“I have spoken personally with Northrop Grumman CEO Wes Bush. I expressed to him that extended lapses in state computer services was an unacceptable hardship on our citizens and employees. I made clear that I expected the best around-the-clock recovery efforts possible in order to reclaim and restore all missing files and data. I appreciate the company’s commitment to a full and comprehensive recovery from this system failure, and the agreement that Northrop Grumman would pay for the reasonable cost of the independent review that must take place immediately,” McDonnell said in a statement released on Thursday.

McDonnell also announced today that 14 DMV customer-service centers will be open Sunday and on Labor Day on Monday to help process the backlog in license applications resulting from the shutdown.

The extended hours will be offered at locations in Abingdon, Alexandria, Charlottesville, Chesapeake, Chesterfield, Fair Oaks (10:30 to 6:30), Hampton, Harrisonburg, Leesburg, Lynchburg, Richmond-Broad Street, Roanoke, Virginia Beach- Buckner and Woodbridge.

All DMV locations in Virginia will be open on Friday through 6 p.m. and on Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon.

“We have also acted administratively to help Virginians who have been unable to renew their licenses over the past week by extending existing licenses for an additional 20 days. State and local law enforcement agencies have been notified of this extension,” McDonnell said.

“Like all Virginians, I am displeased by the recent computer troubles that have led to this situation. I have directed all impacted state agencies to take all actions necessary to return to normal operating conditions and to ensure that their citizen clients receive the service and assistance they deserve,” McDonnell said.
 
 

Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.

“From this office to our agencies to our customer service centers, we are all committed to fixing these recent issues, returning all state operations to normal, and ensuring that outages of this nature do not take place in the future,” McDonnell said today.

The data-system failure affected 26 state agencies all told, according to a news release issued by the governor’s office. As of this morning, all impacted state agencies have received access to their computer systems and files. The required pre-usage testing process is ongoing and found issues are being addressed.

“The recent computer outages impacting state agencies, and the citizens they serve, are disappointing and unacceptable,” McDonnell said. “In the days ahead we will be launching a comprehensive effort to determine how this situation occurred and, most importantly, how we can ensure that it does not happen again. However, the foremost priority at this time is ensuring that all state agencies return to their normal operating conditions as quickly as possible. As of this morning all state agencies again have access to their computer systems and files. While some testing still is being done prior to a full return to normal, this is a positive development.”
 
 

Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.

A 287(g) agreement, named after a provision of federal law, authorizes local or state law enforcement agencies to enforce civil or criminal violations of federal immigration law.

The Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations and associated groups presented at a press conference held in Arlington Wednesday a formal letter addressed to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano urging her to reject Gov. McDonnell’s request. In addition, VACOLAO members will speak about the negative effects of other local 287(g) programs already in place in Virginia. These negative effects include an increase in racial profiling and corresponding decrease in trust of police by the immigrant community – including legal residents and citizens of Latino descent – as well as diversion of law enforcement resources.

“The result of these 287(g) agreements has been abuse and illegal profiling by local law enforcement in Virginia and across the country,” said Edgar Aranda, chair of VACOLAO and organizer for the Legal Aid Justice Center. “Immigration enforcement belongs in the hands of federal immigration agents trained in federal immigration and racial profiling laws, not in the hands of state or local law enforcement.”

“As one might expect, state and local enforcement of federal immigration law has presented challenges for immigrants,” said Jorge Figueredo, director of racial justice and immigrants’ rights at the ACLU of Virginia. “Since my office opened in Northern Virginia in June, 2008, I have received cases of racial profiling and excessive use of force by local police against immigrants, arising from Prince William County, Manassas, Loudoun, and Herndon, among others – jurisdictions where 287(g) agreements between local law enforcement agencies and ICE are already in place.”

The Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations is an umbrella group which includes the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, Legal Aid Justice Center, League of United Latin American Citizens, Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, American Jewish Committee, Arlington County Board Member J. Walter Tejada, Asian Pacific American Legal Aid Resource Center, The Hispanic Community Dialogue in Virginia Beach, Hispanic National Bar Association, Latino Federation of Greater Washington, Shirlington Employment and Education Center, Tenants and Workers United, Presente.org, National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and other organizations.

A copy of VACOLAO’s letter to Secretary Napolitano is available online at http://acluva.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/VACOLAO-Letter-to-Janet-Napolitano-_DHS_-287_g_-083110.pdf.
 
