saturday, 9.15.12 press d panel narrows focus on open govt...

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BY GRANT SCHULTE Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. — University of Nebraska officials maintained Friday that they would rely solely on private fundraising and state aid to build a $110 million cancer research tower in Omaha, in re- sponse to concerns raised by Gov. Dave Heineman. But Nebraska Medical Center Chancellor Harold Maurer said the broader $370 million project — which includes a cancer hos- pital and clinics — would also use $40 million in tax revenue from Omaha and Douglas County. “It was public and private all along,” Maurer told the univer- sity’s Board of Regents during a scheduled update on the project. “It was never totally private. The (local) elected officials them- selves feel that they would like to chip in on the project. This is an enormous project in terms of the economic development for the city, the region and the state.” Heineman said Thursday that he was never told the project would include local government funding. The Republican gover- nor said he signed a $50 million state funding bill for the research tower with the understanding that no local tax dollars would be used. The law required university officials to first raise $60 million for the research tower — one piece of the larger project — be- fore they received the $50 million in state money. On Friday, Heineman reiter- ated that university officials left him with the impression that the entire project, and not just the research tower, would be paid with state and private money. He pointed to comments by Univer- sity of Nebraska President J.B. Milliken in public testimony that cast the entire project as a part- nership of state and private money. “The leadership of the Univer- sity of Nebraska is on the verge of losing my trust and confidence in them,” Heineman said. “I’ve al- ways had a good relationship with them. I’ve always trusted them. But this is the first time where they’ve said one thing, and they’re doing something else.” His remarks came as the Omaha City Council considers a new cigarette tax that would gen- erate $35 million for the project, by imposing a 7 percent tax on a retailer’s gross sales — roughly 35 cents on a $5 pack of ciga- rettes. Earlier this week, the Dou- glas County Board of Supervisors committed $5 million to the proj- ect over a 10-year period. Heineman said he still sup- ports the Omaha-based project, but added that the move toward local tax funding would make him more skeptical about future uni- versity requests for state aid. Heineman’s final term as gover- nor expires in 2014. Open House September 18 - 21 Join Vi isit Ho Us F or Ou ome Federal l this w ur Open H week during our O w e e ouse! Open House. Our bi g kic -off is uesda T k k k- k $ 1 00 with $ 250 on first $ 50 ff n um y , September 1 8: y y a a ay ay a n w w checking a e mortgag ge closing m r l n rigin t : account* g costs* ti n * f $ 50 off consum on KY KYN YNT T from mer loan n originat m 1 1 am m - 1 pm tion e ees* f s m e i g ga t r o ts if m g cos losin e c g ga t r o m y a ay d 90 hin t i w d e los c if e e f e n io t a in ig r o er o h t y o n h a t i d w e in b m e co t b o n d f e uir q e t r osi g dep enin p d $100 o n a o 1099-INT r t t c e j b u e s r d a n er 30, 2012 a b em t ep S er p er p e e o n t o imi er 21. * L b em t ep S g in w Dra aw . y y. r a s ces e n e s a h c ur p o N n $100,000. a h e t r o s m t s fir o $250 . g enin p o t un acco f o ys n a er lo um s n n co t o un co s . $50 di er e y a ay t. M un g acco in k c e h s C d r wa e r R o o t osi t dep c e . Dir g in t r o ep o 1099-INT r e ir s exp er t. Off e un er acco n p o s er er p , y y, a ay id r F .m. p 5:00 t a ld e h e b o t g ual Housing Lender | www Member FDIC | Eq ual Housing Lender | www al.com eder .homef e ual Housing Lender | www 1101 Broadway • Suite 115B (Morgen Square) 605-260-5003 YOUR NEWEST CHOICE FOR PHYSICAL THERAPY SERVICES YOUR NEWEST CHOICE FOR PHYSICAL THERAPY SERVICES Matt Dvorak, PT Matt Dvorak, PT Michelle Tieszen, PT Michelle Tieszen, PT • STATE OF THE ART PRIVATE CLINIC • STATE OF THE ART PRIVATE CLINIC • WE ACCEPT INSURANCE CO-PAYS • WE ACCEPT INSURANCE CO-PAYS At CCCS, we provide a wide variety of counseling and education opportunities to help you become a better money manager: • Credit Card Debt • Money Management • Medical Bills • Debt Management • Effective Use of Credit • Student Loans We’re not worried “Thanks to Consumer Credit Counseling Service, about our finances.” Call 888-258-2227 to schedule an appointment. • Bankruptcy Counseling • Homeownership Resources • Pre-purchase Counseling • Mortgage Delinquency • Foreclosure Prevention L . www D S , N O T T K N A Y YA , 4 E T I U S 3 2 W 0 1 6 , A Z A L P K E E R C E N R A M SS g .or SD T S D R Saturday, 9.15.12 ON THE WEB: www.yankton.net NEWS DEPARTMENT: [email protected] 7 PRESS DAKOTAN the midwest Severed Leg Found In Nebraska Reservoir NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — Authorities searching for a North Platte man missing for over a week say a severed leg has been found in a reservoir about 20 miles west of North Platte. KNOP-TV reports that the Lincoln County sheriff’s office says the limb was found in Sutherland Reservoir on Thursday. An anthropol- ogist determined the leg had been severed by a boat propeller. DNA testing will determine if it belongs to 61-year-old Larry Sack. He was reported missing on Sept. 3 when he failed to show up at a family gathering. His pickup truck and fishing gear were found the next day near a canal that flows to the reservoir. Authorities say Sack has diabetes and hadn’t been feeling well prior to his disappearance. Former S.D. Gov. Might Run For U.S. Senate DAKOTA DUNES (AP) — Former Republican South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds is forming a committee to explore a run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Tim Johnson. The seat is up for election in November 2014. Rounds said if he does decide to run, he will not make an announcement until after the November elections. Rounds served two terms as governor, from 2003 to 2009. He has talked openly about a possible Senate run since early this year be- cause of his concerns about the country’s debt and health care re- form and “a federal government that doesn’t understand that profit is not a dirty word.” “As a businessman, I firmly believe something has to change in this country, or we’re going to be in real trouble,” Rounds told the Argus Leader newspaper Thursday. His decision to form an exploratory committee was first reported by KCCR radio in Pierre. The move will allow Rounds to raise and spend up to $5,000 to explore a Senate run. He said he will file pa- perwork in the next 30 days. Johnson has represented South Dakota in Congress since 1986. He has not yet announced whether he will seek a fourth Senate term. Bob Burns, a retired political science professor at South Dakota State University, said Rounds would be a strong GOP candidate. “I would guess his closest competition would probably be Rep. (Kristi) Noem, assuming that she wins in November,” he said. “I can’t think of anyone who would give him a hard run for the nomina- tion other than Rep. Noem.” Noem is being challenged this fall by Democrat Matt Varilek, Johnson’s former economic development director. Animal Health Officials Warn Of Fatal Algae WAUBAY (AP) — Animal health officials are warning ranchers about the potential of fatal algae in the Bitter Lake area of northeast- ern South Dakota. The Aberdeen American News reports that cattle belonging to at least one rancher in the area have died from the blue-green algae. Cattle producers in the area are being asked to provide their live- stock with fresh, clean water to drink. Bitter Lake is located south of Waubay in Day County. Sustainability Conference Held Friday In S.D. SIOUX FALLS (AP) — A daylong sustainability conference got under way in Sioux Falls on Friday. The Plain Green Conference was started in 2008 by South Dakota State University and Koch Hazard Architects to raise awareness about the issue of sustainability. Organizers of this year’s conference say they expect nearly 300 people to attend the event focusing on design, energy and lifestyles. University Of Mary Announces $40M Plan BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — University of Mary’s president has an- nounced a $40 million grown campaign for the private Catholic school in Bismarck. Father James Shea says the Bismarck school can no longer hold back on its need to expand the main campus. The university this year had about 850 students living on campus, which is about 100 more students than the previous record set two years ago. Shea says the influx of people and businesses to the Bismarck- Mandan area has increased demand for new and established pro- grams for graduates. The fundraising campaign includes plans for more on-campus housing, increasing the university’s endowment, renovation and en- hancements to athletic facilities, expansion of Mary’s premier health care programs and a new student campus center. The school announced the campaign on Friday. Man Sues University Over Handicapped Parking LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska man is suing the University of Nebraska-Lincoln over what he says is the university’s practice of closing down handicapped parking stalls on campus during Ne- braska home football games. Richard Norton Jr. alleges in the lawsuit filed Thursday that he was not allowed to park in a handicapped stall outside of the Uni- versity of Nebraska State Museum last year during a home football game. Norton says he was told the handicapped spots were being held for university donors. Norton, who suffers from a physical disability, says he was forced to park several blocks away, and the walk caused him ex- treme pain in his legs and feet for which he had to seek medical treatment. Norton’s lawsuit says the university’s policy violates the Ameri- cans with Disabilities Act. Nebraska Man Sentenced To Jail For Child Abuse LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska man at the center of a sexual abuse case in which his victim had been threatened with jail time for refusing to testify has been sentenced to 270 days in jail. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that 63-year-old Glen Riensche was sentenced Thursday in Lancanster County District Court after pleading no contest to misde- meanor child abuse. He had been accused of fondling a 7-year-old girl when he was in his 40s, but prosecutors dropped felony charges in exchange for his plea. Teen In Crash Faces Charges In Adult Court ABERDEEN (AP) — An Aberdeen teenager accused of crashing into a school in January and injuring a passenger in his vehicle is facing charges in adult court. Andrew Randall is now 18 years old but was 17 at the time of the January crash. He faces eight charges including drunken driving and vehicular battery, which car- ries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The American News reports that Ran- dall made a brief appearance in court on Thursday but did not enter any pleas. The crash on Jan. 17 caused an esti- mated $30,000 in damage to the Simmons Elementary School library. Both Randall and the passenger suffered serious injuries. UNMC Off i c i als Defend Center Fundra i s i ng BY CHET BROKAW Associated Press PIERRE — A task force seeking ways to make South Dakota government more open has narrowed its focus to a list of proposals ranging from giving citizens access to crime suspects’ mug shots to making sure board and commission meetings are public. The panel has not agreed on any propos- als but has asked for some to be put into writing as possible changes to state law, so task force members can see details, chairman Tony Venhuizen said Friday. Members will meet Oct. 10 to decide which proposals to recommend to Gov. Den- nis Daugaard and Attorney General Marty Jackley, who appointed the task force to pro- pose changes in laws dealing with open meet- ings and the availability of documents. The task force includes representatives of news organizations, law enforcement offi- cials, prosecutors, and officials from cities, counties and school districts. Venhuizen, the governor’s communica- tions director, said the diverse group is seek- ing consensus on ways to make government more open. “We have a group here that represents a wide variety of interests and opinions. I’ve been impressed so far with the way the group has come together and worked together,” Venhuizen said. Dave Bordewyk, general manager of the South Dakota Newspaper Association, said the 33-member panel has engaged in vigorous debate but is working well. “I think it just demonstrates these issues touch a lot of people. You’ve got to make sure you’re involving everyone in terms of trying to figure out what can work and what can’t,” said Bordewyk, a task force member. One of the issues that the group is study- ing is whether police should make their logs and mug shots of arrested crime suspects available to the public. Panel members also are reviewing whether to release recordings or transcripts of 911 calls and videos taken by cameras mounted in police cars in some cases. Ven- huizen said the group will look at how other states determine which recordings are appro- priate to release. Members also will examine laws in other states to see how certain police reports are handled, he said. Some of the proposals seek to make sure state and local boards and commissions fol- low South Dakota’s open meetings law, which requires them to give notice of a meeting and its agenda at least 24 hours before the meet- ing. These meetings can be closed to the pub- lic if the discussions are about personnel issues, student performance, litigation or contracts, employee contract negotiations, pricing strategies by publicly owned busi- nesses and certain economic development matters. One proposal would require boards and commissions to record closed meetings, with the recordings kept sealed unless someone complains a meeting was improperly closed. A judge or some other official would listen to the recording of the meeting in question to determine if the panel acted properly. The task force also is studying whether text messages or emails among board mem- bers should be made public if the communi- cation amounts to a meeting. Representatives of townships want the law clarified to determine when township su- pervisors are holding a meeting. Supervisors in many rural townships are responsible for fixing roads and bridges, and some wonder if gathering to do that work is considered an of- ficial meeting. Another proposal would require agencies to disclose what information they have and the format in which it is stored, so news or- ganizations and citizens know what’s avail- able for them to request. Venhuizen said the task force does not ap- pear to be interested in making emails be- tween state officials or employees public. Many of those emails would be confidential under other state laws because they deal with personnel issues or proprietary busi- ness information, so it would take a lot of time and money to screen the emails before releasing them, he said. Panel Narrows Focus On Open Govt. Ideas

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Page 1: Saturday, 9.15.12 PRESS D Panel Narrows Focus On Open Govt ...tearsheets.yankton.net/september12/091512/ypd_091512_SecA_007.… · BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — University of Mary’s president

BY GRANT SCHULTEAssociated Press

LINCOLN, Neb. — Universityof Nebraska officials maintainedFriday that they would rely solelyon private fundraising and stateaid to build a $110 million cancerresearch tower in Omaha, in re-sponse to concerns raised byGov. Dave Heineman.

But Nebraska Medical CenterChancellor Harold Maurer saidthe broader $370 million project— which includes a cancer hos-pital and clinics — would alsouse $40 million in tax revenuefrom Omaha and Douglas County.

“It was public and private allalong,” Maurer told the univer-sity’s Board of Regents during ascheduled update on the project.“It was never totally private. The(local) elected officials them-selves feel that they would like tochip in on the project. This is anenormous project in terms of theeconomic development for thecity, the region and the state.”

Heineman said Thursday thathe was never told the projectwould include local governmentfunding. The Republican gover-nor said he signed a $50 millionstate funding bill for the researchtower with the understandingthat no local tax dollars would beused. The law required universityofficials to first raise $60 millionfor the research tower — onepiece of the larger project — be-fore they received the $50 millionin state money.

On Friday, Heineman reiter-ated that university officials lefthim with the impression that theentire project, and not just theresearch tower, would be paidwith state and private money. Hepointed to comments by Univer-sity of Nebraska President J.B.Milliken in public testimony thatcast the entire project as a part-nership of state and privatemoney.

“The leadership of the Univer-sity of Nebraska is on the vergeof losing my trust and confidencein them,” Heineman said. “I’ve al-

ways had a good relationshipwith them. I’ve always trustedthem. But this is the first timewhere they’ve said one thing,and they’re doing somethingelse.”

His remarks came as theOmaha City Council considers anew cigarette tax that would gen-

erate $35 million for the project,by imposing a 7 percent tax on aretailer’s gross sales — roughly35 cents on a $5 pack of ciga-rettes. Earlier this week, the Dou-glas County Board of Supervisorscommitted $5 million to the proj-ect over a 10-year period.

Heineman said he still sup-

ports the Omaha-based project,but added that the move towardlocal tax funding would make himmore skeptical about future uni-versity requests for state aid.Heineman’s final term as gover-nor expires in 2014.

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YOUR NEWEST CHOICE FOR PHYSICAL THERAPY SERVICES YOUR NEWEST CHOICE FOR PHYSICAL THERAPY SERVICES Matt Dvorak, PT Matt Dvorak, PT Michelle Tieszen, PT Michelle Tieszen, PT

• STATE OF THE ART PRIVATE CLINIC • STATE OF THE ART PRIVATE CLINIC • WE ACCEPT INSURANCE CO-PAYS • WE ACCEPT INSURANCE CO-PAYS

At CCCS, we provide a wide variety of counseling and education opportunities to help you become a better money manager:

• Credit Card Debt• Money Management• Medical Bills• Debt Management• Effective Use of Credit• Student Loans

We’re not worried

“Thanks to Consumer Credit Counseling Service,

about our finances.”

Call 888-258-2227 to schedule an appointment.

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Saturday, 9.15.12ON THE WEB: www.yankton.net

NEWS DEPARTMENT: [email protected] 7PRESS DAKOTANthe midwest

Severed Leg Found In Nebraska ReservoirNORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — Authorities searching for a North

Platte man missing for over a week say a severed leg has been foundin a reservoir about 20 miles west of North Platte.

KNOP-TV reports that the Lincoln County sheriff’s office says thelimb was found in Sutherland Reservoir on Thursday. An anthropol-ogist determined the leg had been severed by a boat propeller.

DNA testing will determine if it belongs to 61-year-old Larry Sack.He was reported missing on Sept. 3 when he failed to show up at afamily gathering. His pickup truck and fishing gear were found thenext day near a canal that flows to the reservoir.

Authorities say Sack has diabetes and hadn’t been feeling wellprior to his disappearance.

Former S.D. Gov. Might Run For U.S. SenateDAKOTA DUNES (AP) — Former Republican South Dakota Gov.

Mike Rounds is forming a committee to explore a run for the U.S.Senate seat held by Democrat Tim Johnson.

The seat is up for election in November 2014. Rounds said if hedoes decide to run, he will not make an announcement until afterthe November elections.

Rounds served two terms as governor, from 2003 to 2009. He hastalked openly about a possible Senate run since early this year be-cause of his concerns about the country’s debt and health care re-form and “a federal government that doesn’t understand that profitis not a dirty word.”

“As a businessman, I firmly believe something has to change inthis country, or we’re going to be in real trouble,” Rounds told theArgus Leader newspaper Thursday.

His decision to form an exploratory committee was first reportedby KCCR radio in Pierre. The move will allow Rounds to raise andspend up to $5,000 to explore a Senate run. He said he will file pa-perwork in the next 30 days.

Johnson has represented South Dakota in Congress since 1986.He has not yet announced whether he will seek a fourth Senateterm.

Bob Burns, a retired political science professor at South DakotaState University, said Rounds would be a strong GOP candidate.

“I would guess his closest competition would probably be Rep.(Kristi) Noem, assuming that she wins in November,” he said. “Ican’t think of anyone who would give him a hard run for the nomina-tion other than Rep. Noem.”

Noem is being challenged this fall by Democrat Matt Varilek,Johnson’s former economic development director.

Animal Health Officials Warn Of Fatal AlgaeWAUBAY (AP) — Animal health officials are warning ranchers

about the potential of fatal algae in the Bitter Lake area of northeast-ern South Dakota.

The Aberdeen American News reports that cattle belonging to atleast one rancher in the area have died from the blue-green algae.

Cattle producers in the area are being asked to provide their live-stock with fresh, clean water to drink.

Bitter Lake is located south of Waubay in Day County.

Sustainability Conference Held Friday In S.D.SIOUX FALLS (AP) — A daylong sustainability conference got

under way in Sioux Falls on Friday. The Plain Green Conference was started in 2008 by South Dakota

State University and Koch Hazard Architects to raise awarenessabout the issue of sustainability.

Organizers of this year’s conference say they expect nearly 300people to attend the event focusing on design, energy and lifestyles.

University Of Mary Announces $40M PlanBISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — University of Mary’s president has an-

nounced a $40 million grown campaign for the private Catholicschool in Bismarck.

Father James Shea says the Bismarck school can no longer holdback on its need to expand the main campus. The university thisyear had about 850 students living on campus, which is about 100more students than the previous record set two years ago.

Shea says the influx of people and businesses to the Bismarck-Mandan area has increased demand for new and established pro-grams for graduates.

The fundraising campaign includes plans for more on-campushousing, increasing the university’s endowment, renovation and en-hancements to athletic facilities, expansion of Mary’s premierhealth care programs and a new student campus center.

The school announced the campaign on Friday.

Man Sues University Over Handicapped ParkingLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska man is suing the University of

Nebraska-Lincoln over what he says is the university’s practice ofclosing down handicapped parking stalls on campus during Ne-braska home football games.

Richard Norton Jr. alleges in the lawsuit filed Thursday that hewas not allowed to park in a handicapped stall outside of the Uni-versity of Nebraska State Museum last year during a home footballgame. Norton says he was told the handicapped spots were beingheld for university donors.

Norton, who suffers from a physical disability, says he wasforced to park several blocks away, and the walk caused him ex-treme pain in his legs and feet for which he had to seek medicaltreatment.

Norton’s lawsuit says the university’s policy violates the Ameri-cans with Disabilities Act.

