Transparency News 11/11/15
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
State and Local Stories
THERE WILL NOT BE AN EDITION OF TRANSPARENCY NEWS TOMORROW, NOV. 12.
WE WILL BE TWEETING FROM THE VCOG ANNUAL CONFERENCE UNDER THE HASHTAG #ACCESS15VA
A Newport News Circuit Court judge on Tuesday refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Daily Press seeking access to a statewide database of circuit court records. The judge called objections to releasing the database "nonsensical," and said the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia – the defendant in the Daily Press lawsuit – appears to be responsible for making the database available. State Solicitor General Stuart Raphael, representing OES, argued on Tuesday that the state's Freedom of Information Act exempts records required to be kept by clerks of courts and said the clerks of 66 Virginia circuit courts opposed releasing the entire database. Pugh rejected the argument. The clerks entered the records into the OES case management system with the full knowledge that the OES would remove confidential information like Social Security numbers and then make the information publicly available online, Pugh said.
Daily Press
A University of Missouri communications professor with ties to Roanoke County apologized Tuesday after she was shown in a video calling for the forcible ejection of a journalist who was trying to cover a student protest. Melissa Click, an assistant professor of mass media at the university, is a graduate of Cave Spring High School in Roanoke County. After leaving the Roanoke Valley, Click graduated from James Madison University and earned a master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She was an instructor at the University of Missouri from 2003 to 2008 and has been an assistant professor since then, according to her curriculum vitae.
Roanoke Times
Montgomery County Public Schools may soon have a dress code policy that specifically bans the Confederate flag. On Tuesday night the school board approved the first reading of a revised countywide ban that would bar apparel, including decals, “that would cause a disruption to the learning environment in any school.” Following the reading, board member Joe Ivers suggested the policy’s language be amended to include specific examples. “The examples would be clothing articles, material, publications or any item that denotes Klu Klux Klan, Aryan Nation, white supremacy, Black Power, Confederate flags or articles, neo-Nazi or any other hate groups,” Ivers said. At the request of board member Marti Graham, the wording “this list is not intended to be all inclusive” was also added.
Roanoke Times
Martinsville City Public Schools recently took out no-trespassing papers against community activist Chad Martin. He has been advocating for Rashawn Martin, who had been out of school since March, to be readmitted to Martinsville High School so he can finish his studies and graduate. Chad Martin indicated in an interview that he feels the taking out of no-trespassing papers against him was not justified, but MCPS Superintendent Pam Heath said the papers were taken out because Chad Martin was taking part in social media posts that Heath felt were disruptive for the school division. “School operations were being disrupted by the total situation, and it appeared from our viewpoint that he (Chad Martin) was leading the actions,” Heath said. “We had had concerns expressed to us by others about coming in and out of our offices – some individuals who were concerned about even coming to do business. They didn’t want to get caught up in something.” “We needed to bring it to a close. We wanted to move on to providing services to the student. We were running into continuing difficulties because of the disruption,” Heath said. “We had social media postings indicating the activity could continue. Chad was definitely involved,” Heath added, but she did not know if others were involved.
Martinsville Bulletin
National Stories
Governing Magazine’s Public Officials of the Year
