Updated: Monday, 19 Mar 2012, 6:35 PM EDT Published : Monday, 19 Mar 2012, 3:44 PM EDT TAMPA – Florida received a grade of C-minus, but that was still good enough to tie for 18th best with three other states in a first-of-its-kind assessment of corruptibility released Monday. The report praises Florida’s open-records and open-meetings “Sunshine” laws. It faults…
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03/19/2012 by Joe Wilhelm Jr., Staff Writer Mayor Alvin Brown marked the end of Sunshine Week last week by signing legislation that approved a director and funding for the new Ethics, Compliance and Oversight Office and announced the creation of the Office of Public Accountability. The mayor’s signature was the last step for ordinances 2012-10,…
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March 18, 2012 Last August, when Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings finally convened his Citizens Advisory Committee, he declared: “We have asked you to do a bit of very, very serious business for Orange County.” An understatement. After all, the committee was conceived in the wake of community blow-back in the controversial Torey Breedlove case.…
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Gary Palmese, Port St. Lucie Letter: Council politics plays out in handling of Taylor incident After reading the March 8 letters regarding Gabrielle Taylor’s alleged DUI incident, I happen to agree with Chuck Johnson and Police Chief Brian Reuther‘s reply. It is the discretion of the police officer as to what follows. Inasmuch as I’m not…
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10:50 p.m. EST, March 10, 2012|By Anika Myers Palm, Orlando Sentinel Laura Williams’ interest in public records was born of tremendous personal tragedy: In 1996, her then-husband, who had abused her, killed both their 2-year-old daughter and himself. In the years that followed, she joined groups that helped domestic-violence victims. And in 2007, she began…
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Erick Gill Posted March 13, 2012 at 2:47 p.m., updated March 13, 2012 at 2:47 p.m. YourNews This story is contributed by a member of the Treasure Coast community and is neither endorsed nor affiliated with TCPalm.com Contribute your own story FORT PIERCE — The St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners was one of seven county…
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By Editorial Board Posted March 11, 2012 at 5 a.m. A key to an effective democracy is public understanding and involvement in the actions taken by elected and appointed government officials as representatives of the citizenry. That demands that records and meetings associated with governmental actions be open and accessible to all members of the public.…
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By MICHAEL BARFIELD Published: Friday, March 16, 2012 at 1:00 a.m. Last Modified: Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 7:14 p.m. James Madison, the founding father of our open-government laws, once emphasized the importance of citizens having the ability to be informed: “A popular government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but…
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By DARA KAM Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Updated: 1:07 p.m. Saturday, March 17, 2012 Posted: 7:19 p.m. Friday, March 16, 2012T TALLAHASSEE — If couples are in a hurry to get a divorce, they might want to consider seeking an end to their marriage outside Florida in the coming year. Divorces are just one of the many types of civil cases that county clerks of courts…
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