“They need some First Amendment training over there in Richmond,” Stephanie Jablonsky told The Times-Dispatch on Tuesday. Jablonsky — a senior program counsel for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression — in a six-page letter sent to all nine members of Richmond’s City Council on Oct. 31, characterized the body’s rules on public comments as an egregious violation of residents’ right to free speech under the U.S. Constitution. Currently, the City Council’s rules of procedure bar speakers from “address(ing) or question(ing) the mayor, city attorney, city clerk or any other staff member directly” while delivering their remarks during public meetings. They are also prohibited from using “language of a personal nature” that “insults or demeans any person or which, when directed at a public official, is not related to that official’s official duties” City Council President Cynthia Newbille and others have interpreted those stipulations to mean that speakers may not even reference individual public officials by name — and in some cases have shut down speakers for simply referring to specific individuals.

A majority of the Warren County School Board reprimanded a fellow board member on Wednesday over claims of ethics violation. Board members voted 3-2 at their meeting to censure Melanie C. Salins over her actions related to her privately notifying a member of the Fauquier County School Board that Fauquier County teacher, and one-time political opponent, Angela Robinson, was charged in Front Royal with disorderly conduct. Salins sent a copy of a Front Royal police arrest report with the text message. However, Salins identified the wrong person with the same name as Robinson. Robinson requested that the Warren County board censure Salins and that she publicly apologize for her actions. In addition to censuring Salins, board member Andrea M. Lo recommended that the board create a code of ethics and rejoin the Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA).

The King George County Board of Supervisors didn’t have to look far to identify one beneficiary of the special exception permit request it considered during a public hearing earlier this week. County attorney and state Sen. Richard Stuart (R-Westmoreland) owns the property associated with the Caledon Solar project. The project is proposed to be built on land that Stuart purchased in 2016. The board voted 5-0 to approve the permit, although the planning commission voted 4-1 in September to recommend denial.