School district denies it violated Sunshine Law

HUGHESVILLE — On Tuesday night, the East Lycoming School District denied it violated the state Sunshine Law regarding what can and can't be discussed in executive session for legal, personnel or student-related purposes, but a media law attorney isn't so sure the district is in the clear. Read More...

SWB Yankees appeals ruling to Supreme Court

The management company for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees has appealed to the state Supreme Court a ruling that ordered it to make public its records on concessions. SWB Yankees LLC wants the state's highest court to overturn a Commonwealth Court ruling that found the Right to Know Law applies to a company contracted to manage the publicly owned baseball team. Read More...

County court employee e-mails exempt from Right to Know Law

A decision by the Commonwealth Court to make e-mails of employees of court offices exempt from the Right to Know Law is broad in the eyes of open records experts and the state Office of Open Records - but they say it shouldn't stop people from making requests. Read More...

Tamaqua board leader denies open meeting law was violated

During the formation of the Tamaqua school district's recently-adopted mandatory drug and alcohol testing policy for students participating in co-curricular activities, an advisory committee met on a regular basis. A question was raised as to whether the meetings, which were characterized as "closed door" sessions, were in violation of Pennsylvania's Open Meetings law, known as the Sunshine Act. Read More...

Judge bars release of county official's e-mails

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania courts' broad exemption from the Right-to-Know Law shields judicial records from public scrutiny even when they are in the hands of agencies that are subject to the law, a three-judge panel of the state Commonwealth Court has ruled. Read More...

Court ruling broadens open record exemption for courts

In a precedent-setting ruling handed down Wednesday by Commonwealth Court, records of ancillary offices to the state's court system have been found exempt from the 2009 Right to Know Law. Addressing whether The Times-Tribune and others were entitled to Lackawanna County records for its Department of Domestic Relations, the court ruled the county and state Office of Open Records were permanently barred from making the information public. Read More...

Superintendent locks down school salary data

Days after a Daily News columnist wrote about the high salaries of School District Superintendent Arlene C. Ackerman and several of her top deputies - with salaries higher than those of Mayor Nutter and Gov. Rendell - Ackerman moved to limit the number of district employees able to access the district's payroll system. Read More...

Ruling: Highlands violated Sunshine Act

A three-judge appeals panel ruled Thursday that the Highlands School District violated state law when it held a closed-door session with shopping center representatives last year to talk about a tax assessment appeal. In the order, Commonwealth Judge Patricia A. McCullough wrote that the private meeting with Heights Plaza Shopping Center representatives "has the odor of favoritism that the Sunshine Act does not tolerate."
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South Mountain forestry study details types, number, conditions of trees

Allentown's portion of South Mountain has trees, plenty of them -- more than 1,000 yellow poplars and black oaks, and even a few black cherry. While this may not be a surprise, the administration of Mayor Ed Pawlowski has filed a petition in court to keep a tree inventory and other details about South Mountain out of the public domain. Read More...