Prince William Circuit Court Judge Kimberly A. Irving on Friday granted a motion from several local media outlets allowing cameras in the courtroom during the upcoming trial of Naresh Bhatt, the Manassas Park man charged with murder after his wife’s 2024 appearance. NBC4 Washington’s request for a livestream was denied. … Irving approved the request for still photography and small clips or soundbites for the Prince William Times and InsideNoVa under the stipulation of an “unobtrusive” camera and minimal equipment – with NBC4 and its partners, Tegna and Law News, also permitted to record under Virginia statute 19.2-266 for later use, albeit without a livestream. The judge said the “sanctity” of jurors is paramount. Both sides also agreed that jurors will in fact be allowed to take notes during the trial. … Prosecutors for the commonwealth said they were “indifferent” to the media requests and had no position, while the defense remained ardently opposed – citing “the duty of the court to affirmatively minimize the prejudice of pre-trial publicity,” as Assistant Public Defender Laurel Rodewald told Irving.

Williamsburg taxpayers have been paying two city manager salaries that, on an annualized basis, would total nearly half a million dollars. The city has also been paying the salary of former Economic Development and Tourism Director Yuri Matsumoto, whose position was formally eliminated May 1, according to a city spokesperson. … Former City Manager Andrew Trivette, who resigned abruptly Feb. 24, has been paid $132,983.40 since the March 6 payroll, according to pay records provided to us through a Freedom of Information Act request. He also received a one-time benefit payout of $60,909 on March 20. Matsumoto has been paid $39,960.89 since her departure, plus a benefits payout of $17,228.87. … A city spokesperson declined to say what sort of settlement the city reached with Trivette or Matsumoto to continue their salaries or for how long. Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act allows local governments to keep such personnel agreements secret, though it does not require them to do so.

The Arlington County Board has ordered the release of available footage from a fatal Columbia Pike police shooting earlier this year. The Board announced this morning (Friday) that it has directed County Manager Mark Schwartz to release video of the incident that resulted in the death of 33-year-old Shawn Valn by Friday, Oct. 16. No footage accompanied the announcement and it is unclear what, specifically, will be released. … “The County Manager and public safety staff are actively working with a third-party specialist to prepare a video package that clearly depicts the key events and timeline of the incident,” the Board said in a press release.

A proposed data center outside of city limits caused rancor between Roanoke City Council members last week. A flurry of statements from council members after the Western Virginia Regional Industrial Facility Authority voted Sept. 11 to sell land at Wood Haven Technology Park to a company now confirmed to be planning a data center resulted in the council voting Monday to establish a “professional standards committee.” … The committee will be advisory,

Redactions are the Freedom of Information Act requester’s bane. Those black boxes that often hide wide swaths of words when the government finally delivers on a request for public records. While even the most ardent openness advocate will grant that some information — such as Social Security numbers — needs to be redacted, almost all requesters believe the government uses redactions to hide far more than it should. Now, federal agencies are embarking on a possibly game-changing project to speed up the handling of FOIA requests: using artificial intelligence to turbocharge redactions. … So, what would this mean for government transparency?