Records show Richmond police Chief Rick Edwards used ChatGPT to find information about ICE, learn about state law on recovery homes, and identify potential issues with his own department’s policies.
Here's everything he asked the chatbot in 2025:
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“Answer the following question as if you were Danny Avula: how did the water outage in Richmond and boil water advisory affect you personally?”
That was among the dozens of requests Richmond’s mayor made to ChatGPT in 2025. Read them all here:
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Yesterday, Governor Youngkin announced Matt Hanley as his nominee to lead the Virginia State Police. We report that Hanley nearly lost his job in 1996 after drinking, driving, and crashing a state police cruiser.
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“These other courts, whatever the officer says, is just viewed as the gospel,” Villalon said. “Judge Hicks looks at these issues skeptically, and he holds them to a constitutional standard.”
Former DPU Director April Bingham was fired from her post, and did not resign.
Mayor Avula had said her departure was voluntary and "amicable." But today, a city spokesperson said Bingham rescinded her resignation and was then issued a termination letter.
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Five days into a city-wide water outage (still no potable water), @richmond.com reports that problems with our city water treatment plant were well-known, just not addressed.
That includes positive indicators for E. Coli, severely outdated pumps, and corroded, algae overgrown equipment.
Records show officials since 2016 have considered replacing the water treatment plant component that failed Monday, leaving Richmond without drinkable water.
But they didn't follow through.
The part is at least 25 years old.
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In a statement, a city spokesperson acknowledges that the failure of an electric panel in the plant has “slowed progress” and “extended the restoration process timeline.”
Avula has called in local and national experts.
The statement does not lay out an updated timeline.
This could push the testing period and the restoration of drinkable water into Thursday.
In a leaked email I obtained, an official in Va.'s Department of Environmental Quality says Richmond's water treatment plant is only producing "22% of the daily demand," and speculates that full water pressure might not be restored until late Wednesday.
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Richmond's annual financial report — due Dec. 15 under state code — has not been completed or submitted to the state.
Officials fault RPS and the Richmond Behavioral Health Authority for the delays, saying both agencies missed their audit deadlines.
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The IG investigated and found that the department failed to reconcile a cash account for over 3 years, leading to a $14M "overstatement" of the city's cash balance.
In the suit, the plaintiff alleges this was a deliberate misrepresentation aimed at securing an AAA bond rating.
The city of Richmond is once again being sued by an ex employee alleging retaliation.
This time, it's a former Finance Dept. worker who says she was placed on indefinite, unpaid leave for reporting improper cash reconciliation to the inspector general.
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The city of Richmond does not expect to choose a developer for the Coliseum project until after Mayor Levar Stoney leaves office, missing the administration's goal.
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City officials reactivated Balmer's credit card in September while he was still the subject of the fraud probe, but Stevens said she was not notified of the decision.
“I’m mad, I don’t know how else to say it,” Stevens told me.
After an investigation found Keith Balmer had abused his city p-card and vehicle, Elections Board Chair Starlet Stevens sought to have both revoked.
That sparked a legal threat from one of Balmer's employees, who said Stevens is "overstepping her bounds."
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“My god, I’m not the mayor,” a frustrated Balmer said when media arrived at the Office of Elections for questions.
Balmer and Richardson were accused of misusing hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds and breaking city policy by hiring and awarding contracts to family members.
Multiple city probes substantiated those allegations.
Registrar Keith Balmer has resigned — effective 12/31 — after the Richmond Board of Elections stated their intent to dismiss him.
Deputy Registrar Jerry Richardson has also resigned. She did so before today’s meeting.
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It's not the first fight over this. In an April email I obtained through a public records request, Mosby told Trammell she was "really saddened" that she has to "fight for funding" every year.
"I’m trying not to take (it) personally," Mosby wrote.
At issue was whether Council should approve a $125K state grant on top of the $100K the nonprofit will get from the city next year (down $150K from 2024).
The exchange got so heated that Council President Nye threatened to end the meeting.
At Monday's City Council meeting, Councilwoman Trammell and former Councilwoman Mosby clashed over state funding for Mosby's nonprofit.
Trammell has argued that government funding for the nonprofit — which in 2022 paid Mosby $72K — is a conflict of interests.
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It seems like a confusing, dysfunctional system that lacks accountability.
After countless phone calls, dozens of testimonies, and exploring this process, I definitely understand Richmond residents' frustration.
• The allowable towing fees are set by Richmond's Tow Board. A representative for the board did not respond to numerous requests for comment.
• One of the board members is Melvin Lawson, who runs Seiberts Towing — which is under a $1M contract with the city.
• Such a case is also summarily closed if the towing company disputes the complaint.
• In both cases, the AG's office recommends taking the issue to court — something many Richmond residents cannot afford to do.
• The commonwealth's attorney and the DMV both referred us to the AG's office.
• The AG's office investigates consumer complaints against towing companies. But we learned that the process is voluntary — if a company doesn't respond, investigators simply close the case.
Wrongfully towed? Charged illegal fees?
For years, Richmond residents have complained that local towing companies routinely break the state and local laws that exist to limit them. So we decided to investigate.
Here's what we found 🧵
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Most of the expenses in the report were things we already knew about from our prior reporting on Richardson's and Balmer's credit card logs.
But paying for tuition for two elections office employees is new to me.
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In June, Deputy Registrar Jerry Richardson flatly denied that she and Registrar Keith Balmer used p-cards to buy alcohol: "we'd be fools to think we could do that," she told me.
But in his report, Richmond's inspector general says that's exactly what they did.
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