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“Many of them work for three-letter agencies, and there is no publicity around those announcements.”
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As deliberations on Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney’s budget proposal descended into chaos Wednesday, six members of the City Council voted to pursue hiring outside counsel, a step that could lead to a lawsuit pitting the city’s legislative body against the mayor’s administration. The decision came at the end of a contentious seven-hour hearing on Stoney’s $757 million spending plan, after the administration reneged on a commitment to certify up to $9 million in new revenue from rising property assessments and the collection of delinquent real estate taxes. Chief Administrative Officer Selena Cuffee-Glenn informed the council of the shift after council members moved to adopt an across-the-board cut to city departments in an effort to save $7.5 million. The announcement struck several on the council as retaliatory when it happened, and Cuffee-Glenn offered no further explanation for the sudden change. When asked by a council member why the administration changed its mind on the revenues, Cuffee-Glenn did not respond directly. Instead, she extended an invitation to Council President Cynthia Newbille and Hilbert to meet with Stoney privately to discuss next steps. Neither agreed to the meeting, as others on the council objected to any closed-door discussions on the budget between the council leadership and the administration.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Virginia Sen. Amanda Chase berated and cursed at a Capitol Police officer who refused to let her park in a secure area in downtown Richmond, according to an official write-up of the incident that occurred last month. Police records obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch say Chase, R-Chesterfield, became “very rude and irate” when the officer told the senator she could not park her white Lexus in the Bank Street pedestrian plaza between the Capitol and the Pocahontas Building, where legislators’ offices are located. The report says Chase told the officer she would not move her vehicle “unless you let the f---ing barricades down to let me in,” caused traffic to back up, and made a disparaging comment about Senate Clerk Susan Clarke Schaar. The Times-Dispatch obtained Officer Ashley Berryman’s report through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Virginia has gained almost $16 billion in capital investment through economic development since Gov. Ralph Northam took office 16 months ago, but nearly half of it — almost $7.4 billion — came from publicly unannounced projects by companies that did not want to be identified. Most of those 25 confidential projects involved investments in data centers, which have fueled an economic transformation of Virginia’s economy and raised concerns about state tax breaks for the companies behind them. The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission’s staff is wrapping up a study of state tax exemptions for data centers that it will present to legislative members on June 17. Barry DuVal, president and CEO of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, said confidentiality is necessary for many data centers because of contracts with national security agencies and major financial institutions. “Many of them work for three-letter agencies, and there is no publicity around those announcements,” he said.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Faculty and administration salaries for the 2018-2019 academic year show that the number of women across all divisions in the top 20 earners at the University has increased from two in the 2015-2016 academic year to six women this year. Data obtained by The Cavalier Daily through a Freedom of Information Act request regarding the gender breakdown of average faculty salary for the Oct. 25, 2018 census file showed that women faculty members across all schools at the University earned $33,939 less than men. In an email to The Cavalier Daily, University spokesperson Anthony de Bruyn addressed the complex nature of determining gender inequity in his email, stating that in order to properly address the apparent gender gap, one would need to account for many different factors like education and tenure that the FOIA doesn’t necessarily take into consideration.
The Cavalier Daily
A Charlottesville auction house will offer a warrant for Jesse James’ arrest on Saturday. The printed document, dated Feb. 24, 1875, is addressed from Kansas Gov. Thomas A. Osborn to Missouri Gov. Charles H. Hardin. A gold seal and red ribbons trail down the page, and four handwritten pages detailing the outlaw’s crimes, including robbery in the first degree, are fixed to the affidavit. James, born in 1847, was a Confederate guerilla, robber and outlaw. The warrant is thought to be related to an 1874 train robbery in Wyandotte County, Kansas. An article in The State Journal in Jefferson City, Missouri, cited a robbery by the James–Younger gang on the Kansas Pacific Railroad. Missouri also issued an arrest warrant, and Kansas later declared James a fugitive from justice in Missouri.
The Daily Progress
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"It suggests that the court may follow the lead of 2011’s Milner v. Department of Navy and reverse purpose-driven lower-court interpretations of FOIA in favor of statutory textualism."