Transparency News, 11/10/21
Wednesday
November 10, 2021
November 10, 2021
state & local news stories
Remember to tune in live to the FOIA Council meeting today at 1 p.m.
Video feed linked on Senate
A federal lawsuit claims the November 2019 sale of the former Dan River Inc. property on Memorial Drive to the city for a new police station was fraudulent. Tim Norton and his company, Norhurst Properties Danville, LLC, states in his lawsuit that the parties involved in the $17.7 million deal — including developer Ed Walker, realtor and Danville City Councilman James Buckner and Hampton Wilkins — were enriched by being able to flip the property at 2291 Memorial Drive to the Danville Police Department through a lease-purchase arrangement. Attorney and state Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, is representing Norton and Norhurst in the case. Norhurst and and Norton are also being represented by former Delegate Ward Armstrong, a Martinsville attorney. Buckner told Norton the buyer was negotiating directly with the city and must remain anonymous until the city announced its arrival, the lawsuit claims. Norton was required to sign a non-disclosure agreement, which provided that he would not ask about the mysterious buyer or discuss details regarding the possible purchase of the property, according to the complaint.
Danville Register & Bee
The Spotsylvania County School Board has directed staff to begin removing books that contain “sexually explicit” material from library shelves and report on the number of books that have been removed at a special called meeting next week. The directive came after a parent raised concerns at the School Board’s meeting Monday about books available through the Riverbend High School’s digital library app.
The Free Lance-Star
Former Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney has filed a discrimination complaint against the city with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and is asking for a $3 million settlement, Brackney and her attorney announced Tuesday morning at a press conference. Brackney, a Black woman, alleges she was discriminated against by some members of city staff and City Council on the basis of her sex and race, specifically in the termination of her contract on Sept. 1. She is also alleging in her complaint that some members of city staff and some councilors have made defamatory statements against her. Brackney and her lawyer shared copies of her complaint after the press conference Tuesday. “I get to sit in silence, as the baseless attacks and the public messaging have suggested that my contract was terminated for cause. And this has been demeaning." Tucker said he and Brackney have emails that allegedly contain evidence of collusion, but he said there are no plans to release those emails publicly at this time.
The Daily Progress
Virginia Tech didn’t get throwback prices on those 1999 inspired maroon uniforms they wore earlier this season from Nike. The Hokies were sent a pair of invoices from Nike in September that totaled $16,140.02, according to documents provided to The Roanoke Times in response to a FOIA request. Tech football’s senior director of equipment services Erik Lewis ordered the jerseys in July.
The Roanoke Times
Loudoun County Public Schools on Monday responded to criticism that the law firm hired to conduct an outside review of the division’s handling of allegations of sexual assault earlier this year was not “independent,” saying the firm was chosen by LCPS’ insurer, and not by LCPS. LCPS public information officer Wayde Byard acknowledged in an email to the Times-Mirror that John Cafferky, an education law specialist at Fairfax law firm Blankingship & Keith, P.C., was “employed as counsel for several matters, usually related to [Freedom of Information Act requests]" during this past summer. In response to a follow-up question inquiring whether Cafferky would be involved in the review of LCPS' handling of the alleged sexual assaults, Byard wrote, "Blankingship & Keith was hired by VACORP, LCPS’s insurance coverage provider, to conduct this investigation" for the school system.
Loudoun Times-Mirror
Proposed changes to the Isle of Wight County School Board’s public comment policies, which would repeal the 30-minute cap, are set to be voted on at the board’s Nov. 10 meeting. Currently, board policy BDDH states that any member of the community may address the School Board on matters related to Isle of Wight County public schools at any regular meeting, with the chairman or chairwoman responsible for deciding the “appropriateness of the subject being presented and length of time for such presentation.” An exhibit attached to that policy further specifies that each speaker is allotted a maximum of five minutes and not permitted to speak more than once per meeting, with the total allotted time for public comments capped at 30 minutes. The proposed changes repeal the 30-minute cap, but also reduce the allotted time per speaker to four minutes and restrict public comments made at the beginning of the meeting to items scheduled on that meeting’s agenda for discussion. Speakers wishing to speak on a topic not listed on the agenda would need to wait until the conclusion of the meeting to be heard.
The Smithfield Times
Officials in Petersburg originally informed the public that potential city council replacement applicants needed to live within the seventh ward for one year, instead of 30 days, which is what is written into the Virginia code. An email from a concerned citizen to city officials prompted them to correct the mistake Sunday. “The residency requirement of living in a Ward for a year prior to consideration was incorrect,” said Public Information Officer Joanne Williams in a statement Sunday night. Due to health issues and a special investigation into his residency, Councilor John Hart resigned from his post as seventh ward representative last week. Now the councilors are tasked with selecting his replacement until the election in November of 2022. The advertisement that was first posted by the Petersburg Facebook page incorrectly stated that eligible applicants “currently lives in Ward 7 and has lived in Ward 7 for at least one year.” It was then pointed out first by Petersburg citizen Barb Rudolph that the state code only requires individuals running for a city council seat in Virginia to live within their designated district for 30 days. The Petersburg charter does not specify anything differently. Rudolph emailed officials informing them of the error.
