers. That’s why citizen advocate Steven Whitaker says VITL should be subject to the state’s public records law. He argued in Washington County Superior Court that even though it’s a private nonprofit, it meets the legal standard of being a “functional equivalent” of a government agency.
Rutland Herald
Editorials/Columns
Each week, the Daily Press Editorial Board offers a list of area citizens or institutions deserving of “roses” or “thorns,” when applicable. This week’s roses go to: • State Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Mount Vernon, for being an outspoken voice in support of the Freedom of Information Act.
Daily Press