Thursday, July 24, 2014
State and Local Stories
People who rely on buses for transportation on the Peninsula have several new websites and mobile apps to provide real-time schedule information to make their commute easier. That was welcome news to Judith Brown, president of the Hampton Roads Public Transit Association. Brown actively seeks public transportation in Hampton Roads and when she travels and said many of her friends rely on bus schedule apps that provide accurate information about when buses will arrive at transfer stations and stops. "I can see how it would be extremely helpful to constantly know what is going on," she said. "It gives you confidence in the system."
Daily Press
Chesterfield County supervisors will begin delivering prayers themselves at the start of their board meetings, changing a long-controversial policy that was criticized as unconstitutional in the wake of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. The county’s prayer policy required ministers who delivered invocations before meetings to be ordained religious leaders of monotheistic religions that follow Judeo-Christian traditions but instructed them to keep their prayers generic.
Times-Dispatch
Portsmouth attorney Sterling Weaver is suing WAVY-TV for defamation, claiming the station maligned him in a story about his arrest on an assault charge. Weaver is seeking $5 million, according to the lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court. WAVY has denied the allegations. In a Feb. 6 newscast, WAVY reported that Weaver had been indicted on felony assault and misdemeanor sexual battery charges for an alleged incident involving a female deputy in a Portsmouth courtroom. The deputy accused Weaver of inappropriately touching her. During that report, WAVY also said it "did some digging into Weaver's past" and discovered that he had been convicted of assault and sentenced to 30 days in jail for grabbing a prosecutor by the throat in 2006, according to the lawsuit. The station, however, failed to report that Weaver appealed that case to a Circuit Court judge who dismissed it after Weaver remained on good behavior for a year, the suit says. He did not serve jail time in that case.
Virginian-Pilot
Norfolk City Manager Marcus Jones often enjoys the good graces of his bosses on the City Council. But Tuesday night was different. "The manager's taken a couple hits tonight," Mayor Paul Fraim noted during the informal session, where four council members expressed displeasure with various aspects of city management. Councilman Andy Protogyrou led the charge. Protogyrou had called for an investigation of Andrew Zoby Jr., the city-contracted plumber sentenced to 15 months in prison following an FBI investigation. Zoby bribed city employees and overbilled the city for years. In a three-sentence memo delivered to the council on Friday, Jones said a city investigation found no wrongdoing beyond two city employees who took bribes from Zoby. The brief memo didn't sit well with Protogyrou, who said he expected a full report. "It's ironic that of all the nights, tonight we have a discussion on fraud, managing fraud and risk, tone, culture, control and policies," Protogyrou said. "And what bothers me is, we as a council know nothing as to what went on. "For us to receive our information from the newspaper is not right."
Virginian-Pilot
The city of Martinsville has removed from its employment application a question on whether an applicant has been convicted of a crime out of concern that applicants who answer yes might face discrimination. The effort is part of a statewide movement, City Manager Leon Towarnicki told Martinsville City Council on Tuesday. Another sheet in the application packet still asks about criminal histories. Towarnicki said the sheet will be taken out of submitted packets before department heads conducting interviews see completed applications. Despite concerns about people with criminal histories potentially facing discrimination when applying for jobs, Towarnicki indicated that the city sometimes needs to know whether applicants have been convicted. An example he mentioned is if a person convicted of embezzlement were to apply for a position in the finance department.
Martinsville Bulletin
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