Transparency News 7/7/15
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
State and Local Stories
Portsmouth Council members are mudslinging again in Portsmouth as Councilman Bill Moody accused Mayor Kenny Wright of using inside information for personal gain. Moody last month told The Virginian-Pilot that the mayor failed to disclose properties he owned while advocating for a recreation center near Truxtun and Brighton. Wright owns properties within a mile of the new center and purchased more nearby before the center’s site was publicly announced. Real estate and legal experts say Wright likely won’t benefit financially from buying these mostly distressed properties and, while he could have been more transparent, they see no breach of ethics. “In principle, I can see what the issue is,” said Dale Miller, a philosophy professor and co-director of the Institute for Ethics and Public Affairs at Old Dominion University, “but if there is not much money really involved, if it is not really going to affect the properties in the area very much, it may be beneath the threshold of what would be ethically troubling.”
Virginian-Pilot
A student representative could join the dais at Norfolk School Board meetings in the future. A policy recently adopted by the Norfolk board would pave the way for student representation, but the board has not yet developed specific regulations for how to implement the plan. No school division in South Hampton Roads has a student board representative, although some superintendents meet throughout the school year with student advisory committees. In Norfolk, the idea grew out of citywide PTA meetings and a desire for more student representation and community engagement, board members said. According to the policy, each high school principal would nominate two students, and the superintendent would then recommend one appointee from the pool for board approval. The student representative would not vote, attend closed meetings or have access to confidential information. The student would attend all regular, open meetings and complete research assignments requested by the board. The term would last one year.
Virginian-Pilot
About 70 percent of all stop-and-frisks by Charlottesville police were of African-American minors, data show, but there’s been little explanation from authorities why a group that is 20 percent of the city makes up the majority of temporary detainments. That’s why city residents and a contingent of members from a city task force created three years ago to study the high number of juvenile minorities in the justice system expressed disappointment with the city Monday, several weeks after local attorney Jeffrey Fogel sued the city police department to release reports about the stops authorities have elected to withhold.
Daily Progress
Business owner Frank Goodpasture III said Monday he may turn down an appointment to the BVU Authority board if he cannot continue doing business with the utilities provider. Last week, City Council appointed Goodpasture to a four-year term on the authority’s board of directors, replacing attorney Doug Fleenor. As the owner of Goodpasture Motors in Bristol, his company has done business with BVU in the past. “If I can’t be clear to do business with BVU, then I’m not going to pay to be on the board — and that’s essentially what it would be,” Goodpasture said. “We’re not doing a heck of a lot of business with BVU right now, but I want to do more in the future.” The board seats are unpaid positions.
Herald Courier
National Stories
A nurse practitioner in Connecticut pleaded guilty in June to taking $83,000 in kickbacks from a drug company in exchange for prescribing its high-priced drug to treat cancer pain. In some cases, she delivered promotional talks attended only by herself and a company sales representative. But when the federal government released data Tuesday on payments by drug and device companies to doctors and teaching hospitals, the payments to nurse practitioner Heather Alfonso, 42, were nowhere to be found. That's because the federal Physician Payment Sunshine Act doesn't require companies to publicly report payments to nurse practitioners or physician assistants, even though they are allowed to write prescriptions in most states.
NPR
The Connecticut General Assembly last week approved an exemption from the state’s Freedom of Information Act for communications among members of the Public Utilities Regulations Authority that occur between scheduled meetings. PURA members identified the issue as their top priority in their annual letter last year, saying FOI requirements were making such communications difficult. Because PURA consists of only three commissioners, a communication between any two members constitutes a quorum and qualifies as a public meeting under the FOI Act.
Journal Inquirer
State and Local Stories
Portsmouth Council members are mudslinging again in Portsmouth as Councilman Bill Moody accused Mayor Kenny Wright of using inside information for personal gain. Moody last month told The Virginian-Pilot that the mayor failed to disclose properties he owned while advocating for a recreation center near Truxtun and Brighton. Wright owns properties within a mile of the new center and purchased more nearby before the center’s site was publicly announced. Real estate and legal experts say Wright likely won’t benefit financially from buying these mostly distressed properties and, while he could have been more transparent, they see no breach of ethics. “In principle, I can see what the issue is,” said Dale Miller, a philosophy professor and co-director of the Institute for Ethics and Public Affairs at Old Dominion University, “but if there is not much money really involved, if it is not really going to affect the properties in the area very much, it may be beneath the threshold of what would be ethically troubling.”
Virginian-Pilot
A student representative could join the dais at Norfolk School Board meetings in the future. A policy recently adopted by the Norfolk board would pave the way for student representation, but the board has not yet developed specific regulations for how to implement the plan. No school division in South Hampton Roads has a student board representative, although some superintendents meet throughout the school year with student advisory committees. In Norfolk, the idea grew out of citywide PTA meetings and a desire for more student representation and community engagement, board members said. According to the policy, each high school principal would nominate two students, and the superintendent would then recommend one appointee from the pool for board approval. The student representative would not vote, attend closed meetings or have access to confidential information. The student would attend all regular, open meetings and complete research assignments requested by the board. The term would last one year.
Virginian-Pilot
About 70 percent of all stop-and-frisks by Charlottesville police were of African-American minors, data show, but there’s been little explanation from authorities why a group that is 20 percent of the city makes up the majority of temporary detainments. That’s why city residents and a contingent of members from a city task force created three years ago to study the high number of juvenile minorities in the justice system expressed disappointment with the city Monday, several weeks after local attorney Jeffrey Fogel sued the city police department to release reports about the stops authorities have elected to withhold.
Daily Progress
Business owner Frank Goodpasture III said Monday he may turn down an appointment to the BVU Authority board if he cannot continue doing business with the utilities provider. Last week, City Council appointed Goodpasture to a four-year term on the authority’s board of directors, replacing attorney Doug Fleenor. As the owner of Goodpasture Motors in Bristol, his company has done business with BVU in the past. “If I can’t be clear to do business with BVU, then I’m not going to pay to be on the board — and that’s essentially what it would be,” Goodpasture said. “We’re not doing a heck of a lot of business with BVU right now, but I want to do more in the future.” The board seats are unpaid positions.
Herald Courier
National Stories
A nurse practitioner in Connecticut pleaded guilty in June to taking $83,000 in kickbacks from a drug company in exchange for prescribing its high-priced drug to treat cancer pain. In some cases, she delivered promotional talks attended only by herself and a company sales representative. But when the federal government released data Tuesday on payments by drug and device companies to doctors and teaching hospitals, the payments to nurse practitioner Heather Alfonso, 42, were nowhere to be found. That's because the federal Physician Payment Sunshine Act doesn't require companies to publicly report payments to nurse practitioners or physician assistants, even though they are allowed to write prescriptions in most states.
NPR
The Connecticut General Assembly last week approved an exemption from the state’s Freedom of Information Act for communications among members of the Public Utilities Regulations Authority that occur between scheduled meetings. PURA members identified the issue as their top priority in their annual letter last year, saying FOI requirements were making such communications difficult. Because PURA consists of only three commissioners, a communication between any two members constitutes a quorum and qualifies as a public meeting under the FOI Act.
Journal Inquirer
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