An effort by Loudoun County’s law enforcement agencies to move their radio communications to encrypted channels will mean that the public will no longer be able to use police scanners to monitor their activities. A police-issued radio programmed with encryption keys, held confidentially by law enforcement, will be the only way to hear an encrypted transmission. In a joint statement last Tuesday, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, Leesburg Police, Middleburg Police, and Purcellville Police said the transition was “to better protect sensitive law enforcement information, safeguard the privacy of victims, witnesses, and community members, and enhance officer safety.” … The agencies further says that the information “can be used unscrupulously by those who monitor these transmissions to dox, harass or target anyone whose identifiable information is provided, or potentially allow a citizen to interrupt or interfere with an ongoing incident or investigation. … Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, said, “Individuals and the media have relied on scanner feeds for decades to keep themselves and their communities safe and informed. Public trust erodes every time previously public information gets pulled away and made inaccessible.”

More than 40 speakers addressed the Franklin County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night, and every single one expressed strong opposition to a data center potentially coming to the county. Documents obtained by county residents through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act have shown the county in negotiations with data center developer Crusoe since at least November 2025 listed as “Project Flash” in documents. Those discoveries have led to a groundswell of opposition to the project. That opposition brought more than 200 people crowding into the Franklin County Government Center boardroom. Many held signs, cheered speakers and shouted at supervisors. The vast majority of speakers were critical of the lack of public involvement in county discussions that could bring a data center to the Summit View Business Park. They questioned the use of non-disclosure agreements between the county staff and potential businesses that have kept the public in the dark. “Shouldn’t you agree that a highly controversial project, like the data center, that affects our environment, our water, our air, our electrical grid, the value of homes, the health of all citizens, especially those living in close proximity, deserves and demands transparency and public input?” asked Jenny West of Ferrum.

Southampton County School Board (SCSB) Member Natalie Dever King shared updates Monday, July 13, from the board’s Transparency Committee. … To open her July 13 update, King said, “We met earlier this month, and one of the things that’s been the recurring topic is the streaming of our meetings has still been on the table as far as the audio and video quality. … King highlighted something else that came up at the Transparency Committee meeting. “We have committees within the School Board; can those be put on the website?” she said. “Like what committees we have and who serves as representatives?”