Newspapers Fighting Plan for Online Notices

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Connecticut newspapers are running full-page ads this month against a proposal to allow cities and towns to post legal notices on municipal Web sites instead of the local, printed newspaper.
     The change to allow online posting of notices is a top legislative priority for the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. New Britain Mayor Timothy Stewart tells the New Britain Herald that cities could save thousands of dollars a year.
     James Leahy, executive director of the Connecticut Daily Newspaper Association, says the bill would reduce public access to important government information by allowing communities to bury that information on their own Web sites.
     A similar bill died last year. Gov. M. Jodi Rell included the concept in her latest budget proposal.