 "The city council met with the city manager in closed session to discuss the email and texts, which were revealed through the Freedom of Information Act."
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The Newport News School Board interviewed at least one superintendent candidate Tuesday night after hosting a public hearing on the budget and proposal to close Huntington Middle School. The interview, which is permitted to be held as a closed meeting under state code, was held once the hearing was officially adjourned. No motion for closed session was made. Instead, board chairman Gary Hunter announced after a closed meeting on March 12 that the board intended to conduct interviews with candidates over a 15-day period that began on March 17. State code allows that, and the board followed the law in announcing the interviews in what was technically an open meeting once it certified it had exited closed session on March 12, during which members discussed applicants with two employees of the Virginia Schools Boards Association. However, the only thing on the agenda for that meeting was the closed session with the VSBA. The agenda was not updated in the board’s electronic meeting website, BoardDocs, to include a public portion of the meeting in which the announcement was made. The only mention of it comes in the draft minutes of the meeting, which have not yet been included in a board agenda or approved.
Daily Press
Last spring was a tense time. Voters had shot down plans to expand Norfolk’s light rail line to the Beach, and city officials were trying to avoid reimbursing the state $20 million for the project. But Aubrey Layne, then Virginia’s transportation secretary, was demanding the money. Around the same time, Layne, a Virginia Beach resident who is now the state’s finance secretary, dealt leaders another blow: He said the governor would not grant a request from the city and developer Bruce Thompson for $2 million to realign Atlantic Avenue in front of the Cavalier Hotel. The one-two punch angered City Manager Dave Hansen, who sent text messages to one of his deputy city managers. “I am madder than a hornet,” he texted on March 10, 2017. Hours later, he texted, “Told will [Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms] I don’t want to meet with Aubrey cuz he’s going to have to put a cotton ball up his nose after I punch him.” On Tuesday, the City Council met with Hansen in closed session to discuss the email and texts, which were revealed through the Freedom of Information Act.
The Virginian-Pilot
Documents show it cost Virginia State Police nearly $50,000 to staff public meetings on state permits for two controversial natural gas pipelines. The documents, obtained through a public records request and provided to The Associated Press, outline the agency’s spending during four days of State Water Control Board meetings about the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines. The board met at a Richmond community center in December to consider water permits for the projects, and both sets of hearings drew protesters. The documents show the police agency spent around $34,588 on equipment use, $5,753 on regular-time pay and $8,630 on overtime.
The Roanoke Times
Local history enthusiasts and others now have a more convenient way to research Montgomery County real estate records dating back to the locality’s early days. County officials announced last week that they have digitized the locality’s 287 land records and deed books from 1773 to the present day. Until this month, only deed records dating back to 1967 were available electronically. Those curious about land transactions before that time were required to peruse 24 large deed books and 263 deed records.
The Roanoke Times
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"The new law makes Washington the last state on the West Coast to pass an 'anti-Hazelwood law.'"
"Much like the phrase 'with all deliberate speed' there is a problem with the wording of the state’s FOIA law – reasonable. What is a reasonable cost?"