Transparency News, 12/21/2022
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December 21, 2022
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state & local news stories
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The former police chief of Buena Vista was arrested Friday on a charge of misusing public assets, Virginia State Police announced Tuesday. State police offered no details about the felony charge against the former chief. Sgt. Richard Garletts said that the investigation is ongoing. The Virginia code section under which Hartman was charged discusses misuse of public money or money over which an official has custody. Conviction is punishable by a prison term of two to 10 years, and a fine of up to $100,000.
The Roanoke Times
As part of his push to cut regulations, Gov. Glenn Youngkin is now listing all the regulatory actions -- more than 300 in all -- that he expects the state government to complete by July 2023. That’s one year after Youngkin issued an executive order creating a new Office of Regulatory Management within his office. That order directed the office to create a new uniform process for reviewing regulations, and speeding that review, with the aim of reducing regulatory burdens by 25%. In addition to publishing the list on state’s web site for regulatory actions, the governor’s office is posting the new economic analysis manual to be used to evaluate the impact of proposed regulations. The list and the manual can been seen at townhall.virginia.gov. “By publishing a comprehensive list of all upcoming regulations, and the tools we are going to use to evaluate the economic impacts, private citizens, companies and interest groups will be able to participate in the regulatory process in a more meaningful way,” Youngkin said.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
The Warrenton Planning Commission voted 3-1 Tuesday night, with one abstention, to recommend the Town Council deny Amazon's application for a special-use permit to build a 220,000-square-foot data center on its property at the intersection of Blackwell Road and Lee Highway in Warrenton. Commissioners said they were recommending denial based on the lack information provided by Amazon regarding how much noise the facility would generate, how much power it needs to operate and where the power would come from, how much tax revenue it would generate for the town, impact on the town's scenic gateway and view shed, noncompliance with the town's comprehensive plan and the lack of a plan surrounding the decommissioning of the building.
FauquierNow
