|
Thursday, July 18, 2013
State and Local Stories
In 1993, Ken Cuccinelli entered the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves under a program to train future officers for a career as a military lawyer. But two years later, he resigned his commission after serving just a few weeks on active duty – never having completed all of the training requirements he initially signed up for. Since entering public life as a state senator more than a decade ago, Cuccinelli, now Virginia’s attorney general, has generally downplayed his short-lived military career. It is not mentioned in his campaign bio, and when addressing it Cuccinelli has said the U.S. Marine Corps discharged him because it had no use for him after he completed law school. However, a document obtained by The Virginian-Pilot, which Cuccinelli’s Virginia Attorney General’s Office twice declined to release under open records requests, suggests the story may not be that simple.
Virginian-Pilot
Gov. Bob McDonnell has found a way to defray part of his monthly real estate expenses on the millions in property he owns — by renting his western Henrico home to his hand-picked state health commissioner. Dr. Cynthia C. Romero, who took over as state health commissioner in January, has been renting the McDonnells' $835,000 home in the tony Wyndham residential community, a McDonnell spokesman confirmed. The details of the rental agreement were unclear. Based on the current mortgage rate and loan for the property, a mortgage payment would be about $2,800 per month.
Times-Dispatch
Jonnie R. Williams Sr., the wealthy nutritional supplement maker at the center of Gov. Robert F. McDonnell’s gifts scandal, met with Virginia’s health secretary to pitch his product at the recommendation of the governor, according to an e-mail his assistant wrote the day of the November 2010 meeting.
Washington Post
The Social Security numbers of 18,700 University of Virginia students appeared on the address labels of health insurance brochures mailed across the country in the latest in a string of breaches at the state’s flagship university. The school provided the numbers along with other information to Aetna Health Care, which sent open-enrollment brochures to students’ homes through a third-party mail vendor, officials said.
Times-Dispatch
Proceedings to remove an Isle of Wight County School Board member from office over racial jokes he forwarded in emails were put on hold Wednesday. Suffolk Commonwealth's Attorney Phil Ferguson said there weren't enough valid signatures on the petition to get rid of Herbert DeGroft and asked for a nonsuit, which allows a petition to be refiled. Ferguson's office is handling the case in Isle of Wight Circuit Court. Byron "Buzz" Bailey, a member of the county's Board of Supervisors, faces an Aug. 12 hearing on a similar petition to remove him from office over the emails made public earlier this year. Bailey and DeGroft have apologized but said they wouldn't resign.
Virginian-Pilot
Depression-era land records that included notes on family histories on local properties were tossed out by Albemarle County officials in an effort to save space, officials said. Local historians say the records, compiled by workers for the Works Progress Administration, were often used by modern-day researchers interested in determining how properties were used and who lived there. The records were discarded in May in an effort to conserve space in county offices, said Lee Catlin, Albemarle County spokeswoman. “We were making efforts to look at how we could reduce the number of records and increase space for our offices and we discussed with the state what we needed to retained and what could be discarded,” Catlin said. “We followed those guidelines closely. The [Albemarle Charlottesville] Historical Society and [Albemarle County] Historic Preservation Committee feel those records had additional historic value, however.”
Daily Progress
The Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors has established a special disciplinary committee Tuesday to investigate complaints that would be brought against board members. The committee, proposed by Board Chairman Marshall Ecker, would address public spats like the one that occurred between Ecker and Westover Supervisor Coy Harville during a board meeting July 1. But one supervisor questions whether the committee is legal and has asked the county attorney to get an opinion from Virginia’s attorney general. Barber, called the committee’s establishment “a violation of my freedom of speech” and a power grab by the chairman.
Register & Bee
A judge has dismissed misdemeanor charges against a Pennsylvania man accused of throwing away Virginia voter registration forms. Colin Small, 23, of Phoenixville, Pa., was charged in October 2012 with four misdemeanor counts of destroying voter registration forms, eight related felony counts of disclosing Social Security numbers and misdemeanor obstruction of justice.
News Leader
Loudoun Circuit Court Judge Thomas D. Horne Wednesday morning denied a petition filed by the attorney for Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R) to grant an injunction that would prevent the Board of Supervisors from voting tonight to impose disciplinary penalties on the four-term Sterling District representative.
Loudoun Times-Mirror
Following three hours of debate Wednesday night, the Loudoun Board of Supervisors formally voted to censure Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio, stripping him of committee assignments for the rest of his term, eliminating his staff aide positions and restricting funding for his office operations. The actions came in response to a report issued by a special grand jury that spent five months investigating allegations of misconduct initially raised by a former staff aide. Among the allegations cited by supervisors in punishing the four-term supervisor were that he was abusive to staff members and used staff time and other county resources in campaign and fundraising activities.
Loudoun Times-Mirror
|