PIA

Greater Houston Partnership to end public contracts to avoid information requests

2014-12-05T15:18:05-06:00

By Mark Collette and Mike Morris Houston Chronicle Originally published Dec. 4, 2014 Greater Houston Partnership will terminate contracts with Houston, Harris County and surrounding governments, worth about $1 million per year, to avoid fulfilling public information requests, county and GHP officials said Thursday. GHP President Bob Harvey said the group is terminating the deals "in part due to the misperception that we are somehow beholden to the government agencies by virtue of these contracts." Recent court rulings forced GHP's hand, he said in an email. "As a chamber of commerce representing the business community of Houston and as the regional [...]

Greater Houston Partnership to end public contracts to avoid information requests2014-12-05T15:18:05-06:00

AG rules against information request on San Antonio’s homeland security funds

2014-12-02T14:21:30-06:00

By Mark Reagan San Antonio Current Originally published Dec. 1, 2014 Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and heir to the Lone Star State's governorship, recently ruled against an open records request we filed. After a black man named Michael Brown was killed earlier this year by a white cop named Darren Wilson, we watched and listened, like most of the nation, as Ferguson, Missouri, erupted into protests against the police. During the ensuing months, many conversations about race and policing became prevalent on TV screens and in news publications. One topic repeatedly visited by pundits and at coffee tables around the [...]

AG rules against information request on San Antonio’s homeland security funds2014-12-02T14:21:30-06:00

Lawmaker spoke to grand jury after making open government complaint

2014-11-24T16:02:06-06:00

By Bill Hanna Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally published Nov. 23, 2014 A state representative said last week that he testified before a Henderson County grand jury after bringing a complaint against the Tarrant Regional Water District because of the way it conducts business. State Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Terrell, said he took a complaint to Henderson County District Attorney Scott McKee last summer. Gooden told the Cedar Creek Lake Area Chamber of Commerce this month that he had been contacted by a private citizen concerning allegations about the water district, according to the Athens Daily Review. “I wanted to know how they [...]

Lawmaker spoke to grand jury after making open government complaint2014-11-24T16:02:06-06:00

Terrell Tribune: AG rules city violated Public Information Act

2014-11-19T16:29:19-06:00

By Gary Lindsley The Terrell Tribune Originally published Nov. 18, 2014 Governmental bodies throughout the country, day in and day out, violate their respective state’s open meetings and open records laws. The city of Terrell is no different, and for that matter, may not be any worse. But any way you look at it, when community members or media representatives ask governmental bodies for information, those governmental bodies may not simply choose to ignore the requests. But Terrell officials have done that very thing, not once, but twice this year. And Bob Winchester has taken them to task for it. The [...]

Terrell Tribune: AG rules city violated Public Information Act2014-11-19T16:29:19-06:00

Watler: Old-school investigative sports reporting still relevant after all these years

2014-11-18T15:16:01-06:00

By Paul Watler Jackson Walker L.L.P. As a young lawyer in 1985, a case came my way that combined several passions: college football, newspaper journalism and the First Amendment. I was the associate attorney assigned to help apply legal muscle in support of our client, The Dallas Morning News. The newspaper's mission was to use open records law to pursue allegations that Southern Methodist University was illicitly paying football players – the pay-for-play scandal documented decades later by the ESPN 30-for-30 film, Pony Excess. Two local Dallas metro daily newspapers and a network affiliate television station intensely competed to break the story, including [...]

Watler: Old-school investigative sports reporting still relevant after all these years2014-11-18T15:16:01-06:00

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