The Western Virginia Water Authority must still release records shedding light on how much water a potential Google data center could use, a Roanoke judge said Friday — unless the agency receives an emergency stay from the Virginia Court of Appeals. The Roanoke Rambler and water authority were in court Friday for the second time as Circuit Court Judge Leisa Ciaffone heard whether to pause her November decision while the water authority seeks an appeal. Ciaffone opted to grant “a limited period of time” to the water authority so it can hear back from the appeals court on an emergency request to stop her ruling from taking effect.

Lynchburg City Council member Chris Faraldi has sued a fellow council member, Marty Misjuns, and the city over what he alleges was “an improper withholding of public records,” according to court documents. The lawsuit, filed in Lynchburg Circuit Court on Thursday, petitions for a writ of mandamus — or a court order given to a government official to perform a mandatory, non-discretionary duty. In this case, the requested court order would compel Misjuns to comply with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. … Faraldi submitted a FOIA request on Dec. 9 that was not properly fulfilled, he says in the lawsuit. He asked for “any written record and audio recordings” created by council members Misjuns and Jacqueline Timmer and Vice Mayor Diemer relating to a Dec. 9 closed meeting of the city council, according to the suit. Misjuns provided two records in response: a handwritten note “in fully redacted form” and an audio file that is “approximately one hour in length and consists of a continuous redaction tone for essentially its entire duration,” according to the suit. The redactions were applied by Misjuns, not City Attorney Matt Freedman or chief FOIA Officer Karla Johnson, according to the suit.

About 10 residents spoke during a public hearing Tuesday night on the Blacksburg Town Council’s proposed interim appointments to fill two vacant seats. … While speakers expressed a range of views on who should be appointed, several focused on the council’s process for identifying its intended appointees. Multiple residents said the sequence of announcing two names before holding a public hearing made the decision appear settled in advance. … According to Town Attorney Larry Spencer and Sutphin, the town is required to announce the proposed appointees and hold a public hearing but is not required to publicly disclose the full list of applicants.
(Note: “Not requried” is not the same as “cannnot.”)

Five law firms have submitted bids to become Smithfield’s new town attorney. … The town declined to release the submitted proposals publicly, citing a provision of Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act that allows the withholding of information relating to the “negotiation and award of a specific contract where competition or bargaining is involved and where the release of such information would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiations strategy of the public body.”

Based on turnout Tuesday night at a Boones Mill public hearing on the merits of allowing legal sales of cannabis, it could be said the Franklin County town is totally chill about weed. Hopes for public feedback about cannabis retail stores went up in smoke as the number of town citizens in attendance matched the number of news reporters — two — and one of those was the newly elected Boones Mill representative to the Franklin County Board of Supervisors. According to town clerk Donna Hadley-Wires, there was one public comment phoned.

Ahead of the 2026 Virginia General Assembly session that kicks off Wednesday, Del. John McAuliff, D-Loudoun/Fauquier, has introduced a bill that would prohibit a member of a governing body of a locality from holding any other position of employment within the same locality. As it is currently written, HB 505 states that “if any member of a governing body of a locality begins or continues in another position of employment with such locality on or after the day which his term begins, his office is deemed vacant.” The bill also provides that no member of a governing body of a locality may take any vote on any subject related to his former employment with that locality within one year of terminating employment. The legislation might be in response to questions over the potential conflict of interest after Purcellville Vice Mayor Carl “Ben” Nett was elected to the town council while working for the Purcellville Police Department.

The executive director and chief program officer of the Virginia Birth Injury Fund were fired on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the program said in an emailed statement. The decision, made in a closed session by the program’s board of directors, came after months of criticism from parents angry with the program’s administration of benefits needed for their disabled children. Mark Hubbard, the spokesperson, said the decision to remove Executive Director Dawn McCoy and Chief Program Officer Carla Collins came by unanimous vote and resulted from a “loss of confidence to carry out their roles.” The board then passed a separate resolution authorizing the hiring of Alan Abramowitz to serve as interim executive director for the program.
Note: “Made in closed session”?

The Southampton County School Board’s decision to form a Committee of Transparency and Accountability shows the community the board recognizes the loss of trust and must change. … But it’s fair to ask whether transparency really needs a committee at all. The committee is an ad hoc group with no authority to act. It can’t change policy, it can’t release information, and it can’t fix anything on its own. Its task is to study transparency and make recommendations to the full board before the committee dissolves at the end of the 2025-26 school year. … In its current form, this committee is limited to no more than two School Board members, ironically keeping it below the threshold that would automatically trigger open meetings coverage. A committee formed to improve transparency is structured to avoid the number of board members that would require open-meeting scrutiny, which may be legal, but in a school division already criticized for secrecy, it sends the wrong message. Optics are important in this context. To the board’s credit, Chair Dr. Deborah Goodwyn said the committee would operate under FOIA rules, with public notice, open meetings, and minutes, however, there is a window for discussion to be handled in silence.

The Virginia General Assembly will gavel into session Wednesday in what promises to be an eventful eight weeks. November’s elections will bring 17 first-time delegates to join the legislature, and the departure of others to the incoming Spanberger administration mean there will be plenty of new faces in Richmond. Through it all, the General Assembly’s staff and those who serve at executive agencies provide continuity, preserve institutional memory and, quite literally, keep state government operating. As the legislative session begins, these dedicated servants of the commonwealth deserve the public’s gratitude and appreciation for their tireless and devoted work on our behalf.