Transparency News 8/6/15
Thursday, August 6, 2015
State and Local Stories
The University of Mary Washington’s presidential search advisory committee talked Wednesday about whether to hold an open or closed search for the 10th president of the school in preparation for an upcoming board of visitors meeting. At a prior meeting, committee members discussed how an open search could alienate candidates worried about offending their employers, and a closed search excludes most students, faculty and staff from the process. But the consensus by the end of the discussion was to have a hybrid presidential search in which candidate names are kept secret to the public. A select group of cabinet members, faculty and students get to meet and interview the finalists.
Free Lance-Star
A new plaque reading “In God We Trust,” has been installed in the Bedford County Board of Supervisors chamber. The cast-bronze hardware was purchased from Bedford vendor, K&K Signs, and designed to match the existing county seal, Director of Public Works Sheldon Cash said. The sign cost $924, and was paid out of the county’s general properties budget, Cash said. Interim County Administrator Carl Boggess said he does not expect the installation to create any legal issues, as it is the official U.S. motto.
News & Advance
Dimitri N. Kesari, a Hamilton town councilman and former Loudoun Water board member, has been indicted in connection with his work on Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign. The 49-year-old appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa today, according to the Justice Department. He faces several charges relating to the concealment of payments made to a former Iowa state senator, authorities said. The charges are obstruction of justice, conspiracy, causing false records to obstruct a contemplated investigation, causing the submission of false campaign expenditure reports to the Federal Election Commission, and engaging in a scheme to make false statements to the FEC.
Inside NOVA
A panel of federal judges on Wednesday denied Republicans’ request to delay a court order to redraw a Virginia elections map that was found to illegally pack African Americans into a single congressional district at the expense of their influence elsewhere. The ruling increases the likelihood that state legislators will have to abide by a call from Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) to return to Richmond this month to tackle redistricting.
Washington Post
A divided U.S. appeals court on Wednesday said the government needs a warrant to obtain a suspect's historical cellphone location records. The 2-1 decision by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, was a victory for advocates of privacy rights for cellphone users. It also creates a split with two other federal appeals courts that have decided similar cases, increasing the potential that the U.S. Supreme Court may take up the issue.
Reuters
National Stories
Two consulting companies are suing the Iowa Board of Regents to try and keep secret documents they submitted to the board while trying to win a state contract last year. New York-based Deloitte Consulting and Washington, D.C.,-based McKinsey & Co., Inc. are both claiming that information they gave to the board in December proposals includes trade secrets exempt from Iowa’s public records law. But this level of bid secrecy, which has popped up in at least three state agencies, has recently drawn concerns about the potential for waste or corruption. The issue arose after Deloitte released a report in August 2014 to the regents detailing cost-savings measures the state could implement at its three public universities. In November, the board put out requests for proposals to find a company to help implement the reports’ recommendations.
Des Moines Register
