From The Washington Post: WASHINGTON — A senator who has been instrumental in the fight for open government warned Wednesday that the government’s practice of “vacuuming up the phone records of millions of law-abiding Americans” puts citizens’ privacy at risk.
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Read More… from Sen. Wyden denounces bulk phone record collection at ASNE convention
From NewsTimes.com: Three advocates of open government and three investigative journalists were honored recently by the Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information at its annual meeting in Hartford.
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Read More… from Redding (Conn.) woman honored as ‘Champion of Open Government’
From KTVU.com: A state Senate committee on Tuesday advanced a swiftly drafted constitutional amendment that would affirm the public's right to inspect documents held by local governments and clarifying that those agencies — not the state — should pay for making their records available.
The amendment passed the Senate Governance and Finance Committee on a 7-0 vote.
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Read More… from California Senate committee passes public records amendment
From NJ.com: With the recent revelations about the National Security Agency’s widespread monitoring of U.S. citizens, a pair of bills that give New Jersey residents a clearer picture of government goings on could not be timelier.
State Sen. Loretta Weinberg expects to post two measures that would fine-tune laws protecting the public’s right to know this week for a full Senate vote.
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Read More… from Editorial: N.J. legislature should support updates to opengov laws
From Cleveland.com: Government in Ohio is supposed to conduct business for the people in public, but several measures being considered by the General Assembly would dim the spotlight that keeps public officials’ actions illuminated.
One open government advocate estimates that lawmakers have proposed at least 10 measures that would affect Ohioans’ ability to keep watch on their government.
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Read More… from Changes pending could reduce Ohioans’ access to public records and meetings
From The Durango Herald: The Durango Mall made more than $16,000 worth of public-records requests with the city regarding its correspondence with Mercury, the credit-card payment-processing company that is building a corporate headquarters next to the mall, a project that the mall had initially opposed through litigation.
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Read More… from Photographing of Durango city records may be banned
From Investigative Reporting Workshop: The federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides that government agency records are open to the public. Access can provide insight into such things as how taxpayer money is spent and what correspondence reveals about relationships between Congress and government agencies or between the agencies and private parties. […]
Read More… from Freedom of Information Act: Requests and denials climb, backlog slows
From North Carolina Open Government Coalition: Jonathan D. Jones, currently an assistant district attorney for Durham County, will become director of the North Carolina Open Government Coalition and Sunshine Center in mid-August. He also will teach courses in Elon University’s School of Communications.
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Read More… from Jonathan Jones named director of North Carolina Open Government Coalition
A few state FOIA and local open government news items selected from many of interest that we might or might not have drawn attention to earlier in the week. While you're at it, be sure to check out State FOIA Friday Archives.
Advocates, journalists honored for supporting open government
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