Transparency News, 3/4/20

 

 

Wednesday
March 4, 2020

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March 20, Harrisonburg

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state & local news stories

 

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The Warren County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday entered a two-hour-long closed session to discuss, according to the meeting’s agenda, personnel matters related to a “specific local government employee.” While County Attorney Jason Hamm said the supervisors do not have to disclose what employee is being discussed or for which department they work, the closed session comes about a month away from an April 1 deadline by which County Administrator Doug Stanley must be notified if his contract will not be extended. While Stanley’s four-year contract expires in June, his employment agreement stipulates that the supervisors must provide 90-days advance notice if the contract will not be renewed. During a public comment period, resident James Harper encouraged the supervisors to send out an advertisement seeking candidates for Stanley’s position.
The Northern Virginia Daily

To select the local judges that oversee circuit, district and family courtrooms around the state, the majority party has typically deferred to lawmakers who represent the judicial districts in which the appointee will serve. What that looks like varies by region. In some areas, candidates apply to the local bar association, which conducts interviews and, as in the state level selections, ranks applicants as either highly qualified, qualified or not qualified. In other areas, lawmakers handle applications and interviews themselves. Whatever process they use to winnow the field, members from the local delegation — Republicans and Democrats — meet privately to vote on who their region’s nominees should be. A public round of interviews before the judiciary committees of each chamber follows and, a few weeks later with no further public discussion, a resolution appears on the floor of both chambers proposing the election of unnamed persons to specific judgeships.
Virginia Mercury

Six people formally expressed interest in serving on the State Corporation Commission, but General Assembly committees have only interviewed two publicly. Del. Rip Sullivan, D-Fairfax, vice chairman of the House committee, said after the meeting that legislators had met privately with all of the candidates “and decided these are the two to interview.” Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, D-Fairfax, chairman of the Senate committee, and other senators also have confirmed meeting privately with potential candidates to fill the seat left vacant after the term of Judge Patricia West expired on Jan. 31. [Unlike the courts committees' interviews of candidates for judgeships], for the SCC position, the commerce committees did not publicly interview four candidateswho had submitted their names for consideration.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

stories of national interest

Almost one year after a ransomware attack struck the city of Cartersville, Ga., municipal officials revealed that they paid a ransom of $380,000 to regain access to their files. The news was made known after the local Daily Tribune News filed a Freedom of Information Act request, which disclosed the payment to mitigate the May 4, 2019 attack. The Daily Tribune found that the initial ransom demand was for $2.8 million, payable in bitcoin, and that the city’s insurance paid the majority of the cost. The attackers did deliver the decryptor keys necessary to regain access about 48 hours after the payment was made and all systems were operational soon thereafter. The FOIA showed city officials learned the attackers used Ryuk ransomware and that police and other emergency services were impacted.
SC Media
 

 

 

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