$15,000? $70,000? Free? NC town and newspaper spar over cost of public records.

When The Wake Weekly requested public records from the town of Youngsville pertaining to recent personnel changes at the police department, the newspaper’s staff was shocked when the town asked for $70,000 to provide them.

The request, made earlier this month, dropped dramatically on Friday — to an estimate of $15,000.

But the situation between the newspaper and the Franklin County town has spurred debate about public records and who should bear the cost to produce them. (Read more here…)