Transparency News, 8/18/20

 

 
Tuesday
August 18, 2020
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state & local news stories
 

VCOG's virtual conference details

For a list of (and links to) today's committee meetings and the floor sessions both House and Senate, click here:
https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?202+oth+MTG

Among the bills filed already (with  more coming down the pike):
SB 5012 - Suetterlein
Provides that individual votes of the members of the Virginia Parole Board shall be public records and subject to the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney agreed to pay a firm linked to one of his political donors $1.8 million to take down Richmond’s Confederate statues last month, a newly released record reveals. The city contracted with NAH LLC to remove Richmond’s Confederate iconography during ongoing civil unrest, according to documents the Stoney administration provided in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. The entity, created 10 days before Stoney ordered the statues’ removal, is a shell company linked to Team Henry Enterprises, a Newport News-based contracting firm owned by Devon Henry, a Stoney donor. Under an emergency order, Richmond officials, including its director of procurement, said Stoney executed the contract in compliance with state law, even without following procedures outlined under the city’s emergency procurement rules.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
 
stories of national interest
 
The Buffalo (New York) Police Department has issued about 150 stop receipts since officers began the new policy in early July, and the city is collecting demographic information on each stop, a spokesman said.  When asked if the data will be made public, Michael J. DeGeorge – who is also a BPD spokesman – said he "would recommend" that anyone wanting to see the data file a Freedom of Information request. But a local activist group – the Fair Fines and Fees Coalition – will press the city to make the information available to the public in a database, particularly the demographic information showing the race and other characteristics of the people stopped.
Buffalo News
 
 
editorials & columns
 
We’re only a week into the semester [at UNC] and four COVID-19 clusters have already surfaced on and around campus.  In the messages, UNC clarified that a “cluster” is five or more cases deemed "close proximity in location," as defined by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.  Particularly concerning is the fact that the University has refused to disclose any additional information, including the official number of positive cases, citing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.  But, don't we have a right to know? There is a significant difference between five positive cases and, say, 20 — and the potential for exposure extends far beyond those identified through contact tracing. Furthermore, many have expressed doubt as to whether FERPA actually prevents the University from disclosing case numbers. According to guidelines from the U.S. Department of Education, schools may release information regarding COVID-19 as long as “a student’s identity is not personally identifiable.” But it certainly wouldn’t be the first time that UNC has used FERPA as an excuse to withhold relevant information from the campus community. 
The Daily Tar Heel

 
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