Home Page Categories Archives - Checks and Balances Project

Declining populations and labor forces put rural Missouri counties under pressure

2026-10-27

Shrinking labor forces and population loss are pressuring rural Missouri to find new revenue sources to balance budgets and avoid tax increases for residents who can’t afford them. Local officials are finding that protecting a county’s future takes more than saying no to change. Federal labor and population statistics place several rural Missouri counties in… Read more »

Rural Missouri counties have higher-than-average premature death rates

2026-10-21

Premature death rates among residents of rural Missouri counties exceed the national average, records show, a result in large part due to the lack of adequate emergency medical care. According to data compiled by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, three rural Missouri counties have premature death rates that are more than… Read more »

Rural Missouri counties face EMS crisis

2026-10-19

Rural Missouri counties are part of an emergency medical services (EMS) crisis, as decreasing populations and tax bases, combined with the closing of multiple hospitals, have caused treatment times to rise to almost double those in urban areas. Slightly more than 24 percent of Missourians live in non-metro areas, according to a report from the… Read more »

C&BP briefs Health and Human Services inspector general about reporting

2026-08-13

Checks & Balances Project (C&BP) has briefed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General’s Office about its reporting on possible fraud involving Sussex County, Virginia, the Stony Creek Volunteer Rescue Squad and Supervisor Steve White. C&BP filed a complaint with the inspector general on July 17, alleging potential fraud involving billing for… Read more »

Lack of information on Sussex County website appears to violate Virginia law

2026-07-30

Virginia law requires counties to post the minutes, agendas and agenda packets on their websites within seven days, but Sussex County’s site includes no information on meetings before 2025 and is missing minutes from some meetings after that date. State law § 2.2-3707.2. says, “Posting of minutes for local public bodies. Except as provided in… Read more »

Checks & Balances Project seeks Steve White’s emails with state address

2026-07-14

Checks & Balances Project (C&BP) seeks all emails and other communications in which Sussex County Board of Supervisors Chairman Steve White used his state employee email for county business. Multiple sources show White uses his state of Virginia email address for his county job, but the agency he works for won’t say where he works… Read more »

Two proposed projects could help Sussex pay bills, boost EMS

2026-07-12

Sussex County supervisors said they cut the funding for the county’s fire chief and deputy fire chief because they lacked the money to pay for increased fire and emergency medical service in the rural county. That, Supervisor Thomas Baicy told Checks & Balances Project (C&BP), included contracting with the Stony Creek Volunteer Rescue Squad (SCVRS)… Read more »

C&BP seeks Sussex County records on firing of county administrator

2026-07-9

Checks & Balances Project (C&BP) filed a Freedom of Information Act with Sussex County, Virginia, seeking all communications and records related to the April firing of County Administrator Richard Douglas. In a motion by Supervisor Alfred Futrell, Douglas was fired April 16 in a surprise vote by county supervisors. His removal followed months of dissatisfaction… Read more »

Sussex County Sheriff Ernest Giles Sr. refers C&BP complaint to local prosecutor and state police

2026-07-9

In response to a request by Checks & Balances Project for an investigation into the activities of Sussex County Board of Supervisors Chairman Steve White, the county’s sheriff said he is referring the matter to the Commonwealth Attorney Regina Sykes and state police. Here’s Sheriff Ernest Giles Sr.’s email to C&BP: “Received. Good morning, Mr…. Read more »

Tips point finger at alleged actions by White and his connection to Stony Creek Volunteer Rescue Squad

2026-07-8

Checks & Balances Project (C&BP) has received multiple tips from readers concerned about the alleged activities of Sussex County Board of Supervisors Chairman Steve White and his leadership of the Stony Creek Volunteer Rescue Squad. C&BP is working to corroborate the details mentioned in these tips and determine if they are accurate. They are posted… Read more »

Home Page Categories

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Archives

Categories

Meta