All over the news today, brought to you by FOI: The FBI released a decades-old file it kept on Apple co-founder Steve Jobs that noted his past drug use and cites interviews with people who say he had a penchant to “distort reality.” The 191 pages of FBI records are part of a 1991 background [...]
Filed under: 2. Doc state of mind, FOI At Work | Tagged: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Steve Jobs | Leave a Comment »
After denying that they are coordinating responses to Occupy Wall Street, the U.S. Conference of Mayors recently surveyed city administrations across the country about the movement. In late November, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request , the District of Columbia mayor’s office received a request to update its answers to the survey. [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind | Tagged: Occupy Wall Street, U.S. Conference of Mayors | Leave a Comment »
The Society of Professional Journalists is seeking nominations for its Black Hole Award. The Black Hole serves as the counterpoint to the Sunshine Award, highlighting particularly heinous violations of the public’s right to know. By exposing the bad actors, we hope to educate members of the public to their rights and call attention to those [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind, 3. Access law, 6. Overcoming denials | Tagged: Black Hole, Society of Professional Journalists, Sunshine Week | Leave a Comment »
Kudos to Milwaukee (Wis.) Journal Sentinel investigative reporter Gina Barton, whose excellent October 2011 three-part series “Both Sides of the Law” found that at least 93 Milwaukee police officers had been disciplined for violating laws and ordinances, but didn’t lose their jobs. Barton said it took nearly two years of records requests, a court case, and $7,500 in [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind, 3. Access law, 6. Overcoming denials | Tagged: Law Enforcement, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, police | Leave a Comment »
A Patch columnist spins a tale sure to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck: I filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office about Chesterfield refusing to release a 2011 arrest report, incident and accident reports of ex-sports announcer Dan McLaughlin, as required by state law. McLaughlin was arrested DWI [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind | Tagged: DUI, FOI hellraising, Missouri, Sunshine Law | Leave a Comment »
Read this one carefully as the proud owner of an artificial hip (mine is NOT metal, thankfully!) in the New York Times: The federal government has received a surge in complaints in recent months about failed hip replacements, suggesting that serious problems persist with some types of artificial hips even as researchers scramble to evaluate [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind | Tagged: FOI at work, Food & Drug Administration, Hip replacement, New York Times | 1 Comment »
Some great FOI work here by Bloomberg, telling the tale of just how crazy the financial meltdown really was… Citigroup and Bank of America were the reigning champions of finance in 2006 as home prices peaked, leading the 10 biggest U.S. banks and brokerage firms to their best year ever with $104 billion of profits. By [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind, 6. Overcoming denials | Tagged: Bank of America, Bloomberg L.P., Citigroup, Federal Reserve System, FOI at work, Morgan Stanley | Leave a Comment »
There is so, so much to love about this story. First, how often do reporters get stymied when seeking information, shrug and walk away? Not this reporter! And restaurant inspections are so elemental, so easy to get in most states, that it boggles the mind that they are so hard to get in Louisiana, a [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind, 3. Access law | Tagged: Daily Advertiser, FOI at work, Health department, Inspection, Louisiana | Leave a Comment »