VA Scope
It was when the police car pulled away from her house, some time after midnight on a Thursday in late October, that Beth Barts hit her breaking point. The school board member in Loudoun County, Va., had been fielding abusive, profane and threatening emails, Facebook messages and phone calls for eight months. She was also facing a recall campaign from mostly conservative parents irate over her support for pandemic safety measures, as well as her membership in a pro-equity parent group on Facebook. And she had been censured by other members of the school board in part for her outspokenness, which they said veered into rudeness, on social media. The harassment of Barts, a 50-year-old stay-at-home mother and former librarian who used to lead a Girl Scouts troop, is part of a wave of anger against elected and appointed school officials, including superintendents, that is cresting nationwide. Parents upset over things including mask mandates in schools, as well as officials’ efforts to introduce more diverse curriculums and bias trainings for teachers, have taken over school board meetings, shouting abuse, making threats and demanding resignations.
The Washington Post
Over the past year, VPM News has been looking into a hidden type of debt affecting thousands of Virginia college students. It’s not federal student loans, which dominates most of the headlines. It’s money owed directly to institutions, called direct-to-school debt. In our series Dreams Deferred, we’re exploring how this debt is creating hardships for students, making it difficult for them to complete their degrees and advance their careers. We’ll address the state and school policies that perpetuate this problem. And we’ll look at what some schools are doing to help students with this debt finish school. How we reported this series: In total, we submitted dozens of public records requests to state colleges and universities and various state agencies including the attorney general’s office. We also sent a survey of detailed questions to every four-year public college and university in Virginia. The information we gathered from schools varied widely making it difficult to compare university policies and practices. Additionally, most state schools sent the bulk of past-due accounts to third-party collection agencies, and the majority of universities either did not have – or would not share – data about this debt.
VPM
Video feed linked on Senate
A federal lawsuit claims the November 2019 sale of the former Dan River Inc. property on Memorial Drive to the city for a new police station was fraudulent. Tim Norton and his company, Norhurst Properties Danville, LLC, states in his lawsuit that the parties involved in the $17.7 million deal — including developer Ed Walker, realtor and Danville City Councilman James Buckner and Hampton Wilkins — were enriched by being able to flip the property at 2291 Memorial Drive to the Danville Police Department through a lease-purchase arrangement. Attorney and state Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, is representing Norton and Norhurst in the case. Norhurst and and Norton are also being represented by former Delegate Ward Armstrong, a Martinsville attorney. Buckner told Norton the buyer was negotiating directly with the city and must remain anonymous until the city announced its arrival, the lawsuit claims. Norton was required to sign a non-disclosure agreement, which provided that he would not ask about the mysterious buyer or discuss details regarding the possible purchase of the property, according to the complaint.
Danville Register & Bee
The Spotsylvania County School Board has directed staff to begin removing books that contain “sexually explicit” material from library shelves and report on the number of books that have been removed at a special called meeting next week. The directive came after a parent raised concerns at the School Board’s meeting Monday about books available through the Riverbend High School’s digital library app.
The Free Lance-Star
Former Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney has filed a discrimination complaint against the city with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and is asking for a $3 million settlement, Brackney and her attorney announced Tuesday morning at a press conference. Brackney, a Black woman, alleges she was discriminated against by some members of city staff and City Council on the basis of her sex and race, specifically in the termination of her contract on Sept. 1. She is also alleging in her complaint that some members of city staff and some councilors have made defamatory statements against her. Brackney and her lawyer shared copies of her complaint after the press conference Tuesday. “I get to sit in silence, as the baseless attacks and the public messaging have suggested that my contract was terminated for cause. And this has been demeaning." Tucker said he and Brackney have emails that allegedly contain evidence of collusion, but he said there are no plans to release those emails publicly at this time.
The Daily Progress
Virginia Tech didn’t get throwback prices on those 1999 inspired maroon uniforms they wore earlier this season from Nike. The Hokies were sent a pair of invoices from Nike in September that totaled $16,140.02, according to documents provided to The Roanoke Times in response to a FOIA request. Tech football’s senior director of equipment services Erik Lewis ordered the jerseys in July.
