Transparency News, 2/17/2023

 

Friday
February 17, 2023

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Contact us at vcog@opengovva.org

 

state & local news stories

 

VCOG's annual conference
FOI Day -- March 16
Charlottesville
Info and registration here

About 1,000 online lottery accounts were compromised earlier this month when the state agency noticed “irregular activity” after outside hackers obtained passwords that account owners had used elsewhere. The lottery temporarily locked affected accounts until customers changed their passwords to prevent access to sensitive information. “No personal or financial information was obtained or compromised,” spokesman John Hagerty said Thursday. “It was a teaching moment, absolutely,” Hagerty said. “We feel like our security procedures worked and are working as designed.”
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Longtime South Hill resident Vernon Oakley, Jr. called the actions of Town Council into question at Monday’s meeting first asking why Town Manager Kim Callis was absent.  Mayor Dean Marion did not give much information due to “privacy reasons” but just simply said that Callis was absent for the night.  Rumors began to circulate earlier in the year about Council making plans to terminate Callis, though nothing has been confirmed publicly. Callis’ leadership has been called into question in the past with accusations of employee mistreatment, abuse of power, and withholding information from Council members, the Mayor, and the public.  The town is currently involved in an ongoing F.O.I.A. lawsuit filed by Midlothian Attorney Richard Hawkins. Two documents were released by the town on February 9 in response to an order from Circuit Court Judge J. William Watson, Jr. 
South Hill Enterprise
 

stories of national interest

Connecticut lawmakers proposed a bill limiting information about discussions between teachers and students on sensitive topics. The Act Concerning the Nondisclosure of Certain Communications Between Teachers and Students would ban Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests relating to discussions between teachers and students on subjects like sexual orientation, gender identity or race.
WSET
 

editorials & columns

 

 

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