Transparency News, 12/15/20

The community is responding strongly to an incident in which the three Republican members of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors walked out on a joint meeting with the school board, rather than watch an informational presentation on Unconscious Bias. Before the presentation entitled “Raising Awareness of Unconscious Bias to Foster Inclusivity and Equity,” Supervisors Pete Candland (Gainesville), Jeanine Lawson (Brentsville) and Yesli Vega (Coles) walked out of Tuesday’s joint meeting in protest. School Board Vice Chair and Woodbridge representative Loree Williams said she believes that everyone could benefit from a presentation on Implicit Bias as it serves to create greater self awareness, which can help everyone to represent diverse populations. However, the Republicans questioned the time and the place.
Bristow Beat

The Virginian-Pilot and the Daily Press published a handful of unsigned editorials related to Dominion Energy this year written by a columnist who also works as a part-time speechwriter for the company. The pieces carry the distinctive style of Gordon “G.C.” Morse, a longtime columnist for the Hampton Roads newspapers. Morse started an ongoing, part-time speechwriting contract with Dominion Energy in 2006, according to a spokesperson for that company. Kris Worrell, the papers’ editor-in-chief, confirmed Morse wrote “some” of at least seven Dominion-focused editorials published from February through October but declined to specify which ones.  The pieces praise the company’s projects, attack its critics, and in three cases, quote company press releases. Kelly McBride, chair of the Poynter Institute’s Center for Ethics and Leadership, said Morse’s undisclosed role in the editorials — together with his ties to Dominion — risked undermining reader trust in the newspapers. 
VPM

A lawsuit to force Democratic legislative leaders to open member offices to the public during the General Assembly session will now be heard in federal court.  A hearing in the case was scheduled for Monday morning in the Circuit Court for the City of Richmond but was moved to U.S. District Court.  “Your courts are running. Your local and state governments are open. DMV is open. All of our social services and things like that are open,” Republican Sen. Bill DeSteph of Virginia Beach said. “So we need to have access to our legislators open as well.” DeSteph said a “hotline” established to provide citizen access to legislators is unsatisfactory because existing state phone systems already receive complaints. Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, who is defending House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, Senator Mamie Locke and other state capitol employees named in the lawsuit had the case transferred to federal court because it involves First Amendment protections.  
VPM

 

North Carolina residents know exactly which hospitals will get doses first from the state’s initial supply of coronavirus vaccines. N.C. officials on Thursday released a list of 53 medical centers and health care systems that will soon receive shipments of Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, which federal regulators are expected to approve for emergency use this weekend. That same level of disclosure is absent just to the south. South Carolina’s public health agency has refused to name 15 vaccine sites with ultra-cold freezers that will get doses as early as next week, citing security concerns. The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control on Thursday also denied a public records request made by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette seeking a list of providers enrolled in South Carolina’s vaccine distribution network.
Governing