Teenage journalists in the Everett School District got a boost Monday in their fight with administrators for control of student newspapers.
   A Seattle-area lawmaker introduced a bill that aims to strengthen free speech protections for students and prohibit censorship of their publications.
   "Just because someone is young doesn't mean that they have to give up their freedom of speech," said Rep. Dave Upthegrove, D-Des Moines.
   The bill would shift editorial liability from schools to students, making student reporters and editors responsible for any resulting legal problems.
   Six states have similar laws: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas and Massachusetts.
   "It is a step in a wonderful direction," said Claire Lueneburg, a former editor of the Everett High School student newspaper, The Kodak, who is suing the district over free speech rights.
   "It will really accomplish what we were ultimately wanting to accomplish at Everett High School for all high schools in the state, which would be really amazing."
   Lueneburg and Sara Eccleston were co-editors of the student newspaper, The Kodak, in fall 2005 when their principal demanded prior review of each issue, citing a district policy.
   The students refused, calling it a violation of their free speech rights and noting that there'd been no such review in more than 17 years.
   A trial is scheduled for May in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
   In the meantime, students at both Everett and Cascade high schools are creating newspapers on their own time, and with their own money, to avoid the district policy.
   The Kodak also resumed as a school-sanctioned publication this year as part of a journalism class at Everett High.
   Upthegrove said he wrote the bill after speaking with a former editor of the Green River Community College newspaper.
   The lawmaker said he's confident students would rise to the challenge of responsibility, citing the success of other states with similar laws.
   "When students are empowered to make those decisions, they are more likely to feel a sense of leadership and take ownership of their work," he said.
   Attorney General Rob McKenna supports the legislation.
   "If it is protected by the First Amendment, it is protected by this bill," said Greg Overstreet, special assistant to McKenna.
   Rep. Al O'Brien, D-Mountlake Terrace, also has signed on to the bill, which he said will help educate students on their constitutional protections.
   "If students do not understand certain rights, they are not in a position to govern our country," he said.
   Lueneburg, now a college freshman, said she hopes the bill will draw enough support to pass.
   "You grow up to be a more responsible citizen than you would have been if you were controlled your entire 12 years of schooling," she said.

  
   

Skagit County schooled on open meetings law

     The Skagit County commissioners went into their first closed session of the year Tuesday to discuss one issue, but gave three reasons.
   But commission Chairwoman Sharon Dillon said it was just force of habit that led her to list off the three reasons, and it won't be a habit she continues.
   "We will be going into executive session at 2:30 to 4:30 for personnel, litigation and/or land acquisition," Dillon announced Tuesday when the commissioners closed their public session.
   It was the first time the commissioners adjourned from public session into closed session since the Skagit Valley Herald printed a story about the commissioners' practice of not providing information on closed sessions. The commissioners also were scheduled to meet in closed session at 8 a.m. Dec. 18 and did not announce a reason for the session, according to the minutes.
   The state Open Public Meetings Act allows a closed session for only a few specific reasons.
   Before closing a session, commissioners must provide specific reasons that apply, according to state Auditor Brian Sonntag; Greg Overstreet, special assistant to Attorney General Rob McKenna; Don Anderson, who was the commissioners' lawyer at the time; and Michelle Earl-Hubbard, president of the Washington Coalition for Open Government and an attorney with Davis Wright Tremaine in Seattle.
   This latest executive session was about the county's lawsuit against the state over timber harvests on trust lands around Lake Whatcom. According to the experts, Dillon should have said the commissioners were going to discuss "ongoing litigation."
   Dillon said she gave the list because that's what she got used to saying as mayor of Sedro-Woolley, the post she held until about three weeks ago. That's what city officials said because "If something happens and you're choosing to talk about them, then you can," she said.
   But she said she wouldn't continue using that line.
   "We are developing a process we're supposed to be going by, and I will follow that in the future," she said.
   That process will include a form to be filled out by staff requesting a closed meeting with the commissioners, said Will Honea, the county's chief civil deputy attorney. If the reason for an executive session is known in advance, it will be indicated on the commissioners' agenda for the week.
   But that doesn't mean commissioners will be restricted to that reason, he said.
   "The commissioners have the authority to call an executive session on the spot," he said. All they have to do is indicate the specific legal justification," he said.
  

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