|
It's no joke. Today only you can register for VCOG's conference for just $25.
Learn more here
The FOIA Council's has released its 2019 training calendar. There are 15 opportunities for records, law enforcement and meetings training that run through November. Click on the one you’re interested to register.
Charlottesville paid more than $4,000 to bring candidates for city manager to in-person interviews in February and March. The city reimbursed $4,195.86 for travel and other expenses on top of the $25,000 contract the city has entered with S. Renee Narloch and Associates to find its next top administrator, according to documents obtained through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. The city reimbursed $2,962.94 for trips by two of its finalists. The third didn’t submit any receipts. The city received 37 applications for the position and publicly named three finalists.
The Daily Progress
The office of Attorney General Mark Herring advised a state board investigating jail deaths that it was not obligated to allow state auditors into closed meetings, alarming a lawmaker who wants the General Assembly next week to make clear the legislature’s watchdog arm will get access. Asked by email why the attorney general’s office believed the Board of Corrections could exclude JLARC staff from its closed meetings, Herring press secretary Charlotte Gomer declined to answer. She noted that the governor’s amendment, if passed, “would settle the issue.”
Richmond Times-Dispatch
As more people choose to communicate electronically, town officials want to increase their use of social media to keep residents updated on local matters affecting them. Mayor Patricia Dickinson uses a Facebook page. Other members of Berryville Town Council say they want to start communicating with people online, too, according to Town Manager Keith Dalton. The council recently adopted a policy to guide local officials — elected and hired — on using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms appropriately. Under the policy, council members and town employees can have social media sites on which they can mention their municipal affiliations and discuss town business. Yet they are encouraged to include a statement along the lines of, “The postings on this site are my own and do not represent the opinions or positions of the Berryville Town Council or Town of Berryville.” Officials’ postings to such sites must be professional. They cannot use a site for personal business or to conduct transactions. Because any comments they make are subject to provisions of Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), they are responsible for maintaining their sites in accordance with relevant laws.
The Winchester Star
A Charlottesville federal judge will allow an Albemarle County man’s defamation suit against InfoWars owner Alex Jones and others to proceed. Brennan Gilmore, an activist and former Foreign Service officer, sued Jones, InfoWars and several others in March 2018 for defamation. After Gilmore witnessed and filmed the Aug. 12, 2017, car attack that killed counterprotester Heather Heyer, the defendants started spreading conspiracies about him, leading to death threats against him and his family, according to the suit.
The Roanoke Times
Warren County Circuit Court Judge Clifford L. Athey Jr. on Wednesday impaneled a special grand jury to investigate potential widespread criminal activity among local governmental entities. A court order states that the special grand jury will “investigate and report on alleged misfeasance and malfeasance including the embezzlement or misappropriation of public funds” by parties including but not limited to the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority, the Town of Front Royal, the County of Warren, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office and Warren County Public Schools. The order adds that the investigation will include "any criminal activities engaged in by elected or appointed officials" of those entities along with any "private entities or individuals who engaged in criminal activity with the aforementioned public bodies or their employees" during the tenure of former EDA director Jennifer McDonald.
The Northern Virginia Daily
|