Megan Rhyne's blog

Following the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, the Virginia General Assembly mandated that public universities set up Threat Assessment Teams (TATs) to identify and evaluate students, staff or faculty who might pose a threat to the campus communities.

The teams are made up of representatives from student affairs, law enforcement, human resources, counseling services, residence life and others as may be needed.

Note: Wise County Clerk of Court, Jack Kennedy, served on the VCOG board of directors for several years.

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 245
Offered February 4, 2010
Commending the Wise County and City of Norton Bar Association and the Clerk of Circuit Court for Wise County and the City of Norton for their leadership and innovation in information technology in judicial administration.
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Patrons-- Kilgore and Phillips
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At Crossover:

Despite the huge number of access-related bills that were on the table as the 2010 General Assembly session started, through consolidation, referrals to study commissions and, of course, the axe, that number has been cut nearly in half.

Del. Lee Ware (R-Powhatan) has proposed a bill to prohibit clerks of court from releasing concealed handgun permit applications filed in that locality. The bill is HB79, and VCOG is opposed to it. Here's why.

 

As long as the permits are required in Virginia, there should be some public access to them. it is important for the public to be able to monitor:

 

(1) how the permits are processed (that is, whether the applications are being completed or accepted satisfactorily)

 

AND

 

With the advent of the iPhone, the Droid and any number of other so-called smart phones, it seems almost quaint that the world teetered on the edge of chaos in 2006 when a patent case threatened to darken the screens of the then-revolutionary BlackBerry.

NTP, a Virginia-based company, told BlackBerry's maker, Research in Motion, that the BlackBerry's technology infringed on an NTP patent. A federal district court judge in Richmond agreed and imposed millions of dollars in fines against RIM and told them to stop selling BlackBerrys that infringed NTP's patent.

The FOI Advisory Council is required by statute to file an annual report of its activities. It's 2009 report is now online.

The report contains statistics breaking down who has used the council's services this year (government - 913, citizens - 628, media as well as every year since the council opened its doors.

The report includes minutes of all council meetings, lists training sessions performed by council staff, previews upcoming legislation and summarizes the work of the council's subcommittees.

A tangible (and colorful) way to give.

 

Printer ink is expensive! Black and color ink for our copier/fax/printer by far takes up the  biggest chunk of our office supply budget. We buy house brand refills when we can, save as many files electronically as possible and squeeze every last drop out of cartridges we buy. But some things we can't avoid printing: invoices, letters, correspondence, forms, reports, bills, etc., and the ink keeps dripping away.

 

Consider donating to the Virginia Coalition for Open Government this holiday season. Read about what we do here at VCOG and why every penny counts.

http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/560788/e9ff536f91/282550247/d5b8798474/

(Note: Laurence Richardson was a founding member of VCOG)

 

Call For Entries

"There are citizens and members of the media who are convinced that all of us in this room are ... criminal[s]. They will never change their mind. You could give them the key to your entire filing cabinet and they'll still think you're hiding something.

"But on the flip side, you have public officials who, when a citizen comes and they pull into the parking lot and they want the budget, what the local official hears is, you want to come into my living room and look at what?"