STEELTON – It's not that the resolution restricting the use of cameras and recording devices wasn't in effect; Borough Council just didn't need to enforce it Monday night, council President Jeffery Wright said. Read More…

SUNBURY — The paperwork to appoint and compensate Northumberland County assistant solicitor John Muncer and administrative assistant Janet Povish as acting chief clerks had already been completed before a vote was to be taken at a public meeting that was canceled when a commissioner landed in the hospital.
Read More…

Tom Wolf, the Democratic nominee for governor, today described as "nonsense" concerns about his closed-door City Hall meeting yesterday with a quorum of Philadelphia City Council members.
Read More…

NEW CASTLE — A Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association lawyer said Mahoning Township’s solicitor violated state law by forbidding recording at a hearing this week. Attorney Louis Perrotta conducted a conditional use zoning hearing before township supervisors for wellpads and a compressor station Tuesday and told the audience to turn off any recording devices. Read More…

SUNBURY — A former city councilman has filed documents in Northumberland County Court to terminate a lawsuit he brought against Sunbury and Mayor David Persing. 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…

The McKeesport Area School District must pay $250 toward an education fund within 30 days for its failure to announce an executive session with its board of directors in April.
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…

The New Kensington-Arnold School Board recently fired a music teacher, about a year after he was suspended while awaiting disposition of criminal charges of illegal gun and drug possession, but may have violated the Sunshine Act by not identifying him by name at the public meeting where the decision was made. Read More…

SANDY LAKE — A Sandy Lake council meeting took a turn focusing on the public’s rights Wednesday night. Police Chief Donald Oakes stopped a reporter from recording the meeting after stating that members of council must be notified prior to being recorded. Read More…

STEELTON — Markis Millberry stood up in the meeting to photograph the Steelton Borough Council prior to the swearing in of a new police officer. Interrupting the police chief's ceremony, Council President Jeffrey Wright asked Millberry to not record it and to put away his cellphone, reminding the Steelton resident about the borough's resolution requiring prior notice in writing before meetings if anyone wants to record or photograph a meeting.
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.
Read More…

Luzerne Council Council is scheduled to meet in closed-door executive session before the meeting to discuss proposed revisions to the county ethics code, but some council members are backing Kingston resident Brian Shiner’s argument that the matter should be discussed in public to comply with the state’s open-meeting law. Read More…

Munhall council unanimously accepted a bid proposal for a tax anticipation note loan from a private lender on Wednesday, although there's a chance the borough may not need to borrow the money. The vote came after the borough manager read the four loan bids submitted to the borough, which for all intents and purposes is a “cure” to the potential violation of Pennsylvania's Sunshine Act that occurred when the finance committee opened and discussed the bids during a closed-door session last week. Read More…

The reason Luzerne County Council cited in calling a secret discussion about proposed changes to the ethics code does not merit an executive session, a media law expert said Wednesday. Read More…

Munhall officials may have violated Pennsylvania's Sunshine Act when they opened and discussed sealed bids during a closed-door finance committee meeting on Feb. 10, according to a media law expert. Read More…

ELLWOOD CITY — When Ellwood City Council changed the deadline for accepting applications for vacancies on its boards and commissions in December, the action should have been taken at a public session, according to an attorney for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. Read More…

An unadvertised meeting between Monroe Borough and Township officials on Jan. 17 to discuss the logistics of a planned levee was likely a violation of the Sunshine Act, according to Melissa Melewsky, media law council for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. Read More…

SUNBURY — Northumberland County public meetings will be recorded on video and later uploaded to the Internet for county residents to view at their leisure. The practice started with Tuesday's 40-minute commissioners meeting, which can now be viewed by clicking a link on the home page of the county's website. Read More…