Transparency News, 4/15/2022
Friday
April 15, 2022
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state & local news stories
"No one was accidentally muted — a regular occurrence of virtual meetings."
VCOG's annual conference website is up and running. Check back to see our growing list of panelists, the updated schedule and supporting materials.
The event is from 8:30 to 12:30 on May 18 at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden (the Robins Room).
$35 for VCOG members; $42 for non-members
We hope to see everyone back in person!
Visit the conference website
For more than two years, the Albemarle County School Board has voted, discussed the business of the school division and heard public comments virtually over zoom. But on Thursday, board members left their homes and headed to the Albemarle County Office Building-McIntire to see one another in person for the first time since Feb. 27, 2020. Dozens of division staff members and teachers attended the meeting, which had few technical hiccups and otherwise ran seamlessly. No one was accidentally muted — a regular occurrence of virtual meetings. The meeting was streamed online through the division’s website. Division spokesman Phil Giaramita said turnout for the meeting was better than expected and more than what was typical in pre-pandemic meetings.
The Daily Progress
The Library of Virginia was one of the lucky recipients of over $33 million spread across almost 300 humanities projects across the country. The Library’s project "War, Remembrance, and the Power of Records: Digitizing the Library of Virginia's WWII Separation Notices" received a $315,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities on Wednesday, April 13. The money will go towards the Library's efforts to digitize 250,000 separation notices of WWII-era Virginia service members, making them accessible online.
WRIC
The Mineral Town Council is requesting that the Virginia State Police open an investigation into missing town records. Following discussion in closed session, Ed Jarvis made a motion that the town instruct Town Attorney Andrea Erard to notify the state police of the missing records and to request that an investigation be opened into the matter. Jarvis said that it is unclear exactly what records are missing, but that there are several paper and digital records that are not in the place where they are supposed to be. It is also unclear if the records were moved by accident or intentionally.
The Central Virginian
Mineral Town Council voted to censure Mayor Pam Harlowe at the April 11 meeting for interfering with the duties of Interim Town Manager Reese Peck and making disparaging remarks about him. Following discussion in closed session, the town council unanimously approved a motion made by Ed Jarvis to accept Peck’s resignation “with regret.” Peck, who was hired for a six month contract in January, will continue to serve as Interim Town Manager until May 11. Discussion then turned to consequences for the actions of the mayor, including failing to abide by a resolution passed by council at their March 14 meeting giving control of the day-to-day operations of the town to the town manager unless he or she directed otherwise, as well as a specific incident in which Harlowe referred to Peck as “a jackass.”
The Central Virginian
stories of national interest
A paralegal for the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation has responded to a request for correspondence and communication related to the provision of water to inmates and related complaints in the regional jail system. WVVA News made the request after former inmates, family of inmates, and staff members at Southern Regional Jail reported water issues at the facility. Many of those complaints came from the quarantine section of the jail, where a Dept. of Homeland Security spokesperson previously denied any inmates were being restricted from accessing water. Two correctional officers during the Pandemic have since backed up the claim, saying there were no water or juice coolers in the quarantine section of the jail, making it difficult for staff to hand deliver water to all of the inmates in that particular section.
WVVA