 

Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.

The latest National Weather Service models show that Earl is expected to take a track to the east of the Commonwealth with minimal impacts. Models also indicate Hurricane Earl will be well clear of the Mid-Atlantic region prior to the holiday weekend.

“The current forecast has Hurricane Earl passing east of Virginia later this week. However, a change in the storm’s path could bring hazardous weather conditions to eastern Virginia. This declaration is a precautionary move which will allow state agencies to be ready just in case resources are needed,” McDonnell said in a statement.

More information about hurricane preparedness is available at www.ReadyVirginia.gov and www.ListoVirginia.gov.
 
 

Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.

Clark sent out a news release on Tuesday offering to drop out of the Fifth District race if the person who made the information about Clark’s past available to the paper will come forward.

“I think that it is important for transparency sake to let the people of the Fifth District know exactly who was involved in gathering, paying for, and disseminating the information so the voters of the Fifth District can judge for themselves the intentions behind the distribution of the material,” Clark said in the release.

The story in the Progress detailed that Clark, a conservative Tea Party member, had filed for bankruptcy in 1993 and has a history of personal debt dating back to the 1980s.

Clark said in the news release that he is not considering dropping out of the race in the Fifth because the information was made public.

“I am extending this offer because the people of this country have had enough of these types of backroom dealings, corrosion and the practice of the politics of personal destruction,” Clark said. “The citizens have a right to know and assign ownership and responsibility to the appropriate party.”

Clark went on to say that he has his own suspicions “as to who is responsible and what their intensions were behind the dissemination of this material,” though he did not elaborate on that point.

“I only hope by taking this step it will provide some transparency and get people to think about what it will take before they are willing stand up and draw a line in the sand and tell their political leaders,” Clark said.
 
 

Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.

The ruling was handed down on Monday, and Cuccinelli’s office responded with a comment attributed to the Republican promising that he will tailor a second civil investigative demand to the university in the matter that conforms to the ruling on the matter involving research conducted by former UVa. professor Michael Mann.

The first civil investigative demand made of UVa. by Cuccinelli was related to five research grants received by Mann in the 1999-2005 time frame. Albemarle Circuit Court Judge Paul Peatross ruled that the AG’s office failed to show sufficient “reason to believe” that the university possesses documents related to the grants and to Mann’s research suggesting that any fraud had occurred.

“It is not clear what he did was misleading, false or fraudulent in obtaining funds from the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Peatross wrote.

Peatross also noted in his opinion that Cuccinelli would have to limit the scope of any future civil investigative demand to the one research grant of the five being looked at by the attorney general that was obtained from state taxpayer funds. The other four grants were made from federal funding sources.

There could be a further limitation to the investigation of the one state grant. The law giving Cuccinelli the power to investigate Mann was signed into law in 2003, meaning any disbursements of grant funds before that date would not be subject to civil or criminal investigative review.

The news release from the Cuccinelli office claimed that the ruling agreed with the office on “several key legal points,” spelling out two, regarding whether or not UVa. is a proper subject for a civil investigative demand (it is, according to Peatross) and whether the attorney general may investigate grants made with Commonwealth of Virginia funds (according to the judge, he can).

Those would seem to be hollow victories, though the release quotes Cuccinelli saying his office will “fully examine the decision and all of the available options before deciding whether or not to also appeal aspects of the ruling.”

Mann also issued a statement on the matter, calling today’s ruling “a victory not just for me and the university, but for all scientists who live in fear that they may be subject to a politically-motivated witch hunt when their research findings prove inconvenient to powerful vested interests.”
 
 

Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.

“We believe that immigration is a federal issue, and that politicians such as Ken Cuccinelli and Gov. McDonnell should be pushing our Congress and president to fix our broken immigration system. The future of our country needs the DREAM Act so that people such as myself are able to become successful and lend to Virginia’s economy. Pass the DREAM Act now,” said Isabella Castillo, the leader of DREAM Activist Virginia, which is working to lobby members of the Virginia congressional delegation to support the federal DREAM Act.

The DREAM Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation coauthored by Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch and Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, would impact the estimated 65,000 children of undocumented workers who graduate from U.S. high schools annually by opening to them eligibility for a six-year-long conditional path to citizenship that requires completion of a college degree or two years of military service.

