Colin Donohue

From the Smoky Mountain News (12/10/08): It appears local government officials obeyed the Open Meetings Law when they attended a private N.C. Department of Transportation meeting about the controversial N.C. 107 connector last week.

Sophomore communications major Pam Richter had a first-person editorial published in the Greensboro News & Record Dec. 9.

From the Smoky Mountain News (12/10/08): The Macon County commissioners on Monday voted to start having two regularly scheduled meetings a month, rather than just one — a move that follows a Smoky Mountain News article that criticized the board’s meeting practices.

Janna Anderson, associate professor in the School of Communications, has developed a new way of teaching the upper level writing class, Reporting for the Public Good. Instead of handing in typed up and printed out articles about campus events, students post their stories to the blogging site WordPress. According to Anderson, this emerging style of journalism will enable her students to become mobile journalists, or mojos.

Documentarian Donna Campbell of Minnow Media spoke to a group of elondocs’ students at a Dec. 3 meeting.

From the Raleigh News and Observer (12/8/08): In the six years since the Better Government Association first rated states on an "integrity index," North Carolina has added an ethics law for the executive branch and banned lobbyists from offering lawmakers golf trips, Super Bowl tickets and other perks.

From the Fayetteville Observer (12/7/08): Police work is multifaceted, stressful, difficult and dangerous — it’s a tough day job. In my opinion, nothing compares except military service, which obviously is a whole different ball game.

From the Hickory Record (12/5/08): A state House committee is wrangling over details of televising legislative sessions, but it appears the House is well on its way to allowing the public to view its deliberations.

From the Raleigh News and Observer (11/26/08): A judge today ordered the release Tuesday of 911 recordings relating to a fatal shooting by Johnston sheriff's deputies, allowing time for agents with the State Bureau of Investigation to interview witnesses.