Transparency News, 10/11/2022
Tuesday
October 11, 2022
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state & local news stories
The two Bristols have, thus far, spent a combined $1.2 million for attorney fees in the Bristol, Virginia, landfill lawsuit. Last October, the Bristol Tennessee City Council met and voted to retain Richmond law firm Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders, LLP to “provide legal advice, retain necessary experts, develop strategies and represent the city in proceeding arising as a result of the operation of the Bristol Virginia landfill,” a city memorandum shows. That action followed months of public concern over odors and emissions from the landfill impacting both the quality of life and health of residents on both sides of the state line, but especially Tennessee residents in close proximity to the Shakesville Road facility. The city then served a notice of intent to bring its claims Dec. 8, 2021. The Bristol Tennessee City Council has since approved payments totaling almost $790,000 to Troutman Pepper for the period from October 2021 through August 2022, city documents show. Bristol Virginia has incurred legal bills totaling more than $418,900. That includes almost $408,000 from its current Richmond-based firm McGuire Woods, over $9,000 paid to Troutman Pepper and nearly $1,900 to Guyun, Waddell Carroll and Lockaby of Salem, since May.
Bristol Herald Courier
Boyce Town Council members now will be able to call into meetings if they can't personally attend. An ordinance enabling them to participate through "electronic communication means" was adopted by the council in a 4-1 vote Tuesday night. Town Manager David Winsatt didn't know whether the ordinance will apply to work sessions, which the council typically holds monthly. He said he will check with David Griffin, the town's part-time attorney who drafted it. Councilman Dennis Hall was the dissenter in the vote. He mentioned that he has served on another panel which he believes abused a similar policy. He didn't identify that panel. Under normal circumstances, "if you can't make a meeting, you shouldn't be on the council," Hall said. Mayor Zack Hudson said the town won't purchase any special devices enabling council members to participate in meetings electronically. Rather, they can call into another member's cell phone and then be put on the speaker setting, he indicated.
The Winchester Star
A Charlottesville museum that wants to melt down one of the city’s toppled Confederate statues must tell lawyers who are suing to stop that plan where the monument is located, a judge ruled Monday, setting the stage for a trial over the sculpture’s fate. The ruling from Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Paul M. Peatross Jr. means that the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center must reveal to the plaintiffs’ lawyers where exactly the Lee statue is located and must allow those lawyers and any expert witnesses to inspect it. But the museum will not be required to share that information with the public — a possible outcome its leaders worried could put their plan in jeopardy. The Jefferson School had asked the judge to require anyone receiving information about the statue’s location to sign a declaration saying they would keep that information private. Peatross’s ruling included no such requirements, but the plaintiffs’ legal team could still be held in contempt of court if they do go public.
The Washington Post
stories of national interest
Security footage from the daring escape of an inmate at the Saline County (Arkansas) Detention Center was released Monday. Through a Freedom of Information Act request, we obtained footage showing the escape of Wuanya Smith on the morning of Sept. 11.
KATV
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and his office were sued by the state’s Center for Government Accountability (FLCGA) on Monday, over allegations it illegally withheld public records related to the state flying approximately 50 Venezuelan migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts—the latest legal exposure DeSantis has faced since he took credit for the migrants’ flights. FLCGA’s lawsuit asks the state court to compel DeSantis’s office to turn over a range of documents related to the Martha’s Vineyard flights—including phone logs and any communications with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), as the migrants’ flights originated in that state—alleging it has not fulfilled the group’s records requests or responded to them in “good faith,” as state law requires.
Forbes
