Transparency News, 8/31/20
Monday
August 31, 2020
August 31, 2020
state & local news stories
Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration faced bipartisan criticism throughout much of the COVID-19 pandemic for its decision not to release the names of nursing homes and assisted living centers with outbreaks of the virus — largely leaving families and residents in the dark unless the facility chose to disclose the information itself. The Virginia General Assembly responded last week, unanimously passing emergency bills in the House and Senate to require the disclosure. Del. Mark Sickles, D-Fairfax, and Sen. George Barker, D-Fairfax, sponsored identical legislation that clarifies existing state code and requires the Virginia Department of Health to make information on outbreaks publicly available. The Virginia General Assembly responded last week, unanimously passing emergency bills in the House and Senate to require the disclosure. Del. Mark Sickles, D-Fairfax, and Sen. George Barker, D-Fairfax, sponsored identical legislation that clarifies existing state code and requires the Virginia Department of Health to make information on outbreaks publicly available.
InsideNoVa
A legislative attempt to force Virginia to reveal more information about COVID-19 outbreaks in the state’s poultry plants and other workplaces, introduced after months of stonewalling from Virginia health officials and their insistence that the plants are entitled to privacy protections, stalled Wednesday with no prospect of being revived until 2021. Because Virginia health officials and Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration have taken a conservative — and much criticized —approach to how much information they’ll disclose about coronavirus cases and outbreaks at individual businesses, it’s been difficult to unravel what unfolded in the plants during the chaotic early months of the pandemic. However, information obtained by the Mercury through a Freedom of Information Act request paints a picture of anxious state and local health officials, including an Eastern Shore hospital, who were so concerned about the rapid spread of the virus at the Accomack County poultry plants that they advised shutting them down for two weeks. That never happened. The emails also show the companies resisted the notion that the virus was spreading at their plants and were dead set against making information about outbreaks at their facilities public. “Companies have been cooperating but are insisting that plants not be identified publicly as having outbreak (sic) and do not want the results of facility-wide testing shared,” one state official wrote in another email.
Virginia Mercury
The Virginia Parole Board will not heed demands by top state Republican leaders to resign in the wake of a blistering report by the state inspector general, as questions are being raised about the IG’s authority and expertise to investigate the board’s decision to grant parole to a man sentenced to life in prison in 1980 for killing a Richmond police officer. Attorney Jeffrey Breit, a longtime friend and legal adviser to Gov. Ralph Northam, contends the Office of the State Inspector General “went way beyond the bounds” of its intended mission as a state government watchdog agency in investigating a quasi-judicial body such as the parole board.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
When Del. Marcus B. Simon (D-Fairfax) appeared on-screen during Friday's virtual session of the House of Delegates, he sent a not-so-subtle message to colleagues about which way to vote on the matter at hand. Arrayed behind his image was a computer-generated cluster of green signs all bearing the word “YES.” Simon is picking up the tools of online legislating faster than some other lawmakers as Virginia’s 401-year-old House attempts a digital makeover during this time of pandemic. “Please unmute your microphone” and “Can you hear me?” have become regular refrains as many delegates struggle to adapt to the technology. Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax) drew ire from Republicans for insisting that the body move its special session on the coronavirus and criminal justice issues online after convening Aug. 18 at a Richmond sports arena. Arguing that members and their staffs would be in danger of spreading the novel coronavirus if they sat together for what could be a month of debate, Filler-Corn used parliamentary tactics to overcome GOP resistance and set up the virtual gathering. Virginia is among nearly two dozen states that have authorized some form of virtual legislative session this summer, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In Maryland, legislative committees have met online but have taken no remote votes. The D.C. Council has been conducting its business in virtual sessions all summer. Other state legislatures have shortened or canceled sessions to avoid exposing members to the pandemic.
The Washington Post
Will Bragg 1 ever be over? One month shy of the fourth anniversary of its filing date in September 2016, Marian Bragg v. The Board of Supervisors of Rappahannock County was back before Judge Jeffrey W. Parker in Rappahannock County Circuit Court on Monday, Aug. 24 — this time to argue whether Bragg’s lawyer David Konick would be paid any or all of the $132,769.46 in attorney’s fees he claims he is owed. Bragg, a resident of Harris Hollow, charged that the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors violated Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) during five closed-to-the-public meetings in 2016 while choosing a replacement for retiring Rappahannock County Attorney Peter Luke. The case is known as Bragg 1 to distinguish it from a second case Bragg filed against the BOS in 2017. According to a letter of agreement signed by Bragg on Sept. 26, 2016, Konick charged her a “non-refundable retainer of $1.00” and acknowledged that he would take the case on a contingency basis: He would charge no attorney’s fees, but would expect to be paid by the county if Bragg “substantially prevails.”
Rappahannock News
Many of Rappahannock County’s 49 cases of COVID-19 and both deaths can be traced to the Massanova Pentecostal Church in Castleton and a week-long revival held there in late June, according to Virginia Department of Health documents. The Rappahannock News received copies of dozens of internal emails from the VDH from a source who obtained them after filing a Freedom of Information Act request for all communications related to the outbreak at Massanova Pentecostal Church.
