Franklin City Public Schools released interim Superintendent Dr. Kelvin Edwards’ contract after The Tidewater News filed a court petition challenging the division’s refusal to disclose the public record. … The contract’s release followed a dispute that began Sept. 28, when The Tidewater News requested a copy of Edwards’ employment agreement. The division denied the request Oct. 5, stating that the agreement was “being withheld in its entirety” under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act’s personnel information exemption. The newspaper challenged the denial the same day, citing language in Virginia law that specifically addresses contracts between public bodies and their officers or employees. At that point, the publication asked the division to reconsider its interpretation of the law and release the agreement with any redactions permitted by law. When the division did not reverse its decision, the newspaper filed a petition Oct. 19 in Franklin City General District Court seeking an order requiring disclosure of the contract. A hearing was scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6. On Oct. 30, the division notified the newspaper Edwards had directed staff to provide the contract.

Nearly 200 of the 746 units in Norfolk’s Young Terrace are vacant, an increase of 30 since The Virginian-Pilot first reported about repair issues in April. The vacancies mean the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s overall occupancy rate is 87%, far below the Department of Housing and Urban Development target rate of 96%, threatening federal funding. … The maintenance problems leading to dangerous living conditions in Young Terrace and other aging NRHA properties have been ongoing for years. There are plans, not yet fully funded, to tear down Young Terrace and Calvert Square and build mixed-income housing starting in the next few years. While those plans slowly move forward, some residents are enduring squalor created by a seemingly never ending cycle of repairs. Public records show nearly 18,000 work orders for Young Terrace from Jan. 1, 2023, through this April. About a quarter of those were for leaks or plumbing problems. Residents report maintenance workers attempt to remove mold by spraying bleach, which the Environmental Protection Agency does not recommend.

Though national attention was firmly fixed Tuesday evening on control of the U.S. House and Senate, municipal government elections will arguably have a greater effect on the lives of people here in Hampton Roads. Voters throughout the region chose a slate of officials to serve on city councils and school boards, and Newport News residents were tasked with electing a mayor to serve for the next four years. Those choices were important and the decisions matter a great deal, but residents shouldn’t consider the job done now that they’ve visited a polling station and cast their ballots. … For voters, and also those who didn’t cast a ballot this year, it means turning up at public meetings, reaching out with ideas and suggestions, taking advantage of forums and keeping tabs on what’s happening at City Hall and in the school system.

Catherine Bilskie, the advertising and office manager for the newspaper in Solon, Iowa, had seen many local news outlets close. So she was sure her job at the Solon Economist was about to go one Friday morning in February 2024. But to her surprise, a new owner, Jason Brummond, appeared. He not only promised to keep her and her co-worker employed at the weekly paper but assured them raises if they agreed to an unusual new venture. And he wasn’t a wealthy benefactor or a representative from a private equity firm — he came from the University of Iowa. It’s just one example of academic institutions stepping up to address the “news desert” crisis: Thousands of communities across the U.S. have lost local newspapers over the past two decades. And journalism faculty, staff and students are increasingly working together to either rescue legacy newspapers or start new publications for communities lacking local news outlets.