Virginia
FOIA Friday: AG’s university protest guidance, former Petersburg superintendent’s pricey trips • Virginia Mercury
One of the less noticed features of the Virginia Way is the long-running tendency of the commonwealth’s leaders to conduct their decision-making behind closed doors. While the Virginia Freedom of Information Act presumes all government business is by default public and requires officials to justify why exceptions should be made, too many Virginia leaders in practice take the opposite stance, acting as if records are by default private and the public must prove they should be handled otherwise.
In this feature, we aim to highlight the frequency with which officials around Virginia are resisting public access to records on issues large and small — and note instances when the release of information under FOIA gave the public insight into how government bodies are operating.
AG’s email informed UMW leaders’ reaction to student protests
After 12 people, including 9 students, were arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg last month, new details are emerging about university leaders’ response to the event, which was shaped by guidance from the office of Attorney General Jason Miyares.
An April 26 email from Deputy Attorney General for Health, Education, and Social Services Rob Bell to Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Rogstad Guidera, which the Mercury obtained from the university on Thursday through a FOIA request, defines the attorney general’s official stance on campus protests, the same day protesters created an encampment on UMW’s grounds.
“It is the legal position of the Office of the Attorney General that setting up a tent or establishing an encampment on university or college property is disruptive of the school’s activities and may violate other administrative policies,” the missive read. Colleges and universities had the authority to “refuse to allow such activity” and to “take down any tents that have been set up.” The AG’s office would “vigorously defend” the institutions if they met with challenges to these powers, the email concluded.
UMW President Troy Paino referenced the legal guidance when, on April 30, he met with a group of students seeking answers about the university’s decision to clear the encampment and arrest the protesters the preceding weekend, according to the Fredericksburg Free Press.
A student asked Paino “whether the Youngkin administration ordered the arrests of the 12 protesters who refused to leave an encampment,” which Paino denied, saying it was the he and the university’s board of visitors made that call themselves without “outside influence.”
“However, at one point during the meeting, Paino showed the students a document outlining the administration’s stance against the student encampments unfolding across the country,” the Free Press reported.
Another student attendee at the meeting with Paino said the school’s president revealed the students arrested in the protest wouldn’t be expelled or face academic suspension, and their only consequence would probably be a warning for not following the school’s order to leave the encampment.
“He came across as sincere and that he knows that the university could’ve responded better,” the student said.
Former Petersburg schools superintendent’s spending scrutinized
Petersburg’s former schools superintendent Dr. Tamara Sterling, who resigned suddenly in March without explanation, racked up $22,000 traveling to multiple conferences across the country over a 15-month period, public records of her travel expenses show.
Though it’s common for school division leaders to attend professional conferences to build skills and gain insights from their peers in other states, WTVR investigative reporter Melissa Hipolit, who obtained the expense reports through a public records request, found that Sterling spent “more than double what the Henrico County superintendent spent, 14 times what the Hopewell superintendent spent, and 43 times what the Chesterfield superintendent spent on travel” over the same time period, February 2023 to February 2024.
Sterling booked more than one hotel room for herself when attending three of the five conferences Hipolit reviewed. The conference trips to California, Nevada, Florida, Texas and Louisiana included several instances of extra hotel stays by Sterling, who in one case stayed seven days for a conference that lasted just two days.
Parents of students in Petersburg’s economically challenged schools were critical of Sterling’s spending from the division’s coffers, as was the area’s General Assembly representative, Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg.
“There just really is no rationale that can be used to explain the excess that’s appearing in the records that you found,” Aird told WTVR’s Hipolit in an on-camera interview.
Hipolit reported that Aird is collaborating with the Virginia Department of Education “to ensure greater enforcement and oversight of Petersburg schools so something like this does not happen again.”
Chesterfield police won’t release body cam footage from shooting that left mentally ill man dead
The Chesterfield County Police Department has refused to release body camera footage from a July 2023 incident wherein officers shot and killed a mentally ill man who was holding a hatchet, despite multiple requests for the footage from the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Charles Byers had been placed under a 72-hour detention for mental health treatment at Chippenham Hospital’s Tucker Pavilion two days before officers encountered him, as they responded to reports that Byers was attempting to break into homes in a neighborhood near Wycliff Court. Exactly how the situation escalated to deadly gunfire remains in dispute; officers said Byers wouldn’t drop the hatchet when they told him to, and that they tased him without effect before Byers began advancing on them. At that point, officers said, they shot him.
