Transparency News, 3/1/2022
Tuesday
March 1, 2022
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state & local news stories
A Senate bill that will remove permitting power from Virginia’s citizen air and water boards and transfer it to the Department of Environmental Quality cleared the House of Delegates Monday and is headed to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk. During committee hearings, concerns with the water board largely centered on a December 2019 decision by the body to require 45 major Eastern Shore chicken farms to evaluate whether they could use the shallow Columbia aquifer instead of limited deep-water reserves as their source of water.
Virginia Mercury
The plastic dividers that have separated lawmakers in the Virginia Senate in the name of COVID-19 prevention are coming down. Senate Clerk Susan Clarke Schaar and other members of the Senate staff were working to remove the tall, shiny barriers from the chamber after Monday’s floor session concluded. The plastic panels that separated lawmakers’ desks, which Republicans had complained amounted to cages, were being disassembled and carried out. The move came after GOP Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant, a physician, argued that the barriers were both ineffective and inhibited communication.
Associated Press
On Friday, Feb. 25, the Virginia House passed a bill that intends to make Parole Board votes public. The bill, listed as Senate Bill 5, passed with bipartisan support and a majority vote of 96-3. It is now headed to Gov. Glenn Youngkin's desk where it is expected to be signed. The Parole Board votes on cases to grant parole, deny parole, revoke parole and detain parole violators. They are composed of five members appointed by the governor. Sen. David Suetterlein was one of the leading contributors to the bill, he released a statement on Monday, saying "Virginians should know who is making these critical public safety and individual liberty decisions on the Parole Board."
WRIC
An amendment to defund the state commission investigating the 2019 Virginia Beach mass shooting was included in this year’s House budget — and two Virginia Beach delegates are arguing about who is to blame. Democrat Kelly Convirs-Fowler recently slammed Republican Barry Knight, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, on social media for cutting the funds. But on the House floor Thursday, Knight attributed it to a miscommunication and said he was unaware the commission needed more time to finish its work. In the aftermath, Convirs-Fowler worked alongside now Attorney General Jason Miyares, who was then a Virginia Beach delegate, to create the state commission. She previously explained many survivors and victims’ families were concerned with the city investigation and believed it was not independent enough to be effective. Jason Nixon, whose wife, Kate, was killed in the shooting, told The Pilot he came to Richmond last week to speak directly with Knight. Nixon said he appreciates the ongoing support from Miyares and Convirs-Fowler, and credited both legislators for staying committed to the victims’ families. But Nixon said he is tired of fighting for more information about the day his wife was killed.
The Virginian-Pilot
Allegations of an abusive work environment, preferential treatment in promotions, and uncompensated work at the regional jail are refuted by the jail superintendent. “I have an open-door policy and on any given day a half-dozen or a dozen staff will stop by and chat,” Clay A. Corbin, Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Center superintendent, said on Friday in response to a letter detailing the allegations that was sent to The Winchester Star. “People are comfortable talking to me, so there’s no way I can fathom this stuff is going on and nobody’s brought it up to me.” The letter was received by newspaper earlier this month. The anonymous writer, who purports to be a female corrections officer, said a copy was sent to the Frederick County administrator's office several months ago, but she maintains no changes were made at the jail in response. Corbin said he was alerted to the letter by county officials in November. The letter writer said staff are regularly subjected to profanity and "crude sexual humor and constant degradation" by fellow employees.
The Winchester Star
In Norfolk traffic court, the profanity-laced body cam video 10 On Your Side first brought you exclusively back in January was front and center. In a late-morning hearing, Judge Michael Rosenblum sat on the bench with a clear view of television monitors attached to the walls to his left and right. 25-year-old motorist Ebony Holmes and Norfolk Officer Vincent Tocco faced the judge but they were separated by defense attorney Amina Matheny-Willard. No children were present for the public hearing and at one point the judge sent spectators to a nearby courtroom.
WAVY
