Transparency News 1/6/2017
Friday, January 6, 2017
State and Local Stories
State and Local Stories
Then-Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones authorized $166,000 in severance payments to four high-level members of his staff before he left office at the end of December. The payments will come out of the budget of new Mayor Levar Stoney’s administration, and represent about 10 percent of budgeted expenditures for the mayor’s office and the office of the press secretary. The appointees, whose term of employment ended with the mayor’s administration, were not automatically entitled to severance payments. But Jones had the authority under city code to authorize the payments.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Digging into the inner workings of a college or university can be difficult, even when records are requested through a Freedom of Information Act request. As Michael Pope tells us, that’s because university presidents enjoy a license to operate outside of the scope of public scrutiny.
Virginia Public Business
As the Prince William County School Board wound down its regular meeting Jan. 4, At-Large Chairman Ryan Sawyers rapped his gavel, declaring there would be no special meeting immediately following the board’s regular business as he stormed out of the chamber. Vice Chair Lillie Jessie of the Occoquan District left her place as well, stating that she too would refuse to preside over the meeting requested by two other board members last week. About 10 minutes later, the board started debate as part of a special meeting, with all eight board members in their seats. And by the meeting’s end, the majority of the board had agreed to adopt a long-disputed higher capacity design for Prince William’s 13th high school, as part of a complex deal brokered with the Board of County Supervisors.
Inside NOVA
Total firearm sales in Virginia during President Barack Obama’s eight years in office nearly doubled over President George W. Bush’s two terms, and they surpassed a record half-million transactions in 2016 alone, state data show. Estimated firearm sales based on mandatory criminal background checks on Virginia gun buyers totaled 3,153,220 during the Obama years ending in 2016, compared with 1,712,607 transactions during the Bush years of 2001-08, according to a Richmond Times-Dispatch analysis of Virginia Firearm Transaction Center data.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
National Stories
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has faced congressional hearings and secret government sanctions over its sloppy lab safety practices, is keeping secret large swaths of information about dozens of recent incidents involving some of the world’s most dangerous bacteria and viruses. CDC scientists apparently lost a box of deadly and highly-regulated influenza specimens and experienced multiple potential exposures involving viruses and bacteria, according to heavily-redacted laboratory incident reports obtained by USA TODAY. Several reports involve failures of safety equipment. In one, a scientist wearing full-body spacesuit-like gear to protect against lethal, often untreatable viruses like Ebola, had their purified air hose suddenly disconnect — “again” — in one the world’s most advanced biosafety level 4 labs. After taking nearly two years to release laboratory incident reports requested by USA TODAY under the Freedom of Information Act, the CDC blacked out many details including the types of viruses and bacteria involved in the mishaps and often the entire descriptions of what happened.
USA TODAY
Body-worn cameras are reshaping perceptions of policing. The small devices, typically mounted on officers’ shirts, provide a lens into law enforcement that is meant to build transparency and trust. But their increased use has also raised a host of questions and concerns: Who should have access to recordings? How will the footage be used? What are the privacy rights of people caught on video? And what are the long-term costs to taxpayers? Across the country, police departments large and small are rolling out expensive body-camera programs without consistent answers to the questions or, according to policy experts, convincing evidence that the cameras ensure the level of accountability that the public demands. Already, at least 19 states have enacted laws restricting public access to footage, and a dozen more are proposing legislation.
New York Times
A federal judge agreed Thursday to seal personal information extracted by police from the cellphones of people who communicated with a North Carolina man accused of commandeering a D.C. pizza restaurant and firing several shots from an assault-style rifle Dec. 4. No one was injured. Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, of Salisbury, N.C., made his first appearance before U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who said she would grant the request by prosecutors.
Washington Post
The election’s over – but Hillary Clinton’s emails are still coming to light. And they help illustrate why the FBI declared she was “extremely careless” with the information flowing across her secret server. A new batch of messages released by the State Department on Tuesday shows the former secretary of state and her team routinely shared her upcoming schedules, talking points and sensitive items – such as her iPad password – via the homebrewed system. Other newly revealed emails, which were posted as the result of litigation, show Clinton’s top advisers griping about her during her time as secretary of State; an Asian ruler who later implemented Sharia law saying he considered former President Bill Clinton part of his “family”; and Clinton talking about Justin Cooper, one of the key figures who administered to her private server.
