Virginia Beach City Council members are calling for stricter decorum in council chambers following last week’s meeting, where officials said speakers and members of the public faced heckling, intimidation and threats. Hundreds of people were present at the Aug. 11 meeting, where the City Council voted 9-2 to sell the Virginia Beach National Golf Course to Dragas Companies, a local real estate developer that plans to redevelop part of the course to include almost 700 residential units and a childcare center, while keeping most of the golf course intact. … Under the new language, clapping, cheering, booing, loud speaking and other disruptive sounds while someone has the floor are prohibited. Audience members who interfere with a recognized speaker’s time will receive a warning and could be required to leave the chamber if the behavior continues. Threats and intimidation are prohibited at all times. Members discussed whether the restrictions should apply throughout the entire proceeding, rather than only while a speaker has the floor. The city attorney cautioned that any enforcement would need to be strict, evenhanded and content-neutral to avoid infringing on First Amendment rights.

During Tuesday night’s Franklin County Board of Supervisors meeting, Boone District Supervisor Mike Meredith announced that he is resigning from his position. Supervisor Meredith shared his resignation publicly after the board went into closed session. … Following his announcement, you could hear some people in the room react. However, he asked that everyone be respectful. “This is my decision and everything; nobody up here,” Meredith said. “I’m responsible for this; I did this myself. I broke trust, and we all know that trust is very important for anything to be successful.” … Supervisor Meredith never shared what caused him to resign or the trust that he claimed to have broken. However, the supervisor attended a meeting on Sunday with the Franklin County Community Coalition. This group has been actively fighting a proposed plan called Project Flash, which could have brought a data center to the county.

Police say [Flock] cameras in Smithfield and surrounding jurisdictions have helped solve a number of high-profile crimes. However, Flock’s growing network has become controversial both locally and nationally over the potential for mass surveillance and misuse. “I understand the impact on big cases, but there’s also an impact on privacy for our citizens,” Smithfield Town Councilman Darren Cutler said during a July 27 work session discussing a series of invoices over $20,000 requiring Town Council approval, including an annual $33,000 bill from Flock. The Town Council ultimately approved the payment unanimously on Aug. 4, covering the initial 10 cameras the town leased at $3,000 apiece and the FlockOS software. The other six leased in 2025 cost an additional $16,000, below the threshold where council approval is needed. … Lt. William Wooley recently invited the Times to the town’s police station for a demonstration of how Flock can – and can’t – be used. … Wooley said the Flock program includes an optional public transparency portal, which went live on Aug. 17, and includes some but not all of the data required to be provided to State Police.

David Morens, a longtime aide to former top government infectious disease official Anthony Fauci, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to evade federal public record laws in connection with communications about coronavirus research grants. … Morens, 78, had boasted in a 2021 email released by the House panel that he knew how to “make emails disappear after I am FOIA’d” to avert disclosure under the federal open records law. … Criminal prosecutions stemming from efforts to evade Freedom of Information Act requests are exceedingly rare.