Q: Our hospital district recently let a highly paid employee go. The employee got a sizable settlement and the local governmental body is refusing to release the terms. Aren’t local governmental bodies prohibited from entering into nondisclosure agreements?

EDITOR’S NOTE:  The following is reprinted with the permission of Newspaper Association of America president David Chavern, who addressed the issue during his speech to TPA’s leadership retreat in June.

Newspaper Association of America

Retreat calls for members to 
STAND UP and 
TELL YOUR STORY

Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, was recognized as a "champion of transparency" Tuesday by the Texas Press Association.

The newspaper group presented the award to Whitmire in recognition of his passage of Senate Bill 308 in the 84th Texas Legislature. The bill applied the state's public information laws to campus police departments at private universities.

By DONNIS BAGGETT

Texas Press Association

One of the greatest attributes of the printed word is its permanence. Thanks to print, sometimes we stumble across the wisdom of the ages when we’re not even searching for it.

Former Sweetwater Reporter publisher, Carol Renee' Bond Theiss of Russell, died Dec. 10, 2015, at the age of 44.