Transparency News, 6/1/20

A huge sign draped in front of a Richmond bar reads: “I assure you we’re sort of open! Some days.” Another in Colonial Williamsburg has George Washington wearing a face mask. The message board outside of the Hampton Coliseum flashes: “This is just an intermission.” These are signs of COVID-19 times and the Library of Virginia wants them. The state’s archival agency is asking the public to take photos of pandemic signage and images of how the virus has impacted the community and upload them to its Tumblr page. “Institutionally, we asked ourselves, “How do we document this?” said Dale Neighbors, the library’s visual studies collection coordinator. For its “Signs of the Time: COVID-19 in Virginia” project, the library wants people to take a photo, note the date and place, and submit it to the page. The library currently has more than 260 images, primarily from central Virginia. Neighbors said he would love to have more statewide representation, especially from Hampton Roads.
The Virginian-Pilot

As Virginia’s judicial emergency order nears expiration, local courts will resume some operations next week, albeit with limits to the number of people allowed in a courtroom. In May, the Supreme Court of Virginia extended its judicial emergency through June 7, continuing all civil and non-emergency criminal hearings beyond that date. Jury trials have been extended “until further notice,” with no date given. In a recent order, Judge Richard E. Moore detailed the Charlottesville circuit court plan, which involves limiting those allowed in a courtroom to involved parties, court staff, attorneys, necessary witnesses and members of the press.
The Daily Progress

There were no comments at the Toms Brook Town Council meeting and a public hearing held Thursday on the 2020-2021 fiscal year budget. The meeting was held virtually on Zoom. The Toms Brook Planning Commission also met Thursday virtually on Zoom with the Town Council for a public hearing on the Town of Toms Brook Comprehensive Plan for 2020-2040. Town Mayor Lisa Currie said she did receive one comment before the meeting from Toms Brook resident Sandy Rinker on the plan.
The Northern Virginia Daily

 

 

Tennessee will soon stop providing the names and addresses of COVID-19 patients to first responders, after initially arguing that doing so would protect those on the front line. Gov. Bill Lee’s administration decided on the change this week, conceding that the data may have created a false sense of security to those responding to emergency calls. The data sharing will stop at the end of the month. The announcement follows an Associated Press review that found public officials in at least two-thirds of states are sharing the addresses of people who tested positive with first responders. A small handful of those states, including Tennessee at the time, also shared the patients’ names.
AP News

The Justice Department is telling agencies struggling to complete Freedom of Information Act requests during the coronavirus pandemic to finish what’s possible remotely, and keep the public in the loop about delays. DoJ’s Office of Information Policy released guidance Thursday that echoes the Office of Management and Budget’s memo in March that set governmentwide standards on how agencies should maximize telework and rely on technology to ensure continuity of operations. The OIP guidance seeks to answer frequently asked questions from agency FOIA offices, and urges to take steps to continue processing records requests, “even at a diminished pace,” during the pandemic.
Federal News Network