On Friday afternoon, it was anticipated that the Western Virginia Regional Industrial Facility Authority board would announce a land sale for a data center project at Roanoke County’s Wood Haven Technology Park. Instead, the board went into a closed meeting only later to confirm that it authorized a sale — but would not disclose any details beyond that. … After the board ended the meeting, Roanoke Vice Mayor Terry McGuire questioned Bryce Hunter, the authority’s attorney. “Tell us about what you just voted on,” McGuire said to Hunter. “This does not tell us anything. … Is there any information that you can share with the constituents of the city of Roanoke?” Hunter told McGuire, and others, that he didn’t have anything to share, as did other board members, as well as Roanoke’s economic development director, Marc Nelson, an alternate member. Hunter said the sale is still under negotiation. People who asked questions were directed to submit a Freedom of Information Act request. … ”The fact that you guys have all of the details and you’re ready to approve this thing and none of us have any of that information is really maddening. It does not have to be this way,” Julie Bivins told the board.

Richmond Public Schools’ internal investigators found no evidence that an instructional assistant at Fairfield Court Elementary School bit the hand of a student while escorting her and another child back into the building in April, in an incident that received widespread attention. Instead, security cameras showed the instructional assistant wiping an area of her face with the hand that was holding the student’s hand, as both of the aide’s hands were used to hold the two kids, investigators said, adding that it was hot outside and the aide was sweating. Additionally, “the accused instructional assistant has no teeth,” they wrote. … Investigators later reviewed RPS surveillance footage of the incident and said that it did not show a reaction from the child that would be consistent with someone receiving a bite on the hand. Investigators’ final recommendations following the review were “on hold,” but the reason why was redacted in documents provided to The Richmonder under the Freedom of Information Act.

Loudoun County Supervisor Koran Saines (D-Sterling) will ask for a staff study on the use of Flock cameras from all law enforcement agencies in the county after Sheriff Mike Chapman declined an invitation to discuss their use at a board meeting. Instead, Chapman offered to meet with Saines privately. The rebuff came after Chapman (R) also declined an invitation from County Chair Phyllis Randall (D-At Large) to discuss Sheriff’s Office cooperation with immigration officials. … In emails obtained by Loudoun Now, Saines on Sept. 4 emailed Chapman asking how many cameras LCSO used and said, “I would like to invite you to come to a Board of Supervisors meeting to speak about this. Please let me know if you are agreeable to this and I will work with the Chair to get this discussion on the agenda in October, November, or December.” … Saines replied to Chapman on Friday saying he was “disappointed that you are unwilling to explain Flock cameras and whether the Sheriff’s Department is using them in a public setting, such as the boardroom during a meeting.”

A New Orleans-area flood protection agency spent $23,000 investigating whether an employee improperly accessed emails and hired a private investigator to sweep its offices for listening devices, as its leaders sought to clamp down on leaks to local media, internal documents show. The Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East’s regional director, Jeff Williams, also initiated a criminal investigation into information technology specialist Kevin Kazmierczak, which found no probable cause to bring charges. … Kazmierczak’s tasks involved fulfilling public records requests from reporters and members of the public, and he said he accessed certain sensitive emails in the course of doing his job. Williams said that an internal review of Kazmierczak’s computer activity justified bringing on an outside firm. “FPA-East became concerned that certain internal records and information might have been disclosed outside normal authority processes,” he said.