NC Open Government

From the Wilmington StarNews (3/23/11): State Sen. Thom Goolsby hasn't gotten a lot of praise on these pages, but give him credit where credit is due: He has followed through on his pledge to fight for open government.

From the New Bern Sun Journal (3/22/11): Lawmakers have put off a vote over the proposed Sunshine Amendment until Thursday.

From the Jacksonville Daily News (3/18/11): It's called the Government Transparency Act. Suffice it to say, we like the sound of it already.

From the Charlotte Observer (3/23/11): Emails and documents suggest the N.C. Turnpike Authority didn't give the federal government a true accounting of how a proposed $800 million toll road in Union County would affect the environment, which may have made it easier for the highway to get approvals necessary for construction.

From the Durham Herald-Sun (3/23/11): State senators voted 50-0 on Tuesday to approve and send to the N.C. House a Durham-requested bill that would partially exempt the recordings of 911 calls from North Carolina's public-records laws.

From the Wilmington StarNews (3/22/11): An attorney often on the hunt for discovery documents for court cases, Sen. Thom Goolsby said he understands the importance of information.

From the Student Press Law Center (3/18/11): In the past year, courts across the country have tried to interpret the meaning of the federal student privacy law, known as FERPA. Several recent rulings suggest the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act does not protect the vast array of information about students that some universities have claimed.

From the Salisbury Post (3/18/11): As head of a university system with 50,000 employees and 220,000 students, Tom Ross says he can be sure about one thing every morning when he wakes up.

From the Salisbury Post (3/18/11): Public officials sometimes want to tell citizens and journalists more than they do, according to Hope Root, senior assistant attorney for the city of Charlotte.

From the Hickory Daily Record (3/17/11): This week is Sunshine Week across the country and were are pleased to know that our state lawmakers appear to be serious about open public meetings and transparency within government.