Another FOI at Work moment: A national consumer group is alleging emails they obtained through the Freedom of Information Act reveal an “unnervingly close and direct” relationship between Gov. Martin O’Malley and an attorney for Perdue Farms Inc. The topics covered in 70 pages of emails between O’Malley and Herb Frerichs, general counsel for Perdue [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 7. Electronic records, FOI At Work | Tagged: e-mail, FOI at work, governors, Maryland | Leave a Comment »
Thanks to this story, which revealed that Madison City Council members are emailing or texting colleagues, lobbyists, staff and others during public meetings, led to this welcome piece of news: Madison City Council members intend to examine rules for emailing and texting during public meetings, and others are calling for a statewide review of such communications [...]
Filed under: 7. Electronic records, FOI At Work, Meetings laws | Tagged: e-mail, FOI at work, Madison City Council, Sunshine Law, texts, Wisconsin | Leave a Comment »
A great example of the power of FOI to shed light: During a yearlong investigation, The Dispatch collected and analyzed nearly 30,000 consumer complaints filed with the Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general in 24 states that alleged violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act by the three largest credit-reporting agencies in the United States — Equifax, [...]
Filed under: FOI At Work | Tagged: Columbus Dispatch, Credit bureau, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Federal Trade Commission, FOI at work | Leave a Comment »
Photos of animals struggling in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill remind me that a great tip is to always note a major news event and then make a calendar item of FOIAing — one year after the date — any such photographic evidence. You never know… Previously unreleased photographs from the 2010 [...]
Filed under: 2. Doc state of mind, FOI At Work | Tagged: Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Greenpeace, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Sea turtle | Leave a Comment »
Truly inspiring stuff: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7407678n&tag=api
Filed under: FOI At Work | Tagged: 60 Minutes, FOI at work, sheriff | Leave a Comment »
Now, thanks to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the FAA has released a list of institutions that have asked for Certificates of Authorizations (COA) to fly drones in the United States. That fact that the U.S. Air Force, DARPA and Department of Homeland Security are flying drones is no [...]
Filed under: FOI At Work | Tagged: Colleges and Universities, drones, police | 1 Comment »
This is one of FOI’s lowest hanging pieces of fruit — looking at overtime pay records. More often than not, they yield gold. Here is a beauty from Montgomery County, Maryland… Dozens of firefighters, correctional and police officers and transportation employees in Montgomery County are doubling or nearly doubling their salaries with overtime pay. More [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind, FOI At Work | Tagged: FOI at work, Maryland, overtime | Leave a Comment »
An interesting nugget, courtesy of FOI: The state medical school disciplined 20 doctors and fined 11 of them up to $4,000 for handing out sick notes to demonstrators at last year’s labor protests, newly released records show. The records, requested by the Journal Sentinel last year under the state’s open records law, show for the [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind, 3. Access law, FOI At Work | Tagged: doctors, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin | Leave a Comment »
No reason why every journalism program in the country can’t do this: On Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 29, the Spartan Online News Network, powered by Michigan State University journalism students, emailed most of the municipalities and school districts in Ingham County with a simple request. The students asked how many Freedom of Information Act requests these [...]
Filed under: 2. Doc state of mind, 3. Access law, 4. Finding records, FOI At Work | Tagged: foi audits, Michigan State | Leave a Comment »
Right here in my backyard, a really interesting look at the diplomacy, and lack thereof, in big-time college athletics: In November, Big 12 interim Commissioner Chuck Neinas steeled for battle as the conference that was temporarily placed in his hands continued to fracture. His secret weapon would be a legal document that he could “wave [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 4. Finding records, FOI At Work | Tagged: BIg 12, Colleges and Universities, email, SEC | Leave a Comment »
