Birmingham City Council is relying on a four-year gagging order to block the release of information about plans for a super-casino at Saltley.
Lawyers refused a Freedom of Information Act request by The Birmingham Post to publish in full details of an exclusivity agreement between the council, Birmingham City Football Club and American casino operators Las Vegas Sands.
The document prohibits the council from discussing or disclosing details of a casino and stadium development at the Wheels Park site with any person other than the football club or Las Vegas Sands until 2009 at the earliest.
A heavily-censored version of the agreement, which the council did agree to release, contains black lines scored through what lawyers deemed to be "commercially sensitive" information.
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The managing director of one of Birmingham's biggest firms has raised concerns that a road pricing pilot in the West Midlands will damage the region's competitiveness.
Glyn Jones, managing director of Palletline UK - whose distribution centre is based Erdington - said road pricing in just one area of the country would represent a disincentive to businesses to set up operations or remain in the region at all.
The West Midlands is seen as a front runner to pilot the Government's road user charging system, which it hopes to introduce nationally during the next decade.
Mr Jones said: "As an organisation we welcome any measure designed to reduce congestion, providing it is fair to everyone involved."
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College lecturers will stage a day of strike action across the West Midlands and hold a mass protest at a Birmingham conference being attended by Education Secretary Ruth Kelly.
The twin-pronged demonstration is designed to draw maximum attention to the sector's long-standing pay dispute with the Government.
Thousands of Midland students will be affected, with 30 out of the region's 39 colleges taking part in the industrial action.
Meanwhile, up to 800 disgruntled lecturers are expected to converge on the International Convention Centre where Ms Kelly is attending the annual Association of Colleges conference.
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The MP representing Wyre Forest in Worcestershire - where services were axed from Kidderminster Hospital - has warned history must not be allowed to repeat itself in Redditch.
Richard Taylor (Ind Wyre Forest) said: "There is a huge, huge problem."
He was leading a Commons debate on health services in the county, as a campaign against proposed cuts at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch heated up.
Dr Taylor won his seat in 2001 on a "health concern" platform, defeating a sitting Labour MP following protests against the downgrading of Kidderminster Hospital.
Now the same health trust which runs Kidderminster, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, has announced plans to cut services at the Alexandra.
See Wednesday's Birmingham Post for more on these stories
