Man, will these people NEVER learn? The Detroit Free Press just nails ‘em to the wall, thanks to FOI: More than $210,000 intended for poor people but instead used to furnish a City of Detroit office paid for numerous leather chairs, a $3,000 mahogany-finish conference table and at least three stainless steel trash cans with [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind | Tagged: Detroit Free Press, FOI at work, Furniture, office expenses, receipts | 1 Comment »
AcademicFOI.Com aims to investigate UK universities and higher education institutions through the use of Freedom of Information requests. We actively invite suggestions for investigations from university staff, student representatives, careers teachers, alumni, benefactors, research clients, journalists, politicians and special interest groups. The results of requests are carefully analysed, published in detail on our website and [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind | Tagged: FOI at work, universities | Leave a Comment »
A great post here on the recent analysis of SEC disclosure filings reveals this gem: Between 2006 and 2010, at least 219 former SEC staff appeared before their former agency on behalf of private-sector clients in 800 different matters, according to a new database created by the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) and shared with iWatch News [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind | Tagged: FOI at work | Leave a Comment »
The Associated Press popped a nice FOI-driven story today: Corrections officials in Arkansas fired dozens of employees this year for indiscretions ranging from failed drug tests to sleeping on the job, documents obtained by The Associated Press show. The latest batch of disciplinary actions, obtained under a Freedom of Information request, reveal that as the [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind | Tagged: corrections, FOI at work, prisons | Leave a Comment »
A GREAT FOI-driven story: The FBI released documents Monday stating that New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner assisted the agency in two investigations— one of them apparently a terrorism probe—in the years leading up to his pardon by President Ronald Reagan on a campaign-contributions conviction. The Associated Press and other news organizations requested the FBI file under [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind | Tagged: Federal Bureau of Investigation, FOI at work, George Steinbrenner, New York Yankees | Leave a Comment »
After rumors and some public comments about toxicity in the county courthouse, KWQC News did the right thing — they FOIAd the reports. The Knox County (Ill.) board is trying to figure out what to do with the courthouse. Board members voted to renovate the building and hired a construction company; however, a few board members [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind | Tagged: EPA, FOI at work, Illinois, toxic reports | Leave a Comment »
A great FOI-driven story documenting the national outbreak of crazy…. Members of Congess reported a record-high number of threats to their safety in 2010, according to The Hill. According to documents obtained by The Hill through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the FBI investigated 26 threats of violence against lawmakers (and occasionally, their family members) in [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind, 4. Finding records | Tagged: Federal Bureau of Investigation, FOI at work | Leave a Comment »
Note to journalists everywhere: sometimes you don’t need names to tell a great FOI tale…. A six-figure University of Tennessee donor called the school’s chancellor an “attack gator” because of his ties to the University of Florida and another called its athletic director “self-serving” and “inept.” Those comments were among more than a dozen email [...]
Filed under: 2. Doc state of mind, 7. Electronic records | Tagged: email, FOI at work, University of Tennessee | Leave a Comment »
A new piece on the FOI-academic freedom debate from Miller-McClune…. The more I read my own quotes on this issue, the more I recognize what years in academia has done to my brain, for good, and for ill. I tend to overanalyze issues like these when interesting academic questions exists, even if I think they [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 3. Access law | Tagged: academic freedom, FOI at work | Leave a Comment »
It’s an FOI request that serves as a perfect example of why we need access to the very documents at issue in Utah….amazingly, what was cited again and again by the lords of darkness was, at best, “an estimate.” This fabulous story had me laughing out loud – As Utah lawmakers argued why they needed [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: FOI at work, HB477, Salt Lake Tribune, Utah | Leave a Comment »
