Transparency News 6/29/16

State and Local Stories

Due to editing errors, the headline was wrong on our front-page story Tuesday about the U.S. Supreme Court vacating former Gov. Bob McDonnell’s convictions. There are several factors that can help explain what happened. We’ve been struggling to adapt to a new software system. And on this particular story, we were making changes to the design of the page and in doing so strayed from our normal process for writing and editing headlines. But none of that excuses what was a massive and embarrassing error.
We failed to live up to the standards our readers expect. And for that, we sincerely apologize.
Free Lance-Star

Loudoun County Supervisor Ron Meyer (R-Broad Run) says he is considering introducing a change to the board’s rules of order that would limit the scope of what supervisors can propose and place on meeting agendas, including items such as resolutions and proclamations.  The supervisor’s proposal comes as the board’s Democrats in recent weeks have brought forward resolutions that would recognize Gun Violence Awareness Day and LGBT Pride Month.  "Resolutions should be used to unite the county, they shouldn’t be used to sort of try out religious, political, ethnic divides,” Meyer told the Times-Mirror. “ A resolution is for celebrating things, are for things specific to the county and if you look at our current rule of order, it's very specific on what sort of things those are, and we're probably gonna have to make those things a little more specific."
Loudoun Times-Mirror

A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit by three former University of Virginia fraternity members who accused Rolling Stone magazine, its publisher Wenner Media and a journalist of defamation over a since retracted article describing a gang rape. U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel in Manhattan said details about the attackers in the November 2014 article by Sabrina Rubin Erdely were "too vague and remote" to make readers, family and friends believe that the plaintiffs George Elias IV, Ross Fowler and Stephen Hadford had a role in the alleged rape. "In the plaintiffs' own words, any 'apparent connection between the plaintiffs and the allegations is an (unfortunate) coincidence,'" Castel wrote. Castel said the plaintiffs were not named in the article and had no connection to the rape it described, and did not show any defamatory statements that were "of and concerning" them.
Reuters


National Stories
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The FDA must produce a list of the documents it's withholding on access to the experimental Ebola drug ZMapp so a federal district court can decide whether any of them should be released. The court's June 16 ruling comes at a time of increased interest in the access to experimental drugs for use in both pandemics and to aid the dying.
Bloomberg BNA

Authorities in Florida have released hundreds of pages of documents related to the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando that left 49 victims dead. The records reveal some of the deliberations of public officials after the shootings, and they also provide a disturbing window into how that night unfolded.
NPR


Editorials/Columns

Auditing is an essential function of government. As practiced in Henrico, it sounds low-key and a bit boring. Vaughan Crawley, whose photo doesn’t turn up the Richmond Times-Dispatch archives, is the picture of a faceless bureaucrat going about his task in efficient anonymity. In contrast, Richmond City Auditor Umesh Dalal has a rock star’s penchant for making headlines. His reports frequently hold City Hall’s feet to the fire. Occasionally, City Hall turns up the heat on its auditor. In Richmond, auditing and politics are intertwined. Depending on where you sit, Dalal is an honest and courageous public servant telling truth to power at City Hall, or he has been less than adept at managing an overly large staff. 
Michael Paul Williams, Richmond Times-Dispatch

Clearly, Virginia can do better than this. We must find a way to give politicians more clarification on what they can and cannot do. They should look on public office as a way to serve the people, not serve themselves at the trough with free cash and gifts.
Daily Press