To date, Will Mackintosh has not signed a nondisclosure agreement with a data center developer. And, if the at-large Fredericksburg city councilor and his peers get their way, he might never have to. Executive Order 22, issued by Gov. Abigail Spanberger in September, banned the use of NDAs by state bodies as they relate to data center development. At Mackintosh’s suggestion, City Council agreed Tuesday night to lobby for legislation extending the ban for data center deals to the local-government level. “If we think this is valuable, that data center deals get debated in the public light of day, I think it would make sense for the state to impose that restriction equally,” Mackintosh said during Tuesday’s work session. “So it remains a level playing field across the state.” In an interview with the Free Press, Mackintosh argued that data center companies employ NDAs too broadly in negotiations with localities.

Two months into an inaugural comprehensive forensic review of what was supposed to be a single-year investigation into allegations of fraud, waste or abuse in Culpeper County finances, the contract has ballooned to five years and doubled in price. A closer look at the contract and original scope of work, documents provided by Culpeper County, provides some insight into what is being done, why and what could come out of it. … Supervisors voted 6-1 at their regular October meeting to change the scope of the work for the county’s first-ever forensic audit after a legal consultant with CliftonLarsonAllen raised red flags in a public meeting. Attorney and principal with the Arlington office of the national firm, Folashade Abiola-Banjac, reported that employee interviews revealed concerns dating back to at least 2021 regarding improper county credit card use and the misallocation of an estimated $500,000 in employee payments into the Virginia Retirement System.

A request to subpoena records from the Purcellville Police Department, Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office and Virginia State Police by Carl “Ben” Nett was partially allowed by a judge Thursday ahead of Nett’s trial later this month. Nett is charged with four counts of using a computer to gather identifying information during his tenure with the Purcellville Police Department in 2024. Nett was hired by the police department in 2022 and was elected to the Town Council in November 2024. Virginia State Police allege that Nett improperly used the Virginia Criminal Information Network to access information on two political opponents, one opponent’s wife and a town employee. He was arrested on July 23. He also faces charges of bid-rigging and conspiracy alongside Purcellville Town Manager Kwasi Fraser.

When a 6-year-old student shot his first-grade teacher in Newport News three years ago, the shock reverberated throughout our communities and quickly became national news. The questions were exhaustive and justified; accountability was needed as much as a thorough explanation for Hampton Roads families understandably upset by what happened. Last week, The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press published body camera footage from that Jan. 6, 2023, incident at Richneck Elementary School that helps shed new light on that day’s lamentable events. As an accompanying editors’ note explained, the decision to make that video available to our community was not taken lightly. … As the editors’ note accompanying publication of the video emphasized, unsealing that evidence was important on First Amendment grounds, though, “[W]e were unsure if we would decide to publish it. We knew it was vulgar, if nothing else.” Ultimately, after redacting the boy’s face in adherence with the judge’s order, the decision to publish was made with the public’s interest at heart. While it is a difficult and troubling piece of video, it also helps provide greater context for an incident that continues to reverberate here.