In court filings this week, PPL Electric Utilities Corp. argued the public does not have the right to know about an anonymous tip that came during an October 2011 snowstorm in which some Lehigh Valley residents were left waiting for power to be restored while a PPL crew was diverted to an outage that was not next in line. Read More…

COAL TOWNSHIP — Media law experts agree that a now-tabled policy proposal restricting citizens from audio recording the Coal Township Board of Commissioner's public agenda sessions would not hold up under judicial review Read More…

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A state watchdog group says Philadelphia City Council willfully ignored Pennsylvania’s open-meetings law this past week by gathering behind closed doors — not once, but twice. Read More…

A coalition of Pennsylvania media and open government advocacy groups, including the Pennsyvlania Freedom of Information Coalition, filed court papers Tuesday arguing that the Public Utility Commission should release documents it relied upon last year to reach a settlement with PPL Utilities over power restoration irregularities after a freak October 2011 snowstorm. Read More…

How public is public information and how responsive are municipalities and agencies in the Poconos to requests for such material? Depending on who is responding, the answer can range from getting the information right away to replies that can drag on for weeks, a Pocono Record audit found. Read More…

HARRISBURG — Under legislation before the House, state and local government agencies would be required to record secret meetings so that, if challenged by citizens, a court later could determine whether the body violated the state's open meetings law.
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