Transparency News 11/22/13

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A school administrator who claimed she was pestered and propositioned by her boss, a former Virginia judge with a record of misconduct, settled her Title VII sexual harassment claim against the Scott County School Board for $80,000 last month. The settlement was announced just after U.S. District Judge James P. Jones ruled that claims of sexual harassment and retaliation would go to trial in Johnson v. Scott County School Board. A lawyer for the school board disclosed the settlement amount after Virginia Lawyers Weekly filed a request under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Historic preservationists were upset Thursday after the city set the date for a crucial public hearing for Dec. 23 — but the city quickly rescheduled, moving it to January. The city is required to hold a public hearing on the cemetery relocation and opponents were quick to express displeasure about scheduling the hearing so close to Christmas, when many had already made other plans. Anne Evans, a Danville native and Fearn descendent, called the scheduling “very disrespectful” and Susan Stilwell, a Danville resident, said, “Shame on the city” for not taking Christmas plans into account. Rick Drazenovich, director of public works, said the date was set based on legal requirements and, since it’s a normal workday for many, didn’t realize the reaction it would get.
Register & Bee

Americans may be forgiven for wondering if even a tiny fraction of people expounding on the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination ever saw the man in person. Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova (D) once came within mere feet of Kennedy and can prove it with a photo of herself, then age 12, gazing at the presidential aspirant during a fall 1960 campaign fund-raising stop in Maryland. Bulova, who keeps a copy of the photo in her office, revealed how her up-close encounter with Kennedy inspired her to undertake a public-service career and take better care of herself physically.
Sun Gazette

Broadband has become an inessential part of today’s infrastructure, as equally important as water and sewer, and while it’s become a topic of local government, many forget how it impacts education—something Orange County Public School administrators and students were able to discuss last week with Federal Communications Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. Rosenworcel traveled from Washington, D.C. to Orange County High School last week—a visit brought on by a letter sent to the FCC from Orange County Public School administrators supporting the e-rate program, which offers critical discounts to assist schools in obtaining affordable telecommunications and internet access. Federal changes are being proposed for the program and administrators encouraged the FCC that any changes should be focused on expanding the already successful program. They encouraged the FCC to bolster the program by providing additional funding.
Orange County Review

National Stories

The first map of the United States to be compiled, printed and published in America when the nation was newly independent is going on display at the Library of Congress. The new long-term exhibit, "Mapping a New Nation," showcases Abel Buell's map of the U.S. from 1784 in the library's Jefferson Building. Also on display are four early maps of North America that were created between 1755 and 1778. The library says Buell likely consulted these maps when he engraved his large wall map.
News & Advance

A federal judge has ordered University of Central Florida to release documents involved in a same-sex parenting study, but UCF has obtained legal counsel in efforts to block the release. More than 50,000 documents relating to the parenting study, which appeared in Social Science Research — a publication housed at UCF — have been requested, but not submitted.
Central Florida Future

The Civitas Institute, a Raleigh-based conservative group, has filed a public records request for emails and correspondence of Gene Nichol, a tenured University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill law professor who has been critical of [the N.C. governor] McCrory Administration policies. The public records request for Nichol’s emails was reported Thursday afternoon by Sue Sturgis of the Institute for Southern Studies, a group which has closely tracked spending by Art Pope, a wealthy Republican donor serving as McCrory’s budget director. Civitas is funded almost entirely by a family foundation run by Pope.
The Progressive Pulse

Thirty-eight media organizations, including the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, joined a letter opposing the limits on photographers' access to White House events today. The move was prompted by the White House's refusal to allow press photographers to cover events and instead distribute "visual press releases" taken by government employees. “As surely as if they were placing a hand over a journalist’s camera lens, officials in this administration are blocking the public from having an independent view of important functions of the Executive Branch of government,” the letter read.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ordered yesterday that the government submit a detailed explanation of its conclusion that it does not have to declassify an opinion at the heart of an ACLU lawsuit requesting the legal rationale for the National Security Agency's surveillance of private citizens. The U.S. Department of Justice wrote in court documents that, “After careful review of the Opinion by senior intelligence officials and the U.S. Department of Justice, the Executive Branch has determined that the Opinion should be withheld in full and a public version of the Opinion cannot be provided.” The FISA Court responded that the government submit the explanation of why the opinion, from February 2013, must remain classified in full and cannot be made public, even in a redacted form.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
 

Editorials/Columns

Daily Press: This month's Open Door Award goes to Newport News City Manager Jim Bourey, whomade the finalists for the city's police chief position available to both the media and the public. The Daily Press Editorial Board gives the Open Door Award each month to a public official or organization in recognition of dedication to transparency and public access. Earlier this year, we took the City of Hampton to task for conducting its search for a new police chief almost entirely behind closed doors. Newport News is taking a different, and more appropriate, approach to filling such an important public position. Last week, Mr. Bourey identified the five finalists for the job, and on Wednesday all five appeared – for one hour each – at a public forum to meet with citizens and answer questions. At the end of the forum, citizens were able to give feedback on the candidates.