City pulls ads after order to pay $35,000 in legal fees

LAREDO — A spokeswoman for the mayor’s office told the Laredo Morning Times the mayor was upset at a story on an open meeting case and would pull two city ads from the newspaper.

Mayor Betty Flores later told a reporter she was not retaliating against the newspaper but was making an economic decision.

The city placed two half-page ads to invite the public to an open house at the Laredo Entertainment Center.

The story, which ran two days before the function, reported that a district court had ordered the city to pay $35,000 to the Times for attorney fees stemming from an open meetings case the city lost.

The court earlier had ruled the city violated the Texas Open Meetings Act at an Aug. 17, 2001 budget workshop but removed the mayor and council members from responsibility for any TOMA violations individually.

The Times had intervened in the litigation.

Seguin files request for DPS report

SEGUIN — The attorney general’s office told the Department of Public Safety that it must release a Texas Rangers report on an investigation of a theft case involving a Seguin police officer.

The Seguin Gazette-Enterprise filed a request for the report but the agency claimed it was excepted from disclosure due to the pending investigation.

The AG ruled that while the case files could be held confidential state officials were required to meet the legal minimum, which generally includes first page offense reports, as specified under the law.

TML passes measure to seek restrictions on public info 

LUBBOCK — The Texas Municipal League has passed a resolution that asks the Legislature to restrict certain public information and public meetings in the interest of homeland security, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported.

The resolution seeks an amendment to the Texas Open Meetings and Public Information acts to prevent sensitive information from falling into the hands of terrorists. A Lubbock city councilman introduced the resolution at a TML meeting.

Federal judge dismisses request for livestock info 

WACO — A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit seeking the release of names, addresses and other personal information on farmers and ranchers who use taxpayer-funded lethal predator devices to protect livestock.

The judge said the release would violate an exemption in the Freedom of Information Act that prevents the release of individuals’ personal information.

The lawsuit pitted three unnamed ranchers, the Texas Farm Bureau and the American Farm Bureau Federation against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the USDA’s Wildlife Services and Sacramento-based Animal Protection Institute, an animal-rights group that originally filed an open records request for the information in 1998.

Animals that attack the livestock wearing the collars die after swallowing the lethal dose of poison.

The group argued that who gets the collars should be public information since the program is publicly funded. The group’s Web site says the collars killed 27 coyotes in 2000, according to a report by Associated Press.

Gag order silences officials in shooting case 

VICTORIA — A district judge last month issued a gag order forbidding law enforcement and attorneys from discussing the case of a 15-year-old boy detained in the shooting death of his stepmother in rural Victoria County.

The boy, whose identity was not released, was questioned and then taken into custody in connection with the Sept 23 fatal shooting. The judge issued the gag order at a hearing to determine whether the juvenile court would transfer jurisdiction so the boy could be eligible to be charged as an adult.

Tire firm retreats from bid to seal courtroom

WICHITA FALLS — Michelin Tires decided not to ask a judge to bar spectators from attending a van rollover crash civil trial here last month following outcry from advocacy groups over the proposal.

A company spokeswoman told the Times Record News that attorneys still planned to ask the judge to seal court records when the case concludes and to ask jurors to not disclose information about the company’s manufacturing process.

Michelin originally proposed to ask for a sealed courtroom and to require jurors to sign confidentiality agreements.

County rescinds vote taken without agenda

SINTON — The San Patricio County Commissioners rescinded a vote to declare early voting locations in the Nov. 5 election after learning the item was not properly placed on the agenda.

The county clerk protested that the agenda only listed action on setting polling places for election day and not for early voting so the original vote failed to give proper public notice.