Transparency News, 9/8/2022
Thursday
September 8, 2022
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state & local news stories
Former Prince William County Registrar Michele White has been indicted by a grand jury for corruption. Attorney General Jason Miyares announced Wednesday that a local grand jury indicted White. She is charged with corrupt conduct as an election official and willful neglect of duty as an election official between Aug. 1 and Dec. 31, 2020, and with making a false statement by an election official between Nov. 3 and Nov. 10, 2020. In a statement Wednesday, the county Registrar’s Office said White’s conduct did not impact the outcome of any election, but did not comment on any specific allegations. Miyares’ announcement cited the three sections of state law under which White was charged, but they provide little detail about the specific crimes with which she is accused. Miyares’ Office said it would not provide further comment on the cases.
Inside NoVa
More than two months after former police chief RaShall Brackney filed a $10 million lawsuit against the City of Charlottesville—and 10 current and former city officials—alleging she was wrongfully terminated based on her sex and gender, the city has asked a federal judge to dismiss the suit. According to The Washington Post, the city’s attorney David Corrigan claimed in a court filing submitted on August 30 that then-city manager Chip Boyles terminated Brackney, the city’s first Black police chief, “to ensure the viability” of the CPD, which was plagued with “chaos and upheaval” under her leadership. “The imminent threat of departures of important CPD leaders [and] the ongoing strained relationship between Brackney, City leadership, and community stakeholders” also fueled Boyles’ decision, Corrigan wrote. He argued that Brackney’s suit does not prove the city discriminated against her based on her sex and gender, and it should be dismissed. In her lawsuit, Brackney accuses the city of firing her in retaliation against her efforts to reform the CPD, including disbanding the SWAT team, ending the department’s relationship with the Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement Task Force, and disciplining and firing officers for severe misconduct. She claims two defendants created an internal survey of officers to elicit negative responses about her, and other defendants later used the survey results to get her fired.
C-Ville Weekly
stories of national interest
The Jif peanut butter factory responsible for a salmonella outbreak in May had a pattern of salmonella incidents in recent years, according to inspection documents obtained by Axios. Why it matters: The J.M. Smucker-owned plant in Lexington, Kentucky, was shuttered for weeks in the spring after a nationwide outbreak triggered a costly recall of Jif peanut butter and other products. Driving the news: Plant officials recorded 12 instances of salmonella found in “routine environmental swabbing” and 11 instances of salmonella found in finished peanut butter from 2017 through 2022, according to an FDA inspection report acquired by Axios through the Freedom of Information Act.
Axios
