Transparency News 2/3/14

Monday, February 3, 2014

State and Local Stories

 

After years of resistance, Chesterfield County’s Circuit Court clerk plans to put all criminal court information on the state’s searchable website for public view, leaving Henrico County as the last court in Virginia to block online access to public records. The Virginia Supreme Court is working on a request from Chesterfield Circuit Court Clerk Judy Worthington to allow online public viewing of abstracts of Chesterfield criminal court records through the state’s computerized case management system. Reached last week, Henrico Circuit Court Clerk Yvonne Smith was noncommittal on whether she would reconsider online access.
Times-Dispatch

Staffing remains slim in the Shenandoah County administration and anaudit shows a shortage affected operations and "internal controls."The county stands poised to fix the shortage by filling the last of two vacant administrative posts. "During our audit it was determined that the County Administration office appeared understaffed," the letter states. "As a result, certain internal control mechanisms previously put in place were at times not being performed in a timely manner."
Northern Virginia Daily

The Eugene Delgaudio case has remained fluid in the five days since a group of Sterling residents and Democrats filed a petition in Loudoun County Circuit Court to remove the controversial Mr. Delgaudio from his post as Sterling's representative on the Board of Supervisors. Here's a timeline of the week's key points:
Loudoun Times-Mirror

Sen. Tommy Norment set a record Tuesday, but not one he was seeking. Norment, R-James City, became the first man to lose the majority leader position in the Virginia Senate twice. It happened when Democrats used Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam's tie-breaking vote to seize control of the Senate. Norment was already the only senator ever to lose the majority leadership and then regain it — two years ago, on the strength of then Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling's tie-breaking vote. Sen. Dick Saslaw, D-Fairfax, tied that record Tuesday. Although he fought the Democratic takeover, Norment was philosophical about the change of roles. "The responsibilities of leading your caucus on the Senate floor, where the ultimate decisions on legislation are made, is pretty much the same whether you're in the minority or in the majority," he said Thursday. "The goal is to make sure your caucus members are effectively represented and that their views are considered during debate."
Virginia Gazette

Fairfax County public schools could owe more than $6 million to the federal government after mistakenly destroying several thousand employee files that noted citizenship status. School officials said that about 5,600 employees’ files were shredded in 2006 but that the discovery was made only last year, after the administration audited hiring records.
Washington Post

New documents released by Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s office show that taxpayer-funded attorneys were deeply involved in responding to the federal investigation of former governor Robert F. McDonnell, going back to at least early June. McDonnell (R) and his wife, Maureen, were indicted last week, charged with working together to use the governor’s office to assist a Richmond area businessman in exchange for more than $165,000 in gifts and loans.
Washington Post

A Fairfax County jury was presented with an unusual but closely watched case to decide: Did Jane Perez, a Fairfax City resident, defame a D.C. contractor by writing scathing reviews of his work on the popular Internet sites Yelp and Angie’s List? And when Christopher Dietz leveled his own accusations in online posts responding to Perez, did he in turn defame her? After a five-day trial and eight hours of deliberations, the jury essentially declared a draw when it returned a verdict Friday night that caught both sides off guard: Perez and Dietz had defamed each other, but neither would get a cent in damages.
Washington Post

National Stories

Are autopsies medical records or public records? South Carolina’s Supreme Court will begin grappling with that question Wednesday, when it hears a lawsuit by a Sumter County newspaper against the county’s coroner. The Item newspaper wants the high court to toss out a lower court’s ruling that said autopsies do not have to be made public because they do not fall under the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
Washington Times

The Obama administration is refusing to divulge how much it spent to build the secret prison facility at Guantánamo where the accused 9/11 co-conspirators are held and has asked a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit by a Miami Herald reporter demanding documents that would reveal the number. In a filing Friday, the Justice Department said that the Pentagon had found just one document that would provide information relevant to a 2009 Freedom of Information Act request reporter Carol Rosenberg filed seeking that cost figure. That document was exempt from disclosure, the filing said, because it contained details of internal deliberations and the names of many officials who were entitled to privacy
Miami Herald

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal said Thursday he’s to blame for not mobilizing state agencies more quickly as the winter storm approached Tuesday, but a look Thursday night at more than a hundred state agency emails reveals the behind-the-scenes thinking and lack of action that brought Atlanta to a standstill, reports Atlanta Business Chronicle broadcast partner WXIA-TV.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
 

Editorials/Columns

Times-Dispatch: Last month we noted that lawmakers in the General Assembly got off to a good start on ethics reform. They wasted no time responding to the scandal that has ruined former Gov. Bob McDonnell’s legacy. Unfortunately, rather than build on the foundation they had laid, they seem to have decided nothing more than a foundation is needed. Consensus has jelled around omnibus measures that, while better than nothing, largely avoid precisely the problems that led to the McDonnell scandal. The proposal now most likely to pass would set a $250 ceiling on the value of tangible gifts by lobbyists, forbid soliciting gifts and create an ethics advisory commission.

Nicholas Cadwallender, Free Lance-Star: The fact is we made a business decision to invest and grow just as the economy turned sour and fell into a recession beyond anyone’s control. There is no blame, no fault, just unfortunate timing. Since the announcement of The Free Lance–Star filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, our family and our employees have been overwhelmed by your kindness. Letters, phone calls, emails and extended hands of friendship have told us how much you care. Vendors are continuing to provide materials and services, and advertisers are continuing to trust us with their marketing programs. This community is standing beside us when we need it most.