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donal brown

California: Novato man alleges freight contract process violated open meetings law

donal brown June 2, 2011

Expressing his own opinion, Bernard Meyers,  former Novato councilman and current board member of the North Coast Rail Authority (NCRA), has alleged that NCRA made a deal with Northwestern Pacific Co. (NPC) to lease a freight run without proper public notice and participation. Meyers describes the  alleged violation, “NCRA’s activities — interviewing the bidders, choosing NWP’s bid, and the negotiations for the lease — were performed by NCRA’s operator committee, whose meetings were held without

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Law firm sues Courtney Love for defamation

donal brown May 31, 2011

Celebrity Courtney Love asked the law firm Gordon & Holmes to help her recover money and property allegedly stolen from her late husband’s estate. The firm agreed to represent her conditional on her remaining sober during their client-attorney relationship. When the firm subsequently refused to represent her, they claim Love became angry and sent a tweet that would be read by millions, causing harm to the reputation of the firm. From the Courthouse News Service,

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Free speech: Washington antiwar group can continue with suit over infiltration

donal brown May 31, 2011

A federal district judge ruled that an antiwar group can continue to press its lawsuit against a former military civilian employee and his boss after the employee infiltrated their email list. The group claimed that the infiltration violated their First Amendment rights. Under a Freedom of Information Request, the County released records of the incident in December, but the Army refuses to release records of its investigation of the incident. -db From Associated Press reports

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Federal judge opens door for release of records in Giffords shooting

donal brown May 31, 2011

The Washington Post said it was a “positive development” when a federal district judge said the U.S. Attorney’s office could review the records in the Tucson shootings in January that killed six and wounded 13 including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and after redacting any private or confidential information, could release them to the media. Under a previous court order, the federal prosecutors argued they had no obligation to review the records. -db From The Reporters Committee

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Editorial alleges Bay Area Rapid Transit violating open meeting law with subcommittes

donal brown May 31, 2011

A Contra Costa Times editorial alleges that Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is violating the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law, by establishing 20 subcommittees that meet behind closed doors. BART claims they are only advisory committees, but the editorial argues that even so they violate the spirit and letter of the law. The editorial notes the importance of discussions in the subcommittees, “…why should the Finance, Budget and Internal Audit Committee operate behind closed

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