The Roanoke Times
Loudoun County Public Schools on Monday responded to criticism that the law firm hired to conduct an outside review of the division’s handling of allegations of sexual assault earlier this year was not “independent,” saying the firm was chosen by LCPS’ insurer, and not by LCPS. LCPS public information officer Wayde Byard acknowledged in an email to the Times-Mirror that John Cafferky, an education law specialist at Fairfax law firm Blankingship & Keith, P.C., was “employed as counsel for several matters, usually related to [Freedom of Information Act requests]" during this past summer. In response to a follow-up question inquiring whether Cafferky would be involved in the review of LCPS' handling of the alleged sexual assaults, Byard wrote, "Blankingship & Keith was hired by VACORP, LCPS’s insurance coverage provider, to conduct this investigation" for the school system.
Loudoun Times-Mirror
Proposed changes to the Isle of Wight County School Board’s public comment policies, which would repeal the 30-minute cap, are set to be voted on at the board’s Nov. 10 meeting. Currently, board policy BDDH states that any member of the community may address the School Board on matters related to Isle of Wight County public schools at any regular meeting, with the chairman or chairwoman responsible for deciding the “appropriateness of the subject being presented and length of time for such presentation.” An exhibit attached to that policy further specifies that each speaker is allotted a maximum of five minutes and not permitted to speak more than once per meeting, with the total allotted time for public comments capped at 30 minutes. The proposed changes repeal the 30-minute cap, but also reduce the allotted time per speaker to four minutes and restrict public comments made at the beginning of the meeting to items scheduled on that meeting’s agenda for discussion. Speakers wishing to speak on a topic not listed on the agenda would need to wait until the conclusion of the meeting to be heard.
The Smithfield Times
Officials in Petersburg originally informed the public that potential city council replacement applicants needed to live within the seventh ward for one year, instead of 30 days, which is what is written into the Virginia code. An email from a concerned citizen to city officials prompted them to correct the mistake Sunday. “The residency requirement of living in a Ward for a year prior to consideration was incorrect,” said Public Information Officer Joanne Williams in a statement Sunday night. Due to health issues and a special investigation into his residency, Councilor John Hart resigned from his post as seventh ward representative last week. Now the councilors are tasked with selecting his replacement until the election in November of 2022. The advertisement that was first posted by the Petersburg Facebook page incorrectly stated that eligible applicants “currently lives in Ward 7 and has lived in Ward 7 for at least one year.” It was then pointed out first by Petersburg citizen Barb Rudolph that the state code only requires individuals running for a city council seat in Virginia to live within their designated district for 30 days. The Petersburg charter does not specify anything differently. Rudolph emailed officials informing them of the error.
VA Scope
It was when the police car pulled away from her house, some time after midnight on a Thursday in late October, that Beth Barts hit her breaking point. The school board member in Loudoun County, Va., had been fielding abusive, profane and threatening emails, Facebook messages and phone calls for eight months. She was also facing a recall campaign from mostly conservative parents irate over her support for pandemic safety measures, as well as her membership in a pro-equity parent group on Facebook. And she had been censured by other members of the school board in part for her outspokenness, which they said veered into rudeness, on social media. The harassment of Barts, a 50-year-old stay-at-home mother and former librarian who used to lead a Girl Scouts troop, is part of a wave of anger against elected and appointed school officials, including superintendents, that is cresting nationwide. Parents upset over things including mask mandates in schools, as well as officials’ efforts to introduce more diverse curriculums and bias trainings for teachers, have taken over school board meetings, shouting abuse, making threats and demanding resignations.
The Washington Post
Over the past year, VPM News has been looking into a hidden type of debt affecting thousands of Virginia college students. It’s not federal student loans, which dominates most of the headlines. It’s money owed directly to institutions, called direct-to-school debt. In our series Dreams Deferred, we’re exploring how this debt is creating hardships for students, making it difficult for them to complete their degrees and advance their careers. We’ll address the state and school policies that perpetuate this problem. And we’ll look at what some schools are doing to help students with this debt finish school. How we reported this series: In total, we submitted dozens of public records requests to state colleges and universities and various state agencies including the attorney general’s office. We also sent a survey of detailed questions to every four-year public college and university in Virginia. The information we gathered from schools varied widely making it difficult to compare university policies and practices. Additionally, most state schools sent the bulk of past-due accounts to third-party collection agencies, and the majority of universities either did not have – or would not share – data about this debt.
VPM
stories from around the country
Ahead of a key city council vote on a $28.5 million water pact with Google, the city of The Dalles filed suit in state court Friday in an effort to keep the tech giant’s water use a secret. The city is seeking to overturn a ruling earlier this month from Wasco County’s district attorney, who found Google’s water use is a public record and ordered The Dalles to provide that information to The Oregonian/OregonLive. The city sued the news organization Friday, asking a judge to intervene. Google is contemplating two new server farms on the site of a former aluminum smelter in The Dalles, where it already has an enormous campus of data centers on its property along the Columbia River. Google says it needs more water to cool its data centers, but neither the company nor the city will say how much more – only that The Dalles can’t meet Google’s needs without expanding its water system. The deal calls for Google to pay for the upgrade.
The Oregonian
The Oregonian
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