The political climate in Virginia relative to immigration has in recent weeks been hostile. Cuccinelli, Virginia’s attorney general, has issued an advisory opinion to the effect that he believes state law gives local and state police the power to ask for immigration documents when performing a lawful stop and suspicious of whether someone is illegal. And for his part McDonnell has appealed to Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to authorize a program giving Virginia state troopers the authority of federal immigration agents.

“It has become clear that there is strong opposition to 287g both nationally and in Virginia. We want to make it clear to McDonnell that we do not support this legislation,” DREAM Activists member Nicole Budzius said.
 
 

Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.

That’s the word from the study of the Virginia Transportation Research Council conducted by the Federal Highway Administration’s Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center and B.T. Harder Inc. of Philadelphia. The audit was one of four performance audits of Virginia’s transportation programs called for by Gov. Bob McDonnell and approved by the 2010 General Assembly.

“The review identified opportunities and recommendations to transform the Research Council into a champion for innovation to benefit all who use Virginia roads, rail, and transit. We now intend for this program to identify, research, test and implement creative solutions that will fuel Virginia’s multi-modal transportation program and make it the best state transportation research organization in the country,” McDonnell said. “Audits such as this one are part of this administration’s comprehensive efforts to improve transportation in the Commonwealth. A modern, integrated and cost-efficient transportation system is crucial to job creation and economic growth in the years ahead. ”

The audit recommends that Virginia improve performance by instituting a more formal and rigorous implementation process as well as early involvement of personnel from the field. Steps for accomplishing this include developing internal reporting and management processes and utilizing field personnel to support research efforts. It also recommends setting up pilot programs to test research results and, upon successful completion of a pilot, bringing into practice these innovations, process changes, new specifications and other changes.

The full report can be found here.
 
 

Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.

The public hearings will take place in September, October and December in preparation for the redistricting process that will occur in 2011.

The House Committee on Privileges and Elections has jurisdiction over measures relating to redistricting. Del. Cole, chairman of the committee and the redistricting subcommittee, stressed that the committee wants the public from the outset to have input into the redistricting process. The subcommittee seeks public comment on the redistricting process, criteria to be considered in preparing redistricting plans, and potential district changes to legislative and congressional districts.

Estimates of the current populations of the present House, Senate, and congressional districts are now available through the Division of Legislative Services on the Internet in the August 2010 issue of Drawing the Line 2011, its redistricting news letter. The site for Drawing the Line 2011 is http://dlsgis.state.va.us/.

Questions may be directed to Jack Austin at the Division of Legislative Services at fjaustin@dls.virginia.gov and at 804.786.3591.

Schedule of Redistricting Public Hearings

Wednesday, Sept. 8 , 7 p.m., Natural Science Center, Virginia Western Community College (Roanoke)

Wednesday, Sept. 22, 7 p.m., Roper Performing Arts Center, Tidewater Community College (Norfolk)

Tuesday, Oct. 5, 7 p.m., Mason Hall, George Mason University

Monday, Oct. 18, 7 p.m., Regional Center for Advanced Technology and Training, Danville Community College

Monday, Dec. 6, 7 p.m., University Hall, University of Mary Washington (Stafford Campus)

Friday, Dec. 17, 10 a.m., 9th Floor Appropriations Room, General Assembly Building (time approximate, after governor’s remarks to the money committees)
 
 

Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.

The opinion, issued late Friday, says the state “has the authority to promulgate regulations for facilities in which first trimester abortions are performed, as well as for providers of first trimester abortions, so long as the regulations adhere to constitutional limitations.”

The opinion, which pro-choice activists say could lead to the shuttering of most abortion clinics in Virginia, was met with praise from State Del. Bob Marshall, a social conservative ally of Cuccinelli who called the opinion “a victory for women and children across Virginia.”

“We should do everything possible to ensure that every woman’s life and health and their future pregnancies are protected by the Commonwealth of Virginia. To do otherwise is to shirk from government’s first responsibility,” Marshall said.

Tarina Keene, the executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia, told WashingtonPost.com today that pro-choice advocates had been expecting Cuccinelli to “take on abortion providers, and it looks like this is the first pitch.”

“These so called regulations are only an attempt to shut down abortion clinics in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Keene told the Post.

Legislation aimed at giving the state moer authority to regulate abortion clinics has failed to win support in the Virginia General Assembly in recent years. Clinics are currently treated under state regulations the same as offices where patients can receive outpatient surgeries like oral surgery or plastic surgery.
 
 

Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.