Transparency News 11/21/19

Thursday
November 21, 2019

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state & local news stories

“County Administrator Doug Stanley compared the expenditures [on Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development’s $21.3 million civil lawsuit] to a house break-in.”

Facing mounting opposition and the public release of a judicial inquiry of his misconduct several years ago, 11th Judicial District Judge Robert B. Beasley Jr. on Wednesday withdrew his application to the Virginia General Assembly to be elected to a second six-year term. Beasley, who had been removed from the bench for two months and placed under supervision for two years for his courthouse behavior in 2014 and 2015, had sought to retain his seat when his term expires on Nov. 30, 2020. The disciplinary information regarding Beasley was made public in October after the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission forwarded its findings and orders to the assembly’s House and Senate courts of justice committees. State law requires the commission to transmit any evidence it has about the alleged misconduct of any judge who is up for re-election.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Virginia law does not allow independent cities to annex property, but as a town, Martinsville could claim Henry County property after two years of reverting. “When you annex, and you know you will, then you’re going to have county and town tax,” said Henry County resident Mary Martin. “You say you’re a city without limits — you’ll be a town without limits.” Martin was one of nine people who spoke to Martinsville City Council after a presentation by Eric Monday, city attorney and assistant city manager. Monday presented information on Martinsville reverting to town status. Council members said very little at Tuesday’s meeting. They listened to Monday’s presentation, and then to the residents who asked to speak. Monday likened the comments from residents to preaching to the choir. “It’s fine to come here and tell us we should sit down and talk, call your board of supervisor and tell them that,” he said. The Bulletin reached out for comment from members of the Henry County Board of Supervisors. Ridgeway District Supervisor Ryan Zehr was the only one that responded.
Martinsville Bulletin

Warren County’s coffers will fund four supervisors’ and two appointed officials’ legal fees totaling $49,922.  The fees stem from dismissed misdemeanor charges of misfeasance and nonfeasance that were levied against 14 current and former county officials in September. Supervisor Tony Carter claimed that the supervisors’ decision has state- and nationwide implications. “When it comes down to it, if you expect elected officials or the appointed officials to have to pay out of their pocket for charges that wind up being dismissed, I think you’re going to preclude a lot of people from stepping forward and serving their communities,” he said.
The Northern Virginia Daily

After exiting a closed session during its Tuesday meeting, the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to remove the $750,000 cap on legal fees for the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development’s $21.3 million civil lawsuit. County Administrator Doug Stanley compared the expenditures to a house break-in. Upon experiencing a break-in, he said a police report is filed. Then, he said an insurance agent would be called, and the resident would be asked to provide a list of stolen items. He said the police would not provide the insurance agency a list of stolen items and it is incumbent on the resident to do so.
The Northern Virginia Daily

stories of national interest

School board and city council meetings are going uncovered. Overstretched reporters receive promising tips about stories but have no time to follow up. Newspapers publish fewer pages or less frequently or, in hundreds of cases across the country, are shuttered completely. All of this has added up to a crisis in local news coverage in the United States that has frayed communities and left many Americans woefully uninformed, according to a report by PEN America released on Wednesday. The report, “Losing the News: The Decimation of Local Journalism and the Search for Solutions,” paints a grim picture of the state of local news in every region of the country. The prelude is familiar to journalists: As print advertising revenue has plummeted, thousands of newspapers have been forced to cut costs, reduce their staffs or otherwise close. And while the disruption has hampered the ability of newsrooms to fully cover communities, it also has damaged political and civic life in the United States, the report says, leaving many people without access to crucial information about where they live.
The New York Times
 

“The report, ‘Losing the News: The Decimation of Local Journalism and the Search for Solutions,’ paints a grim picture of the state of local news in every region of the country.”

editorials & columns

“What are the odds that at least two people acting independently emptied 18 racks? It’s certainly possible, but the coincidence certainly raises suspicions.”

Radford won’t say much more, calling this a personnel issue that it’s not required to divulge. Indeed, the university has put the surveillance video it used to identify the employee in that worker’s personnel file, which shields it from the Freedom of Information Act. 1. The university hasn’t said what the employee’s motive was in taking the papers. Did it ask? We don’t know. 2. What happened to those papers? We don’t know. The university hasn’t said — and hasn’t said whether it asked. 3. Who took the papers from the other 18 newsstands? Radford says it doesn’t know. It says the classified staff employee who took papers from the four locations “disclosed to acting alone” and denied removing papers from the other locations. So who did? We don’t know. 4. It seems like the university might have had leads on those other 18 newsstands it didn’t pursue. The university had surveillance video from other buildings where the newspapers disappeared — but has since disposed of the footage because the university says it’s practice not to keep the video longer than 30 days. The university says that video “was mainly focused on entry and exit points and other main thoroughfares” and not newspaper racks. But wouldn’t that be helpful, though? Unless the raider or raiders of the 18 other racks stashed the papers in some closet, they’d have to walk through a door, right? Wouldn’t video of someone walking through the exit with an armload of newspapers be useful? 5. What are the odds that at least two people acting independently emptied 18 racks? It’s certainly possible, but the coincidence certainly raises suspicions.
The Roanoke Times