NC Open Government

From Mountain Xpress News (2/4/09): While a recent release asserted that URTV follows open-meetings law, a video has surfaced with statements made by Executive Director Pat Garlinghouse at the public-access channel’s last board meeting that misrepresent that law, according a North Carolina Press Association attorney—and some board members claim they were not consulted in a press release that claimed to speak on their behalf.

From Mountain Xpress.com (2/11/09): The URTV offices were dark and the doors locked at 8 a.m. on Feb. 9, making it unclear if a planned special meeting of the public-access channel’s Executive Committee was inside.

From the Raleigh News and Observer (2/10/09): Outside auditors hired by Wake County following a spending scandal in its environmental services department last summer told commissioners Monday that after a sweeping review, they found no fraud.

From the Hendersonville Times-News (2/10/09): In a year when a lack of money should restrain the Legislature from costly projects, lawmakers should focus on a few projects that are cheap (even free) and achievable.

From the Wilmington Star-News (2/6/09): The public's business is the public's business. And when individuals or organizations have to go to court to enforce the state's open government laws, the lawbreakers should pay.

From the Warren Record (2/4/09): The following comments were originally intended to be shared in full during the Citizens Comments portion of Monday's county commissioners' meeting. The writer was prevented from completing her statement due to time constraints and asked that it be published as a Letter to the Editor.

From the Fayetteville Observer (2/3/09): A request by the Fayetteville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce to meet privately with elected officials for “candid two-way communication” sparked a swift backlash that might have killed the idea.

From IndyWeek.com (1/28/09): Last March, N.C. Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Debbie Crane created a major flap when she disclosed that Gov. Mike Easley's press chiefs had routinely instructed agency flacks to delete e-mail correspondence to his office. The point, Crane charged, was to shield Easley from scrutiny by eliminating public records.

From Mountain Xpress (1/28/09): A confidentiality clause in an oath administered to members of public-access channel URTV’s board at their last meeting has sparked criticism—and the county attorney’s office is looking into whether the vow is in line with the state’s open-meetings law.

Across the country, states are struggling with similar statutes that require a "reasonable" cost for public records.