National Freedom of Information Coalition
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Failed Pentagon fax machine blocks FOIA requests

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From ars technica: The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) will not be faxing any orders to Five Guys or receiving journalists’ Freedom Of Information Act requests anytime soon. According to a report from the FOIA request service MuckRock, the OSD’s sole fax machine—the only effective electronic conduit for sending FOIA requests to the Pentagon—is down for the count and won’t be replaced until October at the earliest. […]

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Virginia FOIA Council denies Hanover’s request to review open meeting laws

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From The Herald-Progress: Virginia’s FOIA Advisory Council declined Hanover County’s request to review the state’s definition of a public meeting Sept. 12.

Hanover County officials requested changing Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act to allow up to three Board members to meet in private to discuss county business without having to advertise it as a public meeting.

Visit The Herald-Progress for more.

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Latest winners in the Knight Community Information Challenge

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From NFOIC executive director Ken Bunting:  The Knight Foundation has announced the latest winners in its Knight Community Information Challenge. This is an important ongoing partnership. Congratulations to the winning projects, and thanks to Knight and the community foundations around the country that are supporting them.

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Prosecutor opposes release of Sandy Hook 911 tapes

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From NewsTimes.com: DANBURY — The state prosecutor in charge of the investigation into the Sandy School Elementary School shooting is objecting to a recommendation by a state Freedom of Information Commission attorney to make recordings of 911 calls from inside the school public.

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Muslim group demands public records after county communications staffer posts anti-Islamic message

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From Palm Beach Post: One of the state’s leading Muslim groups on Friday asked Palm Beach County officials to turn over all of the social media comments made on county computers by a public affairs employee who posted an anti-Islamic message on his private Facebook page.

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Court ruling might open door for making personal info public

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From The Olympian: When handing over public records, government agencies routinely censor Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers and sometimes even dates of birth.

A state court ruling this month suggests that often there may be no legal basis for keeping such nuggets of personal information secret.

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LSU presidential search records will be given to judge, but not public, under new compromise

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From The Times-Picayune: Information about the candidates LSU considered for university president will be provided to a state district judge, but not to the public or the newspapers who are suing for the information, under a new compromise between the attorneys in the case.

The information will be kept secret until LSU finishes its appeals process, which could take months.

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VA FOI council kills Hanover County proposal to make public meetings private

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From Watchdog.org: RICHMOND — Virginia taxpayers can rest assured that local elected officials won’t be able to legally conspire in small groups without public notice — at least, for now.

Members of Virginia’s Freedom of Information Advisory Council on Thursday decidedly killed a heavily criticized proposal from Hanover County’s Board of Supervisors that would have changed Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act so local officials could meet in small groups without giving advanced public notice as long as a quorum was not present.

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NM governor’s past calendars now online; political activities not included

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From Albuquerque Journal: SANTA FE – Gov. Susana Martinez’s office began posting the governor’s past calendars on the Internet on Friday, responding to media demands for more details about her schedule.

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The Associated Press had been seeking copies of the governor’s schedule since late 2011. In addition, the Santa Fe Reporter recently filed a lawsuit alleging Martinez, among other things, violated the state’s open record laws by withholding information about her calendar.

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NYPD ‘secret’ classification for documents ‘means diddly’ in eyes of legal experts

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From Huffington Post: NEW YORK — Since at least 2003, the New York Police Department has been labeling some of its internal documents “Secret,” a designation that has baffled government secrecy experts, journalists and civil liberties lawyers.

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