A Virginia nursing home appeared to “inflate” certain costs to get more Medicaid money from the government, an audit of the facility’s financial filings suggested. Auditors have discovered millions of dollars in unsubstantiated or disallowed expenses that were reported by Colonial Heights Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, but the nursing home is disputing the findings. … DMAS said all nursing homes in the chain were subject to the same “annual cost settlement process.” However, when CBS 6 submitted a public records request for audits of the Richmond metro facilities in the same reporting year, the agency said no records existed. DMAS spokesperson Kedra Keith has not clarified why those records don’t exist if all nursing homes were subject to the same audit process. Keith said the adjustments auditors made to Colonial Heights’ cost report are under administrative appeal. When CBS 6 requested records pertaining to the outcome of the appeal, the agency said no records existed. Keith has not answered questions about where exactly the case stands in the appeals process.
A proposed Spotsylvania County School Board policy requiring board members to arrange school visits with the superintendent drew the ire of representatives Larry DiBella of the Berkeley District and Rich Lieberman of the Lee Hill District during a meeting Monday night. … DiBella wanted to read the policy “word for word” so that the public is aware of what the board approved. Lieberman requested a breakdown of the changes made since the first review but was denied by the board. … “I’ll just say if you’re trying to slip something past people, giving them all of the documents redlined and edited and highlighting changes days in advance so you have access to it is a really inefficient way to slip something past somebody,” Vice Chair Belen Rodas said. … In another decision on Monday, the board voted 6-1 to adopt a new policy on public comments on first reading. School board member Carol Medawar voted against the policy, saying it needs to be tweaked. She was concerned about the section that requires public speakers to either be residents or taxpayers of Spotsylvania County, including parents or guardians of students, current students, employees or retirees of the school division, business owners, or property owners.
Tuesday afternoon’s Prince William Board of County Supervisors meeting was briefly evacuated after a blown fuse led to concerns about a fire. After all meeting attendees were told to exit the James J. McCoart building in Woodbridge around 4:10 p.m., Gainesville District Supervisor George Stewart told InsideNoVa that something smelled “electronic-y” on the left side of the dais near County Attorney Michelle Robl. … The brief evacuation occurred during public comment time, as Gainesville resident Margarita Moylan of the Oak Valley community was speaking at the microphone on the county’s proposed comprehensive plan amendment for Catharpin Valley Estates.
DOGE’s playbook for using artificial intelligence to eliminate regulations was on full display at the Department of Housing and Urban Development last summer with the introduction of an AI tool built for the “extermination” of federal housing rules. Documents obtained by Democracy Forward via Freedom of Information Act requests reveal a PowerPoint presentation delivered at HUD on SweetREX, a tool named for DOGE associate Christopher Sweet, according to Wired reporting last August.
