Transparency News, 5/26/26

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Richmond has officially launched a new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) platform, saying it will speed up the FOIA process and increase city transparency. … In the nine months between July 2025 and March, Richmond received more than 4,200 FOIA requests, per city data. That’s an average of about 472 requests a month. The vast majority of these requests were considered on time — but just over a third of them required an extension. However, during this period, Richmond has overall decreased the number of requests needing an extension. … In Friday’s press release, officials announced that Richmond’s new FOIA Library will launch “in the coming weeks,” prior to the city’s July 1 deadline.
WRIC

Virginia health officials launched a new dashboard Thursday to keep the public informed as measles cases surge in Virginia. The Virginia Department of Health reports an outbreak in Buckingham County with 17 confirmed cases. Statewide, VDH is reporting 40 cases this year. Last year, there were only five confirmed cases of measles. “The dashboard really helps to show this key information for Virginians to see these measles trends, understand the impact of measles, and know their risks of exposure as measles cases are increasing nationally and across the Commonwealth,” said Elena Diskin, the Vaccine Preventable Disease program manager at VDH. … The dashboard allows users to report potential measles exposure, check immunization records and view specific information about confirmed cases.
WWBT

Local

Hall contradicts registrar on failed Jones petition

A press release issued Friday evening by Martinsville City Registrar Sara Workman defending the signature threshold used in the failed petition to remove Mayor L.C. Jones from office has now been directly contradicted by former Commonwealth’s Attorney Andy Hall, who says he told the registrar’s office that the legal requirement was much higher than the number ultimately used. The dispute centers on the community-led petition effort seeking judicial review for Jones’ removal. Judge Marcus Brinks dismissed the petition in Martinsville Circuit Court on May 15 after ruling organizers failed to obtain enough verified signatures to proceed. … Hall said Deputy Registrar Grace Pryor later sent him an email memorializing a conversation, which he retained “in case something like this came up.” Hall provided the Bulletin with a copy of that email.

martinsvillebulletin.com

keep reading

The Jeffrey Epstein files released by the Department of Justice nearly six months ago have led to tons of new revelations about the deceased sex offender’s web of influence and connections to power. However, many of the documents referencing investigations connected to Epstein by other federal agencies are fragmentary or heavily redacted, making it impossible to determine how those probes ended. To get answers, I’ve submitted FOIA requests to the DOJ and other agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. But they keep shutting me down.
Bloomberg

“Democracies die behind closed doors.” ~ U.S. Circuit Court Judge Damon Keith, 2002

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