SAN ANTONIO – Transparency experts will gather Wednesday, April 8, in San Antonio for a seminar offering training in the Texas Public Information Act and the Texas Open Meetings Act.
The Open Government Seminar is part of a series of regional educational sessions the non-profit Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas is hosting this year in cooperation with the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
It is open to all who are interested, including community activists, journalists, attorneys, government employees and the general public.
“What happens when the news is gone?” The New Yorker magazine asked in January, in its headline over a long story about the failing local-news ecosystem in Jones County, North Carolina. It is the best case study of the local-journalism crisis I’ve seen, and we did a Rural Blog item about it at https://tinyurl.com/tnqk4au.
Q: What is the U.S. Postal Service’s definition of a paid digital subscriber and what are the USPS requirements for reporting paid digital subscribers on postal forms?
Sometimes in our lives we’re blessed to be a part of a special event that makes you so proud it brings you to tears.
One of those events for myself, family and friends and more than 600 other proud folks occurred on Feb. 7 when my first grandchild and only grandson, Dylan Chadwick Ferguson, graduated from the 78th Season of the Corpus Christi Police Academy, received his badge and officially became an officer with the Corpus Christi Police Department.
Dylan was one of 30 new officers selected out of 800 applicants.
CORPUS CHRISTI – Transparency experts will gather Tuesday, Feb. 25, in Corpus Christi for a seminar examining updates to state open government laws and offering training on the Texas Public Information Act and the Texas Open Meetings Act.
Rep. Todd Hunter of Corpus Christi is hosting the one-day open government conference, joined by the non-profit Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas in cooperation with the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
Q: One of our local governmental entities, during a properly called open meeting, deleted comments posted on the livestream of that meeting as it was occurring. Is that allowed?
Whatever our political views, certainly we can agree we have the right to know how government is conducting business. How are taxpayer dollars spent? Who is influencing decisions?
Access to information allows us to speak up and hold public officials accountable, while a lack of transparency diminishes trust in government.
By Kelley Shannon, Executive Director, FOIFT
Texas Press Association members and small community newspapers qualify for membership rates and discounts when Fort Worth hosts the 2020 Key Executives Mega-Conference Feb. 17-19 at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel.
The Key Executives Mega-Conference is a joint effort of America’s Newspapers (formed from the merger of Inland Press Association and Southern Newspaper Publishers Association), Local Media Association, News Media Alliance and Texas Press Association.
Q: The filing deadline for candidates in the March 3, 2020 primary election was Dec. 9. When were getting close to the deadline I was working on an article that included information on all candidates who filed to run.
I received word from a credible person that a sheriff’s office employee was going to file to run against the incumbent sheriff, but the candidate wanted to talk to me before I identified him in my news story, which could have been a delay tactic. Candidate filings are public records, correct?
When I assumed the role of Texas Press Association president nearly 18 months ago, I wondered what I could possibly bring to the table. Age and wisdom? Maybe. Age and experience? I suppose. Age? Got it.
More than anything, though, I was determined to honor the rich legacy of my predecessors.
A day or two later it dawned on me: not only would I have 18 columns to write, but I would be writing them for a fairly exclusive audience of my fellow writers and journalists.