Category: Government Transparency
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Scandal in Plain Sight – Virginia’s Failed Regulation of Law-Avoiding Nursing Home Owners
by James C. Sherlock One of the most important and heart-wrenching decisions families make for their elderly loved ones is whether they are able to keep them in their homes as they get older and sicker. Sometimes that is not feasible for a long list of reasons in each case. More than 30,000 Virginians live…
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Judge Orders LCPS to Turn Over Investigation into the Assaults and Rape at Two County Schools
by Jeanine Martin Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge James P. Fischer has ordered Loudoun County Public Schools to turn over its internal investigation into the assaults and rape that occurred in 2021 at two Loudoun County high schools. The school system had argued that it was privileged information that they need not share with the…
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Virginia Secedes from National Elections Organization
by Jim McCarthy A February 25 article in Bacon’s Rebellion, “Forget Waldo, Where’s ERIC?” by James Wyatt Whitehouse raised questions about the volunteer national election clearing house organization entitled Electronic Information Registration Center, or ERIC. The BR piece highlighted the experience of the Alabama Secretary of State: On February 15, 2023, Alabama Secretary of State…
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Political Embellishment and Poor Journalism
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Some Virginians, along with citizens in the rest of the country, will be able to receive refunds from the company Intuit, the developers of the TurboTax automated tax return preparation program. According to a report in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, approximately $3.5 million will be available for distribution to Virginians. “TurboTax misled Virginians,…
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Let The People In
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The Virginia Supreme Court has again ruled against a local government for violating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The case arose as a result of Deborah Wahlstrom deciding to attend a day-long retreat of the Suffolk City School Board focused on board training and strategic planning. The meeting was publicly advertised…
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The Unsettled State of Lee Chapel
by Kenneth G. Everett “Show me the manner in which a nation or a community cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender sympathies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land and their loyalty to high ideals.” — William E. Gladstone, British Statesman The respect with…
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As Newspapers Struggle, Local News is Harder to Find in Virginia
by Christopher Connell It is, unfortunately, old news. Virginia’s newspapers, the single biggest source of local news, face unprecedented challenges, with their readers, revenues, and staffs steadily dwindling. It’s a paradox because news writ large now seems to be available everywhere, all the time, on phones in our pockets and purses. People still hear about…
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Public Hearing, Private Decision
by Joe Fitzgerald The Bluestone Town Center (BTC), according to council members who voted 3-2 to approve it, was decided in secret meetings between those council members and the applicants. At Tuesday’s open meeting in which they voted to approve BTC, those council members rather shamelessly admitted to those sessions. City staff and the city…
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Forget Waldo! Where is ERIC?
by James Wyatt Whitehead, V In 2012, seven states, including Virginia, formed the Electronic Registration and Information, Inc. (ERIC), with assistance from the Pew Charitable Trusts. Today, ERIC’s membership has risen to 32 states and the District of Columbia. ERIC’s mission is to assist states in maintaining accurate voting rolls. Every 60 days, states that…
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Want Info? Check Only, Please.
by Dick Hall-Sizemore A recent article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch illustrates how governments will fight any attempt to amend the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in a way that would make it easier for citizens to obtain information. Del. Danica Roem (D-Prince William) has been one of the more persistent legislators seeking to amend the…
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Leave Arlington’s Confederate Memorial Intact
by Phil Leigh Arlington National Cemetery’s Confederate Memorial should remain intact. Although four of the first seven cotton states arguably seceded from the union over slavery, they did not cause the Civil War. They had no purpose to overthrow the federal government. After forming the seven state Confederacy in February 1861, they promptly sent commissioners…
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Miyares Reminds Republicans the Difference a Year Makes
by Shaun Kenney If Virginia Republicans needed a sizzle reel, this was it. With news that leftist Commonwealth Attorneys are openly refusing to enforce the law in some cases, the threat to the rule of law and the problem of selective enforcement is greater now than ever before. Which is why a long list of…
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The Alumni Rebellion Spreads to JMU
by James A. Bacon A group of James Madison University alumni has organized a new group, the Madison Cabinet for Free Speech and Accountability, to promote “freedom of expression, intellectual diversity, and academic freedom on campus.” The JMU group marks the fourth university in Virginia to organize in protest of the takeover of an institution…
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Freitas Introduces Higher-Ed Transparency Bill
by James A. Bacon Delegate Nicholas J. Freitas, R-Culpeper, has introduced a bill, HB 1800, that would bring much needed transparency to the governance of Virginia’s public higher-ed institutions. The bill was cited in a list of priority legislation backed by Attorney General Jason Miyares. The bill contains several elements: Governing boards of public colleges…
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FOIA Council Responds on Request to UVa for Threat Assessment Team Records on Shooter
by James C. Sherlock On Sunday I asked the FOIA Council to provide an advisory opinion on the University of Virginia’s decision that information about that school’s threat assessment team deliberations in the case of the November shooter, Christopher Jones, will not be released as I requested. I received the answer this afternoon, which is…