Transparency News 12/17/18

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Monday
December 17, 2018

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state & local news stories

 

The president of James Madison University allowed former Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling to help create a job for himself at the school, permitting him to write parts of his own job description. Bolling also arranged for the university to cover his rent in a university-owned house for a year, and asked that his contract last three years to boost his state pension. JMU President Jon Alger hired Bolling for the newly created position of senior fellow in residence for public service following discussions that began in part while Bolling was still one of Alger's bosses on the university's Board of Visitors. Just weeks after Bolling's term ended in June, he and Alger negotiated a deal that would provide full-time employment to Bolling at a salary of $140,000, according to records the Richmond Times-Dispatch obtained from the university through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Virginia Supreme Court has approved a model policy allowing the public to bring cellphones into courthouses with some restrictions. The policy, which acknowledges the inconvenience of having to leave a phone in an unsecured location outside of a courthouse, is meant to be a guide for courthouses across the state. A news release Friday said the justices believe the model policy strikes a balance between promoting access to justice and maintaining security and order in courthouses. 
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Robert Gravely, the former city worker who threatened the Roanoke City Council two weeks ago, said he did it to get members’ attention because he’s tired of being ignored. He’s since been charged with disorderly conduct and barred from city hall for six months. “To stop them in their tracks. That’s why I said it,” Gravely said in a recent interview. “To get their attention, because they don’t pay attention.” Gravely, 72, a former city employee who was fired from his job in 2006 for making the same threat, said he understands why council members would be disturbed by his words. But he said he’s no real danger and offered no apology. Gravely denied that what he said constituted a threat.
The Roanoke Times

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stories of national interest

Kentucky's governor wasn't pleased to hear the state's largest newspaper, the Louisville Courier Journal, was partnering with ProPublica to investigate a state-run government agency. Republican Gov. Matt Bevin posted a series of tweets attacking both news organizations and recorded a three-minute video on social media detailing his disdain for both outlets, which he characterized as biased.
Governing

On Nov. 13 the Tampa Bay Times requested the five City Council members provide all text messages from their personal and city phones that discussed government affairs since Jan. 1. Two days later, without prior warning to City Manager Bill Horne or his executive staff, Vice Mayor Doreen Caudell announced during the Nov. 15 council meeting she would be resigning at the end of the month to focus on her general contracting business. She then walked out of the chambers in the middle of the meeting. Before her last day Nov. 30 the only text messages Caudell turned over from her personal cell for an 11-month period were partial exchanges with five private citizens about her Nov. 15 resignation announcement. She stated Wednesday that she did not use her personal phone for city business while in office. But subsequent requests the Times made to a sample of six city officials for their messages to and from Caudell's personal cell resulted in dozens of messages, confirming Caudell did in fact use her private number for city business. Under Florida's public records law, Caudell was required to retain and disclose all text messages she exchanged with city officials and private citizens that dealt with city affairs.
Tampa Bay Times

The FBI on Friday released a redacted version of the memo that top intelligence officials, including former FBI Director James Comey, used to brief President Donald Trump about the compilation of information detailing his possible connections to Russia -- a document which came to be known as the Trump dossier. The two-page document says, "An FBI source ... volunteered highly politically sensitive information ... on Russian influence efforts aimed at the US presidential election." The document was provided to CNN by the public records advocacy group James Madison Project, which, alongside Politico, had sued for it and received it from the FBI on Friday night following a judge's order.
WRAL
 

 

 

 

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