Byers’ family, represented by attorney Paul Curley, contradicted that account, saying body camera footage showed Byers holding the hatchet “down by his knee” during the incident, backing away from officers after they tased him, and being shot in the back while fleeing from police.
“I was expecting to see some justifiable reason for shooting him,” Curley said. “They basically just gunned him down.”
The Times-Dispatch requested to review the body camera footage on April 3, after officials announced the officers involved in the fatal shooting would not be criminally charged. That request was denied, as was the paper’s subsequent FOIA request, which police withheld “pursuant to the closed investigations exemption under Virginia’s FOIA,” the paper reported. Police spokesperson Liz Caroon on April 8 invited the paper’s reporters to come to police headquarters to view the footage, but scheduling conflicts prevented them from attending. When the paper asked if another viewing could be arranged, Caroon declined.
Curley said Chesterfield police requested and received a protective order preventing the body camera footage from being released or shared.
“If there is nothing to hide, then they shouldn’t have any problem with the video coming out,” Curley said. “But they have gone to extraordinary lengths to hide it … They’re definitely covering up some stuff on purpose.”
Have you experienced local or state officials denying or delaying your FOIA request? Tell us about it: [email protected]
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I just revisited my 2025 predictions for the Cavaliers — it is now time to make my new picks for 2026. Hopefully they age gracefully and not like whatever lurks on the bathroom floors at Scott Stadium.
Record: 10-2, third in ACC. Pop-Tarts Bowl
Virginia does not face a titanically rigorous ACC schedule. Because the Cavaliers are coming off of a strong campaign and have the most experienced roster in the country, the floor should be eight wins — and realistically, this should be a nine or 10-win team. There is only one game in which the Cavaliers should be significant underdogs, which is a road date at SMU. And other than the Virginia Tech game, there may not be another game in which Virginia is an underdog at all. That is a real possibility.
If the Cavaliers beat the Mustangs in Dallas, Texas, they will probably return to the ACC Championship game. If they lose, though, they could miss out even with a 10-2 record. Miami could very well go 12-0, and SMU could hold the tiebreaker over Virginia. But even without a trip to Charlotte, N.C., the Cavaliers should still play in one of the top bowl games. Perhaps that is the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando, Fla, or another visit to the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. The Holiday Bowl is also a possibility.
Virginia beats Virginia Tech on the road for the first time since 1998
I predict that Ethan Grunkemeyer will become one of the ACC’s better quarterbacks, however, it would be ridiculous to assume Virginia Tech is going to magically vault itself from 3-9 to 10-2. The Hokies were handed a brutal ACC schedule with games at Miami, SMU and Clemson plus a trip out to Cal and home battles against Virginia, Pitt and Georgia Tech. Virginia Tech does have a few freebies on the schedule, but I predict the Hokies go 6-6 or 5-7 in the first year under Coach James Franklin. One of those losses, I predict, is coming against the Cavaliers.
Awards
Offensive MVP: Beau Pribula
Defensive MVP: Corey Costner
Freshman of the Year: Derek Uran
Play of the Year: Kam Robinson
Comeback Player of the Year: Monroe Mills and Ja’Maric Morris
Transfer of the Year: Peyton Lewis
Most Improved: Kam Courtney
If Pribula starts every game at quarterback and leads Virginia to similar levels of success as Chandler Morris, then he is the easy choice for Offensive MVP. On the other side, Costner is a sleeper pick who I believe could have a tremendous breakout campaign.
The Cavaliers’ SPUR position is put in spots to make plays, which Ja’Son Prevard (and Costner) did in spades last season. Now that Costner is the starter, he could surprise and take over as an All-ACC player.
Another player primed for playing time is Uran. With Kam Robinson and Maddox Marcellus dealing with injuries and James Jackson out of eligibility, the freshman Uran could find his way onto the field at linebacker or on special teams quickly.
When Robinson does return, though, I predict he will make some play worthy of a SportsCenter Top 10 spot — maybe he forces a fumble and returns it for a touchdown, records a pick six or another game-clinching safety.
While Virginia lost one Morris, another returned. Ja’Maric Morris was a promising portal acquisition at defensive back, but he suffered a season-ending injury before ever playing in a regular season game for the Cavaliers.
He is now back, and with the experience of someone who has been in college football since 2021, he could earn notable playing time. I predict Morris to be worthy of Comeback Player of the Year along with Monroe Mills, Virginia’s top portal commit from last offseason — who also missed the whole 2025 season and will make a major impact in 2026.
