Transparency News 9/4/13

 

Wednesday, September 4, 2013
 
State and Local Stories

 

ICYMI: VCOG’s September newsletter can be found online here.

The Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors will appeal a federal judge’s decision permanently barring sectarian Christian prayers at the start of board meetings. “I felt all along we should appeal this case,” said Board Chairman Marshall Ecker after a closed-door meeting and the board’s subsequent unanimous vote. “That’s what I voted for tonight, because I want to take a stand for Jesus.”
Register & Bee

Those who want to serve as an election officer in November can sign up online. The State Board of Elections website allows online registration for volunteers. It also allows them to choose to get information on the volunteer process by text message. Local election officials will be automatically notified of volunteer offers through this online submission.
Times-Dispatch

Gaining favor isn’t cheap. Each year, Virginia companies and associations spend millions to sway state delegates and senators who represent taxpayers. The May 2012 to April 2013 lobbying cycle was no different, with energy, municipal, transportation and medical groups topping the list, a total of nearly $16 million spent on lobbying by more than 900 organizations. The numbers are probably much higher than the figures lobbying groups volunteered to the secretary of the commonwealth. Virginia has loose restrictions on how much lobbying groups are required to report, and there are plenty of loopholes, as the Virginia Public Access Project, which aggregates the data, points out.
Watchdog.org Virginia Bureau

A lawyer who fought to promote his case results without restriction and gained a partial win at the Supreme Court of Virginia has agreed to terms to end his battle with bar regulators. Horace Hunter of Richmond – the blogging lawyer who won a ruling striking down limits on disclosure of courtroom events – has agreed to accept a public admonition and to post the full court-required disclaimer for any future publication of his successes.
Virginia Lawyers Weekly

National Stories

A Colorado judge has postponed a hearing at which a New York reporter might be ordered to reveal her sources for a story about theater shooting suspect James Holmes. The delay gives Fox News reporter Jana Winter time to hear whether a New York appeals court will grant her request to reject a Colorado subpoena seeking the names.
Fox News

A cyberattack on the Kentucky Department of Education's Infinite Campus information network haskept thousands of parents from accessing data online about their schoolchildren. State officials say no private student data was compromised and workers were beginning to restore access Friday night.
Louisville Courier-Journal