A Prince William County judge has voided the rezoning for the proposed Prince William Digital Gateway— a 22-million-square-foot data center corridor that, at full buildout, would have been the largest in the world. For now, the Aug. 7 ruling stops the project from moving forward under its current zoning. Its future will depend on whether the county or developers – or both – file an appeal in the coming weeks. Prince William Circuit Court Judge Kimberly Irving sided with a group of 12 Oak Valley homeowners in their legal challenge, finding the county’s public notices for the rezoning hearing failed to comply with state and local requirements. Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, said the decision underscores the purpose of public notice laws. “It’s not about the specific matter being considered or whether citizens agree or disagree with the decision; it’s about not being blindsided by the government that is supposed to be accountable to them,” she said.

A Fredericksburg City elementary assistant principal’s salary was increased following text messages between his father, a member of the School Board, and division superintendent Marci Catlett. In the text messages, School Board member Jarvis Bailey shared communication from his son, Matthew Bailey, laying out his rationale for requesting that he be placed at a higher step on the elementary assistant principal salary scale. The text messages were provided to the Advance by the school division, along with other documents responsive to several requests under the Freedom of Information Act.

Purcellville Mayor Christopher Bertaut has called a special Town Council meeting for Wednesday, Aug. 13 at 6 p.m. Typically, the Town Council takes a recess in August and does not schedule meet during the month. Councilmember Kevin Wright sent an open letter to Bertaut in response the meeting saying he was concerned that a special meeting was called regarding “non-urgent matters.” “The nature of a special meeting inherently limits the opportunity for public comments, raising serious concerns about the legality of convening such a meeting for issues that do not warrant immediate attention. Your decision not only undermines the principals of transparency and ethical governance that our community deserves, but it also disrespects the time and commitments of the citizens, staff and fellow council members,” according to the letter. Councilmember Erin Rayner also sent an email to Bertaut saying the meeting is “complete surprise” and reiterating that nothing no the agenda is urgent.

Former Martinsville City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides called her recent firing retaliation for having filed a civil rights-related complaint a month prior….At their July closed session, city councilors approved the undertaking of a forensic audit of the city’s expenditures, particularly those pertaining to travel and training. Following the council’s decision to terminate, Mayor L.C. Jones said he’d voted against the termination because he preferred to wait until the results of the audit were made available. Ferrell-Benavides welcomed the audit, adding that the conferences and training-related expenses were above board. She said they were necessary given how little experience city staff had when councilors first hired her in 2023. In June, Council member Aaron Rawls filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the city for access to a dataset of monthly expenses. Ferrell-Benavides said the dataset showed travel-related expenditures but didn’t paint a complete picture. She said that some expenses were paid for out of pocket while others were reimbursed, figures that wouldn’t show up in the dataset.

The City of Beaufort acknowledged that they accidentally released “exempt” information to an individual who submitted a public records request. The information was “exempt from disclosure and should not have been produced,” according to a Tuesday press release, and the city is continuing to assess if and how far the information was spread after staff “immediately” removed the recipient’s access to the affected files.