With loads of respect to the defensive side of the ball, I predict Peyton Lewis will be the most impactful transfer — other than Pribula, who would win this award if I were to allow players to win multiple awards. If Lewis takes the J’Mari Taylor role and runs with it, he should be an All-ACC player.
He certainly has the talent to do so. Lewis could become a fan favorite. Sticking with the offense, Kam Courtney is my pick for Most Improved. He figures to nab a starting role in the slot this year, and with increased playing time, he could become one of Pribula’s favorite targets.
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Many attending the meeting expressed disappointment in some Virginia politicians, including Gov. Abigail Spanberger, for pushing to renew tax breaks for the multibillion-dollar corporations behind the centers.
Community activists, elected leaders and residents of Northern Virginia got together Sunday night to share their concerns about the proliferation of data centers across the region.
Many of the approximately 120 people attending the meeting at the Best Western hotel on Balls Ford Road in Manassas expressed disappointment in some Virginia politicians, including Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who have pushed to renew tax breaks for the multibillion-dollar corporations behind the centers. Another major concern for those in the crowd was the centers’ impact on the environment.
State Sen. Danica Roem opened the meeting by telling those in attendance that she and two other state senators there, L. Louise Lucas and Russet Perry, wanted to hear from them and that they shared their concerns about the prospect of adding more data centers.
“It is time to stop the reckless data center sprawl,” said Roem as she invited members of the public to speak.
Tony Hernandez drove to the meeting from Spotsylvania County, where three data centers are already up and running and companies like Amazon and Powerhouse 95 are working to build 17 more active data center sites.
“This is a bigger problem than just the companies who are invading our state. … This is a failure of government,” Hernandez said, becoming emotional when discussing data centers’ impact on his community. Those effects include more noise and air pollution.
“Your plans didn’t take into consideration the people who you were supposed to serve,” he said. “I know about service. I served. My son serves now in the United States Navy. We serve.”
Studies have shown data centers’ massive environmental impacts: A single large facility can consume millions of gallons of water each day for cooling. Their demand for a constant supply of electricity places significant pressure on local power grids, increasing carbon emissions and driving up utility costs for the communities around them.
“Technology’s not bad,” said Sen. Lucas. “We’ve all benefited from technology. What is bad is our government has not done a good job of managing its impact,” she said.
The Virginia legislature remains at an impasse over the state budget, and the exemptions have emerged as a key point of contention. Spanberger has argued that reneging on existing agreements could undermine Virginia’s reputation as a reliable place to do business.
Lawmakers in both chambers are working to reach a budget agreement before the end-of-month deadline to avert a government shutdown, but the dispute over data center tax incentives remains the biggest obstacle to a deal.
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RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger said she supports the House of Delegates’ proposed budget as state lawmakers race to avoid a government shutdown before the July 1 deadline.
Legislators are set to meet Tuesday to review their proposed budgets, and the House could vote as early as Thursday. But a major obstacle remains: the Senate Finance chair is insisting that a billion-dollar sales and use tax exemption for data center operators must end — a position that puts the Senate at odds with the House proposal.
The governor said her team has not had a substantive discussion on what Sen. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) might present as a counter proposal. On Friday, Lucas posted a graduated tax proposal for data centers on social media but has not presented that plan to the governor’s team.
As recently as Sunday, Lucas was adamant that the companies behind the data centers would pay what she called their fair share.
“They keep saying to us, ‘well, if we don’t get that sales and use tax exemption in Virginia, we’re gonna go someplace else.’ Well, Senator Locke just laid it out for you: all the other states are saying, ‘no, we don’t want them’ and if we get them, we’re going to make sure that we modify how we do these use and sales tax exemptions,” Lucas said.
Spanberger reiterated her support for the House version of the budget.
“In the absence of any counter proposal or any additional budget language coming from the Senate, I continue to remain supportive of the House of Delegates proposed conference report, because it’s thorough, it’s thoughtful, it addresses priorities across the board,” she said.
She added that if it were brought to a vote, there is broad support for the measure.
“If it were brought to a vote, certainly there’s many members … of the state Senate whose budget priorities are also in that conference report,” she said.
The timeline is tight. While House of Delegates members return Thursday, Senate members do not convene until next Monday. Under legislative rules, an agreed-upon budget must be on legislators’ desks 48 hours before a vote can be taken. If a budget agreement is not ready by the close of business Tuesday, the House will not be voting on Thursday.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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