A lawsuit filed in Charleston County accuses the S.C. State Ports Authority of disregarding state laws on open meetings and public records in its handling of a nearly $1 million severance package for the maritime agency’s former director. Frank Heindel, a retired Mount Pleasant businessman and long-time public records activist, filed the suit this week. […]

One of the less noticed features of the Virginia Way is the long-running tendency of the commonwealth’s leaders to conduct their decision-making behind closed doors. While the Virginia Freedom of Information Act presumes all government business is by default public and requires officials to justify why exceptions should be made, too many Virginia leaders in […]