Rapphannock News
On Tuesday afternoon, the Orange County Board of Supervisors held its first in-person meeting of the COVID-19 era. By Thursday, the county was under investigation for possibly violating Gov. Ralph Northam’s executive order requiring protective masks in indoor settings. By Friday, the investigation was complete and, according to Dr. Wade Kartchner, health director of the Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District, county administration had heard directly from the district's environmental health staff. Specifically, Kartchner said the county was advised to be mindful of appearances and consider the message supervisors send to the public when they don't wear masks at their meetings.
Orange County Review
InsideNoVa
A legislative attempt to force Virginia to reveal more information about COVID-19 outbreaks in the state’s poultry plants and other workplaces, introduced after months of stonewalling from Virginia health officials and their insistence that the plants are entitled to privacy protections, stalled Wednesday with no prospect of being revived until 2021. Because Virginia health officials and Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration have taken a conservative — and much criticized —approach to how much information they’ll disclose about coronavirus cases and outbreaks at individual businesses, it’s been difficult to unravel what unfolded in the plants during the chaotic early months of the pandemic. However, information obtained by the Mercury through a Freedom of Information Act request paints a picture of anxious state and local health officials, including an Eastern Shore hospital, who were so concerned about the rapid spread of the virus at the Accomack County poultry plants that they advised shutting them down for two weeks. That never happened. The emails also show the companies resisted the notion that the virus was spreading at their plants and were dead set against making information about outbreaks at their facilities public. “Companies have been cooperating but are insisting that plants not be identified publicly as having outbreak (sic) and do not want the results of facility-wide testing shared,” one state official wrote in another email.
Virginia Mercury
The Virginia Parole Board will not heed demands by top state Republican leaders to resign in the wake of a blistering report by the state inspector general, as questions are being raised about the IG’s authority and expertise to investigate the board’s decision to grant parole to a man sentenced to life in prison in 1980 for killing a Richmond police officer. Attorney Jeffrey Breit, a longtime friend and legal adviser to Gov. Ralph Northam, contends the Office of the State Inspector General “went way beyond the bounds” of its intended mission as a state government watchdog agency in investigating a quasi-judicial body such as the parole board.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
When Del. Marcus B. Simon (D-Fairfax) appeared on-screen during Friday's virtual session of the House of Delegates, he sent a not-so-subtle message to colleagues about which way to vote on the matter at hand. Arrayed behind his image was a computer-generated cluster of green signs all bearing the word “YES.” Simon is picking up the tools of online legislating faster than some other lawmakers as Virginia’s 401-year-old House attempts a digital makeover during this time of pandemic. “Please unmute your microphone” and “Can you hear me?” have become regular refrains as many delegates struggle to adapt to the technology. Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax) drew ire from Republicans for insisting that the body move its special session on the coronavirus and criminal justice issues online after convening Aug. 18 at a Richmond sports arena. Arguing that members and their staffs would be in danger of spreading the novel coronavirus if they sat together for what could be a month of debate, Filler-Corn used parliamentary tactics to overcome GOP resistance and set up the virtual gathering. Virginia is among nearly two dozen states that have authorized some form of virtual legislative session this summer, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In Maryland, legislative committees have met online but have taken no remote votes. The D.C. Council has been conducting its business in virtual sessions all summer. Other state legislatures have shortened or canceled sessions to avoid exposing members to the pandemic.
The Washington Post
Will Bragg 1 ever be over? One month shy of the fourth anniversary of its filing date in September 2016, Marian Bragg v. The Board of Supervisors of Rappahannock County was back before Judge Jeffrey W. Parker in Rappahannock County Circuit Court on Monday, Aug. 24 — this time to argue whether Bragg’s lawyer David Konick would be paid any or all of the $132,769.46 in attorney’s fees he claims he is owed. Bragg, a resident of Harris Hollow, charged that the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors violated Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) during five closed-to-the-public meetings in 2016 while choosing a replacement for retiring Rappahannock County Attorney Peter Luke. The case is known as Bragg 1 to distinguish it from a second case Bragg filed against the BOS in 2017. According to a letter of agreement signed by Bragg on Sept. 26, 2016, Konick charged her a “non-refundable retainer of $1.00” and acknowledged that he would take the case on a contingency basis: He would charge no attorney’s fees, but would expect to be paid by the county if Bragg “substantially prevails.”
Rappahannock News
Many of Rappahannock County’s 49 cases of COVID-19 and both deaths can be traced to the Massanova Pentecostal Church in Castleton and a week-long revival held there in late June, according to Virginia Department of Health documents. The Rappahannock News received copies of dozens of internal emails from the VDH from a source who obtained them after filing a Freedom of Information Act request for all communications related to the outbreak at Massanova Pentecostal Church.
Rapphannock News
On Tuesday afternoon, the Orange County Board of Supervisors held its first in-person meeting of the COVID-19 era. By Thursday, the county was under investigation for possibly violating Gov. Ralph Northam’s executive order requiring protective masks in indoor settings. By Friday, the investigation was complete and, according to Dr. Wade Kartchner, health director of the Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District, county administration had heard directly from the district's environmental health staff. Specifically, Kartchner said the county was advised to be mindful of appearances and consider the message supervisors send to the public when they don't wear masks at their meetings.
Orange County Review
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