Special Prosecutor Eric Olsen will be allowed to argue that former Purcellville Vice Mayor Carl “Ben” should have been removed from office following his recent recall trial, after Judge Randy Bellows agreed he could present his case despite missing the deadline for post-trial motions. Olsen served as the prosecutor in last month’s trial following a petition from town residents seeking to remove Nett from office amid concerns that he had violated state conflict of interest laws and the Freedom of Information Act. Following the weeklong trial, a jury found that Nett had violated conflict of interest laws and that he violated the town’s procedures and policies, but they did not find that warranted his removal from office. Olsen’s motion seeks to vacate that jury finding and remove Nett from office. Bellows agreed to take up the motion, saying the court has discretionary authority extend the deadline.

According to a lawsuit filed against the regional Greater Richmond Transit Company in December, Katie Frichtel had the pedestrian walk signal and was in the crosswalk when the operator “drove toward and over” her, leaving her with serious injuries and “disfigurement.” As a result, she incurred substantial medical expenses and lost wages. Since January 2025, at least a dozen people have sued GRTC over collisions and other incidents — ranging from minor fender-benders to more life-threatening scenarios like Frichtel’s. Collectively, the plaintiffs are seeking more than $24 million in damages, plus court costs and interest. But GRTC will not say whether any of those cases have been settled and, if so, how much in taxpayer dollars the public company has paid to resolve them. And officials are offering virtually no details on how they go about handling suits like Frichtel’s. She added that the company also would not disclose information on “the manner in which any resolved cases were concluded; the number of any settlements reached in connection with such matters; the identity of counsel or legal representatives involved in defending claims against GRTC; GRTC’s internal practices, insurance arrangements, budgeting or funding mechanisms related to legal claims or settlements; (or) any personnel of disciplinary matters.”

The Albemarle County Police Department quietly and temporarily changed police chiefs nearly a month ago without any public announcement. Col. Sean Reeves went on medical leave May 8, according to an internal email released to The Daily Progress at the newspaper’s request. … The note provided no timeline for Reeves’ return, but county spokeswoman Abbey Stumpf told The Daily Progress on Tuesday that Reeves’ leave could last up to 12 weeks. Reached by telephone, Reeves told The Daily Progress that there was “nothing nefarious” about his leave of absence. He declined to provide any details about his medical situation. “It happens to people,” he said. “They have treatments and procedures done. That’s all private information.” He directed further questions regarding the lack of public notice to Stumpf and the county’s communications team. In her response, Stumpf cited personnel policy and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the federal medical privacy law widely known as HIPPA.

Eastville Town Council members said Monday they are working to determine the full scope of the town’s financial problems after residents and business owners raised concerns about rumors involving cash flow, bounced checks and the town’s overall financial condition. During the June 1 Town Council meeting, several speakers said they had heard troubling reports about the town’s finances and urged council to be more transparent. Eyre Baldwin told the council that investors and business owners in town need clear information, not rumors, as they consider future projects in Eastville. … Council members also discussed whether to release or make available an internal financial summary prepared by the town treasurer. Some members said the public should be able to review the information, while others said the town should consult legal counsel before distributing it.

Transparency gets a lot of mileage as a cheap campaign promise. Witness the slate of reformers elected to the Smithfield Town Council in 2024 on a pledge of openness and accountability, only to preside over two of the most secretive years of governance we’ve ever witnessed. Credit the Isle of Wight County School Board for true transparency, not empty campaign talk. The board announced last week that citizens will be allowed to observe interviews of finalists for the District 5 seat being vacated by current board Chair John Collick. … We can’t help but contrast the School Board’s openness with the Smithfield Town Council circa 2023, when certain council members were openly boasting in the community — before the application period for interested persons had even closed — that Jim Collins and Raynard Gibbs would be appointed to fill two vacant seats. The council went through the motions of “evaluating” the 20-plus applications and interviewing three finalists, all in secret, before indeed appointing Collins and Gibbs.

The IRS’s new, Palantir-powered API will make IRS data available to any app it wishes, and Palantir is working for the Criminal Investigation (CI) part of the IRS on a new system to bring together traditionally disparate systems into a single overarching one to investigate all sorts of financial crime, according to a cache of documents obtained by 404 Media. The existence and development of the API have been previously reported and announced by the Department of the Treasury. But the documents provide much more specific insight into what the IRS is hoping to achieve with it, and what the agency wants Palantir to build.

313 days since KOAA submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) records request with the Department of the Interior (DOI), the files were finally released en masse. The KOAA FOIA was submitted on July 18, 2025, and sought all comments received via QR codes that went up at National Park Service (NPS) sites across the country from June 13 last year until July 18. The initial estimated delivery date was Aug. 15.