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Audit: Richmond city credit cards used for $5M in ‘questionable expenditures’
City auditors on Tuesday morning released a damning assessment of City Hall’s purchasing card program that, among other things, identified $5 million in “questionable expenditures” made by cardholders between July 2022 and May 2024. That’s nearly one quarter of the credit card spending during that timeframe. Those transactions were referred to Richmond’s inspector general, who investigates claims of fraud, waste and abuse, auditors said.
Audit finds $5M in dubious Richmond credit card spending
The city of Richmond approved roughly $5 million in questionable purchases on employee credit cards over two years due to lax oversight, according to a just-released internal audit. That's roughly a quarter of all spending in the period through the city's Purchasing Card (P-Card) Program. City auditor Riad Ali's report, published Tuesday, found "significant weaknesses" in the internal review process and general oversight of the P-Card program, which was started in 2018.
Arlington board grants Amazon extended deadline to build next phase of HQ2
Amazon has received another three years to get started on the next phase of its Crystal City headquarters. The Arlington County Board granted a three-year extension to plans to develop the PenPlace site at a meeting earlier this month. Amazon’s new deadline to act on the current site plan, which envisions a futuristic spiral structure towering over the intersection of S. Eads Street and 12th Street S., is June 30, 2028. An Amazon representative told ARLnow that the company has ample space at its current Metropolitan Park location, but continues to look at PenPlace as a long-term investment.
Latest lawsuit fails to stop Botetourt County wind farm
The latest — and likely the last — legal challenge to a proposed wind farm in Botetourt County was turned down by the Virginia Court of Appeals on Tuesday, as preliminary construction of the project continues. In a unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel of the court found that opponents lacked standing to legally object to a temporary facility that will produce concrete needed for the foundations of the massive turbines.
Grand jury refuses to indict UVa student accused of antisemitic hate crime
The criminal case against a University of Virginia student accused of perpetrating a hate crime against a Jewish housemate hit a roadblock last week, at least temporarily, after a Charlottesville grand jury refused to issue a felony indictment against Robert Cabell Romer. While a lower court judge certified a threat warrant against the 20-year-old Romer last month, the grand jury hearing evidence this month marked that charge as "no true bill."
Suffolk speed camera case heard by appeals panel
A three-judge panel will decide in the next several weeks if a case challenging work and school zone speed cameras was properly dismissed by a lower court, or if it deserves a full hearing. Monday, the Virginia Court of Appeals heard arguments in the case of Curtis Lytle v. City of Suffolk. Lytle sued the city in 2024 over issue with speed cameras used by the city. He was issued $100 fine by a camera in a work zone and sent the ticket by a third-party vendor. He alleges the city is not following state law by not using the Virginia uniform summons and the local court system for speeding tickets.
New data suggests increased flooding risks for D.C. region’s roads and transit systems
The D.C. region’s roads and other transportation infrastructure is more at risk from future flooding than previously thought, a new analysis found. The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB) outlined its findings to leaders of member jurisdictions ... at a meeting last Wednesday (June 18). Past efforts using Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) mapping to determine flooding threats to transportation weren’t “totally sufficient,” TPB planner Katherine Rainone said. To augment FEMA’s available resources, TPB licensed data from flood maps issued by Fathom, a UK-based analytics firm.
Lewis: To governor candidates pledging a car tax repeal: Be careful what you promise
Show of hands: who loves paying the yearly tax on your personal automobiles? Don’t be shy. Raise those hands. Anybody? As Virginians, it’s perhaps our most galling duty: paying hundreds of bucks (thousands for folks with bougie rides) to your city, county or town government for the responsibility of owning a depreciating asset you pay through the nose to buy, insure, fuel and maintain. According to the Tax Foundation, Virginia is among 27 states and the District of Columbia where tangible personal property taxes are assessed. Fourteen states broadly exempt personal property from taxes; 10 allow de minimis exemptions.
Wiegard: Virginia needs Congress to protect clean energy efforts
The U.S. House recently passed a budget bill that includes the near total repeal of all support for clean energy. For Virginia, this approach would increase energy costs, increase air pollution, accelerate climate change and decrease economic investments. Federal tax credits — designed to boost clean energy manufacturing in the U.S. — have been getting good results in parts of Virginia. Since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in 2022, Rep. Jen Kiggans’ district in the Hampton Roads region has seen an estimated 3,000 new jobs, mostly related to offshore wind. Rep. John McGuire’s district in western Virginia has seen more than 5,000 jobs from solar, energy storage and clean tech manufacturing.
Local PBS, NPR stations ponder programming changes if federal money dries up
Roanoke-based Blue Ridge PBS has faced challenges before. When state budget cuts in 2013 led to the shutdown of broadcast towers in Marion and Norton, the station faced a setback to its mission to provide Central, Southside and Southwest Virginia with educational and cultural programming. Ten years later, PBS returned to Southwest Virginia with the launch of PBS Appalachia, which has its studio at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Bristol and is breaking new ground as a network station that uses an all-digital format rather than traditional over-the-air television signals. Now Blue Ridge PBS and other public media around the U.S. face a new challenge: Congress is considering a bill to cut federal funding to PBS, NPR and local public broadcasting stations.