Transparency News 7/21/14
Regardless of the trial’s outcome, the McDonnells’ stunning fall from public grace to the brink of personal and financial ruin has shaken Virginia’s cozy political establishment to its core, offering a cautionary tale that elicits outrage and regret. How and why things went wrong for the former first couple is the subject of heated debate, inside and outside the Richmond courtroom where their fate will be decided in a trial that is expected to last five to six weeks.
Times-Dispatch
A new section on the city of Lynchburg’s website aims to give residents a way to more easily access information in areas such as community development, real estate and geographical data. The Open Data Portal page launched several weeks ago and serves as a tool to help residents find useful information much faster and more conveniently, at the click of a computer button. Data can be accessed in topics including building permits, business licenses, development projects, violations in construction and housing, contacts for contractors, real estate parcels and property transfers, among others. The portal also is a tool to help the city implement transparency in local government and provide area stakeholders with public data.
News & Advance
The Danville Public Library has launched a redesigned website that better reflects the extension of a modern library beyond bricks, mortar and books. The site can be found at a new web address – www.readdanvilleva.org . The site integrates with the library’s catalogue and lets patrons check their accounts, place books on hold, renew books, download eBooks and audio, learn new languages and search online databases for a broad range of information from genealogy to law.
Register & Bee
National Stories
A judge has ordered South Carolina's attorney general to turn over documents to a freelance journalist investigating the court fight over the estate of soul singer James Brown. Sue Summer wants to see the records, which include the diary of the woman who said she was Brown's wife when he died in 2006, an appraisal of Brown's assets, and documents about how much trustees and attorneys are being paid from Brown's estate. She requested them under the state's Freedom of Information Act.Times-Dispatch
A federal appeals court has delayed the imminent execution of an Arizona man, saying he has alegal right to details about the lethal injection drugs to be used and about the qualifications of the execution team. The ruling on Saturday, by a divided three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, contrasted sharply with recent decisions by other state and federal courts defending states’ rights to keep information about drug sources secret.
New York Times
The IRS declared under oath and penalty of perjury on Friday that Lois Lerner’s hard drive is irrecoverable after being wiped clean by tech staff and recycled with an outside contractor, according to a court filing. Although an outside company was able to identify the serial number for the computer, the hard drive was wiped clean or “degaussed” and then recycled after several attempts to recover the data by IRS tech personnel, including a career forensic specialist with 25 years worth of experience.
Politico
In a holding at odds with at least two other courts, a Southern District of New York magistrate judge has ruled that officials armed with a warrant to search for evidence of a crime contained in individual emails can seize and hold the entire email account without running afoul of the Fourth Amendment.
New York Law Journal
After a year of waiting, New York Gov. Cuomo’s administration has released its response to freedom of information requests first sought by Gannett News Service seeking information on the economic development ads being run across the country. The administration’s five page response takes the form of a narrative and fiscal summary but does not contain any billing statements or other records indicating the actual expense of taxpayer dollars.
UPDATE - Robert Freeman, executive director of the state Committee on Open Government, said the Cuomo administration’s response appears to fall short of what state law requires.
New York Daily News
