NC Open Government

From the Gaston Gazette (5/20/11): A Gaston County health education worker caught sleeping on the job and an EMT accused of conducting an unauthorized medical procedure were fired last year, according to personnel records. An assistant principal tested positive for a controlled substance and was demoted and reassigned to another school.

From the Beaufort Observer (5/16/11): There's a fight going on in Chapel Hill and Raleigh that few people in Beaufort County, we suspect, are paying much attention to. But nonetheless it is extremely significant to every person in Beaufort County and will be even more significant to our children and grandchildren.

From the Raleigh News and Observer (5/9/11): Some public records would not really be public - at least to that segment of the public comprising inmates, probationers and parolees - under a bill that surfaced last week in a judiciary committee meeting. HB 348, sponsored by Rep. Shirley Randleman, a Republican from Wilkes County, is meant to protect state agency employees by blocking offenders' access to their personnel files.

From American Medical News (5/9/11): A long-running push for increased transparency in the medical profession has led medical boards nationwide to release more information about physicians' professional and disciplinary history online during the last 15 years.

From the Asheville Citizen-Times (4/23/11): City officials have declined to release detailed information about a former police evidence manager under an exemption in state personnel law designed to bolster public confidence in government.

From the Daily Tar Heel (4/21/11): A Wake County Superior Court judge wrote Tuesday that UNC should have complied with certain public records requests filed by media during the NCAA investigation of the football team.

From the Charlotte Observer (4/22/11): UNC Chapel Hill withheld documents that should have been provided in response to an open-records lawsuit filed by a consortium of media groups against the university, Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning ruled Tuesday.

From the Pendulum (4/22/11): An Elon senior filed suit against Elon University and North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper for withholding Campus Safety and Police records concerning the arrest of a student last year.

From the Charlotte Observer (4/22/11): Some well-meaning state legislators say they want to allow counties and cities to save money by posting legal notices - such as scheduled meetings or requests for bids on public construction projects - on Internet websites. From their standpoint it may even sound like a good idea - saving time and money by posting required legal notices where anyone can find it if only they know where to look.

From WRAL.com (4/19/11): The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday against any punishment for the Wake County Wake County Board of Education in a case involving access to public meetings.