Fox News
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Digging into the inner workings of a college or university can be difficult, even when records are requested through a Freedom of Information Act request. As Michael Pope tells us, that’s because university presidents enjoy a license to operate outside of the scope of public scrutiny.
Virginia Public Business
As the Prince William County School Board wound down its regular meeting Jan. 4, At-Large Chairman Ryan Sawyers rapped his gavel, declaring there would be no special meeting immediately following the board’s regular business as he stormed out of the chamber. Vice Chair Lillie Jessie of the Occoquan District left her place as well, stating that she too would refuse to preside over the meeting requested by two other board members last week. About 10 minutes later, the board started debate as part of a special meeting, with all eight board members in their seats. And by the meeting’s end, the majority of the board had agreed to adopt a long-disputed higher capacity design for Prince William’s 13th high school, as part of a complex deal brokered with the Board of County Supervisors.
Inside NOVA
Total firearm sales in Virginia during President Barack Obama’s eight years in office nearly doubled over President George W. Bush’s two terms, and they surpassed a record half-million transactions in 2016 alone, state data show. Estimated firearm sales based on mandatory criminal background checks on Virginia gun buyers totaled 3,153,220 during the Obama years ending in 2016, compared with 1,712,607 transactions during the Bush years of 2001-08, according to a Richmond Times-Dispatch analysis of Virginia Firearm Transaction Center data.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
National Stories
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has faced congressional hearings and secret government sanctions over its sloppy lab safety practices, is keeping secret large swaths of information about dozens of recent incidents involving some of the world’s most dangerous bacteria and viruses. CDC scientists apparently lost a box of deadly and highly-regulated influenza specimens and experienced multiple potential exposures involving viruses and bacteria, according to heavily-redacted laboratory incident reports obtained by USA TODAY. Several reports involve failures of safety equipment. In one, a scientist wearing full-body spacesuit-like gear to protect against lethal, often untreatable viruses like Ebola, had their purified air hose suddenly disconnect — “again” — in one the world’s most advanced biosafety level 4 labs. After taking nearly two years to release laboratory incident reports requested by USA TODAY under the Freedom of Information Act, the CDC blacked out many details including the types of viruses and bacteria involved in the mishaps and often the entire descriptions of what happened.
USA TODAY
Body-worn cameras are reshaping perceptions of policing. The small devices, typically mounted on officers’ shirts, provide a lens into law enforcement that is meant to build transparency and trust. But their increased use has also raised a host of questions and concerns: Who should have access to recordings? How will the footage be used? What are the privacy rights of people caught on video? And what are the long-term costs to taxpayers? Across the country, police departments large and small are rolling out expensive body-camera programs without consistent answers to the questions or, according to policy experts, convincing evidence that the cameras ensure the level of accountability that the public demands. Already, at least 19 states have enacted laws restricting public access to footage, and a dozen more are proposing legislation.
New York Times
A federal judge agreed Thursday to seal personal information extracted by police from the cellphones of people who communicated with a North Carolina man accused of commandeering a D.C. pizza restaurant and firing several shots from an assault-style rifle Dec. 4. No one was injured. Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, of Salisbury, N.C., made his first appearance before U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who said she would grant the request by prosecutors.
Washington Post
The election’s over – but Hillary Clinton’s emails are still coming to light. And they help illustrate why the FBI declared she was “extremely careless” with the information flowing across her secret server. A new batch of messages released by the State Department on Tuesday shows the former secretary of state and her team routinely shared her upcoming schedules, talking points and sensitive items – such as her iPad password – via the homebrewed system. Other newly revealed emails, which were posted as the result of litigation, show Clinton’s top advisers griping about her during her time as secretary of State; an Asian ruler who later implemented Sharia law saying he considered former President Bill Clinton part of his “family”; and Clinton talking about Justin Cooper, one of the key figures who administered to her private server.
Fox News
Categories:
