Judge Orders 2 Papers to Remove Stories from Web Sites

[133724]

KANSAS CITY A judge has ordered two Kansas City newspapers to
remove articles about an area utility from their Web sites and temporarily barred the papers from publishing the story.

Jackson County Circuit Judge Kelly Moorhouse issued the temporary restraining order Friday against The Kansas City Star, a daily, and The Pitch, a weekly alternative newspaper that publishes on Thursdays.

The judge also ordered the papers to remove articles about the Board of Public Utilities of Kansas City, Kan., from their Web sites. Both papers had posted the stories Friday before the order but removed the articles by Saturday morning.

Both papers prepared stories about the operations at the BPU based on a confidential document they received. The document was prepared by Stanley Reigel, a Stinson Morrison Hecker attorney working for the utility.

The judge's order said the document was privileged legal communication and BPU would be "irreparably harmed" if the newspapers didn't remove the articles from their Web sites.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003553567

[Syncronaut Seven]

1. Could they be positioning the BPU for privatization?

Man, does this stink!

[JCMach1]

2. Is this, should we say 'unconstitutional'

[DeSwiss]

3. Oops... Did the judge mean THIS article???

BPU document details possible clean-air violations

At least 15 projects and upgrades at power plants operated by the Board of Public Utilities of Kansas City, Kan., may have violated federal clean air laws, according to a confidential BPU document.

The document, obtained from an anonymous source by The Kansas City Star, was prepared in 2004 by an attorney to lay out the odds for the BPU of the risks of penalties by the Environmental Protection Agency. It examined 73 projects that may not have followed regulations.

Of those, 15 were “probably not defensible” and another 15 were “questionable,” it said.

The document, which calls itself a “liability analysis,” says that the utility could be subject to thousands of dollars in fines. It also says the BPU has the choice of approaching the EPA to reach a settlement or waiting for the EPA to initiate action.

It is unclear which course the BPU took.

EPA and Kansas Department of Health and Environment officials said they did not know anything about possible violations. BPU officials could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.

*** - Dumb judge. I got it from Google's news archive cache. Will they ever learn that once its one the internets, its ALWAYS ON the internets.

on edit:

But after reading the article, I can see why BPU didn't want the public knowing about their malfeasence. They're polluting the air of the people of Kansas City and causing possible irreparable harm to those citizen's health. But that's of little consequence to the "public right to know" what's killing them.

And on top of that, these public officials are setting up the utility for fines from EPA, costing the taxpayers there much moola at a time when public services are being cut almost everywhere. But hey, mistakes were made. Everybody makes mistakes fer cryin out loud!!!

Wonder how they impeach a judge in Kansas City????

[rodeodance]

6. do you have link to actual paper Please. Thanks

[UpInArms]

12. for you, anything

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:PvKL4b3YQyEJ:www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/16821630.htm+BPU+document+details+possible+clean-air+violations&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

[mahatmakanejeeves]

16. one of these days,

they're going to clean those internets tubes.

[Mind_your_head]

4. Guess Judge KELLY MOORHOUSE doesn't have any concern about hurting

the 'peeps'....she wants to be sure that the 'corporate person' of BPU isn't "irreparably harmed".

Nice, eh? :mad:

[saigon68]

5. K & R

[rodeodance]

7. they are appealing---(reasons below)

.....Editors from both papers said they would appeal the order.

Mark Zieman, editor and vice president of the Star, said the public has the right to know about the operations of local utilities.

"To have a published story pulled from our Web site is unprecedented and unbelievable," said Zieman. "When justice prevails, we will publish our findings again."

C.J. Janovy, editor of The Pitch, said she was "appalled" by the order and the paper planned to appeal.

Sam Colville, the Star's attorney, said the injunction violated the constitutional rights of the media and also restricted the public's right to be informed.

"Every moment The Star is restrained constitutes further damage to the constitutional rights of each of us," Colville said.

[L. Coyote]

15. They should seek damages, make the Judge pay, and STOP this stuff. n/t

[rodeodance]

8. k and R

[annabanana]

9. Amazing!

If the Board of Public Utilities of Kansas City, Kan. was a private firm, there might be a case (not a good one, I think, if the public health was involved, but a case).

That it is a public board, spending public money for a report, though, puts it pretty squarely in the publics right to know category.

[POAS]

10. "What's the matter with Kansas?"

[GreenZoneLT]

11. Well, whaddaya expect?

It's a circuit court judge, which is a very small step from "struggling attorney," and it's a case of first amendment press freedom vs. attorney-client privilege, emphasis on "attorney." Not surprised the judge did whatever the fellow lawyer wanted.

[dkofos]

13. Time to maybe investigate the judge too??

[LiberalFighter]

14. The State of Kansas and Kansas City do not provide electronic viewing of financial statements

They are in the dark ages when it comes to access to public documents.

[samscafe]

17. Not good.

Control the language, control the information.