From Forbes: Ashoka UK Communications Manager Felicity McLean (@flickmclean) caught up with three leading social entrepreneurs to chat about whether technology can and does open up governments, and if online communities can serve to transform societal interaction and cohesion for the better.
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Read More… from What tech can do for your health and your government
From FCS: On Jan. 21, 2009, President Barack Obama's very first executive memorandum declared a commitment to "transparency and open government." Those principles led to the Digital Government Strategy, an open-data initiative and Data.gov — a repository that launched in May 2009 with 47 datasets and now offers more than 400,000.
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From Rapid City Journal:
Chadron’s efforts to hire a city manager have extended well in to 2012 after former city manager Sandra Powell resigned in October 2011. At the most recent city council meeting, the local news media was accused of interfering in the process. It’s not the first time the issue has been brought forth.
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From Woodbury Bulletin:
The South Washington County School Board violated state law in its handling of Superintendent Mark Porter’s final performance evaluation, according to a state opinion.
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Read More… from State: District 833 School Board violated Minnesota’s Open Meeting Law
From WLNS.com:
The Michigan Court of Appeals is hearing arguments in cases related to troubled city finances in Detroit and Flint. The issue is whether the state review teams that looked at the books in both cities should have met in public.
Lower court judges ruled that they must meet the requirements of the Open Meetings Act. The court will hear arguments Thursday. A decision will be released at a later date.
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Read More… from Appeals Court To Hold Hearing On Open Meetings Act
From Detroit News:
Lansing—The state Court of Appeals on Thursday heard oral arguments in four cases in which lower courts ruled financial review teams appointed under Public Act 4 violated the Open Meetings Act.
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Read More… from Lawyers debate application of Open Meetings Act in appeal arguments
From Aiken Standard:
COLUMBIA, S.C.—The South Carolina House approved a bill Thursday strengthening the state's open records law.
The bill approved 101-1 a bill barring public agencies, governments and school districts from charging excessive fees for public records and requiring them to respond more quickly. It also removes legislators' exemption from the law.
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Read More… from SC House approves strengthening open records law
From Miami Herald:
Gov. Rick Scott launched a new open records program Thursday dubbed "Project Sunburst," designed to give the public — and the media — access to the emails to and from the governor and 11 top staff within seven days of writing them.
At a news conference at the Capitol, the governor touted the effort as a great leap forward.
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Read More… from Governor launches a program to push staff emails online
From Dalton Daily Citizen:
For almost eight years, the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners has assigned liaisons to most county departments to help manage the departments and keep the rest of the board members up to date on county projects. But Board of Commissioners Chairman Mike Babb says changes in the state’s open records law may lead the board to abolish any formal liaisons.
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Read More… from New open records law brings confusion, changes
From 41NBC.com:
MACON—Today, the Bibb County community and the school board got a first hand lesson about Georgia's Open Records and Open Meetings Laws.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Stefan Ritter came down to educate the school board.
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Read More… from Attorney General’s Office Talks Open Records; Low Attendance from School Board
