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As the independent probe into the May 31 mass shooting began on Tuesday, the head of the Chicago firm leading the review said he would not withhold any information that is damaging to the city. The investigation will end in roughly 12 weeks when the security risk management firm, Hillard Heintze, delivers a final report to city leaders, according to the company’s bid documents. The company will “have unrestricted access to all employees, reports, documents, and other records necessary to complete the independent review,” according to city documents.
The Virginian-Pilot
Police have arrested more than 160 people for illegally carrying guns to Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at the three major airports in the Washington, D.C. area since 2015. But those cases do not lead to jail sentences, large fines or even expulsion from the TSA pre-check program, according to an investigation by the News4 I-Team. Though carrying firearms to TSA checkpoints is illegal, the agency said it seizes an average of 11 guns each day at U.S airports. The agency publicizes many of those cases, but does not publicly release the names of those arrested, which shields the passengers from media scrutiny. Using the Freedom of Information Act, the I-Team obtained arrest records for all people arrested at Dulles International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport since 2015 and at Baltimore-Washington International Airport in 2018. Court records do not show jail sentences ordered for any of those arrested locally. Most of the cases were dismissed, or prosecutions were deferred, often with monetary fines as low as $100.
NBC Washington
The citizen panel that the Richmond City Council has tasked with reviewing the $1.4 billion Coliseum redevelopment proposal inched closer to beginning its work Monday with the appointments of its first two members. The commission must hold public meetings and keep minutes of its discussions. Homer and Gerner said they plan to make available online any materials provided to the commission in its review so residents can access them as well.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation was awarded $6,000 in attorney’s fees for its lawsuit against Wayne State University. The lawsuit, filed in June 2018, was launched on behalf of Virginia Tech professor, Dr. Marc Edwards, in response to Wayne State deliberately ignoring multiple Freedom of Information Act requests. The first of the FOIA requests, which were filed in an effort to provide additional transparency on the Flint water crisis, were submitted to the university by Dr. Edwards in May 2017. These requests inquired about information associated with the university’s research effort and allegations of conflicts between Wayne State employees and the state of Michigan. “The Mackinac legal team forced Wayne State University to release public documents that were being wrongfully withheld, which shed light on allegations that high-ranking state employees were obstructing justice by interfering with Flint water crisis research at WSU in 2016-2017,” said Dr. Edwards.
Mackinac Center for Public Policy
Portsmouth Councilman Shannon Glover wants to resume broadcasting all public speakers at City Council meetings, reversing a decision his colleagues made in the wake of intense criticism over the ouster of former Police Chief Tonya Chapman. Glover raised the proposal during a lightly attended council work session Monday night, asking fellow members to discuss the idea at an Aug. 12 work session and vote the next day. “I just thought, in my mind, it was hypocritical not to have our citizens be able to be seen and heard at the same time that others on this representative body were.” In addition to taping every public speaker, Glover wants City Attorney Solomon Ashby to draft rules that would require those speakers to talk only about issues relevant to Portsmouth city government, with the hope that [the mayor] would have more control over the efficiency of the group’s meetings.
The Virginian-Pilot
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