Nebraska Man Sentenced ToJail For Child Abuse

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska manat the center of a sexual abuse case inwhich his victim had been threatened withjail time for refusing to testify has beensentenced to 270 days in jail.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that63-year-old Glen Riensche was sentencedThursday in Lancanster County DistrictCourt after pleading no contest to misde-meanor child abuse. He had been accusedof fondling a 7-year-old girl when he was inhis 40s, but prosecutors dropped felonycharges in exchange for his plea.

Teen In Crash Faces ChargesIn Adult Court

ABERDEEN (AP) — An Aberdeenteenager accused of crashing into a schoolin January and injuring a passenger in hisvehicle is facing charges in adult court.

Andrew Randall is now 18 years old butwas 17 at the time of the January crash. Hefaces eight charges including drunkendriving and vehicular battery, which car-ries a maximum sentence of 10 years inprison.

The American News reports that Ran-dall made a brief appearance in court onThursday but did not enter any pleas.

The crash on Jan. 17 caused an esti-mated $30,000 in damage to the SimmonsElementary School library. Both Randalland the passenger suffered seriousinjuries.

UNMC Officials Defend Center Fundraising

BY CHET BROKAWAssociated Press

PIERRE — A task force seeking ways tomake South Dakota government more openhas narrowed its focus to a list of proposalsranging from giving citizens access to crimesuspects’ mug shots to making sure boardand commission meetings are public.

The panel has not agreed on any propos-als but has asked for some to be put intowriting as possible changes to state law, sotask force members can see details, chairmanTony Venhuizen said Friday.

Members will meet Oct. 10 to decidewhich proposals to recommend to Gov. Den-nis Daugaard and Attorney General MartyJackley, who appointed the task force to pro-pose changes in laws dealing with open meet-ings and the availability of documents.

The task force includes representatives ofnews organizations, law enforcement offi-cials, prosecutors, and officials from cities,counties and school districts.

Venhuizen, the governor’s communica-tions director, said the diverse group is seek-ing consensus on ways to make governmentmore open.

“We have a group here that represents awide variety of interests and opinions. I’vebeen impressed so far with the way the grouphas come together and worked together,”Venhuizen said.

Dave Bordewyk, general manager of theSouth Dakota Newspaper Association, saidthe 33-member panel has engaged in vigorousdebate but is working well.

“I think it just demonstrates these issuestouch a lot of people. You’ve got to make sureyou’re involving everyone in terms of tryingto figure out what can work and what can’t,”said Bordewyk, a task force member.

One of the issues that the group is study-ing is whether police should make their logsand mug shots of arrested crime suspectsavailable to the public.

Panel members also are reviewingwhether to release recordings or transcriptsof 911 calls and videos taken by camerasmounted in police cars in some cases. Ven-huizen said the group will look at how otherstates determine which recordings are appro-priate to release. Members also will examinelaws in other states to see how certain policereports are handled, he said.

Some of the proposals seek to make surestate and local boards and commissions fol-low South Dakota’s open meetings law, whichrequires them to give notice of a meeting andits agenda at least 24 hours before the meet-ing. These meetings can be closed to the pub-lic if the discussions are about personnelissues, student performance, litigation orcontracts, employee contract negotiations,pricing strategies by publicly owned busi-nesses and certain economic development

matters.One proposal would require boards and

commissions to record closed meetings, withthe recordings kept sealed unless someonecomplains a meeting was improperly closed.A judge or some other official would listen tothe recording of the meeting in question todetermine if the panel acted properly.

The task force also is studying whethertext messages or emails among board mem-bers should be made public if the communi-cation amounts to a meeting.

Representatives of townships want thelaw clarified to determine when township su-pervisors are holding a meeting. Supervisorsin many rural townships are responsible forfixing roads and bridges, and some wonder ifgathering to do that work is considered an of-ficial meeting.

Another proposal would require agenciesto disclose what information they have andthe format in which it is stored, so news or-ganizations and citizens know what’s avail-able for them to request.

Venhuizen said the task force does not ap-pear to be interested in making emails be-tween state officials or employees public.Many of those emails would be confidentialunder other state laws because they dealwith personnel issues or proprietary busi-ness information, so it would take a lot oftime and money to screen the emails beforereleasing them, he said.

Panel Narrows Focus On Open Govt. Ideas