TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - A north Florida woman and a newspaper publisher are being honored by an open government watchdog group.
The First Amendment Foundation said Tuesday it is giving its 2015 open government award to Barbara Jeffords Lemley of Lake City and Columbia County Observer publisher Stew Lilker.
Lemley refused to back down from barriers the Lake Shore Hospital Authority put up in her requests for public records about its hiring of an executive director. The Columbia County Observer reported on the hospital authority violating open record laws, and Lilker sued for access to the records.
A circuit court judge found the authority had violated the law, and an appeals court agreed.
The foundation’s award is named for its founder, Pete Weitzel, who was a former managing editor of The Miami Herald.
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