A couple months back, I wrote here that the Valley Sentinel was suing the Village of Lone Rock. It feels like time for an update, and I wanted to talk about our two cases — one not yet filed and one possibly almost done, and why they are so different.
Last Halloween, the Village of Lone Rock held a public meeting and did not notify the Valley Sentinel. The next night they held public hearings on their annual budget and a village board meeting. The Valley Sentinel was sent an e-mail notice less than an hour before the meeting started. We asked for various public records related to these matters and got nothing. The village clerk told us we were not entitled to notice, and past notices had merely been given as a courtesy.
Now we’re suing.
On Tuesday, February 22, at 8 a.m. the Village of Arena Personnel Committee met, made a recommendation to accept the resignation of Arena’s superintendent of public works effective March 31, and started right in working on interviewing for a replacement. If nothing else, the committee moved with laudable speed to fill a hole that was not even official yet.
The Arena Village Board met for their regular monthly meeting May 4 to attempt to fix a failed trustee appointment, fill another vacancy and take up an ordinance that looks to streamline claims against the village, in a meeting that saw disputes raised in everything from the approval of the agenda to public comment.
In April 1963, civil rights activists launched the Birmingham desegregation campaign. After a little over a week, officials obtained a court order shutting down the protests. Martin Luther King was among those who defied the order and on Good Friday, protested, and was arrested and jailed.