Daily Press from Newport News, Virginia • A1

SERVING THE VIRGINIA PENINSULA SINCE 1896 RDAY, JUNE 3, 2017 COMMONWEALTH ofVIRGINlA I ho I All t( Ir.irKpniiji,,,,, HI cninviilj lVK ir.x pic lw l.nd lhl. Hl, rer.in ltK Ainnu- omkc -ww Mill, Inct'm-s '-r- -C, STATE TO AIRPORT: PAYBACK People Express loan guarantee audit finds taxpayer funds used improperly, commission wasn't transparent and conflicts not disclosed SSS A BY DAVE RESS dressdailypress.com 1 NEWPORT NEWS Peninsula Airport Commission board members' and executives' lack of concern about People Express Airlines' several failed promises about finances and their failure to check state law led to the unauthorized use of taxpayer funds to pay off the failed start-up's debt, state auditors said Friday. The auditors called for Newport NewsWilliamsburg International Airport to reimburse the state the $4.5 million it spent. The auditors blasted the commission's lack of transparency about the deal, and reported that they had received two separate reports that former airport Executive Director Ken Spirito had shredded and destroyed documents after they asked for records about the payment. They also received a report that he removed documents from the airport.

Spirito was fired last month for using SeeAUDITPage6 KEY PLAYERS: Former Execurive Director Ken Spirito (top) was fired and former commission member and Newport News City Manager Jim Bourey Get the whole story Go to dailypress.com for past coverage, including videos and photos, of the Peninsula Airport Commission and its guarantee of a TowneBank loan to the failed start-up airline People Express. Read the report Go to virginiadot.orgnews roomstatewideairportcom missionreview to read the full Virginia Department of Transportation audit, including the final report and 237-page chronology of events. AT LEFT: The audit's final report includes email and other correspondence from commission members, former airport Executive Director Ken Spirito and others regarding the People Express loan. REACTION: 'LEADERSHIP THAT WE HAD AT THE TIME FAILED US' BY REEMA AMIN ramindailypress.com NEWPORT NEWS While local elected officials are hoping that a scathing audit released Friday will spark serious change within the Peninsula Airport Commission, current commissioners are looking for ways to respond. And City Councilman Bert Bateman, a TowneBank executive who was on the airport commission and set up a meeting that kicked off an eventual $4.5 million loan guarantee scrutinized by the audit, defended himself Friday, saying that he properly recused himself from the matter right away.

"It all comes down to the leadership administrative and legal leadership that we had at that time that failed us," said George Wallace, the airport commission's chairman. "We are trying to make amends." See REACTIONPage 6 8563 BUDGET PLAN KEEPS CORE MISSIONS INTACT, BUT AXES CLIMATE SCIENCE INSIDE PLUM APPOINTMENTS As his term in office winds down, Gov. Terry McAuliffe appoints members of his administration, or their spouses, to college boards. Page 4 of News HIRING SLOWS A BIT Fewer jobs were added in May than in April, but the jobless rate still fell. Page 14 of News CAPTAINS' BIG YEAR CNU teams' overall record was among the best in Division III.

Was it the school's best sports year ever? Page 1 of Sports Visit us online dailypress.com Like the Daily Press facebook.com dailypressnews Follow us twitter.comDailyPress Price: $L50 The impact at NASA Langley Two earth science missions that would be eliminated under the Trump budget are led out of the Hampton facility. Total funding for those two projects in 2016 was $80.1 million. Langley also budgeted $5 million for education in 2017 the Trump plan would eliminate the space agency's education office. By Tamara Dietrich tdietrichdailypress.com President Donald Trump released his official budget plan for fiscal year 2018 last week designating $19.1 billion for NASA and its space work but signaling less enthusiasm for the agency's efforts in education and climate science. In fact, the president wants to zero out NASA's Office of Education and get rid of four earth science missions being developed to better understand the extent and impact of climate change.

Two of those four missions are being led out of NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton and represent millions of dollars and years of effort One mission in particular is intended to "monitor the pulse of the Earth to better understand climate change" by providing an "unprecedented level of absolute accuracy" in global satellite observations, according to NASA. These benchmark measurements See NASA Page 7.